Prima Secundae
22. Replies on the Separated Soul; Does Beatitude Need a Perfect Body or Outside Goods? (I-II, Q.4, aa.5–7)
Class of 2011-04-15
https://berquistcourse.com/course/theology/11-prima-secundae/022-replies-on-the-separated-soul-does-beatitude-need-a-perfect/

[0:00] Okay. He says beatitude is a perfection of nature, right, huh? To the first, therefore, it should be said that beatitude is a perfection of the soul from the side of the understanding itself, huh, but according as the soul transcends the organs of the what body, huh. Not, however, according as it is the form of a natural body.

[0:28] So when we show that understanding doesn't what take place inside the body, right, which most people think it does, right. I've talked to you about that. We're talking about the soul, right, huh. I remember having a student in class that was convinced that. The brain is organ of thought, right? And so I came into class and I said,

[0:57] a blow to the eye interferes with seeing, right? Therefore, the eye is the organ of sight. A blow to the brain interferes with thinking. Therefore, the brain is the organ of thought. Said, alcohol going to the brain interferes with thinking. Therefore, the brain is the organ of thought.

[1:22] Then I took this example. Said, suppose you and I were in a room with no windows, and the only source of light was a little light bulb in the center of the room, and we could see each other because the light bulb was on and so on. And then I hit the light bulb. I can no longer see you. Well, therefore the light bulb is the organ of sight.

[1:51] Well, then you realize maybe there is some problem, right? Because hitting the light bulb interferes with seeing, just as hitting the eye does, right? But hitting the eye interferes with seeing by interfering with the organ of sight, right? Hitting the light bulb interferes with seeing not by interfering with the organ, but with the object of sight, okay?

[2:24] Just like you're leaving my this room interferes with my seeing you, right? But not by hurting my eye in some way, right? But by interfering or taking away in some sense the object of my sight, right? So now you realize that a blow on the brain or alcohol going to the brain or something like this interferes with thinking, right? And that shows that there's a connection between the brain and thinking, right?

[2:54] But whether it's that of organ or object, it doesn't tell you which it is, right? But now by separate argument we can argue that thinking is not in the body, and there's many ways of showing that Aristotle, you know, kind of develops it gradually because he studies the senses before he gets to the reason, huh? And he notices, for example, that the liquid in the eye, huh?

[3:24] Does it have a color? Was there an actual sound in the ear? Now you see that the senses seem to be more or less lacking the object that they are able to receive, right? And if my tongue, for example, was sugary, huh, like a all day sucker or something, it would interfere with my tasting different things, huh?

[3:57] And you notice how even, you know, the sense which is the most material in a way, the sense of touch, when you go into say the shower, right, huh? The water might be hot enough for you, but then after you're in there, why you might turn up the heat a little, right? Because the the heat has become the heat of your thing, and if you don't taste, you don't you don't feel it anymore, and so then Aristotle points out that reason is open to what understanding all material things, therefore it must lack in what material nature, right?

[4:33] It's a very concrete way he's presenting it, huh? But there are other arguments that he gives and touches upon, right? And the one that's very common is the fact that whatever is received in the continuous in the body is by that very fact individualized, huh, singular. So, but what a a triangle, let's say, is something what universal, right? So if it's universal, if it's singular when sensed, received in the sense organ, but universal when received in the in the reason, then the reason can't be a body itself, huh?

[5:22] Because if it were, it would receive the triangle or sphere as what in the continuous, and therefore as what singular, right? Or another way of showing this, which I'm kind of fond of myself,

[5:49] the triangle triangle say or the square, whatever you want to take of this sort, is something continuous, right? Its parts meet at a common boundary, right? It's divisible forever and so on.

[6:05] Now, when I receive square in my reason in a distinct way, by definition, right? And is the definition of square continuous? Do the parts meet equilateral and right-angled quadrilateral? Do they meet at a common boundary, right?

[6:28] Or are they divisible forever? So they're not continuous, right? Now, is it not continuous because of the thing being known? No, that is continuous, right? So our reason knows a continuous thing in an uncontinuous way. When the non- when the continuous thing is received in the reason, clearly in the form of a definition, it's received in a non-continuous way, right? It's a beautiful example, by the way, of how truth does not require that the way we know be the way things are, right?

[7:13] So, since the thing you're knowing in this case is something continuous, it must be due to the reason itself that it knows it in a non-continuous what way?

