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

Note 1. With respect to the present undertaking there is a twofold necessity, one of precept, the other of means: the former is an obligation proceeding from a precept and a law enacted by a Superior; the latter is the necessity of that without which something cannot be obtained, whether meanwhile it be from the nature of the things themselves, which are so connected with one another, as food is said to be necessary for preserving animal life; or from the ordination of a superior decreeing that one thing cannot be obtained without another. Moreover, between each necessity this distinction intervenes, that the necessity of means admits no excuse: but the necessity of precept sometimes admits an excuse, because it does not bind unless the precept be known by him who is bound to obey, and it is within his power to carry it out.

Note 2. Again, a twofold necessity of means is distinguished; one indeed simple and absolute, when namely the means destined for obtaining some end is such that without it really and in fact had, the end cannot be obtained: the other, on the other hand, secundum quid, when namely it suffices that the means be either in reality or in desire. In the former way sanctifying grace is absolutely necessary for obtaining salvation: for no one can be saved who has truly not possessed sanctifying grace: but in the latter way baptism, or the sacrament of penance, is said to be necessary for adults, because it suffices that they be held in desire, when truly they cannot be obtained; since contrition together with the desire of receiving baptism or the sacrament of penance can suffice for salvation where the faculty of receiving those sacraments is not present. It is asked therefore which of those necessities belongs to the internal act of faith as necessary for obtaining salvation.

Note 3. Besides the twofold necessity, of means and of precept, two others can again be subdivided with respect to some act to be exercised; one indeed per se and direct: the other per accidens and indirect. Direct necessity, or per se, of exercising some act is judged to exist then, when by reason of its own goodness we are obliged to exercise it, and not only by reason of some other thing to which we are obligated and for attaining which it is necessary: but then the necessity of exercising some act is only indirect and per accidens, when this arises from the occasion of some other thing which we are bound to do, and to which such an act is necessary.

These points premised, it must be determined: first, whether the act of divine faith is necessary by a necessity of means for salvation to all absolutely all adults; secondly, whether and by what precept this same is necessary.

First Conclusion. — The internal act of divine faith is necessary by a necessity of means for attaining salvation. So almost all Theologians, with whom the Doctor agrees, in 3. dist. 25. q. 1. n. 2., where he says:

I say, that infused faith is necessary for man unto salvation in every state, because just as the soul is not accepted by God unless it be adorned and perfected through charity with respect to the will, so it is not accepted by God unless it be perfected with respect to the intellect by a supernatural habit: and just as those powers are naturally ordered in their acts, because understanding precedes willing, so in perfections, because by nature the intellect is supernaturally perfected before the will, though simultaneously in duration: now that supernatural perfection, whereby the soul assents determinately to the true and believes the true, is infused faith.

Where although he treats only of habitual faith, nevertheless in n. 6. he openly says that even the explicit act of faith is necessary; for he says:

I say, that it was necessary in every state to have an implicit act about all things: for an act is had implicitly when the habit is had. But to have only such an act does not suffice, but in one having the use of reason a more distinct and explicit act is required.

Thus the Doctor.

The Conclusion therefore is proved: First from Sacred Scripture, for in Habakkuk, chapter 2., it is said: The just liveth by faith: therefore, says St. Chrysostom, Homily On Faith: No one without faith has had life: similarly St. Paul to the Hebrews 11.: But without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and is a rewarder to them that seek him. In which place the Apostle treats of faith, not habitual, but actual. And there the Apostle treats of actual faith, or of the act of faith, as he indicates by he that cometh, which signifies one actually hastening and tending toward God. Hence to the Galatians 3., and to the Ephesians 2., and elsewhere frequently, he attributes justification to faith, as to the foundation and root of all salvation.

