Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On Grace and Free Choice · Book VI: Grace and Free Choice in Works of Piety
Chapter 5: That man cannot, by the powers of nature alone, in any way prepare himself for receiving grace
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. VI, De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio, 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).
The second opinion was: that man cannot, by the powers of nature alone, dispose himself in any way for receiving grace. Which opinion is so to be understood that not only can man not by his own powers prepare himself for the habit of the grace that makes pleasing, but not even for the grace of special help; and again, not only can he not so prepare himself that grace be conferred on him condignly, but not even congruously; and, in fine, that he can do nothing on account of which God may be said to give him grace.
This indeed can be proved, first, by all the arguments by which the preceding opinion was confirmed. For every disposition toward grace is something pertaining to eternal salvation; accordingly it cannot be done by the powers of nature alone, if the testimonies of Scripture, Councils, and Fathers brought forward in the preceding chapter avail anything. But two places above all, from those we cited in the preceding chapter, St. Augustine presses, in book 1 to Boniface, chapter 19, and book 2, chapter 8: that of John 6, No man can come to me, except the Father draw him — for he who disposes himself ought not to be drawn, but led, since he is already prepared to come; and that of John 15, Without me you can do nothing — for he could convict the Lord, who could dispose himself; for he would say: Behold, without thee I have prepared my heart. And in the same way, to the Apostle saying, 1 Corinthians 4, What hast thou that thou hast not received? he would answer: I have the preparation of my own heart.
Then, this opinion is proved by all those Scriptures which teach that conversion to God is the work of God: as Psalm 84, Convert us, O God our saviour; and Lamentations 5, Convert us, O Lord, and we shall be converted. For conversion is disposition, and disposition is conversion. For as he who is turned away from the sun does not begin to be disposed for receiving the light until he begins to be turned to look upon the sun, so also he who is turned away from God does not begin to be disposed for the grace of God until he begins to return to him. To the same pertains that of Psalm 76: I said, Now have I begun: this is the change of the right hand of the most High. For (as St. Augustine notes in book 2 against the Two Epistles of the Pelagians, chapter 10 [al. 9]) this testimony signifies that the very beginning of conversion is to be attributed to the gift of God. That likewise of Ezechiel 36: It is not for your sake that I will do this, O house of Israel, but for my holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations. What else does it indicate, but that God finds nothing in men for which he should convert them to himself, and give them a new heart and a new spirit, as in the same Prophet is straightway adjoined? Which place St. Augustine diligently noted in the book On Grace and Free Choice, chapter 14. The same Augustine also, and the Council of Orange, likewise Prosper, Fulgentius, and others, everywhere adduce that of Proverbs 8: The will is prepared by the Lord. For so the Seventy rendered what we read as, “he shall obtain salvation from the Lord”; and the Hebrew words admit both senses. For although that word does not properly signify salvation, but will, yet it sometimes signifies the good will of God toward men, and then it is the same as salvation; and that verb signifies indeed, in the conjugation Hiphil, to draw forth, to obtain, etc., but it can also, in the conjugation Hophal, signify to be drawn forth, to be aroused, etc. — so that the sense is: and the will shall be aroused and brought forth by the Lord. Finally, it cannot be doubted that the seventy men, by far most learned, rightly understood and expressed the Hebrew words. Most frequently, moreover, the same Augustine brings forward that of the Apostle, Romans 11: Who hath first given to him, and recompense shall be made him? Which most openly signifies that the grace of God is forestalled by no human work; but it would be forestalled, if man by his own powers alone could dispose himself for grace — for he would first give to God that pious affection of disposing himself for grace.
