Simony

Simony, nowadays, is not intrinsically a sin, but only because it is forbidden by canon law. This blog post is meant to prove this.

Simony is defined as “a deliberate intention of buying or selling for a temporal price such things as are spiritual or annexed unto spirituals.” Thomas Aquinas says that it is a sin because “a spiritual thing is undue matter for buying and selling”, and this is for three reasons. I will show that they only apply to acts of simony in modern times because of canon law.

First, because a spiritual thing cannot be appraised at any earthly price, even as it is said concerning wisdom (Proverbs 3:15), “she is more precious than all riches, and all things that are desired, are not to be compared with her”: and for this reason Peter, in condemning the wickedness of Simon in its very source, said (Acts 8:20): “Keep thy money to thyself to perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.”

That “a spiritual thing cannot be appraised at any earthly price” can mean either that it is not possible or that it is not right. One friend of mine had interpreted it as the former, so that attempting it would be a sin because you are lying if you think you can do it. I believe that this is incomprehensible. When you name a price for something, you appraise it; there is nothing more to it. The problem is that it is not right.

This reason does not apply to simony intrinsically, but only due to a belief, commonly held until modern times, that there is some kind of equality between what is bought and what is sold. Thus, it was thought that to buy “A” for the price of “B” was to admit that A is equal to B in some respect. This belief was recently abolished, and now we know that no exchange would take place if the things exchanged were equal to each other.

Thus, Peter was right to rebuke Simon, since Simon had thought that the gift of God was, in some way, equal to his money; but no one nowadays believes this about what they mean to purchase, so that simony is not a sin for this reason.

Secondly, because a thing cannot be due matter for sale if the vendor is not the owner thereof, as appears from the authority quoted. [This will be quoted afterwards.] Now ecclesiastical superiors are not owners, but dispensers of spiritual things, according to 1 Corinthians 4:1, “Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God.”

This reason is simply false. It is arbitrary to say that a “dispenser” or “minister” of something cannot sell it.

Obviously, a dispenser has the right to give that thing which he is the dispenser of. Now, if he has the right to give the thing, and if he has the right to receive money, then he has the right to sell the thing, since selling it is nothing more than to give the thing in exchange for the receipt of money.

The authority referred to was a canon law from Gratian, quoted in Objection 1 of the same article. It read:

“The impious heresy of Macedonius and of those who with him impugned the Holy Ghost, is more endurable than that of those who are guilty of simony: since the former in their ravings maintained that the Holy Spirit of Father and Son is a creature and the slave of God, whereas the latter make the same Holy Spirit to be their own slave. For every master sells what he has just as he wills, whether it be his slave or any other of his possessions.”

That canon is not speaking of simony in general, as defined by Thomas, but of those who buy and sell ecclesiastical offices. Now, it is plain that those who buy and sell ecclesiastical offices go beyond their right, since this is forbidden by canon law; thus, they may be compared to other criminals such as enslavers, and the like. So, the canon does not mean to say that simony is intrinsically and specifically evil to sell a spiritual thing, but only that it is forbidden, and therefore evil as a violation of property.

Thirdly, because sale is opposed to the source of spiritual things, since they flow from the gratuitous will of God. Wherefore Our Lord said (Matthew 10:8): “Freely have you received, freely give.”

The quoted verse seems to refer to certain miracles, viz., “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons”. Since these miracles are not performed anymore, no acts of simony nowadays can be performed regarding them, so that the verse does not apply. The verse is no more properly generalized to all “spiritual things” than to all acts that the apostles did, such as preaching – which we know would be wrong, since “the Lord ordered that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel”. (1 Cor 9:14)

Since this verse from Matthew is the only reason given to believe that such a sale is “opposed to the source of spiritual things”, and since no other reason why it should be wrong can be thought of, simony has been shown to be no longer a sin nowadays, for any intrinsic reason. The Catholic Church could, therefore, if she willed, strike the laws concerning simony from the canon books, and buy and sell any spiritual things that she wished, in full compliance with divine law.