1 Objection 1: It would seem that the cause assigned for the production of the lights is not reasonable. For it is said Jer. 10, 2): Be not afraid of the signs of heaven, which the heathens fear. Therefore the heavenly lights were not made to be signs.
1 Ad secundum sic proceditur. Videtur quod inconvenienter causa productionis luminarium describatur. Dicitur enim Ierem. X, a signis caeli nolite metuere, quae gentes timent. Non ergo luminaria in signa facta sunt.
2 Objection 2: Further, sign is contradistinguished from cause. But the lights are the cause of what takes place upon the earth. Therefore they are not signs.
2 Praeterea, signum contra causam dividitur. Sed luminaria sunt causa eorum quae hic aguntur. Ergo non sunt signa.
3 Objection 3: Further, the distinction of seasons and days began from the first day. Therefore the lights were not made for seasons, and days, and years, that is, in order to distinguish them.
3 Praeterea, distinctio temporum et dierum incoepit a primo die. Non ergo facta sunt luminaria in tempora et dies et annos, idest in horum distinctionem.
4 Objection 4: Further, nothing is made for the sake of that which is inferior to itself, since the end is better than the means Topic. iii). But the lights are nobler than the earth. Therefore they were not made to enlighten it.
4 Praeterea, nihil fit propter vilius se, quia finis est melior iis quae sunt ad finem. Sed luminaria sunt meliora quam terra. Non ergo facta sunt ut illuminent terram.
5 Objection 5: Further, the new moon cannot be said to rule the night. But such it probably did when first made; for men begin to count from the new moon. The moon, therefore, was not made to rule the night.
5 Praeterea, luna non praeest nocti quando est prima. Probabile autem est quod luna facta fuerit prima, sic enim homines incipiunt computare. Ergo luna non est facta ut praesit nocti.
6 On the contrary, Suffices the authority of Scripture.
6 In contrarium sufficit auctoritas Scripturae.
7 I answer that, As we have said above Question 65, Article 2), a corporeal creature can be considered as made either for the sake of its proper act, or for other creatures, or for the whole universe, or for the glory of God. Of these reasons only that which points out the usefulness of these things to man, is touched upon by Moses, in order to withdraw his people from idolatry. Hence it is written Dt. 4, 19): Lest perhaps lifting up thy eyes to heaven, thou see the sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error thou adore and serve them, which the Lord thy God created for the service of all nations.
Now, he explains this service at the beginning of Genesis as threefold. First, the lights are of service to man, in regard to sight, which directs him in his works, and is most useful for perceiving objects. In reference to this he says: Let them shine in the firmament and give life to the earth. Secondly, as regards the changes of the seasons, which prevent weariness, preserve health, and provide for the necessities of food; all of which things could not be secured if it were always summer or winter.
In reference to this he says: Let them be for seasons, and for days, and years. Thirdly, as regards the convenience of business and work, in so far as the lights are set in the heavens to indicate fair or foul weather, as favorable to various occupations. And in this respect he says: Let them be for signs.
7 Respondeo dicendum quod, sicut dictum est supra, creatura aliqua corporalis potest dici esse facta vel propter actum proprium, vel propter aliam creaturam, vel propter totum universum, vel propter gloriam Dei. Sed Moyses, ut populum ab idololatria revocaret, illam solam causam tetigit, secundum quod sunt facta ad utilitatem hominum. Unde dicitur Deut. IV, ne forte, elevatis oculis ad caelum, videas solem et lunam et omnia astra caeli, et errore deceptus adores ea et colas, quae creavit dominus Deus in ministerium cunctis gentibus. Hoc autem ministerium explicat in principio Genesis per tria. Primo enim provenit utilitas hominibus ex luminaribus quantum ad visum, qui est directivus in operibus, et maxime utilis ad cognoscendas res. Et quantum ad hoc, dicit, ut luceant in firmamento, et illuminent terram. Secundo, quantum ad vicissitudines temporum, quibus et fastidium tollitur et valetudo conservatur, et necessaria victui oriuntur quae non essent, si semper esset aut aestas aut hiems. Et quantum ad hoc, dicit, ut sint in tempora et dies et annos. Tertio, quantum ad opportunitatem negotiorum et operum, inquantum ex luminaribus caeli accipitur significatio pluviosi temporis vel sereni quae sunt apta diversis negotiis. Et quantum ad hoc dicit, ut sint in signa.
8 Reply to Objection 1: The lights in the heaven are set for signs of changes effected in corporeal creatures, but not of those changes which depend upon the free-will.
8 Ad primum ergo dicendum quod luminaria sunt in signa corporalium transmutationum, non autem eorum quae dependent ex libero arbitrio.
9 Reply to Objection 2: We are sometimes brought to the knowledge of hidden effects through their sensible causes, and conversely. Hence nothing prevents a sensible cause from being a sign. But he says signs, rather than causes, to guard against idolatry.
9 Ad secundum dicendum quod per causam sensibilem quandoque ducimur in cognitionem effectus occulti, sicut et e converso. Unde nihil prohibet causam sensibilem esse signum. Ideo tamen potius dicit signa quam causas, ut occasionem idololatriae tolleret.
10 Reply to Objection 3: The general division of time into day and night took place on the first day, as regards the diurnal movement, which is common to the whole heaven and may be understood to have begun on that first day. But the particular distinctions of days and seasons and years, according as one day is hotter than another, one season than another, and one year than another, are due to certain particular movements of the stars: which movements may have had their beginning on the fourth day.
10 Ad tertium dicendum quod in prima die facta est communis distinctio temporis per diem et noctem, secundum motum diurnum, qui est communis totius caeli; qui potest intelligi incoepisse primo die. Sed speciales distinctiones dierum et temporum, secundum quod dies est calidior die, et tempus tempore, et annus anno, fiunt secundum speciales motus stellarum; qui possunt intelligi quarto die incoepisse.
11 Reply to Objection 4: Light was given to the earth for the service of man, who, by reason of his soul, is nobler than the heavenly bodies. Nor is it untrue to say that a higher creature may be made for the sake of a lower, considered not in itself, but as ordained to the good of the universe.
11 Ad quartum dicendum quod in illuminatione terrae intelligitur utilitas hominis, qui secundum animam praefertur corporibus luminarium. Nihil tamen prohibet dici quod dignior creatura facta est propter inferiorem, non secundum quod in se consideratur sed secundum quod ordinatur ad integritatem universi.
12 Reply to Objection 5: When the moon is at its perfection it rises in the evening and sets in the morning, and thus it rules the night, and it was probably made in its full perfection as were plants yielding seed, as also were animals and man himself. For although the perfect is developed from the imperfect by natural processes, yet the perfect must exist simply before the imperfect. Augustine, however Gen. ad lit. ii), does not say this, for he says that it is not unfitting that God made things imperfect, which He afterwards perfected.
12 Ad quintum dicendum quod luna, quando est perfecta, oritur vespere et occidit mane, et sic praeest nocti. Et satis probabile est quod luna fuerit facta plena; sicut et herbae factae sunt in sua perfectione, facientes semen, et similiter animalia et homo. Licet enim naturali processu ab imperfecto ad perfectum deveniatur, simpliciter tamen perfectum prius est imperfecto. Augustinus tamen hoc non asserit, quia dicit non esse inconveniens quod Deus imperfecta fecerit, quae postmodum ipse perfecit.