Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Loss of Grace · Book VI: The Punishments of Original Sin
Chapter 2: The first and second opinions are refuted, and it is asserted that little ones dying without Baptism are to be condemned with the punishment of eternal death
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).
Of the opinions enumerated, the first and the second are to be judged not only false, but even heretical; and contrariwise, it is to be held by Catholic faith that little ones dying without Baptism are absolutely condemned, and will perpetually lack not only the heavenly, but even natural beatitude. And in this place this seems to need prefacing: that our mercy toward little ones already dead profits them nothing, and contrariwise the severity of our opinion harms them nothing; but it harms us much if, on account of a useless mercy toward the dead, we pertinaciously defend something against the Scriptures or the Church; therefore we ought to consult and follow, not a certain human affection, by which very many are wont to be moved, but the sentence of Scripture, of the Councils, and of the Fathers.
As to the heavenly beatitude, then, and eternal life in the kingdom of heaven, there stands the clearest sentence of the Lord, John 3: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God — for confirming which matter we brought forward many things, both in the book On Baptism, chapter 4, and in book 4 [al. 1] on original sin, chapter 14; to which places, lest we repeat the same in vain, we refer the reader. And that such little ones are absolutely condemned and wretched, and not blessed even with natural beatitude, we prove by these arguments.
The first argument is drawn from the testimonies of the divine writings. John 3: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish; but may have life everlasting. And below: He that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting; but he that believeth not the Son… shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. Now since unbaptized little ones in no way look upon the serpent — that is, do not believe in Christ, neither through themselves nor through others, neither in act nor in habit — what follows, but that they have not eternal life, that they perish forever, that they see not life, that the wrath of God abides upon them? For St. Augustine rightly observed, sermon 14 on the words of the Apostle, that it is not said “the wrath of God shall come upon them,” but “abideth upon them” — that we might understand that faith in Christ is necessary not only lest we fall into the wrath of God, but also that we may be freed from the wrath into which we fell through the disobedience of the first man; of which it was said by the Apostle, Ephesians 2: For we also were by nature children of wrath, even as, etc. To these comes that of the same Apostle, Romans 5: By the offence of one, unto all men to condemnation. Little ones dying without Baptism are, then, according to the Scriptures, condemned by God, and have God angry against them, and will not see forever the blessed and happy life; for corporal life indeed they will receive in the common resurrection, but they will not be said to rise to life, but to death, who will rise for this: to be perpetually wretched; and there is no true life except where one lives happily, as St. Augustine teaches in the Enchiridion, chapter 92. Finally, in the Apocalypse, chapter 20: Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. In these the second death hath no power. And below: And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the pool of fire. But unbaptized little ones have no part in the first resurrection, nor are written in the book of life; therefore the second death has power over them, and they were cast into the pool of fire. And it is to be noted in this place that Catharinus, in his book On the State of Boys, etc., defines the second death as the lack of all felicity, both natural and supernatural.
The second argument can be taken from the definitions of the Councils. The Palestinian Council, St. Augustine being witness in epistle 106 to Paulinus, compelled Pelagius to anathematize the assertion that infants, even if they be not baptized, have eternal life: “But this being denied,” says Augustine, “what will remain but eternal death?” The Council of Carthage, in the epistle in Augustine, number 90: “Whoever denies that little ones are freed from perdition through the Baptism of Christ, and receive everlasting salvation, let him be anathema.” The Council of Milevis, in the epistle in Augustine, number 92, repeats like things: “That little boys, even if they be renewed by no Sacraments of Christian grace, will have eternal life, they contend with wicked presumption.” The Council of Florence, in the last session: “The souls of those who depart in actual mortal sin, or in original alone, descend straightway into hell, yet to be punished with unequal punishments.” The Council of Trent, session 5, agreeably to the more ancient Councils, taught in express words that little ones without Baptism do not attain to eternal life.
The third argument is taken from the testimonies of the supreme Pontiffs. St. Innocent I, in the epistles to the Councils of Carthage and Milevis, which are in Augustine, numbers 91 and 93, while he approves the decrees of those Councils, at the same time reproves the heresy of the Pelagians. St. Siricius, in epistle 1 to Himerius, chapter 2, teaches that infants set in danger of life ought to be baptized immediately, and, rendering the reason, says: “lest they lose the kingdom and life.” St. Leo the Pope, in epistle 86 to Nicetas, commands that the Pelagians wishing to return to the Church are not to be received unless they first anathematize their errors — and among the rest, that boys departing from the world without Baptism cannot be damned. St. Gregory, book 9 of the Morals, chapter 16 [al. 21]: “Some are withdrawn from the present light before they arrive at showing forth the good or evil deserts of an active life. And since the Sacraments of salvation do not free them from the fault of origin, and here they have done nothing of their own, there they come to torments.” And below: “For they receive perpetual torments who sinned nothing by their own will.” Pope John, as is had in cause 30, question 1, canon Ad limina, praises a certain layman who, necessity compelling, baptized his own son: “since” (as he speaks) “lest he let his soul go perishing in perpetual death, he washed him with the water of sacred Baptism, that he might pluck him from the power of the author of death and of darkness, and send him over, now to reign without doubt, into the kingdom of Christ.”
