Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Grace of the First Man
Chapter 8: That Adam and his posterity could by no means have died, had they not sinned
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. V, De Gratia Primi Hominis. 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).
We have discoursed hitherto of the supernatural gifts which pertained to the soul of the first man in the state of innocence; now we must dispute of the immortality of the body. For two errors are found concerning the immortality of the body, just as concerning original righteousness.
The first was that of the Pelagians, who affirmed that man would have died even if he had not sinned, as St. Augustine witnesses in the book On Heresies, chapter 88. To which error Augustinus Eugubinus came very near, in the annotations on the second chapter of Genesis; for he writes that from Adam's fall the human race ran into the death of the soul, not of the body, and that men would have died though they had not sinned — yet he adds that, if perchance this be against the faith, he altogether condemns and retracts it. The second is that of those who not only teach that man, had he not sinned, would not have died, but also will have that immortality of his to be called natural, not supernatural. Which opinion seems to follow from that which we refuted above concerning original righteousness; and hither pertains the seventy-fifth article of those which Pius V and Gregory XIII lately condemned. For thus it runs: “The immortality of the first man was not a benefit of grace, but his natural condition.” We therefore shall briefly confute both errors; and first, from the Scriptures, from the testimonies of the Fathers, and from reason itself, we shall perspicuously demonstrate that death is the punishment of sin, and thereby that neither Adam nor his posterity could have died unless fault had preceded; then we shall prove that this immortality of the first man is to be named not natural, but supernatural; not owed, but gratuitous; not a condition of nature, but a benefit of grace.
As to the first, then: that death is the punishment of sin is gathered from those words of Genesis 2: in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death. For to what purpose is the threat of death as punishment of transgression, if Adam was going to die even without sinning? The Pelagians of old answered (St. Augustine being witness, book 1 On the Merits and Remission of Sins, chapter 2) that this place is to be understood of the death of the soul, not of the death of the body — as we understand that saying, “let the dead bury their dead.” But St. Augustine refutes this explanation from those words of Genesis 3: dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return. For with these words the Lord condemns Adam to that punishment which he had before threatened him; hence the one place explains the other. And it is certain that the body, not the soul, was made from dust, and through death will return to dust. Wherefore blessed Jerome, in the Hebrew Questions, praises Symmachus for rendering in this place, “in whatever day thou eatest, thou shalt be mortal” — because, namely, Adam was not going to die at once through the transgression, but was certainly going to be liable to death. Nor is it repugnant to these things that St. Gregory, book 5, epistle 14, expounds this place of the death of the soul: for it can be understood of both deaths, and the commentary will be full if, joining the explanations of Augustine and Gregory, we say that God threatened Adam with the death of the soul, and consequently with the necessity of dying even bodily — since the immortality of the body (as we shall demonstrate a little later) depended on the life of the soul, that is, on the grace and friendship of God. Nay, St. Augustine, book 13 On the City of God, chapter 12, understands this place of a threefold death, for the same reason, because the one is the cause of the other: of the death, namely, of the soul through the loss of grace, of the death of the body through the loss of the soul, and of the last death through the loss of glory. And before him St. Ambrose, in the book On Paradise, chapter 9, writes that it was said “thou shalt die the death,” and not simply “thou shalt die,” because the discourse was of the death of body and of soul.
But besides this place we have many others, and those so perspicuous that they can in no way be twisted to another meaning. For what is more open than these words? Wisdom 1: God made not death. And Wisdom 2: God created man incorruptible… But by the envy of the devil, death came into the world. And Romans 5: by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death. And Romans 6: the wages of sin is death. And Romans 8: And if Christ be in you, the body indeed is dead, because of sin, etc. And St. Augustine notes, book 1 On the Merits and Remission of Sins, chapter 5 [al. 7], that the Apostle would not say “the body is mortal because of sin,” but “dead” — because even before sin the body of Adam was in a certain manner mortal, but through sin was cast into the inevitable necessity of dying; and that which is necessarily soon to be, and now hangs over one, is by usage said to be done. Finally, in 1 Corinthians 15 the holy Apostle repeats this truth more than once, when he says: in Adam all die; and: by a man came death; and: the sting of death is sin.
