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Dist. 19, Art. 1, Q. 4

Book III: On the Incarnation of the Word · Distinction 19

Textus Latinus
p. 407

Articulus I. De efficacia passionis Christi.

Quaestio IV. Utrum per passionem Christi absolvamur a poena peccati.

Quarto quaeritur, an per passionem Christi absolvamur a poena peccati. Et quod sic, videtur.

1. Primae Petri secundop407-3: Peccata nostra pertulit in corpore suo super lignum; quod exponens Magister in littera dicit, quod « portare peccata nostra, hoc est portare poenam peccatorum nostrorum ». Et hoc confirmatur per illud Isaiae quinquagesimo tertiop407-4: Vere languores nostros ipse tulit, et infirmitates nostras ipse portavit.

2. Item, Zachariae nonop407-5: Tu autem in sanguine testamenti tui eduxisti vinctos de lacu, in quo non erat aqua: si ergo educi de lacu sine aqua est liberari a poena, videtur, quod per sanguinem Christi liberemur a poena peccati.

3. Item, passio Christi maxime fuit poenalis et Deo placita, et pro nobis etiam fuit soluta; sed quod talis condicionis est maxime habet liberarep407-6 a poena: ergo etc.

4. Item, tolerantia poenae plus ordinatur ad relaxationem poenae quam ad deletionem culpae: si ergo per passionem Christi fit iustificatio, sicut suprap407-7 ostensum est, multo fortius fit poenarum relaxatio.

Sed contra: 1. « Resurrectio Christi est causa nostrae resurrectionis », sicut dicitur in Glossa, primae ad Corinthios decimo quintop407-8; sed per resurrectionem nostram habemus liberari a poena et a miseria: ergo videtur, quod Christi resurrectio, non passio, liberet nos a poena.

2. Item, Christus patiendo dedit nobis exemplum et materiam compatiendi: si ergo poena consistit in passione et compassione, videtur, quod passio Christi potius sit causativa poenae quam liberativa a poena.

3. Item, poenitentia omnis poenalis est — nam poenitere est poenam tenerep407-9 — si ergo per passionem Christi liberati sumus a poena, videtur, quod iam non sit opus poenitentia; sed hoc est falsum: ergo et primum.

4. Item, si passio Christi liberat a poena, aut ergo a temporali, aut aeterna. A temporali non, quia eisdem poenis temporalibus subiacemus nunc, quibus subiacebant illi qui erant ante passionem. Ab aeterna non, quia nullus, qui essetp407-10 in inferno damnatus, fuit per passionem Christi liberatus: videtur ergo, quod mediante Christi passione non sumus ab aliqua poena liberati.

Conclusio.

Passio Christi nos liberavit a poena peccati temporali, aeterna et inter utramque media.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod passio Christi nos liberavit a poena temporali et ab aeterna et ab ea quae est inter utramque media. — A poena, inquam, temporali nos liberat, dum virtute illius condonantur nobis peccata, non solum quantum ad culpam et reatum poenae aeternae, sed etiam quantum ad dimissionem poenae satisfactoriae, sicut habet fieri in Sacramento baptismi. — A poena aeterna nos liberat liberando a culpa. Dum enim per passionem Christi nobis gratia impetratur, per quam culpa dimittitur, nobis debitum poenae aeternae mortis relaxatur. — Liberat etiam a poena, quae quodam modo est inter utramque istarum poenarum media, quae quidem fuitp407-11 carentia visionis divinae ex merito peccati Adae; et illa quidem, etsi fuerit ad tempus propter gratiam repertam in eis qui detinebantur in limbo, deberet tamen habere aeternitatem, habito respectu ad culpam Adae — unde quantumcumque passio dilata esset, divina praesentia fuisset eip407-12 subtracta — nisi Deus adinvenisset aliam viam. Et ab hac poena liberati sumus per passionem Christi; et sic patet, quod per omnem modum verum est, passionem Christi efficacem esse ad liberandum nos a poena peccatip407-13. — Et rationes, quae hoc ostendunt, concedendae sunt.

