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* Footnotes
- A.M. 2107, A.C. 1897.
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Hebrews
13:2
And hospitality do not forget: for by this some, being not aware of it, have entertained angels.
*H And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of the city. And seeing them, he rose up and went to meet them: and worshipped prostrate to the ground.
Ver. 1. Ground. Thus shewing himself a true relation and imitator of Abraham.
*H And said: I beseech you, my lords, turn in to the house of your servant, and lodge there: wash your feet, and in the morning you shall go on your way. And they said: No, but we will abide in the street.
Ver. 2. My lords. He took them to be men. — No. They refuse at first, that he may have the merit of pressing them to accept the invitation. H.
*H But before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the house, both young and old, all the people together.
Ver. 4. Together. The whole city was corrupt; even the children were taught iniquity, as soon as they came to the years of discretion. M.
*H And they called Lot, and said to him: Where are the men that came in to thee at night? bring them out hither, that we may know them:
Ver. 5. Know them. They boldly proclaim their infamous design.
*H Do not so, I beseech you, my brethren, do not commit this evil.
Ver. 7. This evil, so contrary to the rights of hospitality, and the law of nature.
*H I have two daughters who, as yet, have not known man; I will bring them out to you, and abuse you them as it shall please you, so that you do no evil to these men, because they are come in under the shadow of my roof.
Ver. 8. Known man. They were neglected, while men were inflamed with desires of each other. See Rom. i. H. — Abuse. Lot tries by every means to divert them from their purpose; being well assured, that they would have nothing to do with his daughters, who were promised to some of the inhabitants. He endeavours to gain time, hoping perhaps that his guests would escape by some back way, while he is talking to the people. H. — Some allow that, under so great a perturbation of mind, he consented to an action which could never be allowed, though it was a less evil. M.
* Footnotes
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2_Peter
2:8
For in sight and hearing he was just, dwelling among them who from day to day vexed the just soul with unjust works.
*H But they said: Get thee back thither. And again: Thou camest in, said they, as a stranger, was it to be a judge? therefore we will afflict thee more than them. And they pressed very violently upon Lot: and they were even at the point of breaking open the doors.
Ver. 9. Thither; from whence thou camest, or into the house. Dost thou pretend to tell us what is wrong? We will treat thee more shamefully. M. While they are beginning to offer violence.
*H And behold the men put out their hand, and drew in Lot unto them, and shut the door.
Ver. 10. Behold, &c. the angels not only secure Lot, but strike the whole people with blindness, so that they could neither find Lot's door nor their own homes. Indeed, if they had been able to get back into their own houses, it would have been but a small consolation to them; since in a few minutes, the whole city was buried in sulphur and flame. Wisd. xix. 16.
* Footnotes
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2_Kings
6:18
And when he had made an end of offering holocausts and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.
* Summa
*S Part 1, Ques 111, Article 4
[I, Q. 111, Art. 4]
Whether an Angel Can Change the Human Senses?
Objection 1: It seems that an angel cannot change the human senses. For the sensitive operation is a vital operation. But such an operation does not come from an extrinsic principle. Therefore the sensitive operation cannot be caused by an angel.
Obj. 2: Further, the sensitive operation is nobler than the nutritive. But the angel cannot change the nutritive power, nor other natural forms. Therefore neither can he change the sensitive power.
Obj. 3: Further, the senses are naturally moved by the sensible objects. But an angel cannot change the order of nature (Q. 110, A. 4). Therefore an angel cannot change the senses; but these are changed always by the sensible object.
_On the contrary,_ The angels who overturned Sodom, "struck the people of Sodom with blindness or _aorasia_, so that they could not find the door" (Gen. 19:11). [*It is worth noting that these are the only two passages in the Greek version where the word _aorasia_ appears. It expresses, in fact, the effect produced on the people of Sodom--namely, dazzling (French version, "eblouissement"), which the Latin "caecitas" (blindness) does not necessarily imply.] The same is recorded of the Syrians whom Eliseus led into Samaria (4 Kings 6:18).
_I answer that,_ The senses may be changed in a twofold manner; from without, as when affected by the sensible object: and from within, for we see that the senses are changed when the spirits and humors are disturbed; as for example, a sick man's tongue, charged with choleric humor, tastes everything as bitter, and the like with the other senses. Now an angel, by his natural power, can work a change in the senses both ways. For an angel can offer the senses a sensible object from without, formed by nature or by the angel himself, as when he assumes a body, as we have said above (Q. 51, A. 2). Likewise he can move the spirits and humors from within, as above remarked, whereby the senses are changed in various ways.
