oes not follow on
that account that he can have no knowledge of Him at all: because, as
God is infinitely remote from the angel, so the knowledge which God
has of Himself is infinitely above the knowledge which an angel has
of Him.

Reply Obj. 3: The knowledge which an angel has of God is midway
between these two kinds of knowledge; nevertheless it approaches more
to one of them, as was said above.
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QUESTION 57

OF THE ANGEL'S KNOWLEDGE OF MATERIAL THINGS
(In Five Articles)

We next investigate the material objects which are known by the
angels. Under this heading there are five points of inquiry:

(1) Whether the angels know the natures of material things?

(2) Whether they know single things?

(3) Whether they know the future?

(4) Whether they know secret thoughts?

(5) Whether they know all mysteries of grace?
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FIRST ARTICLE [I, Q. 57, Art. 1]

Whether the Angels Know Material Things?

Objection 1: It would seem that the angels do not know material
things. For the object understood is the perfection of him who
understands it. But material things cannot be the perfections of
angels, since they are beneath them. Therefore the angels do not
know material things.

Obj. 2: Further, intellectual vision is only of such things as exist
within the soul by their essence, as is said in the gloss [*On 2 Cor.
12:2, taken from Augustine (Gen. ad lit. xii. 28)]. But the material
things cannot enter by their essence into man's soul, nor into the
angel's mind. Therefore they cannot be known by intellectual vision,
but only by imaginary vision, whereby the images of bodies are
apprehended, and by sensible vision, which regards bodies in
themselves. Now there is neither imaginary nor sensible vision in
the angels, but only intellectual. Therefore the angels cannot know
material things.

Obj. 3: Further, material things are not actually intelligible, but
are knowable by apprehension of sense and of imagination, which does
not exist in angels. Therefore angels do not know material things.

_On the contrary,_ Whatever the lower power can do, the higher can do
likewise. But man's intellect, which in the order of nature is
inferior to the angel's, can know material things. Therefore much
more can the mind of an angel.

_I answer that,_ The established order of things is for the higher
beings to be more perfect than the lower; and for whatever is
contained deficiently,