Substance (incl. Substantial Form & Substantial Change)

In the context of philosophical usage, form and matter are correlative terms, combining to explain the underlying structure of the changing material beings of our experience, although form can also be extended to independent uses (as in the ideal Forms of Plato existing independently in the Platonic World of Ideas, or the “pure forms” of angels in St. Thomas). In their widest general sense, form and matter [the two components of a substance—SML] are two of the most basic and indispensable terms for speaking about our everyday experience of the world. Form signifies the shapes, patterns, structures, or designs of things, whether natural or artificial, i.e., in general that which determines something to be such and such, to be this kind of thing. Matter signifies the “material,” that out of which something is made, that which is capable of receiving a form or pattern, i.e., in general that which is determinable by form. Thus we say of a piece of clothing, “What is that? It is a sweater,” and again, “What is it made out of? It is made out of wool, or cotton, etc.” We recognize the irreducible distinction between the two when we discover that the same form or pattern can be reproduced in many different materials, (e.g., a cup made of glass, clay, or metal) or the same material may be successively worked into many different forms (a child molds a piece of clay now into this form, now into that). It is clear that the form and matter of something cannot be identical, although neither can exist by itself alone: a form is always the form of something, a form in some material, and a piece of matter is never found without some form or structure to it. Were it totally formless, totally indeterminate, it would be nothing at all.[1]

The Scholastics.  . . . also distinguished primary substance (substantia prima) from secondary substance (substantia secunda):

The former is the individual thing—substance properly so called; the latter designates the universal essence or nature as contained in genus and species. And, again, substance is either complete, e. g., man [body and soul], or incomplete, e. g., the soul [without the body]; which, though possessing existence in itself, is united with the body to form the specifically complete human being. The principal division; however, is that between material substance (all corporeal things) and spiritual substance, i.e., the soul and the angelic spirits.  . . . An attempt has recently been made by representatives of physical science to reconstruct the idea of substance by making it equivalent to “energy”. The attempt so far has led to the conclusion that energy is the most universal substance and the most universal accident (Ostwald, “Vorlesungen uber Naturphilosophie”, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1902, p. 146).[3]

In its strict and specific acceptation, a desire [all emphasis SML] of the lower appetite contrary to reason. To understand how the sensuous and the rational appetite can be opposed, it should be borne in mind that their natural objects are altogether different. The object of the former is the gratification of the senses; the object of the latter is the good of the entire human nature and consists in the subordination of reason to God, its supreme good and ultimate end. But the lower appetite is of itself unrestrained, so as to pursue sensuous gratifications independently of the understanding and without regard to the good of the higher faculties.[4]

Now we have it on the authority of Scripture that ‘God made man right’ (Eccles. 7:30), which rightness, as Augustine says (De Civ. Dei, xiv, 11), consists in the perfect subjection of the body [i.e., salt/dust of DNA] to the soul.[5]

Subjection of the body to the soul and of the lower powers to reason, was not from nature; otherwise, it would have remained after sin.  . . . Hence it is clear that also the primitive subjection by virtue of which reason was subject to God, was not a merely natural gift, but a supernatural endowment of grace.[6]

St. Catherine of Siena’s Thoughts

[At the resurrection,] all will see my [God’s] generosity and mercy shine forth in the blessed as these receive the fruit of the blood of the Lamb. And they will see how all the sufferings the blessed endured remain as adornments on their bodies, like ornamentation imprinted on cloth—not from the body’s own excellence, but because the soul from her fullness will imprint on the body the fruit of its labors, to shine outwardly, since it was her partner in virtue [emphasis added].[7]

Demons, Possession, and Substantial Form

1). “That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick” (Mt 8:16),

2). “And the demons begged him, ‘If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine’ ” (Mt 8:31),

3). “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons” (Mt 10:8),

4). “And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons” (Mk 1:39), and

5). “Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Mag′dalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons” (Mk 16:9).

