Thus, therefore, matters stand, and thus is the order of divine providence arranged: a) God has never not been good toward men, never not merciful; for he who is now good was good before; he who is now merciful was merciful before. Thus b) he has never failed to anticipate men with his gifts, and has never wholly withdrawn from them the opportunity and faculty of renewing grace; for his mercy is not empty, but fruitful and rich in gifts and benefactions. Therefore c) although men are liable to—
—sins, he has nevertheless always called them to penance, and has never permitted even one to perish for the reason that he himself was unwilling to furnish the things required for escaping so great a destruction. Yet d) he is wise in bestowing his gifts; and while he anticipates all by grace, he wills only those to be participants in the fruits of grace who have not been ungrateful and have not produced for themselves the cause of condemnation.
For pardon, according to Facundus, bishop of Hermiane1, has been promised to all who repent. Let no one be broken by despair. Let no one be ensnared any further by serpentine deceptions, because, just as everlasting punishment with the devil has been prepared for transgressors and those who persist with an impenitent heart, so an eternal and endless glorious reward has been reserved by the Lord God for those who keep his covenant…
And thus far indeed we have narrated the doctrine of the African Church, if not in a manner worthy of the matter, certainly according to our ability; and, by bringing forward excellent testimonies, we have established that this was the settled and ascertained opinion of that most illustrious Church: a) that universal reparation through the second Adam succeeded universal ruin through the first Adam; b) that the principal cause of this universal reparation is none other than the native goodness of God and his innate benevolence toward the human race; c) that from this benevolence, as from its own most abundant fountain, there has always flowed, and still flows, a certain incredible abundance of gifts and graces, by which men, refreshed, can and ought to cast off the servitude of sin, overcome corruption, and strive from the most wretched condition of children of wrath to the dignity of adoptive filiation and obtain it; whence d) none other lie in crimes, are subjected to sins, and are deprived of fellowship in everlasting beatitude than those who have despised divine mercy, preferred darkness to light, and rejected the salvation offered.
Primasius embraced all these things with no less evidence than brevity in those commentaries by which he undertook to explain Paul’s First Epistle to Timothy. For he speaks precisely thus2:
“I beseech, therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, petitions be made.” Supplication is stronger than prayer. Again, in another manner: supplications are made for past or present sins; prayers for attaining the things which we hope for; petitions when we intercede for others; thanksgivings when we obtain the things which we ask, or certainly when we return thanks and praises for the immense benefits of God. “Thanksgivings.” Let us give thanks to him who has made us worthy to obtain even for others. “For all men.” To pray even for persecutors. “For kings and all who are in high station, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and chastity.” That they may know God, or that they may hold the nations subject; for in their peace consists our quiet. For if they are Christians, the assault of persecution will cease. “For this is good and acceptable before God our Savior.” That you also, like him, may desire all men to be saved. “Who will have all men.” From this it is proved that God inflicts violence upon no one so that he may perish; but he who perishes, perishes by his own merit, and those who are saved are saved by the grace and compassion of God. For, according to the figure synecdoche, here we ought to receive “all” as the whole from a part. “To be saved.” But why are not all saved? Because God is just and merciful: that many are condemned is the merit of those who perish; that many are saved is the gift of him who saves. For that the guilty should be condemned, the justice of God is blameless; that the guilty should be justified, the grace of God is ineffable, for many are hardened by benefits. “And to come to the knowledge of the truth.” It is certain that God wills all good things, but men through their own fault rush headlong into evils. “For there is one God.” The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are the God of all men, and therefore he desires all whom he made to be saved. “And one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a redemption for all.” The blood of Christ was indeed poured forth for all—
—but it profits believers3, while for unbelievers it will be unto condemnation; as he himself says elsewhere: “To some we are the odor of life unto life, to others the odor of death unto death.”
Footnotes
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Epistle of the Catholic Faith in Defense of the Three Chapters, p. 821, in Gallandius, vol. XI. ↩
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Commentary on I Tim. II.1 ff., p. 237, vol. X of the Bibliotheca Maxima Patrum, Lyons edition, 1677. ↩
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Whence Jerome, in his commentary on Matthew, book III, chap. XX, v. 28, appends this explanation to Christ’s words, “Just as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his soul as a redemption for many”:
When he took the form of a servant, that he might pour forth his blood for the world. He did not say that he would give his soul as a redemption for all, but for many, that is, for those who would will to believe.
Therefore, according to Jerome, did Christ both pour forth his blood and undergo death, not for all, but for some only? Among other things, the words of infinite amplitude prevent us from thinking thus: “When he took the form of a servant, that he might pour forth his blood for the world.” To what, therefore, does the opposition pertain: “He did not say that he would give his soul as a redemption for all, but for many”? It pertains to this: redemption was indeed offered for all, because Christ poured forth his blood for the world, but, as is also found in John III.16, it profits only those who believe. Therefore Theophylact and Euthymius, who considered the offering itself rather than the fruit of salvation received from it, following Paul in I Tim. IV.10, admonished that in Matthew πολλοὺς ἀντὶ πάντων, “many instead of all,” is employed.
↩For frequently, these are the words of Euthymius, Scripture says “many” for “all.” Therefore he handed over his soul for all and redeemed all, although many of their own accord remained in servitude.