← Back to Distinction 20

Dist. 20, Part 1, Art. 1, Q. 5

Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 20

Textus Latinus
p. 524

Quaestio V. Utrum poena purgatorii ministerio daemonum infligatur.

Quinto quaeritur, quorum ministerio poena illa infligitur. Et quod ministerio daemonum, videtur.

1. Sicut dicit auctoritas, et habetur infra distinctione quadragesima septima1: « Illos habebunt tortores in poena, quos habuerunt incentores in culpa »; sed constat, quod iusti purgantur pro culpis, quas daemones incenderunt: ergo etc.

2. Item, in legenda beati Martini2 dicitur, quod diabolus stabat ad eius obitum, sicut ibi dicitur, quod dixit: « Quid astas hic, cruenta bellua »? sed constans est, quod sciebat, se non posse eum trahere ad infernum, cum sciret virum sanctum: ergo saltem volebat ducere in purgatorium.

3. Item, ratione videtur: quia crudelius est vexare bonos quam affligere malos; sed quod crudelius est crudeliori tortori debet committi: ergo cum diabolus cum suis angelis sit crudelissimus3, videtur, quod eorum sit viros iustos in purgatorio affligere.

4. Item, viri iusti affliguntur in purgatorio: constat, quod non ratione eius quod habuerunt simile Deo, sed ratione eius quod habuerunt simile diabolo: ergo quamdiu est in illis ille reatus, non sunt omnino erepti ab eius potestate: ergo videtur, quod ab eis affligantur.

Contra: 1. Gregorius in quarto Dialogorum4 dicit, quod animae reproborum per se ipsas descendunt ad infernum: ergo pari ratione, immo multo fortiori, per se ipsas sine daemonum ministerio descendunt in purgatorium.

2. Item, animae puniuntur in purgatorio ad hoc, ut purgentur et in caelum introducantur; sed daemones abhorrent animarum purgationem et liberationem: ergo talem purgationem sive punitionem non administrant, sed fugiunt.

3. Item, sicut dicit Augustinus5: « Si diabolus cognovisset patientiam Iob, et quod eius tentatione deberet proficere; nequaquam ipsum amplius vexasset »: ergo cum sciat certis signis, quod illae animae iustae suae non sunt, et quod ex poena sunt meliorandae; videtur, quod eas amplius nullatenus vexet.

4. Item, alius est qui punit filium, alius qui punit latrunculum — filium enim punit dominus domus vel doctor, sed latronem punit emissarius6 vel tortor — sed daemones sunt tortores, et iusti sunt sicut filii: ergo nequaquam conveniens est, illos ab eis puniri.

5. Item, iniustum est, ut qui de altero triumphavit eidem subiiciatur post triumphum; sed anima viri iusti de daemonibus triumphavit in hac vita: ergo iniustum est, ut diabolus super eam posse habeat post hanc vitam.

Conclusio. Poena purgatorii non infligitur ministerio daemonum nec bonorum Angelorum; probabile tamen est, animas deduci ad caelum et purgatorium a bonis Angelis, ad infernum a malis.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod aliqui voluerunt dicere, quod poena purgatorii ministerio daemonum infligatur, pro eo quod in Scriptura aut vix aut nunquam legitur, quod bonus Angelus bonos vexaverit, sed vexatio bonorum solum a malis fuit, sicut est exemplum de Iob7, exemplum etiam de Antonio; mali vero vexati sunt a bonis et a malis. —

p. 525

Et ratio huius videtur esse secundum eos: quia qui vexat alterum et affligit quoddam odium habet; diabolus autem odit bonos et malos ob suam crudelitatem: ideo utrosque affligit, cum sibi permittitur, maxime cum affliguntur pro peccato, quod est eius similitudo et quaedam characteristicatio. Boni vero non odiunt nisi malos, et ideo illos solos affligunt, sicut afflixerunt Sodomitas et Aegyptios8. — Sed licet videatur esse magis conveniens, ut fiat hoc ministerio daemonum quam sanctorum spirituum; melius tamen videtur esse dicendum et rationabilius etiam, quod sicut, divina iustitia iubente et flatu eius succendente9, mali adurentur in inferno post iudicium, sic etiam nunc in purgatorio. — Non enim videtur probabile, quod daemones illud ministerium exerceant, cum ibi purgetur peccati scoria, secundum quam quodam modo anima similis erat diabolo; et diabolus suam similitudinem nolit delere, sed potius confirmare; nec unquam exerceat hominem, nisi in quo sperat victoriam acquirere; nec vexet eum, a quo victus est et deiectus; et alia plura ad hoc faciunt, quae tacta sunt. — Rursus, non videtur hoc probabile, ut ministerio fiat Angelorum bonorum, ut tam graviter affligant et puniant concives suos; nec hoc de facili per Scripturam posset probari, non solum in se, verum etiam in simili; quamvis Iacob patriarcha visus sit ab Angelo laedi, cum emarcuit nervus femoris eius10, sed illud magis fuit ad concupiscentiae repressionem quam ad gravem afflictionem.