Hither, finally, pertain the various similitudes of the Scriptures. For the sinful man is compared to earth destitute of all moisture, which cannot germinate even the tiniest herb unless it be watered from above; for so says David in Psalm 142: My soul is as earth without water unto thee — and a little before he had said: In thy sight no man living shall be justified. He is compared likewise to clay, which is handled by the potter, Isaias 45 [al. 64], Jeremias 18, and Romans 9; but certainly the clay does not dispose itself for receiving the form of the vessel, but is first disposed by the potter, then formed. He is compared, moreover, to a dead man, who is to be called back to life, Luke 15: He was dead, and is come to life again; Ephesians 2 and Colossians 2: When you were dead in your sins and offences. But the dead man does not dispose himself for life, nor can he, unless he receive some vital force from him who raises him. Justification also is compared to generation, 1 Peter 1: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, etc.; and James 1: He hath begotten us by the word of truth. But the matter does not dispose itself, but is disposed by the begetter. Finally, the grace of God itself is compared to fire, Canticles 8: The lamps thereof are lamps of fire and flames; and the Lord, Luke 12: I am come to cast fire on the earth. But nothing begins to be disposed for conceiving fire except through heat, which is an effect of the same fire. The Scriptures, then, both by words and by similitudes, cry out on every side that the sinner cannot by any means dispose himself for receiving grace.
The same truth is proved, second, from the Ecclesiastical definition. For the Synod of Palestine defined against Pelagius that grace is not given according to our merits, but rather that all good merits draw their origin from it. Of which definition St. Augustine makes mention in epistle 106, and repeats it in almost all the books he left written against the Pelagians. And the Fathers understand grace to be given according to our merits when something is done by one’s own powers by reason of which grace is given, even if that be not merit condign. St. Augustine, book 2 to Boniface, chapter 8: “If without the grace of God the desire of good begins through us, that very beginning will be merit, to which the help may come as if from debt; and so the grace of God will not be given freely, but will be given for our merit.” And book 1, chapter 19, to the same Boniface: “Thou hast said that by the grace of God we are always helped in a good work — meaning that the will, having undertaken the good work by itself, with no grace of God, is then divinely helped in the work itself; for the merits, namely, of the good will — so that grace owed may be rendered, not grace unowed given; and so grace would now not be grace, but would be that which Pelagius in the Council of Palestine with feigned heart condemned: that the grace of God is given according to our merits.” And in the book On the Predestination of the Saints, chapter 2, when he had proposed the opinion of those who said that the beginning of faith — that is, the very willing to believe — can be had from the powers of nature, he says: “There is no departing, then, from that opinion which Pelagius himself, in the episcopal judgment of Palestine, was compelled to condemn: that the grace of God is given according to our merits.” St. Prosper, in the book against the Collator, chapter 6: “How dost thou not perceive that thou fallest into that condemned opinion — that, willing or unwilling, thou art convicted of saying that the grace of God is given according to our merits — when thou affirmest that something of good work precedes from men themselves, on account of which they attain grace?” Finally, St. Fulgentius, in the book On the Incarnation and Grace of Christ, chapter 18: “But if, according to the opinion of those men, the willing to believe is ours before the grace of God begins to help us, grace is unjustly so called, because it is not given to men freely, but is repaid to their good will.” Thus they. We have it, then, that grace is given according to our merits — and that grace is not grace — if anything precede it on account of which it is given. But certainly he who disposes himself for grace does something on account of which grace is given him; therefore he who says that the disposition for grace is done without grace is convicted of saying the same thing: that the grace of God is given according to our merits — which, in Pelagius, it is agreed was condemned by the Council of Palestine and the universal Church.
Besides that Council of Palestine, we have also the Council of Orange, in which by many canons this same thing is most openly condemned. For in canon 3 it is said that no one without grace can invoke grace; and in canon 4, that through grace it comes to pass not only that we be cleansed, but also that we will to be cleansed; and in canon 14, that no wretched man is freed from misery, however great, unless forestalled by grace — and certainly it is some misery not to be able to prepare oneself for grace. And finally, in the last canon: “This we profess for our health’s sake: that in every good work it is not we who begin, and afterwards are helped through the mercy of God; but he himself, no good merits preceding, first inspires in us both faith and love, that we may faithfully seek the Sacraments of baptism, and after baptism, with his aid, may be able to fulfill the things that are pleasing to him.”
