Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Word of God · Book I: On the Canonical Books
Chapter 3: The objection from the words of St. Paul, "The letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth," is refuted
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. I, De Verbo Dei, Book I: On the Canonical Books of Scripture. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
“The Apostle Paul,” they say, “in express words distinguishes the letter from the spirit, and plainly rejects the former, referring it to the Old Testament, which he even calls killing; but the latter he affirms to be proper to the New Testament, and names it vivifying. He hath made us, he says, fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter, but in the spirit; for the letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth. Therefore, as the Old Testament is the Jews', and pertains nothing to Christian men, so neither will the divine Scriptures, which are nothing else than letters, pertain to Christian men.”
To this argument we easily answer. And first, if the matter be so, and the sacred letters pertain nothing to us, why does Christ himself say, John 5, Search the Scriptures? Why did Paul write so many letters? Why, 1 Timothy 4, did he admonish his disciple to attend to reading? But without doubt the Apostle Paul willed neither by the killing letter to be understood the sacred Scripture, nor by the vivifying spirit an inner address of the Spirit. Nor are letter and spirit any other thing to Paul than law and grace to John. The law, says John, chapter 1, was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And St. Augustine, against Faustus: “The same law which was given by Moses became grace and truth by Jesus Christ, when the spirit was joined to the letter, that the justice of the law might begin to be fulfilled, which unfulfilled made men guilty even of prevarication.” And that Paul signifies the law by the letter can be understood from the words following. For when he had said, He hath made us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter, but in the spirit; for the letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth, he straightway subjoined: But if the ministration of death, engraven with letters upon stones, was in glory, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which is made void, how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather in glory? By which words he left no place of doubting that by the killing letter is to be understood the law written on the stones.
But it will be worth while briefly to explain why that law given by Moses is said to be a letter, why killing, why proper to the Old Testament, lest, while we refute the Libertines and Schwenckfeldians, we seem to concede something to the Lutherans. And the first doubt indeed will be most easy, and almost none, if Moses be compared with Christ, and the law with grace. For Moses, when he brought down to the people the law given by God, brought down nothing else than letters cut in stone; but Christ neither wrote any letters, nor brought any written by another, but breathed into the hearts of his own the spirit of love and grace, which cannot even be written. Rightly therefore was the law of Christ named spirit and grace, the law of Moses letter.
But why the law is said to kill is not the same opinion of all. Origen, against Celsus, seems to think that the killing letter signifies the Scripture itself, when it is expounded according to the proper signification of the words; and that the same is the vivifying spirit, if it be expounded mystically and spiritually: “He named it letter,” says he, “when we take the divine letters according to the sense; but spirit, when according to the understanding.” And more clearly, book 7, before the middle: “We say that the law is twofold, namely one according to the letter, another according to the meaning, as our elders also taught. Now that which is taken as it is written, not so much we as God, by a certain Prophet, names a right that is not good, and precepts not good. Whom our Paul, following, pronounced that the letter kills, which is as much as if he had said that the words kill. But the Spirit, he says, quickeneth, which is as much as if he had written that we obtain life by the understanding of them.” Thus Origen; whose opinion, if it be so taken that nothing at all in the divine Scriptures can be expounded to the letter, contains a proved error, and was long ago exploded by the Fathers (see Epiphanius in the epistle to John and in the heresy of Origen, Chrysostom homily 13 on Genesis, Jerome in the epistle to Pammachius on the errors of John of Jerusalem and on chapter 10 of Daniel, Augustine book 13 of the City of God chapter 21 and book 8 on Genesis chapter 1). But if it be so taken that the things which are said figuratively be forbidden to be explained according to the proper signification of the words, it is indeed a true opinion, but suits not at all this place of Paul. For the Apostle, when he says the letter kills, speaks not of the figures of the Scriptures, but of those most known precepts which were written on the two stone tables. For thus he says: The letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth. But if the ministration of death, engraven with letters upon stones, was in glory, etc. And again in the epistle to the Romans, where several times he repeats that the law kills, he brings forward no other law than this: Thou shalt not covet. “And surely (to use the words of Augustine) nothing figurative is said, which is not to be taken according to the sound of the letter, when it is said, Thou shalt not covet; but it is a most plain and most wholesome precept, which if a man fulfil, he shall have no sin at all.”
