Monday, June 01, 2009

Q98 A1: Whether in the state of innocence generation existed?

Yes. In the state of innocence there would have been generation of offspring for the multiplication of the human race, because in the state of innocence the human body was in itself corruptible, but it could be preserved from corruption by the soul; therefore, since generation belongs to things corruptible, man was not to be deprived thereof.

In statu innocentiae fuisset generatio ad multiplicationem humani generis, quia corpus hominis in statu innocentiae, quantum erat de se, corruptibile erat, sed potuit praeservari a corruptione per animam; et ideo non fuit homini subtrahenda generatio, quae debetur corruptibilibus rebus.

In our present state a division of possessions is necessary on account of the multiplicity of masters, inasmuch as community of possession is a source of strife, as the Philosopher says (Politic. ii, 5). In the state of innocence, however, the will of men would have been so ordered that without any danger of strife they would have used in common, according to each one's need, those things of which they were masters--a state of things to be observed even now among many good men.

In statu isto, multiplicatis dominis, necesse est fieri divisionem possessionum, quia communitas possessionis est occasio discordiae, ut philosophus dicit in II Politic. Sed in statu innocentiae fuissent voluntates hominum sic ordinatae, quod absque omni periculo discordiae communiter usi fuissent, secundum quod unicuique eorum competeret, rebus quae eorum dominio subdebantur, cum hoc etiam modo apud multos bonos viros observetur.