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| Deinde considerandum est de iis quae pertinent ad septimum diem. Et circa hoc quaeruntur tria. | We must next consider the things that belong to the seventh day. Under this head there are three points of inquiry: |
| Primo, de completione operum. | (1) About the completion of the works; |
| Secundo, de requie Dei. | (2) About the resting of God; |
| Tertio, de benedictione et sanctificatione huius diei. | (3) About the blessing and sanctifying of this day. |
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Article: 1 [ << | >> ]
| Ad primum sic proceditur. Videtur quod completio divinorum operum non debeat septimo diei adscribi. Omnia enim quae in hoc saeculo aguntur, ad divina opera pertinent. Sed consummatio saeculi erit in fine mundi, ut habetur Matth. XIII. Tempus etiam incarnationis Christi est cuiusdam completionis tempus, unde dicitur tempus plenitudinis, Gal. IV. Et ipse Christus moriens dixit, consummatum est, ut dicitur Ioan. XIX. Non ergo completio divinorum operum competit diei septimo. |
Objection 1: It would seem that the completion of the Divine works ought not to be ascribed to the seventh day. For all things that are done in this world belong to the Divine works. But the consummation of the world will be at the end of the world (Mt. 13:39,40). Moreover, the time of Christ's Incarnation is a time of completion, wherefore it is called "the time of fulness [*Vulg.: 'the fulness of time']" (Gal. 4:4). And Christ Himself, at the moment of His death, cried out, "It is consummated" (Jn. 19:30). Hence the completion of the Divine works does not belong to the seventh day. |
| Praeterea, quicumque complet opus suum, aliquid facit. Sed Deus non legitur septimo die aliquid fecisse, quinimmo ab omni opere quievisse. Ergo completio operum non competit septimo diei. | Objection 2: Further, the completion of a work is an act in itself. But we do not read that God acted at all on the seventh day, but rather that He rested from all His work. Therefore the completion of the works does not belong to the seventh day. |
| Praeterea, non dicitur aliquid esse completum, cui multa superadduntur, nisi forte sint illa superflua, quia perfectum dicitur cui nihil deest eorum quae debet habere. Sed post septimum diem multa sunt facta, et productio multorum individuorum; et etiam quarumdam novarum specierum, quae frequenter apparent, praecipue in animalibus ex putrefactione generatis. Quotidie etiam Deus novas animas creat. Novum etiam fuit incarnationis opus, de quo dicitur Ierem. XXXI, novum faciet dominus super terram. Nova etiam sunt miraculosa opera, de quibus dicitur Eccli. XXXVI, innova signa, et immuta mirabilia. Innovabuntur etiam omnia in glorificatione sanctorum, secundum illud Apoc. XXI, et dixit qui sedebat in throno, ecce nova facio omnia. Completio ergo divinorum operum non debet attribui septimo diei. |
Objection 3: Further, nothing is said to be complete to which many things are added, unless they are merely superfluous, for a thing is called perfect to which nothing is wanting that it ought to possess. But many things were made after the seventh day, as the production of many individual beings, and even of certain new species that are frequently appearing, especially in the case of animals generated from putrefaction. Also, God creates daily new souls. Again, the work of the Incarnation was a new work, of which it is said (Jer. 31:22): "The Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth." Miracles also are new works, of which it is said (Eccles. 36:6): "Renew thy signs, and work new miracles." Moreover, all things will be made new when the Saints are glorified, according to Apoc. 21:5: "And He that sat on the throne said: Behold I make all things new." Therefore the completion of the Divine works ought not to be attributed to the seventh day. |
| Sed contra est quod dicitur Gen. II, complevit Deus die septimo opus suum quod fecerat. |
On the contrary, It is said (Gn. 2:2): "On the seventh day God ended His work which He had made." |
