1 Objection 1: It would seem that the angels were created before the corporeal world. For Jerome says In Ep. ad Tit. i, 2): Six thousand years of our time have not yet elapsed; yet how shall we measure the time, how shall we count the ages, in which the Angels, Thrones, Dominations, and the other orders served God? Damascene also says De Fide Orth. ii): Some say that the angels were begotten before all creation; as Gregory the Theologian declares, He first of all devised the angelic and heavenly powers, and the devising was the making thereof.
1 Ad tertium sic proceditur. Videtur quod Angeli fuerint creati ante mundum corporeum. Dicit enim Hieronymus, super epistolam ad Titum, sex millia nondum nostri temporis complentur annorum; et quanta tempora, quantasque saeculorum origines fuisse arbitrandum est, in quibus Angeli, throni, dominationes, ceterique ordines Deo servierunt? Damascenus etiam dicit, in II libro, quidam dicunt quod ante omnem creationem geniti sunt Angeli; ut theologus dicit Gregorius, primum quidem excogitavit angelicas virtutes et caelestes, et excogitatio opus eius fuit.
2 Objection 2: Further, the angelic nature stands midway between the Divine and the corporeal natures. But the Divine nature is from eternity; while corporeal nature is from time. Therefore the angelic nature was produced ere time was made, and after eternity.
2 Praeterea, angelica natura est media inter naturam divinam et naturam corpoream. Sed natura divina est ab aeterno, natura autem corporea ex tempore. Ergo natura angelica facta est ante creationem temporis, et post aeternitatem.
3 Objection 3: Further, the angelic nature is more remote from the corporeal nature than one corporeal nature is from another. But one corporeal nature was made before another; hence the six days of the production of things are set forth in the opening of Genesis. Much more, therefore, was the angelic nature made before every corporeal nature.
3 Praeterea, plus distat natura angelica a natura corporali, quam una natura corporalis ab alia. Sed una natura corporalis fuit facta ante aliam, unde et sex dies productionis rerum in principio Genesis describuntur. Ergo multo magis natura angelica facta est ante omnem naturam corporalem.
4 On the contrary, It is said Gn. 1, 1): In the beginning God created heaven and earth. Now, this would not be true if anything had been created previously. Consequently the angels were not created before corporeal nature.
4 Sed contra est quod dicitur Gen. I, in principio creavit Deus caelum et terram. Non autem hoc esset verum, si aliquid creasset antea. Ergo Angeli non sunt ante naturam corpoream creati.
5 I answer that, There is a twofold opinion on this point to be found in the writings of the Fathers. The more probable one holds that the angels were created at the same time as corporeal creatures. For the angels are part of the universe: they do not constitute a universe of themselves; but both they and corporeal natures unite in constituting one universe. This stands in evidence from the relationship of creature to creature; because the mutual relationship of creatures makes up the good of the universe. But no part is perfect if separate from the whole. Consequently it is improbable that God, Whose works are perfect, as it is said Dt. 32, 4, should have created the angelic creature before other creatures. At the same time the contrary is not to be deemed erroneous; especially on account of the opinion of Gregory Nazianzen, whose authority in Christian doctrine is of such weight that no one has ever raised objection to his teaching, as is also the case with the doctrine of Athanasius, as Jerome says.
5 Respondeo dicendum quod circa hoc invenitur duplex sanctorum doctorum sententia, illa tamen probabilior videtur, quod Angeli simul cum creatura corporea sunt creati. Angeli enim sunt quaedam pars universi, non enim constituunt per se unum universum, sed tam ipsi quam creatura corporea in constitutionem unius universi conveniunt. Quod apparet ex ordine unius creaturae ad aliam, ordo enim rerum ad invicem est bonum universi. Nulla autem pars perfecta est a suo toto separata. Non est igitur probabile ut Deus, cuius perfecta sunt opera, ut dicitur Deut. XXXII, creaturam angelicam seorsum ante alias creaturas creaverit. Quamvis contrarium non sit reputandum erroneum; praecipue propter sententiam Gregorii Nazianzeni, cuius tanta est in doctrina Christiana auctoritas, ut nullus unquam eius dictis calumniam inferre praesumpserit, sicut nec Athanasii documentis, ut Hieronymus dicit.
6 Reply to Objection 1: Jerome is speaking according to the teaching of the Greek Fathers; all of whom hold the creation of the angels to have taken place previously to that of the corporeal world.
6 Ad primum ergo dicendum quod Hieronymus loquitur secundum sententiam doctorum Graecorum, qui omnes hoc concorditer sentiunt, quod Angeli sunt ante mundum corporeum creati.
7 Reply to Objection 2: God is not a part of, but far above, the whole universe, possessing within Himself the entire perfection of the universe in a more eminent way. But an angel is a part of the universe. Hence the comparison does not hold.
7 Ad secundum dicendum quod Deus non est aliqua pars universi, sed est supra totum universum, praehabens in se eminentiori modo totam universi perfectionem. Angelus autem est pars universi. Unde non est eadem ratio.
8 Reply to Objection 3: All corporeal creatures are one in matter; while the angels do not agree with them in matter. Consequently the creation of the matter of the corporeal creature involves in a manner the creation of all things; but the creation of the angels does not involve creation of the universe. If the contrary view be held, then in the text of Gn. 1, In the beginning God created heaven and earth, the words, In the beginning, must be interpreted, In the Son, or In the beginning of time: but not, In the beginning, before which there was nothing, unless we say Before which there was nothing of the nature of corporeal creatures.
8 Ad tertium dicendum quod creaturae corporeae omnes sunt unum in materia, sed Angeli non conveniunt in materia cum creatura corporea. Unde, creata materia corporalis creaturae, omnia quodammodo sunt creata, non autem, creatis Angelis, esset ipsum universum creatum. Si vero contrarium teneatur, quod dicitur Gen. I, in principio creavit Deus caelum et terram exponendum est, in principio, idest in filio, vel in principio temporis, non autem in principio, idest ante quod nihil, nisi dicatur, ante quod nihil in genere corporalium creaturarum.