260. Moral Precepts, Charity, and Justification in the Old Law

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Love of Oneself and the Two Great Commandments #

• The apparent objection: only two commandments of love exist (God and neighbor), yet some argue sin can be against oneself
• The implicit nature of self-love: “love your neighbor as yourself” presupposes a proper way of loving oneself
• Thomas’s resolution: self-love is not a third commandment but is included in the commandment to love God
• Key insight: “unless you love God, you don’t really love yourself”
• Self-love is presupposed to the commandment to love one’s neighbor rather than being part of it

The Mode of Charity and Precept #

• The distinction between the act of charity (falling under precept) and the mode of charity (not always falling under precept)
• How affirmative precepts (e.g., honor your parents) do not oblige at all times
• A person can fulfill the precept of honoring parents without doing so from charity, thus fulfilling one precept while transgressing another (to love God with your whole heart)
• The relationship between particular precepts and the general precept of charity

Equivocation in the Term “Justification” #

• Justification operates like the equivocal word “healthy”
• In logic: equivocal by reason means there is an order among meanings (prior and posterior)
• Example: a healthy complexion is called healthy because it signifies health, not because it possesses health
• Three senses of equivocation illustrated: health as primarily in the body, secondarily in things that preserve or signify health

Proper vs. Improper Justification #

• Properly said: Justification is the making of justice—the infusion of the virtue of justice by God through grace
• Improperly said: Justification is the signification of justice or the disposition toward justice
• Two senses of justice itself: acquired justice (caused by human works) and infused justice (caused by God through grace)
• Only infused justice is the true justice that justifies before God

The Moral Precepts and Justification #

• Moral precepts justify improperly because they dispose men for the grace of Christ and signify justice
• Moral precepts cannot cause infused justice themselves; only God through grace causes this
• The distinction between carrying out justice (which the precepts require) and receiving the virtue of justice (which only God grants)
• Moral precepts differ from ceremonial and judicial precepts in that they contain intrinsic justice

Natural Law and the Hierarchy of Precepts #

• Some precepts are “most certain” and manifest (like the Decalogue), requiring no discourse or establishment
• Other precepts are more hidden and only apparent to the wise, requiring additions to the Decalogue
• Examples of manifest precepts: love of God and neighbor, prohibitions against murder, theft, and adultery
• The additional moral precepts reduce to the Decalogue by way of specification and application

The Decalogue as Foundation #

• Specific examples of how precepts are added to the Decalogue:
  • To prohibition of idolatry: added prohibitions against practices ordered to idol worship (Deuteronomy 18)
  • To prohibition of perjury: added prohibitions of blasphemy and false teaching (Deuteronomy 13)
  • To honor of parents: added precept to honor the elderly (Leviticus 19)
  • To prohibition of homicide: added prohibitions of hatred and violation against one’s neighbor (Leviticus 19)
  • To prohibition of adultery: added prohibitions of harlotry and acts against nature (Deuteronomy 23, Leviticus 18)
  • To prohibition of theft: added prohibitions of usury and fraud (Deuteronomy 23, 25)
  • To prohibition of false witness: added prohibitions of false judgment, lies, and detraction (Exodus 23)

Key Arguments #

On Self-Love and the Commandments #

• Objection: If only two commandments of love exist (God and neighbor), how can there be a sin against oneself?
• Response: Love of oneself is not a third commandment but is included in and presupposed to the commandment to love God. One cannot truly love oneself unless one loves God first.

On Charity as Precept #

• First view: The mode of charity falls under precept; one should do all acts from charity
• Second view: The mode of charity does not fall under precept; only the act itself is commanded
• Thomas’s resolution: Both are partially correct. The act of charity is commanded, but the mode of charity for other acts is not always commanded. Affirmative precepts do not obligate at all times, and thus one can fulfill the precept of honor without simultaneously transgressing charity if circumstances permit omission of the charitable mode.

On Justification and the Moral Precepts #

• Objection: Paul says “doers of the law are justified” and “if you keep the law you shall live,” so moral precepts must justify
• Counter-argument: Paul also says “the letter kills,” implying precepts do not justify
• Resolution: Justification is equivocal. Properly speaking, only infused justice (from God) justifies. Improperly speaking, the precepts justify by disposing one toward grace and signifying justice. The precepts show what justice is but cannot cause the infused virtue itself.

