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Pars 4, Cap. 8

Breviloquium · Pars IV: De incarnatione Verbi

Textus Latinus
p. 248

Capitulum VIII. De passione Christi quantum ad statum patientis.

Postquam circa Verbum incarnatum considerata est unio naturarum, considerata nihilominus plenitudo charismatum, deinde consideranda est tolerantia passionum; circa quam considerandus est status patientis, modus patiendi et exitus passionis6.

De statu patientis haec tenenda sunt, scilicet quod Christus assumsit non tantum humanam naturam, sed etiam defectus circa naturam. Assumsit enim poenalitates corporales, ut famem, sitim et lassitudinem; assumsit etiam spirituales, ut tristitiam, gemitum et timorem; nec tamen omnes corporales assumsit, sicut sunt defectus aegritudinum multiformium. nec omnes spirituales, sicut sunt ignorantia et rebelliones carnis ad spiritum; nec qualitercumque, quia sic necessitatem patiendi suscepit, ut nihil pati posset invite, nec secundum voluntatem Deitatis nec secundum voluntatem rationis, licet passio fuerit contra voluntatem sensualitatis et carnis, sicut exprimit oratio Salvatoris, quae dicit: Non sicut ego volo, sed sicut tu vis7.

Ratio autem ad intelligentiam praedictorum haec est: quia, cum principium reparativum in reconciliando necessario habeat mediatoris officium; ideo necesse est, quod habeat convenientiam cum utroque extremorum non solum quantum ad naturam, verum etiam quantum ad ea quae sunt circa naturam. Quoniam ergo Deus est iustus et beatus, impassibilis et immortalis; homo vero lapsus est peccator et miser, passibilis et mortalis: necesse fuit, mediatorem Dei et hominum8, ut hominem posset reducere ad Deum, cum Deo communicare in iustitia et beatitudine, cum homine vero in passibilitate et mortalitate; ut sic, habendo « mortalitatem transeuntem et beatitudinem permanentem », hominem reduceret de praesenti miseria ad vitam beatam; sicut econtra angelus malus, habendo immortalitatem cum miseria et iniustitia, fuit mediator faciens cadere in culpam et miseriam per suggestionem suam. Quoniam ergo Christus mediator debuit habere innocentiam et beatitudinem fruitionis cum mortalitate et passibilitate; hinc est, quod simul debuit esse viator et comprehensor. — De omni enim statu aliquid habuit in se, secundum quod dicitur1 assumsisse de statu innocentiae peccati immunitatem, de statu naturae lapsae mortalitatem, de statu vero gloriae beatitudinem fruitionis perfectae.

p. 249

Rursus, quoniam poenalitates vitiosae, sicut sunt illa quatuor propter peccatum originale inflicta, scilicet ignorantia, infirmitas, malitia et concupiscentia2, stare non possunt cum perfectissima innocentia; hinc est, quod has nec assumere debuit nec assumsit. — Quia vero poenae, quae sunt exercitativae virtutis perfectae et testificativae humanitatis verae, non simulatae, potissime illae sunt, quae respiciunt naturam in communi, sicut fames et sitis in absentia alimenti, tristitia et timor in praesentia nocumenti; hinc est, quod illas debuit assumere et assumsit.

Postremo, quia nullus innocens debet invitus aliquam poenam sustinere3, quia hoc esset contra ordinem divinae iustitiae; nullus etiam mortalis vult mori et pati secundum appetitum naturae, quae naturaliter refugit mortem: hinc est, quod Christus habere debuit huiusmodi poenalitates, sic tamen, ut nihil posset pati invite secundum rationem, non solum propter beatitudinem et Deitatem omnipotentem sibi unitam, per quam poterat repellere omnia; sed etiam propter perfectissimam innocentiam, quae4 secundum ordinem naturalis iustitiae nihil permittitur pati invite; sic etiam pateretur, ut tamen hoc esset contra naturalem inclinationem et appetitum naturae, qui est in sensualitate et carne. — Et hinc est, quod Christus, orans secundum rationem, voluntatem carnis exprimebat, qua passionem refugiebat, cum dicebat: Transeat a me calix iste5; voluntatem tamen rationis voluntati Patris conformabat et appetitui carnis praeponebat, cum dicebat: Non mea voluntas, sed tua fiat. — Et sic una voluntas non erat alteri contraria: quia « secundum voluntatem divinam quod iustum erat voluit, secundum voluntatem rationis iustitiae consensit, sed secundum voluntatem carnis poenam recusavit, sed tamen iustitiam non accusavit. Et sic unaquaeque voluntas quod suum erat operabatur et quod ad se pertinebat sequebatur: voluntas divina iustitiam, voluntas rationalis obedientiam, voluntas carnis naturam6 »; ac per hoc non erat in Christo colluctatio et pugna, sed pacata ordinatio et tranquillitas ordinata.

