uld be directed upwards, his feet set firmly on the ground,
and his other intermediate members disposed in becoming order; and
this is not the case if he lie down, sit, or recline, but only when
he stands upright: nor again is he said to stand, if he move, but
only when he is still. Hence it is again that even in human acts, a
matter is said to have stability (_statum_) in reference to its own
disposition in the point of a certain immobility or restfulness.
Consequently matters which easily change and are extrinsic to them do
not constitute a state among men, for instance that a man be rich or
poor, of high or low rank, and so forth. Wherefore in the civil law
[*Dig. I, IX, De Senatoribus] (Lib. Cassius ff. De Senatoribus) it is
said that if a man be removed from the senate, he is deprived of his
dignity rather than of his state. But that alone seemingly pertains
to a man's state, which regards an obligation binding his person, in
so far, to wit, as a man is his own master or subject to another, not
indeed from any slight or unstable cause, but from one that is firmly
established; and this is something pertaining to the nature of
freedom or servitude. Therefore state properly regards freedom or
servitude whether in spiritual or in civil matters.

Reply Obj. 1: Uprightness as such does not pertain to the notion of
state, except in so far as it is connatural to man with the addition
of a certain restfulness. Hence other animals are said to stand
without its being required that they should be upright; nor again are
men said to stand, however upright their position be, unless they be
still.

Reply Obj. 2: Immobility does not suffice for the notion of state;
since even one who sits or lies down is still, and yet he is not said
to stand.

Reply Obj. 3: Duty implies relation to act; while grades denote an
order of superiority and inferiority. But state requires immobility
in that which regards a condition of the person himself.
_______________________

SECOND ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 183, Art. 2]

Whether There Should Be Different Duties or States in the Church?

Objection 1: It would seem that there should not be different duties
or states in the Church. For distinction is opposed to unity. Now the
faithful of Christ are called to unity according to John 17:21, 22:
"That they . . . may be one in Us . . . as We also are one."
Therefore there should not be a distinction of duties and states in
the Church.

Obj. 2: Further,