1 Objection 1: It would seem that the angels are not more to the image of God than man is. For Augustine says in a sermon de Imagine xliii de verbis Apost. xxvii) that God granted to no other creature besides man to be to His image. Therefore it is not true to say that the angels are more than man to the image of God.
1 Ad tertium sic proceditur. Videtur quod Angelus non sit magis ad imaginem Dei quam homo. Dicit enim Augustinus, in sermone de imagine, quod Deus nulli alii creaturae dedit quod sit ad imaginem suam, nisi homini. Non ergo verum est quod Angelus magis dicatur ad imaginem Dei quam homo.
2 Objection 2: Further, according to Augustine Questions. 83, qu. 51), man is so much to God's image that God did not make any creature to be between Him and man: and therefore nothing is more akin to Him. But a creature is called God's image so far as it is akin to God. Therefore the angels are not more to the image of God than man.
2 Praeterea, secundum Augustinum, in libro octoginta trium quaest., homo ita est ad imaginem Dei, ut, nulla interposita creatura, formetur a Deo. Et ideo nihil est illi coniunctius. Sed imago Dei dicitur aliqua creatura, inquantum Deo coniungitur. Ergo Angelus non est magis ad imaginem Dei quam homo.
3 Objection 3: Further, a creature is said to be to God's image so far as it is of an intellectual nature. But the intellectual nature does not admit of intensity or remissness; for it is not an accidental thing, since it is a substance. Therefore the angels are not more to the image of God than man.
3 Praeterea, creatura dicitur ad imaginem Dei, inquantum est intellectualis naturae. Sed intellectualis natura non intenditur nec remittitur, non enim est de genere accidentis, cum sit in genere substantiae. Ergo Angelus non est magis ad imaginem Dei quam homo.
4 On the contrary, Gregory says Hom. in Evang. xxxiv): The angel is called a seal of resemblance Ezech. 28, 12) because in him the resemblance of the Divine image is wrought with greater expression.
4 Sed contra est quod dicit Gregorius, in quadam homilia, quod Angelus dicitur signaculum similitudinis, quia in eo similitudo divinae imaginis magis insinuatur expressa.
5 I answer that, We may speak of God's image in two ways. First, we may consider in it that in which the image chiefly consists, that is, the intellectual nature. Thus the image of God is more perfect in the angels than in man, because their intellectual nature is more perfect, as is clear from what has been said Question 58, Article 3; Question 79, Article 8). Secondly, we may consider the image of God in man as regards its accidental qualities, so far as to observe in man a certain imitation of God, consisting in the fact that man proceeds from man, as God from God; and also in the fact that the whole human soul is in the whole body, as God from God; and also in the fact that the whole human soul is in the whole body, and again, in every part, as God is in regard to the whole world.
In these and the like things the image of God is more perfect in man than it is in the angels. But these do not of themselves belong to the nature of the Divine image in man, unless we presuppose the first likeness, which is in the intellectual nature; otherwise even brute animals would be to God's image. Therefore, as in their intellectual nature, the angels are more to the image of God than man is, we must grant that, absolutely speaking, the angels are more to the image of God than man is, but that in some respects man is more like to God.
5 Respondeo dicendum quod de imagine Dei loqui dupliciter possumus. Uno modo, quantum ad id in quo primo consideratur ratio imaginis, quod est intellectualis natura. Et sic imago Dei est magis in Angelis quam sit in hominibus, quia intellectualis natura perfectior est in eis, ut ex supra dictis patet. Secundo potest considerari imago Dei in homine, quantum ad id in quo secundario consideratur, prout scilicet in homine invenitur quaedam Dei imitatio, inquantum scilicet homo est de homine, sicut Deus de Deo; et inquantum anima hominis est tota in toto corpore eius, et iterum tota in qualibet parte ipsius, sicut Deus se habet ad mundum. Et secundum haec et similia, magis invenitur Dei imago in homine quam in Angelo. Sed quantum ad hoc non attenditur per se ratio divinae imaginis in homine, nisi praesupposita prima imitatione, quae est secundum intellectualem naturam, alioquin etiam animalia bruta essent ad imaginem Dei. Et ideo, cum quantum ad intellectualem naturam Angelus sit magis ad imaginem Dei quam homo, simpliciter concedendum est Angelum magis esse ad imaginem Dei; hominem autem secundum quid.
6 Reply to Objection 1: Augustine excludes the inferior creatures bereft of reason from the image of God; but not the angels.
6 Ad primum ergo dicendum quod Augustinus excludit a Dei imagine alias inferiores creaturas intellectu carentes, non autem Angelos.
7 Reply to Objection 2: As fire is said to be specifically the most subtle of bodies, while, nevertheless, one kind of fire is more subtle than another; so we say that nothing is more like to God than the human soul in its generic and intellectual nature, because as Augustine had said previously, things which have knowledge, are so near to Him in likeness that of all creatures none are nearer. Wherefore this does not mean that the angels are not more to God's image.
7 Ad secundum dicendum quod, sicut ignis dicitur esse subtilissimum corporum secundum suam speciem, cum tamen unus ignis sit alio subtilior; ita dicitur quod nihil est coniunctius Deo quam mens humana, secundum genus intellectualis naturae; quia, sicut ipse supra praemiserat, quae sapiunt, ita sunt illi similitudine proxima, ut in creaturis nihil sit propinquius. Unde per hoc non excluditur quin Angelus sit magis ad Dei imaginem.
8 Reply to Objection 3: When we say that substance does not admit of more or less, we do not mean that one species of substance is not more perfect than another; but that one and the same individual does not participate in its specific nature at one time more than at another; nor do we mean that a species of substance is shared among different individuals in a greater or lesser degree.
8 Ad tertium dicendum quod, cum dicitur quod substantia non recipit magis et minus, non intelligitur quod una species substantiae non sit perfectior quam alia, sed quod unum et idem individuum non participet suam speciem quandoque magis, quandoque minus. Nec etiam a diversis individuis participatur species substantiae secundum magis et minus.