Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On Grace and Free Choice · Book V: Grace and Free Choice in Moral Works
Chapter 5: That all the moral precepts, according to their substance, cannot be fulfilled by the powers of nature alone
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. VI, De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio, Book V. 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).
That first proposition, which denies that all the moral precepts can be kept by the powers of nature alone, according to the substance of the work, is briefly to be explained, then proved. First, then, we say “all the precepts,” because we do not speak in this place of single precepts considered separately, but of all together; nor do we mean to signify that someone cannot keep all for a very short time, since it can happen that at some moment no affirmative precept presents itself, and no temptation is at hand provoking to the violation of the negative precepts. And so the sense of that proposition is this: that they cannot, over some longer time, in which various precepts to be observed offer themselves, be so fulfilled, all of them, by the powers of nature alone, that sin be avoided in every part. Then we say, “according to the substance of the work,” because we do not dispute in this place about the observance of the commandments from the charity of God, and in that manner which is required that the observance be meritorious before God — for that is to be treated in another place — but we discourse only of that observance which is necessary that a new sin be avoided, and a good work be done, according to a certain moral honorableness. Last, we say, “by the powers of nature alone,” that we may exclude not only the grace of justification, but also special help. For although the opinion of St. Thomas — who teaches in 1-2, question 109, articles 4 and 8, that without the grace of justification all the commandments cannot be fulfilled, nor can mortal sin be avoided for a long time — seems to us most true, yet in this place it will be enough for us if we prove that the powers of corrupt nature do not suffice of themselves to fulfill the law, but that the help of grace is altogether necessary — whether that grace be a permanent and justifying habit, or only special help.
These things noted, our proposition is proved, first, from the divine writings. For Scripture everywhere teaches that the observance of the law is to be attributed to the grace of God. Ezechiel 36: I will put my spirit in the midst of you, and I will cause you to walk in my commandments. Romans 8: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and of sin, hath condemned sin in the flesh, that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us. In which place St. Paul most openly says that the observance of the law was impossible without the grace of God, and that on account of the infirmity of the flesh, because corrupt nature had become infirm; and that therefore the Son of God was sent, that through him that might become possible which otherwise was impossible. Nor is there any doubt that he speaks of the natural, or moral, precepts, since he discourses in particular of the precept, Thou shalt not covet. The same Apostle also calls the divine moral and natural law the law of sin and of death, Romans 8; likewise the strength of sin, 1 Corinthians 15; and most openly says that the letter kills, 2 Corinthians 3 — since, by showing what is to be done, and not affording strength to infirm nature, it makes man a transgressor, and guilty of sin and death. But the same Apostle adds, Romans 8, that the Spirit of life, which we have from God through Christ, has freed us from the law of death, because through the grace of the Spirit we fulfill the law, which through the powers of nature and the letter of the law we could never have fulfilled. And to the same sense, in 1 Corinthians 15, after he had said, The strength of sin is the law, he added: But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And in 2 Corinthians 3, to those words, The letter killeth, he adjoined, but the spirit quickeneth. From which places St. Augustine, in the book On the Spirit and the Letter, against the Pelagians, judges that he has evidently demonstrated — as in very truth he did demonstrate — that the law cannot be fulfilled by the powers of nature alone. Again, in the epistle to the Romans, chapter 2, the doers of the law shall be justified, says the Apostle; and yet the same Apostle says, Galatians 2: If justice be by the law, then Christ died in vain. And without doubt it could also be said: if justice were by nature, Christ died in vain. It cannot come to pass, then, that the whole law be fulfilled by the powers of nature alone.
Nor can it be answered that all these testimonies only prove that the law cannot be observed perfectly, and as to the manner, but not that it cannot be observed according to the substance of the work. For observance according to the substance of the work requires that the precept be so observed that sin be not committed, and that the man become not guilty on account of a precept not fulfilled; but the Scriptures alleged most openly teach that the law cannot, without the grace of God, be so kept that one sin not; for that is why they call the law, without helping grace, the law of sin and of death, the strength of sin, the killing letter, etc.; and therefore in Galatians 3 the Apostle says: The scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise, by the faith of Jesus Christ, might be given to them that believe. The testimonies alleged, therefore, speak of observance according to the substance of the work.
