The Catholic Church follows the Latin Vulgate version of Galatians in recognizing twelve attributes of the Fruit: charity (caritas), joy (gaudium), peace (pax), patience (patientia), benignity (benignitas), goodness (bonitas), longanimity (longanimitas), mildness (mansuetudo), faith (fides), modesty (modestia), continency (continentia), and chastity (castitas).[4] This tradition was defended by Thomas Aquinas in his work Summa Theologica,[5] and reinforced in numerous Catholic catechisms, including the Baltimore Catechism, the Penny Catechism, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Early commentary
Aquinas pointed out that numbered among the attributes of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit are certain virtues, such as charity, meekness, faith, chastity, and kindness.[2]Augustine defined virtue as "a good habit consonant with our nature."[6]
Though often discussed as nine attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit, the original Greek term translated as "fruit" (καρπὸς, karpos) is singular. Aquinas explained, "Consequently fruit is mentioned there in the singular, on account of its being generically one, though divided into many species which are spoken of as so many fruits."[2] Augustine's commentary on Galatians 5:25-26 says, "the Apostle had no intention of teaching us how many [either works of the flesh, or fruit of the Spirit] there are; but to show how the former should be avoided, and the latter sought after."[2]
Agape (love) denotes an undefeatable benevolence and unconquerable goodwill that always seeks the highest good for others, no matter their behavior. It is a love that gives freely without asking anything in return and does not consider the worth of its object.[7][8]Agape is more a love by choice than Philos, which is love by chance; and it refers to the will rather than the emotion. It describes the unconditional love God has for the world in the Christian faith. Paul describes love in 1 Corinthians 13:4–8:[9]
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
According to Strong's Greek Lexicon, the word ἀγάπη (agapē) means love, affection, or benevolence.[10] It occurs 117 times in 106 verses in the Greek concordance of the NASB.
Joy in God (joy, Greek: chara, Latin: gaudium)
The joy referred to here is characterized as deeper than mere happiness; it is described as rooted in God and coming from him. This divine attribution makes it perceived as more serene and stable than worldly happiness, which is merely emotional and lasts only for a time.
According to Strong's Greek Lexicon, the Greek word listed in the verse is χαρά (chara), meaning 'joy', 'gladness', or a source of joy'. It occurs 59 times in 57 verses in the Greek concordance of the NASB.
"joy, delight" (akin to cheers, "to rejoice"), is found frequently in Matthew and Luke, and especially in John, once in Mark (Mar 4:16, RV, "joy," AV, "gladness"); it is absent from 1 Cor. (though the verb is used three times), but is frequent in 2 Cor., where the noun is used five times (for 2Cr 7:4, RV, see Note below), and the verb eight times, suggestive of the Apostle's relief in comparison with the circumstances of the 1st Epistle; in Col 1:11, AV, "joyfulness," RV, "joy." The word is sometimes used, by metonymy, of the occasion or cause of "joy," Luk 2:10 (lit., "I announce to you a great joy"); in 2Cr 1:15, in some mss., for charis, "benefit;" Phl 4:1, where the readers are called the Apostle's "joy;" so 1Th 2:19, 20; Hbr 12:2, of the object of Christ's "joy;" Jam 1:2, where it is connected with falling into trials; perhaps also in Mat 25:21, 23, where some regard it as signifying, concretely, the circumstances attending cooperation in the authority of the Lord. Note: In Hbr 12:11, "joyous" represents the phrase meta, "with," followed by chara, lit., "with joy." So in Hbr 10:34, "joyfully;" in 2Cr 7:4 the noun is used with the Middle Voice of huperperisseuo, "to abound more exceedingly," and translated "(I overflow) with joy," RV (AV, "I am exceeding joyful").[11]
Contentedness in all circumstances (peace, Greek: eirene, Latin: pax)
The Greek word εἰρήνη (eirēnē) means peace (literally or figuratively) and, by implication, prosperity.[12] It is generally described in the Bible as the state of harmony, security, and salvation. This can be applied on the national or individual level. In particular, it is used in Christianity to describe one believing they have achieved salvation, either before or after death. It can also be viewed as a state of wholeness and order as opposed to chaos.[13]
Christians identify Jesus with the Prince of Peace, described in Isaiah 9[14]—bringing peace to the hearts of those who desire it. In John 14:27 he says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid".[15]
Refusing to avenge oneself (patience, Greek: makrothumia, Latin: longanimitas)
Generally the Greek world applied this word to a man who could avenge himself but did not. This word is often used in the Greek scriptures in reference to God and God's attitude to humans.[16] Exodus 34:6 describes the Lord as "slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity."
