summa-contra-gentiles

I04
THE SUMMA CONTRA GENTILES
in subtraction from the other. Accordingly,
if there were
many rational substances created from the beginning, there
must have been a distinction of grades among them.
Again. If rational creatures can subsist without bodies,
there was no need to set up a distinction in the corporeal
nature on account of the various merits of rational creatures :
since even without a diversity of bodies it was possible to
find various grades in rational substances. And if rational
substances cannot subsist without bodies, it follows that the
corporeal creature also was formed from the beginning
together with the rational creature. Now the corporeal
creature is further removed from the spiritual, than spiritual
creatures are from one another. If, therefore, God from
the beginning established such a great distance among His
creatures without any previous merits,
for a difference of merits to precede in
there was no need
order that rational
creatures should be established in different grades.
Further. If the diversity of corporeal creatures corresponds
to the diversity of spiritual creatures,
reason the uniformity of corporeal nature would correspond
to the uniformity of rational creatures. Therefore
the corporeal nature would have been created even if the
for the same
preceding merits of the rational creature had been not
different but uniform. Hence primary matter would have
been created, which is common to all bodies,— but under
one form only. But in it there are many forms in potentiality.
Wherefore it would have remained imperfect, its
one form alone being reduced to act and this :
is unbefitting
the divine goodness.
Again.
If the diversity of the corporeal creature results
from the different movements of the rational creature's
free-will, we shall have to say that the reason why
there is
only one sun in the world, is because only one rational
creature was moved by
its free-will in such a way as to
merit to be united to such a body. Now it was bv chance
that only one sinned thus. Therefore it is by chance that
there is
only one sun in the world, and not for the need of
corporeal nature.