Now St. John Chrysostom, on 2 Corinthians chapter 3, and those who followed him, Theodoret, Theophylact, Oecumenius, and also the Commentary attributed to St. Ambrose, and some others, teach that the killing letter is the punishing law, the vivifying spirit the grace freeing from sins. For the law commanded to be slain not only adulterers and thieves, but even him who had gathered sticks on the Sabbath; but grace absolves even the most wicked men, defiled with every kind of crime, through the laver of regeneration or through the word of reconciliation. But this explanation also does not altogether satisfy. For the divine law, as it appoints punishments to the wicked, so it appoints rewards to the good; and as it is written, Cursed be he that abideth not in the words of this law, and fulfilleth them not in work, so also it is written, Leviticus 18: Keep my laws and my judgments, which a man doing shall live in them. Why then is the law said to kill, and not also to bring life? For if the letter can deservedly be called killing because it kills its transgressors, by like reason it might be called a vivifying letter, because it propagates life to its keepers.
Most true, therefore, and most agreeable to the words of the Apostle, is the opinion of St. Augustine: that the law without grace was called by the Apostle Paul a killing letter for two causes. First, because, since it cannot be fulfilled, it in a manner makes him to whom it is given a transgressor. The law, says the same Apostle, Romans 4, worketh wrath; for where there is no law, neither is there transgression. Second, because by the very prohibition it increases concupiscence; for, as the poet rightly says, “We ever strive toward the forbidden and desire the denied.” Sin, says the Apostle, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. And St. Augustine, On the Spirit and the Letter: “That doctrine which commands, Thou shalt not covet, is a good and praiseworthy law; but where the Holy Spirit helps not, inspiring a good desire instead of the evil desire, that is, diffusing charity in our hearts, that law, though good, increases by forbidding the evil desire: even as the force of water, if it cease not to flow against a barrier set in its way, becomes the more vehement, and when it has overcome its mass, is dashed down in a greater flood and rolls the more violently down the slopes. And this is how sin deceives by the commandment, and by it kills, when prevarication also is added, which is none where there is no law.”
Wherefore neither of itself, nor by any proper viciousness of its own, but only by occasion, and that taken, not given, does the law kill. For sin (as the Apostle says), taking occasion by the commandment, seduced me, and by it killed me. Wherefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, by that which is good wrought death in me.
There remains the last question: why the law, or letter, is said to be proper to the Old Testament. For neither in the Old Testament did the law flourish without grace, or the letter without the spirit, since so many most just men flourished in that time, walking (as Luke says of Zachary and Elizabeth) in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame; nor in the New Testament does the spirit reign without the letter, or grace without law, since Christ said, You have heard that it was said to them of old, Thou shalt not kill; but I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment, and what follows; and again, Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God; and, Going, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all whatsoever I have commanded you. What is it then that the Apostle says, He hath made us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter, but in the spirit — by what reason does he exclude the letter, that is, the law, from the New Testament, in which we see so many laws prescribed by Christ himself? But that question is easily resolved, if we discern what pertains of itself and properly to each Testament, from the proper end of each Testament. The proper end of the Old Testament was to bring this to pass, that the human race, corrupted and vitiated in its very first parent as in its root, should be admonished of its sickness and its wounds, and thence, fear and grief being conceived, should seek the Physician. To this end the law leads. By the law is the knowledge of sin, says the Apostle; and again, I had not known sin but by the law; and blessed Augustine: “The use of the law is to convince a man of his own infirmity, and to compel him to implore the medicine of grace which is in Christ.”
