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Aquinas on Angels

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Treatise on the Angels, Question 63 ‘The Malice of the Angels with Regard to Sin”

An angel or any other rational creature considered in his own nature, can sin; and to whatever creature it belongs not to sin, such creature has it as a gift of grace, and not from the condition of nature. The reason of this is, because sinning is nothing else than a deviation from that rectitude which an act ought to have; whether we speak of sin in nature, art, or morals. That act alone, the rule of which is the very virtue of the agent, can never fall short of rectitude. Were the craftsman�s hand the rule itself engraving, he could not engrave the wood otherwise than rightly; but if the rightness of engraving be judged by another rule, then the engraving may be right or faulty. Now the Divine will is the sole rule of God�s act, because it is not referred to any higher end. But every created will has rectitude of act so far only as it is regulated according to the Divine will, to which the last end is to be referred: as every desire of a subordinate ought to be regulated by the will of his superior; for instance, the soldier�s will, according to the will of his commanding officer. Thus only in the Divine will can there be no sin; whereas there can be sin in the will of every creature; considering the condition of its nature. (…)

Sin can exist in a subject in two ways: first of all by actual guilt, and secondly by affection. As to guilt, all sins are in the demons; since by leading men to sin they incur the guilt of all sins. But as to affection only those sins can be in the demons which can belong to a spiritual nature. Now a spiritual nature cannot be affected by such pleasures as appertain to bodies, but only by such as are in keeping with spiritual things; because nothing is affected except with regard to something which is in some way suited to its nature. But there can be no sin when anyone is incited to good of the spiritual order; unless in such affection the rule of the superior be not kept. Such is precisely the sin of pride � not to be subject to a superior when subjection is due. Consequently the first sin of the angel can be none other than pride.

Yet, as a consequence, it was possible for envy also to be in them, since for the appetite to tend to the desire of something involves on its part resistance to anything contrary. Now the envious man repines over the good possessed by another, inasmuch as he deems his neighbor�s good to be a hindrance to his own. But another�s good could not be deemed a hindrance to the good coveted by the wicked angel, except inasmuch as he coveted a singular excellence, which would cease to be singular because of the excellence of some other. So, after the sin of pride, there followed the evil of envy in the sinning angel, whereby he grieved over man�s good, and also over the Divine excellence, according as against the devil�s will God makes use of man for the Divine glory.

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4 replies on “Aquinas on Angels”

Ole Tom sure can find a lot on the pinhead.

Actually, I was cheering him on until he got to the point of demons being guilty of all sins because they lead men into sin. Maybe he means there is a federal headship and inputed unrighteousness of Satan over demons. It sounds odd to me. I’m quite sure that I have sinned pretty well on my own, although I admit the Flip Wilson theology has some appeal.

There I was, fascinated, trying desperately to surface from the down-spiraling notion that(even unfallen?) angels are constituted to sin–on our behalf, no less. Thomas knows a great deal about the psychology, epistemology, and harmatology of demons. I was so relieved to see your graphic punchline.

Well, I actually think Thomas has some good points in this little discussion. I don’t think he’s getting at federal headship: I think he’s getting at responsibility. The Italian fathers who would take their 13-year old sons to the brothels certainly have some of the responsibility for the debauchery of their boys. If you grant the idea that the demons actively lead us to sin, I think you’ve granted his main point.
Do you need the “em” key to file a copyright? Oh, to sign your name. Right.
That’s one thing one loves about the medievals: they always spoke very confidently.

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