This
ministry
of the angels is called
their voice, according to one explanation given in the text (Sent.
their voice, according to one explanation given in the text (Sent.
Summa Theologica
For, as
the Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iii, 14), "that which is commonly
observed in all, marks the nature of the individuals contained under
it. " Now resurrection applies commonly to all. Therefore it is natural.
Objection 2: Further, Gregory says (Moral. xiv, 55): "Those who do not
hold the resurrection on the principle of obedience ought certainly to
hold it on the principle of reason. For what does the world every day
but imitate, in its elements, our resurrection? " And he offers as
examples the light which "as it were dies . . . and is withdrawn from
our sight . . . and again rises anew, as it were, and is recalled---the
shrubs which lose their greenery, and again by a kind of resurrection
are renewed---and the seeds which rot and die and then sprout and rise
again as it were": which same example is adduced by the Apostle (1 Cor.
15:36). Now from the works of nature nothing can be known save what is
natural. Therefore the resurrection is natural.
Objection 3: Further, things that are against nature abide not for
long, because they are violent, so to speak. But the life that is
restored by the resurrection will last for ever. Therefore the
resurrection will be natural.
Objection 4: Further, that to which the entire expectation of nature
looks forward would seem to be natural. Now such a thing is the
resurrection and the glorification of the saints according to Rom.
8:19. Therefore the resurrection will be natural.
Objection 5: Further, the resurrection is a kind of movement towards
the everlasting union of soul and body. Now movement is natural if it
terminate in a natural rest (Phys. v, 6): and the everlasting union of
soul and body will be natural, for since the soul is the body's proper
mover, it has a body proportionate to it: so that the body is likewise
for ever capable of being quickened by it, even as the soul lives for
ever. Therefore the resurrection will be natural.
On the contrary, There is no natural return from privation to habit.
But death is privation of life. Therefore the resurrection whereby one
returns from death to life is not natural.
Further, things of the one species have one fixed way of origin:
wherefore animals begotten of putrefaction are never of the same
species as those begotten of seed, as the Commentator says on Phys.
viii. Now the natural way of man's origin is for him to be begotten of
a like in species: and such is not the case in the resurrection.
Therefore it will not be natural.
I answer that, A movement or an action stands related to nature in
three ways. For there is a movement or action whereof nature is neither
the principle nor the term: and such a movement is sometimes from a
principle above nature as in the case of a glorified body; and
sometimes from any other principle whatever; for instance, the violent
upward movement of a stone which terminates in a violent rest. Again,
there is a movement whereof nature is both principle and term: for
instance, the downward movement of a stone. And there is another
movement whereof nature is the term, but not the principle, the latter
being sometimes something above nature (as in giving sight to a blind
man, for sight is natural, but the principle of the sight-giving is
above nature), and sometimes something else, as in the forcing of
flowers or fruit by artificial process. It is impossible for nature to
be the principle and not the term, because natural principles are
appointed to definite effects, beyond which they cannot extend.
Accordingly the action or movement that is related to nature in the
first way can nowise be natural, but is either miraculous if it come
from a principle above nature, or violent if from any other principle.
The action or movement that is related to nature in the second way is
simply natural: but the action that is related to nature in the third
way cannot be described as natural simply, but as natural in a
restricted sense, in so far, to wit, as it leads to that which is
according to nature: but it is called either miraculous or artificial
or violent. For, properly speaking, natural is that which is according
to nature, and a thing is according to nature if it has that nature and
whatever results from that nature (Phys. ii, 1). Consequently, speaking
simply, movement cannot be described as natural unless its principle be
natural.
Now nature cannot be the principle of resurrection, although
resurrection terminates in the life of nature. For nature is the
principle of movement in the thing wherein nature is---either the
active principle, as in the movement of heavy and light bodies and in
the natural alterations of animals---or the passive principle, as in
the generation of simple bodies. The passive principle of natural
generation is the natural passive potentiality which always has an
active principle corresponding to it in nature, according to
Metaphysics viii, 1: nor as to this does it matter whether the active
principle in nature correspond to the passive principle in respect of
its ultimate perfection, namely the form; or in respect of a
disposition in virtue of which it demands the ultimate form, as in the
generation of a man according to the teaching of faith, or in all other
generations according to the opinions of Plato and Avicenna. But in
nature there is no active principle of the resurrection, neither as
regards the union of the soul with the body, nor as regards the
disposition which is the demand for that union: since such a
disposition cannot be produced by nature, except in a definite way by
the process of generation from seed. Wherefore even granted a passive
potentiality on the part of the body, or any kind of inclination to its
union with the soul, it is not such as to suffice for the conditions of
natural movement. Therefore the resurrection, strictly speaking, is
miraculous and not natural except in a restricted sense, as we have
explained.
Reply to Objection 1: Damascene is speaking of those things that are
found in all individuals and are caused by the principles of nature.
For supposing by a divine operation all men to be made white, or to be
gathered together in one place, as happened at the time of the deluge,
it would not follow that whiteness or existence in some particular
place is a natural property of man.
Reply to Objection 2: From natural things one does not come by a
demonstration of reason to know non-natural things, but by the
induction of reason one may know something above nature, since the
natural bears a certain resemblance to the supernatural. Thus the union
of soul and body resembles the union of the soul with God by the glory
of fruition, as the Master says (Sent. ii, D, 1): and in like manner
the examples, quoted by the Apostle and Gregory, are confirmatory
evidences of our faith in the resurrection.
Reply to Objection 3: This argument regards an operation which
terminates in something that is not natural but contrary to nature.
Such is not the resurrection, and hence the argument is not to the
point.
Reply to Objection 4: The entire operation of nature is subordinate to
the Divine operation, just as the working of a lower art is subordinate
to the working of a higher art. Hence just as all the work of a lower
art has in view an end unattainable save by the operation of the higher
art that produces the form, or makes use of what has been made by art:
so the last end which the whole expectation of nature has in view is
unattainable by the operation of nature, and for which reason the
attaining thereto is not natural.
Reply to Objection 5: Although there can be no natural movement
terminating in a violent rest, there can be a non-natural movement
terminating in a natural rest, as explained above.
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OF THE CAUSE OF THE RESURRECTION (THREE ARTICLES)
We must next consider the cause of our resurrection. Under this head
there are three points of inquiry:
(1) Whether Christ's resurrection is the cause of our resurrection?
(2) Whether the sound of the trumpet is?
(3) Whether the angels are?
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Whether the resurrection of Christ is the cause of our resurrection?
Objection 1: It would seem that the resurrection of Christ is not the
cause of our resurrection. For, given the cause, the effect follows.
Yet given the resurrection of Christ the resurrection of the other dead
did not follow at once. Therefore His resurrection is not the cause of
ours.
Objection 2: Further, an effect cannot be unless the cause precede. But
the resurrection of the dead would be even if Christ had not risen
again: for God could have delivered man in some other way. Therefore
Christ's resurrection is not the cause of ours.
Objection 3: Further, the same thing produces the one effect throughout
the one same species. Now the resurrection will be common to all men.
Since then Christ's resurrection is not its own cause, it is not the
cause of the resurrection of others.
Objection 4: Further, an effect retains some likeness to its cause. But
the resurrection, at least of some, namely the wicked, bears no
likeness to the resurrection of Christ. Therefore Christ's resurrection
will not be the cause of theirs.
On the contrary, "In every genus that which is first is the cause of
those that come after it" (Metaph. ii, 1). Now Christ, by reason of His
bodily resurrection, is called "the first-fruits of them that sleep" (1
Cor. 15:20), and "the first-begotten of the dead" (Apoc. 1:5).
Therefore His resurrection is the cause of the resurrection of others.
Further, Christ's resurrection has more in common with our bodily
resurrection than with our spiritual resurrection which is by
justification. But Christ's resurrection is the cause of our
justification, as appears from Rom. 4:25, where it is said that He
"rose again for our justification. " Therefore Christ's resurrection is
the cause of our bodily resurrection.
I answer that, Christ by reason of His nature is called the mediator of
God and men: wherefore the Divine gifts are bestowed on men by means of
Christ's humanity. Now just as we cannot be delivered from spiritual
death save by the gift of grace bestowed by God, so neither can we be
delivered from bodily death except by resurrection wrought by the
Divine power. And therefore as Christ, in respect of His human nature,
received the firstfruits of grace from above, and His grace is the
cause of our grace, because "of His fulness we all have received . . .
grace for grace" (Jn. 1:16), so in Christ has our resurrection begun,
and His resurrection is the cause of ours. Thus Christ as God is, as it
were, the equivocal cause of our resurrection, but as God and man
rising again, He is the proximate and, so to say, the univocal cause of
our resurrection. Now a univocal efficient cause produces its effect in
likeness to its own form, so that not only is it an efficient, but also
an exemplar cause in relation to that effect. This happens in two ways.
