To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin.
Thomas AquinasRead
Given the sin of impiety through which they [the Romans] sinned against the divine nature [by idolatry], the punishment that led them to sin against their own nature followed.... I say, therefore, that since they changed into lies [by idolatry] the truth about God, He brought them to ignominious passions, that is, to sins against nature; not that God led them to evil, but only that he abandoned them to evil.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the consequences of turning away from truth and divine nature, leading to moral corruption.
In this quote, Thomas Aquinas discusses the implications of idolatry and how deviating from the truth of God results in sinful behaviors that go against one's own nature. He suggests that when humanity embraces falsehoods, they not only offend the divine but also invite a decline in moral integrity, indicating that God's abandonment allows individuals to pursue their own destructive inclinations rather than being directly led to evil.
Themes
IdolatryTruthNatureSinMoral CorruptionDivineConsequences
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about morality, one might cite this quote to illustrate the dangers of abandoning truth.
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To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.
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