Whether the Ceremonies of the Law Were in Existence Before the Law?
Objection 1: It would seem that the ceremonies of the Law were in
existence before the Law. For sacrifices and holocausts were
ceremonies of the Old Law, as stated above (Q. 101, A. 4). But
sacrifices and holocausts preceded the Law: for it is written (Gen.
4:3, 4) that "Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to the
Lord," and that "Abel offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of
their fat." Noe also "offered holocausts" to the Lord (Gen. 18:20),
and Abraham did in like manner (Gen. 22:13). Therefore the ceremonies
of the Old Law preceded the Law.
Obj. 2: Further, the erecting and consecrating of the altar were part
of the ceremonies relating to holy things. But these preceded the
Law. For we read (Gen. 13:18) that "Abraham . . . built . . . an
altar the Lord"; and (Gen. 28:18) that "Jacob . . . took the stone
. . . and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the top of it."
Therefore the legal ceremonies preceded the Law.
Obj. 3: Further, the first of the legal sacraments seems to have been
circumcision. But circumcision preceded the Law, as appears from Gen.
17. In like manner the priesthood preceded the Law; for it is written
(Gen. 14:18) that "Melchisedech . . . was the priest of the most high
God." Therefore the sacramental ceremonies preceded the Law.
Obj. 4: Further, the distinction of clean from unclean animals
belongs to the ceremonies of observances, as stated above (Q. 100, 2,
A. 6, ad 1). But this distinction preceded the Law; for it is written
(Gen. 7:2, 3): "Of all clean beasts take seven and seven . . . but of
the beasts that are unclean, two and two." Therefore the legal
ceremonies preceded the Law.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Deut. 6:1): "These are the precepts
and ceremonies . . . which the Lord your God commanded that I should
teach you." But they would not have needed to be taught about these
things, if the aforesaid ceremonies had been already in existence.
Therefore the legal ceremonies did not precede the Law.
_I answer that,_ As is clear from what has been said (Q. 101, A. 2;
Q. 102, A. 2), the legal ceremonies were ordained for a double
purpose; the worship of God, and the foreshadowing of Christ. Now
whoever worships God must needs worship Him by means of certain fixed
things pertaining to external worship. But the fixing of the divine
worship belongs to the ceremonies; just as the determining of our
relations with our neighbor is a matter determined by the judicial
precepts, as stated above (Q. 99, A. 4). Consequently, as among men
in general there were certain judicial precepts, not indeed
established by Divine authority, but ordained by human reason; so
also there were some ceremonies fixed, not by the authority of any
law, but according to the will and devotion of those that worship
God. Since, however, even before the Law some of the leading men were
gifted with the spirit of prophecy, it is to be believed that a
heavenly instinct, like a private law, prompted them to worship God
in a certain definite way, which would be both in keeping with the
interior worship, and a suitable token of Christ's mysteries, which
were foreshadowed also by other things that they did, according to 1
Cor. 10:11: "All . . . things happened to them in figure." Therefore
there were some ceremonies before the Law, but they were not legal
ceremonies, because they were not as yet established by legislation.
Reply Obj. 1: The patriarchs offered up these oblations, sacrifices
and holocausts previously to the Law, out of a certain devotion of
their own will, according as it seemed proper to them to offer up in
honor of God those things which they had received from Him, and thus
to testify that they worshipped God Who is the beginning and end of
all.
Reply Obj. 2: They also established certain sacred things, because
they thought that the honor due to God demanded that certain places
should be set apart from others for the purpose of divine worship.
Reply Obj. 3: The sacrament of circumcision was established by
command of God before the Law. Hence it cannot be called a sacrament
of the Law as though it were an institution of the Law, but only as
an observance included in the Law. Hence Our Lord said (John 7:20)
that circumcision was "not of Moses, but of his fathers." Again,
among those who worshipped God, the priesthood was in existence
before the Law by human appointment, for the Law allotted the
priestly dignity to the firstborn.
Reply Obj. 4: The distinction of clean from unclean animals was in
vogue before the Law, not with regard to eating them, since it is
written (Gen. 9:3): "Everything that moveth and liveth shall be meat
for you": but only as to the offering of sacrifices because they used
only certain animals for that purpose. If, however, they did make any
distinction in regard to eating; it was not that it was considered
illegal to eat such animals, since this was not forbidden by any law,
but from dislike or custom: thus even now we see that certain foods
are looked upon with disgust in some countries, while people partake
of them in others.
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