For sometimes this very form, whereby the agent is likened to its
effect, is the direct principle of the action by which the effect is
produced, as heat in the fire that heats: and sometimes it is not the
form in respect of which this likeness is observed, that is primarily
and directly the principle of that action, but the principles of that
form. For instance, if a white man beget a white man, the whiteness of
the begetter is not the principle of active generation, and yet the
whiteness of the begetter is said to be the cause of the whiteness of
the begotten, because the principles of whiteness in the begetter are
the generative principles causing whiteness in the begotten. In this
way the resurrection of Christ is the cause of our resurrection,
because the same thing that wrought the resurrection of Christ, which
is the univocal efficient cause of our resurrection, is the active
cause of our resurrection, namely the power of Christ's Godhead which
is common to Him and the Father. Hence it is written (Rom. 8:11): "He
that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall quicken also your
mortal bodies. " And this very resurrection of Christ by virtue of His
indwelling Godhead is the quasi-instrumental cause of our resurrection:
since the Divine operations were wrought by means of Christ's flesh, as
though it were a kind of organ; thus the Damascene instances as an
example (De Fide Orth. iii, 15) the touch of His body whereby He healed
the leper (Mat. 8:3).
Reply to Objection 1: A sufficient cause produces at once its effect to
which it is immediately directed, but not the effect to which it is
directed by means of something else, no matter how sufficient it may
be: thus heat, however intense it be, does not cause heat at once in
the first instant, but it begins at once to set up a movement towards
heat, because heat is its effect by means of movement. Now Christ's
resurrection is said to be the cause of ours, in that it works our
resurrection, not immediately, but by means of its principle, namely
the Divine power which will work our resurrection in likeness to the
resurrection of Christ. Now God's power works by means of His will
which is nearest to the effect; hence it is not necessary that our
resurrection should follow straightway after He has wrought the
resurrection of Christ, but that it should happen at the time which
God's will has decreed.
Reply to Objection 2: God's power is not tied to any particular second
causes, but that He can produce their effects either immediately or by
means of other causes: thus He might work the generation of lower
bodies even though there were no movement of the heaven: and yet
according to the order which He has established in things, the movement
of the heaven is the cause of the generation of the lower bodies. In
like manner according to the order appointed to human things by Divine
providence, Christ's resurrection is the cause of ours: and yet He
could have appointed another order, and then our resurrection would
have had another cause ordained by God.
Reply to Objection 3: This argument holds when all the things of one
species have the same order to the first cause of the effect to be
produced in the whole of that species. But it is not so in the case in
point, because Christ's humanity is nearer to His Godhead, Whose power
is the first cause of the resurrection, than is the humanity of others.
Hence Christ's Godhead caused His resurrection immediately, but it
causes the resurrection of others by means of Christ-man rising again.
Reply to Objection 4: The resurrection of all men will bear some
resemblance to Christ's resurrection, as regards that which pertains to
the life of nature, in respect of which all were conformed to Christ.
Hence all will rise again to immortal life; but in the saints who were
conformed to Christ by grace, there will be conformity as to things
pertaining to glory.
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Whether the sound of the trumpet will be the cause of our resurrection?
Objection 1: It would seem that the sound of the trumpet will not be
the cause of our resurrection. For the Damascene says (De Fide Orth.
iv): "Thou must believe that the resurrection will take place by God's
will, power, and nod. " Therefore since these are a sufficient cause of
our resurrection, we ought not to assign the sound of the trumpet as a
cause thereof.
Objection 2: Further, it is useless to make sounds to one who cannot
hear. But the dead will not have hearing. Therefore it is unfitting to
make a sound to arouse them.
Objection 3: Further, if any sound is the cause of the resurrection,
this will only be by a power given by God to the sound: wherefore a
gloss on Ps. 67:34, "He will give to His voice the voice of power,"
says: "to arouse our bodies. " Now from the moment that a power is given
to a thing, though it be given miraculously, the act that ensues is
natural, as instanced in the man born blind who, after being restored
to sight, saw naturally. Therefore if a sound be the cause of
resurrection, the resurrection would be natural: which is false.
On the contrary, It is written (1 Thess. 4:15): "The Lord Himself will
come down from heaven . . . with the trumpet of God; and the dead who
are in Christ shall rise. "
Further, it is written (Jn. 5:28) that they "who are in the graves
shall hear the voice of the Son of God . . . and (Jn. 5:25) they that
hear shall live. " Now this voice is called the trumpet, as stated in
the text (Sent. iv, D, 43). Therefore, etc.
I answer that, Cause and effect must needs in some way be united
together, since mover and moved, maker and made, are simultaneous
(Phys. vii, 2). Now Christ rising again is the univocal cause of our
resurrection: wherefore at the resurrection of bodies, it behooves
Christ to work the resurrection at the giving of some common bodily
sign. According to some this sign will be literally Christ's voice
commanding the resurrection, even as He commanded the sea and the storm
ceased (Mat. 8:26). Others say that this sign will be nothing else than
the manifest appearance of the Son of God in the world, according to
the words of Mat. 24:27: "As lightning cometh out of the east, and
appeareth even into the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of
man be. " These rely on the authority of Gregory [*Moral. xxxi, as
quoted by St. Albert the Great, Sentent. iv, D, 42, A[4]] who says that
"the sound of the trumpet is nothing else but the Son appearing to the
world as judge. " According to this, the visible presence of the Son of
God is called His voice, because as soon as He appears all nature will
obey His command in restoring human bodies: hence He is described as
coming "with commandment" (1 Thess. 4:15). In this way His appearing,
in so far as it has the force of a command, is called His voice: which
voice, whatever it be, is sometimes called a cry [*Mt 25:6], as of a
crier summoning to judgment; sometimes the sound of a trumpet [*1 Cor.
15:52; 1 Thess. 4:15], either on account of its distinctness, as stated
in the text (Sent. iv, D, 43), or as being in keeping with the use of
the trumpet in the Old Testament: for by the trumpet they were summoned
to the council, stirred to the battle, and called to the feast; and
those who rise again will be summoned to the council of judgment, to
the battle in which "the world shall fight . . . against the unwise"
(Wis. 5:21), and to the feast of everlasting solemnity.
Reply to Objection 1: In those words the Damascene touches on three
things respecting the material cause of the resurrection: to wit, the
Divine will which commands, the power which executes, and the ease of
execution, when he adds "bidding," in resemblance to our own affairs:
since it is very easy for us to do what is done at once at our word.
But the ease is much more evident, if before we say a word, our
servants execute our will at once at the first sign of our will, which
sign is called a nod: and this nod is a kind of cause of that
execution, in so far as others are led thereby to accomplish our will.
And the Divine nod, at which the resurrection will take place, is
nothing but the sign given by God, which all nature will obey by
concurring in the resurrection of the dead. This sign is the same as
the sound of the trumpet, as explained above.
Reply to Objection 2: As the forms of the Sacrament have the power to
sanctify, not through being heard, but through being spoken: so this
sound, whatever it be, will have an instrumental efficacy of
resuscitation, not through being perceived, but through being uttered.
Even so a sound by the pulsation of the air arouses the sleeper, by
loosing the organ of perception, and not because it is known: since
judgment about the sound that reaches the ears is subsequent to the
awakening and is not its cause.
Reply to Objection 3: This argument would avail, if the power given to
that sound were a complete being in nature: because then that which
would proceed therefrom would have for principle a power already
rendered natural. But this power is not of that kind but such as we
have ascribed above to the forms of the Sacraments (Sent. iv, D, 1;
[5059]FP, Q[62], AA[1],4).
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Whether the angels will do anything towards the resurrection?
Objection 1: It would seem that the angels will do nothing at all
towards the resurrection. For raising the dead shows a greater power
than does begetting men. Now when men are begotten, the soul is not
infused into the body by means of the angels. Therefore neither will
the resurrection, which is reunion of soul and body, be wrought by the
ministry of the angels.
Objection 2: Further, if this is to be ascribed to the instrumentality
of any angels at all, it would seem especially referable to the
virtues, to whom it belongs to work miracles. Yet it is referred, not
to them, but to the archangels, according to the text (Sent. iv, D,
43). Therefore the resurrection will not be wrought by the ministry of
the angels.
On the contrary, It is stated (1 Thess. 4:15) that "the Lord . . .
shall come down from heaven . . . with the voice of an archangel . . .
and the dead shall rise again. " Therefore the resurrection of the dead
will be accomplished by the angelic ministry.
