Thomas Aquinas

Above the apostle instructed Timothy about the use of foods and about the persons to whom the Church ministered nourishment; here he treats of other persons belonging to the people of the Church. And first, of persons of the lowest condition; second, of persons of higher condition, there, *to the rich*. Concerning the first he does three things: for first he sets down instruction about servants; second he refutes the contrary assertion, there, *if anyone otherwise*; third he warns them to avoid the contrary and to keep to what has been said, there, *but you*. Again, the first is divided into two: first he shows what is to be held; second he teaches that this is to be taught, there, *teach these things*. Again, first he shows how servants should conduct themselves toward unbelieving masters; second, how toward believing ones, there, *but those who*. He says therefore: *whoever are servants under the yoke*, namely, on account of servile condition, which is called a yoke by a likeness; because just as oxen are held under a yoke, so that it is not permitted them to go where they wish, so servants are under a master, so that it is not permitted them to do what they wish. Gal. 5:1: *do not again be held under the yoke of servitude*. *With all honor*, that is, with due reverence. Eph. 6:5: *servants, obey your carnal masters with all fear and trembling, in simplicity of your heart, as to Christ*. The reason for this is *lest the name of the Lord and the doctrine be blasphemed*. For if masters, seeing their unbelieving servants rebellious out of regard for the faith, they would condemn the name of Christ and blaspheme our doctrine. Rom. 2:24: *the name of Christ is blasphemed through you*. Those, therefore, who have unbelieving masters, let them obey them, lest the name of God, etc. But how toward believers? *But those who have believing masters, let them not despise them*, which sometimes happens, when familiarity is shown to those of lowest station, namely, that they are puffed up into pride. Prov. 30:21: *by three things the earth is moved, and a fourth it cannot bear: by a servant when he reigns*. And the reason for this, according to the Philosopher, is that men reason falsely in such matters; for if in one respect they see themselves equal, they believe that they are equal in all things, and are unwilling to be subject to them in anything, just as in civil wars, because the common people are not subject, they believe that they are wholly equal to the nobles. And thus it could happen that servants, seeing themselves equal to their masters in some respect, namely in faith, might reckon themselves simply equal. And therefore he says *let them not despise them*. And he sets down three things. The first is the gift of faith. Hence he says *because they are believers*, and this is very great, because the just man lives by faith. Also by it the world is overcome. The second is the dignity of divine love; therefore he says *beloved*, namely, more excellently than other creatures, because they are adopted as sons of God. 1 Jn. 3:1: *see what manner of love the Father has given us, that we should be called and should be sons of God*. The third is the benefit of grace; therefore he says *because they are partakers of the benefit*, namely as regards the sacrament of the Lord. 1 Cor. 10:16: *the bread which we break, is it not a sharing in the body of the Lord?* Ps. 118:63: *I am a partaker with all who fear you*. *Teach these things*, namely to those who do not know, *and exhort*, that those who know may fulfill them. Titus 2:15: *speak these things*, etc.

Then, when he says *if anyone*, he excludes the contrary assertion. And first the manner of false doctrine; second its root, there, *proud*; third its effect, there, *from which*. If you wish to know what doctrine is erroneous, he shows this from three things. First, if it is contrary to ecclesiastical doctrine. And therefore he says *if anyone teaches otherwise*, namely than I and the other apostles, as to the first. Gal. 1:9: *if anyone preaches a gospel to you other than what you have received, let him be anathema*. For the doctrine of the apostles and prophets is called canonical, because it is, as it were, the rule of our understanding. And therefore no one ought to teach otherwise. Deut. 4:2: *you shall not add to the word which I speak to you, nor take away from it*. Apoc. ult.: *if anyone adds to these things, God will add upon him the plagues written in this book*. As to the second he says *and does not consent*, etc. For the Lord Jesus came that he might bear witness to the truth. Jn. 18:37: *for this I was born, and for this I came into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth*. And therefore he was sent by the Father as teacher and master. 1 Macc. 2:65: *listen to him always, and he will be a father to you*, etc. And therefore whoever does not consent to his words is in error. 1 Kings 15:23: *to rebel is like the sin of divination, and to be unwilling to consent is like the crime of idolatry*. And he says *sound*, because in the words of Christ there is nothing of corruption, nothing of falsity or perversity, because they are the words of divine wisdom. Prov. 8:8-9: *my words are just, there is nothing crooked or perverse in them; they are right to those who understand, and equitable to those who find knowledge*. As to the third, Prov. 6:20: *keep, my son, the precepts of your father, and do not abandon the law of your mother*. Hence he says *and to that doctrine which is according to piety*, namely ecclesiastical doctrine. This piety is through the worship of God. Titus 1:1: *according to the knowledge of the truth, which is according to piety*.