Moreover, among all the moral commandments there are certain which without doubt cannot be kept without the grace of God. For of continence, which is a moral virtue and has a moral commandment, we read in the book of Wisdom, chapter 8: And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, except God gave it — and this also was a point of wisdom, to know whose gift it was — I went to the Lord, and besought him. And in 1 Corinthians 7 blessed Paul says that not only the continence of virgins and widows, but even of the married, is the gift of God: Every one, says he, hath his proper gift from God: one after this manner, and another after that. The precept also of the love of God above all things, at least as the author of nature, is moral and natural; as also the precept of resisting concupiscence when it entices to various sins against the moral precepts is without doubt moral and natural, and one of the ten, namely: Thou shalt not covet. But that this last cannot be fulfilled by the powers of nature we shall prove from the Scriptures in chapter 7; and the same we shall prove of that first one in the following book. Not all the moral and natural precepts, therefore, can be kept without the aid of the grace of God.
Finally, according to the Scriptures, the entire observance of the law is the most certain sign of the true and perfect charity of God; for so we read, John 14: He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And in the same place: He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words. And 1 John 2: He that keepeth his word, in him in very deed the charity of God is perfected. And chapter 5: For this is the charity of God, that we keep his commandments. But the charity of God cannot be acquired from the powers of nature, but is poured in by God through the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle writes in Romans 5. Neither, therefore, can the observance of all the commandments be had from the powers of nature. And that Scripture — which says that the observance of the law is the sign of charity, and that where charity is, there is the observance of the law, and where the latter is not, neither is the former — speaks of the moral and natural law, can easily be demonstrated. For the Lord, when he had said, and several times repeated, in John 13, 14, and 15, that the sign of the love of God is the observance of his commandments, added: These things I command you, that you love one another. And again: This is my commandment, that you love one another. But the love of neighbor, which is the most certain sign of the love of God, contains in virtue the whole natural law, as the Apostle says in Romans 13: For he that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the law. For Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet — and if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in this word: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. And Galatians 5: All the law is fulfilled in one word: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. And that the sign of the charity of God is the observance of the commandments according to the substance of the work is clear — both because it would be inept to say that the sign of the love of God is the observance of the commandments from the love of God, and “he that loveth me not keepeth not my words” from love of me; and also because a sign ought to be external and visible, especially when it is referred to others — such as is that of which the Lord says: By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another — where by love he understands external works, which can be seen by men, not the internal affection, which cannot be seen except in its effect. The observance, therefore, of all the moral precepts according to the substance of the work is necessarily conjoined with the love of neighbor and of God, and thereby, according to the Scriptures, can in no way be had by the powers of nature alone.
The same is proved from the tradition of the Church. The Synod of Milevis, canon 5: “Likewise it has pleased us that whosoever shall say that the grace of justification is given us for this reason: that what we are commanded to do through free choice, we may be able to fulfill more easily through grace — as though, even if grace were not given, we could, not easily indeed, but still could, even without it, fulfill the divine commandments — let him be anathema.” The Synod of Orange, in the last canon, when it teaches that the baptized man can, if he will, cooperate with the grace of God and fulfill the divine precepts, is understood also to have meant that man cannot, without grace, by his own powers alone, perform the same. Innocent I, in the epistle to the Council of Milevis, which is found among Augustine’s, epistle 93: “Denying the help of God, they affirm that man can suffice for himself, and does not need the divine grace; deprived of which, he must fall, ensnared in the toils of the devil, while by liberty alone he strives to fulfill all the commandments of life.” Celestine I, in the epistle to the Gauls, confirms the same, adducing the testimonies of Innocent and Zosimus, his predecessors, chapters 9 and 10. St. Augustine, book 2 On the Merits and Remission of Sins, chapter 3 [al. 5]: “The precepts of justice we cannot fulfill in every part, unless we be helped by God.” The same he teaches also in the whole book On the Spirit and the Letter, and in almost the whole book On Nature and Grace, and in the book On the Perfection of Justice, and in epistle 89, question 5, epistles 95, 105, 106, 120, 144, 200, and elsewhere everywhere.
It is proved, last, by the reason of St. Thomas: since human nature, depraved through the sin of the first man, is turned away from God and turned toward creatures, and especially toward itself; accordingly it has its last end placed — whether in act, or in habit, or at least by a certain propensity — in the creature, not in God. Wherefore, when there occur things to be done or avoided in view of that preconceived end, it is inclined as it were naturally to evil, and violently to good; and therefore a certain force is necessary, and that man perpetually watch, and premeditate, and fight against the propensity of self-love — which not only reason but also experience teaches to be morally impossible. And if St. Augustine, in the book On Correction and Grace, chapter 12, affirms that even the justified man himself, were he not borne by the divine grace undeclinably and inseparably, would without doubt fall, on account of the infirmity of nature — with how much greater reason can we affirm this of the unbelieving man, who leans on the powers alone of a nature corrupted and vitiated through sin?