| Respondeo dicendum quod duplex est rei perfectio, prima, et secunda. Prima quidem perfectio est, secundum quod res in sua substantia est perfecta. Quae quidem perfectio est forma totius, quae ex integritate partium consurgit. Perfectio autem secunda est finis. Finis autem vel est operatio, sicut finis citharistae est citharizare, vel est aliquid ad quod per operationem pervenitur, sicut finis aedificatoris est domus, quam aedificando facit. Prima autem perfectio est causa secundae, quia forma est principium operationis. Ultima autem perfectio, quae est finis totius universi, est perfecta beatitudo sanctorum; quae erit in ultima consummatione saeculi. Prima autem perfectio, quae est in integritate universi, fuit in prima rerum institutione. Et haec deputatur septimo diei. | I answer that, The perfection of a thing is twofold, the first perfection and the second perfection. The 'first' perfection is that according to which a thing is substantially perfect, and this perfection is the form of the whole; which form results from the whole having its parts complete. But the 'second' perfection is the end, which is either an operation, as the end of the harpist is to play the harp; or something that is attained by an operation, as the end of the builder is the house that he makes by building. But the first perfection is the cause of the second, because the form is the principle of operation. Now the final perfection, which is the end of the whole universe, is the perfect beatitude of the Saints at the consummation of the world; and the first perfection is the completeness of the universe at its first founding, and this is what is ascribed to the seventh day. |
| Ad primum ergo dicendum quod, sicut dictum est, perfectio prima est causa secundae. Ad beatitudinem autem consequendam duo requiruntur, natura et gratia. Ipsa ergo beatitudinis perfectio erit in fine mundi, ut dictum est. Sed ista consummatio praecessit causaliter, quantum ad naturam quidem, in prima rerum institutione, quantum ad gratiam vero, in incarnatione Christi, quia gratia et veritas per Iesum Christum facta est, ut dicitur Ioan. I. Sic igitur in septima die fuit consummatio naturae; in incarnatione Christi, consummatio gratiae; in fine mundi, consummatio gloriae. |
Reply to Objection 1: The first perfection is the cause of the second, as above said. Now for the attaining of beatitude two things are required, nature and grace. Therefore, as said above, the perfection of beatitude will be at the end of the world. But this consummation existed previously in its causes, as to nature, at the first founding of the world, as to grace, in the Incarnation of Christ. For, "Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (Jn. 1:17). So, then, on the seventh day was the consummation of nature, in Christ's Incarnation the consummation of grace, and at the end of the world will be the consummation of glory. |
| Ad secundum dicendum quod septima die Deus aliquid operatus est, non novam creaturam condendo, sed creaturam administrando, et ad propriam operationem eam movendo, quod iam aliqualiter pertinet ad inchoationem quandam secundae perfectionis. Et ideo consummatio operum, secundum nostram translationem, attribuitur diei septimae. Sed secundum aliam translationem, attribuitur diei sextae. Et utrumque potest stare. Quia consummatio quae est secundum integritatem partium universi, competit sextae diei, consummatio quae est secundum operationem partium, competit septimae. Vel potest dici quod in motu continuo, quandiu aliquid potest moveri ulterius, non dicitur motus perfectus ante quietem, quies enim demonstrat motum consummatum. Deus autem poterat plures creaturas facere, praeter illas quas fecerat sex diebus. Unde hoc ipso quod cessavit novas creaturas condere in septima die, dicitur opus suum consummasse. | Reply to Objection 2: God did act on the seventh day, not by creating new creatures, but by directing and moving His creatures to the work proper to them, and thus He made some beginning of the "second" perfection. So that, according to our version of the Scripture, the completion of the works is attributed to the seventh day, though according to another it is assigned to the sixth. Either version, however, may stand, since the completion of the universe as to the completeness of its parts belongs to the sixth day, but its completion as regards their operation, to the seventh. It may also be added that in continuous movement, so long as any movement further is possible, movement cannot be called completed till it comes to rest, for rest denotes consummation of movement. Now God might have made many other creatures besides those which He made in the six days, and hence, by the fact that He ceased making them on the seventh day, He is said on that day to have consummated His work. |
