Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On Justification · Book V: On the Merits of Works
Chapter 4: The same is proved from the tradition of the Fathers
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).
Now we shall add the testimonies of the holy Fathers; and, that we may begin from the Greeks, then come to the Latins. St. Ignatius, in the epistle to the Romans: “Suffer me to be food for the beasts, through which I can merit God.” St. Justin, in the second Apology, before the middle: “We have received that men who have shown themselves by their works worthy of the will and counsel of God will live with him by their own merits, and reign, so as to be free from all corruption and perturbation.” St. Irenaeus, book 4 against Heresies, chapter 72: “Let us esteem precious the crown which is acquired for us by the contest, but not spontaneously conferred; and by how much it comes to us through the contest, by so much is it more precious.” Likewise, chapter 44, he proves the merit of works from the form of the judgment described in Matthew 25. Origen, book 2 on the epistle to the Romans, explaining chapter 2: “First, let the heretics be excluded who say that the natures of souls are good and evil, and let them hear that God renders not according to nature, but according to merits. Second, let the faithful be edified, lest they think that this alone suffices, that they believe, but let them know that the just judgment of God renders to every man according to his works.” See also Clement of Alexandria, the teacher of Origen, book 4 of the Stromata. St. Basil, in the book On the Holy Spirit, chapter 24: “A man is saved by the works of justice.” And in the oration on the beginning of the Proverbs: “All we who walk by the evangelical way are merchants, procuring for ourselves by the works of the commandments the possession of heavenly things.” St. John Chrysostom, homily 4 On Lazarus, about the middle: “If God is just, he will render to these and to those according to their merits. But if he will repay both these and those according to their merits, and here none of them has received — neither the one the punishment of wickedness, nor the other the rewards of virtue — it is clear that there remains another time in which each of these will bear a fitting reward.” See the same, homily 42 on Genesis, and homily 43 on the first to the Corinthians. St. Gregory Nazianzen, in the oration on holy Baptism, at the end: “Believe the resurrection, the judgment, the reward to be exacted at the just balance of God.” St. Gregory of Nyssen, in the oration on the love of the poor: “Finally, I behold each one adorned according to his own merits. To those who have been good and kind is given the highest and perpetual rest in the heavenly kingdom; but to the inhuman and wicked, the punishment of fire, and that everlasting.”
Now of the Latins. Tertullian, in the book On the Resurrection of the Flesh, beyond the middle, treating chapter 15 of the first to the Corinthians: “The order of merits will be disposed by the name of those disposed; but since merits are ascribed also to the body, the order of bodies too must needs be disposed, that it may be of merits.” St. Cyprian, in the book On the Simplicity of Prelates, or On the Unity of the Church, beyond the middle: “There is need of justice, that one may be able to merit God; his precepts and admonitions must be obeyed, that our merits may receive their reward.” Likewise in the sermon On Alms, at the end: “If, expedite, if swift, if running in this contest of work, the day either of retribution or of persecution find us, the Lord will nowhere be wanting to our merits for the reward. In peace he will give a white crown to the victors for their works; in persecution he will double a purple one for their suffering.” See the same, book 2, epistle 4, book 3, chapter 23, book 4, epistles 6 and 8. St. Hilary, canon 5 on Matthew: “Let us seek the kingdom of God by the wages of our life. And this is the reward of those who live rightly and perfectly, that they be translated from this material of a corruptible body into a new and heavenly substance, and earthly corruption be changed into heavenly incorruption.” And canon 6: “That blessed eternity is to be merited by what is ours, and something is to be furnished from our own.” St. Ambrose, book 1 On Offices, chapter 15: “Is it not evident that either the rewards or the punishments of merits await after death?” See the same in epistle 81 to Siricius, book 2 On Cain, chapter 9, the book On Noe and the Ark, chapter 7, on Psalm 118, sermon 7, and book 7 on Luke, on that, “Are not two sparrows,” etc. St. Jerome, book 2 against Jovinian, not far from the end: “The penny, as it were by the indulgence of the true Prince, sends all