Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Loss of Grace · Book VI: The Punishments of Original Sin
Chapter 1: Various opinions on the punishment of original sin after this life
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. V, De Amissione Gratiae et Statu Peccati, Book VI. 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).
There remains the last disputation, on the evils that follow original sin: of which some men suffer if perchance they are snatched away in infancy, the sin not yet remitted; others they are compelled to bear if they lead this life longer, whether the sin has been forgiven or not. And, to begin from those who depart this life in infancy without Baptism, and carry with them no other guilt than that of original sin, five opinions are numbered concerning the punishment of such infants, which descend little by little from the utmost lenity to the utmost severity.
The first opinion was of those who dared to promise the kingdom of heaven to unbaptized infants, even though they did not deny that they were conceived and born in original sin. So thought a certain Vincentius, whom St. Augustine refutes, book 1 On the Origin of the Soul, chapter 9, and book 3, chapter 13. Into the same error fell in our age Zwingli, in the declaration on original sin to Urbanus Rhegius, where he teaches that it is probable that through Christ the universal human nature has been so restored that even the children of unbelievers dying without Baptism are saved; and that this is not only probable, but even certain, of the children of the faithful — which error, as to the children of the faithful, many of the sectaries follow, as Bucer, Martyr, Calvin, whom we refuted in the book On Baptism, chapter 4.
The second opinion — a little less liberal indeed, but yet very mild — was of those who excluded unbaptized little ones from the kingdom of heaven and the blessed life promised to the Saints, yet gave them eternal life and natural beatitude, without any trouble or sorrow, outside the kingdom of the blessed and far from the prison of the damned — that is, in a middle place between gehenna and heaven; and such a place can scarcely be feigned other than the surface of the earth. That the Pelagians of old so thought, St. Augustine teaches in the book On Heresies, chapter 88: “For even if they be not baptized, they promise them, outside the kingdom of God indeed, yet a certain eternal and blessed life of their own.” And that by the kingdom of God Augustine understands not only the heavenly house, but also the vision of God; and that the Pelagians did not promise to unbaptized little ones the supernatural eternal life which consists in the vision of God, but only an eternal life, or natural beatitude — is plain from book 5 against Julian, chapter 8 [al. 11], where, Augustine being witness, the Pelagians alienated unbaptized little ones from the life of God when they alienated them from the kingdom of God. And what is the life of God, but the vision of God? Nor does the kingdom of heaven itself signify anything else in the Scriptures than the eternal felicity which consists in the vision of God, according to that: Their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven, Matthew 18. And that: We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like to him: because we shall see him as he is, 1 John 3. And that: Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, etc., John 17. And so the Pelagians promised to unbaptized infants not eternal life simply, but, as Augustine speaks, “a certain eternal life of their own.” To which error seem to have come nearest Ambrose Catharinus, in the book On the State of Boys Dying without Baptism; Albert Pighius, in the first controversy; and Jerome Savonarola, in the book On the Triumph of the Cross. For they teach that infants dying without Baptism will after the judgment be blessed with natural beatitude, and will live perpetually and happily in a certain earthly paradise, as it were.
The third opinion, now somewhat more severe, teaches that little ones dying without Baptism are condemned in the lower world with eternal death, but yet are so punished with the lack of the vision of God, which is called the punishment of loss, that they suffer no sorrow at all, neither internal nor external. So teaches St. Thomas, in question 5 On Evil, articles 1, 2, and 3; and both he and certain other Scholastic Doctors on 2 Sentences, distinction 33.
The fourth opinion, more severe still than the preceding, frees such little ones indeed from the torment of fire and worm, of which we read in Mark 9 — their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished — which is properly called the punishment of sense; but it does not free them from the internal sorrow which follows from the lost beatitude of everlasting felicity. So teaches Peter Lombard, in book 2 of the Sentences, distinction 33, letter E; and some others followed him, as St. Thomas, St. Bonaventure, Gregory of Rimini, and others relate in the commentaries on the same place.
