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Ch 2. God commonly gives to all the
Just the grace necessary for the observance of the Commandments
and to all sinners the grace necessary for conversion
1. Proofs
If then God wills all to be saved, it follows that He gives to all
that grace and those aids which are necessary for the attainment
of salvation, otherwise it could never be said that He has a
true will to save all. "The effect of the antecedent will," says
St. Thomas, "by which God wills the salvation of all men, is
that order of nature the purpose of which is our salvation, and
likewise those things which conduce to that end, and which are
offered to all in common, whether by nature or by grace." [In 1
Sent. d. 46, q. 1, a. 1]
It is certain, in contradiction to the blasphemies of Luther and
Calvin, that God does not impose a law that is impossible to be
observed. On the other hand, it is certain, that without the
assistance of grace the observance of the law is impossible; as
Innocent I declared against the Pelagians when he said, "It is
certain, that as we overcome by the aid of God, so without His
aid we must be overcome." Pope Celestine declared the same
thing.
Therefore, if God gives to all men a possible law, it follows that
He also gives to all men the grace necessary to observe it,
whether immediately, or mediately, by means of prayer, as God
gives Grace for Salvation.
The Council of Trent has most clearly defined: "God does not
command impossibilities; but by commanding He admonishes you
both to do what you can, and to ask for that which is beyond
your power, and by His help enables you to do it." [Sess. 6,
Cap. 11] Otherwise, if God refused us both the proximate and
remote grace to enable us to fulfill the law, either the law
would have been given in vain, or sin would be necessary, and if
necessary would be no longer sin, as we shall shortly prove at
some length.
1. Teaching of the Fathers of the Greek
Church
And this is the general opinion of the Greek Fathers:
St. Cyril of Alexandria says: "But if a man endowed as others,
and equally with them, with the gifts of Divine grace, has
fallen by his own free will, how shall Christ be said not to
have saved even him, since he delivered the man and gave him the
necessary aid to avoid sin." How, says the Saint, can that
sinner, who has received the assistance of grace equally with
those who remained faithful, and has of his own accord chosen to
sin, how can he blame Jesus Christ, Who has, as far as He is
concerned, delivered him by means of the assistance granted to
him?
St. John Chrysostom asks: "How is it that some are vessels of
wrath, others vessels of mercy?" And he answers, "Because of
each person's free will; for, since God is very good, He
manifests equal kindness to all." Then, speaking of Pharaoh,
whose heart is said in Scripture to have been hardened, he adds,
"If Pharaoh was not saved, it must all be attributed to his
will, since no less was given to him than to those who were
saved." And in another place, speaking of the petition of the
mother of Zebedee's sons, on the words, "It is not mine to give,
etc.," [Matt. 20: 23] he observes: "By this Christ wished to
show that it was not simply His to give, but that it also
belonged to the combatants to take; for if it depended only on
Himself, all men would be saved."
St. Isidore of Pelusium: For God wills seriously, and in all
ways, to assist those who are wallowing in vice, that He may
deprive them of all excuse."
St. Cyril of Jerusalem: "God has opened the gate of eternal life,
so that, as far as He is concerned, all may gain it without
anything to hinder them."
But the doctrine of these Greek Fathers does not suit Jansenius,
who has the temerity to say that they have spoken most
imperfectly on grace: "None have spoken in grace more
imperfectly than the Greeks." In matters of grace, then, are we
not to follow the teaching of the Greek Fathers, who were the
first masters and columns of the Church? Perhaps the doctrine of
the Greeks, especially in this important matter, was different
from that of the Latin Church?
On the contrary, it is certain that the true doctrine of faith
came from the Greek to the Latin Church; so that, as St.
Augustine wrote against Julian, who opposed to him the authority
of the Greek Fathers, there can be no doubt that the faith of
the Latins is the same as that of the Greeks. Whom, then, are we
to follow? Shall we follow Jansenius, whose errors have already
been condemned as heretical by the Church; who had the audacity
to say that even the just have not the grace requisite to enable
them to keep certain precepts; and that man merits and demerits,
even though he acts through necessity, provided he is not forced
by violence; these are all his other errors springing from his
most false system of "the delectation relatively victorious",
of which we shall speak at length when we confute him in
Chapter3.
2. Teaching of the Fathers of the Latin
Church
But since the Greek fathers do not satisfy Jansenius, let us see
what the Latins say on this subject. But they in no wise differ
from the Greeks.
St. Jerome says, "Man can do no good work without God, Who, in
giving free will, did not refuse His grace to aid every single
work." Mark the words "did not refuse His grace for every single
work."
St. Ambrose: "He would never come and knock at the door, unless
He wished to enter; it is our fault that He does not always
enter."
St. Leo: "Justly does He insist on the command, since He furnishes
beforehand aid to keep it."
St. Hilary: "Now the grace of justification has abounded through
one gift to all men."
Innocent I: "He gives to man daily remedies; and unless we put
confidence in them and depend upon them, we shall never be able
to overcome human errors."
St. Augustine: "It is not imputed to you as a sin if you are
ignorant against your will, but if you neglect to learn that of
which you are ignorant. Nor is it imputed as a sin that you do
not bind up your wounded limbs, but [mark these words] that you
despise Him Who is willing to cure you. These are your own sins;
for no man is deprived of the knowledge of how to seek with
benefit to himself."
In another place: "Therefore if the soul is
ignorant what it is to do, it proceeds from this, that it has
not yet learned; but it will receive this knowledge if it has
made a good use of what it has already received; for it has
received in this that it can piously and diligently seek, if it
will;" [mark the words] "it has received power to seek piously
and diligently."
