Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Loss of Grace · Book I: On Sin, Mortal and Venial
Chapter 5: The judgment of Jovinian and Pelagius is refuted
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. V, De Amissione Gratiae et Statu Peccati, Book I. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
We shall now refute in order: first Jovinian and Pelagius; then Wyclif and Calvin; third Luther, Philip, Chemnitz, and the rest of the same sect. Last, against all together, we shall prove the Catholic judgment on the distinction of mortal and venial sin by their nature.
Jovinian and Pelagius, then, who simply took out of the way the distinction of mortal and venial sin, are most openly refuted from those Scriptures which teach that certain sins constitute men unjust, and certain so cleave to the just themselves that they do not on that account cease to be just. To the first head pertain those things of Ezechiel 18, where, after the Lord through the Prophet had described the upright man, who has not lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not committed adultery, nor theft, has not grieved any man, etc., he subjoins: he is just, he shall surely live — as though he would say: if he do otherwise, he will not be just, but unjust. And therefore a little after he adds: But if the just man turn himself away from his justice, and do iniquity according to all the abominations which the wicked man useth to work, shall he live? To the same pertains that of the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 6: Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, Nor the effeminate, nor liers with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God. And such some of you were; but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of our God. Where the Apostle shows in three ways that the sins here enumerated make men unjust, or cannot stand with justice. First, because he teaches that they who do such things are unjust: for when he had said, Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of God, he straightway explained who are to be called unjust, when he added: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, etc. Second, because he calls the cleansing from such sins not only a washing, but also a justification — namely, to indicate that they are unjust who do or have done such things, until through the grace of God they be justified. Third, because he witnesses that by such sins men are excluded from, and deprived of, the possession of the kingdom of heaven, which is the wage of good works and the crown of justice. Many other things could be adduced hither, but there is no need, since all admit this part.
To the second head, then — of which alone there can be doubt — pertains that of the Prophet, Psalm 31: For this shall every one that is holy pray to thee in a seasonable time. Where that “for this” is referred to the remission of sin, of which he had said a little before: I said I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord: and thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sin. Since therefore every holy man prays for the remission of sin, it manifestly follows that there are certain sins which are at times found in the holy, and do not take away holiness. To the same pertains that of Psalm 98: Moses and Aaron among his priests: and Samuel among them that call upon his name. They called upon the Lord, and he heard them… they kept his testimonies, and the commandment which he gave them. Thou didst hear them, O Lord our God: thou wast a merciful God to them, and taking vengeance on all their inventions. From this place we learn that Moses, Aaron, and Samuel were just men, and kept the commandments of the Lord; and yet that sins were not wanting to them, on account of which they needed the propitiation of God, and were fatherly chastised by the Lord. Like is that of Solomon, Proverbs 24: a just man shall fall seven times and shall rise again; and Ecclesiastes 7: there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not. And in the New Testament Christ taught the Apostles, and all other believers, however most just, to say daily: forgive us our debts, Matthew 6. And St. John, who without doubt was holy and just, says of himself and others, 1 John 1: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And blessed James likewise pronounces of himself and the rest: In many things we all offend, James 3. Therefore from the divine writings it is openly proved that there are certain sins which do not fight with justice and holiness.
The same can be proved from the definition of Councils. For the Council of Milevis, canon 7, speaks thus of this matter: “Likewise it has pleased us that whosoever shall say that the saints in the Lord's prayer say ‘Forgive us our debts’ in such wise that they say it not for themselves — because that petition is no longer necessary for them — but for the others who are sinners in their people; and that therefore each of the saints does not say, ‘Forgive me my debts,’ but, ‘Forgive us our debts,’ so that this is understood to be asked for others rather than for himself: let him be anathema.” Like things are had in canons 6 and 8. And to this Council, celebrated more than eleven hundred years ago, the ecumenical Council of Trent subscribed, when it says, session 6, chapter 11: “Although in this mortal life men however holy and just fall at times into at least light and daily sins, which are also called venial, they do not on that account cease to be just. For that voice of the just is humble and true: Forgive us our debts.”
