Friday, July 24, 2009

Q110 A1: Whether the corporeal creature is governed by the angels?

Yes. As the inferior angels, who have the less universal forms, are ruled by the superior, so are all corporeal things ruled by the angels, because it is manifest that the power of any individual body is more particular than the power of any spiritual substance; for every corporeal form is a form individualized by matter, and determined to the "here and now", whereas immaterial forms are absolute and intelligible.

Sicut inferiores Angeli, qui habent formas minus universales, reguntur per superiores, ita omnia corporalia reguntur per Angelos, quia manifestum est quod virtus cuiuslibet corporis est magis particularis quam virtus spiritualis substantiae; nam omnis forma corporalis est forma individuata per materiam, et determinata ad "hic et nunc", formae autem immateriales sunt absolutae et intelligibiles.

Aristotle laid down (Metaph. xi, 8) that the heavenly bodies are moved by spiritual substances; the number of which he endeavored to assign according to the number of motions apparent in the heavenly bodies. But he did not say that there were any spiritual substances with immediate rule over the inferior bodies, except perhaps human souls. And this was because he did not consider that any operations were exercised in the inferior bodies except the natural ones for which the movement of the heavenly bodies sufficed.

Aristoteles posuit quod corpora caelestia moventur a substantiis spiritualibus; quarum numerum conatus fuit assignare secundum numerum motuum qui apparent in corporibus caelestibus. Sed non posuit quod essent aliquae substantiae spirituales quae haberent immediatam praesidentiam supra inferiora corpora, nisi forte animas humanas. Et hoc ideo, quia non consideravit aliquas operationes in inferioribus corporibus exerceri nisi naturales, ad quas sufficiebat motus corporum caelestium.

But because we assert that many things are done in the inferior bodies besides the natural corporeal actions, for which the movements of the heavenly bodies are not sufficient, therefore in our opinion we must assert that the angels possess an immediate presidency not only over the heavenly bodies, but also over the inferior bodies.

Sed quia nos ponimus multa in corporibus inferioribus fieri praeter naturales actiones corporum, ad quae non sufficiunt virtutes caelestium corporum, ideo secundum nos, necesse est ponere quod Angeli habeant immediatam praesidentiam non solum supra caelestia corpora, sed etiam supra corpora inferiora.