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Praised be Jesus Christ,
I apologize for my less than serious email address but  I work as an illusionist.

I am writing to ask  a simple question that can be answered with a “ yes” or  a“no” and its demonstration .

Is the doctrine according to which there are no bodily pleasures in Paradise and that these pleasures cannot therefore be found either in essential  or in accidental glory an infallible doctrine?
When I say pleasures I mean pleasures not happiness.

If it is infallible ,can you prove it  or ,if not,  can you prove that it is also possible to believe otherwise?

Thank you.

Merry Christmas to you.


Priest’s answer

Dearly beloved,
1. The premise of your question is incorrect and needs to be amended.

You write: “The doctrine according to which there are no bodily pleasures in Heaven…”.

Who said there are no bodily pleasures in Heaven?

2. The doctrine expressed in the Creed states that, among the truths of faith, we also believe in the resurrection of the body.

All will rise again, as Our Lord said:  “because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5,28-29).
And just as in hell one suffers from the pain of harm (the deprivation of God) and the pain of  (the suffering of the body), so similarly in paradise one enjoys the happiness of the soul and the well-being of the body.

3. St. Thomas asks whether “Happiness is the reward of virtue; wherefore it is written (Jn. 13:17): “You shall be blessed, if you do them.” But the reward promised to the saints is not only that they shall see and enjoy God, but also that their bodies shall be well-disposed; for it is written (Is. 66:14): “You shall see and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like a herb.” Therefore good disposition of the body is necessary for Happiness.” (Summa theologiae, I-II, 4,6, sed contra).

4. After reporting the words of Porphyry reported by Saint Augustine: “for the soul to be happy, it must be severed from everything corporeal” (De Civitate Dei 22,26) St. Thomas replies: “But this is unreasonable. For since it is natural to the soul to be united to the body; it is not possible for the perfection of the soul to exclude its natural perfection. Consequently, we must say that perfect disposition of the body is necessary, both antecedently and consequently, for that Happiness which is in all ways perfect” (Summa theologiae, I-II, 4,6)
He then adds: “Happiness does not consist in bodily good as its object: but bodily good can add a certain charm and perfection to Happiness” (Ib., ad 1) “Although the body has not part in that operation of the intellect whereby the Essence of God is seen” (Ib., ad 2).

5. On the premises of  these statements,it is nonetheless necessary to clarify three things.
The first: the well-being of the body is directly enjoyed only after the resurrection of the flesh, that is, after universal judgment.

As long as a soul is separated from the body we cannot speak of its enjoyment, except indirectly.

6. The second: it must be remembered that after the resurrection of the dead our body enters eternity.
Therefore one cannot experience pleasure as one does in the present life, where there is a before and an after, and therefore where there is movement.

If the definition of pleasure given by Aristotle is true, therefore “delight is a certain movement of the soul and a sensible establishing thereof all at once, in keeping with the nature of the thing.” (1 Rethoric, 11),the pleasure you feel in paradise is not psychological motion, it is instead  a sensible establishing thereof all at once, in keeping with the nature of the thing, that is, a perfect state of well-being.

7.The third: as Saint Thomas recalls “All those material promises contained in Holy Scripture, are to be understood metaphorically, inasmuch as Scripture is wont to express spiritual things under the form of things corporeal, in order “that from things we know, we may rise to the desire of things unknown,” as Gregory says (Hom. xi in Evang.). 

Thus food and drink signify the delight of Happiness’’ (Summa theologiae, I-II, 4, 7, ad 1).
And again: “These goods that serve for the animal life, are incompatible with that spiritual life wherein perfect Happiness consists. Nevertheless in that Happiness there will be the aggregate of all good things, because whatever good there be in these things, we shall possess it all in the Supreme Fount of goodness.” (Ib., ad 3).

With the wish of a peaceful continuation of the Christmas’ holidays and the hope that we will all reach perfect bliss of body and spirit, I bless you and remember you in prayer.

Father Angelo