The same truth the Council of Trent clearly hands down, Session 6. chapter 7., where it says, that the instrumental cause of our justification is the sacrament of baptism, which is the sacrament of faith, without which no one was ever justified. Hence in chapter 8. it says, that faith is the beginning, the foundation, and the root of human salvation: wherefore in Canon 1. it thus defines: If anyone shall say that without the preventional inspiration and assistance of the Holy Spirit man can believe, hope, love, or repent, as he ought, so that the grace of justification may be conferred upon him, let him be anathema. Since therefore according to the mind of the Council faith is the foundation, root, and beginning of salvation, or of justification, there is no doubt that it itself is necessary by a necessity of means for salvation.

It is proved also by the authority of the Holy Fathers, above all indeed of St. Augustine, who inculcates this supreme necessity of faith for attaining salvation in many places, especially in the preface to Psalm 31., where he teaches that faith is the foundation of piety not only in individual men but also in individual works, so that without it no one can be judged pious or just. Which indeed he also explains most excellently in Sermon 38. De Tempore, where he says: Faith is the beginning of human salvation, without which no one can arrive at the fellowship of the sons of God, because without it neither in this age does anyone obtain the grace of justification, nor in the future possesses eternal life. To him accords St. Fulgentius, book On Faith to Peter, at the beginning, saying: without faith conversion can profit nothing, nay, cannot even be.

And again: Without this faith no one can be reckoned among the number of the sons, as the same is taught by St. Leo, Sermon 4. On the Nativity, and St. Bernard, Epistle 77. Hence most excellently the Doctor, in 3. dist. 23. nu. 14., says that the necessity of faith must be admitted on account of the authority of Scripture and of the Fathers.

This truth can also be persuaded by reason: Both because faith, as has been said, is the foundation and root of justice: but without a foundation a building cannot be constructed, nor can a tree without a root bear fruit: therefore no one without faith can truly be justified, nor attain beatitude, which is the fruit of justification. Then because outside the Church no salvation is to be hoped for: but faith is the bond by which the members of the Church are joined together with one another: therefore without faith no one can be numbered among the members of the Church, nor consequently be saved. Finally then because there must be a proportion between the means and the end: but beatitude, which consists in the vision and love of God, is supernatural: therefore the means by which we ought to attain it ought likewise to be supernatural: but those means are the knowledge and love of God: therefore just as the love of God is supernatural, namely charity, so also the knowledge of God, insofar as it is a means unto salvation, ought to be supernatural, such as is the knowledge which is had through faith.

You will say 1. For instituting salvation and obtaining beatitude it suffices to observe the commandments of God, according to that of Matthew 19.: If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments: but the observance of those commandments can be had by the powers of nature; since the Apostle testifies to the Romans 2.: The Gentiles, who have not the law, do naturally the things contained in the law: therefore by the mere knowledge of nature and its innate powers all things necessary for salvation can be supplied; and hence infused faith does not seem absolutely necessary for it.

I answer by denying the minor, and to the authority of the Apostle I say, first, that the particle naturally, as St. Augustine explains, book 1. De Spiritu et Littera, chapter 21., does not exclude divinely infused cognition, which even certain Gentiles possessed, or those who were not counted among the Israelites, suppose ⟦Petro⟧, Job, and very many others: but only by that particle is the Mosaic and Evangelic law excluded; so that the sense is, that the Gentiles, who have not the law written by Moses, or published by Christ and his Apostles, naturally, that is, by the guidance ⟦ductu⟧ of nature and by that light itself implanted by God as Author of nature, do the things contained in the law; which exposition also St. Thomas admits, ibid., section 3. Reason also favors this; for just as there are sins which are called against nature, so also grace and supernatural knowledge can be called natural, that is, fitting and consonant to nature.

