HOLY TOMAS OF AQUINO
“SERMON ABOUT THE CREDO”
Expositio in Symbolum Apostolorum
report Reginaldi de Piperno
Translation and Notes:
DON ODILÃO MOURA, OSB
ELECTRONIC EDITION
Rio de Janeiro, 2004
ELECTRONIC EDITION PERMANENCE
SEPARATE
Permanence Magazine
we. 63/1974 to 75/1975
INTRODUCTION
- THE FAITH -
During Lent 1273, St. Thomas, among other sermons, delivered this, which is one of the most perfect expositions on the Creed. Pronounced in Neapolitan dialect, it was faithfully translated (as the historical testimonies attest) into Latin by the disciples of the Holy One. To hear Doctor Angelic's word, the churches of Naples, the inhabitants of this bustling medieval city, and their university students flocked. That is why the great theologian used a language more accessible than that of his theological works. But the content of his sermons retains the same doctrinal depth and peculiar orthodoxy as the Common Doctor:
1 - The first necessary good for the Christian is faith. Without faith no one can be called a faithful Christian.
2 - The first good is the union of the soul with God. By faith there is a kind of marriage between the soul and God, as the Prophet Hosea reads: "I will marry you in faith." (H 2,20).
When a man is baptized, he must first confess his faith in answering the question - do you believe in God? - because baptism is the first sacrament of faith. The Lord Himself said, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mk 16:16).
Baptism without faith is worthless. One must therefore be certain that no one can be accepted by God without faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please God,” says St. Paul (Heb 11: 6).
Sto. Augustine commenting on this text of the letter to the Romans - “All that is not from faith is sin” (14:23), thus states: “Where there is no knowledge of eternal and unchanging truth, virtue is false even in righteous people. "
The second good is this: by faith eternal life is begun in us. Eternal life consists only in knowing God, as it reads in St. John: "This is eternal life, which you know to be the only true God." (Jn 17: 3). This knowledge of God begins here by faith, but is completed in the future life, when we will know Him as He is. This is why the letter to the Hebrews reads: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for" (11:11). No one will attain eternal bliss without first having the knowledge of faith, for it is written, "Blessed are they that have not seen and believed" (Jn 20:29).
4 - The present life is guided by faith: this is the third good. In order for man to live well, he should know the principles of good living. If by his own effort he should learn these principles, he would not come to know them, or could know them only after a long time. But faith teaches all the principles of good living. Now she teaches that there is one God, that God rewards the good and punishes the bad, that there is another life, and other similar truths. This knowledge is sufficient to lead us to do good and to avoid evil, for the Lord says, “My righteous live by faith” (Hab 2: 4).
This is why no philosopher before the coming of Christ, despite their great intellectual effort, could come to the knowledge of God and the means necessary to attain eternal life, as after the advent of Christ, any old woman came by faith. This is why Isaiah thus prophesied this advent: “The land of the knowledge of God is filled” (11:23).
5 - The fourth good thing is that by faith they conquered temptations, as the Scriptures read: "The saints by faith have overcome kingdoms" (Heb 11:23). The temptations come from the devil, from the world, or from the flesh.
The devil tries not to obey or submit to God.
Now it is by faith that we repel him, because it is by faith that we know that there is one God, and that we alone must obey him. This is why St. Peter wrote: “The devil, your adversary, is prowling to see if he devours anyone: you must resist him by faith” (1 Pet 5: 8).
The world tempts us by seducing us into prosperity, or frightening us into adversity. But both temptations we overcome by faith. It makes us believe in a better life, and so we despise the prosperity of the world and do not fear adversity. This is why it is written: “This is victory that overcomes the world, your faith” (1 Jn 5: 4). Moreover, faith teaches us to believe that there are greater evils, that is, that there is hell.
The flesh tempts us, leading us into the momentary delights of the present life. But faith shows us that through them, if we improperly adhere to them, we will lose the eternal delights. This is why the Apostle counsels us: “Keep the shield of faith always in your hand” (Eph 6:16).
For these reasons it is proved to be very useful to have faith.
6 But one may object: it is foolish to believe what is not seen: one must believe only what is seen.
I answer this objection with the following arguments.
7 - First. It is the very imperfection of our intelligence that dispels this doubt. Indeed, if man could by himself know perfectly well things visible and invisible, it would be foolish to believe things we do not see. But our knowledge is so limited that no philosopher to date has been able to fully investigate the nature of a single fly.
It is even said that one philosopher took thirty years in the desert to know the nature of bees. Now if our intelligence is so limited, it is far greater folly not to want to believe anything about God except what man can know for himself. It is read in the book of Job, "Behold, God is great, and is greater than our knowledge" (36: 26).
8 - Second. Consider, for example, a master who has assimilated a truth and an unintelligent student who has understood it differently because he has not reached it. Now this unintelligent student must be considered quite foolish.
We know that the intelligence of angels surpasses that of the greatest philosopher, like this one, the intelligence of the ignorant. Therefore it would be foolish for a philosopher who did not believe in the things spoken by the Angels. He would be much more foolish if he didn't believe in the things God said. In this regard, the Scriptures read: “Many truths have been presented to you which surpass the intelligence of man” (Ecc 3, 25).
9 - Third. If man believed only in the things he sees, he could not even live in this world. Can one live without believing in another? How can you know this is your father? It is therefore necessary for man to believe in someone when it comes to things that he cannot know by themselves. Now no one is more worthy of faith than God. Therefore, those who do not believe in the truths of faith are not wise, but foolish and proud. St. Paul refers to these as - "proud and ignorant ..." (1 Tim 6: 4). This is why St. Paul says of himself: “I know whom I believed, and I am sure…” (2 Tim 1: 12). All this is confirmed in the Book of Ecclesiasticus: "Ye that fear the Lord, believe on him" (2: 8).
10 - Fourth. One can still answer by saying that God proves the truths of faith. If a king sent his letters sealed with the royal seal, no one would dare to say that those letters did not come from the king himself. Of course, the truths that the Saints believed and passed on to us as being of Christian faith are sealed with the seal of God. This seal is signified by those works that a simple creature cannot do, that is, by miracles. By miracles Christ confirmed the words of the Apostle and the saints.
11 - But you may reply by saying that no one has seen these miracles. This objection is easy to answer. It is known that all mankind worshiped idols and that the Christian faith was persecuted, further confirming the history of paganism. But they soon all converted to Christ. The wise, the noble, the rich, the governments, and the great were converted by the preaching of a few rough and poor men.
Now of two: either they became converted because they saw miracles, or not. If it was because they saw miracles that were converted, your objection is meaningless. If not, I reply that there could be no greater miracle than this of all men to convert without having seen miracles. You must give yourself up.
This is why no one can doubt faith. We should believe more in the truths of faith than in the things we see, because man's sight may fail, but the knowledge of God is always infallible.
ARTICLE FIRST
- I believe in God, almighty Father, creator of heaven and earth -
Among all the truths in which believers should believe, they must first believe that God exists 1.
It is also necessary to consider what this name means - God.
It means precisely the One who rules and cares for all things.
He therefore believes in the existence of God, who believes that all things in this world are governed by Him, and are subordinate to His Providence.
1____________________
The reader should always be mindful of Saint Thomas' style, of course concise and logical.
There are no superfluous words. The words, in the style of Doctor Angelic, have the precise meaning and manifest the concepts of a lucid intelligence. This artless simplicity is suited to the communication of pure truth.
It should be noted that St. Thomas never appeals to emotionality or oratory resources of suggestion. He wants the truth to be accepted by the clairvoyance of the truth. Accepting the truth by intelligence, naturally the will will ignite with love for it. This communicative method of St. Thomas is essentially human. For the man of today, conditioned by audiovisual communication processes, subliminal propaganda and exciting resources, it becomes somewhat difficult, and therefore requires an effort of attention, to follow the quiet and pure presentation of the truth made by St. Thomas. His literary style resembles the musical purity of Bach's style. St. Thomas's vocabulary for this reason is not very rich, naturally hindering translation, and may seem to be his monotonous style. But if the reader strives to penetrate the clarity of his sentences, the rich repetition of concepts always with new modalities, he will soon be attracted by the beauty of Doctor Angelico's style and admired by the truths he expounds. St. Thomas is symbolized by the sun. Your style has the charms of light.
Attention is also drawn to this sermon of St. Thomas, which would probably be more than one sermon, the way in which Holy Scripture is quoted, spontaneously adjusting itself to the context and grounding the doctrine expounded. Unbeknownst to us, St. Thomas here performs an initial theological activity, when intelligence, using only the first efforts of common sense, seeks, without metaphysical argument and scientific terminology, to penetrate the content of revealed truths.
But those who think that all things originate by chance do not believe in the existence of God.
There is no one so foolish who does not believe that nature is governed, that it is subject to a providence, and that it has been ordained by someone, seeing that everything proceeds in time, with order. We see the sun, the moon and the stars, and many other elements of nature obey a certain course. Now that would not happen if everything came by chance.
This is why it would be foolish to disbelieve the existence of God. such an assertion is confirmed by the psalmist: "A fool says in his heart, there is no God" (Ps 13: 1).
There are some who believe that God rules and commands natural things, but they do not believe that God attains, by His Providence, human acts. Evidently they think that human acts are not ordained by God. Because they see the good suffer in the world and the bad prosper, they conclude that Divine Providence does not reach men.
Through them Job said, “God walks in the ways of heaven, but He does not care for us” (22:14).
To state such a thing is great folly. It happens to those who think so, what happens to those who, seeing a doctor who is knowledgeable about medicine, give a sick person water and another wine, who, in their ignorance of medicine, thought that the doctor was healing by chance, and not for reason. weighted.
15 God also acts as a physician. For just reason and by His providence He disposes the things necessary for men, when He afflicts some good and enables some evil to prosper.
Anyone who believed that this was the work of chance should of course be foolish, as indeed it is. He thinks so, because he is unaware of God's way of acting, and the reason why he arranges things. Job also reads: “May he reveal to you the secrets of his wisdom and the multitude of his plans” (11: 6). Therefore one must firmly believe that God rules and commands natural things as well as human acts. It reads in the Book of Psalms: “They said (the wicked): God does not see. The God of Jacob does not understand things. Understand now, O fools! O fools, how long will you be foolish? The one who gave us the ears, doesn't he hear? The one who set eyes on us, don't you see? The Lord knows the thoughts of men ”(103, 7-10).
God sees all things, thoughts and secrets of the wills of men. Since everything they think and do is evident in God's eyes, men, in a very special way, are obliged to do good. St. Paul writes to the Hebrews: “Everything is naked and uncovered in his eyes” (4:13).
16 - It must be believed that this God who disposes all things and rules them is one God. The reason why we should believe this truth is as follows: the rule of human things is good rule, when one disposes and governs them.
A multitude of leaders constantly provokes disagreements among the subjects. Now, since divine government is superior to human, it becomes clear that the government of the world cannot be done by many gods but by one.
17 - Men are led to polytheism for four reasons:
The first is the weakness of human intelligence. There are men whose weakness of intelligence has not allowed them to go beyond corporeal things, and so they have not believed in the existence of any nature superior to corporeal beings.
They then thought that among those corporeal beings the most beautiful and worthy should preside over and direct the world, and rendered them a divine worship. They considered as the most sublime bodies, the stars of the sky: the sun, the moon and the stars. It happens to them what happened to that man who, wishing to see the king, went to court, and confused with the king who soon found himself well dressed, or performing some office of minister. These refer to the Book of the Prophet Isaiah: “Raise your eyes high and
see the earth beneath. The heavens will evaporate like smoke, the earth will age like the garments, and its inhabitants will perish like it. But my salvation shall be everlasting, and my righteousness shall not end ”(51, 6).
18 - The second reason is the adulation of men. Many wishing to flatter kings and lords taxed upon them the honor due to God. They obeyed and submitted to them. There were those who deified them after death, and there were those who deified them also in life. Scripture reads: “Let all know that Nebuchadnezzar is a god of the earth, and there is no other god besides him” (Judges 5:29).
19 - The third motive comes from carnal affection for children and relatives. Some, led by excessive love for their relatives, erected statues after death, and were thus led to worship the statues of God. It is to them that the Scripture refers: “Men gave stones and wood an incommunicado name, because they submitted themselves too much to affection to kings” (Sab. 14:21).
The fourth reason why men are led to believe in the existence of many gods is the malice of the devil. This one from the beginning wanted to be like God: "I will set my throne in Aquilion, ascend into heaven, and be like the Most High" (Is. 14, 13).
To this day he has not revoked that will. Therefore he endeavors as much as possible for men to worship him and to offer him sacrifices.
He does not satisfy the offering of a dog or a cat, but delights when he is worshiped by God. Said the devil to Christ, "I will give you all this if you kneel to me" (Matt. 4: 9). To be worshiped as gods, the demons entered the idols and through them gave answers. Scripture reads: “All the gods of the peoples are demons” (Ps. 95, 5).
“When the Gentiles offer sacrifices, they do so to demons, not to God” (I Cor. 10:20).
21 It is very unpleasant to consider these four causes of polytheism, but they do represent the reasons why men believe in the existence of many gods.
Often they do not manifest by words or hearts that believe in many gods, but by deeds. Those who believe that stars can change the will of men, who to act await certain times, naturally regard stars as gods who dominate other beings and who do wonders. Therefore we are warned by Scripture: “Do not fear the signs of the stars which the Gentiles fear, for their laws are vain” (Jer. 10: 2).
Also those who obey kings, or those who are not to obey rather than God, constitute these people as their gods. Scripture also warns us: “It is better to obey God than men” (Acts 5:29).
So also those who love their children and their relatives more than God reveal by the acts they believe in many gods. Or even those who love food more than God, to whom St. Paul refers with these words: "Of whose womb is God" (Tim 3:19).
Those who practice witchcraft and indulge in sorcery believe in demons as if they were gods, because they ask demons what God can only ask for, such as revelation and knowledge of secret or future things.
Since this is all false, we must above all believe that there is only one God.
As we said, one must first believe that there is only one God. Secondly, one must believe that this God is creator, who made heaven and earth visible and invisible.
Let us put aside the subtle arguments for the moment, and by way of a very simple example let us clarify how all things were created and made by God.
If someone going into a house and walking down the door felt hot, and each time more heat penetrated it, they would evidently realize that there was fire inside, even if they were not seeing the fire. It is the same with us as we consider the things of this world. All things are ordered according to varying degrees of beauty and nobility, and the closer they are to God, the better and more beautiful they are. Now the stars are nobler and more beautiful than the bodies lower; the invisible things, than the visible ones.
You must then believe that all things originate in one God, who gives them existence and perfection.
It is read in Holy Scripture: “All men who do not know God are foolish, and who through the things they saw did not understand Him who exists, nor seeing the works, they knew the artist” (Sab. 43: 1). It reads in the same context: “By the beauty and grandeur of the creature one can know and behold his creator” (43, 5).
We must therefore be certain that all things were created by God.
23 - In this regard, three errors must be avoided.
The first is the error of the Manicheans 2. To them, visible things were created by the devil, and only invisible things, by God.
They base their error on a truth, that God is the highest good and all that is done by Him, by a good being, must be good also; but not distinguishing good from evil, they believed that anything that somehow had something evil would be totally evil. They say that the fire is totally evil, because it burns; that water is bad because it drowns; and thus the other things that produce a bad effect. Now, since none of the sensible things is simply good, but in a way evil and deficient, they concluded that all visible things were not done by God, who is good, but by an evil being.
To refute them St. Augustine presented the following example:
If someone came into a workman's house and found a tool that would hurt him, and therefore concluded that the workman was evil because he uses such tools, he would be a fool because he uses them only for work. This is why it is foolish to say that creatures are totally evil, because in some respect they are harmful.
They may be harmful to some, but useful to others. This error goes against the faith of the Church, as we recite in the Creed:
"Creator of visible and invisible things." This truth is based on Scripture: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth" (Gen 1: 1). "All things were made of him" (Jn 1: 3).
2____________________
Manichaeism is a syncretistic sect, with elements of the Persian religion of Masdeism, Eastern Gnostic currents, and Christianity. It was founded by Mani, Persian, who lived from 216 to 776. It expanded to the East and the Christian West, taking in Spain, in the fourth century, the priscilianist feature, where it was added to the doctrine the practice of libidinous acts, reflecting still in the twelfth century in the heresies of the Cathars and Albigenses. St. Augustine was a Manichean, but before the conversion to Catholicism he had already abandoned Manichaeism and had moved to Neo-Platonism. He fought the Manichean errors in almost all his works. From the doctrinal point of view, Manichaeism is a Gnostic system, that is, it united philosophical principles with religious ideas, seeking in this the liberation of man. The foundation of the Manichean system was the dualism which claimed that there were two conflicting kingdoms, that of light, presided over by God, and that of darkness, by the devil. Life on earth is a repercussion of this conflict, where Jesus entered as a cleansing element, and at the end of time there will be the victory of the kingdom of light.
24 - The second mistake to be avoided is that of those who claim that the world is eternal 3. It puts St. Peter in the mouth of those who speak these words: “Since our fathers died, everything remains as after the beginning of creation” (2 Pet. 3: 4).
They were led to this conviction because they could not properly consider the beginning of the world. Rabbi Moses 4 compared them to a child who from birth had been taken to an island where he could never see a pregnant woman, nor the birth of a man. If he were told when he grew up with a man he is conceived, as he is carried for nine months in the breast, and as he is born, he would not believe what he was hearing, because it would seem impossible for him to be begotten in the breast.
So do those who think that the world is eternal, because they have not seen the beginning. Those who think this way are also opposed to the faith of the Church, because we recite in the Creed the truth: "I believe in God ... who made heaven and earth."
Now if things were done, of course they could not have always existed. Scripture reads: "God said, and things were done" (Ps. 148: 5).
3____________________
That the world was created by God without pre-existing matter, "ex-nihilo" is a truth found only in Judeo-Christian Revelation. Aristotle affirmed the eternity of the world, a thesis resumed by the Arab philosopher Averroes (1126-1198), whose influence in St. Thomas's time was considerable.
