Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On Justification · Book V: On the Merits of Works
Chapter 3: That the works of the just are meritorious of eternal life is proved from the divine writings
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. VI, De Justificatione, 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).
But that we may now come to the matter itself, we can prove our opinion from the divine letters by very many testimonies; but we shall recall them to certain heads. The first argument, then, is drawn from those places where eternal life is named a reward. For if it is itself a reward, the good works to which it is rendered are without doubt merits. Matthew 5: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. But what this reward is the Lord had explained a little before, saying: Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He says, then, that we must be glad and rejoice in persecutions, since a great reward awaits us in heaven, seeing the kingdom of heaven is prepared for those who suffer persecution for justice. Likewise Matthew 20: Call the laborers, and pay them their hire. But that by the name of this hire is understood the daily penny is clear from that same parable; and that by the daily penny is signified eternal life the Fathers teach by common consent. For, besides the commentaries on this place, this St. Jerome has, book 2 against Jovinian, St. Augustine in the book On Holy Virginity, chapter 20, and St. Gregory book 4 of the Morals, chapter 42. To this argument Philip answers, in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, that a reward is called the recompense which God renders, not because it is owed to works, but because it is owed to the promise by which God determined to give eternal life to his sons adopted through Christ. But Scripture in express words says that this reward is given to works, not to the promise alone. For what could be said more openly than, Call the laborers, and pay them their hire? Then, be it so: let something be truly and properly owed on account of the promise alone; yet it can never truly be called by the name of reward, unless the condition of a work and the fulfilment of the condition intervene. For it would be a truly most hard and intolerable catachresis, if one would call a gift promised by a king out of mere liberality, without any condition of work, a reward.
Calvin answers otherwise: that reward, when it is said of eternal life, is not taken properly, but figuratively, since eternal life in the Scriptures is called an inheritance; but an inheritance is not properly a reward, since it is owed to sons because they are sons, not because they have procured it by their own labors. But neither has this solution much force. For since in the Scriptures eternal life is no less often — perhaps even more often — called a reward than an inheritance, whence will Calvin prove that it must be called properly an inheritance, improperly a reward, and not rather contrariwise, properly a reward, improperly an inheritance? Then, what if both can be said properly? For eternal life has the condition of a reward and of an inheritance. For it is given from the promise to those who labor, which is proper to a reward; and it is not given save to sons, which is proper to an inheritance. But if the inheritance is owed to sons because they are sons, what need is there to labor for attaining it? The answer is at hand. For although to infants who die soon after Baptism eternal life is given by the sole right of inheritance, yet God willed that his sons who have the use of reason should acquire it by their own labors and merits, that eternal life might be owed to them by a double title — namely, by the title of inheritance, and by the right of reward. For since it is more honorable to have something from merit than from mere donation, therefore God, that he might more honor his sons, granted them this too, that they should procure eternal life for themselves through merits. For to Christ himself the glory of the body and the exaltation of his name were owed by this very thing, that he was the Son of God; and yet, because “he humbled himself, being made obedient unto death, therefore God exalted him, and gave him a name which is above every name.” To pass over meanwhile that by the merits of works some degree of everlasting glory is rendered, to which they do not attain who enjoy the sole title of inheritance.
The second argument is drawn from those places in which it is had that the heavenly reward is given to men according to the measure and proportion of works and labor. For hence it is evidently gathered that in conferring that reward regard is had not of the sole promise, or liberality, or indulgence of God, but also of the worth and efficacy of the works themselves. These places are: Psalm 61, Thou wilt render to every man according to his works. Matthew 16: The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his Angels, and then will he render to every man according to his works. Luke 6: With the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again. Romans 2: Thou treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works. 1 Corinthians 3: Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. Galatians 6: What a man shall sow, that also shall he reap. Apocalypse, last chapter: Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to every man according to his works. To these and the like they are wont to answer that they do not deny that rewards are to be given in this life and in the future to good works, but not eternal life. But the Apostle, Romans 2, when he had said that God will render to every man according to his works, at once subjoined: To them indeed who, according to patience in good work, seek glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life. And Galatians 6, when he had said, What a man shall sow, that also shall he reap, he added, explaining: For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption; but he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting. Therefore eternal life is that reward which is given according to the proportion and measure of works. Then the adversaries ought to explain what are the rewards to be given in the future life, if eternal life pertains not to them. Certainly Scripture, although it now explain the beatitude of the saints by the kingdom of heaven, now by the vision of God, now by the salvation of souls, now by other words, yet always understands the same thing — that is, eternal life, as St. Augustine teaches in book 1 On the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, chapter 9. Finally, since Scripture says that God will render to every man according to his works, all agree that to evil men, according to their evil works, eternal death is to be rendered; why, then, do they not agree that to good men also, according to their good works, eternal life is to be rendered? But again they answer that what Scripture