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This title is not concerned with the order of time, but with that of
nature.
State of the question. The purpose of the article is to explain what
St. Augustine means when he says, as quoted in the first objection:
"The invisible and unchangeable Truth assumed the soul through the
medium of the spirit, and the body through the medium of the soul, and
in this way the whole man." We stated in the first article that the
Word assumed flesh through the medium of the soul. But the whole
human nature results from the union of the parts.
Conclusion. The Word of God assumed the human nature through the
medium of the whole. This means the body and the soul, because of
their relation to the whole. Evidently the article is concerned only
with the order of nature and not with that of time.
Authoritative proof. It is taken from St. John Damascene, who is
quoted in the counter-argument.
Theological proof. The order of nature, which concerns us here, is
of two kinds. It may be considered either on the part of the agent
assuming, or on the part of the subject assumed. In the
Incarnation, however, our attention must be given especially to the
first kind, because the whole idea of the deed is estimated from the
omnipotence of the agent.
But on the part of the agent, that is absolutely first which is first
in intention, which is to assume the entire human nature. Therefore
the Word of God assumed the parts of the human nature through the
medium of the whole, or on account of the whole that was first
intended.[786]
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