LatineEnglish
Corrected Latin Text
Articulus Quartus.
De Gratia Sanctificante Adae Collata.
Articulus Quartus.
De Gratia Sanctificante Adae Collata.
254. Quatuor praecipue quaestiones moveri hic possunt: utrum Adam habuerit gratiam sanctificantem - quonam tempore infusa ei fuerit - utrum fuerit ei indebita - utrum denique gratia sanctificans ita universam naturam excedat, ut nulli creaturae possit esse debita. Has quaestiones ex ordine pertractabimus.
254. Four principal questions can be raised here: whether Adam had sanctifying grace; at what time it was infused into him; whether it was not owed to him; and finally whether sanctifying grace so exceeds universal nature that it could be owed to no creature. We shall treat these questions in order.
§ I.
Utrum Adam In Gratia Sanctificante Constitutus Fuerit.
Utrum Adam In Gratia Sanctificante Constitutus Fuerit.
§ I.
Whether Adam Was Constituted In Sanctifying Grace.
Whether Adam Was Constituted In Sanctifying Grace.
255. Non est hic locus naturam gratiae sanctificantis explicandi; sed, ut intelligatur id, de quo agimus, communem et ab omnibus receptam ejus descriptionem subjicimus. Gratia sanctificans itaque est supernaturale Dei donum, permanenter inhaerens animae, quo homo immediate et formaliter sanctus efficitur, justus, Deo gratus, filius Dei adoptivus, capax eliciendi opera meritoria vitae aeternae, ejusdemque haeres.
255. This is not the place for explaining the nature of sanctifying grace; but so that that of which we are treating may be understood, we set down the common description of it received by all. Therefore sanctifying grace is the supernatural gift of God, permanently inhering in the soul, by which man is made immediately and formally holy, just, pleasing to God, an adoptive son of God, capable of eliciting works meritorious of eternal life, and heir of the same.
256. Totum catholicum dogma de redemptione ac de gratia nititur doctrina de primitiva protoparentum justitia et sanctitate; unde de hac plures habentur Ecclesiae definitiones. Concilium Arausicanum II. can. 19. habet: "Natura humana, etiamsi in illa integritate, in qua est condita, permaneret, nullo modo seipsam, Creatore suo non adjuvante, servaret. Unde cum sine Dei gratia salutem non possit custodire, quam accepit, quomodo sine Dei gratia poterit reparare, quod perdidit." - Conc. Trid. sess. V., Decr. de pecc. orig., can. 1. ait: "Si quis non confitetur, primum hominem Adam, cum mandatum Dei in paradiso fuisset transgressus, statim sanctitatem et justitiam, in qua constitutus fuerat, amisisse, etc.:" - et can. 2.: "Si quis Adae praevaricationem sibi soli, et non ejus propagini asserit nocuisse; et acceptam a Deo sanctitatem et justitiam, quam perdidit, sibi soli, et non nobis etiam eum perdidisse, anathema sit."
256. The whole Catholic dogma concerning redemption and concerning grace rests upon the doctrine concerning the primitive justice and sanctity of the first parents; whence concerning this there are several definitions of the Church. The Second Council of Orange, canon 19, has: "Human nature, even if it had remained in that integrity in which it was established, would in no way preserve itself, unless its Creator assisted it. Hence, since without the grace of God it cannot guard the salvation which it received, how without the grace of God will it be able to repair what it has lost?" - The Council of Trent, session V, Decree on Original Sin, canon 1, says: "If anyone does not confess that the first man Adam, when he had transgressed the commandment of God in paradise, immediately lost the sanctity and justice in which he had been constituted, etc." - and canon 2: "If anyone asserts that Adam's prevarication harmed him alone, and not his offspring; and that he lost for himself alone, and not also for us, the sanctity and justice received from God, which he lost, let him be anathema."
257. Verba autem illa Conc. Trid. "Sanctitatem et justitiam, in qua constitutus fuerat," atque "acceptam a Deo sanctitatem et justitiam" adjecta non esse praeter intentionem principalem, sed ex professo apposita, clare colligitur non modo ex unanimi Theologorum consensu et utriusque canonis tenore, sed etiam ex eo quod Patres canonem verbis S. Augustini dicentis hominem in sanctitate creatum esse jam conceptum rejecerint, atque verba illa consulto elegerint, ut melius patebit in § sequente.
257. But that those words of the Council of Trent, "the sanctity and justice in which he had been constituted," and "the sanctity and justice received from God," were added not beyond the principal intention, but were placed there by design, is clearly gathered not only from the unanimous consent of theologians and from the tenor of both canons, but also from the fact that the Fathers rejected the canon already conceived in the words of St. Augustine saying that man was created in sanctity, and deliberately chose those words, as will be clearer in the following paragraph.
258. His positis, dicimus:
Prop. XXIV. Divina revelatione constat Protoparentes in sanctitate et justitia constitutos fuisse, seu gratiam sanctificantem a Deo accepisse.
Prob. I. Legitur Gen. 1., 26.: "Faciamus hominem ad imaginem, et similitudinem nostram" et v. 27.: "Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem suam." - Sap. 2., 23.: "Deus creavit hominem inexterminabilem, et ad imaginem similitudinis suae fecit illum." - Unde: agitur in cit. testimoniis de formatione protoparentum, et dicuntur facti ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei; atqui imago haec intelligenda est non modo secundum naturam, sed etiam secundum gratiam; ergo.
Prob. min. Etsi Patres explicent imaginem Dei in homine secundum mentem, seu animam, quae est pars humanae naturae (n. 90); eam tamen explicant etiam secundum gratiam. Et quidem plures distinguentes inter imaginem et similitudinem, illam de natura, hanc de gratia interpretantur; alii nulla facta distinctione, imaginem et similitudinem simul de natura et gratia intelligunt; nullus est qui neget imaginem Dei in primo homine etiam secundum gratiam. - Quae insuper communis SS. PP. interpretatio evidens habet fundamentum in Sacra Scriptura. In 1. Cor., 15., ex. gr. dicitur: "portemus et imaginem caelestis" - et Rom. 8.: "Praedestinavit ... conformes fieri imagini filii sui." Ergo.
Methodius (in Conv.): "Indigebat enim secundum imaginem Dei factus, quod secundum illius similitudinem erat accipere. Idque cum perficere absolvereque missum esset Verbum in mundum, prius formam nostram suscepit ... ut, ob quos ipse nostram induit, divinam rursus capere possemus." - Paulinus (Ep. 2. ad Sev.): "Ut vere ad originalem gloriam reformemur, si divinam similitudinem Christi imitatione capiamus: nam in Adam solam nobis imaginem remansisse, etc." - Maximus (Cent. 3. n. 25.): "Secundum imaginem quidem Dei est omnis natura rationalis, secundum similitudinem vero tantum boni et sapientes: illud secundum naturam, hoc ex gratia etc." - Bernardus (Serm. 1. de Annunc.): "Ad imaginem nempe et similitudinem Dei factus est homo; in imagine arbitrii libertatem, virtutes habens in similitudine. Et similitudo quidem periit, verumtamen in imagine pertransit homo, etc." - Basilius (Serm. asc.): "Homo ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei factus est; sed per peccatum anima ad vitiosas cupiditates impulsa, deformavit imaginis pulchritudinem (ex similitudine ortam.) Revertamur igitur ad gratiam initio nobis concessam, ex qua excidimus per peccatum ... sc. imitantes divinae naturae ab affectibus vacuitatem et ita vitae divinae similitudinem adepti et perpetuo in aeterna illa beatitudine mansuri." - S. Augustinus (de sp. et an. c. 10.): "Ille spiritus dicitur factus ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei, in quo est cognitio veritatis et amor virtutis. Imago siquidem in cognitione, similitudo in dilectione: imago, quia rationalis, similitudo, quia spiritualis." - S. Irenaeus (l. 5. adv. haereses, c. 6.): "Si spiritus Dei animae junctus cum creatura unitur, per hanc ipsam spiritus effusionem spiritualis et perfectus homo constituitur, et hic est, qui secundum imaginem et similitudinem Dei factus est. Si autem animae deest spiritus tunc homo habet quidem imaginem in plasmate, sed non obtinet similitudinem per spiritum."
Prob. II. Legitur Eccles. 7. 30.: "Solummodo hoc inveni, quod fecerit Deus hominem rectum, et ipse se infinitis miscuerit quaestionibus." - Unde: agitur in hoc testimonio de morali rectitudine, secundum quam homo constituitur justus; siquidem, uti patet ex contextu, Ecclesiastes docet hominem insipienter agere dum quaerens suam felicitatem, studet sua desideria passionesque malas explere; atque huic stulto opponit hominem illum, qui rectus fuit ab initio. Atqui moralis rectitudo in eodem testimonio debet intelligi de rectitudine supernaturali, quae est per gratiam sanctificantem. Ergo.
Prob. min. Ex usu constanti Sacrae Scripturae, vox illa rectum, cum sermo est de morali perfectione, significat justum justitia supernaturali; ergo. Prob. antec.: Ps. 111., 2.: "Generatio rectorum benedicetur." - Cant. 1. 4.: "Recti diligunt Deum." Ps. 106. 4.: "videbunt recti et laetabuntur: et omnis iniquitas oppilabit os suum." Ps. 32. 1.: "Exultate justi in Domino; rectos decet collaudatio." Ps. 109. 14.: "verumtamen justi confitebuntur nomini tuo: et habitabunt recti cum vultu tuo," etc.
Prob. III. Legitur Eph. 4., 22. 23. "Renovamini spiritu mentis vestrae, et induite novum hominem, qui secundum Deum creatus est in justitia et sanctitate veritatis." - Et Col. 3., 8-10. "Nolite mentiri invicem, expoliantes vos veterem hominem cum actibus suis, et induentes novum eum, qui renovatur in agnitionem secundum imaginem ejus, qui creavit illum."
Certum est in cit. testimoniis Apostolum hortari ad renovationem hominis interioris per gratiam sanctificantem. Loquitur enim de renovatione in justitia et sanctitate veritatis - de renovatione quae fiat recuperando imaginem Dei, utique supernaturalem, siquidem naturalis non amittitur per peccatum - de renovatione obtinenda per Christum.
Quaestio est inter interpretes utrum per "hominem qui secundum Deum creatus est" debeat intelligi Christus an Adam. Non refert hic hanc quaestionem expendere; nam potest ex cit. testimoniis thesis nostra probari, sive directe verba illa intelligantur de Adamo, sive de Christo.
Revera a) si intelligantur directe de Adamo; ergo Adam dum creatus a Deo fuit, i. e., ante peccatum, constitutus fuit in justitia et sanctitate, habuit imaginem Dei supernaturalem, seu ornatus fuit gratia sanctificante. - b) Si vero eadem verba directe intelligantur de Christo, hortamur ab Apostolo ad induendum justitiam Christi, seu ad acquirendum gratiam sanctificantem per quamdam renovationem; renovatio autem non fit nisi iterum induendo quod depositum fuit; ergo jam aliquando homo erat sanctus et justus; seu habuit gratiam, quam amissam debet per Christum recuperare. - c) Verba illa "qui secundum Deum creatus est:" et "renovatur in imaginem ejus, qui creavit illum" aperte alludunt ad illud Gen. 1. 27.: "Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem suam: ad imaginem Dei creavit illum." Ergo alludunt ad Adam in prima sua conditione, ac proinde saltem indirecte de eo sunt etiam intelligenda. Hinc sensus verborum Apostoli esset: Renovamini, illud quod perdidistis recuperando; ut quemadmodum primus homo Adam ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei conditus fuit, ita et vos, induentes Jesum Christum, eamdem justitiam habeatis.
Unde S. Augustinus (de Gen. ad lit. l. 1. c. 24.): "Renovamur ergo," inquit, "spiritu mentis nostrae secundum imaginem ejus, qui creavit nos, quam peccando Adam perdidit." - Et (c. 26.): "Vide ergo quid sequatur: Induite novum hominem, qui secundum Deum creatus est in justitia et sanctitate veritatis: ecce quod perdidit Adam peccando." - Et S. Leo (Serm. 1. de jejun. decim. mensis.): "Ad quam (dignitatem supernaturalem) quotidie nos utique reparat gratia Salvatoris, dum quod cecidit in Adam primo, erigitur in secundo."
