204. Sin from Malice versus Passion and Divine Causality

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Sin from Malice versus Sin from Passion #

• Definition of malice (industria): To sin from certain malice is to knowingly choose evil, aware that it is evil
• Definition of passion: An emotional impulse that overwhelms reason and moves one to choose evil without deliberation from choice
• Key distinction: “Other is to sin choosing and other to sin from choice” - one who sins from passion sins choosing (an act occurs), but not from choice (choice is not the principle); one who sins from malice sins from choice as the beginning
• Three reasons sin from malice is more grave:
  1. Proper to the will: Sin from malice is more intrinsic to the will itself; sin from passion is imposed from an extrinsic impulse
  2. Permanence: Habit (by which one sins from malice) is permanent; passion quickly passes over. The intemperate man labors continuously in sin; the incontinent man is temporarily overcome
  3. Defect in the beginning: Malice involves a disordered end (purpose) itself, which is the beginning in things to be done; passion only temporarily interrupts a good proposal

The Problem of Divine Causality and Sin #

• The apparent contradiction: Scripture says God “handed over” sinners to reprobate minds (Romans 1); Isaiah says God creates evil; God causes free will, which causes sin - yet God cannot be the cause of sin
• Key principle: Sin is a recession from the order that exists in God as the ultimate end; God inclines all things toward Himself as the last end (Dionysius)
• Resolution: God is neither a direct nor an indirect cause of sin
  • Not direct: God cannot incline the will to evil, for that would mean moving things away from their ultimate end
  • Not indirect: God acts according to wisdom and justice in His withdrawal of grace; it is not imputed to Him when another sins

Distinctions in Divine Action #

• “Handing over” vs. active causation: When God “hands over” sinners to reprobate minds, He does not prevent them from following their evil inclinations - like exposing someone rather than defending them
• Preposition “in” (in temptation): This is not causal but consecutive - creatures are made not for the harm of men, but harm follows through human foolishness
• Middle cause and first cause: The effect of a middle cause proceeding from it according to the order of the first cause is reduced to the first cause. But if it proceeds outside the order of the first cause, it is not reduced to the first cause - just as a servant acting against the lord’s command cannot have his action reduced to the lord as cause
• Analogy of the ship: The governor is not the cause of the ship’s submersion by not governing it, except when he is able and ought to govern but fails to do so

Key Arguments #

Is Sin from Malice More Grave than Sin from Passion? #

Objection 1 - Ignorance excuse:

• The one who sins from malice suffers greater ignorance (ignorance of the principle, which is maxima)
• Greater ignorance excuses or diminishes sin
• Therefore, the one sinning from malice is more excused than one from passion

Response:

• The ignorance of choice (which the objection assumes) neither excuses nor diminishes sin
• Ignorance must be of something preventing sin, not merely intellectual ignorance

Objection 2 - Impulse and sin:

• Greater impetus to sin means less sin
• The man sinning from malice is impelled by a habit whose force is stronger than passion
• Therefore, one who sins from habit sins less than one from passion

Response:

• The impulse from passion is as it were from outside with respect to the will
• Through habit, the will is inclined from within
• This is not a similar reason (analogy: a man doing good from charity with more inclination is more meritorious)

Objection 3 - Choice vs. from choice:

• Both the man who sins from malice and from passion choose evil
• Therefore, there is no distinction in gravity

Resolution - Thomas’s answer:

• The distinction is between “choosing” and “choosing from choice”
• One who sins from passion sins choosing, but not from choice (passion, not choice, is the beginning)
• One who sins from malice sins from choice as the beginning of sin
• The more the motion of sin is proper to the will itself (rather than from an extrinsic impulse), the more grave the sin

Is God a Cause of Sin? #

Objection 1 - Romans 1:26:

• Paul says God handed some over to reprobate minds
• The gloss says God works in hearts of men, inclining their wills in good and bad
• Therefore, God is the cause of sin

Response:

• God hands some over to reprobate sins already held; He does not prevent them from following their own sense
• “Handing over” means non-prevention, not active causation
• In the good, God directly inclines the will; in the bad, insofar as He does not prevent
• This happens from the merit of preceding sin

Objection 2 - Creatures made in temptation:

• Wisdom 14 says creatures are made in hate and temptation to the soul of men
• Temptation provokes to sin
• God made all creatures
• Therefore, God is a cause of sin

Response:

