Chapter I: Concerning Internal Sins

— Notion of the argument. From the definition handed down above, n. 402, from St. Augustine, "a word, or deed, or thing desired," there are distinguished sins of heart, of mouth, and of work. This distinction is formal when the mind and tongue begin a sin which according to itself requires exterior consummation. Then sins of heart and mouth, if they must be estimated separately, are referred to the same objective species as the sin of work, and at the same time differ from it in species, as incomplete from complete (Cf. 1, 2, q. 72 art. 7).

On the contrary, the same distinction is merely material if it concerns a sin which is completed by internal consent, as interior heresy, or by words, as detraction.

For then they are sins simply consummated.

In this place we consider internal sins as incomplete according to themselves, and to be estimated separately.

Those internal sins can be delight, or simple love and complacency, affecting an evil thing or action; desire of the same thing or action; joy concerning a past act.

As we noted above, n. 117, there are some who reserve the name delight to delight of sense, so that by the name joy they call the delight of the will. We do not speak of fruition of a present thing or action, since this is necessarily one with the consummated sin itself. The things which we said above concerning the honesty of delight are to be compared.