There comes moreover the consensus of the holy Fathers. St. Cyprian, in the sermon on almsgiving: “But if no one can be without sin, and whoever says he is blameless is either proud or foolish, how necessary, how benign is the divine clemency, which, knowing that certain wounds are not wanting afterward to the healed, has given salutary remedies for the curing and healing of the wounds anew.” St. Basil, in the oration on Psalm 114: “He who cleaves to mortal sin, let him say: The sorrows of death have compassed me, and the perils of hell have found me.” In which place St. Basil, when he names mortal sin, signifies that there is found also venial sin, on account of which there is no need to say: The sorrows of death have compassed me. St. Ambrose, on Psalm 118, sermon 20 [al. 16], explaining that verse, “Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy”: “The just man,” says he, “cannot deny this, because no one is without sin.” St. Gregory Nazianzen, oration 2 against Julian, beyond the middle: “It is a great thing not to sin even from the beginning, or at least not to offend in the greatest things; for to be utterly free from sin God has ordained above human nature.” From which place we understand that certain light sins are found in all men, though just and holy. St. Jerome, book 2 against the Pelagians, not far from the beginning: “That men are just, I concede; that they are without all sin, I by no means assent.” The same he teaches most fully through the whole of books 2 and 3 against the Pelagians, and book 2 against Jovinian. St. Augustine, book 1 against the two epistles of the Pelagians, chapter 14: “No minister could rightly be ordained in the Church, if the Apostle had said ‘if any man be without sin,’ where he says ‘if any man be without crime.’ For many baptized believers are without crime; but without sin in this life I would say no one is.” And book 3, chapter 3: “Although the devil is the author and prince of all sins, yet not all sins make men children of the devil; for the children of God also sin, since, if they say they have no sin, they deceive themselves, and the truth is not in them.” The same, in the book On Nature and Grace, chapter 36, writes that absolutely all the Saints, the holy Virgin Mother of God excepted, could have said those words of St. John already cited: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. John Cassian, conference 22, chapter 13: “But that just and holy men are not immune from fault Scripture manifestly pronounces, saying: The just man falls seven times a day, and rises again. For what else is to fall than to sin? And yet, though he is said to fall seven times, he is nonetheless pronounced just, nor does the lapse of human fragility prejudice his justice; for there is much between the lapse of a holy man and of a sinner. For it is one thing to admit a mortal sin, and another to be forestalled by a thought which is not without sin,” etc. St. Gregory, book 21 of the Morals, chapter 9 [al. 12]: “This,” says he, “is the distance between sin and crime: that every crime is a sin, but not every sin a crime; and in this life many can be without crime, but none without sins. In which distinction of sins and crimes it is to be weighed that some sins pollute the soul, crimes extinguish it.” St. Bernard, in the sermon on the Lord's Supper: “And whence,” says he, “do we know that this washing pertains to the wiping away of the sins which are not unto death, and from which we cannot fully guard ourselves before death?” See the same in the book On Precept and Dispensation, where from the Scriptures, from the rule of St. Benedict, and from reason itself he demonstrates that certain sins are, as he himself speaks, lethally criminal, and certain venial. See also his contemporary, Richard of St. Victor, who wrote an entire book on the distinction of mortal and venial sin, and taught that all the Saints in this life at times sin venially, and that it is the privilege of the blessed reigning in heaven to be altogether free from venials. Hither too can pertain the arguments which a little later we shall set forth against the judgment of the Lutherans.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT V.
Refellitur sententia Joviniani et Pelagii.
Refellemus nunc ordine, primo Jovinianum
et Pelagium. Deinde Wicleffum et Calvi¬
num; tertio Lutherum, Philippum, Kemni-
tium, et cajteros ejusdem sectae. Postremo
adversus omnes simul probabimus Catholi¬
cam sententiam de distinctione peccati mor¬
talis et venialis ox natura sua.
Igitur Jovinianus et Pelagius, qui simpli¬
citer distinctionem peccati mortalis et ve-
niatlis tollebant e medio, ex iis Scripturis
apertissime refelluhtur, quai docent peccata
quaedam injustos homines constituere, quae¬
dam in ipsis justis ita haerere, ut non pro-
pterea justi esse desinant. Ad primum caput
illa pertinent Ezech. xvm. ubi posteaquam
Dominus per Prophetam descripsit hominem
probum, qui non levaverit oculos ad idola
domus Israel, non adulterium, non furtum
fecerit, hominem non contristaverit etc.,
subjungit : Hic justus est , vita vivet { 1), qua¬
si dicere velit, si secus fecerit, justus non
erit, sed injustus. Et ideo paulo post auldit :
Si averterit se justus a justitia sua , et fecerit
iniquitatem secundum omnes abominationes ,
quas operari solet impius , numquid vivet ?
Eodem pertinet illud Apostoli I Corinth. vi :
An nescitis, quia iniqui regnum Dei non possi¬
debunt ? nolite errare, neque fornicarii, neque
idolis servientes , neque adulteri, neque molles,
neque masculorum concubitores, neque fures,
neque avari, neque ebriosi, neque maledici ,
neque rapaces regnum Dei possidebunt, et hsec
quidem fuistis, sed abluti estis, sed sanctificati
estis, sed justificati estis in nomine Domini
Jesu Christi, et in spiritu Dei nostri (2).