The fourth argument, from the testimonies of the Fathers. St. Augustine, in epistle 106 to Paulinus: “Surely they will at some time confess that unbaptized little ones cannot have life — and that thereby any of them are punished with eternal death more tolerably than all those who also commit their own sins.” And book 1 On the Origin of the Soul, chapter 9: “To unbaptized little ones let no one promise, between damnation and the kingdom of heaven, some middle place, as it were, of rest or felicity of any kind, wheresoever it please; for this the Pelagian heresy promised them.” And book 2, chapter 12: “The new heretics, the Pelagians, the authority of the Catholic Councils and of the Apostolic see most justly condemned, for this: that they dared to give unbaptized little ones a place of rest and salvation, even apart from the kingdom of heaven.” And book 1 On the Merits and Remission of Sins, chapter 23: “Let no eternal salvation be promised to infants apart from the Baptism of Christ — which the divine Scripture, to be preferred to all human wits, does not promise.” See also in the same book, chapter 28, and book 2 On Original Sin, chapter 21, book 5 against Julian, chapter 8 [al. 11], in the Enchiridion, chapter 93, sermon 14 on the words of the Apostle. St. Prosper, book 2 On the Calling of the Gentiles, chapter 8 [al. 23]: “What is this, that so great a multitude of infants is alienated from perpetual salvation, and so many thousands of men at these ages are left outside eternal life?” St. Fulgentius, in the book On the Faith, to Peter, chapter 27 [al. 3]: “Little ones, in whom there can be no proper deserts of will, whether good or evil, eternal damnation holds with an indissoluble bond.” The author of the sermons On the Cardinal Works of Christ, which are falsely inscribed to Cyprian, since they are of an author ancient and learned, but without doubt later than Cyprian — nay, than Augustine — in the sermon on the circumcision, speaking of the punishment of original sin: “There remained, after the death of the flesh, the toil of the soul and the affliction of the spirit; nor could that condemnation by any means be loosed, unless the life of all came to the aid of the death of all, and for the general disease the grace of God poured out its singular antidote.” Venerable Bede, in the commentary on chapter 14 of John: “They are to be spurned from a Christian heart who think it was therefore said that there are many mansions, because outside the kingdom of heaven there will be something where the innocents may abide blessedly, who have passed from this life without Baptism — because without it they could not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” St. Anselm, in the book On the Virginal Conception, chapter 27 [al. 28]: “If original sin is any sin, it is necessary that every man born in it, it not being remitted, be damned.” St. Bernard, in epistle 191 [al. 190] to Innocent, near the end, says that infants perish if they be not baptized.
The fifth argument can be taken from reasons which have their foundation in the Scriptures and the Fathers. The first reason: unbaptized little ones, both in this life and in the other, are captives and in the power of the devil; therefore they are not blessed, not even with natural beatitude, but absolutely unhappy and wretched. And indeed, that infants, unless they be baptized, are in the power of the devil and captives, is most certain. For the Apostle, Colossians 1, says that we through Christ are plucked out of the power of darkness; from which it follows that before Baptism we are all under the power of darkness. Wherefore, in Acts 26, Christ himself says that he sends Paul to the gentiles and peoples to open their eyes, that they may be converted from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. And in Luke 11 the Lord compares Satan to a strong man armed, keeping his court. And John 12: Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And that this expulsion of the devil is done in little ones through Baptism, the exorcisms and exsufflations teach, of which there has always been the use in the Church. St. Augustine, book 1 On the Merits and Remission of Sins, chapter 35 [al. 34]: “I would that some one of those who relish the contrary would bring me a little one to be baptized. What does my exorcism do in him, if he is not held in the family of the devil?” And book 2 On Original Sin, chapter 40: “The very Sacraments of holy Church sufficiently show that little ones, even the freshest from birth, are freed through the grace of Christ from the service of the devil.” And below: “He plucks out from the power of darkness not only those greater in age, but also the tiny ones.” And book 6 against Julian, chapter 2 [al. 5]: “It is true what of old, with true Catholic faith, is preached and believed throughout the whole Church: that she would neither exorcise nor exsufflate the children of the faithful, if she did not pluck them out from the power of darkness and from the prince of death — which was set down by me in my book to which thou pretendest to answer. But thou wast afraid to mention this, as though thou thyself wouldst have to be exsufflated by the whole world, if thou hadst wished to contradict this exsufflation, by which the prince of the world is cast out even from the little ones.” And in the same book, chapter 8: “This wound, then, inflicted on the human race by the devil compels whatever is born through it to be under the devil.” Finally, book 1 On Marriage and Concupiscence, chapter 20: “For the Christian faith does not doubt — what the new heretics have begun to assail — both that they who are washed in the laver of regeneration are redeemed from the power of the devil, and that they who have not yet been redeemed by such regeneration — even the little children of the redeemed — are captives under his power, unless they too be redeemed by the same grace of Christ. For we do not doubt that that benefit of God of which the Apostle speaks pertains to all ages: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, etc.” And again, book 2 On Marriage and Concupiscence, chapter 18: “He accuses the Church, spread through the whole world, in which everywhere all the infants to be baptized are exsufflated for no other reason than that the prince of the world be sent out from them — by whom it is necessary that the vessels of wrath be possessed, since they are born in Adam, unless they be born again in Christ, and, made vessels of mercy, be carried over through grace into his kingdom.” Like things thou wilt find in all the Fathers, and even in the decrees of the Pontiffs themselves — as in the epistle of Celestine to the Gauls, in the epistle of Zosimus to all the Bishops, in the epistle of Pope John, in Gratian, cause 30, question 1, canon Ad limina. From which it appears that Ambrose Catharinus wrote altogether improbably — to say nothing graver — in the book On the State of Boys Dying without Baptism, that such little ones, after the day of judgment, will no longer be under the power of the devil; since, as he says, even for them the devil will be cast out. For, as we have now heard from St. Augustine, according to the faith of the universal Church infants are not plucked out from the power of Satan, nor is the devil cast out, except through the regeneration which is in Christ; and it is necessary that the vessels of wrath be under the devil, unless through the grace of God they be carried over, made vessels of mercy, into the kingdom of Christ. And who denies — unless a manifest heretic — that little ones dying in sin are never to be regenerated through Christ, nor at any time ever to be carried over into his kingdom? What of this: that the same St. Augustine writes in express words that even after the judgment the little ones will be under the power of the devil? For in book 1 On Marriage and Concupiscence, chapter 23, when he had said: “This wound inflicted on the human race by the devil compels whatever is born through it to be under the devil”; and a little after: “The devil, then, holds men, whether of greater or of infant age, not because they are men, but because they are unclean, etc.” — he subjoins: “He himself indeed will suffer greater punishments at the last judgment, by so much as he is more unclean; nevertheless even they for whom in that damnation it will be more tolerable are subject to him, as to the prince and author of sin, since there will be no cause of damnation except sin.” Therefore unbaptized little ones, since they will always be captives under the prince the devil, are to be called not blessed, but wretched.
