Part 10 (1/2)
There are some Scriptural pa.s.sages which seem to imply that G.o.d withdraws His grace from those who are obdurate, nay, that He Himself hardens their hearts in punishment of sin. Thus the Lord says of Pharao: ”I shall harden his heart,”(536) and Moses tells us: ”The Lord hardened Pharao's heart, and he harkened not unto them.”(537) But it would be wrong to a.s.sume that this denotes a positive action on the part of G.o.d. Pharao, as we are told further on, ”hardened his own heart” (_ingravavit cor suum_).(538) The fault in all cases lies with the sinner, who obstinately resists the call of grace. G.o.d's co-operation in the matter is merely indirect. The greater and stronger graces which He grants to ordinary sinners, He withholds from the obdurate in punishment of their malice. This is, however, by no means tantamount to a withdrawal of sufficient grace.(539)
b) The Fathers speak of G.o.d's way of dealing with obdurate sinners in a manner which clearly shows their belief that He never entirely withdraws His mercy. They insist that the light of grace is never extinguished in the present life. ”G.o.d gave them over to a reprobate mind,” says St.
Augustine, ”for such is the blindness of the mind. Whosoever is given over thereunto, is shut out from the interior light of G.o.d: but not wholly as yet, whilst he is in this life. For there is 'outer darkness,' which is understood to belong rather to the day of judgment; that he should rather be wholly without G.o.d, whosoever, whilst there is time, refuses correction.”(540)
It follows that no sinner, how desperate soever his case may appear, need be despaired of. As long as there is life there is hope.(541) The Fathers consistently teach that the reason why reprobates are lost is not lack of grace but their own malice. Thus St. Chrysostom comments on Isaias'
prophecy regarding the impenitence of the Jews: ”The reason they did not believe was not that Isaias had predicted their unbelief, but his prediction was based on the fact that they would not believe. They were unable to believe, _i.e._ they had not the will to believe.”(542)
c) The theological argument for our thesis is well stated by St. Thomas.
He distinguishes between _obstinatio perfecta_ and _obstinatio imperfecta_ and says: Perfect obstinacy exists only in h.e.l.l. Imperfect obstinacy is that of a sinner who has his will so firmly set on evil that he is incapable of any but the faintest impulses towards virtue, though even these are sufficient to prepare the way for grace.(543) ”If any one falls into sin after having received Baptism,” says the Fourth Lateran Council, ”he can always be restored by sincere penance.”(544) As the power of the keys comprises all sins, even those against the Holy Ghost, so divine grace is held out to all sinners. The Montanistic doctrine of the unforgivableness of the ”three capital sins” (apostasy, murder, and adultery) was already condemned as heretical during the life-time of Tertullian. The sinner can obtain forgiveness only by receiving the sacrament of Penance or making an act of perfect contrition.(545) Justly, therefore, does the Church regard despair of G.o.d's mercy as an additional grievous sin. If the rigorists were right in a.s.serting that G.o.d in the end absolutely abandons the sinner, there could be no hope of forgiveness, and despair would be justified.
*Thesis III: The heathens, too, receive sufficient graces for salvation.*
This proposition may be qualified as _certa_.
Proof. The ”heathens” are those whom the Gospel has not yet reached. They are called _infideles negativi_ in contradistinction to the _infideles positivi_, _i.e._ apostates and formal heretics who have fallen away from the faith. We a.s.sert that G.o.d gives to the heathens sufficient grace to know the truth and be saved. Pope Alexander VIII, on December 7, 1690, condemned Arnauld's Jansenistic proposition that ”pagans, Jews, heretics, and others of the same kind experience no influence whatever from Christ, and it may therefore be rightly inferred that there is in them a nude and helpless will, lacking sufficient grace.”(546) A proposition of similar import, set up by Quesnel, was censured by Clement XI.(547) Though not formally defined, it is a certain truth-deducible from the infallible teaching of the Church-that G.o.d does not permit any one to perish for want of grace.
a) The Biblical argument for our thesis is based on the dogma that G.o.d wills all men to be saved. 1 Tim. II, 4: ”[G.o.d] will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth [_i.e._ the true faith].”
In speaking of the ”day of wrath,” St. Paul emphasizes the fact that the Almighty Judge ”will render to every man according to his works,”-eternal life to the good, wrath and d.a.m.nation to the wicked.(548) And he continues: ”But glory, and honor, and peace to every one that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek; for there is no respect of persons with G.o.d.”(549) ”Greek” is here evidently synonymous with gentile or heathen. It follows that the heathens are able to perform supernatural salutary acts with the aid of grace, and that they will receive the reward of eternal beat.i.tude if they lead a good life.
In another pa.s.sage (1 Tim. IV, 10) the Apostle calls Christ ”the Saviour of all men, especially of the faithful.”(550) Consequently, Christ is the Saviour also of unbelievers and heathens.(551)
b) St. Paul's teaching is faithfully echoed by the Fathers. Thus St.
Clement of Rome,(552) in commenting on the penitential sermons of Noe and the prophet Jonas, says: ”We may roam through all the ages of history and learn that the Lord in all generations(553) gave opportunity for penance to all who wished to be converted, ... even though they were strangers to him.”(554)
St. Chrysostom says in explanation of John I, 9: ”If He enlightens every man that comes into this world, how is it that so many are without light?
