Sect. 154The Supernatural in MankindThe Supernatural in Mankind
I. The vocation to the supernatural end given to the first man and all his descendants is the basis of the whole Christian doctrine concerning sin and Redemption. The loss of the claim to heaven was a punishment of sin, and the restoration of that claim was the effect of Redemption. The Council of Trent defines that “Adam, the first man, having transgressed in Paradise the commandment of God, immediately lost that holiness and justice wherein he had been constituted” (sess. v., can. 1). This implies that Adam, before his sin, possessed the principle of eternal life, viz. sanctifying grace. The loss of grace was the primary effect of sin, and the essential effect of Redemption by Christ is a restoration of lost grace. The Fathers are unanimous on this point.
1. Although the Council of Trent has left the question undecided, there is no doubt that the first man received sanctifying grace in the instant of his creation, simultaneously with his nature; and that grace was part of that Divine likeness and of that rectitude and justice in which, according to Scripture, man was created. The Fathers were so thoroughly imbued with this notion that they held the bestowal of grace to be as important an element in the realization of the Divine Idea of man as the constitution of nature itself. Their frequent expressions “a new creature,” “nature instituted or fitted out,” “natural good,” signify nature as originally endowed with grace. From the same point of view they designate original grace as “natural” dignity, possibility, and rectitude. The texts of Scripture bearing on this question are conclusive only when taken in the sense given them by the Fathers. Such texts are, Eph. 4:23, 24, with Col. 3:9, 10; Gen. 1:27; Eccles. 7:30. But the real proof lies in the testimony of the Fathers, which is so strong that Baius, after collecting it (De Prima Hominis Justitia, c. i.) concludes that the Fathers taught the actual conjunction of nature and grace, not merely as a fact, but also as a natural necessity.
That the relatively supernatural (the gift of integrity) was given simultaneously with nature and dependently on sanctifying grace has been shown in § 152. Here we only note that the term “Original Justice” is never used by the Fathers, in the restricted sense of some Theologians, for “justice or original integrity”—that is, the integrity without sanctifying grace.
2. Although the supernatural endowment of man does not require that he should have the full use of his mental and bodily faculties from the beginning of his existence, yet it was fitting that those who were the source of the whole race, in the order both of nature and grace, should not begin life as undeveloped children. Like the first beings created of other species, they were perfect in body, and, like the angels, they were perfect in mind. Hence, at the very origin, the supernatural vocation and its necessary elements must have been revealed to them as they were to the angels. According to Scripture, Adam gave their names to the beasts of the field and to all living creatures (Gen. 2:20). In this fact Theologians see a proof that the mind of Adam was fully developed, and possessed a deep knowledge of nature.
3. Among the things revealed to Adam was his trial, viz. the commandment not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This Divine precept contained a restriction of man’s dominion over nature, and required of him self-denial and obedience. The continuance of the state of integrity was dependent on his keeping the command. This we gather from the penalty of death attached to transgression. The loss of the privilege of immortality entails the loss of all the privileges of the original state. But if death was to happen only in the case of transgression, immortality and the other privileges were to last as long as the commandment was observed, or until man’s final consummation in heaven.
On account of the promise of continuance of privileges implied in the sanction of the law of probation, Theologians call this law a Testament or a pact (fædus). It is not properly a “contract,” because a contract requires the free consent of the two parties, whereas in this case consent was not freely given, but was imposed. The reasonableness of the precept is clear. Man having been exalted to a dignity to which he had no claim, it was only right that, by an act of obedience, he should acknowledge the absolute dominion of God over nature and the absolute gratuity of the graces and privileges received; and, on the other hand, it was reasonable that refusal of obedience should entail the loss of the gratuitous gifts.
