A MANUAL OF CATHOLIC THEOLOGY
A MANUAL OF
CATHOLIC THEOLOGY
BASED ON SCHEEBEN'S " DOGMATIK"
BY
JOSEPH WILHELM, D.D., PH.D.
AND
THOMAS B. SCANNELL, D.D.
WITH A PREFACE BY
CARDINAL MANNING
VOL. 1.
THE SOURCES OF THEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE
GOD
CREATION AND THE SUPERNATURAL ORDER
FOURTH EDITION, REVISED
LONDON
KEG AN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LT*
NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO
BENZIGER BROS.
1909
[7'Ae rights of translation and uf reproduction are reserved.]
555
vJ
PREFACE.
DR. WlLHELM and Fr. Scannell have conferred upon the
faithful in England a signal boon in publishing Scheeben's
scientific Dogmatik in English, and condensing it for careful
and conscientious study.
St. Anselm, in his work, "Cur Deus Homo?" says, "As
the right order requires that we should first believe the
deep things of the Christian faith before we presume to
discuss them by reason, so it seems to me to be negligence
if, after we are confirmed in the faith, we do not study to
understand what we believe." *
The Dogmatik of Scheeben is a profuse exposition of
the deep things of faith in the light of intelligence guided
by the illumination of the Church. Although, as Gregory
of Valentia teaches, in accordance with the Catholic
schools, that Theology is not a science proprie dicta,
because it cannot be resolved into first principles that are
self-evident, nevertheless it is higher than all sciences,
because it can be resolved into the science of God and of
the Blessed, known to us by revelation and faith.
Theology may for that cause be called wisdom, which
is higher than all science, and also it may be called science
for many reasons. First, because, if it be not a science as
to its principles, it is so as to its form, method, process,
1 Lib. i. c. 2.
vi Preface.
development, and transmission ; and because, if its principles
are not evident, they are in all the higher regions of it
infallibly certain ; and because many of them are necessary
and eternal truths.
Revelation, then, contemplated and transmitted in
exactness and method, may be called a science and the
queen of sciences, the chief of the hierarchy of truth ; and
it enters and takes the first place in the intellectual system
and tradition of the world. It possesses all the qualities
and conditions of science so far as its subject-matter
admits ; namely, certainty as against doubt, definiteness
as against vagueness, harmony as against discordance,
unity as against incoherence, progress as against dissolu-
tion and stagnation.
A knowledge and belief of the existence of God has
never been extinguished in the reason of mankind. The
polytheisms and idolatries which surrounded it were cor-
ruptions of a central and dominant truth, which, although
obscured, was never lost. And the tradition of this truth
was identified with the higher and purer operations of the
natural reason, which have been called the intellectual
system of the world. The mass of mankind, howsoever
debased, were always theists. Atheists were anomalies
and exceptions, as the blind among men. The theism of
the primaeval revelation formed the intellectual system of
the heathen world. The theism of the patriarchal revela-
tion formed the intellectual system of the Hebrew race.
The theism revealed in the incarnation of God has formed
the intellectual system of the Christian world. " Sapientia
aedificavit sibi domum." The science or knowledge of
God has built for itself a tabernacle in the intellect of
mankind, inhabits it, and abides in it The intellectual
science of the world finds its perfection in the scientific
expression of the theology of faith. But from first to
last the reason of man is the disciple, not the critic, of the
Preface. vii
revelation of God : and the highest science of the human
intellect is that which, taking its preamble from the light
of nature, begins in faith ; and receiving its axioms from
faith, expands by the procession of truth from truth.
The great value of Scheeben's work is in its scientific
method, its terminology, definitions, procedure, and unity.
It requires not only reading but study ; and study with
patient care and conscientious desire to understand.
Readers overrun truths which they have not mastered.
Students leave nothing behind them until it is understood.
This work needs such a conscientious treatment from
those who take it in hand.
Valuable as it is in all its parts, the most valuable may
be said to be the First Book, on the Sources of Theolo-
gical Knowledge, and the Second Book, on God in
Unity and Trinity. Any one who has mastered this
second book has reached the Head of the River of the
Water of Life.
Of all the superstitious and senseless mockeries, and
they were many, with which the world wagged its head
at the Vatican Council, none was more profoundly foolish
than the gibe that in the nineteenth century a Council has
been solemnly called to declare the existence of God. In
fact, it is this truth that the nineteenth century needs most
of all. For as St. Jerome says, " Homo sine cognitione
Dei, pecus." But what the Council did eventually declare
is, not the existence of God, but that the existence of God
may be known with certitude by the reason of man through
the works that He has created. This is the infallible light
of the Natural Order, and the need of this definition is per-
ceived by all who know the later Philosophies of Germany
and France, and the rationalism, scepticism, and natural-
ism which pervades the literature, the public opinion, and
the political action of the modern world. This was the
first dominant error of these days, demanding the action
b
viii Preface.
of the Council. The second was the insidious undermining
of the doctrinal authority of the Holy See, which for two
hundred years had embarrassed the teaching of the Church,
not only in controversy with adversaries without, but often
in the guidance of some of its own members within the
fold. The definition of the Infallible Magisterium of
the Roman Pontiff has closed this period of contention
The Divine certitude of the Supernatural Order completes
the twofold infallibility of the knowledge of God in the
natural and supernatural revelation of Himself. This was
the work of the Vatican Council in its one memorable
Session, in which the Councils of the Church, and espe-
cially the Councils of Florence and of Trent, culminated
in defining the certitude of faith.
Scheeben has fully and luminously exhibited the mind
of the Vatican Council in his First and Second Books.
HENRY EDWARD,
Cardinal A rc/ibis/iof>.
EPIPHANY, 1890.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGB
PREFACE v
INTRODUCTION.
I. Definition and Division of Theology .. .. .. .. xvii
II. A Short Sketch of the History of Theology . . . . . . xviii
III. The Special Task of Theology at the Present Time The Plan
of tliis Manual ...... .... 1
BOOK I.
THE SOURCES OF THEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE.
PART I.
THE OBJECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF THEOLOGICAL
KNOWLEDGE.
CHAP. I. DIVINE REVELATION.
I. Notion of Revelation Three Degrees of Revelation .. .. 3
2. The Nature and Subject-matter of Natural Revelation . . . . 4
3. The Object and Necessity of a Positive Revelation Its Super-
natural Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4. The Subject-matter of Supernatural Revelation Mysteries . . 8
5. The Province of Revelation .. .. .. .. .. .. n
6. Progress of Revelation .. .. .. .. .. .. 13
CHAP. II. THE TRANSMISSION OF REVELATION.
7. The Protestant Theory and the Catholic Theory concerning the
ft] ode of transmitting and enforcing Revelation .. .. IO
8. Further Explanation of the Catholic Theory . . . . . . 18
9. Demonstration of the Catholic Theory . . . . . . . . 20
Contents.
10. Organization of the Teaching Apostolate Its Relations with the
Two Powers and the Two Hierarchical Orders instituted by Christ . . 32
II. Organization of the Apostolate (continued) Organization of the
Teaching Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
12. Organization of the Apostolate (continued) The Auxiliary
Members of the Teaching Body . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
13. Organization of the Apostolate (continued) Organic Union
between the Teaching Body and the Body of the Faithful . . . . 43
14. Organization of the Apostolate (concluded) External and
Internal Indefectibility of Doctrine and Faith in the Church Recapitu-
lation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
15. Gradual Progress in the Transmission of Revelation Apostolic
Deposit : Ecclesiastical Tradition : Rule of Faith . . . . . . 47
CHAP. III. THE APOSTOLIC DEPOSIT OF REVELATION.
16. Holy Scripture the Written Word of God . . 50
17. Holy Scripture as a Source of Theological Knowledge . . 56
18. The False and Self-contradictory Position of Holy Scripture in
the Protestant System .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 58
19. The Position and Functions of Holy Scripture in the Catholic
System 61
20. Decisions of the Church on the Text and Interpretation of Holy
Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
21. The Oral Apostolic Deposit Tradition, in the Narrower Sense
of the Word 66
CHAP. IV. ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITION.
22. Origin and Growth of Ecclesiastical Tradition .. .. .. 71
23. The Various Modes in which Traditional Testimony is given in
the Church 73
24. Documentary Tradition, the Expression of the Living Tradition 76
25. Rules for demonstrating Revealed Truth from Ecclesiastical
Tradition .. .. 77
26. The Writings of the Fathers 79
27. The Writings of Theologians .. .. .. .. .. 81
CHAP. V. THE RULE OF FAITH.
28. The Rule of Faith considered generally ; and also specially in
its Active Sense 85
29. Dogmas and Matters of Opinion 88
30. Definitions and Judicial Decisions considered generally . . 91
31. Papal Judgments and their Infallibility 94
32. General Councils . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
33. The Roman Congregations Local or Particular Councils .. lot
34. Dogmatic Censures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
35. Development of Dogma . . . . . . . . . . 105
36. The Chiei Dogmatic Documents Creeds and Decrees . . 108
Contents. xi
PART II.
THEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE CONSIDERED IN ITSELF, OR
SUBJECTIVELY.
CHAP. I. FAITH.
PAGE
37. Etymology of the various words used for Faith The true
Notion of Faith .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. ..112
38. Nature of Theological Faith 115
39. The Formal Object or Motive of Faith 118
40. The Subject-matter of Faith . . 1 19
41. The Motives of Credibility .. .. .. .. .. .. 122
42. Faith and Grace .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 128
43. Man's Co-operation in the Act of Faith Faith a Free Act . . 131
44. The Supreme Certitude of Faith .. .. .. ' .. ..132
45. Necessity of Faith 135
CHAP. II. FAITH AND UNDERSTANDING.
46. Doctrine of the Vatican Council on the Understanding of Faith 138
47. Theological Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
48. Scientific Character of Theology . . . . . . . . . . 141
49. The Rank of Theology among the Sciences . . . . . . 142
50. The three great branches of Theology : Fundamental, Positive,
and Speculative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
51. Relation between Reason and Faith .. .. .. ..146
52. Theology as a Sacred Science .. .. .. .. ..150
53. Progress of Theological Science .. .. .- , . .. 151
BOOK II.
GOD.
PART I.
GOD CONSIDERED AS ONE IN SUBSTANCE.
CHAP. I. OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
A. Natural Knowledge of God.
54. Natural Knowledge of God considered generally .. .. 158
55. The Demonstration of the Existence of (JoJ .. .. .. 161
56. Our Conception of the Divine Essence and the Divine Attributes 164
57. Contents and Limits of our Natural Knowledge of God .. 168
B. Supernatural Knowledge of God.
58. Revealed Names of God 169
59. The Doctrine concerning God as defined by the Church,
especially in the Vatican Council .. -- .. .. .. .. I7S
xii Contents.
CHAP. II. THE ESSENCE AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD, CONSIDERED
GENERALLY.
PAGE
60. Fundamental Conception of God's Essence and Nature .. 175
61. The Perfection of the Divine Being . . . . .. .. 177
62. Our Conception of the Divine Attributes Classification .. 179
CHAP. III. THE NEGATIVE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD.
63. The Simplicity of God 182
64. The Infinity of God 185
65. The Immutability of God 188
66. The Inconfusibility of God 191
67. The Immensity of God 193
68. The Eternity of God 195
69. The Invisibility of God 197
70. The Incomprehensibility of God . . . . . . . . . 200
71. The Ineffability of God 201
CHAP. IV. THE POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
A. Internal Attributes.
72. The Unity of God 203
73. God, the Objective Truth 204
74. God, the Objective Goodness 205
75. God, the Absolute Beauty 206
B. External Attributes.
76. The Omnipotence of God 208
77. The Omnipresence of God .. .. .. .. ..211
CHAP. V. THE DIVINE LIFE.
78. The Divine Life in general Its Absolute Perfection .. .. 214
79. The Divine Knowledge in general. . .. .. .. .. 215
80. God's Knowledge of the Free Actions of His Creatures . . 219
81. The Divine Wisdom in relation to its External Activity The
Divine Ideas . . . . 22 5
82. The Nature and Attributes of the Divine Will considered
frenerally . . ' 22 7
83. The Absolute Freedom of God's Will 230
84. The Affections (Affectus} of the Divine Will, especially Love . . 233
85. The Moral Perfection of the Divine Will . . . . . 238
86. The Justice of God . , 2 4i
87. God's Mercy and Veracity . . 246
88. Efficacy of the Divine Will Its Dominion over Created Wills 248
89. The Divine Will as Living Goodness and Holiness God the
Substantial Holiness 2 53
90. The Beatitude and Glory of the Divine Life 254
Contents* xiii
PART II.
THE DIVINE TRINITY.
CHAP. I. THE DOGMA.
PAGE
gi. The Dogma of the Trinity as formulated by the Church .. 259
CHAP. II. THE TRINITY IN SCRIPTURE.
92. The Trinity in the New Testament . . . . . . . . 265
93. The Doctrine of the New Testament on God the Son . . . . 269
94. The Doctrine of the New Testament on the Holy Ghost . . 277
95. The Doctrine of the Old Testament on the Trinity . . . . 283
CHAP. III. THE TRINITY IN TRADITION.
96. The Ante-Nicene Tradition on the Divine Trinity and Unity . . 287
97. The Consubstantiality of the Son defined by the Council of
Nicsea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
98. The Tradition of East and West on the Consubstantiality of the
Holy Ghost with the Father and the Son 294
99. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Divine Hypostases and
Persons Definition of Hypostasis and Person as applied to God . . 308
100. The Distinction of the Divine Persons in particular, and their
Distinctive Marks .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 312
CHAP. IV. THE EVOLUTION OF THE TRINITY FROM THE
FECUNDITY OF THE DIVINE LIFE.
lor. The Origins in God resulting from the Fecundity of the Divine
Life as Absolute Wisdom .. .. .. .. .. .. ..316
102. The Productions in God are True Productions of an Inner Mani-
festation (i) of the Divine Knowledge through Word and Image; and
(2) of the Divine Love through Aspiration, Pledge, and Gift .. . . 320
103. The Perfect Immanence of the Divine Productions ; the Sub-
stantiality of their Products as Internal Expression of the Substantial
Truth and Internal Effusion of the Substantial Sanctity . . . . 323
104. The Divine Productions as Communications of Essence and
Nature ; the Divine Products as Hypostases or Persons . . . . 325
105. The Special Names of the Divine Productions as Communica-
tions of Life in analogy with Generation and Spiration in the Animal
Kingdom The Personal Names Father, Son, and Holy Ghost The
Economy (olxovo^la.) of the Divine Persons . . . . . . . . 331
106. Complete Unity of the Produced Persons with their Principle,
resulting from their Immanent Origin : Similarity, Equality, Identity,
Inseparability, and Co-inherence (irepix&>p7j<m) . . . . . . . . 33^
107. The Appropriation of the Common Names, Attributes, and
Operations to Particular Persons . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
108. The Temporal Mission of the Divine Persons . . . . . . 343
109. The Trinity a Mystery but not a Contradiction. . . . . . 349
1 10. The Position and Importance of the Mystery of the Trinity in
Revelation .. ,. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..351
xiv Contents.
BOOK III.
CREATION AND THE SUPERNATURAL ORDER.
PART I.
CREATION.
CHAP. I. THE UNIVERSE CREATED BY GOD.
PAGR
i ii. The Origin of all Things by Creation out of Nothing . . . . 358
112. Simultaneous Beginning of the World and of Time .. .. 361
113. God the Conservator of all Things .. .. .. .. 363
1 14. God the Principle of all Created Action . . . . . . . . 365
CHAP. II. THE UNIVERSE CREATED FOR GOD.
115. Essential Relation of Creatures to God as the Final Object of
their Being, Activity, and Tendencies 369
116. The Providence of God .. .. .. . .. .. 372
117. The World the Realization of the Divine Ideal. . .. .. 374
CHAP. III. THE ANGELS.
118. The Nature, Existence, and Origin of the Angels .. .. 376
119. Attributes of the Angels Incorruptibility and Relation to Space 378
120. The Natural Life and Work of the Angels .. .. .. 379
121. Number and Hierarchy of the Angels .. .. .. .. 382
CHAP. IV. THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE.
122. Theological Doctrines concerning the Material World generally 383
123. The Doctrinal Portions of the Mosaic Hexahemeron .. .. 384
CHAP. V. MAN.
124. Interpretation of Gen. i. 26: "Let Us make man to Our
image and likeness "..'.. . . . . . . . . . . . 389
125. Man the Image of God .. .. .. .. .. .. 392
126. The Likeness to God in Man and Woman . . .. . . 395
127. Essential Constitution of Man . . . . . . . . . . 397
128. Production of the First Woman The Essence of Marriage .. 400
129. Reproduction of Human Nature .. .. .. .. .. 404
130. Descent of all Mankind from One Pair of Progenitors, and the
consequent Unity of the Human Race . . . . , . . . . . 410
131. Division and Order of the Vital Forces in Man. . . . . . 412
132. The Spiritual -Side of Human Nature . . . . . . . . 413
133. The Animal Side of Human Nature . . . . . . . . 418
134. The Natural Imperfections, or the Animal Character of the
Spiritual Life {ratio inferior} in Man, and its Consequences . . . . 421
135. Natural Destiny of Rational Creatures Their Position in the
Universe .. .. . 4 2 S
Contents. xv
PART II.
THE SUPERNATURAL ORDER.
CHAP. I. GENERAL THEORY OF THE SUPERNATURAL
AND OF GRACE.
PAGE
136. Notion of the Supernatural and of Supernature . . . . 430
137. General Notion of Divine Grace . . . . . . . . . . 434
138. The Chief Errors concerning the Supernatural .. .. .. 437
CHAP. II. THEORY OF THE ABSOLUTELY SUPERNATURAL.
139. Doctrine of Holy Scripture on the Supernatural Communion
with God, considered especially as Communion by Adoptive Sonship . . 443
140. The Teaching of Tradition on Supernatural Union with God :
especially on the " Deification " of the Creature . . . . . . . . 452
141. Eternal Life in the Beatific Vision . . . . . . . . 456
142. The Supernatural in our Life on Earth (in statu vice) . . . . 459
143. The Elevating Grace necessary for Salutary Acts . . . . 463
144. Elevating Grace considered as a Supernatural Habit of the
Mental Faculties The Theological Virtues . . . . . . . . 465
145. The State of Grace the Nobility of the Children of God . . 468
146. The State of Grace (continued) The Holy Ghost the Sub-
stantial Complement of Accidental Grace .. .. .. .. .. 472
147. The State of Grace (concluded) Its Character of New
Creation Grace and Free Will . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
148. Relation of Nature and Natural Free Will to Grace The
" Obediential " Faculty The Absolute Gratuity of Grace . . . . 483
149. Relation of Nature to Grace (continued) The Process by
which Nature is raised to the State of Grace . . . . . . . . 486
150. Nature's Vocation to Grace by a Law of the Creator . . . . 490
151. Function of the Supernatural Order in the Divine Plan of the
Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
CHAP. III. THEORY OF THE RELATIVELY SUPERNATURAL.
152. The Supernatural Endowment of Man's Nature as distinct from
the Angels .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 496
CHAP. IV. CONCRETE REALIZATION OF THE SUPERNATURAL
ORDER.
153. The Supernatural in the Angelic World. . .. .. .. 501
154. The Supernatural in Mankind .. .. .. .. ,. 505
UMBRA IN LEGE
IMAGO IN EVANGELIO
VERITAS IN CCELO.
S. Ambr. in Ps. xxxviil.
INTRODUCTION.
I. DEFINITION AND DIVISION OF THEOLOGY.
I. THE word " Theology" means the Science of God. This Definition,
science has God not only for its subject, but also for its
source and its object ; hence the Divine character of
Theology cannot better be described than by the old
formula : " Theology teaches about God, is taught by God,
and leads to God." 1 Theology may be taken objectively
as doctrine, or subjectively as knowledge. But it is not
every knowledge of Divine doctrine, especially not the
mere apprehension of it, that is called Theology. The
term is restricted to scientific knowledge ; and conse-
quently Theology, in its technical sense, is the scientific
exposition of the doctrine concerning God and things
Divine.
The knowledge of God which can be obtained by
means of Revelation is called Revealed Theology, in
contra-distinction to Natural Theology, which depends
on human reason alone. The " Natural Theology " of
Paley and other English writers that is, the knowledge
of God obtainable by the study of Nature is a branch of
this more extensive Natural Theology.
II. Theology is usually divided into Dogmatic and xhlob" '
Moral Theology. The former treats of dogmas that is,
rules of belief, and is of a speculative character, while the
latter deals with rules of conduct, and is practical. In
this work we deal with Dogmatic Theology.
Theology may also be divided according to its various
functions. When it demonstrates and defends the grounds
1 " Theologia Deum docet, a Deo docetur, et ad Deum ducit."
x vi i I Introduction.
of belief, it is called General or Fundamental Theology.
This is more properly a vestibule or outwork of Theology,
and may be considered as Applied Philosophy. It is
also called the Treatise on the True Religion (Tractatus de
Vera Religions), and sometimes Apologetics, because of its
defensive character. When Theology expounds and co-
ordinates the dogmas themselves, and demonstrates them
from Scripture and Tradition, it takes the name of Positive
Theology. When it takes the dogmas for granted, and
penetrates into their nature and discovers their principles
and consequences, it is designated Speculative Theology,
and sometimes Scholastic Theology, because it is chiefly
the work of the Schoolmen, and also because, on account
of its abstruseness, it can only be acquired by scholars.
Positive Theology and Speculative Theology cannot be
completely separated. Hence the theological works of the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were entitled Theo-
logia Positivo-Sckolastica, or Dogmatico-Scholastica. The
present work likewise possesses this two-fold character.
A fuller account of these various distinctions will be
found in the concluding sections of Book I.
II. A SHORT SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THEOLOGY.
The history of Theology may be divided into three
epochs, which coincide with the great epochs of the history
of the Church :
A. The Ancient or Patristic Epoch ;
B. The Mediaeval or Scholastic Epoch ;
C The Modern Epoch.
Each of these has as its centre one of the great Coun-
cils of the Church, Patristic Theology being/ grouped round
the Council of Nicaea, Mediaeval Theology round the
Fourth Lateran Council, and Modern Theology round
the Council^oT Trent. In each epoch also the growth of
Theology has followed a similar course. A period of pre-
paration has led up to the Council, which has been followed
by a period of prosperity, and this in turn has given place
to a period of decay. During the Patristic Epoch, Theo-
Introduction. xix
logy was engaged in studying Holy Scripture, in consoli-
dating Tradition, and in defending the chief doctrines of
Christianity against paganism and heresy, and was cul-
tivated principally by the official representatives of Tra-
dition, the Bishops. The foundation having thus been
securely laid, the work of the Mediaeval theologians was to
develop and systematize what had been handed down
to them ; and this work was carried on almost entirely in
the cloisters and universities. Finally, Modern Theology
has taken up the work of both of the foregoing epochs
by defending the fundamental dogmas of Religion against
modern agnostics and heretics, and at the same time care-
fully attending to the development of doctrine within the
Church.
A. The Patristic Epoch.
Theology was not treated by the Fathers as one organic The
whole. They first enunciated Tradition and then inter- IheVuL'J*.
preted Scripture. In this way, particular dogmas were
often explained and proved at considerable length. Some
approach to systematic treatment may, indeed, be found
in their catechetical works ; but the greater part of the
Patristic writings, besides the commentaries on Holy
Scripture, consists of treatises written against the different
heresies of the day, and thus, without directly constructing
a system, the Fathers provided ample materials in almost
every department of theology. The struggle against
Paganism and Manichaeism gave rise to treatises on God,
man, and creation ; the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity
was proved against the Arians and Macedonians ; the
Incarnation against the Nestorians and Eutychians ; Grace
and Sin were discussed with the Pelagians ; the schism
of the Donatists brought out the doctrine concerning the /
Constitution of the Church.
In the East the Fathers were occupied chiefly in dis- Eastern and
cussing speculative questions, such as the Blessed Trinity xh^ofo^y
and Incarnation, while the Western Church directed its compa "
attention more to the practical questions of Sin and Re-
demption, Grace and Free Will, and the Constitution of
the Church. The Easterns, moreover, excelled both in
xx Introduction.
exactness of method and sublimity of expression. This
difference in method and choice of subjects was due chiefly
to the fact that Theology was treated in the East by men
trained in Greek metaphysics, whereas in the West it was
treated by men trained in Roman Law. Greek meta-
physics supplied ideas and expressions capable of con-
veying some notion of the Divine Substance, the Divine
Persons, and the Divine Nature. On the other hand, the
nature of Sin and its transmission by inheritance, the debt
owed by man and satisfied by Jesus Christ, were worked
out on the lines of the Roman theory of obligations arising
out of Contract or Delict, the Roman view of Debts, and
the modes of incurring, extinguishing, and transmitting
them, and the Roman notion of the continuance of individual
existence by universal succession. 1
Greek The Greek Fathers most highly esteemed for their
Fathers.
dogmatic writings are : The chiefs of the Catechetical
School at Alexandria, Clement, Origen, and Didymus,
from whom the subsequent writers drew their inspiration ;
Athanasius ; the three great Cappadocians, Gregory of
Nazianzum, Basil, and Gregory of Nyssa ; Cyril of
Alexandria, Leontius of Byzantium, Pseudo-Dionysius the
Latin Areopagite, and lastly, John Damascene. In the West may
be mentioned Tertullian, Ambrose, Leo, Hilary of Poictiers,
Fulgentius, and the great St. Augustine. The works of the
last-named form a sort of encyclopaedia of theological lite-
rature. The early Schoolmen, such as Hugh of St. Victor,
did little more than develop and systematize the material
supplied by him. After a time the influence of the Greek
Fathers began to be felt, especially in the doctrine of Grace,
and hence, long afterwards, the Jansenists accused both
the Schoolmen and the Greek Fathers of having fallen
into Pelagianism. 2
1 Maine, Ancient Law, p. 355.
2 A complete account of the writings of the Fathers does not fall within
our present scope. For further information, see Bardenhewer, Les Peres de
FEglise. The original is in German, but the French edition is better. And
Cardinal Newman's Church of the Fathers, Historical Sketches, St. Athanasius,
and The Arians of the Fourth Century.
Introduction. xxi
B. The Mediczval or Scholastic Epoch.
During the so-called Dark Ages, Theology was culti- The Dark
vated chiefly in the cathedral and monastic schools. It ges "
was for the most part merely a reproduction of what had
been handed down by the Fathers. The most valuable
writings of these ages are : Venerable Bede's commentaries
on Holy Scripture ; Paschasius Radbert's treatises on the
Holy Eucharist, and those directed against Berengarius
by Lanfranc and Guitmundus. Scotus Erigena created
a sort of theological system in his celebrated work De
Divisione Natiirce, but he can in no way be looked upon as
the Father of Scholasticism, as he is sometimes styled in
modern times ; in fact, the Schoolmen completely ignore
him.
I. The title of Father of Scholasticism rightly belongs The Pre-
to St. Anselm of Canterbury (d. 1109). He did not indeed Period?
i /-lit 111-1 1080-1230.
supply a complete treatment of theology, but he dealt with
the most important and difficult dogmas in such a way
that it became easy to reduce them to a system. " Faith
seeking understanding" was his motto. It was his severe
and strictly logical method which set the fashion to those
who came after him. His Monologium treats of God as one
in Nature, and three in Persons ; the Proslogium further
develops the treatment of the unity of God, while the
treatise De Processione Spirittis Sancti adversus Grcecos
develops his teaching on the Trinity ; De Casu Diaboli and
De Conceptu Virginali et Originali Peccato deal with sin ;
Cttr Deus Homo contains his celebrated theory of Redemp-
tion. He also wrote on Grace and Free Will : De Libero
A rbitrio and De Concordia Prczscientice et Prcedestinationis
nee non Gratia Dei cum Libero Arbitrio.
The rationalistic tendencies of Abelard were successfully
combated by St. Bernard (1153), Hugh of St. Victor
(Summa Sententiarum and De Sacramentis Fidei), and
Robert Pulleyn. Peter Lombard (Archbishop of Paris, Peter
1 104) was the author of the great mediaeval text-book, Lc
Sententiarum libri qiiattiwr, in which the materials supplied
by the Fathers are worked up into a complete system of
Theology. William of A.\i'x.QnQ(Altissiodorensis^ t Richard
xxii Introdiiclion.
of St. Victor, Alanus of Lille, and William of Paris, form
the transition from the preparatory period to the period
of prosperity.
The II. During the early years of the thirteenth century
Period, the foundation of the two great Mendicant Orders by St.
Francis and St. Dominic, and the struggles with the Ara-
bico-aristotelian philosophy introduced into the west by
the Spanish Moors, gave astonishing impetus to theological
studies. Theology embraced a larger field, and at the same
time became more systematic. Greek philosophy drew at-
tention to the Greek Fathers, who began to exercise greater
influence. Aristotle's logic had already found its way into
the schools ; now his metaphysics, psychology, and ethics
became the basis of Christian teaching. As might be ex-
pected from such studies, the great doctors of this period are
characterized by clear statement of the question at issue,
continual adoption of the syllogistic form of argumentation,
frequent and subtle use of distinctions, and plain unvar-
nished style of language which is not, however, without a
charm of its own. They sometimes treated of theology in
commentaries on Holy Scripture, but their usual text-
book was the Sentences of the Lombard. They also wrote
monographs on various questions, called Quodlibeta or
Qucestiones Disputatce. Some doctors composed original
systematic works on the whole domain of theology, called
Summcs TJieologicce, most of which, however, remain in a
schoiasti- more or less unfinished state. These Summce have often
cism and
Gothic ar - been likened to the great Gothic cathedrals of this same
chitecture. n i i -TM
age, and the parallel is indeed most striking. 1 he opening
years of the thirteenth century mark the transition from
the Roman (or, as we call it, Norman) style to the Gothic
or pointed style, and also from the Patristic to the Scholastic
method. The period of perfection in both Scholasticism
and Gothic architecture also extends from 1230 to the
beginning of the fourteenth century. 1 The Mendicant
Orders were the chief promoters of both. The style of the
Schoolmen is totally wanting in the brilliant eloquence so
often found in the Fathers. They split up their subject
1 These dates apply to continental architecture ; the flourishing period of
Scholasticism and architecture ia linyland was the fourteenth century.
Introduction. xxiii
into numberless questions and subdivide these again, at
the same time binding them all together to form one well-
ordered whole, and directing them all to the final end of
man. In like manner the mediaeval architects, discarding
the use of all gorgeous colouring, elaborate the bare stone
into countless pinnacles and mullions and clusters, all of
them composing together one great building, and all of
them pointing to Heaven. And just as in after ages a
Fene'lon could call Gothic architecture a barbarous inven-
tion of the Arabs ; so there have been learned men who
have looked upon Scholasticism as subtle trifling. But it
is noteworthy that in our own day Scholasticism and
Gothic architecture have again come into honour. As the
German poet Geibel says :
" Great works they wrought, fair fanes they raised, wherein the mighty sleep,
While we, a race of pigmies, about their tombs now creep."
This flourishing period of Scholasticism opens with the Alexander of
great names of Alexander of Hales (Doctor irrefragabilis)
and Blessed Albert the Great. The former was an Eng-
lishman, but taught theology in the University of Paris.
He composed the first, and at the same time, the largest
Summa Theologica, which was partly drawn from his earlier
commentary on the Lombard, and to which his disciples,
after his death, probably made additions from the same
source. It is remarkable for breadth, originality, depth,
and sublimity. If it yields the palm to the Summa of
St. Thomas, still St. Thomas doubtless had it before him in
composing his own work. But Alexander's chief influence
was exercised on the Franciscan Order which he joined in
1225. To this day he is the type of the genuine Franciscan
school, for his disciple, St. Bonaventure, wrote, no Summa,
while the Scotist school was critical rather than construc-
tive. His works deserve greater attention than they have
received. He died about 1245. St. Bonaventure, the St. Bona-
" Seraphic Doctor," (1221-1274) did not actually sit under ve
Alexander, but is nevertheless his true heir and follower.
His mystical spirit unfitted him for subtle analysis, but in
originality he surpassed St. Thomas himself. He wrote
only one great work, a Commentary on the Sentences, but
his powers are seen at their best in his Breviloquium t
c
xxiv Introduction.
which is a condensed Summa containing the quintessence
of the theology of his age. Whilst the Breviloquium derives
all things from God, his Itinerarium Mentis ad Deum
proceeds in the opposite direction, bringing all things back
to their Supreme End. In another work, the Centiloquium,
he sketched out a new book of Sentences, containing a rich
collection of passages from the Fathers, but in a strange
though ingenious order. 1
Albert the The Dominican school was founded by Albert the
Great (1193-1280). His chief glory is that he introduced
the study of Aristotle into the Christian schools, and that
he was the master of St .Thomas Aquinas. His numerous
works fill twenty-one folio volumes (Lyons, 1651). They
consist of commentaries on the Gospels and the Prophets,
homilies, ascetical writings, and commentaries on the
Areopagite, on Aristotle, and on the Sentences. His Summa
Theologica, of which the four intended parts were to corre-
spond with the four books of the Lombard, was written in
his advanced old age, after St. Thomas's Summa, and goes
no further than the end of the second part. He also com-
posed a so-called Summa de Creaturis, partly answering to
the Summa contra Gentiles of St. Thomas, and, like it, more
philosophical than theological. 2
St. Thomas St. Thomas Aquinas, the "Angelical Doctor" (1225-
Aquinas. niii-ri*
1274), towers over all the theologians of his own or of any
other age. He is unsurpassed in knowledge of Holy
Scripture, the Fathers, and Aristotle, in the depth and
clearness of his ideas, in perfection of method and expression,
and in the variety and extent of his labours. He wrote on
every subject treated by the Schoolmen, and in every form :
on physics, ethics, metaphysics, psychology ; on apologetic,
dogmatic, moral and ascetical theology ; in commentaries
on Holy Scripture, on Aristotle, on the Areopagite and the
Lombard ; in monographs, compendia, and in two Summce.
His chief dogmatic writings are the following :
I. The Commentary on the Sentences written in his early
1 An excellent edition of his works has lately been published at Quaracchi
(ad Aquas Claras).
3 See Dr. Sighart's Life of Albert the Great, of which there is an English
translation published by Washbourne.
Introduction. xxv
years, and expressing many opinions subsequently rejected
by him.
2. The so-called Questiones Disputatce, a rich collection
of monographs, on the most important subjects of the
whole province of theology, which St. Thomas here treats
more fully than in his other writings. Written as occasion
required, they have been grouped in a somewhat confusing
way under the titles De Potentia, DeMalo, De Spiritiialibus
Creaturis De Virtutibns and De Veritate. A better arrange-
ment would be under the three headings: DeEnteet Potentia,
De Veritate et Cognitione, De Bono et Appetitu Boni. We
should then possess a fairly complete system of theologico-
philosophical Ontology, Psychology and Ethics. 1
3. The Summa contra Gentiles is for the most part
philosophical, but it contains only such philosophical sub-
jects as bear on theology. It is divided into four books :
the first two treat of the Essence and Nature of God and
of creatures ; the third treats of the movement of creatures
to their end in God, and of supernatural Providence ; the
fourth book deals with the various mysteries which bear
on the union of creatures with God. The method of ex-
position is not dialectical but positive. An excellent com-
mentary on this work appeared towards the end of the
fifteenth century, written by Francis of Ferrara. An
English translation, by Fr. Joseph Rickaby, S.J., has just
been published (1905).
4. But the Saint's masterpiece is his Summa
, 1.1 i <~ i IT 11 Tksoiefic*.
composed towards the end or his lite and never completed.
It contains his mature opinions on almost the entire pro-
vince of theology. It is divided into three great parts, the
second of which is subdivided into two parts, termed re-
spectively, Prima Secundce and Secunda Secundce. Each
part is divided into " questions " and these again into
" articles."
Part I. treats of God as He is in Himself and as the
Principle of all things :
A. Of God Himself:
(a) His Being (qq. 2-13);
See Werner, Thomas of Aquin, i., pp. 360-386 (in German).
xxvi Introduction.
(ft) His internal activity (14-26) ;
(c) His internal fruitfulness in the Trinity (27-43).
B. Of God as Cause of all things :
(a) His causal relation to them :
(a) Generally (44-49) ;
(/3) Specially :
(1) Angels (50-64) ;
(2) The material world (65-74) ;
(3) Man (75-102).
(#) The government of creatures and their share in
the course of the universe (103-119).
Part II. treats of the motion of rational creatures
towards God :
A. Generally (Prima Secundce] :
(a) The end or object of their motion (1-6) ;
() Human acts (7-48);
(c) Habits, Virtue and Vice (48-89) ;
(d} The influence of God on their motion by means
of Law and Grace (90-114).
B. Specially (Secunda Secundce) :
(a) The Theological (1-47) and Moral Virtues (48-
170);
(b} Various classes of persons :
(a) Those gifted with extraordinary Graces
(171-178);
Q3) Those who have devoted themselves to
the active or contemplative life (179-
182);
(y) Those found in different occupations
(183-189).
Part III. treats of God's action in drawing man to
Himself:
A. Through Christ :
(a) His Person (1-26) ;
(fr) His life and works (27-59).
B. By means of Christ's Sacraments (60-90).
The first regular commentary on the Summa was com-
Introduction. xxvii
posed in the beginning of the sixteenth century by Cardinal
Cajetan, and is still printed in the large editions of the
Summa ; but it was not until the end of the sixteenth cen-
tury that the Summa displaced the Sentences as the text-
book in theological schools. The editions are too numerous
to mention. Perhaps the most beautiful modern edition is
that published by Fiaccadori (Verona) in quarto.
5. The Compendium Theologies, sometimes called Opus-
culum ad Reginaldttm, treats of theology in its relation to
the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity, just
like our English Catechism. Only the first part was com-
pleted, De Fide Trinitatis Creatricis, et Christi Reparantis ;
the second part, connected with the Our Father, goes down
to the second petition. The treatment is not uniform : the
work seems to grow in the Saint's hands, and consequently
some matters are here better treated than in the larger
works. 1
To this flourishing period belong the great apologetic
works of the two Dominicans, Raymund Martini (died 1286),
Pugio Fidei, and Moneta (d. about 1230), Summa contra
Catharos et Waldenses ; the Summa of Henry of Ghent,
(d. 1293) ; the magnificent Life of Jesus Christ, by Ludolph
of Saxony ; the Postilla on Holy Scripture, by Nicholas of
Lyra (Franciscan, d. 1340), corrected and completed by
Paul of Burgos (d. 1433) ; the Rationale Divinoram
Officiorum, by William Durandus (d. 1296), surnamed
Speculator on account of his Speculum Juris ; the three
great encyclopaedic Specula, by Vincent of Beauvais ; and
the writings of the English Franciscan, Richard Middleton,
who taught at Oxford (d. 1300), Commentary on the
Sentences and various Quodlibeta.
John Duns Scotus (1266-1308), the "Subtle Doctor,"
was a disciple of William Ware (Varro) at Oxford, who
was himself the successor of William de la Marre, the first
1 There is an edition by Rutland (Paderborn, 1867). On the various
editions of the entire works of St. Thomas, see Werner, 1. 884. As we write
(1898) nine volumes of the edition published by order of his Holiness Leo XIII.
have already appeared, containing commentaries on Aristotle and the Summa.
The great English work on the Angelic Doctor is Archbishop Roger Bede
Vaughan's Life and Labours of St. Thomas of Aquin^ in two volumes
(1871-1872).
xxviii Introduction.
opponent of St. Thomas. 1 His extraordinary acuteness of
mind led him rather to criticize than to develop the work
of the thirteenth century. His stock of theological learn-
ing was by no means large. He composed no commentary
on Holy Scripture, which to his predecessors was always the
preparation for and foundation of their speculative efforts,
nor did he complete any systematic work. His subtlety,
his desultory criticisms, and his abstruse style make him
far more difficult reading than the earlier Schoolmen, and
consequently he is seldom studied in the original text,
even by his own school. His principal work is the great
Oxford Commentary on the Sentences, Opus Oxoniense.
Besides this, he wrote a later and much shorter commentary,
Reportata Parisiensia, the Questiones Quodlibetales (corre-
sponding with St. Thomas's Questiones Disputatce), and
various smaller opuscula on metaphysics and the theory of
knowledge. The handiest edition of the Opus Oxoniense is
that of Hugh Cavellus, an Irish Franciscan in Louvain, and
afterwards Archbishop of Armagh, who enriched the text
with good explanatory scholia.
Scotusand Scotus cannot be considered as the continuer of the old
St. Thomas
compared. Franciscan school, but rather as the founder of a new school
which rightly bears his name. His excessive realism has a
tendency quite opposed to the Platonism of the early mem-
bers of his Order, and, indeed, agrees with Nominalism on
many points. His stiff and dry style is very different from
the ease and grace which charm us in St. Bonaventure.
However, Scotus is the direct antagonist of St. Thomas, and
it is in relation to him that the character of his mind stands
out most clearly. St. Thomas is strictly organic ; Scotus
is less so. St. Thomas, with all his fineness of distinction,
does not tear asunder the different tissues, but keeps them
in their natural, living connection ; Scotus, by the dis-
secting process of his distinctions, loosens the organic
connections of the tissues, without, however, destroying
the bond of union, and thereby the life of the loosened
parts, as the Nominalists did. In other words, to St.
1 On Scotus see the excellent article by Dollinger in the Freiburg Kirchen
Lexicon ; on Scotus's doctrine see Werner, Thomas of Aquin, III., p. 3, sqq.
also Stockl, History of Mctlutval Philosophy (in German), p. 783.
Introduction. xxix
Thomas the universe is a perfect animal organism, wherein
all the parts are held together in a most intimate union
and relation by the soul ; whereas to Scotus it is only
a vegetable organism, as he himself expresses it, whose
different members spring from a common root, but branch
out in different directions ; to the Nominalist, however, it
is merely a mass of atoms arbitrarily heaped together.
These general differences of mode of conception manifest
themselves in almost all the particular differences of doc-
trine.
III. About the beginning of the fourteenth century The Period
of Decay
the classical and creative period of mediaeval scholasticism
came to a close. In the two following centuries no real
progress was made. The acquisitions gained in the period
of prosperity were reproduced and elaborated to meet the
hypercritical and destructive attacks made at this time
both on the teaching and the public action of the Church.
Nominalism springing from, or at least occasioned by
Scotism (partly as an exaggeration of its critical ten-
dencies, partly as a reaction against its realism), destroyed
the organic character of the revealed doctrines and wasted
its energies in hair-splitting subtlety. Pierre Aureole
(Aureolus, a Frenchman, d. 1321) led the way and was
followed by the rebellious William of Occam (d. 1347),
who was educated at Oxford and at Paris. Both of these
were disciples of Scotus. Oxford now almost disputed Oxford
the pre-eminence with Paris. St. Edmund of Canterbury
(d. 1242) had introduced there the study of Aristotle,
and his great follower was Roger Bacon, a Franciscan
(d. 1292), the author of the Opus Majus, the true Novum
Organum of science. The Oxford Friars, especially the
Franciscans, attained a high reputation throughout Chris-
tendom. Besides St. Edmund and Roger Bacon, the uni-
versity claimed as her children Richard Middleton, William
Ware, William de la Marre, Duns Scotus, Occam, Grosteste,
Adam Marsh, Bungay, Burley, Archbishop Peckham,
Bradwardine, Fitzralph, Archbishop of Armagh, Thomas
Netter ( Waldensis), and the notorious Wyclif.
Many of the theologians present at the councils of Con-
stance and Basle, notably Pierre d'Ailly (Alliacensis, d. 1425),
xxx Introduction.
belonged to the Nominalist school. Its best representa-
tives were Gregory of Rimini and Gabriel Biel. The
Dominicans, with the exception of Durandus of St. Portiano
(d. 1332), and Holkot (d. 1349), remained faithful to the
Thomist traditions of the thirteenth century. Among
their later writers may be mentioned St. Antoninus
of Florence, John Capreolus, the powerful apologist of
Thomism (Clypeus Thomistarum}, Torquemada, Cardinal
Cajetan, the first commentator on the Summa, and Francis
of Ferrara, the commentator on the Summa contra Gentes.
The Franciscans were split up into several schools, some
adhering to Nominalism, others to Scotism. Lychetus,
the renowned commentator on Scotus, belongs to this
period, as also do Dionysius Ryckel, the Carthusian, and
Alphonsus Tostatus, Bishop of Avila. Thomas Brad-
wardine, Archbishop of Canterbury (Doctor Profundus,
1290-1349) was the most famous mathematician of his
day. His principal work, De Causa Dei contra Pelagianos^
arranged mathematically, shows signs of great skilfulness
of form, great depth and erudition, but gives a painful
impression by its rigid doctrines. Some look upon him
as one of the forerunners of Wyclif, an accusation which
might with more justice be made against Fitzralph (d.
I360)- 1
Thomas Netter (d. 1431), provincial of the Carmelites
and secretary to Henry V., composed two works against
Wyclif, Doctrinale Antiquitatum Fidei Catholica adversus
Wicliffitas et Hussitas and Fasciculus Zizaniorum Magistri
Johannis Wyclif cum Tritico. Nicholas Cusa surpasses
even Bradwardine in the application of mathematics to
theology.
During this period of decay the ordinary treatment of
theology consisted of commentaries on the Sentences and
o/
monographs on particular questions (Quodlibeta). The
latter were, as a rule, controversial, treating the subjects
from a Nominalist or Scotist point of view, while some
few were valuable expositions and defences of the earlier
teaching. The partial degeneracy of Scholasticism on the
1 The orthodoxy of both is defended by Fr. Stevenson : The Truth about
John Wyclif, p. 41, sqq.
Introduction. xxxi
one hand, and of Mysticism on the other, led to a divorce
between the two, so that mystical writers broke off from
Scholasticism, to their gain, no doubt, as far as Scholas-
ticism had degenerated, but to their loss so far as it had
remained sound. As Nominalism by its superficiality and
arbitrariness had stripped the doctrines of grace and morals
of their inward and living character, and had made grace
merely an external ornament of the soul : so did false
mysticism by its sentimentality destroy the supernatural
character of grace and the organic connection and develop-
ment of sound doctrine concerning morals ; and as both
Nominalism and pseudo-mysticism endangered the right
notion of the constitution of the Church, they may with
reason be looked upon as the forerunners of the Reforma-
tion of the sixteenth century. It does not fall within our
province to speak of the anti-scholastic tendencies of the
Renaissance which were found partly among the Platonists
as opponents of Aristotle, and partly among the Humanists
as opposed to what was considered " Scholastic barbarism."
There was, as we have seen, some reason for a reaction
against the degenerate philosophy and theology of the day.
But instead of returning to the genuine teaching of the
earlier period, the cultivators of the New Learning con-
tented themselves with a vague Platonic mysticism or a
sort of Nominalism disguised under a new and classical
phraseology.
C. The Modern Epoch.
About the end of the fifteenth century and the opening
of the sixteenth, three events produced a new epoch in
the history of theology, and determined its characteristic
tendencies : the invention of printing, the revival of the
study of the ancient classics, and the attacks of the
Reformers on the whole historical position of the Church.
These circumstances facilitated, and at the same time
necessitated, more careful study of the biblical and his-
torical side of theology, and thus prepared the way for a
more comprehensive treatment of speculative theology.
This new and splendid development had its seat in Spain, Spain.
xxxii Introduction.
the land least affected by the heretical movement. The
Universities of Salamanca, Alcala (Complutum), and Coim-
bra, now became famous for theological learning. Spanish
theologians, partly by their labours at the Council of Trent
(Dominic Soto, Peter Soto, and Vega), partly by their
teaching in other countries (Maldonatus in Paris, Toletus
in Italy, Gregory of Valentia in Germany), were its chief
promoters and revivers. Next to Spain, the chief glory
belongs to the University of Louvain, in the Netherlands,
at that time under Spanish rule. On the other hand, the
University of Paris, which had lost much of its ancient
renown, did not regain its position until towards the end of
the sixteenth century. Among the religious bodies the
ancient Orders, the heirs of the theology of the thirteenth
century, were indeed animated with a new spirit ; but all
ihe society were surpassed by the newly founded Society of Jesus,
of Jesus.
whose members laboured most assiduously and successfully
in every branch of theology, especially in exegesis and
history, and strove to develop the mediaeval theology in an
independent, eclectic spirit and in a form adapted to the
age. The continuity with the theological teaching of the
Middle Ages was preserved by the Jesuits and by most of
the other schools, by their taking as a text-book the noblest
product of the thirteenth century the Summa of St.
Thomas, which was placed on the table of the Council
of Trent next to the Holy Scriptures and the Corpus Juris
Canonici as the most authentic expression of the mind of
the Church.
This modern epoch may be divided into four periods :
I. The Preparatory Period, up to the end of the Council
of Trent ;
II. The Flourishing Period, from the Council of Trent
to 1660 ;
III. The Period of Decay to 1 760.
Besides these three periods, which correspond with
those of the Patristic and Mediaeval Epochs, there is
another,
IV. The Period of Degradation, lasting from 1760 till
ThePre- aboutl83O
^eri^ I- T ne Preparatory Period produced comparatively
Introduction. xxxiii
few works embracing the whole domain of theology, but
its activity was proved in treatises and controversial
writings, and its influence shown in the decrees of the
Council of Trent and the Roman Catechism.
The numerous controversialists of this period are well Controversy,
known, and an account of their writings may be found in
the Freiburg Kirchen-Lexicon. We may mention the follow-
ing : in Germany, John Eck of Eichstatt, Frederick Nausea
and James Noguera of Vienna, Berthold of Chiemsee, John
Cochlceus in Nuremberg, Fred. Staphylus in Ingolstadt,
James Hogstraeten, John Gropper and Albert Pighius in
Cologne, Cardinal Stanislaus Hosius and Martin Cromer
in Ermland, and, lastly, Blessed Peter Canisius ; in
Belgium, Ruard Tapper, John Driedo, James Latomus,
James Ravestein (Tiletanus\ and others ; in England,
the martyrs Blessed John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester
(Roffensis), and Blessed Thomas More, Card. Pole,
Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester ; and later
Cardinal Allen, Blessed Edmund Campion, S.J., and
Nicholas Sanders ; in France, Claude d'Espence, Claude de
Sainctes, John Arboree, Jodocus Clichtovee, James Merlin ;
in Italy, the Dominicans Sylvester Prierias, Ambrose
Catharinus, and James Nacchiante (Naclantus), and
Cardinal Seripandus, an Augustinian ; in Spain, the Mino-
rites Alphonsus de Castro, Andrew Vega and Michael de
Medina, the Dominicans Peter and Dominic Soto, and
Melchior Canus ; in Portugal, Payva de Andrada, Perez de
Ayala and Osorius. These writers treat of the Church,
the sources and the rule of Faith, Grace, Justification, and
the Sacraments, especially the Blessed Eucharist, and are
to some extent positive as well as controversial. The
following treatises had great and permanent influence on
the subsequent theological development : M. Canus, De
Locis Theologicis; Sander, De Monarchia Visibili Ecclesice ;
Dom. Soto, De Natura et Gratia, and Andr. Vega, De
Justificatione, written to explain the Sixth Session of the
Council of Trent, in which both authors took a prominent
part ; B. Canisius, De Beata Maria Virgine, a complete
Mariology his great Catechism, or Summa Doctrince Chris-
tiana, with its copious extracts from Holy Scripture and
xxxiv Introduction.
the Fathers may be considered as a modern " Book of
Sentences." *
Apart from controversy, few works of any importance
appeared. Among systematic works we may mention the
Institutiones ad Naturalem et Christianam Philosophiam of
the Dominican John Viguerius, and the Compendium Instit.
Cathol. of the Minorite Cardinal Clement Dolera, of which
the first named, often reprinted and much sought after,
aims at giving a rapid sketch of speculative theology. On
the other hand, important beginnings were made in the
theologico-philological exegesis of Holy Scripture, espe-
cially by Genebrard, Arboreus, Naclantus, D. Soto and
Catharinus, the last three of whom distinguished them-
selves by their commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans
which was so much discussed at this time. Sixtus of
Siena furnished in his Bibliotheca Sancta (first published in
1566) abundant materials for the regular study of Holy
Scripture.
The Flour- II. The Flourishing Period began immediately after
Verfixi. the Council of Trent, and was brought about as much by
the discussions of the Council as by its decrees. This
period has no equal for richness and variety. The strictly
theological works (not including works on Moral Theo-
logy, History, and Canon Law) may be divided into
five classes : i. Exegesis ; 2. Controversy ; 3. Scholastic ;
4. Mystic ; 5. Historico-patristic Theology. These classes,
however, often overlap, for all branches of theology were
now cultivated in the closest connection with each other.
Exegesis was not restricted to philology and criticism,
but made use of scholastic and patristic theology for a
deeper knowledge and firmer consolidation of Catholic
doctrine. The great controversialists gained their power
by uniting a thorough knowledge qf exegesis and history
to their scholastic training. Moreover, the better class of
scholastic theologians by no means confined their attention
to speculation, but drew much from the Holy Scriptures
and the Fathers. On the other hand, the most eminent
patristic theologians made use of Scholasticism as a clue
1 On the works of these controversialists see Werner, History of Apologetic
Literaturt (in German), iv. p. i, sqq.
Introduction. xxxv
to a better knowledge of the Fathers. Finally, many theo-
logians laboured in all or in several of these departments.
I. At the very opening of this period Exegesis was Exegesis.
carried to such perfection, principally by the Spanish
Jesuits, that little was left to be done in the next period,
and for long afterwards the fruits gathered at this time
were found sufficient. The labours of the Protestants are
not worthy to be compared with what was done in the
Catholic Church.
The list of great exegetists begins with Alphonsus Saimeron.
Salmeron, S.J. (1586). His gigantic labours on the New
Testament (15 vols. folio) are not a running commentary
but an elaboration of the books of the New Testament
arranged according to matter, and contain very nearly
what we should now call Biblical Theology, although as
such they are little used and known. Salmeron is the
only one of the first companions of St. Ignatius whose
writings have been published. He composed this work at
Naples in the last sixteen years of his life, after a career of
great public activity. His brother Jesuits and fellow-
countrymen, Maldonatus (in Paris), and Francis Toletus (in
Rome), and Nicholas Serarius (a Lorrainer), should be
named with him as the founders of the classical interpreta-
tion of Holy Scripture. We may also mention the following
Jesuits : Francis Ribera, John Pineda, Benedict Pereyra,
Caspar Sanctius, Jerome Prado, Ferdinand de Salazar,
John Villalpandus, Louis of Alcazar, Emmanuel Sa (all
Spaniards) ; John Lorin (a Frenchman), Bened. Justini-
anus (an Italian), James Bonfrere, Adam Contzen and
Cornelius a Lapide (in the Netherlands), the last of whom
is the best known. Besides the Jesuits, the Dominicans
Malvenda and Francis Forerius, and Anthony Agelli (Clerk
Regular) distinguished themselves in Italy ; and in the
Netherlands, Luke of Bruges, Cornelius Jansenius of
Ghent, and William Estius.
For dogmatic interpretation, the most important, be-
sides Salmeron, are Pereyra and Bonfrere on Genesis ;
Louis da Ponte on the Canticle of Canticles ; Lorin on the
Book of Wisdom ; Maldonatus, Contzen, and Bonfrere on
the Gospels; Ribera and Toletus on St. John; Sanctius,
xxx vi Introduction.
Bonfrere, and Lorin on the Acts ; Vasquez, Justinianus,
Serarius and Estius on the Epistles of St. Paul ; Toletus on
the Romans, and Justinianus, Serarius, and Lorin on the
Catholic Epistles.
. 2. During this period, in contrast to the preceding, con-
troversy was carried on systematically and in an elevated
style, so that, as in the case of Exegesis, there remained
little to be done in after ages except labours of detail. Its
chief representatives, who also distinguished themselves by
their great speculative learning, were Robert Bellarmine,
Gregory of Valentia, Thomas Stapleton, Du Perron,
Tanner, Gretser, Serarius, and the brothers Walemburch.
Cardinal Bellarmine, SJ. (d. 1621), collected together,
in his great work, Disputationes de Rebus Fidei hoc tempore
controversis, the principal questions of the day under three
groups : (a) on the Word of God (Scripture and Tradition),
on Christ (the Personal and Incarnate Word of God), and
on the Church (the temple and organ of the Word of God) ;
(b) on Grace and Free Will, Sin and Justification ; (c] on
the channels of grace (the Sacraments). He treats of
almost the whole of theology in an order suitable to his
purpose. The extensive learning, clearness, solidity, and
sterling value of his work are acknowledged even by his
adversaries. It continued for a long time to be the hinge
of the controversy between Catholics and Protestants.
Gregory of Valentia, SJ. (a Spaniard who taught in
Dillingen and Ingolstadt, d. 1603), wrote against the Re-
formers a series of classical treatises, which were afterwards
collected together in a large folio volume. The most
important of these are Analysis Fidei and De Trinitate.
He condensed the substance of these writings in his Com-
mentary on the Sujtima.
Thomas Stapleton was born at Henfield, in Sussex, in
the year 1535, and was educated at Winchester and New
College, Oxford, of which he became fellow. When Eliza-
beth came to the throne he was a prebendary of Chichester.
He soon retired to Louvain, and was afterwards for some
time catechist at Douai, but was recalled to Louvain, where
he was appointed regius professor of theology. He died in
1598. Stapletou is unquestionably the most important of
Introduction. xxxvii
the controversialists on the treatment of the Catholic and
Protestant Rules of Faith. He concentrated his efforts on
two principal works, each in twelve books. The first of
these refutes, in a manner hitherto unsurpassed, the Protes-
tant Formal Principle the Bible the only Source and Rule
of Faith: De Principiis Fidei Doctrinalibus (Paris, 1579), to
which are added a more scholastic treatise, Relcctio Princi-
piorum Fidei Doctrinalium, and a long defence against
Whitaker. The other deals with the Material Principle of
Protestantism Justification by Faith only : Universa
Justificationis Doctrina hodie controversa (Paris, 1582),
corresponding with the second part of Bellarmine's work,
but inferior to it. The two works together contain a com-
plete exposition and defence of the Catholic doctrine
concerning Faith and Justification.
Nicolas Sander, or Sanders (b. 1527), was also, like sand.
Stapleton, scholar of Winchester and fellow of New. On
the accession of Elizabeth he went to Rome, and was after-
wards present at the Council of Trent. His great work,
De Visibili Monarchia Ecclesice, was finished at Louvain in
1571. Another work, De Origine ac Progressu Schismatis
Anglicani, was published after his death, and has lately
been translated and edited by Mr. Lewis (Burns & Gates,
1877). Sander was sent to Ireland as Nuncio by Gregory
XIII., where he is said to have died of want, hunted to
death by the agents of Elizabeth, about the year 1580.
Cardinal Allen was born in Lancashire in the year 1532 Alien.
and was educated at Oriel College, Oxford. He became
in due course Principal of St. Mary Hall. On the death of
Mary he left England, and resided for some time at Lou-
vain. He was the founder of the famous English seminary
at Douai, and was raised to the cardinalate by Sixtus V
His work entitled Souls Departed: being a Defence and
Declaration of the Catholic Church's Doctrine touching
Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead, has lately been edited
by Father Bridgett (Burns & Gates, 1886). He died in
Rome, 1594.'
1 The activity of the English Catholic controversialists at this time may
ne seen from the articles issued by Grindal previous to his proposed visitation
xxxviii Introduction.
Cardinal James Davydu Perron (a Frenchman, d. 1618),
wrote in his own mother tongue. His chief works are the
Trait^ du Sacrement de I' Euckaristie, his controversies with
James I. of England (that is, really with Casaubon), and the
celebrated acts of the discussion with Philip Mornay, the
so-called Calvinist pope.
In Germany Valentia found worthy disciples in the keen
and learned Adam Tanner (d. 1635), and the erudite and
prolific James Gretser (d. 1625), both Jesuits of Ingolstadt,
who worked together and supplemented each other's labours.
Tanner, who was also a scholastic of note, followed the
example of his master by condensing his controversial
labours in his commentary on the Snmma. Gretser, on
the other hand, spread out his efforts in countless skir-
mishes, especially on historical subjects. His works fill
sixteen volumes folio. Germany was also the scene of the
labours of the brothers Adrian and Peter Walemburch, who
were natives of Holland, and were both coadjutor-bishops,
the one of Cologne, the other of Mayence. They jointly
composed numerous successful controversial works, though
only in part original, which were afterwards collected under
the title of Controversies Generates et Particulares, in two
volumes folio.
About this time and soon afterwards many classical
treatises on particular questions appeared in France.
Nicolas Coeffeteau, a Dominican, wrote against M. A. de
Dominis, Pro Sacra Monarchia Ecclesice Catholica ; Michael
Maucer, a doctor of Sorbonne, on Church and State, De
Sacra Monarchia Ecclesiastica et Scsculari, against Richer ;
and the Jansenists Nicole and Arnaud composed their
celebrated work De la Perpctuite" de la Foi on the Eucharist,
of the province of Canterbury in 1576. "Whether there be r.ny person or
persons, ecclesiastical or temporal, within your parish, or elsewhere within
this diocese, that of late have retained or kept in their custody, or that read,
sell, utter, disperse, carry, or deliver to others, any English books set forth of
late at Louvain, or in any other place beyond the seas, by Harding, Dorman,
Allen, Saunders, Stapleton, Marshall, Bristow, or any other English Papist,
either against the Queen's Majesty's supremacy in matters ecclesiastical, or
against true religion and Catholic doctrine now received and established by
common authority within this realm ; and what their names and surnames
are " (Art. 41, quoted by Mr. Lewis).
Introduction. xxxix
etc. Of the Controversies of St. Francis of Sales we have
only short but very beautiful sketches. 1
At the end of this period and the beginning of the next,
may be mentioned Bossuet's Histoire des Variations, his
celebrated Exposition de la Fot, and among his smaller
works the pastoral letter, Les Prowesses deTEglise. Natalis
Alexander has inserted many learned dogmatic polemical
dissertations in his great History of the Church.
3. Scholastic, that is, Speculative and Systematic, Theo-Sciiotast!s
logy, like Exegesis and Controversy, and in close union th
with them, was so highly cultivated that the labours of
this period, although (at least in the early decades) inferior
to those of the thirteenth century in freshness and origin-
ality, and especially in moderation and calmness, never-
theless surpassed them in variety and in the use of the
treasures of Scripture and early Tradition. When Pius V.
(1567) raised St. Thomas, and Sixtus V. (1587) raised
St Bonaventure to the dignity of Doctors of the Church
on the ground that they were the Princes of Scholastic
Theology, and, also at the same time, caused their entire
works to be published, it was the Church herself who
gave the impulse and direction to the new movement.
The great number of works and the variety of treatment
make it difficult to give even a sketch of what was done
in this department. Generally speaking, the theologians
both of the old and of the newly-founded Religious Orders,
and also most of the universities, kept more or less closely
to St. Thomas. Scotism, on the contrary, remained con-
fined to the Franciscans, and even among them many
especially the Capuchins, turned to St. Thomas or St
Bonaventure. The independent eclectic line taken by the
Jesuits, in spite of their reverence for St. Thomas, soon
provoked in the traditional Thomist school a strong reaction
which gave birth to protracted discussions. 2 Although the
peace was thereby disturbed, and much time, energy, and
acuteness were spent with little apparent profit, neverthe-
less the disputes gave proof of the enormous intellectual
1 An excellent English edition of these Controversies has lately been
published by Rev. Benedict Mackey, O.S.B. Burns & Gates.
1 See Werner, Thomas of Aquin t vol. iii., p. 378, sqq.
d
xl Introduction.
power and activity which distinguished the first half of
this period. As the Religious Orders were still the chief
teachers of Theology, we may group the theologians of the
period under the schools belonging to the three great
Orders.
Thomht (a) The strict Thomist school was naturally represented
by the Dominicans. At their head stand the two Spaniards,
Dominic Banuez (d. 1604) and Bartholomew Medina (d.
1581), both worthy disciples of Dominic Soto and Melchior
Canus, and remarkable for their happy combination of
positive and speculative elements. Bannez wrote only
on the Prima and Secunda Secundce, whereas Medina
wrote only on the Prima Secunda and Pars tertia. Their
works consequently complete each other, and together
form a single work which may be considered as the
classical model of Thomist theology. Bannez's doctrine
of grace was defended by Didacus Alvarez, Thomas
Lemos (Panoplia Divines Gratia*}, and Peter Ledesma
(d. 1616). Gonet (Clypeus Theologies Thomisticce}, Goudin,
and the Venetian Xantes Marialles ably expounded and
defended the teaching of St. Thomas. The Carmelites
reformed by St. Theresa proved powerful allies of the
Dominicans. Their celebrated Cursus Salmanticensis in
Summam S. Thomce (15 vols. folio), is the vastest and
most complete work of the Thomist school.
Among other theologians whose opinions were more or
less Thomist may be mentioned the Benedictine Alphonsus
Curiel (d. 1609), the Cistercian Peter de Lorca (d. 1606),
the Augustinians Basil Pontius and Augustine Gibbon, an
Irishman who taught in Spain and in Germany (Speculum
Theologicuni) ; and Louis de Montesinos, professor at Alcala
(d. 1623). Among the universities, Louvain was especially
distinguished for its strict Thomism. The Commentary on
the Sentences, by William Estius, is remarkable for clearness,
solidity, and patristic learning. The Commentaries on the
Summa, by John Malderus (d. 1645), John Wiggers (d.
1639), and Francis Sylvius (dean of Douai, d. 1649), are
written with moderation and taste. The three most im-
portant scholastic theologians of the Sorbonne were less
Thomistic, and approached more to the Jesuit school :
Introduction. xli
Philip Gamache (d. 1625), who was unfortunately the
patron of Richer ; Andrew Duval (d. 1637), an opponent
of Richer; and Nicholas Ysambert (d. 1642). The last
two are very clear and valuable. In Germany, Cologne
was the chief seat of Thomism, and a little later the Bene-
dictine university of Salzburg strenuously supported the
same opinions. One of the largest and best Thomistic
works, although not the clearest, was composed towards
the end of this period by the Benedictine Augustine
Reding (d. 1692), Theologia Scholastica.
(b} Scotism was revived and developed in Commen- Scotist
taries on the Sentences by the older branches of the
Franciscan Order, especially by the Irish members, the
fellow-countrymen of Scotus, who had been driven from
their own land by persecution, and were now dispersed
over the whole of Europe ; and next to them by the
Italians and Belgians. The most important were Maurice
Hibernicus (d. 1603), Antony Hickey (Hiquaeus, d. 1641),
Hugh Cavellus, and John Pontius (d. 1660). Towards
the middle of the seventeenth century the Belgian, William
Herincx, composed, by order of his superiors, a solid
manual for beginners, free from Scotist subtleties, Smnma
Theologies Scholastica, but it was afterwards superseded by
Frassen's work.
The Capuchins, however, and the other reformed
branches of the Order, turned away from Scotus to the
classical theology of the thirteenth century, partly to St.
Thomas, but chiefly to St. Bonaventure. Peter Trigos, a
Spaniard (d. 1593), began a large Summa Theol. ad mentem
S. Bcnav. , \y\\\. completed only the treatise De Deo; Jos.
Zamora (d. 1649) i s especially good on Mariology ; Theo-
dore Forestus, De Trin. Mysterio in D. Bonav. Com-
mentarii', Gaudentius Brixiensis, Summa, etc., 7 vols., folio,
the largest work of this school.
(c) The Jesuit School, renowned for their exegetical and Jesuit
historical labours, applied these to the study of scholastic
theology. As we have already observed, they were eclectics
in spite of their reverence for St. Thomas, and they availed
themselves of later investigations and methods. Their
system may be described as a moderate and broad Thomism
xl i i Introduction.
qualified by an infusion of Scotism, and, in some instances,
even of Nominalism. 1
The chief representatives of this School, next to Toletus,
a~e Gregory of Valentia, Francis Suarez, Gabriel Vasquez,
and Didacus Ruiz, all four Spaniards, and all eminently
acute and profound, thoroughly versed in Exegesis and the
Fathers, and in this respect far superior to the theologians
of the other Schools.
Vakntia. Valentia, the restorer of theology in Germany (d. 1603),
combines in the happiest manner in his Commentaries on
the Stimma (4 vols., folio, often reprinted), both positive
and speculative theology, and expounds them with elegance
and compactness like Bannez and Medina.
Suarez. Suarez (d. 1617, aged 7o), 2 styled by many Popes
" Doctor Eximius," and described by Bossuet as the writer
" dans lequel on entend toute 1'ecole moderne," is the most
prolific of all the later Schoolmen, and at the same time
renowned for clearness, depth, and prudence. His works
cover the whole ground of the Summa of St. Thomas ;
but the most extensive and classical among them are
De Legtbus, De Gratia, De Virtutibus Theologicis, De Incar-
natwne, and De Sacramentis, as far as Penance.
Vasqucz. Vasquez (d. 1604), whose intellectual tendency was
eminently critical, was to Suarez what Scotus was to St.
Thomas. Unlike Scotus, however, he was as much at home
in the exegetical and historical branches of theology as in
speculation.
RU! Ruiz surpasses even Suarez himself in depth and learn-
ing. He wrote only De Deo (6 vols., folio). His best
work, and indeed the best ever written on the subject, is
his treatise De Trinitate.
Besides these four chiefs of the Jesuit school, a whole
host of writers might be mentioned. In Spain : Louis
Molina (d. 1600), whose celebrated doctrine of Scientia
Media was the occasion of so much controversy, was not
1 On the Jesuit teaching in its relation to Thomism and Scotism, see
Werner, Thomas of Aquin, vol. iii., p. 256, sqq. ; on their theological
opinions generally and the controversies arising therefrom, see Werner, Suarez,
vol. i., p. 172, sqq.
2 See the beautiful work of Werner, Francis Suarez and the Laitr
Schoolmen.
Introduction. xliii
really the leader of the Jesuit school, but was more dis-
tinguished as a moral theologian ; Jos. Martinez de Ripalda
(d. 1648), famous for his work against Baius (Michael Bay),
and for his twelve books De Ente Supernatural^ in which
the whole doctrine of the supernatural was for the first
time systematically handled ; Cardinal John De Lugo
(d. 1660), better known as a moral theologian, is remarkable
for critical keenness rather than for positive knowledge
his most important dogmatic work is the often-quoted
treatise De Fide Divina. The Opus Theologicum of Syl-
vester Maurus, the well-known commentator on Aristotle,
is distinguished by simplicity, calmness, and clearness, and
by the absence of the subtleties so common in his day.
In Italy : Albertini, Fasoli, and Cardinal Pallavicini
(d 1667).
In France : Maratius, Martinon, and the keen and refined
Claude Tiphanus (d. 1641), author of a number of treatises
(De Hypostdsi, De Ordine, De Creaturis Spiritiialibus} in
which the nicest points of theology are investigated.
In Belgium : Leonard Lessius (d. 1623), a pious,
thoughtful, and elegant theologian, who wrote De Perfec-
tionibus Moribusque Divinis, De Summo Bono, De Gratia
Efficaci, and a commentary on the third part of the Summa ;
^Egidius Coninck, John Praepositus, and Martin Becanus.
Germany at this time had only one great native scholastic
theologian, Adam Tanner (d. 1632). His Theologia Scho-
lastica (in 4 vols. folio) is a work of the first rank, and com-
pletes in many points the labours of his master, Gregory
of Valentia. During this period, however, and far into
the eighteenth century, German theologians directed their
attention chiefly to the practical branches of theology, such
as controversy, moral theology, and canon law, and in these
acquired an acknowledged superiority. It is sufficient to
mention Laymann (d. 1625), Lacroix (d. 1714), Sporer
(d. 1714), and Schmalzgrueber (d. 1735).
4. We omit writers who treat of the higher stages of Mystical
theology.
the spiritual life, such as St. Theresa and St. John of the
Cross, and mention only those who deal with dogmas as
subjects of meditation, or who introduce dogmatic truths
into their asoctical writings. To this period belong the
xliv Introduction.
Dominican, Louis of Granada, especially on account of
bis excellent sermons ; the Jesuits, Francis Arias, Louis
da Ponte (commentary on the Canticle of Canticles),
Eusebius Nieremberg, Nouet (numerous meditations), and
Rogacci, On the One Thing Necessary ; also Cardinal
BeVulle, the founder of the French oratory, author of many
works, especially on the Incarnation ; St. Francis of Sales,
On the Love of God ; the Franciscan John of Carthagena,
and the Capuchin D'Argentan. The works of Lessius
may also be named under this heading, De Perfectionibns
Divinis and De Summo Bono. The Sorbonne doctors,
Hauteville, a disciple of St. Francis of Sales, Louis Bail,
and later, the Dominican Contenson, worked up the Summa
in a way that speaks at once to the mind and to the heart.
Patnstico. 5. This branch of theology was cultivated especially
Theology, in France and Belgium, and chiefly by the Jesuits, Domini-
cans, Oratorians, and the new Congregation of Benedic-
tines, and also by the Universities of Paris and Louvain.
Their writings are mainly, as might be expected, dog-
matico-historical or controversial treatises on one or other
of the Fathers, or on particular heresies or dogmas.
Thus, for instance, Gamier wrote on the Pelagians, and
Combesis on the Monothelites, while Morinus composed
treatises De Pcenitentia and De Sacris Ordinibus ; Isaac
Habert, Doctrina Patrum Gr&corum de Gratia; Nicole
(that is, Arnauld) on the Blessed Eucharist ; Hallier,
De Sacris Ordinationibus ; Cellot, De Hierarchia et de
Hierarchis ; Peter de Marca, De Concordia Sacerdotii et
Imperii; Phil. Dechamps, De Hceresi Janseniana ; Bos-
suet, Defense des Saints Peres, etc. ; and the Capuchin
Charles Joseph Tricassinus on the Augustinian doctrine
of grace against the Jansenists. Much good work was
done in this department, but it is to be regretted that after
the example of Baius many of the historical theologians
such as Launoi, Dupin, the Oratorians, and to some extent
the Benedictines of St. Maur, deserted not merely the
traditional teaching of the Schoolmen, which they con-
sidered to be pagan and Pelagian, but even the doctrine
of the Church, and became partisans of Jansenism and
Gallicanism. The Augustinus of Jansenius of Ypres
Introduction. xlv
(d. 1648) was the unhappy result of the misuse of splendid
intellectual powers and immense erudition. The Jesuit
Petavius and the Oratorian Thomassin attempted in their
epoch-making works to treat the whole of dogmatic theo-
logy from a patristic and historical point of view, but both
accomplished only a portion of their design.
Dionysius Petavius (Petau, d. 1647) finished no more
than the treatises De Deo Uno et Trino, De Creatione and
De Incarnatione, to which are subjoined a series of opuscula
on Grace, the Sacraments, and the Church. Louis
Thomassin (d. 1695) has left only De Deo Uno and Zte
Incarnatione, and short treatises, De Prolegomenis Theologies,
De Trinitate, and De Conciliis. Petavius is on the whole
the more positive, temperate, and correct in thought and
expression ; whereas Thomassin is richer in ideas, but at
the same time fanciful and exaggerated in doctrine and
style. The two supplement each other both in matter
and form, but both are wanting in that precision and
clearness which we find in the best of the scholastic
theologians.
III. The Period of Decay may be considered as a sort Pw
* Deca
of echo and continuation of the foregoing, but was also a
time of gradual decomposition. The Jansenists and Carte-
sians now played a part similar to that of the pseudo-mystic
Fraticelli and the Nominalists at the end of the thirteenth
century. Whilst the study of history and tne Fathers was
continued and even extended, systematic and speculative
Theology became neglected. The change manifested itself
in the substitution of quartos for folios, and afterwards of
octavos and duodecimos for quartos. The best dogmatic
works of the period strove to combine in compact form the
speculative and controversial elements, and were therefore
commonly entitled, Theologia Dogmatica Scholastica et
Polemica and often too et Moralis. Many of these works*
by their compactness and clearness, produce a pleasing
impression on the mind, and are of great practical value,
but unfortunately they are often too mechanical in con-
struction. The Germans especially took to writing hand-
books on every department of Theology. In the former
period Positive Theology was cultivated chiefly in France,
xlvi Introduction.
while Spain gave itself up to more subtle questions. Now,
however, Italy gradually came to the front. A host of
learned theologians gathered around the Holy See to fight
against Jansenism and Regalism, which had spread over
France and were finding their way gradually into Germany.
Most of the older schools still remained, but they had lost
their former solidity. Another school was now added
the so-called Augustinian school, which flourished among
the Augustinians and also at Louvain. It took a middle
course between the older schools and the Jansenists in
reference to St. Augustine's teaching.
rhomisu. Among the Thomists we may mention Billuart (d. 1757),
Card. Gotti (d. about 1730), Drouin (De re Sacramentaria)
and De Rossi (De Rubeis). The two Benedictine Cardinals,
Sfondrati and Aguirre (Theologia S. Anselmi), belong to the
less rigorous school of Thomists, and, indeed, have a marked
leaning to the Jesuit school.
Scodsts. The Franciscan school produced the most important
work of the period, and perhaps the most useful of all the
Scotist writings : Scotus Academicus sen Universa Doctoris
Sublilis Theologica Dogmata hodiernis academicorum mori-
bus accomodata, by Claude Frassen (4 vols. folio, or 12 vols.
quarto). Boyvin, Krisper, and Kick also wrote at this
time. The well-known works of the Capuchin Thomas ex
Charmes are still widely used.
Jesuits. It was from the Jesuit school, however, that most of the
manuals and compendiums proceeded. Noel composed a
compendium of Suarez ; and James Platel an exceedingly
compact and concise Synopsis Cursus Theolog. Antoine's
Theologia Speculativa is to be commended more for its
clearness than for its rigid opinions on morals. Germany
produced many useful manuals, e.g., for controversy, the
short work by Pichler, and a larger one by Sardagna. But
the most important, beyond question, is the celebrated
Theologia Wircebnrgensis, composed by the Wurzburg
Jesuits, Kilber and his colleagues, about the middle of
the eighteenth century. It includes both the positive and
speculative elements, and is a worthy termination of the
ancient Theology in Germany.
oSt! The Augustinian school approached closely to Jansenism
Introduction. xlvii
on many points, but the devotion of its leading representa-
tives to the Church and to genuine scholasticism saved it
from falling into heresy. These leaders were Christian
Lupus of Louvain and Cardinal Noris (d. 1704). Both
were well versed in history and the Fathers, but they wrote
only monographs. The great dogmatic work of this school
is by Laurence Berti, De Theologicis Disciplinis (6 vols.,
sm. folio). The discalced Carmelite Henry of St. Ignatius
is rather Jansenistic, while Opstraet is altogether so. On
the other hand, the Belgian Augustinian Desirant was
one of the ablest and most determined opponents of the
Jansenists, and was consequently nicknamed by them
Dttirant.
The French Oratory, which had begun with so much Franc*
promise, and had been so rich in learned historians, fell
afterwards completely into Jansenism ; e.g. Duguet, Ques-
nell, and Lebrun himself. Its best dogmatic works are the
Institutiones Theol., by Gasper Juenin, and his Comment.
hist. dogm. de Sacramentis. The French Benedictines,
in spite of all their learning, have left no systematic work.
Part of the Congregation of Saint-Maur inclined very
strongly to Jansenism and Gallicanism. The Congrega-
tion of Saint- Vannes, on the other hand, was rigidly
orthodox, and produced in Calmet the greatest exegetist
of the age, in Marshal and Ceillier excellent patrologists,
and in Petit-Didier one of the most strenuous adversaries
of Gallicanism, and a worthy rival of his religious brethren
Sfrondrati, Aguirre, and Reding.
The Sorbonne was much infected with Jansenism, and
after 1682 almost completely adhered to the violent Gal-
licanism of the French Government. Nevertheless, a
tendency, Gallican indeed, but at the same time anti-Jan-
senistic, was maintained, notably at St. Sulpice. We may
mention Louis Abelly (d. 1619), Medulla Theologies;
Martin Grandin, Opera theol. (5 vols.) ; Louis Habert
(d. 1718, slightly Jansenistic), Du Hamel (a thorough Gal-
lican), L'Herminier (Gallican), Charles Witasse (1716, Jan-
senist). Tournely was the most learned and orthodox
of this group, and his Preelections Theologiccs had great
influence in the better-minded circles until they were sup-
xlviii Introduction.
planted by the vile work of Bailly. The Collectio fndi-
ciorum de Norn's Erroribus, by Duplessis D'Argentre",
published about 1728, is an important contribution to the
history of Theology.
Germany. In Germany, Eusebius Amort (Canon Regular) was
the most universal theologian of his time ; his principal
work, Theologia Eclectica, possessed abundant positive
matter, and aimed at preserving the results of the past,
while at the same time meeting the claims of the present.
We may also mention the Theatine, Veranus, the Bene-
dictines Cartier, Scholliner and Oberndoffer, the Abbd Ger-
bert de Saint-Blaise, and, lastly, Joseph Widmann, Instit.
Dogm. polem. specul. (1766 ; 6 vols. 8vo).
The chief theological works were polemico-historical
treatises against Jansenism, Gallicanism, and Febronian-
ism : Viva, S.J., Damnatce Quesnelli Theses ; Fontana, S.J.,
Bulla Unigenitus propugnata ; Faure, S.J., Commentary on
the Enchiridion of St. Augustine; Benaglio, Scipio Mafifei,
the Dominicans De Rubeis, Orsi, Mamachi, Becchetti, the
Jesuits Zaccharia, Bolgeni and Muzzarelli ; also Soardi,
Mansi, Roncaglia, and the Barnabite Cardinal Gerdil. The
learned Pope Benedict XIV., although more celebrated as
a Canonist, wrote on many questions of dogma. Above all
these, however, stands St. Alphonsus Liguori (d. 1787),
who was raised to the dignity of Doctor of the Church by
Pius IX., more on account of the sanctity of his life and
the correctness of his opinions, especially in Moral Theology,
than for his knowledge of dogma.
The Period IV. The destructive and anti-Christian principles of
tf egrada Jansenism, Gallicanism, and Regalism, which had been
gradually gaining ground during the preceding period, led
to the downfall of Catholic theology. These principles, in
combination with the superficial philosophy of the day, and
with the deplorable reverence, disguised under the name of
tolerance, for rationalistic science and Protestant learning,
did much mischief, especially in Germany. Theology
became a sort of systematic collection of positive notions
drawn from the writers of a better age, or more commonly
from Protestant and Jansenistic sources. Any attempt at
speculative treatment only meant the introduction of non-
Introduction. xlix
Catholic philosophy, particularly that of Kant and Schel-
ling. Lawrence Veith, Goldhagen, and the Augsburg
Jesuits, were brilliant exceptions ; but the best work of
the period is Liebermann's /#.$///;///<?#$. Baader, Hermes,
and Gunther attempted a more profound philosophical
treatment of dogma in opposition to the Protestant philo-
sophy. Their efforts were signalized by great intellectual
power, but, at the same time, by dissociation from genuine
theology, and by ignorance, or at least neglect, of the
traditions of the schools. Italy alone preserved the ortho-
dox tradition ; many of the writers named in the period of
decay continued their labours far into the present period.
The toleration granted to Catholics in England and English
Scotland during the second half of the eighteenth century, W1
gave them the opportunity of publishing works on Catholic
doctrine. We may mention Bishop Challoner (1691-1/81),
Grounds of the CatJiolic Doctrine, The Catholic Christian
Instructed, The Grounds of the Old Religion ; Bishop Hay
(1729-1811), Sincere Christian, Devout Christian, Pious
Christian, and a treatise on miracles an excellent edition
of these has been published by Blackwood, Edinburgh ; and
Bishop Milner (1752-1826), whose End of Controversy is
still the best work against Low Churchmen and Dissenters.
When order was restored to Europe after the wars of TheRev
the Revolution, the Church found herself stripped of her
possessions and excluded from the ancient seats of learning.
In spite of these disadvantages, signs were not wanting of
the dawn of a new epoch of theological learning which
seems destined to be in no way inferior to those which
have gone before. The movement begun in France by
Lamennais, Lacordaire, and Montalembert, was taken up
even more vigorously in Germany. The study of Church
history was revived by Dollinger, Hefele, Hergenrother,
Janssen, and Pastor; Canon law, by Walter and Philips;
Scripture, by Windischmann and Kaulen ; Symbolism, by
Mohler ; Dogma, by Klee, Kuhn, Knoll, Scheeben, and
Schwane; Scholastic philosophy and theology, by Kleutgen.
The labours of the German school are summed up in the
great Kirchenlexicon, published by Herder, of Freiburg.
In Italy Libcratore and Sanseverino brought back the
1 Introduction.
Thomistic philosophy ; Passaglia, Perrone, Palmieri, and
Franzelin (an Austrian) composed dogmatic treatises which
have become text-books in almost every Catholic country ;
Patrizi and Vercellone are well known for their Biblical
labours. Among the French writers of the earlier years
of the revival, Gousset, Gury, and Craisson deserve special
mention ; while the gigantic labours of the Abbe Migne,
in reproducing the works of former ages, have been of the
greatest service to the study of theology. In spite of
persecution, France is now producing theological work
admirably suited to the needs of the day. We would
refer especially to the Diet, de Thtologie Catholique, begun
by the Abb6 Vacant ; the Bibliotheque de Thtologie His-
torique, published under the direction of the Institut Catho-
lique of Paris ; Diet, d' Archtologie et de Liturgie, by Dom
Cabrol ; and the Bibliotheque de I ' Enseignement de I'Histoire
Eccltsiastique. These four collections mark a new departure
in theological literature. They are composed on strictly
historical lines, noting in particular the development and
growth of doctrines and institutions. Vigouroux's Diet,
de la Bible is valuable, though perhaps too conservative in
its tendencies. The same may be said of the Scriptures
Sacrce Cursus of Comely, Knabenbaur, and Hummelauer.
The Etudes Bibliques edited by Lagrange, and the texts
and studies of La Pensee Chretienne are more advanced.
England and the English-speaking countries have been
content, as a rule, to take their theology from abroad.
We have, however, some few theological works of our
own, e.g. Murray's De Ecclesia and Kenrick's Theologia
Moralis. But a whole host of writers have dealt with
the Anglican controversy in its various aspects, while
Cardinal Newman's works, especially his Development of
Christian Doctrine, are more than ever valuable.
III. THE SPECIAL TASK OF THEOLOGY AT THE
PRESENT TIME THE PLAN OF THIS MANUAL.
The task ot I. The special task of Theology in the present day
J0gy ' has been pointed out by the Vatican Council. In the
Introduction. If
Procemium to the First Constitution (as had already
been indicated by Pius IX. in his allocutions and also in
his encyclical Quanta Ciira issued in 1864), the council
sketches in a few vivid strokes the chief errors of the
age. After noting that these errors have sprung from
the rejection of the Church's teaching authority in the
sixteenth century, it points out how opposed they are to
the errors of that time : the first Protestants held to
" Faith alone " and " Grace alone ; " their modern successors
believe in nothing but Reason and Nature. " Then there
sprang up and too widely spread itself abroad through the
world that doctrine of rationalism or naturalism which ;
totally opposed as it is to the Christian religion as a super-
natural institution, striveth with all its might to thrust out
Christ from the thoughts and the life of men, and to set up
the reign of mere reason or nature. Having put aside the
Christian religion and denied God and His Christ, many
have at last fallen into the pit of pantheism, materialism,
and atheism, so that now, denying rational nature itself
and every criterion of what is right and just, they are work-
ing together for the overthrow of the foundations of human
society. While this wickedness hath been gaining strength
on all sides, it hath unhappily come to pass that many even
of the Church's children have strayed from the path of
godliness, and that in them, by the gradual minimizing
of truths, Catholic feeling hath been weakened. Misled
by strange doctrines, confounding nature and grace, human
knowledge and Divine Faith, they have distorted the
true meanings of dogmas as held and taught by Holy
Mother Church, and have imperilled the integrity and
purity of the Faith." Another constitution against Natural-
ism was projected in which the Trinity, Incarnation, and
Grace were to be treated, but it was not issued owing to
the suspension of the council. Two more constitutions, on
the Church and on Matrimony, were to deal with the
social aspect of Rationalism and Naturalism that is, with
Liberalism, but for the same reason only one of them
(that on the Church) was published. See Vacant, Etudes
Thtologiques sur le Concile du Vatican.
