63. Christ's Eternal Priesthood and Divine Adoption

Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript

Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Christ’s Eternal Priesthood (Article 5) #

The Problem: Objections suggest Christ’s priesthood cannot be eternal because:

• Those requiring priestly expiation (sinners) will not exist eternally in heaven
• Christ’s passion and death are not repeated (Romans 6: “Christ, rising from the dead, no longer dies”)
• Christ is priest according to His humanity, which had a three-day interruption during His death

Thomas’s Solution: The priesthood of Christ is eternal not because the sacrificial act is repeated, but because its end (the attainment of eternal goods) is eternal.

Critical Distinction: Two elements of priesthood must be considered:

1. The offering of the sacrifice - the historical act that occurred once
2. The consummation of the sacrifice - the achievement of its eternal effects, wherein those for whom the sacrifice was offered arrive at the end of the sacrifice

Key Resolution: Although the passion and death are not repeated, the power of that victim remains forever. This is proven by Hebrews 10: “by one offering, he perfected those sanctified forever.”

Analogy to Natural Generation: Just as a father remains a father even after ceasing to generate (the effect of generation remains), and as a teacher remains a teacher even after teaching ends (the effect of teaching remains), so Christ remains priest through the permanent efficacy of His sacrifice.

No Sacrifices in Heaven: There will be no actual sacrifices offered in heaven, but the effect of Christ’s eternal sacrifice continues to work in the saints.

Divine Adoption (Question 23, Article 1) #

The Problem: Objections suggest God cannot adopt sons because:

• Adoption requires someone extraneous to the one adopted; God is not extraneous to creation as the Creator of all
• Natural sonship already exists in God (the Son); adoption seems to address a defect that does not apply to God
• No one can succeed to God’s inheritance because God never dies

Thomas’s Answer: Adoption is God’s act of admitting creatures to participation in His infinite goodness and His inheritance (divine beatitude and blessedness).

Critical Distinction: Adoption concerns spiritual goods (grace and glory), not natural goods:

• Man considered in his nature is not extraneous from God regarding natural goods
• Man is extraneous regarding goods of grace and glory
• According to these spiritual goods, man is adopted

God’s Action vs. Human Adoption:

• Human adoption merely chooses someone already suitable
• Divine adoption makes creatures suitable through the gift of grace, rendering them idoneum (suitable/fit) for receiving the celestial inheritance

The Inheritance of God: God’s inheritance is “that from which He Himself is rich” (id ex quo ipse est dives) - namely, the divine beatitude itself, the enjoyment of God.

Important Clarification on Extraneous: The saints in heaven do not need further expiation through priesthood, but rather consummation - being made complete and perfected in Christ, from whom their glory depends (Apocalypse 21: “the clarity of God enlightens them, and its lantern is the lamb”).

Key Arguments #

Against Eternal Priesthood (Objections) #

1. Objection from necessity: Only those with sin need priesthood; in eternity, no sinners exist; therefore, priesthood is not eternal

   • Response: The saints need consummation in Christ, not expiation

2. Objection from non-repetition: Christ’s passion and death are not repeated; the priest acts through his own blood once; therefore, priesthood is not eternal

   • Response: The power of the victim remains forever; one offering perfected forever those sanctified

3. Objection from humanity: Christ is priest according to His humanity; His humanity was absent for three days of death; therefore, priesthood is not eternal

   • Response: Addressed through the distinction between act and effect

Against Divine Adoption (Objections) #

1. Objection from extraneous relationship: Adoption requires extraneous relationship; God is not extraneous to creation

   • Response: Extraneous refers to spiritual goods (grace and glory), not natural goods

2. Objection from natural sonship: God already has a natural Son; adoption addresses a defect (lack of sons) that does not apply to God

   • Response: Adoption is not about God’s need but about communication of His infinite goodness; God does not act to supply His own need but to communicate the abundance of His perfection

