Whether Honor Is Properly Due to Those Who Are Above Us?
Objection 1: It seems that honor is not properly due to those who are
above us. For an angel is above any human wayfarer, according to
Matt. 11:11, "He that is lesser in the kingdom of heaven is greater
than John the Baptist." Yet an angel forbade John when the latter
wished to honor him (Apoc. 22:10). Therefore honor is not due to
those who are above us.
Obj. 2: Further, honor is due to a person in acknowledgment of his
virtue, as stated above (A. 1; Q. 63, A. 3). But sometimes those who
are above us are not virtuous. Therefore honor is not due to them, as
neither is it due to the demons, who nevertheless are above us in the
order of nature.
Obj. 3: Further, the Apostle says (Rom. 12:10): "With honor
preventing one another," and we read (1 Pet. 2:17): "Honor all men."
But this would not be so if honor were due to those alone who are
above us. Therefore honor is not due properly to those who are above
us.
Obj. 4: Further, it is written (Tob. 1:16) that Tobias "had ten
talents of silver of that which he had been honored by the king": and
we read (Esther 6:11) that Assuerus honored Mardochaeus, and ordered
it to be proclaimed in his presence: "This honor is he worthy of whom
the king hath a mind to honor." Therefore honor is paid to those also
who are beneath us, and it seems, in consequence, that honor is not
due properly to those who are above us.
_On the contrary,_ The Philosopher says (Ethic. i, 12) that "honor is
due to the best."
_I answer that,_ As stated above (A. 1), honor is nothing but an
acknowledgment of a person's excelling goodness. Now a person's
excellence may be considered, not only in relation to those who honor
him, in the point of his being more excellent than they, but also in
itself, or in relation to other persons, and in this way honor is
always due to a person, on account of some excellence or superiority.
For the person honored has no need to be more excellent than those
who honor him; it may suffice for him to be more excellent than some
others, or again he may be more excellent than those who honor him in
some respect and not simply.
Reply Obj. 1: The angel forbade John to pay him, not any kind of
honor, but the honor of adoration and latria, which is due to God. Or
again, he forbade him to pay the honor of dulia, in order to indicate
the dignity of John himself, for which Christ equaled him to the
angels "according to the hope of glory of the children of God":
wherefore he refused to be honored by him as though he were superior
to him.
Reply Obj. 2: A wicked superior is honored for the excellence, not of
his virtue but of his dignity, as being God's minister, and because
the honor paid to him is paid to the whole community over which he
presides. As for the demons, they are wicked beyond recall, and
should be looked upon as enemies, rather than treated with honor.
Reply Obj. 3: In every man is to be found something that makes it
possible to deem him better than ourselves, according to Phil. 2:3,
"In humility, let each esteem others better than themselves," and
thus, too, we should all be on the alert to do honor to one another.
Reply Obj. 4: Private individuals are sometimes honored by kings, not
that they are above them in the order of dignity but on account of
some excellence of their virtue: and in this way Tobias and
Mardochaeus were honored by kings.
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