Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On Justification · Book I: On Justifying Faith
Chapter 25: The argument from the tradition of the ancient Fathers for faith alone is solved
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. VI, De Justificatione, Book I. 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).
Although the adversaries make no great account of the testimonies of the holy Fathers, since they manifestly conflict with their own errors, yet they eagerly collect those same, if ever they judge them to be at least in appearance contrary to us. I shall run through, then, briefly the testimonies which are wont to be brought forward by them, though I am not ignorant that already by one or another — perhaps even by very many of ours — almost all have been diligently enough explained.
In the first place they bring forward from Origen, on chapter 3 of the epistle to the Romans, these words: “And the Apostle said that the justification of faith alone suffices, so that one only believing is justified, even though no work at all be accomplished by him.” I answer: Origen opposes faith to an external work, and teaches that a man can sometimes be justified, even though he do no external work. For he sets the example of the sinful woman and of the thief, who are not read to have fasted, or done alms, before they were justified. And so by the word “Alone” Origen excludes the necessity of an external work, when, namely, either the power or the occasion of doing a work of that kind is lacking. But that love and penance are not excluded by Origen will be clear from his words on chapter 4 of the same epistle to the Romans: “I think,” he says, “that the first beginnings of salvation, and the very foundations, are faith; but the progress and increases of the building, hope; and the perfection and summit of the whole work, charity.” And below: “To those who believe in Christ, yet do not put off the old man with his acts, faith cannot be reputed unto justice.” Thou seest, then, that faith alone does not suffice, but that also hope, and love, and the putting off of the old man — which is done through penance — are altogether required.
Second, they bring forward from Hilary those words, canon 8 on Matthew: “It moves the Scribes that sin should be remitted by a man; for they beheld only a man in Jesus Christ, and that remitted by him which the law could not loose. For faith alone justifies.” I answer: Hilary by the particle “alone” excludes nothing but the law of Moses, of which he was speaking. For he who says, “the law does not justify, but faith alone,” says the same as if he said, of these two, faith alone has the power of justifying — or, faith justifies, the law does not justify; in which sense it is written, Acts 8, The Holy Ghost was not yet come upon any of them, but they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. For that “only” excludes not faith, or the other virtues, but only the visible advent of the Holy Ghost. And so the same Hilary, canon 7 on Matthew, joins works with faith, when he thus speaks: “The salvation of the Gentiles is all in faith, and in the precepts of the Lord is the life of all.”
Third, they bring forward from Basil those words in the homily On Humility: “This is the perfect and entire glorying in God, when one boasts himself neither on account of his own justice, but knows indeed that he himself is unworthy of true justice, but is justified by faith alone in Christ.” I answer: the great Basil by the word “alone” excludes works which are done without faith and the grace of God. For he exhorts to humility, and admonishes that each one understand that he has nothing of justice from himself, but that whatever he has is the gift of God. And so, to be justified by faith alone, with Basil, is nothing else than to be justified only from the gift of God, not from works — all the gifts of God proceeding from grace. And very fittingly he sets the example of the Apostle, who, Philippians 3, will not have his own justice — that is, works done from the grace of faith. And there he reprehends the ungrateful, who glory of their own goods, as though they were not gifts of God. Further, the same Basil, in the sermon On Faith, after he has taught the necessity of faith, adds also the necessity of charity. Which he proves, both from the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 13, and from the Lord himself, who, John 15, foretold that his disciples should be known not by faith, but by charity.
