|
Objection 1: It would seem that this time is not hidden. Because
when we know exactly the beginning of a thing, we can know its end
exactly, since "all things are measured by a certain period" (De
Generat. ii). Now the beginning of the world is known exactly.
Therefore its end can also be known exactly. But this will be the
time of the resurrection and judgment. Therefore that time is not
hidden.
Objection 2: Further, it is stated (Apoc. 12:6) that "the
woman who represents the Church had a place prepared by God, that
there she might feed a thousand two hundred sixty days." Again
(Dan. 12:11), a certain fixed number of days is mentioned,
which apparently signify years, according to Ezech. 4:6: "A day
for a year, yea a day for a year I have appointed to thee."
Therefore the time of the end of the world and of the resurrection can
be known exactly from Holy Writ.
Objection 3: Further, the state of the New Testament was
foreshadowed in the Old Testament. Now we know exactly the time
wherein the state of the Old Testament endured. Therefore we can
also know exactly the time wherein the state of the New Testament will
endure. But the state of the New Testament will last to the end of
the world, wherefore it is said (Mt. 28:20): "Behold I am
with you . . . to the consummation of the world." Therefore the
time of the end of the world and of the resurrection can be known
exactly.
On the contrary, That which is unknown to the angels will be much
more unknown to men: because those things to which men attain by
natural reason are much more clearly and certainly known to the angels
by their natural knowledge. Moreover revelations are not made to men
save by means of the angels as Dionysius asserts (Coel. Hier.
iv). Now the angels have no exact knowledge of that time, as appears
from Mt. 24:36: "Of that day and hour no one knoweth, no not
the angels of heaven." Therefore that time is hidden from men.
Further, the apostles were more cognizant of God's secrets than
others who followed them, because they had "the first-fruits of the
spirit" (Rm. 8:23)---" before others in point of time and
more abundantly," as a gloss observes. And yet when they questioned
our Lord about this very matter, He answered them (Acts 1:7):
"It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father hath
put in His own power." Much more, therefore, is it hidden from
others.
I answer that, As Augustine says (Qq. lxxxiii, qu. 58) "as
to the last age of the human race, which begins from our Lord's
coming and lasts until the end of the world, it is uncertain of how
many generations it will consist: even so old age, which is man's
last age, has no fixed time according to the measure of the other
ages, since sometimes alone it lasts as long a time as all the
others." The reason of this is because the exact length of future
time cannot be known except either by revelation or by natural reason:
and the time until the resurrection cannot be reckoned by natural
reason, because the resurrection and the end of the heavenly movement
will be simultaneous as stated above (Article 1). And all things
that are foreseen by natural reason to happen at a fixed time are
reckoned by movement: and it is impossible from the movement of the
heaven to reckon its end, for since it is circular, it is for this
very reason able by its nature to endure for ever: and consequently the
time between this and the resurrection cannot be reckoned by natural
reason. Again it cannot be known by revelation, so that all may be on
the watch and ready to meet Christ: and for this reason when the
apostles asked Him about this, Christ answered (Acts 1:7):
"It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father hath
put in His own power," whereby, as Augustine says (De Civ. Dei
xviii, 53): "He scatters the fingers of all calculators and bids
them be still." For what He refused to tell the apostles, He will
not reveal to others: wherefore all those who have been misled to
reckon the aforesaid time have so far proved to be untruthful; for
some, as Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xviii, 53), stated that
from our Lord's Ascension to His last coming 400 years would
elapse, others 500, others 1,000. The falseness of these
calculators is evident, as will likewise be the falseness of those who
even now cease not to calculate.
Reply to Objection 1: When we know a thing's beginning and also
its end it follows that its measure is known to us: wherefore if we
know the beginning of a thing the duration of which is measured by the
movement of the heaven, we are able to know its end, since the
movement of heaven is known to us. But the measure of the duration of
the heavenly movement is God's ordinance alone, which is unknown to
us. Wherefore however much we may know its beginning, we are unable
to know its end.
Reply to Objection 2: The thousand two hundred sixty days mentioned
in the Apocalypse (12:6) denote all the time during which the
Church endures, and not any definite number of years. The reason
whereof is because the preaching of Christ on which the Church is
built lasted three years and a half, which time contains almost an
equal number of days as the aforesaid number. Again the number of days
appointed by Daniel does not refer to a number of years to elapse
before the end of the world or until the preaching of Antichrist, but
to the time of Antichrist's preaching and the duration of his
persecution.
Reply to Objection 3: Although the state of the New Testament in
general is foreshadowed by the state of the Old Testament it does not
follow that individuals correspond to individuals: especially since all
the figures of the Old Testament were fulfilled in Christ. Hence
Augustine (De Civ. Dei xviii, 52) answers certain persons who
wished to liken the number of persecutions suffered by the Church to
the number of the plagues of Egypt, in these words: "I do not think
that the occurrences in Egypt were in their signification prophetic of
these persecutions, although those who think so have shown nicety and
ingenuity in adapting them severally the one to the other, not indeed
by a prophetic spirit, but by the guess-work of the human mind, which
sometimes reaches the truth and sometimes not." The same remarks
would seem applicable to the statements of Abbot Joachim, who by
means of such conjectures about the future foretold some things that
were true, and in others was deceived.
|
|