166. Faith, Hope, and Charity: Perfect and Imperfect Virtue

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• Perfect vs. Imperfect Virtue: The distinction between virtue in its complete form and virtue in an inchoate or beginning state. Perfect virtue requires not only that something good comes about, but that it comes about well (according to right reason and proper choice). Imperfect virtue produces good works but lacks this perfection of disposition.
• Faith, Hope, and Charity as Theological Virtues: These three virtues have God as their object and are ordered to supernatural beatitude. They differ from moral virtues in their supernatural character.
• The Order of the Theological Virtues: Faith and hope precede charity in time and in the order of generation, but charity exceeds them in perfection. This reflects the order of learning: one must believe in God before hoping in God, and hope in God before loving Him perfectly.
• Charity as Friendship with God: Charity is not merely love (amor) but friendship (amicitia) with God—a mutual loving relationship involving familiar conversation and common communication. This requires belief and trust in God.
• The Role of the Will: The will is central to faith (assent to divine truth is an act of the will) and to charity (which perfects the will). Right love perfects every correct motion of the will.

Key Arguments #

Article 4: Can Faith and Hope Exist Without Charity? #

Arguments that they cannot:

• Faith and hope are theological virtues with God as object, making them more noble than moral virtues; therefore they should not depend on charity
• Augustine: No one believes except willingly; the will is perfected by charity; therefore faith cannot exist without charity
• Augustine’s Enchiridion: Hope cannot exist without love

Thomas’s Resolution:

• Faith and hope can exist imperfectly without charity, but they cannot have the perfect notion of virtue without it
• The act of faith is assent to divine truth by one’s own will; this assent is perfect only when the will is properly disposed through charity
• The act of hope is to expect future beatitude from God; this is perfect only when based on merits one possesses through charity
• Without charity, faith and hope are like temperance or fortitude without prudence—they lack the perfection of proper disposition
• A sinner may hope for beatitude without yet possessing the merits necessary for perfect hope; this is imperfect hope
• Presumption (false hope) is when one expects beatitude without intending to acquire the merits for it; this is not virtue at all

Article 5: Can Charity Exist Without Faith and Hope? #

Arguments that it can:

• God can be loved naturally without presupposing faith or hope
• Charity is the root of all virtues; roots can exist without branches
• Christ had perfect charity but not faith or hope (as a comprehensor seeing God face to face)

Thomas’s Resolution:

• Charity is not merely love but friendship with God, which necessarily requires belief and trust
• Friendship adds to love a mutual loving back and common communication
• One cannot have friendship with someone without believing in them and trusting they could have familiar conversation
• Therefore charity necessarily requires:
  • Faith: belief in God’s nature and what He promises
  • Hope: trust in God’s mercy and in beatitude as one’s goal
• Without faith and hope, there is no basis for the mutual loving relationship that constitutes charity
• Christ’s exception: He lacked faith and hope not from imperfection but because he possessed their perfection directly—he saw God as He is (vision rather than belief) and possessed beatitude (rather than hoping for it)

Important Definitions #

• Perfect Virtue (perfecta): A habit that not only produces a good work but produces it well (bene)—according to right reason and proper choice. The work must be done in the right way, not merely begrudgingly or imperfectly.
• Imperfect Virtue (in initio): A beginning or inclination toward virtue that produces good works but not necessarily in the perfect manner. It can exist without the full perfection of the virtue.
• Charity (caritas): Not mere love but friendship (amicitia) with God—a mutual loving relationship involving familiar conversation and common communication. It perfects both faith and hope by ordering them to union with God.
• Hope (spes): The act of expecting future beatitude from God. Perfect hope is based on merits one possesses through charity; imperfect hope may expect beatitude without yet possessing the necessary merits.
• Faith (fides) / Belief: Assent to divine truth by an act of the will. It is the “substance of things hoped for, the conviction of what is not seen” (from Hebrews). It provides the foundation for beatitude.
• Friendship (amicitia): Differs from mere love in that it involves mutual loving back and common communication. Aristotle treats this extensively in his Ethics.