St. Thomas denies, because the creation is truth revealed, the eternity of the world, but admits that God could have made the world from all eternity, that is, that it does not disgust reason to admit the possibility of the eternity of the world.
St. Thomas thus explains the concept of creation: “(God) by his action produces every subsistent being, presupposing no other being, since He is the beginning of all existence, wholly by itself. For this reason you can do something out of nothing: this action is called creation ”(De pot. 3, 1c.).
4____________________
Two great Jewish thinkers influenced the formation of Catholic theology: Philo, neo-Platonic, who in the early centuries of Christianity made a great contribution to the School of Alexandria, and Rabbi Moses, here cited by St. Thomas, who lived in Cordoba and Alexandria between 1135 and 1204. It is known in philosophy by the name of Maimonides. He is considered the greatest theologian of Judaism. St. Thomas always refers to him with great respect.
25 The third error concerning the origin of the world is followed by those who claim to have been the world made of pre-existing matter. They came to this error because they wanted to measure God's power by ours. As man can do nothing without a pre-existing matter, so God to produce things used a matter that already existed. This is not true.
Man can do nothing without a pre-existing matter, because his ability to operate is limited, and thus can only form a matter that already existed. Its power is limited to operate only for this form, and therefore cannot be but its cause.
God, however, is the universal cause of all things, and not only creates form but also matter. That's why he did all things out of nowhere. We recite in the Creed this truth: "Creator of heaven and earth."
There is a difference between creating and doing: creating is taking something out of nothing; To do is to produce something from something else.
If God created things out of nothing, one must also believe that He can remake them all if they are destroyed. It can give sight to the blind, raise the dead, and perform other miracles. Scripture says, "The power is under you when you will" (Wis 12:18).
26 - From the above truths we can draw five practical conclusions. First, how should we consider divine majesty.
If the artist is superior to works, God, being the creator of all things, is evidently superior to all that exists. Scripture says: “If men attracted by the beauty of beings consider them to be gods, let them know how much their Lord is more beautiful than them ...; or if they have been astonished at the power of beings and the works which they produce, understand how he who made them is most powerful ”(Wis 13:34). Therefore, all we can understand or think of God is inferior to Him! Scripture says, "Behold, the great God that is above our knowledge" (Job 36:26).
Second, we must give thanks to God. because God is the creator of all things, all we are and all we have, comes to us from God. says the Apostle, "What have you that you have not received?" (1 Cor 4: 7). It reads in the Psalter: “The earth is the Lord's, and all that fills it; the world and all its inhabitants ”(Ps 23: 1). That is why we must always give thanks to God: “What will I repay to the Lord for all that He has given me?” (Ps 115, 12).
Third, we must endure adversity with patience. For if all creatures come from God, and so are good by nature, even if they harm us if they bring us feathers, we must believe that those feathers were sent from God. Our fault, however, cannot come from God, because no evil can come from God unless it is directed toward a good. Now if every penalty that comes to us is sent from God, we must patiently bear it. Feathers cleanse us from sin, humiliate defendants, challenge the good to the love of God. It is read in the book of Job, "If we receive the goods of the hand of God, why do we not also receive evil?"
Fourth, we must make good use of created things. Things should be used according to the purposes given to them by God. Things were created for two purposes: for the glory of God, because “all things to himself God made them” (Pr 16: 4), and for our usefulness, because “God made all things to serve the people” (Deut 4:19).
We must use all things for the glory of God, and we will be pleased with it, but also for our usefulness, always avoiding sin. The Scripture says: "From you are all things, and what we receive from your hand we give you" (1 Par. 29, 14).
Whatever you have, whether science or beauty, you must use and direct to the glory of God.
Fifth, because we were created by God, we must recognize our dignity.
God has done all things for man, as it reads in Scripture, "All things you have subjected to His feet" (Ps 8: 8). Man, after angels, is the most God-like creature, as one reads in the book of Genesis: “Let us make man in our image and likeness” (1:16). God did not refer in this text to the stars or the heavens, but to man.
But it is not by body, but by soul, that has free and incorruptible will, that man resembles God more than other creatures.
We must therefore consider that man is, after the Angels, more worthy than all other creatures, and therefore by no means do we want to diminish our dignity by sin or by any disorderly desire for bodily things, for they are. inferior to us and were made to serve us. May we behave according to God's purposes in creating us. God made man to govern all that is on earth, but that man might be subjected to Him. We must therefore rule and rule the world, but submitting ourselves to God, obeying and serving Him. By this way we will surely come to union with God. Amen.
ARTICLE TWO
- I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord -
It is not only necessary for Christians to believe that there is only one God, and that He is the Creator of heaven, earth, and all things, but it is also necessary to believe that God is the Father and that Jesus Christ is his true Son.
This mystery is not a myth, but a certain truth confirmed by the word of God on the mount, as St. Peter said: “It was not by relying on ingenious fables that we made known to you the power and presence of Our Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, but because we have seen His Majesty with our own eyes. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when these words were spoken to him of magnificent glory: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I have put my complacences.' And we ourselves have heard this voice from heaven, when we were with him on the holy mount ”(2 Pet. 1, 16-18).
Jesus Christ Himself often calls God as His Father, and also called Himself the Son of God.
The Apostles and Holy Fathers placed among the articles of faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, when they defined this article of the Creed: "And in Jesus Christ his Son," that is, the Son of God.
32 - But there were some heretics who pervertedly believed this truth of faith.
Fotino 5 , one of them, declared that Christ is not a child of God but as the other good men are, who, because they live well, deserve to be called children of God by adoption, while doing God's will.
In the same way, they say, Christ, who lived well and did God's will, deserved to be called the Son of God.
The same heretic wished that Christ had not existed before the Virgin Mary, but only began to exist when he was conceived in her.
Fotino made two mistakes: one, because he did not say that He was the Son of God according to nature; the other because He said that He began to exist, according to all His being, in time, while our faith states that He is by nature the Son of God and eternal.
Now these two truths are clearly expressed in Holy Scripture, as opposed to what he claims.
Against the first error, the Scripture declares that Jesus Christ is not only the Son of God, but also the Only Begotten Son: "The Only Begotten in the bosom of the Father hath made him known" (Jn 1:18). Against the second, it reads: “Before Abraham existed, I already existed” (Jn 8, 58).
Now it is certain that Abraham existed before the Virgin Mary.
For this reason, the Holy Fathers added, in another symbol 6 , against the first error: “Only begotten Son of God”; and against the second, "born of the Father before all ages."
___________________________________________________
5 The heresy of Bishop Fotino de Sirmio (✝ 376) has its source close to that of Bishop Marcelo de Ancira (✝ 374) and, remote, in Dynamic Monarchism. This, proclaimed in Rome by the Greek Theodotus in 190, condemned by Pope Victor, taught that Christ was a simple man and was baptized with divine powers at baptism. Marcellus taught that there was a monad that evolved with the appearance of the Son in the Incarnation and the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. At the end of time the Son and the Spirit will return to the primitive monad. There is therefore no eternal trinity.
Against Marcelo was added in the Symbol: "and his kingdom will have no end".
St Thomas faithfully summarizes Fotino's error in this sermon.
Fotino was condemned several times, stripped of the Diocese of Sirmium and exiled. His minions persevered until the seventh century.
6 Since faith, on the part of man, is primarily an act of knowledge of intelligence, the words that express its truths must have felt. For this reason the Church, since Apostolic times, demanded from those who sought baptism the intelligence of the words of faith, which were defined. In order to achieve this end, syntheses of the fundamental truths of the faith were formulated with words of precise, understandable, and traditional meaning. They were the symbols of faith. The word symbol, which primitively in the Greek language meant an object that was divided into two parts as a password for later identification, in the Catholic tradition meant the summary of the truths of faith that identified the religion of Christ. Beginning with the word Creed, it has become synonymous with Symbol.
In ancient times the Creed was united with the ritual of catechumenate, that is, in preparation for baptism: the “electi” (elect) finished their preparation by receiving the teachings of the Symbol of Faith (Traditio Symboli = symbol delivery), and then were to recite it before the Bishop (redditio symboli = return of symbol). Over time, for greater defense against heresies, he moved to the Eucharistic Liturgy. His present position after the Gospel of Mass was introduced by Charlemagne (✝ 794) to combat the heresy of adoptionism.
The oldest and most important symbols are as follows:
I) Symbol of the Apostles: It is the oldest Symbol of the Church, called by Tertullian “Regula Fidei”, whose origins come from the times of the Apostles, according to tradition. His earliest Scripture-based formula would be as follows: “I believe in the Father Almighty; in Jesus Christ our Savior; in the Holy Spirit Paraclete, in the Holy Church and in the remission of sins. ”
As it turns out, it contained the Mysteries of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Redemption. The present formula of the Roman Symbol has its origins in the third century.
It consists of 12 articles.
II) Symbol of St. Athanasius: It is a broader profession of faith attributed to St. Athanasius, but was probably transmitted by St. Ambrose (4th century) who had received it from tradition. It seeks to define very precisely the Mystery of the Holy Trinity.
III) Symbol of Nicaea: Prepared and approved at the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. The Council of Nicaea was called by Emperor Constantine to end the heresy of Arianism (note 8). It was presided over by Bishop Osio and the representatives of Pope Sylvester. 300 more bishops participated in it. At the sitting of June 19, 325, the “Symbol of Nicaea” was approved, which states that the Son is of the same nature as the Father: “God of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of the identical nature of the Father.”
IV) Nicene-Constantinopolitan Symbol: Elaborated and approved at the Ecumenical Council of Cosntantinople, meeting in this city in the year 31. It reproduces the Symbol of Nicaea, making some additions, especially regarding the Third Person of the Trinity: “and (we believe) in Holy Spirit, Lord and quickener, proceeding from the Father, who is worshiped and glorified together with the Father and the Son, and who has spoken by the Prophets.
It is in the Eastern Church the unique formula of profession of faith.
There are other professions of faith in the ancient Church, one more, some less developed, but all agree on the meaning of the words and the mysteries of faith.
33 - Although Sabelius 7 said that Christ existed before the Virgin Mary, he said that the person of the Father was not that of the Son, and that the Father himself became incarnate. In this way, the Person of the Father would be the same as that of the Son. But that is a mistake, because it destroys the trinity of the People. Against this error is the authority of Evangelist St. John, who told us the words of Christ Himself: “I am not I alone; it is I and the Father who sent me ”(Jn 8, 16).
Now it is evident that no one can be sent by himself. This is why Sabelius made a mistake. For this reason, in the Fathers' Symbol was added: “God of God, light of light”; that is, God the Son of God the Father; Son who is light, light that proceeds from the Father, who is also light. It is these truths that we must believe.
34 — Ário 8, even though he had stated that Christ had existed before the Virgin Mary and that he was a Person of the Father, another of the Son, he attributed to Christ's being three errors: first, that Christ was a creature; second, that He was made by God as the noblest of creatures, not from eternity, but in time; third, that there was not one nature of God the Son with God the Father, and for this reason Christ was true God.
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7 Sabelius (2nd century) did not accept the Trinity in God, but confused the People into one unity in God. For him, people are ways in which God manifests Himself. His heresy is called “modalist monarchism”, and also “patripassionism” or “sabelianism”.
He admitted three manifestations of God: as Father, in creation and legislation; as Son in redemption, and as Holy Spirit in the work of sanctification.
8 Arianism was the most dangerous heresy of early Christian times.
Its creator was a priest from Alexandria named Ario (✝ 336). He taught a certain subordinacy, older heresy, which claimed to be the Son subordinate to the Father, thereby denying him an identity of nature. For Ario, the Son was a second-order divine being, who, being devoid of the absolute attributes of divinity, could realize creation and redemption.
There is in Ario's doctrine a dependence on the neoplatonic mentality reigning in his day. Arianism taught that "there was a time when the Word was not," and "he (the Word) comes from not being." Therefore, the Second Person would be a creature.
Condemned heresy by the Council of Nicaea (note 6), her deleterious work in Catholic circles did not cease, taking new breath with the two Aryan Emperors Constantius (337-361) and Valens (364-378). Emperor Theodorius the Great (379-395), reaffirming Catholic orthodoxy, managed to alleviate the evils of Arianism, which for more than 50 years tore the Church apart. He was definitively condemned by the Council of Constantinople of 381 after violent controversies, struggles and separations among Catholics.
If the Orthodox Tradition had by its side great doctors of the Church like Athanasius, Basilio, Gregory of Lauzianze and great Bishops, the Aryans were able to involve
many Bishops and Catholics in their ambiguous and inaccurate heterodox formulas.
Heresy took such proportions in Catholic circles that St. Jerome even described the situation with these words: "The whole orb was pitied and wondered why he was Aryan."
Such statements are evidently wrong because they are contrary to the authority of Holy Scripture.
The Gospel of St. John reads: “I and the Father are one” (Jn 10:30), that is, by nature. Now as the Father always existed, so also the Son; as the Father is true God, so is the Son.
In opposition to the claim of Arius, that Christ is a creature, is stated in the Symbol of the Fathers: "begotten, not done."
Against the widespread error that He was not of the same substance as the Father, was added in the Symbol: "consubstantial with the Father."
35 - Therefore is it plain that we should believe that Christ is the only begotten Son of God, and the true Son of God; who always existed with the Father; that one is the Person of the Son, the other of the Father; that He has one nature with the Father.
We believe these truths here by faith; But we will know them in eternal life through a perfect vision.
For our comfort, let us add a few words to these truths.
36 - We must know that there are various modes of generation, according to the diversity of beings. 9 The generation in God is different from the generation in other beings. Therefore, we cannot come to know the generation of God except through the generation of creatures that come closest to God and most closely resemble Him. Now, as has been said, nothing resembles God as much as God. The human soul.
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9 Here St. Thomas clarifies to us how the possession of the Word in the Trinity is a generation, from which the Second Person is also called Son. In the Latin text the word and concept are expressed by the same term - verbum - and one can more closely follow the thought of Doctor Angelico.
The issue is treated with remarkable clarity in the Theological Summa in theological language, of which in this sermon one perceives the influence.
It defines St. Thomas generation, as it is realized in living beings, as being the "origin of a living being, of a living joint principle." Applies the definition to Second Person possession:
“Therefore the possession of the Word in God has the formality of a generation. It bears the resemblance of intelligible action, which is a vital operation; of a joint living principle, as has been said earlier (that is, of divine intelligence), and similarly, because the intellectual concept is such a known thing; and in the same nature, because in God to be and to know are the same reality ... Therefore the procession of the Word in God is called generation, and the coming Word itself is called Son ”(STI 7: 2; cf. I 27, 1; cf. I. 34, 2).
There is a kind of generation in the soul when man knows something by his own soul, which is called the intellectual concept.
This concept (effect of conception) has its origin from the soul itself, as from a parent. It is called the verb (that is, word) of intelligence or of man.
The soul therefore generates its verb by knowledge.
The Son of God, too, is nothing more than the Word of God, not as a verb (a word) already pronounced outwardly, because it would be so transient, but as a verb (a word) conceived within. This is why the very word of God has only one nature of God, and is equal to God.
Blessed John, when he spoke of the Word of God, destroyed the three heresies defined above: that of Fotino, when he said: "In the beginning was the Word"; that of Sabelius, when he said, "and the word was in God"; and that of Arius, when he said, "And the Word was God."
37 — But the Word (the word) exists differently in us and in 10 God. In us, the verb is an accident; In God, the Word of God most closely identifies with God Himself, for there is nothing in God that is not God's essence.
No one can claim that God does not have a verb, because if he did, he would also be saying that in God there is absolutely no knowledge. But as God has always existed, so has His Word.
38 - How the artist performs his works according to the model which he prefigured in his intelligence, which is his verb; God also does all things by his Word, which is like his artistic thinking. This is why it reads in St. John: "All things were made of him" (Jn 1: 3).
39 If the Word of God is the Son of God, and all the words (verbs) of God bear any resemblance to that verb, we must first hear the words of God with satisfaction. If we hear God's words with pleasure, this is a sign that we love God.
Second, we must believe the words of God, because that is how the Word of God dwells in us, that is, Christ, who is the Word of God. The Apostle St. Paul reads: "Let Christ dwell in your hearts by faith." (Eph 3:17). It is also read in St. John: "You have not the Word of God abiding in you, because you do not believe in Him whom He sent." (Jn 5:38).
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10 St. Thomas thus specifies the notion of substance: “The substance which is subject has two properties: first, it does not need an extrinsic foundation to be sustained, but it sustains itself; second, to be the foundation of the accidents, sustaining them, and that is why it is said to be under ”(Pot. 9, 1). The substance subsists in itself and sustains accidents. Accident is precisely the being that exists, but does not subsist, because it is ardent to substance. “Accident,” says St. Thomas, “is the being whose essence must be in something else” (Qdc. IX, 5, ad 2). “Their being (that is, of the accidents) should be added to the being of the substance, and dependent on it ”(GC IV, 14).
The accident is a secondary being, more imperfect than the being of the substance, and without its substance the accident cannot exist (except by a miracle of God). “Substance, says Aristotle, is simple being and realizes itself: all other genres of being different from substance are beings in a way and exist by substance. Therefore, substance is first among beings ”(Met., VII, 1, 1028).
41 — Thirdly, we should always have the Word of God, which remains in us, as the object of our meditations. It is not only convenient to believe, but it is also necessary to meditate, otherwise faith would not be useful to us. Meditation on the Word of God is very helpful against sin. The Psalms read: “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Ps. 118, 11). It is also said of the righteous man, "I will meditate day and night on His Law" (Ps 1: 2). This is why we know that the Virgin Mary "kept all these words, meditating on them in her heart" (Lk 2:51).
Fourth, man should communicate to others the word of God, admonishing, preaching to them, and giving them faith. The following texts are found in the letters of St. Paul: “Let no evil word proceed from your mouth, but only the good words which they build” (Eph 4:29).
