Part 1. Question 94, Article 1.
The intimate harmony and unity of Adam and his Lord must be considered first of all. As stated in Genesis, man and God lived together in harmony and peace. All that was needed, whether it be earthly sustenance or the immediate presence of God was provided freely for our parent's happiness. Now, man can only be truly happy when he experiences the vision of God, in Whom all things find their fulfilment and in Whom there is no shadow of change or decay. St. John Damascene relates that, 'while established in paradise, (Adam) led a life of happiness in the enjoyment of all things'. Further, the great Bishop of Hippo writes, 'If man was gifted with the same tastes as now, how happy must he have been in paradise, that place of ineffable happiness!' Peter Lombard elucidates the matter by stating that man 'saw God immediately'. His knowledge of the Lord was not therefore hazy and opaque, so it follows that he saw God in His Essence.
Such a conclusion is altogether unacceptable. As I have noted, it is only in God that man finds rest, satisfaction and blessedness. We have been gifted with an intellect for the sole purpose of knowing God. Also, in His gracious mercy, He has granted us a free will so that we may love and embrace Him without coercion. Once these longings for felicity are fulfilled, man is incapable of sinning, which is the confused and disordered desire for happiness. Once the Supreme Good is possessed, man truly recognises the futility of pursuing fleeting or corporeal things. Saint Thomas declares that 'the intellect of a man who sees the Divine Essence has the same relation to God as a man to beatitude'. No man, not even those famed for folly, would wish to turn from felicity if they possessed it. It is true that man may give up some good, his family for instance, in the hunt for something else. Yet, in the Beatific Vision man comes to acknowledge his utter dependence on God for his life and being, and that no rest can be found in any created thing, only in Him Who Is, can man rejoice eternally. Following this acquisition of eternal life, man is unable to sin. It must consist of eternity, or his blessedness would be a mere sham, soon to be removed.
The Blessed Apostle Paul says in 1 Cor. 15:46, 'That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural'. St. Thomas explains, 'But to see God through His Essence is most spiritual' and he concludes, 'therefore the first man in the primitive state of his natural life did not see God through His Essence.'
So what therefore did this initial blessed and happy condition of Adam consist of if not the immediate and direct vision of the Lord?
It must be noted that the state of Adam was greatly superior to this land of sorrows that we now inhabit. Our first parents knew God with a far higher degree of knowledge than we currently possess as a result of our darkened intellect and indifference to pursing wisdom and truth through trial. The Angelic Doctor wrote that Adam's knowledge of His Lord occupied a middle position between the blessedness of the elect in Heaven (where we see Him through His Essence) and that of us in this valley of tears (where we know Him from His effects in a cloudy manner).
To continue, St. Thomas declares that the 'higher the creature is, and the more like it is to God, the more closely is God seen in it'. Following Saint Augustine, I will posit the imago Dei in the mind, the intellect of man, therefore by our capacity to reason, reflect and judge we share more fully than the other creatures of the earth in the divine nature. 'Thus God is seen in a much more perfect manner through His intelligible effects than through those which are only sensible or corporeal. However, as a result of the privation of original justice, concupiscence and the flesh warring about the spirit, man is easily distracted by matter and is blinded to the truth beneath each substance, primarily that each is made and sustained by the Good Lord.
All things in Eden were a symphony for the glory of God, all existed in accordance with justice. The higher things - those who most fully resembled God - held sway over lower creation. Therefore, Adam was not enticed or perturbed by external matter, as it posed no threat to him, and he clearly acknowledged its truth as goods before the Supreme Good. He could without any hindrance, but with great joy and certainty, realise the divine traces in creation which led him to God, the first principle of all.
St. Augustine remarks, 'perhaps God used to speak to the first man as He speaks to the angels; by shedding on his mind a ray of the unchangeable truth, yet without bestowing on him the experience of which the angels are capable in the participation of the Divine Essence'.
In conclusion, it is fitting to say that Adam was in Eden, happy, but he did not yet possess the eternal felicity of the elect in the Beatific Vision of God's Essence. His condition was endowed, as the Doctor of Grace affirms with 'a life of happiness in a certain measure' as he, by the generous love of God was gifted with 'natural integrity and perfection' (that is, perfection according to his nature at that time).
In reply to the Master of the Sentences that Adam 'saw God immediately', the Dominican distinguishes between two forms of a medium of knowledge.
1) 'Through which, and, at the same time, in which, something is seen...(like) a man is seen in a mirror and is seen with the mirror'.
2) 'Whereby we attain to the knowledge of something unknown ; such as a medium in a demonstration.'
He affirms that God is not seen with medium 2, but with number 1. Adam did not need to proceed from one article (effect) to another, reasoning, so that we may attain to the First Principle' as Adam 'knew God simultaneously in His effects', above all in his intellectual endowment by which he most fully is likened to God.
Therefore, Adam possessed a great degree of knowledge of God and had assurance of His presence, yet he did not view God through His Essence. The 'obscurity' existed in a different mode to today's lack of realisation of the deity, simply as at that time he did not see God truly as He is, but mediated through His creation, although in a far superior manner that we may glimpse in this fallen state.
