Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Loss of Grace · Book IV: On Original Sin
Chapter 5: The same truth is proved by testimonies of the Fathers who wrote before the Pelagian heresy arose
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. V, De Amissione Gratiae et Statu Peccati, Book IV. 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).
In the second place the truth must be confirmed by the testimonies and the tradition of the Church. And first we shall bring forward the testimonies of those Fathers who wrote before the Pelagian heresy arose; then we shall add the decrees of the Church, which properly condemned that heresy.
First, then, let St. Dionysius the Areopagite come forth, who, in the book On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, chapter 3, part 3, ascribes the sin of the first man to the whole human nature: “Human nature,” says he, “having at the beginning foolishly fallen away from the divine benefits, took up a life liable to various passions, and the end of corruptible death. For that pernicious defection from the true goodness, and the transgression of the sacred law in paradise, delivered her — who, of her own accord yielding to the blandly soothing and hostile frauds of the adversary, had shaken off the life-giving yoke — to the things which are contrary to the divine goods.” By which words Dionysius first teaches that human nature, despoiled of the divine benefits which she had received in creation, was made liable to passions as to the soul, and to death as to the body. Then he renders the reason of this despoiling, and says that it was done because human nature, of her own accord yielding to the frauds of Satan, shook off the life-giving yoke. For that defection from the true goodness delivered her to the things which are contrary to the divine goods — that is, to passions and mortality. Where thou seest St. Dionysius attribute to the whole nature not only the punishment, but also the fault. Which same thing he teaches a little below in these words: “Wandering, then, (human nature,) and turned away from the right road that leads to him who is truly God, and subjected to ruined and evil-doing troops, by no means perceived that it had followed, in place of gods and friends, hostile enemies.”
Let the second witness come forth, St. Ignatius, who in the epistle to the Trallians speaks thus: “You, therefore, girded with meekness, be imitators of the sufferings of Christ, and of his love wherewith he loved us, giving himself for us, that he might cleanse us by his blood from the ancient impiety.”
Let the third be St. Justin Martyr, who in the dialogue with Trypho says thus: “We hold it for certain that he came to the river not because he had need either of the washing of Baptism or of the coming of the Spirit in the form of a dove — just as he submitted to be born, and to be crucified, not from any want of such an office — but for the sake of the human race, which through Adam had fallen into death and into the fraud and seduction of the serpent; to say nothing meanwhile of the proper fault of each man acting wickedly for himself.” Here we see that not death alone, but also the seduction of the serpent, is common to the whole human race, and that Christ was crucified for sin — both that common to the whole human nature, and the proper sins of each — that is, for sin both original and actual.
Let the fourth be St. Irenaeus, book 5, chapter 17: “He blotted out,” says he, “the handwriting of our debt, fastening it to the cross; that, as through a tree we were made debtors to God, through a tree we might receive the remission of the debt.” See the same, book 3, chapter 20; and again another place in Augustine, book 1 against Julian, chapter 2 [al. 3].
Let the fifth be Tertullian, who in the book On the Soul, chapter 40, says thus: “Every soul is reckoned in Adam so long, until it be re-reckoned in Christ; so long unclean, until it be so re-reckoned. And sinful, because unclean.”
The sixth, Origen, homily 8 on Leviticus: “Whatever soul,” says he, “is born in the flesh is polluted with the filth of iniquity and sin; on account of which it was said: No one is clean from filth, not even an infant whose life is of one day upon the earth.”
The seventh, St. Cyprian, book 3, epistle 8 [al. 58], to Fidus: “An infant newly born,” says he, “has sinned in nothing, except that, born carnally according to Adam, he has contracted, by his first nativity, the contagion of the ancient death.”
The eighth, St. Athanasius, in the sermon on that text, “All things are delivered to me,” near the beginning: “After man had sinned and fallen,” says he, “and, all things being disturbed by his fall, death had prevailed from Adam unto Christ, and the earth had been given to execration, hell opened, paradise shut, heaven hostile, and at length, man being corrupted and slain, the devil had prevailed against us,” etc.
The ninth, St. Hilary, who in the explication of Psalm 118, expounding those words at the end of the whole Psalm — My soul shall live, and shall praise thee — says thus: “He does not reckon himself to live in this life, seeing he has said: Behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother bear me. He knows that he was born under the origin of sin, and under the law of sin.”
