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Dist. 22

Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 22

Textus Latinus
p. 572

Cap. I. Si peccata dimissa redeant.

Cumque multis auctoritatibus supra1 sit assertum, in vera cordis contritione peccata dimitti ante confessionem vel satisfactionem ei etiam, qui aliquando in crimen relapsurus est; quaeritur, si post cordis contritionem confiteri contempserit, vel in peccatum idem vel simile reciderit, an peccata dimissa redeant. Cuius quaestionis solutio obscura est et perplexa, aliis asserentibus, aliis contra negantibus, peccata semel dimissa ulterius replicari ad poenam. Qui vero dicunt, peccata dimissa redire, subditis se muniunt testimoniis. Ambrosius2 ait: « Donate invicem, si alter in alterum peccet; alioquin Deus repetit dimissa. Si enim in his contemptus fuerit, sine dubio revocabit sententiam, per quam misericordiam dederat, sicut in Evangelio de servo nequam legitur, qui in conservum suum impius deprehensus est ». Item Rabanus3: « Nequam servum p. 573 tradidit Deus tortoribus, quoadusque redderet universum debitum; quia non solum peccata, quae post baptismum homo egit, reputabuntur ei ad poenam, sed etiam peccata originalia, quae in baptismo ei sunt dimissa ». Item Gregorius4: « Ex dictis evangelicis constat, quia, si ex corde non dimittimus quod in nos delinquitur, et hoc rursum exigitur, quod iam nobis per poenitentiam dimissum fuisse gaudebamus ». Item Augustinus5: « Dicit Deus: Dimitte, et dimittetur tibi; sed ego prius dimisi, dimitte vel postea. Nam si non dimiseris, revocabo te, et quidquid dimiseram, replicabo tibi ». Item: « Qui divini beneficii oblitus, suas vult vindicare iniurias, non solum de futuris peccatis veniam non merebitur, sed etiam praeterita, quae iam sibi dimissa credebat, ad vindictam ei replicabuntur ». Item Beda6: « Revertar in domum meam etc. Timendus est iste versiculus, non exponendus, ne culpa, quam in nobis exstinctam credebamus, per incuriam nos vacantes opprimat ». Item: « Quemcumque enim post baptisma sive pravitas haeretica, seu mundana cupiditas arripuerit, mox omnium prosternet in ima vitiorum ». Item Augustinus7: « Redire dimissa peccata, ubi fraterna caritas non est, apertissime Dominus in Evangelio docet in illo servo, a quo Dominus dimissum debitum petiit, eo quod ille conservo suo debitum nollet dimittere ». — His auctoritatibus innituntur qui dicunt, peccata dimissa redire, si replicantur. — Quibus opponitur: si quis pro peccato, de quo poenituit et indulgentiam accepit, iterum punitur; non videtur iustum. Si punitur pro eo quod peccavit, et non emendavit, iustitia est aperta; si vero requiritur quod fuerat condonatum, vel iniustitia est, vel iustitia occulta. Videtur etiam Deus bis in idipsum iudicare, et duplex tribulatio consurgere8; quod Scriptura negat. — Sed ad hoc potest dici, quod neque duplex tribulatio consurgit, neque iudicat Deus bis in idipsum. Hoc enim fieret, si post condignam satisfactionem et sufficientem poenam iterum puniret; sed non satisfecit digne et sufficienter qui non perseveravit. Debuit enim iugem peccati habere memoriam, non ad faciendum, sed ad cavendum; debuit non oblivisci omnes retributiones Dei, quae tot sunt, quot sunt peccatorum remissiones: tot ergo debuit cogitare dona Dei, quot mala sua, ac pro illis usque in finem gratias agere. Sed quia ingratus ad vomitum sicut canis rediit, ante acta bona mortificavit et peccatum dimissum revocavit, ut, cui humiliato ante Deus peccatum dimiserat, eidem post elato et ingrato imputet.

