Scotus Academicus, Tomus octavus: De Divino Gratiae Beneficio, et initium De Virtutibus Theologicis

NOTE 1. It is already certain from what has been said that the just merit eternal life by good works; hence Sacred Scripture designates eternal life under the name of reward and crown, to signify that it is granted worthily to those who labor and fight generously; and this has been defined in various Councils, the Lateran, the Florentine, and especially the Tridentine, Session 6, Canon 32, in these words: If anyone shall say that the good works of a justified man are so gifts of God as not also to be the good merits of the justified man himself, or that the justified man himself, by the good works which are performed by him through the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ, of whom he is a living member, does not truly merit an increase of grace, eternal life, and the attainment of that eternal life itself — if however he die in grace — and even an increase of glory, let him be anathema. In these words the Council signifies that a justified man can merit three things: first indeed an increase of grace; second, the attainment of eternal life; third, an increase of glory itself. That he merits the attainment of eternal life is clear from what has been said; but in what manner he can merit an increase of grace and glory must be determined in the present place.

NOTE 2. It is likewise certain from what has been said that none of the just can merit condignly the grace of final perseverance, as is evident from all those texts of Scripture in which the just are admonished to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. Thus: He who thinks himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall, 1 Corinthians 10. But thou standest by faith; be not high-minded, but fear, Romans 11. Hold that which thou hast, lest another receive thy crown, Apocalypse 3. Wherefore the Council of Trent, Session 6, Canon 16, decrees: If anyone shall say that he will for certain have that great gift of perseverance with absolute and infallible certainty, unless he shall have learned this by special revelation, let him be anathema. And the reason of this is fitting, because since the state of this present life is a state of fear and solicitude, it was fitting that God should not presuppose perseverance upon condign merit. Nevertheless the same Council teaches in the same place, chapter 13, that that gift can at least be obtained by congruous merit, in these words:

Let no one promise himself anything with absolute certainty; although all ought most firmly to place and repose their hope in God's help: for God, unless they fail of his grace, will bring to completion, as he began, the good work, working in them to will and to accomplish. Yet those who think themselves to stand, let them take heed lest they fall, and with fear and trembling let them work out their salvation in labors, in watchings, in almsdeeds, in prayers and oblations, in fastings and chastity. For they must fear, knowing that they are born again unto the hope of glory, and not yet unto glory, because of the combat which remains with the flesh, with the world, with the devil, in which they cannot be victors unless with the grace of God they obey the Apostle saying: We are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; for if you live according to the flesh you shall die: but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live.

NOTE 3. It is likewise certain that man cannot merit for himself the first actual grace, neither condignly nor congruously; because, as we have said (in the preceding Question), every merit presupposes the very help of actual grace granted us by God out of pure mercy: and this truth was determined in all those Councils in which the dogma of the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians was slain and exploded. Hence that common theological maxim: the principle of merit does not fall under merit; for merit is presupposed to the reward, either as existing or as absolutely future: for it is rendered and owed to someone precisely because he either has already wrought well, or is foreseen to be about absolutely to work well. Merit therefore causes its reward by its being, whether actually existing or absolutely future, and is forthwith presupposed to its effect: therefore also the principle from which it necessarily has it that it be merit must be presupposed to the effect of that merit, nor can it be the effect of that merit, and consequently cannot fall under merit, nor be the reward and moral effect thereof; for the principle of merit is necessarily presupposed to this merit and to its causality. Hence the Apostle plainly teaches, Ephesians 2: By grace you are saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one may glory. Hence the Council of Trent, Session 6, chapter 8, when expounding these words of the Apostle to the Romans 3, Justified freely by his grace, says: But we say to be justified freely for this reason, that nothing of those things which precede justification, whether faith or works, merits the grace of justification itself; for by grace, no longer by works: otherwise, as the same Apostle says, grace would no longer be grace.