The tenth, St. Basil, who in the exposition of Psalm 32, explaining that verse — “He loveth mercy and judgment; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord” — says: “A man cannot be found with a clean heart, and altogether free from the filth of sin, even if he have lived the space of one day upon the earth. Wherefore, if one see malice daily growing strong and feeding upon men, and the frail race of men worthy of a thousand deaths for the sake of its offences, so much the more will he wonder at the riches of the goodness of the divine tolerance and longanimity.” See another place of the same in Augustine, book 1 against Julian, chapter 2 [al. 5].
The eleventh, St. Ambrose, who in the Apology of David, chapter 11, says thus: “Before we are born, we are stained with contagion; before the use of the light, we receive the injury of our very origin; in iniquity we are conceived.” And below: “Deservedly did David deplore in himself the defilements of nature — that the stain in man begins earlier than life.” Likewise, book 2 [al. 1] On Penance, chapter 2 [al. 3], he says thus: “We men are all born under sin, whose very origin is in vice; as thou hast it read, David saying: For behold, I was conceived in iniquities.” See many other places, even clearer, in Augustine, book 1 against Julian, chapter 2 [al. 3]; and the book On Marriage and Concupiscence, chapter 35 [al. 33]; and book 4 [al. 1] to Boniface, chapter 11.
The twelfth, the author of the commentaries on the epistles of blessed Paul which are attributed to St. Ambrose. For he, as he is believed by learned men not to be Ambrose, so was without doubt a contemporary of Ambrose; for he lived in the time of Pope Damasus, as he himself testifies in the commentary on chapter 3 of the first to Timothy. This author, then, in the commentary on chapter 5 to the Romans, says thus: “It is manifest, therefore, that all sinned in Adam, as it were in the mass; for he himself, corrupted through sin — those whom he begot were all born in sin. From him, then, all are sinners, because from him we all are.” Likewise in the commentary on chapter 4 to the Hebrews: “According to the likeness of the flesh, without sin: because the nature which he truly took up is like our flesh, but sins he by no means had, which our flesh has contracted from the parents; for such was original sin in the flesh of the first man, whence both the punishment and the remedy could come to be.”
The thirteenth, Cyril of Jerusalem, catechesis 2: “Through him,” says he, “our father Adam was driven out, and, in place of a paradise wondrously bearing fruits of its own accord, received a thorn-bearing earth. What then (someone will say) — deceived, we have perished: is there henceforth no salvation? We have fallen: is it not permitted to rise again?”
The fourteenth, St. Gregory Nazianzen, oration 3 on peace, says thus: “I am wholly fallen, and from the disobedience of the first-begotten man and the fraud of the devil I have been condemned.” And in the second oration on holy Pascha he says that we all fell from the beginning through sin. See also other places in Augustine, book 1 against Julian, chapter 2 [al. 5].
The fifteenth, St. Jerome, in the commentary on chapter 6 of the Prophet Osee: “And there, says God — that is, in Paradise — all transgressed against me, even after the similitude of the transgression of Adam. For it is no wonder if what went before in the parent is condemned also in the sons.” Likewise in the commentary on chapter 2 [al. 7] of Micheas: “Each one of us fell with Adam from paradise, and is engaged in the captivity of this world.” See another place in Augustine, in the place cited.
The sixteenth, Rufinus, in the commentary on Psalm 50: “I,” says he, “being conceived, contracted with me the iniquity of the original offence. Was David born of adultery — of Jesse, a just man, and his wife? What is it, then, that he says he was conceived in iniquities, unless that iniquity is drawn down from Adam? No one is born without drawing the fault, and the punishment of the fault.” Perhaps Rufinus wrote these things after the heresy of the Pelagians arose; yet it has pleased me to set down his testimony here, because the same author lived also before that time.
The seventeenth, St. Siricius, Pope, in epistle 1 to Himerius, chapter 2, says thus: “To infants who by reason of age cannot yet speak, and to those who in any necessity have need of the sacred water of Baptism, we will that succor be brought with all speed — lest it tend to the destruction of our own souls if, the saving font being denied to those desiring it, each one departing from the world lose both the kingdom and life.”
The eighteenth, St. John Chrysostom, in the homily to the Neophytes: “Christ came once,” says he; “he found our paternal handwriting, which Adam wrote. He introduced the beginning of the debt; we increased the interest by our later sins.” For so St. Augustine renders the words, word for word, in book 1 against Julian — where he also diligently noted that Chrysostom was not content to say “the paternal handwriting,” but added “our,” that we might understand that the very sin of Adam pertains also to us, and is ours. Other places of Chrysostom see below, chapter 9, where the arguments are solved.