Sed quia absonum videtur, ut peccata dimissa iterum imputentur; placet quibusdam9, neminem pro peccatis semel dimissis iterum a Deo puniri; sed ideo dicuntur dimissa redire et imputari, quia propter ingratitudinem ita reus et peccator constituitur, ut ante fuerat. Sic enim quod dimissum fuerat dicitur exigi, quia remissionis perceptae ingratus ita reus fit, ut ante fuerat. — Utrique parti quaestionis probati favent doctores; ideoque alicui parti non praeiudicans, studioso lectori iudicium relinquo, addens, mihi tutum fore ac saluti propinquum sub mensa dominorum micas edere10.

Cap. II. Quid sit Sacramentum et res.

Post praedicta restat investigare, quid in actione poenitentiae sit Sacramentum et res. Sacramentum enim signum est sacrae rei; quid igitur hic signum est? Et quae est res sacra huius signi? — Quidam dicunt, Sacramentum hic esse quod exterius tantum geritur, scilicet exterior poenitentia, quae est signum interioris poenitentiae, scilicet contritionis cordis et humiliationis. — Quod si non omne Sacramentum evangelicum id efficit, quod figurat; exterior enim poenitentia non efficit interiorem, potius interior causa est exterioris. — Sed ad hoc inquiunt illi, hoc esse intelligendum de illis Sacramentis, quae in novo testamento instituta sunt, ut est Sacramentum baptismi, confirmationis et corporis Christi. Sacramentum vero poenitentiae, sicut et coniugii, ante tempus gratiae, etiam a primordio humani generis fuit11. Utrumque enim institutum fuit in primis parentibus. — Item, si exterior poenitentia Sacramentum est, et interior res Sacramenti, saepius praecedit res Sacramentum quam Sacramentum rem. — Sed nec hoc inconveniens est. Nam et in aliis Sacramentis, quae efficiunt quod figurant, hoc saepe contingit.

Quidam autem dicunt, exteriorem poenitentiam et interiorem esse Sacramentum, nec duo Sacramenta, sed unum, ut species panis et vini non duo sunt Sacramenta, sed unum. Et sicut in Sacramento corporis, ita etiam in hoc Sacramento dicunt aliud esse tantum Sacramentum, scilicet exteriorem poenitentiam; aliud Sacramentum et rem, scilicet interiorem poenitentiam; aliud rem et non Sacramentum, scilicet remissionem peccatorum. Interior enim poenitentia et res est Sacramenti, id est exterioris poenitentiae, et Sacramentum remissionis peccati, quam et significat12 et facit. Exterior quoque poenitentia et interioris signum est et remissionis peccatorum.

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English Translation
p. 572

Chap. I. Whether forgiven sins return.

