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Pars 7, Cap. 6

Breviloquium · Pars VII: De statu finalis iudicii

Textus Latinus
p. 287

Capitulum VI. De consequentibus ad iudicium, sicut est poena infernalis.

Consequenter de consequentibus ad iudicium est dicendum; quae sunt duo, scilicet poena infernalis et gloria caelestis6.

De poena igitur infernali hoc tenendum est, quod poena infernalis est in loco corporali deorsum, in quo aeternaliter affligentur omnes reprobi, tam homines quam spiritus mali. — Affligentur autem eodem igne corporali, qui concremabit et affliget spiritus et etiam corpora — nec tamen corpora illa consumet, sed semper affliget — alios plus, alios minus secundum exigentiam meritorum. — Huiusmodi autem afflictioni ignis coniuncta erit afflictio secundum omnes sensus, coniuncta erit poena vermis et carentia visionis Dei, ita quod in his poenis erit varietas et cum varietate acerbitas et cum acerbitate interminabilitas, ut ad reproborum supplicium tormentorum fumus ascendat in saecula saeculorum7.

Ratio autem ad intelligentiam praedictorum haec est: quia, cum primum principium, eo ipso quod primum, sit summum, quidquid habet habet in summo; ideo necesse est, ipsum esse rectissimum. Cum ergo in retribuendo agat secundum rectitudinem; sicut contra se facere non potest nec se negare8 nec suam iustitiam impugnare: sic necessario, sua rectitudine exigente, oportet, quod peccatum puniatur secundum quantitatem culpae, in his maxime, qui, legem misericordiae contemnentes, per impoenitentiam impegerunt in severitatem iustitiae. Quoniam ergo severitatis iustitiae est considerare culpam non solum quantum ad radicem, verum etiam quantum ad circumstantias aggravantes; congruentissimum est, ut iudex iustus poenas debitas ab impiis exigat usque ad ultimum quadrantem9, ut sic non remaneat « dedecus peccati sine decore iustitiae »; et sicut manifesta est potestas in creando et sapientia p. 288 in gubernando et clementia in reparando, sic manifestetur summa iustitia in puniendo. Quoniam ergo divina iustitia peccatorem impium debet punire secundum exigentiam culpae; et culpa mortalis, ad quam succedit finalis impoenitentia, ipsa habet rationem deordinationis perpetuae, deordinationis libidinosae, deordinationis multimodae: necesse est, quod ipsa puniatur poenarum aeternitate, acerbitate et multiformitate.

Primo igitur1 deordinationis perpetuae poena debet esse perpetua, quia peccatum, quod quis committit et de quo nunquam poenitet, perpetuo in anima durat et a vita perpetua, scilicet Deo, separat et a voluntate procedit, quae in peccato vellet perpetuo delectari. Et licet delectatio illa transiens sit momentanea, quia tamen deordinatio tenet rationem perpetuitatis; poena deordinationi respondens debet habere carentiam finis; ut, sicut homo in suo perpetuo2 finem non apposuit a peccato recedendo, sic Deus in suo perpetuo non desistat a puniendo; et sicut contra infinitum peccavit, sic poenam habeat infinitam; et quia non potest habere poenam infinitam intensione, habeat saltem duratione; et sicut voluntas eius post mortem semper malo adhaeret sine susceptione poenitentiae, sic Deus semper affligat sine immutatione sententiae, requirente hoc perpetuitate deordinationis in impiis damnatis.

