Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Loss of Grace · Book II: That God Is Not the Author of Sin
Chapter 15: Other testimonies of Scripture are explained
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. V, De Amissione Gratiae et Statu Peccati, Book II. 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).
The fifth and last head embraces those places in which God is said in very fact to work and effect the things which are evil. 2 Kings 12: Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thy own house, and I will take thy wives before thy eyes and give them to thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel, and in the sight of the sun. Calvin urges this place, book 1 of the Institutes, chapter 18, §1: “Absalom, defiling his father's bed with incestuous intercourse, perpetrates a detestable crime; yet God pronounces this to be his own work. For the words are: Thou didst it secretly, but I will do it openly, and before this sun.” Like are those: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, Luke 2. And more openly: Behold I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and a rock of scandal, Romans 9 — where God himself (as Beza weighs it) says that he lays in Sion a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal. Beza adds, in the response to Castellio on the eternal predestination of God, in the refutation of the second calumny, that place of Ephesians 1: who worketh all things according to the counsel of his will; which place he contends is to be understood, without any exception, of absolutely all things which are done in the world — so that the sense is: all things which are done, whether good or evil, are done with God not only foreknowing and permitting, but also willing, decreeing, and working. But from what has been said above it will be easy to explain these testimonies.
For as to what is said in the first place, about the incest of Absalom: God is said to have done that evil, not as it was the fault of Absalom, but as it was the punishment of David. For although it was evil that Absalom should sin — which God did not will, but forbade — yet it was good and just that David be punished — which God willed and did. And he did it not by inciting Absalom to the evil, nor by counseling or commanding it to him, but by permitting, when he could easily have hindered; or even by turning his will, inclined to many crimes, away from others and restraining it from them, and opening to him the way to this one — that is, suffering him to rush into this, not suffering him to rush into the others. Further, that such a permission, according to the manner of Scripture, can be called the work of God, whether as doing or as commanding, is clear from the history of St. Job, where God is said to have afflicted St. Job — though from that history it is agreed that the devil was not incited by God to afflict Job, but desired and obtained only the permission of God.
But those places from Luke 2 and Romans 9, about Christ set for the fall and for a rock of scandal, do not signify that Christ was sent by God into the world for this, that he might be the cause or occasion of ruin or scandal; but that he was sent indeed to be the cause of salvation, yet that it would also come to pass that he would be the occasion of ruin and scandal — not he himself furnishing the occasion, but the malice of men taking it. So St. Fulgentius, book 1 to King Thrasimund, chapter 4 [al. 12], treating these places: “That stone which, rejected by the builders, was made the head of the corner, becomes, to certain men possessed by the blindness of a depraved belief, a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal.” And a little below: “Behold, this one is set for the ruin and the resurrection of many: there, then, perfidy begets ruin for those believing ill, where right belief exalts the faithful.” Not, then, the stone itself set by God, but the blindness of him who stumbles against it — that is, perfidy — begets the ruin. So also Theodoret, question 12 on Exodus, adducing these places, and moreover that of John 9 — For judgment I am come into this world; that they who see not, may see; and they who see, may become blind — admonishes that it was not the aim of God in sending Christ that the seeing should become blind, and the standing fall, or the walking stumble against the rock; but that Scripture indicated what was to come. Just as also what we read in John 2 — Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up — does not signify that it was commanded by Christ to the Jews to do that, but it was foretold that they would do it. And when he says to Judas, John 13, That which thou dost, do quickly, he did not command him the betrayal, but indicated that he would shortly do and fulfill, himself permitting, what he had long desired. The sentence of Simeon, then, is this: Behold, this one is set for the ruin and the resurrection of many — that is: Behold, Christ has been sent by God, who to the many despising him on account of the passion and the ignominy of the cross will be the occasion of ruin, but to the many faithfully believing in him will be the cause of resurrection and salvation. The same is the sentence of blessed Paul, Romans 9. For what he says — Behold, I lay in Sion a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal — has this sense: Behold, I lay in Sion a stone which will be a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal. For both Simeon and Paul looked back to the prophecy of Isaias which is had in chapter 8, where God is not said to be going to bring it about that Christ be for ruin and for a rock of scandal, but it is simply foretold that Christ will be for ruin and for a rock of scandal — the blindness of men, namely, taking occasion of ruin and scandal from the passion and death of Christ: Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself: and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be a sanctification to you. But for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence to the two houses of Israel, for a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And very many of them shall stumble and fall, and shall be broken in pieces, and shall be snared, and taken. And what blessed Paul says — Behold, I lay in Sion a stone — is taken from chapter 28 of the same Prophet, where God through Isaias says: Behold I will lay a stone in the foundations of Sion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation. But because the Apostle joined these words of diverse chapters into one sentence, he therefore seemed to speak somewhat more harshly. But if it be expounded as we have said, all things will cohere, nor will the sentence of Isaias seem diverse from the sentence of Paul: namely, God laid in Sion a stone which, from the intention of God himself, should be corner, precious, elect, as is said in chapter 28 — though from the unbelief of men it would also be, to many, a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal.
