Prosperus: Epistola ad Rufinum

[1] Accepi per communem amicum fraternae erga me sollicitudinis tuae signa, et curam sincerissimae charitatis gratulanter agnovi. Ac ne quid maligni rumores, in quantum se auribus tuis subtrahere nequeunt, formidinis tibi aut anxietatis inferrent; absolvere te ab omni scrupulo, quantum epistolari licuit sermone, curavi: in tantum studens omnia plenissima veritate tibi pandere, ut quia non potuisti in totum quae ab adversantibus disseminantur audire, per me ipsum queas quidquid de nobis ad inanem invidiam fertur referturque cognoscere. Sed insinuanda prius sanctitati tuae est qualitas quaestionis, de qua ista nascuntur: quo tibi magis pateat falsitas obloquentium et videas quam [77B] lucem quibus tenebris conentur obducere.

[1] I received through a common friend the signs of your brotherly solicitude toward me, and I gladly acknowledged the care of most sincere charity. And lest any malicious rumors, inasmuch as they cannot withdraw themselves from your ears, should bring you fear or anxiety, I have taken care, so far as an epistolary discourse allowed, to absolve you from every scruple: striving so far to lay open everything to you with the fullest truth, that, since you have not been able to hear in full the things that are disseminated by adversaries, you may through me myself be able to know whatever concerning us is borne and reported to empty envy. But the quality of the question, from which these things arise, must first be insinuated to your sanctity: in order that the falsity of the gainsayers may the more lie open to you, and you may see what [77B] light they try to cover with what darkness.

CAP. I.

CHAPTER 1.

[2] Pelagiana igitur haeresis, quo dogmate catholicam fidem destruere adorta sit, et quibus impietatum venenis viscera Ecclesiae atque ipsa vitalia corporis Christi voluerit occupare, notiora sunt quam ut opere narrationis indigeant. Ex his tamen una est blasphemia, nequissimum et subtilissimum germen aliarum, qua dicunt Gratiam Dei secundum merita hominum dari. Cum enim primum tantam naturae humanae vellent astruere sanitatem [Aliassanctitatem], ut per solum liberum arbitrium posset assequi Dei regnum: eo quod tam plene ipso conditionis suae praesidio juvaretur, ut habens naturaliter rationalem intellectum, facile bonum eligeret, [77C] malumque vitaret et ubi in utraque parte libera essent opera voluntatis, non facultatem his qui mali sunt ad bonum deesse, sed studium.

[2] Therefore the Pelagian heresy—by what dogma it has attempted to destroy the catholic faith, and with what poisons of impieties it has wished to occupy the viscera of the Church and the very vital parts of the body of Christ—is more well-known than to need the labor of narration. Yet among these there is one blasphemy, the most nefarious and most subtle germ of the others, whereby they say that the Grace of God is given according to the merits of men. For when at the first they wished to assert for human nature such soundness [or sanctity], that by free will alone it could attain the kingdom of God—on the ground that it was so fully aided by the very succor of its constitution, that, having by nature a rational intellect, it would easily choose the good, [77C] and avoid the evil—and where on both sides the operations of the will were free, what is lacking to those who are evil for the good is not ability but zeal.

Cum ergo, ut dixi, totam justitiam hominis ex naturali vellent [78A] rectitudine ac possibililate subsistere, atque hanc definitionem doctrina sana respueret; damnatum a catholicis sensum, et multis postea haereticae fraudis varietatibus coloratum, hoc apud se ingenio servaverunt, ut ad incipiendum, et ad proficiendum, et ad perseverandum in bono necessariam homini Dei gratiam profiterentur.

Therefore, since, as I said, they wished the whole justice of man to subsist from natural rectitude [78A] and capability, and sound doctrine spat out this definition; a view condemned by the Catholics, and afterwards colored with many varieties of heretical fraud, they kept by this contrivance among themselves: namely, that they would profess the grace of God to be necessary to man for beginning, for advancing, and for persevering in good.

CAP. II.

CHAPTER 2.

[3] Sed in hac professione, quo dolo vasa irae molirentur irrepere, ipsa Dei gratia vasis misericordiae revelavit. Intellectum est enim, saluberrimeque perspectum, hoc tantum eos de gratia confiteri, quod quaedam libero arbitrio sit magistra, seque per cohortationes, per legem, per doctrinam, i per creaturarum contemplationem, per miracula, perque terrores extrinsecus judicio ejus ostentet, quo unusquisque secundum voluntatis suae motum, [78B] si quaesierit, inveniat; si petierit, accipiat; si pulsaverit, introeat. Quia scilicet gratiae ipsius vocatio, hoc primum circa nos agat, ut nostrae facultatis arbitrium admoneat; nec aliud sit gratia, quam lex, quam propheta, quam doctor, cui circa omnes homines per universum mundum commune et generale sit studium, ut qui voluerint credant, et qui crediderint, justificationem merito fidei et bonaevoluntatis accipiant: ac sic gratia Dei secundum hominum meritum tribuatur: atque hoc modo gratia non sit gratia: quia si meritis redditur, et non ipsa est bonorum creatrix, frustra gratia nominatur.

[3] But in this profession, by what trick the vessels of wrath were contriving to creep in, the grace of God itself revealed to the vessels of mercy. For it was understood, and most salubriously perceived, that they confess this only about grace: that it is in some respects a mistress to free will, and that through exhortations, through the law, through doctrine, through the contemplation of creatures, through miracles, and through terrors from without it displays by its judgment, to the end that each one according to the motion of his will, [78B] if he shall have sought, may find; if he shall have asked, may receive; if he shall have knocked, may enter. Since, to be sure, the calling of grace itself first effects this around us, that it admonish the arbitration of our faculty; and that grace be nothing other than the law, than the prophet, than the teacher, whose endeavor is common and general toward all men through the whole world, so that they who will may believe, and they who shall have believed may receive justification by the merit of faith and of good will: and thus the grace of God be bestowed according to the merit of men: and in this way grace is not grace: because if it is rendered to merits, and is not itself the creatrix of good things, it is named grace in vain.

CAP. III.

CHAPTER 3.

[4] Has autem versutias, quibus se filii tenebrarum in similitudinem filiorum lucis transfigurare voluerunt, cum et Orientalium episcoporum [78C] judicia, et apostolicae sedis auctoritas, et Africanorum conciliorum vigilantia deprehenderit: beatissimus quoque Augustinus, praecipua utique in hoc tempore portio Domini sacerdotum, copiose et [79A] pulchre, in multis voluminum disputationibus destiruxit: utpote inter multa Dei dona, quibus illum abundantissime Spiritus veritatis implevit, habens etiam hanc scientiae et sapientiae ex Dei charitate virtutem, ut non solum istam adhuc in suis detruncationis palpitantem, sed etiam multas prius haereses invicto verbi gladio deballaret. Cui inter tot certaminum palmas, inter tot triumphorum coronas ad illuminationem Ecclesiae, et ad gloriam Christi, qua ipse illustratus est, perfulgenti, quidam nostrorum (quod de ipsis multum dolendum est) occultis, sed non incognitis susurrationibus obloquuntur; et prout sibi obnoxias aliquorum aures opportunasque repererint, scripta ejus, quibus error Pelagianorum impugnatur, infamant; dicentes eum liberum arbitrium [79B] penitus submovere, et sub gratiae nomine necessitatem praedicare fatalem. Adjicientes etiam, duas illum humani generis massas, et duas credi velle naturas: ut scilicet tantae pietatis viro paganorum et Manichaeorum ascribatur impietas.

