1 Objection 1: It would seem that corporeal creatures are not from God. For it is said Eccles. 3, 14): I have learned that all the works which God hath made, continue for ever. But visible bodies do not continue for ever, for it is said 2 Cor. 4, 18): The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Therefore God did not make visible bodies.
1 Ad primum sic proceditur. Videtur quod creatura corporalis non sit a Deo. Dicitur enim Eccle. III, didici quod omnia quae fecit Deus, perseverant in aeternum. Sed corpora visibilia non perseverant in aeternum, dicitur enim II Cor. IV, quae videntur temporalia sunt; quae autem non videntur, aeterna. Ergo Deus non fecit corpora visibilia.
2 Objection 2: Further, it is said Gn. 1, 31): God saw all things that He had made, and they were very good. But corporeal creatures are evil, since we find them harmful in many ways; as may be seen in serpents, in the sun's heat, and other things. Now a thing is called evil, in so far as it is harmful. Corporeal creatures, therefore, are not from God.
2 Praeterea, Gen. I, dicitur, vidit Deus cuncta quae fecerat, et erant valde bona. Sed creaturae corporales sunt malae, experimur enim eas in multis noxias, ut patet in multis serpentibus, in aestu solis, et huiusmodi; ideo autem aliquid dicitur malum, quia nocet. Creaturae igitur corporales non sunt a Deo.
3 Objection 3: Further, what is from God does not withdraw us from God, but leads us to Him. But corporeal creatures withdraw us from God. Hence the Apostle 2 Cor. 4, 18): While we look not at the things which are seen. Corporeal creatures, therefore, are not from God.
3 Praeterea, id quod est a Deo, non retrahit a Deo, sed ducit in ipsum. Sed creaturae corporales retrahunt a Deo, unde apostolus dicit, II Cor. IV, non contemplantibus nobis quae videntur. Ergo creaturae corporales non sunt a Deo.
4 On the contrary, It is said Ps. 145, 6): Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.
4 Sed contra est quod dicitur in Psalmo CXLV, qui fecit caelum et terram, mare, et omnia quae in eis sunt.
5 I answer that, Certain heretics maintain that visible things are not created by the good God, but by an evil principle, and allege in proof of their error the words of the Apostle 2 Cor. 4, 4), The god of this world hath blinded the minds of unbelievers. But this position is altogether untenable. For, if things that differ agree in some point, there must be some cause for that agreement, since things diverse in nature cannot be united of themselves. Hence whenever in different things some one thing common to all is found, it must be that these different things receive that one thing from some one cause, as different bodies that are hot receive their heat from fire. But being is found to be common to all things, however otherwise different. There must, therefore, be one principle of being from which all things in whatever way existing have their being, whether they are invisible and spiritual, or visible and corporeal. But the devil is called the god of this world, not as having created it, but because worldlings serve him, of whom also the Apostle says, speaking in the same sense, Whose god is their belly Phil. 3, 19).
5 Respondeo dicendum quod quorundam haereticorum positio est, quod visibilia ista non sunt creata a bono Deo, sed a malo principio. Et ad argumentum sui erroris assumunt quod apostolus dicit II, Cor. IV, Deus huius saeculi excaecavit mentes infidelium. Haec autem positio est omnino impossibilis. Si enim diversa in aliquo uniantur, necesse est huius unionis causam esse aliquam, non enim diversa secundum se uniuntur. Et inde est quod, quandocumque in diversis invenitur aliquid unum, oportet quod illa diversa illud unum ab aliqua una causa recipiant; sicut diversa corpora calida habent calorem ab igne. Hoc autem quod est esse, communiter invenitur in omnibus rebus, quantumcumque diversis. Necesse est ergo esse unum essendi principium, a quo esse habeant quaecumque sunt quocumque modo, sive sint invisibilia et spiritualia, sive sint visibilia et corporalia. Dicitur autem Diabolus esse Deus huius saeculi, non creatione, sed quia saeculariter viventes ei serviunt; eo modo loquendi quo apostolus loquitur, ad Philipp. III, quorum Deus venter est.
