Prima Secundae
Lecture 254: Precepts of the Old Law: Moral, Judicial, and Ceremonial

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and you have an ability to be something other than you are, right? God being pure act, possible, right? Sometimes Thomas will put infinity in with the perfection of God, right? And one with the simplicity, right? You get that idea of three, you know, you get these three kinds of laws, right? You don't want to depart too much from two or three, right? And, you know, even from God being pure act, you realize he's immaterial, and that's the root of what? Knowledge. So then you know that God knows, right? But because he's pure act, his understanding must be the same as his what? Substance, right? Because his understanding, then you know he's got will and so on, right? So that's kind of most important, right? Most important before and after. And there's many ways that act is before ability, right? And Aristotle takes them up in the ninth book, right? In honor of the nine words of angels, right? It's obviously the reason why it's in the ninth book, right? And at least you can remember that it's the ninth book now. And I know when I teach the metaphysics, you know, you can't do everything, you know? I always make sure that we see the ninth book, you know, that that was really something. Being a lazy son of a gun, you know, I was always looking for killing many birds with one stone, right? And I say, gee whiz, you can show almost all these things about God from his being pure act, right? So that's kind of marvelous, right? So, let's go back now to the... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. article i guess it is question 99 that we left off okay to the fifth one proceeds thus it seems that there are other what precepts contained in the old law apart from the moral the judicial and the ceremonial something more than three the heresy is this for the judicial precepts pertain to the act of justice which is of man to man the ceremonial pertain to the act religion by which god is worshipped but apart from these there are many other virtues temperance fortitude liberality and many more this has been said above therefore apart from the four said there must be many others contained in the old law or it says deuteronomy chapter 11 love the lord your god and observe his precepts and his what ceremonias and judicia judgments atque mandata is the fourth one therefore the precepts pertain to the what moralia therefore apart from the moralia judicialia and ceremonia there are others contain the law which are called mandata four things i was thinking that commandment you know to love god you know it's got three or four parts to it because i was looking at the one matthew that impressed me huh with christmas tim you know and he says uh love the lord with your whole heart and your whole soul and your whole reason or whole mind right but sometimes the other one with your whole strength right does that be like a fourth thing or is it something that would apply to all three of them the whole strength of your mind the whole strength of your heart the whole you know so you're not really getting four things that are what distinguished against each other right but three with a quality that should be observed in each of the three yeah so you gotta watch out these guys i want to go beyond three right they're a dangerous group you know moreover deuteronomy 6 verse 17 guard the precepts of the lord your god right and the testimonies and the ceremonies which he has what commanded therefore apart from all the force said in the old law in the law there is the testimonial right moreover in psalm 118 it said i will not forget for eternity right your justifications the gloss says that is the law therefore the precepts of the old law are not only the moralia ceremonial judicial but also the justificatio that's something a church there you know our lady of knots have you seen that yeah yeah i said hey this is just what we need you but again this is what is said in deuteronomy 6. these are the precepts of the precepts of the the ceremonia and the judicious or judgments which the lord has commanded to you right then you have the three of them right that's kind of the summing up there in deuteronomy right and these are laid down in the beginning of the law therefore all the precepts of the law are comprehended under these so what does thomas say here i answer it should be said that in the law are laid down some things as what precepts huh by the others as something ordered to the what fulfilling of the precepts sound we saw that in the explanation they gave where the um ceremonial and judicial ones were more particular right than the precepts like the commandments precepts are about those things which should be done to the fulfilling of which a man is led into the filling of them from two things to it from the authority of the one commanding and from the usefulness of their being fulfilled which is the what achievement of some useful good right or some delightful good some pleasant good or from some animal good right or the fleet flight from the contrary what evil right is necessary therefore in the old law to propose some things which indicate the authority of god commanding as in that of deuteronomy 6 4 here israel the lord your god is what one and that of genesis 1 1 in the beginning god created heaven and earth and things of this sort are called what testimonian is necessary also that in the law be proposed certain rewards right of those observing the law and punishments of those transgressing them as is clear in deuteronomy chapter 28 if you hear the voice of the lord your god he will make you higher right than all the what nations etc and these are called justifications according as god justly punishes or justly rewards now the things to be done do not come under precept except insofar as they have some notion of being what owed now there's a twofold debt one according to the rule of reason another according to the rule of one determining what the law as the philosopher himself says that's aristotle by the way in the fifth book of the ethics of the nicomachean ethics he distinguishes a twofold list of just to it the moral one