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Objection 1: It seems that irony, which consists in belittling
oneself, is not a sin. For no sin arises from one's being
strengthened by God: and yet this leads one to belittle oneself,
according to Prov. 30:1,2: "The vision which the man spoke,
with whom is God, and who being strengthened by God, abiding with
him, said, I am the most foolish of men." Also it is written
(Amos 7:14): "Amos answered . . . I am not a prophet."
Therefore irony, whereby a man belittles himself in words, is not a
sin.
Objection 2: Further, Gregory says in a letter to Augustine,
bishop of the English (Regist. xii): "It is the mark of a
well-disposed mind to acknowledge one's fault when one is not
guilty." But all sin is inconsistent with a well-disposed mind.
Therefore irony is not a sin.
Objection 3: Further, it is not a sin to shun pride. But "some
belittle themselves in words, so as to avoid pride," according to the
Philosopher (Ethic. iv, 7). Therefore irony is not a sin.
On the contrary, Augustine says (De Verb. Apost., Serm.
xxix): "If thou liest on account of humility, if thou wert not a
sinner before lying, thou hast become one by lying."
I answer that, To speak so as to belittle oneself may occur in two
ways. First so as to safeguard truth, as when a man conceals the
greater things in himself, but discovers and asserts lesser things of
himself the presence of which in himself he perceives. To belittle
oneself in this way does not belong to irony, nor is it a sin in
respect of its genus, except through corruption of one of its
circumstances. Secondly, a person belittles himself by forsaking the
truth, for instance by ascribing to himself something mean the
existence of which in himself he does not perceive, or by denying
something great of himself, which nevertheless he perceives himself to
possess: this pertains to irony, and is always a sin.
Reply to Objection 1: There is a twofold wisdom and a twofold
folly. For there is a wisdom according to God, which has human or
worldly folly annexed to it, according to 1 Cor. 3:18, "If
any man among you seem to be wise in this world, let him become a fool
that he may be wise." But there is another wisdom that is worldly,
which as the same text goes on to say, "is foolishness with God."
Accordingly, he that is strengthened by God acknowledges himself to
be most foolish in the estimation of men, because, to wit, he
despises human things, which human wisdom seeks. Hence the text
quoted continues, "and the wisdom of men is not with me," and
farther on, "and I have known the science of the saints".
It may also be replied that "the wisdom of men" is that which is
acquired by human reason, while the "wisdom of the saints" is that
which is received by divine inspiration.
Amos denied that he was a prophet by birth, since, to wit, he was
not of the race of prophets: hence the text goes on, "nor am I the
son of a prophet."
Reply to Objection 2: It belongs to a well-disposed mind that a
man tend to perfect righteousness, and consequently deem himself
guilty, not only if he fall short of common righteousness, which is
truly a sin, but also if he fall short of perfect righteousness, which
sometimes is not a sin. But he does not call sinful that which he does
not acknowledge to be sinful: which would be a lie of irony.
Reply to Objection 3: A man should not commit one sin in order to
avoid another: and so he ought not to lie in any way at all in order to
avoid pride. Hence Augustine says (Tract. xliii in Joan.):
"Shun not arrogance so as to forsake truth": and Gregory says
(Moral. xxvi, 3) that "it is a reckless humility that entangles
itself with lies."
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