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Dist. 28, Art. 1, Q. 3

Book II: On the Creation of Things · Distinction 28

Textus Latinus
p. 679

Quaestio III. Utrum liberum arbitrium absque gratia gratum faciente possit omnia mandata implere.

Tertio quaeritur, utrum absque gratia gratum faciente liberum arbitrium possit omnia mandata implere. Et quod sic, videtur.

1. Deuteronomii trigesimo1: Mandatum, quod ego praecipio tibi hodie, non est supra te neque procul positum, etc. Et post: Sed iuxta te est sermo valde in ore tuo et in corde tuo, ut facias illud; hoc autem non esset, si observantia mandatorum esset supra posse liberi arbitrii: ergo videtur, quod absque gratia gratum faciente, quae est supra liberi arbitrii posse, contingat mandata Dei servari et impleri.

2. Item, hoc videtur auctoritate novi Testamenti, Matthaei undecimo2: Iugum meum suave est, et onus meum leve; hoc autem non esset, si mandata Dei essent supra posse liberi arbitrii: ergo etc.

3. Item, hoc videtur ratione. Multo benignior est Deus servis suis, quam sit homo; sed homo potest mandata hominis servare absque gratia gratum faciente, quae sunt gravia et multa: ergo videtur, quod multo fortius servare possit mandata divina.

4. Item, in mandatis Dei aut praecipiuntur ipsa genera operum, aut praecipiuntur opera formata. Si praecipiuntur opera formata: ergo qui honorat patrem pietate naturali, non faciens illud ex caritate, videtur illud mandatum omittere, quo praecipitur: Honora patrem et matrem3, et peccare mortaliter; quod absurdum est dicere. Si ergo ipsa genera operum sunt in praecepto; et hoc constans est, quod possumus facere absque gratia gratum faciente: videtur, quod divina mandata absque dono gratiae gratum facientis contingat implere.

5. Item, nihil difficilius est quam animam suam ponere pro alio, maiorem enim caritatem nemo habet etc., sicut dicitur Ioannis decimo quinto4; sed absque gratia gratum faciente potest quis mortem pro alio subire: ergo multo fortius omnia genera aliorum mandatorum.

Ad oppositum arguitur sic. 1. Ieremiae decimo5: Scio Domine, quia non est hominis via eius, neque viri, ut ambulet et dirigat gressus suos; sed quicumque implet divina mandata dirigit gressus suos: ergo non est in potestate hominis divina mandata implere.

2. Item, Actuum decimo quinto6: Hoc est iugum, quod neque nos neque patres nostri portare potuerunt; sed per gratiam Domini nostri Iesu Christi credimus salvari; et loquitur ibi de mandatis Legis: ergo divina mandata observare non contingit absque divina gratia.

3. Item, observatio mandatorum Dei facit hominem Dei amicum, unde Ioannis decimo quinto7: Vos amici mei estis etc.; sed nullus potest effici Dei amicus absque dono caritatis et gratiae gratum facientis: ergo impossibile est, absque huiusmodi dono mandata Dei servari.

p. 680 4. Item, observatio mandatorum Dei facit hominem dignum vita aeterna, unde Matthaei decimo nono8: Si vis ad vitam ingredi, serva mandata; sed nullus potest mereri vitam aeternam absque dono gratiae Dei, ut dicitur ad Romanos sexto: Gratia Dei vita aeterna: ergo absque illa nemo potest divina observare mandata.

5. Item, sicut fundamentum Legis veteris est timor, ita fundamentum Evangelii est amor, sicut insinuat Apostolus ad Romanos octavo9, et expresse dicit Augustinus: ergo sicut mandata Legis veteris observari non poterant absque Dei timore, sic mandata evangelica impleri non possunt absque caritatis amore. Sed donum amoris non est absque dono gratiae gratum facientis: ergo absque huiusmodi dono non contingit divina mandata impleri.