The root of error, however, is twofold, namely the disposition of pride, and defect of intellect. As to the first he says *proud*. Now pride is called the root of errors in two ways: first because the proud wish to meddle with things they cannot attain to, and therefore it is necessary that they err and fail. Isa. 16:6: *his pride, and his arrogance, and his indignation are more than his strength*, etc. Also because they are unwilling to subject their understanding to another, but rely on their own prudence, and therefore are unwilling to obey sacred Scripture. Against this it is said, Prov. 3:5: *do not rely on your own prudence*. Prov. 11:2: *where there is humility, there is wisdom*. Also, defect of intellect. Here it must be known that just as in the body health is a certain equality of humors, so truth is a certain equality in the intellect, because truth is the adequation of thing and intellect. Hence just as one who is weak, when he does not have equality of constitution, is harmed by slight contrary accidents, so in the intellect, when a man is not founded in truth, nor has the power by which he can judge truth, he falls into error from any difficulty of a question whatsoever. Hence he says *sick about questions*, etc. Wisd. 9:5: *man is weak and of short time, and of lesser understanding of judgment and of laws*. As Boethius says, *the intellect is related to reason as the circle is to the center*. For reason proceeds discursively, considering the acts and defects and relation of one thing to another. And unless it resolves as far as the understanding of truth, reason is vain. Hence when it grasps the truth of a thing, it has it as it were as a center. But some proceed discursively and do not attain it. 2 Tim. 3:7: *always learning, and never coming to the knowledge of the truth*. And therefore he says *about questions*, that is, not arriving at the very center. And he says *questions*, etc., because in some matters doubt arises on the part of the thing, in others on the part of words and names. And therefore he says *questions*, as to the first, namely concerning things. Above, 1:4: *which questions promote rather than the edification of God, which is in faith*. As to the second he says *fights of words*. Prov. 19:8: *he who pursues only words will have nothing*. And he says *fights of words*, which is understood when a dissension arises from words alone. Because the Lord says, Jn. 8:36: *if the son shall make you free, you will truly be free*, and Matt. 17:25: *therefore the sons are free*, if from this some wished to infer that all Catholics, just as they are sons of God, so also would be free, it would be a fight of words, because the Lord there speaks of spiritual liberty, not carnal.

Then, when he says *from which*, etc., he sets down the effect of error. And first he sets down the effect itself; second he clarifies certain things he had said, there, *but it is gain*. Again, first he shows what evils follow from false doctrine; second, in whom, there, *of men corrupted in mind*. Among the evils which he sets down, some are within, in the heart, some are external. Internal are the disordered movements with respect to good, or with respect to evil. With respect to good is envy, which is sadness at another's good; hence he says *envies*, which can be understood either in the matter at hand, or universally, because when some labor not for the truth but only for words, they do not bear it with equanimity if someone prevails. Job 5:2: *envy slays the little one*. Also in the matter at hand, because if servants are held as free and not subject, masters will envy and grieve that servants are made equal to them. Now from envy a man rises up against the neighbor whom he envies. And this is contention. Prov. 20:3: *it is an honor for a man to separate himself from contentions*. Or he rises up against God, and this is blasphemy. 2 Pet. 2:12: *blaspheming what they do not know*, etc. With respect to evil, however, is suspicion; hence he says *evil suspicions*, namely of masters against Christians, as though we had feigned liberty for gain, or that the whole of Christian doctrine had been invented only so that servants might become free. Ecclus. 3:26: *the suspicion of them has supplanted many, and has held their minds in vanity*. And from these follow conflicts against the faithful. Gen. 13:7: *there arose a quarrel between the herdsmen of Abraham's flocks and Lot's*. But this is not in the hearts of all, but of some. And he sets down three conditions of these, of which the first pertains to a defect of natural light, the second to a defect of knowledge, the third to a vice of disordered affection. As to the first he says *of men corrupted in mind*, that is, even in natural reason, who have a perverse judgment. Ps. 13:1: *they are corrupted, and have become abominable*. As to the second he says *deprived of the truth*, namely of the knowledge of it. Hos. 4:1: *there is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God in the land*. As to the third he says *esteeming gain to be piety*, that is, that the worship of God is ordered toward gain and the acquisition of riches. Wisd. 15:12: *they have esteemed our life to be a game, and our manner of living to be arranged for profit, and that one ought to acquire even from evil, from whatever source*. Men of this kind, therefore, who believe this, easily despise and fall into the aforesaid evils.

Then, when he says *but it is*, he finally declares what he had said, namely that gain is piety. And first he shows how piety is related to gain; second he shows that it does not consist in the gain of external riches, there, *for those who wish*. Again, first he shows the first point; second he assigns the reason, there, *for we brought nothing*. He says therefore: those men say that gain is piety; but I say that piety is gain; therefore he adds *with sufficiency*, but of those riches which give sufficiency. And this consists in two things. In one principally, namely piety, which orders other things to God and neighbor, and these are the virtues and gifts of grace. Wisd. 7:14: *for it is an infinite treasure to men, which they who have used, have been made partakers of the friendship of God*. Second, in the sustenance of life; hence he says *with sufficiency*, that is, in those things which are necessary for life. Matt. 6:33: *seek first the kingdom of God and his justice*, etc. Above, 4:8: *piety is useful for all things*. Then, when he says *for we brought nothing*, etc., he assigns the reason for this. And first from the human condition; second from its necessity, there, *having*. Now he sets down the condition as to two things, namely as to the beginning, because *we brought nothing into this world*, etc.; as if to say: necessity suffices, superfluity is not expedient, because *we brought nothing into this world*. Job 1:21: *naked I came forth from my mother's womb*. Also as to the end, because *we shall carry nothing away*. Ps. 75:5: *they have slept their sleep, and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands*. Job 27:19: *the rich man, when he shall sleep, shall carry nothing with him; he shall open his eyes, and shall find nothing*. Eccle. 5:15: *as he came, so shall he return*. As to necessity he says *having food, and with which we may be covered*, because goods exist on account of necessity, which man needs against what is consumed internally, and these are food; or against what is corrupted externally, and thus man needs the coverings of clothing and houses. Heb. ult.: *let your manner of life be without avarice, content with what is present*. Ecclus. 29:28: *the beginning of the life of man is water and bread, and clothing, and a house protecting shame*.