De tota hac quaestione Cf. Bellarminum (de grat. primi hom. cap. 2. 3.) ubi invenies praesertim plura SS. Patrum testimonia - solutionem objectionis, quae peti solet ex 1. Cor. 15., pro qua cons. etiam Bern. a Piconio - solutiones objectionum, quae sumuntur ex S. Augustino; pro quibus cons. etiam Gotti Tract. 10. quaest. 3. dub. 3. §. 3.
Prop. XXIV. Divina revelatione constat Protoparentes in sanctitate et justitia constitutos fuisse, seu gratiam sanctificantem a Deo accepisse.
Prob. I. Legitur Gen. 1., 26.: "Faciamus hominem ad imaginem, et similitudinem nostram" et v. 27.: "Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem suam." - Sap. 2., 23.: "Deus creavit hominem inexterminabilem, et ad imaginem similitudinis suae fecit illum." - Unde: agitur in cit. testimoniis de formatione protoparentum, et dicuntur facti ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei; atqui imago haec intelligenda est non modo secundum naturam, sed etiam secundum gratiam; ergo.
Prob. min. Etsi Patres explicent imaginem Dei in homine secundum mentem, seu animam, quae est pars humanae naturae (n. 90); eam tamen explicant etiam secundum gratiam. Et quidem plures distinguentes inter imaginem et similitudinem, illam de natura, hanc de gratia interpretantur; alii nulla facta distinctione, imaginem et similitudinem simul de natura et gratia intelligunt; nullus est qui neget imaginem Dei in primo homine etiam secundum gratiam. - Quae insuper communis SS. PP. interpretatio evidens habet fundamentum in Sacra Scriptura. In 1. Cor., 15., ex. gr. dicitur: "portemus et imaginem caelestis" - et Rom. 8.: "Praedestinavit ... conformes fieri imagini filii sui." Ergo.
Methodius (in Conv.): "Indigebat enim secundum imaginem Dei factus, quod secundum illius similitudinem erat accipere. Idque cum perficere absolvereque missum esset Verbum in mundum, prius formam nostram suscepit ... ut, ob quos ipse nostram induit, divinam rursus capere possemus." - Paulinus (Ep. 2. ad Sev.): "Ut vere ad originalem gloriam reformemur, si divinam similitudinem Christi imitatione capiamus: nam in Adam solam nobis imaginem remansisse, etc." - Maximus (Cent. 3. n. 25.): "Secundum imaginem quidem Dei est omnis natura rationalis, secundum similitudinem vero tantum boni et sapientes: illud secundum naturam, hoc ex gratia etc." - Bernardus (Serm. 1. de Annunc.): "Ad imaginem nempe et similitudinem Dei factus est homo; in imagine arbitrii libertatem, virtutes habens in similitudine. Et similitudo quidem periit, verumtamen in imagine pertransit homo, etc." - Basilius (Serm. asc.): "Homo ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei factus est; sed per peccatum anima ad vitiosas cupiditates impulsa, deformavit imaginis pulchritudinem (ex similitudine ortam.) Revertamur igitur ad gratiam initio nobis concessam, ex qua excidimus per peccatum ... sc. imitantes divinae naturae ab affectibus vacuitatem et ita vitae divinae similitudinem adepti et perpetuo in aeterna illa beatitudine mansuri." - S. Augustinus (de sp. et an. c. 10.): "Ille spiritus dicitur factus ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei, in quo est cognitio veritatis et amor virtutis. Imago siquidem in cognitione, similitudo in dilectione: imago, quia rationalis, similitudo, quia spiritualis." - S. Irenaeus (l. 5. adv. haereses, c. 6.): "Si spiritus Dei animae junctus cum creatura unitur, per hanc ipsam spiritus effusionem spiritualis et perfectus homo constituitur, et hic est, qui secundum imaginem et similitudinem Dei factus est. Si autem animae deest spiritus tunc homo habet quidem imaginem in plasmate, sed non obtinet similitudinem per spiritum."
Prob. II. Legitur Eccles. 7. 30.: "Solummodo hoc inveni, quod fecerit Deus hominem rectum, et ipse se infinitis miscuerit quaestionibus." - Unde: agitur in hoc testimonio de morali rectitudine, secundum quam homo constituitur justus; siquidem, uti patet ex contextu, Ecclesiastes docet hominem insipienter agere dum quaerens suam felicitatem, studet sua desideria passionesque malas explere; atque huic stulto opponit hominem illum, qui rectus fuit ab initio. Atqui moralis rectitudo in eodem testimonio debet intelligi de rectitudine supernaturali, quae est per gratiam sanctificantem. Ergo.
Prob. min. Ex usu constanti Sacrae Scripturae, vox illa rectum, cum sermo est de morali perfectione, significat justum justitia supernaturali; ergo. Prob. antec.: Ps. 111., 2.: "Generatio rectorum benedicetur." - Cant. 1. 4.: "Recti diligunt Deum." Ps. 106. 4.: "videbunt recti et laetabuntur: et omnis iniquitas oppilabit os suum." Ps. 32. 1.: "Exultate justi in Domino; rectos decet collaudatio." Ps. 109. 14.: "verumtamen justi confitebuntur nomini tuo: et habitabunt recti cum vultu tuo," etc.
Prob. III. Legitur Eph. 4., 22. 23. "Renovamini spiritu mentis vestrae, et induite novum hominem, qui secundum Deum creatus est in justitia et sanctitate veritatis." - Et Col. 3., 8-10. "Nolite mentiri invicem, expoliantes vos veterem hominem cum actibus suis, et induentes novum eum, qui renovatur in agnitionem secundum imaginem ejus, qui creavit illum."
Certum est in cit. testimoniis Apostolum hortari ad renovationem hominis interioris per gratiam sanctificantem. Loquitur enim de renovatione in justitia et sanctitate veritatis - de renovatione quae fiat recuperando imaginem Dei, utique supernaturalem, siquidem naturalis non amittitur per peccatum - de renovatione obtinenda per Christum.
Quaestio est inter interpretes utrum per "hominem qui secundum Deum creatus est" debeat intelligi Christus an Adam. Non refert hic hanc quaestionem expendere; nam potest ex cit. testimoniis thesis nostra probari, sive directe verba illa intelligantur de Adamo, sive de Christo.
Revera a) si intelligantur directe de Adamo; ergo Adam dum creatus a Deo fuit, i. e., ante peccatum, constitutus fuit in justitia et sanctitate, habuit imaginem Dei supernaturalem, seu ornatus fuit gratia sanctificante. - b) Si vero eadem verba directe intelligantur de Christo, hortamur ab Apostolo ad induendum justitiam Christi, seu ad acquirendum gratiam sanctificantem per quamdam renovationem; renovatio autem non fit nisi iterum induendo quod depositum fuit; ergo jam aliquando homo erat sanctus et justus; seu habuit gratiam, quam amissam debet per Christum recuperare. - c) Verba illa "qui secundum Deum creatus est:" et "renovatur in imaginem ejus, qui creavit illum" aperte alludunt ad illud Gen. 1. 27.: "Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem suam: ad imaginem Dei creavit illum." Ergo alludunt ad Adam in prima sua conditione, ac proinde saltem indirecte de eo sunt etiam intelligenda. Hinc sensus verborum Apostoli esset: Renovamini, illud quod perdidistis recuperando; ut quemadmodum primus homo Adam ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei conditus fuit, ita et vos, induentes Jesum Christum, eamdem justitiam habeatis.
Unde S. Augustinus (de Gen. ad lit. l. 1. c. 24.): "Renovamur ergo," inquit, "spiritu mentis nostrae secundum imaginem ejus, qui creavit nos, quam peccando Adam perdidit." - Et (c. 26.): "Vide ergo quid sequatur: Induite novum hominem, qui secundum Deum creatus est in justitia et sanctitate veritatis: ecce quod perdidit Adam peccando." - Et S. Leo (Serm. 1. de jejun. decim. mensis.): "Ad quam (dignitatem supernaturalem) quotidie nos utique reparat gratia Salvatoris, dum quod cecidit in Adam primo, erigitur in secundo."
De tota hac quaestione Cf. Bellarminum (de grat. primi hom. cap. 2. 3.) ubi invenies praesertim plura SS. Patrum testimonia - solutionem objectionis, quae peti solet ex 1. Cor. 15., pro qua cons. etiam Bern. a Piconio - solutiones objectionum, quae sumuntur ex S. Augustino; pro quibus cons. etiam Gotti Tract. 10. quaest. 3. dub. 3. §. 3.
258. With these things set down, we say:
Proposition XXIV. It is established by divine revelation that the first parents were constituted in sanctity and justice, or received sanctifying grace from God.
Proof I. It is read in Genesis 1:26: "Let us make man to our image and likeness," and verse 27: "And God created man to his own image." - Wisdom 2:23: "God created man inexterminable, and made him to the image of his likeness." - Hence: in the cited testimonies the formation of the first parents is being treated, and they are said to have been made to the image and likeness of God; but this image must be understood not only according to nature, but also according to grace; therefore.
Proof of the minor. Although the Fathers explain the image of God in man according to mind, or soul, which is part of human nature (n. 90), nevertheless they also explain it according to grace. And indeed several, distinguishing between image and likeness, interpret the former of nature, the latter of grace; others, making no distinction, understand image and likeness together of nature and grace; there is no one who denies the image of God in the first man also according to grace. - Moreover this common interpretation of the holy Fathers has an evident foundation in Sacred Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 15, for example, it is said: "let us bear also the image of the heavenly one"; and Romans 8: "He predestined ... to be made conformable to the image of his Son." Therefore.
Methodius (in Conv.): "For he who was made according to the image of God needed to receive what was according to his likeness. And when the Word was sent into the world to perfect and complete this, he first took our form ... so that we, for whose sake he put on our form, might again receive the divine." - Paulinus (Epistle 2, to Severus): "That we may truly be reformed to original glory, if we receive the divine likeness by imitation of Christ: for in Adam the image alone remained to us, etc." - Maximus (Centuries 3, n. 25): "According to the image of God indeed is every rational nature, but according to likeness only the good and wise: the former according to nature, the latter from grace, etc." - Bernard (Sermon 1, On the Annunciation): "Man was indeed made to the image and likeness of God; in the image having freedom of choice, virtues in the likeness. And the likeness indeed perished, yet nevertheless man passes through in the image, etc." - Basil (Ascetical Sermon): "Man was made to the image and likeness of God; but through sin the soul, driven to vicious desires, deformed the beauty of the image (arisen from the likeness). Therefore let us return to the grace granted to us at the beginning, from which we fell away through sin ... namely by imitating the freedom from passions of the divine nature, and thus having obtained the likeness of divine life, and being about to remain perpetually in that eternal beatitude." - St. Augustine (On Spirit and Soul, chapter 10): "That spirit is said to have been made to the image and likeness of God, in which there is knowledge of truth and love of virtue. Image indeed in knowledge, likeness in love: image because rational, likeness because spiritual." - St. Irenaeus (book 5, Against Heresies, chapter 6): "If the Spirit of God, joined to the soul, is united with the creature, through this very outpouring of the Spirit the spiritual and perfect man is constituted, and this is he who was made according to the image and likeness of God. But if the Spirit is lacking to the soul, then man indeed has the image in the formed thing, but does not obtain the likeness through the Spirit."
Proof II. It is read in Ecclesiastes 7:30: "Only this have I found, that God made man right, and he has mixed himself into infinite questions." - Hence: in this testimony moral rectitude is being treated, according to which man is constituted just; since, as is clear from the context, Ecclesiastes teaches that man acts foolishly when, seeking his happiness, he strives to fulfill his desires and evil passions; and to this fool he opposes that man who was right from the beginning. But moral rectitude in the same testimony must be understood of supernatural rectitude, which is through sanctifying grace. Therefore.
Proof of the minor. From the constant usage of Sacred Scripture, that word right, when the discussion is about moral perfection, signifies one just by supernatural justice; therefore. Proof of the antecedent: Psalm 111:2: "The generation of the right will be blessed." - Canticle 1:4: "The right love God." Psalm 106:4: "the right will see and will rejoice: and every iniquity will stop its mouth." Psalm 32:1: "Rejoice, you just, in the Lord; praise befits the right." Psalm 109:14: "nevertheless the just will confess your name: and the right will dwell with your face," etc.
Proof III. It is read in Ephesians 4:22-23: "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who according to God has been created in justice and sanctity of truth." - And Colossians 3:8-10: "Do not lie to one another, stripping yourselves of the old man with his acts, and putting on the new one, who is renewed unto knowledge according to the image of him who created him."
