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diff --git a/29540.txt b/29540.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e33a42f --- /dev/null +++ b/29540.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16175 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace, Actual and Habitual by Joseph Pohle + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: Grace, Actual and Habitual + +Author: Joseph Pohle + +Release Date: July 29, 2009 [Ebook #29540] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE, ACTUAL AND HABITUAL*** + + + + + + Grace + + Actual and Habitual + + A Dogmatic Treatise + + By + + The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph Pohle, Ph.D., D.D. + + Formerly Professor of Dogmatic Theology at St. Joseph's Seminary, Leeds + (England), Later Professor of Fundamental Theology at The Catholic + University of America + + Adapted and Edited by + + Arthur Preuss + + Third, Revised Edition + + W. E. Blake & Son, Limited + + Catholic Church Supplies + + 123 Church St. + + Toronto, Canada + + 1919 + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Imprimatur +Introduction +Part I. Actual Grace + Chapter I. The Nature Of Actual Grace + Section 1. Definition Of Actual Grace + Section 2. Division Of Actual Grace + Chapter II. The Properties Of Actual Grace + Section 1. The Necessity Of Actual Grace + Article 1. The Capacity Of Mere Nature Without Grace + Article 2. The Necessity Of Actual Grace For All Salutary Acts + Article 3. The Necessity Of Actual Grace For The States Of + Unbelief, Mortal Sin, And Justification + Section 2. The Gratuity Of Actual Grace + Section 3. The Universality Of Actual Grace + Article 1. The Universality Of God's Will To Save + Article 2. God's Will To Give Sufficient Grace To All Adult Human + Beings In Particular + Article 3. The Predestination Of The Elect + Article 4. The Reprobation Of The Damned + Chapter III. Grace In Its Relation To Free-Will + Section 1. The Heresy of The Protestant Reformers And The Jansenists + Section 2. Theological Systems Devised To Harmonize The Dogmas Of + Grace And Free-Will + Article 1. Thomism And Augustinianism + Article 2. Molinism And Congruism +Part II. Sanctifying Grace + Chapter I. The Genesis Of Sanctifying Grace, Or The Process Of + Justification + Section 1. The Necessity Of Faith For Justification + Section 2. The Necessity Of Other Preparatory Acts Besides Faith + Chapter II. The State Of Justification + Section 1. The Nature Of Justification + Article 1. The Negative Element Of Justification + Article 2. The Positive Element Of Justification + Section 2. Justifying Or Sanctifying Grace + Article 1. The Nature Of Sanctifying Grace + Article 2. The Effects Of Sanctifying Grace + Article 3. The Supernatural Concomitants Of Sanctifying Grace + Section 3. The Properties Of Sanctifying Grace + Chapter III. The Fruits Of Justification, Or The Merit Of Good Works + Section 1. The Existence Of Merit + Section 2. The Requisites Of Merit + Section 3. The Objects Of Merit +Index +Footnotes + + + + + + +IMPRIMATUR + + +_NIHIL OBSTAT_ + +_Sti. Ludovici, die 18 Jan. 1919_ + +_F. G. Holweck,_ +_ Censor Librorum_ + +_IMPRIMATUR_ + +_Sti. Ludovici, die 21 Jan. 1919_ + +_Joannes J. Glennon_ +_ Archiepiscopus_ +_ Sti. Ludovici_ + +_Copyright, 1914_ +_ by_ +_ Joseph Gummersbach_ + +_All rights reserved_ + +_Printed in U. S. A._ + +BECKTOLD +PRINTING & BOOK MFG. CO. +ST. LOUIS. U. S. A. + + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Humanity was reconciled to God by the Redemption. This does not, however, +mean that every individual human being was forthwith justified, for +individual justification is wrought by the application to the soul of +grace derived from the inexhaustible merits of Jesus Christ. + +There are two kinds of grace: (1) actual and (2) habitual. Actual grace is +a supernatural gift by which rational creatures are enabled to perform +salutary acts. Habitual, or, as it is commonly called, sanctifying, grace +is a habit, or more or less enduring state, which renders men pleasing to +God. + +This distinction is of comparatively recent date, but it furnishes an +excellent principle of division for a dogmatic treatise on grace.(1) + + + + + +PART I. ACTUAL GRACE + + +Actual grace is a transient supernatural help given by God from the +treasury of the merits of Jesus Christ for the purpose of enabling man to +work out his eternal salvation. + +We shall consider: (1) The Nature of Actual Grace; (2) Its Properties, and +(3) Its Relation to Free-Will. + + + GENERAL READINGS:--St. Thomas, _Summa Theologica_, 1a 2ae, qu. + 109-114, and the commentators, especially Billuart, _De Gratia_ + (ed. Lequette, t. III); the Salmanticenses, _De Gratia Dei_ + (_Cursus Theologiae_, Vol. IX sqq., Paris 1870); Thomas de Lemos, + _Panoplia Divinae Gratiae_, Liege 1676; Dominicus Soto, _De Natura + et Gratia_, l. III, Venice 1560; *Ripalda,(2) _De Ente + Supernaturali_, 3 vols. (I, Bordeaux 1634; II, Lyons 1645; III, + Cologne 1648). + + *C. v. Schaezler, _Natur und Uebernatur: Das Dogma von der Gnade_, + Mainz 1865; IDEM, _Neue Untersuchungen ueber das Dogma von der + Gnade_, Mainz 1867; *J. E. Kuhn, _Die christliche Lehre von der + goettlichen Gnade_, Tuebingen 1868; Jos. Kleutgen, S. J., _Theologie + der Vorseit_, Vol. II, 2nd ed., pp. 152 sqq., Muenster 1872; R. + Cercia, _De Gratia Christi_, 3 vols., Paris 1879; *C. Mazzella, S. + J., _De Gratia Christi_, 4th ed., Rome 1895; *J. H. Oswald, _Die + Lehre von der Heiligung, d. i. Gnade, Rechtfertigung, Gnadenwahl_, + 3rd ed., Paderborn 1885; *D. Palmieri, S. J., _De Gratia Divina + Actuali_, Gulpen 1885; *Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische + Theologie_, Vol. VIII, Mainz 1897; *S. Schiffini, S. J., _De + Gratia Divina_, Freiburg 1901; G. Lahousse, S. J., _De Gratia + Divina_, Louvain 1902; Chr. Pesch, S. J., _Praelectiones + Dogmaticae_, Vol. V, 3rd ed., Freiburg 1908; G. van Noort, _De + Gratia Christi_, Amsterdam 1908; E. J. Wirth, _Divine Grace_, New + York 1903; S. J. Hunter, S. J., _Outlines of Dogmatic Theology_, + Vol. III, pp. 1 sqq.; Wilhelm-Scannell, _A Manual of Catholic + Theology_, Vol. II, 2nd ed., pp. 227 sqq., London 1901; A. Devine, + _The Sacraments Explained_, 3rd ed. pp. 1-43, London 1905.--L. + Labauche, S. S., _God and Man, Lectures on Dogmatic Theology II_, + pp. 123 sqq., New York 1916.--J. E. Nieremberg, S. J., _The Marvels + of Divine Grace_, tr. by Lady Lovat, London 1917. + + On the teaching of the Fathers cfr. Isaac Habert, _Theologiae + Graecorum Patrum Vindicatae circa Universam Materiam Gratiae Libri + III_, Paris 1646; E. Scholz, _Die Lehre des hl. Basilius von der + Gnade_, Freiburg 1881; Huemmer, _Des hl. Gregor von Nazianz Lehre + von der Gnade_, Kempten 1890; E. Weigl, _Die Heilslehre des hl. + Cyrill von Alexandrien_, Mainz 1905. + + + + +Chapter I. The Nature Of Actual Grace + + + +Section 1. Definition Of Actual Grace + + +1. GENERAL NOTION OF GRACE.--The best way to arrive at a correct definition +of actual grace is by the synthetic method. We therefore begin with the +general notion of grace. + +Like "nature,"(3) grace (_gratia_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) is a word of wide reach, used in +a great variety of senses. Habert(4) enumerates no less than fourteen; +which, however, may be reduced to four. + +a) Subjectively, grace signifies good will or benevolence shown by a +superior to an inferior, as when a criminal is pardoned by the king's +grace. + +b) Objectively, it designates a favor inspired by good will or +benevolence. In this sense the term may be applied to any free and +gratuitous gift (_donum gratis datum_), as when a king bestows graces on +his lieges. + +c) Grace may also mean personal charm or attractiveness. In this sense the +term frequently occurs in Latin and Greek literature (the Three Graces). +Charm elicits love and prompts a person to the bestowal of favors. + +d) The recipient of gifts or favors usually feels gratitude towards the +giver, which he expresses in the form of thanks. Hence the word _gratiae_ +(plural) frequently stands for thanksgiving ("_gratias agere_," "_Deo +gratias_," "to say grace after meals").(5) + +The first and fundamental of these meanings is "a free gift or favor." The +benevolence of the giver and the attractiveness of the recipient are +merely the reasons for which the gift is imparted, whereas the expression +of thanks is an effect following its bestowal. + +Dogmatic theology is concerned exclusively with grace in the fundamental +sense of the term. + +e) Grace is called a gift (_donum_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}), because it is owing to free +benevolence, not required by justice. It is called gratuitous (_gratis +datum_), because it is bestowed without any corresponding merit on the +part of the creature. A gift may be due to the recipient as a matter of +distributive or commutative justice, and in that case it would not be +absolutely gratuitous (_gratis_). Grace, on the contrary, is bestowed out +of pure benevolence, from no other motive than sheer love. This is +manifestly St. Paul's idea when he writes: "And if by grace, it is not now +by works: otherwise grace is no more grace."(6) It is likewise the meaning +of St. Augustine when he says, in his Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, +that grace is "something gratuitously given ... as a present, not in +return for something else."(7) + +2. NATURAL AND SUPERNATURAL GRACE.--Grace is not necessarily supernatural. +Sacred Scripture and the Fathers sometimes apply the word to purely +natural gifts. We petition God for our daily bread, for good health, fair +weather and other temporal favors, and we thank Him for preserving us from +pestilence, famine, and war, although these are blessings which do not +transcend the order of nature.(8) + +a) Our petitions for purely natural favors are inspired by the conviction +that creation itself, and everything connected therewith, is a gratuitous +gift of God. This conviction is well founded. God was under no necessity +of creating anything: creation was an act of His free-will. Again, many of +the favors to which human nature, as such, has a claim, are free gifts +when conferred upon the individual. Good health, fortitude, talent, etc., +are natural graces, for which we are allowed, nay obliged, to petition +God. The Pelagians employed this truth to conceal a pernicious error when +they unctuously descanted on the magnitude and necessity of grace as +manifested in creation. It was by such trickery that their leader +succeeded in persuading the bishops assembled at the Council of Diospolis +or Lydda (A. D. 415) that his teaching was quite orthodox. St. Augustine +and four other African bishops later reported to Pope Innocent I, that if +these prelates had perceived that Pelagius meant to deny that grace by +which we are Christians and sons of God, they would not have listened to +him so patiently, and that, consequently, no blame attached to these +judges because they simply took the term "grace" in its ecclesiastical +sense.(9) + +b) Generally speaking, however, the term "grace" is reserved for what are +commonly called the supernatural gifts of God, the merely preternatural as +well as the strictly supernatural.(10) In this sense "grace" is as sharply +opposed to purely natural favors as nature is opposed to the supernatural. + +The importance of the distinction between supernatural and purely natural +grace will appear from an analysis of the concept itself. Considered as +gifts of God, the strictly supernatural graces (_e.g._, justification, +divine sonship, the beatific vision) ontologically exceed the bounds of +nature. Considered as purely gratuitous favors, they are negatively and +positively undeserved. The grace involved in creation, for instance, is +not conferred on some existing beneficiary, but actually produces its +recipient. The creation itself, therefore, being entirely _gratis data_, +all that succeeds it, supernatural grace included, must be negatively +undeserved, in as far as it was not necessary for the recipient to exist +at all. But the supernatural graces are _indebitae_ also positively, +_i.e._ positing the creation, because they transcend every creatural claim +and power. Both elements are contained in the above-quoted letter of the +African bishops to Pope Innocent I: "Though it may be said in a certain +legitimate sense, that we were created by the grace of God, ... that is a +different grace by which we are called predestined, by which we are +justified, and by which we receive eternal beatitude."(11) Of this +last-mentioned grace (_i.e._ grace in the strictly supernatural sense), +St. Augustine says: "This, the grace which Catholic bishops are wont to +read in the books of God and preach to their people, and the grace which +the Apostle commends, is not that by which we are created as men, but that +by which as sinful men we are justified."(12) In other words, natural is +opposed to supernatural grace in the same way that nature is opposed to +the supernatural. "[To believe] is the work of grace, not of nature. It +is, I say, the work of grace, which the second Adam brought us, not of +nature, which Adam wholly lost in himself."(13) Adding the new note +obtained by this analysis we arrive at the following definition: Grace is +a gratuitous _super-natural_ gift.(14) + +3. THE GRACE OF GOD AND THE GRACE OF CHRIST.--Though all supernatural +graces are from God, a distinction is made between the "grace of God" and +the "grace of Christ." The difference between them is purely accidental, +based on the fact that the "grace of Christ" flows exclusively from the +merits of the atonement. + +a) The following points may serve as criteria to distinguish the two +notions: + +A) The _gratia Dei_ springs from divine benevolence and presupposes a +recipient who is unworthy merely in a negative sense (=not worthy, _non +dignus_), whereas the _gratia Christi_ flows from mercy and benevolence +and is conferred on a recipient who is positively unworthy (_indignus_). + +B) The _gratia Dei_ elevates the soul to the supernatural order (_gratia +elevans_), while the _gratia Christi_ heals the wounds inflicted by sin, +especially concupiscence (_gratia elevans simul et sanans_). + +C) The _gratia Dei_ is a gratuitous gift conferred by the Blessed Trinity +without regard to the theandric merits of Jesus Christ, whereas the +_gratia Christi_ is based entirely on those merits. + +b) The Scotists hold that the distinction between _gratia Dei_ and _gratia +Christi_ is purely logical. They regard the God-man as the predestined +centre of the universe and the source of all graces.(15) The Thomists, on +the other hand, regard the grace of the angels, and that wherewith our +first parents were endowed in Paradise, purely as _gratia Dei_; they hold +that the merits of Christ did not become operative until after the Fall, +and that, consequently, there is a real distinction between the grace of +the angels and that of our first parents on the one hand, and the grace of +Christ on the other. + +As it cannot reasonably be supposed that the angels are endowed with +specifically the same graces by which mankind was redeemed from sin, the +Scotists are forced to admit a distinction between the grace of Christ as +God-man (_gratia Christi Dei-hominis_) and the grace of Christ as Redeemer +(_gratia Christi Redemptoris_), so that even according to them, the +dogmatic treatise on Grace is concerned solely with the grace of Christ +_qua_ Redeemer. + +Hence, grace must be more particularly defined as a gratuitous +supernatural gift _derived from the merits of Jesus Christ_.(16) + +4. EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL GRACE.--External grace (_gratia externa_) +comprises all those strictly supernatural institutions which stimulate +pious thoughts and salutary resolutions in the human soul. Such are, for +example, Holy Scripture, the Church, the Sacraments, the example of Jesus +Christ, etc. Internal grace (_gratia interna_) inheres or operates +invisibly in the soul, and places it in relation with God as its +supernatural end. Internal graces are, _e.g._, the theological virtues, +the power of forgiving sins, etc. The Pelagians admitted external, but +obstinately denied internal grace.(17) + +St. Paul(18) emphasizes the distinction between external and internal +grace by designating the former as "law" (_lex_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) and the latter as +"faith" (_fides_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}). With one exception, (_viz._, the Hypostatic +Union, which is the climax of all graces), external is inferior to, +because a mere preparation for, internal grace, which aims at +sanctification. We are concerned in this treatise solely with internal +grace. Hence, proceeding a step further, we may define grace as a +gratuitous, supernatural, _internal_ gift of God, derived from the merits +of Jesus Christ.(19) + +5. "GRATIA GRATIS DATA" and "GRATIA GRATUM FACIENS."--The supernatural +grace of Christ, existing invisibly in the soul either as a transient +impulse (_actus_) or as a permanent state (_habitus_), tends either to the +salvation of the person in whom it inheres or through him to the +sanctification of others. In the former case it is called ingratiating +(_gratia gratum faciens_), in the latter, gratuitously given (_gratia +gratis data_). The term _gratia gratis data_ is based on the words of our +Lord recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew: "Heal the sick, raise the +dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely have you received, +freely give."(20) + +a) The _gratia gratum faciens_ is intended for all men without exception; +the _gratia gratis data_ only for a few specially chosen persons. To the +class of gratuitously bestowed graces belong the charismata of the +prophets and the ordinary powers of the priesthood.(21) + +Each of these two species of internal grace may exist independently of the +other because personal holiness is not a necessary prerequisite for the +exercise of the charismata or the power of forgiving sins, etc. + +b) Considered with regard to its intrinsic worth, the _gratia gratum +faciens_ is decidedly superior to the _gratia gratis data_. St. Paul, +after enumerating all the charismata, admonishes the Corinthians: "Be +zealous for the better gifts, and I show unto you yet a more excellent +way,"(22) and then sings the praises of charity:(23) "If I speak with the +tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as +sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and +should know all the mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all +faith, so that I could remove mountains, I am nothing, etc."(24) Charity +is a _gratia gratum faciens_. Hence, since the _gratia gratis data_ is +treated elsewhere (Apologetics, Mystic and Sacramental Theology), we must +add another note to our definition: Grace is a gratuitous, supernatural, +internal gift, derived from the merits of Jesus Christ, _by which man is +rendered pleasing in the sight of God_.(25) + +6. ACTUAL AND HABITUAL GRACE.--The _gratia gratum faciens_ is given either +for the performance of a supernatural act or for the production of a +permanent supernatural state (_habitus_). In the latter case it is called +habitual, or, as it sanctifies the creature in the eyes of God, +sanctifying grace. + +Actual grace comprises two essential elements: (1) divine help as the +principle of every salutary supernatural act, and (2) the salutary act +itself. Hence its designation by the Fathers as {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, or, in Latin, _Dei auxilium, subsidium, adiutorium, +motio divina_,--all of which appellations have been adopted by the +Schoolmen. Actual grace invariably tends either to produce habitual or +sanctifying grace, or to preserve and increase it where it already exists. +It follows that, being merely a means to an end, actual grace is inferior +to sanctifying grace, which is that end itself. + + + Actual grace may therefore be defined as an unmerited, + supernatural, internal divine help, based on the merits of Jesus + Christ, which renders man pleasing in the sight of God, enabling + him to perform salutary acts; or, somewhat more succinctly, as a + supernatural help bestowed for the performance of salutary acts, + in consideration of the merits of Jesus Christ. + + +Actual grace is (1) a _help_ (_auxilium_), because it consists in a +transient influence exercised by God on the soul. (2) A _supernatural_ +help, to distinguish it from God's ordinary providence and all such merely +natural graces as man would probably have received in the state of pure +nature.(26) (3) It is attributed to the merits of Jesus Christ, in order +to indicate that the graces granted to fallen man are all derived from the +atonement both as their efficient and their meritorious cause. (4) Actual +grace is said to be given for the performance of salutary acts to show +that its immediate purpose or end is an act, not a state, and that the +acts for which it is given must be in the order of salvation. + +7. THE TWOFOLD CAUSALITY OF ACTUAL GRACE.--If grace is a supernatural help, +mere nature cannot, of its own strength, perform salutary acts. +Consequently, actual grace exercises a causal influence without which man +would be helpless in the matter of salvation. + +The causality of actual grace is both moral and physical. + +a) As a moral cause grace removes the obstacles which render the work of +salvation difficult. Besides this negative it also has a positive effect: +it inspires delight in virtue and hatred of sin. + +This mode of operation manifestly presupposes a certain weakness of the +human will, _i.e._ _concupiscence_, which is an effect of original sin. +Actual grace exercises a healing influence on the will(27) and is +therefore called _gratia sanans sive medicinalis_. "Unless something is +put before the soul to please and attract it," says St. Augustine, "the +will can in no wise be moved; but it is not in man's power to bring this +about."(28) Concretely, this moral causality of grace manifests itself as +a divinely inspired joy in virtue and a hatred of sin, both of which +incline the will to the free performance of salutary acts. These +sentiments may in some cases be so strong as to deprive the will +temporarily of its freedom to resist. The sudden conversion of St. Paul is +a case in point. Holy Scripture expressly assures us that God is the +absolute master of the human will and, if He so chooses, can bend it under +His yoke without using physical force. Cfr. Prov. XXI, 1: "The heart of +the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever he will, he shall turn +it." "Who will be so foolish as to say," queries St. Augustine, "that God +cannot change the evil wills of men, whichever, whenever, and wheresoever +He chooses, and direct them to what is good?"(29) It is but rarely, of +course, that God grants to any man a summary victory over his sinful +nature; but this fact does not prevent the Church from praying: +"Vouchsafe, O Lord, to compel our wills to thee, even though they be +rebellious."(30) + +b) Even more important than the moral causality of grace is its physical +causality. Man depends entirely on God for the physical strength necessary +to perform salutary works. Grace elevates the faculties of the soul to the +supernatural sphere, thereby enabling it to perform supernatural acts. + +Physical is as distinct from moral causality in the order of grace as in +the order of nature. The holding out of a beautiful toy will not enable a +child to walk without support from its elders. Moral causality is +insufficient to enable a man to perform salutary acts. Grace (as we shall +show later) is absolutely, _i.e._ metaphysically, necessary for all +salutary acts, whether easy or difficult, and hence the incapacity of +nature cannot be ascribed solely to weakness and to the moral difficulty +resulting from sin, but must be attributed mainly to physical impotence. A +bird without wings is not merely impeded but utterly unable to fly; +similarly, man without grace is not only handicapped but absolutely +incapacitated for the work of salvation. Considered under this aspect, +actual grace is called _gratia elevans_, because it elevates man to the +supernatural state.(31) + +This double causality of grace is well brought out in Perrone's classic +definition: "_Gratia actualis est gratuitum illud auxilium,_(_32_)_ quod +Deus_(_33_)_ per Christi merita_(_34_)_ homini lapso_(_35_)_ largitur, tum +ut eius infirmitati consulat,_(_36_)_ ... tum ut eum erigat ad statum +supernaturalem atque idoneum faciat ad actus supernaturales +eliciendos,_(_37_)_ ut iustificationem possit adipisci_(_38_)_ in eaque +iam consecuta perseverare, donec perveniat ad vitam aeternam._"(39) In +English: "Actual grace is that unmerited interior assistance which God, by +virtue of the merits of Christ, confers upon fallen man, in order, on the +one hand, to remedy his infirmity resulting from sin and, on the other, to +raise him to the supernatural order and thereby to render him capable of +performing supernatural acts, so that he may attain justification, +persevere in it to the end, and thus enter into everlasting life." This +definition is strictly scientific, for it enumerates all the elements that +enter into the essence of actual grace. + + + +Section 2. Division Of Actual Grace + + +Actual grace may be divided according to: (1) the difference existing +between the faculties of the human soul, and (2) in reference to the +freedom of the will. + +Considered in its relation to the different faculties of the soul, actual +grace is either of the intellect, or of the will, or of the sensitive +faculties. With regard to the free consent of the will, it is either (1) +prevenient, also called cooeperating, or (2) efficacious or merely +sufficient. + +1. THE ILLUMINATING GRACE OF THE INTELLECT.--Actual grace, in so far as it +inspires salutary thoughts, is called illuminating (_gratia illuminationis +s. illustrationis_). + +This illumination of the intellect by grace may be either mediate or +immediate. It is mediate if grace suggests salutary thoughts to the +intellect by purely natural means, or external graces, such as a stirring +sermon, the perusal of a good book, etc.; it is immediate when the Holy +Ghost elevates the powers of the soul, and through the instrumentality of +the so-called _potentia obedientialis_,(40) produces in it entitatively +supernatural acts. + +The existence of the grace of immediate illumination follows from its +absolute necessity as a means of salvation, defined by the Second Council +of Orange, A. D. 529.(41) + +a) The grace of mediate illumination may be inferred aprioristically from +the existence of a divine revelation equipped with such supernatural +institutions as the Bible, the sacraments, rites, ceremonies, etc. In +conformity with the psychological laws governing the association of ideas, +intelligent meditation on the agencies comprised under the term "external +grace"(42) elicits in the mind salutary thoughts, which are not +necessarily supernatural in their inception. + +It is not unlikely that Sacred Scripture refers to such graces as these +when it recommends "the law of God" or "the example of Christ" as fit +subjects for meditation. Cfr. Ps. XVIII, 8 sq.: "The law of the Lord is +unspotted, converting souls, ... the commandment of the Lord is lightsome, +enlightening the eyes."(43) 1 Pet. II, 21: "Christ also suffered for us, +leaving you an example that you should follow his steps."(44) St. +Augustine probably had in mind the grace of mediate illumination when he +wrote: "God acts upon us by the incentives of visible objects to will and +to believe, either externally by evangelical exhortations, ... or +internally, as no man has control over what enters into his thoughts."(45) +The grace of mediate illumination has for its object to prepare the way +quietly and unostentatiously for a grace of greater import, namely, the +immediate illumination of the mind by the Holy Ghost. + +b) The grace of immediate far surpasses that of mediate illumination +because the supernatural life of the soul originates in faith, which in +turn is based on a strictly supernatural enlightenment of the mind. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) St. Paul expressly teaches: "And such confidence we have, through +Christ, towards God; not that we are sufficient to think anything of +ourselves, as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God."(46) + +The salient portion of this text reads as follows in the original Greek: +{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}. Speaking in the plural (_pluralis +maiestaticus_), the Apostle confesses himself unable to conceive a single +salutary thought ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}), and ascribes the power ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) to do so +to God. Considered merely as vital acts, such thoughts proceed from the +natural faculties of the mind ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}), but the power that produces +them is divine ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}), not human ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}). Hence each salutary +thought exceeds the power of man, and is an immediate supernatural grace. + +A still more cogent argument can be derived from 1 Cor. III, 6 sq.: "I +have planted, Apollo watered, but God gave the increase. Therefore, +neither he that planteth is anything, nor he that watereth; but God that +giveth the increase."(47) In this beautiful allegory the Apostle compares +the genesis of supernatural faith in the soul to that of a plant under the +care of a gardener, who while he plants and waters, yet looks to God for +"the increase." The Apostle and his disciple Apollo are the spiritual +gardeners through whose preaching the Corinthians received the grace of +mediate illumination. But, as St. Paul says, this preaching would have +been useless (_non est aliquid_) had not God given "the increase." In +other words, the grace of immediate illumination was necessary to make the +Apostolic preaching effective. "For," in the words of St. Augustine, "God +Himself contributes to the production of fruit in good trees, when He both +externally waters and tends them by the agency of His servants, and +internally by Himself also gives the increase."(48) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) The argument from Tradition is based chiefly on St. Augustine, "the +Doctor of Grace," whose authority in this branch of dogmatic theology is +unique.(49) His writings abound in many such synonymous terms for the +grace of immediate illumination, as _cogitatio pia, vocatio alta et +secreta, locutio in cogitatione, aperitio veritatis_, etc., etc. + +He says among other things: "Instruction and admonition are external aids, +but he who controls the hearts has his cathedra in heaven."(50) Augustine +esteems human preaching as nothing and ascribes all its good effects to +grace. "It is the internal Master who teaches; Christ teaches and His +inspiration."(51) In harmony with his master, St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, the +ablest defender of the Augustinian (_i.e._ Catholic) doctrine of grace, +says: "In vain will our sacred discourses strike the external ear, unless +God by a spiritual gift opens the hearing of the interior man."(52) + +2. THE STRENGTHENING GRACE OF THE WILL.--This grace, usually called _gratia +inspirationis_,(53) may also be either mediate or immediate, according as +pious affections and wholesome resolutions are produced in the soul by a +preceding illumination of the intellect or directly by the Holy Ghost. +Owing to the psychological interaction of intellect and will, every grace +of the mind, whether mediate or immediate, is _eo ipso_ also a mediate +grace of the will, which implies a new act of the soul, but not a new +grace. What we are concerned with here is the immediate strengthening +grace of the will, which is far more important and more necessary. + +We are not able to demonstrate this teaching from Sacred Scripture. The +texts John VI, 44 and Phil. II, 13, which are usually adduced in this +connection, are inconclusive. + +Hence we must rely solely on Tradition. The argument from Tradition is +based mainly on St. Augustine. In defending divine grace against Pelagius, +this holy Doctor asserts the indispensability and superior value of the +strengthening grace of the will. + +"By that grace it is effected, not only that we discover what ought to be +done, but also that we do what we have discovered; not only that we +believe what ought to be loved, but also that we love what we have +believed."(54) And again: "Let him discern between knowledge and charity, +as they ought to be distinguished, because knowledge puffeth up, but +charity edifieth.... And inasmuch as both are gifts of God, although one +is less and the other greater, he must not extol our righteousness above +the praise which is due to Him who justifies us in such a way as to assign +to the lesser of these two gifts the help of divine grace, and to claim +the greater one for the control of the human will."(55) St. Augustine +emphasized the existence and necessity of this higher grace of the will in +his controversy with the Pelagians. He was firmly convinced that a man may +know the way of salvation, and yet refuse to follow it.(56) He insisted +that mere knowledge is not virtue, as Socrates had falsely taught. + +Ecclesiastical Tradition was always in perfect accord with this teaching, +which eventually came to be defined by the plenary Council of Carthage (A. +D. 418) as follows: "If any one assert that this same grace of God, +granted through our Lord Jesus Christ, helps to avoid sin only for the +reason that it opens and reveals to us an understanding of the [divine] +commands, so that we may know what we should desire and what we should +avoid; but that it is not granted to us by the same (grace) to desire and +be able to do that which we know we ought to do, let him be +anathema;--since both are gifts of God: to know what we must do and to have +the wish to do it."(57) + +Like the illuminating grace of the intellect the strengthening grace of +the will effects vital acts and manifests itself chiefly in what are known +as the emotions of the will. St. Prosper, after Fulgentius the most +prominent disciple of St. Augustine, enumerates these as follows: "Fear +(for 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom'); joy ('I rejoiced +at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the +Lord'); desire ('My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the +Lord'); delight ('How sweet are thy words to my palate, more than honey to +my mouth');"--and he adds: "Who can see or tell by what affections God +visits and guides the human soul?"(58) + +3. ACTUAL GRACES OF THE SENSITIVE SPHERE.--Though it cannot be determined +with certainty of faith, it is highly probable that actual grace +influences the sensitive faculties of the soul as well as the intellect +and the will. + +God, who is the first and sole cause of all things, is no doubt able to +excite in the human imagination phantasms corresponding to the +supernatural thoughts produced in the intellect, and to impede or paralyze +the rebellious stirrings of concupiscence which resist the grace of the +will,--either by infusing contrary dispositions or by allowing spiritual +joy to run over into the _appetitus sensitivus_. The existence of such +graces (which need not necessarily be supernatural except _quoad modum et +finem_) may be inferred with great probability from the fact that man is a +compound of body and soul. Aristotle holds that the human mind cannot +think without the aid of the imagination.(59) If this is true, every +supernatural thought must be preceded by a corresponding phantasm to +excite and sustain it. As for the sensitive appetite, it may either assume +the form of concupiscence and hinder the work of salvation, or aid it by +favorable emotions excited supernaturally. St. Augustine says that the +_delectatio victrix_ has for its object "to impart sweetness to that which +gave no pleasure."(60) St. Paul, who thrice besought the Lord to relieve +him of the sting of his flesh, was told: "My grace is sufficient for +thee."(61) + +4. _The Illuminating Grace of the Mind and the Strengthening Grace of the +Will Considered as Vital Acts of the Soul._--If we examine these graces +more closely to determine their physical nature, we find that they are +simply vital acts of the intellect and the will, and receive the character +of divine "graces" from the fact that they are supernaturally excited in +the soul by God. + +a) The Biblical, Patristic, and conciliar terms _cogitatio_, _suasio_, +_scientia_, _cognitio_, as well as _delectatio_, _voluptas_, _desiderium_, +_caritas_, _bona voluntas_, _cupiditas_, all manifestly point to vital +acts of the soul. But even where grace is described as _vocatio_, +_illuminatio_, _illustratio_, _excitatio_, _pulsatio_, _inspiratio_, or +_tractio_, the reference can only be--if not _formaliter_, at least +_virtualiter_--to immanent vital acts of the intellect or will. This is the +concurrent teaching of SS. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. The former says: +"God calls [us] by [our] innermost thoughts," and: "See how the Father +draws [and] by teaching delights [us]."(62) The latter quotes the +Aristotelian axiom: "_Actus moventis in moto est motus._"(63) + +If the graces of the intellect and of the will are supernaturally inspired +acts of the soul, by what process does the mind of man respond to the +impulse of illumination and inspiration? + +The language employed by the Fathers and councils leaves no doubt that +supernatural knowledge manifests itself mainly in judgments. But simple +apprehension and ratiocination must also play a part, (1) because these +two operations are of the essence of human thought, and the grace of +illumination always works through natural agencies; and (2) because some +intellectual apprehensions are merely condensed judgments and syllogisms. + +The graces of the will naturally work through the spiritual emotions or +passions, of which there are eleven: love and hatred, joy and sadness, +desire and abhorrence, hope and despair, fear and daring, and lastly +anger. With the exception of despair (for which there is no place in the +business of salvation), all these passions have a practical relation to +good and evil and are consequently called "graces" both in Scripture and +Tradition. Love (_amor_) is the fundamental affection of the will, to +which all others are reducible, and hence the principal function of grace, +in so far as it affects the will, must consist in producing acts of +love.(64) The Council of Carthage (A. D. 418) declares that "both to know +what we must do, and to love to do it, is a gift of God."(65) It would be +a mistake, however, to identify this "love" with theological charity, +which is "a perfect love of God above all things for His own sake."(66) +Justification begins with supernatural faith, is followed by fear, hope, +and contrition, and culminates in charity.(67) + +St. Augustine sometimes employs the word _caritas_ in connections where it +cannot possibly mean theological love.(68) This peculiar usage is based on +the idea that love of goodness in a certain way attracts man towards God +and prepares him for the theological virtue of charity. In studying the +writings of St. Augustine, therefore, we must carefully distinguish +between _caritas_ in the strict, and _caritas_ in a secondary and derived +sense.(69) The champions of the falsely so-called Augustinian theory of +grace(70) disregard this important distinction and erroneously claim that +St. Augustine identifies "grace" with _caritas_ in the sense of +theological love; just as if faith, hope, contrition, and the fear of God +were not also graces in the true meaning of the term, and could not exist +without theological charity. + +b) Not a few theologians, especially of the Thomist school, enlarge the +list of actual graces by including therein, besides the supernatural vital +acts of the soul, certain extrinsic, non-vital qualities (_qualitates +fluentes, non vitales_) that precede these acts and form their basis. It +is impossible, they argue, to elicit vital or immanent supernatural acts +unless the faculties of the soul have previously been raised to the +supernatural order by means of the _potentia oboedientialis_. The _gratia +elevans_, which produces in the soul of the sinner the same effects that +the so-called infused habits produce in the soul of the just, is a +supernatural power really distinct from its vital effects. In other words, +they say, the vital supernatural acts of the soul are preceded and +produced by a non-vital grace, which must be conceived as a "fluent +quality." These "fluent" (the opponents of the theory ironically call them +"dead") qualities are alleged to be real graces.(71) Alvarez and others +endeavor to give their theory a dogmatic standing by quoting in its +support all those passages of Sacred Scripture, the Fathers and councils +in which prevenient grace is described as _pulsatio_, _excitatio_, +_vocatio_, _tractio_, _tactus_, and so forth. The act of knocking or +calling, they say, is not identical with the act of opening, in fact the +former is a grace in a higher sense than the latter, because it is +performed by God alone, while the response comes from the soul cooeperating +with God.(72) + +The theory thus briefly described is both theologically and +philosophically untenable. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) Holy Scripture and Tradition nowhere mention any such non-vital +entities or qualities,--a circumstance which would be inexplicable if it +were true, what Cardinal Gotti asserts,(73) that the term "grace" applies +primarily and in the strict sense to these qualities, while the vital acts +are merely effects. Whenever Sacred Scripture, the Fathers, and the Church +speak literally, without the use of metaphors, they invariably apply the +term "grace" to these vital acts themselves and ascribe their supernatural +character to an immediate act of God.(74) In perfect conformity with this +teaching St. Augustine explains such metaphorical terms as _vocare_ and +_tangere_ in the sense of _credere_ and _fides_.(75) God employs no +"fluent qualities" or "non-vital entities" in the dispensation of His +grace, but effects the supernatural elevation of the soul immediately and +by Himself.(76) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) The theory under consideration is inadmissible also from the +philosophical point of view. A quality does not "flow" or tend to revert +to nothingness. On the contrary, its very nature demands that it remain +constant until destroyed by its opposite or by some positive cause. It is +impossible to conceive a quality that would of itself revert to +nothingness without the intervention of a destructive cause. Billuart +merely beats the air when he says: "_Potest dici qualitas incompleta +habens se per modum passionis transeuntis._"(77) What would Aristotle have +said if he had been told of a thing that was half {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} and half {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, +and consequently neither the one nor the other? Actual grace is +transitory; it passes away with the act which it inspires, and +consequently may be said to "flow." But this very fact proves that it is +not a dead quality, but a _modus vitalis supernaturalis_. In the +dispensation of His grace, God employs no fluent qualities or non-vital +entities, but He Himself is the immediate cause of the supernatural +elevation of the human soul and its faculties. St. Thomas is perfectly +consistent, therefore, when he defines actual grace as a vital act of the +soul.(78) + +5. PREVENIENT AND COOePERATING GRACE.--The vital acts of the soul are either +spontaneous impulses or free acts of the will. Grace may precede free-will +or cooeperate with it. If it precedes the free determination of the will it +is called prevenient; if it accompanies (or coincides with) that +determination and merely cooeperates with the will, it is called +cooeperating grace. + +Prevenient grace, regarded as a divine call to penance, is often styled +_gratia vocans sive excitans_, and if it is received with a willing heart, +_gratia adiuvans_. Both species are distinctly mentioned in Holy +Scripture. Cfr. Eph. V, 14: "Wherefore he saith: Rise thou that sleepest, +and arise from the dead: and Christ shall enlighten thee." 2 Tim. I, 9: +"Who hath delivered us and called us by his holy calling, not according to +our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us +in Christ Jesus before the times of the world." Rom. VIII, 26: "Likewise +the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity." Rom. VIII, 30: "And whom he +predestinated, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also +justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified." Apoc. III, 20: +"Behold I stand at the gate and knock. If any man shall hear my voice, and +open to me the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he +with me." + +St. Augustine says: "Forasmuch as our turning away from God is our own act +and deed, and this is [our] depraved will; but that we turn to God, this +we cannot do except He rouse and help us, and this is [our] good +will,--what have we that we have not received?"(79) + +An equivalent division is that into _gratia operans_ and _cooeperans_, +respectively--names which are also founded on Scripture. Cfr. Phil. II, 13: +"For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, +according to his good will." Mark XVI, 20: "But they going forth preached +everywhere: the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs +that followed." + +St. Augustine describes the respective functions of these graces as +follows: "He [God] begins His influence by working in us that we may have +the will, and He completes it by working with us when we have the +will."(80) + +A third division of the same grace is that into _praeveniens_ and +_subsequens_. It is likewise distinctly Scriptural,(81) and its two +members coincide materially with _gratia vocans_ and _adiuvans_, as can be +seen by comparing the usage of St. Augustine with that of the Tridentine +Council. "God's mercy," says the holy Doctor, "prevents [_i.e._ precedes] +the unwilling to make him willing; it follows the willing lest he will in +vain."(82) And the Council of Trent declares that "in adults the beginning +of justification is to be derived from the prevenient grace of God, +through Jesus Christ, that is to say, from His vocation, whereby, without +any merits existing on their part, they are called."(83) + +If we conceive a continuous series of supernatural graces, each may be +called either prevenient or subsequent, according as it is regarded either +as a cause or as an effect. St. Thomas explains this as follows: "As grace +is divided into working and cooeperating grace, according to its diverse +effects, so it may also be divided into prevenient and subsequent grace, +according to the meaning attached to the term grace [_i.e._, either +habitual or actual]. The effects which grace works in us are five: (1) It +heals the soul; (2) moves it to will that which is good; (3) enables man +efficaciously to perform the good deeds which he wills; (4) helps him to +persevere in his good resolves; and (5) assists him in attaining to the +state of glory. In so far as it produces the first of these effects, grace +is called prevenient in respect of the second; and in so far as it +produces the second, it is called subsequent in respect of the first. And +as each effect is posterior to one and prior to another, so grace may be +called prevenient or subsequent according as we regard it in its relations +to different effects."(84) + +Among so many prevenient graces there must be one which is preceded by +none other (_simpliciter praeveniens_), and this is preeminently the +_gratia vocans s. excitans_. + +There is a fourth and last division, mentioned by the Council of Trent, +which is also based on the relation of grace to free-will. "Jesus Christ +Himself," says the holy Synod, "continually infuses His virtue into the +justified, and this virtue always precedes, accompanies, and follows their +good works."(85) The opposition here lies between _gratia antecedens_, +which is a spontaneous movement of the soul, and _gratia concomitans_, +which cooeperates with free-will after it has given its consent. This +terminology may be applied to the good works of sinners and saints alike. +For the sinner no less than the just man receives two different kinds of +graces--(1) such as precede the free determination of the will and (2) such +as accompany his free acts. + +Thus it can be readily seen that the fundamental division of actual grace, +considered in its relation to free-will, is that into prevenient and +cooeperating grace. All other divisions are based on a difference of +function rather than of nature.(86) + +a) The existence of prevenient grace (_gratia praeveniens s. excitans s. +vocans_) may be inferred from the fact that the process of justification +begins with the illumination of the intellect, which is by nature unfree, +_i.e._ devoid of the power of choosing between good and evil. That there +are also graces which consist in spontaneous, indeliberate motions of the +will,(87) is clearly taught by the Council of Trent,(88) and evidenced by +certain Biblical metaphors. Thus God is described as knocking at the gate +(Apoc. III, 20), as drawing men to Him (John VI, 44), and men are said to +harden their hearts against His voice (Ps. XCIV, 8), etc. Cfr. Jer. XVII, +23: "But they did not hear, nor incline their ear: but hardened their +neck, that they might not hear me, and might not receive instruction." + +The Catholic tradition is voiced by St. Augustine, who says: "The will +itself can in no wise be moved, unless it meets with something which +delights or attracts the mind; but it is not in the power of man to bring +this about."(89) St. Prosper enumerates a long list of spontaneous +emotions which he calls supernatural graces of the will.(90) + +Prevenient grace is aptly characterized by the Patristic formula: "_Gratia +est in nobis, sed sine nobis_," that is, grace, as a vital act, is in the +soul, but as a salutary act it proceeds, not from the free will, but from +God. In other words, though the salutary acts of grace derive their +vitality from the human will, they are mere _actus hominis_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}), not +_actus humani_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}).(91) "God," explains St. Augustine, "does many +good things in man, which man does not do; but man does none which God +does not cause man to do."(92) And again: "[God] operates without us, in +order that we may become willing; but when we once will so as to act, He +cooeperates with us. We can, however, ourselves do nothing to effect good +works of piety without Him either working that we may will, or cooeperating +when we will."(93) St. Bernard employs similar language.(94) + +b) Cooeperating grace (_gratia cooperans s. adiuvans s. subsequens_) +differs from prevenient grace in this, that it supposes a deliberate act +of consent on the part of the will ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, not {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}). St. Gregory +the Great tersely explains the distinction as follows: "The divine +goodness first effects something in us without our cooeperation [_gratia +praeveniens_], and then, as the will freely consents, cooeperates with us +in performing the good which we desire [_gratia cooperans_]."(95) That +such free and consequently meritorious acts are attributable to grace is +emphasized by the Tridentine Council: "So great is the bounty [of God] +towards all men that He will have the things which are His own gifts to be +their merits."(96) Such free salutary acts are not only graces in the +general sense, but real actual graces, in as far as they produce other +salutary acts, and their existence is as certain as the fact that many men +freely follow the call of grace, work out their salvation, and attain to +the beatific vision. It is only in this way, in fact, that Heaven is +peopled with Saints. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) St. Augustine embodies all these considerations in the following +passage: "It is certain that we keep the commandments when we will; but +because the will is prepared by the Lord, we must ask of Him that we may +will so much as is sufficient to make us act in willing. It is certain +that we will whenever we like, but it is He who makes us will what is +good, of whom it is said (Prov. VIII, 35): 'The will is prepared by the +Lord,' and of whom it is said (Ps. XXXVI, 32): 'The steps of a [good] man +are ordered by the Lord, and his way doth He will,' and of whom it is said +(Phil. II, 13): 'It is God who worketh in you, even to will.' It is +certain that we act whenever we set to work; but it is He who causes us to +act, by giving thoroughly efficacious powers to our will, who has said +(Ezech. XXXVI, 27): 'I will cause you to walk in my commandments, and to +keep my judgments, and do them.' When He says: 'I will cause you ... to do +them,' what else does He say in fact than (Ezech. XI, 19): 'I will take +away the stony heart out of their flesh,' from which used to rise your +inability to act, and (Ezech. XXXVI, 26): 'I will give you a heart of +flesh,' in order that you may act."(97) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) The manner in which grace and free-will cooeperate is a profound +philosophical and theological problem. A salutary act derives its +supernatural character from God, its vitality from the human will. How do +these two factors conjointly produce one and the same act? The unity of +the act would be destroyed if God and the free-will of man in each case +performed, either two separate acts, or each half of the same act. To +preserve the unity of a supernatural act two conditions are required: (1) +the divine power of grace must be transformed into the vital strength of +the will and (2) the created will, which by its own power can perform at +most a naturally good act, must be equipped with the supernatural power of +grace. These conditions are met (a) by the supernatural elevation of the +will (_elevatio externa_), and (b) by the supernatural concurrence of God +(_concursus supernaturalis ad actum secundum_). The supernatural elevation +of the will is accomplished in this wise: God, by employing the +illuminating and strengthening grace, works on the _potentia +oboedientialis_, and thus raises the will above its purely natural powers +and constitutes it a supernatural faculty _in actu primo_ for the free +performance of a salutary act. The divine concursus supervenes to enable +the will to perform the _actus secundus_ or salutary act proper. This +special divine concurrence, in contradistinction to the natural concursus +whereby God supports the created universe,(98) is a strictly supernatural +and gratuitous gift. Consequently, God and the human will jointly perform +one and the same salutary act--God as the principal, the will as the +instrumental cause.(99) + +6. EFFICACIOUS GRACE AND MERELY SUFFICIENT GRACE.--By efficacious grace +(_gratia efficax_) we understand that divine assistance which with +infallible certainty includes the free salutary act. Whether the certainty +of its operation results from the physical nature of this particular +grace, or from God's infallible foreknowledge (_scientia media_), is a +question in dispute between Thomists and Molinists.(100) + +Merely sufficient grace (_gratia mere sufficiens_) is that divine +assistance whereby God communicates to the human will full power to +perform a salutary act (_posse_) but not the action itself (_agere_). + +The division of grace into efficacious and merely sufficient is not +identical with that into prevenient and cooeperating. Cooeperating grace +does not _ex vi notionis_ include with infallible certainty the salutary +act. It may indeed be efficacious, but in matter of fact frequently fails +to attain its object because the will offers resistance. + +a) The existence of efficacious graces is as certain as that there is a +Heaven filled with Saints. God would be neither omnipotent nor infinitely +wise if all His graces were frustrated by the free-will of man. St. +Augustine repeatedly expresses his belief in the existence of efficacious +graces. Thus he writes in his treatise on Grace and Free-Will: "It is +certain that we act whenever we set to work; but it is He [God] who causes +us to act, by giving thoroughly efficacious powers to the will."(101) And +in another treatise: "[Adam] had received the ability (_posse_) if he +would [_gratia sufficiens_], but he had not the will to exercise that +ability [_gratia efficax_]; for if he had possessed that will, he would +have persevered."(102) + +b) Before demonstrating the existence of sufficient grace it is necessary, +in view of certain heretical errors, carefully to define the term. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) Actual grace may be regarded either in its intrinsic energy or power +(_virtus_, _potestas agendi_) or in its extrinsic efficacy (_efficientia_, +_efficacitas_). All graces are efficacious considered in their intrinsic +energy, because all confer the physical and moral power necessary to +perform the salutary act for the sake of which they are bestowed. From +this point of view, therefore, and _in actu primo_, there is no real but a +purely logical distinction between efficacious and merely sufficient +grace. If we look to the final result, however, we find that this differs +according as the will either freely cooeperates with grace or refuses its +cooeperation. If the will cooeperates, grace becomes truly efficacious; if +the will resists, grace remains "merely sufficient." In other words, +merely sufficient grace confers full power to act, but is rendered +ineffective by the resistance of the will. + +The inefficacy of merely sufficient grace, therefore, is owing to the +resistance of the will and not to any lack of intrinsic power. This is a +truth to which all Catholic systems of grace must conform. + +Merely sufficient grace may be subdivided into _gratia proxime sufficiens_ +and _gratia remote sufficiens_. + +Proximately sufficient grace (also called _gratia operationis_) confers +upon the will full power to act forthwith, while remotely sufficient grace +(also termed _gratia orationis_) confers only the grace of prayer, which +in its turn brings down full power to perform other salutary acts. + +The _gratia orationis_ plays a most important role in the divine economy +of grace. God has not obliged Himself to give man immediately all the +graces he needs. It is His will, in many instances, as when we are +besieged by temptations, that we petition Him for further assistance. "God +does not enjoin impossibilities," says St. Augustine, "but in His +injunctions He counsels you both to do what you can for yourself, and to +ask His aid in what you cannot do."(103) + +Hence, though grace may sometimes remain ineffective (_gratia inefficax_ = +_gratia vere et mere sufficiens_), it is never insufficient +(_insufficiens_), that is to say, never too weak to accomplish its +purpose. + +Calvinism and Jansenism, while retaining the name, have eliminated +sufficient grace from their doctrinal systems. + +Jansenius (+ 1638) admits a kind of "sufficient grace," which he calls +_gratia parva_, but it is really insufficient because no action can result +from it unless it is supplemented by another and more powerful grace.(104) +This heretic denounced sufficient grace in the Catholic sense as a +monstrous conception and a means of peopling hell with reprobates.(105) +Some of his followers even went so far as to assert that "in our present +state sufficient grace is pernicious rather than useful to us, and we have +reason to pray: From sufficient grace, O Lord, deliver us!"(106) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) It is an article of faith that there is a merely sufficient grace and +that it is truly sufficient even when frustrated by the resistance of the +will. The last-mentioned point is emphasized by the Second Council of +Orange (A. D. 529): "This also we believe, according to the Catholic +faith, that all baptized persons, through the grace received in Baptism, +and with the help and cooeperation of Christ, are able and in duty bound, +if they will faithfully do their share, to comply with all the conditions +necessary for salvation."(107) The existence of sufficient grace was +formally defined by the Council of Trent as follows: "If any one saith +that man's free-will, moved and excited by God, ... no wise cooeperates +towards disposing and preparing itself for obtaining the grace of +justification; that it cannot refuse its consent if it would, ... let him +be anathema."(108) + +This dogma can be convincingly demonstrated both from Sacred Scripture and +Tradition. + +(1) God Himself complains through the mouth of the prophet Isaias: "What +is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I have not done to +it? Was it that I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it hath +brought forth wild grapes?"(109) This complaint clearly applies to the +Jews. Yahweh did for the Jewish nation whatever it behooved Him to do +lavishly (_gratia vere sufficiens_), but His kindness was unrequited +(_gratia mere sufficiens_). In the Book of Proverbs He addresses the +sinner in these terms: "I called, and you refused: I stretched out my +hand, and there was none that regarded."(110) What does this signify if +not the complete sufficiency of grace? The proffered grace remained +inefficacious simply because the sinner rejected it of his own free will. +Upbraiding the wicked cities of Corozain and Bethsaida, our Lord exclaims: +"If in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought +in you, they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes."(111) The +omniscient God-man here asserts the existence of graces which remained +inefficacious in Corozain and Bethsaida, though had they been given to the +inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, they would have proved effective. The +conclusion evidently is: these graces remained ineffective, not because +they were unequal to the purpose for which they were conferred, but simply +and solely because they were rejected by those whom God intended to +benefit.(112) + +(2) Though they did not employ the name, the Fathers were thoroughly +familiar with the notion of sufficient grace. + +Thus St. Irenaeus comments on our Lord's lamentation over the fate of the +Holy City: "When He says: (Matth. XXIII, 37): 'How often would I have +gathered together thy children, ... and thou wouldest not,' He manifests +the ancient liberty of man, because God hath made him free from the +beginning.... For God does not employ force, but always has a good +intention. And for this reason He gives good counsel to all.... And those +who do it [_gratia efficax_] will receive glory and honor, because they +have done good, though they were free not to do it; but those who do not +do good will experience the just judgment of God, because they have not +done good [_gratia inefficax_], though they were able to do it [_gratia +vere et mere sufficiens_]."(113) St. Augustine is in perfect agreement +with ecclesiastical tradition, and the Jansenists had no right whatever to +claim him for their teaching. "The grace of God," he expressly says in one +place, "assists the will of men. If in any case men are not assisted by +it, the reason lies with themselves, not God."(114) And again: "No one is +guilty because he has not received; but he who does not do what he ought +to do, is truly guilty. It is his duty to act if he has received a free +will and amply sufficient power to act."(115) + +READINGS:--St. Thomas, _Summa Theologica_, 1a 2ae, qu. 110, art. 1; qu. +111, art. 1-5.--J. Scheeben, _Natur und Gnade_, Mainz 1861.--M. Glossner, +_Lehre des hl. Thomas vom Wesen der Gnade_, Mainz 1871.--Palmieri, _De +Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. 1-16, Gulpen 1885.--Oswald, _Die Lehre von +der Heiligung_, 3rd ed., § 1-3, Paderborn 1885.--S. Schiffini, _De Gratia +Divina_, disp. 1, sect. 2; disp. 3, sect. 1-5, Freiburg +1901.--Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, pp. 3 sqq., +Mainz 1897.--B. J. Otten, S. J., _A Manual of the History of Dogmas_, Vol. +II, St. Louis 1918, pp. 234 sqq. + + + + +Chapter II. The Properties Of Actual Grace + + +Actual grace has three essential properties: (1) necessity, (2) gratuity, +and (3) universality. The most important of these is necessity. + + + +Section 1. The Necessity Of Actual Grace + + +In treating of the necessity of actual grace we must avoid two extremes. +The first is that mere nature is absolutely incapable of doing any thing +good. This error was held by the early Protestants and the followers of +Baius and Jansenius. The second is that nature is able to perform +supernatural acts by its own power. This was taught by the Pelagians and +Semipelagians. + +Between these two extremes Catholic theology keeps the golden mean. It +defends the capacity of human nature against Protestants and Jansenists, +and upholds its incapacity and impotence against Pelagians and +Semipelagians. Thus our present Section naturally falls into three +Articles. + + +Article 1. The Capacity Of Mere Nature Without Grace + + +The capacity of nature in its own domain may be considered with regard +either to the intellect or to the will. + +*Thesis I: Man is capable by the natural power of his intellect to arrive +at a knowledge of God from a consideration of the physical universe.* + +This proposition embodies an article of faith defined by the Vatican +Council: "If any one shall say that the one true God, our Creator and +Lord, cannot be certainly known by the natural light of human reason +through created things, let him be anathema."(116) + +For a formal demonstration of this truth we must refer the reader to our +treatise on _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, pp. 17 sqq. +The argument there given may be supplemented by the following +considerations: + +1. The Vatican Council vindicates the native power of the human intellect +when it says: "The Catholic Church, with one consent, has ever held and +does hold, that there is a twofold order of knowledge, distinct both in +principle and in object: in principle, because our knowledge in the one is +by natural reason, and in the other by divine faith; in object, because, +besides those things to which natural reason can attain, there are +proposed to our belief mysteries hidden in God, which, unless divinely +revealed, cannot be known."(117) This teaching, which the Church had +repeatedly emphasized on previous occasions against the scepticism of +Nicholas de Ultricuria,(118) the rationalistic philosophy of Pomponazzi, +the "log-stick-and-stone" theory(119) of Martin Luther, the exaggerations +of the Jansenists, and the vagaries of the Traditionalists,(120) is based +on Revelation as well as on sound reason. Holy Scripture clearly teaches +that we can gain a certain knowledge of God from a consideration of the +created universe.(121) Reason tells us that a creature endowed with +intelligence must be capable of acquiring natural knowledge, and that +supernatural faith is based on certain _praeambula_, which are nothing +else than philosophical and historical truths.(122) "The existence of God +and other like truths," says St. Thomas, "are not articles of faith, but +preambles to the articles; for faith presupposes natural knowledge, even +as grace presupposes nature, and perfection something that can be +perfected."(123) Luther denounced reason as the most dangerous thing on +earth, because "all its discussions and conclusions are as certainly false +and erroneous as there is a God in Heaven."(124) The Church teaches, in +accordance with sound philosophy and experience, that the original powers +of human nature, especially free-will, though greatly weakened, have not +been destroyed by original sin.(125) The Scholastics, it is true, reckoned +ignorance among the four "wounds of nature" inflicted by original +sin.(126) But this teaching must be regarded in the light in which the +Church condemned Quesnel's proposition that "All natural knowledge of God, +even that found in pagan philosophers, can come from nowhere else than +God, and without grace produces nothing but presumption, vanity, and +opposition against God Himself, instead of adoration, gratitude, and +love."(127) The Traditionalist contention that the intrinsic weakness of +the human intellect can be cured only by a primitive revelation handed +down through the instrumentality of speech and instruction, or by a +special interior illumination, involves the false assumption that there +can be a cognitive faculty incapable of knowledge,--which would ultimately +lead to a denial of the essential distinction between nature and the +supernatural, because it represents exterior revelation or interior grace +as something positively due to fallen nature.(128) Following the lead of +St. Thomas,(129) Catholic apologists, while maintaining the necessity of a +supernatural revelation even with regard to the truths of natural religion +and ethics, base their argument not on the alleged physical incapacity of +reason to ascertain these truths, but on the moral impossibility (_i.e._ +insuperable difficulty) of finding them unaided. "It is to be ascribed to +this divine Revelation," says the Vatican Council, "that such truths among +things divine as are not of themselves beyond human reason, can, even in +the present state of mankind, be known by every one with facility and firm +assurance, and without admixture of error."(130) In conformity with the +teaching of Revelation and Tradition, the Church has always sharply +distinguished between {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~},--faith and knowledge, revelation +and philosophy,--assigning to reason the double role of an indispensable +forerunner and a docile handmaid of faith. Far from antagonizing reason, +as charged by her enemies, the Church has on the contrary always valiantly +championed its rights against Scepticism, Positivism, Criticism, +Traditionalism, Rationalism, Pantheism, and Modernism.(131) + +2. As regards those purely natural truths that constitute the domain of +science and art, Catholic divines are practically unanimous(132) in +holding that, though man possesses the physical ability of knowing every +single one of these truths, even the most highly gifted cannot master them +all. Cardinal Mezzofanti had acquired a knowledge of many languages,(133) +and undoubtedly was capable of learning many more; yet without a special +grace he could not have learned all the languages spoken on earth, though +their number is by no means infinite. The science of mathematics, which +embraces but a limited field of knowledge, comprises an indefinite number +of propositions and problems which even the greatest genius can not +master. Add to these impediments the shortness of human life, the +limitations of the intellect, the multitude and intricacy of scientific +methods, the inaccessibility of many objects which are in themselves +knowable, (_e.g._ the interior of the earth, the stellar universe)--and you +have a host of limitations which make it physically impossible for the +mind of man to encompass the realm of natural truths.(134) + +*Thesis II: Fallen man, whether pagan or sinner, is able to perform some +naturally good works without the aid of grace.* + +This thesis may be technically qualified as _propositio certa_. + +Proof. A man performing moral acts may be either in a state of unbelief, +or of mortal sin, or of sanctifying grace. The question here at issue is +chiefly whether all the works of pagans, that is all acts done without +grace of any kind, are morally bad, or whether any purely natural works +may be good despite the absence of grace. Baius and Jansenius affirmed +this; nay more, they asserted that no man can perform good works unless he +is in the state of grace and inspired by a perfect love of God +(_caritas_). If this were true, all the works of pagans and of such +Christians as have lost the faith, would be so many sins. But it is _not_ +true. The genuine teaching of the Church may be gathered from her official +condemnation of the twenty-fifth, the twenty-sixth, and the thirty-seventh +propositions of Baius. These propositions run as follows: "Without the aid +of God's grace free-will hath power only to sin;"(135) "To admit that +there is such a thing as a natural good, _i.e._ one which originates +solely in the powers of nature, is to share the error of Pelagius;"(136) +"All the actions of unbelievers are sins and the virtues of philosophers +vices."(137) To these we may add the proposition condemned by Pope +Alexander VIII, that "The unbeliever necessarily sins in whatever he +does."(138) + +1. Sacred Scripture and the Fathers, St. Augustine included, admit the +possibility of performing naturally good, though unmeritorious, works +(_opera steriliter bona_) in the state of unbelief; and their teaching is +in perfect conformity with right reason. + +a) Our Divine Lord Himself says:(139) "If you love them that love you, +what reward(140) shall you have? Do not even the publicans this? And if +you salute(141) your brethren only, what do you more? Do not also the +heathens(142) this?" The meaning plainly is: To salute one's neighbor is +an act of charity, a naturally good deed, common even among the heathens, +and one which, not being done from a supernatural motive, deserves no +supernatural reward. But this does not by any means imply that to salute +one's neighbor is sinful. + +St. Paul(143) says: "For when the gentiles,(144) who have not the +law,(145) do by nature(146) those things that are of the law; these having +not the law are a law to themselves: who shew the work of the law written +in their hearts." By "gentiles" the Apostle evidently means genuine +heathens, not converts from paganism to Christianity, and hence the +meaning of the passage is that the heathens who know the natural law +embodied in the Decalogue only as a postulate of reason, are by +nature(147) able to "do those things that are of the law,"(148) _i.e._ +observe at least some of its precepts. That St. Paul did not think the +gentiles capable of observing the whole law without the aid of grace +appears from his denunciation of their folly, a little further up in the +same Epistle: "Because that, when they knew God, they have not glorified +him as God, or given thanks; but became vain in their thoughts, and their +foolish heart was darkened, etc.,"(149) and also from the hypothetic form +of Rom. II, 14 in the original Greek text: "{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} ... {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}--_Si quando gentes, ... quae legis sunt, faciunt._"(150) + +In Rom. XIV, 23: "For all that is not faith is sin,"(151) a text often +quoted against our thesis, "faith" does not mean the theological habit of +faith, but "conscience,"(152) as the context clearly shows.(153) + +b) The teaching of the Fathers is in substantial harmony with Sacred +Scripture. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) Thus St. Jerome, speaking of the reward which Yahweh gave to +Nabuchodonosor for his services against Tyre,(154) says: "The fact that +Nabuchodonosor was rewarded for a good work shows that even the gentiles +in the judgment of God are not passed over without a reward when they have +performed a good deed."(155) In his commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to +the Galatians the same holy Doctor observes: "Many who are without the +faith and have not the Gospel of Christ, yet perform prudent and holy +actions, _e.g._ by obeying their parents, succoring the needy, not +oppressing their neighbors, not taking away the possessions of +others."(156) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) The teaching of St. Augustine offers some difficulties. There can be no +doubt that this Father freely admitted that pagans and infidels can +perform naturally good works without faith and grace. Thus he says there +is no man so wicked that some good cannot be found in him.(157) He extols +the moderation of Polemo(158) and the purity of Alypius, who were both +pagans.(159) He admires the civic virtues of the ancient Romans,(160) etc. +Holding such views, how could Augustine write: "Neither doth free-will +avail for anything except sin, if the way of truth is hidden."(161) And +what did his disciple Prosper mean when he said: "The whole life of +unbelievers is a sin, and nothing is good without the highest good. For +wherever there is no recognition of the supreme and immutable truth, there +can be no genuine virtue, even if the moral standard be of the +highest."(162) + +To understand these and similar passages rightly and to explain at the +same time how it was possible for Baius and Jansenius to bolster their +heretical systems with quotations from the writings of St. Augustine and +his disciples, it is necessary to observe that the quondam rhetorician and +Platonic idealist of Hippo delights in applying to the genus the +designation which belongs to its highest species, and _vice versa_.(163) +Thus, in speaking of liberty, he often means the perfect liberty enjoyed +by our first parents in Paradise;(164) in using the term "children of God" +he designates those who persevere in righteousness;(165) and in employing +the phrase "a good work" he means one supernaturally meritorious. Or, +_vice versa_, he designates the slightest good impulse of the will as +"_caritas_," as it were by anticipation, and brands every unmeritorious +work (_opus informe s. sterile_) as false virtue (_falsa virtus_), nay sin +(_peccatum_). To interpret St. Augustine correctly, therefore, allowance +must be made for his peculiar idealism and a careful distinction drawn +between the real and the metaphorical sense of the terms which he employs. +Baius neglected this precaution and furthermore paid no attention to the +controversial attitude of the holy Doctor. Augustine's peculiar task was +not to maintain the possibility of naturally good works without faith and +grace, but to defend against Pelagius and Julian the impossibility of +performing supernaturally good and meritorious works without the aid of +grace. It is this essential difference in their respective points of view +that explains how St. Augustine and Baius were able to employ identical or +similar terms to express radically different ideas.(166) + +c) It can easily be demonstrated on theological grounds that fallen man is +able, of his own initiative, _i.e._ without the aid of grace, to perform +morally good works, and that Baius erred in asserting that this is +impossible without theological faith. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) With regard to the first-mentioned point it will be well, for the sake +of clearness, to adopt Palmieri's distinction between physical and moral +capacity.(167) Man sins whenever he transgresses the law or yields to +temptation. This would be impossible if he were physically unable to keep +the whole law and resist temptation. Hence he must be physically able to +do that which he is obliged to do under pain of sin, though in this or +that individual instance the difficulties may be insuperable without the +aid of grace. To put it somewhat differently: Baius and Jansenius hold +that fallen man can perform no morally good works because of physical or +moral impotence on the part of the will. This assumption is false. Man is +physically able to perform good works because they are enjoined by the +moral law of nature under pain of sin; he is morally able because, in +spite of numerous evil tendencies, not a few gentiles and unbelievers have +led upright lives and thereby proved that man can perform good works +without the aid of grace.(168) This is also the teaching of St. +Thomas.(169) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) It is an expressly defined dogma that the process of justification +starts with theological faith (_fides_), preceded by the so-called grace +of vocation, which prepares and effects conversion. To say, as Baius did, +that all good works performed in a state of unbelief are so many sins, is +tantamount to asserting that the preliminary acts leading up to faith, and +which the unbeliever performs by the aid of prevenient grace, are sinful; +in other words, that God requires the unbeliever to prepare himself for +justification by committing sin. This is as absurd as it is +heretical.(170) + +The whole argument of this section applies _a fortiori_ to the theory that +no act can be morally good unless prompted by both theological charity and +theological faith.(171) + +2. We must now define the limitations of fallen nature unaided by grace. +Though the graces dispensed by Providence even for naturally good deeds +are in the present economy _de facto_ nearly all supernatural, nothing +prevents us from conceiving a different economy, consisting of purely +natural helps, such as would have been necessary in the state of pure +nature.(172) + +As regards the limitations of man's moral power in the natural order, we +may say, in a general way, that the will is able to keep the easier +precepts of the moral law of nature without the assistance of grace +(either supernatural or natural). However, as it is impossible in many +instances to determine just where the easier precepts end and the more +difficult ones begin, a broad field is left open for theological +speculation. + +a) Theologians are practically unanimous in holding that man cannot +observe the natural law in its entirety for any considerable length of +time without the aid of grace. + +Suarez is so sure of this that he does not hesitate to denounce the +contrary teaching,--which is (perhaps unjustly) ascribed to Durandus, +Scotus, and Gabriel Biel--as "rash and verging on error."(173) In matter of +fact the Church has formally defined that, because of concupiscence, no +one, not even the justified man, much less the sinner, is able, without +divine assistance (grace), to keep for any considerable length of time the +whole Decalogue, which embodies the essentials of the moral law. +"Nevertheless," says the Council of Trent, "let those who think themselves +to stand take heed lest they fall, and with fear and trembling work out +their salvation, ... for ... they ought to fear for the combat which yet +remains with the flesh, with the world, with the devil, wherein they +cannot be victorious unless they be with God's grace obedient to the +Apostle, who says: 'We are debtors, etc.' "(174) + +St. Paul, who lived, so to speak, in an atmosphere of grace, yet found +reason to exclaim: "I am delighted with the law of God, according to the +inward man, but I see another law in my members, fighting against the law +of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is in my +members,"(175) and: "Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the +body of this death? The grace of God, by Jesus Christ our Lord."(176) +Surely it would be vain to expect the proud ideal of the Stoics or +Pelagius' presumptuous claim of impeccability ever to be realized on earth +except by a special privilege of grace, such as that bestowed upon the +Blessed Virgin Mary.(177) + +The Fathers follow St. Paul in describing the power of concupiscence, even +after justification.(178) + +b) A pertinent question, closely allied to the proposition just treated, +is this: Can the human will, without the aid of grace, overcome all the +grievous temptations to mortal sin by which it is besieged? + +It is the common teaching of theologians that, without the aid of grace, +man in the fallen state succumbs with moral (not physical) necessity to +grievous temptations against the moral law, _i.e._ to mortal sin. This +conclusion flows from the impossibility, which we have demonstrated above, +of observing the whole law of nature for life or for any considerable +length of time without the help of grace. If man were able to resist all +violent temptations, he would be able to keep the whole law. + +The theological teaching which we are here expounding may be formulated in +two different ways: (1) No man can overcome all grievous temptations +against the moral law without the aid of grace; (2) there is no man living +who is not now and then assailed by temptations to which he would +inevitably succumb did not God lend him His assistance. + +In its first and rather indefinite form the proposition is attacked by +Ripalda,(179) Molina,(180) and many later Scholastics. These writers argue +as follows: It is impossible to deduce from Revelation or experience a +definite rule by which man could determine the conditions on which the +grievousness of a temptation depends. To say that a temptation is grievous +when it cannot be resisted without the aid of grace, would be begging the +question. Besides, the possibility always remains that there be men who, +though in theory unable to withstand all grievous temptations without the +aid of grace, _de facto_ never meet with such temptations, but only with +the lighter kind which can be overcome without supernatural help. + +The second and more specific formulation of our proposition is supported +by Sacred Scripture, which explicitly declares that all men are subject to +temptations which they could not resist if God did not uphold them.(181) + +If the just are obliged to watch and pray constantly, lest they fall,(182) +this must be true in an even higher degree of sinners and unbelievers. St. +Augustine writes against the Pelagians: "Faithful men say in their prayer: +'Lead us not into temptation.' But if they have the capacity [of avoiding +evil], why do they pray [for it]? Or, what is the evil which they pray to +be delivered from, but, above all else, the body of this death?... the +carnal lusts, whence a man is liberated only by the grace of the +Saviour.... He may be permitted to pray that he may be healed. Why does he +presume so strongly on the capability of his nature? It is wounded, hurt, +harassed, destroyed; what it stands in need of is a true confession [of +its weakness], not a false defense [of its capacity]."(183) + +c) Another question, on which Catholic divines disagree, is this: Can +fallen man, unaided by grace, elicit an act of perfect natural charity +(_amor Dei naturalis perfectus_)? + +Scotus answers this question affirmatively,(184) and his opinion is shared +by Cajetan,(185) Banez,(186) Dominicus Soto,(187) and Molina.(188) Other +equally eminent theologians, notably Suarez(189) and Bellarmine,(190) take +the negative side. + +In order to obtain a clear understanding of the question at issue we shall +have to attend to several distinctions. + +First and above all we must not lose sight of the important distinction +between the _natural_ and the _supernatural_ love of God. Supernatural +charity, in all its stages, necessarily supposes supernatural aid. The +question therefore can refer only to the _amor Dei naturalis_.(191) That +this natural charity is no mere figment appears from the ecclesiastical +condemnation of two propositions of Baius.(192) + +Another, even more important distinction is that between _perfect_ and +_imperfect_ charity. Imperfect charity is the love of God as our highest +good (_amor Dei ut summum bonum nobis_); perfect charity is the love of +God for His own sake above all things (_amor Dei propter se et super +omnia_). The holy Fathers and a number of councils(193) declare that it is +impossible to love God perfectly without the aid of grace. The context and +such stereotyped explanatory phrases as "_sicut oportet_" or "_sicut +expedit ad salutem_,"(194) show that these Patristic and conciliary +utterances apply to the _supernatural_ love of God. Hence the question +narrows itself down to this: Can fallen man without the aid of grace love +God for His own sake and above all things by a purely natural love? In +answering this question Pesch,(195) Tepe,(196) and other theologians +distinguish between _affective_ and _effective_ love. They hold that +whereas the _amor affectivus_ in all its stages is possible without the +aid of grace, not so the _amor effectivus_, since that would involve the +observance of the whole natural law. This compromise theory can be +demonstrated as highly probable from Scripture and Tradition. St. Paul +says(197) that the gentiles knew God and should have glorified Him. This +evidently supposes that it was possible for them to glorify God, and +consequently to love Him affectively, as easily and with the same means by +which they knew Him. Else how could the Apostle say of those gentiles who, +"when they knew God, glorified him not as God," that they "changed the +truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather +than the Creator"?(198) This interpretation of Rom. I, 21 sqq. is +explicitly confirmed by St. Ambrose when he says: "For they were able to +apprehend this by the law of nature, inasmuch as the fabric of the cosmos +testifies that God, its author, is alone to be loved, as Moses hath set it +down in his writings; but they were made impious by not glorifying God, +and unrighteousness became evident in them when, knowing, they changed the +truth into a lie and refused to confess the one God."(199) + +3. It follows, by way of corollary, that Vasquez's opinion,(200) that +there can be no good work without supernatural aid in the shape of a +_cogitatio congrua_, is untenable, as is also the assertion of +Ripalda(201) that in the present economy purely natural good actions are +so invariably connected with the prevenient grace of Christ that they +practically never exist as such. + +a) Vasquez, whose position in the matter is opposed by most other +theologians, contends(202) that no man can perform a good work or resist +any temptation against the natural law (Decalogue) without the help of +supernatural grace derived from the merits of Christ. To avoid the +heretical extreme of Baianism, however, he makes a twofold limitation. He +assumes with the Scotists that there is such a thing as a morally +indifferent act of the will,(203) and defines the grace which he holds to +be necessary for the performance of every morally good deed, as _cogitatio +congrua_. This "congruous thought," he says, is in itself, _i.e._ +ontologically, natural, and can be regarded as supernatural only _quoad +modum et finem_. The subtle argument by which Vasquez tries to establish +this thesis is based principally on St. Augustine and may be summarized as +follows: Whenever the Fathers and councils insist on the necessity of +grace for the performance of good works, they mean _all_ good works, +natural as well as supernatural. The only alternative they know is virtue +or vice, good or evil. Consequently the grace of Christ, in some form or +other, is a necessary requisite of all morally good deeds. + +As we have already intimated, we regard this opinion of the learned +Spanish divine as erroneous.(204) Three solid reasons militate against it. +The first is that, to guard against Baianism, Vasquez is compelled to +assume the existence of morally indifferent acts of the will, which is +untenable, as "St. Augustine and St. Thomas, and theologians generally +teach that there is no such thing in the concrete as a morally indifferent +act of the free will, and consequently, if the will is able, without +grace, to perform acts that are not evil, it is also able to perform good +acts."(205) Second, Vasquez's theory counterfeits the notion of Christian +grace. "Good thoughts" come so natural to man, and are so closely bound up +with the grace of creation, that even Pelagius found no difficulty in +admitting this sort of "grace."(206) Surely fallen nature is not so +utterly corrupt that a good child is unable to honor and love his parents +without the aid of "grace" (in the sense of _cogitatio congrua ex meritis +Christi_). The third reason which constrains us to reject Vasquez's +theory, is that it leaves no room for natural morality (_naturaliter +honestum_) to fill the void between those acts that are naturally bad +(_moraliter inhonesta_, _i.e._ _peccata_) and such as are supernaturally +good (_supernaturaliter bona_, _i.e._ _salutaria_). The existence of such +naturally good acts would seem to be a highly probable inference from the +condemnation, by Pius VI, of a certain proposition taught by the +pseudo-Council of Pistoia.(207) + +b) Martinez de Ripalda (+1648) tried to improve Vasquez's theory by +restoring the Christian concept of grace and adding that Providence +invariably precedes all naturally good works, including those performed by +heathens and sinners, with the entitatively supernatural grace of +illumination and confirmation.(208) In this hypothesis the necessity of +grace is not theological but purely historic.(209) + +Despite the wealth of arguments by which Ripalda attempted to prove his +theory,(210) it has not been generally accepted. While some, _e.g._ +Platel(211) and Pesch,(212) regard it with a degree of sympathy, others, +notably De Lugo(213) and Tepe,(214) are strongly opposed to it. Palmieri +thinks it may be accepted in a restricted sense, _i.e._ when limited to +the faithful.(215) + +Ripalda's hypothesis of the universality of grace is truly sublime and +would have to be accepted if God's salvific will could be demonstrated by +revelation or some historic law to suffer no exceptions. But Ripalda has +not been able to prove this from Revelation.(216) Then, too, his theory +entails two extremely objectionable conclusions: (1) a denial, not indeed +of the possibility (Quesnel), but of the existence of purely natural good +works, and (2) the possibility of justification without theological faith. +Neither of these difficulties probably occurred to Vasquez or +Ripalda,(217) because at the time when they wrote Pius VI had not yet +condemned the teaching of the pseudo-Council of Pistoia,(218) nor had +Innocent XI censured the proposition that "Faith in a broad sense, as +derived from the testimony of creatures or some other similar motive, is +sufficient for justification."(219) If the love of God, even perfect love, +(such as we have shown to be possible in the natural order), were of +itself necessarily supernatural, as Ripalda contends, it would be possible +for a pagan to receive the grace of justification without theological +faith, which he does not possess, as is evident from the Vatican teaching +that it is "requisite for divine faith that revealed truth be believed +because of the authority of God who reveals it."(220) + +*Thesis III: Not all actions performed by man in the state of mortal sin +are sinful on account of his not being in the state of grace.* + +This is _de fide_. + +Proof. Though this thesis is, strictly speaking, included in Thesis II, it +must be demonstrated separately on its own merits, because it embodies a +formally defined dogma which has been denied by the Protestant Reformers +and by the followers of Baius and Jansenius. Martin Luther taught,--and his +teaching was adopted in a modified form by the Calvinists,--that human +nature is entirely depraved by original sin, and consequently man +necessarily sins in whatever he does,(221) even in the process of +justification. Against this heresy the Tridentine Council defined: "If any +one shall say that all the works done before justification ... are indeed +sins, ... let him be anathema."(222) + +The Protestant notion of grace was reduced to a theological system by +Baius(223) and Jansenius,(224) whose numerous errors may all be traced to +their denial of the supernatural order. + +The Jansenist teaching was pushed to an extreme by Paschasius Quesnel, 101 +of whose propositions were formally condemned by Pope Clement XI in his +famous Constitution "_Unigenitus_."(225) The Jansenistic teachings of the +Council of Pistoia were censured by Pius VI, A. D. 1794, in his Bull +"_Auctorem fidei_." The quintessence of this heretical system is embodied +in the proposition that whatever a man does in the state of mortal sin is +necessarily sinful for the reason that he is not in the state of grace +(_status caritatis_). Baius(226) and Quesnel(227) gave this teaching an +Augustinian turn by saying that there is no intermediate state between the +love of God and concupiscence, and that all the works of a sinner must +consequently and of necessity be sinful. This heretical teaching is +sharply condemned in the Bull "_Auctorem fidei_."(228) Quesnel pushed it +to its last revolting conclusion when he said: "The prayer of the wicked +is a new sin, and that God permits it is but an additional judgment upon +them."(229) + +The teaching of Baius and Quesnel is repugnant to Revelation and to the +doctrine of the Fathers. + +a) The Bible again and again exhorts sinners to repent, to pray for +forgiveness, to give alms, etc. Cfr. Ecclus. XXI, 1: "My son, thou hast +sinned? Do so no more: but for thy former sins also pray that they may be +forgiven thee." Ezech. XVIII, 30: "Be converted, and do penance for all +your iniquities: and iniquity shall not be your ruin." Dan. IV, 24: +"Redeem thou thy sins with alms, and thy iniquities with works of mercy to +the poor: perhaps he will forgive thy offences." Zach. I, 3: "Thus saith +the Lord of hosts: Turn ye to me, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will turn +to you." If all the works thus enjoined were but so many sins, we should +be forced to conclude, on the authority of Sacred Scripture, that God +commands the sinner to commit new iniquities and that the process of +justification with its so-called dispositions consists in a series of +sinful acts. Such an assumption would be manifestly absurd and +blasphemous. + +Quesnel endeavored to support his heretical conceit by Matth. VII, 17 sq.: +"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree +bringeth forth evil fruit; a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, +neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit." But as our Lord in this +passage speaks of prophets, the fruits he has in mind must obviously be +doctrines not works.(230) And what if they were works? Are not doctrines +and morals ultimately related, and may we not infer from the lives they +lead (according to their doctrines) whether prophets are true or false? By +their fruits (_i.e._ works) you shall know them (_i.e._ the soundness or +unsoundness of the teaching upon which their works are based). + +b) In appealing to the testimony of the Fathers the Jansenists were +notoriously guilty of misinterpretation. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) Origen plainly teaches that prayer before justification is a good work. +"Though you are sinners," he says, "pray to God; God hears the +sinners."(231) The seemingly contradictory text John IX, 31: "Now we know +that God doth not hear sinners,"(232) is thus explained by St. Augustine: +"He speaks as one not yet anointed; for God also hears the sinners. If He +did not hear sinners, the publican would have cast his eyes to the ground +in vain and vainly struck his breast saying: O God, be merciful to me, a +sinner."(233) Moreover, since there is question here of extraordinary +works and signs only (_viz._ miracles), the text is wholly irrelevant in +regard to works of personal righteousness. St. Prosper teaches: "Human +nature, created by God, even after its prevarication, retains its +substance, form, life, senses, and reason, and the other goods of body and +soul, which are not lacking even to those who are bad and vicious. But +there is no possibility of seizing the true good by such things as may +adorn this mortal life, but cannot give [merit] eternal life."(234) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) Baius and Quesnel succeeded in veiling their heresy by a phraseology of +Augustinian color but with implications foreign to the mind of the Doctor +of Grace. Augustine emphasized the opposition between "charity" and +"concupiscence" so strongly that the intermediary domain of naturally good +works was almost lost to view. Thus he says in his _Enchiridion_: "Carnal +lust reigns where there is not the love of God."(235) And in his treatise +on the Grace of Christ: "Here there is no love, no good work is reckoned +as done, nor is there in fact any good work, rightly so called; because +whatever is not of faith is sin, and faith worketh by love."(236) And +again in his treatise on Grace and Free Will: "The commandments of love or +charity are so great and such, that whatever action a man may think he +does well, is by no means well done if done without charity."(237) We have +purposely chosen passages in which the "Doctor of Grace" obviously treats +of charity as theological love, not in the broad sense of _dilectio_.(238) +At first blush these passages seem to agree with the teaching of Baius, +who says: "Every love on the part of a rational creature is either sinful +cupidity, by which the world is loved, and which is forbidden by St. John, +or that praiseworthy charity which is infused into the heart by the Holy +Spirit, and by which we love God;"--(239) and with the forty-fifth +proposition of Quesnel: "As the love of God no longer reigns in the hearts +of sinners, it is necessary that carnal lust should reign in them and +vitiate all their actions."(240) Yet the sense of these propositions is +anything but Augustinian. Augustine upholds free-will in spite of grace +and concupiscence, whereas the Jansenists assert that the _carnalis +cupiditas_ and the _caritas dominans_ produce their effects by the very +power of nature, _i.e._ necessarily and of themselves.(241) + +Besides this capital difference there are many minor discrepancies between +the teaching of St. Augustine and that of Baius and Quesnel. Augustine, it +is true, in his struggle with Pelagianism,(242) strongly emphasized the +opposition existing between grace and sin, between love of God and love of +the world; but he never dreamed of asserting that every act performed in +the state of mortal sin is sinful for the reason that it is not performed +in the state of grace. Scholasticism has long since applied the necessary +corrective to his exaggerations. It is perfectly orthodox to say that +there is an irreconcilable opposition between the state of mortal sin and +the state of grace. "No one can serve two masters."(243) This is not, +however, by any means equivalent to saying, as the Jansenists do, that the +sinner, not being in the state of grace, of necessity sins in whatever he +does. Augustine expressly admits that, no matter how deeply God may allow +a man to fall, and no matter how strongly concupiscence may dominate his +will, he is yet able to pray for grace, which is in itself a distinctly +salutary act. "If a sin is such," he says in his _Retractationes_, "that +it is itself a punishment for sin, what can the will under the domination +of cupidity do, except, if it be pious, to pray for help?"