Question — Noldin, Summa of Moral Theology
Question Second. On the Necessity of Hope
44. On the necessity itself of hope. 1. Actual hope is necessary for adults by necessity of means: for those not yet justified, unto justification; for those justified, unto salvation.
Arguments. a. An adult ought to dispose himself by his own acts for obtaining justification from God, which is impossible without hope, by which he trusts that he can obtain remission of sins. Besides this, he who intends to be justified ought to have at least the implicit purpose of keeping all the commandments for the whole time of his life; but since he cannot accomplish this by his own powers, he cannot conceive this purpose unless he trusts in the help of grace. Therefore the Council of Trent, among the dispositions which are required for the justification of adults, after faith also enumerates hope.1 b. A justified man ought to attain his supernatural end of eternal beatitude by his own merits to be acquired through the help of grace; but he cannot tend to this end unless he hopes for eternal beatitude and for the helps of grace necessary for obtaining it. Besides this, prayer is necessary for salvation by necessity of means; but prayer is impossible without the exercise of hope;2 therefore hope also is necessary by necessity of means.
The discussion here concerns the act of hope, which moral theology chiefly considers. The infused habit of hope is necessary for all, even infants, for salvation by absolute necessity of means: for since sanctifying grace is absolutely necessary, the habit of hope also, which is infused together with it, is absolutely necessary.
- Actual hope is necessary for adults also by necessity of divine precept, both natural and positive.
a. For by natural precept man is bound to employ the means necessary for salvation; but the act of hope is a means necessary for salvation. b. In Sacred Scripture we are everywhere admonished and stirred up to hope;3 but by these texts of Sacred Scripture the act of hope is not only counseled, but truly prescribed. Besides this, Christ the Lord in the Lord's Prayer taught us the manner of hoping and asking, and prescribed it to us.4
The precept of hope is affirmative and negative: insofar as it is affirmative, it imposes the obligation of eliciting an act of hope; insofar as it is negative, it enjoins the obligation of not despairing and not presuming. But the affirmative precept obliges per se and accidentally; now it is asked when and how often the act of hope must be elicited.
1 Council of Trent, sess. 6, c. 6.
2 James 1:6-7.
3 1 Tim. 6:17; Rom. 8:24; Col. 1:5; Ps. 4:6.
4 Proposition 1, condemned by Alexander VII: Man at no time whatever of his life is bound to elicit an act of faith, hope, charity by force of the precepts pertaining to those virtues.
45. When the precept of hope obliges. 1. The precept of hope obliges per se, or by reason of the virtue itself of hope:
a. At the beginning of the use of reason or of spiritual life, that is, when first God and eternal beatitude, into which man ought to tend by the means ordained by God, have been sufficiently proposed to him.
a. For reverence owed to God requires that we immediately adhere to God with firm trust as soon as we know that God has promised eternal beatitude to us. b. Besides this, at the beginning of the use of reason man ought to tend into God, the ultimate end, through the means ordained for this; but he cannot tend into God and begin a spiritual life which is meritorious of eternal life unless he hopes for eternal retribution and the means necessary for salvation.
b. Several times in life, in order to conserve justice; but the time at which the act of hope ought to be elicited cannot be determined. Yet it must be elicited frequently, because it is so necessary for leading the Christian life; this is clear both from the fact that the desire of eternal beatitude is a most efficacious motive for observing the precepts, and from the fact that prayer is necessary, which cannot be exercised without hope.
Yet because, for satisfying the precept of hope, a formal act of hope is not required, but virtual hope suffices, practically it does not bring difficulty: for there is no sufficiently instructed Christian faithful person who does not in this way rather often elicit acts of hope, while he prays, receives the sacraments, observes the precepts, and purposes not to offend God lest he fall away from eternal salvation; but if he neglects the Christian life, he does not advert to this obligation.
c. When a temptation against hope urges which cannot be conquered except through an act of hope: for the precept of hope obliges one to repel temptations which arise against it; for if an act of hope is the means necessary for this, it must be employed from the precept of hope.
d. When man through the mortal sin of despair has lost the habit of hope: for he is bound to return to God by conversion from despair, which ought to happen through an act of hope.
- Accidentally the precept of eliciting hope urges: a. in a temptation against another virtue, if this temptation cannot be overcome unless the soul is strengthened by an act of hope; b. when another precept must be fulfilled which cannot be fulfilled without at least a virtual and implicit act of hope, such as the precept of prayer, penance, etc.
46. On fear and hope insofar as they are motives of moral actions. Since non-Catholic writers reproach the moral doctrine of the Church, indeed even of the Gospel, for this reason, because Catholic doctrine says that moral actions performed from fear of punishment or from hope of reward are honorable and licit, although, they say, they are useless, indeed even vicious, it is helpful to explain briefly in what sense fear and hope are licit and honorable motives of moral actions. Namely, although according to the doctrine of the Church works done from charity are more perfect, nevertheless works performed with a view to eternal recompense do not lack moral honesty and spiritual usefulness.
