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A MAN has the obligation to sustain his body, otherwise he would be a killer of himself . . . by precept, therefore, he is bound to nourish his body and likewise we are bound to all the other items without which the body can nor live.2

St. Thomas Aquinas, Super Epistolas S. Pauli (Taurini-Romae, Marietti, 1953), II Thess., Lec. II, n. 77. Translation in: Cronin, Daniel, The Moral Law in Regard to the Ordinary and Extraordinary Means of Conserving Life (Dissertatio ad Lauream in Facultate Theologica Pontificiae Universitatis Gregorianae, Romae, 1958) p. 48

IT IS inbred for a man to love his own life and those things which contribute to it, but in due measure (tamen debito proprio); that is, to love things of this kind not as though his goal were set in them, but inasmuch as they are to be used for his final end. So if a man falls below the due measure of love of temporal goods this is against the basic tendency of his nature and consequently a sin ....

SO IT is possible for someone to fear death and other temporal evils less than he should, because he loves life and its goods less than he should ....

Summa Theologica, Blackfriars Translation, Anthony Ross, O.P., and P.G.Walsh. (New York, McGraw-Hlll Book Co., 1966), II, II, q. 126, a. 1.

TEMPORAL goods ought to be despised in so far as they hinder us from love and fear of God. And in this sense they ought not to be a cause of fear; so Ecclesiasticus says (34:16), He who fears God will not tremple. But temporal goods are not to be despised in so far as they are helpful means of attaining things which promote fear and love of God.  ibid. ad. 3

It is important here to note two things: first, that by man’s “final end” Aquinas means here the happiness of eternal life with God and, second, that by “temporal goods” Aquinas means to include life on this earth. Thus, Aquinas is saying that there are temporal goods and evils and that they ought to be sought or avoided, but in due measure as this pursuit or avoidance is conducive or appropriate to the person’s final end who is God. To seek a temporal good or avoid a temporal evil, not in due measure, is to act in such a way that God, the final end, is lost sight of. Now Aquinas in this article is concerned with a lack in seeking temporal goods (aliquis deficiat a debito modo). But one can also conceive the possibility of an excess, of too much of a love for temporal goods. Just as one can sin by a lack of love for one’s life, so one can sin by an excess of such love. In either case, the test is whether the pursuit or avoidance is useful in serving to obtain the final end of knowing, loving, and serving God (secundum quod eis utendum est propter ultimum finem).

5. For example, for the teaching of Thomas Aquinas on suicide, see II,II, q. 64, a. 5; for his teaching on killing the innocent: II,II, q. 64, a. 6; on self-detense: II,II, q. 64, a. 7 and 8; on mutilation: II,II, q. 65, a. 1.

This Webpage was created for a workshop held at Saint Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo, California in 2001....x....  .