But Hincmar, Bishop of Reims, treated these things much more copiously in that defense which he undertook1 of the third of the capitula of Quierzy2, which was contained in these words: God almighty
wills all men without exception to be saved, although not all are saved. That some, however, are saved is the gift of him who saves; that some perish, however, is the merit of those who perish.
Having set down this lemma3, he immediately appeals4 to the Decretal of Celestine given to Venerius and the other bishops of Gaul, after stating that it must be tested by the writings of the orthodox, and especially by the faith of the holy, Catholic, and apostolic Roman Church, which is the first mother of all the churches in the whole world, so that, once agreement or disagreement has been compared, it may be approved or disapproved; and he teaches that from it must be drawn what we ought to believe, hold, and preach in a Catholic manner. Now, he continues, we read these things in it: “Let us regard the sacraments of priestly supplications which, handed down by the apostles, are celebrated uniformly throughout the whole world and in every Catholic church, so that the law of supplication may establish the law of believing.” Then he proceeds:
What the law of supplication is, moreover, he himself explains in the same chapter, and the Church, as though especially on the day of the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ showing for whom he was crucified and whom he wills to be saved, demonstrates by supplicating and groaning together, praying for all men, and individually and distinctly for all orders, for all ranks, for all dignities, for schismatics and heretics, for Jews and pagans, so that no one may be believed excepted, pleading before the divine clemency the cause of the whole human race. Whence it also says to the point: “O God, who savest all and willest no one to perish,” although some perish by their own iniquity and obduracy; for it is the Truth who said5: “As I live, says the Lord God, I will not the death of the impious, but that the impious should return from his way and live. Turn from your most evil ways; and why will you die, O house of Israel? Do I willingly desire the death of the wicked? says the Lord God.” The Lord swears lest anyone despair under the mass of his crimes, because he does not will the death of the impious, but that he should return from his way
and live; but the predestinarians6 perjure themselves, because they say that it is utterly not the will of the Lord that those who are not saved should be saved. And again the Lord says in the Gospel7: “I say to you, there is joy before the angels of God in heaven over one sinner doing penance.” And if the angels rejoice over one who repents, will not the holy angels rejoice much more if all do penance and believe, who see in him that from which they rejoice? Namely, from the joy of him from whom they received everlasting joy.
Therefore, as Saint Celestine commands, let the law of supplication establish for us the law of believing, so that, because supplication is made to God by the whole Catholic Church for all, we may believe that God wills all men to be saved, although not all are saved; and that some are saved is the gift of him who saves, while that some perish is the merit of those who perish.
Lest any should distrust this conclusion, he adds in continuous discourse8:
For the pious, the devout, and Catholics this can and ought to suffice: that the holy, Catholic, and apostolic Roman Church, the mother of all churches, teaches it. For she, as mother, begot us unto Christ, nourished us in religion, instructed us in doctrine;
as the firm rock received us from Christ in Saint Peter, she appointed doctors; and having nourished us with Catholic milk and brought us to the perfect man, she formed us to teach others, saying through Paul9 that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.
Footnotes
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Hincmar composed two works against the predestinarians. One, containing three books, was in defense of the capitula of Quierzy against Gottschalk, which the men of Lyons had attacked in their writings. The other was not divided into books but into thirty-eight chapters, when the men of Lyons again rose against Hincmar. This latter still survives; but of the former only the letter or preface to King Charles remains in Flodoard. ↩
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Concerning these capitula, read Petau’s discussion in On the Incarnation, book XIII, chap. VIII. ↩
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On Predestination, chap. XXIV, p. 150, Paris ed., 1645. ↩
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Ibid., p. 152. ↩
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Ezek. XXXIII. 11. ↩
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On these, read Sirmond’s dissertation. ↩
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Luke XV. 7. ↩
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On Predestination, chap. XXIV, pp. 152–153. Here it will be pertinent to note the excellent agreement which exists between two most noble bishops of Gaul, Irenaeus of Lyons and Hincmar of Reims. For that which Irenaeus writes concerning the Roman Church in Against Heresies, book III, chap. III, n. 3, in an altogether identical cause—“By this ordination and succession, the tradition which is from the apostles in the Church and the preaching of the truth have come down even to us. And this is a most complete demonstration that there is one and the same life-giving faith, which has been preserved in the Church from the apostles even until now and handed down in truth”—Hincmar expresses identically on p. 152, saying: “For the pious, the devout, and Catholics this can and ought to suffice.” And that which in Irenaeus is n. 2, “For to this Church, on account of its more powerful principality, every church must convene, that is, the faithful who are from every place,” Hincmar expresses on p. 151 in these words: “Not from man nor through man, but through the Lord Jesus Christ, just as Peter and Paul merited the apostolate, so this holy See merited the principality of all cities”; and on p. 153: “For she, as mother, begot us unto Christ, nourished us in religion,” etc. ↩
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I Tim. I. 15. ↩