The second reason is taken from the place in which the little ones dwell, and will always dwell. For their place is the prison of the lower world, a place horrid and dark, in which they who dwell can without doubt not be blessed, since beatitude is defined as a state made perfect by the aggregation of all goods. And that the place of such infants is the prison of the lower world is taught, first, by almost all the Scholastic theologians — St. Thomas, St. Bonaventure, Scotus, Durandus, Richard, Capreolus, and others on 2 Sentences, distinction 33, or on 4, distinction 45; and moreover Alexander of Hales, in part 2 of the Summa, question 122, member 10, §1, and Albert, in part 2 of the Summa, question 115. This only is the difference among those old theologians: that some set the infants in a higher part of the lower world, which they call the limbo of the boys; others pronounce that they have their place with the other damned. The Fathers of the Council of Florence teach this same thing, in the decree which is had in the last session, where they simply define that the souls of those who depart in original sin alone, or in actual mortal sin, descend into hell, yet to be punished with unequal punishments. Nor is there any reason why they should be freed from that place after the last day of the great judgment, since after this life there is no place for mercy, but for justice; and in Ecclesiastes 11 it is written: If the tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be — which place St. Jerome in the commentary, and others commonly, expound of men, who will be perpetually in that state in which death shall have found them. This same thing, finally, the holy Fathers teach, who confirm that this matter is to be held, against the heresy of the Pelagians, not by uncertain opinion, but by most certain faith. St. Augustine, book 1 On the Merits and Remission of Sins, chapter 28: “Nor is there any middle place for anyone, so that he can be anywhere but with the devil who is not with Christ. Hence the Lord himself too, wishing to take out of the hearts of the ill-believing that I-know-not-what middleness which certain men endeavor to attribute to unbaptized little ones — so that, as it were by the desert of innocence, they should be in eternal life, but, because they are not baptized, should not be with Christ in his kingdom — brought forth, to stop these mouths, a definitive sentence, where he says: He that is not with me, is against me.” And sermon 14 on the words of the Apostle, not far from the beginning: “No middle place is left, where thou mayest put the infants. Of the living and the dead judgment shall be made; some will be at the right hand, some at the left. I know nothing else. If, then, there will be a right hand and a left, and we know no middle place in the Gospel: behold, at the right hand is the kingdom of heaven — Receive, says he, the kingdom; what is not there is at the left. What will be at the left? Go into everlasting fire.” The author of the Hypognosticon, who is either Augustine or another, by the consent of all ancient and learned, book 5, past the middle: “The first place the faith of the Catholics, by divine authority, has believed to be the kingdom of heaven — whence, as I have said, the unbaptized is excepted. The second, gehenna, where every apostate, or one a stranger to the faith of Christ, will experience eternal punishments. A third we are utterly ignorant of; nay, we shall find that it is not in the holy Scriptures. Feign, O Pelagian, out of the workshop of thy perverse dogma, a place where, strangers to the grace of Christ, little ones may possess a life of rest and glory.” St. Fulgentius, in the book On the Faith, to Peter, chapter 27, numbers among the rules of faith that little ones dying without Baptism will have a perpetual place in gehenna. Venerable Bede also, in the place cited, in the commentary on chapter 14 of John, says that it is to be driven from a Christian heart that there is any mansion of beatitude outside the kingdom of heaven. Let there come, last, also a reason which teaches, not obscurely, that the infants who will not be in heaven will have no other place than the subterranean seats of the lower world. For it is altogether credible that, after the day of the last judgment, the element of water will return to its natural place, and cover the whole earth on every side. For, as the theologian Doctors teach with common consent, on 4 Sentences, distinction 47, after the day of judgment there will be no more plants, no living creatures, no mixed bodies, men only excepted. For those things only will endure perpetually which, either in whole or in part, have obtained incorruption from nature itself. And of this kind are, first, the heavenly bodies, which both according to the whole and according to their parts are incorruptible; then the elements, which according to the whole, though not according to their parts, have incorruption from nature; finally men, who according to the part which is the rational soul, not according to the whole, are immortal; all other bodies are corruptible both in whole and in parts. Wherefore, since water at the beginning of the world surrounded the whole earth, as its nature seemed to demand, and then by the command of God was gathered into one place, that there might be place on the earth for the generation of living creatures and plants — certainly, that generation being taken away, reason itself and the nature of things demand that the water return to its pristine place. Which things being so, we gather not only from the Scriptures and the testimonies of the Councils and the Fathers, but also from the conjecture of reason, that the place of infants dying without Baptism will be no other than the lower world; and thereby that they will have no beatitude, even natural — since for beatitude all goods, among which the convenience and excellence of the place is not the least, are without doubt required.
The third principal reason is taken from the nature and notion of beatitude. For natural beatitude — since of this indeed is the whole question — requires chiefly the perfection of the understanding through sciences; but there will not be such perfection in infants dying without Baptism; therefore there will not be in them any beatitude. The assumption of this argument, which alone needs proof, is thus proved. The science of things is either infused from heaven by God, or acquired by one's own labor. No science will be infused into the little ones of whom we treat, because they neither merited it by good works, nor will it be given them gratis, since after death it is not the time of grace, but of judgment; and they moreover are vessels of wrath, not of mercy. And as to acquisition by their own labor, it cannot but be very slender and scanty, since they neither learned anything in this life, and in the other they will be shut up perpetually in a dark prison, where they can be very little helped by the ministry of the senses. But perhaps their souls, while up to the day of judgment they are free from the burden of the flesh, can be filled with wisdom and science? It is not so; for, as St. Thomas rightly writes, in the first part, question 89, article 1 and following, separated souls, if privilege be absent, understand indeed something, but very imperfectly and confusedly; and therefore they are naturally united to the body, that they may use it as an instrument for understanding things perfectly and distinctly. The same reasoning holds of the moral virtues, whose perfection is necessary to the felicity of nature. For as infants depart from this life without positive vices and virtues, with the sole habitual aversion from God, so they will always be habitually averse from God, nor will they advance in virtues — except perhaps very imperfectly, in proportion to the imperfect knowledge which in that state, as we have said, they will attain.