says, that eternal life is to be rendered to good works, is a certain phrase by which is signified that eternal life is to be given to faith, of which good works are the signs and fruits. Whence Calvin says that he can turn back upon us that which is had 1 Peter 1, that eternal life is the reward of faith. But neither is this response solid. For if eternal life were rendered to works only as they are signs of faith, Scripture would not rightly say that that reward is given according to the proportion of the labor and work of each; nay, it could not be said to be given according to the proportion of greater or less faith; nay, it could not be said to be the reward of faith. For faith does not save, as the adversaries teach, by its own force, as though it were itself the merit or cause of eternal life, but only relatively, because it apprehends the promise of salvation. And so, if the sentence of the heretics were true, as justice is the same in all the just, and not greater in one than in another, so beatitude would be the same in all the blessed, and not greater in one than in another; and accordingly it would matter nothing whether one had a great or a small faith, or whether he had done more and greater works, or fewer and less. But certainly Scripture teaches far otherwise, when it says, Every one shall receive his own reward according to his own labor; and when it compares works to seed, and eternal life to the crops. For truly the seed is the cause of the crops, and according to the measure of the sowing the measure of the harvest and of the crops corresponds. Moreover, since Scripture speaks in the same phrase of good and evil works, if to good works a reward were rendered only because they are signs of faith, then certainly to evil works too a punishment would be rendered only because they are signs of perfidy, or of the absence of true faith. But what Christian would dare affirm that to murder, adultery, perjury, and other crimes of that kind punishment is owed not of themselves, as they are such crimes, but only insofar as they are signs of perfidy, or of the absence of true faith? But what St. Peter says is most true, and makes for us. For, first, he says not that eternal life is a reward, but the end of faith; for thus he says: Receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. But the end and the reward are not the same. For the end has a relation to means, whether they be merits or not; the reward has a relation to merits alone. Accordingly every reward is an end, but not every end is a reward. Then, without doubt St. Peter speaks of the faith which works through love; and of this faith, as of any other virtue formed by charity, that eternal life is the reward, we most gladly confess. But perhaps Calvin did not seriously object the sentence of Peter to us; for if he in fact confessed that the act of faith is meritorious of salvation, all the Protestants would execrate him as a new Papist. For (as we have often said) no men at all attribute less to faith than the Lutherans and Calvinists, who wish to seem to attribute all things to faith alone.
The third argument is taken from those places which so testify that eternal life is rendered to good works that they place the very reason why eternal life is given in the works. These places are: Matthew 25, Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry, and you gave me to eat, etc. Likewise in the same place: Because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Apocalypse 7: These are they who are come out of great tribulation, etc.; therefore they are before the throne of God. In which places the particles “for,” “because,” “therefore,” are all causal, as is known. Calvin answers that in these places is noted the order of the divine providence, which gives salvation only to those whom it before justified and made exercise good works. And so he will have the sense of those words, Possess the kingdom; for I was hungry, and you gave me to eat, etc., to be this: they shall not possess the kingdom but those who first shall have done works of mercy — not that the works of mercy are the merits or causes of attaining that kingdom, but because God willed that first works of mercy be done by the elect, and afterward the kingdom be obtained by the same. And Calvin proves that in the Scriptures that “for” or “because” is often a mark of order and consequence, but not of cause; since in Genesis, chapter 15, God absolutely and freely promises to Abraham that his seed should be multiplied like the stars which cannot be numbered; and yet chapter 22 he says: Because thou hast done this thing, I will multiply thy seed, etc. But if it be thus lawful to elude all things, there will be no forms of speaking by which we can explain our sentences. For let us imagine that Christ wished to show that the works of mercy are the true cause why to just men in judgment the reward of eternal salvation is to be rendered: by what words, I ask, could he have explained this more briefly, more openly, more conveniently, than by those, Possess the kingdom; for I was hungry, and you gave me to eat? Then, does not the Lord speak in the same manner of the rewards of the good and of the punishments of the impious? For certainly, as he had said, Possess the kingdom; for I was hungry, and you gave me to eat, etc., so he says, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire; for I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat, etc. But no one can say that in these latter words the true cause is not rendered, but only the order and consequence shown. For the wages of sin is death, as is said Romans 6. Finally, whether those particles, “for” and “because,” and the like, be true causals, when the rewards of good works are treated, is clear from very many other places where good works are said to effect salvation itself, as 2 Corinthians 4: That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory. And Galatians 6: He that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting. And Philippians 2: With fear and trembling work out your salvation. See also the others which we brought forward above in the disputation on the necessity of good works. But to that which Calvin objects from chapters 15 and 22 of Genesis, the answer is easy. For God willed to multiply the seed of Abraham like the stars of heaven, and at the same time willed that Abraham should merit that gift by good works — just as also afterward he willed that Isaac should obtain by prayers the sons whom yet the same God had before promised; for he willed to give, but through the merit of his prayer. As also God predestined all the elect to glory, and yet wills that they attain to it through good works and merits. And so, from the fact that God absolutely promised to Abraham the multiplication of his posterity, it does not follow that Abraham did not truly merit it; nay, it follows that he merited it, since God decreed to fulfil his promise through a means of this kind.