Reply Obj. 1: The principle of the sensitive operation cannot be without the interior principle which is the sensitive power; but this interior principle can be moved in many ways by the exterior principle, as above explained.
Reply Obj. 2: By the interior movement of the spirits and humors an angel can do something towards changing the act of the nutritive power, and also of the appetitive and sensitive power, and of any other power using a corporeal organ.
Reply Obj. 3: An angel can do nothing outside the entire order of creatures; but he can outside some particular order of nature, since he is not subject to that order; thus in some special way an angel can work a change in the senses outside the common mode of nature. _______________________
*H So Lot went out, and spoke to his sons in law that were to have his daughters, and said: Arise: get you out of this place, because the Lord will destroy this city. And he seemed to them to speak as it were in jest.
Ver. 14. Sons-in-law. Perhaps they also were among the crowd, (v. 4,) and therefore deserved to be abandoned to their incredulity; though, if they would have consented to follow Lot, the angels would have saved them for his sake. — In jest. So little did they suffer God's judgments to disturb them!
*H And as he lingered, they took his hand, and the hand of his wife, and of his two daughters, because the Lord spared him.
Ver. 16. He lingered, intreating the Lord to save the city; and loath, perhaps to lose all his property, for the sake of which he had chosen that abode. — Spared him, and his wife and two daughters, for his sake. These four were all that were even tolerably just: for we find them all soon giving signs of their weakness, and of the danger to which even the best are exposed by evil communications. H.
*H And they brought him forth, and set him without the city: and there they spoke to him, saying: Save thy life: look not back, neither stay thou in all the country about: but save thy self in the mountain, lest thou be also consumed.
Ver. 17. Look not back. Flee with all expedition; let no marks of pity for the wretched Sodomites, nor of sorrow for the loss of your property, be seen.
* Summa
*S Part 4, Ques 41, Article 2
[III, Q. 41, Art. 2]
Whether Christ Should Have Been Tempted in the Desert?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ should not have been tempted in the desert. Because Christ wished to be tempted in order to give us an example, as stated above (A. 1). But an example should be set openly before those who are to follow it. Therefore He should not have been tempted in the desert.
Obj. 2: Further, Chrysostom says (Hom. xii in Matth.): "Then most especially does the devil assail by tempting us, when he sees us alone. Thus did he tempt the woman in the beginning when he found her apart from her husband." Hence it seems that, by going into the desert to be tempted, He exposed Himself to temptation. Since, therefore, His temptation is an example to us, it seems that others too should take such steps as will lead them into temptation. And yet this seems a dangerous thing to do, since rather should we avoid the occasion of being tempted.
Obj. 3: Further, Matt. 4:5, Christ's second temptation is set down, in which "the devil took" Christ up "into the Holy City, and set Him upon the pinnacle of the Temple": which is certainly not in the desert. Therefore He was not tempted in the desert only.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Mk. 1:13) that Jesus "was in the desert forty days and forty nights, and was tempted by Satan."
_I answer that,_ As stated above (A. 1, ad 2), Christ of His own free-will exposed Himself to be tempted by the devil, just as by His own free-will He submitted to be killed by his members; else the devil would not have dared to approach Him. Now the devil prefers to assail a man who is alone, for, as it is written (Eccles. 4:12), "if a man prevail against one, two shall withstand him." And so it was that Christ went out into the desert, as to a field of battle, to be tempted there by the devil. Hence Ambrose says on Luke 4:1, that "Christ was led into the desert for the purpose of provoking the devil. For had he," i.e. the devil, "not fought, He," i.e. Christ, "would not have conquered." He adds other reasons, saying that "Christ in doing this set forth the mystery of Adam's delivery from exile," who had been expelled from paradise into the desert, and "set an example to us, by showing that the devil envies those who strive for better things."
Reply Obj. 1: Christ is set as an example to all through faith, according to Heb. 12:2: "Looking on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith." Now faith, as it is written (Rom. 10:17), "cometh by hearing," but not by seeing: nay, it is even said (John 20:29): "Blessed are they that have not seen and have believed." And therefore, in order that Christ's temptation might be an example to us, it behooved that men should not see it, and it was enough that they should hear it related.