Rursus, quoniam deordinationis libidinosae poena debet esse afflictiva, quia delectatio punitur per tristitiam contrariam; et spiritus rationalis in peccando convertit se ad bonum proprium et ut nunc et partiale3 libidinose amandum, et ex hoc contemnit divinum imperium et dominium: hinc est, quod ad hoc, quod illa delectatio improba perfecte puniatur, in qua simul est delectatio cum contemptu, necesse est, quod ad punitionem illius contemptus et delectationis peccator, sive homo sit, sive spiritus, praecipitetur in locum infimum et maxime a statu gloriae longinquum, hoc est in profundissimum infernum. — Necesse est etiam, quod ibi exponatur affligendus infimae naturae, ac per hoc non a substantia spirituali patiatur, sed a corporali et infima, hoc est a faecibus corporum mundanorum, ut in faecibus defigatur et igne et sulphure concremetur4. Et quoniam spiritus, qui per naturam praeponitur corpori et in corpus habet influere et ipsum movere, dignitatem naturae per culpam pervertit et se subiicit quodam modo vilitati et nihilitati peccati; hinc est, quod secundum ordinem iustitiae debet ordinari, ut tam peccator spiritus quam homo igni corporeo alligetur, non ut in illum influat vitam, sed ut divino decreto suscipiat poenam. Cum enim rei, quam horret per timorem divinitus immissum et quam sentit per vim naturalis sensus, sit inseparabiliter alligatus; necesse est, quod acriter tormentetur. — Et quia ille ignis non agit nisi per dispositionem peccati et reatus et maculae ex improbitate libidinis procedentis; et haec non est aequaliter in omnibus: hinc est, quod ab eodem igne alii cremantur plus, alii vero minus, sicut ab eodem igne aliter uritur palea, et aliter comburitur lignum5. — Quoniam autem illa peccati distinctio et reatus, secundum quam actio ignis moderatur, in eodem est uniformis et nunquam crescit nec decrescit nec mutatur; hinc est, quod divino imperio ordinante, ille sic agit, quod semper urit et non consumit, semper affligit et non interimit, quia non agit ad suae formae multiplicationem, sed ad pacis animae in corpore perturbationem, sive ipsius spiritus in se ipso. Unde non fit nova ademptio, sed ademptae pacis continuatio; ut sic in eadem poena nec acerbitas aeternitatem, nec aeternitas tollat acerbitatem.

Postremo, quoniam deordinationis multimodae poena debet esse multimoda; et in omni peccato actuali mortali est deordinata aversio a summa luce et bonitate et inordinata conversio ad bonum commutabile et deordinatio voluntatis contra dictamen rationis rectae6: hinc est, quod omnes actualiter peccantes, qui erunt damnati, punientur poena triplici: propter aversionem, carentia visionis Dei; propter conversionem, poena incendii materialis; propter pugnam voluntatis et rationis, poena vermis; ut sic ex hac multiplicitate poenarum afflicti et varie et acerbe et aeternaliter crucientur, et tormentorum fumus ascendat in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

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English Translation

Chapter VI. On the things consequent upon the judgment, of which sort is the punishment of hell.

Consequently we must speak of the things consequent upon the judgment; and these are two, namely the punishment of hell and the glory of heaven6.

Concerning the punishment of hell, therefore, this must be held: that the punishment of hell is in a bodily place below, in which all the reprobate will be afflicted eternally, both men and evil spirits. — And they will be afflicted by the same bodily fire, which will burn up and afflict spirits and also bodies — yet it will not consume those bodies, but will always afflict them — some more, some less according to the requirement of their merits. — And to an affliction of this kind by fire there will be joined an affliction according to all the senses; there will be joined the punishment of the worm and the lack of the vision of God, so that in these punishments there will be variety, and with variety bitterness, and with bitterness endlessness, so that unto the torment of the reprobate the smoke of their torments may ascend for ever and ever7.