[4] But these wiles, by which the sons of darkness wished to transfigure themselves into the likeness of the sons of light, since both the judgments of the bishops of the East [78C] and the authority of the Apostolic See and the vigilance of the councils of the Africans have detected them: the most blessed Augustine also, assuredly the preeminent portion of the Lord’s priests in this time, copiously and [79A] beautifully, in disputations of many volumes, has demolished; inasmuch as, among the many gifts of God with which the Spirit of truth most abundantly filled him, he has also this power of science and wisdom from the charity of God, that he not only might vanquish this heresy, still palpitating in its own detruncation, but also might do battle to the end against many earlier heresies with the unconquered sword of the Word. Against him, shining forth among so many palms of contests and so many crowns of triumphs for the illumination of the Church and for the glory of Christ, by which he himself has been illumined, certain of our own (which is much to be grieved over concerning them) speak against with secret, yet not unknown, susurrations; and, in proportion as they find the ears of some pliant and opportune to themselves, they defame his writings, by which the error of the Pelagians is attacked; saying that he utterly removes free will [79B] and, under the name of grace, preaches a fatal necessity. They add, too, that he posits two masses of the human race, and wishes two natures to be believed: so that to a man of such piety there is ascribed the impiety of the pagans and of the Manichaeans.

Quae si vera sunt, cur ipsi tam negligentes, ne dicam tam impii, sunt, ut tam abruptam perniciem ab Ecclesia non repellant, tam insanis praedicationibus non resistant, nec saltem aliquibus scriptis eum, a quo talis emanat doctrina, conveniant? Magna enim gloria sua humano generi consuluerint, si Augustinum ab errore revocaverint. Nisi forte modesti homines, novique censores, magnorum prius meritorum seni honorabiliter ac misericorditer parcunt, et securi quia libros ejus nemo usquam recipiat, conquiescunt; [79C] atque ignoverint, immo noverint, non solum Romanam Africanamque Ecclesiam, et per omnes mundi partes universos promissionis filios cum doctrina hujus viri, sicut in tola fide, ita in gratiae confessione congruere: sed etiam in his ipsis locis, in quibus adversus eum querimonia concitatur, esse, propitio Deo, plurimos, qui ad perceptionem evangelicae apostolicaeque doctrinae saluberrimis ejus disputationibus imbuuntur, et quotidie in membris corporis Christi, in quantum ea ipse multiplicat, dilatantur.

If these things are true, why are they themselves so negligent, not to say so impious, that they do not repel from the Church so precipitous a ruin, do not resist such insane preachings, nor at least with some writings confront him from whom such a doctrine emanates? For with great glory to themselves they would have taken counsel for the human race, if they should recall Augustine from error. Unless perhaps, as modest men and new censors, they honorably and mercifully spare an old man of great former merits, and, secure because no one anywhere receives his books, they settle down; [79C] and let them forgive—nay rather, let them know—that not only the Roman and the African Church, and through all the parts of the world all the sons of the promise, agree with the doctrine of this man, as in the whole faith, so in the confession of grace: but also in these very places in which complaint is stirred up against him there are, God being propitious, very many who are imbued for the reception of evangelical and apostolic doctrine by his most health-giving disputations, and daily are enlarged among the members of the body of Christ, in so far as he himself multiplies them.

Si recte reprehendimur, cur non constanter arguimur? Si arguendi non sumus, cur occulta obtrectatione mordemur?

If we are rightly reprehended, why are we not boldly arraigned? If we are not to be arraigned, why are we bitten by hidden detraction?

CAP. IV.

CHAPTER 4.

[5] Sed quis nescit cur ista privatim de stomacho garriant, et publice de consilio conticescant? [79D] Volentes enim in sua justitia magis quam [80A] in Dei gratia gloriari, moleste ferunt quod his quae adversum excellentissimae auctoritatis virum, inter multas collationes asseruere, resistimus. Nec dubitant, si quam hinc moverint quaestionem, in qualibeit frequentia sacerdotum, in qualibet congregatione populorum, centenis sibi beatissimi Augustini voluminibus obviandum.

[5] But who does not know why they chatter privately out of spleen, and publicly fall silent in council? [79D] For, wishing to glory in their own justice rather than [80A] in the grace of God, they take it ill that we resist those things which, amid many conferences, they have asserted against a man of most excellent authority. Nor do they doubt that, if they should from this raise any question, in whatever gathering of priests, in whatever congregation of peoples, they must be met by hundreds of volumes of the most blessed Augustine.

Quae cum cordibus audientium manifestare coeperint potentissimam Christianae fidei veritatem, et de fontibus divini eloquii praesentium animos inundare, quis fidelium, quis piorum, recognitis et commendatis sibi salutis suaecausis, amaritudinem istam volet fumosae recipere vanitatis? Ego quidem etiam hoc de divitiis misericordiae Dei spero, quod quos nunc libero falli arbitrio suo, et ab humilitatis via patitur evagari, non [80B] usquequaque neque in finem sit intelligentia fraudaturus; sed hunc ipsum in longinquiora progressum, ideo ab eo tardius revocari, ut opus gratiae ejus majore gloria celebretur, cum sibi etiam adversantium corda subdiderit, quibus de virtutum studio exortum est periculum, et de morum probitate discrimen. Non quia quisquam carere his debeat, sed quia miserrimus eorum usus est, cum ex naturali putantur facultate prodisse; aut ex largitate quidem gratiae, sed aliquo vel boni operis, vel bonae voluntatis merito praecedente venisse.

When these things begin to make manifest in the hearts of the hearers the most powerful truth of the Christian faith, and to flood the minds of those present from the fountains of divine eloquence, who among the faithful, who among the pious, once the causes of his own salvation have been recognized and commended to himself, will wish to receive this bitterness of smoky vanity? I indeed also hope this from the riches of the mercy of God: that those whom He now allows to be deceived by their own free choice, and to wander from the way of humility, He will not [80B] altogether nor to the end defraud of understanding; but that this very person, having advanced into more remote things, is therefore recalled by Him more slowly, in order that the work of His grace may be celebrated with greater glory, when He has subjected to Himself even the hearts of those opposing, for whom danger has arisen from zeal for virtues, and a crisis from uprightness of morals. Not because anyone ought to lack these, but because their most wretched use is when they are thought to have proceeded from natural faculty; or indeed from the bounty of grace, yet to have come with some merit of either a good work or a good will preceding.

CAP. V.

CHAPTER 5.

[6] Asserum quidem haec quibusdam sanctarum Scripturarum testimoniis, sed non rationabiliter assumptis. Ad defensionem enim alicujus definitionis ea promenda sunt, quae alteri intellectui, [80C] a quo videtur definitio dissonare, non cedant, et eam regulam, cui sunt aptata, non deserant. Dictum ergo aiunt libero arbitrio utentibus: Venite ad me, omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego vos reficium: tollite jugum meum super vos, et discite a me quoniam mitis sum et humilis corde; et invenietis requiem animabus vestris: jugum enim meum suave est, et onus meum leve (Matth.