| Ad tertium dicendum quod nihil postmodum a Deo factum est totaliter novum, quin aliqualiter in operibus sex dierum praecesserit. Quaedam enim praeextiterunt materialiter, sicut quod Deus de costa Adae formavit mulierem. Quaedam vero praeextiterunt in operibus sex dierum, non solum materialiter, sed etiam causaliter, sicut individua quae nunc generantur, praecesserunt in primis individuis suarum specierum. Species etiam novae, si quae apparent, praeextiterunt in quibusdam activis virtutibus, sicut et animalia ex putrefactione generata producuntur ex virtutibus stellarum et elementorum quas a principio acceperunt, etiam si novae species talium animalium producantur. Animalia etiam quaedam secundum novam speciem aliquando oriuntur ex commixtione animalium diversorum secundum speciem, sicut cum ex asino et equa generatur mulus, et haec etiam praecesserunt causaliter in operibus sex dierum. Quaedam vero praecesserunt secundum similitudinem; sicut animae quae nunc creantur. Et similiter incarnationis opus, quia, ut dicitur Philipp. II, filius Dei est in similitudinem hominum factus. Gloria etiam spiritualis secundum similitudinem praecessit in Angelis, corporalis vero in caelo, praecipue Empyreo. Unde dicitur Eccle. I, nihil sub sole novum; iam enim praecessit in saeculis quae fuerunt ante nos. |
Reply to Objection 3: Nothing entirely new was afterwards made by God, but all things subsequently made had in a sense been made before in the work of the six days. Some things, indeed, had a previous experience materially, as the rib from the side of Adam out of which God formed Eve; whilst others existed not only in matter but also in their causes, as those individual creatures that are now generated existed in the first of their kind. Species, also, that are new, if any such appear, existed beforehand in various active powers; so that animals, and perhaps even new species of animals, are produced by putrefaction by the power which the stars and elements received at the beginning. Again, animals of new kinds arise occasionally from the connection of individuals belonging to different species, as the mule is the offspring of an ass and a mare; but even these existed previously in their causes, in the works of the six days. Some also existed beforehand by way of similitude, as the souls now created. And the work of the Incarnation itself was thus foreshadowed, for as we read (Phil. 2:7), The Son of God "was made in the likeness of men." And again, the glory that is spiritual was anticipated in the angels by way of similitude; and that of the body in the heaven, especially the empyrean. Hence it is written (Eccles. 1:10), "Nothing under the sun is new, for it hath already gone before, in the ages that were before us." |
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Article: 2 [ << | >> ]
| Ad secundum sic proceditur. Videtur quod Deus septima die non requievit ab omni suo opere. Dicitur enim Ioan. V, pater meus usque modo operatur, et ego operor. Non ergo septima die requievit ab omni opere. |
Objection 1: It would seem that God did not rest on the seventh day from all His work. For it is said (Jn. 5:17), "My Father worketh until now, and I work." God, then, did not rest on the seventh day from all His work. |
| Praeterea, requies motui opponitur; vel labori qui interdum causatur ex motu. Sed Deus immobiliter, et absque labore sua opera produxit. Non ergo dicendum est septima die a suo opere requievisse. | Objection 2: Further, rest is opposed to movement, or to labor, which movement causes. But, as God produced His work without movement and without labor, He cannot be said to have rested on the seventh day from His work. |
| Si dicatur quod Deus requievit die septima quia fecit hominem requiescere, contra, requies contraponitur eius operationi. Sed quod dicitur, Deus creavit vel fecit hoc vel illud, non exponitur quod Deus hominem fecit creare aut facere. Ergo nec convenienter exponi potest, ut dicatur Deus requievisse, quia fecit hominem requiescere. | Objection 3: Further, should it be said that God rested on the seventh day by causing man to rest; against this it may be argued that rest is set down in contradistinction to His work; now the words "God created" or "made" this thing or the other cannot be explained to mean that He made man create or make these things. Therefore the resting of God cannot be explained as His making man to rest. |
| Sed contra est quod dicitur Gen. II, requievit Deus die septimo ab omni opere quod patrarat. |
On the contrary, It is said (Gn. 2:2): "God rested on the seventh day from all the work which He had done." |