It pleases me to adjoin a fourth reason, properly against Pighius and Catharinus, from the absurdity which follows from their opinion. For if that were true which they write — that little ones dying with original sin will not only lack all sorrow, both internal and external, but will even, blessed and happy, lead their life perpetually in a certain earthly paradise, as it were, full of wisdom and virtues, excellently content with their lot, loving and praising God with their whole heart, and finally often enjoying the fellowship and revelations of the Angels — if these things, I say, were true, it would follow that the infants are of better condition because they sinned in Adam than if they had departed in pure natural endowments. For such great things are not owed to men dying in infancy in pure natural endowments. And so those little ones would carry off a reward from sin. It would follow, next, that little ones ought to be baptized in order that, having obtained the divine adoption, they be admitted to the kingdom of heaven — not because there is danger lest they be damned and perish. For nothing of evil is present to them except the lack of the vision of God, and nothing of good is wanting to them except the vision of God — that is, the possession of the kingdom of heaven. But this is the very Pelagian heresy. For, as St. Augustine testifies in book 1 On the Origin of the Soul, chapter 9, the Pelagians did not fear damnation for little ones if they were not baptized, but exclusion from the kingdom; where by damnation Augustine does not understand the exclusion from the kingdom, but something else — for if the exclusion were the damnation, they who feared the exclusion for the unbaptized would equally have feared the damnation for the same. Wherefore the same Augustine, book On Heresies, chapter 88, writes that little ones, according to the heresy of Pelagius, need Baptism that, adopted by regeneration, they be admitted to the kingdom of God — and not that they perish not, but that they be carried over from good to better. We, then, that we may withdraw as far as possible from the error of the Pelagians, attribute to little ones without Baptism no blessed life; and we assert that they are to be baptized, not only that they be not excluded from the kingdom of God, but also that, freed from sin, they be equally freed from the power of Satan and from the prison of the lower world, and receive everlasting life and rest.
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CAPUT II. Refellitur prima et secunda sententia, atque asseritur, parvulos sine Baptismo deceden¬ tes, mortis xternx pxna esse damnandos. Ex cnumei’atis sententiis prima et secunda, non solum falsa;, sed etiam haireticae existi¬ manda; sunt ; et contra, fide Catholica te¬ nendum est, parvulos sine Baptismo dece¬ dentes, absolute esse damnatos, et non sola coelesti, sed etiam naturali beatitudine per¬ petuo carituros. Quo loco illud pra;faridum esse videtur, misericordiam nostram erga parvulos jam defunctos, nihil eis prodesse, et contra nihil eisdem obesse sententia; no¬ stra; severitatem : multum autem nobis obesse, si ob inutilem misericordiam erga defunctos, pertinaciter aliquid contra Scri¬ pturas, aut Ecclesiam defendamus; idcirco non affectum quemdam humanum, qui ple- i'iquc moveri solem, sed Scriptura;, Conci¬ liorum et Patium sententiam consulex^e et sequi debemus, Quod igitur attinet ad beatitudinern coe¬ lestem et vitam a:ternam in regno coelorum, extat clarissima Domini sententia, Joan. iii : Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiritu sancto non potest, introire in regnum Dei (4) ad quam rem confirmandam multa protuli¬ mus tum in lib. de Baptismo cap. 4. tum in i. lib. de peccat, orig. c. 14. ad qua: lo¬ ca, ne frustra eadem repetamus, lectorem remittimus. Quod autem ejusmodi parvuli absolute damnati et miseri, et ne naturali quidem beatitudine beati sint, his argumentis probamus. (1) I Joan. III, 2. — (2) Joan. XVII, 3. — (3) Mare. XX, 43. — (41 Joan. HI, 14 LIBER VI. ■4.jG Primum argumentum ex testimoniis divina¬ rum litterarum ducitur. Joan. iii : Sicut Mo¬ ses exaltavit serpentem in deserto, ita exaltari oportet filium hominis , ut omnis , qui credit in eum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam aeternam. Et infra : Qui credit in filium , habet vitam aeternam ; qui autem incredulus est filio, non videbit vitam, sed ira Dei manet super eum (i). Jam cum parvuli non baptizati nullo modo respiciunt in serpentem, id est, non credant in Christum, neque per se, neque per alios, neque actu, neque habitu, quid sequitur, nisi ut non habeant vitam feternam, ut pe¬ reant in aeternum, ut non videant vitam, ut ira Dei maneat super illos. Recte enim ani¬ madvertit S. Augustinus serm. 14. de verb. Apost. non esse dictum : « Ira Dei veniet super eos, » sed, « manet super eos, i> ut intelligeremus, fidem in Christum necessa¬ riam esse, non solum, ne incidamus in iram Dei, sed etiam ut liberemur ab ira, in quam incidimus per inobedienliam primi hominis. De qua dictum est ab Apostolo ad Ephes. ll : Eramus enim et nos natura