[7:28] So these are some of the ways we show that the reason itself, the understanding itself, is not a body, right? By the way, it knows, right?

[7:41] And therefore, the interference in thinking. By a blow in the brain or something of that. sort, must be on the side of the object, right? And as Aristotle shows there in the in the third book, the reason's own object is the what it is of something sensed or imagined, so it's on the side of the object that interferes with it.

[8:14] And so long as the soul is in the body, it's naturally turned towards the image, huh? So we're in the first objection, right? The beatitude is the perfection of the soul on the side of the understanding, by which the soul transcends the what organs of the body, huh? Now, how do you know that the soul transcends the organs of the body, right? Well, you have to be before you can do something, right, huh?

[8:50] So if the being of the soul was only in the body, it had being only in the body, you would have doing only in the body, right? So if it has a doing that is not in the body, then the being of the soul is not entirely in the body. It's not immersed, they say, in the body, right? And so the activity of understanding and a fortiori the activity of seeing God as He is, right, is of the soul insofar as it transcends the what body, huh?

[9:31] And that perfection of its nature remains according to which what beatitude is owed to it, huh? That's in the operation of the understanding insofar as it transcends the body, right?

[9:47] Although that perfection of nature, according to which it is the form of the body, doesn't remain, right? It's not informing the body when it's separated, right? But still has the existence which transcends the body. And the operation of seeing God is an operation of the soul insofar as it transcends the body. Now, what about the parts argument here in the second one here?

[10:21] To the second, should be said that the soul has itself in a different way towards being than the other parts, for the being of the whole is not of any of the what of its parts, whence either the part wholly ceases to be, the whole being destroyed, right? Just as the parts of the animal, when the animal is destroyed, huh? Or if it remained, they have another being in act as the part of a line, as another being then the what whole line, huh?

[10:57] But the human souls remain, but to the human soul remains the being of the composite after the destruction of the body. And this because there is the same what.

[11:14] Being of form and matter. Of form and matter, because and this is the being the composite, huh? But the soul always subsists in its own being, huh? But the soul has some being of its own, you might say, right, huh? That the body doesn't partake in, which is shown by the fact that it does something not in the body, namely understanding, right?

[11:36] Of course, the body has its existence by sharing the existence of the soul. But the soul has its own existence because it has its own, as we know from its having its own operation.

[11:54] And the yeah, for the soul subsists in its own being, right? Whence it remains that after separation from the body, it has what. A perfect being. Yeah. Whence is able to have a perfect what operation, although it does not have the perfect nature of the what species, huh?

[12:22] And we talked a lot about looking before and after, right, huh? And I was thinking the other day, what's the most universal before and after that the reason sees, huh?

[12:41] Well, you think that firsthand must be the before and after in being, right? Because being is what's of all, right? Can it be something that isn't a being? Okay. So what's the before and after in being? Well. Say well, as you know, there's two main distinctions of being. One is into substance and accident, which you meet even in the categories. And Aristotle shows in the metaphysics that substance, in many ways, is before what.

[13:17] Accident, huh? Some accidents are before other accidents, but this is enough to give the general idea, right? And then the ninth book, when he distinguishes ability and act, potency and act, then he shows in the third part that act is in almost every way before ability, huh?

[13:47] Okay. In many ways, before in knowledge, before in time and being, and so on. Okay. So those are pretty, pretty, pretty universal things here. huh? Um

[14:02] anything else as universal as that, those two before is. Before oneself. right? Like whether before yourself or um can't be before yourself, nothing's before itself. Yeah, that's the axiom. Nothing is before after itself. You might say everything is either a substance or an accident, right? It's an act and ability. Maybe you could say everything is either a cause or an effect or both, right? And the cause is of course, one of the senses of before.

[14:43] That's that's very universal, right? Okay. So these are the main candidates, right? In some sense, act and ability is more universal than substance and accident. So we could, you know, argue down. This hair is, of course, seems to be a pretty universal. Everything is either cause or effect. God is a cause. God is a pure act, and so on. He's not really substance in that genus, right?

[15:14] So these. How about this one here? The to itself is before the through another. I mean, sometimes you see substance is being per se to itself, right? Accident as being only in substance, right? And act seems to be actual through itself and being act, right? But ability is actual only through some kind of act like form.

[16:09] What sense is the through itself before the through another? What sense before? Yeah. Second sense. Second sense, yeah. So sugar can be sweet without the coffee being sweet, but the coffee can't be sweet without the sugar, huh? And in the other sense it's before? Fifth one. Fourth, fifth. Yeah, it tends to be in fifth sense, right? Because what is so to another is so because of what is so to itself.