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT V Non posse, solis naturie viribus , adimpleri omnia praecepta moralia , secundum substan¬ tiam operis. Propositio illa prima, qu® negat, \Solis na¬ tur® viribus, servari posse omnia pr®cepta moralia, secundum substantiam operis, bre¬ viter explicanda est, deinde probanda. Pri¬ mum igitur dicimus : Praecepta omnia; quia uon loquimur hoc loco de singulis seorsim consideratis, sed de omnibus simul; neque significare volumus, non posse aliquem ad brevissimum tempus omnia servare, cum possit fieri, ut aliquando nullum occurrat prfficeptum affirmativum, et nulla adsit ten- tatio provocans ad violanda pr®cepta nega¬ tiva. Itaque sententia propositionis illius h®c est, ut non possint longiore aliquo tempore, quo varia pr®cepta observanda se offerunt, solis natur® viribus, ita omnia adimpleri, ut omni ex parte peccatum vitetur. Deinde dicimus : « Secundum substantiam operis »; quia non disputamus hoc loco de observatione mandatorum, ex charitate Dei, et eo modo, qui requiritur, ut observatio sit meritoria apud Deum. Id enim alio loco tra¬ ctandum est; sed de ea tantum disserimus, qu® necessaria est, ut novum peccatum vi¬ tetur, et fiat opus bonum, secundum mora¬ lem quamdam honestatem. Postremo dicimus : « Solis natur® viri¬ bus »; ut excludamus non solum gratiam justificationis, sed etiam auxilium speciale. Nam etiamsi sententia S. Thom®, qui docet in 1. 2. qu®st. 109. art. 4. et 8. sine gratia justificationis non posse impleri omnia man¬ data, nec posse vitari longo tempore lethale peccatum, verissima nobis esse videatur; tamen hoc loco satis nobis erit, si probave¬ rimus, non sufficere per se vires natur® corrupt® ad legem implendam, sed neces¬ sarium omnino esse auxilium grati®, sive ea gratia sit habitus permanens et justificans, sive auxilium tantum speciale. His notatis, probatur nostra propositio, Primum ex divinis litteris. Nam Scriptura passim docet, legis observationem tribuen¬ dam esse grati® Dei, Ezechielis xxxvi. Spi¬ ritum meum ponam in medio vestri , et faciam , ut in praeceptis meis ambuletis , Ad ltoman. vm. Quod impossibile erat legi in quo infir¬ mabatur per carnem, Deus filium suum misit in similitudinem carnis peccati, et de peccato damnavit peccatum, ut justificatio legis imple¬ retur in nobis (1). Quo loco S. Paulus aper¬ tissime dicit, impossibilem fuisse legis ob¬ servationem sine gratia Dei, idque propter carnis infirmitatem, quia natura corrupta infirma facta erat, et ideo missum fuisse fi¬ lium Dei, ut per ipsum possibile fieret, quod alioqui impossibile erat; nec dubium est, quin loquatur de pr®ceptis naturalibus, sive moralibus, cum in specie disserat de pr®- cepto, Non concupisces. Idem etiam Apostolus legem divinam mo¬ ralem et naturalem vocat legem peccati ct mortis, ad Rom. 8. item virtutem peccati, I ad Cor. xv. et apertissime dicit, literam occidere, II ad Cor. m. quoniam demon¬ strando, quid sit faciendum, et non pr®- bendo vires natur® infirm®, pr®varicato- rem hominem constituit, et reum peccati et mortis. Addit autem idem Apostolus ad Rom. 8. Spiritum vit®, quem habemus a Deo per Christum; liberasse nos a lege mor¬ tis, quia per gratiam Spiritus legem imple¬ mus, quam per vires natur®, et litteram le¬ gis implere numquam potuissemus. Et in camdem sententiam, I ad Cor. xv. post¬ quam dixerat : Virtus vero peccati lex% addi- (1) Ezech. XXXVI, 27 ; Rom. VIII. CAPUT V. 45 dit, Gratias autem Geo, qui dedit nobis victo¬ riam per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Et II ad Cor. m. ad illa verba : Littera occi¬ dit, adjunxit, spiritus autem vivificat (1). Ex quibus locis S. Augustinus in lib. de spiritu et lltcra, contra Pelagianos, evidenter se de¬ monstrasse existimat, ut re vera demonstra¬ vit, non posse viribus solius naturae legem impleri. Rursus in epist. ad Rom. cap. ii. Factores legis justificabuntur, inquit Aposto¬ lus. Et tamen idem Apostolus ad Galat. n. dicit : Si ex lege esset justitia, Christus gratis mortuus esset (2). Et posse sine dubio etiam dici, si ex natura esset justitia, Christus gratis mortuus esset. Non igitur fieri potest, ut tota lex solis naturae viribus impleatur ». Neque responderi potest, haec omnia testi¬ monia solum probare, non posse legem ob¬ servari perfecte, et quoad modum, non au¬ tem non posse observari secundum substan¬ tiam operis. Nam observatio secundum sub¬ stantiam operis requirit, ut sic praeceptum observetur, ut peccatum non committatur, et non fiat homo reus ob praeceptum non impletum : Scripturae autem allegatae aper¬ tissime docent, non posse legem sine Dei gratia ita servari, ut non peccetur; ideo enim vocant legem, sine gratia adjuvante legem peccati et mortis, virtutem peccati, litteram occidentem etc. et ideo ad Galatas tertio Apostolus dicit : Conclusit Scriptura omnia sub peccato, ut promissio ex fide Jesu Christi daretur credentibus : loquuntur igitur testimonia allegata de observatione secun¬ dum substantiam operis. Praeterea dnter omnia mandata moralia quaedam sunt, quae sine dubio servari non possunt, sine gratia Dei, nam de continentia, quae virtus est moralis, et habet mandatum morale, legimus in libro Sapientiae cap. vm. Ut servi, quoniam aliter non possem esse con¬ tinens, nisi Deus det, et hoc ipsum erat sapien¬ tia, scire cujus esset hoc donum, adii Domi¬ num, et deprecatus sum (3). Et I ad Corin¬ thios vil. beatus Paulus Dei donum esse di¬ cit, non solum continentiam virginum et vi¬ duarum, sed etiam conjugatarum : Unus¬ quisque, inquit, donum suum habet ex Deo , unus quidem sic, alius autem sic (4). Praeceptum quoque dilectionis Dei super omnia, saltem ut auctoris naturae, morale est et naturale, sicut etiam praeceptum re¬ sistendi concupiscentiae illicienti ad varia peccata contra praecepta moralia, sine dubio morale est et naturale, et unum ex decem, videlicet : Non concupisces. Atqui hoc po¬ stremum non posse impleri viribus naturae, probabimus ex Scripturis in cap. 7. quod idem probabimus de illo primo, in libro se¬ quenti : non igitur omnia praecepta moralia et naturalia servari possunt sine adjutorio gratiae Dei. Denique, secundum Scripturas integra ob¬ servatio legis, est signum certissimum verae, perfectaeque charitatis Dei; sic enim legimus Joan. xiv. Qui habet mandata mea et servat ea, ille est, qui diligit me. Et ibidem : Qui non diligit me, sermones meos non servat. Et 1 . Joan ii. Qui servat verba ejus, in hoc charitas Dei perfecta est. Et cap. v. Haec est charitas Dei, ut mandata ejus custodiamus (5). Non potest autem charitas Dei ex viribus naturae acquiri, sed infunditur a Deo per Spiritum sanctum, ut Apostolus scribit ad Roman. 5. Neque igitur observatio omnium mandato¬ rum, ex naturae viribus habei*i potest. Quod autem Scriptura, quae dicit, obser¬ vationem legis esse signum charitatis, et ubi est charitas, esse legis observationem, ubi non est ista, neque illam esse, loquatur do lege morali et naturali, facile demonstrari potest : Dominus enim cum dixisset, et ali¬ quoties repetiisset Joan. xiii. xiy. et xv. si¬ gnum delictionis Dei esse mandatorum ipsius observationem, addidit : Haec mando vobis, ut diligatis invicem. Et iterum : Hoc est praeceptum meum, ut diligatis invicem. Di¬ lectio autem proximi* quae est signum cer¬ tissimum dilectionis Dei , continet virtute totam legem naturalem, ut Apostolus ait ad Roman. xiii. Nam, inquit, qui diligit proxi¬ mum, legem implevit. Nam non adulterabis, non occides, non furaberis, non falsum testimo¬ nium dices, non concupisces, et si quod