Article — Noldin, Summa of Moral Theology
Article Third. On Sins Against Charity of God
62. What sins there are against charity of God. a. All mortal sins indeed in some way are against charity of God, because any grave sin destroys the habit of charity and is a virtual aversion from God, since it is conversion to a created thing; but some are sins which, as formal aversion from God, are directly opposed to charity of God.
b. Sins directly opposed to charity of God are committed either by omission, when the act of charity to be elicited from the special precept of charity is omitted, or by commission, if an act prohibited by the precept of charity is placed. Acts of this kind are hatred of God and sloth, concerning which there has already been discussion.1
There is no reason for confessors to be solicitous concerning the sin of omission: for those who live as Christians do not commit it, while those who for a long time entirely neglect Christian duties, because of inadvertence, sin only materially.
1 Cf. On Principles, n. 310.
63. On hatred of God. 1. Hatred is an act of the will by which it turns away from some object as evil. A twofold hatred is distinguished: hatred of abomination and hatred of enmity; the former is opposed to love of concupiscence, the latter to love of benevolence and friendship.
a. Hatred of abomination is that by which we turn away from something as evil to us or to ours. A twofold hatred of abomination is distinguished: hatred of abomination of a person, by which we turn away from the person himself as evil to us; and hatred of abomination of a quality, by which we turn away from a quality of the person as evil to us.
b. Hatred of enmity or malevolence is that by which we turn away from something, a person, because it is evil in itself, or by which we will evil to some person, that it may be ill with him. Thus the worst men wish and procure destruction for their enemies, even if they themselves receive no advantage from it.
- Hatred of God is an act by which someone turns away from God apprehended as evil. Hatred of abomination of God is an act by which someone turns away from God apprehended as evil to himself or to another loved person. Hatred of enmity of God is an act by which someone wills evil to God, that it may be ill with Him, or because it is evil to Him.
Therefore he sins by hatred of enmity of God: a. who wills that God not exist or that God not be omnipotent, omniscient, just, etc.; b. who is saddened by His perfections or rejoices concerning His offense, violates the precepts of God or persecutes the works of God because this displeases God. In this way the devil wishes and, as far as he can, procures evil for God because it is evil to God, even if he knows that he perceives no advantage from it.
64. Its malice. a. Hatred of God is the gravest of all sins, because it is directly opposed to the most excellent of all virtues and therefore to the infinite goodness itself of God; and indeed hatred of enmity is graver than hatred of abomination, because the former is opposed to the internal goodness of God, which is falsely apprehended as evil, while the latter is opposed to the external goodness of God, that is, to some effect proceeding from God, which is apprehended by man as evil and contrary to himself.
In order that this sin of hatred be committed, it is required that the abomination and indignation tend into God Himself: for if the affection of aversion and indignation is not referred to God, but to adverse things without respect to God, it will not be a sin of hatred, but of impatience or of hatred toward the neighbor.
b. Hatred of God does not admit smallness of matter, but every act of hatred and every depraved affection toward God, provided it is deliberate, is mortal sin, because it is directly opposed to the highest goodness of God. But when hatred of God is joined with blasphemy, imprecation, or an act of persecution against the Church, manifestly a twofold sin is committed.