[6] They indeed assert these things by means of certain testimonies of the holy Scriptures, but not rationally assumed. For for the defense of some definition, those things ought to be brought forward which do not yield to the other understanding, [80C] from which the definition seems to be dissonant, and do not desert that rule to which they are fitted. Therefore they say it was said to those using free will: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you; take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am mild and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls; for my yoke is sweet, and my burden light (Matth.

xi,28). Quod ad omnes homines volunt pertinere, laborantes in incerto istius vitae oneratosque peccatis, ut qui voluerint mansuetudinem et humilitatem Salvatoris imitari, et jugum mandatorum ejus subire, inveniant requiem animabus suis in spe vitae aeternae; qui autem haec facere noluerint, sua culpa careant salute; quam si voluissent, potuerant obtinere. Sed audiant et [80D] dictum a Domino libero arbitrio utentibus: Sine [81A] me nihil potestis facere(Joan. xv,5); et, Nemo venit ad me, nisi Pater qui misit me, attraxerit eum(Joan.

11,28). which they want to pertain to all men, laboring in the uncertainty of this life and burdened with sins, so that those who will have wished to imitate the meekness and humility of the Savior, and to submit to the yoke of his commandments, may find rest for their souls in the hope of eternal life; but those who will have been unwilling to do these things, by their own fault lack salvation; which, if they had willed, they could have obtained. But let them also hear [80D] what was said by the Lord to those using free will: Without [81A] me you can do nothing(John 15,5); and, No one comes to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him(John

vi,44); et, Nemo potest venire ad me nisi datum ei fuerit a Patre meo(Ibid. 66); et, Sicut Pater vivificat mortuos, ita et Filius quos vult vivificat(Joan. v,21); et, Nemo novit Filium, nisi Pater, neque Patrem quis novit nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare(Luc.x,22). Quae omnia cum sint incommutabilia, et nequeant ulla interpretatione in sensum alium detorqueri, quis ambigat tunc liberum arbitrium cohortationi vocantis obedire, cum in illo gratia Dei affectum credendi obediendique generaverit?

6,44); and, No one can come to me unless it has been given to him by my Father (Ibid. 66); and, Just as the Father vivifies the dead, so also the Son vivifies whom he wills (John 5,21); and, No one knows the Son, except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son will have willed to reveal him (Luke 10,22). Since all these things are incommutable, and cannot by any interpretation be twisted into another sense, who would doubt that then free will obeys the exhortation of the one calling, when in him the grace of God has generated the affect of believing and obeying?

Alioquin sufficeret moneri hominem, non etiam in ipso novam fieri voluntatem, sicut scriptum est: Praeparatur voluntas a Domino(Prov. viii,35, [81B] juxta LXX); et sicut ait Apostolus: Deus est enim qui operatur in vobis et velle et perficere, pro bona voluntate(Philip. ii,13). Pro qua bona voluntate, nisi quam in ipsis operatus est Deus, ut quod donaverat velle, donaret et facere.

Otherwise it would suffice that man be admonished, and not that in the man himself a new will be made, as it is written: The will is prepared by the Lord (Prov. 8,35, [81B] according to the LXX); and as the Apostle says: For it is God who works in you both to will and to accomplish, for good will (Philippians 2,13). For what good will, unless that which God has wrought in them, so that what He had granted to will, He might also grant to do.

CAP. VI.

CHAPTER 6.

[7] Dicunt etiam ad demonstrandam liberi arbitrii facultatem, magnum in centurione Cornelio exstare documentum: eo quod ante gratiae perceptionem timens atque orans Deum, eleemosynis, et jejuniis, et orationispontaneo studio fuerit intentus(Act. x,2); atque ob hoc divino testimonio laudatus, donum regenerationis acceperit. Neque intelligunt omnem illam praeparationem Cornelii per Dei gratiam fuisse collatam (Vide synodum Arausicanam infra). Siquidem cum sanctus Petrus per visionem [81C] omne genus animalium, de baptizando Cornelio, ac perinde de omnibus gentibus doceretur, atque ille immundum et indiscretum cibum Judaica observantia recusaret, trina ad eum vox facia est dicens, Quae Deus mundavit, tu ne commune dixeris(Act.

[7] They also say, to demonstrate the faculty of free will, that a great document stands forth in the centurion Cornelius: in that before the reception of grace, fearing and praying to God, he had been intent on alms, and fastings, and by a spontaneous zeal of prayer (Acts 10,2); and on account of this, praised by divine testimony, he received the gift of regeneration. Nor do they understand that all that preparation of Cornelius had been bestowed through the grace of God (See the Synod of Orange below). For when Saint Peter, through a vision [81C] of every kind of animals, was being taught about baptizing Cornelius, and likewise about all the nations, and when he, by Jewish observance, refused food that was unclean and indiscriminate, a threefold voice was made to him, saying, What God has cleansed, do not you call common (Acts

x,15). Quo satis aperte ostenditur omnia bona opera quae in Cornelio praecesserunt, Dei gratia ad emundationem ipsius inchoasse: ut cui Dominus jam impertierat hoc donum, non dubitaret Apostolus conferre sacramentum, ne novae et necdum revelatae vocationis vacillaret exordium, nisi per ipsa indicia praecedentium studiorum, Deum in assumendis constaret operatum. Non enim omnium est fides (II Thess. iii,2); nec omnes credunt Evangelio(Rom.

10,15). Whence it is shown quite openly that all the good works which had preceded in Cornelius had been initiated by the grace of God unto his cleansing: so that, to him to whom the Lord had already imparted this gift, the Apostle would not hesitate to confer the sacrament, lest the beginning of a new and not-yet-revealed vocation should vacillate, unless through the very indications of the preceding pursuits it were established that God had been at work in those to be taken up. For not all have faith (2 Thess. 3,2); nor do all believe the Gospel(Rom.

x,16). Sed qui credunt, Dei aguntur Spiritu; qui non credunt, [81D] libero avertuntur arbitrio. Conversio ergo nostra ad Deum non ex nobis, sed ex Deo est: sicut Apostolus dicit, Gratia salvi facti estis per fidem, et hoc non ex vobis, sed Dei donum est; et non ex operibus, ne quis glorietur(Ephes. ii,8).

10,16). But they who believe are led by the Spirit of God; they who do not believe, [81D] are turned away by free will. Therefore our conversion to God is not from ourselves, but from God: just as the Apostle says, By grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from you, but it is the gift of God; and not from works, lest anyone glory(Ephes. 2,8).

CAP. VII.

CHAPTER 7.

