Sentences, Books I–II

Chapter 1 (185).

1. Whether before sin man needed operative and cooperative grace. After this, we must consider whether before sin man needed operative and cooperative grace.

2. That he needed operative and cooperative grace, but did not need operative grace in every way in which it operates *. We say briefly in answer that he needed grace not only cooperating, but also operating; though not in every mode in which operative grace operates: for it operates by freeing and preparing the human will for the good 1. Thus man needed it not to free his will, which had not been enslaved to sin, but to prepare it to will the good effectively, which he could not do by himself. — For he could not merit the good without grace, as Augustine clearly teaches in the Enchiridion 2: «Human nature, he says, lost through free choice that immortality in which it could not die; but it will receive through grace that immortality in which it will not be able to die, which it would have received through merit if it had not sinned. Although without sin there could have been no merit, because even if sin was constituted in free choice alone, free choice did not suffice to possess or retain righteousness unless divine help were provided». — These words sufficiently show that before sin man needed operative and cooperative grace. For he had no way to move a foot without the help of operating and cooperating grace; nevertheless, he had a way by which he could stand 3.

Apparatus: 6 sed] scilicet BCX. 11 liberaret trp. p. suam BCX. 16 poterit] poterat BCLMOP. 24 poterat] potuit EP.

1 See above, Dist. 26, c. 1 (pp. 470ff.). 2 Ch. 105–106 (PL 40, 281ff.; CCL 46, 106). 3 See above, Dist. 24, cc. 1–2 (pp. 450ff.).

Cap. 1. Summa sententiarum, III, 7 and 9 (PL 171, 1127 A–B, 1131 B; 176, 99 C–D, 103 C); Sentences of Roland (ed. A. Gietl), 118.

Chapter 2 (186).

1. That man possessed the virtues before the Fall. Furthermore, it is often asked whether man possessed virtue before the Fall. — Some think that he did not, and try to prove it as follows: They say he did not have justice, because he despised God's command; nor prudence, because he did not provide for himself; nor temperance, because he desired what belonged to another; nor fortitude, because he yielded to an evil suggestion. — In reply, we say that he did not have these virtues at the time when he sinned, but had them before, and then lost them.

2. He proves by the testimony of the saints that the first man possessed the virtues *. This is confirmed by many testimonies of the saints. Augustine says in a certain homily 1: «Adam, having lost charity, was found evil». Again 2: «When the prince of vices conquered Adam, formed from the clay of the earth in the image of God, armed with chastity, ordered by temperance, radiant with charity, he stripped our first parents of those gifts and so many goods, and destroyed them together». — Ambrose says of this same matter in To Sabinus 3: «When Adam was alone, he did not transgress, because his mind clung to God». He also says on a Psalm 4 that «before sin man, most blessed, breathed the ethereal air»; but how could he have been most blessed without virtue? — Augustine too, in On the Literal Meaning of Genesis 5, says Adam before sin «was endowed with a spiritual mind». Therefore there is no doubt that before sin man shone with the virtues, but was stripped of them through sin.

Apparatus: 2 habuerit] habuit LORVW. 3 habuerit] habuit LRX. 6 neque] nec LMNT. 9 Rubrica om. RVW.

1 Quodvultdeus, Sermon 4, Against Jews, Pagans, and Arians, ch. 2 (PL 42, 1118). 2 Ibid., ch. 2 (1117ff.). 3 Letter 49, no. 2 (PL 16 [1845], 1154 A). 4 On Psalm 118, 25, sermon 4, no. 3 (PL 15 [1845], 1241 B; CSEL 62, 69). 5 On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, XI, ch. 42, no. 58 (PL 34, 452; CSEL 28-I, 377).

Cap. 2. Summa sententiarum, III, 7 (PL 171, 1127 C–D; 176, 100 A–B); the Master's Gloss on Ps. 118:25 (PL 191, 1057 C); Augustine, On Genesis, above, Dist. 23, c. 3, no. 4. — Cap. 3. Summa sententiarum, III, 7 (PL 171, 1128 C; 176, 100 D).

Chapter 3 (187).

On man's expulsion from Paradise. As punishment for that sin, he was also expelled from Paradise into this place of miseries, as we read in Genesis: Apparatus: 1 Rubrica om. RVW. Now therefore, lest he perhaps put forth his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever, God sent him out of the paradise of delight. These words seem to suggest that he would never die if afterward he had taken from that tree.

Chapter 4 (188).

