Joy Versus Happiness in Fruit of Spirit Study
The fruit of the Spirit includes joy, as listed in Galatians 5:22, where the apostle Paul enumerates the characteristics that result from being guided by the Holy Spirit [1]. In this context, joy is often distinguished from happiness, with the former being a deeper, more enduring quality. According to Aquinas, the fruits of the Spirit are "something ultimate and delightful, produced in us by the power of the Holy Ghost" [3]. This understanding highlights the spiritual origin and nature of joy.
In the view of Augustine, joy is closely tied to charity (or love), which is considered the foundation of the other fruits of the Spirit, including joy. Augustine sees the fruits as forming "one unity in a kind of wondrous cluster" with charity at the center [6]. This perspective suggests that joy is not an isolated experience but is deeply connected to one's relationship with God and others.
The distinction between joy and happiness can be understood through the lens of their sources and durations. Happiness is often linked to external circumstances and can be fleeting, whereas joy, as a fruit of the Spirit, is rooted in a person's spiritual state and can persist despite challenging circumstances. Adam Clarke notes that the fruit of the Spirit, including joy, results from the changed or purified state of the soul by the grace and Spirit of God [2].
John Gill's commentary on Galatians 5:22 further illuminates the nature of joy by listing it among the fruits that characterize a regenerate person, emphasizing its role in the Christian life [5]. The enumeration of joy alongside other virtues like love, peace, and patience underscores its significance as a manifestation of the Spirit's work.
The Catholic tradition, as represented by Aquinas, categorizes joy among the fruits that have a direct connection to the will, being "ultimate and delightful" [3]. This categorization implies that joy is not just a feeling but a profound aspect of the Christian experience, tied to the fulfillment of one's spiritual nature.
The patristic tradition also reflects on the fruit of the Spirit, with Gregory Thaumaturgus using the metaphor of a tree to describe the production of spiritual fruits, including joy [4]. This imagery conveys the idea that joy, like other fruits, grows from a spiritual root nurtured by God.
Sources
- Galatians “Galatians 5:22 (BBE) — But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, a quiet mind, kind acts, well-doing, faith,”
- Galatians (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Galatians 5:22: But the fruit of the Spirit - Both flesh - the sinful dispositions of the human heart and spirit - the changed or purified state of the soul, by the grace and Spirit of God, are represented by the apostle as trees, one yielding good the other bad fruit; the productions of each being according to the nature of the tree, as the tree is according to the nature of the seed from which it sprung. The bad seed produced a bad tree, yielding all manner of bad fruit; the good seed produced a good tree, bringing forth fruits of the most excellent kind. The tree of the flesh”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Second Part of the Second Part (Secunda Secundae), Of the Gift of Understanding, Art. 8: Article: Whether faith, among the fruits, responds to the gift of understanding? I answer that, The fruits of the Spirit, as stated above (FS, Question [70], Article [1]), when we were discussing them, are so called because they are something ultimate and delightful, produced in us by the power of the Holy Ghost. Now the ultimate and delightful has the nature of an end, which is the proper object of the will: and consequently that which is ultimate and delightful with regard to t”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 6: Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius, Julius Africanus, Methodius, Arnobius — CHAP. V.--THE MALIGNITY OF THE DEVIL AS AN IMITATOR IN ALL THINGS; TWO KINDS OF FIG-TREES AND VINES. (part 2): their buds. For the true vine and the true fig-tree were not able to yield such nourishment to us as would be profitable for life, whilst as yet the false fig-tree, variously adorned for the purpose of fraud, flourished. But when the Lord dried up the false branches, the imitations of the true branches, uttering the sentence against the bitter fig-tree, "Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever,”
- Galatians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Galatians 5:22: Meekness,.... Humility and lowliness of mind, of which Christ is an eminent example and pattern; and which the Holy Spirit from him transcribes into the heart of a regenerate person; and lies in having mean thoughts of himself, in walking humbly with God, acknowledging every favour, being thankful for every blessing, and depending on his grace, and in behaving with modesty and humility among men. The last of the fruits of the Spirit mentioned is temperance, or "continence"; and designs both chastity and sobriety, and particularly moderation in eating and drinking”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 4: Augustine — Anti-Manichaean, Anti-Donatist — CHAP. 18.--27. On the question of bap- (part 3): really fruit, save that new offspring, of which He further says, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another?"(7) This is that very charity, without which the rest profiteth nothing. The apostle also says: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance;"(8) which all begin with charity, and with the rest of the combination forms one unity in a kind of wondrous cluster.(9) Nor is it again in vain that our”