6 Reply to Objection 1: All the creatures of God in some respects continue for ever, at least as to matter, since what is created will never be annihilated, even though it be corruptible. And the nearer a creature approaches God, Who is immovable, the more it also is immovable. For corruptible creatures endure for ever as regards their matter, though they change as regards their substantial form. But incorruptible creatures endure with respect to their substance, though they are mutable in other respects, such as place, for instance, the heavenly bodies; or the affections, as spiritual creatures. But the Apostle's words, The things which are seen are temporal, though true even as regards such things considered in themselves in so far as every visible creature is subject to time, either as to being or as to movement), are intended to apply to visible things in so far as they are offered to man as rewards. For such rewards, as consist in these visible things, are temporal; while those that are invisible endure for ever. Hence he said before 2 Cor. 4, 17): It worketh for us... an eternal weight of glory.
6 Ad primum ergo dicendum quod omnes creaturae Dei secundum aliquid in aeternum perseverant, ad minus secundum materiam, quia creaturae nunquam in nihilum redigentur, etiam si sint corruptibiles. Sed quanto creaturae magis appropinquant ad Deum, qui est omnino immobilis, tanto magis sunt immobiles. Nam creaturae corruptibiles in perpetuum manent secundum materiam, sed mutantur secundum formam substantialem. Creaturae vero incorruptibiles permanent quidem secundum substantiam, sed sunt mutabiles secundum alia, puta secundum locum, ut corpora caelestia; vel secundum affectiones, ut creaturae spirituales. Quod autem apostolus dicit, quae videntur, temporalia sunt, etsi verum sit etiam quantum ad ipsas res in se consideratas, secundum quod omnis creatura visibilis subiacet tempori, vel secundum suum esse vel secundum suum motum; tamen apostolus intendit loqui de visibilibus secundum quod sunt hominis praemia. Nam praemia hominis quae sunt in istis rebus visibilibus, temporaliter transeunt, quae autem sunt in rebus invisibilibus, permanent in aeternum. Unde et supra praemiserat, aeternum gloriae pondus operatur in nobis.
7 Reply to Objection 2: Corporeal creatures according to their nature are good, though this good is not universal, but partial and limited, the consequence of which is a certain opposition of contrary qualities, though each quality is good in itself. To those, however, who estimate things, not by the nature thereof, but by the good they themselves can derive therefrom, everything which is harmful to themselves seems simply evil. For they do not reflect that what is in some way injurious to one person, to another is beneficial, and that even to themselves the same thing may be evil in some respects, but good in others. And this could not be, if bodies were essentially evil and harmful.
7 Ad secundum dicendum quod creatura corporalis, secundum suam naturam, est bona, sed non est bonum universale, sed est quoddam bonum particulare et contractum, secundum quam particularitatem et contractionem sequitur in ea contrarietas, per quam unum contrariatur alteri, licet utrumque in se sit bonum. Quidam autem, aestimantes res non ex earum natura, sed ex suo proprio commodo, quaecumque sibi nociva sunt, simpliciter mala arbitrantur non considerantes quod id quod est uni nocivum quantum ad aliquid, vel alteri vel eidem quantum ad aliquid est proficuum. Quod nequaquam esset, si secundum se corpora essent mala et noxia.
8 Reply to Objection 3: Creatures of themselves do not withdraw us from God, but lead us to Him; for the invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made Rm. 1, 20). If, then, they withdraw men from God, it is the fault of those who use them foolishly. Thus it is said Wis. 14, 11): Creatures are turned into a snare to the feet of the unwise. And the very fact that they can thus withdraw us from God proves that they came from Him, for they cannot lead the foolish away from God except by the allurements of some good that they have from Him.
8 Ad tertium dicendum quod creaturae, quantum est de se, non retrahunt a Deo, sed in ipsum ducunt, quia invisibilia Dei per ea quae facta sunt, intellecta, conspiciuntur, ut dicitur Rom. I. Sed quod avertant a Deo, hoc est ex culpa eorum qui insipienter eis utuntur. Unde dicitur Sap. XIV, quod creaturae factae sunt in muscipulam pedibus insipientium. Et hoc ipsum quod sic a Deo abducunt, attestatur quod sunt a Deo. Non enim abducunt insipientes a Deo, nisi alliciendo secundum aliquid boni in eis existens, quod habent a Deo.