[16:46] So the coffee is sweet because the sugar is sweet. Okay. So to some extent, the fifth sense, right? Um. Maybe also in the fourth sense, right? Okay. Okay. When you say that the

[17:06] through itself is more perfect, right? That's where Aristotle picks this up as one of the words attached to perfect, right? Um. And certainly, what is so to itself is more so than what is so to another, right? And so even if sugar was not good, certainly what is sweet to itself is more sweet than what is sweet to another, right? Okay. And of course, you can apply this also to a knowledge, right?

[17:42] Just going to say because statements that are known to other statements. presupposed. statements that are known to themselves, right? And so this is this is all universal, right? Okay. Now

[18:04] you could say that matter has being through what form, right? By form could have being what to itself, right? And that's why apart from these things that are composed in matter in form, which are all around us, right? There's another world of things that are just forms. There's another world of things that are just matter. It couldn't be right. Because then what as being through another would be existing by itself, right?

[18:42] By itself. So because the body has being finally through the form, right? The soul might have some being through itself, right? Without the body, right? And that's the case of the human soul. How do you know that it has being through itself? You see, which the body is sharing in. Well, it's because it has an operation; it does something not in the body, namely understanding, huh? The universal, understanding the continuous in a non-continuous what way, right?

[19:19] So this is what Thomas is touching upon here, right? He said Anima humani, but to the human soul remains the being of the composite after the body of the destruction, destruction of the body. And this is because they're the same thing is the being of the form and of the matter, right? And this is the being of the composite. But the what the body is sharing in the being of the soul, but not what completely sharing imperfectly, right?

[19:52] But the soul subsists in its own what being? Huh? Whence it remains that after the separation of the body, it has perfect being, right? Whence is he able to have a perfect operation, although it does not have the perfect nature of the what species, huh?

[20:16] Now, what about beatitude being the perfection of man, right? Huh? To the third, therefore, it should be said that beatitude is of man according to his what understanding. And therefore, the understanding remaining, there can be in him beatitude.

[20:39] Just as what the teeth of the Ethiop strange example, are able to be white even after their what expulsion, huh? By which the Ethiop is said to be white. It's come down to a little bit, right down to the civil rights movement, boy. There, guys

[21:03] put up that sign there in Manhattan. There, he was organization. The head of it is a black man, and you know, I think you know, cleric or something. But he was, you know, upset about the fact that you know that they concentrate upon the black population for their, you know, the bulk of their business, right? And and Sanger, you know, the founder there was was definitely racist.

[21:25] He wanted to get rid of those inferior races and cut them down. Anyway, okay. You know, Aristotle talks about those two happinesses there, in the tenth book they have this life, right? He speaks of the happiness of the looking life, right, which consists in in the knowledge of wisdom as being a divine happiness, right? And the other happiness, a kind of human happiness, right, the that of political foresight, right.

[22:03] Like Churchill said, he'd been happy in his life, right? No, he wasn't. He speaks of the head of government, right? The head of, You read about how Churchill, you know, he finally got power there, you know, when the the Second World War there, you know, went to bed, you know, put your action on. You think that'd be the first night he wouldn't get any sleep, right? No, no, he's a

[22:33] ride, you know. He went went went back onto the naval first, you know, head of the naval before he became prime minister, right? Of course, when he became head of the navy, he sent a message out to all the fleet, you know, Winston is back.

[22:58] Okay, now the fourth objection about some impediment here. Text here from Augustine. Someone have a nice translation that text of Augustine. In the fourth objection. In the fourth objection.

[23:29] Text of Augustine. Yeah, the twelfth super genesis. The soul has a natural desire to rule the body. The result of which is that it is held back, so as to contending and falling to might to the heavenward yearning. Yes, division of minds. Yeah, because if it can't fully devote itself to seeing God, it is still kind of what? It's desire to, you know, disturb the body, right?

[23:55] Okay. To the fourth, it should be said that in two ways something is impeded from another. In one way, by way of contrariety, as coldness impedes the action of what heat, and such an impediment of operation is repugnant to happiness.

[24:22] Another way, by way of a certain defect, because the thing impeded does not have whatever is required for, in every way, its perfection, right?