Reply Obj. 2: The occasions of temptation are twofold. One is on the part of man--for instance, when a man causes himself to be near to sin by not avoiding the occasion of sinning. And such occasions of temptation should be avoided, as it is written of Lot (Gen. 19:17): "Neither stay thou in all the country about" Sodom.
Another occasion of temptation is on the part of the devil, who always "envies those who strive for better things," as Ambrose says (In Luc. iv, 1). And such occasions of temptation are not to be avoided. Hence Chrysostom says (Hom. v in Matth. [*From the supposititious Opus Imperfectum]): "Not only Christ was led into the desert by the Spirit, but all God's children that have the Holy Ghost. For it is not enough for them to sit idle; the Holy Ghost urges them to endeavor to do something great: which is for them to be in the desert from the devil's standpoint, for no unrighteousness, in which the devil delights, is there. Again, every good work, compared to the flesh and the world, is the desert; because it is not according to the will of the flesh and of the world." Now, there is no danger in giving the devil such an occasion of temptation; since the help of the Holy Ghost, who is the Author of the perfect deed, is more powerful* than the assault of the envious devil. [*All the codices read 'majus.' One of the earliest printed editions has 'magis,' which has much to commend it, since St. Thomas is commenting the text quoted from St. Chrysostom. The translation would run thus: 'since rather is it (the temptation) a help from the Holy Ghost, who,' etc.].
Reply Obj. 3: Some say that all the temptations took place in the desert. Of these some say that Christ was led into the Holy City, not really, but in an imaginary vision; while others say that the Holy City itself, i.e. Jerusalem, is called "a desert," because it was deserted by God. But there is no need for this explanation. For Mark says that He was tempted in the desert by the devil, but not that He was tempted in the desert only. _______________________
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*H And Lot said to them: I beseech thee, my Lord,
Ver. 18. My lord, addressing himself to the angel, who led him and his wife. M.
*H Because thy servant hath found grace before thee, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewn to me, in saving my life, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil seize me, and I die.
Ver. 19. The mountain above Segor. He is faint-hearted, and does not comply with readiness and exactitude; though, when he had obtained leave to remain in Segor, he still fears, and flees to the mountain, v. 30, (H.) on the south-east of the dead sea. C.
*H Make haste, and be saved there: because I cannot do any thing till thou go in thither. Therefore the name of that city was called Segor.
Ver. 22. Segor. That is, a little one. Ch. — In allusion to Lot's words, v. 20. As it was small, fewer sinners would of course be contained in it. God had resolved to spare it, and therefore inspired Lot to pray for its preservation. M. — Hence we may learn, how great a treasure and safeguard the just man is. H.
* Summa
*S Part 4, Ques 43, Article 2
[III, Q. 43, Art. 2]
Whether Christ Worked Miracles by Divine Power?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ did not work miracles by Divine power. For the Divine power is omnipotent. But it seems that Christ was not omnipotent in working miracles; for it is written (Mk. 6:5) that "He could not do any miracles there," i.e. in His own country. Therefore it seems that He did not work miracles by Divine power.
Obj. 2: Further, God does not pray. But Christ sometimes prayed when working miracles; as may be seen in the raising of Lazarus (John 11:41, 42), and in the multiplication of the loaves, as related Matt. 14:19. Therefore it seems that He did not work miracles by Divine power.
Obj. 3: Further, what is done by Divine power cannot be done by the power of any creature. But the things which Christ did could be done also by the power of a creature: wherefore the Pharisees said (Luke 11:15) that He cast out devils "by Beelzebub the prince of devils." Therefore it seems that Christ did not work miracles by Divine power.
_On the contrary,_ our Lord said (John 14:10): "The Father who abideth in Me, He doth the works."
_I answer that,_ as stated in the First Part (Q. 110, A. 4), true miracles cannot be wrought save by Divine power: because God alone can change the order of nature; and this is what is meant by a miracle. Wherefore Pope Leo says (Ep. ad Flav. xxviii) that, while there are two natures in Christ, there is "one," viz. the Divine, which shines forth in miracles; and "another," viz. the human, "which submits to insults"; yet "each communicates its actions to the other": in as far as the human nature is the instrument of the Divine action, and the human action receives power from the Divine Nature, as stated above (Q. 19, A. 1).
Reply Obj. 1: When it is said that "He could not do any miracles there," it is not to be understood that He could not do them absolutely, but that it was not fitting for Him to do them: for it was unfitting for Him to work miracles among unbelievers. Wherefore it is said farther on: "And He wondered because of their unbelief." In like manner it is said (Gen. 18:17): "Can I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" and Gen. 19:22: "I cannot do anything till thou go in thither."
