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Dist. 20, Part 1, Dubia

Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 20

Textus Latinus
p. 527

DUBIA CIRCA LITTERAM MAGISTRI.

Dub. I

In parte ista sunt dubitationes circa litteram, et primo dubitatur de hoc quod dicit Augustinus: Si sic agis, dico tibi, quia securus es etc. Videtur enim male dicere, quia nemo scit, utrum amore, an odio dignus sit1: ergo nemo securus est.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod duplex est certitudo, scilicet scientiae et coniecturae; certitudinem scientiae nemo habet nisi per revelationem, certitudinem autem coniecturae habet qui sanus poenitet, cum ei prospera arrident; tunc signum est, quod dolor suus est ex Dei gratia, non ex affectione terrena2. Utraque harum certitudinum caret qui in fine poenitet sera poenitentia, quia magis habet rationem ad oppositum quam ad propositum.

Dub. II

Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit: Cum, in quacumque die invocetur Deus, adsit. Videtur enim hoc esse contra illud Michaeae tertio3: Tunc clamabunt, et non exaudiam; et Glossa super illud: clamabunt, scilicet «sera poenitentia»: ergo videtur, quod Dominus non semper adsit.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod invocatio potest venire ex duplici principio, scilicet ex timore poenae, vel ex amore divinae misericordiae. Primum est servitutis, et hanc invocationem Dominus non exaudiet; secundum est filiationis et veritatis, et hanc invocationem exaudit, secundum illud Psalmi4: Prope est Dominus omnibus invocantibus eum, omnibus invocantibus eum in veritate.

Dub. III

Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit: Arbitrii libertatem quaerit Deus, ut delere possit commissa. Videtur enim non bene dicere, quia Deus potest iustificare hominem etiam dormientem, sicut illustravit Salomonem etiam in somnis5, quando non est usus liberi arbitrii. — Item, libertas arbitrii durat, quamdiu homo vivit, secundum possibilitatem ad meritum et demeritum, secundum impossibilitatem6 ad coactionem: semper ergo, quocumque modo intelligat de arbitrii libertate, non videtur verum quod dicit.

p. 528

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod hic appellat Augustinus7 arbitrii libertatem non ipsam potentiae facultatem, sed expeditionem, secundum quam dicitur libere facere, quando non habet retardationem; hoc autem requiritur quantum ad bene esse conversionis. Hoc autem frequenter non habetur in morte, pro eo quod anima adeo intenta est dolori mortis et aegritudinis, quod minus potest ad se ipsam redire et cogitare, quae spectarent ad hoc, ut haberet aliquis sufficiens remedium verae poenitentiae. Verumtamen littera videtur loqui de tempore post mortem, in quo non solum difficile, sed etiam impossibile est, salvari decedentem in peccato; non quia hoc non possit divina potentia, sed iuste et rationabiliter oppositum decrevit divina iustitia; et si alicui unquam post mortem dedit gratiam, intelligendum est, quod ille non erat damnatus per sententiam, sicut legitur de Traiano8. — Aliqui etiam dicere voluerunt, quod hoc privilegium speciale fuit, ut Dominus ostenderet, quantum Sanctos suos diligeret.

Dub. IV

Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit, quod iste ignis purgatorius non est aeternus. Videtur enim falsum, quia ignis conflagrationis, qui exuret faciem mundi, non peribit omnino, sed reprobos involvet: ergo multo fortius videtur, quod iste ignis in aeternum duret.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod non loquitur de duratione sive aeternitate istius ignis quantum ad substantiam, sed quantum ad officium sive quantum ad actum puniendi sive purgandi bonos. Si enim remanet ad actum aliquem secundum id quod habet ardoris, erit ad reproborum concremationem, non ad purgationem.

