Vicious Sorrow: The Roots of a ‘Spiritual’ Sin in the Summa Theologiae
The vice of acedia deserves—and rewards—a closer reading than is implied in the old rendering ‘sloth’, or even in contemporary readings of ‘spiritual sloth’. Such is at least true in Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae, the subject of the following close (re)reading of this enigmatic vice. Investigating the...
| Autor principal: | |
|---|---|
| Tipo de documento: | Recurso Electrónico Artigo |
| Idioma: | Inglês |
| Verificar disponibilidade: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Carregar...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Publicado em: |
Sage
[2017]
|
| Em: |
Studies in Christian ethics
Ano: 2017, Volume: 30, Número: 3, Páginas: 329-347 |
| Classificações IxTheo: | CB Existência cristã KAE Idade Média Central NBE Antropologia ZD Psicologia |
| Outras palavras-chave: | B
Passions
B Summa Theologiae B Rest B Sorrow B Thomas Aquinas B Acédia B sloth |
| Acesso em linha: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Resumo: | The vice of acedia deserves—and rewards—a closer reading than is implied in the old rendering ‘sloth’, or even in contemporary readings of ‘spiritual sloth’. Such is at least true in Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae, the subject of the following close (re)reading of this enigmatic vice. Investigating the question on acedia (II-II.35) and its grounding in portions of I-II, I first establish acedia’s basis not in a sovereign spiritual ‘choice’ but in the sensitive appetite and the passion of sorrow. This turns the portrait of acedia’s ‘patients’ from those who avoid to those who embrace the labors of love, those who experience acedia’s sorrow in the very midst of pursuing divine joy. A third section steps back to show the entire problem of acedia, including its ‘slothful’ effects, in terms of this one fundamental sorrow that suppresses joy—real rest—in the Lord. I end with Thomas’s remedy, the hope-charged possibility of rising up in defense of the divine joy, turning back acedia’s sorrow at every point of its attack and reclaiming the pleasure of sharing in God’s life. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0953-9468 |
| Obras secundárias: | Enthalten in: Studies in Christian ethics
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0953946816658719 |