THOMAS AQUINAS TEACHING ON ANGELS
Introduction
The belief in the existence of some beings
called the “angels” is very central to many religions in the world. For one, Christianity
preaches their existence, providing supports from passages of Holy Scriptures.
Down through ages, great teachers of the catholic faith have taught that angels
do in fact exist. The angelic doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, wrote extensively on
the nature, motion, operation of angels. He wrote to present the authentic
catholic teachings on this matter. These teachings of his are contained in his Summa Theologiae and his Quoldlibetal.
In the Quoldlibel, he dedicated Question
3 to the discussion of angels, but focuses only on two points, namely, whether
angels depend on corporeal place according to their essence, or according to
their action, and on whether angels move from place to place without passing
through an intermediate place. This paper seeks to examine Aquinas’s position
on these two points vis-à-vis the teachings of Holy Scripture and other
teachers of the catholic faith. I shall first examine the nature of angels in
general. Afterwards, I shall analyse Aquinas’s teachings on the angels with
major reference to Quoldlibetal and
the Summa Theologiae.
What are angels?
The word “angel” has a Greek
derivative, ἄγγελος, which means
“messenger”.[1]
Every messenger however, has a name, a being, an essence that is different from
the action it does. By nature, angels are pure spirits, that is, they are not
composed of body. They are creatures of God, but with a type of creation
entirely separate from human beings.[2]
Thomas Aquinas noted that created things are ordered to include (a) those that
are completely bodily substance, that is, animals, (b) those that are composed
of body and spirit, that is, human beings, and c) those thar are completely spiritual
substance, that is, angels.[3]
Angels have no body, because being intellectual (spiritual) brings, they
require no body for their operation. They however sometimes assume bodies as evident
in the Bible. Angels are incorruptible substances; they cannot die or decay,
since corruption occurs only in matter (body) and in the angels there is no
matter. The knowledge of angels is limited[4], it
is however higher than that of humans because they imitate God more closely,
and are always at His service.[5] It
is the function of the intellect to know things; the angels, by virtue of their
knowledge, possess intellect. Everything that possesses intellect also
possesses a will (free will). The angels, since they possess intellect also
possess will.[6]
Angels are not omnipresent, that is, an angel can be in more than one place at
the same time, only God is omnipresent. They are not also omnipotent, that is,
they are not almighty; whatever power they possess is given them by God, who
only is omnipotent.[7]
Why should angels exist?
For Thomas Aquinas, the existence of
incorporeal substances, substances that are completely spiritual, is necessary
because God created creatures primarily for their union with Him. They come out
from Him and return to Him. Perfect union comes when the creature imitates the
creator with respect to the way that the creator created the creature. God created
the universe through his intellect and will, therefore for the universe to be
perfected, the existence of purely intellectual (spiritual) creatures, who will
imitate God, the supreme purely intellectual bring, in ways proper to their
state of being, is required.[8] Thus, angels, being purely spiritual beings,
are by their very nature ordered to the perfection of the universe, to the
glory of God, in so far as they resemble their creator and imitate His being.
The first point: Whether an angel depends on a
corporeal place according to its essence or according to his action only?
The Bible presents us with occasions
where angels are found in physical places[9], and
so it would seem that angels, incorporeal beings, depend on bodily, corporeal
places by their essence. In fact, some persons claim that since “to exist” in a
place comes before “to act” in a place, it follows that angels depend on corporeal
place first “to exist”, before depending on it “to act:. They therefore argue
that angels depend on a corporeal place essentially.[10]
Some also claim that if angels depend on corporeal place only according to
action, it would follow that more than one angel can exist in one place and at
the same time, which, according to this group, is impossible.[11]
For Thomas Aquinas however, an angel depends on a corporeal place not according
to its essence but according to action only. Aquinas argues that this is so
because an angel, like any other spiritual substance, is present in a
particular place not by reason of his substance (essence) being coextended with
and swallowed up in space, but merely by his power being applied to a
particular object or place. Since an angel is spiritual and completely
immaterial, he does not fill or occupy space. His presence in a place is
determined and occasionally made known by his activity there, and not by his substance
(essence) which has nothing in common with a corporeal place.[12] The
biblical account of the miraculous cures that took place in the pond clearly illustrates
this point. An angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond and
the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion
of the water was made whole, of whatsoever infirmity he had. It is not said
here that the angel was ever seen by anybody when coming into that pond. His
presence became manifest only by his action of stirring the waters and giving
health to the first infirm person entering the pond.[13]Aquinas
thus maintained that that it is impossible for an incorporeal being, in this case
am angel, to depend on a corporeal place according to its essence. The only
time where an incorporeal being depends on a corporeal place is only when it
needs to perform an action. Responding to the two claims made above, Aquinas
posited that it is possible for something to be prior simply and not prior in a
particular subject. For angels, “to act” in a place is prior simply by reason
of his power. Also, Aquinas noted, responding to the second objection, that there
need not be more than one angel in a particular place if he is perfectly
carrying out the particular function contained in that place.
