Choose a topic from Part 2B:
1. Reviling is the open and loud dishonoring of a person.Backbiting is the secret and quiet injuring of a man's goodname. Thus these two sins have a resemblance to two sins that dealwith external goods, namely robbery, which is open and violent, andtheft, which is secret and quiet. If the backbiting is lying, itsname is calumny or slander; if it is harmfultruth, its name is detraction.
2. Backbiting is a sin, and when it is done with fullknowledge and consent and in serious matters, it is a mortal sin.Slight things said about another do not seriously injure hischaracter, and may be venial sins.
3. Backbiting is a great evil, but it is not the mostserious evil against one's neighbor. It is, for instance, lessgrievous than adultery or murder. Rut, in its genus orkind, backbiting is more grievous than theft, which it resembles.For Scripture says (Prov. 22:1): "A good name is better thangreat riches."
4. St. Jerome says (Ep. ad Nepot.): "Takecare not to have an itching tongue, nor tingling ears; neitherdetract others, nor listen to backbiters." He who willinglylistens to backbiting, shares its guilt.
"To do God's will -- this was the goal upon which the saints constantly fixed their gaze. They were fully persuaded that in this consists the entire perfection of the soul. "
St Alphonsus de Liguori
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"Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and delusion. Intellectuals like to appear learned and to be called wise. Yet there are many things the knowledge of which does little or no good to the soul, and he who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise.
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Thomas á Kempis
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"For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God?"
Thomas á Kempis
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