real. Now it is
evident that Christ's Resurrection has no corporeal contact with the
dead who shall rise again, owing to distance of time and place; and
similarly it has no spiritual contact, which is through faith and
charity, because even unbelievers and sinners shall rise again. Nor
again is it the meritorious cause, because when Christ rose He was no
longer a wayfarer, and consequently not in a state of merit.
Therefore, Christ's Resurrection does not appear to be in any way the
cause of ours.

Obj. 4: Further, since death is the privation of life, then to
destroy death seems to be nothing else than to bring life back again;
and this is resurrection. But "by dying, Christ destroyed our death"
[*Preface of Mass in Paschal Time]. Consequently, Christ's death, not
His Resurrection, is the cause of our resurrection.

_On the contrary,_ on 1 Cor. 15:12: "Now if Christ be preached, that
He rose again from the dead," the gloss says: "Who is the efficient
cause of our resurrection."

_I answer that,_ As stated in 2 Metaphysics, text 4: "Whatever is
first in any order, is the cause of all that come after it." But
Christ's Resurrection was the first in the order of our resurrection,
as is evident from what was said above (Q. 53, A. 3). Hence Christ's
Resurrection must be the cause of ours: and this is what the Apostle
says (1 Cor. 15:20, 21): "Christ is risen from the dead, the
first-fruits of them that sleep; for by a man came death, and by a
man the resurrection of the dead."

And this is reasonable. Because the principle of human life-giving is
the Word of God, of whom it is said (Ps. 35:10): "With Thee is the
fountain of life": hence He Himself says (John 5:21): "As the Father
raiseth up the dead, and giveth life; so the Son also giveth life to
whom He will." Now the divinely established natural order is that
every cause operates first upon what is nearest to it, and through it
upon others which are more remote; just as fire first heats the
nearest air, and through it it heats bodies that are further off: and
God Himself first enlightens those substances which are closer to
Him, and through them others that are more remote, as Dionysius says
(Coel. Hier. xiii). Consequently, the Word of God first bestows
immortal life upon that body which is naturally united with Himself,
and through it works the resurrection in all other bodies.

Reply Obj. 1: As was stated above, Christ's Resurrection is the cause
of ours through