• The preposition “in” (in temptation) is not causal but consecutive
• God did not make creatures for the harm of men; this follows from human foolishness
• Through their own foolishness, men use creatures for something other than they were made for

Objection 3 - Cause of the cause:

• Whatever is a cause of the cause is a cause of the effect
• God is the cause of free will, which is the cause of sin
• Therefore, God is the cause of sin

Response:

• The effect of a middle cause proceeding according to the order of the first cause is reduced to the first cause
• But if it proceeds outside the order of the first cause, it is not reduced to the first cause
• Analogy: if a servant does something against the lord’s command, this is not reduced to the lord as cause
• Similarly, sin that free will commits against God’s precept is not reduced to God as cause

Objection 4 - Punishment vs. guilt:

• God is not repugnant to divine goodness to be the cause of the evil of punishment
• Isaiah 45 says God creates evil
• Amos 3 says if there is evil in the city, God did not make it
• Therefore, it is not repugnant to divine goodness that God be the cause of guilt

Response:

• Punishment is opposed to the good of the one punished (deprivation of good)
• Guilt is opposed to the good of order which is in God
• Therefore, guilt is directly opposed to divine goodness
• The reason is not similar for guilt and punishment

Final objection - Wisdom 11:26:

• God hates none of those things He made
• But God hates sin
• Therefore, God is not the cause of sin

Thomas’s Answer:

• Man is a cause of sin in two ways: directly (by inclining his own or another’s will to sin) or indirectly (by not restraining others from sin)
• Ezekiel 3:18 - the watchman must warn the impious; if he does not, God will require the blood from his hand
• God cannot be directly a cause of sin because sin is recession from the order which is in God as an end
• God cannot be indirectly a cause because He acts according to His own wisdom and justice
• It is not imputed to Him that another sins as to the cause of sin, just as the pilot is not the cause of the ship’s submersion by not governing, except when he is able and ought to govern

Important Definitions #

• Malice (industria): To sin from certain malice is to knowingly choose evil as evil, understanding that one should not sustain this evil even for obtaining another good
• Passion (passio): An emotional impulse that moves one to choose evil without deliberation from choice; the impulse comes from outside the will
• Choice (προαίρεσις / prohairesis): The deliberate decision that originates from the will itself; in sin from malice, choice is the beginning of the sin
• Habit (ἕξις / hexis): A stable, permanent disposition of the will that inclines one to certain acts; vicious habits make evil appear suitable and connatural to the person
• Non-prevention: God’s withdrawal of restraint or grace, not active causation; when God does not prevent sinners, He does not thereby cause them to sin
• Ignorance of choice: Not knowing that one should not sustain an evil for another good; this does not excuse or diminish sin in the way other ignorances do

Examples & Illustrations #

From Berquist’s Teaching Experience #

• Student with persistent objections: A student in California would pose objections every class; after Berquist answered, the student’s body would visibly relax, showing he recognized the solution
• Seraphim and fire: Berquist explains Dionysius’s teaching that seraphim are named from fire because fire has three qualities: (1) burns upward continually = their love goes always to God; (2) burns and absorbs things = influences other things; (3) light = enlightens lower hierarchies

Classical Examples from the Text #

• David: Sinned in a vehement passion regarding Bathsheba; passion quickly passed and he became penitent
• Peter’s denial of Christ: Brought up by passion, yet later became pope; shows the transience of passion and possibility of repentance

From Music and Conduct #

• Mozart conducting: A conductor can tell when an instrument is off because it deviates from his direction
• Von Karajan and iron control: Conducted with absolute control; sopranos attempting to assert themselves risked being corrected
• Handel and prima donna: Picked up a prima donna and held her over the orchestra when she wouldn’t do exactly what he wanted
• Beecham’s Mozart interpretation: Conducted Mozart correctly, whereas Toscanini played Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony like Beethoven

Questions Addressed #

Is Sin from Malice More Grave than Sin from Passion? #

Resolution: Yes, for three reasons: (1) it is more proper to the will itself, not imposed from outside; (2) it is more permanent through habit versus the transience of passion; (3) it involves a defect in the end (purpose) itself, not merely a temporary interruption of a good intention.

Can God Be a Cause of Sin? #

Resolution: No. God is neither directly nor indirectly a cause of sin. Direct causation is impossible because sin is recession from God as ultimate end, and God inclines all things toward Himself. Indirect causation is not imputable to God because He acts according to wisdom and justice. God’s “handing over” sinners means non-prevention, analogous to a ship’s governor not governing—not an active causing of sin.