Reply Obj. 2: As Chrysostom says on Matt. 14:19, "He took the five loaves and the two fishes, and, looking up to heaven, He blessed and brake: It was to be believed of Him, both that He is of the Father and that He is equal to Him . . . Therefore that He might prove both, He works miracles now with authority, now with prayer . . . in the lesser things, indeed, He looks up to heaven"--for instance, in multiplying the loaves--"but in the greater, which belong to God alone, He acts with authority; for example, when He forgave sins and raised the dead."
When it is said that in raising Lazarus He lifted up His eyes (John 11:41), this was not because He needed to pray, but because He wished to teach us how to pray. Wherefore He said: "Because of the people who stand about have I said it: that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me."
Reply Obj. 3: Christ cast out demons otherwise than they are cast out by the power of demons. For demons are cast out from bodies by the power of higher demons in such a way that they retain their power over the soul: since the devil does not work against his own kingdom. On the other hand, Christ cast out demons, not only from the body, but still more from the soul. For this reason our Lord rebuked the blasphemy of the Jews, who said that He cast out demons by the power of the demons: first, by saying that Satan is not divided against himself; secondly, by quoting the instance of others who cast out demons by the Spirit of God; thirdly, because He could not have cast out a demon unless He had overcome Him by Divine power; fourthly, because there was nothing in common between His works and their effects and those of Satan; since Satan's purpose was to "scatter" those whom Christ "gathered" together [*Cf. Matt. 12:24-30; Mk. 3:22; Luke 11:15-32]. _______________________
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*H The sun was risen upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segor.
Ver. 23. Risen. It was morning when he left Sodom; (v. 15.) so this city must not have been very distant. It was before called Bala, or swallowed up, and afterwards Salissa. Theodoret supposes it was destroyed as soon as Lot had left it; and it seems Lot's daughters thought so, since they concluded all men, except their father, had perished.
* Footnotes
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Deuteronomy
29:23
Burning it with brimstone, and the heat of salt, so that it cannot be sown any more, nor any green thing grow therein, after the example of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha, Adama and Seboim, which the Lord destroyed in his wrath and indignation:
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Jeremias
50:40
As the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha, and their neighbour cities, saith the Lord: no man shall dwell there, neither shall the son of man inhabit it.
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Ezechiel
16:49
Behold this was the iniquity of Sodom thy sister, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance, and the idleness of her, and of her daughters: and they did not put forth their hand to the needy, and the poor.
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Osee
11:8
How shall I deal with thee, O Ephraim, shall I protect thee, O Israel? how shall I make thee as Adama, shall I set thee as Seboim? my heart is turned within me, my repentance is stirred up.
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Amos
4:11
I destroyed some of you, as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet you returned not to me, saith the Lord.
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Luke
17:29
And in the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
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Jude
1:7
As Sodom and Gomorrha and the neighbouring cities, in like manner, having given themselves to fornication and going after other flesh, were made an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
*H And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
Ver. 24. The Lord rained...from the Lord, in a miraculous manner. Sodom and the other cities did not perish by earthquakes and other natural causes only, but by the divine wrath exerting itself in a visible manner. Here is an insinuation of a plurality of persons in God, as the C. of Sirmich declares, c. 14. — And Gomorrha, and the other towns which were not so large, nor perhaps so infamous. — Brimstone and fire; to denote the bad odour and violence of their disorders. M.
*H And he destroyed these cities, and all the country about, all the inhabitants of the cities, and all things that spring from the earth.
Ver. 25. All the inhabitants, both the body and soul, (Jude v. 7.): even the infants would probably die in original sin, as their parents were unbelievers, and careless of applying the proper remedies. H. — The women imitated the men in pride and dissolute morals, so that all deserved to perish. M. — All things; so that even now the environs are barren, and the lake dark and smoking. T.
* Summa
*S Part 1, Ques 52, Article 2
[I, Q. 52, Art. 2]
Whether an Angel Can Be in Several Places at Once?
Objection 1: It would seem that an angel can be in several places at once. For an angel is not less endowed with power than the soul. But the soul is in several places at once, for it is entirely in every part of the body, as Augustine says (De Trin. vi). Therefore an angel can be in several places at once.
