Part II (Pars Prima Secundae) Part 153 (1/2)
Obj. 2: Further, according to John 1:17, ”the Law was given by Moses.” But Moses received it from G.o.d immediately: for it is written (Ex. 33:11): ”The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to speak to his friend.” Therefore the Old Law was given by G.o.d immediately.
Obj. 3: Further, it belongs to the sovereign alone to make a law, as stated above (Q. 90, A. 3). But G.o.d alone is Sovereign as regards the salvation of souls: while the angels are the ”ministering spirits,”
as stated in Heb. 1:14. Therefore it was not meet for the Law to be given through the angels, since it is ordained to the salvation of souls.
_On the contrary,_ The Apostle said (Gal. 3:19) that the Law was ”given [Vulg.: 'ordained'] by angels in the hand of a Mediator.” And Stephen said (Acts 7:53): ”(Who) have received the Law by the disposition of angels.”
_I answer that,_ The Law was given by G.o.d through the angels. And besides the general reason given by Dionysius (Coel. Hier. iv), viz.
that ”the gifts of G.o.d should be brought to men by means of the angels,” there is a special reason why the Old Law should have been given through them. For it has been stated (AA. 1, 2) that the Old Law was imperfect, and yet disposed man to that perfect salvation of the human race, which was to come through Christ. Now it is to be observed that wherever there is an order of powers or arts, he that holds the highest place, himself exercises the princ.i.p.al and perfect acts; while those things which dispose to the ultimate perfection are effected by him through his subordinates: thus the s.h.i.+p-builder himself rivets the planks together, but prepares the material by means of the workmen who a.s.sist him under his direction. Consequently it was fitting that the perfect law of the New Testament should be given by the incarnate G.o.d immediately; but that the Old Law should be given to men by the ministers of G.o.d, i.e. by the angels. It is thus that the Apostle at the beginning of his epistle to the Hebrews (1:2) proves the excellence of the New Law over the Old; because in the New Testament ”G.o.d ... hath spoken to us by His Son,” whereas in the Old Testament ”the word was spoken by angels” (Heb. 2:2).
Reply Obj. 1: As Gregory says at the beginning of his Morals (Praef.
chap. i), ”the angel who is described to have appeared to Moses, is sometimes mentioned as an angel, sometimes as the Lord: an angel, in truth, in respect of that which was subservient to the external delivery; and the Lord, because He was the Director within, Who supported the effectual power of speaking.” Hence also it is that the angel spoke as personating the Lord.
Reply Obj. 2: As Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. xii, 27), it is stated in Exodus that ”the Lord spoke to Moses face to face”; and shortly afterwards we read, ”'Show me Thy glory.' Therefore He perceived what he saw and he desired what he saw not.” Hence he did not see the very Essence of G.o.d; and consequently he was not taught by Him immediately. Accordingly when Scripture states that ”He spoke to him face to face,” this is to be understood as expressing the opinion of the people, who thought that Moses was speaking with G.o.d mouth to mouth, when G.o.d spoke and appeared to him, by means of a subordinate creature, i.e. an angel and a cloud. Again we may say that this vision ”face to face” means some kind of sublime and familiar contemplation, inferior to the vision of the Divine Essence.
Reply Obj. 3: It is for the sovereign alone to make a law by his own authority; but sometimes after making a law, he promulgates it through others. Thus G.o.d made the Law by His own authority, but He promulgated it through the angels.
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FOURTH ARTICLE [I-II, Q, 98, Art. 4]
Whether the Old Law Should Have Been Given to the Jews Alone?
Objection 1: It would seem that the Old Law should not have been given to the Jews alone. For the Old Law disposed men for the salvation which was to come through Christ, as stated above (AA. 2, 3). But that salvation was to come not to the Jews alone but to all nations, according to Isa. 49:6: ”It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation, even to the farthest part of the earth.” Therefore the Old Law should have been given to all nations, and not to one people only.
Obj. 2: Further, according to Acts 10:34, 35, ”G.o.d is not a respecter of persons: but in every nation, he that feareth Him, and worketh justice, is acceptable to Him.” Therefore the way of salvation should not have been opened to one people more than to another.