Ideo concedendum, quod non fit ministerio daemonum nec etiam supernorum spirituum, nisi fortassis quantum ad directionem. Credendum est enim, quod in egressu animae a corpore assistunt et spiritus bonus et spiritus malus, unus vel plures, et tunc secundum veritatem ferri sententiam; et si bona est, per ministerium boni Angeli vel adduci in caelum, vel in purgatorium, quousque, postquam purgata fuerit, per eius ministerium educatur, ita quod ipse solum sit deductor et non tortor; si vero sit mala, per ministerium daemonum deduci ad infernum11. Hoc, inquam, tanquam magis probabile concedendum, quamvis nihil sit in hac parte temere asserendum.

1. Ad illud ergo quod obiicitur, quod incentores erunt tortores; dicendum, quod verum est, nisi illa culpa remittatur, et homo poeniteat; et hoc non habet locum in proposito12.

2. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod praesens erat in obitu Martini; dicendum, quod hoc non erat, ut deduceret ad purgatorium, sed quia cupiebat insidiari calcaneo13 ac per hoc detrahere in abyssum.

3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod maioris crudelitatis est; dicendum, quod verum est, si ibi staret intentio; sed illa punitio est transitus ad aeternam glorificationem; non sic est in damnatis: ideo non est simile.

4. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod puniuntur ratione similitudinis; dicendum, quod est puniri simpliciter et est puniri sic vel hic14. Primo quidem modo puniuntur ratione peccati; sed hic et sic puniuntur ad purgationem, quoniam habent iustitiam. Et hinc est, quod talis punitio ad diabolum non spectat15.

Scholion

The scholion for Articulus unicus is rendered in full with QUAESTIO I (`bon-sent-IV-d20-p1-a1-q1`); QUAESTIO V renders no scholion of its own (cf. the apparatus note « Vide scholion ad 1. huius articuli quaest. » at footnote 15).

---

English Translation
p. 524

Question V. Whether the punishment of purgatory is inflicted by the ministry of demons.

Fifthly it is asked, by whose ministry that punishment is inflicted. And that it is by the ministry of demons, it seems.

1. As the authority says, and as is found below in the forty-seventh distinction1: "Those will have as torturers in their punishment whom they had as instigators in their fault"; but it is established that the just are purged for the faults which the demons kindled: therefore, etc.

2. Likewise, in the legend of blessed Martin2 it is said that the devil stood at his death, as it is there related, that he said: "Why do you stand here, bloody beast?" but it is constant that he knew that he could not drag him to hell, since he knew him to be a holy man: therefore at least he wished to lead him into purgatory.

3. Likewise, it seems by reason: because it is crueler to vex the good than to afflict the evil; but what is crueler ought to be committed to a crueler torturer: therefore, since the devil with his angels is the cruelest3, it seems that it belongs to them to afflict the just men in purgatory.

4. Likewise, the just men are afflicted in purgatory: it is established that this is not by reason of that which they had like to God, but by reason of that which they had like to the devil: therefore so long as that guilt is in them, they are not wholly snatched from his power: therefore it seems that they are afflicted by them.

On the contrary: 1. Gregory in the fourth book of the Dialogues4 says that the souls of the reprobate descend by themselves to hell: therefore, by parity of reason — indeed by a much stronger one — they descend by themselves into purgatory without the ministry of demons.

2. Likewise, souls are punished in purgatory for this, that they may be purged and led into heaven; but demons abhor the purgation and liberation of souls: therefore they do not administer such purgation or punishment, but flee it.

3. Likewise, as Augustine says5: "If the devil had known the patience of Job, and that he ought to profit by his temptation, he would by no means have vexed him further": therefore, since he knows by certain signs that those just souls are not his, and that they are to be made better by the punishment, it seems that he in no way vexes them further.

4. Likewise, one is he who punishes a son, another he who punishes a thief — for the master of the house or the teacher punishes a son, but a hangman6 or torturer punishes a robber — but demons are torturers, and the just are as sons: therefore it is in no way fitting that they be punished by them.

