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Objection 1: It seems that honor is not properly due to those who
are above us. For an angel is above any human wayfarer, according to
Mt. 11:11, "He that is lesser in the kingdom of heaven is
greater than John the Baptist." Yet an angel forbade John when the
latter wished to honor him (Apoc. 22:10). Therefore honor is
not due to those who are above us.
Objection 2: Further, honor is due to a person in acknowledgment of
his virtue, as stated above (Article 1; Question 63, Article
3). But sometimes those who are above us are not virtuous.
Therefore honor is not due to them, as neither is it due to the
demons, who nevertheless are above us in the order of nature.
Objection 3: Further, the Apostle says (Rm. 12:10):
"With honor preventing one another," and we read (1 Pt.
2:17): "Honor all men." But this would not be so if honor
were due to those alone who are above us. Therefore honor is not due
properly to those who are above us.
Objection 4: Further, it is written (Tob. 1:16) that
Tobias "had ten talents of silver of that which he had been honored by
the king": and we read (Esther 6:11) that Assuerus honored
Mardochaeus, and ordered it to be proclaimed in his presence: "This
honor is he worthy of whom the king hath a mind to honor." Therefore
honor is paid to those also who are beneath us, and it seems, in
consequence, that honor is not due properly to those who are above us.
On the contrary, The Philosopher says (Ethic. i, 12) that
"honor is due to the best."
I answer that, As stated above (Article 1), honor is nothing but
an acknowledgment of a person's excelling goodness. Now a person's
excellence may be considered, not only in relation to those who honor
him, in the point of his being more excellent than they, but also in
itself, or in relation to other persons, and in this way honor is
always due to a person, on account of some excellence or superiority.
For the person honored has no need to be more excellent than those who
honor him; it may suffice for him to be more excellent than some
others, or again he may be more excellent than those who honor him in
some respect and not simply.
Reply to Objection 1: The angel forbade John to pay him, not any
kind of honor, but the honor of adoration and latria, which is due to
God. Or again, he forbade him to pay the honor of dulia, in order
to indicate the dignity of John himself, for which Christ equaled him
to the angels "according to the hope of glory of the children of
God": wherefore he refused to be honored by him as though he were
superior to him.
Reply to Objection 2: A wicked superior is honored for the
excellence, not of his virtue but of his dignity, as being God's
minister, and because the honor paid to him is paid to the whole
community over which he presides. As for the demons, they are wicked
beyond recall, and should be looked upon as enemies, rather than
treated with honor.
Reply to Objection 3: In every man is to be found something that
makes it possible to deem him better than ourselves, according to
Phil. 2:3, "In humility, let each esteem others better than
themselves," and thus, too, we should all be on the alert to do
honor to one another.
Reply to Objection 4: Private individuals are sometimes honored by
kings, not that they are above them in the order of dignity but on
account of some excellence of their virtue: and in this way Tobias and
Mardochaeus were honored by kings.
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