Part IV (Tertia Pars) Part 39 (2/2)
Reply Obj. 1: Considered in his nature man is not a stranger in respect to G.o.d, as to the natural gifts bestowed on him: but he is as to the gifts of grace and glory; in regard to which he is adopted.
Reply Obj. 2: Man works in order to supply his wants: not so G.o.d, Who works in order to communicate to others the abundance of His perfection. Wherefore, as by the work of creation the Divine goodness is communicated to all creatures in a certain likeness, so by the work of adoption the likeness of natural sons.h.i.+p is communicated to men, according to Rom. 8:29: ”Whom He foreknew ... to be made conformable to the image of His Son.”
Reply Obj. 3: Spiritual goods can be possessed by many at the same time; not so material goods. Wherefore none can receive a material inheritance except the successor of a deceased person: whereas all receive the spiritual inheritance at the same time in its entirety without detriment to the ever-living Father.
Yet it might be said that G.o.d ceases to be, according as He is in us by faith, so as to begin to be in us by vision, as a gloss says on Rom. 8:17: ”If sons, heirs also.”
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SECOND ARTICLE [III, Q. 23, Art. 2]
Whether It Is Fitting That the Whole Trinity Should Adopt?
Objection 1: It would seem unfitting that the whole Trinity should adopt. For adoption is said of G.o.d in likeness to human custom. But among men those only adopt who can beget: and in G.o.d this can be applied only to the Father. Therefore in G.o.d the Father alone can adopt.
Obj. 2: Further, by adoption men become the brethren of Christ, according to Rom. 8:29: ”That He might be the first-born among many brethren.” Now brethren are the sons of the same father; wherefore our Lord says (John 20:17): ”I ascend to My Father and to your Father.” Therefore Christ's Father alone has adopted sons.
Obj. 3: Further, it is written (Gal. 4:4, 5, 6): ”G.o.d sent His Son ... that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons of G.o.d, G.o.d hath sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying: 'Abba' (Father).” Therefore it belongs to Him to adopt, Who has the Son and the Holy Ghost. But this belongs to the Father alone. Therefore it befits the Father alone to adopt.
_On the contrary,_ It belongs to Him to adopt us as sons, Whom we can call Father; whence it is written (Rom. 8:15): ”You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: 'Abba' (Father).” But when we say to G.o.d, ”Our Father,” we address the whole Trinity: as is the case with the other names which are said of G.o.d in respect of creatures, as stated in the First Part (Q. 33, A. 3, Obj. 1; cf. Q.
45, A. 6). Therefore to adopt is befitting to the whole Trinity.
_I answer that,_ There is this difference between an adopted son of G.o.d and the natural Son of G.o.d, that the latter is ”begotten not made”; whereas the former is made, according to John 1:12: ”He gave them power to be made the sons of G.o.d.” Yet sometimes the adopted son is said to be begotten, by reason of the spiritual regeneration which is by grace, not by nature; wherefore it is written (James 1:18): ”Of His own will hath He begotten us by the word of truth.” Now although, in G.o.d, to beget belongs to the Person of the Father, yet to produce any effect in creatures is common to the whole Trinity, by reason of the oneness of their Nature: since, where there is one nature, there must needs be one power and one operation: whence our Lord says (John 5:19): ”What things soever the Father doth, these the Son also doth in like manner.” Therefore it belongs to the whole Trinity to adopt men as sons of G.o.d.
Reply Obj. 1: All human individuals are not of one individual nature, so that there need be one operation and one effect of them all, as is the case in G.o.d. Consequently in this respect no comparison is possible.
Reply Obj. 2: By adoption we are made the brethren of Christ, as having with Him the same Father: Who, nevertheless, is His Father in one way, and ours in another. Whence pointedly our Lord says, separately, ”My Father,” and ”Your Father” (John 20:17). For He is Christ's Father by natural generation; and this is proper to Him: whereas He is our Father by a voluntary operation, which is common to Him and to the Son and Holy Ghost: so that Christ is not the Son of the whole Trinity, as we are.
Reply Obj. 3: As stated above (A. 1, ad 2), adoptive sons.h.i.+p is a certain likeness of the eternal Sons.h.i.+p: just as all that takes place in time is a certain likeness of what has been from eternity. Now man is likened to the splendor of the Eternal Son by reason of the light of grace which is attributed to the Holy Ghost. Therefore adoption, though common to the whole Trinity, is appropriated to the Father as its author; to the Son, as its exemplar; to the Holy Ghost, as imprinting on us the likeness of this exemplar.
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THIRD ARTICLE [III, Q. 23, Art. 3]
Whether It Is Proper to the Rational Nature to Be Adopted?
Objection 1: It would seem that it is not proper to the rational nature to be adopted. For G.o.d is not said to be the Father of the rational creature, save by adoption. But G.o.d is called the Father even of the irrational creature, according to Job 38:28: ”Who is father of the rain? Or who begot the drops of dew?” Therefore it is not proper to the rational creature to be adopted.
Obj. 2: Further, by reason of adoption some are called sons of G.o.d.
But to be sons of G.o.d seems to be properly attributed by the Scriptures to the angels; according to Job 1:6: ”On a certain day when the sons of G.o.d came to stand before the Lord.” Therefore it is not proper to the rational creature to be adopted.
Obj. 3: Further, whatever is proper to a nature, belongs to all that have that nature: just as risibility belongs to all men. But to be adopted does not belong to every rational nature. Therefore it is not proper to human nature.
_On the contrary,_ Adopted sons are the ”heirs of G.o.d,” as is stated Rom. 8:17. But such an inheritance belongs to none but the rational nature. Therefore it is proper to the rational nature to be adopted.
_I answer that,_ As stated above (A. 2, ad 3), the sons.h.i.+p of adoption is a certain likeness of natural sons.h.i.+p. Now the Son of G.o.d proceeds naturally from the Father as the Intellectual Word, in oneness of nature with the Father. To this Word, therefore, something may be likened in three ways. First, on the part of the form but not on the part of its intelligibility: thus the form of a house already built is like the mental word of the builder in its specific form, but not in intelligibility, because the material form of a house is not intelligible, as it was in the mind of the builder. In this way every creature is like the Eternal Word; since it was made through the Word. Secondly, the creature is likened to the Word, not only as to its form, but also as to its intelligibility: thus the knowledge which is begotten in the disciple's mind is likened to the word in the mind of the master. In this way the rational creature, even in its nature, is likened to the Word of G.o.d. Thirdly, a creature is likened to the Eternal Word, as to the oneness of the Word with the Father, which is by reason of grace and charity: wherefore our Lord prays (John 17:21, 22): ”That they may be one in Us ... as We also are one.” And this likeness perfects the adoption: for to those who are thus like Him the eternal inheritance is due. It is therefore clear that to be adopted belongs to the rational creature alone: not indeed to all, but only to those who have charity; which is ”poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 5:5); for which reason (Rom. 8:15) the Holy Ghost is called ”the Spirit of adoption of sons.”
Reply Obj. 1: G.o.d is called the Father of the irrational creature, not properly speaking, by reason of adoption, but by reason of creation; according to the first-mentioned partic.i.p.ation of likeness.
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