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Objection 1: It would seem that one angel does not enlighten
another. For the angels possess now the same beatitude which we hope
to obtain. But one man will not then enlighten another, according to
Jer. 31:34: "They shall teach no more every man his neighbor,
and every man his brother." Therefore neither does an angel enlighten
another now.
Objection 2: Further, light in the angels is threefold; of
nature, of grace, and of glory. But an angel is enlightened in the
light of nature by the Creator; in the light of grace by the
Justifier; in the light of glory by the Beatifier; all of which
comes from God. Therefore one angel does not enlighten another.
Objection 3: Further, light is a form in the mind. But the
rational mind is "informed by God alone, without created
intervention," as Augustine says (Questions. 83, qu. 51).
Therefore one angel does not enlighten the mind of another.
On the contrary, Dionysius says (Coel. Hier. viii) that "the
angels of the second hierarchy are cleansed, enlightened and perfected
by the angels of the first hierarchy."
I answer that, One angel enlightens another. To make this clear,
we must observe that intellectual light is nothing else than a
manifestation of truth, according to Eph. 5:13: "All that is
made manifest is light." Hence to enlighten means nothing else but to
communicate to others the manifestation of the known truth; according
to the Apostle (Eph. 3:8): "To me the least of all the saints
is given this grace . . . to enlighten all men, that they may see
what is the dispensation of the mystery which hath been hidden from
eternity in God." Therefore one angel is said to enlighten another
by manifesting the truth which he knows himself. Hence Dionysius says
(Coel. Hier. vii): "Theologians plainly show that the orders of
the heavenly beings are taught Divine science by the higher minds."
Now since two things concur in the intellectual operation, as we have
said (Question 105, Article 3), namely, the intellectual
power, and the likeness of the thing understood; in both of these one
angel can notify the known truth to another. First, by strengthening
his intellectual power; for just as the power of an imperfect body is
strengthened by the neighborhood of a more perfect body ---for
instance, the less hot is made hotter by the presence of what is
hotter; so the intellectual power of an inferior angel is strengthened
by the superior angel turning to him: since in spiritual things, for
one thing to turn to another, corresponds to neighborhood in corporeal
things. Secondly, one angel manifests the truth to another as regards
the likeness of the thing understood. For the superior angel receives
the knowledge of truth by a kind of universal conception, to receive
which the inferior angel's intellect is not sufficiently powerful, for
it is natural to him to receive truth in a more particular manner.
Therefore the superior angel distinguishes, in a way, the truth which
he conceives universally, so that it can be grasped by the inferior
angel; and thus he proposes it to his knowledge. Thus it is with us
that the teacher, in order to adapt himself to others, divides into
many points the knowledge which he possesses in the universal. This is
thus expressed by Dionysius (Coel. Hier. xv): "Every
intellectual substance with provident power divides and multiplies the
uniform knowledge bestowed on it by one nearer to God, so as to lead
its inferiors upwards by analogy."
Reply to Objection 1: All the angels, both inferior and superior,
see the Essence of God immediately, and in this respect one does not
teach another. It is of this truth that the prophet speaks; wherefore
he adds: "They shall teach no more every man his brother, saying:
'Know the Lord': for all shall know Me, from the least of them
even to the greatest." But all the types of the Divine works, which
are known in God as in their cause, God knows in Himself, because
He comprehends Himself; but of others who see God, each one knows
the more types, the more perfectly he sees God. Hence a superior
angel knows more about the types of the Divine works than an inferior
angel, and concerning these the former enlightens the latter; and as
to this Dionysius says (Div. Nom. iv) that the angels "are
enlightened by the types of existing things."
Reply to Objection 2: An angel does not enlighten another by giving
him the light of nature, grace, or glory; but by strengthening his
natural light, and by manifesting to him the truth concerning the state
of nature, of grace, and of glory, as explained above.
Reply to Objection 3: The rational mind is formed immediately by
God, either as the image from the exemplar, forasmuch as it is made
to the image of God alone; or as the subject by the ultimate
perfecting form: for the created mind is always considered to be
unformed, except it adhere to the first truth; while the other kinds
of enlightenment that proceed from man or angel, are, as it were,
dispositions to this ultimate form.
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