3. Objection from inheritance: One cannot inherit from God because God never dies

   • Response: Spiritual goods can be possessed by many simultaneously without diminishment; unlike material goods that require succession, spiritual inheritance is had integrally and wholly by all who receive it

Important Definitions #

Priesthood (Two Aspects) #

• The offering of sacrifice: The historical, unrepeatable act of Christ offering Himself on the cross
• The consummation of sacrifice: The eternal achievement of the sacrifice’s effect, whereby those for whom it was offered attain the end - eternal communion with God

Inheritance (in the context of divine adoption) #

• id ex quo ipse est dives (that from which He Himself is rich): The divine beatitude itself, the infinite goodness of God, which constitutes God’s “wealth” and which God admits creatures to share through adoption

Adoption (divine) #

• God’s act of admitting rational creatures to participation in His infinite goodness and His inheritance (beatitude)
• Concerns spiritual goods of grace and glory, not natural goods
• Effected through grace, which makes creatures suitable to receive what belongs naturally only to God the Son

Spiritual vs. Corporal Goods #

• Corporal goods (material inheritance): Can be possessed by only one person at a time; require succession upon death
• Spiritual goods (grace, knowledge, beatitude): Can be possessed by many simultaneously and wholly without diminishment or loss

Examples & Illustrations #

On Eternal Priesthood #

Teacher Analogy: A professor teaches students the Pythagorean Theorem. After the course ends, he is no longer actively teaching those students. Yet is he no longer their teacher? Thomas suggests he remains their teacher because the effect of his teaching abides in them. Similarly, Christ’s priesthood remains eternal because the effect of His sacrifice (the power of that victim) remains forever.

Father Analogy: A father ceases to generate children after a certain point, yet remains a father. The effect of his generation - namely, the existence of his children - remains. Similarly, though Christ’s passion and death are not repeated, the effect of that sacrificial act remains eternally efficacious.

Knowledge and Material Goods: If a teacher shared knowledge by transferring it from his mind to the student’s mind (as if knowledge were material), the teacher would lose knowledge proportionally and become less valuable as a teacher the longer he taught. But this is not how knowledge works; the professor retains full knowledge while the student gains full knowledge. So too with God’s communication of spiritual goods in adoption.

On Levitical Priesthood Contrasted with Melchizedek #

The Levitical priesthood offered blood sacrifice outside the Holy of Holies, then the high priest entered once yearly with the blood (prefiguring Christ’s sacrifice). Melchizedek offered bread and wine without shedding blood (prefiguring the Eucharistic offering and ecclesiastical unity achieved through participation in Christ’s sacrifice).

Notable Quotes #

“The power of that victim remains forever” - expressing the eternal efficacy of Christ’s single sacrifice despite its non-repetition

“By one offering, he perfected those sanctified forever” (Hebrews 10) - cited as scriptural proof that the effect of the offering is eternal

“Christ, rising from the dead, no longer dies” (Romans 6) - establishing that the act of dying is not repeated, yet priesthood remains

“That from which He Himself is rich” (id ex quo ipse est dives) - Thomas’s characterization of God’s inheritance as the divine beatitude itself

“God acts for the communication of the abundance of His perfection” - distinguishing divine adoption from human adoption, which acts to supply a need

“Spiritual goods are able at the same time to be possessed by many. Not, however, corporal goods” - fundamental principle explaining how God can adopt multiple sons without diminishment of His own inheritance

Questions Addressed #

Article 5: Does Christ’s Priesthood Remain Forever and Eternal? #

Resolution: Yes. Although Christ’s passion and death are not repeated, His priesthood remains eternal because:

1. The end of the sacrifice (eternal goods achieved) is eternal
2. The power of the victim remains forever
3. The consummation of the sacrifice (the eternal effect whereby the saints are perfected in communion with God) is perpetual

Question 23, Article 1: Does Adoption Belong to God? #

Resolution: Yes. Adoption is God’s communication of His infinite goodness to creatures, admitting them to participation in His inheritance (divine beatitude). God makes creatures suitable through grace to receive what belongs to God the Son by nature.