THEQAN
565
THEINER
cording to the natural law, yields to the stronger and
more sacred right conferred by natural law upon
every man to avail himself of such things as are neces-
sary for his own preservation. St. Thomas (II-II,
Q. Ixvi, a. 7) declares that in such straits what is taken
becomes, because of the dire need experienced, one's
very own, and so cannot be said to be stolen. This
doctrine is sometimes expressed by saying that at
such a time all things become common, and thus one
reduced to such utter destitution only exercises his
right.
The sin of theft is of itself grievous, because it vio- lates the great virtues of justice and charity. St. Paul (I Cor., vi, 10) enumerates it as one of the trans- gressions which bars the offender from the kingdom of heaven. Still, as happens with regard to other delin- quencies, its guilt may often be venial. This is par- ticularly true when the value of what is filched is in- considerable, or as the theologians saj-, is not grave matter. The determination of what is grave matter, whose taking, namely, is iiroliibited under pain of mor- tal sin, is beset with great difficulties and has offered room for widespread difference of opinion. It is agreed, however, that a distinction is to be drawn be- tween relatively and ab-solutely grave matter. The grievousness of theft seems to depend on the way in which the purposes which make the respecting of property rights obligatory are set at naught. These ends are, first the preser\-ation of peace and harmony among individuals, and then the guaranteeing of the security of human society, as well as the providing an incentive for each one to pursue an indu.strious ca- reer. A man who steals may bid defiance to either or both of these ends. So far as the first is concerned it is obvious that the unjust appropriation of goods to such a value as to destroy this concord and furnish rea- sonable ground for great sorrow to the owner must be reputed a mortal sin. That amount is clearly not a constant quantity. It will vary according to the cir- cumstances of the person injured as well as of place and time in which commodities may be more or less valu- able. It will even take account of the special rela- tionship which perchance the thief holds to the one he has despoiled, as when children steal from their parents. The sum so ascertained is termed the relatively grave matter. Thus the theft of an amount equal to a day's wages from an ordinary artisan would unques- tionably be a mortal sin. The same thing must be said of the taking of an insignificant sum from a beg- gar. Theologians teach that this method of estab- lishing the grievousness of theft cannot be employed indefinite!}' and exclusively. There is an absolute sum which it is always a mortal sin to take even from the wealthiest person or corporation. Were this not so the very fabric of human society would be im- perilled, the stimulus to labour and enterprise ex- tinguishedj and the axe laid to the root of that confi- dence which must accompany human intercourse.
In the attempt to compute this sum in money theo- logians are not at one; nor is this surprising. In the settlement of the question we have to reckon with a most important factor, that is with the purchasing power of money which is not the same everj-where nor at all times. Writers on economics tell us that for the last hundred years or .so this value has decreased from thirty to forty per cent. Of course, the le.ss the value of money at any given time or in any region the more of it woidd be required to constitute a mortal sin of theft, always, however, within the limits of the prin- ciple already Laid down. Comparisons instituted be- tween the United States and Europe in the matter of wages prevailing and cost of living, seem to point un- mistakably to the conclusion that money has less pur- chasing capacity here than abroad. Hence where reputable moralists assign as absolutely grave mat^ ter, six dollars for Italy, eight for Belgium, and from seven to ten for England, it will not be deemed exces-
sive to fix the amount for this country as ranging
from ten to fifteen dollars. One of the greatest of
modern theologians, Palmieri, writing in Europe, pro-
fesses his wilUngness to stand sponsor for the opinion
which makes the sum twenty dollars. He gives as his
reason the greatly lessened value of money in our own
time. We may not feel obliged to accept this decision,
but it is at any rate an indication of the trend of ex-
pert opinion. There is no doubt but that small pil-
ferings perpetrated at different times, whether to the
prejudice of one or of many owners, can eventually
coalesce and reach a sum forbidden under pain of mor-
tal sin. The contrary doctrine was condemned by In-
nocent XI. The reason, of course, is that the damage
wrought is serious. This coalescence may be brought
about by the specific intention of the thief in his petty
stealing to ultimately arrive at a conspicuous amount.
When several persons join forces to steal from another
and the loss incurred is notable, then each one con-
tracts the guilt of grievous sin, even though his own
contribution to the wrong-doing has been but small.
One who hoards the proceeds of his petty thefts is
chargeable with mortal sin when the sum accumulated
is grave. Even when he has disposed of his ill-got-
ten goods as fast as they were acquired, his thievings
will still be held to coalesce unless there has been a
considerable interval of time between them.
Slater, Manual of Moral Theology (New York, 190S); Baller- INI, Opus theologicum morale (Prato, 1899); Genicot, Instita- tiones theologia moralis (Louvain, 1S9S); BcccERONi, Enchiridion morale (Rome. 1SS7).
Joseph F. Delany.
Thegan (Degan) of Treves, chronicler, d. about 850. Very little is known of liis life; all that is certain is that he was assistant Bishop of Trier and was a warm friend of Walafrid Strabo. These facts are learned from some letters and verses still in existence. It cannot be positivelj' determined whether he is iden- tical with Theganbert, provost of the Monastery of St. Cassius at Bonn, who placed the relics of Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria in the church at Miinstereifel. He WTote a history of Louis the Pious, "Vita Ludovici imperatoris", an unsatisfactorj- narrative written in the form of scanty annals. It begins with St. Arnulf of Metz, describes the vicissitudes of the brothers of Louis, and gives a more detailed account of Louis's reign during the years 814-835. The later narrative is probablj' by another author. Strabo wrote an in- troduction to the chronicle. The narrative is very partisan, as the merits of Louis are exalted while the actions of Lothair and of a number of bishops, espe- cially of Bishop Ebo of Reims, are severely criticised. The best edition of this work is that of Pertz in the "Mon. Germ. Hist.: Scriptores", II, 5S5-004. It was also pubhshed in P. L., CVI, 40.5-428, and was tran.s- lated into German by Jasmund (Berlin, 1850) and by Wattenbach (Leipzig, 1889).
SiMSON, Ueber Thegan. den Geschichisschreiber Ludwigs des Frommen (Gcittingon, 1870); Wattenbach, Geschichtsquellen. I (Berlin, 1S93), 20S sq.; Potthast, Bibliotheca (Berlin, 1S90), 1049.
Patricius Schlager.
Theiner, AuonsTiN, theologian and historian, b. at Breslau, 11 April, 1804; d. at Civitavecchia, 8 Aug., 1874. He was the son of a shoemaker. As a boy he was a pupil at the g\'mnasium of St. Mathia.s at Breslau, and studied thcologj- in the same city. To- gether with his brother .\nthony he wrote, "Ein- fuhrung der erzwungenen Ehelosigkeit bei den Geist-' lichen" (1828). At the advice of this brother he abandoned theology and turned his attention to law, which he studied at Breslau and Halle, and in 1829 he obtained a degree in law at the latter university. He then received a scholarship from the Prussian Govern- ment, which enabled him to make researches in Bel- gium, England, and France!is to the sources of canon law. He finally went to Rome, where he settled per-