Ad oppositorum solutionem:

p. 408 1. Ad illud vero quod primo obiicitur in contrarium, quod resurrectio Christi nos liberat a poena magis quam passio; dicendum, quod sicut suprap408-1 dictum fuit de iustificatione, quod iustificatio potest attribui passioni ratione termini a quo, scilicet ratione amotionis mali, et resurrectioni ratione termini ad quem, scilicet ratione collationis boni. Sic etiam glorificatio, quae est liberatio a poena et miseria, utrique potest attribui; ratione vero liberationis a poena potius attribuitur passioni.

2. Ad illud vero quod obiicitur, quod passio Christi praebet nobis exemplum patiendip408-2; dicendum, quod etsi passio Christi liberet a poena, non tamen ab omni poena liberat. Liberat enim a poena oppressiva, sed non liberat a poena promotiva.p408-3 Et quoniam poena, in qua exercetur patientia et misericordia sive pietas, est promotiva; ideo passio Christi ab illa non liberat, sed ad illam animat et animando facit, ut poena illa non possit opprimere nec praevalere; et isto modo posset dici quodam modo liberare ab illo genere poenae, non ut non affligat, sed ut non praevaleat.

3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod passio Christi non liberat a poena poenitentiae; dicendum, quod immo liberat, quantum est de se; quia, secundum quod dicitur in litterap408-4, « in baptismo omnis poena, quae pro peccato debetur, penitus relaxatur »; sed cum homo peccata iterat, reddit se indignum tanto beneficio, et ideo per passionem non remittitur ei tota poena, sed « minoratur », secundum quod dicit Magister in littera, quantum decet et expedit, salva divina iustitia.

4. Ad illud vero quod obiicitur, quod non liberat a poena temporali nec a poena aeterna; dicendum, quod ratio illa peccat secundum consequensp408-5. Non enim sequitur, quod si hoc modo non liberat a poena temporali et aeterna, quod propter hoc nullo modo. Quamvis enim non liberet a poena aeterna eos qui sunt in malo obstinati, liberat tamen eos qui volunt et possunt ad Christum converti. Rursus, quamvis non liberet a poena temporali in praesenti, ut a fame et a siti, liberabit tamen in futuro, quando novissima omnium destruetur inimica morsp408-6. Liberat etiam ab aliquibus poenis temporalibus, ad quas essemus obligati merito peccatorum nostrorum, nisi interveniret passio Christip408-7.

English Translation

Article I. On the efficacy of the passion of Christ.

Question IV. Whether through the passion of Christ we are absolved from the punishment of sin.

In the fourth place it is asked whether through the passion of Christ we are absolved from the punishment of sin. And that this is so seems [to be the case].

1. From the second [chapter] of the First [Letter] of Peterp407-3: He bore our sins in his body upon the tree; and the Master, expounding this in the text, says that « to bear our sins is to bear the punishment of our sins ». And this is confirmed by that [passage] of Isaiah, the fifty-third [chapter]p407-4: Truly he himself bore our griefs, and himself carried our infirmities.

2. Likewise, from the ninth [chapter] of Zechariahp407-5: Thou also, by the blood of thy covenant, hast brought forth thy prisoners out of the pit, in which there was no water: if therefore to be brought forth out of the pit without water is to be freed from punishment, it seems that through the blood of Christ we are freed from the punishment of sin.

3. Likewise, the passion of Christ was supremely penal and pleasing to God, and was also paid for us; but that which is of such a condition has most of all [the power] to freep407-6 from punishment: therefore, etc.

4. Likewise, the endurance of punishment is ordered more to the relaxation of punishment than to the deletion of fault: if therefore through the passion of Christ justification comes about, as was shown abovep407-7, much more strongly does the relaxation of punishments come about.

On the contrary: 1. « The resurrection of Christ is the cause of our resurrection », as is said in the Gloss on the first [Letter] to the Corinthians, the fifteenth [chapter]p407-8; but through our resurrection we have [the power] to be freed from punishment and from misery: therefore it seems that the resurrection of Christ, not the passion, frees us from punishment.

2. Likewise, Christ by suffering gave us an example and matter for suffering-with [him]: if therefore punishment consists in suffering and compassion, it seems that the passion of Christ is rather causative of punishment than liberative from punishment.

