' But to know them as they are in the
intellect
and will
belongs only to God, to whom only the freedom of the human will is
subject, and a man's thoughts are subject to his will.
belongs only to God, to whom only the freedom of the human will is
subject, and a man's thoughts are subject to his will.
John Donne
' _Sermons_ 80.
61.
617.
ll. 15-16. _But when I saw thou sawest my heart,
And knew'st my thoughts, beyond an Angels art. _
Modern editors, by removing the comma after 'thoughts', have altered
the sense of these lines. It is not that she could read his thoughts
better than an angel, but that she could read them at all, a power
which is not granted to Angels.
St. Thomas (_Summa Theol. _ Quaest. lvii. Art. 4) discusses 'Utrum
angeli cognoscant cogitationes cordium', and concludes, 'Cognoscunt
Angeli cordium cogitationes in suis effectibus: ut autem in se ipsis
sunt, Deo tantum sunt naturaliter cognitae. ' Angels may read our
thoughts by subtler signs than our words and acts, or even those
changes of countenance and pulsation which we note in each other,
'quanto subtilius huiusmodi immutationes occultas corporales
perpendunt.
' But to know them as they are in the intellect and will
belongs only to God, to whom only the freedom of the human will is
subject, and a man's thoughts are subject to his will. 'Manifestum
est autem, quod ex sola voluntate dependet, quod aliquis actu aliqua
consideret; quia cum aliquis habet habitum scientiae, vel species
intelligibiles in eo existentes, utitur eis cum vult. Et ideo dicit
Apostolus I Corinth. secundo: quod _quae sunt hominis, nemo novit nisi
spiritus hominis qui in ipso est_. '
Donne recurs to this theme very frequently: 'Let the Schoole dispute
infinitely (for he that will not content himself with means of
salvation till all Schoole points be reconciled, will come too late);
let Scotus and his Heard think, That Angels, and separate souls have a
naturall power to understand thoughts . . . And let Aquinas present his
arguments to the contrary, That those spirits have no naturall power
to know thoughts; we seek no farther, but that Jesus Christ himself
thought it argument enough to convince the Scribes and Pharisees,
and prove himself God, by knowing their thoughts. _Eadem Maiestate
et potentia_ sayes _S. Hierome_, Since you see I proceed as God, in
knowing your thoughts, why beleeve you not that I may forgive his sins
as God too? ' _Sermons_ 80. 11. 111; and compare also _Sermons_ 80. 9.
92.
This point is also preserved in the Dutch version:
Maer als ick u sagh sien wat om mijn hertje lagh
En weten wat ick docht (dat Engel noyt en sagh).
ll. 15-16. _But when I saw thou sawest my heart,
And knew'st my thoughts, beyond an Angels art. _
Modern editors, by removing the comma after 'thoughts', have altered
the sense of these lines. It is not that she could read his thoughts
better than an angel, but that she could read them at all, a power
which is not granted to Angels.
St. Thomas (_Summa Theol. _ Quaest. lvii. Art. 4) discusses 'Utrum
angeli cognoscant cogitationes cordium', and concludes, 'Cognoscunt
Angeli cordium cogitationes in suis effectibus: ut autem in se ipsis
sunt, Deo tantum sunt naturaliter cognitae. ' Angels may read our
thoughts by subtler signs than our words and acts, or even those
changes of countenance and pulsation which we note in each other,
'quanto subtilius huiusmodi immutationes occultas corporales
perpendunt.
' But to know them as they are in the intellect and will
belongs only to God, to whom only the freedom of the human will is
subject, and a man's thoughts are subject to his will. 'Manifestum
est autem, quod ex sola voluntate dependet, quod aliquis actu aliqua
consideret; quia cum aliquis habet habitum scientiae, vel species
intelligibiles in eo existentes, utitur eis cum vult. Et ideo dicit
Apostolus I Corinth. secundo: quod _quae sunt hominis, nemo novit nisi
spiritus hominis qui in ipso est_. '
Donne recurs to this theme very frequently: 'Let the Schoole dispute
infinitely (for he that will not content himself with means of
salvation till all Schoole points be reconciled, will come too late);
let Scotus and his Heard think, That Angels, and separate souls have a
naturall power to understand thoughts . . . And let Aquinas present his
arguments to the contrary, That those spirits have no naturall power
to know thoughts; we seek no farther, but that Jesus Christ himself
thought it argument enough to convince the Scribes and Pharisees,
and prove himself God, by knowing their thoughts. _Eadem Maiestate
et potentia_ sayes _S. Hierome_, Since you see I proceed as God, in
knowing your thoughts, why beleeve you not that I may forgive his sins
as God too? ' _Sermons_ 80. 11. 111; and compare also _Sermons_ 80. 9.
92.
This point is also preserved in the Dutch version:
Maer als ick u sagh sien wat om mijn hertje lagh
En weten wat ick docht (dat Engel noyt en sagh).