out of prison through Baptism. Now it is of our labor, according to the diversity of virtues, to prepare for ourselves diverse rewards.” St. Paulinus, in the epistle to Victricius: “A just judge will acknowledge that the rewards of thy virtues are owed to thee.” St. Augustine, in epistle 105 to Sixtus: “Are there no merits of the just? There are plainly, since they are just. But that they might become just, there were no merits.” And below: “As by the merit of sin, as a wage, death is rendered, so by the merit of justice, as a wage, eternal life.” The same, in the book On the Manners of the Church, chapter 25: “Eternal life is the whole reward, in whose promise we rejoice. Nor can the reward precede the merits, and be given to a man before he is worthy. For what more unjust than this, and what more just than God? Not, then, ought we to demand the reward before we merit to receive it.” Here St. Augustine not only teaches that a man has merits of eternal life, but also that eternal life is the one and whole reward for us — against the opinion of the adversaries, who feigned various rewards in this life and in the future, to elude the testimonies which speak of merits, and lest they be compelled to admit that good works are rewards of eternal life. Likewise St. Augustine teaches in this place that to the merits of works the reward of eternal life is given from justice, lest perhaps they should say it is given indeed, but from mere liberality. Likewise he adds that it is not given save when they are first found worthy of it who are to have it, lest they say there is no worth in works. Finally he says that it is most unjust to ask of God the most just judge eternal life before thou merit to receive it — where he openly condemns all the Lutherans, who will not merit eternal life by works, and yet presume that it is to be given them by a most certain faith. See the same Augustine on Psalms 83, 93, 100; likewise in epistles 46, 47, 52; in the Enchiridion, chapters 106 and 107; the book On Nature and Grace, chapter 2; On Rebuke and Grace, chapter 13; On Grace and Free Choice, chapter 1 and following. St. Prosper, in the response to chapter 6 of the Gauls: “A justified man — that is, made pious of impious — receives, no good merit preceding, a gift, by means of which he may acquire also merit.” The same he has in book 2 On the Vocation of the Gentiles, chapter 8, and on Psalm 125, in the last words. St. Celestine, Pope, in the epistle to the Gauls, chapter 12: “So great is the goodness of God toward all men that he wills those things to be our merits which are his gifts; and for those things which he has bestowed he is about to give eternal rewards.” St. Gregory, book 4 of the Morals, chapter 42: “Since in this life there is to us a distinction of works, there will without doubt be in that a distinction of dignities, that as here one surpasses another by merit, there one may transcend another by retribution.” See the same, book 18 of the Morals, chapter 24, and book 25, chapter 1. St. Bernard, sermon 68 on the Canticles: “Take care to have merits; when thou hast them, know that they were given. A pernicious poverty is a penury of merits.” And sermon 81 on the Canticles: “Everything thou shalt do, good or evil, which indeed it is free not to do, is by merit reckoned unto merit.”
To these can be added the testimonies of the Councils. For in the Council of Orange, canon 18, we thus read: “A reward is owed to good works, if they be done; but grace, which is not owed, goes before, that they be done.” The Ecumenical Lateran Council, under Innocent III, as is had in the chapter Firmiter, On the Supreme Trinity and the Catholic Faith: “Not only virgins and the continent, but also the married, pleasing God by right faith and good working, merit to attain to eternal beatitude.” The Council of Florence, likewise Ecumenical, in the decree on purgatory, teaches that the souls which have nothing to expiate are soon received into heaven, and see God according to the diversity of merits, one more clearly and perfectly than another. Nothing new, then, but the ancient faith, the Council of Trent taught, session 6, chapter 16, and canons 26 and 32, where it asserted the merits of the just. Let there be added, lastly, an evident reason from those things which were proved in the preceding book. For it was demonstrated that the good works of the just are truly just, satisfy the divine law, and justify a man. But hence it follows that they are truly meritorious. For the chief reason why the heretics of this time deny merits is that they think there is no work in this life truly just, and which satisfies the law, but that all our works are mortal sins of their own nature, and only venial on account of the indulgence of the Lord.
