Sentences, Books I–II

Chapter 1 (181).

1. He repeats what was said above to add further points, and gives a settled account of grace and free choice against the Pelagians. Let us hold firmly and without hesitation that free choice without prevenient and assisting grace is not sufficient to obtain justice and salvation, and that God's grace is not summoned by preceding merits, as the Pelagian heresy taught. For, as Augustine says in Book I of the Retractations³: “The new heretics, the Pelagians, assert free choice of the will in such a way that they leave no place for God's grace, which they say is given according to our merits.”

Apparatus: 5 Alia] aliud MVW. 9 quo] quod OP. 11–12 est actus transposed by MRT. 13 The heading is omitted by NVW. 18 definitam assignationem] designatam diffinitionem BCX; assignationem] assertionem NVW.

¹ Rather, Book II, question 39, on Luke 17:5, “Increase our faith” (PL 35, 1352). ² Ch. 2, no. 5 (PL 42, 1016; CCL 50A, 386). ³ Ch. 9, no. 3 (PL 32, 595; CSEL 36, 38).

No. 5. The first authority is already found in the Gloss on Rom. 1:17 (PL 191, 1323 D, where its heading is out of place); the second, in the Gloss on Eph. 4:5 (PL 192, 197 C–D), and below, Book III, Distinction 23, ch. 3, no. 1. — Distinction XXVIII. Cf. J. Schupp, The Doctrine of Grace, 95–105.

Chapter 2 (182).

2. What the Pelagians' heresy is concerning grace and free choice. Augustine in On Heresies¹: “The heresy of the Pelagians, the most recent of all, arose from the monk Pelagius. They are enemies of God's grace, by which we have been predestined and by which we have deserved to be rescued from the power of darkness², because they believe that without it a human being can fulfill all the divine commandments. Finally, when the brothers reproached Pelagius for attributing nothing to the assistance of God's grace in fulfilling his commandments, he did not place grace before free choice but, with faithless cunning, placed it after free choice, saying that it is given to people so that they may more easily fulfill through grace what they are commanded to do by free choice. By saying ‘may more easily,’ he wanted it to be believed that people can fulfill the divine commands without grace, even if with greater difficulty. They say that God's grace, without which we can do no good, consists only in free choice, which our nature received from him without any merits of its own preceding it; and that he helps us only through his Law and teaching, so that we may learn what we ought to do and hope for, but not by the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that we may do more easily and confidently what we have learned must be done. Accordingly, they grant that knowledge, by which ignorance is driven out, is given to us by God; but they deny that charity, by which one lives piously, is given by God. Thus knowledge, which teaches, is the gift of God, but charity, which acts, is produced by the Church—whether for the faithful, so that their faith may be increased and they may persevere in it. For those who contend that they have all these things by free choice assert that grace is given according to our merits, and that we are born bound by original sin.”

1. Here he sets out the points by which the Pelagians confirm their error, using Augustine's words against him. They support their claim that without grace a person can fulfill all the commands by free choice with arguments of the following kind.

Apparatus: 1 The heading is omitted by LRW. 7 tribueret] tribuerit BCLOP. 14 tantum] tamen BCX. 28 suum is omitted by BCX.

¹ No. 88 (PL 42, 475; CCL 46, 340). ² Cf. Col. 1:13. ³ Cf. 1 Cor. 8:1.

Chapters 2–3. From the Retractations.

2. He introduces Augustine's testimony which Pelagius cites in support of himself. “If,” they say, “a person cannot do what is commanded, this should not be charged to him as leading to death, as you yourself, Augustine, assert in On Free Choice¹: ‘Who sins, you ask, in what cannot in any way be avoided? But sin is committed; therefore it can be avoided.’” — Augustine's retraction. Pelagius used this testimony of Augustine in arguing against him—indeed, against grace—as Augustine recalls in Book I of the Retractations², where he revisits this and similar statements: “Because God's grace, which was not then under discussion, was not mentioned in these and similar words of mine, the Pelagians think that we held their opinion. But they think so in vain. For the will is that by which one sins and lives rightly; that is what we were discussing in these words. But unless the will itself is freed by God's grace and assisted to overcome its vices, mortals cannot live rightly.” Behold, he plainly explains the sense in which he said those things, refuting the enemies of grace.

3. He introduces another testimony of Augustine, which Pelagius likewise used in his own support. Pelagius similarly relied against grace on Augustine's words in On Two Souls³: “It is,” he says, “the height of injustice and madness to hold anyone guilty of sin because he did not do what he could not do.” — Pelagius' question. On hearing this, Pelagius sprang up and said: “Why, then, are infants and those who do not have grace, without which they cannot fulfill the divine commandments, held guilty?”

Chapter 3 (183).

1. Augustine's determination. Augustine explains the occasion on which he said this in Book I of the Retractations⁴, in his answer to Pelagius. He said it against the Manichaeans, who claim that there are two natures in a human being: one good, from God, and the other evil, from the race of darkness, which was never good and can never will the good. If that were so, it would not seem that a person should be held guilty for failing to do good.

Apparatus: 1 and 5 The headings are omitted by RVW. 19 The heading is omitted by RVW. 21 tenentur rei transposed by BCOPW. 23 The heading is omitted by RVW. 28 facit] faceret NRTVWX, corrected to faceret by M.