To these are added the definitions of the Councils. For thus we read in the Council of Milevis, canon 1: “It has been resolved that whoever says that Adam, the first man, was made mortal, so that, whether he sinned or did not sin, he would die in the body — that is, would go out of the body — not by the desert of sin, but by the necessity of nature, let him be anathema.” And in the Council of Orange, canon 2: “If anyone asserts that Adam's transgression harmed himself alone and not his progeny also, or at least witnesses that only the death of the body, which is the punishment of sin, and not sin also, which is the death of the soul, passed through one man into the whole human race, he will give injustice to God, contradicting the Apostle, who says: By one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death, and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned.” And things like these are read in the Council of Trent, session 5.
Let there come last (to omit the testimonies of the Fathers, which lie at hand) an argument sought from reason. A man cannot depart this life save in one of these four ways: namely, either he is crushed by external force, or he fails from hunger or thirst, or he is extinguished by diseases from the internal distemper of the humors, or at length he wastes away with old age. But the first man was most wise, and freely lorded it over all the things that were beneath him, as is evident from the names which he imposed on all the living creatures, and from that voice of God: rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, etc., Genesis 1. Wherefore he knew all noxious things, and could and ought to avoid them; and had he not avoided them, he would doubtless have committed sin, and so would not have perished in the state of innocence. And lest anything noxious should befall him sleeping, or Adam be injured from without in any other way, the eye of divine providence, and the guardianship of the angels, kept watch; for what we read of the just man — the Lord keepeth thee from all evil, Psalm 120, and, he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways, Psalm 90 — cannot be doubted to have been sayable also of Adam, who at that time was just, and a friend of God. And that man might not die from want of food, God had provided many fruits of trees, of which if he refused to eat for the sustaining of life, he would plainly sin; for God had said, Of every tree… thou shalt eat, etc., Genesis 2; and natural reason — that is, the divine light written in the heart — dictated that it was necessary to use the foods which God had created. Furthermore, lest diseases and death could befall from the distemper of the humors, there had been given to man original righteousness, which perfectly subjected not only the lower appetite to reason, but also the body to the soul, so that man in that state of felicity enjoyed an incredible peace within and without. Finally, lest he should waste away and fail with old age from the weakness of the nourishing power, God had appointed either to strengthen the nourishing power through the use of the tree of life, or to translate men to the state of glory before the time of growing old should come. I speak under a disjunction, because there are two opinions about the use of the tree of life, as will be shown in the last chapter.