| Respondeo dicendum quod quies proprie opponitur motui; et per consequens labori, qui ex motu consurgit. Quamvis autem motus proprie acceptus sit corporum, tamen nomen motus etiam ad spiritualia derivatur dupliciter. Uno modo, secundum quod omnis operatio motus dicitur, sic enim et divina bonitas quodammodo movetur et procedit in res, secundum quod se eis communicat, ut Dionysius dicit, II cap. de Div. Nom. Alio modo, desiderium in aliud tendens quidam motus dicitur. Unde et requies dupliciter accipitur, uno modo, pro cessatione ab operibus; alio modo, pro impletione desiderii. Et utroque modo dicitur Deus requievisse die septima. Primo quidem, quia die septima cessavit novas creaturas condere, nihil enim postea fecit, quod non aliquo modo praecesserit in primis operibus, ut dictum est. Alio modo, secundum quod rebus conditis ipse non indigebat, sed seipso fruendo beatus est. Unde post conditionem omnium operum, non dicitur quod in suis operibus requievit, quasi eis ad suam beatitudinem indigens, sed ab eis requievit, utique in seipso, quia ipse sufficit sibi et implet desiderium suum. Et quamvis ab aeterno in seipso requieverit, tamen quod post opera condita in seipso requievit, hoc pertinet ad septimum diem. Et hoc est ab operibus requiescere, ut Augustinus dicit, super Gen. ad Litt. |
I answer that, Rest is, properly speaking, opposed to movement, and consequently to the labor that arises from movement. But although movement, strictly speaking, is a quality of bodies, yet the word is applied also to spiritual things, and in a twofold sense. On the one hand, every operation may be called a movement, and thus the Divine goodness is said to move and go forth to its object, in communicating itself to that object, as Dionysius says (Div. Nom. ii). On the other hand, the desire that tends to an object outside itself, is said to move towards it. Hence rest is taken in two senses, in one sense meaning a cessation from work, in the other, the satisfying of desire. Now, in either sense God is said to have rested on the seventh day. First, because He ceased from creating new creatures on that day, for, as said above (Article [1], ad 3), He made nothing afterwards that had not existed previously, in some degree, in the first works; secondly, because He Himself had no need of the things that He had made, but was happy in the fruition of Himself. Hence, when all things were made He is not said to have rested "in" His works, as though needing them for His own happiness, but to have rested "from" them, as in fact resting in Himself, as He suffices for Himself and fulfils His own desire. And even though from all eternity He rested in Himself, yet the rest in Himself, which He took after He had finished His works, is that rest which belongs to the seventh day. And this, says Augustine, is the meaning of God's resting from His works on that day (Gen. ad lit. iv). |
| Ad primum ergo dicendum quod Deus usque modo operatur, conservando et administrando creaturam conditam, non autem novam creaturam condendo. | Reply to Objection 1: God indeed "worketh until now" by preserving and providing for the creatures He has made, but not by the making of new ones. |
| Ad secundum dicendum quod requies non opponitur labori sive motui, sed productioni novarum rerum, et desiderio in aliud tendenti, ut dictum est. | Reply to Objection 2: Rest is here not opposed to labor or to movement, but to the production of new creatures, and to the desire tending to an external object. |
| Ad tertium dicendum quod, sicut Deus in solo se requiescit, et se fruendo beatus est; ita et nos per solam Dei fruitionem beati efficimur. Et sic etiam facit nos a suis et nostris operibus in seipso requiescere. Est ergo conveniens expositio, ut dicatur Deus requievisse, quia nos requiescere facit. Sed non est haec sola ponenda, sed alia expositio est principalior et prior. | Reply to Objection 3: Even as God rests in Himself alone and is happy in the enjoyment of Himself, so our own sole happiness lies in the enjoyment of God. Thus, also, He makes us find rest in Himself, both from His works and our own. It is not, then, unreasonable to say that God rested in giving rest to us. Still, this explanation must not be set down as the only one, and the other is the first and principal explanation. |
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Article: 3 [ << | >> ]
| Ad tertium sic proceditur. Videtur quod benedictio et sanctificatio non debeatur diei septimae. Tempus enim aliquod consuevit dici benedictum aut sanctum, propter aliquod bonum quod in illo tempore evenit; aut propter hoc quod aliquod malum vitatur sed Deo nihil accrescit aut deperit, sive operetur, sive ab operando cesset. Non ergo specialis benedictio et sanctificatio debetur diei septimae. | Objection 1: It would seem that blessing and sanctifying are not due to the seventh day. For it is usual to call a time blessed or holy for that some good thing has happened in it, or some evil been avoided. But whether God works or ceases from work nothing accrues to Him or is lost to Him. Therefore no special blessing or sanctifying are due to the seventh day. |
