The mission of the Order of Preachers, as the name of the order suggests, is a practical one. St Dominic formed his band of friars to combat the Albigensian heresy by bringing to the people the authentic message of Christianity. It was Dominic’s genius to realize that this practical task required a thorough intellectual and spiritual training. As if by instinct, he was drawn to the University of Paris and he wanted his friars to become proficient in theology so that the truth they popularized in sermons and in pastoral care would be solidly anchored in reflective thought.
One of the mottoes of the Dominicans is contemplata tradere – to pass on to others truths arrived at by contemplation. In the following treatise, Thomas examines the contrast between the contemplative and practical lives and, like Aristotle, allows that a human being might lead a contemplative life not because all he did was think and meditate, but because that was the dominant note of his life.
One of the misgivings often expressed about Aristotle’s account of human happiness in Book 10 of the Nicomachean Ethics is that the contemplation he speaks of there would seem to be impossibly recherché and to propose it as the nature of human happiness has a somewhat Pickwickian air about it. This is a hasty criticism, however frequently heard. One well versed in that culminating book of Aristotle’s Ethics will be prepared for the discussion below.
It is particularly interesting to compare this chapter with Chapter 9. Thomas was a master of theology, his whole adult life was spent in teaching. Was this activity one of the practical or of the contemplative life? He insists that it is practical. But, in keeping with the Dominican motto cited above, he also insists that teaching reposes on a contemplative foundation.
The treatise below is taken from the Summa theologiae and is a typical theological inquiry, taking off from a philosophical base and bringing the results of natural inquiry under the light of faith. Aristotle’s insight that contemplation fulfils maximally the human desire for happiness is complemented by the Christian hope that our ultimate happiness will consist in the beatifying vision of God, face to face. Here is contemplation par excellence.
Summa theologiae, First Part of the Second Part,
Questions 179–81
QUESTION 179
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE ACTIVE AND CONTEMPLATIVE LIVES
We must now consider the active and contemplative lives and there are four things to be taken up, of which the first is the division of life into active and contemplative; second, on the contemplative life; third, on the active life; fourth, a comparison of the active and the contemplative life. The first involves two questions: (1) whether life is fittingly divided by the active and contemplative, and (2) whether the division is sufficient.
Article 1: Is life fittingly divided into the contemplative and active?
It seems that it is not.
1. The soul is by its essence the principle of life, for the Philosopher says in On the Soul 2 that for living things to exist is to live. But the principle of action and of contemplation is the soul through its powers. Therefore, it seems that life is not fittingly divided into the active and contemplative.
2. Moreover, the prior is unfittingly divided by the differences of the posterior, but active and contemplative, or speculative and practical, are differences of intellect, as is clear in On the Soul 3. But to live is prior to understanding, for living is in living things first because of the vegetable soul, as is clear from the Philosopher in On the Soul 2. Therefore, life is unfittingly divided into active and contemplative.
3. Moreover, the word life implies motion, as is evident from Dionysius in On the Divine Names 6. But contemplation consists rather of rest, according to Wisdom 8, ‘Entering into my home, I will rest with her.’ Therefore, it seems that life is not fittingly divided into active and contemplative.
ON THE CONTRARY:
Gregory says on Ezekiel that there are two lives about which the almighty God teaches us through sacred eloquence, namely the active and contemplative.
RESPONSE:
It should be said that those things are properly called living that move themselves or act. That especially belongs to a thing in itself which is proper to it and to which it is especially inclined. Therefore, every living thing shows itself to be alive by the activity most proper to it, to which it is most inclined, as the life of plants is said to consist in this that they are nourished and generate, that of animals in this that they sense and move, that of men in this that they understand and act according to reason. Hence too among men the life of each man seems to be that in which he takes most delight, and thus a man takes special delight in being with friends, as is said in Ethics 9.12. Therefore, because some men tend chiefly to contemplation of truth, and others to exterior actions, the life of man is fittingly distinguished into active and contemplative.
Ad 1. It should be said that the proper form of a thing which makes it actually to be is the principle of its proper operation. Thus it is said that for living things to be is to live, because as living things have existence from their form, they act in such and such a manner.
Ad 2. It should be said that life taken universally is not distinguished into active and contemplative, but the life of man, which is specified from the fact that he has an intellect. Therefore, the division of intellect and of human life is the same.
Ad 3. It should be said that contemplation is indeed rest from exterior movement, none the less to contemplate is itself a motion of intellect, insofar as any activity can be called motion, as the Philosopher says in On the Soul 3.7, that to sense and to understand are kinds of motion, where motion means the act of the perfected; and this is the way Dionysius in On the Divine Names 4 mentions three motions of the contemplating soul, namely straight, circular and oblique.
Article 2: Is life sufficiently divided into the active and contemplative?
It seems that it is not.
1. In Ethics 1 the Philosopher says that there are three especially excellent lives, namely the life lived for pleasure, the civil life, which seems to be the active, and the contemplative. The division of life into the active and contemplative, therefore, is not a sufficient one.
2. Augustine, in the City of God 19, sets down three kinds of life: the life of leisure, which pertains to contemplation, the active, which pertains to the active live, and he adds a third which is a compound of the two. Therefore, it seems that life is insufficiently divided into the active and contemplative.
3. Moreover, the life of man is differentiated insofar as men devote themselves to different activities. But the activities pursued are many more than two. Therefore, it seems that life ought to be divided into more types than the active and contemplative.
ON THE CONTRARY:
The two wives of Jacob symbolize these two lives, Leah the active, Rachel the contemplative, and they are also symbolized by the two women who received the Lord into their home, the contemplative by Mary, the active by Martha, as Gregory says in the Morals 6. But this would not be a fitting symbolization if there were more than two lives. Therefore, life is sufficiently divided into the active and contemplative.
RESPONSE:
It should be said that this division is one of human life, as was pointed out, and this is read from intellect. But the intellect is distinguished into the active and contemplative, because the end of intellectual knowledge is either the very knowledge of the truth, which pertains to contemplative intellect, or it is some exterior action, which pertains to the practical or active life. Therefore, life seems sufficiently divided into the active and the contemplative.
Ad 1. It should be said that the life lived for pleasure makes bodily pleasure its end, but this is common to us and the brutes. Hence, as the Philosopher says in the same place, it is a bestial life. That is why it is not put into the present division when human life is distinguished into active and contemplative.