It is certain that in the cited testimonies the Apostle exhorts to the renewal of the interior man through sanctifying grace. For he speaks of renewal in justice and sanctity of truth; of renewal which is made by recovering the image of God, certainly supernatural, since the natural image is not lost through sin; of renewal to be obtained through Christ.
There is a question among interpreters whether by "the man who according to God has been created" Christ or Adam must be understood. It does not matter here to examine this question; for our thesis can be proved from the cited testimonies whether those words are understood directly of Adam or of Christ.
In reality, a) if they are understood directly of Adam, then Adam, when he was created by God, that is, before sin, was constituted in justice and sanctity, had the supernatural image of God, or was adorned with sanctifying grace. - b) But if the same words are understood directly of Christ, we are exhorted by the Apostle to put on the justice of Christ, or to acquire sanctifying grace through a certain renewal; but renewal is not made except by putting on again what had been laid aside; therefore at some time man was already holy and just, or had grace which, having been lost, he must recover through Christ. - c) Those words "who according to God has been created" and "is renewed unto the image of him who created him" openly allude to Genesis 1:27: "And God created man to his image: to the image of God he created him." Therefore they allude to Adam in his first condition, and consequently at least indirectly must also be understood of him. Hence the sense of the Apostle's words would be: Be renewed, by recovering that which you have lost, so that just as the first man Adam was established to the image and likeness of God, so you also, putting on Jesus Christ, may have the same justice.
Hence St. Augustine says (On Genesis to the Letter, book 1, chapter 24): "Therefore we are renewed in the spirit of our mind according to the image of him who created us, which Adam lost by sinning." - And chapter 26: "See therefore what follows: Put on the new man, who according to God has been created in justice and sanctity of truth: behold what Adam lost by sinning." - And St. Leo (Sermon 1, On the Fast of the Tenth Month): "To this dignity (the supernatural dignity), the grace of the Savior surely repairs us daily, while what fell in the first Adam is raised up in the second."
On this whole question compare Bellarmine (On the Grace of the First Man, chapters 2 and 3), where you will find especially several testimonies of the holy Fathers, the solution of the objection which is usually drawn from 1 Corinthians 15, for which consult also Bernard a Piconio, and the solutions of the objections which are taken from St. Augustine; for these consult also Gotti, treatise 10, question 3, doubt 3, § 3.
Proposition XXIV. It is established by divine revelation that the first parents were constituted in sanctity and justice, or received sanctifying grace from God.
Proof I. It is read in Genesis 1:26: "Let us make man to our image and likeness," and verse 27: "And God created man to his own image." - Wisdom 2:23: "God created man inexterminable, and made him to the image of his likeness." - Hence: in the cited testimonies the formation of the first parents is being treated, and they are said to have been made to the image and likeness of God; but this image must be understood not only according to nature, but also according to grace; therefore.
Proof of the minor. Although the Fathers explain the image of God in man according to mind, or soul, which is part of human nature (n. 90), nevertheless they also explain it according to grace. And indeed several, distinguishing between image and likeness, interpret the former of nature, the latter of grace; others, making no distinction, understand image and likeness together of nature and grace; there is no one who denies the image of God in the first man also according to grace. - Moreover this common interpretation of the holy Fathers has an evident foundation in Sacred Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 15, for example, it is said: "let us bear also the image of the heavenly one"; and Romans 8: "He predestined ... to be made conformable to the image of his Son." Therefore.
Methodius (in Conv.): "For he who was made according to the image of God needed to receive what was according to his likeness. And when the Word was sent into the world to perfect and complete this, he first took our form ... so that we, for whose sake he put on our form, might again receive the divine." - Paulinus (Epistle 2, to Severus): "That we may truly be reformed to original glory, if we receive the divine likeness by imitation of Christ: for in Adam the image alone remained to us, etc." - Maximus (Centuries 3, n. 25): "According to the image of God indeed is every rational nature, but according to likeness only the good and wise: the former according to nature, the latter from grace, etc." - Bernard (Sermon 1, On the Annunciation): "Man was indeed made to the image and likeness of God; in the image having freedom of choice, virtues in the likeness. And the likeness indeed perished, yet nevertheless man passes through in the image, etc." - Basil (Ascetical Sermon): "Man was made to the image and likeness of God; but through sin the soul, driven to vicious desires, deformed the beauty of the image (arisen from the likeness). Therefore let us return to the grace granted to us at the beginning, from which we fell away through sin ... namely by imitating the freedom from passions of the divine nature, and thus having obtained the likeness of divine life, and being about to remain perpetually in that eternal beatitude." - St. Augustine (On Spirit and Soul, chapter 10): "That spirit is said to have been made to the image and likeness of God, in which there is knowledge of truth and love of virtue. Image indeed in knowledge, likeness in love: image because rational, likeness because spiritual." - St. Irenaeus (book 5, Against Heresies, chapter 6): "If the Spirit of God, joined to the soul, is united with the creature, through this very outpouring of the Spirit the spiritual and perfect man is constituted, and this is he who was made according to the image and likeness of God. But if the Spirit is lacking to the soul, then man indeed has the image in the formed thing, but does not obtain the likeness through the Spirit."
Proof II. It is read in Ecclesiastes 7:30: "Only this have I found, that God made man right, and he has mixed himself into infinite questions." - Hence: in this testimony moral rectitude is being treated, according to which man is constituted just; since, as is clear from the context, Ecclesiastes teaches that man acts foolishly when, seeking his happiness, he strives to fulfill his desires and evil passions; and to this fool he opposes that man who was right from the beginning. But moral rectitude in the same testimony must be understood of supernatural rectitude, which is through sanctifying grace. Therefore.
Proof of the minor. From the constant usage of Sacred Scripture, that word right, when the discussion is about moral perfection, signifies one just by supernatural justice; therefore. Proof of the antecedent: Psalm 111:2: "The generation of the right will be blessed." - Canticle 1:4: "The right love God." Psalm 106:4: "the right will see and will rejoice: and every iniquity will stop its mouth." Psalm 32:1: "Rejoice, you just, in the Lord; praise befits the right." Psalm 109:14: "nevertheless the just will confess your name: and the right will dwell with your face," etc.
Proof III. It is read in Ephesians 4:22-23: "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who according to God has been created in justice and sanctity of truth." - And Colossians 3:8-10: "Do not lie to one another, stripping yourselves of the old man with his acts, and putting on the new one, who is renewed unto knowledge according to the image of him who created him."
It is certain that in the cited testimonies the Apostle exhorts to the renewal of the interior man through sanctifying grace. For he speaks of renewal in justice and sanctity of truth; of renewal which is made by recovering the image of God, certainly supernatural, since the natural image is not lost through sin; of renewal to be obtained through Christ.
There is a question among interpreters whether by "the man who according to God has been created" Christ or Adam must be understood. It does not matter here to examine this question; for our thesis can be proved from the cited testimonies whether those words are understood directly of Adam or of Christ.
In reality, a) if they are understood directly of Adam, then Adam, when he was created by God, that is, before sin, was constituted in justice and sanctity, had the supernatural image of God, or was adorned with sanctifying grace. - b) But if the same words are understood directly of Christ, we are exhorted by the Apostle to put on the justice of Christ, or to acquire sanctifying grace through a certain renewal; but renewal is not made except by putting on again what had been laid aside; therefore at some time man was already holy and just, or had grace which, having been lost, he must recover through Christ. - c) Those words "who according to God has been created" and "is renewed unto the image of him who created him" openly allude to Genesis 1:27: "And God created man to his image: to the image of God he created him." Therefore they allude to Adam in his first condition, and consequently at least indirectly must also be understood of him. Hence the sense of the Apostle's words would be: Be renewed, by recovering that which you have lost, so that just as the first man Adam was established to the image and likeness of God, so you also, putting on Jesus Christ, may have the same justice.
Hence St. Augustine says (On Genesis to the Letter, book 1, chapter 24): "Therefore we are renewed in the spirit of our mind according to the image of him who created us, which Adam lost by sinning." - And chapter 26: "See therefore what follows: Put on the new man, who according to God has been created in justice and sanctity of truth: behold what Adam lost by sinning." - And St. Leo (Sermon 1, On the Fast of the Tenth Month): "To this dignity (the supernatural dignity), the grace of the Savior surely repairs us daily, while what fell in the first Adam is raised up in the second."
On this whole question compare Bellarmine (On the Grace of the First Man, chapters 2 and 3), where you will find especially several testimonies of the holy Fathers, the solution of the objection which is usually drawn from 1 Corinthians 15, for which consult also Bernard a Piconio, and the solutions of the objections which are taken from St. Augustine; for these consult also Gotti, treatise 10, question 3, doubt 3, § 3.
§ II.
Utrum Adam Gratiam Acceperit In Primo Instanti Creationis.
Utrum Adam Gratiam Acceperit In Primo Instanti Creationis.
§ II.
Whether Adam Received Grace In The First Instant Of Creation.
Whether Adam Received Grace In The First Instant Of Creation.
260. Conveniunt omnes DD. catholici in doctrina paulo ante statuta, Adamum ante peccatum gratia sanctificante instructum fuisse; verum non aeque omnes conveniunt quoad tempus, quo illam accepit. Etenim non pauci inter antiquos Theologos, uti S. Bonaventura, Scotus, Magister sententiarum, Halensis, etc. putarunt primum hominem habuisse quidem a primo suo creationis instanti rectitudinem quamdam tum animae tum corporis, seu illa dona justitiae originalis quae licet perficiant hominem, non tamen eum perficiunt per se in ordine ad finem supernaturalem; sed nonnisi post aliquod tempus obtinuisse gratiam sanctificantem, per quam recte intrinsece disponebatur in ordine ad illum finem. Praecipuum hujus sententiae fundamentum erat, quod Adam gratiam accepit se disponendo ad illam; dispositio autem ad gratiam debet, aiebant, tempore praecedere ipsam gratiae infusionem.
260. All Catholic Doctors agree in the doctrine established a little earlier, that Adam before sin was furnished with sanctifying grace; but not all agree equally about the time at which he received it. For not a few among the older theologians, such as St. Bonaventure, Scotus, the Master of the Sentences, Halensis, etc., thought that the first man indeed had from the first instant of his creation a certain rectitude both of soul and body, or those gifts of original justice which, although they perfect man, nevertheless do not perfect him of themselves in order to a supernatural end; but that only after some time did he obtain sanctifying grace, by which he was intrinsically rightly disposed in order to that end. The principal foundation of this opinion was that Adam received grace by disposing himself for it; but the disposition for grace, they said, must precede in time the infusion of grace itself.
261. At vero D. Thomas variis in locis (1. p. q. 95. a. 1. - 2. 2. q. 5. a. 1. 2. dist. 29. q. 1. a. 2. et alibi) docet quod Adam conditus fuit in gratia sanctificante. Quam sententiam deinde communiter sequuti sunt Theologi, ita ut recentiores pene universi illam uti certam tradant - certum est tamen contrariae sententiae nullam notam inuri posse. Nam primus canon Conc. Trid. superius recitatus, in quo dicitur Adam amisisse justitiam "in qua constitutus fuerat" antea habebat "in qua conditus fuerat": mutatio autem facta fuit "Paceco monente," inquit Card. Pallavicini (Hist. Conc. Trid. l. 7. c. 9.), "non esse citra controversiam, an Adamus interiorem sanctitatem obtinuerit primo, quo creatus fuerit momento ... unde patet, quam infirma a quibusdam deducatur probatio ad id affirmandum ex verbis Concilii, quae nunc extant."
261. But St. Thomas in various places (I, q. 95, a. 1; II-II, q. 5, a. 1; II, dist. 29, q. 1, a. 2, and elsewhere) teaches that Adam was established in sanctifying grace. Theologians then commonly followed this opinion, so that nearly all more recent authors hand it down as certain. It is certain, however, that no note can be branded upon the contrary opinion. For the first canon of the Council of Trent recited above, in which Adam is said to have lost the justice "in which he had been constituted," previously had "in which he had been created." But the change was made, "Pacheco advising," says Cardinal Pallavicini (History of the Council of Trent, book 7, chapter 9), "that it was not beyond controversy whether Adam obtained interior sanctity in the first moment in which he was created ... whence it is clear how weak is the proof deduced by some for affirming this from the words of the Council which now stand."