Patience, which in some translations is "longsuffering" or "endurance", is defined in Strong's by the Greek words makrothumia and hupomone. The first denotes lenience, forbearance, fortitude, patient endurance, and longsuffering. Also included in makrothumia is the ability to endure persecution and ill-treatment. It describes a person who has the power to exercise revenge but instead exercises restraint. The latter, hupomone, is translated as endurance, constancy, perseverance, continuance, bearing up, steadfastness, and holding out. It describes the capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with a passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness and defeat, with hupomone further understood as "opposed to cowardice or despondency".[17]
Repaying evil with good (kindness, Greek: chrestotes, Latin: benignitas)
Kindness is acting for the good of people, regardless of what they do, and not expecting anything in return.[18] It implies kindness no matter what. In Greek, old wine was called "chrestos" which meant that it was mellow or smooth.[16] One scholar has noted that when the word chrestotes is applied to interpersonal relationships, it conveys the idea of being adaptable to others. Rather than harshly require everyone else to adapt to his own needs and desires, when chrestotes is working in a believer, he seeks to become adaptable to the needs of those who are around him (Sparkling Gems from the Greek, Rick Renner). The apostle Paul uses this word to depict God's attributed kindness to people who are unsaved.
Showing mercy to sinners (goodness, Greek: agathosune, Latin: bonitas)
Popular English Bibles (e.g. NIV, NASB, NLT) translate the single Greek word chrestotes into two English words: kindness and goodness.[19][20][21] This can be interpreted as moral excellence or virtue; the best part of anything; joy in being good; or generally a quality character.
The root of pistis (faith),[22] from a Greek term meaning persuasion,[23] supplies the core-meaning of faith as being "divine persuasion" received from God. In the Bible, it is used to describe both the trustworthy and those believing in God and Jesus Christ, linking the two concepts.[24] The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews describes it this way: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God".[25]
Gentleness or meekness, is "a divinely-balanced virtue that can only operate through faith."[26] The New Spirit Filled Life Bible defines it as "a disposition that is even-tempered, tranquil, balanced in spirit, unpretentious, and that has the passions under control."
Obedience unto death (self-control, Greek: enkrateia, Latin: continentia)
The Greek enkrateia is described as strength, especially in self-control and mastering one's thoughts and behavior.[27]
↑ Galatians 5:22–23: Fructus autem Spiritus est caritas, gaudium, pax, patientia, benignitas, bonitas, longanimitas, mansuetudo, fides, modestia, continentia, castitas. Adversus hujusmodi non est lex.
The word anathema has two main meanings. One is to describe that something or someone is being hated or avoided. The other refers to a formal excommunication by a church. These meanings come from the New Testament, where an Anathema was a person or thing cursed or condemned by God. In the Old Testament, an Anathema was something or someone cursed and separated from God because of sin. These represent two types of settings, one for devotion, the other for destruction.
A spiritual gift or charism is an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit. These are believed by followers to be supernatural graces that individual Christians need to fulfill the mission of the Church. In the narrowest sense, it is a theological term for the extraordinary graces given to individual Christians for the good of others and is distinguished from the graces given for personal sanctification, such as the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Agape is "the highest form of love, charity" and "the love of God for [human beings] and of [human beings] for God". This is in contrast to philia, brotherly love, or philautia, self-love, as it embraces a profound sacrificial love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstance.
In Christian theology, charity is considered one of the seven virtues and was understood by Thomas Aquinas as "the friendship of man for God", which "unites us to God". He holds it as "the most excellent of the virtues". Aquinas further holds that "the habit of charity extends not only to the love of God, but also to the love of our neighbor".
Ancient Greek philosophy differentiates main conceptual forms and distinct words for the Modern English word love: agápē, érōs, philía, philautía, storgē, and xenía.
In Christian tradition, the seven heavenly virtues combine the four cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude with the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.
Chesed is a Hebrew word that means 'kindness or love between people', specifically of the devotional piety of people towards God as well as of love or mercy of God towards humanity. It is frequently used in Psalms in the latter sense, where it is traditionally translated as "loving kindness" in English translations.
The attributes of God are specific characteristics of God discussed in Christian theology.
The conditional preservation of the saints, or conditional perseverance of the saints, or commonly conditional security, is the Arminian Christian belief that believers are kept safe by God in their saving relationship with him upon the condition of a persevering faith in Christ. Arminians find the Scriptures describing both the initial act of faith in Christ, "whereby the relationship is effected", and the persevering faith in him "whereby the relationship is sustained." The relationship of "the believer to Christ is never a static relationship existing as the irrevocable consequence of a past decision, act, or experience." Rather, it is a living union "proceeding upon a living faith in a living Savior." This living union is captured in the simple command by Christ, "Remain in me, and I in you".