And since it has been asserted above1 by many authorities that, in true contrition of heart, sins are forgiven before confession or satisfaction — even for one who is at some point going to relapse into a crime — it is asked whether, if after contrition of heart he has scorned to confess, or has fallen back into the same or a like sin, forgiven sins return. The solution of this question is obscure and perplexed, some asserting, others on the contrary denying, that sins once forgiven are charged again unto punishment. Those, however, who say that forgiven sins return fortify themselves with the following testimonies. Ambrose2 says: « Forgive one another, if one sin against the other; otherwise God demands back the things forgiven. For if in these matters he be despised, without doubt he will revoke the sentence by which he had granted mercy, as is read in the Gospel concerning the wicked servant, who was caught being impious toward his fellow servant ». Likewise Rabanus3: « The wicked servant p. 573 God handed over to the torturers, until he should pay back the whole debt; because not only the sins which a man committed after baptism will be reckoned to him unto punishment, but also the original sins which were forgiven him in baptism ». Likewise Gregory4: « From the evangelical sayings it is established that, if we do not forgive from the heart what is committed against us, that too is demanded back again, over which we rejoiced that it had already been forgiven us through penance ». Likewise Augustine5: « God says: Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you; but I have first forgiven, forgive at least afterward. For if you do not forgive, I will recall you, and whatever I had forgiven, I will charge again to you ». Likewise: « He who, forgetful of the divine benefit, wishes to avenge his own injuries, will not only not merit pardon for future sins, but even the past ones, which he believed had already been forgiven him, will be charged back to him unto vengeance ». Likewise Bede6: « I will return into my house etc. That verse is to be feared, not to be expounded, lest the fault which we believed extinguished in us, through negligence oppress us as we lie idle ». Likewise: « For whomever, after baptism, either heretical depravity or worldly cupidity has seized, it will soon lay him prostrate in the depths of the vices ». Likewise Augustine7: « That forgiven sins return, where fraternal charity is not, the Lord most plainly teaches in the Gospel, in that servant from whom the Lord demanded back the forgiven debt, because he was unwilling to forgive his fellow servant his debt ». — Upon these authorities rely those who say that forgiven sins return, if they are charged again. — Against whom it is objected: if anyone is punished again for a sin of which he repented and received indulgence, it does not seem just. If he is punished for what he sinned and did not amend, the justice is open; but if what had been remitted is required back, either it is injustice, or a hidden justice. It also seems that God judges twice for the same thing, and that a double tribulation arises8; which Scripture denies. — But to this it can be said that neither does a double tribulation arise, nor does God judge twice for the same thing. For this would happen if, after condign satisfaction and sufficient punishment, he punished again; but he who did not persevere did not satisfy worthily and sufficiently. For he ought to have kept a continual memory of the sin, not for the doing of it, but for the avoiding of it; he ought not to forget all the retributions of God, which are as many as are the remissions of sins: as many gifts of God, therefore, ought he to have pondered as his own evils, and for them to give thanks unto the end. But because, ungrateful, he returned to the vomit like a dog, he mortified the good things previously done and recalled the forgiven sin, so that to him — to whom, when humbled beforehand, God had forgiven the sin — to the same, afterward lifted up and ungrateful, he may charge it.

But because it seems absurd that forgiven sins should be charged again, it is pleasing to some9 that no one is punished again by God for sins once forgiven; but they are said to return forgiven and to be charged because, on account of ingratitude, he is so constituted guilty and a sinner as he had been before. For thus what had been forgiven is said to be required back, because the man ungrateful for the remission received becomes so guilty as he had been before. — For both parts of the question approved doctors are favorable; and therefore, prejudging neither part, I leave the judgment to the studious reader, adding that it will be safe for me and near to salvation to eat crumbs under the table of the masters10.

Chap. II. What the Sacrament is and the reality.

After what has been said, it remains to investigate what in the action of penance is the Sacrament and the reality. For a Sacrament is a sign of a sacred thing; what, therefore, is here the sign? And what is the sacred reality of this sign? — Some say that the Sacrament here is what is done exteriorly only, namely exterior penance, which is the sign of interior penance, namely of contrition of heart and of humiliation. — But if not every evangelical Sacrament effects what it figures — for exterior penance does not effect the interior, rather the interior is the cause of the exterior — . — But to this those men reply that this is to be understood of those Sacraments which were instituted in the new testament, as is the Sacrament of baptism, of confirmation, and of the body of Christ. But the Sacrament of penance, like that of marriage also, existed before the time of grace, even from the beginning of the human race11. For both were instituted in the first parents. — Likewise, if exterior penance is the Sacrament, and the interior is the reality of the Sacrament, the reality more often precedes the Sacrament than the Sacrament the reality. — But neither is this unfitting. For in the other Sacraments also, which effect what they figure, this often happens.