[8] Agnoscat se humana debilitas, et [82A] in primo homine universarum generationum damnata successio; et cum mortui vivificantur, cum caeci illuminantur, cum impii justificantur, confiteantur vitam, et lumen, et justitiam suam Jesum Christum; et qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur (I Cor. i,31), non in se: qui cum esset impius, et caecus, et mortuus, a liberatore suo gratis accepit et justitiam, et lumen, et vitam. Non enim juste agebat, et aucta est justitia ejus; nec ad Deum gradiebatur, et confirmatus est cursus ejus; nec diligebat Deum, et inflammata est charitas ejus; sed cum esset sine fide, ac proinde impius, accepit Spiritum fidei, et factus est justus: Justus autem ex fide vivit(Rom, i,17); et, Sine fide nemo potest placere Deo(Hebr.xi,6); et, Omne quod non est ex fide, peccatum est(Rom.xiv,25): [82B] ut scilicet intelligat justitiam infidelium non esse justitiam quia sordet natura sine gratia.

[8] Let human weakness recognize itself, and [82A] in the first man the succession of all generations condemned; and when the dead are made alive, when the blind are enlightened, when the impious are justified, let them confess their life, and light, and righteousness to be Jesus Christ; and let him who boasts, boast in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1,31), not in himself: who, when he was impious, and blind, and dead, from his liberator gratis received both righteousness, and light, and life. For he was not acting justly, and his righteousness was increased; nor was he stepping toward God, and his course was made firm; nor was he loving God, and his charity was inflamed; but when he was without faith, and therefore impious, he received the Spirit of faith, and was made just: But the just man lives by faith (Rom, 1,17); and, Without faith no one can please God (Hebrews 11,6); and, Everything which is not from faith is sin (Romans 14,25): [82B] to the end that he may understand that the righteousness of unbelievers is not righteousness, because nature without grace is defiled.

CAP. VIII.

CHAPTER 8.

[9] Amissa quippe naturali innocentia, homo exsul ac perditus, ambulans sine via, profundiores intrabat errores; sed quaesitus, et inventus, et reportatus est, et in via quae veritas et vita est introductus; ac dilectione in Deum, qui illum non diligentem prior dilexit, ignitus est: sicut dicit beatus apostolus Joannes, Non quasi nos dilexerimus Deum, sed quoniam ipse dilexit nos(IJoan. iv,10); et iterum, Nos ergo diligamus Deum, quoniam Deus prior dilexit nos (I Joan. iv, 19); et idem dicit, Charissimi, diligamus invicem, quoniam charitas ex Deo est; et omnis qui diligit ex Deo natus est, et cognoscit Deum.

[9] Indeed, once natural innocence had been lost, man—an exile and lost—walking without a way, was entering deeper errors; but he was sought, and found, and brought back, and introduced onto the Way which is Truth and Life; and he was ignited with love toward God, who, when he was not loving, first loved him: just as the blessed apostle John says, Not that we had loved God, but that he himself loved us (1 John 4,10); and again, Therefore let us love God, because God first loved us (1 John 4,19); and the same says, Dearest, let us love one another, because charity is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

Qui non diligit, non novit Deum; quia Deus [82C] charitas est(IJoan. iv,7 et 8). Cui beatus Paulus congruit, dicens, In Christo Jesu, neque circumcisio, neque praeputium valet aliquid, sed fides quae per dilectionem operatur(Galat. v,6). Unde habetur haec fides connexa charitati, nisi unde eam ipse monstrat acceptam, dicens, Quia vobis donatum est pro Christo, non solum ut in cum credatis, sed etiam ut pro ipso patiamini(Philip.

He who does not love does not know God; because God [82C] is charity(1 John 4:7 and 8). To which blessed Paul agrees, saying, In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith which works through love(Galatians 5:6). Whence is this faith held as connected with charity, if not from where he himself shows it as granted, saying, Because to you it has been given for Christ, not only that you should believe in him, but also that you should suffer for him(Philip.

i,29). Quod utique fieri sine magna charitate non poterat. Et iterum, Charitas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris, per Spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis(Rom. v,5). Sine qua charitate Apostolus quantam fidem quantamque scientiam, quas virtutes, quae studia, quos labores, nihil prodesse testatur (I Cor.

1,29). Which indeed could not be done without great charity. And again, the charity of God has been poured out in our hearts, through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom. 5,5). Without which charity the Apostle testifies that however great a faith and however great a knowledge, what virtues, what studies, what labors, profit nothing (1 Cor.

xiii,3)? Quia scilicet multa laudabilia atque miranda possunt in homine reperiri, quae sine [82D] charitatis medullis habent quidem pietatis similitudinem, sed non habent veritatem.

13,3)? Because, to be sure, many laudable and admirable things can be found in a man, which, without the [82D] marrow of charity, do indeed have the similitude of piety, but do not have the truth.

CAP.IX.

CHAPTER 9.

[10] Hoc ergo tanto et tam ineffabili bono, nemo inventus est dignus, sed quicumque electus est a Deo, factus est dignus; sicut dicit Apostolus (Coloss. i,3), Gratias agentes Patri, qui [83A]dignos nos fecit in partem sortis sanctorum in lumine, qui eripuit nos de potestate tenebrarum, et transtulit in regnum Filii dilectionis suae. Et idem ad Timotheum (II Tim.

[10] Thus, for this so great and so ineffable good, no one has been found worthy; but whoever has been chosen by God has been made worthy; as the Apostle says (Colossians 1,3), giving thanks to the Father, who [83A] made us worthy for a share in the lot of the saints in light, who rescued us from the power of darkness, and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. And the same to Timothy (2 Tim.

i,8): Contabora, inquit, Evangelio secundum virtutem Dei, qui nos liberavit et vocavit vocatione sancta: non secundum opera nostra, sed secundum suum propositum, et gratiam, quae data est nobis in Christo Jesu ante tempora saecularia. Et ad Titum (Tit. iii,3): Eramus, inquit, et nos aliquando insipientes et increduli, errantes et servientes desideriis et voluptatibus variis, in malitia et invidia agentes, odibiles, odientes invicem: cum autem benignitas et humanitas apparuit Salvatoris nostri, non ex operibus jusitiae quae fecimus, sed secundum suam misericordiam salvos nos fecit.

(2 Tim. 1,8): “Suffer together,” he says, “with the Gospel according to the power of God, who freed us and called with a holy calling: not according to our works, but according to his purpose, and the grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages.” And to Titus (Tit. 3,3): “We too were once foolish and incredulous, erring and serving desires and various pleasures, acting in malice and envy, odious, hating one another: but when the benignity and humanity of our Savior appeared, not out of works of justice which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.”

Gratia igitur Dei quoscumque [83B] justificat, non ex bonis meliores, sed ex malis bonos facit; postea per profectum, ex bonis factura meliores; non adempto libero arbitrio, sed liberato: quod donec sine Deo solum fuit, mortuum fuit justitiae, vixitque peccato: ubi autem ipsum illuminavit misericordia Christi, erutum est a regno diaboli, et factum est regnum Dei; in quo ut permanere possit, ne ea quidem facultate sufficit sibi, nisi inde accipiat perseverantiam, unde accepit industriam [Forte justitiam].