Obj. 3: Further, the law was given through the angels, as stated above (A. 3). But G.o.d always vouchsafed the ministrations of the angels not to the Jews alone, but to all nations: for it is written (Ecclus. 17:14): ”Over every nation He set a ruler.” Also on all nations He bestows temporal goods, which are of less account with G.o.d than spiritual goods. Therefore He should have given the Law also to all peoples.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Rom. 3:1, 2): ”What advantage then hath the Jew? ... Much every way. First indeed, because the words of G.o.d were committed to them”: and (Ps. 147:9): ”He hath not done in like manner to every nation: and His judgments He hath not made manifest unto them.”
_I answer that,_ It might be a.s.signed as a reason for the Law being given to the Jews rather than to other peoples, that the Jewish people alone remained faithful to the wors.h.i.+p of one G.o.d, while the others turned away to idolatry; wherefore the latter were unworthy to receive the Law, lest a holy thing should be given to dogs.
But this reason does not seem fitting: because that people turned to idolatry, even after the Law had been made, which was more grievous, as is clear from Ex. 32 and from Amos 5:25, 26: ”Did you offer victims and sacrifices to Me in the desert for forty years, O house of Israel? But you carried a tabernacle for your Moloch, and the image of your idols, the star of your G.o.d, which you made to yourselves.” Moreover it is stated expressly (Deut. 9:6): ”Know therefore that the Lord thy G.o.d giveth thee not this excellent land in possession for thy justices, for thou art a very stiff-necked people”: but the real reason is given in the preceding verse: ”That the Lord might accomplish His word, which He promised by oath to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
What this promise was is shown by the Apostle, who says (Gal. 3:16) that ”to Abraham were the promises made and to his seed. He saith not, 'And to his seeds,' as of many: but as of one, 'And to thy seed,' which is Christ.” And so G.o.d vouchsafed both the Law and other special boons to that people, on account of the promised made to their fathers that Christ should be born of them. For it was fitting that the people, of whom Christ was to be born, should be signalized by a special sanctification, according to the words of Lev. 19:2: ”Be ye holy, because I ... am holy.” Nor again was it on account of the merit of Abraham himself that this promise was made to him, viz. that Christ should be born of his seed: but of gratuitous election and vocation. Hence it is written (Isa. 41:2): ”Who hath raised up the just one form the east, hath called him to follow him?”
It is therefore evident that it was merely from gratuitous election that the patriarchs received the promise, and that the people sprung from them received the law; according to Deut. 4:36, 37: ”Ye did [Vulg.: 'Thou didst'] hear His words out of the midst of the fire, because He loved thy fathers, and chose their seed after them.” And if again it asked why He chose this people, and not another, that Christ might be born thereof; a fitting answer is given by Augustine (Tract. super Joan. xxvi): ”Why He draweth one and draweth not another, seek not thou to judge, if thou wish not to err.”
Reply Obj. 1: Although the salvation, which was to come through Christ, was prepared for all nations, yet it was necessary that Christ should be born of one people, which, for this reason, was privileged above other peoples; according to Rom. 9:4: ”To whom,”
namely the Jews, ”belongeth the adoption as of children (of G.o.d) ... and the testament, and the giving of the Law ... whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ according to the flesh.”
Reply Obj. 2: Respect of persons takes place in those things which are given according to due; but it has no place in those things which are bestowed gratuitously. Because he who, out of generosity, gives of his own to one and not to another, is not a respecter of persons: but if he were a dispenser of goods held in common, and were not to distribute them according to personal merits, he would be a respecter of persons. Now G.o.d bestows the benefits of salvation on the human race gratuitously: wherefore He is not a respecter of persons, if He gives them to some rather than to others. Hence Augustine says (De Praedest. Sanct. viii): ”All whom G.o.d teaches, he teaches out of pity; but whom He teaches not, out of justice He teaches not”: for this is due to the condemnation of the human race for the sin of the first parent.
Reply Obj. 3: The benefits of grace are forfeited by man on account of sin: but not the benefits of nature. Among the latter are the ministries of the angels, which the very order of various natures demands, viz. that the lowest beings be governed through the intermediate beings: and also bodily aids, which G.o.d vouchsafes not only to men, but also to beasts, according to Ps. 35:7: ”Men and beasts Thou wilt preserve, O Lord.”
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FIFTH ARTICLE [I-II, Q. 98, Art. 5]
Whether All Men Were Bound to Observe the Old Law?
Objection 1: It would seem that all men were bound to observe the Old Law. Because whoever is subject to the king, must needs be subject to his law. But the Old Law was given by G.o.d, Who is ”King of all the earth” (Ps. 46:8). Therefore all the inhabitants of the earth were bound to observe the Law.