Part I (Prima Pars) Part 170 (2/2)
Reply Obj. 2: Not all the angels who are sent have guardians.h.i.+p of individual men; but some orders have a universal guardians.h.i.+p, greater or less, as above explained.
Reply Obj. 3: Even inferior angels exercise the office of the superior, as they share in their gifts, and they are executors of the superiors' power; and in this way all the angels of the lowest order can coerce the demons, and work miracles.
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FOURTH ARTICLE [I, Q. 113, Art. 4]
Whether Angels Are Appointed to the Guardians.h.i.+p of All Men?
Objection 1: It would seem that angels are not appointed to the guardians.h.i.+p of all men. For it is written of Christ (Phil. 2:7) that ”He was made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man.” If therefore angels are appointed to the guardians.h.i.+p of all men, Christ also would have had an angel guardian. But this is unseemly, for Christ is greater than all the angels. Therefore angels are not appointed to the guardians.h.i.+p of all men.
Obj. 2: Further, Adam was the first of all men. But it was not fitting that he should have an angel guardian, at least in the state of innocence: for then he was not beset by any dangers. Therefore angels are not appointed to the guardians.h.i.+p of all men.
Obj. 3: Further, angels are appointed to the guardians.h.i.+p of men, that they may take them by the hand and guide them to eternal life, encourage them to good works, and protect them against the a.s.saults of the demons. But men who are foreknown to d.a.m.nation, never attain to eternal life. Infidels, also, though at times they perform good works, do not perform them well, for they have not a right intention: for ”faith directs the intention” as Augustine says (Enarr. ii in Ps.
31). Moreover, the coming of Antichrist will be ”according to the working of Satan,” as it is written (2 Thess. 2:9). Therefore angels are not deputed to the guardians.h.i.+p of all men.
_On the contrary,_ is the authority of Jerome quoted above (A. 2), for he says that ”each soul has an angel appointed to guard it.”
_I answer that,_ Man while in this state of life, is, as it were, on a road by which he should journey towards heaven. On this road man is threatened by many dangers both from within and from without, according to Ps. 159:4: ”In this way wherein I walked, they have hidden a snare for me.” And therefore as guardians are appointed for men who have to pa.s.s by an unsafe road, so an angel guardian is a.s.signed to each man as long as he is a wayfarer. When, however, he arrives at the end of life he no longer has a guardian angel; but in the kingdom he will have an angel to reign with him, in h.e.l.l a demon to punish him.
Reply Obj. 1: Christ as man was guided immediately by the Word of G.o.d: wherefore He needed not be guarded by an angel. Again as regards His soul, He was a comprehensor, although in regard to His pa.s.sible body, He was a wayfarer. In this latter respect it was right that He should have not a guardian angel as superior to Him, but a ministering angel as inferior to Him. Whence it is written (Matt.
4:11) that ”angels came and ministered to Him.”
Reply Obj. 2: In the state of innocence man was not threatened by any peril from within: because within him all was well ordered, as we have said above (Q. 95, AA. 1, 3). But peril threatened from without on account of the snares of the demons; as was proved by the event. For this reason he needed a guardian angel.
Reply Obj. 3: Just as the foreknown, the infidels, and even Antichrist, are not deprived of the interior help of natural reason; so neither are they deprived of that exterior help granted by G.o.d to the whole human race--namely the guardians.h.i.+p of the angels. And although the help which they receive therefrom does not result in their deserving eternal life by good works, it does nevertheless conduce to their being protected from certain evils which would hurt both themselves and others. For even the demons are held off by the good angels, lest they hurt as much as they would. In like manner Antichrist will not do as much harm as he would wish.
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FIFTH ARTICLE [I, Q. 113, Art. 5]
Whether an Angel Is Appointed to Guard a Man from His Birth?
Objection 1: It would seem that an angel is not appointed to guard a man from his birth. For angels are ”sent to minister for them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation,” as the Apostle says (Heb. 1:14). But men begin to receive the inheritance of salvation, when they are baptized. Therefore an angel is appointed to guard a man from the time of his baptism, not of his birth.
Obj. 2: Further, men are guarded by angels in as far as angels enlighten and instruct them. But children are not capable of instruction as soon as they are born, for they have not the use of reason. Therefore angels are not appointed to guard children as soon as they are born.
Obj. 3: Further, a child has a rational soul for some time before birth, just as well as after. But it does not appear that an angel is appointed to guard a child before its birth, for they are not then admitted to the sacraments of the Church. Therefore angels are not appointed to guard men from the moment of their birth.
_On the contrary,_ Jerome says (_vide_ A. 4) that ”each soul has an angel appointed to guard it from its birth.”
_I answer that,_ as Origen observes (Tract. v, super Matt.) there are two opinions on this matter. For some have held that the angel guardian is appointed at the time of baptism, others, that he is appointed at the time of birth. The latter opinion Jerome approves (loc. cit.), and with reason. For those benefits which are conferred by G.o.d on man as a Christian, begin with his baptism; such as receiving the Eucharist, and the like. But those which are conferred by G.o.d on man as a rational being, are bestowed on him at his birth, for then it is that he receives that nature. Among the latter benefits we must count the guardians.h.i.+p of angels, as we have said above (AA. 1, 4). Wherefore from the very moment of his birth man has an angel guardian appointed to him.
Reply Obj. 1: Angels are sent to minister, and that efficaciously indeed, for those who shall receive the inheritance of salvation, if we consider the ultimate effect of their guardians.h.i.+p, which is the realizing of that inheritance. But for all that, the angelic ministrations are not withdrawn for others although they are not so efficacious as to bring them to salvation: efficacious, nevertheless, they are, inasmuch as they ward off many evils.
Reply Obj. 2: Guardians.h.i.+p is ordained to enlightenment by instruction, as to its ultimate and princ.i.p.al effect. Nevertheless it has many other effects consistent with childhood; for instance to ward off the demons, and to prevent both bodily and spiritual harm.
Reply Obj. 3: As long as the child is in the mother's womb it is not entirely separate, but by reason of a certain intimate tie, is still part of her: just as the fruit while hanging on the tree is part of the tree. And therefore it can be said with some degree of probability, that the angel who guards the mother guards the child while in the womb. But at its birth, when it becomes separate from the mother, an angel guardian is appointed to it; as Jerome, above quoted, says.
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SIXTH ARTICLE [I, Q. 113, Art. 6]
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