5. Likewise, it is unjust that he who has triumphed over another should be subjected to that same one after the triumph; but the soul of the just man triumphed over the demons in this life: therefore it is unjust that the devil should have power over it after this life.

Conclusion. The punishment of purgatory is not inflicted by the ministry of demons nor of the good Angels; yet it is probable that souls are led to heaven and to purgatory by good Angels, to hell by evil ones.

I respond: It must be said that some have wished to say that the punishment of purgatory is inflicted by the ministry of demons, on the ground that in Scripture it is either scarcely or never read that a good Angel has vexed the good, but the vexation of the good came only from the evil, as is the example of Job7, and also the example of Anthony; but the evil have been vexed both by the good and by the evil. —

p. 525

And the reason for this, according to them, seems to be this: that whoever vexes and afflicts another has a certain hatred; but the devil hates both the good and the evil because of his cruelty: therefore he afflicts both, when it is permitted to him, especially when they are afflicted for sin, which is his likeness and a certain stamping of his character. But the good do not hate any but the evil, and therefore they afflict those alone, as they afflicted the Sodomites and the Egyptians8. — But although it may seem more fitting that this be done by the ministry of demons than of holy spirits, yet it seems better and more reasonable to say that, just as — by the divine justice commanding and its breath kindling9 — the evil are burned in hell after the judgment, so also now in purgatory. — For it does not seem probable that demons exercise that ministry, since there the dross of sin is purged, according to which the soul was in some manner like the devil; and the devil would not wish to destroy his own likeness, but rather to confirm it; nor does he ever try a man except in one in whom he hopes to gain victory; nor does he vex one by whom he has been conquered and cast down; and many other things make for this, which have been touched on. — Again, it does not seem probable that it should be done by the ministry of good Angels, that they should so grievously afflict and punish their fellow-citizens; nor could this easily be proved from Scripture, not only in itself, but even in a parallel case; although the patriarch Jacob is seen to have been hurt by an Angel, when the sinew of his thigh withered10, but that was rather for the repression of concupiscence than for grievous affliction.

Therefore it must be conceded that it is not done by the ministry of demons nor even of the spirits above, except perhaps as regards direction. For it is to be believed that, at the going-forth of the soul from the body, both a good spirit and an evil spirit are present, one or several, and that then the sentence is borne according to truth; and if it is good, it is led by the ministry of a good Angel either into heaven or into purgatory, until — after it has been purged — it is led forth by his ministry, so that he is only a guide and not a torturer; but if it is evil, it is led by the ministry of demons to hell11. This, I say, is to be conceded as more probable, although nothing in this matter is to be rashly asserted.

1. To that, then, which is objected, that the instigators will be the torturers; it must be said that this is true, unless that fault be remitted and the man do penance; and this has no place in the case at hand12.

2. To that which is objected, that he was present at Martin's death; it must be said that this was not in order to lead him to purgatory, but because he desired to lie in wait at his heel13 and thereby drag him down into the abyss.

3. To that which is objected, that it is of greater cruelty; it must be said that this is true, if the intention stopped there; but that punishment is a passage to eternal glorification; it is not so in the damned: therefore it is not alike.

4. To that which is objected, that they are punished by reason of likeness; it must be said that there is being punished simply and there is being punished thus or here14. In the first way they are punished by reason of sin; but here and thus they are punished for purgation, since they have justice. And hence it is that such punishment does not pertain to the devil15.

Scholion

The scholion for the single Article is rendered in full with QUESTION I (`bon-sent-IV-d20-p1-a1-q1`); QUESTION V renders no scholion of its own (cf. the apparatus note "See the scholion to question 1 of this article" at footnote 15).

