25. Beatitude, the Soul, and the Resurrection Body

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Beatitude and the Separated Soul #

• Whether perfect beatitude requires the body to be present
• Thomas distinguishes between beatitude as it consists essentially (vision of God) and beatitude as perfection “in every way” (omnibus modis)
• The separated soul can have essential beatitude without the body, but perfect beatitude requires the body’s restoration
• The soul’s natural desire to move and organize the body creates a certain incompleteness until reunion occurs

Two Types of Impediment to Beatitude #

• Impediment by contrariety: Something actively prevents the operation (repugnant to happiness)
• Impediment by defect: Something lacks what is required for complete perfection (not repugnant to essential happiness, but to perfect happiness)
• The separated body’s absence is impediment by defect, not contrariety

Intensive vs. Extensive Joy #

• Thomas distinguishes between intensive (degree of intensity) and extensive (scope or extension)
• The separated soul has complete beatitude intensively but not extensively
• When the body is restored, beatitude increases extensively, not intensively—it extends to more things
• Example: Joy in heaven over one sinner repenting extends widely but is not more intense

The Body’s Perfection as Requirement for Complete Beatitude #

• Before separation (antecedently): A spiritual body is required; a corruptible body would weigh down the soul
• After separation: When the soul enjoys God perfectly, this joy “overflows” (redundat) to the body upon resurrection
• The body becomes spiritual—wholly subject to the spirit—not merely material
• Augustine’s teaching: When the body is no longer merely animal but spiritual, it is “made equal to the angels”

Beauty and Love’s Overflow #

• Reference to an apparition of Mary: Asked why she is so beautiful, she responds “because I love”
• The perfection of the soul overflows into bodily beauty
• Mother Teresa’s beauty when caring for dying poor exemplifies how interior love manifests in physical presence

Three Goods in Christ’s Work of Redemption #

• Good of the soul: Given to the prophets through the vision of God (descent to hell)
• Good of the body: The resurrection
• Good of place: The ascension to a suitable place

Key Arguments #

First Objection: Beatitude Consists Only in Spiritual Goods #

• Premise: Beatitude does not consist in bodily goods
• Premise: The body contributes nothing to the vision of God
• Conclusion: The body’s perfection is not required for beatitude
• Response: While the body is not the object of beatitude, bodily perfection prevents impediment to the soul’s operation and serves instrumental purposes

Second Objection: Understanding Requires Abstraction from Body #

• Premise: Perfect understanding requires abstraction from the body
• Premise: The road to perfection cannot be the road to destruction
• Conclusion: Therefore the body cannot be required for perfect beatitude
• Response: Abstraction is required from the corruptible body that weighs down the soul, but not from the spiritual body that is wholly subject to the spirit

Third Objection: The Separated Soul Cannot See God as Angels Do #

• Premise: Augustine says separated souls do not see God as angels do
• Conclusion: Therefore they lack full beatitude and equality with angels
• Response: This inequality is not quantitative but proportional—even lower angels have complete beatitude according to their nature, while separated souls do not yet have complete beatitude according to their complete nature (which includes the body)

Fourth Objection: Augustine’s Claim About Natural Desire for the Body #

• Premise: The soul has a natural desire to move the body
• Premise: This desire holds the soul back from fully tending toward God
• Conclusion: Therefore the soul is impeded from perfect beatitude
• Response: This is impediment by defect, not contrariety; the soul’s appetite rests in what it has (God) but wishes the body to share in that reality

Fifth Objection: Beatitude Should Completely Rest Desire #

• Premise: Beatitude is a sufficient good that puts all desire to rest
• Premise: The body is not present to the separated soul
• Conclusion: Therefore the separated soul’s desire cannot be fully rested
• Response: Desire rests completely on the side of the desirable (God is sufficient) but not entirely on the side of the one desiring (the soul wishes to possess good in every way it is able, including bodily union)

Important Definitions #

Beatitude (beatitudo) #

• The obtaining of perfect good
• Consists essentially in the vision of God
• Can be considered essentially (without the body) or in every way/perfectly (omnibus modis, with the body)
• Increases extensively but not intensively when body is added

Spiritual Body (corpus spirituale) #

• The resurrected body wholly subject to the spirit
• Distinguished from corruptible body that weighs down the soul
• Shares in the beatitude overflowing from the soul
• Not less real or material, but perfected in subjection to spirit

