Pints With Aquinas - 15: Will money make me happy?

Episode Date: July 12, 2016

It is impossible for man's happiness to consist in wealth. For wealth is twofold, as the Philosopher says (Polit. i, 3), viz. natural and artificial. Natural wealth is that which serves man as a remedy for his natural wants: such as food, drink, clothing, cars, dwellings, and such like, while artificial wealth is that which is not a direct help to nature, as money, but is invented by the art of man, for the convenience of exchange, and as a measure of things salable. Now it is evident that man's happiness cannot consist in natural wealth. For wealth of this kind is sought for the sake of something else, viz. as a support of human nature: consequently it cannot be man's last end, rather is it ordained to manas to its end. Wherefore in the order of nature, all such things are below man, and made for him, according to Psalm 8:8: "Thou hast subjected all things under his feet." And as to artificial wealth, it is not sought save for the sake of natural wealth; since man would not seek it except because, by its means, he procures for himself the necessaries of life. Consequently much less can it be considered in the light of the last end. Therefore it is impossible for happiness, which is the last end of man, to consist in wealth. --- The desire for natural riches is not infinite: because they suffice for nature in a certain measure. But the desire for artificial wealth is infinite, for it is the servant of disordered concupiscence, which is not curbed, as the Philosopher makes clear (Polit. i, 3). Yet this desire for wealth is infinite otherwise than the desire for the sovereign good. For the more perfectly the sovereign good is possessed, the more it is loved, and other things despised: because the more we possess it, the more we know it. Hence it is written (Sirach 24:29): "They that eat me shall yet hunger." Whereas in the desire for wealth and for whatsoever temporal goods, the contrary is the case: for when we already possess them, we despise them, and seek others: which is the sense of Our Lord's words (John 4:13): "Whosoever drinketh of this water," by which temporal goods are signified, "shall thirst again." The reason of this is that we realize more their insufficiency when we possess them: and this very fact shows that they are imperfect, and the sovereign good does not consist therein. ST I-II, Q2. A1. SPONSORS EL Investments: https://www.elinvestments.net/pints Exodus 90: https://exodus90.com/mattfradd/  Hallow: http://hallow.app/mattfradd  STRIVE: https://www.strive21.com/  GIVING Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mattfradd This show (and all the plans we have in store) wouldn't be possible without you. I can't thank those of you who support me enough. Seriously! Thanks for essentially being a co-producer coproducer of the show. LINKS Website: https://pintswithaquinas.com/ Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/matt-fradd FREE 21 Day Detox From Porn Course: https://www.strive21.com/ SOCIAL Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattfradd Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattfradd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattfradd MY BOOKS  Does God Exist: https://www.amazon.com/Does-God-Exist-Socratic-Dialogue-ebook/dp/B081ZGYJW3/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=fradd&qid=1586377974&sr=8-9 Marian Consecration With Aquinas: https://www.amazon.com/Marian-Consecration-Aquinas-Growing-Closer-ebook/dp/B083XRQMTF/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=fradd&qid=1586379026&sr=8-4 The Porn Myth: https://www.ignatius.com/The-Porn-Myth-P1985.aspx CONTACT Book me to speak: https://www.mattfradd.com/speakerrequestform

Welcome to Pints with Aquinas, episode 15. I'm Matt Fradd. If you could sit down with St. Thomas Aquinas over a pint of beer and ask him any one question, what would it be? In today's episode, we'll ask St. Thomas that perennial question, Will money make me happy. Thanks for joining us here at Pints with Aquinas. This is the show where you and I pull up a barstool next to the angelic doctor and discuss theology and philosophy. Before we get underway, I wanted to say it's been awesome to receive everyone's messages. I do read them all. Many of you have written to me over Twitter. You pronounce it Twitter probably, unless you're listening to me from Australia or England

or something. And I just want you to know I appreciate it. I don't have time to respond to every text or message that comes into me, but I want you to know that I read them all, and I'm really appreciative for all of your support. If you're a new listener to Pints with Aquinas, I want to encourage you to go back and listen to the old episodes we have, because unlike other podcasts that deal with news items of the day, and so forth, this really doesn't. This is a podcast that deals with questions that St. Thomas Aquinas answered, primarily in the Summa Theologiae.

And they're questions that were asked in his day, and they're questions that are asked in ours. So for that reason, I think, you know, if you're interested in philosophy and theology and things to do with the Christian faith, it'll interest you a great deal. But today we're going to be talking about whether or not riches can make me happy. Last week, in last week's episode, we spoke about happiness in general. Can we be happy in this life? Thomas's answer is essentially, no, we cannot be fully happy in this life because of the evil that surrounds us and that's within us. But we can have varying degrees of happiness. So, can wealth make me happy? Can money make me happy? Now, it's such an obvious answer, isn't it? I mean, no one listening to me is expecting Aquinas to say, yes, wealth can make you happy.