[24:39] And such an impediment of operation is not repugnant to happiness, huh? But to, in every way, its perfection. So Thomas is admitting, you know, he had questions too great in his minds, huh? That not in every way is our beatitude what perfect, right? Ah, even though it's essentially there in seeing God, right? Huh? But you want to get your body back, right?

[25:06] And such a separation from the body is said to retard the soul, lest, with its whole intention, right? Huh? It tend to the vision of what the divine essence, right? Huh? Ah, for the soul desires thus to enjoy God, that also its what enjoyment is derived to the body by a kind of what overflow, as is possible, huh? And thus, as long as it enjoys God without the body, its appetite thus rests in that which it has, but that nevertheless it wishes, right?

[25:52] Ah. By retaining its happiness. Yeah. Wishes body to in the way that the body can share in that beatitude, right? Huh. Makes sense, huh? I mean, like if you went to see your first grandchild but your wife wasn't there yet, you wanted to be there so you could share, but you're perfectly happy with your grandchild. I think it's examples like that. You're happy with it, but you want someone else to share.

[26:19] Yeah. Well, the grandchild is dead, then you couldn't enjoy, right? That would be impediment, right? To join the grandchild. Okay. Now the fifth objection, right?

[26:38] That beatitude is a sufficient good that puts to rest the desire, right? Now, was it completely at rest the desire, given that the body is not there, right? Huh? To the fifth, it should be said that the desire of the soul separated wholly rests on the side of what the desirable, right? Because it has that which suffices for its what desire, namely God. But it does not totally rest on the side of the one what desiring, because that good it does not possess in every way in which it is able to what wish and possess.

[27:21] Yeah. And therefore, the body resumed, the beatitude increases, not intensive, right, But extensive, right? That's a distinction that Thomas will make up a lot. To he's talking about, say, there's more joy in heaven over one sinner, right? Repent. That's kind of what the joy extends to more things than before, but it's not more intense. It's kind of interesting, huh? You know, I mean, is the beatitude of the angel, strictly speaking, increased by my turning from my evil ways, right?

[28:00] Is my guardian angel more happy now, right? He has a certain joy, right, but it's more that his joy now extends even to me, right? Okay, but it's not more intense. Okay. Now, this last text here, which is again from Augustine, I guess, in the same place.

[28:45] That the soul without the body is not equal to the angels, right? Yeah, I thought we're more equal to the angels, but... Remember my little cousin that died there, little girl, cute little girl, but just a little thing. She died, you know, very sad. But the priest told my my aunt there that, oh yeah, he's an angel now. She's an angel now, you know. But according to what Augustine is saying here, you're not equal to the angels yet, right?

[29:17] Until you, to. Okay, to that which is said there, that the spirits of the what dead, right, do not thus see God as the angels do, right? Should not be understood according to the inequality of what quantity, huh? Because even what now, some souls are blessed. Are assumed taken up to the higher orders, of the angels, huh? They more clearly see God than than the lower angels in this case, right?

[29:55] So maybe the apostles, right, and certainly. Mary. But it's understood according to the inequality of proportion. Because the angels, even the lowest, have every perfection of beatitude which they are going to have, but not yet the separated souls of the saints.

[30:23] That's quite a quite interesting, article, huh? Mm-hmm. So Thomas is saying essentially, substantially, the separated souls that see God face to face have their beatitude, right huh? There's a certain what? Desire. Yeah, for the body to be joined and to share in the beatitude of the soul, right? I suppose that applies also to a married couple. If one spouse dies, they're not going to be happy until the other spouse dies.

[31:13] What do they do in India there where they burn the the the the woman? The man dies first. Hopefully, they were happy together. Gardening's a lot easier, isn't it?

[31:48] Think of sometimes a person wants a nice house or something like this, right now, you know, you can still read Thomas in a little shack or something, you know, and to talk for you know, said he first read Henry the Fourth in a log cabin, you know, but still, you know, it would be nicer to read Shakespeare at Versailles or someplace. That that might be too much of a distraction.

[32:16] but someplace a little more modest maybe. Yeah. I mean, you know, I visit some of these mansions, and basically they have really nice libraries, right? and say, Oh, I'd like to sit in there and read my books, you know, huh? With the fire, going. Even even you go down to John Adams' house in Boston, there, you know, there's a um, a round, you know room at that you know the library room, Even that, is kind of nice, you know.