(244) Compare +this sentence with the fortieth proposition of Baius: "The sinner in all +his actions serves the lust which rules him,"(245) and you will perceive +the third essential difference that separates the teaching of St. +Augustine from that of the Jansenists. The former, even when he speaks, +not of the two opposing habits, but of their respective acts, does not, +like Jansenism, represent the universality of sin without theological +charity as a physical and fundamental necessity, but merely as a +historical phenomenon which admits of exceptions. Thus he writes in his +treatise On the Spirit and the Letter: "If they who by nature do the +things contained in the law, must not be regarded as yet in the number of +those whom Christ's grace justifies, but rather as among those whose +actions (although they are those of ungodly men who do not truly and +rightly worship the true God) we not only cannot blame, but actually +praise, and with good reason, and rightly too, since they have been done, +so far as we read or know or hear, according to the rule of righteousness; +though were we to discuss the question with what motive they are done, +they would hardly be found to be such as to deserve the praise and defense +which are due to righteous conduct."(246) + +In conclusion we will quote a famous passage from St. Augustine which +reads like a protest against the distortions of Baius and Jansenius. +"Love," he says, "is either divine or human; human love is either licit or +illicit.... I speak first of licit human love, which is free from censure; +then, of illicit human love, which is damnable; and in the third place, of +divine love, which leads us to Heaven.... You, therefore, have that love +which is licit; it is human, but, as I have said, licit, so much so that, +if it were lacking, [the want of] it would be censured. You are permitted +with human love to love your spouse, your children, your friends and +fellow-citizens. But, as you see, the ungodly, too, have this love, _e.g._ +pagans, Jews, heretics. Who among them does not love his wife, his +children, his brethren, his neighbors, his relations and friends? This, +therefore, is human love. If any one would be so unfeeling as to lose even +human love, not loving his own children, ... we should no longer regard +him as a human being."(247) Tepe pertinently observes(248) that St. +Augustine in this passage asserts not only the possibility but the actual +existence of naturally good though unmeritorious works (_opera steriliter +__ bona_), and that the theory of Ripalda(249) is untenable for this +reason, if for no other, that the quoted passage is cited in Pius VI's +Bull "_Auctorem fidei_."(250) + + +Article 2. The Necessity Of Actual Grace For All Salutary Acts + + +Salutary acts (_actus salutares_) are those directed to the attainment of +sanctifying grace and the supernatural end of man. + +According to this double purpose, salutary acts may be divided into two +classes: (1) those that prepare for justification (_actus simpliciter +salutares_), and (2) those which, following justification, gain merits for +Heaven (_actus meritorii_). + +In consequence of the supernatural character of the acts which they +comprise, both these categories are diametrically opposed to that class of +acts which are good only in a natural way,(251) and hence must be +carefully distinguished from the latter. The Fathers did not, of course, +employ the technical terms of modern theology; they had their own peculiar +phrases for designating what we call salutary acts, _e.g._ _agere sicut +oportet vel expedit, agere ad salutem, agere ad iustificationem, agere ad +vitam aeternam_, etc.(252) + +1. PELAGIANISM.--Pelagianism started as a reaction against Manichaeism, but +fell into the opposite extreme of exaggerating the capacity of human +nature at the expense of grace. It denied original sin(253) and grace. + +As the necessity of grace for all salutary acts is a fundamental dogma of +the Christian religion, the Church proceeded with unusual severity against +Pelagian naturalism and condemned its vagaries through the mouth of many +councils. + +a) Pelagius was a British lay monk, who came to Rome about the year 400 to +propagate his erroneous views.(254) He found a willing pupil in Celestius, +who after distinguishing himself as a lawyer, had been ordained to the +priesthood at Ephesus, about 411. + +The Pelagian heresy gained another powerful champion in the person of +Bishop Julian of Eclanum in Apulia. Its strongest opponent was St. +Augustine. Under his powerful blows the Pelagians repeatedly changed their +tactics, without however giving up their cardinal error in regard to +grace. Their teaching on this point may be summarized as follows: The +human will is able by its natural powers to keep all the commandments of +God, to resist temptation, and to gain eternal life; in fact it can attain +to a state of holiness and impeccability(255) in which the petition +"Forgive us our trespasses" no longer has any meaning except perhaps as an +expression of humility.(256) In so far, however, as free-will is itself a +gift of the Creator, man can perform no good works without grace. At a +later period of his career Pelagius admitted the existence of merely +external supernatural graces, such as revelation and the example of Christ +and the saints,--which led St. Augustine to remark: "This is the hidden and +despicable poison of your heresy that you represent the grace of Christ as +His example, not His gift, alleging that man is justified by imitating +Him, not by the ministration of the Holy Spirit."(257) But even this +external grace, according to Pelagius, does not confer the strength +necessary to perform good works; it merely makes it easier to keep the +commandments. Pelagius did not deny that justification and adoptive +sonship, considered in their ideal relation to the "kingdom of Heaven," as +distinguished from "eternal life,"(258) are not identical in adults with +the grace of creation, but he denied their gratuity by asserting that the +free will is able to merit all these graces by its own power.(259) + +Whatever may have been the variations of Pelagianism, it is patent from +the writings of St. Augustine that its defenders one and all rejected the +necessity and existence of the immediate grace of the will.(260) Their +attitude towards the illuminating grace of the intellect is in dispute. +Some theologians(261) think the Pelagians admitted, others(262) that they +denied its existence. No matter what they may have held on this point, +there can be no doubt that the followers of Pelagius conceived the object +of grace to be nothing more than to facilitate the work of salvation. + +b) Within the short span of twenty years (A. D. 411 to 431) no less than +twenty-four councils occupied themselves with this new heresy. + +At first the wily heretic succeeded in deceiving the prelates assembled at +Lydda (Diospolis), A. D. 415; but the bishops of Northern Africa, among +them St. Augustine, roundly condemned his teaching at two councils held +with the sanction of Pope Innocent I at Carthage and Mileve in 416. +Shortly afterwards, deceived by the terms of the creeds and explanations +which they circulated, Pope Zosimus (417-418) declared both Pelagius and +Celestius to be innocent. Despite this intervention, however, two hundred +African bishops, at a plenary council held at Carthage, A. D. 418, +reiterated the canons of Mileve and submitted them for approval to the +Holy See. These proceedings induced Zosimus to adopt stronger measures. In +his _Epistula Tractoria_ (418) he formally condemned Pelagianism and +persuaded the Emperor to send Julian of Eclanum and seventeen other +recalcitrant bishops into exile. The canons of Carthage and Mileve were +subsequently received by the universal Church as binding definitions of +the faith. The most important of them in regard to grace is this: "If +anyone shall say that the grace of justification is given to us for the +purpose of enabling us to do more easily by the aid of grace what we are +commanded to do by free-will, as if we were able, also, though less +easily, to observe the commandments of God without the help of grace, let +him be anathema."(263) The Ecumenical Council of Ephesus (A. D. 431), with +the approval of Pope Celestine I, renewed the condemnation of Celestius, +but it was not until nearly a century later that Pelagianism received its +death-blow. In 529 the Second Council of Orange defined: "If any one +assert that he is able, by the power of nature, and without the +illumination and inspiration of the Holy Ghost, who grants to all men the +disposition believingly to accept the truth, rightly (_ut expedit_) to +think or choose anything good pertaining to eternal salvation, or to +assent to salutary, _i.e._ evangelical preaching, such a one is deceived +by a heretical spirit."(264) This decision was reiterated by the Council +of Trent: "If any one saith that the grace of God through Jesus Christ is +given only for this, that man may be able more easily to live justly and +to merit eternal life, as if by free-will without grace he were able to do +both, though hardly indeed and with difficulty, let him be anathema."(265) + +2. PELAGIANISM REFUTED.--Sacred Scripture and the Fathers plainly teach +that man is unable to perform any salutary act by his own power. + +a) Among the many Biblical texts that can be quoted in support of this +statement, our Lord's beautiful parable of the vine and its branches is +especially striking. Cfr. John XV, 4 sq.: "As the branch cannot bear fruit +of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you +abide in me. I am the vine; you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I +in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do +nothing."(266) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) The context shows that Jesus is not speaking here of purely natural +works of the kind for which the _concursus generalis_ of God suffices, but +that He has in mind salutary acts in the strictly supernatural sense; and +the truth He wishes to inculcate is that fallen nature cannot perform such +acts except through Him and with His assistance. This supernatural +influence is not, however, to be understood exclusively of sanctifying or +habitual grace, because our Divine Saviour refers to the fruits of +justification and to salutary works. "Of these he does not say: 'Without +me you can do but little,' but: 'Without me you can do nothing.' Be it +therefore little or much, it cannot be done without Him, without whom +nothing can be done."(267) If this was true of the Apostles, who were in +the state of sanctifying grace,(268) it must be true _a fortiori_ of +sinners. Consequently, supernatural grace is absolutely necessary for the +performance of any and all acts profitable for salvation. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) Nowhere is this fundamental truth so clearly and insistently brought +out as in the epistles of St. Paul, who is preeminently "the Doctor of +Grace" among the Apostles. + +There are, according to him, three categories of supernatural acts: +salutary thoughts, holy resolves, and good works. + +St. Paul teaches that all right thinking is from God. 2 Cor. III, 5: "Not +that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves; +but our sufficiency is from God."(269) + +He also declares that all good resolves come from above. Rom. IX, 15 sq.: +"For he saith to Moses: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy; and I +will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy. So then it is not of him that +willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."(270) + +He furthermore asserts that all good works come from God. Phil. II, 13: +"For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, +according to his good will."(271) 1 Cor. XII, 3: "No man can say: Lord +Jesus, but by the Holy Ghost."(272) Pronouncing the holy name of Jesus is +obviously regarded as a salutary act, because mere physical utterance does +not require the assistance of the Holy Ghost.(273) But the act as a +salutary act is physically impossible without divine assistance, because +it is essentially supernatural and consequently exceeds the powers of +nature.(274) + +b) The argument from Tradition is based almost entirely on the authority +of St. Augustine, in whom, as Liebermann observes, God wrought a miracle +of grace that he might become its powerful defender. There is no need of +quoting specific texts because this whole treatise is interlarded with +Augustinian dicta concerning the necessity of grace. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) An important point is to prove that the early Fathers held the +Augustinian, _i.e._ Catholic view. It stands to reason that if these +Fathers had taught a different doctrine, the Church would not have so +vehemently rejected Pelagianism as an heretical innovation. Augustine +himself insists on the novelty of the Pelagian teaching. "Such is the +Pelagian heresy," he says, "which is not an ancient one, but has only +lately come into existence."(275) And this view is confirmed by Pope +Celestine I, who declares in his letter to the Bishops of Gaul (A. D. +431): "This being the state of the question, novelty should cease to +attack antiquity."(276) + +In fact the teaching of the Apostolic Fathers, although less explicit, +agrees entirely with that of Augustine. Thus St. Irenaeus says: "As the +dry earth, if it receives no moisture, does not bring forth fruit, so we, +being dry wood, could never bear fruit for life without supernatural rain +freely given.... The blessing of salvation comes to us from God, not from +ourselves."(277) + +The necessity of grace is indirectly inculcated by the Church when she +petitions God to grant salutary graces to all men--a most ancient and +venerable practice, which Pope St. Celestine explains as follows: "The law +of prayer should determine the law of belief. For when the priests of holy +nations administer the office entrusted to them, asking God for mercy, +they plead the cause of the human race, and together with the whole Church +ask and pray that the unbelievers may receive the faith, that the +idolaters may be freed from the errors of their impiety, that the veil be +lifted from the heart of the Jews, and they be enabled to perceive the +light of truth, that the heretics may return to their senses by a true +perception of the Catholic faith, that the schismatics may receive the +spirit of reborn charity, that the sinners be granted the remedy of +penance, and that the door of heavenly mercy be opened to the catechumens +who are led to the sacraments of regeneration."(278) In matters of +salvation prayer and grace are correlative terms; the practice of the one +implies the necessity and gratuity of the other.(279) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) That the Fathers not only conceived grace to be necessary for the cure +of weakness induced by sin (_gratia sanans_) in a merely moral sense, but +thought it to be metaphysically necessary for the communication of +physical strength (_gratia elevans_), is evidenced by such oft-recurring +similes as these: Grace is as necessary for salvation as the eye is to +see, or as wings are to fly, or as rain is for the growth of plants. + +It will suffice to quote a passage from the writings of St. Chrysostom. +"The eyes," he says, "are beautiful and useful for seeing, but if they +would attempt to see without light, all their beauty and visual power +would avail them nothing. Thus, too, the soul is but an obstacle in its +own way if it endeavors to see without the Holy Ghost."(280) + +This view is strengthened by the further teaching of the Fathers that +supernatural grace was as indispensable to the angels in their state of +probation (in which they were free from concupiscence) and to our first +parents in Paradise (gifted as they were with the _donum integritatis_), +as it is to fallen man; the only difference being that in the case of the +latter, grace has the additional object of curing the infirmities and +overcoming the difficulties arising from concupiscence. In regard to the +angels St. Augustine says; "And who made this will but He who created them +with a good will, that is to say with a chaste love by which they should +cleave to Him, in one and the same act creating their nature and endowing +it with grace?... We must therefore acknowledge, with the praise due to +the Creator, that not only of holy men, but also of the holy angels, it +can be said that 'the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts by the +Holy Ghost, who is given unto them.' "(281) + +Equally convincing is the argument that Adam in Paradise was unable to +perform any salutary acts without divine grace. "Just as it is in man's +power to die whenever he will," says St. Augustine, "... but the mere will +cannot preserve life in the absence of food and the other means of life; +so man in Paradise was able of his mere will, simply by abandoning +righteousness, to destroy himself; but to have led a life of righteousness +would have been too much for his will, unless it had been sustained by the +power of Him who made him."(282) + +This is also the teaching of the Second Council of Orange (A. D. 529): +"Even if human nature remained in the state of integrity, in which it was +constituted, it would in no wise save itself without the help of its +Creator. If it was unable, without the grace of God, to keep what it had +received, how should it be able without the grace of God to regain what it +has lost?"(283) + +c) The theological argument for the metaphysical necessity of grace is +based on the essentially supernatural character of all salutary acts. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) St. Thomas formulates it as follows: "Eternal life is an end +transcending the proportion of human nature, ... and therefore man, by +nature, can perform no meritorious works proportioned to eternal life, but +requires for this purpose a higher power,--the power of grace. +Consequently, man cannot merit eternal life without grace. He is, however, +able to perform acts productive of some good connatural to man, such as +tilling the soil, drinking, eating, acts of friendship, etc."(284) For the +reason here indicated it is as impossible for man to perform salutary acts +without grace as it would be to work miracles without that divine +assistance which transcends the powers of nature.(285) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) Catholic theologians are unanimous in admitting that all salutary acts +are and must needs be supernatural; but they differ in their conception of +this supernatural quality (_supernaturalitas_). The problem underlying +this difference of opinion may be stated thus: A thing may be supernatural +either entitatively, _quoad substantiam_, or merely as to the manner of +its existence, _quoad modum_. The _supernaturale quoad substantiam_ is +divided into the strictly supernatural and the merely preternatural.(286) +The question is: To what category of the supernatural belong the salutary +acts which man performs by the aid of grace? Undoubtedly there are actual +graces which are entitatively natural, _e.g._ the purely mediate grace of +illumination,(287) the natural graces conferred in the pure state of +nature, the actual graces of the sensitive sphere,(288) and the so-called +_cogitatio congrua_ of Vasquez.(289) The problem therefore narrows itself +down to the _immediate_ graces of intellect and will. Before the +Tridentine Council theologians contented themselves with acknowledging the +divinely revealed fact that these graces are supernatural; it was only +after the Council that they began to speculate on the precise character of +this _supernaturalitas_. + +Some, following the teaching of the Scotist school, ascribed the +supernatural character of salutary acts to their free acceptation on the +part of God, holding them to be purely natural in their essence and raised +to the supernatural sphere merely _per denominationem extrinsecam_.(290) +This view is untenable. For if nature, as such, possessed the intrinsic +power to perform salutary acts, irrespective of their acceptation by God, +the Fathers and councils would err in teaching that this power is derived +from the immediate graces of illumination and strengthening.(291) + +Others hold that the salutary acts which grace enables man to perform, are +supernatural only _quoad modum_; because while it is the Holy Ghost +Himself who incites the natural faculties to salutary thoughts and good +resolves, He does not _eo ipso_ raise these thoughts and resolves to the +supernatural plane. This theory, besides being open to the same objection +which we have urged against the first, involves another difficulty. If all +salutary acts were supernatural only _quoad modum_, sanctifying grace, +which is as certainly supernatural in its essence as the beatific vision +of God,(292) would cease to have an adequate purpose; for the intrinsic +reason for its existence is precisely that it raises the nature of the +justified into a permanent supernatural state of being. + +A third school of theologians tries to solve the difficulty by adding to +the natural operation of the intellect and the will some accidental +supernatural _modus_. There are several such _modi_, which, though +inhering in nature and really distinct therefrom, depend solely on the +Holy Ghost, and consequently transcend the natural powers of man, _e.g._ +the duration or intensity of a salutary act. This theory at first blush +appears more plausible than the other two, but it cannot be squared with +the teaching of Tradition. In the first place, the duration or intensity +of a salutary act cannot affect its essence or nature. Then again, every +such accidental supernatural _modus_ is produced either by grace alone, or +by grace working conjointly with free-will. In the former hypothesis it +would be useless, because it would not render the free salutary act, as +such, supernatural; in the latter case it could do no more than aid the +will to do what is morally impossible, whereas every salutary act is in +matter of fact a physical impossibility, that is, impossible to unaided +nature.(293) + +There remains a fourth explanation, which ascribes to every salutary act +an ontological, substantial, intrinsic _supernaturalitas_, whereby it is +elevated to a higher and essentially different plane of being and +operation. This theory is convincingly set forth by Suarez in his treatise +on the Necessity of Grace.(294) + +It may be asked: If the salutary acts which we perform are supernatural in +substance, why are we not conscious of the fact? The answer is not far to +seek. Philosophical analysis shows that the intrinsic nature of our +psychic operations is no more a subject of immediate consciousness than +the substance of the soul itself. Consequently, sanctifying grace cannot +reveal its presence through our inner consciousness. Having no intuitive +knowledge of our own Ego, we are compelled to specify the different acts +of the soul by means of their respective objects and their various +tendencies (cognition, volition). To our consciousness the supernatural +love of God does not present itself as essentially different from the +natural.(295) + + +Article 3. The Necessity Of Actual Grace For The States Of Unbelief, +Mortal Sin, And Justification + + +Every adult man, viewed in his relation to actual grace, is in one of +three distinct states: + +(1) The state of unbelief (_status infidelitatis_), which may be either +negative, as in the case of heathens, or positive, as in the case of +apostates and formal heretics; + +(2) The state of mortal sin (_status peccati mortalis_), when the sinner +has already received, or not yet lost, the grace of faith, which is the +beginning of justification; + +(3) The state of justification itself (_status iustitiae sive gratiae +sanctificantis_), in which much remains yet to be done to attain eternal +happiness. + +The question we have now to consider is: Does man need actual grace in +every one of these three states, and if so, to what extent? + +1. SEMIPELAGIANISM.--Semipelagianism is an attempt to effect a compromise +between Pelagianism and Augustinism by attributing to mere nature a +somewhat greater importance in matters of salvation than St. Augustine was +willing to admit. + +a) After Augustine had for more than twenty years vigorously combatted and +finally defeated Pelagianism, some pious monks of Marseilles, under the +leadership of John Cassian, Abbot of St. Victor,(296) tried to find middle +ground between his teaching and that of the Pelagians. Cassian's treatise +_Collationes Patrum_,(297) and the reports sent to St. Augustine by his +disciples Prosper and Hilary, enable us to form a pretty fair idea of the +Semipelagian system. Its principal tenets were the following: + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) There is a distinction between the "beginning of faith" (_initium +fidei_, _affectus credulitatis_) and "increase in faith" (_augmentum +fidei_). The former depends entirely on the will, while the latter, like +faith itself, requires the grace of Christ. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) Nature can merit grace by its own efforts, though this natural merit +(_meritum naturae_) is founded on equity only (_meritum de congruo_), and +does not confer a right in strict justice, as Pelagius contended. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}) Free-will, after justification, can of its own power secure the gift of +final perseverance (_donum perseverantiae_); which consequently is not a +special grace, but a purely natural achievement. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}) The bestowal or denial of baptismal grace in the case of infants, who +can have no previous _merita de congruo_, depends on their hypothetical +future merits or demerits as foreseen by God from all eternity.(298) + +b) Informed of these errors by his disciples, St. Augustine energetically +set to work, and in spite of his advanced age wrote two books against the +Semipelagians, entitled respectively, _De Praedestinatione Sanctorum_ and +_De Dono Perseverantiae_. The new teaching was not yet, however, regarded +as formally heretical, and Augustine treated his opponents with great +consideration, in fact he humbly acknowledged that he himself had +professed similar errors before his consecration (A. D. 394).(299) + +After Augustine's death, Prosper and Hilary went to Rome and interested +Pope Celestine in their cause. In a dogmatic letter addressed to the +Bishops of Gaul, the Pontiff formally approved the teaching of St. +Augustine on grace and original sin, but left open such other "more +profound and difficult incidental questions" as predestination and the +manner in which grace operates in the soul.(300) But as this papal letter +(called "_Indiculus_") was an instruction rather than an ex-cathedra +definition, the controversy continued until, nearly a century later (A. D. +529), the Second Council of Orange, convoked by St. Caesarius of Arles, +formally condemned the Semipelagian heresy. This council, or at least its +first eight canons,(301) received the solemn approbation of Pope Boniface +II (A. D. 530) and thus became vested with ecumenical authority.(302) + +2. THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH.--The Catholic Church teaches the absolute +necessity of actual grace for all stages on the way to salvation. We shall +demonstrate this in five separate theses. + +*Thesis I: Prevenient grace is absolutely necessary, not only for faith, +but for the very beginning of faith.* + +This is _de fide_. + +Proof. The Second Council of Orange defined against the Semipelagians: "If +any one say that increase in faith, as well as the beginning of faith, and +the very impulse by which we are led to believe in Him who justifies the +sinner, and by which we obtain the regeneration of holy Baptism, is in us +not as a gift of grace, that is to say, through the inspiration of the +Holy Ghost, but by nature, ... is an adversary of the dogmatic teaching of +the Apostles...."(303) + +a) This is thoroughly Scriptural doctrine, as St. Augustine(304) and +Prosper(305) proved. St. Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians had +opened the eyes of Augustine, as he himself admits. 1 Cor. IV, 7: "For who +distinguisheth(306) thee? Or what hast thou that thou hast not received? +And if thou hast received, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not +received it?" The Apostle means to say: In matters pertaining to salvation +no man has any advantage over his fellow men, because all receive of the +grace of God without any merits of their own. This statement would be +false if any man were able to perform even the smallest salutary act +without the aid of grace. + +With a special view to faith the same Apostle teaches: "For by grace you +are saved through faith,(307) and that not of yourselves,(308) for it is +the gift of God;(309) not of works,(310) that no man may glory."(311) +This, too, would be false if faith could be traced to a purely natural +instinct or to some _meritum de congruo_ in the Semipelagian sense.(312) +Our Lord Himself, in his famous discourse on the Holy Eucharist, +unmistakably describes faith and man's preparation for it as an effect of +prevenient grace. "No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent +me, draw him."(313) The metaphorical expression "come to me," according to +the context, means "believe in me;" whereas the Father's "drawing" plainly +refers to the operation of prevenient grace. Cfr. John VI, 65 sq.: "But +there are some of you that believe not.... Therefore did I say to you, +that no man can come to me, unless it be given him by the Father." John +VI, 29: "This is the work of God,(314) that you believe in him whom he +hath sent." According to our Saviour's own averment, therefore, preaching +is of no avail unless grace gives the first impulse leading to faith. + +b) As regards the argument from Tradition, it will suffice to show that +the Fathers who wrote before Augustine, ascribed the beginning of faith to +prevenient grace. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) In the light of the Augustinian dictum that "prayer is the surest proof +of grace,"(315) it is safe to assume that St. Justin Martyr voiced our +dogma when he put into the mouth of a venerable old man the words: "But +thou pray above all that the gates of light may be opened unto thee; for +no man is able to understand the words of the prophets [as _praeambula +fidei_] unless God and His Christ have revealed their meaning."(316) +Augustine himself appeals to SS. Cyprian, Ambrose, and Gregory of +Nazianzus, and then continues: "Such doctors, and so great as these, +saying that there is nothing of which we may boast as of our own, which +God has not given us; and that our very heart and our thoughts are not in +our own power, ... attribute these things to the grace of God, acknowledge +them as God's gifts, testify that they come to us from Him and are not +from ourselves."(317) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) Like the Pelagians in their teaching on original sin,(318) the +Semipelagians in their teaching on grace relied mainly on the authority of +St. John Chrysostom, from whose writings they loved to quote such +perplexing passages as this: "We must first select the good, and then God +adds what is of His; He does not forestall our will because He does not +wish to destroy our liberty. But once we have made our choice, He gives us +much help. For while it rests with us to choose and to will antecedently, +it lies with him to perfect and bring to an issue."(319) + +To understand St. Chrysostom's attitude, and that of the Oriental Fathers +generally, we must remember that the Eastern Church considered it one of +its chief duties to safeguard the dogma of free-will against the +Manichaeans, who regarded man as an abject slave of Fate. In such an +environment it was of supreme importance to champion the freedom of the +will(320) and to insist on the maxim: "Help yourself and God will help +you." If the necessity of prevenient grace was not sufficiently +emphasized, the circumstances of the time explain, and to some extent +excuse, the mistake. St. Augustine himself remarks in his treatise on the +Predestination of the Saints: "What need is there for us to look into the +writings of those who, before this heresy sprang up, had no necessity of +dwelling on a question so difficult of solution as this, which beyond a +doubt they would do if they were compelled to answer such [errors as +these]? Whence it came about that they touched upon what they thought of +God's grace briefly and cursorily in some passages of their +writings."(321) Palmieri remarks(322) that it would be easy to cite a +number of similar passages from the writings of the early Latin Fathers +before Pelagius, who certainly cannot be suspected of Semipelagian +leanings.(323) + +The orthodoxy of St. Chrysostom can be positively established by a twofold +argument. (1) Pope Celestine the First recommended him as a reliable +defender of the Catholic faith against Nestorianism and Pelagianism.(324) +(2) Chrysostom rejected Semipelagianism as it were in advance when he +taught: "Not even faith is of ourselves; for if He [God] had not come, if +He had not called, how should we have been able to believe?"(325) and +again when he says in his explanation of the Pauline phrase {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}:(326) "He Himself hath implanted the faith in us, He Himself hath +given the beginning."(327) These utterances are diametrically opposed to +the heretical teaching of the Semipelagians.(328) + +c) The theological argument for our thesis is effectively formulated by +Oswald(329) as follows: "It is faith which first leads man from the sphere +of nature into a higher domain,--faith is the beginning of salutary action. +That this beginning must come wholly from God, and that it cannot come +from man, goes without saying. By beginning we mean the very first +beginning. Whether we call this first beginning itself faith, or speak, as +the Semipelagians did, of certain preambles of faith,--aspirations, +impulses, desires leading to faith (_praeambula fidei: conatus, desideria, +credulitatis affectus_), makes no difference. Wherever the supernatural +domain of salutary action begins--and it is divided off from the natural by +a very sharp line--there it is God who begins and not man, there it is +grace which precedes,--_gratia praeveniens_, as it has come to be known by +a famous term." + +Indeed, if man were able by his own power to merit for himself the first +beginnings of grace, then faith itself, and justification which is based +on faith, and the beatific vision, would not be strictly graces. + +As for the precise moment when prevenient grace begins its work in the +soul, the common opinion is that the very first judgment which a man forms +as to the credibility of divine revelation (_iudicium credibilitatis_) is +determined by the immediate grace of the intellect,(330) and that the +subsequent _affectus credulitatis_ springs from the strengthening grace of +the will. St. Augustine, commenting on 2 Cor. III, 5, demonstrates this as +follows: + +"Let them give attention to this, and well weigh these words, who think +that the beginning of faith is of ourselves, and the increase of faith is +of God. For who cannot see that thinking is prior to believing? For no one +believes anything unless he has first thought that it is to be +believed.... Therefore, in what pertains to religion and piety [of which +the Apostle was speaking], if we are not capable of thinking anything as +of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God, we are certainly not capable +of believing anything as of ourselves, since we cannot do this without +thinking, but our sufficiency, by which we begin to believe, is of +God."(331) + +*Thesis II: The sinner, even after he has received the faith, stands in +absolute need of prevenient and co-operating grace for every single +salutary act required in the process of justification.* + +This proposition also embodies an article of faith. + +Proof. The Semipelagians ascribed the dispositions necessary for +justification to the natural efforts of the will, thereby denying the +necessity of prevenient grace. This teaching was condemned as heretical by +the Second Council of Orange (A. D. 529),(332) and again by the Council of +Trent, which defined: "If any one saith that without the prevenient +inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and without His help, man can believe, +hope, love, or be penitent as he ought, so that the grace of justification +may be bestowed upon him; let him be anathema."(333) + +a) The Scriptural texts which we have quoted against Pelagianism(334) also +apply to the Semipelagian heresy. + +Our Lord's dictum: "Without me you can do nothing,"(335) proves the +necessity of prevenient and co-operating grace, not only at the beginning +of every salutary act, but also for its continuation and completion. St. +Augustine clearly perceived this. "That he might furnish a reply to the +future Pelagius," he observes, "our Lord does not say: Without me you can +with difficulty do anything; but He says: Without me you can do +_nothing_.... He does not say: Without me you can _perfect_ nothing, but +_do_ nothing. For if He had said _perfect_, they might say that God's aid +is necessary, not for beginning good, which is of ourselves, but for +perfecting it.... For when the Lord says, Without me you can do nothing, +in this one word He comprehends both the beginning and the end."(336) + +St. Paul expressly ascribes the salvation of man to grace when he says: +"... with fear and trembling work out your salvation; for it is God who +worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish."(337) + +The Tridentine Council, as we have seen, designates the four salutary acts +of faith, hope, love, and penitence as a preparation for justification. +Now St. Paul teaches: "The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in +believing, that you may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy +Ghost;"(338) and St. John: "Charity is of God."(339) + +b) The argument from Tradition is chiefly based on St. Augustine, who in +his two treatises against the Semipelagians, and likewise in his earlier +writings, inculcates the necessity of grace for all stages on the way to +salvation. + +Thus he writes in his _Enchiridion_: "Surely, if no Christian will dare to +say this: It is not of God that showeth mercy, but of man that willeth, +lest he should openly contradict the Apostle, it follows that the true +interpretation of the saying (Rom. IX, 16): 'It is not of him that +willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy,' is that +the whole work belongs to God, who both prepares the good will that is to +be helped, and assists it when it is prepared. For the good will of man +precedes many of God's gifts, but not all; and it must itself be included +among those which it does not precede. We read in Holy Scripture, both +'God's mercy shall prevent me' (Ps. LVIII, 11), and 'Thy mercy will follow +me' (Ps. XXII, 6). It precedes the unwilling to make him willing; it +follows the willing to render his will effectual. Why are we taught to +pray for our enemies, who are plainly unwilling to lead a holy life, +unless it be that God may work willingness in them? And why are we +admonished to ask that we may receive, unless it be that He who has +created in us the wish, may Himself satisfy the same? We pray, then, for +our enemies, that the mercy of God may precede them, as it has preceded +us; we pray for ourselves, that His mercy may follow us."(340) + +That grace accompanies us uninterruptedly on the way to Heaven is also the +teaching of St. Jerome: "To will and to run is my own act; but without the +constant aid of God, even my own act will not be mine; for the Apostle +says (Phil. II, 13): 'It is God who worketh in you, both to will and to +accomplish.'... It is not sufficient for me that He gave it once, unless +He gives it always."(341) + +St. Ephraem Syrus prays in the name of the Oriental Church: "I possess +nothing, and if I possess anything, Thou [O God] hast given it to me.... I +ask only for grace and acknowledge that I shall be saved through +Thee."(342) + +The Second Council of Orange summarizes the teaching of Tradition on the +subject under consideration.(343) + +c) The theological argument for our thesis is based on the character of +the adoptive sonship resulting from the process of justification.(344) +This sonship (_filiatio adoptiva_) is essentially supernatural, and hence +can be attained only by strictly supernatural acts, which unaided nature +is both morally and physically incapable of performing.(345) + +*Thesis III: Even in the state of sanctifying grace man is not able to +perform salutary acts, unless aided by actual graces.* + +This is likewise _de fide_. + +Proof. The faculties of the just man are permanently kept in the +supernatural sphere by sanctifying grace and by the habits of faith, hope, +and charity. Hence the just man in the performance of salutary acts does +not require the same measure of prevenient grace as the unregenerate +sinner, who lacks all, or at least some, of the habits mentioned. + +The question here at issue, therefore, can only be: Is actual grace (as +_gratia excitans s. vocans_, not _elevans_) absolutely necessary to enable +a man in the state of sanctifying grace to perform salutary acts? The +answer is--Yes, and this teaching is so firmly grounded on Sacred Scripture +and Tradition, and so emphatically sanctioned by the Church, that we do +not hesitate to follow Perrone in qualifying it as _de fide_.(346) The +councils in their teaching on the necessity of grace, assert that +necessity alike for the justified and the unjustified. That of Trent +expressly declares: "Whereas Jesus Christ Himself continually infuses His +virtue into the justified,--as the head into the members, and the vine into +the branches,--and this virtue always precedes and accompanies and follows +their good works, which without it could not in any wise be pleasing and +meritorious before God, we must believe that nothing further is wanting to +the justified...."(347) + +a) Our thesis can be easily proved from Holy Scripture. We have already +shown that the Bible and Tradition make no distinction between the +different stages on the way to salvation, or between different salutary +acts, but indiscriminately postulate for all the illuminating grace of the +intellect and the strengthening grace of the will. It follows that to +perform salutary acts the justified no less than the unjustified need +actual grace. Our Saviour's pithy saying: "Without me you can do +nothing,"(348) was not addressed to unbelievers or sinners, but to His +Apostles, who were in the state of sanctifying grace.(349) + +This interpretation is fully borne out by Tradition. St. Augustine, after +laying it down as a general principle that "We can of ourselves do nothing +to effect good works of piety without God either working that we may will, +or co-operating when we will,"(350) says of justified man in particular: +"The Heavenly Physician cures our maladies, not only that they may cease +to exist, but in order that we may ever afterwards be able to walk +aright,--a task to which we should be unequal, even after our healing, were +it not for His continued help.... For just as the eye of the body, even +when completely sound, is unable to see, unless aided by the brightness of +light, so also man, even when fully justified, is unable to lead a holy +life, unless he be divinely assisted by the eternal light of +righteousness."(351) + +This agrees with the practice of the Church in exhorting all men without +exception, saints as well as sinners, to pray: "Precede, we beseech Thee, +O Lord, our actions by Thy holy inspiration, and carry them on by Thy +gracious assistance, that every prayer and work of ours may begin always +from Thee, and through Thee be happily ended."(352) + +b) Some theologians have been led by certain speculative difficulties to +deny the necessity of actual grace in the state of justification. + +Man in the state of justification, they argue, is endowed with sanctifying +grace, the supernatural habits of faith, hope, and charity, and the +infused moral virtues, and consequently possesses all those qualifications +which are necessary to enable him to perform salutary acts with the +supernatural concurrence of God. Why should the will, thus supernaturally +equipped, require the aid of additional actual graces to enable it to +perform strictly supernatural, and therefore salutary, actions?(353) + +We reply: The necessity of actual grace in the state of justification is +so clearly taught by divine Revelation that no theological theory is +tenable which denies it. Besides, the objection we have briefly summarized +disregards some very essential considerations, _e.g._ that there remains +in man, even after justification, concupiscence, which is accompanied by a +certain weakness that requires at least the _gratia sanans sive +medicinalis_ to heal it.(354) Furthermore, a quiescent _habitus_ cannot +set itself in motion, but must be determined from without; that is to say, +in our case, it must be moved by the _gratia excitans_ to elicit +supernatural thoughts and to will supernatural acts. Just as a seed cannot +sprout without the aid of appropriate stimuli, so sanctifying grace is +incapable of bearing fruit unless stimulated by the sunshine and moisture +of actual graces. Man may perform purely natural acts even though he be in +the supernatural state of grace; hence if any particular act of his is to +be truly supernatural and conducive to eternal salvation, God must lend +His special aid.(355) + +*Thesis IV: Except by a special privilege of divine grace, man, even +though he be in the state of sanctifying grace, is unable to avoid venial +sin throughout life.* + +This is likewise _de fide_. + +Proof. The Pelagians held that man is able to avoid sin, nay to attain to +absolute impeccability,(356) without supernatural assistance. Against this +error the Second Council of Mileve (A. D. 416) defined: "It likewise hath +pleased [the holy Synod] that whoever holds that the words of the Our +Father: 'Forgive us our trespasses,' when pronounced by saintly men, are +pronounced in token of humility, but not truthfully, should be +anathema."(357) Still more to the point is the following declaration of +the Council of Trent: "If any one saith that a man once justified ... is +able, during his whole life, to avoid all sins, even those that are +venial, except by a special grace from God, as the Church holds in regard +of the Blessed Virgin; let him be anathema."(358) + +To obtain a better understanding of this Tridentine definition it will be +well to ponder the following considerations: + +The Council declares that it is impossible for man, even in the state of +sanctifying grace, to avoid all sins during his whole life, except by +virtue of a special privilege such as that enjoyed by the Blessed Virgin +Mary.(359) A venial sin is one which, because of the unimportance of the +precept involved, or in consequence of incomplete consent, does not +destroy the state of grace. Such a sin may be either deliberate or +semi-deliberate. A semi-deliberate venial sin is one committed in haste or +surprise. It is chiefly sins of this kind that the Tridentine Council had +in view. For no one would seriously assert that with the aid of divine +grace a saint could not avoid at least all deliberate venial sins for a +considerable length of time. The phrase "_in tota vita_" indicates a +period of some length, though its limits are rather difficult to +determine. Were a man to die immediately after justification, the +Tridentine canon would _per accidens_ not apply to him. As the Council +says in another place that "men, how holy and just soever, at times fall +into at least light and daily sins, which are also called venial,"(360) it +is safe practically to limit the period of possible freedom from venial +sin to one day. Theoretically, of course, it may be extended much farther. +The phrase "_omnia peccata_" must be interpreted collectively, not +distributively, for a sin that could not be avoided would cease to be a +sin. For the same reason the term "_non posse_" must be understood of +(moral, not physical) disability; in other words, the difficulty of +avoiding sin with the aid of ordinary graces for any considerable length +of time, is insuperable even for the just. This moral impossibility of +avoiding sin can be removed only by a special privilege, such as that +enjoyed by the Blessed Virgin Mary. It may incidentally be asked whether +this privilege was also granted to other saints, notably St. Joseph and +St. John the Baptist. Suarez lays it down as a theological conclusion that +no human being has ever been or ever will be able entirely to avoid venial +sin except by a special privilege, which must in each case be proved. +Palmieri maintains that the moral impossibility of leading an absolutely +sinless life without the special assistance of grace is taught by +indirection in the canons of Mileve (416) and Carthage (418), which +declare that no such life has ever been led by mortal man without that +assistance.(361) + +a) The Scriptural argument for our thesis was fully developed by the +councils just mentioned. The careful student will note, however, that +those texts only are strictly conclusive which positively and exclusively +refer to venial sins. Thus when St. James says: "In many things we all +offend,"(362) he cannot mean that all Christians now and then necessarily +commit mortal sin. For St. John expressly declares that "Whosoever abideth +in him [Christ], sinneth not."(363) + +It follows that not even the just can wholly avoid venial sin. Hence the +most devout and pious Christian may truthfully repeat the petition of the +Lord's Prayer which says: "Forgive us our trespasses,(364) as we forgive +those who trespass against us."(365) Profoundly conscious of the +sinfulness of the entire human race, the author of the Book of Proverbs +exclaims: "Who can say, My heart is clean, I am pure from sin?"(366) + +Other Scripture texts commonly cited in confirmation of our thesis lack +cogency, because they either deal exclusively with mortal sin or do not +refer to sin at all. Thus Prov. XXIV, 16: "A just man shall fall seven +times and shall rise again," is meant of temporal adversities.(367) +Eccles. VII, 21: "There is no just man upon earth, that doth good and +sinneth not,"(368) can scarcely be understood of venial sin, because the +sacred writer continues: "For thy conscience knoweth that thou also hast +often spoken evil of others."(369) 1 John I, 8: "If we say that we have no +sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,"(370) would be a +splendid argument for our thesis, could it be shown that the Apostle had +in mind only the venial sins committed in the state of justification. This +is, however, unlikely, as the term _peccatum_ throughout St. John's first +Epistle(371) is obviously employed in the sense of mortal sin.(372) + +b) Tradition is again most effectively voiced by St. Augustine, who +writes: "There are three points, as you know, which the Catholic Church +chiefly maintains against them [the Pelagians]. One is, that the grace of +God is not given according to our merits.... The second, that no one lives +in this corruptible body in righteousness of any degree without sins of +any kind. The third, that man is born obnoxious to the first man's +sin...."(373) To Pelagius' objection: "If all men sin, then the just must +die in their sins," the holy Doctor replies: "With all his acuteness he +[Pelagius] overlooks the circumstance that even righteous persons pray +with good reason: 'Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.'... +Even if we cannot live without sin, we may yet die without sin, whilst the +sin committed in ignorance or infirmity is blotted out in merciful +forgiveness."(374) In another chapter of the same treatise he says: "If +... we could assemble all the afore-mentioned holy men and women, and ask +them whether they lived without sin, ... would they not all exclaim with +one voice: 'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth +is not in us'?"(375) + +c) We come to the theological argument. The moral impossibility of +avoiding venial sin for any considerable length of time results partly +from the infirmity of human nature (_infirmitas naturae_), partly from +God's pre-established plan of salvation (_ordo divinae providentiae_). + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) The infirmity of human nature flows from four separate and distinct +sources: (1) concupiscence (_fomes peccati_); (2) imperfection of the +ethical judgment (_imperfectio iudicii_); (3) inconstancy of the will +(_inconstantia voluntatis_); and (4) the weariness caused by continued +resistance to temptation. In view of these agencies and their combined +attack upon the will, theologians speak of a _necessitas antecedens +peccandi_;--not as if the will were predestined to succumb to any one +temptation in particular, but in the sense that it is morally unable to +resist the whole series (_suppositione disiuncta_). The will simply grows +weaker and weaker, and in course of time fails to resist sin with +sufficient energy. + +Let us exemplify. The proofsheets of a book are scrutinized by several +trained readers, yet in spite of the greatest care and many ingenious +devices for the elimination of error, a perfect book, _i.e._ one entirely +free from mistakes, is a practical impossibility. How much harder must it +be for man to avoid moral lapses throughout his whole life, considering +that he cannot choose his own time for meeting temptations, but must keep +his mind and will under constant control and be prepared to resist the +enemy at any moment.(376) + +St. Thomas Aquinas says: "Man cannot avoid all venial sin, because his +sensual appetite is depraved. True, reason is able to suppress the +individual stirrings of this appetite. In fact, it is on this account that +they are voluntary and partake of the nature of sin. But reason is not +able to suppress them all [collectively], because, while it tries to +resist one, there perhaps arises another, and, furthermore, reason is not +always in a condition to exercise the vigilance necessary to avoid such +impulses."(377) + +It follows that the _necessitas peccandi antecedens_ does not destroy the +liberty of the will or the moral imputability of those venial sins which a +man actually commits; for it is merely a _necessitas indeterminata_, which +refers not to certain particular instances, but to the one or other +indeterminately. It follows further that God does not command the +impossible when He insists that we should avoid venial sin, for He does +not in each single case command something which is physically or morally +impossible,(378) but merely demands a perfection which in itself is not +entirely unattainable _hic et nunc_ with the assistance of ordinary +grace.(379) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) The second theological reason for the impossibility of avoiding venial +sin for any considerable time is based on the eternal scheme of salvation +decreed by Divine Providence. This scheme of salvation must not, of +course, be conceived as a divine precept to commit venial sins. It is +merely a wise toleration of sin and a just refusal, on the part of the +Almighty, to restore the human race to that entirely unmerited state of +freedom from concupiscence with which it was endowed in Paradise, and +which alone could guarantee the moral possibility of unspotted innocence. +Both factors in their last analysis are based upon the will of God to +exercise those whom He has justified in humility and to safeguard us +against pride, which is the deadliest enemy of our salvation.(380) In +making this wise decree God, of course, infallibly foresaw that no man +(with the sole exception of those to whom He might grant a special +privilege) would _de facto_ be able to pass through life without +committing venial sins. This infallible foreknowledge is based not alone +on the _scientia media_, but also on the infirmity of human nature. + +Hence Suarez was entirely justified in rejecting the singular opinion of +de Vega,(381) that the Tridentine definition does not exclude the +possibility of exceptions.(382) + +Nevertheless the faithful are wisely warned against both indifference and +despondency. "Let no one say that he is without sin, but let us not for +this reason love sin. Let us detest sin, brethren. Though we are not +without sins, let us hate them; especially let us avoid grievous sins, and +venial sins, too, as much as we can."(383) + +*Thesis V: No man can persevere in righteousness without special help from +God.* + +This proposition is also _de fide_. + +Proof. The Semipelagians asserted that man is able by his own power to +persevere in righteousness to the end.(384) Against this teaching the +Second Council of Orange defined: "Even those who are reborn and holy must +implore the help of God, in order that they may be enabled to attain the +good end, or to persevere in the good work."(385) This definition was +repeated in substance by the Council of Trent: "If any one saith that the +justified either is able without the special help of God to persevere in +the justice received, or that, with that help, he is not able; let him be +anathema."(386) + +Perfect perseverance is the preservation of baptismal innocence, or, in a +less strict sense, of the state of grace, until death. Imperfect +perseverance is a temporary continuance in grace, _e.g._ for a month or a +year, until the next mortal sin. Imperfect perseverance, according to the +Tridentine Council, requires no special divine assistance (_speciale +auxilium_).(387) + +Final perseverance is either passive or active, according as the justified +dies in the state of grace irrespective of his will (as baptized children +and insane adults),(388) or actively cooeperates with grace whenever the +state of grace is imperilled by grievous temptation. The Council of Trent +has especially this latter case in view when it speaks of the necessity of +a _speciale auxilium_, because the special help extended by God +presupposes cooeperation with grace, and man cannot strictly speaking +cooeperate in a happy death. The Council purposely speaks of an _auxilium_, +not a _privilegium_, because a privilege is by its very nature granted to +but few, while the special help of grace extends to all the elect. This +_auxilium_ is designated as _speciale_, because final perseverance is not +conferred with sanctifying grace, nor is it a result of the mere power of +perseverance (_posse perseverare_). The state of sanctifying grace simply +confers a claim to ordinary graces, while the power of perseverance of +itself by no means insures actual perseverance (_actu perseverare_). The +power of perseverance is assured by those merely sufficient graces which +are constantly at the command of the righteous. Actual perseverance, on +the other hand, implies a series of efficacious graces. God is under no +obligation to bestow more than sufficient grace on any man; consequently, +final perseverance is a special grace, or, more correctly, a continuous +series of efficacious graces. The Council of Trent is therefore justified +in speaking of it as "a great gift."(389) + +a) Sacred Scripture represents final perseverance as the fruit of prayer +and as a special gift not included in the bare notion of justification. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) Our Divine Saviour Himself says in His prayer for His disciples, John +XVII, 11: "Holy Father, keep them in thy name whom thou hast given me, +that they may be one, as we also are."(390) St. Paul teaches in his +Epistle to the Colossians: "Epaphras saluteth you ... who is always +solicitous for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and full in all +the will of God."(391) Hence the necessity of constantly watching and +praying: "Watch ye and pray that ye enter not into temptation."(392) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) That perseverance is not included in the bare notion of justification +appears from such passages as these: Phil. I, 6: "Being confident of this +very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it +unto the day of Christ Jesus."(393) 1 Pet. I, 5: "Who, by the power of +God, are kept by faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last +time."(394) + +b) The threads of Tradition run together in the hands of St. Augustine, +who has written a special treatise On the Gift of Perseverance.(395) + +His main argument is based on the necessity of prayer. "Why," he asks, "is +that perseverance asked for from God, if it is not given by God? Is it a +mocking petition inasmuch as that is asked of Him which it is known He +does not give, but, although He gives it not, is in man's power?... Or is +not that perseverance, perchance, asked for from Him? He who says this, is +not to be rebuked by my arguments, but must be overwhelmed with the +prayers of the saints. Is there indeed one among them who do not ask for +themselves from God that they may persevere in Him, when in that very +prayer which is called the Lord's--because the Lord taught it--whenever it +is prayed by the saints, scarcely anything else is understood to be prayed +for but perseverance?"(396) He then proceeds to show, in accordance with +St. Cyprian's little treatise On the Lord's Prayer, that the seven +petitions of the "Our Father" are all prayers for perseverance, and +concludes as follows: "Truly in this matter let not the Church look for +laborious disputations, but consider her own daily prayers. She prays that +the unbelieving may believe; therefore God converts to the faith. She +prays that believers may persevere; therefore God gives perseverance to +the end."(397) And again: "For who is there that would groan with a +sincere desire to receive what he prays for from the Lord, if he thought +that he received it from himself and not from the Lord?"(398) + +c) From this teaching flows a corollary of great practical importance, to +wit: The grace of final perseverance cannot be merited by good works, but +it can be obtained by pious and unremitting prayer. + +"This gift of God," says St. Augustine, speaking of final perseverance, +"may be obtained suppliantly [by prayer], but when it has been given, it +cannot be lost contumaciously."(399) And again: "Since it is manifest that +God has prepared some things to be given even to those who do not pray for +them, such as the beginning of faith, and other things not to be given +except to those who pray for them, such as perseverance unto the end, +certainly he who thinks that he has this latter from himself, does not +pray to obtain it."(400) + +Between merit (_meritum_) and prayer (_oratio, preces_) there is this +great difference, that merit appeals to God's justice, prayer to His +mercy. If man were able to merit final perseverance by good works +(_meritum de condigno_), God would be in justice bound to give him this +precious grace. But this is plainly incompatible with the Catholic +conception of final perseverance. + +It may be asked: Is God determined by the _meritum de congruo_ inherent in +all good works to grant the gift of final perseverance as a reward to the +righteous? Theologians are at variance on this point. Ripalda(401) thinks +that this is the case at least with the more conspicuous good works +performed in the state of grace. Suarez modifies this improbable +contention somewhat by saying that prayer alone can infallibly guarantee +final perseverance.(402) Our prayers are infallibly heard if we address +the Father through Jesus Christ, because Christ has promised: "If you ask +the Father anything in my name, he will give it you."(403) To insure its +being infallibly heard, prayer for perseverance must be made in the state +of grace and unremittingly. True, Christ did not make sanctifying grace a +necessary condition of efficacious prayer. But, as Suarez points out, +prayer cannot be infallibly efficacious unless it proceeds from one who is +in the state of grace, because the moral conditions that render it +efficacious are found only in that state.(404) As to the second point, if +we say that prayer for perseverance must be unremitting, we mean, in the +words of the same eminent theologian, that it must continue throughout +life and must be made with becoming trustfulness and zeal, especially when +there is a duty to be fulfilled or a temptation to be overcome.(405) + + + READINGS:--Suarez, _De Gratia_, 1. I-II.--*Tricassin, O. Cap., _De + Necessaria ad Salutem Gratia_.--Byonius, _De Gratiae Auxiliis_, in + Becanus, _Theologia Scholastica_, Rouen, 1658.--Scheeben _Natur und + Gnade_, Mainz 1861.--IDEM, _Dogmatik_, Vol. III, § 292-298, + Freiburg 1882.--*Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. 19-29, + Gulpen 1885.--Oswald, _Lehre von der Heiligung_, § 9-11, 3rd ed., + Paderborn 1885.--Tepe, _Institutiones Theologicae_, Vol. III, pp. + 8-51, Paris 1896.--*Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, + Vol. VIII, § 396-416, Mainz 1897.--Chr. Pesch, _Praelectiones + Dogmaticae_, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 32 sqq., Freiburg + 1908.--Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, disp. 2, Freiburg 1901. + + On St. Augustine and his teaching cfr. *J. Ernst, _Werke und + Tugenden der Unglaeubigen nach Augustinus_, Freiburg 1871.--F. + Woerter, _Die Geistesentwicklung des hl. Augustinus bis zu seiner + Taufe_, Paderborn 1898.--Wolfsgruber, _Augustinus_, Paderborn + 1898.--Boucat, _Theologia Patrum Dogmatico-Scholastico-Positiva_, + disp. 3, Paris 1718.--*Zaccaria, _Dissert. de Adiutorio sine quo + non_, in the _Thesaurus Theol._, Vol. V, Venice 1762.--O. + Rottmanner, O. S. B., _Geistesfruechte aus der Klosterzelle_, + Muenchen 1908.--B. J. Otten, S. J., _A Manual of the History of + Dogmas_, Vol. I, St. Louis 1917, pp. 306 sqq., 374 sq. + + On the heresy of Pelagianism cfr. *F. Woerter, _Der Pelagianismus + nach seinem Ursprung und seiner Lehre_, Freiburg 1874.--F. Klasen, + _Die innere Entwicklung des Pelagianismus_, Freiburg + 1882.--Schwane, _Dogmengeschichte_, Vol. II, 2nd ed., § 60 sqq., + Freiburg 1895.--H. Zimmer, _Pelagius in Irland_, Berlin + 1901.--Warfield, _Two Studies in the History of Doctrine_, New York + 1897.--Tixeront, _Histoire des Dogmes_, Vol. II, 2nd ed., Paris + 1909 (English tr., St. Louis 1914).--Pohle in the _Catholic + Encyclopedia_, Vol. XI, pp. 604-608.--B. J. Otten, S. J., _A Manual + of the History of Dogmas_, Vol. I, pp. 357 sqq. + + On Semi-Pelagianism cfr. Suarez, _De Gratia_, Prolegom., V, 5 + sqq.--Livinus Meyer, _De Pelag. et Semipelag. Erroribus._--Wiggers, + _Geschichte des Semipelagianismus_, Hamburg 1835.--A. Hoch, _Lehre + des Johannes Cassianus von Natur und Gnade_, Freiburg 1895.--*A. + Koch, _Der hl. Faustus, Bischof von Riez_, Stuttgart 1895.--Fr. + Woerter, _Zur Dogmengeschichte des Semipelagianismus_, Muenster + 1900.--Sublet, _Le Semipelagianisme_, Namur 1897.--Tixeront, + _Histoire des Dogmes_, Vol. II, 2nd ed., Paris 1909 (English tr., + St. Louis 1914).--Pohle in the _Catholic Encyclopedia_, Vol. XIII, + pp. 703-706.--B. J. Otten, S. J., _A Manual of the History of + Dogmas_, Vol. I, pp. 379 sqq. + + On Jansenism cfr. *Steph. Dechamps, _De Haeresi Ianseniana_, Paris + 1645.--Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, Vol. III: "Contra Baium et + Baianos," Cologne 1648.--Duchesne, _Histoire du Baianisme_, Douai + 1731.--*Linsenmann, _Michael Bajus und die Grundlegung des + Jansenismus_, Tuebingen 1867.--A. Schill, _Die Konstitution + Unigenitus, ihre Veranlassung und ihre Folgen_, Freiburg + 1876.--Ingold, _Rome et France: La Seconde Phase du Jansenisme_, + Paris 1901.--P. Minges, O. F. M., _Die Gnadenlehre des Duns Scotus + auf ihren angeblichen Pelagianismus und Semipelagianismus + geprueft_, Muenster 1906.--Lafiteau, _Histoire de la Constitution + Unigenitus_, 2 vols., Liege 1738.--Van den Peereboom, _Cornelius + Jansenius, Septieme Eveque d'Ypres_, Bruges 1882.--J. Forget in the + _Catholic Encyclopedia_, Vol. VIII, pp. 285-294.--B. J. Otten, S. + J., _A Manual of the History of Dogmas_, Vol. II, pp. 507 sqq. + + + +Section 2. The Gratuity Of Actual Grace + + +All grace _ex vi termini_ is a free gift.(406) This applies particularly +to Christian grace, which is so absolutely gratuitous that its gratuity, +together with its necessity, may be called the groundwork of the Catholic +religion. + +1. STATE OF THE QUESTION.--To show what is meant by "gratuity" +(_gratuitas_) we must first explain the technical term "merit." + +a) "Merit" (_meritum_=that which is earned) is that property of a good +work which entitles the performer to receive a reward from him to whose +advantage the work redounds. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) An analysis of this definition shows that (1) merit is found only in +such works as are positively good; (2) merit and reward are correlative +terms which postulate each other; (3) merit supposes two distinct persons, +one who deserves and another who awards; (4) the relation between merit +and reward is based on justice, not on benevolence or mercy. The +last-mentioned determination is by far the most important of the +four.(407) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) Ethics and theology clearly distinguish two kinds of merit: (1) condign +merit,(408) which is merit in the strict sense (_meritum adaequatum sive +de condigno_), and (2) congruous merit (_meritum inadaequatum sive de +congruo_), so called because of the congruity, or fitness, that the claim +should be recognized. Condign merit presupposes some proportion between +the work done and the reward given in compensation for it (_aequalitas s. +condignitas dati et accepti_). It is measured by commutative justice and +thus confers a real claim to a reward. For example, a conscientious +workman has a strict claim to his wage. Owing to the lack of intrinsic +proportion between service and reward, congruous merit can claim a +remuneration only on grounds of fairness. + +A distinction between these two kinds of merit was already made by the +Fathers, though not in the terms of present-day theology. It was known to +the older Scholastics and emphasized anew by Luther's famous adversary +Johann Eck.(409) + +No relation of strict justice is conceivable between the Creator and His +creatures. On the part of God there can only be question of a gratuitous +promise to reward certain good works,--which promise He is bound to keep +because He is veracious and faithful.(410) + +b) Two other terms must also be clearly defined in order to arrive at a +true conception of the gratuity of Christian grace. They are prayer for +grace,(411) and a capacity or disposition to receive it.(412) To pray +means to incite God's liberality or mercy by humble supplication. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) Despite the contrary teaching of Vasquez(413) and a few other +theologians, congruous merit and prayer are really distinct because one +can exist without the other. As the angels in Heaven are able to pray for +us without earning a _meritum de congruo_, so conversely, all salutary +works are meritorious even without prayer. Moreover, humble supplication +does not involve any positive service entitled to a reward. + +There is another important and obvious distinction, _viz._: between purely +natural prayer (_preces naturae_) and supernatural prayer inspired by +grace (_oratio supernaturalis_). + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) Capacity or disposition, especially when it takes the form of +preparation, may be either positive or negative. Positive capacity is +defined as "that real mode by which a subject, in itself indifferent, +becomes apt to receive a new form." Such a capacity or disposition always +entails a claim to its respective form. + +Positive capacity or disposition differs from both prayer or quasi-merit +(_meritum de congruo_). Quasi-merit is entitled to a reward on the ground +of fairness, whereas the _capacitas s. dispositio positiva_ is at most the +fulfilment of an expectation based upon purely teleological +considerations. Again, a reward can be bestowed upon some subject other +than the one by whom the service was rendered, whereas the introduction of +a new form necessarily supposes a subject disposed for or prepared to +receive it. Thus only he who is hungry is disposed for the reception of +food and entitled to have his craving satisfied. + +Negative capacity consists in the absence or removal of obstacles that +impede the reception of a new form, as when green wood is dried to become +fit for burning. + +c) There arises the important question whether or not divine grace is an +object of merit, and if so, to what extent it can be merited by prayer and +preparation. + +It is of faith that the just man, by the performance of supernaturally +good deeds, can merit _de condigno_ an increase in the state of grace and +eternal glory, and that the sinner is able to earn justification _de +congruo_. On the other hand, it is also an article of faith that divine +grace is strictly gratuitous.(414) The two dogmas seem incompatible, but +they are not, as will become evident if we consider that the good works of +the just and the salutary works of the sinner are entirely rooted in +divine grace and consequently the merits which they contain are strictly +merits of grace in no wise due to nature.(415) When we speak of the +absolute gratuity of grace, therefore, we mean the very first or initial +grace (_gratia prima vocans_), by which the work of salvation is begun. Of +this initial grace the Church explicitly teaches that it is absolutely +incapable of being merited; whence it follows that all subsequent graces, +up to and including justification, are also gratuitous,(416) _i.e._ +unmerited by nature in strict justice, in so far as they are based on the +_gratia prima_. + +2. THE GRATUITY OF GRACE PROVED FROM REVELATION.--Keeping the above +explanation well in mind we now proceed to demonstrate the gratuity of +divine grace in five systematic theses. + +*Thesis I: Mere nature cannot, in strict justice (de condigno), merit +initial grace (gratia prima), nor, consequently, any of the series of +subsequent graces in the order of justification.* + +This proposition embodies an article of faith. + +Proof. It was one of the fundamental errors of Pelagius that grace can be +merited by purely natural acts.(417) When, at the instance of the bishops +assembled at Diospolis (A. D. 415), he retracted his proposition that "the +grace of God is given according to our merits,"(418) he employed the term +_gratia Dei_ dishonestly for the grace of creation. The Second Council of +Orange (A. D. 529) formally defined that grace cannot be merited, but is +purely and strictly gratuitous.(419) And the Council of Trent declared: +"In adults the beginning of justification is to be derived from the +prevenient grace of God through Jesus Christ, that is to say, from His +vocation, whereby, without any merits existing on their parts, they are +called...."(420) The non-existence of merits prior to the bestowal of the +_prima gratia vocans,_ so positively asserted in this definition, plainly +excludes any and all natural merit _de condigno._ + +a) St. Paul demonstrates in his Epistle to the Romans that justification +does not result from obedience to the law, but is a grace freely bestowed +by God. + +The Apostle regards the merciful dispensations of Providence in favor of +the Chosen People, and of the entire sinful race of men in general, as so +many sheer graces. Rom. IX, 16: "So then it is not of him that willeth, +nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."(421) The gratuity +of grace is asserted in terms that almost sound extravagant two verses +further down in the same Epistle: "Therefore he hath mercy on whom he +will; and whom he will, he hardeneth."(422) The same truth is emphasized +in Rom. XI, 6: "And if by grace, it is not now by works: otherwise grace +is no more grace."(423) Lest any one should pride himself on having +obtained faith, which is the root of justification, by his own merits, St. +Paul declares in his Epistle to the Ephesians: "For by grace you are saved +through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God; not +of works, that no man may glory. For we are his workmanship, created in +Christ Jesus in good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in +them."(424) These and many similar passages(425) make it plain that grace +cannot be merited without supernatural aid. + +b) The leading champion of the dogma of the gratuity of grace among the +Fathers is St. Augustine, who never tires of repeating that "Grace does +not find merits, but causes them,"(426) and substantiates this fundamental +principle thus: "Grace has preceded thy merit; not grace by merit, but +merit by grace. For if grace is by merit, thou hast bought, not received +gratis."(427) + +c) The theological argument is based (1) on the disproportion between +nature and grace and (2) on the absolute necessity of grace for the +performance of salutary works. + +There is no proportion between the natural and the supernatural, and it +would be a contradiction to say that mere nature can span the chasm +separating the two orders. To assume the existence of a strict _meritum +naturae_ for it, would be to deny the gratuity as well as the supernatural +character of grace. To deny these would be to deny grace itself and with +it the whole supernatural order that forms the groundwork of Christianity. +We know, on the other hand,(428) that grace is absolutely indispensable +for the performance of salutary acts. Hence, to deny the gratuity of grace +would be to credit nature with the ability to perform salutary acts by its +own power, or at least to merit grace by the performance of naturally good +deeds. In the first hypothesis grace would no longer be necessary for +salvation; in the second, it would be proportionate to natural goodness, +and therefore no grace at all. Consequently, the gratuity of grace cannot +be consistently denied without at the same time denying its +necessity.(429) + +*Thesis II: There is no naturally good work by which unaided nature could +acquire even so much as an equitable claim to supernatural grace.* + +This proposition may be technically qualified as _fidei proxima saltem_. + +Proof. The Semipelagians held that, though nature cannot merit grace in +strict justice, it can merit it at least congruously, _i.e._ as a matter +of fitness or equity.(430) This contention was rejected by the Second +Council of Orange (A. D. 529), which defined that "God works many good +things in man that man does not work, but man works no good deeds that God +does not give him the strength to do."(431) And again: "[God] Himself +inspires us with faith and charity without any preceding [natural] merits +[on our part]."(432) The phrase "without any preceding merits" (_nullis +praecedentibus meritis_) excludes both the _meritum de condigno_ and the +_meritum de congruo_. + +a) The Scriptural argument given above for thesis I also covers this +thesis. + +The Semipelagians quoted Matth. XXV, 15 in support of their teaching: "To +one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to every +one according to his proper ability."(433) But this text is too vague to +serve as an argument in such an important matter. Not a few exegetes treat +it as a kind of rhetorical figure. Others, following the example of the +Fathers, take "talents" to mean purely natural gifts, or _gratiae gratis +datae_, while by "ability" (_virtus_) they understand the already existing +grace of faith or a certain definite measure of initial grace.(434) But +even if _virtus_ meant natural faculty or talent, it cannot be identical +with "merit." Considering the common teaching of theologians that the +angels were endowed with grace according to the measure of their natural +perfection,(435) we may well suppose that man receives grace likewise +according to his natural constitution (_gratia sequitur naturam_)--a +predisposition or aptitude which God ordained in His infinite wisdom to be +the instrument through which His graces should operate either for personal +sanctification or the good of others. + +b) St. Augustine and his disciples, in defending the orthodox faith +against the Semipelagians, strongly insisted on the gratuity of the grace +of faith, and above all of the initial _gratia praeveniens_. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) St. Augustine comments on 1 Cor. IV, 7 as follows: "Nothing is so +opposed to this feeling as for any one to glory concerning his own merits +in such a way as if he himself had made them for himself, and not the +grace of God,--a grace, however, which makes the good to differ from the +wicked, and is not common to the good and the wicked."(436) And in another +place he says: "For it would not in any sense be the grace of God, were it +not in every sense gratuitous."(437) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) Certain of the Greek Fathers have been suspected of Semipelagian +leanings because they appear to assign the chief role in the business of +salvation to nature.(438) A careful study of their writings, however, +shows that these authors had in mind co-operating, not prevenient grace. +The general teaching of the Orientals on the gratuity of grace is +sufficiently indicated by the demand made at the Council of Lydda (A. D. +415), that Pelagius be compelled to retract the proposition: "_Gratiam Dei +secundum merita nostra dari._" The Fathers who have been accused of +Semipelagian sympathies merely wished to emphasize free-will and to incite +the morally indifferent to co-operate heartily with divine grace. + +St. Chrysostom, in particular, expressly asserts the absolute gratuity of +grace when he says of faith: "That which is a merit of faith, may not be +ascribed to us, for it is a free gift of God,"(439) and directly +contradicts Cassian and the Massilians when he declares: "Thou hast it not +of thyself, thou hast received it from God. Hence thou hast received +whatever thou hast, not only this or that, but all thou hast. For it is +not thine own merit, but the grace of God. Although thou allegest the +faith, thou hast received it by vocation."(440) + +c) The theological argument for our thesis may be succinctly stated thus: +The grace of God is the cause of our merits, and hence cannot be itself +merited. Being the cause, it cannot be an effect.(441) + +*Thesis III: Nature cannot merit supernatural grace even by natural +prayer.* + +This thesis, like the preceding one, may be technically qualified as +_fidei proxima saltem_. + +Proof. Let us first clearly establish the state of the question. Our +thesis refers to that particular kind of prayer (_preces naturae_) which +by its intrinsic value, so to speak, obliges Almighty God to grant what +the petitioner asks for, as is undoubtedly the case with supernatural +prayer, according to our Saviour's own promise: "Ask and ye shall +receive."(442) The inefficacy of natural prayer asserted in our thesis, is +not, as in the case of merit,(443) due to any intrinsic impossibility, but +to a positive divine decree to grant supernatural prayer. + +The Second Council of Orange defined against the Semipelagians: "If any +one says that the grace of God can be obtained by human [_i.e._ natural] +prayer, and that it is not grace itself which causes us to invoke God, he +contradicts the prophet Isaias and the Apostle who say: I was found by +them that did not seek me; I appeared openly to them that asked not after +me."(444) + +a) Sacred Scripture teaches that, unless we are inspired by the Holy +Ghost, we cannot pray efficaciously. It follows that to be efficacious, +prayer must be an effect of prevenient grace. We should not even know for +what or how to pray, if the Holy Ghost did not inspire us. Cfr. Rom. VIII, +26: "For we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit +himself asketh for us [inspires us to ask] with unspeakable +groanings."(445) 1 Cor. XII, 3: "No man can say: Lord God, but by the Holy +Ghost."(446) Supernatural union with Christ is an indispensable condition +of all efficacious prayer. John XV, 7: "If you abide in me, and my words +abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto +you."(447) + +b) This is also the teaching of the Fathers. "Who would truly groan, +desiring to receive what he prays for from the Lord," says St. +Augustine,(448) "if he thought that he received it from himself, and not +from God? ... We understand that this is also itself the gift of God, that +with a true heart and spiritually we cry to God. Let them, therefore, +observe how they are mistaken who think that our seeking, asking, knocking +is of ourselves, and is not given to us; and say that this is the case +because grace is preceded by our merits; that it follows them when we ask +and receive, and seek and find, and it is opened to us when we +knock."(449) + +c) From the theological point of view the inefficacy of purely natural +prayer in matters pertaining to salvation can be demonstrated thus: +Revelation tells us that the work of salvation requires for its beginning +an initial supernatural grace. Now prayer, that is to say, efficacious +prayer, is in itself a salutary act. Consequently, there can be no +efficacious prayer without prevenient grace, and purely natural prayer is +inefficacious for salvation. + +Ripalda holds that, in an economy different from the present, natural +prayer would have a claim to be heard. This opinion can be defended +without prejudice to the dogma of the gratuity of grace. No doubt God +might condescend to hear such petitions if He would, though, of course, He +is not bound to do so by any intrinsic power inherent in natural prayer. +Unlike merit, prayer appeals to the mercy of God, not to His justice. +Ripalda's theory, however, rests upon an unprovable assumption, namely, +that man in the state of pure nature would be able to know of the +existence, or at least the possibility, of a supernatural order and to +strive for the beatific vision as his final end.(450) + +*Thesis IV: Man cannot move God to the bestowal of supernatural grace by +any positive disposition or preparation on his part.* + +This thesis may be qualified as _propositio certa_. + +Proof. Positive preparation or disposition for grace (_capacitas sive +praeparatio positiva_) is practically on a level with natural prayer. The +positive disposition for a natural good sometimes includes a certain +demand to satisfaction, as _e.g._ thirst demands to be quenched. This is +still more the case when the disposition has been acquired by a positive +preparation for the good in question. Thus a student, by conscientiously +preparing himself for examination, acquires a claim to be admitted to it +sooner or later. Can this also be said of grace? Does there exist in man a +positive disposition for grace in the sense that the withholding of it +would grievously injure and disappoint the soul? Can man, without +supernatural aid, positively dispose himself for the reception of +supernatural grace, confident that God will reward his efforts by +bestowing it on him? Both these questions must be answered in the +negative. + +a) If there were something in the natural make-up of man which would move +the Almighty to give him grace, the bestowal of grace would no longer be a +free act of God. But to assert the consequent would be Semipelagian, hence +the antecedent must be false. + +b) This truth can easily be deduced from the teaching of the Fathers in +the Semipelagian controversy. They declare, in perfect conformity with St. +Paul, that grace is bestowed gratuitously because God can give or withhold +it as He pleases. St. Augustine says(451) that the grace of Baptism is +granted freely, that is, without regard to any positive disposition on the +part of the baptized infant. It should be remembered, moreover, that +nature never existed in its pure form, and is now tainted by original +sin.(452) Surely a nature tainted by sin cannot possibly possess the power +of meriting divine grace. + +c) The contention of the so-called Augustinians, that pure nature needs +actual grace to save itself, and consequently has a claim to such grace at +least _ex decentia Creatoris_ and _ex lege iustissimae providentiae_, +perilously resembles Baius' condemned proposition that the state of pure +nature is impossible.(453) + +*Thesis V: Man may prepare himself negatively for the reception of +supernatural grace by not putting any obstacles in its way.* + +This proposition is held by a majority of Catholic theologians (_sententia +communior_). + +Proof. The solution of this question is intimately connected with the +famous Scholastic axiom: "_Facienti quod est in se Deus non denegat +gratiam_," that is, to the man who does what he can, God does not refuse +grace. This axiom is susceptible of three different interpretations. + +a) It may mean: _Facienti quod est in se cum auxilio gratiae Deus confert +ulteriorem gratiam_, _i.e._, to him who does what he can with the help of +supernatural grace, God grants further and more powerful graces up to +justification. This is merely another way of stating the indisputable +truth that, by faithfully cooeperating with the grace of God, man is able +to merit additional graces, and it holds true even of infidels and +sinners. The first freely performed salutary act establishes a _meritum de +congruo_ towards other acts disposing a man for justification. And since +the first as well as all subsequent salutary acts, in this hypothesis, are +pure graces, this interpretation of our axiom is entirely compatible with +the dogma of the gratuity of grace.(454) + +b) _Facienti quod est in se ex viribus naturalibus Deus non denegat +gratiam_ (to him who does what he can with his natural moral strength, God +does not refuse grace.) This does not mean that, in consequence of the +efforts of the natural will, God may not withhold from anyone the first +grace of vocation. In this sense the axiom would be Semipelagian, and has +been rejected by a majority of the Schoolmen. It is said of Molina that he +tried to render it acceptable by the hypothesis that God bound Himself by +a contract with Christ to give His grace to all men who would make good +use of their natural faculties. But how could the existence of this +imaginary contract be proved? In matter of fact Molina taught, with a +large number of other divines,(455) that God in the bestowal of His graces +freely bound Himself to a definite rule, which coincides with His +universal will to save all mankind. In the application of this law He pays +no regard to any positive disposition or preparation, but merely to the +presence or absence of obstacles which would prove impediments to grace. +In other words, God, generally speaking, is more inclined to offer His +grace to one who puts no obstacles in its way than to one who wallows in +sin and neglects to do his share.(456) + +c) _Facienti quod est in se ex viribus naturae negative se disponendo +[i.e. obicem non ponendo] Deus non denegat gratiam_ (to the man who does +what he can with his natural moral strength, disposing himself negatively +[_i.e._, by not placing any obstacle] God does not deny grace. In this +form the axiom is identical with our thesis. The question arises: Can it +be made to square with the dogma of the absolute gratuity of grace? +Vasquez,(457) Glossner,(458) and some others answer this question in the +negative, whereas the great majority of Catholic theologians hold with +Suarez(459) and Lessius,(460) that there is no contradiction between the +two. Though Lessius did not succeed in proving his famous contention that +the axiom _Facienti quod est in se Deus non denegat gratiam_, was for +three full centuries understood in this sense by the schools,(461) there +is no doubt that many authorities can be cited in favor of his +interpretation.(462) + +The theological argument for our thesis may be formulated thus: The +gratuity of grace does not imply that the recipient must have no sort of +disposition. It merely means that man is positively unworthy of divine +favor. Otherwise the Church could not teach, as she does, that the grace +bestowed on the angels and on our first parents in Paradise was absolutely +gratuitous, nor could she hold that the Hypostatic Union of the two +natures in Christ, which is the pattern and exemplar of all true +grace,(463) was a pure grace in respect of the humanity of our Lord. The +dogma of the gratuity of grace is in no danger whatever so long as the +relation between negative disposition and supernatural grace is conceived +as actual (_facienti=qui facit_), not causal (_facienti=quia facit_). The +motive for the distribution of grace is to be sought not in the dignity of +human nature, but in God's will to save all men. We must, however, guard +against the erroneous notion that grace is bestowed according to a fixed +law or an infallible norm regulating the amount of grace in accordance +with the condition of the recipient. Sometimes great sinners are +miraculously converted, while others of fairly good antecedents perish. +Yet, again, who could say that to the omniscient and all-wise God the +great sinner did not appear better fitted to receive grace than the +"decent" but self-sufficient pharisee? + + + READINGS:--Hurter, _Compendium Theologiae Dogmaticae_, Vol. III, + thes. 187.--Oswald, _Lehre von der Heiligung_, § 8, Paderborn + 1885.--*Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, c. 3, Gulpen + 1885.--Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, § + 417-420, Mainz 1897.--Chr. Pesch, _Praelectiones Dogmaticae_, Vol. + V, 3rd ed., pp. 105 sqq., Freiburg 1908.--Schiffini, _De Gratia + Divina_, pp. 468 sqq., Freiburg 1901. + + + +Section 3. The Universality Of Actual Grace + + +The gratuity of grace does not conflict with its universality. Though God +distributes His graces freely, He grants them to all men without +exception, because He wills all to be saved. + +This divine "will to save" (_voluntas Dei salvifica_) may be regarded in +relation either to the wayfaring state or to the _status termini_. +Regarded from the first-mentioned point of view it is a merciful will +(_voluntas misericordiae_) and is generally called first or antecedent +will (_voluntas prima s. antecedens_) or God's salvific will (_voluntas +Dei salvifica_) in the strict sense of the word. Considered in relation to +the _status termini_, it is a just will, as God rewards or punishes each +creature according to its deserts. This second or consequent will +(_voluntas secunda s. consequens_) is called "predestination" in so far as +it rewards the just, and "reprobation" in so far as it punishes the +wicked. + +God's "will to save" may therefore be defined as an earnest and sincere +desire to justify all men and make them supernaturally happy. As _voluntas +antecedens_ it is conditional, depending on the free co-operation of man; +as _voluntas consequens_, on the other hand, it is absolute, because God +owes it to His justice to reward or punish every man according to his +deserts.(464) + +Hence we shall treat in four distinct articles, (1) Of the universality of +God's will to save; (2) Of the divine _voluntas salvifica_ as the will to +give sufficient graces to all adult human beings without exception; (3) Of +predestination, and (4) Of reprobation. + + +Article 1. The Universality Of God's Will To Save + + +Although God's will to save all men is practically identical with His will +to redeem all,(465) a formal distinction must be drawn between the two, +(a) because there is a difference in the Scriptural proofs by which either +is supported, and (b) because the latter involves the fate of the fallen +angels, while the former suggests a question peculiar to itself, _viz._ +the fate of unbaptized children. + +*Thesis I: God sincerely wills the salvation, not only of the predestined, +but of all the faithful without exception.* + +This proposition embodies an article of faith. + +Proof. Its chief opponents are the Calvinists and the Jansenists, who +heretically maintain that God wills to save none but the predestined. +Against Calvin the Tridentine Council defined: "If any one saith that the +grace of justification is attained only by those who are predestined unto +life, but that all others who are called, are called indeed, but receive +not grace, as being, by the divine power, predestined unto evil; let him +be anathema."(466) + +The teaching of Jansenius that Christ died exclusively for the +predestined,(467) was censured as "heretical" by Pope Innocent X. Hence it +is of faith that Christ died for others besides the predestined. Who are +these "others"? As the Church obliges all her children to pray: "[Christ] +descended from heaven for us men and for our salvation,"(468) it is +certain that at least all the faithful are included in the saving will of +God. We say, "at least all the faithful," because in matter of fact the +divine _voluntas salvifica_ extends to all the descendants of Adam, as we +shall show further on.(469) + +a) Holy Scripture positively declares in a number of passages that God +wills the salvation of all believers, whether predestined or not. Jesus +Himself says in regard to the Jews: Matth. XXIII, 37: "Jerusalem, +Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent +unto thee, how often would I (_volui_) have gathered together thy +children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou +wouldst not (_noluisti_)." Two facts are stated in this text: (1) Our +Lord's earnest desire to save the Jewish people, anciently through the +instrumentality of the prophets, and now in His own person; (2) the +refusal of the Jews to be saved. Of those who believe in Christ under the +New Covenant we read in the Gospel of St. John (III, 16): "God so loved +the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in +him(470) may not perish, but may have life everlasting." However, since +many who believe in Christ do actually perish,(471) the divine _voluntas +salvifica_, in principle, extends not only to the predestined, but to all +the faithful, _i.e._ to all who have received the sacrament of Baptism. + +b) The teaching of the Fathers can be gathered from the quotations given +under Thesis II, _infra_. + +c) The theological argument may be briefly summarized as follows: God's +will to save is co-extensive with the grace of adoptive sonship (_filiatio +adoptiva_), which is imparted either by Baptism or by perfect charity. +Now, some who were once in the state of grace are eternally lost. +Consequently, God also wills the salvation of those among the faithful who +do not actually attain to salvation and who are, therefore, not +predestined. + +*Thesis II: God wills to save every human being.* + +This proposition is _fidei proxima saltem_. + +Proof. The existence of original sin is no reason why God should exclude +some men from the benefits of the atonement, as was alleged by the +Calvinistic "Infralapsarians." Our thesis is so solidly grounded on +Scripture and Tradition that some theologians unhesitatingly call it an +article of faith. + +a) We shall confine the Scriptural demonstration to two classical +passages, Wisd. XI, 24 sq. and 1 Tim. II, 1 sqq. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) The Book of Wisdom, after extolling God's omnipotence, says of His +mercy: "But thou hast mercy upon all, because thou canst do all things, +and overlookest the sins of men for the sake of repentance. For thou +lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things which thou hast +made.... Thou sparest all, because they are thine, O Lord, who lovest +souls."(472) + +In this text the mercy of God is described as universal. _Misereris +omnium, parcis omnibus_. This universality is based (1) on His omnipotence +(_quia omnia potes_), which is unlimited. His mercy, being equally +boundless, must therefore include all men without exception. The +universality of God's mercy is based (2) on His universal over-lordship +and dominion (_quoniam tua sunt; diligis omnia quae fecisti_). As there is +no creature that does not belong to God, so there is no man whom He does +not love and to whom He does not show mercy. The universality of God's +mercy in the passage quoted is based (3) on His love for souls (_qui amas +animas_). Wherever there is an immortal soul (be it in child or adult, +Christian, pagan or Jew), God is at work to save it. Consequently the +divine _voluntas salvifica_ is universal, not only in a moral, but in the +physical sense of the term, that is, it embraces all the descendants of +Adam. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) 1 Tim. II, 2 sqq.: "I desire therefore, first of all, that +supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all +men.... For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, +who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the +truth. For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man +Christ Jesus, who gave himself a redemption for all."(473) + +The Apostle commands us to pray "for all men," because this practice is +"good and acceptable in the sight of God." Why is it good and acceptable? +Because God "will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of +the truth." In other words, God's will to save is universal. + +The question arises: Is the universality of the divine _voluntas +salvifica_, as inculcated by St. Paul, merely moral, or is it physical, +admitting of no exceptions? The answer may be found in the threefold +reason given by the Apostle: the oneness of God, the mediatorship of +Christ, and the universality of the Redemption. (1) "For there is [but] +one God."(474) As truly, therefore, as God is the God of all men without +exception, is each and every man included in the divine _voluntas +salvifica_. (2) "There is [but] ... one mediator of God and men, the man +Christ Jesus." The human nature which Christ assumed in the Incarnation is +common to all men. Hence, whoever is a man, has Jesus Christ for his +mediator.(475) (3) Christ "gave himself a redemption [_i.e._ died] for +all." That is to say, God's will to save is co-extensive with His will to +redeem. The latter is universal,(476) consequently also the former.(477) + +b) The Fathers and early ecclesiastical writers were wont to base their +teaching in this matter on the above-quoted texts, and clearly intimated +that they regarded the truth therein set forth as divinely revealed. +Passaglia(478) has worked out the Patristic argument in detail, quoting no +less than two hundred authorities. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) We must limit ourselves to a few specimen citations. St. Ambrose +declares that God wills to save all men. "He willed all to be His own whom +He established and created. O man, do not flee and hide thyself! He wants +even those who flee, and does not will that those in hiding should +perish."(479) St. Gregory of Nazianzus holds God's _voluntas salvifica_ to +be co-extensive in scope with original sin and the atonement. "The law, +the prophets, and the sufferings of Christ," he says, "by which we were +redeemed, are common property and admit of no exception: but as all [men] +are participators in the same Adam, deceived by the serpent and subject to +death in consequence of sin, so by the heavenly Adam all are restored to +salvation and by the wood of ignominy recalled to the wood of life, from +which we had fallen."(480) St. Prosper concludes that, since all men are +in duty bound to pray for their fellowmen, God must needs be willing to +save all without exception. "We must sincerely believe," he says, "that +God wills all men to be saved, since the Apostle solicitously prescribes +supplication to be made for all."(481) The question why so many perish, +Prosper answers as follows: "[God] wills all to be saved and to come to +the knowledge of truth, ... so that those who are saved, are saved because +He wills them to be saved, while those who perish, perish because they +deserve to perish."