For not all know Christ. Most a.s.suredly He illumines, so far as He is concerned.... For grace is poured out over all. It flees or despises no one, be he Jew, Greek, barbarian or Scythian, freedman or slave, man or woman, old or young. It is the same for all, easily attainable by all, it calls upon all with equal regard. As for those who neglect to make use of this gift, they should ascribe their blindness to themselves.”(555)
Similar expressions can be culled from the anonymous work _De Vocatione Omnium Gentium_(556) and from the writings of SS. Prosper and Fulgentius, and especially from those of Orosius, who says that grace is given to all men, including the heathen, without exception and at all times.(557)
c) Catholic theologians have devoted considerable thought to the question how G.o.d provides for the salvation of the heathen.
To the uncivilized tribes may be applied what has been said regarding the fate of unbaptized infants. The real problem is: How does the merciful Creator provide for those who are sufficiently intelligent to be able to speculate on G.o.d, the soul, the future destiny of man, etc.? Holy Scripture teaches: ”Without faith it is impossible to please G.o.d, for he that cometh to G.o.d must believe that he is, and is a rewarder to them that seek him.”(558) Faith here means, not any kind of religious belief, but that theological faith which the Tridentine Council calls ”the beginning, the foundation, and the root of all justification.”(559) Mere intellectual a.s.sent to the existence of G.o.d, immortality, and retribution would not be sufficient for salvation, even if elevated to the supernatural sphere and transfigured by grace. This is evident from the condemnation, by Pope Innocent XI, of the proposition that ”Faith in a wide sense, based on the testimony of the created universe, or some other similar motive, is sufficient unto justification.”(560) The only sort of faith that results in justification, according to the Vatican Council, is ”a supernatural virtue, whereby, inspired and a.s.sisted by the grace of G.o.d, we believe that the things which He has revealed are true; not because of the intrinsic truth of the things, viewed by the natural light of reason, but because of the authority of G.o.d Himself, who reveals them, and who can neither be deceived nor deceive.”(561) Of special importance is the following declaration by the same Council: ”Since without faith it is impossible to please G.o.d and to attain to the fellows.h.i.+p of His children, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification....”(562)
The Catechism demands of every one who desires to be saved that he have a supernatural belief in six distinct truths: the existence of G.o.d, retribution in the next world, the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnation, the immortality of the soul, and the necessity of grace. The first two are certainly necessary for salvation, both _fide explicita_ and _necessitate medii_. With regard to the other four there is a difference of opinion among theologians. We base our argumentation on the stricter, though not absolutely certain view, that all six articles must be believed _necessitate medii_. On this basis G.o.d's method of providing sufficient graces for the heathen may be explained in one of two ways, according as a _fides explicita_ is demanded from them with regard to all the above-mentioned dogmas, or a _fides implicita_ is deemed sufficient in regard to all but the first two. By _fides explicita_ we understand the express and fully developed faith of devout Christians; by _fides implicita_, an undeveloped belief of desire or, in other words, general readiness to believe whatever G.o.d has revealed.
a) The defenders of the _fides explicita_ theory are compelled to a.s.sume that G.o.d must somehow reveal to each individual heathen who lives according to the dictates of his conscience, the six truths necessary for salvation. ”Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”(563)
But how can the gentiles believe in a revelation that has never been preached to them? Here is an undeniable difficulty. Some theologians say: G.o.d enlightens them interiorly about the truths necessary for salvation; or He miraculously sends them an apostle, as He sent St. Peter to Cornelius;(564) or He instructs them through the agency of an angel.(565) None of these hypotheses can be accepted as satisfactory. ”Interior illumination” of the kind postulated would practically amount to private revelation. That G.o.d should grant a special private revelation to every conscientious pagan is highly improbable. Again, an angel can no more be the _ordinary_ means of conversion than the miraculous apparition of a missionary. Nevertheless, these three hypotheses admirably ill.u.s.trate the firm belief of the Church in the universality of G.o.d's saving will, inasmuch as they express the conviction of her theologians that He would work a miracle rather than deny His grace to the poor benighted heathen.(566) The difficulties to which we have adverted const.i.tute a strong argument in favor of another theological theory which regards explicit belief in the Trinity and the Incarnation merely as a _necessitas praecepti_, from which one may be dispensed.
) The _fides implicita_ theory is far more plausible, for it postulates no miracles, implicit faith (or _fides in voto_) being independent of the external preaching of the Gospel, just as the baptism of desire (_baptismus in voto_) is independent of the use of water.
Cardinal Gotti regards the first-mentioned of the two theories as safer (_tutior_), but admits that the other is highly probable, because it has the support of St. Thomas.(567) However, a great difficulty remains.
Though it may suffice to hold the dogmas of the Trinity and the Incarnation, and _a fortiori_ those of the immortality of the soul and the necessity of grace, with an implicit faith, it is the consentient teaching of Revelation, the Church, and Catholic divines that the two princ.i.p.al truths of religion, _viz._: the existence of G.o.d and retribution, must be held _fide explicita_ and _necessitate medii_, because a man cannot be converted to G.o.d unless He knows Him. But how is he to acquire a knowledge of G.o.d? Does this not also necessitate a miracle (_e.g._ the sending of an angel or of a missionary, which we have rejected as improbable)? There can be but one answer to this question. Unaided reason may convince a thoughtful pagan of the existence of G.o.d and of divine retribution, and as these two fundamental truths have no doubt penetrated to the farthest corners of the earth also as remnants of primitive revelation, their promulgation may be said to be contained in the traditional instruction which the heathen receive from their forebears. This external factor of Divine Revelation, a.s.sisted by interior grace, may engender a supernatural act of faith, which implicitly includes belief in Christ, Baptism, etc., and through which the heathen are eventually cleansed from sin and attain to justification.(568)