right and then the what legal now the moral debt is twofold for reason dictates something to be done either because it's necessary without which there is not able to be the order of virtue or as something useful to this that the order of virtue might be better what preserved and according to this some things of the moralia are precisely right commanded or prohibited the law as you shall not kill you shall not what commit theft and these are properly said to be what precepts some are commanded or prohibited not as it were precisely owed but in account of them being what better and these are able to be called mandata because they have a certain what inducing us to this and student persuasive force as is said in exodus 22 if what before the setting of the sun i guess uh turn it to him right now the symbol of things when jerome says that in the precepts is justice in the mandatis what caritas but thing that owed from the determination of the law in human things pertains to judicialia in divine things to ceremonial now although those things that pertain to punishment or to rewards are able to be called testimonial insofar as you're certain protesting of the divine what justice but all the precepts of the law are able to be called justifications insofar as they ascertain carrying out of what legal justice now it's possible for other way mandata to be distinguished from precept in precepts to have said those things which god through himself what orders right mandata which he commands to others as the what name itself seems to what sound no complicated so give you an exam on this from which all of which it appears that all the precepts of the what law are contained under the moral ceremony and judicial the others do not have the ratio on the definition of precepts but are ordered to the what observation of the precepts as has been said so not to be laid alongside like another one right but something yeah just like i was saying about those loving god right there's some distinction between loving with your whole heart your whole soul and your whole reason right and your whole strength you know it's not like a fourth thing but it's something that is to do excellence in each one of these according to your i see it applies only then to the first objection to the first therefore it should be said what about the other virtues that justice alone among the other virtues implies the notion of what something old right and therefore moralia insofar as they are able to be determined by law insofar as they've retained to what justice of which also a part is what religion as tullius or cicero says right whence the ustum legale cannot be something apart from the ceremonial and judicial precepts then you're pipe and smoke it huh it seems that uh the main thing that ails the contemporary world is that with all the rights speak the focus on rights marian glennan and harvard law is what the great deal about this to the exclusion of duties it's fascinating here where you send justice alone with all the virtues implies the notion of duty consequently moral matters are determinable by law insofar as they belong to justice but if there is no duty then moral matters become very amorphous and undefined in a way and that's exactly uh what's been happening in the west it's really uh they should be reading st thomas i was reading a review in the national review there of a book about the uh recent decisions about what marriage is right it's not it's by um what's his name uh ryan anderson i don't know who he is yeah maybe he is yeah but it's a very good book you know you know and of course he was uh at one point he was kind of quoting you know kind of the what marriage is right the definition of marriage right originally and then uh he was talking how you know of course obviously changing the definition right and he's quoting a uh homosexual i guess from their office you know that talks about it and uh the definition that he gives of marriage is you know that it's kind of like a profession of your emotional attachment to somebody in that case i'm married to my grandchildren i'm married to my dog or cat or something you get emotionally attached to your your dog or your dog or your pet or something you know yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah and uh so i said to rosie i mean at the dinner i said uh uh is that what we got married we were pressing emotional attachment i presume you have you don't get married on emotional attachment that you're professing when you get up there you know i used to say the students before this this whole thing you know crazy thing arose but i'd say you know when you're getting married does the priest say you know do you have um wonderful feelings about uh so-and-so yes i do you say you say do you take so-and-so as your wife or husband right and uh that's really an act of will right you you're choosing right so you don't get married by having wonderful feelings for somebody i might dispose you to get married right but what actually makes you married is that you choose each other for you know yeah it's open to to you open to to life and so on right but essentially you know going back to discourse there right i mean the uh u.s uh supreme court doesn't understand the definition of marriage right these obviously do quite different definitions different things yeah yeah that's the most common mistake there you know of fallacy and equivocation right yeah but you know he's very good at seeing you know the effect of these things you know he begins with talking there about uh no fault divorce right how that starts thinking then after something's going to do you know it's going to make it very very dissolvable you know the marriage okay thomas we'll give you a pass in this article five here to the sixth one goes forward thus it seems that the old law ought not to what induce people to the observance of the commands through temporal promises right and temporal threats for the intention of the divine law is that make men subject to god through both fear and love whence it is said in deuteronomy 10 verse 12 and now israel what the lord your god asks from you except that you fear the lord your god and you walk in his ways and you love him see