262. Quoad praedictum prioris sententiae fundamentum, concedit D. Thomas (2. dist. 29. q. 1. a. 2.), quod "probabilius est, ut cum homo creatus fuit, in naturalibus integris, quae otiosa esse non poterant, quod in primo instanti creationis ad Deum conversus, gratiam consecutus sit." Quod sequentibus rationibus confirmari potest:
a) conveniens est ut sanctificatio fiat modo conformi subjecto; hoc modo fit, si fiat posita dispositione in adultis, et sine ulla propria dispositione in infantibus usu rationis carentibus; Adam conditus fuit in statu adulto. Ergo.
b) Per infusionem gratiae sanctificantis constituitur amicitia inter Deum et hominem, imo perficitur matrimonium quoddam spirituale; sed haec exigunt mutuum consensum. Ergo.
c) "Justificatio," inquit Suarez (de op. sex dier. l. 3. c. 19. n. 3.) "cum proprio actu, vel per proprium actum perfectiori modo fit, quam per solum habitum. Unde idem D. Thomas 3. p. q. 34. art. 3. Sicut actus, inquit, est perfectior, quam habitus, et quod est per se, eo quod est per aliud, ita justificatio secundum proprium actum perfectior est. Et ideo addit hanc esse sanctificationem adultorum, aliam vero, quae fit sine actu, esse puerorum. Sed Adam sanctificatus fuit perfecto modo, et ut adultus, et non ut infans; ergo sanctificatus est actu operans sanctificationem; quod est sanctificari secundum proprium actum. Minor quoad priorem partem probatur, quia opera Dei perfecta sunt, sed sanctificatio Adae fuit proprium Dei opus; ergo debuit perfecto modo fieri cum ex parte recipientis capacitas non deesset. Unde probatur altera pars, quia Adam in adulta aetate creatus fuit, et sufficienter dispositus ad utendum ratione; ergo ut adultus sanctificari debuit et non ut infans."
a) conveniens est ut sanctificatio fiat modo conformi subjecto; hoc modo fit, si fiat posita dispositione in adultis, et sine ulla propria dispositione in infantibus usu rationis carentibus; Adam conditus fuit in statu adulto. Ergo.
b) Per infusionem gratiae sanctificantis constituitur amicitia inter Deum et hominem, imo perficitur matrimonium quoddam spirituale; sed haec exigunt mutuum consensum. Ergo.
c) "Justificatio," inquit Suarez (de op. sex dier. l. 3. c. 19. n. 3.) "cum proprio actu, vel per proprium actum perfectiori modo fit, quam per solum habitum. Unde idem D. Thomas 3. p. q. 34. art. 3. Sicut actus, inquit, est perfectior, quam habitus, et quod est per se, eo quod est per aliud, ita justificatio secundum proprium actum perfectior est. Et ideo addit hanc esse sanctificationem adultorum, aliam vero, quae fit sine actu, esse puerorum. Sed Adam sanctificatus fuit perfecto modo, et ut adultus, et non ut infans; ergo sanctificatus est actu operans sanctificationem; quod est sanctificari secundum proprium actum. Minor quoad priorem partem probatur, quia opera Dei perfecta sunt, sed sanctificatio Adae fuit proprium Dei opus; ergo debuit perfecto modo fieri cum ex parte recipientis capacitas non deesset. Unde probatur altera pars, quia Adam in adulta aetate creatus fuit, et sufficienter dispositus ad utendum ratione; ergo ut adultus sanctificari debuit et non ut infans."
262. With respect to the aforesaid foundation of the earlier opinion, St. Thomas concedes (II, dist. 29, q. 1, a. 2) that "it is more probable that, when man was created in integral natural things, which could not be idle, in the first instant of creation, turned toward God, he obtained grace." This can be confirmed by the following reasons:
a) It is fitting that sanctification be made in a mode conformable to the subject. It is made in this way if it is made with a disposition set down in adults, and without any proper disposition in infants lacking the use of reason. Adam was established in an adult state. Therefore.
b) Through the infusion of sanctifying grace there is constituted friendship between God and man; indeed a certain spiritual marriage is perfected. But these require mutual consent. Therefore.
c) "Justification," says Suarez (On the Work of the Six Days, book 3, chapter 19, n. 3), "with a proper act, or through a proper act, is made in a more perfect mode than through habit alone. Hence the same St. Thomas, III, q. 34, art. 3, says: As act is more perfect than habit, and what is through itself than what is through another, so justification according to a proper act is more perfect. And therefore he adds that this is the sanctification of adults, but the other, which is made without act, is of children. But Adam was sanctified in a perfect mode, both as an adult and not as an infant; therefore he was sanctified by an act working sanctification, which is to be sanctified according to a proper act. The minor, as to the former part, is proved because the works of God are perfect; but the sanctification of Adam was God's proper work; therefore it had to be made in a perfect mode, since on the part of the recipient capacity was not lacking. Whence the other part is proved, because Adam was created in adult age and sufficiently disposed for using reason; therefore he had to be sanctified as an adult and not as an infant."
a) It is fitting that sanctification be made in a mode conformable to the subject. It is made in this way if it is made with a disposition set down in adults, and without any proper disposition in infants lacking the use of reason. Adam was established in an adult state. Therefore.
b) Through the infusion of sanctifying grace there is constituted friendship between God and man; indeed a certain spiritual marriage is perfected. But these require mutual consent. Therefore.
c) "Justification," says Suarez (On the Work of the Six Days, book 3, chapter 19, n. 3), "with a proper act, or through a proper act, is made in a more perfect mode than through habit alone. Hence the same St. Thomas, III, q. 34, art. 3, says: As act is more perfect than habit, and what is through itself than what is through another, so justification according to a proper act is more perfect. And therefore he adds that this is the sanctification of adults, but the other, which is made without act, is of children. But Adam was sanctified in a perfect mode, both as an adult and not as an infant; therefore he was sanctified by an act working sanctification, which is to be sanctified according to a proper act. The minor, as to the former part, is proved because the works of God are perfect; but the sanctification of Adam was God's proper work; therefore it had to be made in a perfect mode, since on the part of the recipient capacity was not lacking. Whence the other part is proved, because Adam was created in adult age and sufficiently disposed for using reason; therefore he had to be sanctified as an adult and not as an infant."
263. Negat tamen D. Thomas, ex eo quod Adam acceperit gratiam sese disponendo ad illam, sequi quod gratiam non acceperit in primo creationis instanti. "Cum motus," inquit, (1. p. q. 95. a. 1. ad 5.) "voluntatis non sit continuus, nihil prohibet, etiam in primo instanti suae creationis primum hominem gratiae consensisse." Revera omnes docent Angelos gratia fuisse ornatos in primo instanti, juxta illud S. Augustini: "Deus erat simul condens naturam et largiens gratiam;" et tamen plures inter ipsos Scotistas concedunt illam consecutos fuisse propria dispositione. Est dogma fidei B. V. Mariam gratiam in primo suae conceptionis instanti accepisse; et communiter docent eamdem non absque propria dispositione obtinuisse, licet illud fuerit, uti monet Suarez, l. c. n. 6. "singulare gratiae privilegium ... quia ille modus utendi ratione in infantibus miraculosus est."
263. Nevertheless St. Thomas denies that, from the fact that Adam received grace by disposing himself for it, it follows that he did not receive grace in the first instant of creation. "Since the motion," he says (I, q. 95, a. 1, ad 5), "of the will is not continuous, nothing prevents the first man, even in the first instant of his creation, from having consented to grace." In reality, all teach that the Angels were adorned with grace in the first instant, according to that saying of St. Augustine: "God was at once establishing nature and bestowing grace"; and nevertheless several even among the Scotists concede that they obtained it by their own disposition. It is a dogma of faith that the Blessed Virgin Mary received grace in the first instant of her conception; and they commonly teach that she obtained the same not without her own disposition, although that was, as Suarez notes in the cited place, n. 6, "a singular privilege of grace ... because that mode of using reason in infants is miraculous."
264. Caeterum si alicui haec duo conciliari non posse viderentur, retinenda potius esset infusio gratiae in primo instanti, quam ejus assecutio per proprium actum; tum quia primum nititur sacrae scripturae et SS. Patrum testimoniis, tum quia alterum nonnisi ut probabile traditur ab omnibus ex quibusdam rationibus convenientiae.
264. But if these two things should seem to someone unable to be reconciled, the infusion of grace in the first instant should rather be retained than its attainment through a proper act; both because the first rests on testimonies of Sacred Scripture and of the holy Fathers, and because the other is handed down by all only as probable from certain reasons of fittingness.
265. His itaque declaratis, dicimus:
Prop. XXV. Protoparentes in ipsa creatione in justitia et sanctitate constituti sunt a Deo, qui proinde uno eodemque tempore fuit et naturae Creator, et sanctificantis gratiae benignissimus Largitor.
Prob. I. Inter dona, per quae Adam dicitur factus ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei, uti probavimus in thesi praecedente, continetur etiam gratia sanctificans; atqui illa dona collata illi fuere in primo creationis instanti, uti patet. Ergo.
Prob. II. Dona quae continentur sub illis verbis "Deus fecit hominem rectum" fatentibus omnibus, collata Adae fuere in primo creationis instanti: unde ex eo testimonio deducebant Theologi contrariae sententiae, Adamum in ipsa creatione consecutum fuisse rectitudinem quamdam naturalem, vel potius praeternaturalem. Atqui inter dona, quae continentur sub illis verbis, est etiam gratia sanctificans, uti probavimus antea. Ergo.
Prob. III. ex D. Th. (cit. q. 95. a. 1.): "Quod fuerit (Adam) etiam conditus in gratia, ut alii dicunt, videtur requirere ipsa rectitudo primi status, in qua Deus hominem fecit, secundum illud Eccle. 7. 30.: Deus fecit hominem rectum. Erat enim haec rectitudo secundum hoc quod ratio subdebatur Deo, rationi vero inferiores vires, et animae corpus. Prima autem subjectio erat causa et secundae, et tertiae. Quamdiu enim ratio manebat Deo subjecta, inferiora ei subdebantur, ut Augustinus dicit, c. 16. lib. 1. de Remiss. peccatorum. Manifestum est autem quod illa subjectio corporis ad animam, et inferiorum virium ad rationem non erat naturalis; alioquin post peccatum mansisset, cum etiam in daemonibus data naturalia post peccatum permanserint, ut Dionysius dicit, 14. c. de div. Nom. part. 4. lect. 19. Unde manifestum est quod et illa prima subjectio, qua ratio Deo subdebatur, non erat solum secundum naturam, sed secundum supernaturale donum gratiae; non enim potest esse quod effectus sit potior quam causa."
Prob. IV. ex Suarez (de op. sex dier. l. 3. c. 17. n. 15.): "Deus creaturas produxit in statu perfecto ad ferendum fructum uniuscujusque fini consentaneum, ut supra de creaturis etiam homine inferioribus diximus; ergo multum magis credendum est, creasse hominem perfectum ad fructificandum in ordine ad supernaturalem finem, propter quem illum creabat."
"Secundo probari potest a simili, quia Deus creavit Angelos in gratia; ergo et hominem, nam sicut utramque naturam aequalitatem quandam in gloriae statu habere voluit, ita in statu viae verisimile est, utramque aequaliter in gratia creasse. Quam aequiparationem multi ex citatis Patribus faciunt, et superius in num. 4. latius explicata est."
"Tertio est optima conjectura, quia si Adam perseverasset in statu justitiae, filii ejus nascerentur in gratia; ergo multo magis dicendum est primum eorum parentem fuisse in gratia creatum. Consequentia secundum prudentem rationem videtur per se nota. Antecedens vero infra tractandum est. Nunc vero declaratur a posteriori, quia nunc infantes ab instanti conceptionis incipiunt esse in peccato, quia carent gratia, quam habere deberent; ergo e converso, si radix non fuerit infecta, statim gratiam reciperent, quam habere debuissent."
Vid. ll. cc. ex D. Thoma et Suaresio, ubi plura SS. Patrum testimonia, et objectiones solutas invenies.
Prop. XXV. Protoparentes in ipsa creatione in justitia et sanctitate constituti sunt a Deo, qui proinde uno eodemque tempore fuit et naturae Creator, et sanctificantis gratiae benignissimus Largitor.
Prob. I. Inter dona, per quae Adam dicitur factus ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei, uti probavimus in thesi praecedente, continetur etiam gratia sanctificans; atqui illa dona collata illi fuere in primo creationis instanti, uti patet. Ergo.
