175. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Enumeration and Connection

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Enumeration of the Seven Gifts #

• Four gifts perfect the intellect: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge (Science), and Counsel
• Three gifts perfect the appetitive power: Piety, Fortitude, and Fear of the Lord
• This enumeration is grounded in Isaiah 11:2-3, which lists the gifts
• The enumeration corresponds to the division of intellectual virtues and moral virtues

Why Art Has No Corresponding Gift #

• Art is right reason concerning things to be made (ποιητική), not things to be done (πρακτική)
• The gifts perfect man in living well, which pertains to human action, not external production
• Art is ordered to exterior things; the gifts are ordered to the good of the agent
• The Holy Spirit moves men as His instruments to living well, not to making external objects

Why Fear Rather Than a Gift Corresponding to Temperance #

• Fear of the Lord corresponds to temperance in a particular way
• Just as temperance withdraws one from depraved pleasures for the sake of reason’s good, fear withdraws one from pleasures for the sake of reverence for God
• Fear operates at a higher level than temperance alone, moving the will through reverence rather than merely rational judgment

Piety Rather Than Justice as a Gift #

• Justice properly speaking concerns relations toward another
• Piety, meaning pietas, implies reverence toward one’s father and, by extension, toward God as the Father of all
• The gift of piety is the reverence for God that extends to doing good to all creatures as images of God
• This is why piety is the suitable name for the gift, not justice itself
• Reference to Platonic dialogue Euthyphro where piety is discussed

Theological Virtues as Roots of the Gifts #

• The theological virtues (faith, hope, charity) are the first union of man with the Holy Spirit
• These virtues are presupposed as roots from which the gifts derive
• All the gifts pertain to the theological virtues as derivations
• Man is moved by the Holy Spirit only insofar as he is united to Him through these virtues

The Distinction Between Gratia Gratis Data and Gifts for Salvation #

• Gratia gratis data (gifts freely given for manifestation): wisdom and knowledge as gifts for instruction and refutation of adversaries, prophecy, tongues
  • These may be given to diverse people without connection
  • Augustine speaks of this distinction when noting some faithful excel in faith but not in knowledge
• Gifts necessary for salvation: the seven gifts as habits perfecting the soul to follow divine inspiration
  • These are connected through charity in all who possess it
  • Thomas clarifies the Apostle speaks of wisdom and science in the first sense in 1 Corinthians 12

Connection of the Gifts Through Charity #

• The gifts are connected in charity just as moral virtues are connected in prudence
• One who has charity has all the seven gifts; none can be possessed without charity
• Gregory the Great teaches that the gifts “feed each other mutually”
• One gift without another is imperfect (e.g., understanding without wisdom, counsel without fortitude)
• Wisdom directs both the understanding and the affections, with understanding as a gift on the intellectual side and fear as a gift on the affective side

Key Arguments #

Against the Enumeration (Objections) #

First Objection: Why is there no gift corresponding to art (the fifth intellectual virtue)?

• Resolution: Art concerns things to be made, not living well. The gifts perfect man for living well through following divine inspiration, not for external production.

Second Objection: Why piety rather than justice? Justice is broader; piety is only a part of justice.

• Resolution: Justice names a virtue from the rightness of reason. Piety names a gift from reverence, which better expresses the supernatural orientation toward God.

Third Objection: Why no gifts corresponding to the theological virtues themselves?

• Resolution: The theological virtues are presupposed as roots. The soul is not moved by the Holy Spirit except insofar as it is united to Him through faith, hope, and charity. The gifts are derivations from these virtues.

Fourth Objection: Just as fear is a gift, why not love, hope, and pleasure (joy), which are also related to God?

• Resolution: Love, hope, and pleasure have the good as their object. These are transferred to the theological virtues because God is the highest good. Fear has evil as its object and does not imply union with God but withdrawal from evil through reverence. Therefore, fear is a gift, not a theological virtue.

Fifth Objection (Regarding Connection): Wisdom and science are given to diverse people without connection (1 Corinthians 12), and many faithful excel in faith but not in knowledge (Augustine). Are the gifts truly connected?

• Resolution: This distinction concerns wisdom and science as gratia gratis data (gifts for manifestation). In another sense, wisdom and science are gifts perfecting the mind to follow divine inspiration, and in this sense they are connected in all who have charity. The equivocation of terms resolves the apparent contradiction.

For the Proper Enumeration #

• Gregory the Great’s authority in the Moralia establishes the seven gifts
• Isaiah 11:2-3 is the scriptural source
• The parallel structure to the virtues shows the gifts are ordered to perfect all human powers for divine motion

Important Definitions #

Gift (Donum) #

• A perfection that disposes man to follow promptly the instinct of the Holy Spirit
• Distinguished from virtue by being ordered to divine motion rather than to reason’s command

Intellect Grasping vs. Judgment #

• Grasping (intelligentia): comprehending what is said
• Judgment (iudicium): separating the true from the false by some principle in our knowledge
• Both are necessary components of knowledge in Thomas’s account

Understanding (Intellectus) #

• Can mean different things: sometimes divided from sensation as a form of knowing; sometimes means simply grasping what is said
• Thomas uses intellectus to name the gift, avoiding equivocation
• Distinguished from scientia (reasoned-out knowledge) which depends on intellectus (natural understanding) for its judgment

