Whether in Christ There Are Several Human Operations?
Objection 1: It would seem that in Christ there are several human
operations. For Christ as man communicates with plants by His
nutritive soul, with the brutes by His sensitive soul, and with the
angels by His intellective soul, even as other men do. Now the
operations of a plant as plant and of an animal as animal are
different. Therefore Christ as man has several operations.
Obj. 2: Further, powers and habits are distinguished by their acts.
Now in Christ's soul there were divers powers and habits; therefore
also divers operations.
Obj. 3: Further, instruments ought to be proportioned to their
operations. Now the human body has divers members of different form,
and consequently fitted to divers operations. Therefore in Christ
there are divers operations in the human nature.
_On the contrary,_ As Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iii, 15),
"operation is consequent upon the nature." But in Christ there is
only one human nature. Therefore in Christ there is only one human
operation.
_I answer that,_ Since it is by his reason that man is what he is;
that operation is called human simply, which proceeds from the reason
through the will, which is the rational appetite. Now if there is any
operation in man which does not proceed from the reason and the will,
it is not simply a human operation, but belongs to man by reason of
some part of human nature--sometimes by reason of the nature of
elementary bodies, as to be borne downwards--sometimes by reason of
the force of the vegetative soul, as to be nourished, and to
grow--sometimes by reason of the sensitive part, as to see and hear,
to imagine and remember, to desire and to be angry. Now between these
operations there is a difference. For the operations of the sensitive
soul are to some extent obedient to reason, and consequently they are
somewhat rational and human inasmuch as they obey reason, as is clear
from the Philosopher (Ethic. i, 13). But the operations that spring
from the vegetative soul, or from the nature of elemental bodies, are
not subject to reason; consequently they are nowise rational; nor
simply human, but only as regards a part of human nature. Now it was
said (A. 1) that when a subordinate agent acts by its own form, the
operations of the inferior and of the superior agent are distinct;
but when the inferior agent acts only as moved by the superior agent,
then the operation of the superior and the inferior agent is one.
And hence in every mere man the operations of the elemental body and
of the vegetative soul are distinct from the will's operation, which
is properly human; so likewise the operations of the sensitive soul
inasmuch as it is not moved by reason; but inasmuch as it is moved by
reason, the operations of the sensitive and the rational part are the
same. Now there is but one operation of the rational part if we
consider the principle of the operation, which is the reason and the
will; but the operations are many if we consider their relationship
to various objects. And there were some who called this a diversity
of things operated rather than of operations, judging the unity of
the operation solely from the operative principle. And it is in this
respect that we are now considering the unity and plurality of
operations in Christ.
Hence in every mere man there is but one operation, which is properly
called human; but besides this there are in a mere man certain other
operations, which are not strictly human, as was said above. But in
the Man Jesus Christ there was no motion of the sensitive part which
was not ordered by reason. Even the natural and bodily operations
pertained in some respects to His will, inasmuch as it was His will
"that His flesh should do and suffer what belonged to it," as stated
above (Q. 18, A. 5). Much more, therefore, is there one
operation in Christ, than in any other man whatsoever.
Reply Obj. 1: The operations of the sensitive and nutritive
parts are not strictly human, as stated above; yet in Christ these
operations were more human than in others.
Reply Obj. 2: Powers and habits are diversified by comparison
with their objects. Hence in this way the diversity of operations
corresponds to the divers powers and habits, as likewise to the divers
objects. Now we do not wish to exclude this diversity of operations
from Christ's humanity, nor that which springs from a diversity of
time, but only that which regards the first active principle, as was
said above.
(St. Thomas gives no reply to Obj. 3; some codices add: Hence may be
gathered the reply to the third objection.)
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