Part III (Secunda Secundae) Part 42 (2/2)
On the other hand their guilt is opposed to G.o.d, and is an obstacle to happiness. Wherefore, in respect of their guilt whereby they are opposed to G.o.d, all sinners are to be hated, even one's father or mother or kindred, according to Luke 12:26. For it is our duty to hate, in the sinner, his being a sinner, and to love in him, his being a man capable of bliss; and this is to love him truly, out of charity, for G.o.d's sake.
Reply Obj. 1: The prophet hated the unjust, as such, and the object of his hate was their injustice, which was their evil. Such hatred is perfect, of which he himself says (Ps. 138:22): ”I have hated them with a perfect hatred.” Now hatred of a person's evil is equivalent to love of his good. Hence also this perfect hatred belongs to charity.
Reply Obj. 2: As the Philosopher observes (Ethic. ix, 3), when our friends fall into sin, we ought not to deny them the amenities of friends.h.i.+p, so long as there is hope of their mending their ways, and we ought to help them more readily to regain virtue than to recover money, had they lost it, for as much as virtue is more akin than money to friends.h.i.+p. When, however, they fall into very great wickedness, and become incurable, we ought no longer to show them friendliness. It is for this reason that both Divine and human laws command such like sinners to be put to death, because there is greater likelihood of their harming others than of their mending their ways. Nevertheless the judge puts this into effect, not out of hatred for the sinners, but out of the love of charity, by reason of which he prefers the public good to the life of the individual.
Moreover the death inflicted by the judge profits the sinner, if he be converted, unto the expiation of his crime; and, if he be not converted, it profits so as to put an end to the sin, because the sinner is thus deprived of the power to sin any more.
Reply Obj. 3: Such like imprecations which we come across in Holy Writ, may be understood in three ways: first, by way of prediction, not by way of wish, so that the sense is: ”May the wicked be,” that is, ”The wicked shall be, turned into h.e.l.l.” Secondly, by way of wish, yet so that the desire of the wisher is not referred to the man's punishment, but to the justice of the punisher, according to Ps. 57:11: ”The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge,”
since, according to Wis. 1:13, not even G.o.d ”hath pleasure in the destruction of the wicked [Vulg.: 'living']” when He punishes them, but He rejoices in His justice, according to Ps. 10:8: ”The Lord is just and hath loved justice.” Thirdly, so that this desire is referred to the removal of the sin, and not to the punishment itself, to the effect, namely, that the sin be destroyed, but that the man may live.
Reply Obj. 4: We love sinners out of charity, not so as to will what they will, or to rejoice in what gives them joy, but so as to make them will what we will, and rejoice in what rejoices us. Hence it is written (Jer. 15:19): ”They shall be turned to thee, and thou shalt not to be turned to them.”
Reply Obj. 5: The weak should avoid a.s.sociating with sinners, on account of the danger in which they stand of being perverted by them.
But it is commendable for the perfect, of whose perversion there is no fear, to a.s.sociate with sinners that they may convert them. For thus did Our Lord eat and drink with sinners as related by Matt.
9:11-13. Yet all should avoid the society of sinners, as regards fellows.h.i.+p in sin; in this sense it is written (2 Cor. 6:17): ”Go out from among them ... and touch not the unclean thing,” i.e. by consenting to sin.
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SEVENTH ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 25, Art. 7]
Whether Sinners Love Themselves?
Objection 1: It would seem that sinners love themselves. For that which is the principle of sin, is most of all in the sinner. Now love of self is the principle of sin, since Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xiv, 28) that it ”builds up the city of Babylon.” Therefore sinners most of all love themselves.
Obj. 2: Further, sin does not destroy nature. Now it is in keeping with nature that every man should love himself: wherefore even irrational creatures naturally desire their own good, for instance, the preservation of their being, and so forth. Therefore sinners love themselves.
Obj. 3: Further, good is beloved by all, as Dionysius states (Div.
Nom. iv). Now many sinners reckon themselves to be good. Therefore many sinners love themselves.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Ps. 10:6): ”He that loveth iniquity, hateth his own soul.”
_I answer that,_ Love of self is common to all, in one way; in another way it is proper to the good; in a third way, it is proper to the wicked. For it is common to all for each one to love what he thinks himself to be. Now a man is said to be a thing, in two ways: first, in respect of his substance and nature, and, this way all think themselves to be what they are, that is, composed of a soul and body. In this way too, all men, both good and wicked, love themselves, in so far as they love their own preservation.
Secondly, a man is said to be something in respect of some predominance, as the sovereign of a state is spoken of as being the state, and so, what the sovereign does, the state is said to do. In this way, all do not think themselves to be what they are. For the reasoning mind is the predominant part of man, while the sensitive and corporeal nature takes the second place, the former of which the Apostle calls the ”inward man,” and the latter, the ”outward man” (2 Cor. 4:16). Now the good look upon their rational nature or the inward man as being the chief thing in them, wherefore in this way they think themselves to be what they are. On the other hand, the wicked reckon their sensitive and corporeal nature, or the outward man, to hold the first place. Wherefore, since they know not themselves aright, they do not love themselves aright, but love what they think themselves to be. But the good know themselves truly, and therefore truly love themselves.
The Philosopher proves this from five things that are proper to friends.h.i.+p. For in the first place, every friend wishes his friend to be and to live; secondly, he desires good things for him; thirdly, he does good things to him; fourthly, he takes pleasure in his company; fifthly, he is of one mind with him, rejoicing and sorrowing in almost the same things. In this way the good love themselves, as to the inward man, because they wish the preservation thereof in its integrity, they desire good things for him, namely spiritual goods, indeed they do their best to obtain them, and they take pleasure in entering into their own hearts, because they find there good thoughts in the present, the memory of past good, and the hope of future good, all of which are sources of pleasure. Likewise they experience no clas.h.i.+ng of wills, since their whole soul tends to one thing.
On the other hand, the wicked have no wish to be preserved in the integrity of the inward man, nor do they desire spiritual goods for him, nor do they work for that end, nor do they take pleasure in their own company by entering into their own hearts, because whatever they find there, present, past and future, is evil and horrible; nor do they agree with themselves, on account of the gnawings of conscience, according to Ps. 49:21: ”I will reprove thee and set before thy face.”
In the same manner it may be shown that the wicked love themselves, as regards the corruption of the outward man, whereas the good do not love themselves thus.
Reply Obj. 1: The love of self which is the principle of sin is that which is proper to the wicked, and reaches ”to the contempt of G.o.d,”
as stated in the pa.s.sage quoted, because the wicked so desire external goods as to despise spiritual goods.
Reply Obj. 2: Although natural love is not altogether forfeited by wicked men, yet it is perverted in them, as explained above.
Reply Obj. 3: The wicked have some share of self-love, in so far as they think themselves good. Yet such love of self is not true but apparent: and even this is not possible in those who are very wicked.
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