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Objection 1: It would seem that fear is not a gift of the Holy
Ghost. For no gift of the Holy Ghost is opposed to a virtue, which
is also from the Holy Ghost; else the Holy Ghost would be in
opposition to Himself. Now fear is opposed to hope, which is a
virtue. Therefore fear is not a gift of the Holy Ghost.
Objection 2: Further, it is proper to a theological virtue to have
God for its object. But fear has God for its object, in so far as
God is feared. Therefore fear is not a gift, but a theological
virtue.
Objection 3: Further, fear arises from love. But love is reckoned
a theological virtue. Therefore fear also is a theological virtue,
being connected with the same matter, as it were.
Objection 4: Further, Gregory says (Moral. ii, 49) that
"fear is bestowed as a remedy against pride." But the virtue of
humility is opposed to pride. Therefore again, fear is a kind of
virtue.
Objection 5: Further, the gifts are more perfect than the virtues,
since they are bestowed in support of the virtues as Gregory says
(Moral. ii, 49). Now hope is more perfect than fear, since
hope regards good, while fear regards evil. Since, then, hope is a
virtue, it should not be said that fear is a gift.
On the contrary, The fear of the Lord is numbered among the seven
gifts of the Holy Ghost (Is. 11:3).
I answer that, Fear is of several kinds, as stated above (Article
2). Now it is not "human fear," according to Augustine (De
Gratia et Lib. Arb. xviii), "that is a gift of God"---for
it was by this fear that Peter denied Christ---but that fear of
which it was said (Mt. 10:28): "Fear Him that can destroy
both soul and body into hell."
Again servile fear is not to be reckoned among the seven gifts of the
Holy Ghost, though it is from Him, because according to Augustine
(De Nat. et Grat. lvii) it is compatible with the will to sin:
whereas the gifts of the Holy Ghost are incompatible with the will to
sin, as they are inseparable from charity, as stated above (FS,
Question 68, Article 5).
It follows, therefore, that the fear of God, which is numbered
among the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, is filial or chaste fear.
For it was stated above (FS, Question 68, Articles 1,3)
that the gifts of the Holy Ghost are certain habitual perfections of
the soul's powers, whereby these are rendered amenable to the motion
of the Holy Ghost, just as, by the moral virtues, the appetitive
powers are rendered amenable to the motion of reason. Now for a thing
to be amenable to the motion of a certain mover, the first condition
required is that it be a non-resistant subject of that mover, because
resistance of the movable subject to the mover hinders the movement.
This is what filial or chaste fear does, since thereby we revere God
and avoid separating ourselves from Him. Hence, according to
Augustine (De Serm. Dom. in Monte i, 4) filial fear holds the
first place, as it were, among the gifts of the Holy Ghost, in the
ascending order, and the last place, in the descending order.
Reply to Objection 1: Filial fear is not opposed to the virtue of
hope: since thereby we fear, not that we may fail of what we hope to
obtain by God's help, but lest we withdraw ourselves from this help.
Wherefore filial fear and hope cling together, and perfect one
another.
Reply to Objection 2: The proper and principal object of fear is
the evil shunned, and in this way, as stated above (Article 1),
God cannot be an object of fear. Yet He is, in this way, the
object of hope and the other theological virtues, since, by the virtue
of hope, we trust in God's help, not only to obtain any other
goods, but, chiefly, to obtain God Himself, as the principal
good. The same evidently applies to the other theological virtues.
Reply to Objection 3: From the fact that love is the origin of
fear, it does not follow that the fear of God is not a distinct habit
from charity which is the love of God, since love is the origin of all
the emotions, and yet we are perfected by different habits in respect
of different emotions. Yet love is more of a virtue than fear is,
because love regards good, to which virtue is principally directed by
reason of its own nature, as was shown above (FS, Question 55,
Articles 3,4); for which reason hope is also reckoned as a
virtue; whereas fear principally regards evil, the avoidance of which
it denotes, wherefore it is something less than a theological virtue.
Reply to Objection 4: According to Ecclus. 10:14, "the
beginning of the pride of man is to fall off from God," that is to
refuse submission to God, and this is opposed to filial fear, which
reveres God. Thus fear cuts off the source of pride for which reason
it is bestowed as a remedy against pride. Yet it does not follow that
it is the same as the virtue of humility, but that it is its origin.
For the gifts of the Holy Ghost are the origin of the intellectual
and moral virtues, as stated above (FS, Question 68, Article
4), while the theological virtues are the origin of the gifts, as
stated above (FS, Question 69, Article 4, ad 3).
This suffices for the Reply to the Fifth Objection.
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