filii irae , sicut etc. (2). Ilis accedit illud ejusdem Apostoli ad Rom. v : Per unius delictum in omnes homines in condemnationem. (3). Sunt igitur parvuli sine Baptismo decedentes, secundum Scripturas a Deo condemnati, et iratum contra se Deum habent, et non videbunt in aeternum vitam beatam ac felicem, nam corporalem qui¬ dem vitam in communi resurrectione perci¬ pient, sed non dicentur-resurgere ad vitam, sed ad mortem, qui ideo resurgent, ut per¬ petuo sint miseri : et non est vera vita, nisi ubi feliciter vivitur, ut S. Augustinus docet in Enchirid. cap. 92. Denique in Apocal. cap. 20 : Beatus, et sanctus qui habet partem in resurrectione pri¬ ma : in his secunda mors non habet potesta¬ tem. Et infra : Qui non est inventus in libri > vitae scriptus, missus est in stagnum ignis (1). At parvuli non baptizati non habent partem in resurrectione prima, nec sunt scripti in libro vita?, igitur in eos mors secunda habet potestatem, et missi sunt in stagnum ignis. Est autem hoc loco notandum, Catharinum in libro suo de statu puerorum etc. definire mortem secundam carentium omnis felicita¬ tis, tum naturalis, tum supernaturalis. Alterum argumentum sumi potest ex defi¬ nitionibus Conciliorum. Concilium Palesti- num, teste S. August. in epist. 10(3. ad Paul, compulit Pelagium anathematizare, infan¬ tes etiamsi non baptizentur, habere vitam asternam : « Hac autem, inquit Augustinus, negata, quid nisi mors icterua remanebit» V Consilium Carthaginiense in epist. apud Augustinum 00: « Quieumque, inquit, ne¬ gat parvulos a perditione liberari per Ba¬ ptismum Christi, et salutem percipere sempi¬ ternam, anathema sit. » Concilium Milevitanum in epist. apud Au¬ gust. 92. similia repetit : « Pueros, inquit, parvulos si nullis innoventur Christiana? gratia? Sacramentis, habituros vitam alter¬ nam, nequam pra?su raptione contendunt. » Concilium Florentinum in ult. sess. « Il¬ lorum, inquit, animas, qui in actuali mor¬ tali peccato, vel solo originali decedunt, mox in infernum descendere, poenis tamen disparibus puniendas. » Concilium Tridentinum sess. 5. consenta¬ nee nd antiquiora Concilia, disertis verbis docuit, parvulos sine Baptismo ad vitam o? ternam non pervenire. Tertium argumentum sumitur ex testimo¬ niis summorum Pontificum. S. Innocentius I. in epistol. ad Concilia Carthaginiense et Mile¬ vitanum, qua; sunt apud Augustinum 91. et 93. dum approbat decreta illorum Conci¬ liorum, simul reprobat Pelagianorum luere- sim. S. Siricius in epist. l.ad Himerium cap. H. docet, infantes in periculo vita? constitutos, continuo baptizari debere, et rationem red¬ dens ait : « Ne regnum perdant et vitam. » S. Leo Papa in epist. 80. ad Nicctam ju¬ bet, Pelagianos ad Ecclesiam redire volen¬ tes, non esse 'recipiendos, nisi prius suos anathematizent errores, et inter eaheros. quod pueri sine Baptismo de sceculo exeun¬ tes, non possint damnari. S. Gregorius lib. ix. Moral. cap. 16 : «Non¬ nulli, inquit, prius a praesenti luce subtrahun¬ tur, quam ad perferenda bona malavc merita activae vitae perveniant. Quos quia a culpa originis Sacramenta salutis non liberant, et hic ex proprio nihil egerunt, et illuc ad tor¬ menta perveniunt. » Et infra : « Perpetua quippe tormenta percipiunt, qui nihil ex propria voluntate peccaverunt. » Joauncs papa, ut habetur 30. qua?st. i. ca¬ non. ad limina, laudat quamdam laicum, qui uecessitale cogente proprium lilium bu- (1) Joan. 111, 14. - (2) Epii. 11 3. —(3) Roui. V, 18. — (4) Ajoc. XX, 6. CAPUT II. ptizuvit : « Quoniam (ut ipso loquitur) ne aniniam perpetua morte pereuntem dimitte¬ ret, sacri unda Baptismatis lavit, ut eum do potestate auctoris mortis, et tenebrarum eri¬ peret, et in regnum Christi jam regnaturum sine dubitatione transmitteret. ». Quartum argumentum a testimoniis Pa¬ trum. S. Augustinus in epist. 106. ad Pau- linum : «Nempe, inquit, aliquando fatebun¬ tur, parvulos non baptizatos vitam habere non posse, ue per hoc quoslibet tolerabilius omnibus qui etiam propria peccata commit¬ tunt, tamen aeterna morte mulctnri. » Et lib. i. de orig. animae cap. 9 : « Non baptizatis par¬ vulis nemo promittat inter damnationem regnumque coelorum quietis vel felicitatis cujuslibet, atque ubi libet qitasi medium lo¬ cum ; hoc enim eis haeresis Pelagiana promi¬ sit. » Et lib. it. e. : « Novellos haereticos Pelagianos justissime Cdnciliorum Catholi¬ corum, et sedis Apostolicai damnavit aucto¬ ritas, eo quod ausi fuerint non baptizatis parvulis dare quietis et salutis locum, etiam praeter regnum coelorum. » Etlib. i. de pec¬ cat. mer. etremiss. c. 23 : « Nulla salus ae¬ terna, praeter Baptismum Christi, promitta¬ tur infantibus, quam non promittit Scriptura divina humanis omnibus ingeniis praefe¬ renda. » Yide etiam in eodem lib. cap. 28. et lib. ii. de peccato orig. c. 21. lib. v. in Julian. cap. 8. inEnchirid. cap. 93.serm. 11. de verbis Apostoli. S. Prosper lib. n. devocat, gentium cap. 8. « Quid est, inquit, quod alienatur a salute perpetua tanta infantium multitudo, totque in his aetatibus hominum millia extra vitam relinquuntur asternam ? » S. Fulgent, in lib. de lide ad Petrum cap. 3. « Parvulos, inquit, quibus