Wherefore of itself and properly the Old Testament, which is contained in laws and letters, brings fear, and begets unto bondage, as Paul speaks, Romans 8 and Galatians 4. But they who under the Old Testament are read to have been just and free were such not by the letter of the Old Testament, but by the spirit of the New. “Those saints,” says St. Augustine, “dispensed the Old Testament for the fitness of the time, but pertained to the New.” And in the book On the Merits and Remission of Sins: “The reign of death in any man the grace alone of the Savior destroys, which wrought also in the ancient saints, whosoever, before Christ came in the flesh, yet pertained to his assisting grace, not to the letter of the law, which could only command, not help.” But the end of the New Testament is no other than to heal, to cure, to deliver. And this the whole of grace effects. Unhappy man that I am, says Paul, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God, by Jesus Christ our Lord. And St. Augustine, in the book On the Spirit and the Letter: “By the law is the knowledge of sin; by grace, the healing of the soul from the vice of sin.”
Therefore the New Testament, of itself and properly, brings not the law, but grace, and is the ministry not of the letter but of the spirit alone, and is nothing else than the charity of God diffused in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us; which the Prophet foretold so long before, when he says, Jeremias: Behold, the days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Juda; not according to the covenant which I made with your fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, the covenant which they made void, and I had dominion over them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart. And so, if the question be of that which pertains of itself and properly to each Testament, most truly did Paul say, He hath made us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter, but in the spirit; and no less truly John, The law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
But although the New Testament of itself and properly brings not laws, yet it embraces laws in a twofold manner. For first, all those laws which are referred to living well and blessedly, the grace of the New Testament destroys not, but confirms; seeing it affords to human infirmity the strength to fulfil them. Do we, says the Apostle, destroy the law by faith? God forbid; but we establish the law. And below: For what was impossible to the law, in that it was weakened by the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, even of sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us. And St. Augustine, in the book On the Spirit and the Letter: “The law therefore was given that grace might be sought; grace was given that the law might be fulfilled. For not by its own fault was the law not fulfilled, but by the fault of the prudence of the flesh; which fault was to be shown by the law, to be healed by grace.” Then Christ also gave certain new laws, as concerning Baptism, the Eucharist, and the other Sacraments, to be exhibited or received; because, although Christ came not to us that, as another Moses, he might press us with the weight of a new law, but that he might lift up with the help of grace those lying under the burden of the law, yet he thought good to add to the ancient precepts of morals those most wholesome laws, which, while they lead us to the Sacraments, and through the Sacraments bring us to grace, not only press us not with the weight of burdens, but even lift us up in the stead of wings, as Augustine speaks in the book On the Perfection of Justice. But of the first objection enough has been said. The other objections, because they are common to the Schwenckfeldians and Libertines with the Lutherans and Calvinists, will be more conveniently dissolved in that disputation in which, the Lord helping, we shall treat of the interpreter of the Scriptures and the judge of controversies.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT III.
71
per? nihil interim credent? in omnem aeter¬
nitatem peribunt? an assequentur sine fide
justitiam? vel beatitudinem sine justitia?
Sed habent Swenckfeldiani ac Libertini argu¬
menta, quibus sententiam confirment ac tue¬
antur suam, scilicet, ut non sine ratione in¬
sanire videantur. Illa igitur qualia sint inspi-
ciamus.
CAPUT III.
Refellitur objectio ex verbis B. Pauli : Littera
occidit , spiritus autem vivificat.
« Apostolus Paulus, inquiunt, disertis ver¬
bis litteram a spiritu distinguit , et illam ad
Testamentum vetus aperte rejicit, quam
etiam occidentem vocat ; hunc autem novi
Testamenti proprium esse confirmat , et vi¬
vificantem nominat'. Idoneos , inquit, nos fecit
ministros novi Testamenti non littera , sed spiri¬
tu. Littera enim occidit, spiritus autem vivifi¬
cat (1). Igitur quemadmodum vetus Testa¬
mentum Judaeorum est, et nihil ad homines
Christianos pertinet ; ita nec Scripturae divi¬
nae, quae nihil aliud , quam litterae sunt , ad
Christianos homines pertinebunt. »
Ad hoc argumentum facile respondemus,
ac primum si res ita se habet, et nihil ad nos
sacrae litterae pertinent, cur ipse Christus ait
Joan. Y : Scrutamini Scripturas ? cur Paulus
tot litteras scripsit? cur I. Tim. IY discipu¬
lum monuit, ut lectioni operam daret? Sed
nimirum Apost. Paulus , neque per litteram
occidentem, sacram Scripturam ; neque per
spiritum vivificantem , internam Spiritus al¬
locutionem intelligi voluit. Neque aliud sunt
Paulo littera et spiritus, quam Joanni lex et
gratia. Lex, inquit Jo*an. cap. I, per Mosem
data est, gratia et veritas per Jesum Christum
facta est (2). Et S. Aug. Contra Faustum :
a Eadem, inquit, lex , quae per Mosem data
pst, gratia et veritas per Jesum Christum fa¬
cta est, cum accessit litterae spiritus, ut inci¬
peret impleri justitia legis, quae non impleta
reos etiam praevaricatione faciebat (3). »
Quod autem Paulus per litteram legem signi¬
ficet , ex verbis sequentibus potest intelligi.