These things therefore presupposed, there chiefly remain three points here to be determined: First, whether the just man equally merits an increase of sanctifying grace and of glory. Second, whether he can merit condignly his reparation if it should happen that he fall from grace. Third and finally, what the just man can merit for another, and how.

First Conclusion. — IN VERY TRUTH THE JUST, BY GOOD WORKS PERFORMED FROM THE HELP OF GRACE, CAN MERIT AN INCREASE OF SANCTIFYING GRACE AND OF ETERNAL GLORY. This assertion, in both parts, is of faith determined in the Council of Trent, Canon 32, praised above. It is proved first from Sacred Scripture, which teaches that justified men go from virtue to virtue, and are further justified by good works. Thus Proverbs 4: The path of the just as a shining light goes forward and grows even to the perfect day. Psalm 91: The just shall flourish like the palm tree, he shall be multiplied like the cedar of Libanus, or, as another version has it, he shall rise aloft. For there ought to be a proportion between the just and things naturally living, such that the just grow in justice and holiness as living things grow substantially until they attain the perfection proper to them. Hence deservedly the Council of Trent, chapter 10, expressly says:

If therefore, having been justified and made friends of God and of his household, going from virtue to virtue they are renewed, as the Apostle says, from day to day, that is, mortifying the members of their flesh and presenting them as instruments of justice unto sanctification through observance of the commandments of God and of the Church, in that very justice received through the grace of Christ, with faith cooperating in good works they grow and are further justified, as it is written: He that is just, let him be justified still; and again: Do you see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. And holy Church asks for this increase of justice when she prays: give us, O Lord, an increase of faith, hope, and charity: which indeed Christ not obscurely signified to be an increase of grace in Matthew 25, when in the express parable of the talents granted to those who had gained others by trading he adds this word: for to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: to signify that those who well use the grace ⟦illegible: faint intermediate words; perhaps "granted to him"⟧ shall enjoy its increase.

where Christ, answering the young man asking what he ought to do to obtain eternal life truly and securely, first replies: If thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments: and afterwards, inviting him to perfection, thus addresses him: if thou wilt be perfect, go, sell whatsoever thou possessest, and give to the poor, and come follow me, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: that is, thou shalt obtain a greater glory than they obtain who are to be crowned only on account of simple observance of the commandments. — Hence the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 15: As star differs from star in brightness, so shall the resurrection of the dead be. By which he signifies that there will be a diversity in the reward of glory on account of an inequality of merits: which he more clearly signifies in 2 Corinthians 4, saying: Although our outward man is corrupted, yet that which is within is renewed day by day; for that which at present is momentary and light of our tribulation worketh above measure in sublimity an eternal weight of glory. And the weight of glory ought to correspond to the measure of grace, which is likewise increased through tribulations endured by the grace of Christ; hence chapter ⟦9⟧: He who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly: and he who soweth in blessings, in blessings shall also reap. By those words he alludes to that parable of Christ in Matthew 13, where he compares the merit of the kingdom of heaven to seed falling into good ground and bearing fruit unequally, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some truly a hundredfold.

You will say 1: Eternal life is given only out of mercy, according to Psalm 102: Who crowneth thee in mercy and commiserations; moreover it is called grace by the Apostle, Romans 6, the grace of God is life everlasting. And in chapter 11 he affirms that we are saved by grace, and not by works: therefore neither eternal life itself, nor its increase, can the just man merit by his own good works. — I deny the consequence, and to the antecedent I say that eternal life is called a benefit of mercy and grace because, as St. Augustine says, book On Grace and Free Will, chapter 8: Without doubt eternal life also, which is rendered to a good life, is of the grace of God: for it too is given gratis, because gratis was given that to which it is given; but that to which it is given it is merely grace, whereas what is given to it, since it is its reward, is grace for grace, as it were a reward for justice. Or, as he says in the book On Rebuke and Grace, chapter 13: Without doubt it must be confessed that grace is called eternal life for this reason, because it is rendered for those merits which grace bestowed upon man; rightly indeed is that understood which we read in the Gospel, grace for grace, that is, for those things which grace bestowed.

