e members must be united.
Reply Obj. 3: Christ by once ascending into heaven acquired for
Himself and for us in perpetuity the right and worthiness of a
heavenly dwelling-place; which worthiness suffers in no way, if, from
some special dispensation, He sometimes comes down in body to earth;
either in order to show Himself to the whole world, as at the
judgment; or else to show Himself particularly to some individual,
e.g. in Paul's case, as we read in Acts 9. And lest any man may think
that Christ was not bodily present when this occurred, the contrary
is shown from what the Apostle says in 1 Cor. 14:8, to confirm faith
in the Resurrection: "Last of all He was seen also by me, as by one
born out of due time": which vision would not confirm the truth of
the Resurrection except he had beheld Christ's very body.
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QUESTION 58
OF CHRIST'S SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER
(In Four Articles)
We have now to consider Christ's sitting at the right hand of the
Father, concerning which there are four points of inquiry:
(1) Whether Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father?
(2) Whether this belongs to Him according to the Divine Nature?
(3) Whether it belongs to Him according to His human nature?
(4) Whether it is something proper to Christ?
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FIRST ARTICLE [III, Q. 58, Art. 1]
Whether It Is Fitting That Christ Should Sit at the Right Hand of God
the Father?
Objection 1: It would seem unfitting that Christ should sit at the
right hand of God the Father. For right and left are differences of
bodily position. But nothing corporeal can be applied to God, since
"God is a spirit," as we read in John 4:24. Therefore it seems that
Christ does not sit at the right hand of the Father.
Obj. 2: Further, if anyone sits at another's right hand, then the
latter is seated on his left. Consequently, if Christ sits at the
right hand of the Father, it follows that the Father is seated on the
left of the Son; which is unseemly.
Obj. 3: Further, sitting and standing savor of opposition. But
Stephen (Acts 7:55) said: "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the
Son of man standing on the right hand of God." Therefore it seems
that Christ does not sit at the right hand of the Father.
_On the contrary,_ It is written in the last chapter of Mark (16:19):
"The Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up to heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God."
_I
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