Sect. 228The Distribution of Actual GraceThe Distribution of Actual Grace
I. The unknown author of the book De Vocatione Gentium, who lived in the fifth century, and was called by Pope Gelasius “an approved teacher of the Church,” puts the question as to the distribution of grace as follows: “As it cannot be denied that God wishes all men to be saved, we inquire why the will of the Almighty is not carried out. If we say it is the fault of man’s free will, we seem to exclude grace; for if grace is given according to merit, it is no longer a gift, but a debt. Hence we ask again: Why is this gift, without which nobody can be saved, not given to all by Him Who wishes to save all?”
The same author solves the problem, as far as it can be solved, by distinguishing between God’s general benevolence and His special mercy. “It pleased God to give His special mercy to many, and to deprive nobody of His general benevolence.” In other words, the solution is to be sought in the inscrutable decrees of God, which lie far beyond human ken, and can only be known darkly by Divine revelation. This “mystery of predestination” neither Augustine nor any other theologian has ever penetrated. The deposit of revelation enlightens us on the following points:—
1. The infinite goodness of God and His revealed word (1 Tim. 2:1–6) leave us no doubt that “God will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth … through Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself a redemption for all.” If, then, salvation is impossible without grace, God, Who wills the end, does provide the means, viz. sufficient grace to each and all for the salvation of their souls.
2. Grace barely sufficient for men is not sufficient for God’s benevolence. Hence we are assured by the Apostle (Rom. 5:15) that, “not as the offence (the sin of Adam bringing death to all), so also is the gift. For, if by the offence of one many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift, by the grace of one man, Christ Jesus, has abounded unto many” (= all who sinned in Adam) (cf. John 3:16).
3. “God is the Saviour of all men, especially of the faithful” (1 Tim. 4:10). Some die young that they may die in grace (Wisd. 4:11). Tyre and Sidon did not receive the same graces as the Jews (Matt. 11:21). It can hardly be doubted that people are lost whose sins are not equal to those of Mary Magdalen or the Penitent Thief.
II. Luther, Calvin, and Jansenius held that even the just are unable to keep the whole law of God, which amounts to saying that God withholds His grace from them. The Council of Trent meets this doctrine with an anathema against any who say “that the Divine precepts cannot be observed even by man justified and endowed with grace” (sess. vi. can. 18). And, indeed, what would become of God’s wish to see all men saved, if He withheld the means of salvation even from His adopted sons? and of His justice, if He punished the helpless transgressor of an impossible law? and of His sanctity, if by withholding sufficient grace He led man into sin? No; “God does not forsake those once justified by His grace, unless they first forsake Him” (sess. vi. chap. 11). He does not allow them to be tempted beyond their power: “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” (1 Cor. 10:15). In fact, His yoke is light (Matt. 11:30), and “His commandments are not heavy, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” (1 John 5:3, 4).
But if the sinner’s mind is obscured and his heart hardened so as to offer obstinate resistance to the operation of grace, does God still give him a chance of conversion? Calvin goes so far as to say that God Himself hardens those whom He wishes to damn, and entirely deprives them of grace. Catholics call Calvin’s doctrine blasphemous. The majority of Catholic theologians hold, with good reason, that as long as the sinner lives, be he ever so obstinate, the helping hand of God is stretched out to him, if not constantly, at least at certain times. This doctrine is based upon the Council of Trent, sess. xiv. chap. 1: “Because God, rich in mercy, knoweth our frame (figmentum nostrum). He hath given the remedy of life also to those who afterwards (i.e. after baptism) have given themselves up to the servitude of sin, and to the power of the devil.” The Council only sums up the teaching of Scripture: “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” (Wisd. 11:24–27). “O how good and how sweet is Thy Spirit, O Lord, in all things! And therefore Thou chastisest them that err, little by little; and admonishest them, and speakest to them concerning the things wherein they offend, that leaving their wickedness they may believe in Thee, O Lord!” (Wisd. 12:1, 2; Ezech. 18:23; 33:31; Luke 5:32; 2 Pet. 3:9). All these texts and many more breathe a tenderness of Divine mercy which seems to increase with the wickedness of the sinner. Christ came to save, not the just, but sinners; to leave the ninety-nine and go after the sheep that is lost; and none is too obstinate for His loving-kindness.
