Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae

Objection 1: It would seem that the ceremonies of the Law were in existence before the Law. For sacrifices and holocausts were ceremonies of the Old Law, as stated above (Question 101, Article 4). But sacrifices and holocausts preceded the Law: for it is written (Gn. 4:3,4) that "Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord," and that "Abel offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat." Noe also "offered holocausts" to the Lord (Gn. 18:20), and Abraham did in like manner (Gn. 22:13). Therefore the ceremonies of the Old Law preceded the Law.

Objection 2: Further, the erecting and consecrating of the altar were part of the ceremonies relating to holy things. But these preceded the Law. For we read (Gn. 13:18) that "Abraham . . . built . . . an altar to the Lord"; and (Gn. 28:18) that "Jacob . . . took the stone . . . and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the top of it." Therefore the legal ceremonies preceded the Law.

Objection 3: Further, the first of the legal sacraments seems to have been circumcision. But circumcision preceded the Law, as appears from Gn. 17. In like manner the priesthood preceded the Law; for it is written (Gn. 14:18) that "Melchisedech . . . was the priest of the most high God." Therefore the sacramental ceremonies preceded the Law.

Objection 4: Further, the distinction of clean from unclean animals belongs to the ceremonies of observances, as stated above (Question 100, 2, Article 6, ad 1). But this distinction preceded the Law; for it is written (Gn. 7:2,3): "Of all clean beasts take seven and seven . . . but of the beasts that are unclean, two and two." Therefore the legal ceremonies preceded the Law.

On the contrary, It is written (Dt. 6:1): "These are the precepts and ceremonies . . . which the Lord your God commanded that I should teach you." But they would not have needed to be taught about these things, if the aforesaid ceremonies had been already in existence. Therefore the legal ceremonies did not precede the Law.

I answer that, As is clear from what has been said (Question 101, Article 2; Question 102, Article 2), the legal ceremonies were ordained for a double purpose; the worship of God, and the foreshadowing of Christ. Now whoever worships God must needs worship Him by means of certain fixed things pertaining to external worship. But the fixing of the divine worship belongs to the ceremonies; just as the determining of our relations with our neighbor is a matter determined by the judicial precepts, as stated above (Question 99, Article 4). Consequently, as among men in general there were certain judicial precepts, not indeed established by Divine authority, but ordained by human reason; so also there were some ceremonies fixed, not by the authority of any law, but according to the will and devotion of those that worship God. Since, however, even before the Law some of the leading men were gifted with the spirit of prophecy, it is to be believed that a heavenly instinct, like a private law, prompted them to worship God in a certain definite way, which would be both in keeping with the interior worship, and a suitable token of Christ's mysteries, which were foreshadowed also by other things that they did, according to 1 Cor. 10:11: "All . . . things happened to them in figure." Therefore there were some ceremonies before the Law, but they were not legal ceremonies, because they were not as yet established by legislation.

Reply to Objection 1: The patriarchs offered up these oblations, sacrifices and holocausts previously to the Law, out of a certain devotion of their own will, according as it seemed proper to them to offer up in honor of God those things which they had received from Him, and thus to testify that they worshipped God Who is the beginning and end of all.

Reply to Objection 2: They also established certain sacred things, because they thought that the honor due to God demanded that certain places should be set apart from others for the purpose of divine worship.

Reply to Objection 3: The sacrament of circumcision was established by command of God before the Law. Hence it cannot be called a sacrament of the Law as though it were an institution of the Law, but only as an observance included in the Law. Hence Our Lord said (Jn. 7:20) that circumcision was "not of Moses, but of his fathers." Again, among those who worshipped God, the priesthood was in existence before the Law by human appointment, for the Law allotted the priestly dignity to the firstborn.

Reply to Objection 4: The distinction of clean from unclean animals was in vogue before the Law, not with regard to eating them, since it is written (Gn. 9:3): "Everything that moveth and liveth shall be meat for you": but only as to the offering of sacrifices because they used only certain animals for that purpose. If, however, they did make any distinction in regard to eating; it was not that it was considered illegal to eat such animals, since this was not forbidden by any law, but from dislike or custom: thus even now we see that certain foods are looked upon with disgust in some countries, while people partake of them in others.

Articulus 1

Argumentum 1

Ad primum sic proceditur. Videtur quod caeremoniae legis fuerint ante legem. Sacrificia enim et holocausta pertinent ad caeremonias veteris legis, ut supra dictum est.

Sed sacrificia et holocausta fuerunt ante legem.

Dicitur enim Gen. IV, quod cain obtulit de fructibus terrae munera domino; Abel autem obtulit de primogenitis gregis sui, et de adipibus eorum.

