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Objection 1: It seems that the innocent is more bound to give thanks
to God than the penitent. For the greater the gift one has received
from God, the more one is bound to give Him thanks. Now the gift of
innocence is greater than that of justice restored. Therefore it seems
that the innocent is more bound to give thanks to God than the
penitent.
Objection 2: Further, a man owes love to his benefactor just as he
owes him gratitude. Now Augustine says (Confess. ii): "What
man, weighing his own infirmity, would dare to ascribe his purity and
innocence to his own strength; that so he should love Thee the less,
as if he had less needed Thy mercy, whereby Thou remittest sins to
those that turn to Thee?" And farther on he says: "And for this
let him love Thee as much, yea and more, since by Whom he sees me to
have been recovered from such deep torpor of sin, by Him he sees
himself to have been from the like torpor of sin preserved."
Therefore the innocent is also more bound to give thanks than the
penitent.
Objection 3: Further, the more a gratuitous favor is continuous,
the greater the thanksgiving due for it. Now the favor of divine grace
is more continuous in the innocent than in the penitent. For
Augustine says (Confess. iii): "To Thy grace I ascribe it,
and to Thy mercy, that Thou hast melted away my sins as it were ice.
To Thy grace I ascribe also whatsoever I have not done of evil; for
what might I not have done? . . . Yea, all I confess to have
been forgiven me, both what evils I committed by my own wilfulness,
and what by Thy guidance committed not." Therefore the innocent is
more bound to give thanks than the penitent.
On the contrary, It is written (Lk. 7:43): "To whom more
is forgiven, he loveth more." Therefore for the same reason he is
bound to greater thanksgiving.
I answer that, Thanksgiving [gratiarum actio] in the recipient
corresponds to the favor [gratia] of the giver: so that when there is
greater favor on the part of the giver, greater thanks are due on the
part of the recipient. Now a favor is something bestowed "gratis":
wherefore on the part of the giver the favor may be greater on two
counts. First, owing to the quantity of the thing given: and in this
way the innocent owes greater thanksgiving, because he receives a
greater gift from God, also, absolutely speaking, a more continuous
gift, other things being equal. Secondly, a favor may be said to be
greater, because it is given more gratuitously; and in this sense the
penitent is more bound to give thanks than the innocent, because what
he receives from God is more gratuitously given: since, whereas he
was deserving of punishment, he has received grace. Wherefore,
although the gift bestowed on the innocent is, considered absolutely,
greater, yet the gift bestowed on the penitent is greater in relation
to him: even as a small gift bestowed on a poor man is greater to him
than a great gift is to a rich man. And since actions are about
singulars, in matters of action, we have to take note of what is such
here and now, rather than of what is such absolutely, as the
Philosopher observes (Ethic. iii) in treating of the voluntary and
the involuntary.
This suffices for the Replies to the Objections.
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