| Praeterea, benedictio a bonitate dicitur. Sed bonum est diffusivum et communicativum sui, secundum Dionysium. Ergo magis debuerunt benedici dies in quibus creaturas produxit, quam ille dies in quo a producendis creaturis cessavit. | Objection 2: Further, the Latin "benedictio" [blessing] is derived from "bonitas" [goodness]. But it is the nature of good to spread and communicate itself, as Dionysius says (Div. Nom. iv). The days, therefore, in which God produced creatures deserved a blessing rather than the day on which He ceased producing them. |
| Praeterea, superius in singulis creaturis quaedam benedictio commemorata est, dum in singulis operibus dictum est, vidit Deus quod esset bonum. Non oportuit igitur quod post omnium productionem, dies septima benediceretur. | Objection 3: Further, over each creature a blessing was pronounced, as upon each work it was said, "God saw that it was good." Therefore it was not necessary that after all had been produced, the seventh day should be blessed. |
| Sed contra est quod dicitur Gen. II, benedixit Deus diei septimo, et sanctificavit illum, quia in illo cessaverat ab omni opere suo. |
On the contrary, It is written (Gn. 2:3), "God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He had rested from all His work." |
| Respondeo dicendum quod, sicut supra dictum est, requies Dei in die septima dupliciter accipitur. Primo quidem, quantum ad hoc, quod cessavit a novis operibus condendis, ita tamen quod creaturam conditam conservat et administrat. Alio modo, secundum quod post opera requievit in seipso. Quantum ergo ad primum, competit septimae diei benedictio. Quia, sicut supra dictum est, benedictio ad multiplicationem pertinet, unde dictum est creaturis quas benedixit, crescite et multiplicamini. Multiplicatio autem rerum fit per administrationem creaturae, secundum quam ex similibus similia generantur. Quantum vero ad secundum, competit septimae diei sanctificatio. Maxime enim sanctificatio cuiuslibet attenditur in hoc quod in Deo requiescit, unde et res Deo dedicatae sanctae dicuntur. |
I answer that, As said above (Article [2]), God's rest on the seventh day is understood in two ways. First, in that He ceased from producing new works, though He still preserves and provides for the creatures He has made. Secondly, in that after all His works He rested in Himself. According to the first meaning, then, a blessing befits the seventh day, since, as we explained (Question [72], ad 4), the blessing referred to the increase by multiplication; for which reason God said to the creatures which He blessed: "Increase and multiply." Now, this increase is effected through God's Providence over His creatures, securing the generation of like from like. And according to the second meaning, it is right that the seventh day should have been sanctified, since the special sanctification of every creature consists in resting in God. For this reason things dedicated to God are said to be sanctified. |
| Ad primum ergo dicendum quod non propter hoc dies septimus sanctificatur, quia Deo possit aliquid accrescere vel decrescere, sed quia creaturis aliquid accrescit per multiplicationem et quietem in Deo. | Reply to Objection 1: The seventh day is said to be sanctified not because anything can accrue to God, or be taken from Him, but because something is added to creatures by their multiplying, and by their resting in God. |
| Ad secundum dicendum quod in primis sex diebus productae sunt res in suis primis causis. Sed postea ex illis primis causis res multiplicantur et conservantur, quod etiam ad bonitatem divinam pertinet. Cuius etiam perfectio in hoc maxime ostenditur quod in ipsa sola et ipse requiescit, et nos requiescere possumus, ea fruentes. | Reply to Objection 2: In the first six days creatures were produced in their first causes, but after being thus produced, they are multiplied and preserved, and this work also belongs to the Divine goodness. And the perfection of this goodness is made most clear by the knowledge that in it alone God finds His own rest, and we may find ours in its fruition. |
| Ad tertium dicendum quod bonum quod in singulis diebus commemoratur, pertinet ad primam naturae institutionem, benedictio autem diei septimae pertinet ad naturae propagationem. | Reply to Objection 3: The good mentioned in the works of each day belongs to the first institution of nature; but the blessing attached to the seventh day, to its propagation. |