Or I say, that by the particle naturally the Apostle signifies that the Gentiles observed some natural precepts; namely those which either natural reason or conscience itself dictates to be kept and carried out: for indeed since natural reason sufficiently discloses that there is one God, who is supreme over all beings, and the principle and end of the rest, and likewise indicates him to be the center and secret of all perfections, it tacitly also signifies that he is to be worshipped; which indeed is prescribed in the precepts of the first tablet of the Decalogue. Similarly conscience dictates that one should not do to another what he would not have done to himself; and accordingly, since no one wills injury to be done to himself, neither in his own person through violence, nor in the person joined to him through concupiscence, nor in his own goods through force or fraud. Hence conscience itself likewise persuades that these things are not to be done to another; and hence neither is death to be inflicted upon another, nor his goods plundered, nor his wife abused, etc., which are the very precepts of the Mosaic law. Yet the Apostle does not say that they observed all the precepts.

You will say 2. Faith seems no more necessary for salvation than baptism: but the latter is not so necessary in fact and in reality but that it can be supplied: therefore someone can also be saved without the act of supernatural faith. The major stands: for just as it is said to the Hebrews 11.: Without faith it is impossible to please God: so also it is written John 3.: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. The minor also the Theologians admit ⟦unaniter⟧, teaching that baptism can suffice in explicit or implicit desire, namely when neither the faculty of receiving baptism in fact is present, or when there is neither abundance nor knowledge of it.

I deny the major; for baptism truly can be supplied in desire, because the desire of receiving it is contained virtually in faith itself: but the act of supernatural faith can be contained virtually in nothing; for if it could be contained in something, especially in natural cognition both of God and of his precepts: but since this is of an inferior order, it can on no account contain in desire and virtually a supernatural faith embracing it.

You will say 3. Every adult in this life has within himself sufficient assistance for attaining salvation: but it can happen that faith is impossible for some man; and hence without faith he could be saved. The major is clear: for since God wills all men to be saved, he gives to all sufficient means for salvation. The minor also stands: both because most mortals have an invincible ignorance of the mysteries of faith; for as St. Paul says to the Romans 10.: How shall they believe in him, whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? Namely there are very many nations to which the Gospel has not yet been preached, and before the advent of Christ the Lord God was known only in Judea: and hence faith is impossible for very many.

The Theologians commonly answer the minor, that if man in that state does what is in him, that is, if he keeps those things which the light of reason and conscience dictate to him to be done, God by his providence brings it about, that such a man either by an internal inspiration or by the ministry of some exterior preaching be enlightened concerning the mysteries of faith, which must necessarily be believed for attaining justification and salvation: as happened to the Eunuch of Queen Candace, Acts 8., to whom holy Philip was sent, that he might baptize him; and to Cornelius, who was sent by a special apparition of an Angel to be taught by holy Peter, Acts 10.; just as also in chapter 16. Paul was sent to certain ones in Macedonia by a special revelation of God. Hence likewise St. Dionysius, in the chapter On the Celestial Hierarchy, reports very many from among the Gentiles who, learning the mysteries of the faith through the ministry of Angels, attained eternal salvation, as we saw more fully in the Treatise On Grace.

Second Conclusion. — TO MEN IS GIVEN THE PRECEPT OF ELICITING THE INTERNAL ACT OF FAITH. It is gathered from the Doctor, dist. 25., cited above. And

It can be proved first from Sacred Scripture: for it is expressly had in 1.

John 3.: And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son. Moreover the same truth is gathered from that general maxim, that all things which are proposed in Sacred Scripture under the threat of eternal damnation presuppose a divine precept; for thus rightly is gathered the precept concerning receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist from the fact that in John 6. Christ the Lord said: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you: but faith is commanded in Sacred Scripture under the intermination of divine damnation; for at the end of Matthew it is said: He that believeth not shall be condemned. And to the Hebrews 2.: How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? And chapter 10.: The just liveth by faith; but if he withdraw himself, he shall not please my soul: therefore, etc. It is confirmed: because no one is damned except on account of sin: but as we proved when treating of sins in the fifth volume, every sin is a transgression of some commandment, and hence since faith is exacted under the threat of eternal damnation, its omission is a sin, and consequently a transgression of some commandment. Hence Theologians are wont to inquire how, and concerning what matters, explicit faith was necessary in any state whatsoever of men; but we have already sufficiently explained that when treating of habitual faith.