Tuesday, October 13, 2009

1a 2ae q5 a6: Whether man attains happiness through the action of some higher creature? No.

Non per actionem superioris creaturae, scilicet Angeli, in hominem, homo beatus efficitur, quia beatitudo est quoddam bonum excedens naturam creatam; unde impossibile est quod per actionem alicuius creaturae conferatur, sed homo beatus fit solo Deo agente, si loquamur de beatitudine perfecta.

Man is not made happy through a higher creature, viz. an angel, acting on him, because Happiness is a good surpassing created nature; therefore it is impossible that it be bestowed through the action of any creature, but by God alone is man made happy, if we speak of perfect Happiness.

Et ideo si quid fieri oporteat quod sit supra naturam, hoc fit immediate a Deo; sicut suscitatio mortui, illuminatio caeci, et cetera huiusmodi.

Consequently if anything need to be done that is above nature, it is done by God immediately; such as raising the dead to life, restoring sight to the blind, and such like.

Plerumque contingit in potentiis activis ordinatis, quod perducere ad ultimum finem pertinet ad supremam potentiam, inferiores vero potentiae coadiuvant ad consecutionem illius ultimi finis disponendo, sicut ad artem gubernativam, quae praeest navifactivae, pertinet usus navis, propter quem navis ipsa fit.

It often happens in the case of active powers ordained to one another, that it belongs to the highest power to reach the last end, while the lower powers contribute to the attainment of that last end, by causing a disposition thereto: thus to the art of sailing, which commands the art of shipbuilding, it belongs to use a ship for the end for which it was made.

Sic igitur et in ordine universi, homo quidem adiuvatur ab Angelis ad consequendum ultimum finem, secundum aliqua praecedentia, quibus disponitur ad eius consecutionem; sed ipsum ultimum finem consequitur per ipsum primum agentem, qui est Deus.

Thus, too, in the order of the universe, man is indeed helped by the angels in the attainment of his last end, in respect of certain preliminary dispositions thereto; whereas he attains the last end itself through the First Agent, which is God.

Lumen autem gloriae, per quod Deus videtur, in Deo quidem est perfecte secundum esse naturale, in qualibet autem creatura est imperfecte, et secundum esse similitudinarium vel participatum. Unde nulla creatura beata potest communicare suam beatitudinem alteri.

The light of glory, whereby God is seen, exists in God perfectly, and naturally; whereas in any creature, it exists imperfectly, and by likeness or participation. Consequently no creature can communicate its Happiness to another.

Angelus beatus illuminat intellectum hominis, vel etiam inferioris Angeli, quantum ad aliquas rationes divinorum operum, non autem quantum ad visionem divinae essentiae (ut in primo dictum est). Ad eam enim videndam, omnes immediate illuminantur a Deo.

The happy angel enlightens the intellect of a man, or of a lower angel, as to certain formal aspects of the Divine works, but not as to the vision of the Divine Essence (as was stated in Ia q106 a1), since in order to see this, all are immediately enlightened by God.