The leading errors which Theology has to combat are,
lii Introduction.
therefore, Rationalism, Naturalism, and Liberalism. In
opposition to Rationalism it establishes the supernatural
character of theological knowledge ; in opposition to Natu-
ralism it brings out the meaning and connection of the
supernatural truths in all their sublimity and beauty ; and
in opposition to Liberalism it proves the claim, and defines
the extent, of the influence of the supernatural order upon
the private and public life of men. While, however, care-
fully distinguishing between Reason and Faith, and Nature
and Grace, Theology at the same time insists upon the
organic connection and mutual relation between the natural
and the supernatural order. Hence it is more than ever
important that Catholic doctrines should be set forth in
such a way as to bring out their organic union and
connection.
pun of this II, \y e shall begin by treating of General Theology,
or, in other words, the Sources of Theological Knowledge,
the rule and motive of Faith, how we are to know what
we are to believe and why we should believe it (De Locis
Theologicis) Book I.
We shall then deal with Special Theology; that is, the
contents of Revelation, what we are to believe. Special
Theology naturally begins with God God considered in
Himself, the Unity of the Divine Nature, and the Trinity
of the Divine Persons {De Deo Uno et Trino~} Book II.
Next it considers God in His fundamental and original
relations to the Universe generally, and to intelligent crea-
tures, angels and men, particularly, in so far as they receive
from Him their nature by creation, and at the same time
in so far as they have been called to a supernatural union
with Him by Grace ; in other words God as the Origin
and End of the natural and the supernatural order {De Deo
Creante et Elevante) Book III.
Inasmuch as this original relation of God to the world
and of the world to Him was destroyed by the revolt ot
the angels and of men, theology treats, in the third place,
of Sin and its consequences {De Casu Diaboli et Ho minis]
Book IV.
In the fourth place it deals with the restoration of the
supernatural order and the establishment of a higher order
Introduction. liii
and closer union with God by means of the Incarnation of
God (De Verbo Incarnate] Book V.
Fifthly, it expounds the doctrine of Grace, whereby,
through the merits of Christ, man is inwardly cleansed from
sin and restored to God's favour, and enabled to attain his
supernatural end (De Gratia Christi} Book VI.
Sixthly, it considers the means appointed by the In-
carnate Word for the continuance of His work among
men : the Church His mystical Body, the Blessed Eu-
charist His real Body, and the other Sacraments (De
Ecclesia Christi, De Sacramentis] Book VII.
Lastly, Theology deals with the completion of the
course of the Universe, the Fcur Last Things, whereby the
universe returns to God, its End and Final Object (De
Novissimis) Book VIII.
NOTE. The quotations of Scripture are taken from the modern editions of
the Douai-Rheims Version. The translations of the passages ot the Fathers
are mostly taken from Waterworth's "Faith of Catholics." Our limited
space has often compelled us to confine ourselves to mere statement without
any explanation or proof. Jn such cases the reader must not assume that the
doctrines stated are incapable of proof*
BOOK I.
THE SOURCES OF THEOLOGICAL
KNOWLEDGE.
B
A MANUAL OF CATHOLIC THEOLOGY.
PART I.
THE OBJECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF THEOLOGICAL
KNOWLEDGE.
CHAPTER I.
DIVINE REVELATION
SECT. I. Notion of Revelation Three Degrees of
Revelation.
I. THE word Revelation originally means an unveiling' CHAP. i.
SECT. i.
a manifestation of some object by drawing back the cover- ^ T
Notion of
ing by which it was hidden. Hence we commonly use the Revelation.
word in the sense of a bringing to light some fact or truth
hitherto not generally known. But it is especially applied
to manifestations made by God, Who is Himself hidden
from our eyes, yet makes Himself known to us. It is with
this Divine Revelation that we are here concerned.
II. God discloses Himself to us in three ways. The Three
study of the universe, and especially of man, the noblest Reflation,
object in the universe, clearly proves to us the existence
of One Who is the Creator and Lord of all. This mode of
manifestation is called Natural Revelation, because it is
brought about by means of nature, and because our own
nature has a claim to it, as will be hereafter explained.
But God has also spoken to man by His own voice, both
directly and through Prophets, Apostles,and Sacred Writers.
4 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. i. This positive (as opposed to natural) Revelation proceeds
SKCT ' "' from the gratuitous condescension of God, and tends to a
gratuitous union with Him, both of which are far beyond
the demands of our nature. Hence it is called Supernatural
Revelation, and sometimes Revelation pure and simple,
because it is more properly a disclosure of something hidden.
The third and highest degree of Revelation is in the Beatific
Vision in Heaven where God withdraws the veil entirely,
and manifests Himself in all His glory. Here on earth,
even in Supernatural Revelation, " we walk by faith and
not by sight ; " " we see now through a glass in a dark
manner, but then [in the Beatific Vision] face to face ; "
"we shall see Him as He is " (2 Cor. v. 7 ; I Cor. xiii. 12 ;
I John iii. 2).
SECT. 2. The Nature and Subject-matter of Natural
Revelation.
Natural Revelation is the principle of ordinary know-
ledge, and therefore belongs to the domain of philosophy.
We touch upon it here because it is the basis of Super-
natural Revelation, and also because at the present day
all forms of Revelation have been confused and have lost
their proper significance.
The nature I. All natural knowledge of intellectual, religious, and
ReVeTa^on. ethical truths must be connected with a Divine Revelation
of some kind, and this for two reasons : to maintain the
dependence of these truths upon God, and the better to
inculcate the duty of obeying them. This Revelation,
however, is nothing else but the action of God as Creator,
giving and preserving to nature its existence, form, and
life. Created things embody Divine Ideas, and are thus
imitations of their antitypes, the Divine Perfections. The
human intellect, in particular, is an image of the Divine
Intellect : the Creator endows it with the power to infer,
from visible nature, the existence and perfections of its
Author ; and, from its own spiritual nature, the spiritual
nature of the Author of all things. The revealing action
of the Creator, then, consists in exhibiting, in matter and
mind, the image of Himself, and in keeping alive in man
the power of knowing the image and, through the
FART I.] Divine Revelation. 5
Him who is represented. Theories which confound this CHAP. i.
OECT. 2.
Natural Revelation with Positive Revelation, like Tradi-
tionalism, or with the Revelation of Glory, like Ontologism
completely misapprehend the bearing and energy of God's
creative operations and of created nature itself.
II. The following propositions, met with in the Fathers, Ex plT ?on*
and even in Holy Scripture, must be understood to refer ex
to a Natural Revelation. When rightly explained they
serve to confirm the doctrine stated above.
1. "God is the Teacher of all truth, even of natural
truth," i.e. not by formal speech nor by an inner supernatural
enlightenment, but by sustaining the mind and faculties
with which He has endowed our nature (cf. St. August.
De Magistro, and St. Thomas, De Veritate, q. XL).
2. " God is the light in which we know all truth," that
is, not the light which we see, but the Light which creates
and preserves in us the faculty of knowing things as they
are.
3. " God is the truth in which we read all truth," not as
in a book or as in a mirror, but in the sense that, by means
of the light received from God, we read in creatures the
truths impressed upon them. The same idea is sometimes
expressed by saying that God impresses His truth upon
our mind and writes it in our souls.
4. It is particularly said that God has written His law
upon our hearts (Rom. ii. 14, 15) and that He speaks to
us in our conscience. This, however, does not mean a
supernatural intervention ; through the light of reason God
makes known to us His Will in a more vivid manner than
even human language could do.
III. Natural Revelation embraces all the truths which Subject-
we can apprehend by the light of our reason. Neverthe- Na"ura? f
less only those which concern God and our relations with Revela on -
Him are said to belong to Natural Revelation, because
they are the only truths in which He reveals Himself to us
and which He commands us to acknowledge. Thus St. Paul
(Rom. i. 18-20 and ii. 14-15) points out as naturally
revealed "the invisible things of God," especially "His
eternal power and Divinity," and also the Moral Law.
It must not, however, be thought that all that can be or
6 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [COOK I.
CHAP. i. ought to be known about God, His designs, and His works,
SECT. 3.
is within the sphere of Natural Revelation. The unaided
light of reasonjcan attain only a mediate knowledge of God
by means of the study of His creatures, and must conse-
quently be imperfect. Both the subjective medium (the
human mind) and the objective medium (creation), are finite,
whereas God is infinite. Moreover, the human intellect, by
reason of its dependencg^on the senses, is so imperfect that
it knows the essences of things" only from their phenomena,
and therefore only obscurely and imperfectly. And lastly,
the study of nature can result only in the knowledge of
such truths as are necessarily connected with it, and can
tell us nothing about any free acts which God may have
performed above and beyond nature, the knowledge of
which He may nevertheless require of us.
Thus, even if the knowledge of God through the medium
of natur^ without any special help were sufficient for our
natural vocation, there would still be room for another and
a supernatural revelation. But Natural Revelation is, in
a certain sense, insufficient even for our natural vocation,
as we shall now proceed to prove.
SECT. 3. The Object and Necessity of a Positive Revela-
tion Its Supernatural Character.
Object of a I. The direct object or purpose of Positive Revelation is
Retention, to impart to us the knowledge of the truths which it con-
tains or to develop and perfect such knowledge of them as
we already possess. The remote, but at the same time the
chief, object is to enable us to attain our last end. The
measure of the knowledge required depends uponjhe end
ordained to man by his Creator ; its necessity is determined
by the capability or incapability of man to acquire this
knowledge. Thus the necessity of a Positive Revelation
varies according to the end to be attained and man's
capacity to attain it.
its necessity. II. Man, as we shall see, is destined to a supernatural
end, and consequently the principal object of a Positive
Revelation is to enable him to reach it. But this supernatural
vocation does not relieve him from his natural duties, and
even for the fulfilment of these a Positive Revelation is in
PAHT T.I Divine Revelation. 7
a certain sense necessary. The Catholic doctrine on this CHAP. i.
' SECT. 3.
point has been defined by the Vatican Council. " To this
Divine revelation it belongeth that those Divine things
which are not impervious to human reason may, in the
present state of the human race, be known by all with
expedition and firm certainty, and without any mixture of
error. Nevertheless not on this account must Revelation
be deemed absolutely necessary, but because God of His
infinite goodness hath ordained man to a supernatural end,
that is to say, to be a sharer Ju the good things-of God which
altogether surpass the understanding of the human mind ;
for eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered
into the heart of man what things God hath prepared for
them that love Him " (sess. Hi., chap. 2). We must there-
fore distinguish two different kinds of necessity.
I. Positive Revelation is not absolutely, categorically, Relative
and physically necessary for the knowledge of truths of
the natural order bearing upon religion and morals, but
it is relatively, hypothetically, and morally necessary. If
Positive Revelation were absolutely necessary for the
acquisition of natural, moral, and religious truths, then
none of these truths could be known by any man in any
other way. But this is plainly opposed to the doctrine that
God and the moral law may be known by man's unaided
reason. Many difficulties, however, impede the acquisition
of this knowledge. Very few men have the talent and
opportunity to study such a subject, and even under the
most favourable circumstances there will be doubt and
error, owing to man's moral degradation and the influences
to which he is exposed. Positive Revelation is needed to
remedy these defects, but the necessity is only relative,
because it exists merely in relation to a portion of mankind,
a part of the moral law, and in different degrees under
different circumstances ; the necessity is moral, because
there is no physical impossibility but only great difficulty ;
and hypothetical, because it exists only in the hypothesis
that God has provided no other means of surmounting
the difficulties.
2. On the other hand Positive Revelation is absolutely, Absolute
necessity.
categorically, and physically necessary for the attainment of
8 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. i. our supernatural end. To reach this end we must tend
St fL 4 ' towards it supernaturally while we are here on earth (in
statu via), and this supposes the knowledge of the end
and of the means thereto. As both are supernatural, both
must be made known by means of a direct communication
from the Author of the supernatural order. And the neces-
sity is absolute, because it extends to every truth of this
order and arises from the very nature of man ; physical,
because of man's physical incapacity of knowing God as
He is in Himself; and categorical, because God cannot
substitute any other means for it.
Supernatural III. Positive Revelation is always a supernatural act as
far as its form is concerned, because, in making it, God is
acting beyond and above His ordinary activity as Creator,
Conservator, and Prime Mover of nature, and out of purely
gratuitous benevolence. This supernatural character be-
longs to it even when it merely supplements Natural
Revelation. But it is purely and simply supernatural in
all respects only when it manifests supernatural truths and
is the means to a supernatural end.
SECT. 4. The Subject-matter of Supernatural Revelation
Mysteries.
The Subject- I. We learn from the preceding section that Super-
Supematurai natural Revelation gives us knowledge of truths unrevealed
by Natural Revelation. These truths constitute the specific
and proper contents of Supernatural Revelation. As, how-
ever, this Revelation is by word of mouth, and not, as in the
Revelation of Glory, by the vision of its object ; as it does
not entirely lift the veil from revealed things : it leaves
them in obscurity, entirely withholding their reality from
the mind's eye, and only reproducing their essence in
analogical concepts taken from the sphere of our natural
knowledge. This peculiar character of the contents of
Supernatural Revelation is called Mystery, or mystery
of God ; that is, a truth hidden in God, but made known
to man by a free communication.
Mystery. II. Mystery * in common parlance means something
hidden or veiled, especially by one mind from another.
* Mi/'tiv, to close the eyes ; juC, a slight sound with closed lips.
PART ij Divine Revelation. 9
It implies the notion that some advantage attaches to the CHAP. i.
SECT 4
knowledge of it which gives the initiated a position superior '. '
to outsiders. The heathens gave the name of " mysteries "
to the symbolical or sacred words and acts which they
kept secret from the multitude, or to the hidden meaning
of their liturgy, understood only by the initiated. The
Fathers applied the term to the sacred words and acts
of the true religion, kept secret from the heathen and
catechumens, and understood only by the perfect, especially
the mysteries knowable only by Faith which are veiled
under the sacramental appearances (cf. Card. Newman,
Development, p. 27).
1. The notion of theological mystery properly so called Definition,
implies that the mysterious truth is incapable of being
discovered by human reason, and that, even after it is
revealed, reason cannot prove its existence. These con-
ditions, however, are fulfilled by many truths which are
not usually styled mysteries. Hence we must add the
further condition that the truth should be naturally un-
knowable on account of its absolute and objective supe-
riority to our sphere of knowledge, and that we should
consequently be unable to obtain a direct and proper,
but only an analogical, representation of its contents.
A mystery is therefore subjectively above reason and
objectively above nature.
2. That there are such mysteries has been defined by That there
the Vatican Council. " Besides those things which natural mysteries,
reason can attain, there are proposed for our belief the the Vatican
mysteries hidden in God, which, unless they were divinely
revealed, could not be known." Although by means of
analogy we may obtain some knowledge of these mysteries,
nevertheless human reason is never able to perceive them
in the same way as it perceives the truths which are its
proper object. " The Divine mysteries, by their very nature,
so far surpass the created intellect that, even when they
have been imparted by Revelation and received by Faith,
they nevertheless remain hidden and enveloped, as it were,
in a sort of mist, as long as in this mortal life we are
absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith and not by
sight " (sess. Hi., chap. 4). And the Council speaks of the
TO
A Afanual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK T.
CHAP. I.
SECT. 4.
Scripture
and
Tradiiion
Mysteries
e*sential
to Christian
Revelation.
two elements, subjective and objective, in the correspond-
ing canon i : "If any one shall say that in Divine Reve-
lation no mysteries properly so called are contained, but
that all the dogmas of the Faith may be understood and
demonstrated from natural principles by reason duly cul-
tured, let him be anathema " (cf. the Brief of Pius IX.,
Gravissimas inter}.
3. The doctrine of the Council is based on many pas-
sages of Holy Scripture, some of which are quoted or alluded
to in the decrees. The fullest text is i Cor. ii. : " Howbeit
we speak wisdom among the perfect, yet not the wisdom
of this world, neither of the princes of this world that come
to nought ; but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery
[a wisdom] which is hidden, which God ordained before
the world unto our glory : which none of the princes of
this world knew. . . . But, as it is written ; that eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the
heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them
that love Him. But to us God hath revealed them by His
Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God. For what man knoweth the things of
a man, but the spirit of a man that is in him ? So the
things that are of God no man knoweth, but the Spirit
of God. Now we have received not the spirit of this
world, but the Spirit that is of God : that we may know
the things that are given us from God" (6-12). Compare
also Eph. iii. 4-9 ; Col. i. 26, 27 ; Matt. xi. 25-27, and
John i. 1 8. The writings of the Fathers are very rich in
commentaries on these texts, many of which are quoted
in the Brief Gravissimas inter. See especially St.
Chrysostom and St. Jerome on Eph. iii. ; also St. Peter
Chrysologus, horn. 67, sqq., on the Lord's Prayer.
4. The presence of mysteries in Christian Revelation is
essential to its sublime character. The principle of Reve-
lation is God Himself in His character of Father, sending
His Son and, through Him, the Holy Ghost into this world
to announce " what the Son received from the Father, and
the Holy Ghost from both." Again, the motive of Revela-
tion is the immense love of the Son of God for us : He
speaks to us a friend to friends, telling us the secret
PART I.] Divine Revelation. \ \
things of His Father (John xv. 14). And the end of CHAP, i
Revelation is to lead us on to a truly supernatural state, - '
the direct vision of God face to face. Moreover, without
mysteries, Faith would not be "the evidence of things that
appear not" (Heb. xi. i), nor would it be meritorious
(Rom. iv., Heb. x.). In fact, the very essence of Revela-
tion is to be supernatural and therefore mysterious, so that
all who deny the existence of mysteries deny also the
supernatural character of Christianity. We may add that
the study of the revealed truths themselves will plainly
show their mysterious nature.
5. The mysteries which are the subject-matter of Revela- "The
tion are not merely a few isolated truths, but form a super- rosmos/*
natural world whose parts are as organically connected as
those of the natural world a mystical cosmos, the outcome
of the " manifold wisdom of God " (Eph. iii. 10). In their
origin they represent Ul'idtU various forms the communica-
tion of the Divine Nature by the Trinity, the Incarnation,
and Grace ; in their final object they represent an order
in which the Triunity appears as the ideal and end of a
communion between God and His creatures, rendered
possible through the God-Man, and accomplished by
means of grace and glory.
6. It is folly to maintain that the revelation of mysteries Mystery no
degrades our reason ; on the contrary, it is at once an of^o^ "
honour and a benefit. To say that there are truths be-
yond the reach of our reason is surely not to degrade it,
but to acknowledge the true extent of its powers. And
what an honour it is to man to be made in some way a
confidant of God ! Moreover, the more a truth is above
reason the more precious it is to us. Finally, the know-
ledge of things supernatural is a pledge and foretaste of the
perfect knowledge which is to come.
SECT. 5. The Province of Revelation.
I. Revelation embraces all those truths which have been Revealed
revealed in any way whatever.
I. Some revealed truths can be known only by means
of Revelation ; as, for instance, the Blessed Trinity, the
12 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. i. Incarnation, and Grace. Others can be known by natural
"^II 5 ' reason also ; for instance, the Unity of God, Creation, and
the Spirituality of the Soul. The former, which are purely
and simply matters of Faith, are revealed in order to be
made known ; whereas the latter are mentioned in Reve-
lation tojaexve as a^basis.
2. Another important distinction is that between matters
of Faith and matters of morals. Matters_pf Faith __refer to
God and His works, and are primarily of a speculative
character. Matters of morals refer to man and his conduct,
for which they prescribe practical rules.
3. A third distinction is between truths revealed for
their own sake and truths revealed for the sake of those.
This distinction is of great importance with regard to the
contents of Holy Writ.
4. Lastly, some truths stand out clearly in Revelation,
and are revealed in their completeness, while others can
only be inferred by means of reflection and study. The
latter are called corollaries of the Faith, or theological
truths. It may come to pass that these may be proposed
as matter of Faith by the Church, because they are neces-
sary for the support of the Faith and also for the attain-
ment of its object.
These four groups of revealed truths may not inaptly
be compared to the different parts of a tree. Matters
of Faith, pure and simple, are like the trunk ; the natural
truths which serve as a basis are the roots ; truths inci-
dentally revealed are the bark which envelops and pro-
tects the trunk ; truths inferred by ratiocination are the
branches which spring from the trunk ; while the practical
truths are the buds and flowers, from which proceeds the
fruit of Christian life.
other truth? II. Although, strictly speaking, things revealed are
frith. ' alone the subject-matter of Faith, nevertheless many truths
belonging to the domain of natural reason, but at the same
time so connected and interwoven with Revelation that
they cannot be separated from it, may also be reckoned as
matter of Faith. These truths are, as it were, the atmo-
sphere in which the tree of Revelation lives and thrives.
The determination of the meaning of words used for the
PART I.] Divine Revelation. 13
expression of dogmas (e.g. o/uoouo-toc), and of passages in CHAP. i.
Holy Scripture and other documents, are instances. In
like manner many truths are inseparably connected with
matters of morals, e.g. discipline, ceremonies, Religious
Orders, the temporal power of the Pope, etc.
SECT. 6. Progress of Revelation.
I. Supernatural Revelation was not given at once in all Revelation
c> . not completo
its completeness. From the day of Creation to the day ot in the
beginning.
Judgment God has spoken, and will speak, to mankind at
sundry times and in divers manners (Heb. i. i). Natural and
Supernatural Revelation run in parallel lines. Yet, whilst
the former is addressed to all men at all times in the same
form, the latter is made immediately only to individuals,
and is not necessarily meant for all mankind. We are not,
however, concerned here with private revelations, but only
with those which are public, i.e. destined for all men.
II. Public Revelation may be divided into two por-Twopor-
T-, tions of
tions : the Revelation made to man in his original state Revelation
of integrity in Paradise, and the Revelation made to fallen
man that is, the Revelation of Redemption.
1. The Revelation in Paradise was public because it was Revelation
* g in Paradise
to be handed down to all men as an inseparable comple-
ment of Natural Revelation. Holy Scripture mentions as
its subject-matter only the law of probation given to
Adam, but it connects this law with the supernatural
order because the possession of immortality was to be
the reward of obedience. It may be inferred, however,
that all other necessary elements of the order of grace
were clearly revealed, e.g. the Divine adoption of man, and
the corresponding moral law, although the Old Testament
mentions only the gift of integrity.
2. The Revelation of Redemption, or of the Gospel, was The Reve-
preparatory in the Old Testament and complete in the Redemption,
New. The preparatory stacje was begun with the Patri-
archs and continued with Moses and the Prophets. The
Patriarchal Revelation contained the promise of the coming
of the Redeemer, and pointed out the family from which
He was to spring ; it also enacted some few positive com-
mandinents. But as it did not form a complete system of
14 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK i.
C SECT > *6 1 ' re ligi us truths and morals, and added little to what might
be known by the unaided light of reason, it may be called
the Law of Nature. The next stage, the Mosaic Reve-
lation, was a closer preparation for the Revelation of the
Gospel, and laid the foundation of an organized kingdom
of God upon earth. Its object was to secure the worship
of the one God and to keep alive the expectation of the
Redeemer. Man is considered as a guilty servant of God,
not as His child (Gal. iv. i). Nevertheless even this Reve-
lation contains little more than Natural Revelation, except
the positive ordinances for safeguarding the Law of
Nature, for the institution of puBTic worship, and for the
atonement for sin. In the days of the Prophets the Reve-
lation of the Gospel already began to dawn : the super-
natural and the Divine began to appear in purer and
clearer outline. Finally, the Revelation completed through
Christ and the Holy Ghost surpasses all the others in
dignity because its Mediator was the Only Begotten Son
of God (Heb. i. i), Who told what He Himself had heard
(John i. 1 8), nay, Who is Himself the Word of God, and
in Whom God speaks (John viii. 25). The descent of the
Holy Ghost upon the Apostles supplemented and com-
pleted what Christ had revealed. " When He, the Spirit
of truth, is come, He will teach you all truth " (John
xvi. 13).
NO further in. The dignity and perfection of Christian Revelation
Revelation *
to be require that no further public Revelation is to be made.
expected. A -^ ,- ^ ,__
The Old Testament dispensation pointed to one that was
to follow, but the Christian dispensation is that "which
remaineth " (2 Cor. iii. 1 1 ; cf. Rom. x. 3, sqq. ; Gal. iii.
23, sqq.) ; an " immovable kingdom " (Heb. xii. 28) ; per-
fect and absolutely sufficient (Heb. vii. II, sqq.) ; not the
shadow, but the very image of the things to come (Heb.
x. i). And Christ distinctly says that His doctrine shall
be preached until the consummation of the world, and
declares " All things whatsoever I have heard from My
Father I have made known unto you " (John xv. 15), and
" when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will teach you
all truth," iraaav TYIV a\i'iOtiav (John xvi. 13). The Apostles
also exhort their disciples to stand by the doctrine which
I.] Divine Revelation. 15
they received, and to listen only to the Church (2 Tim.
it. 2, and iii. 14). And the epistle ascribed to St. Barnabas
contains the well-known formula : "The rule of light is, to
keep what thou hast received without adding or taking
away." Moreover, the Church has always rejected the
pretension of those who claimed to have received new
revelations of a higher order from the Holy Ghost, e.g.
the Montanists, Manichaeans, Fraticelli, the Anabaptists,
Quakers, and Irvingites.
The finality of the present Revelation does not, how-
ever, exclude the possibility of minor and subsidiary
revelations made in order to throw light upon doctrine or
discipline. The Church is the judge of the value of these
revelations. We may mention as instances of those which
have been approved, the Feast of Corpus Christi and the
devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
From the above we deduce the existence of a gradual
progress, both extensive and intensive, in Revelation. The
extensive progress does not start from Adam or Noah,
but from Abraham, the patriarch selected among fallen
mankind. Patriarchal Revelation was made to a family,
Mosaic Revelation to a people, Prophetical Revelation to
several peoples, Christian Revelation to the whole world.
The intensive progress consists in a higher degree of illu-
mination and a wider range of the revealed truths. The
intensive progress likewise begins with Abraham and
ascends through Moses and the Prophets to Christ, Who
leads us to the bright day of eternity (infra, pp. 71, 105).
1 6 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAPTER II.
THE TRANSMISSION OF REVELATION.
SECT. 7. The Protestant Theory and the Catholic Theory
concerning the Mode of transmitting and enforcing
Revelation.
CHAP. n. DIVINE Revelation, although destined for all men in all
^- 7 ' times and places, has not been communicated to each in-
dividual directly and immediately. Certain means have
been appointed by God for this purpose. Catholics and
Protestants, however, hold diametrically opposite views as
to what these means are. We shall first state both theories,
and then develop and prove the Catholic theory.
The I. The Protestant theory takes two different forms,
Protestant 111-1 t /- t * i A
theory. both alike opposed to the Catholic theory. According to
the older Protestants, Holy Scripture, the divinely written
document of Revelation, together with an interior illumina-
tion of the Holy Ghost, is the sole means whereby Revela-
tion asserts itself to the individual. All other institutions
or external means of communicating Revelation are the
work of man, coming violently between Revelation and
Faith, and destroying the supernatural character of the
latter. Modern Protestants, however, admit the existence
of other means of transmission besides Holy Writ itself,
but they deny that such means are ordained by God and
participate in the Divine character of Revelation ; while
some even go so far as to deny the supernatural character
of Holy Scripture. Revealed truth is handed down by
purely human witnesses, whose authority depends, not on the
assistance of the Holy Ghost, but on their natural abilities
L] The Transmission of Revelation. 1 7
and industry. Both forms protest the one in the name ' C |J|/ u
of Christian, the other in the name of natural, freedom
against the notion of a Revelation imposing itself authori-
tatively on mankind ; and they also protest against any
living and visible authority claiming to be established by
God and to have the right to impose the obedience of
Faith.
II. The Catholic theory is a logical consequence of the The
nature of Revelation. Revelation is not simply intended theory,
for the comfort and edification of isolated individuals, but
as a fruitful source of supernatural knowledge and life, and
a sovereign rule of Faith, thought, and conduct for all man-
kind as a whole, and for each man in particular. God wills
that by its means all men should be gathered into His
kingdom of holiness and truth, and should obtain, by con-
formity to His Will, the happiness which He destines for
them, at the same time rendering to Him the tribute of glory
which is His due. Revelation is especially intended to be
a principle of Faith, leading to an infallible knowledge of
revealed truth, and also to be a law of Faith, by submitting
to which all men may offer to God the most perfect homage
of their intellect. Hence it follows that God should provide
efficient means to enable mankind to acquire a complete,
certain, and uniform knowledge of revealed truth, and to
secure to Himself a uniform and universal worship founded
on Faith. This exercise of God's Jus Majestatis over the
mind of man is rightly insisted upon by the Vatican
Council against the rationalistic tendencies of the day.
Moreover, God could not cast upon the world the written
document of His revealed Word, and leave it to an un-
certain fate.- Had He done so, the purposes of Revela-
tion would have been completely frustrated. The only
efficient mode of transmitting Revelation with authority is
that the Word of God, after having once been spoken,
should be continuaHy^proposed to mankind by His autho-
rized envoys, and promulgated in His name and power
as the principle and rule of Faith. These envoys are
called the Teaching Body ; their functions are called the
Apostolate.
Thus, according to the Catholic theory, there is a means
C
1 8 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK i.
' ^ transm itting Revelation distinct from Revelation itself
and its written document ; and this means, having been
instituted by God, detracts in no way from the dignity of
Revelation, but rather safeguards it. Other means of
transmission, such as Scripture and history, are by no
means excluded ; they are, however, subordinate to the
one essential and fundamental means.
SECT. 8. Further Explanation of the Catholic Theory.
Divine I. The promulgation of revealed truth, being an act of
of uT/p'ro- God as Sovereign Lord of all creatures, must be made in
muigation. ^ & name o f j^j s sovereign authority and by ambassadors
invested with a share of that authority. Their commission
must consist of an appointment emanating from God, and
they must be armed with the necessary credentials and the
power of exacting Faith from those to whom they are sent.
Thus qualified, the promulgation may be technically de-
scribed as official, authentic, and authoritative : official,
because made by persons whose proper office it is to pub-
lish like heralds in human affairs ; authentic, because
with the commission to promulgate there is connected a
public dignity and authority, in virtue of which the holder
guarantees the truth of his utterances, and makes them
legally credible as in the case of public witnesses, such as
registrars ; authoritative, because the holder of the com-
mission is the representative of God, invested with autho-
rity to exact Faith from his subordinates, and to keep
efficient watch over its maintenance.
God's co- II. A threefold Divine co-operation is required for the
operation. . .
attainment of the end of Revelation : the promulgation
must be made under Divine guarantee, Divine legitima-
tion, and Divine sanction. The object of the Aposto-
late is to generate an absolute, supernatural, and Divine
certainty of the Word of God. Moreover, the promul-
gating body claims a full and unconditional submission of
the mind to the truths which it teaches. But this cer-
tainty could not be produced, and this submission could
not be demanded, except by an infallible body. The
intrinsic and invisible quality of infallibility is not enough
to convey the authenticity and authority of the Aposto-
PAP.T I.] The Transmission of Revelation. \ 9
late to the knowledge of mankind some external mark CHAP. n.
is required. Christ proved the authority of His mis-
sion by miracles, and then instituted the Apostolate. His
words and works were sufficient evidence for those who
actually witnessed them. For us some other proof is
necessary ; and this may be either some special miracle
accompanying the preaching of the Gospel, or the general
moral miracle of the continuity and efficiency of the Apos-
tolate. This subject will be treated at greater length
in the treatise on Faith. The sanction of the Apos-
tolate consists in the rewards and punishments reserved
hereafter for those who accept or reject its teaching, and
is the complement of its authority. Submission to Re-
velation is the fundamental condition of salvation, and
consequently submission to the Apostolate, which is the
means of transmitting Revelation, must be enforced by the
same sanctions as submission to Revelation itself.
III. The act of promulgation must be a teaching Natureofthe
(magisterium) t and not a mere statement ; this teaching ^uigltk^
must witness to its identity with the original Revelation,
i.e. it must always show that what is taught is identical
with what was revealed ; it must be a " teaching with
authority" that is, it must command the submission of
the mind, because otherwise the unity and universality of
the Faith could not be attained.
IV. The subject-matter of the Apostolate is co-exten- The sub-
sive with the subject-matter of Revelation. It embraces, dire* an?'
besides the truths directly revealed, those also which are of the
intimately connected and inseparably interwoven therewith '
(cf. 5). Divine Faith cannot indeed be commanded
in the case of truths not directly revealed by God;
nevertheless the Teaching Body, the living witness and
ambassador plenipotentiary of the Word of God, must,
when occasion requires, be empowered to impress the seal
of authenticity on subordinate truths also, for without this
power the object of the Apostolate would in many cases
be thwarted. The Church exercises this power when
authoritatively passing judgment on dogmatic facts (facta
dogmatica], or applying minor censures to unsound pro-
positions.
2O A Manual of Catholic Theology. [Boo* i.
CHAP. II.
SECT - 9- SECT. 9. Demonstration of 'the Catholic Theory.
The Catholic theory that Revelation is transmitted
and communicated by means of envoys and teachers
accredited by God, is evident a priori, i.e. the considera-
tion of the nature of Revelation and its object shows
that no other theory is practically possible. There are,
however, other proofs also, which are set forth under the
following headings :
I. Proof from our Lord's words.
The words I. The documentary proof of the institution of a teach-
don?"' ing Apostolate is found in Holy Scripture exactly where
we should expect to find it, viz. at the end of the Gospels
and at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles.
st Manhew (ci) The first Evangelist, St. Matthew (xxviii. 18, 19),
gives the narrative around which all the others group them-
selves. He shows, first, that the Apostles' mission is based
upon the sovereign power of Christ, and he then characterizes
this mission as the visible continuation of the mission of
Christ the working of the Apostolate is described as an
authorized teaching of the whole doctrine of Christ to all
men of all times ; lastly, baptism is stated to be the act
by which all mankind are bound to become the disciples
of the Apostolate. "All power is given to Me in Heaven
and on earth. Going therefore [in virtue of, and endowed
with this My sovereign power, " As the Father hath sent
Me, I also send you " John xx. 21] teach ye [//a^rjrtu-
o-arf make to yourselves disciples, teach as having power ;
cf. Mark i. 22] all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost :
teaching them (StSao-Kovrtg) to observe all things whatso-
ever I have commanded you (ii;erAof/nv) : and behold I
am with you all days, even to the consummation of the
world." It is evident from the text that the promised
presence of Christ is intended to secure the object of the
Apostolate, and, consequently, that the Apostolate must
be infallible. (Sec Bossuet, Instructions sur les Promesses
faites a I* Eglise ; and Wiseman, The Principal Doctrines
and Practices of the Church, lect. iv.)
Su Mark. () The second Evangelist, St. Mark, describes the
PART I.] The Transmission of Revelation. 2 1
" teaching " of St. Matthew as a " preaching," and mentions, C ^P. n.
instead of the intrinsic guarantee of infallibility, the extrinsic
signs of authority and sanction. " Go ye into the whole
world and preach (Kripv^art) the Gospel to every creature
[as an authorized message from the Creator and Sove-
reign Lord to all mankind as His creatures]. He that
believeth [your preaching] and is baptized shall be saved ;
but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these
signs shall follow them that believe : in My name they
shall cast out devils. . . . But they [the eleven] going forth,
preached everywhere : the Lord working withal, and con-
firming the word with signs that followed " (xvi. 15-20).
(^r) The third Evangelist, St. Luke, draws attention to St. Luke,
the mission to " preach," but afterwards lays special stress
on its principal act the authentic witnessing and points
to the Holy Ghost, of Whom the human witnesses are the
mouthpiece, as the guarantee of the infallibility of the
testimony. "Thus it is written, and it behoved Christ to
suffer, and to rise again from the dead on the third day ;
and that penance and the remission of sins should be
preached in His name unto all nations, beginning at Jeru-
salem. And you are witnesses of these things, and I send
the promise of My Father upon you " (xxiv. 46-49). " You
shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon
you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem and
in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part
of the earth " (Acts i. 8).
(d] Whilst the synoptic Gospels chiefly describe the St
universal propagation and first diffusion of the doctrine of
Christ, St. John, the fourth Evangelist, points out especially
the unity, conservation, and application of the doctrine.
He narrates, as the last act of our Lord, the appointment
of a permanent visible Head of the Church. St. Peter is
chosen to take the place of Christ, with power to feed
mankind with the bread of doctrine (xxi. 15-17), and to
lead them in the light of truth. The apostolic organism
thus receives a firm centre and a permanent consistency.
The abiding and invisible assistance of Christ announced
in St. Matthew to the members of the Apostolate is here
visibly embodied in His supreme representative to whom
22 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. IT. it was especially promised (Matt. xvi. 17-19 ; Luke xxii.
9 3 r 3 2 )- Moreover, the very figure of a shepherd feeding
his lambs and sheep contains an allusion to the authority
and sanction of the promulgation of the Word (cf. John
x. 1 1 sqq. ; Ps. xxii. ; Ezech. xxxiv. 23).
Thus the last Evangelist comes back to the point from
which St. Matthew started : " All power is given to Me
in Heaven and on earth." The mission of the A postdate
is an emanation from and a continuation of the mission
of Christ, and consequently the functions of both are
described in similar terms. Our Lord Himself is spoken
of as a Doctor and Master, teaching as one having power
(Mark i. 22) ; a Preacher of the Gospel sent by God to
man (Luke iv. 16-21) ; a Witness, giving testimony to what
He saw with the Father (John viii. 14-18); and, lastly
as the Shepherd of the sheep (John x. n).
Our Lords 2. The beautiful picture of the institution of the
L7ri^?ng. Apostolate given at the end of the Gospel narratives is
brought out more clearly when viewed side by side with
the previous teaching of our Lord.
The mission described in Matt, xxviii. is represented
in John xvii. 17, 18, as a continuation of the mission of
Christ Himself: "Sanctify them in truth: Thy word is
truth. As Thou hast sent Me into the world, I also have
sent them into the world." Moreover the coercive
authority spoken of by St. Matthew and St. Mark is
mentioned by St. Luke x. 16 (cf. John xiii. 20 ; Matt. x.
40) on the occasion of the first preparatory mission of the
seventy-two disciples. " He that heareth you heareth Me ;
and he that despiseth you despiseth Me ; and he that
despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me." And the
promise of the Holy Ghost, Who, according to St. Luke's
narrative, was to support and strengthen the testimony
of the Apostles, is made at great length in St. John's
account of our Lord's discourse at the Last Supper, in
which the duration, importance, and efficacy of the Holy
Ghost's assistance are declared. "And I will ask the
Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He
may abide with you for ever, the Spirit of truth, Whom
the world cannot receive : 4 . but you shall know Him ;
PART I.] The Transmission of Revelation. 23
because He shall abide with you, and shall be in you " CHAP. n.
(xiv. 16, 17). "These things have I spoken to you, abiding
with you. But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, Whom the
Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things,
and bring all things into your mind, whatsoever I shall
have said to you " (ibid., 25, 26). " But when the Paraclete
cometh, Whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit
of truth, Who proceedeth from the Father, He shall give
testimony of Me : and you shall give testimony, because
you are with Me from the beginning " (xv. 26, 27). " When
He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will teach [6So7/jo-et]
you all truth" (xvi. 13). It is plain that these promises
were made to the Apostles as future propagators of the
Faith, and the stress laid upon the functions of the Holy
Ghost as the Spirit of truth, as Teacher and Witness, as
Keeper of and Guide to the truth, is intended to show that
the transmission of Revelation was to be endowed with all
the qualifications required for its object, and especially
with infallibility. Lastly, the Pastor appointed by Christ
(John xxi. 15-17) had been previously designated as being
strengthened in Faith in order to confirm his brethren, and
as the rock which was to be the indestructible foundation
of the Church (Luke xxii. 31, 32 ; Matt. xvi. 18).
These passages taken together may be summarized as Summary,
follows. After accomplishing His own mission, Jesus
Christ, in virtue of His absolute power and authority, sent
into the world a body of teachers and preachers, presided
over by one Head. They were His representatives, and
had for their mission to publish to the world all revealed
truth until the end of time. Their mission was not ex-
clusively personal it was to extend to their successors.
Mankind were bound to receive them as Christ Himself.
That their word might be His word, and might be recog-
nized as such, He promised them His presence and the aid
of the Holy Ghost to guarantee the infallibility of their
doctrine ; He promised external and supernatural signs as
vouchers for its authenticity; finally, He gave their doctrine
an effective sanction by holding out an eternal reward to
those who should faithfully adhere to it, and by threatening
with eternal punishment those who should reject it.
24 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. ii. This summary is a complete answer to certain diffi-
*fll 9 ' culties drawn from detached texts of Holy Scripture, and
likewise fills up the gaps in isolated passages. The picture
we have drawn corresponds exactly, even in minute details,
with the theory of the Catholic Church on the Apostolate.
Certain points, as, for instance, the infallibility of the
Apostolate in matters indirectly connected with Revelation,
are at least implicitly and virtually contained in the texts
quoted. There is even reason to maintain that the words,
"He shall lead you into all truth " (John xvi. 13), imply
the promise of the infallible guidance of the Holy Ghost
in all truths necessary to the Church. It should also be
noted that, although these passages, as a whole, apply to
the future of the Christian dispensation, some of them
apply chiefly to its commencement, e.g. the signs and
wonders, and the ocular evidence of the Apostles. The
transitory elements can, however, be easily distinguished,
and are therefore no argument against the perpetuity of
the essential elements required for the permanent object
of Revelation the salvation of all mankind.
II. Proof from the writings of the Apostles.
The writings of the Apostles represent the Apostolate
as an accomplished fact, destined to endure in all its
essential elements until the end of time
St. Paul. i. The theory is set forth especially in Rom. x. 8-19
and Eph. iv. 7-14. In the former passage, St. Paul insists
on the necessity and importance of the apostolic preaching
as the ordinary means of transmitting the doctrine of Christ.
" The word is nigh thee [i.e. all men, Jews and Gentiles],
even in thy mouth, and in thy heart. This is the word
of faith which we preach. For, if thou confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God
hath raised Him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved. . . .
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. How then shall they call on Him in Whom
they have not believed ? Or how shall they believe Him
of Whom they have not heard ? And how shall they hear
without a preacher ? And how shall they preach unless
they be sent ? . . . Faith then cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of Christ [as preached by those who
PART I.] The Transmission of Revelation. 25
have been sent]. . . . But I say, Have they not heard? Yes CHAP. n.
verily, their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and E ^. g -
their words unto the ends of the whole world." " But all
do not obey the Gospel [preached by the Apostles], for
Isaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report ? " In
writing to the Ephesians the Apostle describes how the
organic body of living teachers is by its manifold functions
the means designed by God to produce the unity, firmness,
and security of the universal Faith. He speaks more
particularly about the organization of the Apostolate, as
it existed in his own day, when the Apostles were still
living, and the extraordinary graces (charismata) were
still in full operation. His description is not that of the
ordinary organization, which was to endure for all ages,
but, in spite of this, it is plain that what he says of the
importance of the earlier form, may also be applied to that
which was to come. " And He gave some apostles, and
some prophets, and other some evangelists [both graces
peculiar to the first epoch], and other some pastors and
doctors [this alludes to the ordinary teachers, the bishops
appointed by the Apostles] for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ, until we all meet together into the unity of faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ : that
henceforth we be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine by the wicked-
ness of men, by cunning craftiness by which they lie in
wait to deceive" (Eph. iv. 11-15). The Apostles were the
foundation of the whole organization ; after their death
their place was taken by the successor of St. Peter, to
whom the other pastors stand in the same relation as the
first bishops stood to the Apostles.
2. In practice, the Apostles announced the Gospel, and The practice
carried on the work of their ministry ; they represented Apostles,
themselves as the ambassadors of Christ (Rom. i. 5 ; xv.
1 8 ; i Cor. ii. 16 ; iii. 9, etc.), and, above all, as witnesses
sent to the people by God ; they proved the Divinity of
their mission by signs and wonders, as Christ promised
them (i Cor. ii. 4 ; 2 Cor, xii. 12 ; i Thess. i. 5, etc.) ; they
26 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. ii. demanded for the word of God. to which they bore
SECT. 9. ...
authentic and authoritative witness, the obedience of Faith
r) TT/OTEWC, Rom. i. 5), and claimed the power and the
right to enforce respect for it : " For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but mighty to God unto the pulling
down of fortifications, destroying counsels (Aoyto-^ioi/e), and
every height that exalteth itself against the knowledge of
God, and bringing into captivity every understanding unto
the obedience of Christ, and having in readiness to revenge
all disobedience, when your obedience shall be fulfilled "
(2 Cor. x. 4-6). They apply the sanction established by
Christ, " He that believeth not shall be condemned," and
themselves pronounce the sentence. " But though we, or
an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that
which we have preached to you, let him be anathema"
(Gal. i. 8).
The mode of promulgation, in its essentials, was to be
permanent, and not to cease with the Apostles, as may
be gathered from the principles laid down by St. Paul
(Rom. x.) and from the fact that the Apostles appointed
successors to themselves to watch over and keep the
doctrine entrusted to them. " Hold the form of sound
words which thou hast heard of me . . . Keep the good
thing committed to thy trust by the Holy Ghost Who
dwelleth in us" (2 Tim. i. 13, 14). They add the com-
mandment to appoint further successors with the same
charge. " The things which thou hast heard of me by
many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men who
shall be fit to teach others also" (2 Tim. ii. 2). The prac-
tical application of this system is thus described by St.
Clement of Rome, the disciple of the Apostles : " Christ
was sent by God, and the Apostles by Christ. Therefore
they went forth with the full persuading power of the
Holy Ghost, announcing the coming of the kingdom of
God. Through provinces and in towns they preached the
word, and appointed the first fruits thereof, duly tried by
the Spirit, to be the bishops and deacons of them that
should believe. . . . They appointed the above-named,
and then gave them command that when they came to die
other approved men should succeed to their ministry"
(E-p. i. ad Cor., nn. 42, 44^
PABT I.] The Transmission of Revelation. 2 7
This proof from Scripture by no means presupposes CHAP. IL
the inspiration of the books of the New Testament ; it
is enough for our present purpose to assume that they are
authentic narratives. We thus do not fall into the vicious
circle of proving the Apostolate from the inspired books,
and the Inspiration of the books from the Apostolate.
Nor do we make use of the authority of the Church in
interpreting the texts. Their meaning is sufficiently
manifest without any such help.
III. Historical proofs.
But we have historical proofs of unimpeachable
character that already, in the first centuries, the Catholic
Rule was held by the Fathers. St. Irenaeus, Origen, and
Tertullian taught that, in consequence of the mission
given to the Apostles, their successors preached the word
with authenticity and authority ; that the preaching of
these successors infallibly reproduced the preaching of the
Apostles ; that, consequently, Ecclesiastical Tradition was
to be followed, notwithstanding any private appeal to Holy
Scripture or to any other historical documents.
i. St. Irenaeus insists upon these points against the St. irenzus
Gnostics, who appealed to Scripture or to private historical
documents.
(a) He insists upon the existence and importance of
the mission of the Apostles, and also upon the succession
in the Apostolate : " Therefore in every church there is, for
all those who would fain see the truth, at hand to look
unto, the tradition of the Apostles made manifest through-
out the whole world ; and we have it in our power to
enumerate those who were by the Apostles instituted
Bishops in the churches, and the successors of those Bishops
down to ourselves, none of whom either taught or knew
anything like unto the wild opinions of these men. For if
the Apostles had known any hidden mysteries, which they
apart and privately taught the perfect only, they would
have delivered them before all others to those to whom
they entrusted even the very churches. For they sought
that they whom they left as successors, delivering unto
them their own post of government, should be especially
perfect and blameless in all things." He then demon-
28 A Mamial of Catholic Theology. [BOOK i.
CHAP. ii. strates the continuity of succession in the church of
- Rome : " But as it would be a very long task to enumerate,
in such a volume as this, the successions of all the
churches ; pointing out that tradition which the greatest
and most ancient and universally known church of Rome
founded and constituted by the two most glorious
Apostles Peter and Paul derives from the Apostles, and
that faith announced to all men, which through the succes-
sion of (her) Bishops has come down to us, we confound all
those who in any way, whether through self-complacency
or vain-glory, or blindness and perverse opinion, assemble
otherwise than as behoveth them. For to this church, on
account of more potent principality, it is necessary that
every church, that is, those who are on every side faithful,
resort, in which (church) ever, by those who are on every
side, has been preserved that tradition which is from the
Apostles. . . . By this order and by this succession both
that tradition which is in the Church from the Apostles,
and the preaching of the truth, have come down to us.
And this is a most complete demonstration that the vivify-
ing faith is one and the same, which from the Apostles
even until now, has been preserved in the Church and
transmitted in truthfulness." After mentioning other
disciples and successors of the Apostles, he continues :
" Wherefore, since there are such proofs to show, we ought
not still to seek amongst others for truth which it is easy
to receive from the Church, seeing that the Apostles have
brought together most fully into it, as into a rich repository,
all whatever is of truth, that every one that willeth may
draw out of it the drink of life. . . . But what if the
Apostles had not left us writings : would it not have been
needful to follow the order of that tradition which they
delivered to those to whom they committed the churches
an ordinance to which many of the barbarian nations who
believe in Christ assent, having salvation written, without
paper and ink, by the Spirit, in their hearts, and sedulously
guarding the old tradition?" {Adv. Hceres., 1. iii., 3, 4).
(b} Irenaeus then shows that the preaching of the
Apostles, continued by their successors, contains a super-
natural guarantee of infallibility through the indwelling of
PART l.] The Transmission of Revelation. 29
the Holy Ghost. "The public teaching of the Church is CHAP. n.
everywhere uniform and equally enduring, and testified - '
unto by Prophets and by Apostles, and by all the disciples,
as we have demonstrated, through the first and inter-
mediate and final period, and through the whole economy
of God and that accustomed operation relative to the
salvation of man, which is in our faith, which, having
received from the Church, we guard (quam pcrceptam ab
ccdesia custodimus] ; and which by the Spirit of God is
ever in youthful freshness, like something excellent
deposited in a beautiful vase, making even the very vase,
wherein it is, seem newly formed (fresh with youth). For
this office of God has been entrusted to the Church, as
though for the breathing of life into His handiwork, unto
the end that all the members that partake may be vivified ;
in this [office], too, is disposed the communication of Christ,
that is, the Holy Spirit, the pledge of incorruption, the
ladder whereby to ascend unto God. For in the Church,
saith he, God hath placed Apostles, prophets, doctors, and
every other work of the Spirit, of which all they are not
partakers who do not hasten to the Church, but by their
evil sentiment and most flagrant conduct defraud them-
selves of life. For where the Church is, there is the Spirit
of God, and where the Spirit of God is, there is the ChurcJi
and every grace : but the Spirit is truth. Wherefore they
who do not partake of that [Spirit] are neither nourished
unto life from a mother's breasts, nor see the most clear
spring which proceeds from Christ's body ; but dig unto
themselves broken cisterns out of earthy trenches, and out
of the filth drink foul water, fleeing from the faith of the
Church lest they be brought back ; but rejecting the Spirit
that they may not be instructed " (lib. Hi., c. 24).
(c] Lastly, Irenaeus links together the Apostolic Succes-
sion and the supernatural guarantee of the Holy Ghost.
" Wherefore we ought to obey those presbyters who are
in the Church, those who have a succession from the
Apostles, as we have shown ; who, with the succession
of the episcopate, have received according to the good will
of the Father the sure gift of truth ; but the rest who
depart from the principal succession, and assemble in any
30 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
"SECT" H ' P' ace whatever, we ought to hold suspected either as
heretics and of an evil opinion, or as schismatics and
proud, and as men pleasing themselves ; or, again, as
hypocrites doing this for gain's sake and vain-glory. . . .
Where, therefore, the gifts of God are placed, there we
ought to learn the truth, [from those] with whom is that
succession of the Church which is from the Apostles ; and
that which is sound and irreprovable in conversation and
unadulterated and incorruptible in discourse, abides. For
they both guard that faith of ours in one God, Who made
all things, and increase our love towards the Son of God,
Who made such dispositions on our account, and they
expound to us the Scriptures without danger, neither
uttering blasphemy against God, nor dishonouring the
patriarchs nor contemning the prophets " (lib. iv. 26).
Origen. 2. Origen, in the preface to his work De Principiis, states
the principle of the Apostolate in the Church in the following
pregnant terms : " There being many who fancy that they
think the things of Christ, and some of them think differ-
ently from those who have gone before, let there be pre-
served the ecclesiastical teaching which, transmitted by the
order of succession from the Apostles, remains even to
the present day in the churches : that alone is to be
believed to be truth which in nothing differs from the
ecclesiastical and apostolical tradition." And comment-
ing on Matt. xxiv. 23, he says, " As often as they
[heretics] bring forward canonical Scriptures in which
every Christian agrees and believes, they seem to say,
' Behold in the houses is the word of truth.' But we are
not to credit them ; nor to go out from the first and the
ecclesiastical tradition ; nor to believe otherwise than
according as the churches of God have by succession
transmitted to us. ... The truth is like the lightning
which goeth out from the east and appeareth even into
the west ; such is the truth of the Church of God ; for
from it alone the sound hath gone forth into all the earth,
and their words unto the ends of the world."
Tertuiiian. 3. TertulHan treats of this subject in his well-known
work De Prtescriptionibus. " [Heretics] put forward the
Scriptures and by this their boldness they forthwith
P\RT I.] The Transmission of Revelation. 31
move some persons ; but in the actual encounter they CHAP, n
1 ' SKCT. 9.
weary the strong, catch the weak, send away the wavering
anxious. We therefore interpose this first and foremost
position : that they are not to be admitted to any dis-
cussion whatever touching the Scriptures. If these be
those weapons of strength of theirs, in order that they
may possess them, it ought to be seen to whom the pos-
session of the Scriptures belongs, lest he may be admitted
to it to whom it in no wise belongs. . . . Therefore there
must be no appeal to the Scriptures, nor must the contest
be constituted in these, in which the victory is either none
or doubtful, or too little doubtful. For even though the
debate on the Scriptures should not so turn out as to
confirm each party, the order of things required that this
question should be first proposed, which is now the only
one to be discussed, 'JTo^whom belongs the faitft itg e ^4
whose are the Scriptures; by whom, and through whom,
and when and to whom was that rule delivered whereby
men ^became Christians?' for wherever both the true
Christian rule and faith shall be shown to be, there will be
the true Scriptures and the true expositions and ail the
true Christian traditions" (nn. 15, 19).
IV. The Divine legitimation of the Apostolate.
A strong argument in favour of the Divine origin of the
Apostolate, stronger even than the proof from the Holy
Scriptures and early Fathers, may be drawn from its actual
existence and working in the Catholic Church.
If the power over the human mind and the infallible
possession of Divine truth claimed by the Catholic hierarchy
did not really come from God, the claim would be a horrible
blasphemy, and the hierarchy would be the work of the
devil. But if this were the case, it would be impossible for
the Church to do all the good which she does, to contribute
so wonderfully to the sanctification of mankind, and to be
so constantly and so energetically attacked by the enemies
of Christ. God would be bound to oppose and extirpate
this monster of deception, which pretends to be the work
of His hands and to be guided by His Spirit. He could
not allow it to prevail so long, so universally, with such
renown and success among the very best of mankind. But,
32 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP, ii far from doing this, God marvellously supports the Apos-
tolate and confirms its authority from time to time by
supernatural manifestations. These, of course, demon-
strate the Divine origin of the Church as a whole, but
they also demonstrate the Divine origin of the Apostolate
which is the means of communicating the Faith which
the Church professes.
SECT. 10. Organization of the Teaching Apostolate Its
Relations witJi the two Powers and the two Hierarchical
Orders instituted by Christ.
The usual place to treat of the Organization of the
Teaching Apostolate is in the treatise on the Constitution
of the Church. For our present purpose, however, which
is to show to whom and in what manner belongs the right
to expound and propose Revelation, it will be sufficient to
give a clear notion of the two hierarchical powers.
JfOrde er ^ The power to teach is vested by right, as well as by
the institution of Christ, in those same dignitaries who are
appointed to be the instruments of the Holy Ghost for the
communication of His grace to mankind (potestas ordinis]
and who are the representatives of Christ for the govern-
The power ment of His kingdom upon earth (jpotestas jurisdictionis)
tion. in a word, the Apostolate belongs to the Hierarchy. But
the Apostolate is not only intimately connected with the
two above-named functions of the Hierarchy : it is also
itself an hierarchical function. As such, its value and im-
portance depend on the rank held by the members of the
Hierarchy by right either of ordination or of jurisdiction.
The Apostolate is not, however, an independent hierarchical
function. It springs from and forms an essential part of
the other two. To enlighten the mind with heavenly truth
and to generate Faith are acts belonging to the very nature
of the Power of Orders, inasmuch as in this way the gifts
of the vivifying Spirit are dispensed. And the same may
be said of the Power of Jurisdiction, for the noblest part
of this power is to feed the flock of Christ on Faith, and so
to guide it to salvation.
func'bnspf II. We have already distinguished two functions of the
Biy each1 "* Apostolate : d) the authentic witnessing to the doctrine
PART I.] The Transmission of Revelation. 33
of Christ, and (2) the authoritative enforcement of it. The CHAP, n
SECT. i<x
first element belongs to the Power of Orders, the second
to the Power of Jurisdiction.
I. The act of witnessing to the doctrine of Christ is not witnessing
in itself an act of jurisdiction, but rather, as being a com- the Power oi
munication of grace and of supernatural life, belongs to the
Power of Orders. The function of this power is to transmit
the Grace of Christ, especially the grace of Faith, while the
Apostolate transmits the truth of Christ and provides the
subject-matter of the act of Faith. The members of
the Hierarchy invested with the power of communicating
the gifts of Grace in general and the gift of Faith in par-
ticular, are therefore also the instruments of the Holy
Ghost in communicating the doctrine of Faith. The grace
which they receive in their ordination consecrates them for
and entitles them to both functions, so that they are, in a
twofold sense, " the dispensers of the mysteries of God."
Hence the witnesses of the Apostolate, which was instituted
to produce supernatural Faith, are invested with a super-
natural character, a public dignity, and a power based upon
an intimate union with the Holy Ghost. They represent
the testimony of the Holy Ghost promised by Christ,
because they are the instruments of the Holy Ghost. They
cannot, however, individually claim infallibility, as will
presently be shown.
The Power of Orders has different degrees which con- The two
ITT- 1 r ^ i T> t < i i Hierarchical
stitute the Hierarchy of Orders, lo each of these degrees order*,
belongs a corresponding share in the right and power to
expound revealed doctrine. The High Priests (the Pon-
tiffs or Priests of the first order, i.e. the Bishops) alone
possess the fulness of the Power of Orders, and are by them-
selves independent of any other order in the performance
of their functions. Hence, in virtue of their Orders, the
Bishops alone are, in a perfect sense, " Fathers of the
Faithful," independent teachers and authentic witnesses in
their own right. The subordinate members of the Hier-
archy of Orders receive their orders from the Bishops, and
are mere auxiliaries. Thus the Deacons are exclusively
called to assist in the functions of the higher orders, and
the Priests of the second order, i.e. simple Priests, in the
D
34 -A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. n. ordinary sense of the word, act as the Bishop's assistants,
and often with his positive co-operation. Their participa-
tion in the Apostolate is limited, like their participation in
the Power of Orders, and may be expressed in the same
terms.
Enforcing 2. The act of imposing the doctrine of Christ, that is,
juriXtfon*! of commanding adhesion to it, clearly appertains to the
Power of Jurisdiction, especially to that branch of it which
is called the Power of Teaching. Bishops, in virtue of their
consecration, are called to the government of the Church ;
but this does not of itself constitute them rulers of any par-
ticular portion of the Christian flock, and therefore does
not give them the right to command submission to their
doctrinal utterances. This right is the result of, and is
co-extensive with their jurisdiction, i.e. with their actual
participation in the government of the Church. On the
other hand, the right to act as authentic witnesses and as
simple doctors, not imposing submission to their doctrine,
is independent of their governing any flock, and may
extend beyond the particular flock actually committed to
their charge.
In general, the power of authoritative teaching implies
complete jurisdiction over the domain of doctrine, and
therefore includes (i) the right of administration, which
entitles the holder of it to use the external means neces-
sary for the propagation of the doctrine, especially to send
out authorized missionaries ; (2) the right of superin-
tendence, together with the right of punishing, entitling
the holder to forbid, prevent, or punish all external acts
opposed to the propagation of the true doctrine ; (3)
judicial and legislative powers, including the right of
prescribing external acts relating to the Faith, but having
for their principal function the juridical and legal definition
and prescription of the Faith. This last is the highest
exercise of authoritative teaching, because it affects the
innermost convictions of the mind ; it is eminently Divine
and supernatural, like the exercise of jurisdiction in the
Sacrament of Penance, and like this, too, it implies that
the holder represents Christ in a very special manner.
The right of authoritative teaching has various degrees.
PART I.] The 7*ransmission of Revelation. 35
Simple Bishops, placed over only a portion of the Christian
flock, possess only a partial and subordinate, and hence
an imperfect and dependent, Power of Teaching. The
Chief of the Episcopate, as Pastor of the entire flock, alone
possesses the universal and sovereign, and hence complete
and independent, Power of Teaching, to which the Bishops
themselves must submit. The difference between his
power and theirs appears most strikingly in the legal force
of their respective doctrinal decisions. The Pope's decisions,
as Christ's chief judge upon earth, alone have the force
of laws, binding generally ; whereas those given by the
Bishops have only the force of a judicial sentence, binding
the parties in the suit. In matters of Faith Bishops can-
not make any laws for their respective dioceses, because
a law requiring assent to a truth cannot be more restricted
than truth itself, and, moreover, a law of this kind must
proceed from an infallible lawgiver. Universality and
infallibility are not the attributes of individual Bishops,
but of the Pope alone ; and therefore Bishops can make
merely provisional laws for their own dioceses, subject to
the approbation of the Sovereign Pontiff. It is not their
business to give final decisions in controversies concerning
the Faith, or to solve the doubts still tolerated in the Church
their ministry is not even indispensable for these purposes.
They are, indeed, judges empowered to decide whether a
doctrine is in conformity with generally received dogma,
but as individuals they cannot make a dogma or law of
Faith. They wield the executive, not the legislative power.
In short, although the Bishops are pre-eminently witnesses
and doctors and, within certain limits, also judges of the
Faith, yet their Head, the Pope, has the distinctive attri-
butes of supreme promulgator of doctrine, universal
judge in matters of Faith, arbiter in controversies of Faith,
and " Father and Teacher of all Christians " (Council of
Florence).
SECT. ii. Organization of the Apostolate (continued],
Organization of the Teaching Body.
On the basis of what has been laid down in the fore-
going section, we now proceed to treat of the organization
36 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK 1.
CHAP. n. of the members of the Apostolate, the allotment among
SECT. ii. .... .
them of apostolic powers and privileges, and more espe-
cially of the gift of infallibility.
It is manifest that there exists for the purposes of the
Apostolate a number of different organs adjusted together
so as to form one well-ordered whole, the several members
of which share, according to their rank, in the various
powers and privileges of the Apostolate. Taken in a wide
sense, this body embraces all the members of the Church
Teaching who in any way co-operate in the attainment
of the ends of the Apostolate. In a narrower sense, how-
ever, the Teaching Body is understood to consist only of
the highest members of the Hierarchy of Orders, who are
at the same time by Divine institution the ordinary
members of the Hierarchy of Jurisdiction, viz. the Pope and
the Bishops. In them the fulness of the Apostolate resides,
whereas the lower members are only their auxiliaries. We
shall treat first of the organization of the Teaching Body
itself; then of its auxiliaries; and lastly of its connection
with the body of the Faithful.
raiding I. The principles which determine the composition of
pnnapes. ^j^ Teaching Body are the following :
1. The first object to be attained by means of the Apos-
tolate is the universal diffusion of Revelation, paving the
way for supernatural Faith. For this purpose a number
of consecrated jOj^an5__af._th. Holy Ghost are required, to
be authentic witnesses and teachers. As representatives
of Christ, they must be endowed with a doctrinal authority
corresponding to their rank, and must have power to
appoint auxiliaries and to superintend and direct the Faith
of their subjects.
2. The second object of the Apostolate is to produce
unity of Faith and doctrine. To accomplish this, one
supreme representative of Christ is required, to preside
over the whole organization, and to possess a universal and
sovereign doctrinal power.
3. The unity resulting from this sovereign power is three-
fold : material unity of the Teaching Body, consisting in
the juridical union of the members with their Head, in
virtue of which they have and hold their functions a
PART I.] The Transmission of Revelation. 37
unity resulting from the administrative power of their CJIAP.JI.
Head ; harmonic and external unity in the activity of the
members, arising from the power of superintendence ; and
formal and intrinsic unity of doctrine and Faith, produced
by authoritative definition.
4. The unity of the Teaching Body is not that of a lifeless
machine but of a living organism. Each member is formed ^j_
to the likeness of the Head by God Himself, Who gives
life to Head and members alike through the action of
the Holy Ghost.
II. The original members of the Apostolate chosen by The original
organization.
Christ Himself for the fundamental promulgation and pro-
pagation of the Gospel possessed the attributes of the
Apostolate in an eminent degree. This was necessary in
view of the objects they had to attain. Their superiority
over their successors appears in the authenticity of the
testimpny of each of them taken individually, in the
authoritative power to teach conferred uponjdl of them
and not restricted to the chief Apostle, and lastly in the
personal infallibility of every one of them. As they were
the first witnesses of the doctrine of Christ they were not
only the channels but also the sources of the Faith of
every age, and therefore it was necessary that their testi-
mony should be endowed with a special internal and ex-
ternal perfection. The internal perfection arose from the
fact of their being eye-witnesses and ear-witnesses of the
whole Revelation, and of their being so filled with the
Holy Ghost that each of them possessed a complete and
infallible knowledge of revealed doctrine ; while the ex-
ternal perfection was the gift of miracles, by which they
were enabled to confirm the authenticity of their testimony.
Again, the Apostles were to give an efficient support to
their Chief who was to be the permanent foundation of,
the Church in the original establishment of the kingdom
of God upon earth, and particularly in the original pro-
mulgation of Christian truth. Each of them therefore
received the same authority to teach as their Chief, although
it was not purely and simply a sovereign authority. And,
lastly, their infallibility was a necessary consequence of the
authenticity of their testimony and the assistance of the
Holy Ghost.
38 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. ii. This view of the eminent character of the Apostolatc
SECT. n. ...... , . .
as possessed by its original members is proved more by
their conduct than by positive texts of Scripture. Besides,
it is and always has been the view held by the whole
Church.
TheEpisco- HI- As soon as the original and fundamental pro-
pate " mulgation of the Gospel was complete there was no longer
any necessity for the extraordinary Apostolate. Another
object had now to be obtained : the conservation and
consolidation of the apostolic doctrine in the Church.
The place of the extraordinary Apostolate was taken by
the Episcopate, i.e. the body of the ordinary members of the
hierarchy established for the transmission of the grace and
truth of Christ and the government of the Church. This
Episcopal Apostolate is a continuation of the primitive
Apostolate, and must therefore be derived from the
Apostles ; it must also in its nature and organization be
homogeneous with the original, and yet at the same time
must in some respects be different. The doctrinal and other
personal and extraordinary powers of the Apostles ceased
at their death. Their Head, in whom these powers were
ordinary, alone transmitted them to his successors. In
these, then, is invested the power of completing and per-
petuating the Teaching Body by admitting into it new and
duly authorized members. The Sovereign_Ppntiffs are the
bond that unites the Bishops among themselves and^con-
nects them uninterruptedly with the primitive Apostolate.
The Popes thus represent the original apostolic power in
an eminent degree, wherefore their see is called emphati-
cally the Apostolic See.
TheEpis- IV. The Apostolate has still, on the whole, the same
thes^r 5 objects as it originally had, and consequently must still be
^primitive so constituted that it can give authentic and authoritative
testimony ; in other words, it must possess infallibility in
doctrinal matters. Although ihis infallibility is no longer
found in the individual members, nevertheless it can and
ought to result from the unanimous testimony of the whole
body. It ought, because otherwise universal Faith would
be impossible ; nay, universal heresy might take its place.
It can, and as a matter of fact does, result, because the assis-
PART I.] The Transmission of Revelation. 39
tance of the Holy Ghost cannot be wanting to the Teaching CHAP. IL
. & SECT. xi.
Body as a whole, and the unanimous consent of all its
members is a sure token that they reproduce the testimony
of the Spirit of truth. Personal infallibility as a witness
cannot be claimed even by the Chief of the Episcopate any
more than by the subordinate members. Nevertheless
when he pronounces a sovereign judgment in matters of
Revelation, binding upon all, teachers as well as taught, he
can and ought to be infallible. He ought, because other-
wise the unity of Faith might turn into a unity of heresy.
He can be, and in fact is infallible, because the Holy Ghost,
the Guide of all Christ's representatives, cannot abandon
the highest representative precisely in that very act which
is the most essential expression of His assistance, and
which in case of error would lead the whole Church astray.
And, a fortiori, when the Head and the members of the
Teaching Body are unanimous, their testimony is infallible.
However, taken apart from the testimony of their Head,
the testimony of even all the Bishops would not constitute
an obligatory doctrinal definition, but simply a strong pre-
sumption. The Sovereign Pontiff alone can pronounce
such a definition by reason of his universal jurisdiction,
and then only in that exercise of it which enforces the
unity of Faith in the whole Church.
V. The two Apostolates, or rather the two forms of the Howthctwo
Apostolate, must however have certain points of difference,
as indeed may be gathered from what has just been said.
The Bishops are not, as the Apostles were, immediately
chosen by Christ, but are selected by members of the
Church. In the case of the Chief Bishop the person is
designated by the members and then receives, not indeed
from them but directly and immediately from Christ,
the powers inherent in his office ; the other Bishops are
appointed to a particular see by the Chief Bishop, and
receive their jurisdiction from him. Besides, he alone
inherits the fulness of the Apostolate. Moreover, if we
consider the authenticity of the testimony of the Bishops
we must hold that the office of witness is conferred upon
them directly by Christ in the sacrament of Orders ; their
admission to the office by the Sovereign Pontiff is merely
4O A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK l.
CHAP. ii. a condition required for its lawful exercise. Nevertheless
SECT. 12. .
they are not eye and ear witnesses of what they teach.
They gather their knowledge from intermediate witnesses
or from the written documents, and do not possess indi-
vidually the gift of infallibility.
The infallibility of the Church assumes a twofold form,
corresponding with the twofold action of the Holy Ghost
as Lord and Life-giver. As Lord, He gives infallibility to
the governing Chief: as Life-giver, He bestows it on the
entire Body, Head and members. The infallibility of the
Head is required to produce universal unity of Faith ;
the infallibility of the Body is required to prevent a dis-
astrous conflict between the Body and its Head, and also
to deliver the mass of the Faithful from the danger of
being led astray by their ordinary teachers in cases where
no decision has been given by the Holy See. The two
forms, moreover, support and strengthen each other mutu-
ally, and prove the Apostolate to be a masterpiece of that
Divine Wisdom "which reacheth from end to end mightily
and disposeth all things sweetly" (Wisd. viii. i).
SECT. 12. Organization of the Apostolate (continued) The
Auxiliary Members of the Teaching Body.
The Teaching Body is a living organism, and conse-
quently has the power of producing auxiliary members
to assist in its work, and of conferring upon them the
credentials required for their different functions. These
auxiliary members may be divided into two classes: (i)
auxiliaries of the Bishops, and (2) auxiliaries of the Chief
Bishop.
The auxin- I. The ordinary auxiliaries of the Episcopate are the
e priests and deacons. They receive their orders arid their
jurisdiction from the Bishops, and hold an inferior rank in
the Hierarchy. Their position as regards the office of
teaching, though far below that of the Bishops, is never-
theless important. They are the official executive organs
of the Bishops, their missionaries and heralds for the
promulgation of doctrine. They have a special know-
ledge of doctrine, and they receive, by means of the sacra-
ment of Holy Orders, a share in the teaching office of
I.] The Transmission of Revelation. 41
the Bishops, and in the doctrinal influence of the Holy CHAP, n
Ghost. Hence their teaching possesses a peculiar value E fl_ 12 -
and dignity, which may, however, vary with their per-
sonal qualifications. Moreover the Bishops should, under
certain circumstances, consult them in matters of doctrine,
not, indeed, to receive direction from them, but in order to
obtain information. When we remember the immense
influence exercised by the uniform teaching of the clergy
over the unity of Faith, we may fairly say that they par-
ticipate in the infallibility of the Episcopate both extrinsi-
cally and intrinsically : extrinsically, because the universal
consent of all the heralds is an external sign that they
reproduce the exact message of the Holy Ghost ; and
intrinsically, inasmuch as by their ordination they obtain
a share in the assistance of the Spirit of Truth promised to
the Church.
When and where necessary, the Bishops have the power
of erecting Schools or Seminaries for the religious or higher
theological education of a portion of their flocks. The
professors in these institutions are auxiliaries of the Bishops,
and are, if possible, in still closer union with the Teaching
Apostolate than the clergy engaged in the ministry.
II. The Chief of the Episcopate, in virtue of his universal The pope's
teaching authority, has the power of sending Missionaries Mission""'
into regions beyond the bounds of the existing dioceses, Rdfgious
and can also establish, even within the dioceses, Religious uLiverMtiei
Orders as his own auxiliaries, subject immediately to him-
self. He can also found Universities for the more profound
and scientific study of Revelation. He can make all these
persons and corporations comparatively independent of the
Bishops, and invest them with a teaching authority analo-
gous to that of the Episcopate. The Universities of the
Middle Ages, for example, were not private, or state, or
even episcopal institutions. They derived their mission
from the Popes, together with the power of perpetuating
themselves by the creation of doctors and professors, and
the power of passing judgment on matters of doctrine.
These decisions, however, did not carry with them any
binding force, because their authors had no jurisdiction ;
but they possessed a value superior to that of many epis-
42 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. n. copal decisions. It is evident that the importance of the
- Universities as representatives of the teaching of the Church
depends upon their submission to the Apostolate, whose
auxiliaries they are, and also upon the number, the personal
qualifications, and influence of their members.
individual Further, the Pope, in the exercise of his administra-
Auxiliaries. . . ...... , r .1 ' c
tive power, can invest individual members of the inferior
clergy, either for a time or permanently, with authoritative
teaching power. But, even in this case, they are only
auxiliaries of the Episcopate, existing side by side with it ;
as, for instance, Abbots exempt from episcopal jurisdiction
(Abbates nullius) and the generals of Religious Orders, or
acting as delegates of the sovereign teaching power of the
Popes, e.g. the Cardinals and the Roman Congregations.
All these auxiliaries, like those above mentioned, are assisted
by the Holy Ghost, but their decisions acquire force of law
only when confirmed by the Head of the Apostolate.
Extra- in. From time to time the Holy Ghost raises certain
ordinary J
Auxiliaries, persons to an extraordinary degree of supernatural know-
ledge. Their peculiar position gives them a special autho-
rity as guides for all the members of the Church. They
are not, however, exempt from the universal law that
within the Church no teaching is of value unless approved
by lawful authority. In so far, then, as it is evident that
the Pope and the Bishops approve of the doctrine of
these burning and shining lights, such doctrine is to be
considered as an infallible testimony coming from the
Holy Ghost. Thus, in Apostolic times, " Prophets and
Evangelists" (Eph. iv. n) were given to the Apostles as
extraordinary auxiliaries, not indeed for the purpose of
enlightening the Apostles themselves, but to facilitate the
diffusion and acceptance of their doctrine. In succeeding
ages the Fathers and great Doctors have been of much use
to the ordinary members of the Apostolate by helping
them to a better knowledge of revealed truth. The func-
tion of these auxiliaries must, however, be carefully dis-
tinguished from those of the Prophets of the Old Testa-
ment. The former are not the organs of new revelations,
nor do they possess independent authority they are merely
the extraordinary supports of the ordinary Teaching Body.
TAUT I.] The Transmission of Revelation. 43
" It is indeed a great matter and ever to be borne in mind CHAP. n.
. . . that all Catholics should know that they should receive
the doctors with the Church, not that they should quit the
faith of the Church with the doctors (' se cum Ecclesia
doctores recipere, non cum doctoribus Ecclesia^ fidem dese-
rere debere ')." Vine, of Lerins, Common, n. 17.
SECT. 13. Organization of the Apostolate (continued*}
Organic Union between the Teaching Body and the
Body of the Faithful.
I. The Teaching Apostolate, with its auxiliaries on the Union
one hand and the body of believers on the other, together Teachers
constitute the Church. The union between them is not an
mechanical, but is like the mutual union of the members
of a living organism. To obtain a correct idea of the rela-
tions between the two parts, we must bear in mind that
infallibility and the other attributes granted to the Teaching
Apostolate are intended only as means to secure an un-
erring Faith in the entire community, and that the super-
natural Faith of all the members, both teachers and taught,
is the result of the influence of the Holy Ghost. From
this we infer that the teachers and their hearers com-
pose one indivisible, complete organism, in which the
teachers figure as the principal members, the head and
the heart ; that they constitute a homogeneous organism,
because the teachers are at the same time believers, and
because the belief of the Faithful is a testimony to and
confirmation of the doctrines taught. They are an organism
living supernaturally, because the Holy Ghost infuses into
all the members the life of Faith by external teaching and
internal grace. This union between teachers and taught
likewise leads us to further consequences. The doctrine
of Christ is manifested in two ways : in authoritative pro-
position and in private belief. The latter form, being only
an echo of the former, and, moreover, being the result of
the action of the Holy Ghost, becomes in its turn a kind
of testimony of doctrine. The private form reacts upon
the public proposition and confirms it. The Faith of the
whole Church cannot be wrong, and, therefore, what ail
believe must infallibly be true, and must represent the
44 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK L
CHAP. ii. doctrine of Christ as well as do the teachings of the ADOS-
SECT. 13.
tolate. Nay, the external manifestations of the Holy Ghost
may be seen especially in the Body of the Faithful, in its
Martyrs and Confessors, and these manifestations consti-
tute, in connection with the universal belief, a powerful
motive of credibility.
Explanation H. This notion of the organic character of the Church
Theo'io^cai will enable us to understand many expressions met with
expressions. in Theo i ogy) ^ the church Teaching " and the " Church
Hearing " or " Learning ; " the " Mission and Authority
of the Church," i.e. of the members of the Hierarchy ;
the " Teaching Apostolate, or its Chief, represents the
Church," i.e. not in the same way as a member of parlia-
ment represents his constituents, but in the sense that
the Faith of the Apostolate or of its Chief is a true ex-
pression of the Faith of the whole Church. It has lately
been said, " Infallibility belongs only to the Church,
but the Hierarchy is not the Church, and therefore the
Hierarchy is not infallible." We might just as well say,
" Life belongs only to the body, but the head and heart
are not the body, therefore the head and heart are not
alive." This false notion originated either from a com-
parison between the Hierarchy and the parliaments of con-
stitutional States, or from the materialistic conception of
authority according to the formula: "Authority is the
result and sum-total of the power of the members taken
individually, just as the total force of a material body
is the result and sum-total of the energies of its parts."
But, in truth, authority is a principle implanted in society
by God in order to give it unity, life, and guidance. In
order to give to the infallibility of the Church as broad
a basis as possible, some well-meaning persons have adopted
the materialistic view, and have made the universality and
uniformity of the belief of the Faithful the chief motive of
credibility. This theory, however, is naturalistic, and is
opposed to the teaching of Scripture. Moreover, it is in-
trinsically weak, for without the independent authority
of the Teaching Apostolate and the assistance of the Holy
Ghost, uniformity and universality could never be brought
about, or at least could not last for any length of time.
PART I.] The Transmission of Revelation. 45
The attribute of infallibility belonging to the entire CHAP, n
community of the Faithful manifests itself differently in
its different parts. In the Teaching Body it is Active
Infallibility, that is, inability to lead astray ; in the Body
Taught it is Passive Infallibility that is, incapability of
being led astray.
SECT. 14. Organization of the Apostolate (concluded]
External and Internal Indefectibility of Doctrine and
Faith in the Church Recapitulation.
I. Intimately connected with the infallibility of the indefecti-
Church is her Indefectibility. There is, however, a differ- infallibility
ence between the two. Infallibility means merely that what "
the Church teaches cannot be false, whereas the notion of
Indefectibility implies that the essentials of Revelation are
at all times actually preached in the Church ; that non-
essentials are proposed, at least implicitly, and are held
habitually ; and that the inner, living Faith never fails.
The Indefectibility of truth in the Church is less limited
than the Infallibility. The perfection of the latter requires
merely that no doctrine proposed for belief should be false,
whereas the perfection of the former requires that all the
parts of revealed doctrine should be actually, and at all
times, expressed in the doctrine of the Church. Indefecti-
bility admits of degrees, whereas a single failure, for a
single day, on a single point of doctrine, on the part of the
public teaching authority, would utterly destroy Infalli-
bility.
II. The Indefectibility of the Teaching Body is at the Indef< . cti .
same time a condition and a consequence of the Indefecti- TiacWn th *
bility of the Church. A distinction must, however, be drawn
between the Indefectibility of the Head and the Indefecti-
bility of the subordinate members. The individual who
is the Head may die, but the authority of the Head does
not die with him it is transmitted to his successor. On
the other hand, the Teaching Body as a whole could not
die or fail without irreparably destroying the continuity of
authentic testimony. Again, the Pope's authority would
not be injured if, when not exercising it (extra judicium),
he professed a false doctrine, whereas the authenticity of
46 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
1 " ^ e e pi sc P a l testimony would be destroyed if under any
circumstances the whole body fell into heresy,
indefecti- HI. The Indefectibility of the Faith in individual
F^'th m members is closely connected with the external and social
individ, a-s. i nc ] e f ect ibility of the Church. The two stand to each
as cause and effect, and act and react on each other. The
interior Faith of individual members, even of the Pope and
the Bishops, may fail ; but it is impossible for the Faith to
fail in the whole mass. The Infallibility and Indefectibility
of the Church and of the Faith require on the part of the
Head, that by means of his legislative and judicial power
the law of Faith should be always infallibly proposed ; but
this does not require the infallibility and indefectibility of
his own interior Faith and of his extrajudicial utterances.
On the part of the Teaching Body as a whole, there is
directly required merely that it should not fail collectively,
which, of course, supposes that it does not err universally in
its internal Faith. Lastly, on the part of the Body of the
Faithful, it is directly and absolutely required that their
inner Faith (sensus et virtus fidei] should never fail entirely,
and also that the external profession should never be
universally wrong.
Summary. The whole doctrine of the Organization of the Teach-
ing Apostolate may be summarized as follows. The
teaching function bound up with the two fundamental
powers of the Hierarchy, Orders and Jurisdiction, fulfils
all the requirements and attains all the purposes for which
it was instituted. It transmits and enforces Revelation,
and brings about unity and universality of Faith. It is
a highly developed organism, with the members acting
in perfect harmony, wherein the Holy Ghost operates,
and whereby He gives manifold testimony to revealed
truth, at the same time upholding and strengthening the
action of individuals by means of the reciprocal action
and reaction of the different organs. Just as God spoke
to our fathers through the Prophets before the coming of
Christ, "at sundry times and in divers manners" (Heb. i. i),
so now does Jesus Christ speak to us at sundry times and
in divers manners in the Church " which is His body, and
the fulness of Him Who is filled all in all " (Eph. i. 23).
PART Lj The Transmission of Revelation. 47
CHAP. II.
SECT. 15. Gradual Progress in the Transmission of Reve- SE f|: 15 -
lation Apostolic Deposit : Ecclesiastical Tradition :
Rule of Faith.
I. The office-holders in the Teaching Apostolate form continuity
one unbroken chain, derived from God, and consequently do* evela "
the doctrine announced by them at any given time is a
continuation and a development of the doctrine originally
revealed, and is invested with the same Divine character
Jesus Christ, the immediate Envoy of His Father, announced
what He had heard from the Father ; the Apostles, the
immediate envoys of Christ, preached what they had heard
from Christ and the Holy Ghost ; the successors of the
Apostles, the inheritors of the apostolic mission, in their
turn taught and still teach the doctrine received from the
o
Apostles, and thus Revelation has been handed down from
generation to generation without a single break.
The transmission and the teaching of Revelation are
really one and the same act under two different aspects.
Whenever the Word of God is announced, it is also trans-
mitted, and it cannot be transmitted without being
announced in some form or other. Thus transmission and
publication are not two acts of a distinct nature, as they
would be if Revelation was handed down only by means
of a written document, or on merely historical evidence.
The Council of Trent tells us that Traditions, " dictated by
the Holy Ghost, have reached us from the Apostles, handed
down as it were by hand," and it speaks of " Traditions
preserved by continual succession in the Catholic Church"
(sess. iv). The transmission is the work of living, author-
ized officials, who hand down Revelation to the lawful
heirs of their office. We must, however, distinguish between
the authenticity and the authority of the act of trans-
mission. When, for instance, a council makes the belief
in some dogma obligatory, this act contains a twofold
element : it bears authentic witness to the existence of the
dogma in the Apostolic Deposit, and it authoritatively im-
poses Faith in that dogma. The authentic testimony
belongs to the whole Church, which, either in teaching or
in professing belief, witnesses to the existence of certain
48 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK r.
CHAP. ii. truths, whereas the power of imposing the obligation of
"fll 15 ' belief resides only in the governing body and its Head.
But the word " Tradition " does not express any notion
of " Faith made obligatory," but only of " Faith handed
down by authentic witnesses." We shall therefore use the
term in the latter sense, although, as a matter of fact,
transmission and imposition usually go together.
Three phase* II. Three phases, more or less divided by time, but
t"o... evi ' still alike in their nature, may be observed in the develop-
ment and gradual progress of the transmission of revealed
doctrine : (i) The Apostles confiding the Deposit of Reve-
lation to the Church with the obligation to continue its
promulgation ; (2) The transmission of Revelation in and
by means of the Church ; and (3) The enforcement of
belief by the Rule of Faith imposed by the Chiefs of the
Apostolate.
Apo--toiic i. The Apostles were the original depositaries of Chris-
Deposit. t - an Reve i at j 011) as we n as it s first heralds. They handed
over to their successors the truths which they possessed,
together with the powers corresponding to their mission,
This first stage is called Apostolic Tradition, or Apostolic
Deposit, the latter expression being derived from i Tim.
vi. 20, "Keep that which is committed to thy trust"
(depositum, irapaB{)Ki]v). All subsequent knowledge of
Revelation is drawn from the Apostolic Deposit, which
is consequently said to be the Source or Fount of Faith.
The Apostolic Deposit was transmitted in a twofold
form : by word of mouth and by writing. The New Testa-
ment, although composed by the Apostles or their disciples,
is not a mere reproduction of the Apostolic teaching. It
was written at God's command by men under His inspira-
tion, and therefore it is, like the Old Testament, an original
and authentic document of Revelation. Both Testaments
were, as we shall see, transmitted to the Church by an
authoritative act of the Apostolate. The Apostolic Deposit
comprises, therefore, the Old Testament, the New Testa-
ment, and the oral teaching of the Apostles. By a process
of desynonymization, the term " Deposit " has become re-
stricted to the written Deposit, and the term " Tradition "
to the oral teaching.
PART I.] The Transmission of Revelation. 49
2. It is the Church's office to hold and to transmit the CHAP. IL
.... . . i SECT. 15.
entire Deposit, written and oral, m its integrity, and to deal
with it as the Apostles themselves would if they were still statical
living. This action of the Church is called Active Tradi-
tion ; the doctrines themselves are called Objective Tradi-
tion. The term " Ecclesiastical Tradition " is sometimes
used in a narrow sense for the unwritten truths of Revela-
tion, and stands in the same relation to the Holy Scriptures
as the oral teaching of the Apostles stood. In the course
of time this Tradition has also been committed to writing,
and as a written Tradition its position with regard to the
living Active Tradition is now analogous to that occupied
by the Holy Scriptures.