Conclusio

Homo per liberum arbitrium sine gratia gratum faciente, sed cum gratiis gratis datis, praecepta Dei potest implere quoad substantiam operis, non tamen quoad intentionem mandantis.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod mandata Dei dupliciter contingit impleri: uno modo quantum ad genus operis, alio modo quantum ad intentionem mandantis. Si loquamur de impletione mandatorum quantum ad genus operis, sic per gratias gratis datas contingit ea impleri, sicut per fidem mandatum de adoratione, et per quandam naturalem pietatem et devotionem mandatum de parentum honoratione, et sic de aliis. — Alio modo est loqui de impletione mandatorum quantum ad intentionem mandantis; et sic — quia Deus praecipit mandata ad hoc, quod voluntas nostra conformetur voluntati suae, et hoc non potest esse absque caritate, et caritas esse non potest absque dono gratiae gratum facientis — mandata Dei secundum intentionem mandantis absque huiusmodi dono non possunt observari. Et hoc est quod dicit Apostolus ad Romanos decimo tertio10: Qui diligit proximum legem implevit; et iterum: Plenitudo legis est dilectio; et primae ad Timotheum primo: Finis praecepti est caritas de corde puro etc. Hoc ipsum etiam insinuatur Deuteronomii sexto, ubi post enumerationem mandatorum decalogi subditur mandatum caritatis, quo dicitur: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo etc. — Patet igitur ex praedictis, quanta sit necessitas gratiae gratum facientis, quia non solum est necessaria ad remissionem peccatorum, verum etiam ad victoriam tentationum, et ad observantiam mandatorum divinorum. Multipliciter igitur erravit Pelagius, qui dixit, liberi arbitrii donum11 posse habere, ut non indigeret gratia gratum faciente. Hac igitur positione tanquam haeretica repudiata, imploranda est gratia Dei, per quam deleantur peccata et vincantur diabolica tentamenta et impleantur divina mandata non solum secundum genus operis, sed etiam secundum intentionem mandantis, non solum ad vitationem poenae, verum etiam ad meritum gloriae. Nam etsi primus modus observandi potest esse per gratiam gratis datam, secundus12 modus non potest esse absque gratia gratum faciente, sicut prius ostensum est. — Et secundum hanc viam procedunt rationes, quae ostendunt, absque gratia gratum faciente mandata divina impleri non posse; unde et concedendae sunt.

Ad 1. Ad illud quod obiicitur de Deuteronomio, quod mandatum non est supra hominem, sed prope; dicendum, quod hoc intelligitur de observantia quantum ad genus operis. Si autem intelligatur de observantia quantum ad intentionem mandantis, tunc dicitur esse prope, non quia liberum arbitrium possit in illud per se sine dono gratiae, sed quia gratia Dei praesto est unicuique; nec aliquis caret gratia, quia gratia desit sibi, sed quia ipse deest gratiae13.

Ad 2. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod mandata Dei levia sunt et suavia; dicendum, quod hoc intelligitur in14 respectu habentis caritatem; homini enim habenti caritatem est facile diligere inimicum, sed non habenti est valde difficile et quasi impossibile. Et est exemplum in avibus, quae leves sunt ad volandum, quando habent pennarum abundantiam; quando vero pennis privantur, graves sunt et volare non possunt. Ideo Dominus dicit, mandata sua esse levia, quoniam volentibus illa servare et converti ad se dat caritatem et pennas virtutum, per quas possunt volare et se super se ipsos faciliter elevare.

