he cause of flesh being united to the Son of
God. For the flesh would not have been assumable, except by its
relation to the rational soul, through which it becomes human flesh.
For it was said above (Q. 4, A. 1) that human nature was assumable
before all others.

Reply Obj. 1: We may consider a twofold order between creatures and
God: the first is by reason of creatures being caused by God and
depending on Him as on the principle of their being; and thus on
account of the infinitude of His power God touches each thing
immediately, by causing and preserving it, and so it is that God is
in all things by essence, presence and power. But the second order is
by reason of things being directed to God as to their end; and it is
here that there is a medium between the creature and God, since lower
creatures are directed to God by higher, as Dionysius says (Eccl.
Hier. v); and to this order pertains the assumption of human nature
by the Word of God, Who is the term of the assumption; and hence it
is united to flesh through the soul.

Reply Obj. 2: If the hypostasis of the Word of God were constituted
simply by human nature, it would follow that the body was nearest to
it, since it is matter which is the principle of individuation; even
as the soul, being the specific form, would be nearer the human
nature. But because the hypostasis of the Word is prior to and more
exalted than the human nature, the more exalted any part of the human
nature is, the nearer it is to the hypostasis of the Word. And hence
the soul is nearer the Word of God than the body is.

Reply Obj. 3: Nothing prevents one thing being the cause of the
aptitude and congruity of another, and yet if it be taken away the
other remains; because although a thing's becoming may depend on
another, yet when it is in being it no longer depends on it, just as
a friendship brought about by some other may endure when the latter
has gone; or as a woman is taken in marriage on account of her
beauty, which makes a woman's fittingness for the marriage tie, yet
when her beauty passes away, the marriage tie still remains. So
likewise, when the soul was separated, the union of the Word with
flesh still endured.
_______________________

SECOND ARTICLE [III, Q. 6, Art. 2]

Whether the Son of God Assumed a Soul Through the Medium of the
Spirit or Mind?

Objection 1: It would seem that the Son of God did not assume a soul
through the medium of the spirit or mind. For nothing i