Finally, that of Ephesians 1 — who worketh all things according to the counsel of his will — on which, as on the best of foundations, Beza built his aphorisms, makes nothing at all to the matter. For the Apostle does not say that God works absolutely all things which are done in the world, evil as well as good — since contrariwise God hates sins, and does nothing of the things which he hates, as we read in Wisdom 11. The sentence of the Apostle, then, is that God works all things which he works not rashly, nor unwilling, but freely and prudently — for that is “according to the counsel of his will”; just as prudent men are said to do all things maturely — not that they themselves do all things, but that whatever they do, they do with counsel. And so St. Jerome, as though he had foreseen Beza's commentary, wrote thus on this place: “God works all things according to the counsel of his will — not that all things which are done in the world are carried through by the will and counsel of God (otherwise evils too could be imputed to God), but that all things which he does, he does with counsel and will — that is, that they are both full of reason and of the power of the doer.” Moreover, if we granted to Beza that in these words of the Apostle it is signified that absolutely all things which are done in the world are done by God, yet it would not thence follow that the sins which are done by men are also done by God: since to do sin is not to do, but to fail; nor is sin some thing, but the corruption of some thing. And in what manner God does whatever of thing and of good is in an evil action, and yet is not the author of the corruption and defect which is discerned in that action, we explained in chapter 5, and shall explain again in chapter 17.
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CAPUT XV. Explicantur alia Scriptura: testimonia. Quintum et postremum caput ea loca com¬ plectitur, in quibus dicitur, Deus reipsa ope¬ rari, et efficere ea, quae mala sunt, II. lteg. xii : Haec dicit Dominus , ego suscitabo super te malum de domo tua, et tollam uxores tuas in oculis tuis, et dabo proximo tuo, et dormiet cum uxoribus tuis in oculis solis hujus. Tu enim fecisti abscondite, ego autem faciam ver¬ bum istud in conspectu omnis Israel, et in con¬ spectu Solis hujus (1). Urget hunc locum Calvinus lib. n. Institut. cap. 18. §. 1 : « Ab- salon, inquit, incesto coitu patris thorum polluens detestabile scelus perpetrat : Deus tamen hoc opus suum esse pronuntiat. Verba enim sunt : Tu fecisti occulte, ego vero pa¬ lam faciam, et coram sole hoc. » Similia sunt illa : Ecce positus est hic in ruinam, et in resurrectionem multorum in Is¬ rael, Luc ii. Et apertius : Ecce pono in Sion lapidem offensionis , et petram scandali, Rom. ix (2). Ubi Deus ipse (ut expendit Be- za) dicit se ponere in Sion lapidem offensio¬ nis, et petram scandali. Addit Beza in re¬ sponsione ad Castallionem de aeterna Dei praedestinatione in refutatione secundae ca¬ lumniae, locum illum Ephcs. i : Qui operatur omnia secundum consilium voluntatis suae (3). Quem locum sine ulla exceptione de omnibus omnino rebus, quae in mundo fiunt, intelli- gendum esse contendit, ut sensus sit : Om¬ nia, quae fiunt, sive bona, sive mala, Deo