The fourth argument is taken from those testimonies where the reward is said to be rendered to good works from justice. As 2 Thessalonians 1: We glory in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations which you endure, for an example of the just judgment of God. And below: If yet it be a just thing with God to repay tribulation to them that trouble you, and to you who are troubled, rest with us. 2 Timothy 4: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; as to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me in that day. Hebrews 6: God is not unjust, that he should forget your work. James 1: Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life. Apocalypse 2: Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. Hither also pertain those: He that hath mercy on the poor lendeth to the Lord, Proverbs 19; and, Know you not that they that run in the race all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain, 1 Corinthians 9; and, I am sure that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day, 2 Timothy 1. For he would do an injury who did not repay a loan, or did not give the prize to the victor, or did not restore a deposit — for all these include justice. Calvin answers to the first testimony that the afflictions of the just are as it were marks and stigmata by which Christians are made like to Christ, and, marked with them, are worthy to be admitted into the kingdom of heaven — not on account of the merit of patience, but because they are true Christians, which those marks and stigmata testify. To the other places he answers that the Scriptures so speak in order to exhort men to good works. But that tribulations patiently borne for Christ are not merely marks of a true Christian, but also true merits, is clear, because what corresponds to marks alone is not called a crown, a prize, and the like. Nor, if those works were only marks of a true Christian, would God be said by a just judgment, and as a just judge, to distribute rewards. Finally, the Apostle would not say that by the same justice God renders tribulation to those who trouble, and rest to those who are troubled. For those who trouble and persecute the saints do not by impiety of this kind only testify that they are not true Christians, but truly and properly provoke the divine wrath against themselves, and merit the punishments and penalties due to their crimes. But that Scripture exhorts men to good works is most true; but this too is true, that the divine exhortations have no officious lies, but are most full of truth. Wherefore, if God, that he may exhort us to good works, says that to those who work well a crown of justice is to be rendered by a just judgment, we ought to be secure, since God deceives us not, and so to be excited to good works that at the same time we believe that to good works, from justice, a reward is to be rendered.
The fifth argument is taken from those testimonies which teach that eternal life is promised to good works, such as are Matthew 19: If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. And in the same place: Every one that hath left house, or father, etc., shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting. 1 Timothy 4: Godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. James 1: He shall receive the crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him. But a promise made with the condition of a work not only makes the thing promised owed — for he who has promised is bound in justice to stand by his promises — but also makes it that he who shall have fulfilled the work is said to have merited the thing promised, and to be able by his own right to exact it as a reward. But of this we have said more in the preceding book. The sixth argument is taken from those places in which mention is made of worthiness. For (as we said above, chapter 2) to be worthy of a reward, and to merit a reward, are the same, according to that of the Lord, Luke 10, The laborer is worthy of his hire. These places, then, are: Wisdom 3, God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself. Likewise 2 Thessalonians 1: That you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which also you suffer. Luke 20: They who shall be counted worthy of that world, and of the resurrection from the dead. Apocalypse 3: They shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy. Nor is it repugnant to these places that of Romans 8: The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come. For the Apostle speaks of the substance of the works themselves, not of the absolute proportion. For the sufferings of this time are short, that glory is eternal; yet there is a proportion between these sufferings and that glory, on account of the worth of the charity whence they proceed. For the passion of Christ too was much shorter than the everlasting punishments of the damned, and yet, on account of the worth of the person suffering, was most worthy to satisfy most justly for those punishments. And the delights of sins are incomparably less than the torments of gehenna, and yet, on account of the contempt of God, are most worthy to be punished with those torments. And the seed is much less, as to bulk, than the tree itself, and yet the proportion between the seed and the tree is so great that to a seed rightly sown the tree is owed by a certain natural justice. And so blessed Paul, 2 Corinthians 4, says indeed that the sufferings of this time are momentary and light, if they be compared to the weight of eternal glory which we expect; and yet he adds that these very momentary and light sufferings work an eternal weight of glory; but he understands “work” without doubt not physically, but morally — that is, not efficiently, but meritoriously; and thereby that they are worthy that that glory, though most great and everlasting, be by a just judgment attributed to them.