3. Likewise, all penance is penal — for to do penance is to hold to punishmentp407-9 — if therefore through the passion of Christ we have been freed from punishment, it seems that penance is no longer needed; but this is false: therefore the first [conclusion is false] too.

4. Likewise, if the passion of Christ frees from punishment, then either from temporal or from eternal [punishment]. Not from temporal, because we are now subject to the same temporal punishments to which those were subject who lived before the passion. Not from eternal, because no one who wasp407-10 damned in hell was freed through the passion of Christ: it seems therefore that, by means of Christ's passion, we are not freed from any punishment.

Conclusion.

The passion of Christ freed us from the punishment of sin — temporal, eternal, and that which is intermediate between the two.

I respond: It must be said that the passion of Christ freed us from temporal punishment, and from eternal, and from that which is intermediate between the two of these. — From temporal punishment, I say, it frees us when, by its power, our sins are remitted to us, not only as to fault and the liability of eternal punishment, but also as to the dismissal of satisfactory punishment, as comes about in the Sacrament of baptism. — From eternal punishment it frees us by freeing [us] from fault. For when through the passion of Christ grace is obtained for us, through which fault is dismissed, the debt of the eternal punishment of death is relaxed for us. — It also frees [us] from the punishment which is in some way intermediate between these two punishments, which indeed wasp407-11 the lack of the divine vision by [reason of] the merit of Adam's sin; and that [lack], even though it was for a time on account of the grace found in those who were detained in limbo, ought nevertheless to have eternity, having regard to the fault of Adam — whence, however long the passion had been deferred, the divine presence would have beenp407-12 withdrawn from it — unless God had devised another way. And from this punishment we have been freed through the passion of Christ; and thus it is clear that in every way it is true that the passion of Christ is efficacious for freeing us from the punishment of sinp407-13. — And the reasons which show this are to be conceded.

To the solution of the [arguments] on the opposite [side]:

1. To that which is first objected to the contrary, that the resurrection of Christ frees us from punishment more than the passion; it must be said that, as was said abovep408-1 concerning justification — that justification can be attributed to the passion by reason of the terminus from which, namely by reason of the removal of evil, and to the resurrection by reason of the terminus to which, namely by reason of the conferring of good. So too glorification, which is liberation from punishment and misery, can be attributed to both; but by reason of the liberation from punishment it is attributed rather to the passion.

2. To that which is objected, that the passion of Christ furnishes us an example of sufferingp408-2; it must be said that, although the passion of Christ frees [us] from punishment, it does not nevertheless free [us] from all punishment. For it frees [us] from oppressive punishment, but does not free [us] from promotive punishment.p408-3 And since the punishment in which patience and mercy or piety is exercised is promotive; therefore the passion of Christ does not free [us] from that [punishment], but rouses [us] to it and, by rousing, brings it about that that punishment cannot oppress nor prevail; and in this way it could be said in some manner to free [us] from that kind of punishment, not so that it does not afflict, but so that it does not prevail.

3. To that which is objected, that the passion of Christ does not free [us] from the punishment of penance; it must be said that on the contrary it does free [us], so far as lies in itself; because, according to what is said in the textp408-4, « in baptism every punishment which is owed for sin is utterly relaxed »; but when a man repeats his sins, he renders himself unworthy of so great a benefit, and therefore through the passion not the whole punishment is remitted to him, but it is « lessened », according to what the Master says in the text, as much as is fitting and expedient, the divine justice being preserved.

4. To that which is objected, that it frees [us] neither from temporal nor from eternal punishment; it must be said that that reasoning errs by [the fallacy of] the consequentp408-5. For it does not follow that, if in this way it does not free [us] from temporal and eternal punishment, that for this reason [it frees us] in no way. For although it does not free from eternal punishment those who are obstinate in evil, it nevertheless frees those who will and are able to be converted to Christ. Again, although it does not free [us] from temporal punishment in the present, as from hunger and from thirst, it will nevertheless free [us] in the future, when the last enemy of all, death, shall be destroyedp408-6. It also frees [us] from certain temporal punishments to which we would be bound by the merit of our sins, were it not that the passion of Christ intervenedp408-7.