3. But the Church has a further office. The heirs of Rule of
the Apostles have the right and duty to prescribe, promul-
gate, and maintain at all times and in behalf of the whole
Church the teaching of the Apostles and of the Church in
former ages ; to impose and to enforce it as a doctrinal law
binding upon all ; and to give authoritative decisions on
points obscure, controverted, or denied. In this capacity
the Church acts as regulator of the Faith, and these doc-
trinal laws, together with the act of imposing them, are
called the Rule of Faith. All the me.mbers of the Church
are bound to submit their judgment in matters of Faith to
this rule, and thus by practising the " obedience of Faith "
to prove themselves living members of the one kingdom of
Divine truth.
Thus we see that the Divine economy for preserving
and enforcing Christian truth in the Church possesses in
an eminent degree all the aids and guarantees which are
made use of in civil society for the safe custody and inter-
pretation of legal documents. In both there are documents
of various kinds, witnesses, public and private, and judges
of different rank. But in the Church the judges are at the
same time witnesses, administrators, and legislators. In
the Protestant theory there are written documents and
nothing more.
50 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAPTER III.
THE APOSTOLIC DEPOSIT OF REVELATION.
CHAP. in. THE doctrine concerning the Sources of Revelation was
SKCT. 16.
formally defined by the Council of Trent (sess. iv.) and the
Vatican Council (sess. iii., chap. 2). At Trent the principal
object was to assert, in opposition to the early Protestants,
the equal value of Oral and Written Tradition. As regards
the Holy Scriptures, the controversial importance of which
was rather overrated than otherwise by the Protestants,
the Council had only to define their extent and to fix upon
an authentic text. But the Vatican Council had to assert
the Divine character of Scripture, which was not contested
at the time of the earlier Council. Both Councils, however,
declared that the Written Deposit was only one of the
sources of theological knowledge, and that it must be
understood and explained according to the mind and
tradition of the Church.
SECT. 16. Holy Scripture the Written Word of God.
God the I. The " Sacred and Canonical Books," i.e. the definitive
Author of 11 r i i i -r->
Scripture, collection or the authentic documents of Revelation pre-
served and promulgated by the Church, have been con-
sidered in recent times by writers tinged with rationalistic
Protestantism, as being documents of Revelation merely
because the Church has acknowledged them to be histori-
cally trustworthy records of revealed truth. This, however,
is by no means the Catholic doctrine. The books of Holy
Scripture are sacred and canonical because they are the
Written Word of God, and have God for their Author,
PART L] The Apostolic Deposit of Revelation. 5 1
the human writers to whom they are ascribed being merely CHAP, in
J * J SECT. 16.
the instruments of the Holy Ghost, Who enlightened their
minds and moved their wills, and to a certain extent
directed them as an author directs his secretary.
1. The Council of Trent had declared that the whole Council of
of the books of the Old and New Testaments with all their
parts were to be held as sacred and canonical. To this
the Vatican Council adds : " The Church doth hold these Vatican,
[books] for sacred and canonical, not because, after being
composed by merely human industry, they were then ap-
proved by her authority ; nor simply because they contain
Revelation without any error : but because, being written
under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God
for their author, and as such have been handed down to
the Church." And even before the Council of Trent the
Council of Florence had said, " [The Holy Roman Church] Florence.
professeth that one and the same God is the author of the
Old and the New Testaments, because the holy men of
both Testaments spoke under the inspiration of the same
Holy Ghost" (Decret. pro Jacobitis}. Again, the Council of
Trent takes the Divine origin of Scriptures for granted
when it says, " The Holy Synod receiveth and venerateth
with like devotion and reverence all the books both of the
Old and New Testament, since the one God is the author
of both."
2. The doctrine defined by the councils is likewise Scripture,
taught in Holy Scripture itself. Christ and His Apostles
when quoting the Old Testament clearly imply that God
is the author. " The Scripture must needs be fulfilled
which the Holy Ghost spoke before by the mouth (Sm
<TTo/mroc) of David" (Acts i. 16). "David himself saith
in the Holy Ghost" (Mark xii. 36 ; Matt. xxii. 43). Some-
times instead of "the Scripture saith" we find " God saith,"
where it is the sacred writer who is speaking (Heb., passim).
St. Paul distinctly declares that all Scripture is " breathed
by God," Trao-a ypa^rj OtoirvevaTog (2 Tim. iii. 1 6). St. Peter
also speaks of the Prophets as instruments in the hands of
the Holy Ghost : " No prophecy of Scripture is made by
private interpretation ; for prophecy came not by the
will of man at any time, but the holy men of God spoke
52 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
HAP. in. inspired by the Holy Ghost, virb rivsv^aroc ayj'ov
(2 Pet. i. 20, 21). This last text, it is true, applies primarily
to prophecies strictly so called (foretelling events to come),
but it refers also to the whole of the teaching- of a Prophet,
because he speaks in the name and under the influence
of God (cf. i Kings x. 6 ; Mich. iii. 8).
The Fathers. 3. The Fathers from the very earliest days taught the
Divine authorship of Scripture.
(a) " The Divine Scriptures," " the Divine Oracles," " the
Scriptures of God," " the Scriptures of the Lord " are the
usual phrases by which they expressed their belief in
Inspiration. " The Apostle moved by that Spirit by Whom
the whole of Scripture was composed " (Tertull., De Or, 22).
Gelasius (or, according to Thiel, Damasus) says that the
Scriptures were composed "by the action of God." And
St. Augustine : " God having first spoken by the Prophets,
then by Himself and afterwards by the Apostles, composed
also the Scripture which is styled canonical " {De Civit.
Dei, xi. 3). Origen, too, says that " the Scriptures were
written by the Holy Ghost " (Pr&f. De Princ., nn. 4, 8).
Theodoret (Prcef. in Ps.) says that it does not matter who
was the human writer of the Psalms, seeing that we know
that they were written under the active influence of the
Holy Ghost (EK rfje TOV Hvfv/naroQ 07/01* tvep-yaac). Hence
the Fifth General Council (the second of Constantinople)
calls the Holy Ghost purely and simply the author of Holy
Writ, and says of Theodore of Mopsuestia that he rejects
the book of Job, " in his rage against its author, the Holy
Ghost." The Fathers frequently call the Bible " an epistle
from God." "What is Scripture but a sort of letter from
Almighty God to His creature ?"..." The Lord of Heaven
hath sent thee His letters for thy life's sake. . . . Study
therefore, I pray thee, and meditate daily upon the words
of thy Creator" (Greg. M., lib. iv., ep. 31). Further, the
Scriptures are words spoken by God : " Study the Scriptures,
the true words of the Holy Ghost " TO? aXnOtig /o?';<r<c Tlvtv-
fiaToc; TOV ayiov (Clem. Rom. ad Cor. i., n. 45). " The
Scriptures were spoken by the Word and His Spirit"
(lrer\.,Adv. Hares, lib. ii., cap. 28, n. 2). Hence the manner
of quoting them : " The Holy Ghost saith in the Psalms "
PABT I.] The Apostolic Deposit of Revelation. 53
(Cypr., De Zelo, n. 8). " Not without reason have so many CHAP, in
and such great peoples believed that when [the sacred -
writers] were writing these books, God spoke to them or
through them " (Aug., De Civit. Dei, xviii. 41).
(bi] The Fathers also determine the relation between the
Divine author of Scripture and the human writer. The
latter is, as it were, the secretary, or the hand, or the pen
employed by God analogies which are set forth in the
following well-known passages. "[Christ] by the human
nature which He took upon Himself is the Head of all
His disciples, who arc, as it were, the members of His body.
Hence when they wrote what He manifested and spoke,
we must by no means say that it was not He Who wrote, for
His members have done what they learnt from the orders
of their Head. Whatever He wished us to read concerning-
o
His words and works He ordered them, His hands, to write
down. Any one who rightly understands this union and
this ministry of members performing in harmony their
various functions under one head, will receive the Gospel
narrative as though he saw the hand of the Lord writing,
the very hand which belonged to His own body " (Aug., De
Cons. Evang., 1. i., c. 35). " It is quite useless to inquire who
wrote this, since the Holy Ghost is rightly believed to be
the author of the book. He therefore Who dictated it
is the writer ; He is the writer Who was the Inspirer of the
work and Who made use of the voice of the [human] writer
to transmit to us His deeds for our imitation. When we
receive a letter from some great man, and know from whom
it comes and what it means, it is folly for us to ask what
pen he wrote it with. When therefore we learn something,
and know that the Holy Ghost is its author, any inquiry
about the writer is like asking about the pen " (Greg. M.,
In Job, praef.). And St. Justin compares the human writer
to a lyre played upon by God through the action of the
Holy Ghost (Cohort, ad Grcecos, n. 8).
(c) From this dependence of the human writer on the
Holy Ghost, the Fathers infer the absolute truth and wisdom
of every, even the minutest, detail of Scripture. " We who
extend the perfect truthfulness of the Holy Ghost to the
smallest lines and letters (i^utic SE ot KCU ^ut'x/ 04 r *ie
54 ^ Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I,
1 " Kf / a '' a Kc " 7/oa^ft7C row IlveujUaToc TTJV aKpifleiav fXicovreg) do
not and dare not grant that even the smallest things are
asserted by the writers without a meaning " (Greg. Naz.,
Orat., ii., n. 105). And the following passage of St. Augus
tine is especially worthy of notice : " I acknowledge to
your charity that I have learnt to pay only to those books
of Scripture which are already called canonical, this rever-
ence and honour, viz. to believe most firmly that no author
of them made any mistake, and if I should meet with
anything in them which seems to be opposed to the truth,
not to doubt but that either the codex is incorrect, or that the
translator has not caught what was said, or that my under-
standing is at fault" (Ep. ad Hieron., Ixxxii. [al. 19.] n. 3).
Summary of II. The Catholic Church expressly teaches that God is
doctrineof the author of the Holy Scriptures in a physical sense.
That God may be the author of Scripture in a physical
sense, and that Scripture may be the Word of God as
issuing from Him, it is not enough that the Sacred Books
should have been written under the merely negative in-
fluence and the merely external assistance of God, pre-
venting error from creeping in ; the Divine authorship
implies a positive and interior influence upon the writer,
which is expressed by the dogmatic term Inspiration.
Although a negative assistance, preserving from error, such
as is granted to the Teaching Apostolate, is not enough
for the physical authorship of Holy Scripture, yet, on the
other hand, a positive dictation by word of mouth is not
required. The sacred writers themselves make no mention
of it ; nay, they expressly state that they have made use
of their own industry ; and the diversity of style of the
different writers is distinctly opposed to it. Of course, when
something previously unknown to the writer has to be
written down by him, God must in some way speak to him ;
nevertheless, Inspiration in itself is "the action of God
upon a human writer, whereby God moves and enables the
writer to serve as an instrument for communicating, in
writing, the Divine thoughts." Inspiration arises in the
first instance from God's intention to express in writing
certain truths through the instrumentality of human agents.
To carry out this intention God moves the writer's will to
PART J.] The Apostolic Deposit of Revelation. 55
write down these truths, and at the same time suggests CHAP. in.
them to his mind and assists him to the right understanding K Hi 1
and faithful expression of them. The assistance has been
reduced by some theologians to a mere surveillance or
watching over the writer ; but the stress laid by the Fathers
on the instrumental character of the writers in relation to
God, and the Scriptural expression, VTTO rou FIvEt^uaToe
aytou ^tjoojutvot, are plainly opposed to it (cf. St. Thorn.
2 a 2*. q. 174, a. 2). The diversity of style in the different
books is accounted for by the general law, that when God
employs natural instruments for a supernatural purpose,
He does not destroy their natural powers, but adapts them
to His own purpose.
III. i. Though the Bible is not mere history or mere Further
literature, it nevertheless has to do with history, and it ex
is literature in the highest sense of the word. It has a
human element as well as a Divine element ; and how
far the books are human and how far Divine is the great
Scripture problem. The two elements are united some-
what after the fashion of the soul and the body. Just as
the soul is present in every part of the body, so too the
action of the Holy Ghost is present in every part of Scrip-
ture. But the Schoolmen went on to say that though the
soul is whole and entire in every part of the body, it does
not exercise all its powers in each and every part, but
some powers in some parts and other powers in other
parts. Hence we must not restrict Inspiration to certain
portions of Scripture. 1 On the other hand, the action of
the Holy Ghost is not necessarily the same throughout.
2. When it is said that God is the Author of the
Sacred Books, we must not take this in the same sense as
when it is said that Milton is the author of Paradise Lost.
This would exclude any human authorship. The formula
was originally directed against the Manichaeans, who held
that the Evil Spirit was the author of the Old Testament.
3. The Church has never decided the question of the
human authorship of any of the Books. There may be a
strong opinion, e.g., that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, or
1 " Nefas omnino fuerit inspirationem ad aliquas tantum S. Scriptuiae partes
coangustare." (Leo XIII., Encl. Prov. Deus.)
56 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CH<VP. in. that the whole of the Book of Isaias was written by the
_j_*7- prophet of that name ; but no definition has ever been given.
4. We cannot admit that the Sacred Author Himself
has been guilty of error. 1 He may, however, make use
of a story, not necessarily history, for the purpose of
teaching some dogmatic principle or pointing some moral
lesson. Again, He must adapt Himself to the circum-
stances of those whom He addresses. If He acted other-
wise, He would fail to be understood. As St. Jerome says
(In Jerem. Proph. xxviii.) : " Multa in Scripturis Sanctis
dicuntur secundum opinionem illius temporis quo gesta
referuntur, et non juxta quod rei veritas continebat." And
St. Thomas (i, q. 70, a. i) : " Moyses autem rudi populo
condescendens, sequutus est quae sensibiliter apparent." a
5. On the Catholic canon of Scripture, see Franzelin,
De Script , sect. ii. ; Loisy, Hist, du Canon de V A.T. ; Hist,
du Canon dn N. T.
SECT. 17. Holy Scripture as a Source of Theological
Knowledge.
The excel- I. Holy Scripture, being the work of God Himself, far
Ho'iy surpasses in value and excellence any human account of
Revelation. The Old Testament is inspired by the Holy
Ghost, " Who spake by the Prophets," as well as the New.
Both are of equal excellence, and form together one general
source of theological knowledge. The Old Testament is
not a mere history of Revelation. It contains a fuller
exposition of many points of Faith and morals than the
New ; it is as it were the body of which the New Testament
is the soul : the two pervade and complete each other.
The various II. There are two fundamentally distinct senses in Holy
Skri^tTre. Scripture : the Literal, conveyed by the words, and the
Spiritual, conveyed by the things expressed by the words,
whence it is also called Typical. The former is that in-
tended by the human writer, and conveyed by the letter
of the text. The Spiritual Sense has its foundation in the
all-embracing knowledge of the Holy Ghost, Who inspired
1 "Nefas omnino fuerit . . . conceclere sacrum ipsum auctorem errasse."
(Leo XIII., id.)
* See Lagrange, Hist. Criticism and the O.T., p. 112.
PABT I.] The Apostolic Deposit of Revelation. 5 7
the writer. Sentences and even single words written under c g- i m
Divine direction have, in some circumstances, a significance
beyond that which they would convey if they were of
merely human origin. An historical fact, an institution, a
precept, may stand isolated in the mind of the writer,
whereas in the mind of God it may be related to other
facts and truths, as a type, a confirmation, or an illustra-
tion. These relations are the basis of the Spiritual Sense
of Scripture. We derive our knowledge of them from the
things expressed by the words, and from the words them-
selves. Thus, to us the spiritual sense is mediate, but to
the Holy Ghost it is immediate.
From these different senses of Holy Scripture it follows A text is
A 11 r ca P a ' e '
that a text is capable of many interpretations. All of many inter
p relations
them, however, must be based upon the Literal Sense. A
text may have several spiritual or mediate meanings, but
usually only one Literal Sense. Many applications of the
Sacred Text commonly adopted by the Church may be
regarded as belonging to the Mediate Sense, i,e. as being
foreseen by the Holy Ghost, although in purely human
writings such interpretations would appear to be distortions.
Familiar instances are the passages Prov. viii. and Ecclus.
xxiv. as applied to the Blessed Virgin.
A demonstrative argument that a certain doctrine is
revealed can be obtained from any sense demonstrably
intended by the Holy Ghost, whether literal, or logically
inferred from the literal, or purely spiritual. The Literav
Sense affords the most obvious proof. Where, however
the language is figurative, the meaning of the figure must
be ascertained before an argument can be drawn from it.
The Inferential Sense is equal in demonstrative force to
the Literal Sense, but in dignity it is inferior because only
intended, and not directly expressed by the Holy Ghost
The Spiritual Sense likewise offers a cogent argument, pro-
vided that the relation between the type and the thing
typified be either directly stated in the Literal Sense or
contained in it as an evident consequence. Indirectly, the
Spiritual Sense acquires demonstrative force from explana-
tions given in Scripture itself or handed down by Apos-
tolical Tradition. Such explanations are often insufficient
5 & A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
C HAP. in. to determine the Spiritual Sense with complete certainty,
and give us only probabilities. Sometimes a number of
them, taken together, form a strong argument. See Wise-
man's Essays : Miracles of the New Testament, where argu-
ments in favour of many Catholic doctrines are drawn
from the typical signification of various miracles.
The principal object of Holy Scripture is to give us
certain knowledge of Revelation. But the constant prac-
tice of the Church has made it serve another purpose, which,
however, is quite in keeping with the former. In the book
of nature we have a faithful though imperfect image of
God's Wisdom, but in the Inspired Books the defects are
remedied, and a more perfect representation is set before
us, destined to kindle in our minds a manifold knowledge
of the supernatural world. This purpose is attained by
that sense and interpretation of Holy Writ, whereby we
gather from the Sacred Text pious considerations and
suggestions, not necessarily intended by the Holy Ghost
in the precise form which they take in the reader's mind,
and yet not wholly arbitrary.
Dogmaand III. The careful study and comparison of different pas-
sages of Holy Scripture throws great light on the dogmatic
teaching of the Church ; and, on the other hand, a sound
knowledge of this teaching gives us a deeper insight into
the Written Word. Theological Exegesis far surpasses
mere philological criticism, and attains results beyond the
reach of the latter. Scripture, for instance, tells us that
God has a Son, and that this Son is the Word, the Image
(Figure), the Mirror, the Wisdom of His Father. The
combination and comparison of these expressions are of
great help towards understanding the Eternal Generation
of the Son ; and, on the other hand, the theological know-
ledge of generation is the only basis of an accurate inter-
pretation of these expressions.
SECT. 1 8. The False and Self -contradictory Position of
Holy Scripture in the Protestant System.
We have seen that Holy Scripture holds a very high
position as a source of Faith. This, however, does not
mean that it is the only source, or even a source acces-
PART I.] The Apostolic Deposit of Revelation. 59
sible and necessary to each and all of the Faithful. Indeed, CHAP. in.
without the intervention of some living authority, distinct -
from Holy Scripture, we should never be able to prove
that Scripture is a source of Faith at all. Nevertheless,
Protestants reject the Teaching Apostolate, and main-
tain that the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the
Bible, is the sole Source and Rule of Faith. We shall
prove in 21 that Oral Tradition is a substantial part of the
Apostolic Deposit, and consequently that Holy Scripture
is not the only source of Faith. That it is not the only
rule may be seen from the following considerations.
I. The Rule of Faith should be materially complete, The PTO-
that is, it should embrace the entire sphere of revealed theory faisn.
truth : formally perfect, that is, it should not need to be
supplemented by any other : and universal, that is, appli-
cable to all men, always and everywhere. None of these
characteristics can be affirmed of Holy Scripture. There
are, as we shall see, a number of revealed truths handed
down by Oral Tradition only. Moreover, the Bible, not-
withstanding the excellence of its contents, is but a dead
letter, wanting in systematic arrangement, often obscure
and hard to be understood, and exposed to many false
interpretations. Some means must be provided by God
to remove these difficulties, otherwise the object of Revela-
tion would be frustrated. And, lastly, some of the very cir-
cumstances which constitute the excellence of the Bible its
being a written document of considerable dimensions, full
of deep and difficult matter expressed in the metaphorical
language of the East make it unfit for the general use of
the people
Protestants cannot help feeling the force of these argu-
ments. They usually admit more or less explicitly some
other rule of Faith ; for instance, the mind of the reader
guided by a private supernatural revelation, or by its own
natural light and inclination. The result has been that
the Bible has become the sport of innumerable sectaries
and the source of endless divisions. Practically, however,
the mischief has been to a great extent prevented by the
submission of the people to the guidance of others, or even
to " Confessions of Faith and Formularies," though the
latter have no recognized authority.
60 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK L
CHAP. in. After what has been said it is clear that the reading of
- the Bible is not necessary for salvation, or even advisable
for every one under all circumstances. Hence the Church
has with great wisdom imposed certain regulations on
the subject. See The Pope and the Bible, by Rev. R. F.
Clarke, S.J.
The Pro- II. But the Protestant theory is not only false, but
iheo^'con. also contradictory. Inspiration is the result of such a
tradiaory. m ysterious influence of God that its very existence can
be known only by means of Revelation. We cannot infer
it from the character of the writers or the nature of their
writings. There have been Prophets and Apostles who
were not inspired (in the technical sense), and some of the
inspired writers were neither Apostles nor Prophets. Some
of the Sacred Books, indeed, state that their writers were
animated by the Holy Ghost, but this does not necessarily
mean that particular Divine influence which goes by the
name of Inspiration. Even if we admit this, there still
remains the question whether these statements themselves
were inspired. The only way to avoid a vicious circle is to
appeal to some testimony external to the Inspired Books.
The consoling effect upon the reader, the "gustus spiritual's"
of the early Protestants, cannot seriously be put forward
at the present day as a test of Inspiration. There must
be some public and authentic witness to the fact of Inspira-
tion, and this we have seen to be the Teaching Body in
the Catholic Church (cf. Card. Newman's Idea of a Uni-
versity, p. 270).
Moreover, there is another difficulty in the Protestant
theory. Even if we were to grant that the inspired character
of all the books of the Bible was made known at the time
of their original publication, we should still require official
testimony of this fact. Besides, how could we be sure that
the copies which we now possess agree with the originals ?
Apart from the authority of the Church, the common belief
in the canon of Holy Scripture and the identity of later
copies, rests on evidence which is by no means historically
conclusive. And this common belief has, as a matter of
fact, been produced by the action of the Church. We may
still assert what St. Augustine said long ago : " I, for my
PART I.] The Apostolic Deposit of Revelation. 61
part, should not believe the Gospel except on the authority CHAP. in.
of the Catholic Church." x
SECT. 19. The Position and Functions of Holy Scripture in
the Catholic System.
The position and functions of Holy Scripture in the
Catholic System may be briefly expressed in this proposi-
tion : Scripture is an Apostolic Deposit entrusted to the
Church ; in other words, the Apostles published Holy
Scripture as a document of Divine Revelation, and handed
it over as such to their successors. It is on this ground
that the Teaching Body claims the right of preserving and
expounding the sacred writings. Protestants, on the other
hand, have no right to call the Bible the, or even an,
Apostolic Deposit. They reject the authoritative promul-
gation by the Apostles, and the necessity of entrusting the
Deposit of Revelation to a living Apostolate ; and conse-
quently the word "deposit" is in their mouth devoid of
meaning. To them the Bible is a windfall, coming they
know not whence.
I. Catholics maintain, and they can prove their doctrine Holy
by evidence drawn from the earliest centuries, that the published
Apostles promulgated by God's order both the Old and Apostles,
New Testaments, as a document received from God, and
thus gave it the dignity and efficacy of a legitimate source
and rule of Faith. This promulgation might have been
expected from the nature of Holy Scripture and the func-
tions of the Apostles. God would not have cast His Word
upon the world to be the sport of conflicting opinions.
Rather He would have committed the publication of it to
the care of those whom He was sending to preach the
Gospel to all nations, and with whom He had promised to
be for all days, even to the consummation of the world.
This fact of promulgation by the Apostles is generally
treated of by the Fathers in connection with the trans-
mission of Holy Scripture. The mere writing and pub-
lishing, even by an Apostle, were not deemed a sufficient
promulgation of inspiration. It was necessary that the
1 " Ego vero Evangclio non crederem, nisi me Catholicce Ecclesiae com-
moveret auctoritas" (Contm Ep. Mantcheei, fum/am., n. 6).
62 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK i
CHAP. HI. document should be put on a footing with the Old Tcsta-
~- ment, and approved for public reading in the Church. As
St. Jerome says of the Gospel of St. Mark : " When Peter
had heard it, he both approved of it and ordered it to be read
in the churches " (De Script. Eccl.}.
and en- II. Besides promulgating Holy Scripture as a Divine
them e totL document, the Apostles transmitted it to their successors
with the right, the duty, and the power to continue its
promulgation, to preserve its integrity and identity, to
expound its meaning, to make use of it in demonstrating
and illustrating Catholic doctrine, and finally to resist and
condemn any attacks upon its teaching, or any abuse of its
meaning. All this again is implied in the nature of the
Apostolate, and the character of the Sacred Writings. See
the passages quoted from St. Irenaeus and Tertullian in
9, HI.
Thefunction III. The function of Holy Scripture in the Catholic
>cn P ture. church j s determined by the two facts, that it is an
Apostolic Deposit, and that its lawful administration be-
longs to the Church. Hence :
1. Holy Scripture, in virtue of its permanent and official
promulgation, is a public document, the Divine authority
of which is evident to all the members of the Church.
2. The Church necessarily possesses an authentic text
of the Scriptures, identical with the original. If either by
constant use or by express declaration a certain text has
been approved of by the Church, that text thereby receives
the character of public authenticity ; that is to say, its
conformity with the original must be not only presumed
juridically, but admitted as certain on the ground of the
infallibility of the Church.
3. The authentic text, duly promulgated, becomes a
Source and Rule of Faith ; but it is still only a means or
instrument of instruction and proof in the hands of the
members of the Teaching Apostolate, who alone have the
right of authoritatively interpreting it.
4. Private interpretation must submit to authoritative
interpretation.
5. The custody and administration of the Holy Scrip-
tures is not entrusted directly to the body of the Church at
PART I.] The Apostolic Deposit of Revelation. 63
large, but to the Teaching Apostolate ; nevertheless, the CHAP. HI.
,. - riii i/~ SKCT. 20.
Scriptures are the common property of all the members ot
the Church. The duty of the administrators is to com-
municate its teaching to all who are in the obedience of the
Faith. The body of the Faithful thereby secure a better
knowledge than if each one were to interpret according to
his own light. Besides, such private handling of Scripture
is really opposed to the notion of its being the common
property of all.
6. The Bible belongs to the Church and to the Church
alone. If, however, those who are outside her pale use it as
a means of discovering and entering the Church, such use
is perfectly legitimate. But they have no right to apply
it to their own purposes, or to turn it against the Church.
This is the fundamental principle of Tertullian's work, De
Prcescriptionibus Hcereticorwn. He shows how Catholics,
before arguing with heretics on single points of scriptural
doctrine, should contest the right of the latter to appeal to
the Scriptures at all, and should thus defeat their action
at the outset (prcescribere actionem, a mode of defence
corresponding to some extent with demurrer).
7. Lastly, the rights of the Teaching Apostolate include
that of taking and enforcing disciplinary measures for pro-
moting the right use, or preventing the abuse of Scripture.
SECT. 20. Decisions of the Church on the Text and Inter-
pretation of Scripture.
The principles laid down in the preceding section were
applied by the Councils of Trent (sess. iv.) and the Vatican
(sess. iii.).
I. The Council of Trent issued two decrees on the The Council
Sacred Text, one of which is dogmatic, and the other the Vulgate.
disciplinary. These decrees, however, did not so much
confer upon the Vulgate its public ecclesiastical authen-
ticity, but rather declared and confirmed the authenticity
already possessed by it in consequence of its long-continued
public use. " If any one," says the Council, "receiveth not,
as Sacred and Canonical, the said books, entire with all
their parts (libros integros cum omnibus suis partibus) as
they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church,
64 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK i.
CHAP. in. and as they are contained in the old Latin Vulgate edition ;
SECT. 20. J
let him be anathema. . . . Moreover, the same sacred and
holy Synod considering that no small profit may accrue
to the Church of God if it be made known which out of all
the Latin editions, now in circulation, of the Sacred Books
is to be held as authentic ordaineth and declareth that
the said old and Vulgate edition, which, by the lengthened
usage of so many ages, hath been approved of in the
Church, be, in public lectures, disputations, sermons, and
expositions, held as authentic ; and that no one is to dare
to reject it under any pretext whatsoever."
1. These decrees are not exclusive. They affirm the
authenticity of the Vulgate, but say nothing about the
original text or about other versions. Hence the latter
retain their public and private value. No Hebrew text
has ever been used in the Church since the time of the
Apostles ; but the Greek text in public use during the
first eight centuries must be considered as fully authentic
for that time ; since the schism, however, its authenticity is
only guaranteed by the use of the Greek Catholics.
2. The conformity of the Vulgate with the original is
not to be taken as absolute. Differences in distinctness
and force of expression, even in dogmatic texts, may be
admitted, and also additions, omissions, and diversities
in texts not dogmatic. But in matters of Faith and
morals the Vulgate does not put forth anything as the
Word of God which either openly contradicts the Word of
God or is not the Word of God at all. Again, the entire
contents of the Vulgate are substantially correct, and are
upon the whole identical with the original. Cf. Kaulen,
History of the Vulgate (in German), p. 58 sqq. ; Franzelin,
De Script., sect. iii.
3. In demonstrating and expounding doctrines of Faith
and morals the Vulgate may confidently be used, and its
authority may not be rejected. It should be used in all
public transactions relating to Faith and morals, as pos-
sessing complete demonstrative force within the Church.
Hence the saying, " The Vulgate is the theologian's Bible."
At the same time, the decree does not forbid the use of
other texts, especially the originals, even in public trans-
I.] The Apostolic Deposit of Revelation. 65
actions, in order to support and illustrate the Vulrate, or CHAP. j;i
SECT, at
against non-Catholics as an arguincntum ad hominem t or in
purely scientific disquisitions.
Clement VIII., in execution of the Tridentine decrees,
published an official edition of the Vulgate which came
into general use, and must now be considered as an
authentic reproduction of the text approved by the Council.
II. The Council of Trent also issued a decree concern- The Council
ing the Interpretation of Scripture. This decree, although int
further explained in the Creed of the council drawn up
by Pius IV., was in later days very much misunderstood.
Hence the Vatican Council has explained its true extent
and meaning. The Tridentine decree quoted above con-
tinues, " Furthermore, in order to restrain petulant spirits,
[the council] decrees that no one, relying on his own skill
shall, in matters of faith and of morals pertaining to the
edification of Christian doctrine, wresting the Sacred Scrip-
ture to his own senses, presume to interpret the said
Sacred Scripture contrary to that sense which Holy
Mother Church to whom it belongeth to judge of the
true sense and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures hath
held and doth hold ; or even contrary to the unanimous
consent of the Fathers ; even though such interpretations
were never intended to be at any time published." The
passage in the Creed runs thus : " I also admit the Holy
Scriptures according to that sense which Holy Mother
Church hath held and doth hold, to whom it belongeth to
judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures ;
neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than
according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers." The
conclusion of the Vatican decree is as follows : " Forasmuch Vatican
as the wholesome decree of the holy and sacred council of
Trent concerning the interpretation of the Divine Scripture
. . . hath been perversely explained by divers persons, We,
while renewing the said decree, declare this to be its mean-
ing : in matters of Faith and morals pertaining to the edifi-
cation of Christian doctrine, that is to be held as the true
sense of Sacred Scripture which Holy Mother Church hath
held and doth hold, to whom it belongeth to judge of the
true sense and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures ; and
F
66 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. in. therefore it is lawful to no man to interpret the said Sacred
E _ 21 ' Scripture against this sense or even against the unanimous
consent of the Fathers." Hence, according to the explana-
tion given by the Vatican Council, the meaning of the
Tridentine decree is that the Church has the right to give
a judicial decision on the sense of Holy Scripture in
matters of Faith and morals ; that is, to give an interpre-
tation authentic, infallible, universally binding, not only
indirectly and negatively, but also directly and positively.
To oppose such a decision is unlawful, because to do so
would be a denial of the true sense of Scripture and not
merely an act of disobedience. Moreover, the unanimous
interpretation of the Fathers, whose writings reproduce the
authentic teaching of the Church, has a similar value.
A very little thought will convince any one that the
Catholic rule of Scriptural interpretation does not clash
with a reasonable liberty and the development of scientific
exegesis. On the contrary, the period subsequent to the
Council of Trent produced the most famous Biblical com-
mentators (see supra, Introd., p. xxxi.), while the principle
of private judgment has produced nothing but errors and
destructive criticism.
Stapleton, Princ. Fid. Demonstr., 11. x. et xi. ; Franzelin,
De Script. , sect. iii. ; Vacant, Etudes TJieol. sur le Concile du
Vatican, t. i. p. 405, sqq,
SECT. 21. The Oral Apostolic Deposit Tradition, in the
narrower sense of the word.
The Protestant rejection of a permanent Teaching
Apostolate while, as we have seen, injurious to the Written
Word, destroys the very existence of Oral Tradition. The
Catholic doctrine, on the other hand, maintains that the
preaching of the Apostles, unwritten as well as written, is
an independent and trustworthy Source of Faith, and is,
like the Holy Scriptures, an essential part of the Apostolic
Deposit. The Council of Trent " seeing clearly that this
truth and discipline are contained in the written books and
the unwritten traditions which, received by the Apostles
from the mouth of Christ Himself, or from the Apostles
themselves, the Holy Ghost dictating, have come down even
PART I.] The Apostolic Deposit of Revelation. 67
unto us, transmitted as it were from hand to hand, follow- CHAP. in.
SECT. 21.
ing the examples of the orthodox Fathers, receiveth and
venerateth, with an equal affection of piety, all the books
both of the Old and of the New Testaments . . . and also
the said traditions, as well those appertaining to Faith as
to morals, as having been dictated either by Christ's own
word of mouth or by the Holy Ghost, and preserved in the
Catholic Church by a continuous succession " (sess. iv.).
I. The Catholic doctrine is an evident consequence of ^i^^ on
the perpetuity of the Apostolate. It is plain from Holy
Scripture and the testimony of the early Fathers that the
Apostles handed over to their successors, together with the
written documents of Revelation, the contents of their oral
teaching as an independent and permanent Source of Faith.
This Oral Deposit can, by reason of the natural and super-
natural qualifications of the depositary, be transmitted as
securely and perfectly as the Written Deposit.
I. Scripture nowhere says plainly, or even implies, that g^,^. " 1
it is to be the only Source of Faith. The whole composi-
tion of the books supposes the existence of a Teaching
Body, and the fact of the perpetuity of the Apostolate
implies also the perpetuity of the authority of their teach-
ing. St. Paul expressly enjoins the holding of the things St - Paul -
which he preached as well as of those which he wrote.
" Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions
which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle "
(2 Thess. ii. 14 ; cf. St. John Chrysostom in h. 1.). And
again, " Hold the form of sound words, which thou hast
heard of me in faith, and in the love which is in Christ
Jesus. Keep the good thing committed to thy trust (rijv
naXriv 7rapa0?'yK:r)v) by the Holy Ghost" (2 Tim. i. 13-14);
" The things' which thou hast heard of me by many wit-
nesses, the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit
to teach others also" (ib., ii. 2). In the earliest ages of
the Church, too, it was universally held that the contents of
the apostolic preaching were transmitted to the Church as
a permanent Source and Rule of Faith. See above, 9, iii.
The same doctrine is proved by the fact that in patristic
times the true interpretation of Scripture was ruled by the
Teaching Apostolate. Many truths not contained in Scrip-
68 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. in. ture were held on the authority of the Apostolate. Cf.
SECT. 21.
Stapleton, 1. c., 1. xi., c. 3.
objections 2. Protestant objections on the ground that an Oral
Deposit cannot be perfectly transmitted, by reason of the
imperfection of the Apostolate, do not touch the Apostolate
as we conceive it, viz., as infallible through the assistance of
the Holy Ghost. Any force that these objections may have
can be turned against the transmission of Scripture itself.
Even from a merely human point of view, the constitution
and organization of the Apostolate afford an almost perfect
guarantee for the purity of the doctrine transmitted. The
cohesion of the different members, their fidelity to and re-
spect for apostolical traditions, the constant mutual watch-
fulness, the daily application of most of the truths in question
in private practice and public worship all of these are ad-
mirably adapted for the preservation of truth and the pre-
vention of error (cf. Franzelin, De Trad., th. ix. ; Kuhn,
Dogmatik, introd., 5). The very fact that a doctrine is
universally held in the Church is a sufficient proof of its
apostolic origin and faithful transmission. " Granted that all
(the churches) have erred, . . . that the Holy Ghost hath
looked down upon none of them to lead them into the truth,
although it was for this that He was sent by Christ and
asked of the Father that He might be a Teacher of truth ;
granted that God's steward, the Vicar of Christ, hath neg-
lected his duty, ... is it likely that so many and such
great churches should have gone astray into one faith?
Never is there one result among many chances. The error
of the churches would have taken different directions.
Whatever is found to be one and the same among many
persons is not an error but a tradition" (Tertull., De
Prascr., c. 28). 1
Relations II. Oral Tradition could, absolutely speaking, be the
Secure sole Source of Faith, because it could hold its own even if
ditloL ra " no Written Deposit existed, whereas, as we have shown,
the inspiration and interpretation of Scripture cannot be
known without the aid of Tradition. Nevertheless, the
1 "Nullus inter multos eventus unus est. Exitus variasse debuerat error
ecclesiarum. Cseterum quod apud multos unum invenitur, non est erratum sed
traditum."
PART I.] The Apostolic Deposit of Revelation. 69
Holy Scriptures have a value of their own, and are in a CHAP, in
, , StCT. 21.
certain sense even necessary. They contain not only the
Word, but also the language of God, and they give details,
developments, and illustrations to an extent unattainable
by Tradition. They are a sort of text-book of Tradition,
enabling the Faithful to acquire a vivid knowledge of
revealed truths. There is no revealed doctrine which has
not at least some foundation in the Bible. The most
important truths are explicitly stated there. On the whole,
we may say that Oral Tradition is the living and authentic
commentary upon the written document, yet, at the same
time, not a mere commentary, but something self-subsistent,
confirming, illustrating, completing and vivifying the text
III. The Fathers and the Schoolmen often insist upon HO* far
the completeness and sufficiency of Holy Scripture, but sufficient 6 ."
they do so in the sense of the present section. The Bible
clearly teaches the doctrine of the Teaching Apostolate,
and this implicitly contains the whole of Revelation.
Hence we may say that the Bible itself is complete and
sufficient. Sometimes, however, the Fathers speak of the
completeness of Scripture merely with regard to certain
points of doctrine. Thus in the well-known passage of
St. Vincent of Lerins (Common., c. 2} where it is said that
" the canon of the Scriptures is perfect, and of itself enough
and more than enough for everything" 1 the Saint is really
putting an objection, which he proceeds to answer in favour
of the necessity of tradition. And Tertullian's saying, " I
worship the fulness of Scripture," refers to the doctrine of
creation (cf. Franz., De Trad., th. xix.). On the other hand,
certain texts of the Fathers which at first sight might be
quoted in support of our thesis refer to discipline rather
than to dogma.
There are many regulations which have been handed
down with apostolic authority, but not as revealed by God.
These are called Merely-Apostolic Traditions, in contra-
distinction to the Divino- Apostolic Traditions. This
distinction, though clear enough in itself, is not easy of
application, except in matters strictly dogmatical or strictly
moral. In other matters, such as ecclesiastical institutions
1 " Scripturarum canon perfectus sibique ad omnia satis superque sufficient."
7O A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK i.
CHAP. in. and discipline, there are various criteria to guide us ; e.g. (i)
ECTUII. testimony of the Teaching Apostolate or of
ecclesiastical documents that some institution is of Divine
origin for instance, the validity of baptism conferred by
heretics ; (2) the nature of the institution itself for instance,
the essential parts of the sacraments as opposed to the
merely ceremonial parts. Where these criteria cannot be
applied and the practice of the Church does not decide the
point, it remains an open question whether a given institu-
tion is of Divine right and belongs to the Deposit of Faith.
In any case we are bound to respect such traditions, and
also those which are merely ecclesiastical. Thus in the
Creed of Pius IV. we say : " I most steadfastly admit and
embrace Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions and all
other observances and institutions of the said Church. . . .
I also receive and admit the received and approved cere-
monies of the Catholic Church used in the solemn adminis-
tration of all the Sacraments."
CHAPTER IV.
ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITION.
SECT. 22. Origin and Growth of Ecclesiastical Tradition.
I. ECCLESIASTICAL tradition differs essentially from human CHAP, iv
tradition, whether popular or scientific. Human tradition E f^ 22 -
can produce only human certitude ; it increases or decreases t^unT
with the course of time, and may ultimately fail altogether, l^di^on
Ecclesiastical Tradition is indeed human, inasmuch as it com P ared -
is in the hands of men, and it may be popular or scientific,
historical or exegetical. But it is also something far
higher. Its organs are the members of Christ's Church ;
they form one body fashioned by God Himself, and ani-
mated and directed by His Holy Spirit. Hence their
testimony is not the testimony of men, but the testimony
of the Holy Ghost. Its value does not depend upon the
number of witnesses or their learning, but on their rank in
the Church and the assistance of the Holy Ghost ; and the
authenticity of their testimony remains the same at every
point of the stream of Tradition.
II. Nevertheless it must be admitted that the human The tuimat
element modifies the perfection of Tradition. There may Tr^cuSo^
be a break in its continuity and universality. A temporary
and partial eclipse of truth is possible, as are also further
developments. It is possible that for a time a portion of
the Deposit may not be known and acknowledged by the
whole Church or expressly and distinctly attested by the
leading organs of the Apostolate. We may therefore
assert that the essential integrity, continuity, and uni-
versality of Oral Tradition, as required by the infallibility
72 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. iv. and indefectibility of the Church and as modified by the
-*' imperfections of the human element, are subject to the
following laws :
1. Nothing can be proposed as Apostolic Tradition
which is not Apostolic Tradition, or is opposed to it ; and
no truth handed down by the Apostles can be altogether
lost.
2. The most essential and necessary truths must always
be expressly taught, admitted, and handed down in the
Church, if not by every individual teacher or hearer, at
least by the Body as a whole. Truths belonging to the
Apostolic Deposit which have been so obscured as not
to be known and professed by all the members of the
Church, and even to be rejected by some or not distinctly
enforced by others, must be attested and transmitted at
least implicitly ; that is to say, truths clearly expressed
and distinctly professed must contain the obscured truths
in such a way that by careful reflection and the assistance
of the Holy Ghost these obscured truths may be evolved
and proposed for universal acceptance. There are, we
may observe, several ways in which one truth may be
implied in another. General truths contain particular
truths ; principles imply consequences ; complex state-
ments involve simpler statements whether as constituent
parts or as conditions ; practical truths presuppose theo-
retical principles and vice versd. The dogmas of the Im-
maculate Conception and of Papal Infallibility are implied
in other dogmas in all of these four ways (infra, p. 105).
Only the actual and express Tradition of a truth can
be appealed to in proof that it is a matter of Faith. If we
can show that at a given time the Tradition was universal
this alone is sufficient continuity is not absolutely
necessary. However, except in cases of an authoritative
definition, Tradition, to become universal, requires a long
time. Even when an authoritative definition is given, it
is always based upon the fact that the Tradition in question
was universal for a long time. Hence the duration for
a more or less long period should be proved.
PART I.] Ecclesiastical Tradition. 73
CHAP. IV
SECT. 23. The Various Modes in which Traditional SECT - " 3 -
Testimony is given in the Church.
The modes or forms in which the infallible testimony
of the Holy Ghost is given are as manifold as the forms
of the living organism of the Church. For our present
purpose we may distinguish them according to the rank
of the witnesses.
I. The most adequate testimony exists when the entire The whok
Body of the Church, Head and members alike, profess, Church
teach, and act upon a certain doctrine. 1 This unanimity
is expressed and maintained by professions of Faith
universally admitted, by catechisms in general use, and by
the general practice of the Church either in her liturgy,
discipline, or morals, in so far as such practice supposes
and includes Faith in particular doctrines. Hence the
old rule quoted against the Pelagians, " Legem credendi
statuat lex supplicandi."
II. Next in extent, though far lower in rank, is what The"Sens US
is called the " Sensus fidelium," that is, the distinct, uni- fidelium -"
versal, and constant profession of a doctrine by the whole
body of the simple Faithful. As we have shown in 13,
this sensus fidelium involves a relatively independent and
immediate testimony of the Holy Ghost. Although but
an echo of the authentic testimony of the Teaching
Apostolate, the universal belief of the Faithful is of great
weight in times when its unity and distinctness are more
apparent than the teaching of the Apostolate itself, or
when a part of the Teaching Body is unfaithful to its
duty, or when the Teaching Body, about to define a
doctrine which had for a time been obscured in the Church,
appeals to all the manifestations of the Holy Ghost in its
favour. Thus, during the Arian troubles, St. Hilary could
say, " The faithful ears of the people are holier than the
lips of the priests." And before the definition of the
Immaculate Conception the profession and practice of
the Faithful were appealed to in favour of the definition.
Cf. Franzelin, De Trad., th. xii., p. 112, where he rejects the
1 " Curamlum est ut id teneamus quod ubique, quod semper, quod ah
omnibus creditum est " (Vine. Linn., Common. t cap. 3).
74 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. iv. interpretation given in the Rambler for July, 1859, p. 218
23 sqq. See also Card. Newman's Arians, pp. 464, 467 ;
Ward, Essays on the Church's Doctrinal Authority, p. 70.
" As the blood flows from the heart to the body through
the arteries ; as the vital sap insinuates itself into the
whole tree, into each bough, and leaf, and fibre ; as water
descends through a thousand channels from the mountain-
top to the plain ; so is Christ's pure and life-giving doctrine
diffused, flowing into the whole body through a thousand
organs from the Ecclesia Docens." Murray, De Ecdesia,
disp. x., n. 15, quoted by Ward.
The Bishops III. The universal teaching of the Bishops and Priests
is another mode of ecclesiastical testimony to revealed
truth. The testimony of all the Bishops is in itself in-
fallible, independently of the teaching of the inferior clergy
and the belief of the Faithful, because the Episcopate is
the chief organ of infallibility in the Church. It is, more-
over, an infallible testimony at every moment of its duration
(" I am with you all days "). This mode of testimony is
sometimes called the testimony of the Particular Churches,
because the teaching of each Bishop is reflected and
repeated by the clergy and the Faithful of his diocese.
Hence the testimony of the Priests and of Theological
Schools in subordination to the Bishop holds a sort of
intermediate position and value between the " Sensus fide-
lium " and the testimony of the Episcopate.
TheApos- IV. The central, perfect and juridical representative of
Tradition is the Apostolic See. From the earliest times it
has been the custom to consider the formula, "The Roman
Church or Apostolic See hath held and doth hold," as
equivalent to "The Catholic Church hath held and doth
hold;" because the universal Church must hold, at least
implicitly, the doctrines taught by the Holy See. When
the Pope pronounces a judicial sentence he can bind the
whole Church, teachers as well as taught, and the authority
of his decisions is not impaired, even by opposition within
the Teaching Body. Moreover, as a consequence of the
connection between the Head of the Church and the
Roman See, there exists in the local Roman Church,
apart from the authoritative decisions of the Pope, a certain
PART I.] Ecclesiastical Tradition. 75
actual and normal testimony which must be considered as CHAP, TV
an expression of the habitual teaching of the Holy See.
This arises from the fact that the Faith professed in the
Roman Church is the result of the constant teaching of
the Popes, accepted by the laity and taught by the clergy,
especially by the College of Cardinals who take part in the
general government of the Church.
V. Besides the Apostolic See and the ordinary Aposto- Extra-
late, God has provided auxiliary channels of Ecclesiastical channels.
Tradition in the person of the extraordinary auxiliary
members described above, 12. Their position and im-
portance have been defined by St. Augustine (Contra
Julianum, 11. i. et ii., especially ii. c. 37), and by St. Vincent
of Lerins who comments on the text of St. Augustine
(Commonitor.) c. xxviii. sqq., and c. i. of the second Com-
monitorium}. In the early days of the Church, when the
teaching functions were almost exclusively exercised by the
Bishops, the extraordinary representatives of Apostolical
Tradition were usually eminent members of the episcopate.
They received the name of " Fathers " because this was
the title commonly given to Bishops by their subjects and
by their successors. They are also called " Fathers of the
Church," because, living as they did in the infancy of
the Church, when extraordinary means were needed for
its preservation, they received a more abundant outpouring
of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and thus their doctrine
represents His teaching in an eminent degree. Besides,
their special function was to fix the substance of the
Apostolic Deposit so that, naturally, their writings became
the basis of the further development of doctrine, and
were placed side by side with Scripture as channels of
Apostolic doctrine. Thus they were the Fathers, not only
of the Church in their own day, but also in subsequent
ages. Compared with them, the later writers are regarded
as the " Sons of the Fathers," and sometimes as " Paedagogi,"
with reference to what St. Paul says (i Cor. iv. 15), "If you
have ten thousand instructors (paedogogi) in Christ, yet
not many fathers." The Sons of the Fathers were not
all bishops. Many of them were priests or members of
Religious Orders, or masters of theological schools. They
76 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. iv. represent the mind (sensus) of the Catholic Schools and
SitCT. 24. L
of the Faithful, and are distinguished for human learning
and industry, which they apply to the development and
fuller comprehension of doctrine rather than to the fixing
of its substance. Hence their name of " Doctors " or
" Theologians."
SECT. 24. Documentary Tradition, the Expression
of the Living Tradition.
Documents I. Ecclesiastical Tradition by its very nature is oral.
notn U eces^rj Writings and documents are not needed for its transmission ;
to r n . Ia ' nevertheless they are useful for the purpose of fixing
Tradition, and of remedying the imperfections of the
human element Hence it follows that the Holy Ghost,
Who watches over the living Tradition, must also assist
in the production and preservation of such documents so
as to cause them to present, if not an adequate, at least a
more or less perfect exposition of previous Tradition.
Written II. When the writings of the Fathers reproduce the
wSthHOrai authentic teaching of the Church, they constitute a Written
Tradition, equal in authority to the subsequent Oral
Tradition, and are, like Holy Scripture, an objective and
remote Rule of Faith running side by side with Oral Tra-
dition. Still they are not by themselves a complete and
independent Source and Rule of Faith. Like the Holy
Scriptures, they too are in the Church's custody and are
subject to the Church's interpretation. There can be no
contradiction between the teaching of the Fathers and the
doctrine of the Church ; apparent contradictions are due
either to spuriousness or lack of authenticity on the part
of the documents, or to a mistaken interpretation of them.
official III. The various writings and documents which con-
stitute Written Tradition may be divided into two classes.
I. The first class comprises those which emanate from
the official organs of Ecclesiastical Tradition in the exercise
of their functions, and which, therefore, belong by their
very nature to the Written Tradition, e.g. Decisions of the
Popes and of Councils ; Liturgical documents and monu-
ments, such as Liturgies, Sacramentaries, Ordines Romani,
pictures, symbols, inscriptions, vases, etc., connected with
PART I.] Ecclesiastical Tradition. 77
public worship ; the writings of the Fathers and approved CHAP. iv.
Theologians in so far as they contain distinct statements
on the truths of Tradition. These documents and monu-
ments have more than a mere historical value. They all
participate more or less in the supernatural character of
the living Tradition of which they are the emanation and
exponents, and, even when they are not the work of the
authors to whom they are ascribed, they may still be of
great weight.
2. The second class of documents is composed of those
which, independently of the ecclesiastical rank of their
author, or of the authority of the Church generally, con-
tribute to the history or better scientific knowledge of
Tradition. To this class may belong the writings of
doubtful Catholics, and even of heretics and pagans.
The two classes do not exclude each other. Many docu-
ments belong to both, under different aspects.
The Roman Catacombs have lately acquired great
importance as monuments of the earliest Tradition. See
Roma Sotteranea, by Dr. Northcote and Canon Brovvnlow.
SECT. 25. Rules for demonstrating Revealed Truth from
Ecclesiastical Tradition.
The rules for the application of the laws mentioned in
the above section may be gathered from the laws them-
selves. Catholics, believing as they do in the Divine
authority of Tradition, will of course obtain different re-
sults from Protestants who acknowledge only its historical
value. Catholics, too, will apply the rules differently,
according as their object is to ascertain with infallible
certitude the apostolicity of a truth, or to expound and
defend it scientifically.
I. For the Catholic it is not necessary to demon- R"i for
i c 11 i t J-M . i ascertaining
strate positively from coeval documents that the Church the aposto-
11 . . . licityot'a
has always borne actual witness to a given doctrine, doctrine.
The scantiness of the documents, especially of those
belonging to the sub-apostolic age, makes it even impos-
sible. The Tradition of the present time, above all if it
is attested by an authoritative definition, is quite suffi-
cient to prove the former existence of the same Tradition,
78 A Mamial of Catliolic Theology. [BOOK I.
C slcT'2 IV ' a l tnou gh perhaps only in a latent state. Any further
knowledge of its former existence is merely of scientific
interest. When, however, the Ecclesiastical Tradition of
the present is not publicly manifest, and the judges of the
Faith have to decide some controverted question, they
must investigate the Tradition of the past, or, as St. Vin-
cent of Lerins expresses it, they must appeal to antiquity.
It is not necessary to go back to an absolute antiquity : it
is sufficient to find some time when the Tradition was
undoubted. Thus, at the Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431), the
decisions were based upon the testimony of the Fathers of
the fourth century. When the Tradition is not manifest
either in the present or in the past, we can sometimes
have recourse to the consent of the Fathers and Theo-
logians of note. The temporary uncertainty and even
partial negation of a doctrine within the Church is not, in
in itself, a conclusive argument against the traditional
character of the doctrine. The opposition can generally
be shown to be purely human, and can often be turned
to good account. We can sometimes ascertain its origin
and show that the Church resisted it. Sometimes the
difficulty arises from an appeal to merely local traditions ;
or the opposition is inconsistent, varying, indefinite, mixed
with opinions distinctly heretical or destructive of Catholic
life and thought. It would be easy to prove that all these
marks are applicable to the Gallican opposition to the
Infallibility of the Pope. Even when the investigation of
antiquity does not result in absolute certitude, it may at
least produce a moral conviction, so that denial would
be rash
Scientific II. The Tradition of a truth being once established,
and defence, a Catholic has no further interest in the investigation of
its continuity, except for the purposes of science and
apologetics. Heretics, moreover, have no right to demand
direct proof of the antiquity of a doctrine. We may in-
deed reply to their arguments from Tradition, and set
before them the traces of the doctrine in the different ages,
but it is better to prove to them the Catholic principle of
Tradition, for which there is abundant historical evidence.
PART L] Ecclesiastical Tradition. 79
CHAP. IV.
SECT. 26. The Writings of the Fathers.
I. The " Fathers " are those representatives of Tra- who are
dition who have been recognized by the Church as ex-
celling in sanctity and in natural and supernatural gifts,
and who belong to the early Church. This latter mark
distinguishes them from the doctors who have lived in
more recent times, but it has only a secondary influence
upon their authority. No great significance was attached
by the Council of Ephesus or the older theologians to the
antiquity of the Fathers. The Church herself has be-
stowed the title of " Doctor Ecclesiae," by which it honours
the most illustrious Fathers in the Liturgy, upon many
saints of later date, and has thereby put them on the same
level. We may even say that the canonization of a theo-
logical writer raises him to some extent to the dignity of
a " Father." Still, the mark of antiquity is not without
importance, as we have already explained.
II. The domain of doctrine covered by the authority Subject-
and infallibility of the Fathers is co-extensive with that of use of the
i /'-i 11 1-1 TT -i authority of
the Church, whose mouthpiece they are. Hence it does the Father*
not embrace truths of a purely natural and philosophical
character, or truths revealed only per accidens, because
these are not part of the public teaching of the Church.
On the other hand, their authority is not limited to their
testimony to truths expressly and formally revealed, but
extends to the dogmatico-theological interpretation of the
whole Deposit of Revelation. The material and formal
authority of the Fathers that is, the subject-matter with
which they deal, and the ecclesiastical use of their writings
are beautifully expressed by St. Vincent of Lerins, when
speaking of the Fathers quoted at the Council of Ephesus :
" Only these ten, the sacred number of the commandments,
were brought forward at Ephesus as teachers, counsellors,
witnesses, and judges ; [and the Council] holding their
doctrine, following their advice, believing their testimony,
and obeying their decision . . . passed judgment concern-
ing the rules of Faith " (n. 30). The modern view which
reduces the authority of the Fathers to that of mere
historical witnesses could not better be refuted.
So A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK l.
CHAP. iv. ni. We must be careful to distinguish between the
SECT. 26.
, authority of one or a certain number of the Fathers, and
We must J .
distinguish the consentient testimony of all of them. It is evident
between the . .
consent of that the former is not infallible, because the Church s
the Fathers ,. _,. .. . . ,, ,
and the approbation of their writings is not intended to be a
oSiy some guarantee of the truth of all that they teach. Some par-
ticular works, as, for instance, St. Cyril's Anathemas, have,
however, received this guarantee. The Church's approba-
tion implies: (i) that the writings approved were not
opposed to any doctrine publicly held by the Church in
the time of the author, and consequently were not subject
to any censure ; (2) that the doctrines for which the
Father was renowned, and on which he insisted most, are
positively probable ; (3) that there is a strong presump-
tion that the doubtful expressions of the Fathers should be
interpreted in accordance with the commonly received
doctrine, and that no discrepancy should be admitted
among them except on the strongest grounds ; (4) under
extraordinary circumstances it may give us a moral cer-
tainty of a doctrine when, for instance, some illustrious
Father has, without being contradicted by the Church,
openly enforced that doctrine as being Catholic, and has
treated those who deny it as heretics. When, however, all
the Fathers agree, their authority attains its perfection.
The consent of the Fathers has always been looked upon
as of equal authority with the teaching of the whole
Church, or the definitions of the Popes and Councils.
But inasmuch as it is hardly possible to ascertain the
opinions of every Father on every point of doctrine,
and as the Holy Ghost prevents the Church from ascrib-
ing to the whole body of the Fathers any doctrine which
they did not hold, it follows that the consent of the Fathers
must be regarded as fully ascertained whenever those
of them whose writings deal with a given doctrine agree
absolutely or morally, provided that they are numerous
and belong to different countries and times. The number
required varies with the nature of the doctrine, which may
be public, a matter of daily practice and of great import-
ance, or, on the other hand, may be of an abstract, specu-
lative character, and comparatively unimportant : and with
PART I.] Ecclesiastical Tradition. 81
the personal authority of the Fathers, with their position CHAP. iv.
in the Church, with the amount of opposition to the ^l* 7 '
doctrine, and with many other circumstances.
The Consent of the Fathers does not always prove the
Catholic character of a doctrine in the same way. If they
distinctly state that a doctrine is a public dogma of the
Church, the doctrine must be at once accepted. If they
merely state that the doctrine is true and taught by the
Church, without formally attributing to it the character of
a dogma, this testimony has by no means the same weight.
The doctrine thus attested cannot, on that account, be
treated as a dogma. Nevertheless it is at least a Catholic
truth and morally certain, and the denial of it would
deserve the censure of temerity of error.
IV. The authority of the Fathers is held in high They hv
esteem by the Church in the interpretation of Scripture, authority in
They made the Bible their especial study, whereas later sa^ptu"^!" 8
writers have not been so directly concerned with it, and
when they have treated of it they have followed the
lead of the Fathers. The consent of the Fathers is a
positive and not an exclusive rule, i.e. the interpretation
must be in accordance with it where it exists, but where
it does not exist we may lawfully interpret even in opposi-
tion to the opinions of some of the Fathers. This consent
must be gathered from all their writings and not merely
from their commentaries, because in the latter they often
have in view particular points of doctrine of a practical or
ascetic nature, whereas in their other writings they are
rather engaged in expounding Catholic dogma. But even
in both kinds of writings a complete scientific exposition
of the text can seldom be found, because, as a rule, the
Fathers have in hand some particular doctrine which they
endeavour to draw from and base upon the text. Hence
the many apparent differences in their exegesis, which
may, however, be easily explained by a collation of the
various passages. (See supra, p. 65.)
SECT. 27. The Writings of Theologians.
I. By Theologians we mean men learned in Theology, who ar
who as members or masters of the theological schools tf^V"
G
82 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK j.
CHAP. iv. which came into existence after the patristic era, taught
^II. 27 ' and handed down Catholic doctrine on strictly scientific
lines, in obedience to and under the supervision of the
bishops. The title belongs primarily to the Schoolmen
of the Middle Ages the Scholastic Theologians strictly
so-called ; then to all who followed the methods of the
School during the last three centuries ; and, generally,
to all distinguished and approved writers on Theology
whether they have adhered to the Scholastic methods or
not. It is only in exceptional cases that the Church gives
a public approbation to an individual Theologian, and
this is done by canonization or by the still further honour
of conferring on him the title of Doctor of the Church.
When we speak of an Approved Author, we mean one who
is held in general esteem on account of his learning and
the Catholic spirit of his teaching. Some approved authors
are of acknowledged weight, while others are of only minor
importance. What we are about to state concerning the
authority of Theologians must not be applied indis-
criminately to every Catholic writer, but only to such as
are weighty and approved (auctores probati et graves).
The II. The authority of Theologians, like that of the
Theologians. Fathers, may be considered either individually and par-
tially, or of the whole body collectively. As a rule, the
authority of a single Theologian (with the exception of
canonized Saints, and perhaps some authors of the
greatest weight) does not create the presumption that
no point of his doctrine was opposed to the common
teaching of the Church in his day ; much less that, in-
dependently of his reasons, the whole of his doctrine is
positively probable merely on account of his authority.
When, however, the majority of approved and weighty
Theologians agree, it must be presumed that their teaching
is not opposed to that of the Church. Moreover, if their
doctrines are based upon sound arguments propounded
without any prejudice and not contradicted very decidedly,
the positive probability of the doctrines must be presumed.
No more than this probability can be produced by the
consent of many or even of all Theologians when they
state a doctrine as a common opinion (ppinio communis)
PAKT I.] Ecclesiastical Tradition. 83
and not as a common conviction (sentcntia communis). CHAP. TV.
These questions have been discussed at great length by E fl_ 27 '
Moral Theologians in the controversy on Probabilism.
See Lacroix, Theol. Mor., lib. L, tr. i., c. 2.
The consent of Theologians produces certainty that
a doctrine is Catholic truth only when on the one hand the
doctrine is proposed as absolutely certain, and on the other
hand the consent is universal and constant (Consensus
wtiversalis et constans non solum opinionis sed firma et rates
sentcntia). If all agree that a particular doctrine is a
Catholic dogma and that to deny it is heresy, then that
doctrine is certainly a dogma. If they agree that a
doctrine cannot be denied without injuring Catholic truth,
and that such denial is deserving of censure, this again
is a sure proof that the doctrine is in some way a Catholic
doctrine. If, again, they agree in declaring that a doctrine
is sufficiently certain and demonstrated, their consent is
not indeed a formal proof of the Catholic character of the
doctrine, nevertheless the existence of the consent shows
that the doctrine belongs to the mind of the Church
(catholicns intellectus), and that consequently its denial
would incur the censure of rashness.
These principles on the authority of Theologians were
strongly insisted on by Pius IX. in the brief, Gravissimas
inter (cf. infra, 29), and they are evident consequences of
the Catholic doctrine of Tradition. Although the assist-
ance of the Holy Ghost is not directly promised to Theo-
logians, nevertheless the assistance promised to the Church
requires that He should prevent them as a body from
falling into error ; otherwise the Faithful who follow them
would all be led astray. The consent of Theologians
implies the consent of the Episcopate, according to St.
Augustine's dictum : " Not to resist an error is to approve
of it not to defend a truth is to reject it." * And even
natural reason assures us that this consent is a guarantee
of truth. " Whatever is found to be one and the same
among many persons is not an error but a tradition "
(Tertullian). (Supra, p. 68.)
1 "Error cui non resistitur approbatur, et veritas quae non defenditur
opprimilur" (Deer. Grat., dist. 83, c. error).
8^ A Manual of Catholic Theology. [Book 1
CHAP iv. The Church holds the mediaeval Doctors in almost the
SK ~ 27 ' same esteem as the Fathers. The substance of the teaching
of the Schoolmen and their method of treatment have both
been strongly approved of by the Church (cf. Syllab., prop,
xiii., and Leo XIII., encyclical jEterni Pairis on the studv
of St. Thomas).
85
CHAPTER V.
THE RULE OF FAITH.
SECT. 28. The Rule of Faith considered generally ; and
also specially in its Active Sense.
I. THE nature and dignity of the Word of God require CHAP. v.
that submission to it should not be left to the choice E ^- 2 '
of man, but should be made obligatory. The Church to^hTword
should put it forth in such a way as to bind all her members obligatory.
to adhere to it in common, and with one voice and in all
its fulness, as a public and social law.
II. The Rule of Faith was given to the Church in the The remote
very act of Revelation and its promulgation by the m^Ruie.
Apostles. But for this Rule to have an actual and perma-
nently efficient character, it must be continually promul-
gated and enforced by the living Apostolate, which must
exact from all members of the Church a docile Faith in the
truths of Revelation authoritatively proposed, and thus
unite the whole body of the Church, teachers and taught,
in perfect unity of Faith. Hence the original promulgation
is the remote Rule of Faith, and the continuous promulga
tion by the Teaching Body is the proximate Rule.
III. The fact that all the members of the Church The
actually agree in one Faith is the best proof of the effi- of 'the'"*
ciency of the Catholic Rule of Faith. This universality is "e'R^of
not the Rule of Faith itself, but rather its effect. Individual Fakh>
members are indeed bound to conform their belief to that
of the whole community, but this universal belief is pro-
duced by the action of the Teaching Apostolate, the
members of which are in their turn subject to their Chief.
Hence the Catholic Rule of Faith may be ultimately
86 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [POOR I.
CHAP. v. reduced to the sovereign teaching authority of the Holy
tcr-ji . g ee This was asserted long ago in the Creed drawn up
by Pope Hormisdas : " Wherefore following in all things
the Apostolic See and upholding all its decrees, I hope
that it may be mine to be with you in the one communion
taught by the Apostolic See, in which is the true and
complete solidity of the Christian Religion ; and I promise
also not to mention in the Holy Mysteries the names
of those who have been excommunicated from the Catholic
Church that is, those who agree not with the Apostolic
See."
Proposition IV. The act or collection of acts whereby the Word
by'the c of God is enforced as the Rule of Catholic Faith is called
Cnurdi. j n technical language " Proposition by the Church " (Pro-
positio Ecclesia, Vat. Council, sess. iii. chap. 3). It is called
" Proposition " because it is an authoritative promulgation
of a law, already contained in Revelation, enjoining belief
in what is proposed ; and " Proposition by or of the Church,"
because it emanates from the Teaching Body and is
addressed to the Body of the Faithful ; and not in the
sense that it emanates from the entire community.
The manner V. The manner in which the Proposition is made and
proportion, the form which it assumes are determined by the nature
of the Teaching Apostolate and of the truths proposed.
The ordinary Proposition of the law of Faith is identical
with the ordinary exercise of the Teaching Apostolate ;
for the Word of God by its very nature exacts the obedience
of Faith, and is communicated to the Faithful with the
express intention of enforcing belief. Hence the ordinary
teaching is necessarily a promulgation of the law of Faith
and an injunction of the duty to believe, and consequently
the law of Faith is naturally an unwritten law. But the
Proposition of or by the Church takes the form of a Statute
or written law when promulgated in a solemn decision.
Such decisions, however, are not laws strictly speaking,
but are merely authoritative declarations of laws already
enacted by God, and in most instances they only enforce
what is already the common practice. Both forms, written
and unwritten, are of equal authority, but the written
form is the more precise. Both also rest ultimately on
PART L] The Rule of Faith. 87
the authority of the Head of the Apostolate. No judicial CHAP. v.
sentence in matters of Faith is valid unless pronounced or
approved by him ; and the binding force of the unwritten
form arises from his tacit sanction.
VI. The authority of the Church's Proposition enforcing The extent
obedience to its decrees and guaranteeing their infallibility, church's
is not restricted to matters of Divine Faith and Divine
Revelation, although these are its principal subject-matter.
The Teaching Apostolate, in order to realize the objects
of Revelation, i.e. to preserve the Faith not only in its
substance but also in its entirety, must extend its activity
beyond the sphere of Divine Faith and Divine Revelation.
But in such matters the Apostolate requires only an
undoubting and submissive acceptance and not Divine
Faith, and consequently is, so far, a rule of theological
knowledge and conviction rather than a Rule of Divine
Faith. Hence there exists in the Church, side by side
with and completing the Rule of Faith, a Rule of Theolo-
gical Thought or Religious Conviction, to which every
Catholic must submit internally as well as externally.
Any refusal to submit to this law implies a spiritual re-
volt against the authority of the Church and a rejection
of her supernatural veracity; and is, if not a direct denial
of Catholic Faith, at least a direct denial of Catholic Pro-
fession.
VII. The judicial, legislative, and other similar acts of Disciplinary
the members of the Teaching Apostolate are not all abso- esua
solutely binding rules of Faith and theological thought,
but rather resemble police regulations. These disciplinary
measures may under certain circumstances command at
least a respectful and confident assent, the refusal of which
involves disrespect and temerity. For instance, when the
Church forbids the teaching of certain points of doctrine,
or commands the teaching of one opinion in preference to
another, external submission is required, but there is also
an obligation to accept the favoured view as morally cer-
tain. When a judicial decision has been given on some
point of doctrine, but has not been given or approved by
the highest authority, such decision per se imposes only
the obligation of external obedience. Points of doctrine
88 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP v. expressed, recommended, and insisted upon in papal allocu-
"^II 89 ' tions or encyclical letters but not distinctly defined, may
create the obligation of strict obedience and undoubting
assent, or may exact merely external submission and ap-
proval. Thus in the Rule of Faith we distinguish three
degrees : (i) the Rule of Faith in matters directly revealed,
exacting the obedience of Faith ; (2) the Rule of Faith in
matters theologically connected with Revelation, exacting
respect and external submission, and, indirectly, internal
assent of a certain grade ; (3) the Rule of Faith in matters
of discipline, exacting submission and reverence.
The difference between the rules of theological know-
ledge and the disciplinary measures is important. The
former demand universal and unconditional obedience, the
latter only respect and reverence. Moderate Liberalism,
represented in the seventeenth century by Holden (Analysis
Fidei), in the eighteenth century by Muratori (De Ingeniormn
Moderatione) and Chrismann (Regula Fidei), is an attempt
to conciliate Extreme Liberalism by giving up these various
distinctions, and reducing all decisions either to formal
definitions of Faith or to mere police regulations.
SECT. 29. Dogmas and Matters of Opinion.
nogmas. I. Everything revealed by God, or Christ, or the Holy
Ghost is by that very fact a Divine or Christian Dogma ;
when authoritatively proposed by the Apostles it became
an Apostolic Dogma ; when fully promulgated by the
Church, Ecclesiastical Dogma. In the Church's language
a dogma pure and simple is at the same time ecclesiastical,
apostolic, and Divine. But a merely Divine Dogma that
is, revealed by God but not yet explicitly proposed by the
Church is called a Material (as opposed to Formal)
Dogma.
tb"of fica ~ * Dogmas may be classified according to (a) their
Dogmas. various subject-matters, (b} their promulgation, and (c] the
different kinds of moral obligation to know them.
(a) Dogmas may be divided in the same way as the con-
tents of Revelation ( 5) except that matters revealed per
accidens are not properly dogmas. It is, however, a dogma
that Holy Scripture, in the genuine text, contains undoubted
PART L] The Rule of Faith. 89
truth throughout. And consequently the denial of matters CHAP. v.
revealed/^ accidens is a sin against Faith, because it im- E f^_ 29 -
plies the assertion that Holy Scripture contains error.
This principle accounts for the opposition to Galileo. The
motions of the sun and the earth are not indeed matters of
dogma, but the great astronomer's teaching was accom-
panied by or at any rate involved the assertion that Scrip-
ture was false in certain texts.
(b) With regard to their promulgation by the Church,
dogmas are divided into Material and Formal. Formal
Dogmas are subdivided into Defined and Undefined.
(c} With regard to the obligation of knowing them,
dogmas are to be believed either Implicitly or Explicitly.
Again, the necessity of knowing them is of two kinds :
Necessity of Means (necessitas medit) and Necessity of
Precept (necessitas prcecepti} ; that is, the belief in some
dogmas is a necessary condition of salvation, apart from
any positive command of the Church, while the obligation
to believe in others arises from her positive command
The former may be called Fundamental, because they
are most essential. We do not, however, admit the Lati-
tudinarian distinction between Fundamental articles, i.e.
which must be believed, and Non-fundamental articles
which need not be believed. All Catholics are bound to
accept, at least implicitly, every dogma proposed by the
Church.
2. The Criteria, or means of knowing Catholic truth, Criteria of
may be easily gathered from the principles already stated.
They are nearly all set forth in the Brief Tuas Libenter,
addressed by Pius IX. to the Archbishop of Munich.
The following are the criteria of a dogma of Faith :
(a) Creeds or Symbols of Faith generally received ; (b)
dogmatic definitions of the Popes or of ecumenical coun-
cils, and of particular councils solemnly ratified ; (c) the
undoubtedly clear and indisputable sense of Holy Scrip-
ture in matters relating to Faith and morals ; (d) the uni-
versal and constant teaching of the Apostolate, especially
the public and permanent tradition of the Roman Church ;
(e) universal practice, especially in liturgical matters, where
it clearly supposes and professes a truth as undoubtedly
90 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK l.
CHAP. v. revealed ; (/") the teaching of the Fathers when manifest
29 ' and universal ; (g) the teaching of Theologians when mani-
fest and universal.
Matters of II. Between the doctrines expressly defined by the
Church and those expressly condemned stand what may
be called matters of opinion or free opinions. Freedom,
however, like certainty, is of various degrees, especially in
religious and moral matters. Where there is no distinct
definition there may be reasons sufficient to give us moral
certainty. To resist these is not, indeed, formal disobedience,
but only rashness. Where there are no such reasons this
censure is not incurred. It is not possible to determine
exactly the boundaries of these two groups of free opinions ;
they shade off into each other, and range from absolute free-
dom to morally certain obligation to believe. In this sphere
of Approximative Theology, as it may be styled, there, are
(i) doctrines which it is morally certain that the Church
acknowledges as revealed (veritates fidei proximo) ; (2)
theological doctrines which it is morally certain that the
Church considers as belonging to the integrity of the Faith,
or as logically connected with revealed truth, and conse-
quently the denial of which is approximate to theological
error (errori theologico proximo) ; (3) doctrines neither
revealed nor logically deducible from revealed truths, but
useful or even necessary for safeguarding Revelation : to
deny these would be rash (temerariuni). These three
degrees were rejected by the Minimizers mentioned at the
end of the last section, and all matters not strictly defined
were considered as absolutely free. Pius IX., however, on
the occasion of the Munich Congress in 1863, addressed
a Brief to the Archbishop of that city laying down the
Catholic principles on the subject. The 22nd Proposition
condemned in the "Syllabus" was taken from this Brief,
and runs thus : " The obligation under which Catholic
teachers and writers lie is restricted to those matters which
are proposed for universal belief as dogmas of Faith by
the infallible judgment of the Church." And the Vatican
Council says, at the end of the first constitution, " It suffi-
ceth not to avoid heresy unless those errors which more
or less approach thereto are sedulously shunned."
PART ij The Rule of Faith. 91
CHAP, v
SECT. 30. Definitions and Judicial Decisions considered SECT - 3-
generally.
The chief rules of Catholic belief are the definitions
and decisions of the Church. Before we study them in
detail, it will be well to treat of the elements and forms
more or less common to them all.
I. Definitions and decisions are essentially acts of the Definitions
J and
teaching power, in the strictest sense of the word ; acts decisions,
what*
whereby the holder of this power lays down authoritatively
what his subjects are bound to accept as Catholic doctrine
or reject as anti-Catholic. Hence, as distinguished from
other acts of the Teaching Apostolate, they are termed
decrees, statutes, constitutions, definitions, decisions con-
cerning the Faith. In the modern language of the Church,
" Definition " means the positive and final decision in
matters of Faith (dogmas), and " Judgment " means the
negative decision whereby false doctrines are condemned
(censures). The wording of definitions is not restricted to
any particular form. Sometimes they take the form of a
profession of Faith : " The Holy Synod believeth and con-
fesseth ; " at other times they take the form of a declaration
of doctrine, as in the " chapters " of the Council of Trent
and the Vatican Council, or of canons threatening with
" anathema " all who refuse to accept the Church's
teaching.
II. The general object of authoritative decisions in The objects
j -ill-- ofDefim-
doctnnal matters is to propose dogmas in clear and distinct tionsand
form to the Faithful, and thereby to promote the glory of
God, the salvation of souls, and the welfare of the Church.
Sometimes, however, there are certain specific objects ;
e.g., (i) to remove existing doubts. The definitions of
the Immaculate Conception and the Infallibility of the
Pope are cases in point. (2) To condemn criminal doubts
prevailing against dogmas already defined, e.g. the case of
the five propositions of Jansenius. (3) To prevent future
doubts and to confirm the Faith of the weak. In this
case, as in the preceding, the new definition takes the form
of a confirmation or renewal of a former definition. Thus
the Vatican Council, at the end of its first constitution,
92 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK 1.
CHAP. v. insists upon the duty of conformity to the doctrinal decision
- J ' of the Holy See. The question of the " Opportuneness "
of a definition must be decided by the judges themselves.
Under certain circumstances they may withhold or post-
pone a definition in order to avoid greater evils, as in the
case of the Gallican doctrines. Once the definition is
given, there can be no further question as to its opportune-
ness. The Holy Ghost, who assists in making the defini-
tion, also assists in fixing its time.
The Sources III. Authoritative definitions and decisions can
"ion^nnd emanate only from the holders of the teaching power in
ns< the Church. Learned men and learned societies, such as
universities, may publish statements of their views, and
may thus prepare the way for a dogmatic definition. These
statements may even have greater weight than the decisions
of individual bishops. Nevertheless they are merely pro-
visional, and stand to the final judgment in the relation of
a consulting vote. Hence the importance of acting in con-
junction with the Holy See. Even from the earliest times
it has been the rule to refer to Rome the more important
questions of Faith, and in recent times bishops and local
(as opposed to general) councils have been ordered not to
attempt to decide doubtful questions, but only to expound
and enforce what has already been approved.
Each holder of the teaching power can judge indi-
vidually, except those whose power is only delegated, and
those who by reason of their functions are bound to act in
concert ; as, for instance, the Cardinals in the Roman Con-
gregations. Still, it follows from their office, and it has
always been the practice of the Church, that the Bishops,
as inferior judges, should judge collectively in synods and
councils, except when they act simply as promulgators
or executors of decisions already given. The Pope, the
supreme and universal judge, is subject to no other judges
or tribunals, but all are subject to him. Matters of general
interest (causes communes) or of great importance (causes
majores] are of his cognizance. He is the centre of unity,
and he possesses, in virtue of his sovereign power, a
guarantee of veracity which does not belong to individual
Bishops. But before coming to any decision he is bound
PART I.] The Rule of Faith. 93
to study the Sources of Faith, and to consult his advisers CHAP. v.
either individually or collectively. He may, nay some- SE fU-
times he must allow his ordinary and extraordinary coun-
sellors to act as subordinate colleges of judges, whose
decisions he afterwards completes by adding his own. He
may also place himself at the head of these various colleges,
so that the members become his assessors. " The bishops
of the whole world sitting and judging with us," says the
Procemium of the first constitution of the Vatican Council.
The same council also enumerates the various ways in
which the Popes prepare their definitions: "The Roman
Pontiffs, according as circumstances required, at one time,
by summoning ecumenical councils, or by ascertaining the
opinion of the Church dispersed over the world ; at another
time, by means of local synods, or again by other means
have defined that those things are to be held which they
have found to be in harmony with the Sacred Writings
and Apostolical Traditions " (sess. iv., chap. 4).
IV. Dogmatic definitions being judicial acts presuppose investig*.
an investigation of the case (cognitio causes). If this is not advisable,
made, the judge acts rashly, but the judgment is binding. abLTiuLiy
When the authority of the judge is not supreme, and con- necessary *
sequently the presumption in favour of the justice of the
judgment is not absolute, a statement of the reasons may
be necessary, and an examination of them may be per-
mitted. Sometimes even the highest authority states his
reasons for coming to a decision, but he does this merely
to render submission easy. As regards the manner of
conducting the investigation of the case, it should be noted
that an examination of the Sources of Faith and the
hearing of witnesses, although integral portions of the
judicial functions, are not always necessary. When an
already-defined doctrine has only to be enforced these
processes may be dispensed with. However, even in this
case, they may be advisable, so as to remove all suspicion
of rashness or prejudice, and to enable the judges to affirm
that they speak of their own full knowledge (ex plena et
propria cognitions causes}. 1
1 Cf. the well-known letter of St. Leo to Theocloret (ep. 120, ed. Jlnl-
lerini).
94 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK 1.
CHAP. v. Although doctrinal definitions are always supported by
" ' strong arguments, their binding force does not depend
on these arguments but upon the supernatural authority of
the judges, in virtue of which they are entitled to say, " It
hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us." In the
case of individual judges the Divine guarantee depends
upon the legitimacy of their appointment ; in the case of
councils or other bodies of judges it depends upon the
legitimacy of their convocation. Hence the expression,
"The synod lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost (In
Spiritu Sancto legitime congregate?}? We must, however,
remember that the Divine guarantee is perfect only when
final decisions for the universal Church are given. In other
cases it is merely presumptive, and this presumption is
not sufficient to make the judgment infallible or to exact
unconditional submission. The formula, " It hath seemed
good to the Holy Ghost and to us," does not necessarily
imply that the accompanying judgment is infallible. The
authority of the judgment depends upon the rank of the
judge. Inferior ecclesiastical judges as a rule ask the Pope
to ratify their decisions, or they add the qualification,
" Saving the judgment or under correction of the Apostolic
See (salvo jtidicio, sub correctione Sedis Apostoliccz}" Hence
no process is complete and final until the Holy See has
given its judgment.
We shall now examine the various sources of Decisions
and Judgments.
SECT. 31. Papal Judgments and their Infallibility.
rhe Pope I. The Pope, the Father and Teacher of all Christians
and the Head of the Universal Church, is the supreme
judge in matters of Faith and Morals, and is the regulator
and centre of Catholic Unity. His decisions are without
appeal and are absolutely binding upon all. In order to
possess this perfect right and power to exact universal
assent and obedience it is necessary that they should be
infallible. The Vatican Council, completing the definitions
of the Fourth Council of Constantinople, the Second
Council of Lyons, and the Council of Florence, and the
Profession of Faith of Pope Hormisdas, thus defines Papal
PART I.] The Riile of Faith. 95
Infallibility: "The Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex CHAP. v.
cathedra that is, when, in discharge of the office of Pastor "fH.-* 1 -
and Doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme
Apostolic authority he defines a doctrine regarding Faith
or Morals to be held by the Universal Church by the
Divine assistance promised to him in Blessed Peter, is pos-
sessed of that Infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer
willed that His Church should be endowed for defining
doctrine regarding Faith or Morals ; and therefore such
definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable of them-
selves and not from the consent of the Church." *
II. The person in whom the Infallibility is vested is when the
the Roman Pontiff speaking ex cathedra; that is to say, infallible,
exercising the highest doctrinal authority inherent in the
Apostolic See. Whenever the Pope speaks as Supreme
Teacher of the Church, he speaks ex cathedra ; nor is there
any other ex cathedra teaching besides his. The definition
therefore leaves no room for the sophistical distinction
made by the Gallicans between the See and its occupant
(St?des, Sedens), An ex cathedra judgment is also declared
to be supreme and universally binding. Its subject-matter
is " doctrine concerning Faith or Morals ; " that is, all
and only such points of doctrine as are or may be pro-
posed for the belief of the Faithful. The form of the ex
cathedra judgment is the exercise of the Apostolic power
with intent to bind all the Faithful in the unity of the
Faith.
The nature and extent of the Infallibility of the Pope
are also contained in the definition. This Infallibility is the
result of a Divine assistance. It differs both from Revela-
tion and Inspiration. It does not involve the manifestation
of any new doctrine, or the impulse to write down what God
reveals. It supposes, on the contrary, an investigation of
1 " Definimus : Romanum Pontificem, cum ex cathedra loquitur, id est,
cum omnium Christianorum Pastoris et Doctoris munere fungens, pro suprema
sua Apostolica auctoritate doctrinam de fide vel moribus ab universa Ecclesia
tenendam definit, per assistentiam divinam, ipsi in beato Petro promissam, ea
infallibilitate pollere, qua divinus Redemptor Ecclesiam suam in definienda
doctrina de fide vel moribus instructam esse voluerit; ideoque ejusmodi Romani
Pontificis definitiones ex sese, non autem ex consensu Ecclesiae irreformabiles
esse " (Concil. Vat., sess. iv., cap. 4).
96 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK i.
CHAP. v. revealed truths, and only prevents the Pope from omitting
BCT.I. j nves t:igation and from erring in making it. The
Divine assistance is not granted to the Pope for his personal
benefit, but for the benefit of the Church. Nevertheless, it
is granted to him directly as the successor of St. Peter, and
not indirectly through the medium of the Church. The
extent of the Infallibility of the Pope is determined partly
by its subject-matter, partly by the words " possessed of
that Infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed
that His Church should be endowed for defining doctrine
regarding Faith or Morals." Moreover, the object of the
Infallibility of the Pope and of the Infallibility of the
Church being the same, their extent must also coincide.
From the Infallibility of ex cathedra judgments, the
council deduces their Irreformability, and further establishes
the latter by excluding the consent of the Church as the
necessary condition of it. The approbation of the Church
is the consequence not the cause of the Irreformability of
ex cathedra judgments.
Form* of HI. Ex cathedra decisions admit of great variety of
tjc cathedra. *
decisions, form. At the same time, in the documents containing such
decisions only those passages are infallible which the judge
manifestly intended to be so. Recommendations, proofs,
and explanations accompanying the decision are not neces-
sarily infallible, except where the explanation is itself the
dogmatic interpretation of a text of Scripture, or of a rule
of Faith, or in as far as it fixes the meaning and extent
of the definition. It is not always easy to draw the line
between the definition and the other portions of the docu-
ment. The ordinary rules for interpreting ecclesiastical
documents must be applied. The commonest forms of ex
cathedra decisions used at the present time are the follow-
ing :
Comtitu- i. The most solemn form is the Dogmatic Constitu-
tions and .
Bulls. tion, or Bull, in which the decrees are proposed expressly
as ecclesiastical laws, and are sanctioned by heavy penal-
ties ; e.g. the Constitutions Unigenitus and Auctorem Fidei
against the Jansenists, and the Bull Ineffabilis Deus on the
Immaculate Conception.
Encyclical* 2. Next in solemnity are Encyclical Letters, so far as
PAST L] The Rule of Faith. 97
they are of a dogmatic character. They resemble Consti- CHAP. v.
tutions and Bulls, but, as a rule, they impose no penalties, f^. 38 -
Some of them are couched in strictly juridical terms, such
as the Encyclical Quanta cura, while others are more
rhetorical in style. In the latter case it is not absolutely
certain that the Pope speaks infallibly.
3. Apostolic Letters and Briefs, even when not directly Letters and
addressed to the whole Church, must be considered as ex
cathedra when they attach censures to the denial of certain
doctrines, or when, like Encyclicals, they define or condemn
in strict judicial language, or in equivalent terms. But it
is often extremely difficult to determine whether these
letters are dogmatic or only monitory and administrative.
Doubts on the subject are sometimes removed by subse-
quent declarations.
4. Lastly, the Pope can speak ex cathedra by confirm- Confirm*,
ing and approving of the decisions of other tribunals, such
as general or particular councils, or Roman Congregations.
