Sect. 188Christ as Lord of All ThingsChrist as Lord of All Things
I. On account of His humanity, Christ is subordinate to the Creator; on the other hand, by virtue of His Divine Personality, He shares with the Creator the Lordship over all things. He is, with and next to God, our Lord and “the Lord of all” (Acts 10:36; Heb. 1 and 2; Ps. 8 and 109). St. Paul lays down and develops this point of faith in Heb. 1 and 2. The reason he gives for the appointment of Christ as man to be heir of all things, is that by Him God “made the world;” that He is “the brightness of God’s glory and the figure of His substance, upholding all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:2, 3; 3:1–6. See also § 183 on the Redundance of Divine Glory on Christ, and § 176 on the Gratia unionis).
II. Christ’s dominium (ownership, lordship) over all things springs from the identity of His Person with the Creator, and is therefore infinitely above any dominium which God may give to a mere creature. This Lordship embraces all things without exception, and extends to their innermost being. Unlike created sovereignty, it includes the right to turn to Christ’s own service and glory all persons and things subjected to it, so that the final object of things is to minister to the glory of Christ as well as to the glory of God.
III. The title “King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15; Apoc. 17:14; 19:16) is given equally to Christ and to God. It implies that the lordship of the world belongs to Christ purely and simply, and that His Lordship is the most perfect image and likeness of the Divine Sovereignty. The only difference is that the Sovereignty of God is “essentially” the source of all other sovereignty, whereas the Lordship of Christ is neither essentially nor as a matter of fact the source of all lordship; in other words, all lordship possessed and exercised in the name of God is not also “essentially, or from its very nature,” held in the name of Christ. In all other respects the resemblance is most perfect: the Lordship of Christ eminently and virtually contains all other lordship; no other power can limit His Power, but every power must minister to His ends, submit to His will, and deal with the persons and things over which it rules, as being His property as well as the property of God. “All power is given to me in Heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18; cf. Phil. 2:9, 10).
IV. A question much debated among the Schoolmen is whether Christ formally possesses all the political power held by temporal rulers, and whether He is the real (formal) owner of all private property. As to political power, it is evident from John 18:38, “My kingdom is not of this world,” that Christ is not the only and exclusive holder of such power. He never once claimed the exercise of political sovereignty to the exclusion of its natural holders. His “eminent” dominium, like the eminent dominium of God, is perfectly compatible with real ownership in creatures. Christ’s universal Lordship being founded on His substantial and personal relation to the Creator, implies the right of disposing of all created powers and things according to His will: the “Lord of all” is not merely entitled to make things temporal subservient to the ends of His spiritual kingdom; He disposes of everything for what end He pleases. And yet His Sovereignty is not formally “political,” because it does not include the will or the mandate to perform acts purely political. But it contains “supereminently” all political dominium of man, that is, Christ can dispose directly and freely of the possession and exercise of all human sovereignty, for He is King of kings and Lord of lords. See St. Thomas, 3, q. 59, a. 4, ad. I.
V. The principles laid down concerning Christ’s political power, likewise apply to His dominium over private property and actions of individuals. Natural ownership is nowise impaired by Christ’s overlordship: He who created property, also created the owner’s title to hold it. Yet Christ’s overlordship is not simply a right to dispose of things temporal for spiritual ends, after the manner of the right of society to dispose of individual property for the common good; it is a real and direct ownership, in virtue of which Christ can dispose of all property as He chooses. It differs, however, so much in its origin and exaltedness from what we call private ownership, that this appellation does not formally apply to it. As a matter of fact, Christ renounced the exercise of His dominium over private property and chose to be poor. The right itself He could not renounce, because it is connatural to His Divine Personality. See the commentaries of Suarez, Lugo, and the Salmanticanses on St. Thomas, 3, q. 22.
I. On account of His humanity, Christ is subordinate to the Creator; on the other hand, by virtue of His Divine Personality, He shares with the Creator the Lordship over all things. He is, with and next to God, our Lord and “the Lord of all” (Acts 10:36; Heb. 1 and 2; Ps. 8 and 109). St. Paul lays down and develops this point of faith in Heb. 1 and 2. The reason he gives for the appointment of Christ as man to be heir of all things, is that by Him God “made the world;” that He is “the brightness of God’s glory and the figure of His substance, upholding all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:2, 3; 3:1–6. See also § 183 on the Redundance of Divine Glory on Christ, and § 176 on the Gratia unionis).
II. Christ’s dominium (ownership, lordship) over all things springs from the identity of His Person with the Creator, and is therefore infinitely above any dominium which God may give to a mere creature. This Lordship embraces all things without exception, and extends to their innermost being. Unlike created sovereignty, it includes the right to turn to Christ’s own service and glory all persons and things subjected to it, so that the final object of things is to minister to the glory of Christ as well as to the glory of God.
III. The title “King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15; Apoc. 17:14; 19:16) is given equally to Christ and to God. It implies that the lordship of the world belongs to Christ purely and simply, and that His Lordship is the most perfect image and likeness of the Divine Sovereignty. The only difference is that the Sovereignty of God is “essentially” the source of all other sovereignty, whereas the Lordship of Christ is neither essentially nor as a matter of fact the source of all lordship; in other words, all lordship possessed and exercised in the name of God is not also “essentially, or from its very nature,” held in the name of Christ. In all other respects the resemblance is most perfect: the Lordship of Christ eminently and virtually contains all other lordship; no other power can limit His Power, but every power must minister to His ends, submit to His will, and deal with the persons and things over which it rules, as being His property as well as the property of God. “All power is given to me in Heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18; cf. Phil. 2:9, 10).
IV. A question much debated among the Schoolmen is whether Christ formally possesses all the political power held by temporal rulers, and whether He is the real (formal) owner of all private property. As to political power, it is evident from John 18:38, “My kingdom is not of this world,” that Christ is not the only and exclusive holder of such power. He never once claimed the exercise of political sovereignty to the exclusion of its natural holders. His “eminent” dominium, like the eminent dominium of God, is perfectly compatible with real ownership in creatures. Christ’s universal Lordship being founded on His substantial and personal relation to the Creator, implies the right of disposing of all created powers and things according to His will: the “Lord of all” is not merely entitled to make things temporal subservient to the ends of His spiritual kingdom; He disposes of everything for what end He pleases. And yet His Sovereignty is not formally “political,” because it does not include the will or the mandate to perform acts purely political. But it contains “supereminently” all political dominium of man, that is, Christ can dispose directly and freely of the possession and exercise of all human sovereignty, for He is King of kings and Lord of lords. See St. Thomas, 3, q. 59, a. 4, ad. I.
V. The principles laid down concerning Christ’s political power, likewise apply to His dominium over private property and actions of individuals. Natural ownership is nowise impaired by Christ’s overlordship: He who created property, also created the owner’s title to hold it. Yet Christ’s overlordship is not simply a right to dispose of things temporal for spiritual ends, after the manner of the right of society to dispose of individual property for the common good; it is a real and direct ownership, in virtue of which Christ can dispose of all property as He chooses. It differs, however, so much in its origin and exaltedness from what we call private ownership, that this appellation does not formally apply to it. As a matter of fact, Christ renounced the exercise of His dominium over private property and chose to be poor. The right itself He could not renounce, because it is connatural to His Divine Personality. See the commentaries of Suarez, Lugo, and the Salmanticanses on St. Thomas, 3, q. 22.
Seção 64% da obra, de A Manual of Catholic Theology (Wilhelm & Scannell, sobre a Dogmatik de Scheeben). Ver o original.