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CAPtJT VIII. Adamum , ejusque posteros nequaquam mori potuisse, nisi peccassent. Disseruimus hactenus de donis supernatu¬ ralibus, quae ad animum primi hominis in statu innocentia; pertinebant. Nunc de cor¬ poris immortalitate disputandum erit. Duo siquidem errores, quemadmodum de justitia originali, ita etiam de corporis immortalitate reperiuntur. Prior fuit Pelagianorum, qui affirmabant hominem fuisse moriturum, etiamsi non pec- casset, ut S. Augustinus testatur in lib. de haeres, cap. 88. Ad quem errorem proxime accessit Augustinus Eugubinus in annotatio¬ nibus ad 2. cap. Genes, scribit enim, ex Ada- mi lapsu genus humanum in mortem animae, non corporis incurrisse, et fuisse homines morituros, quamvis non peccassent. Addit tamen se id, si forte contra fidem sit, omni¬ no damnare ac retractare. Posterior eorum est, qui non solum docent, hominem, nisi peccasset, non moriturum, sed etiam illam ejus immortalitatem natura¬ lem dicendam esse volunt, non supernatura- lem. Quae sententia videtur sequi exilia, quam supra refutavimus de justitia originali. Et huc pertinet articulus septuagesimus quintus eorum, quos nuper Pius V. et Gregorius XIII. damnaverunt. Sic enim habet : « Immortali¬ tas primi hominis non erat gratiae beneficium, sed naturalis ejus conditio. » Nos igitur utrumque errorem breviter confutabimus , ac primum ex scripturis, ex Patrum Testi¬ moniis, ex ratione ipsa perspicue demon¬ strabimus, mortem poenam esse peccati, ac p«r hoc neque Adamum, neque ejus posteros potuisse mori nisi culpa praecederet. Deinde probabimus hanc primi hominis immorta¬ litatem non naturalem, sed supernaturalem, non debitam, sed gratuitam, non naturae conditionem, sed gratiae beneficium esse no¬ minandam. Quod igitur primum, attinet, mortem poe¬ nam esse peccati, colligitur ex verbis illis Genes. 2. Quacumque die comederis, morte morieris (1). Quorsum enim mortis commi¬ natio in praevaricationis poenam, si Adam etiam non peccando moriturus erat ? Respon 1) Gen. II, 17. r LIBER I. 192 debant olim Pelagiani (teste S. Augustino lib. i. de peccatorum meritis et remissione cap. ii.) hunc locum dc morte animae, non de morte corporis intelligendum esse, que¬ madmodum intelligimus illum : Sine mor¬ tuos sepelire mortuos suos. Sed refellit S. Au¬ gustinus hanc explicationem ex verbis illis Genes. 3. Pulvis est, et in pulverem reverte¬ ris (1). Dominus enim his verbis Adamum damnat ad eam poenam, quam illi fuerat an¬ tea comminatus. Proinde unus locus alium explicat. Certum autem est, corpus, non ani¬ mam, ex pulvere factum esse, et per mortem in pulverem rediturum. Quare B. Hierony¬ mus in quaestionibus Hebraicis laudat Sym¬ machum, quod hoc loco verterit, quacum¬ que comederis, mortalis eris, quia videli¬ cet Adam per transgressionem non erat con¬ tinuo moriturus, sed certe morti obnoxius futurus. Neque his repugnat quod S. Grego rius lib. v. epistola 14. exponat hunc locum de morte animae. Nam de utraque morte intel- ligi potest, et plenus commentarius erit, si explicationem Augustini et Gregorii conjun¬ gentes dicamus, Deum minatum esse Ada¬ mo mortem animae, et consequenter neces¬ sitatem moriendi etiam corporaliter, cum immortalitas corporis (ut paulo post demon¬ strabimus) ex vita animae, id est, ex Dei gratia, et amicitia dependeret. Imo S. Au¬ gustinus lib. xm. de Civit. Dei cap. 12. hunc locum de triplici morte intelligit pro¬ pter eamdem rationem, quia una est causa al¬ terius, de morte videlicet animae per amis¬ sionem gratiae, de morte corporis per amissio¬ nem animae, et de morte novissima per amis¬ sionem gloriae. Et ante eum S. Ambrosius in lib. de Paradiso cap. ix. scribit, ideo di¬ ctum esse morte morieris , et non simpliciter morieris , quia de morte corporis, et animae sermo erat. Sed praeter hunc locum, habemus alia multa, eaque tam perspicua, ut nullo modo in aliam sententiam detorqueri valeant. Quid enim apertius illis verbis ? Sapient, i. Deus mortem non fecit. Et Sapient, ii. Deus creavit hominem inexterminabilem : invidia autem diaboli mors intravit in orbem terrarum. Et Rom. v. Per unum hominem peccatum in hunc mundum intravit , et per peccatum mors. Et Rom. vi: Stipendium peccati mors. Et Rom. viii : Si autem Christus in vobis est, corpus