Ad 3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod homo potest implere mandata hominis etc.; dicendum, quod non est simile, quia homo indiget obsequio hominis et plus considerat actum exteriorem quam intentionem interiorem. Deus autem, qui bonorum nostrorum non indiget15, et magis intuetur corda quam facies, opus hominis non acceptat, nisi prius acceptabilis sit ei hominis voluntas, per quam fiunt illa opera.

p. 681 Ad 4, 5. Ad quartum et ultimum argumentum satis plana est responsio ex praedictis. Probant enim, quod mandata Dei servari possunt absque gratia gratum faciente quantum ad genus operis. Et hoc quidem verum est; nam potest homo mandatum illud: Honora patrem tuum etc., absque gratia implere, ut sic vitet poenam. Posset etiam facere et alia mandata, adiutus16 aliqua gratia gratis data, et non solum facere aliqua, quae videntur ardua, sed etiam pati terribilia. In his tamen omnibus non implerentur mandata secundum intentionem et acceptationem divinam, secundum quod expresse dicit Apostolus primae ad Corinthios decimo tertio17, enumerans multiplex genus operis, post quod subiungit: Si caritatem non habuero, nihil mihi prodest. Et hoc fuit, quod Pelagius non consideravit, propter quod in errorem cecidit et credidit, aliquem ex simplici mandatorum observantia quantum ad exteriora opera dignum esse vita aeterna; quod est contra fidem piam et sanam, sicut Apostolus explicat in auctoritate praemissa18.

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English Translation

Question III. Whether free choice without grace that makes pleasing can fulfill all the commandments.

Thirdly it is asked whether, without grace that makes pleasing, free choice can fulfill all the commandments. And that it can, it seems.

1. Deuteronomy chapter thirty1: The commandment that I command you this day is not above you nor far off, etc. And afterward: But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it; but this would not be so, if the observance of the commandments were above the power of free choice: therefore it seems that, without grace that makes pleasing — which is above the power of free choice — it happens that the commandments of God are kept and fulfilled.

2. Likewise, this is seen by the authority of the New Testament, Matthew chapter eleven2: My yoke is sweet, and my burden light; but this would not be so, if the commandments of God were above the power of free choice: therefore, etc.

3. Likewise, this is seen by reason. God is much more kindly toward his servants than a man is; but a man can keep the commandments of a man without grace that makes pleasing, which are grievous and many: therefore it seems that much more strongly can he keep the divine commandments.

4. Likewise, in the commandments of God either the very kinds of works are enjoined, or formed works are enjoined. If formed works are enjoined: then he who honors his father with natural devotion, not doing it out of charity, seems to omit that commandment by which it is enjoined: Honor your father and mother3, and to sin mortally; which is absurd to say. If therefore the very kinds of works are within the precept; and this is certain, that we can do them without grace that makes pleasing: it seems that the divine commandments may be fulfilled without the gift of grace that makes pleasing.

5. Likewise, nothing is more difficult than to lay down one's soul for another, for greater charity no one has etc., as is said in John chapter fifteen4; but without grace that makes pleasing one can undergo death for another: therefore much more strongly all the kinds of the other commandments.

On the contrary, it is argued thus. 1. Jeremiah chapter ten5: I know, O Lord, that the way of a man is not his own, nor is it in a man to walk and direct his steps; but whoever fulfills the divine commandments directs his steps: therefore it is not within the power of a man to fulfill the divine commandments.

2. Likewise, Acts chapter fifteen6: This is a yoke which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear; but by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we believe we are saved; and he speaks there of the commandments of the Law: therefore it does not happen that the divine commandments are observed without divine grace.

3. Likewise, the observance of the commandments of God makes a man a friend of God, whence John chapter fifteen7: You are my friends etc.; but no one can be made a friend of God without the gift of charity and of grace that makes pleasing: therefore it is impossible that the commandments of God be kept without such a gift.

4. Likewise, the observance of the commandments of God makes a man worthy of eternal life, whence Matthew chapter nineteen8: If you will enter into life, keep the commandments; but no one can merit eternal life without the gift of the grace of God, as is said in Romans chapter six: The grace of God, life everlasting: therefore without it no one can observe the divine commandments.

5. Likewise, just as the foundation of the Old Law is fear, so the foundation of the Gospel is love, as the Apostle intimates in Romans chapter eight9, and Augustine says expressly: therefore just as the commandments of the Old Law could not be observed without the fear of God, so the evangelical commandments cannot be fulfilled without the love of charity. But the gift of love is not without the gift of grace that makes pleasing: therefore without such a gift it does not happen that the divine commandments are fulfilled.

