treating of the magic art whereby He
worked miracles: which art is condemned by the Christian learning.
"And yet they who claim to have read those books of Christ do none of
those things which they marvel at His doing according to those same
books. Moreover, it is by a Divine judgment that they err so far as
to assert that these books were, as it were, entitled as letters to
Peter and Paul, for that they found them in several places depicted
in company with Christ. No wonder that the inventors were deceived by
the painters: for as long as Christ lived in the mortal flesh with
His disciples, Paul was no disciple of His."

Reply Obj. 1: As Augustine says in the same book: "Christ is the head
of all His disciples who are members of His body. Consequently, when
they put into writing what He showed forth and said to them, by no
means must we say that He wrote nothing: since His members put forth
that which they knew under His dictation. For at His command they,
being His hands, as it were, wrote whatever He wished us to read
concerning His deeds and words."

Reply Obj. 2: Since the old Law was given under the form of sensible
signs, therefore also was it fittingly written with sensible signs.
But Christ's doctrine, which is "the law of the spirit of life" (Rom.
8:2), had to be "written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the
living God; not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the
heart," as the Apostle says (2 Cor. 3:3).

Reply Obj. 3: Those who were unwilling to believe what the apostles
wrote of Christ would have refused to believe the writings of Christ,
whom they deemed to work miracles by the magic art.
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QUESTION 43

OF THE MIRACLES WORKED BY CHRIST, IN GENERAL
(In Four Articles)

We must now consider the miracles worked by Christ: (1) In general;
(2) Specifically, of each kind of miracle; (3) In particular, of His
transfiguration.

Concerning the first, there are four points of inquiry:

(1) Whether Christ should have worked miracles?

(2) Whether He worked them by Divine power?

(3) When did He begin to work miracles?

(4) Whether His miracles are a sufficient proof of His Godhead?
_______________________

FIRST ARTICLE [III, Q. 43, Art. 1]

Whether Christ Should Have Worked Miracles?

Objection 1: It would seem that Christ should not have worked
miracles. For Christ's deeds should have been consistent with His
words. But He Himself said (Matt. 16:4): "A wicke