Ad 2. It should be said that the middle is made up of the extremes and therefore virtue is contained within them, as the lukewarm in the hot and cold, and the pale in the white and black. Similarly that which is composed of both is contained in the contemplative and active. However, as in any mixture, one of the components predominates, so in the middle type of life sometimes the contemplative dominates, sometimes the active.
Ad 3. It should be said that the aims of all human actions, if they are ordered to the necessity of the present life according to right reason, pertain to the active life, which by ordered action looks to the needs of the present life. But if they serve one’s concupiscence, then they pertain to the life of pleasure, which is not contained within the active life. Human pursuits which are ordered to the consideration of truth pertain to the contemplative life.
QUESTION 180
ON THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE
Next the contemplative life must be considered and eight questions are asked in its regard: (1) is the contemplative life in the affections or only in the intellect? (2) whether the moral virtues pertain to the contemplative life; (3) whether the contemplative life consists of one act or several; (4) whether the consideration of every truth pertains to the contemplative life; (5) whether man’s contemplative life can in this world rises to the vision of God; (6) concerning the movements of the contemplative life mentioned by Dionysius in On the Divine Names 4; (7) on the delights of contemplation; (8) on the duration of contemplation.
Article 1: Does the contemplative life involve affection as well as intellect?
The answer seems to be no.
1. The Philosopher says in Metaphysics 2 that truth is the end of contemplation, but truth pertains wholly to intellect. Therefore, it seems that the contemplative life consists totally in the intellect.
2. Moreover, Gregory says in the Morals on Job 6 that Rachel – her name means the principle beheld – signifies the contemplative life. But the beholding of the principle pertains properly to intellect. Therefore, the contemplative life properly pertains to intellect.
3. Gregory says in On Ezekiel 2.2 that refraining from exterior action pertains to the contemplative life. But the affective or appetitive power inclines to exterior actions. Therefore, it seems that the contemplative life in no way pertains to the appetitive power.
ON THE CONTRARY:
Gregory says in the same place that the contemplative life is to hold with the whole mind the love of God and neighbour, with the sole desire of adhering to the maker. But desire and love pertain to the affective or appetitive power, as was said above. Therefore, the contemplative has something in the affective or appetitive power too.
RESPONSE:
It should be said, as has been remarked, that the life of those who chiefly intend the contemplation of truth is called contemplative. But intention is an act of will, as has been shown, because intention is of the end, which is the object of the will. Therefore, the contemplative life, as to the essence of its activity, pertains to intellect, but with respect to that which moves such an operation to exercise, it pertains to the will, which moves all the other powers, even intellect, to their acts, as was said above.
The appetitive power moves to inspecting something either sensibly or intellectually, sometimes out of love of the thing seen, because, as is said in Matthew 6.21: ‘For where thy treasure is, there also will thy heart be.’ Sometimes out of love of the knowledge which follows on inspection. Because of this Gregory constitutes the contemplative life in the charity of God, insofar as someone out of love of God burns to see his beauty. And because one takes delight in attaining what he loves, the contemplative life terminates in delight, which is in the affection, from which love too is intended.
Ad 1. It should be said that because truth is the end of contemplation it has the note of the desirable and lovable and delighting. And thus it pertains to the appetitive power.
Ad 2. It should be said that love of him incites to the vision of the first principle, namely God. Hence Gregory says, in On Ezekiel, that one living the contemplative life, having conquered all care, burns to see the face of his creator.
Ad 3. It should be said that the appetitive power not only moves the bodily members to exercise exterior actions but also intellect to exercise the activity of contemplation, as has been said.
Article 2: Do the moral virtues pertain to the contemplative life?
It seems that they do.
1. Gregory says in On Ezekiel that the contemplative life is to hold the love of God and neighbour with the whole mind. But all the moral virtues, with respect to whose acts precepts of the law are given, are reduced to the love of God and neighbour, because love is the fulfilment of the law, as is said in Romans 13.10: ‘Love therefore is the fulfilment of the law.’ Therefore, the moral virtues seem to pertain to the contemplative life.
2. Moreover, the contemplative life is chiefly ordered to the contemplation of God, for Gregory says, in On Ezekiel, that, having conquered all cares, it burns to see the face of its creator. But no one can come to this without the cleanness that moral virtue causes, for as is said in Matthew 5.8, ‘Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God,’ and in Hebrews 12.14, ‘Strive for peace with all men, and for that holiness without which no man will see God.’ Therefore, the moral virtues seem to pertain to the contemplative life.
3. Moreover, Gregory in On Ezekiel says that the contemplative life is comely in the soul, hence it is signified by Rachel, of whom it is said in Genesis 29.17: ‘Rachel was well favoured and of a beautiful countenance.’ But beauty of the soul comes from moral virtue, and chiefly temperance, as Ambrose says, in On Offices 1.4. Therefore, moral virtues seem to pertain to the contemplative life.
ON THE CONTRARY:
The moral virtues are ordered to exterior actions, but Gregory says in the Morals on Job 6 that the contemplative life puts exterior action to rest. Therefore, moral virtues do not pertain to the contemplative life.
RESPONSE:
It should be said that something can belong to the contemplative life in two ways, essentially, and dispositively. The moral virtues do not belong essentially to the contemplative life, because the end of the contemplative life is the consideration of truth. But to know, which pertains to the consideration of truth, carries little weight with the moral virtues, as the Philosopher says in Ethics 2.4. Hence, in Ethics 10.4 he says that the moral virtues belong to the active life, not the contemplative. However, moral virtues belong to the contemplative life dispositively. For the act of contemplation, in which the contemplative life essentially consists, is impeded both by the vehemence of the passions which deflect the soul’s attention from intelligible to sensible things, and by exterior disturbance. The moral virtues both impede the vehemence of the passions and make exterior disturbances subside. Therefore, the moral virtues belong dispositively to the contemplative life.
Ad 1. It should be said that, as has been remarked, the contemplative life has its mover in the affective part, and in this respect the love of God and neighbour is needed for the contemplative life. But moving causes do not enter into the essence of the thing, but dispose and bring it about. So it does not follow that moral virtues belong essentially to the contemplative life.