[32:40] Yeah, yeah. But uh, I don't know if you ever been to Biltmore Estate, you know, and Yeah. you know, oh boy, they got a nice library there, right? Yeah. Of course, it was set up so you could there's a second you know reading with the books up there you know and so on you could come from the bedroom right you know without going down to the living room right you know to come with you with a you know robe or something you can come and get a book you know to accompany you to bed you know but that's a nice looking library

[33:09] should be a monastery don't you think should donate that to the monastery how about the Valde? There's a place I used to go in the old university there there's faculties still left in the in the

[33:23] old town you know and it's kind of nice in their faculty of English was there and there's some nice old volumes of Shakespeare back up there and into the evening there you know before they closed, I'd go to a few scenes or something you know look over the city you know So. I'll. Take a little break now. Here, sure. Wither for beatitude, has required some outside goods, right?

[33:55] Exterior goods. huh? To the seventh, one goes forward thus. Oh, excuse me. Okay, can't old age here. Wither for beatitude has required some perfection of the body, huh?

[34:20] Still stuck with the body, here okay. But I can see Chesterton would be good for this, huh? I think it's? Common sense here, Thomas.

[34:36] To the sixth, then one proceeds thus. It seems that the perfection of the body is not required for the perfect beatitude of man. For the perfection of the body is a certain, what bodily good. But above it has been shown that beatitude does not consist in bodily goods. Therefore, for the beatitude of man, there is not required some perfect disposition of the body. So can you be blessed there?

[35:06] Missing an arm or a leg there or something, huh? Having an ugly body and so forth. Yeah. But maybe you know you know see the essential distinction, right? Moreover, the beatitude of man consists in the vision of the divine essence. But for this operation, the body shows nothing, huh? This

[35:36] has been said. Therefore, no disposition of the body is required for beatitude, huh? So the ugly man, like Socrates, is supposed to be what the ugliest man in Athens, right, huh?

[35:49] But he's going to see God. This is clearly, despite being ugly, you know, it's a movie actor. He gets up there. Moreover, the more the understanding is what to the extent the the understanding is more separated from the body, the more perfectly it understands, huh? This is the argument of Socrates, right, huh? Thomas develops from Socrates there, huh? That the understanding is perfected by what being separated from the body.

[36:22] That's why he's become the absent-minded professor, right, huh? And therefore, how can it be what cease to be when it's separated from the body? Because the road to perfection and the road to destruction are not the are contrary, huh?

[36:39] But beatitude consists in the most perfect operation of the understanding. So when Saint Paul was carried up to third heaven, you know, whether in the body or not, he doesn't even know, right? He's not even aware of his body, huh? And he says to go into elevation, off the floor, you know, He said, Avila. they're not aware of their body at all, right? There. So how can this, you know, but beatitude consists in the most perfect operation of the understanding.

[37:06] Therefore, it is necessary that in all ways the soul be abstracted from the body, right? In no ways, therefore, is there required some disposition of the body for beatitude.

[37:23] But against this is it that the reward of virtue is beatitude? Huh. Whence it is said in John thirteen, you'll be blessed if you what do these things, huh?

[37:36] But to saints is promised for reward not only the vision of God and the delight of this vision, but also the good disposition of the body. For it is said in Isaiah fourteen, you shall see, and your heart will rejoice. Huh. That's the first things huh. Gaudium de veritate, and your bones, right? Like herbs will germinate, huh?

[38:08] My wife was giving that interesting little thing about the, I think was Saint Martin of Tours, I guess. He had all these monks that were carrying his body when his funeral, right? And as they passed the trees, the trees suddenly blossomed. You know. What a beautiful image, you know. Just. Yeah. But here's here's the bones themselves. Yeah. Yeah. Browning. Yeah. All right.

[38:37] I told you. Listen, the woman there who worked with Mother Teresa, she was saying, I don't know what what the authority was for it, but one of these persons who saw Mary, right, who Mary appeared to, you know, she had to ask her, "Why are you so beautiful? " And Mary says, "Well, because I love. " That's kind of very interesting, I think.

[39:04] So the more you love, maybe the more beautiful you'll be in heaven, huh? Therefore, the good disposition of the body is required for beatitude because it's part of the reward, huh? The bones, huh? Okay. Thomas doesn't have any reply to that. Said, "Contrary, it's going to stand. " I answer. It should be said that if we speak of the beatitude of man such as can be had in this life, it is manifest that for it a necessity is required the good disposition of the body, right?

