Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/766

 THOMISM

700

THOMISM

denying the existence of the sun when we see it shin- ing (see Zigliara, op. cit., pp. 32-42). (f) The direct and primary object of the intellect is the universal, which is prepared and presented to the passive intel- lect (intellectus possibilis) by the active intellect (inlelleclus agens) which illuminates the phantas- mata, or mental images, received through the senses, and divests them of all individuating conditions. This is called abstracting the universal idea from the phantasmata, but the term must not be taken in a mate- rialistic .sense. Abstraction is not a t ransf erring of some- thing from one place to another; the illumination causes all material and individuating conditions to disappear, then the universal alone shines out and is perceived by the vital action of the intellect (Q. Ixxxiv, a. 4; Q. Ixxxv, a. 1, ad lu™, 3"™, 4"m). The process throughout is so vital, and so far elevated above material conditions and modes of action, that the nature of the acts and of the objects apprehended proves the soul to be imma- terial and spiritual, (g) The soul, by its very nature, is immortal. Not only is it true that God will not annihilate the soul, but from its very nature it will always continue to exist, there being in it no principle of disintegration (Zigiiara, p. 9). Hence human rea- son can prove the incorruptibility (i. e. immortality) of the soul, (h) The existence of God is not known by an innate idea, it cannot be proved by arguments a priori or a simultaneo; but it can be demonstrated by o ■posteriori arguments. Ontologisra was never taught by St. Thomas or by Thomists (see Lepidi, "Exam. phil. theol. de ontologismo", Louvain, 1874, c. 19; Zigliara, Theses I, VIII). (i) There are no human (i. e. deliberate) acts indifferent in individuo.

(2) In Theology, (a) Faith and science, i. e. knowledge by demonstration, cannot co-exist in the same subject with regard to the same object (Zigliara, O., 32, VII); and the same is true of knowledge and opinion, (b) The metaphysical essence of God con- sists, according to some Thomists, in the intelligere actualisiimum, i. e. fulness of pure intellection, ac- cording to others in the perfection of aseitas, i. e. in- dependent existence (ZigUara, Th. VIII, IX). (c) The happiness of heaven, formally and in the ultimate analysis, consists in the vision, not in the fruition, of God. (d) The Divine attributes are distinguished from the Divine nature and from each other by a vir- tual distinction, i. e. by a distinctio ralionis cum funda- mento a parte ret. The distinctio actualis formalis of Scotus is rejected, (e) In attempting to explain the mystery of the Trinity — in as fa.r as man can conceive it — the relations must be considered perfectiones sim- pliciter simplices, i. e. excluding all imperfection. The Holy Ghost would not be distinct from the Son if He did not proceed from the Son as well as from the Father, (f) The angels, being pure spirits, are not, properly speaking, in any place; they are said to be in the place, or in the places, where they exercise their activity (Summa, I, Q. hi, a. 1). Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as an angel passing from place to place; but if an angel wishes to exercise its activity first in Japan and afterwards in America, it can do so in two instants (of angelic time), and need not pass through the intervening space (Q. liii). St. Thomas does not discuss the question' "How many angels can dance on the point of a needle? " He reminds us that we must not think of angels as if they were cor- poreal, and that, for an angel, it. makes no difference whether the sphere of his activity be the point of a needle or a continent (Q. lii, a. 2). Many angels can- not be said to be in the same place at the same time, for this would mean that whilst one angel is producing an effect others could be producing the same effect at the same time. There can he but one angel in the same place at (he same time (Q. Hi, a. 3). The knowli'dgf of the angels comes through ideas (species) infused by (<i<l t<.Hi. Iv, a. 2, Ivii, a. 2, Iviii, a. 7). They do not nat urally know future contingents, the secrets

of souls, or the mysteries of grace (Q. Ivii, aa. 3, 45). The angels choose either good or evil instantly, and with full knowledge; hence their judgment is naturally final and irrevocable (Q. Ixiv, a. 2). (g) Man was created in the state of sanctifying grace. Grace was not due to his nature, but God granted it to him from the beginning (I, Q. xcv, a. 1). So great was the per- fection of man in the state of original justice, and so perfect the subjection of his lower faculties to the higher, that his first sin could not have been a venial sin (I-II, Q. Ixxxix, a. 3). (h) It is more probable that the Incarnation would not have taken place had man not sinned (III, Q. i, a. 3). In Christ there were three kinds of knowledge: the scie/itia beata, i. e. the knowledge of things in the Divine Essence; the sci- entia inftisa, i. e. the knowledge of things through in- fused ideas {species), and the scicrttia acquisita, i. e. acquired or experimental knowledge, which was noth- ing more than the actual exijerience of things which he already knew. On this last point St. Thomas, in the "Summa" (Q. ix, a. 4), exjihcitlj' retracts an opinion which he had once held (III Sent., d. 14, Q. iii, a. .3). (i) All sacraments of the New Law, including confirma- tion and extreme unction, were instituted immediately by Christ. Circumcision was a sacrament of the Old Law and conferred grace which removed the stain of original sin. The children of Jews or of other unbe- lie\ers may not be baptized without the consent of their parents (III, Q. l.xviii, a. 10; II-IL Q. x, a. 12; Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1481). Contrition, confes- sion, and satisfaction are the proximate matter (materia proiima) of the Sacrament of Penance. Thomists hold, against the Scotists, that when Transubstantiation takes place in the Mass the Body of Christ is not made present per modum adductionis, i. e. is not brought to the altar, but they do not agree in selecting the term which should be used to express this action (cf. Billuart, "De Euchar. ", Diss, i, a. 7). Cardinal Billot holds ("De eccl. sacr. ", Rome, 1900, Th. XI, "De euchar.", p. 379) that the best, and the only possible, explanation is the one given by St. Thomas himself: Christ becomes present by transub- stantiation, i. e. by the conversion of the substance of bread into the substance of His body (III, Q. Ixxv, a. 4; Sent., d. XI, Q. i, a. 1, q. 1). After the conse- cration the accidents (accidentia) of the bread and wine are preserved by Almighty God without a sub- ject (Q. Ixxxvii, a. 1). It was on this question that the doctors of Paris sought enlightenment from St. Thomas (see Vaughan, "Life and Labours of St. Thomas", London, 1872, II, p. 544). The earlier Thomists, following St. Thomas (Suppl., Q. xxx\-ii, a. 2), taught that thesub-diaconateand the four minor orders were partial sacraments. Some recent Tho- mists — e. g.. Billot (op. cit., p. 282) — and Tanquerey (De ordine, n. 16) defend this opinion as more prob- able and more in conformity with the definitions of the councils. The giving of the chalice with wine and of the paten with bread Thomists generally held to be an essential part of ordination to the priesthood. Some, however, taught that the imposition of hands was at least necessary. On the question of divorce under the Mosaic Law the disciples of St. Thomas, like the saint himself (Suppl., Q. lx\-ii, a. 3), wavered, some holding that a dispensation was granted, others teaching that divorce was merely tolerated in order to avoid great er evils.

II. The Thomistic Schooi.. — The chief doctrines distinctive of this school, composed principally of Dominican writers, are the following: —

.\. In Philosophy. — (1) The unity of substantial form in comjiosite beings, applied to man, requires that the soul be the substantial form of the man, so as to exclude even the forma corporeitalis, admitted by Henry of Ghent. Scotus, and others (cf. Zigliara, P. 1.1: Denzinger-Bannwart, in note to n. 1655). (2) In created beings there is a real tlistinction between the