Chapter 83 — That after the resurrection there will be no use of food or sex

From what has been said it follows that men will have no use of sex or food after rising again.

When corruptible life is no more, there will be an end of those things that minister to it. Now it is evident that the use of food ministers to the corruptible life, since the reason why we partake of food is to avoid the corruption that might result from the consumption of the natural humidity. Moreover, in the present life food is necessary for growth; but after the resurrection men will not grow, since they will rise again of the size that is due to them, as we have already stated. (Ch. 81.) Likewise, the alliance of male with female administers to the corruptible life, for its purpose is generation, by which that which cannot last forever in the individual may be preserved in the species. Now we have shown (Ch. 82.) that the life of those who rise again will be everlasting. Therefore, after the resurrection there will be no use for food or sex.

Again. The life of those who will have risen again will not be less orderly than the present life: in fact, it will be more so, since they will obtain that life through the agency of God alone, whereas the present life is acquired through the cooperation of nature. Now in this life food is consumed for a certain purpose, namely, that it may be transformed into the body by the process of digestion. Therefore, if then there will be a use for food, it will be that it may be transformed into the body. Since, then, the body will suffer no dissolution, because it will be incorruptible, we shall have to admit that whatever a man will derive from nourishment will add to his size. And seeing that, as we have shown above, (Ch. 81.) he will rise again in the size due to him, it follows that he will become of immoderate size, for that which is more than due is immoderate.

Further. Man will live forever after rising again. Either, then, he will continue always to take food, or only for a certain time. If he continue always to take food, his growth will be according to a certain measure, since his food will have been transformed into his body, in which nothing will be dissolved: consequently, his body will grow indefinitely. But this is impossible, because growth is a natural movement, and a natural motive force never aims at the indefinite, but always at something definite. The reason is that, as Aristotle says, there is a limit to the size and increase of all things in nature. (Aristotle, On the Soul, bk. 2, text. 41.) On the other hand, if man who is to live forever is not always to partake of food after the resurrection, there will be a time during which he will not partake of it, and so should he have done from the beginning. Therefore, there will be no use for food after the resurrection.

And if he will have no use for food, neither will he have any use for sex, which requires emission of seed. Now after the resurrection there can be no emission of seed from a man’s body, nor from his substance, since this is incompatible with the nature of seed; it would involve corruption and a subtraction from man’s nature, so that it could not be a principle of nature, as the Philosopher says. (Aristotle, Generation of Animals 1.18.) Another reason is because no resolution will be possible in the incorruptible bodies of those who rise again. Nor will it be possible for the seed to be the product of the surplus nourishment, since after the resurrection man will not partake of food, as we have shown. Therefore, man will have no use of sex after the resurrection.

Again. The use of sex aims at generation. Consequently, if it be used after the resurrection, and to some purpose, it follows that men will be begotten then, even as now. Hence, there will be many after the resurrection who were not in existence before. And thus there will be no use in deferring the resurrection of the dead, that all who have the same nature may receive life together.

Moreover. If, after the resurrection, men will be begotten, either they too will die, or they will be incorruptible and immortal. If they are to be incorruptible and immortal, many difficulties will result. In the first place, we shall have to say that those men will be born without original sin, seeing that the necessity of dying is the punishment resulting from original sin. And this is against the statement of the Apostle that as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men (Rom 5:12). Second, it follows that not all men need to be redeemed by Christ, if some are to be born without original sin and the necessity of dying. Thus Christ would not be the head of all; this is contrary to the statement of the Apostle that as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor 15:22). There is also yet another incongruity in that men having like generation should have different terms of generation, since men begotten of seed now acquire a corruptible life, whereas then they will acquire an immortal life. On the other hand, if the men to be born then are to be corruptible and die, either they will not rise again, and in consequence their souls will remain forever separated from their bodies (and this is unreasonable, seeing that they are of the same species as the souls of those who rise again); or they will rise again, and then the others should wait for them, so that all who share in the same nature may, at the same time, receive the benefit of resurrection, which belongs to the reparation of nature, as stated above. (Ch. 81.) Moreover, there would seem to be no reason for some to wait until they rise together, if all do not wait alike.