more that thomas has a timor before a moron there right it's following the order of the words in deuteronomy but the cupidity huh the covetous temporal things leads away from god right for augustine says in the book of the 83 questions that the poison of charity is cupidity right poisons it therefore the promises and the temporal the temporal promises and threats would seem to be contrary to the intention of the translator which makes the law what yeah this is clear through the philosopher in the second book of politics yeah more where the divine law is more excellent than the human law but we see in the sciences that the higher it is right the more it proceeds through higher middles right no terms therefore since human law proceeds to inducing men through temporal uh threats and promises to divine law not to proceed from these but do something greater yeah very good thomas huh what's exciting you on thomas like a pure a real period worried that is not able to be the award of justice or the punishment of guilt that equally comes both to good and to what bad but it's said in enthusiastic he says that all things universe said temporalia right happen evenly right huh to the just and the impious huh to the good and the bad to the clean and the unclean huh to the one what sacrificing gifts and one condemning or having contempt for these things therefore temporal goods or temporal evils are not suitably laid down as punishments or rewards of the what commandments of the law of god huh okay well i'm convinced aren't you got to follow the argument right where it leads right but against this is what is said in isaiah he's a pretty big shot you know he's he's uh he's uh great prophets are trying to what get us to fulfill the law right now if you wish and you hear me you eat the goods of the earth right you got it right here i'm the goods of the earth but if you do not wish and you provoke me to wrath the sword will devour you sounds like ala there doesn't no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no 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yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah it kind of bypasses all those arguments about when it's just a piece of flesh and so on so also is necessary that the one who wishes to lead a man into the observance of the precepts that from those things he should begin to move him which are in his affections just as boys are provoked to doing something by some puerile little gifts I guess yeah it has been said however above that the old law disposes for Christ as the imperfect disposes to the what? perfect whence it is given to a people still imperfect in comparison to the perfection which would be future through Christ this will come up even more in the details of these laws right let me see that and therefore this people was compared to the boy under the pedagogue that's very sure that the analysis comparison there is given by Paul right this is clear from Galatians chapter 3 verse 24 now the perfection of man man is that having contempt for temporal things right he adheres to spiritual things as is clear through that which the apostle says that means St. Paul right by Tony Messiah Philippians 3 things which are what before the past forgetting those things right okay to those which are before I extend my what self before it's more like Homer right before and behind right whichever things are what perfect whoever are perfect right this is the way they think right in a sense now it's of the imperfect that they desire temporal goods in order nevertheless to God right but it's of the perverse that they constitute their end in temporal goods right whence it was what suitable to the old law that to temporal things which were in the what affections of imperfect men men were led by the hand to God have you studied in the one you would have heard about your ducks go but in question 117 article 1 right there he talks about teaching right he says the teacher leads the student from the known to the unknown two ways one of them is leading them by sensible things and so what about the first objection here you had Augustine even talking about poison right so God was poisoning the Jewish people the first effort should be said that the cupidity by which man constitutes his end in temporal goods is the poison of what charity but the attaining of temporal goods which a man desires in order to God right is a certain road leading in the imperfect to the love of what God according to that of Psalm 48 I will confess to you when you benefit me okay but you find people nowadays they might pray to God because a husband has a hard time finding a job or something right if he gets a job this disposes them well towards God right they're not putting their life in this job obviously but they've been benefited by God right their prayer has been answered right yeah yeah yeah even Christ would go around curing people right interesting sometimes he forgets forgives the sins before he cures them right so he said how can you be forgiving sins you know well it's easier yeah the second objection to the second should be said that the human law leads men in from temporal what rewards or punishments to men but the divine law from awards or punishments exhibited by God and in this way it proceeds from what higher means to the third it should be said that just as is clear to one what considering I guess right evolved in his mind the histories of the Old Testament right the common state of the people under the law was always in what prosperity so long as they observed the law and immediately declining from the pieces of the law they fell into many what adversities finally called off to Baghdad and so on but other particular persons also observing the justice of the law came into some adversities right because either what yeah that they might be more from the effect of what temporal things drawn away and their virtue might be rude or because in fulfilling the works of the law exteriorly their whole heart they had and what and they were elongated from God according to what is said in Isaiah 29 these people honestly with their lips but their heart is far from him Christ is saying that to the ones at his own time right now he's