The nineteenth, St. Augustine, in book 1 to Simplician (which he wrote before the Pelagian heresy had arisen, as is plain from the Retractations). For in that book, question 1, he says thus: “The one is from the punishment of original sin, the other from the punishment of frequented sin: with the one we are born into this life; the other we add by living.” And again, question 2: “All men, then — seeing that, as the Apostle says, in Adam all die, from whom the origin of the offense of God is drawn into the universal human race — are one certain mass of sin, owing punishment to the divine and most high justice; and whether it be exacted or forgiven, there is no injustice.” To these can be added Reticius and Olympius, two ancient Fathers whose works are not extant, but whose testimonies St. Augustine cites, book 1 against Julian, chapter 2 [al. 3]. We have, then, above twenty authors who forestalled the future Pelagian heresy about original sin by convicting and refuting it.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT V. Probatur eadem veritas testimoniis Patrum , qui ante Pelagianam kxresim exortam scri¬ pserunt. Secundo loco confirmanda est veritas testi¬ moniis, ac traditione Ecclesia. Ac primo af¬ feremus testimonia Patrum illorum, qui ante Pelagianam haeresim exortam scripserunt. Deinde addemus Ecclesia decreta, qua pro¬ prie haresim istam damnaverunt. Primus igitur prodeat S. Dionysius Areo¬ pagita, qui in lib. de Eccles. hierarch. cap. 3. part. 3, peccatum primi hominis toti natura humana adseribit : <• Humanam, inquit, natu¬ ram, initio stolide a divinis beneficiis prola¬ psam, obnoxia passionibus variis vita susce¬ pit, et mortis corruptibilis finis. Quippe per¬ niciosa illa a vera bonitate defectio, et sacra in paradiso legis pravaricatio eam , qua sponte sua blande mulcentibus, atque infe¬ stis adversarii fraudibus cedens vitale excus¬ serat jugum, his qua sunt divinis bonis con¬ traria tradidit, » Quibus verbis Dionysius primum docet, humanam naturam divinis beneficiis, qua in creatione acceperat spo¬ liatam , obnoxiam factam esse passionibus quoad animam, et morti, quoad corpus. Deinde rationem reddit hujus spoliationis, ac dicit, id factum esse, quia natura huma¬ na sponte cedens fraudibus Satana vitale jugum excussit. Ista enim defectio a vera bonitate tradidit eam bis, qua sunt contra¬ ria divinis bonis, id est, passionibus et mor¬ talitati. Ubi vides S. Dionysium non solum poe¬ nam, sed etiam culpam toti natura tribuere. Quod idem paulo infra his verbis docet : « Oberrans itaque (natura humana) et a re¬ cto itinere ad eum, qui veraciter Deus est, tendente aversa, et perditis, atque maleficis turmis subjecta, minime advertit, se pro Diis, atque amicis, infestis hostibus fuisse obsecutam. » Secundus testis prodeat S. Ignatius, qui in epist. ad Trallianos ita loquitur : « Vos ergo succincti mansuetudine imitatores esto¬ te passionum Christi, et dilectionis ejus, qua dilexit nos, dans semetipsum pro nobis, ut nos sanguine suo mandaret ab antiqua im¬ pietate. » Tertius sit S. Justinus Martyr, qui in dia¬ logo cum Tryphone sic ait : « Ad amnem eum non ideo venisse pro comperto habe¬ mus, quod vel Bapiisini lavatione, vel Spiri¬ tus in specie columbm adventu opus ei fuerit sicut nec nasci, et crucifigi propter functio¬ nis hujusmodi indigentiam sustinuit : sed humani generis causa, quod per Adam in mortem, et fraudem, seductionemque ser¬ pentis conciderat, ut interim propriam pro se maligne agentis, cujusque culpam taceam.» Ilie videmus, non solam mortem, sed etiam serpentis seductionem toti generi humano communem esse , et Christum crucifixum, esse pro peccato, tum communi toti naturae humanae, tum propriis uniuscujusque , id