In ordinary cases, however, the approbation of a particular
council is merely an act of supervision, and the decision of
a Roman Congregation is not ex cathedra unless the Pope
makes it his own.
SECT. 32. General Councils.
I. The Pope, speaking ex cathedra, is infallible inde- A General
pendently of the consent of the subordinate members of^ffl,
' the Teaching Body. On the other hand, the whole of the autho>rit >'-
Bishops apart from the Pope cannot pronounce an infallible
judgment The Pope, however, can assemble the Bishops
and constitute them into a tribunal which represents the
Teaching Body more efficiently than the Pope alone. Their
judgments given conjointly with his are the most com-
plete expression of the Teaching Body. This assembly
Is termed a Universal or Ecumenical Council. It is not
an independent tribunal superior to the Pope. It must be
convened by him, or at least with his consent and co-opera-
tion ; all the Bishops of the Church must be commanded,
or at least invited to attend ; a considerable number of
Bishops must be actually present, either personally or by
deputy ; and the assembled prelates must conduct their
H
98 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. v. deliberations and act under the direction of the Pope or his
SECT. 12
- legates. Some of the Councils styled ecumenical do not,
however, fulfil all of these conditions. The First and Second
Councils of Constantinople are well-known instances. But
these Councils were not originally considered as ecumenical
except in the sense of being numerously attended, or on
account of the ambition of the Patriarchs. It was only
in the sixth century, some time after the Creed of the
First Council of Constantinople had been adopted at
Chalcedon, that this Council was put on a level with those
of Nicaea, Ephesus, and Chalcedon. Similar remarks apply
to the Second Council of Constantinople. See Hefele
vol. i., p. 41, and vol. ii., 100.
It may seem strange that none of the early Western
Councils, although presided over by the Roman Pontiff
and accepted by the whole Church, received the title of
Ecumenical. This, however, may be easily accounted for.
The Western Councils only represented the Roman patri-
archate, and consequently their authority was identical
with that of the Holy See. Moreover, before the Great
Schism the notion of a General Council was that of a co-
operation of the East with the West : in other words, of
the other patriarchates with the patriarchate of Rome.
The Eastern Bishops attended personally, whereas the
Pope and the Western Council sent deputies. Thus a
Council, although meeting in the East, was really com-
posed of representatives of the whole Church. The later
Councils held in the West were far more conformable to
the theological notions already given, because the entire,
episcopate was convened in one place, by express com-
mand, not by mere invitation, and the body of the Bishops
acted on the strength of their Divine mission, no distinc.
tion being made in favour of patriarchs or metropolitans, or
other dignitaries.
The II. Councils, when defining a dogma, perform a double
Genera" 80 function : they act as witnesses and as judges. The co-
operation of the Pope is especially required as supreme
judge. Care must be taken not to lay too much stress on
the function of witnessing, lest the importance of the papal
co-operation be unduly minimized and the true notion of a
PART ij The Rule of Faith. 99
council be distorted. It is true, indeed, that many expres- CHAP. v.
sions of the Fathers of the fourth century concerning the E ^_ 32 '
Council of Nicaea seem to insist almost exclusively on the
witnessing function. We must, however, remember that
this Council was the first of the General Councils, and
that under the then existing circumstances an appeal to
the solemn testimony of so many Bishops was the best
argument against the heretics. The subsequent Councils,
especially the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, followed
quite a different line of action. Stress was there laid upon
the judicial function, and consequently upon the influence
of the Roman Pontiff and the various grades of hierarchical
jurisdiction.
III. The special object of General Councils is to attain Th eo f>i:t
completely and perfectly the ends which particular councils couS^
can attain only partially and imperfectly. In relation to
the Pope's judgment, which is in itself a complete judg-
ment, the object of General Councils is (i) to give the
greatest possible assistance to the Pope in the preparation
of his own judgment by means of the testimony and scien-
tific knowledge of the assessors ; (2) to give the Papal
definition the greatest possible force and efficacy by the
combined action and sentence of all the judges ; and (3)
to help the Pope in the execution and enforcement of his
decisions by the promulgation and subsequent action of
the assembled judges. The co-operation of the Council
brings the testimony and the judicial power of the whole
Church to bear upon the decision of the Pope.
IV. The action of General Councils essentially consists The Pope
in the co-operation of the members with their Head. To council,
the Pope therefore belongs the authoritative direction of
all the proceedings of the Council. He can, if he chooses
to exercise his right, determine what questions shall be
dealt with and the manner of dealing with them. Hence
no decision is legitimate if carried against his will or
without his consent. Even a decision accepted by his
legates, without an express order from him, is not abso-
lutely binding. On the other hand, no decision is unlawful
or void on account of a too extensive use of the papal
right of direction, because in such a case the restriction of
TOO A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. v. liberty is caused by the internal and legitimate principle
' '-*' of order, not by external and illegitimate pressure. The
decision would not be illegitimate even if, as in many of
the earlier Councils, and indeed in all Councils convoked
for the purpose of promulgating and enforcing already
existing papal decisions, the Pope commanded the accept-
ance of his sentence without any discussion. At most, the
result of this pressure would affect the moral efficiency of
the Council. On the other hand, the forcible expulsion
of the papal legates from the " Latrocinum " (Council of
Bandits) at Ephesus was rightly considered by the Catho-
lics as a gross violation of the liberty of a Council. The
sentence of the majority, or even the unanimous sentence,
if taken apart from the personal action of the Pope, is
not purely and simply the sentence of the entire Teaching
Body, and therefore has no claim to infallibility. Such a
sentence would not bind the absent Bishops to assent to
it, or the Pope to confirm it. Its only effect would be
to entitle the Pope to say that he confirms the sentence of
a council, or that he speaks " with the approval of the
Sacred Council " (sacro approbante concilia}.
TheVaticai The Vatican Council, even in the Fourth Session, may
Council. ......
be cited as an instance of a Council possessing in an
eminent degree, not only the essential elements, but also
what we may call the perfecting elements. The number
of Bishops present was the greatest on record, both abso-
lutely and in proportion to the number of Bishops in the
world ; the discussion was most free, searching, and ex-
haustive ; universal tradition, past and present, was
appealed to, not indeed as to the doctrine in question
itself, but as to its fundamental principle, which is the
duty of obedience to the Holy See and of conformity to
her Faith ; absolute unanimity prevailed in the final
sentence, and an overwhelming majority even in the
preparatory judgment.
The decrees of the General Councils may be found in
the great collections of Labbe, Hardouin, Mansi, Catalani ;
the more important decrees are given in Denzinger's
Enchiridion.
PART I.] The Rule of Faitk. 101
CHAP V.
SECT 33. The Roman Congregations Local or Particular SBCT : 33 '
Councils.
I. The Roman Congregations are certain standing com- Roman Con-
30 gregations.
mittees of Cardinals appointed by the Pope to give decisions
on the various questions of doctrine and discipline which
arise from time to time. The most important Congrega-
tions are the following :
1. The Congregation of the Council of Trent ;
2. The Congregation of Bishops and Regulars ;
3. The Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith
(Propaganda) ;
4. The Congregation of Sacred Rites ;
5. The Congregation of the Index of Prohibited Books ;
6. The Congregation of the Holy Office (the Inquisi-
tion).
To these must be added the Poenitentiaria, which is a
tribunal for granting absolutions from censures and dispen-
sations in matters of vows and matrimonial impediments.
It also passes judgment on moral cases submitted to its
decision.
These Congregations have as their principal function
the administration, or, if we may so term it, the general
police of doctrine and discipline. It is their duty to prose-
cute offences against Faith or Morals, to prohibit dangerous
writings, and to attach authoritative censures to any
opinions the profession of which is sinful. They do not
give decisions without appeal, because finality is inseparable
from infallibility. Although they act in the Pope's name,
their decrees are their own and not his, even after receiving
his acknowledgment and approbation. If, however, he
himself gives a decision based upon the advice of a Con-
gregation, such decision is his own and not merely the
decision of the Congregation. What, then, is the authority
of the Roman Congregations ?
I. Doctrinal decrees of the Congregations, which are
not fully and formally confirmed by the Pope, are not in-
fallible. They have, however, such a strong presumption
in their favour that even internal submission is due to
them, at least for the time being. The reason of this is
IO2 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. v. plain. The Congregations are composed of experienced
33 ' men of all schools and tendencies ; they proceed with the
greatest prudence and conscientiousness ; they represent
the tradition of the Roman Church which is especially
protected by the Holy Ghost. We may add that their
decrees have seldom needed reform. Hence Pius IX.
points out that learned Catholics " must submit to the
doctrinal decisions given by the Pontifical Congregations"
(Brief to the Archbishop of Munich, Tuas libenter, 1863).
2. If the Pope fully and formally confirms the decrees
they become infallible. It is not easy, however, to decide
whether this perfect confirmation has been given. Certain
formulas, e.g. the simple approbavit, may signify nothing
more than an act of supervision or an act of the Pope as
head of the Congregation, and not as Head of the Church.
Particuiai H. Particular or Local Councils are assemblies of the
Councils. ,,., ,. . . i. . i i *
Bishops ot a province or a nation as distinguished irom
assemblies of the Bishops of the world. When the council
is composed of the Bishops of a single province, it is called
a Provincial Council ; when the Bishops of several provinces
are present, it is called a Plenary or National Council.
Thus in England, where there is only one province, the
province of Westminster, the English Councils are called
the " Westminster Provincial Councils." In Ireland there
are four provinces, and consequently when all the Irish
Bishops meet in council the assembly is called the "National
Council." The usual name given to similar assemblies in
the United States is Plenary Council. Every Particular
Council must be convened with the approbation of the
Holy See. The Bishops act indeed in virtue of their
ordinary power, and not as papal delegates ; nevertheless
it is only fitting that they should act in union with their
Head. Moreover, the decrees must be submitted to the
approval of Rome. The approval granted is either Simple
or Solemn (approbatio in forma simplici, approbatio in forma
solemni). The Simple form, which is that usually granted,
is a mere act of supervision, and emanates from the Con-
gregation of the Council. The Solemn form is equivalent
to an adoption of the decrees by the Holy See as its own,
and is seldom granted. The Provincial Councils held
PART I.] The Rule of Faith. 103
against Pelagianism are well-known instances. In modern CHAP. v.
times, Benedict XIII. granted the solemn approbation to 34 "
the decrees of the Council of Embrun. Without this
solemn approval the decrees of Provincial Councils are not
infallible. The presumption of truth in their favour depends
partly on the number and the personal ability and character
of the Bishops present, and partly on the nature of their
proceedings and the wording of their decrees. Peremptory
and formal affirmation of a doctrine as Catholic, or con-
demnation of a doctrine as erroneous, would not be tole-
rated by the Holy See unless such affirmation or condem-
nation was in accordance with the teaching of Rome ; and
consequently even the simple approval of decrees of this
kind gives a strong presumption of truth. When, how-
ever, the decrees have not this peremptory and formal
character, but are simply expositions of doctrine or admo-
nitions to the Faithful, the presumption in their favour is
not so strong.
See Bellarmine, De Conciliis ; Benedict XIV., De
Synodo Diocesana, 1. xiii. c. 3. The decrees of the various
Provincial and other Particular Councils may be found in
the great collections of Councils named above. The more
recent decrees are given in the Collectio Lacensis (Herder,
Freiburg). The Westminster Councils, of which four have
been held, have been published by Burns and Gates. The
most important National Council of Ireland is the Synod
of Thurles held in 1851. There have been three Plenary
Councils of Baltimore (United States), held in the years
1852, 1866, and 1884 respectively.
SECT. 34. Dogmatic Censures.
I. The Vatican Council has spoken of the right ofxheri E htof
censure belonging to the Church in the following terms : Censure *
" Moreover, the Church having received, together with the
apostolic office of teaching, the command to keep the
Deposit of the Faith, hath also the right and the duty of
proscribing knowledge falsely so-called, lest any one should
be deceived by philosophy or vain deceit. Wherefore all
the Faithful are forbidden, not only to defend as legitimate
conclusions of science opinions of this kind which are
IO4 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK i.
CHAP. v. known to be contrary to the doctrine of the Faith, espe-
Ec-^34- h ave been condemned by the Church, but are
also bound to hold them rather as errors having the deceit-
ful semblance of truth " (sess. iit., chap. 4). See also Pius
IX.'s brief Gravissimas inter.
The duty II. Dogmatic censures impose most strictly the duty of
censures, unreserved assent. In matters of Faith and Morals they
afford absolute certainty that the doctrines or propositions
censured are to be rejected in the manner required by the
particular censure affixed to them. Sometimes the obli-
gation of submitting to the Church's judgment is expressly
mentioned ; e.g. in the Bull Unigenitus : " We order all
the Faithful not to presume to form opinions about these
propositions or to teach or preach them, otherwise than
is determined in this our constitution." In cases of this
kind the infallibility of the censures is contained in the
infallibility concerning Faith and Morals which belongs
to the Teaching Apostolate, because submission to the
censure is made a moral duty. No difference is here made
between the binding power of lesser censures and that of
the highest (heresy). Moreover, these censures bind not
only by reason of the obedience due to the Church, but
also on account of the certain knowledge which they give
us of the falsity or untrustworthiness of the censured doc-
trines. To adhere to these doctrines is a grievous sin
because of the strictness of the ecclesiastical prohibition
sanctioned by the heaviest penalties, and also because all
or nearly all the censures represent the censured act as
grievously sinful.
The duty to reject a censured doctrine involves the
right to assert and duty to admit the contradictory doctrine
as sound, nay as the only sound and legitimate doctrine.
The censures do not expressly state this right and duty,
nevertheless the consideration of the meaning and drift
of each particular censure clearly establishes both. In the
case of censures which express categorically the Church's
certain judgment, such as " Heresy," " Error," " False,"
" Blasphemous," " Impious," and also in cases where moral
certainty is expressed, such as " Akin to Heresy," " Akin
to Error," "Rash," there can be no question as to this.
PART I.] Tlie Rule of Faitk. 105
Doubt might perhaps arise whether the other censures, CHAP. v.
such as " Wicked," " Unsound," " Unsafe," and mere con- E fli 35 '
demnations without any particular qualification, impose the
duty of admitting the falsity of the condemned doctrines
as at least morally certain, or whether it is enough to
abstain from maintaining them. As a rule, however, we
must not be content with the latter.
III. The Church's judgment is also infallible when con- Censures
.... , ma v apply
demning doctrines and propositions in the sense meant by to an
some determinate author. This infallibility is already meaning
contained in the infallibility of the censure itself when
no distinction can be drawn between the meaning of
the words and the meaning intended by the author. But,
where this distinction can be drawn, the infallibility of the
judgment concerning the author's meaning is at least
virtually contained in the infallibility of the censure itself.
The Church sometimes condemns an author's propo-
sitions in the sense conveyed by their context, and
sometimes formulates propositions conveying the author's
meaning. In the former case the censure applies to the
context as well as to the proposition ; in the latter case
there is a twofold censure, one on the propositions as
formulated by the judge, and another on the text as
containing the sense of the propositions. In neither of
these cases would the censure be infallible, if it were not
infallible in determining the sense of the author. For this
reason the Church does not give a separate judgment to
establish that a particular text conveys a particular mean-
ing ; she simply attaches the censure to the text as it stands.
These various distinctions were of great importance in
the Jansenistic controversy. The Jansenists admitted that
the five propositions censured by Innocent X. were worthy
of condemnation, but denied that they were to be found in
their master's works.
SECT. 35. Development of Dogma.
I. The truths which God has been pleased to reveal to NO new
mankind were not all communicated in the beginning, bufo'e- 5 '
As time went on, the later Patriarchs had a larger stock of d&Trine
of revealed truth than those who preceded them ; the
io6 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. v. Prophets had a still larger share than the Patriarchs.
SECT 35
But when the Church was founded, the stock of Revelation
was completed, and no further truths were to be revealed
( 6). The infallibility of the Church manifestly precludes
any change in dogmas previously defined. Nevertheless,
it is clear that the Church has not always possessed the
same explicit knowledge of all points of doctrine and
enforced them just in the same way as in the time of the
Apostles. In what terms should this difference be stated ?
Kinds of II. I. It is not enough to say that the difference
n^ntT between the earlier and the later documents is merely
nominal ; viz. that the terminology of the earlier Creeds
is obscure and vague, while in the later ones it becomes
clear and precise.
2. Nor, again, will it do to make use of the comparison
of a scroll gradually unrolled or of a casket whose contents
become gradually known. There is, indeed, some truth in
these comparisons, but they cannot account for all the facts.
Logical 3. A better comparison is that the later defined
mem. 1 . 01 " doctrines are contained in the earlier ones as the con-
clusion of a syllogism Is contained in the premisses. This
is to admit that there has been a real, though only
logical, development in the Church's doctrine. Such is
the argument of St. Augustine in the dispute concerning
the re-baptism of heretics. According to him, a dogma
may pass through three stages: (i) implicit belief; (2)
controversy ; (3) explicit definition. Thus in the early
ages the validity of heretical Baptism was admitted in
practice by the fact of not repeating the Sacrament. But
when the question was formally proposed, there seemed to
be strong arguments both for and against the validity. At
this stage the most orthodox teachers might, and indeed
did, disagree. Finally, the matter was decided, and thence-
forth no further discussion was lawful within the Church.
(De Bapt, II. 12-14; Migne, ix. 133. See also Franzelin,
De Trad., thes. xxiii.)
Organic 4. But can we not go further and admit an organic
nfe V nt. op " development? In the case of logical development all the
conclusions are already contained in the premisses, and are
merely drawn out of them, whereas in organic development
PAST ].] The Rule of Faith. 107
the results are only potentially in the germs from which CHAP, v
they spring (Mark v. 28-32). In organic development E fl_ 35-
there is no alteration or corruption, no mere addition or
accretion ; there is vitality, absorption, assimilation, growth,
identity. Take, for example, the doctrines mentioned above.
Scripture teaches plainly that there is only one God ; yet
it speaks of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and it speaks of
Jesus Christ in such terms that He must be both God and
Man. It was not until after some centuries that these truths
were elaborated into the definitions which we are bound
to believe. Who can doubt that during these centuries
the primitive teaching absorbed into itself the appropriate
Greek elements, and that the process was analogous to the
growth of an organism ? (Supra, p. xx.) This view of the
organic development of the Church's teaching is a con-
clusive answer to those who ask us to produce from ancient
authorities the exact counterpart of what we now believe
and practise. They might just as well look for the branches
and leaves of an oak in the acorn from which it sprang.
" Shall we then have no advancement of religion in Vincent
the Church of Christ ? Let us have it indeed, and the
greatest. . . . But yet in such sort that it be truly an
advancement of faith, not a change (sed ita tamen lit
vere profectus sit ille fidei, non permutatio), seeing that it is
the nature of an advancement, that in itself each thing
(severally) grow greater, but of a change that something
be turned from one thing into another. . . . Let the soul's
religion imitate the law of the body, which, as years go on,
develops indeed and opens out its due proportions, and
yet remains identically what it was. . . . Small are a
baby's limbs, a youth's are larger, yet they are the
same. ... So also the doctrine of the Christian religion
must follow those laws of advancement ; namely, that with
years it be consolidated, with time it be expanded, with
age it be exalted, yet remain uncorrupt and untouched,
and be full and perfect in all the proportions of each of its
parts, and with all its members, as it were, and proper
senses ; that it admit no change besides, sustain no loss
of its propriety, no variety of its definition. Wherefore, Modes oi
whatsoever in this Church, God's husbandry, has by the ^nt, 01 *
io8 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. v. faith of our fathers been sown, that same must be cultivated
sh.cri.36. by the industry of their children, that same flourish and
ripen, that same advance and be perfected " (Commoni-
torium, nn. 28, 29).
Erroneous III. Revelation does not follow the merely natural laws
of development like any other body of thought. While it is
indeed necessarily influenced by the natural environment
in which it exists, this influence works under Divine Pro-
vidence and the infallible guidance of the Church. More-
over, it can never come to pass that an early dogmatic
definition should afterwards be revoked, or be understood
in a sense at variance with the meaning originally attached
to it by the Church. "The doctrine which God has
revealed has not been proposed as some philosophical
discovery to be perfected by the wit of man, but has
been entrusted to Christ's Spouse as a Divine deposit to
be faithfully guarded and infallibly declared. Hence
sacred dogmas must ever be understood in the sense once
for all (seme/) declared by Holy Mother Church ; and
never must that sense be abandoned under pretext of pro-
founder knowledge (altioris intelligenti<z)? (Vat. Council,
Sess. iii. chap. 4.) On the whole subject, see Newman's
great work, Development of Christian Doctrine.
SECT. 36. The chief Dogmatic Documents Creeds and
Decrees.
The most important dogmatic documents are the
Creeds, or Symbols of Faith, and the decrees of the Popes
and of General and Particular Councils.
I. Creeds.
The i. The simplest and oldest Creed, which is the founda-
Cr p e ed! es ' tion of al * the others, is the Apostles' Creed. There are,
however, twelve different forms of it, which are given in
Denzinger's Enchiridion. See Dublin Review, Oct., 1888,
July, 1889; and Le Symbole des Apdtres, by Batiffol and
Vacant, in the Diet, de Thtol. Catholique.
Nicene 2 - The Nicene Creed, published by the Council of Nicaea
Creed. ( A D 325), defines the Divinity of Christ. It originally ended
with the words, " and in the Holy Ghost." The subsequent
clauses concerning the Divinity of the Holy Ghost were
PART I.] The Rule of Faith. 109
added before the First Council of Constantinople. In its -HAP. v
SECT. 36.
complete form it is now used in the Mass.
3. The Athanasian Creed was probably not composed Athanasian
by St. Athanasius, but is called by his name because it
contains the doctrines so ably expounded and strenuously
defended by him. It is aimed at the heresies of the fourth
and fifth centuries, and dates back at least to the sixth or
seventh century.
4. The Creed of Toledo, published by the sixth council Creed of
of Toledo (A.D. 675), further develops the Athanasian Creed,
and is the most complete of the authentic expositions of
the dogmas of the Blessed Trinity and Incarnation. As
it closely follows St. Augustine's teaching, it might almost
be called " St. Augustine's Creed " with even more reason
than the preceding creed is called the creed of St. Athana-
sius. See Denzinger, n. xxvi.
5. The Creed of Leo IX. is a free elaboration of the Creed of
Nicene Creed, with some additions against Manichaeans
and Pelagians. See Denzinger, n. xxxix. It is still used
at the consecration of Bishops.
6. The Creed of the Fourth Lateran Council, the famous Creed of
caput Fir miter ere dimus, under Innocent III. (1215), which Lateran
is the first Decretal in the Corpus Juris Canonici, is in
substance similar to the foregoing, but further develops
the doctrine concerning Sacrifice, Baptism, and particularly
Transubstantiation. The subjoined condemnation of Abbot
Joachim completes the dogmatic definition of the Holy
Trinity. See Denzinger, n. lii. ; also St. Thomas, Expositio
Priince et Secundce Decretalis, Opuscc. xxiii. and xxiv.
7. The formula prescribed by the same Pope Innocent
III. (1210) to the converts among the Waldenses, states
more or less extensively the doctrine concerning the Sacra-
ments, and also various matters of morals and discipline.
Denzinger, n. liii.
8. The Confession of Faith made by Michael Palaeo-
logus in the Second Council of Lyons, 1274, accepted by
Pope Gregory X., is based upon the Creed of Leo IX., but
adds clauses containing the doctrine concerning the Four
Last Things (Death, Judgment, Hell, Heaven), the Sacra-
ments, and the Primacy of the Roman Church.
no A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. v. After the Council of Trent thiee more professions of
- 3 ' Faith for the use of converts were issued by the Popes, all
of which begin with the Nicene Creed, and contain in
addition appropriate extracts from the decrees of several
councils.
Creed of o. The so-called Tridentine Profession of Faith, drawn
I'lUb IV*
up in 1564 by Pius IV. for converts from Protestantism,
recapitulates the most important decrees of the Council of
Trent. Denzinger, n. Ixxxii.
Creed of io. The Profession of Faith prescribed by Gregory XIII.
xiiL >ry to the Greeks contains the principal decrees of the Council
of Florence concerning the Trinity, the Four Last Things,
and the Primacy. Denzinger, n. Ixxxiii.
Creed of 1 1. Lastly, the Profession of Faith for the Easterns.
Urban VIII. * ITTTT . .,/
prescribed by Urban VI II., is copied from the Decre-
tum pro Jacobitis, published by the Council of Florence.
It is a summary of the teaching of the first eight ecu-
menical councils, and contains the same extracts from the
Council of Florence as the foregoing Profession. It also
includes many definitions of the Council of Trent. It is
composed on historical lines, and is the most complete of
all the Creeds. Denzinger, n. Ixxxiv.
Decree*. II. The decrees of the Popes and the councils are
sometimes negative and aphoristic, and sometimes positive
and developed formulas. The drawing up of these
formulas was, as a rule, the work of doctors or of particular
Churches or of the Holy See ; in a few cases these were
the results of the combined labours of the bishops
assembled in councils. In this respect the Council of
Trent excelled all others. The various decrees are given
in Denzinger's Enchiridion.
PART II.
THEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE CONSIDERED IN
ITSELF, OR SUBJECTIVELY.
THEOLOGICAL knowledge should be considered under a Faith and
twofold aspect : (i) as act of Faith ; and (2) as theological scUm*.
science. Faith assents to revealed truths on the authority
of God Who reveals them, whereas theological science,
under the guidance of Faith, submits them to examination
and discussion in order to gain a clearer and deeper
insight into them. This distinction has been disregarded
in modern times even more than the various distinctions
in the objective principles of theological knowledge.
Hence the Vatican Council has dealt with it in detail,
especially in the third and fourth chapters of the Con-
stitution concerning Catholic Faith.
See Denzinger, Religious Kno^vledge, books iii. and iv. Authority,
(in German) ; Kleutgen, Theology of the Olden Time, vol. iii.
(in German) ; Schrader, De Fide, utrum ea imperari possit ?
These three authors have made the best use of the
materials contained in the older theological works. See
also Alexander of Hales, Summa, p. iii., q. 68, 69 ; St.
Thomas, 2 a 2 X , q. I sqq. ; Quasi. Dispp. De Veritate, q. 14,
and various portions of the opusculum, Super Boetium De
Trinitate. The question of Faith was exhaustively treated
in the century following the Council of Trent. See among
the commentators on the Secunda Secundae, Bannez,
Salmanticenses, Reding, Valentia, Tanner, Ysambert ;
Suarez, De Virtut. Theol. ; Lugo, De Fide. In English,
we have Card. Newman's Grammar of Assent, and Mr.
Wilfrid Ward's brilliant little work, TJie Wish to Believe.
A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAPTER I.
FAITH.
SECT. 37. Etymology of the various words used for
Faith The true Notion of Faith.
I. The English word Faith is derived from the Latin
Fides, and is akin to the Greek Tn'orte ; Belief is akin to
the German Glauben ; Creed, Credibility are derived from
the Latin Credere. We have, therefore, to examine the
four words, fides, credere, TT'HJTIQ, and glauben. Both fides
and credere convey the fundamental meaning of trowing,
trusting (Germ, trarten}. Credere is akin to KparHv, to
grasp firmly and to hold ; Sanscr. Krat-dha, to give trust,
to confide. The noun Fides conveys also the meaning of
trust, confidence, and fidelity. The notion of confidence or
trust appears in the derived forms, fido, fidentia, fiducia ;
the notion of fidelity, i.e. firm adherence, in fidelis,fidelitas,
and fidns.
so often used in Holy Scripture, comes from
, which, according to its root bliidh, bhadh, originally
meant to bind, fasten, hold fast. It afterwards became
specialized in the sense of binding by means of speech
that is, to convince, to persuade. We can thus understand
how 7n'mc has all the significations of fides. It must, how-
ever, be remarked that when used to express some relation
between God and man, iriariQ is used in a passive or
middle sense, (irtiQiaQaL = to be bound, convinced, or per-
suaded, and to allow one's-self to be bound, convinced, or
persuaded), and that this use is noticeable everywhere in
the Sacred Writings. Hence Tramp involves, first, on the
part of the irsiOofj^vof, the believer, a willing listening and
PART II] Faith. 113
submission (VTTCIKOVEIV, obandire. obedire) to the command- CHAP, i
SECT* 37
ing call of God, by Whom the hearer allows himself to be
bound ; secondly, a cleaving to God, to Whom the hearer
allows himself to be bound by accepting His good gift, and
by entering into a pact,y^//j, with Him.
In these are included fidelity and confidence, in a form
peculiar to religious 7r?<me, namely, as a docile and con-
fident submission to the Divine guidance. The two
elements of -jricmq, obedience and fidelity appear mani-
festly in the two expressions used to designate the contrary
notions, cnrtiOtia, inobedientia, disobedience, and airiaria,
perfidia, faithlessness, and diffidentia y distrust.
The German word Glauben has the same root as
lieben, loben, geloben, to love, to praise, to promise ; viz.
" lubh," in lubet, libet to wish to find good, to approve.
Hence it has the radical meaning of accepting willingly
and holding fast, approving.
It is plain that these various words, according to their
etymology and theological use, do not exclusively refer to
acts or habits of the intellect. They often express the
affections and dispositions of the will, especially obedience
and hope, as based on or aiming at some act of knowledge.
As a rule, however, they express acts of the intellect only,
in so far as these are dependent on or connected with acts
of the will. In Holy Scripture irian^ and iriaTivtiv, when
used with reference to God, mean, purely and simply, to
cling and hold fast to God, and consequently all the acts
involved in clinging to God, or any one of them, according
to the context. When applied to acts of knowledge, these
expressions designate only those which have some analogy
with acts of the will, such as to admit, hold, cling to,
approve, consent, amplecti, adharere, crvyKaTaTiOeaOai. The
sense in which the "holding something for true" is called
fides, TriffTig, is manifold. Thus fides and TTIOTIQ are often
used generically to designate every " holding for true,"
every conviction ; nay, they are sometimes used as the
technical terms for conviction, like the German Ueber-
zeugung. On the other hand, " to believe " is often used
as equivalent to mean, think, opine, as expressing a more
or less arbitrary assent founded on imperfect evidence.
I
114 A Manual of Catholic Theology. (BOOK I.
CHAP. i. II. The special signification of the terms Faith, Fides,
E fll_ 37 ' rh'arte, with which we are now concerned, is " assent on
"Assent on ,, .. ,, .. . ,, r ...
authority." authority ; that is to say, the acceptance of a proposition,
not because we ourselves perceive its truth, but because
another person tells us that it is true. The notion of Faith
implies that the assent is considered as something good
and desirable. " Assent on authority " results from our
esteem for the mental and moral qualifications of the
witness, and is, therefore, accompanied by a willing acknow-
ledgment of a sort of perfection in him, and also by a re-
spectful and confiding submission to the authority which
that perfection confers Hence Faith is not simply an
act of the intellect, but an act commanded and brought
about by the will acting on the intellect : the assent of
the intellect to what is true is determined by the consent
of the will to what is good. This consent implies an appro-
bation given to the assent of the intellect, and a willing
acknowledgment of the authority of the speaker.
The part HI. The part played by the will in this sort of Faith re-
UMwiiL sembles any other sort of deference to authority. It con-
sists in submitting to a legitimate order or call to perform
some action. The person who gives the order is the author
of the action rather than he who actually performs it, whence
comes the term Authority. In ordinary cases we are invited
rather than commanded to assent on the authority of
another. We may have some doubt, as to his knowledge
or veracity, and even if we have no such doubt, he has no
power or right over us. But when the author or speaker is
the Supreme Lord, Infinite Wisdom, and Infinite Truth, He
is entitled to exact complete consent of our will, and to
set before us His knowledge, not merely as a basis, but
even as a rule, of conviction. The act of Faith is, however,
distinguishable from most other acts of submission to
authority by the peculiarity that the authority which exacts
it must also make it possible, and must co-operate in its
production. This is brought about by the Divine Author
constituting Himself the guarantee of the truth of what He
communicates. The speaker, in virtue of the moral per-
fection of His will, guarantees that He communicates only
what He knows to be true ; and that, moreover, by virtue
PABT II.] Faith. 115
of the perfection of His intellect all danger of error is ex- CHAP. T.
eluded, thus offering to the mind of the hearer a founda- E 3 '
tion for certitude, surer than the latter's own personal
knowledge.
IV. The manner in which authority asserts itself to and Reverence
is received by a believer varies according to the nature of Father.
the authority and of the communication made. The nearest
approach to Divine authority and Divine Faith is found
in the relations between parents and their offspring. Parents
have a natural superiority and dominion over their children,
as being the authors of their existence ; hence their autho-
rity, unlike that of any other person, is in itself, apart from
any external legitimation, sufficient to command the assent
of their children. And in like manner, the respect and
reverence due to parents cause the child to take for granted
their knowledge and veracity. The relation between God
and man is a sort of spiritual paternity (cf. Heb. xii. 9)
whereby we are entitled to address Him as " Our Father."
Human parents, although their children reasonably assume
their knowledge and veracity, may, however, deceive or be
deceived. But our Heavenly Father is Infinite Wisdom
and Truth itself.
SECT. 38. Nature of Theological Faith.
I. Theological Faith is assent given to the Word of Termi-
nology.
God in a manner befitting its excellence and power. It
is also termed Divine Faith, in opposition to human
faith that is, faith founded on the authority of man ;
Supernatural Faith, because it leads to supernatural
salvation and has God for its Author and Generator;
Christian Faith, because its subject-matter is the Revela-
tion made by Christ, and because it is interwoven with the
Christian economy of salvation ; Catholic Faith, because it
is assent to the doctrines proposed by the Catholic Church.
These four appellations are not exactly synonymous, but
they all designate the same act, though under different
aspects.
II. The nature of Theological Faith has been clearly The Vatican
defined by the Vatican Council, sess. iii., chap. 3 : " Seeing Faith.
that man wholly dependeth upon God as his Creator and
n6 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. i. Lord, and seeing that created reason is entirely subject
SliCT. ?8.
- to Uncreated Truth, we are bound to submit by Faith our
intellect and will to God the Revealer. But this Faith,
which is the beginning of man's salvation, the Church con-
fesseth to be a supernatural virtue, whereby, with the help
of God's grace, we believe what He revealeth, not because
we perceive its intrinsic truth by the natural light of oui
reason, but on account of the authority of God the Re-
vealer, Who can neither deceive nor be deceived. For
Faith, according to the Apostle, is ' the substance of things
to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not'
(Heb. xi. i)."
This definition means (i) that Theological Faith is
faith in the strictest sense of the word that is to say,
assent on authority, implying an act of the intellect as well
as an act of the will ; (2) that it is faith in an eminent
degree, because it implies unlimited submission to God's
sovereign authority and an absolute confidence in His
veracity, and is therefore an act of religious worship and
a theological virtue ; and (3) that it is influenced, not only
externally by Divine authority, but also internally by
Divine Grace, and consequently is supernatural. These
three characteristics of Theological Faith distinguish it
from all natural knowledge with which the Rationalists
confound it, and also from all forms of rational or irra-
tional, instinctive emotional Faith.
St. Paul's The classical text Heb. xi. I, is quoted by the council
With.' ' in confirmation of its teaching. It describes Faith as the
act of spiritually seizing and holding fast things that are
beyond the sphere of our intellect things the vision of
which is the object of our hope and the essence of our
future happiness. It tells us that Faith is a conviction
pointing and leading to the future vision, and even antici-
pating the fruition of it. Hence it implies that Faith, like
the future vision itself, is a supernatural participation in
the knowledge of God and a likening of our knowledge to
His, inasmuch as our Faith has the same subject-matter as
the Divine knowledge, and resembles it in its inner per-
fection. The literal meaning of the text is as follows :
"The substance, viroaraffig, of things to be hoped for" is a
PART IT.] Faith. 1 1 ^
giving in hand, as it were, a pledge and security for the CHAP. I.
future good gifts, and so a sort of anticipation of their '-
possession ; " the evidence tXsyx ^ f things that appear
not, /uLij fiXfiro/utvwv," is an evident demonstration, a clear
showing, hence a perfect certitude and conviction, con-
cerning things invisible. These expressions are applicable
to the habit of Faith without any figure of speech ; to
the act of Faith they apply only figuratively as being the
result of the giving in hand and the clear manifestation.
Moreover, these relations of our Faith to the Beatific Vision
bring out, as clearly as the definition of the council, the
difference between Theological Faith and every other sort
of faith or knowledge.
III. We are now in a position to trace the genesis of Thegenesi
Theological Faith. The believer, moved by grace, submits
to the authority of God and trusts in God's veracity, and
strives to conform his mental judgment to that of God
and to connect his convictions in the closest manner with
God's infallible knowledge. Grace makes this connection
so perfect that a most intimate union and relationship are
established between the believer's knowledge and the
Divine knowledge ; the excellence and virtue of the latter
are thus communicated to the former, and mould it into
an introduction to and participation of eternal life.
IV. We subjoin some remarks on the use of the term Various uses
Faith in theological literature. Fides is used to signify Faith. er
either the act (credere, fides qud creditur) ; or the principle
of the act (gratia fidei, lumen seu virtus fidei) ; or its sub-
ject-matter (fides qua creditur], especially the collection of
creeds, definitions, and the like. A distinction is sometimes
drawn between Explicit and Implicit Faith, founded upon
the degree of distinctness with which the act of Faith
apprehends its subject-matter ; also between Formal Faith,
which supposes an explicit knowledge of the motive and
an express act of the will, and Virtual Faith, which is a
habit infused or resulting from repeated acts of Formal
Faith, and produces acts of Faith as it were instinctively
without distinct consciousness of Formal Faith. The ex-
pression Credere Deum signifies belief in God as the subject-
matter of the act "I believe that God exists;" Credere
1 1 8 A Mamtal of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP, i Deo means belief on the authority of God "I believe
- what God says ; " Credere in Deum implies both of the
former meanings " I believe in God on God's authority."
SECT. 39. TV*.? Formal Object or Motive of Faith.
Themotire I. To the question, "Why do we believe?" or "What
is the motive of our Faith ? " many answers may be given.
Some motives of Faith are similar to those which induce
us to elicit other free acts of the will. They may be grouped
under the head of what is fitting and useful (decens et
utile, orjustum et commoduni), and are the following : Faith
contributes to our moral perfection, and leads to our eternal
salvation ; it ennobles the soul and satisfies the moral
necessity of submission to and union with God ; it enriches
and elevates our mental knowledge by increasing its store
and by strengthening its certitude. As a rule, however,
when we speak of the motive of Faith we understand
that by means of which the act of Faith is produced. In
the case of Theological Faith this is the Word of God,
whence the name " theological," that is, relating immedi-
ately to God, is applied to this sort of Faith. We believe
a truth proposed to us because it is the Word of God
a word founded upon Divine Authority, and therefore
entitled to the homage of our intellect and will.
HOW Divine II. Divine Authority influences Faith in a twofold
fnfluencw manner : it is a call to Faith and it is a testimony to the
Faith. truth O f Faith. As a call to Faith, Divine Authority is
the expression of the Divine will and power to which
man is bound to submit. As a testimony to the truth
of Faith, Divine authority acts as the Supreme Truth,
guaranteeing the truth of the Faith and supplying a
perfect foundation for certitude. In both respects the
Divine authority is based upon God's Essence, in virtue
of which He is the Highest Being, the Uncreated Prin-
ciple of all things, the Possessor of all truth, the Source
of all goodness. Hence the classical form " God is the
motive of Faith inasmuch as He is the First Truth."
Now God is the First Truth in a threefold sense : in
being (in essendo), because of the infinite perfection of His
Being; in knowledge (in cognoscendo), because He possesses
PAET II.] Faith. 119
infinite knowledge ; in speech (in dicendo), because, being CITAP. i.
infinitely holy, He cannot deceive. Divine authority, as
the motive of Faith, acts on the will. The will, moved by
respect and confidence, reacts upon the intellect, urging it
to elicit an act of Faith in what is proposed by the Infallible
Truth. As in every act of faith, of whatever kind, the
believer bases his assent on the knowledge and veracity
of the witness, so in the case of Divine Faith, the will
urges the intellect to base its assent upon the infallible
knowledge and veracity of the great First Truth. The
motive of Faith is impressed by the will upon the intellect
as a light which enlightens and manifests the truth of the
Word proposed, which thus in its turn acts on the intel-
lect directly and not merely by means of the will. Again :
the motive of Faith that is, God as the First Being and
First Truth is at the same time, conjointly with the
contents of Revelation, the end and object towards the
apprehension of which the will moves the intellect.
SECT. 40. The Subject- Matter of Faith.
I. A proposition or fact becomes the subject-matter
of Faith when God reveals it and commands us to believe
it on His authority. When these two conditions are ful-
filled, Faith finds in God both its " substance " and its
"evidence" (Heb. xi. i). All such truths must be believed
with Divine Faith properly so-called. In the following
cases it is doubtful whether, or at least how far, a truth
can be believed with Divine Faith.
i. Truths which are revealed only mediately and virtu- Mediately
ally that is, evidently inferred from truths directly and trutte? d
immediately revealed are the subject-matter of Theological
Knowledge rather than of Divine Faith. If, however, God
intended to reveal them, and if they were known to the
first promulgators of Revelation, some theologians (e.g.
Reding) think that they may be believed with Divine Faith.
But most theologians (e.g. Suarez, Lugo, Kleutgen) are of
opinion that Divine Faith is possible in the case of these
truths only when they are authoritatively proposed by the
Church. The reason is that the proposal of them by the
Church takes the place of the immediate proposal by God
1 20 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK j.
CHAP. i. Himself, and assumes the form of an extensive interpreta-
SBCT. 40. . _ , ->...
tion of the Divine Word.
Truths in- 2. Truths which only indirectly belong to the domain
concerted of Revelation (supra, 5, II.) are primarily the subject-
Revelation, matter of human knowledge ; they become the subject-
matter of Faith when the Church has authoritatively
proposed them for belief. In such cases God Himself gives
testimony by means of the Church, which acts as His
plenipotentiary and ambassador. The assent given re-
sembles Theological Faith in this, that it springs from
respect for the knowledge, veracity, and authority of God,
and is infallible. Nevertheless, as this assent is not
directly founded upon God's knowledge but rather upon
the knowledge possessed by the Church, there is an essen-
tial difference between Theological Faith and the assent
given to truths indirectly connected with Revelation.
The latter, which is called Ecclesiastical Faith, is less
perfect than the former, but still, by reason of its re-
ligious and infallible character, is far above any purely
human faith. Many theologians, notably Muzzarelli,
declare that these truths are the subject-matter of Divine
Faith on account of the Divinely promised infallibility of
the Church. They claim Divine Faith especially for
matters connected with morals and for the canonization of
Saints, because an error in either would tell against the
divinely revealed sanctity of the Church, while the latter is
moreover based upon the miracles wrought by God in proof
of the holiness of His Saints. We may observe, in reply,
that the relation of moral matters with the sanctity of the
Church only indirectly bases Faith in them on God's know-
ledge. Again, the miracles wrought through the interces-
sion of holy persons are not direct revelations, but are only
indications of the Divine Will which the Church interprets,
and consequently Faith founded upon them is only
Ecclesiastical Faith.
The subject II. Foremost among the attributes cf the subject-
Faith is matter of Faith is its truth. Whatever is proposed for
our belief must be true in itself. Still, Faith does not sup-
pose in the believer a direct knowledge of the truths which
he believes, nor an illumination of his mind similar to that
.] Faith. 121
of the Beatific Vision. On the contrary, Faith being " the CHAP. i.
J & SECT. 40.
evidence of things that appear not," implies that its subject-
matter is inaccessible to the natural eye of the mind, even
when revealed ; it is the peculiar excellence of Faith that
it makes the unseen as certain to our minds as the seen
(Heb. xi. 27). Trusting in God's knowledge and veracity,
Faith glories in truths above reason, and delights in mystery ;
it transcends all human faith and science, inasmuch
as it embraces objects far beyond the sphere of the human
mind. But although " the things that appear not " are the
proper subject-matter of Faith, it must not be supposed
that absolute invisibility is required. The relatively in-
visible can also be made its subject-matter (cf. St. Thorn.
2*. 2*. q. i, a. 3 : " Utrum objectum fidei possit esse aliquid
visum," and a. 4 : " Utrum possit esse scitum ").
III. In accordance with its being "the substance off.^^J^
things to be hoped for," and in accordance with the inten-
tions of its Author, Faith aims at giving us the know-
ledge of the things concerning our future supernatural
happiness. Hence, God Himself, in His invisible Essence,
as He is and as He will reveal Himself to the blessed
in the Beatific Vision, and God's Nature as the principle
which causes our supernatural perfection and beatitude
by communicating Itself to us, are the chief subjects of
Faith. Hence we see again how much the subject-matter
of Faith transcends all human knowledge, for no natural
faculties can reach the heights or fathom the depths of
the Divine Essence and its relations with the soul of man
(cf. i Cor. ii.). Indeed, the whole supernatural economy of
salvation is subordinate to the belief in God as the final
object of our eternal beatitude.
IV. Faith is founded on God's knowledge and vera- itstrans-
. . cendcntal
city ; it has God and His Divine Nature for its subject- ci-aracter.
matter ; and it tends to the Beatific Union with Him.
Seeing to a certain extent, as it were, all things in God
and through God, it not only reduces all its own tenets
to a certain unity in God, but also apprehends in God and
through God all created truth, and judges of all created
things with reference to God, Who is their ultimate End
and immutable Ruler. Faith is therefore, in a certain
122 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. i. sense, what modern philosophers call a " transcendental
E ^Il 41 ' knowledge." Adhering to God in all humility, it effects
what philosophers have vainly attempted by their exag-
geration of the natural powers of the human mind
(Matt. xi. 25),
SECT. 41. The Motives of Credibility.
Motives of I- To enable us to elicit an act of Divine Faith in a
wha d t! blhty revealed truth, the fact of its being revealed must also be
perfectly certain to us. Without this perfect certitude
we could not reasonably assent to it on the authority of
God. Hence Innocent XI. condemned the proposition ;
" The supernatural assent of Faith necessary for salvation
is compatible with merely probable knowledge of Revela-
tion, nay even with doubt whether God has spoken"
(prop. xxi.). No certitude is perfect unless based upon
reasonable motives. We cannot, therefore, accept with
certitude any proposition as being the word of God without
Motives of Credibility that is, marks and criteria clearly
showing the proposition to be really the Word of God.
The Motives of Credibility are not the same thing
as the Motives of Faith. The former refer to the fact
that a particular doctrine was originally revealed by God ,
the latter refer to the necessity of believing generally what-
ever God has revealed. Both are the foundation of the
reasonableness of our Faith. This will be clear if we bear
in mind that the assent given in an act of Faith is in-
fermtial : " Whatever God reveals is true ; God has re-
vealed, e.g., the mystery of the Blessed Trinity ; therefore
the mystery is true." The Motives of Faith are the reasons
for assenting to the major premise ; the Motives of Credi-
bility are the reasons for assenting to the minor. The
Motives of Faith that is to say, God's knowledge and
veracity are, however, so evident that no one can call
them in question ; whereas the Motives of Credibility that
is, the proofs that a given doctrine is of Divine origin are
by no means self-evident, but are the object of the fiercest
attacks of unbelievers. It is on this account that, in deal-
ing with the reasonableness of Faith, stress is laid prin-
cipally upon the Motives of Credibility.
PART II.] Faith. 123
II. The chief errors concerning the Motives of Credi- CHAP. i.
SECT* <ii*
bility are : (i) Rationalism, which denies the possibility of
' * Erroneous
any reasonable certainty in matters said to be revealed, opinions and
, / _ ' f ... Catholic
(2) Protestantism, at least in some of its forms, which substi- doctrine,
tutes for external criteria inward feelings and consolations.
(3) Some Catholic Theologians have also erred by assign-
ing too prominent a place to these inward feelings. Against
these errors the Vatican Council has defined the Catholic
doctrine on the nature of the certitude concerning the fact
of Revelation, and has especially declared how the pro-
position by the Church of doctrines as revealed, is a legiti-
mate promulgation of the Divine word : " In order that
the submission of our Faith might be in accordance with
reason, God hath willed to give us, together with the
internal assistance of the Holy Ghost, external proofs of
His Revelation, namely, Divine facts and, above all, mira-
cles and prophecies, which, while they clearly manifest
God's almighty power and infinite knowledge, are most
certain Divine signs of Revelation adapted to the under-
standing of all men. Wherefore Moses, and the Prophets,
and especially Christ our Lord Himself, wrought and
uttered many and most manifest miracles and prophecies;
and touching the Apostles we read, 'They going forth
preached the word everywhere, the Lord working withal,
and confirming the word with the signs that followed '
(Mark xvi. 20). And again, it is written, ' We have the
more firm prophetical word, whereunto you do well to
attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place ' (2 Pet.
i. 19). But in order that we may fulfil the duty of embracing
the true Faith, and of persevering therein constantly, God,
by means of His Only Begotten Son, hath instituted the
Church, and hath endowed her with plain marks whereby
she may be recognized by all men as the guardian and
mistress of the revealed word. For to the Catholic Church
alone belong all the wonders which have been divinely
arranged for the evident credibility of the Christian Faith.
Moreover, the Church herself, by her wonderful propaga-
tion, exalted sanctity, and unbounded fertility in all that is
good, by her Catholic unity and invincible stability, is both
an enduring motive of credibility and an unimpeachable
124 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. i. testimony of her Divine mission. Whence it is that like a
SECT. 41.
standard set up unto the nations (Isai. xi. 12) she calleth
to her them that have not yet believed, and maketh her
children certain that the Faith which they profess resteth
on the surest foundation " (sess. iii., chap. 3).
The Catholic Church therefore teaches: (i) that we
must have a rational certitude of the fact of Revelation in
order that our Faith may be itself rational ; (2) that this
certitude is not founded exclusively on internal experience,
but also, and indeed chiefly, on external and manifest
facts ; (3) that these external and manifest facts which
accompany the proposition of Revelation can produce a
perfect certitude of the fact of Revelation in the minds of
all ; and (4) that these facts not only accompany the
original proposition of Revelation, and thus come down to
us as facts of past history, but that by means of the unity
and stability of the Church they are perpetuated in the
same way as the promulgation of the Divine Word, and
are at all times manifest to all who inquire.
Explanation III. The following paragraphs will serve to explain and
and proof of
the catholic prove the doctrine just stated.
Faith must i. First of all it is evident that our Faith cannot be a
Me." eas '" "reasonable worship" unless sound reasons, distinct from
Revelation and the result of our own inquiries, persuade
us of the fact that the doctrines proposed for our belief
are really the Word of God. If we believe without any
reason, our Faith is manifestly irrational. On the other
hand, if we believe for revealed reasons exclusively, our
Faith is also irrational, because we thereby fall into a
vicious circle. We do not, however, maintain that the
assent must be purely rational.
s-ibjective 2. It is not necessary, according to the teaching of most
wffices. 6 theologians, nor is it implied in the terms of the Vatican
definition, that the certitude of the fact of Revelation
should be invariably, in each and every case, absolutely
perfect. It is enough if it appears satisfactory to the
believer, and excludes all doubt from his mind ; in other
words, a subjective and relative certitude is sufficient. But
this applies especially to the cases of children and unedu-
cated persons, and even then it supposes that those persons
PABT n.] Faith. 125
upon whose humim testimony they rely have a perfect CHAP. i.
and objective certitude. Cf, Haunold, Theol. Spec., lib. iii., -
tract ix., c. 2 ; also Bishop Lefranc de Pompignan's con-
troversy with a Calvinist, Sur la Foi des Enfants et des
Adultes ignorants, in Migne's Curs. Theol., torn, vi., p. 1070.
3. Among the signs of the Divine origin of a doctrine inner
must be reckoned the inner experiences of the believer. nave'th"?**
The effects of grace upon the soul are especially important. p
Nevertheless, these inner experiences cannot be either the
exclusive or even the primary criteria of the Divine origin
of a doctrine, because they are subjective, that is, restricted
to the person who feels them, liable to illusions, and can
be felt only after the fact of the Revelation of the doctrine
has been otherwise apprehended. The Faith is proposed
by public authority, and exacts public and universal
obedience. It must therefore be supported by public and
plain signs of its Divine origin.
4. Among the external signs of the fact of Revelation, Human
purely human testimony has a place only in so far as it
bears witness to the Divine facts connected with Revelation
to those persons who cannot personally apprehend them.
The proper criterion of the Divine origin of a verbal com-
munication, as might be expected from the nature of the
thing, and also according to the teaching of the Church,
consists in external, supernatural, and Divine facts or
effects, which God intimately connects with the proposition
of His Revelation, and by which He signifies to us His will
that we should believe that He has spoken.
c. As God has ordained that His word should be pro- Continuity
c 1 r i i i f 1 of the Idbii
posed to the faithful by the ministry of authentic witnesses, ">ny.
the first point to be established is the Divine mission of these
witnesses. Although in theory it would be conceivable that
it was only the first promulgators of the Faith who had their
mission attested by Divine signs, and that this fact should
have been handed down to us in the same way as any
other historical event, nevertheless, as a matter of fact,
and as might be expected from the nature of Faith and
Revelation, God has ordained that the signs or criteria
of Divine origin should uninterruptedly accompany the
preaching of His doctrine. The fact of Revelation is
126 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. i. thereby brought home to us in a more lively, direct, and
*" 41 ' effective manner. This question is of the greatest im-
portance at the present time, when the Divine mission of
even Christ Himself is the object of so many attacks.
When the Divine mission of the Church was denied, and
thereby the existence of a continual, living testimony was
rejected, Faith in the Divine mission of Christ thence-
forth rested upon merely historical evidence, and so became
the prey of historical criticism. Besides, without a con-
tinuous Divine approbation, Christ's mission becomes such
an isolated fact that its full significance cannot be grasped.
Some Catholic theologians, in their endeavours to defend
Christianity and the Church on purely historical grounds,
have not given enough prominence to the constant signs
of Divine approbation which have accompanied the
Church's preaching in all ages. The Vatican definition
has therefore been most opportune. It is now of Faith
that the Church herself is " an enduring motive of credi-
bility and an unimpeachable testimony of her Divine
mission." Her wonderful propagation, in spite of the
greatest moral and physical difficulties, not only in her
early years, but even at the present day ; her eminent
sanctity, as manifested in her Saints, combined with their
miracles ; her inexhaustible fertility in every sort of good
work ; her unity in Faith, discipline, and worship ; her
invincible constancy in resisting the attacks of powerful
enemies within and without for more than eighteen cen-
turies : all these are manifest signs that she is not the
work of man, but the work of God.
Certitude g The certitude of the fact of Revelation must be in
excluding all
feared keeping with the firmness required by Faith. Hence all
theologians teach that the demonstration of this fact from
visible signs, such as prophecies and miracles, must be so
evident as to generate a certitude excluding all doubt and
fear of error a certitude sufficient to place a reasonable man
under the obligation of adhering to it. This, however, does
not mean that the evidence must be of the most perfect kind,
so as to render denial absolutely impossible. The proofs of
the fact of Revelation may admit of unreasonable dissent,
as is manifest by daily experience. Our judgment on the
PART II.] Faith. 12J
credibility of the fact of Revelation " It is worthy of belief CHAP. i.
that God has revealed these things ; they must, therefore, fc f2l.<'-
be believed," is formed with reference to God's veracity
and authority ; that is to say, the signs and wonders appear
as indications of God's command to believe and as pledges
of His veracity. Now, it is clear that the moral dispositions
of the inquirer exercise the greatest influence upon such a
judgment. If he has a love of truth, a deep reverence
for the authority and holiness of God, and firm confidence
in God's wisdom and providence, he easily sees how in-
compatible it would be with the supreme perfection of
God to give such positive indications of the existence
of a revelation if in fact He had made no revelation at
all. The inquirer is confronted with the dilemma : " Either
God is a deceiver or He has given a revelation to mankind ; "
and his good dispositions urge him unhesitatingly to accept
the latter alternative. On the other hand, if he has a dis-
like for, or no interest in, the truth, and if he is wanting in
submission to God and confidence in Him, he will endea-
vour to persuade himself that the signs do not come from
God, or are not intended to prove a revelation. It is
possible to refuse assent to the fact of Revelation by
rebelling against Divine authority, and treating God as a
deceiver, and herein consists the enormity of the sin of
infidelity. Hence St. Paul says, " Having faith and a good
conscience, which some rejecting have made shipwreck
concerning the faith " (i Tim. i. 19). Cf. Card. Newman,
Occasional Sermons, v., " Dispositions for Faith."
7. The prophecies, miracles, and other signs by which The Motives
we prove the credibility of the fact of Revelation, must wiity do not
not be confounded with the Motive of Faith, which is the SaSh.**
authority and veracity of God. The Motives of Credibility
do not produce the certitude of Faith ; they merely dispose,
lead, and urge the mind to submit to the Divine authority,
of which they are signs. This explains the condemnation
of Prop. ix. among those condemned by Innocent XI. :
" The will cannot make the assent of Faith more firm in
itself than is demanded by the weight of reasons inducing
us to believe." By the " weight of reasons " are meant
the Motives of Credibility, the rational certainty of which
128 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. i. is neither the measure of the confidence with which the
SECT. 43
will clings to the contents and facts of Revelation, nor the
measure of the firmness with which the intellect impelled
by the will adheres to them.
The ordinary 8. In order to elicit an act of Faith, we must know
Revelation, not only the fact, but also the contents, of Revelation :
in other words, we must know not only that a Revela-
tion has been made, but also the things which have been
revealed. The latter are either communicated directly by
God or are proposed by His infallible Church. In the
former case, Faith is possible even without their being
proposed by the Church. The ordinary way, however, in
which God makes Faith accessible to mankind is the
authoritative teaching of the Church. The object of this
teaching is not simply to convey to our minds the know-
ledge of revealed truth, as a book would do, but to render
possible the " faith which cometh by hearing," upon which
the Apostle insists. By submitting to the testimony
and authority of the Church, our Mother, we yield that
obedience of Faith which is the result of our reverence for
our Heavenly Father, and which is of the very essence of
Faith. It is, indeed, more difficult, because more against
our pride, to submit to the Church than to God directly ;
but by so doing we act in the true spirit of Faith.
The authoritative teaching of the Church does not
supply an entirely independent motive of Faith, or the
highest motive, or even a part of the highest motive. It
acts rather as an instrument or vehicle of the real motive.
The Church sets before us the contents of Revelation as
worthy of belief; she proposes detailed points of doctrine
as a living and ever-present witness, and demands our
assent thereto on the authority of God.
SECT. 42. Faith and Grace.
Faith a I. It is not absolutely impossible for man unaided by
v,rtue" a " a grace to elicit an act of faith of some kind. Man is natu-
rally able to perceive revealed truth when brought under
his notice, and also the authority of God and the motives
of credibility. His moral nature, too, prompts him to
reverence and honour God. An act of faith of some kind
PABT It.] Faith. 129
is, therefore, naturally possible. But the act of Faith CHAP. i.
intended and commanded by God transcends our natural ^J 1 -
faculties, and is supernatural in two ways : supernatural in
its very substance or essence (secundum substantiate, sive
essentiaui), inasmuch as it is the beginning, the root and
foundation of man's salvation ; and also supernatural in
its mode (secundum modum or secundum quid] by reason
of the great difficulty which the natural man finds in
embracing the Faith and accepting its consequences. The
first-named supernatural character is given by Elevating
Grace that is, by grace which raises nature to the super-
natural order ; the other comes from Medicinal Grace
that is, grace which makes up for the shortcomings of
nature. The Vatican Council teaches that Faith is a
"supernatural virtue whereby we believe with the help of
God's grace ; " and it repeats the words of the Seventh
Canon of the Second Council of Orange : " No man can
assent to the gospel preaching, in the manner requisite
for salvation (sicut oportet ad salutem consequendam\ with-
out the light and inspiration of the Holy Ghost, Who
giveth to every man sweetness in assenting to and believ-
ing in the truth."
A complete explanation and proof of these various
points must be deferred till we come to the treatise on
Grace. For our present purpose the following will be
sufficient.
II. The definition just quoted teaches directly that Faith Faith
... ... , . T-, , supernatural
is supernatural in its cause and in its object. But theeffectofa
. . supernatural
supernatural cause must communicate to the very act of cause.
Faith the worth which enables that act to attain a super-
natural object. Hence the act itself must be super-
natural ; it must be substantially different from every
merely natural act, and must be capable of attaining
an object transcending the natural order. Speaking
generally, the supernatural essence of the act of Faith
consists in our accepting revealed truths in a manner
befitting our dignity of adopted sons of God, destined to
the Beatific Vision ; and in a manner befitting the paternal
condescension of God, Who has deigned to speak to us as
His children, and to call and raise us to the most intimate
130 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [COOK f.
CHAP. I.
SECT. 42.
God the
efficient
cause of
Faith.
The pre-
paratory-
dispositions
must be
super-
natural.
union with Himself. But more particularly it consists in
the transformation of our sense of Faith (pius credulitatts
affectus] into a filial piety towards God, and into a striving
after its supernatural object in a manner commensurate
with the excellence of that object ; and also in the union
and assimilation of our knowledge with the Divine know-
ledge, so that Faith becomes as it were a participation of
God's own Life and Knowledge, and an anticipation and
ibretaste of the supernatural knowledge in store for us in
the Beatific Vision. The supernatural essence of Divine
Faith thus contains two elements, one moral, the other
intellectual, intimately interwoven but still distinct
III. Faith is Divine, not only because its certitude
is based upon God's authority, but also because God
Himself is the efficient cause acting upon the mind of the
believer and producing in him subjective certainty. Gcd
is the author of Faith as no one else can be. Holy
Scripture teaches that Christian Faith requires an in-
ternal illumination in addition to the external revelation
(Matt. xvi. 17), and, besides the hearing of the external
word, the hearing of an internal one, and the learning from
an internal teacher (John vi. 45) : the external revelation
is attributed to the visible Son, the internal to the in-
visible Father. It follows that Faith cannot be produced
by purely external influences, nor can the mind of man
produce it by his own natural exertions. Faith must be
infused into the soul by Divine light, and must be received
irom the hand of God.
IV. The acts of the mind preceding the infusion of
the light of Faith have merely the character of pre-
paratory dispositions or of co-operation enabling the light
of Faith to exert its own power. But even these acts
are supernatural from their very outset, and must there-
fore be the result of the illumination and inspiration of
the Holy Ghost. Hence the illumination which gives
the soul the immediate inclination and power to elicit
a supernatural act of Faith is not the only one to be
taken into account. The practical judgment " that we can
and ought to believe" which precedes the " plus affectus"
must itself be the result of a supernatural illumination.
PART IL] Faith. 13!
otherwise it could not produce a supernatural act of the CHAP. i.
will. The illumination has also the character of an E fl_ 43 *
internal word or call of God, at least so far as it repeats
and animates internally the command to believe given
to us by external revelation. Nevertheless a natural
knowledge of this same practical judgment must be pre-
supposed in order that the supernatural illumination may
itself take place. The best way to explain this is to con-
sider the natural judgment as merely speculative until the
action of the Holy Ghost transforms it into an effective
practical judgment determining the act of Faith.
V. The secondary and relatively supernatural character Faith also
of Faith, although less important, is nevertheless more lupe"- 6 y
apparent. Faith is beset with difficulties arising partly na
from the intellectual and moral conditions of our nature
and partly from the obligations which Faith imposes
upon the intellect and will of the believer. Without
the help of God's grace man could not surmount these
difficulties, and consequently the act of Faith would be,
even in this respect, morally impossible. All men, how-
ever, have not the same difficulty in believing. Hence the
necessity for God's assisting grace is not absolute but
relative, varying with the moral and intellectual disposi-
tions of the persons to whom Revelation is proposed.
SECT. 43. Man's Co-operation in the Act of Faith Faith
a Free A ct.
I. Although so many external causes are brought to Doctrine of
J . the Councils
bear on the act of Faith, and although God is its principal and Scrip-
ture.
cause, nevertheless the act of Faith is a Human Act and
a Free Act. According to the Vatican Council it is, as we
have seen, essentially an act of obedience, "an entire sub-
mission of the intellect and the will." It is therefore not
simply a passive or receptive act, nor a blind, instinctive
act, nor an act forced upon us by Divine grace or by the
weight of demonstration. The Council of Trent (sess. vi.
chaps. 4-5) describes Faith as a "free movement towards
God," implying a twofold operation : hearing His outward
word and receiving His inward inspiration. The Vatican
Council further explains the Tridcntine doctrine in sess.
132 A Manual of Cathohc Theology. [COOK i.
CHAP. i. iii., chap. 3. It speaks of "yielding free obedience to
- 44 " God," thus meeting the rationalistic assertion that the
assent of Christian Faith is the necessary result of human
arguments. The same doctrine may be gathered from
Holy Scripture, which always speaks of the act of Faith as
a free and moral act, an act of obedience, of worship, and
the like : cf. Rom. iv. 20 ; Mark x. 22 ; John xx. 27 ;
Matt. xvi. 17; Luke i. 45; Matt. ix. 29; Rom. iv. 3-20
sqq. ; Gal. iii. 6.
Twofold n. The Council of Trent also indicates the positive
liberty.
character of the free act of the will determining the act
of Faith : the will determines the act of Faith freely because
its moral dispositions move it to obey God. Besides
this primary liberty of Faith, there is also a secondary
liberty, arising from the non-cogency of the motives of
credibility, which allows the will to withhold its consent
and leaves room for doubt and even denial. Hence
every act of Faith must be determined by an act of free
will. The non-cogency of the motives of credibility may
be referred to three causes (a) the obscurity of the
Divine testimony (inevidentia attestantis) ; (b] the obscu-
rity of the contents of Revelation ; (c] the opposition
between the obligations imposed upon us by Faith and
the evil inclinations of our corrupt nature.
Liberty of III. In eliciting the act of Faith man's freedom is elevated
Faith super- ....
natural. to the supernatural order. This supernatural dignity and
excellence lead to a supernatural and Divine freedom
of the mind, the freedom of the children of God, the
freedom from error and doubt, the full and perfect posses-
sion of the highest truth in the bosom of the Eternal
Truth. Its childlike simplicity is really the highest sense,
and leads to the highest intellectual attainments, whereas
infidelity leads only to folly. " No more children tossed
to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine
by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness " (Eph.
iv. 14; cf. Luke x. 21).
SECT. 44. The Supreme Certitude of Faith.
The cer- e
F&STthe I. Faith requires the fullest assent, excluding every
iJMulmy. doubt and every fear of deception, and including the
PART IT.] Faith. 133
fullest conviction that what is believed cannot be other CHAP. i.
than true. No other faith answers to the excellence and E fJ[_ 44 -
force of God's infallible truth. Faith is thus essentially
different from mere opinion without certitude, and also
from so-called practical or moral certitude. The certi-
tude of Faith, as regards the firmness of assent, is essen-
tially higher and more perfect than the certitude of
science. The motive of Faith, which is the authority of
God, is more trustworthy than the light of our reason,
by which we obtain scientific certitude. We are bound
therefore to reject unconditionally any doubts or difficul-
ties arising from the exercise of our reason. As theolo-
gians say, the certainty of Faith is supreme, surmounting
all doubts and rising above all other certainties (certitudo
super omnia). The Vatican Council, as we have seen,
declares Faith to be a complete submission of the mind,
consisting in the perfect subjugation of the created in-
tellect to the uncreated Truth. And the council also
enjoins the unconditional rejection of any scientific in-
quiry at variance with the Faith (sess. iii. c. 4).
II. In order to understand this, a threefold distinction Explanation,
must be made.
1. The supreme certitude of Faith is appreciative in its
nature that is to say, it includes and results from a supreme
appreciation of its motive, but is not necessarily felt more
vividly than any other certitude. As a rule, this certitude
is felt even less vividly than human certitude based upon
unimpeachable evidence.
2. The supreme firmness of Faith must likewise be
distinguished from the incapability of being shaken which
belongs to evident human knowledge.
3. That the certitude of Faith is supreme does not
imply that all other certitude is untrustworthy, or that we
must be ready to resist evident human certitude apparently
conflicting with the Faith. A real conflict between Faith
and reason is impossible.
III. The high degree of certitude which belongs to the The light of
act of Faith is attained and completed by means of the
supernatural light of Faith which pervades all the elements
of the act. This light, being, as it were, a ray of the Divine
134 -d Manual of Catholic Theology. [HOOK I.
*^VP. i. Light, participates in the Divine infallibility and cannot
but illumine the truth. The certitude produced by it is
therefore Divine in every respect, and so absolutely infal-
lible that a real act of Faith can never have falsehood for
its subject-matter. This has been defined by the Vatican
Council, repeating the definition of the Fifth Lateran
Council : " Every assertion contrary to enlightened Faith
(illuminates fidei, i.e. Faith produced by Divine illumina-
tion) we define to be altogether false " (sess. iii., chap. 4).
The words " illuminatae fidei " signify the Faith as it is pro-
duced in the believer, as distinct from the external objec-
tive proposition of revealed truth, and also as distinct from
the act of human faith. In like manner the Council of
Trent states that Faith affords a certitude which can-
not have falsehood for its subject-matter (cut non potest
subesse falsum}. The light of Faith cannot be misapplied
to belief in error ; nevertheless it is possible for man to mis-
take an act of natural faith in a supposed revelation for
a supernatural act elicited by the aid of the light of Faith.
Some external criterion is needed whereby we may dis-
tinguish the one from the other. Such a criterion is sup-
plied by the Faith of the Church, which cannot err. Catholic
Faith carries with it the consciousness that it is Divine
Faith produced by Divine light, whereas the self-made
faith of Protestants cannot assert itself as Divine without
leading to fanaticism.
Faith iv. The supreme certitude of Faith implies that we
irreformable. *
must have the will to remain true to the Faith without
doubt or denial, and the firm conviction that it can never
be given up on account of its turning out to be false.
Hence, every act of Faith is an irreformable act, and pos-
sesses a certitude that cannot be shaken. Faith can, how-
ever, be destroyed by an abuse of our free-will. Again, we
are bound to reform faith which is erroneously thought to be
Divine but is applied by mistake to propositions not revealed
by God. The Vatican Council, after declaring how God
co-operates in the acceptance of Faith and in perseverance
therein, concludes thus : " Wherefore the condition of those
who have by the heavenly gift of Faith cleaved to Catholic
truth is by no means on a footing with the condition of
PART IT.] Faith. 135
those who, led by human opinions, follow a false religion ; CHAP. i.
for those who have received the Faith under the teaching E ^_ 4 ^-
of the Church can never have any just cause for changing
or calling the Faith in doubt " (sess. iii., chap. 3). And in
Canon 6, directed against the doctrines of Hermes, the
council enacts, "If any one shall say that the condition of
the Faithful is on a footing with that of those who have
not yet reached the one true Faith, so that Catholics can
have just cause for calling in doubt the Faith which they
have received under the Church's teaching, until they shall
have completed a scientific demonstration of the truth and
credibility of their Faith, let him be anathema." Every one
who embraces the Catholic Faith binds himself most
strictly to adhere to it for ever. " I promise most con-
stantly to retain and confess the same [Faith] entire and
inviolate, by God's help, to the last breath of my life"
(Creed of Pius IV.). No excuse can be made for any
breach of fidelity, except on the score of ignorance. Every
doubt against the Faith must unhesitatingly be rejected as
sinful.
SECT. 45. Necessity of Faith.
I. The Necessity of Faith is twofold: a Necessity of Necessity
Means and a Necessity of Precept. The latter always
includes the former, but not vice versd.
The Faith which is a necessary means of justification
and salvation is Theological Faith, perfect in its kind. In
infants the Habit of Faith is sufficient ; in those who have
reached the use of reason some act is required bearing in
some way on the economy of salvation as revealed by God.
Faith, in the broad sense of the word that is, faith founded
on the testimony which creatures give of God's existence
and providence is not enough (see prop, xxiii., condemned
by Innoc. XL, March 2, 1679). Nor is Inchoate Faith suffi-
cient that is, a faith in the germ, not extending beyond a
willingness and readiness to believe. The act of Faith must
be complete, and must be based upon a supernatural Divine
Revelation. Faith alone can give that knowledge of the
supernatural economy of salvation which enables man to dis-
pose his actions in harmony with his supernatural end. This.
136 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK 1.
CHAP. i. reason is adduced by the Apostle (Heb. xi. 6) to prove
5ECT^4 S . t j_^ t Abel and Henoch, like Abraham, obtained their justifi-
cation and salvation by means of Faith, although Holy
Scripture does not say of them, as of Abraham, that their
Faith was founded upon a positive Divine Revelation :
" Without Faith it is impossible to please God ; for he that
cometh to God [to serve Him] must believe that He is, and
is [becomes, yiverai] a rewarder to them that seek Him."
-uthin i. The two points of Faith mentioned in this text are
indispensable, because they are the two poles on which
the whole economy of salvation turns. There is probably
some allusion to the words spoken by God to Abraham :
" I am thy protector and thy reward exceeding great "
(Gen. xv. i). Hence the words, " that He is," refer to the
existence of God, not in the abstract, but as being our God,
as leading us on to salvation under the care of His paternal
Providence. A belief in His existence, in this sense, is the
fundamental condition of all our dealing with Him, and
this belief is as much above our natural knowledge as is
the belief in God the Rewarder. If, as St. Peter Chryso-
logus states, the first article of the Apostles' Creed ex-
presses belief in God as our Father, then the words " that
He is" correspond with this article, just as the words "that
He is a rewarder to them that seek Him " correspond with
the last article, " Life everlasting." Theologians rightly
conclude from Heb. xi. 6 that, at least in pre-Christian
times, the two points there mentioned were alone necessary
to be expressly believed. They suffice to enable man to
tend by hope and charity towards God as the Source of
salvation.
2. It is an open question whether, after Christ's
. * A
coming, Faith in the Christian economy is not mdis-
J
pensable. Many texts in Holy Scripture seem to demand
Faith in Christ, in His death and resurrection, as a neces-
sary condition of salvation. On the other hand, it is not
easy to understand how eternal salvation should have
become impossible for those who are unable to arrive at
an explicit knowledge of Christian Revelation. The best
solution of the difficulty would seem to be that given by
Suarez (De Fide, disA>. xii., sect. iv.). The texts demand-
Faith in the
Christian
economy,
how far
necessary,
PART IT.J Faith. 137
ing Faith in Christ and the Blessed Trinity must not be CHAP. i.
interpreted more rigorously than those referring to the ^^i 45 '
necessity of Baptism, especially as Faith in Christ, Faith
in the Blessed Trinity, and the necessity of Baptism
are closely connected together. The Faith in these
mysteries is, like Baptism, the ordinary normal means of
salvation. Under extraordinary circumstances, however,
when the actual reception of Baptism is impossible, the
mere implicit desire (votuni) suffices. So, too, the implicit
desire to believe in Christ and the Trinity must be deemed
sufficient. By " implicit desire " we mean the desire to
receive, to believe, and to do whatever is needful for salva-
tion, although what is to be received, believed, and done is
not explicitly known. The implicit wish and willingness
to believe in Christ must be accompanied by and con-
nected with an explicit Faith in Divine Providence as
having a care of our salvation ; and this Faith implies
Faith and Hope in the Christian economy of salvation
(see St. Thorn., 2 a 2, q. 2, a. 7).
II. The Necessity of Precept that is, the obligation "/^Tpt*
arising from the command to believe extends conditionally
to the whole of Revelation. As soon as we know that a
truth has been revealed, AVC are bound to believe it explicitly.
The number of revealed truths which we are bound to
know and believe explicitly, varies with the circumstances
and abilities of the individual. There is no positive law
concerning them. Every Christian, however, is bound to
know explicitly those revealed truths which are necessary
for leading a Christian life and for the fulfilment of the
duties of his state. It is the general opinion of theologians
that there is a grave obligation to know the contents of the
Apostles' Creed, the Decalogue, the Lord's Prayer, and all
that is required for the worthy reception of the Sacraments
and for proper participation in public worship. Cf. St.
Thorn. 2 !l 2 X , q. 2, aa. 3-8, with the commentaries thereon
158 A Manual oj Catholic Theology. [BOOK i.
CHAPTER II.
FAITH AND UNDERSTANDING.
SECT. 46. Doctrine of the Vatican Council on tJie
Understanding of Faith.
CHAP. n. I. WE have now to consider how- far we can understand
the supernatural truths or mysteries which we believe on
ticn. the authority of God and the Church. Rationalists and
Agnostics of all times have held that no understanding is
possible of things beyond the sphere of natural reason.
Abelard and some theologians of the thirteenth century,
and in modern times Giinther and Frohschammer, were of
opinion that nothing is beyond the grasp of human reason,
and, consequently, that supernatural truths can be demon-
strated by reason, and that Faith can be replaced by
knowledge. Other theologians allow the co-existence of
Faith with knowledge, pretending that reason adds a new
certitude to Faith.
Vatican II. Against these errors the Vatican Council teaches
that some understanding of mysteries is possible, and it
lays down its conditions and rules : " When Reason en-
lightened by Faith maketh diligent, pious, and sober
inquiry, she attaineth, by God's gift, most fruitful know-
ledge of mysteries, both from the analogy of things natu-
rally known and from the relation of mysteries with one
another and with the end of man." Then the Council sets
forth that this understanding is less clear and less perfect
than our understanding of things natural : " Still she
(Reason) is never rendered fit to perceive them in the same
way as the truths which are her own proper object. For
aeniutioii.
PART II.] Faith and Understanding. 1 39
the Divine mysteries, by their very nature, so far surpass CHAP, it
the created intellect that, even when conveyed by Revela-
tion and received by Faith, they remain covered by the
veil of the Faith and, as it were, hidden by a cloud, as
long as in this mortal life we are absent from the Lord, for
we walk by faith and not by sight " (sess. iii., chap. 4).
III. Faith, then, seeking after understanding (fidzs CoroiiaHe.
qucerens intellectutri) first adapts the natural notions of the
mind to things Divine by determining the analogies or
likenesses between the two orders. An understanding is
thus obtained of the several mysteries varying in perfection
with the perfection of the analogical conceptions. Further,
comparing the mysteries with one another, and grouping
them in the order determined by the principle of causality,
the mind, enlightened by Faith, contemplates a magnificent
cycle, beginning and ending with God, and constituted
after the manner of a living organism. Unity is given
to this noble cosmos of supernature by the terminus to
which every part of it is directed the glory of God in the
Beatific Vision, which is also the last end of man.
Practical illustrations of this theory will be found in
every chapter of the following treatises ; for the harmony
of the whole, see the Division of the work given at the end
of the Introduction.
IV. The Understanding of Faith cannot lead to any Results of
independent certitude, nor can it afford any additional standing""*
certitude to the certitude of Faith. Its only effect is to
facilitate and strengthen the act of Faith by removing
apparent difficulties, and by inducing the mind to accept
truths so beautifully in harmony with one another and
with the Nature of God and the nature of man. The
Understanding of Faith has, therefore, a moral rather than
a purely logical character, and corresponds with the pious
dispositions of the will which incline to Faith. Its moral
persuasiveness is felt more as regards the first principles
of the supernatural order ; its logical persuasiveness is
more manifest in connection with inferred truths.
140 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP II
SECTM?. SECT. 47. Theological Knowledge.
Nature of I. The immediate object of the Understanding of Faith
stitnw g .' cal is to present to the mind of the believer a true, distinct,
and comparatively perfect notion of what he must believe.
A further object is to evolve from Faith a wider and deeper
knowledge rooted in Faith but not formally identical with
it, and having a certitude of its own similar to the certitude
of Faith, but not exactly of the same kind.
Revealed truths, just like natural truths, can be used as
principles from which other truths may be logically in-
ferred. When so used, these revealed truths are called
Theological Reasons, as distinguished from human or
natural reason*:. In the domain of natural science, the
certitude with which we adhere to the conclusion of an
argument is only an extension of our certitude of the
premises, and is of the same kind. But in the domain of
Faith our certitude of the conclusion of an argument is
the result of two distinct factors Faith and reason, and
is therefore essentially different from and inferior to our
certitude of one of the premises. This kind of certitude
is called Theological Certitude. Hence Theological Know-
ledge differs, on the one hand, from philosophical or natural
science ; and, on the other hand, from the knowledge of
the revealed principles from which it starts. Like natural
science, it has complete scientific value only when its
demonstrations are based on principles which are the real
objective causes of the conclusions ; in other words, only
when it shows not merely that the thing is (quia est, ort),
but also why and wherefore it is (jtropter quid sit, Sm).
But since Faith, as such, requires us to know only what
its subject-matter is, we have here another difference
between simple Faith and Theological Knowledge,
its certitude II. It is an open question whether the certitude of theolo-*
su^r*' gical conclusions is supernatural or merely natural. If we
consider that the conclusion cannot be stronger than the
weaker of the premises, it would seem that theological
conclusions are only humanly or naturally certain. On
the other hand, theological conclusions are organically
connected with the Understanding of Faith, from which
PART IL] Faith and Understanding. 141
they spring as their root, and of which they are a natural CHAP. n.
expansion. They are also supported by the pious and SE f3l_ 48 -
loving disposition to believe. The true theologian looks
upon the rational minor premise less as a partial motive
than as a means whereby he arrives at the full comprehen-
sion of the major premise. God, Who preserves His
Church from error when she proposes theological con-
clusions for our belief, will likewise extend His grace to
the assent which the theologian gives to similar conclu-
sions. At any rate, all this goes to prove that the assent
to theological conclusions is of a higher character than the
assent of heretics and infidels founded upon human motives,
and that consequently these latter can no more possess
true theological science than supernatural Faith. We see,
too, that Theological Knowledge, in its principles and con-
clusions, enjoys a more sacred and inviolable certitude
than any human science, and that every human certitude
not intrinsically and extrinsically perfect must give way
to theological conclusions perfectly ascertained.
SECT. 48. Scientific Character of Theology.
I. A science pure and simple should be, not merely a Theology*
collection of facts or truths, but a complete system or- sc
ganically linked together by fixed laws and reducible to
objective unity. Theology fulfils these conditions in an
eminent degree. Its subjective principle of cognition is one,
and its subject-matter is one, viz. God, the supreme sub-
stantial unity. Created things are dealt with only in as far
as they tend towards God and are factors or elements of
the Divine order of things. Science, it is sometimes said,
should deal only with necessary, eternal, and universal
truths, not with what is contingent, temporal, and particular.
This, rightly understood, would mean that science is not
concerned with the transient and changeable, but with the
ideas and laws that govern and connect such phenomena.
In this sense also theology is eminently a science. Its
primary object, God, is necessary and eternal, and rules
over all things. Besides, the contingent facts of which it
treats are considered in so far as they eternally exist in
the all-commanding will of God, and many of them, as for
142 A Manual of Catholic Tlieology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. ii. instance the birth of Christ, are of lasting, nay eternal
E lll 49 ' importance, and so possess as it were a universal character.
Thtoio^y a II. Theology is a distinct and separate science by reason
*"'. of its peculiar principle of cognition and its peculiar
subject-matter. The peculiarity of its principle of cogni-
tion makes it a science generically distinct from all other
sciences. So, too, does its subject-matter, which embraces
the whole supernatural dl-der. This, however, does not
prevent Theology from including in its domain many truths
which also belong to the other sciences. It derives its
knowledge from God's omniscience, and therefore can throw
light on everything that can be known. But the super-
natural is its primaiy, direct, and proper subject-matter.
The natural belongs to theology only in certain respects
and for a special purpose, viz. in so far as what is natural
is related to the supernatural order. Theology, therefore,
does not deal with the subject-matter of the other sciences
in the same way and with the same exhaustiveness as these
sciences do. See St. Thorn., Contra Gentes, 1. ii., c. 4 ; Card.
Newman, Idea of a University, p. 430.
SECT. 49. TJie Rank of Theology among the Sciences.
rheoiogy I. Theology, by reason of the excellence of its subject-
the noblest j r , r i i_ i il
science. matter and of its principle of knowledge, is both subjec-
tively and objectively the highest and noblest of all sciences.
Objectively, the dignity and excellence of a science depend
upon the dignity, universality, and unity of its subject-
matter three attributes which we have just shown to be-
long in an eminent degree to the subject-matter of Theo-
logy. Subjectively, the excellence of a science is measured
by the degree of certainty which it affords. But Theology,
both in its principles and conclusions, especially when they
are guaranteed by the Church, possesses the highest cer-
titude. Moreover, as it demonstrates all its contents on the
ground of Eternal Reasons (rationes ceternce), i.e. of God and
His eternal ideas, it is also the most profound and thorough
of all the sciences. It is, indeed, inferior to some of the
sciences as regards clearness and distinctness, because its
evidence is not direct, and its notions are analogical. This,
however, does not degrade Theology, because this defect
PART II.] Faith and Understanding. 143
if such it be is amply atoned for by other excellences, CHAP, n
and is even a proof of the dignity of Theology, because SK f3l 50 -
it is a consequence of the exalted character of supernatural
knowledge. This supreme excellence may be fitly ex-
pressed by styling Theology the Transcendental Science ;
for, borne up by Faith and the pious boldness of Faith,
it really attains what a godless and reckless modern science
vainly strives after.
II. The Fathers and theologians, following the example Theology
of Holy Scripture, express the peculiar dignity of Theo- wisdom,
logy by terming it Wisdom pure and simple, or Divine
Wisdom {Sapientid). By this is meant a knowledge far
above common knowledge, a knowledge dealing with the
highest principles and most exalted things, and yet with the
greatest certitude ; perfecting the mind and elevating it to
God the highest Good and ultimate End of all ; enabling us
in the practical order to direct all our actions and tendencies
towards their proper object Eternal Beatitude. Human
reason, indeed, endeavours to attain a knowledge fulfilling
these conditions, wherefore Aristotle called Metaphysics
" Wisdom," because to him it was the noblest science. The
wisdom of this world is styled Philosophy, that is, a love of
and seeking after wisdom ; but it is Theology alone that
is the true Wisdom itself. Hence the name of Wisdom
is given in many passages of Holy Scripture to the know-
ledge contained in or developed from Faith (see especially
i Cor. i. and ii.).
SECT. 50. 77/i? three great branches of Theology Funda-
mental, Positive, and Speculative.
We have already mentioned the various branches of
Theology (Introduction, p. xvii.). We are now in a position
to speak of them in detail.
I. Theology may be said to be the science of Revela- Three
tion. It tells us (i) that there is a Revelation; (2) how T t" y of
we are to know the things that have been revealed ; (3)
what are the things that have been revealed ; and (4) what
are the relations between these things, and what the in-
ferences that can be drawn from them. Now, it is clear
that I and 2 are the groundwork of 3 and 4 ; that 3 is
144 -A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. ii. of a positive character that is, dealing with fact ; and
that 4 is more subtle and metaphysical than the others.
Hence we have three great branches of Theology : Funda-
mental, Positive, and Speculative.
Fonda- II. The existence and attributes of God are proved in
Theology, that branch of Philosophy called Natural Theology. They
come within the province of unaided reason, and need no
supernatural Revelation to manifest them (Rom. i. 20 ;
ii. 14, 15 ; Acts xiv. 14-16 ; Wisd. xiii. 1-9). But God has
freely bestowed upon us a higher way of knowing Him and
His dealings with man. He has spoken directly by His
own voice and the voice of His Son, and indirectly through
Prophets, Apostles, and Inspired Writers (Heb. i. i, 2).
Those who originally heard God or PI is envoys were con-
vinced of the Divine origin of what they heard, by the
working of miracles and the fulfilment of prophecies.
Those who lived in after ages had first to be convinced
of the truth of the record of these sayings and doings
handed down by word of mouth or by writing, and then
were able to infer that these really came from God. Now
it is the business of Fundamental Theology to prove the
trustworthiness of these records, to examine the evidence
for the various miracles and prophecies, and so to establish
that God has indeed " at sundry times and in divers manners
spoken in times past to the fathers by the Prophets," and
afterwards by His Son. But the evidence for the fact of
Revelation is not merely a matter of history. We have
before our eyes a plain proof that God has spoken, and
has worked supernaturally. The Catholic Church herself,
by her wonderful propagation, her eminent sanctity, and
her inexhaustible fertility in all that is good, is a standing
unanswerable argument of her Divine origin and mission.
