Chapter 111 - The Action of the Angels Upon Men

Men receive the revelation of Divine things through the intermediary of the angels, for, according to the order of Nature, inferiors are subject to the action of superiors.

The mode of illumination in angels and in men is partly the same and partly different. For a superior angel divides its universal conception of truth to meet the capacity of an inferior, but the truth still remains simple and devoid of images; while the human intellect, not being able to apprehend in this simplicity, requires the help of phantasms; and in this way the illumination is different. But it is alike, inasmuch as the inferior is strengthened and enlightened by the superior. Angels have, however, no power to move the will interiorly; for to alter the will belongs to Him alone Who gave it, namely, to God Almighty, Who, as the Universal Good, can turn the will objectively, while angels and men can only use persuasion.

Man's will may nevertheless be moved from without in another way, namely, by the passions which exist in the sensitive appetite, and which the angels have power to excite. For the will is affected by anger and concupiscence, although not to compulsion, since it is always free either to consent to the passions or to resist them.

The imagination, also, may be affected by both good and bad angels; for they can control corporeal matter to local motion, and by this means have power to produce in us imaginary visions through the medium of the bodily spirits and humours; as is evident from the example of sleepers and madmen.

The angels can also affect the senses, by presenting an object, or by acting upon the physical organs.