Fourth, they bring forward from Ambrose those words in sermon 45: “As it sufficed Judas unto crimes to have deserted Christ, so it sufficed the thief unto innocence to have believed the Lord.” Likewise from the commentary on chapter 3 to the Romans: “They are justified freely, because, working nothing, nor rendering a return, they are justified by faith alone by the gift of God.” Likewise on chapter 4: “There is no need, then, of the law, when the impious is justified through faith alone.” Likewise in the same place: “So he says it was decreed by God, that, the law ceasing, they should ask faith alone of the grace of God unto salvation.” Likewise: “He calls them blessed, concerning whom God has sanctioned this, that without labor and any observance they should be justified with God by faith alone.” Likewise on chapter 9: “Faith alone is set unto salvation.” I answer: Ambrose (if indeed he is the author either of that sermon or of the commentaries on Paul) by the word “Alone” excludes nothing but the ceremonial works of the old law, or at least the necessity of external works. For the same author thus speaks in the commentary on chapter 4 to the Hebrews: “Faith is a great thing and salutary, and without it it is not possible to be saved; but faith alone does not suffice. It is necessary to work faith through love, and to converse worthily of God.” The same author also, on chapter 3 to the Romans, explains that the Gentiles are saved by faith alone, because they are saved without the observance of circumcision, the sabbath, the new moon, and the like. So also on chapter 4 he therefore says that, the law ceasing, faith alone suffices, because he speaks of the ceremonial law, which has now ceased. For on chapter 6, treating that, But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin, etc., he says that we now serve God, not through the law of Moses, but through the law of nature. Finally on chapter 9, before he said, “faith alone is set unto salvation,” he had premised that through faith a man attains salvation, the new moons, the sabbath, circumcision, the law of foods, and the oblations of cattle being taken away.
Fifth, they bring forward from Chrysostom those words in the homily On Faith and the Law of Nature: “Him who works the works of justice without faith I cannot prove to be alive; the faithful man without works I can show both to have lived, and to have attained the kingdom of heaven: no one without faith had life, but the thief only believed, and was justified.” Likewise that from homily 3 on the epistle to Titus: “If thou believest with faith, why dost thou bring in other things, as though faith did not suffice to justify alone?” I answer: Chrysostom in the former place teaches that faith alone — that is, without an external work — sometimes suffices, but an external work without faith never suffices. And he renders the reason, because faith begets works, works do not beget faith. In the latter place he teaches that faith alone — that is, without the ceremonies of the old law — abundantly suffices. For after the words alleged he at once adds: “Why dost thou subject thyself to a voluntary servitude, and submit thy neck to the yoke of the law?” But that Chrysostom was not of that opinion, to think that faith without love and penance and other like works suffices, can easily be understood from those words of his, homily 70 on Matthew: “Lest the faithful trust that they can be saved by faith alone, he discourses of the punishment of the wicked. Thus he exhorts the unbelievers to faith, but the faithful to right living.” See also homilies 5, 25, and 26 on Matthew; likewise homilies 28, 29, and 31 on the epistle to the Romans; likewise homily 1 on the first epistle to Timothy, where he thus says: “There is need not of faith only, but also of charity.”
Sixth, they bring forward from Augustine that: “Of however great virtue thou preach the ancient just to have been, nothing made them safe but the faith of the Mediator,” book 1 Against Two Epistles of the Pelagians, chapter 21. Likewise that: “If anyone, when he shall have believed, straightway depart from this life, the justification of faith remains with him: neither by preceding good works, since not by merit but by grace he came to it; nor by consequent, since he is not suffered to be in this life,” book of 83 Questions, question 76. I answer: in the former place Augustine only teaches that no one is saved without faith; and accordingly that the ancient just were saved neither through nature, nor through the law of Moses, but through the very faith of Christ. For it alone, of the things enumerated, has the power of saving. In the manner that, if three were walking, and it were said to us, “there is no Doctor but he who walks in the middle,” we should not understand that there is no Doctor in the whole world besides him, but that among those three there is no Doctor but one. In the latter place St. Augustine speaks most openly of living faith and perfect and formed charity, which can be without works in act, but not in habit. For he had said, in the words immediately preceding, that a man is justified without works preceding faith, but that justifying faith is faith which works through love. But the same Augustine, in countless places, as we cited above, teaches that faith without charity is nothing but the foundation of the building, and the beginning and root of justification.