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly and in all wisdom, culminating and admonishing one another” (Col 3:16); "Preach the word, urge timely and importunately, rebuke, plead, and threaten with all patience and all doctrine" (2 Thess. 4: 2).
43 - Finally, we must fulfill what God's word has determined. St James says: “Be doers of the word of God, and not hearers only, deceiving one another” (James 1:22).
In the same order, the Blessed Virgin Mary followed these five recommendations, when the Word of God was begotten in her. First, he heard, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you" (Lk 1:35). Then she consented by faith: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord” (Lk 1:38). Thirdly, He received the Incarnate Word and carried Him into His bosom. Fourth, she pronounced Him when she gave birth to him. Finally, she nourished and nursed him. This is why the Church sings: "The Virgin was breastfeeding, strengthened from heaven, the King of Angels himself."
ARTICLE THREE
- was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary -
45. It is not only necessary for the Christian to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, as we have shown above, but also to believe in His Incarnation. This is why Blessed John, after having spoken many lofty and difficult to understand things, immediately implies His Incarnation when He says, "And the Word was made flesh" (Jn 1:14). So that we may learn something from this truth, I will give two examples: It is known that nothing is as similar to the Son of God as the word conceived within, but not uttered externally. No one knows the word while it is within man but him who conceived it. But as soon as it is uttered externally, it becomes known. Thus the Word of God was known only to the Father while in the bosom of the Father. But as soon as He clothed Himself with the flesh, as the word conceived within by the voice became manifest and known. Scripture reads: “After this he was seen on earth, and lived with men” (Bar. 3:38). Let's look at the second example. The word, spoken outwardly, is heard but not seen, nor can it be touched. But writing on a sheet can be seen and touched. So also the Word of God became visible and palpable when it was written in some way on our flesh. Now when the king's words are written in a message, it is also called the king's word. Similarly, the man to whom the Word of God is united in one person must be called the Son of God. It is read in Isaiah, "Take the great book and write on it with the pen of a man" (Is. 8, 1). The Apostles also declared, "Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary."
46 - Regarding this article of the Creed, many have fallen into error. This is why the Holy Father, in another symbol, that of Nicaea, has added many clarifications that allow us to see now how these errors were destroyed.
Origen 11 stated that Christ was born and came to this world to save the devil. He also said that all demons would be saved at the end of the world. To affirm such a thing, however, is to go against Holy Scripture, for it reads in the Gospel of St. Matthew, "Depart from me, you cursed, and go into the everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels." (Mat. 25, 41). For this reason, it was added in the Symbol: "Who came down from heaven to us men (it is not said: to demons) and to our salvation." These words further evidence God's love for us.
11 Origen (185 - 253) is one of the most discussed personalities of patristics. Son of the martyr Leonidas, early on, by his remarkable intelligence, was called to head the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Visited Rome and the entire Catholic East. To better follow the Gospel, he mutilated himself. Being ordained a priest irregularly, he was therefore excommunicated. However, he did not leave the Church, dying a victim of the tortures he suffered through faith in the persecution of Decius. Of unusual culture, having worked in Rome, Caesarea, and Alexandria, Origen wrote numerous theological works, dictating them to various stenographers, even having pagans in his classes who were drawn to his wisdom.
Origen's influence in the theology of the ancient East equals that of St. Augustine in that of the West. Origen tried to formulate a theological system based on neo-Platonism and, in part, on Aristotle. This philosophical eclecticism led Origen to affirm many false theses on the plane of faith, such as traducianism (parents transmit the soul to their children), the eternity of the world, the initial equality of all spiritual beings, the cyclical succession of worlds, the return of everything to God in the final return ("apocatastase"). Even hell will disappear after all. He interpreted Scripture, also ambiguously. St. Jerome considered Origen: "the father of all heresies." He was later convicted several times as a heretic. Origen was a victim of subjectivism in interpreting Scripture and optimism in considering things. Lacking true philosophy, it naturally fell into error. However Origen always sought to be faithful to the Church, in many respects he is the initiator of Eastern theology, in others also testimony of the Catholic tradition. Its influence on the Cappadocian Fathers is remarkable. Due to its genius it was named “Adamantino”.
48 - Fotino 12 , adventurous Manamus Although he accepted that Christ was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he said that he was a simple man, who, having lived well and done the will of God, deserved to be considered the Son of God, as they are. the other saints. Against this statement, Scripture reads: “I came down from heaven, not to do mine, but the will of him that sent me” (Jn 6: 38). Now it is evident that he would not have come down from heaven if he had not been there; and if he had been a simple man he could not have been in heaven. To ward off this error, it was added, "He came down from heaven."
49 - Manes 13 taught that Christ was always the Son of God and that He came down from heaven, but that He had no true flesh, for it was only apparent. This is false. Now it was not for the Master of truth to show Himself with any falsehood. Therefore, as it appeared in true flesh, it should also have it. The Gospel of St. Luke reads: “Touch and see, for the Spirit has no flesh and bones, as you see me possessing” (Lk 24:39). To dispel such a mistake, the Fathers added, "And became incarnate."
50 With regard to Ebion 14 , who was a Jew, he accepted that Christ had been born of the Blessed Mary, but of a fleshly union, and of human semen. This is false, however, because the Angel said, "What shall be born of her is the work of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 1: 20). To dispel this error, the Fathers added, "Of the Holy Spirit."
12 Fotino (see footnote 5). 13 Manes (see footnote 2). 14 Ebionites. There is probably no founder Ebion, but the name of the sect derives from the term poverty in Hebrew. This sect came from apostolic times, constituted Jewish Christians who did not accept the doctrine of the Apostle Paul, nor the deity of Christ. They also expected a messianic earthly kingdom of a thousand years (Millennialism = chiasma). The sect spread throughout Syria and persevered until the 19th century. V.
Valentinus 15 accepted that Christ had been conceived by the Holy Spirit, but he also taught that Christ had brought a heavenly body and placed it in the Blessed Virgin, and that this body was that of Christ. For this reason, he said, the Blessed Virgin had done nothing but have given herself as a receptacle for that body, and it passed through her, like an aqueduct. But such a statement is false, for the Angel said, "The holy one that is born of you shall be called the Son of God" (Lk 1:35). Likewise, the Apostle: “When the fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son made of woman” (Gal. 4: 4). This is why the Fathers added in the Symbol: "Born of the Virgin Mary."
52 - Arius 16 and Apollinaris 17 affirmed that Christ was the Word of God and that he was born of the Virgin Mary, but that he had no soul, being in its place the divinity. But this is against Scripture, where are these words of Christ: "Now my soul is troubled" (Mt 26:38). To refute the error of both, the Holy Fathers added in the Symbol: "And man became." Now man is made up of soul and body. Therefore, He possessed all that man can possess except sin.
53 - By the expression - "made man" - are destroyed all the errors listed above, and all that may arise. It was destroyed by this expression, especially the error of Eutychium 18 which taught that there was a mixture, that is, that there was one nature in Christ, coming from the divine and the human, so that Christ was neither simply God nor simply men. Such a statement is false, because if it were not false, Christ would not be man as defined: "He became man."
It is also destroyed the error of Nestorius 19 that affirmed that the Son of God joined man only by uninhabitation. This doctrine is also false, because then it would be written not only man, but in man. The apostle declares that Christ was a man: "He was recognized as he was presented as a man" (Phil. 2: 7). It is also read in St. John, "Why do you want to kill me, I, a man who told you the truth that I heard from God?" (Jn 8:40).
Monophysite heresy spread through Christendom, to which the Orthodox Armenian, Abyssinian (Copts) and Syria (Jacobite) churches still accept it.
15 Valentino - Alexandrian Gnostic who spread his doctrine in Rome from 136 to 160. A great oratory talent, he formulated a religiosophilosophical doctrinal system based on neoplatonic philosophy. They became dangerous Valentinians because they used the same rites of the Church and thus deceived and attracted Catholics.
16 Ario (See footnote 8).
Apollinarian - Bishop of Laodicea, Syria, applied the doctrine of Platonic trichotomy to Christ, so that Christ would have no rational soul. The "Logos" sometimes made her, being Christ made up of "flesh", "animal soul" and "Logos". Without realizing it, Apollinaris actually taught that the verb became incarnate in an irrational being. Despite having fought Arianism, Apollinaris, for the false conception of Christ's humanity, fell into this error. Several Synods condemned “apolinarism,” the Antiochian Fathers soon rejected it, and Emperor Theodosius in 388 exiled his adherents. Heresy was absorbed by the Orthodox Church, later manifesting itself in the form of nonophysitism. Apollinaris passed away in 390.
18 Eutychius was an Archimandrite of Constantinople, pious but without theological culture. With Eutychius begins the great monophysite struggle, which will end in the Church with the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, 451. In sharp opposition to Nestorianism (see note 19), the monophysites taught that in Christ there is one nature, the divine, for the Christ's human nature was deified, no longer equal to ours. In Christ there would be "one and only nature." Eutiquiu acted very violently against those who claimed to have two natures in Christ, identifying them with the Nestorians. At the Council of Chalcedon, Pope Leo the Great's letter (440-461) was read with great applause, condemning Monophysitism and Nestorianism. Thus wrote the Pope: “We teach and profess one and the same Christ… in two natures, not confused and unprocessed, undivided, not separated, for the union of natures did not suppress differences, but each of the natures conserved the properties and united with the other in a single person and in a single hypothesis ”.
19 Nestorius, a pious monk and good orator, was elected Bishop of Constantinople in 428. Following the Antiochian theological school, which so exaggerated the distinction of the two natures of Christ as to appear to affirm the existence of two persons in Him, Nestorius He carried to the extreme the Antiochian theses, denying that there was only the Divine Person in Christ. Consequently, Mary was only the mother of Christ, not the Mother of God (Teotókos). St. Cyril Alexandrian forcefully fought Nestorius' error, and Pope Celestine I supported this Father's doctrine. Firm in the error and the Chair of Constantinople that he was to resign, Nestorius requested from Emperor Theory II to convene an Ecumenical Council to settle the matter. This was held in Ephesus in 431, presided over by Cyril, the Pope's representative. Nestorius was stripped of his episcopal office and reaffirmed the dual nature of Christ and the unity of person. Mary was declared Teotókos. The Council, which is the third ecumenical, has not published a new Symbol of faith, considering the Nicene Symbol sufficient. Nestorian heresy spread throughout the East, among the Indians, Chinese, and Mongols, and in the sixteenth century the Chaldean Nestorians returned to the heart of the Catholic Church. There are still supporters of Nestorianism in northern Iraq.
54 - From this exposition on the 3rd article of the Creed, we can draw some practical conclusions for our instruction. First, to confirm our faith. If someone spoke of a faraway land where he had never been before, his word would not be as well accepted as he would have known it. Before Christ's coming, the Patriarchs, the Prophets, and John the Baptist spoke some truths about God. But men did not believe them as they believed in Christ, who was with God, and more than that, he was one with Him. This is why our faith was much more confirmed by the truths conveyed by Christ. It reads in St. John: “No one has ever seen God. The Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has revealed to us ”(Jn 1:18). Many mysteries of the faith that were previously veiled were revealed to us after the advent of Christ.
55 Second, to raise our hope. We know that the Son of God came not to us without a high reason, assuming our flesh, but to our great use. In order to obtain it, he made a certain trade: he took on a lively body, and deigned to be born of the Virgin, to give us his divinity; became man, to make man God. It reads in St. Paul, "Through whom we have access by faith in this grace, wherein we abide, and glory in the hope of the glory of the children of God" (Rom 5: 2).
Thirdly, so that our charity may be more earnest. No evidence is more evident of divine charity than God, Creator of all things, to become a creature; that of our Lord, to become our brother; that of the Son of God, to become the son of man. St. John reads: “God so loved the world, that he gave him his Son” (Jn 3:16). For the consideration of this truth, our love for God must be rekindled and once again in our hearts.
Fourth, for the preservation of the purity of our soul. Our nature has been so ennobled and exalted by union with God that it was assumed to consort with a Divine Person. For this reason, the Angel, after the Incarnation, did not allow Blessed John to worship him, 20 when he had previously allowed even the greatest Patriarchs to do so. Man, therefore, reconsidering and attending to his own exaltation, must realize how he degrades and demeans himself and his nature by sin. This is why St. Peter writes: “By whom he has bestowed upon us the most precious and precious promises, that we might become consorts to the divine nature, fleeing from the corruption of the lust that is in the world” (II Pet. 1: 5).
Fifth, meditation on the mysteries of the Incarnation increases in us the desire to draw closer to Christ. If anyone, a king's brother, were far from him, he would naturally wish to approach him, be with him, stay with him. Now, being Christ our brother, we must desire to be with Him and to unite with Him. Concerning this desire, it reads in St. Matthew, "Wherever the corpse is, there shall the vultures appear" (Matt. 24, 28). St. Paul wanted to dissolve to be with Christ: this desire also grows in us by considering the mystery of the Incarnation.
· 20 It is read in Revelation that John tried to worship the “mighty angel” (Rev. 18:21). But he was admonished not to do so (Rev. 19, 10).
ARTICLE FOUR
- suffered under the power of Pontius Pilate, was crucified, killed and buried -
59 - Because it is necessary for the believer to believe in the Incarnation of the Son of God, it is also necessary to believe in his Passion and Death, because, as St. Gregory said, “His birth would not have been helpful to us if it had not favored Redemption. " This truth, that Christ died for us, is so difficult that our intelligence can only know it, but by no means discover it for itself. This is confirmed by the words of the Apostle: "I will do a work in your day, which ye cannot believe in it unless anyone has previously revealed it" (Acts 13:41). This is also confirmed by what the Prophet Habakkuk said: “A work will be done in your days that no one will believe when it is told” (Hab 1: 5). God's grace and love for us is so great that He has done for us more than we can comprehend.
60 But it must not be believed that when Christ died for us, the Godhead also died. In him human nature died; He did not die as God, but as a man. Three examples will clarify this truth. One of them we find in ourselves. It is known that when a man dies, in the separation between soul and body, the soul does not die, but the body, the flesh. So also in Christ's death did not deity die, but human nature.
61. The following objection may be made here: If the Jews did not kill divinity, then their sin by killing Christ was no greater than if they had killed another man.
Let us answer this objection: If a man soiled the garments with which the king was clothed, he would be so grossly lacking as if he had soiled the king himself. So also the Jews. Since they could not kill God by killing Christ's assumed human nature, they deserved severe punishment, as if they had murdered their own deity.
As we said above, the Son of God is the Word of God, and the Word of God Incarnate is like the word of God written in a letter. If anyone tore the king's letter, he would do the same as the one who had torn the king's word. That is why the Jews sinned so badly as if they had killed the Word of God.
But you ask, What need did the Word of God have for us?
- Great need, and for two reasons. One, because it was a remedy for our sins; another, because it was an example for our actions 21 .
21 In “Theological Summaries” (III, 46), St. Thomas analyzes the reasons for the Passion of Christ. There was no absolute need for the Passion of Christ (art. 1), it would be possible to find other ways to save man (art. 2), but based on St. Augustine, the Angelic Doctor states that the redemptive mode performed by the Passion was the most convenient (art. 3). It presents the following reasons of convenience: man sees how much God has loved him, and is led to love God out of gratitude; Christ in the Passion set an example of obedience, humility, constancy and justice, virtues necessary for salvation; He promised grace and glory and saved man from sin. Remembering that he was saved by the Blood of Christ, man avoids sin; the dignity of man is high, for he has conquered the devil by which he was overcome; and the death deserved by sin was overcome by the death of Christ.
65 - Yes, it was a remedy, because against all the evils we have sinned we find the remedy in the Passion of Christ. We have contracted five evils for sin.
The first is the very stain of sin. When a man sins, he defiles his soul, because, as virtue beautifies, sin beautifies it. It reads in Barruch: “Why are you, O Israel, in the land of enemies, and defiled yourself with the dead?” (Br 3, 10). But the Passion of Christ washed away this stain. Christ, in His Passion, made His blood a bath to wash sinners out of Him: “We wash away sin in the blood” (Rev 1: 5) 24 . In Baptism the soul is washed in the Blood of Christ, because it receives the regenerating force from the Blood of Christ. Therefore, when a baptized person is defiled by sin, he does an injury to Christ and his sin is greater than that committed before baptism. The Letter to the Hebrews reads: “He that despised the law of Moses, after hearing the testimony of two or three, must die” (Heb 10: 28-29). How Not to Deserve It should be noted that these Sermons on the Creed were delivered when St. Thomas wrote the III Part of Suma in Naples, where he deals with the Passion of Christ.
22 “Christ by His Passion set us free from sin as the cause of this deliverance, that is, by instituting the cause of our deliverance, whereby any sins may always be forgiven - present, past, and future; as the doctor who makes the medicine capable of curing all diseases, including future ones ”(ST III, 49, 1 ad. 3).
23 “Blot properly refers to corporeal things, when some clean body loses its purity by contact with another body, such as clothing, gold and silver. In spiritual things the term stain should be used in resemblance to corporeal things. The soul of man possesses a double clarity: one, derived from the radiance of the light of reason; ... another, derived from divine light, that is, from wisdom and grace. (...). There is a sense of tact in the soul when it adheres to something through love. When you sin, you adhere to some things against the light of reason and the divine light. Hence the detriment of this sharpness, which comes from such contact, metaphorically, as a stain of the soul, is called ”(ST III, 86,1).
24 “Because the Passion of Christ was realized as a certain universal cause of the remission of sins, it must be applied to each one for the destruction of one's sins. This is done by baptism and penance, and by the other sacraments, which have the efficacy derived from the Passion of Christ ”(ST III, 49.1 ad. 4). greatest torment, he that trod upon the blood of the Son of God, and found the blood of the covenant unclean?
The second evil we have contracted through sin is to become the object of God's aversion. Just as one who is carnal loves the beauty of the flesh, so God loves the spiritual beauty, which is the beauty of the soul. When, therefore, the soul is defiled by the evil of sin, God is offended and hates the sinner. The Book of Wisdom reads: “God hates the wicked and their wickedness” (Wis 14: 9) 25 . But the Passion of Christ removes these things, because it satisfied the Father offended by sin, whose satisfaction could not come from man. Christ's charity and obedience were greater than the sin and disobedience of the first man. St Paul says: “Being an enemy, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son” (Rom 5: 10) 26 .