[39:43] For beat for this beatitude consists, according to the philosopher. In the operation of perfect virtue, but it is manifest that through the what condition of the body, right, indisposition, yeah,

[40:03] man is able to be impeded in every operation of what virtue. But if we speak about the perfect beatitude, thus some lay down that there is not required for beatitude any decision of the body; nay, rather for it the soul must be altogether separated from the what body. This is the way Socrates seems to think in the dialogues, right?

[40:35] Body is a impediment to thinking. Whence Augustine says in the twenty-second book of the City of God, he introduces the words of Porphyry, right, saying that in order that the soul be blessed, every body ought to be what flee, including your own.

[41:00] But this is inconvenient. This is not fitting. Why? Because it is natural to the soul to be joined to the body. huh? It is not possible then that the perfection of the soul exclude its what Natural. natural perfection?

[41:23] And therefore it should be said that for beatitude to be perfect in all ways, there is required the that's kind of distinction, right? Omnibus modis, right? Not essentially, right? There is required a perfect decision of the body both before and what after? Huh? Thomas, looking before and after again.

[41:49] Antecedently, because as Augustine says in the twelfth book on Genesis to the letter, if such be the body, right, of which the administration is difficult and grave,

[42:06] just as the flesh which is what corrupt, right, weighs down the soul, huh, averting the mind from that what vision of the highest heavens. Whence he concludes that since this body already is not what animal but spiritual, which doesn't mean it's not a body, then it is what made equal to the angels, and it will be for glory that was what sackcloth.

[42:50] Yeah, it means a sack. Yeah. But so it's like just your baggage. Yeah. Baggage for your bones. Don't say the bag of bones. Consequently, because from the beatitude of the soul, there comes about a certain redunding to the body, right? Huh? That it joys its, what? perfection. Well, that's what that woman was saying was said by Mary. That would be a very striking example of it, right?

[43:28] Huh? Why you so beautiful? In the body, right? Huh? Yeah. Because I love, right? So if the more you love, the more the soul overflow into the body. We talk about Mother, you know, Treesa, she's, kind of, you know, a lot of pictures here, you know, old woman, you know, and kind of wrinkled face, but I guess when she. was tending these poor, poor people dying there in Calcutta, wherever it was.

[43:54] You know, she seemed extremely beautiful. She said, when you watch her, you know, you know, when she treats you, you know, great love and respect and so on. It was kind of interesting, you know.

[44:08] Well, your grandmother looked beautiful to you, I suppose, even though she may have been old. But she, you know, treats you with great love and respect and so on.

[44:18] Whence Augustine says in the Epistle to Dioscorus, of such potent nature does God make the soul, right? That from its most full beatitude, there what overflows, you might say. To the lower nature, strength of incorruption Uh huh, vigor of incorruption to the what lower nature, right? So your body is. I guess when you have the beatific vision, it's enough to make your bones immortal. Yeah. That's what sounds like to me.

[44:50] That's what it sounds like to say. That makes your flesh immortal. Oh. Now, what about the first objection that beatitude doesn't consist in the bodily good? To the first, therefore, it should be said, and that in that bodily good does not consist beatitude, as in the object of beatitude, huh? And but that bodily good can make something what can make do something for the adornment, or perfection of beatitude, Beauty, youth, like something like that.

[45:33] Now, Now, the second objection: The beatitude of man consists in the vision of the divine essence, but the body does nothing for this, right? The operation, except to distract you from it, right? Watch where you put on, you know. and so on. I don't think we have that problem in heaven.

[45:54] The second, it should be said, that although the body confers nothing to that operation of the understanding by which the essence of God is seen, right? Huh. Nevertheless, it is able to what impede one from this, huh? And therefore, there is required a perfection of body that it does not impede the elevation of the mind, huh?

[46:27] Now, third objection there. Got to be abstracted from the body, right? Force it down, as an enemy, right? The third, it should be said that for the perfect operation of the understanding, there is required abstraction from this corruptible body, right?

[46:54] Which what weighs down the soul, right? But not from the spiritual body. That is to say, the body that will be called spiritual because it will be wholly subject to the what spirit, right? About which, in the third part of this work, we will speak. Only speaks of the resurrected body. I guess the bodies of the damned will be weighed down, you know, and you know, to lug that around with it all the time will be part of your punishment.

[47:24] Yeah, I always have that image of Dante of the suicides, you know, with, their bodies flung in the tree. It's just horrible. Give me time for another article or not Sure Okay, Whether for beatitude is required. Other, some exterior goods, right? Huh? Got to have my books there or something, maybe, or by what, by beautiful wine glass or something, you know? By paintings and so on. To the seventh one proceeds thus: It seems that for beatitude are required always going to have exterior goods.