Ad 2. It should be said that purity or cleanliness is caused by the virtues which deal with the passions that impede the purity of reason. But peace is caused by justice, which is concerned with activities, according to Isaiah 32.17: ‘Peace is the work of justice.’ He who abstains from injuring others takes away occasions for litigation and disturbances. Thus the moral virtues dispose for the contemplative life, insofar as they cause peace and purity.
Ad 3. It should be said that beauty, as has been remarked, consists in a certain clarity and fitting proportion. Both of these are found radically in reason, to which pertains the clarifying light as well as to bring about a fitting proportion in the things it orders. Therefore, beauty is found essentially and per se in the contemplative life, which consists in an act of reason. Hence Wisdom 8.2, speaking of the contemplation of wisdom, says, ‘And I became a lover of her beauty.’ Beauty is found by way of participation in the moral virtues, insofar as they participate in the order of reason, especially temperance, which represses the desires which especially obscure the light of reason. Hence it is that the virtue of chastity especially makes a man apt for contemplation, insofar as venereal pleasures especially turn the mind to sensible things, as Augustine says in the Soliloquies 1.10.
Article 3: Are there different acts of the contemplative life?
It seems that there are.
1. Richard of St Victor distinguishes between contemplation, meditation and reflection. But all these seem to pertain to the contemplative life. Therefore, there seem to be different acts of the contemplative life.
2. Moreover, the Apostle says in 2 Corinthians 3.18: ‘But we all, with faces unveiled, reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into his very image.’ But this belongs to the contemplative life. Therefore, besides the three just mentioned, speculation too belongs to the contemplative life.
3. Moreover, Bernard says in On Consideration that the first and highest contemplation is the admiration of majesty. But admiration, according to Damascene, in On Orthodox Faith 2.15, is a species of fear. Therefore, it seems that several acts are required for the contemplative life.
4. Moreover, prayer, reading and meditation are said to pertain to the contemplative life. But listening too pertains to it, for in Luke 10.39 it is said of Mary, by whom the contemplative life is signified, ‘who also seated herself at the Lord’s feet, and listened to his word’. Therefore, it seems that several acts are required for the contemplative life.
ON THE CONTRARY:
Life here means the activity that a man principally intends. Therefore, if there are several activities of the contemplative life, it will not be one contemplative life, but several.
RESPONSE:
It should be said that we speak of the contemplative life now as it pertains to man, for this is the difference between man and angel; it is clear from Dionysius in On the Divine Names 7 that angels intuit the truth in simple apprehension, but man by a certain process attains insight into simple truth from many things. Therefore, the contemplative life has one act in which it is finally perfected, namely contemplation of truth, from which it has unity, but there are many acts by which it comes to this final act. Some of them pertain to the grasp of principles, from which one proceeds to the contemplation of the truth, others to deducing from the principles the truth whose knowledge is sought, and the ultimate contemplative act which is contemplation of the truth.
Ad 1. It should be said that reflection [cogitatio], according to Richard of St Victor, seems to pertain to the inspection of many things, from which it intends to gather one simple truth. Hence under reflection can be included both the perception of the senses, for knowing certain effects, and imagination, the discourse of reason with respect to certain signs or whatever leads to the knowledge of the truth intended. According to Augustine, in On the Trinity 14, every actual operation of intellect can be called reflection. Meditation however seems to pertain to the process of reasoning from certain principles and attaining to the contemplation of some truth. And consideration pertains to the same, according to Bernard. Although according to Aristotle, in On the Soul 2, every operation of intellect can be called consideration. But contemplation pertains to the simple intuiting of truth. Hence the same Richard says that contemplation is the perspicacious and free intuition of the soul into things to be grasped; meditation is the insight of soul occupied in the inquiry into truth, and reflection is the soul’s looking around that is prone to wandering.
Ad 2. It should be said that, as the Gloss of Augustine says in the same place, those are denominated speculating [speculantes] from mirror [speculo], not from tower [specula]. To see something in a mirror is to see the cause through its effect, in which its likeness shines. Hence, speculation seems to be reduced to meditation.
Ad 3. It should be said that admiration is a species of fear following on the knowledge of something exceeding our capacity. Admiration, then, is an act following on contemplation of the sublime truth. For it was said that contemplation terminates in the affections.
Ad 4. It should be said that man comes to knowledge of the truth in two ways, in one way, through what he learns from another, and thus, with respect to the things man accepts from God, prayer is necessary, according to Wisdom 7.7: ‘I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me.’ With respect to what he accepts from man, listening is necessary, insofar as he learns from the voice of the speaker, and reading, insofar as he accepts what has been passed on in writing. In another way, it is necessary that he apply himself to his own inquiry. And for this meditation is required.
Article 4: Does the contemplative life consist only in the contemplation of God or of other truths as well?
It seems that the latter is true.
1. It is said in Psalm 138.14: ‘I praise thee, because I am so wonderfully made, because thy works are wonderful.’ But knowledge of the divine works comes about through a kind of contemplation of truth. Therefore, it seems that not only divine truth but also other kinds pertain to the contemplative life.
2. Moreover, Bernard, in On Consideration, says that the first contemplation is admiration of majesty; the second of God’s judgements; the third, of his blessings, the fourth of his promises. But only the first of these four pertains to divine truth; the other three pertain to his effects. Therefore, the contemplative life does not consist in the consideration of divine truth alone, but also in the consideration of the truth concerning the divine effects.
3. Moreover, Richard of St Victor distinguishes six species of contemplation, the first of which is according to imagination alone, when we attend to bodily things; the second, in imagination according to reason, insofar as we consider the order and disposition of sensible things; the third is in reason according to imagination, namely when through the inspection of visible things we rise to the invisible; the fourth is in reason according to reason, when the soul turns to invisible things, which imagination does not know; the fifth is above reason, when we know through divine revelation what cannot be comprehended by human reason; the sixth is above and beyond reason, when by a divine illumination we know things which seem repugnant to human reason, as what is said of the mystery of the Trinity. But only the last seems to pertain to divine truth. Therefore, contemplation does not involve divine truth alone, but also that which is considered in creatures.
4. Moreover, in the contemplative life the contemplation of truth is sought insofar as it is the perfection of man. But every truth is a perfection of the human intellect. Therefore, the contemplative life consists in any contemplation of truth.