Examples & Illustrations #

• The Reluctant Caregiver: If one cares for a sick person but does so irritably or begrudgingly, one performs a good work but not perfectly, lacking the virtue in its full sense. One is not doing the good work well.
• Paying a Debt Grudgingly: Paying what one owes is good, but paying while resenting the act is not perfect justice; true virtue involves right choice and proper disposition.
• The Two Sons: Christ’s parable of the two sons—one says he will work but doesn’t, the other refuses but later goes—illustrates that doing good requires the right disposition and will.
• Imperfect vs. Perfect Hope in Sinners: A sinner may hope for beatitude from God without yet possessing the merits necessary for that beatitude. This is imperfect hope. If he presumes on God’s mercy without intending to acquire the merits, it is presumption, not virtue.
• George Washington as a Young Soldier: Washington was brave in battle as a young man but lacked prudence; later he recognized this as youthful exhilaration without the wisdom to guide it. Courage without prudence is imperfect virtue.
• Human Friendship Progression: Two neighbors become friends: first through utility (one borrows a snowblower), then they get to know each other better and begin to like one another for their own qualities. Similarly, one turns to God in hope (needing help), then gets to know Him through prayer, and finally begins to love Him for His own sake (charity).
• The Merchant and the Paint Seller: Berquist’s father befriended a paint seller who supplied wagons for the farm. Initially a relationship of utility, they grew to know each other better and became true friends. This illustrates how hope (utility) can dispose toward friendship (charity).
• Romeo and Juliet: Romeo believes Rosalind is lovely, but once he sees Juliet, he forgets Rosalind entirely. Seeing perfects love far more than mere belief. Similarly, the beatific vision in heaven will perfect love of God far beyond love based on faith in this life.
• The Least in the Kingdom of Heaven: A seemingly obscure person in heaven, seeing God face to face, loves God more perfectly than John the Baptist did on earth, even though John was “greater than those born of women.” Vision perfects love more than belief does.

Notable Quotes #

“If I pay my debts but I regret doing it, am I doing it well? No. It’s not perfect virtue.” — Duane Berquist (illustrating that perfect virtue requires right disposition, not just outward action)

“Charity is not just any love of God, but the love of God by which he is loved as the object of beatitude, to which we are ordered through faith and hope.” — Thomas Aquinas

“The act of faith is to assent by one’s own will to something; if he does not will this in a suitable way, it will not be a perfect work of faith.” — Thomas Aquinas

“The act of hope is to expect future beatitude from God; which act is perfect if it is from the merits which one has, and you cannot have merits without charity.” — Thomas Aquinas

“Friendship adds above love that there is a mutual loving back one for the other with a certain common mutual communication.” — Thomas Aquinas (after Aristotle)

“Without belief it is impossible to please God, which most of all pertains to charity.” — Hebrews 11:6 (cited by Thomas)

“Who remains in charity remains in God and God in him.” — 1 John 4:16 (cited by Thomas)

“Charity is rooted and founded in itself” — Ephesians 3:17, as cited in the discussion of charity as the root of virtues

Questions Addressed #

Article 4: Can faith and hope exist without charity?

• Answer: Yes, they can exist imperfectly, but not with the perfect notion of virtue. Faith and hope do not depend on prudence or charity according to their proper definitions, but they achieve perfection only when the will is properly disposed by charity.

Article 5: Can charity exist without faith and hope?

• Answer: No, charity cannot exist without faith and hope. Charity is friendship with God, which necessarily requires belief in God and trust in Him; without these, there is no basis for the mutual loving relationship that constitutes charity.

Why does Christ not have faith and hope?

• Christ lacked faith and hope not as an imperfection but because He possessed their perfection directly: He saw God as He is (vision, not belief) and possessed beatitude (not hope for it). In his human soul, He had the beatific vision.

How does hope dispose one toward charity?

• Through hope, one turns to God in prayer and begins to know Him. As one becomes familiar with God through this interaction, one begins to love Him for His own sake rather than merely for utilitarian reasons. Hope thus disposes one to the friendship that is charity.

Pedagogical Notes #

• Berquist emphasizes the importance of understanding the four senses of before from Aristotle’s Categories (Book 12): temporal priority, priority in being, priority in the order of reason, and priority in dignity/perfection. These senses clarify how faith and hope are before charity temporally but after it in perfection.
• The analogy of geometry depending on natural philosophy, which depends on logic, yet wisdom perfecting all of them, illustrates how lower virtues can exist before higher virtues perfect them.
• The distinction between amor (love in general) and amicitia (friendship) is crucial: charity is not mere love but the mutual loving relationship of friendship.
• The progression from imperfect to perfect virtue is central to understanding how grace works in the soul: faith and hope exist initially in imperfect form and are gradually perfected as charity grows.