(482) In his _Responsiones ad Capitula Obiectionum +Vincentianarum_ the same writer energetically defends St. Augustine +against the accusation that his teaching on predestination is incompatible +with the orthodox doctrine of the universality of God's saving will.(483) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) St. Augustine aroused suspicion in the camp of the Semipelagians by his +general teaching on predestination and more particularly by his +interpretation of 1 Tim. II, 4. The great Bishop of Hippo interprets this +Pauline text in no less than four different ways. In his treatise _De +Spiritu et Litera_ he describes the divine _voluntas salvifica_ as +strictly universal in the physical sense.(484) In his _Enchiridion_ he +restricts it to the predestined.(485) In his _Contra Iulianum_ he says: +"No one is saved unless God so wills."(486) In his work _De Correptione et +Gratia_: "God wills all men to be saved, because He makes us to will this, +just as He sent the spirit of His Son [into our hearts], crying: Abba, +Father, that is, making us to cry, Abba, Father."(487) How did St. +Augustine come to interpret this simple text in so many different ways? +Some think he chose this method to overwhelm the Pelagians and +Semipelagians with Scriptural proofs. But this polemical motive can hardly +have induced him to becloud an obvious text and invent interpretations +which never occurred to any other ecclesiastical writer before or after +his time. The conundrum can only be solved by the assumption that +Augustine believed in a plurality of literal senses in the Bible and held +that over and above (or notwithstanding) the _sensus obvius_ every exegete +is free to read as much truth into any given passage as possible, and that +such interpretation lay within the scope of the inspiration of the Holy +Ghost quite as much as the _sensus obvius_. In his _Confessions_(488) he +actually argues in favor of a _pluralitas sensuum_. He was keen enough to +perceive, however, that if a Scriptural text is interpreted in different +ways, the several constructions put upon it must not be contradictory. As +he was undoubtedly aware of the distinction between _voluntas antecedens_ +and _consequens_,(489) his different interpretations of 1 Tim. II, 4 can +be reconciled by assuming that he conceived God's _voluntas salvifica_ as +_antecedens_ in so far as it is universal, and as _consequens_ in so far +as it is particular. St. Thomas solves the difficulty in a similar manner: +"The words of the Apostle, 'God will have all men to be saved, etc.,' can +be understood in three ways: First, by a restricted application, in which +case they would mean, as Augustine says, 'God wills all men to be saved +that are saved, not because there is no man whom he does not wish to be +saved, but because there is no man saved whose salvation He does not +will.' Secondly, they can be understood as applying to every class of +individuals, not of every individual of each class; in which case they +mean that 'God wills some men of every class and condition to be saved, +males and females, Jews and Gentiles, great and small, but not all of +every condition.' Thirdly, according to the Damascene, they are understood +of the antecedent will of God, not of the consequent will. The distinction +must not be taken as applying to the divine will itself, in which there is +nothing antecedent or consequent; but to the things willed. To understand +which we must consider that everything, so far as it is good, is willed by +God. A thing taken in its strict sense, and considered absolutely, may be +good or evil, and yet when some additional circumstance is taken into +account, by a consequent consideration may be changed into its contrary. +Thus, that men should live is good; and that men should be killed is evil, +absolutely considered. If in a particular case it happens that a man is a +murderer or dangerous to society, to kill him becomes good, to let him +live an evil. Hence it may be said of a just judge that antecedently he +wills all men to live, but consequently he wills the murderer to be +hanged. In the same way God antecedently wills all men to be saved, but +consequently wills some to be damned, as His justice exacts. Nor do we +will simply what we will antecedently, but rather we will it in a +qualified manner; for the will is directed to things as they are in +themselves, and in themselves they exist under particular qualifications. +Hence we will a thing simply in as much as we will it when all particular +circumstances are considered; and this is what is meant by willing +consequently. Thus it may be said that a just judge wills simply the +hanging of a murderer, but in a qualified manner he would will him to +live, inasmuch as he is a man. Such a qualified will may be called a +willingness rather than an absolute will. Thus it is clear that whatever +God simply wills takes place; although what He wills antecedently may not +take place."(490) + +*Thesis III: The lot of unbaptized infants, though difficult to reconcile +with the universality of God's saving will, furnishes no argument against +it.* + +Proof. The most difficult problem concerning the divine _voluntas +salvifica_--a real _crux theologorum_--is the fate of unbaptized children. +The Church has never uttered a dogmatic definition on this head, and +theologians hold widely divergent opinions. + +Bellarmine teaches that infants who die without being baptized, are +excluded from the divine _voluntas salvifica_, because, while the +non-reception of Baptism is the proximate reason of their damnation, its +ultimate reason must be the will of God. + +a) This rather incautious assertion needs to be carefully restricted. It +is an article of faith that God has instituted the sacrament of Baptism as +the ordinary means of salvation for all men. On the other hand, it is +certain that He expects parents, priests, and relatives, as his +representatives, to provide conscientiously for its proper and timely +administration. Sinful negligence on the part of these responsible agents +cannot, therefore, be charged to Divine Providence, but must be laid at +the door of those human agents who fail to do their duty. In exceptional +cases infants can be saved even by means of the so-called Baptism of blood +(_baptismus sanguinis_), _i.e._ death for Christ's sake. On the whole it +may be said that God has, in principle, provided for the salvation of +little children by the institution of infant Baptism. + +b) But there are many cases in which either invincible ignorance or the +order of nature precludes the administration of Baptism. The well-meant +opinion of some theologians(491) that the responsibility in all such cases +lies not with God, but with men, lacks probability. Does God, then, really +will the damnation of these innocents? Some modern writers hold that the +physical order of nature is responsible for the misfortune of so many +innocent infants; but this hypothesis contributes nothing towards clearing +up the awful mystery.(492) For God is the author of the natural as well as +of the supernatural order. To say that He is obliged to remove existing +obstacles by means of a miracle would disparage His ordinary +providence.(493) Klee's assumption that dying children become conscious +long enough to enable them to receive the Baptism of desire (_baptismus +flaminis_), is scarcely compatible with the definition of the Council of +Florence that "the souls of those who die in actual mortal sin, or only in +original sin, forthwith descend to hell."(494) A still more unsatisfactory +supposition is that the prayer of Christian parents acts like a baptism of +desire and saves their children from hell. This theory, espoused by +Cardinal Cajetan, was rejected by the Fathers of Trent,(495) and Pope Pius +V ordered it to be expunged from the Roman edition of Cajetan's +works.(496) + +A way out of the difficulty is suggested by Gutberlet and others, who, +holding with St. Thomas that infants that die without Baptism will enjoy a +kind of natural beatitude, think it possible that God, in view of their +sufferings, may mercifully cleanse them from original sin and thereby +place them in a state of innocence.(497) This theory is based on the +assumption that the ultimate fate of unbaptized children is deprivation of +the beatific vision of God and therefore a state of real damnation (_poena +damni, infernum_), and that the remission of original sin has for its +object merely to enable these unfortunate infants to enjoy a perfect +natural beatitude, which they could not otherwise attain. It is reasonable +to argue that, as these infants are deprived of celestial happiness +through no guilt of their own, the Creator can hardly deny them some sort +of natural beatitude, to which their very nature seems to entitle them. +"Hell" for them probably consists in being deprived of the beatific vision +of God, which is a supernatural grace and as such lies outside the sphere +of those prerogatives to which human nature has a claim by the fact of +creation. This theory would seem to establish at least some manner of +salvation for the infants in question, and consequently, to vindicate the +divine _voluntas salvifica_ in the same measure. Needless to say, it can +claim no more than probability, and we find ourselves constrained to +admit, at the conclusion of our survey, that there is no sure and perfect +solution of the difficulty, and theologians therefore do well to confess +their ignorance.(498) + +c) The difficulty of which we have spoken does not, of course, in any way +impair the certainty of the dogma. The Scriptural passages cited +above(499) clearly prove that God wills to save all men without exception. +In basing the universality of God's mercy on His omnipotence, His +universal dominion, and His love of souls, the Book of Wisdom(500) +evidently implies that the unbaptized infants participate in that mercy in +all three of these respects. How indeed could Divine Omnipotence exert +itself more effectively than by conferring grace on those who are +inevitably and without any fault of their own deprived of Baptism? Who +would deny that little children, as creatures, are subject to God's +universal dominion in precisely the same manner as adults? Again, if God +loves the souls of men, must He not also love the souls of infants? + +1 Tim. II, 4(501) applies primarily to adults, because strictly speaking +only adults can "come to the knowledge of the truth." But St. Paul employs +certain middle terms which undoubtedly comprise children as well. Thus, if +all men have but "one God," this God must be the God of infants no less +than of adults, and His mercy and goodness must include them also. And if +Jesus Christ as God-man is the "one mediator of God and men," He must also +have assumed the human nature of children, in order to redeem them from +original sin. Again, if Christ "gave himself a redemption for all," it is +impossible to assume that millions of infants should be directly excluded +from the benefits of the atonement.(502) + + +Article 2. God's Will To Give Sufficient Grace To All Adult Human Beings +In Particular + + +In relation to adults, God manifests His saving will by the bestowal of +sufficient grace upon all.(503) The bestowal of sufficient grace being +evidently an effluence of the universal _voluntas salvifica_, the granting +of such grace to all who have attained the use of reason furnishes another +proof for the universality of grace. + +God gives all men sufficient graces. But He is not obliged to give to each +_efficacious_ graces, because all that is required to enable man to reach +his supernatural destiny is cooeperation with sufficient grace, especially +with the _gratia prima vocans_, which is the beginning of all salutary +operation. + +To prove that God gives sufficient grace to all adult human beings without +exception, we must show that He gives sufficient grace (1) to the just, +(2) to the sinner, and (3) to the heathen. This we shall do in three +distinct theses. + +*Thesis I: God gives to all just men sufficient grace to keep His +commandments.* + +This is _de fide_. + +Proof. The Tridentine Council teaches: "If any one saith that the +commandments of God are, even for one that is justified and constituted in +grace, impossible to keep; let him be anathema."(504) + +A contrary proposition in the writings of Jansenius(505) was censured by +Pope Innocent the Tenth as "foolhardy, impious, blasphemous, and +heretical." + +The Church does not assert that God gives to the just sufficient grace at +all times. She merely declares that sufficient grace is at their disposal +whenever they are called upon to obey the law (_urgente praecepto_). Nor +need God always bestow a _gratia proxime sufficiens_; in many instances +the grace of prayer (_gratia remote sufficiens_) fully serves the +purpose.(506) + +This dogma is clearly contained in Holy Scripture. We shall quote the most +important texts. + +a) 1 John V, 3 sq.: "For this is the charity of God, that we keep his +commandments, and his commandments are not heavy. For whatsoever is born +of God, overcometh the world."(507) According to this text the "charity of +God" manifests itself in "keeping his commandments" and "overcoming the +world." This is declared to be an easy task. Our Lord Himself says: "My +yoke is sweet and my burden light."(508) Hence it must be possible to keep +His commandments, and therefore God does not withhold the absolutely +necessary graces from the just. + +St. Paul consoles the Corinthians by telling them that God will not suffer +them to be tempted beyond their strength, but will help them to a happy +issue, provided they faithfully cooeperate with His grace. 1 Cor. X, 13: +"God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which +you are able, but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be +able to bear it."(509) As it is impossible even for the just to overcome +grievous temptations without supernatural aid,(510) and as God Himself +tells us that we are able to overcome them, it is a necessary inference +that He bestows sufficient grace. The context hardly leaves a doubt that +St. Paul has in mind the just, for a few lines further up he says: +"Therefore he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he +fall."(511) But there is no exegetical objection to applying the text to +all the faithful without exception.(512) + +b) This dogma is clearly set forth in the writings of the Fathers. Some of +them, it is true, when combating the Pelagians and Semipelagians, defended +the proposition that "grace is not given to all men,"(513) but they meant +_efficacious_ grace. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) A typical representative of this group of ecclesiastical writers is the +anonymous author of the work _De Vocatione Omnium Gentium_,(514) whom Pope +Gelasius praised as "_probatus Ecclesiae magister_." This fifth-century +writer, who was highly esteemed by his contemporaries, discusses the +question whether and in what sense all men are called, and why some are +not saved. He begins by drawing a distinction between God's general and +His special providence.(515) "It so pleased God," he says, "to give His +efficacious grace to many, and to withhold His sufficient grace from none, +in order that it might appear from both [actions] that what is conferred +upon a portion is not denied to the entire race."(516) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) The Jansenists appealed in favor of their teaching to such Patristic +passages as the following: "After the withdrawal of the divine assistance +he [St. Peter] was unable to stand;"(517) and: "He had undertaken more +than he was able to do."(518) But the two Fathers from whose writings +these passages are taken (SS. Chrysostom and Augustine) speak, as the +context evinces, of the withdrawal of efficacious and proximately +sufficient grace in punishment of Peter's presumption. Had St. Peter +followed our Lord's advice(519) and prayed instead of relying on his own +strength, he would not have fallen. That this was the mind of St. +Augustine clearly appears from the following sentence in his work _De +Unitate Ecclesiae_: "Who shall doubt that Judas, had he willed, would not +have betrayed Christ, and that Peter, had he willed, would not have thrice +denied his Master?"(520) + +c) The theological argument for our thesis may be formulated as follows: +Since the state of grace confers a claim to supernatural happiness, it +must also confer a claim to those graces which are necessary to attain it. + +To assert that God denies the just sufficient grace to observe His +commandments, to avoid mortal sin, and to persevere in the state of grace, +would be to gainsay His solemn promise to His adopted children: "This is +the will of my Father that sent me: that every one who seeth the Son and +believeth in him, may have life everlasting, and I will raise him up in +the last day."(521) Consequently, God owes it to His own fidelity to +bestow sufficient graces upon the just. + +Again, according to the plain teaching of Revelation, the just are +obliged, under pain of sin, to observe the commandments of God and the +precepts of His Church.(522) But this is impossible without the aid of +grace. Consequently, God grants at least sufficient grace to his servants, +for _ad impossibile nemo tenetur_.(523) + +*Thesis II: In regard to Christians guilty of mortal sin we must hold: (1) +that ordinary sinners always receive sufficient grace to avoid mortal sin +and do penance; (2) that God never entirely withdraws His grace even from +the obdurate.* + +The first part of this thesis embodies a theological conclusion; the +second states the common teaching of Catholic theologians. + +1. _Proof of the First Part._ The distinction here drawn between +"ordinary" and "obdurate" sinners has its basis in revelation and is +clearly demanded by the different degrees of certainty attaching to the +two parts of our thesis. + +An "ordinary" sinner is a Christian who has lost sanctifying grace by a +grievous sin. An "obdurate" sinner is one who, by repeatedly and +maliciously transgressing the laws of God, has dulled his intellect and +hardened his will against salutary inspirations. A man may be an habitual +sinner (_consuetudinarius_) and a backslider, without being obdurate, or, +which comes to the same, impenitent. Weakness is not malice, though sinful +habits often beget impenitence, which is one of the sins against the Holy +Ghost and the most formidable obstacle in the way of conversion. + +With regard to ordinary sinners, our thesis asserts that they always +receive sufficient grace to avoid mortal sin and do penance. + +a) Experience teaches that a man falls deeper and deeper if he does not +hasten to do penance after committing a mortal sin. But this is not the +fault of Almighty God, who never withholds His grace; it is wholly the +fault of the sinner who fails to cooeperate with the proffered supernatural +assistance. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) A sufficient Scriptural argument for this part of our thesis is +contained in the texts cited in support of Thesis I. If it is true that +God suffers no one to be tempted beyond his strength,(524) this must +surely apply to Christians who have had the misfortune of committing +mortal sin. St. John says that the commandments of God "are not heavy" and +that faith is "the victory which overcometh the world."(525) Faith in +Christ remains in the Christian, even though he be guilty of mortal sin, +and consequently if he wills, he is able, by the aid of sufficient grace, +to overcome the "world," _i.e._ the temptations arising from +concupiscence,(526) and thus to cease committing mortal sins. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) As for the teaching of Tradition, St. Augustine lays down two +theological principles which apply to saint and sinner alike. + +"God does not enjoin impossibilities," he says, "but in His injunctions +counsels you both to do what you can for yourself, and to ask His aid in +what you cannot do."(527) It follows that the sinner always receives at +least the grace of prayer, which Augustine therefore calls _gratia +initialis sive parva_, and of which he says that its right use ensures the +_gratia magna_. + +The second principle is this: "_Cum lege coniuncta est gratia, qua lex +observari possit._" That is, every divine law, by special ordinance, +carries with it the grace by which it may be observed. In other words, the +laws of God can always be obeyed because the lawgiver never fails to grant +sufficient grace to keep them.(528) + +b) That the sinner always receives sufficient grace to be converted, +follows from the Scriptural injunction of conversion. If conversion to God +is a duty, and to comply with this duty is impossible without the aid of +grace,(529) the divine command obviously implies the bestowal of +sufficient grace. + +That conversion is a duty follows from such Scriptural texts as these: "As +I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that +the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil +ways!"(530) "The Lord delayeth not his promise, as some imagine, but +dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but +that all should return to penance."(531) + +This teaching is faithfully echoed by Tradition. + +2. _Proof of the Second Part._ Obduracy is a serious obstacle to +conversion because the obdurate sinner has confirmed his will in +malice(532) and by systematic resistance diminished the influence of +grace. The question here is whether or not God in such cases eventually +withdraws His grace altogether. + +Some rigorists hold that He does so, with the purpose of sparing the +sinner greater tortures in hell.(533) Though this assertion cannot be said +to contravene the dogma of the universality of God's salvific will, (its +defenders do not deny that He faithfully does His share to save these +unfortunate reprobates), we prefer to adopt the _sententia __ communis_, +that God grants even the most obdurate sinner--at least now and then, +_e.g._ during a mission or on the occasion of some terrible +catastrophe--sufficient grace to be converted. The theological reasons for +this opinion, which we hold to be the true one, coincide in their last +analysis with those set forth in the first part of our thesis. + +a) Sacred Scripture, in speaking of the duty of repentance, makes no +distinction between ordinary and obdurate sinners. On the contrary, the +Book of Wisdom points to one of the most wicked and impenitent of nations, +the Canaanites, as a shining object of divine mercy and patience.(534) +According to St. Paul, God calls especially upon hardened and impenitent +sinners to do penance. Rom. II, 4 sq.: "Or despisest thou the riches of +his goodness, and patience, and long suffering? Knowest thou not that the +benignity of God leadeth thee to penance? But according to thy hardness +and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up to thyself wrath, against the day +of wrath, and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will render to +every man according to his works."(535) + +There are some Scriptural passages which seem to imply that God withdraws +His grace from those who are obdurate, nay, that He Himself hardens their +hearts in punishment of sin. Thus the Lord says of Pharao: "I shall harden +his heart,"(536) and Moses tells us: "The Lord hardened Pharao's heart, +and he harkened not unto them."(537) But it would be wrong to assume that +this denotes a positive action on the part of God. Pharao, as we are told +further on, "hardened his own heart" (_ingravavit cor suum_).(538) The +fault in all cases lies with the sinner, who obstinately resists the call +of grace. God's co-operation in the matter is merely indirect. The greater +and stronger graces which He grants to ordinary sinners, He withholds from +the obdurate in punishment of their malice. This is, however, by no means +tantamount to a withdrawal of sufficient grace.(539) + +b) The Fathers speak of God's way of dealing with obdurate sinners in a +manner which clearly shows their belief that He never entirely withdraws +His mercy. They insist that the light of grace is never extinguished in +the present life. "God gave them over to a reprobate mind," says St. +Augustine, "for such is the blindness of the mind. Whosoever is given over +thereunto, is shut out from the interior light of God: but not wholly as +yet, whilst he is in this life. For there is 'outer darkness,' which is +understood to belong rather to the day of judgment; that he should rather +be wholly without God, whosoever, whilst there is time, refuses +correction."(540) + +It follows that no sinner, how desperate soever his case may appear, need +be despaired of. As long as there is life there is hope.(541) The Fathers +consistently teach that the reason why reprobates are lost is not lack of +grace but their own malice. Thus St. Chrysostom comments on Isaias' +prophecy regarding the impenitence of the Jews: "The reason they did not +believe was not that Isaias had predicted their unbelief, but his +prediction was based on the fact that they would not believe. They were +unable to believe, _i.e._ they had not the will to believe."(542) + +c) The theological argument for our thesis is well stated by St. Thomas. +He distinguishes between _obstinatio perfecta_ and _obstinatio imperfecta_ +and says: Perfect obstinacy exists only in hell. Imperfect obstinacy is +that of a sinner who has his will so firmly set on evil that he is +incapable of any but the faintest impulses towards virtue, though even +these are sufficient to prepare the way for grace.(543) "If any one falls +into sin after having received Baptism," says the Fourth Lateran Council, +"he can always be restored by sincere penance."(544) As the power of the +keys comprises all sins, even those against the Holy Ghost, so divine +grace is held out to all sinners. The Montanistic doctrine of the +unforgivableness of the "three capital sins" (apostasy, murder, and +adultery) was already condemned as heretical during the life-time of +Tertullian. The sinner can obtain forgiveness only by receiving the +sacrament of Penance or making an act of perfect contrition.(545) Justly, +therefore, does the Church regard despair of God's mercy as an additional +grievous sin. If the rigorists were right in asserting that God in the end +absolutely abandons the sinner, there could be no hope of forgiveness, and +despair would be justified. + +*Thesis III: The heathens, too, receive sufficient graces for salvation.* + +This proposition may be qualified as _certa_. + +Proof. The "heathens" are those whom the Gospel has not yet reached. They +are called _infideles negativi_ in contradistinction to the _infideles +positivi_, _i.e._ apostates and formal heretics who have fallen away from +the faith. We assert that God gives to the heathens sufficient grace to +know the truth and be saved. Pope Alexander VIII, on December 7, 1690, +condemned Arnauld's Jansenistic proposition that "pagans, Jews, heretics, +and others of the same kind experience no influence whatever from Christ, +and it may therefore be rightly inferred that there is in them a nude and +helpless will, lacking sufficient grace."(546) A proposition of similar +import, set up by Quesnel, was censured by Clement XI.(547) Though not +formally defined, it is a certain truth--deducible from the infallible +teaching of the Church--that God does not permit any one to perish for want +of grace. + +a) The Biblical argument for our thesis is based on the dogma that God +wills all men to be saved. 1 Tim. II, 4: "[God] will have all men to be +saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth [_i.e._ the true faith]." +In speaking of the "day of wrath," St. Paul emphasizes the fact that the +Almighty Judge "will render to every man according to his works,"--eternal +life to the good, wrath and damnation to the wicked.(548) And he +continues: "But glory, and honor, and peace to every one that worketh +good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek; for there is no respect of +persons with God."(549) "Greek" is here evidently synonymous with gentile +or heathen. It follows that the heathens are able to perform supernatural +salutary acts with the aid of grace, and that they will receive the reward +of eternal beatitude if they lead a good life. + +In another passage (1 Tim. IV, 10) the Apostle calls Christ "the Saviour +of all men, especially of the faithful."(550) Consequently, Christ is the +Saviour also of unbelievers and heathens.(551) + +b) St. Paul's teaching is faithfully echoed by the Fathers. Thus St. +Clement of Rome,(552) in commenting on the penitential sermons of Noe and +the prophet Jonas, says: "We may roam through all the ages of history and +learn that the Lord in all generations(553) gave opportunity for penance +to all who wished to be converted, ... even though they were strangers to +him."(554) + +St. Chrysostom says in explanation of John I, 9: "If He enlightens every +man that comes into this world, how is it that so many are without light? +For not all know Christ. Most assuredly He illumines, so far as He is +concerned.... For grace is poured out over all. It flees or despises no +one, be he Jew, Greek, barbarian or Scythian, freedman or slave, man or +woman, old or young. It is the same for all, easily attainable by all, it +calls upon all with equal regard. As for those who neglect to make use of +this gift, they should ascribe their blindness to themselves."(555) + +Similar expressions can be culled from the anonymous work _De Vocatione +Omnium Gentium_(556) and from the writings of SS. Prosper and Fulgentius, +and especially from those of Orosius, who says that grace is given to all +men, including the heathen, without exception and at all times.(557) + +c) Catholic theologians have devoted considerable thought to the question +how God provides for the salvation of the heathen. + +To the uncivilized tribes may be applied what has been said regarding the +fate of unbaptized infants. The real problem is: How does the merciful +Creator provide for those who are sufficiently intelligent to be able to +speculate on God, the soul, the future destiny of man, etc.? Holy +Scripture teaches: "Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he +that cometh to God must believe that he is, and is a rewarder to them that +seek him."(558) Faith here means, not any kind of religious belief, but +that theological faith which the Tridentine Council calls "the beginning, +the foundation, and the root of all justification."(559) Mere intellectual +assent to the existence of God, immortality, and retribution would not be +sufficient for salvation, even if elevated to the supernatural sphere and +transfigured by grace. This is evident from the condemnation, by Pope +Innocent XI, of the proposition that "Faith in a wide sense, based on the +testimony of the created universe, or some other similar motive, is +sufficient unto justification."(560) The only sort of faith that results +in justification, according to the Vatican Council, is "a supernatural +virtue, whereby, inspired and assisted by the grace of God, we believe +that the things which He has revealed are true; not because of the +intrinsic truth of the things, viewed by the natural light of reason, but +because of the authority of God Himself, who reveals them, and who can +neither be deceived nor deceive."(561) Of special importance is the +following declaration by the same Council: "Since without faith it is +impossible to please God and to attain to the fellowship of His children, +therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification...."(562) + +The Catechism demands of every one who desires to be saved that he have a +supernatural belief in six distinct truths: the existence of God, +retribution in the next world, the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnation, the +immortality of the soul, and the necessity of grace. The first two are +certainly necessary for salvation, both _fide explicita_ and _necessitate +medii_. With regard to the other four there is a difference of opinion +among theologians. We base our argumentation on the stricter, though not +absolutely certain view, that all six articles must be believed +_necessitate medii_. On this basis God's method of providing sufficient +graces for the heathen may be explained in one of two ways, according as a +_fides explicita_ is demanded from them with regard to all the +above-mentioned dogmas, or a _fides implicita_ is deemed sufficient in +regard to all but the first two. By _fides explicita_ we understand the +express and fully developed faith of devout Christians; by _fides +implicita_, an undeveloped belief of desire or, in other words, general +readiness to believe whatever God has revealed. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) The defenders of the _fides explicita_ theory are compelled to assume +that God must somehow reveal to each individual heathen who lives +according to the dictates of his conscience, the six truths necessary for +salvation. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of +Christ."(563) + +But how can the gentiles believe in a revelation that has never been +preached to them? Here is an undeniable difficulty. Some theologians say: +God enlightens them interiorly about the truths necessary for salvation; +or He miraculously sends them an apostle, as He sent St. Peter to +Cornelius;(564) or He instructs them through the agency of an angel.(565) +None of these hypotheses can be accepted as satisfactory. "Interior +illumination" of the kind postulated would practically amount to private +revelation. That God should grant a special private revelation to every +conscientious pagan is highly improbable. Again, an angel can no more be +the _ordinary_ means of conversion than the miraculous apparition of a +missionary. Nevertheless, these three hypotheses admirably illustrate the +firm belief of the Church in the universality of God's saving will, +inasmuch as they express the conviction of her theologians that He would +work a miracle rather than deny His grace to the poor benighted +heathen.(566) The difficulties to which we have adverted constitute a +strong argument in favor of another theological theory which regards +explicit belief in the Trinity and the Incarnation merely as a _necessitas +praecepti_, from which one may be dispensed. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) The _fides implicita_ theory is far more plausible, for it postulates +no miracles, implicit faith (or _fides in voto_) being independent of the +external preaching of the Gospel, just as the baptism of desire +(_baptismus in voto_) is independent of the use of water. + +Cardinal Gotti regards the first-mentioned of the two theories as safer +(_tutior_), but admits that the other is highly probable, because it has +the support of St. Thomas.(567) However, a great difficulty remains. +Though it may suffice to hold the dogmas of the Trinity and the +Incarnation, and _a fortiori_ those of the immortality of the soul and the +necessity of grace, with an implicit faith, it is the consentient teaching +of Revelation, the Church, and Catholic divines that the two principal +truths of religion, _viz._: the existence of God and retribution, must be +held _fide explicita_ and _necessitate medii_, because a man cannot be +converted to God unless He knows Him. But how is he to acquire a knowledge +of God? Does this not also necessitate a miracle (_e.g._ the sending of an +angel or of a missionary, which we have rejected as improbable)? There can +be but one answer to this question. Unaided reason may convince a +thoughtful pagan of the existence of God and of divine retribution, and as +these two fundamental truths have no doubt penetrated to the farthest +corners of the earth also as remnants of primitive revelation, their +promulgation may be said to be contained in the traditional instruction +which the heathen receive from their forebears. This external factor of +Divine Revelation, assisted by interior grace, may engender a supernatural +act of faith, which implicitly includes belief in Christ, Baptism, etc., +and through which the heathen are eventually cleansed from sin and attain +to justification.(568) + +Some theologians hold that those to whom the Gospel has never been +preached, may be saved by a quasi-faith based on purely natural +motives.(569) + +For the rest, no one will presume to dictate to Almighty God how and by +what means He shall communicate His grace to the heathen. It is enough, +and very consoling, too, to know that all men receive sufficient grace to +save their souls, and no one is eternally damned except through his own +fault.(570) + + + READINGS:--*Didacus Ruiz, _De Voluntate Dei_, disp. 19 + sqq.--Petavius, _De Deo_, X, 4 sqq.; _De Incarnatione_, XIII, 1 + sqq.--Fontana, _Bulla __"__Unigenitus__"__ Dogmatice Propugnata_, + prop. 12, c. 5, Rome 1717.--Passaglia, _De Partitione Voluntatis + Divinae in Primam et Secundam_, Rome 1851.--*Franzelin, _De Deo + Uno_, thes. 49-51, Rome 1883.--*Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina + Actuali_, thes. 59-62, Gulpen 1885.--A. Fischer, _De Salute + Infidelium_, Essen 1886.--*J. Bucceroni, _De Auxilio Sufficiente + Infidelibus Dato_, Rome 1890.--Fr. Schmid, _Die ausserordentlichen + Heilswege fuer die gefallene Menschheit_, Brixen 1899.--Chr. Pesch, + _Praelectiones Dogmaticae_, Vol. II, 3rd ed., pp. 144 sqq., + Freiburg 1906.--L. Caperan, _Le Probleme du Salut des Infideles_, + Paris 1912.--A. Wagner, _Doctrina de Gratia Sufficiente_, Graz + 1911.--J. Bainvel, S. J., _Is There Salvation Outside the Catholic + Church?_ (tr. J. L. Weidenhan), St. Louis 1917. + + +Article 3. The Predestination Of The Elect + + +1. WHAT IS MEANT BY PREDESTINATION.--We have shown that God antecedently +wills to save all men,(571) and that He gives to all sufficient grace to +work out their eternal salvation. + +On the other hand, Sacred Scripture assures us that some are lost through +their own fault. Cfr. Matth. XXV, 41: "Depart from me, you cursed, into +everlasting fire." + +It follows that God's will to save, considered as _voluntas consequens_, +remains ineffective with regard to a portion of the human race, and +consequently, in this respect, is no longer universal but particular. + +Being omniscient, God has foreseen this from all eternity and disposed His +decrees accordingly. It is in this sense that Catholic theology teaches +the existence of a twofold predestination: one to Heaven, for those who +die in the state of grace, another to hell, for those who depart this life +in mortal sin. + +Present-day usage reserves the term _predestination_ for the election of +the blessed. + +a) Rightly does the Council of Trent call predestination a "hidden +mystery."(572) For in the last analysis it rests solely with God, who are +to be admitted to Heaven and who condemned to hell. But why does God give +to some merely sufficient grace, with which they neglect to cooeperate, +while on others He showers efficacious graces that infallibly lead to +eternal salvation? In this unequal distribution of efficacious grace lies +the sublime mystery of predestination, as St. Augustine well knew, for he +says in his treatise On the Gift of Perseverance: "Therefore, of two +infants equally bound by original sin, why the one is taken and the other +left; and of two wicked men already mature in years, why one should be so +called that he follows Him that calleth, while the other is either not +called at all, or is not called in such a manner,--are unsearchable +judgments of God."(573) + +b) What is meant by "predestination of the elect"? In view of the many +errors that have arisen with regard to this important dogma, it is +necessary to start with clearly defined terms. + +Predestination may mean one of three different things. A man may be simply +predestined to receive certain graces (_praedestinatio ad gratiam +tantum_); or he may be predestined to enjoy eternal happiness without +regard to any merits of his own (_praedestinatio ad gloriam tantum_); or, +again, he may be predestined to both grace and glory, glory as the end, +grace as a means to that end--vocation, justification, and final +perseverance. When the concepts of grace and glory are considered +separately, and each is made the object of a special predestination, we +have what is called incomplete or inadequate predestination +(_praedestinatio incompleta sive inadaequata_). It is this incomplete +predestination that St. Paul(574) and St. Augustine(575) have in mind when +they apply the term to the vocation of men to grace, faith, and +justification. Theologians speak of _praedestinatio ad gloriam tantum_, +that is, _ante praevisa merita_, as a true predestination, but disagree as +to its existence.(576) + +The dogma of predestination, which mainly concerns us here, has for its +sole object predestination in the complete or adequate sense of the term, +which is explained by St. Augustine as follows: "Predestination is nothing +else than the foreknowledge and the preparation of those gifts of God +whereby they who are delivered are most certainly delivered [_i.e._ +saved]."(577) St. Thomas expresses himself more succinctly: +"Predestination is the preparation of grace in the present, and of glory +in the future."(578) + +2. THE DOGMA.--Complete predestination involves: (a) the first grace of +vocation (_gratia prima praeveniens_), especially faith as the beginning, +foundation, and root of justification; (b) a number of additional actual +graces for the successful accomplishment of the process; (c) justification +itself as the beginning of the state of grace; (d) the grace of final +perseverance; (e) eternal happiness in Heaven. + +The question arises; Do men really seek and find their eternal salvation +with infallible certainty by passing through these successive stages--not +merely in the foreknowledge of God (_praescientia futurorum_), but by +virtue of an eternal decree (_decretum praedestinationis_)? + +The Pelagians asserted that man works out his eternal salvation of his own +free will, and that consequently God merely foreknows but does not +fore-ordain who shall be saved. The Semipelagians held that the beginning +of faith (_initium fidei_) and final perseverance (_donum perseverantiae_) +are not pure graces but may be obtained by natural means, without special +aid from above. Against these heretics the Catholic Church has always +taught the eternal predestination of the elect as an article of +faith.(579) + +a) St. Paul says explicitly: "We know that to them that love God, all +things work together unto good, to such as, according to his purpose, are +called to be saints. For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be +made conformable to the image of his Son; that he might be the firstborn +amongst many brethren. And whom he predestinated, them he also called. And +whom he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he +also glorified."(580) Here we have all the elements of complete +predestination: God's eternal foreknowledge (_praescivit_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}), an +eternal decree of the divine will (_praedestinavit_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}), and the +various stages of justification, beginning with vocation (_vocavit_, +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}) up to justification proper (_iustificavit_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}), and +eternal beatitude (_glorificavit_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}).(581) + +b) The Fathers of the fifth century undoubtedly taught the predestination +of the elect as an article of faith. Thus St. Augustine says: "There never +was a time when the Church of Christ did not hold this faith in +predestination, which is now defended with fresh solicitude against the +new heretics."(582) His faithful disciple St. Prosper writes: "No Catholic +denies predestination by God."(583) And again: "It would be as impious to +deny predestination as to oppose grace itself."(584) + +c) Several important theological corollaries follow from the dogma of +predestination. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) The first is the immutability of the divine decree of predestination. +This immutability is based on God's infallible foreknowledge that certain +individuals will die in the state of grace, and on His unchangeable will +to reward them with eternal happiness. + +St. Augustine says: "If any one of these [the predestined] perishes, God +is mistaken; but none of them perish because God is not mistaken."(585) + +God's unerring foreknowledge is symbolized by the "Book of Life."(586) +Christ Himself said to His Apostles: "Rejoice in this, that your names are +written in heaven."(587) The "Book of Life" admits neither addition nor +erasure. This does not, however, mean that a man is unable to change God's +hypothetical decree of predestination with regard to himself into an +absolute one. He can do this by prayer, good works, and faithful +co-operation with grace.(588) Whatever promotes our salvation is included +in the infallible foreknowledge of God, and consequently also in the scope +of predestination. In this sense, but in no other, can we accept the +somewhat paradoxical maxim: "If you are not predestined, conduct yourself +so that you may be predestined." Sacred Scripture occasionally refers to +another "Book of Life," which contains the names of all the faithful, +irrespective of their predestination. This "book," of course, is capable +of alterations. Cfr. Apoc. III, 5: "I will not blot out his name out of +the book of life."(589) Finally, there is the "Book of Reprobation," which +records the wicked deeds of men and by which the unrepentant sinners will +be judged. This is the "_liber scriptus_" of the "_Dies Irae_": + + + "_Liber scriptus proferetur._ + _In quo totum continetur._"(590) + + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) If the divine decree of predestination is immutable, the number of the +elect must be definitively fixed. "The number [of those who are +predestined to the kingdom of God] is so certain," says St. Augustine, +"that no one can either be added to or taken from them."(591) We must +distinguish between the absolute and the relative number of the +predestined. + +God, being omniscient, knows not only the abstract number of the elect, +but every individual predestined to Heaven. To us the number of the elect +is wrapped in impenetrable mystery. St. Thomas justly observes: "Some say +that as many men will be saved as angels fell; some, so many as there were +angels left; others, in fine, so many as the number of angels who fell, +added to that of all the angels created by God. It is, however, better to +say that 'God alone knows the number for whom is reserved eternal +happiness,' as the prayer for the living and the dead expresses it."(592) +Whether God will round out the number of the elect by suddenly +precipitating the end of the world or by a sort of "natural selection," is +an open question. To assume the latter could hardly be reconciled with the +dogma of the universality of His saving will. St. Augustine seems to favor +the former.(593) + +As regards the relative number of the elect, some writers (_e.g._ +Massillon) represent it as so infinitesimally small that it would almost +drive a saint to despair,--"as if the Church had been established for the +express purpose of populating hell."(594) Even St. Thomas held that +relatively few are saved.(595) But the arguments adduced in support of +this contention are by no means convincing.(596) Recently, the Jesuit +Father Castelein(597) impugned the rigorist theory with weighty arguments. +He was sharply attacked by the Redemptorist Godts,(598) who marshalled a +great number of authorities in favor of the sterner view. The controversy +cannot be decided either on Scriptural or traditional grounds. In our +pessimistic age it is more grateful and consoling to assume that the +majority of Christians, especially Catholics, will be saved.(599) If we +add to this number not a few Jews, Mohammedans, and heathens, it is +probably safe to estimate the number of the elect as at least equal to +that of the reprobates. Were it smaller, "it could be said to the shame +and offense of the divine majesty and mercy, that the [future] kingdom of +Satan is larger than the kingdom of Christ."(600) + +3. THE MOTIVE OF PREDESTINATION.--The efficient cause of predestination is +God; its instrumental cause, grace; its final cause, the divine glory; its +primary meritorious cause, the merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus +Christ. On these points all theologians are agreed. Not so as to the +motive that induced God to predestine certain individuals to the exclusion +of others. The question narrows itself down to this: What influence, if +any, do the merits of a man exert on the eternal decree of +predestination?--and may be formulated in three different ways. + +a) What influence do the merits of a man exert on his predestination to +the initial grace of vocation? Recalling the dogma of the absolute +gratuity of grace, our answer must be: None. For whatever merits one may +have acquired before he receives the initial grace of vocation, must be +purely natural, and consequently worthless in the eyes of God for +supernatural predestination. "To assume," says St. Thomas, "that there is +on our part some merit, the foreknowledge of which [on the part of God] +would be the cause [motive] of our predestination, would be to assume that +grace is given to us [as a reward] of our [natural] merits."(601) + +b) What influence do the merits of a man exert on his predestination to +grace and glory? Catholic theologians are unanimous in holding that, since +grace is absolutely gratuitous and inseparably connected with glory as its +effect, the union of both can no more be based upon _natural_ merit than +the initial grace of vocation itself, which transmits the quality of +gratuitousness to each and every one of the graces that follow in its +wake, up to and including justification and eternal beatitude. Those among +the Fathers who defended the gratuity of predestination against the +Pelagians and Semipelagians, really aimed at safeguarding the gratuity of +initial grace, in order not to be constrained to say with Pelagius that +"the grace of God is given as a reward of merit."(602) "What compelled me +in this work of mine [_De Dono Perseverantiae_] to defend more abundantly +and clearly those passages of Scripture in which predestination is +commended," says St. Augustine, "if not the Pelagian assertion that God's +grace is given according to our [natural] merits?"(603) Obviously these +Fathers did not have in view the _praedestinatio ad gloriam tantum_, as +the champions of the _praedestinatio ante praevisa merita_ mistakenly +assert, but what they meant was that complete predestination which +comprises grace and glory as one whole. Similarly, the early Schoolmen, +when they speak of the "gratuity of predestination," usually mean complete +predestination.(604) D'Argentre's researches show how necessary it is to +draw sharp distinctions and carefully to establish the real state of the +question before claiming the common teaching of the Scholastics in favor +of any particular theory of predestination. + +c) What influence do the _supernatural_ merits of a man exert on his +predestination to glory as such? Here the controversy begins. +Predestination may be considered either as the cause of supernatural merit +or as its effect. If it is considered as the cause, the problem takes this +shape: Did God, by an absolute decree, and without any regard to their +future supernatural merits, eternally predestine certain men to the glory +of heaven, and only subsequently decide to give them the efficacious +graces necessary to reach that end, particularly final perseverance? If, +on the other hand, predestination be considered as an effect of +supernatural merit, the question will be: Did God predestine certain men +to the glory of Heaven by a merely hypothetical decree, making His will to +save them dependent on His infallible foreknowledge of their supernatural +merits? The lack of decisive Scriptural and Patristic texts on this +subject has led to a division of Catholic opinion, some theologians +favoring absolute predestination _ante praevisa merita_, others +hypothetical predestination _post praevisa merita_. Without concealing our +conviction that absolute predestination is untenable, we shall set forth +both theories impartially and examine the arguments on which they rely. + +4. ORTHODOX PREDESTINATIONISM, OR THE THEORY OF PREDESTINATION ANTE +PRAEVISA MERITA.--Some theologians conceive the divine scheme of salvation +in this wise: (a) _In ordine intentionis_, God, by an absolute decree, +first predestines certain men to eternal salvation, and then, in +consequence of this decree, decides to give them all the graces necessary +to be saved; (b) in time, however, or _in ordine executionis_, He observes +the reverse order, that is to say, He first bestows the pre-appointed +graces and subsequently the glory of heaven as a reward of supernatural +merit acquired by the aid of those graces. + +This theory reverses the relation of grace and glory. While it +correctly(605) represents glory as the fruit and reward of supernatural +merit in the order of execution, it wrongly represents it in the order of +intention as the cause of supernatural merit, whereas it is merely an +effect. This opinion is championed by most Thomists,(606) some +Augustinians,(607) and a few Molinists.(608) Their arguments may be +sketched as follows: + +a) In innumerable passages of Sacred Scripture predestination to eternal +happiness is represented as a work of pure mercy, nay, even as an +arbitrary act of God. Take, _e.g._, Matth. XXIV, 22 sqq.: "And unless +those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake +of the elect those days shall be shortened.... For there shall arise false +Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, +insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect."(609) Here, it is +claimed, the elect are represented as so thoroughly confirmed in faith and +in good works as to be proof against error. + +This conclusion is unwarranted. The phrase "those days" manifestly refers +either to the destruction of Jerusalem or to the end of the world. If it +refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, the "elect," according to Biblical +usage,(610) are the faithful Christian inhabitants of the Holy City, for +whose sake God promises to shorten the terrible siege. If it referred to +the end of the world, _electi_ would indeed stand for _praedestinati_, but +the context would not forbid us to interpret their predestination +hypothetically, as merely indicating the immutability of the divine +decree, which is not denied by the opponents of the theory. + +Another text quoted in favor of absolute predestination _ante praevisa +merita_, is Acts XIII, 48: "As many as were ordained (_praeordinati_, +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}) to life everlasting, believed." Here, we are told, +predestination to eternal life is given as the motive why many believed. +But the text really says nothing at all about predestination. {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} +is not synonymous with {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} or {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}. The more probable +explanation is the following: As many believed as were disposed to receive +the faith. It is wellnigh impossible to assume that all who received the +faith at that time were predestined, while those that refused to be +converted were without exception reprobates. But even if _praeordinati_ +were synonymous with _praedestinati_, the text would merely say that +certain predestined souls embraced the faith, without affording any clue +as to the relation between conversion and predestination. + +The ninth chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans is the main reliance +of the advocates of absolute predestinationism, though the passage is +unfit to serve as a _locus classicus_ because of its obscurity. Let us +examine a few of the verses most frequently quoted. Rom. IX, 13: "Jacob I +have loved, but Esau I have hated," is alleged to prove the absolute +predestination of Jacob and the negative reprobation of Esau. But many +theologians hold that Esau was saved, and, besides, the Apostle is not +dealing with predestination to glory, but with Jacob's vocation to be the +progenitor of the Messias. Esau, who was not an Israelite but an Idumaean, +was simply passed over in this choice (_odio habere __ minus diligere_; +cfr. Matth. X, 37). If the passage is interpreted typically, it should be +done in harmony with the context, that is to say, as referring to the +gratuity of grace, not to predestination. + +The same may be said of Rom. IX, 16 and 18: "It is not of him that +willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.... He +hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth."(611) + +The strongest text alleged by the advocates of absolute predestination is +Rom. IX, 20 sq.: "O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the +thing formed say to him that formed it: Why hast thou made me thus? Or +hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one +vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?" Here the Apostle really +seems to have thought of predestination. But the simile must not be +pressed, lest we arrive at the Calvinistic blasphemy that God positively +predestined some men to heaven and others to hell. The _tertium +comparationis_ is not the act of the Divine Artificer, but the willingness +of man to yield his will to God like clay in the hands of a potter. + +Nor is it admissible to read into the Apostle's thought even a _negative_ +reprobation of certain men. For the primary intention of the Epistle to +the Romans is to insist on the gratuity of man's vocation to Christianity +and to reject the presumption that the Mosaic law and their bodily descent +from Abraham gave the Jews preference over the heathens. The Epistle to +the Romans has no bearing whatever on the speculative question whether or +not the free vocation of grace is a necessary result of eternal +predestination to glory.(612) + +b) Among the Fathers the only one to whom the advocates of absolute +predestinationism can appeal with some show of justice is St. Augustine, +who, with the possible exception of Prosper and Fulgentius, was the most +rigorous among early ecclesiastical writers,--so rigorous, in fact, that +Oswald does not hesitate to call him "the head and front of all rigorists +in the Church."(613) + +However, this is saying too much. Augustine's genuine teaching is still in +dispute among our ablest theologians. Some(614) deny that he broke with +the almost unanimous teaching of his predecessors, while others think that +in the treatises _De Dono Perseverantiae_ and _De Praedestinatione +Sanctorum_, and in several of his letters, the Saint frankly taught +absolute predestinationism. The latter group of writers is split into two +classes. A number of Thomists and Cardinal Bellarmine not only assert that +Augustine taught absolute predestination, but boldly adopt his supposed +teaching. Petavius, Maldonatus, Cercia, Oswald, and others censure this +view. Franzelin(615) undoubtedly strikes the right note when he says: "If +there were a manifest discrepancy between Augustine's teaching and that of +the other Fathers, I should not hesitate to follow Pighius, Catharinus, +Osorius, Camerarius, Maldonatus,(616) Toletus,(617) and Petavius(618) in +reverently departing from his doctrine, because in that case we should be +dealing merely with a private opinion."(619) Under these circumstances the +Patristic argument for the theory of absolute predestination evidently +lacks convincingness.(620) + +c) It was probably because they felt its weakness that some of the later +champions of the theory attempted to prove absolute predestination _ante +praevisa merita_ by philosophical arguments. Gonet reasons as follows: "He +who proceeds in an orderly way, wills the end before he wills the means +necessary to attain it. But God proceeds in an orderly way. Therefore he +wills the end before the means. Now, glory is an end, and merits are means +to attain that end. Consequently, God wills glory before He wills merits, +and a man's preelection to glory cannot be based on foreknowledge of his +merits."(621) This argument, if it proved anything, would prove the +logical impossibility of conditional predestination. But it overshoots the +mark and consequently proves nothing at all. _Qui nimium probat, nihil +probat._ + +Gonet moreover assumes what he sets out to prove, namely, that God +_voluntate antecedente_ decreed the glory of certain men to the exclusion +of others. This _petitio principii_ vitiates the entire polysyllogism. +God's will to save is universal. He wills the eternal happiness of all men +_antecedenter_, and the reprobation of some only _consequenter_; hence +eternal predestination is not absolute, but hypothetical, that is, it +depends on merit. That the divine scheme of grace can take a different +course _in ordine intentionis_ from that _in ordine executionis_ is a mere +fiction. If eternal salvation in the order of temporal execution is given +only as a reward of merit, it must be a reward of merit also in the order +of intention. In both cases predestination depends upon a future +condition. + +Perhaps the worst feature of the theory of absolute predestination is the +fact that it involves the absolute reprobation of those not predestined to +glory. "If it could be validly argued," says Gutberlet, "that, since the +end must be willed before the means, salvation must be decreed before the +means to its attainment (_i.e._ merits), the argument would be applicable +also to the damned. If God _voluntate antecedente_ wills to lead only a +few to salvation, and if this intention must precede every other, then He +must likewise _voluntate antecedente_ have in view the end of the +reprobates, which is His own glorification through the manifestation of +His justice and mercy. Hence He must also decree the means necessary to +obtain this end, _i.e._ He must cause these unfortunate creatures to sin, +in order that they may reach the end for which He has predestined them; in +other words, He must pre-ordain them to sin and eternal damnation,"(622) +which is what Calvin teaches. The advocates of the theory naturally shrink +from adopting such a blasphemous conclusion, and fall back upon the theory +of _negative_ reprobation, which, however, amounts practically to the same +thing.(623) + +5. THE THEORY OF HYPOTHETICAL PREDESTINATION POST PRAEVISA +MERITA.--Predestination, like God's will to save all men, is based on a +hypothetical decree. Those only are predestined to eternal happiness who +shall merit it as a reward. It is solely by reason of His infallible +foreknowledge of these merits that God's hypothetical decree of +predestination becomes absolute. Or, as Becanus puts it, "God first +prepared the gifts of grace, and then elected to eternal life those whose +good use of the gifts He foresaw."(624) + +This view, which strongly appeals to us for the reason that it sets aside +the cruel theory of "negative reprobation," was defended by such earlier +Scholastics as Alexander of Hales and Albertus Magnus, and by many eminent +later writers, _e.g._ Toletus, Lessius, Frassen, Stapleton, Tournely, and +is held to-day by nearly all theologians outside the Thomist school. What +gave it special authority in modern times was the recommendation of St. +Francis de Sales, who, in a letter to Lessius (Aug. 26, 1618) described +the theory of conditional predestination _post praevisa merita_ as "more +in harmony with the mercy and grace of God, truer and more +attractive."(625) This view has a solid basis both in Scripture and +Tradition. + +a) Holy Scripture clearly teaches the universality of God's saving will. +Now if God _voluntate antecedente_ wills the eternal salvation of all men +without exception,(626) He cannot possibly intend that only some shall be +saved. + +It is further to be noted that the Bible makes not only the temporal +realization but likewise the eternal promise of glory dependent on the +performance of good works. St. Paul, whose Epistle to the Romans is cited +as a _locus classicus_ by the advocates of the theory,(627) wrote towards +the end of his life to Timothy: "I have fought a good fight, I have +finished my course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid +up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to +me in that day."(628) In writing these lines the Apostle no doubt had in +mind the sentence of the Universal Judge: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, +possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the +world,"(629)--which may with far greater reason be termed a "classical" +text than the obscure ninth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. To +prepare for men the kingdom of heaven from the foundation (_i.e._ +beginning) of the world, is to predestine them to eternal happiness. Now, +God has "prepared" the kingdom of heaven for men in view of their foreseen +merits, that is to say, conditionally. The causal conjunction _enim_ in +the sentence following the one just quoted (Matth. XXVI, 25): "_Esurivi +enim et dedistis mihi manducare_, etc.," refers to the entire preceding +sentence, not only to the _possidete_ in time, but also to the _paratum_ +in eternity. Consequently, the eternal decree of predestination itself, +like its temporal execution, depends on good works or merit. This +interpretation of Matth. XXV, 34-36 is confirmed by the sentence +pronounced upon the reprobates, Matth. XXV, 41 sqq.: "Depart from me, you +cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his +angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat, etc." The +"everlasting fire" is manifestly decreed from all eternity in the same +sense in which it is inflicted in time, namely, _propter et post praevisa +merita_. Billuart's contention(630) that hell has been prepared solely for +"the devil and his angels" is untenable, because in several other +Scriptural passages(631) the reprobates are expressly classed among the +followers of Satan. If we add to this that our Divine Lord, in foretelling +the last judgment, had naturally to formulate his prediction so as not +only to show its absolute justice but likewise to intimate that, had they +so willed, the damned might have had their place on the right hand of the +Great Judge, we must admit that the theory of predestination _post +praevisa merita_ has a solid foundation in Scripture.(632) + +b) The Greek Fathers unanimously favor hypothetical predestination, which +fact has caused the theory to be commonly referred to as "_sententia +Graecorum_."(633) + +Thus St. Chrysostom interprets the judgment of the Son of Man as follows: +"Possess ye the kingdom [of heaven] as your own by heredity, as a paternal +heritage, as a gift long due to you; for it was prepared and arranged for +you before you came into existence, because I knew beforehand that you +would be what you are."(634) Theodoret says: "He did not simply predestine +[men], but He predestined them because He foreknew [their merits]."(635) + +The Latin Fathers before St. Augustine all without exception taught +hypothetical predestination. St. Hilary says: "Many are called, but few +are chosen.... Hence election is not a matter of indiscriminate choice, +but a selection based on merit."(636) And St. Ambrose: "Therefore the +Apostle says: 'Whom he foreknew he also predestined' (Rom. VIII, 29); for +He did not predestine before He foreknew, but He predestined a reward to +those whose merits He foresaw."(637) + +The question cannot, as Bellarmine contends,(638) be decided on the sole +authority of St. Augustine, because he is claimed by both parties to the +controversy.(639) + +On account of the existing differences of opinion it is impossible to +establish the theory of hypothetical predestination on the basis of +Scholastic teaching.(640) The opinion of St. Thomas is in dispute;(641) +likewise that of St. Bonaventure. Scotus in his controversy with Henry of +Ghent shows a disposition to favor absolute predestination, but leaves the +question open. "Let every one," he says,(642) "choose whichever opinion +suits him best, without prejudice to the divine liberty, which must be +safeguarded against injustice, and to the other truths that are to be held +in respect of God."(643) + +6. A COMPROMISE THEORY.--For the sake of completeness we will add a few +words on a theory which takes middle ground between the two just reviewed, +holding that, while the common run of humanity is predestined +hypothetically, a few exceptionally favored Saints enjoy the privilege of +absolute predestination. + +Among the champions of this "eclectic" theory may be mentioned: +Ockam,(644) Gabriel Biel,(645) Ysambert,(646) and Ambrosius +Catharinus.(647) The Saints regarded by these writers as absolutely +predestined to eternal glory are: the Blessed Virgin Mary, the prophets +and Apostles, St. Joseph, St. Aloysius, and a few others, as well as all +infants dying in the grace of Baptism. Billuart,(648) Dominicus Soto, and +certain other divines attack this theory on the ground that it makes the +salvation of the great majority of the elect a matter of chance and +thereby imperils the dogmatic teaching of the Church. This objection is +unfounded. For though the "eclectic" theory has little or no support +either in Revelation or in reason, it sufficiently safeguards the dogma of +predestination by admitting that _voluntate consequente_ none but the +predestined can attain to eternal beatitude. + +Only with regard to the Blessed Virgin Mary are we inclined to make an +exception. It is probable that she was predestined to eternal glory _ante +praevisa merita_, because, in the words of Lessius, the privileges she +enjoyed "exceed all measure and must not be extended to any other human +being."(649) + + +Article 4. The Reprobation Of The Damned + + +The reprobation of the damned is sometimes called _praedestinatio ad +gehennam_, though, as we have remarked, the term "predestination" should +properly be restricted to the blessed. + +There can be no absolute and positive predestination to eternal +punishment, and the pains of hell can be threatened only in view of mortal +sin. Hence reprobation may be defined, in the words of Peter Lombard, as +"God's foreknowledge of the wickedness of some creatures and the +preparation of their damnation."(650) + +A distinction must, however, be made (at least in theory), between +_positive_ and _negative_ reprobation. To teach positive reprobation would +be heretical. Negative reprobation, on the other hand, is defended by all +those Catholic theologians who advocate the theory of absolute +predestination _ante praevisa merita_.(651) + +1. HERETICAL PREDESTINARIANISM OR THE THEORY OF THE POSITIVE REPROBATION +OF THE DAMNED.--Heretical Predestinarianism was taught by Lucidus, +Gottschalk, Wiclif, Hus, the younger Jansenius, and especially by Calvin. +The latter asserted that the salvation of the elect and the damnation of +the reprobate are the effects of an unconditional divine decree.(652) + +According to this abominable heresy, the sin of Adam and the spiritual +ruin which it entailed upon his descendants are attributable solely to the +will of God. God produces in the reprobate a "semblance of faith," only to +make them all the more deserving of damnation. In the beginning of the +seventeenth century Arminius and a few other theologians of the Dutch +Reformed Church, repelled by Calvin's _decretum horribile_, ascribed the +positive reprobation of the damned to original sin (_lapsus_). These +writers, called Infralapsarians or Postlapsarians, were opposed by the +strict school of Calvinist divines under the leadership of Gomarus. The +great Calvinist Synod of Dordrecht (1618-1619) condemned the principles of +Arminius, and subsequently his adherents were driven from Holland. + +The Catholic Church condemned Predestinarianism as early as 529 at the +Second Council of Orange, which among other things declared: "We not only +refuse to believe that some men are by divine power predestined to evil, +but if there be any who hold such a wicked thing, we condemn them with +utter detestation."(653) + +The Tridentine Council defined against Calvin: "If any one saith that the +grace of justification is attained to only by those who are predestined +unto life, but that all others who are called, are called indeed, but +receive not grace, as being by divine power predestined unto evil; let him +be anathema."(654) + +Calvinism, both supra- and infra-lapsarian, is easily refuted from +Revelation and Tradition. + +a) It runs counter to all those texts of the Bible which assert the +universality of God's saving will,(655) the bestowal of sufficient grace +on all sinners,(656) and the divine attribute of holiness.(657) + +Calvin endeavored to prove his blasphemous doctrine chiefly from the ninth +chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans.(658) His disciple Beza relied +mainly on 1 Pet. II, 7 sq.: "But to them that believe not, the stone which +the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner: and a +stone of stumbling, and a rock of scandal, to them who stumble at the +word, neither do believe, whereunto also they are set,"(659) _i.e._, +according to Beza, predestined not to believe.(660) But this +interpretation is obviously wrong. For we know from Is. VIII, 14(661) and +Matth. XXI, 44,(662) that those who fall on this stone are ground to +powder as a punishment for the sin of unbelief.(663) + +b) The Fathers, especially those of the East, are unanimous in upholding +the orthodox teaching of the Church. The only one whom adherents of +Predestinarianism have dared to claim is St. Augustine. + +Yet the "Doctor of Grace" expressly teaches: "God is good, God is just. He +can deliver some without merits because He is good; but He cannot damn any +one without demerits, because He is just."(664) St. Prosper re-echoes this +teaching when he says of the reprobates: "Of their own will they went out; +of their own will they fell; and because their fall was foreknown, they +were not predestined. They would, however, be predestined if they were to +return and persevere in holiness; hence God's predestination is for many +the cause of perseverance, for none the cause of falling away."(665) St. +Fulgentius expresses himself in similar language.(666) + +2. THE THEORY OF "NEGATIVE REPROBATION."--Negative reprobation is defined +by its defenders as an eternal decree by which God excludes from Heaven +those not absolutely predestined, in other words, determines not to save +them. + +a) Gonet explains the difference between negative and positive reprobation +in Scholastic terminology as follows: "_... quod haec [i.e. positiva] +habet non solum terminum a quo, nempe exclusionem a gloria, sed etiam +terminum ad quem, scil. poenam sive damni sive sensus; illa vero [i.e. +negativa] solum habet terminum a quo, nempe exclusionem a gloria ut +beneficio indebito, non vero terminum ad quem, quia ex vi exclusionis ut +sic praecise et ut habet rationem purae negationis, non intelligitur +reprobus esse damnandus aut ulli poenae sive damni sive sensus +deputandus._"(667) + +The general principle laid down in this quotation is variously developed +by Thomist theologians. + +The rigorists (Alvarez, John a S. Thoma, Estius, Sylvius) assign as the +motive of reprobation the sovereign will of God. God, they say, without +taking into account possible sins and demerits, determined _a priori_ to +exclude from Heaven those who are not predestined. De Lemos, Gotti, Gonet, +Gazzaniga, and others condemn this view as incompatible with the teaching +of St. Thomas, and, appealing to St. Augustine's doctrine of the _massa +damnata_, find the ultimate reason for the exclusion of the reprobates +from heaven in original sin, in which God, without being unjust, could +leave as many as He saw fit. Goudin, Graveson, Billuart, and others assume +that the reprobates are not directly excluded from eternal glory but +merely from "effective election" thereunto, God simply having decreed +_ante praevisa merita_ to leave them to their weakness.(668) + +While the Thomists found no difficulty in harmonizing this view with their +theory of physical premotion, the few Molinists who espoused it were hard +put in trying to square it with the _scientia media_.(669) On the whole +these Molinists endorse the third and mildest of the above-quoted +opinions, which differs only theoretically from the rigoristic view +described in the first place. Practically it makes no difference whether +God directly excludes a man from heaven or refuses to give him the graces +necessary to attain it. + +Surveying all three of the theories under consideration we cannot but +regard the first and third as heartless and cruel, because they attribute +eternal reprobation to a positive decree that takes effect independently +of sin; the second, (which ascribes reprobation to original sin), is open +to the serious dogmatic objection that it contradicts the teaching of St. +Paul and the Tridentine declaration that "there is no condemnation (_nihil +damnationis_) in those who are truly buried together with Christ by +baptism into death."(670) + +b) Negative reprobation is rightly regarded as the logical counterpart of +absolute predestination.(671) If Almighty God, by an absolute decree, +without regard to any possible merits, merely to reveal His divine +attributes and to "embellish the universe," had determined that only those +could enter the "Heavenly Jerusalem" who were antecedently predestined +thereto, it would inevitably follow that the unfortunate remainder of +humanity by the very same decree were "passed over," "omitted," +"overlooked," "not elected," or, as Gonet honestly admits, "excluded from +Heaven," which is the same thing as being negatively condemned to hell. + +The logical distinction between positive and negative reprobation, +therefore, consists mainly in this, that the former signifies absolute +damnation to hell, the latter (equally absolute) non-election to Heaven. +To protect the Catholic champions of negative reprobation against unjust +aspersions, however, it is necessary to point out certain fundamental +differences between their theory and the heresy of Calvin. + +Calvin and the Jansenists openly deny the universality both of God's +saving will and of the atonement; they refuse to admit the actual bestowal +of sufficient grace upon those fore-ordained to eternal damnation; and +claim that the human will loses its freedom under the predominance of +efficacious grace or concupiscence. The Catholic defenders of negative +reprobation indignantly reject the charge that their position logically +leads to any such heretical implications. + +c) The theory of negative reprobation can be sufficiently refuted by +showing that it is incompatible with the universality of God's will to +save all men. For if God willed absolutely and antecedently to "exclude +some men from Heaven," as Gonet asserts, or "not to elect them to eternal +glory," as Suarez contends, then it would be His absolute will that they +perish. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) For one thus negatively reprobated it is metaphysically impossible to +attain eternal salvation. To hold otherwise would be tantamount to +assuming that an essentially absolute decree of God can be frustrated. +This consideration led certain Thomists(672) to describe the divine +_voluntas salvifica_ as rather an ineffectual _velleitas_.(673) But this +conflicts with the obvious teaching of Revelation.(674) Suarez labors in +vain to reconcile the sincerity of God's salvific will with the theory of +negative reprobation. The two are absolutely irreconcilable. How could God +sincerely will the salvation of all men if it were true, as Suarez says, +that "it is not in man's power to work out his eternal salvation in case +he falls under non-election, non-predestination, or, which amounts to the +same thing, negative reprobation"?(675) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) The cruel absurdity of the theory of negative reprobation becomes fully +apparent when we consider the attitude it ascribes to God. Gonet writes: +"Foreseeing that the whole human race would be depraved by original sin, +God, in view of the merits of Christ who was to come, elected some men to +glory and, in punishment of original sin and to show His justice towards +them and His greater mercy towards the elect, permitted others to miss the +attainment of beatitude, in other words, He positively willed that they +should not attain it.... In virtue of this efficacious intention He +devised appropriate means for the attainment of His purpose, and seeing +that some would miss beatitude by simply being left in the state of +original sin, and others by being permitted to fall into actual sins and +to persevere therein, He formally decreed this permission, and finally ... +by a command of His intellect ordained these means towards the attainment +of the aforesaid end."(676) Translated into plain every-day language this +can only mean that God tries with all His might to prevent the reprobate +from attaining eternal salvation and sees to it that they die in the state +of sin. Suarez is perfectly right in characterizing Gonet's teaching as +"incompatible with sound doctrine."(677) But his own teaching is equally +unsound and cruel. For he, too, is compelled to assert: "Predestination to +glory is the motive for which efficacious or infallible means towards +attaining that end are bestowed. Hence to refuse to predestine a man for +glory is to deny him the means which are recognized as fit and certain to +attain that end."(678) + +Holy Scripture fortunately speaks a different language. It describes God +as a loving Father, who "wills not that any should perish, but that all +should return to penance."(679) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}) Practically it makes no difference whether a man is positively +condemned to eternal damnation, as Calvin and the Jansenists assert, or +negatively excluded from Heaven, as held by the orthodox theologians whom +we have just quoted. The alleged distinction between positive and negative +reprobation is "a distinction without a difference." For an adult to be +excluded from Heaven simply means that he is damned. There is no such +thing as a middle state or a purely natural beatitude. Lessius justly says +that to one reprobated by God it would be all the same whether his +reprobation was positive or negative, because in either case he would be +inevitably lost.(680) + + + READINGS:--*Ruiz, _De Praedestinatione et Reprobatione_, Lyons + 1628.--Ramirez, _De Praedestinatione et Reprobatione_, 2 vols., + Alcala 1702.--*Lessius, _De Perfectionibus Moribusque Divinis_, + XIV, 2.--*IDEM, _De Praedestinatione et Reprobatione_ (_Opusc._, + Vol. II, Paris 1878).--Tournely, _De Deo_, qu. 22 sqq.--Schrader, + _Commentarii_, I-II, _De Praedestinatione_, Vienna 1865.--J. P. + Baltzer, _Des hl. Augustinus Lehre ueber Praedestination und + Reprobation_, Vienna 1871.--Mannens, _De Voluntate Dei Salvifica et + Praedestinatione_, Louvain 1883.--O. Rottmanner, O. S. B., _Der + Augustinismus_, Muenchen 1892.--O. Pfuelf, S. J., "_Zur + Praedestinationslehre des hl. Augustinus_," in the Innsbruck + _Zeitschrift fuer kath. Theologie_, 1893, pp. 483 sqq.--B. J. Otten, + S. J., _A Manual of the History of Dogmas_, Vol. I, St. Louis + 1917, pp. 281, 378, 382 sqq. + + + + +Chapter III. Grace In Its Relation To Free-Will + + +When we speak of the relation of grace to free-will, we mean efficacious +grace; merely sufficient grace, as such, does not involve consent. + +The Protestant reformers and the Jansenists denied the freedom of the +human will under the influence of efficacious grace. + +Catholic theologians have always staunchly upheld both the freedom of the +will and the efficacy of grace, but they disagree in explaining the mutual +relations between grace and free-will. + + + +Section 1. The Heresy of The Protestant Reformers And The Jansenists + + +1. THE HERETICAL ERRORS OF LUTHER, CALVIN, AND JANSENIUS CONTRASTED WITH +THE ORTHODOX TEACHING OF THE CHURCH.--Luther and Calvin asserted that the +freedom of the will was irretrievably lost by original sin. Jansenius +taught that the will is overcome by efficacious grace in exactly the same +way as it is overpowered by concupiscence in the absence of grace. Against +both these heresies the Church has always maintained that the will remains +free under the influence of efficacious grace. + +a) Luther taught(681) that original sin has so completely annihilated +man's free-will that he resembles a horse compelled to go in whatever +direction it is driven (according as "God or the devil rides him"),(682) +and that the grace of Christ, far from restoring man's liberty, compels +him to act with intestine necessity. + +Calvin(683) carried this teaching to its logical conclusions by asserting: +(1) that the will of our first parents was free in Paradise, but lost its +freedom by original sin; (2) that we cannot be delivered from the slavery +of Satan except by the grace of Christ, which does not, however, restore +liberty, but simply compels the will to do good; (3) that, though the will +under the influence of grace is passive, and must needs follow the impulse +to which it is subjected, yet its acts are vital and spontaneous.(684) + +Against these heresies the Council of Trent maintained the existence of +free-will both in the state of original sin(685) and under the influence +of efficacious grace: "If any one saith that man's free-will, moved and +excited by God, by assenting to God exciting and calling, ... cannot +refuse its consent if it would, but that, as something inanimate, it does +nothing whatever and is merely passive: let him be anathema."(686) + +b) Jansenius differed from Luther and Calvin mainly in drawing a sharper +distinction between freedom from external constraint (_libertas a +coactione_) and freedom from internal compulsion (_libertas a +necessitate_), and maintaining that the will, when under the influence of +grace, is exempt from external constraint, though not from interior +compulsion, and that the _libertas a coactione_ is entirely sufficient to +gain merit or demerit in the fallen state.(687) + +The Jansenist teaching on the subject of grace may be outlined as follows: +(1) By original sin man lost the moral liberty which he had enjoyed in +Paradise and became subject to a twofold delectation--_delectatio coelestis +victrix_ and _delectatio terrena sive carnalis victrix_. (2) These two +delectations are continually contending for the mastery; the stronger +always defeats the weaker, (3) and the will, unable to offer resistance, +is alternately overpowered now by the one and then by the other.(688) (4) +In each case the _delectatio coelestis_ is either stronger than the +_delectatio terrena_, or it is weaker, or it is of equal strength. When it +is stronger, the will is overcome by grace, which in that case becomes +_efficax_ or _irresistibilis_. When it is weaker, the will simply _must_ +sin, because the _delectatio coelestis_ is too weak to overcome the +_delectatio terrena_. The grace given to a man under such conditions is +called by the Jansenists _gratia parva sive sufficiens_. When the two +delectations are equally strong, the will finds itself unable to come to a +definite decision. + +This false teaching inspired the famous "five propositions" of Jansenius, +to-wit: (1) Man is unable to keep some of God's commandments for want of +grace; (2) In the state of fallen nature no one ever resists interior +grace; (3) To merit or demerit in the state of fallen nature it is +sufficient to be free from external constraint; (4) The Semipelagian +heresy consisted in assuming the existence of a grace which man may either +obey or resist; and (5) Christ did not die for all men, but solely for the +predestined. + +These propositions were condemned as heretical by Pope Innocent X in his +dogmatic Bull "_Cum occasione_," of May 31, 1653. All five are implicitly +contained in the second, _viz._: In the state of fallen nature no one ever +resists interior grace. "If it is true that fallen man never resists +interior grace (second proposition), it follows that a just man who +violates a commandment of God has not had the grace to observe it, that he +therefore transgressed it through inability to fulfil it (first +proposition). If, however, he has sinned and thus incurred demerit, it is +clear that the liberty of indifference is not a requisite condition of +demerit, and what is said of demerit is likewise true of its correlative, +merit (third proposition). On the other hand, if grace is wanting to the +just whenever they fall, it is wanting still more to sinners; it is +therefore impossible to maintain that the death of Jesus Christ assured to +every man the graces necessary for salvation (fifth proposition). As a +further consequence, the Semipelagians were in error in admitting the +universal distribution of a grace which may be resisted (fourth +proposition)."(689) + +2. THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH PROVED FROM REVELATION.--Far from favoring +the determinism of the Reformers and of Jansenius, the Bible and Tradition +positively contradict the contention that free-will is overpowered by +grace. + +a) The operation of grace and the liberty of the will never appear in +Sacred Scripture as mutually exclusive, but invariably as cooeperating +factors, though sometimes the one is emphasized, and sometimes the other, +according to the purpose the sacred writer happens to have in view. + +The Council of Trent expressly calls attention to this:(690) "When it is +said in the sacred writings, 'Turn ye to me, and I will turn to you,'(691) +we are admonished of our liberty; and when we answer: 'Convert us, O God, +to thee, and we shall be converted,'(692) we confess that we are +forestalled by the grace of God." + +St. Paul, it is true, asks: "Who resisteth his [God's] will?"(693) But he +also admonishes his favorite disciple Timothy: "Exercise thyself unto +godliness."(694) St. Stephen testifies that the grace of the Holy Ghost +does not compel the will. "You always resist the Holy Ghost," he tells the +Jews; "as your fathers did, so do you also."(695) Our Lord Himself teaches +that grace exerts no interior compulsion but invites free cooeperation: "If +thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."(696) The exhortations, +promises, and threats uttered in various portions of Holy Writ would be +meaningless if it were true that grace destroys free-will.(697) + +b) As regards Tradition, the Greek Fathers who wrote before St. Augustine +defended the freedom of the will so energetically that they were +subsequently accused of harboring Pelagian and Semipelagian errors.(698) +Calvin himself admits that with but one exception the Fathers are +unanimously opposed to his teaching.(699) + +The one exception noted is St. Augustine, to whom both Calvin and +Jansenius appeal with great confidence. It should be noted, however, that +the point which chiefly concerned St. Augustine in his controversies with +the Pelagians and Semipelagians, was the necessity and gratuity of grace, +not its relation to free-will. Where he incidentally touches upon the +latter, he shows by the manner in which he formulates his sentences that +he regards the relation of grace to free-will as a great mystery. But he +does not try to solve this mystery in the manner in which Alexander the +Great cut the Gordian knot. He does not declare: Grace is everything, +free-will is nothing. If the power of grace destroyed the freedom of the +human will, their mutual relation would be no problem.(700) Possibly St. +Augustine in the heat of controversy now and then expressed himself in +language open to misinterpretation, as when he said: "Therefore aid was +brought to the infirmity of the human will, so that it might be +unchangeably and invincibly influenced by divine grace."(701) But this and +similar phrases admit of a perfectly orthodox interpretation. As the +context shows, Augustine merely wished to assert the hegemony of grace in +all things pertaining to salvation, and to emphasize the fact that +free-will, strengthened by grace, is able to resist even the most grievous +temptations.(702) At no period of his life did the Saint deny the freedom +of the will under the influence of grace. We will quote but two out of +many available passages in proof of this statement. "To yield consent or +to withhold it, whenever God calls, is the function of one's own +will."(703) "For the freedom of the will is not destroyed because the will +is aided; but it is aided precisely for the reason that it remains +free."(704) St. Bernard of Clairvaux echoes this teaching when, in his own +ingenious way, he summarizes the Catholic dogma as follows: "Take away +free will and there will be nothing left to save; take away grace and +there will be no means left of salvation."(705) + + + READINGS:--*Bellarmine, _De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_ (_Opera + Omnia_, ed. Fevre, Vols. V and VI, Paris 1873).--*Dechamps, S. J., + _De Haeresi Ianseniana_, Paris 1645.--F. Woerter, _Die christliche + Lehre ueber das Verhaeltnis von Gnade und Freiheit bis auf + Augustinus_, Freiburg 1856.--*Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, + thes. 39-48, Gulpen 1885.--S. Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. + 357 sqq., 377 sqq., Freiburg 1901.--B. J. Otten, S. J., _A Manual + of the History of Dogmas_, Vol. II, St. Louis 1918, pp. 507 sqq. + + + +Section 2. Theological Systems Devised To Harmonize The Dogmas Of Grace +And Free-Will + + +The relation of grace to free-will may be regarded from a twofold point of +view. We may take grace as the primary factor and trace it in its action +on the human will; or, starting from the latter, we may endeavor to +ascertain how free-will is affected by grace. + +The first-mentioned method has given birth to two closely related +theological systems, Thomism and Augustinianism; the latter to Molinism +and Congruism, which are almost identical in substance. + +Besides these there is a fifth theory, which tries to reconcile the two +extremes and may therefore be called eclectic. + +That the human will is free, yet subject to the influence of grace, is an +article of faith unhesitatingly accepted by all Catholic theologians. It +is in trying to explain how grace and free-will cooeperate, that the +above-mentioned schools differ. + +In approaching this extremely difficult and obscure problem we consider it +our duty to warn the student against preconceived opinions and to remind +him that the different systems which we are about to examine are all +tolerated by the Church. To-day, when so many more important things are at +stake and the faith is viciously assailed from without, the ancient +controversy between Thomism and Molinism had better be left in abeyance. + + +Article 1. Thomism And Augustinianism + + +Thomism and Augustinianism both hinge on the concept of _gratia efficax ab +intrinseco s. per se_, whereas Molinism and Congruism will not admit even +the existence of such a grace. + +1. THE THOMISTIC THEORY OF GRACE.--The true founder of the Thomistic system +is not St. Thomas Aquinas, who is also claimed by the Molinists, but the +learned Dominican theologian Banez (1528-1604). His teaching may be +summarized as follows: + +a) God is the First Cause (_causa prima_) and Prime Mover (_motor primus_) +of all things, and all created or secondary causes (_causae secundae_) +derive their being and faculties, nay, their very acts from Him. If any +creature could act independently of God, God would cease to be _causa +prima_ and _motor primus_.(706) + +The influence of the First Cause is universal, that is to say, it produces +all creatural acts without exception,--necessary and free, good and +bad,--because no secondary cause has power to act unless it is set in +motion by the _motor primus_. + +In influencing His creatures, however, God adapts himself to the peculiar +nature of each. The necessary causes He determines to act necessarily, the +free causes, freely. All receive from Him their substance and their mode +of action.(707) The rational creature, therefore, though subject to His +determining influence, acts with perfect freedom, just as if it were not +moved. + +b) In spite of free-will, however, the influence which God exerts on His +rational creatures is irresistible because it proceeds from an absolute +and omnipotent Being whose decrees brook no opposition. What God wills +infallibly happens.(708) + +Nevertheless, God is not the author of sin. He moves the sinner to perform +an act; but He does not move Him to perform a sinful act. The malice of +sin derives solely from the free will of man.(709) + +c) Since the divine influence causally precedes all creatural acts, God's +concurrence with creatural causes (_concursus generalis_) must be +conceived as prevenient, not simultaneous. The Divine Omnipotence not only +makes the action possible, but likewise effects it by moving the will from +potentiality to actuality.(710) Consequently, the causal influence which +the Creator exerts upon His creatures is not a mere _motio_, but a +_praemotio_,--and not merely moral, but physical (_praemotio +physica_).(711) It is by physical premotion that God's prevenient +influence effects the free actions of His creatures, without regard to +their assent.(712) Free-will is predetermined by God before it determines +itself.(713) + +d) If we analyse God's physical predeterminations in so far as they are +created entities, we find that they are nothing else than the effect and +execution of His eternal decrees, embodied in the _praedeterminatio +physica_. It is the temporal execution of the latter that is called +_praemotio physica_. Hence we are justified in speaking, not only of a +temporal _praemotio_, but of an eternal _praedeterminatio_, in fact the +terms are often used synonymously.(714) + +Viewed in its relation to rational creatures, this eternal +predetermination is nothing but a temporal premotion of the free will to +determine itself. Since God has from all eternity made absolute and +conditional decrees, which possess the power of physical predetermination +without regard to the free consent of His creatures, physical +predetermination constitutes an infallible medium by which He can foreknow +their future free actions, and hence there is no need of a _scientia +media_. If God knows His own will, He must also know the free +determinations included therein. To deny this would be to destroy the very +foundation of His foreknowledge.(715) + +This is merely the philosophical basis of the Thomistic system. Its +champions carry the argument into the theological domain by reasoning as +follows: What is true in the natural must be equally true in the +supernatural sphere, as we know from reason and Revelation.(716) + +e) To physical predetermination or premotion in the order of nature, there +corresponds in the supernatural sphere the _gratia efficax_, which +predetermines man to perform salutary acts in such wise that he acts +freely but at the same time with metaphysical necessity (_necessitate +consequentiae_, not _consequentis_). It would be a contradiction to say +that efficacious grace given for the purpose of eliciting consent may +co-exist with non-consent, _i.e._, may fail to elicit consent.(717) The +will freely assents to the divine impulse because it is effectively moved +thereto by grace. Consequently, efficacious grace does not derive its +efficacy from the consent of the will; it is efficacious of itself and +intrinsically (_gratia efficax ab intrinseco sive per se_).(718) + +It follows that efficacious grace must be conceived as a _praedeterminatio +ad unum_.(719) + +f) If efficacious grace is intrinsically and of its very nature +inseparably bound up with the consent of the will, it must differ +essentially from merely sufficient grace (_gratia mere sufficiens_), which +confers only the power to act (_posse operari_), not the act itself (_actu +operari_). Efficacious grace, by its very definition, includes the free +consent of the will, while merely sufficient grace lacks that consent, +because with it, it would cease to be merely sufficient and would become +efficacious.(720) + +Here the question naturally arises: How, in this hypothesis, can +sufficient grace be called truly sufficient? The Thomists answer this +question in different ways. Gazzaniga says that sufficient grace confers +the power to perform a good deed, but that something more is required for +the deed itself.(721) De Lemos ascribes the inefficacy of merely +sufficient grace to a defect of the will.(722) If the will did not resist, +God would promptly add efficacious grace.(723) + +CRITICAL ESTIMATE OF THE THOMISTIC THEORY.--The Thomistic system +undoubtedly has its merits. It is logical in its deductions, exalts divine +grace as the prime factor in the business of salvation, and magnificently +works out the concept of God as _causa prima_ and _motor primus_ both in +the natural and the supernatural order. + +But Thomism also has its weak points. + +A. The Thomistic conception of efficacious grace is open to two serious +theological difficulties. + +(1) To draw an intrinsic and substantial distinction between efficacious +and merely sufficient grace destroys the true notion of sufficient grace. + +(2) The Thomistic theory of efficacious grace is incompatible with the +dogma of free-will. + +Though in theory the Thomists defend the sufficiency of grace and the +freedom of the will as valiantly as their opponents, they fail in their +attempts at squaring these dogmas with the fundamental principles of their +system. + +a) Sufficient grace, as conceived by the Thomists, is not truly sufficient +to enable a man to perform a salutary act, because _ex vi notionis_ it +confers merely the power to act, postulating for the act itself a +substantially new grace (_gratia efficax_). A grace which requires to be +entitatively supplemented by another, in order to enable a man to perform +a salutary act, is clearly not sufficient for the performance of that act. +"To be truly sufficient for something" and "to require to be complemented +by something else" are mutually exclusive notions, and hence "sufficient +grace" as conceived by Thomists is in reality insufficient. + +Many subtle explanations have been devised to obviate this difficulty. +Billuart and nearly all the later Thomists say that if any one who has +received sufficient grace (in the Thomistic sense of the term) is denied +the _gratia efficax_, it must be attributed to a sinful resistance of the +will.(724) But this explanation is incompatible with the Thomistic +teaching that together with the _gratia sufficiens_ there co-exists in the +soul of the sinner an irresistible and inevitable _praemotio physica_ to +the entity of sin, with which entity formal sin is inseparably bound +up.