The intimate harmony and unity of Adam and his Lord must be considered first of all. As stated in Genesis, man and God lived together in harmony and peace. All that was needed, whether it be earthly sustenance or the immediate presence of God was provided freely for our parent's happiness. Now, man can only be truly happy when he experiences the vision of God, in Whom all things find their fulfilment and in Whom there is no shadow of change or decay. St. John Damascene relates that, 'while established in paradise, (Adam) led a life of happiness in the enjoyment of all things'. Further, the great Bishop of Hippo writes, 'If man was gifted with the same tastes as now, how happy must he have been in paradise, that place of ineffable happiness!' Peter Lombard elucidates the matter by stating that man 'saw God immediately'. His knowledge of the Lord was not therefore hazy and opaque, so it follows that he saw God in His Essence.
Such a conclusion is altogether unacceptable. As I have noted, it is only in God that man finds rest, satisfaction and blessedness. We have been gifted with an intellect for the sole purpose of knowing God. Also, in His gracious mercy, He has granted us a free will so that we may love and embrace Him without coercion. Once these longings for felicity are fulfilled, man is incapable of sinning, which is the confused and disordered desire for happiness. Once the Supreme Good is possessed, man truly recognises the futility of pursuing fleeting or corporeal things. Saint Thomas declares that 'the intellect of a man who sees the Divine Essence has the same relation to God as a man to beatitude'. No man, not even those famed for folly, would wish to turn from felicity if they possessed it. It is true that man may give up some good, his family for instance, in the hunt for something else. Yet, in the Beatific Vision man comes to acknowledge his utter dependence on God for his life and being, and that no rest can be found in any created thing, only in Him Who Is, can man rejoice eternally. Following this acquisition of eternal life, man is unable to sin. It must consist of eternity, or his blessedness would be a mere sham, soon to be removed.
The Blessed Apostle Paul says in 1 Cor. 15:46, 'That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural'. St. Thomas explains, 'But to see God through His Essence is most spiritual' and he concludes, 'therefore the first man in the primitive state of his natural life did not see God through His Essence.'
So what therefore did this initial blessed and happy condition of Adam consist of if not the immediate and direct vision of the Lord?
It must be noted that the state of Adam was greatly superior to this land of sorrows that we now inhabit. Our first parents knew God with a far higher degree of knowledge than we currently possess as a result of our darkened intellect and indifference to pursing wisdom and truth through trial. The Angelic Doctor wrote that Adam's knowledge of His Lord occupied a middle position between the blessedness of the elect in Heaven (where we see Him through His Essence) and that of us in this valley of tears (where we know Him from His effects in a cloudy manner).
To continue, St. Thomas declares that the 'higher the creature is, and the more like it is to God, the more closely is God seen in it'. Following Saint Augustine, I will posit the imago Dei in the mind, the intellect of man, therefore by our capacity to reason, reflect and judge we share more fully than the other creatures of the earth in the divine nature. 'Thus God is seen in a much more perfect manner through His intelligible effects than through those which are only sensible or corporeal. However, as a result of the privation of original justice, concupiscence and the flesh warring about the spirit, man is easily distracted by matter and is blinded to the truth beneath each substance, primarily that each is made and sustained by the Good Lord.
All things in Eden were a symphony for the glory of God, all existed in accordance with justice. The higher things - those who most fully resembled God - held sway over lower creation. Therefore, Adam was not enticed or perturbed by external matter, as it posed no threat to him, and he clearly acknowledged its truth as goods before the Supreme Good. He could without any hindrance, but with great joy and certainty, realise the divine traces in creation which led him to God, the first principle of all.
St. Augustine remarks, 'perhaps God used to speak to the first man as He speaks to the angels; by shedding on his mind a ray of the unchangeable truth, yet without bestowing on him the experience of which the angels are capable in the participation of the Divine Essence'.
In conclusion, it is fitting to say that Adam was in Eden, happy, but he did not yet possess the eternal felicity of the elect in the Beatific Vision of God's Essence. His condition was endowed, as the Doctor of Grace affirms with 'a life of happiness in a certain measure' as he, by the generous love of God was gifted with 'natural integrity and perfection' (that is, perfection according to his nature at that time).
In reply to the Master of the Sentences that Adam 'saw God immediately', the Dominican distinguishes between two forms of a medium of knowledge.
1) 'Through which, and, at the same time, in which, something is seen...(like) a man is seen in a mirror and is seen with the mirror'.
2) 'Whereby we attain to the knowledge of something unknown ; such as a medium in a demonstration.'
He affirms that God is not seen with medium 2, but with number 1. Adam did not need to proceed from one article (effect) to another, reasoning, so that we may attain to the First Principle' as Adam 'knew God simultaneously in His effects', above all in his intellectual endowment by which he most fully is likened to God.
Therefore, Adam possessed a great degree of knowledge of God and had assurance of His presence, yet he did not view God through His Essence. The 'obscurity' existed in a different mode to today's lack of realisation of the deity, simply as at that time he did not see God truly as He is, but mediated through His creation, although in a far superior manner that we may glimpse in this fallen state.
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