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Objection 1: It would seem that it was unfitting to the words,
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart," to
add, "and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength" (Dt.
6:5). For heart does not mean here a part of the body, since to
love God is not a bodily action: and therefore heart is to be taken
here in a spiritual sense. Now the heart understood spiritually is
either the soul itself or part of the soul. Therefore it is
superfluous to mention both heart and soul.
Objection 2: Further, a man's strength whether spiritual or
corporal depends on the heart. Therefore after the words, "Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart," it was
unnecessary to add, "with all thy strength."
Objection 3: Further, in Mt. 22:37 we read: "With all thy
mind," which words do not occur here. Therefore it seems that this
precept is unfittingly worded in Dt. 6.
On the contrary stands the authority of Scripture.
I answer that, This precept is differently worded in various places:
for, as we said in the first objection, in Dt. 6 three points are
mentioned: "with thy whole heart," and "with thy whole soul," and
"with thy whole strength." In Mt. 22 we find two of these
mentioned, viz. "with thy whole heart" and "with thy whole soul,"
while "with thy whole strength" is omitted, but "with thy whole
mind" is added. Yet in Mark 12 we find all four, viz. "with thy
whole heart," and "with thy whole soul," and "with thy whole
mind," and "with thy whole force" which is the same as
"strength." Moreover, these four are indicated in Luke 10,
where in place of "strength" or "force" we read "with all thy
might."
Accordingly these four have to be explained, since the fact that one
of them is omitted here or there is due to one implying another. We
must therefore observe that love is an act of the will which is here
denoted by the "heart," because just as the bodily heart is the
principle of all the movements of the body, so too the will,
especially as regards the intention of the last end which is the object
of charity, is the principle of all the movements of the soul. Now
there are three principles of action that are moved by the will,
namely, the intellect which is signified by "the mind," the lower
appetitive power, signified by "the soul"; and the exterior
executive power signified by "strength," "force" or "might."
Accordingly we are commanded to direct our whole intention to God,
and this is signified by the words "with thy whole heart"; to submit
our intellect to God, and this is expressed in the words "with thy
whole mind"; to regulate our appetite according to God, in the words
"with thy whole soul"; and to obey God in our external actions, and
this is to love God with our whole "strength," "force" or
"might."
Chrysostom (Opus imperf. Hom. xlii, in Matth.), on the other
hand, takes "heart" and "soul" in the contrary sense; and
Augustine (De Doctr. Christ. i, 22) refers "heart" to the
thought, "soul" to the manner of life, and "mind" to the
intellect. Again some explain "with thy whole heart" as denoting the
intellect, "with thy whole soul" as signifying the will, "with thy
mind" as pointing to the memory. And again, according to Gregory of
Nyssa (De Hom. Opif. viii), "heart" signifies the vegetative
soul, "soul" the sensitive, and "mind" the intellective soul,
because our nourishment, sensation, and understanding ought all to be
referred by us to God.
This suffices for the Replies to the Objections.
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