Therefore the grace of God, whomsoever [83B] it justifies, makes not from good men better, but from evil men good; afterward, through progress, being about to make from the good, better; not with free will taken away, but liberated: which, so long as it was alone without God, was dead to justice, and lived to sin; but when the mercy of Christ enlightened it, it was snatched from the kingdom of the Devil, and was made the kingdom of God; in which, that it may be able to remain, not even with that faculty does it suffice for itself, unless from there it receive perseverance, whence it received industry [Forte justitiam].

CAP. X.

CHAPTER 10.

[11] Quoniam et ipsius sancti Petri ardentissima fides in tentationibus defecisset, nisi pro eo Dominus supplicasset: sicut Evangelista manifestat, dicens (Luc. xxii,31, 32): Dixit autem Jesus Petro, Simon, Simon, ecce Satanas postulavit [83C] ut vos cribaret velut triticum: ego autem rogavi pro te, ne deficiat fides tua: et tu tandem conversus, confirma fratres tuos; etroga, ne intretis in tentationem(Ibid., 40). Et ut magis probaretur liberum arbitrium nihil posse sine gratia; cui dictum fuerat, Confirma fratres tuos, et roga, ne intretis in tentationem; quique responderat, utique ex libero arbitrio, Domine, tecum paratus sum et in carcerem, et in mortem ire(Ibid., 33); eidem praedicitur quod priusquam gallus cantet, ter Dominum negaturus sit. Quod quid est aliud quam quod in fide defecturus sit?

[11] Since even the most ardent faith of Saint Peter himself would have failed in temptations, unless the Lord had supplicated for him: just as the Evangelist makes manifest, saying (Luke 22:31, 32): But Jesus said to Peter, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded [83C] to sift you like wheat: but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail: and you, at length turned back, strengthen your brothers; and pray, that you may not enter into temptation (Ibid., 40). And so that it might be the more proved that free will can do nothing without grace; to whom it had been said, Strengthen your brothers, and pray, that you may not enter into temptation; and who had answered—surely from free will—Lord, I am ready to go with you both into prison and into death (Ibid., 33); to the same one it is foretold that before the cock crows he will deny the Lord three times. What is this other than that he would be going to fail in faith?

Certe rogaverat pro eo Dominus ne deficeret fides ipsius: nec utique frustra rogaverat, cujus una erat cum eo quem rogaverat, operatio. Sed ne libero arbitrio videretur stare qui de se [83D] magna promiserat, permittitur periclitari; ut conturbatum ac deficientem ille respiciat et reficiat, sine quo nemo consistit, nemo persistit.

Surely the Lord had prayed for him that his faith might not fail; nor had he, assuredly, prayed in vain, whose operation was one with him whom he had prayed. But lest he who had promised great things about himself [83D] should seem to stand by free will, he is permitted to be put to the test; so that he may look upon and restore him when confounded and failing—without whom no one consists, no one persists.

CAP. XI.

CHAPTER 11.

[12] Ab hac autem confessione gratiae [84A] Dei, ideo quidam resiliunt, ne cum eam talem confessi fuerint, qualis divino eloquio praedicatur, et qualis opere suae potestatis agnoscitur, etiam hoc necesse habeant confiteri, quod ex omni numero hominum per saecula cuncta natorum, certus apud Deum, definitusque sit numerus praedestinati in vitam aeternam populi, et secundum propositum Dei vocantis electi. Quod quidem tam impium est negare, quam ipsi gratiae contraire. Neque enim remotum est ab inspectione communi quot saeculis quam innumera hominum millia erroribus suis impietatibusque dimissa, sine ulla veri Dei cognitione defecerint.

[12] But from this confession of the grace [84A] of God, certain people recoil, lest, when they have confessed it to be such as it is proclaimed by the divine eloquence, and such as it is recognized by the operation of His power, they also have to confess this: that from the whole number of humans born through all the ages, there is with God a certain and defined number of a people predestined unto eternal life, and elected according to the purpose of God who calls. Which indeed it is as impious to deny as to oppose grace itself. For it is not far from common inspection how through the ages how innumerable thousands of humans, left to their own errors and impieties, have perished without any knowledge of the true God.

Sicut etiam in Actibus Apostolorum, Pauli et Barnabae verba declarant, dicentium Licaoniis (Act. xiv,14): Viri fratres, quid haec facitis? Et nos [84B] mortales sumus, similes vobis homines, annuntiantes vobis ut ab his vanis convertamini ad Deum vivum, qui fecit coelum et terram, mare et omnia quae in eis sunt; qui in praeteritis generationibus, dimisit omnes gentes ingredi vias suas.

As also in the Acts of the Apostles the words of Paul and Barnabas declare, as they say to the Lycaonians (Acts 14,14): Men, brothers, why are you doing these things? We too are [84B] mortals, men similar to you, announcing to you to turn from these vain things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them; who in past generations allowed all the nations to go in their own ways.

Et quidem non sine testimonio semetipsum relinquens, benefaciens eis, de coelo dans pluviam et tempora fructifera, implens cibo et laetitia corda vestra. Cum utique si eis vel naturalis intelligentia, vel usus beneficiorum Dei ad capessendam vitam aeternam sufficere potuisset, nostro etiam tempore rationalis nos contemplatio, et temperies aeris, et fructum copia, ciborumque salvaret: quia scilicet melius natura utentes, Creatorem nostrum propter quotidiana ipsius dona coleremus. [84C]

And indeed, not leaving himself without testimony, doing good to them, giving from heaven rain and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness. Since assuredly, if for them either natural intelligence, or the use of the benefactions of God could have sufficed for attaining eternal life, then in our own time as well rational contemplation, and the temperateness of the air, and the abundance of fruit and of foods would save us: because, namely, using nature better, we would venerate our Creator on account of his daily gifts. [84C]

CAP. XII.

CHAPTER 12.

[13] Sed absit ab animis piorum et Christi sanguine redemptorum stulta nimium et perniciosa persuasio. Naturam humanam non liberat extra unum mediatorem Dei et hominum, hominem Christum Jesum (I Tim. ii,5); sine illo nemini salus est (Act.

[13] But far be from the minds of the pious and of those redeemed by the blood of Christ an excessively foolish and pernicious persuasion. Human nature does not liberate outside the one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2,5); without him there is salvation for no one (Acts.

iv,12). Sicut ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos (Psal. xcix,3); ita ipse reficit nos, et non ipsi nos. Ac ne sibi facultas hominis pretium reparationis hujus, vel post restitutionem sui, per opera videretur justitiae repensare; effuderuntse divitiae bonitatis Dei in ipsa quorumdam primordia parvulorum; in quibus nec praecedens eligitur, nec secutura devotio; non obedientia, non discretio, non voluntas.

(4,12). Just as he himself made us, and not we ourselves (Psal. 99,3); so he himself refashions us, and not we ourselves. And lest the faculty of man should seem to repay to himself, by works, the price of this reparation, either before the restitution of himself or after; the riches of the goodness of God poured themselves out upon the very primordia of certain infants; in whom neither a preceding devotion is chosen, nor a subsequent; no obedience, no discretion, no will.