nulla pos¬ sunt vel bona, vel mala inesse propria me¬ rita voluntatis, insolubili nexu aeterna dam¬ natio retinet. » Auctor sermonum de operibus Cardinali¬ bus Christi, qui falso inscribuntur Cypriano, cum sint auctoris antiqui et docti, sed Cy¬ priano, imo et August. sine dubio poste¬ rioris, in serm. de circumcisione, loquens de poena peocati originalis : « Supererat, inquit, post mortem carnis, animae labor et afflictio spiritus : nec poterat ulla ratione absolvi illa damnatio, nisi morti omnium vita omnium subveniret, et pro generali morbo gratia Dei singulare propinaret antidotum. » •l.'w Venerabilis Beda in comment. cap. 14. Joan : « Respuendi, inquit, sunt a corde Christiano, qui putant ideo dictum multas esse mansiones, quia extra regnum coelorum erit aliquid, ubi beate maneant innocentes, qui sine Baptismo ex hae vita migrarunt. Quia sine illo in regnum coelorum ingredi non potuerunt. » S. Ansehnus in lib. de couceptu virginali cap. 27 : « Si originale, inquit, peccatum est aliquod peccatum, nccesse est omnem hominem in eo natum, illo non dimisso dam¬ nari. » S. Bernardus in epist. 191. ad Innocen¬ tium, prope lineui, dicit: « Infantes perire si non baptizentur. » Quintum argumentum sumi potest ex ra¬ tionibus quae in Scripturis et Patribus funda¬ mentum habent. Prima ratio parvuli uon baptizati, tum in bac vita, tum in alia sunt captivi, et in potestate diaboli : non igitur beati, ne naturali quidem bcatiludinc, sed absolute infelices ct miseri. Et quidem quod infantuli, nisi baptizentur, sint in potestate diaboli et captivi, certissimum est. Nam A- postolus ad Coi. i. dicit : Nos per Christum eripi de potestate tenebrarum. Ex quo sequi¬ tur, ut ante Baptismum simus omnes sui) potestate tenebrarum. Quare Act. xxvi, Christus ipse dicit, se mittere Paulum ad (jentes et pupulos, ut aperiat oculus eorum, et convertantur de tenebris ad lucem, et de pote¬ state Satanas ad Deum. Et Luca) xi. com¬ parat Dominus Satauam forti annato custo¬ dienti atrium suum. Et Joan. xn : Nunc , in¬ quit, princeps hujus mundi ejicietur foras (1). Hanc autem diaboli expulsionem iu parvu¬ lis tieri per Baptismum, docent exorcismi ct exsufflationes, quarum in Ecclesia semper fuit usus. S. Augustinus lib. i. de pec. inerit, et rc- miss. cap. 35 : « Vellem, inquit, aliquis isto¬ rum, qui contraria sapiunt, mihi baptizan¬ dum parvulum adferret. Quid in illo agit ex¬ orcismus meus, si in familia diaboli non te¬ netur? » Et lib. ii. de pec. orig. cap. 40 : « Ipsa, inquit, sancta) Ecclesia) Sacramenta satis indicant, parvulos a partu etiam reccn- tissimos per gratiam Christi dc diaboli ser¬ vitio liberari. » Et infra : « Non solum aetate majores, sed etiam pusillos eruit a potestate tenebrarum. » Et lib. vi. iu Julian. cap. 2. « Verum est, inquit, quod antiquitus veraci 30 (1) Coi. 1, 13 ; Act. XXVi, 18; L (c. XI, 21 : Joan. XII. 31. Tom. V. 158 LIBER VI. fide Catholica praedicatur ct creditur, per Ecclesiam totam : quod filios fidelium, nec exorcizaret, nec exsufflaret, si non eos de potestate tenebrarum, et a principe mortis erueret : quod in libro meo, cui tu velut re¬ spondes, a me positum est. Sed id tu com¬ memorare timuisti, tanquam ipse ab orbe foto exsufflandus esses, si huic exsufflationi, qua princeps mundi, et a parvulis ejicitur foras, contradicere voluisses. » Et eodem lib. cap. 8. «Hjc ergo generi humano in¬ flictum vulnus a diabolo, quidquid per illud nascitur, cogit esse sub diabolo. » Denique lib. i. denupt. et concup. c. 20. : « Non enim, inquit, fides dubitat Christiana» quod novi haeretici oppugnare coeperunt, et eos qui lavacro regenerationis abluuntur, redimi de potestate diaboli, et eos, qui nondum tali regeneratione redempti sunt, etiam parvulos filios redemptorum sub ejus¬ dem esse potestate captivos, nisi et ipsi ea¬ dem Christi gratia redimantur : ad omnes namque pertinere non dubitamus aetates il¬ lud, de quo Apostolus loquitur, beneficium Dei, qui eirnit nos de potestate tenebrarum etc. » Et rursus lib. ii. de nup. concup. c. 18 : « Accusat, inquit, Ecclesiam, toto orbe diffusam, in qua ubique omnes baptizandi infantuli non ob aliud exsufflantui', nisi ut ab eis princeps mundi mittatur foras, a quo necesse est vasa irso possideantur, cum in Adam nascuntur, si in Christo non renascan¬ tur, et in ejus regnum per gratiam facta vasa misericordiae transferantur. » Similia invenies in omnibus Patribus, et in ipsis etiam Pontificum decret. ut in epist. Celest. ad Gallos, in epistola Zozimi ad omnes Episcopos; in epist. Joan. Papae, apud Gratianum 30. quaest. i. can. Ad limina. Ex quibus apparet omnino improbabiliter, ne qitid gravius dicam, sciipsisse Ambros. Cathar. in lib. de statu puerorum sine Bapti¬ smo decedentium, parvulos ejusmodi, post diem judicii non foro amplius sub diaboli potestate. Quoniam, ut ipse ait, etiam pro illis diabolus ejectus erit foras. Nam, ut jam ex S. August. audivimus, secundum fidem universae Ecclesiae non eruuntur infantes de potestate Satanae, neque ejicitur diabolus foras, nisi per regenerationem, quae est in Christo : et necesse est vasa irae esse sub dia¬ bolo, nisi per gratiam Dei