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English Translation

Chapter VIII. On the passion of Christ as regards the state of the sufferer.

After the union of the natures has been considered concerning the incarnate Word, and the fullness of the charisms considered no less, next there is to be considered the endurance of the sufferings; and concerning this there is to be considered the state of the sufferer, the mode of suffering and the outcome of the passion6.

Concerning the state of the sufferer these things are to be held, namely that Christ assumed not only human nature, but also the defects about the nature. For he assumed bodily penalties, such as hunger, thirst and weariness; he assumed also spiritual ones, such as sadness, groaning and fear; nor yet did he assume all bodily ones, such as are the defects of manifold sicknesses. nor all spiritual ones, such as are ignorance and the rebellions of the flesh against the spirit; nor in any manner whatsoever, since he took upon himself the necessity of suffering in such a way that he could suffer nothing unwillingly, neither according to the will of the Deity nor according to the will of reason, although the passion was against the will of the sensuality and of the flesh, as the prayer of the Saviour expresses, which says: Not as I will, but as thou wilt7.

Now the reason for the understanding of the foresaid is this: since, seeing that the reparative principle in reconciling necessarily has the office of a mediator, it is therefore necessary that it have a fittingness with both of the extremes not only as regards nature, but also as regards those things which are about nature. Since therefore God is just and blessed, impassible and immortal, while man, fallen, is a sinner and wretched, passible and mortal, it was necessary that there be a mediator of God and of men8, so that he might be able to lead man back to God, having in common with God justice and beatitude, but with man passibility and mortality; so that thus, having « a passing mortality and an abiding beatitude », he might lead man back from the present misery to the blessed life; just as, on the contrary, the evil angel, having immortality together with misery and injustice, was a mediator making him fall into fault and misery through his own suggestion. Since therefore Christ the mediator had to have innocence and the beatitude of fruition together with mortality and passibility, hence it is that he had to be at once wayfarer and comprehensor. — For of every state he had something in himself, according to which he is said1 to have assumed from the state of innocence immunity from sin, from the state of fallen nature mortality, but from the state of glory the beatitude of perfect fruition.

Again, since vicious penalties, such as are those four inflicted on account of original sin, namely ignorance, infirmity, malice and concupiscence2, cannot stand together with a most perfect innocence, hence it is that these he neither had to assume nor did assume. — But since those penalties which are exercitative of perfect virtue and testificative of a true, not simulated, humanity are chiefly those which regard nature in common, such as hunger and thirst in the absence of nourishment, sadness and fear in the presence of harm, hence it is that those he had to assume and did assume.