(725) If this be true, how can the will of man be held responsible so +long as God denies him the _gratia ab intrinseco efficax_? + +Speaking in the abstract, the will may assume one of three distinct +attitudes toward sufficient grace. It may consent, it may resist, or it +may remain neutral. It cannot consent except with the aid of a +predetermining _gratia efficax_, to merit which is beyond its power. If it +withstands, it _eo ipso_ renders itself unworthy of the _gratia efficax_. +If it takes a neutral attitude, (which may in itself be a sinful act), and +awaits efficacious grace, of what use is sufficient grace? + +To resist sufficient grace involves an abuse of liberty. Now, where does +the right use of liberty come in? If cooeperation with sufficient grace +moves God to bestow the _gratia per se efficax_, as the Thomists contend, +then the right use of liberty must lie somewhere between the _gratia +sufficiens_ and the _gratia efficax per se_. But there is absolutely no +place for it in the Thomistic system. The right use of liberty for the +purpose of obtaining efficacious grace is attributable either to grace or +to unaided nature. To assert that it is the work of unaided nature would +lead to Semipelagianism. To hold that it is owing to grace would be moving +in a vicious circle, thus: "Because the will offers no resistance, it is +efficaciously moved to perform a salutary act; that it offers no sinful +resistance is owing to the fact that it is efficaciously moved to perform +a salutary act."(726) + +It is impossible to devise any satisfactory solution of this difficulty +which will not at the same time upset the very foundation on which the +Thomistic system rests, viz.: "_Nulla secunda causa potest operari, nisi +sit efficaciter determinata a prima [scil. per applicationem potentiae ad +actum]_," that is to say, no secondary cause can act unless it be +efficaciously determined by the First Cause by an application of the +latter to the former as of potency to act. + +b) The Thomistic _gratia efficax_, conceived as a _praedeterminatio ad +unum_, inevitably destroys free-will. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) It is important to state the question clearly: Not physical premotion +as such,(727) but the implied connotation of _praevia determinatio ad +unum_, is incompatible with the dogma of free-will. The freedom of the +will does not consist in the pure contingency of an act, or in a merely +passive indifference, but in active indifference either to will or not to +will, to will thus or otherwise. Consequently every physical +predetermination, in so far as it is a _determinatio ad unum_, must +necessarily be destructive of free-will. Self-determination and physical +predetermination by an extraneous will are mutually exclusive. Now the +Thomists hold that the _gratia per se efficax_ operates in the manner of a +supernatural _praedeterminatio ad unum_. If this were true, the will under +the influence of efficacious grace would no longer be free. + +To perceive the full force of this argument it is necessary to keep in +mind the Thomistic definition of _praemotio physica_ as "_actio Dei, qua +voluntatem humanam, priusquam se determinet, ita ad actum movet +insuperabili virtute, ut voluntas nequeat omissionem sui actus cum illa +praemotione coniungere_."(728) That is to say: As the non-performance of +an act by the will is owing simply and solely to the absence of the +respective _praemotio physica_, so conversely, the performance of an act +is conditioned simply and solely by the presence of a divine premotion; +the will itself can neither obtain nor prevent such a premotion, because +this would require a new premotion, which again depends entirely on the +divine pleasure. If the will of man were thus inevitably predetermined by +God, it could not in any sense of the term be called truly free. + + ------------------------------------- + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) The Thomists meet this argument with mere evasions. They make a +distinction between _necessitas consequentis_ (_antecedens_), which really +necessitates, and _necessitas consequentiae_ (_subsequens_), which does +not. A free act, they say, necessarily proceeds from a physical premotion, +but it is not on that account in itself necessary. But, we answer, a +_determinatio ad unum_, which precedes a free act and is independent of +the will, is more than a _necessitas consequentiae_--it is a _necessitas +consequentis_ destructive of free-will. The Thomists reply: Considered as +a created entity, physical premotion may indeed be incompatible with +free-will; not so if regarded as an act of God, who, being almighty, is +able to predetermine the will without prejudice to its freedom.(729) The +obvious rejoinder is that an intrinsic contradiction cannot be solved by +an appeal to the divine omnipotence, because even God Himself cannot do +what is intrinsically impossible.(730) He can no more change a +_determinatio ad unum_ into a _libertas ad utrumque_ than He can create a +square circle, because the two notions involve an intrinsic contradiction. +Furthermore, if the Almighty wished intrinsically to compel a man to +perform some definite act, would He not choose precisely that _praemotio +physica_ which, the Thomists claim, also produces free acts? Not so, +replies Alvarez; "for the will remains free so long as the intellect +represents to it an object as indifferent."(731) That is to say: Liberty +remains as long as its root, _i.e._ an indifferent judgment, is present. +But this new rejoinder, far from solving the riddle, simply begs the +question. Liberty of choice resides _formaliter_ in the will, not in the +intellect, and consequently the will, as will, cannot be truly free unless +it possesses within itself the unimpeded power to act or not to act. This +_indifferentia activa ad utrumlibet_, as it is technically termed, is +absolutely incompatible with the Thomistic _praemotio ad unum_. What would +it avail the will to enjoy the _indifferentia iudicii_ if it had to submit +to compulsion from some other quarter? + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}) To escape from this quandary the Thomists resort to the famous +distinction between the _sensus compositus_ and the _sensus divisus_. The +Molinists argue: "_Liberum arbitrium efficaciter praemotum a gratia non +potest dissentire; ergo non est liberum._" The Thomists reply: +"_Distinguo:--non potest dissentire in sensu diviso, nego; non potest +dissentire in sensu composito, concedo._" They explain this distinction by +certain well-known examples taken from dialectics. Thus Billuart says: +"_Ut si dicas, sedens potest stare, significat in sensu composito, quod +possit sedere simul et stare; ... in sensu diviso, quod sedens sub +sessione retinet potentiam standi, non tamen componendi stationem cum +sessione. Uno verbo: sensus compositus importat potentiam simultaneitatis, +sensus divisus simultaneitatem __ potentiae._"(732) As one who sits cannot +at the same time stand (_sensus compositus_), although he is free to rise +(_sensus divisus_), so the consent of the will effected by efficacious +grace, cannot become dissent (_sensus compositus_), though the will +retains the power to dissent instead of consenting (_sensus divisus_), and +this is sufficient to safeguard its freedom. + +Is the distinction between _sensus compositus_ and _sensus divisus_ +correctly applied here? Can the will, under the predetermining influence +of the _gratia efficax_, change its consent into dissent at any time and +as easily as a man who is sitting on a chair can rise and thereby +demonstrate that his sitting was an absolutely free act? Alvarez(733) +describes the Thomistic _potentia dissentiendi_ as a faculty which can +never under any circumstances become active. But such a _potentia_ is +really no _potentia_ at all. A man tied to a chair is not free to stand; +his natural _potentia standi_ is neutralized by external restraint. +Similarly, the will, under the influence of the Thomistic _gratia +efficax_, no longer enjoys the power to dissent, and the alleged _potentia +resistendi_, by which the Thomists claim to save free-will, is a chimera. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}) It is at this decisive point in the controversy that the Molinists +triumphantly bring in the declaration of the Council of Trent that "man +... while he receives that inspiration [_i.e._ efficacious grace], ... is +also able to reject it." And again: "If any one saith that man's +free-will, moved and excited by God, by assenting to God exciting and +calling, does in no wise cooeperate towards disposing and preparing itself +for obtaining the grace of justification; that it cannot refuse its +consent if it would, but that, as something inanimate, it does nothing +whatever and is merely passive; let him be anathema."(734) To adjust their +system to this important dogmatic decision, the older Thomists claimed +that the Tridentine Council had in mind merely the _gratia sufficiens_, to +which the will can refuse its consent. But this interpretation is +untenable. The Council plainly refers to that grace with which the will +cooeperates by giving its consent (_cooperatur assentiendo_) and which it +can render inefficacious by withdrawing its consent, in other words, with +the grace which disposes and prepares a sinner for justification, and +under the influence of which, according to Luther and Calvin, the will +remains inanimate and merely passive. This can only be the _gratia +efficax_. Other Thomist theologians, not daring to contradict the obvious +sense of the Tridentine decree, assert that the Council intentionally +chose the term _dissentire_ (_sensus divisus_) rather than _resistere_ +(_sensus compositus_), in order to indicate that under the predetermining +influence of grace it is possible for the will to refuse its consent +(_posse dissentire_) but not to offer resistance (_posse resistere_).(735) +This interpretation is no longer tenable since the Vatican Council has +defined that "Faith, even when it does not work by charity, is in itself a +gift of God, and the act of faith is a work appertaining to salvation, by +which man yields voluntary obedience to God Himself, by assenting to and +cooeperating with His grace, which he is able to resist."(736) If +efficacious grace can be successfully resisted, it can not possess that +"irresistible" influence which the Thomists ascribe to it.(737) + + ------------------------------------- + +B. The Thomistic system is open to two serious objections also from the +philosophical point of view. One of these concerns the medium by which God +foreknows the future free acts of His rational creatures; the other, His +relation to sin. + +a) In regard to the first-mentioned point we do not, of course, +underestimate the immense difficulties involved in the problem of God's +foreknowledge of the free acts of the future. + + ------------------------------------- + +The Molinistic theory also has its difficulties, and they are so numerous +and weighty that in our treatise on God(738) we made no attempt to +demonstrate the _scientia media_ by stringent arguments, but merely +accepted it as a working hypothesis which supplies some sort of scientific +basis for the dogmas of divine omnipotence and free-will in both the +natural and the supernatural order. + +b) A more serious objection than the one just adverted to is that the +Thomistic hypothesis involves the blasphemous inference that God +predetermines men to sin. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) Under a rigorous application of the Thomistic principles God would have +to be acknowledged as the cause of sin. As the predetermination of the +will to justification can take no other form than the _gratia per se +efficax_, so sin, considered as an act, necessarily postulates the +predetermining influence of the _motor primus_.(739) Without this +assumption it would be impossible in the Thomistic system to find in the +absolute will of God an infallible medium by which He can foreknow future +sins. Banez says on this point: "God knows sin with an intuitive +knowledge, because His will is the cause of the sinful act, as act, at the +same time permitting free-will to concur in that act by failing to observe +the law."(740) Though the Thomists refuse to admit that God Himself is the +immediate author of sin, the conclusion is inevitable from their premises. +And this for two reasons. First, because the alleged _praemotio ad malum_ +is as irresistible as the _praemotio ad bonum_; and secondly, because the +material element of sin must be inseparable from its formal element; +otherwise God would foreknow sin merely _materialiter_ as an act but not +_formaliter_ as a sin. The teaching of the Church on this point was +clearly defined by the Council of Trent: "If any one saith that it is not +in man's power to make his ways evil, but that the works that are evil God +worketh as well as those that are good, not permissibly only, but properly +and of Himself, in such wise that the treason of Judas is no less His own +proper work than the vocation of Paul; let him be anathema."(741) + +If the rational creature were compelled to perform a sinful act, as act, +resistance would be impossible. And if it were true that the malice of an +act practically cannot be separated from its physical entity, then in the +Thomistic hypothesis God would be the author not only of the _entitas_ but +likewise of the _malitia peccati_. The devil tempts us only by moral +means, _i.e._ by suggestion; are we to assume that God tempts us +physically by inducing sin as an act and simultaneously withholding the +_praemotio ad bonum_, thus making sin an inevitable fatality? This +consideration may be supplemented by another. So-called "sins of malice" +are comparatively rare. Most sins are committed for the sake of some +pleasure or imaginary advantage. It is for this reason that moral theology +in forbidding sin forbids its physical entity. How gladly would not those +who are addicted to impurity, for instance, separate the malice from the +entity of their sinful acts, in order to be enabled to indulge their +passion without offending God! + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) Against the logic of this argument some Thomist theologians defend +themselves by a simile. The soul of a lame man, they say, enables him +indeed to move his disabled limb; however, the cause of limping is not the +soul but a crooked shinbone. Father Pesch wittily disposes of such +reasoning as follows: "The will of Adam before the fall was not a crooked +shinbone, but it was absolutely straight, and became crooked through +physical premotion."(742) + +Another and more plausible contention of the Thomist school is that +Molinism, too, is compelled to ascribe sin somehow to God. "It is +impossible for a man to sin unless God lends His cooeperation. Do not, +therefore, the Molinists also make God the author of sin?" Those who argue +in this wise overlook the fact that there is a very large distinction +between the _concursus simultaneus_ of the Molinists and the _praemotio +physica_ of the Thomists. The _praemotio physica_ predetermines the sinful +act without regard to the circumstance whether or not the will is able to +offer resistance. The _concursus simultaneus_, on the other hand, begins +as a mere _concursus oblatus_, which is in itself indifferent and awaits +as it were the free consent of the will before it cooeperates with the +sinner as _concursus collatus_ in the performance of the sinful act.(743) +For this reason the distinction between _actus_ and _malitia_ has a +well-defined place in the Molinistic system, whereas it is meaningless in +that of the Thomists.(744) + +2. AUGUSTINIANISM.--This system, so called because its defenders pretend to +base it on the authority of St. Augustine, has some points of similarity +with Thomism but differs from the latter in more than one respect, +especially in this that the Augustinians,(745) though they speak with +great deference of the _gratia per se efficax_, hold that the will is not +physically but only morally predetermined in its free acts. Hence +Augustinianism may fitly be described as the system of the +_praedeterminatio moralis_. Its most eminent defender is Lawrence Berti, +O. S. A. (1696-1766), who in a voluminous work _De Theologicis +Disciplinis_(746) so vigorously championed the Augustinian theory that +Archbishop Jean d'Yse de Saleon, of Vienne,(747) and other contemporary +theologians combated his teaching as a revival of Jansenism. Pope Benedict +XIV instituted an official investigation, which resulted in a decree +permitting Augustinianism to be freely held and taught. + +a) Whereas Thomism begins with the concept of _causa prima_ and _motor +primus_, Augustinianism is based on the notion of _delectatio coelestis_ +or _caritas_. Berti holds three principles in common with Jansenius: (1) +Actual grace consists essentially in the infusion of celestial +delectation. (2) This heavenly delectation (_i.e._ grace) causally +precedes free-will in such wise that its relative intensity in every +instance constitutes the law and standard of the will's disposition to do +good. + +(3) Simultaneously with this celestial delectation, concupiscence +(_delectatio carnalis, concupiscentia_) is doing its work in fallen man, +and the two powers constantly contend for the mastery. So long as +celestial delectation (_i.e._ grace) is weaker than, or equipollent with, +concupiscence, the will inevitably fails to perform the salutary act to +which it is invited by the former. It is only when the _delectatio +coelestis_ overcomes concupiscence (_delectatio coelestis victrix_) that +free-will can perform the act inspired by grace. There is a fourth +principle, and one, too, of fundamental importance, which brings out the +essential difference between Augustinianism and Jansenism, _viz._: the +_delectatio coelestis_ never overpowers the will but leaves it free to +choose between good and evil.(748) + +b) The relation between merely sufficient and efficacious grace in the +Augustinian system, therefore, may be described as follows: Merely +sufficient grace imparts to the will the _posse_ but not the _velle_, or +at best only such a weak _velle_ that it requires the _delectatio victrix_ +(_gratia efficax_) to become effective. Efficacious grace (_delectatio +coelestis victrix_), on the other hand, impels the will actually to +perform the good deed. Hence there is between the two an essential and +specific difference, and the efficacy of that grace which leads to the +performance of salutary acts does not lie with free-will but depends on +the _delectatio coelestis_, which must consequently be conceived as +_gratia efficax ab intrinseco sive per se_.(749) + +c) Nevertheless, the necessity of the _gratia efficax ab __ intrinseco_, +according to the Augustinian theory, is not due to the subordination of +the _causa secunda_ to the _causa prima_, as the Thomists contend, but to +a constitutional weakness of human nature, consisting in this that its +evil impulses can be overcome solely by the _delectatio coelestis victrix_ +(_gratia efficax, adiutorium quo_. The case was different before the Fall, +when the _gratia versatilis_ (_gratia sufficiens, adiutorium sine quo +non_) sufficed for the performance of salutary acts.(750) + +d) However, the Augustinians insist against the Jansenists, that the +delectatio _coelestis_ (_i.e._ efficacious grace) does not intrinsically +compel the will, but acts merely as a _praemotio moralis_, and that while +the will obeys the inspiration of grace infallibly (_infallibiliter_) it +does not do so necessarily (_non necessario_). With equal certainty, +though not necessarily, the will, when equipped solely with sufficient +grace, succumbs to concupiscence. The ultimate reason for the freedom of +the will is to be found in the _indifferentia iudicii_.(751) By way of +exemplification the Augustinians cite the case of a well-bred man who, +though physically free and able to do so, would never turn summersaults on +a public thoroughfare or gouge out his own eyes. + +CRITICAL ESTIMATE OF AUGUSTINIANISM.--On account of its uncritical methods +Augustinianism has found but few defenders and deserves notice only in so +far as it claims to base its teaching on St. Augustine. + +Like the Bible, the writings of that holy Doctor have been quoted in +support of many contradictory systems.(752) If the use of Augustinian +terms guaranteed the possession of Augustinian ideas, Jansenius would have +a strong claim to be considered a faithful disciple of St. Augustine. Yet +how widely does not the "Augustinus Iprensis," as he has been called, +differ from the "Augustinus Hipponensis"! Augustinianism, too, utterly +misconceives the terms which it employs. Space permits us to call +attention to one or two points only. + +a) In the first place Augustinianism labors under an absolutely false +conception of sufficient grace. + +How can that grace be sufficient for justification which is first +described in glowing colors as _parva et invalida_ and then in the same +breath is declared to be insufficient except when reinforced by a _gratia +magna_ in the shape of _delectatio victrix_? What kind of "grace" can that +be which in its very nature is so constituted that the will, under the +prevailing influence of concupiscence, infallibly does the opposite of +that to which it is supernaturally impelled? It is quite true that the +distinction between _gratia parva_ and _gratia magna_(753) is found in St. +Augustine. However, he understands by _gratia parva_ not sufficient grace, +but the grace of prayer (_gratia remote sufficiens_), and by _gratia +magna_, not efficacious grace as such, but grace sufficient to perform a +good act (_gratia proxime sufficiens_).(754) + +b) Augustinianism is unable to reconcile its theory of a _praemotio +moralis_ with the dogma of free-will. + +Under the Augustinian system the influence of efficacious grace can be +conceived in but two ways. Either it is so strong that the will is +physically unable to withhold its consent; or it is only strong enough +that the consent of the will can be inferred with purely moral certainty. +In the former alternative we have a prevenient necessity which determines +the will _ad unum_ and consequently destroys its freedom. In the latter, +there can be no infallible foreknowledge of the future free acts of +rational creatures on the part of God, because the Augustinians reject the +_scientia media_ of the Molinists and expressly admit that the same grace +which proves effective in one man remains ineffective in another because +of the condition of his heart.(755) + +c) Finally, the three fundamental principles of the Augustinian system are +false and have no warrant in the writings of St. Augustine. + +It is not true that pleasure (_delectatio_) is the font and well-spring of +all supernaturally good deeds. Such deeds may also be inspired by hatred, +fear, sorrow, etc.(756) With many men the fear of God or a sense of duty +is as strong an incentive to do good as the sweet consciousness of +treading the right path. St. Augustine did not regard "celestial +delectation" as the essential mark of efficacious grace, nor concupiscence +as the characteristic note of sin.(757) + +The second and third principles of the Augustinian system are likewise +false. If delectation is only one motive among many, its varying intensity +cannot be the standard of our conduct; and still less can it be said that +the will is morally compelled in each instance to obey the relatively +stronger as against the weaker delectation; for any necessitation that +does not depend on the free will excludes the _libertas a coactione_, but +not that _libertas a necessitate_ which constitutes the notion of liberty. +There can be no freedom of the will unless the will is able to resist +delectation at all times. Consequently, the fourth principle of the +Augustinians, by which they pretend to uphold free-will, is also +false.(758) + + + READINGS:--The literature on the different systems of grace is + enormous. We can mention only a few of the leading works. + + On the Thomist side: *Banez, O. P., _Comment. in S. Theol. S. + Thom._, Salamanca 1584 sqq.--*Alvarez, O. P., _De Auxiliis Gratiae + et Humani Arbitrii Viribus_, Rome 1610.--IDEM, _Responsionum Libri + Quatuor_, Louvain 1622.--Ledesma, O. P., _De Divinae Gratiae + Auxiliis_, Salamanca 1611.--*Gonet, O. P., _Clypeus Theologiae + Thomisticae_, 16 vols., Bordeaux 1659-69.--Contenson, O. P., + _Theologia Mentis et Cordis_, Lyons 1673.--De Lemos, O. P., + _Panoplia Divinae Gratiae_, 4 vols., Liege 1676.--Goudin, O. P., + _De Scientia et Voluntate Dei_, new ed., Louvain 1874.--*Gotti, O. + P., _Theologia Scholastico-Dogmatica iuxta Mentem __ Divi Thomae_, + Venice 1750.--Gazzaniga, O. P., _Theologia Dogmatica in Systema + Redacta_, 2 vols., Vienne 1776.--*Billuart, _De Gratia_, diss. 5 + (ed. Lequette, t. III, pp. 123 sqq.).--IDEM, _Le Thomisme + Triomphant_, Paris 1725.--*Fr. G. Feldner, O. P., _Die Lehre des + hl. Thomas ueber die Willensfreiheit_, Prague 1890.--IDEM, in + Commer's _Jahrbuch fuer Philosophie und spekulative Theologie_, + 1894 sqq.--*Dummermuth, O. P., _S. Thomas et Doctrina Praemotionis + Physicae_, Paris 1886.--I. A. Manser, _Possibilitas Praemotionis + Physicae Thomisticae_, Fribourg (Switzerland) 1895.--Joh. Ude, + _Doctrina Capreoli de Influxu Dei in Actus Voluntatis Humanae_, + Graz 1905.--Del Prado, _De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_, 3 vols., + Fribourg (Switzerland) 1907.--P. Garrigou-Lagrange, _S. Thomas et + le Neomolinisme_, Paris 1917. + + On the Augustinian side: Card. Norisius, _Vindiciae + Augustinianae,_ Padua 1677.--*Berti, _De Theologicis Disciplinis_, + 8 vols., Rome 1739 sqq.--Bellelli, _Mens Augustini de Modo + Reparationis Humanae Naturae_, 2 vols., Rome 1773.--L. de + Thomassin, _Memoires sur la Grace, etc._, Louvain 1668. + + For a list of Molinistic and Congruistic authors see pp. 269 sq. + + +Article 2. Molinism And Congruism + + +The point in which these two systems meet, and in regard to which they +differ from Thomism and Augustinianism, is the definition of efficacious +grace as _efficax ab extrinseco sive per accidens_. + +This conception was violently attacked by the Spanish Dominican Banez and +other divines. About 1594, the controversy between the followers of Banez +and the Molinists waxed so hot that Pope Clement VIII appointed a special +commission to settle it. This was the famous _Congregatio de Auxiliis_, +consisting of picked theologians from both the Dominican and the Jesuit +orders. It debated the matter for nine full years without arriving at a +decision. Finally Pope Paul V, at the suggestion of St. Francis de Sales, +declared both systems to be orthodox and defensible, and strictly forbade +the contending parties to denounce each other as heretical.(759) + +While Thomism devoted its efforts mainly to the defense of grace, Molinism +made it its chief business to champion the dogma of free-will. + +1. MOLINISM.--Molinism takes its name from the Jesuit Luis de Molina, who +published a famous treatise under the title _Concordia Liberi Arbitrii cum +Gratiae Donis_ at Lisbon, in 1588. His teaching may be outlined as +follows: + +a) In _actu primo_ there is no intrinsic and ontological but merely an +extrinsic and accidental distinction between efficacious and sufficient +grace, based upon their respective effects. Sufficient grace becomes +efficacious by the consent of the will; if the will resists, grace remains +inefficacious (_inefficax_) and _merely_ sufficient (_gratia mere +sufficiens_). Consequently, one and the same grace may be efficacious in +one case and inefficacious in another. It all depends on the will.(760) + +b) This theory involves no denial of the priority and superior dignity of +grace in the work of salvation. The will, considered as a mere faculty, +and _in actu primo_, is raised to the supernatural order by prevenient +grace (_gratia praeveniens_), which imparts to it all the moral and +physical power necessary to perform free salutary acts. Neither can the +_actus secundus_ be regarded as a product of the unaided will; it is the +result of grace cooeperating with free-will.(761) Consequently, the will by +giving its consent does not increase the power of grace, but it is grace +which makes possible, prepares, and aids the will in performing free acts. +To say that the influence of grace goes farther than this would be to +assert that it acts independently of the will, and would thereby deny the +freedom of the latter.(762) + +c) The infallibility with which efficacious grace works its effects is to +be explained not by God's absolute will, but by His infallible +foreknowledge through the _scientia media_,--a Molinistic postulate which +was first defined and scientifically demonstrated by Father Fonseca, S. +J., the teacher of Suarez.(763) God foreknows not only the absolutely free +acts (_futura_) of His rational creatures by the _scientia visionis_, but +likewise their hypothetically free acts (_futuribilia_) by means of the +_scientia media_, and hence He infallibly knows from all eternity what +attitude the free-will of man would assume in each case if grace were +given him. Consequently, when God, in the light of this eternal +foreknowledge, actually bestows a grace, this grace will prove efficacious +or inefficacious according as He has foreknown whether the will will give +or withhold its consent. Thus can the infallibility of efficacious grace +be reconciled with the dogma of free-will without prejudice to such other +dogmas as final perseverance and the predestination of the elect, because +God by virtue of the _scientia media_ has it absolutely in His power to +give or withhold His graces in each individual case.(764) + +CRITICAL ESTIMATE OF MOLINISM.--Even the most determined opponents of +Molinism admit that this system possesses three important advantages. + +a) First, it gives a satisfactory account of the sufficiency of "merely +sufficient grace," which in its physical nature does not differ +essentially from efficacious grace. + +Second, Molinism safeguards free-will by denying that efficacious grace +either physically or morally predetermines the will to one course of +action. + +Third, Molinism explains in a fairly satisfactory manner why efficacious +grace is infallibly efficacious. God in virtue of the _scientia media_ +knows with metaphysical certainty from all eternity which graces in each +individual case will prove efficacious through the free consent of the +will and which will remain inefficacious, and is thereby enabled to bestow +or withhold grace according to His absolute decrees. + +b) The question may justly be raised, however, whether, in endeavoring to +safeguard freewill, the Molinists do not undervalue grace, which is after +all the primary and decisive factor in the work of salvation. + +There is something incongruous in the notion that the efficacy or +inefficacy of divine grace should depend on the arbitrary pleasure of a +created will. If sufficient grace does not become efficacious except by +the consent of the will, how can the resultant salutary act be said to be +an effect of grace? St. Paul, St. Augustine, and the councils of the +Church do not say: "_Deus facit, si volumus_," but they declare: "_Deus +facit, ut faciamus_," "_Deus ipse dat ipsum velle et facere et +perficere_," and so forth. What can this mean if not: Divine grace need +not concern itself with external circumstances, occasions, humors, etc., +but it takes hold of the sinner and actually converts him, without regard +to anything except the decree of the Divine Will. On account of this and +similar difficulties Cardinal Bellarmine, who was a champion and protector +of P. Molina, seems to have rejected Molinism(765) in favor of +Congruism.(766) + +c) The same reasons that induced Bellarmine to embrace Congruism probably +led the Jesuit General Claudius Aquaviva, in 1613, to order all teachers +of theology in the Society to lay greater emphasis on the Congruistic +element in the notion of efficacious grace. This measure was quite in +harmony with the principles defended by the Jesuit members of the +_Congregatio de Auxiliis_ before Clement VIII and Paul V. Aquaviva's order +is of sufficient importance to deserve a place in the text of this volume: +"_Nostri in posterum omnino doceant, inter eam gratiam quae effectum re +ipsa habet atque efficax dicitur, et eam quam sufficientem nominant, non +tantum discrimen esse in actu secundo, quia ex usu liberi arbitrii etiam +cooperantem gratiam habentis effectum sortiatur, altera non item; sed in +ipso actu primo, quod posita scientia conditionalium [scientia media] ex +efficaci Dei proposito atque intentione efficiendi certissime in nobis +boni, de industria ipse ea media seligit atque eo modo et tempore confert, +quo videt effectum, infallibiliter habitura, aliis usurus, si haec +inefficacia praevidisset. Quare semper moraliter et in ratione beneficii +plus aliquid in efficaci, quam in sufficienti gratia est, in actu primo +contineri: atque hac ratione efficere Deum, ut re ipsa faciamus, non +tantum quia dat gratiam qua facere possimus. Quod idem dicendum est de +perseverantia, quae procul dubio donum est._" This modified, or perhaps we +had better say, more sharply determined form of Molinism is called +Congruism.(767) + +2. CONGRUISM.--The system thus recommended by Aquaviva in its fundamental +principles really originated with Molina himself. It was developed by the +great Jesuit theologians Suarez, Vasquez, and Lessius, and became the +official system of the Society of Jesus under Muzio Vitelleschi (d. 1645) +and Piccolomini (d. 1651). + +a) The distinction between _gratia congrua_ and _gratia incongrua_ is +founded on the writings of St. Augustine, who speaks of the elect as +"_congruenter vocati_."(768) The Congruists maintain against the extreme +Molinists that the efficacy of grace is not attributable solely to a free +determination of the will, but, at least in part, to the fact that grace +is bestowed under circumstances favorable to its operation, _i.e._ +"congruous" in that sense. When the circumstances are comparatively +adverse (_incongrua_), grace remains merely sufficient. A prudent father +who knows how to govern his children without physical force will speak the +right word to each at the proper time. Similarly God adapts His grace, if +it is to prove efficacious, to the circumstances of each individual case, +thereby attaining His purpose without fail. Thus the reckless youth on the +city streets needs more powerful graces than the pious nun in her secluded +convent cell, because he is exposed to stronger temptations and his +environment is unfavorable to religious influences. Since grace is +conferred with a wise regard to temperament, character, inclinations, +prejudices, time and place, there exists between it and free-will a sort +of intrinsic affinity, which in the hands of God becomes an infallible +means of executing His decrees.(769) + +b) The actual bestowal of congruous grace, considered _in actu primo_, is +undoubtedly a special gift of God, and hence the _gratia congrua_ +possesses a higher value than the _gratia incongrua sive inefficax_. An +entitatively weaker impulse of grace, if conferred under comparatively +favorable conditions, is more precious than a stronger impulse which fails +in its purpose by reason of unfavorable circumstances created by +inclination, training, or environment. Little David accomplished more with +a handful of pebbles in his scrip than had he been heavily armed.(770) + +c) Congruism assigns a far more important role to grace than extreme +Molinism. It makes the will depend on efficacious grace, not the efficacy +of grace upon the will. Bellarmine illustrates this difference by the +example of a sermon which, under an entirely equal distribution of +internal grace, converts one sinner while it leaves another +untouched.(771) + +CRITICAL ESTIMATE OF CONGRUISM.--Among the different systems devised for +the purpose of harmonizing the dogmas of grace and free-will, Congruism +probably comes nearest the truth. It strikes a golden mean between the two +extremes of Pelagianism and Semipelagianism on the one hand, and Calvinism +and Jansenism on the other, and its principal theses can be supported by +clear and unmistakable passages from the writings of St. Augustine. + +a) Other points in its favor are the following: "Sufficient grace," in the +Congruist hypothesis, is truly sufficient so far as God is concerned, +because its inefficaciousness is attributable solely to the human will. +That free-will is properly safeguarded under the influence of efficacious +grace (_gratia congrua_) is admitted even by theologians of the opposing +schools. True, Congruism does not regard the will as an abstract notion, +but as a factor closely interwoven with the concrete circumstances of +daily life. As favorable circumstances (education, association, +temperament) merely influence the will but do not compel it, so +supernatural grace (_gratia congrua s. efficax_) may soften the will and +occasionally even break down its resistance, but (rare cases +excepted)(772) will never compel it to do good. Congruism marks a distinct +advance over extreme Molinism also in this, that it bases the difference +between _gratia efficax_ (_congrua_) and _gratia inefficax_ not entirely +on the will of man, but likewise on the will of God, whereby it is able to +explain such formulas as "_Deus facit, ut faciamus_," "_Deus est, qui +discernit_," _etc._, in a manner entirely compatible with the dogmatic +teaching of the Church.(773) + +The _modus operandi_ of the _gratia congrua_ (efficacious grace) is +explained by Congruism, in common with Molinism, as follows: There is a +threefold efficacy: the efficacy of power (_efficacia virtutis_), the +efficacy of union (_efficacia connexionis_), and the efficacy of +infallible success (_efficacia infallibilitatis_). Grace (both efficacious +and sufficient) does not derive its _efficacia virtutis_ from the +free-will of man, nor from the knowledge of God (_scientia media_), but +from itself. The _efficacia connexionis_ (of union between act and grace) +on the other hand, depends entirely on the free-will, since, according to +the Council of Trent as well as that of the Vatican, efficacious grace +does not operate irresistibly but can be "cast off." The _efficacia +infallibilitatis_ springs from God's certain foreknowledge (_scientia +media_), which cannot be deceived.(774) + +b) Nevertheless, it would be unreasonable to contend that Congruism solves +all difficulties. The mystery surrounding both the unequal distribution of +efficacious grace and the _scientia media_ still remains. Moreover, the +theory that God adjusts himself slavishly to all the circumstances of His +creatures, can hardly be reconciled with His dignity and omnipotence. It +would no doubt be far worthier of His majesty to seize upon the free will +of man and compel it to perform the salutary act which He wishes it to +perform. Whoever has studied the lives of saints and eminent converts +knows that the sudden and seemingly unaccountable changes of heart which +many of them have experienced can hardly be regarded as miracles in the +strict sense, though on the other hand it seems certain that grace worked +in them with little or no regard to the "congruity" of circumstances. +Again, it is one of the highest and most sublime missions of grace not to +be balked by unfavorable circumstances but to re-shape them by changing a +man's temperament, dulling concupiscence, weakening the power of +temptation, and so forth. In other words, grace does not depend on but +controls and fashions the circumstances of the recipient. + +After all is said, therefore, the relation of grace and free-will still +remains an unsolved mystery.(775) + +3. SYNCRETISM.--Seeing that each of the different systems which we so far +reviewed contains grains of truth, some theologians(776) have adopted the +good points of all four and combined them into a fifth, called Syncretism. + +These authors begin by assuming the existence of two quite distinct sorts +of efficacious grace, the (Thomistic-Augustinian) _gratia efficax ab +intrinseco_, and the (Molinistic-Congruistic) _gratia efficax ab +extrinseco_. The former, they contend, is bestowed for the performance of +more difficult good works, such as resisting grievous temptations, +observing onerous precepts, exercising patience in severe tribulation, +etc.; while the latter enables man to accomplish less difficult acts, such +as short prayers, slight mortifications, etc. The connecting link between +the two is prayer, which has been instituted for the purpose of enabling +man to obtain that _gratia efficax ab intrinseco_ which is necessary for +the performance of the more difficult works of salvation. Sacred Scripture +teaches that prayer originates in grace, that it is binding upon all men, +and that it accomplishes its purpose infallibly.(777) + +CRITICAL ESTIMATE OF SYNCRETISM.--The outstanding characteristic of +Syncretism is its insistence on prayer as a highly important, not to say +the most important, factor in the work of salvation. + +a) In this the Syncretistic school is undoubtedly right. Sacred Scripture +and Tradition both strongly emphasize the importance and necessity of +prayer, so much so that one naturally expects to find prayer playing an +essential and indispensable role in every complete and orthodox system of +grace. "The present economy of grace is essentially and intrinsically an +economy of prayer," is a theological axiom which cannot be too strongly +insisted upon. To have brought out this great truth forcibly and +luminously is the merit of Syncretism. + +b) We do not mean to intimate, however, that the Syncretistic theory has +solved the problem of the relation between free-will and grace. On the +contrary, by adopting two such heterogeneous concepts as _gratia efficax +ab intrinseco_ and _gratia efficax ab extrinseco_ it has actually +increased the difficulties found in the other systems. For now we are put +before the dilemma:--the Thomistic _gratia efficax_ either supposes +free-will or it does not: if it does, there is no reason to limit this +grace to the more difficult works of salvation; if it does not, then the +_gratia efficax_ can be of no assistance in the performance of more +difficult works, because these too, to be meritorious, require the +cooeperation of free-will. + +The Syncretists try to evade this dilemma by contending that prayer, as +the connecting link, communicates its own liberty and meritoriousness to +the salutary acts performed through its agency, in other words, that these +acts are the effect of prayer (_effectus orationis_). But aside from the +fact that prayer itself is quite often a difficult act, the more arduous +works of salvation would in the Syncretist hypothesis be stripped of their +meritoriousness and degraded to the level of a _voluntarium in causa_, +which is an untenable assumption.(778) Finally, there is something +illogical and unsatisfactory in admitting on equal terms, as it were, two +such incompatible notions as the Thomistic _cognitio Dei in decretis +praedeterminantibus_ and the Molinistic _scientia media_. + +Thus in the end all attempts to harmonize the dogmas of grace and +free-will fail to solve the mystery, and we are compelled to exclaim with +St. Paul: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of +God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, and how unsearchable His +ways!"(779) + + + READINGS:--Molinistic and Congruistic works of importance are: + *Molina, S. J., _Concordia Liberi Arbitrii cum Gratiae Donis_, + Lisbon 1588 (repr. Paris 1876).--Platel, S. J., _Auctoritas contra + Praedeterminationem Physicam pro Scientia Media_, Douai + 1669.--Henao, S. J., _Scientia Media Historice Propugnata_, Lyons + 1655.--IDEM, _Scientia Media Theologice Defensa_, Lyons 1674-6.--De + Aranda, S. J., _De Deo Sciente, Praedestinante et Auxiliante seu + Schola Scientiae Mediae_, Saragossa 1693.--*Suarez, S. J., _De + Concursu, Motione et Auxilio Dei_, new ed., Paris 1856.--IDEM, _De + Auxilio Efficaci_, Paris ed., 1856, t. XI.--IDEM, _De Vera + Intelligentia Auxilii Efficacis_ (_Op. Posthum._, t. X, + Appendix).--*Lessius, S. J., _De Gratia Efficaci_ (_Opusc._, t. II, + Paris 1878).--Sardagna, S. J., _Theologia Dogmatico-Polemica_, + Ratisbon 1771.--Wirceburgenses (Kilber, S. J.), _De Gratia_, new + ed., Paris 1853.--Murray, _De Gratia_, Dublin 1877.--B. Jungmann, S. + J., _De Gratia_, 6th ed., Ratisbon 1896.--Th. de Regnon, S. J., + _Banez et Molina, Histoire, Doctrines, Critique, Metaphysique_, + Paris 1883.--Card. Mazzella, S. J., _De Gratia Christi_, 3rd ed., + Rome 1882.--Palmieri, S. J., _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. + 49-58, Gulpen 1885.--*V. Frins, S. J., _S. Thomae Doctrina de + Cooperatione Dei cum Omni __ Natura Creata, Praesertim Libera, seu + S. Thomas Praedeterminationis Physicae Adversarius_, Paris + 1890.--*Schiffini, S. J., _De Gratia Divina_, disp. 5, Freiburg + 1901.--Card. Billot, S. J., _De Gratia Christi et Libero Hominis + Arbitrio_, I, Rome 1908.--Limbourg, S. J. "_Selbstzeichnung der + thomistischen Gnadenlehre_," in the Innsbruck _Zeitschrift fuer + kath. Theologie_, 1877.--B. J. Otten, S. J., _A Manual of the + History of Dogmas_, Vol. II, St. Louis 1918, pp. 493 sqq. + + Among the theologians who have tried to harmonize Thomism and + Molinism we may mention, besides Ysambert and St. Alphonsus de' + Liguori, *Tournely, _De Gratia_, Venice 1755.--Card. Jos. Pecci, + _Sentenza di S. Tommaso circa l'Influsso di Dio sulle Azioni delle + Creature Ragionevoli e sulla Scienza Media_, Rome 1885.--A. + Adeodatus, J. _Pecci's Schrift: Lehre des hl. Thomas ueber den + Einfluss Gottes, etc., analysiert_, Mainz 1888.--C. Krogh-Tonning, + _De Gratia Christi et de Libero Arbitrio S. Thomae Doctrina_, + Christiania 1898.--J. Herrmann, C. SS. R., _De Divina Gratia_, Rome + 1904. + + The history of the great controversy between Thomism and Molinism + can be studied in H. Serry, O. P., _Historia Congregationum de + Auxiliis Divinae Gratiae_, Louvain 1700 and Antwerp 1709.--Livinus + de Meyer, S. J., _Historia Controversiarum de Divinae Gratiae + Auxiliis_, Antwerp 1705.--*Schneemann, S. J., _Entstehung der + thomistisch-molinistischen Controverse_, Freiburg 1879.--*IDEM, + _Weitere Entwicklung der thomistisch-molinistischen Controverse_, + Freiburg 1880.--*IDEM, _Controversiarum de Divinae Gratiae + Liberique Arbitrii Concordia Initia et Progressus_, Freiburg 1881. + + + + + +PART II. SANCTIFYING GRACE + + +The grace of justification, commonly called sanctifying grace, is related +to actual grace as an end to its means. Actual grace introduces the state +of sanctifying grace or preserves and augments it where it already exists. + +This fact makes it advisable to consider the genesis of sanctifying grace +before studying its nature and effects. + +We shall therefore treat in three chapters: (1) of the Process of +Justification (_iustificatio in fieri_); (2) of the State of Justification +(_iustificatio in esse_), and (3) of the Fruits of Justification +(_iustificatio in facto esse_), or the Merit of Good Works. + + + + +Chapter I. The Genesis Of Sanctifying Grace, Or The Process Of +Justification + + +The justification of an adult human being does not take place suddenly, +but runs through certain well-defined stages, which in their totality are +called the process of justification. + +Being a "regeneration in God," justification bears a striking resemblance +to the development of the foetus in the maternal womb. Like physical birth, +spiritual regeneration is preceded by travailing, _i.e._ fear and painful +contrition. + +The dogmatic teaching of the Catholic Church on justification is formally +defined by the Tridentine Council, whose decrees(780) contain a masterly +analysis of this most interesting of psychological processes. The holy +Synod puts faith at the beginning. "Faith," it says, "is the beginning of +human salvation, the foundation and the root of all justification."(781) +The nature of faith and the part it plays in justification were the chief +points in dispute between the Church and the so-called Reformers. Luther +and his followers denatured the traditional Catholic teaching by basing +justification solely on faith, which they falsely defined as mere +confidence or trust in the mercy of God. + + + +Section 1. The Necessity Of Faith For Justification + + +1. THE LUTHERAN HERESY VS. THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH.--The Protestant +Reformers, notably Luther and Calvin, did not deny that justification is +wrought by faith, but they defined justifying faith in a manner altogether +foreign to the mind of the Church. + +a) They distinguished three kinds of faith: (1) belief in the existence of +God and the historical fact that Christ has come on earth, suffered, and +ascended (_fides historica_); (2) the sort of trust which is required for +exercising the gift of miracles (_fides miraculorum_); and (3) faith in +the divine promises with regard to the remission of sin (_fides +promissionum_). The last-mentioned species of faith they subdivided into +general and particular. _Fides generalis_ is that by which we believe that +the righteousness of Christ "covers" (but does not wipe out) our sins. +_Fides specialis_ or fiduciary faith (_fiducia_) is that by which a man +applies to himself the righteousness of the Redeemer, firmly trusting that +his sins are for Christ's sake not imputed to him. Thus the Reformers +erroneously transferred the seat of justifying faith from the intellect to +the will and completely subverted the Catholic notion of faith as an +intellectual assent to revealed truth. + +b) To this fundamental error the Fathers of Trent opposed the orthodox +doctrine that (adults) "are disposed unto justice when, excited and +assisted by divine grace, receiving faith by hearing, they are freely +moved towards God, believing those things to be true which God has +revealed and promised, ..."(782) and they solemnly anathematized those who +assert "that justifying faith is nothing else but confidence in the divine +mercy which remits sin for Christ's sake, or that this confidence alone is +that whereby we are justified."(783) + +Hence it is _de fide_ that the faith whereby man is justified, is not a +confident persuasion of being esteemed righteous in the sight of God, but +a dogmatic or theoretical belief in the truths of Divine Revelation. + +2. REFUTATION OF THE LUTHERAN DOCTRINE OF FIDUCIARY FAITH.--Whenever Sacred +Scripture and Tradition speak of justifying faith, they mean a dogmatic +belief in the truths of Revelation,--that faith which the Protestants call +_fides historica_. + +a) Christ Himself solemnly commanded His Apostles and their successors to +preach the Gospel to all nations, and before baptizing them to convert +them to a firm belief in certain specified truths which no man may reject +except at the peril of his eternal salvation. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) Mark XVI, 15 sq.: "Go ye into the whole world, and preach the +gospel(784) to every creature: He that believeth [_i.e._ in the Gospel] +and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be +condemned." Agreeable to this injunction St. John declares it to be the +object of his Gospel "that you may believe that(785) Jesus is the Christ, +the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life in his name."(786) +The Gospel is written "that we may believe." What must we believe? That +"Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." This is a revealed truth by firmly +believing which we shall be saved. When the treasurer of Queen Candace +begged to be baptized, Philip the deacon said to him: "If thou believest +with all thy heart, thou mayest." The eunuch replied: "I believe that +Jesus Christ is the Son of God," whereupon Philip baptized him.(787) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) St. Paul in his Epistles to the Romans and the Galatians eloquently +insists on the necessity of faith, not a mere _fides fiducialis_, but a +believing acceptance of Divine Revelation. Cfr. Rom. X, 9 sq.: "For if +thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that +God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the +heart we believe unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto +salvation."(788) We must confess with the mouth and believe with the +heart. External profession and internal faith go together and have for +their common object a certain truth open to our knowledge, _viz._: the +resurrection of Christ,--a dogma in which the whole teaching of the +atonement lies imbedded. + +The character of justifying faith is still more plainly evident from Heb. +XI, 6: "Without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh +to God [he that is to be justified], must believe that He is [the +existence of God], and is a rewarder to them that seek Him."(789) The +Apostle here clearly asserts both the necessity of justifying faith and +the minimum of doctrine to be explicitly "believed," _viz._: the existence +of God and eternal retribution.(790) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}) The Lutherans appeal chiefly to Matth. IX, 2, Luke XVII, 19, Rom. IV, +5, and Heb. XI, 1. But not a single one of these texts represents +fiduciary faith as the instrumental cause of justification. The word +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} occurs no less than eighty times in the Synoptic Gospels and in St. +Paul's Epistle to the Romans, but there are only six passages in which it +could possibly be construed as synonymous with _fiducia_, and in none of +these is the interpretation entirely certain. Not once does the New +Testament employ {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} in the sense of "fiduciary faith," _i.e._ a +confident persuasion of one's own righteousness.(791) + +b) Tradition is in such perfect agreement with Scripture on this point +that the Reformers did not venture to deny that their doctrine ran counter +to the time-honored teaching of the Church. The Fathers unanimously insist +on the necessity of dogmatic faith as a requisite of justification. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, who is regarded as "the best theologian of his +time" (468-533),(792) in his golden booklet _De Fide seu de Regula Verae +Fidei ad Petrum_, says: "I rejoice that you take care to preserve the true +faith without which conversion is useless, nay, impossible. Apostolic +authority tells us that we cannot please God without faith. For faith is +the foundation of all good [works]; it is the beginning of human +salvation, and without it no one can obtain a place among the children of +God, because without it no one can obtain the grace of justification in +this world or possess eternal life in the next."(793) St. Fulgentius was a +faithful disciple of St. Augustine, and the whole trend of his treatise +shows that by _vera fides_ he understands not the Lutheran _fiducia +propriae iustificationis_, but Catholic belief in revealed truth.(794) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) This teaching is corroborated by the ancient practice of instructing +the catechumens in the truths of revelation and requiring them to make a +public profession of faith before Baptism. It was because they believed +and professed the true faith that the early Christians, who knew nothing +of the Lutheran _fides fiducialis_, were called "faithful" (_fideles_, +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}), to distinguish them from false believers or heretics +(_haeretici_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~}, from {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} to choose), who denied some +portion or other of the orthodox creed. + +c) In analyzing the notions of _fides_ and _necessitas_ theologians +distinguish between _fides explicita_ and _fides implicita_, and between +_necessitas medii_ and _necessitas praecepti_. + +_Fides explicita_ is an express and fully developed belief in the truths +of revelation; _fides implicita_, a virtual belief in whatever may be +contained in a dogma explicitly professed. I make an act of implicit faith +when I say, for instance: "I believe whatever the Church teaches," or: "I +heartily accept whatever God has revealed." + +The _necessitas medii_ is based on the objective relation of means to an +end, and consequently binds all men, even the ignorant and those who are +in error without their own fault. Such, for example, is the necessity of +the eye for seeing, of wings for flying, of grace for performing salutary +acts, of the _lumen gloriae_ for the beatific vision. The _necessitas +praecepti_, on the other hand, is founded entirely on the will of God, who +positively commands or forbids under pain of grievous sin, but is willing +to condone non-compliance with his precepts when it is owing to guiltless +ignorance. This applies to all positive divine precepts, _e.g._ the law of +fasting and abstinence. It is to be noted that the _necessitas medii_ +always involves the _necessitas praecepti_, because God must needs will +and impose upon us by positive precept whatever is objectively necessary +as a means of salvation. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) The first question that arises with regard to this twofold faith and +necessity is: Are sinners preparing for justification, and the faithful in +general, obliged by necessity of precept to believe explicitly all +revealed truths? The answer is, No; because this is practically +impossible, and God does not demand the impossible. + +Generally speaking, it is sufficient to have an explicit knowledge of, and +give one's firm assent to, the more important dogmas and moral +precepts--the twelve articles of the Apostles' Creed, the Commandments of +God and the Church, the Sacraments (as needed), and the Our Father. All +other revealed truths need be held only _fide implicita_.(795) More is of +course demanded of educated persons and those who are in duty bound to +instruct others, such as priests and teachers.(796) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) A more important and more difficult question is this: Are there any +dogmas, and if so how many, which must be believed by all men _fide +explicita_ and _necessitate medii_? St. Paul says: "Without faith it is +impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God, must believe that He +is, and is a rewarder to them that seek Him."(797) + +With but few exceptions,(798) Catholic theologians maintain that the +Apostle in this passage means theological faith, based upon supernatural +motives. This interpretation is borne out by the context, by such parallel +texts as John III, 11 sqq., 32 sqq., 2 Tim. I, 12, 1 John V, 9 sq., and by +the decisions of several councils.(799) There can be no reasonable doubt +that all men, to be justified and saved, must have an explicit belief in +at least two dogmas, _viz._: the existence of God and eternal retribution. +Pope Innocent XI condemned the Jansenist proposition that explicit belief +in divine retribution is not necessary for salvation.(800) + +Are there any other dogmas which must be explicitly believed _necessitate +medii_? The only dogmas which might come in question are: the Trinity, the +Incarnation, the immortality of the soul, and the necessity of grace. The +last-mentioned two may be omitted from the list, because St. Paul does not +mention them,(801) and for the additional reason that belief in +immortality is included in the dogma of eternal retribution, while the +necessity of grace is inseparably bound up with the dogma of Divine +Providence, which in its turn is but a particular aspect of eternal +retribution.(802) Hence the only two dogmas in regard to which the +question at the beginning of this paragraph can reasonably be asked, are +the Blessed Trinity and the Incarnation. + +Theologians are divided in the matter. Some maintain that no human being +can or could ever be saved without explicit belief in both the Trinity and +the Incarnation. Others(803) hold that this _necessitas medii_ did not +exist under the Old Covenant. A third school(804) avers that no such +necessity can be proved either for the Old or the New Dispensation. + +The first of these three opinions is excessively rigorous and +intrinsically improbable. The Jews had no clearly revealed knowledge of +the Trinity and the Incarnation, and consequently were under no obligation +to believe them. As the divinely constituted guardians of the Messianic +prophecies, they were bound to believe in the Redeemer, though only +_necessitate praecepti_. The gentiles were dispensed even from this. + +The second opinion, which limits the _necessitas medii_ to the New +Testament, lacks solid proof. The Scripture texts cited in its support +merely prove the efficaciousness of belief in Christ,(805) or the duty of +embracing that belief on the strength of the Apostolic preaching,(806) or, +finally, the impossibility of redemption except through the mediation of +Jesus;(807)--all truths which in themselves have nothing to do with the +question under discussion. + +The third and most probable opinion is that even under the New Covenant, +explicit faith in Christ, and _a fortiori_ in the Divine Trinity, cannot +be regarded as an indispensable medium of justification and salvation, (1) +because St. Paul does not mention these two dogmas in the decisive +passage, Heb. XI, 6; and (2) because a supernatural act of justifying love +and contrition may be inspired by belief in the existence of God and +divine retribution; and (3) because this latter belief implicitly, by way +of desire (_fides in voto_), includes belief in Christ and the +Trinity.(808) Nevertheless it must be held that an adult who desires to be +received into the Church and is baptized in the name of the Most Holy +Trinity, is bound to believe in the Trinity and the Incarnation by more +than a mere _necessitas praecepti_, namely, by what is technically called +_necessitas medii per accidens_, a necessity from which God dispenses only +in exceptional cases, when it is either physically or morally impossible +to elicit an act of explicit faith.(809) It is for this reason that the +Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office decided, February 28, 1703, that +missionaries are bound to explain to all adult converts who have the use +of reason, even though they be near death, those mysteries of the faith +which are necessary for salvation _necessitate medii_, especially the +Trinity and the Incarnation.(810) + + + +Section 2. The Necessity Of Other Preparatory Acts Besides Faith + + +1. HERETICAL ERRORS AND THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH.--Martin Luther, to +quiet his conscience, evolved the notion that faith alone justifies and +that the Catholic doctrine of the necessity of good works is pharisaical +and derogatory to the merits of Jesus Christ. This teaching was +incorporated into the symbolic books of the Lutherans(811) and adopted by +Calvin.(812) It has been called one of the two basic errors of +Protestantism. The Tridentine Council solemnly condemns it as follows: "If +anyone saith that by faith alone the impious is justified, in such wise as +to mean that nothing else is required to cooeperate in order to obtain the +grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be +prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be +anathema."(813) Other acts that dispose or prepare the soul for +justification, according to the same Council, are: the fear of divine +justice; hope in God's mercy; charity, which is the font of all +righteousness; detestation of sin, and penitence.(814) + +2. REFUTATION OF THE SOLA FIDES THEORY.--The Lutheran theory involves an +open rupture with the traditional teaching of the Church and is positively +unscriptural. Luther himself felt this, as appears from his interpolation +of the word "alone" in Rom. III, 28 and his rejection of the entire +canonical Epistle of St. James.(815) + +a) The teaching of the Bible in regard to the role played by good works in +the process of justification may be summarized as follows: + +(1) A man may believe all that the Church teaches and yet be lost for want +of good works or because he has not the love of God; consequently, faith +alone does not justify or insure eternal salvation. Our Divine Saviour +Himself declares: "Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter +into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is +in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven."(816) St. James +says: "Do you not see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith +only?"(817) And St. Paul: "If I should have all faith, so that I could +remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."(818) + +(2) Besides faith, justification requires certain other preparatory or +dispositive acts. There is, for example, the fear of divine justice. Cfr. +Ecclus. I, 28: "He that is without fear cannot be justified."(819) Also, +hope in God's mercy. Cfr. Rom. VIII, 24: "For we are saved by hope."(820) +Again, charity. Cfr. Luke VII, 47: "Many sins are forgiven her because she +hath loved much."(821) Furthermore, contrition or penitence. Cfr. Luke +XIII, 3: "Unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise +perish."(822) Finally, good works in general. Cfr. St. James II, 17: "So +faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself."(823) No one who +ponders these and similar texts can maintain, as Calvin and Melanchthon +did, that the good works mentioned merely accompany justification, for +they are unmistakably described as causes which dispose and prepare the +sinner for it. + +(3) It is not faith alone that justifies, but faith informed and actuated +by charity. Cfr. Gal. V, 6: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision +availeth anything, nor uncircumcision: but faith that worketh by +charity."(824) The Greek text shows that the word _operatur_ in the +Vulgate must be taken passively, so that a more correct translation would +be: "... but faith effected or formed by charity." But even if {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} +were used as a deponent ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}=_agere_, _operari_) the meaning would +be substantially the same, _i.e._ a dead faith, without charity, avails +nothing. Cfr. St. James II, 26: "For even as the body without the spirit +is dead, so also faith without works is dead."(825) + +In Rom. III, 28: "For we account a man to be justified by faith, without +the works of the law,"(826) Luther deliberately inserted the word "alone." +The context shows that this is a falsification. The Apostle contrasts +justifying faith, not with those preparatory acts of salvation which +spring from it, but with the sterile "works of the law" (_i.e._ the Old +Testament), which, as such, possessed no more power to justify than the +good works of the heathen. Keeping this contrast in mind, it would not be +incorrect to say, and St. Paul might well have said, that "supernatural +faith alone (_i.e._ only) justifies, while the works of the law do not." +But if faith be taken in contradistinction to the other acts operative in +the process of justification, such as fear, hope, contrition, love,--and +this is the sense in which Luther takes it,--then it is false and contrary +to the mind of St. Paul to say: "Faith alone justifies, nothing else is +required." For in this sense faith is merely the beginning, the +foundation, the root of justification and cannot justify the sinner until +it has absorbed the other preparatory acts required by Holy Scripture and +transformed them into perfect love. This fact was already pointed out by +St. Augustine. "Unintelligent persons," he says, "with regard to the +Apostle's statement: 'We conclude that a man is justified by faith without +the works of the law,' have thought him to mean that faith is sufficient +for a man, even if he leads a bad life and has no good deeds to allege. It +is impossible that such a character should be deemed 'a vessel of +election' by the Apostle, who, after declaring that 'in Christ Jesus +neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision,' adds the +important remark: 'but faith that worketh by charity.' It is such faith +which separates the faithful children of God from unclean devils,--for even +these 'believe and tremble,' as the Apostle James says, but they do no +good works. Therefore they possess not the faith by which the just man +lives,--the faith which operates through love in such wise that God +recompenses it according to its works with eternal life."(827) + +There is another sense in which faith alone may be said to justify, +_viz._: if the term be taken to include all those things which God has +ordained for our salvation, that is to say, the sum-total of "revelation" +or "the true religion" as opposed to "heresy." The term {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} (_fides_) +is sometimes employed in this sense by the Fathers, but never in Sacred +Scripture.(828) + +b) There is a unanimous and unbroken tradition in favor of the Catholic +doctrine. St. Polycarp writes in his Epistle to the Philippians: "... the +faith ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) given you, which is the mother of us all when hope ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) +follows and love ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}) goes before."(829) St. Augustine teaches that +while faith is _per se_ separable from hope and love, it is ineffective +without them. "Man begins with faith, but the demons, too, believe and +tremble; to faith, therefore, must be added hope, and to hope, love."(830) +And again: "Without love, faith can indeed exist, but it availeth +nothing."(831) St. Gregory the Great, paraphrasing St. James, says: +"Perhaps some one will say to himself: I have believed, I shall be saved. +He speaks truly if he sustains faith by works. For that is true faith +which does not contradict by deeds what it asserts in words."(832) + +c) This teaching is in perfect conformity with reason. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) No supernatural enlightenment is needed to perceive the intrinsic +propriety of a moral preparation for justification. Not only must the +sinner learn to know God as His supernatural end and the source of all +righteousness, but he must also be persuaded that it is his duty, with the +help of sufficient grace, to direct his will towards this final end. + +Every tendency or movement presupposes a _terminus a quo_, from which it +starts, and a _terminus ad quem_, to which it tends. The movement of the +will in the process of justification, besides faith, demands a voluntary +withdrawal from sin (contrition, good resolutions) and an approach to +righteousness (hope, love, desire).(833) + +This argument would have made no impression on Luther, since he bluntly +denied free-will in the moral order and regarded human nature as so +radically depraved by original sin as to be incapable of cooeperating with +divine grace. In fact he compared man to a "log, stick or stone." This +view was shared by Amsdorf, Flacius, and others, whereas Osiander and +Butzer admitted that "inherent righteousness" is at least a partial factor +in justification. Melanchthon, in an endeavor to reconcile the +contradictions of this discordant system, unwittingly gave rise to the +so-called Synergist dispute. When Pfeffinger(834) undertook the defence of +free-will, many Lutheran theologians, especially of the University of +Jena, boldly attacked the log-stick-and-stone theory(835) and tried to +force their adversaries to admit that man is able to cooeperate with grace. +The "Half-Melanchthonians," as they were called, succeeded in smuggling +Synergism into the "Book of Torgau;"(836) but before the "Formulary of +Concord" was finally printed in the monastery of Bergen, near Magdeburg +(A. D. 1577), the strict Lutherans had eliminated that article as +heterodox and substituted for it the log-stick-and-stone theory as it +appears in the official symbols of the Lutheran Church. In the Syncretist +dispute, and through the efforts of the Pietists, this harsh teaching was +afterwards moderated. But what probably contributed most to the crumbling +of the system was the rapid growth of Socinianism and Rationalism among +the Lutherans in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. To-day, with +the exception of a small band of "orthodox" Lutherans in Saxony and the +United States, Protestants no longer hold the log-stick-and-stone theory. +The school of Luther proclaimed it as the distinguishing tenet of +Protestantism, as "the criterion of a standing or falling +church,"(837)--and by this criterion the Lutheran Church has indeed fallen. +Common sense has led modern Protestants to admit that contrition and +penance are quite as necessary for justification as faith, an opinion +which, in the words of Dorner,(838) "comes dangerously near the Catholic +system." In Scandinavia, according to Dr. Krogh-Tonning,(839) the Lutheran +Church has experienced a "quiet reformation" and now unconsciously defends +the Catholic doctrine of justification.(840) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) As the sufficiency of the Bible without Tradition is the formal +principle of "orthodox" Protestantism, so justification by faith alone may +be said to be its material principle. The absurdity of the Lutheran +position is evident from the fact that these two principles are mutually +destructive. So far from teaching justification by faith alone, the Bible +inculcates the exact contrary, while its sufficiency as the source of +faith could be proved from its own pages, if at all, only by a vicious +circle.(841) Thus the whole Protestant system is based on contradiction. + +The _sola fides_ theory is open to serious objection also from the ethical +point of view. It cannot be put into practice without grave danger. "Sin +lustily," writes Luther, "but be yet more lusty in faith."(842) The first +part at least of this injunction was promptly obeyed by his followers, and +the rapid deterioration of morals which followed was but a natural sequel +of the _sola fides_ theory. If faith alone were sufficient for +justification, it would make no difference what kind of life a man led, +for unbelief, _i.e._ the loss of fiduciary faith, would be the only sin. +No wonder this ethical antinomism of the Lutheran system, so radically +opposed to the teaching of St. James, was rejected by Hugo Grotius, George +Buller, and other honest Protestants. + +Another weighty objection against the Lutheran theory of justification is +that it disregards the law of causation. According to Luther a man is +justified by the firm belief and trust that his sins are forgiven. This +"belief" is either true or false. If it is false, I can have no certainty +with regard to my salvation, but am deceiving myself. If true, it +presupposes that which it is to effect, in other words, it puts the cause +before the effect. An orthodox Lutheran theologian of the old school would +probably retort: My sins are actually forgiven by virtue of the atonement, +because all men without exception are redeemed through the merits of Jesus +Christ. If this be true, then why not be consistent and say: All men are +justified because all are redeemed, consequently there is no need of faith +and sacraments, and keeping the commandments is a matter of indifference! +It is at this point that the incompatibility of Luther's teaching with the +Bible and sound ethics becomes most glaringly apparent. True, Luther +himself at times emphasized the necessity of good works; but this merely +proves that he had lucid intervals when his honest nature rebelled against +the inconsistency of his teaching.(843) + +3. EXPLANATION OF THE CATHOLIC DOCTRINE.--The Council of Trent assigned to +faith its proper place in the process of justification,(844) and gave a +luminous and profound analysis of the process itself.(845) Scholastic +theology, in elaborating the teaching of Scripture and Tradition, drew a +distinction between _fides formata_, which truly justifies, and _fides +informis_, which falls short of justification. + +a) As regards the intrinsic relation of (dogmatic) faith to other +preparatory acts in the process of justification, the Tridentine Council +declares: "Faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and +the root of all justification."(846) Supernatural faith, therefore, is the +beginning of salvation, and not, as Harnack makes Luther say, "at once the +beginning, the middle, and the end," because no man can be converted +unless he has believingly embraced God as his final goal. This faith is +preceded by certain preliminary conditions, of which the first is an +illumination of the intellect and a strengthening of the will, which +results in the _affectus credulitatis_ (_initia fidei_). For justifying +faith does not flash forth suddenly, like a _deus ex machina_, but +requires time for its development, as the history of many conversions +proves.(847) + +Faith is called the "foundation" of justification because it not only +marks its beginning, but constitutes the basis upon which all subsequent +stages of the process rest. To exclude the mistaken notion that the +process of justification is a series of mechanical and disconnected acts, +the Council calls faith the "root" of justification, from which the other +preparatory acts spring organically, as the trunk of a tree from its root. + +The psychological description of the whole process given by the Tridentine +Fathers, which even Harnack admits to be "a masterly piece of work," runs +as follows: "Now they [adults] are disposed unto justice when, excited and +assisted by divine grace, conceiving faith by hearing, they are freely +moved towards God, believing those things to be true which God has +revealed and promised,--and this especially, that God justifies the impious +by His grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ; and when, +understanding themselves to be sinners, they, by turning themselves from +the fear of divine justice, whereby they are profitably agitated, to +consider the mercy of God, are raised unto hope, confiding that God will +be propitious to them for Christ's sake; and they begin to love Him as the +fountain of all justice, and are therefore moved against sins by a certain +hatred and detestation, to wit: by that penitence which must be performed +before Baptism; lastly, when they purpose to receive Baptism, to begin a +new life, and to keep the commandments of God...."(848) The four ordinary +stages in the process of justification, therefore, are: (1) From faith to +fear of divine justice; (2) from fear to hope; (3) from hope to initial +love;(849) (4) from initial love to contrition and a firm purpose of +amendment.(850) If contrition is dictated and transfused by perfect +love,(851) and the sinner has an explicit or at least implicit desire for +the Sacrament,(852) justification takes place at once. If, on the other +hand, the sinner's sorrow is imperfect (_attritio_), he attains +justification only by actual reception of the Sacrament (Baptism or +Penance).(853) + +b) Does conversion always follow this conciliary schema? No. The Council +did not mean to define that these acts must follow one another in strict +sequence or that they are one and all absolutely indispensable for +justification. It is certain, however, that the process invariably begins +with faith and ends with contrition accompanied by a firm purpose of +amendment. In exceptional cases (_e.g._ the Prodigal Son, Mary Magdalen) +perfect charity seems immediately to follow faith, and may then be said +virtually to include the intermediate stages of fear, hope, and +contrition. Yet this is not the usual way. Ordinarily faith elicits fear, +which in turn produces two kinds of hope--hope of forgiveness (_spes +veniae_) and hope in God (_spes theologica_), which marks the beginning of +charity (_amor concupiscentiae_). Contrition is always a _conditio sine +qua non_, because there can be no forgiveness of sin without sorrow for +it.(854) It is for this reason that, according to St. Thomas, explicit +contrition for mortal sins is necessary for justification even when there +is perfect charity, and the sufficiency of the so-called _poenitentia +virtualis_ is limited to venial offenses and such grievous sins as cannot +be remembered.(855) Fear, while not absolutely indispensable, is seldom +absent. Holy Scripture tells us that "the fear of God is the beginning of +wisdom," and it is natural for the sinner seeking forgiveness to detest +his sins out of fear of divine justice before he attains to the motive of +perfect charity.(856) + +c) Certain utterances of Scripture and the Fathers with regard to the +possibility of a "dead" faith(857) have led theologians to distinguish +between _fides informis_ and _fides formata_. _Fides informis_ is a dead +faith, devoid of charity, and without justifying power. The only faith +that can justify a man is that which is animated by charity and productive +of good works.(858) This is the _fides formata_ of the Schoolmen, which +includes all the preparatory acts enumerated by the Tridentine Council, +from fear to perfect charity. These acts, however, though united in the +_fides formata_, retain their respective independence, and can disappear +singly, one after another, as they came. Zwingli's assertion that faith, +hope, and charity are identical, or at least inseparable, has been +expressly condemned by the Tridentine Council: "If any one saith that, +grace being lost through sin, faith also is always lost with it; or that +the faith which remains, though it be no live faith, is not a true faith; +or that he who has faith without charity is not a Christian; let him be +anathema."(859) + + + READINGS:--Besides the respective chapters in the various + text-books, the student may consult: *A. Vega, _De Iustificatione + Doctrina Universa Libris XV Absolute Tradita_, Venice 1548 + (reprinted at Cologne, 1572).--*Bellarmine, _De Iustificatione + Impii_, 1. V (ed. Fevre, Vol. VI, pp. 149 sqq. Paris + 1873).--*Suarez, _De Gratia_, 1. VI sqq.--Becanus, _Theol. + Scholast._, "_De Gratia Habituali_," Rouen 1658.--L. Nussbaum, _Die + Lehre der kath. Kirche ueber die Rechtfertigung_, Muenchen 1837.--C. + von Schaetzler, _Neue Untersuchungen ueber das Dogma von der Gnade + und das Wesen des christl. Glaubens_, Mainz 1867.--Oswald, _Die + Lehre von der Heiligung_, § 5, 3rd ed., Paderborn 1885.--B. + Bartmann, _St. Paulus und St. Jakobus und die Rechtfertigung_, + Freiburg 1897.--L. Galey, _La Foi et les Oeuvres_, Montauban + 1902.--W. Liese, _Der heilsnotwendige Glaube, sein Begriff und + Inhalt_, Freiburg 1902.--Card. Newman, _Lectures on the Doctrine of + Justification_, 8th impression, London 1900.--Hugh Pope, O. P., + art. "Faith" in the _Catholic Encyclopedia_, Vol. V.--J. Mausbach, + _Catholic Moral Teaching and its Antagonists_ (tr. by A. M. + Buchanan), pp. 150 sqq., New York 1914.--L. Labauche, S. S., _God + and Man_, pp. 203 sqq., N. Y. 1916. + + On the teaching of the Reformers cfr. *Moehler, _Symbolik_, § 18 + sqq., 11th ed., Mainz 1890 (English tr. by James Burton Robertson, + pp. 82 sqq., 5th ed., London 1906); Ad. Harnack, _Lehrbuch der + Dogmengeschichte_, Vol. III, 4th ed., Freiburg 1910; + Denifle-Weiss, O. P., _Luther und Luthertum in der ersten + Entwicklung_, Vol. II, Mainz 1909; H. Grisar, S. J., _Luther_, + Vol. I, Freiburg 1911 (English tr., Vols. I and II, London 1913). + + + + +Chapter II. The State Of Justification + + +Though the term "justification" may be extended to the preparatory acts +that lead up to the state of justice, strictly speaking it signifies only +that decisive moment in which the sinner is cleansed from mortal sin by an +infusion of sanctifying grace. Hence a careful distinction must be made +between justification as an act (_actus iustificationis_) and +justification as an habitual state (_habitus iustificationis s. status +gratiae sanctificantis_). The transient act introduces a permanent state, +just as the Sacrament of Holy Orders constitutes a man in the sacerdotal +state or priesthood. + +Both as an act and as a state justification possesses three distinct +properties; it is uncertain, unequal, and capable of being lost. + +This gives us the basis for a division of the present Chapter into three +Sections: (1) On the Nature of Justification, (2) On Justifying, _i.e._ +Sanctifying Grace, and (3) On the Properties of that Grace. + + + +Section 1. The Nature Of Justification + + +Justification in the active sense (_iustificatio_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) is defined +by the Tridentine Council as "a translation from that state wherein man is +born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace and of the adoption +of the sons of God through the second Adam, Jesus Christ, our +Saviour."(860) + +Justification, therefore, has both a negative and a positive element. The +positive element is interior sanctification through the merits of Jesus +Christ. The negative element consists in the forgiveness of sin. Though +these elements are objectively inseparable, the forgiveness of sin being +practically an effect of interior sanctification, yet we must treat them +separately in order to be able to refute more effectively the Lutheran +heresy that sin is not wiped out but merely "covered," and that +justification consists in an external "imputation" of the righteousness of +Christ. + + +Article 1. The Negative Element Of Justification + + +1. THE HERESY OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMERS AND THE TEACHING OF THE +CHURCH.--Luther held that human nature was radically depraved by original +sin(861) and that justification consists in this, that sin (original and +mortal) is no longer "imputed" to the sinner; that is to say, it is not +blotted out but merely "covered" by the merits of Christ. + +a) Forgiveness of sins, therefore, according to Luther, consists simply in +their being no longer imputed.(862) This heresy was incorporated in the +Formula of Concord and other symbolical books of the Lutheran Church,(863) +and subsequently adopted by Calvin.(864) + +b) The Catholic Church has always maintained that justification is a +renewal of the soul by which a man's sins are blotted out and he becomes +truly just. This applies first of all to original sin. "If," says the +Council of Trent, "anyone denies that by the grace of our Lord Jesus +Christ, which is conferred in Baptism, the guilt of original sin is +remitted, or even asserts that the whole of that which has the true and +proper nature of sin is not taken away, but says that it is only raised or +not imputed, let him be anathema."(865) What it here defines in regard to +original sin, the Council elsewhere reaffirms in respect of mortal +sin.(866) + +2. REFUTATION OF THE LUTHERAN THEORY.--The theory thus solemnly condemned +by the Tridentine Fathers is unscriptural and opposed to Catholic +Tradition. + +a) The teaching of the Bible on this point may be reduced to four distinct +heads. + +(1) The remission of sin granted in the process of justification is a real +annihilation of guilt; that is to say, the sins remitted cease to exist in +the moral (though not, of course, in the historical) order. Cfr. Ps. L, 3: +"Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy; and according to +the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity."(867) Is. XLIII, +25: "I am he that blot out thy iniquities."(868) After God has blotted out +a sin, it no longer exists. Cfr. Is. XLIV, 22: "I have blotted out thy +iniquities as a cloud, and thy sins as a mist."(869) Acts III, 19: "Be +penitent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted +out."(870) Elsewhere God is said to "take away" sin. Cfr. 2 Kings XII, 13: +"The Lord also hath taken away thy sin."(871) 1 Paral. XXI, 8: "I beseech +thee, take away the iniquity of thy servant."(872) When He takes away sin, +it is really and truly blotted out. Cfr. Mich. VII, 18 sq.: "Who is a God +like to thee, who takest away iniquity?... He will put away our +iniquities, and he will cast all our sins into the bottom of the +sea."(873) Ps. X, 15: "His sin shall be sought, and shall not be +found."(874) Ps. CII, 12: "As far as the east is from the west, so far +hath he removed our iniquities from us."(875) Consequently, when our +Divine Saviour said of Mary Magdalen: "Many sins are forgiven her,"(876) +He meant that her sins were completely blotted out and taken away. + +(2) Justification washes the soul from iniquity and purifies the heart. +Cfr. Ps. L, 4: "Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my +sin."(877) Is. I, 16: "Wash yourselves, be clean."(878) After one's sins +are washed away, the heart is clean and pure. Cfr. Ez. XXXVI, 25 sq.: "And +I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your +filthiness, ... and I will give you a new heart."(879) 1 Cor. VI, 11: "And +such [fornicators, etc.] some of you were; but you are washed, but you are +sanctified, but you are justified."(880) Spotless purity takes the place +of the impurity that previously defiled the soul of the sinner. Cfr. Ps. +L, 9: "Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou +shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow."(881) Is. I, 18: "If +your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they +be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool."(882) No trace of sin +remains in the soul after it has been washed in the Precious Blood of +Christ. Apoc. I, 5: "... Jesus Christ, ... hath loved us, and washed us +from our sins in his own blood."(883) 1 John I, 7: "... the blood of Jesus +Christ ... cleanseth us from all sin."(884) + +(3) Justification is an awakening of the sinner from death to life, a +transition from darkness to light. Cfr. 1 John III, 14: "We know that we +have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren; he that +loveth not, abideth in death."(885) Col. II, 13: "And you, when you were +dead in your sins, ... he hath quickened together with him, forgiving you +all offences."(886) Eph. V, 8: "For you were heretofore darkness, but now +light in the Lord."(887) + +(4) Baptism, in particular, completely removes all guilt. Cfr. Acts XXII, +16: "Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins."(888) Hence, though +concupiscence remains, the soul has no longer in it anything damnable, +_i.e._ any trace of original or mortal sin. Cfr. Rom. VIII, 1: "There is +now therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus."(889) + +It requires no special acuteness to perceive that this Biblical teaching +is irreconcilably opposed to the Protestant theory of non-imputation. If, +as the Lutherans allege, God merely _declared_ the believer just, +justification would not blot out or take away sin, nor could it be +truthfully said that light and life take the place of death and darkness; +something deserving of condemnation would still remain in those that are +in Christ Jesus.(890) + +There are a few Scriptural texts that seem to favor the Lutheran view, but +they must be interpreted in conformity with the general teaching of the +Bible as outlined above. Among these texts is Ps. XXXI, 1 sq.: "Blessed +are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. +Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin, and in whose +spirit there is no guile."(891) The parallelism apparent in this verse +allows us to conclude that "covered" is used in the sense of "remitted" +and that "he to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin" is identical with the +man "in whose spirit there is no guile." The text manifestly refers to a +real _forgiveness_ of sins, for any sin that God "covers" and ceases to +"impute," must be blotted out and swept away, because "all things are +naked and open to the eyes" of the omniscient Creator.(892) + +Another favorite text of the Lutheran theologians is Rom. VII, 17: "Now +then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."(893) This +passage clearly refers to concupiscence, which remains in the sinner after +justification, but, according to Rom. VIII, 1 and James I, 14 sq., is not +truly and properly sin but merely called "sin"(894) by metonymy, +"because," in the words of the Tridentine Council, "it is of sin and +inclines to sin."(895) + +b) The Fathers of the Church, both Greek and Latin, unanimously teach that +justification effects the forgiveness of sins. + +St. Justin Martyr says: "By doing penance, all who desire it can obtain +mercy from God, and Scripture calls them blessed in saying: 'Blessed is he +to whom God hath not imputed sin,' which means that he receives +forgiveness of his sins from God, not as you, deceiving yourselves, and +others like you aver, that God does not impute [their] sin to them, though +they are [still] sinners."(896) Clement of Alexandria likens Baptism to "a +bath in which sins are washed off."(897) St. Gregory Nazianzen says: "It +is called Baptism [{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, from {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, to immerse] because the sin is +buried in water, ... and a bath ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}), because it washes off."(898) +St. Augustine indignantly opposes the erroneous opinion of the Pelagians +that Baptism does not take away sins but merely "trims them off." "Who but +an unbeliever," he exclaims, "can affirm this against the Pelagians? We +say, therefore, that Baptism gives remission of all sins and takes away +crimes, not merely trims them off (_radere_) in such wise that the roots +of all sins may be preserved in an evil flesh, as of hair trimmed on the +head, when the sins cut down may grow again."(899) Pope St. Gregory the +Great seems almost to have foreseen the heresy of the Protestant +Reformers, for he says: "But if there are any who say that in Baptism sins +are forgiven as to outward appearance only, what can be more un-Catholic +than such preaching?... He who says that sins are not completely forgiven +in Baptism might as well say that the Egyptians did not perish in the Red +Sea. But if he admits that the Egyptians actually died [in the Red Sea], +let him also admit that of necessity sins completely die in Baptism."(900) + +c) The theological argument may be briefly formulated as follows: We can +imagine but two reasons why God should not truly forgive us our sins in +the process of justification: inability and unwillingness. To say that He +is _unable_ to forgive us our sins would be to assert that the remission +of sin involves a metaphysical impossibility. This no Protestant will +admit, because all believe that "nothing defiled shall enter into +heaven."(901) To assert that God is _unwilling_ to forgive our sins would +be to contradict the plain teaching of Scripture, as set forth above. +Consequently there is no reason whatever for assuming that God does not +truly forgive us our sins in the process of justification. Furthermore, it +would be incompatible with His veracity and holiness to assume that He +merely declares the sinner to be "free from sin," without actually +cleansing his soul. It would be a contradiction to assert that a man whom +the truthful and all-holy God has declared free from sin, remains steeped +in iniquity. Cfr. Prov. XVII, 15: "He that justifieth the wicked [_i.e._ +absolves him from his sins], and he that condemneth the just, both are +abominable before God." + +According to Revelation the justification of the sinner is not a mere +change, with a privation for its _terminus a quo_(902) and an indifferent +form for its _terminus ad quem_, but involves a movement from extreme to +extreme, and hence the genesis of the one extreme must coincide with the +destruction of the other. Sin, being in contrary opposition to +righteousness, must depart when righteousness enters the soul.(903) + + +Article 2. The Positive Element Of Justification + + +1. HERETICAL ERRORS AND THE CHURCH.--Calvin held that justification +consists essentially and exclusively in the remission of sins.(904) The +other "Reformers" maintained that there must also be a positive element in +the process, but differed in determining its nature. + +a) The ambiguous language employed by Luther and Melanchthon gave rise to +many different opinions, which agreed only in one point, that is, in +holding, contrary to Catholic teaching, that the positive element of +justification is not inward sanctification or inherent righteousness +(_i.e._ sanctifying grace). Probably the view most common among the +supporters of the Augsburg Confession was that the sinner, by a "fiduciary +apprehension" of God's mercy, as proclaimed in the Gospel, "apprehends" +the extrinsic justice of Christ, and with it covers his sins, which are +thereupon no longer "imputed" to him. In other words, he is outwardly +accounted and declared righteous in the sight of God, though inwardly he +remains a sinner. With the exception of "_sola fides_" there was probably +no shibboleth in the sixteenth century so persistently dinned into the +ears of Catholics and Protestants alike as "_iustitia Christi extra nos_." +It is found in the _Apologia_ written in defence of the Augsburg +Confession(905) and recurs in the Formula of Concord.(906) According to +the "orthodox" Lutheran view, therefore, justification on its positive +side is a purely forensic and outward imputation of the righteousness of +Christ, which the sinner seizes with the arm of faith and puts on like a +cloak to hide the wounds of his soul.(907) + +b) Against this dismal heresy the Tridentine Council solemnly declared +that "Justification ... is not remission of sins merely, but also the +sanctification and renewal of the inward man through the voluntary +reception of the grace and of the gifts,"(908) and anathematized all those +who say that "men are justified either by the sole imputation of the +justice of Christ or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of +the grace and the charity which is poured forth in their hearts by the +Holy Ghost and is inherent in them, or even that the grace whereby we are +justified is only the favor of God."(909) + +In thus defining the doctrine of the Church, the Council did not, however, +mean to deny that the sinner is in a true sense "justified by the justice +of Christ,"--in so far namely, as our Lord has merited for us the grace of +justification. He merely wished to emphasize the fact that a sinner is not +_formaliter_ justified by the imputation of Christ's justice. For the sake +of greater clearness the various "causes" of justification are enumerated +as follows: "Of this justification the causes are these: the final cause +indeed is the glory of God and of Jesus Christ, and life everlasting; +while the efficient cause is a merciful God, who washes and sanctifies +gratuitously; ... but the meritorious cause is His most beloved +only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who ... merited justification +for us by His most holy Passion on the wood of the Cross; ... the +instrumental cause is the Sacrament of Baptism, which is the sacrament of +faith, without which no man was ever justified; lastly, the sole formal +cause is the justice of God, not that whereby He Himself is just, but that +whereby He maketh us just, that, to wit, with which we being endowed are +renewed in the spirit of our mind, and are not only reputed, but are truly +called, and are, just."(910) + +So important did the distinction between the _causa meritoria_ and the +_causa formalis_ of justification appear to the Fathers of Trent, that +they made it the subject of a separate canon, to wit: "If anyone saith +that men are just without the justice of Christ, whereby He merited for us +to be justified; or that it is by that justice itself that they are +formally just; let him be anathema."(911) Justification in the Catholic +sense, therefore, is not a mere outward imputation of the justice of +Christ, but a true inward renewal and sanctification wrought by a grace +intrinsically inhering in the soul. This grace theologians call the "grace +of justification." + +2. REFUTATION OF THE LUTHERAN THEORY OF IMPUTATION.--Nothing is so foreign +to both the spirit and the letter of Holy Scripture as the idea that +justification merely covers a man's sins with a cloak of justice and +leaves him unsanctified within. + +Justification is described in the Bible not only as a remission of +sins,(912) but likewise as the beginning of a new life,(913) a renewal of +the spirit,(914) a new creation,(915) a regeneration,(916) a supernatural +likeness of God,(917) etc. All these similes point to a permanent state of +sanctity in the soul of the just. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) The Lutheran theory of imputation can be most effectively refuted by an +analysis of the Scriptural term "regeneration" (_regeneratio_, +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}). "Unless a man be born again of water and the +Holy Ghost," says our Divine Lord, "he cannot enter into the kingdom of +God."(918) This spiritual rebirth wipes out sin and inwardly sanctifies +the soul. The regenerate sinner receives a new and godlike nature. That +this nature can be conceived in no other way than as a state of sanctity +and justice appears clearly from Tit. III, 5 sqq.: "Not by the works of +justice which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us, by +the laver of regeneration and renovation of the Holy Ghost, whom he hath +poured forth upon us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour: that, +being justified by His grace, we may be heirs, according to the hope of +life everlasting."(919) Both text and context show that the Apostle is +here speaking of the justification of adult sinners in Baptism, which he +describes as a "laver of regeneration and renovation" resulting in an +"outpouring of the Holy Ghost." These phrases plainly denote a positive +quality of the soul as well as a permanent interior grace. Regeneration +consists in the remission of sin through Baptism, and also, more +particularly, in man being made like God, _i.e._ becoming a child of +God,(920) while "renovation" means "putting off the old man"(921) and +"putting on the new."(922) The "outpouring of the Holy Ghost" effected by +Baptism is not, of course, an outpouring of the Hypostasis of the Third +Person of the Trinity, but of created grace, which re-forms the sinner and +makes him just.(923) This justifying grace must not be conceived as an +actual grace, much less as a series of actual graces, for it is not given +us merely as an aid in the performance of some particular act, but as a +new nature. Regeneration and renovation denote a state of being, as we can +plainly see in the case of baptized infants. It is for this reason that +the Apostle speaks of it as a lasting state;--that which theologians call +the _status gratiae sanctificantis_.(924) + +Closely akin to the notion of "regeneration" is that of "re-creation." +Justification renews the sinner inwardly and makes of him, so to speak, a +new creature, which has sloughed off sin and become just and holy in the +sight of God. Cfr. 2 Cor. V, 17: "If then any be in Christ a new creature, +the old things are passed away, behold all things are made new."(925) This +is all the more true since re-creation effects an "incorporation of man +with Christ," and is closely connected with "regeneration of God." Cfr. +James I, 18: "For of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of +truth, that we might be some beginning of his creature."(926) A comparison +with Gal. VI, 15 and Gal. V, 6 fully establishes it as a Biblical truth +that in the process of justification the sinner, through faith informed by +charity, is changed into a new creature. "For in Christ Jesus," says St. +Paul, "neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a +new creature."(927) And again: "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision +availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by +charity."(928) In both these texts the Jewish rite of circumcision is +rejected as useless and contrasted with justification, which by means of +the _fides formata_ gives birth to a "new creature." This is incompatible +with the Protestant notion that a man is justified by being declared +righteous in the sight of God, though he remains inwardly unchanged.