Dist. 21, Part 1, Art. 3, Q. 2
Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 21
Quaestio II. Utrum aliquis Sanctorum evolet in caelum ante iudicium.
Secundo quaeritur, utrum aliquis Sanctorum evolet in caelum ante iudicium. Et quod non, videtur.
1. Ad Hebraeos undecimo1 Apostolus, loquens de viris sanctis et fidelibus, dicit: Hi omnes non acceperunt repromissiones, Deo pro nobis aliquid melius providente, ne sine nobis consummarentur: ergo si Sancti priores non debuerunt consummari sine aliis sanctis Apostolis; cum usque ad diem iudicii crescat numerus Sanctorum, patet, quod unus non evolet ante alium.
2. Item, Matthaei vigesimo quinto2: Statuet agnos a dextris, hoedos autem a sinistris; et dicet his qui erunt a dextris: Venite, benedicti Patris mei, percipite regnum: ergo videtur, quod non sint ante illud iudicium gloriam percepturi. Si enim prius percepissent, non diceret Dominus: percipite regnum.
3. Item, nullius possessio, quae habetur per sententiam, obtinetur ante lationem sententiae; sed vitae aeternae possessio habetur per sententiam: ergo cum sententia detur in die iudicii, videtur, quod ante diem iudicii non evolet aliqua anima in caelum.
4. Item, magnifici regis eo modo est stipendia elargiri, per quem modum eius magnificentia magis declaratur; sed hoc est praecipue, dum3 fit curia una ex multitudine et ex aggregatione multorum: ergo videtur, quod Dominus reservet gloriam aeternam, ut eam simul omnibus conferat.
5. Item, anima peccavit in carne, ergo videtur, quod in carne debeat puniri: ergo nunquam perfecte purgatur nec punitur, quousque resumat corpus, in quo purgetur; sed ante perfectam purgationem non evolat anima in caelum: ergo non ante diem iudicii.
6. Item, corpora non glorificabuntur ante diem iudicii, quantumcumque sit sanctus qui moritur: ergo pari ratione nec animae.
Contra: 1. Lucae vigesimo tertio4 dixit Dominus latroni: Hodie mecum eris in paradiso, ergo anima latronis fuit cum Christo; sed constat, quod Christus quod promisit postmodum non abstulit: ergo semper post fuit cum Christo. Sed Christus ascendit in caelum: ergo anima latronis ascendit, ergo pari ratione aliae animae sanctae.
2. Item, ad Philippenses primo5: Cupio dissolvi et esse cum Christo, ita dicebat Apostolus; sed constat, quod desiderium suum non erat cassum: ergo statim post dissolutionem fuit cum Christo.
3. Item, Apocalypsis sexto6: Datae sunt illis singulae stolae; sed non est stola nisi gloria animae et stola corporis: ergo etc.
4. Item, caritas est pondus sufficienter inclinans sursum et elevans: ergo si non sit retardans, statim per caritatem anima sursum evolat; sed qui purgatur in purgatorio, post purgationem non habet aliquod retardans: ergo statim evolat.
5. Item, differre mercedem mercenarii7 facit praeiudicium iustitiae; sed Deus est summe iustus: ergo statim quando invenit hominem dispositum, statim retribuit.
6. Item, spes, quae differtur, affligit animam8: si ergo differtur praemium Sanctorum usque ad iudicium, videtur, quod sint in continua afflictione et gemitu et exspectatione: ergo si Deus tantum differt, videtur, quod ipse sit crudelissimus.
Conclusio. Erroneum est dicere, animas sanctas, quae non habent reatum poenae, non esse statim glorificandas, sed potius exspectare usque ad extremum diem iudicii.