non solum praesciente, et permittente, sed etiam volente, decernente et operante fieri. Sed ex iis, quae supra dicta sunt, facile erit haec testimonia explicare. Quod enim primo loco dicitur, de incestu Absalon, dicitur Deus malum illud fecisse, non qua culpa Absalonis, sed qua poena Da- vidis erat. Quamvis enim malum esset Ab- salonein peccare, quod non volebat, sed pro¬ hibebat Deus, bonum tamen, ac justum erat 285 puniri Davidem, quod voluit, et fecit Deus. Fecit autem non incitando Absalonem ad malum, neque illud ei suadendo, vel impe¬ rando, sed permittendo, cum facile impedi¬ re posset, vel etiam voluntatem ejus ad multa scelera inclinatam avertendo, et cohi¬ bendo ab aliis, atque ad hoc unum illi viam aperiendo, id est, sinendo ruere in hoc, non sinendo ruere in alia. Porro ejusmodi permissionem secundum morem Scripturae, dici posse opus Dei, sive facientis, sive imperantis, perspicuum est ex historia S. Job, ubi dicitur Deus afflixisse S. Job, cum tamen ex historia illa constet, diabolum non a Deo fuisse incitatum, ut affligeret Jobum, sed solam Dei permissio¬ nem optasse et impetrasse. Illa vero loca ex Luc. n. et Rom. ix. de Christo posito in ruinam, et in petram scan¬ dali, non significant a Deo Christum ideo fuisse missum in mundum, ut esset causa, vel occasio ruinae, vel scandali, sed mis¬ sum quidem ut esset causa salutis, tamen futurum etiam fuisse, ut esset occasio ruinae et scandali, non ipso praebente occasionem, sed hominum malitia eam accipiente. Ita S. Fulgentius lib. i. ad Trasimundum regem, cap. 4. tractans haec loca : « Lapis ille, in¬ quit, qui ab aedificantibus reprobatus, in ca¬ put tactus est anguli, quibusdam pravae cre¬ dulitatis caecitate possessis lapis offensionis, et petra scandali efficitur. » Et paulo infra : <( Ecce positus est hic in ruinam, et in resur¬ rectionem multorum : ibi ergo male creden¬ tibus ruinam perfidia generat, ubi recta cre¬ dulitas fideles exaltat. » Non itaque lapis ipse a Deo positus, sed caecitas in eum offen¬ dentis, id est, perfidia, ruinam generat. Sic etiam Theodoretus quaest. 12. in Exod. ad¬ ducens haec loca, et praeterea illud Joan. ix: Ego in judicium veni, ut qui non vident vi¬ deant, et qui vident caeci fiant (4) ; monet non fuisse scopum Dei Christum mittentis ; ut videntes caeci fierent, et stantes ruerent, vel ambulantes in petram offenderent, sed Scri¬ pturam indicasse, id quod futurum erat. Quemadmodum etiam quod legimus Joan. ii : Solvite templum hoc, et ego in triduo excitabo illud (5), non significat, imperatum fuisse a Christo Judaeis, ut illud facerent, sed eos id facturos, fuisse praedictum. Et cum ait Judae Joan xiii : Quod facis, fac citius (6), non ei (1) II Reg. XII, H. — (2) Luc. II. 34; Rom. IX, 33. — (3) Eph 1,11.— (4) Joan. IX, 39. - Joan. II, 19. — (6) Joan. XIII, 27. 