Part III (Secunda Secundae) Part 27 (1/2)

Reply Obj. 2: Hope and every movement of the appet.i.te proceed from some kind of love, whereby the expected good is loved. But not every kind of hope proceeds from charity, but only the movement of living hope, viz. that whereby man hopes to obtain good from G.o.d, as from a friend.

Reply Obj. 3: The Master is speaking of living hope, which is naturally preceded by charity and the merits caused by charity.

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QUESTION 18

OF THE SUBJECT OF HOPE (In Four Articles)

We must now consider the subject of hope, under which head there are four points of inquiry:

(1) Whether the virtue of hope is in the will as its subject?

(2) Whether it is in the blessed?

(3) Whether it is in the d.a.m.ned?

(4) Whether there is certainty in the hope of the wayfarer?

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FIRST ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 18, Art. 1]

Whether Hope Is in the Will As Its Subject?

Objection 1: It would seem that hope is not in the will as its subject. For the object of hope is an arduous good, as stated above (Q. 17, A. 1; I-II, Q. 40, A. 1). Now the arduous is the object, not of the will, but of the irascible. Therefore hope is not in the will but in the irascible.

Obj. 2: Further, where one suffices it is superfluous to add another.

Now charity suffices for the perfecting of the will, which is the most perfect of the virtues. Therefore hope is not in the will.

Obj. 3: Further, the one same power cannot exercise two acts at the same time; thus the intellect cannot understand many things simultaneously. Now the act of hope can be at the same time as an act of charity. Since, then, the act of charity evidently belongs to the will, it follows that the act of hope does not belong to that power: so that, therefore, hope is not in the will.

_On the contrary,_ The soul is not apprehensive of G.o.d save as regards the mind in which is memory, intellect and will, as Augustine declares (De Trin. xiv, 3, 6). Now hope is a theological virtue having G.o.d for its object. Since therefore it is neither in the memory, nor in the intellect, which belong to the cognitive faculty, it follows that it is in the will as its subject.

_I answer that,_ As shown above (I, Q. 87, A. 2), habits are known by their acts. Now the act of hope is a movement of the appet.i.tive faculty, since its object is a good. And, since there is a twofold appet.i.te in man, namely, the sensitive which is divided into irascible and concupiscible, and the intellective appet.i.te, called the will, as stated in the First Part (Q. 82, A. 5), those movements which occur in the lower appet.i.te, are with pa.s.sion, while those in the higher appet.i.te are without pa.s.sion, as shown above (I, Q. 87, A.

2, ad 1; I-II, Q. 22, A. 3, ad 3). Now the act of the virtue of hope cannot belong to the sensitive appet.i.te, since the good which is the princ.i.p.al object of this virtue, is not a sensible but a Divine good.

Therefore hope resides in the higher appet.i.te called the will, and not in the lower appet.i.te, of which the irascible is a part.

Reply Obj. 1: The object of the irascible is an arduous sensible: whereas the object of the virtue of hope is an arduous intelligible, or rather superintelligible.

Reply Obj. 2: Charity perfects the will sufficiently with regard to one act, which is the act of loving: but another virtue is required in order to perfect it with regard to its other act, which is that of hoping.

Reply Obj. 3: The movement of hope and the movement of charity are mutually related, as was shown above (Q. 17, A. 8). Hence there is no reason why both movements should not belong at the same time to the same power: even as the intellect can understand many things at the same time if they be related to one another, as stated in the First Part (Q. 85, A. 4).

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SECOND ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 18, Art. 2]

Whether in the Blessed There Is Hope?

Objection 1: It would seem that in the blessed there is hope. For Christ was a perfect comprehensor from the first moment of His conception. Now He had hope, since, according to a gloss, the words of Ps. 30:2, ”In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped,” are said in His person.

Therefore in the blessed there can be hope.

Obj. 2: Further, even as the obtaining of happiness is an arduous good, so is its continuation. Now, before they obtain happiness, men hope to obtain it. Therefore, after they have obtained it, they can hope to continue in its possession.