est aliud mandatum, in hoc verbo instauratur. Diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum. Et ad Galat. v. Omnis lex in uno sermone impletur, Diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum (6). Quod vero signum charitatis Dei sit obser-* vatio mandatorum , secundum substantiam operis, perspicuum est, tum, quia ineptum esset dicere, signum dilectionis Dei esse ob¬ servationem mandatorum, ex dilectione Dei; et qvri non diligit me, sermones meos non (1) I Corin. XV, 56 ; III Corin. Ili, 6. — (2) Rom. II, 13 ; Gal. II, 21 . —(3) Sap. VIII, 21. — (4) I Corin. VII, 7. - (5) Joan. XIV; 21, 24; I Joan. II, 5 ; ibid. V, 3. - (6) Rom. XIII, 8 ; Cal. V, 14- 46 LIBER Y. servat cx dilectione mea. Tum etiam, quia signum debet esse externum et visibile, praj- sertim cum refertur ad alios, quale est hoc, de quo Dominus dicit : In hoc cognoscent omnes, quod discipuli mei estis, si delectio- nem habueritis ad invicem. Ubi per dile¬ ctionem, intclligit opera externa, quae ab ho¬ minibus videri possunt, non internum affe¬ ctum, qui videri non potest, nisi in suo effectu. Observatio igitur omnium praeceptorum mo¬ ralium, secundum substantiam operis, ne¬ cessario cum dilectione proximi et Dei con¬ juncta est, ac per hoc, secundum Scripturas, viribus solius naturae, nullo' modo haberi potest. Probatur hoc idem ex traditione Ecclesiae. Synodus Milevitana canon. 5. « Item placuit, inquit, ut quicumque dixerit, ideo nobis gra¬ tiam justificationis dari, ut quod facere per liberum jubemur arbitrium, facilius possimus implere per gratiam, tamquam, et si gratia non daretur, non quidem facile, sed tamen possemus etiam *ine illa divina implere man¬ data, anathema sit. » Synodus Arausicana can. ult. cum docet, hominem baptizatum posse, si velit, Dei gra- tise cooperari, divina implere prmeepta, in- telligitur etiam locuisse, non posse hominem, sine gratia , suis solis viribus idem prm- stare. Innocentius I. in epist. ad Concilium Mi- lcvitanum, qua; est apud Augustinum epist. 93. « Negantes, inquit, auxilium Dei, homi¬ nem sibi posse sufficere, nec gratia hunc egere divina affirmant, qua privatus, necesse est diaboli laqueis irretitus occumbat, dum ad omnia vita; perficienda mandata sola li¬ bertate contendat. » Celestinus I. in epist. ad Gallos idem con¬ firmat adducens testimonia Innocentii ct Zo- zimi praedecessorum suorum cap. 9 et 10. . S. Augustinus lib. ii. de peccatorum me¬ ritis et remiss. cap. 3. « Justitiae, inquit, praecepta omni ex parte implere non possu¬ mus, nisi adjuvemur a Deo. » Idem etiam docet in toto libro de spiritu ct littera, et in toto fere libro de natura et gratia, et in libro de perfectione justitiae, et in epist. 89. quaest. 5. epist. 95. 105. 106. 120. 144. 200. et alibi p assim. Probatur ultimo ratione S. Thomae, quo¬ niam natura humana, per peccatum primi hominis depravata, aversa est a Deo, et con¬ versa ad creaturas, ac praesertim ad se : proinde finem ultimum, vel actu, vel habitu, vel certe propensione quadam in creatura, non in Deo constitutum habet. Quare quan¬ do occurrunt aliqua agenda vel evitanda ex fine illo praeconcepto, quasi naturaliter incli¬ natur ad malum, et violenter ad bonum, et ideo necessaria est vis quaedam, et ut homo perpetuo vigilet, et praemeditetur, ct contra propensionem amoris proprii pugnet, quod impossibile esse moraliter, non solum ratio, sed etiam experientia docet. Et si S. Augu¬ stinus in libro de correptione et gratia cap. 12. affirmat, ipsum etiam hominem justifi¬ catum, nisi is divina gratia indeclinabilitor et inseparabiliter ageretur ob naturae infir¬ mitatem, sine dubio casurum, quanto nos id majori ratione affirmare possumus de homine infideli, et qui solis nitatur viribus natura) per peccatum corrupta) et vitiata).