Obj. 2: Further, an angel is in the body which he assumes; and, since the body which he assumes is continuous, it would appear that he is in every part thereof. But according to the various parts there are various places. Therefore the angel is at one time in various places.
Obj. 3: Further, Damascene says (De Fide Orth. ii) that "where the angel operates, there he is." But occasionally he operates in several places at one time, as is evident from the angel destroying Sodom (Gen. 19:25). Therefore an angel can be in several places at the one time.
_On the contrary,_ Damascene says (De Fide Orth. ii) that "while the angels are in heaven, they are not on earth."
_I answer that,_ An angel's power and nature are finite, whereas the Divine power and essence, which is the universal cause of all things, is infinite: consequently God through His power touches all things, and is not merely present in some places, but is everywhere. Now since the angel's power is finite, it does not extend to all things, but to one determined thing. For whatever is compared with one power must be compared therewith as one determined thing. Consequently since all being is compared as one thing to God's universal power, so is one particular being compared as one with the angelic power. Hence, since the angel is in a place by the application of his power to the place, it follows that he is not everywhere, nor in several places, but in only one place.
Some, however, have been deceived in this matter. For some who were unable to go beyond the reach of their imaginations supposed the indivisibility of the angel to be like that of a point; consequently they thought that an angel could be only in a place which is a point. But they were manifestly deceived, because a point is something indivisible, yet having its situation; whereas the angel is indivisible, and beyond the genus of quantity and situation. Consequently there is no occasion for determining in his regard one indivisible place as to situation: any place which is either divisible or indivisible, great or small suffices, according as to his own free-will he applies his power to a great or to a small body. So the entire body to which he is applied by his power, corresponds as one place to him.
Neither, if any angel moves the heavens, is it necessary for him to be everywhere. First of all, because his power is applied only to what is first moved by him. Now there is one part of the heavens in which there is movement first of all, namely, the part to the east: hence the Philosopher (Phys. vii, text 84) attributes the power of the heavenly mover to the part which is in the east. Secondly, because philosophers do not hold that one separate substance moves all the spheres immediately. Hence it need not be everywhere.
So, then, it is evident that to be in a place appertains quite differently to a body, to an angel, and to God. For a body is in a place in a circumscribed fashion, since it is measured by the place. An angel, however, is not there in a circumscribed fashion, since he is not measured by the place, but definitively, because he is in a place in such a manner that he is not in another. But God is neither circumscriptively nor definitively there, because He is everywhere.
From this we can easily gather an answer to the objections: because the entire subject to which the angelic power is immediately applied, is reputed as one place, even though it be continuous. _______________________
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* Footnotes
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Luke
17:32
Remember Lot's wife.
*H And his wife looking behind her, was turned into a statue of salt.
Ver. 26. And his wife. As a standing memorial to the servants of God to proceed in virtue, and not to look back to vice or its allurements. Ch. — His, Lot's wife. The two last verses might be within a parenthesis. — Remember Lot's wife, our Saviour admonishes us. Having begun a good work, let us not leave it imperfect, and lose our reward. Lu. xvii. Mat. xxiv. — A statue of durable metallic salt, petrified as it were, to be an eternal monument of an incredulous soul. Wisd. x. 7. Some say it still exists. H. — God may have inflicted this temporal punishment on her, and saved her soul. M. — She looked back, as if she distrusted the words of the angel; but her fault was venial. T.
*H Now when God destroyed the cities of that country, remembering Abraham, he delivered Lot out of the destruction of the cities wherein he had dwelt.
Ver. 29. Lot. Even he owed his safety to the merits of Abraham.
*H And the elder said to the younger: Our father is old, and there is no man left on the earth, to come in unto us after the manner of the whole earth.
Ver. 31. No man. If this had been true, Lot might have had children by them, without any fault. But they ought to have consulted him. H.
*H They made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and lay with him: and neither then did he perceive when she lay down, nor when she rose up.
Ver. 35. Rose up; being oppressed with grief and wine, which would not excuse him from sin, particularly this second time. M.
*H And the elder bore a son, and she called his name Moab: he is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
Ver. 37. Elder. She first proposes: she is not ashamed to call her child Moab, "from father." The younger is rather more modest, and calls her son Ammon, "my people," not born of the Sodomites. Many reasons might be alleged to extenuate, or even to excuse the conduct of Lot and his daughters, as many of the fathers have done. But the Scripture barely leaves it upon record, without either commendation or blame. H.