Whether in Christ There Was the Gift of Prophecy?
Objection 1: It would seem that in Christ there was not the gift of
prophecy. For prophecy implies a certain obscure and imperfect
knowledge, according to Num. 12:6: "If there be among you a prophet
of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him
in a dream." But Christ had full and unveiled knowledge, much more
than Moses, of whom it is subjoined that "plainly and not by riddles
and figures doth he see God" (Num. 6:8). Therefore we ought not to
admit prophecy in Christ.
Obj. 2: Further, as faith has to do with what is not seen, and hope
with what is not possessed, so prophecy has to do with what is not
present, but distant; for a prophet means, as it were, a teller of
far-off things. But in Christ there could be neither faith nor hope,
as was said above (AA. 3, 4). Hence prophecy also ought not to be
admitted in Christ.
Obj. 3: Further, a prophet is in an inferior order to an angel; hence
Moses, who was the greatest of the prophets, as was said above
(II-II, Q. 174, A. 4) is said (Acts 7:38) to have spoken with an
angel in the desert. But Christ was "made lower than the angels," not
as to the knowledge of His soul, but only as regards the sufferings
of His body, as is shown Heb. 2:9. Therefore it seems that Christ was
not a prophet.
_On the contrary,_ It is written of Him (Deut. 18:15): "Thy God will
raise up to thee a prophet of thy nation and of thy brethren," and He
says of Himself (Matt. 13:57; John 4:44): "A prophet is not without
honor, save in his own country."
_I answer that,_ A prophet means, as it were, a teller or seer of
far-off things, inasmuch as he knows and announces what things are
far from men's senses, as Augustine says (Contra Faust. xvi, 18). Now
we must bear in mind that no one can be called a prophet for knowing
and announcing what is distant from others, with whom he is not. And
this is clear in regard to place and time. For if anyone living in
France were to know and announce to others living in France what
things were transpiring in Syria, it would be prophetical, as Eliseus
told Giezi (4 Kings 5:26) how the man had leaped down from his
chariot to meet him. But if anyone living in Syria were to announce
what things were there, it would not be prophetical. And the same
appears in regard to time. For it was prophetical of Isaias to
announce that Cyrus, King of the Persians, would rebuild the temple
of God, as is clear from Isa. 44:28. But it was not prophetical of
Esdras to write it, in whose time it took place. Hence if God or
angels, or even the blessed, know and announce what is beyond our
knowing, this does not pertain to prophecy, since they nowise touch
our state. Now Christ before His passion touched our state, inasmuch
as He was not merely a "comprehensor," but a "wayfarer." Hence it was
prophetical in Him to know and announce what was beyond the knowledge
of other "wayfarers": and for this reason He is called a prophet.
Reply Obj. 1: These words do not prove that enigmatical knowledge,
viz. by dream and vision, belongs to the nature of prophecy; but the
comparison is drawn between other prophets, who saw Divine things in
dreams and visions, and Moses, who saw God plainly and not by
riddles, and who yet is called a prophet, according to Deut. 24:10:
"And there arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses."
Nevertheless it may be said that although Christ had full and
unveiled knowledge as regards the intellective part, yet in the
imaginative part He had certain similitudes, in which Divine things
could be viewed, inasmuch as He was not only a "comprehensor," but a
"wayfarer."
Reply Obj. 2: Faith regards such things as are unseen by him who
believes; and hope, too, is of such things as are not possessed by
the one who hopes; but prophecy is of such things as are beyond the
sense of men, with whom the prophet dwells and converses in this
state of life. And hence faith and hope are repugnant to the
perfection of Christ's beatitude; but prophecy is not.
Reply Obj. 3: Angels, being "comprehensors," are above prophets, who
are merely "wayfarers"; but not above Christ, Who was both a
"comprehensor" and a "wayfarer."
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