ON THE CONTRARY:
Gregory says in Morals on Job 6.37 that it is the principle who is God that is sought in contemplation.
RESPONSE:
It should be said that, as has already been remarked, something can belong to the contemplative life in two ways, principally and secondarily or dispositively. The contemplation of divine truth belongs principally to the contemplative life, because this kind of contemplation is the end of the whole of human life. Hence Augustine says in On the Trinity 1.8 that the contemplation of God is promised to us as the end of all actions, and the eternal perfection of the blessed. In the future life this will be perfect, when we will see him face to face, whence he makes us perfectly happy. Now, however, the contemplation of divine truth is had only imperfectly by us, namely through a glass darkly; hence through it a kind of commencement of happiness comes to be in us, which starts here and will come to term in the future. Hence the Philosopher in Ethics 10.7 places man’s ultimate happiness in the contemplation of the best intelligible object. But we are led by the divine effects to the contemplation of God, according to Romans 1.20: ‘For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen – his everlasting power also and divinity – being understood through the things that are made.’ Thus it is that the contemplation of divine effects belongs secondarily to the contemplative life, insofar as man is led from them to knowledge of God. Hence Augustine says in On True Religion 29 that a vain and perishing curiosity ought not to be exercised in the consideration of creatures, but it should be a step towards the immortal and everlasting. Therefore, it is clear from the foregoing that four things pertain to contemplation in an orderly fashion: first, the moral virtues; second, the other acts besides contemplation; third, contemplation of divine effects; fourth, the fulfilling contemplation of the divine truth.
Ad 1. It should be said that David sought knowledge of the works of God in order that by this he might be led to God. Hence he says elsewhere,1‘I muse on all thy works, I consider the deeds of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands to thee.’
Ad 2. It should be said that from a consideration of the divine judgements man is led to contemplation of the divine justice; from the consideration of the divine blessings and promises, man is led to knowledge of the divine mercy or goodness, as shown or to be shown through his effects.
Ad 3. It should be said that by those six the levels that rise through creatures to the contemplation of God are designated. For on the first level is found the perception of sensible things themselves; on the second, the progress from sensible to intelligible things; on the third, the assessment of sensibles through the intelligibles; on the fourth level is found the absolute consideration of the intelligibles to which one has come by way of sensible things; on the fifth level is placed the contemplation of intelligibles to which we cannot come through sensible things but which can be grasped by reason; on the sixth level is the consideration of the intelligibles that reason can neither discover nor grasp, namely those which pertain to the contemplation of divine truth, in which contemplation is finally perfected.
Ad 4. It should be said that the ultimate perfection of the human intellect is divine truth; other truths perfect intellect as ordered to the divine truth.
Article 5: Can contemplation in this life attain the vision of God?
It seems that it can.
1. As Jacob said in Genesis 32.30, ‘I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.’ But vision of the face is vision of the divine essence. Therefore, it seems that one can through contemplation in the present life come to see God in his essence.
2. Moreover, Gregory says in the Morals on Job 6 that contemplative men return within themselves because they cleave to spiritual things and do not draw to themselves the shadows of bodily things, or perhaps they drive off temptations with the hand of discretion, wishing to look on the boundless light, suppressing all images which would bind it, and because they seek what is above them they conquer themselves. But a man is only impeded with respect to the vision of the divine essence, which is boundless light, by the fact that he necessarily must tend towards it by way of bodily images. Therefore, it seems that contemplation in the present life can extend to seeing the boundless light in its essence.
3. Moreover, Gregory in the Dialogues 2.35 says that to the soul seeing the creator every creature is obscure. Therefore, the man of God, namely the blessed Benedict, who saw in the tower a fiery globe and angels going up to heaven, was without a doubt only able to see them in the light of God. But blessed Benedict was still living the present life. Therefore, in the present life contemplation can extend to seeing the vision of God.
ON THE CONTRARY:
Gregory says in commenting on Ezekiel that as long as he lives in this mortal flesh no one so progresses in the power of contemplation as to fix the eyes of the mind in the very ray of the boundless light.
RESPONSE:
It should be said that, as Augustine says in the Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.27, no one seeing God lives in that mortal life of the senses, and, unless he in some way dies to this life or wholly leaves the body or is alienated from the carnal senses, he does not come into that vision. This was gone into in depth earlier where we spoke of rapture,1 and in Part 1, where we discussed the vision of God.1 It must be said that someone can exist in this life in two ways, in one way, actually, insofar as he actually uses the senses of the body, and contemplation in the present life can in no way attain to seeing the essence of God. In another way someone can exist potentially though not actually in this life, insofar as the soul is conjoined to its mortal body as its form, but such that it does not use the senses of the body or even imagination, such as happens in rapture. In this way contemplation can in this life attain to the vision of the divine essence. Hence the highest level of contemplation in the present life is that Paul had in rapture, insofar as he was midway between the present life and the future.
Ad 1. It should be replied therefore that, as Dionysius says in his Letter to Caius the Monk, if someone seeing God understands what he sees, he does not see him, but something belonging to him. And Gregory says in commenting on Ezekiel that almighty God is not now seen in his brightness, but the soul speculates on something below him, hence it proceeds straight ahead and afterwards comes to the vision of his glory. When Jacob says, ‘I saw God face to face,’ this should not be understood to mean that he saw the essence of God, but that he saw an imaginary form in which God spoke to him. Or, because we know someone by his face, he calls knowledge of God his face, as Gregory’s gloss says on this text.
Ad 2. It should be said that human contemplation in the present state of life cannot exist without images, because it is connatural to man that he see intelligible species in images, as the Philosopher says in On the Soul 3.7. But intellectual knowledge does not remain in these images, but contemplates in them the purity of intelligible truth. And this not only in natural knowledge, but also in the things we know through revelation, for as Dionysius says in On the Celestial Hierarchy 1.2 the divine clarity manifests the hierarchies of angels to us in figured symbols by the power of which we are restored in the simple ray, that is, in the simple knowledge of intelligible truth. That is how what Gregory says should be understood, namely that those contemplating do not take along with them the shadows of bodily things; that is to say their contemplation does not remain in them, but rather in the consideration of intelligible truth.