Lastly, since no innocent person ought unwillingly to undergo any penalty3, because this would be against the order of divine justice; and since no mortal wills to die and to suffer according to the appetite of nature, which naturally flees death: hence it is that Christ had to have penalties of this sort, yet in such a way that he could suffer nothing unwillingly according to reason, not only on account of the beatitude and the omnipotent Deity united to him, through which he was able to repel all things; but also on account of that most perfect innocence, which4 according to the order of natural justice is permitted to suffer nothing unwillingly; so also he would suffer, yet in such a way that this was against the natural inclination and the appetite of nature, which is in the sensuality and the flesh. — And hence it is that Christ, praying according to reason, expressed the will of the flesh, by which he fled the passion, when he said: Let this chalice pass from me5; yet he conformed the will of reason to the will of the Father and set it before the appetite of the flesh, when he said: Not my will, but thine be done. — And thus the one will was not contrary to the other: since « according to the divine will he willed what was just, according to the will of reason he consented to justice, but according to the will of the flesh he refused the penalty, yet nevertheless did not accuse justice. And thus each will did what was its own and followed what pertained to itself: the divine will justice, the rational will obedience, the will of the flesh nature6 »; and through this there was in Christ no wrestling and struggle, but a peaceful ordering and an ordered tranquillity.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. 6
    De his tribus agitur in hoc et 2 seqq. capp. — Superius post considerandus est B H addunt primo, et post status patientis cum pluribus aliis codd., exceptis tamen E M P S, prosequuntur secundo modus patiendi, tertio exitus passionis.
    These three are treated in this and the 2 following chapters. — Above, after considerandus est, B H add primo, and after status patientis, together with several other codices, though with E M P S excepted, they continue secundo modus patiendi, tertio exitus passionis.
  2. 7
    Matth. 26, 39. Vulgata et 1 omittunt vis. — De hoc cap. cfr. III. Sent. d. 15-18. — Superius vocibus ut nihil edd. cum aliquot codd. interserunt tamen.
    Matthew 26, 39. The Vulgate and edition 1 omit vis. — On this chapter cf. III Sent., dd. 15–18. — Above, at the words ut nihil, the editions together with some codices insert tamen.
  3. 8
    Epist. I. Tim. 2, 5. — Vide III. Sent. d. 19. a. 2. q. 2, in cuius fine allegatur pro hac expositione August., IX. de Civ. Dei, c. 15, ex quo etiam hic quaedam verbotenus (v. g. mortalitatem transeuntem et beatitudinem permanentem) proferuntur.
    Epistle I Timothy 2, 5. — See III Sent., d. 19, a. 2, q. 2, at the end of which Augustine, On the City of God IX, c. 15, is adduced in favour of this exposition, from which also certain things are here brought forward word for word (e.g. mortalitatem transeuntem et beatitudinem permanentem).
  4. 1
    A Boethio, de Una Persona et duabus naturis, c. 8. Vide III. Sent. d. 12. a. 2. q. 1. ad 4. et d. 16. a. 1. q. 3. ad 2. — Supra pro enim B M P aliique etiam, A Q ergo.
    From Boethius, On the One Person and the Two Natures, c. 8. See III Sent., d. 12, a. 2, q. 1, ad 4, and d. 16, a. 1, q. 3, ad 2. — Above, for enim B M P and others have etiam, A Q ergo.
  5. 2
    Vide supra pag. 234, nota 4. in fine. — Pro originale Vat. mortale.
    See above, p. 234, note 4, at the end. — For originale the Vatican edition has mortale.
  6. 3
    Cfr. supra pag. 228, nota 7. — Inferius pro quae edd. cum nonnullis codd. quia.
    Cf. above, p. 228, note 7. — Below, for quae the editions together with some codices have quia.
  7. 4
    Edd., excepta 2, qua. Inferius pro ut tamen (G K omittunt tamen) edd., excepta 1, ut etiam.
    The editions, edition 2 excepted, have qua. Below, for ut tamen (G K omit tamen) the editions, edition 1 excepted, have ut etiam.
  8. 5
    Matth. 26, 39. — Seq. locus habetur ibid. non iisdem verbis, quae sumta sunt ex Luc. 22, 42.
    Matthew 26, 39. — The following passage is found in the same place, though not in the same words, which are taken from Luke 22, 42.
  9. 6
    Hugo a S. Vict. in Libello de Quatuor Voluntat. in Christo. In textu originali plura interseruntur. Cfr. I. Sent. d. 48. a. 2. q. 2. in corp. et III. Sent. d. 17. a. 1. q. 3. in corp.
    Hugh of St. Victor, in the Little Book on the Four Wills in Christ. In the original text several things are interposed. Cf. I Sent., d. 48, a. 2, q. 2, in the body, and III Sent., d. 17, a. 1, q. 3, in the body. ---
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