The authority of revealed religion returns to the first of these questions a clear and emphatic answer in the affirmative. The Old and the New Testaments abound in declarations that possessors are under very strict obligation to give of their surplus to the indigent. Perhaps the most striking expression of this teaching is that found in the Gospel according to St. Matthew, ch. 25, verses 32-46, where eternal happiness is awarded to those who have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, received the stranger, covered the naked, visited the sick, and called upon the imprisoned; and eternal damnation is meted out to those who have failed in these respects. The principle that ownership is stewardship, that the man who possesses superfluous goods must regard himself as a trustee for the needy, is fundamental and all-pervasive in the teaching of Christianity. No more clear or concise statement of it has ever been given than that of St. Thomas Aquinas: "As regards the power of acquiring and dispensing material goods, man may lawfully possess them as his own; as regards their use, however, a man ought not to look upon them as his own, but as common, so that he may readily minister to the needs of others."[201]
Reason likewise enjoins the benevolent distribution of surplus wealth. It reminds the proprietor that his needy neighbours have the same nature, the same faculties, capacities, wants, and destiny as himself. They are his equals and his brothers. Reason, therefore, requires that he should esteem them as such, love them as such, and treat them as such; that he should love them not merely by well wishing, but by well doing. Since the goods of the earth were intended by the Creator for the common benefit of all mankind, the possessor of a surplus is reasonably required to use it in such a way that this original purpose of all created goods will be fulfilled. To refuse is to treat one's less fortunate neighbour as something different from and less than oneself, as a creature whose claim upon the common bounty of nature is something less than one's own. Multiplying words will not make these truths plainer. The man who does not admit that the welfare of his neighbour is of equal moral worth and importance with his own welfare, will logically refuse to admit that he is under any obligation of distributing his superfluous goods. The man who does acknowledge this essential equality will be unable to find any logical basis for such refusal.
Is this obligation one of charity or one of justice? At the outset a distinction must be made between wealth that has been honestly acquired and wealth that has come into one's possession through some violation of rights. The latter kind must, of course, be restored to those persons who have been wronged. If they cannot be found or identified the ill-gotten gains must be turned over to charitable or other worthy objects. Since the goods do not belong to the present holder by any valid moral title, they should be given to those persons who are qualified by at least the claim and title of needs.
Some of the Fathers of the Church maintained that all superfluous wealth, whether well or ill gotten, ought to be distributed to those in want. St. Basil of Cæsarea: "Will not the man who robs another of his clothing be called a thief? Is the man who is able and refuses to clothe the naked deserving of any other appellation? The bread that you withhold belongs to the hungry; the cloak that you retain in your chest belongs to the naked; the shoes that are decaying in your possession belong to the shoeless; the gold that you have hidden in the ground belongs to the indigent. Wherefore, as often as you were able to help men and refused, so often you did them wrong."[202] St. Augustine of Hippo: "The superfluities of the rich are the necessities of the poor. They who possess superfluities possess the goods of others."[203] St. Ambrose of Milan: "The earth belongs to all; not to the rich; but those who possess their shares are fewer than those who do not. Therefore, you are paying a debt, not bestowing a gift."[204] Pope Gregory the Great: "When we give necessaries to the needy, we do not bestow upon them our goods; we return to them their own; we pay a debt of justice rather than of mercy."[205]
The great systematiser of theology in the thirteenth century, St. Thomas Aquinas, who is universally recognised as the most authoritative private teacher in the Church, stated the obligation of distribution in less extreme and more scientific terms: "According to the order of nature instituted by Divine Providence, the goods of the earth are designed to supply the needs of men. The division of goods and their appropriation through human law do not thwart this purpose. Therefore, the goods which a man has in superfluity are due by the natural law to the sustenance of the poor."[206]
That this is the official teaching of the Church to-day is evident from the words of Pope Leo XIII: "When one has provided sufficiently for one's necessities and the demands of one's state of life, there is a duty to give to the indigent out of what remains. It is a duty not of strict justice, save in case of extreme necessity, but of Christian charity."[207] Nearly thirteen years earlier, the same Pope had written: "The Church lays the rich under strict command to give their superfluity to the poor."[208]
The only difference between the Fathers and Pope Leo XIII and St. Thomas on this question has reference to the precise nature of the obligation. According to the Fathers, the duty of distribution would seem to be a duty of justice. In the passage quoted above from St. Thomas, superfluities are said to "belong," or to be "due" ("debetur") to the needy; but the particular moral precept that applies is not specified. In another place, however, the Angelic Doctor declares that almsgiving is an act of charity.[209] Pope Leo XIII explicitly says that the obligation of giving is one of charity, "except in extreme cases." The latter phrase refers to the traditional doctrine that a person who is in extreme need; that is, in immediate danger of losing life, limb, or some equivalent personal good, is justified in the absence of any other means of succour in taking from his neighbour what is absolutely necessary. Such appropriation, says St. Thomas, is not properly speaking theft; for the goods seized belong to the needy person, "inasmuch as he must sustain life."[210] In a word, the mediæval and the modern Catholic teaching would make distribution of superfluous goods a duty of justice only in extreme situations, while the Fathers laid down no such specific limitation. Nevertheless, the difference is less important than it appears to be on the surface. When the Fathers lived, theology had not been systematised nor given a precise terminology; consequently, they did not always make exact distinctions between the different classes of virtues and obligations. In the second place, the Patristic passages that we have quoted, and others of like import, were mostly contained in sermons addressed to the rich, and consequently were expressed in hortatory rather than scientific terms. Moreover, the needs of the time which the rich were exhorted to relieve were probably so urgent that they could correctly be classed as extreme, and therefore would give rise to an obligation of justice on the part of those who possessed superfluous wealth.
The truly important fact of the whole situation is that both the Fathers and the later authorities of the Church regard the task of distributing superfluous goods as one of strict moral obligation, which in serious cases is binding under pain of grievous sin. Whether it falls under the head of justice or under that of charity, is of no great practical consequence.
The Question of Distributing All
Is a man obliged to distribute all his superfluous wealth? As regards the support of human life, Catholic moral theologians distinguish three classes of goods: first, the necessaries of life, those utilities which are essential to a healthy and humane existence for a man and his family, regardless of the social position that he may occupy, or the standard of life to which he may have been accustomed; second, the conventional necessities and comforts, which correspond to the social plane upon which the individual or family moves; third, those goods which are not required to support either existence or social position. Goods of the second class are said to be necessary as regards conventional purposes, but superfluous as regards the maintenance of life, while those of the third class are superfluous without qualification.