(929) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) The Lutherans vainly appeal to the fact that Holy Scripture employs the +word "justify"(930) for the purpose of declaring a man to be just in a +purely forensic sense, as in Is. V, 23: "Who justify the wicked for +gifts." This proves nothing against the Catholic doctrine, which is based +entirely on texts that exclude the judicial meaning of the term and +plainly refer to inward sanctification.(931) + +The word "justification" also occurs in two other meanings in the Bible. +Ps. CXVIII, 8 and 26 it stands in the plural for the "law": "I will keep +thy justifications;"(932) and "Teach me thy justifications."(933) Apoc. +XXII, 11 and in a few other passages it signifies "growth" in interior +holiness, which theologians call _iustificatio secunda_.(934) + +The Lutherans are equally unfortunate in maintaining that St. Paul +countenances their theory when he speaks of "putting on Christ." Cfr. Gal. +III, 27: "For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on +Christ."(935) The Apostle in employing this simile does not mean to say +that justification consists in putting on an outward cloak of grace to +cover sins which inwardly endure, but precisely the contrary, _viz._: that +the sinner by being justified is inwardly cleansed from sin and becomes a +new creature and a child of God. This interpretation is supported by +various parallel texts(936) and by the staple of St. Paul's teaching. + +Another passage which the Lutherans cite in their favor is 1 Cor. I, 30: +"... who [Christ Jesus] of God is made unto us wisdom, and justice, and +sanctification, and redemption."(937) Christ is made unto us justice and +sanctification, in what sense? Manifestly in the same sense in which He is +made unto us wisdom of God, that is to say, in so far as He imparts to us +wisdom, which thereupon becomes our own, but not in the sense that the +wisdom of Christ is outwardly imputed to us. Note that St. Paul in this +and many other passages of his Epistles merely wishes to emphasize the +gratuity of the Redemption and of grace to the exclusion of all natural +merit on the part of man.(938) + +b) As regards the teaching of the Fathers, the "Reformers" themselves +admitted that it was against them.(939) + +We read in the Epistle of Barnabas, which was probably composed about A. +D. 100:(940) "Since then He made us new by the remission of sins, he made +us another type, that we should have the soul of children, as though He +were creating us afresh." + +The reason why St. Paul calls Baptism the "laver of regeneration" rather +than the laver of forgiveness, is explained by St. John Chrysostom(941) as +follows: "Because it [Baptism] not only remits our sins and wipes out our +misdeeds, but accomplishes all this in such a way as if we were born +anew;(942) for it entirely re-creates and re-forms us."(943) + +St. Ambrose regards innocence as the positive element of justification: +"After this [_i.e._ Baptism] you received a white robe, to indicate that +you stripped off the vesture of sin and put on the chaste garments of +innocence."(944) + +Harnack claims that St. Augustine first stemmed the current dogmatic +tradition and reshaped it by going back to St. Paul. Bellarmine(945) +refuted this audacious assertion long before it was rehashed by the German +rationalist. The Council of Trent was so thoroughly imbued with the +teaching of Augustine that its decrees and canons on justification read as +though they were lifted bodily from his writings. The great "Doctor of +Grace" flatly contradicts the Protestant theory of imputation in such +utterances as these: "He [St. Paul] does not say, 'the righteousness of +man,' ... but 'the righteousness of God,'--meaning not that whereby He is +Himself righteous, but that with which He endows man when He justifies the +ungodly.... The righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ, that is, +by the faith wherewith one believes in Christ. For _here_ is not meant the +faith with which Christ Himself believes, just as _there_ was not meant +the righteousness whereby God is Himself righteous. Both no doubt are +ours; but yet they are called [in one case] God's, and [in the other] +Christ's, because it is by their bounty that these gifts are bestowed upon +man."(946) Again: "When righteousness is given to us, it is not called our +own righteousness, but God's, because it becomes ours only so that we have +it from God."(947) Again: "The grace of God is called the righteousness of +God through our Lord Jesus Christ, not that by which the Lord is just, but +that by which He justifies those whom from unrighteous He makes +righteous."(948) Again: "The love of God is said to be shed abroad in our +hearts, not because He loves us, but because He makes us lovers of +Himself; just as the righteousness of God is used in the sense of our +being made righteous by His gift."(949) According to St. Augustine, +therefore, justification culminates in a true sanctification of the soul. +"When he [St. Paul] says: 'We are transformed into the same image,' he +assuredly means to speak of the image of God; and by calling it 'the +same,' he means that very image which we see in the glass,... and that we +pass from a form that is obscure to a form that is bright,... and this +[human] nature, being the most excellent among things created, is changed +from a form that is defaced into a form that is beautiful, when it is +justified by its Creator from ungodliness."(950) + +The Augustinian passages which we have quoted (and they are not by any +means all that could be quoted) enumerate the distinguishing marks of +sanctifying grace in so far as it is the formal cause of +justification.(951) + +c) The argument from Revelation can be reinforced by certain philosophical +considerations which show the absurdity of the imputation theory from the +standpoint of common sense. + +A man outwardly justified but inwardly a sinner would be a moral monster, +and Almighty God would be guilty of an intrinsic contradiction were He to +regard and treat such a one as just. This contradiction is not removed but +rather intensified by the Lutheran appeal to the extraneous justice of +Christ.(952) + +The incongruity of the Lutheran doctrine of justification becomes fully +apparent from the consequences which it involves, to wit: (1) all +Christians without distinction would possess exactly the same degree of +sanctity and justice; (2) justification once obtained by fiduciary faith +could not be lost except by the sin of unbelief; and (3) children would +not be justified by Baptism because they are not sufficiently advanced in +the use of reason to enable them to "apprehend" the external righteousness +of Christ. The first of these inferences runs counter to common sense and +experience. The second, which Luther clothed in the shameful exhortation, +"_Pecca fortiter et crede fortius et nihil nocebunt centum homicidia et +mille stupra_,"(953) is repugnant to the teaching of Scripture and +destructive of morality.(954) The third consistently led to the rejection +of infant baptism by the Anabaptists, the Mennonites, and other Protestant +sects. + +3. SANCTIFYING GRACE THE SOLE FORMAL CAUSE OF JUSTIFICATION.--In declaring +that "inherent grace" is the "sole formal cause of justification," the +Council of Trent(955) defined it as an article of faith that sanctifying +grace of itself is able to produce all the formal effects of +justification, _e.g._ forgiveness of sins, the sanctification of the +sinner, his adoption by God, etc.,(956) and consequently requires no +supplementary or contributory causes. In other words, justification is +wholly and fully accomplished by the infusion of sanctifying grace. + +a) It appears from the discussions preceding its sixth session that the +Tridentine Council not only meant to condemn the heretical contention of +Butzer that "inherent grace" must be supplemented by the "imputed justice +of Christ" as the really essential factor of justification,(957) but also +wished to reject the view of divers contemporary Catholic theologians(958) +that "intrinsic righteousness" is inadequate to effect justification +without a special _favor Dei externus_.(959) In this the Fathers of the +Council were on Scriptural ground. The principal effects of +justification,--forgiveness of sins and internal sanctification,--are both +produced by sanctifying grace. Sacred Scripture is perfectly clear on this +point. It represents sin as opposed to grace in the same way in which +darkness is opposed to light,(960) life to death,(961) the new man to the +old.(962) The one necessarily excludes the other. Sanctifying grace and +sin cannot co-exist in the same subject. + +Internal sanctification may be defined as a permanent, vital union with +God, by which the soul becomes righteous and holy in His sight and obtains +a claim to Heaven. That this is also a function of sanctifying grace +appears from those Scriptural texts which treat of the positive element of +justification.(963) With this doctrine Tradition is in perfect accord, and +consequently the Fathers of Trent were right in teaching as they did, in +fact they could not have taught otherwise.(964) + +b) While all Catholic theologians admit the incompatibility of grace and +sin in the same subject, they differ as to the kind and degree of +opposition existing between the two. Some hold that this opposition is +purely moral, others that it is physical, again others that it is +metaphysical. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) Nominalists(965) and Scotists(966) before the Tridentine decision +maintained that the distinction between sanctifying grace and (original or +mortal) sin is based on a free decree of the Almighty, and therefore +purely moral. God, they held, by a _favor externus superadditus_, +externally supplies what sanctifying grace internally lacks, just as a +government's stamp raises the value of a coin beyond the intrinsic worth +of the bullion. Followed to its legitimate conclusions, this shallow +theory means that sanctifying grace is of itself insufficient to wipe out +sin, and that, but for the superadded divine favor, grace and sin might +co-exist in the soul. This is tantamount to saying that justification +requires a twofold formal cause, _viz._: sanctifying grace and a _favor +Dei superadditus_,--which runs counter to the teaching of Trent. Henno +tries to escape this objection by explaining that the _favor Dei +acceptans_ appertains not to the formal but merely to the efficient cause +of justification. But this contention is manifestly untenable. Sanctifying +grace is either able to wipe out sin, or it is unable: if it is unable to +produce this effect, the _favor Dei acceptans_ must be part of the _causa +formalis_ of justification, and then, in Henno's hypothesis, we should +have a _duplex causa formalis_, which contradicts the Tridentine decree. +If, on the other hand, sanctifying grace is able to wipe out sin without +any _favor superadditus_, then the Scotistic theory has no _raison +d'etre_. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) From what we have said it follows that there must be at least a +physical contrariety between grace and sin. The difference between +physical and metaphysical opposition may be illustrated by the example of +fire and water. These two elements are incompatible by a law of nature. +But as there is no metaphysical contradiction between them, Almighty God +could conceivably bring them together. It is this physical kind of +opposition that Suarez and a few of his followers assume to exist between +grace and sin. Absolutely speaking, they say, there is no intrinsic +contradiction in the assumption that God could preserve the physical +entity of sanctifying grace in a soul guilty of mortal sin.(967) In so far +as this school admits the existence of an internal opposition, which +actually prevents original or mortal sin from ever co-existing in the soul +with justifying grace, its teaching may be said to be acceptable to all +Catholic theologians. The Scotistic view, on account of its +incompatibility with the teaching of the Tridentine Council, is no longer +held. + +It may be questioned, however, whether Suarez goes far enough in this +matter, and whether the opposition between grace and sin could really be +overcome by a miracle. The simultaneous co-existence of grace and sin +seems to involve an absolute, _i.e._ metaphysical, contradiction. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}) This is what the Thomists maintain with the majority of Jesuit +theologians.(968) As some subtle objections have been raised against this +view, it cannot be accepted as theologically certain; but it undoubtedly +corresponds better than its opposite to the spirit and letter of +Scripture. The Bible, as we have already pointed out, likens the +opposition existing between grace and sin to that between life and +death,(969) justice and injustice, Christ and Belial, God and an +idol.(970) But these are contradictories, _ergo_.(971) The same conclusion +can be reached by arguing from the character of sanctifying grace as a +_participatio divinae naturae_.(972) If grace is a participation in the +divine nature, it must be opposed to sin in the same way in which God +Himself is opposed to it. Now God as the All-Holy One is metaphysically +opposed to sin; consequently, the same kind of opposition must exist +between sanctifying grace and sin. + +It is alleged against this teaching that between habitual grace and +habitual sin there is merely a disparate opposition, _i.e._ that of a +physical to a moral form, the concepts of which are not mutually +exclusive. But sanctifying grace is more than a physical ornament of the +soul; it is an ethical form which has for its essential function to render +the soul holy and righteous in the sight of God.(973) + + + READINGS:--St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 113, and the + commentators, especially Billuart, _De Gratia_, diss. 7, art. 1 + sqq.; *Bellarmine, _De Iustificatione_, l. II (_Opera Omnia_, ed. + Fevre, Vol. VI, pp. 208 sqq., Paris 1873). + + Besides the current text-books cfr. *Jos. Wieser, _S. Pauli + Apostoli Doctrina de Iustificatione_, Trent 1874; H. Th. Simar, + _Die Theologie des hl. Paulus_, 2nd ed., §33 sqq. Freiburg 1883. + + On the Protestant notion of justification cfr. Moehler, _Symbolik_, + §10 sqq., Mainz 1890 (Robertson's translation, pp. 82 sqq., 5th + ed., London 1906); _Realenzyklopaedie fuer prot. Theologie_, Vol. + XVI, 3rd ed., pp. 482 sqq., Leipzig 1905 (summarized in English in + the _New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge_, Vol. + VI, pp. 275 sqq., New York 1910); Card. Newman, _Lectures on the + Doctrine of Justification_, 8th impression, London 1900; J. + Mausbach, _Catholic Moral Teaching and its Antagonists_, New York + 1914, pp. 150 sqq.--B. J. Otten, S. J., _A Manual of the History of + Dogmas_, Vol. II, St. Louis 1918, pp. 246 sqq., 464 sq., 470 sqq. + + + +Section 2. Justifying Or Sanctifying Grace + + +Sanctifying grace is defined by Deharbe as "an unmerited, supernatural +gift, imparted to the soul by the Holy Ghost, by which we are made just, +children of God, and heirs of Heaven." As it makes sinners just, +sanctifying grace is also called justifying, though this appellation can +not be applied to the sanctification of our first parents in Paradise or +to that of the angels and the sinless soul of Christ. Justification, as we +have shown, consists in the infusion of sanctifying grace, and hence it is +important that we obtain a correct idea of the latter. We will therefore +consider (1) The Nature of Sanctifying Grace, (2) Its Effects in the Soul, +and (3) Its Supernatural Concomitants. + + +Article 1. The Nature Of Sanctifying Grace + + +1. SANCTIFYING GRACE A "PERMANENT QUALITY" OF THE SOUL.--Having no +intuitive knowledge of sanctifying grace, we are obliged, in order to +obtain an idea of its true nature, to study its effects, as made known to +us by Revelation. Sacred Scripture and the teaching of the Church do, +however, enable us to form certain well-defined conclusions, of which the +most important is that sanctifying grace must be conceived as a permanent +quality (_qualitas permanens_) of the soul. If it is a permanent quality, +sanctifying grace cannot be identical with actual grace or with "uncreated +grace," _i.e._ the Person of the Holy Ghost. + +a) In conformity with such Biblical expressions as "the new life," +"renovation of the spirit," "regeneration," "divine sonship," etc., the +Council of Trent defines justifying grace as a supernatural something +"infused" into and "inherent" in the soul. Both ideas denote a permanent +state, not a mere transient act or the result of such acts. "The charity +of God is poured forth by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those that are +justified, and is inherent therein."(974) "That justice which is called +ours, because we are justified from its being inherent in us, that same is +(the justice of God) because it is infused into us by God, through the +merit of Christ."(975) "If any one saith that men are justified ... to the +exclusion of the grace and the charity which is poured forth in their +hearts by the Holy Ghost and is inherent in them,... let him be +anathema."(976) Hence Justification is defined by the Fathers of Trent as +"a translation ... to the state of grace and adoption of the sons of +God."(977) + +Before the Tridentine Council a number of theologians held that +sanctifying grace consists in some particular actual grace or in a +consecutive series of actual graces. This view is incompatible with the +definition just quoted; in fact Suarez, Bellarmine, Ripalda, and others +regard it as positively heretical or at least intolerably rash. During the +preliminary debates at Trent some of the Fathers asked for an express +declaration of the Council to the effect that justification is wrought by +the instrumentality of an infused habit; but their request was set aside +on the ground that the nature of justifying grace as a stable habit is +sufficiently indicated by the word "_inhaeret_."(978) + +That sanctifying grace is a permanent state of the soul may also be +inferred from the Catholic teaching that the grace which Baptism imparts +to children does not differ essentially from that which it imparts to +adults. True, this teaching was not always regarded as certain;(979) but +at the Ecumenical Council of Vienne, A. D. 1311, Pope Clement V declared +it to be "the more probable opinion,"(980) and it was rendered absolutely +certain by the Tridentine decision that infant Baptism results not only in +the remission of sins, but likewise in an infusion of sanctifying grace. +This being so, there can be no essential difference between the +justification of children and that of adults. Now it cannot be actual +grace which renders children righteous in the sight of God, for they are +unable to avail themselves of actual grace on account of the undeveloped +state of their intellect. The grace that Baptism imparts to them is +consequently a _gratia inhaerens et informans_, that is, a permanent state +of grace; and it must be the same in adults.(981) + +Peter Lombard(982) identified sanctifying grace with the _gratia +increata_, _i.e._ the Person of the Holy Ghost. This notion was combatted +by St. Thomas(983) and implicitly rejected by the Tridentine Council when +it declared that sanctifying grace inheres in the soul and may be +increased by good works.(984) To say that the Holy Ghost is poured forth +in the hearts of men, or that He may be increased by good works, would +evidently savor of Pantheism. The Holy Ghost pours forth sanctifying grace +and is consequently not the formal but the efficient cause of +justification.(985) + +b) The _gratia inhaerens permanens_ is not a mere relation or _denominatio +extrinseca_, but a positive entity productive of real effects,(986) and +must consequently be conceived either as a substance or as an accident. We +have shown that it is not identical with the uncreated substance of the +Holy Ghost. Neither can it be a created substance. The idea of an +intrinsically supernatural created substance involves a +contradiction.(987) Moreover, sanctifying grace in its nature and purpose +is not an entity independently co-existing with the soul but something +physically inherent in it. Now, a thing which has its existence by +inhering in some other thing is in philosophic parlance an "accident." St. +Thomas expressly teaches that, "since it transcends human nature, grace +cannot be a substance nor a substantial form, but is an accidental form of +the soul itself."(988) Agreeable to this conception is the further +Thomistic teaching that sanctifying grace is not directly created by God, +but drawn (_educta_) from the _potentia obedientialis_ of the soul.(989) +Not even the Scotists, though they held grace to be created out of +nothing(990) claimed that it was a new substance. + +An accident that inheres in a substance permanently and physically is +called a quality (_qualitas_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}). Consequently, sanctifying grace +must be defined as a supernatural quality of the soul. This is the express +teaching of the Roman Catechism: "Grace ... is a divine quality inherent +in the soul, and, as it were, a certain splendor and light that effaces +all the stains of our souls and renders the souls themselves brighter and +more beautiful."(991) + +2. SANCTIFYING GRACE AN INFUSED HABIT.--Sanctifying grace may more +specifically, though with a lesser degree of certainty, be described as a +habit (_habitus_). Being entitatively supernatural, this habit must be +infused or "drawn out" by the Holy Ghost. + +a) Aristotle(992) distinguishes four different sets of qualities: (1) +habit and disposition; (2) power and incapacity; (3) _passio_ (the power +of causing sensations) and _patibilis qualitas_ (result of the +modification of sense); (4) figure and circumscribing form (of extended +bodies). As sanctifying grace manifestly cannot come under one of the +three last-mentioned heads, it must be either a habit or a disposition. +Habit denotes a permanent and comparatively stable quality, by which a +substance, considered as to its nature or operation, is well or ill +adapted to its natural end.(993) As a permanently inhering quality, +sanctifying grace must be a habit. Hence its other name, "habitual grace." +The Scholastics draw a distinction between entitative and operative +habits. An operative habit (_habitus operativus_) gives not only the power +(_potentia_) to act, but also a certain facility, and may be either good, +bad, or indifferent. An entitative habit (_habitus entitativus_) is an +inherent quality by which a substance is rendered permanently good or bad, +_e.g._ beauty, ugliness, health, disease. + +Philosophy knows only operative habits. But sanctifying grace affects the +very substance of the soul. Hence the supplementary theological category +of entitative habits. "Grace," says St. Thomas, "belongs to the first +species of quality, though it cannot properly be called a habit, because +it is not immediately ordained to action, but to a kind of spiritual +being, which it produces in the soul."(994) There is another reason why +grace cannot be called a habit in the philosophical sense of the term:--it +supplies no acquired facility to act. This consideration led Suarez to +abstain altogether from the use of the term "habit" in connection with +grace,(995) and induced Cardinal Bellarmine to describe sanctifying grace +as a _qualitas per modum habitus_,(996) by which phrase he wished to +indicate that it imparts a supernatural perfection of being rather than a +facility to act. To obviate these and similar subtleties the Council of +Trent defined sanctifying grace simply as a permanent quality. + +Nevertheless scientific theology employs the term _habitus_ because it has +no other philosophical category ready to hand. This defect in the +Aristotelian system is somewhat surprising in view of the fact that +besides the supernatural, there are distinctly natural qualities which +"belong to the first species," though they impart no facility to act but +merely a disposition to certain modes of being, _e.g._ beauty, health, +etc. + +There is also a positive reason which justifies the definition of +sanctifying grace as a habit. It is that grace imparts to the soul, if not +the facility, at least the power to perform supernaturally meritorious +acts, so that it is really more than a _habitus entitativus_, namely, a +_habitus_ (at least remotely) _operativus_.(997) + +b) The Scholastic distinction between native and acquired habits does not +apply in the supernatural domain, because the supernatural by its very +definition can never be either a part or an acquisition of mere +nature.(998) It follows from this that supernatural habits, both +entitative and operative, can be imparted to the human soul in no other +way than by infusion (or excitation) from above. Hence the name _habitus +infusus_. When the Holy Ghost infuses sanctifying grace, the _habitus +entitativus_ imparts to the soul a supernatural principle of being, while +the _habitus operativus_ confers upon it a supernatural power, which by +faithful cooeperation with (actual) grace may be developed into a facility +to perform salutary acts. Hence, if we adopt the division of habits into +entitative and operative, sanctifying grace must be defined first as an +entitative habit (_habitus entitativus_), because it forms the groundwork +of permanent righteousness, sanctity, divine sonship, etc.; and, secondly, +as an infused habit, because it is not born in the soul and cannot be +acquired by practice. This view is in accord with Sacred Scripture, which +describes the grace of justification as a divine seed abiding in man,(999) +a treasure carried in earthen vessels,(1000) a regeneration by which the +soul becomes the abode of God(1001) and a temple of the Holy Ghost.(1002) + +3. THE CONTROVERSY REGARDING THE ALLEGED IDENTITY OF SANCTIFYING GRACE AND +CHARITY.--As justifying grace and theological love (charity) are both +infused habits, the question arises as to their objective identity. The +answer will depend on the solution of the problem, just treated, whether +sanctifying grace is primarily an entitative or an operative habit. Of +theological love we know that it is essentially an operative habit, being +one, and indeed the chief of the "three theological virtues." What we have +said in the preceding paragraph will enable the reader to perceive, at the +outset, that there is a real distinction between grace and charity, and +that consequently the two can not be identical. + +a) Nevertheless there is an imposing school of theologians who maintain +the identity of grace with charity. They are Scotus(1003) and his +followers,(1004) Cardinal Bellarmine,(1005) Molina, Lessius, Salmeron, +Vasquez, Sardagna, Tournely, and others. Their principal argument is that +Holy Scripture ascribes active justification indiscriminately to +theological love and sanctifying grace, and that some of the Fathers +follow this example. Here are a few of the Scriptural texts quoted in +favor of this opinion. Luke VII, 47: "Many sins are forgiven her, because +she hath loved much."(1006) 1 Pet. IV, 8: "Charity covereth a multitude of +sins."(1007) 1 John IV, 7: "Every one that loveth is born of God."(1008) +St. Augustine seems to identify the two habits in such passages as the +following: "Inchoate love, therefore, is inchoate righteousness; ... great +love is great righteousness; perfect love is perfect righteousness."(1009) +According to the Tridentine Council, "the justification of the impious" +takes place when "the charity of God is poured forth ... in the hearts of +those that are justified, and is inherent therein."(1010) It is argued +that, if charity and grace produce the same effects, they must be +identical as causes, and there can be at most a virtual distinction +between them. This argument is strengthened by the observation that +sanctifying grace and theological love constitute the supernatural life of +the soul and the loss of either entails spiritual death. + +These arguments prove that grace and charity are inseparable, but nothing +more. All the Scriptural and Patristic passages cited can be explained +without recourse to the hypothesis that they are identical. Charity is not +superfluous alongside of sanctifying grace, because the primary object of +grace is to impart supernatural being, whereas charity confers a special +faculty which enables the intellect and the will to elicit supernatural +salutary acts. + +b) The majority of Catholic theologians(1011) hold with St. Thomas(1012) +and his school that grace and charity, while inseparable, are really +distinct, sanctifying grace as a _habitus entitativus_ imparting to the +soul a supernatural being, whereas charity, being purely a _habitus +operativus_, confers a supernatural power. + +Let us put the matter somewhat differently. Grace inheres in the substance +of the soul, while charity has its seat in one of its several faculties. +Inhering in the very substance of the soul, grace, by a physical or moral +power, produces the three theological virtues--faith, hope, and love. "As +the soul's powers, which are the wellsprings of its acts, flow from its +essence," says the Angelic Doctor, "so the theological virtues flow from +grace into the faculties of the soul and move them to act."(1013) And St. +Augustine: "Grace precedes charity."(1014) + +This is a more plausible view than the one we have examined a little +farther up, and it can claim the authority of Scripture, which, though it +occasionally identifies the effects of grace and charity, always clearly +distinguishes the underlying habits. Cfr. 2 Cor. XIII, 13: "The grace of +our Lord Jesus Christ and the charity of God."(1015) 1 Tim. I 14: "The +grace of our Lord hath abounded exceedingly with faith and love."(1016) +Furthermore, "regeneration" and "new-creation" in Biblical usage affect +not only the faculties of the soul, but its substance. Finally, many +councils consistently distinguish between _gratia_ and _caritas_ (_dona_, +_virtutes_)--a distinction which has almost the force of a proof that grace +and charity are not the same thing.(1017) These councils cannot have had +in mind a purely virtual distinction, because theological love presupposes +sanctifying grace in exactly the same manner as a faculty presupposes a +substance or nature in which it exists. The Roman Catechism expressly +designates the theological virtues as "concomitants of grace."(1018) + +The question nevertheless remains an open one, as neither party can fully +establish its claim, and the Church has never rendered an official +decision either one way or the other.(1019) + +4. SANCTIFYING GRACE A PARTICIPATION OF THE SOUL IN THE DIVINE NATURE.--The +highest and at the same time the most profound conception of sanctifying +grace is that it is a real, though of course only accidental and +analogical, participation of the soul in the nature of God. That +sanctifying grace makes us "partakers of the divine nature" is of faith, +but the manner in which it effects this participation admits of different +explanations. + +a) The fact itself can be proved from Sacred Scripture. Cfr. 2 Pet. I, 4: +"By whom [Christ] He [the Father] hath given us great and precious +promises: that by these you may be made partakers of the divine +nature."(1020) To this text may be added all those which affirm the +regeneration of the soul in God, because regeneration, being a new birth, +must needs impart to the regenerate the nature of his spiritual +progenitor. Cfr. John I, 13: "Who are born, not of blood, ... but of +God."(1021) John III, 5: "Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy +Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven."(1022) St. James I, 18: +"For of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth."(1023) 1 +John III, 9: "Whosoever is born of God, committeth no sin."(1024) + +The Fathers of the Church again and again extol the deification +(_deificatio_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) of man effected by sanctifying grace and compare +the union of the soul with God to the commingling of water with wine, the +penetration of iron by fire, etc. St. Athanasius(1025) begins his +Christological teaching with the declaration: "He was not, therefore, +first man and then God, but first God and then man, in order that He might +rather deify us."(1026) St. Augustine describes the process of deification +as follows: "He justifies who is just of Himself, not from another; and He +deifies who is God of Himself, not by participation in another. But He who +justifies also deifies, because He makes [men] sons of God through +justification.... We have been made sons of God and gods; but this is a +grace of the adopting [God], not the nature of the progenitor. The Son of +God alone is God; ... the others who are made gods are made gods by His +grace; they are not born of His substance, so as to become that which He +is, but in order that they may come to Him by favor and become co-heirs +with Christ."(1027) The idea underlying this passage has found its way +into the liturgy of the Mass,(1028) and Ripalda is justified in declaring +that it cannot be denied without rashness.(1029) + +b) In trying to explain in what manner grace enables us to partake of the +divine nature, it is well to keep in view the absolutely supernatural +character of sanctifying grace and the impossibility of any deification of +the creature in the strict sense of the term. The truth lies between these +two extremes. + +A few medieval mystics(1030) and modern Quietists(1031) were guilty of +exaggeration when they taught that grace transforms the human soul into +the substance of the Godhead, thus completely merging the creature in its +Creator. This contention(1032) leads to Pantheism. How can the soul be +merged in the Creator, since it continues to be subject to concupiscence? +"We have therefore," says St. Augustine, "even now begun to be like Him, +as we have the first-fruits of the Spirit; but yet even now we are unlike +Him, by reason of the old nature which leaves its remains in us. In as +far, then, as we are like Him, in so far are we, by the regenerating +Spirit, sons of God; but in as far as we are unlike Him, in so far are we +the children of the flesh and of this world."(1033) + +On the other hand it would be underestimating the power of grace to say +that it effects a merely external and moral participation of the soul in +the divine nature, similar to that by which those who embraced the faith +of Abraham were called "children of Abraham," and those who commit heinous +crimes are called "sons of the devil." According to the Fathers(1034) and +theologians, to "partake of the divine nature" means to become internally +and physically like God and to receive from Him truly divine gifts, _i.e._ +such as are proper to God alone and absolutely transcend the order of +nature.(1035) Being self-existing, absolutely independent, and infinite, +God cannot, of course, be regarded as the formal cause of created +sanctity; yet the strictly supernatural gifts which He confers on His +creatures, especially the beatific vision and sanctifying grace, can be +conceived only _per modum causae formalis_ (not _informantis_), because +through them God gives Himself to the creature in such an intimate way +that the creature is raised up to and transfigured by Him.(1036) +Consequently, the so-called _deificatio_ of the soul by grace is not a +real deification, but an assimilation of the creature to God.(1037) + +c) Which one of God's numerous attributes forms the basis of the +supernatural communication made to the soul in the bestowal of grace, is a +question on which theologians differ widely. The so-called incommunicable +attributes, (self-existence, immensity, eternity, etc.), of course, cannot +be imparted to the creature except by way of a hypostatic union.(1038) + +Gonet(1039) misses the point at issue, therefore, when He declares the +essential characteristic of deification to be the communication to the +creature of the divine attributes of self-existence and infinity. +Self-existence is absolutely incommunicable.(1040) Somewhat more +plausible, though hardly acceptable, is Ripalda's opinion that deification +formally consists in the participation of the creature in the holiness of +the Creator, particularly in the supernatural vital communion of the soul +with God in faith, hope, and charity, thus making sanctifying grace the +_radix totius honestatis moralis_.(1041) While it is perfectly true that +the supernatural life of the soul is a life in and through God, and that +the very concept of sanctifying grace involves a peculiar and special +relation of the soul to God, the Biblical term {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} +points to a still deeper principle of the sanctifying _vita deiformis_. +This principle, as some of the Fathers intimate, and St. Thomas expressly +teaches,(1042) is the absolute intellectuality of God. Hence the object of +sanctifying grace is to impart to the soul in a supernatural manner such a +degree of intellectuality as is necessary to perceive the absolute +Spirit--here on earth in the obscurity of faith, and in the life beyond by +the _lumen gloriae_.(1043) This view is to a certain extent confirmed by +Sacred Scripture, which describes the regeneration of the sinner as a +birth of spirit from spirit.(1044) It is also held by some of the Fathers, +who attribute to sanctifying grace both a deifying and a spiritualizing +power. Thus St. Basil(1045) says: "The spirit-bearing souls, illuminated +by the Holy Ghost, themselves become spiritual(1046) and radiate grace to +others. Hence ... to become like unto God,(1047) is the highest of all +goals: to become God."(1048) Finally, since the Holy Ghost, as the highest +exponent of the spirituality of the divine nature, by His personal +indwelling crowns and consummates both the regeneration of the soul and +its assimilation to God, there is a strong theological probability in +favor of Suarez's view. Of course the process does not attain its climax +until the creature is finally admitted to the beatific vision in Heaven. +Cfr. 1 John III, 2: "We are now the sons of God, and it hath not yet +appeared what we shall be. We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be +like to Him, because we shall see Him as He is."(1049) + + +Article 2. The Effects Of Sanctifying Grace + + +We shall better understand the nature of sanctifying grace by studying +what are known as its "formal effects." As the _causa efficiens_ of a +thing is commonly farther removed from our mental grasp than its effects, +we are ordinarily more familiar with the latter than with the former. For +this reason the glories of divine grace can be best explained to children +and to the faithful in general by describing the effects it produces in +the soul.(1050) + +1. SANCTITY.--The first among the formal effects of sanctifying grace (an +effect connoted by its very name) is sanctity. Eph. IV, 24: "Put on the +new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of +truth."(1051) The Tridentine Council explicitly mentions sanctity as an +effect of sanctifying grace: "Justification ... is not remission of sins +merely, but also the sanctification and renewal of the inward man through +the voluntary reception of the grace and of the gifts whereby man from +unjust becomes just."(1052) It follows that the two elements of active +justification, _viz._: remission of sin and sanctification, are also +constitutive elements of habitual or sanctifying grace. For it is +precisely by the infusion of sanctifying grace that sin is wiped out and +sanctity established in its place.(1053) + +a) By sanctifying grace the justified man becomes a living member +(_membrum vivum_) of the mystical body of Christ. His sins, it is true, +did not forfeit membership in the Church, so long as he preserved the +faith, but by sinning he became a dead member who can regain life only by +returning to the state of grace. Grace is the life of the soul, sin its +death. Hence the evil of mortal sin can be most effectively illustrated by +contrast with the glory of divine grace, and _vice versa_. Cfr. Gal. II, +20: "And I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me."(1054) + +b) He who hates mortal sin and faithfully obeys the will of God, enjoys +peace of heart,(1055) whereas the sinner is incessantly harassed by qualms +of conscience. The faithful Christian rejoices in serving His Master and +combats the flesh, the world, and the devil with a fortitude that not +infrequently rises to heroic proportions, as the example of many holy men +and women proves. + +c) Sanctifying grace entails a particular providence, inasmuch as, by +means of it, God grants man His special assistance towards preserving the +state of grace, without, of course, interfering with free-will. Cfr. Is. +XLIX, 16: "Behold, I have graven thee in my hands."(1056) Rom. VIII, 28: +"... to them that love God, all things work together unto good."(1057) +Mediately, God also proves his special love for the just man by shielding +him from bodily and spiritual danger. + +2. SUPERNATURAL BEAUTY.--Though we can quote no formal ecclesiastical +definition to prove that sanctifying grace beautifies the soul, the fact +is sufficiently certain from Revelation. If, as is quite generally held by +Catholic exegetes, the Spouse of the Canticle typifies the human soul +endowed with sanctifying grace, all the passages describing the beauty of +that Spouse must be applicable to the souls of those whom Christ embraces +with His tender love. The Fathers of the Church frequently extol the +supernatural beauty of the soul in the state of grace. Ambrose calls it "a +splendid painting made by God Himself;" Chrysostom compares it to "a +statue of gold;" Cyril, to "a divine seal;" Basil, to "a shining light," +and so forth. St. Thomas says: "Divine grace beautifies [the soul] like +light,"(1058) and the Roman Catechism declares: "Grace ... is a certain +splendor and light that effaces all the stains of our souls and renders +the souls themselves brighter and more beautiful."(1059) + +In defining beauty as "the representation of an idea in a sensual form," +modern aesthetics has eliminated the spiritual element and in consequence +is unable to appreciate the spiritual beauty of God and of the soul. Being +composed of body and soul, man is naturally most impressed by beauty when +it appears in a material guise. But this does not prove that there is no +spiritual beauty, or that true beauty abides solely in matter. Some +present-day writers strongly emphasize the need of realism as against an +idealism which, they claim, is not truly human because it exalts the +spiritual at the expense of the material. In its last conclusions this +perverted realism harks back to the sophistry of Protagoras who held that +"man is the measure of all things."(1060) Idealism, on the other hand, is +based on the true Platonic doctrine that God is the measure of all +things.(1061) St. Augustine defines beauty as "unity in variety," which is +a correct definition, because it is adaptable to both the spiritual and +the material order.(1062) Applying this definition we find that the soul +is not only naturally beautiful by the substantial unity and simplicity +which shines forth in the variety of its faculties and powers, but also +supernaturally by virtue of sanctifying grace, which transfuses nature +into a new unity with the supernatural,--at the same time producing a +variety of theological and moral virtues and the seven gifts of the Holy +Ghost, and thus creating a true work of art. Moreover, by enabling man to +participate in the Divine Nature,(1063) grace produces in the soul a +physical reflection of the uncreated beauty of God, a likeness of the +creature with its Creator, which far transcends the natural likeness +imprinted by creation. True, only God and the Elect in Heaven perceive and +enjoy this celestial beauty; but we terrestrial pilgrims can, as it were, +sense it from afar and indulge the hope that we may one day be privileged +to contemplate and enjoy the divine beauty that envelops the souls endowed +with grace. + +The beauty produced by sanctifying grace must be conceived not merely as a +reflection of the absolute nature of God, who is the pattern-exemplar of +all beauty, but more specifically as an image of the Trinity impressed +upon the soul. St. Paul teaches that the soul is transformed into an image +of the Divine Logos, to whom, as the holy Fathers tell us, beauty is +appropriated in an especial manner.(1064) Cfr. Rom. VIII, 29: "Whom he +foreknew, he also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his +Son."(1065) Gal. IV, 19: "My little children, of whom I am in labor again, +until Christ be formed in you."(1066) In virtue of the adoptive sonship +effected by grace,(1067) the soul becomes a true "temple of the Holy +Ghost."(1068) + +3. THE FRIENDSHIP OF GOD.--Closely connected with the beauty which +sanctifying grace confers, is the supernatural friendship it establishes +between God and the soul. True beauty elicits love and benevolence. By +nature man is merely a servant of God; in fact, since the fall, he is His +enemy. Sanctifying grace transforms this hostile relation into genuine +friendship. By grace, says the Council of Trent, "man of unjust becomes +just, and of an enemy a friend."(1069) And again: "Having been thus +justified and made the friends and domestics of God."(1070) God loves the +just man as His intimate friend and enables and impels him, by means of +habitual grace and habitual charity, to reciprocate that love with all his +heart. Here we have the two constituent elements of friendship. The Bible +frequently speaks of friendship existing between God and the just. Cfr. +Wisd. VII, 14: "They [the just] become the friends of God."(1071) John XV, +14 sq.: "I will not now call you servants, ... but I have called you +friends."(1072) This friendship is sometimes compared to a mystic +marriage. Cfr. Matth. IX, 15: "And Jesus said to them: Can the children of +the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them?"(1073) Apoc. +XIX, 7: "The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath prepared +herself."(1074) + +a) Friendship ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}), according to Aristotle,(1075) is "the conscious +love of benevolence of two persons for each other." Hence, to constitute +friendship, there must be (1) two or more distinct persons; (2) pure love +of benevolence _(amor benevolentiae_, not _concupiscentiae_), because only +unselfish love can truly unite hearts; (3) mutual consciousness of +affection, because without a consciousness of the existing relation on +both sides there would be merely one-sided benevolence, not friendship. It +follows that true friendship is based on virtue and that a relation not +based on virtue can be called friendship in a qualified or metaphorical +sense only (_amicitia utilis, delectabilis_). + +From what we have said it is easy to deduce the essential characteristics +of true friendship. They are: (1) benevolence; (2) love consciously +entertained by both parties; (3) a mutual exchange of goods or community +of life; (4) equality of rank or station. The first condition is based on +the fact that a true friend will not seek his own interest, but that of +his friend. It is to be noted, however, that one's joy at the presence or +prosperity of a friend must not be inspired by selfishness or sensual +desire, for in that case there would be no true friendship.(1076) The +second condition is based on the necessity of friendship being mutual +love, for friendship is not a one-sided affection, nor does it spend +itself in mutual admiration. The third condition is necessary for the +reason that love, if it is to be more than "Platonic," must result in acts +of benevolence and good will.(1077) Of the fourth condition St. Jerome +says: "Friendship finds men equal or makes them equal."(1078) + +b) All these conditions are found in the friendship with which Almighty +God deigns to honor those who are in the state of sanctifying grace. + +(1) That God loves the just man with a love of pure benevolence and +eagerly seeks his companionship, is proved by the mysteries of the +Incarnation and the Holy Eucharist. Cfr. Prov. VIII, 31: "And my delight +[is] to be with the children of men."(1079) + +(2) The just man is enabled to return God's love by the habit of +theological charity, which is inseparably bound up with and spontaneously +flows from sanctifying grace.(1080) God's consciousness of this mutual +love is, of course, based on certain knowledge, whereas man can have +merely a probable conjecture. This, however, suffices to establish a true +friendship, as the example of human friends shows.(1081) + +(3) There is also community of life and property between God and man when +the latter is in the state of sanctifying grace; for not only is he +indebted to God for his very nature and all natural favors which he +enjoys, but likewise and especially for the supernatural blessings +bestowed upon him.(1082) On his own part, it is true, he cannot give his +Benefactor anything in return which that Benefactor does not already +possess; but the just man is ever eager to further God's external +glorification, agreeable to the first petition of the Our Father: +"Hallowed by Thy name."(1083) God has furthermore given him a kind of +substitute for operative charity in the love of his neighbor, which has +precisely the same formal object as the love of God. Cfr. 1 John III, 17: +"He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in +need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of God +abide in him?"(1084) + +(4) There can be no real equality between God and the human soul, but God +in His infinite goodness, elevating the soul to a higher plane and +allowing it to participate in His own nature,(1085) makes possible an +_amicitia excellentiae s. eminentiae_, which is sufficient to constitute a +true relation of friendship. Without this elevation of the soul by grace +there could be no friendship between God and man.(1086) + +4. ADOPTIVE SONSHIP.--The formal effects of sanctifying grace culminate in +the elevation of man to the rank of an adopted child of God (_filius Dei +adoptivus_), with a claim to the paternal inheritance, _i.e._ the beatific +vision in Heaven. This truth is so clearly stated in Scripture and +Tradition that its denial would be heretical. The Tridentine Council +summarily describes justification as "the state of grace and of the +adoption of the sons of God,"(1087) The teaching of Holy Scripture can be +gathered from such texts as the following. Rom. VIII, 15 sqq.: "... You +have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba +(Father). For the spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we +are the sons of God. And if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and +joint heirs with Christ."(1088) 1 John III, 1 sq.: "Behold what manner of +charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and +should be the sons of God.... Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of +God."(1089) Gal. IV, 5: "... that we might receive the adoption of +sons."(1090) That the just become the adopted sons of God follows likewise +as a corollary from the doctrine of regeneration so frequently taught by +Scripture. This regeneration is not a procession of the soul from the +divine essence, but a kind of accidental and analogical procreation +substantially identical with adoption (_filiatio adoptiva_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}). +Cfr. John I, 12 sq.: "... He gave them power to be made the sons of God, +... who are born ... of God."(1091) + +a) St. Thomas defines adoption as "the gratuitous acceptance of a child of +other parents to be the same as one's own child and heir."(1092) Adoption +implies (1) that the adopted child be a stranger to the adopting father; +(2) that it have no legal claim to adoption; (3) that it give its consent +to being adopted; (4) that it be received by the adopting father with +parental love and affection. All these elements are present, in a far +higher and more perfect form, in the adoption of a soul by God. + +(1) The rational creature, as such, is not a "son" but merely a "servant +of God,"(1093) and, if he be in the state of mortal sin, His enemy. + +(2) That adoption is a gratuitous favor on the part of the Almighty, +follows from the fact that the adopted creature is His enemy and that +grace is a free supernatural gift, to which no creature has a natural +claim. Adoption furthermore implies the right of inheritance.(1094) The +heritage of the children of God is a purely spiritual possession which can +be enjoyed simultaneously by many, and consequently excels every natural +heritage. Men, as a rule, do not distribute their property during life, +while, after their death, it is usually divided up among several +heirs.(1095) + +(3) Whereas adoption among men owes its existence to the desire of +offspring on the part of childless parents, the adoption of the soul by +God springs from pure benevolence and unselfish love, and for this reason +presupposes (in the case of adults) the free consent of the adopted. No +one can become an adopted son of God against his will.(1096) + +(4) Whereas human adoption supposes substantial equality between father +and child, and therefore at best amounts to no more than a legal +acceptance, adoption by God elevates the soul to a higher level by +allowing it to participate in the Divine Nature, and consequently is a +true (even though merely an accidental and analogical) regeneration in +God. + +b) From what we have said it follows--and this is a truth of considerable +speculative importance--that there are essential points of difference as +well as of resemblance between Jesus Christ, the true Son of God, and the +justified sinner adopted by the Heavenly Father. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) The difference between the "natural Son of God" and an "adopted son" is +exactly like that between God and creature. The Logos-Son, engendered by +eternal generation from the divine substance, is the true natural Son of +the Father, the Second Person of the Divine Trinity, and Himself +God.(1097) The just man, on the other hand, is a child of God merely by +the possession of sanctifying grace,(1098) which can be lost by mortal sin +and consequently is founded upon a free relation that may be terminated by +man as freely as it was entered into between himself and God. + +Intimately related to this distinction is another:--Christ is the Son of +the Father alone, the just man is an adopted child of the whole +Trinity.(1099) This fact does not, however, prevent us from +"appropriating" adoptive sonship to each of the three Divine Persons +according to His peculiar hypostatic character:--the Father as its author, +the Son as its pattern, and the Holy Ghost as its conveyor.(1100) Now, if +Christ, as the true Son of God, is the efficient cause (_causa efficiens_) +of that adoptive sonship of which, as God, He is also the pattern-exemplar +(_causa exemplaris_), it follows that He cannot be an adopted son of God. +"_Christus est incapax adoptionis_," as Suarez puts it.(1101) To say that +He is both the natural and an adopted Son of God would be heretical.(1102) +Consequently, sanctifying grace, in Him, did not exercise one of the +functions it invariably exercises in the souls of men, _i.e._ it did not +make Him an adopted son of God. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) It is to be noted, however, that the unique position enjoyed by our +Lord gives rise, not only to essential distinctions but also to an equal +number of analogies between the Only-begotten Son of God and His adopted +sons. The first and most fundamental of these analogies is the attribution +of the common appellation "son of God" both to Christ and to the just. +Though Christ is the only true Son of God, the Heavenly Father has +nevertheless charitably "bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and +should be, the sons of God."(1103) According to John I, 13, Christ "gave +power to be made the sons of God" to them "who are born ... of God." Hence +divine sonship formally consists in an impression of the hypostatic +likeness of the Only-begotten Son of God, by which the soul in a +mysterious manner becomes an image of the Trinity, and especially of the +Only-begotten Son of God, who is the archetype and pattern-exemplar of +adoptive sonship. This hypostatic propriety and exemplariness was the +reason why the Second Person of the Trinity became man.(1104) That the +soul of the justified is transformed into "an image of the Son of God" is +expressly taught by the Greek Fathers. Thus St. Cyril of Alexandria says: +"Christ is truly formed in us, inasmuch as the Holy Ghost impresses on us +a certain divine likeness by means of sanctity and justice.... But if any +one is formed in Christ, he is formed into a child of God."(1105) + +These considerations also explain the points of resemblance between the +adoptive sonship of God and the Holy Eucharist. Being our Father by +adoption, God is bound to provide us with food worthy of a divine +progenitor. The food He gives us (the Holy Eucharist) corresponds to our +dignity as His children, sustains us in this sublime relation, and at the +same time constitutes the pledge of a glorious resurrection and an eternal +beatitude. + +c) Is the adoptive sonship of the children of God constituted entirely by +sanctifying grace, or does it require for its full development the +personal indwelling in the soul of the Holy Ghost?(1106) This subtle +question formed the subject of an interesting controversy between Joseph +Scheeben and Theodore Granderath, S. J. Father Granderath claimed on the +authority of the Tridentine Council that divine sonship is an inseparable +function of sanctifying grace, and through that grace alone, without the +_inhabitatio Spiritus Sancti_, constitutes the _unica causa formalis_ of +justification. Against this theory Dr. Scheeben maintained with great +acumen and, we think, successfully, that sanctifying grace of itself +alone, without the aid of any other factor, not only completely justifies +the sinner but raises him to the rank of an adopted son of God, though +there is nothing to prevent us from holding that the indwelling of the +Holy Ghost forms the climax of the process, and develops and perfects the +already existing _filiatio adoptiva_.(1107) + +Petavius had contended(1108) that the just men of the Old Testament, +though in the state of sanctifying grace, were not adopted children of +God, because the _filiatio adoptiva_ is an exclusive privilege of those +living under the Christian Dispensation. This theory became untenable when +the Tridentine Council defined sanctity and adoptive sonship as +inseparable formal effects of sanctifying grace. There can no longer be +any doubt, therefore, that the patriarchs, together with sanctifying grace +also enjoyed the privilege of adoptive sonship, though, as Suarez +observes,(1109) adoptive sonship under the Old Covenant depended both as +to origin and value upon the adoptive sonship of the New Testament, and +therefore was inferior to it in both respects.(1110) + + + READINGS:--Scheeben, _Lehrbuch der Dogmatik_, Vol. II, § 168 sqq., + Freiburg 1878.--J. Kirschkamp, _Gnade und Glorie in ihrem inneren + Zusammenhang_, Wuerzburg 1878.--P. Hagg, _Die Reichtuemer der + goettlichen Gnade und die Schwere ihres Verlustes_, Ratisbon + 1889.--Card. Katschthaler, _De Gratia Sanctificante_, 3rd ed., + Salzburg 1886.--P. Einig, _De Gratia Divina_, Part II, Treves + 1896.--Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, pp. + 575 sqq., Mainz 1897.--Scheeben, _Die Herrlichkeiten der goettlichen + Gnade_, 8th ed., by A. M. Weiss, O. P., Freiburg 1908 (English + translation, _The Glories of Divine Grace_, 3rd ed., New York _s. + a._).--Th. Bourges, O. P., _L'Ordre Surnaturel et le Devoir + Chretien_, Paris 1901.--*B. Terrien, _La Grace et la Gloire ou la + Filiation Adoptive des Enfants de Dieu Etudiee dans sa Realite, + ses Principes, son Perfectionnement et son Couronnement Final_, 2 + vols., Paris 1897.--*P. Villada, _De Effectibus Formalibus Gratiae + Habitualis_, Valladolid 1899.--L. Hubert, _De Gratia + Sanctificante_, Paris 1902. + + +Article 3. The Supernatural Concomitants Of Sanctifying Grace + + +Besides producing the effects described in the preceding Article, +sanctifying grace also confers certain supernatural privileges, which, +though not of the essence of grace, are, in the present economy at least, +inseparably connected with it and may therefore be regarded as its regular +concomitants. + +The existence of these privileges is established by the fact that certain +councils (_e.g._ those of Vienne and Trent), couple "grace and gifts" in +their official definitions.(1111) The doctrine is clearly stated by the +Roman Catechism as follows: "To this [sanctifying grace] is added a most +noble accompaniment of all virtues, which are divinely infused into the +soul together with grace."(1112) + +We will treat of the supernatural concomitants of sanctifying grace in +four theses. + +*Thesis I: The three divine virtues of faith, hope, and charity are +infused into the soul simultaneously with sanctifying grace.* + +Some theologians (notably Suarez, Ripalda, and De Lugo) declare this +thesis to be _de fide_, while others (Dom. Soto, Melchior Cano, and +Vasquez) hold it merely as certain. Under the circumstances it will be +safest to take middle ground by characterizing it as _fidei proxima_. + +Proof. The Council of Trent teaches: "Man through Jesus Christ, in whom he +is ingrafted, receives, in the said justification, together with the +remission of sins, all these [gifts] infused at once--faith, hope, and +charity."(1113) + +a) That theological charity, as a habit, is infused together with +sanctifying grace can be convincingly demonstrated from Holy Scripture. +Cfr. Rom. V, 5: "... the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by +the Holy Ghost, who is given to us."(1114) In connection with charity, +Holy Scripture frequently mentions faith. Cfr. 1 Cor. XIII, 2: "And if I +should have ... all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not +charity, I am nothing."(1115) All three of the theological virtues are +expressly enumerated in 1 Cor. XIII, 13: "And now there remain faith, +hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is +charity."(1116) Unlike certain other texts, the one last quoted leaves no +doubt that faith, hope, and charity are to be conceived as _dona +inhaerentia_, _i.e._ habits or qualities inherent in the soul. This +interpretation is approved by the Fathers and Scholastics. + +b) St. Thomas proves the necessity of the three theological virtues for +salvation as follows: "In order that we be properly moved towards our end +[God], that end must be both known and desired. Desire of an end includes +two things: first, hope of attaining it, because no prudent man will +aspire to that which he cannot attain; and secondly, love, because nothing +is desired that is not loved. And hence there are three theological +virtues,--faith, by which we know God; hope, by which we trust to obtain +Him; and charity, by which we love Him."(1117) + +When are the three theological virtues infused into the soul? This is an +open question so far as faith and hope are concerned. Of charity we know +that it is always infused with habitual grace. Suarez contends that, when +the soul is properly disposed, faith and hope are infused before +justification proper, that is to say, in the process leading up to it. St. +Thomas and St. Bonaventure, on the other hand, hold that faith and hope, +like charity, are infused at the moment when justification actually takes +place in the soul. This last-mentioned opinion is favored by the +Tridentine Council.(1118) + +Mortal sin first destroys sanctifying grace together with the habit of +charity that is inseparable from it. Faith and hope may continue to exist +in the soul, and if hope, too, departs, faith may remain alone. But the +loss of faith invariably entails the destruction of hope and charity. + +*Thesis II: Together with sanctifying grace there are also infused the +supernatural moral virtues.* + +This proposition may be characterized as _sententia communior et +probabilior_. Though denied by some theologians, it can claim a high +degree of probability.(1119) + +Proof. The infused moral virtues (_virtutes morales infusae_) differ from +the theological virtues in that they have for their immediate formal +object, not God Himself, but the creature in its relation to the moral +law. + +The moral virtues may be reduced to four, _viz._: prudence, justice, +fortitude, and temperance. These are called the "cardinal" virtues; first, +because they perfect the principal faculties of the soul; secondly, +because all the other virtues may be scientifically deduced from +them.(1120) In the supernatural order the infusion of the cardinal virtues +and of the other virtues subordinate to them has for its object the +government of intellect and will in their relation towards created things +and the guidance of these faculties to their supernatural end. + +a) The existence of supernaturally infused moral virtues is intimated in +Wis. VIII, 7: "And if a man love justice: her labors have great virtues; +for she teacheth temperance, and prudence, and justice, and fortitude, +which are such things as men can have nothing more profitable in +life."(1121) The teacher of the three cardinal virtues here mentioned is +"Divine Wisdom," _i.e._ God Himself, and we may assume that He inculcates +them by the same method which He employs in infusing the theological +virtues of faith, hope, and charity. + +Another relevant text is Ezechiel XI, 19 sq.: "... and I will take away +the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that +they may walk in my commandments, and keep my judgments."(1122) Here +Yahweh promises to give the just men of the New Covenant a "heart of +flesh" as opposed to the "stony heart" of the Jews. The meaning evidently +is that a disposition to do good will be a characteristic of the New +Testament Christians in contradistinction to the hardhearted Old Testament +Jews. He who has a "heart of flesh" will walk in God's commandments and +keep His judgments. Hence "heart" signifies the sum-total of all those +habits which impel and enable a man to lead a good life. Since it is God +Himself who gives the "heart of flesh," _i.e._ the moral virtues, it +follows that they are supernaturally infused.(1123) + +b) Some of the Fathers ascribe the moral virtues directly to divine +infusion. + +Thus St. Augustine observes that the cardinal virtues "are given to us +through the grace of God."(1124) And St. Gregory the Great says that the +Holy Ghost does "not desert the hearts of those who are perfect in faith, +hope, and charity, and in those other goods without which no man can +attain to the heavenly fatherland."(1125) St. Thomas shows the theological +reason for this by pointing to the parallel that exists between nature and +the supernatural. "Effects," he says, "must always be proportionate to +their causes and principles. Now all virtues, intellectual and moral, +which we acquire by our acts, proceed from certain natural principles +preexisting in us.... In lieu of these natural principles God confers on +us the theological virtues, by which we are directed to a supernatural +end.... Hence there must correspond to these theological virtues, +proportionally, other habits caused in us by God, and which bear the same +relation to the theological virtues that the moral and intellectual +virtues bear to the natural principles of virtue."(1126) + +*Thesis III: The seven gifts of the Holy Ghost are also infused with +sanctifying grace.* + +This proposition may be qualified as "_probabilis_." + +Proof. The Church's teaching with regard to the seven gifts of the Holy +Ghost is based on Isaias XI, 2 sq.: "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest +upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of +counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And +he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord." Four of these +supernatural gifts (wisdom, understanding, counsel, and knowledge) perfect +the intellect in matters pertaining to salvation, while the remaining +three (fortitude, godliness, and the fear of the Lord) direct the will to +its supernatural end. Are these seven gifts, (or some of them), really +distinct from the infused moral virtues? Are they habits or habitual +dispositions, or merely transient impulses or inspirations? What are their +mutual relations and how can they be divided off from one another? These +and similar questions are in dispute among theologians. The prevailing +opinion is that the gifts of the Holy Ghost are infused habitual +dispositions, _realiter_ distinct from the theological and moral virtues, +by which the soul is endowed with a supernatural capacity for receiving +the inspirations of the Holy Ghost and a supernatural readiness to obey +His impulses in all important matters pertaining to salvation.(1127) + +That the gifts of the Holy Ghost are infused into the soul simultaneously +with sanctifying grace, can be demonstrated as follows: Christ, as the +mystical head, is the pattern of justification for the members of His +spiritual body, who are united to Him by sanctifying grace.(1128) Now the +Holy Ghost dwelled in Christ with all His gifts as permanent habits.(1129) +Consequently, these gifts are imparted by infusion to those who receive +the grace of justification. This is manifestly the belief of the Church, +for she prays in the "_Veni Sancte Spiritus_": + + + "Shed upon thy faithful fold, + By unbounded hope controlled, + Thy seven gifts."(1130) + + +*Thesis IV: The process of justification reaches its climax in the +personal indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the soul of the just.* + +This thesis embodies what is technically called a _propositio certa_. + +Proof. There are two ways in which God may dwell in the soul, either by +virtue of His created grace (_inhabitatio per dona accidentalia_, +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) or by virtue of His uncreated substance +(_inhabitatio substantialis sive personalis_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}). The +personal indwelling of the Holy Ghost, therefore, may consist in a twofold +grace: _gratia creata_ and _gratia increata_, of which the former is the +groundwork and necessary condition of the latter, while the latter may be +described as the climax and consummation of the former.(1131) The +indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just is taught by Holy +Scripture and attested by the Fathers. + +a) Holy Scripture draws a clear-cut distinction between the accidental and +the substantial indwelling of the Holy Ghost. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) Our Lord Himself, in addition to the charismata, promised His Apostles +the Holy Ghost in Person. John XIV, 16 sq.: "... the Father ... shall give +you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever, ... but you +shall know him, because he shall abide with you, and shall be in +you."(1132) This promise was made to all the faithful. Cfr. Rom. V, 5: +"... the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, +who is given to us."(1133) Hence the Holy Ghost abides in the just and +sets up His throne in their souls. Cfr. Rom. VIII, 11: "And if the spirit +of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you; he that raised up +Jesus Christ from the dead shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because +of his Spirit that dwelleth in you."(1134) By His indwelling our souls +become temples of God. 1 Cor. III, 16 sq.: "Know you not that you are the +temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?... For the +temple of God is holy, which you are."(1135) 1 Cor. VI, 19: "Or know you +not that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, +whom you have from God; and you are not your own?"(1136) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) Agreeable to this teaching of Scripture the Fathers, especially those +of the East, assert the substantial indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the +souls of the just. + +The fact that no one but God can dwell substantially and personally in a +creature was cited by the Greek Fathers in their controversies with the +Pneumatomachians to prove the divinity of the Holy Ghost. St. Athanasius +writes to Serapion:(1137) "If we by receiving the Holy Ghost are allowed +to participate in the Divine Nature, no one but a fool will assert that +the Holy Ghost is not of divine but of human nature. For all those in whom +He abides become deified(1138) for no other reason. But if He constitutes +them gods, there can be no doubt that His nature is divine." St. Basil +comments as follows on Ps. LXXXI, 6 (_Ego dixi, dii estis_): "But the +Spirit that causes the gods to be gods, must be divine, and from God, ... +and God."(1139) St. Cyril of Alexandria(1140) glowingly describes the soul +inhabited by the Holy Ghost as inlaid with gold, transfused by fire, +filled with the sweet odor of balsam, and so forth. + +The Latin Fathers, with one exception, are less definite on this point. +St. Augustine says that the Holy Ghost "is given as a gift of God in such +a way that He Himself also gives Himself as being God,"(1141) and that +"the grace of God is a gift of God, but the greatest gift is the Holy +Spirit Himself, who therefore is called a grace."(1142) Again: "... the +Holy Spirit is the gift of God, the gift being Himself indeed equal to the +giver, and therefore the Holy Ghost also is God, not inferior to the +Father and the Son."(1143) + +b) While theologians are unanimous in accepting the doctrine of the +personal indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the just as clearly contained in +Sacred Scripture and Tradition, they differ in explaining the manner in +which He dwells in the soul. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) The great majority hold that the Holy Ghost can not dwell in the soul, +as the human soul dwells in the body, _per modum informationis_, nor yet +by a hypostatic union, as godhead and manhood dwell together in the Person +of Christ; and that consequently His indwelling is objectively an +indwelling of the whole Trinity, which is appropriated to the Third Person +merely because the Holy Ghost is "hypostatic holiness" or "personal love." +This view is based on what is called "the fundamental law of the Trinity," +_viz._: "In God all things are one except where there is opposition of +relation."(1144) Sacred Scripture speaks of the personal indwelling of the +Father and the Son as well as of the Holy Ghost. Cfr. John XIV, 23: "If +any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we +will come to him and will make our abode with him."(1145) St. Athanasius +concludes from these words that "the _energia_ of the Trinity is one.... +Indeed when the Lord says: I and the Father will come, the Spirit also +comes, to dwell in us in precisely the same manner in which the Son dwells +in us."(1146) And St. Augustine teaches: "Love, therefore, which is of God +and is God, is properly the Holy Spirit, by whom the love of God is shed +abroad in our hearts,--that love by which the whole Trinity dwells in +us."(1147) Accordingly, the personal indwelling of the Holy Ghost consists +in the state of grace as bearing a special relation to the Third Person of +the Trinity; the "higher nature" which sanctifying grace imparts to the +soul is not an absolute but a relative form ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}), by which the soul is +mysteriously united with the Three Divine Persons and, by appropriation, +with the Holy Ghost, thereby becoming a throne and temple of God. It is in +this sense that the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the soul is called the +climax of justification.(1148) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) Other eminent theologians (Petavius, Passaglia, Schrader, Scheeben, +Hurter, _et al._) regard the explanation just given as unsatisfactory. +They contend that the Fathers, especially those of the East, conceived the +indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just, not as an +indwelling ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) of the Trinity, appropriated to the Holy Ghost, but +as a union ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) of the Holy Ghost Himself with the soul.(1149) This +union, they say, is neither physical nor hypostatic, but an altogether +unique and inexplicable relation by which the soul is morally, +accidentally, and actively united to the person of the Holy Ghost.(1150) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}) Unfortunately this exalted and mystic theory cannot be squared with the +theological principles underlying the Catholic teaching on the Trinity, +especially that portion of it which concerns the appropriations and +missions of the three Divine Persons.(1151) It is true that sanctifying +grace culminates in a communication of the Divine Nature, and that this +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} is effected by imprinting upon the soul an image of the divine +processes of generation and spiration,--the first by adoptive filiation, +the second by an indwelling of the Holy Ghost.(1152) In fact all the +Trinitarian relations are reflected in the justification of the sinner. +Thus regeneration corresponds to the generation of the Logos by the +Father; adoptive sonship and the accompanying participation of the soul in +the Divine Nature corresponds to our Lord's natural sonship and his +consubstantiality with the Father; the indwelling of the Holy Ghost and +His union with the soul, on the other hand, corresponds to the divine +process of Spiration, inasmuch as it is preeminently a supernatural union +of love and effects a sort of mutual inexistence or perichoresis of the +soul in the Holy Ghost or the three Divine Persons respectively.(1153) +Since, however, this union of the soul with the substance of the three +Divine Persons in general, and the Holy Ghost in particular, is not a +substantial and physical but only an accidental and moral union, the +regeneration of the sinner must be conceived as generation in a +metaphorical sense only, divine sonship as adoptive sonship, the +deification of man as a weak imitation of the divine _homoousia_, and the +indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the soul as a shadowy analogue of the +Divine Perichoresis.(1154) + + + READINGS:--Deharbe, _Die vollkommene Liebe Gottes nach dem hl. + Thomas von Aquin_, Ratisbon 1856.--Marchant, _Die theologischen + Tugenden_, Ratisbon 1864.--Mazzella, _De Virtutibus Infusis_, 4th + ed., Rome 1894.--G. Lahousse, S. J., _De Virtutibus Theologicis_, + Louvain 1890.--S. Schiffini, S. J., _Tractatus de Virtutibus + Infusis_, Freiburg 1904.--J. Kirschkamp, _Der Geist des + Katholizismus in der Lehre vom Glauben und von der Liebe_, + Paderborn 1894.--C. Weiss, _S. Thomae Aquinatis de Septem Donis + Spiritus Sancti Doctrina Proposita et Explicata_, Vienna 1895. + + On the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just see + A. Scholz, _De Inhabitatione Spiritus Sancti_, Wuerzburg + 1856.--*Franzelin, _De Deo Trino_, pp. 625 sqq., Rome + 1881.--Oberdoerffer, _De Inhabitatione Spiritus Sancti in Animabus + Iustorum_, Tournai 1890.--* B. Froget, O. P., _De l'Inhabitation du + S. Esprit dans les Ames Justes d'apres la Doctrine de S. Thomas + d'Aquin_, Paris 1901.--De Bellevue, _L'Oeuvre du S. Esprit ou la + Sanctification des Ames_, Paris 1901. + + On the historic development of the dogma see Schwane, + _Dogmengeschichte_, 2nd ed., Vol. II, § 56-75, Freiburg 1895. + + + +Section 3. The Properties Of Sanctifying Grace + + +By a property (_proprium_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) we understand a quality which, though +not part of the essence of a thing, necessarily flows from that essence by +some sort of causation and is consequently found in all individuals of the +same species.(1155) A property, as such, is opposed to an accident +(_accidens_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}), which is neither part of, nor necessarily +attached to, the essence, but may or may not be present in the individual. +Thus the ability to laugh is a property of human nature, whereas the color +of the skin is an accident. + +How do the properties of grace differ from its formal effects, and from +its supernatural concomitants? The formal effects of grace, as we have +seen, are the elements constituting its nature, the properties are +determinations necessarily flowing from that nature, while the +supernatural concomitants are free gifts superadded by God. + +According to the Protestant theory, justification is absolutely certain, +equal in all men, and incapable of being lost. The Catholic Church, on the +contrary, teaches that justification is (1) uncertain, (2) unequal, and +(3) amissible. We will explain this teaching in three theses. + +*Thesis I: No man knows with certainty of faith whether he is justified or +not.* + +This proposition is _de fide_. + +Proof. The Tridentine Council rejected the "fiduciary faith"(1156) of +Luther as "an empty heretical confidence,"(1157) and in three distinct +canons denied the properties attributed to faith by the early Protestant +dogmaticians.(1158) + +a) Holy Scripture again and again warns us that we can never be sure of +our salvation. St. Paul, though himself "a vessel of election," freely +admits: "I am not conscious to myself of any thing, yet I am not hereby +justified; but he that judgeth me is the Lord,"(1159) and declares: "I +chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps, when I have +preached to others, I myself should become a castaway."(1160) He exhorts +the faithful to work out their salvation "with fear and trembling."(1161) + +b) The Fathers also teach the uncertainty of justification in the +individual, and attribute it to the fact that, while we know that God +pardons penitent sinners, no man can be entirely certain that he has +complied with all the conditions necessary for justification. + +"Our fate," says St. Chrysostom, "is uncertain for a number of reasons, +one of which is that many of our own works are hidden from us."(1162) St. +Jerome, commenting on Eccles. IX, 1 sq.,(1163) observes: "In the future +they will know all, and all things are manifest to them, that is to say, +the knowledge of this matter will precede them when they depart this life, +because _then_ the judgment will be pronounced, while _now_ we are still +battling, and it is now uncertain whether those who bear adversities, bear +them for the love of God, like Job, or because they hate Him, as do many +sinners."(1164) Pope St. Gregory the Great said to a noble matron who +asked him whether she could be sure of her salvation: "You ask me +something which is both useless and difficult [to answer]; difficult, +because I am unworthy to receive a revelation; useless, because it is +better that you be uncertain with regard to your sins, lest in your last +hour you should be unable to repent."(1165) + +c) We now proceed to the theological explanation of the dogma embodied in +our thesis. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) The purpose of this dogma is not, as Harnack(1166) thinks, "partly to +assuage and partly to excite the restlessness that still remains, by means +of the sacraments, indulgences, liturgical worship and ecclesiastical +encouragement of mystical and monkish practices," but to prevent undue +security and careless assurance. What the Church condemns, in accordance +with Sacred Scripture and Tradition, is the _certitudo fidei_, that vain +confidence which leads men to feel certain that they are in the state of +grace (_inanis fiducia_), not the _certitudo spei_, _i.e._ humble trust in +God's abundant mercy. "As no pious person ought to doubt of the mercy of +God, of the merit of Christ, and of the virtue and efficacy of the +sacraments," says the Tridentine Council, "even so each one, when he +regards himself and his own weakness and indisposition, may have fear and +apprehension touching his own grace; seeing that no one can know with a +certainty of faith, which cannot be subject to error, that he has obtained +the grace of God."(1167) + +One needs but to apply to theology the epistemological principles and +criteria furnished by philosophy to perceive that the Catholic dogma is as +reasonable as the Protestant theory is absurd. The Protestant syllogism: +"I know with a certainty of faith that the penitent sinner who does his +share, is justified through the grace of Christ; now, I, who am a penitent +sinner, know with a certainty of faith that I have done my share; +therefore, I know with a certainty of faith that I am justified," may be +formally correct, but the minor premise embodies a material error, because +no man knows with a certainty of faith that he has done his share, unless +it be specially revealed to him by God. No matter how sure I may feel of +my own goodness, I have no certainty of faith, such as that which Mary +Magdalen had, or that which was vouchsafed to the penitent thief on the +cross, that I am justified. It is one of the approved rules of syllogistic +reasoning that "the conclusion must follow the weaker premiss."(1168) +Hence, in the above syllogism the certainty cannot be of faith, but human +and moral only. We do not mean to deny that God may grant to this or that +individual a certainty of faith with regard to his justification; in fact +theologians expressly teach that in such a rare and exceptional case the +privileged person would be obliged to believe in his own justification, +_fide divina_.(1169) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) Can any one, without a special revelation, be _theologically_ certain +that he is justified? Theological certainty (_certitudo theologica_) is +the result of a syllogism which embodies an article of faith in one of its +premises and an obvious truth of reason in the other. Ambrosius +Catharinus(1170) stands alone among Catholic theologians in holding that +there are rare cases in which men do have a theological certainty as to +their justification without a private revelation. All other writers deny +the possibility: (1) because Scripture and Tradition do not countenance +the proposition; (2) because there are no criteria available for such +certainty outside of private revelation, and (3) because the Tridentine +Council censured the assertion "that they who are truly justified must +needs, without any doubt whatever, settle within themselves that they are +justified."(1171) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}) For precisely the same reasons no man can be _metaphysically_ certain +of his own justification. Hence there remains only _moral_ certainty. +Moral certainty admits of varying degrees. The highest degree of moral +certainty concerning justification can be had in the case of baptized +infants, though, of course, we can never be metaphysically certain even in +regard to them, because there is always room for doubt as to the intention +of the minister and the validity of the matter and form employed in the +administration of the sacrament. In the case of adults, certainty +regarding justification varies in proportion to the measure in which it +can be ascertained whether one has complied with all the requirements +demanded by God. However, certainty may be so great as to exclude all +reasonable doubt. St. Paul says: "I am sure that neither death nor life +... shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ +Jesus our Lord."(1172) And St. Augustine: "What do we know? We know that +we have passed from death to life. Whence do we know this? Because we love +our brethren. Let no one ask another. Let each question his own heart; if +he there finds fraternal charity, let him be sure that he has passed from +death to life."(1173) This teaching has led theologians to set up certain +criteria by which the faithful may be relieved of unreasonable anxiety and +obtain some sort of assurance as to the condition of their souls. Such +criteria are: a taste for things spiritual; contempt of earthly pleasures; +zeal and perseverance in doing good; love of prayer and pious meditation; +patience in suffering and adversity; a fervent devotion to the Blessed +Virgin Mary; frequent reception of the sacraments, etc.(1174) + +*Thesis II: Sanctifying grace admits of degrees and therefore can be +increased by good works.* + +Both propositions contained in this thesis are _de fide_. + +Proof. The Protestant contention that the grace of justification is shared +in an equal measure by all the justified, was a logical deduction from +Luther's false principle that men are justified by faith alone through the +external justice of Christ. If this were true, good works would be +superfluous, and all Christians would enjoy an equal measure of grace. +Luther formally asserted this in his sermon on the nativity of the Blessed +Virgin: "All we who are Christians are equally great and holy with the +Mother of God."(1175) The Catholic Church rejects this teaching. She holds +that justification is an intrinsic process by which the justice and +holiness of Christ becomes our own through sanctifying grace, and that +consequently sanctifying grace may be present in the soul in a greater or +less degree, according to the liberality of God and the disposition of the +individual Christian, and those who are in the state of grace may augment +it by good works. The Council of Trent formally defines these truths when +it says: "[We receive] justice within us, each one according to his own +measure, which the Holy Ghost distributes to every one as He wills, and +according to each one's proper disposition and cooeperation."(1176) And: +"[The justified], faith cooeperating with good works, increase in that +justice which they have received through the grace of Christ, and are +still further justified...."(1177) The second and more important of these +truths is re-iterated and emphasized in the canons of Session VI: "If +anyone saith that the justice received is not preserved and also increased +before God through good works, but that those works are merely the fruits +and signs of justification obtained, but not a cause of the increase +thereof: let him be anathema."(1178) + +a) The Tridentine Fathers base their teaching on a number of Scriptural +texts which either expressly declare or presuppose that grace is capable +of being increased in the soul after justification. + +Thus we read in Prov. IV, 18: "The path of the just, as a shining light, +goeth forwards and increaseth even to perfect day."(1179) Ecclus. XVIII, +22: "Let nothing hinder thee from praying always, and be not afraid to be +justified even to death: for the reward of God continueth for ever."(1180) +2 Pet. III, 18: "Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and +Saviour Jesus Christ."(1181) 2 Cor. IX, 10: "[God] will increase the +growth of the fruits of your justice."(1182) Eph. IV, 7: "But to every one +of us is given grace, according to the measure of the giving of +Christ."(1183) Apoc. XXII, 11 sq.: "He that is just, let him be justified +still; and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still. Behold, I come +quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to every man according to his +works."(1184) + +Such texts could easily be multiplied. + +b) Tradition found definite utterance as early as the fourth century. + +When Jovinian attempted to revive the Stoic theory of the absolute +equality of all virtues and vices, he met with strenuous opposition on the +part of St. Jerome, who wrote a special treatise _Contra Iovinianum_, in +which he said: "Each of us receives grace according to the measure of the +grace of Christ (Eph. IV, 7); not as if the measure of Christ were +unequal, but so much of His grace is infused into us as we are capable of +receiving."(1185) St. Augustine teaches that the just are as unequal as +the sinners. "The saints are clad with justice (Job XXIX, 14), some more, +some less; and no one on this earth lives without sin, some more, some +less: but the best is he who has least."(1186) But, we are told, life as +such is not capable of being increased; how then can there be an increase +of spiritual life? St. Thomas answers this objection as follows: "The +natural life pertains to the substance of man, and therefore can be +neither augmented nor diminished; but in the life of grace man +participates _accidentaliter_, and consequently he can possess it in a +larger or smaller degree."(1187) + +c) From what we have said it is easy to understand the distinction which +theologians make between justification as _gratia prima_ and justification +as _gratia secunda_. The latter is merely another term for an increase of +grace after justification. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) Such an increase may be effected either _ex opere operantis_, that is, +by good works, or _ex opere operato_, through the sacraments, and is +called justification (_iustificatio_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) partly because Sacred +Scripture refers to it by that name(1188) and partly because "to become +just" (_iustum fieri_) and "to become more just" (_iustiorem fieri_) both +imply true sanctification. + +In this connection the question may be raised whether sanctifying grace is +diminished by venial sin. Venial sin does not destroy the state of grace +and consequently cannot augment or diminish grace. To assume that it +could, would lead to the absurd conclusion that a definite number of +venial sins might eventually grow into a mortal sin, or that repeated +venial sins gradually diminish grace until finally it disappears. The +first-mentioned assumption is impossible because venial differs +generically from mortal sin, and a transition from the one to the other +would be a {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. The second assumption would entail +the heretical inference that the state of grace can be lost without mortal +sin.(1189) No doubt venial sin influences the state of grace unfavorably; +but this evil influence must be conceived as indirect--by committing venial +sins man weakens his will-power, and temptation eventually grows so strong +as to make mortal sin inevitable. "He that contemneth small things, shall +fall little by little."(1190) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) If we inquire how sanctifying grace increases in the soul, we find that +the process must be conceived as a growing intensity analogous to that of +light and heat in the physical order. + +_Gratia prima_, as we have seen in a previous chapter, is a supernatural +physical quality.(1191) Hence its increase, _i.e._ _gratia secunda_, must +be an increase of physical quality. Such an increase is called in +Scholastic parlance _intensio_.(1192) In what does this process consist? +Certain Thomists(1193) describe it as a _maior radicatio in subiecto_, +while the majority of theologians hold that it is simply an _additio +gradus ad gradum_. This latter explanation is probably the correct one. +Sanctifying grace is either capable of gradual increase, or it is not. If +it is, there is no reason why God should deny such an increase under +certain conditions. If it is not, Luther would have been right in +contending that a newly baptized infant enjoys the same measure of +holiness as the Blessed Virgin Mary or the human soul of our Divine Lord. +It is impossible to imagine how grace could produce a quantitatively +higher holiness by simply striking its roots deeper into the soul.(1194) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}) A question of greater practical importance is this: Is the increase of +sanctifying grace accompanied by a corresponding increase of the infused +virtues, and _vice versa._ + +Every increase or decrease of sanctifying grace must _eo ipso_ entail a +corresponding increase or decrease, respectively, of theological charity. +Charity is either identical with grace or it is not.(1195) If it is, an +increase of the one implies an increase of the other; if it is not, the +one cannot increase without an increase of the other, because they are +inseparable and related to each other as nature to faculty, or root to +blossom. Moreover, the degree of heavenly glory enjoyed by a soul will be +commensurate with the measure of charity which it possessed at death. Now +grace and glory bear a proportional relation to each other. Consequently, +grace is augmented as charity increases, and _vice versa_. The same +argument applies to the infused moral virtues. + +The case is different, however, with the theological virtues of faith and +hope. These may continue to exist in the soul after charity has departed, +and hence are not inseparable from sanctifying grace and charity, nor from +the moral virtues. This consideration led Suarez to infer that, as the +theological virtues of faith and hope may be infused into the soul +independently of charity and before justification, they must be +susceptible of increase in the course of justification without regard to +the existing state of grace and charity.(1196) This is true of the sinner. +In the justified, as Suarez himself admits, an increase of grace (or +charity) probably always entails an increase of faith and hope,(1197)--a +proposition which finds strong support in the decree of Trent which says: +"This increase of justification Holy Church begs, when she prays: 'Give +unto us, O Lord, increase of faith, hope, and charity.' "(1198) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}) A final question forces itself upon the enquiring mind, _viz._: Is +sanctifying grace capable of an indefinite increase, or is there a limit +beyond which it cannot grow? In trying to find an answer to this question +we must draw a careful distinction between the absolute and the ordinary +power of God. + +There is no intrinsic contradiction in the assumption that grace can be +indefinitely augmented. True, it can never become actually infinite, as +this would involve an absurdity.(1199) But if we regard the power of God +as He sees fit to exercise it in the present economy (_potentia Dei +ordinata_), we find that it is limited by two sublime ideals of holiness +to which neither man nor angel can attain, _viz._: the overflowing measure +of sanctifying grace in the human soul of our Lord Jesus Christ(1200) and +the "fulness of grace" granted to His Mother.(1201) Though these ideals +are beyond our reach, we must not be discouraged, but try to approach them +as nearly as possible.(1202) + +*Thesis III: Sanctifying grace is lost by mortal sin.* + +This thesis also embodies an article of faith. + +Proof. Calvin asserted that neither justification nor faith can be lost by +those who are predestined to salvation, and that the unpredestined are +never truly justified. Luther held that justifying grace is lost solely +through the sin of infidelity. Against the former the Council of Trent +declared: "If anyone saith that a man once justified can sin no more, nor +lose grace, and that therefore he that falls and sins was never truly +justified; ... let him be anathema."(1203) Against the latter the same +council defined: "If anyone saith that there is no mortal sin but that of +infidelity, or that grace once received is not lost by any other sin, +however grievous and enormous, save by that of infidelity, let him be +anathema."(1204) At the same time, however, the Holy Synod expressly +declared that venial sin does not destroy the state of grace: "For +although during this mortal life, men, how holy and just soever, at times +fall into at least light and daily sins, which are also called venial, +they do not therefore cease to be just."(1205) + +a) This teaching is so obviously in accord with Sacred Scripture that we +confine ourselves to quoting three or four passages. Ezechiel says that +sanctifying grace may be irretrievably lost: "If the just man turn himself +away from his justice, and do iniquity according to all the abominations +which the wicked man useth to work, shall he live? All his justices which +he hath done shall not be remembered; in the prevarication, by which he +hath prevaricated, and in his sin, which he hath committed, in them he +shall die."(1206) Our Lord Himself admonishes His Apostles: "Watch ye and +pray, that ye enter not into temptation."(1207) St. Paul not only warns +the faithful in general terms: "He that thinketh himself to stand, let him +take heed lest he fall;"(1208) but expressly designates certain mortal +sins as a bar to Heaven: "Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor +adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor liers with mankind, nor thieves, nor +covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the +kingdom of God."(1209) + +b) The teaching of Tradition was brought out clearly in the fight against +Jovinian. + +That wily heretic claimed the authority of St. John for the assertion that +the grace of Baptism can never be lost. The Johannean passage in question +reads: "Whosoever is born of God, committeth no sin: for His seed abideth +in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."(1210) St. Jerome in +his reply paraphrases the passage as follows: "Therefore I tell you, my +little children, whosoever is born of God, committeth no sin, in order +that you may not sin and that you may know that you will remain sons of +God so long as you refrain from sin."(1211) St. Augustine teaches: "If a +man, being regenerate and justified, relapses of his own will into an evil +life, assuredly he cannot say: 'I have not received,' because of his own +free choice of evil he has lost the grace of God that he has +received."(1212) And St. Gregory the Great: + +"As he who falls away from the faith is an apostate, so he who returns to +an evil deed is regarded by Almighty God as an apostate, even though he +may seem to retain the faith; for the one without the other can be of no +use, because faith availeth nought without [good] works, nor [good] works +without faith."(1213) The penitential discipline of the primitive Church +furnishes additional proofs for the doctrine under consideration. If grace +could be lost in no other way than by unbelief, the Sacrament of Penance +would be useless.(1214) + +c) In connection with this subject theologians are wont to discuss the +question whether or not the forfeiture of sanctifying grace involves the +loss of its supernatural concomitants. + +Theological love or charity is substantially identical with sanctifying +grace, or at least inseparable from it, and hence both are gained and lost +together. This is an article of faith. To lose sanctifying grace, +therefore, is to lose theological love. On the other hand, it is equally +_de fide_ that theological faith (_habitus fidei_) is not destroyed by +mortal sin;(1215) it can be lost only by the sin of unbelief.(1216) The +same is true, _mutatis mutandis_, of theological hope. True, the Church +has not definitely declared her mind with regard to hope, but it may be +set down as her teaching that hope is not lost with grace and charity but +survives like faith.