Let there come, last of all, the reason of St. Thomas, in 1-2, question 109, article 6. For it belongs to him to dispose toward the form, to whom it belongs to introduce the form; for the disposition is an effect of the agent, not of the matter, or of another cause. But the grace of justification God produces, and introduces into the soul; therefore God disposes and prepares the soul; nor can it dispose and prepare itself, except insofar as it is moved by God himself through another gift of grace. You will say: although man cannot by his own powers dispose himself for the grace of justification, yet he can for that gift of grace through which he is disposed for the grace of justification. But that gift, through which we are disposed, needs no other disposition; otherwise, if a disposition were always required for the disposition, one could never come to the form. And in very fact we see the gift of grace by which men are disposed for justification given sometimes to those who are most undisposed — as is known of the calling of Paul, of Matthew, of the Magdalene, and the like. And if a disposition were required even for this gift, it could not be procured from the powers of nature alone, since (as we have already said) grace would not be grace, if it were given on account of a work done by the powers of nature alone. Hither also pertains the reason drawn from the prayers of the pious, and from the absurdities, which were set down in chapter 2 to prove that the beginning of faith is not had without the gift of grace; for the same reasons prove, no less efficaciously, what we now contend to prove.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT Y. Non posse hominem solis naturae viribus ad gratiam recipiendam , ullo modo se praepa¬ rare j Altera sententia erat, non posse homi¬ nem solis naturae viribus ad gratiam reci¬ piendam, ulla se ratione disponere. Quae sententia ita intelligenda est, ut non solum non possit homo suis viribus se praepa¬ rare ad habitum gratiae gratum facientis, sed neque ad gratiam adjutorii specialis : et rursus, non modo non possit ita se praepa¬ rare, ut ex condigno illi gratia conferatur, sed neque ut ex congruo, ac demum nihil 115 agere possit, cujus causa Deus illi gratiam dare dicatur. Id vero primum probari potest omnibus argumentis, quibus superior sententia con¬ firmata est. Nam omnis dispositio ad gratiam, aliquid est ad salutem aeternam pertinens : proinde fieri non potest solis naturae viribus, si quid valent testimonia Scripturae, Conci¬ liorum et Patrum capite superiore prolato. Sed duo praecipue loca ex iis, quae citavimus capite superiore, urget S. Augustinus in lib. i. ad Bonifacium cap. 19. et lib. ii. cap. 8. illud Joan. vi. Nemo potest ad me venire , nisi Pater traxerit eum (1). Nam qui se disponit, non debet trahi, sed duci, jam enim venire paratus est. Et illud Joan. XV. Sine me nihil potestis facere (2). Posset enim Dominum convincere, qui posset se disponere. Diceret enim : Ecce sine te cor prmparavi. Qui eodem modo Apostolo dicenti, I Cor. iv. Quid, habes , quod non accepisti (3) ? responderet, habeo cordis mei praeparationem. Deinde probant hanc sententiam illae om¬ nes Scripturae, quae docent, conversionem ad Deum esse opus Dei, ut Psal. lxxxiv. Converte nos Deus salutaris noster. Et Thren. v. Converte nos Domine , et convertemur (4). Nam conversio est dispositio, et dispositio est conversio. Quemadmodum enim, qui est aversus a sole, non incipit disponi ad re¬ cipiendam lucem, nisi cum incipit converti ad aspiciendum solem : sic etiam qui est aversus a Deo, non incipit disponi ad gra¬ tiam Dei, nisi cum ad eum incipit reverti. Eodem pertinet illud Psalm. lxxvi. Dixi nunc coepi, haec mutatio dexterae excelsi (5). Nam (ut notat S. Augustinus in libro n. contra duas epistolas Pelagianor. cap. 10), signi¬ ficat hoc testimonium ipsam conversionis in¬ choationem , dono Dei esse tribuendam. Illud item Ezechiel. xxxvi. Non propter vos faciam , domus Israel, sed propter nomem meum sanctum, quod polluistis in gentibus (6). Quid aliud indicat, nisi nihil Deum in homi¬ nibus invenire, cur eos ad se convertat, detque eis cor novum et spiritum novum, ut in eodem Propheta continuo adjungitur. Quem locum diligenter notavit S. Augustinus in lib. de gratia et libero arbitrio cap. 14. Adducunt quoque passim idem Augu¬ stinus, et Concilium Arausicanum, item Pro¬ sper, Fulgentius et alii, illud Proverb. viii. (I) Joan VI, 44. - (2) Ibid. XV, 5. - (3) I Corin. IV, 7. — (4) Psal. LXXXIV, 5; Thren. V, 21. - (5) Psal. LXXVI, H . — (6) Ezec. XXXVI, 22. HG LIBER VJ. Praeparatur voluntas a Domino (1). Sic enim reddiderunt Septuaginta id, quod nos le¬ gimus, hauriet salutem a Domino. Et verba Hebraea utrumque sensum recipiunt, quam¬ vis onim vox illa non significet proprie salutem, sed voluntatem, tamen significat aliquando bonam Dei vbluntatem erga homi¬ nes, et tunc idem est, quod salus. Illud etiam verbum significat quidem in conjuga¬ tione Hiphil educere, haurire etc. Sed potest etiam in conjugatione Hophal significare educi, excitari etc. ut sensus sit, et excita¬ bitur, ac producetur voluntas a Domino. Denique dubitari non potest, quin septua¬ ginta viri longe doctissimi verba Hebraica probe intellexerint et expresserint. Frequentissime autem profert idem Au¬ gustinus illud Apostoli Rom. xi : Quis prior dedit illi , et retribuetur ei (2) ? Quod apertis¬ sime significat Dei gratiam a nullo humano operepraeveniri. Praeveniretur autem, si homo suis solis viribus posset ad gratiam se dis¬ ponere. Daret enim prior Deo pium illum affectum disponendi se ad gratiam. Huc denique pertinent variae Scriptura¬ rum similitudines. Comparatur enim homo peccator terree omni humore destitutae, quse ne minutissimam quidem herbam germinare potest, nisi desuper irrigetur. Sic enim ait David in Psal; cxlii. Anima mea sicut terra sine aqua tibi (3). Et paulo ante dixerat : Nort justificabitur in conspectu tuo omnis vivens. Comparatur item luto, quod a figulo tra¬ ctatur Isaiae xlvii. Hierem. xvm. et Roman. ix. At certe lutum non se ipsum disponit ad formam vasis recipiendam, sed a figulo pri¬ mum disponitur, deinde formatur. Compa¬ ratur praeterea homini mortuo, qui ad vitam revocandus est Lucae xvm : Mortuus erat et revixit. Ephes. ii. et Coloss. n : Cum essetis mortui in peccatis et delictis (4,). At mortuus non se disponit ad vitam, nec potest, nisi vim aliquam vitalem ab excitatore suo re¬ cipiat. Comparatur quoque justificatio gene¬ rationi, I Petri i : Renati non ex semine cor¬ ruptibili etc. Et Jacobi i. Genuit nos verbo veidtatis (3). At materia non se ipsa disponit, sed a generante disponitur. Comparatur de¬ nique ipsa Dei gratia igni, Cant. vm : Lan- pades ejus, lampades ignis, atque flammarum. Et Dominus Lucse cap. xii : Ignem, inquit, veni mittere in terram (6). Nihil autem incipit disponi ad concipiendum ignem, nisi per catorem, qui est ejusdem ignis effectus. Scripturae igitur et verbis, et similitudinibus undique clamant, non posse peccatorem ad recipiendam gratiam ulla se ratione dispo¬ nere. Probatur secundo eadem veritas ex defi¬ nitione Ecclesiastica : definivit enim Synodus Palaestina contra Pelagium, gratiam non se¬ cundum merita nostra dari, sed ab illa potius originem ducere omnia bona merita. Cujus definitionis meminit S. Augustinus in epist. 106. et eam repetit in omnibus fere libris, quos adversus Pelagianos scriptos reliquit : gratiam autem secundum merita nostra dari intelligunt Patres, cum aliquid fit propriis viribus, ratione cujus datur gratia etiamsi non sit illud meritum de condigno. S. Augustinus lib. n. ad Bonifacium cap. 8, o Si sine Dei gratia per nos incipit cupiditas boni, ipsum coeptum erit meritum, cui tam¬ quam ex debito veniat adjutorium, ac sic gratia Dei non gratis donabitur, sed merito nostro dabitur ». Et lib. I cap. 19. ad eumdem Bonifacium : « Dixisti, inquit, a Dei gratia in bono opere semper adju-vari, tamquam sua voluntate, nulla Dei gratia bonum opus aggressa, in ipso jam opere divinitus adju¬ vetur, pro meritis videlicet voluntatis bonae, ut reddatur debita