102. Three evils: sorrow (misery) is worse than pain, and sin is worse than sorrow (misery)
102. THREE EVILS: SORROW (MISERY) IS WORSE THAN PAIN, AND SIN IS WORSE THAN SORROW (MISERY)
We can distinguish three kinds of good, and three kinds of evil. First, there is external, physical pleasure and pain. Second, there is internal, emotional joy and sorrow. Third, there is moral goodness and badness, virtue and vice, righteousness and wickedness. Do we suffer more from physical, emotional, or moral evil? Which is the greatest evil and the greatest suffering?
Is it better to have joy (good #2) plus suffering (evil #1), or neither? Can we have joy in suffering? And is it better to have misery (evil #2) with righteousness (good #3) than joy (good #2) without righteousness? Is it always better to be good (good #3) than to feel good (goods #1 and 2)?
. . . sadness of heart (evil #2) surpasses every outward wound (evil #1). . .
. . . inward pain is, simply and of itself, more keen than outward pain, a sign whereof is that one willingly undergoes outward pain in order to avoid inward pain . . . Sometimes, however, outward pain is accompanied by inward pain, and then the pain is increased (I-II,35,7).
The very fact of the will being opposed to the evil is a good (good #3, moral good). And for this reason, sorrow (evil #2) or pain (evil #1) cannot be the greatest evil, because it has an admixture of the good (I-II,39,4).
That which is an evil to the soul (evils #2 and 3, sorrow and vice) is a greater evil than that which is an evil to the body (evil #1, pain) (I-II,39,4).
(Therefore) sorrow (evil #2) is useful as inducing man to avoid sin (evil #3) . . . just as pleasure (good #2) in the good (#3) makes one seek the good (#3) more earnestly, so sorrow (evil #2) for evil (#3) makes one avoid evil (#3) more eagerly (I-I,39,3).
Though we may fear pain the most, sorrow second, and sin the least, yet sin is really the worst evil and the most to be feared, with sorrow second and pain least.
Sorrow cuts into us more deeply than pain because it cuts into our very soul, not just our body. Sin cuts even deeper because it harms our very self, not just our feelings.
Modern literature and movies almost always fail to show us this truth. Instead, they reverse it. The most terrible thing is always assumed to be physical suffering, and this typically justifies even the sin of murder. For that is what active euthanasia is, even when motivated by compassion. (It is indeed possible to do a very bad deed for a very good motive, like “mercy killing”, just as it is possible to do very good deeds for a very bad motive, as the Pharisees did.)
Our deeper self knows that St. Thomas is right. First of all, we know, deep down, that spiritual suffering is worse than physical suffering because when we are in deep sorrow or despair, we distract ourselves by creating new physical sufferings, like tearing our hair, hitting our head, biting our hands, or banging our head against the wall! (Emotional sufferings are spiritual, of course, not physical; emotions are spiritual feelings.)
Second, we also know, deep down, that sin is worse than suffering because it bothers us deeply and for a long time, often for a lifetime. When we choose sin to avoid sorrow and suffering, we get, in the end, more sorrow and suffering than we get when we choose to endure sorrow and suffering rather than commit sin. Ask women who have chosen abortion. Then ask women who have chosen the opposite. Compare their testimonies when they speak from the heart.