68. The third evil is weakness. Man, sinning for the first time, thinks that later he can abstain from sin. However, the opposite happens: it weakens by the first sin and is inclined to sin more.
Sin increasingly dominates man, and man in himself puts himself in such a state that he can no longer rise. It's like someone who has thrown himself into a well. It can only come out of it by divine force. After man sinned, our nature became debilitated, corrupted, and therefore he was more inclined to sin.
25 “Just as men killed Christ, so was the dead Christ. The charity of the suffering Christ was greater than the wickedness of his slayers. This is why the Passion of Christ was more advantageous in reconciling God to all mankind than in provoking Him to wrath. ” (ST III, 49, 4 ad 3).
26 “The Passion of Christ causes the remission of sins as a redemption. Because He is our head, through His Passion, who endured by obedience and charity, set us free as members of sin, as if this were the price of sin; as a man who through the meritorious deeds of the hand redeems himself from the sin committed by his feet. Just as the natural body is one constituted by the diversity of the members, so the whole Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ, is considered to be one person with its head, which is Christ. (ST III. 49, 1c).
But Christ diminished this weakness and weakness, though He did not completely erase them.
Man has been strengthened by the Passion of Christ and sin weakened, so that it will no longer dominate him. He can, therefore, aided by divine grace, which is conferred by the sacraments whose efficacy they receive from the Passion of Christ, strive to get out of sin. It reads in St. Paul: "Our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed" (Rom 6: 6). Before Christ's Passion, few had no mortal sin. But after her, many lived and live without mortal sin.
Which evil is our obligation to fulfill the penalty of sin. God's justice requires that sin be punished, and the penalty is measured by guilt. Since the guilt of sin is infinite, because it goes against infinite goodness, God, whose commandment the sinner despised, so the penalty due to mortal sin is infinite. But Christ by His Passion has delivered us from this penalty by assuming Himself. St. Peter confirms this: "Our sins (ie, the penalty of sin) He bore in His body" (1 Pet 2:24).
The virtue of the Passion of Christ was so exuberant that it was only sufficient to expel all the sins of all men, even if they were numbered in millions. This is why he who was baptized was also cleansed from all sins. It is also for this reason that priests forgive sins. Likewise, he whose suffering most closely resembles that of the Passion of Christ, obtains greater forgiveness and deserves greater graces.
70 The fifth evil contracted by sin was in our having been exiled from the kingdom of heaven. It is natural for those who offend the king to be forced out of their homeland. Man was removed from paradise because of sin: Adam immediately after sin was expelled from paradise, and his door was locked. But Christ through His Passion opened that door and again called the exiles into the kingdom. When the side of Christ was opened, it was also the door of paradise opened; when his Blood was shed, the stain was blotted out, God was placated, weakness was removed, the penalty was expiated, and the exiles were summoned to the kingdom. This is why the thief was immediately told: “You will be with me in Paradise today” (Lk 23:43). Note that at that time it was not said - formerly; which was not spoken to another either - neither to Adam, nor to Abraham, nor to David; it was said today, that is, as soon as the door was opened, and the thief asked and received forgiveness. The letter to the Hebrews reads: “Confident in entering into the sanctuary by the Blood of Christ” (Heb. 10:19). It is thus made clear how useful the Passion of Christ was as a remedy against sin. But its usefulness was no less to us, while it served as an example.
As St. Augustine said, "The Passion of Christ is sufficient to be a model of all our lives." Whoever wants to be perfect in life has nothing more to do than to despise what Christ despised on the cross, and to desire what He desired on it.
27 “By the Passion of Christ we have been delivered, not only from the sin common to all human nature, both in guilt and in the restoration of punishment, for He paid the price for us; but also the sins of each of us who share in His Passion for faith, charity and the sacraments of faith. And thus through the Passion of Christ was the door of the kingdom of heaven opened unto us ”(ST III 49.5 c).
No example of virtue is no longer present on the cross. If they look for an example of charity, "no one has greater charity than one who gives his life for friends" (Jn 15:13). Now that's what Christ did on the cross. Therefore, since Christ gave His life for us, it should not be heavy for us to endure all kinds of evils for His sake. “What will I repay the Lord for all the things which He has given me?” (Ps. 115, 12). If you are looking for an example of patience on the cross, you will find immense patience on it. Patience manifests itself extraordinarily in two ways: either when one endures great evil patiently, or when one endures that which could be avoided and did not want to avoid. Christ on the cross endured great sufferings: “O ye all who pass by the way, stop and see if there is pain like mine!” (Jes. 1:17) “As the sheep brought to the slaughter and as the silent lamb in the shearing” ( I Pet. 2, 23) 28 .
28 “Considering the sufficiency, the least Passion of Christ would be sufficient to free mankind from all sins; However, considering convenience, it was necessary that all kinds of suffering suffered ”(ST 46, 5 ad 3).
“In the suffering Christ there was true sensible pain, which is caused by what is harmful to the body, and inner pain, which is caused by the knowledge of some evil, called sadness. Both pains were greatest in Christ among the pains of the present life. (...) “The cause of sensitive pain was bodily injury, which was very strong in Him because suffering was widespread throughout the body, also because of the kind of suffering, because the death of the crucified is the most cruel and acerba ... ”(...)“ The cause of the inner pain was, in the first place, the sin of all mankind, for which he satisfied by suffering…; secondly, he especially suffered because of the Jews and the other perpetrators of his death, and especially because of the disciples, who were scandalized by the Passion of Christ; Thirdly, (the cause of inner pain) was having to lose one's bodily life, which of course is horrible to human nature ”(ST III 46, 6 c).
Christ on the cross also endured the evils that He could have prevented, but did not avoid them: “Do you think I cannot plead with my Father, and that He will send me no more than twelve legions of Angels?” (Mt 26, 53) 29 . Indeed, Christ's patience on the cross was immense! “Let us run patiently into the battle that awaits us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author of our faith, who will bring it to an end: He who, having been offered joy, endured the cross without regard for his humiliation. ”(Heb. 36, 17). 74 - If you would like to see on the cross an example of humility, just look at the crucifix. God wanted to be judged under Pontius Pilate and die: “Your cause, Lord, has been judged as that of the wicked” (Jn 36:17). Yes, from an ungodly man, because they said, “Let us condemn him to a most shameful death” (Sab. 2:20).
The Lord wanted to die for his servant, and the one who gives life to the angels through man: “He was made obedient unto death” (Phil. 2: 8) 75 - If you want on the cross an example of obedience, follow Him who He became obedient to his father until death: “As through one man's disobedience, many became sinners; also by the obedience of one man, many became righteous ”(Rom. 5:19).
76. If on the cross you are looking for an example of contempt for earthly things, follow Him Who is the King and Lord of Lords in whom are the treasures of wisdom, but who on the cross appear naked, ridiculed, spilled, scourged, crowned with thorns. , in thirst quenched with gall and vinegar and dead. Thou shalt not cleave unto garments and riches, "because they have divided my garments among themselves" (Ps 29:19); nor to the honors, for "I endured the mockery and the stripes"; nor to the dignities, because "they put in my head a crown of thorns which they braided"; nor to delights, because “they gave me vinegar to drink in my thirst” (Ps. 68, 22) Commenting on this text of the Letter to the Hebrews - “Who, though they offered him joy, endured the cross, despising its humiliation” ( Heb 12: 2) - Augustine tells us: "The man Christ Jesus has despised all earthly goods, to show that they are to be despised."
29 “Thus Christ was the cause of his Passion and Death. He could prevent his Passion and his Death by first repressing his adversaries so that they would not kill him or kill him; secondly, because his spirit had the power to preserve the nature of his flesh, so that it would not be oppressed by any injury inflicted upon it (the soul of Christ, because it was united with the Word in the unity of the person, had such power as says Augustine). Because the soul of Christ did not repel the suffering inflicted on his own body, but wanted his bodily nature to succumb to that evil, it is said that he laid his soul, or that he voluntarily died ”(ST III. 47, 1 c).
ARTICLE FIVE
He descended into hell, on the third day he rose from the dead.
77 As we said above, the death of Christ consisted in the separation of soul and body, as in the death of other men. But divinity was so closely linked to the man Christ that, though soul and body were separated from each other, Deity itself was always united with body and soul in a most perfect way. That is why the Son of God was present in the tomb, who also descended with his soul to hell.
30 Saint Thomas uses in the same sentence the words “deity” (deities) and deity (deities), which in a sense may have the same meaning. But “lay down” needs more perfectly the content of the divine essence. “It means that divine perfection, the Godhead, believes above, not only of all that exists, but of all that we can conceive: [...] it is another perfection, which is neither wisdom nor goodness. , neither the intellectuality, nor anything of what these things are, but Deity, singular and transcendent perfection, infinitely simple ”(H. Nicolas -“ Dieu connu comme inconnu ”- Desiclée - Paris, 1966, p. 138).
The word deity is used to express the divine essence as known by abstract reason, whereas theologians use more "Deitas" to express the divine essence as known by faith: the knowledge of faith attains the intimate life of God, which is only will make perfect in the beatific vision. (cf. Garrigou Lagrange, “De Deo Uno” Paris, 1937, p. 245).
31 The question of Christ's descent into hell is long and clearly dealt with mainly in the Theological Summa (III, q. 52). “In Christ's death even though the soul was separated from the body, neither was separated from the Person of the Son of God. Therefore it must be said that in the triduum of death the whole Christ was in the tomb, because his whole Person was there by the body united with her; similarly all was in hell, because the whole Person of Christ was there because of the soul united to it, and also (one may say) that all Christ was everywhere because of his divine nature ”(III, 52, 3, c ).
How Christ was present and working in the various parts of hell, St. Thomas tells us:
“In two ways there may be one thing somewhere: one way, by its effect (and in this way Christ descended into any of the hells, but differently; in the hell of the damned He had the effect of arguing them with His unbelief and malice: to those who were detained in purgatory he gave the hope of attaining eternal life, to the Holy Patriarchs, who only by reason of original sin entered into hell, infused them with the light of eternal glory. Otherwise one thing is said to be somewhere in its essence: and in this way the soul of Christ descended only to the place of hell, in which the righteous were held, that those whom He might visit according to divinity and inwardly by grace, visit them also according to the soul and locally. In this way, being in one part of hell, he extended his effect to all parts of hell, as having suffered in one place on earth, liberated the whole world by his passion ”(III, 52, 2 c).
78 For four reasons Christ came down with the soul to hell. The first, to bear the full penalty of sin, and thus atone for all guilt. The penalty for man's sin was not only the death of the body, but also a punishment in the soul. Because sin was also of the soul, it should be punished for the deprivation of divine vision. However, there had not yet been a satisfaction that this deprivation should be removed. Therefore, before the advent of Christ, all descended to hell, even the Holy Patriarchs. For Christ to carry all the punishment due to sinners upon Himself, He wanted not only to die, but to descend with the soul into hell. The Psalms read: “I was regarded as a man fallen in the pit; I became like an unaided man, free in the midst of the dead ”(Ps 87: 5-6).
79 - The second reason for Christ's descent into hell was to come to the aid of all his friends. He had his friends not only in the world, but also in hell. Some manifest themselves as friends of Christ in this: they have charity. Many were in the hells that went down there having charity and faith in the Expected, such as Abraham, Issac, Jacob, David, many other righteous and perfect men. Since Christ visited his friends in the world, and had helped them by his own death, he also wanted to visit those friends who were in hell, and to help them, as well as to them. It is read in the Book of Ecclesiasticus: "I will enter into all the interior parts of the earth, and see all that sleep there, and illuminate all that wait upon the Lord." (Ecl 24, 45).
80 The third reason was for Christ to have a perfect victory against the devil. One only has a perfect triumph over another, not only when he overcomes him on the battlefield, but even when he still invades his own house, and seizes the seat of the kingdom and the palace. Christ had already triumphed over the devil and had already conquered him on the Cross, for it reads in St. John: "Now is the judgment of the world, now the prince of this world (that is, the devil) shall be cast out" (Jn 12:31). . In order for Christ to triumph over the devil completely, he wanted to take his thirst out of the kingdom and secure him in his own house, which is hell. So he went down, took all his possessions, imprisoned him, and seized his prey. It reads: "Stripping away the principalities and societies, he publicly exhibited them, triumphing over them on the Cross" (Col 2:15). We must consider that, as Christ had received the power and possession of heaven and earth, He should also have the possession of hell, as it reads in the Letter to the Philippians: “To the name of Jesus bow every knee of those who are heaven on earth and in the hells ”(Phil 2: 10). Jesus Himself had said, "In my name shall they cast out devils" (Mt 16:17).
81. The fourth and last reason was to set the saints in hell free. Just as Christ wanted to submit to death to free the living from death, He also wanted to come down to hell, to free those who were there. It reads: “You also (Lord), by the Blood of your will, have taken away His own. who were trapped in the pit where there was no water ”(Zech 9:11). - “O death, I will be your death, O hell, I will be to you as a bite” (Hos 13, 14) 32 .
Though Christ had utterly destroyed death, He did not utterly destroy hell, but as though biting Him, because He did not deliver all who were in Him, but only those who had no mortal sin, nor the original sin. From this, they were set free as individual persons by circumcision, and before the institution of circumcision, children deprived of the use of reason by the faith of their faithful parents; the adults, for the sacrifices and faith they hoped for in Christ. They were in hell because of the original sin caused by Adam, from which they could not be set free as a sin that was of human nature but by Christ. And he left them that came down with mortal sin, and the uncircumcised children. So I said when I came down to hell, "I will be to you as a bite" (Hos 13: 14).
32 St. Thomas quotes here the Latin text of the Vulgate (“error mortua, the mors morsus tuus error, inferne” - Hos. 13, 14) and we translate it literally to make sense of the explanation that follows it. However the literal translation of the Hebrew text is as follows: “Where are thy epidemics, O death? Where is your contagion, O abyss?
St. Paul applies this verse from Hosea, whose original meaning is concerning the victory of the Israelite people, to the victory of Christ. The quotation of St. Paul (I Cor. 15, 55) is in a free sense (see, “La Sainte Bible, translated into French in the direction of L'Ecole Biblique de Jérusalem,” pgs. 1221, 1525).
33 On the death of unbaptized children and their eternal destiny, see Charles Journet's excellent book, "La vonlonté divine salvage sur les petits enfants" - Desclée de Brower, Freiburg, 1958.
It is a common sentence among theologians that the souls of children killed without baptism before the use of reason are deprived of the vision of God, but suffer neither because they are deprived of this vision nor the penalties of the senses.
St. Thomas has always denied that children killed in a state of original sin suffered any punishment, although he had first stated that they knew the deprivation of sight (Sent. 2, 33, 2 to 2) and later denied it (De malo, 5, 3) "being deprived of such good (beatific vision) the souls of children do not know, and for this reason they do not suffer, but what they possess by nature, they possess without pain. Saint Roberto Belarmino admits some suffering in these children. (cf. Catechismus Catholics, q. 359 pp. 197, 479).
From the foregoing, we can draw four teachings for our instruction. First, a firm hope in God, for whenever man is in distress, he must always expect and trust in divine help. Nothing is more serious than falling into hell. If therefore Christ has delivered those who were in hell, each one, if indeed he is a friend of God, must very much trust that He will deliver him from all anguish. It reads: “This (that is, wisdom) has not forsaken the righteous man who was overcome... He went down with him into the pit, and did not forsake him in prison” (Sab. 10, 13-14). Since God assists His servants in a special way, He who serves Him must always be very sure. It reads: “He that feareth the Lord shall tremble for nothing, and shall fear nothing, because he is his hope” (Eccl 39: 16).
Second, we must arouse fear in us, and put away presumption. For though Christ endured the passion for sinners, and descended into hell, He did not deliver all, but only those who were without mortal sin, as stated above. Those who died in mortal sin left them forsaken. Therefore, no one who comes down from there with mortal sin expects forgiveness. But the time will be in hell when the Holy Patriarchs are in Paradise, that is, for all eternity. St. Matthew reads: “The cursed shall go into everlasting torment, but the righteous into paradise” (Mt 25:46) 34 .
34 The “Cathecismus Catholicus” prepared by Cardinal Gaspani with the participation of respectable theologians, approved by the Holy See, thus defines in appendix the doctrine of hell and purgatory: “With regard to hell one must believe with divine faith. : 1 ° That there is hell consisting of demons and those who died in mortal sin, even if it were one. 2 ° That in hell the damned are tormented by double punishment: that of harm and the punishment of the senses, which is mainly of fire. 3 ° That the punishment that the damned of hell do is eternal, and will never end and will not be lightened. 4 ° Which are not the same punishments for all, but different, according to the number and gravity of sins, which merited eternal damnation.
84 Thirdly, we must live attentive, because if Christ descended to hell for our salvation, we too should with solicitude go down there in spirit, meditating on the penalties in Him, imitating the Holy Hezekiah, who said: eternal torment, but the righteous unto Paradise ”(Is. 38, 10). Thus one who in life goes there by meditation will not easily come down to hell in death, because that meditation turns away from sin. As we see how men of this world shun evil deeds for fear of hellish penalties, how should they not much longer guard themselves from sin because of the much longer, crueler, and more numerous penalties of hell? This is why it reads in Scripture: “Remember your last days, and you shall not sin forever” (Eccl 7: 40).
It is theologically certain, though not of faith, that the fire with which the damned of hell are tormented is a real or corporeal fire, not metaphorical. (...).