(1217) The two contrary opposites of hope are +desperation and presumption, concerning which theologians commonly hold +that the former destroys hope, while the latter probably does not. But +even if hope and charity are lost, faith may remain in the soul like a +solitary root, from which, under more favorable conditions, new life is +apt to spring. As regards the infused moral virtues and the seven gifts of +the Holy Ghost (and, _a fortiori_, His personal indwelling in the +soul),(1218) it is the unanimous teaching that these disappear with +sanctifying grace and charity, even though faith and hope survive. The +reason is that these virtues and gifts are merely supernatural adjuncts of +sanctifying grace and cannot persist without it. "_Accessorium sequitur +principale._"(1219) + + + + +Chapter III. The Fruits Of Justification, Or The Merit Of Good Works + + +The principal fruit of justification, according to the Tridentine +Council,(1220) is the meritoriousness of all good works performed in the +state of sanctifying grace. + +Merit (_meritum_), as we have explained in the first part of this +treatise,(1221) is that property of a good work which entitles the doer to +a reward (_praemium, merces_). + +Ethics and theology distinguish two kinds of merit: (1) condign merit or +merit in the strict sense of the term (_meritum adaequatum sive de +condigno_), and (2) congruous merit or quasi-merit (_meritum inadaequatum +sive de congruo_). Condign merit supposes an equality between service and +return. It is measured by commutative justice and confers a strict claim +to a reward. Congruous merit, owing to its inadequacy and the lack of +strict proportion between service and recompense, confers no such claim +except on grounds of equity.(1222) + +In this treatise we are concerned with merit only in the theological sense +of the term, _i.e._ supernatural merit. We shall consider (1) its +Existence,(1223) (2) its Requisites,(1224) and (3) its Objects.(1225) + + + +Section 1. The Existence Of Merit + + +1. HERETICAL ERRORS AND THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH.--a) The medieval +Beguins and Beghards held that man is able to attain such a perfect state +of holiness here below as no longer to require an increase of grace or +good works.(1226) Luther, holding that justification consists in the +covering up of sin and the external imputation of the justice of Christ, +consistently though falsely asserted that "the just man sins in every good +work,"(1227) that "a good work, no matter how well performed, is a venial +sin,"(1228) and that "every work of the just deserves damnation and is +mortally sinful, if it be considered as it really is in the judgment of +God."(1229) Calvin rejected good works as "impurities and +defilements,"(1230) which God covers with the cloak of the merits of Jesus +Christ and which He sometimes rewards with temporal blessings but never +with eternal life. Modern Protestantism has given up or at least +attenuated these harsh doctrines.(1231) + +b) The Church had defined her teaching on this point centuries before the +time of the "Reformers." Thus the Second Council of Orange declared as +early as 529: "Good works, when performed, deserve a reward; but grace, +which is a free gift, precedes good works and is a necessary condition of +them."(1232) The Fourth Lateran Council reiterated this doctrine: "Not +only virgins and those who practice continence, but the married also, who +please God by having the right faith and performing good works, deserve to +obtain eternal happiness."(1233) The Tridentine Council goes into the +matter at length in the sixteenth Chapter of its Sixth Session, where we +read _inter alia_: "And for this reason life eternal is to be proposed to +those working well unto the end and hoping in God, both as a grace +mercifully promised to the sons of God through Jesus Christ, and as a +reward which is according to the promise of God Himself to be faithfully +rendered to their good works and merits."(1234) + +The same Council formally condemned the Lutheran position as heretical: +"If anyone saith that in every good work the just man sins at least +venially, or, which is more intolerable still, mortally, and consequently +deserves eternal punishments; and that for this cause only he is not +damned that God does not impute those works unto salvation; let him be +anathema."(1235) The positive teaching of the Church may be gathered from +the following condemnation: "If anyone saith that the just ought not, for +their good works done in God, to expect and hope for eternal recompense +from God through His mercy and the merit of Jesus Christ, if so be that +they persevere to the end in well-doing and in keeping the commandments; +let him be anathema."(1236) The existence of merit in the true and proper +sense of the term is specially emphasized as follows: "If anyone saith +that ... the justified, by the good works which he performs through the +grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, +does not truly merit increase of grace...; let him be anathema."(1237) The +quietistic errors of Michael de Molinos were condemned by Pope Innocent +XI, Nov. 20, 1687.(1238) + +2. THE MERITORIOUSNESS OF GOOD WORKS DEMONSTRATED FROM SCRIPTURE AND +TRADITION.--Both Holy Scripture and Tradition employ _opus bonum_ and +_meritum_ as reciprocal or correlative terms. + +a) In the Old Testament the good deeds of the just are often declared to +be meritorious in the sight of God. Cfr. Wisd. V, 16: "But the just shall +live for evermore, and their reward is with the Lord."(1239) Ecclus. +XVIII, 22: "Be not afraid to be justified even to death, for the reward of +God continueth for ever."(1240) The New Testament teaching culminates in +the "eight beatitudes," each of which is accompanied by a special reward. +After enumerating them all, with the promises attached to each, our Divine +Saviour significantly adds: "Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very +great in heaven."(1241) + +St. Paul, who so strongly insists on the absolute gratuitousness of +Christian grace, nevertheless acknowledges the existence of merits to +which a reward is due from God. Cfr. Rom. II, 6 sq.: "[God] will render to +every man according to his works, to them indeed who according to patience +in good work, seek glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life."(1242) +2 Tim. IV, 7 sq.: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, +I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of +justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day, and +not only to me, but to them also that love his coming."(1243) 1 Cor. III, +8: "Every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own +labor."(1244) Col. III, 23 sq.: "Whatsoever you do, do it from the heart, +as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that you shall receive of the Lord +the reward of inheritance."(1245) The most eloquent exponent of the +necessity of good works is St. James, who also insists on their +meritoriousness: "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he +hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which God hath +promised to them that love him."(1246) In the Apocalypse Jesus says: "Be +thou faithful until death, and I will give thee the crown of life."(1247) + +b) The teaching of the Fathers is an effective commentary on the +Scriptural doctrine just expounded, as may be seen from their homilies +reproduced in the Roman Breviary. + +St. Ignatius of Antioch says: "Suffer me to be eaten by the beasts, +through whom I can attain to God."(1248) St. Irenaeus: "Precious should be +to us the crown which we gain in battle, ... and the more we obtain it by +combat, the more precious it is."(1249) St. Ambrose: "Is it not evident +that the reward and punishment of merits endure after death?"(1250) St. +Augustine: "Eternal life contains the whole reward in the promise of which +we rejoice; nor can the reward precede desert, nor be given to a man +before he is worthy of it. What can be more unjust than this, and what is +more just than God? We should not then demand the reward before we deserve +to get it."(1251) And again: "As death is given, so to speak, to reward +the merit of sin, so eternal life is given to reward the merit of justice, +... and hence it is also called reward in many Scriptural passages."(1252) + +c) Theologically the meritoriousness of good works is based on the +providence of God. There must be some sort of sanction to enforce the +divine laws,--not only the natural law (_lex naturae_), but, _a fortiori_, +the "law of grace" (_lex gratiae_), as the supernatural order is so much +more important than the natural. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) By the good works which he performs in the state of sanctifying grace, +and with the aid of actual graces (_in gratia et ex gratia_), man acquires +a twofold merit,--he helps to execute the divine plan of governance in +regard to his fellow-creatures and assists in furthering the external +glory of God, which is the ultimate purpose of creation. For this he is +entitled to a double reward, just as the sinner is deserving of a double +punishment for the injury he does to his fellowmen and the dishonor he +reflects upon his Creator.(1253) + +It is objected against this argument that our supernatural merits, being +finite, are in no proportion to the possession and enjoyment of an +Infinite Good. This objection vanishes in the light of the following +considerations: (1) Sanctifying grace is a kind of _deificatio_, which +raises man above himself to a quasi-divine dignity that colors all his +actions.(1254) (2) The ability of the justified to perform supernaturally +good works is based entirely upon the infinite merits of Jesus +Christ.(1255) (3) The Infinite Good is possessed by the creature, not in +an infinite but in a merely finite manner. Hence there _is_ a due +proportion between good works and merit.(1256) + +One difficulty still remains, _viz._: By what title do infants who die in +the state of baptismal innocence attain to eternal beatitude, which they +have been unable to merit? We answer: The just man has two distinct claims +to Heaven, one as a child of God,(1257) and another as a laborer in His +vineyard. Baptized infants who have not yet arrived at the use of reason, +possess only the first claim, while adult Christians who lead a good life +enjoy also the _titulus mercedis_ and consequently are entitled to a +richer reward. Both claims ultimately rest on the merits of Jesus +Christ.(1258) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) What we have said is sufficient to disprove the groundless assertion +that the Catholic doctrine concerning the meritoriousness of good works +derogates from the merits of Christ and fosters "self-righteousness." +Would it not be far more derogatory to the honor of our Saviour to assume +that He failed to obtain for those for whom He suffered and died, a +limited capacity for gaining merits? Does it in any way impair the dignity +of God as the _causa prima_ to assume that He communicates to His +creatures a limited causality, by which they are enabled to act as true +_causae secundae_, instead of being mere _causae occasionales_, as the +Occasionalists assert?(1259) As regards the other charge, no true Catholic +is guilty of "self-righteousness" because he regards his good works as +"fruits of justification," owing purely to grace. The "self-righteousness" +of which Luther speaks is incompatible with the virtue of humility. The +faithful Christian, according to St. Paul, may safely rejoice over his +merits, because the uncertainty of justification and the consciousness +that his good works are but limited at best, are a sufficient protection +against self-righteousness and presumption.(1260) + +3. EXPLANATION OF THE CATHOLIC DOCTRINE.--Though the Tridentine Council +merely defined in general terms that all good works performed in the state +of sanctifying grace are meritorious,(1261) it is theologically certain +that the merit due to good works is the merit of condignity. + +a) According to Pallavicini(1262) the Fathers of Trent without exception +were convinced that the merit inherent in good works is a _meritum de +condigno_, based upon divine justice, and they purposely employed the term +_vere_ to exclude that quasi-merit which in the technical terminology of +the Schools is called _meritum de congruo_.(1263) They refrained from +expressly employing the term _meritum de condigno_, because _meritum +verum_ is a plain and adequate term, and for this additional reason that +they wished to avoid certain theological controversies regarding the +nature of the _meritum de condigno_ and its requisites.(1264) + +b) We need not enter into these controversies to understand that condign +merit supposes an equality between service and reward. The proposition can +be proved from Sacred Scripture by an indirect argument. The _meritum de +condigno_ is based on a strict claim of justice, not on mere equity. Now +the Bible leaves no doubt that God meant to make himself a debtor to man +in strict justice. Cfr. Heb. VI, 10: "For God is not unjust, that he +should forget your work."(1265) 2 Tim. IV, 8: "... there is laid up for me +a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in +that day: and not only to me, but to them also that love his +coming."(1266) James I, 12: "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; +for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which +God hath promised to them that love him."(1267) That there must be a +_condignitas_ between service and reward is clearly apparent from such +texts as these:--Wis. III, 5: "... God hath tried them and found them +worthy of himself."(1268) 2 Thess. I, 4 sq.: "... in all your persecutions +and tribulations, which you endure, for an example [as a token] of the +just judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of +God, for which also you suffer."(1269) Apoc. III, 4: "... they shall walk +with me in white, because they are worthy."(1270) Not merely as their +benefactor but as the just judge, Christ will say to the elect on judgment +day: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for +you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to +eat...."(1271) Justly therefore is sanctifying grace, as the _principium +dignificativum operum_, called the "seed of God,"(1272) because it +contains a celestial reward even as an acorn contains the oak. True, St. +Thomas, to whom we are indebted for this simile,(1273) in another part of +the _Summa_(1274) defends the theological axiom: "_Deus punit circa +condignum et remunerat ultra condignum_," but he does not mean to deny the +equality between service and reward, but merely to exalt the generosity +that prompts God to bestow upon creatures what is due to them more +bountifully than they deserve. Cfr. Luke VI, 38: "Give, and it shall be +given to you: good measure and pressed down and shaken together and +running over shall they give into your bosom."(1275) + + + +Section 2. The Requisites Of Merit + + +As we are dealing with the "fruits of justification," it becomes necessary +to ascertain the requisites or conditions of true merit. There are seven +such; four have reference to the meritorious work itself, two to the agent +who performs it, and one to God who gives the reward. + +1. REQUISITES OF MERIT ON THE PART OF THE MERITORIOUS WORK.--A work, to be +meritorious, must be morally good, free, performed with the assistance of +actual grace, and inspired by a supernatural motive. + +a) As every evil deed implies demerit and is deserving of punishment, so +the notion of merit supposes a morally good work (_opus honestum_). + +Cfr. Eph. VI, 8: "Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man shall do, the +same shall he receive from the Lord."(1276) 2 Cor. V, 10: "We must all be +manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive +the proper things of the body, according as he hath done, whether it be +good or evil."(1277) There are no morally indifferent works _in +individuo_, _i.e._ practically; and if there were, they could be neither +meritorious nor demeritorious, but would become meritorious in proportion +as they are made morally good by means of a "good intention." It would be +absolutely wrong to ascribe merit only to the more perfect works of +supererogation (_opera supererogatoria_), such as the vow of perpetual +chastity, excluding all works of mere obligation, such as the faithful +observance of the commandments. Being morally good, the works of +obligation are also meritorious, because goodness and meritoriousness are +correlative terms.(1278) Whether the mere omission of an evil act is in +itself meritorious, is doubtful.(1279) But most theologians are agreed in +holding that the external work, as such, adds no merit to the internal +act, except in so far as it reacts on the will and sustains and +intensifies its operation. This and similar questions properly belong to +moral theology. + +b) The second requisite of merit is moral liberty (_libertas indifferens +ad actum_), that is to say, freedom from both external and internal +compulsion. This has been dogmatically defined against Jansenius.(1280) + +That there can be no merit without liberty is clearly inculcated by Sacred +Scripture. Cfr. 1 Cor. IX, 17: "For if I do this willingly, I have a +reward."(1281) Matth. XIX, 17: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the +commandments."(1282) "Where there is compulsion," says St. Jerome, "there +is neither a crown nor damnation."(1283) The morality of an act depends +entirely on its being an _actus humanus_. Now no act is truly "human" +unless it be freely performed. Consequently, freedom of choice is an +indispensable condition of moral goodness and therefore also of merit. + +What kind of liberty is necessary to enable the will to acquire merit? +Theologians answer by saying that it is _libertas contradictionis sive +exercitii_. If I do a good deed which I am free to do or not to do, I +perform a morally good and therefore meritorious work. As regards the +_libertas specificationis_, (that freedom by which a person may act thus +or otherwise, _e.g._ give alms to one applicant in preference to another, +or mortify himself in this or that particular manner), there can be no +doubt that, whatever the choice made, the action is always good and +meritorious. However, theologians have excogitated a hypothetical case in +which an action may be _physically_ free without being meritorious. It is +when one is compelled to do a certain thing and is free only in so far as +he is able to choose between two actions exactly equal in moral worth. +This would be the case, for instance, if he had to pay a debt of ten +dollars and were left free to pay it either in coin or in currency. The +more common opinion is that in a case of this kind there would be a lack +of that liberty which is necessary to render an act morally good and +therefore meritorious.(1284) + +c) The third requisite of merit is actual grace. Its necessity is evident +from the fact that, to be meritorious, an act must be supernatural and +consequently cannot be performed without the aid of prevenient and +cooeperating grace.(1285) + +d) Merit further requires a supernatural motive, for the reason that every +good work must be supernatural, both as regards object and circumstances +(_ex obiecto et circumstantiis_), and the end for which it is performed +(_ex fine_). In determining the necessary qualities of this motive, +however, theologians differ widely. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) A considerable number, mostly of the Thomist persuasion, demand the +motive of theological charity, and consequently regard the state of +charity (_caritas habitualis sive status caritatis et gratiae_) as +essential for the meritoriousness of all good works performed in the state +of grace, even if they are performed from some other, truly supernatural +though inferior motive, such as obedience, the fear of God, etc. This +rigorous school is constrained to raise the question whether every single +good work, to be supernaturally meritorious, must proceed from an act of +divine charity (_toties quoties_), or whether the virtual influence of one +act is sufficient to endow a series of subsequent acts with +meritoriousness. Only a few Thomist theologians(1286) defend the +first-mentioned theory. The majority(1287) hold that the _influxus +virtualis caritatis_ is sufficient. This view is vigorously defended by +Cardinal Bellarmine, who says: "It is not enough to make a general good +intention at the beginning of a year, or month, or day, by which all +future actions are referred to God; but it is necessary to refer each +particular act to God before it is performed."(1288) The advocates of this +theory base their opinion on certain Scriptural and Patristic texts, and +especially on St. Thomas, whose teaching they misunderstand.(1289) + +The dogmatic question whether good works can be meritorious without being +inspired by supernatural charity, has nothing to do with the moral problem +whether there is an obligation to make an act of charity from time to +time, except in so far as habitual charity,--_i.e._ the state of charity, +which is always required for merit, nay even for the preservation of +sanctifying grace,--cannot be permanently sustained unless renewed from +time to time and effectuated by a fresh act of that virtue.(1290) St. +Alphonsus teaches that every man is obliged to make an act of charity at +least once a month, but he is contradicted by other eminent moralists. In +practice it is well to insist on frequent acts of charity because such +acts not only confirm and preserve the state of grace, but render our good +works incomparably more meritorious in the sight of God. Hence, too, the +importance of making a "good intention" every morning before beginning the +day's work.(1291) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) There is a second group of very eminent theologians, including +Suarez,(1292) Vasquez,(1293) De Lugo, and Ballerini, who hold that, to be +meritorious, the good works of a just man, who has habitual charity, need +only conform to the divine law, no special motive being required. These +writers base their teaching on the Tridentine decree which says: "For this +is that crown of justice which the Apostle declared was, after his fight +and course, laid up for him, to be rendered to him by the Just Judge, and +not only to him, but also to all that love His coming. For, whereas Jesus +Christ Himself continually infuses His virtue into the said justified,--as +the head into the members and the vine into the branches,--and this virtue +always precedes, and accompanies, and follows their good works, which +without it could not in any wise be pleasing and meritorious before God +(can. 2), we must believe that nothing further is wanting to the justified +to prevent their being accounted to have, by those very works which have +been done in God, fully satisfied the divine law according to the state of +this life, and to have truly merited eternal life, to be obtained also in +its [due] time, if so be, however, that they depart in grace."(1294) This +teaching is in harmony with Scripture. The Bible nowhere requires an act +of charity to make good works meritorious for Heaven. In the "eight +beatitudes"(1295) our Lord Himself promises eternal glory for works which +are not all works of charity, nor even dictated by charity, either formal +or virtual. When He was asked: "Master, what good shall I do that I may +have life everlasting?"(1296) he did not answer with Bellarmine: "Steep +all thy works in the motive of charity," but declared: "If thou wilt enter +into life, keep the commandments."(1297) And when requested to specify, He +simply cited the ordinary precepts of the Decalogue.(1298) We also know +that at the Last Judgment He will receive the elect into the "kingdom of +His Father" solely in consideration of the works of mercy they have +done.(1299) + +Theological reasoning lends its support to this view. If good works +performed without the motive of charity were not supernaturally +meritorious, this would be attributable to one of three causes. Either the +just would sin by doing good; or good works performed without charity +would not be deserving of eternal beatitude; or, finally, there would be +no strict equality between service and reward. All three of these +suppositions are untenable. The first would lead to Bajanism or +Jansenism.(1300) The second and third overlook the fact that the requisite +proportion (_condignitas_) between service and reward is furnished by +sanctifying grace or habitual charity, which, as _deificatio_, adoptive +sonship, and union with the Holy Ghost, actually supplies that for which +the _motivum caritatis_ is demanded. + +We might ask the advocates of the more rigorous opinion, whence the act of +charity which they demand for every meritorious work, derives its peculiar +proportionality or _condignitas_ with the beatific vision. Surely not from +itself, because as an act it is merely _primus inter pares_, without in +any essential respect excelling other motives. There is no alternative but +to attribute it to that quasi-divine dignity which is imparted to the just +man and his works by sanctifying grace. + +For these reasons present-day theology regards the second theory as +sufficiently well established and the faithful are largely guided by it in +practice.(1301) + +2. REQUISITES OF MERIT ON THE PART OF THE AGENT WHO MERITS.--The agent who +merits must be a wayfarer and in the state of sanctifying grace. + +a) The wayfaring state (_status viae_) is merely another name for life on +earth. Death as the natural, though not essentially necessary limit of +life, closes the time of meriting. Nothing is more clearly taught in Holy +Scripture than that we must sow in this world if we desire to reap in the +next.(1302) + +b) The second requisite is the state of sanctifying grace. Only the just +can be "sons of God" and "heirs of heaven."(1303) Cfr. John XV, 4: "As the +branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so +neither can you, unless you abide in me."(1304) Rom. VIII, 17: "And if +sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ."(1305) + +Does the degree of sanctifying grace existing in the soul exert a decisive +influence on the amount of merit due to the good works performed? This +question can be easily solved on the theological principle that the +supernatural dignity of the soul increases in proportion to its growth in +sanctifying grace. Vasquez holds that, other things being equal, one who +is holier gains no greater merit by performing a given work than one who +is less holy.(1306) All other theologians(1307) hold with St. Thomas(1308) +that the meritoriousness of a good deed is larger in proportion to the +godlike dignity of the agent, which in turn is measured by the degree of +sanctifying grace in the soul. This explains why God, in consideration of +the greater holiness of some saints who are especially dear to Him, often +deigns through their intercession to grant favors which He refuses to +others.(1309) + +3. THE REQUISITES OF MERIT ON THE PART OF GOD.--Merit requires but one +thing on the part of God, _viz._: that He accept the good work _in actu +secundo_ as deserving of reward. Since, however, theologians are not +agreed on this point, we are dealing merely with a more or less +well-founded opinion. + +Though the good works of the just derive a special intrinsic value from +the godlike dignity of adoptive sonship, and, consequently, _in actu +primo_, are truly meritorious prior to and apart from their acceptance by +God, yet human service and divine remuneration are separated by such a +wide gulf that, in order to make a good deed meritorious _in actu +secundo_, the divine acceptance and promise of reward must be expressly +superadded. + +In regard to the relation between service and reward Catholic theologians +are divided into three schools. + +The Scotists(1310) hold that the _condignitas_ of a good work rests +entirely on God's gratuitous promise and free acceptance, without which +even the most heroic act would be utterly devoid of merit, whereas with it +even naturally good works may become meritorious. This rather shallow +theory almost completely loses sight of the godlike dignity peculiar to +the just in their capacity of "adopted children of God" and "temples of +the Holy Ghost," and is unable to account for such important Biblical +terms as "crown of justice," "prize of victory," "just judge," etc. + +Suarez and his school contend that there is such a perfectly balanced +equality between merit and reward that God is obliged in strict justice +(_ex obligatione iustitiae_), prior to and apart from any formal act of +acceptance or promise on His part, to reward good works by the beatific +vision. This view is scarcely tenable because there is no common basis on +which to construe a relation of strict justice between the Creator and His +creatures,(1311) and moreover St. Paul expressly teaches that "The +sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to +come."(1312) + +Hence we prefer to hold with Lessius,(1313) Vasquez,(1314) and De +Lugo(1315) that the _condignitas_ or equality existing between merit and +reward, owes its origin both to the intrinsic value of the good work +itself and to the free acceptance and gratuitous promise of God. This +solution duly respects the intrinsic value of merit _in actu primo_, +without derogating from the sublime dignity of God, who rewards good works +not because He is obliged to do so by the merits of a mere creature, but +solely because He is bound by His own truthfulness and fidelity. Thus +God's justice towards His creatures is placed upon a free basis, and there +is no violation of justice (_iniuria_) on His part. "From the fact that +our actions have no merit except on the supposition that God so ordained," +says St. Thomas, "it does not follow that God is simply our debtor; He is +His own debtor, _i.e._ He owes it to Himself to see that His commands are +obeyed."(1316) This teaching can be proved from Sacred Scripture. Cfr. +James I, 12: "He shall receive the crown of life, which God hath promised +to them that love him."(1317) It is reechoed by St. Augustine: "God is +made our debtor, not by receiving anything from us, but because it pleased +Him to promise us something. For it is in a different sense that we say to +a man: You are indebted to me because I have given you something, and: You +owe this to me because you have promised it. To God we never say: Give +back to me because I have given to Thee. What have we given to God, since +it is from Him that we have received whatever we are and whatever good we +possess? We have therefore given Him nothing.... In this manner, +therefore, may we demand of God, by saying: Give me what Thou hast +promised, because we have done what Thou didst command, and it is Thyself +that hast done it because Thou hast aided our labors."(1318) The +Tridentine Council seems to endorse this view when it says: "Life eternal +is to be proposed to those ... hoping in God ... as a reward which is, +according to the promise of God Himself, to be faithfully rendered to +their good works and merits."(1319) + + + +Section 3. The Objects Of Merit + + +After defining the existence of merit the Tridentine Council enumerates +its objects as follows: "If anyone saith that the justified, by the good +works which he performs, ... does not truly merit increase of grace, +eternal life, and the attainment of that eternal life,--if it be so, +however, that he depart in grace,--and also an increase of glory: let him +be anathema."(1320) Hence merit calls for a threefold reward: (1) an +increase of sanctifying grace; (2) heavenly glory; and (3) an increase of +that glory. The expression "_vere mereri_" shows that all three of these +objects can be merited in the true and strict sense of the term (_de +condigno_). This is, however, no more than a theologically certain +conclusion. + +1. INCREASE OF SANCTIFYING GRACE.--The first grace of justification +(_gratia prima_) can never be merited;(1321) hence the meaning of the +above-quoted conciliar definition is that it can be increased by good +works. This increase is technically called _gratia secunda_. All +Scriptural texts which assert that sanctifying grace is unequal in +different individuals, also prove that it can be increased or augmented by +the performance of meritorious works.(1322) + +a) No adult person can merit the first grace of assistance (_gratia prima +actualis_), nor any one of the series of actual graces which follow it, +and by which justification ultimately comes to pass. They are all purely +gratuitous. Similarly, too, the first grace of justification (_gratia +prima habitualis_) cannot be strictly merited by the sinner preparing for +justification. This is the express teaching of Trent: "But we are +therefore said to be justified freely, because that none of those things +which precede justification--whether faith or works--merit the grace itself +of justification; for, if it be a grace, it is not now by works; +otherwise, as the same Apostle says, grace is no more grace."(1323) To +deny this would not only imperil the dogma of the gratuity of grace +(because if the first grace given before active justification could be +strictly merited, this would necessarily involve the _gratia prima +actualis_), but it would also start a vicious circle (because the _gratia +prima habitualis_ is an indispensable condition of merit). This explains +why St. Paul and St. Augustine again and again insist on the gratuity both +of the first grace of assistance and the grace of justification +proper.(1324) "This grace of Christ," says St. Augustine, "without which +neither infants nor adults can be saved, is not bestowed for any merits, +but is given freely, on account of which it is also called grace. 'Being +justified,' says the Apostle, 'freely through His blood.' "(1325) + +In the light of this teaching it is easy to decide the question, raised by +Vasquez, whether perfect contrition justifies the sinner merely _per modum +dispositionis_ or _per modum causae formalis_. Both contrition and +charity, be they perfect or imperfect, are essentially acts that dispose +the soul for justification.(1326) Hence, no matter how perfect, neither is +capable of effecting justification itself by way of merit (_merendo_), +nay, of entering even partially, as Vasquez would have it, into the formal +cause of justification, because, according to the Tridentine Council, +sanctifying grace and not perfect contrition is the _unica causa formalis_ +of justification.(1327) + +b) In connection with the dogma just explained theologians discuss the +question whether a just man may strictly (_de condigno_) merit the actual +graces which God bestows on him. We must carefully distinguish between +merely sufficient and efficacious graces. Theologians commonly hold(1328) +that merely sufficient graces may be merited _de condigno_, not so +efficacious graces, because the right to efficacious graces would +necessarily include a strict right to final perseverance (_donum +perseverantiae_), which lies outside the sphere of condign merit. Assuming +that the justified could by good works strictly merit the _prima gratia +efficax_ (an impossible hypothesis, because merit presupposes efficacious +grace), this would involve a similar claim to a second, third, fourth +grace--and ultimately to the final grace of perseverance, which, in matter +of fact, no man can merit. Not even heroic acts of virtue give a strict +right to infallibly efficacious graces, or to final perseverance. Even the +greatest saint is obliged to watch, pray, and tremble, lest he lapse from +righteousness.(1329) For this reason the Tridentine Council mentions +neither final perseverance nor efficacious graces among the objects of +merit.(1330) + +2. ETERNAL LIFE OR HEAVENLY GLORY.--The second object of merit is eternal +life. The dogmatic proof for this assertion has been given above.(1331) +Eternal life is described by the Tridentine Council(1332) both as a grace +and as a reward. + +a) In the canon quoted in the introduction of this Section the same +Council(1333) enumerates four apparently separate and distinct objects of +merit, _viz._: increase of grace, eternal life, the attainment of eternal +life, and increase of glory. Why the distinction between "eternal life" +and the "attainment of eternal life"? Does this imply a twofold reward, +and consequently a twofold object of merit? Theologians deny that such was +the intention of the Council, because the right to a reward evidently +coincides with the right to the payment of the same. An unattainable +eternal life would be a chimera.(1334) Nevertheless, the distinction is +not superfluous, since the attainment of eternal life does not coincide +with the gaining of merit but must be put off until death, and even then +depends upon the condition of the soul: "_si tamen in gratia decesserit_" +(provided he depart in grace). With this last condition the holy Synod +also wished to inculcate the salutary truth that the loss of sanctifying +grace _ipso facto_ entails the forfeiture of all previously acquired +merits. Even the greatest saint, were he to die in the state of mortal +sin, would enter eternity with empty hands and as an enemy of God. All his +former merits would be cancelled. To revive them would require a new +justification.(1335) + +b) A close analysis of the Tridentine canon under review gives rise to +another difficulty. Can the _gloria prima_ be merited? In defining the +_gratia secunda_ as an object of strict merit, the Council expressly +excludes the _gratia prima_. It makes no such distinction in regard to +glory, but names both "eternal life" (_gloria prima_) and "increase of +glory" (_gloria secunda_) as objects of merit. This naturally suggests the +query: Why and to what extent can the just man merit the _gloria prima_, +seeing that he is unable to merit the _gratia prima_? Some +theologians(1336) contend that the justified are entitled to the _gloria +prima_ only as a heritage (_titulo haereditatis_), never as a reward +(_titulo mercedis_). Because of its intimate causal connection with the +_gratia prima_, which is beyond the reach of merit, the _gloria prima_, +they argue, cannot be regarded as an object of merit except on the +assumption that the merits which precede justification confer a claim to +the _gloria prima_. This assumption is false, because without sanctifying +grace no condign merits can be acquired.(1337) In spite of this +difficulty, however, most theologians(1338) hold that, unlike the _gratia +prima_, the _gloria prima_ may under certain conditions be an object of +strict merit. The main reason is that, as the state of glory is not a +necessary requisite of the meritoriousness of good works, while the state +of grace is, the former may _positis ponendis_ be an effect of the +_meritum de congruo_, though the latter may not. A mere statement of the +problem shows that it cannot be satisfactorily solved unless we +distinguish between and enter into a detailed examination of two distinct +hypotheses. It is generally agreed that infants dying in the state of +baptismal grace owe that grace, and the state of glory which they enjoy in +Heaven, solely to God's mercy and have no claim to beatitude other than +that of heredity (_titulus hereditatis_). Adults who preserve their +baptismal innocence until death, manifestly cannot merit the _gloria +prima_ by their good works, because they already possess a legal title to +it through Baptism.(1339) It follows that their good works increase, but +do not merit, the _gloria prima_, to which these souls are already +entitled _titulo haereditatis_. The case is quite different with +catechumens and Christians guilty of mortal sin, who are justified by an +act of perfect contrition before the reception of Baptism or the Sacrament +of Penance. Of them it may be said, without fear of contradiction, that +they merit for themselves _de condigno_, not indeed the first grace of +justification, but the _gloria prima_, because perfect contrition, being +an _opus operans_, at the very moment of its infusion becomes an _opus +meritorium_ entitled to eternal glory.(1340) As regards the great majority +of adult Catholics who, because of defective preparation, never get beyond +imperfect contrition (_attritio_), and therefore are not justified until +they actually receive the Sacrament, it is certain that they owe whatever +grace they possess and whatever glory they have a claim to, entirely to +the _opus operatum_ of the Sacrament.(1341) + +3. INCREASE OF HEAVENLY GLORY.--The third object of merit, according to the +Tridentine Council, is "increase of glory." This must evidently correspond +to an increase of grace, which in its turn is conditioned upon the +performance of additional good works. That there is a causal connection +between meritorious works performed on earth and the glory enjoyed in +Heaven is clearly taught by Holy Scripture. Cfr. Matth. XVI, 27: "For the +Son of man shall ... render to every man according to his works."(1342) 1 +Cor. III, 8: "And every man shall receive his own reward, according to his +own labor."(1343) A further argument may be derived from the unequal +apportionment of glory to the elect in Heaven.(1344) This inequality is +based on inequality of grace, which in turn is owing to the fact that +grace can be augmented by good works. Consequently, the inequality of +glory depends ultimately on good works.(1345) + +4. NOTE ON THE MERITUM DE CONGRUO.--Congruous, as distinguished from +condign merit, gives no real claim to a reward, but only a quasi-claim +based on equity (_ex quadam aequitate_, _congruentia_, _decentia_). + +Hence congruous merit and condign merit are not species of the same genus, +but merely analogous terms. Because of the ambiguity of the word "equity" +Dominicus Soto, Becanus, and a few other Scholastics rejected the use of +the term _meritum de congruo_ in theology. But this was a mistake. The +Fathers engaged in the Semipelagian controversy, notably St. +Augustine,(1346) did not assert that the justifying faith of the sinner is +entirely without merit. The requisites of congruous merit are identical +with those of condign merit(1347) in all respects except one,--the _meritum +de congruo_ does not require the state of grace. + +a) According to the common opinion, from which but few theologians +dissent,(1348) a Christian in the state of mortal sin can, from the moment +he begins to cooeperate with supernatural grace, merit _de congruo_ by good +works, and obtain by prayer the dispositions necessary for justification, +and ultimately justification itself. + +"Prayer relies on mercy," says St. Thomas, "condign merit on justice. And +therefore man obtains from the divine mercy many things by prayer which he +does not merit in strict justice."(1349) This teaching is based partly on +Holy Scripture and partly on the writings of St. Augustine, and is +confirmed by certain utterances of the Council of Trent. By +conscientiously preparing himself with the aid of actual grace, the sinner +probably merits an additional claim (in equity) to justification. Cfr. Ps. +L, 19: "A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled +heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."(1350) Dan. IV, 24: "Redeem thou thy +sins with alms, and thy iniquities with works of mercy to the poor: +perhaps he [God] will forgive thy offences."(1351) St. Augustine says: +"The remission of sins itself is not without some merit, if faith asks for +it. Nor is that faith entirely unmeritorious by which the publican was +moved to say: 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner,' and then went away +justified through the merit of faithful humility."(1352) + +b) By good works the just may merit for themselves, not in strict justice +(_de condigno_), but as a matter of equity (_de congruo_), final +perseverance, conversion from mortal sin, spiritual favors for others, and +also such temporal blessings as may be conducive to eternal salvation. + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) It is a theologically certain conclusion, accepted by all theologians +without exception, that the grace of final perseverance (_donum +perseverantiae_) cannot be merited in the strict sense (_de condigno_). +Most authors hold, however, that it can be merited de congruo. This +_meritum_ is technically called _meritum de congruo fallibili_. Those who +deny that it can be merited at all, admit that it can be infallibly +obtained by fervent and unremitting prayer.(1353) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}) It is impossible to answer with anything like certainty the question +whether the just man is able to merit for himself in advance the grace of +conversion against the eventuality of a future lapse into mortal sin. +Following the lead of Albertus Magnus, St. Thomas takes a negative +view,(1354) on the ground that mortal sin interrupts the state of grace +and annihilates all former merits. In another passage of his writings, +however, the Angelic Doctor says: "There are two kinds of merit, one based +on justice, and this is called condign; and another based solely upon +mercy, and this is called congruous. Of the latter St. Paul says that it +is just, _i.e._ congruous, that a man who has performed many good works +should merit.... And in this wise God does not forget our work and +love."(1355) Scotus,(1356) Bonaventure,(1357) and Suarez(1358) regard this +as "a pious and probable opinion," well supported by Holy Scripture. The +prophet Jehu said to Josaphat, King of Juda: "Thou helpest the ungodly, +and thou art joined in friendship with them that hate the Lord, and +therefore thou didst deserve indeed the wrath of the Lord; but good works +are found in thee."(1359) To this argument add the following +consideration: If previous mortal sin does not prevent those acts whereby +man is disposed for justification from being at least to a limited extent +meritorious, there is no reason to assume that merits cancelled by +subsequent mortal sin will not be imputed to the sinner, with due regard, +of course, to a certain proportion between past merits and future +sins.(1360) To pray for the grace of conversion against the eventuality of +future mortal sin, is always good and useful,(1361) because it cannot but +please God to know that we sincerely desire to be restored to His +friendship if we should ever have the misfortune of losing it.(1362) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}) The just man may congruously merit for others whatever he is able to +merit for himself, _e.g._ the grace of conversion, final perseverance, and +also the first prevenient grace (_gratia prima praeveniens_), which no man +in the state of original sin is able to merit for himself.(1363) The +reason for this, according to St. Thomas, is the intimate relation of +friendship which sanctifying grace establishes between the just man and +God.(1364) However, as Sylvius rightly observes, it is not in the power of +the just to obtain by this friendship favors which would involve the +abrogation of the divinely established order of salvation. Such a favor +would be, for example, the justification of a sinner without the medium of +grace, or of a child without the agency of Baptism. An unreasonable +petition deserves no consideration, even if made by a friend. What may be +obtained by the merit of good works may be even more effectively obtained +by prayer for others. The Apostle St. James teaches: "Pray for one another +that you may be saved; for the continual prayer of a just man availeth +much."(1365) This consoling truth is confirmed by the dogma of the +Communion of Saints, by many illustrious examples from the Bible(1366) and +ecclesiastical history,(1367) and by the traditional practice of the +Church in praying God to give strength and perseverance to the faithful +and the grace of conversion to the heathen and the sinner.(1368) + +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}) A final question remains to be answered: Can the just congruously merit +such temporal blessings as good health, a comfortable living, and success +in business? They can, but only in so far as these favors are conducive to +eternal salvation; for otherwise they would not be graces. St. Thomas +seems to go even further than this by describing temporal favors as +objects of condign merit when they are conducive to salvation, and of +congruous merit when they bear no relation to that end.(1369) We have no +space left to enter into an argument on this point, but in conclusion wish +to call attention to two important facts: first, that prayer is more +effective than good works in obtaining temporal as well as spiritual +favors; and secondly, that we should not strive with too much anxiety for +earthly goods, but direct our thoughts, desires, prayers, and actions to +God, the Infinite Good, who has promised to be our "exceeding great +reward."(1370) + + + READINGS:--St. Thomas, _Summa Theologica_, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 1 + sqq.--Billuart, _De Gratia_, diss. 8, art. 1-5.--*Bellarmine, _De + Iustificatione_, V, 1-22.--*Suarez, _Opusc. de Divina + Iustitia_.--IDEM, _De Gratia_, l. XII, cap. 1 sqq.--Oswald, _Lehre + von der Heiligung, d. i. Gnade, Rechtfertigung, Gnodenwahl_, § 7, + 3rd ed., Paderborn 1885.--Tepe, _Institutiones Theologicae_, Vol. + III, pp. 223 sqq., Paris 1896.--*Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische + Theologie_, Vol. VIII, § 473 sqq., Mainz 1897.--Chr. Pesch, + _Praelectiones Dogmaticae_, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 215 sqq., + Freiburg 1908.--*S. Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 594 sqq., + Freiburg 1901.--Kneib, _Die Lohnsucht der christlichen Moral_, + Vienna 1904.--I. J. Remler, C. M., _Supernatural Merit_, St. Louis + 1914.--A. Devine, C. P., _The Sacraments Explained_, 3rd ed., + London 1905, pp. 74-89.--L. Labauche, S. S., _God and Man_, pp. + 254-270, N. Y. 1916. (On merit in general see M. Cronin, _The + Science of Ethics_, Vol. I, Dublin 1909, pp. 544 sqq.)--B. J. + Otten, S. J., _A Manual of the History of Dogmas_, Vol. II, St. + Louis 1918, pp. 249 sqq. + + On the Protestant idea of the fruits of justification see Moehler, + _Symbolik_, § 21 sqq. (English edition, pp. 157 sqq.). + + + + + +INDEX + + +A + +Acceptance of good works by God, 419 sqq. + +Actual Grace, 3 sqq.; + Its nature, 5 sqq.; + Its relation to habitual Grace, 14 sqq.; + Definition of, 15; + Its two-fold causality, 15 sqq.; + Division of, 19 sqq.; + Properties of, 49 sqq.; + Necessity of, 50 sqq.; + Gratuity of, 131 sqq.; + Universality of, 152 sqq.; + Its relation to free-will, 222 sqq.; + As a requisite of supernatural merit, 413 sqq. + +_Actus humanus_, 412. + +Adoption, 357. + +Adoptive sonship, 155, 356 sqq. + +Adults, all receive sufficient grace, 167 sqq. + +_Affectus credulitatis_, 105. + +Albertus Magnus, 206, 432. + +Alexander VIII, 179 sq. + +Alexander of Hales, 206. + +Aloysius, St., 211. + +Alphonsus, St., 415. + +Alvarez, 30, 216, 242, 243. + +Ambrose, St., 69, 102, 158, 209, 319, 349, 404. + +_Amor affectivus et effectivus_, 68. + +Amsdorf, 291. + +Anabaptists, 322. + +Aquaviva, 260, 262. + +Aristotle, 26, 31, 333, 353. + +Arnauld, 180. + +Athanasius, St., 341 sq., 373, 374. + +Attributes, Divine, 344 sq. + +"_Auctorem Fidei_," Bull, 74 sq. + +Augustine, St., 7, 8, 9, 17, 20, 22, 23, 24 sq., 27, 29, 31, 33, 34, 36, + 37, 39, 42, 43, 47, 56, 59 sqq., 66, 70, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, + 83, 84, 85, 89, 91, 92, 97, 98, 100, 102, 103, 105, 107, 108 + sq., 112, 118 sq., 126, 127, 138, 140, 141, 144, 146, 159 + sqq., 171, 174, 177, 188, 189 sq., 191 sq., 194, 197, 203 sq., + 210, 215, 228 sqq., 249, 252, 253, 254, 259, 262, 264, 289, + 308, 319 sq., 337 sq., 339, 342, 343, 350, 368, 373 sq., 375, + 383, 387, 394, 404, 421, 424 sq., 430, 431. + +Augustinianism, 147, 200, 232 sqq. + +B + +Baius and Bajanism, 55, 56, 60, 61, 62, 67, 70, 74 sqq., 147, 417. + +Ballerini, 415. + +Banez, 232 sqq., 246, 255. + +Baptism, 163 sqq., 279, 306, 308 sq., 314, 315, 318, 319, 330 sq., 394, + 428, 434. + +Barnabas, Epistle of, 318. + +Basil, St., 346, 349, 373. + +Beatitudes, 402, 416. + +Beauty, Supernatural, an effect of sanctifying grace, 349 sqq. + +Becanus, 206. + +Beghards, 399. + +Beguins, 399. + +Bellarmine, 163, 203, 210, 260, 263, 319, 330, 334, 337, 414. + +Benedict XIV, 249. + +Bernard, St., 37, 230. + +Berti, 249. + +Beza, 214. + +Biel, Gabriel, 63, 211. + +Billuart, 31, 211, 216, 238, 242. + +Bonaventure, St., 210, 365, 433. + +Boniface II, 99. + +Book of Life, The, 192 sq. + +Book of Torgau, 292. + +Butzer, 292, 322. + +C + +Caesarius of Arles, St., 99. + +Cajetan, 165. + +Calvin and Calvinism, 44, 153, 156, 206, 212, 213, 214, 218, 221, 223 sq., + 228, 285, 302, 310, 392, 399. + +Camerarius, 204. + +Cano, Melchior, 363. + +Capacity for grace, 133 sqq., 145 sqq. + +Capacity of nature, 50 sqq. + +Carthage, Councils of, 25, 28, 85, 116. + +Cassian, John, 97, 142. + +Castelein, 195. + +Catharinus, 204, 211, 382. + +Causality of Grace, 15 sqq. + +Celestine I, St., 89, 90, 99, 104. + +Celestius, 83, 85, 86. + +Cercia, 203. + +Certainty regarding justification, 379 sqq. + +Charismata, 13. + +Charity, 29, 56, 60, 67 sqq., 78, 336 sqq., 352, 363 sqq., 390, 395, 413 + sqq., 417. + +Children, see Infants. + +Christ, The Grace of, 10, 70, 226. + +Chrysostom, St., 91, 102 sqq., 141, 171, 178, 181, 209, 318, 349, 380. + +Clement of Alexandria, 308. + +Clement of Rome, 181. + +Clement V, 331. + +Clement VIII, 255, 261. + +Clement XI, 74, 180. + +_Cogitatio congrua_, 69 sqq., 94. + +Concupiscence, 64, 120. + +_Condignitas_ (equality) between merit and reward, 417 sqq. + +Condign Merit, 132 sq., 397 sq., 407 sqq. + +_Congregatio de Auxiliis_, 255, 261. + +Congruism, 261 sqq. + +Congruous Grace, 262 sqq. + +Congruous Merit, 132, 397, 407 sqq., 430 sqq. + +Conversion, 174 sqq., 297, 432 sq. + +Cooeperating Grace, 32 sqq. + +Cyprian, St., 102, 126. + +Cyril of Alexandria, St., 349, 360, 373. + +D + +D'Argentre, 198. + +Definition of Grace, 5 sqq. + +Deharbe, 328. + +Deification of man, 341 sq., 405. + +_Delectatio victrix_, 27, 225, 249 sqq. + +De Lemos, 216, 236. + +De Lugo, 72, 363, 415, 420. + +Despair, 179. + +"_De Vocatione Omnium Gentium_," 170, 182. + +Diospolis, Council of, 8, 85, 136, 141. + +Dordrecht, Synod of, 213. + +Dorner, 293. + +Durandus, 63. + +E + +Eck, Johann, 132. + +Efficacious Grace, 41 sqq. + +Efficacy, Threefold, 265 sq. + +Elect, Number of the, 194 sq. + +Ephesus, Ecumenical Council of, 86. + +Ephrem, St., 109. + +Estius, 216. + +Eternal life, 426 sqq. + +Eucharist, The Holy, 360. + +External and Internal Grace, 11 sqq. + +F + +_Facienti quod est in se Deus non denegat gratiam_, 147 sqq. + +Faith, 62, 73, 100 sqq., 272, 274 sqq., 298 sqq., 363 sq., 390 sq., 395. + +_Fides explicita--implicita_, 184 sqq., 279. + +Fiduciary faith, 274 sqq., 310 sq. + +_Filiatio adoptiva_, 110. + +Final perseverance, see Perseverance. + +Flacius, 291. + +Florence, Council of, 164. + +Fonseca, 257. + +Francis de Sales, St., 207, 256. + +Franzelin, 203. + +Frassen, 206. + +Freedom a requisite of merit, 411 sqq. + +Free-will, 32 sqq.; + How Grace cooeperates with, 40 sq.; + Its relation to Grace, 222 sqq. + +Friendship, 353. + +Friendship of God, an effect of sanctifying grace, 351 sqq. + +Fulgentius, St., 23, 182, 215, 278. + +G + +Gazzaniga, 216, 236. + +Gelasius, Pope, 170. + +Gifts of the Holy Ghost, 369 sq. + +Glory, 426 sqq. + +Glossner, 149. + +God, The Grace of, 10. + +Godts, 195. + +Gomarus, 213. + +Gonet, 204 sq., 216, 218, 219 sq., 345. + +Good intention, 411, 414. + +Good works, Merit of, 397 sqq. + +Gotti, 30, 185, 216. + +Gottschalk, 212. + +Goudin, 216. + +Grace of justification, 313. + +Granderath, 361. + +_Gratia antecedens--concomitans_, 35. + +_Gratia congrua--incongrua_, 262 sqq. + +_Gratia efficax ab extrinseco sive per accidens_, 255 sqq., 268. + +_Gratia efficax ab intrinseco sive per se_, 232 sqq., 267, 268. + +_Gratia est in nobis, sed sine nobis_, 37. + +_Gratia gratis data_, 12 sqq. + +_Gratia gratum faciens_, 12 sqq. + +_Gratia inspirationis_, 23. + +_Gratia magna_, 252 sq. + +_Gratia orationis_, 43. + +_Gratia parva_ (of Jansenius) 44, 252 sq. + +_Gratia prima_, 136 sqq., 388 sqq., 424, 427 sqq. + +_Gratia sanans s. medicinalis_, 16, 91, 114. + +_Gratia secunda_, 388 sqq. + +_Gratia vocans_, 32, 35, 111. + +Gratuity of Grace, 131 sqq. + +Graveson, 216. + +Gregory of Nazianzus, 102, 159, 308. + +Gregory the Great, St., 38, 290, 308, 368, 380, 394. + +Grotius, Hugo, 294. + +Gutberlet, 165, 205. + +H + +Habits, 333 sqq. + +"Half-Melanchthonians," 292. + +Harnack, 295, 296, 319, 381. + +Heathens, The, receive sufficient grace for salvation, 179 sqq. + +Henno, 324. + +Henry of Ghent, 210. + +Hilary, St., 97, 99, 209. + +Holy Ghost, 331 sq., 335, 346, 361 sq., 368, 369 sq. + +Hope, 363 sqq., 390, 396. + +Hurter, 375. + +Hus, 212. + +Hypostatic Union, 12, 150, 345. + +I + +Ignatius of Antioch, St., 404. + +Illuminating grace of the intellect, 19 sqq. + +Imputation, Lutheran theory of, 313 sqq. + +Incarnation, Dogma of the, 282 sqq. + +Incompatibility of Grace and sin, 323 sqq. + +Increase of glory, 429 sq. + +Increase of sanctifying grace, 384 sqq., 423 sqq., 429. + +"Indiculus," 99. + +Infants, Unbaptized, 163 sqq., + Baptized, 406. + +Infralapsarians, 156, 213. + +_Inhabitatio Spiritus Sancti_, 361 sq., 370 sqq. + +Innocent I, 8, 9, 85, 154. + +Innocent X, 168, 226. + +Innocent XI, 73, 183, 281, 402. + +_Intensio gratiae_, 389. + +Irenaeus, St., 47, 90, 404. + +Isaias, 178. + +J + +Jacob and Esau, 201 sq. + +James, St., 286, 287, 288, 289, 294, 403, 434. + +Jansenius and Jansenism, 44, 52, 55, 62, 74, 77, 79, 80, 153 sq., 168, + 171, 180, 212, 218, 221, 222, 223, 224 sqq., 249, 252, 281, + 411, 417. + +Jehu, 433. + +Jerome, St., 58, 109, 354, 380, 387, 394, 412. + +Jews, 137, 155, 195, 282, 367. + +John a S. Thoma, 216. + +John the Baptist, St., 116. + +Joseph, St., 116, 211. + +Jovinian, 387, 394. + +Julian of Eclanum, 83, 85. + +Justification, 36, 73, 97, 113 sq., 136 sqq.; + Process of, 272 sqq.; + Necessity of faith for, 274 sqq.; + Necessity of other preparatory acts, 285 sqq.; + The state of, 300 sqq.; + The nature of, 301 sqq.; + Negative element, 302 sqq.; + Positive element, 310 sqq.; + Sanctifying Grace the sole formal cause of, 322 sqq.; + Qualities of, 378 sqq.; + Increase of Grace, 388; + Fruits of, 397 sqq. + +Justin Martyr, St., 102, 308. + +K + +Klee, 164. + +{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, 345. + +Krogh-Tonning, 293. + +L + +Lateran, Fourth Council of the, 179, 400. + +Law of grace, 405. + +Lessius, 150, 206, 211, 221, 262, 337, 420. + +Liberty, see Freedom. + +Liebermann, 89. + +Logos, The Divine, 358, 359 sq. + +Log-stick-and-stone theory, 291, 292. + +Lucidus, 212. + +_Lumen gloriae_, 345. + +Luther, 52, 74, 132, 223, 285, 288, 291, 293, 295, 302, 310, 322, 384, + 389, 392, 399, 407. + +M + +Maldonatus, 203, 204. + +Mary, B. V., 64, 116, 211, 384, 389, 391. + +Massillon, 194. + +Melanchthon, 292, 310. + +Mennonites, 322. + +Mercy, Works of, 416. + +Merely sufficient Grace, 41 sqq. + +Merit, 128, 131 sqq., 397 sqq., 430. + +_Meritum de congruo_, 430 sqq. + +_Meritum naturae_, 138. + +Mezzofanti, Cardinal, 54. + +Mileve, Council of, 85, 114, 116. + +Modernism, 54. + +Molina and Molinism, 65, 148, 200, 217, 255 sqq., 337. + +Molinos, M. de, 401. + +Moral virtues, Infused, 366 sqq. + +Mortal sin, 97, 106 sqq., 392 sqq. + +N + +Nabuchodonosor, 58. + +Natural and Supernatural Grace, 7 sqq. + +Nature, Capacity of, 50 sqq. + +_Necessitas antecedens peccati_, 120 sqq. + +_Necessitas medii--praecepti_, 279 sqq. + +O + +Obduracy, 175 sq. + +Objects of merit, 423 sqq. + +Obstinacy, 178 sq. + +Occasionalists, 406. + +Ockam, 211. + +_Opera steriliter bona_, 57, 81 sq. + +Orange, Second Council of, 20, 44, 86, 92, 99, 100, 106, 110, 123, 136, + 139, 143, 213, 400. + +Origen, 77. + +Original sin, 303, 434. + +Orosius, 182. + +Osiander, 292. + +Osorius, 204. + +Oswald, 104, 203. + +P + +Palmieri, 61, 72, 103, 116. + +Pantheism, 343. + +Passaglia, 158, 375. + +Passions, The, 28. + +Paul, St., 12, 13, 16, 21, 22, 27, 57, 64, 65, 68, 88, 100 sq., 105, 107, + 125, 137, 146, 157 sq., 166, 169 sq., 180, 189, 191, 201 sq., + 207, 227 sq., 259, 269, 276, 277, 281 sq., 283, 288 sq., 314, + 316, 317, 318, 319 sq., 351, 383, 393, 402, 407, 420, 424. + +Paul V, 256, 261. + +Pelagius and Pelagianism, 56, 64, 66, 71, 79, 82 sqq., 89, 97, 103, 114, + 119, 136, 141, 170, 190, 197, 228, 308. + +Penance, Sacrament of, 395, 428. + +Perrone, 18. + +Perseverance, Final, 123 sqq., 425 sq., 432 sqq. + +Pesch, Chr., 68, 72, 248. + +Petavius, 203, 204, 361, 375. + +Peter Lombard, 331. + +Peter, St., 171, 184. + +Pfeffinger, 292. + +Piccolomini, 262. + +Pighius, 204. + +{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, 277 sq., 290. + +Pistoia, Council of, 71, 74. + +Pius V, 165. + +Pius VI, 71, 73. + +Platel, 72. + +Plato, 350. + +Pneumatomachians, 373. + +Polycarp, St., 290. + +Pomponazzi, 52. + +Postlapsarians, 213. + +_Potentia obedientialis_, 19, 30, 40. + +_Praeambula fidei_, 52, 102, 105. + +_Praemotio moralis_, 249, 253. + +_Praemotio physica_, 233 sqq., 248. + +Prayer, 43, 91, 127 sqq., 133, 142 sqq., 266 sqq., 431, 433, 435. + +Predestinarianism, Heretical, 212. + +Predestination, 152, 187 sqq.; + _ante praevisa nierita_, 199 sqq.; + _post praevisa merita_, 206 sqq. + +Predestinationism, Orthodox, 199 sqq. + +Prevenient Grace, 32 sqq. + +Priesthood, 13. + +Properties of sanctifying Grace, 378 sqq. + +Prosper, St., 25, 37, 59, 77, 97, 99, 100, 159, 182, 192, 215. + +Protagoras, 350. + +Q + +Qualitates Fluentes, 29 sqq. + +Qualities, 333 sq. + +Quasi-Merit, 134. + +Quesnel, 53, 72, 74 sqq., 180. + +Quietists, 343, 401. + +R + +Re-Creation, 315, 339. + +Regeneration, 314 sq., 329, 339, 341, 346. + +Repentance, 176. + +Reprobation, 152, 178, 212 sqq. + +Requisites of supernatural merit, 410 sqq. + +Ripalda, 65, 69, 71 sqq., 128, 145, 149, 330, 342, 345, 363. + +Roman Catechism, 333, 340, 349, 363. + +S + +Saints absolutely predestined, 211; + Favored by God, 419. + +Salmeron, 337. + +Salutary acts, 82 sqq. + +Sanctification, Internal, 323, 347, 348. + +Sanctifying Grace, 271 sqq.; + Genesis of, 272 sqq.; + The sole formal cause of justification, 322 sqq.; + Nature of, 328 sqq.; + A permanent quality of the soul, 328 sqq.; + An infused habit, 333 sqq.; + Not identical with charity, 336 sqq.; + A participation of the soul in the divine nature, 340 sqq.; + The effects of, 347 sqq.; + Sanctity, 347 sqq.; + Supernatural beauty, 349 sqq.; + Divine friendship, 351 sqq.; + Adoptive sonship, 356 sqq.; + Supernatural concomitants, 362 sqq.; + Properties of, 378 sqq.; + Admits of degrees and therefore can be increased, 384 sqq.; + Lost by mortal sin, 392 sqq.; + Fruits of, 397 sqq.; + As a requisite of merit, 418 sq.; + Increased by merit, 424 sqq. + +Sanctity, an effect of sanctifying Grace, 347 sqq. + +Sardagna, 337. + +Scheeben, 361, 375. + +Schrader, 375. + +_Scientia media_, 245, 253, 257 sq., 266. + +Scotus and the Scotists, 10, 63, 67, 94, 210, 325, 332, 337, 419, 433. + +"Seed of God," Why grace is called the, 409. + +Self-righteousness, 406 sq. + +Semipelagianism, 97 sqq., 139 sqq., 146, 148, 170, 190, 197, 226, 228, + 239. + +Sensitive sphere, Graces of the, 26 sqq. + +Sinners, Ordinary and obdurate, 172 sqq. + +Sin, Incompatible with Grace, 323 sqq.; + Is sanctifying Grace diminished by venial sin? 388 sq. + +Sins of malice, 247. + +Society of Jesus, 260 sqq., 325. + +Socinianism, 292. + +Socrates, 25. + +Sola fides theory, 286 sqq. + +Soto, Dominicus, 211, 363, 430. + +Stapleton, 206. + +Stoics, 64, 387. + +Strengthening Grace of the will, 23 sqq. + +Suarez, 63, 96, 116, 122, 128, 150, 218, 219, 257, 262, 325, 330, 334, + 346, 359, 362, 363, 365, 390 sq., 415, 420, 433. + +Sufficient Grace, 41 sqq., 167 sqq. + +Supererogation, Works of, 411. + +Supernatural character of merit, 413 sqq. + +Sylvius, 216, 434. + +Syncretism, 267 sqq. + +Synergist dispute, 292. + +T + +Temporal blessings, 435. + +Temptations, 65 sqq. + +Tepe, 68, 72, 81. + +Tertullian, 179. + +{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, 341, 376. + +Theodoret, 209. + +Theological systems devised to harmonize the dogmas of grace and + free-will, 231 sqq.; + Thomism, 232 sqq.; + Augustinianism, 248 sqq.; + Molinism, 255 sqq.; + Congruism, 261 sqq.; + Syncretism, 267 sqq. + +Thomas, St., 27, 32, 34, 52, 53, 62, 70, 93, 121, 149, 161, 165, 178, 185, + 194, 210, 232, 298, 331, 332, 334, 338, 339, 345, 349, 357, + 365, 368 sq., 387, 409, 414, 419, 421, 431, 432, 435. + +Thomism and the Thomists, 11, 29, 200, 203, 216, 219, 232 sqq., 325, 332, + 389, 413, 414. + +Toletus, 204, 206. + +Tournely, 207, 337. + +Traditionalism, 52. + +Trent, Council of, 34, 35, 36, 38, 45, 74, 86, 94, 106, 107, 111, 115 sq., + 122, 123, 124, 125, 136, 153, 165, 168, 182, 188, 213, 224, + 227, 243 sq., 247, 265, 272, 275, 285, 295 sqq., 303, 307, 311 + sqq., 319, 322 sq., 324, 325, 329 sq., 331, 335, 338, 352, + 361, 363, 365, 383, 385, 391, 392, 400, 401, 407 sq., 415, 421 + sq., 423, 425, 426, sqq., 431. + +Trinity, Dogma of the, 282 sqq. + +U + +Ultricuria, Nicholas de, 52. + +Unbelief, 97. + +"Unigenitus," Constitution, 74. + +V + +Vasquez, 69 sqq., 72, 94, 133, 149, 262, 337, 363, 415, 418, 420, 425. + +Vatican Council, 51, 54, 73, 183, 244 sq., 265. + +Vega, 122. + +Venial sin, Possibility of avoiding, 117 sqq.; + Is sanctifying Grace diminished by? 388 sq. + +Vienne, Council of, 331, 363. + +Vital acts of the soul, 27 sqq. + +Vitelleschi, 262. + +Vocation, The grace of, 190, 196. + +_Voluntas salvifica Dei_, 152 sqq. + +W + +Wiclif, 212. + +Will to save, God's, 152 sqq. + +Y + +Ysambert, 211. + +Z + +Zosimus, 85. + +Zwingli, 298. + + + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + + 1 The Fathers and the Schoolmen "do not emphasize the difference, and + frequently speak of habitual and actual grace as of one whole. + Controversial reasons account for this discrepancy, which readers of + the older theologians should constantly bear in mind." + (Wilhelm-Scannell, _Manual of Catholic Theology_, Vol. II, p. 229, + 2nd ed., London 1901.) + + 2 The asterisk before an author's name indicates that his treatment of + the subject is especially clear and thorough. As St. Thomas is + invariably the best guide, the omission of the asterisk before his + name never means that we consider his work inferior to that of other + writers. There are vast stretches of theology which he scarcely + touched. + + 3 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 181 sqq., St. Louis 1912. + +_ 4 Theologiae Graecorum Patrum Vindicatae circa Universam Materiam + Gratiae Libri III_, I, 4, Paris 1646. + + 5 "The same name is loosely applied to the act of 'blessing' the food + before taking it, which is properly the function of a priest, but + which is suitably performed by every Christian." (Hunter, _Outlines + of Dogmatic Theology_, Vol. III, p. 6.) Cfr. S. Thomas, _Summa + Theologica_, 1a 2ae, qu. 110, art. 1: "_Secundum communem loquendi + modum tripliciter gratia accipi consuevit: uno modo pro dilectione + alicuius...; secundo sumitur pro aliquo dono gratis dato...; tertio + modo sumitur pro recompensatione beneficii gratis dati, secundum + quod dicimur agere gratias beneficiorum._" + + 6 Rom. XI, 6: "_Si autem gratia, iam non ex operibus; alioquin gratia + iam non est gratia._" + +_ 7 Tract. in Ioannem_, III, n. 9: "_Quid est gratia? Gratis data. Quid + est gratis data? Donata, non reddita._" + +_ 8 Debitum naturae._ + +_ 9 Epistula ad Innocent._, n. 2: "_Nam si intellexissent illi + episcopi, eam illum dicere gratiam, quam etiam cum impiis habemus, + cum quibus homines sumus, negare vero eam qua Christiani et filii + Dei sumus, quis eum patienter ... ante oculos suos ferret? + Quapropter non culpandi sunt iudices, qui ecclesiastica consuetudine + nomen gratiae_ [_i.e._ _christianae] audierunt._" + + 10 On the difference between these two categories see Pohle-Preuss, + _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, pp. 180 sqq. + +_ 11 Epist. ad Innocent._, _l.c._: "_Etsi quadam non improbanda ratione + dicitur gratia Dei qua creati sumus [gratia naturalis], ... alia est + tamen, qua praedestinati vocamur, iustificamur, glorificamur [gratia + supernaturalis]._" + +_ 12 Epist. ad Sixt._, 194, n. 8: "_Haec est enim gratia, quam in libris + Dei legere et populis praedicare catholici antistites consueverunt, + et gratia quam commendat Apostolus non est ea qua creati sumus, ut + homines essemus, sed qua iustificati sumus, quum mali homines + essemus._" + + 13 St. Augustine, _Ep._, 217: "_Hoc [scil. credere] opus est gratiae, + non naturae. Opus est, inquam, gratiae quam nobis attulit secundus + Adam, non naturae quam totam perdidit in seipso Adam._" + +_ 14 Gratia est donum gratis datum supernaturale._ + + 15 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _Soteriology. A Dogmatic Treatise on the + Redemption_, pp. 24 sqq., St. Louis 1914. + +_ 16 Gratia est donum gratis datum, supernaturale, ex meritis Christi._ + + 17 Cfr. St. Augustine, _Contra Duas Epistolas Pelagianorum_, IV, 15. + + 18 Cfr. Rom. III, 21 sqq.; Gal. II, 16. + +_ 19 Gratia est donum gratis datum, supernaturale, internum, ex meritis + Christi._ + + 20 St. Matthew X, 8: "_Infirmos curate, mortuos suscitate, leprosos + mundate, daemones eiicite: gratis accepistis, gratis date_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~})."--The name "gratuitously given," as Fr. Hunter observes + (_Outlines_, III, 10), is "tautological and not particularly + expressive," and "helps in no way to indicate what is the nature of + the graces which it is intended to exclude. These are such as, for + want of a better word, we call ingratiating: the Latin name used by + theologians (_gratum faciens_) denotes that they make a man pleasing + to God, grateful to Him, if we understand _grateful_ of that which + gives pleasure, and not in its commoner sense, which is nearly the + same as thankful." + + 21 For a list of the charismata see 1 Cor. XII, 4 sqq. Cfr. Englmann, + _Von den Charismen im allgemeinen und von dem Sprachencharisma im + besonderen_, Ratisbon 1848; Cornely, _Comment. in S. Pauli Priorem + Epistolam ad Corinthios_, pp. 410 sqq., Paris 1890; Chr. Pesch, + _Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 243 sqq., Freiburg 1908. + + 22 1 Cor. XII, 31: "_Aemulamini autem charismata meliora, et adhuc + excellentiorem viam vobis demonstro._" + +_ 23 Caritas_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}. + + 24 1 Cor. XIII, 1 sqq. Cfr. St. Thomas Aquinas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, + qu. 111, art. 5: "_Unaquaeque virtus tanto excellentior est, quanto + ad altius bonum ordinatur. Semper autem finis potior est his, quae + sunt ad finem [i.e. media]. Gratia autem gratum faciens ordinat + hominem immediate ad coniunctionem ultimi finis; gratiae autem + gratis datae ordinant hominem ad quaedam praeparatoria finis ultimi, + sicut per prophetiam et miracula et huiusmodi homines inducuntur ad + hoc quod ultimo fini coniungantur. Et ideo gratia gratum faciens est + multo excellentior quam gratia gratis data._" + +_ 25 Gratia est donum gratis datum, supernaturale, internum, gratum + faciens, ex meritis Christi._ + + 26 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 229 sq. + +_ 27 Ibid._, pp. 298 sq. + +_ 28 Ep. ad Simplician._, I, 9, 22: "_Voluntas ipsa, nisi aliquid + occurrerit quod delectet et invitet animum, moveri nullo modo + potest; hoc autem, ut occurrat, non est in hominis potestate._" + +_ 29 Enchiridion_, c. 98: "_Quis tam impie desipiat, ut dicat, Deum + malas hominum voluntates, quas voluerit, quando voluerit, ubi + voluerit, in bonum non posse convertere?_" + + 30 "_Domine, ... ad te nostras etiam rebelles compelle propitius + voluntates._" For a full treatment of God's moral causality the + student is referred to Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 109, + sect. 2 sq. + + 31 Cfr. D. Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. 15. + +_ 32 Causa formalis._ + +_ 33 Causa efficiens._ + +_ 34 Causa meritoria._ + +_ 35 Causa materialis._ + +_ 36 Causalitas moralis._ + +_ 37 Causalitas physica._ + +_ 38 Causa finalis inadaequata._ + +_ 39 Causa finalis adaequata._ + + 40 On the _potentia obedientialis_ see Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of + Nature and the Supernatural_, pp. 188 sqq. + + 41 Can. 7, quoted by Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 180. + +_ 42 Supra_, p. 11. + + 43 "_Lex Domini immaculata, convertens animas, ... praeceptum Domini + lucidum, illuminans oculos._" + + 44 "_Christus passus est pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum, ut + sequamini vestigia eius._" + +_ 45 De Spiritu et Litera_, c. 34: "_Visorum suasionibus agit Deus, ut + velimus et ut credamus, sive extrinsecus per evangelicas + exhortationes sive intrinsecus, ubi nemo habet in potestate, quid ei + veniat in mentem._" + + 46 2 Cor. III, 4 sq.: "_Fiduciam autem talem habemus per Christum ad + Deum; non quod sufficientes simus cogitare aliquid a nobis quasi ex + nobis, sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo est._" + + 47 1 Cor. III, 6: "_Ego plantavi, Apollo rigavit; sed Deus incrementum + dedit_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}). _Itaque neque qui plantat est aliquid + neque qui rigat, sed qui incrementum dat, Deus_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~})." + +_ 48 De Gratia Christi_, c. 19: "_Ipse in bonis arboribus cooperatur + fructum, qui et forinsecus rigat atque excolit per quemlibet + ministrum et per se dat intrinsecus incrementum._" Cfr. also Eph. I, + 17 sq., Acts XXVI, 16 sqq., 2 Cor. IV, 6, 1 John II, 20 and 27. + + 49 Cfr. Mazzella, _De Gratia_, disp. 1, art. 1, §4, 3rd ed., Rome 1882. + +_ 50 Tract. in Ioa._, III, 13: "_Magisteria forinsecus adiutoria quaedam + sunt et admonitiones; cathedram in coelo habet, qui corda tenet._" + +_ 51 L.c._: "_Interior magister est, qui docet; Christus docet, + inspiratio ipsius docet._" + +_ 52 Ep. 17 de Incarn. et Grat._ n. 67: "_Frustra [divinus sermo] + exterioribus auribus sonat, nisi Deus spiritali munere auditum + hominis interioris aperiat._" Other Patristic texts will be found in + the classic work of Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 101, + sect. 3-4. + + 53 It is to be noted, however, that the term _gratia inspirationis_, + both in the writings of St. Augustine and in the decrees of Trent + (Sess. VI, can. 3), sometimes also denotes the immediate + illuminating grace of the mind. + +_ 54 De Gratia Christi_, c. 12: "_Qua gratia agitur, non solum ut + facienda noverimus, verum etiam ut cognita faciamus, nec ut solum + diligenda credamus, verum etiam ut credita diligamus._" + +_ 55 Op. cit._, c. 26: "_Cognitionem et dilectionem, sicut sunt + discernenda, discernat, quia scientia inflat, quando caritas + aedificat.... Et quum sit utrumque donum Dei, sed unum minus, + alterum maius, non sic iustitiam nostram super laudem iustificatoris + extollat, ut horum duorum quod minus est divino tribuat adiutorio, + quod autem maius est humano usurpet arbitrio._" + + 56 He applies a variety of practically synonymous terms to the + strengthening grace of the will, for instance: _delectatio + coelestis_, _spiritus caritatis_, _inspiratio dilectionis_, _bona + voluntas_, _voluptas_, _sanctum desiderium_, _inspiratio + suavitatis_, _cupiditas boni_, etc. + + 57 Canon 4: "_Quisquis dixerit, eandem gratiam Dei per Iesum Christum + D. N. propter hoc tantum adiuvare ad non peccandum, quia per ipsam + nobis aperitur el revelatur intelligentia mandatorum, ut sciamus + quid appetere et quid vitare debeamus, non autem per illam nobis + praestari ut quod faciendum cognoverimus, etiam facere diligamus + atque valeamus, a. s.; ... quum sit utrumque donum Dei, et scire + quid facere debeamus et diligere ut faciamus._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, + n. 104.) + +_ 58 Contra Collator._, c. VII, 2: "_Trahit timor; principium enim + sapientiae timor Domini (Prov. I, 7). Trahit laetitia, quoniam + laetatus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus + (Ps. CXXI, 1). Trahit desiderium, quoniam concupiscit et deficit + anima mea in atria Domini (Ps. LXXXIII, 3). Trahunt delectationes: + quam dulcia enim faucibus meis eloquia tua, super mel et favum ori + meo (Ps. CXVIII, 103). Et quis perspicere aut enarrare possit, per + quos affectus visitatio Dei animum ducat humanum?_" Cfr. Schiffini, + _De Gratia Divina_, thes. 11; Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, + thes. 8. + +_ 59 De Anima_, I, 8: {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + +_ 60 De Peccatorum Meritis et Remissione_, II, 19, 33: "_... ut suave + faciat, quod non delectabat._" + + 61 2 Cor. XII, 9: "_Sufficit tibi gratia mea._" For further information + on this point the student is referred to Ripalda, _De Ente + Supernaturali_, disp. 44, sect. 9. + +_ 62 In Psalmos_, 102, n. 16: "_Vocat [Deus] per intimam + cognitionem._"--_Tract. in Ioa._, 26, n. 7: "_Videte quomodo trahit + Pater, docendo delectat._" + +_ 63 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 110, art. 2. + +_ 64 S. Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 25, art. 2. + + 65 "_... quum sit utrumque donum Dei, et scire quid facere debeamus, et + diligere ut faciamus._" (_V. supra_, p. 25.) + + 66 "_Amor Dei propter se super omnia._" + +_ 67 V. infra_, Part II, Ch. I. + + 68 Cfr., _e.g._, _De Trinitate_, VIII, 10: "_Quid est dilectio vel + caritas, quam tantopere Scriptura divina laudat et praedicat, nisi + amor boni?_"--_Contra Duas Epistolas Pelag._, II, 9, 21: "_Quid est + boni cupiditas nisi caritas?_"--_De Gratia Christi_, c. 21: "_Quasi + vero aliud sit bona voluntas quam caritas._" + + 69 It should also be noted that in Augustine's writings _inspiratio + caritatis_, as an immediate grace of the will, is not necessarily + identical with the infusion of theological love. + +_ 70 E.g._ Berti, _De Theol. Discipl._, XIV, 7. + + 71 Cfr. Alvarez, _De Aux._, disp. 67, n. 6. + + 72 Alvarez, _op. cit._, disp. 74.--Cfr. John VI, 44: "_Nemo potest + venire ad me, nisi Pater, qui misit me, traxerit eum._" Apoc. III, + 20: "_Ecce sto ad ostium et pulso; si quis audierit vocem meam et + aperuerit mihi ianuam, intrabo ad illum._" + +_ 73 Comment. in Summam Theol. S. Thomae Aquinatis_, p. 2, tr. 6, qu. 2, + art. 2, §2. + +_ 74 V. supra_, Nos. 1 and 2. + +_ 75 Ad Simplic._, I, 2, n. 21: "_Quis potest credere, nisi aliqua + vocatione, h. e. aliqua rerum testificatione tangatur? Quis habet in + potestate tali viso attingi mentem suam, quo eius voluntas moveatur + ad fidem?_" + + 76 Cfr. Suarez, _De Div. Grat._, III, 4: "_In Conciliis et Patribus + nullum vestigium talis gratiae invenimus, quin potius ipsam + inspirationem ponunt ut gratiam primam et praeterea indicant + immediate infundi ab ipso Spiritu Sancto et non mediante aliqua + qualitate._" + +_ 77 De Gratia_, diss. 4, art. 2. + +_ 78 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 110, art. 2: "_In eo, qui dicitur + gratiam Dei habere, significatur esse quidam effectus gratuitae Dei + voluntatis. Dictum est autem supra (qu. 109, art. 1), quod + dupliciter ex gratuita Dei voluntate homo adiuvatur: uno modo + inquantum anima hominis movetur a Deo ad aliquid cognoscendum vel + volendum vel agendum; et hoc modo ipse gratuitus effectus in homine + non est qualitas, sed motus quidam animae; actus enim moventis in + moto est motus, ut dicitur (Phys. 1, 3, text. 18). Alio modo + adiuvatur homo ex gratuita Dei voluntate, secundum quod aliquod + habituale donum a Deo animae infunditur ... et sic donum gratiae + qualitas quaedam est._"--Cfr. Palmieri, _De Gratia Div. Actuali_, + thes. 16; Pesch, _Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 23 sqq.; + Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 220 sqq. The Thomistic doctrine + on this point is viewed with favor by several Molinist theologians, + _e.g._, Platel (_De Gratia_, n. 547) and Gutberlet (_Dogmatische + Theologie_, Vol. VIII, pp. 25 sq., Mainz 1897). + +_ 79 De Peccat. Merit. et Rem._, II, 18: "_Quoniam quod a Deo nos + avertimus nostrum est, et haec est voluntas mala; quod vero ad Deum + nos convertimus nisi ipso excitante et adiuvante non possumus, et + haec est voluntas bona._" + +_ 80 De Grat. et Lib. Arbitr._, c. 17, 33: "_Ipse ut velimus, operatur + incipiens, qui volentibus cooperatur perficiens._"--On certain + differences of opinion on this point between Suarez (_De Div. + Motione_, III, 5) and St. Thomas (_Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 111, + art. 2), see Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 252 sqq. + + 81 Cfr. Ps. LVIII, 11; XXII, 6. + +_ 82 Enchiridion_, c. 32: "_Nolentem praevenit, ut velit; volentem + subsequitur, ne frustra velit._" + +_ 83 Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 5: "_Declarat praeterea, ipsius + justificationis exordium in adultis a Dei per Iesum Christum + praeveniente gratia sumendum esse, h. e. ab eius vocatione, qua + nullis eorum existentibus meritis vocantur._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, + n. 797.) + +_ 84 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 111, art. 3: "_Sicut gratia dividitur in + operantem et cooperantem secundum diversos effectus, ita etiam in + praevenientem et subsequentem, qualitercumque gratia accipiatur + (i.e. sive habitualis sive actualis). Sunt autem quinque effectus + gratiae in nobis, quorum primus est ut anima sanetur; secundus ut + bonum velit; tertius est ut bonum quod vult efficaciter operetur; + quartus est ut in bono perseveret; quintus est ut ad gloriam + perveniat. Et ideo gratia, secundum quod causat in nobis primum + effectum, vocatur praeveniens respectu secundi effectus; et prout + causat in nobis secundum, vocatur subsequens respectu primi + effectus. Et sicut unus effectus est posterior uno effectu et prior + alio, ita gratia potest dici praeveniens et subsequens secundum + eundem effectum respectu diversorum._" + +_ 85 Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 16: "_Iesus Christus in ipsos + iustificatos iugiter virtutem influit, quae virtus bona eorum opera + semper antecedit et comitatur et subsequitur._" + + 86 On the distinction to be drawn between the various members of these + pairs, whether it be real or merely logical, theologians differ. + Cfr. Palmieri, _De Div. Grat._, thes. 18; Chr. Pesch, _Praelect. + Dogmat._, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 17 sqq.; Schiffini, _De Gratia + Divina_, pp. 241 sqq. + +_ 87 V. supra_, Nos. 1 and 4. + + 88 Sess. VI, cap. 5 and can. 4, quoted in Denzinger-Bannwart's + _Enchiridion_, n. 797 and 814. + +_ 89 Ad Simplic._, I, qu. 2, n. 22: "_Voluntas ipsa, nisi aliquid + occurrerit, quod delectet atque invitet animum, moveri nullo modo + potest; hoc autem ut occurrat, non est in hominis potestate._" + +_ 90 Contr. Collator._, c. VII, 2: "_Et quis perspicere aut enarrare + possit, per quos affectus visitatio Dei animum ducat humanum, ut + quae fugiebat sequatur, quae oderat diligat, quae fastidiebat + esuriat, ac subita commutatione mirabili quae clausa ei fuerant sint + aperta, quae onerosa levia, quae amara sint dulcia, quae obscura + sint lucida?_" + + 91 Cfr. M. Cronin, _The Science of Ethics_, Vol. I, pp. 30 sqq., Dublin + 1909. + +_ 92 Contra Duas Epistolas Pelagian._, II, 9, 21: "_Multa Deus facit in + homine bona, quae non facit homo; nulla vero facit homo, quae non + facit Deus, ut faciat homo._" + +_ 93 De Gratia et Lib. Arbitr._, c. 17, n. 33: "_Ut ergo velimus, sine + nobis operatur; quum autem volumus et sic volumus ut faciamus, + nobiscum cooperatur; tamen sine illo vel operante ut velimus, vel + cooperante quum volumus, ad bona pietatis opera nihil valemus._" + +_ 94 De Gratia et Lib. Arbitr._, c. 14: "_Si ergo Deus tria haec, h. e. + bonum cogitare, velle, perficere, operatur in nobis (2 Cor. III, 5; + Phil. II, 13), primum profecto sine nobis, secundum nobiscum, + tertium per nos facit. Siquidem immittendo bonam cogitationem, nos + praevenit; immutando etiam malam voluntatem sibi per consensum + iungit; ministrando et consensui facultatem foris per apertum opus + nostrum internus opifex innotescit. Sane ipsi nos praevenire + nequaquam possumus. Qui autem bonum neminem invenit, neminem salvat, + quem non praevenit. A Deo ergo sine dubio nostrae fit salutis + exordium, nec per nos utique nec nobiscum. Verum consensus et opus, + etsi non ex nobis, non iam tamen sine nobis._"--On the + misinterpretation of this text by the Jansenists, see Palmieri, _De + Gratia Divina Actuali_, pp. 84 sq. + +_ 95 Moral._, XVI, 10: "_Superna pietas prius agit in nobis aliquid sine + nobis [gratia praeveniens], ut subsequente libero arbitrio bonum, + quod appetimus, agat nobiscum [gratia cooperans]._" + +_ 96 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, c. 16: "_Tanta est [Dei] erga homines + bonitas, ut eorum velit esse merita quae sunt ipsius dona._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 810.) + +_ 97 De Grat. et Lib. Arbitr._, c. 16, 32: "_Certum enim est nos mandata + servare, si volumus; sed quia praeparatur voluntas a Domino, ab illo + petendum est, ut tantum velimus quantum sufficit, ut volendo + faciamus. Certum est nos velle, quum volumus; sed ille facit ut + velimus bonum, de quo dictum est quod paulo ante posui (Prov. VIII, + 35): ____Praeparatur voluntas a Domino____; de quo dictum est (Ps. + XXXVI, 32): ____A Domino gressus hominis dirigentur et viam eius + volet____; de quo dictum est (Phil. II, 13): ____Deus est qui + operatur in nobis et velle.____ Certum est nos facere quum facimus; + sed ille facit ut faciamus, praebendo vires efficacissimas + voluntati, qui dixit (Ezech. XXXVI, 27): ____Faciam ut in + iustificationibus meis ambuletis et iudicia mea observetis et + faciatis.____ Quum dicit: ____Faciam ut faciatis,____ quid aliud + dicit nisi (Ezech. XI, 19): ____Auferam a vobis cor lapideum,____ + unde non faciebatis, (Ezech. XXXVI, 26), et ____dabo vobis cor + carneum,____ unde facitis._"--On the subject of this paragraph see + Palmieri, _op. cit._, thes. 10, and Chr. Pesch, _op. cit._, pp. 14 + sqq. + + 98 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 67 sqq. + + 99 Cfr. Palmieri, _De Div. Grat. Actuali_; thes. 17, and Chr. Pesch, + _Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 28 sqq. + +_ 100 V. infra_, Ch. III, Sect. 2. + +_ 101 De Grat. et Lib. Arbitr._, c. 16, 32: "_Certum est nos facere, quum + facimus; sed ille facit ut faciamus, praebendo vires efficacissimas + voluntati._" + +_ 102 De Corrept. et Grat._, c. 11: "_Acceperat posse, si vellet [gratia + sufficiens]; sed non habuit velle [gratia efficax] quod posset, nam + si habuisset, perseverasset._" Cfr. Palmieri, _De Div. Grat. + Actuali_, thes. 11. + +_ 103 De Nat. et Grat._, 43: "_Nam Deus impossibilia non iubet, sed + iubendo monet, et facere quod possis, et petere quod non possis, et + adiuvat ut possis._" + +_ 104 De Gratia Christi_, IV, 10: "_... ita inefficax, ex qua operatio ne + possit quidem sequi, nisi eius inefficacia per aliam suppleatur._" + + 105 "_Illud a recentioribus prolatum gratiae sufficientis genus, quo + adiuvante nullum unquam opus factum est aut fiet unquam, videtur + monstrum quoddam singulare gratiae, solummodo peccatis faciendis + maiorique damnationi accersendae serviens._" (_De Grat. Christi_, + III, 3). + + 106 "_Gratia sufficiens statui nostro non tam utilis quam perniciosa + est, sic ut proinde merito possimus petere: A gratia sufficienti + libera nos, Domine._" This assertion was condemned by Pope Alexander + VIII in 1690. It is convincingly refuted by Schiffini, _De Gratia + Divina_, pp. 354 sqq. + + 107 "_Hoc etiam secundum fidem catholicam credimus, quod accepta per + baptismum gratia omnes baptizati Christo auxiliante et cooperante, + quae ad salutem pertinent, possint et debeant, si fideliter laborare + voluerint, adimplere._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 200.) + + 108 Sess. VI, can. 4: "_Si quis dixerit, liberum hominis arbitrium a Deo + motum et excitatum nihil cooperari Deo, ... neque posse dissentire, + si velit, anathema sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 814.) + + 109 Is. V, 4: "_Quid est, quod debui ultra facere vineae meae et non + feci ei? An quod exspectavi, ut faceret uvas et fecit labruscas?_" + + 110 Prov. I, 24: "_Vocavi et renuistis, extendi manum meam et non fuit + qui adspiceret._" + + 111 Matth. XI, 21. + + 112 Cfr. Matth. XXIII, 37; Acts VII, 51; 1 Cor. X, 13; 2 Cor. VI, 1; 1 + Thess. V, 19. + +_ 113 Contra Haer._, IV, 37, 1: "_Illud autem quod dicit (Matth. XXIII, + 37): Quoties volui colligere filios tuos, et noluisti, veterem + libertatem hominis manifestat, quia liberum eum fecit Deus ab + initio.... Vis enim a Deo non fit, sed bona sententia adest illi + semper. Et propter hoc consilium quidem bonum dat omnibus.... Et qui + operantur quidem illud [gratia efficax], gloriam et honorem + percipient, quoniam operati sunt bonum, quum possint non operari + illud; hi autem, qui illud non operantur, indicium iustum excipient + Dei, quoniam non sunt operati bonum [gratia inefficax], quum possint + operari illud [gratia vere et mere sufficiens]._" + + 114 "_Gratia Dei ... quae hominum adiuvat voluntates: qua ut non + adiuventur, in ipsis itidem causa est, non in Deo._" _De Peccat. + Mer. et Rem._, II, 17. + +_ 115 De Lib. Arbitr._, III, 16: "_Ex eo quod non accepit, nullus reus + est; ex eo autem quod non facit quod debet, iuste reus est. Debet + autem [facere], si accepit et voluntatem liberam et + sufficientissimam facultatem._" On the Jansenist distortions of St. + Augustine's teaching see Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. + 48. The doctrine of the Greek Fathers is thoroughly rehearsed by + Isaac Habert, _Theol. Patr. Graec._, II, 6 sq. + +_ 116 Conc. Vat.,_ Sess. III, De Revel., can. 1: "_Si quis dixerit, Deum + unum et verum, Creatorem et Dominum nostrum, per ea, quae facta + sunt, naturali rationis humanae lumine certo cognosci non posse, + anathema sit._" + +_ 117 Conc. Vat._, Sess. III, cap. 4: "_Hoc quoque perpetuus Ecclesiae + catholicae consensus tenuit et tenet, duplicem esse ordinem + cognitionis, non solum principio, sed obiecto etiam distinctum: + principio quidem, quia in altero naturali ratione et altero fide + divina cognoscimus; obiecto autem, quia praeter ea, ad quae + naturalis ratio pertingere potest, credenda nobis proponuntur + mysteria in Deo abscondita, quae, nisi revelata divinitus, + innotescere non possunt._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1795.) + + 118 Nicholas d'Autricourt, a master in the University of Paris, in 1348, + was compelled by the Sorbonne and the Apostolic See to retract a + number of propositions taken from his writings which were infected + with scepticism. These propositions, most of which had been censured + as heretical, and some as merely false, may be found in Natalis + Alexander, _Hist. Eccles._, ed. Bing., XV, 195, and also, with some + explanatory remarks, in Denifle-Chatelain, _Chartularium Univ. + Paris._, II, 1, Paris 1891. + + 119 "_Klotz-, Stock- und Steintheorie_." + + 120 On Traditionalism, see Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, + and Attributes_, pp. 44 sqq., 2nd ed., St. Louis 1914. + + 121 Wisd. XIII, 1 sqq.; Rom. I, 20 sq.; Rom. II, 14 sq. Cfr. + Pohle-Preuss, _op. cit._, pp. 17 sqq. + +_ 122 Ibid._, pp. 38 sqq. + +_ 123 Summa Theol_., 1a, qu. 2, art. 2, ad 1: "_Deum esse et alia + huiusmodi ... non sunt articuli fidei, sed praeambula ad articulos; + sic enim fides praesupponit cognitionem naturalem, sicut gratia + naturam et perfectio perfectibile_." + +_ 124 Luther's Werke_, ed. Walch, XII, 400, Halle 1742: "_Alles, was sie + oertert und schleusst, so gewisslich falsch und irrig ist, als Gott + lebt._" + +_ 125 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, cap. 1 and canon 5. + + 126 On the _vulnera naturae_ cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of + Nature and the Supernatural_, pp. 298 sqq., St. Louis 1912. Already + St. Augustine observed: "_Ad miseriam iustae damnationis pertinet + ignorantia et difficultas, quam patitur homo ab exordio nativitatis + suae, nec ab isto malo nisi Dei gratia liberatur._" (_Retract._, I. + 9.) + +_ 127 Propos._ 41: "_Omnis cognitio Dei etiam naturalis, etiam in + philosophis ethnicis, non potest venire nisi a Deo; et sine gratia + non producit nisi praesumptionem, vanitatem et oppositionem ad ipsum + Deum loco affectuum adorationis, gratitudinis et amoris._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1391.) + + 128 On the _debitum naturae_ cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of + Nature and the Supernatural_, pp. 184 sq. + +_ 129 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 2, art. 4. + +_ 130 Conc. Vatic._, Sess. III, _De Revel._, cap. 2: "_Ut ea, quae in + rebus divinis humanae rationi per se impervia non sunt, in praesenti + quoque generis humani conditione ab omnibus expedite, firma + certitudine et nullo admixto errore cognosci possint._" + + 131 Cfr. Chastel, S. J., _De la Valeur de la Raison Humaine_, Paris + 1854; O. Willmann, _Geschichte des Idealismus_, Vol. III, 2nd ed., + pp. 811 sqq., Braunschweig 1908; Bellarmine, _De Gratia et Libero + Arbitrio_, V, 1 sqq. + + 132 The only dissenting voice is that of Cardinal Cajetan. + + 133 Mezzofanti spoke perfectly thirty-eight languages, thirty others + less perfectly, and was more or less familiar with fifty dialects. + Cfr. U. Benigni in the _Catholic Encyclopedia_, Vol. X, p. 271. + + 134 On the question whether grace can enable a man to acquire an + unlimited, universal knowledge, see Pohle-Preuss, _Christology_, pp. + 258 sqq., St. Louis 1913. Cfr. also St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a + 2ae, qu. 109, art. 1, and Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, + thes. 19. + +_ 135 Prop. Baii Damn._, 27: "_Liberum arbitrium sine gratiae Dei + adiutorio nonnisi ad peccandum valet._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 1027.) + +_ 136 Prop. Baii Damn._, 37: "_Cum Pelagio sentit, qui boni aliquid + naturalis, i.e. quod ex naturae solis viribus ortum ducit, + agnoscit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1037.) + +_ 137 Prop. Baii Damn._, 25: "_Omnia opera infidelium sunt peccata et + philosophorum virtutes sunt vitia._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1025.) + +_ 138 Prop. Damn. ab Alex. VIII_: "_Necesse est infidelem in omni opere + peccare._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1298.) + + 139 Matth. V, 46 sq. + +_ 140 Mercedem_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + +_ 141 Salutaveritis_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}. + +_ 142 Ethnici_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}. + + 143 Rom. II, 14 sqq. + +_ 144 Gentes_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}. + + 145 That is, the _Mosaic_ law. + +_ 146 Naturaliter_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}. + +_ 147 Naturaliter_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}. + + 148 "_Quae legis sunt, faciunt._" + + 149 Rom. I, 21 sqq. + + 150 For other germane texts see Ezech. XXIX, 18 sqq.; Rom. I, 21. + + 151 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + + 152 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} = {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. + + 153 Cfr. also 1 Cor. VIII, 10 sqq. For a fuller explanation see + Scheeben, _Dogmatik_, Vol. III, pp. 954 sqq. + + 154 Ezech. XXIX, 20: "And for the service that he hath done me against + it [the city of Tyre], I have given him the land of Egypt, because + he hath labored for me, saith the Lord God." + +_ 155 In Ezech._, XXIX, 20: "_Ex eo quod Nabuchodonosor accepit mercedem + boni operis, intelligimus etiam ethnicos, si quid boni fecerint, non + absque mercede Dei iudicio praeteriri._" + +_ 156 In Gal._, I, 15: "_Multi absque fide et evangelio Christi vel + sapienter faciunt aliquid vel sancte, ut parentibus obsequantur, ut + inopi manum porrigant, non opprimant vicinos, non aliena diripant._" + +_ 157 De Spiritu et Litera_, c. 28: "_Sicut enim non impediunt a vita + aeterna iustum quaedam peccata venialia, sine quibus haec vita non + ducitur, sic ad salutem aeternam nihil prosunt impio aliqua bona + opera, sine quibus difficillime vita cuiuslibet pessimi hominis + invenitur._" + +_ 158 Ep._, 144, 2. + +_ 159 Confess._, VI, 10. + +_ 160 Ep._, 138, c. 3: "_Deus enim sic ostendit in opulentissimo et + praeclaro imperio Romanorum, quantum valerent civiles etiam sine + vera religione virtutes, ut intelligeretur hac addita fieri homines + cives alterius civitatis, cuius rex veritas, cuius lex caritas, + cuius modus aeternitas._" + +_ 161 De Spiritu et Litera_, c. 3, n. 5: "_Neque liberum arbitrium + quidquam nisi ad peccandum valet, si lateat veritatis via._" + +_ 162 Sent. ex August._, n. 106: "_Omnis vita infidelium peccatum est et + nihil est bonum sine summo bono. Ubi enim deest agnitio summae et + incommutabilis veritatis, falsa virtus est etiam in optimis + moribus._" + + 163 What Augustine himself observes of the literary style of St. Cyprian + (_Ep._, 93, c. 10, n. 39): "_Habet quandam propriam faciem, qua + possit agnosci_," applies in an even truer sense to his own + writings. + + 164 Cfr. _Enchirid._, c. 30. + + 165 Cfr. _De Correptione et Gratia_, c. 9, n. 20 sqq. + + 166 For a fuller and more adequate treatment of this question see J. + Ernst, _Werke und Tugenden der Unglaeubigen nach Augustinus_, + Freiburg 1871; Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, t. III, Cologne + 1648; S. Dechamps, _De Haeresi Ianseniana_, Paris 1645; and, more + briefly, Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. 21. + + 167 Palmieri, _l.c._, thes. 20. Concerning the effects of original sin + on free-will, see Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the + Supernatural_, pp. 291 sq. + + 168 On this distinction see _supra_, pp. 15 sqq. + +_ 169 Summa Theol._, 2a 2ae, qu. 10, art. 4: "_Bona opera, ad quae + sufficit bonum naturae, aliqualiter operari possunt [infideles]. + Unde non oportet quod in omni suo opere peccent; sed quandocunque + aliquod opus operantur ex infidelitate, tunc peccant._" + + 170 Cfr. _Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, can. 7: "_Si quis dixerit, opera + omnia quae ante iustificationem fiunt, quacunque ratione facta sint, + vere esse peccata vel odium Dei mereri, aut quanto vehementius quis + nititur se disponere ad gratiam, tanto eum gravius peccare, anathema + sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 817.) + +_ 171 V. infra_, No. 3. + + 172 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 226 sqq. + + 173 "_Propositio temeraria et errori proxima._" + +_ 174 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, cap. 13: "_Verumtamen qui se existimant + stare, videant ne cadant, et cum timore ac tremore salutem suam + operentur.... Formidare enim debent ... de pugna, quae superest cum + carne, cum mundo, cum diabolo, in qua victores esse non possunt, + nisi cum Dei gratia Apostolo obtemperent dicenti: Debitores etc._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 806.) + + 175 Rom. VII, 22 sqq. + + 176 Rom. VII, 24 sq. + + 177 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _Mariology_, pp. 80 sqq., St. Louis 1914. + + 178 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 109, art. 5; + Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, § 416, Mainz + 1897. + +_ 179 De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 114, sect. 18. + +_ 180 Concord._, art. 13, disp. 19. + + 181 Cfr. Chr. Pesch, _Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. V, pp. 87 sqq. + + 182 Cfr. the following passage from the Tridentine Council: "_... cum + timore ac tremore salutem suam operentur in laboribus, in vigiliis, + in eleemosynis, in orationibus et oblationibus, in ieiuniis et + castitate._" + +_ 183 De Natura et Gratia_, c. 48, n. 62: "_Fideles enim orantes dicunt: + Ne nos inferas in tentationem. Si adest possibilitas, ut quid orant? + Aut a quo malo se liberari orant nisi maxime de corpore mortis + huius?... de vitiis carnalibus, unde non liberatur homo sine gratia + Salvatoris.... Orare sinatur, ut sanetur. Quid tantum de naturae + possibilitate praesumitur? Vulnerata, sauciata, vexata, perdita est; + vera confessione, non falsa defensione opus habet._" The necessity + of grace, and of prayer to obtain grace, is admirably and + exhaustively treated by Suarez, _De Necessitate Gratiae_, I, 23, + sqq. Cfr. also Bellarmine, _De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_, V, 7 sqq. + +_ 184 Comment. in Quatuor Libros Sent._, III, dist. 27, qu. unica: + "_Ratio recta docet, solum summum bonum infinitum esse summe + diligendum et per consequens voluntas hoc potest ex puris + naturalibus; nihil enim potest intellectus recte dictare, in quod + dictatum non possit voluntas rationalis naturaliter tendere._" + +_ 185 Comment. in Summam Theol. S. Thomae Aqu._, 2a 2ae, qu. 171, art. 2. + +_ 186 Comment. in Summam Theol. S. Thomae Aqu._, 2a 2ae, qu. 24, art. 2. + +_ 187 De Natura et Gratia_, I, 21. + +_ 188 Concord._, qu. 14, art. 13, disp. 14. + +_ 189 De Gratia_, I, 33. + +_ 190 De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_, VI, 7: "_Existimamus non posse Deum + sine ope ipsius diligi neque ut auctorem naturae neque ut largitorem + gratiae et gloriae, neque perfecte neque imperfecte ullo modo, ... + quicquid aliqui minus considerate in hac parte scripserint._" On the + attitude of St. Thomas (_Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 109, art. 3) + cfr. Billuart, _De Gratia_, diss. 3, art. 4. + + 191 It is not true, as Bellarmine argues, that the _amor Dei naturalis_ + at its highest would result in justification. + +_ 192 Prop. Baii Damn._, 34: "_Distinctio illa duplicis amoris, naturalis + videlicet, quo Deus amatur ut auctor naturae, et gratuiti, quo Deus + amatur ut beatificator, vana est et commentitia._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1034).