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Objection 1: It would seem that no sin incurs a debt of eternal
punishment. For a just punishment is equal to the fault, since
justice is equality: wherefore it is written (Is. 27:8): "In
measure against measure, when it shall be cast off, thou shalt judge
it." Now sin is temporal. Therefore it does not incur a debt of
eternal punishment.
Objection 2: Further, "punishments are a kind of medicine"
(Ethic. ii, 3). But no medicine should be infinite, because it
is directed to an end, and "what is directed to an end, is not
infinite," as the Philosopher states (Polit. i, 6). Therefore
no punishment should be infinite.
Objection 3: Further, no one does a thing always unless he delights
in it for its own sake. But "God hath not pleasure in the
destruction of men". Therefore He will not inflict eternal
punishment on man.
Objection 4: Further, nothing accidental is infinite. But
punishment is accidental, for it is not natural to the one who is
punished. Therefore it cannot be of infinite duration.
On the contrary, It is written (Mt. 25:46): "These shall
go into everlasting punishment"; and (Mk. 3:29): "He that
shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, shall never have
forgiveness, but shall be guilty of an everlasting sin."
I answer that, As stated above (Article 1), sin incurs a debt of
punishment through disturbing an order. But the effect remains so long
as the cause remains. Wherefore so long as the disturbance of the
order remains the debt of punishment must needs remain also. Now
disturbance of an order is sometimes reparable, sometimes irreparable:
because a defect which destroys the principle is irreparable, whereas
if the principle be saved, defects can be repaired by virtue of that
principle. For instance, if the principle of sight be destroyed,
sight cannot be restored except by Divine power; whereas, if the
principle of sight be preserved, while there arise certain impediments
to the use of sight, these can be remedied by nature or by art. Now
in every order there is a principle whereby one takes part in that
order. Consequently if a sin destroys the principle of the order
whereby man's will is subject to God, the disorder will be such as to
be considered in itself, irreparable, although it is possible to
repair it by the power of God. Now the principle of this order is the
last end, to which man adheres by charity. Therefore whatever sins
turn man away from God, so as to destroy charity, considered in
themselves, incur a debt of eternal punishment.
Reply to Objection 1: Punishment is proportionate to sin in point
of severity, both in Divine and in human judgments. In no judgment,
however, as Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xxi, 11) is it
requisite for punishment to equal fault in point of duration. For the
fact that adultery or murder is committed in a moment does not call for
a momentary punishment: in fact they are punished sometimes by
imprisonment or banishment for life---sometimes even by death;
wherein account is not taken of the time occupied in killing, but
rather of the expediency of removing the murderer from the fellowship of
the living, so that this punishment, in its own way, represents the
eternity of punishment inflicted by God. Now according to Gregory
(Dial. iv, 44) it is just that he who has sinned against God in
his own eternity should be punished in God's eternity. A man is said
to have sinned in his own eternity, not only as regards continual
sinning throughout his whole life, but also because, from the very
fact that he fixes his end in sin, he has the will to sin,
everlastingly. Wherefore Gregory says (Dial. iv, 44) that the
"wicked would wish to live without end, that they might abide in their
sins for ever."
Reply to Objection 2: Even the punishment that is inflicted
according to human laws, is not always intended as a medicine for the
one who is punished, but sometimes only for others: thus when a thief
is hanged, this is not for his own amendment, but for the sake of
others, that at least they may be deterred from crime through fear of
the punishment, according to Prov. 19:25: "The wicked man
being scourged, the fool shall be wiser." Accordingly the eternal
punishments inflicted by God on the reprobate, are medicinal
punishments for those who refrain from sin through the thought of those
punishments, according to Ps. 59:6: "Thou hast given a warning
to them that fear Thee, that they may flee from before the bow, that
Thy beloved may be delivered."
Reply to Objection 3: God does not delight in punishments for their
own sake; but He does delight in the order of His justice, which
requires them.
Reply to Objection 4: Although punishment is related indirectly to
nature, nevertheless it is essentially related to the disturbance of
the order, and to God's justice. Wherefore, so long as the
disturbance lasts, the punishment endures.
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