Ubi Apostolus tribus modis ostendit, pec¬
cata quae hic enumerantur, facere homines
injustos, sive cum justitia non posse consi¬
stere. Primo, quia docet eos, qui talia agunt,
esse iniquos. Nam cum dixisset : Nescitis
quia iniqui regnum Dei non possidebunt, con¬
tinuo explicuit qui sint appellandi iniqui,
cum addidit : Neque fornicarii , neque ido¬
lis servientes, etc. Secundo, quia purgatio¬
nem ab ejusmodi peccatis non solum ablu¬
tionem vocat, sed etiam justificationem, ni¬
mirum, ut indicaret injustos esse qui talia
agunt, vel egerunt, donec per Dei gratiam
justificentur. Tertio, quia testatur ejusmodi
peccatis excludi homines, ac privari posses¬
sione regni coelorum, qua3 merces est ope¬
rum bonorum, et corona justitiae. Multa pos¬
sent alia huc adduci, sed non est opus, cum
hanc partem omnes admittant.
Ad alterum igitur caput de quo solo pot¬
est esse dubitatio, pertinet illud Prophetae
Psal. xxxi : Pi-o hac orabit ad te omnis san-
(I) Ezech. XVIII, 9. — (2) I Corinth.. VI, 9.
2:20
L1BEU I.
ctus in tempore opportuno (1) ? Ubi illud :
Pro hac , refertur ad peccati remissionem, de
qua paulo ante dixerat : Dixi , confitebor ad¬
versum me injustitiam meam , et tu remisisti
impietatem peccati mei. Cum igitur pro re¬
missione peccati oret omnis sanctus, mani¬
feste sequitur, esse qusedam peccata, qua)
in sanctis aliquando inveniuntur, nec tol¬
lunt sanctitatem. Eodem pertinet illud Ps.
xc viii : Moyses, et Aaron in sacerdotibus ejus,
et Samuel inter eos, qui invocant nomen ejus,
custodiebant testimonia ejus, et praeceptum
quod dedit illis; Domine Deus noster, tu exau¬
diebas eos, Deus tu propitius fuisti eis , et ul-
ciscens in omnes adinventiones eorum (2) ? Ex
hoc loco discimus, Moysem, Aaron, et Sa-
muelem viros justos fuisse, et custodivisse
praecepta Domini. Et tamen non defuisse illis
peccata, ob quae propitiatione Dei indigerent
et a Domino paterne castigarentur. Simile
est illud Salomonis Proverbiorum xxiv : Se¬
pties in die cadet justus, et resurget; et Ec-
clesiast. vn : Non est homo justus in terra ,
qui faciat bonum, et non peccet (3). Et in Te¬
stamento novo docuit Christus, Apostolos, et
omnes alios fideles, quantumvis justissimos,
quotidie dicere : Dimitte nobis debita nostra,
Matth. vi (4). Et S. Joannes, qui sine dubio
sanctus et justus erat, de se et aliis dicit,
I Joan. i : Si dixerimus, quia peccatum non
habemus, nos ipsos seducimus (5). Et B. Jaco-
bus similiter de se, et caeteris pronuntiat : In
multis offendimus omnes , Jacob. m (6). Igitur
ex divinis litteris aperte convincitur, esse
peccata quaedam, qua) cum justitia et san¬
ctitate non pugnent. Idem probari potest ex
definitione Conciliorum. Nam Concilium Mi-
levitanum can. 7, ita de hac re loquitur :
<i Item placuit, ut quicumque dixerit in ora¬
tione Dominica ideo dicere sanctos, Dimitte
nobis debita nostra, ut non pro seipsis hoc
dicant, quia non est eis jam necessaria ista
petitio, sed pro aliis, qui sunt in suo populo
peccatores, et ideo non dicere unumquem¬
que Sanctorum : Dimitte mihi debita mea,
sed : Dimitte nobis debita nostra, ut hoc
pro aliis potius, quam pro se petere intelli-
gatur, anathema sit. » Similia habentur can.
G. et 8. Cui Concilium ante mille et centum
annos celebrato subscripsit Concilium oecu-
mcnicum Tridentinum, cum ait f ess. 6. cap.
II : «i Licet in hac mortali vita, quamtumvis
sancti et justi in levia saltem et quotidiana,
qua) etiam venialia dicunlur, peccata quan¬
doque cadant, non propterca desinunt esse
justi. Nam justorum illa vox est humilis et
verax : Dimitte nobis debita nostra. »
Accedit praeterea sanctorum Patrum con¬
sensus. Sanctus Cyprianus in serm. de elee¬
mosyna : « Si autem, inquit, nemo esse sine
peccato potest, et quisquis se inculpatum
dixerit, aut superbus, aut stultus est, quam
necessaria, quam benigna est elementia di¬
vina, qua) cum sciat non deesse sanatis qua)-
dam postmodum vulnera, dedit curandis
denuo, sanandisque vulneribus remedia sa¬
lutaria. »
S. Basilius oratione in Psal. cxiv : « Qui in
peccato, inquit, mortali haeret; dicat : Cir¬
cumdederunt me dolores mortis, et pericula
inferni invenerunt me. » Quo loco S. Basi¬
lius cum peccatum mortale nominat, signi¬
ficat, inveniri etiam peccatum veniale, ob
quod non sit opus dicere : Circumdederunt
me dolores mortis.