I answer that, According to Augustine (De Trin. iii, 4) "just as the
grosser and inferior bodies are ruled in a certain order by the more
subtle and more powerful bodies, so are all bodies ruled by God by the
rational spirit of life": and Gregory speaks in the same sense (Dial.
iv, 6). Consequently in all God's bodily works, He employs the ministry
of the angels. Now in the resurrection there is something pertaining to
the transmutation of the bodies, to wit the gathering together of the
mortal remains and the disposal thereof for the restoration of the
human body; wherefore in this respect God will employ the ministry of
the angels in the resurrection. But the soul, even as it is immediately
created by God, so will it be reunited to the body immediately by God
without any operation of the angels: and in like manner He Himself will
glorify the body without the ministry of the angels, just as He
immediately glorifies man's soul.
This ministry of the angels is called
their voice, according to one explanation given in the text (Sent. iv,
D, 43).
Hence the Reply to the First Objection is evident from what has been
said.
Reply to Objection 2: This ministry will be exercised chiefly by one
Archangel, namely Michael, who is the prince of the Church as he was of
the Synagogue (Dan. 10:13, 21). Yet he will act under the influence of
the Virtues and the other higher orders: so that what he shall do, the
higher orders will, in a way, do also. In like manner the lower angels
will co-operate with him as to the resurrection of each individual to
whose guardianship they were appointed: so that this voice can be
ascribed either to one or to many angels.
__________________________________________________________________
OF THE TIME AND MANNER OF THE RESURRECTION (FOUR ARTICLES)
We must now consider the time and manner of the resurrection. Under
this head there are four points of inquiry:
(1) Whether the time of the resurrection should be delayed until the
end of the world?
(2) Whether that time is hidden?
(3) Whether the resurrection will occur at night-time?
(4) Whether it will happen suddenly?
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Whether the time of our resurrection should be delayed till the end of the
world?
Objection 1: It would seem that the time of the resurrection ought not
to be delayed till the end of the world, so that all may rise together.
For there is more conformity between head and members than between one
member and another, as there is more between cause and effect than
between one effect and another. Now Christ, Who is our Head, did not
delay His resurrection until the end of the world, so as to rise again
together with all men. Therefore there is no need for the resurrection
of the early saints to be deferred until the end of the world, so that
they may rise again together with the others.
Objection 2: Further, the resurrection of the Head is the cause of the
resurrection of the members. But the resurrection of certain members
that desire nobility from their being closely connected with the Head
was not delayed till the end of the world, but followed immediately
after Christ's resurrection, as is piously believed concerning the
Blessed Virgin and John the Evangelist [*Ep. de Assump. B. V. , cap. ii,
among St. Jerome's works]. Therefore the resurrection of others will be
so much nearer Christ's resurrection, according as they have been more
conformed to Him by grace and merit.
Objection 3: Further, the state of the New Testament is more perfect,
and bears a closer resemblance to Christ, than the state of the Old
Testament. Yet some of the fathers of the Old Testament rose again when
Christ rose, according to Mat. 27:52: "Many of the bodies of the
saints, that had slept, arose. " Therefore it would seem that the
resurrection of the Old Testament saints should not be delayed till the
end of the world, so that all may rise together.
Objection 4: Further, there will be no numbering of years after the end
of the world. Yet after the resurrection of the dead, the years are
still reckoned until the resurrection of others, as appears from Apoc.
20:4,5. For it is stated there that "I saw . . . the souls of them that
were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God," and
further on: "And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. "
And "the rest of the dead lived not till the thousand years were
finished. " Therefore the resurrection of all is not delayed until the
end of the world, that all may rise together.
On the contrary, It is written (Job 14:12): "Man when he is fallen
asleep shall not rise again till the heavens be broken, he shall not
wake, nor rise out of his sleep," and it is a question of the sleep of
death. Therefore the resurrection of men will be delayed until the end
of the world when the heavens shall be broken.
Further, it is written (Heb. 11:39): "All these being approved by the
testimony of faith received not the promise," i. e. full beatitude of
soul and body, since "God has provided something better for us, lest
they should be consummated," i. e. perfected, "without us---in order
that," as a gloss observes, "through all rejoicing each one might
rejoice the more. " But the resurrection will not precede the
glorification of bodies, because "He will reform the body of our
lowness made like to the body of His glory" (Phil. 3:21), and the
children of the resurrection will be "as the angels . . . in heaven"
(Mat. 22:30). Therefore the resurrection will be delayed till the end
of the world, when all shall rise together.
I answer that, As Augustine states (De Trin. iii, 4) "Divine providence
decreed that the grosser and lower bodies should be ruled in a certain
order by the more subtle and powerful bodies": wherefore the entire
matter of the lower bodies is subject to variation according to the
movement of the heavenly bodies. Hence it would be contrary to the
order established in things by Divine providence if the matter of lower
bodies were brought to the state of incorruption, so long as there
remains movement in the higher bodies. And since, according to the
teaching of faith, the resurrection will bring men to immortal life
conformably to Christ Who "rising again from the dead dieth now no
more" (Rom. 6:9), the resurrection of human bodies will be delayed
until the end of the world when the heavenly movement will cease. For
this reason, too, certain philosophers, who held that the movement of
the heavens will never cease, maintained that human souls will return
to mortal bodies such as we have now---whether, as Empedocles, they
stated that the soul would return to the same body at the end of the
great year, or that it would return to another body; thus Pythagoras
asserted that "any soul will enter any body," as stated in De Anima i,
3.
Reply to Objection 1: Although the head is more conformed to the
members by conformity of proportion (which is requisite in order that
it have influence over the members) than one member is to another, yet
the head has a certain causality over the members which the members
have not; and in this the members differ from the head and agree with
one another. Hence Christ's resurrection is an exemplar of ours, and
through our faith therein there arises in us the hope of our own
resurrection. But the resurrection of one of Christ's members is not
the cause of the resurrection of other members, and consequently
Christ's resurrection had to precede the resurrection of others who
have all to rise again at the consummation of the world.
Reply to Objection 2: Although among the members some rank higher than
others and are more conformed to the Head, they do not attain to the
character of headship so as to be the cause of others. Consequently
greater conformity to Christ does not give them a right to rise again
before others as though they were exemplar and the others exemplate, as
we have said in reference to Christ's resurrection: and if it has been
granted to others that their resurrection should not be delayed until
the general resurrection, this has been by special privilege of grace,
and not as due on account of conformity to Christ.
Reply to Objection 3: Jerome, in a sermon on the Assumption [*Ep. x ad
Paul. et Eustoch. , now recognized as spurious], seems to be doubtful of
this resurrection of the saints with Christ, namely as to whether,
having been witnesses to the resurrection, they died again, so that
theirs was a resuscitation (as in the case of Lazarus who died again)
rather than a resurrection such as will be at the end of the world---or
really rose again to immortal life, to live for ever in the body, and
to ascend bodily into heaven with Christ, as a gloss says on Mat.
27:52. The latter seems more probable, because, as Jerome says, in
order that they might bear true witness to Christ's true resurrection,
it was fitting that they should truly rise again. Nor was their
resurrection hastened for their sake, but for the sake of bearing
witness to Christ's resurrection: and that by bearing witness thereto
they might lay the foundation of the faith of the New Testament:
wherefore it was more fitting that it should be borne by the fathers of
the Old Testament, than by those who died after the foundation of the
New. It must, however, be observed that, although the Gospel mentions
their resurrection before Christ's, we must take this statement as made
in anticipation, as is often the case with writers of history. For none
rose again with a true resurrection before Christ, since He is the
"first-fruits of them that sleep" (1 Cor. 15:20), although some were
resuscitated before Christ's resurrection, as in the case of Lazarus.
Reply to Objection 4: On account of these words, as Augustine relates
(De Civ. Dei xx, 7), certain heretics asserted that there will be a
first resurrection of the dead that they may reign with Christ on earth
for a thousand years; whence they were called "chiliasts" or
"millenarians. " Hence Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xx, 7) that these
words are to be understood otherwise, namely of the spiritual
resurrection, whereby men shall rise again from their sins to the gift
of grace: while the second resurrection is of bodies. The reign of
Christ denotes the Church wherein not only martyrs but also the other
elect reign, the part denoting the whole; or they reign with Christ in
glory as regards all, special mention being made of the martyrs,
because they especially reign after death who fought for the truth,
even unto death. The number of a thousand years denotes not a fixed
number, but the whole of the present time wherein the saints now reign
with Christ, because the number 1,000 designates universality more than
the number 100, since 100 is the square of 10, whereas 1,000 is a cube
resulting from the multiplication of ten by its square, for 10 X 10 =
100, and 100 X 10 = 1,000. Again in Ps. 104:8, "The word which He
commanded to a thousand," i. e. all, "generations. "
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Whether the time of our resurrection is hidden?
Objection 1: It would seem that this time is not hidden. Because when
we know exactly the beginning of a thing, we can know its end exactly,
since "all things are measured by a certain period" (De Generat. ii).
Now the beginning of the world is known exactly. Therefore its end can
also be known exactly. But this will be the time of the resurrection
and judgment. Therefore that time is not hidden.