286 LIBER II. mandavit proditionem, sed indicavit, brevi eum facturum, et impleturum, se permit¬ tente, quod jam diu desideraverat. Sententia igitur Simeonis hac est : Ecce positus est hic in ruinam , et in resurrectionem multorum , hoc est, Ecce a Deo missus est Christus, qui multis eum propter passionem et ignominiam crucis despicientibus erit oc¬ casio ruina;, multis autem in eum fideliter ' # / , , credentibus erit causa resurrectionis et sa¬ lutis. Eadem est sententia B. Pauli ad Rom. ix. Quod enim ipse ait : Ecce pono in Sion lapidem offensionis, et petram scandali (1), hunc habet sensum : Ecce pono in Sion lapi¬ dem, qui erit lapis offensionis et petra scan¬ dali. Nam et Simeon, et Paulus ad prophe¬ tiam Isaise respexit, qua; habetur cap. vm. ubi non dicitur Deus facturus, ut Chrisus sit in ruinam, et in petram scandali, sed sim¬ pliciter praedicitur Christus futurus in rui¬ nam, et in petram scandali, occasionem vi¬ delicet ruina;, et scandali accipiente homi¬ num ca;citate ex Christi passione et morte : « Dominum, inquit, exercituum ipsum san¬ ctificate, ipse pavor vester, et ipse terror vester, et erit vobis, in sanctificationem : in lapidem autem offensionis, et in petrum scan¬ dali duabus domibus Israel, in laqueum, et in ruinam habitantibus in Hierusalem ; et offendent ex eis plurimi, et cadent, et conte¬ rentur, et irretientur, et capientur. » Quod autem B. Paulus ait : Ecce pono in Sion lapidem , sumptum est ex cap. xxvm. ejusdem Prophetae, ubi Deus per Isaiam di¬ cit : Ecce mittam in Sion lapidem angularem , probatum , electum , in fundamento funda¬ tum (2). Sed quia conjunxit Apostolus ha;c verba diversorum capitum in unam senten¬ tiam, ideo paulo durius loqui visus est. Sed si exponatur ut diximus, omnia cohaerebunt, neque diversa videbitur sententia Isaiae a sententia Pauli, nimirum posuit Deus in Sion lapidem, qui ex intentione ipsius Dei esset angularis, pretiosus, electus, ut dicitur cap. xxvm. quamvis ex incredulitate hominum fu¬ turus esset etiam multis in lapidem offensio¬ nis et petram scandali. Illud denique Ephes. i : Qui operatur om¬ nia secundum consilium voluntatis suae (3), in quo aphorismos suos tamquam in optimo fun¬ damento Beza construxit, nihil omnino facit ad rem. Non enim Apostolus dicit, Deum operari omnia absolute, qua; fiunt in mundo, tam bona , quam mala , cum e contrario Deus oderit peccata , et nihil faciat eorum qua; odit, ut legimus Sapient, xi. Sententia igitur Apostoli est , Deum operari omnia , qua; operatur , non temere , neque invitum, fed libere , et prudenter , id enim est secun¬ dum consilium voluntatis suae. Quemadmo¬ dum viri prudentes dicuntur omnia mature agere , non quod omnia ipsi agant, sed quod quidquid agant , cum consilio agant. Itaque S. Hieronymus quasi Bezae com¬ mentarium praevidisset , ita scripsit in hunc locum : « Operatur , inquit , omnia Deus secundum consilium voluntatis suae : non quo omnia , quae in mundo fiant , Dei volun¬ tate , et consilio peragantur (alio quin et mala Deo poterunt imputari) sed quo uni¬ versa , quae facit , consilio faciat et volun¬ tate , quod scilicet , et ratione plena sint , et potestate facientis. » Adhaec si daremus Bezae in his Apostoli verbis significari om¬ nia omnino fieri a Deo , quae in mundo fiunt, non tamen inde sequeretur , peccata , quae ab hominibus fiunt, etiam a Deo fieri, cum peccatum facere , non sit facere, sed defi¬ cere , neque peccatum sit res aliqua , sed corruptio rei alicujus. Quemadmodum au¬ tem Deus faciat quidquid in actione mala ihest rei , et boni; et tamen non sit auctor corruptionis, et defectus, qui in actione illa cernitur, explicuimus cap. 5. et rursus ex¬ plicabimus cap. 17.