The seventh argument is taken from those places where God is called a just Judge, and no respecter of persons. As Romans 2: There is no respect of persons with God. Galatians 2: God accepteth not the person of man. 1 Peter 1: If you invoke as Father him who, without respect of persons, judgeth according to every one’s work, etc. Acts 10: In very deed I perceive that God is not a respecter of persons. But respect of persons is a vice contrary to distributive justice, when, namely, a judge gives a reward without merits, or a greater reward to lesser merits, or contrariwise. God, then, in the retribution of rewards, considers the merits of men, and, according to the diversity of merits, assigns the mansions of eternal life. And so rightly St. Augustine, in epistle 46 to Valentine: “If there are no merits, how will God judge this world?” Accordingly the heresy of the adversaries, which takes away merits, takes away at the same time the article of faith concerning the future judgment.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT 111. Opera justorum meritoria esse vitiv selcrmv, probatur ex divinis litteris. Sed ut jam ad rem ipsam veniamus, pro¬ bare possumus ex divinis litteris sententiam nostram testimoniis plurimis : sed ea nos ad certa capita revocabimus. Primum igitur argumentum ducitur ab iis locis, ubi vita aeterna nominatur merces. Nam si ipsa est merces, bona opera, quibus illa redditur, sine dubitatione sunt merita. Mattii, v. Gaudete et exultate, quoniam mer¬ ces vestra copiosa est in coelis (2). Quid autem sit lnec merces, paulo ante explicaverat Domi¬ nus dicens : Beati rjui persecutionem patiun¬ tur propter justitiam, quoniam ipsorum est regnum coelorum. Dicit igitur, gaudendum, et cxultandum in persecutionibus, quoniam copiosa nos manet merces in ccelo, cum reg¬ num cadorum iis paratum sit, qui persecu¬ tionem patiuntur propter justitiam. Item Mattii, xx. Voca operarios, et redde illis mercedem (3). Hujus autem mercedis no¬ mine intelligi denarium diurnum, ex ipsa eadem parabola perspicuum est. Per dena¬ rium vero diurnum significari vitam a; ter¬ nam, communi consensu Patres docent. Nam prader commentarios in hunc locum, id ha¬ bent sanctus Hieronymus lib. ir. in Jovinia- num, S. Augustinus lib. de sancta Virgini¬ tate cap. 20. et S. Gregorius lib. iv. Moral. cap. 42. Ad boc argumentum respondet Philippus in Apologia confessionis Augustana;, merce¬ dem dici praemium, quod Deus reddit, non quia debeatur operibus, sed quia debetur promissioni, qua Deus constituit filiis suis adoptatis per Christum dare vitam aeternam. At Scriptura disertis verbis dicit, Inuic mer- cedcm dari operibus, non soli promissioni. Quid enim apertius dici potuit, quam : Voca operarios, et redde illis merccdem ? Deinde esto, propter solam promissionem aliquid vere et proprie debeatur : tamen numquam id mercedis nomine vere appellari poterit, nisi conditio operis et conditionis impletio intervenerit. Ista enim vere durissima, et intolerabilis esset catachresis, si quis dona¬ tivum a rege promissum, ex mera liberali- tate, sine ulla conditione operis mercedem appellare vellet. Calvinus aliter respondet, mercedem vide¬ licet, cum dicitur de vita aeterna, non accipi proprie, sed figurate : quoniam vita aeterna in Scripturis vocatur Increditas, Increditas autem non est proprie merces, cum debea¬ tur filiis, quia filii sunt, non quia sibi eam propriis laboribus pepererunt. At neque luco solutio multum valet. Nam cum in Scriptu¬ ris vita aeterna non minus saepe, fortasse etiam saepius dicatur inerces, quam haere di¬ tas, unde probabit Calvinus, dicendam esso proprie hacreditatem, improprio mercedem, et non potius contra, merccdem proprie, liaereditatem improprie? Deinde, quid si utrumque possit dici proprio ? habet enim vita aeterna conditionem mercedis et liaerc- ditatis. Datur enim ex promissione laboran¬ tibus, quod est mercedis proprium, et non datur nisi filiis, quod est proprium hacredi- tatis. At si filiis debetur Increditas, quia filii sunt, quid opus est pro ea adipiscenda labo¬ rare ? Responsio estin promptu, nam tametsi parvulis, qui mox a Baptismo decedunt, vita aeterna donetur solo jure haereditatis, tamen voluit Deus filios suos, qui usum