ON THE POWER OF THE NEW LAW.

S. Th. I-II, q. 108 ; q. 106, a. 1, ad 1 ; a. 4.

319. The new law must order exterior acts (q. 108, a. 1 and 2). — For although it is principally the grace of the Holy Spirit, it is nevertheless fitting that it hand down certain precepts not only about interior acts, but also about exterior ones, so that it may be a true law (Mt. V, 17 ; XXVII, 20 ; C. Trid. sess. 6 can. 19, 20 and 21). And indeed it contains :

1. Some ceremonial [precepts] about sacraments, for the very reception of grace (e.g. John III, 5) : for we have grace through the Son of God made visibly man, whence grace flowing from the incarnate and visible Word into us must be brought to us through visible signs, which are the sacraments and sacrifice ;

2. Also moral precepts about the acts of the virtues, both internal and external, which dispose to grace or pertain to its use :

a) precepts about the acts which are necessary as a disposition for the reception and preservation of grace, whether as to the intellect, such as the knowledge of the principles of the truths of faith or of the preambles about the manifestation of the divinity and humanity of Christ ; or as to the affection, namely those things which pertain to contempt of the world without which man is not capable of the Holy Spirit (John XIV, 17) ;

b) precepts about the acts which are necessary for the right use of grace, not only about interior ones which are grace itself and charity internally ordering us to God and neighbor ; but also about external ones which are produced by the instinct of grace : for grace is operative through charity, and therefore it must also manifest itself through external works (Eph. V, 8 ; John XII, 36 ; Mt. X, 13), of which some have a necessary convenience with or contrariety to grace, and these are prescribed or forbidden, e.g. confession and denial of faith (Mk. XVI, 16 ; Mt. X, 32 ; XXV 19, 20 ; John XVI, 9) and several others handed down in Mt. V, 22 sq.

3. Other works however which are not necessary for grace, are not precepts : if they regard the individual they are left to his liberty ; if they regard the common utility they are left to temporal and spiritual superiors. And therefore besides the moral and sacramental precepts, no other ceremonial or judicial precepts are given, but are left to the Church.

Hence, in distinction from the old law, which is called the law of servitude, the new law is called the law of liberty, not only a) because by it we are freed from the servitude of sin (Rom. VI, 18), but also b) because the new [law] obliges only to those things which are necessary to be done for salvation or avoided as contrary to it, and leaves other things to liberty, and is not like the old, which determined many ceremonial and judicial [precepts] and left only a few to the choice of men (Acts XV, 1 ; Gal. V, 1) ; c) because it makes us freely fulfill these precepts, not by fear and a servile spirit, but inasmuch as by the interior instinct of grace and love we willingly fulfill them.

320. The new law conveniently orders interior acts, so that men may be totally subject to God (q. 108, a. 3). — For Christ in the sermon which he had on the mount, 1° promised blessedness for various excellent works ; 2° ordered the interior acts of man as to himself : a) about the means, that we abstain not only from external evil works but also from interior ones and from the occasions of evils ; b) about the end, that we not place it in human glory, or riches, or pleasures ; whence he proposes three contrary good works : prayer, almsgiving, and fasting ; 3° ordered the interior acts of man as to his neighbor, that we not judge rashly or unjustly or presumptuously, nor trust the unworthy too much ; 4° teaches the manner of fulfilling the law, by imploring divine help, by making effort for virtue, and by caution against seducers (Mt. V-VII).

321. In the new law, which is the law of liberty and perfection, counsels are fittingly added about those things which are necessary, not for attaining the end, but in order that we may attain it better and more expeditiously (q. 108, a. 4). For man is placed in the middle between worldly and spiritual goods, so that the more he cleaves to some, the more he withdraws from others ; and although for happiness it is not necessary that man totally abandon earthly things, because he can use them according to reason, he will nevertheless attain it better and more expeditiously by totally renouncing those goods. Now :

1° The goods of this world are of a threefold kind : a) riches to which the concupiscence of the eyes incites, which the counsel of poverty proposes to be renounced (Mt. XIX, 21) ; b) pleasures of the flesh about which the concupiscence of the flesh is concerned, which the counsel of virginity or continence teaches to be renounced (Mt. XIX, 11-12 ; I Cor. VII, 25-40) ; c) honors which the pride of life pursues, and which we renounce by perfect obedience (q. 108, a. 4).