[48:06] Shucks! Can't take it with you, as they say. Your beautiful house and whatever it is, yeah. For what is promised as a reward to the saints pertains to beatitude, but the saints are promised exterior goods as food and drink, wealth and kingdom, right? Huh? First seven, Luke twenty-two: You shall eat and drink on my table or at my table, right? In my kingdom, huh? In Matthew six, huh?

[48:43] Treasure up for yourselves treasures in heaven, right? Huh? In Matthew twenty-five, come, blessed of my Father, to possess the kingdom, right? Wow! It sounds like what got the Jews in problem there with Christ. They expected the Messiah to really be

[49:02] strong in possessions, kingly. Therefore, to beatitude are required exterior goods. They probably weren't opposed to the spiritual kingdom, but they wanted the material one too.

[49:17] All this in heaven too. Moreover, according to Boethius in the third book of the Consolation, beatitude is a state made perfect by the bringing together of all goods. Well, exterior goods are part of it maybe the less lesser goods, but they're part of the goods, right? But the exterior goods are some goods of men, although the the least, as Augustine says, and as Aristotle says. So, therefore, they also required for beatitude.

[49:46] Got to have the Lucullus feast or something, you know. Moreover, the Lord says, "Your reward is what much in heaven, but to be in heaven signifies to be in a place. Therefore, at least the exterior place is required for beatitude. " And Thomas, when he talks about these three things, you know, the the

[50:14] descent into hell, right? The resurrection and then the ascension, right? He does have one text there by the you know the goods of the soul, the goods of the body, and the what? Yeah. So when he went down to hell, right? He gave the beatific vision to the prophets there, right? That's the good of the soul, and the resurrection, obviously, the good of the body, right? And then going to a suitable place, ascension.

[50:44] Yeah, so those are the three goods: the goods. Against this is what is said in Psalm seventy-two. What is it to me to be in heaven? I guess. What What is there for me to be in heaven? Yeah. And from you, what do I wish upon earth? Or beside apart from you. Yeah. It's just to say, nothing other do I wish except this that follows for me to adhere to God is good, huh?

[51:15] Not to adhere to the. Okay. Therefore, nothing other, nothing other exterior is required for beatitude, huh? Well, what does the master say now? Dying here, what the master says. Answer should be said that for imperfect beatitude, huh? Such as is able to be had in this life, there are required outside what goods,

[51:45] huh? Not as as were existing in the essence of beatitude, right? As if they are the very nature of beatitude, right? But tool like, huh? Tool like, instrumentaliter serving beatitude, huh? Which consists in the operation of virtue, as is said in the first book of the Nicomachean Ethics. But man needs in this life. Things necessary. Yeah. Both for the operation, contemplative virtue. Both for the operation of contemplative virtue, as regards also the operation of active virtue, to which even more things are required, right?

[52:30] So even the man, like the philosopher, needs some exterior things, right? You know, philosophers deny that matter exists, right? And they go to a nice dinner or something, you know, make fun of them, you know, because

[52:44] they sit there reading their books, you know, that matter doesn't exist and all this other nonsense, and then then they go to dinner, you know. Now that they cash in on right now. Yeah. I should say about Bishop Berkeley. You know, Bishop Berkeley opens the door of his study before he tries to leave it.

[53:17] So man needs in this life the necessities of the body, both for the operation of contemplative virtue. The man sitting makes wisdom, right? Needs a chair. Yeah, a chair, right?

[53:29] And but even more so for the operation of active virtue, right? So how can I be generous if I don't have any money to be generous with, right? Long beneficent, huh?

[53:45] But for the perfect beatitude, which consists in the vision of God, nullo modo are these goods of this sort required, right? Why? The reason for which is because all of these exterior goods are either required for the sustaining of the what animal body, right? Or they're required for what some operations which we what exert through the body.

[54:22] We we do it through our body, the animal body, right? Which belong to what human life, huh? But that beatitude, which consists in the vision of God, will it will be either in what the soul without the body, or in the soul united to the body, no longer animal but spiritual. That's Saint Paul's way of speaking, right?

[54:51] And therefore, in no way are these exterior goods required for that beatitude, since ordered to the what animal life, huh? So the body will not need what food. Often wonder what it needs to breathe. I don't know whether it will breathe. Kind of hard to. It's hard enough to understand, you know, not living living without eating or drinking or sleeping, right? You want to eat or drink or sleep, right?