Respondeo: Dicendum, quod aliqui stulti circa hoc errant, dicentes, animas non esse glorificandas9, sed potius exspectare usque ad extremum diem iudicii. — Hos stultos dixi quoniam talis error nec fulcimentum habet ab auctoritate nec ab efficaci ratione, nec habuit ista positio aliquem magnum auctorem nec defensorem, sed quibusdam imponitur Graecis. Videtur tamen pro isto errore facere Glossa, quae est super Psalmum10: Noli aemulari, ubi di-
citur, quod iusti, qui moriuntur, non statim ubi erunt post iudicium, sed in illa requie, ubi erat Lazarus cum Abraham. Sed sicut patet in ipsa Glossa ex consequentibus11, illud dictum est quantum ad stolam corporis, non quantum ad gloriam, vel locum. Certum enim est, quod Christus exspoliavit principatus et potestates, ac per hoc constat, Sanctos, qui in limbo erant, ad caelum cum Christo esse sublimatos, ac per hoc et omnes iustos, qui non habent reatum poenae.
1. Ad illud ergo quod obiicitur, quod non acceperunt repromissiones; dicendum, quod Apostolus vocat consummationem quantum ad illius supernae civitatis impletionem, post quam nullus intrabit. — Vel dicendum, quod Apostolus intelligit quantum ad tempus gratiae, quod conservavit usque ad nos, ut nos, facti participes gratiae in abundantia, participes etiam fieremus et gloriae12.
2. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod statuet agnos etc.; dicendum, quod iudicium illud erit quantum ad consummatam glorificationem suscipiendam in anima et in carne, quam nondum habent mortui, quamvis animae sint beatae in caelo13.
3. Ad illud quod obiicitur de sententia, dicendum, quod sicut dupliciter contingit regnum obtinere, scilicet integre et perfecte sive in toto, et alio modo secundum animam sive in parte: sic duplex est iudicium, sive etiam duplex sententia. Nam sicut homo glorificatur secundum partem, ita et particulariter iudicatur, et de eo sententia fertur quando anima de corpore egreditur; iudicium autem universale et sententia erit, quando homo erit glorificandus totaliter, et tunc consummabitur curia caelestis; et sic duplex iudicium competit duplici modo possidendi gloriam. Et duplex modus competit duobus, scilicet divinae magnificentiae et nostrae indigentiae. Propter nostram indigentiam tollendam statim, quando anima est apta, sublimatur ad gloriam, quia frustra exspectaret, cum non possit amplius mereri. Propter divinam magnificentiam ostendendam reservatur generalis et universalis resurrectio corporum in fine saeculorum. Et sic in nullo praeiudicatur commodo nostro, dum anima assumitur in gloriam, in nullo divinae gloriae, dum in fine fiet in resumtione corporum totum, quod fieret, si gloria differretur ab animabus.
4. 5. 6. Et per hoc patent illa tria, scilicet de possessione per sententiam, de Dei magnificatione et de corporum resuscitatione. De qua, quare differatur, suo loco habetur infra14.
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Question II. Whether any of the saints flies up into heaven before the judgment.
Secondly it is asked whether any of the saints flies up into heaven before the judgment. And it seems that it does not.
1. The Apostle, in Hebrews eleven1, speaking of holy and faithful men, says: All these did not receive the promises, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be perfected without us: therefore if the earlier Saints ought not to be perfected without the other holy Apostles; since up to the day of judgment the number of the Saints increases, it is plain that one does not fly up before another.
2. Likewise, Matthew twenty-five2: He will set the lambs on the right, but the goats on the left; and he will say to those who will be on the right: Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom: therefore it seems that they are not going to receive the glory before that judgment. For if they had received it before, the Lord would not say: receive the kingdom.
3. Likewise, no one's possession which is had through a sentence is obtained before the rendering of the sentence; but the possession of eternal life is had through a sentence: therefore, since the sentence is given on the day of judgment, it seems that before the day of judgment no soul flies up into heaven.
4. Likewise, it belongs to a magnificent king to bestow stipends in that manner by which his magnificence is the more declared; but this is especially so when3 one court is made from a multitude and from the gathering of many: therefore it seems that the Lord reserves the eternal glory, that he may confer it on all at once.
5. Likewise, the soul sinned in the flesh, therefore it seems that it ought to be punished in the flesh: therefore it is never perfectly purged nor punished until it resumes the body, in which it is to be purged; but before perfect purgation the soul does not fly up into heaven: therefore not before the day of judgment.