Ad 3. It should be said that we are not given to understand by those words of Gregory that the blessed Benedict in that vision saw God in his essence, but he means to show that, because to one seeing the creator all creatures are obscure, as a consequence by the illustration of the divine light everything is seen more easily. Hence he adds that no matter how little of the light of the creator you might see, everything that is created comes to be shallow.
Article 6: Is contemplative activity fittingly divided into three motions?
It seems that it is not.
1. It seems that the activity of contemplation is unfittingly divided into three motions, the circular, straight and oblique by Dionysius in On the Divine Names 4. For contemplation pertains to rest according to Wisdom 8.16: ‘When I go into my house, I shall repose myself with her.’ But motion is the opposite of rest. Therefore, contemplative activities ought not to be designated as motions.
2. The action of the contemplative life pertains to intellect, which men share with the angels. But Dionysius describes these motions differently in the angels than in the soul. For he says that the circular motion of the angel is according to the illuminations of beauty and the good. But he defines the circular motion of the soul in several ways, the first of which is the retreat of the soul into itself from exterior things; second is a certain convolution of its virtues by which the soul is freed from error and exterior occupations; the third is union with what is above it. So too he describes the straight motion of each differently. For he says that the straight motion of the angel is insofar as it proceeds to provide for subjects, but he places the straight motion of the soul in two things: first, as it proceeds to the things around it; second, in that it is raised by exterior things to contemplation of simples. And he describes oblique motion differently in the two, for in the angels oblique motion is when, providing for those having less, they remain identical with respect to God. But he speaks of the oblique motion of the soul when the soul is illumined rationally and diffusely by divine thoughts. Therefore, it does not seem fitting that the activities of contemplation should be signified by these three motions.
3. Moreover, Richard of St Victor in On Contemplation sets forth many other differences between the motions, likening them to the birds of the air, some of which are now borne up to higher things and then descend to inferior, and are seen to do this over and over, while others dart to left and right repeatedly, and yet others back and forth frequently, and others wheel in large and small circles, and some remain suspended in one place. So it seems that there are not just three motions of contemplation.
ON THE CONTRARY:
There is the authority of Dionysius.
RESPONSE:
It should be said that, as has been stated, the activity of intellect in which contemplation essentially consists is called motion insofar as motion is the act of the perfect, as the Philosopher says in On the Soul 3.7. For because we come to knowledge of intelligible things through sensibles, and sensible activities are not without motion, so it is that intelligible activities too are described as if they were kinds of motion and their differences are assigned according to likeness to different motions. But in bodily motions, the first and more perfect are local, as is proved in Physics 8.7, which is why intelligible activities are more powerfully described by likeness to them. But there are three differences between them: some are circular, as something is moved uniformly around a centre; another straight, as something proceeds from A to B; a third is oblique, as composed of the first two. So in intelligible activities that which has uniformity simply is attributed to circular motion, but the intelligible activity by which we proceed from one thing to another is attributed to straight motion, but the intelligible activity having some uniformity along with variation is attributed to oblique motion.
Ad 1. It should be said that exterior bodily motions are opposed to the repose of contemplation, which is understood to be free of exterior occupations. But the motions of intelligible activities pertain to the repose of contemplation.
Ad 2. It should be said that man shares intellect with the angels generically, but the intellectual power is much higher in the angel than in man. Therefore these motions must be described differently in souls and in angels, insofar as they relate differently to uniformity. For the intellect of the angel has uniform knowledge in two respects: first, because he does not acquire intelligible truth from the variety of composed things; second, because he does not understand intelligible truth discursively, but by a simple intuition. But the intellect of the soul receives intelligible truth from sensible things, and understands it by a kind of discourse. Therefore Dionysius assigns the circular motion to angels insofar as without beginning or end they uniformly and unceasingly intuit God, like circular motion which lacks beginning or end and turns uniformly around a centre. But in the soul, before such uniformity is attained, a twofold deformity must be removed. First, that which is from the diversity of exterior things, insofar as it leaves them behind. This is why he puts first in the circular motion of the soul its retreat into itself from things exterior to it. Second, another deformity must be removed, which is from the discourse of reason. The same thing comes about insofar as all the activities of soul are reduced to simple contemplation of intelligible truth. That is why he says that the uniform convolution of its intellectual virtues is necessary, so that, discourse ceasing, its insight is fixed on the contemplation of one simple truth. And in this activity of the soul there is no error, as is clear in that the intellect does not err in the understanding of first principles, because we know them by simple intuition. Then, these two being accomplished, a uniformity similar to the angel’s is established, insofar as, setting aside everything else, it remains in the contemplation of God alone. That is what he means when he says that as made uniform, in unity – that is, conformity – with the united virtues, it is led to beauty and good. But the straight motion in angels can be understood insofar as in reflection he proceeds from one to another, but only according to the order of his providence, namely, insofar as the higher angel illumines the lower through intermediates. So it is said that angels are moved directly when they proceed to providing for subjects, passing right through, that is, insofar as they are disposed according to right order. But the straight motion is assigned to soul insofar as it proceeds from exterior sensible things to knowledge of intelligibles. Oblique motion in the angel, composed of straight and circular, is had when he provides for inferiors with respect to the contemplation of God. But oblique motion is posited in the soul, similarly composed of straight and circular, insofar as it uses the divine illuminations in ratiocination.
Ad 3. It should be said that the other kinds of motion are taken according to the differences of up and down, right and left, back and forth, and, according to different circuits, all are contained under straight and oblique motion. For it is the discourse of reason that is signified by all of them. Which, if it is from genus to species, or from whole to part, it will be, as he explains, according to up and down. But if it is from one opposite to the other, it will be according to right and left. But if from causes to effects, it will be before and after. If according to the accidents surrounding the thing, near and far, it will be circuitous. But the discourse of reason, when it is from sensible to intelligible things according to the order of natural reason, pertains to straight motion; but when it is according to divine illuminations, it pertains to oblique motion, as is clear from what has been said. The only immobility he mentions pertains to circular motion. Hence it is evident that Dionysius describes the motions of contemplation much more sufficiently and subtly.
Article 7: Is contemplation pleasurable?
It seems that it is not.
1. Delight pertains to the appetitive power, but contemplation consists principally in intellect. Therefore, it seems that delight does not pertain to contemplation.
