282. Hope as a Theological Virtue and the Old and New Law

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Hope as a Theological Virtue #

Why Three Theological Virtues?

• Faith is necessary because by faith we know what the end is (God)
• Charity is necessary because by charity we love the end (God as the highest good)
• Hope is necessary because we need to believe it is possible to attain the end despite difficulties
• The will, according to Thomas, is of both the possible and the impossible; hope addresses the possible
• The formal object of hope is God insofar as He is the most difficult good (arduum) to attain—the “highest, most difficult of all”

Distinction Between Hope as Emotion and Hope as Virtue

• Question 26 of Distinction 26 has two main questions:
  • First question: About hope as an emotion in the irascible appetite (sensible appetite)
  • Second question: About hope as a virtue, which is not itself an emotion but has some likeness to it
• Thomas uses the emotion as a stepping stone to understanding the virtue
• Hope (the emotion) concerns a difficult good that one thinks can be obtained; it is one of the principal passions
• Magnanimity is the moral virtue that most resembles hope, being concerned with great things and their attainment

The Relationship Between Old and New Law #

Are They the Same Law or Different?

• Both laws share the same ultimate end: that men be subject to God
• Therefore, according to the first mode of distinguishing laws, they are not wholly different (not ordered to diverse ends)
• However, they differ according to the second mode: as one is nearer to the end and another more remote, as the imperfect differs from the perfect
• The Old Law functions as a pedagogue (paedagogue) of boys; the New Law is the law of perfection

The Old Law as a Law of Fear; The New Law as a Law of Love

• Those imperfect in virtue (without the habit of virtue) are inclined to act by extrinsic causes: threats of punishment or promises of external rewards (honor, riches)
• Those perfected by virtue are inclined to act from the virtue itself, from love of the virtue
• The Old Law, given to the imperfect, is called the law of fear because it induces observance through threats of punishment
• It promises temporal goods because its recipients could not yet conceive of eternal spiritual goods
• The New Law, whose principality consists in the grace of the Holy Spirit bestowed inwardly, is called the law of love
• It promises spiritual and eternal goods, which are the proper object of virtue, especially charity
• The New Law “restrains the soul itself,” not merely the hand; it addresses interior motions

How the New Law Fulfills the Old

Against the Objection of Contradiction:

• It seems the New Law contradicts the Old (e.g., on divorce, oaths, retaliation, hatred of enemies)
• Thomas’s response: The New Law does not contradict but perfects the true understanding of the Old Law
• Example: The Old Law permitted divorce (as a remedy for anger); the New Law commands that one not dismiss a wife except for fornication, thus addressing the interior root of the problem
• The Old Law permitted oaths (as a restraint on false swearing); the New Law prohibits oaths entirely, removing the occasion for sin altogether
• The Old Law commanded moderate revenge (“eye for an eye”); the New Law removes revenge entirely
• Christ’s actions (touching the leper, working on the Sabbath) do not violate the law but manifest its true spiritual sense, since He is the cleanser and the Sabbath’s Lord

Ceremonial vs. Moral Precepts:

• Ceremonial precepts were figures of future realities
• When the reality arrives (Christ and His grace), the figures cease—not because they are taken away in the sense of being negated, but because they are fulfilled
• Just as a promise’s purpose ceases when the promised gift is given, the ceremonial observances cease when what they figured is accomplished

Key Arguments #

On the Need for Hope #

• Argument: Knowledge and love of the end are not sufficient; one must also believe it is attainable
• Example from the play: Helena loves Bertrand (the count), but he is far above her station (“a bright particular star”). She cannot pursue him without hope that it is possible—which hope is grounded in her knowledge that she possesses her father’s secret potion and that the king is sick. With this knowledge comes the possibility of a path to him
• Theological parallel: Without hope that we can attain God despite the difficulty, knowledge of Him and love of Him remain sterile; we do not strive toward Him

On the Unity Yet Distinction of the Laws #

• Both laws direct toward the same ultimate end: subjection to God in faith
• But they differ as the imperfect state of the soul differs from the perfected state
• The imperfect are moved by external motives (fear, temporal reward); the perfect are moved by love of the good itself
• Therefore, the distinction between them is not one of species (diverse ends) but of degree (perfect vs. imperfect)

On the “Heaviness” of the New Law #

• Objection: The New Law seems heavier because it prohibits interior acts (anger, lust, hatred), which are more difficult to control than external acts
• Response: This difficulty is only for those without virtue; for the virtuous person with love, interior restraint is easy and delightful
• Illustration: A mother easily changes diapers out of love; without that love, it would be difficult and odious

Important Definitions #

Hope (ἐλπίς / spes)

• As an emotion: A movement of the irascible appetite toward a difficult good that one believes obtainable
• As a virtue: The theological virtue by which we trust in God’s grace to attain Him as our ultimate end, despite the difficulty
• The formal object of hope is God insofar as He is arduum—the highest, most difficult good to attain
• Unlike charity, which concerns God as the highest good in Himself, hope concerns God as the highest good for us, as our beatitude

The Irascible Appetite (appetitus irascibilis)

• The part of the sensible appetite concerned with difficult or arduous goods and evils
• Hope is one of its principal passions, along with fear and boldness
• Distinct from the concupiscible appetite, which concerns easy goods and evils

Old Law (lex vetus) / New Law (lex nova)

