Anger, grief, and truth are not treated here as abstractions, but as forces that either disorder or restore the soul. In Hermas, patience is set forth as the condition in which the Holy Spirit can dwell freely, while anger—however small—spoils the whole life like bitterness in honey and opens the heart to the angel of iniquity rather than righteousness. Augustine then shows what happens when grief and misplaced love are slowly healed, not by God at first, but by time and friendship—revealing both the comfort and the danger of loves that try to take God’s place. Aquinas finally brings these human struggles into focus by clarifying where truth itself resides: primarily in the intellect, most perfectly in the divine intellect, and secondarily in things insofar as they conform to God’s knowing. Together, these readings move from moral vigilance, to wounded consolation, to metaphysical clarity—showing how the soul must be ordered in patience, healed in love, and grounded in truth to live rightly before God.

Readings:

Hermas, The Shepherd — Commandments 5–6

Augustine, The Confessions — Book 4, Chapter 8 (Section 13)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica — Part 1, Question 16 (Articles 1–4 Combined)

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