Dub. V

Item quaeritur de verbo Apostoli, quod est in littera: Horrendum est incidere in manus Dei viventis. Videtur enim contrarium dici secundi Regum ultimo9: Melius est mihi incidere in manus Dei quam in manus hominum. — Item, Deus est misericordissimus; sed in manus misericordioris melius est incidere: ergo etc.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod duplex est status: unus, in quo sceptrum habet misericordia, et hic est status vitae praesentis, pro quo dictum est: Melius est incidere in manus Dei. Alius est status, in quo sceptrum habet iustitia, et hic est status vitae futurae, et pro hoc dicitur: Horrendum est incidere etc.: quia, cum Deus sit misericordissimus, et ideo plus impendat, quam humana mens possit aestimare; cum sit et similiter iustissimus, quamvis non sit ita pronus: adeo tamen graviter punit, quod horribile est cogitare10.

Dub. VI

Item quaeritur de hoc quod dicit, quod quaedam peccata mortalia in poenitentia fiunt venialia. Videtur enim dicere falsum, quia mortale in poenitentia omnino deletur: ergo omnino desinit esse: ergo non transit in aliud peccatum: ergo non fit veniale.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod in mortali duo sunt: et macula et reatus sive obligatio ad poenam. Cum ergo deletur mortale, macula omnino desinit nec in aliud transit; sed reatus poenae manet alteratus, quia primo erat ad mortem aeternam, sed modo est ad poenam temporalem.

Sed quomodo intelligemus, quod iste reatus fiat ille? Notandum est hic, quod aliqui voluerunt dicere, quod idem reatus erat, sed minoratus sive diminutus. Dixerunt enim, quod cum Deus dimittit culpam, non dimittit eam secundum id quod est, sed solum secundum rationem dispositionis, quae est aeternitas, unde prior obligatio ad poenam manet; sed quia Dominus remisit aeternitatem, iam est11 solum ad poenam temporalem, ita quod idem reatus est, qui tunc erat, et nunc; et pro tanto recte dicitur mortale fieri veniale. — Sed illud non est multum bene intelligibile, pro eo quod aeternitas non est dispositio poenae, sed magis mensura; et mensura durationis inseparabiliter adhaeret ei quod mensurat, ut, si aliqua actio sit in A, impossibile est, quod illa eadem fiat in B. — Et ideo intelligendum, quod novus est reatus, et primus reatus commutatur, et culpa totaliter dimittitur; et ideo, si mortale dicatur fieri veniale quantum ad reatum, non est intelligendum per identitatem, sed per commutationem, quam facit divina sententia.

English Translation

DOUBTS CONCERNING THE TEXT OF THE MASTER.

Doubt I

In this section there are doubts concerning the text, and first it is doubted about this, that Augustine says: If you act thus, I tell you that you are secure etc. For it seems to be said badly, because no one knows whether he is worthy of love or of hatred1: therefore no one is secure.

I respond: It must be said that there is a twofold certitude, namely of knowledge and of conjecture; the certitude of knowledge no one has except through revelation, but the certitude of conjecture he has who does penitence while in health, when prosperous things smile upon him; then it is a sign that his sorrow is from God's grace, not from an earthly affection2. Both of these certitudes he lacks who at the end does penitence by a late penitence, because he has more ground for the opposite than for the proposal.

Doubt II

Likewise it is asked about this, that he says: That, on whatever day God is invoked, He be present. For this seems to be against that [text] of Micah three3: Then shall they cry, and I will not hear; and the Gloss upon that [text]: they shall cry, namely [by] «a late penitence»: therefore it seems that the Lord is not always present.

I respond: It must be said that invocation can come from a twofold principle, namely from fear of penalty, or from love of the divine mercy. The first is of servitude, and this invocation the Lord will not hear; the second is of sonship and of truth, and this invocation He hears, according to that [text] of the Psalm4: The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.