Seventh, Cyril of Alexandria could be adduced, who, book 10 on John, chapter 18, writes that a man cleaves to Christ through faith alone. But in the same place he explains himself well enough, when he says that a man can abide in Christ through faith, and yet lack love and perish. Eighth, Leo can be adduced, in epistle 70, where he thus says: “The Catholic faith alone quickens and sanctifies.” And sermon 4 On the Epiphany: “This is what justifies the impious, this is what of sinners makes saints, if in the one and the same Lord Jesus Christ both the true Deity and the true humanity be believed.” But the answer is at hand; for by the word “Alone” St. Leo excludes nothing else than false faith and heretical sects. For the Catholic faith alone — that is, not the Arian, not the Eutychian, not the Lutheran — justifies. To pass over this, that Leo speaks not, as neither do the other Fathers, of the special faith of the promises, but of dogmatic faith, which the adversaries grant to justify neither alone nor with the other virtues.
Ninth, Theophylact can be adduced, who, in the commentary on chapter 3 to the Galatians, says: “Faith alone has in itself the power of justifying.” But this place is like the testimony of St. Augustine cited above, nor does it signify anything else than that there is nothing which without faith avails to justify. Tenth, Bernard can be, and is wont to be, adduced, who, sermon 22 on the Canticles, thus says: “Whoever, compunct for his sins, hungers and thirsts after justice, let him believe in thee, who justifiest the impious, and, justified by faith alone, he shall have peace with thee.” And in epistle 77, citing that, He that shall believe and be baptized shall be saved: “Cautiously,” he says, “he did not repeat, ‘but he who shall not have been baptized shall be condemned,’ but only, ‘but he who shall not have believed’ — intimating, namely, that faith alone sometimes suffices unto salvation, and that without it nothing suffices.” In the former testimony he speaks of living faith, and conjoined with charity. For it is that which hungers and thirsts after justice, and which is compunct for sins not by the fear of punishment, but by the love of justice. And so it is the same as if he had said: He who with his whole heart turns away from sin, and desires to satisfy the Lord by works of penance, even before he sets about those works, is reconciled to the Lord through living faith and fervent charity. In the latter testimony, by the word “Alone,” he excludes the necessity of Baptism, when, namely, the faculty of receiving it is not given. For faith justifies without Baptism in the article of necessity, but not Baptism without faith. Yet that faith which sometimes justifies without Baptism never justifies without the desire of Baptism, and penance, and love. For so the same Bernard speaks, sermon 24 on the Canticles: “Faith, even right faith, does not make a man righteous, if it work not from love.” And below: “Neither works without faith, nor faith without works, suffice for the rectitude of the soul.”
We have, therefore, from the testimonies of the ancient Fathers, that faith alone sometimes justifies, but never in that sense in which the adversaries take it.