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Summa Theologiae · Suppl., q. 83, a. 5

Whether by virtue of its subtlety a glorified body will no longer need to be in an equal place?

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Supplement, question 83, Of the Subtlety of the Bodies of the Blessed, article 5. About 5 min.

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From the Supplement, compiled after Aquinas’s death from his Commentary on the Sentences and transcribed here from the 1917 to 1922 printings. About the Supplement.

Text: Summa Theologiae, Supplement to the Third Part (Supplementum Tertiae Partis), transcribed from Internet Archive scans, translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province. The Supplement, compiled after Aquinas’s death from his earlier Commentary on the Sentences, in the same English Dominican translation as the Gutenberg Parts. Transcribed by Bibliotheca Catholica from the OCR of four Internet Archive scans of the pre-1931 printings (Questions 1 to 33 from the 1917 Washbourne and Benziger volume, 34 to 68 from the 1922 volume, 69 to 86 from the 1921 volume, and 87 to 99 from the 1922 Benziger volume), with OCR errors corrected and doubtful passages marked, not rewritten. 99 questions and 446 articles. The two appendices printed after Question 99 are not included. Sources, SHA-256 of each OCR file, and the method are in the source record. Rights: Public domain (US)

The Supplement is not a Project Gutenberg text. It is Bibliotheca Catholica’s transcription of public-domain scans at the Internet Archive; obvious OCR errors were corrected, and passages marked “OCR uncertain” could not be confidently corrected, so check them against the linked scan page.

3 passages on this page are marked “OCR uncertain”; check them against the scan.

Objectio^i I. It would seem that by virtue of its subtlety, a glorified body will no longer need to be in an equal place. For the glorified bodies will be made like to the body of Christ according to Phil. iii. 21. Now Christ's body is not bound by this necessity of being in an equal place: wherefore it is contained whole under the small or great dimensions of a consecrated host. Therefore the same will be true of the glorified bodies. [OCR uncertain: Objectio^i. Check the scan, image 237.]

Obj. 2: Further, The Philosopher proves [Phys. iv., text. 53, 76) that two bodies are not in the same place, because it would follow that the greatest body would occupy the smallest place, since its various parts could be in the same part of the place: for it makes no difference whether two bodies or however many be in the same place. Now a glorified body' will be in the same place with another body.

as is commonly admitted. Therefore it will be possible for it to be in any place however small.

Obj. 3: Further, Even as a body is seen by reason of its colour, so is it measured by reason of its quantity. Now the glorified body will be so subject to the spirit that it will be able at will to be seen, and not seen, especially by a non-glorified eye, as evidenced in the case of Christ. Therefore its quantity will be so subject to the spirit's >\iU that it will be able to be in a little or great place, and to have a little or great qu^mtity at will. [OCR uncertain: >\iU, qu^mtity. Check the scan, image 238.]

On the contrary, The Philosopher says (Phys. iv., text. 30) that whatever is in a place occupies a place equal to] itself. Now the glorified body will be in a place. Therefore it will occupy a place equal to itself.

Further, The dimensions of a place and of that which is in that place are the same, as shown in Phys. iv., text. 30, 76, jy. Therefore if the place were larger than that which is in the place the same thing would be greater and smaller than itself, which is absurd.

/ ariswer that, A body is not related to place save thiough the medium of its proper dimensions, in respect of which a located body is confined through contact with the locating body. Hence it is not possible for a body to occupy a place smaller than its quantity, unless its proper quantity be made in some way less than itself: and this can only be understood in two ways. First, by a variation in quantity in respect of the same matter, so that in fact the matter which at first is subject to a greater qucmtity is afterwards subject to a lesser. Some have held this to be the case with the glorified bodies, saying that quantity is subject to them at N\ill, so that when they list, they are able to have a great quantity, and when they list, a small quantity. But this is impossible, because no movement affecting that which is intrinsic to a thing is possible without passion to the detriment* of its substance. Hence hi incorruptible, i.e. heavenly, bodies, there is only local movement, which is not according to something intrinsic. Thus it is clear that change ♦ a. I.-IL. g. XXIL. A. 1.; q. XLL, A. i. [OCR uncertain: ariswer, thiough, qucmtity, N\ill. Check the scan, image 238.]

of quantity in respect of matter would be incompatible with the impassibility and incorruptibility of a glorified body. Moreover, it would follow that a glorified body would be sometimes rarer and sometimes denser, because since it cannot be deprived of any of its matter, sometimes the same matter would be under great dimensions and sometimes under small dimensions, and thus it would be rarefied and densified, which is impossible. Secondly, that the quantity of a glorified body become smaller than itself may be understood by a variation of place; so, to wit, that the parts of a glorified body insinuate themselves into one another, so that it is reduced in quantity however small it may become. And some have held this to be the case, saying that by reason of its subtlety a glorified body will be able to be in the same place with a non-glorified body: and that in like manner its parts can be one within the other, so much so that a whole glorified body will be able to pass through the minutest opening in another body: and thus they explain how Christ's body came out of the Virgin's womb; and how it went into His disciples, the doors being shut. But this is impossible; both because the glorified body will not be able, by reason of its subtlety, to be in the same place with another body, and because, even if it were able to be in the same place with another body, this would not be possible if the other were a glorified body, as many say; and again because this would be inconsistent with the right disposition of the human body, which requires the parts to be in a certain fixed place and at a certain fixed distance from one another. Wherefore this will never happen, not even by a miracle. Consequently we must say that the glorified body will always be in a place equal to itself.

Reply Obj. 1: Christ's body is not locally in the Sacrament of the Altar, as stated above (iv. Sent. D. 10, Q. I., A. I, a 5; P. IIl., Q. LXXVII., A. 5).

Reply Obj. 2: The Philosopher's argument is that for the same reason one part might permeate another. But this permeation of the parts of a glorified body into one another is impossible, as stated above. Therefore the objection does not prove.

Reply Obj. 3: A body is seen because it acts on the sight: but that it does or does not act on the sight causes no change in the body. Hence it is not unfitting, if it can be seen when it will, and not seen when it will.* On the other hand, being in a place is not an action proceeding from a body by reason of its quantity, as being seen is by reason of its colour. Consequently the comparison fails.

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Also online, linked only: the same translation at New Advent and the Latin text at Corpus Thomisticum. Neither is copied here.

Source: Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica, Supplement to the Third Part. Internet Archive scans: Third Part, Fourth Number (QQ. LXXXIV to Suppl. XXXIII), 1917, Third Part (Supplement), QQ. XXXIV to LXVIII, 1922, Third Part (Supplement), QQ. LXIX to LXXXVI, 1921, and Third Part (Supplement), QQ. LXXXVII to XCIX and Appendices, 1922; two curled pages of the 1921 volume are read from another scan of the same printing. Public domain in the USA. Printed in 1917, 1921, and 1922, before 1931. Outside the U.S., check local copyright rules. Transcription, OCR file checksums, and method: source record.