as glorified by the
habit of the light of glory, whereby He saw the Divine essence much
more fully than an angel or a man. He was, however, a wayfarer on
account of the passibility of His body, in respect of which He was
"made a little lower than the angels" (Heb. 2:9), by dispensation,
and not on account of any defect on the part of His intellect. Hence
there is no comparison between Him and other wayfarers.

Reply Obj. 3: Paul, after seeing God in His essence, remembered what
he had known in that vision, by means of certain intelligible species
that remained in his intellect by way of habit; even as in the
absence of the sensible object, certain impressions remain in the
soul which it recollects when it turns to the phantasms. And so this
was the knowledge that he was unable wholly to think over or express
in words.
_______________________

FIFTH ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 175, Art. 5]

Whether, While in This State, Paul's Soul Was Wholly Separated from
His Body?

Objection 1: It would seem that, while in this state, Paul's soul was
wholly separated from his body. For the Apostle says (2 Cor. 5:6, 7):
"While we are in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by
faith, and not by sight" [*_Per speciem,_ i.e. by an intelligible
species]. Now, while in that state, Paul was not absent from the
Lord, for he saw Him by a species, as stated above (A. 3). Therefore
he was not in the body.

Obj. 2: Further, a power of the soul cannot be uplifted above the
soul's essence wherein it is rooted. Now in this rapture the
intellect, which is a power of the soul, was withdrawn from its
bodily surroundings through being uplifted to divine contemplation.
Much more therefore was the essence of the soul separated from the
body.

Obj. 3: Further, the forces of the vegetative soul are more material
than those of the sensitive soul. Now in order for him to be rapt to
the vision of God, it was necessary for him to be withdrawn from the
forces of the sensitive soul, as stated above (A. 4). Much more,
therefore, was it necessary for him to be withdrawn from the forces
of the vegetative soul. Now when these forces cease to operate, the
soul is no longer in any way united to the body. Therefore it would
seem that in Paul's rapture it was necessary for the soul to be
wholly separated from the body.

_On the contrary,_ Augustine says (Ep. CXLVII, 13, ad Paulin.; de
videndo Deum): "It is not incredible that this sublime revelation"
(nam