Nam cum dixisset : Idoneos nos fecit minis¬
tros novi Testamenti ; non littera , sed spiritu :
Littera enim occidit , spiritus autem vivificat ;
subjecit continuo : Quod si ministratio mortis,
litteris deformata in lapidibus , fuit in gloria ,
ita ut non possent intendere filii Israel in faciem
Moysi, propter gloriam vultus ejus, quae evacua¬
tur ; quomodo non magis ministratio spiritus
erit in gloria (4)? Quibus verbis nullum reli¬
quit dubitandi locum, quin per litteram oc¬
cidentem lex in lapidibus descripta intelli-
genda sit.
Sed operae pretium erit breviter explicare,
lex illa per Mosem data, cur littera , cur oc¬
cidens, cur Testamenti veteris propria esse
dicatur ; ne, dum Libertinos et Swenckfeldia-
nos refellimus, aliquid Lutheranis concedere
videamur.
Ac prima quidem dubitatio facillima et
pene nulla erit, si Moses cum Christo, et lex
conferatur cum gratia. Etenim Moses cum
legem datam a Deo deferret ad populum, ni¬
hil detulit aliud quam litteras incisas in lapi¬
de ; Christus vero, nec litteras ullas scripsit,
nec ab alio scriptas attulit, sed spiritum di¬
lectionis et gratiae, qui ne scribi quidem po¬
test, cordibus suorum afflavit. Itaque merito
Christi lex, spiritus et gratia : lex Mosis, lit¬
tera nominata est.
Cur autem occidere lex dicatur, non ea¬
dem omnium sententia est. Origines Contra
Celsum (5), litteram occidentem significare
videtur esse Scripturam ipsam , cum juxta
propriam verborum significationem exponi¬
tur : eamdem autem spiritum esse vivifican¬
tem, si mystice et spiritualiter exponatur :
« Litteram , inquit, nominavit, cum juxta
sensum divinas litteras accipimus ; spiritum
vero cum juxta intellectum. » Et clarius lib.
YII, ante medium : « Dicimus, inquit, legem
esse duplicem, videlicet, alteram juxta litte¬
ram, alteram juxta sententiam, sicut et ma¬
jores nostri docuerunt. Jam illam, quae sic,
ut scriptum est, accipitur, non tam nos, quam
Deus, per quemdam Prophetam jus non bo¬
num nominat, et praecepta non bona. Quem
imitatus Paulus noster pronuntiavit litteram
occidere, quod perinde est, ac si verba dixis¬
set occidere. Gaeterum, Spiritus, inquit , vi¬
vificat, quod tantumdem valeat, ac si nos eo¬
rum intellectu vitam consequi scripsisset! »
(1) II. Cor. III, 6. — (2) Joan. I, 17. — (3) Lib. XV. cap. 8. — (4) II. Cor. III, 8. — (5) Lib. VI.
prope extremo.
72
LIBER I.