Some, however, say that exterior penance and interior are the Sacrament, and not two Sacraments, but one, just as the species of bread and wine are not two Sacraments, but one. And just as in the Sacrament of the body, so also in this Sacrament they say that one thing is the Sacrament only, namely exterior penance; another the Sacrament and the reality, namely interior penance; another the reality and not the Sacrament, namely the remission of sins. For interior penance both is the reality of the Sacrament — that is, of exterior penance — and is the Sacrament of the remission of sin, which it both signifies12 and effects. Exterior penance too is both the sign of the interior and of the remission of sins.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. 1
    Dist. XVII. c. I. et XIV. c. ult.
    Distinction XVII, c. I, and XIV, last chapter.
  2. 2
    In Epist. ad Eph. 4, 32; cfr. Hugo de S. Vict., II. de Sacram. p. XIV. c. 9. — De servo nequam vide Matth. 18, 33. — Pro peccet solae edd., excepta 1, peccat.
    On the Epistle to the Ephesians 4:32; cf. Hugh of St. Victor, On the Sacraments II, p. XIV, c. 9. — On the wicked servant see Matt. 18:33. — For peccet the editions alone, except the 1st, have peccat.
  3. 3
    C. Si Iudas (I.), de Poenitent. d. 4. § I.
    The canon Si Iudas (1), On Penance dist. 4, § 1.
  4. 4
    Libr. IV. Dialog. c. 60; C. Constat ex dictis (2.), ibid.
    Dialogues, bk. IV, c. 60; the canon Constat ex dictis (2), ibid.
  5. 5
    Serm. 83. (alias 15. de Verbis Dom.) c. 6. n. 7; C. Dixit Dominus (3.), ibid. Locus Scripturae est Luc. 6, 37. — Pro sed ego can. et Vat. si ego. — Seq. locus C. Qui divini (4.), ibid.; sententia fere occurrit in August., ibid.
    Sermon 83 (elsewhere 15, On the Words of the Lord), c. 6, n. 7; the canon Dixit Dominus (3), ibid. The Scripture passage is Luke 6:37. — For sed ego the canon and the Vatican edition have si ego. — The following passage is the canon Qui divini (4), ibid.; the sentence occurs nearly verbatim in Augustine, ibid.
  6. 6
    Libr. IV. in Evang. Luc. 11, 24; C. Revertar in domum (5.), ibid.; seq. locus ibid. v. 26; C. Quaecumque enim (6.), ibid. — Pro incuriam edd., exceptis Vat. 4, 6, incautelam, refragante canone.
    Bk. IV on the Gospel of Luke 11:24; the canon Revertar in domum (5), ibid.; the following passage ibid., v. 26; the canon Quaecumque enim (6), ibid. — For incuriam the editions, except the Vatican 4 and 6, have incautelam, against the canon.
  7. 7
    Libr. I. de Baptismo contra Donatistas, c. 12. n. 20; ad verbum in C. Quomodo exaudit (41.), de Consecrat. d. 4. § 6. — Inferius pro redire, si replicantur, solae edd., excepta 1, si replicantur, redire simpliciter.
    Bk. I On Baptism against the Donatists, c. 12, n. 20; word for word in the canon Quomodo exaudit (41), On Consecration, dist. 4, § 6. — Below, for redire, si replicantur, the editions alone, except the 1st, read simply si replicantur, redire.
  8. 8
    Nahum I, 9. Vulgata: Consummationem ipse faciet, non consurget etc, cfr. supra d. XV. c. 1. De seqq. cfr. August., Enarrat. in Ps. 102. n. 3. 4. — Infra respiciuntur Ps. 102, 2, et II. Petr. 2, 22.
    Nahum 1:9. The Vulgate: He himself will make an end, it will not rise up etc., cf. above, dist. XV, c. 1. On what follows cf. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms 102, n. 3–4. — Below are referred to Ps. 102:2, and 2 Peter 2:22.
  9. 9
    Scilicet Hugoni, Sum. Sent. tr. 6. c. 13.
    Namely to Hugh, Summa Sententiarum, tract 6, c. 13.
  10. 10
    Cfr. Matth. 15, 27.
    Cf. Matt. 15:27.
  11. 11
    Cfr. De coniugio Gen. 2, 22, sed de poenitentia Gen. 3, 18. seqq. Cod. Erf. notat, quod I. opinio fuit Gandolphi.
    Cf., on marriage, Gen. 2:22, but on penance Gen. 3:18 ff. The Erfurt codex notes that the 1st opinion was Gandolph's.
  12. 12
    Plures edd. et aliqui codd. signat.
    Several editions and some codices read signat (marks) [for significat, signifies].
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