II. In and with the first man all mankind were called to a supernatural end. Consequently, the endowment with supernatural grace was intended as an endowment of the nature common to all. Human nature is propagated by way of generation, God infusing the soul into the prepared organism. From this we can easily see how grace was to be handed down according to the design of God. At each generation a soul was to be infused endowed with grace and integrity. Thus the transmission of grace would be akin to an hereditary transmission, based upon the unity of nature, and bestowed upon all who derive their nature from Adam. This doctrine underlies the teaching of the Council of Trent (sess. v., c. 2), in condemning the proposition that “the holiness and justice which Adam received from God, he lost for himself only, not for us also.”
1. The transmission of grace to all mankind supposes the propagation and the unity of human nature as its foundation and condition; but the converse is not true. Although all men inherit the same nature from Adam, it is still conceivable and even reasonable that grace should be communicated to each individual according to and dependently on his own personal conduct. That the descendants of Adam were to receive grace only by reason of the obedience of their progenitor, was a positive disposition of the free will of God, dealing with mankind as one great whole. Nor had Adam necessarily the power by his own will to transmit grace to his progeny, any more than parents can now communicate the grace or even the natural qualities which they possess. The position of Adam as regards the transmission of grace consisted in this: he was chosen by God as the starting-point from which grace was to be spread among the human race through the channel of natural generation; and his good or bad conduct was made by God the condition of the communication or non-communication of grace to mankind.
2. What has been said will account for the participation of mankind in Adam’s punishment, i.e. in his degradation from the supernatural order. It does not, however, explain sufficiently the participation of mankind in Adam’s guilt; i.e. how the “death of the soul” is not only a penalty but also a sin. This explanation is arrived at by admitting, conjointly with the solidary right of the whole human race to original justice, an equally solidary obligation of fulfilling the law of probation. Neither of these two solidarities is essentially connected with the unity of mankind; both alike are positive Divine ordinances. God enacted that the will of the first representative of the race should represent the will of all his posterity; hence Adam’s prevarication is the prevarication of the entire race. Posterity was not, however, made responsible for its progenitor’s sin in the same degree as the progenitor himself, which will be further explained in the next book.
I. The vocation to the supernatural end given to the first man and all his descendants is the basis of the whole Christian doctrine concerning sin and Redemption. The loss of the claim to heaven was a punishment of sin, and the restoration of that claim was the effect of Redemption. The Council of Trent defines that “Adam, the first man, having transgressed in Paradise the commandment of God, immediately lost that holiness and justice wherein he had been constituted” (sess. v., can. 1). This implies that Adam, before his sin, possessed the principle of eternal life, viz. sanctifying grace. The loss of grace was the primary effect of sin, and the essential effect of Redemption by Christ is a restoration of lost grace. The Fathers are unanimous on this point.
1. Although the Council of Trent has left the question undecided, there is no doubt that the first man received sanctifying grace in the instant of his creation, simultaneously with his nature; and that grace was part of that Divine likeness and of that rectitude and justice in which, according to Scripture, man was created. The Fathers were so thoroughly imbued with this notion that they held the bestowal of grace to be as important an element in the realization of the Divine Idea of man as the constitution of nature itself. Their frequent expressions “a new creature,” “nature instituted or fitted out,” “natural good,” signify nature as originally endowed with grace. From the same point of view they designate original grace as “natural” dignity, possibility, and rectitude. The texts of Scripture bearing on this question are conclusive only when taken in the sense given them by the Fathers. Such texts are, Eph. 4:23, 24, with Col. 3:9, 10; Gen. 1:27; Eccles. 7:30. But the real proof lies in the testimony of the Fathers, which is so strong that Baius, after collecting it (De Prima Hominis Justitia, c. i.) concludes that the Fathers taught the actual conjunction of nature and grace, not merely as a fact, but also as a natural necessity.
That the relatively supernatural (the gift of integrity) was given simultaneously with nature and dependently on sanctifying grace has been shown in § 152. Here we only note that the term “Original Justice” is never used by the Fathers, in the restricted sense of some Theologians, for “justice or original integrity”—that is, the integrity without sanctifying grace.