De his enim loquor qui mox ut nati sunt renascuntur, et rapti ab hac vita aeternae beatitudini [84D] deputantur; cum tamen innumerabilis multitudo, ejusdem naturae, ejusdem conditionis infantium, sine regeneratione decedat, de qua dubitari non potest quod partem in Dei civitate non habeat. [85A]

For I speak of those who, as soon as they are born, are reborn, and, snatched from this life, are appointed to eternal beatitude [84D]; while yet an innumerable multitude of infants, of the same nature, of the same condition, departs without regeneration, about whom it cannot be doubted that they have no share in the city of God. [85A]

CAP. XIII.

CHAPTER 13.

[14] Et ubi est illud quod nobis quasi contrarium a non intelligentibus semper opponitur,quod Deus omnes homines velit salvos fieri, et ad agnitionem veritatis venire (I Tim. ii,4)? Numquid non sunt de omnibus hominibus qui a praeteritis generationibus usque in hoc tempus sine Dei cognitione perierunt? Et si majoribus natu (quod non recte dicitur) mala opera quae libero arbitrio commiserant obfuerunt, quasi boni, non mali gratia liberentur, inter salvatos parvulos et non salvatos parvulos, quae meritorum potuit esse discretio?

[14] And where is that which is always opposed to us as if contrary by those not understanding,quod God wills all men to be saved, and to come to the recognition of the truth (1 Tim. 2,4)? Are there not, out of all men, those who from past generations down to this time have perished without the knowledge of God? And if for those greater in age (which is not rightly said) the evil works which they had committed by free choice were a disadvantage, as though they were freed by the grace of the good, not of the evil, between little ones saved and little ones not saved, what distinction of merits could there have been?

quid istos introduxit in regnum Dei? quid istos exclusit a Dei regno? Equidem si meritum consideres, non una pars salvari meruit, sed utraque damnari: quia omnibus in Adae praevaricatione prostratis, nisi [85B] quosdam assumeret misericors gratia, maneret super universos inculpata justitia.

what introduced these into the kingdom of God? what excluded these from the kingdom of God? Indeed, if you consider merit, not the one party merited to be saved, but both to be damned: because, with all laid low in the transgression of Adam, unless [85B] merciful grace should assume some, unimpeached justice would remain over all.

Quae autem sit discretionis istius in secreto consilio Dei causa vel ratio, et supra facultatem humanae cognitionis inquiritur, et sine fidei diminutione nescitur: modo confiteamur neminem immerito perdi, neminem merito liberari, et omnipotentissimam Domini bonitatem omnes salvare, et omnes ad agnitionem veritatis imbuere, quos vult omnes fieri salvos, et ad agnitionem veritatis venire. Nisi enim ipso vocante, docente, salvante, nemo venit, nemo eruditur, nemo salvatur. Quia etsi indifferenter omnibus hominibus jubentur praedicare doctores, et semen verbi ubique disserere; tamen neque qui plantat, neque qui rigat est aliquid, sed qui incrementum dat Deus(I Cor.

But what may be the cause or reason of this distinction in the secret counsel of God is both inquired after as beyond the capacity of human cognition, and is unknown without any diminution of faith: provided only that we confess that no one perishes without desert, no one is freed by merit, and that the most omnipotent goodness of the Lord saves all, and imbues all to the recognition of the truth—namely, all whom He wills to become saved and to come to the recognition of the truth. For unless He Himself call, teach, save, no one comes, no one is instructed, no one is saved. For although teachers are ordered to preach indifferently to all men, and to scatter the seed of the word everywhere; nevertheless neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but God who gives the increase (1 Cor.

iii,7). [85C]

3:7). [85C]

CAP. XIV.

CHAPTER 14.

[15] Unde cum apostoli gentibus Evangelium praedicare coepissent, de parte quadam eorum qui audierant, Scriptura commemorat, dicens, Audientes autem gentes gavisae sunt, et glorificabant verbum Domini, et crediderunt quotquot erant praeordinati ad vitam aeternam(Act. xiii,48). Et alibi, cum multae mulieres audirent Paulum docentem: Quaedam, inquit, mulier nomine Lydia, purpuraria civitatis Tyatirorum, colens Deum, audivit, cujus Dominus aperuit cor ut intenderet his quae dicebantur a Paulo (Act. xvi,14). Et rursum eo ipso tempore, quoad omnes gentes praedicatio Evangelii mittebatur, quaedam loca Apostoli adire prohibentur ab eo qui vult omnes homines salvos fieri et [85D]ad agnitionem veritatis venire: multis utique in illa retardatis atque aversis [Forte retardati atque aversi] Evangelii mora, sine agnitione veritatis et sine regenerationis consecratione morituris.

[15] Whence, when the apostles began to preach the Gospel to the nations, concerning a certain portion of those who had heard, Scripture records, saying, “But the Gentiles, hearing, rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as were preordained to eternal life believed (Acts 13,48).” And elsewhere, when many women were listening to Paul teaching: “A certain woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple of the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened, whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the things that were being said by Paul (Acts 16,14).” And again at that very time, while the preaching of the Gospel was being sent to all the nations, the Apostles are forbidden to go to certain places by Him who wills all men to be saved and [85D]to come to the recognition of the truth: many indeed in those regions being delayed and turned away [Perhaps: “delayed and turned away”] by the delay of the Gospel, destined to die without the recognition of the truth and without the consecration of regeneration.

Dicat ergo Scriptura quod gestum est: Transeuntes autem, inquit, Phrygiam et Galatiae regionem, vetiti sunt a sancto Spiritu loqui verbum in Asia. Cum venissent autemin Mysiam, tentabant ire in Bithyniam, et non permisit illos Spiritus Jesu(Ibid.). Quid autem mirum, [86A] si inter ipsa evangelicae praedicationis exordia, non poterant ire apostoli nisi quo eos Spiritus Dei ire voluisset; cum videamus plerasque gentes modo primum Christianae gratiae fieri coepisse participes, alias autem nullum adhuc odorem boni istius attigisse?

Let Scripture, therefore, state what was done: “But passing through, he says, Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come, moreover, into Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them (Ibid.).” But what is there to marvel at, [86A] if, in the very beginnings of evangelical preaching, the apostles were not able to go except where the Spirit of God had willed them to go; since we see that very many nations only now have begun to become participants of Christian grace, while others have not yet even touched any scent of that good?

CAP.XV.

CHAPTER 15.

[16] An dicendum est, voluntati Dei humanas obsistere voluntates, et tam feros tamque intractabiles horum hominum esse mores, ut Evangelium ideo non audiant, quia praedicationi impia corda non pateant? Et quis istis corda mutavit, nisi qui finxit singillatim corda eorum(Psal.xxxii,15)? Quis hujus rigoris duritiem ad obediendi mollivit affectum, nisi qui potens est de lapidibus Abrahae filios excitare (Matth.iii,9)? Et quis dabit praedicantibus [86B] intrepidam illaesamque constantiam, nisi ille qui ait Paulo, Noli timere, sed loquere, et ne taceas; propter quod ego sum tecum, et nemo apponetur tibi ut noceat te, quoniam populus est mihi multus in hac civitate (Act.xviii,9)? Puto autem quod nemo audeat dicere ullam mundi gentem, ullam terrae praetermittendam esse regionem, in qua non sint Ecclesiae tabernacula dilatanda, dicente Deo ad Filium, Postula a me, et dabo tibi gentes haereditatem tuam, et possessionem tuam terminos terrae (Psal.ii,8); et iterum, Reminiscentur et convertentur ad Dominum universi fines terrae, et adorabunt in conspectu ejus omnes patriae gentium (Psal.xxi,28): dicente quoque ipso Domino, Praedicabitur hoc Evangelium in universo mundo, in testimonium omnibus gentibus,[86C] et tunc veniet finis (Matth. xxiv,14). Quaecumque ergo gentes nondum audierunt, audient Evangelium, et credent quotquot ex eis praeordinati sunt in vitam aeternam (Act.xiii,48). Non enim alii venient in consortium haereditatis Christi, quam qui ante constitutionem mundi electi sunt, et praedestinati atque praesciti, secundum propositum ejus qui omnia operatur secundum consilium voluntatis suae (Ephes.i,11).