So that every one receives at least the remote grace to seek;
and if he makes good use of this, he will receive the proximate
grace to perform that which at first he could not do. St.
Augustine founds all this on the principle, that no man sins in
doing that which he cannot help; therefore, if a man sins in
anything, he sins in that he might have avoided it by the grace
of God, which is wanting to no man: "Who sins in that which
cannot in any way be helped? But a man does sin, therefore it
might have been helped." "But only by His aid, Who cannot be
deceived." An evident reason, by which it becomes quite clear .
. . [that when we speak of the sin of the obstinate], that if
the grace necessary to observe the Commandments were wanting,
there would be no sin.
St. Thomas teaches the same in several places. In one place, in
explaining the text, "Who wills all men to be saved," [1 Tim. 2:
4] he says, "and therefore grace is wanting to no man, but [as
far as God is concerned] is communicated to all; as the sun is
present even to the blind." So that as the sun sheds its light
upon all, and only those are deprived of it who voluntarily
blind themselves to its rays, so God communicates to all men
grace to observe the law; and men are lost simply because they
will not avail themselves of it.
In another place: "It belongs to Divine Providence to provide all
men with what is necessary to salvation, if only there be no
impediment on man's part." [De Ver. q. 14, a. 2] If, then, God
gives all men the graces necessary for salvation, and if actual
grace is necessary to overcome temptations, and to observe the
Commandments, we must necessarily conclude that He gives all men
either immediately or mediately actual grace to do good; and
when mediately, no further grace is necessary to enable them to
put in practice the means [such as prayer] of obtaining actual
proximate grace.
In another place, on the words of St. John's Gospel, "No man
cometh to Me", etc., he says, "If the heart of man be not lifted
up, it is from no defect on the part of Him Who draws it, who as
far as He is concerned, never fails; but from an impediment
caused by him who is being drawn."
Scotus says the same: "God wills to save all men, so far as rests
with Him, and with His antecedent will, by which He has given
them the ordinary gifts necessary to salvation." The Council of
Cologne in 1536: "Although no one is converted except he is
drawn by the Father, yet let no one pretend to excuse himself on
the plea of not being drawn. He stands at the gate, and knocks
by the internal and the external Word."
3. Testimony of holy Scripture
Nor did the Fathers speak without warrant of the Holy Scriptures;
for God in several places most clearly assures us that He does
not neglect to assist us with His grace, if we are willing to
avail ourselves of it either for perseverance, if we are in a
state of justification, or for conversion, if we are in sin.
"I stand at the gate and knock; if any man shall hear My voice
and open to Me the gate, I will come in to him." [Apoc. 3: 20]
Bellarmine reasons well on this text, that our Lord Who knows
that man cannot open without His grace, would knock in vain at
the door of his heart, unless He had first conferred on him the
grace to open when he will.
This is exactly what St. Thomas teaches in explaining the text; he
says that God gives every one the grace necessary for salvation,
that he may correspond to it if he will: "God by His most
liberal will gives grace to every one that prepares himself:
Behold I stand at the door and knock. And therefore the grace of
God is wanting to no one, but communicates itself to all men, as
far as it is concerned."
In another place he says, "It is the business of God's Providence
to provide every one with what is necessary to salvation." So
that as St. Ambrose says: "The Lord knocks at the gate, because
He truly wishes to enter; if He does not enter, or if after
entering He does not remain in our souls, it is because we
prevent Him from entering, or drive Him out when He has entered:
Because He comes and knocks at the door, He always wishes to
enter; but it is through us that He does not always go in, nor
always remain."
"What is there that I ought to do more to My vineyard that I
have not done to it? Was it that I expected that it should bring
forth grapes, and it hath brought forth wild grapes?" [Is. 5: 4]
Bellarmine says on these words, "If He had not given the power
to bring forth grapes, how could God say, "expected?" and if God
had not given to all men the grace necessary for salvation, He
could not have said to the Jews, 'What is there that I ought to
have done more?" For they could have answered, that if they had
not yielded fruit, it was for lack of necessary assistance.
Bellarmine says the same on the words of our Lord: "How often
would I have gathered together thy children, and thou wouldst
not?" [Matt. 23: 37] "How did He wish to be sought for by the
unwilling unless He helps them that they may be able to be
willing?"
"We have received Thy mercy, O God, in the midst of Thy temple."
[Ps. 47: 10] On this St. Bernard observes: "Mercy is in the
midst of the temple, not in any hole and corner, because there
is no acceptance of persons with God; it is placed in public, it
is offered to all, and no one is without it, except he who
refuses it."
"Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness? Knowest thou not
that the benignity of God leadeth thee to penance?" [Rom. 2: 4]
You see that it is through his own malice that the sinner is not
converted, because he despises the riches of the Divine goodness
which calls him, and never ceases to move him to conversion by
His grace.
God hates sin; but at the same time never ceases to love the
sinful soul while it remains on earth, and always gives it the
assistance it requires for salvation: "But Thou sparest all,
because they are Thine, O Lord, Who lovest souls." [Wisd. 11:
27]
Hence we see, says Bellarmine, that God does not refuse grace to
resist temptations to any sinner, however obstinate and blinded
he may be: "Assistance to avoid new sin is always at hand for
all men, either immediately or mediately [i.e., by means of
prayer], so that they may ask further aid from God, by the help
of which they will avoid sin."
Here-----we may quote what God says by Ezechiel: "As I live, saith
the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the
wicked turn from his way and live." [Ezek. 33: 11] St. Peter
says the same: "He beareth patiently for your sakes, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should return to penance."
[2 Peter 3: 9]
If, therefore, God wishes that all should actually be converted,
it must necessarily be held that He gives to all the grace which
they need for actual conversion.
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