--36: "_Amor naturalis, qui ex viribus + naturae exoritur, ex sola philosophia per elationem praesumptionis + humanae cum iniuria crucis Christi defenditur a nonnullis + doctoribus._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1036.) + +_ 193 Cfr. Conc. Arausic._ II, a. 529, can. 25: "_Prorsus donum Dei est + diligere Deum._" + + 194 Cfr. _Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, can. 3. + +_ 195 Praelect. Dogm._, Vol. V, pp. 73 sqq. + +_ 196 Instit. Theolog._, Vol. III, pp. 19 sqq. + + 197 Rom. I, 21. + + 198 Rom. I, 25. + +_ 199 In Epist. ad Roman._, I, 18: "_Potuerunt enim id per legem naturae + apprehendere, fabrica mundi testificante auctorem Deum solum + diligendum, quod Moyses literis tradidit; sed impii facti sunt non + colendo Creatorem et iniustitia in eis apparet, dum videntes + dissimulabant a veritate, non fatentes unum Deum._" + +_ 200 Comment. in Summam Theol. S. Thomae Aqu._, 1a 2ae, disp. 189 sq. + +_ 201 De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 20. + +_ 202 Op. cit._ + + 203 To admit the possibility of true _actus humani_ that are neither + good nor bad, but ethically indifferent, is to escape the error of + Baius that "Free-will without the aid of divine grace avails for + nothing but sin." (_Prop. Damn._, 27.) + + 204 We should not, however, apply the ecclesiastical censures pronounced + against Baius to the writings of Vasquez. This, as Schiffini + convincingly shows (_De Gratia Divina_, pp. 159 sqq.), would be an + injustice. + + 205 Suarez, _De Gratia_, I, 8, 46: "... _quia secundum Augustini et divi + Thomae sententiam communis a theologis probatam non datur in + voluntate libere operante actus indifferens in individuo, et ideo + iuxta veram theologiam recte sequitur, si liberum arbitrium potest + sine gratia non male operari, posse etiam bene._" + +_ 206 Supra_, p. 8. + + 207 "_Qua vero parte inter dominantem cupiditatem et caritatem + dominantem nulli ponuntur affectus medii, a natura ipsa insiti + suapteque natura laudabiles ... falsa, alias damnata._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1524.) + +_ 208 De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 20, sect. 2: "_Quotiescunque homo + agit quod sibi datum est, ut actum virtutis naturalem efficiat, iam + adesse antecedenter Deum auxilio intrinsece supernaturali gratiae, + ... ita [ut] nullus sit conatus moraliter bonus naturae, quem aliqua + gratia supernaturalis non praeveniat._" + + 209 This must be kept in mind in judging Ripalda's famous thesis: "_Ad + quodlibet bonum opus morale sive ad quemlibet virtutis moralis actum + necessarium esse per se naturae rationali elevatae auxilium + theologicum gratiae._" (_Ibid._, sect. 3.) + + 210 He urges the supernatural character, in principle, of the present + economy of salvation; the practical identity of the naturally good + with the supernaturally salutary acts of the will, which he claims + is taught in Sacred Scripture (cfr. Acts XIV, 14 sqq.; Rom. I, 19 + sqq.), and also by St. Augustine and his disciples Prosper and + Orosius; the merciful dispensation of grace towards heathens, + unbelievers, and sinners (_v. infra_, Sect. 3, Art. 2); the + universal belief of Christians in the salutary effects of all good + works, including those of the purely natural order, etc. For a + discussion of these arguments consult Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina + Actuali_, pp. 254 sqq. + +_ 211 Synopsis de Gratia_, n. 530. + +_ 212 Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. V, p. 72. + +_ 213 De Virtute Fidei Divinae_, disp. 12, sect. 2. + +_ 214 Instit. Theolog._, Vol. III, pp. 22 sq., 248 sqq. + +_ 215 De Gratia Div. Actuali_, p. 268: "_Si tamen ad solos fideles + coarctetur, quum nulla argumenta obstent et pro hac hypothesi maxime + valeant rationes Ripaldae, eam censemus veram esse._" + +_ 216 V. supra_, No. 1. + + 217 Cfr. Mazzella, _De Gratia Christi_, disp. 2, art. 9. + +_ 218 V. supra_, p. 71. + + 219 "_Fides late dicta ex testimonio creaturarum similive motivo ad + iustificationem sufficit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1173.) + +_ 220 Conc. Vat._, Sess. III, De Fide, can. 2: "_Si quis dixerit, ... ad + fidem divinam non requiri, ut revelata veritas propter auctoritatem + Dei revelantis credatur, anathema sit._" On this whole dispute cfr. + Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 156 sqq. The arguments adduced by + the defenders of Ripalda's opinion can be studied in Palmieri, _De + Gratia Divina Actuali_, pp. 265 sqq. Cfr. also Scheeben, _Dogmatik_, + Vol. III, pp. 996 sqq. A difficulty arises from the twenty-second + canon of the Second Council of Orange (A. D. 529): "_Nemo habet de + suo nisi mendacium et peccatum._" But this canon was probably never + approved by the Holy See. It is ably discussed by Gutberlet in his + continuation of Heinrich's _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, § + 415. + + 221 "_Ex viribus suis [natura] coram Deo nihil nisi peccare potest._" + (_Solida Declar._, I, § 22.) Cfr. J. A. Moehler, _Symbolik_, § 6-7 + (English tr. by J. B. Robertson, _Symbolism_, 5th ed., London 1906, + pp. 54 sqq.) + +_ 222 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, can. 7: "_Si quis dixerit, opera omnia, + quae ante iustificationem fiunt, ... vere esse peccata, ... anathema + sit._" + + 223 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 183 sqq., _et passim_. + + 224 A. D. 1585-1638. Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _op. cit._, pp. 223 sqq. + + 225 On this important document (issued A. D. 1713) see A. Schill, _Die + Konstitution Unigenitus_, Freiburg 1876; Thuillier, _La Seconde + Phase du Jansenisme_, Paris 1901; M. Ott, art. "Unigenitus" in Vol. + XV of the _Catholic Encyclopedia_. + +_ 226 Prop. Damn._, 38. + +_ 227 Prop. Damn._, 44. + + 228 "_Doctrina synodi de duplici amore enuntians, hominem sine gratia + esse sub virtute peccati ipsumque in eo statu per generalem + cupiditatis dominantis influxum omnes suas actiones inficere et + corrumpere--quatenus insinuat, in homine, dum est sub servitute sive + in statu peccati, ... sic dominari cupiditatem ut per generalem + huius influxum omnes illius actiones in se inficiantur et + corrumpantur, aut opera omnia quae ante iustificationem fiunt, + quacunque ratione fiant, sint peccata, quasi in omnibus suis actibus + peccator serviat dominanti cupiditati: falsa, perniciosa, inducens + in errorem a Tridentino damnatum ut haereticum, iterum in Baio + damnatum art. 40._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1523). + +_ 229 Prop. Damn._, 59: "_Oratio impiorum est novum peccatum, et quod + Deus illis concedit, est novum in eos iudicium._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1409.) + + 230 This passage, and the meaning it evidently bears in the context of + St. Matthew's Gospel, is thoroughly discussed by Suarez, _De + Gratia_, I, 4. Cfr. also J. B. Faure, _Notae in Enchiridion S. + August._, c. 15. Other Scriptural texts distorted by the Jansenists + are quoted and explained in their true sense by Scheeben, + _Dogmatik_, Vol. III, pp. 923 sqq. + +_ 231 Hom. in Is._, 5, n. 2. + + 232 "_Scimus autem quia peccatores Deus non audit._" + +_ 233 Tract. in Ioa._, 44, n. 13: "_Adhuc inunctus loquitur; nam et + peccatores exaudit Deus. Si enim peccatores Deus non exaudiret, + frustra ille publicanus oculos in terram demittens et pectus suum + percutiens diceret: Domine, propitius esto mihi peccatori [Luc. + XVIII, 13]._" + +_ 234 Contr. Collat._, n. 36: "_Naturae humanae, cuius creator est Deus, + etiam post praevaricationem manet substantia, manet forma, manet + vita et sensus et ratio ceteraque corporis et animi bona, quae etiam + malis vitiosisque non desunt. Sed non illis veri boni perceptio est, + quae mortalem vitam honestare possunt, aeternam conferre non + possunt._" For additional Patristic texts in confirmation of our + thesis see Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, t. III, disp. 20, sect. + 4. + +_ 235 Enchiridion_, c. 117, n. 31: "_Regnat carnalis cupiditas, ubi non + est Dei caritas._" + +_ 236 De Gratia Christi_, c. 26: "_Ubi non est dilectio, nullum bonum + opus imputatur, non recte bonum opus vocatur, quia omne quod non est + ex fide peccatum est et fides per dilectionem operatur._" + +_ 237 De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_, c. 18: "_Praecepta dilectionis, i.e. + caritatis, tanta et talia sunt, ut quidquid se putaverit homo facere + bene, si fiat sine caritate, nullo modo fiat bene._" + + 238 Cfr. _supra_, p. 29. + +_ 239 Proposit. Baii Damn._, 38: "_Omnis amor creaturae rationalis aut + vitiosa est cupiditas qua mundus diligitur, quae a Ioanne + prohibetur, aut laudabilis caritas qua per Spiritum Sanctum in corde + diffusa Deus amatur._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1038.) + +_ 240 Prop. Quesnelli Damn._, 45: "_Amore Dei in corde peccatorum non + amplius regnante necesse est, ut in eo carnalis regnet cupiditas + omnesque actiones eius corrumpat._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1395.) + +_ 241 Infra_, Ch. III, Sect. 1. + + 242 Especially against Julian of Eclanum. Cfr. _Contra Iulianum_, IV, 3. + + 243 Matth. VI, 24. + +_ 244 Retract._, I, 15: "_Quando peccatum tale est, ut idem sit poena + peccati, quantum est quod valet voluntas sub dominante cupiditate, + nisi forte, si pia est, ut oret auxilium?_" + +_ 245 Prop. Baii Damn._, 40: "_In omnibus suis actibus peccator servit + dominanti cupiditati._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1040.) + +_ 246 De Spiritu et Litera_, c. 27, n. 48: "_Si hi qui naturaliter, quae + legis sunt, faciunt, nondum sunt habendi in numero eorum quos + Christi iustificat gratia [Rom. II, 24], sed in eorum potius, quorum + (etiam impiorum nec Deum verum veraciter iusteque colentium) quaedam + tamen facta vel legimus vel novimus vel audimus, quae secundum + iustitiae regulam non solum vituperare non possumus, verum etiam + merito recteque laudamus; quamquam si discutiantur, quo fine fiant, + vix inveniuntur quae iustitiae debitam laudem defensionemve + mereantur._" + +_ 247 Serm. de Temp._, 349, c. 1, 1 sq.: "_Caritas alia est divina, alia + humana; alia est humana licita, alia illicita.... Prius ergo loquor + de humana licita, quae non reprehenditur; deinde de humana illicita, + quae damnatur; tertio de divina, quae nos perducit ad regnum.... + Licitam ergo caritatem habete; humana est, sed ut dixi licita, sed + ita licita ut, si defuerit, reprehendatur. Liceat vobis humana + caritate diligere coniuges, diligere filios, diligere amicos + vestros, diligere cives vestros. Sed videtis istam caritatem esse + posse et impiorum, i.e. paganorum, Iudaeorum, haereticorum. Quis + enim eorum non amat uxorem, filios, fratres, vicinos, affines, + amicos? Haec ergo humana est. Si ergo tali quisque crudelitate + effertur, ut perdat etiam humanum dilectionis affectum, et non amat + filios suos, ... nec inter homines numerandus est._" (Migne, _P. + L._, XXXIX, 1529.) + +_ 248 Institutiones Theologicae_, Vol. III, p. 23. + + 249 As explained above, pp. 71 sqq. + + 250 Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1524. On the teaching of St. Augustine, see + J. Mausbach, _Die Ethik des hl. Augustinus_, Vol. II, pp. 260 sqq., + Freiburg 1909. + + 251 Cfr. _supra_, Art. 1. + + 252 On these and similar formulas see Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina + Actuali_, thes. 22. + + 253 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 218 sqq. + + 254 For details of his life see J. Pohle, art. "Pelagius and + Pelagianism" in Vol. XI of the _Catholic Encyclopedia_. + +_ 255 Impeccantia_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}. + + 256 Cfr. St. Augustine, _De Haeres. ad Quodvultdeum_, n. 88. + + 257 "_Hoc est occultum et horrendum virus haeresis vestrae, ut velitis + gratiam Christi in exemplo eius esse, non in dono eius, dicentes + quia per eius imitationem fiunt iusti, non per subministrationem + Spiritus Sancti._" (S. Aug., _Opus Imperf. contr. Iulian._, II, + 146.) + + 258 On the _regnum coelorum_ in contradistinction to _vita aeterna_, in + the teaching of Pelagius, see St. Augustine, _De Pecc. Mer. et + Rem._, I, 18 sqq. + +_ 259 V. infra_, Sect. 2. + +_ 260 V. supra_, p. 8. + +_ 261 e.g._ Petavius, _De Pelag. et Semipelag._, c. 8 sq.; Wirceburg., + _De Gratia_, n. 182; Palmieri, _De Gratia Div. Actuali_, pp. 140 + sqq. + + 262 Among them Suarez, _Prolegom. de Gratia_, c. 3, and J. Scheeben, + _Dogmatik_, Vol. III, pp. 739 sq. + + 263 "_Quicunque dixerit, ideo nobis gratiam iustificationis dari, ut + quod facere per liberum iubemur arbitrium facilius possimus implere + per gratiam, tamquam etsi gratia non daretur, non quidem facile, sed + tamen possimus etiam sine illa implere divina mandata, anathema + sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 105.) + + 264 "_Si quis per naturae vigorem bonum aliquod, quod ad salutem + pertinet vitae aeternae, cogitare ut expedit aut eligere sive + salutari, i.e. evangelicae praedicationi consentire posse confirmat + absque illuminatione et inspiratione Spiritus Sancti, qui dat + omnibus suavitatem in consentiendo et credendo veritati, haeretico + fallitur spiritu._" (Can. 7, quoted by Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 180.) + + 265 Sess. VI, can. 2: "_Si quis dixerit, ad hoc solum divinam gratiam + per Iesum Christum dari, ut facilius homo iuste vivere ac vitam + aeternam promereri possit, quasi per liberum arbitrium sine gratia + utrumque, sed aegre tamen et difficulter possit, anathema sit._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 812.) + + 266 "_Sicut palmes non potest ferre fructum a semetipso, nisi manserit + in vite: sic nec vos, nisi in me manseritis. Ego sum vitis, vos + palmites: qui manet in me, et ego in eo, hic fert fructum multum: + quia sine me nihil potestis facere_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~})." + + 267 St. Augustine, _Tract. in Ioa._, 81, n. 3: "_Non ait, quia sine me + parum potestis facere, sed nihil potestis facere. Sive ergo parum + sive multum, sine illo fieri non potest, sine quo nihil fieri + potest._" + + 268 Cfr. John XV, 3. + + 269 "_Non quod sufficientes simus, cogitate aliquid a nobis quasi ex + nobis, sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo est._" On this text cfr. + Cornely, _Comment. in h. l._, Paris 1892. + + 270 "_Moysi enim dicit: Miserebor cuius misereor et misericordiam + praestabo cuius miserebor. Igitur non volentis neque currentis_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}), _sed miserentis est Dei._" (Rom. + IX, 15 sq.) + + 271 "_Deus est enim, qui operatur in vobis et velle et perficere_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) _pro bona voluntate._" (Phil. II, 13.) + + 272 "_Nemo potest dicere: Dominus Iesus, nisi in Spiritu Sancto._" (1 + Cor. XII, 3.) + + 273 Cfr. Matth. VII, 21; VIII, 29. + + 274 Others explain the passage 1 Cor. XII, 3 differently. Cfr. also Rom. + VIII, 26; Phil. I, 6; Eph. II, 5 sqq. + +_ 275 De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_, c. 4: "_Talis est haeresis + pelagiana, non antiqua, sed ante non multum tempus exorta._" + + 276 "_Desinat, si res ita sunt, incessere novitas vetustatem._" + +_ 277 Adv. Haer._, III, 17, 2: "_Sicut arida terra, si non percipiat + humorem, non fructificat, sic et nos lignum aridum existentes + nunquam fructificaremus vitam sine superna voluntaria pluvia.... Non + a nobis, sed a Deo est bonum salutis nostrae._" + + 278 "_Legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi. Quum enim sanctarum + plebium praesules madata sibi legatione fungantur apud divinam + clementiam, humani generis agunt causam et tota secum Ecclesia + congemiscente postulant et precantur, ut infidelibus donetur fides, + ut idololatrae ab impietatis suae liberentur erroribus, ut Iudaeis + ablato cordis velamine lux veritatis appareat, ut haeretici + catholicae fidei perceptione resipiscant, ut schismatici spiritum + redivivae caritatis accipiant, ut lapsis poenitentiae remedia + conferantur, ut denique catechumenis ad regenerationis sacramenta + perductis coelestis misericordiae aula reseretur._" (Migne, _P. L._, + XLV, 1759.) + + 279 For additional Patristic texts see Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina + Actuali_, thes. 26. + +_ 280 Hom. in 1 Cor., 7._ + +_ 281 De Civitate Dei_, XII, 9: "_Istam [bonam voluntatem] quis fecerat + nisi ille, qui eos cum bona voluntate, i.e. cum amore casto quo illi + adhaererent creavit, simul eis et condens naturam et largiens + gratiam?... Confitendum est igitur cum debita laude Creatoris, non + ad solos sanctos homines pertinere, verum etiam de sanctis angelis + posse dici, quod caritas Dei diffusa sit in eis per Spiritum + Sanctum, qui datus est eis._" + +_ 282 Enchiridion_, c. 106: "_Sicut mori est in hominis potestate, quum + velit, ... ad vitam vero tenendam voluntas non satis est, si + adiutoria sive alimentorum sive quorumcunque tutaminum desint, sic + homo in paradiso ad se occidendum relinquendo iustitiam idoneus erat + per voluntatem; ut autem ab eo teneretur vita iustitiae, parum erat + velle nisi ille, qui eum fecerat, adiuvaret._" + + 283 Can. 19: "_Natura humana, etiamsi in illa integritate in qua est + condita permaneret, nullo modo seipsam, Creatore suo non adiuvante, + servaret. Unde quum sine gratia Dei salutem non possit custodire + quae accepit, quomodo sine Dei gratia poterit reparare quod + perdidit?_" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 192.)--St. Augustine holds that + our first parents would have been able to preserve the state of + grace by the divine _adiutorium sine quo non_, and that consequently + the _adiutorium quo_ would have been superfluous to them. On this + subtle question cfr. Pesch, _Praelectiones Dogmaticae_, Vol. V, pp. + 55 sqq., and Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 472 sqq. + +_ 284 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 109, art. 5: "_Vita aeterna est finis + excedens proportionem naturae humanae ... et ideo homo per sua + naturalia non potest producere opera meritoria proportionata vitae + aeternae; sed ad hoc exigitur altior virtus, quae est virtus + gratiae. Et ideo sine gratia homo non potest mereri vitam aeternam. + Potest tamen facere opera perducentia ad bonum aliquod homini + connaturale, sicut laborare in agro, bibere, manducare et habere + amicum et alia huiusmodi._" + + 285 For the necessary Augustinian citations in proof of this assertion + see Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, pp. 174 sqq. + + 286 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 186 sqq. + +_ 287 V. supra_, pp. 20. + +_ 288 V. supra_, pp. 26 sq. + +_ 289 V. supra_, pp. 69 sqq. + + 290 On the teaching of Scotus himself with regard to this point cfr. P. + Minges, O.F.M., _Die Gnadenlehre des Duns Scotus auf ihren + angeblichen Pelagianismus und Semipelagianismus geprueft_, Muenster + 1906. + + 291 This is true of man even in the exalted state in which he existed in + Paradise. It is true also of the angels. It is true even of the + human nature of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, + _Christology_, pp. 221 sqq. + + 292 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 190 sqq. + + 293 Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, p. 184. + + 294 Suarez, _De Necessitate Gratiae_, II, 4. + + 295 On the whole subject of this Article cfr. S. Schiffini, _De Gratia + Divina_, pp. 227 sqq.; Rademacher, _Natur und Gnade_, M. Gladbach + 1908. + + 296 Died 432. On his life and works see Bardenhewer-Shahan, _Patrology_, + pp. 515 sqq. + + 297 Reproduced in Migne, _P. L._, XLIX, 477-1328. + + 298 This contention is false, but it has never been proscribed as + heretical. Prosper says in his _Ep._ 226, 5: "_Tales aiunt perdi + talesque [infantes] salvari, quales futures illos in annis + maioribus, si ad activam servarentur vitam, scientia divina + praeviderit._" On this absurd assertion see Pohle-Preuss, _God: His + Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, pp. 380 sq. + +_ 299 De Praedest. Sanctorum_, c. 3, n. 7: "_... putans fidem, qua in + Deum credimus, non esse donum Dei, sed a nobis esse in nobis et per + illam nos impetrare Dei dona, quibus temperanter et iuste et pie + vivamus in hoc saeculo._" + + 300 Cfr. Denzinger-Bannwart, _Enchiridion_, n. 128 sqq. + + 301 Ernst (_Werke und Tugenden der Unglaeubigen nach Augustinus_, + Freiburg 1871) contends that the approbation of Boniface II + comprised all the canons of this synod. + + 302 Cfr. F. Woerter, _Zur Dogmengeschichte des Semipelagianismus_, + Muenster 1900. + +_ 303 Conc. Arausic._ II, can. 5 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 178): "_Si quis + sicut augmentum, ita etiam initium fidei ipsumque credulitatis + affectum, quo in eum credimus qui iustificat impium et ad + regenerationem sacri baptismatis pervenimus, non per gratiae donum, + i.e. per inspirationem Spiritus S., ... sed naturaliter nobis inesse + dicit, apostolicis dogmatibus adversarius approbatur._" Cfr. _Conc. + Vatican._, Sess. III, cap. 3. (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1791). + + 304 In his treatise _De Praedestinatione Sanctorum_. + + 305 In his work _Adversus Collatorem_. + +_ 306 Discernit_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}. + +_ 307 Per fidem_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. + +_ 308 Non ex vobis_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + +_ 309 Dei donum_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + +_ 310 Non ex operibus_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + + 311 Eph. II, 8 sq. + + 312 Cfr. Rom. III, 20 sqq., IX, 15 sqq. + + 313 John VI, 44: "_Nemo potest venire ad me, nisi Pater, qui misit me, + traxerit_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH YPOGEGRAMMENI~}) _eum._" + +_ 314 Opus Dei_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}. + +_ 315 Ep._, 177: "_Oratio est clarissima gratiae testificatio._" + +_ 316 Dial. c. Tryph._ + +_ 317 De Dono Persev._, c. 19, n. 50: "_Isti tales tantique doctores + dicentes non esse aliquid, de quo tamquam de nostro quod nobis Deus + non dederit gloriemur nec ipsum cor nostrum et cogitationes nostras + in potestate nostra esse, ... haec utique gratiae Dei tribuunt, Dei + munera agnoscunt, ab ipso nobis, non a nobis esse testantur._"--For + additional Patristic texts see Palmieri, _De Gratia Div. Act._, pp. + 290 sqq. + + 318 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 239 sqq. + +_ 319 Hom. in Heb._, 12, n. 3. + +_ 320 V. infra_, Ch. III, Sect. 1. + +_ 321 De Praedest. Sanct._, c. 14: "_Quid opus est ut eorum scrutemur + opuscula, qui priusquam ista haeresis oriretur, non habuerunt + necessitatem in hac difficili ad solvendum quaestione versari? Quod + procul dubio facerent, si respondere talibus cogerentur. Unde factum + est, ut de gratia Dei quid sentirent breviter quibusdam scriptorum + suorum locis et transeunter attingerent._" + +_ 322 De Gratia Div. Act._, p. 288. + + 323 Cfr. Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, l. I, disp. 17, sect. 11. + +_ 324 Ep._, 24 (to Maximilian, Patriarch of Constantinople): "_Sequere + priorum, a quibus eruditus es et nutritus, exempla pontificum, + beatissimi Ioannis scientiam, sancti Attici in repugnandis + haeresibus vigilantiam._" + +_ 325 Hom. in 1 Cor._, XII, n. 2. + +_ 326 Hom. in Ep. ad Hebr._, XII, 2. + + 327 {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + + 328 They are fully explained by Palmieri, _l.c._, pp. 295 sqq. + +_ 329 Die Lehre von der Heiligung_, p. 161, Paderborn 1885. + +_ 330 V. supra_, pp. 19 sqq., 27 sq. + +_ 331 De Praedest. Sanct._, c. 2, p. 5: "_Attendant hic et verba + perpendant, qui putant ex nobis esse fidei coeptum et ex Deo esse + fidei supplementum. Quis enim non videat prius esse cogitare quam + credere? Nullus quippe credit aliquid nisi prius cogitaverit esse + credendum.... Quod ergo pertinet ad religionem atque pietatem, si + non sumus idonei cogitare aliquid quasi ex nobismet ipsis, sed + sufficientia nostra ex Deo est, profecto non sumus idonei credere + aliquid quasi ex nobismet ipsis, quod sine cogitatione non possumus, + sed sufficientia nostra, qua credere incipiamus, ex Deo est._"--Cfr. + also the seventh canon of the Second Council of Orange + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 180), and Suarez, _De Fide_, disp. 6, sect. + 7 sq.; IDEM, _De Gratia_, III, 7. + +_ 332 Conc. Arausic._ II, can. 7. + + 333 Sess. VI, can. 3: "_Si quis dixerit, sine praeveniente Spiritus + Sancti inspiratione atque eius adiutorio hominem credere, sperare, + diligere aut poenitere posse, sicut oportet, ut ei iustificationis + gratia conferatur, anathema sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 813.) + +_ 334 Supra_, pp. 87 sqq. + + 335 John XV, 5: "_Sine me nihil potestis facere._" + +_ 336 Contra Duas Epistolas Pelag._, II, 8: "_Dominus ut responderet + futuro Pelagio non ait: Sine me difficile potestis facere, sed ait: + Sine me nihil potestis facere.... Non ait: sine me nihil potestis + perficere, sed facere. Hoc uno verbo initium finemque + comprehendit._" + + 337 Phil. II, 12 sq.: "_Cum metu et tremore vestram salutem_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) + _operamini; Deus est enim qui operatur in vobis et velle et + perficere._" + + 338 Rom. XV, 13: "_Deus autem spei repleat vos omni gaudio et pace in + credendo_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}), _ut abundetis in spe ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}) et + virtute Spiritus Sancti._" + + 339 1 John IV, 7: "_Caritas ex Deo est_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~})." + Cfr. also John VI, 44 sqq., which text is fully explained by + Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 128 sqq. + +_ 340 Enchiridion_, c. 32: "_Porro si nullus dicere Christianus audebit: + Non miserentis est Dei, sed volentis est hominis, ne Apostolo + apertissime contradicat, restat ut propterea dictum intelligatur + (Rom. IX, 16): ____Non volentis neque currentis, sed miserentis est + Dei,____ ut totum Deo detur, qui hominis voluntatem bonam et + praeparat adiuvandam et adiuvat praeparatam. Praecedit enim bona + voluntas hominis multa Dei dona, sed non omnia; quae autem non + praecedit ipsa, in iis est et ipsa. Nam utrumque legitur in sanctis + eloquiis: et (Ps. LVIII, 11): ____Misericordia eius praeveniet + me,____ et (Ps. XXII, 6): ____Misericordia eius subsequetur me.____ + Nolentem praevenit, ut velit; volentem subsequitur, ne frustra + velit. Cur enim admonemur orare pro inimicis nostris, utique + nolentibus pie vivere, nisi ut Deus in illis operetur et velle? + Itemque cur admonemur petere ut accipiamus, nisi ut ab illo fiat + quod volumus, a quo factum est ut velimus? Oramus ergo pro inimicis + nostris, ut misericordia Dei praeveniat eos, sicut praevenit et nos; + oramus autem pro nobis, ut misericordia eius subsequatur nos._" On + this important passage cfr. J. B. Faure, _Notae in Enchiridion S. + Augustini_, c. 32. Similar expressions will be found in _Contra Duas + Epist. Pelag._, II, 9 and _De Gratia et Lib. Arb._, c. 17. + +_ 341 Ep. ad Ctesiph._, 133: "_Velle et currere meum est, sed ipsum meum + sine Dei semper auxilio non erit meum; dicit enim Apostolus (Phil. + II, 13): ____Deus est enim qui operatur in vobis et velle et + perficere.____... Non mihi sufficit, quod semel donavit, nisi semper + donaverit._" + +_ 342 Serm. de Pret. Marg._ + +_ 343 Conc. Arausic._ II. (A. D. 529); "_Hoc etiam salubriter profitemur + et credimus, quod in omni opere bono non nos incipimus et postea per + Dei misericordiam adiuvamur, sed ipse nobis nullis praecedentibus + bonis meritis et fidem et amorem sui prius inspirat, ut et baptismi + sacramenta fideliter requiramus et post baptismum cum ipsius + adiutorio ea, quae sibi sunt placita, implere possimus._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 200.) + + 344 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 192 sqq. + + 345 Cfr. Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 132 sq. + + 346 Perrone, _De Gratia_, n. 203: "_Quaestio haec non ad scholasticas + quaestiones pertinet, sed est dogma fidei ab Ecclesia definitum._" + + 347 Sess. VI, cap. 16: "_Quum enim ille ipse Christus Iesus tamquam + caput in membra et tamquam vitis in palmites in ipsos iustificatos + iugiter virtutem influat, quae virtus bona eorum opera semper + antecedit et comitatur et subsequitur et sine qua nullo pacto Deo + grata et meritoria esse possent, nihil ipsis iustificatis amplius + deesse credendum est._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 809.) Cfr. Tepe, + _Institutiones Theologicae_, Vol. III, pp. 41 sqq., Paris 1896. + + 348 John XV, 5. + +_ 349 V. supra_, pp. 87 sq. Other pertinent Scriptural texts are: 2 Cor. + III, 5; Phil. II, 12 sq.; III, 13 sq.; Heb. XIII, 21. + +_ 350 De Gratia et Lib. Arb._, c. 17: "_Sine illo vel operante vel + cooperante quum volumus ad bona pietatis opera nihil valemus._" + +_ 351 De Natura et Gratia_, c. 26: "_Mala nostra non ad hoc solum medicus + supernus sanat, ut illa iam non sint, sed ut de cetero recte + ambulare possimus, quod quidem etiam sani nonnisi illo adiuvante + poterimus.... Sicut oculus corporis etiam plenissime sanus, nisi + candore lucis adiutus non potest cernere, sic et homo etiam + perfectissime iustificatus, nisi aeternae luce iustitiae divinitus + adiuvetur, recte non potest vivere._" + + 352 "_Actiones nostras, quaesumus Domine, aspirando praeveni et + adiuvando prosequere, ut cuncta nostra oratio et operatio a te + semper incipiat et per te coepta finiatur._" (_Missale Romanum._) + The argument from Tradition is more fully developed by Palmieri, _De + Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. 28. + + 353 Thus Molina (_Concord._, qu. 14, art. 13 disp. 8), Bellarmine (_De + Gratia et Lib. Arb._, VI, 15), and Thomassin; the question is well + treated by Ruiz, _De Providentia Divina_, disp. 41, sect. 5 sq. + + 354 Cfr. Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, § 399, + Mainz 1897. + + 355 Cfr. Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 106, sect. 3 sqq. + +_ 356 Impeccantia_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}. + + 357 "_Item placuit ut quicunque ipsa verba dominicae orationis, ubi + dicimus: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, ita volunt a sanctis dici, ut + humiliter hoc, non veraciter dicatur, anathema sit._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 108.) + + 358 Sess. VI, can. 23: "_Si quis hominem semel iustificatum dixerit ... + posse in tota vita peccata omnia etiam venialia vitare nisi ex + speciali Dei privilegio, quemadmodum de beata virgine tenet + Ecclesia, anathema sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 833.) + + 359 On this privilege of our Blessed Lady see Pohle-Preuss, _Mariology_, + pp. 72 sqq., St. Louis 1914. + + 360 Sess. VI, cap. 11: "_... quantumvis sancti et iusti in levia saltem + et quotidiana, quae etiam venialia dicuntur, peccata quandoque + cadunt._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 804.) + +_ 361 De Gratia Divina Actuali_, p. 236. + + 362 Epistle of St. James, III, 2: "_In multis enim offendimus omnes_ + ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~})." + + 363 1 John III, 6: "_Omnis qui in eo [scil. Christo] manet, non + peccat._" + + 364 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}. + + 365 Matth. VI, 12. Cfr. Mark XI, 25. + + 366 Prov. XX, 9: "_Quis potest dicere: Mundum est cor meum, purus sum a + peccato?_" + + 367 On this text cfr. J. V. Bainvel, _Les Contresens Bibliques des + Predicateurs_, 2nd ed., pp. 102 sq., Paris 1906: "_... ces chutes + sont surtout les souffrances, les tribulations. Le contexte + l'indique clairement: __{~SINGLE LEFT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK~} __N'attaquez pas le juste (15); car Dieu + le defend, et s'il tombe il se relevera; mais pour l'impie c'est la + ruine irreparable.__ {~SINGLE RIGHT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK~}__ Peut-on, comme on le fait d'ordinaire, + entendre le texte des chutes morales, des peches veniels? Plusieurs + commentateurs repondent: non; et ils citent a l'appui saint + Augustin: Septies cadet iustus et resurget, id est, quotiescumque + cediderit, non peribit: quod non de iniquitatibus, sed de + tribulationibus ad humilitatem perducentibus intelligi voluit_ (Civ. + D. xi, 31).--_D'autres Peres, saint Jerome par exemple, sont moins + exclusifs; et de fait, pourquoi la maxime, dans sa plenitude, ne + comprendrait-elle pas toutes sortes de chutes, peches ou + afflictions? En tout cas, c'est aller trop loin que de vouloir + prouver par la la these catholique sur l'impossibilite morale + d'eviter pendant longtemps tout peche de fragilite. L'ecrivain sacre + veut dire autre chose, et nous avons des textes meilleures_ ..." + + 368 Eccles. VII, 21: "_Non est enim homo iustus in terra, qui faciat + bonum et non peccet_." + +_ 369 Ibid._, v, 23: "_Scit enim conscientia tua, quia et tu crebro + maledixisti aliis_." + + 370 1 John I, 8: "_Si dixerimus, quoniam peccatum non habemus, ipsi nos + seducimus et veritas in nobis non est_." + +_ 371 E.g._ 1 John I, 10, III, 4, III 8, _et passim_. + + 372 The Johannine text here under consideration does, however, furnish a + telling argument against the Pelagians, in so far as they denied the + necessity of the atonement. The passage is effectively employed for + this purpose by the Second Council of Mileve (can. 6, quoted in + Denzinger-Bannwart's _Enchiridion_, n. 106). Cfr. Chr. Pesch, + _Praelectiones Dogmaticae_, Vol. V, 3rd ed., p. 99 and Al. Wurm, + _Die Irrlehrer im ersten Johannesbrief_, Freiburg 1903. + +_ 373 De Dono Perseverantiae_, c. 2, n. 4: "_Tria sunt, ut scitis, quae + maxime adversus eos [scil. Pelagianos] defendit Ecclesia, quorum est + unum, gratiam Dei non secundum merita nostra dari.... Alterum est, + in quantacunque iustitia sine qualibuscunque peccatis in hoc + corruptibili corpore neminem vivere. Tertium est, obnoxium nasci + hominem peccato primi hominis_." + +_ 374 De Natura et Gratia_, c. 35, n. 41: "_Ubi parum attendit, quum sit + acutissimus, non frustra etiam iustos in oratione dicere: Dimitte + nobis debita nostra.... Etiamsi hic non vivatur sine peccato, licet + mori sine peccato, dum subinde venia deletur, quod subinde + ignorantia vel infirmitate committitur_." + +_ 375 Ibid._, c. 36. "_Si omnes illos sanctos et sanctas, quum hic + viverent, congregare possemus et interrogare, utrum essent sine + peccato, ... nonne una voce clamassent: Si dixerimus quia peccatum + non habemus, ipsi nos seducimus et veritas in nobis non est?_"--For + other confirmatory Patristic texts see Suarez, _De Gratia_, IX, 8. + + 376 The above-quoted analogy is taken from Heinrich-Gutberlet, + _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, p. 81. + +_ 377 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 109, art. 8: "_Non potest homo abstinere + ab omni peccato veniali propter corruptionem inferioris appetitus + sensualitatis, cuius motus singulos quidem ratio reprimere potest, + et ex hoc habent rationem peccati et voluntarii, non autem omnes, + quia dum uni resistere nititur, fortassis alius insurgit, et etiam + quia ratio non potest semper esse pervigil ad huiusmodi motus + vitandos_." + + 378 Sardagna (_De Gratia_, n. 336) incorrectly asserts this. + + 379 Cfr. Tepe, _Instit. Theolog._, Vol. III. pp. 47 sq. + + 380 Cfr. St. Augustine, _Contra Iulian._, IV, 3, 28: "_Ideo factum est + in loco infirmitatis, ne superbe viveremus, ut sub quotidiana + peccatorum remissione vivamus_." + + 381 Andr. de Vega, _De Iustificatione Doctrina Universa_, 1. XIV, cap. + ult. + + 382 Suarez, _De Gratia_, IX, 8, 14: "_quia si vel in uno homine posset + contingere, ut illa duo coniungerentur, scil. carere speciali + privilegio et nihilominus cavere omne peccatum veniale per totam + vitam, propositio Concilii esset simpliciter falsa; nam est absoluta + et universalis, ad cuius falsitatem satis est quod in uno + deficiat_." + + 383 Aug., _Ep._, 181, n. 8: "_Nemo itaque dicat, se esse sine peccato, + sed non tamen ideo debemus amare peccatum. Oderimus ea, fratres; + etsi non sumus sine peccatis, oderimus tamen ea, et maxime a + criminibus nos abstineamus; abstineamus quantum possumus a levibus + peccatis._"--On the whole subject of this thesis cfr. Schiffini, _De + Gratia Divina_, pp. 181 sqq. + +_ 384 V. supra_, pp. 98 sqq. + +_ 385 Conc. Arausic._ II, can. 10: "_Adiutorium Dei etiam renatis ac + sanctis semper est implorandum, ut ad finem bonum pervenire vel in + bono possint opere perdurare_." (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 183.) + + 386 Sess. VI, can. 22: "_Si quis dixerit, iustificatum vel sine speciali + auxilio Dei in accepta iustitia perseverare posse vel cum eo non + posse, anathema sit_." (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 832.) + + 387 Sess. VI, cap. 11: "_Deus namque sua gratia semel iustificatos non + deserit, nisi ab eis prius deseratur_." (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 804.) + + 388 Cfr. Wisd. IV, 11: "_Raptus est, ne malitia mutaret intellectum + eius_." + + 389 Sess. VI, can. 16: "_magnum illud usque in finem perseverantiae + donum_." On St. Augustine's teaching in regard to the different + heads of doctrine defined above, see Chr. Pesch, _Praelectiones + Dogmaticae_, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 103 sqq. + + 390 John XVII, 11: "_Pater sancte, serva eos in nomine tuo_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}), _quos dedisti mihi, ut sint unum, sicut + et nos_." + + 391 Col. IV, 12: "_Salutat vos Epaphras ... semper sollicitus pro vobis + in orationibus, ut stetis perfecti_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}) _et pleni in + omni voluntate Dei_." + + 392 Matth. XXVI, 41: "_Vigilate, et orate, ut non intretis in + tentationem_." + + 393 Phil. I, 6: "... _confidens hoc ipsum, quia qui coepit in vobis opus + bonum, perficiet_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}) _usque in diem Christi Iesu_." + + 394 1 Pet. I, 5: "..._qui in virtute Dei custodimini per fidem in + salutem, paratam revelari in tempore novissimo_."--For Old Testament + texts in confirmation of this thesis see Schiffini, _De Gratia + Divina_, pp. 198 sq. + +_ 395 De Dono Perseverantiae_. An English translation of this treatise + may be found in _The Anti-Pelagian Works of Saint Augustine, Bishop + of Hippo_, Translated by Peter Holmes and R. E. Wallis, Vol. III, + pp. 171 sqq. (Vol. XV of Dods' translation of the _Works of St. + Augustine_), Edinburg 1876. + +_ 396 De Dono Perseverantiae_, c. 2, n. 3: "_Cur autem perseverantia ista + poscitur a Deo, si non datur a Deo? An et ista irrisoria petitio + est, quum id ab eo petitur quod scitur non ipsum dare, sed ipso non + dante esse in hominis potestate?... An ab illo perseverantia ista + forte non poscitur? Iam hoc qui dicit, non meis disputationibus + refellendus, sed sanctorum orationibus onerandus est. An vero + quisquam eorum est, qui non sibi poscat a Deo ut perseveret in eo, + quum ipsa oratione quae dominica nuncupatur, quia eam Dominus + docuit, quando oratur a sanctis, nihil paene aliud quam + perseverantia posci intelligatur_?" + +_ 397 Op. cit._, c. 7, n. 15: "_Prorsus in hac re non operosas + disputationes exspectet Ecclesia, sed attendat quotidianas orationes + suas. Orat ut increduli credant: Deus ergo convertit ad fidem. Orat + ut credentes perseverent; Deus ergo donat perseverantiam usque in + finem_." + +_ 398 Op. cit._, c. 23, n. 63: "_Quis enim veraciter gemat desiderans + accipere quod orat a Domino, si hoc a seipso se sumere existimet, + non ab illo_?" + +_ 399 Op. cit._, c. 6, n. 10: "_Hoc Dei donum suppliciter emereri potest, + sed quum datum fuerit, amitti contumaciter non potest_." + +_ 400 Op. cit._, c. 16, n. 39: "... _quum constet Deum alia danda etiam + non orantibus, sicut initium fidei, alia nonnisi orantibus + praeparasse, sicut in finem perseverantiam, profecto qui ex se ipso + se hanc habere putat, non orat ut habeat_." + +_ 401 De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 94, sect. 2. + + 402 Suarez, _De Gratia_, XII, 38: "_Infallibilitas non convenit merito + de congruo ratione sui, ut ita dicam, sed ratione impetrationis quae + propriae soli orationi, ut talis est, respondet. Ratio est, quia + haec infallibilitas solum fundatur in promissione divina, quae non + invenitur facta operibus iustorum quatenus meritoriis de congruo, + sed tantum orationi; quare ut fructus huius meriti certior sit, + adiungenda semper est petitio perseverantiae_." + + 403 John XVI, 23. + + 404 Cfr. Suarez, _De Gratia_, XII, 38, n. 14: "... _quia ut oratio + habeat perseverantiam debitam, perdurare debet cum illis + circumstantiis moralibus, quas a principio habere etiam debuit, ut + congrue fieret; unde eo ipso quod novum impedimentum ponitur + [peccando] effectui orationis, deficit perseverantia in orando, + saltem debito modo._" + +_ 405 Ibid._, n. 17: "_Igitur perseverantia orationis in tali materia + requisita est, ut non semel tantum aut iterum fiat, set ut toto + tempore vitae duret, et praesertim ut in occurrentibus occasionibus + servandi mandata aut vincendi tentationes cum debita fiducia + repetatur._"--For more detailed information we must refer the reader + to Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. 36, n. vi sqq. The + theological argument for our thesis is convincingly set forth by + Gutberlet in Heinrich's _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, § 404. + The _donum perseverantiae_ must not be confounded with the + _confirmatio in gratia_; on this point see Schiffini, _De Gratia + Divina_, pp. 197 sqq. + +_ 406 V. supra_, pp. 7 sq. + + 407 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 1: "_Meritum + et merces ad idem referuntur. Id enim merces dicitur quod alicui + recompensatur pro retributione operis vel laboris quasi quoddam + pretium ipsius. Unde sicut reddere iustum pretium pro re accepta ab + aliquo est actus iustitiae, ita etiam recompensare mercedem operis + vel laboris est actus iustitiae._" Cfr. Taparelli, _Saggio Teoretico + del Diritto Naturale_, diss. 1, c. 6, n. 130, Palermo 1842. + + 408 "This word is scarcely used in modern English, except as expressing + that punishment which is fully deserved, a usage originating with + the Tudor Parliaments; but it was once commonly used in the language + in a wider sense, for whatever had been justly earned, and some + attempts to revive it have been made in recent times; certainly some + word is wanted to express the idea." (Hunter, _Outlines of Dogmatic + Theology_, Vol. III, pp. 58 sq.) Cfr. Dr. Murray's _New English + Dictionary_, Vol. II, p. 784, Oxford 1893. + + 409 Eck did not, however, approve the term _meritum de condigno_; he + preferred _meritum digni_. Cfr. J. Greving, _Johann Eck als junger + Gelehrter_, pp. 153 sqq., Muenster 1906. + + 410 Cfr. St. Augustine, _In Ps._, 86: "_Debitorem Deus ipse fecit se, + non accipiendo, sed promittendo._" On this point consult + Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes,_ pp. + 455 sqq. + +_ 411 Oratio, preces._ + +_ 412 Capacitas, dispositio._ + + 413 Vasquez, _Comment. in S. Theol. S. Thomae Aquin._, 1a 2ae, disp. + 216, c. 4. + + 414 Already in the fourth century the Church emphasized the proposition + "_Gratiam Christi non secundum merita dari_" against Pelagius. + + 415 Cfr. St. Augustine, _Ep._ 194 _ad Sixt._, n. 19: ___Vita etiam + aeterna, quam certum est bonis operibus debitam reddi, ab Apostolo + tamen gratia nuncupatur, nec ideo quia meritis non datur, sed quia + data sunt ipsa merita, quibus datur.___ The dogma was formally + defined by the Council of Trent: "... _cuius tanta est erga omnes + homines bonitas, ut eorum velit esse merita, quae sunt ipsius + dona._" (Sess. VI, cap. 16, quoted in Denzinger-Bannwart's + _Enchiridion_, n. 809.) + + 416 For further information on this point see Palmieri, _De Gratia + Divina Actuali,_ thes. 35. + +_ 417 V. supra_, pp. 83 sqq. + + 418 "_Gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra dari._" + + 419 "_Debetur merces bonis operibus, si fiant; sed gratia quae non + debetur praecedit, ut fiant._" (Arausic. II, can. 18; see + Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 191.) + + 420 "... _ipsius iustificationis exordium in adultis a Dei per Christum + Iesum praeveniente gratia sumendum esse, h. e. ab eius vocatione, + qua nullis eorum existentibus meritis vocantur._" (Sess. VI, cap. 5. + Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 797.) + + 421 Rom. IX, 16: "_Igitur non volentis neque currentis, sed miserentis + est Dei._" + + 422 Rom. IX, 18: "_Ergo cuius vult miseretur et quem vult indurat_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}.") + + 423 Rom. XI, 6: "_Si autem gratia, iam non ex operibus_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}), + _alioquin gratia iam non est gratia._" + + 424 Eph. II, 8-10: "_Gratia enim estis salvati per fidem et hoc non ex + vobis: Dei enim donum est, non ex operibus, ut ne quis glorietur. + Ipsius enim sumus factura_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}), _creati in Christo Iesu in + operibus bonis, quae praeparavit Deus, ut in illis ambulemus._" + +_ 425 E.g._, 2 Cor. V, 14; Gal. III, 22; 2 Tim. I, 9; Tit. III, 5; 1 Pet. + I, 3; 1 John IV, 10. + +_ 426 Tract, in Ioa._, 86: "_Gratia non invenit, sed efficit merita._" + +_ 427 Serm._, 169, c. 2: ___Gratia praecessit meritum tuum, non gratia ex + merito, sed meritum ex gratia. Nam si gratia ex merito, emisti non + gratis accepisti.___ Other Patristic texts quoted by Ripalda, _De + Ente Supernaturali,_ disp. 15 sqq. + +_ 428 V. supra_, pp. 50 sqq. + + 429 For a more extensive treatment of this important point the reader is + referred to Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, + § 418, Mainz 1897. + +_ 430 V. supra_, p. 98. + + 431 Can. 20: "_Multa Deus facit in homine bona, quae non facit homo; + nulla vero facit homo bona, quae non Deus praestat, ut faciat + homo._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 193.) + + 432 "_Sed ipse [Deus] nobis nullis praecedentibus bonis meritis [scil. + naturalibus] et fidem et amorem sui prius inspirat._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 200.) + + 433 Matth. XXV, 15: "_Et uni dedit quinque talenta, alii autem duo, alii + vero unum, unicuique secundum propriam virtutem_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~})." + + 434 Cfr. Maldonatus' commentary on this text. + + 435 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + p. 326. + +_ 436 De Praedest. Sanct._, 3, 10, 31: "_Nihil huic sensui tam contrarium + est quam de suis meritis sic quemquam gloriari, tamquam ipse sibi ea + fecerit, non Dei gratia, sed gratia quae bonos discernit a malis, + non quae communis est bonis et malis._" + +_ 437 De Peccato Orig._, c. 24, n. 28: "_Non enim gratia Dei erit ullo + modo, nisi gratuita fuerit omni modo._" + + 438 Cyril of Jerusalem (_Catech._, I, 17), Athanasius (_C. Gent._, n. + 30), Basil (_Epist._, 294: "_Divinum auxilium in nostra situm est + potestate_"), Gregory of Nazianzus (_Or._, 31), and especially + Chrysostom (_Hom. in Gen._, 12; _Hom. in Epist. ad Rom._, 2). + +_ 439 Hom. in Epist. ad Ephes._, 4. + +_ 440 Hom. in 1 Epist. ad Cor._, 12. Cfr. Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina + Actuali_, thes. 33. + + 441 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 5: "_Donum + gratiae considerari potest dupliciter. Uno modo secundum rationem + gratuiti doni, et sic manifestum est quod omne meritum repugnat + gratiae, quia ut Rom. XI, 9 Apostolus dicit: ____Si autem gratia, + iam non ex operibus.____ Altero modo potest considerari secundum + naturam ipsius rei, quae donatur, et sic etiam non potest cadere sub + merito non habentis gratiam, tum quia excedit proportionem naturae, + tum etiam quia ante gratiam in statu peccati homo habet impedimentum + promerendi gratiam, scil. ipsum peccatum. Postquam autem aliquis iam + habet gratiam, non potest gratia iam habita sub merito cadere, quia + merces est terminus operis, gratia autem est principium cuiuslibet + boni operis in nobis._" This is equally true of the _meritum de + condigno_ and the _meritum de congruo_. + + 442 John XVI, 24: "_Petite et accipietis._" + +_ 443 V. supra_, theses I and II. + + 444 "_Si quis ad invocationem humanam [i.e. naturalem] gratiam Dei dicit + posse conferri, non autem ipsam gratiam facere, ut invocetur a + nobis, contradicit Isaiae prophetae vel Apostolo idem dicenti: + Inventus sum a non quaerentibus me, palam apparui his, qui me non + interrogabant._" (Can. 3, Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 176.) + + 445 Rom. VIII, 26: "_Quid oremus, sicut oportet, nescimus, sed ipse + Spiritus postulat [postulare facit] pro nobis gemitibus + inenarrabilibus._" + + 446 1 Cor. XII, 3: "_Nemo potest dicere Dominus Deus, nisi in Spiritu + sancto._" + + 447 John XV, 7: "_Si manseritis in me et verba mea in vobis manserint, + quodcunque volueritis, petetis et fiet vobis._" + +_ 448 De Dono Perseverantiae_, 23, n. 63 sq.: "_Quis veraciter gemat, + desiderans accipere quod orat a Domino, si hoc a se ipso sumere + existimet, non ab illo?... Ubi intelligimus et hoc ipsum esse donum + Dei, ut veraci corde et spiritualiter clamemus ad Deum. Attendant + ergo, quomodo falluntur, qui putant esse a nobis, non dari nobis ut + petamus, quaeramus, pulsemus_, etc." + + 449 Cfr. Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. 32. + + 450 On this difficult question consult Ruiz, _De Provid._, disp. 18, + sect. 3. and De Lugo, _De Fide_, disp. 12, sec. 3. + +_ 451 De Praedest. Sanct._, c. 12. + + 452 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 226 sqq. + +_ 453 Op. cit._, pp. 228 sq. + + 454 Further information on this head _infra_, Part II, Ch. III. + + 455 Cfr. Pesch, _Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 117 sqq. + +_ 456 A titre de curiosite_ we may note the opinion of Ripalda (_De Ente + Supernat._, disp. 17, sect. 1) and Vasquez (_Comment. in S. Theol._, + 1a, disp. 91, c. 10) that some pre-Tridentine theologians ascribed + to nature the ability of positively disposing itself for actual + graces and thereby, though in perfect good faith, entertained + Semipelagian views. Even St. Thomas has been accused of conceding + too much to Semipelagianism in two of his earlier works (_Comment. + in Quatuor Libros Sent._, II, dist. 28, qu. 1, art. 4, and _De + Veritate_, qu. 14, art. 11), though his teaching in the _Summa_ is + admittedly orthodox. On the extremely doubtful character of such a + summary indictment see Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. + 34; Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 495 sqq., 542 sqq.; Glossner, + _Die Lehre des hl. Thomas von der Gnade_, Mainz 1871. + + 457 Vasquez, _Comment. in S. Theol._, 1a, disp. 91, c. 10-11. + +_ 458 Dogmatik_, Vol. II, pp. 191 sq., Ratisbon 1874. + +_ 459 De Auxil._, III, 2, 3. + +_ 460 De Gratia Effic._, c. 10. + + 461 Disproved historically by Palmieri. + + 462 Cfr. Pesch, _Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 119 sqq. + + 463 Cfr. St. Augustine, _De Praedest. Sanct._, c. 15. + + 464 Cfr. St. Augustine, _Tract. in Ioa._, 36, n. 4: "_Venit Christus, + sed primo salvare, postea iudicare, eos iudicando in poenam, qui + salvari noluerunt, eos perducendo ad vitam, qui credendo salutem non + respuerunt._" + + 465 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _Soteriology_, pp. 75 sqq., St. Louis 1914. + + 466 Sess. VI, can. 17: "_Si quis iustificationis gratiam nonnisi + praedestinatis ad vitam contingere dixerit, reliquos vero omnes qui + vocantur, vocari quidem, sed gratiam non accipere, utpote divina + potestate praedestinatos ad malum, anathema sit._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 827.) + + 467 Prop. 5, _apud_ Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1096. Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, + _Soteriology_, p. 76. + + 468 "_Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de + coelis._" (_Credo_). + +_ 469 V. infra_, Thesis II. + + 470 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + + 471 Among them was one of our Lord's own chosen Apostles. + + 472 Wisd. XI, 24 sqq.: "_Sed misereris omnium, quia omnia potes, et + dissimulas peccata hominum propter poenitentiam. Diligis enim omnia + quae sunt et nihil odisti eorum quae fecisti.... Parcis autem + omnibus, quoniam tua sunt, Domine, qui amas animas._" + + 473 1 Tim. II, 1 sqq.: "_Obsecro igitur primum omnium fieri + obsecrationes, orationes, postulationes, gratiarum actiones pro + omnibus hominibus_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}).... _Hoc enim bonum est et + acceptum coram Salvatore nostro Deo, qui omnes homines vult salvos + fieri_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}) _et ad agnitionem + veritatis venire: unus enim Deus_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}), _unus et mediator_ + ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) _Dei et hominum homo Christus Iesus, qui dedit + redemptionem semetipsum pro omnibus_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~})." + + 474 "_Unus enim Deus._" Cfr. Rom. III, 29 sq., X, 12. + + 475 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _Soteriology_, pp. 77 sqq. + + 476 Cfr. Matth. XVIII, 11; 2 Cor. V, 15. That God's will to redeem + mankind is universal has been proved in _Soteriology_, pp. 77 sqq. + + 477 Cfr. on this text Estius, _Comment. in Epist. S. Pauli, h. l._ + + 478 In his work _De Partitione Voluntatis Divinae in Primam et + Secundam_, Rome 1851. + +_ 479 In Ps._, 39, n. 20: "_Ille omnes suos vult esse, quos condidit et + creavit. Utinam tu homo non fugias et te abscondas! Ille etiam + fugientes requirit et absconditos non vult perire._" + +_ 480 Orat._, 33, n. 9. + +_ 481 Resp. ad Capitula Gallor._, c. 2: "_Sincerissime credendum est, + Deum velle ut omnes homines salvi fiant, siquidem Apostolus + sollicite praecipit, ut Deo pro omnibus supplicetur._" + +_ 482 Op. cit._, c. 8: "... _qui et omnes vult salvos fieri et ad + agnitionem veritatis venire, ... ut et qui salvantur ideo salvi + sint, quia illos voluit Deus salvos fieri, et qui pereunt, ideo + pereant, quia perire meruerunt._" + + 483 For further information on this subject consult Ruiz, _De Voluntate + Dei_, disp. 19 sqq.; Petavius, _De Deo_, X, 4 sq. + +_ 484 De Spiritu et Litera_, c. 33, n. 58: "_Vult Deus omnes homines + salvos fieri et ad agnitionem veritatis venire; non sic tamen ut iis + adimat liberum arbitrium, quo vel bene vel male utentes iustissime + iudicentur._" + +_ 485 Enchiridion_, c. 103. + +_ 486 Contra Iulian._, IV, 8, 42: "_Nemo salvatur nisi volente Deo._" + +_ 487 De Corrept. et Gratia_, c. 15, n. 47: "_Omnes homines vult Deus + salvos fieri, quoniam nos facit velle, sicut misit Spiritum Filii + sui clamantem: Abba, pater, i.e. nos clamare facientem._" + +_ 488 Confessiones_, XII, 17 sqq. + + 489 Faure has proved this in his _Notae in Enchiridion S. Augustini_, c. + 103, Naples 1847, pp. 195 sqq. + +_ 490 Summa Theol._, 1a, qu. 19, art. 6, ad 1. On Augustine's teaching + see Franzelin, _De Deo Uno_, thes. 51 sq., and, less favorably, + Bardenhewer-Shahan, _Patrology_, pp. 498 sqq., Freiburg 1908. + +_ 491 E.g._ Arrubal (_Comment. in S. Theol._, 1a, disp. 91, c. 3 sq.) and + Kilber (_Theol. Wirceburg., De Deo_, disp. 4, c. 2, art. 3). + + 492 Cfr. Albertus a Bulsano, _Theol. Dogmat._, ed. Graun, Vol. II, p. + 141, Innsbruck 1894. + + 493 Cfr. Bellarmine, _De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_, II, 12: "... _haec + responsio non videtur digna Chritianis, qui providentiam Dei erga + homines ex sacris literis et ecclesiastica traditione didicerunt. + Nam si non cadit passer in terram sine Patre nostro, qui in coelis + est, quanto magis nos apud Deum pluris sumus illis?_" + + 494 "_Definimus illorum animas, qui in actuali mortali peccato vel solo + originali decedunt, mox in infernum descendere._" (_Decret. + Unionis_, quoted by Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 693.) + + 495 Cfr. Pallavicini, _Hist. Conc. Trid._, IX, 8. + + 496 It occurs in his commentary on the _Summa_, 3a, qu. 68, art. 2, 11. + + 497 Cfr. Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, p. 295, + Mainz 1897. + + 498 On the probable fate of unbaptized infants cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God + the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, pp. 300 sqq. + + 499 Thesis II. + + 500 Quoted _supra_, p. 156. + + 501 Quoted _supra_, p. 157. + + 502 On the whole question consult Franzelin, _De Deo Uno_, thes. 53, 3rd + ed., Rome 1883. + + 503 On the notion and existence of sufficient grace see _supra_, Ch. I, + Sect. 2, No. 6. + +_ 504 Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, can. 18: "_Si quis dixerit, Dei + praecepta homini etiam iustificato et sub gratia constituto esse ad + observandum impossibilia, anathema sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 828). Cfr. Sess. VI, cap. 11 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 804). + + 505 "_Aliqua Dei praecepta hominibus iustis volentibus et conantibus + secundum praesentes, quas habent vires, sunt impossibilia: deest + quoque illis gratia, qua possibilia fiant._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 1092.) + + 506 On the distinction between _gratia proxime sufficiens_ and _gratia + remote sufficiens_, cfr. _supra_, pp. 43 sq. + + 507 1 John V, 3 sq.: "_Haec est caritas Dei, ut mandata eius custodiamus + et mandata eius gravia non sunt_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}): _quoniam omne quod natum est ex Deo [= iustus] vincit + mundum._" + + 508 Matth. XI, 30. + + 509 1 Cor. X, 13: "_Fidelis autem Deus est, qui non patietur vos tentari + supra id quod potestis_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}), _sed faciet + etiam cum tentatione proventum_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}), _ut possitis sustinere._" + +_ 510 V. supra_, pp. 65 sq. + + 511 1 Cor. X, 12: "_Itaque qui se existimat stare, videat ne cadat._" + +_ 512 V. infra_, Thesis II. Cfr. also Ecclus. II, 11 sqq.; John VI, 37; 2 + Pet I, 10 sq. + + 513 "_Gratiam non omnibus dari._" + + 514 Migne, _P. L._, XVII, 1073 sqq. Cfr. Bardenhewer-Shahan, + _Patrology_, p. 515. + +_ 515 Benignitas Dei generalis--specialis Dei misericordia._ + + 516 "_Deo autem placuit et hanc [gratiam efficacem] multis tribuere et + illam [sufficientem] a nemine submovere, ut ex utraque appareat, non + negatum universitati, quod collatum est portioni._" (_De Vocatione + Omnium Gentium_, II, 25.) For further information on the doctrinal + character of this work see Fr. Woerter, _Zur Dogmengeschichte des + Semipelagianismus_, Muenster 1900. + + 517 Chrysostom, _Hom. in Matth._, 82, n. 3. + + 518 Augustine, _Serm._, 296: "_Plus ausus erat, quam eius capacitas + sustinebat._" + + 519 Matth. XXVI, 41: "Watch ye and pray that ye enter not into + temptation." + +_ 520 Lib. de Unitate Ecclesiae_, 9: "_Quis dubitaverit quod Iudas + Christum, si voluisset, non utique tradidisset, et Petrus, si + voluisset, ter Dominum non negasset?_" + + 521 John VI, 40. + + 522 Cfr. _Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, can. 19-21. + + 523 Cfr. Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 573 sqq. + + 524 Cfr. 1 Cor. X, 13. + + 525 1 John V, 3 sq. + + 526 Cfr. 1 John II, 16. + +_ 527 De Natura et Gratia_, c. 43, n. 50: "_Deus impossibilia non iubet, + sed iubendo admonet, et facere quod possis et petere quod non + possis._" + + 528 For an explanation of certain difficult passages bearing on this + point in the writings of St. Augustine, see Schiffini, _De Gratia + Divina_, pp. 531 sqq. + +_ 529 V. supra_, pp. 104 sq. + + 530 Ez. XXXIII, 11: "_Vivo ego, dicit Dominus Deus, nolo mortem impii, + sed ut convertatur impius a via sua et vivat. Convertimini, + convertimini a viis vestris pessimis._" + + 531 2 Pet. III, 9: "_Non tardat Dominus promissionem suam, sicut quidam + existimant, sed patienter agit_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}) _propter vos, nolens + aliquos perire, sed omnes ad poenitentiam reverti_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~})." + + 532 Cfr. Is. V, 20. + + 533 According to Ruiz (_De Praedest._, disp. 39, sect. 1), there are but + very few divines (_valde pauci_) who hold this view. + + 534 Wisd. XII, 10. + + 535 Rom. II, 4 sq.: "_An divitias bonitatis eius et patientiae et + longanimitatis contemnis? Ignoras quoniam benignitas Dei ad + poenitentiam_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) _te adducit? Secundum autem duritiem_ + ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) _tuam et impoenitens cor_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) + _thesaurizas tibi iram in die irae et revelationis iusti iudicii + Dei, qui reddet unicuique secundum opera eius._" Cfr. Prov. I, 20 + sqq. + + 536 Ex. VII, 3: "_Ego indurabo cor eius._" + + 537 Ex. IX, 12: "_Induravitque Dominus cor Pharaonis, etc._" + + 538 Ex. VIII, 15. + + 539 For the solution of other difficulties see Schiffini, _De Gratia + Divina_, pp. 529 sq. + + 540 St. Augustine, _Enarr. in Ps._, VI, n. 8: "_Dedit illos in reprobum + sensum (Rom. I, 28); nam ea est caecitas mentis. In eam quisquis + datus fuerit, ab interiore Dei luce secluditur, sed nondum penitus, + quum in hac vita est. Sunt enim tenebrae exteriores, quae magis ad + diem iudicii pertinere intelliguntur, ut penitus extra Deum sit, + quisquis, dum tempus est, corrigi noluerit._" + + 541 St. Augustine, _Retractationes_, 419: "_De quocunque quamvis pessimo + homine hac in vita constituto non est desperandum._" + +_ 542 Tract. in Ioa._, XII, 39. Similarly _ibid._, LIII, n. 6. For a + complete exposition of St. Augustine's teaching on this point + consult Dechamps, _De Haeresi Ianseniana_, III, 6 sqq., and + Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. 40. + + 543 Cfr. St. Thomas, _De Veritate_, qu. 24, art. 11: "_Haec est + obstinatio imperfecta, qua aliquis potest esse obstinatus in statu + viae, dum scilicet habet aliquis ita firmatam voluntatem in peccato, + quod non surgunt motus ad bonum nisi debiles. Quia tamen aliqui + surgunt, ex iis datur via, ut praeparentur ad gratiam._" + +_ 544 Conc. Lateran._ IV (1215), cap. "_Firmiter_": "_Et si post + susceptionem baptismi quisquam prolapsus fuerit in peccatum, per + veram potest semper poenitentiam reparari._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 430.) + + 545 Cfr. _Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, cap. 14; Sess. XIV, cap. 1. + + 546 "_Pagani, Iudaei, haeretici aliique huius generis nullum omnino + accipiunt a Iesu Christo influxum, adeoque hinc recte inferes, in + illis esse voluntatem nudam et inermem sine omni gratia + sufficienti._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1295.) + + 547 "_Extra ecclesiam nulla conceditur gratia._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 1379.) + + 548 Rom. II, 6 sqq. + + 549 Rom. II, 10 sq.: "_Gloria autem et honor et pax omni operanti bonum, + Iudaeo primum et Graeco ({~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}=pagano); non enim est acceptio + personarum ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) apud Deum._" + + 550 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + + 551 Cfr. 1 Tim. II, 1 sqq.; John I, 9. + +_ 552 Ep. ad Corinth._, 1, 7. + + 553 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}. + + 554 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}. + +_ 555 Hom. in Ioa._, VIII, 1. + + 556 II, c. 31. + + 557 De _Arbitrii Libertate_, n. 19: "_... quotidie per tempora, per + dies, per momenta, per {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} et cunctis et singulis._" + + 558 Heb. XI, 6. + + 559 "_Initium, fundamentum et radix omnis iustificationis._" Sess. VI, + cap. 8, _apud_ Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 801. + + 560 "_Fides late dicta, ex testimonio creaturarum similive motivo, ad + iustificationem sufficit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1173.) + + 561 "_... fides, qua Dei aspirante et adiuvante gratia ab eo revelata + vera esse credimus, non propter intrinsecam rerum veritatem naturali + rationis lumine perspectam, sed propter auctoritatem ipsius Dei + revelantis, qui nec falli nec fallere potest._" (Sess. III, cap. 3; + Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1789.) + + 562 "_Quoniam vero sine fide impossible est placere Deo, ... ideo nemini + unquam sine illa contigit iustificatio._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 1793.) + + 563 Rom. X, 17. + + 564 Cfr. Acts X, 1 sqq. + + 565 Card. Toletus, _Comment. in S. Th._, I, qu. 1, art. 1. + + 566 Cfr. St. Thomas, _De Verit._, qu. 14, art. 11, ad 1: "_Hoc ad + divinam providentiam pertinet, ut cuilibet provideat de necessariis + ad salutem, dummodo ex parte eius non impediatur. Si enim aliquis + taliter (in silvis vel inter bruta animalia) nutritus ductum + naturalis rationis sequeretur in appetitu boni et fuga mali, + certissime est tenendum quod ei Deus vel per internam inspirationem + revelaret ea, quae sunt ad credendum necessaria, vel aliquem fidei + praedicatorem ad eum dirigeret, sicut misit Petrum ad Cornelium._" + + 567 Gotti, _De Fide_, qu. 2, dub. 4, § 1: "_Sententia negans fidem + explicitam Christi et Trinitatis esse ita necessariam, ut sine ea + nemo iustificari vel salvari queat, valde probabilis est. Eam enim + videtur docere S. Thomas tum 2--2 p., qu. 10, art. 4, tum 3 p., qu. + 69, art. 4, ubi de Cornelio Centurione ait: Ante baptismum Cornelius + et alii similes consequuntur gratiam et virtutes per fidem Christi + et desiderium baptismi implicite vel explicite._" + + 568 Cfr. Fr. Schmid, _Die ausserordentlichen Heilswege fuer die gefallene + Menschheit_, pp. 225 sqq., Brixen 1899. + + 569 A. Fischer, _De Salute Infidelium_, Essen 1886; Heinrich-Gutberlet, + _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, pp. 491 sqq. On their teaching + see P. Minges, O. F. M., _Compendium Theologiae Dogmaticae + Generalis_, pp. 270 sqq., Munich 1902. + + 570 With regard to certain other controversies on this subject consult + Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 535 sqq., and Tepe, _Instit. + Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 109 sqq., Paris 1896. + + 571 See Articles 1 and 2, _supra_. + +_ 572 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, cap. 12: "_Arcanum divinae + praedestinationis mysterium._" + +_ 573 De Dono Perseverantiae_, n. 21: "_Ex duobus parvulis originali + peccato pariter obstrictis cur iste assumatur, ille relinquatur et + ex duobus aetate iam grandibus impiis, cur iste ita vocetur ut + vocantem sequatur, ille autem aut non vocetur [praedicatione fidei] + aut non ita vocetur, inscrutabilia sunt iudicia Dei._" On this + mysterious dispensation see Scheeben, _Die Mysterien des + Christentums_, § 99-103, 3rd ed., Freiburg 1912, and Palmieri, _De + Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. 62. + + 574 Eph. I, 3 sqq., and in other passages. + +_ 575 De Dono Persev._, c. 10, n. 19: "_Praedestinatio est gratiae + praeparatio, gratia vero iam ipsa donatio._" + +_ 576 V. infra_, pp. 199 sqq. + +_ 577 De Dono Persev._, c. 14, n. 35: "_Praedestinatio nihil est aliud + quam praescientia et praeparatio beneficiorum Dei, quibus certissime + liberantur [scil. salvantur] quicunque liberantur._" + +_ 578 S. Theol._, 1a, qu. 23, art. 2: "_Praedestinatio est praeparatio + gratiae in praesenti et gloriae in futuro._" On the Biblical, the + Patristic, and the theological use of the term, see Chr. Pesch, + _Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. II, 3rd ed., pp. 189 sqq., Freiburg 1906. + + 579 The Tridentine Council presupposes it as an unquestioned dogma + (Sess. VI, cap. 12). + + 580 Rom. VIII, 28 sqq.; "_Scimus autem quoniam diligentibus Deum omnia + cooperantur in bonum, iis qui secundum propositum vocati sunt sancti + ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}). Nam quos praescivit, et + praedestinavit conformes fieri imaginis Filii sui, ut sit ipse + primogenitus in multis fratribus; quos autem praedestinavit, hos et + vocavit; et quos vocavit, hos et iustificavit: quos autem + iustificavit, illos et glorificavit._" + + 581 Cfr. Eph. I, 4-11. + +_ 582 De Praedestinatione Sanctorum_, c. 25: "_Praedestinationis huius + fidem, quae contra novos haereticos nova nunc solicitudine + defenditur, nunquam Ecclesia Christi non habuit._" + +_ 583 Resp. ad Obiect. Gallor._, 1: "_Praedestinationem Dei nullus + Catholicus negat._" + +_ 584 Ep. ad Rufin._: "_Praedestinationem tam impium est negare quam ipsi + gratiae contraire._" + +_ 585 De Correptione et Gratia_, c. 7, n. 14: "_Horum si quisquam perit, + fallitur Deus; sed nemo eorum perit, quia non fallitur Deus._" On + the question how this infallible foreknowledge is compatible with + the dogma of free-will, see Pohle-Preuss, _God, His Knowability, + Essence, and Attributes_, pp. 364 sqq. + + 586 Cfr. Apoc. XVII, 8: "_Liber vitae_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}." Cfr. St. + Augustine, _De Civ. Dei_, XX, 13: "_Praescientia Dei, quae non + potest falli, liber vitae est._" + + 587 Luke X, 20: "_Gaudete quod nomina vestra scripta sunt in coelis._" + + 588 Cfr. 2 Pet. I, 10: "_Satagite, ut per bona opera certam ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) + vestram vocationem et electionem faciatis._" + + 589 Apoc. III, 5: "_Non delebo nomen eius de libro vitae._" Cfr. Ex. + XXXII, 32; Ps. LXVIII, 29. + + 590 On the _liber vitae_, cfr. St. Thomas, _S. Theol._, 1a, qu. 24, art. + 1-3; and Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, § + 435. + +_ 591 De Corrept. et Grat._, c. 13: "_... quorum ita certus est numerus, + ut nec addatur eis quisquam nec minuatur ex eis._" + +_ 592 S. Theol._, 1a, qu. 23, art. 7: "_De numero omnium praedestinatorum + hominum quis sit, dicunt quidam quod tot ex hominibus salvabuntur, + quot angeli ceciderunt; quidam vero, quod tot ex hominibus + salvabuntur, quot angeli remanserunt; quidam vero, quod tot ex + hominibus salvabuntur, quot angeli ceciderunt et insuper tot quot + fuerunt angeli creati. Sed melius dicitur quod soli Deo est cognitus + numerus electorum in superna felicitate locandus, ut habet collecta + pro vivis et defunctis._" + +_ 593 De Bono Viduitatis_, n. 28: "_Quasi propter aliud retardetur hoc + saeculum, nisi ut impleatur praedestinatus numerus ille sanctorum, + quo citius impleto profecto nec terminus saeculi differetur._" + + 594 Dieringer, _Epistelbuch_, "Fest Allerheiligen." + +_ 595 S. Theol._, 1a, qu. 23, art. 7, ad 3: "_Pauciores sunt qui + salvantur._" + + 596 Cfr. Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmat. Theol._, Vol. VIII, pp. 363 sqq., + and W. Schneider, _Das andere Leben_, 9th ed., pp. 476 sqq., + Paderborn 1908. + +_ 597 Le Rigorisme, le Nombre des Elus et la Doctrine du Salut_, 2nd ed., + Bruxelles 1899. + +_ 598 De Paucitate Salvandorum quid Docuerunt Sancti_, 3d ed., Bruxelles + 1899. + + 599 Cfr. 1 Tim. IV, 10: {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. This + opinion is convincingly defended by the Spanish theologian Gener + (_Theol. Dogmat. Scholast._, II, 342 sqq., Rome 1767.) Timid souls + may profitably ponder what Thomas a Kempis says in the _Imitation_, + I, 25. + + 600 Gener, _Theol. Dogmat. Scholast._, II, 342: "_... ne dici possit cum + dedecore et iniuria divinae maiestatis et clementiae, maius esse + imperium daemonis quam Christi._" + +_ 601 Lect. in Ep. ad Rom._, VIII, 6: "_Unde ponere quod aliquod meritum + ex parte nostra praesupponatur, cuius praescientia sit ratio [scil. + motivum] praedestinationis, nihil est aliud quam supponere gratiam + dari ex meritis nostris [scil. naturalibus]._" _V. supra_, Ch. II, + Sect. 2. + + 602 "_Gratiam Dei secundum merita dari._" + +_ 603 De Dono Perseverant._, n. 53: "_Quid autem coegit loca + Scripturarum, quibus praedestinatio commendata est, copiosius et + enucleatius isto nostro labore defendi, nisi quod Pelagiani dicunt, + gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra [naturalia] dari?_" + + 604 Charles Du Plessis d'Argentre (d. 1740), after a careful study of + all Scholastic works written between 1120 and 1708, concluded: + "_Veteres Scholastici de causa praedestinationis omnino considerate + et ad gratiam et ad gloriam praecipue agebant. Idea nolebant eam + esse ex praevisis meritis, quia gratia, quae in ea includitur, non + datur nec proin praedestinatur ob praevisa merita._" (_De + Praedest._, c. 10, § 1). + +_ 605 V. infra_, Part II, Ch. III, Sect. 3. + +_ 606 E.g._, Banez, Alvarez, Lemos, Gonet, Contenson, Goudin. + +_ 607 E.g._, Berti and Norisius. + +_ 608 E.g._, Suarez, Ruiz, De Lugo, Bellarmine. + + 609 "_Nisi breviati fuissent dies illi, non fieret salva omnis caro, sed + propter electos ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) breviabuntur dies illi.... + Surgent enim pseudochristi, ... ita ut in errorem inducantur, si + fieri potest, etiam electi._" + + 610 Cfr. Col. III, 12; 1 Pet. I, 1. + + 611 "_Non volentis neque currentis, sed miserentis est Dei ... Cuius + vult miseretur, et quem vult indurat._" On the meaning of this text + _v. supra_, pp. 137, 177. + + 612 Cfr. Franzelin, _De Deo Uno_, thes. 65; Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmat. + Theol._, Vol. VIII, pp. 345 sqq.; Chr. Pesch, _Prael. Dogmat._, Vol. + II, 3rd ed., pp. 212 sqq., Freiburg 1906; Val. Weber, _Kritische + Geschichte der Exegese des 9. Kapitels des Roemerbriefes_, Wuerzburg + 1889. + +_ 613 Die Lehre von der Heiligung_, p. 242, 3rd ed., Paderborn 1885. + +_ 614 E.g._, Petrus de Comitibus, O. S. A. (_De Praedest. et Reprobat._, + disp. 3, art. 4 sqq.), Tricassinus (_De Praedest._), and the Jesuits + Lessius, Gregory of Valentia, Franzelin, and Schrader. + +_ 615 De Deo Uno_, p. 677: "_Si vero dissensus esset manifestus, ut + prudenter [cum ceteris patribus] conciliari non posset, tum sane non + dubitarem, cum Pighio, Catharino, Osorio, Camerario, Maldonato, + Toleto, Petavio, reverenter ab Augustino discedere, quum haec non + posset esse nisi privata eius sententia._" + +_ 616 De Praedest._, qu. 4. + +_ 617 Comment. in S. Theol. S. Thomae Aqu._, I, qu. 23, art. 5, conclus. + 2. + +_ 618 De Deo_, X, col. 9. + + 619 A careful analysis of the Augustinian texts bearing on this question + will be found in the _Theol. Wirceburg._, _De Deo Uno_, n. 231 sqq., + and Franzelin, _De Deo Uno_, thes. 53. + + 620 Cfr. Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmat. Theologie_, Vol. VIII, pp. 351 + sqq. + +_ 621 Clypeus Thomist._, _De Praedest._, disp. 2, § 2, n. 26: "_Qui + ordinate vult, prius vult finem quam media ad finem. Sed Deus + ordinate vult. Ergo prius vult finem quam media ad illum. Atqui + gloria est finis et merita sunt media ad illum conducentia. Ergo + prius vult gloriam quam merita, et consequenter electio ad gloriam + non potest esse ex praevisione meritorum._" + + 622 Cfr. Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmat. Theol._, Vol. VIII, p. 330. + +_ 623 V._ Art. 4, No. 2, _infra_. The opposite opinion is defended by + Billuart _De Deo_, diss. 9, art. 4, § 3 (ed. Lequette, p. 386). + +_ 624 Orth. Praed._, c. 1, n. 7: "_Deus primo praeparavit dona gratiae ac + deinde eos, quos praevidebat bene usuros eiusmodi donis, elegit ad + vitam aeternam._" + + 625 "_... sententiam illam antiquitate, suavitate ac Scripturarum nativa + auctoritate nobilissimam de praedestinatione ad gloriam post + praevisa merita semper ut Dei misericordiae ac gratiae magis + consentaneam, veriorem ac amabiliorem existimavi._" (Cfr. _Traite de + l'Amour de Dieu_, III, 5). + +_ 626 V. supra_, pp. 153 sqq. + +_ 627 V. supra_, No. 4. + + 628 2 Tim. IV, 7 sq.: "_Bonum certamen certavi, cursum consummavi, fidem + servavi; in reliquo reposita est ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}=praeparata ab aeterno) + mihi corona iustitiae, quam reddet ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}) mihi Dominus in illa + die, iustus index._" Cfr. 1 Cor. IX, 24 sqq.; Apoc. II, 7, 26. + + 629 Matth. XXV, 34 sqq.: "_Venite, benedicti Patris mei, possidete + paratum vobis regnum a constitutione mundi._" + +_ 630 De Deo_, ed. Lequette, p. 391. + + 631 For instance, John VIII, 44; 1 John III, 8; Acts XIII, 10. + + 632 Cfr. Tepe, _Inst. Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 289 sqq., Paris 1896; + Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmat. Theol._, Vol. VIII, § 430. + + 633 Lessius, _Antapol._, prop. 8: "_Tenent hanc sententiam omnes Patres + Graeci, adeo ut communiter dicatur esse sententia Graecorum._" + +_ 634 Hom. in Matth._, 80, n. 2: "_Haereditate possidete regnum quasi + proprium, quasi paternum et vestrum, iam olim vobis debitum; + priusquam enim existeretis, haec vobis parata erant et disposita, + quia ego vos tales futuros esse praescivi._" + +_ 635 In Rom._, VIII, 29 (Migne, _P. G._, LXXXII, 142): "_Non simpliciter + praedestinavit, sed quum praescivisset, praedestinavit._" + +_ 636 In Ps._, 64, n. 5: "_Multi vocati sunt, sed pauci electi.... Itaque + non res indiscreti iudicii est electio, sed ex meriti delectu facta + discretio est._" + +_ 637 De Fide_, V, 6, 83: "_Unde et Apostolus ait: quos praescivit, et + praedestinavit (Rom. VIII, 29); non enim ante praedestinavit quam + praescivit, sed quorum merita praescivit, eorum praemia + praedestinavit._" Cfr. Franzelin, _De Deo Uno_, thes. 59; Lessius, + _De Praedest. et Reprob._, sect. 2, n. 7 sqq. + +_ 638 De Gratia_, II, 11. + + 639 Cfr. O. Rottmanner, O. S. B., _Der Augustinismus_, Muenchen 1892; O. + Pfuelf, S. J., "_Zur Praedestinationslehre des hl. Augustinus_" in the + Innsbruck _Zeitschrift fuer kath. Theologie_, 1893, pp. 483 sqq. + +_ 640 V. supra_, pp. 200 sqq., 216 sqq. + + 641 Cfr. Franzelin, _De Deo Uno_, thes. 64. + +_ 642 Comment. in IV Libros Sent._, 1, dist. 41: "_Eligatur [ea + sententia] quae magis placet, dum tamen salvetur libertas divina + sine aliqua iniustitia et alia quae salvanda sunt circa Deum._" + + 643 Many Scholastic utterances bearing on this subject have been + collected by Lessius, _De Praedest. et Reprob._, sect. 2, n. 7 + (_Opusc._ II, pp. 208 sqq., Paris 1878). + +_ 644 Comment. in Quatuor Libros Sent._, 1, dist. 41, qu. 1. + +_ 645 Comment. in Quatuor Libros Sent._, 1, dist. 41, art. 2. + +_ 646 S. Theol._, 1a, qu. 23, disp. 3, art. 4. + + 647 In his treatise _De Praedestinatione_, dedicated to the Council of + Trent. + +_ 648 De Deo_, disp. 9, art. 3. + +_ 649 De Praedest. et Reprob._, Paris edition of the _Opuscula_, 1878, p. + 412: "_... privilegia eius omnem modum superant et ad nullum alium + sunt extendenda._" + +_ 650 Sent._, 1, dist. 40: "_... est praescientia iniquitatis quorundam + et praeparatio damnationis eorumdem._" + +_ 651 Supra_, Art. 3, No. 4. + + 652 Calvin's teaching in his _Inst._, l. III, c. 21, 24. On Arminianism + see J. F. Loughlin in the _Catholic Encyclopedia_, Vol. I, pp. 740 + sqq. + + 653 "_Aliquos vero ad malum divina potestate praedestinatos esse non + solum non credimus, sed etiam, si sunt qui tantum malum credere + velint, cum omni detestatione illis anathema dicimus._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 200.) + + 654 Sess. VI, can. 17: "_Si quis iustificationis gratiam nonnisi + praedestinatis ad vitam contingere dixerit, reliquos vero omnes qui + vocantur, vocari quidem, sed gratiam non accipere, utpote divina + potestate praedestinatos ad malum, anathema sit._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 827.) + +_ 655 V. supra_, Art. 1. + +_ 656 V. supra_, Art. 2, Thesis II. + + 657 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, + pp. 251 sqq. + +_ 658 V. supra_, pp. 201 sqq. + + 659 1 Pet. II, 7 sq.: "_Non credentibus autem [Christus] ... lapis + offensionis ... qui offendunt verbo nec credunt, in quo ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}) et + positi sunt._" + + 660 "_In hoc positi, i.e. praedestinati sunt, ut non credant._" + + 661 "And he shall be a sanctification to you. But for a stone of + stumbling and for a rock of offense to the two houses of Israel, for + a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." + + 662 "And whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken: but on + whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder." + + 663 Cfr. Oecumen., _in h. l._: "_Ad quod positi sunt, non dicitur, quasi + a Deo ad hoc essent destinati; nulla enim causa perditionis + ministratur ab eo, qui omnes homines vult salvos fieri._" + +_ 664 Contr. Iulian._, III, 18, 35: "_Bonus est Deus, iustus est Deus: + potest aliquos sine bonis meritis liberare, quia bonus est; non + potest quemquam sine malis meritis damnare, quia iustus est._" + +_ 665 Resp. ad XII Object. Vincent._: "_Voluntate exierunt, voluntate + ceciderunt, et quia praesciti sunt casuri, non sunt praedestinati; + essent autem praedestinati, si essent reversuri et in sanctitate + remansuri, ac per hoc praedestinatio Dei multis est causa standi, + nemini est causa labendi._" + +_ 666 Ad Monim._, l. I. Cfr. Petavius, _De Deo_, X, 7 sqq. + +_ 667 Clypeus Thomist._, Vol. II, tr. 5, disp. 5, art. 2, n. 23. + + 668 Cfr. Limbourg, S. J., in the Innsbruck _Zeitschrift fuer kath. + Theologie_, 1879, pp. 203 sqq. + + 669 Cfr. Suarez, _De Praedest._, V, 4 sqq. + +_ 670 Conc. Trident._, Sess. V, can. 5. + + 671 Which explains why both theories have the same defenders. _V. + supra_, Art. 3, No. 4. + + 672 Banez, Alvarez, Gonet. + + 673 "_Deus non serio vult, sed vellet salvare etiam reprobos, nisi per + hoc impediretur pulchritudo universi._" + +_ 674 V. supra_, Art. 1 and 2. + +_ 675 De Praedest._, V, 8, 8: "_Non est in potestate hominis, cum + non-electione seu cum non-praedestinatione aut, quod idem est, cum + reprobatione negativa actu ponere seu componere suam aeternam + salutem._" Cfr. Franzelin, _De Deo Uno_, p. 583, 3rd ed., Rome 1888. + + 676 "_Deus ex omnibus hominibus, quos infectos originali peccato + praevidit, efficaciter ex meritis Christi venturi quosdam elegit ad + gloriam, et alios in poenam eiusdem originalis peccati et ad + ostensionem suae iustitiae erga illos et maioris misericordiae erga + electos voluit permittere, ut deficerent a consecutione gloriae seu + positive eis non voluit gloriam.... Ex vi huius intentionis + efficacis excogitavit media apta ad consecutionem talis finis, et + videns in aliquibus hominibus esse aptum medium in solo originali + peccato eos relinquere, in aliis vero permittere, ut cadant in haec + vel illa peccata actualia ac in illis perseverent, has permissiones + per subsequentem electionem approbavit. Et tandem ... per actum + imperii sui intellectus haec media ad praedictum finem ordinavit._" + _Clyp. Thomist._, Vol. II, disp. 5, art. 4, n. 155. + +_ 677 De Reprob._, c. 3, n. 6. + +_ 678 De Praedest._, V, 7, 14: "_Electio ad finem est ratio dandi media + efficacia seu infallibilia ad illum; ergo negatio illius electionis + erit suo modo ratio non dandi media, quae cognoscuntur congrua et + infallibilia ad illum finem consequendum._" + + 679 2 Pet. III, 9: "_... nolens aliquos perire, sed omnes ad + poenitentiam reverti._" + +_ 680 De Praedest._, sect. 2, n. 13: "_Secundum communem aestimationem + hominum paria videntur, Deum velle ut pereas et nolle te ponere in + electorum suorum numero neque gratiam congruam et perseverantiam + dare; aeque enim infallibiliter ex huiusmodi decretis sequeretur + damnatio. Et si alterutrum horum decretorum esset subeundum, quivis + censeret sibi esse indifferens, utrum eligatur, quum utrumque ante + praevisionem operum sit conceptum._" The teaching of St. Augustine + and that of St. Thomas on this point is in dispute. See Chr. Pesch, + _Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. II, 3rd ed., pp. 230 sqq., and + Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theol._, Vol. VIII, § 433. + + 681 In his treatise _De Servo Arbitrio_. + + 682 Cfr. Denifle, _Luther und Luthertum in der ersten Entwicklung_, Vol. + I, Mainz 1904. + +_ 683 Instit. Christ. Religionis_, l. II. + + 684 Cfr. Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 378 sqq. + + 685 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 291 sqq. + + 686 Sess. VI, can. 4: "_Si quis dixerit, liberum hominis arbitrium a Deo + motum et excitatum nihil cooperari assentiendo Deo vocanti ... neque + posse dissentire, si velit, sed velut inanime quoddam nihil omnino + agere mereque passive se habere, anathema sit._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 814.) + + 687 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _op. cit._ (note 5), pp. 295 sq. + + 688 In support of this contention Jansenius quoted St. Augustine, _In + Gal._, n. 49: "_Quod amplius nos delectat, secundum id operemur + necesse est._" + + 689 J. Forget in the _Catholic Encyclopedia_, Vol. VIII, pp. 288 sqq. On + Jansenism see Hergenroether, _Kirchengeschichte_, 4th ed., ed. by J. + P. Kirsch, Vol. III, pp. 386 sqq., 466 sqq., Freiburg 1909. + + 690 Sess. VI, cap. 5: "_Unde in sacris literis quum dicitur: + ____Convertimini ad me et ego convertar ad vos,____ libertatis + nostrae admonemur; quum respondemus: ____Converte nos, Domine, ad te + et convertemur,____ Dei nos gratia praeveniri confitemur._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 797.) Cfr. Oswald, _Die Lehre von der + Heiligung_, 3rd ed., pp. 186 sq. + + 691 Zach. I, 3. + + 692 Jer. XXXI, 21. + + 693 Rom. IX, 19: "_Voluntati enim eius quis resistit?_" + + 694 1 Tim. IV, 7: "_Exerce autem teipsum ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) ad + pietatem._" + + 695 Acts VII, 51: "_Vos semper Spiritui Sancto resistitis ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}), + sicut patres vestri, ita et vos._" + + 696 Matth. XIX, 17: "_Si autem vis ad vitam ingredi, serva mandata._" + Cfr. Apoc. IV, 20: "_Ecce sto ad ostium et pulso; si quis audierit + vocem meam et aperuerit mihi ianuam, intrabo ad illum._" + + 697 Cfr. the Scriptural argument for the existence of sufficient grace, + _supra_, pp. 45 sq. + +_ 698 V. supra_, pp. 102 sq., 141 sq. + +_ 699 Instit._, l. II, c. 3, sect. 10: "_Voluntatem movet [gratia + Christi], non qualiter multis saeculis traditum est et creditum, ut + nostrae postea sit electionis, motioni aut obtemperare aut + refragari, sed illam efficaciter afficiendo. Illud ergo toties a + Chrysostomo repetitum repudiari necesse est: ____Quem trahit, + volentem trahit.___" Many Patristic texts of similar tenor have been + gathered and explained by Cardinal Bellarmine in his treatise _De + Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_, VI, 11. + + 700 Cfr. _De Gratia Christi_, c. 47: "_Ista quaestio, ubi de arbitrio + voluntatis et Dei gratia disputatur, ita est ad discernendum + difficilis, ut quando defenditur liberum arbitrium, negari Dei + gratia videatur; quando autem asseritur Dei gratia, liberum + arbitrium putetur auferri._" + +_ 701 De Corrept. et Gratia_, XII, 38: "_Subventum est infirmitati + voluntatis humanae, ut divina gratia indeclinabiliter et + insuperabiliter ageretur._" + + 702 Cfr. his _Sermones_, 163, c. 11, n. 13: "_Totum ex Deo, non tamen + quasi dormientes, non quasi ut non conemur, non quasi ut non + velimus. Sine voluntate tua non erit in te iustitia Dei. Voluntas + quidem non est nisi tua, iustitia non est nisi Dei.... Sine te fecit + te Deus. Non enim adhibuisti aliquem consensum, ut te faceret Deus. + Quomodo consentiebas, qui non eras? Qui ergo fecit te sine te, non + te iustificat sine te. Ergo fecit nescientem, iustificat volentem. + Tamen ipse iustificat, ne sit iustitia tua._" + +_ 703 De Spiritu et Litera_, c. 34: "_Consentire vocationi Dei vel ab + ipsa dissentire propriae voluntatis est._" + +_ 704 Ep._, 157, 2, 10: "_Neque enim voluntatis arbitrium ideo tollitur, + quia iuvatur; sed ideo iuvatur, quia non tollitur._" (Migne, _P. + L._, XXXIII, 677). + +_ 705 De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_, I, 2: "_Tolle liberum arbitrium et + non erit, quod salvetur; tolle gratiam et non erit, unde salvetur._" + On other difficult passages in the writings of St. Augustine cfr. + Mausbach, _Die Ethik des hl. Augustinus_, Vol. II, pp. 208 sqq., + Freiburg 1909. + + 706 Cfr. Banez, _Comment. in S. Theol._, 1 p., qu. 14, art. 13: "_Nulla + secunda causa potest operari, nisi sit efficaciter determinata a + prima._" + + 707 Cfr. Billuart, _De Deo_, diss. 8, art. 4: "_Movet nempe Deus non + solum ad substantiam actus, sed etiam ad modum eius, qui est + libertas._" + + 708 Cfr. Alvarez, _De Auxiliis_, disp. 83, n. 9: "_Quando agens + infinitae virtutis movet aliquod subiectum, tale subiectum + infallibiliter movetur, quid tunc resistentia passi non superat nec + adaequat virtutem agentis. Sed Deus est agens infinitae virtutis. + Ergo motio Dei efficax respectu cuiuscumque hominis in quibuslibet + circumstantiis positi erit medium congruum et aptum, ut + infallibiliter inducat effectum, ad quem ex Dei intentione datur._" + + 709 Cfr. Billuart, _De Deo_, diss. 8, art. 5: "_Restat ergo tertia + sententia, scilicet Deum praemovere physice ad entitatem peccati et + sic se effecturum definivisse decreto positivo et effectivo; + operatur enim omnia secundum consilium voluntatis suae._" + + 710 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 73 sqq. + + 711 Cfr. De Lemos, _Acta Congr. de Aux._, p. 1065: "_Illa praepositio + 'prae' nihil aliud denotat aut denotare potest quam Deum esse + priorem et primam causam, prius natura et causalitate moventem, + applicantem, inclinantem et determinantem voluntatem, quam ipsa + voluntas se determinet._" + + 712 Cfr. Gonet, _Clypeus Theol. Thomist._, disp. 11, art. 5: "_Haec + divina motio in creatura recepta a Thomistis ____physica____ + appellatur, ... quia ex propria essentia et ab intrinseco est + efficax, independenter a quocumque creato consensu._" + + 713 Cfr. Graveson, _Epist. Theol. Polem._, t. I, ep. 11: "_Voluntas + creata priusquam se determinet, a Deo debet determinari, quia scil. + indifferens sit eaque indifferentia non solvatur quam per praeviam + Dei motionem._" Cfr. Alvarez, _De Auxiliis_, disp. 28: "_Liberum + arbitrium, quia creatum est, licet determinet sibi actum, illum + tamen determinat praedeterminatum a Deo._" + + 714 Cfr. Reginald., _De Novit. Antiquit. Nominis Praedeterm. Phys._, l. + II, c. 36: "_Quum Deus hanc motionem det causis sciens et volens + atque adeo cum [aeterna] cognitione et intentione certa cuiusdam + determinati effectus, alias haec essent a casu respectu Dei: + consequitur illam praemotionem physicam esse praedeterminationem._" + + 715 Cfr. Nazarius, _Comment. in S. Theol. S. Thom._, 1 p., qu. 22, art. + 4: "_Sublata a Deo physicae praemotionis efficacitate nulla + relinquitur alia in Deo sufficiens causalitas respectu + determinationis liberorum actuum et consequenter neque in Deo esse + poterit talium praescientia futurorum._" See also Pohle-Preuss, + _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, pp. 383 sqq., 400 + sqq. + + 716 Cfr. Contenson, _Theol. Mentis et Cordis_, l. VIII, diss. 2, specul. + 3: "_Generalem praemotionem ideo solum adstruimus, ut per eam ad + gratiam per se efficacem uberius fortiusque stabiliendam viam + muniamus ad eamque propugnandam serviat etiam philosophia._" + + 717 Cfr. Alvarez, _De Auxiliis_, disp. 92, n. 6: "_Repugnant ad invicem + auxilium efficax ad consentiendum et actualis dissensus._" + + 718 Cfr. Alvarez, _op. cit._, disp. 122, n. 16: "_Efficacia auxilii + praevenientis gratiae et connexio eius infallibilis cum libera + cooperatione arbitrii tota fundatur et desumitur, tamquam ex prima + radice, ex omnipotentia Dei atque ex absoluto et efficaci decreto + voluntatis eius volentis, ut homo quem movet convertatur et pie + operetur, nec huiusmodi efficacia ullo modo dependet etiam, tamquam + a conditione sine qua non, ex futura cooperatione arbitrii creati._" + + 719 Cfr. Alvarez, _op. cit._, disp. 19, n. 7: "_Praedictum auxilium + actuale determinat liberum arbitrium ad unam numero actionem, non + subditur libero arbitrio quantum ad usum._" + + 720 Cfr. Graveson, _Epist. Theol. Polem._, t. I, ep. 1: "_Gratia + thomistice sufficiens ita ex natura sua essentialiter distinguitur a + gratia thomistice efficaci, ut numquam et in nullo casu gratia + thomistice sufficiens evadere possit gratia efficax thomistice nec + umquam ponatur actus secundus, nisi accesserit gratia efficax + thomistice._" + +_ 721 Prael. Theol._, disp. 5, c. 6: "_In gratia sufficiente totum id + continetur quod ad potentiam bene operandi exigitur, non autem totum + id quod ulterius requiritur ad actum; certum est enim in omni causa + agente aliquid plus ad actum quam ad potentiam requiri._" + +_ 722 Panoplia_, t. IV, p. 2, tr. 3, c. 2: "_Auxilium sufficiens ita + sufficientiam tribuit ad operandum, si homo velit, quod defectus + operationis nullo modo provenit ex insufficientia aliqua ipsius + auxilii, sed tantum ex defectu arbitrii, quod ei resistit et + impedimentum ponit._" + + 723 Cfr. Limbourg, S. J., "_Selbstzeichnung der thomistischen + Gnadenlehre_" in the Innsbruck _Zeitschrift fuer kath. Theologie_, + 1877. + + 724 Billuart, _De Deo_, diss. 8, art. 4. § 3. + + 725 Cfr. Banez, _Comment. in S. Theol. S. Thom._, 1 p., qu. 14, art. 13, + concl. 14: "_Nam voluntas creata infallibiliter deficiet circa + quamcumque materiam virtutis, nisi efficaciter determinetur a divina + voluntate ad bene operandum._" + + 726 Other evasions are treated by Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 400 + sqq. On the true notion of merely sufficient grace, _v._ Ch. I, + Sect. 2, No. 6, _supra_. + + 727 The Molinists also regard supernatural grace as a _praemotio + physica_; cfr. Chr. Pesch, _Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. + 145 sq., Freiburg 1908. + + 728 Gonet, _Clypeus Theol. Thomist._, disp. 9, art 5, § 3. + + 729 Cfr. Alvarez, _De Auxiliis_, disp. 22, n. 39: "_Solus Deus propter + suam infinitatem et omnipotentiam, quia est auctor voluntatis + creatae, potest illam immutare conformiter ad suam naturam et movere + efficaciter atque applicare ad producendum actum in particulari, non + solum secundum substantiam, sed etiam secundum modum libertatis, + quod tamen non potest alia causa creata._" + + 730 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, + pp. 282 sqq. + + 731 Alvarez, _De Auxiliis_, disp. 22, n. 19: "_Nam tamdiu manet libertas + in voluntate, quamdiu intellectus illi repraesentat obiectum cum + indifferentia._" + +_ 732 De Deo_, diss. 8, art. 4, § 2. + +_ 733 De Auxiliis_, disp. 92, n. 11: "_Etiam posito auxilio efficaci in + voluntate componitur cum illo potentia ad dissentiendum, quamvis + nulla sit potentia ad coniungendum actualem dissensum cum auxilio + efficaci_ [not: _cum actuali consensu_]."] + + 734 Sess. VI, cap. 5: "_Homo ... inspirationem illam [gratiam efficacem] + recipiens ... illam et abiicere potest._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 797). Sess. VI, can. 4: "_Si quis dixerit, liberum hominis arbitrium + a Deo motum et excitatum nihil cooperari assentiendo Deo excitanti + atque vocanti, quo ad obtinendam iustificationis gratiam se disponat + ac praeparet, neque posse dissentire, si velit, sed velut inanime + quoddam nihil omnino agere mereque passive se habere, anathema + sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 814.) + + 735 Thus Alvarez, _De Auxiliis_, disp. 93, art. 1: "_Nunc autem dicimus + Concilium Tridentinum ... numquam usum fuisse verbo illo + ____resistere,____ sed verbo ____dissentire____ et + ____[abiicere],____ ut insinuaret non esse idem formaliter resistere + seu posse resistere auxilio efficaci et posse dissentire seu + abiicere gratiam vocationis.... Unde licet arbitrium motum auxilio + efficaci ad consentiendum possit dissentire, si velit, non tamen + potest Deo resistere vel auxilio eius efficaci, secundum quod est + instrumentum voluntatis divinae._" + + 736 Sess. III, cap. 3: "_Quare fides ipsa in se, etiamsi per caritatem + non operetur, donum Dei est et actus eius est opus ad salutem + pertinens, quo homo liberam praestet ipsi Deo obedientiam, gratiae + eius cui resistere possit consentiendo et cooperando._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1791.) + + 737 Cfr. Tepe, _Instit. Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 74 sqq., Paris 1896; Chr. + Pesch, _Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 140 sqq., Freiburg + 1908; Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 405 sqq., Freiburg 1901. On + the teaching of St. Augustine see Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina + Actuali_, thes. 50; on that of St. Thomas, L. de San, S. J., _De Deo + Uno_, t. I: _De Mente S. Thomae circa Praedeterminationes Physicas_, + Louvain 1894. + + 738 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, + pp. 383 sqq., 400 sqq. + + 739 "_Quidquid entitatis reperitur in quocumque actu peccati, etiamsi + alias sit intrinsece malus, debet reduci in Deum tamquam in primam + causam praemoventem et praedeterminantem actuali motione voluntatem + creatam ad talem actum, inquantum actus est, secundum quod est + ens._" Alvarez, _De Auxil._, disp. 24, n. 15. + + 740 Cfr. Banez, _Comment. in S. Theol. S. Thom._, 1 p., qu. 23, art. 3, + dub. 2, conclus. 2: "_Deus cognoscit cognitione intuitiva peccatum + quatenus Dei voluntas est causa entitatis actus peccati et simul + permittens, quod ad eundem actum concurrat liberum arbitrium + deficiendo a regula._" + + 741 Sess. VI, can. 6. Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, + and Attributes_, pp. 253 sqq., 442 sqq. + + 742 "_Voluntas Adami ante peccatum non erat tibia curva, sed omnino + recta, facta autem est curva ex promotione physica._" _Praelect. + Dogmat._, Vol. II, 3rd ed., p. 137. + + 743 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 72 sqq. + + 744 Cfr. on this subject Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. 41; + T. Papagni, O. P., _La Mente di S. Tommaso intorno alla Mozione + Divina nelle Creature_, p. 44, Benevento 1901. + + 745 The principal representatives of Augustinianism are Berti, Bellelli, + and Bertieri. + + 746 Published at Rome in 1739 sqq. + + 747 Cfr. his work _Le Bajanisme et le Jansenisme Resuscites dans les + Livres de Bellelli et Berti, s. l._, 1745. + + 748 Cfr. Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 419 sqq. + + 749 Cfr. Berti, _De Theol. Disciplinis_, XIV, 9, n. 6: "_Sententia est + Thomistarum et Augustinensium omnium affirmantium, gratiam efficacem + esse se ipsa, non talem reddi aut cooperatione liberi arbitrii aut + ex circumstantiis congruis, utque certissime et infallibiliter cum + effectu coniunctam esse._" + + 750 Cfr. Berti, _op. cit._, XIV, 11: "_In aequali gradu concupiscentiae + et gratiae gratia concupiscentiae, non concupiscentia gratiae + succumbet, quia homo etiam cum aequali virtute maiorem habet ad + malum quam ad bonum inclinationem.... Agere et non agere in + aequilibrio virium et determinare seipsum absque efficaci Dei + praemotione est liberi arbitrii sani et robusti, non autem + infirmi._" + + 751 Cfr. Berti, _De Theol. Disciplinis_, XIV, 8, n. 18: "_Quamvis sit + haec efficax gratia antecedens et Deus sine nobis faciat ut velimus, + nihilo tamen minus per illam non proponitur nobis bonum sub ratione + omnis boni, quemadmodum proponitur beatis per lumen gloriae, ideoque + remanet indifferentia iudicii et vera libertas._" + + 752 Calvinism, Bajanism, Jansenism--Thomism, Augustinianism, Molinism, + and Congruism. + +_ 753 De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_, c. 17. + + 754 Cfr. Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina Actuali_, pp. 433 sqq. + + 755 On the insufficiency of the _indifferentia iudicii_ to preserve + free-will, _v. supra_, p. 242. + +_ 756 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, cap. 6. + + 757 "_Proponitur praemium ut pecces, i.e. quod te delectat_," he says; + "... _Terreris minis, facis propter quod times.... Si cupiditas non + valuit, forte timor valebit ut pecces.... Itaque ad omne recte + factum amor et timor ducit. Ut facias bene, amas Deum et times Deum; + ut autem facias male, amas mundum et times mundum._" _In Ps._, 79, + c. 13. + + 758 Cfr. Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 422 sqq.; Palmieri, _De + Gratia Divina Actuali_, thes. 54. + + 759 On the _Congregatio de Auxiliis_, so called because the principal + question under discussion was the help (_auxilia_) afforded by + grace, see Astrain, S. J., in the _Catholic Encyclopedia_, Vol. IV, + pp. 238 sq., and Schneemann, S. J., _Die Entstehung und weitere + Entwicklung der thomistisch-molinistischen Controverse_, Freiburg + 1879; also in a Latin translation, Freiburg 1881. + + 760 Cfr. Molina, _Concordia Liberi Arbitrii cum Gratiae Donis_, qu. 14, + art. 13, dip. 38: "_Asserimus auxilia praevenientis atque adiuvantis + gratiae ... pendere a libero consensu et cooperatione liberi + arbitrii nostri cum illis atque adeo in libera potestate nostra + esse, vel illa efficacia reddere consentiendo et cooperando cum + illis ad actus, quibus ad iustificationem disponimur, vel + inefficacia illa reddere continendo consensum et cooperationem + nostram aut ettam eliciendo contrarium consensum._" _Ibid._, disp. + 12: "_Quare fieri potest, ut duorum qui aequali auxilio interius a + Deo vocantur, unus pro libertate sui arbitrii convertatur et alter + infidelitate permaneat._" + + 761 "_Auxilium gratiae praevenientis_," says Molina, "_est influxus Dei + in liberum arbitrium, quo illud movet et excitat potensque reddit, + ut eo pacto motum tamquam habens iam in se ipso principium efficiens + actuum supernaturalium simul influendo ulterius eos producat._" + Molina, _op. cit._, qu. 14, art. 13, disp. 41. + + 762 Cfr. Molina, _op. cit._, qu. 23, art. 4, disp. 1: "_Quando audis + consensum nostrum efficacia reddere auxilia gratiae, non ita id + intelligas, quasi arbitrium nostrum vim aliquam seu efficacitatem + tribuat auxiliis ipsis; arbitrium enim et influxus noster nullam vim + conferunt gratiae auxiliis, sed potius auxilia vim et propensionem + arbitrio tribuunt ad consensum eliciendum._" _Ibid._, _Appendix ad + obi._ 3 (ed. Paris., 1876, p. 595): "_Solum significare volumus, + auxilium illud liberum nobis relinquere consensum nostrum ad + conversionem, nec tale esse, ut nullam necessitatem, etiam + consequentiae, arbitrio ad talem consensum aut conversionem ponat._" + + 763 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, + pp. 383 sqq. + + 764 Cfr. Molina, _op. cit._, qu. 19, art. 6, disp. 2: "_Hac ratione Deus + O. M. vult omnia bona, quae per arbitrium nostrum sunt futura, non + solum voluntate conditionali, si nos quoque ea velimus, sed etiam + voluntate absoluta, quatenus ipsi praevidenti ea futura placent + eademque divina eius ac singularis bonitas per arbitrium nostrum + intendit ac vult. Quod autem haec etiam absoluta voluntas semper + impleatur, ex eo est manifestum, quia nititur certitudine + praescientiae divinae, quod ita res futura sit per nostrum + arbitrium._"--_Ibid._, qu. 23, art. 4, disp. 3: "_Quoniam quod Deus + elegerit eum rerum ordinem, circumstantiarum et auxiliorum, sive + maiorum sive minorum, in quo praevidebat eos pro sua libertate + salvandos, qui electione eius ordinis eo ipso praedestinati sunt + vitamque aeternam pro sua libertate consequuntur, potius quam alium + ex infinitis, in quo res aliter pro eadem ipsorum libertate + habuisset, non fuit ex nobis aut pro meritorum et cooperationis + nostrae qualitate, sed ex sola misericordia Dei._" Cfr. G. + Schneemann, _Historia Controversiarum de Divinae Gratiae Liberique + Arbitrii Concordia Initia et Progressus_, Freiburg 1881, pp. 38 sqq. + + 765 Cfr. his treatise _De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_, I, 12 (ed. Fevre, + tom. V, p. 527, Paris 1873): "_Prima opinio eorum est, qui gratiam + efficacem constituunt in assensu et cooperatione humana, ita ut ab + eventu dicatur gratia efficax, quia videlicet sortitur effectum et + ideo sortitur effectum, quia voluntas humana cooperatur. Itaque + existimant hi autores, in potestate hominis esse ut gratiam faciat + esse efficacem, quae alioquin ex se non esset nisi sufficiens._" + Bellarmine treats this opinion as the extreme counterpart of Thomism + (which he also combats) and disposes of it thus: "_Haec opinio + aliena est omnino a sententia b. Augustini et, quantum ego existimo, + a sententia etiam Scripturarum divinarum._" (_l.c._) Among the + Scriptural texts which he quotes in support of this view are John + VI, 45, 1 Cor. IV, 7, Rom. IX, 11. + + 766 The learned Cardinal describes the difference between Congruism and + extreme Molinism (which latter, it may be remarked, was not defended + by Molina himself) as follows: "_Neque enim intelligi potest, quo + pacto gratia efficax consistat in illa interna suasione, quae per + liberum arbitrium respui potest, et tamen infallibilem effectum + habeat, nisi addamus, Deum iis quos efficaciter et infallibiliter + trahere decrevit, eam suasionem adhibere quam videt congruere + ingenio eorum et quam certo novit ab eis non contemnendam._" (_Op. + cit._, p. 531.) The objection that this explanation eventually + resolves itself into the Molinistic theory which he had censured, + Bellarmine meets as follows: "_Respondeo sententiam nostram, quam S. + Augustini esse demonstravimus, aliqua in re cum prima illa opinione + convenire, sed in multis ab illa discrepare. Convenit enim in eo + quod utraque sententia gratiam sufficentem et efficacem ponit in + auxilio excitante potissimum, non in adiuvante. Sed discrepant inter + se, quod prima opinio vult efficaciam gratiae pendere a voluntate + humana, nostra vero pendere vult a voluntate Dei._" (_l.c._, cap. + 13.) + + 767 Further details in Schneemann, _Hist. Controv._, pp. 302 sqq. + + 768 Cfr. _Ad Simplician._, I, qu. 2, n. 13: "_Si vellet [Deus] etiam + ipsorum misereri, posset ita vocare, quomodo illis aptum esset, ut + et moverentur et intelligerent et sequerentur. Verum est ergo: Multi + vocati, pauci electi. Illi enim electi, qui congruenter vocati; illi + autem qui non congruebant neque contemperabantur vocationi, non + electi, quia non secuti, quamvis vocati. Item verum est: Neque + volentis neque currentis, sed miserentis est Dei, quia etiamsi + multos vocet, eorum tamen miseretur, quos ita vocat, quomodo iis + vocari aptum est ut sequantur. Falsum est autem, si quis dicit: + Igitur non miserentis Dei, sed volentis atque currentis est hominis, + quia nullius Deus frustra miseretur. Cuius autem miseretur, sic eum + vocat quomodo scit ei congruere, ut vocantem non respuat._" + + 769 Cfr. Suarez, _De Aux._, V, 25: "_Vocatio efficax illa est, quae ... + includit congruitatem quandam respectu personae, cui datur, ut sit + illi proportionata et accommodata, sicut oportet, ut in tali + persona, in tali tempore et occasione infallibiliter effectum + habeat, et per hoc habet illa vocatio quod congrua et efficax sit._" + + 770 1 Kings XVII, 38 sqq.