It is still freely disputed among theologians: how can real fire torment pure spirits, such as demons, and the souls of the damned before the resurrection of bodies; what is the nature of hellfire; where hell is found, whether above or below the earth, if it is a place, if it is a state ... With regard to Purgatory, it is of faith: 1) That there is purgatory, where the souls of those who are they die without mortal sin, but they must still fulfill something for a while because of their penalties. 2 °) That in purgatory souls are punished by the penalty of harm and the punishment of the senses, that is, by the temporal deprivation of beatific vision and other severe penalties. 3 ° That the penalties of souls in purgatory, as regards the duration and hardness due to the penalty of each, are dissimilar to each other. That the feathers of those who are there may become shorter and lighter by the suffrage performed by their souls. It is not in faith that souls are tormented in Purgatory by real or corporeal, not metaphorical fire. (...). It is freely disputed: whether there is the fire of Purgatory and whether its nature is the same as that of the fire of hell, though it has less tormenting force; how this fire strikes souls apart from bodies; where is purgatory; whether it is place or state ”(pp. 484 and 486).
85. The fourth teaching from Christ's descent into hell is that He has offered us an example of love. Christ descended to hell to free his own. We must also go down there in meditation to help our own. They, by themselves, can achieve nothing. We must come to the aid of those in purgatory. If someone didn't want to help a loved one in prison, how cruel that would seem to us! However, it would be much more cruel if he did not come to the aid of his friend in purgatory, for there is no comparison between the penalties of this world and those. In this regard one reads: “Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, at least you, my friends, because the hand of God helps me” (Jn 19:21). - “It is holy and salutary to pray for the dead to be free from sin” (Mk 19:46).
86 Those who are in purgatory are mainly assisted by three acts, as Augustine said: by Masses, prayers, and alms. Gregory adds a fourth: the fast. It should not cause admiration to be so, for in this world too the friend can satisfy for the friend. The same thing happens with those in purgatory.
87 A man must know two things: the glory of God and the penalty of hell. Raised by the glory of God and terrified by the penalty of hell, men take better care of their actions and turn away from sin. But it is very difficult for man to know these two things. Concerning glory, it reads: “Who can know the things of heaven?” (Wis 9:16). This is very difficult indeed for the inhabitants of the earth, because it reads in St. John, "What is of the earth speaks of the things of the earth" (Jn 3:31). For the spiritual, however, it is not, because "what came from heaven is above all," as that text goes on. Therefore God came down from heaven and became incarnate to teach us the things of heaven.
With regard to the penalty of hell, it was also very difficult to know. It is read in the Book of Wisdom: “It is not known who has returned from hell” (Wis 2: 1). This passage of Scripture refers to the people of the wicked. But now that can no longer be said, because, as He came down from heaven to teach the things of heaven, He also rose from hell to enlighten us about the things of hell.
It is necessary, therefore, that we believe not only that He became man and that He died, but that He rose from the dead. For this reason it is professed in the Creed: "On the third day he rose from the dead." 35
35 St. Thomas applies the hilarious doctrine to explain the reunion of the soul to the body of Christ in the Resurrection. The body of Christ retained its unity after death because of the Person of the Word to which it was united, and therefore it was not corrupted (cf. ST III, 50, 5). Since the soul is its substantial form and principle of human life, the human nature of Christ is redone by the reunion of the soul with the body. There was no intermediate form between the body and soul of Christ assumed (informed, quickened) his body. “The body of Christ fell to death as it was separated from the soul, which was its formal perfection. For there to be a true Resurrection of Christ, it was convenient that the same body of Christ a second time be united with the same soul. And because the true nature of the body comes from form, it must be concluded that after the Resurrection Christ's body was the true, and of the same nature as the former. If your body were fantastic, there would have been no true Resurrection, but only apparent. (ST III, 54.1 c). “The body of Christ in the Resurrection was of the same nature, but of different glory. Therefore everything that belongs to the nature of the human body was totally in the body of the Risen Christ. Of course they belong to the nature of the human body, the flesh, the bones, the blood, etc. Hence all these things were in the body of the Risen Christ, wholly and without any diminution. Otherwise, there would be no perfect Resurrection if all that was separated from death was reinstated. ” (ST III, 54.2 c).
88 - We read in the Gospels that many were raised from the dead, such as Lazarus, the widow's son and the son of the Synagogue leader.
But the Resurrection of Christ differs from these and others in four respects.
First, because of the cause of the resurrection, because the resurrected others did not rise by their own power, but by the power of Christ or the prayers of some saint. Christ was risen by his own power, because he was not only man but God, and the divinity of the Word was never separated from his soul or body. Therefore, the body resumed the soul and the soul the body, when it wanted. It reads: “I have the power to surrender my soul as well as to resume it” (Jn 10:18).
Though it was killed, it was not out of weakness or out of necessity, but spontaneously. This is true, because when Christ gave up his spirit, he shouted. But others who die cannot give because they die from weakness. The centurion exclaimed at Calvary: "He was truly the Son of God" (Mt 87,54).
As Christ by his own strength gave up his soul, he also resumed it by his own strength. That is why it is said in the Creed - resurrected and not - was resurrected, as if by another. The Psalms read: “I slept, fell into a deep sleep, and rose again” (Ps 29: 10). But there is no contradiction between this text and that of the Acts of the Apostles: "This Jesus hath raised Him up" (Acts 2:32), because the Father raised Him up, and the Son also raised Him up, since the virtue of the Father and Son are the same virtue.
89 Second, it differs because of the resurrected life. Christ is risen to glorious and incorruptible life, as the Letter to the Romans reads: "Christ is risen from the dead through the glory of the Father" (Cor 6: 4). The others, for the same life they once had, as found in Lazarus and the resurrected others.
90 - The resurrection of Christ is different from that of others, both in its effectiveness and in its fruit, because it is by virtue of that which they all rose again. It reads: “Many bodies of the sleeping Saints have risen” (Mt 2, 7, 52) - “Christ has risen from the dead, the first fruits of those who sleep” (Cor 15:20).
Behold, Christ through the Passion has come to glory, as it is written in St. Luke: “Was it not expedient that Christ should thus suffer in order to enter into his glory?” (Is 24: 26) - to teach us how we can reach glory: “Through many taxes we must pass into the kingdom of God” (Mt 14, 21).
91. The fourth difference is related to time, because the resurrection of others was delayed until the end of time, unless it was granted by privilege, such as that of the Holy Virgin, and, as piously believed, that of St. John. Evangelist.
Christ, however, was resurrected on the third day because His Resurrection and His Death took place for our salvation, and He therefore wanted to rise only when it was advantageous for our salvation.
But if He rose immediately after death, He would not be believed to have died. If the resurrection were too long delayed, the disciples would not persevere in the faith, and no use would have their Passion. It reads in the Psalms, "What use would it be if I had shed the blood if I went down to the place of corruption?" (Ps 29: 10). He rose on the third day to believe in his death and so that the disciples would not lose faith.
About what we have just said, we can make four considerations for our instruction.
First, that we should strive to rise spiritually from the death of the soul, contracted by sin, to the life of justification that is obtained through penance. The Apostle writes: “Arise, thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee” (Eph 5:14).
This is the first resurrection of which Revelation speaks to us: “Blessed is he who had part in the first resurrection” (Rev 20: 6).
Second, that we should not delay our resurrection from the dead, but carry it out now, because Christ rose on the third day.
It reads: “Do not delay in conversion to the Lord, and do not delay her day by day” (Eccl 5: 8).
Because you are aggravated by weakness, you cannot think of the things of salvation, and because you lose part of all the goods bestowed on you by the Church, you incur many evils persevering in sin.
As the Venerable Beda said, the devil the longer he has a person, the harder he leaves.
Third, that we must also rise to the incorruptible life, so that we no longer die, that is, that we must persevere in the purpose of no longer sinning. It reads in the Letter to the Romans: “So you also consider yourselves dead to sin, living to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not sin reign in your body, obeying their lusts; do not display your limbs as weapons of wickedness to sin, but you must show yourselves to God as living that came out of death ”(Rom 6: 9; 11-13).
Fourth, that we must rise to a new and glorious life, avoiding all that was before us the occasion and cause of death and sin. It reads in the Letter to the Romans: "As Christ rose from the dead through the glory of the Father, so must we walk in the newness of life" (Rom 5: 4). This new life is the life of righteousness, which renews the soul and leads it to glory. Amen.
ARTICLE SIX
- He ascended into heaven is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty -
96 After affirming the Resurrection of Christ, it is appropriate to believe in His Ascension, for He ascended into heaven after forty days of resurrection. This is why it is said in the Creed: "He ascended into heaven."
We must consider the three main characteristics of these events, namely that it was sublime, rational, and useful.
97 It was sublime, because He ascended into the heavens. This is explained in three ways:
First, because He ascended above all the corporeal heavens 36 , as it reads in St. Paul: “He ascended above all the heavens” (Eph 4:10).
This ascension was first accomplished by Christ, because hitherto the earthly body had been only on earth, being paradise, where Adam was, also situated on earth.
36 “St. Thomas speaks according to the system of the ancients who distinguished many material heavens, as we distinguish troposphere, stratosphere, ionosphere ... The Ascension of Christ - above all material heavens - means that He came out of the cosmos” (Le Credo, Saint Thomas d'Aquin, Introduction, translation and notes for a moine by Fontgombault, Nov. Ed. Latines, Paris, 1969, p. 230).
In “Theological Theological” St. Thomas explains what it means to “rise above all the heavens”: “the more some bodies participate in divine goodness, the more they are above body order, which is the local order. of divine goodness a body by glory, than any natural body by the shape of its nature. Now, among the other glorious bodies, it is evident that the body of Christ shines for greater glory. Therefore it was most fitting for Him to be constituted upon all bodies on high. Commenting on the letter to the Ephesians, chapter IV, "Ascending on high", it reads in glossa: "That is, by place and by dignity" (ST III, 57, 4, c).
Second, because it ascended over all spiritual heavens, that is, above spiritual natures, as it also reads in St. Paul: “Putting (the Father) Jesus on his right hand in the heavens, over all Principality, Power, Virtue, Domination, and above. of every name that is spoken not only in this century, but also in the future, and has put everything under his feet ”(Eph 1:20).
Third, because he ascended to the Father's throne. It is read in the Scriptures: “Behold, he came upon the clouds of heaven like the Son of Man; He went to the Elder, and was led into his presence ”(Dan 7:13). It is also read in St. Mark: "And the Lord Jesus, having spoken to them, ascended into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God" (Mk 16:19).
98. God's right expression is not to be understood in the bodily sense, but in the metaphorical sense. As God, it is said that Christ is seated at the right hand of God, because He is equal to the Father; as a man Christ is said to be seated at the right hand of the Father, because he enjoys the best things. The devil also aspired to such elevation, as it reads in Isaiah: “I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God, and will set my throne; I will sit on Promise Hill, which is on the side of the Aquila; I will go up above the clouds, I will be like the Most High ”(Isa 14: 13) 37 .
But at such a height he did not rise but Christ, which is why it is said in the Creed: "He ascended into heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father," which is confirmed in the Book of Psalms: "The Lord said to my Lord, sit down. on my right hand ”(Ps 109: 1).
99. The Ascension of Christ was rational for three reasons. First, because heaven was due to Christ by requirement of his nature. It is indeed natural for everything to return to its origin. Christ has its origin in God, who is above all things, as He Himself said: “I came out of the Father, and I came into the world; I now leave the world and vow to the Father ”(Jn 16:18).
He also said, "No one has ascended into heaven, but he that came down from heaven, the Son of man which is in heaven" (Jn 3:13).
Though the saints go to heaven, they do not do so as Christ: because Christ did it by his own power; but the saints carried by Christ. It reads in the Book of Songs: “Take me in your sequence” (Col 1: 3). It can be explained in another way why it is said that no one has ascended to heaven but Christ: the saints rise only as members of Christ, who is the head of the Church, as it is written in St. Matthew: “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will gather together ”(Mt 24:28) 39.
Second, Christ's Ascension was rational because of his victory. We know that Christ came into the world to fight the devil, and conquered him. That is why he deserved to be exalted over all things. The Apostle confirms this: “I have overcome, and have sat with the Father on his throne” (Rev 3:21).
37 Thus St. Thomas needs in the "Theological Summa" the meaning of God's right expression:
“To sit at the right hand of God does not mean simply to be in eternal bliss, but to possess bliss with a certain dominant, almost proper, and natural power. This power belongs only to Christ, not to any other creature ”(ST III. 58, 4, ad2).
38 Although St. Thomas' whole exposition of the Creed here is in the sense of a theological work, in which he uses very simple arguments accessible to common sense, I would like to emphasize at this point the desirability of the Ascension of Christ, demonstrated for reasons rational. These motives always seek to explain a text of Holy Scripture. Theology is not just a philological or historical explanation of Revelation, but is primarily the effort of human intelligence to penetrate the rational sense of God's revealed Word. Since human intelligence seeks truth through logical and right reasoning, theology is a coherent and rational speculative science. Object of theological science refers “to God chiefly; to creatures as they refer to God as the beginning and the end ”(STI 1, 3 ad 1).
Theology is a science superior to all others, whether speculative or practical, in terms of the certainty of its conclusions and the dignity of its object (STI 1, 5). Because theology gives the last and most satisfactory explanation of things in the last cause, which is God, it is called Wisdom. "This doctrine (ie. Theology) is the ultimate wisdom among all human wisdoms, not only in a certain order, but in an absolute way." (STI 1.6c).
39 The same scriptural text (Mt. 24, 28) is interpreted by St. Thomas earlier with little difference.
The Ascension of Christ was rational, thirdly because of the humility of Christ, who, being God, wanted to become man; being Lord, I wanted to endure the condition of a slave, becoming obedient unto death, as it is read in the Letter to the Philippians, (2, 1), descending even to hell. Therefore he deserved to be exalted to heaven and to sit at the right hand of God. Humility is, in effect, the path of exaltation, as St. Luke reads: “He who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 14:11). St. Paul also wrote: “He that came down from heaven, that which cometh higher than all heaven” (Eph 4:10). 100. The Ascension of Christ went beyond sublime and rational, also useful. This statement can be clarified in three of its aspects:
The first refers to the end of the Ascension, for Christ went to heaven to lead us there. We did not know the way, but He taught it to us. It reads: “He climbed the way ahead of them” (Mk 2:13). He also ascended into heaven to assure us of the possession of the heavenly kingdom, as it reads in St. Paul: “I will prepare your place” (Jn 14: 2).
The second refers to the security that Ascension has brought us, since it ascended to heaven to intercede for us. It reads: “He has risen on his own to the ever-living God to intercede for us” (Heb 7:25). It also reads: “We have a lawyer with the Father, Jesus Christ” (1 John 21).
The third to draw our hearts to them, as it is written in St. Matthew, "Where your heart is your treasure" (Mt 6:21), and that we may despise temporal things, as the Apostle St. Paul exhorts us. : “If you have been raised with Christ, seek things from above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God; savor things from above, not from the earth ”(Col 3: 1).
ARTICLE 7
- Where will you come to judge the living and the dead?
101. Judging is the king's function: "The king who sits on the throne of righteousness by his eyes dispels all evil." (Pr 20, 8). For Christ ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of God as Lord of all, evidently His judgment. Therefore by the Rule of Catholic Faith we confess that will come to judge the living and the dead. This was also said by the Angel: "This Jesus, who was raised up from among you to heaven, shall come also as you saw him ascend into heaven" (Mt 1:11).
102 We must consider in this judgment three things: first, its form; second, that he should be feared, and third, as for him we must prepare.
103 - In the judgment we must still distinguish three competing elements: who is the judge, who is to be judged and what is the matter of the judgment. 104 Christ is the Judge, as it is read in the Book of Acts: "He who was constituted by God the Judge of the living and the dead" (Mt 10:42). This text can be interpreted either by calling the sinners dead and the living who live righteously, or by the living meaning by literal interpretation those who now live and those who have died. He is Judge not only as God, but also as man for three reasons.
40 According to St. Thomas, the power of judgment rests with God alone, in a common way to the Holy Trinity, by appropriation (that is, the attribution of a common action of the Three Persons to one for reasonable reasons) to the Son (cf. ST III. , 59.1c). To Christ, as a man, the judiciary is entrusted to him by God's commission, while Christ is the head of the body of the Church and has the members of that body under his jurisdiction (cf. ST III, 59, 2c).
First, because it is necessary for those to be tried to see the judge. Since the Godhead is so delectable that no one can see it without delight, and no condemned man could see it without immediately feeling joy, it was necessary for Christ to appear only in the form of man, so that he could be seen by all. St. John reads: “He has given him the power to judge, because he is the Son of Man” (Jn 5:27).
Second, because He deserved this office as a man. He, as a man, was unjustly judged, and so God made Him Judge of all. It reads: “Your cause has been judged as that of the wicked; Thou shalt receive the judgment of the causes ”(Jn 36: 17).
Third, so that men no longer despair, finding themselves judged by a man. If only God judged, men would be desperate because of fear. (But all will see a man judging), for it reads in St. Luke, "They shall see the Son of man coming in the cloud" (Lk 21:27). Those who existed, those who exist and will exist will be judged, as St. Paul teaches: “We should all be presented before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may manifest what he did both good and evil while in this body” (2). Color 5, 10).
105 There are four differences, according to St. Gregory, between those to be judged. These are either good or bad.
Among the wicked, some will be condemned, but not judged, such as the unfaithful, whose actions will not be discussed, because, as it is written, "he who does not believe is already judged" (Jn 3:18). But others will be condemned and judged, like the faithful who died in a state of mortal sin. Said the Apostle: "the wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23). These will not be excluded from the Judgment because of their faith.
Among the good will also be those who will be saved without Judgment, the poor in spirit for God's sake. St. Matthew reads: "Ye that follow me in regeneration, when the Son of Man is seated on his majestic throne, sit also upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Mt 19:28).
These words are addressed not only to the disciples, but to all the poor in spirit. If it were not so, São Paulo who worked more than everyone would not be in that number.
This text should therefore apply to all who followed the Apostles, and to apostolic men. This is why St. Paul writes: “Do you not know that we judge angels?” (1 Cor 6: 3). Isaiah also reads: “The Lord will come with seniors and with the rulers of his people” (Isa 3:14).
Others will be saved and judged, that is, those who died in a state of justification. Although they had died in this state, they were still wrong in something during their earthly life. They will therefore be judged, but will receive salvation.
