Category Archives: apologetics

Aquinas and Augustine on Fraternal Correction

The what, when, why, and where of telling someone
they are doing something wrong.
     

A friend and fellow Catholic asked me the following the other day.

“Fraternal correction… Summa says its a matter of precept and a spiritual work of Mercy.. Augustine further states that if we FAIL to correct the sinner then we become worse than the sinner…

So, how do we personally judge whether it is perceptual to fraternally correct, or best to stay silent…”

————————
To answer his question, I looked over St. Thomas’ Summa Theologiae, and Augustine’s City of God, the wrote the following response. Saint Thomas harmonizes with Augustine, actually treating Augustine’s doctrine in his own article on fraternal correction.

Thomas essentially fleshes out Augustine’s thought line developed in Augustine’s City of God, saying that fraternal correction is a precept – an ordinance or command. However, the gravity of the matter, and the time and circumstance, and possible adverse reaction, may impact where, how, and when you correct someone else.

Thomas, by stating that fraternal correction is a Divine precept, only reenforces Augustine’s teaching, and simply augmented it by showing how, if you correct someone at the wrong time, the wrong way, or for the wrong thing, you actual cause problems instead of solving them.

In the Summa Theologiae, in the 2nd part of the 2nd part, Question 33, Answer 2, Thomas lays out several major objections and answers, but Objection 3 and its answer is the most important to my friend’s question.

Objection 3. Further, the omission of a Divine precept is a mortal sin, which has no place in a holy man. Yet holy and spiritual men are found to omit fraternal correction: since Augustine says (De Civ. Dei i, 9): “Not only those of low degree, but also those of high position, refrain from reproving others, moved by a guilty cupidity, not by the claims of charity.” therefore fraternal correction is not a matter of precept.

——————–
Reply to Objection 3. Fraternal correction may be omitted in three ways.

First, meritoriously, when out of charity one omits to correct someone. For Augustine says (De Civ. Dei i, 9): “If a man refrains from chiding and reproving wrongdoers, because he awaits a suitable time for so doing, or because he fears lest, if he does so, they may become worse, or hinder, oppress, or turn away from the faith, others who are weak and need to be instructed in a life of goodness and virtue, this does not seem to result from covetousness, but to be counselled by charity.”

Secondly, fraternal correction may be omitted in such a way that one commits a mortal sin, namely, “when” (as he says in the same passage) “one fears what people may think, or lest one may suffer grievous pain or death; provided, however, that the mind is so dominated by such things, that it gives them the preference to fraternal charity.” This would seem to be the case when a man reckons that he might probably withdraw some wrongdoer from sin, and yet omits to do so, through fear or covetousness.

Thirdly, such an omission is a venial sin, when through fear or covetousness, a man is loth to correct his brother’s faults, and yet not to such a degree, that if he saw clearly that he could withdraw him from sin, he would still forbear from so doing, through fear or covetousness, because in his own mind he prefers fraternal charity to these things. It is in this way that holy men sometimes omit to correct wrongdoers.

————————————————————
For my part, correction involves truth, charity, humility, and appropriateness. It is rare that a circumstance arises where you would not, at some point, correct someone you know is living, or believing, falsely. Keep the following in mind:

  • God is Truth, and attesting to truth is attesting to Him, seeing the world as He does, not as mere men to. Try to know the person will understand what you are correcting is a matter of truth.
  • Charity is love of neighbor for the love of God. You need to know your motivation for correction is sincerely for the betterment of the other person(s), and that reason only.
  • You have to decrease, so that He might increase. Correct the person in as gentle a way as possible, seeking the right time and way in prayer, so that the person sees sincerity and meekness, not self-righteousness or self-importance.

Lastly, try to ascertain how knowledgeable they are about their false behavior or belief, so that you are genuinely raising a concern to someone that may not know their error. If they know they are in error, it becomes a matter of reenforcing correction, and dealing with a hardened heart. Bear in mind this applies to omission #1 above.Know who you are correcting. Some people may not hear anything but bluntness. Others need a soft glove. Let the Holy Spirit be your guide in correcting others, so as to be conformed to the Divine Will.

In Christ Who is Truth Itself,

Todd

{or would that be Papa Todd?}
Thank you for following Raising (& Teaching) Little Saints! Visit us again soon!