Noe etiam obtulit holocausta domino, ut dicitur Gen. VIII; et Abraham similiter, ut dicitur Gen. XXII.

Ergo caeremoniae veteris legis fuerunt ante legem.

Argumentum 2

Praeterea, ad caeremonias sacrorum pertinet constructio altaris, et eius inunctio. Sed ista fuerunt ante legem.

Legitur enim Gen. XIII, quod Abraham aedificavit altare domino; et de Iacob dicitur Gen. XXVIII, quod tulit lapidem et erexit in titulum fundens oleum desuper.

Ergo caeremoniae legales fuerunt ante legem.

Argumentum 3

Praeterea, inter sacramenta legalia primum videtur fuisse circumcisio. Sed circumcisio fuit ante legem, ut patet Gen. XVII.

Similiter etiam sacerdotium fuit ante legem, dicitur enim Gen. XIV, quod melchisedech erat sacerdos dei summi.

Ergo caeremoniae sacramentorum fuerunt ante legem.

Argumentum 4

Praeterea, discretio mundorum animalium ab immundis pertinet ad caeremonias observantiarum, ut supra dictum est.

Sed talis discretio fuit ante legem, dicitur enim Gen. VII, ex omnibus mundis animalibus tolle septena et septena; de animantibus vero immundis, duo et duo.

Ergo caeremoniae legales fuerunt ante legem.

Sed Contra

Sed contra est quod dicitur Deut. VI, haec sunt praecepta et caeremoniae quae mandavit dominus deus vester ut docerem vos.

Non autem indiguissent super his doceri, si prius praedictae caeremoniae fuissent. Ergo caeremoniae legis non fuerunt ante legem.

Corpus

Respondeo dicendum quod, sicut ex dictis patet, caeremoniae legis ad duo ordinabantur, scilicet ad cultum dei, et ad figurandum christum. Quicumque autem colit deum, oportet quod per aliqua determinata eum colat, quae ad exteriorem cultum pertinent. Determinatio autem divini cultus ad caeremonias pertinet; sicut etiam determinatio eorum per quae ordinamur ad proximum, pertinet ad praecepta iudicialia; ut supra dictum est.

Et ideo sicut inter homines communiter erant aliqua iudicialia, non tamen ex auctoritate legis divinae instituta, sed ratione hominum ordinata; ita etiam erant quaedam caeremoniae, non quidem ex auctoritate alicuius legis determinatae, sed solum secundum voluntatem et devotionem hominum deum colentium. Sed quia etiam ante legem fuerunt quidam viri praecipui prophetico spiritu pollentes, credendum est quod ex instinctu divino, quasi ex quadam privata lege, inducerentur ad aliquem certum modum colendi deum, qui et conveniens esset interiori cultui, et etiam congrueret ad significandum christi mysteria, quae figurabantur etiam per alia eorum gesta, secundum illud I ad Cor. X, omnia in figuram contingebant illis.

Fuerunt igitur ante legem quaedam caeremoniae, non tamen caeremoniae legis, quia non erant per aliquam legislationem institutae.

Ad 1

Ad primum ergo dicendum quod huiusmodi oblationes et sacrificia et holocausta offerebant antiqui ante legem ex quadam devotione propriae voluntatis, secundum quod eis videbatur conveniens ut in rebus quas a deo acceperant, quas in reverentiam divinam offerrent, protestarentur se colere deum, qui est omnium principium et finis.

Ad 2

Ad secundum dicendum quod etiam sacra quaedam instituerunt, quia videbatur eis conveniens ut in reverentiam divinam essent aliqua loca ab aliis discreta, divino cultui mancipata.

Ad 3

Ad tertium dicendum quod sacramentum circumcisionis praecepto divino fuit statutum ante legem. Unde non potest dici sacramentum legis quasi in lege institutum, sed solum quasi in lege observatum.

Et hoc est quod dominus dicit, Ioan. VII, circumcisio non ex Moyse est, sed ex patribus eius.

Sacerdotium etiam erat ante legem apud colentes deum, secundum humanam determinationem, quia hanc dignitatem primogenitis attribuebant.

Ad 4

Ad quartum dicendum quod distinctio mundorum animalium et immundorum non fuit ante legem quantum ad esum, cum dictum sit Gen. IX, omne quod movetur et vivit, erit vobis in cibum, sed solum quantum ad sacrificiorum oblationem, quia de quibusdam determinatis animalibus sacrificia offerebant. Si tamen quantum ad esum erat aliqua discretio animalium, hoc non erat quia esus illorum reputaretur illicitus, cum nulla lege esset prohibitus, sed propter abominationem vel consuetudinem, sicut et nunc videmus quod aliqua cibaria sunt in aliquibus terris abominabilia, quae in aliis comeduntur.