S. Ambrosius in Psalm. cxvm. serm. 1G.
explicans illud : « Fac cum servo tuo secun¬
dum misericordiam tuam. Non potest, in¬
quit, hoc justus negare, quia nemo sine pec¬
cato. »
S. Gregorius Nazianzenus orat. 2. in Ju
lianum. ultra medium : « Magnum, inquit,
est, neque ab initio peccare, aut saltem non
in maximis delinquere. Quoniam penitus a
peccato liberum esse, Deus supra humanam
naturam ordinavit. » Ex quo loco intclligi-
mus, peccata qusedam levia in omnibus ho¬
minibus, quamvis justis et sanctis reperiri.
S. Hieronymus lib. n. adversus Pelagia-
nos, non procul ab initio : « Justos, inquit,
esse concedo, sine omni autem peccato om¬
nino non assentior. » Idem fusissime docet
toto lib. n. et iii. contra Pelagianos, et lib.
II. contra Jovinianum.
S. Augustinus lib. i. contra duas epistolas
Pelagianorum, cap. 14 : « Nullus, inquit, in
Ecclesia recte posset ordinari minister, si
dixisset Apostolus, si quis sine peccato, ubi
ait, si quis sine crimine est. Multi quippe fi¬
deles baptizati, sunt sine crimine, sine pec¬
cato autem in hac vita neminem dixerim. »
Et lib. iii. cap. 3 : « Quamvis, inquit, dia¬
bolus sit auctor et princeps omnium pecca¬
torum, non tamen filios diaboli faciunt qua)-
(1) Psal. XXXI, G. - (2) Psal. XCXVI1I, G. - (3) Prov. XXIV, 16; Eccl. VII, 21. - (4) Matth,
VI, 12. - (5)1 Joan 8. — (G) Jacob. ili, 2.
CAPUT VI.
221
cumque peccata. Peccant enim et filii Dei,
quoniam si dixerint se non habere peccatum,
seipsos seducunt, et veritas in eis non est. »
Idem libro de natura et gratia cap. 36. scri¬
bit, omnes omnino Sanctos, excepta S. Vir¬
gine Deipara dicere potuisse illa verba S.
Joan. jam citata : « Si dixerimus, quia pec¬
catum non habemus, nos ipsos seducimus, et
veritas in nobis non est. »
Joannes Cassianus collat. 22. cap. 13 :
« Caeterum, inquit, justos, ac sanctos viros
non esse immunes a culpa manifeste Scri¬
ptura pronuntiat, dicens : Septies in die ca¬
dit justus, et resurgit. Quid enim aliud est
cadere, quam peccare? et tamen cum dicatur
septies cadere, justus nihilominus pronun¬
tiatur, nec justitiae ejus praejudicat lapsus
fragilitatis humanae, quia multum interest
inter sancti, et peccatoris hominis lapsum.
Aliud enim est admittere mortale peccatum,
et aliud est cogitatione, quae peccato non
careat, praeveniri etc. »
S. Gregorius lib. xxi. Moralium cap. 9 :
« Hoc, inquit, inter peccatum distat, et cri¬
men, quod omne crimen peccatum est, non
tamen omne peccatum crimen est : et in hac
vita multi sine crimine, nullus vero esse sine
peccatis valet, in qua videlicet peccatorum
et criminum distinctione pensandum est,
quia nonnulla peccata animam polluunt,
quam crimina extinguunt. »
S. Bcmardusin sermone de coena Domini:
« Et unde, inquit, scimus, quia ad diluenda
peccata quae non sunt ad mortem, et a qui¬
bus, plene cavere non possumus ante mor¬
tem, ablutio ista pertineat? » Vide cumdem
in libro de prajeepto et dispensatione ubi ex
Scripturis, ex regula sancti Benedicti, et ex
ipsa ratione demonstrat, quaedam esse pec¬
cata lethaliter criminalia, ut ipse loquitur,
quaedam autem venialia. Vide etiam ejus¬
dem aequalem Richardum de sancto Victorc>
qui librum integrum scripsit de distinctione
peccati mortalis et venialis, ac docuit, om¬
nes Sanctos in hac vita venialiter aliquando
peccare, et privilegium esse beatorum in
coelo regnantium venialibus omnino carere.
Huc etiam pertinere possunt argumenta ,
quae paiulo post adversus Lutheranorum sen¬
tentiam proponemus.