Religious views on love vary widely between different religions.
The Koine Greek word, skándalon means either a 'trap-stick' or a 'stumbling block'. In the Bible, skándalon is used figuratively to mean either something that causes people to sin, or something that causes them to lose their faith in Jesus.
A trap-stick: a stick holding open a baited trap; when a creature touches it, it releases the trap door to capture the prey. This figuratively refers to a person that entices someone into wrongdoing, getting them to thereby harm or destroy themselves. For example, Peter tempting Christ to refuse the crucifixion. Causing others to sin endangers their connection to God and potentially destroys their souls. If the victim thereby falls into mortal sin, the scandalous deed is considered to be likewise mortal sin.
A stumbling stone or tripwire: anything that makes someone trip and fall. This figuratively means "something that causes someone to lose faith in Jesus".
In the Bible, the word "flesh" is often used simply as a description of the fleshy parts of an animal, including that of human beings, and typically in reference to dietary laws and sacrifice. Less often it is used as a metaphor for familial or kinship relations, and as a metaphor to describe sinful tendencies. A related turn of phrase identifies certain sins as "carnal" sins, from Latin caro, carnis, meaning "flesh."
For the majority of Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, is believed to be the third divine person of the Trinity, a triune god manifested as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each being God. Nontrinitarian Christians, who reject the doctrine of the Trinity, differ significantly from mainstream Christianity in their beliefs about the Holy Spirit. In Christian theology, pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit. Due to Christianity's historical relationship with Judaism, theologians often identify the Holy Spirit with the concept of the Ruach Hakodesh in Jewish scripture, on the theory that Jesus was expanding upon these Jewish concepts. Similar names, and ideas, include the Ruach Elohim, Ruach YHWH, and the Ruach Hakodesh. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit is identified with the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Truth, and the Paraclete (helper).
Revelation 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle, but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate. This chapter contains the accounts about the woman, the dragon, and the child, followed by the war between Michael and the dragon, then the appearance of the monster from the sea. William Robertson Nicoll, a Scottish Free Church minister, suggests that in this chapter the writer has created a Christianised version of a Jewish source which "described the birth of the Messiah in terms borrowed from ... cosmological myths [such as] that of the conflict between the sun-god and the dragon of darkness and the deep".
Romans 1 is the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It was authored by Paul the Apostle, while he was in Corinth in the mid-50s AD, with the help of an amanuensis (secretary), Tertius, who added his own greeting in Romans 16:22. Acts 20:3 records that Paul stayed in Greece, probably Corinth, for three months. The letter is addressed "to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints".
Romans 8 is the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It was authored by Paul the Apostle, while he was in Corinth in the mid-50s AD, with the help of an amanuensis (secretary), Tertius, who added his own greeting in Romans 16:22. Chapter 8 concerns "the Christian's spiritual life". The reformer Martin Luther stated that this chapter is where Paul comforts "spiritual fighters" who are involved in an inner struggle between spirit and flesh:
The Holy Spirit assures us that we are God's children no matter how furiously sin may rage within us, so long as we follow the Spirit and struggle against sin in order to kill it.
Romans 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle, while he was in Corinth in the mid-50s AD, with the help of an amanuensis (secretary), Tertius, who adds his own greeting in Romans 16:22. According to Martin Luther,
In chapter 12, St. Paul teaches the true liturgy and makes all Christians priests, so that they may offer, not money or cattle, as priests do in the Law, but their own bodies, by putting their desires to death. Next he describes the outward conduct of Christians whose lives are governed by the Spirit; he tells how they teach, preach, rule, serve, give, suffer, love, live and act toward friend, foe and everyone. These are the works that a Christian does, for, as I have said, faith is not idle.
Galatians 5 is the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle for the churches in Galatia, written between AD 49–58. This chapter contains a discussion about circumcision and the allegory of the "Fruit of the Holy Spirit".
2 Peter 1 is the first chapter of the Second Epistle of Peter in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The author identifies himself as "Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ" and the epistle is traditionally attributed to Peter the Apostle, but some writers argue that it is the work of Peter's followers in Rome between the years 70 and 100.
The Chaplet in Honour of the Holy Spirit, also known as Chaplet of the Holy Spirit and His Seven Gifts, is a modern Christian devotion to the Holy Spirit, asking for seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. The devotion was invented in Poland.
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