Whether the Fruits of the Holy Ghost Which the Apostle Enumerates
(Gal. 5) Are Acts?
Objection 1: It would seem that the fruits of the Holy Ghost,
enumerated by the Apostle (Gal. 5:22, 23), are not acts. For that
which bears fruit, should not itself be called a fruit, else we
should go on indefinitely. But our actions bear fruit: for it is
written (Wis. 3:15): "The fruit of good labor is glorious," and (John
4:36): "He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto
life everlasting." Therefore our actions are not to be called fruits.
Obj. 2: Further, as Augustine says (De Trin. x, 10), "we enjoy
[*'Fruimur', from which verb we have the Latin 'fructus' and the
English 'fruit'] the things we know, when the will rests by rejoicing
in them." But our will should not rest in our actions for their own
sake. Therefore our actions should not be called fruits.
Obj. 3: Further, among the fruits of the Holy Ghost, the Apostle
numbers certain virtues, viz. charity, meekness, faith, and chastity.
Now virtues are not actions but habits, as stated above (Q. 55, A.
1). Therefore the fruits are not actions.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Matt. 12:33): "By the fruit the
tree is known"; that is to say, man is known by his works, as holy
men explain the passage. Therefore human actions are called fruits.
_I answer that,_ The word "fruit" has been transferred from the
material to the spiritual world. Now fruit, among material things, is
the product of a plant when it comes to perfection, and has a certain
sweetness. This fruit has a twofold relation: to the tree that
produces it, and to the man who gathers the fruit from the tree.
Accordingly, in spiritual matters, we may take the word "fruit" in
two ways: first, so that the fruit of man, who is likened to the
tree, is that which he produces; secondly, so that man's fruit is
what he gathers.
Yet not all that man gathers is fruit, but only that which is last
and gives pleasure. For a man has both a field and a tree, and yet
these are not called fruits; but that only which is last, to wit,
that which man intends to derive from the field and from the tree. In
this sense man's fruit is his last end which is intended for his
enjoyment.
If, however, by man's fruit we understand a product of man, then
human actions are called fruits: because operation is the second act
of the operator, and gives pleasure if it is suitable to him. If then
man's operation proceeds from man in virtue of his reason, it is said
to be the fruit of his reason: but if it proceeds from him in respect
of a higher power, which is the power of the Holy Ghost, then man's
operation is said to be the fruit of the Holy Ghost, as of a Divine
seed, for it is written (1 John 3:9): "Whosoever is born of God,
committeth no sin, for His seed abideth in him."
Reply Obj. 1: Since fruit is something last and final, nothing
hinders one fruit bearing another fruit, even as one end is
subordinate to another. And so our works, in so far as they are
produced by the Holy Ghost working in us, are fruits: but, in so far
as they are referred to the end which is eternal life, they should
rather be called flowers: hence it is written (Ecclus. 24:23): "My
flowers are the fruits of honor and riches."
Reply Obj. 2: When the will is said to delight in a thing for its own
sake, this may be understood in two ways. First, so that the
expression "for the sake of" be taken to designate the final cause;
and in this way, man delights in nothing for its own sake, except the
last end. Secondly, so that it expresses the formal cause; and in
this way, a man may delight in anything that is delightful by reason
of its form. Thus it is clear that a sick man delights in health, for
its own sake, as in an end; in a nice medicine, not as in an end, but
as in something tasty; and in a nasty medicine, nowise for its own
sake, but only for the sake of something else. Accordingly we must
say that man must delight in God for His own sake, as being his last
end, and in virtuous deeds, not as being his end, but for the sake of
their inherent goodness which is delightful to the virtuous. Hence
Ambrose says (De Parad. xiii) that virtuous deeds are called fruits
because "they refresh those that have them, with a holy and genuine
delight."
Reply Obj. 3: Sometimes the names of the virtues are applied to their
actions: thus Augustine writes (Tract. xl in Joan.): "Faith is to
believe what thou seest not"; and (De Doctr. Christ. iii, 10):
"Charity is the movement of the soul in loving God and our neighbor."
It is thus that the names of the virtues are used in reckoning the
fruits.
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