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Objection 1: It would seem that the New Law will not last until
the end of the world. Because, as the Apostle says (1 Cor.
13:10), "when that which is perfect is come, that which is in
part shall be done away." But the New Law is "in part," since
the Apostle says (1 Cor. 13:9): "We know in part and we
prophesy in part." Therefore the New Law is to be done away, and
will be succeeded by a more perfect state.
Objection 2: Further, Our Lord (Jn. 16:13) promised His
disciples the knowledge of all truth when the Holy Ghost, the
Comforter, should come. But the Church knows not yet all truth in
the state of the New Testament. Therefore we must look forward to
another state, wherein all truth will be revealed by the Holy Ghost.
Objection 3: Further, just as the Father is distinct from the Son
and the Son from the Father, so is the Holy Ghost distinct from the
Father and the Son. But there was a state corresponding with the
Person of the Father, viz. the state of the Old Law, wherein men
were intent on begetting children: and likewise there is a state
corresponding to the Person of the Son: viz. the state of the New
Law, wherein the clergy who are intent on wisdom (which is
appropriated to the Son) hold a prominent place. Therefore there
will be a third state corresponding to the Holy Ghost, wherein
spiritual men will hold the first place.
Objection 4: Further, Our Lord said (Mt. 24:14):
"This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world .
. . and then shall the consummation come." But the Gospel of
Christ is already preached throughout the whole world: and yet the
consummation has not yet come. Therefore the Gospel of Christ is not
the Gospel of the kingdom, but another Gospel, that of the Holy
Ghost, is to come yet, like unto another Law.
On the contrary, Our Lord said (Mt. 24:34): "I say to
you that this generation shall not pass till all (these) things be
done": which passage Chrysostom (Hom. lxxvii) explains as
referring to "the generation of those that believe in Christ."
Therefore the state of those who believe in Christ will last until the
consummation of the world.
I answer that, The state of the world may change in two ways. In
one way, according to a change of law: and thus no other state will
succeed this state of the New Law. Because the state of the New
Law succeeded the state of the Old Law, as a more perfect law a less
perfect one. Now no state of the present life can be more perfect that
the state of the New Law: since nothing can approach nearer to the
last end than that which is the immediate cause of our being brought to
the last end. But the New Law does this: wherefore the Apostle
says (Heb. 10:19-22): "Having therefore, brethren, a
confidence in the entering into the Holies by the blood of Christ, a
new . . . way which He hath dedicated for us . . . let us draw
near." Therefore no state of the present life can be more perfect
than that of the New Law, since the nearer a thing is to the last end
the more perfect it is.
In another way the state of mankind may change according as man stands
in relation to one and the same law more or less perfectly. And thus
the state of the Old Law underwent frequent changes, since at times
the laws were very well kept, and at other times were altogether
unheeded. Thus, too, the state of the New Law is subject to change
with regard to various places, times, and persons, according as the
grace of the Holy Ghost dwells in man more or less perfectly.
Nevertheless we are not to look forward to a state wherein man is to
possess the grace of the Holy Ghost more perfectly than he has
possessed it hitherto, especially the apostles who "received the
firstfruits of the Spirit, i.e. sooner and more abundantly than
others," as a gloss expounds on Rm. 8:23.
Reply to Objection 1: As Dionysius says (Eccl. Hier. v),
there is a threefold state of mankind; the first was under the Old
Law; the second is that of the New Law; the third will take place
not in this life, but in heaven. But as the first state is figurative
and imperfect in comparison with the state of the Gospel; so is the
present state figurative and imperfect in comparison with the heavenly
state, with the advent of which the present state will be done away as
expressed in that very passage (1 Cor. 13:12): "We see now
through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face."
Reply to Objection 2: As Augustine says (Contra Faust. xix,
31), Montanus and Priscilla pretended that Our Lord's promise
to give the Holy Ghost was fulfilled, not in the apostles, but in
themselves. In like manner the Manicheans maintained that it was
fulfilled in Manes whom they held to be the Paraclete. Hence none of
the above received the Acts of the Apostles, where it is clearly
shown that the aforesaid promise was fulfilled in the apostles: just as
Our Lord promised them a second time (Acts 1:5): "You shall
be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence": which we
read as having been fulfilled in Acts 2. However, these foolish
notions are refuted by the statement (Jn. 7:39) that "as yet
the Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified";
from which we gather that the Holy Ghost was given as soon as Christ
was glorified in His Resurrection and Ascension. Moreover, this
puts out of court the senseless idea that the Holy Ghost is to be
expected to come at some other time.
Now the Holy Ghost taught the apostles all truth in respect of
matters necessary for salvation; those things, to wit, that we are
bound to believe and to do. But He did not teach them about all
future events: for this did not regard them according to Acts 1:7:
"It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father hath
put in His own power."
Reply to Objection 3: The Old Law corresponded not only to the
Father, but also to the Son: because Christ was foreshadowed in the
Old Law. Hence Our Lord said (Jn. 5:46): "If you did
believe Moses, you would perhaps believe me also; for he wrote of
Me." In like manner the New Law corresponds not only to Christ,
but also to the Holy Ghost; according to Rm. 8:2: "The Law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus," etc. Hence we are not to
look forward to another law corresponding to the Holy Ghost.
Reply to Objection 4: Since Christ said at the very outset of the
preaching of the Gospel: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt.
4:17), it is most absurd to say that the Gospel of Christ is not
the Gospel of the kingdom. But the preaching of the Gospel of
Christ may be understood in two ways. First, as denoting the
spreading abroad of the knowledge of Christ: and thus the Gospel was
preached throughout the world even at the time of the apostles, as
Chrysostom states (Hom. lxxv in Matth.). And in this sense the
words that follow---"and then shall the consummation come," refer
to the destruction of Jerusalem, of which He was speaking literally.
Secondly, the preaching of the Gospel may be understood as extending
throughout the world and producing its full effect, so that, to wit,
the Church would be founded in every nation. And in these sense, as
Augustine writes to Hesychius (Epist. cxcix), the Gospel is not
preached to the whole world yet, but, when it is, the consummation of
the world will come.
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