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT XXV. Solvitur argumentum ex traditione vete¬ rum Patrum pro sola fide. Quamvis adversarii testimonia sanctorum Patrum non magni pendant, cum ipsorum erroribus manifeste repugnant : tamen cu¬ pide ilia eadem colligunt, si quando in specie saltem nobis contraria esse judicant. Per¬ curram igitur breviter testimonia, qua; ab illis adferri solent, tametsi non ignorem jam ab uno, aut altero, fortasse etiam a plurimis ex nostris, satis diligenter esse ferme omnia explicata. Primo loco proferunt ex Origene in cap. 3. epistola) ad Romanos ha)c verba. « Et dixit Q) Oses. II, 20, 19. - (2) 1 Joan. IV, 16. - (3) Rom. IV, 14, 16 ; Gal. III, 2 i : ibid. V. 4. CAPIT XXV. (Apostolus) sufficere solius fuJei justificatio¬ nem, ita ut credens quis tantummodo, justi¬ ficetur, etiamsi nihil ab eo operis fuerit ex¬ pletum i) . Respondeo : Origenes opponit fidem operi externo, ac docet, posse hominem interdum justificari, etiamsi nullum opus externum fa¬ ciat. Ponit enim exemplum peccatricis et la¬ tronis, qui non leguntur jejunasse, aut ele¬ emosynas fecisse antequam justificarentur. Itaque per vocabulum Sola, excludit Ori¬ genes necessitatem operis externi ; quando videlicet, aut potestas, aut occasio deest ejus¬ modi operis faciendi. Non excludi autem ab Origene dilectio¬ nem et poenitentiam, perspicuum erit ex verbis ejus in cap. 4. ejusdem epist. ad Ro¬ manos : « Puto », inquit, « quod prima sa¬ lutis initia, et ipsa fundamenta fides est ; pro¬ fectus vero, et augmenta aedificii, spes; per¬ fectio autem, et culmen totius operis, cha- ritas ». Et infra : « Credentibus quidem Christo, nec tamen deponentibus veterem hominem cum actibus suis, fides reputari non potest ad justitiam ». Vides igitur non suf¬ ficere solam fidem, sed etiam spem, et dile¬ ctionem, et depositionem veteris hominis, quod fit per poenitentiam, omnino requiri. Secundo proferunt ex Hilario illa verba can. 8. in Matth. « Movet Scribas, remissum ab homine peccatum, hominem enim tantum in Jesu Christo intuebantur, et remissum ab eo quod lex laxare non poterat. Fides enirn sola justificat ». Respondeo, non excludit Hilarius per par¬ ticulam « sola », nisi legem Mosis, de qua loquebatur. Qui enim dicit, lex non justificat sed sola fides, idem est, ac si diceret, ex his duobus sola fides vim habet justificandi, siyc, fides justificat, lex non justificat, in quem sensum scriptum est, Actor, vm. Nondum Spiritus sanctus, in quemquam illorum venerat sed baptizati tantum erant in nomine Domini Jesu (1), non enim illud, « tantum », exclu¬ dit fidem, aut alias virtutes, sed solum visi¬ bilem Spiritus sancti adventum. Itaque idem Hilarius can. 7. in Matth. cum fideconjungit opera, cum sic loquitur : « Salus gentium omnis in fide est, et in praeceptis Domini vita est universorum ». Tertio, proferunt ex Basilio illa verba in hom.lia de Humilitate : « Haec est perfecta, et integra gloriatio in Deo, quando neque ob 205 justitiam suam quis se jactat: sed novit qui¬ dem se ipsum vera) justitiae indignum, sola autem fide in Christum justificatum ». Respondeo, excludit Magnus Basilius per vocem « sola », opera, qua) fiunt sine fide, et gratia Dei. Hortatur enim ad humilitatem, ac monet, ut unusquisque intelligat, se nihil justitiae a se habere, sed quidquid habet, do¬ num esse Dei. Itaque sola fide justificari apud Basilium, nihil est aliud, nisi ex dono Dei tantum justificari ; non ex operibus pro¬ venientibus omnia dona Dei. Et valde ac¬ commodate ponit exemplum Apostoli, qui ad Philipp. in. non vult habere justitiam suam, id est, opera facta ex gratia fidei. Et ibidem reprehendit ingratos, qui gloriantur de bonis suis, quasi dona Dei non essent. Porro idem Basilius in sermone de fide, posteaquam do¬ cuit necessitatem fidei, adjungit etiam ne¬ cessitatem charitatis. Quod probat, tum ex Apostolo I Corinth. xiii. tum ex ipso Domino qui Joan. xv. non ex fide, sed ex eharitate discipulos suos cognoscendos esse prsedi- xit. Quarto, proferunt ex Ambrosio verba illa in sermon. 