Whether the Body of the First Man Was Made of the Slime of the Earth?
Objection 1: It would seem that the body of the first man was not made
of the slime of the earth. For it is an act of greater power to make
something out of nothing than out of something; because "not being" is
farther off from actual existence than "being in potentiality." But
since man is the most honorable of God's lower creatures, it was
fitting that in the production of man's body, the power of God should
be most clearly shown. Therefore it should not have been made of the
slime of the earth, but out of nothing.
Obj. 2: Further, the heavenly bodies are nobler than earthly bodies.
But the human body has the greatest nobility; since it is perfected
by the noblest form, which is the rational soul. Therefore it should
not be made of an earthly body, but of a heavenly body.
Obj. 3: Further, fire and air are nobler than earth and water, as is
clear from their subtlety. Therefore, since the human body is most
noble, it should rather have been made of fire and air than of the
slime of the earth.
Obj. 4: Further, the human body is composed of the four elements.
Therefore it was not made of the slime of the earth, but of the four
elements.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Gen. 2:7): "God made man of the
slime of the earth."
_I answer that,_ As God is perfect in His works, He bestowed
perfection on all of them according to their capacity: "God's works
are perfect" (Deut. 32:4). He Himself is simply perfect by the fact
that "all things are pre-contained" in Him, not as component parts,
but as "united in one simple whole," as Dionysius says (Div. Nom. v);
in the same way as various effects pre-exist in their cause,
according to its one virtue. This perfection is bestowed on the
angels, inasmuch as all things which are produced by God in nature
through various forms come under their knowledge. But on man this
perfection is bestowed in an inferior way. For he does not possess a
natural knowledge of all natural things, but is in a manner composed
of all things, since he has in himself a rational soul of the genus
of spiritual substances, and in likeness to the heavenly bodies he is
removed from contraries by an equable temperament. As to the
elements, he has them in their very substance, yet in such a way that
the higher elements, fire and air, predominate in him by their power;
for life is mostly found where there is heat, which is from fire; and
where there is humor, which is of the air. But the inferior elements
abound in man by their substance; otherwise the mingling of elements
would not be evenly balanced, unless the inferior elements, which
have the less power, predominated in quantity. Therefore the body of
man is said to have been formed from the slime of the earth; because
earth and water mingled are called slime, and for this reason man is
called "a little world," because all creatures of the world are in a
way to be found in him.
Reply Obj. 1: The power of the Divine Creator was manifested in man's
body when its matter was produced by creation. But it was fitting
that the human body should be made of the four elements, that man
might have something in common with the inferior bodies, as being
something between spiritual and corporeal substances.
Reply Obj. 2: Although the heavenly body is in itself nobler than the
earthly body, yet for the acts of the rational soul the heavenly body
is less adapted. For the rational soul receives the knowledge of
truth in a certain way through the senses, the organs of which cannot
be formed of a heavenly body which is impassible. Nor is it true that
something of the fifth essence enters materially into the composition
of the human body, as some say, who suppose that the soul is united
to the body by means of light. For, first of all, what they say is
false--that light is a body. Secondly, it is impossible for something
to be taken from the fifth essence, or from a heavenly body, and to
be mingled with the elements, since a heavenly body is impassible;
wherefore it does not enter into the composition of mixed bodies,
except as in the effects of its power.
Reply Obj. 3: If fire and air, whose action is of greater power,
predominated also in quantity in the human body, they would entirely
draw the rest into themselves, and there would be no equality in the
mingling, such as is required in the composition of man, for the
sense of touch, which is the foundation of the other senses. For the
organ of any particular sense must not actually have the contraries
of which that sense has the perception, but only potentially; either
in such a way that it is entirely void of the whole genus of such
contraries--thus, for instance, the pupil of the eye is without
color, so as to be in potentiality as regards all colors; which is
not possible in the organ of touch, since it is composed of the very
elements, the qualities of which are perceived by that sense--or so
that the organ is a medium between two contraries, as much needs be
the case with regard to touch; for the medium is in potentiality to
the extremes.
Reply Obj. 4: In the slime of the earth are earth, and water binding
the earth together. Of the other elements, Scripture makes no
mention, because they are less in quantity in the human body, as we
have said; and because also in the account of the Creation no mention
is made of fire and air, which are not perceived by senses of
uncultured men such as those to whom the Scripture was immediately
addressed.
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