We all know the answer is no. And yet, can we just be a little humble, a little honest here and say, we don't really believe that. I mean, maybe you're different. Maybe you're fantastic and you get it. But I'll be honest with you, I don't. If you came up to me and told me, here's $100,000, that would make me really happy or elated. I don't know. I suppose I shouldn't say happy if happiness is the attainment of the good. Maybe I just mean excited or happy to be alive, glad to be alive, right? But we keep thinking that if we just had more money, we would be happy. Aquinas is going to say, obviously, no, but he gives us an argument for why that's the case. And I think that's really cool because sometimes when people say money can't bring you happiness, the only people who have ever said that to me are people who are poor. Or if not poor, you know, not massively rich. And

so, sometimes you wonder, is this just the thing, you know, people like you and me say to ourselves when, you know, goodness, if we could be rich, we would, but we're not. So, hey, money can't make you happy. It reminds me of Friedrich Nietzsche. He talks about this attitude of resentment in the French. And his point was this, when we feel impotent to attain something good, we demonize the good. And so, Nietzsche would look at Christians and he would call Christianity a slave religion because he says, we have made a virtue out of weakness and a vice out of strength. All these Christians talking about how good it is to be chaste and humble and obedient. And Nietzsche says, nonsense. You have to be powerful and go out and take the good.

You know, you have to be powerful and go out and take the good. The fact that you can't do that, you get all sour about it and start turning the tables. All right. So, is that just the case? Is that what we're doing here when we say money can't make you happy? Well, Aquinas doesn't think so. And as I say, he gives us reasons for that. And so, let's take a look at those reasons. And then after we've read

what St. Thomas has to say, I want to share with you seven quotations from sacred scripture on money. So, this comes from the first part of the second part of the Summa Theologiae. part of the Summa Theologiae. Question two, article one. Whether man's happiness consists in wealth. It is impossible for man's happiness to consist in wealth, for wealth is twofold, as the philosopher says, natural and artificial. Natural wealth is that which serves man as a remedy for his natural wants, such as food, drink, clothing, cars, dwellings, and such like, while artificial wealth is that which is not a direct help to nature as money, but is invented by the art of man for the convenience of exchange and as a measure of things saleable. Let's pause there for a moment. Okay, so Thomas is saying, just as the philosopher who we'll remember is Aristotle. Whenever St. Thomas says the philosopher, he means Aristotle.

Says that wealth is twofold, natural and artificial. So, natural wealth, he says, are those things that pertain to our natural wants, food, drink, clothes, okay? Artificial wealth is money, right? Or in our day and age, you know, credit cards, which of course goes back to money or at least numbers, right? So, that's what Aquinas means when he talks about these wealth being twofold. Back to Aquinas. Now, it is evident that man's happiness cannot consist in natural wealth. For wealth of this kind is sought for the sake of something else, as a support of human nature. Consequently, it cannot be man's last end.

Rather, is it ordained to man as to its end. ordained to man as to its end. Wherefore, in the order of nature, all such things are below man and made for him. According to Psalm 8, 8, thou hast subjected all things under his feet. Okay, so natural wealth, it's impossible for natural wealth, clothes, cars, drink, food, natural wealth, clothes, cars, drink, food, shelter, to make us happy. Because we don't seek these things for themselves. We seek these things to help us to live, to survive. They are a help, as Aquinas says, to nature. So, they're not the end. They cannot be the end. They're the means to an end. You know, no one buys a car if it meant he would die when he bought it. Or, you know, we obviously don't get this thing as an end in and of itself. We get this thing to assist us personally. All right. Now, as to artificial wealth, Aquinas says this,

it is not sought save for the sake of natural wealth, since man would not seek it except because by its means he procures for himself the necessities of life. Consequently, much less can it be considered in the light of the last end. Therefore, it is impossible for happiness, which is the last end of man, to consist in wealth. So, in the first sense, it can't make us happy because we seek these things to sustain our lives, right? We don't seek them as ends in and of themselves, you know, and we all know this, right? I mean, you've never bought something and then went, I am completely happy. I mean, we thought that when we were like five and six, and then we got that thing and we just started looking to the next thing. And of course,

we still do that today, maybe if we're 30, 32, 50, 60 sinners. And of course, artificial wealth, the whole point of artificial wealth is for the sake of natural wealth, which you've already said can't make us happy. All right, let's just skip a little bit here and see what else he has to say. The desire for natural riches is not infinite because they suffice for nature, right? So, I don't want three tons of food, just enough to sort of satisfy my hunger. I don't need 30 winter coats, you know, just one will do, or maybe two, because that will suffice for, you know, nature, keeping myself warm. But Aquinas says, the desire for artificial wealth is infinite, for it is the servant of disordered concupiscence, which is not curbed. The more perfectly the sovereign good is possessed, the more it is loved. Whereas the desire for wealth, the contrary is the case.