Prob. II. Dona quae continentur sub illis verbis "Deus fecit hominem rectum" fatentibus omnibus, collata Adae fuere in primo creationis instanti: unde ex eo testimonio deducebant Theologi contrariae sententiae, Adamum in ipsa creatione consecutum fuisse rectitudinem quamdam naturalem, vel potius praeternaturalem. Atqui inter dona, quae continentur sub illis verbis, est etiam gratia sanctificans, uti probavimus antea. Ergo.
Prob. III. ex D. Th. (cit. q. 95. a. 1.): "Quod fuerit (Adam) etiam conditus in gratia, ut alii dicunt, videtur requirere ipsa rectitudo primi status, in qua Deus hominem fecit, secundum illud Eccle. 7. 30.: Deus fecit hominem rectum. Erat enim haec rectitudo secundum hoc quod ratio subdebatur Deo, rationi vero inferiores vires, et animae corpus. Prima autem subjectio erat causa et secundae, et tertiae. Quamdiu enim ratio manebat Deo subjecta, inferiora ei subdebantur, ut Augustinus dicit, c. 16. lib. 1. de Remiss. peccatorum. Manifestum est autem quod illa subjectio corporis ad animam, et inferiorum virium ad rationem non erat naturalis; alioquin post peccatum mansisset, cum etiam in daemonibus data naturalia post peccatum permanserint, ut Dionysius dicit, 14. c. de div. Nom. part. 4. lect. 19. Unde manifestum est quod et illa prima subjectio, qua ratio Deo subdebatur, non erat solum secundum naturam, sed secundum supernaturale donum gratiae; non enim potest esse quod effectus sit potior quam causa."
Prob. IV. ex Suarez (de op. sex dier. l. 3. c. 17. n. 15.): "Deus creaturas produxit in statu perfecto ad ferendum fructum uniuscujusque fini consentaneum, ut supra de creaturis etiam homine inferioribus diximus; ergo multum magis credendum est, creasse hominem perfectum ad fructificandum in ordine ad supernaturalem finem, propter quem illum creabat."
"Secundo probari potest a simili, quia Deus creavit Angelos in gratia; ergo et hominem, nam sicut utramque naturam aequalitatem quandam in gloriae statu habere voluit, ita in statu viae verisimile est, utramque aequaliter in gratia creasse. Quam aequiparationem multi ex citatis Patribus faciunt, et superius in num. 4. latius explicata est."
"Tertio est optima conjectura, quia si Adam perseverasset in statu justitiae, filii ejus nascerentur in gratia; ergo multo magis dicendum est primum eorum parentem fuisse in gratia creatum. Consequentia secundum prudentem rationem videtur per se nota. Antecedens vero infra tractandum est. Nunc vero declaratur a posteriori, quia nunc infantes ab instanti conceptionis incipiunt esse in peccato, quia carent gratia, quam habere deberent; ergo e converso, si radix non fuerit infecta, statim gratiam reciperent, quam habere debuissent."
Vid. ll. cc. ex D. Thoma et Suaresio, ubi plura SS. Patrum testimonia, et objectiones solutas invenies.
265. Therefore, with these things declared, we say:
Proposition XXV. The first parents were constituted by God in justice and sanctity in creation itself; and therefore at one and the same time he was both Creator of nature and most benign Bestower of sanctifying grace.
Proof I. Among the gifts through which Adam is said to have been made to the image and likeness of God, as we proved in the preceding thesis, sanctifying grace also is contained; but those gifts were conferred upon him in the first instant of creation, as is clear. Therefore.
Proof II. The gifts which are contained under those words "God made man right," by everyone's confession, were conferred upon Adam in the first instant of creation; whence from that testimony the theologians of the contrary opinion deduced that Adam in creation itself had obtained a certain natural, or rather preternatural, rectitude. But among the gifts which are contained under those words is also sanctifying grace, as we proved before. Therefore.
Proof III. From St. Thomas (cited q. 95, a. 1): "That he was also established in grace, as others say, the very rectitude of the first state in which God made man seems to require, according to Ecclesiastes 7:30: God made man right. For this rectitude was according to this, that reason was subjected to God, the lower powers to reason, and the body to the soul. But the first subjection was the cause both of the second and of the third. For as long as reason remained subject to God, the lower things were subjected to it, as Augustine says, chapter 16, book 1, On the Remission of Sins. But it is manifest that that subjection of the body to the soul, and of the lower powers to reason, was not natural; otherwise after sin it would have remained, since even in the demons natural gifts remained after sin, as Dionysius says, chapter 14, On the Divine Names, part 4, lecture 19. Whence it is manifest that even that first subjection, by which reason was subjected to God, was not only according to nature, but according to the supernatural gift of grace; for it cannot be that the effect is more powerful than the cause."
Proof IV. From Suarez (On the Work of the Six Days, book 3, chapter 17, n. 15): "God produced creatures in a perfect state for bearing fruit consonant with the end of each one, as we said above concerning creatures even inferior to man; therefore much more must it be believed that he created man perfect for bearing fruit in order to the supernatural end for the sake of which he was creating him."
"Secondly it can be proved from a likeness, because God created the Angels in grace; therefore also man. For just as he willed each nature to have a certain equality in the state of glory, so in the state of the way it is likely that he created each equally in grace. Many of the cited Fathers make this equalization, and it was explained more broadly above in number 4."
"Thirdly there is an excellent conjecture, because if Adam had persevered in the state of justice, his children would be born in grace; therefore much more must it be said that the first parent of them was created in grace. The consequence according to prudent reason seems self-evident. But the antecedent must be treated below. Now, however, it is declared a posteriori, because now infants from the instant of conception begin to be in sin, because they lack the grace which they ought to have; therefore conversely, if the root had not been infected, they would immediately receive the grace which they ought to have had."
See the cited places from St. Thomas and Suarez, where you will find several testimonies of the holy Fathers and solved objections.
Proposition XXV. The first parents were constituted by God in justice and sanctity in creation itself; and therefore at one and the same time he was both Creator of nature and most benign Bestower of sanctifying grace.
Proof I. Among the gifts through which Adam is said to have been made to the image and likeness of God, as we proved in the preceding thesis, sanctifying grace also is contained; but those gifts were conferred upon him in the first instant of creation, as is clear. Therefore.
Proof II. The gifts which are contained under those words "God made man right," by everyone's confession, were conferred upon Adam in the first instant of creation; whence from that testimony the theologians of the contrary opinion deduced that Adam in creation itself had obtained a certain natural, or rather preternatural, rectitude. But among the gifts which are contained under those words is also sanctifying grace, as we proved before. Therefore.
Proof III. From St. Thomas (cited q. 95, a. 1): "That he was also established in grace, as others say, the very rectitude of the first state in which God made man seems to require, according to Ecclesiastes 7:30: God made man right. For this rectitude was according to this, that reason was subjected to God, the lower powers to reason, and the body to the soul. But the first subjection was the cause both of the second and of the third. For as long as reason remained subject to God, the lower things were subjected to it, as Augustine says, chapter 16, book 1, On the Remission of Sins. But it is manifest that that subjection of the body to the soul, and of the lower powers to reason, was not natural; otherwise after sin it would have remained, since even in the demons natural gifts remained after sin, as Dionysius says, chapter 14, On the Divine Names, part 4, lecture 19. Whence it is manifest that even that first subjection, by which reason was subjected to God, was not only according to nature, but according to the supernatural gift of grace; for it cannot be that the effect is more powerful than the cause."
Proof IV. From Suarez (On the Work of the Six Days, book 3, chapter 17, n. 15): "God produced creatures in a perfect state for bearing fruit consonant with the end of each one, as we said above concerning creatures even inferior to man; therefore much more must it be believed that he created man perfect for bearing fruit in order to the supernatural end for the sake of which he was creating him."
"Secondly it can be proved from a likeness, because God created the Angels in grace; therefore also man. For just as he willed each nature to have a certain equality in the state of glory, so in the state of the way it is likely that he created each equally in grace. Many of the cited Fathers make this equalization, and it was explained more broadly above in number 4."
"Thirdly there is an excellent conjecture, because if Adam had persevered in the state of justice, his children would be born in grace; therefore much more must it be said that the first parent of them was created in grace. The consequence according to prudent reason seems self-evident. But the antecedent must be treated below. Now, however, it is declared a posteriori, because now infants from the instant of conception begin to be in sin, because they lack the grace which they ought to have; therefore conversely, if the root had not been infected, they would immediately receive the grace which they ought to have had."
See the cited places from St. Thomas and Suarez, where you will find several testimonies of the holy Fathers and solved objections.
Corrected Latin Text
§ III.
Utrum Gratia Sanctificans Adae Collata Fuerit Donum Indebitum.
§ III.
Utrum Gratia Sanctificans Adae Collata Fuerit Donum Indebitum.
§ III.
Whether Sanctifying Grace Conferred Upon Adam Was A Gift Not Owed.
Whether Sanctifying Grace Conferred Upon Adam Was A Gift Not Owed.
266. Cum quaeritur utrum gratia sanctificans sit donum supernaturale, ideoque indebitum, potest quaestio dupliciter intelligi: 1. utrum sit indebita homini, Angelis, universae naturae creatae. 2. utrum sit indebita universae naturae etiam creabili seu possibili.
266. When it is asked whether sanctifying grace is a supernatural gift, and therefore not owed, the question can be understood in two ways: 1. whether it is not owed to man, to the Angels, and to universal created nature; 2. whether it is not owed to universal nature even creatable or possible.
267. Quoad primam quaestionem, est doctrina catholica gratiam sanctificantem esse indebitam toti naturae creatae, uti patet ex propp. damnatis in Baio et ex universa doctrina de gratia. Quoad alteram vero, non defuerunt aliquot Theologi, inter quos Ripalda, qui censerent dari posse aliquam creaturam, cui gratia sanctificans ac proinde dona quae connaturaliter eam consequuntur sint debita: creaturam illam vocabant substantiam intrinsece supernaturalem.
267. With respect to the first question, it is Catholic doctrine that sanctifying grace is not owed to the whole of created nature, as is clear from the propositions condemned in Baius and from the whole doctrine concerning grace. But with respect to the other question, there have not been lacking some theologians, among whom was Ripalda, who judged that there could be given some creature to whom sanctifying grace, and consequently the gifts which connaturally follow it, would be owed. They called that creature an intrinsically supernatural substance.
268. Quaestio haec expendi potest vel ex fontibus revelationis, vel ex rationis principiis. Quae ex principiis rationis afferri solent, communiter tradunt Theologi ubi de visione intuitiva agitur: nos hunc morem sequemur. Quae vero a fontibus revelationis immediate derivantur, quamvis tum gratiam sanctificantem tum visionem intuitivam attingant (utriusque enim eadem est ratio, cum una connaturaliter alteri jungatur), alia tamen ad illam, alia ad hanc magis directe pertinent. Hic, cum de gratia sit sermo, quae ad hanc spectant afferemus.
268. This question can be weighed either from the sources of revelation or from the principles of reason. The things which are usually brought forward from the principles of reason are commonly handed down by theologians where the intuitive vision is treated; we shall follow this custom. But the things which are derived immediately from the sources of revelation, although they touch both sanctifying grace and the intuitive vision, for the account of each is the same, since one is connaturally joined to the other, nevertheless some pertain more directly to the former, others to the latter. Here, since the discussion is about grace, we shall bring forward the things which regard grace.
269. Satis nobis esset in praesente quaestione ostendere gratiam sanctificantem fuisse indebitam homini cum primo conditus fuit; sed cum alia quaestio de qualibet etiam possibili creatura melius determinet veram supernaturalitatem hujus doni, utramque simul pertractabimus. Ne tamen prolixior, quam par sit, fiat disceptatio, pauca seligemus argumenta, quae dum directe probant gratiam esse indebitam cuicumque creaturae, hoc ipso demonstrant indebitam esse homini.
269. In the present question it would be enough for us to show that sanctifying grace was not owed to man when he was first established. But since the other question concerning any possible creature also better determines the true supernaturality of this gift, we shall treat both together. Yet lest the discussion become more lengthy than is proper, we shall select a few arguments which, while they directly prove that grace is not owed to any creature, by that very fact demonstrate that it is not owed to man.
270. His igitur claritatis gratia praestitutis, dicimus:
Prop. XXVI. Gratia sanctificans ita supernaturalis dicenda est, ut nulla sit natura creata aut creabilis, cui possit esse debita.