est, pro peccato tum originali, tum actuali. Quartus sit S. Irenceus lib. v. cap. 17 : « Delevit, inquit, chirographum, debita no¬ stra, affigens illud cruci, uti quemadmodum per lignum facti sumus debitores Deo, per lignam accipiamus debiti remissionem. » Vide eumdem lib. m. cap. 20. et rursus a- lium locum apud Augustinum lib. i. in Ju¬ lianum cap. 2. Quintus sit Tertullianus, qui in lib. de ani¬ ma, cap. 40. sic ait : « Omnis anima eo us¬ que in Adam censetur, donec in Christo re¬ censeatur : tamdiu immunda, quamdiu re¬ censeatur. Peccatrix autem quia immunda.» Sextus, Origenes homil. 8. in Levitic. : « Queecumque anima, inquit, in carne nasci¬ tur, iniquitatis, et peccati sorde polluitur, propter quod dictum est : Nemo mundus a sorde, nec infans, cujus est unius diei vita super terram. » Septimus, S. Cyprianus lib. m. epist. 88. ad Fidum : « Infans, Inquit, recens natus nil peccavit, nisi quod secundum Adam carnali- tcr natus, contagium mortis antiquae prima nativitate contraxit. » Octavus, S. Athanasius serm. in illud : « Omnia mihi tradita sunt », sub initium : « Postquam, inquit, peccaverat, et lapsus fue¬ rat homo, ejusque lapsu perturbatis omni¬ bus, mors invaluisset ab Adam usque ad Christum, terraque exeerationi data esset, infernus apertus, paradisus clausus, cceluin . infensum, et tandem corrupto, et interem¬ pto homine invaluisset diabolus contra nos etc. » Nonus, S. Hilarius, qui in explicatione Psal. 118. exponens illa verba ad finem to¬ tius Psal. : Vivet anima mea, et laudabit te, sic ait : « Vivere se in hac vita non reputat, quippe qui dixerit : Ecce in iniquitatibus CAPUT V. 343 conceptus sura, et in delictis peperit me ma¬ ter mea. Scit se sub peccati origine, et sub peccati lege esse natum. ;> Decimus, S. Basilius, qui in expositione Psal. 32. explicans illud : « Diligit, miseri¬ cordiam, et judicium, misecicordia Domini « plena est terra » : Nequit, inquit, homo mundo corde, acliberomninoasorde peccati inveniri, etiamsi unius diei tempore supra terram vixerit. Quamobrem si quis videat quotidie malitiam invalescentem, ac depa¬ scentem homines, et fragile genus hominum mille mortibus delictorum gratia dignum, tanto admirabitur magis divitias bonitatis divina) tolerantia), et longanimitatis. » Vide alium locum ejusdem apud Augustinum lib. l. in Julianum cap 2. Undecimus, S. Ambrosius, qui in Apolo- gia David cap. xi. sic ait : « Antequam na¬ scamur , maculamur contagio ; antequam usuram lucis, originis ipsius excipimus inju¬ riam, in iniquitate concipimur. » Et infra : « Merito David deploravit in se ipsa inquina¬ menta natura, quod prius inciperet in homi¬ ne macula, quam vita. » Item lib. i. de poe¬ nitentia cap. 2. sic ait : « Omnes homines sub peccato nascimur, quorum ipse ortus in vitio est, sicut habes lectum dicente David : Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum. » Vide alia multa loca etiam clariora apud Au- gustin. lib. i. in Julinn. cap. 2. et lib. de nuptiis, et concupiscentia, cap. 33. et lib. i. ad Bonifacium, cap. 11. Duodecimus, auctor comment. in epist. B. Pauli, qua) S. Ambrosio tribuuntur. Is enim, ut Ambrosius a viris doctis esse creditur, ita aequalis Ambrosii sine dubio fuit. Vixit enim tempore Damasi Papae, ut ipse testatur in comment. cap. 3. prioris ad Timotheum. Hic igitur auctor in comment. cap. 3. ad Roma¬ nos, sic ait: « Manifestum est itaque in Adam omnes peccasse, tamquam in massa, ipse enim per peccatum corruptus, quos genuit, omnes nati sunt in peccato. Ex co igitur om¬ nes peccatores, quia ex ipso sumus omnes.» Item in comment. cap. 4. ad Hebraeos : « Juxta similitudinem carnis sine peccato, quia natura, quam veram suscepit, similis est carnis nostrae, peccata vero nequaquam