Apparatus Criticus
  1. Vers. 24. — Expositio Magistri habetur hic c. 4.
    Verse 24. — The Master's exposition is found here, c. 4.
  2. Vers. 4.
    Verse 4.
  3. Vers. 11.
    Verse 11.
  4. Edd. falso liberari.
    The editions wrongly [read] liberari [to be freed].
  5. Quaest. 1. — Non pauci codd. bis sit pro fit.
    Question 1. — Not a few codices [read] sit twice in place of fit.
  6. Vers. 12. Vide supra pag. 247, nota 3.
    Verse 12. See above, p. 247, note 3.
  7. Isidor., II. de Offic. eccles. c. 17. (alias c. 16.) n. 2: Poenitentia nomen sumsit a poena, qua anima cruciatur et caro mortificatur. Cfr. VI. Etymolog. c. 19. n. 71.
    Isidore, On the Ecclesiastical Offices II, c. 17 (otherwise c. 16), n. 2: "Penance took its name from punishment (poena), by which the soul is tormented and the flesh mortified." Cf. Etymologies VI, c. 19, n. 71.
  8. Edd. est.
    The editions [read] est [is].
  9. Edd. est.
    The editions [read] est [is].
  10. Vat. (simul cum alia interpunctione) eis, refragantibus codd. et edd. 1, 2, et post pauca pro aliam viam cum edd. 1, 2 aliquam viam.
    The Vatican edition (along with a different punctuation) [reads] eis [to them], the codices and editions 1, 2 being opposed; and a little after, in place of aliam viam [another way], with editions 1, 2 [it reads] aliquam viam [some way].
  11. Cfr. hic lit. Magistri, c. 3. et supra d. XVIII. c. 5.
    Cf. here the Master's text, c. 3, and above, d. XVIII, c. 5.
  12. Quaest. 1.
    Question 1.
  13. Edd. 1, 2 compatiendi, Vat. patiendi et compatiendi.
    Editions 1, 2 [read] compatiendi [of suffering-with], the Vatican edition patiendi et compatiendi [of suffering and of suffering-with].
  14. De poena oppressiva sive suffocante vitalem spiritum gratiae, et de poena promotiva sive promovente ad exercitium virtutis vide II. Sent. d. 32. dub. 1. — Circa finem solut. pro posset dici codd. G H L N T U V Z aa possit dici.
    On oppressive or suffocating punishment, [which suffocates] the vital spirit of grace, and on promotive or promoting punishment, [which promotes] the exercise of virtue, see II Sent., d. 32, dub. 1. — Near the end of the solution, in place of posset dici [it could be said] codices G H L N T U V Z aa [read] possit dici.
  15. Hic. c. 4. Ibid. invenitur et seq. dictum Magistri. — Paulo superius edd. verbo liberat praemittunt nos.
    Here, c. 4. In the same place is found also the following saying of the Master. — A little above, the editions prefix nos [us] to the verb liberat [it frees].
  16. Cfr. supra pag. 99, nota 7. — Paulo inferius post nullo modo edd. addunt liberet a poena temporali et aeterna.
    Cf. above, p. 99, note 7. — A little below, after nullo modo [in no way] the editions add liberet a poena temporali et aeterna [it frees from temporal and eternal punishment].
  17. Epist. I. Cor. 15, 26. — Paulo superius post in praesenti edd. cum codd. F G I L U V Z aa adiungunt vita (codd. H T via), et subinde edd. solae pro ut substituunt scilicet (dum dicti codd. ut simpliciter omittunt) et post liberabit tamen supplent a poena.
    First [Letter] to the Corinthians 15, 26. — A little above, after in praesenti [in the present] the editions, with codices F G I L U V Z aa, add vita [life] (codices H T [read] via [way]); and thereafter the editions alone substitute scilicet [namely] for ut [as] (while the said codices simply omit ut), and after liberabit tamen [it will nevertheless free] supply a poena [from punishment].
  18. In fine solut. pro interveniret cod. N intervenisset, cod. U interveniat.
    At the end of the solution, in place of interveniret [had intervened] codex N [reads] intervenisset, codex U interveniat.
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