texts distinguish between the will of God and his permission. God, for his own just ends, permits that man may deceive or sin, either for the punishment of the wicked or for the advantage of the just, but he neither wishes nor operates sin. Tertullian (12) says, God is not the author nor the actor of sin, though he undoubtedly permits it. St. Ambrose (13) says he does what is good, but not what is evil, and St. Augustin (14) writes: He (God) knows how to condemn iniquity, but not to do it.

SEC. VII.-GOD NEVER PREDESTINED ANY ONE TO ETERNAL DAMNATION WITHOUT REGARD TO HIS SINS.

57. CALVIN teaches that God has predestined many to eternal damnation, not because of their sins, but merely for his own pleasure. Here are his words (1): "Aliis vita æterna, aliis damnatio æterna præordinatur; itaque prout in alterutrum finem quisque conditus est, ita vel ad vitam, vel ad mortem prædestinatum dicimus," and the only reason he assigns for this predestination is the will of God (2): "Neque in aliis reprobandis aliud habebimus, quam ejus voluntatem." I can understand very well how the heretics embrace this doctrine, for they argue thus: I may commit whatever sins I please, without fear or remorse; for, if I am predestined to heaven, I will, notwithstanding, be infallibly saved, no matter what wickedness I commit; if I am among the reprobate I will be damned, no matter how virtuously I live. Cesarius tells a story of a certain physician who gave a very good answer to this argument, if it can be called one. A man of the name of Louis Landgrave got a mortal fit of sickness, and sent for this physician, who called on him, and asked him what he wanted with him. "I hope," said the sick man, "you will be able to restore me to health." "Oh," said the physician, "what can I do for you? If your hour is come you will die, no matter what remedies I may give you, but if not, you will recover, without any assistance from me." Remember this was the same answer the sick man had previously given to a person who reprimanded him in presence of the physician, for his wicked life. "If I am to be saved," said he, "I will be so, no matter how wicked I may be; and if I am to be damned, it will happen, no matter how good I am." "Oh," said the sick man, "do what you can for me, perhaps your skill will restore me, but if you do nothing for me I will surely die." The physician, then, who was both a pious and prudent man, said to him: "If, then, you think that you can recover your bodily health with the assistance of medicine, why do not you try and restore your soul to health by a good confession?" The argument hit hard, the man sent immediately for a confessor, and became a true penitent.

(14) St. Augu (5) Calvin, Inst. 7. 1

(12) Tertull. le cont. Hermog. (13) St. Ambr. i. de Par. c. 15. Z. 105, ad Sixtum. (1) Calvin, Inst. 7. 1, c. 21, sec. 5. c. 21, s. 5.

58. We shall, however, give Calvin a direct answer. If you are predestined to eternal life, it is because you will be saved by the good works you perform, at least that your predestination may be carried out, but if you are destined to hell it is on account of your sins, and not through the mere will of God, as you blasphemously assert. Forsake, then, your evil ways; do what is just, and you will be saved. Nothing can be more false than the supposition of Calvin, that God created many men for hell alone. Numberless passages in the Scriptures prove most clearly that it is his will that all should be saved. St. Paul most expressly says (1 Tim. ii. 4), that he will" have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth;" and, as St. Prosper says, speaking of this passage, nothing can be clearer than that it is the will of God that all should be saved: "Sacrificium credendum atque profitendum est Dominum velle omnes homines salvos fieri, siquidem Apostolus (cujus hæc sententia est) sollicite præcipit ut Deo pro omnibus supplicetur" (3). This is clear from the context, for the Apostle says: "I desire first of all that supplications..... be made for all men..... for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved," &c. So we see the Apostle tells us to pray for all, since God wishes to save all. St. John Chrysostom argues in the same manner on the same text (4): "Si omnes Ille vult salvos fieri, merito pro omnibus oportet orare. Si omnes ipse salvos fieri cupit, Illius et tu concorda voluntate." St. Paul, speaking of our Saviour, also says: "Christ Jesus, who gave himself a redemption for all" (1 Tim. ii. 6). If then, Jesus Christ wished to redeem all men, then he wills that all men should be saved.

