Part IV (Tertia Pars) Part 91 (2/2)

Obj. 3: Further, as Damascene proves (De Fide Orth. iv), it is not the soul that rises again, but the body, which is stricken by death.

But the body could not unite the soul with itself, since the soul is n.o.bler. Therefore what rose in Christ could not be the cause of His Resurrection.

_On the contrary,_ Our Lord says (John 10:18): ”No one taketh My soul from Me, but I lay it down, and I take it up again.” But to rise is nothing else than to take the soul up again. Consequently, it appears that Christ rose again of His own power.

_I answer that,_ As stated above (Q. 50, AA. 2, 3) in consequence of death Christ's G.o.dhead was not separated from His soul, nor from His flesh. Consequently, both the soul and the flesh of the dead Christ can be considered in two respects: first, in respect of His G.o.dhead; secondly, in respect of His created nature. Therefore, according to the virtue of the G.o.dhead united to it, the body took back again the soul which it had laid aside, and the soul took back again the body which it had abandoned: and thus Christ rose by His own power. And this is precisely what is written (2 Cor. 13:4): ”For although He was crucified through” our ”weakness, yet He liveth by the power of G.o.d.”

But if we consider the body and soul of the dead Christ according to the power of created nature, they could not thus be reunited, but it was necessary for Christ to be raised up by G.o.d.

Reply Obj. 1: The Divine power is the same thing as the operation of the Father and the Son; accordingly these two things are mutually consequent, that Christ was raised up by the Divine power of the Father, and by His own power.

Reply Obj. 2: Christ by praying besought and merited His Resurrection, as man and not as G.o.d.

Reply Obj. 3: According to its created nature Christ's body is not more powerful than His soul; yet according to its Divine power it is more powerful. Again the soul by reason of the G.o.dhead united to it is more powerful than the body in respect of its created nature.

Consequently, it was by the Divine power that the body and soul mutually resumed each other, but not by the power of their created nature.

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QUESTION 54

OF THE QUALITY OF CHRIST RISING AGAIN (In Four Articles)

We have now to consider the quality of the rising Christ, which presents four points of inquiry:

(1) Whether Christ had a true body after His Resurrection?

(2) Whether He rose with His complete body?

(3) Whether His was a glorified body?

(4) Of the scars which showed in His body.

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FIRST ARTICLE [III, Q. 54, Art. 1]

Whether Christ Had a True Body After His Resurrection?

Objection 1: It would seem that Christ did not have a true body after His Resurrection. For a true body cannot be in the same place at the same time with another body. But after the Resurrection Christ's body was with another at the same time in the same place: since He entered among the disciples ”the doors being shut,” as is related in John 20:26. Therefore it seems that Christ did not have a true body after His Resurrection.

Obj. 2: Further, a true body does not vanish from the beholder's sight unless perchance it be corrupted. But Christ's body ”vanished out of the sight” of the disciples as they gazed upon Him, as is related in Luke 24:31. Therefore, it seems that Christ did not have a true body after His Resurrection.

Obj. 3: Further, every true body has its determinate shape. But Christ's body appeared before the disciples ”in another shape,” as is evident from Mk. 15:12. Therefore it seems that Christ did not possess a true body after His Resurrection.

_On the contrary,_ It is written (Luke 24:37) that when Christ appeared to His disciples ”they being troubled and frightened, supposed that they saw a spirit,” as if He had not a true but an imaginary body: but to remove their fears He presently added: ”Handle and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see Me to have.” Consequently, He had not an imaginary but a true body.

_I answer that,_ As Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iv): that is said to rise, which fell. But Christ's body fell by death; namely, inasmuch as the soul which was its formal perfection was separated from it. Hence, in order for it to be a true resurrection, it was necessary for the same body of Christ to be once more united with the same soul. And since the truth of the body's nature is from its form it follows that Christ's body after His Resurrection was a true body, and of the same nature as it was before. But had His been an imaginary body, then His Resurrection would not have been true, but apparent.

Reply Obj. 1: Christ's body after His Resurrection, not by miracle but from its glorified condition, as some say, entered in among the disciples while the doors were shut, thus existing with another body in the same place. But whether a glorified body can have this from some hidden property, so as to be with another body at the same time in the same place, will be discussed later (Suppl., Q. 83, A. 4) when the common resurrection will be dealt with. For the present let it suffice to say that it was not from any property within the body, but by virtue of the G.o.dhead united to it, that this body, although a true one, entered in among the disciples while the doors were shut.

Accordingly Augustine says in a sermon for Easter (ccxlvii) that some men argue in this fas.h.i.+on: ”If it were a body; if what rose from the sepulchre were what hung upon the tree, how could it enter through closed doors?” And he answers: ”If you understand how, it is no miracle: where reason fails, faith abounds.” And (Tract. cxxi super Joan.) he says: ”Closed doors were no obstacle to the substance of a Body wherein was the G.o.dhead; for truly He could enter in by doors not open, in whose Birth His Mother's virginity remained inviolate.”

And Gregory says the same in a homily for the octave of Easter (xxvi in Evang.).

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