2. Moreover, only contention and contest impede delight, but there is contention and contest in contemplation, for Gregory says in commenting on Ezekiel that the soul, when it strives to contemplate God, is put into a kind of contest: sometimes it rises up, because by understanding and sensing, it tastes something of the boundless light; sometimes it falls and fails to taste again. Therefore, the contemplative life has no delight.
3. Moreover, delight accompanies perfect operation, as is said in Ethics 10.2, but contemplation here below is imperfect, according to 1 Corinthians 13.12: ‘We see now through a mirror in an obscure manner.’ Therefore, it seems that the contemplative life has no pleasure.
4. Moreover, bodily wounds impede pleasure, but contemplation brings on bodily wounds, hence Genesis 32.30 tells us that Jacob, after he said I have seen God face to face, adds ‘because he touched the sinew of his thigh and it shrank’. Therefore, there is no pleasure in the contemplative life.
ON THE CONTRARY:
Of contemplation it is said in Wisdom 8.16: ‘For her conversation hath no bitterness, nor her company any tediousness, but joy and gladness.’ And Gregory says in his commentary on Ezekiel that the sweetness of the contemplative life is most lovable.
RESPONSE:
It should be said that contemplation can be delightful in two ways. In one way, by reason of its activity, since everything finds delightful the activity belonging to it because of its proper nature or habit. But contemplation of truth belongs to a man because of his nature, because he is a rational animal. So it is that all men by nature desire to know, and as a consequence take delight in knowledge of the truth. This becomes yet more delightful to one having the habits of wisdom and knowledge, which enable him to contemplate without difficulty. In another way, contemplation is made delightful by its object, insofar as one contemplates the beloved, just as it happens in corporeal vision which is delightful not only because seeing is delightful but also because one sees the beloved person.
Therefore, because the contemplative life chiefly consists in contemplation of God, it is not only delightful by reason of contemplation itself, but by reason of divine love. In both respects its delight exceeds all human delight, for spiritual delight is more powerful than carnal, as was said above,1 when we discussed the passions, and the love with which God is loved out of charity exceeds all other love. Thus it is said in Psalm 33.9: ‘Taste and see how good is the Lord.’
Ad 1. It should be said that the contemplative life, although it consists essentially in intellect, has its principle in the affective part, insofar as one is incited by charity to the contemplation of God. And because the end answers to the beginning, the term and end of the contemplative life is found in the affections, namely when one delights in the vision of the beloved, and this delight in the thing seen further excites love. Hence Gregory says in commenting on Ezekiel that when anyone sees the one he loves, further love for her is ignited. And this is the ultimate perfection of the contemplative life, that the divine truth is not only seen, but also loved.
Ad 2. It should be said that contention and contest that arise from the contrariety of external reality impede delight in the thing, for one does not delight in something against which he fights. But in the thing for which he fights, when a man has attained it, all else being equal, he delights all the more, as Augustine says in the Confessions 8.3; the greater the peril in battle the greater the joy in victory. But there is no contention and contest because of any contrariety in the truth we contemplate, but from the defect of our intellect and from our corruptible body which draws us to lower things, according to Wisdom 9.15: ‘For the corruptible body is a load upon the soul; and the earthly habitation presseth down the mind that museth upon many things.’ Hence it is that when man attains the contemplation of truth, he loves it more ardently, and hates more his own defect due to the weight of the corruptible body, and says with the Apostle, ‘Unhappy man that I am, who will free me from the body of this death?’ Hence as Gregory says in commenting on Ezekiel, once God is known through desire and intellect, all fleshly pleasures become arid.
Ad 3. It should be said that contemplation of God in this life is imperfect compared with contemplation in heaven, and so too the delight of contemplation on the way is imperfect compared to the delight of contemplation in the fatherland, of which Psalm 35.9 says, ‘Thou givest them to drink of the torrent of thy delights.’ But the contemplation of divine things had in this life, although imperfect, is more delightful than all other contemplation, no matter how perfect, because of the excellence of the thing contemplated. Hence the Philosopher says in On the Parts of Animals 1.5: ‘The scanty conceptions to which we can attain of celestial things give us, from their excellence, more pleasure than all our knowledge of the world in which we live.’ And this is what Gregory says on Ezekiel: the contemplative life is most lovable, which takes the soul above itself, opens celestial things, and lays open spiritual things to the eyes of the mind.
Ad 4. It should be said that Jacob was lamed in one foot after contemplation because it is necessary that, when the love of the world weakens, one grows well in the love of God, as Gregory says on Ezekiel, and therefore, after knowledge of the sweetness of God, one of our feet remains healthy, but the other is made lame. For a person lamed in one foot supports himself on the healthy one alone.
Article 8: Is the contemplative life lasting?
It seems that it is not.
1. The contemplative essentially consists in things pertaining to intellect. But all intellectual perfections of this life pass away, according to 1 Corinthians 13.8: ‘Prophecies will disappear, and tongues will cease, and knowledge will be destroyed.’ Therefore, the contemplative life will pass away.
2. Moreover, man tastes the sweetness of contemplation hastily and transitively. Hence Augustine says in Confessions 10.40: ‘And sometimes you allow me to experience a feeling quite unlike my normal state, an inward sense of delight, which, if it were to reach perfection in me, would be something not encountered in this life, though what it is I cannot tell. But my heavy burden of distress drags me down again to earth.’ And Gregory, in the Morals 5, explaining Job 4.15, ‘And when a spirit passed before me,’ says that the mind is not long fixed on interior contemplation, because it is recalled to itself, the immensity of the light being driven back. Therefore the contemplative life is not lasting.
3. Moreover, that which is not connatural to man cannot be lasting. But the contemplative life is higher than man, as the Philosopher says in Ethics 10.7. Therefore, the contemplative life does not seem to be lasting.
ON THE CONTRARY:
The Lord says in Luke 10.24: ‘Mary has chosen the better part and it shall not be taken from her,’ because, as Gregory says on Ezekiel, the contemplative begins here, but is perfected in the heavenly fatherland.
RESPONSE:
It should be said that something can be called lasting in two ways, in one way, according to its nature, in another, with respect to us. It is obvious that the contemplative life is in itself lasting, and in two ways. First, because it is concerned with the incorruptible and immobile. Second, because it has no contrariety, for nothing is contrary to the pleasure had in thinking, as is said in Topics 2.13. But with respect to us as well the contemplative life is lasting, both because it belongs to us according to the action of the incorruptible part of the soul, namely, intellect, hence it can endure after this life, and because in the works of the contemplative we do not labour physically, hence in such works we can persist continuously, as the Philosopher says in Ethics 10.7.