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CAPUT IV. Idem probatur ex traditione Patrum. Nunc addemus testimonia sanctorum Pa¬ trum. Ac ut a Graecis incipiamus, deinde ad Latinos veniamus. Sanctus Ignatiusin epist. ad Roman. « Si¬ nite, inquit, me, ut bestiarum esca sim, per quam possim Deum promereri » . Sanctus Justinus in Apolog. 2. ant. med. « ITomines, inquit, qui dignos se Dei volun¬ tate, et consilio operibus praestiterint, cum eo victuros esse meritis suis sumpsimus, ac regnaturos, sic ut ab omni interitu, pertur¬ bationeque sint liberi » . S. Irenceus lib. iv. adversus heereses, cap. 72. « Pretiosam, inquit, arbitremur coronam, quae per agonem nobis acquiritur, sed non ultro coalitam, et quanto per agonem nobis advenit, tanto est pretiosior » . Item cap. 44. probat meritum operum ex' judicii forma, quae describitur Matth. xxv. Origines lib. ir. in epist. ad Roman. ex¬ plicans cap. 2. « Primo, inquit, excludan¬ tur haeretici, qui dicunt, animarum naturas bonas ct malas, et audiant, quia non pro natura, sed pro meritis reddit Deus. Secun¬ do aedificentur fideles, ne putent hoc solum sufficere, quod credunt, sed sciant, justum judicium Dei unicuique reddere secundum opera sua». Vide etiam Clementem Alexand. Origenis praeceptorem, lib. iv. Strom. S. Basilius in lib. de Spiritu sancto, cap. 24. « Homo, inquit, ex operibus justi¬ tia) salvatur ». Et oratione in initium Pro¬ li) Luc. X, 7: Sap. 111, 5; 11 Tliess. 1, 5; Luc. XX, 35: Ap. 111, 4: — (2) Rom. VIII, 18.- (3) Rom. XXI, 1 1 : Gal . 11. (i: l Pet. I, 17: Act. X, 34. LlHEK V. 330 verb. a Omnos, inquit, qui per viam Evan- gelicara incedimus, mercatores sumus, per opera mandatorum nobis possessionem coe¬ lestium comparantes » . S. Joannes Chrysostomus homil. 4. de Lazaro, circa medium : « Si justus, inquit, est Deus, et his, et illis reddet pro meritis. Quod si et his, et illis rependet pro meritis ; hic vero nullus eorum recepit, neque ille improbitatis poenam, neque hic virtutis praemia, perspicuum est, restare tempus aliud, in quo congruens praemium horum uterque ferat ». Yide eumdem homil. 42. in Genes, et homil. 43. in priorem ad Co- rinth. S. Gregorius Nazianzenus orat, in S. Ba¬ ptisma, extrema : « Crede, inquit, resur¬ rectionem ; judicium, mercedem, ad justam Dei lancem exigendam ». S. Gregorius Nyssenus orat. d. de aman¬ dis pauperibus : « Denique, inquit, pro suis quemque meritis ornatum cerno. Illis, qui boni, benignique fuerint, summa, et perpe¬ tua requies tribuitur in regno coelesti, inhu¬ manis autem, et improbis, supplicium ignis, idque sempiternum ». Jam ex Latinis, Tertullianus in lib. de re¬ surrectione carnis, ultra medium, tractans cap. xv. prioris ad Gorinth. « Ordo, inquit, meritorum, dispositorum nomine dispone¬ tur : merita autem cum corpori quoque ad- scribantur, ordo quoque corporum dispona¬ tur necesse est, ut possit esse merito¬ rum )> . S. Cyprianus in libro de Simplicitate Prae¬ latorum, sive de unitate Ecclesiae, ultra me¬ dium : « Justitia, inquit, opus est, ut pro¬ mereri quis possit Deum : praeceptis ejus, et monitis obtemperandum est, ut accipiant merita nostra mercedem » . Item in serm. de eleemosyna, extremo : Si, inquit, expedi¬ tos, si celeres, si in hoc operis agone cur¬ rentes, dies nos vel redditionis, vel persecu¬ tionis invenerit; nusquam Dominus meritis nostris ad praemium deerit. In pace coronam vincentibus candidam pro operibus dabit, in persecutione purpuream pro passione ge¬ minabit. « Yide eumdem lib. n. epist. 4. lib. iii. cap. 23. fjb. iv. epist. 6 et 8. S. Hilarius can. 5. in Matth. « Regnum? inquit, Dei vitae nostrae stipendiis quaeramus. Et haec recte, perfecteque viventium merces est, ut in novam, ccelestemque substantiam ex hac corruptibilis corporis materie transfe¬ rantur, et corruptio terrena coelesti incorru- ptione mutetur ». Et can. vi. « De nostro, inquit, est beata illa aeternitas promerenda, praestandumque est aliquid ex proprio ». S. Ambrosius lib. I. de officiis, cap. 15. « Nonne, inquit, evidens est meritorum, aut praemia, aut supplicia post jnortem manere» ? Yide eumdem in epist. 81. ad Siricium lib. II. de Cain, cap. 9 lib. de Noe, et arca, cap. 7. in Psal. cxyiii. serm. 7. et lib. vn. in Luc. in illud : « Nonne duo passeres, etc. » S. Hieronymus lib. ii. adversus Jovinia- num non procul a fine : « Denarius, inquit, quasi indulgentia veri Principis omnes per Baptismum emittit de carcere. Jam nostri laboris est, pro diversitate virtutum, diversa nobis praemia praeparare ». Sanctus Paulinus in epist. ad Victricium : « Tuarum, inquit, tibi praemia se debere vir¬ tutum, judex justus agnoscet » . S. Augustinus in epist. 