¹ Book III, ch. 18, no. 50 (PL 32, 1295; CSEL 74, 131), cited through the Retractations, as noted below. ² Book I, ch. 9, nos. 3–4: “And a little later: ‘Who, I say, sins ... therefore it can be avoided.’ Pelagius used this testimony of mine in one of his books ... ‘Because God's grace ... cannot live rightly’” (PL 32, 596f.; CSEL 30b, 41f.). ³ Ch. 12, no. 17 (PL 42, 107; CSEL 25, 73), again cited through the Retractations, as noted below. ⁴ Book I, ch. 15, nos. 1 and 6 (PL 32, 608, 610; CSEL 36, 71f., 77f.).

2. He adds another statement that seems to contradict God's grace. Elsewhere Augustine also says things that seem contrary to the grace by which we are justified. For in Against Adimantus, a disciple of Manichaeus, he says¹: “Unless each person changes his will, he cannot do good. The Lord teaches that this is placed in our power when he says²: ‘Either make the tree good,’” and so forth. — Augustine's determination in the Retractations. Augustine shows in the Retractations³ that this “is not contrary to the grace of God that we preach”: “It is in a person's power to change his will for the better, but that power exists only if it is given by God, of whom it is said⁴: ‘He gave them power to be made the sons of God.’ Since that is in our power which we do when we will, nothing is so much in our power as the will itself; but the will is prepared by the Lord⁵. In this way, then, he gives that power.”

3. Another testimony of the same author that seems to oppose grace. — Augustine in On Two Souls; in the Retractations⁶: “What I said in the same work⁷, namely, that ‘it is in our power to deserve either to be grafted into God's goodness or to be cut off by his severity,’ must likewise be understood in this way: nothing is in our power except what follows our will. When the Lord prepares the will, even what was impossible and difficult becomes an easy work of piety.”

4. Another testimony. In his Exposition of Certain Propositions from the Epistle to the Romans, Augustine also inserts a statement that seems to oppose this doctrine of grace. He says⁸: “What we believe is ours; but what good we do belongs to him who gives the Holy Spirit to believers.” And shortly afterward⁹: “It is ours to believe and to will; it is his to give those who believe and will the ability to do good through the Holy Spirit.” — A retraction explaining how these statements should be understood. Augustine explains in Book I of the Retractations¹⁰ how they should be understood, saying: “It is indeed true that what we do well comes from God, but the same rule applies to both willing and doing. Both belong to him, because he prepares the will; both belong to us, because neither happens unless we will. I would certainly not have said those things if I had already known that faith itself is among the gifts of the Holy Spirit.”

Apparatus: 3 enim is omitted by BOP. 4 suam is omitted by MNV (Augustine), added between the lines by RT. 6 The heading is omitted by RVW. 12 voluntas a Domino transposed by BCNOPRW. 15 Sic] Hic CMNOP. 27 The heading is omitted by RVW.

¹ That is, Against Adimantus, ch. 26 (PL 42, 169; CSEL 25, 185), cited from the Retractations below. ² Matt. 12:33. ³ Book I, ch. 22, no. 4: “In one passage I said: ‘Unless each person, I say, changes his will ...’ This is not contrary to the grace of God that we preach” (PL 32, 620; CSEL 36, 103f.). ⁴ John 1:12. ⁵ Prov. 8:35. ⁶ Book I, ch. 22, no. 4: “This is how what I said afterward must also be understood: ‘It is in our power ... difficult and impossible’” (PL 32, 620; CSEL 36, 104). ⁷ Against Adimantus, ch. 27 (PL 42, 170; CSEL 25, 186). ⁸ Rom. 4:5. ⁹ No. 61 (PL 35, 2079). ¹⁰ Book I, ch. 23, nos. 2–3 (PL 32, 621f.; CSEL 36, 108f.), from which the Master also took the preceding propositions.

5. He adds another statement that seems contrary. We must also consider carefully what Augustine says in the Sentences of Prosper¹, namely, that “the ability to have faith, just as the ability to have charity, is natural to human beings; but having faith, just as having charity, is the grace of the faithful.” — Determination. This was not said as though faith or charity could be had by free choice, but because the human mind has a natural aptitude for believing or loving. Preceded by God's grace, the mind believes and loves; without grace it cannot do so.

¹ Prosper of Aquitaine, Sentences Drawn from Augustine, no. 316 (PL 45, 1887; 51, 476 B), from Augustine, On the Predestination of the Saints, I, ch. 5, no. 10 (PL 44, 968). ² That is, Pelagius himself in his Profession of Faith to Pope Innocent, nos. 13–14 (among Augustine's works, PL 45, 1718); see above, p. 196, note 1.

Chapter 4 (184).

He asserts that Jerome's testimony establishes what must be held concerning grace and free choice, where three heresies are identified: those of Jovinian, Manichaeus, and Pelagius. Therefore let us hold without doubt concerning grace and free choice what Jerome teaches in his Explanation of the Catholic Faith to Pope Damasus², where he refutes the errors of Jovinian, Manichaeus, and Pelagius: “We confess free choice,” he says, “in such a way that we say we always need God's help, and that both those who, with Manichaeus, say that a person cannot avoid sin and those who, with Jovinian, assert that a person cannot sin are in error. Each removes the freedom of choice. We say, however, that a person can always both sin and not sin, so that we always confess that we possess freedom of choice. This is the faith we have learned in the Catholic Church and have always held.”

Apparatus: 2 utriusque is transposed by BCM. 6 Adhuc addit is transposed by OPR. 10 The heading is omitted by MRVW. 15 Testimonium OP, testimonio LMNRTVW, terminatio BC. 16 asserit is omitted by NRTVW. 17 tenendum is supplemented with sit by NRV. 18 scilicet is omitted by BCL. 19 ergo] vero NV, quoque R.