Conclusion

Man, through free choice without grace that makes pleasing, but with graces freely given, can fulfill the precepts of God as to the substance of the work, yet not as to the intention of the one commanding.

I respond: It must be said that the commandments of God happen to be fulfilled in two ways: in one way as to the kind of work, in another way as to the intention of the one commanding. If we speak of the fulfillment of the commandments as to the kind of work, in this way it happens that they are fulfilled through graces freely given — as the commandment concerning worship through faith, and the commandment concerning the honoring of parents through a certain natural devotion and piety, and so of the others. — In another way is to speak of the fulfillment of the commandments as to the intention of the one commanding; and in this way — because God commands the commandments to this end, that our will be conformed to his will, and this cannot be without charity, and charity cannot be without the gift of grace that makes pleasing — the commandments of God as to the intention of the one commanding cannot be observed without such a gift. And this is what the Apostle says in Romans chapter thirteen10: He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law; and again: The fullness of the law is love; and in First Timothy chapter one: The end of the precept is charity from a pure heart etc. This very thing is also intimated in Deuteronomy chapter six, where, after the enumeration of the commandments of the decalogue, there is added the commandment of charity, by which it is said: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart etc. — It is clear therefore from what has been said how great is the necessity of grace that makes pleasing, since it is necessary not only for the remission of sins, but also for the victory over temptations, and for the observance of the divine commandments. In many ways therefore did Pelagius err, who said that the gift of free choice11 could be had so that it would not need grace that makes pleasing. This position therefore having been repudiated as heretical, the grace of God is to be implored, through which sins are blotted out and diabolical temptations are conquered and the divine commandments are fulfilled — not only according to the kind of work, but also according to the intention of the one commanding; not only unto the avoidance of punishment, but also unto the merit of glory. For although the first mode of observing can be through grace freely given, the second12 mode cannot be without grace that makes pleasing, as was shown before. — And along this way proceed the reasons which show that without grace that makes pleasing the divine commandments cannot be fulfilled; whence they are also to be granted.

To 1. To that which is objected from Deuteronomy, that the commandment is not above man but near; it must be said that this is understood of observance as to the kind of work. But if it be understood of observance as to the intention of the one commanding, then it is said to be near, not because free choice can attain it by itself without the gift of grace, but because the grace of God is at hand to everyone; nor does anyone lack grace because grace is wanting to him, but because he himself is wanting to grace13.

To 2. To that which is objected, that the commandments of God are light and sweet; it must be said that this is understood in14 respect of one having charity; for to a man having charity it is easy to love an enemy, but to one not having it, it is very difficult and as it were impossible. And there is an example in birds, which are light for flying when they have an abundance of feathers; but when they are deprived of feathers, they are heavy and cannot fly. Therefore the Lord says that his commandments are light, because to those willing to keep them and to be converted to him he gives charity and the feathers of the virtues, by which they can fly and easily raise themselves above themselves.

To 3. To that which is objected, that a man can fulfill the commandments of a man etc.; it must be said that it is not the same, because a man needs the service of a man and considers the outward act more than the inward intention. But God, who has no need of our goods15, and looks more upon hearts than upon faces, does not accept the work of a man unless first the will of the man, through which those works are done, is acceptable to him.