• Old Law: The law given through Moses; characterized by external precepts (moral, ceremonial, judicial) and motivated by fear and promise of temporal goods; given to those imperfect in grace
• New Law: The law given by Christ; principally the grace of the Holy Spirit given inwardly to believers; secondarily, written precepts and sacraments that dispose for and order the use of grace; motivated by love and promise of eternal goods
• Unity: Both aim at subjection to God and faith in Him
• Distinction: The Old Law is for the imperfect (those without grace); the New Law is for the perfect (those with grace)

Fulfillment (implere)

• Not elimination or negation, but perfection
• What the Old Law figured (through ceremonial precepts) and promised (in temporal goods), the New Law accomplishes (through grace and eternal goods)
• The New Law shows the true, interior sense of Old Law precepts

Examples & Illustrations #

From All’s Well That Ends Well #

Helena’s Impossible Love

• Helena, daughter of the deceased physician Gerard de Narbonne, has fallen in love with Bertrand, the Count of Roussillon
• She is a commoner; he is nobility—far above her station
• When Bertrand is called to the king’s court, Helena despairs: “The hind that would be mated by the lion must die for love”
• She sees the task as hopeless: “To the all one that I should love a bright particular star and think to wed it”
• Yet she possesses her father’s secret potion that can cure the king
• This is her grounds for hope: if she cures the king (who is sick and has given up), she will be taken to court where Bertrand is, and the king will reward her
• Thus, knowledge (she loves him), desire (she wants him), and hope (she believes it possible through the potion and the king’s sickness) together move her to action

The Three Elements of Pursuing an End

• Know the end: Helena knows Bertrand is good and worthy of love
• Love the end: Helena has fallen in love with him
• Hope for the end: Helena must believe it is possible to attain him—which belief comes from seeing a concrete path (cure the king, go to court)

From Natural Experience #

On the Difficulty of Acts Without Virtue

• The example of becoming president: One might know that being president is good, might desire the office, but if one has no hope of achieving it (no ability to raise funds, no connections, etc.), one will not pursue it
• One may picture oneself on Air Force One, enjoy the fantasy, but hope is what moves one to the concrete difficulties of campaigning

From Domestic Life #

Love Making Difficult Things Easy

• A mother easily changes diapers out of love for her child; without that love, the same task would be difficult and unpleasant
• This illustrates how virtue (in this case, love) transforms what is objectively arduous into something easy and delightful

Notable Quotes #

“The hind that would be mated by the lion must die for love.” (Helena, All’s Well That Ends Well, illustrating the apparent hopelessness of her desire)

“The ambition in my love thus plagues itself.” (Helena, expressing how her love for one so far above her station torments her)

“Our remedies oft ourselves do lie, / Which we ascribe to heaven: the fated sky / Gives us free scope; only doth backward pull / Our slow designs when we ourselves are dull.” (Helena’s soliloquy, expressing that we must act, not wait passively)

“The object of the irascible [appetite is] a difficult good, right? And the emotion is, right? And [a good] that you think you can get to.” (Berquist, on the definition of hope as a passion)

“The will is of the possible and the impossible.” (Thomas Aquinas, cited by Berquist, on why hope is necessary—to address the possible attainment of the end)

“The new law is the law of love,” and “the new law is said to restrain the soul itself.” (Thomas Aquinas, on the interior character of the New Law)

Questions Addressed #

Why Are There Three Theological Virtues? #

• Problem: Faith and charity seem to suffice—why need hope?
• Resolution: Faith allows us to know God as our end; charity allows us to love Him as the highest good. But without hope—the conviction that we can attain Him despite the difficulty—we do not strive toward Him. Hope addresses the possibility of attainment, which is essential for pursuing a difficult good. The three virtues correspond to three aspects of the will’s relation to its object: knowledge (faith), love (charity), and striving with confidence in possibility (hope).

Is the New Law Another Law from the Old, or the Same Law? #

• Resolution: They are the same law insofar as they share the same ultimate end and the same faith in God. But they are different insofar as one is for the imperfect (Old) and one for the perfect (New)—as pedagogue differs from perfection. The difference is not one of species (diverse ends) but of degree (perfect vs. imperfect).

Does the New Law Contradict the Old (e.g., on divorce, oaths, retaliation)? #

• Resolution: No. The Old Law regulated external acts for those imperfect in virtue; the New Law penetrates to the interior root. The Old Law permitted divorce as a remedy for anger; the New Law removes the cause of divorce-seeking by forbidding anger itself. The Old Law permitted oaths to prevent false swearing; the New Law removes oaths entirely to eliminate the occasion. The New Law thus perfects the true intention of the Old Law rather than contradicting it.

Why Is the New Law Called a Law of Love, and the Old a Law of Fear? #

• Resolution: Those without virtue are moved by extrinsic causes: fear of punishment and promise of external reward. The Old Law employs these motives and promises temporal goods accordingly. Those perfected by virtue are moved by love of the virtue itself and the intrinsic good. The New Law, given principally through grace that perfects the soul, is motivated by and produces love, and promises eternal goods as the proper object of that love.

Is the New Law More Burdensome Than the Old? #

• Resolution: As regards external observances, the New Law is lighter (fewer ceremonial precepts). As regards interior acts, it appears heavier (it forbids anger, not just murder; lust, not just adultery). But this appearance is deceptive: for the soul perfected by grace and virtue, restraint of interior motions is easy and delightful, not burdensome. The difficulty is not in the law itself but in the state of the observer.