1 Objection 1: It would seem that the woman was not formed immediately by God. For no individual is produced immediately by God from another individual alike in species. But the woman was made from a man who is of the same species. Therefore she was not made immediately by God.
1 Ad quartum sic proceditur. Videtur quod mulier non fuerit immediate formata a Deo. Nullum enim individuum ex simili secundum speciem productum, fit immediate a Deo. Sed mulier facta est de viro, qui est eiusdem speciei cum ipsa. Ergo non est facta immediate a Deo.
2 Objection 2: Further, Augustine De Trin. iii, 4) says that corporeal things are governed by God through the angels. But the woman's body was formed from corporeal matter. Therefore it was made through the ministry of the angels, and not immediately by God.
2 Praeterea, Augustinus dicit, III de Trin., quod corporalia dispensantur a Deo per Angelos. Sed corpus mulieris ex materia corporali est formatum. Ergo est factum per ministerium Angelorum, et non immediate a Deo.
3 Objection 3: Further, those things which pre-exist in creatures as to their causal virtues are produced by the power of some creature, and not immediately by God. But the woman's body was produced in its causal virtues among the first created works, as Augustine says Gen. ad lit. ix, 15). Therefore it was not produced immediately by God.
3 Praeterea, ea quae praeextiterunt in creaturis secundum rationes causales, producuntur virtute alicuius creaturae, et non immediate a Deo. Sed secundum causales rationes corpus mulieris in primis operibus productum fuit, ut Augustinus dicit IX super Gen. ad Litt. Ergo non fuit producta mulier immediate a Deo.
4 On the contrary, Augustine says, in the same work: God alone, to Whom all nature owes its existence, could form or build up the woman from the man's rib.
4 Sed contra est quod Augustinus dicit, in eodem libro, formare vel aedificare costam ut mulier esset, non potuit nisi Deus, a quo universa natura subsistit.
5 I answer that, As was said above Article 2, ad 2), the natural generation of every species is from some determinate matter. Now the matter whence man is naturally begotten is the human semen of man or woman. Wherefore from any other matter an individual of the human species cannot naturally be generated. Now God alone, the Author of nature, can produce an effect into existence outside the ordinary course of nature. Therefore God alone could produce either a man from the slime of the earth, or a woman from the rib of man.
5 Respondeo dicendum quod, sicut supra dictum est, uniuscuiusque speciei generatio naturalis est ex determinata materia. Materia autem ex qua naturaliter generatur homo, est semen humanum viri vel feminae. Unde ex alia quacumque materia individuum humanae speciei generari non potest naturaliter. Solus autem Deus, qui est naturae institutor, potest praeter naturae ordinem res in esse producere. Et ideo solus Deus potuit vel virum de limo terrae, vel mulierem de costa viri formare.
6 Reply to Objection 1: This argument is verified when an individual is begotten, by natural generation, from that which is like it in the same species.
6 Ad primum ergo dicendum quod ratio illa procedit, quando individuum generatur ex simili secundum speciem, generatione naturali.
7 Reply to Objection 2: As Augustine says Gen. ad lit. ix, 15), we do not know whether the angels were employed by God in the formation of the woman; but it is certain that, as the body of man was not formed by the angels from the slime of the earth, so neither was the body of the woman formed by them from the man's rib.
7 Ad secundum dicendum quod, sicut Augustinus dicit IX super Gen. ad Litt., an ministerium Angeli exhibuerint Deo in formatione mulieris, nescimus, certum tamen est quod, sicut corpus viri de limo non fuit formatum per Angelos, ita nec corpus mulieris de costa viri.
8 Reply to Objection 3: As Augustine says Gen. ad lit. ix, 18): The first creation of things did not demand that woman should be made thus; it made it possible for her to be thus made. Therefore the body of the woman did indeed pre-exist in these causal virtues, in the things first created; not as regards active potentiality, but as regards a potentiality passive in relation to the active potentiality of the Creator.
8 Ad tertium dicendum quod, sicut Augustinus in eodem libro dicit, non habuit prima rerum conditio ut femina omnino sic fieret; sed tantum hoc habuit, ut sic fieri posset. Et ideo secundum causales rationes praeextitit corpus mulieris in primis operibus, non secundum potentiam activam, sed secundum potentiam passivam tantum, in ordine ad potentiam activam creatoris.