Haec Origenes ; cujus sententia si ita accipia¬
tur, ut nihil omnino in divinis Scripturis ad
litteram exponi possit , exploratum errorem
continet , et jam dudum a Patribus explosa
est. Vide Epiph. epist. ad Joan. et in haeresi
Origenis. Chrysost. hom. XIII in Gen. Hie-
ron. in epist. ad Pammachium, de erroribus
Jo. Hierosol. et in cap. X Danielis. August.
lib. XIII. de Civ. Dei, cap. 21. et lib. VIII
Gen. cap. 1. Si sic autem , ut quse figurate
dicta sunt, ea secundum propriam verborum
significationem explicare prohibeantur; vera
quidem sententia est, sed in hunc Pauli lo¬
cum minime quadrat. Nec enim Apostolus,
cum litteram dicit occidere, de figuris Scri¬
pturarum loquitur; sed de notissimis illis
praeceptis, quae in duabus tabulis lapideis
scripta erant. Sic enim ait : Littera occidit ,
spiritus autem vivificat. Quod si ministratio
mortis litteris deformata in lapidibus fuit in
gloria , etc. Et rursum iu epist. ad Rom. ubi
aliquoties repetit, legem occidere, non aliam
legem adfert in medium, quam illam : Non
concupisces. « Et utique, ut verbis utar Au¬
gust., non figurate aliquid dicitur, quod acci¬
piendum non sit secundum litterae sonum,
cum dicitur : Non concupisces : sed apertissi-
simum saluberrimumque praeceptum est :
quod si quis impleverit, nullum habebit om¬
nino peccatum (1). »
Jam vero S. Joan. Chrysost. in II ad Co-
rinth, cap. III. et qui eum secuti sunt, Theo-
dor. Theoph.QEcumenius, necnon Commen¬
tarius , qui S. Ambrosio attribuitur, et alii
nonnulli, litteram occidentem, legem punien¬
tem; spiritum vivificantem, gratiam liberan¬
tem a peccatis esse docent. Lex enim non
modo adulteros et latrones , sed etiam eum,
qui Sabbato ligna collegerat, imperabat oc¬
cidi (2). Gratia vero sceleratissimos etiam
homines , et omni flagitiorum genere conta¬
minatos, per lavacrum regenerationis, aut
per verbum reconciliationis absolvit.
Cseterum haec etiam explicatio non omni¬
no satisfacit : nam lex divina sicut improbis
poenas, ita prsemia bonis constituit : et sicut
scriptum est Maledictus qui non permanet in
sermonibus legis hujus , nec eos opere perficit (3) ;
ita scriptum etiam est : Levit. XVIII : Cus¬
todite leges meas , atque judicia , equae faciens
homo , vivet in eis (4). Cur igitur lex occidere
dfcitur, non etiam vitam afferre? nam si pro-
pterea littera occidens merito appellari po¬
test, quod transgressores suos occidat; pari
ratione littera vivificans dici poterit , quod
cultoribus suis vitam propaget.
Verissima igitur, et verbis Apostoli maxi¬
me consentanea S. Augustini sententia est,
legem videlicet sine gratia litteram occiden¬
tem ab Apostolo Paulo, duabus de causis
esse appellatam. Primum, quod cum impleri
non possit, eum cui datur quodammodo prae¬
varicatorem efficiat. Lex , inquit idem Apo¬
stolus Rom. IV, iram operatur : ubi enim non
est lex , nec praevaricatio (5). Deinde, quodipsa
prohibitione concupiscentiam augeat : nam,
ut ille recte ait : Nitimur in vetitum semper,
cupimusque negata : Occasione , inquit Apo¬
stolus, accepta , peccatum per mandatum ope¬
ratum est in me omnem concupiscentiam (6), et
S. Augustinus de spiritu et littera : « Doctri¬
na, inquit, illa quae praecipit : Non concupis¬
ces, bona et laudabilis lex est : sed ubi sanc¬
tus non adjuvat Spiritus inspirans pro con¬
cupiscentia mala concupiscentiam bonam,
hoc est , charitatem diffundens in cordibus
nostris ; profecto illa lex, quamvis bona, au¬
get prohibendo desiderium malum : sicut
aquae impetus , si in eam partem non cesset
influere, vehementior fit obice opposito, cu¬
jus molem cum evicerit, majore cumulo prae¬
cipitatus violentius per prona provolvitur.