The dogmatic constitution published in the third session
of the Vatican Council summarizes the scope and function
of Fundamental Theology under four headings : (i) God
the Creator of all things ; (2) Revelation ; (3) Faith ; (4)
Faith and Reason.
As soon as we know that God has spoken we naturally
ask, How are we to find out the things that He has
revealed ? This question was the turning-point of the
PART II.] Faith and Understanding. 145
controversy between the Catholics and the Protestants CHAP. n.
. SECT. 50.
in the sixteenth century, and was decided by the Council
of Trent (sess. iv.). The branch of Theology that deals
with it may be styled fundamental, inasmuch as the ques-
tion concerns the very basis of our belief ; but it is more
usually called Polemical or Controversial Theology.
The other branch of Fundamental Theology is some-
times designated Apologetic Theology, because its function
is to defend Revelation against Rationalists, Deists, Atheists,
and others.
III. After having established that God has made a ? sit j ve
& Theologj
Revelation, and after having discovered the means of
knowing the things that He has revealed, our next step is
to inquire what these things are. Positive Theology takes
for granted all that has been proved by Fundamental
Theology, both Apologetic and Controversial. It examines
the various sources of Revelation, written and unwritten ;
it tells us that in God there are Three Persons, that God
raised man to the supernatural order, that man fell, that
God the Son took flesh and died for us, and so on with
the other great mysteries. Its proper function is to estab-
lish the truths of Revelation, and not to penetrate into their
inner and deeper meaning and mutual relations. But
those who treat of it do not restrict themselves to the
former task, but make excursions into the higher region.
IV. The noblest branch of Theology is that which is Speculative
Theology.
concerned, not with proving the contents of Revelation,
but with comparing revealed truths and entering into their
very essence as far as reason, guided by Faith, will allow.
Speculative Theology starts where Positive Theology ends :
Positive Theology proves a dogma ; Speculative Theology
examines it closely, views it in connection with other
dogmas, and strives thereby to get a deeper insight into it
and into them. The attacks made by Protestants on the
Rule of Faith, and those made by Rationalists on the very
existence of Revelation, have naturally drawn off attention
from this profound and sublime study. But at the present
time signs are not wanting that it is once more being culti-
vated. The deep and many-sided insight which it gives
into things Divine is itself a most desirable enrichment of
L
146 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK i.
CHAP. ii. the mind, enabling us to participate more fully in the
SECT^JI. bi essm g s anc | f ru j ts O f the Faith. It is also of help to our
Faith, not indeed by increasing its certainty, but by pre-
senting revealed truths to better advantage in the light
which they throw on one another, and in the harmony of
their mutual relations. Even against heretics it is not
without value. Their chief strength lies in the confusion of
ideas, in the falsification of true notions, and in the abuse
of logic. On all these points Speculative Theology renders
great service to the truth. The great controversialists
of the last three centuries have been at the same time
profound speculative theologians. See Canus, 1. viii., and
1. xii., c. 2 ; Kleutgen, TheoL, vol. iii., diss. I and 5.
These V. An example will perhaps help us to understand the
applied"?" 8 various distinctions spoken of in this section. We take
e t he gma the dogma of the Blessed Trinity.
Tmuty. j ]sj atura i Theology, which is really a branch of Philo-
sophy, proves to us that God exists.
2. Apologetic Theology proves that He has revealed
to us truths above our reason.
3. Controversial Theology proves that the testimony
and authority of the Catholic Church is the means of
finding out what God has revealed.
4. Positive Theology proves that it has been revealed
that there are three Persons in God.
5. Speculative Theology teaches us how One Divine
Essence is possessed by Three distinct Persons, viz. that
One Person possesses It as uncommunicated ; a Second
possesses It as communicated by knowledge ; and a Third
possesses It as communicated by love.
We repeat in this place that the present manual deals
chiefly with Positive Theology. Occasionally we shall rise
into Speculative Theology, notably in Book II., Part II.,
chap, iv., where we strive to penetrate into the mystery
of the Trinity.
SECT. 51. Relation between Reason and Faith.
Rationalistic TTT 1-1 T-> -,1 i , i
-laims I. Human reason, like Faith, has its own proper subject-
by n the mn ' matter and province. It also lays the foundation of Faith,
council ar >d aids in the development of revealed doctrines. There
PART II.] Faith and Understanding. 147
is. however, a certain territory which is common to both CHAP. n.
SECT. 51.
Reason and Faith. Hence we must consider the mutual
relations of the two. This subject has been clearly ex-
pounded by the Vatican Council (sess. iii., chap. 4), so
that we need only quote and explain what is there laid
down.
1. "If any one shall say that in Divine Revelation no
mysteries properly so-called are contained, but that all the
dogmas of the Faith can be understood and proved from
natural principles by reason duly cultivated : let him be
anathema.
2. " If any one shall say that human sciences are to
be treated with such freedom that their assertions, although
at variance with revealed doctrine, can be received as true,
and cannot be proscribed by the Church : let him, etc.
3. " If any one shall say that it can come to pass that
at some time, according to the progress of science, a mean-
ing should be attributed to the dogmas proposed by the
Church other than that which the Church hath understood
and doth understand : let him," etc.
In these three canons the principal claims of the
Rationalists are condemned : (i) The right to treat of
revealed truths in the same way as natural truths, that
is, on purely natural principles and with purely natural
certitude ; (2) the right of human reason to hold its
scientific conclusions, notwithstanding their opposition to
revealed doctrines, and independently of the authority of
the Church ; and (3) the right to substitute new meanings
for old ones, in the definitions of Faith. It is plain that
these claims not only entirely emancipate Reason from the
control of Faith, but also invade the proper domain of Faith
and destroy its supernatural character.
II. The fundamental principles upon which the rela- Funda-
tions between Faith and Reason are based are stated by princfpies.
the Council to be the following :
i. Reason is a principle or source of knowledge, and
possesses a domain of its own. Faith, too, is a principle
of knowledge, higher in dignity than reason, and likewise
having its own proper domain.
2. As both Faith and Reason come from God, they
I4& A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK i.
CHAP. n. cannot be opposed to each other, or arrive at contradictory
SECT. 51.
conclusions.
3. From these two principles the Council infers that any
conclusion or assertion opposed to illuminated (supernatural)
Faith is altogether false, and only apparently reasonable.
Hence a Catholic has the right and the duty to reject any
such assertion or conclusion as soon as he is informed by
the infallible teaching of the Church that his Faith is
really illuminated. Again, Faith and Reason combine
for mutual aid and support, yet in such a way that each
retains its own proper character and comparative inde-
pendence. Reason assists Faith by demonstrating the
credibility of Faith, by contributing to the understanding
of its subject-matter, and by developing it into theological
science. On the other hand, Faith is of service to Reason,
by rescuing it from many errors, even in the domain of
human science, and by guiding it to a profounder and
'more comprehensive knowledge of natural truths. This
influence of Faith on Reason implies, indeed, a certain
weakness and dependence on the part of Reason, but does
not interfere with its legitimate conclusions or legitimate
freedom. It is only a false liberty or licence that is in-
consistent with submission to Faith.
Reason the HI. The relations between Reason and Faith can be
handmaid
of Faith. summed up in the well-known formula : " Reason is the
hand-maiden of Faith." That is to say, Faith and its
theological development are the highest science, and are
the supreme object and highest end towards which the
activity of man can be directed. St. Thomas expresses the
same doctrine thus : " Seeing that the end of the whole of
Philosophy is lower than and is ordained to the end of
Theology, the latter should rule all the other sciences, and
take into her service what they teach " (prol. in I. Sent. q. I.
a. i). And St. Bonaventure : " Theology takes from nature
the materials to make a mirror in which Divine things
are reflected, and she constructs as it were a ladder, the
lowest rung of which is on earth, and the highest in Heaven"
(Prol. Breviloq^. The Seraphic Doctor develops the same
idea in his splendid work, Reductio artium ad Thcologiam.
See Dr. Clemens, De Scholasticorum sententia : PJiiloso-
PART iij Faith and Understanding. 1 49
pJiiam esse ancillam Theologies : Kleutgen, vol. iv., n. 3 1 5 sqq.
Franzelin, De Trad., Append., cap. vi. : Card. Newman, Idea
of a University, p. 428.
IV. Hence it follows that philosophy must be, in a certain Philosophy
sense, Christian and Catholic in its spirit, in its principles, Christian.
and in its conclusions. Its spirit is Catholic when the philo-
sopher is guided by the doctrines of Faith, when he aims
at a fuller knowledge of the natural truths contained in
Revelation, and prepares the way for the scientific develop-
ment of supernatural truths. Its principles and conclu-
sions are Catholic when they agree with Faith, or at
least do not clash with it, and when they can be used
in speculative theology. In other words, philosophy is
Christian and Catholic when it is really true and sound
philosophy. Non-Christian philosophy can indeed, to a
certain extent, be true and sound ; nevertheless, the nature
of the science itself, and its history, prove that its proper
development is dependent on its Christian spirit. In
pre-Christian times, Socratic philosophy attained a high
degree of perfection, and became the foundation upon
which Christian philosophy is built. The Fathers recog-
nized in this fact the Hand of God preparing the way for
the science of the Gospel. By Socratic philosophy we
mean the due combination of its two forms, Platonic and
Aristotelian. These two correct and supplement each
other, and should not be separated. (See the interest-
ing parallel between Plato and Aristotle, in St. Thorn.
Opusc., De Substantiis Separatist) Christian philosophy
blends them together, although it has sometimes given
more prominence to one than to the other. The use which
the Church has made, and continues to make, of this com-
bined system is a guarantee of the truth of its main
principles and conclusions. Hence any attempt to sub-
stitute for it a totally new or different system must be
viewed with distrust, so much the more as all modern
attempts of the kind have miserably failed.
150 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. II
SECT^ 5 2. SECT. 52. Theology as a Sacred Science.
Divine light I. A supernatural illumination of the mind is in the first
needed in . ... . ........
Theology, place needed to assist the mind in overcoming the dimcul-
ties naturally inherent in a knowledge of supernatural
things. These difficulties arise from the nature of the
human mind, which draws its notions from the sensible
world, and is subject to the influence of passion and pre-
judice. Both sorts of difficulties are alluded to by the
Apostle : " The sensual (^/vx tK c) m ^n perceiveth not these
things that are of the Spirit of God : for it is foolishness to
him, and he cannot understand : because it is spiritually
(77Vi^ar<icwc) examined. But the spiritual (Trvsu/iarticoe)
man judgeth all things" (i Cor. ii. 14, 15). The Divine
assistance required for their removal is often mentioned in
Scripture, e.g. " His unction teacheth you of all things "
(i John ii. 27 ; cf. Eph. i. 17).
Again, the action of the Holy Ghost is required, at
least morally, to produce that purity of disposition and
humility of heart which are indispensable for all moral
and religious knowledge, and especially for a know-
ledge of the supernatural. This assistance is often so
effective, that it contributes more to the perfection of
spiritual science than the best-developed but unassisted
natural abilities. Hence children and uneducated people
sometimes have a clearer perception of the mysteries of
the Faith than persons calling themselves philosophers.
" I give thee thanks, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and
prudent (OTTO o-o^wv KOI auvirwv), and hast revealed them
to little ones " (v>)7n'o<c, Matt. xi. 25 ; cf. v. 8, and Wisd. i.
4). Card. Newman, Oxford University Sermons, xiii., " On
Implicit and Explicit Reason ;" Grammar of Assent, chap,
viii., 3, " Natural Inference."
influence 1 1. The influence of the Holy Ghost on our spiritual
of Divine r
charity knowledge reaches its perfection when He diffuses in our
soul the supernatural life of Divine Love. This life brings
us into most intimate connection with the mysteries of the
Faith, keeps them continually before our mind, and, as it
were, identifies us with them. Divine charity, which is
PART II.] Faith and Understanding. 151
fruitful of good works, is also productive of increased know- CHAP. n.
ledge of spiritual things. It transforms the elementary &E< ^_ 53 "
understanding into a perfect Wisdom which is a foretaste
and beginning of the Beatific Vision. Charity gives
a keenness to the spiritual eye, and fixes it upon the
Divine Love ; Charity gives us a sense of the Divine
Beauty and Sweetness ; Chanty likens us to God Himself,
inasmuch as He is the principle of the greatest mysteries ;
the more we love the better we understand the love of
others. The spiritual contentment produced by Charity
in the soul helps us to understand the perfect harmony
existing between revealed truth and the noblest aspirations
of our nature. The fire of Divine Charity is naturally
accompanied by a Divine light, by means of which God
manifests Himself in a marvellous manner. I Cor. ii. 13
16; 2 Cor. iii. 16-18 ; Eph. iii. 14, sqq.
SECT. 53. Progress of Theological Science.
T. The possibility, and indeed the necessity, of progress Origin of
in Theology result in general from the inexhaustible riches ThfoTo^y"
of revealed truths, the perfectibility of the human mind,
the wise dispensation of Providence which gradually
evolved Revelation, and lastly from the necessity of com-
bating heresy and infidelity.
II. Progress in Theology necessarily differs from pro- Nature and
, . rf.1 * /- . Object of
gress in human sciences. Theology, for instance, can this p ro -
never desert the standpoint of Faith so as to substitute gr
for it purely rational principles ; it cannot give up or alter
anything which has once been defined ; it cannot discover
any new province except, indeed, in certain auxiliary
branches of research because its limits have already been
fixed by the fact that Revelation has been closed. Posi-
tive progress is possible in three directions only : (i) what is
uncertain, indefinite, or obscure may be made certain,
definite, and clear ; (2) erroneous opinions held by some may
be corrected ; and (3) demonstration and defence may be
remodelled or improved. Speaking generally, progress is
made chiefly in the correction of partially held erroneous
opinions.
III. Progress in Theology is not as constant and steady i ts cours*.
152 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK I.
CHAP. ii. as progress in dogma, because theology depends, much
SECT'S. more t j ian dogma, on the abilities of individual members
of the Church. Epochs of profound theological learning
have been succeeded by epochs of comparative sterility.
Mathematics, the natural sciences, and history progress
more steadily than Theology, because they deal with fixed
formulas and facts. Nevertheless Theology advances more
steadily than Philosophy, because the fundamental prin-
ciples of Theology are fixed, and also because the
assistance of the Holy Ghost, working through the Church,
preserves it from straying far from the truth,
its con- IV. In recent times the enemies of Theology, and even
ditions and r i i r 1 i J
mean*. some oi its less prudent friends, have tried to give sacred
science a " liberal " basis. Liberalism in Theology consists
in questioning its principles either categorically, that is,
doubting them until natural science has proved them to be
true (as Hermes did) ; or hypothetically, that is, accepting
them, but subject to scientific ratification (Gtinther). In
both cases the principle of the Faith is denied, and progress
in Theology is rendered as impossible as progress in a philo-
sophy based on the negation of first principles. The only
permissible doubt is Methodic Doubt. A Catholic theolo-
gian may treat of the truths which he firmly -believes, as
though they were still uncertain, for the purpose of discover-
ing for his own benefit or for that of unbelievers the grounds
upon which they are based. A third form of liberalism, less
serious than the other two, is the rejection of the method
and principles of the old scholastic theologians. (See
Syllabus, prop, xiii.) To do this would be an insult to
reason, to the vital power of the Church and to Divine
Providence. Besides, no progress is possible except on
the basis of previously acquired results. On the whole,
Liberalism is opposed to authority because it looks upon
authority as an obstacle to progress. It demands un-
limited freedom in its methods, its principles, and its con-
clusions. But a comparison of the state of Theology in
Germany and Spain shows that progress results not from
licence but from authority. In Spain, in the sixteenth
century, when the Congregation of the Index ruled
supreme over theological science, theology attained an
PART IT.] Faith and Understanding. 153
unparalleled height of splendour. In Germany, during the CHAP,
eighteenth century, when " freedom of thought " flourished, BB ^_
Theology was in a pitiable state of decay.
The true conditions of a fruitful progress in Theology
are: (i) a firm adhesion to the Faith ; (2) the acceptance
of the progress already made ; (3) a willing submission to
the authority of the Church ; (4) prudence in the use of
auxiliary sciences hostile to the Church ; and (5) exactness
and thoroughness of method.
See Hist, de la Thfologie Positive, par J. Turmel ; La
Catholique au XIX e Sitcle, par J. Bellamy.
BOOK II.
GOD.
THE natural and usual division of the treatise on God is
founded upon the Unity of the Divine Substance and the
Trinity of the Divine Persons. While, however, opposing
the Unity to the Trinity, as is done in the division " Of
God as One," and " Of God as Three " (De Deo Uno, De
Deo Trino\ we shall here connect them organically by
first studying the Existence and Nature of God, then the
Divine Life, and, lastly, the Divine Internal Activity,
whereby the One Substance is communicated to the Three
Divine Persons.
( 157 >
PART I.
GOD CONSIDERED AS ONE IN SUBSTANCE.
THE Fathers treat of God as One when they speak of Literature.
Creation against pagans and Manichaeans. They enter
more into detail in their polemical writings on the Trinity
and Incarnation, especially against the Arians : e.g. St.
Basil, St. Gregory of Nyssa, Contra Eunonium ; St. Hilary,
De Trinitate ; and, above all, St. Augustine, De Trinitate.
The completest patristic treatise on God as One is that of
Dionysius the Areopagite (so-called), De Divinis Nominibus t
with the commentary by St. Maximus the Confessor. The
best collections of texts from the Fathers on this question
are those of John of Cyprus, Expositio materiaria eorum qua
de Deo a theologis dicuntur (Bibl. Patrum, Lugd., torn, xxi.),
Petavius, Thomassinus, and Frassen, De Deo ; and Theophil.
Reynaud, Theol. Naturalis. In the Middle Ages St.
Anselm's Monologium was an epoch-making work. Alex-
ander of Hales and St. Thomas (/., qq. 2-26) contain
copious materials. Of the countless modern writers we
need only name Lessius, De Perfectionibus Moribusque
Divinis. Among theologians of the present time the best
treatises are by Staudenmaier, Berlage, Kuhn, Schwetz,
Kleutgen, Franzelin, Pesch, Billot, and Janssen.
158 A Manual of Catlwlic Theology. [BOOK U.
CHAP. I.
SECT. 54.
Natural
knowledge
of God
possible.
CHAPTER I.
OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
A. NATURAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
SECT. 54. Natural Knowledge of God considered generally.
I. THE Catholic doctrine on man's natural knowledge of
God was denned by the Vatican Council : " Holy Mother
Church doth hold and teach that God, the beginning and
end of all things, can certainly be known from created
things by the natural light of reason ; ' for the invisible
things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made '
(Rom. i. 20). ... If any one shall say that the One true
God, our Creator and Lord, cannot be certainly known by
the natural light of human reason from the things that are
made, let him be anathema " (sess. iii., De Fide Cat/wlica,
ch. 2 and the corresponding can. ii. i).
Holy Scripture, upon which the council's definition is
based, teaches the same doctrine in many passages.
ROM. i.
For the wrath of God is revealed
from Heaven against all ungodliness
and injustice of those men that detain
the truth of God in injustice (ver. 18) ;
(For professing themselves to be wise
they became fools, and they changed
the glory of the incorruptible God
into the likeness of the image of a
corruptible man, . . . and they liked
not (eSoKiyuoiroj') to have God in their
knowledge). (Vers. 22-28.)
Wisu. xiii.
But all men are vain (fj.dra.ioi /uf
yap irdvTes &vQptairoi <f>virei), in whom
there is not the knowledge of God :
and who by these good things that
are seen could not understand Him
that is (rbi/ uv-ra), neither by attend-
ing to the works have acknowledged
who was the Workman : but have
imagined either the fire, or the wind,
or the swift air, or the circle of the
stars, or the great water, or the sun
and moon to be the gods that rule
the world (vers. i, i).
PART l.J Our Knowledge of God. 159
Because that which is known of God With whose beauty if they being CHAP. i.
is manifest in them (rb yvoxrr'bv rov delighted, took them to be gods : SECT. 3,4.
06oO <j>affp6v tffTiv Iv ouToiV). For let them know how much the Lord
God hath manifested it unto them of them is more beautiful than
(ver. 19). they ; for the First Author (yeveai-
dpxris) of beauty made all those things.
For the invisible things of Him from Or if they admired their power and
the creation of the world are clearly their effects (Si/W^ic Kal tvtpyfiav),
seen, being understood by the things let them understand by them that He
that are made (airb Kriaeuis K&a\j.ov that made them is mightier than they :
rols irofh/j.affi voovfj.eva KaQoparat) ; His for by the greatness of the beauty and
eternal power also and divinity (f)rf of the creature, the Creator of them
dfSios aurou 8ui>a/j.LS Kal OeiJrjjs). may be seen, so as to be known
thereby (tit yap pfjedovs
KTicr^droiv uva.\6y<a<> 6 ye
tturcoj/ Qfcapetrai). (Vers. 3-5.)
So that they are inexcusable. Be- But then again they are not to be
cause that when they knew God pardoned ; for if they were able to
(yvdvTts rbv t6v), they have not know so much as to make a judgment
glorified Him as God, or given of the world, how did they not more
thanks, but became vain in their own easily find out the Lord thereof ?
thoughts, and their foolish heart was (Vers. 8, 9. )
darkened (vers. 20, 21).
And again : " For when the Gentiles who have not the
law do by nature those things that are of the law, these
having not the law are a law to themselves ; who show the
work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
bearing witness to them, and their thoughts between them-
selves accusing or also defending one another " (Rom. ii.
14-16). Compare also St. Paul's discourses at Lystra and
at Athens (Acts xiv., xvii.), in which a natural knowledge
of God is presupposed as a foundation of and a point of
contact with Faith.
II. The doctrine of Holy Scripture and the Council may
be expressed in the following paragraphs :
1. Man is able and is bound to acquire a true know- Knowledge
ledge of God by means of his own natural faculties, and obligatory,
is responsible for ignorance or denial of God's existence,
and for any consequent neglect of religious or moral
duties.
2. Although it is most difficult for unaided reason to spontaneous,
attain a perfect knowledge of God, nevertheless some ele-
mentary knowledge of Him is natural to the human mind ;
that is to say, a notion of God is acquired spontaneously at
160 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK TI.
CHAP. i. the very dawn of reason ; no external help, certainly no
SKCT.J4. p ro f ounc j philosophical instruction, is needed. The notion
of God is likewise so much in harmony with the spiritual
nature of man, that no adverse influences can altogether
destroy it. This doctrine is not formally expressed by the
Vatican Council ; but it is contained clearly enough in Holy
Scripture, and is universally taught by the Fathers and by
theologians (cf. 2).
yid rational. 3. This knowledge of God is also natural as proceeding
from the very nature of human reason, and as being in
accordance with its laws ; that is to say, this knowledge
arises, not from some blind instinct, or blind submission to
authority, but from a most simple process of reasoning.
Created nature is the medium whereby, as in a mirror,
God manifests Himself to the eye of our mind. Our
knowledge of Him, therefore, i? not a direct or immediate
intuition of Him as He is in Himself, but an inferential
knowledge of Him as the Cause of created things. The
Council directly states only that human reason is unable
to attain to an immediate apprehension of God, and that
the mediate apprehension by means of created things
possesses a real, true, and perfect certitude. Hence the
definition does not formally exclude the possibility of
some other objective and immediate perception of God,
not having the character of an intuition of or direct gazing
upon His Essence. Revelation, however, does not recog-
nize any such immediate knowledge, and the attempts
made by theologians to establish its existence are not only
without foundation, but even tend to endanger the dogma
of the Divine Invisibility, and the dogma of the independent
force of the mediate knowledge.
it* media or 4. Our natural knowledge of God is based upon the
consideration of the external world, that is, of the things
apprehended by the senses, and also upon the consideration
of the spiritual nature of the human soul. The external
world manifests God chiefly in His Omnipotence and
Providence ; the life of the soul manifests the inner attri-
butes of the Divine Life. The material and the spiritual
world are thus, as it were, two mirrors in which we behold
the image of the Creator. The materia' mirror is less
sources.
Our Knowledge of God. 161
perfect than the other, but for that very reason the know- CHAP. i.
ledge acquired by means of it is easier, more natural, E fl_ 55 '
and more popular. Holy Scripture and the Fathers lay
special stress upon it. , ;
5. Our natural knowledge of God is aided by the super- Supernatural
i f i i T> i i manifesta-
natural manifestations of the Divine power, which can be tionsper-
perceived by our senses and intellect, the natural means of our natural
our knowledge. Physical and moral miracles, special and
general instances of Providence, such as the hearing and
answering of prayer, the punishment of evil-doers, the re-
ward of the good, and the like, are instances of what we
mean. This species of Divine Revelation also serves to
authenticate the verbal Revelation the medium of Faith,
and is the continuation of natural Revelation. On the
other hand, by it alone the existence, and many attributes
of God, may be known, and therefore it is particularly
adapted to excite, develop, and complete the knowledge
founded upon simply natural contemplation. Gf. Franzelin,
De Deo Uno, thes. viii.
SECT. 55. The Demonstration of the Existence of God.
The complete treatment of the proof of the Existence
of God belongs to Philosophy and Apologetics. 1 We shall
here confine our attention to some remarks on the nature,
force, and organic connection of these proofs.
I. To be or to exist belongs to God's very essence. " God ,,
The proposition, "God exists," is therefore immediately Jem in itseit
i ir r 7 \ -KT 11 butnottous.
evident tn itself (per se nota secundum se). Nevertheless,
since we have no immediate perception of the Divine
Essence, this proposition is not immediately evident to us
(per se nota qtioad nos). To our mind it is a knowledge
acquired by experience. The manifestations of God are
immediately perceivable by us, and through these we prove
the existence of God.
II. Although the existence of God requires proof, still TWO forms
^ j C-TT , oftheDe-
our certitude of His existence is not necessarily the result monstmion
of a scientific demonstration. A natural demonstration,
sufficient to generate a perfect certitude, offers itself to
every human mind, as it were spontaneously. The pro-
1 See A Dialogue on the Existence of God, by Rev. R. F. Clarke, S.J.
M
1 62 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP i. cesses of scientific demonstration, if made use of at all, find
already in the mind a conviction of God's existence, and
only serve to confirm and deepen this conviction.
Division of in. The proofs of the existence of God are of two
the Proofs. r
kinds direct and indirect.
The indirect. r. The indirect proofs show that our knowledge of the
Divine existence is the necessary result of our rational
nature, whence they infer that the existence of God is
as certain as the rationality of our nature. Hence we
have: (i) the Historical proofs, taken from the universality
and constancy of this knowledge ; (2) the Moral proof,
based upon the moral and religious activity resulting from
it ; and (3) the proof taken from the logical and psycholo-
gical character of this knowledge, by showing that it can-
not result from internal or external experience, or from
artificial combination, and must therefore result from the
natural tendencies of reason itself.
and direct. 2 . The direct proofs represent God as the only Sufficient
Cause of some effect which we perceive. They tend directly
to prove His existence, and are a development of that
natural process of human reason which, previous to any
scientific demonstration, has already convinced us that He
exists. They are classified according to the nature of the
effect used as a medium of demonstration. At the same
time, they form one organic whole, the several parts of
which complete and perfect each other. They may be
arranged as follows :
A. Proofs taken from existing things of which God is
the Cause :
(a) From attributes common to all things, and
pointing to God as the Absolute Being
(= Metaphysical Proofs) :
Co) From the dependent and conditional exis-
tence of things, which requires an indepen-
dent and absolute Cause (causa efficient) ;
(/3) From the imperfection, mutability, and
natural limitation of things, which require
an immutable and absolutely perfect Cause
(causa exemplaris] \
PART I.] Our Knowledge of God. 163
(-y) From the motion and development of which CHAP. i.
things are capable and which they accom- E ^j_ S5>
plish, supposing thereby an immovable
Prime Mover and Final Cause (causa
finalis}.
(U] From attributes proper to certain classes of
things, and pointing to God as the Absolute
Spiritual Nature ( = Cosmological Proofs) :
(a) From the nature and energies of matter, and
the design in its arrangements, which can
only be accounted for by the existence
of an intellectual Being, the Author and
Disposer of the material universe ;
(/B) From the nature and energies of mind, which
suppose a Creator and an Absolute Mind ;
(y) From the twofold nature of man, in whom
mind and matter are so intimately blended
that a higher creative principle must be
admitted, the Author of both mind and
matter.
B. Proofs taken from possible or ideal things of which
God is the Principle :
The possibility, necessity, and immutability in-
herent in certain conceptions of the possible, the
unlimited domain of things possible all of these
suppose the existence of a Being, real, necessary
and infinite, the foundation and source of all being
and truth.
See St. Thorn., /., q. 2, a. 3.
. JV. It is an article of Faith that the Existence of God Wueoft
can be known by natural means. From this it follows
that the proofs which are the natural means must them-
selves be convincing. It does not, however, imply that
each of the above-mentioned arguments taken apart has
the power of convincing. All, or at least some of them,
taken together are capable of producing the requisite
certitude. But the evidence of the demonstration is not
like that of a mathematical proposition. In mathematics,
especially in geometry, our imagination aids our reason ;
1 6*. A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. i. no moral considerations oppose the admission of the truths
to be proved. The proofs of God's existence appeal to our
reason alone, and compel it to rise above the images of
our fancy and to accept a truth often most opposed to our
natural desires. At the same time, the evidence is far more
than a moral evidence. It produces absolute certainty, and
imposes itself upon the mind in spite of moral obstacles.
SECT. 56. Our Conception of the Divine Essence and the
Divine A ttributes.
Our know- I- As our natural knowledge of God is mediate and
notlntu^ve*! indirect, our knowledge of the Divine Essence cannot be
intuitive that is, resulting from direct intuition ; nor can
it be even equivalent to intuitive cognition that is, reflect-
ing the Divine Essence as It is in Itself purely and simply.
The latter could be the case only if creatures were perfect
images of the Creator, and also if, in addition, we had
a perfect knowledge of their essences. Holy Scripture
tells us that the vision of God, as He is, is promised as the
reward of the sons of God in Heaven (i John iii. 2) ; and
describes our present knowledge as a seeing through a
glass in a dark manner (&' eaoirrpov e'v aiviy/uart) (i Cor.
xiii. 12).
yet positive II. An idea or conception of God as He really is, is
impossible. Nevertheless, our idea of God is not simply
negative and relative, showing merely what He is not and
in what relations He stands to other beings. It is true,
indeed, that the first element of our notion of Him is that
He has none of the imperfections of finite things, and
that He possesses the power to produce the perfections of
creatures ; yet, as these perfections are a reflection of Hfs
perfections, we are enabled to gather from them notions or
conceptions of God, imperfect and indirect indeed, but
still, at the same time, positive and truly representing the
perfections belonging to the Divine Essence.
and ana- HI. The perfections found in nature are but faint
logical.
reproductions of the perfections of the Creator. Hence
our natural conceptions, before they can be applied to the
Divine Substance, must be purified of all imperfections,
and must be enlarged and elevated so as to be made
PART I.] Our Knowledge of God. 165
worthy of God (GeoTrptTrac). This " eminent sense," as it CHAP. i.
is called, is expressed in the language of Holy Scripture E s '
and the Church in three ways: (i) The simplicity and "eminent
substantiality of the Divine perfections are indicated by the se
1 Three ways
use of abstract terms, e.g. by calling God not only good ofexpress-
ing it.
and wise, but also Goodness itself and Wisdom (avrayaOo-
TTJC, avToaofpta). (2) The infinite fulness of His perfections
is expressed by adjectives with the prefix " all," e.g.
almighty, all-wise. (3) The intensity and super-eminent
excellence of these perfections is pointed out by the prefix
virip, super, which may be expressed in English by the
adverb " supremely," e.g. supremely wise.
IV. The analogical value or the eminent signification is pu-^and
not the same in all conceptions. Some of the perfections ofpkcd*u
creatures can be conceived as divested of all imperfection,
*.g. the transcendental attributes of unity, truth, goodness,
force, and the attributes which go to make spiritual crea-
tures the images of God. When these notions are applied
to God they remain analogical indeed, but still they are
used in a positive and proper sense, as opposed to a meta-
phorical, improper, or symbolical sense. But some natural
perfections cannot be conceived without some imperfection
adhering to them ; they cannot therefore be predicated of
God except in a symbolical and metaphorical sense, e.g.
God is a lion, a rock, a fire, God is angry. Such meta-
phors, however, have a deeper meaning than ordinary
metaphors, because they are founded upon the fact that
the First Cause is reflected in every perfection of the
creature. Perfections of the first kind are called "pure,
and simple, and unadulterated perfections" (perfectiones
simplices] ; the latter are called " mixed perfections " that
is, perfections combined with imperfection. The Greek
Fathers designate the two classes and our corresponding
knowledge of God by the expressions, Ka-T}yo l o////ara TI Aem
or cnroStiKTiKa, OtoXoyia auroStiKTiKi) for the first class, and
Karr)-yop)'/ju ara aTroppTjra, or fjivariKa and Oto\oyia crv/ufioXiKT]
for the second. The two classes complete each other ; the
simple attributes enabling us to understand what is obscure
and undetermined in the mixed attributes, and the latter
giving a concreteness to the first.
166 A Manual of Catholic Fkeology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. i. IV. Theologians distinguish three ways of arriving at
correct notions of God by means of the analogical con-
3 fgettbg ys ceptions gathered from natural perfections. The first is
nmionsof the Positive method, or the method of Causality (causa
e.vemplaris), by which we consider the created perfection as
an image and likeness of the corresponding Divine per-
fection. The second is the method of Negation, or removal
(negationis sen remotionis], whereby we deny that certain
perfections exist in God in the same manner as in creatures,
viz., mixed with imperfection. The third is the method of
Eminence (vioff viripo\i]v), which is a combination of the
two preceding methods, and consists in conceiving the
Divine perfections as of the most exalted character, and
as having in themselves in a supreme degree whatever is
perfect in creatures, without any admixture of imperfec-
tion. Hence there are three ways of predicating of God
the perfections found in creatures. We can say : God is
a spirit, God lives, God is rational ; meaning that these
perfections really exist in God. We can also say: God
is not a spirit, is not living, is not rational ; meaning that
these perfections do not exist in God as they exist in
creatures. To reconcile this seeming contradiction, the
perfections should be predicated of God in the eminent
sense : God is superspiritual, superrational. This doctrine
is often expressed by the Fathers by saying that God is
at the same time Travwvu/uoc, avwvuyuo?, vTrtp^vvfjiog (all-
names, nameless, above all names).
These three methods may be aptly compared with the
methods of the three principal fine arts. The painter pro-
duces a picture by transferring colours to the canvas ; the
sculptor executes a statue by chipping away portions of
a block of marble ; while the poet strives to realize his
ideal by the aid of metaphor and hyperbole.
Corollary. The indirect and analogical character of our knowledge
of God renders us unable to embrace in one idea all the
perfections of the Divine Substance, or even the little
that we can naturally know of them. We are obliged to
combine several particular conceptions into one relatively
complete representation. But the subject will be considered
in the chapter on the unity and attributes of God.
l.J Our Knowledge of God. 167
V. The names which we give to things are the ex- CHAP. L
pression of our conceptions of those things. Hence what -
, . , . ,. c r^ J T Proper and
has been said concerning our conceptions of God applies analogical
to the names by which we designate them. Negative God. 6
names exclude all idea of imperfection and represent God
as a Being sni generis which can alone be properly pre-
dicated of Him. All positive names transferred from the
creature to the Creator are more or less improper names
of Him, because they are not predicated of Creator and
creature in exactly the same sense. Still, not being pre-
dicated of God in quite a different sense, they are not
simply improper but analogical names. The most perfect
among them are the names of pure or spiritual perfections,
because they express perfections formally contained in Him.
Although they are predicated of Him by way of eminence,
still they belong to Him more than to creatures, because
the perfections they express exist in God with more purity,
fulness, reality, and truth than in creatures. For this
reason they are sometimes attributed to Him exclusively:
" Who alone is," " One only is good, God." The names
of mixed perfections, especially specific names of material
things can only be given to God in a metaphorical or
symbolical sense.
VI. From what has been said it follows that the Divine Our know.
Essence can neither be conceived or expressed by us as tive and
it really is in itself, but still that some conception and some ""
expression of it are not beyond the power of our natural
faculties an absolute knowledge is impossible, a relative
and imperfect knowledge is within our reach.
The doctrine contained in this section is beautifully
expressed by St. Gregory of Nazianzum, in his " Hymn to
God:"
" In Thee all things do dwell, and tend
To Thee Who art their only End ;
Thou art at once One, All, and None,
And yet Thou art not all or one.
All-name ! by what name can I call
Thee, Nameless One, alone of all ? " *
I Sol tvt na.vTa. /ueyci, <rol 8' adpoa itdvra floa'e,
2u irdv-ruv Tf\os tffffi, Kal els xal -itimo. Kal ou'Sf'c.
Ot/x' %v ttav, 06 iravra. Ha.vuvvp.1, Traii fff Ku\taav
1 68 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. I.
SECT. 57- SECT. 57. Contents and Limits of our Natural Knoivledge
of God.
Contents. I. Our natural knowledge of God embraces all those
cuse S f the Divine attributes without which God cannot be conceived
as the First and Supreme Cause of the visible universe.
This doctrine is set forth by the Apostle when he teaches
that " the invisible things of God " are knowable in so far
as they are reflected in things visible in nature, the Divine
Nature (0aorr)e) being especially mentioned.
j. mits . II. The Trinity of the Divine Persons that is, the
fnTiude ' manner in which the Divine Nature subsists in Itself and
Trinity communicates Itself to several Persons lies absolutely be-
yond the sphere of human knowledge ; our reason cannot
discover it, or even prove it on natural grounds after its
existence has been revealed. This is taught by Holy
Scripture in the general passages concerning the inscru-
tableness of the mysteries revealed to us by God. These
expressions refer, not merely to His inscrutable counsels,
but also to the inscrutable depths of His Being. "The
Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, but the
spirit of a man that is in him ? So the things also that
are of God no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God "
(i Cor. ii. 10, 1 1). " No one knoweth the Son but the Father,
neither doth any one know the Father but the Son, and he
to whom it shall please the Son to reveal Him " (Matt. xi.
27 ; cf. John i. 18). The same can be demonstrated from
the dogmatic conception of the Trinity compared with the
sole medium of our natural knowledge of God. The Divine
Persons operate externally as one single principle (imum
universorum principium, Fourth Lateran Council). Now,
from the effects we can know only so much of the cause
as actually concurs in the production of the effects ; where-
fore from God's works we can infer nothing concerning the
Trinity of Persons.
why the The indemonstrability of the Blessed Trinity largely
npTbV ' ' contributes to the incomprehensibility of the mystery.
by S rI^on. Whatever cannot be arrived at by reason is difficult of
mental representation. Conversely, the incomprehensi-
PART L] Our Knowledge of God. 169
bility of the Trinity, that is, the impossibility of forming CHAP. i.
a conception of it in harmony with natural things is a *^J B -
further reason of its indemonstrability. Both the indemon-
strability and the incomprehensibility originate from the
fact that the Trinity is God as He is and lives within
Himself, apart from and above the manifestations of Him
in nature. Hence it is that no process of mere reasoning
can lead to a knowledge of God as He is. Faith gives us
an obscure knowledge of Him : the Beatific Vision will
disclose Him to us. See St. Thorn. /., q. 32, a. i.
13. SUPERNATURAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
Our supernatural knowledge of God differs essentially
from natural knowledge, although the nature of the con-
ceptions is the same in both. Faith fixes the mind on itb
object, and enables it to free its conceptions from the
disfiguring elements which an unguided imagination might
introduce. The light of Faith illuminates the Divine mani-
festations in nature, and better adapts our conceptions to
the dignity of God. The moral and spiritual life, which
is one of the fruits of Faith, elevates the mind above mere
animal nature, perfects the image and likeness of God, and
so produces a more faithful mirror of the Divine perfections.
Holy Scripture tells us of many Divine operations in nature
which would have escaped the eye of our mind, and it also
reveals many supernatural works of God which place the
Divine perfections in a brighter light. Lastly, the mani-
festation of God in the Incarnation has given us the most
perfect manifestation of the Deity, and the best adapted to
our capacities.
SECT. 58. Revealed Names of Goa.
I. Divine Revelation gives a progressive development The P rojjr<-s
of the idea of God, even if we abstract from the final revela- knowledge^
tion of the mystery of the Trinity. Nothing new was
revealed to the Patriarchs concerning the Divine Nature
and attributes ; their knowledge was the same as natural
knowledge and as that handed down by tradition. The
object of the Mosaic Revelation was to preserve in its
purity the idea of one God against the corruptions of
170 A Mamial of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. L idolatry and polytheism. It proclaimed God's exalted
sterns . p Qwer Qver a jj things finite and material, and His absolute
dominion over mankind ; it revealed the essential charac-
teristic of God in the name Jehovah. The Prophets point
out and describe in magnificent language the Divine attri-
butes which can be known by the light of reason ; especially
unity, eternity, unchangeableness, infinite greatness, creative
omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, wisdom, goodness,
justice, and holiness. But all these attributes are spoken of
simply to bring out the infinite Majesty of God, and not
in order to reveal anything further concerning His Essence.
This latter aspect is first opened up in the Sapiential books
(Prov. viii., Wisd. vii., Ecclus. xxiv.), where, under the name
of the Eternal Wisdom, the inner life of the Deity is ex-
hibited in its internal and external communication, and the
theology of the New Testament is thereby anticipated.
The object and tendency of Christian Revelation is to raise
man to a most intimate union with God, his Father, and
consequently it manifests the inner perfection of the Divine
Life of which man becomes a partaker. It presupposes the
Old Testament Revelation without making any further
disclosures concerning the Divine Nature ; but, as it tells
us of the mystery of the Trinity, it enables us to gain some
insight into the Divine internal fecundity, and to conceive
the Divine Nature as the purest spirituality as the Light,
the Life, the Truth, the Love, and so as the principle
and ideal of the supernatural perfection to which we should
tend.
The Seven II. The names applied to God are either substantives
NameZ" or adjectives. In the present section we shall confine our-
selves to the former. There are seven substantives applied
to God in the Old Testament. These " Holy Names "
may be divided into three classes.
I. The first class comprises the names which desig-
nate the supreme excellence of God rather than His
Essence : 'PN, DTrfrx, ^'n^.
EI. *?N, El, the Mighty, is often used with appositions, such
as ^ b$, iravroKpardtp, omnipotens, almighty ; DNnfpx bx, God
of Gods. The name EL, even without apposition, is seldom
used of false gods.
PART ij Oiir Knowledge of God. 171
D'n"6$ Elohim, plural of Eloah, the Arabic Allah, the CHAP. L
Powerful, with the correlative significations of Awe-inspir-
ing, Worthy of adoration. This name is given ironically
to false gods, and in a true but weak, inferior sense to beings
inferior to God as reflections of His Majesty, e.g. angels,
kings, judges. When applied to the one, true God, Elohim
must be taken as the majestic plural rather than as an
indication of the Trinity. Appositions are sometimes used
to define the sense, e.g. Elohim Zebaoth, the God of hosts,
that is, the hosts or armies of angels, of the stars, or of
men ; sometimes it means the God of all creatures.
V 1 " 1 ^, Adonai, Kvpioz, Seo-Trorijt, Dominus, Judge, Com- Adonat
mander, Lord pre-eminently. This name combines the
meanings of El and Elohim, because God, the Supreme
Lord, not only inspires fear on account of His physical
might, but also exacts reverence and submission as a moral
power. Adonai is used without apposition as a proper
name of God. Other beings can indeed be judges and
commanders, but they are so only inasmuch as they
represent God, and not in the eminent sense indicated by
the plural of majesty. It is never used of the false divinities
of the heathen, because the idea of supreme moral power
and sovereignty was not associated with them.
2. The second class contains only one name, essentially jehovai.
a proper name, because it describes the Divine Essence. It
is nin?, Jehovah (Exod. iii. 14-16), " I am Who am." The
correct pronunciation is probably Yahweh, whence the abbre-
viation iT, Yah. Its meaning is that God is the One Who
is, purely and simply ; Whose Being is dependent on no
external cause, Who therefore can neither be limited nor
changed by anything, and Who, by reason of this mode of
existence, is distinguished from all other beings, real or
possible, especially from all pretended divinities, and also
from powerful, ruling, or unearthly beings, which might
possibly be designated by the other Divine names. Hence
it is, in the strictest sense of the word, a proper name, such
as Moses asked for in order to make known to the people
the characteristic name of the God, Elohim, of their fathers.
It is moreover a name of alliance, as being intimately con-
nected with the covenant between God and Israel ; the
172 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. i. knowledge of the true God as revealed in the name Jehovah
SECIES. was t j ie pi e( jg ej the m edium, and the proof of the alliance.
As the name Jehovah was in use before the time of Moses,
the question arises as to the sense in which God said to
Moses (Exod. vi. 3) that he appeared to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob by the name of God Almighty, El Schadai, and
did not reveal to them His name Jehovah. The best solu-
tion of the difficulty is, perhaps, that Jehovah was His most
appropriate name, and that it was, as a matter of fact,
adopted by Him to serve as a symbol and watchword of
the public worship of the one God, whereas El Schadai
expresses more accurately the relation of God to the fami-
lies of the Patriarchs as their powerful protector.
3. The third class embraces those names akin to the
first class, but expressing with more force the sublime
excellence of the true God. In their substantive form they
are, however, applied to false divinities.
^'n, HascJiadai from schadad, to overpower (?) the
Strong, Mighty, akin in meaning to El, but designating
with more energy the independence, self-sufficiency, and
inviolability of the Power, and therefore it is equivalent to
" the Almighty."
H^yn, Haelion, Altissiimis, the High, Sublime, the Most
High, akin to Elohim.
WTiftri, Hakadosch, the Holy, found chiefly in the Pro-
phets and among these especially in Isaias : the Holy One
of Israel, the Holy Lord, Judge and Lawgiver of the chosen
people. Akin to Adonai.
In the New Testament these names are replaced by
their Greek or Latin equivalents, e.g. 6 Kvpiog, 6 o>v, o
'ii\pi(rroQ, etc. The most frequent name applied to God is
the classical word 9 toe, Deus.
SECT. 59. The Doctrine concerning God as defined by the
Church, especially in the Vatican Council.
Just as the New Testament takes over from the Old
Testament the doctrine concerning the Divine Essence
and Nature, and only occasionally insists upon this doctrine,
so has the Church from her very infancy looked upon it as
PART I.] Our Knowledge of God. 173
sufficiently proposed and as universally admitted. Hence CHAP. i.
it is that, notwithstanding the importance and the fecundity
of the dogma of the Divine Essence and Nature, it is the
subject of so few definitions. It was only in our own day,
when the most grievous errors concerning God had spread
even among Christians, that the Church at length issued a
formal definition in the Vatican Council (sess. iii., chap. i).
"The Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church believeth Text of the
* ' Vatican
and confesseth that there is one true and living God, the definition.
Creator and Lord of Heaven and earth, Almighty, Eternal,
Immense, Incomprehensible, Infinite in intellect and will
and in all perfection ; Who, being one, individual, altogether
simple and unchangeable Substance, must be asserted to
be really and essentially distinct from the world, most
happy in Himself and of Himself, and ineffably exalted
above everything that exists or can be conceived.
" This one true God, of His own goodness and of His
almighty power, not to increase His happiness, nor to
acquire but rather to manifest His perfection by means of
the good things which He bestoweth upon creatures, most
freely in the very beginning of time made out of nothing
both kinds of creatures, to wit, angelic and mundane, and
afterwards human nature, participating of both because
composed of spirit and body.
" But God, Who reacheth from end to end mightily and
ordereth all things sweetly (Wisd. viii. i), protecteth and
ruleth by His providence all the things that He hath made.
For all things are naked and open to His eyes (Heb. iv.
13), even those things which will come to pass by the free
agency of creatures."
The corresponding canons are the following :
" i. If any one shall deny the one true God, the Creator
and Lord of things visible and invisible, let him be ana-
thema.
" 2. If any one shall not be ashamed to say that besides
matter nothing doth exist, let him be anathema.
"3. If any one shall say that the substance or. essence
of God and of all things is one and the same, let him be
anathema.
"4. If any one shall say that finite things, whether
174 d. Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IT.
CHAP. i. spiritual or corporeal, or at least spiritual things, have
SE ^_S&. emanated from the Divine Substance ;
" Or that the Divine Essence by the manifestation or
evolution of Itself becometh all things ;
" Or, finally, that God is the universal or indefinite
being which by self-determination doth constitute the
universe of things distinguished into genera, species, and
individuals, let him be anathema.
" 5. If any one shall not confess that the world and all
things contained therein, both spiritual and material, have
been as to their entire substance produced out of nothing
by God ;
" Or shall say that God created not by will free from
all necessity, but necessarily, just as He necessarily loveth
Himself;
" Or shall deny that the world was made for the glory
of God, let him be anathema." 1
The definition of the Council is directed (i) against
Atheism, and especially against Materialism ; (2) against
Pantheism ; (3) against certain modern opinions mentioned
in detail in can. 5. The Council develops the idea of God
positively through the attributes which manifest His abso-
lute greatness as Supreme Being, and then defines His
absolute independence of and entire distinction from all
other beings. Lastly, the Council firmly establishes His
absolute dominion over the universe.
1 Compare with this decree the magnificent description of God given by
Cardinal Newman (Idea of a University, p. 36) : " God is an individual, self-
dependent, all-perfect, unchangeable Being ; intelligent, living, personal and
present ; almighty, all-seeing, all-remembering ; between Whom and His
creatures there is an infinite gulf; Who had no origin ; Who passed an
eternity by Himself; Who created and upholds the universe ; Who will judge
every one of us at the end of time, according to that law of right and wrong
which He has written on our hearts. He is One Who is sovereign over,
operative amidst, and independent of, the appointments which He has made ;
One in Whose hands are all things, Who has a purpose in every event, and
a standard for every deed, and thus has relations of His own towards the
subject-matter of each particular science which the book of knowledge un-
folds ; Who has, with an adorable, never-ceasing energy mixed Himself up
with all the history of creation, the constitution of nature, the course of the
world, the origin of society, the fortunes of nations, the action of the human
mind."
( 175 )
CHAPTER IT.
THE ESSENCE AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD, CONSIDERED
GENERALLY.
SECT. 60. Fundamental Conception of God's Essence and
Nature.
WE have now to inquire whether, among our concep- CHAP. TI
tions of God, there is some one which may be considered E
as the foundation of all the others.
I. A direct and intuitive representation of the Divine Terms
plained.
Substance as It is in Itself, is manifestly impossible. Our
knowledge of God is restricted to His attributes which
we see reflected in creatures, and which we refer to the
Divine Substance ; but the Substance itself we have no
power to apprehend. Whatever God is or has in Himself,
He is or has of Himself without external cause, and it is all
one and the same with His Substance. There are, how-
ever, certain elements in our conception of God which,
when compared with the others, may be considered as
fundamental and as the root from which the latter spring.
The fundamental conception of a substance may be formed
either from the consideration of its being, or from the
consideration of its activity, notably its vital activity. In
the former case, the substance is termed "essence," to
signify what it really is ; in the latter case, it is called
"nature" that is, the source or principle of activity. The
nature of a thing is sometimes styled its " physical essence,"
an expression also used to signify all that belongs essen-
tially to a substance. The essence itself, considered as the
root of the essential properties, is called the " metaphysical
176 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. ii. essence." Among modern theologians the question of the
- fundamental conception of God is spoken of as the question
concerning the metaphysical essence of God, or the essence
which distinguishes Him from all other beings, and accounts
for all His essential properties.
The Divine II. When we wish to distinguish God from all other
Essence.
beings we think of Him as a substance existing of itself
a substance which owes its existence to no external prin-
ciple, but possesses existence essentially and absolutely.
In other words : Aseity (aseitas, avrovata) is the first dis-
tinguishing attribute which we conceive of the Divine
Substance, and from which we infer the other Divine
attributes. " I_am_Who am : " that is to say, " I am of My-
self and absolutely, in contradistinction to all other beings
which have a derivative and precarious existence." Aseity
excludes not only all external principles, but also the
notion that God is constantly giving Himself existence
(" das absolute Werden " or the " Selbstverwirklichung,"
Self-realization, of Giinther). God cannot produce Him-
self any more than any other being can. When He is
said to be His own cause, or Self-caused, this only means
that He does not require or admit of any cause.
God's III. There is a still deeper and more exhaustive concep-
iSsunc-e! tion of the Divine Substance contained in the expressions,
" God is His own existence ; " " God's essence is exist-
ence ; " " God is Being ; " 6 &v, He Who is, Jehovah. The
Schoolmen express this by saying, " God is a pure act
(actus purus) ; " that is, pure actuality without any admix-
ture of potentiality. Every perfection possible in any
being is actually possessed by God, and is only possible
in others because it actually exists in Him. The name
Jehovah, understood in this sense, is really the essential
name of God. This Divine Actuality is the foundation
of God's Simplicity and Infinity. His Simplicity consists
in the identity of possibility and reality, and His Infinity
means that every possible perfection is actually possessed
by Him.
We must bear in mind throughout that the conceptions
of essence and substance as applied to God are only analo-
gous, because the essences which we know are not identical
PART I.] The Essence and Attributes of God. 177
with existence. Hence the expressions : " God is auro- CHAP. n.
oucnoc, uTTEjooua-toe, and avovaioc," that is, God is His own 1 *'
Essence, is above all essences, and is without essence.
IV. Just as the Divine Substance exists of Itself, so The Divine
does It act of Itself. It is the sole, adequate principle Nature>
of Its whole Life ; It cannot be conceived as animated or
vivified, but must be considered as Absolute Life. The
Divine Substance is Its own Life, Life pure and simple,
Life in its absolute fulness and perfection. Moreover, the
Divine Nature must be conceived as absolutely and in
the highest degree Spiritual. When we speak of created
nature, we distinguish the life-giving principle from the life-
less matter. We term the former " Spirit " when we consider
it, not so much as animating matter, but as active and
self-subsistent. Hence immaterial and intellectual sub-
stances are said to have a spiritual nature and to be spirits.
Much more, then, is the Divine Life, which is absolutely
independent and immanent, a spiritual Life.
The above description contains the generic difference
between the Divine Nature and created nature viz. the
manner in which God possesses His Life ; and also con-
tains the fundamental characters which make the Divine
Life most eminent and sublime viz. the absolute imma-
teriality and consequent intellectuality of the Divine Sub-
stance. When we designate the Divine Nature as a spirit
(John iv. 24), we express Its immateriality and intellec-
tuality, the former being the source of the latter. The
word " Spirit," in its eminent signification, is applicable
to God's exalted nature purely and simply, because God is
not only the uncreated and highest possessor of a spiritual
nature, but also the noblest form of spiritual nature.
SECT. 6 1. TJie Perfection of the Divine Being.
I. A being is perfect when it possesses all the qualities Notion of
of which it is capable, or which are suitable and due to it. ^
Created beings do not receive their perfection with their
substance ; they acquire it by exerting their own internal
energy, or by means of external agents. They thus attain
their end, rlXoc, which is the completeness of their being,
or perfection, TtAaorrje- The perfection of created beings
N
1 78 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. n. is always relative ; that is to say, it can never embrace more
SECT^I. than the good qualities due to a particular class of things,
nor can it reach such a high degree that there is not some
higher degree possible.
Godabso- II. Just as God is an absolute Being that is, without
infect. any origin or beginning, independent, necessary, essen-
tially existing so is He also absolutely all that He can or
ought to be by His Nature. He is essentially perfect (ai/ro-
Tt'Arje) ; He is self-sufficient for His perfection (awrajoioje)',
He possesses in His Substance, without any internal evolu-
tion or external influence, entire perfection.
God con- III. God's perfection is absolute, not only in the sense
{^"fwftloZ that whatever constitutes Divine perfection belongs essen-
tially to Him, but also because His perfection embraces
every existing or conceivable -perfection (TravrfXrj'e). He is
the perfect principle of all things, and must therefore be,
not only self-sufficient, but also capable of bestowing their
perfections on all things, and must possess in Himself
every kind of perfection. This existence of all perfections
in God, this fulness of being, implies more than the pos-
session of creative power and ideal knowledge. It implies
that He possesses in His own perfection, which is the source
and exemplar of all created perfection, a real and complete
equivalent of this perfection. This equivalent is the fund
from which He draws His universal power and universal
knowledge. Cf. Exod. xxxiii. 14 ; TO irav lortv auroc,
Ecclus. xliii. 29 ; Acts xvii. 25 ; Rom. xi. 36, etc.
The manner in which the particular perfections of created
things exist in the universal perfection of God is expressed
in the language of the Schoolmen by the terms " Virtually"
and " Eminently." Created things are not contained in
God materially, and do not flow from Him as water from
a spring, but are produced by His power (virtus} ; and,
besides, He possesses in Himself a perfect equivalent of
their perfections, which is their type or model. Again,
God does not contain the perfections of His creatures
exactly as they exist outside Him. He contains them in
their purity, free from all admixture of imperfection ; He
contains them in a perfection of a higher character as, for
instance, the sense of vision is included in the higher power
PART I.] TJie Essence and Attributes of God. 179
of understanding. The manifold perfections of creatures CHAP. n.
are consequently concentrated in one Divine Perfection, E f^ 2-
which is not, indeed, a combination of them all, but contains
and surpasses them all by reason of its richness and value.
IV. The Divine perfection alone is essential and uni- God .
essential
versal, and is the acme of all perfection (vTrsprlXrig, auro TO perfection.
rt'Aoc). There does not exist, nor can we conceive, anything
above God by means of which God's perfection can be
measured or defined. His perfection is the principle, and
hence the measure and object, of all other perfections,
which are indeed perfections only in as far as they re-
semble and participate in the Divine perfection. Moreover,
it can never be exhausted or equalled by created per-
fections ; hence it is incomparable and all-surpassing. Cf.
Ps. xxxiv. 10 ; Isai. xliv. 7, and xl. 15-17.
SECT. 62. Our Conception of the Divine Attributes
Classification.
I. All the Divine attributes which designate something
necessarily contained in God, designate the Divine Sub-
stance Itself, and not something distinct from It, inhering
in it after the manner of an accident. This principle
applies to the attributes of Unity, Truth, Beauty ; and
also to the Divine essential Activity such as Self-con-
sciousness and Self-love ; because all of these necessarily
belong to the integrity of the Divine Essence and Nature.
It is also true of the Divine intellectual and volitional acts
concerning contingent things ; for although these acts are
not essential to God, still they are not accidents of His
Substance, but are the Divine Substance Itself as related
to contingent objects. But the principle is true only to
a certain extent in the case of attributes which express
Divine external action that is, active influence on creatures ;
because the power and will to act are in God, whereas
the action itself (actio transiens], and still more its effect,
are external to Him. Lastly, this principle cannot be
applied to attributes expressing a relation between creatures
and God such as Creator, Redeemer, Revvarder ; because
these relations are not in God but outside Him. They
need not belong to Him from all eternity, as may also be
180 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IL
CHAP. IL said of attributes designating Divine external actions,
2 ' because their basis is not eternal. Essential attributes, on
the contrary, and also attributes expressing something in
God, even if not essential, belong to Him from all eternity.
All this is the common teaching of the Fathers and theolo-
gians, and is based upon the dogmas of the Simplicity and
Unchangeableness of God (cf. infra, 63, 65).
?f ! the cti n II- It * s evident that attributes expressing external
attributes, relations of God to His creatures, such as Creator, Re-
deemer, Rewarder, are not identical with each other, but
are separate rays emanating from a common centre.
Again, the attributes designating the Divine Substance
are not necessarily identical with each other. Although
all of them express the same Divine Object, nevertheless
each of them corresponds with a particular conception of
our mind, arrived at in different ways and from different
starting-points. They are not, therefore, identical subjec-
tively. They also differ objectively that is, as regards
what they represent. None of the attributes represent the
Divine Substance as such and in its totality, but only under
some particular aspect, and such aspects are manifold, even
in finite things.
ciassifica- III. There are various ways of classifying the Divine
attributes. The arrangement which we propose to follow
is based upon the fact that God is a being, and a living,
spiritual being. A created being has composition of some
sort ; it has limits, and it is subject to change. It forms
part of the universe ; it exists in space and in time. It can
be seen by bodily or mental eye ; it can be grasped by a
finite mind, and can be expressed in language. All of
these qualities imply some sort of imperfection ; hence,
none of them can belong to God. Their contradictories
must be predicated of Him, and these are styled His Nega-
tive attributes. Again, every created being is in itself one,
true, good, and beautiful, and externally it has power and is
present to other beings. These attributes, although imper-
fect in creatures, do not themselves imply imperfection.
Hence they may be predicated of God as Positive attributes.
Lastly, God, being a spirit, must have the two faculties of
a spirit intelligence and will.
l.] The Essence and Attributes of God. 181
The following table will make this arrangement CHAP, n
SECT. 6a.
clear :
A. Attributes belonging to God ar> a Being :
(a) Negative attributes :
Simplicity ;
Infinity ;
Immutability.
Inconfusibility ;
03)
(7)
Immensity ;
Eternity.
Invisibility ;
Incomprehensibility ;
InefTability.
(li) Positive attributes :
(a) Internal :
(1) Unity ;
(2) Truth;
(3) Goodness ;
(4) Beauty.
Cj3) External:
(1) Omnipotence;
(2) Omnipresence.
P. Attributes belonging to God as a living, spiritual
Being :
(a) Intelligence ;
(b) WilU
1 8 2 A Manual c/ Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAPTER III.
THE NEGATIVE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD.
SECT. 63. The Simplicity of God.
CHAP, in T. THE physical Simplicity, or, in other words, the im-
E fll 3 materiality and incorporeity, of God is included in His
Simplicity, absolute Simplicity, and may be proved by the same argu-
ments. It may be also demonstrated by special proofs ;
and there are certain special difficulties to which it gives
rise, and which demand solution.
Scripture. I- The Divine immateriality, or spirituality, is practically
set forth in the Old Testament by the prohibition of
material representations of God (Deut. iv. 16). Our Lord
Himself says : " God is a Spirit, and they that adore Him
must adore Him in spirit and in truth" (John iv. 24).
Wherever Scripture speaks of God as invisible, infinite,
immutable, omnipresent, and the rest, His immateriality
is evidently implied. And from the earliest days of the
Church this attribute was laid down as a fundamental
dogma against the pagans, as may be seen in the writ-
ings of the Apologists. Tertullian and Lactantius indeed
ascribed to God a body, or spoke of His form and figure ;
but they did so in opposition to the Gnostics, or to the
pantheism of the Stoics, who maintained that the Divine
Substance was indefinite, vague, empty, and formless, like
the air, and thus perverted the true notion of spirituality.
Proofs from 2. The proofs from reason for the Divine Simplicity are
most conclusive, but they need not be dwelt on here. The
first active principle of all things cannot be itself capable
of resolution into simpler elements, because the latter
ought to be anterior to it in time or at least in nature, and
reason.
PAET I.] The Negative Attributes of God. 183
moreover would require an external cause to bring them CHAP. in.
together. Again, the attributes of pure actuality, infinity, E - 6 '
omnipresence, and the rest, which flow from the nature of
the first principle, are all incompatible with physical com-
position.
II. The attribute of metaphysical Simplicity excludes M <%
physical
from God every kind of composition, and consequently simplicity,
every difference between potentiality and actuality, or
between realities completing each other. Hence this attri-
bute requires that God should not only possess all that
is perfect, but that He should also be His perfection, and
that all that is real in Him should be one indivisible
reality: "One Supreme Thing" (Fourth Lateran Council,
Cap. Damnamus). Conversely, if God is one indivisible
reality, it follows that no composition exists in Him.
Even before the Fourth Lateran Council, this doctrine
was defined more in detail by Eugenius III. in the Council
of Rheims against Gilbert.
1. Holy Scripture teaches the absolute simplicity of scripture.
God when it says that God is the Life, Truth, Wisdom,
Light, Love, not that He has these qualities. There is no
reason for not taking these expressions in their literal
sense ; on the contrary, the literal sense is required by the
peculiar nature of God. Besides, Scripture uses them to
point out that God is the sole original possessor of these
perfections. It could not say with truth that "God is
Light, and in Him there is no darkness," if He were not
Light in its greatest purity and perfection that is, if the
perfections connoted by the term " Light " were not all one
and the same identical perfection, as indeed is expressed
by the very name Jehovah.
2. Internal reasons for the Divine Simplicity were also Tradition,
given by the Fathers. Without absolute Simplicity, they
say, God could neither be absolutely infinite nor absolutely
immutable. And again, Simplicity is in itself a great
perfection, because it connotes the excellence of the per-
fection of which it is predicated, and the completeness and
thoroughness of the manner in which it is possessed.
Aseity and absolute necessity can only belong to a Being
absolutely simple, because the several parts of a composite
184 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CH^r. in. being would be dependent on each other. God being
E fll 3 ' absolutely independent and self-sufficient, we cannot con-
ceive Him as a subject perfected and completed by any-
thing whatsoever. See these arguments developed by St.
Anselm, Monolog., cc. xvi., xvii. ; St. Thomas, /., q. 3, a. 7 ;
Scotus in I. Sent. d. 8 ; St. Bernard, De. Consid., \. v., c. 7.
Composi- III. We subjoin a list of the kinds of composition
excluded excluded by the metaphysical Simplicity of God, but which
from God. i " , ,
are found even in spiritual creatures.
1. Composition of essence and existence, is excluded
because the Essence of God is to exist. In created things
this kind of composition is the source of all other kinds
of composition. Its exclusion from God is in like manner
the source of the exclusion of all composition from Him.
2. The composition of essence and hypostatic cha-
racters is also excluded ; that is to say, the Divine Essence
is not determined by any individual character, as, for
instance, the human essence is determined by special marks
or characters in each human individual.
3. There is likewise excluded the composition of sub-
stance and its various accidents.
4. Lastly, the Divine Simplicity excludes any composi-
tion that might result from the real difference between
several activities, such as between knowing, willing, and
acting, between immanent and transient operation, and
between necessary and contingent acts. All activity in
God is one simple act.
God alone IV. Physical simplicity is not exclusively proper to
Saiy P simpie. God ; it also belongs to all created spirits, and constitutes
their likeness to the Creator. Metaphysical simplicity,
on the contrary, belongs to God alone. Created spirits,
elevated by grace, may be made, to some extent, partakers
of the simplicity of the Divine Life, but their elevation
itself implies a composition of a peculiar kind, viz. that of
a spiritual substance with an external accidental perfection.
The simplicity of the life by which the created spirit shares
supernaturally in the Simplicity of the Divine Life, consists
in its being freed from the influence of creatures ; and being
enabled to know God immediately in Himself, and to know
and love everything else in Him and for Him.
PAST I.] The Negative Attributes of God. 185
V. The attribute of Simplicity excludes from the Divine CHAP. in.
Substance everything that implies composition. If there ^f^ 64 -
were no other distinctions but such as entail composition, in'ood 00 "
distinction could no more be attributed to God than com-
position. There are, however, distinctions which do not
imply composition, but are based upon and are necessitated
by the very simplicity and perfection of their object. Thus
in God distinctions may be established which do not con-
flict with His Simplicity, because they are made, not
between separate elements, but between different ways of
looking at one and the same perfection. Such differences
are even necessary in God, for without them the real dis-
tinction between the three Persons, and the essential dif-
ference of attitude in God's activity within and without
could not exist. An exaggerated notion of the Divine
Simplicity was condemned by Pope John XXII. See
Denzinger, Ixvi. 23, 24.
Distinctions of the kind last mentioned are called
in theological language Mental distinctions (distinctiones
rationis] because the thing distinguished, although objec-
tively one and the same, is represented in our mind by
different conceptions. Such distinctions, therefore, really
exist only in our mind ; but they are not mere subjective
fictions, because the perfection of the object furnishes an
objective foundation for them. Hence they are called
" distinctiones rationis ratiocinate" or " cum fnndamento in
re." They thus occupy a position between Real distinctions
implying objective composition, and Merely-mental dis-
tinctions having no objective value (distinctiones rationis
ratiocinantis}.
SECT. 64. The Infinity of God
I. The Infinite that is, the endless or limitless may "^ree way.
* of con-
be conceived under three different aspects, which are thus ceivingthe
expressed in the language of the Schoolmen : (i) that than
which nothing greater can be conceived (quo nihil majus
cogitari potesf) ; (2) that which contains all conceivable great-
ness or magnitude (guod continet omnem magnitudinem qua;
cogitari potesf} ; (3) that which is incomparably and im-
measurably greater than anything conceivable (quod est
1 86 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IT.
CHAP. in. incompardbiliter vel incommensurabiliter mains omnibus aliis
SECT. 64. . . .
qua cogttart possunt).
Gotiinfinito II. God was defined by the Vatican Council to be
" Infinite in understanding and will and all perfection "
(sess. iii., chap. i). This is to say, (i) God cannot be
thought of as greater, better, or more perfect than He is,
nor can any other being be conceived greater, better, or
more perfect than God ; (2) there is no limit to the Divine
perfection, because God contains all conceivable perfections,
and the fulness of His Being attains the utmost limits of
possible being both intensively and extensively, that is,
God has every conceivable perfection and every conceivable
form and degree of each perfection ; and (3) the plenitude
of the Divine Being is such that no sum of finite perfections,
however great, can either equal or measure it on the
contrary, finite being and its indefinite increase and multi-
plication are possible only on account of God's inexhaus-
tible plenitude of Being. The absolute substantial infinity
of God evidently implies that He is infinite (i) not only as
compared with a certain kind of created beings, but as
infinitely transcending all conceivable degrees and kinds
of perfection ; (2) not only in some one attribute but in
all ; (3) not only as to the magnitude or multitude of the
objects of His activity, but also as to the perfection of His
Essence and activity, Intellect, and Will in themselves.
The Divine Infinity in Substance and perfection may
be shown both a posteriori and a priori. Assuming as
certain the infinity of certain particular attributes (e.g. om-
nipotence and omniscience) and their identity with God's
Essence, and with all the other attributes, the infinity in
Substance and perfection plainly follows. And a priori,
this infinity is contained in the Divine Aseity ; no limi-
tation can be in God because no external principle can
determine it, nor can it be due to internal incapacity for
greater perfection. The infinity of particular attributes is
based upon the infinity of the Substance because they are
identical with it, and because their infinity is essentially
contained in the plenitude of being required by the essence
of the substance. Cf. Toletus, in /., q. 7.
Hence we infer: I. The notion of Divine Infinity
PAET I.] The Negative Attributes of God. 187
excludes the possibility of things existing independently CHAP, in
outside God, but not of things existing dependently on " 4 '
Him.
2. Things outside the Divine Substance cannot be added
to the Divinity so as to produce, either a greater being, or
at least a greater aggregate of beings. Hence God plus the
universe, is not more than God alone. For the same reason
it cannot be said that the Incarnation added being to the
Divinity ; for the human nature of Christ is only united
to the Divine Person inasmuch as God produces it and
a Divine Person possesses it.
3. The Divine Infinity does not prevent God's know-
ledge, volition, and activity from being extended to objects
outside Him (ad extra}. Such extension does not imply
any real expansion or motion ad extra, but only an ideal
intention or direction ; much less does it imply an increase
from without, as it only bears upon things entirely dependent
on God.
III. Absolute Infinity of Substance and perfection iscodaw
an attribute proper to God alone ; no substance, no per- m
fection outside God 'can be infinite in the strict sense of
the term, because infinity is incompatible with dependence.
The infinite dignity of God can, it is true, be communicated
by hypostatic union to a created nature ; but Infinity does
not therefore cease to belong to God alone. This com-
munication is effected, not by the production of a new and
independent dignity, but by the assumption of a human
nature by a Divine Person, Who makes it His own and
is adored in it. Spiritual creatures resemble God in the
simplicity of their substance ; they are also like Him in
comparative infinity, inasmuch as they are not limited to
the same extent as material creatures, and inasmuch as
their intellectual faculties can know all things, even the
Divine Infinity, and can embrace in their general concep-
tions an immense multitude of possible beings. They
participate still more in the Divine Infinity by means of
grace and glory, whereby they are elevated above all
sensible nature, nay, above their own nature, and are
enabled to apprehend, if not to comprehend, the Infinite
Being of God Himself.
1 88 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. III.
SECT^S. SECT< 6 5> _77^ Immutability of God.
Godim- I- God is absolutely immutable: no change whatever
mutable. can a ^f ec ^. ^ e Dj v i ne Substance ; He is always absolutely
the same in Substance, Attributes, and Life.
Scripture. i. " I am the Lord, and I change not " (Mai. iii. 6) ; " the
Father of lights, with Whom there is no change nor shadow
of alteration " irapaXXayii fj Tpoirtjs cnroaKiaafjia (James i. 17 J
cf. Ps. ci. 27, 28, and Heb. i. 1 1, 12 ; Rom. i. 23 ; i Tim. i. 17,
vi. 16; Wisd. vii. 27, etc.).
Tradition. 2. Tradition, too, abounds with similar testimonies.
The Councils and Fathers take for granted the Divine
Immutability as an article of Faith in their disputes with
the Arians, who opposed the Son of God to the Father
as the changeable to the unchangeable ; they demonstrate
it against the Gnostics and Manichaeans, who taught the
emanation of creatures from God ; against the Stoics, who
maintained the passivity of God ; against the Eutychians
and Patripassiani, who affirmed a conversion of the Divine
Nature into the human nature, or conversely. After the
Creed, the Council of Nicaea added the words, "The
Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes those who
say that the Son of God is variable (aAXotwrov) or change-
able (TJOETTTOV)." Moreover, this doctrine is a prominent
feature of all apologetics against the heathen. It is a
favourite theme of St. Augustine (cf. De Civ. Dei, 1. xi.,
cc. 10, II, and 1. xii., c. 17).
Reason. 3. The rational proofs of the Divine Immutability are
derived from the very Essence of God, which is Being
pure and simple, excluding all beginning and end ; from
the independence and self-sufficiency of the Divine Essence,
which exclude all external influence and all internal
reasons requiring or producing change ; from the Divine
Simplicity, which excludes all composition or decompo-
sition consequent upon mutability ; from the Divine In-
finity, which is incompatible with increase and decrease,
or substitution of one state of being for another in the
Divine Substance ; and, lastly, from the necessity by which
God actually is all that He can be, which excludes the
possibility of acquisition or loss. These arguments, espe-
PART I.] The Negative Attributes of God. 189
cially the last named, would seem at first sight not to apply CHAP, in
to God's contingent acts of thought and will. But it is E ^_ 5
absolutely necessary that His cognition and volition of
things outside Him should be themselves determined, be-
cause indetermination would involve imperfection ; and if
this determination in God (ad intrd) is absolutely necessary ,
its direction on this or that particular object cannot be
something with a beginning or end. Moreover, although
these intentions or directions of the Divine Intellect and
Will upon contingent objects do not constitute the essential
Being and Life of God, and although the Divine Essence and
Life are entirely independent of them, still, as a matter of fact,
they are contained in the Divine Essence and Life, and con-
sequently they must participate in the immutability of these.
By basing the immutability of God's free decrees upon
the necessity of His whole Being, we have also given the
principle for explaining the apparent contradiction between
the Divine Immutability and the freedom of God's Will.
It is evident that the power of changing a decision once
freely taken is not essential to freedom ; on the contrary,
consistency belongs to the ideal of freedom. Now, in
order to produce a change in God, a free determination
should cause a new act or new existence in such a way as
to be opposed to the Divine Simplicity and Infinity. But,
as we have already seen ( 64, II.), this is not the case.
Indeed, the difficulty of accounting for free will in God
arises less from His Immutability than from His Sim-
plicity, Infinity, and Necessity, although, when rightly
understood, these very attributes are the foundation of His
freedom. The following thesis supplies the key to the
solution of the other difficulties.
II. "God, although immutable in Himself, is the prin-
ciple of all mutable beings and of all the changes which
take place in them ; wherefore God's essential Immutability
does not exclude the variability of His external activity
and of His relations to creatures. Everything, however,
which would involve any change in the Divine Substance
must be excluded, notably all newness of volition or motion
in execution, and every affection and determination received
from without." This doctrine is of Faith, and is also theo-
190 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IL
CHAP. in. logically and philosophically evident ; but theologians differ
in their way of expressing and applying it.
Creation and I. The works of the Divine Omnipotence are not eternal.
Creation and all the acts of Providence are measured by
time, and therefore, when the effect commences, the Divine
action (ad extra} that causes it commences likewise. But the
realization, in time, of the eternal decree is not a formal
change in the producer, nor does it presuppose such a change.
God does not produce effects by means of forces or instru-
ments, but by simply enacting His Omnipotent Will. Much
less do the attributes of Creator, Lord, and the rest, based
upon God's external activity, involve a change in Him (cf.
St. Augustine, De Civ. Dei, 1. xii., c. 17 ; Abelard, Introd.,
1. iii., c. 6).
Theincar- 2. Again, God enters into various relations with His
nation and
grace. creatures, notably in the Incarnation and by means of
the operation of His grace. These relations constitute
a variation which proceeds from God, and in a certain
manner also terminates in Him. But here, also, the crea-
ture alone is substantially and inwardly affected by the
change ; grace brings the creature nearer to God, and in
the case of the Incarnation the creature is elevated to unity
in Person and dignity with God, Who Himself is neither
elevated nor lowered in the process (cf. St. Augustine, Lib.
83 Q?t(sst. y q., 73, De Incarn^).
God's 3. Thirdly, God takes notice of the changes which occur
tow P aiMs' n in creatures, and disposes His operations accordingly. It
would seem, therefore, that such changes in creatures react
on the Creator, and affect even His inmost life. But the
real motive determining the Divine operations is in God
Himself; that He is disposed differently, according to the
good or evil conduct of creatures, does not entail a variety
of acts or dispositions in Him. His infinite love for the
Supreme Good is at the same time love for the good among
His creatures, and hatred and anger against the wicked.
Moreover, His pleasure or displeasure bestowed at various
times has really existed from all eternity in Him, but is
manifested in time. Repentance, indeed, seems to be most
incompatible with the Divine Immutability. Holy Scripture
sometimes denies its existence in God, but at other times
PART .1] The Negative Attributes of God. 191
attributes it to Him. We must therefore understand that CHAP. in.
the Divine operations or affections manifest themselves SE ^j_ 66
externally, in various times and circumstances, in such a
manner as to resemble human repentance. Cf. St. Augus-
tine, Ad Siniplicium, q. ii., n. 2.
III. Absolute immutability belongs to God alone. ItGodaione
cannot be communicated to creatures, because they are ""
by their very essence subject to change. However, by
means of grace all defective mutations natural to creatures
can be prevented, and even made impossible ; and when
this takes place the immutability which belongs to God is,
to some extent, communicated to His creatures. But this
communicated immutability is never absolute, because it
does not exclude multiplicity and progress in the creature's
inner life. We should note that a sort of immutability
belongs by nature to all spiritual creatures, viz. the incor-
ruptibility of their substance and the immortality of their
.life.
SECT. 66. The Inconfusibility of God.
I. The attribute which we -have now to consider is a Definition,
complement of the Divine Simplicity. It excludes from
God the possibility of entering into composition with any
other substance, form, or matter, and of His being num-
bered or classed with other things. Hence, too, the exclu-
sion of the Pantheistic system, which would degrade the
perfection of the Divinity below that of created spirits.
The Vatican Council asserts this attribute by stating that
God is " ineffably exalted above all things that exist or
can be conceived" (sess. Hi., chap. i).
II. God can no more enter into necessary or sub- The Vaticat
stantial composition with any other substance than He expounded.
can admit of composition within Himself ; for the com-
ponent substance would have to become part of the Divine
Substance, and would thus destroy its Simplicity. God
cannot become identical with other substances, because
either these substances would cease to be distinct from
each other, or there would be an end of the Divine bethe an
Simplicity. JStoSaw
I. God cannot be the matter or substratum of all things, Universe;
1 92 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. in. because His Substance is eminently one, simple, and in-
E ' divisible. He cannot, again, be the root of all things
in the sense that things partake of His Substance and
live by His own proper energy.
nor its soul. 2. Nor can He be the soul or substantial form of the
universe, even in such a way that His Substance only
partially acts as soul of the world, and has an independent
existence besides. All these hypotheses directly contradict
the attributes of Simplicity, Immutability, and Infinity,
not to mention various absurdities which they involve.
3. God cannot, even in a supernatural manner, form
part of a composition resulting in the production of a
nature. Hence in the Incarnation there is neither unity
of nature nor loss of independence or self-sufficiency on
the part of the Divine Person Who makes the human
nature His own, and submits it to Himself. A union of
this kind, viz. by active assumption and dominion, and
without any fusion of the united natures, is not excluded by
any Divine attribute ; on the contrary, it is possible only
on the ground of the Absolute Being, Power, and Dominion.
4. God cannot be reckoned or classed with other
beings, because He has nothing in common with them. No
general notion can embrace God and His creatures. Even
the notions of substance and being have different meanings
when applied to God, and when applied to creatures.
God present HI. Although the absolute simplicity of the Divine
mail thmgs g u b s t- ance exalts it above all created substances, neverthe-
less this same attribute renders it possible for God to
permeate creatures with His Substance in a manner far
more intimate than one creature could penetrate and per-
meate another. That innermost presence of which the
Apostle speaks : " Who is above all, and through all, and
in us all," 6 7rt Travrwv Kai Sta Travrwv KOL EV ira&iv (Eph. iv. 6),
is an immediate consequence of the creation and preserva-
tion of all things. In a certain degree it extends to all
things, but it increases according to the increase of God's
influence on creatures. An intimate union with Him
requires the elevation of the creature to a supernatural
state, and is therefore limited to certain classes of creatures.
We shall treat further on of the Hypostatic Union by
PABT I.] The Negative Attributes of God 193
which God the Son unites to Himself a human nature, and CHAP, in
also of the intellectual union of the Divine Substance with E fl_ 6; '
the blessed in the Beatific Vision.
SECT. 67. The Immensity of God.
I. The dogma of the Divine Immensity and Incircum- Godim-
scriptibility (a^w/orjToe) is based upon the fact that God is m<
entirely independent of space and place. He has no formal
extension, nor is He contained in any definite room or
place ; He is exalted above space and place ; His virtual
extension is such that no formal extension whatsoever can
exceed, equal, or measure it; no space, real or possible,
can include His Immensity ; all space, real and possible,
is included in Him. Consequently, God is everywhere
in an eminent manner ; we cannot conceive Him absent
from any existing place, and if any new space came into
existence, God would be there also.
i. In Holy Scripture the attribute of Immensity appears Scrfoturt.
more in its concrete form of Omnipresence as opposed to
the circumscribed presence of creatures. "The Lord He
is God in Heaven above and in the earth beneath"
(Deut. iv. 39). " Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit ? or
whither shall I flee from Thy face ? If I go up into
heaven, Thou art there ; if I go down into hell, Thou art
present. If I take my wings early in the morning, and
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there also
shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold
me. And I said, Perhaps darkness shall cover me, and
night shall be my light in my pleasures. But darkness
shall not be dark to Thee, and night shall be as light as
the day : the darkness thereof and the light thereof are
alike to Thee" (Ps. cxxxviii. 7-12). "Am I, think ye, a
God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?
Shall a man be hid in secret places, and I not see him,
saith the Lord ? Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the
Lord ? " (Jer. xxiii. 23, 24). " Peradventure thou wilt
comprehend the steps of God, and wilt find out the
Almighty perfectly ? He is higher than heaven, and what
wilt thou do ? He is deeper than hell, and how wilt thou
know? The measure of Him is longer than the earth, and
O
194 -d Manual of Catholic Tlieology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. in. broader than the sea " (Job xi. 7-9). See also I Kings
SECT. 67. ... T i
vni. 29; Isai. xi. 12, etc.
Tradition. 2. The Fathers very often insist upon this attribute.
We must here confine ourselves to referring to the most im-
portant passages : St. Gregory the Great, Moral, in Job, 1. ii.,
c. 8, on the words, " Satan went forth from the presence of
the Lord ; " St. Hilary, De Trinitate, \. i., near the begin-
ning. Abelard has put into verse the text of St. Gregory.
We give it as containing an abridgment of the doctrine of
the Fathers.
" Super cuncta, subtus cuncta, extra cuncta, intra cuncta :
Intra cuncta nee inclusus, extra cuncta nee exclusus,
Subter cuncta nee subtractus, super cuncta nee elatus ;
Super totus possidendo, subter totus sustinendo,
Extra totus complectendo, intra totus es implendo ;
Intra nusquam coarctaris, extra numquam dilataris,
Subtus nullo fatigaris, super nullo sustentaris."
(Rythm. De Trin., v. 3 sqq.)
Reason. 3. The Divine Exaltedness above, and Independence
of space and place result from the spirituality of the
Divine Substance. Immensity, in its full import, is a
necessary condition of the absolute Immutability of God.
For either God is essentially excluded from space, or He
is in some definite space, or He fills and exceeds all space.
The first alternative is absurd. As to the second, if God
were in a definite place and not outside it, He would have
to move in order to pass from place to place, which would
be inconsistent with God's sovereign self-sufficiency and im-
mobility. Moreover, the Divine Immensity is a consequence
of the Divine Omnipotence. For even granting the possi-
bility of action from a distance, this action cannot be con-
ceived in God in Whom action and substance are identical.
But as God has the power of producing every possible
creature, no place can be thought of for a creature where
God is not already present in Substance and in Essence.
The immensity of the virtual extension is based on the
infinite plenitude of the Divine Being which implies the
capability of being present to all things.
r,od ainne II. The attributes of Immensity and Ubiquity belong
to God alone ; they cannot be communicated to creatures
any more than the Divine Substance itself. We can, how-
uiirneus
PABT I.] The Negative Attributes of God. 195
ever, conceive a creature endowed with a sort of ubiquity CHAP. IIL
in the sense of filling all the space really existing. More-
over, a created spirit, and even a material body, can be
supernaturally endowed with the power of Replication
that is, the capability of being in several places at the same
time. Concerning the Replication of the Body of Christ
in the Holy Eucharist, more will be said in the treatises
on the Incarnation and Holy Eucharist.
SECT. 68. The Eternity of God.
I. The Divine Eternity signifies (i) that the duration God eternal,
of God is above and independent of time, inasmuch as
He has neither beginning nor end and is in no wise limited
by time, but coexists with and exceeds all time ; (2) that
the Divine duration is absolutely without change or suc-
cession, and is in no way affected by the flow of time ;
(3) that the duration of God is absolutely and essentially
indivisible : it admits of no past or future, but is an ever-
standing present. The simplicity and virtual extension
of God's duration are a superabundant equivalent for all
real and possible time. All this is admirably summed
up in the well-known definition given by Boethius (De
Consol Phil., 1. v., prop. 6) : " ^ternitas est interminabilis
vitae tota simul et perfecta possessio " " Eternity is the
possession, perfect and all at once, of life without beginning
or end." That is to say, God's activity is absolutely change-
less, but yet is life indestructible ; all limit is excluded from
this life, but yet endlessness is a consequence of Eternity
rather than its essence ; and this life is possessed " all at
once," to show that there is no succession in it, but that
God in His everpresent " now " enjoys everything that He
could have possessed or can ever possess.
I. Holy Scripture, as might be expected, refers fre-
quently to God's Eternity. The very name " He Who is "
implies the necessity of endless and ever-present existence.
" I the Lord, I am the first and the last " (Isai. xli. 4).
"Grace be unto you and peace from Him that is, and
that was, and that is to come " (Apoc. i. 4). " Before
the mountains were made, or the earth and the world was
formed ; from eternity and unto eternity Thou art God "
196 A Mamial of Catholic Theology. [BOOK 1L
CHAP. in. (Ps. Ixxxix. 2, cf. Ecclus. xlii. 21). "Amen, amen, I
SECT'S, say to you, before Abraham was made, I am " (John viii.
58). " In the beginning, O Lord, thou didst found the
earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They
shall perish but Thou remainest ; and all of them shall
grow old like a garment ; and as a vesture shalt Thou
change them and they shall be changed. But Thou art
always the self-same, and Thy years shall not fail " (Ps. ci.