Objection 2: Further, it is stated (Apoc. 12:6) that "the woman who
represents the Church had a place prepared by God, that there she might
feed [Vulg. : 'they should feed her'] a thousand two hundred sixty
days. " Again (Dan. 12:11), a certain fixed number of days is mentioned,
which apparently signify years, according to Ezech. 4:6: "A day for a
year, yea a day for a year I have appointed to thee. " Therefore the
time of the end of the world and of the resurrection can be known
exactly from Holy Writ.
Objection 3: Further, the state of the New Testament was foreshadowed
in the Old Testament. Now we know exactly the time wherein the state of
the Old Testament endured. Therefore we can also know exactly the time
wherein the state of the New Testament will endure. But the state of
the New Testament will last to the end of the world, wherefore it is
said (Mat. 28:20): "Behold I am with you . . . to the consummation of
the world. " Therefore the time of the end of the world and of the
resurrection can be known exactly.
On the contrary, That which is unknown to the angels will be much more
unknown to men: because those things to which men attain by natural
reason are much more clearly and certainly known to the angels by their
natural knowledge. Moreover revelations are not made to men save by
means of the angels as Dionysius asserts (Coel. Hier. iv). Now the
angels have no exact knowledge of that time, as appears from Mat.
24:36: "Of that day and hour no one knoweth, no not the angels of
heaven. " Therefore that time is hidden from men.
Further, the apostles were more cognizant of God's secrets than others
who followed them, because they had "the first-fruits of the spirit"
(Rom. 8:23)---" before others in point of time and more abundantly," as
a gloss observes. And yet when they questioned our Lord about this very
matter, He answered them (Acts 1:7): "It is not for you to know the
times or moments which the Father hath put in His own power. " Much
more, therefore, is it hidden from others.
I answer that, As Augustine says (Qq. lxxxiii, qu. 58) "as to the last
age of the human race, which begins from our Lord's coming and lasts
until the end of the world, it is uncertain of how many generations it
will consist: even so old age, which is man's last age, has no fixed
time according to the measure of the other ages, since sometimes alone
it lasts as long a time as all the others. " The reason of this is
because the exact length of future time cannot be known except either
by revelation or by natural reason: and the time until the resurrection
cannot be reckoned by natural reason, because the resurrection and the
end of the heavenly movement will be simultaneous as stated above
[5060](A[1]). And all things that are foreseen by natural reason to
happen at a fixed time are reckoned by movement: and it is impossible
from the movement of the heaven to reckon its end, for since it is
circular, it is for this very reason able by its nature to endure for
ever: and consequently the time between this and the resurrection
cannot be reckoned by natural reason. Again it cannot be known by
revelation, so that all may be on the watch and ready to meet Christ:
and for this reason when the apostles asked Him about this, Christ
answered (Acts 1:7): "It is not for you to know the times or moments
which the Father hath put in His own power," whereby, as Augustine says
(De Civ. Dei xviii, 53): "He scatters the fingers of all calculators
and bids them be still. " For what He refused to tell the apostles, He
will not reveal to others: wherefore all those who have been misled to
reckon the aforesaid time have so far proved to be untruthful; for
some, as Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xviii, 53), stated that from our
Lord's Ascension to His last coming 400 years would elapse, others 500,
others 1,000. The falseness of these calculators is evident, as will
likewise be the falseness of those who even now cease not to calculate.
Reply to Objection 1: When we know a thing's beginning and also its end
it follows that its measure is known to us: wherefore if we know the
beginning of a thing the duration of which is measured by the movement
of the heaven, we are able to know its end, since the movement of
heaven is known to us. But the measure of the duration of the heavenly
movement is God's ordinance alone, which is unknown to us. Wherefore
however much we may know its beginning, we are unable to know its end.
Reply to Objection 2: The thousand two hundred sixty days mentioned in
the Apocalypse (12:6) denote all the time during which the Church
endures, and not any definite number of years. The reason whereof is
because the preaching of Christ on which the Church is built lasted
three years and a half, which time contains almost an equal number of
days as the aforesaid number. Again the number of days appointed by
Daniel does not refer to a number of years to elapse before the end of
the world or until the preaching of Antichrist, but to the time of
Antichrist's preaching and the duration of his persecution.
Reply to Objection 3: Although the state of the New Testament in
general is foreshadowed by the state of the Old Testament it does not
follow that individuals correspond to individuals: especially since all
the figures of the Old Testament were fulfilled in Christ. Hence
Augustine (De Civ. Dei xviii, 52) answers certain persons who wished to
liken the number of persecutions suffered by the Church to the number
of the plagues of Egypt, in these words: "I do not think that the
occurrences in Egypt were in their signification prophetic of these
persecutions, although those who think so have shown nicety and
ingenuity in adapting them severally the one to the other, not indeed
by a prophetic spirit, but by the guess-work of the human mind, which
sometimes reaches the truth and sometimes not. " The same remarks would
seem applicable to the statements of Abbot Joachim, who by means of
such conjectures about the future foretold some things that were true,
and in others was deceived.
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Whether the resurrection will take place at night-time?
Objection 1: It would seem that the resurrection will not be at
night-time. For the resurrection will not be "till the heavens be
broken" (Job 14:12). Now when the heavenly movement ceases, which is
signified by its breaking, there will be no time, neither night nor
day. Therefore the resurrection will not be at night-time.
Objection 2: Further, the end of a thing ought to be most perfect. Now
the end of time will be then: wherefore it is said (Apoc. 10:6) that
"time shall be no longer. " Therefore time ought to be then in its most
perfect disposition and consequently it should be the daytime.
Objection 3: Further, the time should be such as to be adapted to what
is done therein: wherefore (Jn. 13:30) the night is mentioned as being
the time when Judas went out from the fellowship of the light. Now, all
things that are hidden at the present time will then be made most
manifest, because when the Lord shall come He "will bring to light the
hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the
hearts" (1 Cor. 4:5). Therefore it ought to be during the day.
On the contrary, Christ's resurrection is the exemplar of ours. Now
Christ's resurrection was at night, as Gregory says in a homily for
Easter (xxi in Evang. ). Therefore our resurrection will also be at
night-time.
Further, the coming of our Lord is compared to the coming of a thief
into the house (Lk. 12:39,40). But the thief comes to the house at
night-time. Therefore our Lord will also come in the night. Now, when
He comes the resurrection will take place, as stated above
([5061]Q[76], A[2]). Therefore the resurrection will be at night-time.
I answer that, The exact time and hour at which the resurrection will
be cannot be known for certain, as stated in the text (Sent. iv, D,
43). Nevertheless some assert with sufficient probability that it will
be towards the twilight, the moon being in the east and the sun in the
west; because the sun and moon are believed to have been created in
these positions, and thus their revolutions will be altogether
completed by their return to the same point. Wherefore it is said that
Christ arose at such an hour.
Reply to Objection 1: When the resurrection occurs, it will not be time
but the end of time; because at the very instant that the heavens will
cease to move the dead will rise again. Nevertheless the stars will be
in the same position as they occupy now at any fixed hour: and
accordingly it is said that the resurrection will be at this or that
hour.
Reply to Objection 2: The most perfect disposition of time is said to
be midday, on account of the light given by the sun. But then the city
of God will need neither sun nor moon, because the glory of God will
enlighten it (Apoc. 22:5). Wherefore in this respect it matters not
whether the resurrection be in the day or in the night.
Reply to Objection 3: That time should be adapted to manifestation as
regards the things that will happen then, and to secrecy as regards the
fixing of the time. Hence either may happen fittingly, namely that the
resurrection be in the day or in the night.
__________________________________________________________________
Whether the resurrection will happen suddenly or by degrees?
Objection 1: It would seem that the resurrection will not happen
suddenly but by degrees. For the resurrection of the dead is foretold
(Ezech. 37:7,8) where it is written: "The bones came together . . . and
I saw and behold the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the
skin was stretched out over them, but there was no spirit in them. "
Therefore the restoration of the bodies will precede in time their
reunion with the souls, and thus the resurrection will not be sudden.
Objection 2: Further, a thing does not happen suddenly if it require
several actions following one another. Now the resurrection requires
several actions following one another, namely the gathering of the
ashes, the refashioning of the body, the infusion of the soul.
Therefore the resurrection will not be sudden.
Objection 3: Further, all sound is measured by time. Now the sound of
the trumpet will be the cause of the resurrection, as stated above
([5062]Q[76], A[2]). Therefore the resurrection will take time and will
not happen suddenly.
Objection 4: Further, no local movement can be sudden as stated in De
Sensu et Sensato vii. Now the resurrection requires local movement in
the gathering of the ashes. Therefore it will not happen suddenly.
On the contrary, It is written (1 Cor. 15:51,52): "We shall all indeed
rise again . . . in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. " Therefore
the resurrection will be sudden.