Ad 1. It should be said that the mode of contemplating is not the same in heaven as here, but the contemplative life is said to remain by reason of charity, in which it has its beginning and its end. This is what Gregory says on Ezekiel, the contemplative life begins here and is perfected in the heavenly fatherland, because the fire of love, which begins to burn here, will burn even more with love of him when he who is loved is seen.
Ad 2. It should be said that no action can endure long at its peak. The peak of contemplation is to attain to the uniformity of divine contemplation, as Dionysius says, as was pointed out earlier. Hence although in this respect contemplation cannot long endure, with respect to the other acts of contemplation it can endure lastingly.
Ad 3. It should be said that the Philosopher says that the contemplative life is above man, because it belongs to us according to that which is divine in us, namely intellect, which in itself is incorruptible and impassible, therefore its action can be more lasting.
QUESTION 181
ON THE ACTIVE LIFE
Article 1: Do the acts of all the moral virtues pertain to the active life?
It seems that they do not.
1. The active life seems to consist only of things that relate to others, for Gregory says on Ezekiel that the practical life is giving bread to the hungry, and, at the end, having enumerated many things which pertain to the other, he adds, and which it is expedient to dispense to individuals. But we are not ordered to others by the acts of all the virtues but only by justice and its parts, as is clear from what has been said.1 Therefore, not all of the moral virtues belong to the active life.
2. Moreover, Gregory says on Ezekiel that by Leah who was bleary-eyed but fecund the active life is symbolized: when she was occupied in work she saw little, but when sometimes by word, sometimes kindling her neighbours to imitate her example, she brought forth many children in good works. This seems to pertain rather to charity, through which we love the neighbour, than to moral virtues. Therefore, it seems that the acts of the moral virtues do not pertain to the active life.
3. Moreover, as was said above,2 moral virtues dispose to the contemplative life. But disposition and perfection belong to the same thing. Therefore, it seems that the moral virtues do not belong to the active life.
ON THE CONTRARY:
Isadore says in On the Highest Good: ‘In the active life all vices must first be rooted out by the exercise of good works, as in the contemplative by the already pure edge of the mind one arrives at contemplating God.’ But all vices are rooted out by the acts of the moral virtues. Therefore, the acts of moral virtue pertain to the active life.
RESPONSE:
It should be said that, as has been remarked,1 the active and contemplative lives are distinguished according to the different inclinations of men aiming at different ends, one of which is the consideration of truth, which is the end of the contemplative life, another is exterior activity, to which the active life is ordered. Manifestly in the moral virtues it is not the contemplation of truth that is principally sought; they are ordered to acting. Hence the Philosopher says in Ethics 2.4 that knowledge counts for little or nothing in the acquisition of virtue. Hence it is manifest that moral virtues essentially pertain to the active life. Hence the Philosopher in the Ethics 10.8 says moral virtues aim at active happiness.
Ad 1. It should be said that justice is the principal moral virtue, which orders a person to another, as the Philosopher proves in Ethics 5.1. Hence the active life is described by things which are ordered to another, not in these alone, but because it more chiefly consists in this.
Ad 2. It should be said that by the acts of all the moral virtues one can direct his neighbour to the good by example, which Gregory in the same place attributes to active life.
Ad 3. It should be said that just as a virtue which is ordered to the end of another virtue in a way changes into its species, so too when one uses the things which are of the active life only insofar as they dispose to contemplation, they are comprehended under the contemplative life. For those who intend the works of moral virtue as good in themselves, not as disposing to the contemplative life, the moral virtues pertain to the active life – although it can also be said that active life is a disposition for the contemplative.
Article 2: Does prudence pertain to the active life?
It seems that it does not.
1. Just as the contemplative life pertains to the cognitive power, the active life pertains to the appetitive power. But prudence does not pertain to the appetitive power, but rather to the cognitive. Therefore, prudence does not pertain to the active life.
2. Moreover, Gregory says on Ezekiel that the active life, when it is occupied in works, sees less, hence it is symbolized by Leah, who had bleary eyes. But prudence requires clear eyes, in order that a man might judge rightly about things to be done. Therefore, it seems that prudence does not pertain to the active life.
3. Moreover, prudence is midway between the moral and intellectual virtues. But just as moral virtues pertain to the active life, as has been said,1 so the intellectual virtues pertain to the contemplative life. Therefore prudence seems to pertain neither to active life nor to the contemplative life, but to the middle kind of living that Augustine mentions in the City of God 20.2.
ON THE CONTRARY:
The Philosopher in Ethics 10.8 says that prudence pertains to active happiness, to which the moral virtues pertain.
RESPONSE:
It should be said that, as was stated earlier,2 that which is ordered to something as to an end, especially in moral matters, is specified by that to which it is ordered, ‘just as he who commits adultery in order to steal is more a thief than adulterer’, according to the Philosopher in Ethics 5.2. Manifestly the knowledge of prudence is ordered to the activities of the moral virtues as to an end, for it is ‘right reason with respect to what is to be done’, as is said in Ethics 6.5. Hence the ends of the moral virtues are the ‘principles of prudence’, as the Philosopher says in the same book. Therefore, as has been said, in one who orders them to the repose of contemplation, the moral virtues belong to the contemplative life, so the knowledge of prudence, which is as such ordered to the activities of the moral virtues, directly pertains to the active life – understanding prudence properly, as the Philosopher speaks of it. But understanding it more commonly, as comprehending any kind of human cognition, then prudence in one of its senses would pertain to the contemplative life. As Cicero says in On Offices 1.5, ‘He who can quickly and acutely see the truth and explain the reason for it, is rightly held to be most prudent and wise.’
Ad 1. It should be said that moral activities are specified by the end, as was argued earlier.3 Therefore the knowledge that has knowledge of the truth as its end pertains to the contemplative life, but the knowledge of prudence, whose end is rather in the act of appetitive virtue, pertains to the active life.