Doubt III

Likewise it is asked about this, that he says: God seeks the freedom of choice, that He may be able to blot out the things committed. For it seems not to be well said, because God can justify a man even while sleeping, just as He enlightened Solomon even in sleep5, when there was no use of free choice. — Likewise, the freedom of choice lasts as long as a man lives, according to the possibility for merit and demerit, [but] according to the impossibility6 of coercion: therefore always, in whatever way he understands concerning the freedom of choice, what he says does not seem true.

p. 528

I respond: It must be said that here Augustine7 calls the freedom of choice not the faculty of the power itself, but the readiness, according to which one is said to act freely when he has no hindrance; and this is required as to the well-being of the conversion. But this is frequently not had at death, for the reason that the soul is so intent upon the sorrow of death and of sickness that it can less return to itself and consider those things which would pertain to this, that someone might have a sufficient remedy of true penitence. Nevertheless the text seems to speak of the time after death, in which it is not only difficult, but even impossible, for one departing in sin to be saved; not because the divine power could not [do] this, but [because] the divine justice justly and reasonably decreed the opposite; and if it ever gave grace to anyone after death, it must be understood that that one was not damned by sentence, as is read concerning Trajan8. — Some also have wished to say that this was a special privilege, that the Lord might show how much He loved His Saints.

Doubt IV

Likewise it is asked about this, that he says, that this purgatorial fire is not eternal. For it seems false, because the fire of the conflagration, which shall burn off the face of the world, will not perish altogether, but will envelop the reprobate: therefore much more strongly it seems that this fire lasts for eternity.

I respond: It must be said that he does not speak of the duration or eternity of this fire as to [its] substance, but as to [its] office or as to the act of punishing or purging the good. For if it remains for some act according to that which it has of burning, it will be for the burning-up of the reprobate, not for purgation.

Doubt V

Likewise it is asked about the word of the Apostle, which is in the text: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. For the contrary seems to be said in the last [chapter] of the second of Kings9: It is better for me to fall into the hands of God than into the hands of men. — Likewise, God is most merciful; but it is better to fall into the hands of the more merciful: therefore etc.

I respond: It must be said that there is a twofold state: one, in which mercy holds the scepter, and this is the state of the present life, for which it was said: It is better to fall into the hands of God. The other is the state in which justice holds the scepter, and this is the state of the future life, and for this it is said: It is a fearful thing to fall etc.: because, since God is most merciful, and therefore bestows more than the human mind can estimate; since He is likewise also most just, although not so prone [to it]: yet He punishes so gravely that it is horrible to think of it10.

Doubt VI

Likewise it is asked about this, that he says, that certain mortal sins in penitence become venial. For it seems to say what is false, because a mortal [sin] in penitence is altogether blotted out: therefore it altogether ceases to be: therefore it does not pass into another sin: therefore it does not become venial.

I respond: It must be said that in a mortal [sin] there are two things: both stain and guilt or obligation to penalty. When therefore the mortal [sin] is blotted out, the stain altogether ceases nor passes into another; but the guilt of penalty remains altered, because at first it was for eternal death, but now it is for temporal penalty.

But how shall we understand that this guilt becomes that [other one]? It must be noted here that some have wished to say that it was the same guilt, but lessened or diminished. For they said that when God remits the fault, He does not remit it as to that which it is, but only as to the ground of [its] disposition, which is eternity, whence the prior obligation to penalty remains; but because the Lord has remitted the eternity, it is now11 only for temporal penalty, so that the guilt is the same which was then, and now [is]; and to that extent it is rightly said that the mortal [sin] becomes venial. — But that is not very well intelligible, for the reason that eternity is not a disposition of penalty, but rather a measure; and the measure of duration inseparably adheres to that which it measures, so that, if some action is in A, it is impossible that that same [action] should come to be in B. — And therefore it must be understood that the guilt is new, and the first guilt is exchanged, and the fault is totally remitted; and therefore, if the mortal [sin] is said to become venial as to the guilt, it must not be understood by identity, but by exchange, which the divine sentence makes.