59. But, says Calvin, God certainly foresees the good and bad actions of every man: he has, therefore, decreed to send some to hell on account of their sins, and how, then, can it be said that he wills that all should be saved? We answer, with St. John of Damascus, St. Thomas of Aquin, and the great body of Catholic Doctors, that with regard to the reprobation of sinners, it is necessary to distinguish between the priority of time and the priority of order, or, if we may say, of reason. In priority of time, the Divine Decree is anterior to man's sin; but in priority of order, sin is anterior to the Divine Decree; for God has decreed many sinners to hell, inasmuch as he has foreseen their sins. Hence we may see that God, with that antecedent will which regards his goodness, truly wills that all should be saved, but by that consequent will which regards the sins of the reprobate, he wishes their damnation. Hear the words of St. John of Damascus on the subject (5): "Deus precedenter vult omnes salvari, ut efficiat nos

(3) St. Prosper. resp. ad 2. Object. Vin. (5) St. Joan. Damas. 7. 2, de Fide Orthod. c. 2.

(4) St. Chrysos. in 1 Tim. 2, Hom. 7.

bonitatis suæ participes ut bonus; peccantes autem puniri vult ut justus;" and St. Thomas says: "Voluntas antecedens est, qua (Deus) omnes homines salvos fieri vult...... Consideratis autem omnibus circumstantiis personæ, sic non invenitur de omnibus bonum esse quod salventur; bonum enim est eum qui se præparat, et consentit, salvari; non vero nolentem, et resistentem.... Et hæc dicitur voluntas consequens, eo quod præsupponit præscientiam operum, non tanquam causam voluntatis, sed quasi rationem voliti " (6).

60. There are many other texts to prove that God wills the salvation of all. I will quote at least a few. Christ says: "Come to me, all you that labour and are burthened, and I will refresh you (Matt. xi. 28). Come, he says, all you burthened with your sins, and I will repair the ruin you yourselves have occasioned. When, therefore, he invites all to accept a remedy, he wishes that all should be saved. In another place St. Peter says, the Lord "dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance" (2 Peter, iii. 9). Mark this, "that all should return to penance." God does not wish that any one should be damned, even sinners, while in this life, but that all should repent of their sins, and be saved. Again, in another place, David says: "For wrath is in his indignation, and life in his good will" (Psalm, xxix. 6). St. Basil, explaining this passage, says, that it proves that God wishes all men to be saved: "Et vita in voluntate ejus, quid ergo dicit? nimirum quod vult Deus omnes vitæ fieri participes." Although we offend God by our sins, he does not wish our death, but that we should live. In the book of Wisdom (xi. 25), we read: "Thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things thou hast made...... thou sparest all, because they are thine, O Lord, who lovest souls." If, therefore, God loves all his creatures, and especially the souls he created, and is always ready to pardon those who repent of their sins, how can we imagine, for a moment, that he creates souls solely for the purpose of tormenting them eternally in hell? No; God does not wish to see them lost, but saved, and when he sees that we are hurrying to eternal torments, by our sins, he almost implores us to retrace our steps, and avoid destruction: "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, and why will you die, O house of Israel" (Ezech. xxxiii. 11). Poor sinners, he says, why will you persevere in damning yourselves? return to me, and you will find again the life which you lost. Hence it was, that our Saviour, viewing Jerusalem, and considering the destruction the Jews were bringing on it, by the crime of putting him to death, "wept over it" (Luke, xix. 41). In another place he declares that he does not wish the death of the sinner, and even swears so: "As I live, saith the

(6) St. Thom. cap. 6, Joan. lec. 4.

Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his evil way, and live" (Ezech. xxxiii. 11).

66

61. Now, taking into account so many Scripture proofs, by which God tells us that he wishes to save all mankind, it is, as the learned Petavius says, an insult to the Divine Mercy, and a mockery of the Faith, to say that God does not wish that it should be so: Quod si ista Scripturæ loca, quibus hanc suam voluntatem tam illustribus, ac sæpe repetitis sententiis, imo lacrymis, ac jurejurando testatus est Deus, calumniari licet, et in contrarium detorquere sensum, ut præter paucos genus humanum omne perdere statuerit, nec eorum servandorum voluntatem habuerit, quid est adeo disertum in Fidei decretis, quod simili ab injuria, et cavillatione tutum esse possit" (7). Cardinal Sfrondati adds, that to assert the contrary, that God wishes only some few to be saved, and has absolutely decreed that all the rest should be damned, when he has so often manifested that he wishes all to be saved, is only making him an actor, who says one thing, and wishes and performs another: "Plane qui aliter sentiunt, nescio an ex Deo vero Deum scenicum faciant" (8). All the Fathers, both Greek and Latin, are agreed in this, that God sincerely wishes that all should be saved. Petavius cites St. Justin, St. Basil, St. Gregory, St. Cyril, St. Chrysostom; and St. Methodius, on the subject. Hear what the Latin Fathers say-St. Jerome: "Vult (Deus) salvare omnes, sed quia nullus absque propria voluntate salvatur, vult nos bonum velle, ut cum voluerimus, velit in nobis et Ipse suum implere consilium" (9). St. Hilary says (10): "Omnes homines Deus salvos fieri vult, et non eos tantum qui ad Sanctorum numerum pertinebunt, sed omnes omnino, ut nullus habeat exceptionem." St. Paulinus (11) thus writes: "Omnibus dicit Christus, venite ad me, &c., omnem enim quantum in ipso est, hominem salvum fieri vult, qui fecit omnes." St. Ambrose says (12): "Etiam circa impios suam ostendere debuit voluntatem, et ideo nec proditorem debuit præterire, ut adverterent omnes, quod in electione etiam proditoris sui salvandorum omnium prætendit..... et quod in Deo fuit, ostendit omnibus, quod omnes voluit liberare." I omit all other proofs from the Fathers, as they are too numerous, but as Petrocoresius well remarks, the Divine precept of hope assures us that God truly on his part wishes all to be saved; for if we were not certain that God wishes all to be saved, our hope would not be secure and firm, as St. Paul tells us," an anchor of the soul sure and firm" (Heb. vi. 18, 19), but weak and doubtful: "Qua fiducia," he says, "Divinam misericordiam sperare poterunt homines, si certum non sit quod Deus salutem omnium eorum velit" (13). I have expounded this argument in my Work on Prayer (14).

