Article — Noldin, Summa of Moral Theology
Second Article. On The Obligation Of Tending To The Ultimate End
37. On the obligation itself. The primary and principal moral duty which is incumbent upon man living in this life is the obligation of tending to the ultimate end and of attaining it by the means ordained by God.
- Man has been destined by God to the end of eternal life; but in this destination there is manifestly contained the will of God, by which man is obligated to attain the end through the means ordained by Him.
This argument can be set forth in this way: God constituted Himself the ultimate end of man; but by the very fact that He constituted Himself the ultimate end, He imposed upon man the obligation of tending to the ultimate end.
Man by a natural weight is borne toward his perfection and beatitude, which he cannot attain except in God, the supernatural end. But in a rational being the tendencies of nature are governed by law and moral obligation. Therefore he is bound by moral obligation to strive toward the end of eternal life by freely choosing the end and those things which have been ordained by God for attaining the end. The same obligation is also imposed upon man by the express words of Sacred Scripture: "Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect";1 "with fear and trembling work out your salvation."2
The relation of the present life to eternal life, according to Sacred Scripture, is the state of the way to the terminus, the state of tendency toward perfect beatitude: for the present way is exhibited as a time of combat, labor, and probation; eternal life as crown, wages, and reward.3 Therefore, according to the will of God, we must freely strive toward the ultimate end through the means ordained by God.4 Whoever has not done this will fall away from the end of beatitude and will be condemned to eternal punishment: "And these shall go into eternal punishment; but the just into eternal life."5
1 Matt. 5:48.
2 Phil. 2:12.
3 Matt. 5:12; 16:27; 19:17, 29; 25:9, 30, 46; 1 Cor. 9:24; 2 Tim. 4:8; Jas. 1:12; 3:4.
4 Matt. 19:17.
5 Matt. 25:46. Cf. Matt. 7:19; John 5:29.
38. What this obligation involves. In order that man may come to the end of eternal life:
- He is bound by faith to acknowledge God, the supernatural end, and to constitute Him the end of his moral life. Hence he ought to be so disposed that he wills to love nothing, to desire nothing, which simply impedes the ultimate end and is simply opposed to attaining it, of which sort is mortal sin.
a. Since venial sin is not simply opposed to the attainment of the ultimate end, the will and intention of committing venial sin is not against the prescribed obligation of tending to the ultimate end. Venial sin is indeed an action through which man does not tend to his end, but it does not remove the end and the attainment of it.
b. From these things it is gathered that the first and fundamental precept of the whole moral life is this: that man adhere to God by faith, hope to attain Him as his supreme good, and order himself and all that is his to God, his ultimate end. And since ordering to God in this order of salvation is done through the charity of God, it is understood why an act of divine charity is necessary and prescribed at the beginning of the spiritual life.
He is bound to acquire for himself the state of grace and of divine sonship through the sacrament of baptism: for the kingdom of heaven is promised only to the sons of God, just as only sons have a right to the inheritance of the father: "Unless one has been reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."1 "But if sons, then heirs."2
He is bound to lead a life worthy of a son of God through the supernatural observance of the commandments of God, so that through good works he may merit for himself the reward of eternal life: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."3 "He who does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven."4
If he has deserted the ultimate end and lost the state of grace through mortal sin, he is bound to return to the end of his life and to recover the lost state of grace through penance. For in the state of mortal sin an efficacious tendency to the ultimate end is impossible. Moreover, for one existing in the state of mortal sin, since his will, turned away from God, adheres to earthly things, because of lack of strength it is too arduous to overcome the difficulties which occur in observing the precepts for a long time, unless he withdraws his will from sins and efficaciously sets God before created things.5
Discussion will return elsewhere concerning the difficulty which is found in assigning the time within which this obligation must be fulfilled.6
1 John 3:5.
2 Rom. 8:17.
3 Matt. 19:17.
4 Matt. 7:21.
5 Cf. St. Thomas I-II, q. 109, a. 8; II-II, q. 14, a. 2. Lugo, De poenitentia, disp. 7, n. 234 ff.
6 Cf. De sacramentis^3, n. 217.
39. To what extent the world is to be fled. The Christian religion, which constitutes the ultimate end of man not in the goods of this life but in the goods of another life, and obligates him, earthly things being put after, to strive toward supernatural and eternal goods, is therefore gravely blamed, as though by directing man to supernatural and future things it turns him away from the goods of this life, teaches him to despise them, and to neglect temporal prosperity and progress.
a. It rightly and deservedly teaches that man attains his end not in this life, but only in the other, since in this life man cannot obtain either the moral perfection fitting to human nature or the happiness which he naturally desires. For progress, even the greatest, whether material or intellectual, cannot raise man either to moral perfection or to happiness.
b. It teaches that the world is to be contemned and fled insofar as worldly cares impede the tendency toward eternal goods and bring true human happiness into danger. Hence is understood the frequent admonition of Sacred Scripture and of the holy Fathers, not of loving but rather of abandoning the world, namely insofar as it brings the danger of losing more excellent goods. But it is wholly false that the Christian religion impedes temporal progress or renders man unfit to collaborate in perfecting and promoting temporal life and its culture. For it requires only this: that in the works by which he tries to promote temporal prosperity, he observe the norms of morality and not neglect Christian duties. With this condition posited, Christians are admonished to apply themselves seriously and diligently to temporal and worldly labors.1
c. Nor from the fact that the Christian religion teaches that virginity is to be preferred in itself to marriage, and the religious state to the secular state, does it despise or condemn marriage or the secular state, but it prefers the greater and better good to the lesser good. Nevertheless, when the character of human nature is considered, it is not to be feared that so great a multitude of men will abandon the world that material prosperity and progress will ever be neglected.2 Indeed the Christian religion effectively increases and promotes in every way the true culture both of the individual man and of society, in that it cultivates individual and social virtues in individuals, protects and perfects the family and the state, and commends and promotes that progress to which alone true and solid stability belongs.
1 Cf. 1 Thess. 4:10 f.
2 On this matter the following discuss aptly: Schneider, Die gottliche Weltordnung (Paderborn: Schoningh, 1900): "Weltflucht und Kulturscheu," p. 528 ff. Mausbach, Die katholische Moral^2 (Cologne: Bachem, 1901): "Kulturarbeit und Weltflucht," p. 113 ff. H. Pesch, Die soziale Befahigung der Kirche^2 (Freiburg: Herder, 1897); Kneib, Die Jenseitsmoral (Freiburg: Herder, 1906).