Aquinas’s Unresolved Problem of Embodiment in Heaven | Wai-Kin Wong

In Summa Theologiae (ST) I, based on the Aristotelian idea that matter is for the sake of the form, Aquinas argues that (i) the natural human body cognitively contributes to the human intellect’s natural operation. However, despite his clear affirmation that the blessed soul is the form of the glorified body, Aquinas argues in ST I-II that (ii) the glorified body cannot contribute to the beatific vision in any cognitively significant way.
This presentation articulates an incompatibility problem, which lies in the Aristotelian idea that matter is for the sake of the form. The problem can be stated as follows: if the Aristotelian idea justifies (i), then the idea should be incompatible with (ii). Thus, it seems that Aquinas cannot reasonably hold both (i) and (ii). The problem reveals a severe tension between Aquinas’s hylomorphic account of human nature and his belief in bodily resurrection that needs to be taken seriously.