habuit, quae caro nostra de parentibus con¬ traxit, quia tale fuit originale peccatum in carne primi hominis, unde et poena, et re¬ medium fieri potuisset. Tertius decimus, Cyrillus Hierosolymita¬ nus catechesi 2 : « Per hunc, inquit, Pater noster Adam pulsus est, et pro paradiso ad¬ mirando quodam modo sponte sua fructus ferente, terram spiniferam accepit. Quid igi¬ tur (dixerit aliquis) decepti periimus : num- quid non est deinceps salus? cecidimus, an non licet resurgere ? » Quartus decimus, S. Gregorius Nazianze- nus orat. 3. de pace, sic ait : « Totus lapsus sum, atque ex primigeni hominis inobedien- tia, et diaboli fraude condemnatus sum. » Et in 2. oratione in S. Pascha, dicit, nos omnes ab initio per peccatum lapsos. Vide etiam alia loca apud Augustinum lib. i. in Julia¬ num cap. 2. Quintus decimus, S. Hieronymus in com¬ mentario cap. G. Oseae Propheta) : « Et ibi, inquit Deus, hoc est in Paradiso, omnes prae¬ varicati sunt in mc, et in similitudinem prae¬ varicationis Adam. Non enim mirum, si quod in parente praecessit, etiam in filiis condem¬ netur. » Item in commentar, cap. 2. Micheae : « Unusquisque nostrum cum Adam de para¬ diso cecidit, et in hujus mundi captivitate versatur. » Vide alium locum apud Augusti¬ num loco citato. Sextus decimus , Ruffmus in comment. Psalm. l : « Ego, inquit, conceptus con¬ traxi mecum iniquitatem originalis delicti. Numquid de adulterio David natus erat, de Jesse justo viro, et conjuge ejus? Quid est ergo quod se dicit, in iniquitatibus conce¬ ptum esse, nisi quia detrahitur iniquitas ex Adam ? nemo nascitur, nisi trahens culpam, et culpa) poenam. » Fortasse Ruffinus ha)c scripsit post hamesim Pelagianorum exor¬ tam : tamen placuit ejus testimonium hic adseribere, quia vixit idem auctor etiam an¬ te illud tempus. Septimus decimus, S. Sirieius Papa, in epist. I. ad Himerium cap. 2. sic ait : « In¬ fantibus, qui necdum loqui valent per aeta¬ tem, vel his, quibus in qualibet necessitate opus fuerit sacra unda Baptismatis, omni volumus celeritate succurri, ne ad nostrarum perniciem tendat animarum, si negato desi¬ derantibus fonte salutari unusquisque exiens de sa)culo, et regnum perdat, et vitam. » Decimus octavus, S. Joannes Chrysosto- mus in homil. ad Neophytos : « Venit, in¬ quit, semel Christus, invenit nostrum chyro- graphum paternum, quod scripsit Adam. Ille initium induxit debiti, nos fuenus auximus posterioribus peccatis. » Sic enim vertit ver¬ ba de verbis S. Augustinus lib. i. in Julia¬ num, ubi etiam diligenter notavit, Chryso- L1BE1I IV. 344 slomum non fuisse contentum dicere, « chy- rograplium paternum, » sed addidisse, «no¬ strum, » ut intelligeremur, ad nos etiam per¬ tinere, et nostrum esse ipsum Adm pecca¬ tum. Alia loca Chrysostomi vide inferius cap. 9. ubi salvuntur argumenta. Decimus nonus, S. Augustinus in lib. t. ad Simplicianum (quem scripsit antequam Pelagiana liscresis orta esset, ut ex retracta¬ tionibus perspicuum est). Nam in eo lib. qutest. i. sic ait : « Illud est ex poma origi¬ nalis peccati, hoc est ex pcena frequentati peccati, cum illo, in hanc vitam nascimur ; hoc, vivendo addimus. » Et rursus quaest. 2 : « Sunt igitur omnes homines, quando¬ quidem ut Apostolus ait, in Adam omnes moriuntur, a quo in universum genus huma¬ num origo ducitur offensionis Dei, una quae¬ dam massa peccati, supplicium debens divi¬ nae, summa^que justitiae, quod sive exigatur, sive donetur, nulla est iniquitas. » His addi possunt Reticius et Olympus, duo veteres Patres, quorum opera non extant, sed eo¬ rum testimonia citat S. Augustinus lib. i. in Julianum cap. 2. Habemus igitur auctores supra viginti, qui futuram Pelagianara hae- resim de peccato originali redarguendo, ac refellendo praevenerunt.