Et hoc est, quod fallit peccatum per manda¬
tum, et per illud occidit, cum accedit etiam
praevaricatio, quae nulla est, ubi lex non
est (7). ))
Quare nec per se, nec aliqua propria vitio¬
sitate sua, sed ex occasione solum, eaque ac¬
cepta, non data, lex occidit. Nam peccatum ,
ut Apostolus ait : Occasione accepta per man¬
datum seduxit me , et per illud occidit. Itaque
lex quidem sancta, et mandatum sanctum, et
justum, et bonum , quod ergo bonum est , mihi
factum est mors ? absit : sed peccatum , ut ap¬
pareat peccatum, per bonum operatum est mihi
mortem (8).
Postrema restat quaestio : cur lex, sive lit¬
tera propriaTestamenti veteris esse dicatur.
Nam nec in Testamento veteri viguit lex sine
gratia, sive littera sine spiritu ; cum tam
multi floruerint eo tempore justissimi , viri
incedentes, ut ait Luc. de Zacharia et Eliza-
beth, in omnibus mandatis, et justificationibus
Domini sine querela (9) : nec in Testamento
(1) De spirit et litt. Cap. IV. — (2) Num. XV. 35. — (3) Deut. XXVII. 15. — (4) Levit. XVIII. 5.
— (5) Rom. IV. 15. — Rom. VII. 8. — (7) Cap. IV. — (8) Rom. VII. 11. — (9) Luc. 1. 6.
CAPUT III.
73
novo regnat spiritus sine littera , sive gratia
sine lege, cum Christus dixerit : Audistis quia
dictum est Antiquis , non occides : qui autem oc¬
ciderit reus erit judicio. Ego autem dico vobis ,
quia omnis , qui irascitur fratri suo , reus erit
judicio (1) ; et quae sequuntur. Et rursum :
Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua , et Spiritu
sancto non potest introire in regum Dei (2) ;
et : Euntes , docete omnes gentes , baptizantes ,
eos in nomine Patris , et Filii , et Spiritus san¬
cti : docentes eos servare omnia quaecumque
mandavi vobis (3).
Quid est igitur quod Apostolus ait : Ido¬
neos nos fecit ministros novi Testamenti , non
littera , sed spiritu (4) , qua ratione litteram,
hoc est, legem a Testamento novo excludit,
in quo tot leges ab ipso Christo praescribi vi¬
demus? Sed facile quaestio ista dissolvitur,
si quid per se, et proprie ad utrumque Tes¬
tamentum pertineat, ex proprio utriusque
Testamenti fine discernamus. Testamenti ve¬
teris finis proprius erat id efficere, ut genus
humanum in ipso primo parente , tanquam
in radice corruptum, et vitiatum, aegrotatio¬
nis vulnerumque suorum admoneretur, at¬
que inde timore et dolore concepto Medicum
quaereret. Ad*hunc finem lex perducit. Per
legem cognitio peccati , inquit Apostolus (5)
et rursum : Peccatum non cognovi , nisi per le¬
gem (6), et B. Augustinus : « Utilitas , inquit,
legis est ut hominem de sua infirmitate con¬
vincat, et gratiae medicinam, quae in Christo
est, implorare compellat » (7).