Apparatus Criticus
  1. 1
    Eccle. 9, 1: Nescit homo, utrum etc.
    Ecclesiastes 9:1: Man knoweth not whether [he be worthy of love or hatred], etc.
  2. 2
    Vat. quia.
    The Vatican edition [reads] quia.
  3. 3
    Vers. 4: Tunc clamabunt ad Dominum, et non exaudiet eos. — Glossa est interlinearis apud Lyranum, in qua respicitur ad captivitatem Iudaeorum sub Nabuchodonosor et sub Romanis (cfr. Hieron. in hunc loc.).
    Verse 4: Then shall they cry to the Lord, and He will not hear them. — The Gloss is interlinear in Lyra, in which there is regard to the captivity of the Jews under Nabuchodonosor and under the Romans (cf. Jerome on this passage).
  4. 4
    Psalm. 144, 18. — Cfr. de hoc dubio B. Albert., hic a. 3; Petr. a Tar. et Richard. a Med., hic circa lit.
    Psalm 144:18. — Cf. on this doubt Blessed Albert, here a. 3; Peter of Tarentaise and Richard of Mediavilla, here on the text.
  5. 5
    Vide III. Reg. 3, 5. seqq.
    See 3 Kings 3:5 ff.
  6. 6
    Plurimi codd. perperam possibilitatem; cfr. II. Sent. d. 25. p. II. q. 4. seq.
    Very many codices wrongly [read] possibilitatem; cf. II Sentences, d. 25, p. II, q. 4 f.
  7. 7
    Potius auctor libri de Vera et falsa Poenitentia (inter opera August.), ex quo textus huius dubii. — Inferius edd. cum pluribus codd. bis haec autem pro hoc autem. Subinde pro spectarent codd. FG spectant, et pro aliquis cod. Z aliquid.
    Rather the author of the book On True and False Penitence (among the works of Augustine), from which the text of this doubt [is taken]. — Below the editions, with several codices, twice [read] haec autem for hoc autem. Then for spectarent codices FG [read] spectant, and for aliquis codex Z [reads] aliquid.
  8. 8
    In legenda seu vita S. Gregorii, a Ioanne Diacono conscripta. Vide tom. I. pag. 778, nota 5. — Superius pro non possit codd. FG non posset, et post sed codd. IK aa repetunt quia. — Idem dub. solvunt B. Albert., hic a. 4; S. Thom., Petr. a Tar. et Richard. a Med., hic circa lit.
    In the legend or life of St. Gregory, composed by John the Deacon. See tom. I, p. 778, note 5. — Above for non possit codices FG [read] non posset, and after sed codices IK aa repeat quia. — The same doubt is solved by Blessed Albert, here a. 4; St. Thomas, Peter of Tarentaise, and Richard of Mediavilla, here on the text.
  9. 9
    Cfr. infra d. 47. a. 2. q. 4.
    Cf. below d. 47, a. 2, q. 4.
  10. 10
    Vers. 14: Melius est, ut incidam in manus Domini, multae enim misericordiae eius sunt, quam etc.
    Verse 14: It is better that I should fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are many, than etc.
  11. 11
    In codd. FGH (V primitus) additur semper. Inferius pro et ideo plus impendat edd. ideo plus impendit. Subinde pro aestimare codd. minus congrue existimare. — Cfr. de hoc dubio B. Albert., hic a. 9; S. Thom., hic circa lit. — Cod. M ideo est, edd. legunt: aeternitatem iam, et solum ad poenam temporalem obligat, ita etc.
    In codices FGH (V originally) semper is added. Below for et ideo plus impendat the editions [read] ideo plus impendit. Then for aestimare the codices less aptly [read] existimare. — Cf. on this doubt Blessed Albert, here a. 9; St. Thomas, here on the text. — Codex M [reads] ideo est; the editions read: aeternitatem iam, et solum ad poenam temporalem obligat, ita etc.
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