rationis ha¬ bent, propriis laboribus, et meritis illam (ac¬ quirere, ut duplici titulo illis vita aeterna (1) Geu. XV, I ; 11 Par. XV, 7; Prov. XI, 13; S.q>. V, t0: Eccl. X VIII. 22; Isai. XL, 10 : Mat. V, 12 ; I Cor. III, 8; Ap. XXII, 12. - (2) Matii. V, 1*2. — .3) Mattii. XX, 8. Tum. VI. 23 3iG LIBER 1. deberetur, titulo videlicet haereditatis, et jure mercedis, quoniam enim magis honori¬ ficum est, habere aliquid ex merito, quam ex sola donatione, ideo Deus, ut filios suos magis honoraret, id etiam eis praestitit, ut vi¬ tam aeternam per merita sibi pararent. Nam et ipsi Christo debita erat gloria corporis, et exaltatio nominis hoc ipso quod erat filius Dei, et tamen quia « humiliavit semetipsum, factus obediens usque ad mortem, propterea Deus illum exaltavit, et dcditilli nomen, quod est super omne nomen ». Ut intcrim illud omittam, quod meritis operum redditur gra¬ dus aliquis gloriae sempiternae, ad quem non pertingunt, qui solo titulo haereditatis gau¬ dent. Alterum argumentum ducitur ab iis locis, in quibus habetur, praemium coeleste dari hominibus secundum mensuram et propor¬ tionem operum et laboris. Hinc enim eviden¬ ter colligitur, in praemio illo conferendo, non haberi rationem solius promissionis, vel liberalitatis, vel indulgentiae Dei, sed etiam dignitatis et efficaciae ipsorum operum. Loca haec sunt. Psal. lxv. Reddes unicuique secun¬ dum opera sua. Matth. xvi. Filius hominis venturus est in gloria Patris sui, cum Angelis suis, et tunc reddet unicuique secundum opera sua. Lucae vi. Eadem mensura, qua mensi fueritis, remetietur vobis. Ad Roman. ii. Theraurizas tibi iram in die irce, et revela¬ tionis justi judicii Dei, qui reddet unicuique secundum opera ejus. I ad Corinth. m. Unus- quisque mercedem recipiet secundum suum la¬ borem. Ad Galat. vi. Quae seminaverit homo, haec et metet. Apocal. ultim. Ecce venio cito, et merces mea mecum est, reddere unicuique secundum opera sua (1). Ad haec et similia respondere solent, non negare se, danda esse praemia in hac vita, et in futura bonis operibus : non tamen vi¬ tam aeternam. At Apostolus ad Roman. ii. cum dixisset, Deum redditurum unicuique secundum opera sua: subjunxit continuo : Ilis qui secundum patientiam boni operis glo¬ riam et incor ruptionem quaerunt, vitam aeter¬ nam. Et ad Galat. vi. cum dixisset : Quae se¬ minaverit homo, haec et metet : adjunxit expli¬ cans : Qui enim seminat in carne sua, de carne metet corruptione m : equi autem seminat in spi- ritu, de spiritu metet vitam aeternam. Igitur vita aeterna est praemiumiliud, quod datur se¬ cundum proportionem et mensuram operum. Deinde explicare deberent adversarii, quae sint praemia reddenda in futura vita, si ad ea non pertinet vita aeterna. Certe Scriptura, quamvis nunc regnum coelorum, nunc visio¬ nem Dei, nunc salutem animarum, nunc aliis verbis explicet beatitudinem Sanctorum, ta¬ men semper rem eamdern intelligit, id est, vitam aeternam, ut S. Augustinus docet in lib. i. de sermone Domini in monte cap. 9 Denique, cum Scriptura dicit, Deum j^pd diturum unicuique secundum opera sua , omnes consentiunt, malis hominibus secun¬ dum mala ipsorum opera, reddendam esse mortem aeternam : cur non igitur consen¬ tiunt etiam bonis hominibus secundum bona ipsorum opera reddendam esse vitam aeter¬ num ? Sed rursus respondent, quod Scriptura dicit, reddendam esse vitam aeternam bonis operibus, esse phrasim quamdam, qua signi¬ ficatur, vitam aeternam dandam esse fidei, cujus signa, et fructus sunt opera bona. Unde Calvinus dicit, se posse illud in nos re¬ gerere, quod habetur 1 Petri i. vitam aeter¬ nam fidei esse mercedem. Sed neque haec responsio solida est. Nam si vita aeterna non redderetur operibus, nisi ut signa sunt fidei, non recte diceret Scri¬ ptura, dari praemium illud secundum pro¬ portionem laboris, et operis uniuscujusque ; immo nec dici posset dari secundum propor¬ tionem majoris, vel minoris fidei ; immo nec dici posset esse mercedem fidei. Siquidem fides non salvat, ut adversarii docent, vi sua, quasi sit ipsa meritum, vel causa vitae aeter¬ nae, sed solum relative, quia apprehendit promissionem salutis. Itaque, si vera esset haereticorum senten¬ tia, sicut justitia eadem est in omnibus ju¬ stis, nec major in