Now the reason for the understanding of the aforesaid is this: since the first principle, by that very fact that it is first, is highest, whatever it has it has in the highest degree; therefore it is necessary that it be most right. Since therefore in rendering retribution it acts according to rectitude — just as it cannot act against itself nor deny itself8 nor impugn its own justice — so necessarily, its own rectitude requiring it, it is fitting that sin be punished according to the quantity of the fault, and in these most of all who, despising the law of mercy, have dashed themselves through impenitence against the severity of justice. Since therefore it belongs to the severity of justice to consider the fault not only as to its root, but also as to the aggravating circumstances, it is most fitting that the just judge exact from the wicked the punishments due even to the last farthing9, so that thus there may not remain « the disgrace of sin without the comeliness of justice »; and just as power is manifest in creating and wisdom p. 288 in governing and clemency in repairing, so may the highest justice be made manifest in punishing. Since therefore the divine justice must punish the wicked sinner according to the requirement of his fault; and mortal fault, upon which final impenitence follows, has of itself the character of a perpetual disordering, of a lustful disordering, of a manifold disordering: it is necessary that it be punished by the eternity, the bitterness and the multiformity of punishments.

First, therefore1, the punishment of a perpetual disordering must be perpetual, because the sin which one commits and of which he never repents endures perpetually in the soul, and separates from the perpetual life, namely from God, and proceeds from a will which would wish to take delight perpetually in sin. And although that passing delight is momentary, yet because the disordering holds the character of perpetuity, the punishment answering to the disordering must have a lack of any end; so that, just as man in his own perpetual state2 set no end to it by withdrawing from sin, so God in his own perpetual state may not desist from punishing; and just as he sinned against the infinite, so may he have an infinite punishment; and because he cannot have a punishment infinite in intensity, may he have one at least in duration; and just as his will after death always cleaves to evil without any acceptance of repentance, so may God always afflict without any change of sentence — the perpetuity of the disordering in the wicked damned requiring this.

Again, since the punishment of a lustful disordering must be afflictive, because delight is punished by the contrary sorrow; and the rational spirit in sinning turns itself to its own good, and to a good as of now and partial3, to be loved lustfully, and from this despises the divine command and lordship: hence it is that, in order that that wicked delight may be perfectly punished, in which there is at once delight together with contempt, it is necessary that, for the punishment of that contempt and of that delight, the sinner — whether he be man or spirit — be cast headlong into the lowest place, and the place furthest removed from the state of glory, that is, into the deepest hell. — It is necessary also that he be there set forth to be afflicted by a lowest nature, and thereby that he suffer not from a spiritual substance but from a bodily and lowest one, that is, from the dregs of the world's bodies, so that in the dregs he may be fixed fast and be burned up with fire and brimstone4. And since the spirit, which by nature is set over the body and has to pour influence into the body and to move it, has perverted the dignity of nature through fault and has subjected itself in a certain way to the vileness and nothingness of sin: hence it is that according to the order of justice it must be so ordered that both the sinning spirit and man be bound to a bodily fire, not that it may pour life into it, but that by the divine decree it may receive punishment. For since he is inseparably bound to a thing which he shudders at through a fear divinely sent upon him, and which he feels through the force of natural sense, it is necessary that he be sharply tormented. — And because that fire does not act save through the disposition of the sin and of the guilt and of the stain proceeding from the wickedness of lust; and this is not equally in all: hence it is that by the same fire some are burned more and others less, just as by the same fire straw is burned in one way and wood is consumed in another5. — But since that distinction of sin and that guilt, according to which the action of the fire is measured, is uniform in one and the same person and never grows nor diminishes nor is changed: hence it is that, the divine command ordaining it, that fire so acts that it always burns and does not consume, always afflicts and does not destroy, because it acts not unto the multiplication of its own form, but unto the disturbance of the soul's peace in the body, or of the spirit's own peace in itself. Whence there does not come about a new taking away, but the continuation of a peace already taken away; so that thus in one and the same punishment neither may the bitterness take away the eternity, nor the eternity the bitterness.

