Part IV (Tertia Pars) Part 27 (2/2)

_I answer that,_ Wonder properly regards what is new and unwonted.

Now there could be nothing new and unwonted as regards Christ's Divine knowledge, whereby He saw things in the Word; nor as regards the human knowledge, whereby He saw things by infused species. Yet things could be new and unwonted with regard to His empiric knowledge, in regard to which new things could occur to Him day by day. Hence, if we speak of Christ with respect to His Divine knowledge, and His beatific and even His infused knowledge, there was no wonder in Christ. But if we speak of Him with respect to empiric knowledge, wonder could be in Him; and He a.s.sumed this affection for our instruction, i.e. in order to teach us to wonder at what He Himself wondered at. Hence Augustine says (Super Gen. Cont. Manich.

i, 8): ”Our Lord wondered in order to show us that we, who still need to be so affected, must wonder. Hence all these emotions are not signs of a disturbed mind, but of a master teaching.”

Reply Obj. 1: Although Christ was ignorant of nothing, yet new things might occur to His empiric knowledge, and thus wonder would be caused.

Reply Obj. 2: Christ did not marvel at the Centurion's faith as if it was great with respect to Himself, but because it was great with respect to others.

Reply Obj. 3: He could do all things by the Divine power, for with respect to this there was no wonder in Him, but only with respect to His human empiric knowledge, as was said above.

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NINTH ARTICLE [III, Q. 15, Art. 9]

Whether There Was Anger in Christ?

Objection 1: It would seem that there was no anger in Christ. For it is written (James 1:20): ”The anger of man worketh not the justice of G.o.d.” Now whatever was in Christ pertained to the justice of G.o.d, since of Him it is written (1 Cor. 1:30): ”For He [Vulg.: 'Who'] of G.o.d is made unto us ... justice.” Therefore it seems that there was no anger in Christ.

Obj. 2: Further, anger is opposed to meekness, as is plain from _Ethic._ iv, 5. But Christ was most meek. Therefore there was no anger in Him.

Obj. 3: Further, Gregory says (Moral. v, 45) that ”anger that comes of evil blinds the eye of the mind, but anger that comes of zeal disturbs it.” Now the mind's eye in Christ was neither blinded nor disturbed. Therefore in Christ there was neither sinful anger nor zealous anger.

_On the contrary,_ It is written (John 2:17) that the words of Ps.

58:10, ”the zeal of Thy house hath eaten me up,” were fulfilled in Him.

_I answer that,_ As was said in the Second Part (I-II, Q. 46, A. 3, ad 3, and II-II, Q. 158, A. 2, ad 3), anger is an effect of sorrow.

For when sorrow is inflicted upon someone, there arises within him a desire of the sensitive appet.i.te to repel this injury brought upon himself or others. Hence anger is a pa.s.sion composed of sorrow and the desire of revenge. Now it was said (A. 6) that sorrow could be in Christ. As to the desire of revenge it is sometimes with sin, i.e.

when anyone seeks revenge beyond the order of reason: and in this way anger could not be in Christ, for this kind of anger is sinful.

Sometimes, however, this desire is without sin--nay, is praiseworthy, e.g. when anyone seeks revenge according to justice, and this is zealous anger. For Augustine says (on John 2:17) that ”he is eaten up by zeal for the house of G.o.d, who seeks to better whatever He sees to be evil in it, and if he cannot right it, bears with it and sighs.”

Such was the anger that was in Christ.

Reply Obj. 1: As Gregory says (Moral. v), anger is in man in two ways--sometimes it forestalls reason, and causes it to operate, and in this way it is properly said to work, for operations are attributed to the princ.i.p.al agent. It is in this way that we must understand that ”the anger of man worketh not the justice of G.o.d.”

Sometimes anger follows reason, and is, as it were, its instrument, and then the operation, which pertains to justice, is not attributed to anger but to reason.

Reply Obj. 2: It is the anger which outsteps the bounds of reason that is opposed to meekness, and not the anger which is controlled and brought within its proper bounds by reason, for meekness holds the mean in anger.

Reply Obj. 3: In us the natural order is that the soul's powers mutually impede each other, i.e. if the operation of one power is intense, the operation of the other is weakened. This is the reason why any movement whatsoever of anger, even if it be tempered by reason, dims the mind's eye of him who contemplates. But in Christ, by control of the Divine power, ”every faculty was allowed to do what was proper to it,” and one power was not impeded by another. Hence, as the joy of His mind in contemplation did not impede the sorrow or pain of the inferior part, so, conversely, the pa.s.sions of the inferior part no-wise impeded the act of reason.

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TENTH ARTICLE [III, Q. 15, Art. 10]

Whether Christ Was at Once a Wayfarer and a Comprehensor?

Objection 1: It would seem that Christ was not at once a wayfarer and a comprehensor. For it belongs to a wayfarer to be moving toward the end of beat.i.tude, and to a comprehensor it belongs to be resting in the end. Now to be moving towards the end and to be resting in the end cannot belong to the same. Therefore Christ could not be at once wayfarer and comprehensor.

Obj. 2: Further, to tend to beat.i.tude, or to obtain it, does not pertain to man's body, but to his soul; hence Augustine says (Ep. ad Dios. cxviii) that ”upon the inferior nature, which is the body, there overflows, not indeed the beat.i.tude which belongs to such as enjoy and understand, the fulness of health, i.e. the vigor of incorruption.” Now although Christ had a pa.s.sible body, He fully enjoyed G.o.d in His mind. Therefore Christ was not a wayfarer but a comprehensor.

Obj. 3: Further, the Saints, whose souls are in heaven and whose bodies are in the tomb, enjoy beat.i.tude in their souls, although their bodies are subject to death, yet they are called not wayfarers, but only comprehensors. Hence, with equal reason, would it seem that Christ was a pure comprehensor and nowise a wayfarer, since His mind enjoyed G.o.d although His body was mortal.

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