Further, infinite power works suddenly. But the Damascene says (De Fide
Orth.
the Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iii, 14), "that which is commonly
observed in all, marks the nature of the individuals contained under
it. " Now resurrection applies commonly to all. Therefore it is natural.
Objection 2: Further, Gregory says (Moral. xiv, 55): "Those who do not
hold the resurrection on the principle of obedience ought certainly to
hold it on the principle of reason. For what does the world every day
but imitate, in its elements, our resurrection? " And he offers as
examples the light which "as it were dies . . . and is withdrawn from
our sight . . . and again rises anew, as it were, and is recalled---the
shrubs which lose their greenery, and again by a kind of resurrection
are renewed---and the seeds which rot and die and then sprout and rise
again as it were": which same example is adduced by the Apostle (1 Cor.
15:36). Now from the works of nature nothing can be known save what is
natural. Therefore the resurrection is natural.
Objection 3: Further, things that are against nature abide not for
long, because they are violent, so to speak. But the life that is
restored by the resurrection will last for ever. Therefore the
resurrection will be natural.
Objection 4: Further, that to which the entire expectation of nature
looks forward would seem to be natural. Now such a thing is the
resurrection and the glorification of the saints according to Rom.
8:19. Therefore the resurrection will be natural.
Objection 5: Further, the resurrection is a kind of movement towards
the everlasting union of soul and body. Now movement is natural if it
terminate in a natural rest (Phys. v, 6): and the everlasting union of
soul and body will be natural, for since the soul is the body's proper
mover, it has a body proportionate to it: so that the body is likewise
for ever capable of being quickened by it, even as the soul lives for
ever. Therefore the resurrection will be natural.
On the contrary, There is no natural return from privation to habit.
But death is privation of life. Therefore the resurrection whereby one
returns from death to life is not natural.
Further, things of the one species have one fixed way of origin:
wherefore animals begotten of putrefaction are never of the same
species as those begotten of seed, as the Commentator says on Phys.
viii. Now the natural way of man's origin is for him to be begotten of
a like in species: and such is not the case in the resurrection.
Therefore it will not be natural.
I answer that, A movement or an action stands related to nature in
three ways. For there is a movement or action whereof nature is neither
the principle nor the term: and such a movement is sometimes from a
principle above nature as in the case of a glorified body; and
sometimes from any other principle whatever; for instance, the violent
upward movement of a stone which terminates in a violent rest. Again,
there is a movement whereof nature is both principle and term: for
instance, the downward movement of a stone. And there is another
movement whereof nature is the term, but not the principle, the latter
being sometimes something above nature (as in giving sight to a blind
man, for sight is natural, but the principle of the sight-giving is
above nature), and sometimes something else, as in the forcing of
flowers or fruit by artificial process. It is impossible for nature to
be the principle and not the term, because natural principles are
appointed to definite effects, beyond which they cannot extend.
Accordingly the action or movement that is related to nature in the
first way can nowise be natural, but is either miraculous if it come
from a principle above nature, or violent if from any other principle.
The action or movement that is related to nature in the second way is
simply natural: but the action that is related to nature in the third
way cannot be described as natural simply, but as natural in a
restricted sense, in so far, to wit, as it leads to that which is
according to nature: but it is called either miraculous or artificial
or violent. For, properly speaking, natural is that which is according
to nature, and a thing is according to nature if it has that nature and
whatever results from that nature (Phys. ii, 1). Consequently, speaking
simply, movement cannot be described as natural unless its principle be
natural.
Now nature cannot be the principle of resurrection, although
resurrection terminates in the life of nature. For nature is the
principle of movement in the thing wherein nature is---either the
active principle, as in the movement of heavy and light bodies and in
the natural alterations of animals---or the passive principle, as in
the generation of simple bodies. The passive principle of natural
generation is the natural passive potentiality which always has an
active principle corresponding to it in nature, according to
Metaphysics viii, 1: nor as to this does it matter whether the active
principle in nature correspond to the passive principle in respect of
its ultimate perfection, namely the form; or in respect of a
disposition in virtue of which it demands the ultimate form, as in the
generation of a man according to the teaching of faith, or in all other
generations according to the opinions of Plato and Avicenna. But in
nature there is no active principle of the resurrection, neither as
regards the union of the soul with the body, nor as regards the
disposition which is the demand for that union: since such a
disposition cannot be produced by nature, except in a definite way by
the process of generation from seed. Wherefore even granted a passive
potentiality on the part of the body, or any kind of inclination to its
union with the soul, it is not such as to suffice for the conditions of
natural movement. Therefore the resurrection, strictly speaking, is
miraculous and not natural except in a restricted sense, as we have
explained.
Reply to Objection 1: Damascene is speaking of those things that are
found in all individuals and are caused by the principles of nature.
For supposing by a divine operation all men to be made white, or to be
gathered together in one place, as happened at the time of the deluge,
it would not follow that whiteness or existence in some particular
place is a natural property of man.
Reply to Objection 2: From natural things one does not come by a
demonstration of reason to know non-natural things, but by the
induction of reason one may know something above nature, since the
natural bears a certain resemblance to the supernatural. Thus the union
of soul and body resembles the union of the soul with God by the glory
of fruition, as the Master says (Sent. ii, D, 1): and in like manner
the examples, quoted by the Apostle and Gregory, are confirmatory
evidences of our faith in the resurrection.
Reply to Objection 3: This argument regards an operation which
terminates in something that is not natural but contrary to nature.
Such is not the resurrection, and hence the argument is not to the
point.
Reply to Objection 4: The entire operation of nature is subordinate to
the Divine operation, just as the working of a lower art is subordinate
to the working of a higher art. Hence just as all the work of a lower
art has in view an end unattainable save by the operation of the higher
art that produces the form, or makes use of what has been made by art:
so the last end which the whole expectation of nature has in view is
unattainable by the operation of nature, and for which reason the
attaining thereto is not natural.
Reply to Objection 5: Although there can be no natural movement
terminating in a violent rest, there can be a non-natural movement
terminating in a natural rest, as explained above.
__________________________________________________________________
OF THE CAUSE OF THE RESURRECTION (THREE ARTICLES)
We must next consider the cause of our resurrection. Under this head
there are three points of inquiry:
(1) Whether Christ's resurrection is the cause of our resurrection?
(2) Whether the sound of the trumpet is?
(3) Whether the angels are?
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Whether the resurrection of Christ is the cause of our resurrection?
Objection 1: It would seem that the resurrection of Christ is not the
cause of our resurrection. For, given the cause, the effect follows.
Yet given the resurrection of Christ the resurrection of the other dead
did not follow at once. Therefore His resurrection is not the cause of
ours.
Objection 2: Further, an effect cannot be unless the cause precede. But
the resurrection of the dead would be even if Christ had not risen
again: for God could have delivered man in some other way. Therefore
Christ's resurrection is not the cause of ours.
Objection 3: Further, the same thing produces the one effect throughout
the one same species. Now the resurrection will be common to all men.
Since then Christ's resurrection is not its own cause, it is not the
cause of the resurrection of others.
Objection 4: Further, an effect retains some likeness to its cause. But
the resurrection, at least of some, namely the wicked, bears no
likeness to the resurrection of Christ. Therefore Christ's resurrection
will not be the cause of theirs.
On the contrary, "In every genus that which is first is the cause of
those that come after it" (Metaph. ii, 1). Now Christ, by reason of His
bodily resurrection, is called "the first-fruits of them that sleep" (1
Cor. 15:20), and "the first-begotten of the dead" (Apoc. 1:5).
Therefore His resurrection is the cause of the resurrection of others.
Further, Christ's resurrection has more in common with our bodily
resurrection than with our spiritual resurrection which is by
justification. But Christ's resurrection is the cause of our
justification, as appears from Rom. 4:25, where it is said that He
"rose again for our justification. " Therefore Christ's resurrection is
the cause of our bodily resurrection.
I answer that, Christ by reason of His nature is called the mediator of
God and men: wherefore the Divine gifts are bestowed on men by means of
Christ's humanity. Now just as we cannot be delivered from spiritual
death save by the gift of grace bestowed by God, so neither can we be
delivered from bodily death except by resurrection wrought by the
Divine power. And therefore as Christ, in respect of His human nature,
received the firstfruits of grace from above, and His grace is the
cause of our grace, because "of His fulness we all have received . . .
grace for grace" (Jn. 1:16), so in Christ has our resurrection begun,
and His resurrection is the cause of ours. Thus Christ as God is, as it
were, the equivocal cause of our resurrection, but as God and man
rising again, He is the proximate and, so to say, the univocal cause of
our resurrection. Now a univocal efficient cause produces its effect in
likeness to its own form, so that not only is it an efficient, but also
an exemplar cause in relation to that effect. This happens in two ways.