gratia, non donetur in¬ debita, ac sic gratia jam non sit gratia; sed sit illud, quod Pelagius in Concilio Palaestino ficto corde damnavit, gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra dari ». Et lib. de praedestinat, sanctor, cap. 2, cum proposuisset sententiam illorum, qui dicebant, initium fidei, id est, ipsum velle credere, posse haberi ex viribus naturae , ait : «Non ergo receditur ab ea sententia, quam Pelagius ipse in episcopali judicio palaestino damnare compulsus est, gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra dari » . S. Prosper in lib. contra Collatorem cap. 6. « Quomodo, inquit, non advertis, te in illud damnatum incidere, quod velis nolis convinceris dicere, gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra dari, cum aliquid praecedere boni operis ex ipsis hominibus, propter quod gratiam consequantur, affirmas ? » Denique S. Fulgentius in lib. de Incarnat. et gratia Christi cap. 18. « Sivero, inquit, secundum opinionem illorum nostrum est velle credere, priusquam Dei gratia incipiat (1) Prov. VIII, 35. - (2) Rom. XI, 35. — (3) Psal. CXLU, 6. — (4) Lue XV, 32 ; Eph. II, 1. - (5) Coi. II, 13; I Pet. I, 23: Jacob. I, 18. - (G) Cant. VIII, G ; LucXII, 49. CAPUT VI. 117 nos adjuvare, injuste gratia dicitur, quia non gratis datur hominibus, sed boum retribuitur voluntati ». Haec illi. Ilabcmus igitur gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra dari, et gratiam non esse gra¬ tiam, si aliquid eam praecedat, propter quod ipsa detur. At certe qui se disponit ad gra¬ tiam, aliquid facit, propter quod ei • detur gratia : igitur qui dicit, dispositionem ad gratiam fieri sine gratia, idem dicere convin¬ citur, gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra dari, quod jam in Pelagio a Concilio Palae¬ stino et universa Ecclesia constat esse dam¬ natum. Praeter concilium illud Palaestinum, habe¬ mus etiam Concilium Arausicanum, in quo multis canonibus hoc idem apertissime con¬ demnatur. Nam canon. 3. dicitur, neminem sine gratia posse invocare gratiam. Et can. 4. per gratiam fieri non solum, ut purgemur, sed etiam ut purgari velimus. Et canon. 14, nullum miserum de quantacumque miseria liberari, nisi gratia praeventum. At certe ali¬ qua miseria est, non se posse ad gratiam praeparare. Et denique can. ult. « Hoc, in¬ quit, salubriter profitemur, quod in omni bono opere nos non incipimus, et postea per Dei misericordiam adjuvamur, sedipsenobis nullis praecedentibus bonis meritis, et fidem et amorem superius inspirat, ut baptismi Sacramenta fideliter requiramus, et post baptismum cum ipsius adjutorio, ea quae sibi sunt placita implere possimus ». Accedat postremo ratio S. Thomae in 1. 2. qu. 109. art. 6. Nam ejus est disponere ad formam, cujus est introducere formam : dis*- positio enim effectus est agentis, non mate¬ riae, aut alterius causae : gratiam, autem justificationis Deus producit, et in animam introducit, igitur Deus animam disponit ac praeparat, non ipsa se disponere, ac praepa¬ rare potest, nisi pro ut movetur ab ipso Deo per aliud gratiae donum. Dices, quamvis non possit homo se suis viribus disponere ad gratiam justificationis, posse tamen ad illud gratiae donum, per quod disponitur ad gratiam justificationis. At illud donum, per quod disponimur, non eget alia dispositione, alioquisi semper ad dispositio¬ nem requireretur dispositio, numquam ad formam deveniri posset, et re ipsa videmus, donum gratiae, quod disponuntur homines ad justificationem, dari nonnumquam iis, qui ma¬ xime sunt indispositi, ut notum est de vocatio¬ ne Pauli, Matthaei, Magdalenae et similium. Quod si etiam ad hoc donum requireretur dispositio, non posset ex solis naturae viribus comparari, quoniam (ut jam diximus) gratia non esset gratia, si daretur propter opus fa¬ ctum solis naturae viribus. Huc etiam pertinet ratio ducta ab oratio¬ nibus piorum, et ab absurdis, quae posita sunt in cap. 2. ad probandum, initium fidei non haberi sine dono gratiae. Eaedem enim rationes non minus efficaciter probant id, quod nunc probare contendimus.