How the saying is to be understood: Lest he take from the tree of life and eat, and live forever. But since through sin he already had a mortal body 2, those words can be understood in this way: God, speaking as one angered, says of the proud man 3: See, lest he perhaps put forth his hand, etc.; that is, Be on your guard, you angels, lest he eat from the tree of life, of which he is unworthy. Had he persevered, he would have eaten from it and lived forever; but now, on account of disobedience, he is unworthy to eat. And just as God spoke, so he showed it in deed: For God sent him out of the paradise of delight 4 «into a place fitting for him; just as often an evil person, when he has begun to live among the good, if he does not wish to be changed for the better, is driven from the company of the good, weighed down by the burden of an evil habit».

Chapter 5 (189).

On the flaming sword placed before Paradise. So that he could not approach it, God placed before Paradise the Cherubim and a flaming, turning sword to guard the way to the tree of life 5. — Strabo *. This may be understood literally in this way: «through 6 the ministry of angels, a fiery guard was established there». — Augustine, On the Literal Meaning of Genesis 7 *: «For we must believe this happened in visible Paradise through the heavenly powers, so that by angelic ministry there might be a kind of fiery guard—not without purpose, but because it signifies something concerning spiritual Paradise». — «For Cherubim 1 is interpreted as fullness of knowledge; this is charity, because love is the fulfilment of the law 2. The flaming sword signifies temporal punishments, which are turning because times are in flux». They were therefore placed before Paradise to guard the tree of life because «one does not return to life except through the Cherubim, that is, the fullness of knowledge, namely charity, and through the turning sword, that is, endurance of temporal sufferings».

Apparatus: 24 est om. OP.

1 Gen. 3:22–23; cf. Augustine, On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, XI, ch. 40, nos. 54–55 (PL 34, 451ff.; CSEL 28-I, 374ff.). 2 Cf. Rom. 8:10: The body indeed is dead because of sin. 3 Gen. 3:22. 4 Gen. 3:23; following words of Augustine, On Genesis Against the Manichees, II, ch. 22, no. 34 (PL 34, 213). 5 Gen. 3:24. 6 On Genesis, 3:24 (PL 131, 68 A). Cf. J. de Blic, in Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale 16 (1949) 13, 20. 7 Book XI, ch. 40, no. 55 (PL 34, 452; CSEL 28-I, 375).

Cap. 4. Summa sententiarum, III, 7 (PL 171, 1128 C–D; 176, 100 D–101 A); the Ordinary Gloss on Gen. 3:23 (in Lyra, I, 43d; v 31a). Cap. 5. Summa sententiarum, III, 7 (PL 171, 1128 D; 176, 101 A); the Ordinary Gloss on Gen. 3:26 (in Lyra, I, 43d; v 31a, without a name).

Chapter 6 (190).

1. Whether man ate from the tree of life before sin. One may also ask whether man ate from the tree of life before sin. Augustine says this in his book On the Baptism of Infants 3: «It is rightly understood, of course, that the first human beings abstained from the forbidden food before the devil's wicked persuasion, and made use of what was permitted». These words show that they took from the tree of life before sin; for they had been commanded 4 to eat from every tree of Paradise except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

2. Why they were not made immortal if they ate from the tree of life. Why, then, were they not clothed with perpetual firmness and blessed immortality, so that no weakness or age could make them worse? For that tree is said to have possessed this power by nature 5. — Solution *. Perhaps it conferred this only if one ate from it often. It could therefore have happened that he ate from it once and not repeatedly; he is understood to have remained in Paradise for some time, since Scripture says he slept there 6 when the rib was taken from his side and the woman formed from it, and the animals were brought before him, to which he gave names 7.

Apparatus: 1 tamen] tantum B, om. OP. 4 quoniam] quia VX, quando N. 20 Solutio om. MNRVW. 22 sumeret semel trp. MRTV.

1 Isidore, Questions on the Old Testament, on Genesis, ch. 5, no. 14 (PL 83, 222ff.); Augustine, On Genesis Against the Manichees, II, ch. 23, nos. 35–36 (PL 34, 214ff.). 2 Rom. 13:10. 3 Or On the Merits of Sins, II, ch. 21, no. 35 (PL 44, 172; CSEL 60, 106). 4 Cf. Gen. 2:16–17: And he commanded him, saying: You may eat of every tree in Paradise; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. See above, Dist. 19, c. 4, no. 3 (p. 424). 5 Above, Dist. 17, c. 6 (pp. 414ff.). 6 Cf. Gen. 2:21–22. 7 Cf. Gen. 2:19–20.

Chapter 6, no. 1. Summa sententiarum, III, 7 (PL 171, 1129 A; 176, 101 B). — No. 2. Summa sententiarum, III, 7 (PL 171, 1128 B; 176, 100 D).