For sometimes this very form, whereby the agent is likened to its
effect, is the direct principle of the action by which the effect is
produced, as heat in the fire that heats: and sometimes it is not the
form in respect of which this likeness is observed, that is primarily
and directly the principle of that action, but the principles of that
form. For instance, if a white man beget a white man, the whiteness of
the begetter is not the principle of active generation, and yet the
whiteness of the begetter is said to be the cause of the whiteness of
the begotten, because the principles of whiteness in the begetter are
the generative principles causing whiteness in the begotten. In this
way the resurrection of Christ is the cause of our resurrection,
because the same thing that wrought the resurrection of Christ, which
is the univocal efficient cause of our resurrection, is the active
cause of our resurrection, namely the power of Christ's Godhead which
is common to Him and the Father. Hence it is written (Rom. 8:11): "He
that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall quicken also your
mortal bodies. " And this very resurrection of Christ by virtue of His
indwelling Godhead is the quasi-instrumental cause of our resurrection:
since the Divine operations were wrought by means of Christ's flesh, as
though it were a kind of organ; thus the Damascene instances as an
example (De Fide Orth. iii, 15) the touch of His body whereby He healed
the leper (Mat. 8:3).
Reply to Objection 1: A sufficient cause produces at once its effect to
which it is immediately directed, but not the effect to which it is
directed by means of something else, no matter how sufficient it may
be: thus heat, however intense it be, does not cause heat at once in
the first instant, but it begins at once to set up a movement towards
heat, because heat is its effect by means of movement. Now Christ's
resurrection is said to be the cause of ours, in that it works our
resurrection, not immediately, but by means of its principle, namely
the Divine power which will work our resurrection in likeness to the
resurrection of Christ. Now God's power works by means of His will
which is nearest to the effect; hence it is not necessary that our
resurrection should follow straightway after He has wrought the
resurrection of Christ, but that it should happen at the time which
God's will has decreed.
Reply to Objection 2: God's power is not tied to any particular second
causes, but that He can produce their effects either immediately or by
means of other causes: thus He might work the generation of lower
bodies even though there were no movement of the heaven: and yet
according to the order which He has established in things, the movement
of the heaven is the cause of the generation of the lower bodies. In
like manner according to the order appointed to human things by Divine
providence, Christ's resurrection is the cause of ours: and yet He
could have appointed another order, and then our resurrection would
have had another cause ordained by God.
Reply to Objection 3: This argument holds when all the things of one
species have the same order to the first cause of the effect to be
produced in the whole of that species. But it is not so in the case in
point, because Christ's humanity is nearer to His Godhead, Whose power
is the first cause of the resurrection, than is the humanity of others.
Hence Christ's Godhead caused His resurrection immediately, but it
causes the resurrection of others by means of Christ-man rising again.
Reply to Objection 4: The resurrection of all men will bear some
resemblance to Christ's resurrection, as regards that which pertains to
the life of nature, in respect of which all were conformed to Christ.
Hence all will rise again to immortal life; but in the saints who were
conformed to Christ by grace, there will be conformity as to things
pertaining to glory.
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Whether the sound of the trumpet will be the cause of our resurrection?
Objection 1: It would seem that the sound of the trumpet will not be
the cause of our resurrection. For the Damascene says (De Fide Orth.
iv): "Thou must believe that the resurrection will take place by God's
will, power, and nod. " Therefore since these are a sufficient cause of
our resurrection, we ought not to assign the sound of the trumpet as a
cause thereof.
Objection 2: Further, it is useless to make sounds to one who cannot
hear. But the dead will not have hearing. Therefore it is unfitting to
make a sound to arouse them.
Objection 3: Further, if any sound is the cause of the resurrection,
this will only be by a power given by God to the sound: wherefore a
gloss on Ps. 67:34, "He will give to His voice the voice of power,"
says: "to arouse our bodies. " Now from the moment that a power is given
to a thing, though it be given miraculously, the act that ensues is
natural, as instanced in the man born blind who, after being restored
to sight, saw naturally. Therefore if a sound be the cause of
resurrection, the resurrection would be natural: which is false.
On the contrary, It is written (1 Thess. 4:15): "The Lord Himself will
come down from heaven . . . with the trumpet of God; and the dead who
are in Christ shall rise. "
Further, it is written (Jn. 5:28) that they "who are in the graves
shall hear the voice of the Son of God . . . and (Jn. 5:25) they that
hear shall live. " Now this voice is called the trumpet, as stated in
the text (Sent. iv, D, 43). Therefore, etc.
I answer that, Cause and effect must needs in some way be united
together, since mover and moved, maker and made, are simultaneous
(Phys. vii, 2). Now Christ rising again is the univocal cause of our
resurrection: wherefore at the resurrection of bodies, it behooves
Christ to work the resurrection at the giving of some common bodily
sign. According to some this sign will be literally Christ's voice
commanding the resurrection, even as He commanded the sea and the storm
ceased (Mat. 8:26). Others say that this sign will be nothing else than
the manifest appearance of the Son of God in the world, according to
the words of Mat. 24:27: "As lightning cometh out of the east, and
appeareth even into the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of
man be. " These rely on the authority of Gregory [*Moral. xxxi, as
quoted by St. Albert the Great, Sentent. iv, D, 42, A[4]] who says that
"the sound of the trumpet is nothing else but the Son appearing to the
world as judge. " According to this, the visible presence of the Son of
God is called His voice, because as soon as He appears all nature will
obey His command in restoring human bodies: hence He is described as
coming "with commandment" (1 Thess. 4:15). In this way His appearing,
in so far as it has the force of a command, is called His voice: which
voice, whatever it be, is sometimes called a cry [*Mt 25:6], as of a
crier summoning to judgment; sometimes the sound of a trumpet [*1 Cor.
15:52; 1 Thess. 4:15], either on account of its distinctness, as stated
in the text (Sent. iv, D, 43), or as being in keeping with the use of
the trumpet in the Old Testament: for by the trumpet they were summoned
to the council, stirred to the battle, and called to the feast; and
those who rise again will be summoned to the council of judgment, to
the battle in which "the world shall fight . . . against the unwise"
(Wis. 5:21), and to the feast of everlasting solemnity.
Reply to Objection 1: In those words the Damascene touches on three
things respecting the material cause of the resurrection: to wit, the
Divine will which commands, the power which executes, and the ease of
execution, when he adds "bidding," in resemblance to our own affairs:
since it is very easy for us to do what is done at once at our word.
But the ease is much more evident, if before we say a word, our
servants execute our will at once at the first sign of our will, which
sign is called a nod: and this nod is a kind of cause of that
execution, in so far as others are led thereby to accomplish our will.
And the Divine nod, at which the resurrection will take place, is
nothing but the sign given by God, which all nature will obey by
concurring in the resurrection of the dead. This sign is the same as
the sound of the trumpet, as explained above.
Reply to Objection 2: As the forms of the Sacrament have the power to
sanctify, not through being heard, but through being spoken: so this
sound, whatever it be, will have an instrumental efficacy of
resuscitation, not through being perceived, but through being uttered.
Even so a sound by the pulsation of the air arouses the sleeper, by
loosing the organ of perception, and not because it is known: since
judgment about the sound that reaches the ears is subsequent to the
awakening and is not its cause.
Reply to Objection 3: This argument would avail, if the power given to
that sound were a complete being in nature: because then that which
would proceed therefrom would have for principle a power already
rendered natural. But this power is not of that kind but such as we
have ascribed above to the forms of the Sacraments (Sent. iv, D, 1;
[5059]FP, Q[62], AA[1],4).
__________________________________________________________________
Whether the angels will do anything towards the resurrection?
Objection 1: It would seem that the angels will do nothing at all
towards the resurrection. For raising the dead shows a greater power
than does begetting men. Now when men are begotten, the soul is not
infused into the body by means of the angels. Therefore neither will
the resurrection, which is reunion of soul and body, be wrought by the
ministry of the angels.
Objection 2: Further, if this is to be ascribed to the instrumentality
of any angels at all, it would seem especially referable to the
virtues, to whom it belongs to work miracles. Yet it is referred, not
to them, but to the archangels, according to the text (Sent. iv, D,
43). Therefore the resurrection will not be wrought by the ministry of
the angels.
On the contrary, It is stated (1 Thess. 4:15) that "the Lord . . .
shall come down from heaven . . . with the voice of an archangel . . .
and the dead shall rise again. " Therefore the resurrection of the dead
will be accomplished by the angelic ministry.
