Section 1: Nature, Motive, and Object of Charity

1. NATURE OF CHARITY.—a) Charity (caritas theologica sive divina) is a supernaturally infused virtue, by which we love God as the Sovereign Good, above all else, for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves.¹ This definition is nominal rather than real, but it clearly indicates the causes, the object, and the motive of the theological virtue of charity.

¹ John XV, 9; Rom. V, 5; VIII, 15; Gal. IV, 6; 1 John IV, 7–16.—St. Augustine, De Doctr. Christ., l. III, c. 10, n. 16: “By charity I mean the movement of the soul toward enjoying God for His own sake, and oneself and one’s neighbor for God’s sake; but by cupidity, the movement of the soul toward enjoying oneself and one’s neighbor and any body whatsoever not for God’s sake.” (Migne, P. L., XXXIV, 72).—Hugh of St. Victor, De Sacram., l. II, p. 13, c. 6: “Holy Scripture commends to us a twofold charity, namely, that of God and that of our neighbor. The charity of God, that we so love Him as to rejoice in Him. The charity of our neighbor, that we so love him, not that we rejoice in him, but that we rejoice with him in God. This is to love God for His own sake, but our neighbor for God’s sake. God, therefore, is to be loved for His own sake because He Himself is our good. But our neighbor is to be loved for God’s sake because our good is in God together with him.” (P. L., CLXXVI, 528).

In the phraseology of the Church and of the Schoolmen a distinction is made between charity (caritas) and love (amor). Amor is the more general term, embracing all kinds of love, whereas caritas signifies either God Himself, the immediate and proximate object of theological charity,² or the act by which He loves us,³ or that by which we love Him,⁴ or, more commonly, the supernatural habit or theological virtue of charity.⁵ The Scholastics speak of amor concupiscentiae, but never of caritas concupiscentiae, of amor vitiosus, but never of caritas vitiosa, of amor naturalis, but never of caritas naturalis.⁶

² 1 John IV, 8, 16.

³ Jer. XXXI, 3; Rom. V, 8 sqq.; 2 Cor. V, 14; Eph. II, 4; 1 John IV, 10, 16, 19.

⁴ Rom. VIII, 35, 39.

⁵ Rom. V, 5; 1 Cor. XIII, 13; 2 Cor. XIII, 13; Gal. V, 22; Phil. I, 9; 2 Thess. I, 3; 1 Tim. I, 5.

⁶ Cfr. K. Martin, Lehrbuch der kath. Moral, 5th ed., p. 350.

b) To understand the nature of supernatural or theological charity we must study the analogous sentiment of natural love (amor). Love may be directed either to persons or to inanimate objects (temporal possessions, honor, etc.) and comprises (α) a knowledge of the object to which it is directed and pleasure in that object (amor complacentiae); (β) a desire for, or tendency towards, that object on account of its goodness or desirability (amor concupiscentiae), and (γ) a surrender of one’s own personality to the person or object loved (amor benevolentiae sive amicitiae).⁷

⁷ Cfr. St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 26, art. 3 sq.

These three forms of natural love are analogous to the three stages in which charity, or the love of God, our Sovereign Good, unfolds itself towards us. In both cases the higher stages of development pass beyond the lower, elevating and transfiguring, though not suppressing them. As the amor complacentiae and the amor concupiscentiae have their motive not so much in the object towards which they tend, as in the loving subject, such a love is invariably egoistic and therefore imperfect. The love of friendship alone (amor benevolentiae sive amicitiae) is true charity, and, if directed towards God, it is perfect, because its formal object or motive lies entirely within the person to whom it is directed.⁸

⁸ Ps. CXXXVIII, 17; Luke XII, 4; John XV, 14 sq.;—Cfr. Conc. Trident., Sess. VI, c. 7: “Whence man from unjust becomes just, and from an enemy a friend.”

Charity or theological love has its roots in the will and is productive of good. It is therefore a virtue; nay, the highest and noblest of all virtues, superior even to faith and hope,⁹ because it imparts to all the others their tendency towards God. Therefore St. Paul aptly calls it “the fulfilling of the law,”¹⁰ “the bond of perfection,”¹¹ “the end of the commandment,”¹² i. e., the object or purpose of the Gospel. The beautiful description of charity in the first Epistle to the Corinthians¹³ is a classic of religious literature. St. Thomas refers to charity as “the root of faith and hope”¹⁴ and declares that it is the mother or form of all virtues.¹⁵ Charity endures forever, whereas faith is ultimately transformed into vision, and hope into possession.¹⁶

⁹ 1 Cor. XIII, 13.

¹⁰ Rom. XIII, 10.

¹¹ Col. III, 14.

¹² 1 Tim. I, 5.

¹³ 1 Cor. XIII, 1–3, 13.

¹⁴ Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 65, art. 5, ad 2.

¹⁵ Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 62, art. 4; cfr. 2a 2ae, qu. 23, art. 3 sqq.