2° Likewise the disquiet of worldly solicitude is chiefly thrust upon man about three things (Lk. VI, 24 ; IX, 23 ; XII, 22) : a) about the dispensation of exterior things, and this solicitude is removed from man by the counsel of poverty ; b) about the governance of wife and children, which is cut off by the counsel of virginity ; c) about the disposition of one's own acts, which is cut off by the counsel of obedience by which one commits oneself to the disposition of another (cf. C. Gent. III, 130).

3° Finally man has a threefold good : a) the good of exterior things, which one totally offers to God by voluntary poverty ; b) the good of his own body, which he offers by perfect chastity ; c) the good of soul, which he totally offers by obedience by which one gives to God his own will, by which man uses all the powers and habits of the soul (II-II, q. 186, a. 7).

322. The new law is universal (q. 106, a. 4). For :

a) it is imposed on all men (Mt. XXVIII, 18-20 ; Mk. XVI, 15-16 ; Rom. I, 16) ; but some precepts are immediately obligatory, e.g. of believing and receiving Baptism, others mediately, namely for the baptized, e.g. the precept of confession and communion ;

b) it is imposed for all subsequent times, because no more perfect [law] can be, since 1) it immediately joins men to God and introduces them to the ultimate end (Hebr. X, 19-20), 2) it causes grace itself through sacraments which truly sanctify, and 3) has a sacrifice of infinite dignity. And surely there cannot be given in this life a more perfect divine law or religion, since a greater union of man to God cannot be devised : for he here became man and by the incarnation united himself to us, that he might make us gods and unite us to himself through the life of grace, which he nourishes and increases in us by uniting his flesh and blood with us in the Eucharist, that we may be united to him by perfect vision and intimate possession of himself in heaven. So in the religious order the greatest is attained as to God, greater than which something cannot be devised. Whence

c) the new law cannot be changed by anyone, nor can the Church properly dispense in it but only authentically interpret it in the name of God ; and it shall endure until the consummation of the age. Hence in Scripture it is called a stable kingdom (Mt. XVI, 18 ; XXVIII, 20), the last time (Acts II, 17 ; I John II, 18), a covenant to remain forever (Jer. XXXI, 40 ; Mal. I, 10-11 ; Hebr. XIII, 20 ; Mt. XXVIII, 20), a new and eternal testament (Mt. XXVI, 28 ; Lk. XXII, 20 ; Hebr. XIII, 20 ; IX, 20).

The new law therefore differs from the old law : 1) by reason of efficient cause, because it is from Christ not only as he is God but also as man (Hebr. I, 1) ; 2) by reason of formal cause, because it is principally grace and charity which he gives ex opere operato, while the old law gave the knowledge of precept and of sin, but not indeed the aid ; 3) by reason of material cause, because it is enacted for all and forever, and perfectly declares the precepts, adds counsels, imposes few external ones, but many internal ones which are nevertheless easy of fulfillment from grace ; 4) by reason of final cause, because it immediately procures eternal happiness.

SIXTH PART.

ON ECCLESIASTICAL LAW.

323. Ecclesiastical law is an ordinance of human reason by which the Church and the baptized faithful are directed by him who has care of them, to holiness and eternal life. For as civil law is necessary for determining natural law and governing the people in order to temporal happiness, so ecclesiastical law for determining, instilling, completing natural and divine law, and urging it with an added special sanction of penalty, and so governing the Christian people in order to the ultimate end. It is not surprising therefore if many things said about human law in the present [section] are applied¹.

It is also called canonical law, from the 8th century onward, from the canons which are set against civil laws already in the Council of Ancyra (314) and of Nicaea I (324) ; likewise sacred human law, both by reason of the authority which is constituted by Christ (by divine law), and by reason of the matter which excludes temporal things as such, and by reason of the end because it is for the sanctification of souls. Hence it is a derivation, imitation, and supplement of divine law.