You will say 2: From the Apostle to the Romans 8: The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come: therefore the more numerous the good works are, they will not merit a greater reward. — I distinguish the antecedent: they are not proportionate with respect to duration, because they are momentary, I concede; they are not proportionate with respect to value, I deny; because they are works of living members of Christ, elicited by his spirit and grace, and merit eternal life and its increase, according to that saying of the same Apostle, 2 Corinthians ⟦4⟧: That which at present is momentary and light of our tribulation worketh above measure in sublimity an eternal weight of glory in us.

Second Conclusion. — THE JUST CANNOT MERIT CONDIGNLY BY THE ORDINARY WAY SUCH A REPARATION IF IT SHOULD HAPPEN THAT THEY FALL FROM GRACE.

It is proved first from that saying of Ezekiel 18: If the just man turn himself away from his justice and commit iniquity, all his justices which he hath done shall not be remembered. For these words would be false if God conferred upon man reparation after his fall out of justice in respect of those works.

Next, the Council of Trent openly pronounces that no merit precedes the justification of man: but if God attended to good works previously elicited by a man existing in sin, in order to bestow sanctifying grace upon him condignly, it would follow that that sinful man's merit would precede sanctifying grace: therefore, etc.

Finally, if a just man could merit condignly his justification after a fall, it would follow that one who has once been justified could nowhere be damned, seeing that in the state of restored grace he could again merit his reparation if he should fall a second time: which is absurd and alien to Catholic truth: therefore, etc.

You will object 1. That saying of Josaphat, 2 Paralipomenon chapter 19: Aid the impious, and thou shalt be joined in friendship with those who hate the Lord, and for this cause thou didst indeed deserve the wrath of the Lord, but good works are found in thee, because thou hast taken away the groves out of the land of Juda. Therefore good works performed in the state of justifying grace can merit reparation after a fall. — I deny the consequence: for there is no question there of meriting reparation after a fall, but of the remission of temporal punishments, which God does not inflict on account of preceding good works. Second I say that even if the question were of reparation after a fall, it would not be gathered that it was made on account of the works done by Josaphat himself in the state of grace; for he had already been justified from that sin which he had committed by entering into friendship and confederation with Achab the impious king; indeed in the preceding chapter Scripture relates that when the Syrians surrounded him fighting, he cried out to the Lord, and he helped him, and turned them away from him, whereupon he had already done penance and made the Lord propitious to himself.

You will object 2. That saying of Psalm 70: When my strength shall fail, forsake me not: but this prayer would be useless unless sufficient aid for rising again were granted to sinful man on account of good works elicited in grace: therefore, etc. — I distinguish the minor: unless it were granted on account of condign merit, I deny; on account of congruous merit, I concede. Add that the Royal Prophet by those words asks not for reparation after a fall, but for aids in time of tribulation and infirmity, but chiefly that he not desert him in old age, since he had been his hope from youth, confirmed from the womb, and from the belly of his mother his protector.

You will object 3. That saying of Hebrews 6: God is not unjust, that he should forget your work, and the love which you have shown in his name, you who have ministered to the saints, and do minister. — I answer, that at that place no question is of meriting reparation after a fall, since the Apostle there speaks of saints and the just, as is gathered from those words, who do minister, but of the reward of good works which, done in grace, revive through penance. Or I say that the Apostle speaks to Hebrews fallen into mortal sin, as some interpreters hold. Those words, God is not unjust, are understood under this tacit condition: if you recover yourselves and do penance; so that the sense is that God would be unjust if he denied the reward to the just for works done in grace, provided they either preserve grace perpetually or recover it when lost.

Third Conclusion. — NO MAN CAN OF HIMSELF MERIT FOR ANOTHER CONDIGNLY THE FIRST GRACE, NOR OTHER BENEFITS OF GRACE; BUT HE CAN MERIT THEM CONGRUOUSLY.