6. Likewise, bodies will not be glorified before the day of judgment, however holy he is who dies: therefore by parity of reasoning neither will souls.
On the contrary: 1. In Luke twenty-three4 the Lord said to the thief: Today you will be with me in paradise, therefore the soul of the thief was with Christ; but it is established that what Christ promised he did not afterward take away: therefore it was ever after with Christ. But Christ ascended into heaven: therefore the soul of the thief ascended; therefore by parity of reasoning so too the other holy souls.
2. Likewise, to the Philippians one5: I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, thus said the Apostle; but it is established that his desire was not in vain: therefore immediately after the dissolution he was with Christ.
3. Likewise, Apocalypse six6: Single robes were given to them; but there is no robe except the glory of the soul and the robe of the body: therefore etc.
4. Likewise, charity is a weight sufficiently inclining and elevating upward: therefore if there is nothing holding back, the soul straightway flies up through charity; but he who is purged in purgatory, after the purgation has nothing holding him back: therefore he straightway flies up.
5. Likewise, to defer the wage of a hireling7 does prejudice to justice; but God is supremely just: therefore as soon as he finds a man disposed, he straightway repays.
6. Likewise, hope which is deferred afflicts the soul8: if therefore the reward of the Saints is deferred until the judgment, it seems that they are in continual affliction and groaning and expectation: therefore if God defers so long, it seems that he himself is most cruel.
Conclusion. It is erroneous to say that the holy souls, which have no liability to punishment, are not to be glorified at once, but rather to wait until the last day of judgment.
I respond: It must be said that certain foolish persons err about this, saying that souls are not to be glorified9, but rather to wait until the last day of judgment. — I have called them foolish because such an error has support neither from authority nor from any efficacious reason, nor did this position have any great author or defender, but it is imputed to certain Greeks. There seems, however, to make for this error the Gloss which is on the Psalm10: Be not emulous, where it is said
that the just who die are not at once where they will be after the judgment, but in that rest where Lazarus was with Abraham. But as is plain in the Gloss itself from what follows11, that was said with respect to the robe of the body, not with respect to glory, or place. For it is certain that Christ despoiled the principalities and powers, and through this it is established that the Saints who were in limbo were raised up to heaven with Christ, and through this also all the just who have no liability to punishment.
1. To that, then, which is objected, that they did not receive the promises; it must be said that the Apostle calls "consummation" the filling-up of that supernal city, after which no one will enter. — Or it must be said that the Apostle understands it with respect to the time of grace, which he preserved down to us, so that we, made partakers of grace in abundance, might be made partakers also of glory12.
2. To that which is objected, that he will set the lambs etc.; it must be said that that judgment will be with respect to the consummated glorification to be received in soul and in flesh, which the dead do not yet have, although the souls are blessed in heaven13.
3. To that which is objected concerning the sentence, it must be said that, just as it happens in two ways to obtain the kingdom, namely wholly and perfectly or in the whole, and in another way according to the soul or in part: so the judgment is twofold, or even the sentence is twofold. For just as a man is glorified according to a part, so too he is judged particularly, and a sentence is borne concerning him when the soul departs from the body; but the universal judgment and sentence will be when the man is to be glorified totally, and then the heavenly court will be consummated; and so the twofold judgment corresponds to the twofold mode of possessing glory. And the twofold mode corresponds to two things, namely the divine magnificence and our indigence. For the removing of our indigence, straightway, when the soul is fit, it is raised up to glory, because it would wait in vain, since it can no longer merit. For the showing of the divine magnificence, the general and universal resurrection of bodies is reserved at the end of the ages. And so no prejudice is done to our advantage, while the soul is taken up into glory, none to the divine glory, while at the end there will be done, in the resuming of bodies, the whole that would be done if glory were deferred from the souls.
4. 5. 6. And through this those three are plain, namely concerning possession through a sentence, concerning God's magnification, and concerning the resuscitation of bodies. Concerning which—why it is deferred—it is treated in its place below14.
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- 1Vers. 39. seq.: Et hi omnes testimonio fidei probati, non acceperunt repromissionem, Deo pro nobis melius aliquid providente, ut non sine etc.Verse 39 ff.: And all these, approved by the testimony of faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that not without etc.