Prob. I. Ex Scriptura. Joannis 1. 12.: "Dedit eis potestatem, filios Dei fieri." - Rom. 5. 2.: "Per quam habemus accessum per fidem in gratiam istam, in qua stamus et gloriamur in spe gloriae filiorum Dei." - 8. 14.: "Quicumque enim spiritu Dei aguntur, ii sunt filii Dei." - 15. "accepistis spiritum adoptionis filiorum, in qua clamamus Abba, Pater." S. Joan. 3, 1.: "Videte qualem charitatem dedit nobis Pater, ut filii Dei nominemur et simus." - 2. Pet. c. 1. 3. seq.: "Quomodo omnia nobis divinae virtutis suae, quae ad vitam et pietatem donata sunt, per cognitionem ejus qui vocavit nos propria gloria et virtute, per quem maxima et pretiosa nobis promissa donavit: ut per haec efficiamini divinae consortes naturae." - 2. Cor. 3. 18.: "Nos vero omnes, revelata facie gloriam Domini speculantes, in eamdem imaginem transformamur a claritate in claritatem, tanquam a Domini Spiritu." - Jo. 6. 58.: "Sicut misit me vivens Pater, et ego vivo propter Patrem: et qui manducat me, et ipse vivet propter me," etc.
Ex his, et multis aliis Sacrae Scripturae testimoniis patet gratiam sanctificantem habere tamquam formalem effectum, ut faciat eum, cui infunditur, Filium Dei. - Filius autem habet similitudinem in natura cum patre; hoc verum est de filio naturali; hic enim per generationem accipit eamdem specie naturam patris: verum est etiam de filio adoptivo; unde qui alium adoptat in filium inter homines, supponit in eo eamdem naturam. - Filius Dei naturalis est unicus; qui ergo per gratiam sanctificantem fiunt filii Dei, sunt filii per adoptionem. Deus nequit supponere in nobis similitudinem, quam filiatio etiam adoptiva exigit: dum ergo, nos filios suos adoptivos facit, infundit nobis hanc similitudinem. Haec similitudo in natura creaturae cum Deo nequit quidem esse creaturae essentialis, seu nequit pertinere ad ipsam essentiam ejus, uti patet; sed, licet accidentalis, est tamen vera et intrinseca, et non solum extrinseca et per denominationem: ita ut, quemadmodum filii Dei et nominamur, et sumus; ita similes Dei vere efficimur. Unde est veritas definita a Conc. Trid. contra novatores, quod justi constituimur per aliquod donum inhaerens animae. - Hoc donum animae inhaerens intrinsece, per quod sumus justi, filii Dei, etc., est gratia sanctificans. Unde per gratiam sanctificantem efficimur consortes divinae naturae, transformamur in eamdem imaginem Dei, deificamur, uti loquitur Scriptura.
Haec omnia fusius exponenda sunt in tractatu de gratia; sed hic satis est innuisse, ut possimus ad rem nostram ita arguere:
a) Nulli naturae est debitum id quod est proprium superioris naturae; equo, ex. gr., non est debita perfectio propria hominis; homini non est debita perfectio quae est propria Angeli. Ergo quod excellentius est homine, Angelo, quacumque natura creata aut creabili, nequit ulli esse debitum. Atqui gratia sanctificans est perfectio excedens omnem creaturam creatam et creabilem, siquidem, uti constat ex dictis, est ordinis divini. Ergo. - Unde S. Aug., locum illum Ps. 81. 6. "Ego dixi, Dii estis, et filii Excelsi omnes," ita exponit (l. 2. con. Maximin. cap. 15. n. 2.): "Manifestum est ergo, quia homines dixit deos, ex gratia sua deificatos. Si filii Dei facti sumus, deificati sumus; sed hoc est gratiae adoptantis, non naturae generantis."
b) Qui gratiam habet sanctificantem, fit hoc ipso filius Dei adoptivus. Atqui adoptio non natura, aut hujus exigentia constat, uti patet vel inter homines; sed voluntate et libera electione adoptantis hujusmodi propinquitatis nexu se sponte adstringentis. Ergo. - Unde illud Jac. 1. 18. "Voluntarie genuit nos verbo veritatis" bene explicat Cornelius a Lapide per gratuitum beneplacitum et benevolentiam: cujus est simile illud Oseae 14. "diligam eos spontanee."
Prob. II. Ex Patribus. Patres 1. constanter tribuunt gratiae sanctificanti effectum deificationis, et adoptionis in filios Dei. - 2. Unanimiter docent gratiam sanctificantem indebitam esse homini tum lapso tum innocenti. - 3. Imo indebitam esse et Angelis:
S. Basilius (l. de Sp. Sancto, c. 9.): "Merae et intelligibiles et ultramundanae virtutes (Angeli) sanctae tum sunt tum nominantur, ex gratia per Spiritum infusa sanctimoniam nactae ... Sanctificatio non est absque spiritu. Neque enim caelorum virtutes suapte natura sanctae sunt (nam si id esset, nulla re differrent a Spiritu S.); sed juxta portionem, qua se invicem superant, a Spiritu habent sanctificationis mensuram." - Et c. 26.: "Principatus, et Potestates, et omnis creatura talis, quae ex attentione et studio sanctitatem habent, non jure naturae sanctae dicentur."
S. Ambrosius (De Sp. Sancto, l. 1. c. 7.): "Quemadmodum sanctificans Apostolos Spiritus non est humanae consors naturae, ita etiam sanctificans Angelos non habet consortium creaturae. Si qui autem putant, non esse spiritualem (i. e. a Spiritu S. infusam) in Angelis sanctitatem, sed aliam quandam gratiam suae proprietate naturae, hi inferiores profecto Angelos hominibus judicabunt." - Vid. etiam (n. 253. b.)
4. Patres indebitam dicunt gratiam sanctificantem sive homini sive Angelo, quia sunt creatura, ac proinde illam indebitam praedicant cuicumque creaturae.
Cyrillus Alex. (thes. l. 12. c. 15.): "Creatura serva est et Creator Dominus; sed creatura quoque Domino suo conjuncta a propria conditione liberatur et in meliorem traducitur ... Servi nos Dei sumus secundum naturam, ipse Dominus ... Si ergo nos per gratiam dii et filii sumus, erit Verbum Dei, cujus gratia et filii Dei facti sumus, reipsa vere Filius Dei." - Et c. 13.): "Est enim verus ille Filius existens a Patre, sed nos ejus benignitate adoptivi, gratiae loco id accipientes: Ego dixi, dii estis, et filii Excelsi omnes. Creata quippe et serva natura ad res supernaturales vocatur solo nutu et voluntate Patris: Filius vero et Deus et Dominus ... quum ex ipsa substantia Patris effulserit, proprium ejus bonum secundum naturam sibi adsciscit."
S. Petrus Chrysologus (Serm. 72. in or. Domin.): "'Pater noster, qui es in caelis.' Hoc est, quod pavebam dicere; hoc est, quod trepidabam proferre; hoc est, quod neque caelestium neque terrestrium quemque sinebat servitutis propriae conditio suspicari: caeli et terrae, carnis et Dei tantum repente tantum posse provenire commercium, ut Deus in hominem (in incarnatione), homo in Deum, Dominus in servum, servus verteretur in filium, fieretque divinitatis et humanitatis ineffabili modo una et sempiterna cognitio. Et quidem Deitatis erga nos dignatio tanta est, ut scire nequeat, quid potissimum mirari debeat, creatura: utrum quod se Deus ad nostram deposuit servitutem, an quod nos ad divinitatis suae rapuit dignitatem."
S. Athanasius (or. 2. 59.): "Deus non solum eos homines facit, sed et filios dixit, tanquam si illos genuisset. Est autem Dei benevolentia, quod quorum sit conditor, horum postea per benevolentiam Patrem se faciat, quod tum contingit, quum creati homines, ut ait Apostolus, Spiritum Filii ejus, clamantem Abba Pater, in suis cordibus suscipiunt ... Nec enim alio modo possunt filii fieri, quum ex natura sua sint creati, nisi Spiritum ejus, qui est naturalis et verus Filius acceperint."
Plura SS. Patrum testimonia invenies apud Casini (Quid est homo - sive controversia, etc. aa. 1. et 6.). - Unde:
a) Patres, sicut Scriptura, gratiae sanctificanti tribuunt deificationem et adoptionem divinam; ergo ex Patrum auctoritate eadem consequentia inferenda est, ac paulo ante ex Scriptura deducebamus, nempe: gratia sanctificans indebita est homini, Angelo, cuicumque creaturae.
b) Ratio, propter quam Patres negant gratiam sanctificantem esse debitam, sive homini sive Angelis, est quia hi sunt natura servi. - Loquuntur autem de servitute, quae consequitur necessario ipsam rationem entis creati; et non de servitute peccati. Nam 1. aperte dicunt quod omnis natura creata est serva, quia creata. - 2. Per peccata creatura fit serva peccati et daemonis, et excidit ab officio servi Dei: Patres autem opponunt servitutem Dei Filiationi divinae. - 3. Scriptura et Patres opponunt creatam naturam tamquam servam Filio Dei naturali, docentque per adoptionem illi communicari ea, quae huic soli per naturam conveniunt. - Atqui talis ratio servitutis viget non modo in omni creatura existente, sed etiam possibili. Ergo.
Nota. Nulla est difficultas contra hanc thesim, quod dari possint accidentia intrinsece supernaturalia, uti est ex. gr., ipsa gratia sanctificans. Nam 1. Ratio servitutis, quemadmodum et ratio filiationis, proprie cadit in personam terminantem substantiam; nullo pacto in accidentia; unde non est eadem repugnantia.
2. "Accidentia," inquit Suarez (De Deo l. 2. c. 9. n. 15.) "sunt instituta ad perficiendas substantias et supplendum defectus earum, et ideo per accidentia superaddita participare potest inferior substantia aliquo modo id quod est proprium superioris. Eo vel maxime quod in unaquaque re primum fundamentum et quasi mensura omnium proprietatum connaturalium est propria substantia et ideo in ipsis terminis involvitur repugnantia, cum dicitur substantia supernaturalis. At vero accidentia adduntur substantiae; et quando ab extrinseco veniunt, non est necesse ut omnino commensurentur imperfectioni ejus, in qua recipiuntur; sed possunt esse participationes altioris naturae et ex objecto, vel aliunde habere perfectionem suam, non est igitur similis ratio."
Prop. XXVI. Gratia sanctificans ita supernaturalis dicenda est, ut nulla sit natura creata aut creabilis, cui possit esse debita.
Prob. I. Ex Scriptura. Joannis 1. 12.: "Dedit eis potestatem, filios Dei fieri." - Rom. 5. 2.: "Per quam habemus accessum per fidem in gratiam istam, in qua stamus et gloriamur in spe gloriae filiorum Dei." - 8. 14.: "Quicumque enim spiritu Dei aguntur, ii sunt filii Dei." - 15. "accepistis spiritum adoptionis filiorum, in qua clamamus Abba, Pater." S. Joan. 3, 1.: "Videte qualem charitatem dedit nobis Pater, ut filii Dei nominemur et simus." - 2. Pet. c. 1. 3. seq.: "Quomodo omnia nobis divinae virtutis suae, quae ad vitam et pietatem donata sunt, per cognitionem ejus qui vocavit nos propria gloria et virtute, per quem maxima et pretiosa nobis promissa donavit: ut per haec efficiamini divinae consortes naturae." - 2. Cor. 3. 18.: "Nos vero omnes, revelata facie gloriam Domini speculantes, in eamdem imaginem transformamur a claritate in claritatem, tanquam a Domini Spiritu." - Jo. 6. 58.: "Sicut misit me vivens Pater, et ego vivo propter Patrem: et qui manducat me, et ipse vivet propter me," etc.
