]

Whether Charity Is Something Created in the Soul?

Objection 1: It would seem that charity is not something created in
the soul. For Augustine says (De Trin. viii, 7): "He that loveth his
neighbor, consequently, loveth love itself." Now God is love.
Therefore it follows that he loves God in the first place. Again he
says (De Trin. xv, 17): "It was said: God is Charity, even as it was
said: God is a Spirit." Therefore charity is not something created in
the soul, but is God Himself.

Obj. 2: Further, God is the life of the soul spiritually just as the
soul is the life of the body, according to Deut. 30:20: "He is thy
life." Now the soul by itself quickens the body. Therefore God
quickens the soul by Himself. But He quickens it by charity,
according to 1 John 3:14: "We know that we have passed from death to
life, because we love the brethren." Therefore God is charity itself.

Obj. 3: Further, no created thing is of infinite power; on the
contrary every creature is vanity. But charity is not vanity, indeed
it is opposed to vanity; and it is of infinite power, since it brings
the human soul to the infinite good. Therefore charity is not
something created in the soul.

On the charity, Augustine says (De Doctr. Christ. iii, 10): "By
charity I mean the movement of the soul towards the enjoyment of God
for His own sake." But a movement of the soul is something created in
the soul. Therefore charity is something created in the soul.

_I answer that,_ The Master looks thoroughly into this question in Q.
17 of the First Book, and concludes that charity is not something
created in the soul, but is the Holy Ghost Himself dwelling in the
mind. Nor does he mean to say that this movement of love whereby we
love God is the Holy Ghost Himself, but that this movement is from
the Holy Ghost without any intermediary habit, whereas other virtuous
acts are from the Holy Ghost by means of the habits of other virtues,
for instance the habit of faith or hope or of some other virtue: and
this he said on account of the excellence of charity.

But if we consider the matter aright, this would be, on the contrary,
detrimental to charity. For when the Holy Ghost moves the human mind
the movement of charity does not proceed from this motion in such a
way that the human mind be merely moved, without being the principle
of this movement, as when a body is moved by some extrinsic motive
power. For this is contrary to the nature of a voluntary