¹⁶ Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, Grace, Actual and Habitual, pp. 390 sq.

2. THE MOTIVE OF CHARITY.—The motive or formal object of charity is God, or, more specifically, the divine attributes of goodness and amiability (bonitas absoluta) which are identical with His essence. Without this motive theological love could not exist. On the other hand, to love God for His own sake is more perfect than to love Him for our sake. His absolute goodness is the primary motive of charity, but it does not exclude the secondary motive of bonitas communicativa, i. e., the divine goodness in as much as it is communicated to men through the creation and the redemption, sanctification, and beatification of the human race, because this communication presupposes, or is the result of, absolute goodness. In matter of fact we are exhorted to love God for a variety of motives, e. g., because He is our Creator, Redeemer, and chief Benefactor, and because He has sanctified us and promised to make us forever happy in Heaven.¹⁷

¹⁷ Mark X, 45; John III, 16 sq.; XV, 13; Rom. V, 8–10; VIII, 32; 2 Cor. V, 15; 1 John III, 16; IV, 9 sq., 19.—G. Lahousse, Tract. de Virtut. Theol., Bruges 1900, pp. 376 sqq.

3. THE OBJECT OF CHARITY.—The immediate material object (obiectum materiale) of charity is God Himself; its secondary and mediate object, whatever proceeds from, and is positively related to, Him. Hence love of God must be accompanied by love of fellowmen. We have no true charity unless we love our neighbor, (a) be- cause God commands us to love our neighbor, making obedience to this commandment the distinguishing mark of His disciples; (b) because Jesus in life and death taught us by word and example to love our fellowmen, and (c) because every human being is a child and an image of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and called unto eternal salvation.¹⁸

¹⁸ Matt. XXII, 37–39; 1 John IV, 12.—St. Augustine, De Trinit., l. VIII, c. 8, n. 12: “This context [1 John IV, 7, 8, 20] declares clearly enough that this very fraternal love (for fraternal love is that by which we love one another) is proclaimed on such great authority not only to be from God, but also to be God. Therefore, when from love we love our brother, from God we love our brother; nor can it be that we do not chiefly love that very love by which we love our brother. Hence it is gathered that those two precepts cannot exist without each other. . . . From one and the same charity, therefore, we love God and our neighbor, but God for God’s sake, and ourselves and our neighbor for God’s sake.” (Migne, P. L., XLII, 958).—IDEM, De Moribus Eccles. Cath., l. I, c. 26, nn. 48–51.—St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. 25, art. 1: “God is the reason for loving our neighbor, for this is what we ought to love in our neighbor, that he be in God. Hence it is manifest that the act by which God is loved and that by which our neighbor is loved is the same in species. And for this reason the habit of charity extends not only to the love of God but also to the love of our neighbor.”

As for irrational creatures, to love them should cause us to love God, because they manifest His wisdom and goodness in direct proportion to their amiability.¹⁹ This also explains why habitual and unnecessary cruelty to animals is incompatible with true charity or love of God.

¹⁹ St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. 25, art. 3: “The friendship of charity cannot be had toward an irrational creature. Nevertheless, irrational creatures can be loved from charity as goods which we will for others, namely, insofar as from charity we will them to be preserved for the honor of God and the usefulness of men; and thus God too loves them from charity.”

The love of our neighbor will be treated at length in the fifth volume of this Handbook, which deals with Man’s Duties to His Fellowmen.

As Jesus Christ is true God, one who loves Christ as a Divine Person thereby makes an act of theological charity, and as the goodness of God nowhere manifests itself so splendidly as in the Incarnation, the Passion, and the death of our Lord, the most effective method of eliciting an act of divine charity is to meditate on the goodness which moved God to become our fellowman through His birth, our prize through His death, and our reward through His glory.²⁰

²⁰ Noldin, Summa Theol. Mor., Vol. II, p. 63.

READINGS.—Peter Lombard, Sent., III, dist. 27–32 (Migne, P. L., CXCII, 812).—St. Bonaventure, Comment. in Sent., III, dist. 27–30 (Opera Omnia, Vol. III, pp. 558 sqq.).—St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. 23–24.—F. Suarez, De Caritate, disp. 1–6 (Opera Omnia, Vol. XII, pp. 634 sqq.).—S. Schiffini, S.J., Tract. de Virtutibus Infusis, pp. 423 sqq.—W. Lütgert, Die Liebe im Neuen Testament, Leipsic 1905.—H. Noldin, S.J., Summa Theol. Mor., Vol. II, 11th ed., pp. 59 sqq.—Ad. Tanquerey, Synopsis Theol. Mor., Vol. II, 11th ed., pp. 416 sqq.—A. Lehmkuhl, S.J., Theol. Mor., Vol. I, 11th ed., pp. 251 sqq.—P. O’Neill, Divine Charity, Dublin 1918.—G. H. Joyce, S.J., The Catholic Doctrine of Grace, London and New York 1920, pp. 82 sqq.