Ex his, et multis aliis Sacrae Scripturae testimoniis patet gratiam sanctificantem habere tamquam formalem effectum, ut faciat eum, cui infunditur, Filium Dei. - Filius autem habet similitudinem in natura cum patre; hoc verum est de filio naturali; hic enim per generationem accipit eamdem specie naturam patris: verum est etiam de filio adoptivo; unde qui alium adoptat in filium inter homines, supponit in eo eamdem naturam. - Filius Dei naturalis est unicus; qui ergo per gratiam sanctificantem fiunt filii Dei, sunt filii per adoptionem. Deus nequit supponere in nobis similitudinem, quam filiatio etiam adoptiva exigit: dum ergo, nos filios suos adoptivos facit, infundit nobis hanc similitudinem. Haec similitudo in natura creaturae cum Deo nequit quidem esse creaturae essentialis, seu nequit pertinere ad ipsam essentiam ejus, uti patet; sed, licet accidentalis, est tamen vera et intrinseca, et non solum extrinseca et per denominationem: ita ut, quemadmodum filii Dei et nominamur, et sumus; ita similes Dei vere efficimur. Unde est veritas definita a Conc. Trid. contra novatores, quod justi constituimur per aliquod donum inhaerens animae. - Hoc donum animae inhaerens intrinsece, per quod sumus justi, filii Dei, etc., est gratia sanctificans. Unde per gratiam sanctificantem efficimur consortes divinae naturae, transformamur in eamdem imaginem Dei, deificamur, uti loquitur Scriptura.
Haec omnia fusius exponenda sunt in tractatu de gratia; sed hic satis est innuisse, ut possimus ad rem nostram ita arguere:
a) Nulli naturae est debitum id quod est proprium superioris naturae; equo, ex. gr., non est debita perfectio propria hominis; homini non est debita perfectio quae est propria Angeli. Ergo quod excellentius est homine, Angelo, quacumque natura creata aut creabili, nequit ulli esse debitum. Atqui gratia sanctificans est perfectio excedens omnem creaturam creatam et creabilem, siquidem, uti constat ex dictis, est ordinis divini. Ergo. - Unde S. Aug., locum illum Ps. 81. 6. "Ego dixi, Dii estis, et filii Excelsi omnes," ita exponit (l. 2. con. Maximin. cap. 15. n. 2.): "Manifestum est ergo, quia homines dixit deos, ex gratia sua deificatos. Si filii Dei facti sumus, deificati sumus; sed hoc est gratiae adoptantis, non naturae generantis."
b) Qui gratiam habet sanctificantem, fit hoc ipso filius Dei adoptivus. Atqui adoptio non natura, aut hujus exigentia constat, uti patet vel inter homines; sed voluntate et libera electione adoptantis hujusmodi propinquitatis nexu se sponte adstringentis. Ergo. - Unde illud Jac. 1. 18. "Voluntarie genuit nos verbo veritatis" bene explicat Cornelius a Lapide per gratuitum beneplacitum et benevolentiam: cujus est simile illud Oseae 14. "diligam eos spontanee."
Prob. II. Ex Patribus. Patres 1. constanter tribuunt gratiae sanctificanti effectum deificationis, et adoptionis in filios Dei. - 2. Unanimiter docent gratiam sanctificantem indebitam esse homini tum lapso tum innocenti. - 3. Imo indebitam esse et Angelis:
S. Basilius (l. de Sp. Sancto, c. 9.): "Merae et intelligibiles et ultramundanae virtutes (Angeli) sanctae tum sunt tum nominantur, ex gratia per Spiritum infusa sanctimoniam nactae ... Sanctificatio non est absque spiritu. Neque enim caelorum virtutes suapte natura sanctae sunt (nam si id esset, nulla re differrent a Spiritu S.); sed juxta portionem, qua se invicem superant, a Spiritu habent sanctificationis mensuram." - Et c. 26.: "Principatus, et Potestates, et omnis creatura talis, quae ex attentione et studio sanctitatem habent, non jure naturae sanctae dicentur."
S. Ambrosius (De Sp. Sancto, l. 1. c. 7.): "Quemadmodum sanctificans Apostolos Spiritus non est humanae consors naturae, ita etiam sanctificans Angelos non habet consortium creaturae. Si qui autem putant, non esse spiritualem (i. e. a Spiritu S. infusam) in Angelis sanctitatem, sed aliam quandam gratiam suae proprietate naturae, hi inferiores profecto Angelos hominibus judicabunt." - Vid. etiam (n. 253. b.)
4. Patres indebitam dicunt gratiam sanctificantem sive homini sive Angelo, quia sunt creatura, ac proinde illam indebitam praedicant cuicumque creaturae.
Cyrillus Alex. (thes. l. 12. c. 15.): "Creatura serva est et Creator Dominus; sed creatura quoque Domino suo conjuncta a propria conditione liberatur et in meliorem traducitur ... Servi nos Dei sumus secundum naturam, ipse Dominus ... Si ergo nos per gratiam dii et filii sumus, erit Verbum Dei, cujus gratia et filii Dei facti sumus, reipsa vere Filius Dei." - Et c. 13.): "Est enim verus ille Filius existens a Patre, sed nos ejus benignitate adoptivi, gratiae loco id accipientes: Ego dixi, dii estis, et filii Excelsi omnes. Creata quippe et serva natura ad res supernaturales vocatur solo nutu et voluntate Patris: Filius vero et Deus et Dominus ... quum ex ipsa substantia Patris effulserit, proprium ejus bonum secundum naturam sibi adsciscit."
S. Petrus Chrysologus (Serm. 72. in or. Domin.): "'Pater noster, qui es in caelis.' Hoc est, quod pavebam dicere; hoc est, quod trepidabam proferre; hoc est, quod neque caelestium neque terrestrium quemque sinebat servitutis propriae conditio suspicari: caeli et terrae, carnis et Dei tantum repente tantum posse provenire commercium, ut Deus in hominem (in incarnatione), homo in Deum, Dominus in servum, servus verteretur in filium, fieretque divinitatis et humanitatis ineffabili modo una et sempiterna cognitio. Et quidem Deitatis erga nos dignatio tanta est, ut scire nequeat, quid potissimum mirari debeat, creatura: utrum quod se Deus ad nostram deposuit servitutem, an quod nos ad divinitatis suae rapuit dignitatem."
S. Athanasius (or. 2. 59.): "Deus non solum eos homines facit, sed et filios dixit, tanquam si illos genuisset. Est autem Dei benevolentia, quod quorum sit conditor, horum postea per benevolentiam Patrem se faciat, quod tum contingit, quum creati homines, ut ait Apostolus, Spiritum Filii ejus, clamantem Abba Pater, in suis cordibus suscipiunt ... Nec enim alio modo possunt filii fieri, quum ex natura sua sint creati, nisi Spiritum ejus, qui est naturalis et verus Filius acceperint."
Plura SS. Patrum testimonia invenies apud Casini (Quid est homo - sive controversia, etc. aa. 1. et 6.). - Unde:
a) Patres, sicut Scriptura, gratiae sanctificanti tribuunt deificationem et adoptionem divinam; ergo ex Patrum auctoritate eadem consequentia inferenda est, ac paulo ante ex Scriptura deducebamus, nempe: gratia sanctificans indebita est homini, Angelo, cuicumque creaturae.
b) Ratio, propter quam Patres negant gratiam sanctificantem esse debitam, sive homini sive Angelis, est quia hi sunt natura servi. - Loquuntur autem de servitute, quae consequitur necessario ipsam rationem entis creati; et non de servitute peccati. Nam 1. aperte dicunt quod omnis natura creata est serva, quia creata. - 2. Per peccata creatura fit serva peccati et daemonis, et excidit ab officio servi Dei: Patres autem opponunt servitutem Dei Filiationi divinae. - 3. Scriptura et Patres opponunt creatam naturam tamquam servam Filio Dei naturali, docentque per adoptionem illi communicari ea, quae huic soli per naturam conveniunt. - Atqui talis ratio servitutis viget non modo in omni creatura existente, sed etiam possibili. Ergo.
Nota. Nulla est difficultas contra hanc thesim, quod dari possint accidentia intrinsece supernaturalia, uti est ex. gr., ipsa gratia sanctificans. Nam 1. Ratio servitutis, quemadmodum et ratio filiationis, proprie cadit in personam terminantem substantiam; nullo pacto in accidentia; unde non est eadem repugnantia.
2. "Accidentia," inquit Suarez (De Deo l. 2. c. 9. n. 15.) "sunt instituta ad perficiendas substantias et supplendum defectus earum, et ideo per accidentia superaddita participare potest inferior substantia aliquo modo id quod est proprium superioris. Eo vel maxime quod in unaquaque re primum fundamentum et quasi mensura omnium proprietatum connaturalium est propria substantia et ideo in ipsis terminis involvitur repugnantia, cum dicitur substantia supernaturalis. At vero accidentia adduntur substantiae; et quando ab extrinseco veniunt, non est necesse ut omnino commensurentur imperfectioni ejus, in qua recipiuntur; sed possunt esse participationes altioris naturae et ex objecto, vel aliunde habere perfectionem suam, non est igitur similis ratio."
270. Therefore, with these things laid down for the sake of clarity, we say:
Proposition XXVI. Sanctifying grace must be called so supernatural that there is no created or creatable nature to which it could be owed.
Proof I. From Scripture. John 1:12: "He gave them power to become sons of God." - Romans 5:2: "Through whom we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we glory in the hope of the glory of the sons of God." - 8:14: "For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." - 15: "you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, in which we cry Abba, Father." 1 John 3:1: "See what charity the Father has given us, that we should be called and should be sons of God." - 2 Peter 1:3ff.: "As all things of his divine power which pertain to life and piety have been given to us, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue, through whom he has given us the greatest and precious promises: that through these you may be made partakers of the divine nature." - 2 Corinthians 3:18: "But we all, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from brightness into brightness, as by the Spirit of the Lord." - John 6:58: "As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father: and he who eats me, he also shall live because of me," etc.
From these and many other testimonies of Sacred Scripture it is clear that sanctifying grace has as its formal effect that it makes him into whom it is infused a Son of God. But a son has likeness in nature with the father. This is true of a natural son, for through generation he receives the same nature in species as the father; it is also true of an adoptive son, whence someone who adopts another as a son among men supposes the same nature in him. - The natural Son of God is unique. Therefore those who through sanctifying grace are made sons of God are sons through adoption. God cannot suppose in us the likeness which even adoptive filiation demands; therefore, while he makes us his adoptive sons, he infuses this likeness into us. This likeness in the nature of the creature with God indeed cannot be essential to the creature, or pertain to its very essence, as is clear; but although accidental, it is nevertheless true and intrinsic, and not only extrinsic and by denomination, so that, just as we are both called and are sons of God, so also we are truly made like God. Hence it is a truth defined by the Council of Trent against the innovators, that we are constituted just through some gift inhering in the soul. - This gift intrinsically inhering in the soul, through which we are just, sons of God, etc., is sanctifying grace. Hence through sanctifying grace we are made partakers of the divine nature, we are transformed into the same image of God, we are deified, as Scripture speaks.
All these things must be explained more fully in the treatise on grace; but here it is enough to have suggested them, so that we can argue for our matter in this way:
a) To no nature is owed that which is proper to a higher nature; to a horse, for example, there is not owed the perfection proper to man; to man there is not owed the perfection which is proper to an Angel. Therefore what is more excellent than man, than an Angel, than any created or creatable nature, cannot be owed to any. But sanctifying grace is a perfection exceeding every created and creatable creature, since, as is clear from what has been said, it is of the divine order. Therefore. - Hence St. Augustine explains that place, Psalm 81:6, "I have said, You are gods, and all sons of the Most High," in this way (book 2 against Maximinus, chapter 15, n. 2): "It is manifest, therefore, that he called men gods, deified from his grace. If we have been made sons of God, we have been deified; but this is from the grace of one adopting, not from the nature of one generating."
b) He who has sanctifying grace, by this very fact becomes an adoptive son of God. But adoption consists not by nature, or by the exigency of nature, as is clear even among men, but by the will and free election of the adopter, who binds himself freely by a bond of nearness of this kind. Therefore. - Hence Cornelius a Lapide well explains that saying of James 1:18, "Of his own will he begot us by the word of truth," through gratuitous good pleasure and benevolence; like this is that saying of Hosea 14: "I will love them freely."
Proof II. From the Fathers. The Fathers 1. constantly attribute to sanctifying grace the effect of deification and adoption as sons of God; 2. unanimously teach that sanctifying grace is not owed to man, whether fallen or innocent; 3. indeed, that it is not owed even to the Angels:
St. Basil (On the Holy Spirit, chapter 9): "The pure and intelligible and supra-mundane powers (the Angels) both are and are named holy, having obtained sanctity from grace infused through the Spirit ... Sanctification is not without the Spirit. For the powers of heaven are not holy by their own nature (for if that were so, they would differ in nothing from the Holy Spirit); but according to the portion by which they surpass one another, they have the measure of sanctification from the Spirit." - And chapter 26: "Principalities, and Powers, and every such creature which has sanctity from attention and zeal, will not be called holy by right of nature."
