- Whether the prophet always distinguishes what he says by his own spirit from what he says by the prophetic spirit?
Whether the prophet always distinguishes what he says by his own spirit from what he says by the prophetic spirit?
Objections
❌ Objection 1 : It would seem that the prophet always distinguishes what he says by his own spirit from what he says by the prophetic spirit. For Augustine states (Confess. vi, 13) that his mother said "she could, through a certain feeling, which in words she could not express, discern betwixt Divine revelations, and the dreams of her own soul." Now prophecy is a Divine revelation, as stated above (Article [3]). Therefore the prophet always distinguishes what he says by the spirit of prophecy, from what he says by his own spirit.
❌ Objection 2 : Further, God commands nothing impossible, as Jerome [*Pelagius. Ep. xvi, among the supposititious works of St. Jerome] says. Now the prophets were commanded (Jer. 23:28): "The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath My word, let him speak My word with truth." Therefore the prophet can distinguish what he has through the spirit of prophecy from what he sees otherwise.
❌ Objection 3 : Further, the certitude resulting from a Divine light is greater than that which results from the light of natural reason. Now he that has science, by the light of natural reason knows for certain that he has it. Therefore he that has prophecy by a Divine light is much more certain that he has it.