Important Definitions #

Equivocal by Reason (ἀνώνυμος κατὰ λόγον) #

• A word that has multiple meanings ordered in a hierarchy of prior and posterior
• Unlike equivocal by chance (pure homonymy), there is a logical relationship between the meanings
• Example: “healthy” primarily means the body in good condition; secondarily, it means things that produce, signify, or pertain to health

Justification (Proper vs. Improper) #

• Proper: The infusion of the virtue of justice by God through grace (causa fiendi, the making of justice)
• Improper: The signification of justice or disposition toward justice through observance of precepts

Justice (Two Senses) #

• Acquired justice: Developed through repeated human acts and habituation
• Infused justice: Poured in by God himself through his grace; the true justice that justifies before God

Affirmative Precepts #

• Precepts that command action rather than forbidding it
• Unlike negative precepts (which always bind), affirmative precepts do not oblige at all times but only at appropriate times
• This allows someone to fulfill one affirmative precept without violating another when circumstances allow omission

Examples & Illustrations #

On Self-Love #

• The formula “love your neighbor as yourself” presupposes you already love yourself in some way; it commands that you extend that same quality of love to others
• Just as the Psalmist speaks of the law being “immaculate, converting souls,” the law must include what pertains to proper self-love ordered to God

On Precepts and Their Specificity #

• Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics recognizes that certain acts admit no mean: adultery, theft, and murder are always wrong; there is no virtue in moderation regarding these
• Even the pagan Aristotle grasps what is manifest to natural reason: the prohibition of adultery, theft, and murder
• The precept to honor one’s parents is manifest, but the more specific precept to honor the elderly requires wisdom to discern

On Equivocation #

• A man with the same name as the speaker’s brother is equivocally named Richard—there is no intrinsic order between the two namesakes
• Finding the center of a circle: one can draw a chord, bisect it perpendicularly, and repeat to find the center, but one must reason out why this method works; it is not immediately manifest
• The angles at the extremity of a circle versus at the center involve relationships that are “hidden” and require geometric reasoning

On Priest-Assisted Suicide Conference #

• Reference to a conference on physician-assisted suicide featuring Bishop of Worcester and a Jesuit who is both priest and doctor
• The bishop’s use of the definition of natural law from the Summa (“participation in eternal law”) versus a purely philosophical definition
• Statistics on abortion (350,000 by Planned Parenthood) raised questions about support for such practices

Notable Quotes #

“Unless you love God, you don’t really love yourself. That’s really interesting, I think, huh?” — Berquist, on Thomas’s resolution of how self-love is implicit in the commandment to love God

“That you don’t love yourself unless you love God. And they can see that here, right? That’s kind of interesting, huh? So it’s not that he’s talking about charity as such that he brings out this, you know, but he’s talking about this particular division of sin…” — Berquist, on how the structure of precepts reveals the underlying logic of charity

“Just as healthy is properly and first said about what has health… in logic we distinguish first between an equivocal word and a univocal word…” — Berquist, introducing the example of equivocation by reason

Questions Addressed #

How is the Commandment to Love Oneself Included in the Two Great Commandments? #

• Resolution: Love of oneself is not a third commandment but is presupposed to and included in the commandment to love God. One cannot truly love oneself apart from loving God, as God is the source and proper end of all love. Additionally, the formula “love your neighbor as yourself” demonstrates that self-love exists and has a proper mode.

Does the Mode of Charity Fall Under Precept? #

• Resolution: The act of charity falls under precept (the commandment to love God and neighbor), but the mode of charity (doing acts from charity) does not always fall under precept for other acts. Since affirmative precepts do not oblige at all times, one can fulfill the precept of honor without simultaneously maintaining the mode of charity, provided circumstances permit.

Are Other Moral Precepts Besides the Decalogue Suitably Included in the Law? #

• Resolution: Yes. Some moral precepts are most certain and manifest (like the Decalogue), while others are more hidden and discernible only by the wise. The additional precepts are reductions of the Decalogue to particular cases, derived by reason from the manifest principles. Examples include specifications regarding idolatry, blasphemy, elder respect, hatred, unnatural acts, usury, fraud, and false judgment.

Do the Moral Precepts of the Old Law Justify? #

• Resolution: This requires distinguishing the equivocal meaning of justification. Properly speaking (causa fiendi), only infused justice from God justifies; the moral precepts cannot cause this. Improperly speaking, the precepts justify by disposing men toward the grace of Christ and by signifying what justice is. The precepts show us what is required but cannot produce the infused virtue—that is God’s work alone through grace.

What is the Philosophical Definition of Natural Law? #

• Resolution: In philosophy (as opposed to theology), natural law means (1) what is naturally known without discourse and (2) what is naturally good or bad. The philosopher considers the law in terms of nature itself rather than defining it in relation to God, though ultimately all natural law still refers to God. The bishop’s theological definition from the Summa (participation in eternal law) goes further by explicitly ordering it to God as the source.