I answer that, According to Augustine (De Trin. iii, 4) "just as the
grosser and inferior bodies are ruled in a certain order by the more
subtle and more powerful bodies, so are all bodies ruled by God by the
rational spirit of life": and Gregory speaks in the same sense (Dial.
iv, 6). Consequently in all God's bodily works, He employs the ministry
of the angels. Now in the resurrection there is something pertaining to
the transmutation of the bodies, to wit the gathering together of the
mortal remains and the disposal thereof for the restoration of the
human body; wherefore in this respect God will employ the ministry of
the angels in the resurrection. But the soul, even as it is immediately
created by God, so will it be reunited to the body immediately by God
without any operation of the angels: and in like manner He Himself will
glorify the body without the ministry of the angels, just as He
immediately glorifies man's soul.
This ministry of the angels is called
their voice, according to one explanation given in the text (Sent. iv,
D, 43).
Hence the Reply to the First Objection is evident from what has been
said.
Reply to Objection 2: This ministry will be exercised chiefly by one
Archangel, namely Michael, who is the prince of the Church as he was of
the Synagogue (Dan. 10:13, 21). Yet he will act under the influence of
the Virtues and the other higher orders: so that what he shall do, the
higher orders will, in a way, do also. In like manner the lower angels
will co-operate with him as to the resurrection of each individual to
whose guardianship they were appointed: so that this voice can be
ascribed either to one or to many angels.
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OF THE TIME AND MANNER OF THE RESURRECTION (FOUR ARTICLES)
We must now consider the time and manner of the resurrection. Under
this head there are four points of inquiry:
(1) Whether the time of the resurrection should be delayed until the
end of the world?
(2) Whether that time is hidden?
(3) Whether the resurrection will occur at night-time?
(4) Whether it will happen suddenly?
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Whether the time of our resurrection should be delayed till the end of the
world?
Objection 1: It would seem that the time of the resurrection ought not
to be delayed till the end of the world, so that all may rise together.
For there is more conformity between head and members than between one
member and another, as there is more between cause and effect than
between one effect and another. Now Christ, Who is our Head, did not
delay His resurrection until the end of the world, so as to rise again
together with all men. Therefore there is no need for the resurrection
of the early saints to be deferred until the end of the world, so that
they may rise again together with the others.
Objection 2: Further, the resurrection of the Head is the cause of the
resurrection of the members. But the resurrection of certain members
that desire nobility from their being closely connected with the Head
was not delayed till the end of the world, but followed immediately
after Christ's resurrection, as is piously believed concerning the
Blessed Virgin and John the Evangelist [*Ep. de Assump. B. V. , cap. ii,
among St. Jerome's works]. Therefore the resurrection of others will be
so much nearer Christ's resurrection, according as they have been more
conformed to Him by grace and merit.
Objection 3: Further, the state of the New Testament is more perfect,
and bears a closer resemblance to Christ, than the state of the Old
Testament. Yet some of the fathers of the Old Testament rose again when
Christ rose, according to Mat. 27:52: "Many of the bodies of the
saints, that had slept, arose. " Therefore it would seem that the
resurrection of the Old Testament saints should not be delayed till the
end of the world, so that all may rise together.
Objection 4: Further, there will be no numbering of years after the end
of the world. Yet after the resurrection of the dead, the years are
still reckoned until the resurrection of others, as appears from Apoc.
20:4,5. For it is stated there that "I saw . . . the souls of them that
were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God," and
further on: "And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. "
And "the rest of the dead lived not till the thousand years were
finished. " Therefore the resurrection of all is not delayed until the
end of the world, that all may rise together.
On the contrary, It is written (Job 14:12): "Man when he is fallen
asleep shall not rise again till the heavens be broken, he shall not
wake, nor rise out of his sleep," and it is a question of the sleep of
death. Therefore the resurrection of men will be delayed until the end
of the world when the heavens shall be broken.
Further, it is written (Heb. 11:39): "All these being approved by the
testimony of faith received not the promise," i. e. full beatitude of
soul and body, since "God has provided something better for us, lest
they should be consummated," i. e. perfected, "without us---in order
that," as a gloss observes, "through all rejoicing each one might
rejoice the more. " But the resurrection will not precede the
glorification of bodies, because "He will reform the body of our
lowness made like to the body of His glory" (Phil. 3:21), and the
children of the resurrection will be "as the angels . . . in heaven"
(Mat. 22:30). Therefore the resurrection will be delayed till the end
of the world, when all shall rise together.
I answer that, As Augustine states (De Trin. iii, 4) "Divine providence
decreed that the grosser and lower bodies should be ruled in a certain
order by the more subtle and powerful bodies": wherefore the entire
matter of the lower bodies is subject to variation according to the
movement of the heavenly bodies. Hence it would be contrary to the
order established in things by Divine providence if the matter of lower
bodies were brought to the state of incorruption, so long as there
remains movement in the higher bodies. And since, according to the
teaching of faith, the resurrection will bring men to immortal life
conformably to Christ Who "rising again from the dead dieth now no
more" (Rom. 6:9), the resurrection of human bodies will be delayed
until the end of the world when the heavenly movement will cease. For
this reason, too, certain philosophers, who held that the movement of
the heavens will never cease, maintained that human souls will return
to mortal bodies such as we have now---whether, as Empedocles, they
stated that the soul would return to the same body at the end of the
great year, or that it would return to another body; thus Pythagoras
asserted that "any soul will enter any body," as stated in De Anima i,
3.
Reply to Objection 1: Although the head is more conformed to the
members by conformity of proportion (which is requisite in order that
it have influence over the members) than one member is to another, yet
the head has a certain causality over the members which the members
have not; and in this the members differ from the head and agree with
one another. Hence Christ's resurrection is an exemplar of ours, and
through our faith therein there arises in us the hope of our own
resurrection. But the resurrection of one of Christ's members is not
the cause of the resurrection of other members, and consequently
Christ's resurrection had to precede the resurrection of others who
have all to rise again at the consummation of the world.
Reply to Objection 2: Although among the members some rank higher than
others and are more conformed to the Head, they do not attain to the
character of headship so as to be the cause of others. Consequently
greater conformity to Christ does not give them a right to rise again
before others as though they were exemplar and the others exemplate, as
we have said in reference to Christ's resurrection: and if it has been
granted to others that their resurrection should not be delayed until
the general resurrection, this has been by special privilege of grace,
and not as due on account of conformity to Christ.
Reply to Objection 3: Jerome, in a sermon on the Assumption [*Ep. x ad
Paul. et Eustoch. , now recognized as spurious], seems to be doubtful of
this resurrection of the saints with Christ, namely as to whether,
having been witnesses to the resurrection, they died again, so that
theirs was a resuscitation (as in the case of Lazarus who died again)
rather than a resurrection such as will be at the end of the world---or
really rose again to immortal life, to live for ever in the body, and
to ascend bodily into heaven with Christ, as a gloss says on Mat.
27:52. The latter seems more probable, because, as Jerome says, in
order that they might bear true witness to Christ's true resurrection,
it was fitting that they should truly rise again. Nor was their
resurrection hastened for their sake, but for the sake of bearing
witness to Christ's resurrection: and that by bearing witness thereto
they might lay the foundation of the faith of the New Testament:
wherefore it was more fitting that it should be borne by the fathers of
the Old Testament, than by those who died after the foundation of the
New. It must, however, be observed that, although the Gospel mentions
their resurrection before Christ's, we must take this statement as made
in anticipation, as is often the case with writers of history. For none
rose again with a true resurrection before Christ, since He is the
"first-fruits of them that sleep" (1 Cor. 15:20), although some were
resuscitated before Christ's resurrection, as in the case of Lazarus.
Reply to Objection 4: On account of these words, as Augustine relates
(De Civ. Dei xx, 7), certain heretics asserted that there will be a
first resurrection of the dead that they may reign with Christ on earth
for a thousand years; whence they were called "chiliasts" or
"millenarians. " Hence Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xx, 7) that these
words are to be understood otherwise, namely of the spiritual
resurrection, whereby men shall rise again from their sins to the gift
of grace: while the second resurrection is of bodies. The reign of
Christ denotes the Church wherein not only martyrs but also the other
elect reign, the part denoting the whole; or they reign with Christ in
glory as regards all, special mention being made of the martyrs,
because they especially reign after death who fought for the truth,
even unto death. The number of a thousand years denotes not a fixed
number, but the whole of the present time wherein the saints now reign
with Christ, because the number 1,000 designates universality more than
the number 100, since 100 is the square of 10, whereas 1,000 is a cube
resulting from the multiplication of ten by its square, for 10 X 10 =
100, and 100 X 10 = 1,000. Again in Ps. 104:8, "The word which He
commanded to a thousand," i. e. all, "generations. "
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Whether the time of our resurrection is hidden?
Objection 1: It would seem that this time is not hidden. Because when
we know exactly the beginning of a thing, we can know its end exactly,
since "all things are measured by a certain period" (De Generat. ii).
Now the beginning of the world is known exactly. Therefore its end can
also be known exactly. But this will be the time of the resurrection
and judgment. Therefore that time is not hidden.