The first part is proved: First indeed from Sacred Scripture, which teaches that each one is to receive the reward according to his own proper labor, not according to another's; and that God will render to each one according to his works, as appears in Matthew 16 and 1 Corinthians 3. To this also pertains the form of Christ's judgment handed down in Matthew 25, in which the just judge decrees reward or punishment for each one according to his own and private merits, not another's. Hence St. Chrysostom relates in Homily 13 to the people, that no one merits for another, but each for himself, because each one is to be judged for his own deeds, not for another's. On which point St. Jerome rightly weighs that the wise virgins answered the foolish: Lest perhaps it suffice not for us and for you, etc., not out of avarice, but out of fear: for each one shall receive the reward from his own works; neither in the day of judgment can the virtues of others relieve the vices of others. — But the reason of this assertion is the divine ordinance itself, whereby God, namely, has not decreed to grant to the just condignly the grace or glory of another, but only their own; and that for just cause, because sanctifying grace, which is the principle of condign merit, tends per se first to the proper perfection and sanctification of the just man himself: it was fitting therefore that the just rather merit grace and glory for himself than for another.

You will say: A just man can satisfy out of justice for another, as appears both from indulgences and from pilgrimages imposed in satisfaction, which can sometimes be fulfilled through an interposed person: therefore by equal reason he will be able to merit glory condignly for others. — I deny the consequence, and the reason of the disparity is that in satisfaction the penalty is assessed according to the proportion of the sinner's fault, not truly according to that disposition of soul in which he exists while the offense still remains, because sometimes the greatest guilt of temporal penalty can be found in the more just man, and less in the less just; but truly condign merit of glory is assessed according to the disposition of him to whom it ought to be granted; for according to the measure of sanctifying grace and charity will be the measure of the beatific vision; whence the account is not the same for satisfaction as for merit.

You will say 2: The first parent, since he was head of the whole human race, by his sin merited the privation of sanctifying grace for his posterity: therefore by his penance he could by the same reason merit its restitution of the same grace. — I answer first, that indeed this could have been done if God had so ordained by his absolute power, as he was able in fact to ordain; for, as was said in the preceding Treatise, God by his absolute power could communicate the dignity of head to pure man, though in some inferior degree with respect to grace conferred and to be merited than that which he conferred upon Christ. Whence it did not conflict with the first parent, as he was natural head of the whole human race to be propagated, that he also become moral head of the same to be justified, if namely God had so ordered it; but since things were not so constituted, because Adam was not instituted by God head of all men in spiritual things with respect to the influx of supernatural gifts — for this was reserved for Christ the Lord — but only regarding the vision of original justice, which he had received for himself and for his posterity; therefore however austere and severe his penance may have been, nevertheless he could not merit for his posterity the restitution of first grace.

The second part is proved, namely that a just man can merit congruously for others grace and glory. For this is gathered from those texts of Scripture in which God directly or through Prophets appoints that sinners implore the aid and prayer of the just in order to obtain pardon. Thus Job ¹ 42. God, angry at Job's friends, admonishes them to offer a holocaust:

But Job says my servant shall pray for you, and his face I will accept, that folly be not imputed to you. So likewise God testifies to many that he conferred very many benefits upon the Jews on account of Abraham his beloved, on account of Isaac his servant, and Israel his holy one, and other most holy men. Hence St. Ambrose, book 5 on Luke, affirms that God forgives others on the merit of others, and while approving some grants pardon of their errors to others. And St. Augustine, Sermon 99, chapter 11, On Saint Stephen, says: He merited forgiveness for his enemies: he merited to rejoice in heaven over the friendships of blessed Paul who followed after. — The reason also of this is, that since men are members of one human commonwealth, as it were of one moral body, they can benefit one another by their good works, and merit at least congruously, according to Psalm 114: I am a partaker of all them that fear thee, they bring it about that we become partakers of themselves unto eternity. Amen.