For when we already possess them, we despise them and seek others. And I just spoke about that a moment ago, didn't I? So, Aquinas is saying, you know, when we attain God or as we grow in relationship with Him, we love Him more and more. And this isn't just true of God, perhaps this is true of those we begin to love in this life. I'm thinking of my wife. You know, when I married her, I'm like, I love you. And now I've been married 10 years and I'm like, you are way better than I thought you were when we got married. And back then I thought you were the best.

So there you go. Sorry if I made anyone sick there, but hashtag deal with it. Now, but when it comes to these artificial things, you know, we use artificial things like money to buy things and then we despise them. We want something else. We keep looking for that next thing. else. We keep looking for that next thing. So, Aquinas says, hence it is written, they that eat me shall yet hunger, which is the sense of our Lord's words, whose whoever drinketh of this water by which temporal goods are signified shall thirst again.

Ah, awesome. The reason... He didn't say, oh, awesome, sorry, broke character there. The reason of this is that we realize more their insufficiency when we possess them. And this very fact shows that they are imperfect and that the sovereign good, God himself, right, does not consist in them. You know, I haven't really thought about that until now, about the water that our blessed Lord speaks of in John chapter 4 as signifying temporal goods, but it's a wonderful point, isn't it, that Aquinas brings up. Christ says to the woman at the well in John 4.13, right, she's come to draw water and he says, whosoever drinketh of this water, you know, will thirst again, shall thirst again. And I know I've brought up the point twice or three times now,

but let's do it again. What's the latest thing you really wanted? Like really wanted. I'm trying to think for myself so I can give an example. Okay. Okay. Two things that I was really excited about getting. One was I got this Gandalf styled pipe. I actually won it in a bet. Someone sent it to me. It's like completely wooden, church warden tobacco pipe. I was really excited to get it. Now, to be fair, I didn't place all of my happiness, but I was really excited to get it. And then you get it, and the most exciting thing is opening it, isn't it? Isn't that what happens when Amazon sends you something? It's like this, yay, you open it up, and then you're like, okay, good. Now what?

And the second thing I was really excited about getting was a lexicon of St. Thomas Aquinas. It's a huge book that I bought online for school, actually. It was about 75 bucks. It was a ridiculous amount of money. Same thing was true there. I opened it up, I got really excited, and I'm sure I'll look forward to reading it throughout the years. But we get really excited about attaining these things. And then as Aquinas says, we end up kind of despising them. And he says, the reason of this is that we realize more their insufficiency when we possess them. So, when we're incapable of possessing things, we can mistakenly believe that if we had them,

they would make us happy. But when we attain them, we realize that they can't. And I mean, if you're looking for like an argument for why this is the case, and at least an inductive one, look at our celebrities. If money made people happy, they should be dancing in the streets. They should be completely joyful people who sleep well at night and who don't need to go to like narcotics or prostitutes for thrills because they should be happy. They shouldn't be committing suicide. They shouldn't be engaging in behaviors that are slowly destroying them. And yet, in many cases, of course, not all, but in many cases, this is what we see. So, before we look at these seven Bible verses, I want to encourage you and I to

just be real. Again, I know it can be so tempting to pretend that we've made it. Or we look at the world, we see the way maybe the world runs after money, and we just think it's pathetic. And we forget that our Lord told us not to judge others. And he said, well, okay, if you do, first remove the beam that's coming out of your eye. And so why don't I encourage you and me to just take a look at our relationship with money? And if someone came to your door, knocked on the door and offered you money today, no strings attached, you and I would be, as I say, elated. Why? We don't love money for the sake of money. Money is just dirty paper or numbers on a screen. We love money because of the power that it gives us. We believe it gives us power. We believe it gives us stability and control. but again if that were the case then people who were the richest out there like our celebrities who don't just have money but have fame we'll talk about that in upcoming episodes should be

the happiest people that there are and that isn't always the case quite the contrary so let's reflect upon that let's bring that to our lord and say, Lord, you be my security. I'm looking for security in other ways. I want money so I can be self-sufficient, but you want me to be in relationship with you and you want me to be relationship with others. So let's look at these seven Bible verses. Matthew 6, 21, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. I know that's pretty straightforward, but it feels like only about five, six years ago that I read that and like, oh, I see what that means. If I put my treasure in this earth, you know, if that's what I'm concerned about, then that's what I will seek to love.

