Christ and Spirituality in St. Thomas Aquinas

3. Charity as Friendship in St. Thomas Aquinas

45 3 Charity as Friendship in St.Thomas Aquinas Saint Thomas is far from being the only person ever to have used the term “friendship” to describe our affective relations with God. The great Cistercian authors of the twelfth century, among which St. Bernard was the most preeminent, did so well before Thomas and with a rare refinement inspired largely by Cicero’s treatise De amicitia. Between them and Thomas, however, one can pick up on two differences that noticeably change the tone of discourse and, in a certain sense, change its content as well. First, Thomas was the first to formally define charity as friendship. Moreover, his definition depends upon a direct reading of Aristotle, and no longer upon that of Aristotle ’s Latin popularizers. The result is a more rigorous approach that doubtlessly renders his writing a little less attractive to read than that of his predecessors, whose style was of a rare beauty. At the same time, what his work loses in style it gains in precision and analytical profundity, all the while retaining its ability to seduce. I Call You Friends The point of departure lies in Jesus’ solemn declaration the night of the Last Supper: “No longer do I call you servants...I have called 46 Charity as Friendship you friends” (Jn 15:15). If Jesus speaks in this way, Thomas remarks, it is evidently in virtue of the love of charity that he had for his own. Thus, charity is a kind of friendship. But, he continues, not any love whatsoever merits the name of friendship. It must first of all be a love of benevolence, that is to say, a love by which we want a good for our beloved and, better yet, the good for the beloved. If we dwell on the formidable range of meanings attributable to the word “love,” the need for precision becomes evident. A person can love wine or horses or still other things, but these cannot be spoken of in terms of love of benevolence. Rather, the feeling we have in their regard reveals a love of desire (of concupiscence, says Thomas). In this last case, it is not the good of the thing loved that I desire, but rather my own good. I have pleasure in seeing or in riding a beautiful horse, I savor a fine wine, but I cannot say that I feel a love of friendship for them. The word “benevolence” is therefore to be taken in the strongest sense. It is something completely different than the spontaneous sympathy we might feel for someone who has a pleasing appearance and whom we will not see again (this is the example of Thomas, following Aristotle), or what we feel for the contestant that we hope will win an athletic contest. The benevolence that enters into the love of friendship is a more profound affective sentiment. It engages a person in a spiritual choice. Only a person—not a thing or an animal—can be its beneficiary, because we can really only will the good of a person, of a subject. In an age when many people seem to feel more affection for their pet than for their neighbor, it is worth meditating on this distinction: “Friendship cannot exist except towards rational creatures, who are capable of returning love (redamatio ) and of a sharing (communicatio) in the various works of life, and who may fare well or ill, who may experience good fortune and happiness, and in relation to whom one can properly experience benevolence . But irrational creatures cannot attain to loving God, nor to a share in the intellectual and beatific life that he lives” (ST Ia, q. 20, a. 2, ad. 3). Charity as Friendship 47 Moreover, it is the person loved that allows us to make the distinction between the two types of love. Every love implies that a person wills the good for “someone,” but it is this “someone” that is most important. If I will this good for the beloved, this love of the other, it can eventually become the love of friendship. If, however, I will this good for myself, then this is the love of self. The love of self is not necessarily reprehensible, because I, too, am a person who may legitimately seek to obtain and preserve certain goods (health, life, grace, virtue, God himself). This love, however, can easily turn into a mere love...