Long ago Luther and Calvin had taught that works performed with a view to eternal recompense are useless and savor of vicious cupidity; afterwards Baius and the Jansenists had affirmed the same, whose doctrine the Council of Trent1 and Alexander VIII2 condemned. With these heretics today atheist philosophers agree, who agree in this affirmation: Actions from the motive of eternal life are opposed to pure morality. Die Motivierung der Handlungen durch die Hoffnung auf ewige Seligkeit ist eine Falschung der reinen Sittlichkeit.
- On fear. a. Fear is an act of the will which turns away from an imminent evil; fear of God, or divine fear, turns away from the evil which God can inflict because of sin.
Servile fear fears punishment, damnation, to be inflicted by God because of sin, or sin as the cause of this punishment; it is called servile because servants are accustomed to obey because of fear of punishment. This fear is servilely servile if one fearing punishment, or sin because of punishment, has the will of sinning if there were no punishment, that is, hell.
Filial fear fears offense of God and the loss of divine friendship, or sin because it is an offense of God with loss of divine friendship. It is called filial because it belongs to sons to fear lest they offend their parents.
Initial fear fears offense of God and eternal punishment, or sin because it is an offense of God to be punished by eternal punishment. It is called initial because it belongs to beginners to fear sin, both because it is an offense of God and because it is a cause of punishment.
b. Just as servile fear is licit and honorable, so to serve God, to avoid sins, and to observe the precepts from fear of punishment is licit and honorable, provided the will of sinning is excluded; yet the motive of charity is far nobler and more perfect.
Servilely servile fear is morally evil and vicious, because it does not exclude the will of sinning; it prefers punishment to sin, the sinner to God the Creator, which cannot be said of servile fear. Therefore fear is commanded by God: Fear Him who ... has power to cast into gehenna;3 in Sacred Scripture it is said to be opposed to sin: The fear of the Lord drives out sin;4 it is sought from God as a gift: Pierce my flesh with Thy fear.5
- On hope. a. From the motive of hope someone can serve God and observe the precepts in three different ways: a. in such a way that he would not serve the precepts unless eternal reward had been promised; b. in such a way that he observes them only because of eternal reward, thinking nothing of that condition; c. in such a way that he observes them both because of the reward and because of God.
b. To observe the precepts with a view to eternal recompense in such a way that they would not be observed if no recompense were given is vicious cupidity: for he who thus does good prefers himself to God; but to observe the precepts with a view to recompense is a morally good work and, under the due conditions, meritorious.
a. The motive of hope is most fitting to human nature, since it is especially consonant with the natural appetite by which man is borne toward his own happiness. Besides this, where great difficulties must be overcome in the service of God, man must be aided by the motive of hope and fear, lest he fall away from moral perfection.
b. Sacred Scripture praises and commends works which are done from the motive of hope with a view to recompense: Everyone who contends in a contest abstains from all things; and they indeed do this in order that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one.6
c. Although the motive of hope is lower than the motive of charity, nevertheless it does not exclude the motive of charity; indeed it necessarily leads to charity.
He who wills to attain eternal life also wills those things which are necessary for attaining eternal life; but for attaining eternal life charity is necessary.7
Note. The peculiar relation which exists between man's holiness, charity of God, and eternal beatitude must be considered. Eternal life, toward which we strive, is at the same time man's holiness and happiness. Therefore he who observes the precepts with a view to recompense implicitly at the same time intends his own holiness and the glory of God; and he who observes the precepts from charity of God or for acquiring holiness implicitly at the same time intends his own beatitude, since eternal beatitude is God.
1 Sess. 6, can. 31: If anyone shall say that the justified man sins when he works well with a view to eternal recompense, let him be anathema.
2 Prop. 13. Whoever serves God even with a view to eternal recompense, if he lacks charity, is not without vice whenever he works with a view, although to beatitude.
3 Luke 12:5.
4 Ecclus. 1:27.
5 Ps. 118:120.
6 1 Cor. 9:25. Cf. Ps. 118:112; Col. 3:23 s.; Apoc. 2:10.
7 Cf. concerning this question: Kneib, Die "Lohnsucht" der christlichen Moral, Theologische Studien der Leo-Gesellschaft, Vienna: Meyer, 1904. Kneib, Die "Jenseitsmoral" im Kampfe um ihre Grundlagen, Freiburg: Herder, 1907. Schneider, Die gottliche Weltordnung, Paderborn: Schoeningh, 1900: "Die 'Lohnsucht' der religiosen Moral," p. 496.