[55:17] But how about breathing? You know, seems kind of strange that doesn't breathe. Well, Christ spoke after the resurrection, so he had to breathe for his vocal cords to operate. Yeah, yeah, but he ate too. I mean, it was just to show he's alive. Yeah, yeah. A man doesn't eat or drink or sleep for. Yeah. Well, and he breathed on them. He breathed on and said it. There you go.

[55:42] He can't send the Holy Spirit without breathing. That's it. insufflatio. And because in this life, huh, more right approaches in likeness of that perfect beatitude, the contemplative happiness, right, than the active, right, which the two in Aristotle distinguishes in the tenth book there. But he says that the contemplative one is is a divine happiness, right? In the practical foresight, huh, is a type of foresight, political foresight, is a human happiness.

[56:28] As being more what like God, right? And therefore, it even less needs the what Goods of the body. the goods of this body, right, of this sort, as Aristotle says in the tenth book of the Ethics.

[56:55] Now the first objection, of course, is taking things that I said metaphorically, right? To the first, therefore, it should be said that all those bodily promises which are contained in sacred Scripture should be understood metaphorically, metaphorically, huh? according as in Scripture spiritual things are accustomed to be designated through bodily things, so that from those things that we know we might rise up to desire the things unknown, as Gregory says in a certain homily.

[57:31] That's a famous quote from him. Just as to food and drink is understood the what pleasure of the attitude. So through what wealth, the sufficiency by which man, right? God is sufficient for a man. Okay. And Christ, what does Christ say? You know, the man. Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure found in the field. And through the kingdom, the exaltation of man, all the way up to a joining, a union, with what?

[58:14] Conjunction with God, right? Okay, so that's a common thing we talked about back in question one, right? When the scriptures speak metaphorically, right? To second, it should be said that these what goods serve the animal life, right? Huh? But they do not belong to the spiritual life in which perfect beatitude consists. But nevertheless, in that beatitude, the congregation of bringing together of all goods, there will be that bringing together of all goods.

[58:55] Nevertheless, in that beatitude, because whatever of good is found in such things, the whole is what had in the highest fountain of goods, which, as soon as God, sumo fonte, the highest fountain of goods. Sounds interesting. Description of God, huh? Exhaustible fountain, right? Huh? What does the the devil do in spouts? There, you know, he he has to screw something into the table there, and then wine comes out.

[59:30] You know, and there's no end to it. You know. Well, he. This is what God is, right? Huh? Metaphorically speaking, right? Huh? He's that fountain that never goes out, huh? The torrent of delight. Yeah, yeah. Summo fonte, highest fountain of goods. So.

[59:55] Okay. To the third, should be said that according to Augustine, in the book on the Sermon of Our Lord on the Mountain, the rewards the saints are not said to be in bodily heavens, right? But through heavens is understood the altitude of spiritual goods. Huh.

[1:00:22] Nevertheless, the what bodily place, perium heaven, right? Huh. Will be for the blessed, huh? Not in account of the celestial beatitude, but according to a certain what.

[1:00:38] Congruence and decor, right? That they should be in a level place, huh? Yeah, but I'm not exactly sure about where that is, huh? Right now, in the theories of the universe, huh? But you won't be in an ugly place, I'm sure. No, I'm sure there'll be matter and having. Yeah, yeah. So

[1:01:04] you know, having setting with golden streets over there, yeah, pearls and gates and. Say, I'm there. You know, they they found this little thing. My one of my aunts, my father's sisters, had written. You know, and she was young when she interviewed some of the older relatives. You know, why they'd come over from Sweden to America, and how people had come back. You know, and told them, you know, in Sweden, you know, they'd visit here.

[1:01:33] The streets, Sweden, were paved with gold. I mean, that—that's kind of a nice historical document. This is a little, you know, letter of my aunt, Aunt Gertrude. Actually, her name was my mother. Yeah, yeah. So my father married a Gertrude, and his sister, one of his sisters, was Gertrude. But she had done this, you know, as a high school or grade school, I think, lesson, you know, to interview your grandmother or something like that, you know, and she, you know, told what the the excitement, you know, when when someone came back and told the things they like over here, you know, and it wasn't quite that way when they get over here.

[1:02:14] My father's father, you know, was a blacksmith there in Parker's Prairie. You know, that's a pretty rough job, and yeah, I think he tried to drink a little too much sometimes. You got to cool off.