26-28). " A thousand years in Thy sight are as yesterday
which is past " (Ps. Ixxxix. 4). " One day with the Lord is
as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day "
(2 Pet. iii. 8).
Tradition. 2. Among the Fathers St. Augustine should be espe-
cially consulted. " Eternal life," he says, " surpasses tem-
poral life by its very vivacity ; nor can I perceive what
eternity is except by the eye of my mind. For by that I
exclude from eternity all change, and in eternity I perceive
no portions of time, because these are made up of past
and future movement. But in eternity nothing is past or
future, because what is past has ceased to be, and what
is future has not yet begun ; whereas eternity only is, not
was, as though it were not still, not will be, as though it
were not yet ('yEternitas tantummodo est, nee fuit, quasi
jam non sit, nee erit, quasi adhuc non sit"). Wherefore it
alone can most truly say of itself : ' I am who am ; ' and
of it alone can be said, ' He Who is sent me to you ' "
(De Vera Relig., c. 49 ; see also In Psalm, cxxi., n. 6 ;
Tract, in Joannem, xcix.).
Relation of II. God, in virtue of His Eternity, bears certain relations
Eternity" 6 to time and to temporal events. His duration has no
lo time. 1_ i -L L , M ,
beginning, succession, or end, but it necessarily coexists
with, precedes, and exceeds all real time. The Divine
Eternity, having the simplicity of the Divine Essence and
being only virtually extended, coexists in its entirety with
every single moment of time, just as the central point of
a circle coexists with all the points of the circumference.
Hence temporal things have no successive duration in
the eye of God ; that is, in comparison with the Divine
Eternity, they do not come and go, and pass by or along
parts of it. In God's sight they have neither past nor
PART i.J The Negative Attributes of God. 197
future, but are eternally present. Thus the points of a CHAP. in.
circumference in motion change their positions relatively SECT ' ^
to other points but always remain at the same distance
from the centre. This, however, does not involve the
eternal existence of events and things. Their eternal
presence in God's sight is owing, not to a duration co-
extensive with eternity on the part of creatures, but to the
fact that the Divine Eternity encompasses and embraces
all created duration, in the same way as the virtual exten-
sion of the Divine Substance encompasses and embraces
all space. God sees and knows as actually standing before
Him in His presence all things of all times, so that the
Divine knowledge cannot rightly be called either memory
or foreknowledge.
III. Eternity in the strict sense of the word belongs to Godaione
God alone, and is the result of His independent and neces- et<
sary mode of existence. Both reason and Scripture mani-
festly teach this. But it is not certain whether duration
without beginning or end is incommunicable to creatures.
Weighty theologians admit the possibility of a being
created from all eternity ; but it is of faith that no such
being exists. Duration without end can of course be
communicated to creatures, and will be the lot of all
rational beings made according to God's image and like-
ness. Nay, in a supernatural manner, God can elevate
them even to a participation in the simplicity of His
eternal Life, inasmuch as He grants them a life the object
of which is His own eternal Substance, and which there-
fore participates in the simple immobility and uniformity
of the Divine Life. Cf. St. Thomas, Contra Gentes, 1. iii.,
c. 6 1.
SECT. 69. The Invisibility of God.
I. Vision is properly the act of the noblest of our senses ; Godinvisibi*
but, analogically, the term is also applied to the knowledge bodily eye,
acquired by the mind's eye, particularly to the knowledge
acquired by direct, immediate intuition of an object. All
created things are visible, if not to all, at least to some
created beings. But God is invisible to the bodily eye of
creatures, even independently of His Simplicity, because
198 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IT.
CHAP. in. He is a pure Spirit. This invisibility is a matter of faith ;
SECT.^9. SQ muc j lj at t he least^ i s implied by the texts which will be
quoted.
and to the II. God is also invisible to the mental eye of angels
mind. u and of men, and indeed of every conceivable created spirit ;
but it is possible for Him to make Himself visible to the
Scripture, supernaturally illuminated eye of created spirits. " Who
alone hath immortality and dvvelleth in light inaccessible
(/>w5 otKwv ctTrpocnrov), Whom no man hath seen nor can
see" (i Tim. vi. 16). Here the eminent perfection of God,
His inaccessible light, is given as the cause of His In-
visibility. " No man hath seen God at any time " (John
i. 1 8). "We see now through a glass in a dark manner :
but then face to face. Now I know in part ; but then I
shall know even as I am known" (i Cor. xiii. 12). "The
invisible (TO ao/oara) things of Him from the creation of
the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made " (Rom. i. 20) ; that is to say, God is
invisible, unknowable in Himself, but is seen mediately
and indirectly through the medium of creatures. See also
above, sect. 56.
Theological The reason why God is invisible to the bodily eye is
because He is physically simple ; His absolute metaphysical
simplicity and immateriality make Him invisible to the
mental eye also. These attributes establish such a dispro-
portion between the Divine Essence and the intellectual
faculties of creatures, that God cannot be the object of such
faculties. "It is impossible," says St. Thomas, "for any
created intellect by its own natural powers to see the
Divine Essence. For cognition takes place so far as the
object known is in the subject knowing. But the former
is in the latter according to the manner of existence of the
latter ; wherefore all knowledge is in accordance with the
nature of the subject knowing. If, therefore, the mode of
existence of the object to be known is of a higher order
than that of the subject knowing, the knowledge of this
object is above the nature of the subject. . . . The know-
ledge of Self-existing Being is natural to the Divine Intellect
alone ; for no creature is its own existence, but all creatures
have a participated, dependent existence. The created
te.isoas.
PART I.] The Negative Attributes of God. 199
intellect therefore cannot see God by means of His CHAP.III.
Essence, except in so far as God by His grace unites SE fIi 69 '
Himself to the created intellect as knowable by it" (/.,
q. 12, a. 4).
III. At first sight the arguments given would seem tocodnot
prove that God is altogether unknowable to any creature, unknowable
If the bodily eye cannot behold a created spirit because the
latter is simple, much less can a spirit gaze upon God whose
simplicity is in finitely more above the simplicity of a created
spirit than this is above matter. This difficulty is answered
by St. Thomas, Contra Gentes, 1. iii., c. 54 : " The Divine
Substance is not beyond the reach of the created intellect as
being entirely extraneous thereto (as for instance sound is to
the eye, or as an immaterial substance is to the senses), for
the Divine Substance is the first thing intelligible (primum
intelligibile)) and is the principle of all intellectual cogni-
tion. It is outside the created intellect only as exceed-
ing the powers of the latter, in the same way as in the
domain of the senses excessive light is blinding and exces-
sive sound is deafening (excellentia sensibilium sunt extra
facultatem scnsuum). Whence the Philosopher (Aristotle)
says in the second book of the Metaphysics, that our
intellect is to the most manifest things what the eye of the
owl is to the sunlight. The created intellect, therefore,
requires to be strengthened by some Divine light in order
to be able to gaze on the Divine Essence." See also /.,
q. 12, a. 4 ad 3.
God enables the created intellect to behold His Sub-
stance by elevating and refining its cognitive powers and
by impressing Himself upon them as intelligible form.
This elevation and " information " of the intellect is possible
by reason of His infinite Simplicity. The elevation, indeed,
is but an assimilation to His infinitely simple Intellect,
and can therefore only be communicated by God in virtue
of His Simplicity ; whereas the " information " is possible
because God's Substance is infinitely more simple than
that of created spirits, so that He can infuse Himself into
them and unite Himself so intimately with them as to
become their vivifying form. See, on this point, St. Thomas,
Contra Gentcs, 1. iii., c. 51.
2oo A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. III.
SECT. 70.
The vision
of God in
ttatit vite.
God Incom-
prehensible,
scripture
IV. To sraze on God is so much above the nature of
o
the human mind in its present state of union with the
body, that, according to the common teaching, such a
vision could not take place without producing either an
ecstasy or the suspension, if not the complete extinction,
of the natural life. Hence the vision of God cannot be
granted to man during this mortal life unless as an excep-
tion or special privilege. This privilege, however, as far as
we know with certainty, exists only for the human soul of
Christ, which, in virtue of the Hypostatic Union, is from
the beginning in the bosom of God with the Divine Person.
What we have said easily explains the meaning of
Exod. xxxiii. 20 : " Thou canst not see My Face ; for
man shall not see Me and live." In the Old Testament
the expression, " to see God face to face," is often used in
connection with any clear manifestation, internal or ex-
ternal, of God or of His Angels ; e.g. Gen. xxxii. 30 ;
Exod. xxxiii. 1 1.
SECT. 70. The Incomprehensibility of God.
I. In the Church's language the term " comprehend "
(comprehendere, KaTaXa/mflaveiv, ywpiiv} sometimes desig-
nates intuitive knowledge, as opposed to mediate, indirect,
or abstract knowledge ; sometimes adequate knowledge
that is, knowledge exhaustive of its object, embracing
whatever is knowable in and of the object. As the sim-
plicity of God makes Him invisible to all beings except
Himself, so does His infinity make Him incomprehensible
to all but Himself. The adequate comprehension of the
Divinity cannot be communicated, even in the Beatific
Vision, to any creature. This is of faith as defined in the
Fourth Lateran Council (cap. Firmiter), and again in the
Vatican Council (sess. iii., chap, i), where God is described
as incomprehensible as well as immense and omnipotent.
Besides, the term Incomprehensible, as applied to God in
Holy Scripture and Tradition, has always been taken to
imply the absolute impossibility of being adequately known
by any creature.
II. The Divine Incomprehensibility is often spoken of
in Holy Scripture in connection, not, indeed, with the
PART I.] The Negative Attributes of God. 201
Beatific Vision, but with man's limited knowledge. Never- CHAP. HI.
theless, the reasons which show the impossibility for man E f3L 71 "
adequately to know God, apply also to the case of the
blessed in Heaven. " O the depth of the riches of the wis-
dom and of the knowledge of God ! How incomprehensible
are His judgments and unsearchable are His ways ! For
who hath known the mind of the Lord ? Or who hath
been His counsellor ? Or who hath first given to Him and
recompense shall be made him?" Rom. xi. 33-35 ; see
also Job xi. 1-9 ; Ecclus. xliii. 30 sqq. ; Ps. cxliv. 3. The
doctrine of the Fathers may be found in Petavius (De Deo,
vii. 3, 4) and Ruiz (De Scientia Dei, disp. vi.).
III. The inner and formal reason of God's Incomprehen- Reason
sibility lies in His infinity. An infinite object surpasses
the powers of a finite mind ; and as the " light of glory "
granted to the blessed in Heaven still leaves them finite, it
does not enable them to fully grasp the Infinite. In the
language of the Schoolmen, a blessed spirit sees the Infinite
but not infinitely (infinitum non infinite) ; and sees the
whole of it, but not wholly (totum non totaliter).
SECT. 71. The Ineff ability of God.
I. An object may be ineffable in two ways. First, the God in-
l ij i. r . u j r ,. j effable -
knowledge we have of it may be defective, and conse-
quently the expression of it must be defective ; or, secondly>
language may be inadequate to express the knowledge
really possessed.
1. God is ineffable or inexpressible inasmuch as no Knowledge
created mind has an adequate knowledge of Him. In this
sense the Divine Ineffability is a corollary of the Divine
Incomprehensibility, and is likewise a matter of faith.
We have already explained in 56 how, notwithstanding
the attribute of Ineffability, man is able to speak about
God and to give Him various names.
2. God is also ineffable in the sense that no created Expression
deficient-
mind can give to the highest knowledge of God an ex-
pression adequate to convey it to other minds. In this
sense the Divine Ineffability is a corollary of the Divine
Invisibility. Moreover, a created medium cannot be ade-
quate to convey a knowledge of the Infinite as it is in
2O2 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. in. itself. The kind of ineffability in question belongs also,
?I ' to a certain extent, to the supernatural knowledge of God
sometimes communicated to saints even in this life
a knowledge which they cannot express in words ; like
St. Paul, who " heard secret words which it is not granted
to man to utter" (2 Cor. xii. 4).
H ff f r - s II. It is highly probable, though by no means certain,
the Beatific that in the Beatific Vision the knowledge of the blessed
Vision.
is not a mental representation (species expressa), as in all
other acts of intellectual cognition. If this is the case,
God is ineffable to such a degree that not only is an ade-
quate expression of Him impossible, but even any sort
of expression of Him as He is in Himself.
God not HI. To Himself, however, God is not ineffable. He
ineffable to .
Himself. produces in Himself an adequate expression of His Being
which is His consubstantial Word (Aoyoe-) By means of
this Word, Who is, as it were, the Face of God, the blessed
see the Divine Essence as it is in itself.
( 203 *
CHAPTER IV.
THE POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES OF
A. INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES.
SECT. 72. The Unity of God.
I. GOD, by reason of the perfect simplicity of His Sub- CHAT iv.
j r> i SECT - I 3 -
stance and .Being, is one in a supreme and unique manner :
" maxime unus," as St. Thomas says, or " Unissimus " eminently
according to St. Bernard. He is the primarily One; that n
is, not made one, but eminently one by His own Essence,
immeasurably more one than anything beneath Him.
And this Oneness of God has a particular excellence
from its being on the one hand infinitely comprehensive,
and on the other hand perfectly immutable and always the
same. Hence the Fathers call God, not only one, but " The
Unity," Ipsa Unitas, tvag, fiovaq.
II. In virtue of the absolute perfection of His Unity, God unique
God is absolutely unique ; there can be no other being
above or beside Him ; He necessarily stands alone above
all other beings. His absolute simplicity excludes especially
the possibility of multiplication of His Essence. " I am
Jehovah, and there is none else ; there is no God besides
Me" (Isai. xlv. 5). The proofs of this Unicity or Unique-
ness are best given by St. Thomas, Contra Gentes, 1. i., c.
42. Of these we may mention one ; viz. that from the
Divine Infinity God exhausts the plentitude of being; no
being independent of Him can be conceived or can exist.
If there were another God, neither would be the highest
being, and so neither would be God at all. Oodthe
III. God, by His eminent and all-perfect' unity, is the 5ftS-.
204 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP.IV. foundation and highest ideal of the unity of all other beings.
K 2l2^ He is at the same time, by the plenitude and richness of
His unity, the principle and ideal of multiplicity and variety.
By His eternal immutability He is the centre round which
other beings gravitate, and by which they are held together.
He is at once the Alpha and Omega of all things.
SECT. 73. God, the Objective Truth.
God th I. As God is essentially the most simple, infinite, and
immutable perfection, He possesses the attribute of onto-
logical or objective truth in an infinite degree. The act
by which the Divine Essence knows itself is not merely a
representation of the Divine Essence to the Divine Mind :
it is identically one and the same with His Essence. Hence
God is the clearest and purest truth. Again, as the per-
fection of the Divine Essence is infinite, it is also infinitely
knowable, and fills the Divine Mind with a knowledge than
which no greater can be conceived ; wherefore God is the
highest and completest truth. Moreover, the Divine truth
participates in the immutability of the Divine Essence, and
therefore God is the immutable truth. Lastly, as God is
His own Being, so is He also His own truth, and truth
pure and simple ; that is, He necessarily knows Himself
as He is, and His knowledge is independent of everything
not Himself.
This doctrine is but a repetition, in another form, of
the doctrine on the Divine Essence. It is implicitly con-
tained in John xiv. 6, " I am the way, the truth, and the
life," and I John v. 6, " Christ is the truth (TJ oAiyfleia)."
Oodthe II. God is, further, the First Truth (prima veritas).
fast Truth. ^ r
No truth is before Him or above Him. As First Cause
He is the foundation of the objective truth of all things
existing, and also of the possibility of all things possible.
He is the prototype, the ideal, of all things, and conse-
quently the measure of the truth they contain. He is,
as it were, the mirror or the objective light, in which all
things can be known better than in themselves, although
not necessarily by us. Hence it follows (i) that we can
know nothing as true except by some influence of the First
Truth on our mind ; (2) that the affirmation of any truth
PART L] The Positive Attributes of God. 205
implies the affirmation of the First and Fundamental CHAPIV
Truth ; and (3) that the negation of God implies the E fl_ 74>
negation of all objective truth, thus not only making all
knowledge uncertain, but changing it into falsehood and
deception.
SECT. 74. God, the Objective Goodness.
I. Whatever creatures are or possess, comes to them God th
good.
from without ; hence they are not sources of goodness,
but rather subjects capable of being made good by the
accession of new perfections. Creatures never contain in
themselves all their goodness ; their internal goodness is
but part of their total goodness, or is a means of acquiring
and enjoying external goods. God, on the contrary, being
essentially the fulness of perfection, appears to our mind
as good, containing eminently all that is worth desiring
or possessing. He is not perfectible by the accession of
external goodness. All extra-Divine goodness is merely
a communication or outflow from the Divine abundance
of perfection. He is not a good of some kind or class ;
He is the Good pure and simple, the essential Goodness.
II. The infinite Essence of God is not only the good God the
of God Himself, wherein He finds all He can desire and good things,
possess, but is, besides, the good of all other things ; that
is to say, it is the inexhaustible source from which all
other things draw their goodness, and which all other
things, because of their self-insufficiency, desire to possess.
The Divine Goodness is the good of all others, because it
contains more than the equivalent of all others, and pro-
duces all others, and is what we desire, or tend to, when
we desire all other goods. It is, moreover, the only neces-
sary and all-sufficient good, and the sovereign and highest
good ; it is the first and fundamental good, and the end
and object of all good ; all other goods must be desired
as coming from God, and must be possessed as a partici-
pation of the Divine Goodness itself.
III. It is especially in relation to His intelligent crea-Godthe
tures that God appears as the highest Good, and as the end teiiigent" 1 *
of all goodness. He is the good of irrational creatures, especially.
inasmuch as He communicates to them existence and its
206 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP iv. concomitant created perfections; whereas to reasonable
SECT.JS. crea t ures j^ e communicates Himself, to be possessed by
means of knowledge and love. In this capacity God is
the highest good of His reasonable creatures, standing out
above all their other goods, surpassing them all in perfec-
tion, and alone able to gratify all the desires and to realize
all the aspirations of the created mind. He stands out as
the end of all other goods because these either are not
objects of enjoyment or are not merely such, but at the
same time means for attaining the fruition of the Divine
Good. The Schoolmen express this doctrine by saying
that God is bonum fruendum, "the Good to be enjoyed;"
whereas creatures are bona ntenda, " goods to be used."
The classical texts from the Fathers on the Divine
Goodness are St. Augustine, De Trinitate, 1. viii., n. 4, 5 ;
Dionysius (Vulg.), De Div. Norn., c. iv., esp. 4 ; St. Anselm,
Proslog., cc. 23-25.
cod IV. God is also eminently good and lovable, because
bvLue. tv He actually possesses in an infinite degree whatever is
good and lovable, and because nothing outside Him is
good and lovable except in as far as it partakes of the
Divine Goodness.
SECT. 75. God, the Absolute Beauty.
God mot I. God is the highest Good, and consequently the most
beautiful good. This implies that God is not desired
merely as a means to an end, but as desirable in Himself,
on account of His essential perfection ; that God is not
merely lovable on account of the benefits He bestows,
but lovable in Himself and for His own sake; and that
He is admirable not merely on account of His works, but
on account of His internal perfection.
Oodthe II. God is, moreover, the absolute Beauty, and the self-
Beau'ty. 6 subsisting Ideal of all that is beautiful, because in His
infinite perfection He contains eminently whatever can
make creatures the object of pleasurable contemplation.
To Himself God is the object of eternal joy, and the
delight which He finds in the contemplation of Himself
moves Him to impress beauty upon His external works.
To His intellectual creatures He is the only beauty which
PART I.] The Positive Attributes of God. 207
can fully satisfy their craving, the ideal of which all created CHAP.IV.
, - c . , SECT. 75.
beauty is a faint copy.
The Divine Beauty, however, is not the result of the
harmony of parts or of anything that presupposes com-
position. God's Beauty resides in the absolute simplicity
of His perfection, in virtue of which each element of it
is refulgent with the beauty of all.
Holy Scripture usually mentions the Divine Beauty as
Glory. Cf. Wisd. xiii. 3, and also vii., viii. ; Ecclus. xxiv.
Among the Fathers, see St. Basil, Reg. Fus., Disp. intern ii. ;
St. Hilary, De Trin., 1. i. ; Dion. (Vulg.), De Div. Norn.
c. iv., 7.
III. The Divine Beauty contains the type of all that is God the
beautiful in creation. We find it copied with various beau^.
degrees of perfection in every work of God's power and
wisdom. It appears most faintly in the beauty of mathe-
matical proportions, which contain a certain unity in
multiplicity, but abstracted from all reality. The inor-
ganic substances, especially the nobler metals and gems,
represent more of the Divine prototype. But the best
image of the Divine Beauty, in the inorganic world, is
light. Light not only has its own beauty, it also lends
beauty to all other material things. Its rarity is the
nearest approach, as far as our sensitive knowledge goes,
to the Divine simplicity. Organic beings represent the
Divine Ideal of beauty in the manifold energies proceeding
from the unity of their organization. Created spirits
reflect the Divine Beauty in their life and motion, know-
ledge and love.
The Divine Beauty shines most perfectly and sublimely
in the Blessed Trinity, which is the highest development of
Divine perfection ; in It we can easily detect all the elements
of beauty, viz. unity and multiplicity, the splendour of per-
fection and life, the resemblance of the image to the ideal
or prototype. In fact, there is no greater unity in multi-
plicity than the perfect identity of the Three Divine
Persons ; no more perfect unfolding of essential perfection
and life than the trinitary fecundity in God, wherein the
whole Divine Essence is communicated the whole wisdom
of the Father uttered in His Word, the whole love of the
2o8 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IT,
CHAR iv. Father and the Son poured forth in the Holy Ghost ; and
there is no greater resemblance of any image to its pro-
totype, than the resemblance of the Divine Word to the
Eternal Father. By appropriation, beauty is especially
attributed to God the Son, because He is the splendour of
the glory of the Father, the perfect expression of the
Divine perfection.
B. EXTERNAL ATTRIBUTES.
SECT. 76. The Omnipotence of God,
God" r rwer ^ ^he Possession of absolute power is necessarily
included in the infinite perfection of God. As this power
immediately flows from the Divine Essence, its attributes
correspond with those of the Divine Essence. Hence it is
without beginning, independent, necessary, self-sufficient,
self-subsisting and essential to God ; absolutely simple, that
is, purely active and communicating perfection, without any
composition in itself; infinite, including all conceivable
power ; perfectly immutable ; present in all space at all
times. All this is contained in the words, " I believe in
God the Father Almighty
Specific II. The Creeds, the Fathers of the Church, and Theo-
work and
character of logians, following Holy Scripture, consider creation out of
Omnipo- nothing as the specific work of the Divine Omnipotence.
icnce.
Created causes, which receive their being from without,
can only act on something already existing ; they never
are the total causes of the effects produced. The power
of God, on the contrary, not only modifies pre-existing
things, but brings things forth out of nothing as to their
whole substance, and maintains them in existence in such
a way that they depend on Him not only for the first,
but for every, moment of their existence. Without the
Divine Being no other being would even be conceivable as
existing. This doctrine is condensed in the Greek word
iravTOKpaTwp, which, in the Septuagint, the New Testament,
and the Greek Creeds, takes the place of the Latin omni-
potens. This latter implies a power to or above all things,
whereas the former designates a power holding and sup-
PART I.] The Positive Attributes of God. 209
porting all things (pmnitenens), and hence ruling all things CHAP. iv.
j ^- 11 ^i SECT. 76.
and penetrating all things.
III. God possesses the power to give existence toExtentof
., , i Omnipo-
whatever is possible that is, to whatever does not in- tence.
volve contradiction. Things intrinsically possible become
possible extrinsically on account of the Divine Power,
which is able to transfer them from non-existence to
existence. " I know that Thou canst do all things "
(Job xlii. 2) ; " With man this is impossible : but with God
all things are possible" (Matt. xix. 26). As to the in-
trinsic possibility of things, which results from the com-
patibility of their various elements, the Divine Mind alone
can grasp its extent ; for many things must appear feasible
to an infinite intellect, which to the finite mind seem simply
impossible, or indeed have never entered it. " Who is able
to do all things more abundantly than we desire or under-
stand, according to the power that worketh in us"
(Eph. iii. 20).
The Divine Omnipotence is infinite in itself or sub-
jectively, and also externally or objectively. Its interior
infinity is evident ; its objective infinity must be under-
stood in the sense that no greater power is conceivable
than the Divine Omnipotence, and that no number, how-
ever great, of finite productions can exhaust the Divine
Power. Although the effects produced are finite, still the
Power which produces them manifests itself as infinite;
for the creation and preservation of things suppose in the
Creator an infinite fulness of being or perfection, which is
also, at the same time, the foundation of the inexhausti-
bility of the Divine Power. Thus the production of the
smallest creature points to a Force which rules the very
essence of things, and on which, therefore, all being
depends for its existence.
Omnipotence does not imply the power of producing what God
/..... * ! cannot do.
an infinite being, because the notion of a being at once
infinite and produced is self-contradictory. Although, how-
ever, God cannot create the infinite, He can and does
manifest His Omnipotence in communicating His own
infinity. Such a communication takes place, within, to
the Second and Third Persons of the Trinity ; without,
p
2io A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. iv. to the humanity of Christ, which, through the Hypostatic
3 - ' Union with the Divine Person, acquires an infinite dignity ;
likewise to spiritual creatures who, by means of grace and
glory, are made participators of the infinite beatitude of
God Himself. Again, God cannot undo the past, because
to do so would involve a contradiction ; but He can prevent
or annul all the consequences of actions done, e.g. the con-
sequences of sin. Furthermore, Omnipotence does not
imply the power of committing sin, because sin is some-
thing defective. In like manner the power to suffer, or to
perform actions involving motion or change in the cause,
is not included in Omnipotence.
Relation of IV. The Divine Omnipotence is the source, the founda-
Omnipo- tion, the root, and the soul of all powers and forces outside
created God. It is the source from which they spring ; the
forces. . 1-11 i 1-1
foundation upon which they rest ; the root which com-
municates to them their energy ; the soul co-operating
immediately with them, and intimately permeating their
innermost being. Thus the Divine Force appears in the
inorganic world as the principle of all motion ; in the
organic world as the principle of vital activity ; and, above
all, in the spiritual world as the principle of intellectual and
spiritual life. Spirits alone receive their being immediately
from God ; their life alone cannot be made subservient to
a higher life ; they alone are able to be so elevated and
ennobled as to have a share with God in the fruition of His
own Essence.
God alone V. The power to produce every possible thing is mani-
11 festly a perfection proper to God alone, and cannot, even
supernaturally, be communicated to creatures. Not only
is the power to create all things peculiar to God, but also
the power to produce one single thing out of nothing ;
because such power presupposes in its possessor the infinite
fulness of being. That, as a matter of fact, no creature has
co-operated, even as an instrument, in creation is, according
to the common teaching of theologians, of faith ; that no
creature can so co-operate is theologically and philoso-
phically certain, although many difficulties of detail can be
brought against this doctrine. See, on this special point,
Kleutgen, Phil., diss., ix., chap, iv., 1005 ; St. Thomas,
Contra Gentes, 1. ii., c. 21 ; and Suarez, Metaph., disp. 26.
PART I.] The Positive Attributes of God. 211
CHAP. IV.
SECT. 77. The Omnipresence of God.
I. God, the absolute cause of the innermost essence of God present
created things, is present to them in the most intimate
manner. He is not only not separated from them by space,
but He penetrates, pervades, and permeates their very sub-
stance. The Divine presence in spirits has a character
exclusively proper to itself. As spirits have no parts and
fill no space, presence in them necessarily means more than
coexistence with them in the same place ; it implies a
penetration of their substance possible only to the simple
substance of the infinite Author of things. So much is of
faith. A controversy, however, has arisen as to the manner
in which God is present in creatures. Theologians of the
Thomist School, starting from the principle that a cause
must be in the place where it produces its effect, maintain
that the contact of God with creatures consists formally in
creative action. On the other hand, the followers of Duns
Scotus and others, admitting the possibility of action from
a distance, maintain that God is not necessarily present to
creatures because He is their Creator ; and, consequently,
these theologians describe the Divine Omnipresence as
formally consisting in the absence of local distance be-
tween the substance of the Creator and that of the creature.
The Thomist view is more logical and attractive ; the
Scotist view reduces the existence of God in creatures to
a simple coexistence.
The existence of God in creatures must not be con- bi : tn t
ceived as a mingling of the Divine and the created substances, with them.
for this would be opposed to the Divine Simplicity ; nor
as an inclusion of the Creator in the creature, for this would
be against His Immensity. God's presence in the existing
world is not a limit to His Omnipresence, for He embraces
all possible worlds. As God is in all things, so all things
are in God, not, indeed, filling and pervading or even
touching the Divine Substance, but upheld by it as their first
principle. Things are contained in God because by His
virtual Immensity He fills all space, and because by His
Omnipotence He actually upholds all existence.
II. Holy Scripture insists more on the extension of the sv'ur
212 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. iv. Divine Omnipresence, which corresponds to the Divine
E fll 77 ' infinity and immensity, than on the intensive presence
above described. Still, this also is clearly pointed out in
many places, especially in Eph. iv. 6 : " One God and
Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all "
(ETTI iravrwv, ceu 8m iravrwv, KOI iv TTCKTIV). Cf. Rom. xi. 36,
and Col. i. 16, 17 ; Heb. iv. 12, 13.
Tradition. Since the power of penetrating the innermost substance
of spirits is an attribute proper to the Divine Omnipresence,
the Fathers insist particularly upon this point. In the
controversy with the Arians and with the Macedonians,
the indwelling of the Holy Ghost or of the Son in created
spirits is often brought forward as an evident proof of the
Divinity of the Son and of the Holy Ghost (see Petav.,
De Trin., 1. ii., c. 15, n. 7 sqq. ; Thomassin, De Deo, 1. v.,
c. 5). Many Fathers and Theologians touch upon this
point when dealing with the question how far the devil
can penetrate the human soul (Peter Lomb., II. Sent., dist.
8, p. ii.). They hold that the innermost recesses of the
soul are a sanctuary to which God alone has access, into
which the devils cannot introduce their substance, and
which is accessible to them only in as far as the soul
conforms itself to their evil suggestions.
st. Gregory HI. The whole doctrine of the Divine Omnipresence
Omni- has been summed up by St. Gregory the Great in the
formula, "God is in all things by essence, power, and
presence " Dens est in omnibus per essentiam, potentiam, et
prcesentiam (Mor. in Job, 1. ii., c. 8), which St. Thomas
expounds as follows: "God is in all things by His power,
inasmuch as all things are subject to His power ; He is in
all things by His presence, inasmuch as all things are bare
and open to His eyes ; He is in all things by His Essence,
inasmuch as He is in all things as the cause of their being "
(/., q. 8, art. 3).
Degrees of IV. Just as the soul, although present in all parts of the
sence in body, does not act with the same energy in every part, so
also God, though present in all creatures, does not fill them
all with the same perfection nor act in all to the same
extent. The supreme degree of Divine presence is attained
in the supernatural life of the soul and of the blessed.
PABT I.] The Positive Attributes of God. 213
The indwelling of God in the sanctified soul fills it with CHAP. iv.
a new life, of which God Himself is the soul : the creature SECT-77 '
participates in the life of the Creator. God is present in
the rest of the world as in His kingdom, but in the sancti-
fied soul as in His temple, where He manifests His glory
and majesty (i Cor. iii. 17). Creatures not so filled with
the Divine presence, e.g. the souls of sinners and the damned
in hell, appear, as it were, far from God, cast out and
abandoned, although even in them also God exists and
manifests His power and sovereign dominion.
V. The active presence of God in all things created God's Om-
extends, of course, to all space and every place. Created "n p s p^elnd
spirits, who are not bound by the limits of space, occupy m
a portion of space, inasmuch as they are not distant from
it ; but the space is not dependent on them. God, on the
contrary, is not only not far from any space, but so fills
it that its very existence is dependent on His active pre-
sence. The Divine presence so encompasses all things and
all space that it is impossible for God to act at a distance,
while, at the same time, His presence enables distant things
to act upon each other. God, the unchangeable, is the
principle of all change ; and God, the immovable, is the
principle of all motion. From the nature of the presence
of God we gather that it must extend to all times as well
as to all things. If the possibility and existence of crea-
tures depend on the active power of God, their continued
duration or time depends on it also, so that whenever a
thing exists or is possible, God is present. Holy Scripture
calls God "the King of ages" (i Tim. i. 17), distinguishing
Him from the kings of this world, who rule but for a time,
and to whose power time is not subject, as it is to the
power of God.
214 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IT.
CHAPTER V.
THE DIVINE LIFE.
SECT. 78. The Divine Life in general Its Absolute
Perfection,
CHAP. v. I. FAITH and reason alike teach us that God is a living
SECT. 78.
God, that His life is spiritual, personal, and pure not
God a living . ,., ,. ...... / ,- -n
Cod. mixed with other forms of life as the life of man is. But
the attribute of life applies to God only analogically. Life,
as we conceive it, is a mixed and not a simple perfection ;
it involves a transition from potentiality to actuality ; the
immanent activity proceeds from the substance, and remains
in it to perfect it. Still it is not essential to immanent
activity to commence in the substance and to subsist in it
as in its subject ; the immanence is greatest when the
action is identical with the substance. Hence life is attri-
buted to God analogically, but possessed by Him in the
most proper and eminent manner.
God u Life. II. Unlike creatures which possess life, God is Life. It
is not imparted to Him from without, but He imparts it to
all things, and is the fundamental life, the life of all that
lives. In this respect He is eminently the supreme Spirit
(" the God of the spirits of all flesh," Num. xvi. 22), inas-
much as we conceive spirits as having independent life
and as infusing life. Created pure spirits bear to God a
relation somewhat similar to the relations of the body to
the soul, their life-activity being caused, preserved, and
moved by the Divine Life. Hence the dictum : " God is
the life of the soul, as the soul is the life of the body "
(Deus vita anima sicut anima carporis),
The Old Testament speaks of the Living God, whereas
PABT I.] The Divine Life. 215
the New Testament calls Him the Life. Cf. John xiv. 6 ; CHAP. v.
I John v. 20 ; John i. 4, and v. 26 ; Acts xvii. 22 sqq. ; etc. SE fIi 79-
III. A proper and adequate expression of the specific God's life
character of the Divine Life as the highest form of spiritual the term
/ t T T t T T 1 r r i i Wisdom.
life, is Wisdom. Holy bcnpture very frequently thus
designates the life of God, and uses the name of Wisdom
as a proper name of God, even oftener than that of Being
(6 wv) and Living. The appellation of Wisdom is most
appropriate, because Wisdom designates the perfection of
spiritual life as manifested in the acts of the intellect and
of the will, and in external actions. Hence Wisdom im-
plies the most perfect knowledge of the highest truth, and
the most perfect love of the highest good, as also a just
appreciation of all other things in reference to the Supreme
Truth and Goodness, and, consequently, the capability of
ordering and disposing all things in accordance with their
highest ideal and last end. When speaking of creatures,
we give the name of Wisdom, not to the sum-total of their
living activities, but only to the highest of them ; in God,
on the contrary, in Whom there is no multiplicity or
division, Wisdom expresses the full perfection of Life.
SECT. 79. The Divine Knowledge in general.
I. That God possesses most perfect intellectual know- God an
ledge is contained in the very idea of the Divinity. The Bemg. gen
First Principle of the order of the universe, the Source and
Ideal of all knowledge, must necessarily be possessed of
wisdom. " O Lord, Who hast the knowledge of all things "
(Esth. xiv. 14); "The Lord knoweth all knowledge"
(Ecclus. xlii. 19 ; i Kings ii. 3 ; Rom. xi. 33 ; Col. ii. 3 ;
Ecclus. i. i, 5, etc.).
II. God is His knowledge: in Him there is no real God isHis
distinction between the faculty and the act of knowing,
nor between these two and their object. Even when His
knowledge extends to things outside Him, the adequate
reason for such extension of the Divine knowledge is in
God Himself; nothing external affects, moves, determines
or influences it in any way. This is of faith, because it is
evidently contained in the simplicity and independence of
God, and because it is formally expressed in the proposi-
2 1 6 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. v. tions : God is Wisdom, God is Light. As God is the Light
SEcr_ 79 . of . ^ other S pj r j ts ( the light- w hich enlighteneth every
man," John i.), so also is He Himself the sun, in the light
of which He sees all things (Ecclus. xlii. 16).
Mode of III. The mode of action of the Divine knowledge is
essentially different from that of the knowledge of creatures.
The created mind knows itself as it knows other things ;
the knowledge of its own being is only the starting-point,
and a condition of the rest of its knowledge, not its source
and root. God, on the contrary, possesses in His Essence
an object which itself determines and produces His know-
ledge from within, and is sufficient to fill the Divine Intel-
lect and to extend the Divine knowledge to all things
knowable. The Divine Essence can act this part in the
process of the Divine knowledge, because it is intimately
and essentially present to the Divine Intellect nay, is
identical with it; because, again, it presents to the infinite
faculty of knowing an adequate object, an object of infinite
perfection ; and, lastly, because, inasmuch as it is the essen-
tial principle of all that exists outside God, the perfect know-
ledge of it implies the perfect knowledge of all that is or can
be. The knowledge which God has of things outside Him,
does not presuppose in these things an existence indepen-
dent of the Divine knowledge ; on the contrary, God knows
them as caused and produced by His knowledge. In fact,
things exist because God, seeing their possibility in His
own Essence, decrees that they shall exist either by an
immediate act of His Omnipotence or through the agency
of created causes. In the language of the Schoolmen this
doctrine is briefly expressed by saying that the Divine
Essence is the " formal object" of the Divine knowledge,
and that all other things knowable are its " material object."
This point of doctrine (viz. that the Divine Essence is the
formal and primary object of God's knowledge, and that
other things knowable are its material and secondary object)
is a development of defined dogmas, and is commonly
taught by theologians. St. Thomas (/., q. 14, a. 8), puts it
as follows : " The things of nature stand midway between
God's knowledge and ours. We receive our knowledge
from natural things, of which God, through His knowledge,
PABT L] The Divine Life. 217
is the cause : wherefore, as natural things precede our know- CHAP, v
ledge of them and are its measure, so God's knowledge E fl_ 79 '
precedes them, and is their measure ; just as a house stands
midway between the knowledge of the architect who de-
signed it and the knowledge of him who knows it only after
seeing it built."
IV. By reason of its identity with the Divine Essence, God's
the Divine knowledge possesses the highest possible perfec- infinitely
tion. It is in a unique manner an intellectual knowledge, pe
because it attains its object from within, from its Essence
and Nature, unlike human knowledge which penetrates to
the essence and nature of things only by observing their
external phenomena. It is in a unique manner an intuitive
knowledge, because it adequately comprehends its object
in a single act, free from abstractions, conjectures, or ratio-
cinations ; it comprehends all possible beings in the very
foundation of their possibility ; things are present to the
Divine intention before they are present to themselves.
Moreover, the Divine knowledge is comprehensive and
adequate, inasmuch as it grasps the inmost essence of
things in the most exhaustive manner. Lastly, it is an
eminently certain and unerring knowledge : uncertainty
and error being incompatible with intuition and compre-
hensiveness of knowledge. All these attributes are of faith,
because implied in the infinite perfection of the Divine
intellect, and are clearly set forth in many texts of Holy
Scripture. "The eyes of the Lord are far brighter than
the sun, beholding round about all the ways of men and
the bottom of the deep, and looking into the hearts of men,
into the most hidden parts" (Ecclus. xxiii. 28; cf. Job xxviii.
24; Heb. iv. 13, etc.).
V. The negative attributes of the Divine perfection Negative
r attributes
shine with an especial splendour in the Divine know- f God's
1 r _ Knowledge-
ledge. Thus God's knowledge is intrinsically necessary
that is, it necessarily embraces whatever is knowable.
Although, as regards contingent objects, this necessity is
only hypothetical, still it cannot be said that God's know-
ledge of things contingent is itself contingent, because such
an expression might imply an indeterminaticn on the part
of the Divine knowledge. It is absolutely simple : God
218 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. v. knows Himself and all things outside Him in one indivisible
act. It is infinite in intensity as well as in extension that
is, it is the deepest and the richest knowledge ; nothing is
hidden from it ; it embraces an infinite object in the Divine
Essence, and an infinite number of things in the domain
of possibility. It is immutable : nothing can be added to
or withdrawn from it. It is eternal, having neither be-
ginning nor end nor succession, not only as regards truths
of an eternal character, but also as to things temporary
which are eternally visible to the eternal eye of God.
The Divine Immensity and Omnipresence add another per-
fection to the science of God, inasmuch as they bring all
things knowable into immediate contact with the Divine
Intellect. Lastly, the Divine knowledge is in a special
manner incomprehensible and inscrutable to the created
mind, notably to the mind in its natural state. We are
unable to comprehend not only its depth and breadth, but
also the manner in which the Divine Intellect lays hold
of things external and renders them present to itself with-
out being in the least dependent on them or waiting for
them to come into existence ; and, further, we are unable
to understand how He sees, in one and the same act, cause
and effect, and how the intuition of a free agent involves
the intuition of its free acts. A cognition of this kind
is utterly beyond and above the methods of finite cognition,
and indeed is partly in direct opposition to the laws
which regulate created knowledge. This ought to be
kept well in view in order to meet the difficulties connected
with this question. Cf. Ecclus. xlii. 16 sqq. ; St. Aug., De
Trin. y 1. xv., c. 7 ; St. Peter Damian, Ep., iv., c. 7, 8.
Godom- VI. The absolute perfection of the Divine knowledge
is expressed by the term Omniscience: God knows all
that is knowable, and as far as it is knowable. The
domain of the Divine Science comprises, therefore, (i) God
Himself; (2) the metaphysically possible ; (3) the
things created by God ; (4) the motions and modes of
being of creatures as caused either by God or by creature?
themselves ; (5) especially the free activity of creatures,
the knowledge of which constitutes the exalted and incom-
prehensible privilege of the Divine Omniscience.
PART I.] The Divine Life. 219
As to (4) we should bear in mind that the activity CHAP, v
of creatures, with all its actual and possible modifica-
tions, is as much dependent on God as their substance
is. God knows this activity from within, from its very
cause ; whereas the created mind only knows it from its
external manifestations or effects. We shall treat of (5) in
the following section.
SECT. 80. God's Knowledge of tJie Free Actions of His
Creatures.
The difficulties which the Divine knowledge of free
actions presents to our mind, arise from our inability to
understand the peculiar process of God's cognition,
which is indeed more peculiar in this than in other
matters. A complete solution of the difficulties is im-
possible. All that we can hope to do is to remove
apparent contradictions by clearly pointing out the differ-
ence between the way in which God knows, and the way
in which the created mind acquires its knowledge. It is
not without a purpose that Revelation so often insists upon
the knowledge of the free actions of man as the exclusive
and wonderful privilege of God, a knowledge in which
the Divine Light illumines the most secret and dark
recesses.
The knowledge which God possesses of the free actions
of His creatures is distinguished by the three following
characteristics : (i) God knows these actions in them-
selves, as they are in the mind and heart of their author,
from within and so far a priori ; (2) God has this know-
ledge from all eternity that is, before the actions take
place ; (3) in the Divine Intellect the knowledge of free
actions is logically preceded by the knowledge that,
under certain conditions and circumstances dependent on
the Divine decree, such actions would take place. The
above three characteristics are termed respectively (i)
" searching of hearts," (KapSioyvwata) ; (2) " knowledge of
future free acts ; " (3) " knowledge of conditional acts "
(scientia conditionatorum o>v futuribilium}. At each of these
three degrees of Divine knowledge our difficulties increase ;
as far, however, as they are soluble, they find a solution in
22O A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. v. a correct exposition of the first point, especially of the
B ' relation of causality between God and created spirits.
God's I. It is of faith (i) that God knows the free actions of
of Free Acts His creatures from within, before they are manifested with-
out, exactly as they exist in the consciousness of the free
agent, and even more adequately than the free agent himself
knows them ; (2) that God alone possesses this knowledge ;
(3) that, as God knows external free actions from within
that is, from the inner disposition of the agent, so also does
He know the inner free act from and in its principle, which
is the free will of the creature ; and this free will is entirely
the work of God, and can have no tendency, no motive, no
act independently of its Creator.
God knows i. As Scripture proofs of I, we select the following texts :
frotifwTthin. " The eyes of the Lord are far brighter than the sun, be-
holding round about all the ways of men, and the bottom
of the deep, and looking into the hearts of men, into
the most hidden parts " (Ecclus. xxiii. 28). " The Lord
searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the thoughts of
minds " (I Paral. xxviii. 9). " For Thou only knowest the
hearts of the children of men " (2 Paral. vi. 30). " The
heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable, who
can know it ? I, the Lord, Who search the heart and prove
the reins : Who give to every one according to his way,
and according to the fruit of his devices " (Jer. xvii. 9, 10).
Cf. Acts i. 24 ; and xv. 8). " The Lord hath looked from
heaven ; He hath beheld all the sons of men. . . . He Who
has made the hearts of every one of them, Who under-
standeth all their works " (Ps. xxxii. 13-15).
God alone 2. As to the exclusiveness of this knowledge, Holy
so knows
them. Scripture indeed speaks mostly of the hearts of men as
being hidden from other men. The emphatic expressions
used must, however, according to the unanimous teaching
of the Fathers, be also applied to the angels, to whom the
thoughts of men and of other angels are also imperviable.
Cf. Suarez, De Angelis, 1. ii., c. 21. This doctrine involves
the important consequence, that the devil can no more
know whether the tempted consent to temptation than he
can force them to consent.
3. Creatures and their activity, including their free
PART!] The Divine Life. 221
activity, are intrinsically dependent on God : that is, CHAP. v.
L i r J J SECT. 80.
they cannot act unless God moves and co-operates
T , ,. . . i i-. f How God
with them. Hence free actions appear to the Eye of knows them
God as the course of a motion originated and supported
by Him : good actions run the course which He in-
tended ; bad actions deflect from it. Consequently, God
sees the free actions of His creatures, like their other
actions, not as independent external manifestations, but in
their origin and root that is, in the free will and its activity
of which He is the Creator and Conservator. Thus the
action of the creature does not enlighten the Divine Intel-
lect ; but, on the contrary, on account of its dependence
on God, the action is itself enlightened by the Divine Mind.
Now, it must be remembered that God knows all effects by
His knowledge of their causes, a knowledge which pene-
trates to their uttermost capabilities. He therefore knows
the actual determinations of free will as they are elicited
by the free will dependent on, and moved by, Him. This
knowledge, therefore, is not inferred from the previous
state of the will, or from the motives communicated to it
by God ; for if such a conclusion could be drawn, there
would be a necessary connection between the previous
disposition of the will and the subsequent determination,
and consequently no freedom. The formal objective reason
(ratio formalis objective?) why God sees the free determina-
tion is the dependence of the free will on God.
All schools of Theology agree in this explanation
of the manner in which God knows the free actions of
creatures. Some, however, lay too much stress on the
point that God knows the free actions in and through His
action on the will ; while others give too much prominence
to the idea that the free actions are known by God in
themselves, as they proceed from the created will. But
both parties agree that the first description can be applied
without restriction only to the knowledge of good actions ;
and that the second description applies, without reserve,
only to bad actions, which, in as far as they are bad, do
not proceed from God at all, but from the created will. iedg e S o"fr!e
This explanation enables us to see how the knowledge not'ci^n
which God has of free actions does not interfere with their frdom! r
222 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. v. freedom. The free will of the creature indeed determines
SECT^SO. an( j causes an object o f the Divine knowledge, but not the
knowledge itself. On the contrary, God is determined by
His own Essence to the knowledge of the free acts in
question. His knowledge proceeds from Himself; as
Creator and Conservator He contemplates in the same act
the substance of the creature, its energies and faculties, the
impulse by which He enables it to act, and all the actions
that actually result, or may result, from this impulse.
Hence the reason why God knows the free actions of His
creatures is the relation of causality and dependence be-
tween Creator and creature. God, however, does not
determine free actions in the same manner as He deter-
mines other actions of creatures. Just as the self-determi-
nation of the will is consequent upon the causal influence
of God, so also is it known to God by reason of the same
influence. God, therefore, knows the free actions of His
creatures in His own Essence, the adequate knowledge
of which includes the perfect knowledge of all things
dependent on it.
If this be rightly understood, the following proposition
will also be clear : " God's certain knowledge of the free
determination of the will is not the cause of this determina-
tion ; nor is the determination of the will the reason why
God knows it." The fact that a free determination takes
place is merely a condition of God's knowledge of it ;
nevertheless, it is a necessary condition necessary in order
that God, by means of His causal influence, may extend
His knowledge to that particular determination of the will.
St. John This doctrine is thus expressed by St. John Damascene,
Damascene. Contra Manich., c. 7^ : " The foreknowing power of God
has not its cause in us ; but it is because of us that He
foresees what we are about to do : for if we were not about
to do the things, God could not have foreseen them,
because they were not going to be. The foreknowledge
of God is true and infallible indeed ; but it is not the cause
why we do certain things : on the contrary, because we are
The Divine about to do certain things, God foreknows them."
ledge of w II. Like all other Divine knowledge, the knowledge of
Frictions, the free actions of creatures is eternal. Hence God knows
PART L] The Divine Life. 223
the free actions of His creatures before they are performed, CHAP. v.
and knows them even better than the creatures themselves SE ^i 8 -
do. He further contemplates them as perpetually present
with the reality they acquire when accomplished in the
course of time. The Vatican Council (sess. iii. c. i) says:
"All things are bare and open to His eyes, even the
things which will take place by the free action of creatures."
Prescience of this kind is exclusively proper to God, a
touchstone of Divinity. Cf. Ps. cxxxviii. I sqq. ; Ecclus.
xxxix. 24, 25 ; and xxiii. 28, 29. "Show the things that
are to come hereafter, and we shall know that ye are gods "
(Isai. xli. 22, 23). Every one of the many prophecies con-
tained in Holy Writ is a proof of the Divine Foreknow-
ledge. " Every prophet is a proof of the Divine Foreknow-
ledge " " Praescientia Dei tot habet testes quot habet
prophetas" (Tertull., C. Marcioii). 'St. Augustine (Ad
Simplicium, 1. ii., q. ii., n. 2) gives a classical description
of the way in which God sees future things as present.
God's Foreknowledge must be eternal because all God's For*
that is in God is necessarily eternal. Besides, if God St ge
knew the free actions of His creatures only in time, the
decrees of His Providence ought to be made in time
also. The possibility of an eternal Foreknowledge is
evident from the a priori nature of the knowledge, for God
knows future things in their eternal cause. Further, He
contemplates the future as actually present, because to
Him there is no time ; things temporal stand before His
undivided eternity with their temporal character and are
seen always as they are when they actually exist.
The Divine Foreknowledge is an eternal contemplation does not
and therefore does not interfere with the liberty of the whhivee
created will. The fact that God sees what we do, no more W '
alters the nature of our acts than the fact that they are seen
or remembered by ourselves or by others. The knowledge
which God has of free actions is the same before, during, and
after their performance. Besides, the Divine Knowledge,
being a priori, apprehends free actions formally as such,
that is, as proceeding from the will by free determination.
If it only grasped the action as a material fact, the know-
ledge would be false or incomplete. Foreknowledge would
224 -A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IT.
CHAP. v. only interfere with liberty of action if it supposed a
E fll_' necessary influence of God on the human will, or if it had
the character of a conclusion necessarily following from
given premisses.
The Divine III. The knowledge of the actions which would be
O f no a>n- se performed by free agents if certain conditions were fulfilled,
FreeAaions. cannot be denied to God. It is in itself an unmixed per-
fection, and, moreover, it is necessary for the perfect ruling
of the world by Divine Providence. In fact, without such
knowledge, God could not' frame His decrees concerning
the government of rational creatures, or, if He did, He
would deprive them of their liberty (cf. Hurter, De Deo,
No. 87).
Scripture. I. Holy Scripture fully supports this doctrine. God being
asked by David if the men of Ceila would deliver him into
the hands of Saul, afiswered positively, " They will deliver
thee." But David having fled, he was not delivered into
the hands of his enemy (i Kings xxiii. 1-13). See other
instances of the Divine knowledge of future actions
dependent on unfulfilled conditions (Jer. xxxviii. 15 sqq.);
" Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida : for if in
Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have
been wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in
sackcloth and ashes" (Matt. xi. 20-23). Cf. Franzelin,
De Deo, p. 449 sqq.
Tradition. 2. The Fathers often deal expressly with the present
questions in connection with Providence. In the contro-
versies with the Manichaeans and Gnostics, they all admit
without hesitation that God foreknew the sins which Adam
and Eve, Saul, Judas, and others would commit under
given conditions. Not one of these Fathers tries to justify
God for creating these men, or for conferring dignities upon
them, on the plea of ignorance of what would happen under
the circumstances. Cf. the commentaries on Wisd. iv.
II:" He was taken away lest wickedness should alter his
understanding, or deceit beguile his soul ; " esp. St. Gregory
of Nyssa, in the sermon on this text (Opp., torn, ii., pp.
764-770), and St. Augustine (De Corr. et Gratia, c. viii.).
(See infra, p. 372, and Vol. II. p. 242.)
PABT I.] The Divine Life. 225
CHAP. V.
SECT. 8 1. The Divine Wisdom in relation to its External SECT. 81.
Activity The Divine Ideas.
I. Idea, t>Ea, commonly signifies the mental representa- The Divine
tion which the artist has of his work (ratio rei faciendce). sidereTas "
The ideal is the highest conception of a thing. In the theUmVer^e.
language of the Church, the expressions idea, exemplar,
forma, species, ttSoe, are often used synonymously.
1. All the works of God are produced with perfect
knowledge of what they ought to be, and all are intended
to represent and manifest the Supreme Being, Beauty, and
Goodness. Hence all the works of God are works of
wisdom, or rather works of His wise art. "Thou hast
made all things in wisdom " (Ps. ciii. 24). " Wisdom is the
worker of all things" (Wisd. vii. 21). Philosophically and
theologically this doctrine is expressed as follo.vs : God
operates ad extra by artistic ideas, and all that is outside
God is essentially a product and an expression of a Divine
Idea.
2. The Ideas of the Divine Wisdom are, however, very The Divine
1 i-r r i -i i i -i 11 ideas not thc
different from the ideas which guide the human artist, sameas
The former are truly creative ideas, modelling not only ideas.
the external appearance of things, but setting up and
informing their very essence ; and, being identical with God,
they have in themselves the power of actuating themselves.
They are absolutely original ideas, drawn from, and
identical with, the Divine Substance, essentially proper to
God and eternal (Ao-yot owo-twSac, rationes aternce}. The
ideas of the created artist, on the other hand, are only
relatively original ; even his noblest inspirations are mostly
determined by external circumstances.
3. The foundation of the Divine ideas is the infinitely The Divine
perfect Divine Essence, containing in itself the perfections the fJt^wk-
of all things, imitable ad extra in finite things, and com- Divine ideas,
prehended as so imitable by the infinite Intellect of God.
All beings outside God are, by their essence, a participa-
tion, i.e. an imperfect copy or imitation, of the Divine
Being : hence their types or ideas must exist in the Divine
Essence, and must be the object of the contemplation of the
Divine Mind. Moreover, because of the simplicity of the
Q
226
A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IT.
CHAP. V
SECT. 81.
How many
ideas in
God?
No ideal of
evil.
The Divine
Wisdom as
Ordainer
and Law-
givei.
Divine Substance, the ideas, their foundation and the mind
contemplating them, are all one ; and therefore created
things are contained in God, not only as in an abstract
mental representation, but as in their real model and type.
4. How many ideas are there in God? Materially
there is only one idea in Him, as there is only one ideal
for all things together as well as for each in particular.
In His absolutely simple and infinitely rich Essence, God
contemplates in one idea the type of all possible imitations
ad extra. Formally speaking, however, He has as many
ideas as He knows to be possible representations of His
Essence.
5. Although God knows evil, still there is no ideal of
evil in the Divine Mind. For evil is not a positive forma-
tion, but a difformity or deformation of things ; it is not
a work of the Divine Wisdom nor a work of God at all.
6. The creative power of the Divine ideas enters into
action only when God decrees so by an act of His Will.
II. i. It is essentially a work of the Divine Wisdom
to give order, harmony, and organization to the things
representing the Divine Ideas ; to unite them in one
harmonic whole, in which each holds its proper place, and
each and all tend to the end proposed by the Creator.
Holy Scripture calls this ordaining operation a measuring,
numbering, and weighing : " Thou hast ordered all things
in measure, and number, and weight" (Wisd. xi. 21).
2. A further attribute of the Divine Wisdom is to
determine the ideal perfection to which creatures should
tend as to their ultimate object, and to establish the laws
by which this object is to be aimed at and attained. The
laws that regulate the movements of creatures are im-
planted in their nature, and are, as it were, identified with
their substance, thus offering an image of the eternal law
in God. To rational creatures especially, the Divine
Wisdom prescribes laws for the right direction of their
actions towards their end. These laws are " written in the
heart" (Rom. ii. 14, 15), and read there by means of the
light of reason. The Divine Wisdom appears here as
"doctrix discipline Dei," as a guide and educator, leading
man on to the participation of the All-Wise life in God.
PAET I.] The Divine Life. 227
On the relation between the eternal law in God and the CHAP v.
natural law, see St. Thomas, I* 2*, q. 91, a. 2.
III. The infinite perfection of the Divine Wisdom The Divine
involves the knowledge of all the ways and means of Ruie^.d S a..
realizing the ultimate object of creation. God knows
which acts and operations should be produced or prevented,
and He knows how to direct every action and operation
to its end, so that nothing upsets His plans, but everything
is made subservient to them. In this sense the spirit of
eternal wisdom is called Travrn-'icrKoirov and aicwAurov, over-
seeing all things, unimpeded (Wisd. vii. 23), and of Wisdom
itself it is said : " She reacheth from end to end mightily,
and ordereth all things sweetly" (Wisd. viii. i). The per-
fection of the Divine Providence is best seen in its dealings
with the free will of man. Freedom of action, including
freedom to commit sin, would undermine the stability of
any but an infinite Providence. God, however, Who fore-
knows the future and its contingencies, Who has the power
to bring about or to prevent even the free actions of His
creatures, and -to Whose Will all things are subservient
God is able to direct evil actions to good ends, and thus
to attain His own wise objects.
SECT. 82. The Nature and Attributes of the Divine Will
considered generally.
I. That God has a Will, and a most perfect Will, is^o^ hasa
evident to faith and reason alike. The will is an essential
of a living spirit ; without it there could be in God no
power, no beatitude, no sanctity, or justice.
II. The fundamental property of the Divine as opposed Ood'swnii
to the created will, is its real identity with the Divine substance.
Substance. " Will," says St. Bonaventure (in I. Sent., dist.
45, a. i), "is in God in a more proper and complete manner
than in us. For in us it is a faculty distinct from our sub-
stance and actually distant from its object ; whereas in the
Divine Will there is no difference whatsoever between
substance, power, act and object." Hence in God there
can be no successive acts of will, no desires, or tendencies.
The essential act of the Divine Will consists in the delight
with which God embraces and contains Himself as the
228 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. v. Highest Good. This delight extends to things outside
SECT - g2 ' Him, only, however, in order to bring them into existence ;
not to derive from them any increment of perfection or
happiness. In itself the act of the Divine Will is posses-
sion and fruition ; in its relation to external goods it can
but freely distribute its own abundance.
NO external HI. An immediate consequence of the identity of God's
e Divine" Will with His Substance, is that with Him there can be
waL no question of a cause moving the will, or of anything
influencing it from without : the uncreated act, by which
all things are created, cannot be subject to such influences.
It is indeed essential to the Divine Will, even more than
to the will of creatures, to act for an object, and conse-
quently to determine Itself to the choice and disposition
of appropriate means to attain the intended object. The
object, however, is not a cause moving the Divine Will,
but the reason why the Divine Will moves Itself. In God,
the first motive and the ultimate object of His Will are
really identical with His Will ; they are His Essence con-
sidered as the supreme objective Good. All subordinate
motives and objects are dependent on the primary one ;
they are only motives and objects because God wills them
to be such. Hence subordinate motives and ends do not
act on the Divine Will in itself; they are but the reason
why It directs Itself upon some particular object, and
orders or disposes it in some particular manner. The free
actions of creatures are but circumstances in creation,
brought about or permitted by God Himself, and of which
He takes notice for His own sake ; they are by no means
external causes moving the Divine Will to action.
The supreme goodness of the Divine Will is the reason
and the rule determining the direction of the Divine voli-
tion to definite objects. God loves His own goodness and
therefore He wills its glorification and communication ad
extra, and determines by what means these objects are
to be attained. Thus the love of God for Himself causes
Him to will things outside Him, just as the desires and
inclinations of our will cause us to act ; with this difference,
however, that in God the satisfaction of such desires is
neither a want nor a cause of new volitions.
PAET I.] The Divine Life. 229
The doctrine here stated is common among the theo- CHAP. v.
logians, although they differ in the way of expressing it.
See Ruiz, De Voluntate Dei, disp. xv.
IV. Another consequence of the identity of Will and The relation
* J between the
Substance in God is the peculiar relation between the Dmm; wa
Divine Will and its objects, and between the objects them- objects,
selves. The love of self is, with creatures, a condition and
the starting-point of all their volitions. As, however, the
objects of their desires exist outside and independently of
them, and as their perfection and felicity are themselves
dependent on the possession of external goods, the love
of self is not a sufficient object for all their volitions ; it is
itself but part of higher aims and objects. But God is
Himself the proximate and principal object of His volition.
All other things the Divine Will attains without being in
any way determined or perfected by them ; they are either
not intended for themselves at all, or at most as subordi-
nate ends. "The Lord hath made all things for Himself"
(Prov. xvi. 4). God has created the world' "of His own
goodness, not to increase His happiness or to acquire but
to manifest His goodness by means of the good things
which He bestows on creatures " (Vatican Council, sess.
iii., ch. i).
The manner in which God's Love of Self determines
His love of creatures is as follows :
1. As the Infinite Good is most communicable, fruitful,
and powerful, the love of it implies love of communicating it.
2. Again, as it is the Supreme Beauty, and is capable
of being copied and multiplied, the love of it excites a love
of reproducing it.
3. The supreme dignity and majesty of the highest
Good is worthy of honour and glory ; hence God is induced
to create beings able to give Him honour and glory.
Thus all things find the motive of their existence in the
Divine Self-Love ; and in it, too, they find their ultimate
object. They are made in order to participate in the
goodness of God, and to cling to Him with love ; to repro-
duce His beauty, to know and to praise it; to submit to
His majesty by honouring and serving Him.
From this genesis and order of God's volitions we infer
230 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP v. another difference between the manner in which the Divine
E fll 83 ' Will and the created will bear upon their objects. The
created will, when willing things as means and instruments
to other ends, does not value them in themselves, but only
inasmuch as they are means. God, on the contrary, although
His creatures are only means to His glory, intends really
and truly that they should possess the perfections communi-
cated to them, and He takes pleasure in the goodness,
beauty, and dignity, which make them copies of the Divine
ideal ; nay, He offers Himself as the object of their posses-
sion and fruition. Hence we perceive the benevolence,
esteem, and appreciation with which God honours the
goodness and dignity of His creatures. There is no selfish-
ness on His side and no degradation on the side of crea-
tures, although they are but means for the glory of
God.
The Divine V. Another consequence of the identity of Will and
stls'seif an the Substance in God is that all the positive and negative
^Divine ' attributes of the Divine Substance must be applied to the
Substance. Drvi ne Will. It is absolutely independent, simple, infinite,
immutable, eternal, omnipresent, etc.
SECT. %-$.The Absolute Freedom of God's Will.
God loves I. First of all it is certain that liberty of choice cannot
necessarily, be attributed to all the volitions of the Divine Will. God's
absolute perfection necessarily includes the absolutely per-
fect action of His Will, necessarily directed to the Divine
Essence as the highest good. The necessity of this act
is even greater than the necessity which proceeds from
the nature of creatures and compels them to act ; because
it is founded in, and identical with, the Divine Essence.
For this very same reason, however, the act of the Divine
Will includes the perfection essential to acts of the
will, viz. the acting for an end with consciousness and
pleasure ; for God knowingly and willingly loves His own
lovableness.
but is free II. Liberty of choice is attributable to the Divine Will
in respect to.. ...
objects only in respect to external things ; and, as these are de-
outside Him. , . r
pendent for their existence on a Divine volition, this
PART I.] The Divine Life. 231
creative volition itself is in the free choice of God. This CHAP. v.
is defined by the Vatican Council, " God created the world E ^Il 3 '
of freest design" (sess. iii., chap, i), "If any one shall say
that God did not create with a will free from all necessity,
but did so as necessarily as He loves Himself; let him be
anathema " (can. v.).
1. Holy Scripture fittingly describes the liberty of choice Scripture.
in God : " Who worketh all things according to the counsel
of His will" (Eph. i. n); and again, "Who has predes-
tinated us ... according to the purpose of His Will "
(i. 5). See also Rom. ix. 18 ; i Cor. xii. n ; John iii. 8.
2. The following considerations contain the proofs from Reason,
reason and the solution of difficulties.
(a.} God is perfectly free to create or not to create beings
outside of Himself. Such beings are neither necessary
in themselves nor necessary to the beatitude or perfection
of God ; they can only serve to his external glory, which,
however, is not necessary to Him because His essential
glory is all-sufficient If, indeed, God creates, He must
do so for His own glory, and it is the love of His own
glory that moves Him to create. But if He wills not to
create, He is not bound to intend His external glory.
The Love of Himself moves Him to create, in as far as it
appears to Him fitting that He should be glorified by
creatures and should be enabled to find delight in external
glory. But there is no necessity here, because God might
assert his Self-Love in another way, viz. by abstaining
from producing other beings, and thus proving Himself
the sole necessary and absolutely self-sufficient Being.
This consideration gains additional force from the dogma
that the Trinity is an infinite communication, ad intra, of
the Divine perfections.
(&) Again, God is free to create the world with any
degree of perfection He chooses ; He is not bound to
create a world of the greatest possible perfection. If He
is free to create or not to create, He is likewise free to
create any of the many worlds alike possible and un-
necessary to Him. Moreover, however perfect a created
world be conceived, it would always be finite, and there-
fore a still more perfect one could be conceived. Hence, if
A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IL
CHAP, v God was bound to create the most perfect world possible,
ECT^S. j^^ vvould be unable to create at all, because a world at
once finite and incapable of higher perfection involves a
contradiction. All that can be said is this : once God has
determined upon creating a world, His own moral perfec-
tion requires that He should realize the idea in a fitting
manner, and ordain everything to His own glory. Thus
God is bound by His wisdom and goodness to ordain par-
ticular things to the ends of the whole world of His choice,
and the whole world to His own glory.
(<:.) God is free in His choice of the particular beings
through which the general object of creation is to be
attained ; and also in the determination of the position
which each particular being is to occupy in the universe,
and in the degree of perfection to be granted to them.
This principle applies especially to the creation of beings
of the same kind. No man has a better claim than any
other to be called into existence or to be distinguished by
particular gifts. Holy Scripture often mentions this point
in order to set forth God's absolute dominion over His
creatures, and over His gifts to them, and to excite the
gratitude of men for the gifts so freely bestowed upon them
by the Divine bounty. It ought, however, to be borne in
mind that, if God favours some creatures with extraordinary
gifts, He refuses to none the perfections required by their
nature. "And I went down into the potter's house, and
behold he was doing a work on the wheel. And the vessel
was broken which he was making of clay with his hands :
and turning he made another vessel, as it seemed good in
his eyes to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to
me, saying : Cannot I do with you as this potter, O house
of Israel ? saith the Lord. Behold as clay is in the hand
of the potter, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
I will suddenly speak against a nation, and against a king-
dom, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy it"
(Jer. xviii. 3-7). Cf. Ecclus. xxxiii. 10 sqq. ; Rom. ix.
2O sqq.
The Divme III. Although the Divine volition of finite things is
volition _ 3
Atibjectto free from antecedent necessity, it is subject to the necessity
tonsequent . .
necessity, consequent upon the Divine wisdom, sanctity, and immu-
PAET I.] The Divine Life. 233
tability. Once God has freely decreed certain objects, He CHAP. v.
is bound, by "consequent necessity," to decree likewise
all that is necessarily connected as means or otherwise
with these objects. The older Theologians give to this
" Willing " of God, regulated by His wisdom, sanctity and
immutability, the name of voluntas ordinata, in contradis-
tinction to the voluntas simplex, a willing which has its
only foundation in the Divine liberty.
The willing of an end does not always entail the
necessary willing of particular means. The same end may
often be attained by various means ; and besides the
necessary means, others merely useful or ornamental may
be chosen. Hence the Divine Will, even when acting in
consequence of a previous decree, has scope left for freedom.
There is, then, in God a twofold simple volition, viz. the
willing of ultimate ends and the willing of certain means
thereto. Yet, this simple willing is not arbitrary that is,
entirely without reason, and therefore unwise and unholy.
The wisdom and sanctity of a choice do not always require
a special reason for the preference given ; it is sufficient
that there be (i) a general reason for making a choice, (2)
the consciousness that the choice is really free, and (3)
the intention to direct the object of the preference to a
wise and holy end ; and all these conditions are all fulfilled
in the Divine simple Volition. These notions are important
on account of their bearing on the difficult question of
predestination.
SECT. 84. The Affections (Affectus] of the Divine Will,
especially Love)-
I. The Divine perfection excludes all affections which General
. principle.
imply bodily activity, excitement of the mind, passivity,
and, a fortiori, passions which dim the mind and upset
the will. When speaking of the affections of the Divine
Will, we consider its acts in as far as they bear on their
objects in an eminent manner, a relation analogous to that
which our will bears to its objects when moved by our
1 "Affections," affectus, irdfhi, are the same as the emotions, but are
treated by the Schoolmen as belonging either to the sensitive appetite or to
the will.
234 <d Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. v. various feelings. Affections not essentially connected
^- 4 ' with imperfection, such as love and delight, exist formally
in God ; other affections, which imply imperfection, or a
certain unrest, such as fear and sadness, are only improperly
or metaphorically attributed to Him. In other words,
God contains formally only such affections as are deter-
mined by His own Essence. The Divine Will cannot be
affected by anything external ; hence, if by analogy with
ourselves we distinguish many affections in God, they ought
not to be conceived as really distinct or conflicting, but as
virtually contained in the one act of the Divine Substance.
Between the affections which have God Himself for their
immediate object, such as complacency in His goodness,
love, benevolence, and joy, it is almost impossible to find
even a virtual distinction. The other Divine affections,
which have creatures for their object, spring from the
former, and are ramifications of the Divine Self-Love,
whataffec- II. With the aid of these principles, it will be possible
attributable to determine in detail which affections can be attributed to
lothe Divine , T ^. . TTT-H
will. the Divine Will.
Love of what I. The affection most properly attributable to the
befwiful" Divine Will is delight in what is good and beautiful. The
primary object of this Divine complacency is the infinite
Goodness and Beauty of the Divine Essence ; the secondary
objects are its created representations. From the com-
placency in what is good, the hatred or abomination of
what is wicked is inseparable. This affection is connected,
in created wills, with a feeling of disgust and displeasure,
increasing with the degree of appreciation of the evil
attained. This painful sensation, however, is not essential
to the abomination of evil. It does not exist in God, Who
knows that by His power and wisdom evil itself is made
subservient to the ultimate end of creation.
Henevo- 2. A benevolent inclination towards Himself, the
Highest Good, and towards the beings which participate
in His Goodness, is another formal and proper attribute
of the Divine Will. The contrary affection, viz. hatred or
malevolence, is impossible in God. Hatred consists in
wishing some one evil precisely as evil ; it takes pleasure
in the evil of the person hated, and strives, to a greater
PABT I.] The Divine Life. 235
or lesser extent, to destroy the hateful object. Such CHAP. v.
an affection is not only unworthy of God and incom- -
patible with His absolute repose and beatitude, but is
also contrary to the nature of the Divine Will, inasmuch
as the latter operates on creatures only to communicate
the Divine Goodness to them. God continues His bene-
volence to sinners, even when they are damned in hell, for
He wills their natural good even in hell, and does not
begrudge them happiness ; He wills their punishment only
inasmuch as by it the order of the whole of creation, of
which the sinners are members, is maintained ; and the
sinners themselves receive the sole good available to them,
viz. the forced submission to the order of God's universe.
When Scripture speaks of God's hatred of sin, or uses
similar expressions, the " hatred of what is wicked " ought
always to be understood, and not mere malevolence.
3. Other affections formally attributable to the Divine ^^
Will are joy and delight in God's infinite Beauty and Good-
ness, as enjoyed by Himself or shared by His creatures.
Pain and sadness, on the contrary, are affections entirely
incompatible with the repose and happiness of the Divine
Will, and are only metaphorically applicable to God. The
same is true of pity, the noblest kind of sadness. God
acts, indeed, as if He felt pity ; but, although the effect is
there, the affection is wanting. The desire for things not
yet possessed is likewise impossible in God.
4. If hatred and sadness can find no room in the Not Hope
TV or r>
Divine Will on account of the imperfections they imply, Anger or
J Repentance
much more must affections like hope and fear, respect and
admiration, anger and repentance be excluded. Holy
Scripture hardly ever attributes hope or fear to God, but
often anger and repentance. This way of speaking is
adopted in order to make the actions of God intelligible
to the reader. God acts as we conceive an angry man
would do under the same circumstances.
III. Love is foremost among the Divine affections ; it GO iu Love.
is the type upon which all His other affections are modelled.
God is Love, all Love, and Love pure and simple ; what-
ever is against love is against the Nature of God, and is
essentially excluded from Him ; whatever is according to
236 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. v. love, is according to the inclination and disposition of the
Divine Nature. Hence the meaning of the expressions :
" God, Whose nature is goodness " (St. Leo), and " God
is charity (ayoTrij)," I John iv. 8. Love, caritas, ayenrrj,
and bonitas here must be taken as expressing benevolent
love, by which we wish well to other beings just as we do
to ourselves. Love, as here described, is indeed foremost
among, and characteristic of, all Divine affections ; but it
is not their living root and their real principle. This is
Love only in as far as by love we understand the com-
placency which God finds in the infinite Goodness of His
Essence, and which takes the form of the noblest kind of
love, charity.
God's love IV. God's benevolent love of His creatures is charac-
of creature*.
tenzed by the following properties :
Benevolent. i. God's benevolent love of creatures actually existing
is, in substance, His love of Himself freely directed towards
determinate beings which receive their existence in virtue
of His Love.
Gratuitous. 2. It is a gratuitous love, freely bestowed without any
claim on the part of the creature, and without any profit
on the part of God.
whseand 3. By reason of its origin in the Divine Wisdom and
Self-Love, God's love of creatures is essentially wise and
holy, directed towards their salvation, and necessarily sub-
ordinating them to the highest good. It is, therefore,
infinitely different from a blind and weak tenderness, which
would sacrifice to the capricious desires of creatures their
own salvation and the honour of God. Such tenderness is
unworthy of God ; it would be impure love, not deserving
the name of charity. Holiness is an essential element in
pure love, and if we distinguish pure love from holy love it
is only in order to point out the absolute gratuity of the
former.
intinwte. 4. The Divine Love of creatures is eminently intimate.
It is identical with God's Love of Himself, and embraces
creatures in their innermost being, and tends to unite them
with Him in the fruition of His own perfection. Hence
arises the unitive force proper to Divine Love. The love
of creatures for each other brings them together, but the
PART L] The Divine Life. 237
Love of God for creatures unites the creature to the CHAP. v.
,, SECT. 84.
Creator.
5. The Divine Love is eminently an ecstatic love Ecstatic.
that is, God causes His Love, and with His Love His
goodness, to expand and to overflow ad extra, and to
pervade and replenish His creatures. Humanly speaking,
it may even be said that, in the Incarnation, God, out of
love for His creatures, " empties " Himself (Phil. ii. 7),
inasmuch as, without sacrificing His internal glory and
absolute honour, He renounces, in His adopted humanity,
all external glory. The " ecstasis " of the Divine Love aims
at bringing the beloved creatures into the closest union
with God ; whence that famous circle of the Divine Love
described by Dionysius the Areopagite, De Div. Norn., c. iv.
6. The Divine Love is eminently universal and all- Universal,
embracing. On the part of God the love is the same for
each and all its objects, because in the Divine act itself
there are no degrees. But it manifests itself in various
degrees, so that, on the part of the beloved objects, more
love is shown to the better ones than to the less perfect.
In this respect God loves one object more than another,
because He has willed the one to be better than the
other, and has adorned the one with choicer gifts than
the other.
7. The Divine Love is eminently fertile and inex- inexham
., tible.
haustible.
8. Lastly, the negative attributes of infinity, immuta- infinite.
bility, and eternity belong also to the act of Divine Love,
although its external manifestations are subject to the
limitation, mutability, and temporality of their objects.
All the distinguishing properties of the Divine Love
shine forth most brilliantly in the supernatural " love
of friendship " which God has for His rational creatures.
By this supernatural love, He loves them as He loves
Himself, elevating them to the participation in His own
beatitude, and giving Himself to them in many ways. It
is that " charity or love of God " which the New Testa-
ment chiefly and almost exclusively recommends.
238 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. V.
SECT. 85. Moral Perfection of the Divine Will
NO moral I. In God there can be no moral imperfection, no sin
God" u or anything approaching thereto. With Him, the impos-
sibility of sinning or participating in sin is absolute and
metaphysical, not only because the possibility of sinning
would destroy His infinite perfection, but especially because
of the nature of sin. Sin consists in preferring one's self
to God ; in other words, in opposing personal interests
to the Supreme Good and giving them preference. But
such opposition is impossible with God, because His own
Self and His interests are identical with the Supreme Good.
This immaculate purity and absolute freedom from all
sin is termed Sanctity or Holiness, in the sense of the
classical definition given by the Areopagite : " Holiness
is purity free from all fault, altogether perfect and spotless
in every respect." * In order to complete the concept of
sanctity, it is necessary to add that God is inaccessible to
sin or to contact with sin, because He positively abominates
it with an abomination proportionate to the esteem He
has for the Supreme Good which sin despises that is, with
an infinite abomination. Hence the Divine purity is
infinite, and implies an infinite distance between God and
sin. Holy Scripture frequently insists upon the Divine
sanctity as here described. " God is faithful and without
iniquity, He is just and right " (Deut. xxxii. 4) ; " Is God
unjust (a&fcoc) ? God forbid " (Rom. iii. 5, 6). See, also,
Rom. ix. 14 ; i John iii. 9 ; Hab. i. 13 ; Ps. v. 5, and xliv. 8.
God may God's infinite detestation of sin entails the impossibility
not only of willing sin as an end, but also of intending it
positively as a means to other ends ; He can only have
the will to permit sin, and to make use of such permission
as an occasion to bring about good. To permit sin, when
able to prevent it, would, indeed, be against moral perfec-
tion in a created being, because the creature is bound to
further the honour of God as much as lies in its power,
and also because it is unable to repair the disorder in-
herent in sin. God, on the other hand, may dispose of
1 " Sanctitas est, ut nostro more loquar, ab omni scelere libera et omnino
perfecta et omni ex parte iminaculata puritas " (De Div. Norn., c. 12).
Derma sin.
PART I.] The Divine Life. 239
His honour as He chooses, not, indeed, by sacrificing it, CHAP. v.
but by furthering it in any way He pleases, either by __*
preventing sin or by converting or punishing the sinner.
Both of these ways manifest God's abomination of sin,
and are, therefore, independently of other reasons, eligible
means for the manifestation of His glory. Consequently,
although sin is always an evil, the permission of sin is, on
the part of God, a positive good. It may even be said
that the permission of sin is better than its entire pre-
vention.
When Holy Scripture uses expressions which seem to
imply that God positively intends evil, they must be under-
stood in the above sense. Unlike man, who permits evil
only when he cannot prevent it, God, in His Wisdom and
power, predetermines the permission of evil and ordains
it to His ultimate ends. Cf. St. Thorn., i a 2 a ', q. 79:
" Utrum Deus sit causa peccati."
II. Positively speaking, the moral perfection of God G e r f e oral ' y
consists in the essential and immutable direction of His
Will on Himself as the supreme object of all volition, and
in the infinite love and esteem of Himself included in this
act, the perfection of which is enhanced by the fact that
the highest Good, the ultimate object of all volition, is, for
the Divine Will, the immediate and only formal object,
and that all other goods are objects of the Divine Will
only because and in as far as they are subordinated to the
highest good. A more pure, exalted, and constant volition
of what is good cannot be conceived.
In its positive aspect also the moral perfection of God
is called Holiness. This name is applied to the moral
goodness of creatures when considered as a direction of
the will towards the highest moral object, viz. the absolute
dignity and majesty of God ; and the designation is the
more appropriate the more the creature disposes its whole
life according to the exaltedness of such an object, and
develops greater purity, energy, and constancy in morals.
It is, therefore, evident that sanctity is the most, and
indeed the only, convenient name for the moral perfection
of God. Godpos-
III. God's absolute moral perfection necessarily implies vi
240 A Manual of CatJwlic Theology. [BOOK Ti.
CHAP. v. the possession of all the virtues of creatures. It is, how-
ever, evident that many of these cannot exist actually in
the Creator. Thus, for instance, religion and obedience,
which imply submission to a higher being ; faith and hope,
which presuppose a state of imperfection ; and temperance,
which requires a subject composed of mind and matter,
are all alike impossible in God. They are only virtually
contained in the Divine perfection, viz. inasmuch as they
express esteem for the highest good and for the good order
of things. Some moral virtues, such as fortitude and meek-
ness, are metaphorically attributed to God, only to bring
out the absence of the opposite vices of pusillanimity and
anger. Those virtues alone belong formally to the moral
perfection of God which manifest and bring into operation
the excellence of their subject ; and they belong to Him
in an eminent manner, so that all the Divine virtues are
purely active and regal virtues.
The royal character of the Divine virtues appears in
character of ...... . , . , .
their exercise, in their diversity, and in their organic re-
lations, which, in the moral life of God, are widely dif-
ferent from what they are in creatures. In creatures, all
virtues, even those which have an external object, tend to
increase the inner perfection of the virtuous subject. Not
so with God ; His perfection would be the same if He
abstained from the exercise of any external virtue ; and
as the only virtue essential to His perfection (viz. self-love
and self-esteem) is pure act identical with the Divine
Essence, it cannot be spoken of as exercised that is, as
passing from potentiality to actuality. The virtues of
creatures are manifold because they bear upon many
objects and admit of various degrees of perfection. In God
only one object, absolutely simple and perfect, is attained
by the Divine Will, and consequently a diversity of virtues
can only be based upon the remote and secondary objects
of the Divine volitions. The organic unity of the virtues
of creatures consists in the subordination of all others
under the Love of God, which, like a bond of perfection,
embraces and contains them all. But in God all virtues
are one, because He can will nothing but Himself and
things that are subordinated to Him as their supreme
PART I.] The Divine Life. 241
good. His infinite Love is the root from which all His CHAP. v.
., , , , , r SECT. 86.
other virtues spring, as it is also the root and essence of
His Sanctity. The ramifications of the Divine Charity
can, however, be considered as special moral virtues,
because they represent special forms, or a special exercise
of the Divine Goodness. The moral virtues in God are
united more closely than in man, so much so that even
the two most opposed of them, mercy and justice, are never
exercised separately.
The Divine virtues which are directed to external ob-
jects that is, the moral virtues can be reduced to good-
ness, justice and truth, the last being taken in the sense of
moral wisdom and veracity. These three are the funda-
mental types of all the other moral virtues in God : they
are manifested in all His moral actions, and represent the
principal directions into which the more special moral vir-
tues branch off. We have already dealt with the nature
of the Divine Goodness in the chapter on Divine Love ; it
remains, therefore, to determine the absolute character of
the Divine Justice, so far as it differs from created justice
and is exercised in union with Divine goodness and truth.
It is precisely its inseparability from Goodness and Truth
which frees the Divine Justice from the restrictions and the
dependence of created justice.
SECT. 86. The Justice of God.
I. Taken in its widest sense, justice may be defined as Definition
the rectitude of the will ; that is, the disposition of the will
and its acts in accordance with truth. In this sense, justice
expresses the moral character of all the Divine virtues,
including goodness. It differs from justice in creatures in
that it is not a conformity with a higher rule, but a con-
formity or agreement with the Essence and Wisdom of
God Himself, or, as the Theologians express it : " conde-
centia divinae bonitatis et sapientiae." Taken in a narrower
sense, as distinct from goodness, justice designates in God
and creatures a virtue which observes or introduces a
certain order in external actions, and especially adapts
the actions to the exigencies of the beings to which they
refer. Created justice supposes an existing order, and
R
242 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IT.
CHAP. v. the beings to which it adapts its actions are always more
SEcr.86. independent of the agent ; whereas Divine Justice
deals with an order established by God, and with beings
entirely dependent on Him. Hence Divine Justice can
have no other object than to dispose the works of God
in a manner befitting His excellence and leading to His
glory. This character is best expressed by the term
" Architectonic Justice," which implies that it is not ruled
or bound by any claim existing in its object, but that it con-
sists in the conformity of determinate Divine actions with
the archetypes of the Divine works existing in the Divine
Mind. Thus the human artist works out his plans, not in
order to satisfy the exigencies of the work of art, but to
reproduce and realize his own conceptions. If the Divine
Artist, unlike the human, deals with personal beings, this
does not destroy the architectonic character of His Justice,
for personal dignity has a claim on the Divine Justice only
in as far as the Divine Wisdom effects the beauty and per-
fection of His works by treating each being according to
its own nature, and by giving each of them exactly that
place in the general order of things which its intrinsic
value demands. The only real right which stands in the
presence of the Divine Will, and determines the whole
order of its action, is the right of Divine Majesty : to the
Divine Majesty all external works of God must be sub-
jected, to it all the beings coming within the sphere of the
Divine Justice must be directed.
Divine II. Human justice and goodness differ in this, that
pared wuT justice is prompted to act by a duty towards another
being, whereas goodness acts freely on its own impulse.
The Architectonic Justice of God, on the contrary, involves
no moral necessity of satisfying the claims of any other
being ; whatever moral necessity it involves originates in
God Himself, Who is bound to act in accordance with
His Wisdom, His Will, and His Excellence. In this sense
Holy Scripture often calls the Divine Justice "truth," viz.
God is just, because He is true to Himself. His Wisdom
requires Him to make all things good and beautiful, and
consequently to give each being what its nature demands,
and to assign to each that position in the universal order
PART I.] The Divine Life. 243
which corresponds with the ultimate object of creation and CHAP, v
with the dignity of the Divine Wisdom ; His sovereign Will
requires that the ends intended should be always attained
in one way or another, and consequently that the means
necessary to these ends be forthcoming ; His excellence
and dignity require Him to dispose all His works in a
manner tending to the manifestation and glorification of
His own goodness ; above all, His 'truthfulness and fidelity
demand that He should not deny Himself in those acts by
which He invites His creatures to expect with confidence a
communication of His truth and of His possessions, for if
creatures were deceived in their confidence, God would
appear contemptible to them. God can bind Himself to
actions which in every respect are free and remain free even
after they are promised. Such obligation, however, is not in
opposition to perfect freedom and independence, because
it is always founded upon an act of the Divine goodness.
Nor does this latter circumstance interfere with the strict-
ness of the obligation, because the respect which God owes
to Himself is infinitely more inviolable than any title arising
from anything outside Him. Hence, although creatures
have no formal claims on God, they have a greater cer-
tainty that justice will be done to them than if they really
possessed such claims. " For My name's sake I will remove
My wrath afar off, and for My praise I will bridle thee,
lest thou shouldst perish. . . . For My own sake, for My
own sake, I will do it, that I may not be blasphemed " (Isai.
xlviii. 9, 1 1 ; cf. Deut. vii. 9 and xxxii. 4 ; I John i. 9).
III. Another consequence of the architectonic character The Divine
of the Divine Justice is its very intimate connection with Good^s"'
closely
the Divine goodness. God's Justice crowns and perfects connected.