Moreover. If after the resurrection men are to have sexual intercourse and beget, this will either be for always, or only for a time. If it is to go on forever, men will increase in numbers indefinitely. Now after the resurrection the intention of nature in the begetter can be for no other end but the increase in numbers: for it cannot be for the preservation of the species by means of generation, seeing that man’s life will be incorruptible. Consequently, the intention of nature in the begetter will be for something indefinite: and this is impossible. On the other hand, if they are not to go on forever begetting, but only for a certain time, then after that time they will no longer beget: so we ought to say that neither will they from the beginning have sexual intercourse and beget.

Someone, however, might say that there will be use for food and sexual intercourse not for the preservation and increase of the body, nor for the preservation of the species and the increase of mankind, but merely for the pleasure accompanying those acts, lest in the final reward something should be lacking to man’s enjoyment. But there are many ways of showing that such a statement is devoid of reason.

First, because, as we have already observed, life after the resurrection will be better ordered than the present life, as stated above. Now, in this life it is inordinate and sinful to make use of food or sex for mere pleasure, and not for the purpose of supporting the body or begetting children. And there is reason in this, since the pleasure attaching to these actions is not their end. To the contrary, nature has made them pleasant lest man should not take the trouble to perform acts that are necessary to nature; but that might happen unless the pleasure urged him. Consequently, to do these things with the sole object of pleasure is altogether out of order and unbecoming. Therefore, this cannot be said of those who will rise again, whose life will be most orderly.

Again. The life of those who rise again will have perfect beatitude for its object, and man’s perfect happiness does not consist in pleasures of the body, such as those that are derived from food and sexual intercourse, as we proved. (Bk. 3, ch. 27.) Therefore, we must not ascribe such pleasures to life after the resurrection.

Moreover. Acts of virtue are directed to happiness as their end. Therefore, if the state of future bliss includes the pleasures of the table and sexual intercourse as pertaining to happiness, it would follow that those who act virtuously must in some way include those pleasures in their intention. But this would exclude temperance, since it is inconsistent with that virtue to abstain from pleasures now in order the more to enjoy them hereafter. Every chaste man would be a rake, and every abstainer a glutton. If, however, the said pleasures are to be present in the state of bliss, but not as belonging thereto, so that those who act virtuously would not have to intend them; this is impossible, because whatsoever is at all is either for the sake of something else, or for its own sake. Now the said pleasures will not be for the sake of something else, since they will not be for the sake of actions directed to nature’s end, as we have already shown. Consequently, they will be for their own sake. But all such things are either happiness itself, or part of it. Hence, if those pleasures are to be present in the life of those who rise again, they will form part of their happiness.

And we have proved this to be impossible. Therefore, in no sense will those pleasures have any place in the life to come.

Further. It seems ridiculous to seek pleasures of the body, which are common to us and dumb animals, in a place where the highest pleasures are to be found, consisting in the vision of God, which we shall have in common with the angels, as stated above (Bk. 3, ch. 51.) (unless someone were to say that the angels’ happiness is imperfect because they lack the pleasures of the beasts, which is equally absurd). Hence, our Lord said that in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven (Matt 22:30).

Hereby we refute the error of the Jews and Mohammedans who say that after the resurrection men will use food and sexual intercourse, even as now. They were followed by some Christian heretics, who said that Christ would reign over an earthly kingdom that would last for a thousand years, and that for this space of time those who have risen again will give themselves to the most immoderate pleasures in eating and drinking, to such an extent as to exceed not only all moderation, but even the bounds of credibility: but such things can enter the minds of those only who are carnally inclined. Those who are spiritual call those who believe these things ‘Chiliastai,’ a Greek word which, as Augustine observes, may be rendered Millenarians. (Augustine, City of God, ch. 20.)

There are, however, a few things that would seem to support this opinion. In the first place, Adam, before he sinned, was immortal; yet he could use food and sexual intercourse in that state, since it was before he sinned that it was said to him: Be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28); and again: You may freely eat of every tree of the garden (Gen 2:16).

Again, after his Resurrection, Christ is said to have eaten and drunk, for it is said that they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them (Luke 24:43). Also, Peter said: God raised him, that is Jesus, on the third day and made him manifest; not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead (Acts 10:40–41).