150 Reasons Why I’m Catholic (and you should be too)

One Hundred Fifty Reasons I’m Catholic
And You Should Be Too!
by Dave Armstrong

1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church conforms much more closely to all of the biblical data, offers the only coherent view of the history of Christianity (i.e., Christian, apostolic Tradition), and possesses the most profound and sublime Christian morality, spirituality, social ethic, and philosophy.

2. Alternate: I am a Catholic because I sincerely believe, by virtue of much cumulative evidence, that Catholicism is true, and that the Catholic Church is the visible Church divinely-established by our Lord Jesus, against which the gates of hell cannot and will not prevail (Mt 16:18), thereby possessing an authority to which I feel bound in Christian duty to submit.

3. 2nd Alternate: I left Protestantism because it was seriously deficient in its interpretation of the Bible (e.g., “faith alone” and many other “Catholic” doctrines – see evidences below), inconsistently selective in its espousal of various Catholic Traditions (e.g., the Canon of the Bible), inadequate in its ecclesiology, lacking a sensible view of Christian history (e.g., “Scripture alone”), compromised morally (e.g., contraception, divorce), and unbiblically schismatic, anarchical, and relativistic. I don’t therefore believe that Protestantism is all bad (not by a long shot), but these are some of the major deficiencies I eventually saw as fatal to the “theory” of Protestantism, over against Catholicism. All Catholics must regard baptized, Nicene, Chalcedonian Protestants as Christians.

4. Catholicism isn’t formally divided and sectarian (Jn 17:20-23Rom 16:171 Cor 1:10-13).

5. Catholic unity makes Christianity and Jesus more believable to the world (Jn 17:23).

6. Catholicism, because of its unified, complete, fully supernatural Christian vision, mitigates against secularization and humanism.

7. Catholicism avoids an unbiblical individualism which undermines Christian community (e.g., 1 Cor 12:25-26).

8. Catholicism avoids theological relativism, by means of dogmatic certainty and the centrality of the papacy.

9. Catholicism avoids ecclesiological anarchism – one cannot merely jump to another denomination when some disciplinary measure or censure is called for.

10. Catholicism formally (although, sadly, not always in practice) prevents the theological relativism which leads to the uncertainties within the Protestant system among laypeople.

11. Catholicism rejects the “State Church,” which has led to governments dominating Christianity rather than vice-versa.

12. Protestant State Churches greatly influenced the rise of nationalism, which mitigated against universal equality and Christian universalism (i.e., Catholicism).

13. Unified Catholic Christendom (before the 16th century) had not been plagued by the tragic religious wars which in turn led to the “Enlightenment,” in which men rejected the hypocrisy of inter-Christian warfare and decided to become indifferent to religion rather than letting it guide their lives.

14. Catholicism retains the elements of mystery, supernatural, and the sacred in Christianity, thus opposing itself to secularization, where the sphere of the religious in life becomes greatly limited.

15. Protestant individualism led to the privatization of Christianity, whereby it is little respected in societal and political life, leaving the “public square” barren of Christian influence.

16. The secular false dichotomy of “church vs. world” has led committed orthodox Christians, by and large, to withdraw from politics, leaving a void filled by pagans, cynics, unscrupulous, and power-hungry. Catholicism offers a framework in which to approach the state and civic responsibility.

17. Protestantism leans too much on mere traditions of men (every denomination stems from one Founder’s vision. As soon as two or more of these contradict each other, error is necessarily present).

18. Protestant churches (esp. evangelicals), are far too often guilty of putting their pastors on too high of a pedestal. In effect, every pastor becomes a “pope,” to varying degrees (some are “super-popes”). Because of this, evangelical congregations often experience a severe crisis and/or split up when a pastor leaves, thus proving that their philosophy is overly man-centered, rather than God-centered.

19. Protestantism, due to lack of real authority and dogmatic structure, is tragically prone to accommodation to the spirit of the age, and moral faddism.

20. Catholicism retains apostolic succession, necessary to know what is true Christian apostolic Tradition. It was the criterion of Christian truth used by the early Christians.



To read the 130 other reasons, please visit Our Catholic Faith.

Thank you for following Raising (& Teaching) Little Saints! Visit us again soon!