¹ ST III, q. 48, a. 1, resp. All citations from the Summa Theologiae, unless otherwise noted, are from the translations done by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province. See Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologica, translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009)Google Scholar.

² cf. ST III, q. 50, a. 6. The death of Christ is a cause of salvation not by way of merit, as was his passion, but “by way of causality,” since even in death the body of Christ was still united to the Godhead, thereby destroying death's sway over soul and body.

³ cf. ST III, q. 51, a. 1. In his response to the second objection, Thomas states: “As Christ's death wrought our salvation, so likewise did His burial.” Thomas sees the burial of Christ as completing the mystery of his death, into which the faithful are baptized as he relates in the body of the article: “Wherefore the baptized likewise who through Christ's death die to sins, are as it were buried with Christ by immersion, according to Rom. 6:4: We are buried together with Christ by baptism into death.”

⁴ cf. ST III, q. 52, a. 1. Christ's descent into hell is the specific manner in which his Passion is applied to those who had died, as the Sacraments are the manner in which the merits of his Passion are applied to the living.

⁵ cf. ST III, q. 53, a. 1, ad. 3: “Christ's Passion wrought our salvation, properly speaking, by removing evils; but the Resurrection did so as the beginning and exemplar of all good things.” See also ST III, q. 56, a. 1, ad. 3 where Thomas also teaches that Christ's resurrection is the efficient and exemplar cause of the resurrection of every other body.

⁶ cf. ST III, q. 5, a. 6.

⁷ Farrow, Douglas, Ascension and Ecclesia: On the Significance of the Doctrine of the Ascension for Ecclesiology and Christian Cosmology (Grand Rapids, MI: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999), 9Google Scholar.

⁸ Farrow notes this demythologizing tendency: “Our perfection or deification was gradually detached from its dependence on the heavenly humanity of Jesus, belief in which seemed to become more and more difficult… In more radical circles, those of Hegel and Strauss, for example, the ascent of the Son became a symbol of the ascent of Man.” See Farrow, Douglas, “Karl Barth on the Ascension: An Appreciation and Critique,” International Journal of Systematic Theology, 2.2 (July 2000), 129CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁹ Specifically his treatments of the Gospel of John, the Epistle to the Ephesians, and the Epistle to the Hebrews.

¹⁰ Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part I, Chapter 7.4. See Buckley, Theodore Alois, The Catechism of the Council of Trent (London: George Routledge and Co., 1852)Google Scholar.

¹¹ Jn 17:1. All translations of Scripture are my own and are taken from Holmes, Michael W., The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition, (Lexham Press, 2010)Google Scholar.

¹² Phil 2:9-11.

¹³ Heb 1:3b-4.

¹⁴ cf. Phil 2:8.

¹⁵ One need only read the account of the Transfiguration in the Synoptic Gospels to realize that even the Apostles understood that Christ possessed a certain kind of heavenly glory before his resurrection and ascension.

¹⁶ ST III, q. 57, a. 1, ad. 2.

¹⁷ cf. ST III, q. 34, a. 4, ad. 1; q. 45, a. 1, resp.

¹⁸ ST III, q. 45, a. 2, resp.

¹⁹ cf. ST III, q. 54, a. 2.

²⁰ Heb 12:2.

²¹ Super Epistolam ad Hebraeos, cap. 12.1: Exaltatio enim humanitas Christi fuit praemium passionis eius. The Latin text of St. Thomas’ commentaries on Scripture are taken from the compilation housed at www.dhspriory.com. All translation of the commentaries are my own.

²² ST III, q. 57, a. 6, ad. 2.

²³ ST III, q. 57, a. 6, ad. 3.

²⁴ Super Evangelium S. Ioannis lectura, cap. 14.1: confortat eos contra primum, scilicet contra eius recessum.

²⁵ Jn 14:2-3.

²⁶ Super Evangelium S. Ioannis lectura, cap. 14.1: cum dicit in domo patris mei mansiones multae sunt, subiungit promissionem quae est ut per Christum accedant, et introducantur ad patrem.

²⁷ “Since the house of any person is that in which they dwell, that in which God dwells is called the house of God… On this account, the house of God is twofold. One is the Church militant… the other is [the Church] triumphant” [cum uniuscuiusque domus sit in qua habitat, illa dicitur domus Dei in qua habitat Deus… Duplex est ergo domus Dei. Una est militans Ecclesia… Alia est triumphans]. (Super Evangelium S. Ioannis lectura, cap. 14.1).

²⁸ “But the house of the Father is not only where he himself dwells, but [the house] is his own self, for he exists in himself. It is into this [latter] house that we are gathered” [Sed domus patris dicitur non solum illa quam ipse inhabitat, sed etiam ipsemet, quia ipse in seipso est. Et in hac domo nos colligit]. (Super Evangelium S. Ioannis lectura, cap. 14.1).

²⁹ Super Evangelium S. Ioannis lectura, cap. 14.1: Praeparavit autem per recessum suum.

³⁰ Super Evangelium S. Ioannis lectura, cap. 14.1: Complementum autem glorificationis Christi fuit in eius ascensione.

³¹ Heb 2:17.

³² ST III, q. 48, a. 6, ad. 3.

³³ Heb 9:11-12.

³⁴ Marshall, I. Howard, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1978), 909Google Scholar.

³⁵ Heb 8:4.