[16] Or must it be said that human wills oppose the will of God, and that the manners of these men are so fierce and so intractable that they do not hear the Gospel for this reason, because their impious hearts do not lie open to the preaching? And who has changed their hearts, except he who fashioned individually their hearts (Psal.32,15)? Who has softened the hardness of this rigor into an affection for obeying, except he who is able out of stones to raise up sons to Abraham (Matth.3,9)? And who will give to those preaching [86B] an intrepid and unharmed constancy, except he who said to Paul, Do not fear, but speak, and do not be silent; for which reason I am with you, and no one shall set himself upon you to harm you, because I have many people in this city (Act.18,9)? But I think that no one would dare to say that any nation of the world, any region of the earth, is to be passed over, in which the tabernacles of the Church are not to be dilated, God saying to the Son, Ask of me, and I will give to you the nations as your inheritance, and as your possession the ends of the earth (Psal.2,8); and again, All the ends of the earth will remember and be converted to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will adore in his sight (Psal.21,28): the Lord himself also saying, This Gospel will be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, [86C] and then the end will come (Matth. 24,14). Therefore whichever nations have not yet heard will hear the Gospel, and as many of them as were preordained to eternal life will believe (Act.13,48). For no others will come into the consortium of the inheritance of Christ than those who before the foundation of the world were elected, and predestined and foreknown, according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephes.1,11).

CAP. XVI.

CHAPTER 16.

[17] Confiteamur igitur opera Domini, et glorificemus misericordias ejus, nec impatienter feramus quod quae aut quanta sint electionis vasa non novimus. Quia et in anterioribus saeculis, quando de unius gentis populo dicebatur, Notus in Judaea Deus, in Israel magnum nomen ejus(Psal.lxxv,2); futura gentium latebat electio; et postmodum [86D] innotuit quod revelatum ante non fuerat: sicut dicit Apostolus,Quod aliis generationibus non est agnitum filiis hominum, sicut nunc revelatum est sanctis apostolis ejus et prophetis in Spiritu, esse gentes cohaeredes, et concorporales, et comparticipes promissionis in Christo Jesu (Ephes.i,11). Et in Actibus apostolorum, Obstupuerunt,inquit, ex circumcisione fideles qui venerant cum Petro, quia et in nationes gratia Spiritus sancti effusa est (Act.x,45). Si enim [87A]hoc consilium vocationis suae Dominus, quamdiu voluit, abscondit ac distulit, et quando voluit, revelavit, sanctisque ejus ignorantia ista non nocuit, cur spei nostrae obesse credimus, si in quo numero quibusve hominibus vasa misericordiae in gloriam praeparantur, occulitur? cum tamen constet regnum coelorum omnes ingressuros bonos, hoc eis donante Dei gratia, et nullos ingressuros malos, hoc ipsorum merente nequitia.

[17] Therefore let us confess the works of the Lord, and let us glorify his mercies, nor let us bear impatiently that we do not know which or how many are the vessels of election. For even in former ages, when it was said of the people of one nation, Known in Judaea is God, in Israel great is his name (Psal.75,2), the future election of the nations was lying hidden; and afterwards [86D] it became known what previously had not been revealed: as the Apostle says, What in other generations was not recognized by the sons of men, as now it has been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit, that the nations are co-heirs, and co-corporeal, and co-participants of the promise in Christ Jesus (Ephes.1,11). And in the Acts of the Apostles: They were astonished, he says, the believers from the circumcision who had come with Peter, because even upon the nations the grace of the Holy Spirit had been poured out (Act.10,45). For if [87A] the Lord hid and deferred this counsel of his calling as long as he willed, and when he willed revealed it, and this ignorance did not harm his saints, why do we believe it harms our hope if it is hidden in what number and to which men the vessels of mercy are prepared for glory? while nevertheless it is agreed that all the good will enter the kingdom of heaven, this being granted to them by the grace of God, and that none of the evil will enter, this being merited by their own iniquity.

CAP. XVII.

CHAPTER 17.

[18] Nimium vero inepte, nimiumque inconsiderate ab adversantibus dicitur quod per hanc Dei gratiam libero nihil relinquatur arbitrio. Quamvis enim in parvulis baptismum transeuntibus, manifestissime nullum opus nullusque appetitus eorum voluntatis existat, et plerosque utentes quidem [87B] libero arbitrio, sed aversos a vero Deo, vitamque in flagitiis exigentes liberatrix regeneratio in ipso exhalandi spiritus fine sanctificet, tamen si eam filiorum Dei partem quae ad pietatis opera reservatur, pio consideremus intuitu, nonne in eis non peremptum inveniemus liberum arbitrium, sed renatum? Quod utique cum solum esset, sibique permissum, non nisi in suam perniciem movebatur.

[18] Far too ineptly, and far too inconsiderately, it is said by the adversaries that through this grace of God nothing is left to free will. For although in little ones undergoing baptism there most manifestly exists no work and no appetite of their will, and although for many who indeed are using [87B] free will, but are turned away from the true God and spending their life in flagitious deeds, the liberating regeneration sanctifies them at the very point of exhaling the spirit, nevertheless, if we consider with a pious gaze that portion of the sons of God which is reserved for works of piety, do we not find in them free will not destroyed, but reborn? Which, assuredly, when it was alone and left to itself, was moved to nothing except its own ruin.

Ipsum enim se excaecaverat, et ipsum se illuminare non poterat. Nunc autem idem arbitrium conversum est, non eversum, et donatum est ei aliter velle, aliter sapere, aliter agere, et incolumitatem suam non in se, sed in medico collocare: quia necdum tam perfecte utitur sanitate ut ea, quae ei nocuerant, nequeant jam nocere, aut ab insalubribus possit jam viribus [87C] suis temperare. Proinde homo qui in libero arbitrio fuit malus, in ipso libero arbitrio factus est bonus; sed per se malus, per Deum bonus; qui eum ita in illum initialem honorem alio initio reformavit, ut ei non solum culpam malae voluntatis et actionis remitteret, sed etiam bene velle, bene agere, atque in his permanere donaret.

