QUESTION 51 OF THE BOOK OF SENTENCES
Does an angel move bodies solely with its active powers of intellect and will?

1. Solution: Raymond says that in any triangle, one angle must necessarily participate with the others because a triangle is made of three lines and three angles. After having spoken of triangular and  linear objects, he said that in the triangle which consists of fire, air and earth, one angle participates with another,  as for instance the angle of fire participates through heat and dryness with the angle of air, and the angle of air participates with the angle of earth through heat and moisture, and the angle of earth participates with the angle of fire through dryness and cold. After this, he went on to speak of the triangle of the rational, sensitive and imaginative powers, and from there he went on to the triangle formed by the active powers of intellect, will and memory, and after that, to the triangle of God, Angel and Body. While considering these triangles in this way, he said that God moves an Angel so that the Angel can move itself to perform good, great, etc. acts of remembering, understanding and loving. And God moves the rational power so that the rational power in a spiritual being joined to a body can move the powers of imagination and sense, and also move itself with these powers to perform good, great etc. acts of remembering, understanding and loving. The same can be said about the triangle of fire, air and earth as well as the three other triangles with their lines of which elemented bodies are constituted and compounded, like the triangle of air, fire and water and the triangle of air, water and earth and the triangle of earth, fire and water as God moves air with fire so that fire can move itself and heat air and so that fire can move air to heat water in a circular fashion.

2. As Raymond was considering in this way that God, the Prime Mover, moves some things in an immediate way and also moves one thing with another through mediation as we said, he stated that God moves an Angel so that the Angel can move a Body, so that God may move a Body through an Angel; otherwise, God would not possess all the modes of movement, which is impossible, as God is the Supreme Mover and perfect in every movement. Therefore, God moves a Body with an Angel. Hence, an Angel moves a Body with God  like a hand that moves a hammer with will, and the hammer moves the nail with the hand, and in a triangle, one angle moves another angle with another one to ensure full circulation in the subject.  And so, dear Hermit, said Raymond, an Angel does not move a body only with the powers of intellect and will, but it moves it with God, as has been proven above.

3. Further, Raymond considered another triangle consisting of power, intellect and will. This triangle is found in an Angel and every angle participates with the others, as the intellect understands power and will and the will loves intellect and power, and power communicates with the intellect so it can understand, and with will so it can love. Hence, when an Angel moves a Body, it moves it through power so that power can have the same proper ability to move a Body as the intellect has for understanding this movement and the will for loving the purposeful movement of this Body. Otherwise, the intellect and will could move a Body without any power, which is impossible. And therefore, dear Hermit, it follows that an Angel moves a Body not only with intellect and will, but also with power as well as purpose, goodness, greatness and virtue.

4. The Hermit replied: Raymond, philosophers of old have said that an Angel moves heaven only through the potentials of intellect and will  without any need for any other power because it is enough for the Angel to objectify a Body through intellect, and to will this Body to move. I will concede this much, namely that both potentials are moved by God as they move a Body. And likewise, the power of the Angel and its goodness, greatness etc. play a supporting role. But the question says first and foremost, that the powers of intellect and will alone move a Body or the prime mobile substance of heaven and certain other things below. And this is necessarily so, as then they are self sufficient in their role as principal movers of Body, because nature requires no vacuum, nor anything superfluous, in following the prime order, which exists between the Prime Cause, and its effect.

5. Raymond replied: Dear Hermit,  let us not confuse a mover moving something in an immediate way, with a mover that moves something through an intermediary moved by another mover. And as God moves things immediately, God is more of a principal mover in moving a Body than an Angel is, because God moves an Angel immediately, and moves a Body through an intermediary as He moves a Body through an Angel. Hence, an Angel moves more principally through God  than through itself or through its parts, because it is simply moved by God, as was said above.

6. And when you say that the powers of intellect and will are more principal  in moving a Body than the power of the Angel is, you may have forgotten what was said above. So I say to you, that if you consider this more subtly, it is more proper for power to move a Body and for its movement to be possible through angelic power, than through angelic intellect and will.  Therefore, an Angel does not move a Body solely through the potentials of intellect and will alone.

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