Part III (Secunda Secundae) Part 49 (1/2)
59:2: ”Your iniquities have divided between you and your G.o.d.” Now sin is in the will rather than in the intellect. Therefore man is less able to love G.o.d immediately than to know Him immediately.
_On the contrary,_ Knowledge of G.o.d, through being mediate, is said to be ”enigmatic,” and ”falls away” in heaven, as stated in 1 Cor.
13:12. But charity ”does not fall away” as stated in the same pa.s.sage (1 Cor. 13:12). Therefore the charity of the way adheres to G.o.d immediately.
_I answer that,_ As stated above (I, Q. 82, A. 3; Q. 84, A. 7), the act of a cognitive power is completed by the thing known being in the knower, whereas the act of an appet.i.tive power consists in the appet.i.te being inclined towards the thing in itself. Hence it follows that the movement of the appet.i.tive power is towards things in respect of their own condition, whereas the act of a cognitive power follows the mode of the knower.
Now in itself the very order of things is such, that G.o.d is knowable and lovable for Himself, since He is essentially truth and goodness itself, whereby other things are known and loved: but with regard to us, since our knowledge is derived through the senses, those things are knowable first which are nearer to our senses, and the last term of knowledge is that which is most remote from our senses.
Accordingly, we must a.s.sert that to love which is an act of the appet.i.tive power, even in this state of life, tends to G.o.d first, and flows on from Him to other things, and in this sense charity loves G.o.d immediately, and other things through G.o.d. On the other hand, with regard to knowledge, it is the reverse, since we know G.o.d through other things, either as a cause through its effects, or by way of pre-eminence or negation as Dionysius states (Div. Nom. i; cf.
I, Q. 12, A. 12).
Reply Obj. 1: Although the unknown cannot be loved, it does not follow that the order of knowledge is the same as the order of love, since love is the term of knowledge, and consequently, love can begin at once where knowledge ends, namely in the thing itself which is known through another thing.
Reply Obj. 2: Since to love G.o.d is something greater than to know Him, especially in this state of life, it follows that love of G.o.d presupposes knowledge of G.o.d. And because this knowledge does not rest in creatures, but, through them, tends to something else, love begins there, and thence goes on to other things by a circular movement so to speak; for knowledge begins from creatures, tends to G.o.d, and love begins with G.o.d as the last end, and pa.s.ses on to creatures.
Reply Obj. 3: Aversion from G.o.d, which is brought about by sin, is removed by charity, but not by knowledge alone: hence charity, by loving G.o.d, unites the soul immediately to Him with a chain of spiritual union.
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FIFTH ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 27, Art. 5]
Whether G.o.d can be loved wholly? [*Cf. Q. 184, A. 2]
Objection 1: It would seem that G.o.d cannot be loved wholly. For love follows knowledge. Now G.o.d cannot be wholly known by us, since this would imply comprehension of Him. Therefore He cannot be wholly loved by us.
Obj. 2: Further, love is a kind of union, as Dionysius shows (Div.
Nom. iv). But the heart of man cannot be wholly united to G.o.d, because ”G.o.d is greater than our heart” (1 John 3:20). Therefore G.o.d cannot be loved wholly.
Obj. 3: Further, G.o.d loves Himself wholly. If therefore He be loved wholly by another, this one will love Him as much as G.o.d loves Himself. But this is unreasonable. Therefore G.o.d cannot be wholly loved by a creature.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Deut. 6:5): ”Thou shalt love the Lord thy G.o.d with thy whole heart.”
_I answer that,_ Since love may be considered as something between lover and beloved, when we ask whether G.o.d can be wholly loved, the question may be understood in three ways, first so that the qualification ”wholly” be referred to the thing loved, and thus G.o.d is to be loved wholly, since man should love all that pertains to G.o.d.
Secondly, it may be understood as though ”wholly” qualified the lover: and thus again G.o.d ought to be loved wholly, since man ought to love G.o.d with all his might, and to refer all he has to the love of G.o.d, according to Deut. 6:5: ”Thou shalt love the Lord thy G.o.d with thy whole heart.”
Thirdly, it may be understood by way of comparison of the lover to the thing loved, so that the mode of the lover equal the mode of the thing loved. This is impossible: for, since a thing is lovable in proportion to its goodness, G.o.d is infinitely lovable, since His goodness is infinite. Now no creature can love G.o.d infinitely, because all power of creatures, whether it be natural or infused, is finite.
This suffices for the Replies to the Objections, because the first three objections consider the question in this third sense, while the last takes it in the second sense.
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SIXTH ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 27, Art. 6]
Whether in Loving G.o.d We Ought to Observe Any Mode?
Objection 1: It would seem that we ought to observe some mode in loving G.o.d. For the notion of good consists in mode, species and order, as Augustine states (De Nat. Boni iii, iv). Now the love of G.o.d is the best thing in man, according to Col. 3:14: ”Above all ... things, have charity.” Therefore there ought to be a mode of the love of G.o.d.
Obj. 2: Further, Augustine says (De Morib. Eccl. viii): ”Prithee, tell me which is the mode of love. For I fear lest I burn with the desire and love of my Lord, more or less than I ought.” But it would be useless to seek the mode of the Divine love, unless there were one. Therefore there is a mode of the love of G.o.d.
Obj. 3: Further, as Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. iv, 3), ”the measure which nature appoints to a thing, is its mode.” Now the measure of the human will, as also of external action, is the reason. Therefore just as it is necessary for the reason to appoint a mode to the exterior effect of charity, according to Rom. 12:1: ”Your reasonable service,” so also the interior love of G.o.d requires a mode.