III. Infidels, to whom the faith was never preached, are not left without sufficient grace to secure the salvation of their souls. Luther does not hesitate to sentence all infidels—Gentiles, Turks, and Jews—to eternal hell-fire; and Jansenius is not much more lenient. But the Catholic Church condemned their doctrines. Thus Alexander VIII. (7 Dec. 1690) condemned the proposition: “Pagans, Jews, heretics, and others of this kind, receive no influence whatever from Christ; hence their will is entirely bare and unarmed, and entirely without sufficient grace” (see also the propositions 26, 27, and 29, condemned by Clement XI.). Pius IX. sums up the teaching of the Church on this point in his Encyclical of August 10, 1863, to the Italian bishops: “It is known to us and to you that they who labour under invincible ignorance of our holy religion, and yet diligently keep the natural law and its precepts written by God in the hearts of all, and are ready to obey God and to lead an honest and righteous life, are enabled by the power of Divine light and grace to obtain eternal life. For God, who plainly beholds, examines and knows the minds and hearts, the thoughts and habits of all, in His sovereign goodness and clemency will not allow that any one suffer eternal punishment who is without the guilt of a wilful sin.” The teaching of the Popes is not less in accordance with Scripture than with reason. Christ is the Light of the world that enlightens “all men,” and God wills that “all men come into the knowledge of truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). See § 45.
The ways by which grace reaches the soul of the infidel are known to God alone. St. Thomas (De Veritate, q. 14, a. 11, ad. 1) is certain that the untutored savage, who follows the dictates of his conscience, receives from God, either by an internal revelation or an external messenger, the faith necessary to his salvation. As we live in the supernatural order, we may well hold with Ripalda that every effort to do good proceeding from human nature is accompanied and assisted by some supernatural grace, and thus works for salvation.
I. The unknown author of the book De Vocatione Gentium, who lived in the fifth century, and was called by Pope Gelasius “an approved teacher of the Church,” puts the question as to the distribution of grace as follows: “As it cannot be denied that God wishes all men to be saved, we inquire why the will of the Almighty is not carried out. If we say it is the fault of man’s free will, we seem to exclude grace; for if grace is given according to merit, it is no longer a gift, but a debt. Hence we ask again: Why is this gift, without which nobody can be saved, not given to all by Him Who wishes to save all?”
The same author solves the problem, as far as it can be solved, by distinguishing between God’s general benevolence and His special mercy. “It pleased God to give His special mercy to many, and to deprive nobody of His general benevolence.” In other words, the solution is to be sought in the inscrutable decrees of God, which lie far beyond human ken, and can only be known darkly by Divine revelation. This “mystery of predestination” neither Augustine nor any other theologian has ever penetrated. The deposit of revelation enlightens us on the following points:—
1. The infinite goodness of God and His revealed word (1 Tim. 2:1–6) leave us no doubt that “God will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth … through Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself a redemption for all.” If, then, salvation is impossible without grace, God, Who wills the end, does provide the means, viz. sufficient grace to each and all for the salvation of their souls.
2. Grace barely sufficient for men is not sufficient for God’s benevolence. Hence we are assured by the Apostle (Rom. 5:15) that, “not as the offence (the sin of Adam bringing death to all), so also is the gift. For, if by the offence of one many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift, by the grace of one man, Christ Jesus, has abounded unto many” (= all who sinned in Adam) (cf. John 3:16).
3. “God is the Saviour of all men, especially of the faithful” (1 Tim. 4:10). Some die young that they may die in grace (Wisd. 4:11). Tyre and Sidon did not receive the same graces as the Jews (Matt. 11:21). It can hardly be doubted that people are lost whose sins are not equal to those of Mary Magdalen or the Penitent Thief.