105. ad Sixtum : a Nullane, inquit, sunt merita justorum ? sunt plane, quia justi sunt. Sed ut justi fie¬ rent, merita non fuerunt » . Et infra : « Sicut merito peccati, tamquam stipendium, red¬ ditur mors, ita merito justitiae, tamquam sti¬ pendium, vita aeterna». Idem in lib. de mo¬ ribus Ecclesiae, cap. 25 : « Vita, inquit, aeterna est totum praemium, cujus promis¬ sione gaudemus. Nec praemium potest prae¬ cedere merita, et prius homini dari, quam dignus est. Quid enim hoc est injustius, et quid justius Deo ? non ergo debemus poscere praemium, antequam mereamur accipere ». Hic sanctus Augustinus non solum docet, hominem habere merita vitae aeternae, sed etiam unum, et totum esse praemium no¬ strum vitam aeternam, contra sententiam adversariorum, qui finxerunt varia praemia in hac vita, et in futura, ut eluderent testi¬ monia, quae loquuntur de meritis, ac ne co¬ gerentur admittere, bona opera esse praemia vitae aeternae. Itera docet hoc loco sanctus Augustinus, meritis operum ex justitia dari praemium vitae aeternae, ne forte dicerent, dari quidem, sed ex mera liberalitate. Item addit, non dari nisi prius ea digni invenian¬ tur, qui illam habituri sunt, ne dicant, nul¬ lam esse in operibus dignitatem. Denique dicit, injustissimum esse petere a Deo justis¬ simo judice vitam aeternam, antequam eam merearis accipere, ubi aperte damnat omnes Lutheranos, qui vitam aeternam operibus mereri non volunt, et tamen eam sibi certis¬ sima fide dandam esse praesumunt. Vide eumdem Augustinum in Psal. 83. 93. 100. CAPUT V. 351 Item in epist. 46 . 47. 52. Inenchir. cap. 106. et 107. libro de natura et gratia, cap. 2. de correptione et gratia, cap. 13. de gratia et libero arbitrio, cap. i. et seq. S. Prosper in responsione ad cap. 6. Gal¬ lorum : « Justificatus, inquit, homo, id est, ex impio pius factus, nullo praecedente bono merito accipit donum,* quo medio acquirat et meritum ». Idem habet in lib. ii. de voca¬ tione gentium, cap. 8. et in Psalm. cxxv. in ultimis verbis. S. Ccelestinus Papa in epistol. ad Gallos, cap. 12. « Tanta, inquit, erga omnes homi¬ nes est bonitas Dei, ut nostra velit esse me¬ rita, quae sunt ipsius dona ; atque pro his, quae largitus est, aeterna praemia sit donatu¬ rus ». S. Gregorius lib. iv. Moral. cap. 42. « Quia, inquit, in hac vita nobis est discretio operum, erit in illa procul dubio discretio dignitatum, ut quo hic alius alium merito superat, illic alius alium retributione trascen- dat ». Yide eumdem lib.xvni. Moral. cap. 24. et lib. xxv. cap. 1. S. Bernardus serm. 68. in Cant. « Merita, inquit, habere cures, habita data noveris. Perniciosa paupertas, penuria meritorum » . Et senn. 81. Item in Cant. « Omne, inquit, quod feceris, bonum, malumve, quod quidem non facere liberum sit, merito ad meritum de¬ putatur». His addi possunt testimonia Conciliorum. Nam in Concilio Arausicano can. 18. sic legimus : « Debetur merces bonis operibus, si fiant ; sed gratia, quas non debetur, prae- eedit ut fiant » . Concilium Lateranense OEcumenicum, sub Innocentio III. ut habetur in cap. Firmiter, de Summa Trinit. Et fide Catholica : « Non solum, inquit, Virgines, et continentes, ve¬ rum etiam conjugatae per rectam fidem, et operationem bonam placentes Deo, ad aeter¬ nam merentur beatitudinem pervenire. Concilium Florentinum item OEcumeni¬ cum, in decreto de purgatorio, docet, ani¬ mas, quse nihil expiendum habent, in coelum mox recipi, Deumque videre pro meritorum diversitate, aliam alia clarius, atque perfe¬ ctius. Nihil igitur novi, sed fidem antiquam docuit Concil. Trid. sess. 6. cap. 16. et can. 26. et 32. ubi merita justorum asseruit. Accedat ultimo ratio evidens ex iis, quae probata sunt in libro superiore. Demonstra¬ tum est enim, opera bona justorum esse ve¬ re justa, satisfacere legi divinae, justificare hominem. Hinc autem sequitur, esse vere meritoria. Potissima enim ratio, cur haeretici hujus temporis merita negent, illa est, quo¬ niam existimant, nullum esse opus in hac vi¬ ta vere justum, et quod legi satisfaciat, sed esse omnia opera nostra peccata mortalia ex natura sua, et solum propter Domini indul¬ gentiam venialia.