Quare per se, ac proprie Testamentum ve¬
tus, quod legibus ac litteris continetur, timo¬
rem adducit, in servitutem generat, ut Pau¬
lus loquitur Rom. VIII et Galat. IV. Qui ve¬
ro sub veteri Testamento justi liberique
fuisse leguntur, ii non littera Testamenti ve¬
teris , sed spiritu Testamenti novi tales fue¬
runt. «Dispensabant, inquit S. August. illi
sancti pro congruentia temporis Testamen-
mentum vetus , pertinebant vero ad Testa¬
mentum novum (8). » Et de peccatorum
merit. et remiss. « Regnum mortis , sola in
quolibet homine gratia destruit Salvatoris,
quae operata est etiam in antiquis sanctis,
quicumque antequam in Carne Christus ve¬
niret, ad ejus tamen adjuvantem gratiam,
non ad legis litteram , quae jubere tantum,
non adjuvare poterat, pertinebant (9). »
Einis autem Testamenti novi non alius est,
quam mederi , sanare , liberare. Id vero to¬
tum praestat gratia, lnfellix ego homo , inquit
Paulus, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis
hujus ? Gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Domi¬
num nostrum (10) : et S. Augustinus libro De
spiritu et littera : « Per legem, inquit, cognitio
peccati, per gratiam sanatio animae a vitio
peccati (11). )>
Igitur Testamentum novum per se ac pro¬
prie, non legem adfert, sed gratiam, nec litte¬
rae, sed spiritus solius ministerium est, nihil-
que est aliud , quam charitas Dei diffusa in
cordibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum qui
datus est nobis , quod tanto ante Propheta
praedixit, cum aitHierem. Ecce, dies venient ,
dicit Dominus , et feriam domui Israel , et domui
Juda feedus novum, non secundum pactum quod
pepigi cum patribus vestris in die qua appre¬
hendi manum eorum , ut educerem eos de terra
NEgypti ; pactum , quod irritum fecerunt , et
ego dominatus sum eorum , dicit Dominus. Sed
hoc erit pactum, quod feriam cum domo Israel
post dies illos, dicit Dominus : Dabo legem meam
in visceribus eorum, et in corde eorum scribam
eam (12). Itaque side eo agatur, quod per se
ac proprie ad utrumque Testamentum per¬
tinet, verissime Paulus dixit : Idoneos nos fe¬
cit ministros novi Testamenti , non littera, sed
spiritu. Nec minus vere Joannis : Lex per
Moysen data est , gratia et veritus per Jesum
Christum facta est{\2>).
Sed quanquam Testamentum novum per
se ac proprie leges non adferat, leges tamen
duplici ratione complectitur. Primum enim
eas omnes leges , quae ad bene beateque vi¬
vendum referuntur, gratia novi Testamenti
non destruit, sed confirmat : quippe quae hu¬
manae infirmitati adeas implendas vires prae¬
bet : Legem , inquit Apostolus, destruimus per
fidem ? absit, sed legem statuimus, et infra :
Quod enim impossibile erat legi , in quo infir¬
mabatur per carnem, ; Deus filium suum mit¬
tens in similitudinem carnis peccati , et de pecca¬
to damnavit peccatum in carne , ut justificatio
legis impleretur in nobis( 14), et S. August. lib.
de spiritu et littera : « Lex ergo data est, in¬
quit, ut gratia quaereretur, gratia data est,
ut lex impleretur. Neque enim suo vitio non
(1) Mattii. V. 21. — (2)Joan. 111. 3. — (3) Matth. XVIII. 19. —(4)11. Cor. 111. 6. — (5) Rom. 111.20.
(6) Rom. VII. 7. — (71 Epist. 200. ad Aselliciim. — (8) Epist. 120. ad Honoratum. — (9) Lib. I. Cap.
2. — (10) Rom. Vll. 24. — (11) Cap. XXX. — (12) Jerem. XXXI. 31. — (13) 11. Cor. 111. 6. ; Joan. 1.
74
LIBER I.
implebatur lex, sed vitio prudentise carnis.
Quod vitium per legem demonstrandum, per
gratiam sanandum fuit (1). »
Deinde novas etiam quasdam leges Chri¬
stus tulit , ut de Baptismo , de Eucharistia,
de Sacramentis caeteris, vel exhibendis, vel
suscipiendis : quia tametsi Christus non ideo
ad nos venit, ut tanquam alter Moses novae
legis pondere nos premeret, sed ut jacentes
sub onere legis auxilio gratiae sublevaret;
tamen ad vetera morum praecepta saluberri¬
mas illas leges adjungendas putavit , quae
dum aid Sacramenta nos ducunt , atque ad
gratiam per Sacramenta perducunt: non so¬
lum non premunt onere ponderum , verum
attollunt etiam vice pennarum , ut loquitur
Augustinus lib. de perfect. just. Sed de pri¬
ma objectione satis dictum est.
Objectiones caeterae, quia communes sunt
Swenckfeldianis et Libertinis, cum Luthera-
nis et Calvinistis, in ea disputatione com¬
modius dissolventur , in qua de interprete
Scripturarum, et judice controversiarum ad¬
juvante Domino disseremus.