45. « Sicut suffecit, Judte ad sce¬ lera, Christum deseruisse; ita suffecit latroni ad innocentiam, Domino credidisse ». Item ex comment. in cap. iii. ad Roman. « Ju¬ stificati sunt gratis, quia nihil operantes, ne¬ que vicem reddentes, sola fide justificati sunt dono Dei ». Item in cap. iv. « Non ergo opus est lex, quando impius per solam fidem justificatur ». Item ibidem : « Sic decre¬ tum dicit, a Deo, ut cessante lege, solam fi¬ dem gratia) Dei poscerent ad salutepn ». Item : « Beatos dicit, de quibus hoc sanxit Deus, ut sine labore, et aliqua observatione, sola fide justificentur apud Deum ». Item in cap. ix. « Sola fides posita est ad sa¬ lutem ». % Respondeo: Ambrosius (si tamen is est au¬ ctor vel sermonis illius, vel commentariorum in Paulum) per vocem Solam, non excludit, nisi opera caeremonialia legis veteris, aut certe necessitatem operum externorum. Nam idem auctor sic loquitur in comment. ad iv. cap. ad Hebraeos : « magna res est fides et salutaris, et sine hac non est salvari possi¬ bile : sed sola fides non sufficit. Operari fi¬ dem per dilectionem necessarium est, et con¬ versari digne Deo ». Idem etiam auctor in cap. m. ad Rom. ex- (I) Act. VIII, id. LIBEH I. 20? plicat, gentiles salvari sola fide, quia sine observatione circumcisionis, sabbati, neo¬ meniae, et similium salvantur. Sic etiam in cap. iv. ideo dicit, cessante lege, solam fi¬ dem sufficere, quia loquitur de lege ca;rc- moniali, quaj jam cessavit. Nam in cap. vi. tractans illud : Gratias autem Deo , quia cum fuissetis servi peccati etc. dicit, nos jam ser¬ vire Deo, non per legem Mosis, sed per le¬ gem naturae. Denique in cap. 9. antequam diceret, sola fides posita est in salutem, prae¬ miserat, per fidem hominem consequi salu¬ tem sublatis neomeniis, et sabbato, et cir¬ cumcisione, et lege escarum, et oblationibus pecorum. Quinto , proferunt ex Ghrysostomo illa verba in homilia de fide et lege naturae : « Eum qui operatur opera justitiae, sine fide non possum probare vivum esse: fidelem absque operibus possum monstrare et vixisse, et regnum coelorum assecutum : nullus sine fide vitam habuit, latro autem credidit tan¬ tum, et justificatus est ». Item illud ex ho- mil. iii. in epist. ad Titum : « Si credis fidei, cur alia infers, quasi fides justificare non sufficiat sola ? » Respondeo : Chrysostomus in priore loco docet, fidem solam, id est, sine opere ex¬ terno interdum sufficere, opus externum sine fide numquam sufficere. Et rationem reddit, quia fides parit opera, opera non pariunt fi¬ dem : in posteriore loco docet fidem solam, id est, sine caeremoniis legis veteris abunde sufficere. Nam post verba allegata, mox ad¬ dit : « Quid te spontaneae servituti subdis, et legis jugo collum submittis » ? Chrysostomum autem non fuisse in ea sen¬ tentia, ut existimaret, fidem sine dilectione et poenitentia, aliisque similibus operibus sufficere, facile potest intelligi ex illis verbis ipsius homil. 70. in Matth. « Ne fideles sola se fide salvari posse confidant, de poena ma¬ lorum disserit. Ita infideles ad fidem, fideles vero ad recte vivendum cohortatur » . Yide etiam homil. 5. 25. et 26. in Matth. Item hom. 28. 29. et 31. in epist. ad Rom. Item hom. 1. in priorem epist. ad Timoth. ubi sic ait : « Non fide solum opus est, sed etiam charitate » . Sexto proferunt ex Augustino illud : « Quan- tselibet fuisse virtutis antiquos praedices j ustos, non eos salvos fecit, nisi fides Mediatoris ». Lib. I. contra duas epistolas Pelagianor. cap. 21. Item illud: 0 Si quis cum crediderit, mox de hac vita decesserit, justificatio fidei manet cum illo : nec praecedentibus bonis 0 eribus, quia non merito ad illam, sed gratia pervenit : nec consequentibus, quia in hac vita esse non sinitur » . Lib. lxxxiii. quaest. 