And this is what will be the most important thing for me. But if my treasure is in heaven, storing up for myself treasures in heaven by charity, by penance, by love, then that's where my heart will be. That's what I'm going to be concerned about. Ecclesiastes 5.10 is the second one. Whoever loves money never has enough. Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. How true that is. Anyone out there got a raise ever in your life and you get that raise and you're like, yes. And yet, if our heart is in this earth, you know, in the world, then it's never enough. It's never enough. Why? Because it's not God and only God can satisfy our desire for happiness. The third quote, Psalm 37, 16 through 17.

Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked. For the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. Here's a suggestion for you and I, if we really want to take this to prayer. Imagine the kind of number that you think would suffice to make you secure, to make you feel secure and in control, you know, and be as audacious as you like. So, some of you might say $50,000. Others might say, hmm, $1 million. If I had $1 million, yeah, then I could kind of do what I want, you know, and all of us would say something like, no, I wouldn't be irresponsible. I donate to charities and things like this, but I could then just kind of get on with the business of life. All right. So, meditate on that, put yourself in that position, and then let's have you and I imagine that we're told by our doctor that we're dying of

some disease. At that point, nothing matters. None of that money matters to us, at least. We might think about the good we can do with it, but as far as the security and control we thought it could buy us, it can't. And that's what this quote is getting at. Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked. Why? Well, verse 17 says, for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. So, in truth, it's better to have little and be virtuous than to have much and be wicked. be wicked. Matthew 6, 24. This is number four. No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. And it's cool, isn't it? Back in Jesus's day, he's saying, you know, this is a perennial problem, as we said in the beginning.

You cannot serve both God and money. You can't. Now, we could debate as to why that's the case, but our Lord Jesus Christ said it, so we take Him at His word since He's the second person of the blessed Trinity. You can't. You cannot serve both God and money. So, he's saying choose. Now, of course, we need to point out money in and of itself is amoral. It's not, you know, immoral. It's not inherently good. It's a means of exchange. And of course, you know, look, the Lord says

elsewhere, you know, seek first the kingdom of God and all these things, right? Food, clothing, drink, shelter, right? Will be given to us as well. So, the point isn't that money's evil. The point is this love of money that leads us astray. The fifth quote is from 1 Timothy 6.10. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. It doesn't say money is the root of all evil. It says for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. The sixth quote, I love this chapter in the book of Revelation, chapter 3, verse 17. The blessed Lord says,

You say I am rich, I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing, but you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. So this idea that if I have money, I feel sufficient, that I am no longer beholden to anybody. I can meet my own needs now. But of course, in doing that, in isolating ourselves from the human community and God who desires to give us our daily bread, we can become wretched, pitiful, blind, and naked. Now, the final quotation I want to give is one that might put a bit of a different light on what we've been talking about up until now, and that's from Proverbs 10, verse 4. It says, lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth. And that goes back to what I meant in the beginning that, well, maybe not in the beginning, what I just said a

moment ago, that wealth is intrinsically bad. In fact, here it's saying, if we're just lazy, then that is going to bring forth poverty, but we should be diligent, right? That having money to meet our natural needs is a blessing from God, but it's when we put our heart in the money, when we love it, when we look to that as our end, that we end up miserable because it can't make us happy. So, that's enough for today. It's been fun. Thanks for listening. A couple of things I want to ask you to do if you wouldn't mind. thanks for listening. A couple of things I want to ask you to do if you wouldn't mind. Number one, would you be so kind as to rate this podcast? If you listen to us on iTunes, just leave us a rating. You don't even have to leave a comment if you don't want to. You can just click one star, two stars, three stars, hopefully five stars. Am I right? Because by

doing that, people will be able to find the episodes more easily, and that will make me happy. That was a bad joke. I'm sorry. It won't make me happy. And next week, we're going to talk about why that's the case. This week, we talked about money. Next week, I want to talk about honors and fame and whether or not that will make us happy, and we'll see what Thomas has to say about that. Okay. But if you could leave a review, that would be phenomenal. I'd be very grateful. And also, maybe follow me on Twitter and send me a message if you like. And go to my site, mattfradd.com.

If you know people who don't have iTunes and they want to know how they can listen to it, tell them to go to pintswithaquinas.com. That's pretty straightforward, isn't it? Well, until next week, I'm Matt Fradd. God bless your socks off. Whose wolves am I feeding myself to? Who's gonna survive?

Who's gonna survive? Who's gonna survive? Bye.