II. Luther, Calvin, and Jansenius held that even the just are unable to keep the whole law of God, which amounts to saying that God withholds His grace from them. The Council of Trent meets this doctrine with an anathema against any who say “that the Divine precepts cannot be observed even by man justified and endowed with grace” (sess. vi. can. 18). And, indeed, what would become of God’s wish to see all men saved, if He withheld the means of salvation even from His adopted sons? and of His justice, if He punished the helpless transgressor of an impossible law? and of His sanctity, if by withholding sufficient grace He led man into sin? No; “God does not forsake those once justified by His grace, unless they first forsake Him” (sess. vi. chap. 11). He does not allow them to be tempted beyond their power: “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” (1 Cor. 10:15). In fact, His yoke is light (Matt. 11:30), and “His commandments are not heavy, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” (1 John 5:3, 4).
But if the sinner’s mind is obscured and his heart hardened so as to offer obstinate resistance to the operation of grace, does God still give him a chance of conversion? Calvin goes so far as to say that God Himself hardens those whom He wishes to damn, and entirely deprives them of grace. Catholics call Calvin’s doctrine blasphemous. The majority of Catholic theologians hold, with good reason, that as long as the sinner lives, be he ever so obstinate, the helping hand of God is stretched out to him, if not constantly, at least at certain times. This doctrine is based upon the Council of Trent, sess. xiv. chap. 1: “Because God, rich in mercy, knoweth our frame (figmentum nostrum). He hath given the remedy of life also to those who afterwards (i.e. after baptism) have given themselves up to the servitude of sin, and to the power of the devil.” The Council only sums up the teaching of Scripture: “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” (Wisd. 11:24–27). “O how good and how sweet is Thy Spirit, O Lord, in all things! And therefore Thou chastisest them that err, little by little; and admonishest them, and speakest to them concerning the things wherein they offend, that leaving their wickedness they may believe in Thee, O Lord!” (Wisd. 12:1, 2; Ezech. 18:23; 33:31; Luke 5:32; 2 Pet. 3:9). All these texts and many more breathe a tenderness of Divine mercy which seems to increase with the wickedness of the sinner. Christ came to save, not the just, but sinners; to leave the ninety-nine and go after the sheep that is lost; and none is too obstinate for His loving-kindness.
III. Infidels, to whom the faith was never preached, are not left without sufficient grace to secure the salvation of their souls. Luther does not hesitate to sentence all infidels—Gentiles, Turks, and Jews—to eternal hell-fire; and Jansenius is not much more lenient. But the Catholic Church condemned their doctrines. Thus Alexander VIII. (7 Dec. 1690) condemned the proposition: “Pagans, Jews, heretics, and others of this kind, receive no influence whatever from Christ; hence their will is entirely bare and unarmed, and entirely without sufficient grace” (see also the propositions 26, 27, and 29, condemned by Clement XI.). Pius IX. sums up the teaching of the Church on this point in his Encyclical of August 10, 1863, to the Italian bishops: “It is known to us and to you that they who labour under invincible ignorance of our holy religion, and yet diligently keep the natural law and its precepts written by God in the hearts of all, and are ready to obey God and to lead an honest and righteous life, are enabled by the power of Divine light and grace to obtain eternal life. For God, who plainly beholds, examines and knows the minds and hearts, the thoughts and habits of all, in His sovereign goodness and clemency will not allow that any one suffer eternal punishment who is without the guilt of a wilful sin.” The teaching of the Popes is not less in accordance with Scripture than with reason. Christ is the Light of the world that enlightens “all men,” and God wills that “all men come into the knowledge of truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). See § 45.
The ways by which grace reaches the soul of the infidel are known to God alone. St. Thomas (De Veritate, q. 14, a. 11, ad. 1) is certain that the untutored savage, who follows the dictates of his conscience, receives from God, either by an internal revelation or an external messenger, the faith necessary to his salvation. As we live in the supernatural order, we may well hold with Ripalda that every effort to do good proceeding from human nature is accompanied and assisted by some supernatural grace, and thus works for salvation.
Seção 77% da obra, de A Manual of Catholic Theology (Wilhelm & Scannell, sobre a Dogmatik de Scheeben). Ver o original.