Whether One Angel Enlightens Another?
Objection 1: It would seem that one angel does not enlighten another.
For the angels possess now the same beatitude which we hope to obtain.
But one man will not then enlighten another, according to Jer. 31:34:
"They shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his
brother." Therefore neither does an angel enlighten another now.
Obj. 2: Further, light in the angels is threefold; of nature, of
grace, and of glory. But an angel is enlightened in the light of
nature by the Creator; in the light of grace by the Justifier; in
the light of glory by the Beatifier; all of which comes from God.
Therefore one angel does not enlighten another.
Obj. 3: Further, light is a form in the mind. But the rational
mind is "informed by God alone, without created intervention," as
Augustine says (QQ. 83, qu. 51). Therefore one angel does not
enlighten the mind of another.
_On the contrary,_ Dionysius says (Coel. Hier. viii) that "the angels
of the second hierarchy are cleansed, enlightened and perfected by
the angels of the first hierarchy."
_I answer that,_ One angel enlightens another. To make this clear,
we must observe that intellectual light is nothing else than a
manifestation of truth, according to Eph. 5:13: "All that is made
manifest is light." Hence to enlighten means nothing else but to
communicate to others the manifestation of the known truth; according
to the Apostle (Eph. 3:8): "To me the least of all the saints is
given this grace . . . to enlighten all men, that they may see what
is the dispensation of the mystery which hath been hidden from
eternity in God." Therefore one angel is said to enlighten another by
manifesting the truth which he knows himself. Hence Dionysius says
(Coel. Hier. vii): "Theologians plainly show that the orders of the
heavenly beings are taught Divine science by the higher minds."
Now since two things concur in the intellectual operation, as we
have said (Q. 105, A. 3), namely, the intellectual power, and the
likeness of the thing understood; in both of these one angel can
notify the known truth to another. First, by strengthening his
intellectual power; for just as the power of an imperfect body is
strengthened by the neighborhood of a more perfect body--for
instance, the less hot is made hotter by the presence of what is
hotter; so the intellectual power of an inferior angel is strengthened
by the superior angel turning to him: since in spiritual things, for
one thing to turn to another, corresponds to neighborhood in corporeal
things. Secondly, one angel manifests the truth to another as regards
the likeness of the thing understood. For the superior angel receives
the knowledge of truth by a kind of universal conception, to receive
which the inferior angel's intellect is not sufficiently powerful, for
it is natural to him to receive truth in a more particular manner.
Therefore the superior angel distinguishes, in a way, the truth which
he conceives universally, so that it can be grasped by the inferior
angel; and thus he proposes it to his knowledge. Thus it is with us
that the teacher, in order to adapt himself to others, divides into
many points the knowledge which he possesses in the universal. This
is thus expressed by Dionysius (Coel. Hier. xv): "Every intellectual
substance with provident power divides and multiplies the uniform
knowledge bestowed on it by one nearer to God, so as to lead its
inferiors upwards by analogy."
Reply Obj. 1: All the angels, both inferior and superior, see the
Essence of God immediately, and in this respect one does not teach
another. It is of this truth that the prophet speaks; wherefore he
adds: "They shall teach no more every man his brother, saying: 'Know
the Lord': for all shall know Me, from the least of them even to the
greatest." But all the types of the Divine works, which are known in
God as in their cause, God knows in Himself, because He comprehends
Himself; but of others who see God, each one knows the more types,
the more perfectly he sees God. Hence a superior angel knows more
about the types of the Divine works than an inferior angel, and
concerning these the former enlightens the latter; and as to this
Dionysius says (Div. Nom. iv) that the angels "are enlightened by
the types of existing things."
Reply Obj. 2: An angel does not enlighten another by giving him the
light of nature, grace, or glory; but by strengthening his natural
light, and by manifesting to him the truth concerning the state of
nature, of grace, and of glory, as explained above.
Reply Obj. 3: The rational mind is formed immediately by God, either
as the image from the exemplar, forasmuch as it is made to the image
of God alone; or as the subject by the ultimate perfecting form: for
the created mind is always considered to be unformed, except it
adhere to the first truth; while the other kinds of enlightenment
that proceed from man or angel, are, as it were, dispositions to
this ultimate form.
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