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Wood hay stubble

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Often appears with: venial sin in itself · the problem of evil and theodicy · temporal punishment · spiritual foundation · sin, guilt, and repentance · question 89 · purgatory · judgment, heaven, and hell · equity, mercy, and pardon · crime and punishment · anger, revenge, and forgiveness · angels and original sin

Usually: commentary or gloss (1) · list or catalogue (1) · reconciliation (1) · curiosity (1) · detachment (1) · reverence (1)

Quotable
“Now, just as in the body there is a twofold comeliness, one resulting from the inward disposition of the members and colors, the other resulting from outward refulgence supervening, so too, in the soul, there is a twofold comeliness, one habitual and, so to speak, intrinsic, the other actual like an outward flash of light.” Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, Summa Theologica, Part I-II (Pars Prima Secundae) · observation

Summa Theologica, Part I-II (Pars Prima Secundae) primary

Thomas, Aquinas, Saint · c. 1265–1273
PART I-II ("Prima Secundae") > Part (Suppl., Q. 78, A. 1, Obj. 1). If, however, it be true, as others hold, that they will never die, (an opinion which Jerome mentions among others in a letter to Minerius, on the Resurrection of the Body--Ep. cxix), then we must say in reply to the objection, that although they are not to die, the debt of death is none the less in them, and that the punishment of death will be remitted by God, since (48/52)

Thomas introduces Question 89 on venial sin in itself and lists six inquiries, including whether venial sin stains the soul, its metaphorical kinds (wood/hay/stubble), and its relation to original sin and angels.

Whether Venial Sin Causes a Stain on the Soul? Objection 1: It would seem that venial sin causes a stain in the soul. For Augustine says (De Poenit.) [*Hom. 50, inter. L., 2], that if venial sins be multiplied, they destroy the beauty of our souls so as to deprive us of the embraces of our heavenly spouse. But the stain of sin is nothing else but the loss of the soul's beauty. Therefore venial sins cause a stain in …

Summa Theologica, Part I-II (Pars Prima Secundae) primary

Thomas, Aquinas, Saint · c. 1265–1273
PART I-II ("Prima Secundae") > Part (Suppl., Q. 78, A. 1, Obj. 1). If, however, it be true, as others hold, that they will never die, (an opinion which Jerome mentions among others in a letter to Minerius, on the Resurrection of the Body--Ep. cxix), then we must say in reply to the objection, that although they are not to die, the debt of death is none the less in them, and that the punishment of death will be remitted by God, since (50/52)

Thomas explains why Scripture calls venial sins “wood, hay, and stubble”: they are “beside” the foundation of faith quickened by charity, so they are burned away and still allow salvation through purgation.

laid beside it; in the same sense as it is written (Ps. 136:1): "Upon the waters of Babylon," i.e. "beside the waters": because venial sins do not destroy the edifice. Reply Obj. 2: It is not said that everyone who builds wood, hay and stubble, shall be saved as by fire, but only those who build "upon" the "foundation." And this foundation is not dead faith, as some have esteemed, but faith quickened by charity, acc…