--Cfr. Lessius, _De Praedest. et Reprob._, sect. + 5, n. 106: "_Ex quibus patet, gratiam efficacem, si physice + spectetur, non semper esse maius beneficium, quum saepenumero ea, + quae effectu caret, secundum suam entitatem longe sit praestantior. + Si tamen spectetur moraliter, nimirum ut subest praescientiae + infallibili effectus, sic semper maius est beneficium, etiam ut + praecisa ab actuali effectu et gratia cooperante seu ut prior + actuali suo influxu in opus, quum Deus, qui non caeco modo operatur, + ex mero suo beneplacito et inscrutabili iudicio seligat pro + quibusdam gratias illas quas effectum habituras videt, non solum ut + gratiae quaedam sunt, sed etiam formaliter, ut effectum habiturae + sunt.... Ex quibus constat, quo sensu distinctio gratiae congruae et + non congruae admittenda sit, quam numquam reieci, sed totis animis + et sensu et praxi semper sum amplexus._" + +_ 771 De Grat. et Lib. Arbitr._, ed. Fevre, t. V, p. 533. + +_ 772 V. supra_, p. 16. + + 773 For the proofs of this assertion see Palmieri, _De Gratia Divina + Actuali_, thes. 50. + + 774 Cfr. St. Augustine, _De Civitate Dei_, V, 9, 4: "_Quod [voluntates] + facturae sunt, ipsae omnino facturae, quia facturas ille praescivit, + cuius praescientia falli non potest._" + + 775 On Congruism cfr. Chr. Pesch, _Prael. Dogmat._, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. + 167 sqq.; Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmat. Theologie_, Vol. VIII, § 447. + On the various interpretations of the _praedefinitio actuum + salutarium_, within as well as without the Jesuit Order, see Tepe, + _Instit. Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 93 sqq., Paris 1896, and especially + Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 458 sqq. + + 776 Chief among them Ysambert, Tournely, St. Alphonsus de' Liguori, + Albert Knoll, and more recently Cardinal Katschthaler. + + 777 For a more detailed account see Tournely, _De Gratia Christi_, qu. + 7, art. 4, concl. 5; Katschthaler, _De Gratia_, pp. 173 sqq., + Ratisbon 1880. + + 778 Cfr. Suarez, _De Gratia_, V, 20, 2. + + 779 Rom. XI, 33. On Syncretism cfr. Alb. a Bulsano, _Inst. Theol. + Dogmat. Specialis_, ed. by Gottfried a Graun, O. M. Cap., tom. II, + pp. 193 sqq., Innsbruck 1894. + +_ 780 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, cap. 5: "_De Necessitate Praeparationis_," + and cap. 6: "_De Modo Praeparationis_." + + 781 Sess. VI, cap. 8: "_Fides est humanae salutis initium, fundamentum + et radix omnis iustificationis._" + + 782 Sess. VI, cap. 6: "_Disponuntur autem ad ipsam iustitiam, dum + excitati divina gratia et adiuti fidem ex auditu concipientes libere + moventur in Deum, credentes vera esse quae divinitus revelata et + promissa sunt._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 798). + + 783 Sess. VI, can. 12: "_Si quis dixerit, fidem iustificantem nihil + aliud esse quam fiduciam divinae misericordiae peccata remittentis + propter Christum, vel eam fiduciam solam esse, qua iustificamur, + anathema sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 822.) Cfr. _Conc. Vatic._, + Sess. III, cap. 3, "_De Fide_" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1789). + + 784 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + + 785 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}. + + 786 John XX, 31. + + 787 Acts VIII, 37. + + 788 Rom. X, 9 sq.: "_Quia si confitearis in ore tuo Dominum Iesum et in + corde tuo credideris quod Deus illum suscitaverit a mortuis, salvus + eris. Corde enim creditur ad iustitiam, ore autem confessio fit ad + salutem._" + + 789 Heb. XI, 6: "_Sine fide autem impossibile est placere Deo; credere + enim oportet accedentem ad Deum [i.e. iustificandum] quia est + [=existentia Dei] et inquirentibus se remunerator sit._" + + 790 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, + pp. 39 sq. + + 791 Murray, _De Gratia_, disp. 10, n. 18. Cfr. Becanus, _De Gratia + Habituali_, c. I, qu. 7, art. 6 sq.; Bellarmine, _De + Iustificatione_, I, 5 sqq. + + 792 Cfr. Bardenhewer-Shahan, _Patrology_, p. 616, Freiburg and St. Louis + 1908. + +_ 793 Prologus: ____Gaudeo quod pro fide vera sine ullo perfidiae vitio + custodienda sollicitudinem geris, sine qua nulla potest prodesse, + imo nec esse conversio. Apostolica quippe dicit auctoritas, quia + sine fide impossibile est placere Deo. Fides namque est bonorum + omnium fundamentum. Fides est humanae salutis initium. Sine hac fide + nemo ad filiorum Dei numerum potest pervenire, quia sine ipsa nec in + hoc saeculo quisquam iustificationis gratiam consequitur nec in + futuro possidebit vitam aeternam.___ + + 794 On the traditional concepts of "faith" and "justification" as held + in the Church before Luther's time, see Denifle, O. P., _Die + abendlaendischen Schriftausleger bis Luther ueber die Iustitia Dei und + Iustificatio_, Mainz 1905. + + 795 Cfr. Mark XVI, 15 sq.; Gal. I, 6 sqq.; Tit. III, 10 sq. + + 796 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 2a 2ae, qu. 2, art. 7: "_Post + tempus autem gratiae revelatae tam maiores quant minores tenentur + [necessitate praecepti] habere fidem explicitam de mysteriis + Christi, praecipue quantum ad ea, quae communiter in Ecclesia + solemnizantur et publice proponuntur, sicut sunt articuli + Incarnationis.... Alias autem subtiles considerationes circa + Incarnationis articulos tenentur aliqui magis vel minus explicite + credere, secundum quod convenit statui et officio uniuscuiusque._" + This point is well developed by Ballerini, _Opus Theologicum + Morale_, ed. D. Palmieri, Vol. II, 3rd ed., pp. 9 sqq., Prati 1898. + + 797 Heb. XI, 6. + + 798 Chiefly Andrew Vega, Ripalda, and some modern writers. + +_ 799 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, cap. 6; _Conc. Vatican._, Sess. III, cap. + 3, _V. supra_, pp. 182 sqq. + + 800 "_Nonnisi fides unius Dei necessaria videtur necessitate medii, non + autem explicita remuneratoris._" _Prop. Damn. ab Innocenti XI._, + prop. 22, in Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1172. + + 801 Heb. XI, 6. + + 802 Cfr. Wirceburg, _De Gratia_, n. 120: "_Quia tamen qui credit et + sperat remuneratorem supernaturalem, satis hoc ipso etiam credit + animae perpetuitatem et necessitatem auxilii melioris ad salutem, + fides horum explicita et per distinctos conceptus non semper in re + et actualiter necessaria existimatur._" + + 803 Gregory of Valentia, Becanus, Thomas Sanchez, and many Thomists. + + 804 Suarez, De Lugo, and a large number of other theologians. + + 805 Cfr. Rom. III, 22. + + 806 Cfr. John III, 18. + + 807 Cfr. Acts IV, 12. + + 808 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 2a 2ae, qu. 2, art. 7, ad 3: "_Si + qui salvati fuerunt, quibus revelatio non fuit facta, non fuerunt + salvati absque fide mediatoris, quia, etsi non habuerunt fidem + explicitam, habuerunt tamen fidem implicitam in divina providentia, + credentes Deum esse liberatorem hominum secundum modos sibi + placitos._" + + 809 The practical bearing of this question on the heathens is treated + _supra_, pp. 179 sqq. + + 810 "_Missionarium teneri adulto etiam moribundo, qui incapax omnino non + sit, explicare fidei mysteria, quae sunt necessaria necessitate + medii, ut sunt praecipue mysteria Trinitatis et Incarnationis._" + Cfr. _Prop. Damn. ab Innocentio XI. a._ 1679, prop. 64 + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1214). For a full explanation of the topics + treated in the present Section consult Suarez, _De Fide_, disp. 12, + sect. 4; De Lugo, _De Fide_, disp. 12, sect. 4 sq.; W. Liese, _Der + heilsnotwendige Glaube_, Freiburg 1902. + + 811 Cfr. _Solid. Declar._, art. 3: "_Neque contritio neque dilectio + neque ulla virtus, sed sola fides [=fiducia] est medium et + instrumentum, quo gratiam Dei, merita Christi et remissionem + peccatorum apprehendere possumus._" + +_ 812 Instit._, III, 11, § 19: "_Dicimus hominem sola fide iustificari._" + For a classic exposition of the Lutheran and Calvinistic views of + faith, see Moehler, _Symbolik_, § 16; English tr. by James Burton + Robertson, 5th ed., London 1906, pp. 124 sqq. + + 813 Sess. VI, can. 9: "_Si quis dixerit, sola fide impium iustificari, + ita ut intelligat nihil aliud requiri quod ad iustificationis + gratiam consequendam cooperetur et nulla ex parte necesse esse, eum + suae voluntatis motu praeparari atque disponi, anathema sit._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 819.) + + 814 Sess. VI, cap. 6. The passage is quoted _infra_, p. 296. + + 815 He contemptuously called it "_ein stroeherne Epistel_," a letter of + straw. + + 816 Matth. VII, 21: "_Non omnis, qui dicit mihi, Domine, Domine, + intrabit in regnum caelorum: sed qui facit voluntatem Patris mei, + qui in caelis est, ipse intrabit in regnum caelorum._" + + 817 Jas. II, 24: "_Videtis quoniam ex operibus iustificatur homo, et non + ex fide tantum ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~})._" + + 818 1 Cor. XIII, 2: "_Et si habuero omnem fidem ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}), ita + ut montes transferam, caritatem ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) autem non habuero, nihil + sum._" + + 819 Ecclus. I, 28: "_Qui sine timore est, non poterit iustificari._" + + 820 Rom. VIII, 24: "_Spe enim salvi facti sumus._" + + 821 Luke VII, 47: "_Remittuntur ei peccata multa, quoniam ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}) dilexit + multum._" + + 822 Luke XIII, 3: "_Nisi poenitentiam habueritis, omnes similiter + peribitis._" + + 823 Jac. II, 17: "_Fides, si non habet opera, mortua est in semetipso._" + + 824 Gal. V, 6: "_In Christo Iesu neque circumcisio aliquid valet neque + praeputium, sed fides quae per caritatem operatur_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~})." + + 825 Jac. II, 26: "_Sicut enim corpus sine spiritu mortuum est, ita et + fides sine operibus mortua est._" + + 826 Rom. III, 28: "_Arbitramur enim hominem iustificari per fidem sine + operibus legis._" + +_ 827 De Fide et Lib. Arbitrio_, c. 7, n. 18. + + 828 On the misinterpretation of other Scripture texts by the Reformers + see Bellarmine, _De Iustificatione_, I, 19-24. + +_ 829 Ep. ad Philipp._, 3. + + 830 Serm., XVI, c. 6: "_A fide incipit homo, sed et daemones credunt et + contremiscunt; adde ergo fidei spem speique ipsi adde caritatem._" + +_ 831 De Trinit._, XXV, 18: "_Sine caritate quippe fides potest quidem + esse, sed non et prodesse._" + +_ 832 Hom. in Evang._, 29: "_Fortasse unusquisque apud semetipsum dicat: + Ego iam credidi, salvus ero. Verum dicit, si fidem operibus tenet. + Vera etenim fides est, quae in hoc quod verbis dicit moribus non + contradicit._" As to the sense in which some of the Fathers speak of + faith as the only thing that can save men, cfr. Bellarmine _De + Iustificat._, I, 26. + + 833 Cfr. St. Thomas Aquinas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 113, art. 5: + "_Iustificatio impii est quidam motus, quo humana mens movetur a Deo + a statu peccati in statum iustitiae.... Unde oportet quod mens + humana, dum iustificatur, per motum liberi arbitrii recedat a + peccato et accedat ad iustitiam. Recessus autem et accessus in motu + liberi arbitru accipitur secundum detestationem et desiderium.... + Oportet igitur quod in iustificatione impii sit motus liberi + arbitrii duplex: unus quo per desiderium tendat in Dei iustitiam, et + alius quo detestetur peccatum._" + +_ 834 De Libertate Voluntatis Humanae_, Leipzig 1555. + + 835 "_Klotz-, Stock- und Stein-theorie._" + + 836 "_Das Torgische Buch_," A. D. 1576. + + 837 "_Articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae._" Cfr. Newman, _Lectures + on Justification_, p. 113. + +_ 838 Geschichte der protestantischen Theologie_, p. 583, Muenchen 1867. + +_ 839 Die Gnadenlehre und die stille Reformation_, Christiania 1894. Not + long after writing this book Dr. Krogh-Tonning became a Catholic. + + 840 How Luther came to adopt the _sola fides_ theory is exhaustively + explained by H. Grisar, S. J., _Luther_, Vol. I, Freiburg 1911; + English tr., Vols. I and II, London 1913. Cfr. also F. Hettinger, + _Die Krisis des Christentums_, pp. 72 sqq., Freiburg 1881. + + 841 Cfr. Pohle, art. on "Tradition" in Herder's _Kirchenlexikon_, 2nd + ed., Vol. XI, 1933 sqq., Freiburg 1899. + + 842 "_Pecca fortiter, crede fortius._" Cfr. Moehler, _Symbolism_ (English + tr., p. 130). + + 843 Cfr. Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, §455, + Mainz 1899. The "orthodox" Lutheran teaching is strongly stated by + the famous convert Dr. Edw. Preuss in his work, still regarded as a + classic by "orthodox" Lutherans, _Die Rechtfertigung des Suenders vor + Gott_, Berlin 1868. + + 844 Sess. VI, cap. 8. + + 845 Sess. VI, cap. 6. + + 846 Sess. VI, cap. 8: "_Fides est humanae salutis initium, fundamentum + et radix omnis iustificationis._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 801.) + +_ 847 V. supra_, pp. 100 sq. + + 848 Sess. VI, cap. 6: "_Disponuntur autem ad ipsam iustitiam, dum + excitati divina gratia et adiuti, fidem ex auditu concipientes, + libere moventur in Deum, credentes vera esse, quae divinitus + revelata et promissa sunt, atque illud in primis, a Deo iustificari + impium per gratiam eius, per redemptionem, quae est in Christo Iesu, + et dum peccatores se esse intelligentes, a divinae iustitiae timore, + quo utiliter concutiuntur, ad considerandam Dei misericordiam se + convertendo, in spem eriguntur fidentes, Deum sibi propter Christum + propitium fore, illumque tamquam omnis iustitiae fontem diligere + incipiunt: ac propterea moventur adversus peccata per odium aliquod + et detestationem, hoc est, per eam poenitentiam, quam ante baptismum + agi oportet: denique dum proponunt suscipere baptismum, inchoare + novam vitam et servare divina mandata._" + + 849 "_Diligere incipiunt._" (_ibid._) + +_ 850 Contritio cum proposito novae vitae._ + +_ 851 Contritio caritate perfecta._ + +_ 852 Votum sacramenti, sacramentum in voto._ + + 853 Cfr. _Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, cap. 4 and 14. + + 854 Cfr. Ez. XVIII, 30; Joel II, 12; Luke XIII, 3; Acts II, 38. Cfr. + _Conc. Trid._, Sess. XIV, cap. 4: "_Contritio, quae primum locum + inter dictos poenitentis actus habet, animi dolor ac detestatio est + de peccato commisso cum proposito non peccandi de cetero. Fuit autem + quovis tempore ad impetrandam veniam peccatorum hic contritionis + motus necessarius._" + + 855 Cfr. _Summa Theol._, 3a, qu. 87, art. 1: "_Exigitur autem ad + remissionem peccati mortalis perfectior poenitentia, ut scil. homo + actualiter pecoatum mortale commissum detestetur, quantum in ipso + est, ut scil. diligentiam adhibeat ad memorandum singula peccata + mortalia, ut singula detestetur. Sed hoc non requiritur ad + remissionem venialium peccatorum.... Unde sequitur quod requiratur + quaedam virtualis displicentia, ... quod tamen non sufficit ad + remissionem peccati mortalis, nisi quantum ad peccata oblita post + diligentem inquisitionem._" + + 856 Cfr. Tepe, _Inst. Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 204 sqq., Paris 1896. + +_ 857 Fides mortua_ in contradistinction to _fides viva_. + + 858 Gal. V, 6. + +_ 859 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, can. 28: "_Si quis dixerit, amissa per + peccatum gratia simul et fidem semper amitti aut fidem, quae + remanet, non esse veram fidem, licet non sit viva, aut eum qui fidem + sine caritate habet, non esse Christianum, anathema sit._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 838.) The Scriptural argument for this + thesis is developed by Bellarmine, _De Iustificatione_, I, 15. + +_ 860 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, cap. 4: "_Iustificatio impii [est] + translatio ab eo statu, in quo homo nascitur filius primi Adae, in + statum gratiae et adoptionis filiorum Dei per secundum Adam Iesum + Christum Salvatorem nostrum._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 796.) + + 861 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 221 sq. + + 862 Cfr. the second on the list of Lutheran propositions condemned by + Leo X, A. D. 1520: "_In puero post baptismum negare remanens + peccatum est Paulum et Christum simul conculcare._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 742.) + +_ 863 Form. Conc._, p. 2, c. 3: "_Quando autem docemus, quod per + operationem Spiritus Sancti regeneramur et iustificamur, non ita + accipiendum est quod iustificatis et renatis nulla prorsus + iniustitia substantiae ipsorum et conversationi adhaereat, sed quod + Christus perfectissima obedientia sua omnia ipsorum peccata tegat, + quae quidem in ipsa natura infixa haerent. Nihilominus tamen per + fidem propter obedientiam Christi boni et iusti pronuntiantur et + reputantur, etiamsi ratione corruptae naturae suae sint maneantque + peccatores, dum mortale hoc corpus circumferunt._" + +_ 864 Antid. Conc. Trid._, ad Sess. V: "_Manet vere peccatum in nobis + neque per baptismum statim uno die extinguitur._" Cfr. Moehler, + _Symbolik_, § 14 (Robertson's translation, 5th ed., pp. 110 sqq.). + +_ 865 Conc. Trid._, Sess. V, can. 5: "_Si quis per Iesu Christi D. N. + gratiam, quae in baptismate confertur, reatum originalis peccati + remitti negat aut etiam asserit, non tolli totum id quod veram et + propriam peccati rationem habet, sed illud dicit tantum radi aut non + imputari, anathema sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 792.) + + 866 Sess. VI, cap. 14; Sess. XIV, cap. 2. See Pohle-Preuss, _The + Sacraments_, Vol. II, _Penance_. + + 867 "_Dele iniquitatem meam._" + + 868 Is. XLIII, 25: "_Ego sum ipse, qui deleo iniquitates tuas._" + + 869 Is. XLIV, 22: "_Delevi ut nubem iniquitates tuas et quasi nebulam + peccata tua._" + + 870 Acts III, 19: "_Poenitemini igitur et convertimini, ut deleantur + peccata vestra._" + + 871 2 Kings XII, 13: "_Dominus quoque transtulit peccatum tuum._" + + 872 1 Paral. XXI, 8: "_Obsecro, aufer iniquitatem servi tui._" + + 873 Mich. VII, 18 sq.: "_Quis, Deus, similis tui, qui aufers + iniquitatem?... Deponet [Deus] iniquitates nostras et proiiciet in + profundum maris omnia peccata nostra._" + + 874 Ps. X, 15: "_Quaeretur peccatum illius, et non invenietur._" + + 875 Ps. CII, 12: "_Quantum distat ortus ab occidente, longe fecit a + nobis iniquitates nostras._" + + 876 Luke VII, 47: "_Remittuntur ei peccata multa._" + + 877 Ps. L, 4: "_Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea et a peccato meo munda + me._" + + 878 Is. I, 16: "_Lavamini, mundi estote._" + + 879 Ez. XXXVI, 25 sq.: "_Effundam super vos aquam mundam et mundabimini + ab omnibus inquinamentis vestris.... Et dabo vobis cor novum._" + + 880 1 Cor. VI, 11: "_Et haec quidam [fornicarii etc.] fuistis, sed + abluti estis, sed sanctificati estis, sed iustificati estis._" + + 881 Ps. L, 9: "_Asperges me hyssopo et mundabor, lavabis me et super + nivem dealbabor._" + + 882 Is. I, 18: "_Si fuevint peccata vestra ut coccinum, quasi nix + dealbabuntur, et si fuerint rubra quasi vermiculus, velut lana alba + erunt._" + + 883 Apoc. I, 5: "_... dilexit nos et lavit nos a peccatis nostris in + sanguine suo._" + + 884 1 John I, 7: "_Sanguis Iesu Christi ... emundat nos ab omni + peccato._" + + 885 1 John III, 14: "_Translati sumus de morte ad vitam, quoniam + diligimus fratres: qui non diligit, manet in morte._" + + 886 Col. II, 13: "_Et vos, quum mortui essetis in delictis, ... + convivificavit cum illo donans vobis omnia delicta._" + + 887 Eph. V, 8: "_Eratis enim aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in + Domino._" + + 888 Acts XXII, 16: "_Exsurge et baptizare et ablue peccata tua._" + + 889 Rom. VIII, 1: "_Nihil ergo nunc damnationis est iis, qui sunt in + Christo Iesu._" Cfr. on this point the dogmatic treatise on the + Sacrament of Baptism. + + 890 Cfr. Becanus, _Theol. Scholast._, P. II, tr. 5, cap. 1, qu. 1. + + 891 Ps. XXXI, 1 sq.: "_Beati quorum remissae sunt iniquitates et quorum + tecta sunt peccata; beatus vir cui non imputavit Dominus peccatum + nec est in spiritu eius dolus._" + + 892 Heb. IV, 13. Cfr. St. Augustine, _Enarr. in Ps._, II, 31, n. 12: + "_Deus tegat vulnera, noli tu. Nam si tu tegere volueris erubescens, + medicus non curabit. Medicus tegat et curet; emplastro enim tegit. + Sub tegmine medici curatur vulnus, sub tegmine vulnerati celatur + vulnus._" + + 893 Rom. VII, 17: "_Nunc autem iam non ego operor illud, sed quod + habitat in me peccatum._" + +_ 894 Peccatum_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}. + + 895 Sess. V, can. 5: "_... ex peccato est et ad peccatum inclinat._" + Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 242 sqq., 261 sqq. On Jas. I, 14 sq., St. Augustine observes: + "_Profecto in his verbis partus a pariente discernitur. Pariens enim + est concupiscentia, partus peccatum. Sed concupiscentia non parit + nisi conceperit, nec concipit nisi illexerit, h. e. ad malum + perpetrandum obtinuerit volentis assensum. Quod ergo adversus eam + dimicamur, hoc agitur, ne concipiat pariatque peccatum._" (_Contra + Iulian._, VI, 15, 47.) For a more exhaustive discussion of this + subject see Bellarmine, _De Justif._, II, 9. + +_ 896 Dial. c. Tryph._, n. 141. + +_ 897 Strom._, l. II. + +_ 898 Or._, 40. + +_ 899 Contra Duas Epistolas Pelagian._, I, 13, 26: "_Quis hoc adversus + Pelagianos nisi infidelis affirmet? Dicimus ergo baptisma dare + omnium indulgentiam peccatorum et auferre crimina, non radere; nec + ut omnium peccatorum radices in mala carne teneantur, quasi rasorum + in capite capillorum, unde crescunt iterum resecanda peccata._" + +_ 900 Ep._, l. II, ep. 45: "_Si qui vero sunt qui dicunt, peccata in + baptismate superficie tenus dimitti, quid est hac praedicatione + infidelius?... Qui dicit peccata in baptismate funditus non dimitti, + dicat in mari rubro Aegyptios non veraciter mortuos. Si autem + fatetur, Aegyptios veraciter mortuos, fateatur necesse est, peccata + in baptismate funditus mori._" Other confirmatory texts _apud_ Alb. + a Bulsano, _Instit. Theol. Dogmat. Specialis_, ed. P. Gottfr. a + Graun, O. Cap., Vol. II, pp. 226 sq., Innsbruck 1894. + + 901 Apoc. XXI, 27: "_Non intrabit in coelum aliquod coinquinatum._" + +_ 902 Privatio_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. + + 903 Cfr. St. Thomas, _De Veritate_, qu. 28, art. 1 sqq.; IDEM, _Summa + Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 113, art. 2. + + 904 Cfr. Bellarmine, _De Iustificatione_, II, 1 and 6. + +_ 905 Apol. Confess. August._, c. 3, art. 6: "_Iustificare veto hoc loco + (Rom. VIII, 1) forensi consuetudine significat reum absolvere et + pronuntiare iustum, sed propter alienam iustitiam, videl. Christi, + quae aliena iustitia nobis communicatur per fidem._" + +_ 906 Solida Declar._, III, "_De Fide Iustif._," § 11: "_Vocabulum + iustificationis in hoc negotio significat iustum pronuntiare, a + peccatis et aeternis peccatorum suppliciis absolvere propter + iustitiam Christi, quae a Deo fidei imputatur._" + + 907 The Lutheran doctrine is fully and lucidly set forth by Dr. Edward + Preuss in his work, _Die Rechtfertigung des Suenders vor Gott_ + (Berlin 1868), which he retracted at his conversion, in 1872. Cfr. + also Newman's _Lectures on Justification_, Lecture I (8th + impression, London 1900). + + 908 Sess. VI, cap. 7: "_Iustificatio non est sola peccatorum remissio, + sed et sanctificatio et renovatio interioris hominis per voluntariam + susceptionem gratiae et donorum...._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 799.) + + 909 Sess. VI, cap. 11: "_Si quis dixerit, homines iustificari vel sola + imputatione iustitiae Christi vel sola peccatorum remissione, + exclusa gratia et caritate, quae in cordibus eorum per Spiritum + Sanctum diffundatur atque illis inhaereat, aut etiam gratiam qua + iustificamur esse tantum favorem Dei, anathema sit._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 821.) + + 910 Sess. VI, cap. 7: "_Huius iustificationis causae sunt: formalis + quidem gloria Dei et Christi ac vita aeterna; efficiens vero + misericors Deus, qui gratuito abluit et sanctificat; ... meritoria + autem dilectissimus Unigenitus suus D. N. Iesus Christus, qui ... + sua sanctissima passione in ligno crucis nobis iustificationem + meruit; ... instrumentalis item sacramentum baptismi, quod est + sacramentum fidei, sine qua nulli unquam contigit iustificatio; + demum unica formalis causa est iustitia Dei, non qua ipse iustus + est, sed qua nos iustos facit, qua videl. ab eo donati renovamur + spiritu mentis nostrae et non modo reputamur, sed vere iusti + nominamur et sumus._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 799). + + 911 Sess. VI, can. 10: "_Si quis dixerit, homines sine Christi iustitia, + per quam nobis meruit iustificari aut per eam ipsam formaliter + iustos esse, anathema sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 820.) + +_ 912 V. supra_, Article 1. + + 913 Cfr. Eph. II, 5; Col. II, 13; 1 John III, 14. + + 914 Cfr. Eph. IV, 23 sq. + + 915 Cfr. 2 Cor. V, 17; Gal. VI, 15; Jas. I, 18; Ps. L, 12. + + 916 Cfr. John III, 5; Tit. III, 5. + + 917 Cfr. Rom. VIII, 29; 2 Cor. III, 18; 2 Pet. I, 4. + + 918 John III, 5. + + 919 Tit. III, 5 sqq.: "_Non ex operibus iustitiae quae fecimus nos, sed + secundum suam misericordiam salvos nos fecit ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) per + lavacrum regenerationis et renovationis ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) Spiritus Sancti, quem effudit ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) in nos + abunde per Iesum Christum Salvatorem nostrum, ut iustificati + ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) gratia ipsius haeredes simus secundum spem vitae + aeternae._" + + 920 Cfr. John I, 12 sq.; Rom. VIII, 16; Gal. III, 7; IV, 6 sq.; 1 John + III, 1. + + 921 Cfr. Eph. IV, 22 sqq. + + 922 Cfr. Col. III, 9 sq. + + 923 Cfr. Acts II, 38; X, 45 sqq.; Rom. V, 5. + + 924 Cfr. J. Pohle, article "Regeneration" in the _Catholic + Encyclopedia_, Vol. XII, and A. Rademacher, _Die uebernatuerliche + Lebensordnung nach der paulinischen und johanneischen Theologie_, + pp. 41 sqq., Freiburg 1903. + + 925 2 Cor. V, 17: "_Si qua ergo in Christo nova creatura ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}), + vetera transierunt; ecce facta sunt omnia nova._" Cfr. Eph. II, 10. + + 926 Jac. I, 18: "_Voluntarie enim genuit ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) nos verbo + veritatis, ut simus initium aliquod creaturae eius._" + + 927 Gal. VI, 15: "_In Christo enim Iesu neque circumcisio aliquid valet + neque praeputium, sed nova creatura ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~})._" + + 928 Gal. V, 6: "_Nam in Christo Iesu neque circumcisio aliquid valet + neque praeputium, sed fides quae per caritatem operatur_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~})." + + 929 On the argument from Rom. V, 15 sqq. cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the + Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, pp. 247 sqq. + +_ 930 Iustificare,_ {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + +_ 931 E.g._, Rom. V, 15 sqq. and Gal. III, 8 sqq. + + 932 Ps. CXVIII, 8: "_Iustificationes tuas custodiam._" + + 933 Ps. CXVIII, 26: "_... doce me iustificationes tuas._" + + 934 Apoc. XXII, 11: "_Qui iustus est, iustificetur adhuc, et sanctus + sanctificetur adhuc_." On the different meanings of the term + justification in Scripture see Bellarmine, _De Iustific._, I, 1; II, + 3. + + 935 Gal. III, 27: "_Quicunque enim in Christo baptizati estis, Christum + induistis._" + + 936 Cfr. Eph. IV, 22 sqq.; Col. III, 8 sqq. + + 937 1 Cor. I, 30: "_Qui factus est nobis sapientia a Deo et iustitia + ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}) et sanctificatio ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) et redemptio_." + + 938 Other objections are refuted by Bellarmine, _De Iustif._, II, 9 sqq. + + 939 Cfr. Calvin, _Instit._, III, 11, § 15: "_Ac nec Augustini quidem + sententia recipienda est, qui gratiam ad sanctificationem refert, + qua in vitae novitatem per Spiritum Sanctum regeneramur._" + + 940 On the Epistle of Barnabas see Bardenhewer-Shahan, _Patrology_, p. + 24. The passage quoted will be found _Ep. Barn._, VI, 11. + +_ 941 Hom. ad Illumin._, I, n. 3. + + 942 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + + 943 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}. + +_ 944 De Myst._, c. 7: "_Accepisti post haec vestimenta candida [scil. + post baptismum], ut sint indicium quod exueris involucrum peccati, + indueris innocentiae casta velamina._" + +_ 945 De Iustific._, II, 8. + +_ 946 De Spiritu et Litera_, c. 9, n. 15: "_Non dicit iustitia + hominis,... sed iustitia Dei, non qua Deus iustus est, sed qua + induit hominem, quum iustificat impium.... Iustitia autem Dei per + fidem Iesu Christi, hoc est, per fidem qua creditur in Christum. + Sicut autem ista fides Christi dicta est, non qua credit Christus, + sic et illa iustitia Dei, non qua iustus est Deus. Utrumque enim + nostrum est; sed ideo Dei et Christi dicuntur, quod eius nobis + largitate donatur._" + +_ 947 De Gratia Christi_, c. 13: "_Si data est nobis iustitia, non + dicitur iustitia nostra, sed Dei, quia sic fit nostra, ut sit nobis + ex Deo._" + +_ 948 Serm._, 131: "_Dei gratia per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum + iustitia Dei dicitur, non qua iustus est Dominus, sed qua iustificat + eos, quos ex impiis iustos facit._" + +_ 949 De Spir. et Lit._, c. 32, n. 56: "_Caritas Dei dicta est diffundi + in cordibus nostris, non qua ipse nos diligit, sed qua, nos facit + dilectores suos, sicut iustitia Dei, qua nos iusti eius munere + efficimur._" + +_ 950 De Trinit._, XV, 8, 14: "_Quod vero ait_ (2 Cor. III, 18): ___In + eandem imaginem transformamur,____ utique imaginem Dei vult + intellegi, eandem dicens istam ipsam, scil., quam speculamur ... + atque transimus de forma obscura in formam lucidam.... Quae natura + [humana] in rebus creatis excellentissima, quum a suo Creatore ab + impietate iustificatur, a deformi forma formosam transfertur in + formam._" + + 951 Other Patristic texts can be seen in Ripalda, _De Ente Supernal._, + disp. 132, sect. 7; Petavius, _De Trinit._, VIII, 4-7; Bellarmine, + _De Gratia et Lib. Arbitrio_, I, 4. + + 952 For a more detailed treatment of this point we must refer the reader + to Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmat. Theologie_, Vol. VIII, pp. 537 sqq. + + 953 Quoted by De Wette, II, 37. + +_ 954 V. infra_, Section 3. + + 955 Sess. IV, cap. 7. + +_ 956 V. infra_, Sect. 2, Art. 2. + + 957 Cfr. Bellarmine, _De Iustific._, II, 1. + + 958 Seripando, Albertus Pighius, Gropper, and others. + + 959 On the discussion referred to in the text see Pallavicini, _Hist. + Conc. Trid._, VIII, 11, 12; Aug. Theiner, _Acta Genuina Concil. + Trid._, tom. I, pp. 222 sqq., Leipzig 1874. + + 960 Eph. V, 8; 2 Cor. VI, 14. + + 961 Col. II, 13; 1 John III, 14. + + 962 Eph. IV, 22 sqq.; Col. III, 9. + +_ 963 V. supra_, No. 2. + + 964 On the history of the Tridentine decree regarding justification cfr. + J. Hefner, _Die Entstehungsgeschichte des Trienter + Rechtfertigungsdekretes_, Paderborn 1909. + + 965 Ockam, Gabriel Biel, _et al._ + + 966 Henno, Mastrius, _et al._ + + 967 Suarez, _De Gratia_, 1. VII, c. 20, n. 7: "... _non obstante illa + oppositione et repugnantia connaturali potest Deus de sua absoluta + potentia eam vincere et conservare gratiam in eo, qui peccavit, non + remittendo illi peccatum._" + + 968 Vasquez, Sardagna, Antoine, Mazzella, Tepe, _et al._ + + 969 Col. II, 13; 1 John III, 14. + + 970 2 Cor. VI, 14 sqq. + + 971 Cfr. 1 John III, 9: "_Omnis, qui natus est ex Deo, peccatum non + facit, quoniam semen ipsius_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}) _in eo manet et non + potest peccare_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}), _quoniam ex Deo natus + est._" + +_ 972 V. infra_, Sect. 2, Art. 1. + + 973 For the solution of other difficulties consult Tepe, _Inst. Theol._, + Vol. VIII, pp. 152 sqq. On the whole subject of this subdivision + cfr. Billuart, _De Gratia_, diss. 7, art. 2 sq. On certain + incidental questions, _e.g._ whether justification takes place _in + instanti_, whether the infusion of sanctifying grace _in ordine + naturae_ precedes or follows the forgiveness of sins, whether + justification is the greatest of God's works, whether it is to be + regarded as a miracle, etc., see St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, + qu. 113, art. 7-10; cfr. also Scheeben, _Die Mysterien des + Christentums_, 3rd ed., pp. 543 sqq., Freiburg 1912. + +_ 974 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, cap. 7: "_Per spiritum sanctum caritas Dei + diffunditur in cordibus eorum, qui iustificantur, atque ipsis + inhaeret._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 800.) + + 975 Sess. VI, cap. 16: "_Quae enim iustitia nostra dicitur, quia per eam + nobis inhaerentem iustificamur, illa eadem Dei est, quia a Deo nobis + infunditur per Christi meritum._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 809.) + + 976 Sess. VI, can. 11: "_Si quis dixerit, homines iustificari ... + exclusa gratia et caritate, quae in cordibus eorum per Spiritum + sanctum diffundatur atque in illis inhaereat, ... anathema + sit._"(Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 821.) + + 977 Sess. VI, cap. 4: "_[Iustificatio est] translatio ... in statum + gratiae et adoptionis filiorum Dei._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 796.) + + 978 Cfr. Pallavicini, _Hist. Conc. Trid._, VIII, 14, 3: "_Postulantibus + quibusdam, ut expressius declararetur fieri iustitiam per habitum + infusum, delecti Patres ad id responderunt, id satis explicari per + vocem ____inhaeret,____ quae stabilitatem significat et habitibus + congruit, non actibus._" It was on the same ground that Pius V + censured the forty-second proposition of Baius, _viz._: "_Iustitia + qua iustificatur per fidem impius, consistit formaliter in + obedientia mandatorum, quae est operum iustitia; non autem in gratia + aliqua animae infusa, qua adoptatur homo in filium Dei, et secundum + interiorem hominem renovatur ac divinae naturae consors efficitur._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1042.) + + 979 Cfr. the _Cap. Maiores_ of Pope Innocent III (_Decret._, l. 3, tit. + 42, _De Bapt._): "_Aliis asserentibus, per virtutem baptismi + parvulis quidem culpam remitti, sed gratiam non conferri; nonnullis + dicentibus, dimitti peccatum et virtutes infundi quantum ad habitum, + non quoad usum._" + +_ 980 De Summa Trinit. et Fide Cath._: "_Quantum ad effectum baptismi in + parvulis reperiuntur doctores quidam theologi opiniones contrarias + habuisse, quibusdam ex ipsis dicentibus, per virtutem baptismi + parvulis quidem culpam remitti, sed gratiam non conferri, aliis e + contra asserentibus, quod et culpa eisdem in baptismo remittitur et + virtutes ac informans gratia infunduntur quoad habitum, etsi non pro + illo tempore quoad usum. Nos attendentes generalem efficaciam mortis + Christi, quae per baptisma applicatur pariter omnibus baptizatis, + opinionem secundam tamquam probabiliorem et dictis sanctorum et + modernorum theologorum magis consonam et conformem sacro approbante + concilio duximus eligendam._" + + 981 Cfr. _Conc. Trid._, Sess. V, can. 4; Sess. VII, can. 13. For a + fuller treatment consult Suarez, _De Gratia_, VI, 3; Vasquez, + _Comment. in S. Th._, I, 2, disp. 203, cap. 6. The false views of + Hermes and Hirscher are refuted by Kleutgen, _Theologie der + Vorzeit_, Vol. II, 2nd ed., pp. 254-343, Muenster 1872. + +_ 982 Libri Quatuor Sent._, I, dist 17, § 18. + +_ 983 Summa Theol._, 2a 2ae, qu. 23, art. 2. + +_ 984 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, can. 24. + + 985 Cfr. Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 263 sq. + + 986 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 110, art. 1; _Summa + contra Gentiles_, III, 150. + + 987 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + p. 193. + +_ 988 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 110, art. 2, ad 2: "_Omnis substantia + vel est ipsa natura rei, cuius est substantia, vel est pars naturae, + secundum quem modum materia vel forma substantia dicitur. Et quia + gratia est supra naturam humanam, non potest esse quod sit + substantia aut forma substantialis, sed est forma accidentalis + ipsius animae. Id enim quod substantialiter est in Deo, + accidentaliter fit in anima participante divinam bonitatem._" + + 989 Cfr. Billuart, _De Gratia_, diss. 6, art. 2. + + 990 This theory was based on such texts as Ps. L, 12: "_Cor mundum crea + in me._" + +_ 991 Cat. Rom._, P. II, c. 2 _de Bapt._, qu. 49: "_Est autem gratia ... + divina qualitas in anima inhaerens ac veluti splendor quidam et lux, + quae animarum nostrarum maculas omnes delet ipsasque animas + pulchriores et splendidiores reddit._" On the supernatural character + of sanctifying grace see Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and + the Supernatural_, pp. 191 sqq. + +_ 992 Categ._, 6. + + 993 "_... qualitas difficile mobilis, secundum quam res bene vel male se + habet in ordine ad suam naturam et ad operationem vel finem eius._" + Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 19, art. 2; S. + Schiffini, _Principia Philosophica ad Mentem Aquinatis_, pp. 574 + sqq., Turin 1886; A. Lehmen, _Lehrbuch der Philosophie auf + aristotelisch-thomistischer Grundlage_, Vol. I, 3rd ed., pp. 398 + sqq., Freiburg 1904. + +_ 994 De Veritate_, qu. 27, art. 2, ad 7: "_Gratia est in prima specie + qualitatis, quamvis non proprie possit dici habitus, quia non + immediate ordinatur ad actum, sed ad quoddam esse spiritale, quod in + anima facit._" + +_ 995 De Gratia_, VI, 4, 1: "_Abstinuimus ab hac voce, quia per habitum + solet intelligi principium actus; quamvis, si vox illa latius + sumatur, pro quacumque qualitate perficiente animam, quae non sit + actus secundus, eadem certitudine, qua ostendimus dari gratiam + permanentem, concluditur esse qualitatem habitualem._" + +_ 996 De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_, I, 3. + + 997 Cfr. Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 30. Under these + circumstances Suarez was justified in saying, in regard to the + degree of certitude to be attributed to this teaching: "_Si quis + negaret gratiam sanctificantem esse habitum, licet esse temere + dictum, non posset tamen ut haereticum damnari._" + + 998 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 190 sqq. + + 999 Cfr. 1 John, III, 9: "{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} [scil. {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}] {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}." + + 1000 Cfr. 2 Cor. IV, 7: "_... thesaurum in vasis fictilibus._" + + 1001 Cfr. John XIV, 23: "_Mansionem apud eum faciemus._" + + 1002 Cfr. 1 Cor. III, 16.--On the subtle question whether habitual grace + is to be regarded as a real or merely as a modal accident of the + soul, see Tepe, _Inst. Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 154 sqq., Paris 1896; + Chr. Pesch, _Prael. Dogmat._, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 181 sqq., + Freiburg 1908. An extreme and altogether unacceptable view is that + of Billuart (_De Gratia_, diss. 6, art. 2), who regards sanctifying + grace as an absolute accident, _i.e._ one which the omnipotence of + God could miraculously sustain if the soul ceased to exist. Cfr. + Suarez, _De Gratia_, VII, 15; Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, p. 259; + Tepe, _Inst. Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 164 sqq. + +_ 1003 Comment. in Quatuor Libros Sent._, II, dist. 27. + +_ 1004 E.g._, Mastrius, _De Iustif._, disp. 7, qu. 6. + +_ 1005 De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio_, I, 6. + + 1006 Luke VII, 47: "_Remittuntur ei peccata multa, quoniam dilexit + ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) multum._" + + 1007 1 Pet. IV, 8: "_Caritas ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}) operit multitudinem peccatorum._" + + 1008 1 John IV, 7: "_Omnis qui diligit ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) ex Deo natus est._" + +_ 1009 De Natura et Gratia_, c. 70, n. 84: "_Caritas ergo inchoata, + inchoata iustitia est, ... caritas magna, magna iustitia est, + caritas perfecta, perfecta iustitia est._" + +_ 1010 Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, cap. 7: "_... dum caritas Dei diffunditur + in cordibus eorum qui iustificantur atque ipsis inhaeret._" + + 1011 Preeminently Suarez, Tanner, Ripalda. + +_ 1012 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 110, art. 3 sq.; _De Veritate_, qu. 27, + art. 2. + +_ 1013 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 110, art. 4, ad 1: "_Sicut ab essentia + animae effluunt eius potentiae, quae sunt operum principia, ita + etiam ab ipsa gratia effluunt virtutes [theologicae] in potentias + animae, per quas [virtutes] potentiae moventur ad actus._" + +_ 1014 De Dono Perseverantiae_, c. 16, n. 41: "_Gratia praevenit + caritatem._" + + 1015 2 Cor. XIII, 13: "_Gratia Domini nostri Iesu Christi et caritas + Dei._" + + 1016 1 Tim. I, 14: "_Superabundavit autem gratia Domini nostri cum fide + et dilectione._" + + 1017 Cfr. _Conc. Viennense_, A. D. 1311: "_... gratiam informantem et + virtutes._" _Conc. Trid._, Sess. VI, cap. 7: "_... per voluntariam + susceptionem gratiae et donorum._" Sess. VI, can. 11: "_... exclusa + gratia et caritate._" + + 1018 For a fuller treatment of this topic consult Billuart, _De Gratia_, + diss. 4, art. 4. + + 1019 Ripalda justly observes (_De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 132, n. 132, + n. 53): "_Haec controversia olim Celebris fuit. Nunc facile + dirimitur, quum iam constiterit nullius partis argumenta plane + convincere._" On the theological aspects of Herbart's philosophy, + which denies the existence of qualities and faculties in the soul, + see Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, p. 560, + Mainz 1897. + + 1020 2 Pet. I, 4: "_... per quem [i.e. Christum] maxima et pretiosa nobis + promissa donavit, ut per haec efficiamini divinae consortes naturae_ + ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~})." + + 1021 John I, 13: "_... qui non ex sanguinibus, ... sed ex Deo nati + sunt._" + + 1022 John III, 5: "_Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiritu Sancto, + non potest introire in regnum Dei._" + + 1023 Jac. I, 18: "_Voluntarie enim genuit nos verbo veritatis._" + + 1024 1 John III, 9: "_Omnis qui natus est ex Deo, peccatum non facit._" + +_ 1025 Or. contr. Arian._, I, 39. + + 1026 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}. + +_ 1027 In Psalmos_, 49, n. 2: "_Ille iustficat, qui per seipsum, non ex + alio iustus est; et ille deificat qui per seipsum non alterius + participatione Deus est. Qui autem iustificat, ipse deificat, quia + iustificando filios Dei facit.... Filii Dei facti sumus et dii facti + sumus; sed hoc gratia est adoptantis, non natura generantis. Unicum + enim Dei Filius Deus, ... ceteri qui dii fiunt, gratia ipsius fiunt, + non de substantia ipsius nascuntur, ut hoc sint quod ille, sed ut + per beneficium perveniant ad eum et sint cohaeredes Christi._" Many + other cognate Patristic texts in Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, + disp. 132, sect. 7-9. + + 1028 See, _e.g._, the Offertory and Preface for the festival of the + Ascension of our Lord and the _Secreta_ for the fourth Sunday after + Easter. + + 1029 Cfr. Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 132, sect. 7: "_Per + gratiam vero habitualem fieri hominem participem divinae naturae + ideoque gratiam esse participationem deitatis, adeo frequens est et + constans theologorum assertum, ut absque temeritate negari non + possit._" On the teaching of St. Thomas and the Thomists see + Billuart, _De Gratia_, diss. 4, art. 3. + + 1030 Cfr. _Prop. Ekkardi a. 1329 damn. a Ioanne XXII_, prop. 10, quoted + in Denzinger-Bannwart's _Enchiridion_, n. 510. + + 1031 Cfr. _Prop. Mich. de Molinos a. 1687 damn, ab Innocentio XI_, prop. + 5, in Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1225. + + 1032 The Fourth Council of the Lateran (A. D. 1215) calls it "_doctrina + non tam haeretica quam insana_." (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 433.) + + 1033 St. Augustine, _De Peccatorum Meritis et Remissione_, II, 8, 10: + "_Nunc ergo et similes esse iam coepimus primitias spiritus + habentes, et adhuc dissimiles sumus per reliquias vetustatis. + Proinde inquantum similes, in tantum regenerante Spiritu filii Dei; + inquantum autem dissimiles, in tantum filii carnis et saeculi._" + + 1034 Quoted by Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 132, sect. 9. + + 1035 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae qu. 112, art. 1: "_Donum + autem gratiae excedit omnem facultatem naturae creatae, quum nihil + aliud sit quam quaedam participatio divinae naturae, quae excedit + omnem aliam naturam._" + + 1036 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, + pp. 165 sqq.; _Christology_, pp. 85 sqq. + + 1037 Cfr. St. John of Damascus, _De Fide Orthodoxa_, II, 12 "[{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}] + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}." + + 1038 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, + pp. 165 sqq. + +_ 1039 Clyp. Thomist._, tom. VI, disp. 2, § 10. + + 1040 Cfr. Suarez, _De Gratia_, VII, 1, 27: "_Eo ipso quod divinum esse + participatur, non participatur ut imparticipatum est._" + +_ 1041 De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 20, sect. 14. + +_ 1042 S. Theol._, 1a, qu. 93, art. 4. + + 1043 Cfr. Suarez, _De Gratia_, VII, 1, 30: "_Vera ergo excellentia + gratiae habitualis, propter quam dicitur esse singularis + participatio divinae naturae, est ... quia, quum natura divina sit + quaedam intellectualis natura altioris ordinis quam sit vel esse + possit ulla substantia intellectualis creata, ille gradus + intellectualitatis, qui est in divina natura, divino quodam et + supernaturali modo participatur per habitualem gratiam, quo quidem + modo a nulla substantia creata per se ipsam vel per potentiam sibi + connaturalem participari potest.... Divina enim essentia in ratione + obiecti intelligibilis in se et per visionem intuitivam ad ipsam Dei + essentiam immediate terminatam adeo est elevata et excellens ratione + purissimae actualitatis et immaterialitatis suae, ut a nulla + substantia intellectuali possit connaturaliter videri, nisi a + seipsa. Per gratiam vero et dona supernaturalia elevatur natura + creata intellectualis ad participationem illius gradus + intellectualitatis divinae, in quo possit obiectum illud + intelligibile divinae essentiae in se intueri._" + + 1044 John III, 6; cfr. 2 Cor. III, 18; Eph. V, 18. + +_ 1045 De Spiritu Sancto_, c. 9, n. 23. + + 1046 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}. + + 1047 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. + + 1048 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}. + + 1049 1 John III, 2: "_Nunc filii Dei sumus et nondum apparuit, quid + erimus; scimus quoniam, quum apparuerit, similes ei erimus ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}), quoniam videbimus eum sicuti est._" On this passage + see Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, + pp. 96 sq. On the whole subject treated in this subdivision consult + Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, pp. 588 + sqq.; A. Rademacher, _Die uebernatuerliche Lebensordnung nach der + paulinischen und johanneischen Theologie_, pp. 88 sqq., Freiburg + 1903; A. Prumbs, _Die Stellung des Trienter Konzils zu der Frage + nach dem Wesen der heiligmachenden Gnade_, Paderborn 1910. + + 1050 For a fuller treatment we must refer the reader to Scheeben, _Die + Herrlichkeiten der goettlichen Gnade_, 8th ed., Freiburg 1908; + English translation by a Benedictine monk of St. Meinrad's Abbey, + _The Glories of Divine Grace_, 3rd ed., New York _s. a._ + + 1051 Eph. IV, 24: "_Induite novum hominem, qui secundum Deum creatus est + in iustitia et sanctitate veritatis._" On this text see + Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, p. + 197. + + 1052 Sess. VI, cap. 7: "_... non est sola peccatorum remissio, sed et + sanctificatio et renovatio interioris hominis per voluntariam + susceptionem gratiae et donorum, unde homo ex iniusto fit iustus._" + + 1053 On the concept of sanctity see Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, + Essence, and Attributes_, pp. 251 sqq. + + 1054 Gal. II, 20: "_Vivo autem iam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus._" + On the life of the soul in and through grace cfr. + Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, § 466. + + 1055 Cfr. 2 Cor. VII, 4: "_Superabundo gaudio in omni tribulatione + nostra._" + + 1056 Is. XLIX, 16: "_Ecce in manibus meis descripsi te._" + + 1057 Rom. VIII, 28: "_Diligentibus Deum omnia cooperantur in bonum._" + +_ 1058 In Ps._, 25: "_Gratia divina pulchrificat sicut lux._" + +_ 1059 Cat. Rom._, P. II, Ch. II, qu. 49: "_Est autem gratia ... splendor + quidam et lux, quae animarum maculas delet ipsasque animas + pulchriores et splendidiores reddit._" On the aptness of this simile + see Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, p. 268. Freiburg 1901. + + 1060 {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + + 1061 {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + + 1062 On the notion of beauty see Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, + Essence, and Attributes_, pp. 265 sqq. + +_ 1063 V. supra_, Art. 1, No. 4. + + 1064 On the divine appropriations see Pohle-Preuss, _The Divine Trinity_, + pp. 244 sqq. + + 1065 Rom. VIII, 29: "_... praedestinavit conformes fieri imaginis Filii + sui._" + + 1066 Gal. IV, 19: "_Filioli mei, quos iterum parturio, donec formetur + Christus in vobis._" + +_ 1067 V. infra_, No. 4. + +_ 1068 V. infra_, Art. 3, No. 4. On the whole subject cfr. + Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, § 465; H. + Krug, _De Pulchritudine Divina_, pp. 53 sqq., 144 sqq., 241 sqq., + Freiburg 1902. + + 1069 Sess. VI, cap. 7: "_... unde homo ex iniusto fit iustus et ex + inimico amicus._" + + 1070 Sess. VI, cap. 10: "_Sic ergo iustificati et amici Dei ac domestici + facti...._" + + 1071 Wisd. VII, 14: "_Participes facti sunt amicitiae Dei._" + + 1072 John XV, 14 sq.: "_Iam non dicam vos servos, ... vos autem dixi + amicos._" + + 1073 Matth. IX, 15: "_Numquid possunt filii sponsi lugere, quamdiu cum + illis est sponsus?_" + + 1074 Apoc. XIX, 7: "_Venerunt nuptiae Agni et uxor eius praeparavit se._" + Cfr. John III, 29; Eph. V, 23 sqq.; 2 Cor. XI, 2; Cant. IV, 1 sqq.; + Ps. XLIV, 22 sqq. On the teaching of the Fathers see Cornelius a + Lapide, _Comment. in 2 Cor._, XI, 2. + +_ 1075 Eth. ad Nichom._, VIII sq. + + 1076 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Comment. in Quatuor Libros Sent._, III, dist. 27, + qu. 2, art. 1, ad 1: "_Amicitia vera desiderat videre amicum et + colloquiis mutuis gaudere facit, ad quem principaliter est amicitia; + non autem ita, quod delectatio ex amici visione et perfruitione, + finis amicitiae ponatur._" + + 1077 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theologica_, 1a 2ae, qu. 28, art. 1: "_Quum + aliquis amat aliquem amore amicitiae, vult ei bonum, sicut et sibi + vult bonum, unde apprehendit eum ut alterum se, inquantum scil. ei + vult bonum, sicut et sibi vult bonum. Et inde est, quod amicus + dicitur esse alter ipse. Et Augustinus dicit in l. 4 Confess.: Bene + quidam dixit de amico suo, ____dimidium animae meae____._" + + 1078 "_Amicitia pares aut invenit aut facit._" _In Mich._, 7. + + 1079 Prov. VIII, 31: "_Deliciae meae esse cum filiis hominum._" + +_ 1080 V. supra_, Art. 1, No. 3. + + 1081 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Comment. in Quatuor Libros Sent._, III, dist. 37, + qu. 2, art. 1, ad 10: "_Amicitia dicitur esse non latens, non quod + per certitudinem amor amid cognoscatur, sed quia per signa + probabilia amor mutuus habentium coligitur. Et talis manifestatio + potest esse de caritate, inquantum per aliqua signa potest aliquis + probabiliter aestimare se habere caritatem._" + + 1082 Cfr. Ecclus. XXXIV, 14 sqq. + + 1083 Cfr. St. Thomas, _op. cit._, III, dist. 29, qu. 1, art. 3, ad 4: + "_Si esset possibile, quod ex nostris operibus aliquid Deo + accresceret, habens caritatem multo plura faceret propter + beatitudinem ei conservandam, quam propter eam sibi adipiscendam._" + + 1084 1 John III, 17: "_Qui habuerit substantiam huius mundi et viderit + fratrem suum necessitatem habere et clauserit viscera sua ab eo, + quomodo caritas Dei_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}) _manet in ea?_" + +_ 1085 V. supra_, Art. 1, No. 4. + + 1086 The singular opinion of Ripalda (_De Caritate_, disp. 33), that such + a relation would be possible even in the state of pure nature, is + rejected by Suarez as incorrect (_De Caritate_, disp. 3, sect. 5, n. + 4). On the whole question cfr. Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. + 305 sqq. + +_ 1087 Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 4: "_... status gratiae et + adoptionis filiorum Dei._" + + 1088 Rom. VIII, 15 sqq.: "_Accepistis ... spiritum adoptionis filiorum, + in quo clamamus Abba, Pater; ipse enim Spiritus testimonium reddit + spiritui nostro, quod sumus filii Dei; si autem filii, et haeredes: + haeredes quidem Dei, cohaeredes autem Christi._" + + 1089 1 John III, 1 sq.: "_Videte, qualem caritatem dedit nobis Pater, ut + filii Dei nominemur et simus ... Carissimi, nunc filii Dei sumus._" + + 1090 Gal. IV, 5: "_... ut adoptionem filiorum reciperemus._" + + 1091 John I, 12 sq.: "_... dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, qui ... + ex Deo nati sunt_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} + ... {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~})." + +_ 1092 Summa Theol._, 3a, qu. 23, art. 1: "_Adoptio est personae extraneae + in filium et haeredem gratuita assumptio._" + + 1093 Cfr. Gal. IV, 7: "_Itaque iam non est servus, sed filius; quod si + filius, et haeres per Deum._" + + 1094 Cfr. Rom. VIII, 17; Gal. IV, 7. + + 1095 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 3a, qu. 23, art. 1, ad 2. + + 1096 Cfr. _Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 7: "_... per voluntariam + susceptionem gratiae et donorum._" + + 1097 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _The Divine Trinity_, pp. 49 sqq. + + 1098 Cfr. John III, 5 sq.; 2 Cor. III, 18; Tit. III, 5 sqq. + + 1099 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theologica_, 3a, qu. 23, art. 2, ad. 2: "For + He [God the Father] is Christ's father by natural generation; and + this is proper to him: whereas He is our Father by a voluntary + operation, which is common to Him and to the Son and the Holy Ghost: + so that Christ is not the Son of the whole Trinity, as we are." + + 1100 Cfr. St. Thomas, _l.c._, ad 2. + + 1101 Suarez, _De Incarnatione_, disp. 49, sect. 2, n. 5. + + 1102 This heresy is called Adoptionism; for a refutation of it see + Pohle-Preuss, _Christology_, pp. 196 sqq. + + 1103 1 John III, 1. + + 1104 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _Soteriology_, pp. 15 sqq. + +_ 1105 Or. in Is._, II, 4. + +_ 1106 V. infra_, Art. 3, No. 4. + + 1107 Cfr. J. Scheeben, "_Kontroverse ueber die Formalursache der + Kindschaft Gottes_," in the _Katholik_, of Mayence, 1883, I, pp. 142 + sqq., II, pp. 561 sqq.; 1884, I, 18 sqq. II, 465 sqq., 610 sqq.; + Granderath, "_Kontroverse ueber die Gotteskindschaft_," in the + Innsbruck _Zeitschrift fuer kath. Theologie_, 1881, pp. 283 sqq., + 1883, pp. 491 sqq., 593 sqq., 1884, pp. 545 sqq. + +_ 1108 De Trinitate_, VIII, 4 sqq. + +_ 1109 Comment. in S. Theol._, 3a, qu. 23, art. 3. + + 1110 Cfr. Gal. IV, 7. On the subject of the adoptive sonship of the just + the student may profitably consult A. Rademacher, _Die + uebernatuerliche Lebensordnung nach der paulinischen und johanneischen + Theologie_, pp. 97 sqq., Freiburg 1903. + +_ 1111 V. supra_, p. 340. + +_ 1112 Cat. Rom._, P. II, c. 1, n. 51: "_Huic [gratiae sanctificanti] + additur nobilissimus omnium virtutum comitatus, quae in animam cum + gratia divinitus infunduntur._" + +_ 1113 Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 7: "_Unde in ipsa iustificatione + cum remissione peccatorum haec omnia simul infusa accipit homo per + Iesum Christum, cui inseritur, fidem, spem et caritatem._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 800.) The question whether the three + theological virtues are genuine _habitus operativi_, must be + answered in the affirmative; but its denial incurs no censure so + long as the distinction existing between these habitual virtues and + actual grace is left intact. It is of faith that habitual charity is + infused simultaneously with habitual grace. Cfr. _Conc. Trident._, + Sess. VI, can. 11: "_Si quis dixerit, homines iustificari ... + exclusa gratia et caritate, quae in cordibus eorum per Spiritum + Sanctum diffundatur atque illis inhaereat, anathema sit._" On the + bearing of this definition see Tepe, _Instit. Theol._, Vol. III, pp. + 175 sq., Paris 1896; Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 315 sqq., + Freiburg 1901. + + 1114 Rom. V, 5: "_Caritas Dei ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}) diffusa est ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}) + in cordibus nostris per Spiritum Sanctum, qui datus est nobis._" + + 1115 1 Cor. XIII, 2: "_Et si habuero omnem fidem, ita ut montes + transferam, caritatem autem non habuero, nihil sum._" + + 1116 1 Cor. XIII, 13: "_Nunc autem manent fides, spes, caritas ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}), tria haec; maior autem horum est caritas._" + +_ 1117 Quaestiones Disputatae de Virtutibus in Communi_, art. 12: "_Ad hoc + autem, quod moveamur recte in finem [scil. Deum], oportet finem esse + et cognitum et desideratum. Desiderium autem finis duo exigit, scil. + fiduciam de fine obtinendo, quia nullus sapiens movetur ad id quod + consequi non potest; et amorem finis, quia non desideratur nisi + amatum. Et ideo virtutes theologicae sunt tres, scil. fides qua Deum + cognoscimus, spes qua ipsum nos obtenturos esse speramus, et caritas + qua eum diligimus._" + + 1118 Sess. VI, cap. 7. + + 1119 This thesis is not, however, so certain that it would be wrong to + contradict it, as has actually been done by Scotus, Durandus, and + others. Cfr. Suarez, _De Gratia_, VI, 9, 12. + + 1120 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 57 sqq. That the + cardinal virtues are four in number, St. Thomas proves as follows: + "_[Bonum rationis] potest dupliciter considerari: uno modo, prout + habet rationein consiliabilis et eligibilis, secundum quam ratio + circa illud operatur et sic est prudentia, quae est media inter + intellectuales et morales; ... alio modo, secundum quod habet + rationem boni appetibilis. Ad appetitum autem duo pertinent, scil. + actio et passio; passio autem est in irascibili et concupiscibili. + Circa actiones ergo est iustitia, circa passiones irascibiles est + fortitudo, circa passiones concupiscibiles est temperantia. Et sic + sunt quatuor virtutes cardinales._" (_Comment. in Quatuor Libros + Sent._, III, dist. 33, qu. 2, art. 1, solut. 3.) + + 1121 Wis. VIII, 7: "_Et si iustitiam quis diligit, labores huius magnas + habent virtutes; sobrietatem enim et prudentiam docet [Deus] et + iustitiam et virtutem, quibus utilius nihil est in vita hominibus._" + + 1122 Ez. XI, 19 sq.: "_Et auferam cor lapideum de came eorum et dabo eis + cor carneum, ut in praeceptis meis ambulent et iudicia mea + custodiant._" + + 1123 Cfr. Jer. XXXI, 33; Col. I, 10 sq.; 1 John II, 27. + +_ 1124 In Ps._, 83: "_Istae virtutes nunc in convalle plorationis per + gratiam Dei donantur nobis._" + +_ 1125 Hom. in Ezech._, I, 5, n. 11: "_In fide enim, spe atque caritate, + et in aliis bonis, sine quibus ad coelestem patriam non potest + perveniri, ... perfectorum corda [Spiritus Sanctus] non deserit._" + +_ 1126 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 63, art. 3: "_Oportet effectus esse suis + causis et principiis proportionatos. Omnes autem virtutes tam + intellectuales quam morales, quae ex nostris actibus acquiruntur, + procedunt ex quibusdam naturalibus principiis in nobis + praeexistentibus.... Loco quorum naturalium principiorum conferuntur + nobis a Deo virtutes theologicae, quibus ordinamur ad finem + supernaturalem.... Unde oportet quod his etiam virtutibus + theologicis proportionaliter respondeant alii habitus divinitus + causati in nobis, qui sic se habent ad virtutes theologicas sicut se + habent virtutes morales et intellectuales ad principia naturalia + virtutum._" For further information on this subject consult + Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, Vol. VIII, § 471, Mainz + 1897; Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 319 sqq., Freiburg 1901; + Van Noort, _De Gratia Christi_, pp. 161 sqq., Amsterdam 1908. + + 1127 Cfr. Gregory of Valentia, _Comment. in S. Theol._, 1a 2ae, disp. 5, + qu. 8, p. 1: "_Dona Spiritus S. potentias animae perficiunt ad + actiones quasdam heroicas, ... qua ratione peculiariter procedunt ex + divino quodam Spiritus S. instinctu, quo mens nostra plerumque + mirabiliter solet agi et impelli ad quaedam opera praestantia et + rara.... Atque ita in usu donorum homo potius agitur, in usu autem + virtuturn se habet potius ut agens._" Cfr. Simar, _Dogmatik_, Vol. + II, 4th ed., pp. 641 sqq., Freiburg 1899; Van Noort, _De Gratia + Christi_, pp. 174 sqq. + + 1128 Rom. VIII, 9 sqq. + + 1129 Cfr. Is. XI, 1 sqq.; LXI, 1; Luke IV, 18. + + 1130 "_Da tuis fidelibus, in te confitentibus, sacrum septenarium._" + (_Missale Rom._, Sequence for Whit Sunday.) For a more detailed + treatment of the subject dealt with in Thesis III consult J. + Kleutgen, _Theologie der Vorzeit_, Vol. II, 2nd ed., pp. 365 sqq., + Muenster 1872; C. Weiss, _S. Thomae Aquinatis de Septem Donis + Spiritus S. Doctrina_, Vienne 1895; J. Regler, _Die sieben Gaben des + Hl. Geistes in ihrer Bedeutung fuer das christliche Leben_, Ratisbon + 1899; Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 337 sqq., Freiburg 1901. On + the connection of the gifts of the Holy Ghost with the beatitudes + (cfr. Matth. V, 3 sqq.) and the "twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost" + (cfr. Gal. V, 22 sq.), see St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. + 69 and 70. The student may also consult Suarez, _De Gratia_, VI, 10, + and Vasquez, _Comment. in S. Theol._, III, disp. 44, cap. 2. + + 1131 Cfr. St. Bonaventure, _Compendium Theol. Verit._, I, 9: "_In + iustificatione duplex caritas nobis datur, scil. creata et increata: + illa qua diligimus, et illa qua diligimur.... Ex his colligitur, + quod licet Deus sit in omnibus per essentiam, praesentiam et + potentiam, non tamen habetur ab omnibus per gratiam._" + + 1132 John XIV, 16 sq.: "_... alium Paraclitum dabit vobis, ut maneat + vobiscum in aeternum.... Vos autem cognoscetis eum, quia apud vos + manebit et in vobis ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) erit._" + + 1133 Rom. V, 5: "_Caritas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per + Spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis._" + + 1134 Rom. VIII, 11: "_Quodsi Spiritus eius, qui suscitavit Iesum a + mortuis, habitat in vobis ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}), qui suscitavit Iesnm + Christum a mortuis, vivificabit et mortalia corpora vestra propter + inhabitantem Spiritum eius in vobis ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~})._" + + 1135 "_Nescitis, quia templum Dei ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}) estis et Spiritus Dei + habitat in vobis ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~})?... Templum enim Dei sanctum est, + quod estis vos._" + + 1136 1 Cor. 6, 19: "_An nescitis, quoniam membra vestra templum sunt + Spiritus S., qui in vobis est, quem habetis a Deo et non estis + vestri?_" Cfr. Rom. VIII, 9; Gal. IV, 6; 2 Cor. VI, 16. + +_ 1137 Ep. ad Serap._, I, n. 24. + + 1138 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}. + +_ 1139 Contra Eunom._, I, V. + +_ 1140 Dialog._, VII, _per totum_. + +_ 1141 De Trinitate_, XV, n. 36: "_Ita enim datur sicut donum Dei, ut + etiam seipsum det sicut Deus._" + +_ 1142 Serm._, 144, c. 1: "_Gratia quippe Dei donum Dei est; donum autem + maximum ipse Spiritus Sanctus est, et ideo gratia dicitur._" + +_ 1143 Enchiridion_, c. 37: "_Et utique Spiritus Sanctus Dei donum est, + quod quidem et ipsum est aequale donanti; et ideo Deus est etiam + Spiritus Sanctus, Patre Filioque non minor._" Additional Patristic + texts of like tenor in Petavius, _De Trinitate_, l. VIII, cap. 4 + sq.: Franzelin, _De Deo Trino_, thes. 43; J. Kleutgen, _Theologie + der Vorseit_, Vol. II, 2nd ed., pp. 369 sqq. + + 1144 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _The Divine Trinity_, pp. 230 sqq. + + 1145 John XIV, 23: "_Si quis diligit me, sermonem meum servabit, et Pater + meus diliget eum, et ad eum veniemus et mansionem ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) apud eum + faciemus._" + +_ 1146 Ep. 1 ad Serap._, n. 30: "_Ex his una Trinitatis {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} + ostenditur ... profecto quum Dominus ait: Veniemus ego et Pater, + simul venit Spiritus, non alio modo quam ut Filius in nobis + habitaturus._" + +_ 1147 De Trinit._, XV, 18, 32: "_Dilectio igitur, quae ex Deo est et Deus + est, proprie Spiritus S. est, per quem diffunditur in cordibus + nostris Dei caritas, per quam nos tota inhabitat Trinitas._" + + 1148 For a more detailed treatment see Franzelin, _De Deo Trino_, thes. + 43-48, Rome 1881. + + 1149 Cfr. Pseudo-Dionys. Areop., _De Hier. Eccl._, 1, § 3 (Migne, _P. + G._, III, 376): {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. + + 1150 Cfr. Petavius, _De Trinit._, VIII, 7, 12: "_Ostendimus enim non + semel, coniunctionem illam Spiritus S. neque {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} neque + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} esse, h. e. neque naturalem neque personalem, quasi una + fiat ex ambobus natura vel persona. Non enim quia et illi per + adoptionis gratiam filii Dei sunt, ait Augustinus (In Ps. 67), ideo + quisquam illorum est unigenitus. Neque enim ex personarum duarum + copulatione unum aliquid per sese, sed {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} potest + effici._" + + 1151 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _The Divine Trinity_, pp. 244 sqq. + + 1152 Cfr. Scheeben, _Die Mysterien des Christentums_, 2nd ed., p. 165, + Freiburg 1898. + + 1153 Cfr. John XIV, 23; XVII, 20 sqq. + + 1154 Gutberlet takes middle ground between the two theories and tries to + reconcile them. Cfr. Heinrich-Gutberlet, _Dogmatische Theologie_, + Vol. VIII, § 468. See also A. Rademacher, _Die uebernatuerliche + Lebensordnung nach der paulinischen und johanneischen Theologie_, + pp. 193 sqq., Freiburg 1903. + + 1155 Cfr. R. F. Clarke, S. J., _Logic_, p. 174. + + 1156 "_Fides fiducialis_," _v. supra_, pp. 255 sqq. + + 1157 Sess. VI, cap. 9; Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 684. + + 1158 Sess. VI, can. 13-15; Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 823 sqq. + + 1159 1 Cor. IV, 4: "_Nihil enim mihi conscius sum, sed non in hoc + iustificatus sum; qui autem iudicat me, Dominus est._" + + 1160 1 Cor. IX, 27: "_Castigo corpus meum et in servitutem redigo, ne + forte, quum aliis praedicaverim, ipse reprobus ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) + efficiar._" + + 1161 Phil. II, 12: "_Cum metu et tremore vestram salutem operamini._" + Other Scriptural texts in Bellarmine, _De Iustificatione_, III, 4 + sqq. For the solution of certain exegetical difficulties see the + same author, _op. cit._, III, 9, and Tepe, _Instit. Theol._, Vol. + III, pp. 210 sqq., Paris 1896. + +_ 1162 Hom. in I. Epist. ad Cor._, 2. + + 1163 Eccles. IX, 1 sq.: "_Nescit homo, utrum amore an odio dignus, etc._" + +_ 1164 Hieronymus in h. l._ (Migne, _P. L._, XXIII, 1080): "_In futuro + igitur scient omnia et in vultu eorum sunt omnia, i.e. antecedet + eos, quum de hac vita decesserint, notitia istius rei quia tunc est + iudicum et nunc certamen. Et quicunque adversa sustinent, utrum per + amorem Dei sustineant, ut Iob, an per odium, ut plurimi peccatores, + nunc habetur incertum._" + +_ 1165 Ep._, VII, 25: "_Rem et inutilem et difficilem postulasti: + difficilem quidem, quia ego indignus sum, cui revelatio fieri + debeat; inutilem vero, quia secura de peccatis tuis fieri non debes, + nisi quum iam in die vitae tuae ultimo plangere eadem peccata minime + valebis._" The Patristic argument is more fully developed by + Bellarmine, _De Iustif._, III, 7. + +_ 1166 Dogmengeschichte_, Vol. III, p. 617. + +_ 1167 Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 9: "_Sicut nemo pius de Dei + misericordia, de Christi merito deque sacramentorum efficacia + dubitare debet, sic quilibet, dum seipsum suamque propriam + infirmitatem et indispositionem respicit, de sua gratia formidare et + timere potest, quum nullus scire valeat certitudine fidei, cui non + potest subesse falsum, se gratiam Dei esse consecutum._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 802.) + + 1168 "_Peirorem sequitur semper conclusio partem._" Cfr. Clarke, _Logic_, + p. 322. + + 1169 Cfr. _Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, can. 16: "_Si quis magnum illud + usque in finem perseverantiae donum se certo habiturum absoluta et + infallibili certitudine dixerit, nisi hoc speciali revelatione + didicerit, anathema sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 826.) + + 1170 In his little treatise _De Certitudine Gratiae_. + + 1171 Sess. VI, cap. 9: "_... iustificatos absque ulla dubitatione apud + semetipsos statuere, se esse iustificatos._" + + 1172 Rom. VIII, 38 sq.: "_Certus sum enim ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}=persuasum habeo), + quia neque mors neque vita ... poterit nos separare a caritate Dei, + quae est in Christo Iesu._" + +_ 1173 Tract. in Ioa._, I, 3, 5, n. 10: "_Quid nos scimus? Quia + transivimus de morte ad vitam. Unde scimus? Quia diligimus fratres. + Nemo interroget hominem, redeat unusquisque ad cor suum; si ibi + invenerit caritatem fraternam, securus sit, quia transiit a morte ad + vitam._" + + 1174 Cfr. the _Imitation of Christ_ by Thomas a Kempis, III, 54 sqq. On + the whole subject of this subdivision the student may profitably + consult the _Summa Theologica_ of St. Thomas, 1a 2ae, qu. 112, art. + 5; Suarez, _De Gratia_, IX, 9-11, and Billuart, _De Gratia_, diss. + 6, art. 4. + +_ 1175 Serm. de Nativitate Mariae_: "_Omnes Christiani aeque magni sumus + sicut mater Dei, et aeque sancti sicut ipsa._" + + 1176 Sess. VI, cap. 7: "_Iustitiam in nobis recipientes, unusquisque suam + secundum mensuram, quam Spiritus Sanctus partitur singulis prout + vult, et secundum propriam cuiusque dispositionem et + cooperationem._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 799.) + + 1177 Sess. VI, cap. 10: "_Iustificati ... in ipsa iustitia per Christi + gratiam accepta, cooperante fide bonis operibus crescunt atque magis + iustificantur._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 803.) + + 1178 Sess. VI, can. 24: "_Si quis dixerit, iustitiam acceptam non + conservari atque etiam augeri coram Deo per bona opera, sed opera + ipsa fructus solummodo et signa esse iustificationis adeptae, non + autem ipsius augendae causam, anathema sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, + n. 834.) + + 1179 Prov. IV, 18: "_Iustorum autem semita quasi lux splendens procedit + et crescit usque ad perfectam diem._" + + 1180 Ecclus. XVIII, 22: "_Non impediaris orare semper et ne verearis + usque ad mortem iustificari, quoniam merces Dei manet in aeternum._" + + 1181 2 Pet. III, 18: "_Crescite vero in gratia et in cognitione Domini + nostri et Salvatoris Iesu Christi._" + + 1182 2 Cor. IX, 10: "_[Deus] augebit incrementa frugum iustitiae + vestrae._" + + 1183 Eph. IV, 7: "_Unicuique autem nostrum data est gratia secundum + mensuram donationis Christi._" + + 1184 Apoc. XXII, 11 sq.: "_Qui iustus est, iustificetur adhuc, et sanctus + sanctificetur adhuc. Ecce venio cito et merces mea mecum est, + reddere unicuique secundum opera sua._" Cfr. Bellarmine, _De + Iustific._, III, 16. + +_ 1185 Contra Iovin._, II, n. 23: "_Unicuique nostrum data est gratia + iuxta mensuram gratiae (Eph. 4, 7); non quod mensura Christi diversa + sit, sed tantum gratiae eius infunditur, quantum valemus haurire_." + +_ 1186 Ep._, 167, n. 13: "_Induti sunt sancti iustitia (Job 29, 14), alius + magis, alius minus; et nemo hic vivit sine peccato et hoc alius + magis, alius minus: optimus autem est qui minimum._" + +_ 1187 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 112, art. 4, ad 3: "_Vita naturalis + pertinet ad substantiam hominis, et ideo non recipit magis et minus; + sed vitam gratiae participat homo accidentaliter, et ideo eam potest + homo magis vel minus habere._" On the teaching of Tradition cfr. + Alb. a Bulsano, _Instit. Theol. Dogmat._, ed. G. a Graun, O. Cap., + Vol. II, p. 254, Innsbruck 1894. + + 1188 Ecclus. XVIII, 22; Apoc. XXII, 11. + + 1189 Cfr. Vasquez, _Comment. in Summam Theol._, 1a 2ae, disp. 221, cap. + 9, n. 77. + + 1190 Ecclus. XIX, 1: "_Qui spernit modica, paulatim decidet._" For a + fuller treatment of this subject we refer the student to St. Thomas, + _Summa Theol._, 2a 2ae, qu. 24, art. 10. + +_ 1191 V. supra_, pp. 328 sqq. + + 1192 Cfr. Suarez, _Disp. Metaph._, l. II, disp. 16. + + 1193 The authority of St. Thomas himself can be invoked by neither party + to this controversy. Cfr. Sylvius, _Comment. in S. Theol._, 2a 2ae, + qu. 24, art. 3. + + 1194 For a fuller treatment of this topic see Tepe, _Instit. Theol._, + Vol. III, pp. 217 sqq. + +_ 1195 V. supra_, pp. 336 sqq. + + 1196 Suarez, _De Gratia_, IX, 2, 13. + + 1197 Suarez, _op. cit._, IX, 4, 15. + + 1198 Sess. VI, cap. 10: "_Hoc vero iustitiae incrementum petit sancta + Ecclesia, quum orat: Da nobis, Domine, fidei, spei et caritatis + augmentum._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 803). Cfr. De Lugo, _De Fide_, + disp. 16, sect. 2. + + 1199 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 2a 2ae, qu. 24, art. 7. + + 1200 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _Christology_, pp. 231 sqq. + + 1201 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _Mariology_, pp. 24 sqq. + + 1202 For a more elaborate treatment the reader is referred to Suarez, _De + Gratia_, IX, 6, 11, and Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 570 sq., + Freiburg 1901. + + 1203 Sess. VI, can. 23: "_Si quis hominem semel iustificatum dixerit + amplius peccare non posse neque gratiam amittere atque ideo eum, qui + labitur et peccat, numquam vere fuisse iustificatum; ... anathema + sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 833.) + + 1204 Sess. VI, can. 27: "_Si quis dixerit, nullum esse mortale peccatum + nisi infidelitatis, aut nullo alio quantumvis gravi et enormi + praeterquam infidelitatis peccato semel acceptam gratiam amitti, + anathema sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 837). + + 1205 Sess. VI, cap. 11: "_Licet in hac mortali vita quantumvis sancti et + iusti in levia saltem et quotidiana, quae etiam venialia dicuntur, + peccata quandoque cadant, non propterea desinunt esse iusti._" + + 1206 Ez. XVIII, 24: "_Si autem averterit se iustus a iustitia sua, et + fecerit iniquitatem secundum omnes abominationes, quas operari solet + impius, numquid vivet? Omnes iustitiae eius, quas fecerat, non + recordabuntur; in praevaricatione, qua praevaricatus est, et in + peccato suo, quod peccavit, in ipsis morietur._" + + 1207 Matth. XXVI, 41: "_Vigilate et orate, ut non intretis in + tentationem._" + + 1208 1 Cor. X, 12: "_Qui se existitmat stare, videat ne cadat._" + + 1209 1 Cor. VI, 9 sq.: "_Nolite errare, neque fornicarii neque idolis + servientes neque adulteri neque molles neque masculorum concubitores + neque fures neque avari neque ebriosi neque maledici neque rapaces + regnum Dei possidebunt._" Cfr. _Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 15 + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 808). + + 1210 1 John III, 9: "_Omnis, qui natus est ex Deo, peccatum non facit: + quoniam semen ipsius in eo manet, et non potest peccare, quoniam ex + Deo natus est._" + +_ 1211 Contra Iovin._, 1. II: "_Propterea scribo vobis, filioli mei, omnis + qui natus est ex Deo, non peccat, ut non peccetis et tamdiu sciatis + vos in generatione Domini permanere, quamdiu non peccaveritis._" On + the different interpretations of 1 John III, 9, an admittedly + difficult text, see Bellarmine, _De Iustific._, III, 15. + +_ 1212 De Corrept. et Gratia_, c. VI, n. 9: "_Si iam regeneratus et + iustificatus in malam vitam sua voluntate relabitur, certe iste non + potest dicere: Non accepti, quia acceptam gratiam Dei suo in malum + libero amisit arbitrio._" + +_ 1213 Hom. in Ez._, 9, 1: "_Sicuti qui a fide recedit, apostata est, ita + qui ad perversum opus, quod deseruerit, redit, ab omnipotente Deo + apostata deputatur, etiamsi fidem tenere videatur; unum enim sine + altero nil prodesse valet, quia nec fides sine operibus nec opera + adiuvant sine fide._" + + 1214 For the solution of certain difficulties see Schiffini, _De Gratia + Divina_, pp. 591 sqq. On the penitential discipline of the early + Church cfr. G. Rauschen, _Eucharist and Penance in the First Six + Centuries_, pp. 152 sqq., St. Louis 1913. + + 1215 Cfr. _Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, can. 28: "_Si quis dixerit, amissa + per peccatum gratia simul et fidem semper amitti, aut fidem quae + remanet non esse veram fidem, licet non sit viva, aut eum qui fidem + sine caritate habet, non esse Christianum, anathema sit._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 838.) + + 1216 Cfr. _Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 15: "_Non modo infidelitate, + per quam et ipsa fides amittitur, sed etiam quocunque alio mortali + peccato, quamvis non amittatur fides, acceptam iustificationis + gratiam amitti._" + + 1217 Cfr. _Prop. Quesnelli damn. a Clemente XI_, prop. 57: "_Totum deest + peccatori, quando ei deest spes, et non est spes in Deo, ubi non est + amor Dei._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1407.) + +_ 1218 V. supra_, Section 2. + + 1219 The questions discussed in this subdivision of our treatise are more + fully treated by Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 128, sect. + 4, and by Suarez, _De Gratia_, IX, 3 sqq. + + 1220 Sess. VI, cap. 16. + +_ 1221 V. supra_, p. 131. + +_ 1222 V. supra_, pp. 132 sqq. + +_ 1223 Realitas sive existentia meriti._ + +_ 1224 Conditiones meriti._ + +_ 1225 Obiecta meriti._ + + 1226 Cfr. _Conc. Viennense_, A. D. 1311 (_Clementin._, l. V, tit. 3: "De + Haereticis") in Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 471 sqq. + + 1227 "_In omni opere bono iustus peccat._" _Prop. Lutheri Damnatae A. D. + 1520 a Leone X_, prop. 31 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 771). + + 1228 "_Opus bonum, optime factum est veniale peccatum_." Prop. 32, _l. + c._, n. 772. + + 1229 "_Omne opus iusti damnabile est et peccatum mortale, si iudicio Dei + iudicetur._" + + 1230 "_Inquinamenta et sordes._" _Instit._, III, 12, 4. + + 1231 Quietism (Michael de Molinos _et al._) denied the meritoriousness of + good works performed in the "state of passive repose" (_quies_). + + 1232 "_Debetur merces bonis operibus, si fiant; sed gratia, quae non + debetur, praecedit ut fiant._" Can. 18 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 191.) + +_ 1233 Cap. Firmiter_: "_Non solum autem virgines et continentes, verum + etiam coniugati per rectam fidem et operationem bonam placentes Deo + ad aeternam merentur beatitudinem pervenire._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, + n. 430.) + + 1234 Sess. VI, cap. 16: "_Atque ideo bene operantibus usque in finem et + in Deo sperantibus proponenda est vita aeterna et tamquam gratia + filiis Dei per Christum Iesum misericorditer promissa et tamquam + merces ex ipsius Dei promissione bonis ipsorum operibus et meritis + fideliter reddenda._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 809.) + + 1235 Sess. VI, can. 25: "_Si quis in quolibet bono opere iustum saltem + venialiter peccare dixerit, aut quod intolerabilius est, mortaliter + atque ideo poenas aeternas mereri, tantumque ob id non damnari quia + Deus ea opera non imputat ad damnationem, anathema sit._" + (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 835.) + + 1236 Sess. VI, can. 26: "_Si quis dixerit, iustos non debere pro bonis + operibus, quae in Deo fuerint facta, exspectare et sperare aeternam + retributionem a Deo per eius misericordiam et Iesu Christi meritum, + si bene agendo et divina mandata custodiendo usque in finem + perseveraverint, anathema sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 836.) + + 1237 Sess. VI, can. 32: "_Si quis dixerit, ... ipsum iustificatum bonis + operibus, quae ab eo per Dei gratiam et Iesu Christi meritum, cuius + vivum membrum est, fiunt, non vere mereri augmentum gratiae, ... + anathema sit._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 842.) + + 1238 Cfr. Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1221 sqq. + + 1239 Wisd. V, 16: "_Iusti autem in perpetuum vivent et apud Dominum est + merces eorum._" + + 1240 Ecclus. XVIII, 22: "_Ne verearis usque ad mortem iustificari, + quoniam merces Dei manet in aeternum._" Cfr. Gen. XV, 1. + + 1241 Matth. V, 12: "_Gaudete et exultate, quoniam merces vestra copiosa + est in caelis._" + + 1242 Rom. II, 6 sq.: "_... qui reddet unicuique secundum opera eius, iis + quidem, qui secundum patientiam boni operis gloriam et honorem et + incorruptionem quaerunt, vitam aeternam._" + + 1243 2 Tim. IV, 7 sq.: "_Bonum certamen certavi, cursum consummavi, fidem + servavi. In reliquo reposita est mihi corona iustitiae, quam reddet + mihi Dominus in illa die iustus iudex; non solum autem mihi, sed et + iis qui diligunt adventum eius._" Cfr. 1 Cor. IX, 25. + + 1244 1 Cor. III, 8: "_Unusquisque autem propriam mercedem accipiet, + secundum suum laborem._" + + 1245 Col. III, 23 sq.: "_Quodcunque facitis, ex animo operamini sicut + Domino et non hominibus, scientes quod a Domino accipietis + retributionem haereditatis._" + + 1246 Iac. I, 12: "_Beatus vir, qui suffert tentationem, quoniam, quum + probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitae, quam repromisit Deus + diligentibus se._" + + 1247 Apoc. II, 10: "_Esto fidelis usque ad mortem, et dabo tibi coronam + vitae._" For additional Scripture texts see Bellarmine, _De + Iustificatione_, V, 3, 5. + +_ 1248 Ep. ad Rom._, IV, 1. + +_ 1249 Adv. Haer._, IV, 37. + +_ 1250 De Offic._, I, 15, 57: "_Nonne evidens est, meritorum aut praemia + aut supplicia post mortem manere?_" + +_ 1251 De Moribus Ecclesiae_, I, 25: "_Vita aeterna est totum praemium, + cuius promissione gaudemus, nec praemium potest praecedere merita + priusque homini dari, quam dignus est. Quid enim hoc iniustius et + quid iustius Deo? Non ergo debemus poscere praemia, antequam + mereamur accipere._" + +_ 1252 Ep. ad Sixt._, 194, n. 20: "_Sicut merito peccati tamquam + stipendium redditur mors, ita merito iustitiae tamquam stipendium + vita aeterna.... Unde etiam et merces appellatur plurimis s. + Scripturarum locis._" Other Patristic texts inculcating the + meritoriousness of good works performed in the state of grace can be + found in Bellarmine, _De Iustif._, V, 4, 6. For the solution of + objections raised against the Patristic argument consult Schiffini, + _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 609 sqq. + + 1253 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 21, art. 4. + +_ 1254 Cfr. Prop. Baii damn, a Pio V_, 13 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1013): + "_Opera bona a filiis adoptionis facta non accipiunt rationem meriti + ex eo, quod fiunt per Spiritum adoptionis inhabitantem corda + filiorum Dei, sed tantum ex eo, quod sunt conformia legi quodque per + ea praestatur obedientia legi._" + + 1255 Cfr. _Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 16: "_Absit, ut Christianus + homo in se ipso vel confidat vel glorietur, et non in Domino, cuius + tanta est erga homines bonitas, ut eorum velit esse merita, quae + sunt ipsius dona._" + +_ 1256 Conc. Florent._, A. D. 1439, (_apud_ Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 693): + "_... et intueri clare ipsum Deum trinum et unum, sicuti est, pro + meritorum tamen diversitate alium alio perfectius._" + +_ 1257 V. supra_, pp. 356 sqq. + +_ 1258 Conc. Trident._, Sess. XIV, cap. 8: "_Ita non habet homo, unde + glorietur, sed omnis gloriatio nostra in Christo est, in quo + vivimus, in quo movemur, in quo satisfacimus facientes fructus + dignos poenitentiae, qui ex illo vim habent, ab illo offeruntur + Patri et per illum acceptantur a Patre._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 904.) + + 1259 Cfr. _Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, can. 33: "_Si quis dixerit, per + hanc doctrinam catholicam de iustificatione, a s. Synodo hoc + praesenti decreto expressam, aliqua ex parte gloriae Dei vel meritis + Iesu Christi D. N. derogari, et non potius veritatem fidei nostrae, + Dei denique ac Christi Iesu gloriam illustrari, anathema sit._" + + 1260 Cfr. Bellarmine, _De Iustificatione_, V, 7. See also the article on + "Merit" in the _Catholic Encyclopedia_, Vol. X. + + 1261 Sess. VI, cap. 16: "_vere promeruisse_;" Sess. VI, can. 32: "_vere + mereri_." + +_ 1262 Hist. Conc. Trident._, VIII, 4. + + 1263 "_Operibus post acceptam iustificationem peractis adeoque divina + gratia informatis redditisque ob merita Christi potentioribus, cuius + vivum membrum est is qui ea peragit, omnes concedebant rationem + meriti condigni ad conservandam augendamque eandem gratiam + aeternaeque felicitatis consequendam._" (Pallavicini, _l.c._) + +_ 1264 V. infra_, Sect. 2. + + 1265 Heb. VI, 10: "_Non enim iniustus est Deus, ut obliviscatur operis + vestri._" + + 1266 2 Tim. IV, 8: "_... reposita est mihi_," etc. See note 24, _supra_, + p. 403. + + 1267 Iac. I, 12: "_Beatus vir, qui suffert tentationem_," etc. _V. + supra_, note 27, p. 403. + + 1268 Wisd. III, 5: "_Deus tentavit eos et invenit illos dignos se._" + + 1269 2 Thess. I, 4 sq.: "_In omnibus persecutionibus vestris et + tribulationibus, quas sustinetis in exemplum iusti iudicii Dei, ut + digni habeamini in regno Dei, pro quo et patimini._" + + 1270 Apoc. III, 4: "_Ambulabunt mecum in albis, quia digni sunt._" + + 1271 Matth. XXV, 34 sq.: "_Venite, benedicti Patris mei, possidete + paratum vobis regnum a constitutione mundi; esurivi enim et dedistis + mihi manducare...._" + + 1272 1 John III, 9. + +_ 1273 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 3, ad 3: "_Gratia Spiritus S., + quam in praesenti habemus, etsi non sit aequalis gloriae in actu, + est tamen aequalis in virtute, sicut semen arboris, in quo est + virtus ad totam arborem. Et similiter per gratiam inhabitat hominem + Spiritus S., qui est sufficiens causa vitae aeternae, unde et + dicitur esse pignus haereditatis nostrae._" + +_ 1274 Summa Theol._, 1a, qu. 21, art. 4, ad 1. + + 1275 Luke VI, 38: "_Date, et dabitur vobis: mensuram bonam, et confectam, + et coagitatam, et supereffluentem dabunt in sinum vestrum._" Cfr. + _Prop. Baii damn. A. D. 1567 a Pio V_, 14 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 1014): "_Opera bona iustorum non accipient in die iudicii extremi + mercedem ampliorem, quam iusto Dei iudicio mereantur accipere._" For + further information on this topic consult Bellarmine, _De + Iustificatione_, V, 19; De Lugo, _De Poenitentia_, disp. 24, n. 10. + The Thomistic axiom, "_Deus punit citra condignum et remunerat ultra + condignum_" and Baius' condemned proposition are interpreted + somewhat differently than we have explained them by Suarez, _De + Gratia_, XII, 31, 14. On the general argument of this Section the + student may profitably consult St. Bonaventure, _Breviloquium_, P. + V, § 12; Billuart, _De Gratia_, diss. 8, art. 3; Tepe, _Instit. + Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 226 sqq., Paris 1896; Chr. Pesch, _Praelect. + Dogmat._, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 218 sqq., Freiburg 1908; Schiffini, + _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 614 sqq., Freiburg 1901. + + 1276 Eph. VI, 8: "_Scientes, quoniam unusquisque, quodcunque fecerit + bonum, hoc recipiet a Domino._" + + 1277 2 Cor. V, 10: "_Omnes enim nos manifestari oportet ante tribunal + Christi, ut referat unusquisque propria corporis, prout gessit, sive + bonum sive malum._" + + 1278 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 1, ad 1: + "_Homo, in quantum propria voluntate facit illud quod debet, + meretur; alioquin actus iustitiae, quo quis reddit debitum, non + esset meritorius._" + + 1279 Cfr. Suarez, _De Gratia_, X, 2, 5 sqq. + + 1280 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural_, + pp. 291 sqq. + + 1281 1 Cor. IX, 17: "_Si enim volens hoc ago, mercedem habeo._" + + 1282 Matth. XIX, 17: "_Si autem vis ad vitam ingredi, serva mandata._" + +_ 1283 Contra Jovin._, 1. II, n. 3: "_Ubi necessitas est, nec corona nec + damnatio est._" + + 1284 For a more extensive treatment of this and allied questions consult + Ripalda, _De Ente Supernaturali_, disp. 74, sect. 3; De Lugo, _De + Incarnatione_, disp. 26, sect. 10, n. 126 sq. + +_ 1285 V. supra_, pp. 82 sqq. + + 1286 Especially Banez (_Comment. in S. Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 24, art. 6, + dub. 6). This view is also taken by the so-called Augustinians. + + 1287 Notably Billuart; see his treatise _De Gratia_, diss. 8, art. 4. + +_ 1288 De Iustificatione_, V, 15: "_Non sufficere, si quis ad initium anni + vel mensis vel etiam diei generali quadam intentione referat omnia + sua futura opera in Deum, sed necesse esse ut illud ipsum opus + particulare referatur in Deum, quod postea faciendum est._" + +_ 1289 Summa Theologica_, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 4: "_Et ideo meritum vitae + aeternae primo pertinet ad caritatem, ad alias autem virtutes + secundario, secundum quod earum actus a caritate imperantur._" And + again, _l.c._, ad 3: "_Similiter etiam actus patientiae et + fortitudinis non est meritorius, nisi aliquis ex caritate haec + operetur._" On the true sense of these passages cfr. Schiffini, _De + Gratia Divina_, pp. 647 sqq. + + 1290 Cfr. _Prop. damn. ab Innocentio XI_, prop. 6 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 1156): "_Probabile est, ne singulis quidem rigorose quinquenniis per + se obligare praeceptum caritatis erga Deum._" + + 1291 Cfr. J. Ernst, _Die Notwendigkeit der guten Meinung. Untersuchungen + ueber die Gottesliebe als Prinzip der Sittlichkeit und + Verdienstlichkeit_, Freiburg 1905. + +_ 1292 De Gratia_, IX, 3. + +_ 1293 Comment. in S. Theol._, 1a 2ae, disp. 220. + +_ 1294 Concilium Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 16: "_Haec est enim illa corona + iustitiae, quam post suum certamen et cursum repositam sibi esse + aiebat Apostolus a iusto iudice sibi reddendam, non solum autem + sibi, sed et omnibus qui diligunt adventum eius. Quum enim ille ipse + Christus Iesus tamquam caput in membra et tamquam vitis in palmites + in ipsos iustificatos iugiter virtutem influat, quae virtus bona + eorum opera semper antecedit et comitatur et subsequitur et sine qua + nullo pacto Deo grata et meritoria esse possent, nihil ipsis + iustificatis amplius deesse credendum est, quominus plene illis + quidem operibus, quae in Deo_ [=_per Deum_; v. Sess. VI, can. 26, + 32] _sunt facta, divinae legi pro huius vitae statu satisfecisse et + vitam aeternam suo etiam tempore, si tamen in gratia decesserint, + consequendam vere promeruisse censeantur._" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 809.) + + 1295 Cfr. Matth. V, 2 sqq. + + 1296 Matth. XIX, 16: "_Quid boni faciam, ut habeam vitam aeternam?_" + + 1297 Matth. XIX, 17: "_Si autem vis ad vitam ingredi, serva mandata._" + + 1298 Cfr. Matth. XIX, 18 sqq. + + 1299 The Scriptural argument is more fully developed by Tepe, _Inst. + Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 233 sqq. + +_ 1300 V. supra_, pp. 73 sqq. + + 1301 On a similar controversy regarding the necessity of the motive of + faith, see Pesch, _Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. III, 3rd ed., pp. 225 + sqq., and Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 649 sqq. + + 1302 The Scriptural proof for this proposition will be found in the + dogmatic treatise on Eschatology. On the absurdity of the + semi-Pelagian hypothesis of _merita sub conditione futura_ see + Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, pp. + 375 sq. + + 1303 Cfr. _Prop. Baii damn. 1567 a Pio V_, prop. 17 (Denzinger-Bannwart, + n. 1017): "_Sentiunt cum Pelagio, qui dicunt esse necessarium ad + rationem meriti, ut homo per gratiam adoptionis sublimetur ad statum + deificum._" + + 1304 John XV, 4: "_Sicut palmes non potest ferre fructum a semetipso, + nisi manserit in vite, sic nec vos, nisi in me manseritis._" + + 1305 Rom. VIII, 17: "_Si autem filii, et haeredes; haeredes quidem Dei, + cohaeredes autem Christi._" Additional Biblical texts in Bellarmine, + _De Iustificatione_, V, 12 sq. + +_ 1306 Comment. in S. Theol._, 3a, disp. 6, cap. 4. + + 1307 Suarez (_De Gratia_, XII, 22), Ripalda (_De Ente Supernaturali_, + disp. 81), De Lugo (_De Incarnatione_, disp. 6, sect. 2, n. 37). + +_ 1308 Comment. in Sent._, II, dist. 29, qu. 1, art. 4. + + 1309 Cfr. Job XLII, 8; Dan. III, 35. + + 1310 Cfr. Scotus, _Comment. in Sent._, I, dist. 17, qu. 2. + + 1311 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, _God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes_, + PP. 456 sq. + + 1312 Rom. VIII, 18: "_Non sunt condignae passiones huius temporis ad + futuram gloriam._" + +_ 1313 De Perfect. Divin._, XIII, 2. + +_ 1314 Comment. in S. Theol._, 1a 2ae, disp. 214, 223. + +_ 1315 De Incarnatione_, disp. 3, sect. 1 sq. + +_ 1316 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 1, ad 3: "_Dicendum quod, quia + actio nostra non habet rationem meriti nisi ex praesuppositione + divinae ordinationis, non sequitur quod Deus efficiatur simpliciter + debitor nobis, sed sibi ipsi, inquantum debitum est, ut sua + ordinatio impleatur._" + + 1317 Iac. I, 12: "_Accipiet coronam vitae_ [St. Paul says: {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}], _quam repromisit ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}) Deus + diligentibus se._" + +_ 1318 Serm._, 158, c. 2, n. 2: "_Debitor factus est Deus non aliquid a + nobis accipiendo, sed quod ei placuit promittendo. Aliter enim + dicimus homini: Debes mihi, quia dedi tibi; et aliter dicimus: Debes + mihi, quia promisisti mihi. Deo autem nunquam dicimus: Redde mihi, + quia dedi tibi. Quid dedimus Deo, quando totum quod sumus et quod + habemus boni, ab illo habemus? Nihil ergo ei dedimus.... Illo ergo + modo possumus exigere Dominum nostrum ut dicamus: Redde, quod + promisisti, quia fecimus quod iussisti, et hoc tu fecisti, quia + laborantes iuvisti._" + +_ 1319 Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 16: "_In Deo sperantibus proponenda + est vita aeterna ... tamquam merces ex ipsius Dei promissione bonis + ipsorum operibus et meritis fideliter [i.e. ex fidelitate] + reddenda._" Cfr. Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 416 sqq. + + 1320 Sess. VI, can. 32: "_Si quis dixerit, iustificatum bonis operibus + ... non vere mereri augmentum gratiae, vitam aeternam et ipsius + vitae aeternae, si tamen in gratia decesserit, consecutionem atque + etiam gloriae augmentum, anathema sit._" + + 1321 See the article on "Merit" in the _Catholic Encyclopedia_. + +_ 1322 V. supra_, Ch. II, Sect. 3, Thesis II. + + 1323 Sess. VI, cap. 8: "_Gratis autem iustificari ideo dicimur, quia + nihil eorum quae iustificationem praecedunt, sive fides, sive opera, + ipsam iustificationis gratiam promeretur; si enim gratia est, iam + non ex operibus, alioquin, ut idem Apostolus inquit, gratia iam non + est gratia._" + +_ 1324 V. supra_, Sect. 2, No. 2. + +_ 1325 De Natura et Gratia_, c. 4, n. 4: "_Haec Christi gratia, sine qua + nec infantes nec aetate grandes salvi fieri possunt, non meritis + redditur, sed gratis datur, propter quod et gratia nominatur. + Iustificati, inquit (Rom. III, 24; V, 4), gratis per sanguinem + ipsius._" + + 1326 Cfr. _Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 6; Sess. VI, cap. 3; Sess. + XIV, cap. 4; _supra_, pp. 286 sqq. + + 1327 For a more exhaustive treatment of this topic consult Tepe, _Instit. + Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 158 sqq. + + 1328 See, for example, Suarez, _De Gratia_, XII, 26: "_De auxiliis + sufficientibus et necessariis, quae post aliquod meritum de condigno + augmenti gratiae dantur, vel offeruntur, probabile est concomitanter + cadere sub idem meritum de condigno augmenti gratiae; nam qui + meretur de condigno aliquam formam, meretur quidquid connaturaliter + sequitur ex tali forma vel ei connaturaliter debetur._" On the + actual distribution of sufficient grace, v. _supra_, pp. 167 sqq. + +_ 1329 V. supra_, pp. 392 sqq. + + 1330 For a fuller treatment cfr. Tepe, _Inst. Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 258 + sqq., and Chr. Pesch, _Praelect. Dogmat._, Vol. V, 3rd ed., pp. 237 + sqq. + +_ 1331 V. supra_, Sect. 1. + + 1332 Sess. VI, cap. 16; v. _supra_, pp. 400 sq. + + 1333 Sess. VI, can. 32. + + 1334 Cfr. Suarez, _De Gratia_, XII, 29: "_Dicendum vitam aeternam et + vitae aeternae consecutionem non esse duo praemia distincta, quia + mereri mercedem et solutionem mercedis non sunt duae mercedes._" + + 1335 On the _reviviscentia meritorum_ see the treatise on the Sacrament + of Penance, Vol. X of this series; cfr. also Schiffini, _De Gratia + Divina_, pp. 661 sqq. + +_ 1336 E.g._ Ripalda (_De Ente Supernat._, disp. 89, sect. 1) and De Lugo + (_De Incarnatione_, disp. 3, n. 59). + +_ 1337 V. supra_, Sect. 2, No. 2. + + 1338 Cfr. Suarez, _De Gratia_, XII, 28, and Vasquez, _Comment. in S. + Theol._, 1a 2ae, disp. 219, c. 2. + + 1339 Despite Bellarmine's contradiction (_De Iustificatione_, V, 20.) + + 1340 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 122, art. 2, ad 1: + "_Praeparatio hominis ad gratiam habendam quaedam est simul cum ipsa + infusione gratiae; et talis operatio est quidem meritoria, sed non + gratiae quae iam habetur, sed gloriae quae nondum habetur._" + + 1341 Cfr. Tepe, _Instit. Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 266 sqq. + + 1342 Matth. XVI, 27: "_Et tunc reddet unicuique secundum opera eius_ + ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~})." + + 1343 1 Cor. III, 8: "_Unusquisque autem propriam mercedem ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) accipiet secundum suum laborem_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~})." + + 1344 See Eschatology. + + 1345 Cfr. St. Thomas Aquinas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 8. + +_ 1346 De Praed. Sanctorum_, c. 2. + +_ 1347 V. supra_, Sect. 2. + + 1348 Prominent among the dissenters is Billuart (_De Gratia_, diss. 8, + art. 5). + +_ 1349 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 6, ad 2: "_Impetratio + orationis innititur misericordiae, meritum autem condigni innititur + iustitiae. Et ideo multa orando impetrat homo ex divina + misericordia, quae tamen non meretur secundum iustitiam._" + + 1350 Ps. L, 19: "_Cor contritum et humiliatum Deus non despicies._" + + 1351 Dan. IV, 24: "_Peccata tua eleemosynis redime et iniquitates tuas + misericordiis pauperum; forsitan ignoscet delictis tuis._" + +_ 1352 Ep. ad Sixt._, 194, c. 3, n. 9: "_Sed nec ipsa remissio peccatorum + sine aliquo merito est, si fides hanc impetret. Neque enim nullum + est meritum fidei, qua fide ille dicebat: Deus propitius esto mihi + peccatori, et descendit iustificatus merito fidelis humilitatis._" + Cfr. _Conc. Trident._, Sess. VI, cap. 7 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. + 799): "_Hanc dispositionem seu praeparationem iustificatio ipsa + consequitur._" For a fuller treatment cfr. Suarez, _De Gratia_, XII, + 37. + +_ 1353 V. supra_, pp. 123 sqq. The student may also consult Tepe, _Instit. + Theol._, Vol. III, pp. 258 sqq., and Bellarmine, _De Iustific._, V, + 22. + +_ 1354 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 7: "_Respondeo dicendum quod + nullus potest sibi mereri reparationem post lapsum futurum neque + merito condigni neque merito congrui._" + +_ 1355 Lect. in Hebr._, III, 6, 10: "_Duplex est meritum. Unum quod + innititur iustitiae et istud est meritum condigni; aliud quod soli + misericordiae innititur, quod dicitur meritum congrui. Et de isto + dicit [Paulus], quod iustum est, i.e. congruum, quod homo, qui multa + bona fecit, mereatur.... Et isto modo non obliviscitur Deus operis + nostri et dilectionis._" + +_ 1356 Comment. in Sent._, IV, dist. 2, qu. 1, art. 2. + +_ 1357 Comment. in Sent._, II, dist. 28, dub. 2. + +_ 1358 De Gratia_, XII, 38, 6. + + 1359 2 Paral. XIX, 2 sq.: "_Impio praebes auxilium et his, qui oderunt + Dominum, amicitia iungeris et idcirco iram quidem Domini merebaris; + sed bona opera inventa sunt in te._" + + 1360 Suarez, _De Gratia_, XII, 38, 7: "_Possunt enim praecedentia merita + esse tam pauca et tot peccata postea multiplicata, ut omnino obruant + merita et efficiant, ut nullo modo Deum ad misericordiam provocent; + secus vero erit, si e contrario merita magna fuerint et peccatum + subsequens et rarum sit et excusationem aliquam ex ignorantia vel + infirmitate habeat._" + + 1361 Ps. LXX, 9: "_Quum defecerit virtus mea, ne derelinquas me._" + + 1362 Cfr. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 7, ad 1: + "_Desiderium, quo quis desiderat reparationem post lapsum, iustum + dicitur; et similiter oratio, qua petit eiusmodi reparationem, + dicitur iusta, quia tendit ad iustitiam; non tamen ita quod + iustitiae innitatur per modum meriti, sed solum misericordiae._" + Cfr. Schiffini, _De Gratia Divina_, pp. 687 sq. + +_ 1363 V. supra_, pp. 136 sqq. + +_ 1364 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 6: "_Quia enim homo in gratia + constitutus implet Dei voluntatem, congruum est secundum amicitiae + proportionem ut Deus impleat hominis voluntatem in salvatione + alterius, licet quandoque possit habere impedimentum ex parte + illius, cuius aliquis sanctus iustificationem desiderat._" + + 1365 Iac. V, 16: "_Orate pro invicem, ut salvemini; multum enim valet + deprecatio iusti assidua._" + +_ 1366 E.g._ Abraham, Job, St. Stephen. + +_ 1367 E.g._ St. Augustine and his mother St. Monica. + + 1368 Cfr. Suarez, _De Gratia_, XII, 38, 21. + +_ 1369 Summa Theol._, 1a 2ae, qu. 114, art. 10: "_Dicendum est quod, si + temporalia bona considerentur, prout sunt utilia ad opera virtutum, + quibus perducimur in vitam aeternam, secundum hoc directe et + simpliciter cadunt sub merito, sicut et augmentum gratiae et omnia + illa, quibus homo adiuvatur ad perveniendum in beatitudinem post + primam gratiam.... Si autem considerentur huiusmodi temporalia bona + secundum se, sic non sunt simpliciter bona hominis, sed secundum + quid, et ita non simpliciter cadunt sub merito, sed secundum quid, + inquantum scil. homines moventur a Deo ad aliqua temporaliter + agenda, quibus suum propositum consequuntur Deo favente._" + + 1370 Gen. 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