Whether the Soul of Christ Had Omnipotence?
Objection 1: It would seem that the soul of Christ had omnipotence.
For Ambrose [*Gloss, Ord.] says on Luke 1:32: "The power which the
Son of God had naturally, the Man was about to receive in time." Now
this would seem to regard the soul principally, since it is the chief
part of man. Hence since the Son of God had omnipotence from all
eternity, it would seem that the soul of Christ received omnipotence
in time.
Obj. 2: Further, as the power of God is infinite, so is His
knowledge. But the soul of Christ in a manner had the knowledge of
all that God knows, as was said above (Q. 10, A. 2). Therefore He had
all power; and thus He was omnipotent.
Obj. 3: Further, the soul of Christ has all knowledge. Now knowledge
is either practical or speculative. Therefore He has a practical
knowledge of what He knows, i.e. He knew how to do what He knows; and
thus it seems that He can do all things.
_On the contrary,_ What is proper to God cannot belong to any
creature. But it is proper to God to be omnipotent, according to Ex.
15:2, 3: "He is my God and I will glorify Him," and further on,
"Almighty is His name." Therefore the soul of Christ, as being a
creature, has not omnipotence.
_I answer that,_ As was said above (Q. 2, A. 1; Q. 10, A. 1) in the
mystery of the Incarnation the union in person so took place that
there still remained the distinction of natures, each nature still
retaining what belonged to it. Now the active principle of a thing
follows its form, which is the principle of action. But the form is
either the very nature of the thing, as in simple things; or is the
constituent of the nature of the thing; as in such as are composed of
matter and form.
And it is in this way that omnipotence flows, so to say, from the
Divine Nature. For since the Divine Nature is the very
uncircumscribed Being of God, as is plain from Dionysius (Div. Nom.
v), it has an active power over everything that can have the nature
of being; and this is to have omnipotence; just as every other thing
has an active power over such things as the perfection of its nature
extends to; as what is hot gives heat. Therefore since the soul of
Christ is a part of human nature, it cannot possibly have omnipotence.
Reply Obj. 1: By union with the Person, the Man receives omnipotence
in time, which the Son of God had from eternity; the result of which
union is that as the Man is said to be God, so is He said to be
omnipotent; not that the omnipotence of the Man is distinct (as
neither is His Godhead) from that of the Son of God, but because
there is one Person of God and man.
Reply Obj. 2: According to some, knowledge and active power are not
in the same ratio; for an active power flows from the very nature of
the thing, inasmuch as action is considered to come forth from the
agent; but knowledge is not always possessed by the very essence or
form of the knower, since it may be had by assimilation of the knower
to the thing known by the aid of received species. But this reason
seems not to suffice, because even as we may understand by a likeness
obtained from another, so also may we act by a form obtained from
another, as water or iron heats, by heat borrowed from fire. Hence
there would be no reason why the soul of Christ, as it can know all
things by the similitudes of all things impressed upon it by God,
cannot do these things by the same similitudes.
It has, therefore, to be further considered that what is received in
the lower nature from the higher is possessed in an inferior manner;
for heat is not received by water in the perfection and strength it
had in fire. Therefore, since the soul of Christ is of an inferior
nature to the Divine Nature, the similitudes of things are not
received in the soul of Christ in the perfection and strength they
had in the Divine Nature. And hence it is that the knowledge of
Christ's soul is inferior to Divine knowledge as regards the manner
of knowing, for God knows (things) more perfectly than the soul of
Christ; and also as regards the number of things known, since the
soul of Christ does not know all that God can do, and these God knows
by the knowledge of simple intelligence; although it knows all things
present, past, and future, which God knows by the knowledge of
vision. So, too, the similitudes of things infused into Christ's soul
do not equal the Divine power in acting, i.e. so as to do all that
God can do, or to do in the same manner as God does, Who acts with an
infinite might whereof the creature is not capable. Now there is no
thing, to know which in some way an infinite power is needed,
although a certain kind of knowledge belongs to an infinite power;
yet there are things which can be done only by an infinite power, as
creation and the like, as is plain from what has been said in the
First Part (Q. 45). Hence Christ's soul which, being a creature, is
finite in might, can know, indeed, all things, but not in every way;
yet it cannot do all things, which pertains to the nature of
omnipotence; and, amongst other things, it is clear it cannot create
itself.
Reply Obj. 3: Christ's soul has practical and speculative knowledge;
yet it is not necessary that it should have practical knowledge of
those things of which it has speculative knowledge. Because for
speculative knowledge a mere conformity or assimilation of the knower
to the thing known suffices; whereas for practical knowledge it is
required that the forms of the things in the intellect should be
operative. Now to have a form and to impress this form upon something
else is more than merely to have the form; as to be lightsome and to
enlighten is more than merely to be lightsome. Hence the soul of
Christ has a speculative knowledge of creation (for it knows the mode
of God's creation), but it has no practical knowledge of this mode,
since it has no knowledge operative of creation.
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