Satan’s Goal

We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has ever experienced. I do not think that the wide circle of the American Society or the whole wide circle of the Christian Community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, between the gospel and the anti-gospel, between Christ and the antichrist.[13]

“Thou hast crowned [man] with glory and worship, and given him dominion over all the works of Thy hands.” Which is to say: You, O God, Who have marvellously [sic] made all things, have crowned Man with the gold and purple crown of intellect and with the sublime garment of visible beauty, thus placing him like a prince above the height of Your perfect works, which You have distributed justly and rightly among Your creatures. Before all Your other creatures You have conferred on Man great and wonderful dignities.  . . .  [and] of all the strengths of God’s creation, Man’s is most profound, made in a wondrous way with great glory from the dust of the earth and so entangled with the strengths of the rest of creation that he can never be separated from them; for the elements of the world, created for Man’s service, wait on him, and Man, enthroned as it were in their midst, by divine disposition presides over them.[14]

Spirit (Demons) versus Spiritual Soul (Man)

The Spiritual Mechanics of Demonic Possession

The devil, in taking possession of a person, enters the body, but he does not unite with the body in the same manner as the soul does, nor does he enter into the [spiritual] soul itself. As Tanquerey explains,[19] he can indeed act directly on the bodily members and cause them to perform all sorts of motions, and indirectly, he can move the faculties of the soul in so far as they depend for their operations upon the body.[20]

Every part of the body is an expressive instrument of the soul. The soul does not inhabit the body as a man inhabits a house. It lives and works in each member, each fiber, and reveals itself in the body’s every line, contour, and movement.[21]

Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums, all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.[22]

In a true possession, the victim might assume a gutteral voice, sometimes growling, ranting, screaming, baying, and if more than one demon is present, using distinctively different voices. He might moan, yelp helplessly or howl, as would a pack of beasts. The victim might even levitate and soar bodily about the room and perform feats of agility that are beyond the scope of nature. The victim might be thrown about and dragged, producing wounds and bruises.  . . .  Terrible facial expressions, unusual strength, contortions, and physical gymnastics might also be evident, as in the case of two boys at Illfurth, Germany, who were possessed between 1864 and 1869. It is reported that if the boys were sleeping on their backs, they would turn over and over at an incredible speed, like living tops. . . . During the exorcism of a young girl, Claire-Germaine Cele of Natal, who was possessed in 1906 and 1907, another symptom of possession was noted when the demon would inflate her chest or stomach to enormous proportions. Her head sometimes appeared grotesquely swollen, with her cheeks inflated. Her neck would lengthen, and a goiter would appear. Most unusual of all is that a lump would sometimes form under the skin and travel throughout her body.[23]

According to the Roman Ritual, in the section entitled “De Exorcizandis Obsessis a Daemonio,” which gives the Church’s official pronouncement on the subject, there are three principal signs by which possession may be recognized, some of which have already been noted.

The first sign is that of speaking a language previously unknown to the subject.  . . . It has also been noted that some subjects can translate perfectly a language previously unknown to them.

The second indication of possession is the knowledge of hidden matters.  . . . There might also be predictions of future events. A reasonable time should elapse to learn if the predictions take place as foretold. . . .

The third sign.  . . . the subject exhibits a strength out of all proportion to his age and circumstances.  . . . this unnatural strength is such that many people are required to constrain the subject while he is struggling violently.[24]

Demons often cause illness or physical disability; Luke 13:11 tells of a woman who had a “spirit of infirmity” for 38 years but was delivered and healed by Jesus. Since evil spirits often attack the [biological] mind and the emotions [i.e., the brain and especially concomitant endocrine glands], many symptoms of mental illness may be attributed to their activity. The boy whom Jesus delivered just after the transfiguration exhibited symptoms of epilepsy. Paranoia may be the work of a spirit of fear. Some individuals suffering from schizophrenia (split or multiple personality) may in reality be demonized by a number of spirits.[25]

Jesus Made Sin

God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  . . . For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin [emphasis added], so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:19-21).