Speculative vs. Practical Reason #

• Speculative reason (λογικὸν, ratiocinativum): ordered to truth about things considered in themselves
• Practical reason (φρονητική, consiliativum): ordered to truth about things to be done
• The gifts perfect both according to grasping and according to judging

Gratia Gratis Data #

• Grace freely given that does not necessarily make the recipient acceptable to God
• Distinguished from gratia gratum faciens (sanctifying grace) which makes the recipient pleasing to God
• Includes prophetic gifts, tongues, and extraordinary charisms given for the instruction of others

Examples & Illustrations #

The Example of Mozart and Musical Gifts #

• Berquist raises the question of whether Mozart had the gift of art
• Neither the lecturer nor students are certain where Mozart’s melodies came from
• Discussion of whether this might be explained through “heroic virtue” rather than a formal gift of art
• Illustrates the problem of creative genius in relation to the gifts

Brother Mark’s Lack of Counsel #

• Brother Mark could think of many things to do but had no judgment about what should be done
• His Brother Superior had the judgment (counsel) to direct him
• Illustrates how counsel provides the judgment that wisdom and understanding lack in the practical order

Piety and Seeing the Image of God #

• A teacher explains that human compassion sees the need; piety sees the image of God in the need
• Piety extends care to widows and orphans not because they are family (as in natural pietas) but because they bear God’s image and one reverences God
• This shows how piety transforms the appetitive power through reverence for God

Piety Toward the Blessed Virgin as a Test #

• Berquist notes one can discern a man’s orthodoxy by his attitude toward the Blessed Virgin
• Those who lack piety toward Mary often have deeper theological problems
• Illustrates the practical importance of the gift of piety in the life of faith

The Story of the Man Who Would Not Accept the Definition of the Assumption #

• A man expressed doubt about accepting a definition of a Marian mystery
• Another responded: “Don’t worry, you’re already out. It’s already done.”
• Illustrates how rejection of Church doctrine regarding Mary reveals a lack of the gift of piety

The Metaphor of Death Upon Juliet #

• Berquist cites Shakespeare’s comparison: “Death lies on her like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower of all the field”
• This is offered as the greatest kind of metaphor, based on proportio (likeness of ratios)
• Used to illustrate Aristotle’s principle that metaphor based on ratios is most beautiful

The Four Tools of Dialectic #

• Aristotle teaches that likeness (ratio) is the fourth tool of dialectic
• It is useful for: definitions, inductions, syllogisms (ex aequipollentibus), and manifesting something by likeness
• Thomas employs this method in explaining the gifts, comparing their function to that of virtues

Questions Addressed #

Article 4: How Are the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit Enumerated? #

Main Question: Why are exactly these seven gifts enumerated, and why are certain virtues (art, temperance) not represented by corresponding gifts?

Resolution:

• The gifts perfect man in living well through following divine inspiration
• Four gifts perfect the intellect (corresponding to intellectual virtues): Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel
• Three gifts perfect the appetitive power: Piety (toward God and all as ordered to God), Fortitude (against fear in dangers), Fear (withdrawing from evil through reverence)
• Art has no corresponding gift because it concerns external making, not living well
• Temperance is represented through the gift of fear, which perfects the appetitive power by withdrawal from disordered pleasures through reverence for God
• The enumeration is grounded in Isaiah 11 and the teaching of Gregory the Great in the Moralia

Article 5: Are the Gifts of the Holy Spirit Connected? #

Main Question: Can one have some gifts without others? Are they necessarily connected, or can they be distributed among diverse people?

Resolution:

• The gifts are connected through charity, just as moral virtues are connected through prudence
• One who possesses charity necessarily possesses all seven gifts
• No gift can be possessed without charity
• The apparent contradiction with 1 Corinthians 12 (where wisdom and knowledge are distributed to diverse persons) is resolved by distinguishing:
  • Wisdom and knowledge as gratia gratis data (gifts for manifestation), which may be unconnected
  • Wisdom and knowledge as gifts perfecting the mind for divine motion, which are connected in all who have charity
• Gregory teaches that gifts “feed each other mutually,” and one without another is imperfect
• Wisdom directs both understanding (intellectually) and fear (affectively)

Notable Quotes #

“The gifts are certain habits perfecting man to this, that he promptly follows the instinct of the Holy Spirit, just as the moral virtues perfect the desiring powers to obey reason.” — Thomas Aquinas (paraphrased from lecture)

“Just as the desiring powers are by nature apt to be moved by the command of reason, so all the powers of man have to be moved by this higher power of the Holy Spirit.” — Thomas Aquinas (paraphrased from lecture)

“The gifts are connected together in charity, just as the moral virtues are connected in prudence.” — Thomas Aquinas (paraphrased from lecture)

“Through fear of the Lord, one declines from evil.” — Proverbs 15 (cited in lecture)

“The heavenly Jerusalem is not washed by the movement of some terrestrial river, but proceeds from the font of life, the Holy Spirit, by whose brief taste we are satisfied, in whose celestial spirits overflow, filled with the seven spiritual virtues.” — Ambrose (cited in lecture, regarding the gifts in the Fatherland)