For he had blinded himself, and he could not illumine himself. Now, however, the same free arbitrium has been converted, not overturned, and it has been granted to it to will otherwise, to be wise otherwise, to act otherwise, and to place its incolumity not in itself, but in the medic: because it does not yet use health so perfectly that the things which had harmed it can now no longer harm, or be able already by its own powers to temper itself away from insalubrious things [87C]. Accordingly, the man who in free will was evil, in that very free will has been made good; but evil by himself, good by God; who has thus re-formed him into that initial honor by another beginning, so that he not only remitted to him the culpability of an evil will and action, but also granted to will well, to do well, and to remain in these.

Omne enim,inquit apostolus Jacobus, datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum (Jacob. i,17). Qui quale sit liberum arbitrium quod humano spiritu agitur, et quale sit quod a Deo regitur, evidenter ostendit, dicens, Quod si zelum amarum habetis, et contentiones in cordibus vestris, nolite gloriari adversum veritatem, et mendaces esse; non est ista sapientia desursum descendens, sed terrena,[87D]animalis, diabolica. Ubi enim zelus et contentio, ibi inconstantia et omne opus pravum.

For every good gift, says the apostle James, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (James 1:17). He clearly shows what sort of free will it is that is actuated by the human spirit, and what sort it is that is governed by God, saying, But if you have bitter zeal and contentions in your hearts, do not glory against the truth and be mendacious; this is not wisdom descending from above, but earthly,[87D]animal, diabolical. For where zeal and contention are, there is inconstancy and every depraved work.

Quae autem desursum[88A]est sapientia, primum quidem pudica est, deinde pacifica, modesta, suadibilis, plena misericordia et fructibus bonis, non dijudicans, sine simulatione(Jacob,iii,14, etc.). Quicumque ergo his virtutibus student atque inhaerent, non sua, sed superna sapientia illustrati sunt: Quoniam Dominus dat sapientiam, et a facie ejus scientia et intellectus(Prov.i,6). Et haec eorum verissima gloria est, si non in se, sed in Domino gloriantur.

But the wisdom which is from above[88A] is first indeed chaste, then pacific, modest, persuadable, full of mercy and good fruits, not judging, without hypocrisy(Jacob,3,14, etc.). Whoever therefore are devoted to and cleave to these virtues are illuminated not by their own, but by supernal wisdom: For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his face are knowledge and understanding(Prov.1,6). And this is their most true glory, if they glory not in themselves, but in the Lord.

CAP. XVIII.

CHAPTER 18.

[19] Ea autem quae de fato et de duabus massis duabusque naturis, stultissimo mendacio, in tanti viri injuriam jactitantur, neque ipsum quidem onerant, in cujus libris copiosissime hujusmodi destruuntur errores; nec nos perturbant, qui tales opiniones cum suis auctoribus exsecramur [88B] (Vide Aug. lib. ii contra duas epist.

[19] But those things which, about fate and about two masses and two natures, with a most foolish mendacity, to the injury of so great a man, are bandied about, do not burden him either, in whose books errors of this kind are most copiously destroyed; nor do they perturb us, who execrate such opinions together with their authors [88B] (See Aug. book 2 against the two letters.

Pelag. c. 6 et 7, ac lib. iv contra Julian, c. 8, infra append.

Pelagius, ch. 6 and 7, and also book 4 Against Julian, ch. 8, below in the appendix.

parte ii). Sed videant quomodo se a dedecore istius exuant falsitatis, qui possunt tam inepta confingere, si hi quorum abutuntur auribus, aliquantulum diligentiae ad cognoscenda ea quae praestantissimus minister gratiae disputavit, intenderint: licet omnem istius inquisitionis moram ipsi, qui haec loquuntur, praevenire deberent, proferendo atque explicando libros, ullamve eorum particulam demonstrando, quam per dubium saltem intellectum tali interpretationi obnoxium vir sanctus ediderit. Sed prorsus nihil tale apud nos audierunt, nihil tale legerunt: quia non fato quidquam geri, sed omnia Dei judicio novimus ordinari, nec ex duabus massis duabusve [88C] naturis, sed ex una massa, quae est caro primi hominis, unam scimus omnium hominum creatam crearique naturam, et eamdem per ipsius primi hominis liberum arbitrium, in quo omnes peccaverunt(Rom. v,22), esse prostratam; nec ullo modo ab aeternae mortis debito liberam, nisi eam ad imaginem Dei secundae creationis Christi gratia reformaverit, liberumque ejus arbitrium agendo, aspirando, auxiliando, et usque in finem praeeundo servaverit.

part 2). But let them see how they who can fabricate such inept things may strip themselves of the disgrace of that falsehood, if those whose ears they abuse will apply a little diligence to learning those things which the most excellent minister of grace has argued: although they themselves, who say these things, ought to forestall all delay of this inquiry by producing and explaining the books, or by pointing out any fragment of them in which, at least through a doubtful understanding, the holy man has published something liable to such an interpretation. But they have absolutely heard nothing of the sort from us, read nothing of the sort: because we know that nothing is done by fate, but that all things are ordered by the judgment of God; and not from two lumps or two [88C] natures, but from one lump, which is the flesh of the first man, we know one nature of all human beings to have been created and to be created; and that same nature has been laid low by the free will of the first man himself, in whom all sinned(Rom. 5,22); and that it is in no way free from the debt of eternal death, unless the grace of Christ of the second creation shall have refashioned it to the image of God, and shall have preserved its free will by acting, by breathing upon, by assisting, and by going before even unto the end.

EPILOGUS.

EPILOGUE.

[17] Unde quia perspicit sanctitas tua (si tamen sermonis mei non obsistit obscuritas) frustra quosdam de nobis conqueri, et omnes illas ineptas criminationes, ad exasperandos avertendosque animos eorum quibus aliud volunt persuadere, contexi: [88D] confide ergo in virtute misericordiae Dei, quoniam haec contradictio, sicut in aliis mundi partibus, [89A] ita et in his regionibus conquiescet: ut praedicatio summi hoc tempore in Ecclesia viri, etiam ab his a quibus ad praesens repellitur, adjuvetur. Tu autem, dilectissime et venerandissime mihi frater, si vere de his quaestionibus instrui desideras, sicut desiderare te convenit, ipsis beati Augustini [90A] disputationibus cognoscendis impende curam, ut in confitenda Dei gratia defaecatissimam ac saluberrimam evangelicae apostolicaeque doctrinae intelligentiam consequaris. Gratia Dei et pax Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat te in omni tempore, et per viam veritatis dirigat in vitam aeternam.

[17] Whence, because your sanctity perceives (if, however, the obscurity of my discourse does not obstruct it) that certain persons complain about us in vain, and that all those inept criminationes, to exasperate and to turn away the minds of those whom they wish to persuade to something else, are being woven together: [88D] trust therefore in the virtue of the mercy of God, since this contradiction, as in other parts of the world, [89A] so also in these regions will come to rest: so that the preaching of the greatest man in the Church at this time may be aided even by those by whom at present it is repelled. But you, my most beloved and most venerable brother, if you truly desire to be instructed concerning these questions, as it befits you to desire, expend care on getting to know the disputationes of blessed Augustine himself [90A], that in confessing the grace of God you may attain the most clarified and most healthful understanding of evangelical and apostolic doctrine. May the grace of God and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you at every time, and direct you by the way of truth into eternal life.