QUESTION VII.
Whether the soul of Christ comprehends all things that the uncreated wisdom comprehends.
It is asked whether the soul of Christ comprehends all things that the uncreated wisdom comprehends. And it seems that it does.
1. Romans 11: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, and unsearchable His ways! From which it is gathered that those things which pertain to divine wisdom are more comprehensible than the divine judgments; but in John 5 it is said that the Father has given all judgment to the Son, because He is the Son of man; from which it is gathered that the soul of Christ comprehends the divine judgments: therefore if those are less comprehensible than the others, much more strongly does He comprehend all the others.
2. Likewise, Apocalypse 5: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive wisdom; the Gloss: "The knowledge of all things, just as the Word united to Him"; but the united Word comprehends whatever it knows: therefore so does the soul of Christ.
3. Likewise, Damascene, in the third book: "We affirm that Christ as man knows all things, for in Christ are all the treasures of wisdom ".
If you say that this is understood according to the divine nature: to the contrary: no one knows anything that his soul is ignorant of: therefore if Christ comprehends all things, it is necessary that His soul also comprehend them.
4. Likewise, Gregory, in the Dialogues: "To the soul seeing the Creator, every creature is narrow": therefore if the soul of Christ perfectly sees the Word united to it, every creature is therefore narrow to it; but beyond every creature nothing remains except the immensity of those things which are possible to God: therefore the soul of Christ comprehends all those things.
5. Likewise, the soul of Christ is most perfectly united to the Word, both insofar as it is the Word and insofar as it is the exemplar: but if there were something in the Word or in the eternal exemplar that were hidden from the soul of Christ, a still more perfect union could be conceived: if therefore it is united by the most perfect union, it is necessary that it comprehend all things.
6. Likewise, the soul of Christ knows in the Word: and because by one thing it knows many, therefore it knows many things simultaneously, although from natural cognition it can understand only one thing: therefore since that one thing extends itself not only to many things, but even to infinite things: by the same reason that it knows many things simultaneously, by the same reason it knows infinite things.
7. Likewise, the eternal Word eternally represents whatever it represents, since it is one and uniform: therefore it does not lead to one thing by a different reason than to any other: therefore the soul of Christ either sees nothing in the Word, or if it sees some things, it sees infinite things.
8. Likewise, the soul of Christ is more powerful for knowing through the Word united to it than any soul through a habit given to it; but a soul having the habit of wisdom comprehends all things to which that habit extends: therefore by equal reason the soul of Christ through the eternal Word comprehends all things to which the Word itself extends.
9. Again, the soul of Christ knows the Word itself wholly, since it has the whole [Word] united to itself; but in the Word, power and essence are the same: therefore it comprehends the whole power of the Word. But the power of the Word extends to infinite things: therefore the soul of Christ comprehends infinite things.
10. Again, the soul of Christ is nearer to things themselves as they are in the Word than according as they are in their proper genus: but no thing has being in its proper genus without being known by the soul of Christ, for he knows all things whatsoever that come to pass: therefore much more does he know all things whatsoever are known by the eternal Word.
11. Again, it is equally impossible to know contingent things with certitude as to comprehend infinite things: but the soul of Christ, on account of its union with the Word, has certain knowledge of future contingents: therefore by equal reasoning it has [certain knowledge] of infinite things as well.
12. Again, it is equally difficult to know secrets as to know many things; but the soul of Christ, on account of its union with the Word, knows the most secret things of hearts, however intimate they may be: therefore by equal reasoning it knows however many things there may be: therefore infinite things.
13. Again, the soul of Christ comprehends everything comprehensible by a creature: but every species of number is comprehensible by a creature: therefore it comprehends all species of number. But the species of number, as Augustine says in the twelfth book of The City of God , are infinite: therefore the soul of Christ comprehends infinite things.
14. Again, the soul of Christ comprehends the whole universe, therefore being and all the differences of being: therefore it knows not only the general differences, but also the individual ones, not only being in act, but also being in potency; but any species, as far as concerns itself, has infinite individuals in potency: therefore the soul of Christ comprehends infinite things.
15. Again, the soul of Christ comprehends some finite thing, such as a line, therefore it knows the principle of a line; but the principle of a line is a point: therefore it comprehends a point. But whoever comprehends something knows it according to its whole power : therefore since the potency of a point extends to infinite lines, and the soul of Christ comprehends the whole potency of a point: it is necessary that it comprehends infinite things.
16. Again, the soul of Christ loves everything lovable, therefore by equal reasoning it knows everything knowable: but everything that is known by God is knowable: therefore the soul of Christ knows everything that is known by God.
17. Again, the soul of Christ is altogether perfect; but in that which is altogether perfect, everything that is in potency is reduced to act: but the intellect of the soul of Christ is in potency to infinite things, because it never understands so many things that it cannot understand more: therefore since intelligible things in the one understanding them do not crowd one another out, therefore if the whole of its potency is reduced to act, it is necessary that it knows infinite things.
18. Furthermore, if the agent intellect were in full actuality with respect to all things toward which the possible intellect is in potency, anyone would understand infinite things. Therefore, since in the soul of Christ the Word united to it is in full actuality with respect to all things with respect to which the intellect of Christ's soul is in potency, the soul of Christ understands infinite things.
19. Furthermore, the soul of Christ either can learn something or nothing. If it can learn something, then it is not fully perfect in knowledge, and by the same reasoning neither in grace. If it can learn nothing, then it knows so much that it cannot know more; therefore it is necessary that it knows infinite things.
20. Furthermore, the soul of Christ either knows some of those things which God can do but will not do, or nothing. If it knows nothing of them, I ask what prevents this; for either this is because it cannot extend itself to those things, and that is manifestly false; or because God does not wish to reveal them to it, and this is a manifest absurdity, because it would take away from that soul the highest familiarity with the Word united to it. If it knows some of those things which He can do but will not do, there is no greater reason why it should know this rather than that; therefore it seems that it knows all things that are possible to God, therefore infinite things.
21. Furthermore, the soul of Christ either knows finite things or infinite things. If it knows finite things, since more can be thought than all finite things, then some soul could think more things than the soul of Christ knows; but it is absurd that some soul should surpass it in anything; therefore it is necessary to hold that it knows infinite things.