St. Ambrose (On the Holy Spirit, book 1, chapter 7): "Just as the Spirit sanctifying the Apostles is not a sharer of human nature, so also the Spirit sanctifying the Angels does not have fellowship with a creature. But if any think that sanctity in the Angels is not spiritual, that is, infused by the Holy Spirit, but some other grace from the property of their own nature, these will surely judge the Angels inferior to men." - See also n. 253, b.
4. The Fathers say that sanctifying grace is not owed either to man or to an Angel because they are creatures, and consequently they proclaim it not owed to any creature.
Cyril of Alexandria (Thesaurus, book 12, chapter 15): "The creature is servant and the Creator Lord; but the creature also, joined to its Lord, is freed from its own condition and is transferred into a better one ... We are servants of God according to nature; he is Lord ... If therefore we are gods and sons through grace, the Word of God, by whose grace we also have been made sons of God, will in reality be truly Son of God." - And chapter 13: "For he is the true Son existing from the Father, but we are adoptive by his kindness, receiving this in place of grace: I have said, you are gods, and all sons of the Most High. For created and servant nature is called to supernatural things by the sole nod and will of the Father; but the Son, God and Lord ... since he has shone forth from the very substance of the Father, claims as his own his proper good according to nature."
St. Peter Chrysologus (Sermon 72, on the Lord's Prayer): "'Our Father, who art in heaven.' This is what I feared to say; this is what I trembled to utter; this is what the condition of his own servitude allowed no one, whether heavenly or earthly, to suspect: that suddenly so great an exchange of heaven and earth, of flesh and God, could occur, so that God would be turned into man (in the incarnation), man into God, Lord into servant, servant into son, and there would be made in an ineffable mode one and everlasting knowledge of divinity and humanity. And indeed the condescension of Deity toward us is so great that the creature cannot know what especially it ought to marvel at: whether that God lowered himself to our servitude, or that he seized us up to the dignity of his divinity."
St. Athanasius (oration 2, 59): "God not only makes them men, but also called them sons, as if he had begotten them. But it belongs to the benevolence of God that, of those of whom he is Creator, he later makes himself Father through benevolence; this happens when created men, as the Apostle says, receive in their hearts the Spirit of his Son crying Abba, Father ... For in no other way can they become sons, since by their own nature they are created, unless they have received the Spirit of him who is the natural and true Son."
You will find several testimonies of the holy Fathers in Casini (What Is Man - or the Controversy, etc., articles 1 and 6). Hence:
a) The Fathers, like Scripture, attribute deification and divine adoption to sanctifying grace. Therefore from the authority of the Fathers the same consequence must be inferred as we deduced a little earlier from Scripture, namely: sanctifying grace is not owed to man, to an Angel, or to any creature.
b) The reason on account of which the Fathers deny that sanctifying grace is owed either to man or to Angels is that these are servants by nature. But they are speaking of servitude which necessarily follows the very account of created being, and not of the servitude of sin. For 1. they openly say that every created nature is servant because it is created. - 2. Through sins the creature becomes servant of sin and of the devil, and falls away from the office of servant of God; but the Fathers oppose the servitude of God to divine Filiation. - 3. Scripture and the Fathers oppose created nature, as servant, to the natural Son of God, and teach that through adoption those things are communicated to it which belong to him alone through nature. But such an account of servitude has force not only in every existing creature, but also in every possible one. Therefore.
Note. It is no difficulty against this thesis that there can be intrinsically supernatural accidents, as, for example, sanctifying grace itself. For 1. the account of servitude, just as also the account of filiation, properly falls upon the person terminating a substance; in no way upon accidents; whence there is not the same repugnance.
2. "Accidents," says Suarez (On God, book 2, chapter 9, n. 15), "are instituted for perfecting substances and supplying their defects, and therefore through superadded accidents an inferior substance can participate in some way in that which is proper to a superior one. Especially because in each thing the first foundation and as it were measure of all connatural properties is the proper substance, and therefore a repugnance is involved in the very terms when one says supernatural substance. But accidents are added to substance; and when they come from without, it is not necessary that they be altogether commensurate with the imperfection of that in which they are received; but they can be participations of a higher nature, and from the object or from elsewhere have their perfection. Therefore the account is not similar."
Proposition XXVI. Sanctifying grace must be called so supernatural that there is no created or creatable nature to which it could be owed.
Proof I. From Scripture. John 1:12: "He gave them power to become sons of God." - Romans 5:2: "Through whom we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we glory in the hope of the glory of the sons of God." - 8:14: "For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." - 15: "you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, in which we cry Abba, Father." 1 John 3:1: "See what charity the Father has given us, that we should be called and should be sons of God." - 2 Peter 1:3ff.: "As all things of his divine power which pertain to life and piety have been given to us, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue, through whom he has given us the greatest and precious promises: that through these you may be made partakers of the divine nature." - 2 Corinthians 3:18: "But we all, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from brightness into brightness, as by the Spirit of the Lord." - John 6:58: "As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father: and he who eats me, he also shall live because of me," etc.
From these and many other testimonies of Sacred Scripture it is clear that sanctifying grace has as its formal effect that it makes him into whom it is infused a Son of God. But a son has likeness in nature with the father. This is true of a natural son, for through generation he receives the same nature in species as the father; it is also true of an adoptive son, whence someone who adopts another as a son among men supposes the same nature in him. - The natural Son of God is unique. Therefore those who through sanctifying grace are made sons of God are sons through adoption. God cannot suppose in us the likeness which even adoptive filiation demands; therefore, while he makes us his adoptive sons, he infuses this likeness into us. This likeness in the nature of the creature with God indeed cannot be essential to the creature, or pertain to its very essence, as is clear; but although accidental, it is nevertheless true and intrinsic, and not only extrinsic and by denomination, so that, just as we are both called and are sons of God, so also we are truly made like God. Hence it is a truth defined by the Council of Trent against the innovators, that we are constituted just through some gift inhering in the soul. - This gift intrinsically inhering in the soul, through which we are just, sons of God, etc., is sanctifying grace. Hence through sanctifying grace we are made partakers of the divine nature, we are transformed into the same image of God, we are deified, as Scripture speaks.
All these things must be explained more fully in the treatise on grace; but here it is enough to have suggested them, so that we can argue for our matter in this way:
a) To no nature is owed that which is proper to a higher nature; to a horse, for example, there is not owed the perfection proper to man; to man there is not owed the perfection which is proper to an Angel. Therefore what is more excellent than man, than an Angel, than any created or creatable nature, cannot be owed to any. But sanctifying grace is a perfection exceeding every created and creatable creature, since, as is clear from what has been said, it is of the divine order. Therefore. - Hence St. Augustine explains that place, Psalm 81:6, "I have said, You are gods, and all sons of the Most High," in this way (book 2 against Maximinus, chapter 15, n. 2): "It is manifest, therefore, that he called men gods, deified from his grace. If we have been made sons of God, we have been deified; but this is from the grace of one adopting, not from the nature of one generating."
b) He who has sanctifying grace, by this very fact becomes an adoptive son of God. But adoption consists not by nature, or by the exigency of nature, as is clear even among men, but by the will and free election of the adopter, who binds himself freely by a bond of nearness of this kind. Therefore. - Hence Cornelius a Lapide well explains that saying of James 1:18, "Of his own will he begot us by the word of truth," through gratuitous good pleasure and benevolence; like this is that saying of Hosea 14: "I will love them freely."
Proof II. From the Fathers. The Fathers 1. constantly attribute to sanctifying grace the effect of deification and adoption as sons of God; 2. unanimously teach that sanctifying grace is not owed to man, whether fallen or innocent; 3. indeed, that it is not owed even to the Angels:
St. Basil (On the Holy Spirit, chapter 9): "The pure and intelligible and supra-mundane powers (the Angels) both are and are named holy, having obtained sanctity from grace infused through the Spirit ... Sanctification is not without the Spirit. For the powers of heaven are not holy by their own nature (for if that were so, they would differ in nothing from the Holy Spirit); but according to the portion by which they surpass one another, they have the measure of sanctification from the Spirit." - And chapter 26: "Principalities, and Powers, and every such creature which has sanctity from attention and zeal, will not be called holy by right of nature."
St. Ambrose (On the Holy Spirit, book 1, chapter 7): "Just as the Spirit sanctifying the Apostles is not a sharer of human nature, so also the Spirit sanctifying the Angels does not have fellowship with a creature. But if any think that sanctity in the Angels is not spiritual, that is, infused by the Holy Spirit, but some other grace from the property of their own nature, these will surely judge the Angels inferior to men." - See also n. 253, b.
4. The Fathers say that sanctifying grace is not owed either to man or to an Angel because they are creatures, and consequently they proclaim it not owed to any creature.
Cyril of Alexandria (Thesaurus, book 12, chapter 15): "The creature is servant and the Creator Lord; but the creature also, joined to its Lord, is freed from its own condition and is transferred into a better one ... We are servants of God according to nature; he is Lord ... If therefore we are gods and sons through grace, the Word of God, by whose grace we also have been made sons of God, will in reality be truly Son of God." - And chapter 13: "For he is the true Son existing from the Father, but we are adoptive by his kindness, receiving this in place of grace: I have said, you are gods, and all sons of the Most High. For created and servant nature is called to supernatural things by the sole nod and will of the Father; but the Son, God and Lord ... since he has shone forth from the very substance of the Father, claims as his own his proper good according to nature."
St. Peter Chrysologus (Sermon 72, on the Lord's Prayer): "'Our Father, who art in heaven.' This is what I feared to say; this is what I trembled to utter; this is what the condition of his own servitude allowed no one, whether heavenly or earthly, to suspect: that suddenly so great an exchange of heaven and earth, of flesh and God, could occur, so that God would be turned into man (in the incarnation), man into God, Lord into servant, servant into son, and there would be made in an ineffable mode one and everlasting knowledge of divinity and humanity. And indeed the condescension of Deity toward us is so great that the creature cannot know what especially it ought to marvel at: whether that God lowered himself to our servitude, or that he seized us up to the dignity of his divinity."
St. Athanasius (oration 2, 59): "God not only makes them men, but also called them sons, as if he had begotten them. But it belongs to the benevolence of God that, of those of whom he is Creator, he later makes himself Father through benevolence; this happens when created men, as the Apostle says, receive in their hearts the Spirit of his Son crying Abba, Father ... For in no other way can they become sons, since by their own nature they are created, unless they have received the Spirit of him who is the natural and true Son."
You will find several testimonies of the holy Fathers in Casini (What Is Man - or the Controversy, etc., articles 1 and 6). Hence:
a) The Fathers, like Scripture, attribute deification and divine adoption to sanctifying grace. Therefore from the authority of the Fathers the same consequence must be inferred as we deduced a little earlier from Scripture, namely: sanctifying grace is not owed to man, to an Angel, or to any creature.
b) The reason on account of which the Fathers deny that sanctifying grace is owed either to man or to Angels is that these are servants by nature. But they are speaking of servitude which necessarily follows the very account of created being, and not of the servitude of sin. For 1. they openly say that every created nature is servant because it is created. - 2. Through sins the creature becomes servant of sin and of the devil, and falls away from the office of servant of God; but the Fathers oppose the servitude of God to divine Filiation. - 3. Scripture and the Fathers oppose created nature, as servant, to the natural Son of God, and teach that through adoption those things are communicated to it which belong to him alone through nature. But such an account of servitude has force not only in every existing creature, but also in every possible one. Therefore.
Note. It is no difficulty against this thesis that there can be intrinsically supernatural accidents, as, for example, sanctifying grace itself. For 1. the account of servitude, just as also the account of filiation, properly falls upon the person terminating a substance; in no way upon accidents; whence there is not the same repugnance.
2. "Accidents," says Suarez (On God, book 2, chapter 9, n. 15), "are instituted for perfecting substances and supplying their defects, and therefore through superadded accidents an inferior substance can participate in some way in that which is proper to a superior one. Especially because in each thing the first foundation and as it were measure of all connatural properties is the proper substance, and therefore a repugnance is involved in the very terms when one says supernatural substance. But accidents are added to substance; and when they come from without, it is not necessary that they be altogether commensurate with the imperfection of that in which they are received; but they can be participations of a higher nature, and from the object or from elsewhere have their perfection. Therefore the account is not similar."