106 All will be judged for the good and bad acts they have done. Scripture reads: “Follow the ways of your heart... But be assured that God will bring you to judgment because of them” (Eccles 11: 9); "God will cite in judgment all thy deeds, whether they are hidden, whether they are good or evil" (Eccles 13:14).
They will also be judged by the useless words: "Every useless word uttered by him shall he give of it in the day of judgment" (Mt 12: 36).
They will finally be judged by the thoughts they have had. It is read in the Book of Wisdom: “The wicked shall be questioned concerning their thoughts” (Wis 1: 9).
This clarifies the subject matter of the judgment.
107 For four reasons must be that feared Judgment.
First, because of the Judge's wisdom, because He knows all things, thoughts, words, and deeds, since, as it reads in the Letter to the Hebrews, “all things are naked and uncovered in his sight” (Heb 4). , 13). Scripture further reads: “All the ways of men are before their eyes” (Pr 16: 1).
He knows our words: "His attentive ears hear everything" (Wis 1:10).
He knows our thoughts: “A man's heart is depraved and impenetrable. Who can know him? I, the Lord, penetrate the heart and search the kidneys; I repay each according to his own way and according to the points of his thoughts ”(Jer 17: 9).
There will also be in this Judgment unfailing witnesses, that is, the very consciences of men, as it reads in St. Paul: “Their conscience shall be a testimony on the day when the Lord judges the hidden things of men, while thoughts are accused or accused. defend ”(Rom 2: 15-16).
Second, because of the power of the Judge, because He is in Himself almighty. It reads: “Behold, the Lord will come with strength” (Isa 11: 10).
He is mighty also over others, because every creature was with Him. It reads: “The whole universe will fight with him against fools” (Wis 5: 2); “There is none that can be delivered from your hand” (Jn 10: 7); and further, “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I go down to hell, you are there too ”(Ps 138: 8).
109 Third, because of the unflinching justice of the Judge. Now is the time of mercy. But the future time is a time of justice only. Therefore, the time now is ours; but the future time will be only of God.
It reads: "In the time that I determine, I will do justice" (Ps. 134: 3). "A furious man of jealousy shall not forgive him in the day of vengeance, he shall not answer his supplications, neither shall he receive presents as great as they may be" (Pr 6, 34).
110 Fourth, due to the wrath of the Judge. It will appear to the righteous sweet and delectable, because, as Isaiah says, "They shall see the king in his beauty" (Is 33,17). But to the wicked shall appear so angry and cruel, that they shall say to the mountains, "Fall on us, and hide us from the wrath of the lamb" (Rev 6:16).
This wrath in God does not mean a commotion of the spirit, but it does mean the effect of wrath, the penalty inflicted on sins, that is, the eternal penalty. For this reason Origen wrote: “How narrow are the paths in judgment! In the end will be the angry Judge. ”
Against this fear we must apply four remedies.
The first remedy is the good deed. It reads in Sao Paulo: “Do you not want to fear authority? Do good and you shall receive praise from her ”(Rom 13: 3).
The second is the confession of the sins committed and the penance done by them. In confession there must be three things: the inner pain, the shame of the confession of sins, and the rigor of the satisfaction for them. It is these three things that redeem eternal punishment.
The third remedy is the alms that make everything pure according to the words of the Lord: “Win friends with the money of iniquity, that when you fall they may receive you into the everlasting tents” (Lk 26: 9) 41 .
The fourth remedy is charity, that is, the love of God and neighbor, for according to Scripture: “Charity covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4: 8; Pr 10, 12) 42 .
41 According to St. Thomas, almsgiving is an external act of the theological virtue of charity, reigned by the inner virtue (also effect of charity) of mercy. Only informed by charity does alms come fully, that is, for God's sake, promptly, with pleasure, and appropriately (cf. S T II. II, 32 ce ad 1). It is the obligation of the Christian to give alms to those in dire need; for others it is advisable (cf. I, c. art. 5 c). Whether given out of obligation or out of respect for counsel, alms manifest the charity that goes into the heart of the Christian.
Even if the Christian is giving alms as a satisfaction of sins, that is an act of justice; or like the offering to God, which is an act of religion, it is nonetheless reigned by charity (cf. I. c. art. 1 ad 2).
Even in our day, when the works of social justice and charity do what would be almsgiving, the love of charity causes the Christian to perform those works with an inner feeling of mercy, and to be sure to give alms when presents a situation that requires it.
Charity is a supernatural virtue, and only to those who have received it as a free gift from God. It is not just an effective or compassionate friendship with others. To those who understand it, St. Thomas responds:
“This reason would be certain if God and his neighbor were the object of charity on the same level. But this is not true. God is the main object of charity; the neighbor is loved with love because of God ”(II. II. 23, 5 ad 1).
God must be loved more than his neighbor (in fact, it is evangelical doctrine), according to St. Thomas's argument:
“Any friendship is directed first and foremost to that which is principally the good on which communication is based. [...]
Friendship of charity is founded on the communication of happiness, which consists essentially of God, as in the first principle from which it derives for all who are capable of happiness.
Therefore, first and foremost, God must be loved with charity; but the neighbor, as one who together with us partakes of happiness ”(II. II, 26, 2c).
ARTICLE EIGHT
- I believe in the Holy Spirit -
112 As has been said, the Word of God is the Son of God, as man's (mental) Word is conceived by intelligence. But sometimes the (mental) verb of man becomes dead when someone thinks of accomplishing something, but the desire to perform it does not manifest itself. So also when one believes and does not do works, one's faith may be called dead, as it reads in the letter of St. James: “As the body without soul is dead, faith without works is dead” (James 2). , 26).
The letter to the Hebrews states that the Word of God is alive, reading in it: "the word of God is alive" (Heb. 4:12). For this reason, there must be in God will and love. Saint Augustine writes in his book De Trinitate: "The verb about which we intend to give a notion is a knowledge with love."
43 St. Thomas, in this Sermon, refers to the procession of the Spirit, according to his last thesis on such an attractive theological subject.
In the early works. St. Thomas explained the procession of the Holy Spirit in analogy with the mutual love of two persons: the Third Person would be the fruit of mutual love between the Father and the Son. It is an analogy drawn from human social life and attached to the so-called notional acts of the Divine People. Since this thesis may give rise to anthropomorphism, Doctor Angelic has replaced it with one based on individual psychology: the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son while God loves Himself. As the Son proceeds from the knowledge of God, the Holy Spirit of the love of God. (“Cum igitur in Deo seipsum intelligente et mistress, Verbum sit Filius, is autem cuius est Verbum, sit Verbi Pater, need that is Spiritus Sanctus qui nd ad amorem secum - Sicut igitur in divinis modus ille quo God is in Deo ut intellectum in intellegent ”- COMPENDIUM THEOLOGIÆ, chs. 49, 46).
The subject has been masterfully dealt with by our Father Maurilo Penido in several of his works, especially in the work Gloses sur la procession d'amor dans la Trinité (Ephemerides Theologicæ Lovaniensis, Feb. 1937, pp. 33 ff.).
As the Word of God is the Son of God, so the love of God is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when man loves God, he has the Holy Spirit. St. Paul writes: "The charity of God has been spread in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Rom 5: 5).
There were people who, misunderstanding the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, claimed that He was a creature who was less than the Father and that the Son, who was still a servant and minister of God. That is why the Holy Fathers, in order to reject such errors, added five qualifying words of the Holy Spirit in Symbol 45 .
(Let's look at these five terms and see why the Holy Spirit is not a creature, but God).
114 - First. Although there are other spirits, angels are nevertheless all ministers of God, according to the Apostle's word: “All are (the angels) ministers who serve” (Heb 1:14). But the Holy Spirit is Lord, as it reads in St. John: "The Spirit is God" (Jn 4:24), which is confirmed by St. Paul: "The Lord is Spirit" (2 Cor 3:17), which He adds in conclusion: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." This is why the Spirit makes us love God and sets us free from the love of the world.
44 The heresy of Arianism (see note 8) denied the divinity of the Son. Of course it should also deny the deity of the Third Person. Since in the dogmatic struggles against Arianism the attention was directed to the person of the Son, only later did the Church condemn the error of those who considered the Holy Spirit a creature, relying for this claim on the text of Scripture (Hebrews). , 1, 14) which speaks of God's servant spirits. The Holy Spirit would be just a more perfect Angel.
Saint Athanasius immediately rose against heresy and at the Synod of Alexandria (362) it was condemned. The bishop of Constantinople Macedonians proclaimed this heresy, and was therefore deposed in 360. The followers of this error were then called Macedonians or pneumatomachs. The Ecumenical Council of Constantinople of 381 definitively condemned this heresy for the Universal Church.
45 This is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Symbol (see footnote 6) in which five qualifications have been added to the Holy Spirit in antimacedonian formulation: Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem, qui Patre Filioque procedit; there, ex Patre per Fillium procedit. Both essays affirm the one-procession divinity of the Holy Spirit. However, this divergence has been the subject of much controversy between the Eastern and Western Churches.
115 - Second. In the Spirit is the life of the soul that unites with God. God is then the life of the soul, as the soul is the life of the body. The Holy Spirit unites us to God for love, because He is the love of God, and consequently gives us life. 46 St. John reads: “It is the Spirit that quickeneth” (Jn 6: 64).
46 “The name love in God can be taken essentially or personally. Being taken in the personal sense, it is the proper name of the Holy Spirit, as the Word is the proper name of the Son (STI 37, 1 c.).
“As in the divine things that way in which God is in God, as the intellect in intelligence, is expressed in the words - the Son is the Word of God, so the way in which God is in God as the beloved in the lover, it is expressed when we say that the Spirit is the love of God ”(Compendium Theologiæ. ch. 46).
116 - Third. We must consider that the Holy Spirit is of the same nature as the Father and the Son: as the Son is the Word of the Father, so the Holy Spirit is the Love of the Father and the Son. For this reason it proceeds from both; and as the Word of God is of the same nature as the Father, so is the love of the Father and the Son. Therefore it is said, "Which proceedeth from the Father and the Son." From this it is clearly seen that he is not a creature.
117 - Fourth. The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son in the worship which He receives. The Gospels read: “True worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth” (Jn 4:23); “Teach all peoples by baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Mt 19). It was for this reason added to the Symbol: "That with the Father and the Son is together worshiped."
118 - Fifth. The Holy Spirit is equal to God, because the holy prophets spoke for God. Now it is evident that if the Holy Spirit were not God, the prophets would not have been said to have spoken for Him. But St. Peter said, "Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the holy men of God spoke" (2 Pet 1:21). . Isaiah, who was a prophet, thus says, "The Lord my God and his Spirit sent me" (Is 48:16).
119. By this last statement two errors are destroyed: the error of Manichaus 47 , which claimed that the Old Testament did not come from God, which is false, for the Holy Spirit spoke by the Prophets; and the error of Priscilla and Montano 48 , who claimed that the Prophets did not speak by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but as if they were hallucinating men.
47 On Manichaeism see footnote 2.
48 In the year of 179 the heresy of Montano, which preached the end of the world, great austerities, presented himself as a prophet. Followed by two visionaries, Maximila and Priscilla, he spread his heresy to the Gallies. The great writer of the early Church, Tertullian, adhered at the end of his life to the errors of Montano.
Many fruits come to us from the Holy Spirit.
First, because He cleanses us from sin. Now it is up to those who created something to redo it. Our soul was created by the Holy Spirit, because God did all things through Him, for it is by loving His own goodness that God does everything. It reads: “Beyond all things that are, and have nothing to do with what you have done” (Wis 11:25).
Pseudo-Dionysus's book "On Divine Men" also reads: "Divine love could not be allowed to go without a generation" (Chapter IV).
Therefore the hearts of men destroyed by sin should be redone by the Holy Spirit. It reads: "Send your Spirit and all will be created and you will renew the face of the earth" (Ps. 103, 30).
Nor is it any wonder that the Holy Spirit cleanses, because all sins are forgiven by love, as the Scriptures read: “Many sins were forgiven him, because he loved much” (Is 7: 47); “Charity covers all offenses” (Pr 10, 12); “Charity covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4: 8).
Second, because it illuminates intelligence, since all we know we know by the Holy Spirit. The following texts of Scripture confirmed this: “The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will suggest unto you all that I have spoken to you” (Jn 24:26); “Your anointing will teach you everything” (1 Jn 2:27).
It is understood: everything we know on the supernatural plane, because intelligence itself, by its natural ability, without the action of the Holy Spirit, can know natural truth; but with difficulty, slower and partially.
Third, because the Holy Spirit teaches us to keep the commandments, and to some extent obliges us.
No one can follow God's commandments unless he loves God, for, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my commandments" (Jn 24:23). Now the Holy Spirit makes us love God, and helps us in this regard. It is read in the Prophet Ezekiel: “I will give a new heart, and I will place a new spirit among you; I will take the stony heart out of your flesh; I will give you a heart of flesh, and will set my spirit among you; and I will cause you to keep my commandments and do them ”(Ezek 36:26).
Fourth, why will He confirm in us His hope of Eternal Life, since the Holy Spirit is the pledge of His inheritance, according to these words of the Apostle to the Ephesians: “You have been marked with the Spirit of promise, which is the pledge. of our inheritance ”(Eph 1:14). It is, in effect, the guarantee of Eternal Life.
The reason for this is that Eternal Life is due to man while he is the son of God, and is done while resembling Christ. One resembles Christ in that he possesses the Spirit of Christ, who is the Holy Spirit. The letter to the Romans reads: "You have not received the spirit of bondage to fall into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption of children, in which we call Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself certifies to our spirit that we are children of God" ( Rm 8, 15-16). It is also read in another letter from the Apostle: "For you are the sons of God, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, calling him" Abba, Father. (Gal 4.46).
Fifth, because the Holy Spirit counsels us in our doubts and teaches us what God's will is. It reads: “Let him who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev 2: 7); “I will listen to him as a Master” (Is 50: 4).
ARTICLE NINE
- I believe in the Holy Catholic Church -
We notice that in every man there is one soul and one body, but many members. So too the Catholic Church is one body with many members. The life-giving soul of this body is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, after the profession of faith in the Holy Spirit, it is determined that we believe in the Holy Catholic Church. Hence this article of the Symbol - I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.
In this regard, it must be considered that the word Church means Congregation. Holy Church, then, is the same as congregation of the faithful. Each Christian is like a member of this Church, as it reads: “Come near to me, you ignorant ones, and gather together in the house of instruction” (Eccl 51:31).
50 Here is outlined the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ, an expression that defines the Church more perfectly. Thus writes Pius XII in the monumental Encyclical “Mystici Corporis Christi”:
“To define and describe this true Church of Christ… there is nothing nobler, no more excellent, no more divine than the concept expressed in the denomination“ Mystical Body of Christ ”; concept that immediately results from how much in the Holy Letters and writings of the Holy Fathers is often taught. ”
In this Encyclical, according to Fr. Maurilio Penido (“The Mystical Body”, Voices, 1944, p. 147), the Pope, in defining the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, infallibly does so, and this definition of Church dogma of faith.
In this text of St. Thomas does not use the mystical term as a body qualifier. The term was not yet consecrated by theology. This will definitely be done by the Bull Unam Sanctam of Boniface VIII (cf. Maurilio Penido, oc, p. 95).
However, the Angelic Doctor in Theological Summaries (partly written contemporaneously with this Sermon) already presents the essentials of the doctrine of the Mystical Body.
“The members of the natural body coexist all at once, but not so the members of the Mystical Body, and that is the difference between the natural body and the Mystical Body of the Church. We can consider the simultaneous non-coexistence, either with regard to the natural being (the Church, in fact, is constituted by men who existed from the beginning of the world until the end), or with respect to the being of grace (since among the members of the Church who live at the same time, there are those who do not have grace but will possess it, and there are those who are deprived of grace but have already possessed it. but also those who are in power ”(ST III, 8, 3 c).
This Holy Church has four characteristics: it is one, it is holy, it is Catholic, that is, universal, and it is strong and firm.
126 Regarding the first characteristic, it should be clarified that many heretics created various sects, but they do not belong to the Church because they are divided into parts. The Church, however, is one. The Song reads: “One is my dove, my perfect one” (Song 6: 8).
The unity of the Church is the result of three causes.
First, from the unity of faith. All Christians in the body of the Church believe the same truths. It is said, “Say to them all the same, and there shall be no division between you” (1 Cor 1:10); “One God, one faith, one baptism” (Eph 4: 4).
128 Second, of the unity of hope, because all stand in one hope of attaining Eternal Life. Says the Apostle: “One body and one spirit, for you were called in the hope of your vocation” (Eph 4: 4).
Third, of the unity of charity, for all are gathered together in the love of God, and in one another through mutual love. Read, "The charity you gave me, I have given you, that they may be one, as we are one." (Jn 17:22).
This love, if true, also manifests itself when members are caring and compassionate to each other. It reads: “We will grow in all things through the charity of Him who is the Head, the Christ. It is through Him that the whole body, coordinated and united in all its junctions, operates its organic growth according to the activity of each party in order to build itself in charity ”(Eph 4: 15-16).
Thus each one, according to the grace received from God, must serve his neighbor.
130 For this reason, let no one have a contemptible thing to be rejected by this Church, or to allow it to be removed from it. Indeed, there is but one Church in which all men are saved, as no one in the old days could save themselves outside Noah's ark 51 .
51 Misunderstanding the doctrine of the salvation of the unbelievers can lead to improper practices of ecumenism, abandoning the apostolate because other religions are God's determined means for the salvation of those who belong to them.
With regard to the second characteristic, it should be noted that there is a congregation, but of the wicked, as it reads in the Psalms: “I hated the Church of the Rogue” (Ps 25: 5). But this is bad, while the Church of Christ is holy.
It reads: “The temple of God, which ye are, is holy” (1 Cor 3:17). Therefore the Symbol adds: Holy Church.
For three reasons the faithful are sanctified in the Church.
