58. Operations and Merit in Christ

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Christ’s Multiple Operations vs. Single Operation #

• The Question: Does Christ have one operation of both divinity and humanity, or many operations?
• Christ has two distinct operations: divine and human
• These operations are united in the single person of Christ, not confused or separated
• The divine operation uses the human as an instrument; the human operation partakes of divine power

The Instrument Analogy #

• A tool (instrument) has its own form and operation but is moved by the chief agent
• Example: “When you’re chopping down one of these trees on your property, you and the axe are doing the same operation”
• The action insofar as it is a tool is not other from the chief agent’s doing
• An instrument can have another operation insofar as it is a thing in itself
• Applied to Christ: Human nature operates according to its own form, yet divine nature uses it as instrument

Properly Human Operations (Article 2) #

• Key Definition: An operation is “simply human” (simpliciter) only if it proceeds from reason and will
• Operations not proceeding from reason and will are not properly human, though they belong to man “according to some part” of human nature
• Three Types of Operations in Man:
  • Operations of bodily element (e.g., being pulled downward, difficulty climbing stairs)
  • Operations of the nutritive soul (nourishing, growing)
  • Operations of the sensitive soul (seeing, hearing, imagining, sensing desire, anger)
  • Operations of the rational soul (proper human operations)

The Obedience of Sensitive Operations to Reason #

• Sensitive operations “in some way obey reason” and are therefore “in some way reasonable and human”
• Example: Mozart’s 18th-century music is “more human and rational” than Romantic period music because it obeys reason
• Operations following upon the living soul or bodily element not subject to reason are “in no way rational, nor human simply, but only according to some part of human nature”

Christ’s Operations Reconciled #

• In Christ, there is one properly human operation proceeding from reason and will
• Other operations (nutritive, sensitive) also existed in Christ but are “more human than in” other men because they were completely ordered by reason
• Therefore, much more is there one operation in Christ than in any other man
• The diversity of operations corresponds to diverse objects, not to diverse operating principles

Merit in Christ (Article 3) #

• Principle: Having something through oneself is more noble than having it through another
• Merit means having a good through one’s own act in cooperation with God
• What Christ Did Not Merit: Grace, knowledge, beatitude of the soul, divinity itself—these would require prior lack, diminishing His dignity
• What Christ Did Merit: The glory of the body, ascension, veneration, external excellence
• Merit requires being in the state of viator (wayfarer); Christ was simultaneously viator and comprehensor (one who sees God face-to-face)

Merit for Others (Article 4) #

• The Question: Did Christ merit salvation for others?
• Objections: Those outside the Church cannot merit for others; merit belongs to justice, not grace; therefore salvation would not be from grace
• Solution: Christ’s merit extends to others “insofar as they are members” of His mystical body
• The mystical body of Christ is “probably the most profound statement of what the church is”
• Just as Adam’s sin harmed others through bodily generation (propagation of flesh), Christ’s merit benefits others through spiritual generation (baptism)
• “All whatsoever they were baptized in Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27)
• Salvation is entirely of grace, not justice: Those who benefit from Christ’s merit must be incorporated into Him through baptism
• “If you’re cut off from him, like the branch from the plant, you’re not going to merit, you’re not going to benefit from his merit”

Key Arguments #

For Christ Having Many Operations (Objections to Single Operation) #

1. Christ shares with plants the nourishing nature, with animals the sensing nature, with angels the understanding nature; therefore He has multiple operations
2. Powers and habits are distinguished by their acts; Christ has many powers and habits, therefore diverse operations
3. The body has diverse members differing in form (organic body), accommodated to diverse operations

Against These Objections (Thomas’s Response) #

• Berquist notes Thomas “redeemed himself” by clarifying that the properly human operation is one, even though other operations exist
• Operations distinguished by diverse objects do not constitute diverse operating principles
• The distinction between operations “simply human” and operations merely “according to some part” of human nature

Against Christ Meriting for Himself #

1. Christ, before death, was a comprehensor (saw God face-to-face); one who comprehends does not merit
2. Christ is owed eternal inheritance as Son of God by nature; no one merits what is owed to him
3. One who possesses the principle does not merit what follows from it (Christ had the glory of the soul; glory of body follows from it)

Against Christ Meriting for Others #

1. “The soul which has sinned, it itself will die” (Ezekiel 18:20); therefore the soul which merits will be rewarded, not another
2. Other men having grace of Christ are not able to merit for others (Ezekiel 14)
3. Merit is according to justice, not grace; therefore if Christ merited our salvation, it is owed by justice, not grace

Thomas’s Resolution: Why Christ Could Merit for Others #

• In Christ exists not only grace “as in an individual man” but “as in the head of the whole church”
• “All are joined as the members of the body to the head, from which there is constituted mystically one person”
• The action of the head pertains to all members; it senses “not only for itself, but for all the members”
• Just as Adam’s sin (as head of nature) derived to others through flesh generation, so Christ’s merit (as head by God’s constitution) extends to members through spiritual generation
• Salvation from grace: It is grace that man be regenerated in Christ through baptism

