104. Christ's Miracles Concerning Spiritual Substances and Celestial Bodies

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Miracles Concerning Demons (Spiritual Substances) #

• The Central Tension: Christ performed miracles expelling demons, yet revealing His full divinity to demons would have prevented the mystery of the Passion (1 Corinthians 2: “If they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”)
• Christ’s Limited Self-Revelation: Christ revealed Himself to demons only as much as was suitable and necessary—through temporal effects of His power, not through the eternal knowledge given to holy angels
• The Demon’s Initial Ignorance: Demons initially suspected Christ was not the Son of God due to His bodily weakness, hunger, and fatigue (Luke 4: “If you are the Son of God…”)
• Suspicion vs. Certain Knowledge: Through witnessing miracles, demons came to suspect (not know with certainty) Christ’s divinity; this suspicion was insufficient to warn them that crucifying Him would result in their defeat
• Benefit to Men, Not Demons: Miracles expelling demons were ordered toward the instruction and salvation of men, not the benefit of demons; they demonstrated the magnitude of demonic harm and God’s providential protection

Miracles Concerning Celestial Bodies #

• The Problem of Nature: Celestial bodies are incorruptible by nature (following Aristotelian physics); changing them appears to corrupt nature, which divine providence should not do
• The Timing Problem: Changes to celestial bodies would alter time’s measurement, which astronomers would have noticed; yet the Pharisees’ demand for a sign from heaven was refused
• The Solution: God’s will to change creation is natural to creation itself; it is not corruption but fulfillment of creatures’ nature to be moved by God according to His will
• Augustine’s Principle: “Nothing against nature, because that is the nature of each thing that he does” (from Against Faustus 22, cited in glosses on Romans 11)
• The Darkness at the Passion: The most significant miracle concerning celestial bodies; necessary to manifest Christ’s divinity precisely when His human weakness appeared most evident
• Two Possible Mechanisms: Either (1) the sun supernaturally withdrew its rays by divine power, or (2) dark clouds interposed; neither involves a change in the celestial body’s motion

Dionysius the Areopagite’s Analysis #

Berquist presents Dionysius’s detailed account of the Passion darkening, with the caveat to take it “with a grain of salt”:

• First Miracle: A natural eclipse cannot occur when the moon is in opposition to the sun (full moon on the 15th day, Passover); the supernatural character is proven by the timing
• Second Miracle: The moon appeared simultaneously with the sun at midday (sixth hour) and then reversed to appear in the east (opposite the sun) by the ninth hour—impossible in nature
• Third Miracle: In natural eclipses, the moon always approaches from the west because it moves faster than the sun; the moon would have had to reverse from east to west against its natural motion
• Fourth Miracle: Natural eclipses always begin and end from the same side; this eclipse began from the west but ended on the east
• Fifth Miracle: The darkness lasted three hours; natural eclipses pass instantaneously

Berquist notes that Dionysius claimed to have witnessed this as an eyewitness (“oculata fide”—with the eye of faith), and references Dionysius’s epistle to Polycarp on this matter.

Objection from Pharisees and Scripture #

• Christ refused to give signs from heaven when Pharisees demanded them (Matthew 12)
• Objection: If miracles of celestial bodies serve to manifest divinity, why did Christ refuse?
• Answer: Celestial miracles were especially necessary at the Passion when Christ’s weakness appeared greatest; at other times, lesser miracles sufficed

Key Arguments #

On the Suitability of Miracles About Demons #

Objections:

1. Holy angels are superior to demons, yet Christ did no miracles about good angels—why then about demons?
2. Making divinity known to demons would prevent the mystery of the Passion
3. Demons cannot glorify God; miracles serve no purpose for them
4. Some miracles harmed the possessed (e.g., Gadarene swine destroyed)

Thomas’s Response:

• Men were made neighbors to Christ through liberation from demonic power (Colossians 1.20: “giving peace through the blood of his cross, of those in heaven and on earth”)
• Christ’s appearances to angels (birth, resurrection, ascension) are different from demon-expulsion miracles, which benefit men
• Demons were revealed Christ’s power through temporal effects, not through the eternal knowledge that leads to the beatific vision
• The demons’ suspicion (weaker than opinion) was insufficient to understand the strategically hidden mystery
• Harm to the possessed person was permitted to instruct humanity about demonic harm and divine providence

On Miracles of Celestial Bodies #

Objections:

1. Divine providence preserves nature; celestial bodies are incorruptible by nature
2. Changes to celestial motion would alter time’s measurement; astronomers would have noticed
3. Christ refused signs from heaven when demanded

Thomas’s Response:

• It is natural for all creatures to be changed by God according to His will; this fulfills rather than corrupts their nature
• The darkness was caused either by withdrawal of rays or cloud interposition, not by change in celestial motion proper
• Such miracles were most suitable at the Passion, when Christ’s divinity required manifestation alongside His apparent weakness and suffering
• Dionysius’s account proves the supernatural character through impossible astronomical conditions (full moon eclipse, reversed lunar motion, impossible duration)

Important Definitions #

Suspicion (Suspicio): A cognitive state weaker than opinion; results from rhetorical reasoning rather than dialectical reasoning. Demons possessed suspicion, not certain knowledge, of Christ’s divinity.