³⁶ Farrow comes to much the same conclusion: “Jesus’ ascension, considered as a priestly act, begins already on the cross; or rather his whole life is seen as an act of self-offering that culminates on the cross. In the ascension this offering is received on high. It is Jesus in the totality of what he was and did who ‘passed through the heavens’ to the divine sanctuary” Ascension and Ecclesia, 34.

³⁷ Super Epistolam ad Hebraeos, cap. 8.1: si Christus adhuc esset super terram, ita scilicet quod nondum ascendisset, non esset sacerdos, quia non complevisset sacerdotium suum.

³⁸ cf. Heb 9:7-12; 9:25.

³⁹ Heb 4:14.

⁴⁰ Heb 6:19.

⁴¹ Super Epistolam ad Hebraeos, cap. 4.3: Ille enim intrat cum sanguine in sancta figuralia; sed Christus per proprium sanguinem intravit in sancta, id est, sacra caelestia.

⁴² ST I-II, q. 102, a. 2, resp.

⁴³ ST I-II, q. 102, a. 4, ad. 3.

⁴⁴ Heb 9:24-25.

⁴⁵ Super Epistolam ad Hebraeos, cap. 9.5: alludendo ritui veteris legis, secundum quam pontifex qui intrabat sancta sanctorum, stabat coram propitiatorio ut oraret pro populo: ita et Christus intravit caelum… ut astaret Deo pro salute nostra. The rite that St. Thomas is referring to here is clearly Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, narrated in Leviticus 16.

⁴⁶ Super Epistolam ad Hebraeos, cap. 9.5: enim ascendit ut pararet nobis viam.

⁴⁷ cf. Heb 7:25.

⁴⁸ “The presentation of Jesus’ perfected humanity before God (flesh and blood no longer subject to death and corruption) has finally resolved the problem of sin and opened the way for God's people to gain access to his heavenly throne and the enduring world to come.” See David M. Moffitt, “Unveiling Jesus’ Flesh: A Fresh Assessment of the Relationship Between the Veil and Jesus’ Flesh in Hebrews 10:20,” Perspectives in Religious Studies (2010), 72.

⁴⁹ Heb 10:19-20.

⁵⁰ Super Epistolam ad Hebraeos, cap. 10.2: Haec est ergo via eundi in caelum. Et est nova quia ante Christum nullus invenit eam… Et ideo qui vult ascendere, debet ipsi tamquam membrum capiti suo adhaerere.

⁵¹ ST III, q. 57, a. 6, resp.

⁵² Donne, Brian K., “The Significance of the Ascension of Jesus Christ in the New Testament,” Scottish Journal of Theology, Vol. 30 (1977), 564-565CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵³ ST III, q. 57, a. 6, resp.

⁵⁴ ST III, q. 57, a. 6, resp.

⁵⁵ Super Epistolam ad Ephesios, cap. 4.3: descenderat, ut ascenderet.

⁵⁶ Eph 4:8-10.

⁵⁷ Super Epistolam ad Ephesios, cap. 4.3: Ascendens, inquam, sed non solus, quia captivam duxit captivitatem, eos scilicet quos Diabolus captivaverat. Humanum enim genus captivatum erat, et sancti in charitate decedentes, qui meruerant gloriam, in captivitate Diaboli detinebantur quasi captivi in Limbo… Hanc ergo captivitatem Christus liberavit, et secum duxit in caelum.

⁵⁸ Super Epistolam ad Ephesios, cap. 4.3: servos fecit iustitiae… et sic quodammodo eos in captivitatem duxit, non ad perniciem sed ad salutem.

⁵⁹ Super Epistolam ad Ephesios, cap. 4.3: Non solum autem homines a Diaboli captivitate eripuit, et suae servituti subiecit, sed etiam eos spiritualibus bonis dotavit. Unde subditur dedit dona hominibus, scilicet gratiae et gloriae.

⁶⁰ Jn 16:7.

⁶¹ ST I, q. 43, a. 3, resp.

⁶² cf. ST I, q. 38.

⁶³ cf. Jn 20:22; Acts 2:38; 10:45.

⁶⁴ Rom 3:24.

⁶⁵ cf. Rom 5:15-17; 11:5-6; 1 Cor 4:7; Eph 2:8.

⁶⁶ Eph 4:7.

⁶⁷ Cf. Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 2:12-14; 12:4-31.

⁶⁸ Bobrinskoy, Boris, “Ascension and Liturgy: The Ascension and High Priesthood of Christ in Relation to Worship,” St. Vladimir's Seminary Quarterly 3.4 (1959), 23Google Scholar.

⁶⁹ Super Epistolam ad Ephesios, cap. 4.3: ascensionis fructum, cum dicit ut adimpleret omnia, id est omne genus hominum spiritualibus donis repleret.

⁷⁰ 1 Tim 3:16.

⁷¹ Super Epistolam ad Ephesios, cap. 4.3: Descendit enim, sicut dictum est, filius Dei assumendo humanam naturam, ascendit autem filius hominis secundum humanam naturam ad vitae immortalis sublimitatem. Et sic est idem filius Dei qui descendit et filius hominis qui ascendit.

⁷² Ratzinger, Joseph, Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two: Holy Week (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2011), 281Google Scholar.

⁷³ Heb 13:14.

⁷⁴ Super Epistolam ad Hebraeos, cap. 13.2: Finis enim noster non sunt legalia, nec temporalia… sed ubi est Christus… Ad ipsum enim intendimus transferri, sicut ad locum et altare nostrum.