Important Definitions #

Operatio (Operation) #

• An act proceeding from a principle of action
• Must be distinguished according to the nature or form from which it proceeds
• Properly human operation (operatio humana simpliciter): That which proceeds from reason and will
• Operations of the sensitive soul, when obedient to reason, are “in some way human”
• Other operations (nutritive, purely bodily) are not properly human

Meritum (Merit) #

• Having a good through one’s own act in cooperation with God
• More noble than receiving something without merit
• Applies to what one does not yet possess
• In Christ: Could apply to external perfections (body’s glory, ascension) but not to intrinsic divine perfections

Viator and Comprehensor #

• Viator: “one on the way”; capable of meriting
• Comprehensor: “one who has arrived”; one who sees God face-to-face; incapable of meriting
• Christ was simultaneously both: “He was, at that time, anyway, both on the road and he had arrived”

Mysticum Corpus Christi (Mystical Body of Christ) #

• The Church understood as one person with Christ as head and believers as members
• Christ’s merit flows to members through spiritual generation (baptism)
• Remains central to Berquist’s understanding: “That’s what gives rise to what point at all is kind of interesting”

Examples & Illustrations #

The Axe and the Carpenter #

• “When you’re chopping down one of these trees on your property here, if you do that, you and the axe are doing the same operation, right?”
• This illustrates how an instrument’s action is unified with the principal agent’s action
• Applied to Christ: Human nature is the instrument of divine nature

Human Functions as Plural Operations #

• Digesting food is not operatio humana (not proceeding from reason and will), so not considered in ethics
• Walking upstairs is difficult because of bodily element (“too much earth in me”)
• These are operations “according to some part” but not properly human operations

Music as Obedience to Reason #

• “Mozart’s music and the music of the 18th century is more human, right, and rational than the music of the Romantic period”
• Illustrates how operations of the sensitive soul (hearing, aesthetic pleasure) become human insofar as they obey reason
• Contrasts with Romantic period music, which Berquist associates with excess sensuality

The Naval Officer’s Experience #

• Cousin Donald in the Navy, driven to distress by continuous radio noise (Romantic/contemporary music)
• Found relief attending a symphony orchestra (Mozart, Wagner—ordered, rational music)
• Illustrates practical effects of operations ordered by reason vs. unordered sensuality

Military Sleep Deprivation #

• “I know guys who are in the Army and they allow them to play the little radios all night long”
• Historically used to break down people (torture through sensory bombardment)
• Shows that unordered operations can harm both reason and body

Questions Addressed #

Question 19, Article 1: One or Many Operations? #

• Question: Is there one operation of both divinity and humanity in Christ, or two operations?
• Answer: Two operations: divine and human, united in the single person, not confused or separated
• Principle: Operation follows nature; but persons (supposita) are the subjects of operations, not natures

Question 19, Article 2: Many Human Doings? #

• Question: Are there in Christ many human doings?
• Answer: There is one properly human operation (from reason and will), though other operations exist in Him
• Key Distinction: Only operations proceeding from reason and will are simply human; others belong to man only secundum partem
• Conclusion: In Christ, there is actually more unity of operation than in other men because all sensitive operations were ordered by reason

Question 19, Article 3: Could Christ Merit for Himself? #

• Question: Was Christ’s human action able to be meritorious for himself?
• Answer: Yes, Christ merited the glory of the body and external excellence (ascension, veneration) but not grace, knowledge, or divinity
• Reasoning: Meriting through one’s own act is more noble than receiving without merit; but He could not merit what He always possessed without diminishing His dignity
• Reference: “He was made obedient unto death… On account of which, God has exalted him” (Philippians 2:8-9)
• Thomistic Division: Articles of faith about Christ into “articles of descent” (incarnation, crucifixion, descent to hell) and “articles of ascent” (resurrection, ascension, second coming)

Question 19, Article 4: Could Christ Merit for Others? #

• Question: Could Christ’s human action be meritorious for others?
• Answer: Yes, through His mystical body; His merit extends to others insofar as they are members joined to Him through baptism
• Key Principle: Just as Adam’s sin harmed others through bodily generation, Christ’s merit benefits others through spiritual generation (baptism)
• Qualification: Those cut off from Christ like branches from a plant do not benefit from His merit
• Nature of Application: Entirely of grace, not justice; God is not unjust in not saving those outside the Church

Notable Quotes #

“The mystical body of Christ is probably the most profound statement of what the church is.” — Berquist’s commentary on Thomas

“If you’re cut off from him, like the branch from the plant, you’re not going to merit, you’re not going to benefit from his merit.” — Berquist, illustrating the necessity of incorporation into Christ

“He was made obedient unto death. On account of which, God has exalted him.” — Philippians 2:8-9 (cited by Thomas as proof Christ merited His exaltation)

“All whatsoever they were baptized in Christ have put on Christ.” — Galatians 3:27 (cited as the means by which Christ’s merit reaches us)

“Bene schipsisti, Tama.” (You have written well about me.) — Christ to Thomas Aquinas regarding the Tertia Pars, cited as endorsement of Thomas’s Christology