Incorruptibility: In Aristotelian physics (adopted by Thomas), celestial bodies are eternal and unchanging in their substance; however, they remain subject to God’s will without this implying corruption.

Nature: That which is intrinsic to a thing’s being and operation. God acts according to the nature of each creature; thus miracles are not “against nature” but rather the fulfillment of creatures’ nature to depend on God.

Temporal Effects: Changes or works observable in the material world over time, as opposed to eternal truths accessible to intellectual vision. Demons perceived Christ’s divinity through temporal effects (miracles), not eternal knowledge.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Gadarene Swine (Mark 5) #

• Demons cast into pigs, which rush into the sea
• Objection: This harms the possessed man and destroys property
• Resolution: The harm instructs men about demonic magnitude and shows that demons cannot act without God’s permission; spiritual dangers exceed bodily ones

The Darkness at the Passion (Luke 23) #

• Darkness from sixth to ninth hour
• Mechanism 1 (Jerome): Sun supernaturally withdrew its rays by divine power, not by its own nature
• Mechanism 2 (Origen): Most dark clouds gathered above Jerusalem, causing profound darkness
• Dionysius’s miraculous analysis: Impossible astronomical conditions prove supernatural intervention

The Temptation in the Desert (Luke 4) #

• Satan’s initial temptation: “If you are the Son of God…” suggests demonic doubt
• Demons initially suspected Christ was merely human due to weakness (hunger, fatigue)
• Only after witnessing miracles did they come to suspect (not know) His divinity

Notable Quotes #

“If they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” — 1 Corinthians 2 (cited on why demons’ full knowledge of Christ’s divinity was withheld)

“God, the creator of all natures, does nothing against nature, because that is the nature of each thing that he does.” — Augustine, Against Faustus 22 (on the compatibility of miracles with natural law)

“Nothing against nature, because that is the nature of each thing that he does.” — Augustine, cited in glosses on Romans 11 (on God’s relation to the nature of creatures)

“It is not necessary, nor suitable for them [demons] to assert the glory of the apostolic office. Nor should the mystery of Christ be published by a fetid tongue. Because not beautiful is praise in the mouth of the sinner.” — Chrysostom (cited on why Christ silenced demons despite their true confessions)

“The eye of faith [oculata fide] expected this to have happened through the coming between of the moon.” — Dionysius the Areopagite (on witnessing the miraculous eclipse)

Questions Addressed #

Why did Christ perform miracles about demons if this revealed His divinity? #

• Christ revealed Himself to demons only as much as was suitable—through temporal effects, not eternal knowledge
• Demons gained mere suspicion, not certain knowledge; this was insufficient for them to understand the Passion’s outcome
• The miracles benefited men by instructing them about demonic harm and God’s protection, not demons themselves

Why is the darkness at the Passion a miracle if it involved natural causes (clouds or moon)? #

• The miracle lies in divine causation and timing, not merely in the mechanism
• The timing (full moon, when natural eclipse is impossible) and the astronomical impossibilities prove supernatural intervention
• Whether by cloud interposition or lunar motion, the event was supernaturally ordained by God

How can changing celestial bodies be compatible with divine providence preserving nature? #

• Miracles do not corrupt nature but rather fulfill creatures’ nature—which is to depend on God’s will
• It is natural for all creatures to be moved by God; this is not corruption but the actualization of their created nature
• The celestial body’s substance remains unchanged; only its effects or position are altered by divine power

Why did Christ refuse signs from heaven when the Pharisees demanded them, but perform miracles of celestial bodies at the Passion? #

• Celestial miracles were uniquely necessary at the Passion when Christ’s human weakness appeared most evident
• At other times, lesser miracles and teaching sufficed; the context of extreme weakness (crucifixion) required greater signs
• The refusal to Pharisees was to deny them arbitrary signs; the Passion miracle was ordered to genuine revelation

Pedagogical Notes #

• Berquist repeatedly cautions students to take Dionysius’s detailed astronomical analysis “with a grain of salt,” indicating skepticism toward some Patristic claims while maintaining respect for Dionysius’s authority
• The lecture demonstrates Thomas’s systematic method: presenting objections, then resolving them through careful philosophical and theological reasoning
• Emphasis on the principle that grace perfects nature rather than destroying it—a foundational Thomistic insight
• The lecture will continue with Articles 3 and 4 (miracles concerning men and irrational creatures) and then transition to the Transfiguration