uno, quam in alio, ita es¬ set eadem beatitudo in omnibus beatis, nec major in uno, quam in alio : Px-oinde nihil interesset, utrum quis magnam, vel parvam fidem haberet, sive utrum plura, et majora opera, vel pauciora, et minora fecisset. At certe longe aliud Scriptura docet, cum ait : Unusquisque mercedem accipiet secundum suum laborem. Et cum opera comparat semini, et vitam aeternam frugibus. Vere enim semen est causa frugum, et secundum mensuram sementis, messis quoque, et frugum men¬ sura respondet. Prseterea cum Scriptura loquatur eadem fr(l) Ts. LXV, 13; Math. XVI, 27; Luc. VI, 38; Rom. II, U; 1 Cor. III, 8; Gal. VI, 8; Ap. XXII, 12. CAPUT 111. plnasi de bonis et malis operibus ; si bonis operibus non redderetur praemium, nisi quia signa sunt fidei : certe etiam malis operibus non redderetur poena, nisi quia sunt signa perfidiae, vel absentiae verae fidei. At quis Christianus id affirmare audeat, homicidio, adulterio, perjurio, aliisque id genus scele¬ ribus non deberi supplicium per se, qua ta¬ lia scelei'a sunt, sed solum quatenus sunt signa perfidiae, vel absentiae verae fidei ? Quod vero S. Petrus dicit, verissimum est et pro nobis facit. Primum enim non dicit, vitam aeternam esse mercedem, sed finem fidei; sic enim ait: Reportantes finem fidei vestra;, salutem animarum vestrarum. Non est autem idem finis, et merces. Nam finis rela¬ tionem habet ad media, sive sint merita, sive non sint : merces relationem habet ad sola merita. Proinde omnis merces est finis, non omnis finis est merces. Deinde, sine du¬ bio loquitur S. Petrus de fide, quae per dile¬ ctionem operatur; hujus autem fidei, ut etiam cujuscumque alterius virtutis formatae per charitatem, vitam aeternam esse merce¬ dem, libentissime confitemur. Sed forte non serio Calvinus Petri senten¬ tiam nobis objecit : nam si revera fidei actum meritorium salutis esse fateretur, om¬ nes protestantes illum, tamquam Papistam novum, exeerarentur. Nam (ut saepe diximus) nulli omnino hominum minus tribuunt fidei, quam Lutherani et Calviniani, qui soli fidei omnia tribuere videri volunt. Tertium argumentum sumitur ex illis lo¬ cis, quae ita vitam aeternam reddi testantur operibus bonis, ut ipsam rationem, cur de¬ tur vita aeterna, in operibus ponant. Sunt au¬ tem haec loca, Matthaei xxv. Venite benedicti Patris mei , possidete paratum vobisregnum ab origine mundi. Esurivi enim, et dedistis mihi manducare, etc. Item ibidem : Quia in pauca fuistie fidelis , supra multa te constituam : intra in gaudium Domini tui. Apocal. vir. Hi sunt qui venerunt ex magna tribulatione, etc., ideo sunt ante thronum Dei (1). In quibus locis particulae, enim, quia, ideo, sunt om¬ nes causales, ut notum est. Respondet Calvinus, in his locis notari ordinem divinae providentiae, quae non donat salutem, nisi iis, quos antea justificavit, et bona opera exercere fecit. Itaque sensum illorum verborum : Possidete regnum, esurivi. 347 enim, et dedistis mihi manducare, etc., hunc esse vult, non possidebunt regnum, nisi qui prius misericordiae opera fecerint, non quod opera misericordiae sint merita, vel causae illius regni adipiscendi, sed quia Deus vo¬ luit, prius fieri opera misericordiae ab ele¬ ctis, et posterius ab eisdem obtinoi-i regnum. Probat autem Calvinus, in Scripturis illud enim, vel quia, saepe notam esse ordinis et consequentiae, non autem causae : quoniam in Genesi cap. xv. Deus absolute, et gratis promittit Abrahae, quod semen ejus multi¬ plicaretur instar stellarum, quae numerari non possunt. Et tamen cap. xxii, ait : Quia fecisti rem hanc , multiplicabo semen tuum, etc. (2). At si ita licet omnia eludere, nullae erunt formae loquendi, quibus sententias nostras explicare possimus. Fingamus enim, voluisse Christum ostendere , opera misericordiae esse veram causam, cur justis hominibus in judicio reddenda sit merces salutis aeternae. Quibus, quaeso, verbis brevius, apertius, commodius id explicare potuisset, quam il¬ lis : Possidete regnum : esurivi enim , et dedistis mihi manducare ? Deinde, nonne eodem modo loquitur Do¬ minus de bonorum praemiis, et de impiorum suppliciis? certe sicut dixerat : Possidete reg¬ num, esurivi enim, et dedistis mihi mandu¬ care, etc. ita dicit : Ite maledicti in ignem aeternum ; esurivi enim, et non dedistis mihi manducare, etc. At nemo dicere potest, in his verbis posterioribus non reddi veram causam, sed ordinem et consequentiam tan¬ tum ostendi. Nam stipendium peccati mors, ut dicitur ad Roman. vi (3). Denique utrum illae particulae, enim, et quia, et similes, verae sint causales, cum agitur de bonorum operum praemiis, perspi¬ cuum est ex plurimis aliis locis, ubi dona opera dicuntur salutem ipsam efficere, ut II ad Corinth. iv. Quod in praesenti est momenta¬ neum, et leve tribulationis nostrae, supra mo¬ dum in sublimitate aeternum gloriae pondus operatur in nobis. Et ad Galat. vi. Qui se¬ minat in spiritu, de spiritu metet vitam aeternam. Et ad Philippen. ii. Cum timore, et tremore salutem vestram operamini (A). Vide etiam alia, quai supra attulimus in dis¬ putatione de necessitate operum bono¬ rum. ii) Mat. XXV, 34; ibid.i. 23: Ap. VII, 14. -(2) Gen.XXll, 17.-(3)Rom. VI, 23. -(4) 11 Cor. IV, 17: Gal. VJ, 8: Pliil. II, 12. A 318 LIBER V. Ad illud autem, quod Calvinus objicit ex cap. xv. et xxii. Geneseos, facilis est respon¬ sio, Deus enim voluit, semen Abrahsc mul¬ tiplicare sicut stellas coeli, et simul voluit, ut donum illud Abraham bonis operibus promereretur, quemadmodum etiam postea voluit, ut Isaac precibus impetraret filios, quos tamen idem Deus ante promiserat, vo¬ luit enim dare, sed per meritum precum ejus. Sicut etiam omnes electos Deus praedestina¬ vit ad gloriam, et tamen vult, ut ad eam per bona opera, meritaque perveniant. Ita¬ que ex eo, quod Deus absolute promisit A- brahae multiplicationem posteritatis, non sequitur, ut Abraham eam non vere merue¬ rit ; immo sequitur, ut meruerit, cum Deus per ejusmodi medium promissionem suam implere decreverit. Quartum argumentum sumitur ab illis te¬ stimoniis, ubi praemium bonis operibus ex justitia dicitur esse reddendum. Ut II ad Thessalon. n. Gloriamur in Ecclesiis Dei , pro patientia vestra, et fide in omnibus per¬ secutionibus vestris, et tribulationibus , quas sustinetis in exemplum justi judicii Dei. Et infra : Si tamen justum est apud Deum , re¬ tribuere tribulationem his, qui vos tribulant , et vobis, qui tribulamini requiem nobiscum II ad Timoth. iv. Bonum certamen certavi, cur¬ sum consummavi, fidem servavi, in reliquo reposita est mihi corona justitias, quam reddet mihi Dominus in illa die justus judex. Ad Hebr. vi. Non est injustus Deus , ut obliviscatur operis vestri. Jac. i. Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem , quoniam cum probatus fuerit , ac¬ cipiet coronam vitas. Apocalyp. ii. Esto fidelis usque ad mortem , et dabo tibi coronam vitx. Huc etiam pertinent illa : Fceneratur Domi¬ no, qui miseretur pauperis. Proverb. xix. Et : Nescitis, quod hi, qui in stadio currunt, om¬ nes quidem currunt, sed unus accipit bra¬ vium ; sic currite, ut comprehendatis. I ad Corinth. ix. Et : Certus sum, quia potens est depositum meum servare in illum diem (1). II ad Timoth i. Siquidem injuriam faceret, qui mutuum non redderet, vel bravium vincen¬ ti non daret, vel depositum non restitueret. Haec enim omnia justitiam includunt. Respondet Calvinus ad primum testimo¬ nium, afflictiones justorum esse quasi notas, et stigmata quaedam, quibus Cln istiani Chri¬ sto similes efficiuntur, ct illis insigniti digni sunt, qui in regnum coelorum admittantur, non propter meritum patientiae, sed quia sunt veri Christiani, quod nota), ct stigmata illa testantur. Ad alia loca respondet, Scri¬ pturas ita loqui, ut hortentur homines ad opera bona. Sed non solas notas esse veri Christiani, tribulationes patienter propter Christum to¬ leratas, *ed etiam vera merita, perspicuum est, quia quod solis notis respondet, non dicitur corona, bravium, et similia. Neque si essent opera illa solum notae veri Chri¬ stiani, diceretur Deus justo judicio, et ut justus judex praemia distribuere. Denique non diceret Apostolus, eadem justitia reddi a Deo tribulationem his, qui tribulant, et rc- quiemhis, quitribulantur. Neque enim qui tri¬ bulant, et persequuntur Sanctos, ejusmodi - impietate solum testantur, se veros non esse Christianos, sed vere ac proprie iram divi¬ nam in se provocant, et supplicia, poenas¬ que suis sceleribus debitas promerentur. Quod autem Scriptura