his was
fulfilled in the adoration of the Magi. For he says: "Before He
uttered human words in human flesh, He received the strength of
Damascus, i.e. the riches which Damascus vaunted (for in riches the
first place is given to gold). They themselves were the spoils of
Samaria. Because Samaria is taken to signify idolatry; since this
people, having turned away from the Lord, turned to the worship of
idols. Hence these were the first spoils which the child took from
the domination of idolatry." And in this way "before the child know"
may be taken to mean "before he show himself to know."
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FOURTH ARTICLE [III, Q. 15, Art. 4]

Whether Christ's Soul Was Passible?

Objection 1: It would seem that the soul of Christ was not passible.
For nothing suffers except by reason of something stronger; since
"the agent is greater than the patient," as is clear from Augustine
(Gen. ad lit. xii, 16), and from the Philosopher (De Anima iii, 5).
Now no creature was stronger than Christ's soul. Therefore Christ's
soul could not suffer at the hands of any creature; and hence it was
not passible; for its capability of suffering would have been to no
purpose if it could not have suffered at the hands of anything.

Obj. 2: Further, Tully (De Tusc. Quaes. iii) says that the soul's
passions are ailments [*Cf. I-II, Q. 24, A. 2]. But Christ's soul had
no ailment; for the soul's ailment results from sin, as is plain from
Ps. 40:5: "Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee." Therefore
in Christ's soul there were no passions.

Obj. 3: Further, the soul's passions would seem to be the same as the
_fomes_ of sin, hence the Apostle (Rom. 7:5) calls them the "passions
of sins." Now the _fomes_ of sin was not in Christ, as was said (A.
2). Therefore it seems that there were no passions in His soul; and
hence His soul was not passible.

_On the contrary,_ It is written (Ps. 87:4) in the person of Christ:
"My soul is filled with evils"--not sins, indeed, but human evils,
i.e. "pains," as a gloss expounds it. Hence the soul of Christ was
passible.

_I answer that,_ A soul placed in a body may suffer in two ways:
first with a bodily passion; secondly, with an animal passion. It
suffers with a bodily passion through bodily hurt; for since the soul
is the form of the body, soul and body have but one being; and hence,
when the body is disturbed by any bodily passion, the soul, too, must
be disturbed, i.e. in the being which