§ 108. THOMAS AQUINAS. 671
them, they are forever lost. Baptism liberates from original sin, and without baptism there is no salvation.1
The doctrine of the sacraments, as expounded by Thomas, is, in all particulars, the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Christ won grace. The Church imparts it. The sacraments are visible signs of invisible things, as Augustine defined them. The number is seven, corresponding to the seven cardinal virtues and the seven mortal sins. They are reme dies for sin, and make for the perfecting of man in righteous ness.2 The efficacy lies in a virtue inherent in the sacrament itself, and is not conditioned by faith in the recipient. Three of the sacraments — baptism, confirmation, and ordination — have an indelible character. Every conceivable question pertaining to the sacraments is taken up by Thomas and solved. The treatment of baptism and the eucharist occu pies no less than two hundred and fifty pages of Migne's edition, IV. 600-852.
Baptism, the original form of which was immersion, cleanses from original sin and incorporates into the body of Christ. Children of Jews and infidels are not to be baptized without the consent of their parents.3 Ordination is indispensable to the existence of the Church. In the Lord's Supper the glorified body of the Redeemer is wholly present essentially, but not quantitatively. The words of Christ, " This is my body," are susceptible of only one interpretation — the change of the elements into the veritable body and blood of Christ. The substance of the bread undergoes change. The dimensions of the bread, and its other accidents, remain. The whole body is in the bread, as the whole body is also in the wine.4
Penance is efficacious to the removing of guilt incurred after baptism. Indulgences have efficacy for the dead as well as the living. Their dispensation belongs primarily
1 Per baptismum pueri liberantur a peccato originali et ab inferno. Summa, III. 57, 7 ; Migne, IV. 485, 486.
2 Summa, III. 65, 1 ; Migne, IV. 595. See Werner, II. 676-699.
3 Summa, II. (2), 10, 12 ; Migne, III. 101 sqq.
4 Totus Christus sub utraque specie. Summa, III. 76, 2; Migne, IV, 734,
672 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1049-1294.
to the pope, as the head of the Church. The fund of merit is the product chiefly of the superabounding merit of Christ, but also of the supererogatory works of the saints.1
In regard to the Last Things, the fire of hell will be phys ical. The blessed will be able to contemplate the woes of the lost without sorrow, and are led, as Albertus had said, by the sight of these woes to praise God supremely for their own redemption. Their beatitude is not increased by this vision. The body of the resurrection will be the same, even to the bowels.2
In his consideration of ethics, Thomas Aquinas rises far above the other mediaeval writers, and marks an epoch in the treatment of the subject. He devotes to it nearly two hun dred questions, or one-third of his entire system of theology. Here his references to the " philosopher " are very frequent.3 It is Thomas' merit that he proceeds into details in analyz ing the conduct of daily life.4 To give an example, he discusses the question of drunkenness, and, with Aristotle, decides that it is no excuse for crime.5 Thomas, however, also allows himself to be led into useless discussions where sophistry has free play, as when he answers the questions, whether a " man should love his child more than his father," or "his mother more than his father."
Thomas opens his ethical treatment with a discussion of the highest good, that is, blessedness, — beatitude, — which does not consist in riches, honor, fame, power, or pleasure.6 Riches only minister to the body, and the more we have of them, the more are they despised, on account of their insufficiency to meet human needs; as our Lord said of the waters of the world, that whoever drinks of them shall thirst again,
1 Prcecipue propter meritum Christi, etc. Supplem., XXV. 1 ; Migne, IV. 1014.
2 Summa, III. 94 ; Migne, IV. 1343 sqq. See Werner, II. 712.
8 Not infrequently are there two or three references to Aristotle on a single page, e.g. I. (2), 2, 2 ; I. (2), 4, 2 ; Migne, II. 22, 46.
4 Baur, pp. 429 sqq., pronounces Thomas' method descriptive rather than consequential. The system is not developed from fundamental principles,
5 Summa, II. (2), 150, 4 ; Migne, III. 1051.
6 Suwma, I, (2), 2, Isqq.; Migne, II. 19-37,