in regnum Christi, facta vasa misericordiae, transferantur. Quis autem negat, nisi manifestus haere¬ ticus, parvulos in peccato decedentes, nun¬ quam per Christum regenerandos, neque in ejus regnum ullo unquam tempore transfe¬ rendos ? Quid, quod idem S. August. disertis verbis scribit, etiam post judicium parvulos sub diaboli potestate futuros? Nam in lib. i. de nupt. et concup. c. 23. cum dixisset : « Hoc generi humano inflictum vulnus a diabolo, quidquid per illud nasci tui-, cogit esse sub diabolo. » Et paulo post: « Non itaque tenet homines diabolus, sive majoris, sive infanr tilis aetatis, propter qyod homines sunt, sed propter quod immundi sunt etc. » Subjun¬ git : « Majores quidem poenas ultimo judi¬ cio, quanto est immundior, ipse passurus ; verumtamen et quibus in illa damnatione to¬ lerabilius erit, liuic sunt subditi veluti prin¬ cipi auctorique peccati, quia nulla erit dam¬ nationis causa nisi peccatum. » Igitur parvuli non baptizati, cum semper captivi sub prin¬ cipe diabolo futuri sint, non beati, sed mi¬ seri dicendi sunt. Altera ratio sumitur ex loco, in quo pax-- vuli degunt, ct semper degent, siquidem lo¬ cus eorum est carcer inferni, locus horridus ac tenebricosus, in quo qui degent, sine du¬ bio beati esse non poterunt, cum beatitudo definiatur status omnium bonorum aggi’e- gatione pei'fectus. Locum autem talium in¬ fantium esse carcerem inferni, docent in primis fere omnes Theologi Scholastici, S. Thomas, S. Bonaventura, Scotus, Duran¬ dus, Richardus, Capi’eolus, et alii in 2. seni, dist. 33. vel in 4. dist. 45. et pi'asterea Ale- xand. Alens. in2.part. Summae, quaest. 122. membro 10. §. 1. et Albertus in 2. part. Summa: quaist. 113. Hoc solum inter veteres istos Theologos interest, quod alii constituunt infantes in parte inferni altiore, quam limbum puero- rum appellant, alii cum cseteris damnatis eos locum habei^e pronuntiant. Docent hoc idem Patres Concilii Florent, in decret. quod habetur in ult. sess. ubi simpliciter de¬ finiunt, animas eorum qui in solo peccato originali, vel mortali actuali decedunt, in in¬ fernum descendei’e, poenis tamen dispari- bus puniendas. • Neque ulla est ratio, cur ex eo loco post ultimum judicii magni diem liberanda) sint, cum post hanc vitam non sit locus miseri¬ cordia), sed justitiae, et in Eccles. xi. scri¬ ptura sit : Ubicumque ceciderit lignum, sive ad austrum , sive ad aquilonem, ibi erit (1). (1) Eccl. XI, 3. CAPUT J. Quem locum S. Hieronymus in comment. ei alii communiter exponunt de hominibus, qui in eo statu perpetuo erunt, in quo illos mors invenerit. Docent hoc ipsum denique SS. Patres, qui non incerta opinione, sed fide certissima contra haeresim Pelagianorum rem istam te¬ nendam esse confirmant. S. August. lib. I. de pec. merit. et remiss. c. 28 : « Nec est, inquit, ullus ulli medius locus, ut possit esse nisi cum diabolo, qui non est cum Christo. Hinc et ipse Dominus volens auferre de cor¬ dibus male credentium istam nescio quam medietatem, quam conantur quidam parvu¬ lis non baptizatis tribuere, ut quasi merito innocentia; sint in vita aeterna, sed quia non sunt baptizati, non sint cum Christo in regno ejus, definitivam protulit ad haec ora obstru¬ enda sententiam, ubi ait : Qui non est mecurn contra me est. » Et serm. 14. de verb. Apost. non longe ab initio : « Nullus, inquit, reli¬ ctus est medius locus, ubi ponere queas in¬ fantes. De vivis et mortuis judicabitur, alii erunt ad dexteram, alii ad sinistram, non novi aliud. Si ergo dextera erit, et sinistra, et nullum medium locum in Evangelio no¬ vimus, ecce in dextera regnum coelorum est. Percipite, inquit, regnum : quod ibi non est, in sinistra est. Quid erit in sinistra ? ite in ignem aeternum. » Auctor hypognostici, qui vel est Augusti¬ nus, vel alius omnium consensu arttiquus et doctus lib. v. ultra medium. Primum, in¬ quit, « locum, fides Catholicorum divina auctoritate regnum credidit esse coelorum, unde, ut dixi, non baptizatus excipitur. » Secundum, « gehennam, ubi omnis aposta¬ ta, vel a Christi fide alienus, aeterna suppli¬ cia experietur. » Tertium, « penitus ignora¬ mus; imo nonesse in Scripturis sanctis in¬ veniemus : finge, Pelagiane, locum ex offici¬ na perversi dogmatis tui, ubi alieni a Chri¬ sti gratia vitam requiei, et gloria; possidere parvuli possint. » S. Fulgentius in lib. de fide ad Petrum cap. 27. inter regulas fidei numerat, quod parvuli sine Baptismo decedentes in gehen¬ na locum perpetuum sint habituri. Venerabilis etiam Beda loco citato in com¬ ment. cap. 14. Joan. repellendum dicit esse a corde Christiano, quod sit aliqua mansio beatitudinis extra regnum coelorum. Accedat postremo etiam ratio, quae non obscure docet, infantes, qui non erunt in ccelo, non alium locum habituros, quam in¬ io!) ferorum subterraneas sedes. Siquidem om¬ nino credibile est, post ultimi judicii diem, elementum aquae, ad locum suum naturalem esse rediturum, totamque terram undique cooperturum : nam ut Theologi Doctores communi consensu docent in 4. sentent. dist. 47. post diem judicii nullae erunt am¬ plius plantae, nulla animantia, nulla corpora mixta, hominibus duntaxat exceptis. Neque