There are, moreover, some texts which would seem to promise the use of food to men in that state. It is said: On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things full of marrow, a feast of wine on the lees (Isa 25:6). And that this refers to the state of life after the resurrection is clear from what follows: He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces (Isa 25:8). Again, it is said: Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty (Isa 65:13); and this is shown to refer to the state of the future life by the words that follow: For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth (Isa 65:17). Again, our Lord said: I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom (Matt 26:29); and: As my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom (Luke 22:29–30). Again it is said that on either side of the river, which shall be in the city of the blessed, there shall be the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit (Rev 22:2); and again: I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus . . . they came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended (Rev 20:4–5). All these texts might seem to confirm the opinion of the above-mentioned heretics.

But the answer is not very difficult to find. The objection which refers to Adam avails nothing. Adam had a certain personal perfection, but human nature was not as yet wholly perfect in point of numbers. Accordingly, Adam was created with the perfection becoming to the principle of the whole human race: therefore, he had to beget in order that mankind might increase in numbers, and consequently it was necessary also that he should partake of food. On the other hand, the perfection of man after the resurrection will consist in human nature attaining to its full perfection, so that the number of the elect may be complete: therefore, there will be no room for begetting or partaking of nourishment. Hence the immortality and incorruption of those who rise again will differ from the immortality and incorruption of Adam. They will be immortal and incorruptible in such a way as to be unable to die, and as to preclude any dissolution whatsoever in their bodies. But Adam was immortal in such a way that it was possible for him not to die if he sinned not, and possible for him to die if he sinned. And his immortality could be preserved in such a way not that there would be no dissolution in his body, but that the dissolution of the natural humidity would be remedied by the use of food, lest his body should be actually corrupted.

With regard to Christ it must be said that, after his Resurrection, he ate not because he needed to, but to show the reality of his Resurrection. Consequently, that food was not changed into his flesh, but dissolved into prejacent matter. But there will be no such reason for eating after the general resurrection.

The texts that seem to promise the use of food after the resurrection should be understood in a spiritual sense. Sacred Scripture sets before us intelligible truths under the guise of sensible objects, in order that our mind, from the things which it knows, may learn to love the things which are beyond its knowledge. Thus, then, the delight afforded by the contemplation of wisdom, and the acquisition of intelligible truth by our understanding, tends to be indicated in Sacred Scripture by the use of food. This is what is said of wisdom: She has slaughtered her beasts, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table . . . To him who is without sense she says: ‘Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed’ (Prov 9:2, 4–5); and again: She will feed him with the bread of understanding, and give him the water of wisdom to drink (Sir 15:3). Again, it is said of wisdom: She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy (Prov 3:18). Therefore, these texts do not prove that those who rise again will partake of food.

The words of our Lord (Matt 26:29) can be understood in another sense to the one suggested, so as to refer to his eating and drinking a new wine indeed with his disciples after the Resurrection: that is, in a new way, not because he needed it, but in order to prove his Resurrection. And the words: in the kingdom of my Father signify that in the Resurrection of Christ the kingdom of immortality began to be demonstrated.

The reference in the Apocalypse to the thousand years and the first resurrection of the martyrs signifies that the first resurrection is that of souls, in rising from sins, according to the Apostle: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light (Eph 5:14). The thousand years signify the whole time of the Church, when the martyrs and other saints reign with Christ both in the Church of the present, which is called the kingdom of God, and in the heavenly kingdom as to their souls. For a thousand is the number that signifies perfection, because it is a cube (that is, a solid figure), and its root is ten, which also is wont to signify perfection.

Accordingly, it is evident that those who rise again will have no use for meat, drink and sex.

Lastly, we may conclude that all the occupations of the active life will cease, since they appear to be directed to the use of food and sexual intercourse, and other necessities of a corruptible life. Consequently, only the occupation of the contemplative life will remain in those who rise again: for which reason it was said of Mary when contemplating that she has chosen the better portion, which shall not be taken away from her (Luke 10:42). Hence also it is said: He who goes down to hell does not come up; he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him any more (Job 7:9–10). In these words, Job denies the resurrection such as some held, saying that after the resurrection man will return to occupations like those he has now (as, for instance, the building of houses and similar avocations).