- 2Vers. 33. seq.: Et statuet oves quidem a dextris...hoedos autem a sinistris. Tunc dicet rex his qui a dextris eius erunt: Venite, benedicti Patris mei, possidete paratum vobis regnum a constitutione mundi. — Inferius ex cod. U substituimus prius pro primo.Verse 33 ff.: And he will set the sheep indeed on the right...but the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those who will be on his right: Come, blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. — Further on, from codex U, we have substituted prius for primo.
- 3Cod. F cum.Codex F reads cum.
- 4Vers. 43.Verse 43.
- 5Vers. 23: Desiderium habens dissolvi etc.Verse 23: Having a desire to be dissolved etc.
- 6Vers. 11.Verse 11.
- 7Cod. R mercenariis, cod. S mercenario.Codex R reads mercenariis; codex S, mercenario.
- 8Prov. 13, 12.Proverbs 13:12.
- 9Edd. addunt ante diem iudicii. Pro errant codd. L R S T erraverunt. Mox pro exspectare cod. P exspectantes.The editions add ante diem iudicii ("before the day of judgment"). For errant codices L R S T read erraverunt. Then for exspectare codex P reads exspectantes.
- 10Psalm. 36, 1. — Glossa est ordinaria apud Strabum et Lyranum et sumta ex August., Enarrat. in hunc Ps. v. 10. serm. 1. n. 10, quam Vat. ita hic inserit: Noli aemulari, super illo versu eiusdem Psalmi: Et adhuc pusillum etc., ubi dicitPsalm 36:1. — The Gloss is the ordinary one in Strabo and Lyra and is taken from Augustine, Commentary on this Psalm, v. 10, sermon 1, n. 10, which the Vatican edition here inserts thus: Be not emulous, upon that verse of the same Psalm: And yet a little while etc., where it says
- 11Dicit enim: In qua requie securus exspectes diem iudicii, quando, recepto corpore, Angelis aequaberis. — Seq. locus est Col. 2, 15: Et exspolians principatus et potestates (Vat. et ed. 1 addunt tenebrarum).For it says: In which rest you may securely await the day of judgment, when, the body received back, you will be made equal to the Angels. — The following passage is Col. 2:15: And despoiling the principalities and powers (the Vatican edition and edition 1 add tenebrarum, "of darkness").
- 12Petr. Lombard. in hunc loc.: Vel illi priores non acceperunt statim repromissionem i. e. promissam vitam usque ad Christum. Cur non? Deo providente aliquid melius, scil. ut naturam nostram assumeret, et gloriosius eos nobiscum exaltaret. Unde addit: ut non sine nobis consummarentur i. e. requie et visione Dei fruerentur. Et si illi tenuerunt fidem, qui tamdiu exspectaverunt requiem, multo magis nos teneamus, qui statim accipimus. — Superius post vocat cod. X addit repromissionem.Peter Lombard on this passage: Or those earlier ones did not receive the promise at once, i.e. the promised life, until Christ. Why not? God providing something better, namely that he might assume our nature and more gloriously exalt them with us. Whence he adds: that they should not be perfected without us, i.e. enjoy rest and the vision of God. And if they held the faith who so long awaited rest, much more let us hold it who receive it at once. — Above, after vocat, codex X adds repromissionem.
- 13Codd. N aa addunt: ideo universaliter [cod. aa naturaliter] dicitur percipite, id est perfecte capite; unde modo potius acceperunt, quam percepistis [perceperunt?]. Pro suscipiendam cod. F suscitandam, plures codd. et ed. 1 suscitatam.Codices N aa add: therefore universally [codex aa, naturally] it is said "receive," that is, "take perfectly"; whence rather they have received now than you received [they received?]. For suscipiendam codex F reads suscitandam; several codices and edition 1, suscitatam.
- 14Cfr. infra d. 43. a. I. q. 3. — Vide scholion ad praecedentem quaest.Cf. below d. 43, a. I, q. 3. — See the scholion to the preceding question. ---