His goodness, which would be essentially imperfect if the
beings called into existence by it were not disposed and
maintained in the order upheld by the Divine Justice.
Sometimes certain acts of the Justice of God are attributed
to His Justice alone, as distinguished from His goodness;
for instance, the punishment of sinners and the permission
of sin. But these acts are also acts of goodness, not so
much towards the individual as towards the universe as a
whole, the beauty and perfection of which require that at
244 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. v. least incorrigible sinners should be reduced to order by
SECT 86 *
' punishment As to the permission of sin, it is quite com-
patible with the perfection of the universe that free scope
should be given to the failings of creatures and to their
liberty of choice between good and evil ; it is in harmony
with the nature of reasonable creatures, and affords the
Creator manifold opportunities for manifesting His power,
wisdom, and goodness.
God's IV. If we compare the Divine Justice, as extended to
krovi c d e e ntiai mankind, with the several forms and functions of human
justice, it evidently appears as a royal, that- is a governing
and Providential, Justice. It embraces all the functions
necessary for the establishment, enforcement, and mainten-
ance of order in a community, viz. legislative, distributive,
administrative, and judicial. Commutative justice, how-
ever, has no place in God, because it can only be exercised
between beings more or less independent of each other.
" Who hath first given Him and recompense shall be made
him? "(Rom. xi. 35). Nevertheless, certain functions of
the Divine Justice, notably those which belong to justice as
distinguished from goodness, bear an analogy with com-
mutative justice, and are spoken of in this sense by Holy
Scripture. The analogy consists in the fact that God and
every rational creature stand to each other as personal
beings, and that, on the ground of this mutual relation, a
certain interchange of gifts and services, and a certain
recognition of " mine and thine " are conceivable. There
are three functions of the Divine Justice which are better
understood if considered from this point of view than from
that of providential Justice alone.
Rewards. I. In rewarding good actions, God treats them as
services done to Himself, and gives the reward as a corre-
sponding remuneration on His side. If He has promised
it in a determinate form, creatures possess a sort of title to
it, and He cannot withhold it without depriving them of
what is their due. But this right and property are them-
selves free gifts of God, because He makes the promise
freely and He freely co-operates with the creature per-
forming the good action, which, moreover, He can claim
as His own in virtue of His sovereign dominion over all
PART I.] The Divine Life. 245
things. As St. Leo beautifully observes, "God rewards us CHAP.V.
for what He Himself has given us" (Sua in nobis Dens k *^-
dona coronaf). Thus He is in no way a debtor to creatures,
because He is in no way dependent upon them.
2. The punishment of evil is, likewise, more than a Punish-
. . ments.
reaction of Providential Justice against the disturbance
of order. God treats sin as an offence against His dignity,
an injustice by which the sinner incurs the duty of satisfac-
tion, a debt which he is bound to pay even when he
repents of his sin. Hence the Vindictive Justice of God
is more than, the guardian of the moral order in general ;
it is particularly an " Exacting " Justice by which God
guards His own rights. This distinction is important,
because the vindictive action of God against incorrigible
sinners is a necessary consequence of His wisdom, whereas
the exaction of satisfaction is a free exercise of His right,
and, as such, is subject to the most varied modifications.
3. Lastly the permission of sin might be brought under Permission
the head of analogical commutative justice, inasmuch as
it is a " leaving to each one what is his own." Evil and
sin have their origin in the fact that creatures are nothing
by themselves, and possess nothing but what is freely given
them by God ; whence the permission of evil and sin
is, on the part of God, a leaving the creature to what is its
own, and may therefore be considered as an act of " Per-
missive " Justice. When God allows the nothingness and
the defectibility of the creature to come, so to speak, into
play, He manifests His own primary right as much as
when He punishes sin ; for He manifests Himself as alone
essentially good, owing no man anything and needing
nothing from any man.
V. From these explanations it follows that the Divine Union of
_.....- .,, , Justice and
Justice in all its functions, but especially in the three last- Goodness,
named, presupposes, and is based upon, the exercise of the
Divine goodness. The Divine goodness, therefore, pervades
and influences the whole working of the Divine Justice.
God always gives greater rewards than justice requires ;
He always exacts less and punishes less than He justly
could exact and punish ; and He permits fewer evils than
He could justly permit. Theologians commonly ascribe
246 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. v. this influence of God's goodness on His justice more to His
SECT.^. jyj erc y or merc jf u i bounty, not only because it manifests
itself even in favour of those who make themselves unworthy
of it, but also because it is chiefly determined by God's
pity on the natural misery of the creatures. In fact, God
rewards beyond merit, and punishes or exacts satisfaction
below what is due, on account of the limited capabilities
of creatures ; He softens His vindictive justice in view of
the frailty of the sinner, and He restricts the permission
of evil in view of the misery which evil entails upon
creatures.
The intimate union of Justice and goodness in God
prevents His permitting sin as a means of manifesting His
vindictive Justice, just as He wills good in order to manifest
His retributive justice. The manifestation of vindictive
justice is the object of the punishment of sin ; it is only the
object of the permission of sin in as far as the permission
of continuation or increase of sin is the punishment of
a first fault. The first fault or sin can only be permitted
by the Justice of God in as far as He thereby intends the
maintenance of the order of the universe and of Divine and
human liberty on the one hand, and on the other the
manifestation of the nothingness of creatures and of the
power of God, Who is able to make sin itself subservient
to His glorification. With equal reason it might be said
that God permits first sins in order to manifest His mercy,
not only to those whom He preserves from sin, but especially
that kind of mercy which can be shown to sinners only.
SECT. 87. God's Mercy and Veracity.
Mercy. I. The Divine goodness towards creatures assumes
different names according to the different aspects under
which it is considered. It is called Magnificence, Loving-
kindness (pietas, gratia], Liberality, and Mercy. Of all
these, the last named is the most beautiful and the most
comprehensive, including, as it does, the meaning of all
the others. The Divine Liberality in particular must be
viewed in connection with the Divine Mercy in order to
be seen in its full grandeur. In the service of Mercy, the
liberality of God appears as constantly relieving some
J.J The Divine Life. 247
want on the part of creatures ; as undisturbed by the CHAP. v.
worthlessness or even the positive unworthiness of the e ^J J -
receiver of its gifts, nay, as taking occasion therefrom to
increase its activity ; as preventing the abuse or the loss
of its free gifts through the frailty of the receivers. Whence
we see that the supernatural graces bestowed upon creatures
before they committed any sin, as well as afterwards, are
attributable to the Divine Mercy. But the preservation
from and the forgiveness of sin, are especially described as
acts of God's Mercy, because they imply a preservation or
relief from an evil incurred through the creature's own
fault. In this respect, the Divine Mercy appears as
Forgiving-kindness, Indulgence, Clemency, Meekness,
Patience, and Longanimity. Holy Scripture often accumu-
lates these various names in order to excite our hope and
kindle our love of God. " The Lord is compassionate and
merciful : long-suffering and plenteous in mercy. He will
not always be angry, nor will He threaten for ever. He
hath not dealt with us according to our sins : nor rewarded
us according to our iniquities. For according to the height
of the heaven above the earth : He hath strengthened His
mercy towards them that fear Him " (Ps. cii. 8 sqq. ; see
also Ps. cxliv. 8 ; Wisd. xi. 24 sqq. ; xii. I sqq.).
The mercy of God is infinite in its essential act ; but its
operations ad extra have limits assigned to them by the
wise decrees of the Divine freedom. In this sense we
should understand the text, " He hath mercy on whom
He will, and whom He will He hardeneth " (Rom. ix. 18).
II. Veracity and truth stand midway between the good- veracity,
ness and justice of God, inasmuch as, on the one hand,
their object is the dispensing of a free gift to man, and
inasmuch as, on the other hand, they imply the moral and
hypothetical necessity to act in a certain manner.
I. The Divine Veracity, in general, consists in this, God cannot
that God cannot directly and positively cause error in crea- creatures,
tures, any more than He can directly cause sin. When
God formally addresses His creatures and exacts their
faith in His words, He cannot lead them into error. This
Veracity is eminently a Divine virtue, not only because
mendacity is incompatible with His sanctity, but also and
248 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. v. especially because it is infinitely more opposed to the
SECT^SS. nature anc j dignity o f God than it is to human nature and
dignity ; for a lie on God's part would be an abuse,
not of a confidence founded on ordinary motives, but of
a confidence founded on sovereign authority.
God faithful 2. The same must be said of the Divine fidelity in the
promises, fulfilment of promises. A promise once made by God, is
irrevocable because of the Divine immutability. God is
also faithful in a wider sense, viz. the Divine Will is " conse-
quent" in its decrees, carrying out whatever it intends.
" He who hath begun a good work in you will perfect
it " (Phil. i. 6). Both forms of fidelity usually act together,
especially in the administration of the supernatural order
of grace ; so that in this order the simple prayers of man
have, to a certain extent, as infallible a claim on the
Divine goodness and mercy as the good works of the just
have on the Divine Justice. " He that sent Me is true "
(John viii. 26) ; " God is not as a man that He should
lie, nor as the son of man that He should be changed.
Hath He said then, and will He not do ? hath He spoken,
and will He not fulfil ? " (Numb, xxiii. 19. Cf. John iii.
33; Rom. iii. 4; Ps. cxliv. 13; Heb. x. 23 ; 2 Tim. ii.
13 ; Matt. xxiv. 35). Although every word of God is
equal to an oath an oath being the invocation of God
as a witness of the truth still God, condescending to human
frailty, has given to His chief promises the form of an
oath, swearing however by Himself as there is no higher
being. "God, making promise to Abraham, because He
had no one greater by whom He might swear, swore by
Himself" (Heb. vi. 13).
SECT. 88. Efficacy of the Divine Will Its Dominion over
Created Wills.
The Divme I. In all rational beings, the will is the determining
paredTkh principle of their external activity, the perfection of which
vviiL rea is proportioned to the perfection of the will and of the
person willing. The Divine Will, being in itself absolutely
perfect and identical with the Divine Wisdom, Power, and
Dignity, possesses the highest possible efficacy in its external
operations : all being and all activity proceed from it, and
PART L] The Divine Life. 249
are supported by it, so that nothing is done without its CHAP. v.
influence or permission. Sovereign control over every E f^_ 88 -
other will is exercised by the Divine Will, and is the
brightest manifestation of its internal perfection. We are
about to study this particular aspect of the Divine Will
in its bearing upon the created will : its general efficacy
has been dealt with in the section on Omnipotence.
II. The Divine Will exhibits to the created will the The Divine
, r r i i i Will a law to
ideal of moral perfection and sanctity to be aimed at ; and, the created
in virtue of the absolute excellence and dominion of God,
the decrees of His Will impose upon the created will a law
which creatures are in duty bound to fulfil. The power of
God is the only power which can impose a duty in virtue
of its own excellence ; wherefore also every duty ought to
be founded upon the power of God as upon its binding
principle. The created will is essentially dependent on no
other will than the Divine, and no other will than the Will
of God is absolutely worshipful. On the other hand, our
notion of duty implies that we are bound to do, not only
what we apprehend as most in harmony with the exigencies
of our nature, but also what a superior Will, to which we
are essentially subjected, and which we apprehend as
absolutely worshipful, commands us to do. Other law-
givers can only impose obligations inasmuch as they repre-
sent God and act in His name ; the exigencies of our
nature are binding upon us only inasmuch as they express
the Will of the Creator. Even the eternal rule of the
Divine Wisdom, whereby God knows what is fitting for
His creatures, only becomes law through the Divine Will
commanding creatures to conform to it.
III. Again, the Divine Will acts on the created will in The Divine
such a way as to move it intrinsically ; that is, it influences upon a the
the genesis and the direction of the acts of the human will. btri^s
The created will owes its very existence and energy to the
Will of God. Hence its active liberty or self-determination
is the fruit of the activity of the Divine Will. The exercise
of created liberty cannot be conceived independently of a
Divine motive influence, so much so, that the good actions
of the creature are in the first place actions of God. For
the same reason, the Divine Will can move the human will,
250 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. v. not merely from without by presenting to it motives or
SECT'S, inducements to act, but also physically from within, so as
to incline or even to impel the will to certain acts. Hence,
again, the Divine Will has the power to prevent, by direct
influence, all the acts of the human will which God will not
permit, and to bring about all the acts which He desires to
be performed, even so as to cause a complete reversion of
the inclinations existing in the created will. All this God
does without interfering with created freedom. He aims
at and obtains the free performance of the acts in question.
"It is God Who worketh in you, both to will and to
accomplish, according to His good will" (Phil. ii. 13;
cf. Isai. xxvi. 12 ; Prov. xxi. I ; Rom. xi. 23). This
doctrine should inspire us with great confidence when
praying for the conversion of obstinate sinners, or for our
own conversion from inveterate evil habits: "Ad Te
nostras etiam rebelles compelle propitius voluntates ! "
{Secret. Dom. iv. post Pent). Cf. St. Thorn., /. q. in, a. 2.
Not ail that IV. Although, absolutely speaking, the decrees of the
accom- ' Divine Will are always efficacious and can never be frus-
iYiswunl trated through the interference of any other will, it is
coml ver " nevertheless true that, in more than one respect, not all
that God wills is actually accomplished. The created will
sometimes opposes the Will of the Creator, resisting it and
rendering His intentions vain. We cannot, however, say
that the created will overcomes the Divine Will, or that
the latter is powerless. In order completely to understand
this point the decrees of the Divine Will should be con-
sidered separately in their principal features.
i. The decrees relating to the moral order of the world
are not always fulfilled in their first and original form that
is, as expressing the moral law which God commands His
creatures to follow : for creatures are physically free to
refuse submission to the moral law of God. But by so
doing they neither overcome the Divine Will nor do they
prove it powerless. The Divine Will is not overcome,
because from the beginning its decree is directed upon the
alternative that either the creature shall voluntarily submit
to the law, or shall be forced into submission to it by the
Divine Justice. Nor is the Divine Will made powerless,
PAKT I.] The Divine Life. 251
because the power proper to the Divine decree is the CHAP. v.
imposition of an obligation, an obligation which binds the E
sinner even when he despises it. The ruling or governing
decrees of the Divine Will are still less impaired by sin,
because the permission of sin is included in these same
decrees. Thus God always is the conqueror of sin and
sinners.
2. The Divine decrees relating to the last end of
rational creatures, in as far as they express the first and
original intention of the Divine Will (which is that all men
should be saved, I Tim. ii. 4), are likewise liable to be frus-
trated through the refusal of co-operation on the part of
creatures. But here also the Divine Will asserts its power.
The salvation of all mankind is subordinate to a higher
object, viz. the glorification of God through rational creatures.
But this higher object is always attained, either by the
salvation or the just punishment of man. Furthermore,
the will to save all mankind is not proved powerless by
the refusal of co-operation on the part of man, because its
essential efficacy only consists in making salvation possible
to all men ; nor does its sincerity require that God should
procure unconditionally the co-operation of man. Besides,
it is not want of power that prevents God from enforcing
co-operation, but His free Will.
3. Lastly, the Divine decrees relating to the performance
of acts dependent on human co-operation may also be
frustrated in as far as they only conditionally intend the
performance of these acts. The decrees do not always
include the will to enforce co-operation, but only to assist
it and to render it possible. Whenever the will to enforce
co-operation is included, co-operation is infallibly secured,
for, in this supposition, God makes such use of His power
as to incline the will of man freely to co-operate in the
desired action.
V. Are all good actions which actually take place the Are aii good
effect of a Divine decree enforcing free co-operation ? cffect'of a e
This is a question of detail, which cannot be solved off- decree en-
hand by invoking the infallible efficacy of the Divine co^opfratfon?
Will, and which it would be rash to answer at once in
the affirmative. Some would hold that, besides the Divine
252 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. v. decrees which God intends to be infallibly efficacious, there
' may be others likewise efficacious, although not intended
to be so infallibly. Considering the way in which God
wills, assists, and renders possible the good deeds of man,
it is not easy to admit that only those good deeds should
really be performed which God unconditionally desires to
be performed. If this were the case, it would seem as if
God were not in earnest when He renders possible a good
deed without at the same time securing its actual accom-
plishment. To avoid this semblance it is best not to
admit a Divine decree unconditional at the outset, but
rather a general decree (or intention) conditional at the
outset and made absolute by the prevision of the actual
fulfilment of the condition. There still remains room for
the display of a special mercy in the infallible prevention
of abuses of freedom ; whereas, on the other hand, the
frustration of the conditional decree is exclusively attri-
butable to the misuse of freedom. More on this subject
will be found in the treatise on Grace.
In theological language the above doctrine is shortly
formulated as follows : The Divine Will is not always
fulfilled as Voluntas Antecedents, i.e. considered in its
original designs, as they are before God takes into account
the actual behaviour of created wills ; it is always fulfilled
as Voluntas Consequens, i.e. considered in its designs as
they are after taking into account the actual behaviour
of free creatures. The Voluntas Antecedens is a velle
secundum quid (= conditional); the Voluntas Consequens
is a velle simpliciter (= absolute). It should be noted that
the terms Voluntas Antecedens and Consequens are not
always used in the same sense by all theologians, because
they do not all consider the same object as their term of
comparison. See St. Bonaventure (in I. Sent. t dist. 47,
a. i) for a beautiful exposition of the doctrine here in
question.
PART L] The Divine Life. 253
CHAP V
SECT. 89. The Divine Will as Living Goodness and SECT. 89.'
Holiness God the Substantial Holiness,
I. As Holy Scripture expresses the whole perfection of Godis
the intellectual life of God by calling Him "the Truth," so Holiness '
it describes the whole perfection of the life of His Will by
calling Him " Holy," pure and simple, or the " Holy of
Holies." " I the Lord your God am holy " (Lev. xix. 2 ;
cf. I Pet i. 1 6). The Holiness of God, however, is more
than a direction of His Will upon, and conformity with,
the good and the beautiful : it is the most intimate effec-
tive union with the most perfect objective goodness and
beauty. God is " the Holiness " as He is " the Truth."
The proposition, " God is the Holiness," implies the
three following constituents :
1. The life of the Divine Will is Holiness pure and
simple and pre-eminently, because it is directed entirely,
immediately, and exclusively on the infinite Goodness and
Beauty of the Divine Essence, and is united with the
Divine Beauty and Goodness in every conceivable manner,
as complacency, love, and fruition ; hence the same attri-
butes such as simplicity, infinity, and immutability are
applicable to both the life of the Divine Will and the
goodness and beauty of the Divine Substance.
2. The life of the Divine Will is essential Holiness,
because it is essentially identical with the objective Good-
ness and Beauty of God, and not merely united to them.
3. It is Holiness by nature ; that is, the Divine Nature
contains Holiness as its proper energy. Holiness is a
constituent element of the Divine Nature, whereas created
nature possesses only a capacity for holiness. Thus, the
Divine Holiness is a substantial Holiness, and God is
Holiness just as He is Truth and Life.
It is evident that the eminent sanctity of God, as above
described, is an attribute proper to Him alone.
II. As God is the substantial Holiness and, a fortiori God the
the substantial Goodness, He is the Ideal and the source Holiness. 3
of all pleasure and love, of all joy and delight, of all the
tendencies and appetites of creatures, which only acquire
their goodness by adhering to goods outside and above
254 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. v. them, and, in the last resort, by adhering to the Creator.
SECT^O. f| ence G O( }'S Goodness and Holiness, immovable in them-
selves, are the principle of all motion and of all rest in
created life ; and the life of creatures is but an exhala-
tion from and a participation of the Substantial Goodness
of God. This applies more particularly to the life of
spiritual creatures, whose goodness consists in conformity
with the life of God, and is the work of the life-giving
influence of the Divine Goodness. God's bounty manifests
its power and fecundity most in the supernatural order, by
leading His spiritual creatures to a participation of His
own life " partakers of the Divine Nature " (2 Pet. i. 4).
That participation, however, by which the blessed spirits see
God face to face and are filled with His own beatitude, is
but accidental to them ; it makes them godlike, but not
gods. 1
SECT. 90. The Beatitude and Glory of the Divine Life.
God is I. God possesses, or rather is, infinite Beatitude and
lieatitude Glory. The life of God essentially consists in the most
perfect knowledge and love of the most perfect goodness
and beauty ; a knowledge and love which confer the
highest possible satisfaction, fruition and repose that is,
the greatest beatitude. On the other hand, the activity of
the Divine Life is resplendent with all the beauty of the
Divine Intellect and the Divine Substance, and is there-
fore the highest Glory. In a word, God is Beatitude and
Glory, because He is Truth and Holiness. For this reason
Scripture calls Him "the Blessed God" (6 jitaica/oioe, I Tim.
i. n, vi. 15) ; and often points out that He alone possesses
glory pure and simple, because He alone is deserving of
praise pure and simple. A created spirit neither possesses
nor is entitled to a felicity and glory like the Divine.
Even the felicity to which it is naturally or supernaturally
destined is not intrinsically connected with its nature, but
is acquired from without, under the helping and sustaining
influence of God. The supernatural glory given by God
1 This doctrine will be further developed in the treatises on the Trinity
and on the Supernatural Order.
PART I.J The Divine Life. 255
to His creatures by admitting them to a participation of CHAP. v.
His own Beatitude, is a splendid manifestation of the "^L* -
Divine Glory, which again gives God the greatest external
glory, and confers upon the creature the highest con-
ceivable honour.
II. A deeper insight into the Divine Beatitude and TheDiv!ne
. Beatitude.
glory will be gained from the following considerations.
1. The reason why the Divine Felicity is absolute is
because God is Himself, and possesses in Himself, what-
ever can be the object of beatifying possession and fruition.
He is the highest good ; His Knowledge and Love of Him-
self adequately embrace Himself as the highest good, and
thus c6nstitute infinite honour, glory, and praise. Created
beings can but imitate the glory which God draws from
Himself. The possession of external goods adds nothing
to the Divine Beatitude : they contribute to it only in so
far as God knows and loves His power and dominion, of
which external goods are manifestations ; consequently
they may not even be called accidental beatitude, because
they are only an external revelation of the internal beati-
tude. The beatitude of created spirits is essentially rela-
tive. It is proportioned to their capacities and merits,
and consists in the possession and fruition of external
goods, in the last instance, of God, on which they are
dependent for their felicity. To be loved and honoured
by God is an element essential to the beatitude of
creatures ; nay, the highest delight of the beatified spirits
is not caused by the fact that //^/possess the highest good,
but by the fact that God possesses the highest Beatitude
and Glory ; they rejoice in their own felicity because they
know that it contributes to the Glory of God.
2. The Divine Glory is also absolute, not only because
it is the highest Glory, but because it finds in God Himself
an object of infinite beauty and splendour. Outside of
God, there is nothing to which He owes any honour or
glory ; the glory which creatures deserve is a free gift of
His Goodness, and is, in the last resort, the Glory of God
Himself. Hence the glory of created spirits is purely
relative.
Since the Beatitude and Glory of God are absolutely
256 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IL
CHAP. v. perfect in themselves, no Divine operation can tend
ECT.J>O. ^ complete or to increase them. When God operates,
He can only communicate out of His own perfection.
But this communication takes place in two directions
without and within. The necessary operation within, by
which the fulness of God's Beatitude and Glory is com-
municated and revealed, forms the fundamental idea of the
mystery of the Blessed Trinity.
257
FART II.
THE DIVINE TRINITY.
THE whole doctrine of the Trinity has been extensively Literatim,
dealt with by the Fathers who opposed the Arian heresy.
The classical writings are the following : St. Athanasius,
Contra Arianos Orationes Quatuor (on the Divinity of the
Son ; see Card. Newman's annotated translation), and
Ad Scrapionem Epistola Quatuor (on the Divinity of the
Holy Ghost) ; St. Basil, Contra Eunomium (especially the
solution of philosophical and dialectical objections the
genuineness of the last two books is questioned), and De
Spiritu Sancto ad Amphilochium ; St. Gregory of Nyssa,
Contra Eunomium ; Didymus, De Trinitate and De Spiritu
Sancto ; St. Cyril of Alexandria, Thesaurus de SS. Trini-
tate ; St. Hilary of Poitiers, De Trin. (a systematic demon-
stration and defence of the dogma) ; St. Ambrose, De Fide
Trinitatis (specially the consubstantiality of the Son), and
De Spiritu S. ; St. Augustine, De Trinitate the latter
part of this work (bks. viii.-xv.), in which St. Augustine
goes farther than his predecessors, is the foundation of
the great speculations of the Schoolmen. St. Anselm first
summed up and methodically arranged in his Monologium
the results obtained by St. Augustine ; Peter Lombard
and William of Paris (opusc. de Trinitate} developed them
still further ; Richard of St. Victor, in his remarkable treatise
De Trinitate, added many new ideas. The doctrine re-
ceived its technical completion at the hands of Alexander
of Hales, i., q. 42 sqq. ; St. Bonavcnture in 1. i., Sent. ;
and St. Thomas, esp. /., q. 27 sqq. ; C. Gentes, \. iv., cc. 2-26,
and in Qq. Dispp. passim. All the work of the thirteenth
rentury was summed up by Dionysius the Carthusian
S
258 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
in 1. i., Sent. After the Council of Trent, we have ex-
cellent treatises, positive and apologetic : Bellarmine, De
Verbo Dei ; Gregory of Valentia, De Trinitate ; Petavius;
Thomassin ; but the best of all the positive scholastic
treatises is Ruiz, De Trinitate. Among modern authors,
Kuhn, Franzelin, and Kleutgen deserve special mention.
On the Divinity of the Son, see Canon Liddon's Bampton
Lectures. Cardinal Manning has written two valuable
works on the Holy Ghost : The Temporal Mission of the
Holy Ghost ; The Internal Mission of the Holy Ghost. For
the history of the Dogma, see Card. Newman's Arians ;
Schwane, History of Dogma (in German), vols. i., ii. ; and
Werner, History of Apologetic Literature (in German).
Division. We shall treat first of the Dogma itself as contained in
Scripture and Tradition ; and afterwards we shall give
some account of the attempts of the Fathers and School-
men to penetrate into the depths of the mystery.
( 2 59 .)
CHAPTER 1.
THE DOGMA.
SECT. 91. The Dogma of the Trinity as formulated by the
Church.
THE mystery of the Trinity, being the fundamental dogma CHAP, i
of the Christian religion, was reduced to a fixed formula ^_ 91
in apostolic times, and this primitive formula, used as the
symbol of faith in the administration of Baptism, forms
the kernel or germ of all the later developments.
I. The original form of the Creed is : "I believe in one The
God Father Almighty, . . . and in Jesus Christ His only Cr P eed.
Son, our Lord, . . . and in the Holy Ghost." Father and
Son are manifestly distinct Persons, hence the same is true
of the Holy Ghost. They are, each of Them, the object
of the same act of faith and of the same worship, hence
They are of the same rank and dignity. Being the object
of faith in one God, the Son and the Holy Ghost must be
one God with the Father, possessing through Him and with
Him the same Divine Nature. The Divinity of the Son
and of the Holy Ghost is not expressed separately, because
it is contained sufficiently in the assertion that they are
one God with the Father. Besides, the repetition of the
formula " and in one God " before the words Son and Holy
Ghost, would be harsh, and would obscure the manner in
which the Three Persons are one God.
II. The heresies of the first centuries, which had Jewish, Antitnni-
..... .... .. ,. tarian
pagan, and rationalistic tendencies, distorted the sense of heresies,
the Catholic profession in three different directions.
I. The Antitrinitarians (Monarchians and Sabellians,)
260 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK u.
CHAP i. denied the real distinction between the Persons, looking
^II 91 ' upon Them simply as three manifestations or modalities
(TT/ooiTWTra) of one and the same Person.
2. The Subordinatians insisted too much on the real
distinction between the Persons and on the origin of the
Son and the Holy Ghost from the Father. They held that
the Son and the Holy Ghost were the effect of a Divine
operation ad extra, and thus were inferior to God, but
above all other creatures.
3. The Tritheists taught a system aiming at the main-
tenance of the distinction of Persons and the equality of
Nature and dignity, but " multiplying the nature " at the
same time as the Persons, and thus destroying the Tri-
unity.
FopeDiony- III. Pope Dionysius (A.D. 259-269), in the famous
Councils of dogmatic letter which he addressed to Denis of Alexandria,
Con^ttnti- lays down the Catholic doctrine in opposition to the above-
named heresies. The Bishop of Alexandria, in his zeal
to defeat the Sabellians, had laid so much stress on the
distinction of the Persons, that the Divine unity seemed
endangered. The Pope first confutes the Sabellians, then
the Tritheists, and lastly the Subordinatians. We possess
only the last two parts, relating to the unity and equality
of Essence or to the " Divine Monarchy." They are to be
found in St. Athanasius, Lib, de Sent. Dion. Alex. (See
Card. Newman's Arians, p. 125.) The letter of Pope
Dionysius lays down the essential lines afterwards followed
in the definitions of the Councils of Nicaea and Constanti-
nople concerning the relations of the Son and the Holy
Ghost to the Father. The last-named Council was, more-
over, guided by the " Anathematisms" of Pope Damasus,
which determine the whole doctrine of the Divine Trinity
and Unity more in detail than the epistle of Pope Dionysius.
The Councils, on the contrary, deal only with one of the
Persons : that of Nicaea with the Son, that of Constan-
tinople with the Holy Ghost.
Councilor IV. The Council of Nicaea defined, against the Arians,
what is of faith concerning the Son of God, positively by
developing the concept of Sonship contained in the
Apostles' Creed, and negatively by a subjoined anathema.
PART n.] The Dogma. 261
The text of the Nicene Creed is : "And [I believe] in one CHAP. L
Lord Jesus Christ, the Scwi of God, the only begotten and Suc 2L?*'
born of the Father, God of God, Light of light, true God
of true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial (6/zoouo-tov)
with the Father by whom all things were made, which are
in heaven and on earth. . . . Those who say : there was a
time when the Son of God was not, and before He was
begotten He was not and who say that the Son of God
was made of nothing, or of another substance (uTroorao-ewv)
or essence, or created, or alterable, or mutable these the
Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes."
V. The Council of Constantinople defined, against the First
Macedonians, what must be believed concerning the Holy Constant!-
Ghost. The text is: "And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord nople<
and Life-Giver (ro Trvtu/za TO aytov, ro Kvpiov, TO WOTTOIOV),
Who proceedeth (fK7ro/>uo^uvov) from the Father, Who
together with the Father and the Son is adored and glori-
fied, Who spake by the Prophets." The words, " Who pro-
ceedeth from the Father," indicate the reason why the Third
Person is equal to the two others, viz. by reason of His
mode of origin. The procession from the Son is not
defined explicitly, because it was already implied in the
procession from the Father and was not denied by the
Macedonians.
VI. Although the " Anathematisms " of Pope Damasus P~I*
are anterior in date to the Council of Constantinople, and
were taken as the basis of its definitions, still the last of
them may be regarded as a summing up and keystone
of all the dogmatic formulas preceding it. Like the
formula of Pope Dionysius, it is directed against Tritheism
and Subordinatianism. See the text in Denzinger, n. 6, or
better in Hardouin, i. p. 805.
VII. The Athanasian Creed, dating probably from the Athanasian
fifth century, expounds the whole dogma of the Trinity by
developing the formula, " One God in Trinity, and Trinity
in Unity." It teaches that the Persons are not to be con-
founded nor the Substance divided, and especially that the
essential attributes " uncreated," " immense," " eternal,"
etc. belong to each of the Persons because of the identity
of Substance, but that these attributes are not multiplied
262 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [ROOK II.
CHAP. i. any more than the Substance to which they belong : " not
three uncreated, but one uncreated."
Councilor VIII. The most complete symbol of the dogma formu-
lated in patristic times, is that of the eleventh Synod of
Toledo (A.D. 675), which expounds the Catholic doctrine
as developed in the controversies with earlier heresies.
First, following the older symbols, the Synod treats of the
Three Divine Persons in succession ; then, in three further
sections, it develops and sets forth the general doctrine,
viz. (i) the true unity of Substance, notwithstanding the
Trinity of Persons ; (2) the real Trinity of the Persons,
notwithstanding the unity of Substance ; and (3) the in-
separable union of the three Persons, demanded by their
very distinction.
In later times the dogma received a more distinct
formulation only in two points, both directed against most
subtle forms of separation and division in God.
The Fourth IX. The Fourth Lateran Council declared, in its defi-
Coundi. nition against the abbot Joachim (cap. Danmamus), the
absolute identity of the Divine Substance with the Persons
as well as with Itself; pointing out how the identity of
Substance in the Three Persons makes it impossible for
there to be a multiplication of the Substance in the several
Persons, which would transform the substantial unity of
God into a collective unity: "There is one Supreme, In-
comprehensible, and Ineffable Thing (res} which is truly
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Three Persons together and
each of Them singly."
Second X. On the other hand, the unity of the relation by
Lyonf f which the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the
iheFiioque. g on was Defined m ore precisely in the repeated declara-
tions of the Second Council of Lyons and that of Florence
against the Greeks. The Greeks, in order to justify their
ecclesiastical schism, had excogitated the heresy of a schism
in the relations between the Divine Persons ; for this and
nothing else is the import of the negation of the procession
of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son.
The XI. The compact exposition given by the Council of
to U r"nce? Florence in the decree Pro Jacobitis establishes with
precision (i) the real distinction of the Persons, based
PART IT.] The Dogma. 263
upon the difference of origin ; (2) the absolute unity of the CHAP. i.
, ,., SECT. gi.
Persons, and Their consequent immanence and equality ,
(3) especially Their diversity and unity as principles
(" Pater est principium sine principio. . . . Filius est prin-
cipium de principio," etc.).
XII. Among decisions of more recent date, we need only The Bun
mention the correction of the Synod of Pistoia by Pius VL,juu.
in the Bull Auctorem fidei, for having used the expression
' Deus in tribus personis distinct " instead of" distinct ; "
and the declarations of the Provincial Council of Cologne
(1860) against the philosophy of Giinther.
XIII. According to the above documents, the chief Summary,
points of the dogma of the Trinity are the following :
1. The one God exists truly, really, and essentially as
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; that is, the Divinity, as
Substance, subsists in the form of three really distinct
Hypostases or Persons, so that the Divinity, as Essence
and Nature, is common to the Three.
2. The three Possessors of the one Divinity are not
really distinct from Their common Essence and Nature, as,
for instance, a form is distinct from its subject ; They only
represent three different manners in which the Divine
Essence and Nature, as an absolutely independent and
individual substance, belongs to Itself.
3. A real difference exists only between the several
Persons, and is based upon the particular personal character
of each, which consists in the particular manner in which each
of Them possesses or comes into possession of the common
Nature.
4. The diversity in the manner of possessing the Divine
Nature lies in this, that only one Person possesses the
Nature originally, and that the two Others, each again in
His own way, derive it. The First Person, however, com-
municates the Divine Nature to the Second Person and
to the Third Person, not accidentally but essentially, and
These latter receive the Divine Nature likewise essentially
because the Nature, being really identical with the Three
Persons, essentially belongs to, and essentially demands to
be in, each of Them.
5. The diversity existing between the Three Person?
264 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. i. implies the existence of an essential relation between each
I- one anc | t j ie other two, so that the positive peculiarity of
each must be expressed by a particular name, characterizing
the Second and Third Persons as receiving, and the First
as giving, possession of the common Nature.
6. Although the Three Persons, being equal possessors of
the Godhead, have a distinct subsistence side by side, still
They have no separate existence. On the contrary, by
reason of Their identity with the one indivisible Substance
and of Their essential relations to each other, none of Them
can be conceived without or separate from the other two.
Technically this is expressed by the terms circumincessio
(= 7T/>ixw/oj<"e> coinherence), coh&rentia( awafaid), and
aXXrjXouxia ( = mutual possession).
7. For the same reasons, the most intimate and most
real community exists between the Persons as to all that
constitutes the object of Their possession. This applies
not merely to the attributes of the Divine Substance, but
also to the peculiar character of each Person, viz. the
producing Persons possess the produced Person as Their
production, and are possessed by This as the necessary
originators of His personality. Hence, notwithstanding
the origin of one Person from another, there is neither
subordination nor succession between Them.
8. The activity of a person is attributed to his nature
as principium quo, and to the person himself as principium
quod. Hence the Divine activity, in as far as it is not
specially directed to the production of a Person, is common
to the Three Persons. Further, the Divine Nature being
absolutely simple and indivisible, the activity proper to
the Three Persons is also simple and indivisible ; that
is, it is not a co-operation, but the simple operation of one
principium quo.
9. Thus the Three Persons, as they are one Divine
Being, are also the one Principle of all things, the one Lord
and Master, the Divine Monarchy (juovr/ ap\i'i).
265
CHAPTER If.
THE TRINITY IN SCRIPTURE.
SECT. 92. The Trinity in the New Testament.
IN the Old Testament, the dogma of one God, Creator,
and Ruler of the world is the doctrine round which all
others are grouped ; the Trinity of Persons is only men-
tioned with more or less distinctness in connection with
the Incarnation. In the New Testament, on the contrary,
the mystery of the Trinity is the central point of doctrine ;
it is here, therefore, that we must begin our investigation.
We shall first consider the texts treating of the three
Divine Persons together, and afterwards those treating of
each Person in particular. We shall prove from Scripture
the Personality of each Person as distinguished from the
others by the mode of origin, and then the Divinity of
each, from which the essential identity of the Three
Persons flows as a consequence.
I. In the Gospels the Three Persons are mentioned at
four of the most important epochs of the history of Reve-
lation, viz. (i) at the Annunciation (Luke i. 35) ; (2) at
the Baptism of our Lord and the beginning of His public
life (Matt. iii. 13, sqq.) ; (3) in the last solemn speech
of our Lord before His Passion (John xiv., xv., xvi.) ;
and (4) after His Passion and before His Ascension, when
giving the Apostles the commandment to preach and to
baptize (Matt, xxviii. 19). Of these texts, the third is
the most explicit as to the distinction of the Persons ;
the fourth points out best the distinction and unity, and
declares at the same time that the Trinity is the funda-
mental dogma of the Christian Faith. The second text
266
A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. II.
SECT. 92
At the An-
nunciation.
At Christ's
Baptism.
At the Last
Supper.
The formula
of Baptism.
gives us the most perfect external manifestation of the
Three Persons : the Son in His visible Nature, the Holy
Ghost as a Dove, the Father speaking in an audible Voice.
1. Luke i. 35: "The Holy Ghost (irvev/^a aytoi/) shall
come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall
overshadow thee, and therefore also the Holy which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God" The " Most
High" is here God as Father of the Son, according to
ver. 32 : " He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of
the Most High."
2. St. Matthew (iii. 16, 17), relating the baptism of Christ,
says, "And Jesus, being baptized, forthwith came out of
the water : and, lo, the heavens were opened to Him :
and He. saw the Spirit of God descending, as a dove, and
coming upon Him. And, behold, a voice from heaven,
saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well
pleased."
3. In the speech after the Last Supper, as recorded by
St. John, three passages occur which may be connected
thus : " / will ask the Father and He shall give you another
Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever, the Spirit
of truth (xiv. 16). . . . "But when the Paraclete shall come,
Whom / will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth,
Who proceedeth from the Father, He shall give testimony
of Me (xv. 26). . . . But when He, the Spirit of truth, shall
come, He will teach you all truth : for He shall not speak
of Himself, but what things soever He shall hear, He shall
speak. . . . He shall glorify Me, because He shall receive
of Mine and will declare (it) to you. All things whatsoever
the Father hath, are Mine ; therefore I said that He shall
receive of Mine and declare it to you " (xvi. 13-15).
4. The command to baptize : " Go ye therefore and
teach all nations ; baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost " (Matt,
xxviii. 19). The form of Baptism is here given as the first
thing to be taught to the receiver of the Sacrament. The
import of the teaching is this : the three subjects named,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are They by Whose authority
and power Baptism works the forgiveness of sin and confers
sanctifying grace, and are They for Whose Majesty the
PABT II.] The Trinity in Scripture. 267
baptized are taken possession of and put under obligation CHAP.II
in other words, to Whose honour and worship they are ^2^*'
consecrated. The latter meaning is more prominent in
the Greek formula ap ro ovo/ua, the former more in the
Latin in nomine. Hence (a) the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost are three Persons, because only persons possess
power and authority, (b} They are distinct Persons, because
distinguished by different names, (c] They are equal in
power and dignity, and all possess Divine power, because
they all stand in the same relation to the baptized : for-
giving sin, conferring sanctifying grace, exacting worship
and submission of the kind required in baptism, are Divine
prerogatives, (cf) The singular number, " in the name,"
indicates that the Divine Dignity which this formula ex-
presses is not multiplied in the Three Persons, but is undi-
vided, so that the one Divine principle and end proposed
to the baptized is likewise but one Divine Being. Cf.
Franzelin, De Trin., thes. iii.
II. From the Epistles four passages are commonly i n the
selected in which the Three Persons appear at the same Epli>tle9 '
time as distinct and of the same Essence. The strongest
would be the comma Johanneum (i John v. 7), the authen-
ticity of which is, indeed, disputed, but which, on Catholic
principles, may be defended. See, on this point, the
exhaustive dissertation of Franzelin, L.c , thes. iv., and
Wiseman's Letters on I John v. 7.
1. " No man can say the Lord Jesus but by the Holy
Ghost. Now, there are diversities of graces, but the same
Spirit ; and there are diversities of ministries, but the same
Lord [= Christ, the Son of God] ; and there are diversities
of operations, but the same God [= the Father], Who
worketh all in all " (i Cor. xii. 3-6).
2. " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
charity of God, and the communication of the Holy Ghost
be with you all " (2 Cor. xiii. 13).
3. " To the elect . . . according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, unto the sanctification of the Spirit, unto
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ "
(i Pet. i. i, 2).
4. " Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that
268 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. ii. believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ? This is He that
' came by water and blood, Jesus Christ ; not in water only,
but in water and blood. And it is the Spirit which testifieth
that Christ is the truth. For there are three who give
testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
GJiost : and these three are one. And there are three that give
testimony on earth, the spirit, the water, and the blood :
and these three are one. If we receive the testimony of
men, the testimony of God is greater " (i John v. 5-9).
The sense of the context is not without difficulty. It
depends upon the question whether St. John had in view
the error of the Gnostics, who attributed to Christ an
apparent, not a real body ; or that of the Cerinthians, who
distinguished Christ the Son of God from the man Jesus,
and taught that, at the Baptism, the Son of God descended
upon Jesus, but left Him again at the Passion. In the
first supposition, St. John had to prove the reality of the
humanity of Christ ; and, in this case, the water is the water
that flowed from His side on the cross, and the " spirit "
of vers. 6 and 8 is the spirit (= soul) which Jesus gave
up on the cross (cf. John xix. 30, 34, 35). In the second
supposition (which is to us by far the more probable)
the point was to prove the unity, constant and indissoluble,
of Jesus with the Son of God ; and, in this case, ver. 6
means : This Jesus, Who is the Son of God, came as Son
of God in the blood of His Passion as well as in the water
of the Jordan, and has shown what He is by sending the
Holy Ghost and His gifts on the day of Pentecost as He
had promised. In each of these three events, a testimony
was given in favour of the dignity of Jesus as Son of God
and Christ : at His Baptism, the voice of the Father ; at
the Passion, the affirmation of Jesus Himself; on the day
of Pentecost, the Holy Ghost fulfilling the promises made
by Jesus. St. John points to this continued threefold
testimony as a proof of the continued unity of Christ, and
he strengthens and explains the uniformity of this testimony
on earth, by adding (ver. 7) that it corresponds with the
three Heavenly Witnesses, from Whom it proceeded, and
each of Whom had His share in it. In this connection,
the unity asserted in ver. 7 need not be of the same order
PART III The Trinity in Scripture. 269
as that of ver. 8, viz. the unity of testimony ; on the con- CHAP. IL
trary, as it contains the highest reason of the latter, it must -
be of a higher order. At any rate, the Witnesses of ver. 7
appear as Persons giving testimony, whereas the witnesses
of ver. 8 appear as the instrument or the vehicle of the
testimony. Hence the unity of the witnesses in ver. 8 can
be no other than a unity or uniformity of testimony ; but
the unity of the personal Witnesses, affirmed without any
restriction, must be taken as an absolute and essential
unity, in consequence of which They act in absolute uni-
formity when giving testimony that is, They appear as
one Witness, with one and the same authority, knowledge,
and veracity. This is still more manifest from ver. 9,
where the former testimonies are simply described as " the
testimony of God," and opposed to the testimony of man ;
consequently the Heavenly Witnesses must be One, because
They are the one true God.
III. The doctrine contained in the above texts is Remark,
further strengthened and developed in the passages relating
to one or other of the Three Persons. The Personality and
Divinity of the Father require no special treatment, because
they are unquestioned, and, besides, are necessarily implied
in the personal character of the Son. As to God the Son,
His distinct Personality and origin from God the Father
are so clearly contained in the name of Son, that only the
identity of Substance requires further proof. But both
Personality and identity of Essence must be distinctly
proved of the Third Person, Whose name, Spirit, is not
necessarily the name of a person, but rather the name of
something belonging to a person.
SECT. 93. The Doctrine of the New Testament on God
the Son.
I. The doctrine of the New Testament on the Son of General
View.
God centres in the idea of His true and perfect Sonship :
if true Son, He is of the same Essence as the Father ; if
of the same Essence as God the Father, He is God just as
the Father is.
The texts treating expressly of the Divinity of the Son
are chiefly found in St. John's Gospel and in his First
270 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. ii. Epistle, especially in the introduction to chap.i. of the Gospel,
SBCT..93. and in three speeches of the Son of God Himself: (i) after
healing the man who had been eight and thirty years under
his infirmity (v. 17 sqq.) ; (2) in defence of His Divine
authority, in the continuation of His description of the
Good Shepherd (x. 14) ; (3) in the sacerdotal prayer after
the Last Supper (xvii.), in explanation of His position as
mediator. Other classical texts are Heb. i. and Col. i.
13-20.
The Son of II. The Filiation of the Son of God is a filiation in the
God is truly . .. , . . . . - , .
such. strictest sense of the word that is, a relation founded upon
the communication of the same living essence and nature.
Christ M* i. This first results from the manner in which the name
" Son of God " is used in Holy Scripture. That name is,
indeed, also applied to beings not of the same essence as
the Father, in order to express an analogical sonship, based
upon adoption, love, or some other analogy. In such cases,
however, the name is used as a common noun, and never
applied in the singular, as a distinctive name to any single
individual, as it is applied to the Person called Word of
God, Jesus, and Christ. On the other hand, this Person
is distinguished, as being the Son of God (6 IM'OC fooi)) and
the only begotten (/zovoytvij'e) Son of God, from all creatures,
even the highest angels and the beings most favoured by
grace ; so that His Sonship is given as the ideal and the
principle of the adoptive sonship granted to men or angels.
Hence, when applied to the Son of God, the term "Son"
must be taken in its strict and proper sense, there being no
reason to the contrary.
In illustration of these propositions, see, for instance,
Gal. iv. 7 ; Apoc. xxi. 7 ; Exod. iv. 22. " For to which of
the Angels hath He said at any time, Thou art My Son ? "
etc. (Heb. i. 5). The comparison of the real with the
adoptive sonship is found in the beginning of the Epistle
to the Hebrews and of the Gospel of St. John (see Heb.
i- !> 3 5, 6 ; John i. 12). The Jews who did not acknow-
ledge Jesus as the Messiah, considered it as arrogance
on His part to call Himself " the Son of God " even in
the weaker sense, but they treated His claim to be the
Son equal to the Father as blasphemy (John v. 18), and
I'ABT II.] The Trinity in Scripture. 271
demanded His death on that count (Matt. xxvi. 63 ; Luke CHAP. n.
T i \ SECT. 93.
xxii. 66-71 ; John xix. 7).
The difficulty which some find in John x. 35, 36,
where, according to them, Christ claims no other sonship
than that granted to creatures, vanishes if we compare
Christ's words with the accusation which He was repelling.
The Jews had said, " We stone Thee because that Thou,
being a man, makest Thyself God." To this Jesus replies,
" The fact of My being a man does not essentially prevent
Me from being also God. And if God called His servants
gods, a fortiori, the name must be given to the Man to
Whom the Father has given power over the whole world,
Whom He has constituted the Heir of His dominions, and
Who, in the Psalm quoted, stands out as God before the
gods. And if I call Myself the Son of God, it is because
I claim to be that Heir of God Who, in the Psalm, is intro-
duced as the Judging God." Cf. Franzelin, De Verb.
Incarn., th. vii-
2. The Filiation of the Son of God is further determined Epithets of
in its true character by the epithets which Holy Scripture Filiation.
gives it. The Son of God is called " True Son " (i
John v. 20) ; " the own (iS/oe) Son " (Rom. viii. 32) ; the
" only-begotten Son," unigenitus, /uovoyevrjc (John iii. 16,
and i. 14); "the beloved Son" (Matt. iii. 17, and Col. i.
13); "the only-begotten Son Who is in the bosom of the
Father,'' and there alone beholds God (John i. 18);
"the Son born of the Father" (Heb. v. 5, from Ps. ii. 7) ;
"ex utero genitus" (Ps. cix. 3, in the Vulg.) ; "proceeding
from God," t-yo> jap IK TOV GEOV ifA0ov (John viii. 42).
If sometimes the Son of God is called " First-born " among
many brethren, or from the dead, or of all creatures, the
sense is that the Son of God, as only true Son, is not
merely begotten by His Father before any creature received
existence, but that He also is the exemplar, the principle,
and the last end of all beings (Apoc. iii. 14), and especially
of the adoption of rational beings into the Sonship of God.
This idea is magnificently set forth in Col. i. 12-19, the
classical text on the primogeniture of Christ : " Giving
thanks to God the Father, . . . Who hath translated us
into the kingdom of the Son of His love ; . . . Who is the
272 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. ii. image of the invisible God, the First-born of every creature :
SECTjtt. f or - n pjj m were a jj thjngg cr eated in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible : ... all things were created by Him
and in Him (c auroV) : and He is before all, and by Him
all things consist." On the ground of this original primo-
geniture now follows the other : " And He is the Head of
the body, the Church : Who is the Beginning, the First-born
from the dead: that in all things He may hold the primacy,
because in Him it hath well pleased the Father that all
fulness should dwell."
These passages fully show that the formal and proper
reason why Christ is called Son of God is not His wonderful
generation and regeneration as man. Texts which seem
to imply this ought to be interpreted so as to agree with
the above.
The Son 3. The reality and perfection of the Sonship is further
Father? e described when the Son is presented as the most perfect
image of the Father, reproducing the glory, the Substance
the Nature and the fulness of the Divinity of the Father,
equal to the Father, and a perfect manifestation or revela-
tion of His perfection. "His Son . . . Who, being the
brightness of His glory, and the figure of His substance, and
upholding all things by the word of His power "(Heb. i. 3);
" Who, being in the form of God, thought it no robbery
to be equal to God" (Phil. ii. 6; see also Col. i. 15, 20,
and ii. 9 ; John xiv. 9).
rhe son of II. The Son of God is represented in the New Testa-
-HisDivine ment as God just as His Father is, all the names and
attributes of God being bestowed upon Him.
i. The substantive nouns " God " and " Lord," are given
to the Person Who is also named the Son of God, in such
a manner that nothing but the possession of the Divine
Essence can be signified by them.
"Gjd." (a) The name " God," Gtoe, besides the express affirma-
tion that " the Word was God " (John i. i), is applied at
least five times to the Person of God the Son : John xx. 28
(6 Gtocftou) ; Heb. i. 8, quoting from Ps. xliv., where 6 9>c
renders the Hebrew Elohim ; " Waiting for the coming
of the great God and our Saviour" (Tit. ii. 13) ; "That we
may know the true God, and may be in His true Son : Thif
PAUT II.] The Trinity in Scripture. 273
is the true God, and life eternal" (i John v. 20; also CHAP, n
Rom. ix. 5). These expressions are the more significant E ffi? J
because in the New Testament the name 6 0toe is exclu-
sively reserved for God. Besides this, there are in the
New Testament many quotations from the Old Testament
in which texts undoubtedly referring to God, because the
ineffable name Jehovah is their subject, are applied to Christ
For instance Heb. i. 6 = Ps. xcvi. 7 ; Heb. i. 10-12 = Ps. ci.
(or cii. in the Hebrew) ; Mai. iii. i, quoted by Mark i. 2,
Matt. xi. 10, Luke vii. 27. The explanation of the name
Jehovah as "the First and the Last," given in the Old
Testament, is, in the New Testament, repeatedly applied
to Christ, with the similar expressions, " Beginning and
End," "Alpha and Omega," " Who is, Who was, and Who
is to come " (Apoc. i. 17 ; xxi. 6 ; xxii. 13).
(b] The name " Lord" is more commonly given to the "Lord."
Son of God than the name God. When the Father and
the Son are mentioned together, and the Father is called
God, the Son is always called the Lord. The reason of
this difference, after what has been said above, is not that
the Son of God ought not to be called God as well as
Lord. Where the Son is named Lord, He appears as
manifesting in His Incarnation the dominion or sovereignty
of God, Whose ambassador He is, and as the holder of a
special sovereignty in His quality of Head of creation
generally and of mankind in particular. On the other hand,
God the Father, as the " unoriginated " holder of the Divine
Nature, may be emphatically called God. Moreover, the way
in which Holy Scripture applies the name of Lord to the
Son of God, and the way in which it qualifies the same,
clearly show that this name expresses in Christ a truly
Divine excellence and dignity, just as the name God
expresses the Divine Essence and Nature. Consequently,
Lord in the New Testament is equivalent to Adonai in
the Old. In the Old Testament the title " the Lord " had
become a proper name of God ; it would, therefore, never
be applied without restriction and as a proper name to a
person who did not possess the same Divine dignity. But
no restriction is made ; on the contrary, Christ is called
" the only sovereign Ruler and Lord " Dominator et
T
274 <d Manual of CatJiolic Theology. TBOOK n.
CHAP. ii. Dominus, 6 /HOVOQ SEO-TTOTJJC KO! Kvptog (Jude 4) ; " the
SHCT^S. Lord of gi ory (! Cor. ii. 8); "the Lord of Lords and
King of Kings " (Apoc. xvii. 14, and elsewhere). The
sovereignty of the " Lord of all " necessarily extends to
all that comes from God, and is the foundation of the
unity of the Christian worship in opposition to the worship
of many lords by the heathen (cf. I Cor. viii. 5, 6).
Attributes 2. Not only are the substantive nouns " God " and
OYione " Lord " given to the Son of God, but likewise all the
catedofthe predicates which express attributes proper to God alone,
are stated of Him. Christ Himself (John xvi. 15) claims
all such predicates : " All things whatsoever the Father
hath, are Mine." And again, "All things that are Mine
are Thine, and Thine are Mine" (xvii. 10). "What things
soever (the Father) doeth, these the Son also doeth in like
manner" (v. 19).
In detail, the Son is described as equal to the Father
in the possession of that being and life in virtue of
which God is the principle of all being and of all life out-
side of Him ; in the possession of the attributes con-
nected with such essential being and life ; and particu-
larly in the Divine dignity which makes God the object of
adoration. "All things were made by Him [the Word],
and without Him was made nothing that was made" (John
i. 3 ; cf. Col. i. 16, 17 ; I Cor. viii. 6 ; John viii. 25). " As
the Father raiseth up the dead and giveth life, so the Son
also giveth life to whom He will. . . . For, as the Father
hath life in Himself, so He hath given to the Son also to
have life in Himself" (John v. 21, 26 ; i John i. 2, etc.).
The texts in which the Son is represented as the principle
through Whom (per quern, St' ou) all things are made, and
the Father as the principle from Whom (ex quo, t% ov) all
things are made, do not deny the equality of the Son with
the Father, but point to the different manner in which the
Son possesses the Divine Nature, viz. as principium de
principle ; that is, as communicated to Him by the Father.
This remark also solves most of the apparent difficulties
arising from texts where Christ seems to object to certain
Divine attributes being given to Him, as John v. 19 ; vii.
16 ; Matt. xx. 28. In Mark xiii. 32 the question is not
PART II.] The Trinity in Scripture. 275
whether the end of the world is known to the Son of God, CHAP, u
but whether the knowledge is communicable.
The eternity of the Son is indicated where He is said
to have existed before the world (John i. I ; xvii. 5, 28 ;
viii. 58) ; His omnipresence by the assertion that He is in
heaven and on earth ; His omniscience by His knowledge
of the hearts of men and His prevision of the future ; His
omnipotence appears in the miracles which He worked by
His own power, and also in the forgiveness of sin ; He
proclaims Himself the sovereign Teacher, Lawgiver, and
Judge when He says, " All power is given to Me in heaven
and in earth" (Matt, xxviii. 18 ; John v. 22).
3. If the Son of God is truly such, if He is God and Divine
Lord, if He possesses the attributes proper to God alone, to theSon. 1
Divine honour should certainly be paid to Him. We find
Him laying claim to this honour, "that all may honour
the Son as (icaflwe) they honour the Father " (John v. 23).
And the Apostle declares that it is due : " In the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven,
on earth, and under the earth" (Phil. ii. 10). See Card.
Newman's Athanasius, i. p. 144. On the Divine attributes
and works of Christ, consult Bellarmine, Controv. de Christo,
1. i., c. 7, 8 ; Greg, of Valentia, De Trin. \. i. On His
Divine dignity see Franzelin, De Verb. Incarn., th. v. ;
Knoll. De Deo, 86.
III. The likeness of the Essence of the Son to that of Unity of
the Father, implied in His Sonship and Divinity, neces- rlther^nd
sarily consists in a perfect and indivisible unity of Essence.
For there can be but one God, and the Son is spoken of as
the God (6 9toc) consequently as one with the Father.
The same unity of Essence is formally affirmed by Christ :
" I and the Father are one," \v la^v (John x. 30). " Be-
lieve the works, that you may know and believe that the
Father is in Me, and I in the Father" (ibid. 38). The unity
could not be affirmed so absolutely if it did not refer to
real identity of being ; and the mutual immanence or
irtpiywpriaiQ, of which the Saviour speaks (x. 38) is only
conceivable on the hypothesis of absolute identity of
Essence and Nature. i^gne^T
IV. The whole doctrine on the Son of God is manifi-
276 A Mamial of Catholic Theology. [COOK n.
CHAP. n. cently summed up in the prologue to the Gospel of St.
SECT'S. j j in< i^e Evangelist represents the Second Person of
the Trinity as He was before and independently of the
Incarnation, viz. as He is in Himself. He is introduced as
6 Aoyoe, Verbum, the Word, emphatically, in which the
fulness of the Divine Wisdom is substantially expressed
and personified, which, therefore, is one and the same
substance with God, and not a new being. This Word
is " with God " that is, a Person distinct from the God
Who speaks the Word ; but, being the expression of His
truth and wisdom, the Word is of the same Substance
as the Divine Speaker. As a Person by Himself, but yet
of the same Substance as God, the Word is " God " (Qtor;,
without the article) that is, possessor of the Divine Nature,
and as truly God as the Divine Person of Whom and with
\Vhom the Word is. As possessor of the Divine Nature,
the Word is the principle of all extra-Divine existence, life,
and knowledge, and therefore in Himself "the Life" that
cnliveneth all, and "the Light" that enlighteneth all. The
Word existed "in the beginning" that is, before any
created thing, and was Itself without beginning, like the
Divine Wisdom of which It is the expression ; and It
existed, positively and eminently "in the beginning" that
is, before all creatures, of which the Word of Wisdom is .the
principle and which are made by Its power. The Word,
therefore, is not created or made in time, but generated from
all eternity out of the Wisdom of the Father as His only
Word, and hence It is called "the only begotten of the
Father " (ver. 14), Who indeed came down into the flesh
with the plenitude of His grace and truth, but, at the same
time, remained in the bosom of the Father (ver. 1 8).
Principle for V. It cannot be denied that the New Testament pre-
of dfffi. uu " sents many difficulties against the Filiation, Divinity, and
identity of Essence of God the Son. In general these diffi-
culties arise from expressions used in a symbolical, ana-
logical, or metaphorical sense, the true literal sense of which
ought to be determined from the nature of the subject-
matter ; or they arise from the fact that the Son of God
is commonly spoken of as God-man, and consequently
is made the subject of many new attributes which could
PART II.] The Trinity in Scripture. 277
not be predicated of Him if He was only God. Other CHAP, n
predicates, attributable to Him in virtue of His Divinity E fIi 9H '
or of His origin from the Father, receive, as it were, a
new shade or colouring when applied to the God-man,
and are expressed in a way otherwise unallowable. In
some passages, e.g. those relating to the sending of the
Son by the Father, all the above causes of difficulties
are at work. This Divine mission is entirely unlike
human missions ; it refers to the Person of the Son either
before the Incarnation, or in the Incarnation, or to the
functions of His human nature after the Incarnation. In
the first two cases the mission is not an act of authority
on the part of the Father, but rests simply on the relation
of origin between Father and Son. In the last case only
such an authority can be understood as is common to
Father and SOP over the human nature in Christ (cf. infra,
1 08). The same reflections apply to all the texts in which
the Son is said to "receive" from the Father, to obey
Him, to honour Him, or, in general, to acknowledge that
the Father is His Divine principle. Such texts admit of
various interpretations, which accounts for the diversity
of explanations given by the Fathers and the Theologians.
SECT. 94. The Doctrine of the New Testament on the
Holy Ghost.
The impersonal character and the vagueness of the name Thesis.
" Spirit," " Ghost," " Spirit of the Father," etc., by which
Holy Scripture designates the Third Person of the Trinity,
make it necessary to prove that this name really designates
a distinct Person that is, (i) that the Holy Ghost or the
Spirit of God is not a mere attribute, accident, or quality
going out from God to creatures, but a spiritual substance,
distinct from the beings to whom the Holy Ghost is given ;
and (2) that the Holy Ghost is not merely the substantial
vital force or energy of the Father and the Son, but a
possessor of the Divine Substance, distinct from the other
two Persons. To this must be added the definition of the
mode of origin of the Holy Ghost, upon which depends
His distinct Personality and His Divinity. Theiioiy
~. ,. /-i Ghost not
I. The first of the two points mentioned is evident a mere
attribute.
278 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. ii. from the fact that the Holy Ghost is represented as the
SECTJ*. f ree _ actm g cau se of all the gifts of God to man. "All
these things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing
to every one according as He will " (i Cor. xii. 1 1). Again,
the Holy Ghost is often described as a subject distinct from
creatures, knowing, searching, willing, teaching, sending,
approving, consoling, indwelling, and generally acting as
an intellectual Being.
The Holy II. The second point, viz. that the Holy Ghost is a
disina Person really distinct from the Father and the Son, is
evident from the fact that the Holy Ghost is represented
as acting side by side with, and as distinct from the other
two Persons, and is proposed with Them as an object of
worship ; from the relations to the other Persons which
are attributed to Him, and which are such as can exist
only between distinct Persons for instance, receiving and
giving and being sent ; and from the manner in which He
is mentioned together with the Father and the Son as being
another Person (see texts in 92, I. 3). The proper per-
sonality of the Holy Ghost is especially characterized in
the texts which represent Him as not only being in God
like the spirit of man is in man, but being from God
(Spirihis qui ex Deo est, EK rou 0ov, I Cor. ii. 12); and
proceeding from the Father (John xv. 26) as the breath
proceeds from man, and consequently as having His origin
in the Father like the Son.
TheDivinity III. The Substantiality and Personality of the Holy
' f Ghost being proved, His Divinity results clearly from
Scripture, which states that the Spirit of God is as much
in God and as much the holder of the Divine Life as the
spirit of man is in man. But the spirit of man is but
the innermost part of his whole substance, whereas the
Spirit of God, in Whom there are no parts, must be the
same whole Substance as the Divine Persons from Whom
He proceeds. Thus, if the name Son implies a likeness
of Essence to the Father, the name Spirit is still more
significant, as it implies unity or identity of Essence with
the Persons from Whom the Spirit proceeds. The classical
text is I Cor. ii. 10 sqq. : "To us God hath revealed [those
things] by His Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all things,
PART II.] The Trinity in Scripture. 279
yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the CHAP. n.
things of a man, but the spirit of a man that is in him ? E fli_ 94 '
So the things also that are of God, no man knoweth, but
the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit
of this world, but the Spirit that is of God, that we may
know the things that are given us from God."
The Divinity of the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost,
is further confirmed by the following considerations.
1. Although the Holy Ghost is never called " God "The Holy
. . Ghost iden-
purely and simply in Scripture, He is often represented tifiedwith
as the same subject which, in the context or in some other
text, is undoubtedly the one true God. The identity of
the " Spirit " with the " Lord " is formally asserted in 2 Cor.
iii. 17 ; for this reason He is characterized in the symbol
of Constantinople as " Lord."
Instances of texts identifying the Holy Ghost with God :
I Cor. iii. 16 ; cf. I Cor. vi. 19 ; Acts v. 3, 4 ; xxviii. 25, etc.
2. The Divine Nature of the Holy Ghost is set forth in The Divine
the Divine properties, operations, and relations predicated ascribecHo
of Him, especially in relation to rational creatures. Ghost. y
(a) The attributes in question principally refer to the
vivifying influence of the Holy Ghost on created spirits:
He dwells in the inmost part of the soul and fills it with
the fulness of God ; He is the principle of life, and especially
of the supernatural and eternal life of man which is founded
upon a participation in the Divine Nature ; He dwells in
man as in His temple, and receives Divine worship. But
such relations to creatures are proper to God alone, Who
alone can make His creatures participators of His nature,
and Who alone, in virtue of His simplicity and immensity,
penetrates the secret recesses of created spirits. Moreover,
Holy Scripture, in order to characterize the supernatural
gifts of God, particularly the supernatural life of grace, as
a participation of the Divine Life and coming immediately
from God, represents them as the gifts and operations of
the Holy Ghost. For this reason the Fathers who opposed
the Macedonians appealed to these attributes of the Holy
Ghost more than to others, and the Council of Constanti-
nople added the title of Life-giver (vivificans, wo7ro*o'c)
immediately after the name of Lord.
280 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. ii. Passages from Scripture corroborating our argument
o.>cT^94. are ver y numerous . J hn vi. 64, with 2 Cor. iii. 6 ; Rom.
viii. ii ; i Cor. vi. n ; 2 Cor. iii. 18 ; Rom. v. 5 ; John xiv.
26 ; Acts i. 8 ; Rom. viii. 14 sqq. ; Matt. x. 20, etc.
Adorabiihy (b) The Divinity of the Holy Ghost results from two other
cdwS. attributes which He receives in Holy Scripture, and which
are embodied in the Creed. The first is that He is an
object of adoration, " Who together with the Father and
the Son is adored and glorified." This is implied in all
the texts which describe man as the "temple " of the Holy
Ghost. " Adorability " being the expression of Divine
dignity and excellence, Holy Scripture connects with it
the manifestation of Divine authority, attributing to the
Holy Ghost the inalienable right to forgive sins and to
entrust the same power to others ; and, further, the power
to dispense all supernatural powers, notably the mission
and authorization of persons endowed with such powers.
" Receive ye the Holy Ghost : whose sins you shall forgive,
they are forgiven " (John xx. 22). " The Holy Ghost
said to them, Separate me Saul and Barnabas for the
work whereunto I have taken them " (Acts xiii. 2). " Take
heed to yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the
Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the Church
ofGod"(/<ta/. xx. 28).
Divine (c) Further, the Divine attribute of knowing all the
of" h* Holy secrets of creatures and their future free acts is ascribed
to the Holy Ghost This the Creed expresses, by saying
that the Holy Ghost " spake through the prophets." More-
over, the original knowledge and the communication of
the mysteries hidden in God and of all Divine truth is
likewise ascribed to the Holy Ghost. The reason which
the Apostle gives for this is that the Spirit of God is in
God. Hence we have a double argument in favour of His
Divinity : viz. the Holy Ghost is in man as God alone can
be in man, and He is in God as God alone can be in Him-
self. See I Cor. ii. 10-12. Compare also, "For prophecy
Giiosft'he' came not by the will of mail at any time : but the holy
whatTs' 6 ^ men of God spoke inspired by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pet.
o,rL n tV n >. 21) ; i Cor. xiv. 2 ; Dan. ii. 28.
3. Lastly, the Divine Nature of the Holy Ghost is
human
n.iture.
II.] The Trinity in Scripture. 281
manifested by His relation to the human nature of the Son CHAP. n.
of God. Whatever is Divine and supernatural in Christ,
His attributes as well as His operations, is referred to the
Holy Ghost as its principle ; the whole of the Divine unction
in virtue of which the man Jesus is "the Christ" (the anointed)
is attributed to the Holy Ghost, so as to make Him the
medium of the Hypostatic Union and of its divinizing
effects upon the humanity of Christ. Hence also the resur-
rection and glorification of Christ are attributed to the
Holy Ghost as well as to the Father (Rom. viii. n).
Christ is led by the Spirit into the desert (Luke iv. i) ;
He casts out devils in the Spirit (Matt. xii. 28). See Luke
iv. 18 ; Heb. ix. 14; Matt. xii. 31, 32.
IV. The origin of the Spirit from Father and Son The relation
is also clearly stated in the New Testament. It is implied Ghost to the
in the phrase "Spirit of God;" for this, according to Son."'
I Cor. ii. 12, is equivalent to " Spirit out of, or from, God "
(ex Deo, rlt Trvtv^a TO IK TOV Gcou). But as the Son is
God as well as the Father, and as both are but one God,
the Spirit of God is necessarily "from" the Father and
the Son as from His principle. This argument is abun-
dantly confirmed by Holy Scripture, especially in the
speech of our Lord after the Last Supper.
1. The Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of the Son, as T> e Hol y
well as the Spirit of the Father. "God hath sent the Spirit of the
Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father "
(Gal. iv. 6; cf. Rom. viii. 9; I Pet. i. n; Phil. i. 19).
The expressions, " Spirit of Jesus or of Christ," may, indeed,
be taken as referring to the indwelling of the Holy Ghost
in the humanity of Christ ; this indwelling, however, is not
an accidental one : the Holy Ghost is the own Spirit
of Christ.
2. Christ expressly declares that the Holy Ghost, as The Holy
/-/ ii i Ghost re-
" Spirit of truth, takes and receives from the Son what ceives from
. , , the Son who)
the Son has received from the Father and possesses in the Son has
common with the Father. "But when the Spirit of truth with the
shall come, He will teach you all truth : for He shall not
speak of Himself; but what things soever He shall hear, He
shall speak : and the things that are to come He will show
you. He shall glorify Me : because He shall receive of
282 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n
CHAP. ii. Mine, and will declare it to you. All things whatsoever
SKCT._94. My F at her hath are Mine. Therefore I said, He shall
receive of Mine, and declare it to you " (John xvi. 13-15).
The Son 3. Christ further declares that the Son, in the same
nCiyGhost. manner as the Father, sends the Holy Ghost, which is only
possible if the Holy Ghost has His eternal existence in
God, from the Son as well as from the Father. " But when
the Paraclete shall come, Whom I will send you from the
Father, the Spirit of truth, Who proceedeth from the
Father, He shall give testimony of Me " (John xv. 26 ;
see also xvi. 7). Note that " sending " cannot be under-
stood as an act of authority, except in the wider sense of
causing, in any way whatsoever, another person to act.
Applied to the Persons of Holy Trinity, the Father cannot
be sent (nor does Holy Scripture ever speak of the Father
as being sent) ; the Son and the Holy Ghost are sent by
the Father, and the Holy Ghost is sent by the Son, inasmuch
as the Son is begotten by the Father, and the Spirit pro-
ceedeth from both : the relations of origin are the only
conceivable foundation of missions on the part of the
Divine Persons. (See infra, p. 343.)
^Fa^her 1 " 4- Finally, tne constant order in which the Three
Smi, and' Persons are named, in the form of Baptism, and in I John
ihows'ihe V> ^' can On ^ y k satisfactorily accounted for by saying
procession that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son. St. Basil
from the ,
son. thus comments on this point : " Let them learn that the
Spirit is named (in the form of baptism) with the Son as
the Son with the Father. For the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost are given in the
same order. Therefore, as the Son stands to the Father,
so the Holy Ghost stands to the Son according to the
traditional order of the formula of Baptism. If, then, the
Spirit is joined to the Son, and the Son to the Father,
it is clear that the Spirit also is joined to the Father. . . .
There is one Holy Ghost, enounced, He also, in the singular
number, joined through the one Son to the one Father, and
completing through Himself the Blessed Trinity, to be
glorified for evermore " (De Spirit u ., c. xvii. 18).
PART II.] The Trinity in Scripture. 283
CHAP. II.
SECT. 95. The Doctrine of the Old Testament on the SECT - 95.
Trinity.
We learn from the New Testament that many texts in General
the Old Testament point to the Blessed Trinity, although
in themselves (and probably in the minds even of the
inspired writers) the meaning attributed to them as quoted
in the Gospels and Epistles is not evident. There are,
however, many passages unmistakably referring to God the
Son, and describing Him with a distinctness and fulness
almost equal to anything in St. John and St. Paul. As
an instance, we may refer to the doctrine on the " Logos "
or Son of God in John i. and Heb. i., as compared with
Prov. viii. and Wisd. vii.
It is natural to expect more references to the Son than Morere-
1 ferences to
to the Holy Ghost in the Old Testament, because it pre- the Son than
J ' r to the Holy
pares and announces the coming and manifestation of the Ghost
Son in the Incarnation. Where the Son is spoken of as
the " Begotten Wisdom," Sapientia genita, the Spirit Who
proceeds from Him is designated, with sufficient clearness,
by the term Spiritns sapienti<z, the Spirit of Wisdom. The
central point, however, of all the teachings of the Old
Testament on the Trinity is the Second Person. The
allusions to, or more distinct expositions of the mystery of
the Trinity in the Old Testament are of more interest to
the commentator on Holy Scripture, and to the historian
of Dogma, than to the dogmatic theologian, who finds his
demonstration perfect in the New Testament, and rather
throws light upon than receives light from the older refer-
ences. For this reason we shall reduce the present section
to the smallest compass, confining ourselves to the outlines,
and giving references to material for deeper studies.
The Second of the Divine Persons appears in the Old
Testament in three progressive forms, distributed over
three periods. The first period is prelude to the future
sending of the Son, and is found in the theophanies in
the times of the Patriarchs, Moses, and the Judges. At
'this first stage, the Second Person bears the general
and indefinite character of an ambassador, coming from
God, representing God, and Himself bearing the name
284 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. ii. of God. The second form is the direct prophecy of the
.ECT.ji 3 . j ncarna tj on o f a Divine Person, including the information
that a son of David shall be at the same time Son of God
and God, and that, in virtue of His Divine Sonship, He
shall appear as King and Priest pre-eminently, and as the
spiritual spouse of souls. The third form exhibits a com-
prehensive description of the Divine origin and essence of
the Second Person, upon which His threefold functions as
man are founded.
First stage: I. The " Angel of the Lord, Jehovah, Elohim" spoken of
phl^esT in all the theophanies in question, is probably a created
Angel, acting directly in the name of God. Still, upon the
whole, the theophanies make the impression that a higher
Divine envoy is at work, Whose instrument the created
Angel is, and to Whom the titles " Angel of Jehovah," etc.,
really belong. Among the Fathers a diversity of opinion
exists as to particular theophanies, but, on the whole, they
agree in recognizing in them manifestations of the Son of
God. See Franzelin, De Trin,, th. vi. Cf. Gen. xvi. 7, 8,
13 ; xviii. 1-19 ; xix. 24; also xxii. n, 14 ; xxxi. 3, n, 13 ;
Exod. iii. 2 (Heb. and Greek) ; xiii. 21 ; xiv. 19 ; xxiii. 20;
xxxiii. 14.
Second II. In David's time, when the Messiah was prophesied
pro g P e heS e as prefigured by Solomon, the Son of David (2 Kings vii.),
He is also marked out as Son of God : first in the prophecy
of Nathan (2 Kings vii.), to which Ps. Ixxxviii. is similar
in its typical form ; then, in a more marked form, in Pss. ii.
and cix., where His Sonship is attributed to Divine genera-
tion, and His eminent dignity of King and Priest is founded
upon His Sonship. In Ps. xliv. the Messias is represented
as God and as the Divine Spouse of souls. His Divine
Sonship is only mentioned a few times more in later books
of Scripture, e.g. Prov. xxx. 4 ; Micheas v. 2, and Ecclus.
Ii. ; but His Divinity is asserted very frequently. It ought,
however, to be remarked that the Messias always appears
as the Ambassador and as the Anointed of God ; hence,
when He is mentioned as God, He must be conceived, as
in Ps. xliv., as a Person distinct from and originated in the
God Who sends and anoints Him. The signification which
we attribute to the above passages of Holy Scripture i$
PART II.] The Trinity in Scripture. 285
confirmed by the fact that in the New Testament many of CHAP. n.
them are expressly applied to Christ, and adduced as E fll_ 95 '
proofs of His Divinity. Cf. Isai. vii. 14, with Matt. i. 23 ;
Isai. xl. 3-1 1, with Mark i. 3 ; Baruch iii. 36-38 ; Zach. xi.
12, 13, with Matt, xxvii. 9 ; xii. 10, with John xix. 37.
III. Whereas the Psalms (and similarly the Prophets Third stage:
and the first three Gospels) represent the Second Person in
God as Son of God, and as God, the Sapiential books
describe, under the title of Divinely begotten Wisdom, His
Divine origin and essence with such comprehensiveness that
nearly all the utterances of the New Testament may be con-
sidered as a repetition or a summing up of the older Reve-
lation. The subject designated as " Wisdom," is represented
as the substantial exhalation and the personal representa-
tive of the Divine Wisdom, begotten and born of God
from all eternity ; as splendour, mirror and image of God,
distinct from God as from His principle, but of the same
Essence, and therefore existing in God and with God ;
executing and governing with Him all His external works,
and hence the principle and prince of all things, their
source and ideal, the mediator and the initiator of that
participation in Divine Life which consists in wisdom.
These figures are, on the one hand, an introduction to
or a preparation for the fuller understanding of the Incarna-
tion, and, on the other hand, a commentary on the words of
the Psalms concerning the Divine Sonship and the Divine
Nature of the Messias. The figures of the three Sapiential
books correspond with the three principal elements of the
prologue to the Gospel of St. John ; and again, each of
them corresponds with one of the three principal passages
in the Psalms, so as to set forth, in order, how the Anointed
of the Lord, in virtue of His Divine origin and essence, is,
in Ps. ii., the King pre-eminently ; in Ps. cix., the Priest
according to the order of Melchisedech ; and in Ps. xliv.
the beatifying Spouse of Souls. In Prov. viii. Wisdom
appears as the born Queen of all things, who has dominion
because she has made all things (cf. John i. : "The Word
by Whom all things were made ") ; in. Ecclus. xxiv. Wisdom
appears as the born priestly Mediator between God and
man, who possesses the priesthood of life not of death,
286 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. ii. like the Levitical priesthood and who, therefore, is the
ECT^ps. ^^j MotJier of life (cf. John i., the Logos as Life and
full of grace) ; lastly, in Wisd. vii., viii., Wisdom appears
as a Bridegroom, entering into the closest connection
with souls, filling them with light and happiness (as
in John i., the Word as Light which enlighteneth every
man). And, as in these three expositions there is an
unmistakable progress of tenderness and intimacy, so
there is a progress in the spirituality, sublimity, and com-
pleteness in the exposition of the Divine origin and essence
of the Eternal Wisdom. In Prov. viii., Wisdom simply
appears as begotten from all eternity ; in Ecclus. xxiv., as
the Word proceeding from the mouth of the Most High ;
and in W T isd. vii., as the splendour of the glory of God,
one with God in essence and existence.
During the last centuries before the Christian era, the
Jewish theology had substituted the Chaldaic name Memrah
(= Word) for the name Wisdom. The change may have
been due to Ecclus. xxiv., describing Wisdom as proceeding
from the mouth of God, or to the influence of the Greek
philosophy (cf. Plato's Logos}. Memrah was made equiva-
lent (parallel) to the several names of the Angel of the
Lord (= Maleach Jehovah, Schechinah, Chabod). Thus,
the name of Word, as signifying the mediator between God
and the world, was well known to the Jews when St. John
wrote his Gospel, and this circumstance explains the use of
the term by the Evangelist. See Card. Newman,
196, and Atlianasius t ii. 337.
( 28; )
CHAPTER III.
THE TRINITY IN TRADITION.
SECT. 96. The Ante-Nicene Tradition on the Dim ne
Trinity and Unity.
I. Sufficient proof for the primitive profession of the CHAP. in.
dogma of the Trinity is afforded by the formula of Baptism, ^fli 96 -
by the Doxologies in universal use, and by the confessions ^fJsed'in
of the martyrs. The Doxology, " Glory to the Father and Sf aSS
to the Son, and to (or with) the Holy Ghost," is an act of
worship giving Divine honour to all and each of the three
Persons. The "Acts of the Martyrs" contain, in very
great number, professions of faith either in the Three Persons
together or in each one of Them.
II. The Faith of the Church in the mystery of the Asserted
Trinity manifested itself especially in the conflict with the hfreScL
antc-Nicene heresies. Not only did the Church assert the
distinction of the Persons, but she also defended the abso-
lute unity and indivisibility of the Divine Substance, from
which the Sabellians and their allies took the chief argu-
ment in favour of their heresy. The whole conflict turned
on this point : that the unity of God ought not to destroy
the distinction of the Persons, and that the distinction of
the Persons ought not to destroy the unity of God. The
position taken up by the Church sufficiently shows how far
she was from admitting a distinction in the Substance of
the Persons. Whenever, as in the case of Denis of Alex-
andria, a writer used expressions that might imply such
substantial distinction, protests were heard on all sides,
and Denis himself retracted his unguarded expressions by
order of Pope Dionysius. The ecclesiastical literature
288 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK ll.
CHAP. in. anterior ';o the Council of Nicaea contains many expositions
E fll_ 96 ' of the Catholic dogma on the Trinity, sometimes with
considerable development. The principal ones are to be
found in the writings against the Sabellians and against
the Gnostics of various forms, and in the Apologies against
the heathen. See Card. Newman, Arians, ch. ii.
The dim- III. Although the substance of the dogma was well
cultiesofthe . . . . , _ , ... i/~.<
Ante-Nicenc known to the faithful, and better still to the Catholic
Fathers and Doctors, who lived before the Council of
Nicaea, it is none the less to be expected that their writings
did not treat the subject with the same definiteness and
accuracy of expression as later writers. It would, how-
ever, be going too far to admit that the Fathers had,
in general, an obscure or a wrong conception of the unity
of Substance in the Divine Persons ; in such a funda-
mental dogma, such an error in such quarters would be
incompatible with the infallibility of the Church. Among
schismatic writers it is, of course, quite possible to find
wrong conceptions of the dogma. As a matter of fact,
from the time of Tatian, who afterwards became a formal
heretic, certain writers so misunderstood the dogma that
their utterances did prepare the way for the Arian heresy.
Nevertheless, if we except the Philosophumena of Hippo-
lytus and several utterances of Origen (which are, however,
annulled by opposite utterances of the same author), we
have no greater fault to find, even with uncatholic writers,
than a superficial knowledge and inadequate exposition of
the unity of Essence in the Three Persons. All the expres-
sions which were seized upon by later opponents of the
dogma, and were most harshly judged by Catholic theo-
logians, occur in the writings of the most orthodox of the
Fathers, and admit of an orthodox interpretation.
The special difficulties met with in the ante-Nicene
writings, even the orthodox, lie in the following points :
i. The authors often lay so much stress upon the cha-
racter of the Father as source and principle of the other two
Persons, that they almost seem to conceive the Father alone
as God pure and simple, and God above all (Deus super
omnia), and to attribute Divinity to the other Persons
in a less perfect degree. Holy Scripture itself, hoxvever,
PAST II.] The Trinity in Tradition. 289
generally uses the term God, the God (6 Gtoc, etc.) for the CHAP, nt
Father alone.
2. Instead of stating the identity of Substance, they
often speak merely of a substantial connection, or simply
of a community of power and authority, of activity and
love, or of the unity of origin. They do so in order to
refute Ditheism, a system which admits two Gods, the one
independent of the other. But here, also, Holy Scripture
had set the example, especially John v. and x.
3. The generation of the Son is sometimes described
as voluntary, in order to exclude from it a blind and
imperative necessity. This, however, admits of a correct
interpretation, and is found likewise in post-Nicene writers.
4. Following up Prov. viii., they represent the genera-
tion of the Son as intended in connection with the creation
of the world by and through Him. But some (e.g. Ter-
tullian, C. Prax., cc. v.-vii.) speak with more precision of a
double generation, or rather of a conception and a gene-
ration of the Logos. The conception is explained as the
eternal origin from the Father (\6jog svSmfleroe) ; the
generation as His temporal mission ad extra, and His
manifestation in the creation of the world (Xoyoc TrpofyopiKOQ^
verbum prolatitiuni) : hence Hippolytus and Tertullian
sometimes seem only to apply the name of Son to the
Logos after His external manifestation in creating the
world, or after the Incarnation, which, as a birth, they
oppose to the eternal conception.
5. Lastly, the Fathers point out that the Son and the
Holy Ghost are visible, whilst the Father is invisible. This
visibility, however, is only intended to prove the distinction
of the Persons, and not a difference in the Essence. In
fact, the Son and the Holy Ghost both appeared under
sensible forms or symbols, whereas the Father never so
manifested Himself, it being unbecoming to His character,
as principle of the Son and the Spirit, to be sent by another.
The personal characters of the Second and Third Persons
make it right for Them to be sent as manifesting the
Father.
" We need not by an officious piety arbitrarily force the
language of separate Fathers into a sense which it cannot
U
290 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. in. bear ; nor by an unjust and narrow criticism accuse them
_-97 O f error . nor impose upon an early age a distinction of
terms belonging to a later. The words usia and hypostasis
were naturally and intelligibly, for three or four centuries,
practically synonymous, and were used indiscriminately for
two ideas which were afterwards respectively denoted by
the one and the other." Card. Newman, Arians, p. 444 ;
cf. Franzelin, th. xi.
SECT. 97. The Consubstantiality of the Son defined by the
Council of Niccea.
False in- I. The term o^toouo-toc, "consubstantial," was used by
of the the Council of Nicaea to define the identity of substance in
e Father and the Son When a ppi ied to the con _
substantiality of a human father and his son, it implies
only a specific identity of substance ; that is, that father
and son are of a like substance, but are not numerically
one and the same substance. The Arians, applying the
human sense to the term, argued that the Council admitted
three Divine Beings or three Gods. Protestant writers,
and even some Catholic theologians, have lately repeated
the Arian calumny, wherefore we deem it necessary to
show briefly, from the post-Nicene tradition, the numerical
identity of the one Essence in the Three Persons, in virtue
of which the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one and
the same God.
The only II. The simple fact that the dogma of the Trinity
Christian admits of no other Christian interpretation than that the
tionTThat Three Persons are one God, suffices to prove that the
are one' God. Catholic Church held the dogma in this sense, during the
fourth as well as during all other centuries. The same
may, however, be gathered also from the following con-
siderations.
Consubstan- I. The Homoousion consequent upon generation, is
ing'from SU '" thus explained by the Fathers against the sophisms of the
Generation. Arians. In the Divine generation, the Substance of the
Father is communicated to the Son as it is in human
generation, with this difference, however, that, on account
of the simplicity and indivisibility of the Divine Substance,
it is communicated in its entirety, whereas the human
PART II.] The Trinity in Tradition. 291
father only communicates and parts with a portion of his CHAP. HI.
substance (cf. St. Athan., De Deer. Nic. Syn., nn. 20, 23, 24). E fli 97 '
In God, as in man, generation implies a communication of
life. But in man the communication consists in giving a
new life ; in God the communication necessarily consists
in the giving of the same identical life. For if the life re-
ceived by the Son were a new life, it would not even be
similar to the eternal life of the Father ; and, consequently,
the generation would not be Divine. The difference, then,
in the substance and life of the Father and the substance
and life of the Son, is merely in this : the Father possesses
them as uncommunicated, the Son possesses the same as
communicated or received (St. Basil, C. Eunom., 1. ii., at
the end). These two arguments show also that, in the
mind of the Fathers, no specific unity is possible in God,
but only numerical identity of substance and life.
