se both whatever is sinful in itself, and all that has an
appearance of evil.

Reply Obj. 3: As stated above (I-II, Q. 75, AA. 2, 3; I-II, Q. 80, A.
1), nothing can be a sufficient cause of a man's spiritual downfall,
which is sin, save his own will. Wherefore another man's words or
deeds can only be an imperfect cause, conducing somewhat to that
downfall. For this reason scandal is said to afford not a cause, but
an occasion, which is an imperfect, and not always an accidental
cause. Nor is there any reason why certain definitions should not
make mention of things that are accidental, since what is accidental
to one, may be proper to something else: thus the accidental cause is
mentioned in the definition of chance (Phys. ii, 5).

Reply Obj. 4: Another's words or deed may be the cause of another's
sin in two ways, directly and accidentally. Directly, when a man
either intends, by his evil word or deed, to lead another man into
sin, or, if he does not so intend, when his deed is of such a nature
as to lead another into sin: for instance, when a man publicly
commits a sin or does something that has an appearance of sin. In
this case he that does such an act does, properly speaking, afford an
occasion of another's spiritual downfall, wherefore his act is called
"active scandal." One man's word or deed is the accidental cause of
another's sin, when he neither intends to lead him into sin, nor does
what is of a nature to lead him into sin, and yet this other one,
through being ill-disposed, is led into sin, for instance, into envy
of another's good, and then he who does this righteous act, does not,
so far as he is concerned, afford an occasion of the other's
downfall, but it is this other one who takes the occasion according
to Rom. 7:8: "Sin taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me
all manner of concupiscence." Wherefore this is "passive," without
"active scandal," since he that acts rightly does not, for his own
part, afford the occasion of the other's downfall. Sometimes
therefore it happens that there is active scandal in the one together
with passive scandal in the other, as when one commits a sin being
induced thereto by another; sometimes there is active without passive
scandal, for instance when one, by word or deed, provokes another to
sin, and the latter does not consent; and sometimes there is passive
without active scandal, as we have already said.

Reply Obj. 5: "Weakness" denotes proneness to scand