hortetur homines ad opera bona, verissimum est, sed illud etiam est verum, cohortationes divinas non habere officiosa mendacia, sed veritate esse plenissimas. Quare si Deus ut nos ad bona opera cohortetur, dicit, bene operantibus justo judicio reddendam esse coronam ju¬ stitia), securi esse debemus, quia non fallit nos Deus, ct sic ad bona opera excitari, ut simul credamus, bonis operibus ex justitia reddendam esse mercedcm. Quintum argumentum sumitur ex illis testimoniis, qua) docent , vitam mlernam promissam osse operibus bonis, qualia sunt Matth. xix. Si vis ad vitam ingredi, serva mandata. Et ibidem. Omnis qui reliquerit domum, vel patrem, ctc., centuplum accipiet, et vitam x ter nam possidebit. I ad Timoth. iv. Pietas ad omnia utilis est, promissionem ha¬ bens vitx, qux nunc est, ct futurae. Jacob. i. Accipiet coronam vitx, quam repromisit Deus diligentibus se (2). At promissio factacum con¬ ditione operis, non solum debitam facit rem promissam, qui enim promisit, ex justitia te¬ netur stare promissis ; sed etiam facit, ut qui opus impleverit, meruisse rem promis¬ sam, eamque ut mercedem jure suo exigere posse dicatur. Sed de hoc plura diximus in libro superiore. Sextum argumentum sumitur ab illis lo- (I) 11 Tliess. 1, 4; ibid. G; Ii Tini. IV, 7; Ileb. VI, 10; Jac. I, 12: Ap. II, 10: Prov. XIX, 17; I Cor’ IX, 24; 11 Tim. I, 12. - (2) Mat. XIX. 17: ibid. 29; 1 Tim. IV, 8: Jaco. I, 12. CAPUT IV. 349 cis, in quibus fit mentio dignitatis. Nam (ut supra diximus, cap. 2.) dignum esse pne- mio, et mereri prsemium, idem sunt, juxta illud Domini Luc. x. Dignus est operarius mercede sua. Sunt igitur haec loca £a- pien. m. Deus tentavit cos, et invenit eos di¬ gnos se. Item. II ad Thessalon. i. Ut digni habeamini regno' Dei, pro quo et patimini. Luc. xx. Qui digni habebuntur sxculo illo , et resurrectione ex mortuis. Apoc. nr. Ambula¬ bunt mecum in albis, quia digni sunt (1). Neque his locis repugnat illud ad Ro- man. ^tn. Non sunt condignas passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam (2). Loquitur enim Apostolus de substantia ipsorum ope¬ rum, non de proportione absoluta. Nam passiones hujus temporis breves sunt, glo¬ ria illa seterria est, tamen proportio est inter has passiones, et illam gloriam propter charitatis dignitatem, unde procedunt. Nam et Christi passio multo brevior fuit pcenis damnatorum sempiternis, et tamen propter dignitatem personae patientis dignis¬ sima fuit, quce pro illis prenis justissime sa¬ tisfaceret. Et deliciae peccatorum incompa¬ rabiliter minores sunt tormentis gehennae, et tamen propter contemptum Dei dignissi¬ mae sunt, quae illis suppliciis puniantur. Et semen multo est minus, quod ad molem at¬ tinet, ipsa arbore, et tamen proportio est in¬ ter semen, et arborem tanta, ut semini rite sato naturali quadam justitia arbor debea¬ tur. Itaque beatus Paulus II ad Corinth iv. dicit quidem, passiones hujus temporis mo¬ mentaneas et leves esse, si conferantur ad pondus aeternae gloriae, quod expectamus, et tamen addit has ipsas momentaneas, leves- que passiones operari aeternum gloriae pon¬ dus, operari vero sine dubio intelligit non physice, sed moraliter, id est, non efficien¬ ter, sed meritorie ; ac per hoc dignas esse, quibus gloria illa, quamvis maxima, et sem¬ piterna, justo judicio tribuatur. Septimum argumentum sumitur ab illis locis, ubi dicitur Deus Judex justus, et non acceptor personarum. Ut ad Roman xxi. Non est acceptio personarum apud Deum. Ad Galat. ii. Deus personas non accipit. I Pet. i. Si patrem invocatis eum, qui sine acceptione personarum judicat secundum uniuscujusque opus, etc. Act. x. In veritate comperi, quia non est personarum (icceptio apud Deum (3). At acceptio personarum est vitium contra¬ rium justitiae distributivae , cum videlicet judex dat praemium sine meritis, aut majus praemium minoribus meritis, vel contra. Deus igitur in retributione praemiorum me¬ rita hominum considerat, et pro meritorum diversitate vitae aeternae mansiones assig¬ nat. Itaque recte S. Augustinus in epist. 4G. ad Valentinum : « Si non sunt merita, in¬ quit, quomodo judicabit Deus hunc mun¬ dum » ? proinde adversariorum haeresis, quae tollit merita, tollit simul articulum fi¬ dei de judicio futuro.