1 Objection 1: It would seem that corporeal creatures were produced by God through the medium of the angels. For, as all things are governed by the Divine wisdom, so by it were all things made, according to Ps. 103, 24 Thou hast made all things in wisdom. But it belongs to wisdom to ordain, as stated in the beginning of the Metaphysics i, 2). Hence in the government of things the lower is ruled by the higher in a certain fitting order, as Augustine says De Trin. iii, 4). Therefore in the production of things it was ordained that the corporeal should be produced by the spiritual, as the lower by the higher.
1 Ad tertium sic proceditur. Videtur quod creatura corporalis sit producta a Deo mediantibus Angelis. Sicut enim res gubernantur per divinam sapientiam, ita omnia sunt per Dei sapientiam facta; secundum illud Psalmi CIII, omnia in sapientia fecisti. Sed ordinare est sapientis, ut dicitur in principio Metaphys. Unde in gubernatione rerum, inferiora per superiora reguntur quodam ordine, ut Augustinus dicit, III de Trin. Ergo et in rerum productione talis ordo fuit, quod creatura corporalis, tanquam inferior, per spiritualem, tanquam superiorem, est producta.
2 Objection 2: Further, diversity of effects shows diversity of causes, since like always produces like. It then all creatures, both spiritual and corporeal, were produced immediately by God, there would be no diversity in creatures, for one would not be further removed from God than another. But this is clearly false; for the Philosopher says that some things are corruptible because they are far removed from God De Gen. et Corrup. ii, text. 59).
2 Praeterea, diversitas effectuum demonstrat diversitatem causarum, quia idem semper facit idem. Si ergo omnes creaturae, tam spirituales quam corporales, sunt immediate a Deo productae, nulla esset inter creaturas diversitas, nec una magis distaret a Deo quam alia. Quod patet esse falsum, cum propter longe distare a Deo dicat philosophus quaedam corruptibilia esse.
3 Objection 3: Further, infinite power is not required to produce a finite effect. But every corporeal thing is finite. Therefore, it could be, and was, produced by the finite power of spiritual creatures: for in suchlike beings there is no distinction between what is and what is possible: especially as no dignity befitting a nature is denied to that nature, unless it be in punishment of a fault.
3 Praeterea, ad producendum effectum finitum, non requiritur virtus infinita. Sed omne corpus finitum est. Ergo per finitam virtutem spiritualis creaturae produci potuit; et productum fuit, quia in talibus non differt esse et posse; praesertim quia nulla dignitas competens alicui secundum suam naturam, ei denegatur, nisi forte ob culpam.
4 On the contrary, It is said Gn. 1, 1): In the beginning God created heaven and earth; by which are understood corporeal creatures. These, therefore, were produced immediately by God.
4 Sed contra est quod dicitur Gen. I, in principio creavit Deus caelum et terram, per quae creatura corporalis intelligitur. Ergo creatura corporalis est immediate a Deo producta.
5 I answer that, Some have maintained that creatures proceeded from God by degrees, in such a way that the first creature proceeded from Him immediately, and in its turn produced another, and so on until the production of corporeal creatures. But this position is untenable, since the first production of corporeal creatures is by creation, by which matter itself is produced: for in the act of coming into being the imperfect must be made before the perfect: and it is impossible that anything should be created, save by God alone.
In proof whereof it must be borne in mind that the higher the cause, the more numerous the objects to which its causation extends. Now the underlying principle in things is always more universal than that which informs and restricts it; thus, being is more universal than living, living than understanding, matter than form. The more widely, then, one thing underlies others, the more directly does that thing proceed from a higher cause. Thus the thing that underlies primarily all things, belongs properly to the causality of the supreme cause.
Therefore no secondary cause can produce anything, unless there is presupposed in the thing produced something that is caused by a higher cause. But creation is the production of a thing in its entire substance, nothing being presupposed either uncreated or created. Hence it remains that nothing can create except God alone, Who is the first cause. Therefore, in order to show that all bodies were created immediately by God, Moses said: In the beginning God created heaven and earth.
5 Respondeo dicendum quod quidam posuerunt gradatim res a Deo processisse, ita scilicet quod ab eo immediate processit prima creatura, et illa produxit aliam; et sic inde usque ad creaturam corpoream. Sed haec positio est impossibilis. Quia prima corporalis creaturae productio est per creationem per quam etiam ipsa materia producitur, imperfectum enim est prius quam perfectum in fieri impossibile est autem aliquid creari nisi a solo Deo. Ad cuius evidentiam, considerandum est quod quanto aliqua causa est superior, tanto ad plura se extendit in causando. Semper autem id quod substernitur in rebus, invenitur communius quam id quod informat et restringit ipsum, sicut esse quam vivere, et vivere quam intelligere, et materia quam forma. Quanto ergo aliquid est magis substratum, tanto a superiori causa directe procedit. Id ergo quod est primo substratum in omnibus, proprie pertinet ad causalitatem supremae causae. Nulla igitur secunda causa potest aliquid producere, non praesupposito in re producta aliquo quod causatur a superiori causa. Creatio autem est productio alicuius rei secundum suam totam substantiam, nullo praesupposito quod sit vel increatum vel ab aliquo creatum. Unde relinquitur quod nihil potest aliquid creare nisi solus Deus, qui est prima causa. Et ideo ut Moyses ostenderet corpora omnia immediate a Deo creata, dixit, in principio creavit Deus caelum et terram.
6 Reply to Objection 1: In the production of things an order exists, but not such that one creature is created by another, for that is impossible; but rather such that by the Divine wisdom diverse grades are constituted in creatures.
6 Ad primum ergo dicendum quod in productione rerum est aliquis ordo, non quidem ut una creatura creetur ab alia hoc enim impossibile est); sed ita quod ex divina sapientia diversi gradus in creaturis, constituuntur.
7 Reply to Objection 2: God Himself, though one, has knowledge of many and different things without detriment to the simplicity of His nature, as has been shown above Question 15, Article 2); so that by His wisdom He is the cause of diverse things as known by Him, even as an artificer, by apprehending diverse forms, produces diverse works of art.
7 Ad secundum dicendum quod ipse Deus unus, absque suae simplicitatis detrimento, diversorum cognoscitivus est, ut supra ostensum est. Et ideo etiam est, secundum diversa cognita, diversorum productorum causa per suam sapientiam, sicut et artifex, apprehendendo diversas formas, producit diversa artificiata.
8 Reply to Objection 3: The amount of the power of an agent is measured not only by the thing made, but also by the manner of making it; for one and the same thing is made in one way by a higher power, in another by a lower. But the production of finite things, where nothing is presupposed as existing, is the work of infinite power, and, as such, can belong to no creature.
8 Ad tertium dicendum quod quantitas virtutis agentis non solum mensuratur secundum rem factam, sed etiam secundum modum faciendi, quia unum et idem aliter fit et a maiori, et a minori virtute. Producere autem aliquid finitum hoc modo ut nihil praesupponatur, est virtutis infinitae. Unde nulli creaturae competere potest.