Overflow (redundantia/redundat) #

• The pouring forth of the soul’s joy into the body
• How beatitude extends from the intellectual operation of the soul to the physical existence of the restored body
• Example: The beauty of the saints overflows from their love and perfected will

Impediment by Defect (impedimentum per defectum) #

• Lacking what is required for complete perfection
• Does not contradict essential happiness but prevents perfect happiness in every way
• The separated body’s absence exemplifies this type of impediment

Sumo fonte (highest fountain of goods) #

• A description of God as the inexhaustible source of all goodness
• All particular goods that are promised to saints (food, drink, kingdom, etc.) are contained in God as their source

Examples & Illustrations #

The First Grandchild #

• A man visits his first grandchild before his wife arrives
• He is perfectly happy to see the grandchild
• Yet he wishes his wife to be there to share in that joy
• This illustrates how the separated soul can have complete beatitude (seeing God) yet desire the body’s presence for complete extension of that joy
• Contrast: If the grandchild were dead, his absence would be an active impediment (contrariety), not mere defect

Saint Martin of Tours’ Funeral #

• As monks carried Martin’s body, trees suddenly blossomed along the way
• Illustrates the supernatural beauty and the soul’s influence over creation
• Shows the reality and power of the spiritual body in communion with the blessed soul

The Teeth of the Ethiopian #

• Thomas’s example: Even though an Ethiopian’s teeth can be white, this is unusual for Ethiopians
• Applied to beatitude: Just as whiteness doesn’t constitute the essence of the Ethiopian, bodily perfection doesn’t constitute the essence of beatitude
• But just as the Ethiopian can truly have white teeth, the beatified soul can truly have bodily perfection as part of complete reward

Churchill and Sleep After Gaining Power #

• Churchill reportedly slept well the first night he achieved power in WWII
• Contrasts with the expectation that anxiety would prevent sleep
• Illustrates that supreme achievement brings rest to desire, not turbulence

Monasteries and Beautiful Libraries #

• Discussion of libraries at Biltmore Estate and John Adams’ house
• Suggests such spaces could serve contemplation beautifully
• Notes that beautiful surroundings serve the operation of contemplative virtue instrumentally

Questions Addressed #

Is Bodily Perfection Required for Complete Beatitude? #

• Essential beatitude: No—the separated soul has essential beatitude in the vision of God
• Perfect beatitude in every way: Yes—complete beatitude requires the restored spiritual body
• Resolution: The body is not required essentially but is required for beatitude to be perfect “in all ways” (omnibus modis)

How Does the Separated Soul Achieve Complete Rest if It Lacks the Body? #

• The soul’s appetite rests completely on the side of what is desired (God suffices)
• But desire does not rest completely on the side of the one desiring, because the soul wishes to possess good in every way possible
• This is fitting because desire naturally rests in what is possessed, yet wishes loved ones (the body) to share in the good

Can an Ugly Person Achieve Beatitude? #

• Yes; Socrates, reportedly the ugliest man in Athens, will see God clearly
• Bodily beauty is not required for the operation of understanding
• However, when the body is restored, the soul’s interior perfection will overflow into bodily beauty

Does the Spiritual Body Need to Eat, Drink, or Sleep? #

• The text does not indicate that these are required
• The body will not need food for sustenance
• However, Christ’s breathing after resurrection suggests respiration may continue for vocal operation
• The exact nature of spiritual bodily functions remains mysterious

How Are Metaphorical Promises of Bodily Goods (Food, Drink, Kingdom) Understood? #

• Food and drink symbolize the soul’s pleasure and sufficiency in God
• Kingdom represents the exaltation of man to union with God
• These are understood metaphorically to designate spiritual realities through bodily language
• The actual goods promised are the spiritual goods themselves; bodily things are symbolic

Structural Notes #

This lecture follows Thomas’s systematic responses to seven objections concerning whether bodily perfection is required for beatitude. The structure moves from denying bodily goods are necessary (objections 1-3) to admitting they have a role in the complete reward (objections 4-7). Berquist emphasizes Thomas’s nuanced distinction between essential beatitude (which can exist without the body) and complete beatitude (which requires the body’s restoration and participation in the soul’s joy).