Ad 2. It should be said that an exterior occupation makes a man see less in intelligible matters, which are separate from sensible things with which the activities of the practical life are concerned. However, the exterior occupation of the active life helps a man see more clearly in judging what ought to be done, which pertains to prudence, both because of experience and because of the mind’s attention, since as Sallust says, your wit thrives where its attention lies.
Ad 3. It should be said that prudence is described as midway between the intellectual and moral virtues with respect to this, that it agrees in subject with the intellectual virtues, but in matter it agrees wholly with the moral virtues. That third kind of living is midway between the active and contemplative with respect to the things with which it is occupied, since sometimes it is occupied in the contemplation of truth, sometimes with exterior things.
Article 3: Does teaching belong to the active or contemplative life?
It seems to belong to the contemplative.
1. Gregory says on Ezekiel, ‘Perfect men tell their brothers of the celestial goods they are able to contemplate, setting their souls on fire with the love of its inner brightness.’ But this pertains to teaching. Therefore, to teach is an act of the contemplative life.
2. Moreover, act and habit seem to be reduced to the same genus. But teaching is an act of wisdom, for the Philosopher says at the outset of the Metaphysics 1.1 that being able to teach is a sign that one knows. Therefore, since wisdom or knowledge pertains to the contemplative life, it seems that teaching too belongs to the contemplative life.
3. Moreover, as contemplation is the act of the contemplative life, so too is prayer. But the prayer by which one prays for another nevertheless pertains to the contemplative life. Therefore, when someone brings a truth meditated on to the knowledge of another through teaching, this seems to pertain to the contemplative life.
ON THE CONTRARY:
Gregory says on Ezekiel, ‘The active life is to give bread to the hungry, to teach by the word of wisdom the one who does not know.’
RESPONSE:
It should be said that the act of teaching has a twofold object: teaching comes about through speech; speaking is an audible sign of a concept of intellect. Therefore, one object of teaching is the matter or object of the interior concept. With respect to this object, sometimes teaching pertains to the active life, sometimes to the contemplative: to the active when a man conceives within himself some truth such that by means of it he can be directed in exterior action; to the contemplative when a man conceives within some intelligible truth in the consideration and love of which he delights. Hence Augustine says in On the Words of the Lord, ‘They have chosen the better part,’ namely the contemplative life, ‘they leave off speech, they taste the sweetness of doctrine, they occupy themselves with saving knowledge,’ where manifestly he means that doctrine pertains to the contemplative life.
Ad 1. It should be said that that authority expressly speaks of teaching with respect to its matter, as it turns on the consideration and love of truth.
Ad 2. It should be said that habit and act agree in object, so the argument manifestly proceeds in terms of the matter of the interior concept. To teach can pertain to wisdom or knowledge insofar as it can express the interior concept of the word, in order to lead another to understanding of the truth.
Ad 3. It should be said that he who prays for another, does nothing towards him for whom he prays, but only towards God, who is intelligible truth.
Article 4: Does the active life remain after this life?
It seems that it does.
1. The moral virtues pertain to the active life, as has been pointed out, but moral virtues remain after this life, as Augustine says in On the Trinity 14.9. Therefore, the active life remains after this life.
2. Moreover, to teach others pertains to the active life, as has been said. But in the future life, in which ‘we will be like the angels’ (Matthew 22.30), there can be teaching, as there seems to be in the angels, one of whom ‘illumines, cleanses and perfects’ the other, which refers to the taking on of knowledge, as is clear from Dionysius in On the Celestial Hierarchy 7. Therefore, it seems that the active life remains after this life.
3. Moreover, that which is of itself more durable seems rather to remain after this life. But the active life seems to be more durable in itself, for as Gregory says on Ezekiel, ‘We can remain fixed in the active life, but in the contemplative we are not able in any way to remain with an attentive mind.’ Therefore, the active life is more able to remain after this life than the contemplative.
ON THE CONTRARY:
Gregory says on Ezekiel: ‘The active life will be taken away with the present age, but the contemplative begins here in order to be perfected in the heavenly fatherland.’
RESPONSE:
It should be said, as has been pointed out, that the active life has its end in exterior acts, which if they are referred to the repose of contemplation, pertain to the contemplative life. In the future life of the blessed the occupation with exterior acts will cease, and if there are exterior acts they will be referred to the end of contemplation. For as Augustine says at the end of the City of God 22.30, ‘We will have leisure there and we will see, we will see and we will love, we will love and we will praise.’ And in the same book he says that there God ‘will be seen without end, will be loved without distaste, will be praised without let. His gift, this love, this act will be in all.’
Ad 1. It should be said that, as was pointed out above,1 moral virtues will remain, not with respect to their acts which bear on what is for the sake of the end, but with respect to those bearing on the end. Such acts are what constitute the repose of contemplation, what Augustine signified by the word leisure, which ought to be understood not only with regard to exterior tumult but also from the interior disturbance of the passions.
Ad 2. It should be said that the contemplative life, as has been pointed out, chiefly consists in the contemplation of God. In this regard, one angel does not teach another because, as is said in Matthew 18.10 of the lesser angels of a lower order, they always see the face of God. So too in the future life no man will teach another about God, but all ‘will see even as they are seen’, as is said in John 3.2. That is what is meant in Jeremiah 31.34: ‘And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying: “Know the Lord. For all shall know me from the least of them even to the greatest.” ’
But with respect to the things pertaining to the dispensations of the ministries of God, one angel can teach another, by purging, illumining and perfecting. In this regard, they have something of the active life so long as the world endures insofar as they attend to administration of the lower creatures. This is signified when Jacob saw the angels going up the ladder, which pertains to contemplation, and going down the ladder, which pertains to action. But as Gregory says in the Morals on Job 2.3: ‘They will thus go out from the divine vision that they might be deprived of the joys of interior contemplation.’ Therefore, the active and contemplative lives are not distinguished in them, as in us, who are impeded from contemplation by exterior works.
Similarity with the angels as to the administration of inferiors is not promised to us, because it does not belong to us, given the order of our nature, as it does belong to the angels, but [similarity] with respect to the vision of God.
Ad 3. It should be said that the durability of the active life in the present life exceeds that of the contemplative not because of what is proper to each considered as such, but because of our defect, because we are pulled down from the height of contemplation by the weight of the body. Hence Gregory in the same place adds that ‘by its own infirmity the soul is put off by such immensity and falls back on itself.’