46. Christ's Passions: Sadness, Fear, Wonder, and Anger
Summary
Listen to Lecture
Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript
Lecture Notes
Main Topics #
The Nature of Passions in Christ #
- Pro-passions vs. Full Passions: Christ experienced pro-passions—emotions that arise in the sensitive appetite but do not extend to dominate reason—rather than full passions that would impede rational judgment
- Distinction from vice: These emotions must be ordered to reason and justice; unordered passions constitute vice
- Divine power and emotional coherence: Christ’s divine power allowed him to experience emotions without them affecting his bodily comportment or impairing his reason
Sadness (Tristitia) #
- Caused by apprehension of present evil
- Christ experienced sadness, particularly regarding suffering and the condition of those in sin
- Augustine’s principle: when affections follow right reason and are shown where necessary, they are not morbid or vicious
- Sadness differs from pain (dolor): sadness concerns spiritual/interior evils; pain concerns bodily injury
Fear (Timor) #
- Caused by apprehension of future evil
- Aristotle: fear requires some hope of escape; without hope, evil is apprehended as present and causes sadness rather than fear
- Christ experienced fear as a pro-passion regarding future bodily suffering
- Christ did not fear from uncertainty about what would happen (he knew perfectly)
- Hillary’s teaching: Christ did not fear by necessity but voluntarily assumed fear to demonstrate the truth of human nature
Wonder (Admiratio) #
- Wonder arises from encountering something new and unaccustomed (de novo aliquo insolito)
- Aristotle: wonder is caused when one sees an effect but does not know the cause
- Christ could wonder according to his experiential knowledge (knowledge gained through sensory encounter), though not according to his divine or infused knowledge
- Example: Christ marveled at the centurion’s faith because it was great in comparison to others, particularly among pagans
- Wonder is tied to the rational soul; its presence in Christ proves he possessed a true human rational soul, not merely an animal soul
Anger (Ira) #
- Two forms: anger through vice (blinds the mind) and anger through zeal (moderately disturbs it)
- Anger is an effect of sadness combined with a desire for vengeance ordered by reason
- Christ experienced anger through zeal (righteous anger ordered to justice), not anger through vice
- Anger through zeal is praiseworthy when one desires correction/vengeance according to the order of justice
- Example: Christ’s anger at the money-changers in the temple exemplifies anger ordered to justice
Key Arguments #
On Sadness in Christ #
Objection: The just man as a bold lion will be without terror (Proverbs 28); Christ was most just; therefore Christ had no sadness.
Response: While honorable goods (goods of the soul) are chief, there are secondary goods of body and exterior things. A wise man experiences sadness regarding secondary goods without his reason being disturbed. Christ’s sadness was ordered to redemption and justice.
On Fear in Christ #
Objection: Fear is about evils one cannot avoid; Christ could avoid suffering through divine power; therefore Christ had no fear.
Response: Although Christ could avoid suffering by his divine power, the evils were not easily avoidable according to the weakness of the flesh left to itself. Fear can exist regarding future bodily injury independently of whether one has the power to avoid it.
On Wonder in Christ #
Objection: Wonder requires ignorance of causes; Christ was not ignorant of anything; therefore Christ had no wonder.
Response: Wonder can arise from experiential knowledge when something new and unaccustomed occurs. Christ’s divine and infused knowledge would not produce wonder, but his experiential knowledge could. The centurion’s faith was great compared to others, arousing wonder.
On Anger in Christ #
Objection: The anger of man does not work the justice of God (James 1); whatever was in Christ pertained to God’s justice; therefore Christ had no anger.
Response: Anger operates in two ways: it can go before reason and draw it along (anger through vice), or it can follow reason as its instrument (anger through zeal). Only the latter was in Christ. Augustine: “The zeal of your house eats me up”—one who sees perverse things wishes to correct them, and if unable, tolerates them and grieves.
Important Definitions #
Propassio #
An emotion that begins in the sensitive appetite but does not extend to dominate reason; distinguished from full passion (passio) which deranges the person.
Ira per zeal (Ira per zealum) #
Righteous anger ordered to justice and correction; praiseworthy when one desires vengeance according to the order of reason.
Ira per vice (Ira per vitium) #
Anger that goes before reason and draws it along; blinds the eye of the mind and constitutes vice.
Admiratio #
Wonder; caused by encountering something new and unaccustomed (de novo aliquo insolito) that violates expectation.
Examples & Illustrations #
Catherine of Siena #
Berquist discusses Catherine’s willingness to be martyred; when assassins came to kill her, she welcomed death, but the executioners were so bewildered by her courage they could not proceed. She wanted to be a martyr, demonstrating the perfection of virtue even when thwarted.
The Centurion’s Faith (Matthew 8) #
Christ marveled at the centurion’s faith not because it was great in absolute terms (Christ can do all things), but because it was great compared to others, particularly among pagans. The centurion understood authority and obedience in a way that illuminated Christ’s power.
Euclid’s Second Book, Theorem 5 #
Berquist illustrates how presenting mathematical truths in surprising ways arouses wonder. Euclid’s theorem about equal and unequal segments demonstrates that a square with a given perimeter contains more area than any rectangle with the same perimeter. Extending this: a rectangle with more perimeter (more fence) can contain less area than one with less perimeter—arousing wonder that one can contain more space with less material.
Shakespeare and Tragedy #
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet identifies in the prologue the two passions Aristotle placed in tragedy’s definition: pity (a form of sadness) and fear. The third quatrain mentions “the fearful passage of their death-marked love.”
Hamlet and Wonder #
In Hamlet’s conclusion, Hamlet’s friend tells Fortinbras there is “woe and wonder” (not fear). The scene presents multiple dead bodies—a king, queen, prince—fitting “the field” rather than “the throne,” arousing wonder.
Notable Quotes #
“Fear is not except where there is some hope of getting away. For when there is no hope of getting away, the evil is apprehended as present, and thus it more causes sadness than fear.” (Aristotle, Rhetoric II, cited by Aquinas)
“The zeal of your house eats me up.” (Psalm 69, regarding Christ; cited Augustine in commentary)
“Admiration is properly about something new that’s not customary… normally we don’t wonder at those things because we see them all the time.”
“The magnanimous man is not filled with wonder, because nothing is great to him. But Christ was most magnanimous.” (Aristotle and Aquinas)
“Anger through vice blinds the eye of the mind. Anger through zeal disturbs it.” (Gregory, Morals V)
“In this way, anger in Christ could not be [if referring to vice]; but such a desire [for justice] is without sin, nay, it’s even praiseworthy.”
Questions Addressed #
Article 6: Whether in Christ there was sadness #
Resolution: Yes, Christ experienced sadness as a pro-passion, particularly regarding evil and suffering, ordered to justice and redemption, without his reason being disturbed.
Article 7: Whether in Christ there was fear #
Resolution: Yes, Christ experienced fear as a pro-passion regarding future bodily suffering according to the weakness of the flesh, but not regarding uncertainty about what would happen (which he knew perfectly).
Article 8: Whether in Christ there was wonder #
Resolution: Yes, Christ could wonder according to his experiential knowledge when encountering something new and unaccustomed (e.g., the centurion’s faith), though not according to his divine or infused knowledge.
Article 9: Whether in Christ there was anger #
Resolution: Yes, Christ experienced anger through zeal (righteous anger ordered to justice), but not anger through vice. His anger at the money-changers exemplifies anger ordered to the correction of injustice.