De Vocatione Omnium Gentium
Prosper of Aquitaine (390–463)
First published 1846
*De Vocatione Omnium Gentium* is a theological treatise devoted to the difficult relationship between divine grace, human freedom, election, and God’s will that all men should be saved. Beginning from the controversy over whether the primacy of grace abolishes free will, the work argues that grace does not destroy human volition but heals, directs, and perfects it, while every genuinely salvific good ultimately originates in God. Through sustained engagement with Scripture, it examines the meaning of universal biblical expressions concerning salvation, the distinction between general and special gifts of grace, the mysterious diversity of God’s dealings with peoples and individuals, and the gradual calling of the nations into the Church. Particular attention is given to the history of salvation, from the earliest ages and Israel’s election to the worldwide preaching of the Gospel, while repeatedly insisting that the hidden reasons for divine election and the differing times of vocation remain beyond human scrutiny. The result is a careful attempt to uphold simultaneously the universality of God’s saving goodness, the necessity and gratuity of grace, human responsibility, and reverence before the inscrutable judgments of divine providence.
Liber I: Liber Primus
Caput I: Materiam hoc libro tractandam proponit, ostenditque non recte sentire eos qui praedicatione gratiae liberum negari arbitrium contendunt
Caput II: Omni animae humanae naturaliter inesse qualemcumque voluntatem, quae aut sensualis, aut animalis, aut spiritalis est
Caput III: De voluntate sensuali
Sensualis igitur voluntas, quam et carnalem possumus dicere, non erigitur supra eum motum qui de corporis sensibus nascitur, qualis est in animis parvalorum: qui licet nullo iudicio rationis utantur, ostendunt tamen aliquid se velle, aliquid nolle, cum videndo, audiendo, odorando, gustando, tangendo, et ea quibus delectantur amant, et ea quibus offenduntur oderunt. Quid autem est amare, nisi velle? aut quid est odisse, nisi nolle? Habent ergo etiam ipsi voluntatem suam, quae etsi providendi et consulendi impos atque ignara sit, in his tamen amat agere quae carnis sensibus blandiuntur, donec vigor rationalis ingenii per maturiora ministeria corporis excitetur, et ad famulantium sibi membrorum usum, non alieno nutu, sed sua lege moveatur.