A. "SEPARATE SUBSTANCES" AND lOR" ANGELS"? It is interesting to note that, in an expressly theological treatise such as the Summa theologiae, St. Thomas generally uses the term "angel", in preference to "separate substance"; while in works with a less explicit theological intent - e. g. the Summa contra gentiles and the De substantiis separatis 1 - he generally prefers the term "separate substance". But at any rate there is little doubt that the two terms, "separate subยญ stance" and "angel" have a certain interchangeability and equivalence in the works of St. Thomas. In other words, "the separate substance" is equivalent to "the angel, insofar as its existence and attributes are knowable through human reason alone". And this has led Karl Barth 2 to charge that St. Thomas' angelology is primarily a philosophical presentaยญ tion, with little relevance to theology. 1 We might say that these works are "philosophical" insofar as arguments from reason are emphasized in them, rather than arguments from revelation or faith. However, as Lescoe points out (in the Introduction to his edition of the De substantUs separatis, p. 8), the treatise on separate substances leads up to theological subject-matter in Ch. 's XVII ff- namely, an exposition of Catholic teaching as found in Sacred Scripture, the Fathers, and especially Dionysius. And Chenu maintains that the Summa contra gentiles is basically a theological work, because it not only leads up to theological subject-matter in Bk
CONTENT
Preface -- A. "Separate Substances" and/or "Angels"? -- B. Separate Substances Revisited : The Present Situation -- I. Introduction -- II. The Thomistic Doctrine on Potency -- A. The distinction of Actual from Potential Being -- B. Potency as a Principle of Being -- C. The Primordial Types โ{128}{148} Active and Passive -- D. Subdivisions of Active and Passive Potency -- III. The Powers of Separate Substances -- A. Problems Arising in the Investigation of These Powers -- B. Means of Demonstration Proposed by St. Thomas -- C. The Relationship of Physical Bases to Metaphysical Conclusions -- D. The Power of Self-Motion in Separate Substances -- E. The Power of Intellection in Separate Substances -- F. The Power of Volition in Separate Substances -- G. The Hierarchical Disposition of Separate Substances on the Basis of These Powers -- IV. The Capacities of Separate Substances -- A. Means of Investigation of These Capacities -- B. The Capacity for Existence (Esse) in Separate Substances -- C. The Capacity for Justification in Separate Substances -- D. The Capacity for Local Transmutability in Separate Substances -- E. The Relative Capacities of the Angelic Hierarchies -- Index of Names
