Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae

Objection 1: It would seem that charity is not a virtue. For charity is a kind of friendship. Now philosophers do not reckon friendship a virtue, as may be gathered from Ethic. viii, 1; nor is it numbered among the virtues whether moral or intellectual. Neither, therefore, is charity a virtue.

Objection 2: Further, "virtue is the ultimate limit of power" (De Coelo et Mundo i, 11). But charity is not something ultimate, this applies rather to joy and peace. Therefore it seems that charity is not a virtue, and that this should be said rather of joy and peace.

Objection 3: Further, every virtue is an accidental habit. But charity is not an accidental habit, since it is a more excellent thing than the soul itself: whereas no accident is more excellent than its subject. Therefore charity is not a virtue.

On the contrary, Augustine says (De Moribus Eccl. xi): "Charity is a virtue which, when our affections are perfectly ordered, unites us to God, for by it we love Him."

I answer that, Human acts are good according as they are regulated by their due rule and measure. Wherefore human virtue which is the principle of all man's good acts consists in following the rule of human acts, which is twofold, as stated above (Question 17, Article 1), viz. human reason and God.

Consequently just as moral virtue is defined as being "in accord with right reason," as stated in Ethic. ii, 6, so too, the nature of virtue consists in attaining God, as also stated above with regard to faith, (Question 4, Article 5) and hope (Question 17, Article 1). Wherefore, it follows that charity is a virtue, for, since charity attains God, it unites us to God, as evidenced by the authority of Augustine quoted above.

Reply to Objection 1: The Philosopher (Ethic. viii) does not deny that friendship is a virtue, but affirms that it is "either a virtue or with a virtue." For we might say that it is a moral virtue about works done in respect of another person, but under a different aspect from justice. For justice is about works done in respect of another person, under the aspect of the legal due, whereas friendship considers the aspect of a friendly and moral duty, or rather that of a gratuitous favor, as the Philosopher explains (Ethic. viii, 13). Nevertheless it may be admitted that it is not a virtue distinct of itself from the other virtues. For its praiseworthiness and virtuousness are derived merely from its object, in so far, to wit, as it is based on the moral goodness of the virtues. This is evident from the fact that not every friendship is praiseworthy and virtuous, as in the case of friendship based on pleasure or utility. Wherefore friendship for the virtuous is something consequent to virtue rather than a virtue. Moreover there is no comparison with charity since it is not founded principally on the virtue of a man, but on the goodness of God.

Reply to Objection 2: It belongs to the same virtue to love a man and to rejoice about him, since joy results from love, as stated above (1.2, Question 25, Article 2) in the treatise on the passions: wherefore love is reckoned a virtue, rather than joy, which is an effect of love. And when virtue is described as being something ultimate, we mean that it is last, not in the order of effect, but in the order of excess, just as one hundred pounds exceed sixty.

Reply to Objection 3: Every accident is inferior to substance if we consider its being, since substance has being in itself, while an accident has its being in another: but considered as to its species, an accident which results from the principles of its subject is inferior to its subject, even as an effect is inferior to its cause; whereas an accident that results from a participation of some higher nature is superior to its subject, in so far as it is a likeness of that higher nature, even as light is superior to the diaphanous body. In this way charity is superior to the soul, in as much as it is a participation of the Holy Ghost.

Articulus 3

Argumentum 1

Ad tertium sic proceditur. Videtur quod caritas non sit virtus.

Caritas enim est amicitia quaedam. Sed amicitia a philosophis non ponitur virtus, ut in libro ethic. Patet, neque enim connumeratur inter virtutes morales neque inter intellectuales.

Ergo etiam neque caritas est virtus.

Argumentum 2

Praeterea, virtus est ultimum potentiae, ut dicitur in I de caelo.

Sed caritas non est ultimum; sed magis gaudium et pax. Ergo videtur quod caritas non sit virtus; sed magis gaudium et pax.

Argumentum 3

Praeterea, omnis virtus est quidam habitus accidentalis. Sed caritas non est habitus accidentalis, cum sit nobilior ipsa anima; nullum autem accidens est nobilius subiecto.

Ergo caritas non est virtus.

Sed Contra

Sed contra est quod Augustinus dicit, in libro de moribus eccles., caritas est virtus quae, cum nostra rectissima affectio est, coniungit nos deo, qua eum diligimus.

Corpus

Respondeo dicendum quod humani actus bonitatem habent secundum quod regulantur debita regula et mensura, et ideo humana virtus, quae est principium omnium bonorum actuum hominis, consistit in attingendo regulam humanorum actuum. Quae quidem est duplex, ut supra dictum est, scilicet humana ratio, et ipse deus. Unde sicut virtus moralis definitur per hoc quod est secundum rationem rectam, ut patet in II ethic., ita etiam attingere deum constituit rationem virtutis, sicut etiam supra dictum est de fide et spe.

Unde, cum caritas attingit deum, quia coniungit nos deo, ut patet per auctoritatem Augustini inductam; consequens est caritatem esse virtutem.

Ad 1

Ad primum ergo dicendum quod philosophus in VIII ethic.

Non negat amicitiam esse virtutem, sed dicit quod est virtus vel cum virtute.

Posset enim dici quod est virtus moralis circa operationes quae sunt ad alium, sub alia tamen ratione quam iustitia. Nam iustitia est circa operationes quae sunt ad alium sub ratione debiti legalis, amicitia autem sub ratione cuiusdam debiti amicabilis et moralis, vel magis sub ratione beneficii gratuiti, ut patet per philosophum, in VIII ethic..

Potest tamen dici quod non est virtus per se ab aliis distincta.

Non enim habet rationem laudabilis et honesti nisi ex obiecto, secundum scilicet quod fundatur super honestate virtutum, quod patet ex hoc quod non quaelibet amicitia habet rationem laudabilis et honesti, sicut patet in amicitia delectabilis et utilis. Unde amicitia virtuosa magis est aliquid consequens ad virtutes quam sit virtus. Nec est simile de caritate, quae non fundatur principaliter super virtute humana, sed super bonitate divina.

Ad 2

Ad secundum dicendum quod eiusdem virtutis est diligere aliquem et gaudere de illo, nam gaudium amorem consequitur, ut supra habitum est, cum de passionibus ageretur.

Et ideo magis ponitur virtus amor quam gaudium, quod est amoris effectus.

Ultimum autem quod ponitur in ratione virtutis non importat ordinem effectus, sed magis ordinem superexcessus cuiusdam, sicut centum librae excedunt sexaginta.

Ad 3

Ad tertium dicendum quod omne accidens secundum suum esse est inferius substantia, quia substantia est ens per se, accidens autem in alio. Sed secundum rationem suae speciei, accidens quidem quod causatur ex principiis subiecti est indignius subiecto, sicut effectus causa. Accidens autem quod causatur ex participatione alicuius superioris naturae est dignius subiecto, inquantum est similitudo superioris naturae, sicut lux diaphano.

Et hoc modo caritas est dignior anima, inquantum est participatio quaedam spiritus sancti.