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Objection 1: It would seem that the soul of Christ had omnipotence
with regard to the transmutation of creatures. For He Himself says
(Mt. 28:18): "All power is given to Me in heaven and on
earth." Now by the words "heaven and earth" are meant all
creatures, as is plain from Gn. 1:1: "In the beginning God
created heaven and earth." Therefore it seems that the soul of
Christ had omnipotence with regard to the transmutation of creatures.
Objection 2: Further, the soul of Christ is the most perfect of
all creatures. But every creature can be moved by another creature;
for Augustine says (De Trin. iii, 4) that "even as the denser
and lower bodies are ruled in a fixed way by the subtler and stronger
bodies; so are all bodies by the spirit of life, and the irrational
spirit of life by the rational spirit of life, and the truant and
sinful rational spirit of life by the rational, loyal, and righteous
spirit of life." But the soul of Christ moves even the highest
spirits, enlightening them, as Dionysius says (Coel. Hier.
vii). Therefore it seems that the soul of Christ has omnipotence
with regard to the transmutation of creatures.
Objection 3: Further, Christ's soul had in its highest degree the
"grace of miracles" or works of might. But every transmutation of
the creature can belong to the grace of miracles; since even the
heavenly bodies were miraculously changed from their course, as
Dionysius proves (Ep. ad Polycarp). Therefore Christ's soul
had omnipotence with regard to the transmutation of creatures.
On the contrary, To transmute creatures belongs to Him Who
preserves them. Now this belongs to God alone, according to Heb.
1:3: "Upholding all things by the word of His power."
Therefore God alone has omnipotence with regard to the transmutation
of creatures. Therefore this does not belong to Christ's soul.
I answer that, Two distinctions are here needed. of these the first
is with respect to the transmutation of creatures, which is
three-fold. The first is natural, being brought about by the proper
agent naturally; the second is miraculous, being brought about by a
supernatural agent above the wonted order and course of nature, as to
raise the dead; the third is inasmuch as every creature may be brought
to nothing.
The second distinction has to do with Christ's soul, which may be
looked at in two ways: first in its proper nature and with its power of
nature or of grace; secondly, as it is the instrument of the Word of
God, personally united to Him. Therefore if we speak of the soul of
Christ in its proper nature and with its power of nature or of grace,
it had power to cause those effects proper to a soul (e.g. to rule
the body and direct human acts, and also, by the fulness of grace and
knowledge to enlighten all rational creatures falling short of its
perfection), in a manner befitting a rational creature. But if we
speak of the soul of Christ as it is the instrument of the Word united
to Him, it had an instrumental power to effect all the miraculous
transmutations ordainable to the end of the Incarnation, which is "to
re-establish all things that are in heaven and on earth" [Eph.
1:10]. But the transmutation of creatures, inasmuch as they may
be brought to nothing, corresponds to their creation, whereby they
were brought from nothing. And hence even as God alone can create,
so, too, He alone can bring creatures to nothing, and He alone
upholds them in being, lest they fall back to nothing. And thus it
must be said that the soul of Christ had not omnipotence with regard to
the transmutation of creatures.
Reply to Objection 1: As Jerome says (on the text quoted):
"Power is given Him," i.e. to Christ as man, "Who a little
while before was crucified, buried in the tomb, and afterwards rose
again." But power is said to have been given Him, by reason of the
union whereby it was brought about that a Man was omnipotent, as was
said above (Article 1, ad 1). And although this was made known
to the angels before the Resurrection, yet after the Resurrection it
was made known to all men, as Remigius says (cf. Catena Aurea).
Now, "things are said to happen when they are made known" [Hugh of
St. Victor: Qq. in Ep. ad Philip.]. Hence after the
Resurrection our Lord says "that all power is given" to Him "in
heaven and on earth."
Reply to Objection 2: Although every creature is transmutable by
some other creature, except, indeed, the highest angel, and even it
can be enlightened by Christ's soul; yet not every transmutation that
can be made in a creature can be made by a creature; since some
transmutations can be made by God alone. Yet all transmutations that
can be made in creatures can be made by the soul of Christ, as the
instrument of the Word, but not in its proper nature and power, since
some of these transmutations pertain to the soul neither in the order of
nature nor in the order of grace.
Reply to Objection 3: As was said in the SS, Question 178,
Article 1, ad 1, the grace of mighty works or miracles is given to
the soul of a saint, so that these miracles are wrought not by his
own, but by Divine power. Now this grace was bestowed on Christ's
soul most excellently, i.e. not only that He might work miracles,
but also that He might communicate this grace to others. Hence it is
written (Mt. 10:1) that, "having called His twelve disciples
together, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out,
and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities."
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