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St. Thomas affirms that Christ did advance in this knowledge, both
in the habit and in the act of knowledge. Thus the Evangelist says:
"Jesus advanced in wisdom and age, ... and grace with God and
men,"[1251] which St. Ambrose understands of acquired
knowledge.[1252]
The reason given by St. Thomas is that Christ, after abstracting
the first intelligible species from phantasms, could abstract others,
and others again.
Thus St. Thomas retracts here what he wrote in an earlier
work.[1253]
On the contrary, Christ did not advance as regards the beatific
vision and infused knowledge, but as He increased in age He performed
greater works.
Reply to second objection. "This acquired knowledge was always
perfect for the time being, " which means that He always had every
perfection of knowledge adapted to each age, so that He was never
ignorant even by His acquired knowledge of those things that according
to time and place befitted Him. Thus certain saints who died very
young, at about the age of ten years, such as Blessed Imelda,
practiced heroic virtues proportionate to this age. What is said of
their relatively perfect virtues, must be said of Christ's acquired
knowledge, but not of His holiness, since from the first moment of
His conception He had not only the commencement of this plenitude of
holiness, as the Blessed Virgin had, but also the consummation of
this plenitude of habitual grace and charity, as already
stated.[1254]
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