76. Respondeo: in priore loco solum docet Au¬ gustinus, neminem sine fide salvari; proinde antiquos justos neque per naturam, neque per legem Mosis, sed per ipsam Christi fi¬ dem esse salvatos. Ipsa enim sola ex rebus enumeratis vim habet salvandi. Quomodo si tres ambularent, et diceretur nobis, nullus estDoctor nisi ille, qui ambulat medius, non intelligeremus, nullum esse in orbe terrarum Doctorem praeter illum, sed non esse inter eos tres Doctorem nisi unum. In posteriore loco apertissime loquitur san¬ ctus Augustinus de fide viva et charitate per¬ fecta, atque formata, quae sine operibus in actu esse potest, sed non in habitu. Dixerat enim in verbis immediate praecedentibus, hominem justificari sine operibus praeceden¬ tibus fidem, sed fidem justificantem esse fi¬ dem , quae per dilectionem operatur. Idem autem Augustinus in infinitis locis, ut supra citavimus, docet, fidem sine charitate nihil esse nisi fundamentum aedificii, et initium, ac radicem justificationis. Septimo, posset adduci Cyrillus Alexan¬ drinus qui lib. x. in Joan. cap. 18. scribit, hominem per solam fidem inhaerere Christo. Sed in eodem loco satis ipse se explicat, cura dicit, posse hominem in Christo manere per fidem, et tamen carere dilectione et perire. Octavo, adduci potest Leo in epist. 70. ubi sic ait : « Sola fides Catholica vivificat et san¬ ctificat ». Et serm. 4. de Epiphania : * Hoc est quod justificat impium, hoc est, quod de peccatoribus facit sanctos, si in uno, eo- demque Domino Jesu Christo, et vera Dei¬ tas, et vera credatur humanitas ». Sed responsio est in promptu ; siquidem per vocem Sola, nihil aliud S. Leo excludit, nisi falsam fidem, et hsereticas sectas. Sola enim fides Catholica, id est, non Ariana, non Eutychiana, non Lutherana justificat. Ut il¬ lud omittam, quod non loquitur Leo, sicut etiam neque alii Patres, de fide speciali pro¬ missionum ; sed de fide dogmatica, quam adversarii neque solam, neque cum aliis vir¬ tutibus justificare concedunt. Nono, adduci potest Theophylactus, qui in comment. ad cap. 111. ad Galat. £pt : « Fi¬ des sola habet in se justificandi virtutem ». Sed locus iste similis est testimonio S. Au- CAPUT XXV. gustini supra citato, neque aliud significat, nisi nihil esse, quod sine fide justificare va¬ leat. Decimo, adduci potest, et solet Bernardus. qui serm. 22. in Cantica sic ait : « Quisquis pro peccatis compunctus, esurit, et sitit ju¬ stitiam, credat in te, qui justificas impium, et solam justificatus per fidem pacem habebit ad te ». Et in epist. 77. citans illud : « Qui crediderit, et baptizatus fuerit, salvus erit » : « Caute » , inquit, « non repetiit, qui vero bap¬ tizatus non fuerit, condemnabitur, sed tan¬ tum, qui vero non crediderit, innuens nimi¬ rum, solam fidem interdum sufficere ad sa¬ lutem, et sine illa sufficere nihil ». In priore testimonio loquitur de fide viva, et cum charitate conjuncta. Nam illa est, quae esurit et sitit justitiam, et quae pro pec¬ catis non timore poenae, sed justitiae amore compungitur. Itaque idem est, ac si dixisset, Qui toto corde aversatur peccatum, et cupit operibus poenitentiae Dpmino satisfacere, 207 etiam antequam opera ista aggrediatur per fidem vivam, et charitatem ferventem Do¬ mino reconciliatur. In posteriore testimonio pe.r vocem Solam, Baptismi necessitatem excludit, quando vi¬ delicet ejus percipiendi facultas non datur. Justificat enim fides sine Baptismo in neces¬ sitatis articulo, non autem Baptismus sine fide. Ea tamen fides, quse sine Baptismo ali¬ quando justificat, numquam-sine voto Ba¬ ptismi et poenitentia, ac dilectione justificat. Sic enim loquitur idem Bernardus serm. 24. in Cantica : a Non facit hominem rectum fi¬ des etiam recta, quse non operatur ex dile¬ ctione ». Et infra : « Neque opera sine fide, neque fides sine operibus sufficit ad animi rectitudinem ». Habemus igitur ex testimoniis veterum Pa¬ trum, fidem solam aliquando justificare, sed numquam in eo sensu, quo id accipiunt ad-* versarii. CONTROVERSIARUM DE JUSTIFICATIONE