First, because as the Church is consecrated and materially washed, the faithful are also purified by the blood of Christ, as it reads: "He loved you and washed you from sin in his blood" (Rev 1: 5); and, “Jesus, to sanctify his people through his blood, suffered outside the city gate” (Heb 13:12).
133 Second, because of the anointing. Just as the Church is anointed, so the faithful are anointed by spiritual anointing to be sanctified. If they had not been anointed, they could not be called Christians, because Christ means anointed. This anointing is the grace of the Holy Spirit. It reads: “God who anointed us” (2 Cor 1:21); and, "ye are sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 6:11).
Third, because of the dwelling of the Trinity God wants to dwell, this place is 52 , because where holy. One reads, “This place is truly holy” (Gen 28:10); and, "Your house is of sanctification" (Ps 42: 5).
135 Another reason must be added, namely, the invocation of God. “Lord, you dwell among us, and your name has been called upon us” (Jer 14: 5).
We must be careful that after this sanctification we do not stain our souls for sin, for it is the temple of God. “If anyone violates the temple of God, God will lose him” (1 Cor 3:17).
137. Concerning the third characteristic of the Church, we must know that it is Catholic, that is, universal, for three reasons: the first refers to the place, because it is scattered all over the world, but the Donatists state otherwise. . It reads in the Letter to the Romans: "Your faith is proclaimed throughout the universe" (Rom. 1: 8), and in St. Mark "Go into all the universe and preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mk. 16, 15). Formerly God was known only in Judea now, but all over the world.
52 There is in the soul of the Christian in a state of grace a special presence of God called "dwelling." This new presence is thus explained by St. Thomas:
“There is a common way that God is in all things by essence, presence and potency, as the cause is in the effects that partake of his goodness. In addition to this common mode, there is another special that suits the rational creature who says that God is found as the known object in the knower, and the beloved in the lover. How the rational creature, knowing and loving, attains by its operation to God Himself, according to this special mode not only that God is in the rational creature, but also that He dwells in it as in His temple. Therefore, no effect other than sanctifying grace can be the reason that the Divine Person is new in the rational creature ”(STI 43, 3 c.).
John of St. Thomas completes the Thomistic doctrine as follows:
“This presence of God, as possessed, is not only affective; but also real and physical, while God Himself is personally given or sent, that He may dwell and be in the soul; not only as in the active cause, but also as a friend who lives with and possessed by the soul. This union, however, is not like union by species in the vision of glory, but tends toward it as an begun and imperfect enjoyment and possession of God ”(In. Q. VIII, VI, 11).
The Church is made up of three parts: one on earth; another in heaven and the third in purgatory.
138 - The Church is Universal, secondly, because of the condition of the men who are part of it, because none of them is rejected: neither master, nor servant, nor male, nor female. Read: “There is now ... neither Jew nor Gentile; neither slave nor free man; neither male nor female, but you are but one in Jesus Christ ”(Gal 3:28). Finally, the Church is universal with respect to time. Some have said that the church should last for a certain time only. But this is false. This church began in Abel's time and will last until the end of the centuries. Said Christ: “I will be with you always until the end of the age” (Mt 28, 20) 54 .
As for the fourth characteristic, we know that the Church is firm. A house is called firm when, first of all, it is on good foundations. Now the main foundation of the Church is Christ, as the Apostle states: "No one can have any other foundation than that which has already been laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 3:11). The secondary foundation is the Apostles and their doctrine. For this reason she is also firm. It is written in the book of Revelation that the city has twelve foundations, and that in them were written the names of the twelve Apostles (cf. Rev 21:14). This is why the Church is also said to be apostolic. To better signify the firmness of the Church, St. Peter was called its chief.
53 The Donatist sect arose in Africa in the fourth century, with the chief prosecutor Donato, the anti-bishop of Carthage, elected in 315. The sect, which had arisen from the quarrels during the election of Celian to Bishop of that city (311), spread He soon found himself in the cities of Africa, bringing together 300 bishops, and taught that the validity of the sacraments depended on the dignity of the minister. Only their adherents, because they were not traitors, could validly administer the sacraments of baptism and order. Condemned by the Catholic bishops of Africa, the Pope, fought by the emperors, found the Donatists in St. Augustine a strong opponent, who for many years of his life in sermons and treaties fought them, claiming that the effectiveness of the sacraments derived from their objective validity. . In the anti-Donatist struggles, because the secular arm, from Constantine to Honorius, had come to the aid of the Church, the doctrine on the use of civil power in religious matters was also signed, due to the clarifications brought by St. Augustine. The sect disappeared only with the Arab invasions of North Africa.
54 The same Church has gone through and will go through various phases in her life throughout the centuries, and will find her final and complete perfection at the end of time in the beatific vision of all the righteous.
Secondly, the Church is firm, for if it is shaken, it cannot be destroyed. The Church can never be destroyed. The persecutors did not destroy it. On the contrary, she grew even more during the persecutions, and those who pursued her, as well as those she fought, fell. It is read: “Whatever falls on this stone will be broken; whoever it falls upon will be crushed ”(Mt 21:44).
The errors did not destroy her. On the contrary: the more errors proliferated, the more truth was manifested. It reads: "Men of corrupt spirit, perverted in the faith, but will not go further" (2 Tim 2: 8).
Neither the temptations of the demon destroyed her. The Church is like a tower in which all who fight against the devil take refuge. It reads: “It is a very strong tower, the house of the Lord” (Pr 18, 10). Therefore, above all, the devil endeavors to destroy it, but it will not prevail, for it is written, "And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Mt 16: 8). It is the repetition of what Jeremiah has already said: “They will fight against themselves, but they will not prevail” (Jer 15:20).
This is why only Peter's Church (to whom it has to preach the Gospel throughout Italy) has always been firm in the faith. While in other places faith does not exist, or exists mixed with many errors, Peter's Church remains in the faith, and is cleansed from error. This cannot be a cause for wonder, because the Lord Himself said to Peter, “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” (Lk 22: 32) 55.
55 In the early Symbols of faith the notes accompanying the name of the Church were holy and Catholic. They were later added apostolic and Roman.
Sto. Thomas does not explicitly speak in this sermon of the Roman quality of the Catholic Church, but from the context it can be seen that he does not fail to consider this aspect. The Church is Roman in that Rome was the Cathedral directly subordinate to Peter, in addition to the Universal Church also subordinate to him. In this place, Sto. Thomas emphasizes the primacy of the Roman Church over others and their indefectibility in the faith. The primacy and infallibility are typical of Peter's successor in the Roman See. The Pope has the primacy of jurisdiction (government) and magisterium (teaching) over the whole Church.
Thus defines Vatican Council I (1870) the origin and extension of the Pope's Primacy:
“Who (St. Peter) lives, rules and judges through his successors, the Bishops of the Holy See, founded by him and consecrated with his blood. Therefore, whoever succeeds in this Chair of Peter receives, by the institution of Christ himself, the primacy of Peter over the whole Church ”(Dogmatic Const. Pastor Aeternus, 1824). “The Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff have primacy over the whole world, and the same Roman Pontiff is the successor of St. Peter, the true Vicar of Christ, the head of the whole Church and the Father and Doctor of all. the Christians; and to him gave our Lord Jesus Christ all power to shepherd, govern, and govern the universal church ”(1. c. 1826).
“This power of jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff, truly episcopal power, is immediate. And to her (to the Roman Church) must be subjected, by duty of hierarchical subordination and true obedience, to the pastors and faithful of any rite and dignity, both each in particular, and all together, not only to things pertaining to faith. and customs, but also those concerning the Church's disciplines and regime throughout the world ”(1 c. 1828).
“In the very Apostolic primacy that the Roman Pontiff has over the whole Church, the supreme power of the Magisterium is also included... The Apostolic See has always kept the Catholic religion immaculate and the doctrine holy. (...) The Roman Pontiff, when speaking ex catedra, (...) when defining with his supreme authority some doctrine concerning faith and morality for the whole Church, by virtue of the divine assistance promised to him in the person of Peter. , he enjoys that infallibility with which Christ wanted to equip his Church when he defined some doctrine of faith and morals ”(1. c. 1832-1833-1839).
This traditional doctrine, the Angelic Doctor had already formulated in the Theological Suma, where it is expressed in the following terms:
“The promulgation of a Symbol belongs to the authority to whose authority it is ultimately to determine the things of faith, that they may be accepted by all by an indisputable act of faith. This belongs to the authority of the Supreme Pontiff, to whom the main and most difficult questions of the Church refer. ... For this reason the new promulgation of a symbol belongs exclusively to her, as all things pertaining to the whole Church, such as calling a general synod, etc. ”(ST II, II, 1, 10 c).
Dogmatic definitions may also be promulgated by an Ecumenical Council, but they are effective only if approved by the Pope. It is interesting to note that the Angelic Doctor already formulated precisely in the thirteenth century the doctrine of the jurisdictional and doctrinal primacy of the Pope, when in the following centuries (XIV and XV) serious controversies arose regarding this primacy, affirming many theologians (William Occam , Gerson etc.) and councils (Constance, Bazilea etc.) the so-called conciliarism which subordinated papal power to the authority of the Ecumenical Councils.
ARTICLE TENTH
- I believe in the Communion of saints and the remission of sins -
Just as in the natural body the activity of a member is subordinate to the good of the whole body, so in the spiritual body the same happens, that is, in the Church. And because all believers are one body, the good of one communicates to the other. St. Paul says: "We are all members of one another" (Rom 12: 5). That is why among the articles of faith proposed by the Apostles, there is the one referring to the communion of good among the faithful, which is called the Communion of Saints.
143 - Among the various members of the Church the chief one is Christ, who is the head. “God has made him head of the whole church which is his body” (Eph 1:22).
Christ's goods are communicated to all Christians, as the energy of the head is communicated to all members. This communication is accomplished by the sacraments of the Church, in which the virtue of Christ's passion operates, in order to confer the grace of the remission of sins.
144 There are seven sacraments of the Church.
56 The relationship between the sacraments and the Passion of Christ is set forth admirably in this article from The Theological Supreme: “The sacrament works to cause grace as an instrument. There are two types of instrument: the separate, like the stick, and the whole, like the hand. The separate instrument is moved by the assembly as the staff is by the hand.
The chief efficient cause of grace is God Himself, to whom Christ's humanity is referred to as a joint instrument; the sacraments as separate instruments. Therefore, the salutive force should emanate from the divinity of Christ, passing through his humanity to the sacraments.
The grace of the sacraments is mainly directed to two things: to destroy the defects of past sins, for even though the acts have passed, the effect remains (the guilt); and to perfect the soul in relation to the worship of God according to the religion of the Christian life.
It was made clear, by what was said above (questions 48 and 49), that Christ delivered us from sin, especially through his Passion, which made him an efficient cause.
and meritorious as well as satisfactory cause. Likewise by his Passion also began the rite of the Christian religion, 'offering himself to God as an oblation and host' (Eph 5). From this it is clearly concluded that the sacraments of the Church have in a special way the power of the Passion of Christ, a force that somehow joins us in receiving the sacraments. As a sign of these sacraments, on the side of Christ hanging on the cross water and blood flowed, one being the sign of Baptism, the other of the Eucharist, which are the main sacraments ”(STIII, 52, 5 c).
See also notes 21 to 27.
57 The Council of Trent defined as dogma of Faith that there are only seven true and own sacraments. The Florentine Council (1445) had already declared this doctrine, which is also found in the Theological Summa (ST III, 65, 1). Protestants only admit three sacraments: Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Absolution. They are also in contradiction with the Catholic Faith as to the way in which the sacraments work. As for the Eucharist, they do not accept the dogma of transubstantiation either. Not admitting the sacrament of the Order, Protestants consequently do not have a hierarchy of divine right, and reject the specific distinction in the Church between priests and laity. The doctrines of the Church and Protestantism concerning these matters are therefore irreconcilable, as are the practical attitudes arising therefrom.
The first is Baptism, which is a certain spiritual regeneration. Just as carnal life cannot exist without man being born fleshly, so too can spiritual life, where grace cannot exist without spiritual birth. This generation is by baptism, as it reads: “Unless one has been reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (Jn 3: 5).
It should be known, moreover, that since man is born only once, so he is baptized only once.
This is why the Holy Fathers added, "I confess one Baptism."
The virtue of baptism cleanses from all sins, both in guilt and in punishment. For this reason no penance is imposed on those who have come out at baptism, even though they were once great sinners. When they die soon after baptism, they immediately fly to eternal life. For the same reason, though only priests baptize by office, if need be, anyone can baptize, provided he follows the form of this sacrament, which is, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."
This Sacrament receives its virtue from the Passion of Christ, as St. Paul teaches us: “Each of us who was baptized into Christ Jesus was baptized in his death” (Rom 6: 3). Since Christ was dead three days in the tomb, to better symbolize his death, three immersions are made in the water.
145 The second sacrament is Confirmation. As for those who are bodily born, the forces are required to act, so also for the spiritually reborn is the strength of the Holy Spirit. That is why the Apostles, in order to be strong, received the Holy Spirit after the Ascension of Christ: "You shall remain in the city until you are clothed with the power from on high" (Lk 24:29).
This force is conferred by the Sacrament of Confirmation.
This is why the guardians of the children must be especially careful to have them confirmed, and in the Confirmation great grace is bestowed. Whoever receives Confirmation when he dies will have greater glory than he who did not receive it, precisely because he had more abundant grace.
146 The third sacrament is the Eucharist 58 . As in bodily life, after being born and fortified, he needs food to sustain and conserve himself, so in the spiritual life, which is the body of Christ. It is read in St. John, "If ye eat not the flesh of the Son of man, and drink not his blood, ye shall not have life in you" (Jn 6:54).
Therefore every Christian should once a year receive the body of Christ, naturally with dignity and purity, because it is written, "He who eats and drinks unworthily" (that is, knowing that he has a mortal sin and has not confessed, or that he did not decide to flee) "eat and drink your own judgment" (1 Cor 11:29). 147 The fourth sacrament is Penance. It happens in body life that people get sick, and if they don't take medicine, they die. In the spiritual life one can also be sickened by sin. For this reason, it is necessary to take medicine to restore health. Health is the grace bestowed by the Sacrament of Penance. It reads: “He forgives all your faults, which heals you from all your diseases” (Ps 102: 3). Three elements are needed in Penance: contrition, which is the pain of sin for the purpose of abstaining from it in the future; the full confession, that is, of all sins, and the satisfaction, which is accomplished by good works.
148 - The fifth sacrament is the Extreme Anointing. But when it does not bring health to the body, it is because it may not be convenient for the salvation of the soul that one lives longer. In relation to this sacrament, one reads: “Is any sick among you? Call the elders of the Church to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And prayer with faith will save the sick, and the Lord will relieve him; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him ”(Jas 5: 14-15).
58 The Eucharist is the first of the sacraments, the liturgy being the center and apex of the life of the Church. The primacy of the Eucharist among the other sacraments is thus taught by St. Thomas: “Speaking absolutely, the Eucharist is the most excellent of all sacraments for three reasons. First, because of what it contains. The Eucharist really contains Christ Himself, while the other sacraments contain only an instrumental force received from Christ by participation ... Second, by the relationship with the other sacraments. All other sacraments are ordained to the Eucharist as for an end. The Order's purpose is the consecration of the Eucharist; Baptism, the reception of it; Confirmation perfects the baptism so that human respect does not separate it from such a sublime sacrament; Penance and Extreme Anointing dispose man to receive the Body of Christ doubly, and finally Marriage approaches the Eucharist at least by its symbolism, while representing the intimate bond of Christ with his Church, whose union is figuratively in the sacrament of the Eucharist ... Third by sacramental rites. The administration of one or all of the sacraments is completed in the Eucharist, as Dionysus observes ”(STIII, 65, 3).
59 Only in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was this sacrament called Extreme Unction. It was formerly called "Blessed Oil" or "Oil of the Sick."
The effects of Extreme Anointing are described by St. Thomas:
"The chief effect of this sacrament is the removal of the remnants of sin, and consequently also guilt, if it exists in the soul" (ST Sup. 30: 1 c.).
"The Extreme Anointing produces an effect corresponding to that of the body medicine, that is, the health of the body ... (But) by the administration of this sacrament does not always come bodily healing unless it is necessary for spiritual healing" (1). (c. Art. 2 c.).
So it is clear that by the five sacraments we are dealing with, the perfection of the Christian life is realized. But as it is necessary for certain sacraments to be determined as ministers, the sacrament of the Order, by whose ministry the other sacraments are conferred, also becomes necessary. Nor should one consider in the making of the sacraments the life of the ministers, if it ever tended toward evil, but the virtue of Christ, by which the sacraments become effective, of which the ministers are only dispensers.
“Thus let men regard us as ministers of Christ and dispensers of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor 4: 1). This is the sixth sacrament, the Order.
150 The seventh sacrament is marriage, in which men, if they live in purity, are saved and can also live in it without mortal sin. When the lust of the spouses is not directed out of the property of marriage, they sometimes fall into venial sins; but if they do anything out of these goods, then they commit mortal sin.
60 St. Augustine enumerated in his book "De bono conjugali" (24, 32) the three goods of marriage: "offspring, fides, sacramentum" (children, faithfulness, indissolubility). Later tradition accepted St. Augustine's doctrine as appropriate, for indeed, in that enumeration the essential elements are contained. In Theological Sum, Doctor Angelic thoroughly develops the doctrine on these three goods of marriage (ST Sup. 49, 1 ff.).
St. Augustine thus explains the meaning of these three words:
“In faithfulness, it is envisaged that, outside the marital bond, there will be no meeting with another or another; in the offspring that is lovingly accepted, sustained with solicitude, educated religiously; with the sacrament, at last, that the common life is not broken, and that the one who is separated does not join another even for the sake of their children. This is like the nuptial rule, in which the fecundity of incontinence is ennobled ”(De Gen. ad lit., 9, 7, 12).
Pius XI masterfully explained the doctrine of the property of marriage in the Encyclical “About Christian Marriage” (“Casti connubi” 31-12-1930), which can be considered the “Magna Carta” of Catholic spouses.
