Summa Theologiae Moralis, vol. I: De Principiis

808. Principle I. Hope is necessary by necessity of means. — By necessity of means for salvation, both for little ones and for adults, from the nature of the thing, the habit of hope is necessary, because without it charity cannot be had (C. Trid., sess. 6, c. 7).

By necessity of means for justification, and in this way for salvation, for adults having the use of reason, from the nature of the thing, the act of hope is necessary. For no one can have supernatural contrition for sin unless he hopes for forgiveness; no one will be justified unless he hopes to be justified by God (C. Trid., sess. 14, c. 4; sess. 6, c. 6).

809. Principle II. Hope is necessary by necessity of precept. — The act of hope is also necessary by necessity of precept, not only for sinners that they may arrive at justice, but also for the just; not only ordinarily and regularly, but always and for all, even the perfect.

The Quietists deny the necessity of hope for the perfect¹, thus they speak of a quietness or indifference about one's own salvation, who said that perfection consists in a passive act received and continuous of contemplation and love, and in a passivity excluding all desire of beatitude, all activity in good works, indeed all resistance to temptations. Likewise the Semi-Quietists, saying that there is a habitual state of pure love and consummate perfection, which excludes the fear of punishments, the desire of beatitude, and consequently the exercise of hope.

Now these opinions were condemned as erroneous, respectively by Innocent XI (20 Nov. 1687, cfr. prop. 7 and 12 Molinos) and by Innocent XII (12 March 1699, prop. 1, 2 and 11 Fénelon); and rightly.

It is clear: 1) From the Scriptures, in which faith is called the substance of things to be hoped for, to which therefore hope naturally follows; but faith is necessary for all. Whence also in many places, either in the manner of a promise or in the manner of an admonition, hope is commended and indeed for all (Ps. IV; LXI, 9; Sap. II, 22; Eccli. II, 6; Os. XII; I Cor. IX, 24, 25; Rom. XII, 12; VIII, 23-25; Col. I, 4, 5; I Thes. V, 8; Tit. II, 13; Heb. III, 6; VI, 18, 19; I Tim. VI, 17; I Jn. III, 3). Which suppose that the act of hope must be elicited at least sometimes.

2) From the necessity of good works: eternal salvation is given to all adults as a reward and not as a pure inheritance; but no one works for a reward unless he has confidence and hope of obtaining it. Whence C. Trid., sess. 6, can. 26:

"If anyone says that the just ought not to expect and hope for eternal retribution from God, for the good works which are done in God, through his mercy and the merit of Jesus Christ, if they persevere in doing well and keeping the divine commandments until the end; a. s." Cfr. Phil. III, 14; II Tim. IV, 8.

3) From the necessity of prayer for perseverance; but prayer to God supposes and includes hope (Jas. I, 6); whence also in the Lord's Prayer we are commanded to express the desire of beatitude and to ask for it: Thy kingdom come.

4) From the nature of pure love or perfect charity, which does not exclude the desire and hope of beatitude. The perfection of charity consists namely a) on the part of the act of love, in this that one's own good is not the motive of the act of charity itself, and b) on the part of the state of the one loving, that all acts are ordered to charity and so stand under the end of charity, which is God to be loved and glorified for himself; — not however that other acts are excluded, e.g. that we should not desire beatitude, since this is a condition required that we may perfectly love God for himself, and so it can be ordered to God to be glorified for himself. Whence indifference to beatitude and salvation is altogether impossible speaking of beatitude in the abstract; it is sinful speaking of beatitude as in the concrete it consists in God, indeed it renders charity impossible².

But if the adversaries have an imperfect hope, they err. The whole imperfection is in this, that we do not possess God, which is the imperfection of the state of the way, not of hope itself. And although this is less perfect than charity, it is nevertheless in itself perfect, as being a true virtue uniting to God, as we are now to see.