at the time of the kings, was that then it was not
over-ridden by other nations, but had its own king; wherefore it
behooved the people, as enjoying liberty, to have prophets to teach
them what to do.

Reply Obj. 3: The prophets who foretold the coming of Christ could
not continue further than John, who with his finger pointed to Christ
actually present. Nevertheless as Jerome says on this passage, "This
does not mean that there were no more prophets after John. For we
read in the Acts of the apostles that Agabus and the four maidens,
daughters of Philip, prophesied." John, too, wrote a prophetic book
about the end of the Church; and at all times there have not been
lacking persons having the spirit of prophecy, not indeed for the
declaration of any new doctrine of faith, but for the direction of
human acts. Thus Augustine says (De Civ. Dei v, 26) that "the emperor
Theodosius sent to John who dwelt in the Egyptian desert, and whom he
knew by his ever-increasing fame to be endowed with the prophetic
spirit: and from him he received a message assuring him of victory."
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QUESTION 175

OF RAPTURE
(In Six Articles)

We must now consider rapture. Under this head there are six points of
inquiry:

(1) Whether the soul of man is carried away to things divine?

(2) Whether rapture pertains to the cognitive or to the appetitive
power?

(3) Whether Paul when in rapture saw the essence of God?

(4) Whether he was withdrawn from his senses?

(5) Whether, when in that state, his soul was wholly separated from
his body?

(6) What did he know, and what did he not know about this matter?
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FIRST ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 175, Art. 1]

Whether the Soul of Man Is Carried Away to Things Divine?

Objection 1: It would seem that the soul of man is not carried away
to things divine. For some define rapture as "an uplifting by the
power of a higher nature, from that which is according to nature to
that which is above nature" [*Reference unknown; Cf. De Veritate
xiii, 1]. Now it is in accordance with man's nature that he be
uplifted to things divine; for Augustine says at the beginning of his
Confessions: "Thou madest us, Lord, for Thyself, and our heart is
restless, till it rest in Thee." Therefore man's soul is not carried
away to things divine.

Obj. 2: Further, Dionysius says (Div. Nom. viii) that "God's justice
is seen in this that He treats all things according to their mode and