To 4, 5. To the fourth and last argument the reply is sufficiently plain from what has been said. For they prove that the commandments of God can be kept without grace that makes pleasing as to the kind of work. And this indeed is true; for a man can fulfill that commandment: Honor your father etc., without grace, so as thus to avoid punishment. He could also do other commandments, aided16 by some grace freely given, and not only do certain things which seem arduous, but even suffer terrible things. In all these, however, the commandments would not be fulfilled according to the divine intention and acceptance, as the Apostle expressly says in First Corinthians chapter thirteen17, enumerating the manifold kind of work, after which he adds: If I have not charity, it profits me nothing. And this was what Pelagius did not consider, on account of which he fell into error and believed that someone, from the mere observance of the commandments as to outward works, was worthy of eternal life; which is against pious and sound faith, as the Apostle explains in the authority cited above18.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. Vers. 11: Mandatum hoc, quod etc. — Seq. textus est ibid. v. 14, in quo textu non pauci codd. et edd. omittunt te, et Vulg. pro illud habet illum.
    Verse 11: This commandment, which etc. — The following text is in the same place, v. 14, in which text not a few codices and editions omit you, and the Vulgate for it (illud) reads him (illum).
  2. Vers. 30.
    Verse 30.
  3. Exod. 20, 12; Deut. 5, 16; Matth. 15, 4; Marc. 7, 10; Ephes. 6, 2.
    Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16; Matthew 15:4; Mark 7:10; Ephesians 6:2.
  4. Vers. 13.
    Verse 13.
  5. Vers. 23.
    Verse 23.
  6. Vers. 10. seq.
    Verse 10 and following.
  7. Vers. 14.
    Verse 14.
  8. Vers. 17. — Seq. textus est loc. cit. v. 23.
    Verse 17. — The following text is at the place cited, v. 23.
  9. Vers. 13. — August., l. de Morib. eccles. c. 28. n. 56; II. Quaest. in Pentateuch. q. 73. seq. et 166. n. 2; contra Adimant. Manichaei discip. c. 17. n. 2. Cfr. III. Sent. d. 40. q. I, ubi de hac differentia fusius agitur.
    Verse 13. — Augustine, book On the Morals of the Church c. 28, n. 56; Questions on the Pentateuch, book II, q. 73 and following and 166, n. 2; Against Adimantus, the disciple of Mani, c. 17, n. 2. Cf. III Sent. d. 40, q. I, where this distinction is treated more fully.
  10. Vers. 8. — Seq. textus est ibid. v. 10; tertius loc. cit. v. 5; quartus loc. cit. v. 5.
    Verse 8. — The following text is in the same place, v. 10; the third at the place cited, v. 5; the fourth at the place cited, v. 5.
  11. Pro liberi arbitrii donum, quae lectio invenitur in multis codd., ut C K O P R S T W X cc, et in edd. 1, 2, 3, Vat. liberum arbitrium tantum, codd. bb ee liberum arbitrium simpliciter sine tantum. Paulo ante pro Multipliciter igitur Vat. cum edd. 2, 3, 4 et pluribus codd. Multipliciter enim.
    For the gift of free choice (liberi arbitrii donum), which reading is found in many codices, such as C K O P R S T W X cc, and in editions 1, 2, 3, the Vatican edition reads free choice only (liberum arbitrium tantum); codices bb ee read free choice simply, without only. A little before, for In many ways therefore (Multipliciter igitur) the Vatican edition with editions 2, 3, 4 and several codices reads For in many ways (Multipliciter enim).
  12. Vat. et edd. 3, 4 adiungunt tamen.
    The Vatican edition and editions 3, 4 add however (tamen).
  13. Cfr. supra pag. 123, nota 6.
    Cf. above, page 123, note 6.
  14. Particula in abest a codd. L aa. — De hac solutione vide August., Enarrat. in Ps. 67. n. 18.
    The particle in is absent from codices L aa. — On this solution see Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 67, n. 18.
  15. Psalm. 18, 2. — Seq. textus est I. Reg. 16, 7: Homo enim videt ea quae parent, Dominus autem intuetur cor.
    Psalm 18:2. — The following text is at I Kings (1 Samuel) 16:7: For man sees the things that appear, but the Lord beholds the heart.
  16. Cod. cc et ed. 1 adiuncta.
    Codex cc and edition 1 read added (adiuncta).
  17. Vers. 3. — Paulo inferius post mandatorum in cod. aa subiungitur Dei.
    Verse 3. — A little below, after of the commandments (mandatorum) in codex aa there is added of God (Dei).
  18. Vide scholion ad praecedentem quaest.
    See the scholion to the preceding question. ---
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