151 By these seven sacraments the remission of sins is obtained. Hence it is found in the Symbol: "in the remission of sins."
152 The Apostles were also given the power to forgive sins. It must therefore be believed that the ministers of the Church, to whom this power was imparted by the Apostles (to the Apostles through Christ), have in it the power to turn on and off, and that the Church has the full power to forgive the sins. This power, however, is exercised by steps, extending from the Pope to the other prelates.
We should know that not only is the Passion of Christ communicated to us, but also the merit of his life. What all the saints have done well, through charity, is communicated to those who live here, because they are all one, as we read: “I share in the goods of all who fear Him” (Ps 118: 3). Therefore, those who live in charity participate in all the good that is done all over the world. But those for whom a special good is done also participate in a special way. It can thus satisfy one person for another, as in many religious congregations that admit new members to receive benefits from other members.
154 - By this communication we achieve two effects: first, the merit of Christ who communicates to all; then the good of one who communicates to the other.
The excommunicated, because they are outside the Church, lose part of all her property. This damage is greater than damage to temporal goods. There is another danger to the excommunicated: As we know that by the suffrage of the good the devil is prevented from tempting us, when someone is excluded from it, the devil easily tempts him. This is why, in the early Church, when someone was excommunicated, the devil would soon torment him bodily 61 .
61 The doctrine of demons is developed by St. Thomas mainly in Theological Theory (I. q. 63, q. 64; I.II. q. 80). The Catholic tradition, regarding the influence of demons on men, teaches that, if God permits, the devil can harm men in external goods and in himself, take hold of human bodies, and by temptation excite sin; however, they cannot harm anyone's eternal salvation unless one freely allows it. The existence of demons is true of faith, defined by the Fourth Lateran Council (Dz. 428).
ARTICLE Eleventh
- I believe in the resurrection of the flesh -
155. The Holy Spirit not only sanctifies the souls of those who belong to the Church, but also by his power will resurrect the bodies. It reads: “He that raised Jesus Christ from the dead” (Rom 4:24); and, "For death came by one man, by one man also the resurrection of the dead" (1 Cor 15:21).
Therefore we believe, according to our faith, in the future resurrection of the dead.
Four considerations must be made on this subject: first, as to the usefulness of faith in the resurrection of the dead; second, as to the qualities of those who will rise concerning all; third, as regards the resurrection of the good; fourth, as to the resurrection of the wicked.
Regarding the first consideration, faith and hope in the resurrection are helpful to us for four reasons. First, to ward off the sadness caused by death. It is really impossible for anyone not to be saddened by the death of a loved one. But as he has hope for his future resurrection, the pain from his death is greatly alleviated.
62 The truth of faith concerning the resurrection of the flesh, as well as abundantly revealed in Holy Scripture, was reaffirmed by the Tradition of the Fathers (St. Cyril Alex., “In Joann. 8, 51; St. John Chrysostom,“ De resurrectione mortuorum, 8; etc.), and by the Ecclesiastical Magisterium (St. Leo the Great, Innocent III, etc.). The Laterancuse IV Ecumenical Council defines it as follows:
“All will rise with their own bodies now, to be repaid according to their works, whether they have been good or bad; these (the reprobate) shall have with the devil the everlasting penalty; these (the elect), with Christ, everlasting glory ”(De fide Catholica against Albigenses).
It says, “We do not want you to ignore, brethren, the things concerning the dead, that you may not be grieved, as others who have no hope” (1 Thess 4:13).
Second, remove the fear of death. If man had no hope of a better life after death, it would surely be very fearful, and he would rather do any evil to avoid death.
As we believe that there is a better life, which we will reach after death, it is clear that no one should fear death, nor do any harm to avoid it. It is read: “That by the death (of Christ) might be destroyed the one who had power over death, that is, the devil; and those who for fear of death were delivered all their lives in bondage ”(Heb 2: 14-15).
Third, because it makes us caring and careful in doing good. If human life were limited to the one we live here, there would not be much solicitude among men to do good; for whatever they do would be considered little, for their desire is not directed to a limited time, but to eternity.
But since we believe that by what we do here we will receive eternal goods in the resurrection, we strive to act well. It reads: “If we are only waiting for Christ in this life, we are the most miserable of all men” (1 Cor 15:19).
Fourth, because it keeps us from evil. Just as the hope of the prize leads to the practice of goodness, so the fear of punishment, which we then believe reserved for the wicked, keeps us from evil. It reads: “And those who have done good will rise up for the resurrection of life; those who have done evil to the resurrection of damnation ”(Jn 5:29).
As for the second consideration, that is, concerning the effects of the resurrection on all men, four of them must be pointed out. The first, with regard to the identity of the bodies that will be resurrected: the same body that now exists both in flesh and bones will resurface 63 . Although some say that this now corrupt body will not rise, the Apostle states the opposite: "This corruptible body should be clothed with incorruption" (1 Cor 15:33). Elsewhere it is written in Holy Scripture that this same body will rise to life: "Again I will be clothed with my skin, and I will see my God in my flesh" (Job 19:26).
162 The second effect of the resurrection refers to quality, because the resurrected bodies will have another quality than the present, since the bodies of the good and the bad will be incorruptible. The bodies of the good will be in glory forever; but of the wicked, that they may be punished by them in the everlasting penalty. It reads: “This corruptible body should be clothed with incorruption,
and let this mortal body be clothed with immortality ”(1 Cor 15: 53). Because bodies will be incorruptible and immortal, they will not need food, nor will they use sex. It reads:
“In the resurrection neither shall men have wives nor wives husbands; but they shall be as angels of God in heaven ”(Mt 22:30). In this truth of faith neither the Jews nor the Mohammedans believe. It also reads: “Those who have descended into hell… will not return to their home” (Job 7, 10) 64 .
63) To theologically explain St. Thomas the numerical identity of the resurrected body with the present body, and therefore the integral identity of the present man with the man who will rise after death at the end of time, draws on the Aristotelian doctrine of matter and form. After death the soul retains the transcendental relationship with the body, and as it is as a form which gives existence, life, and specification to the body, by joining it again by the miraculous action of God in the resurrection, it can do so only conveying to him the same existence, the same life, and the same specifications that remained in it virtually during the separation.
To deny this numerical identity of the body in the resurrection is, for St. Thomas heretical (cf. Sup. 79, 2 cl.). This explains the Angelic Doctor:
“The objection in the second place (ie it is against numerical identity) does not prevent man from being resurrected identically numerically. For none of the essential principles can be reduced to nothing by death, since the rational soul, which is the (substantial) form of man, remains after death, and since also matter which was subject to such a form remains with death. same dimensions that made it an individual matter. Therefore, with the union of soul and matter, both numerically identical, it will be repaired to man ”(CGL, 4, chap. 81).
163. The third effect concerns integrity, for the good and the evil will rise in all the integrity of man's bodily perfection: there will be no blind, no lame, no one with any other defect. The Apostle writes that “the dead shall rise incorruptible” (1 Cor 15: 52) to mean that they will no longer suffer the present corruptions. 164. The fourth effect refers to age, because everyone will rise to the perfect age at thirty-two. The reason for this is that those who have not yet reached this age have not reached the perfect age, and the old have already passed it. This is why the young and the children will be added to what is missing, and the old will be restored. It reads: “Until we all come unto the perfect man, to the fullness of the age of Christ” (Eph 4:13) 65.
64) Among the Jews, the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead, and the Pharisees affirmed it (cf. Acts 23: 8). Being revealed supernatural truth, every naturalistic tendency does not accept it. The Sadducees also denied the existence of angels. Indeed, without theological faith, the dogma of the Resurrection of the flesh cannot be accepted. St. Paul preaching to the intellectuals of Athens, they departed from him: “Upon hearing of the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock, while others said, We will hear you later about this” (Acts 17:32). .
The Mohammedans (Saracens, says the Latin text) believe in the Resurrection of the flesh, but reduce the joys of heaven to carnal and earthly pleasures.
65 St. Thomas literally interprets here the Pauline text concerning the age of Christ, assuming it to be 32 years old in his death. St. Paul in this text deals with the perfection of the Christian who tends toward resemblance to the perfection of Christ, that is, to the holiness of Christ, not of physical age. However, it is in youth that man reaches the fullness of bodily vigor. In this sense the interpretation of St. Thomas is valid, since the bodies will be resurrected without deficiencies.
As for the third consideration, it is to be known that the good will receive special glory, because the saints will have their bodies glorified by four qualities.
The first is clarity. It reads: “The righteous shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Mt 13:43);
The second is impassibility. It reads: “It is sown in shame, it will rise in glory” (1 Cor 15:43); and, “God will take away every tear from his eyes; there will be no death, no mourning, no moaning, no pain ”(Rev. 21: 4);
The third is agility. It reads: “The righteous shall shine and pass through the fault with sparks” (Wis 3: 7);
The fourth is subtlety. It reads: “It is sown in the animal body, it will rise in a spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:44); one does not want to understand this as if every body were transformed into spirit, but that it will be totally submissive to the spirit.
166 - The fourth consideration, that is, with regard to the condition of the condemned, is contrary to that of the beatified, because they will suffer the eternal penalty. Their bodies will possess four evil qualities. They will be obscure, as it reads: "Their faces will be like inflamed faces" (Is 13: 8).
66 The “Catechism of the Parish Priests” thus summarizes the nature of these four qualities of the resurrected bodies, which are more fully explained in the Theological Summa (Sup. 82, 1 ff):
“Impassibility makes glorious bodies unbearable from any pain or discomfort. It is followed by clarity, that is, the redundant glow in the body of the supreme happiness of the soul, so that there is in it a certain communication of the bliss of the soul. Agility is added to clarity, whereby the body is easily moved wherever the soul wants. Finally, subtlety is added, by the power of which the body submits to the empire of the soul, serves and obeys it totally. ”
They will be passable but never corrupted, for they will burn forever in the fire and will never be consumed. It reads: “Worms will never die in their bodies, and the fire in them will never be extinguished” (Is 66, 24). They will be heavy, because souls will be chained. It reads: "To bind their kings with fetters" (Ps 149: 8). Finally, bodies and souls will be somewhat carnal. It reads: “Animals will rot in their droppings” (Jl 1, 17).
ARTICLE TWELVE
- I believe in eternal life -
It is very convenient that the statement of truths we must believe ends in this article - "I believe in eternal life" - because eternal life is also the ultimate goal of all our desires. This truth is opposed to those who claim that the soul dies with the body. If this statement were true, man would have the same condition as animals, and to those who make it, this applies in the Psalms: “Man who is honored does not understand things. It can be compared to stupid animals, and resembles them ”(Ps 48, 21).
The human soul by immortality resembles God; by sensuality, it resembles animals. Therefore, whoever thinks that the soul dies with the body loses the likeness of God and levels itself with the animals. He has the Book of Wisdom against these words: “They did not expect the reward of divine justice from divine justice, nor did they consider the glory given to holy souls; because God created man for immortality, and created him after the image of nature itself ”(Wis 2: 22-23).
Let us now consider what eternal life consists of (and then what eternal death consists of).
It should be known, first of all, that in eternal life man unites himself with God, for it is God's own prize and purpose for all our works here on earth. “I am your protector and your reward will be great” (Gen 15: 1). This communion consists of perfect vision. 67 It reads: “Now we see as though through a mirror, but there face to face” (1 Cor 13: 12). It also consists in the supreme praise, as St. Augustine says: "We will see, love and praise" (De Civ. Dei, 22). Scripture also reads: “There will be joy and joy, thanksgiving and voices of praise” (Is 51: 3).
We know that in eternal Life, secondly, there is the perfect satiety of desires. The reason for this is that no one can in this life have his desires fulfilled, and never a well-created man satisfies the human desire for happiness. Only God can satiate it, and does it exceeding infinitely. That is why this desire is only fulfilled in God, as St. Augustine writes: “You have made us, O Lord, for Thee, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee” (Conf. I). As the saints in the homeland will possess God perfectly, evidently his desire will be satisfied and yet exceeded in glory. This is why it reads in the Gospel: "Enter into the joy of your Lord" (Mt 25:21). St. Augustine adds: "It is not full joy that will enter into those who will enjoy it, but they will fully enter into joy." It is also read in Scripture: “I will be satisfied when I come into your glory” (Ps 16:15); and, “He that filleth thy desire with goodness” (Ps 102: 5).
67 It is true of faith that the righteous in heaven will see God in their very nature, as revealed in Holy Scripture: "We will see Him as He is" (1 Jn 3: 2).
The happiness of Eternal Life consists essentially in this immediate, intuitive, direct (“face to face” - 1 Cor 13, 12) vision of divine essence. All the other rewards and joys of heaven derive from this.
The theological explanations about the beatific vision, presents them the Angelic Doctor in the Theological Sum, part I, question XII. The statement of the dogma of the beatific vision, human intelligence alone could not come, for it is a supernatural truth. St. Thomas begins by showing the possibility of the beatific vision, and man's happiness must consist in the activity of his supreme perfection, which is the activity of intelligence, which finds its fullest fulfillment only in the vision of God. He then states that this view cannot be taken by any Godlike creature, but that "the divine essence is united with the intellect created as a presently known object which in itself causes intelligence to be in action" (I. 12, 2 to 3).
Since human intelligence itself cannot see God, it needs a special force that raises it, a created grace that disposes it to the eternal vision which is called lumen gloriae. Not the means "in quo" God is seen, but the means "quo" (Ic 5 ad 2). The view of the divine essence is not comprehensive, but apprehensive, that is, although there is intuition, human intelligence does not exhaust the entire knowable reality of God. St Thomas very accurately expresses this: “He who sees God by essence sees that He has an infinite way of being and that He is infinitely knowable; but this infinite mode of knowing does not belong to him, that is, to know him infinitely ”(I. c. 7 ad 3).
170 All that is delectable there will be there wholly and superabundantly. If the delights were desired, then there will be the supreme and perfect delight, because it is the delight that comes from the possession of the good good of God. It reads, “Then shall you put your delights into the Omnipotent” (Job 22:26).
If the honors were desired, then there will be all of them.
The layperson desires above all to be King; the clergyman, bishop.
Both honors will be there. It reads: “You have made us kings and priests for our God” (Rev 15:10). It is also read in the Book of Wisdom concerning the life of the righteous after death: “Behold, they are considered children of God” (Wis 5: 5).
If science is what was desired, then there will be perfect science, because we will know the nature of all things and all truth, as well as everything we wish to know. More. Whatever we wish to possess, we will possess in eternal life. It reads: “With her all goods came to me equally” (Wis 7:11); and: “The righteous will be given what they desire” (Pr 1:33).
Eternal Life consists, thirdly, in perfect security. In this world there is no perfect security, because the more one has many possessions and the higher one rises, the more one fears with fear and needs more things. But there will be no eternal life, no sorrow, no works, no fear. It reads: “If fear of evil is removed, they will enjoy abundance” (Pr 1:33).
172 - Eternal Life consists, fourthly, in the joyful society of all the blessed, in the most delightful of societies, for each will possess all goods in communion with others. Each will love the other as himself; therefore he will rejoice in the good of others, as his own. Thus, the more the joy and joy of one grow, the more the joy of all will increase, as it is written: “It is in the great joy for all to dwell in Thee” (Ps 86: 7).
All that has been described here, the righteous will have in their homeland, and, besides, many other ineffable goods. As for the wicked, that is, those who will go to eternal death, their pain and punishment will be no less than the joy and joy of the good.
174. The punishment of the wicked is excessive in the first place for separation from God and for the deprivation of God and for the deprivation of all property. This is the penalty of harm, which corresponds to aversion to God, greater than the penalty of the senses. It reads: “Cast out the unprofitable servant into outer darkness” (Mt 15:30). The wicked in this life have the inner darkness, that is, sin; in hell they will be in outer darkness.
Secondly, the punishment of the wicked is excessive for the remorse of conscience. It reads, “I will rebuke you and set you before yourself” (Ps 49:21); and, "Moaning are under the pressure of their own spirit" (Wis 49, 21). Yet such sufferings and groans will be useless, because they do not come from the hatred of evil, but from the pain of punishment.
68 Since eternal glory consists in God's vision and God's full love, damnation in hell consists in the absence of this vision of God and hatred for Him. To the "perfectissima charitas" of heaven corresponds the "perfectissimo odium" of hell. (Sup. 98, 4 c.). Since they cannot think of God as the principle of good, but only as the principle of their own punishment (I. c. Art. 8c), those condemned to eternal punishment will hate God as they hate their own punishment (I c. Art. 5c). . All the will of the damned is turned to evil, so that they want nothing from good as well as good, and, "even if they want good, yet they will not well" (I. c. 1c).
In the condemned there can be no hope either, that is, nothing good can expect, neither get out of the state of condemnation, nor expect happiness (cf. II. II. 18, 3c). however, in them there may be shapeless faith, which becomes an ineffective and corrupt habit (cf. I. c. ad. 2).
Thirdly, the penalty of the wicked is added even more, by the very strong punishment of the senses, which will torment the soul and the body. It is a painful punishment, as the saints report. The damned will always be dying, but they will never die, even without the possibility of dying. That is why condemnation is called eternal death. Are the damned always suffering in hell such terrible pains as those involving the dying. It reads: "As sheep were put into hell, and death shall devour them" (Ps 48:15).
It adds even more, fourthly, to the desperation of salvation. If given hope of liberation from the penalty, the penalty would certainly be mitigated.
But as all hope has been taken from them, the penalty becomes very heavy. It reads: “The worm that eats them shall not die, and the fire that burns them shall not be quenched” (Is 66,24).
Thus the difference between doing good and doing evil is evident: good works lead to life, but bad things lead to death.
We should always recall in the spirit all these truths, because in so doing we would be encouraged to do good and to repel evil.
In a final and very significant way, eternal life has been placed at the end of the Creed, so that it may be ever more and more engraved in our spirit, to which our Lord Jesus Christ, the blessed God, will lead us forever and ever.
AMEN
69 See footnote 34.