---

Apparatus Criticus
  1. 1
    Vide infra dist. XLVII, dub. 4 et 5 (apud Magistrum). Sententia communiter Augustino vel Gregorio adscripta.
    See below, dist. XLVII, dubia 4 and 5 (in the Master). The sentence is commonly ascribed to Augustine or Gregory.
  2. 2
    Cfr. Sulpit. Sever. Epist. 3. ad Bassulam, et Breviar. Roman. in festo S. Martini (11 Nov.) II. Noct. 3. lect., ubi pro bellua substituitur bestia, quod exhibent etiam codd. EGNaa. — Inferius post cum sciret cod. A supplet ipsum, codd. FG eum.
    Cf. Sulpicius Severus, Letter 3 to Bassula, and the Roman Breviary, on the feast of St. Martin (11 November), Second Nocturn, lesson 3, where for bellua ("beast") is substituted bestia, which codices EGNaa also exhibit. — Lower down, after cum sciret, codex A supplies ipsum, codices FG eum.
  3. 3
    Non pauci codd. sint crudelissimi. Mox pro eorum ed. eius, Vat. eius et suorum.
    Not a few codices read sint crudelissimi. Soon, for eorum, the edition reads eius, the Vatican edition eius et suorum.
  4. 4
    Cap. 5.
    Chapter 5.
  5. 5
    Vide c. 28, ubi dicit, quod « necesse est, quod a die exitus sui ignis reprobos exurat ».
    See chapter 28, where he says that "it is necessary that from the day of its going-forth the fire should burn the reprobate."
  6. 6
    Libr. XII. de Gen. ad lit. c. 17. n. 34: Qui [daemones] tamen, si virtutum internam speciem possent in hominibus cernere, non tentarent; sicut illam in Iob nobilem ac mirabilem patientiam procul dubio, si posset diabolus cernere, nollet a tentato utique superari.
    Book XII, On Genesis according to the Letter, chapter 17, no. 34: "Yet they [the demons], if they could discern in men the inward appearance of the virtues, would not tempt them; just as, without doubt, if the devil could discern that noble and wondrous patience of Job, he would not wish to be overcome by the one tempted."
  7. 7
    Emissarius secundum Du Cange, Glossarium etc., idem est ac percussor, sanguinarius, satelles etc. — Mox voci tortores cod. F praemittit sicut.
    Emissarius, according to Du Cange's Glossarium etc., is the same as a smiter, a man of blood, a henchman, etc. — Soon, before the word tortores ("torturers"), codex F prefixes sicut.
  8. 8
    Iob 1, 8. seqq. — De Antonio vide eius vitam in 1. libro de Vitis Patrum, c. 4.
    Job 1:8 ff. — On Anthony, see his life in the first book On the Lives of the Fathers, chapter 4.
  9. 9
    Gen. 19, 13. — Exod. 12, 29. et 14, 19. seqq. Cfr. Dionys., de Div. Nom. c. 4. § 22.
    Genesis 19:13. — Exodus 12:29 and 14:19 ff. Cf. Dionysius, On the Divine Names, chapter 4, § 22.
  10. 10
    Respicitur Isai. 30, 33: Flatus Domini sicut torrens sulphuris succendens eam. Cfr. ibid. 57, 16: Et flatus ego faciam. — Vat. flatu ignis, quae insuper inferius pro nunc cum ed. 1 exhibet et, non pauci codd. et nunc.
    Reference is to Isaiah 30:33: "The breath of the Lord, like a torrent of brimstone, kindling it." Cf. ibid. 57:16: "And I will make the breath." — The Vatican edition reads flatu ignis, which moreover, lower down, for nunc cum the first edition exhibits et, not a few codices et nunc.
  11. 11
    Gen. 32, 25: Tetigit nervum femoris eius, et statim emarcuit.
    Genesis 32:25: "He touched the sinew of his thigh, and it immediately withered."
  12. 12
    Cfr. Gregor., IV. Dialog. c. 38. et Hug. a S. Vict., II. de Sacram. p. XVI. c. 2. — Pro deduci ed. 1 duci, Vat. deducitur; utraque superius adducitur pro adduci.
    Cf. Gregory, Dialogues IV, chapter 38, and Hugh of St. Victor, On the Sacraments II, part XVI, chapter 2. — For deduci the first edition reads duci, the Vatican edition deducitur; both above read adducitur for adduci.
  13. 13
    Richard. a Med., hic a. 2. q. 3. ad eandem obiect. respondet: Dicendum, quod illud verbum Magistri intelligendum est de damnatis et pro tempore ante iudicium.
    Richard of Mediavilla, here art. 2, q. 3, replies to the same objection: It must be said that that word of the Master is to be understood of the damned and for the time before the judgment.
  14. 14
    Respicitur Gen. 3, 15: Et tu insidiaberis calcaneo eius. Superius pro deduceret edd. et plures codd. educeret, cod. X addit eius, codd. G bb educeret.
    Reference is to Genesis 3:15: "And you shall lie in wait at his heel." Above, for deduceret the editions and several codices read educeret; codex X adds eius, codices G bb educeret.
  15. 15
    Edd. sic. Idem recurrit paulo inferius. — Vide scholion ad 1. huius articuli quaest.
    The editions read sic. The same recurs a little below. — See the scholion to question 1 of this article. ---
Cited by

1 further reference addresses the article or printed page this question belongs to, rather than the question itself.

← Dist. 20, Part 1, Art. 1, Q. 4Dist. 20, Part 1, Art. 1, Q. 6→