qui¬ dem mortuum est, propter peccatum, etc. (2). Notat autem S. Augustinus libi, de pecca¬ torum meritis, et remissione cap. v. Aposto¬ lum noluisse dicere, corpus mortale est pro¬ pter peccatum, sed mortuum, quia etiam ante peccatum corpus Adami erat aliquo modo mortale, sed per peccatum conjectum est in necessitatem inevitabilem moriendi. Id autem quod necessario brevi futurum est, quodque jam imminet, usitate dicitur factum. Denique I Corinth. xv. S. Apostolus non semel repe¬ tit hanc veritatem, cum ait : In Adamo om¬ nes moriuntur. Et : Per hominem mors. Et : Stimulus mortis peccatum est (3). His accedunt Conciliorum definitiones. Sic enim legimus in Concilio Milevitano, can. 1. a Placuit, ut quicumque dicit, Adam primum hominem mortalem factum, ita ut sive pec¬ caret, sive non peccaret, moreretur in cor¬ pore, hoc est, de corpore exiret, non pecca¬ ti merito, sed necessitate naturae, anathema sit. » Et in Concilio Arausicano can. 2. « Si quis soli Ada; praevaricationem suam, non etiam ejus propagini asserit nocuisse, aut certe mortem tantum corporis, qua; poena peccati est, non autem et peccatum, quod mors est animae, per unum hominem in om¬ ne genus humanum transisse testatur, inju¬ stitiam Deo dabit, contradicens Apostolo di¬ centi? Per unum hominem peccatum intra¬ vit in mundum, et per peccatum mor6 in om¬ nes homines pertransiit, in quo omnes pec¬ caverunt. » Atque his similia leguntur in Concilio Trident. sess. 3. Accedat ultimo (ut Patrum testimonia, quae obvia sunt, omittamus) argumentum ex ratione petitum. Non potest homo defungi vita, nisi uno ex his quatuor modis, ut scili¬ cet aut externa vi opprimatur, aut fame, sitive deficiat, aut morbis ex interna humo¬ rum intemperi extinguatur, aut tandem se¬ nio contabescat. At primus homo sapientis- simus erat, et rebus omnibus, quae infra ip¬ sum erant, libere dominabatur, ut perspi¬ cuum estex nominibus, qua; animantibus om¬ nibus imposuit, et ex illa Dei voce : Domina¬ mini piscibus ma?‘is, et volatilibus coeli, etc. Genes, i (4). Quare noverat omnia noxia, ct ea vitare poterat, et debebat, et nisi vitasset, peccatum haud dubie commisisset, ac proin¬ de non in statu innocentia; periisset. (1) Gen. III, 19. — (2) Sap. I, 13 ; Sap. II, 23; Rom. V, 12 ; ibid. VI, 21 ; ibid. VIII, 10. — (3) I Corin. XV 21, 22, 56. — (4) Gen. I, 28 CAPUT IX. Ne autem dormienti noxium aliquid acci¬ deret, aut alio modo Adam extrinsecus lae¬ deretur, vigilabat oculus divinae providentias ct Angelorum custodia. Quod enim de homi¬ ne justo legimus : Dominus custodiet te ab omni malo , Psal. cxx, et : Angelis suis man¬ davit de te, ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis, Psalm. xc (1), dubitari non potest, quin etiam de Adamo, qui tempore justus, et ami¬ cus Dei erat, dici potuisset. Ut autem ciborum inopia homo non more¬ retur, providerat Deus multos arborum fru¬ ctus, ex quibus si vesci nollet ad vitam su- stendandam, plane peccaret. Nam et Deus dixerat : De omni ligno comede , elc. (2). Gen. n. Et ratio naturalis, id est, lux divina in corde scripta dictabat necessarium esse uti cibis quos Deus creaverat. Ad haec, ne ex humorum intemperie mor¬ bi, ac mors accidere possent ; data fuerat homini justitia originalis, quae non solum appetitum inferiorem rationi, sed etiam cor¬ pus animae perfecte subjiciebat, ut homo in eo statu felicitatis incredibili pace intus ct extra frueretur. Denique ne senio ex debilitate virtutis nu¬ trientis contabesceret, ac deficeret, consti¬ tuerat Deus : aut per usum ligni vitae corro¬ borare vim nutrientem ; aut ante transfer¬ re homines ad statum gloriae , quam sene¬ scendi tempus accederet. Loquor autem sub disjunctione, quia duae sunt opiniones de usu ligni vitae, ut in ultimo capite demon¬ strabitur. CAPUT IX. Immortalitatem primi hominis supernaturalem