s his neighbor's spiritual downfall
when he offends or weakens him. Now scandal is condivided with
offense and weakness, for the Apostle says (Rom. 14:21): "It is good
not to eat flesh, and not to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy
brother is offended or scandalized, or weakened." Therefore the
aforesaid definition of scandal is unfitting.

_On the contrary,_ Jerome in expounding Matt. 15:12, "Dost thou know
that the Pharisees, when they heard this word," etc. says: "When we
read 'Whosoever shall scandalize,' the sense is 'Whosoever shall, by
deed or word, occasion another's spiritual downfall.'"

_I answer that,_ As Jerome observes the Greek _skandalon_ may be
rendered offense, downfall, or a stumbling against something. For
when a body, while moving along a path, meets with an obstacle, it
may happen to stumble against it, and be disposed to fall down: such
an obstacle is a _skandalon_.

In like manner, while going along the spiritual way, a man may be
disposed to a spiritual downfall by another's word or deed, in so
far, to wit, as one man by his injunction, inducement or example,
moves another to sin; and this is scandal properly so called.

Now nothing by its very nature disposes a man to spiritual downfall,
except that which has some lack of rectitude, since what is perfectly
right, secures man against a fall, instead of conducing to his
downfall. Scandal is, therefore, fittingly defined as "something less
rightly done or said, that occasions another's spiritual downfall."

Reply Obj. 1: The thought or desire of evil lies hidden in the heart,
wherefore it does not suggest itself to another man as an obstacle
conducing to his spiritual downfall: hence it cannot come under the
head of scandal.

Reply Obj. 2: A thing is said to be less right, not because something
else surpasses it in rectitude, but because it has some lack of
rectitude, either through being evil in itself, such as sin, or
through having an appearance of evil. Thus, for instance, if a man
were to "sit at meat in the idol's temple" (1 Cor. 8:10), though this
is not sinful in itself, provided it be done with no evil intention,
yet, since it has a certain appearance of evil, and a semblance of
worshipping the idol, it might occasion another man's spiritual
downfall. Hence the Apostle says (1 Thess. 5:22): "From all
appearance of evil refrain yourselves." Scandal is therefore
fittingly described as something done "less rightly," so as to
compri