The second point: Whether an angel can move from one
place to another without passing through an intermediate place?
Reason tells us that given a distance, from point A to
point C with point B bring at the middle, an object going from A to C necessarily
passes through B. Angels too can move from point A to point C, but must they
pass through B? Some persons claim that for motion to truly take place an
object, an angel inclusive, must of necessity move through B, the intermediate place.[14]
Thomas Aquinas however, notes that an angel can truly engage in motion with or
without passing any intermediate place. An angel can move from one point to the
other without going through an intermediate place because it depends and stays
in a place not according to its essence but by virtue of its power shown forth
in his activity, and so not subject to the place. The place is rather subject
to the angel by virtue of his higher power and so he can afford to move from
place to place without following the conditions contained in the place This
kind of motion in angels is non-continuous.[15]
However, an angel can decide to pass through an intermediate just as all bodies
would do; this is referred to as continuous motion. It is thus left to an angel
to choose whether to pass through an intermediate place or not since he controls
over place/ Bodies however, follow the limits of places since they are
contained in places.[16]
Conclusion
I have, in this paper presented Thomas
Aquinas’ thoughts on two very important features about the angels, their
interaction with physical places and their movement. Angels, Aquinas would
posit, depend on physical places not essentially but only by virtue of their
operation. Put differently, an angel is in a place because he is there to
perform an operation, an action. His presence and dependence on physical place
is due to the action he intends to perform there. Aquinas also noted that
angels, unlike bodies made of matter, can move without passing through
intermediate points. This is so because angels are not contained in places but
rather contain places.. This means that angels are not subjected to the power
of a physica lplace but do in fact control it. Furthermore, Aquinas maintained
that angels can choose to pass through intermediate places, since they have the
power to control how they move and operate.The discussion on the nature,
operation and motion og angels is an interesting one and further research on it
is encouraged.
BINLIOGRAPHY
Thomas Aquinas,
Summa Theologiae
Thomas Aquinas, Quodlibetal
“Angels: from the teachings of saint
Thomas Aquinas” http://www.jesuspassion.com/angels.htm
Accessed on 22/12/2015
William E.Carroll, “Aquinas on
Creation and the Metaphysical Foundations of Science? https://www3.nd.edu/~maritain/jmc/ti98/carroll.htm
Accessed 21st December, 2015
[1]Cf. Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php.
Accessed 20/12/2015
[3] Cf. Angels: From The
Teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas. http://www.jesus-passion.com/angels.htm Accessed on 22/12/2015
[4] Cf. Matthew 28:36
[5] Cf. William E. Carroll,
Aquinas on Creation and the Metaphysical
Foundations of Scienc. E https://www3.nd.edu/~maritain/jmc/ti98/carroll.htmAccessed 21st December, 2015
[6] Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, 1, q..58, a. 1-4
[7] Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiar, 1, q..58, a. 1-7
[8]Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, 1, q..14, a. 8
[9]Cf. Luke 1:19, Luke 1:26, Daniel 12:1, and so on
[10]Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Quodlibetal,
1, q. 3, a. 1
[11]Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Quodlibetal,
1, q. 3, a. 1
[12]Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Quodlibetal,
1, q. 3, a. 1
[13]Cf. John 5:4
[14]Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Quodlibetal, 1, q. 3, a. 2
[15]Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Quodlibetal, 1, q. 3, a. 1
[16]Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Quodlibetal, 1, q. 3, a. 1
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