Whether Fear Is a Gift of the Holy Ghost?
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.
Obj. 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.
Obj. 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.
Obj. 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.
Obj. 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 (Isa. 11:3).
_I answer that,_ Fear is of several kinds, as stated above (A. 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 (Matt.
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 (I-II, Q. 68, A.
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 (I-II, Q. 68, AA. 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 Obj. 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 Obj. 2: The proper and principal object of fear is the evil
shunned, and in this way, as stated above (A. 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 Obj. 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 (I-II, Q. 55, AA. 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 Obj. 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 (I-II, Q. 68, A. 4), while the theological virtues are
the origin of the gifts, as stated above (I-II, Q. 69, A. 4, ad 3).
This suffices for the Reply to the Fifth Objection.
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