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A COMPARISON OF THE THOMISTIC AND SCOTISTIC CONCEPTS OJ;-. HOPE HE problem of pure love is a recurrent one in various branches of philosophy. Whether it be the conflict between the ecstatic physical concept of love,' as derived from the philosophy of Aristotle and Plato, or the " egoism "' and " altruism " of psychologists, or the interested and disinterested love of the theologian, problem remains the same. Must man seek his own good everything he loves, or can he love something purely for its own sake without any reference to himself? Theologians take their stand in the matter according to answer to whether man love God in the impossible situation that He were not man's good. St. Thomas says man could not love even God under these circumstances.2 Scotus, on the hand, because the love of benevolence is an act distinct from the love of concupiscence, maintains that even if God were not man's good, man would be able to love Him according to the affection of justice.3 Because of the similarities in the nature of charity and of hope, both being acts of the will tending toward the good, any radical change in the concept of charity is naturally reflected in 1 Cf. Dom Gregory Steyens, 0. S. B., "The Disinterested Love of God," The Thomist, XVI (1953), 307-333, 497-541; also, Rousselot's The Problem of Love in the Middle Ages. 2 Summa Theol., II-II, q. !26, a. 13, ad 3: "Dato enim per impossibile quod Deus non esset hominis bonum, non esset ei ratio diligendi." Cf. I, q. 60, a. 5, ad 2: "Non enim esset in natura alicujus quod amaret Deum, nisi ex eo quod unumquodque dependet a bono quod est Deus." 8 Joannes Duns Scotus, Liber Ill Sententiarum, Opem, Tomus VII, P. I. II, Durand (Lyons, 1639), d. 27, q. un., !2: "Haec virtus (caritas) distincta est , .. similiter a spe, quia actus eius non est eoncupiscere bonum amanti, inquantum est commodum amantis, sed tendere in obiectum secundum se, etiamsi per impossibile circumscriberetur ab eo commoditas eius ad amantem. Hanc virtutem perficientem voluntatem inquantum habet affectionem justitiae, voco caritatem." 27 SISTER MARY MICHAEL GLENN the concept of hope. In its widest acceptation, hope is the desire of something, together with the expectation of obtaining it. The conflict of ideas as to the nature of charity resulted in a difference of opinion as to which of these elements actually determines the nature of hope. This is the aspect of the problem that will be studied here. Traditionally, that is, according to the Scriptures, the Fathers and St. Thomas, the element of confidence or expectation is regarded as the distinctive characteristic of the virtue of hope. Within the last three centuries, however, there has been a growing trend toward the identification of hope with the element of concupiscible love, that is, the desire of God, not for His own sake, but because in Him we find our own happiness and perfection. Father DeLetter, in his study on "Hope and Charity," 4 attributes this change of concept to the combined teaching of the theologians, Duns Scotus, an English Franciscan, who lived from 1270 to 1308, and Francis Suarez, a Spanish Jesuit (1548-1617) . This new concept of hope identifying it with interested love made the virtue of hope the object of the attacks of many overzealous Christians who exaggerated the love of charity peculiar to the gospel. Although the basic Protestant doctrine of justifying faith, i. e., joyous confidence in the forgiveness of sin, would seem to be motivated by self-interest, both Luther and Calvin very illogically championed the cause of purely disinterested love and rejected as sinful whatever was done only through consideration of eternal reward, or "amor concupiscentiae." 5 There is, however, an inner connection between Luther's doctrine of justification and his view of love. Just as justification is the exclusive work of God and the will to purify oneself first by good works before taking refuge in Him is unwarranted presumption, so Christian love is not strictly concerned with the love with which we love God, but essentially with the love 4 P. DeLetter, S. J., "Hope and Charity in...

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