The fifth opinion, most severe and extreme, teaches that little ones, on account of original sin, are perpetually tormented in gehenna with both kinds of punishment — namely, of loss and of sense. To this opinion Gregory of Rimini leans openly enough, on 2 Sentences, distinction 33, question 3 [al. 2], and John Driedo, in book 1 On Grace and Free Choice, tractate 3, chapter 2. The heretics of our time are most delighted with extreme opinions; and therefore they either place unbaptized little ones in heaven with the blessed, as we said of Zwingli and Calvin, or deliver them to everlasting fire — which is manifestly gathered both from Luther, Melanchthon, and the others who, as we showed in the preceding book, confound original sin with actual; and from Tilemann Heshusius, who, in the book On the Six Hundred Errors of the Pontificals, under the title On Sin, number 13, numbers among the errors that opinion of the Scholastics which teaches that little ones dying without Baptism will suffer in the lower world the punishment of loss, not of sense. Now we shall sift the aforesaid opinions a little more diligently.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT PRIMUM Varias sententiae de poena peccati originalis post hanc vitam. Restat ultima disputatio de malis conse¬ quentibus originale peccatum ; quorum alia patiuntur homines, si in infantia, peccato nondum remisso, forte rapiantur ; alia to¬ lerare coguntur, si diutius hanc vitam du¬ cant, sive peccatum dimissum fuerit, sive non fuerit. Ac, ut incipiamus ab iis qui sine .Baptismo in infantia de hac vita decedunt, neque reatum alium secum ferunt, nisi pec¬ cati originalis, quinque numerantur senten¬ tiae de supplicio ejusmodi infantium, quae paulatim a summa lenitate ad summam se¬ veritatem descendunt. Prima sententia eorum fuit, qui regnum coelorum infantibus non baptizatis promitte¬ re audebant, etiamsi non negarent eos in peccato originali conceptos et natos. Ita sensit quidam Vincentius, quem refellit san¬ ctus Augustinus in lib. i. de origine animae cap. 9. et lib. m. cap. 13. In euradem erro¬ rem incidit nostro saeculo Zwinglius in de¬ clarat. de pec. orig. ad Urbanum Rhegium, ubi docet, probabile esse, per Christum uni¬ versam naturam humanam ita esse restitu¬ tam, ut etiam filii infidelium sine Baptismo decedentes salventur. Id autem non solum probabile, sed etiam certum esse de filiis fi¬ delium : quem errorem, quod attinet ad fi¬ lios fidelium, sequuntur multi sectariorum, ut Bucerus, Martyr, Calvinus, quos refutavi¬ mus in libro de Baptismo cap. A. Altera sententia paulo quidem minus libe¬ ralis, sed tamen valde mitis, fuit eorum, qui parvulos non baptizatos excludebant a reg¬ no ccelorum, et vita beata Sanctis promissa. Tamen eis dabant vitam ajternam et natura¬ lem beatitudinem sine ulla molestia, aut do¬ lore, extra regnum beatorum, et procula carcere damnatorum, hoc est, in loco medio inter gehennam et coelum, qualis locus vix potest fingi alius quam terree convexum. Ita sensisse olim Pclagianos docet S. Augusti¬ nus in lib. de haeresibus cap. 88 : « Nam, inquit, etiamsi non baptizentur, promittunt eis extra regnum quidem Dei, sed tamen aeternam et beatam quamdam vitam suam. » Quod autem per regnum Dei intclligat Augustinus non solum domum coelestem, sed etiam visionem Dei, et quod Pelagiani non promiserint parvulis non baptizatis vi¬ tam aeternam supernaturalem, qum consistit in visione Dei, sed solum vitam aeternam, sive beatitudinem naturalem, perspicuum est ex lib. v. in Julianum cap. 8. ubi, Au¬ gustino teste, Pelagiani alienabant parvulos non baptizatos a vita Dei cum alienarent a regno Dei. Quid est autem vita Dei, nisi vi¬ sio Dei? Sed neque ipsum regnum coelorum in Scripturis aliud significat, nisi felicitatem aeternam, quae in Dei visione consistit, juxta illud : Angeli eorum in coelis semper vident faciem patris mei. qui in coelis est (1), Matth. (I) Math. XVIII. 10. CAPUT II. 4o5 XVIII. Et illud : Scimus quia cum apparuerit, similes ei erimus, quia videbimus eum secuti est, I Joan. iii (1). Et illud : Hxc est autem vita sterna , ut agnoscant te solum Deum ve¬ rum etc. Joan. xiv (2). Itaque Pelagiam non vitam aeternam simpliciter, sed, ut Augusti¬ nus loquitur, « quamdam suam vitam aeter¬ nam », infantibus non baptizatis promitte¬ bant. Ad quem errorem proxime accessisse vi¬ dentur, Ambrosius Catharinus in lib. de sta¬ tu puerorum sine Baptismo decedentium; Albertus Pighius in prima controversia ; et Hieronymus Savonarola in lib. de triumpho crucis. Docent enim infantes sine Baptismo morientes, futuros post judicium beatos na¬ turali beatitudine, et in quodam voluti para¬ diso terrestri perpetuo , feliciterque victu¬ ros. Tertia sententia jam aliquanto severior, docet parvulos sine Baptismo decedentes damnari apud inferos seterna morte, sed ta¬ men sic puniri carentia visionis Dei, qua; di¬ citur poma damni, ut nullum patiantur om¬ nino dolorem, neque internum, neque exter¬ num. Ita docet S. Thom. in queest. o. de malo art. I. 2. et 3. et tum ipse, tum alii aliquot Scholastici Doctores in 2. Sent. dist. 33. Quarta sententia superiore adhuc severior liberat quidem parvulos ejusmodi a cruciatu ignis et vex-mis, de quo legimus Marci nono : Vermis eorum non moritur, et ignis non extin- guitur ; qute proprie dicitur poena sensus, sed non eos liberat ab interno dolore, qui sequi¬ tur ex amissa beatitudine sempiterna; felici¬ tatis. Ita docet Petrus Lombardus in ii. lib. sent. distinet. 33. Iit. E. Euraque nonnulli alii secuti sunt, ut referunt S. Thomas, S. Bonaventura, Gi-egorius Ariminensis, et alii in commentar, ejusdem loci. Quinta sententia severissima, atque extre¬ ma, docet, parvulos propter originale pecca¬ tum utroque poena; genere, damni scilicet et sensus, in gehenna perpetuo cruciari : in hanc sententiam satis apei'tc propendet Gre- gorius Ariminensis in 2. sentent. distinet. 33. queest. 3. et Joannes Driedo in i. lib. de gratia et libero arbitrio tract. 3. cap. 2. Haeretici nostri temporis extremis senten¬ tiis maxime delectantur, et ideo parvulos non baptizatos, aut in coelo cum beatis lo¬ cant, ut diximus de Zwinglio et Calvino; aut igni sempiterno illos addicunt. Quod ma¬ nifeste colligitur tum ex Luthex’o, Melan- chthone, et aliis qui, ut ostendimus libro supei-iore, peccatum originale cura actuali confundunt : tum ex Tilmanno Heshusio, qui in lib. de sexcentis erroribus Pontificio¬ rum, tit. de peccato num. 13. numerat inter errores sententiam illam Scholasticorum, qua; docet, parvulos sine Baptismo deceden¬ tes, poenam damni, non sensus apud inferos esse passuros, nunc pra:dictas sententias paulo diligentius excutiemus.