The penalties, such as hunger, thirst, death, and the like, which we suffer sensibly in this life flow from original sin. And hence Christ, in order to satisfy fully for original sin, wished to suffer sensible [all those penalties, so] that He might consume death and the like in Himself.[26]

Succumbing to the whirlwinds of Satan’s lies, the fallen soul cries out, “Ach miserable me! for harmful poisons were instilled into me through Adam, when he disobeyed God and was cast out into the world and joined his tabernacle [i.e., human body] to carnal things. For in the taste of the fruit he knew by disobedience, a harmful sweetness poured itself into his blood and flesh, producing the corruption of vice. And therefore I feel the sin of the flesh in me, and intoxicated by this sin, I neglect the Most Pure God.”[27]

For blood by itself carries shameful crimes and turbulent injustice, and runs through uncertain paths, in a twisted sweetness that leads to burning lust and frightful vices.[28]

For, since the fall of Adam, I have not found in human seed the justice that should have been in it, for the Devil drove out this justice [Adam and Eve’s sensual eyes were opened] by the taste of the fruit. Therefore I sent My Son into the world born of a virgin, so that by His blood, in which there was no carnal pollution, He might take away from the Devil those spoils that he had carried off from humanity.[29]

[Does not mean] A sin offering, which would destroy the antithesis to “righteousness,” and would make “sin” be used in different senses in the same sentence: not a sinful person, which would be untrue, and would require in the antithesis “righteous men,” not “righteousness”; but “sin,” that is, the representative Sin-bearer (vicariously) of the aggregate sin of all men past, present, and future. The sin of the world is one, therefore the singular, not the plural, is used; though its manifestations are manifold (Jn 1:29). “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” Compare “made a curse for us,” Ga 3:13.[30]

Fortunately, St. Paul isn’t saying anything like this. In Hebrew, the word ḥāṭā’ means both “sin” and “a sin offering.” In technical terms, this is what’s called a “contranym.” We’ve got plenty [of examples] in English: “cleave” can mean to separate (like a meat cleaver does) or to join together (cleave to your wife). “Dusting” can mean remove dust (like dusting the furniture) or adding dust (like dusting a cake). “Oversight” might mean that you’re paying careful attention, or that you’re not. So it is with ḥāṭā’. In Genesis 4:7 and many other places, it means “sin.” In Exodus 29:14 and many other places, it means “sin offering.” In Leviticus 4, we see it used in both ways: the same word to describe the people’s sin (Lev. 4:14) and the sacrificial offering made in response to that sin (Lev. 4:20).

In the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, ḥāṭā’ gets translated as the Greek word hamartia. Likewise, when Hebrews 10 mentions sin offerings, it simply says peri hamartia, “for sin.” The word “offering” is implicit in the context, but not actually there in the Greek. So to say that Christ “became hamartia,” as St. Paul does in 2 Corinthians 5, is to say that Christ became our sin offering, so that “by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Heb. 10:14).[31]

“In our behalf.” Compare Jn 3:14, Christ being represented by the brazen serpent, the form, but not the substance, of the old serpent. At His death on the cross the sin-bearing for us was consummated.[32]

The same reverence is shown to it as was shown at first, which would not be done if Christ were not truly there, to Whom we show reverence of latria. Therefore, when such apparition occurs, Christ is under the Sacrament.  . . . as was said already, this is not deception, because it is done “to represent the truth,” namely, to show by this miraculous apparition that Christ’s body and blood are truly in this Sacrament. And thus it is clear that as the dimensions remain, which are the foundation of the other accidents, as we shall see later on (Q. 77, A. 2), the body of Christ truly remains in this Sacrament.[34]

Catherine: Soul Imprints the Body

[On Judgment Day, all God’s sons and daughters] will see my generosity and mercy shine forth in the blessed as these receive the fruit of the blood of the Lamb. And they will see how all the sufferings the blessed endured remain as adornments on their bodies, like ornamentation imprinted on cloth—not from the body’s own excellence, but because the soul from her fullness will imprint on the body [because the spiritual soul is the substantial form of the body] the fruit of its labors, to shine outwardly, since it was her partner in virtue.[* J]ust as a mirror reflects a person’s face, just so, the fruit of their labors will be reflected in their bodies.

When the darksome ones see such honor, and themselves deprived of it, their suffering and confusion will increase. For on their bodies will appear the mark of their evil deeds, with pain and excruciating torment.[35]

* Virtues are gifts of the Holy Spirit that directly change the spirit within the spiritual soul, which then overflows to the soul and, therefore, the body. According to St. Hildegard, virtues work through the body and soul together;[36] “a virtue is a divine quality that . . . fully incarnates itself [SML].”[37] What does this mean?

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