enim perpetuo duratura sunt, nisi qua; vel in toto, vel ex parte incorruptionem ab ipsa natura sortita sunt. Ejusmodi autem sunt primum corpora coelestia, quae et secundum totum, et secundum partes incorruptibilia sunt. Deinde elementa qua; secundum to¬ tum, licet non secundum partes a natura in¬ corruptionem habent. Denique homines, qui secundum partem, quae est anima rationalis, non secundum totum immortales sunt ; cae- tera corpora sunt omnia tum in toto, tum in partibus corruptibilia. Quare cum aqua initio mundi totam am¬ biret terram, ut natura ejus postulare vide¬ batur, ac deinde jussu Dei in locum unum congregata fuerit, ut esset locus in terra ge¬ nerationi animantium et plantarum, certe generatione ista sublata ratio ipsa et natura rerum postulat, ut aqua ad locum pristinum revertatur; qua; cum ita sint, non solum ex Scripturis, Conciliorum et Patrum testimo¬ niis, sed etiam ex rationis conjectura colli¬ gimus, locum infantium sine Baptismo de¬ cedentium, non alium quam infernum esse futurum, ac per hoc non habituros illos bea- titudinem ullam, etiam naturalem, cum ad beatitudinem omnia bona, inter qua; non minimum est loci commoditas et praestantia, sine dubio requirantur. Tertia ratio principalis sumitur ex natura et ratione beatitudinis. Beatitudo enim natu¬ ralis, de hac si quidem tota quaestio est, re¬ quirit praecipue perfectionem intelligentiae per scientias; non erit autem hujusmodi per¬ fectio in infantibus sine Baptismo decedenti¬ bus ; igitur non erit in eis ulla beatitudo. Assumptio hu jus argumenti, qua; solapro- batione indiget, sic probatur. Scientia rerum, vel a Deo ceelitus infunditur, vel proprio la¬ bore acquiritur : non infundetur parvulis, de quibus agimus, ulla scientia, quia neque eam bonis operibus meruerunt, neque gratis eis donabitur, cum post mortem non sit tempus gratia;, sed judicii, et ipsi praeterea sint vasa irae, non misericordia;. Quod au¬ tem attinet ad acquisitionem proprio labore, L1DK11 VI. 100 noti poterit eu 11011 esse vultio tenuis et exi¬ gua, eum neque in huc vita didicerint ali¬ quid, et in alia clausi perpetuo futuri sint in carcero tenebricoso, ubi ministerio sensuum parum admodum juvari poterunt. Sed fortasse anima; illorum, dum usque ad diem judicii a carnis onere liberte sunt, sapientia et scientia repleri poterunt. iN'011 ita est, nam ut recto scribit S. Thomos in i. purto qusest. 89. art. i. et seq. anirnai septv- ratic, si privilegium absit, iutelligunt quidem aliquid, sed valde imperfecte et confuse, et ideo naturaliter corpori uniuntur, ut eo (un¬ quam instrumento utantur ad res perfecte distincteque intelligcndas. Eadem ratio est de virtutibus moralibus, quarum perfectio ad naturae felicitatem ne¬ cessaria est. Nam ut ex hac vita discedunt infantes sine vitiis et virtutibus positivis, cum sola habituali aversione a Deo, ita semper erunt aversi liabitualiter a Deo. neque pro¬ licient in virtutibus, nisi forte admodum im¬ perfecte pro ratione imperfecta; cognitionis, quam in eo statu, ut diximus, assequen- tur. Quartam rationem adjungere placet pro¬ prie adversus Pighium et Gatlmriinim ex absurdo, quod ex eorum opinione consequi¬ tur. Nam si verum esset, quod ipsi scribunt, parvulos cum originali peccato decedentes, non solum euriluros omni dolore, tum inter¬ no, tum extorno, sed etiam beatos ac felices iu quodam voluti terrestri paradiso perpe¬ tuo vitam' acturos, plenos sapientia et virtu¬ tibus sua sorte optime contentos, Deum toto cordo diligentes et laudantes, Angelorum denique consortio ct revelationibus stepe fruentes, si htoc, inquam, vera essent, se¬ queretur infantes melioris conditionis esse, quia peccaverunt in Adamo, quam si in pu¬ ris naturalibus decessissent. Non enim tanta debentur hominibus in puris naturalibus in infantia decedentibus. Itaque parvuli isti praemium ex peccato referrent. Sequeretur deinde parvulos debere bapti¬ zari ut adoptionem divinam adepti admittan¬ tur ad regnum coelorum, non aut quia peri¬ culum sit ne damnentur ct pereant. Nihil enim eis adest mali prester carentium visio¬ nis Dei, ct nihil iisdem boni deest, nisi vi¬ sio Dei, hoc est possessio regni ecclesiis. Atqui haec est ipsa lucrosis Pelagiuna, nam ut sanctus Augustinus testatur iu lib. i. do origine aninue c. 9. non timebant Pclagiani parvulis damualionon». si non baptizaren¬ tur, sed a regno exclusionem ; ubi per dam¬ nationem non intelligit August. exclusionem a regno, sed aliquid aliud, nam si exclusio, esset damnatio, qui exclusionem timebant non baptizatis, damnationem quoque eisdem pariter timuissent. Quare idem August. lib. de hteres. cap. 88. scribit, parvulos secun¬ dum haeresim Pelagii Baptismo indigere, ut regeneratione adoptati admittantur ad reg¬ num Dei, et non ut non pereant, sed ut de bono transferantur ad melius. Nos igitur, ut a Pclagianoruin errore, quam longissime recedamus, nullam tribui¬ mus parvulis sine Baptismo vitam beatam, eosque baptizandos asserimus, noa tantum ut a regno Dei non excluduntur, sed etiam ut a peccato liberati, a potestate Satante, et ab inferni carcere pariter liberentur, et vitam, ac requiem percipiant sempiter¬ nam.