Objection 2: Further, it is stated (Apoc. 12:6) that "the woman who
represents the Church had a place prepared by God, that there she might
feed [Vulg. : 'they should feed her'] a thousand two hundred sixty
days. " Again (Dan. 12:11), a certain fixed number of days is mentioned,
which apparently signify years, according to Ezech. 4:6: "A day for a
year, yea a day for a year I have appointed to thee. " Therefore the
time of the end of the world and of the resurrection can be known
exactly from Holy Writ.
Objection 3: Further, the state of the New Testament was foreshadowed
in the Old Testament. Now we know exactly the time wherein the state of
the Old Testament endured. Therefore we can also know exactly the time
wherein the state of the New Testament will endure. But the state of
the New Testament will last to the end of the world, wherefore it is
said (Mat. 28:20): "Behold I am with you . . . to the consummation of
the world. " Therefore the time of the end of the world and of the
resurrection can be known exactly.
On the contrary, That which is unknown to the angels will be much more
unknown to men: because those things to which men attain by natural
reason are much more clearly and certainly known to the angels by their
natural knowledge. Moreover revelations are not made to men save by
means of the angels as Dionysius asserts (Coel. Hier. iv). Now the
angels have no exact knowledge of that time, as appears from Mat.
24:36: "Of that day and hour no one knoweth, no not the angels of
heaven. " Therefore that time is hidden from men.
Further, the apostles were more cognizant of God's secrets than others
who followed them, because they had "the first-fruits of the spirit"
(Rom. 8:23)---" before others in point of time and more abundantly," as
a gloss observes. And yet when they questioned our Lord about this very
matter, He answered them (Acts 1:7): "It is not for you to know the
times or moments which the Father hath put in His own power. " Much
more, therefore, is it hidden from others.
I answer that, As Augustine says (Qq. lxxxiii, qu. 58) "as to the last
age of the human race, which begins from our Lord's coming and lasts
until the end of the world, it is uncertain of how many generations it
will consist: even so old age, which is man's last age, has no fixed
time according to the measure of the other ages, since sometimes alone
it lasts as long a time as all the others. " The reason of this is
because the exact length of future time cannot be known except either
by revelation or by natural reason: and the time until the resurrection
cannot be reckoned by natural reason, because the resurrection and the
end of the heavenly movement will be simultaneous as stated above
[5060](A[1]). And all things that are foreseen by natural reason to
happen at a fixed time are reckoned by movement: and it is impossible
from the movement of the heaven to reckon its end, for since it is
circular, it is for this very reason able by its nature to endure for
ever: and consequently the time between this and the resurrection
cannot be reckoned by natural reason. Again it cannot be known by
revelation, so that all may be on the watch and ready to meet Christ:
and for this reason when the apostles asked Him about this, Christ
answered (Acts 1:7): "It is not for you to know the times or moments
which the Father hath put in His own power," whereby, as Augustine says
(De Civ. Dei xviii, 53): "He scatters the fingers of all calculators
and bids them be still. " For what He refused to tell the apostles, He
will not reveal to others: wherefore all those who have been misled to
reckon the aforesaid time have so far proved to be untruthful; for
some, as Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xviii, 53), stated that from our
Lord's Ascension to His last coming 400 years would elapse, others 500,
others 1,000. The falseness of these calculators is evident, as will
likewise be the falseness of those who even now cease not to calculate.
Reply to Objection 1: When we know a thing's beginning and also its end
it follows that its measure is known to us: wherefore if we know the
beginning of a thing the duration of which is measured by the movement
of the heaven, we are able to know its end, since the movement of
heaven is known to us. But the measure of the duration of the heavenly
movement is God's ordinance alone, which is unknown to us. Wherefore
however much we may know its beginning, we are unable to know its end.
Reply to Objection 2: The thousand two hundred sixty days mentioned in
the Apocalypse (12:6) denote all the time during which the Church
endures, and not any definite number of years. The reason whereof is
because the preaching of Christ on which the Church is built lasted
three years and a half, which time contains almost an equal number of
days as the aforesaid number. Again the number of days appointed by
Daniel does not refer to a number of years to elapse before the end of
the world or until the preaching of Antichrist, but to the time of
Antichrist's preaching and the duration of his persecution.
Reply to Objection 3: Although the state of the New Testament in
general is foreshadowed by the state of the Old Testament it does not
follow that individuals correspond to individuals: especially since all
the figures of the Old Testament were fulfilled in Christ. Hence
Augustine (De Civ. Dei xviii, 52) answers certain persons who wished to
liken the number of persecutions suffered by the Church to the number
of the plagues of Egypt, in these words: "I do not think that the
occurrences in Egypt were in their signification prophetic of these
persecutions, although those who think so have shown nicety and
ingenuity in adapting them severally the one to the other, not indeed
by a prophetic spirit, but by the guess-work of the human mind, which
sometimes reaches the truth and sometimes not. " The same remarks would
seem applicable to the statements of Abbot Joachim, who by means of
such conjectures about the future foretold some things that were true,
and in others was deceived.
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Whether the resurrection will take place at night-time?
Objection 1: It would seem that the resurrection will not be at
night-time. For the resurrection will not be "till the heavens be
broken" (Job 14:12). Now when the heavenly movement ceases, which is
signified by its breaking, there will be no time, neither night nor
day. Therefore the resurrection will not be at night-time.
Objection 2: Further, the end of a thing ought to be most perfect. Now
the end of time will be then: wherefore it is said (Apoc. 10:6) that
"time shall be no longer. " Therefore time ought to be then in its most
perfect disposition and consequently it should be the daytime.
Objection 3: Further, the time should be such as to be adapted to what
is done therein: wherefore (Jn. 13:30) the night is mentioned as being
the time when Judas went out from the fellowship of the light. Now, all
things that are hidden at the present time will then be made most
manifest, because when the Lord shall come He "will bring to light the
hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the
hearts" (1 Cor. 4:5). Therefore it ought to be during the day.
On the contrary, Christ's resurrection is the exemplar of ours. Now
Christ's resurrection was at night, as Gregory says in a homily for
Easter (xxi in Evang. ). Therefore our resurrection will also be at
night-time.
Further, the coming of our Lord is compared to the coming of a thief
into the house (Lk. 12:39,40). But the thief comes to the house at
night-time. Therefore our Lord will also come in the night. Now, when
He comes the resurrection will take place, as stated above
([5061]Q[76], A[2]). Therefore the resurrection will be at night-time.
I answer that, The exact time and hour at which the resurrection will
be cannot be known for certain, as stated in the text (Sent. iv, D,
43). Nevertheless some assert with sufficient probability that it will
be towards the twilight, the moon being in the east and the sun in the
west; because the sun and moon are believed to have been created in
these positions, and thus their revolutions will be altogether
completed by their return to the same point. Wherefore it is said that
Christ arose at such an hour.
Reply to Objection 1: When the resurrection occurs, it will not be time
but the end of time; because at the very instant that the heavens will
cease to move the dead will rise again. Nevertheless the stars will be
in the same position as they occupy now at any fixed hour: and
accordingly it is said that the resurrection will be at this or that
hour.
Reply to Objection 2: The most perfect disposition of time is said to
be midday, on account of the light given by the sun. But then the city
of God will need neither sun nor moon, because the glory of God will
enlighten it (Apoc. 22:5). Wherefore in this respect it matters not
whether the resurrection be in the day or in the night.
Reply to Objection 3: That time should be adapted to manifestation as
regards the things that will happen then, and to secrecy as regards the
fixing of the time. Hence either may happen fittingly, namely that the
resurrection be in the day or in the night.
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Whether the resurrection will happen suddenly or by degrees?
Objection 1: It would seem that the resurrection will not happen
suddenly but by degrees. For the resurrection of the dead is foretold
(Ezech. 37:7,8) where it is written: "The bones came together . . . and
I saw and behold the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the
skin was stretched out over them, but there was no spirit in them. "
Therefore the restoration of the bodies will precede in time their
reunion with the souls, and thus the resurrection will not be sudden.
Objection 2: Further, a thing does not happen suddenly if it require
several actions following one another. Now the resurrection requires
several actions following one another, namely the gathering of the
ashes, the refashioning of the body, the infusion of the soul.
Therefore the resurrection will not be sudden.
Objection 3: Further, all sound is measured by time. Now the sound of
the trumpet will be the cause of the resurrection, as stated above
([5062]Q[76], A[2]). Therefore the resurrection will take time and will
not happen suddenly.
Objection 4: Further, no local movement can be sudden as stated in De
Sensu et Sensato vii. Now the resurrection requires local movement in
the gathering of the ashes. Therefore it will not happen suddenly.
On the contrary, It is written (1 Cor. 15:51,52): "We shall all indeed
rise again . . . in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. " Therefore
the resurrection will be sudden.
Further, infinite power works suddenly. But the Damascene says (De Fide
Orth.