Lastly, since the punishment of a manifold disordering must be manifold; and in every actual mortal sin there is a disordered aversion from the highest light and goodness, and an inordinate conversion to changeable good, and a disordering of the will against the dictate of right reason6: hence it is that all who sin actually, and who will be damned, will be punished with a threefold punishment: for the aversion, the lack of the vision of God; for the conversion, the punishment of material burning; for the war of will and reason, the punishment of the worm; so that thus, afflicted by this multiplicity of punishments, they may be tormented variously and bitterly and eternally, and the smoke of their torments may ascend for ever and ever. Amen.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. 6
    De quibus in hoc et seq. cap. — I K L O U V brevius: Consequentia ad iudicium sunt duo etc.
    Of which [we treat] in this and the following chapter. — I K L O U V more briefly: The things consequent upon the judgment are two, etc.
  2. 7
    Apoc. 14, 11. — De hoc cap. vide IV. Sent. d. 44. p. II. per totam et d. 50. p. II. a. 2. (de verme).
    Apocalypse 14:11. — On this chapter see IV Sent. d. 44, part II, in its entirety, and d. 50, part II, a. 2 (on the worm).
  3. 8
    Epist. II. Tim. 2, 13: Negare se ipsum non potest. — Superius Vat., 1 et 3 cum aliquot codd. omittunt eo ipso quod primum.
    Second Epistle to Timothy 2:13: He cannot deny himself. — Above, the Vatican edition, 1 and 3, with some codices, omit eo ipso quod primum.
  4. 9
    Respicitur Matth. 5, 26: Non exies inde, donec reddas novissimum quadrantem (F novissimum quadrantem). — Seq. sententia est August. supra pag. 224, nota 8. allegata. — Inferius pro manifesta est P manifestata est, I K L O U V manifestatur, et pro summa D divina, M sua.
    Reference is made to Matthew 5:26: Thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing (F novissimum quadrantem). — The following sentence is Augustine's, cited above, p. 224, note 8. — Below, for manifesta est P reads manifestata est, I K L O U V manifestatur, and for summa D reads divina, M sua.
  5. 1
    B H addunt ratione. Mox pro anima, quod habent plures codd., inter quos B E M, edd. animo.
    B H add ratione. Shortly after, in place of anima, which several codices have, among them B E M, the editions read animo.
  6. 2
    Libero arbitrio seu voluntate semper peccandi. Cfr. tom. IV. pag. 922, nota 1. — Superius voci momentanea G H et 1 praefigunt et. Inferius pro habere I L O U V portare.
    By free choice, that is, by a will always [set on] sinning. Cf. vol. IV, p. 922, note 1. — Above, G H and edition 1 prefix et to the word momentanea. Below, for habere I L O U V read portare.
  7. 3
    G P et 2 particulare (P et 2 omittunt cum F L M et ut nunc), M speciale, qui etiam subinde cum E I K L O P substituit amando pro amandum.
    G P and edition 2 read particulare (P and edition 2, with F L M, omit et ut nunc), M speciale, which also thereupon, with E I K L O P, substitutes amando for amandum.
  8. 4
    Apoc. 14, 10: Cruciabitur igne et sulphure. Soph. 1, 12: Visitabo super viros defixos in faecibus suis. Cfr. supra c. 2. — Superius pro affligendus K L O puniendus, et natura pro substantia. Inferius post decreto M addit ab eo.
    Apocalypse 14:10: He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone. Sophonias 1:12: I will visit upon the men that are settled on their lees. Cf. above, c. 2. — Above, for affligendus K L O read puniendus, and natura for substantia. Below, after decreto M adds ab eo.
  9. 5
    Cfr. I. Cor. 3, 12. seqq. — Superius pro procedentis T U et 1 praecedentis (vide tamen II. Sent. d. 31. a. 2. q. 3. in corp.), et pro sicut ab eodem plures codd., inter quos A L M P V, et 2 sicut sub eodem. Inferius pro ordinante M moderante.
    Cf. I Corinthians 3:12 ff. — Above, for procedentis T U and edition 1 read praecedentis (see however II Sent. d. 31, a. 2, q. 3, in the body), and for sicut ab eodem several codices, among them A L M P V, and edition 2 read sicut sub eodem. Below, for ordinante M reads moderante.
  10. 6
    Vide supra pag. 180, nota 6. et pag. 224, nota 8.
    See above, p. 180, note 6, and p. 224, note 8. ---
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