(7) Petav. Theol. t. 1, l. 10, c. 15, n. 5. (8) Nodus Præd. Par. 1. (9) St. Hier. Comment. in c. 1, ad Ephesios. (10) St. Hilar. Ep. ad Aug. (11) St. Paulin. Ep. 24, ad Sever. n. 9. (12) St. Ambr. de Libro Parad. c. 8. (13) Petrocor. Theol. t. 1, c. 3, q. 4. (14) Mezzo della Preghiera Par. 2, c. 4.

62. Calvin, however, says that, by the sin of Adam, the whole human race became a "condemned mass;" and hence God does no injury to mankind, if he only saves a few, and allows the rest to be damned, if not for their own sins, at all events for the sin of Adam. But we answer, that it is this very "condemned mass" itself, that Jesus Christ came to save by his death: "For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost" (Matt. xviii. 11). He offered up his death, not alone for those who were to be saved, but for all, without exception: "He gave himself a redemption for all" (1 Tim. ii. 6); "Christ died for all" (1 Cor. v. 15);" We hope in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of the faithful" (1 Tim. iv. 10). And even St. Paul, to show that we were all dead by sin, says that Christ died for all: "The charity of Christ presseth us...... if one died for all, then all were dead" (2 Cor. v. 14). Hence, St. Thomas says, Christ is the mediator, not of some, but of all: "Christus Jesus est mediator Dei, et hominum, non quorundam, sed inter Deum et omnes homines et hoc non esset, nisi vellet omnes salvare" (15).

63. If, God, however, wishes that all should be saved, and Christ died for all, how then is it, St. Chrysostom asks, that all are not saved? He answers the question himself: Because all will not act in conformity with the will of God, who wishes that all should be saved, but, at the same time, will not force any one's will: "Cur igitur non omnes salvi fiunt, si vult (Deus) omnes salvos esse? quoniam non omnium voluntas Illius voluntatem sequitur, porro ipse neminem cogit (16). And St. Augustin (17) says: "Bonus est Deus, justus est Deus; potest aliquos sine bonis meritis liberare, quia bonus est, non potest quenquam sine malis meritis damnare, quia justus est." Even the Lutheran Centuriators of Magdeburg, speaking of the reprobate, confess that the Holy Fathers have taught that God does not predestine sinners to hell, but condemns them, on account of the foreknowledge he has of their sins: "Patres nec prædestinationem in eo Dei, sed præscientiam solum admiserunt" (18). But, says Calvin, God, although he predestines many to eternal death, still does not insist on the punishment until after they have sinned; and therefore, he first predestines the reprobates to sin, that he may, in justice, condemn them afterwards. But if it would be an act of injustice to send the innocent to hell, would it not be much more so to predestine them first to sin, that they may be subsequently damned. "Major vero injustitia," says St. Fulgentius," si lapso Deus retribuit pœnam, quam stantem prædestinasse dicitur ad ruinam" (19).

64. The truth is, that those who are lost are so through their

(15) St. Thom. ad 1 Tim. ii. lect. 1. (16) St. Chrysos. Hom. 43, de Longitud. prem. (17) St. Augus. l. 3, contra Julian, c. 18. (18) Centuriat. 102, c. 4. (19) St. Fulgent. l. 1, ad Monim. c. 24.