2. Although the supernatural endowment of man does not require that he should have the full use of his mental and bodily faculties from the beginning of his existence, yet it was fitting that those who were the source of the whole race, in the order both of nature and grace, should not begin life as undeveloped children. Like the first beings created of other species, they were perfect in body, and, like the angels, they were perfect in mind. Hence, at the very origin, the supernatural vocation and its necessary elements must have been revealed to them as they were to the angels. According to Scripture, Adam gave their names to the beasts of the field and to all living creatures (Gen. 2:20). In this fact Theologians see a proof that the mind of Adam was fully developed, and possessed a deep knowledge of nature.
3. Among the things revealed to Adam was his trial, viz. the commandment not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This Divine precept contained a restriction of man’s dominion over nature, and required of him self-denial and obedience. The continuance of the state of integrity was dependent on his keeping the command. This we gather from the penalty of death attached to transgression. The loss of the privilege of immortality entails the loss of all the privileges of the original state. But if death was to happen only in the case of transgression, immortality and the other privileges were to last as long as the commandment was observed, or until man’s final consummation in heaven.
On account of the promise of continuance of privileges implied in the sanction of the law of probation, Theologians call this law a Testament or a pact (fædus). It is not properly a “contract,” because a contract requires the free consent of the two parties, whereas in this case consent was not freely given, but was imposed. The reasonableness of the precept is clear. Man having been exalted to a dignity to which he had no claim, it was only right that, by an act of obedience, he should acknowledge the absolute dominion of God over nature and the absolute gratuity of the graces and privileges received; and, on the other hand, it was reasonable that refusal of obedience should entail the loss of the gratuitous gifts.
II. In and with the first man all mankind were called to a supernatural end. Consequently, the endowment with supernatural grace was intended as an endowment of the nature common to all. Human nature is propagated by way of generation, God infusing the soul into the prepared organism. From this we can easily see how grace was to be handed down according to the design of God. At each generation a soul was to be infused endowed with grace and integrity. Thus the transmission of grace would be akin to an hereditary transmission, based upon the unity of nature, and bestowed upon all who derive their nature from Adam. This doctrine underlies the teaching of the Council of Trent (sess. v., c. 2), in condemning the proposition that “the holiness and justice which Adam received from God, he lost for himself only, not for us also.”
1. The transmission of grace to all mankind supposes the propagation and the unity of human nature as its foundation and condition; but the converse is not true. Although all men inherit the same nature from Adam, it is still conceivable and even reasonable that grace should be communicated to each individual according to and dependently on his own personal conduct. That the descendants of Adam were to receive grace only by reason of the obedience of their progenitor, was a positive disposition of the free will of God, dealing with mankind as one great whole. Nor had Adam necessarily the power by his own will to transmit grace to his progeny, any more than parents can now communicate the grace or even the natural qualities which they possess. The position of Adam as regards the transmission of grace consisted in this: he was chosen by God as the starting-point from which grace was to be spread among the human race through the channel of natural generation; and his good or bad conduct was made by God the condition of the communication or non-communication of grace to mankind.
2. What has been said will account for the participation of mankind in Adam’s punishment, i.e. in his degradation from the supernatural order. It does not, however, explain sufficiently the participation of mankind in Adam’s guilt; i.e. how the “death of the soul” is not only a penalty but also a sin. This explanation is arrived at by admitting, conjointly with the solidary right of the whole human race to original justice, an equally solidary obligation of fulfilling the law of probation. Neither of these two solidarities is essentially connected with the unity of mankind; both alike are positive Divine ordinances. God enacted that the will of the first representative of the race should represent the will of all his posterity; hence Adam’s prevarication is the prevarication of the entire race. Posterity was not, however, made responsible for its progenitor’s sin in the same degree as the progenitor himself, which will be further explained in the next book.
Seção 52% da obra, de A Manual of Catholic Theology (Wilhelm & Scannell, sobre a Dogmatik de Scheeben). Ver o original.