2. The attributes which the Fathers give to the unity The unity of
3 the Three
of the Divine Persons are such as to mark it as identity of Persons is
identity of
Essence and not merely as specific unity. They describe Substance.
it as substantial and indivisible coherence and insepara-
bility, far above the unity which similarity or relationship
establishes between human persons, and more like the
organic unity of parts of the same whole, such as the
unity of root, stem, and branch ; or of body, arm, and
finger. But, considering the simplicity of the Divine
Substance, a coherence such as described can only be con-
ceived as the simultaneous possession of the same Sub-
stance by the Three Persons. The Fathers further compare
the unity of the Divine Persons to the inherence and
immanence of the qualities and faculties of created minds
in the substance of the mind ; pointing out, at the same
time, this difference, that the Son and the Holy Ghost are
not accidents of the Father, but are His own Substance,
as inseparable from the Father as His own Wisdom and
Holiness (cf. St. Athanasius, Or. Contra Arianos, iv., n. I
sqq. ; and St. Gregory of Nazianzum, Or., 31 (al. 37), n. 4).
They describe the mutual co-inherence of the Persons as
consequent upon their consubstantiality, and as being the
principle of the unity of Divine actions (see Petav., De
Trin. t 1. iv., c. 16). They oppose the unity of essence as it
29 2 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. in. exists in God to that which exists between human persons
suc-L.97. that is, to a specific or mental unity (see St. Greg,
of Naz., I.e., n. 14, 16). Lastly, they use the strongest terms
at their disposal to describe the unity of the three Divine
Persons as the most perfect possible identity of substance
(Kilber, De Deo, disp. v.).
Conse- 3. That the Fathers taught the absolute unity of the
quences de- 1-11
c'.ucedby Divine Essence appears also from the way in which they
the Fathers J
irom the spoke of the mystery of the Trinity. Far from being
Consub- . *
siamiaiity. the greatest of all mysteries, it would not be a mystery
at all if the unity of the Persons were not more than a
specific unity (St. Basil, De Sp. S., c. 18 ; St. Greg, of Nyssa,
Or. Cat., n. 3). The doctrine of the Fathers holds the right
mean between the errors of the Jews and the Sabellians
on the one hand, and those of the Arians and pagans on
the other. For with the former it denies the multiplica-
tion of the Divine Nature, yet without denying the
distinction of Persons ; with the latter it admits the dis-
tinction of Persons, yet without limiting their unity to a
similarity or likeness of essence (St. Greg, of Nyssa., /..).
The Fathers represent the unity of Essence as admitting
of no other distinction than that based upon the divers
relations of origin ; so that there would be no difference
whatsoever, except for this relation of origin and the con-
sequent manner of possessing the Divine Essence. But, if
the Essence itself were multiplied, the Persons would be
three distinct Persons of the same species, independently of
their origin (St. Greg. Naz., Or., 31 (al. 37), n. 3).
Mind of the 4. Finally, the two great controversies in connection
iiiMtrated with the Council of Nicaea throw much light on the
ly the Semi- . ,, , . , ,
ArianCon- present question. They are the controversy with the
c> Semi-Arians, against whose bjuotovaiog (similarity of Sub-
stance) the Catholics successfully defended the bpooixnog ;
and the controversy among the Catholics themselves on
the question "whether not only one ovaia, but also one
v7roCTTa<ne, ought to be affirmed of the Trinity." The
Latin doctors, who translated viroaraaiq by substantia
(and some Greeks who understood it in the same sense)
objected to the expression " three hypostases," because it
seemed to imply a trinity of Substances, and consequently
PART II.] The Trinity in Tradition. 293
a triplication of the Essence. The Greeks, however, ex- CHAP, in
plained that such was not the meaning they wished to E fl_ 97-
convey by the expression used, but that they agreed with
their Latin opponents on the point of doctrine. They had
used the words, "three hypostases," only because the
Greek rpta irpoautra (which corresponds with the Latin
tres persona) had been misused by the Sabellians to con-
fuse the real distinction of the Divine Persons. (See
Kuhn, 29 ; Franzelin, th. ix., n. ii. ; Card. Newman,
Arians, 365, 432.)
This question was thoroughly debated in the seventh
century, when the doctrine of Tritheism was formally
brought to the fore, and when the discussions on the two
natures of Christ and His twofold operation made a thorough
investigation of the unity of the Divine Essence necessary.
The opponents of the Monothelites, notably Sophronius,
and the Councils held against them, leave no doubt as to
what was the doctrine of the Church.
III. The absolute numerical and substantial unity of the unity of
Divine Essence is essentially connected with the received theVe^n of
expression that the Three Persons are one God and not ofGocL***
three gods. If the Essence was divided or distributed
among three persons, there would be three gods. Nor
could any other form of unity, added to such merely specific
unity, prevent the division of essence. No community
of origin, of love, of operation, of compenetration, will
prevent separate substances from being separate sub-
stances. Besides, a perfect unity of operation cannot be
conceived in separate substances, any more than perfect
compenetration or inexistence : hence, where these are,
there is unity of substance. If, therefore, the Fathers some-
times give the community of origin, of love, and operation,
etc., as a reason why the Three Persons are one God, they
do not intend to give the adequate and formal reason,
which is, according to the teaching of the Fathers them-
selves, the absolute unity and identity of the Divine
Essence, expressed in the 6/iooucnoe-
IV. In consequence of the absolute identity of Essence Three Per
or Substance, the Three Persons, although each of Them is three God*
God, are not three Gods, but one God. " We are forbidden
294 -d Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. in. by the Catholic Religion to say that there are three Gods
~ ' or three Lords " (Athanasian Creed). According to a
rule common to all languages, the plural of substantive
nouns and predicates signifies not only a plurality of
subjects designated by the nouns, but also a multiplication
of the substance named, in each of the many subjects.
This is because in all languages substantive nouns desig-
nate the substance and the subject in which it is. But in
God, the Substance expressed by the noun God is not
multiplied or distributed among the subjects who hold it ;
therefore the Three Persons are one God, net three Gods.
(Cf. St. Thomas, /., q. 39.) The same law of language
applies to verbal nouns like Creator, Judge, but not to
adjective and verbal predicates like living, saving. (See
Card. Newman, Arians, p. 185 ; St. At/an.,ii. 438.)
SECT. 98. The Tradition of East and West on the Con-
substantiality of the Holy Ghost with the Father and
tlie Son.
H-i^vof I. Just as the Arians misused the Homoousios of
the ( ireelc
schismatics. Nicsea against the consubstantiality of the Son with the
Father, so did the Greek schismatics misuse the words
" Who proceedeth from the Father," used by the Council
of Constantinople to define the consubstantiality of the
Holy Ghost with the other two Persons. They read the
definition as if it excluded the Son from all participation
in the communication of the Divine Essence to the Holy
Ghost. It is, however, easy to show that the Greek
Fathers of the fourth century, to whom the schismatics
especially appeal, founded all their argument in favour of
the origin of the Holy Ghost from the Father and His con-
substantiality with the Father, on the assumption that the
Third Person proceeds from the Son. Thus the schismatics,
who reproach the Latin Church with making a change in the
symbol, are themselves guilty of distorting the true sense
of the symbol, of forsaking the guidance of their orthodox
Fathers, and of embracing the cause of the Macedonians.
OurMethod. II. We shall here reproduce the doctrine of the Greek
Fathers of the fourth century on the procession of the
Holy Ghost. This will afford us a twofold advantage.
PART II] The Trinity in Tradition.
(i) The difference of conception and expression which CHAP. in.
exists between the Latin and Greek Fathers on this subject SE flL 9 *'
will be made clear, and possible misunderstandings will be
obviated ; (2) the proper value of the Greek mode of con-
ceiving and expressing the procession of the Holy Ghost
will be rightly understood.
We shall divide this section into three parts : (A) The Division,
doctrine of the Greek Church on the Divinity of the Holy
Ghost (B) The Greek manner of conceiving and express-
ing the procession, compared with the Latin conception
and expression. (C) The origin and tendency of the
negation of the procession of the Holy Ghost from the
Father and the Son, which is properly the "heresy of
the schism."
A. The Doctrine of the Eastern Church of the Fourth
Century on the Origin of the Holy Ghost as the Foundation
of His Consubstantiality with the Father and the Son.
III. In order to get at a right understanding of this Heresy of
doctrine, it is necessary to bear in mind the question at matomacnl" 1
issue between the Church and the " Pneumatomachi " (or
Macedonians), viz. whether the Holy Ghost had such an
origin from God that, by reason of His origin, He received,
not a new essence, but the Essence of God. The Pneu-
matomachi, most of whom were Semi-Arians, conceded
more or less the consubstantiality consequent upon genera-
tion (at least the Homoiousios) ; but they thought that
in God, as also in man, no other consubstantiality was
possible but that founded upon generation. Hence they
argued that the Holy Ghost, in order to be consubstantial
with the Father and the Son, ought to be generated by
either of Them, which would cause the Holy Ghost to be
either the son of the Father and the brother of the Son,
or the son of the Son and grandson of the Father (St
Athan., Ad. Serap., i., n. 15 sqq. ; iii., n. I sqq.). As, how-
ever, both suppositions are absurd, it follows that the Holy
Ghost must have an origin similar to that of the other
things which are made through (m) the Son ; and therefore
no consubstantiality with the Father, no Divine Nature can
be claimed for the Holy Ghost (cf. Franzelin, th. xxxviii.).
296 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. in. Against this heretical opinion the Divinity of the Holy
9 ' Ghost could be defended in two ways.
Definition of IV. The first way, more suited to a dogmatic definition,
of'consun'ti- was to affirm directly what the opponents denied, namely,
nope, A. . ^e origin of the Holy Ghost from the Substance of the
Father, and then to show that, though not generated, the
Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father as really as the Son
proceeds from Him. This way was chosen by the Council
of Constantinople, which combining the texts (John xv.
26), " Who proceeded! from the Father," irapa rou irarpoQ,
and (i Cor. ii. 12) "the Spirit Who is of God," IK row Qiov
defined that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father.
Procession It was not necessary to assert here the procession of
So why the Holy Ghost from the Son, because the adversaries did
'' not deny it, but, on the contrary, maintained it, and because
the assertion of the origin of the Holy Ghost from the
Father determined at once the relation of principle which
the Son bears to the Holy Ghost. Moreover, according
to the Pneumatomachi, the procession of another Person
from the Father was, as a matter of course, effected through
that Person Who proceeds from Him as Son. It was not
even fitting or advisable for the Council to mention the
procession from the Son. The object of the Council was
to put the origin of the Holy Ghost on a footing with
the origin of the Son with respect to consubstantiality
with the Father ; the opponents were imbued with Arian
ideas, and denied the Divinity of the Son ; hence they could
not be refuted by affirming the procession of the Holy
Ghost from the Son. Besides, the Council wished to found
its definition upon Holy Scripture, but the texts which
formally teach the procession from the Father do not
mention the procession from the Son. If it had wished to
mention the Son, the Council ought to have appealed to
The Symbol other texts, e.g. in which the Holy Ghost is said to receive
phfnius. pl (take) from the Son. This is really done in the more
explicit symbol given by St. Epiphanius in the Ancoratus
(n. 121), a symbol much used in the East, and perhaps
adopted by the Council as the basis of its definition. The
Ancoratus was written A.D. 374; that is, seven years before
the Council. It is not impossible, however, that, after the
PART II] The Trinity in Tradition. 297
Council, Epiphanius made some additions to the Symbol CHAP. m.
in harmony with the definition. The text is, "And we
believe in the Holy Ghost, Who spake in the Law and
preached in the Prophets and descended on the Jordan,
Who speaketh in the Apostles and dwelleth in the Saints.
And this is how we believe in Him : He is the Holy
Spirit, the Spirit of God, the perfect Spirit, the Paraclete,
uncreated, Who proceedeth from the Father and receiveth
[or taketh, \a/j.fiavn/j.tvov (middle voice) ] from the Son,
and is believed to be from the Son (ro SK row Trarpog tKno-
pVO/UtVOV, KOl (C TOV VIOV \OfJLJ3av6fJLeVOV KCU TTtOTEUO/iEVOv)."
Iii the West, where the position taken up by the Pneu-
matomachi was not so well understood or borne in mind
as in the East, the definition of the Council of 381 was
soon found fault with ; and whenever the Eastern doctors
were asked for fuller explanations, they gave it in the
terms of the Symbol of St. Epiphanius. Several Eastern
Churches have adopted the same symbol in their Liturgy
(cf. Van der Moeren, pp. 175 and 178).
V. The second way to oppose the Pneumatomachi was Comrover-
c n~ 1 T T l Slal "^'h"* 1
to argue from their own affirmation, viz. " that the Holy or the
Ghost has His origin from and through the Son," and to
show how this origin from the Son is such that it implies
consubstantiality with the Son and with the Father. This
method was adopted by most of the Fathers. If they
had denied or had not acknowledged the procession of
the Holy Ghost from the Son, they could have reproved
the Macedonians for admitting it. At any rate, they
would have had an easy answer to the objection that
the third Person, owing His origin to the Son, is grandson
to the Father ; viz. by stating that the Holy Ghost in no
wise proceeds from the Son, but only from the Father.
But the Fathers do neither ; on the contrary, they accept
the procession from the Son as a matter of course, and
make a true conception of this procession from the Son the
central point of the whole controversy with the Pneumato-
machi. The line of defence taken by the Fathers is invari-
ably to correctly determine the nature of the origin of the
Holy Ghost from the Son. We shall consider it (i) in its
positive aspect ; (2) in its apologetic or defensive aspect
298 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. in. I. The thesis of the Fathers.
ECT.J) . ^^ The Fathers first show negatively that the origin
HoiVchost of the Holy Ghost through the Son is not like the origin of
From'the creatures through the Son, but should be conceived as an
origin front the Son, or as the production of a hypostasis
of the same kind as its principle, proceeding from the Sub-
stance of the Son, and therefore inseparably united with
Him. They state that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the
Son as the Son proceeds from the Father, viz. as principle
of creation, and especially as principle of the supernatural
sanctification of creatures, and of the conformation with
the Son and the union with the Father implied in the pro-
cess of sanctification. Hence it is in and through the Holy
Ghost that the Son creates, sanctifies, and elevates creatures
to conformity and union with Himself. But this would be
impossible if the Substance and power of the Son were not
communicated to the Holy Ghost that is, if the Holy
Ghost were not of and in the Substance of the Son (cf.
St. Athan., Ad Serap., 1. i. ; St. Basil, Ep., 38 (al. 43), n. 4,
etc.). The Fathers call the Holy Ghost, in opposition to
the external works, the power and activity (virtus et operatic,
ii/E/jyaa), and sometimes also the quality (TrofoVrje) of the Son.
These expressions are used of the Son in relation to the
Father ; but when applied to the Holy Ghost in relation to
the Son, the Fathers illustrate their signification by com-
paring the Son to a flower, of which the Holy Ghost is
the perfume, or to a mouth, an arm, a branch, of which the
Holy Ghost is the breath, the finger, the flower. They
further convey the notions of consubstantiality by com-
paring the relations of the two Persons to honey and its
sweetness, to a spring and its waters, to water and its
steam, to a ray of light and its radiance, to fire and its heat
(cf. Petav., 1. vii., c. 5 and 7).
The Holy (.) The Fathers declare positively that the origin of
Ghost stands ._-.,, ,. ,
to the Son the Holy Ghost from the substance of the Son must be
stands to the put on the same level as the origin of the Son from the
Father, and that the precedence of the Son as principle of
the Holy Ghost does not destroy the equality and real
unity between these two Persons any more than the prece-
dence of the Father as principle of the Son causes any real
PART IT.] T/ie Trinity in Tradition. 299
inequality between Father and Son. They lay so much CHAP, in
stress on this parallel that they apply to the procession of SE ^Ii_ 9S -
the Holy Ghost from the Son all the expressions used to
describe the generation of the Son from the Father (except
" begotten " and " Son "), although they are aware that this
makes it more difficult to answer the question why the
Holy Ghost is not the son of the Son. (See St. Basil,
C. Etin., 1. v.) In countless places they call the Holy
Ghost the Word (yerbum = /oij/ua, not Xoyoc), the Effulgence,
the Image (EIKWV), the Countenance, the Seal, the Figure,
and the Form (^apaKT^p, juopfr'j) of the Son ; all of which
expressions convey the idea of consubstantiality between
the Holy Ghost and the Son, as much as when they are
used of the Son in relation to the Father. (See Pctav., 1. vii.,
c. 7 ; Franzelin, th. xxxvii.)
(*:.) In the third place the Fathers show that, since the Procession
Holy Ghost stands to the Son as the Son to the Father, Father*
He must also proceed from the Father through the Son, the So^
and that, though not generated like the Son, He none
the less receives through the Son, as really as the Son
Himself, the Substance of the Father. The substantial
connection of the Holy Ghost with the Father through
the Son, and vice versd, is illustrated by the comparisons
given above (a), the three Persons standing in the relation
of root, flower, and odour, light, ray, and radiance, etc. ;
the Son and the Holy Ghost are to the Father as His
mouth and the breath proceeding from it, or as His arm
and finger. The Son is the Truth and Wisdom of the
Father ; the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Wisdom and of
Truth. Cf. St. Athan., Ad. Serap., i., n. 19-21 ; and the
chapter of St. Basil, C. Eujiom., 1. v., inscribed, " That, as the
Son stands to the Father, so the Holy Ghost stands to
the Son."
2. The defence of the Fathers against the Pneumato- objection,
machi is founded upon the above principles.
(a.} The first objection, urged principally by Eunomius, Difference
was that the order of origin in the Trinity involved a fnTOi've" no
descending order in the excellence and nature of the Three eiceifence.
Persons, and an essential difference between the substances.
To this the Fathers had but one answer: that the Holy
300 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK 11.
CHAP. in. Ghost was no more inferior to the Son for proceeding from
3Ecr_9 . jjrj m ^ t j lan t j le g on wag m f er j or to t he Father for being
generated by Him ; and that the difference of origin
implied no other difference whatsoever, except the differ-
ence of origin itself. St. Basil treats this point expressly
in the beginning of his third book against Eunomius. See
Franzelin, th. xxxv.
The Holy (&) The second objection was that, if the Holy Ghost
fheg'randlon stood to the Son as the Son to the Father, the Holy Ghost
t-ather. ought to be the son of the Son, and the grandson of the
Father. The Fathers do not evade this difficulty by stating
that the Holy Ghost is only related to the Son inasmuch
as He possesses the same Substance, and not by any rela-
tion of origin ; on the contrary, they expressly affirm that
the Holy Ghost is really from the Father through the Son.
(St. Basil, C. Eunom., 1. v. : " Why is the Holy Ghost not
called the Son of the Son ? Not because He is not of God
through the Son.") They only point out that human rela-
tions cannot be unreservedly applied to God ; that the
expression " Son of the Son " leads to absurd consequences,
e.g. to the supposition that in God, as in man, an indefinite
series of generations is possible ; that each Person in the
Trinity must be as unique and individual in His personality
as the Divine Substance ; that, lastly, generation is not
the only kind of origin, wherefore also Holy Scripture
compares the origin of the Holy Ghost to the origin
of the breath from the mouth. The essential differ-
ence between Divine and human generation lies in this :
that man generates as an isolated substance independent
of his own progenitor, whereas the Son of God can only
work in unity with His Father, and so communicate the
Divine Substance common to Father and Son. (St. Athan.,
Ad. Serap., i. 16.) Hence the expression, "through the
Son," when applied to the origin of the Holy Ghost, does
not mean quite the same as when applied to human
relations.
The Holy (<;.) The third objection ran thus: If the Holy Ghost
the brother proceeds from the Father as really and truly as from the
Sod Son, He ought to be the son of the Father and the brother
of the Son. To this the Fathers answered that the Holv
PABT II.] The Trinity in Tradition. 301
Ghost does not proceed from the Father in the same way as CHAP. in.
the Son does ; and that He does not proceed from the E fU >8-
Father alone and in every respect directly, but through
the Son ; the Holy Ghost being not only the Spirit of the
Father, but also the Spirit of the Son. (Cf. St. Basil,
Ep- 38.)
VI. From the line of argument followed by the Fathers Summary,
who lived at the time of the Second Council (A.D. 381), it
is evident that the words of the Symbol, " Who proceedeth
from the Father," are not intended to mean from the
Father alone, but through the Son from the Father and
from the Father through the Son ; which formula is, with
the older Greeks, the standing and self-evident commentary
on the words of the Symbolum. The interpretation, " from
the Father alone? is a falsification as bad as and akin to
the Protestant interpretation of the words, " Man is justified
by faith without the works of the law," leaving unheeded
the other words, " Charity which worketh through faith."
Nay, by suppressing " through the Son," the formula " pro-
ceedeth from the Father" would be deprived of its natural
sense as it presented itself to the mind of the Fathers.
For, in that case, the Father, as Father, would have no
relation to the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost ought
either to be a son of the Father, or the Father ought to
have another personal character besides that of Fathership.
(Franzelin, th. xxxvi.)
B. The Eastern manner of conceiving and expressing the
Procession of the Holy Ghost compared with the Western.
II. It is well known that the Eastern Fathers differ The two
formulas.
from the Western in their way of expressing the Pro-
cession of the Holy Ghost. The former commonly
use the formula, IK rou irarpbg Sm TOU ut'ou, "from the
Father through the Son ; " the latter, ex Patre Filioque,
"from the Father and the Son." No real difference of
meaning, however, underlies these different expressions,
as is sufficiently proved by the fact that Greek Fathers,
who had most occasion to express the dogma in short
formulas, especially St. Epiphanius and St. Cyril of Alex-
andria, use the Latin formula times out of number; and
302 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
origin and
meaning of
the Greek
formula.
Greek con-
Latin doctors, like Tertullian and St. Hilary, frequently
use the Greek expression. Besides, the Western Church
never objected to the formula used in the East, but attri-
buted a correct sense to it, although it might lead Latin
scholars to a misunderstanding far from the mind of the
Greeks.
VIII. As a matter of fact, the Greek formula has a
sound sense and a natural origin, and has even a certain
advantage over the Latin formula. It owes its origin
to the fact that Holy Scripture, whenever it mentions the
Divine operations, represents the Father as the principle
out of which (ex quo, e ou) all things come, and the Son
as the principle through or by means of which {per quod,
t' ov) all things are made, or as the way by which all
things come from and return to the Father. Moreover,
the course which the controversy with the Pneumatomachi
took, rendered the frequent use of this exposition natural.
The sound meaning of the formula is that it represents the
Father and the Son, not as two principles acting separately,
but as two principles operating one in the other, or as one
principle ; and that it sets forth the particular position of
the Father and the Son as principles of the Holy Ghost,
viz. that the Son produces the Holy Ghost only as " prin-
ciple from a principle " (principitim de principle), whereas
:he Father is " principle without a principle " {principium
sine principle!) and "principle of a principle" {principium
principii) of the Holy Ghost. From this appears the rela-
tive advantage of the Greek formula. It clearly unfolds
the meaning which lies hidden in the "ex Patre et Filio,"
and which has to be expounded by the addition of " tanquam
ab uno principio," and "licet pariter ab utroque, a Patre
principaliter " or "originaliter." Its sole disadvantage is
that it does not point out as clearly as the Latin formula
the parity of the participation of Father and Son in the
Spiration of the Holy Ghost.
IX. The special stress which the Greek Fathers laid
on the formula &' vlov has a deeper reason in their manner
of conceiving the dogma of the Trinity, a conception
which might be described as organic. To the Greek Fathers
the two productions in God, Generation and Spiration,
PART II.] The Trinity in Tradition. 303
appear as a motion proceeding in a straight line, the Spira- CHAP. HI.
tion originating in the Generation, and being intimately "f^l 98 '
and essentially connected with it, so that not only does
the Spiration essentially presuppose the Generation, but the
Generation virtually contains the Spiration, tends towards it,
and has its complement in it. They consider the productions
in the Trinity as a motion of the Divinity, by which the
Divinity passes first from the Father to the Son and then
to the Holy Ghost, and so passes, as it weie, through the
Son. In harmony with this view, they chose their illustra-
tions of the mystery from analogies in organic nature, in
which one production leads to another, e.g. root, stem, and
flower. The deeper reason for this conception is, however,
to be found in this, that the Greek Fathers considered the
production of the Son as a manifestation of the wisdom of
the Father, and the production of the Holy Ghost as a
manifestation of the sanctity of God which is founded upon
His wisdom. In other words : they considered the Holy
Ghost (according to John xv.) as the Spirit of Truth Who
proceedeth from the Father.
From this point of view, the production of the Holy
Ghost, in as far as it was attributed to the Father, appeared
as carried on by means of the generation of the Son, but
going beyond this generation. Hence it was termed, as
distinguished from the generation, Trpo/BoA?? or eWe/ui^e (a
sending forth). All the terms used exclusively to characterize
either the generation of the Son or the spiration of the
Holy Ghost, are explained and accounted for by the above
remarks on the organic conception of the productions in
the Trinity. It was the more necessary for the Greek
Fathers to hold fast to a terminology based upon their
" organic " conception, because any deviation from it
(coupled with their formula that " the Holy Ghost stands
to the Son as the Son stands to Father," viz. as Word and
Image) would easily have led to a misconception of the
organic coherence of both productions, and would have
made the Holy Ghost the grandson of the Father. For
if, conjointly with the expression &a (through), they had
used the expression tic (from the Son), this might have
conveyed the meaning that the Holy Ghost is of the Son
304 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. in. exactly as the Son is of the Father, viz. by generation,
Ecr^ 9 8. anc j conse q uent i v tnat fj e i s not directly, but only indi-
rectly, produced by the Father. The " from " seemed
to separate the Son from the Father in the production of
the Holy Ghost, and was looked upon as inconvenient
because it does not represent the Holy Ghost as the Spirit
which is equally the Spirit of the Father and the Son. For
the same reason it was deemed incorrect to call the Son
the principle (air/a), pure and simple, of the Holy Ghost,
because this seemed to imply that the Son, in the produc-
tion of the Holy Ghost, acted as a principle separate from
the Father, as a human son does. Therefore the Son
was usually represented as only an intermediate principle,
through which the Holy Ghost received His personality,
whereas the Father was designated as the only principle pure
and simple, from which the Holy Ghost proceeded as well
as the Son. This mode of expression, however, meant only
that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son inasmuch as
the Son Himself, in virtue of His Sonship, is and remains
in the Father, which the Latin Fathers express when they
say, " Son and Father are but one principle of the Holy
Ghost"
K at t'ronof ^- The Latin conception, as developed after St.
the Trinity. Ambrose and St. Jerome, may be termed the "personal"
conception of the productions in the Trinity. It does not,
like the Greek, consider the production of the Holy Ghost
as a continuation of the production of the Son, but as
an act in which the Person produced by generation,
by reason of His unity and equality with His principle,
brings into play His personal union with His principle:
both, acting side by side as equals, communicate what is
common to Them to the Holy Ghost. Here the Holy
Ghost is the bond and the pledge of mutual love between
Father and Son, or between the original model and its
copy. From this point of view, nothing was more natural
than to say that the Holy Ghost proceeds from Father
and Son, and to find fault with a formula which made
no mention of the Son. It would seem equally strange
to see the Greeks put the Holy Ghost in immediate
relation with the Son alone as " image of the Son ; " but
PART II.] The Trinity in Tradition. 305
nobody would think of finding in the expression, " ex CHAP. in.
Patre et Filio," a separation of the Two Persons in the E 9 '
act of producing the Third. The only objection of the
Latin Church to the formula, " through the Son," was that
it might lead to the notion of the Son as the mother of the
Holy Ghost (cf. St. Augustine, In Joan., tract. 99). The
Latin Fathers, therefore, avoided the formula " through
the Son," lest the Holy Ghost should appear to be the
Son of the Father and of the Son ; whereas the Greeks
avoided the formula, " from the Son," lest He should be
thought the grandson of the Father.
For the history of the introduction of the word Filioque
into the Symbol, see Hergenrother, Photius, i., p. 692 sqq. ;
Franzelin, thes. xli.
XL From what has been said, it is evident that there ^f^;
was no contradiction between the older Eastern and the tweenGreefcs
ana .Latins.
Western Church as regards the Procession of the Holy
Ghost. The former taught the Catholic doctrine as decidedly
as the latter. The difference of expression was, indeed,
likely to lead to misunderstandings ; but, like the former
misunderstandings concerning the terms " hypostasis " and
" persona," they could easily have been brought to a satis-
factory issue, had it not been for the schismatic jealousy
of the Greeks, who by degrees advanced from a mutila-
tion of the Latin formula to the negation of the Eastern
doctrine.
C. The Heresy of the Schism.
XII. A formal and absolute denial of the Procession of r te !n ,? f
the ochistA,
the Holy Ghost from God the Son is to be found nowhere
among the older orthodox Fathers of the Greek Church.
If Photius had any forerunners, they certainly were Greek
heretics, Nestorians and Monothelites, who dragged this
point into the controversy in order to cast suspicion on
their opponents. As to the Nestorians (especially Nestorius
himself, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and even Theodoret), it
is most probable that they rejected the " through the Son "
in the same sense as the Fathers had rejected it in the
Macedonian controversy, viz. created or generated through
the Son. In fact, the Nestorians accused St. Cyril of hold-
ing the views of the Macedonians. The Monothelites, on
x
306 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP, in- the contrary, attempted by their criticisms of the Latin
K fl_ 98 ' formula, to show that the Western Church favoured Mace-
donianism perhaps they also misinterpreted the Greek
formula but St. Maximus refuted them. Certain monks
of Jerusalem, jealous of the Franks, were the first to openly
deny the ancient doctrine (A.D. 808). Photius, by the
proclamation of his schism, disregarding the tradition of
the Greek not less than of the Latin Church, made the
negation of the Procession of the Holy Ghost from the
Son his fundamental dogma. On the Nestorians and
Theodoret, see Card. Newman, Historical Sketches, vol. ii. ;
Kuhn, 32 ; and Franzelin, th. xxxviii. On the audacious
sophisms of Photius, see Hergenrother, Photius, iii., p.
400 sqq.
Theological XIII. As the Photian schism has been the greatest
the r pho e tian and most enduring of all the schisms that have rent the
Sin the Church, we are not surprised to find that the heresy which it
God> invented should carry schism and division even into God
Himself. All schisms, in the pretended interest of the
monarchy of Christ, have rejected His visible representative
on earth, and have thus destroyed the economy (oiKovo/um)
of the Church. The Photian heresy, in the pretended
interest of the monarchy of God the Father, rejects the
character of the Son as principle ; but in so doing it tears,
rends, and destroys the living unity (economy) which,
according to the Greek and Latin Fathers, exists in the
Trinity.
The divisions and rents which the heresy of the
schism introduces into the Trinity are the following : (a)
It destroys the immediate and direct union of the Holy
Ghost with the Son, for this union can only consist in the
relation of origin ; at the same time it deprives the Holy
Ghost of His attribute of "own Spirit of the Son." () It
destroys the perfect unity of Father and Son, in virtue ot
which the Son possesses everything in common with the
Father, except Paternity, (c) It tears asunder the indi-
visible unity of the Father, by dividing the character of
Paternity from the character of Spirator, or TrpojSoAiue, and
so giving Him a double Personality, (d] It annihilates
the fixed order and succession, in virtue of which the Three
PABT II.] The Trinity in Tradition. 307
Persons form one continuous golden chain, (e) It destroys CHAP. in.
the organic coherence of the two productions in the Trinity fc ^I_ 9 '
so much insisted upon by the Greek Fathers themselves.
(/) Above all, it destroys the perfect concatenation of the
Divine Persons, in virtue of which each of Them stands in
the closest relation to the other two and forms a connect-
ing link between them (cf. St. Basil, Ep., 38, n. 4). Thus
the Greek Fathers point out the intermediate position ol
the Son between the Father and the Holy Ghost : the Son
goes forth from the Father, and sends forth from Himself
the Holy Ghost, so that, through the Son, the Father is in
relation with the Holy Ghost and vice versd. The Latin
Fathers, on the other hand, describe the Holy Ghost as
the exhalation of the mutual love of Father and Son, which
binds Them together like a band, " vinculum," " osculum
amplexus." (g) Lastly, the heresy of the schism curtails
and mutilates the Trinity in its very Essence. For the
Father is Father only inasmuch as He gives the Son what-
ever He Himself possesses and can give by generation,
including His entire fecundity, with the exception of the
special character of Paternity. The Son is perfect Son
only if He is equal and like to the Father in the Spiration
of the Holy Ghost, and if, in particular, the Spirit of the
Father is communicated to Him by the very act of genera-
tion and not by a new act of the Father. The Holy Ghost,
too, is only conceivable as perfect Spirit and as a distinct
Person if the Son is His principle. For it is an axiom
accepted by the Fathers, that all personal differences in
God, being founded upon the relations of origin, exist only
between the principle and its product. No distinction is
conceivable in God which does not include the most intimate
union of those that are distinct. And as, according to the
Greek Fathers, the Father produces the Holy Ghost only
through the Son and not side by side with the Son, the
Holy Ghost would remain in the Son and be identical
with Him if He did not proceed from the Son.
308 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. III.
SECT.JJ9. SECT. 99. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Divine
Hypostases and Persons Definition of Hypostasis and
Person as applied to God.
History of I. Tradition, like Holy Scripture itself, had at first no
Hyposusis, common name for the three Subjects which are distinguished
in the Deity. Even the dogmatic definitions of the third
and fourth centuries repeat the names of Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost ; and when the collective noun r/otac (the Three)
is used, no name is added to designate the Three generally.
In the course of time, however, when heresy had made it
necessary to assert the unity of God as a unity of essence
(oiKr/a, used almost exclusively by the Greek Fathers) and
of nature (nattira, the favourite term of Latin writers), or,
in a word, as a unity of substance, it also became necessary
to determine for the three Subjects (Whose unity of essence
was asserted) a name which should express in a convenient
manner Their relation to the Substance, viz. that They are
distinct bearers and holders of one Essence and Nature.
Even in the third century, Origen used for this purpose
the term vTroorao-te, and Tertullian, Persona. This usage,
however, became general only with the Fathers of the
fourth century, and by slow degrees. St. Gregory of Nazi-
anzum often uses circumlocutions, e.g. " They in whom is
the divinity, etc." Many controversies preceded the universal
acceptance of the two terms ; their full etymological sense
and the relation they bear to each other were only fully
understood after they had come into general use. Harmony
of expression and thought was obtained by translating the
Greek vircxrratng by subsistentia (used by the Fathers in the
concrete sense of subsistent, by the Schoolmen in the abstract
sense of subsistence) and by suppositum. Both forms are
found in St. Ambrose ; but the second only became general
in the schools of the Middle Ages. On the controversy
concerning the terms Hypostasis and Substantia, see Petav.
1. iv., c. 4 ; Kuhn, 29 ; Card. Newman, Arians, p. 432.
General sig- II. 'Y7roaTucnc. when used concretely, designates in
the terms, general something existing in and for itself, and conse-
tasis P "Sup- quently having and supporting in itself other things, of
" per'soA." which it is the substratum or suppositum. Hence, an
PART II.] The Trinity in Tradition. 309
hypostasis is a substance and not a mere accident. But CHAP. IIL
01 i_ i_ SECT. 99.
not every substance is an hypostasis. Substances which
are parts of a whole, as, for instance, the arm of the body,
are not so designated, but only substances which constitute
a total or a whole in themselves. Nor is the hypostasis
the substantial essence in as far as this is common to the
several individuals of the same kind or species (substantia
secundd), for the substantial essence does not exist in itself,
but in the individuals of which it is predicated. Hence
the concept of hypostasis implies an individual substance
separate and distinct from all other substances of the same
kind, possessing itself and all the parts, attributes, and
energies which are in it (substantia prima Integra in se totd}.
The relations between an hypostasis and its essence and
nature are that the essence and nature, when and because
possessed by the hypostasis, are individualized and incom-
municable ; the hypostasis is always the bearer (subject
or suppositum) of the nature ; in other words, the hypostasis
has the nature. If we consider a substance formally as
possessing itself, it is identical with the hypostasis ; if we
consider it as possessed, it is, like essence and nature, in the
hypostasis.
Person is defined " an individual rational substance," Pers <>
that is, the hypostasis of an intellectual nature and
essence. The note " intellectual " or " rational," restricts
the concept of hypostasis to one kind of hypostasis, the
most perfect of all, viz. that of substances wholly or
partially spiritual. The perfection which distinguishes a
personal hypostasis from a material one consists not only
in the perfection of the substance itself but also in the
manner of possessing it : a person is more than the bearer,
he is the holder of his substance and is " sui juris " that
is, in his own right and power.
Impersonal hypostases have no proper right over their
parts, no free use of them. They are but " things " without
a "self." Persons, on the contrary, have, in virtue of their
spiritual nature, a higher dignity which commands respect,
and thus gives them a right over what they possess ; they
are conscious beings and are thus able to enjoy their
various properties and to dispose of them for their own
310 A Mamtal of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. in. purposes. Besides, persons have a greater independence or
'- self-sufficiency than impersonal hypostases. Their spiritual
substance is imperishable and cannot be absorbed by
another hypostasis ; although they can be made subordinate
to other persons, still they never can be treated as mere
things and means ; lastly, on account of the respect which
one person owes to another, they are kept more apart than
other hypostases of the same kind, and are not liable to be
absorbed by others.
These terms III. As to the applicability of the terms " Hypostasis "
amorously and " Person " to God, it is clear that they can only be
applied analogically : whatever perfection they express is
eminently present in God ; whatever imperfection they
imply, must be excluded from Him.
Their per- i. The perfection of a hypostasis consists in its not
mustbe forming part of a whole or being an attribute of a substance,
to'Siml but rather the bearer and holder of a complete substance,
essence, and nature. A person is an hypostasis endowed with
dignity and conscious power, possessing his property im-
mutably, and making it the end and object of his actions ;
equal to and not absorbable by the other holders of the
same nature, and entitled to be respected by them in the
same measure as he is bound to respect himself. All this
is eminently applicable to the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost.
their imper- 2. The imperfections of created hypostases are (a) that
excluded, they are not absolutely independent, their principle and
last end being outside of and above them ; () persons who
possess the same nature, do not possess numerically one
nature, but only similar natures ; so that the distinction of
created persons implies a distinction and separation of their
substances ; (c~) hence the distinction between created per-
sons is independent of their origin one from the other, and
does not of necessity imply a connection based upon mutual
esteem and love. In opposition to this, the Divine Persons
are (a) absolutely independent, Their perfection and dignity
being absolutely the highest ; (b} the unity of substance in
the Trinity is perfectly undivided, excluding the possibility
of multiplication, so that the difference of Persons is merely
a distinction of the Persons themselves and not of Their
PART II.] The Trinity in Tradition. 311
substance ; (V) the distinction between the Divine Persons CHAP. HI.
is essentially and exclusively founded upon Their relations SE fIi_ 99 '
of origin, and causes Them to be essentially bound together,
and necessitates the most intimate mutual esteem and
love.
IV. In consequence of these differences, the concepts The modi-
of Hypostasis and Person must be modified when applied nece'^y.
to the Deity. The notion that a person is the bearer and
holder, distinct from other bearers and holders, of a rational
nature, is applicable to the uncreated as well as to the
created person ; but not so the definition of a hypostasis
as a subsisting and individual substance.
In a certain sense, it must be said of God that His
Substance subsists and is individual, even apart from the
distinctions between the Three Persons. Without suppos-
ing this, we cannot understand the subsistence and indi-
viduality of the several Divine Hypostases. Not only does
the Divine Substance exist essentially, but it also essen-
tially exists in itself and for itself, so that it can be in no
manner part of another substance, but only be possessed
by itself. Further, being unique in its kind and exclud-
ing multiplication, it also is, by reason of its unicity,
eminently individual. Hence, if the notion of "sub-
sistent and individual substance " be used to characterize
the Divine Hypostases, the subsistence (that is, the in-
dependence and self-possession) must be conceived, not
in opposition to the dependence of partial substances, but
in that peculiar form in which it exists in the individual
holders of the Divine Substance ; and the individuality
must not be conceived, as in creatures, only in opposition
to the notion of a common genus, but in opposition to the
communicability of a single indivisible object to distinct
holders. In other words : the notions of subsistence and
individuality must be so modified as to agree with the form
or manner in which the one Divine Substance is possessed
by the three Divine Persons.
V. Although the Divine Persons are Persons in the The Divine
highest sense of the term, they are essentially related to "l"bst?ng
each other ; that is, each of them separately possesses the re
Divine Nature only inasmuch as He stands to another in
312 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK u
CHAP. in. the relation of principle to product or vice versa, and conse-
' quently each single Person possesses the Divine Nature
for Himself only in as far as He possesses it at the same
time for and from the other two Persons. Otherwise
there would be no distinction of the Persons, nor would
the Persons have that intimate union among Themselves
which is required by their absolutely perfect personality.
Moreover, because the relations of the Persons to each
other are the one thing which determines the difference
in the possession of the same Divine Nature, these mutual
relations in God are not only, as in created persons, a dis-
tinctive attribute of each Person, but they constitute the
fundamental character of the personality of each Person.
From what has been said, the specific notion of the
Divine Persons may be completely determined as follows.
The Divine Persons are more than simply related to each
other ; They are nothing else but " subsisting relations,"
that is, relations identical with the Divine Substance, and
representing it as subsisting or appertaining to itself in a
distinct manner. Conversely, it may be said that the
Persons are the one Divine Substance under a determined
relation that is, as having, through the relation of origin,
three particular forms of possessing Itself. This essential
relativity of the Divine Persons is not indeed expressed
by the term person, but the thing signified by the term
is in fact a subsisting relation or the substance under a
determined relation ; the proper names of the Persons
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (i.e. Spirit of the Father and
the Son) clearly express their relations. (Cf. St. Thomas,
/., q. 29, a. 3.)
SECT. 100. The Distinction of the Divine Persons in
particular, and their Distinctive Marks.
Distinction I. According to Tertullian, the differentiation (ceconomid)
unity. of the Divine Persons presupposes the Monarchy, that is
the unity and unicity of the Divine Essence and particularly
the unity and unicity of one Person, in whom the Divine
Essence is present originally, not as communicated or
received. The differentiation is brought about by the First
Person being essentially a producing and communicating
PART II.] The Trinity in Tradition. 313
Person, producing the other Persons from Himself, and CHAP. in.
. . T T . <-!-.. SECT. 100.
communicating His essence to Ihem.
II. The active production and communication of the TWO Pro-
First Person is twofold, and consequently the corresponding
procession (TT/OOO^OC) is also twofold, namely, the generation
c which has its foundation in the First Person
alone ; and the procession in a narrower sense (spiratio,
irvtixriQ or 7r/oo/3oXr) when expressing the action ; pro-
cessio, EKTro'ptucrte, when considered passively), which has
its common foundation in the First and Second Persons.
III. Hence a threefold positive fundamental form of Three form.
possessing the Divine Nature (rjooVot virdp&oq); viz. (i)com- sio
municating possession, or possession for self and for others ;
(2) two forms of receiving possession, or possession for self
and from others. Of these latter the one is distinguished
from the other inasmuch as it partakes of the communi-
cating form. These three fundamental forms are the three
distinguishing personal characters of the three Persons
(i<j>tw/uara vTrooraruca, cJiaracteres personates et constituentes}^
from which they also take their names the Father from
the Fathership (irarpoT^g, patemitas), the Son from the
Sonship (uto'rijc, filiatio}, and the Holy Ghost from the
Spiration (irvfixng, spiratid],
The Active Spiration is not a personal, constituent
character like Paternity and Filiation, because it is not a
fundamental form of possession, existing side by side with
Paternity and Filiation, but is only an attribute of these.
But Active Spiration is an attribute in such a manner that
it is contained in the complete concept of Paternity and
Filiation, and unfolds the full signification of these two
characters. The Father, as principle of the first production
in the Deity, is also principle of the second production ;
and the Son, as product of the first production, is also
principle of the second. The Father generates the Son
as Spirator (Pater general Filium Spiratorem}, and the Son
is one with the Father in Spiration as in all other things
The Father as Father being also Spirator, and the Son
as Son being likewise Spirator, it follows that the Father
is principle of all communications, and is a communicating
principle only ; that the Son is principle of only one com-
314 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. in. munication, and is at the same time a receiving and com-
SECT. 100. . ...
mumcating principle.
FourReia- IV. As from the twofold production in God results a
threefold form of possession,so from thesame there result four
real relations (relationes, a\t<Kig), or two mutual relations.
Each production gives rise to two relations, viz. of principle
to product and vice versd : generation is the foundation
of the relation of Father to Son and of Son to Father ;
spiration is the foundation of the relation of Father and Son
to the Holy Ghost, and of the relation of the Holy Ghost to
Father and Son. And of these real relations there are
only four, because the spiration proceeds from Father and
Son as from one principle, so that Father and Son bear to
the Holy Ghost one indivisible relation. The relations are
real, not merely logical, because they are founded upon a
real production, and are the condition of the real being of
the principle and of the product. Whence they have
essentially a twofold function : the differentiation of the
terminus a quo and the terminus ad quern, and the con-
necting of both terms ; or rather, they only distinguish,
in as far as at the same time they represent, the Persons dis-
tinguished as appertaining one to another, and so bind Them
together, that if one ceased to be, the corresponding one
would likewise cease. This also applies to the relation of
Father and Son to the Holy Ghost ; for although They are
not Father and Son on account of the Spiration, still
without the Spiration They would not be all that They are
by essence.
Fiv-8 V. The special marks or characters which distinguish
each of the three Persons from the other two, are called
in theology proprietates, iStw^uara, or iSmjree ; and con-
sidered as objects of our knowledge, " Distinguishing and
Personal Notions " (notiones distinguentes and personates^
twotai or yvwpiG/LiaTa BiaKpiTiKO, and o-uoraroca) ; in the
language of the schools they are termed simply notiones
divince or notiones.
These notions are five in number, viz. the four relations
as positive notions, to which is added the " Ingenerateness,"
or " Innascibility " of the Father as a negative notion. This
last characterizes the peculiar position of the Father more
PART II.] The Trinity in Tradition. 315
distinctly as First Principle in the Deity, and thus completes CHAP. m.
the notion of paternity. The negative notions that might be
predicated of the Son and of the Holy Ghost (viz. that the
Son is not Father, and the Holy Ghost is not Spirator) are
not taken into account, because they do not complete the
notions of Filiation and Spiration, but result at once from
these notions. The positive notions may be conceived and
expressed in a variety of ways, e.g. the Sonship as " being
spoken as a Word," or as generation in its active or passive
sense. These differences of expression, however, do not
alter the number of notions.
Three of the five notions appertain to the Father
Ingenerateness, Paternity, and Active Spiration ; two to
the Son Filiation and Active Spiration ; one to the Holy
Ghost Passive Spiration.
VI. Thus there are in God : Summaiy.
1. One Nature ;
2. Two Productions ;
3. Three Persons ;
4. Four Relations ; and
5. Five Notions.
3i 6 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAPTER IV.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE TRINITY FROM THE
FECUNDITY OF THE DIVINE LIFE.
SECT. 101. The Origins in God resulting from the Fecundity
of the Divine Life as Absolute Wisdom.
CHAP. iv. A PURELY scientific explanation of the Trinity is impos-
' sible ; the only possible explanation is a theological one,
starting from at least one revealed principle. That prin-
ciple is " the inner fecundity of the Divine Life," the deter-
mination of which is the object of the present portion
of our treatise.
Distinction I. That the plurality of Persons is brought about and
neceSSSy can be brought about only by the production of two of
upon origins. Them from the First Person, is certain from Revelation,
and (given the real distinction of the Persons) is also
evident to reason. The teaching of Revelation is already
known to us. As regards reason we observe that, as the
Divine Substance cannot be multiplied, the distinction of
the Divine Persons necessarily rests upon the distinct pos-
session of the same Substance ; and a difference in the
manner of possessing the Divine Nature is necessarily
founded upon the distinction between giving and receiving.
The Divine II. It is likewise certain from Revelation, and evident
are li^g" 5 to reason, that the Divine productions are essentially acts
of life. For the products are living Persons, generated
and spirated, and life can only be communicated by a
living principle.
The Divine HI. Since the nature of a being is the principle of the
Nature the .
prtncipivm acts of its life and of the communication of life, we must
QUO.
hold that in God the principle (Jtrincipium quo} of the inner
PART II.] The Evolution of the Trinity. 317
communications of life is His Divine Nature ; that is, CHAP. iv.
the Divine Nature as formally identical with the acts of EC _H. IOI-
knowing and willing.
IV. The communication of life being the essential out- Im >nanent
productivity
come of the absolutely actual and purely spiritual life- f .j e Divi "
activity of God, its form is necessarily different from any
form of productivity observable among creatures : it is
neither a reproduction of the Divine Essence in the Persons
produced, nor a production of organs destined to enlarge
and develop the sphere of life. The form of the Divine
productivity can only be conceived as an immanent radia-
tion and outpouring of the force and energy of the Divine
Life, expressing itself in distinct subjects ; so that the
Divine Life, by reason of this very manifestation of itself
ad intra, communicates itself to the Divine Persons. Hence
the foundation of the Divine fecundity or productivity is
the superabundant fulness of the Divine Life ; and, as God
is the absolute Spirit, that is Life itself, His fecundity
is, unlike that of any being outside of Him, infinitely
productive.
From this also appears the deep meaning of the old
Roman doctrinal formula : " The three Persons are one
Spirit" (Iv
V. In order to arrive at a more concrete determination D 'T ine L j f
as lecund
of the productivity of the Divine Life, we must consider
it as the absolute and substantial Wisdom that is, the
most perfect Knowledge of the highest Truth and the most
perfect Love of the highest Good. According to this, the
communication of life in God must be effected by means
of acts of the Divine Intellect and Will in such a manner
that the products of the communication manifest, represent,
and complete the Divine Knowledge and Volition, and
that the products are but the inner manifestation and
the adequate expression or outpouring of the substantial
Wisdom of God. Now, Wisdom contains two, and only
two, distinct forms of life-activity, viz. Knowledge and
Volition, and is itself a combination of the Living Truth
with the Living Holiness. Hence the two productions which
we know by Faith to exist in God, must be distributed
between these two forms of life in such a manner that one
318 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. iv. of them must be the expression and completing terminus
of the absolutely perfect Knowledge, or the manifestation
of the Living Truth ; and that the other must be the out-
pouring and terminus of the absolutely perfect Volition and
manifestation of the Holy Love or the absolute Holiness of
God. The productions, however, are not distributed in such
a way as to be independent of one another, which would
nappen if the one manifested only the Knowledge of truth
and the other only Love and Holiness. They are even
more intimately connected in God than knowing and willing
in created minds. The expression of Knowledge is essen-
tially the expression of a Knowledge which breathes holy
Love ; and the outpouring of Love is essentially of a Love
full of wisdom. Thus, in both productions, although in a
different manner, the whole of the Divine Wisdom is mani-
fested. (Cf. St. Aug., De Trin., 1. xv., n. 8 sqq., Franzelin,
th. xxvi.)
Scripture VI." The proposition, " The communication of life in
and Ira- '
dhion on God is based upon a twofold manifestation of the Divine
this point. A
Wisdom," is more than a working hypothesis ; it is the
only admissible one, and claims the character of a fixed
principle for the declaration and the evolution of the dogma.
Holy Scripture indicates this clearly enough, and Tra-
dition has from the very commencement treated it as
such. It is, therefore, of such a degree of certitude that
to deny it would be temerarious and erroneous.
Thefirst j The character of the first production as inner
production
s through expression of the Divine Knowledge, is set forth in Holy
the Intellect.
Scripture with all possible distinctness. The Second
Person's proper name is " the Word " (Aoyoe, Verbum\
and the name "Wisdom " is appropriated to Him ; to Him
alone are applied the terms "image" (aca>v), "figure"
" mirror," " radiance," and " splendour " (airav-
of God, terms which in themselves imply an ex-
pression of the Divine Knowledge, and which, taken in
conjunction with the names Aoyoc and Wisdom, can
imply no other meaning. In this manner the first pro-
duction was conceived and declared even in ante-Nicene
writers, but more especially by the Fathers of the fourth
century.
PART IT.] The Evolution of the Trinity. 319
2. The character of the second production as a mani- CHAP, iv
festation of the Divine Volition, is not so formally set
forth in Holy Scripture. Still it is sufficiently indicated, production
negatively and indirectly, by the non-application of therewith
names of the intellectual production to the Third Person,
and by the appropriation of the first of these names (Word)
to the Son ; whence the second production, which must
be analogous to the first, is necessarily a manifestation of
the other form of life in God, viz. of the Divine Will. And
also, positively and directly, in the two elements of the
name of the Third Person (" Holy," " Ghost "), and in the
description of the many functions and operations attributed
to Him, which all characterize Him as the representa-
tive of Divine Love. In Scripture and in early Tradition
alike, the character of the production of the Holy Ghost
is only hinted at ; in the fourth century it received a
certain amount of development during the controversies
on the Divinity of the Holy Ghost. The exposition of
the Greek Fathers is slightly different from that of the
Latins. The Greeks represent the Holy Ghost as a mani-
festation of the absolute sanctity of the Divine Will, as the
Spirit of Holiness, and " Subsisting Holiness." The Latin
Fathers represent Him as the hypostatic manifestation of
the Love of the Divine Will existing between Father and
Son ; He is the " Spirit of Mutual Love and Unity," or
" Subsisting Union." These two views differ only on the
surface. The Sanctity, common to Father and Son, from
which the Holy Ghost proceeds, is the Love of the supreme
goodness and beauty of the Divine Essence, and as such
includes Love of the Persons Who possess that Essence.
On the other hand, the mutual Love of Father and Son is
Love of their communion in the possession of the supreme
goodness and beauty ; hence this Love is but Sanctity con-
ceived in a more concrete manner. The unity of the two
views is best expressed thus : " The Father loves in the
Son, as in the resplendent image of His Goodness, the
Supreme Beauty ; and the Son loves in the Father, as in
the principle of His Beauty, the Supreme Goodness."
320 A Mamtal of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. IV.
SECT.J02. SECT. 1 02. The Prodtictions in God are True Productions
of an Inner Manifestation (i) of the Divine Knoivledge
through Word and Image ; and (2) of the Divine Love
through Aspiration, Pledge, and Gift.
Difficulty of I. The chief difficulty of the doctrine of the Divine
real produc- Productions consists in clearly determining how a real pro-
duction in the Divine Intellect and Will is to be conceived.
The Divine Intellect and the Divine Will essentially
possess their entire actual perfection, and are identical with
the acts of knowing and willing. Hence a production by
the acts of knowing and willing similar to that which takes
place in the created mind (viz. by a transition from poten-
tiality to act), is impossible in God. The First Person does
not acquire His wisdom through the Generated Wisdom,
but possesses in His own Essence Wisdom in its fullest
actuality. In the created mind, all productions are the
result of a faculty passing from potentiality into actuality ;
this being impossible in God, we cannot conclude from His
acts of thought and volition that these acts result in the
production of any reality. This is also the reason why the
reality of the Divine Productions cannot be known by
reason alone, but must be learned from Revelation. The
only conceivable form of a Divine Production is that, in
virtue of the superabundant fulness of the actuality of the
Divine Knowledge, a manifestation of it is brought about
and a fruit produced. This is the element which Revela-
tion adds to our natural knowledge of the perfection ot
Divine Life, and which connects the doctrine of the Trinity
with the doctrine of the Nature of God.
rh n first II- The character of the first production in God as a
manifesu" * manifestation and an exercise of the Divine knowledge is
L>i"ine fittingly pointed out in Holy Scripture by the names ot
knowledge. Word and i mage " (John i. ; Heb. i.). " The Word "
designates the product formally as the expression of the
knowledge; "the Image" designates it as the expression
or copy of the object of the Divine knowledge that is,
the Divine Essence. The inner manifestation and expres-
sion of knowledge is called Word and Image in analogy
with the external word and image which manifest our
PART II.] The Evolution of the Trinity. 321
knowledge externally. But, whereas in man we apply the CHAP, i?
names "word " and " image " to the act of knowledge itself ^ZLL *'
because our mental representation is distinct from its prin-
ciple and from its object ; in God, Whose actual knowledge
is identical with its principle and its object, the terms
" Word " and " Image," in their proper sense, can only be
applied to the manifestation of the knowledge and to the
expression which results from the manifestation. The sense
of both names is contained in the representation of the
intellectual product as radiation and splendour of the Divine
Light ; for God is Light, especially inasmuch as He is the
substantial Truth that is, the " adequation of the highest
knowable with the highest knowledge," and hence the
"splendour and radiance" of this Light is necessarily
the expression of the Divine knowledge as well as of the
Divine Essence. Moreover, this way of designating the in-
tellectual production illustrates how the Divine knowledge
necessarily produces an expression of itself, not from any
want, but by virtue of its essential fecundity.
III. Holy Scripture indicates the character of the second The second
production in God as a manifestation and exercise of His aTactof 011
Love, by representing its product as an " Aspiration " and
"Gift" or "Pledge" of Love. Just as thought naturally
craves to express itself, so love naturally desires to pour
itself forth ; the external out-pouring of love is manifested
by an aspiration or sigh coming from the heart, and by the
gifts which pass from the lover to the beloved as pledges
of his love. In like manner the internal effusion of love,
in as far as the effusion can and ought to be distinguished
from love itself, must be considered as an internal aspira-
tion, gift, and pledge. Holy Scripture applies the names of
gift and pledge to the Holy Ghost only in relation to crea-
tures ; but we have to determine the operation of the Divine
Love independently of creatures, and must therefore study
it in its own essence.
The Divine Love must be viewed in a threefold manner :
I. First, and above all, as God's complacency with
Himself as the supreme Goodness and Beauty. The product
of the Love in this sense does not yet appear as a pledge
or gift, but rather as an aspiration or as a sigh of love, in
Y
322 A Manual of Catholic TheoCogy. [BOOK n.
CHAP. iv. which Love breathes forth its ardour and energy, or as the
k ^Il- 102 ' seal of love (Cant. viii. 6 : " Put me as a seal upon thy
heart "). It is in this sense that the Greek Fathers conceive
the Holy Ghost when, in analogy with the odour of incense
or of plants, they describe Him as the odour of the sanctity
of God.
2. Divine Love may be considered as the mutual love
of Father and Son for each other, as founded upon their
common possession of the supreme Goodness and Beauty.
In this respect the manifestation of Love appears as the
final act or complement of the living communion of Father
and Son : the manifestation still bears the character of an
aspiration, but at the same time it conveys the notion
of a bond or link, which, as a bond (vincuhtm, nexus] of
love, is called "Pledge" (pignns, arrJia, inasmuch as in the
pledge the lover possesses the beloved, or gives himself to
be possessed by the beloved), and " kiss " (osculuni) and
M embrace " (awplexus, by St. Aug.).
3. God loves Himself as the infinitely communicable
and diffusive Good ; consequently His Self-Love contains a
readiness to communicate His goodness that is, supreme
liberality. In this respect the Divine Love acts as giver,
and the fruit of the Liberality of Divine Love is called
Gift. This name, however, is not quite adequate, because
at first sight it signifies only that the inner product of the
Divine liberality should manifest it ad extra, as a gift to
others, whereas the self-giving Love of God cannot pour
out its entire plenitude on its product without making this
the object and the subject of the communication. In other
words, the term " Gift " supposes the existence of a receiver,
whereas the communication of Love in God produces both
Receiver and Gift.
In every one of these three ways, the effusion of the
Divine Love appears as an effusion of Divine delight, hap-
piness, and suavity ; as a bright burning flame rising from
the fire of Divine Love ; as the burning breath escaping
from a loving heart. Hence the manifestation of Love in
God is as much a breathing of Love and a flame of Love,
as the manifestation of knowledge is a radiation of know-
ledge.
PABT IL] The Evolution of t/ie Trinity. 323
CHAP. IV.
SECT. 103. The Perfect Immanence of the Divine Produc- SECT. 103.
tions ; the Substantiality of their Products as Internal
Expression of the Substantial Truth and Internal Effusion
of the Substantial Sanctity.
I. However necessary it may be to distinguish in God NO real ais-
the expression of knowledge from knowledge itself, and God'helwlen
the effusion of love from love itself, it is equally necessary andTts g<
not to separate or divide the expression from the knowledge e
or the effusion from the love. As we are dealing with pro-
ductions in God which have their principle and their ter-
minus in God Himself, expression and knowledge, effusion
and love are not only intimately connected, but are identical,
are one and the same tiling. Hence the Divine Knowledge
is not only in its inner word as the thought of man is in the
external word (i.e. as in its sign), or as the idea of the artist
is in his work (i.e. as in its representation) : the Divine
Knowledge lives and shines forth in its expression exactly
as it does in itself, being so produced in its expression as to
completely pass into it. In like manner, the Love of God
is in its inner effusion not only as a force in its effects or as
human love in an external pledge, but in such a way that
it burns and flows in its effusion as it does in itself ; the
effusion being such as to completely contain the outpoured
Love.
II. The identity just described constitutes the supreme Substanti-
r i- 111 alityofthe
perfection, the unique reality and absolute immanence of Divine Pro-
the Divine Word and Spiration of Love. The inner Word
of God is more than a Word eminently full of life and
wealth, and the Divine Spiration of Love is more than a
Spiration full of life and holy delight : the Divine know-
ledge being not a reflex of truth but Substantial Truth, its
expression, identical with itself, is also a Substantial Word,
the substantial expression of the Absolute Truth, and is this
Truth itself. And the life of the Divine Will being not a
tendency to what is good, but Substantial Goodness and
Holiness, its inner effusion, identical with itself, is also a
Substantial Spiration and outflow of the Absolute Goodness
and Holiness, and is this Holiness itself. In God, therefore,
the Word of knowledge and the Spiration of love are not
324 -A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. iv. immanent in the same way as they are in the human
tcr.^103. m j nc j ^ g g as accidents in their subjects), but in such a
way as to be identical with the substance that produces
them ; they are not so much in the substance as they
are the substance itself, and they also have the substance
in themselves. Hence the only difference conceivable
between the principle and the terminus of a production in
God is that they each possess and represent the Absolute
Truth and the Absolute Goodness in a different manner.
III. Hence the life and reality of the particular products
can be further determined as follows :
Life and i. As essential and substantial Truth, the Life of the
reality of
the first pro- Di v i ne Intellect is, on the one hand, identical with the
duction ...
Divine Nature as principle of knowledge that is, with
the Divine Intellect itself; on the other hand, it is identical
with the formal object of the Divine Intellect, viz. the
Divine Essence. Consequently the expression of the
Divine knowledge must re-produce, not only the knowledge,
but also the knowing intellect, and not only an ideal repre-
sentation of the Divine Essence, but the Divine Essence
itself. Hence the expression of the Divine knowledge is
not a mere word that is, a manifestation of the knowledge
or some image of it but a real and substantial image of
nature and essence, containing not only a manifestation of,
but the Divine Nature and Essence itself. And the internal
speech of God is a real radiation of His own Nature and
Essence, just as His external speech gives to created things
their nature and essence.
item, ofths 2. As essential and substantial Goodness and Holiness,
the life of the Divine Will, or Love, is, on the one hand,
identical with the Divine Nature as principle of the Divine
Will ; on the other hand, with the goodness and holiness
of the Divine Essence as the formal object of the Divine
Will. Consequently the effusion of Divine Love must
contain, not only the Love, but also the Will of God ; and
not only an affective union with the Supreme Goodness,
but the Supreme Goodness itself. Hence the effusion of
the Divine Love is not only an expression of the affection,
not only an affective surrender to the object of love and
liberality, but (a) a spiration, wherein the Divine heart pours
PART IT.] The Evolution of the Trinity. 325
out its own Life and its whole Essence ; () a pledge of love, CHAP iv.
, , i i SECT. 104.
wherein the loving persons are united, not only symboli-
cally, but really and in the most intimate manner, because
their whole life and their whole goodness are really, truly,
and essentially contained therein ; and (c) a fruit of the
Divine Liberality, containing, on the one hand, that Liber-
ality itself that is, the Divine Will and its life, and, on the
other hand, the whole riches of the real goodness that is,
of the Essence and power of God ; which therefore is the
principle and the source of all other Divine gifts, the " Gift
of all gifts," in the same manner as God is the " Good
of all goods."
SECT. 104. The Divine Productions as Communications of
Essence and Nature ; the Divine Products as Hypostases
or Persons.
I. If the internal Divine productions are true prod uc- The Divine
tions and their products are substantial products, the pro- ar hypos"*
ductions must be conceived as communications of the [f t . prod " c "
Divine Nature from one subject to another, consequently
as productions of other subjects, who are put in full posses-
sion of the Divine Nature and thus are Divine Hypostases
and Persons.
1. The perfect actuality of the Divine Life, which p r0 offrcm
requires that its product be nothing but a manifestation of oflmemS
its wealth of life, likewise requires that this manifestation SlSl^i! 1 " "
should not take place by producing a perfection in a sub-
ject already existing. The production can only tend to
communicate the perfection of the producer to another
subject ; and as it communicates the whole perfection that
is, the essence and nature of the producer to the produced
subjects, the latter are necessarily true receivers, and hence
possessors of the Divine Nature and Essence, or Divine
Hypostases and Persons.
2. Where there are productions there is also a produc- Proof 1,
ing subject (the principle which acts, principium quod), to JSaSSC, 01
which the nature (the principle by or through which the In eeneril1
subject acts, principium quo] belongs ; consequently there
is a hypostasis. On the other hand, in every production
the product must be really distinct from the producing-
526 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. iv. principle. But, by reason of the Divine simplicity, there
tcr-o 4 . no sucn rea j distinction between the producer and
his products as would entail a composition of several reali-
ties in the same subject or hypostasis. Consequently the
internal productions in God must result in such a distinc-
tion between the producers and the products as will oppose
the products to the producers as hypostases to distinct
hypostases.
Proof from 3. The products of the Divine productions are substan-
theProducts. tial products ; they are the Divine Substance itself. If,
then, by reason of the productions, a difference must still
exist between the product and its principle, it can only
be that the Substance is possessed by each of Them in a
different manner : in other words, that in each of Them
the Substance appertains to itself, or subsists, in a different
manner. Consequently the Divine productions essentially
tend to multiply the modes of subsistence of the Divine
Substance, and to make the Divine Substance subsist, not
only in one, but in three modes.
Moreover, the three Hypostases in God are also essen-
tially Persons, and Persons of the most perfect kind, because
their Substance is the most self-sufficient of all substances,
their Nature the most spiritual of all natures, their Essence
the noblest of all essences.
There must H- Assuming that the internal productions in God are
jpe/^. tne resu lt of His active cognition and volition, it can be
strictly demonstrated a priori that there are necessarily
tJiree Divine Persons. There cannot be less than three
because the communication and manifestation of the Divine
Life would be incomplete, if either the intellect or the
will remained barren. Nor can there be more than three
because, in this case, either other productions would take
place besides those admitted by the internal manifestation
of knowledge and will; or the productions would not be
perfect and adequate manifestations of knowledge and
volition ; or, lastly, the acts of knowing and willing would
be multiplied as well as the products.
The Trinity of the Divine Persons is, therefore, not
accidental, but based upon the nature of the Divine fecun-
dity, which would be manifested incompletely in less than
PART II.] The Evohition of the Trinity. 327
three Persons and cannot be manifested in more than CHAP. iv.
three, because in three it manifests and exhausts its full SECT - I0 *-
wealth.
III. Likewise, in the above hypothesis, the Three Persons Order of
appear essentially in the fixed order of succession deter- oahe* 5 '
mined by their origin as revealed in Scripture. For the P< sons "
production by knowledge supposes, from its nature, but
one knowing Person as principle, yet, at the same time,
through the intermediation of the fecundity of the know-
ledge, tends to give fecundity to the love which proceeds
from the knowledge. The production by love from its
very nature, presupposes the existence of two persons,
because, in God, love can only be fruitful in as far as it
proceeds from a fruitful knowledge, is essentially mutual
love between the first Person and His Image, and takes
the form of a gift of two persons to a third. But the
order of origin does not imply an order in the Nature,
Essence, or Substance of the Persons, because in kind and
in number there is but one Nature. In general, the order
of origin does not imply that what stands first in the order
actually exists, or even is possible, before or without what
stands last ; or that the last is in any way dependent on or
subordinate to the first. For the producing Persons cannot
be conceived in their particular being without the relation-
ship to their Product, nor can the first production be con-
ceived without the second, which is consequent upon it ;
and as the producing Persons are related just as necessarily
to their Products as the Products are to Them, the subordi-
nation and dependence otherwise existing between Product
and Principle is here obviated.
IV. There can be no question of an order of dignity NO order w
between the Divine Persons, as if the producing Persons dlgmty>
possessed either a higher dignity than their Product or
authority over it. For, although the character of principle
is a true dignity (at'w/za), or rather constitutes the personal
dignity and personal being of the Persons Who possess it,
still it is no less a dignity for the produced Persons to be
the end and object to which the communicative activity of
the others is directed essentially, or that the whole being
of the Producers is as essentially for the Products as the
328 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IT.
CHAP. iv. whole being of the Products is essentially from the Pro-
. ( j ucers j n O th cr W ords, in God there is no order founded
upon degrees of personal dignity, but upon the various
ways, determined by the relationships of origin, of possess-
ing the same supreme dignity, viz. the essential possession
of the Godhead.
V. The reasons why the first production in God is alone
tion' Eilione termed " generation " are manifold. Some are taken from
enetion. the inconveniences that would arise from applying the
same name to both productions. All the others may be
reduced to the fact that the first production alone has a
special likeness to the generation of bodies, considered
as a natural operation (pperatio per modum naturce\ and
as a " building up " and " representative " operation. As
regards the mode of operation, the likeness rests upon
this, that the first production, being carried out by the
intellect, is similar to the mode of operation of nature,
as opposed to operation by free will ; in a more special
sense, it proceeds from its principle spontaneously and
essentially, and is effected through the fundamental life-
force of the Divine Nature. On the part of its tendency
the first production possesses the specific type of genera-
tion, in as far as in it the communication of life is effected
by the expression of an intellectual word and the im-
pression of a real image, and consequently it has essen-
tially the tendency to express and represent, in the most
perfect manner, the essence of its principle. Again, it is
not only generation really and truly, but generation in the
purest and highest sense of the word, because it is free
from all the imperfections of material generation, and, most
of all, because it perfectly realizes the fundamental idea
of all generation, viz. the attestation or representation of
what the progenitor is. It produces, in the most sublime
sense of the word, a " Speaking Likeness," in which the
whole Essence of the Progenitor is substantially, vitally,
and adequately contained and represented. The second
production is not named "generation," because all the
elements which stamp the first production as true genera-
tion are taken precisely from the specific character of this
first production, and are not found in the second.
PART II.] The Evolution of the Trinity. 329
VI. The first production, being alone a generation, its CHAP, iv
. . , . SECT. 104.
product may be illustrated in many ways by a comparison
with th2 product of plant generation. The eternal Word production
is at the same time the Germ, the Flower, and the Fruit of ^S plant
the Divinity : the Germ, because He is the original mani- g
festation of the Divine power ; the Flower, as manifesting
the Divine beauty and glory ; and the Fruit, as concentrat-
ing the whole fecundity and the wealth of Divinity, through
which all other Divine productions go forth, so that all being,
form, and perfection in creation are virtually contained in
it. As that which first springs from the root, viz. the stem,
produces and supports all the other products, and therefore
is called in Latin robur, we understand why the Son is so
often called the " Strength (virtus} of the Father." The
analogy of the blossom or flower further illustrates why
Holy Scripture represents the Son as the " Figure " or
" Face " of the Father, and the analogy of the fruit explains
why the Son, and the Son alone, is represented as the
"Food" or "Bread of life" of created spirits. Cf. Ecclus.
xx iv. 17-24.
VII. The dogmatic name "Procession" (imiroptvaig) is Processuw
not considered by the Latin doctors as the specific Spiration.
name for the second production in God : they use it for
want of another expressing a more definite character. In
order to determine its signification they combine it with
the term "Spiration," in the sense of animal breathing,
in as far as this indicates partly the mode of operation
of the second production (processio sive impnlsus amoris,
viotus ab anima), partly the nature of the act by which it
is effected, viz. the transitive mutual love of two Persons
(Patrts in Filiiun, Filii in Patrem}. The Greek Fathers,
on the other hand, use the term tKTropeuo-tc to designate a
special form of substantial emanation, analogous to the
emanation which takes place in plants side by side with
generation, and is effected by the plants themselves and
their products, viz. the emission of the vital sap or spirit
of life in the form of fluid, oily substances in a liquid or
ethereal state, such as balsam and incense, wine and oil,
and especially the odour or perfume of the plant which is
at the same time an ethereal oil and the breath of the plant.
330 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CFTAP. iv. Hence, to designate the active production of the Holy
3fc.cr.jo.,. QJ IOS ^ fa e Greek doctors seldom use the name TTV;'HV
(spirare, to breathe) ; they prefer the expressions irpofldXXtiv,
tKirtjUTTuv, Trpoxsav, with the corresponding intransitive ex-
pressions ifci^otrav, ava/3Auftv, Trnydfciv. The two concep-
tions complete and illustrate each other : they show that
the procession in God is an emission in the highest sense
of the word, viz. the emission of an affection and of a
gift, not, however, of a mere affection and an empty gift,
but the most perfect and most real outpouring of the sub-
stantial love of God, which is at once Substantial Goodness,
Holiness, and Happiness, and the crown and complement
of the entire Divine Life.
From its analogy with the emission from plants, the
name " Procession " (iicTropeua-te), besides its principal mean-
ing which refers to the form of the procession as a motion
directed outward, receives a twofold secondary meaning,
the one relating to the principle, the other to the terminus
or object of the motion. This secondary meaning shows
the emission as a transmission, and is also applicable to
the Holy Ghost. For, as the fluids emitted by a plant
proceed immediately from the product of generation (the
stem, flower, and fruit), but originally from the principle
of generation (the seed or root), and consequently pass
through the product of generation; so also in God, the
effusion of His Substantial Holiness essentially flows
through His Substantial Truth from the principle of the
latter. This the Greek doctors convey by the terms
TTjoojSaAAetv, IK-ITS. fjiiruv and tKTroptvtaOai. And just as the
fluids emitted by plants have a particular facility and
tendency to spread and diffuse themselves outward, so
also the Holy Ghost, in His quality of Effusion and Gift
of the Divine Love, and as the completing act of the
Divine fecundity within, bears a particular relation to the
outward diffusion of Divine Love and donation of Divine
gifts, and especially represents the all-filling and all-pene-
trating power of the Divine Love (Rom. v. 5).
PART II.] The Evolution of the Trinity. 331
CHAP. IV
SECT. 105. The Special Names of the Divine Productions as SECT - IOS -
Communications of Life in analogy with Generation and
Spiration in the Animal Kingdom The Personal Names
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost The Economy (oiKovo^im)
of the Divine Persons.
I. The name "generation," is given to the first produc- Divine
Paternity
tion in God, because it is a true communication of intellec- andSonship
tual life to another subject, or a production of one person
from another," whence also its Principle is termed " Father "
and its Product "Son." In mankind, the father, and
not the mother, is the proper active principle of genera-
tion ; and the son, not the daughter, is the product of
generation perfectly like the father. The paternity in the
Divine generation is not only real but is paternity in the
highest sense. The Divine Father transfers His life into
His Son, exclusively by His own power, whereas the human
father only prepares a communication of life, which, in
reality, is accomplished through the influence of a higher
vital principle. Moreover, the Divine Father does not
require the cooperation of a maternal principle in order to
perfect His Product : His generation is absolutely virginal.
In short : God the Father, as such, is the sole and adequate
principle of the perfect Son. Thus the Eternal Father is,
in the strictest sense, the " own " Father (Pater proprius}
of His Son, and the eternal Son, the "own" Son (Films,
proprius) of the Father. For the same reason the Paternity
of the Eternal Father is the ideal and type of " all paternity
in heaven and on earth" (Eph. iii. 15) that is, of any
paternity of God respecting creatures and of all paternity
among creatures. And the Sonship of the Eternal Son
is the ideal and type of all sonship, but particularly of the
sonship of adoption, which consists in the creature being
made by grace partaker of the life which belongs to the
Son by nature.
II. The second production in God, as far as it is a real The Holy
,. .... Ghost.
communication of life to another person, has no analogue
in human nature. It has, however, an analogue in the
tendency to communicate one's own life to another person,
and this is "the emission of the breath from the heart."
332 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. iv. which, notably in the act of kissing, gives a most real
"' I05 ' expression to the tendency of love towards intimate
and real communion of life. More than this is not re-
quired to show that the corresponding act in God is a real
communication of life, and that its Product is a real Person.
What in the creature is a powerless tendency or striving,
is in God an efficacious operation ; wherefore, as the Spirit
or Breath of God not only awakens and fosters, but gives
life when emitted and imparted to creatures, so also the
internal emission of this Spirit is necessarily a real com-
munication of life. This becomes still more evident if we
consider that the emission of the Divine Spirit of life is
not destined to bring about a union of love between two
loving hearts existing separately, but flows from one heart,
common to two Persons, to manifest and enact their abso-
lute unity of life, and consequently must tend to communi-
cate life to a Third Person, distinct from the First and
Second. The emission of the human breath is inferior to
generation as an analogue for a Divine communication of
life, because it does not produce a new person ; but, on the
other hand, it has the double advantage of being more
apparent and visible, and of standing in closer connection
with the higher life of the human soul, notably with love.
By reason of this analogy of origin there can be no
human personal name designating the Third Person in the
Trinity as the name " Son " designates the Second. On
the other hand, however, the name " Spirit," or " Ghost," ia
the sense of immaterial being, cannot be His proper name,
because in this sense it is common to the Three Persons.
The proper name of the Third Person is taken from the
impersonal emission of breath (TTVEV^O, spiritus] in man,
and receives its personal signification in God by being con-
ceived as " Spiritus de Spiritu" the life-breath of the purest
Spirit. Where the spirating subject is a pure spirit, its
whole substance and life are necessarily contained in the
substantial breath (spirit) which it emits ; and thus this
breath is not only something spiritual, but is a Spiritual
Hypostasis or Person. The relation of the Spirit of God
to the spiritual Nature of its Principle and its Essence
is expressed by the name " Holy Ghost," because the
PART II.1 The Evohition of the Trinity. 333
purest spirituality of God culminates in the Substantial CHAP. iv.
Holiness of the Divine Life. SECT-JOJ.
The connection of the name " Ghost " or " Spirit " with
the human breath is generally taught by the Fathers. Its
relation to the spirituality of the spirating (breathing)
person is especially pointed out by the Greek doctors,
although they do not describe the origin as spiration as
often as the Latin writers ; it corresponds with their
organic conception of the Holy Ghost as the "Perfume"
and " Oil " of the Godhead. The Latin Fathers, on the
other hand, although they more frequently use the term
spiratio, do not lay much stress on the original meaning
of spirit, but give great prominence to the idea of the
osculum (kiss) as a bond of union. They used to say,
following St. Augustine, that the Third Person is properly
called "Spirit," because the other Two, whose communion
He is, are commonly so called. By both Greeks and
Latins, however, it is always noted that the name Spirit,
applied to the Third Person, ought, like the name Son, to
be taken relatively, that is as the Spirit of Somebody. The
Greeks lay more stress on the genitive of origin (viz. origo
per emanationem substantialem ex principid], whereas the
Latin doctors rather point out the genitive of possession,
considering, as it were, the Holy Ghost as the common
soul of the two Persons united in love.
III. Although no human person furnishes an adequate Analogue r^
r * the Holy
analogue for the Third Person in the Blessed Trinity Ghost in ihe
J ' human
still we can point to one who approaches as near as the family,
diversity between Divine and human nature allows. This
human person is no other than the bride, who / as spouse
and mother, stands between father and son in the com-
munication and representation of human nature, and is as
essentially the third member of the human community, or
the connecting link between father and son, as the Holy
Ghost is the Third Person in the Divinity.
I. The analogy is easily understood if the bride be con- T^*
J , Bride
sidered in her ideal, ethical position in the human family,
as wife and mother. Here she stands out as the repre-
sentative of the union of father and son ; as the focus in
which the mutual love of father and son centres ; as love
334 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP, iv personified and as the soul of the family. The differences
SECT. 103. r i
arising from the diversity of Divine and human nature are :
(a) In the Trinity the Personified Love is only a bond not
a mediator between Father and Son, and, consequently, is
not the mother of the Son. () The Person of Love cannot
be considered as the wife of the Father, because this Person
is not a co-principle with Him, but only proceeds from
Him. (V) The Person of Love stands in the same relation
to the Son as to the Father ; hence, as regards origin, the.
Son comes between the Father and the Substantial Love
of Both. The intermediate position of the human mother
between principle and product ; her function of nourishing,
fostering, cherishing and quickening, and of being the
centre where the love of father and child meet, find their
analogue in the relations of the Holy Ghost to the external
products of Father and Son, viz. to created natures.
2. Considering the wide differences between the " Person
of Love" in God and in mankind, human names cannot
be unreservedly applied to the Holy Ghost. The names
"mother" or "wife" must be excluded altogether; the
name "bride" might be applied in the restricted sense
that the Holy Ghost is the original and bridal partner of
Father and Son. He is a bridal partner, because in virtue
of their love He constitutes a substantial unity with them ;
He is a virginal partner, because He is with Father and
Son, not as supplying a want of their nature, but as a Gift ;
He is the bridal partner of Both, because He bears the
same relationship of origin to the Father and to the Son.
3. The constituents of the analogy in question are
foSSn sufficiently expressed by the name " Holy Ghost " (which
anakTy of ^ n Hebrew is of the feminine gender n-n, ruach, like anima
bhde. j n Latin), inasmuch as it designates the Third Person of the
Trinity precisely as the focus of a mutual love that is
purely spiritual, chaste, and virginal. We may further
remark that the name Holy Ghost is derived from the
name Ghost common to the other Two Persons, just
as the name Eve, with respect to her relationship of
origin, was derived from that of man (Gen. ii. 23). More-
over, the proper name which Adam gave to the wife taken
from his side to signify her maternal character, is not only
PART II.] The Evolution of the Trinity. 335
analogous in construction, but quite synonymous with the CHAP, iv
name Ghost ; for Eve (mn) signifies life, or, more properly,
the outflowing life, the breath, i.e. that which, in analogy
with the breath, quickens and fosters by its warmth. And
as herein is expressed the ideal essence of the universal
mothership of the first woman (" And Adam called the name
of his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the
living "), so also it expresses the characteristic of the Holy
Ghost as principle of all the life of creation ; wherefore
also the Holy Ghost in this respect is called the " Fostering
Spirit."
This analogy is completed by the origin of the first
r.'oman, an origin different from generation but similar
to the origin of the Holy Ghost, and symbolizing the
origin of the mystic bride of God. For the "taking" of
Eve from the side of Adam, that is, from his heart, can
only signify an origin by loving donation on the part of
Adam, although this donation only gave the matter which,
by the supernatural intervention of God, was endowed with
life. Now, according to all the Fathers, the origin of Eve
was the type of the origin of the Church, the virginal bride
of Christ, from the side of her Bridegroom, nay, from His
very Heart, and by virtue of His own vital force through
the effusion of His life's Blood. But, on the other hand,
the effusion of the Blood of Christ being the vehicle and
the symbol of the effusion of the Holy Ghost, and the
Church, by reason of her moral union with the Holy Ghost,
being the bride of Christ, we have here an illustration of
the character of the eternal procession of the Holy Ghost
Himself, which bears the closest relation to the emission of
the breath from the heart
IV. In order to preserve all the force of this human The Dove
analogy, and, at the same time, to do away with its inherent oflhTHolj
imperfections and to point out the elements which do not
appear in it, Revelation itself represents the Holy Ghost,
with regard to this origin and position, under the symbol
of an animal being, viz. the Dove. He appeared in the
form of a dove on the Jordan (Matt. iii. 16), but already in
the narrative of creation (Gen. i. 2) this form is hinted
at. The dove, in general, is the symbol of love and fidelity,
336 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [KOOK u.
CHAP. iv. especially of chaste, meek, patient, and innocent iove, and
SECT.J . go ^ illustrates nearly all the attributes of the Spirit of
Wisdom, described in Wisd. vii., that is, in one word, His
Holiness. But the Divine Dove represents also the Holy
Ghost as the Spirit of God that is, as the Spirit proceeding
from Father and Son and uniting Them. Like a dove,
the Holy Ghost ascends from the heart of Father and Son,
whilst in Him they breathe their Love and Life or Soul;
and, like a dove, with outspread wings and quiescent motion,
He hovers over them, crowning and completing their union,
and manifesting by His sigh the infinite felicity and holiness
of Their love. In short, this image shows the Holy Ghost
as the hypostatic " Kiss," " Embrace," and " Sigh " of the
Father and the Son, that is, in His character of Their
virginal Bride.
The same image also represents the Holy Ghost in
His relation of "Virginal Mother" to creatures. As a
dove He descends from the heart of God upon the creature,
bringing down with Him the Divine Love and its gifts,
penetrating creatures with His warming, quickening, and'
refreshing fire, establishing the most intimate relations
between God and them, and being Himself the pledge of
the Love which sends Him and of the love which He
inspires ; and lastly, in the supernatural order, penetrating
into the creature as into His temple to such a degree that
the creature in its turn becomes the virginal bride of God
and the virginal mother of life in others, and thus receives
itself the name of dove a name applied especially to the
Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church, and the virgins of Christ,
and generally to all pious souls (Cant. ii. 10).
SECT. 1 06. Complete Unity of the Produced Persons ivitfc
their Principle, resulting from their Immanent Origin :
Similarity, Equality, Identity, Inseparability and Coin-
herence
r.jentityof I. The intellectual origin of the Divine Persons accounts
Lssence, the
germ of all no t only for their personal characters but also for their
other J r
unities. perfect unity, which is commonly considered under the five
different forms mentioned in the title of this section, and
comprehends their Essence, Life and external operations
PAST II.] The Evolution of the Trinity. 337
their Dignity, Power, and Perfection. The unity of identity CHAP. iv.
in Essence that is, the absolutely simple unity of the Divine ^J
Essence itself contains the germ of the other forms, and
gives to these other forms of unity in God a perfection
which they have nowhere else. Similarity and equality,
inseparability and interpenetration, are but so many inade-
quate conceptions of one and the same essential identity.
The several forms of unity express certain relations between
the Divine Persons. But these relations are of a different
kind from the relations of origin, of which they result.
Theologians term them relationes rationis, in contradis-
tinction to the relationes reales, that is, the relation of
origin.
II. In detail the several forms of unity of the Divine
Persons are originated and formed as follows :
1. From the fact that in God the produced Persons are similarity
the innermost manifestation of His Nature and Life, there Dissimi-
follows, first of all, a similarity entailing more than a mere M
agreement of qualities, viz. a similarity extending to the
very Essence ; and, as there are no accidents in the Divine
Nature, but all perfections are contained in its Essence,
the similarity is perfect in all and excludes all dissimilarity
(6//Oorrjc Kara ovcriav cnrapaXXaKTOQ. Cf. Card. Newman,
A than., ii. 370).
2. As the produced Persons are, further, an exhaustive Perfect
manifestation of their Principle, which completely expresses mail,
and diffuses Itself in Them, we have as a consequence the
equality (identity of quantity) between the Divine Persons.
Quantity in God is not a material quantitative greatness,
but the virtual internal greatness of perfection and power,
which is infinite (cf. 64).
3. Similarity in kind, combined with equality of quantity, identity m
, , . . ... . , oneness of
or, generally speaking, intrinsic and universal agreement, Substance
is sufficient, even in creatures, to justify the expression*
" The one is what the other is," viz. they are something more
than similar and equal. In this sense the Greeks apply to
creatures the term TUVTO-TIQ, which, in etymology, though
not quite in sense, is equivalent to identity. The identity,
however, of creatures, e.g. of the members of the same
family, is but partial and very impenect. In God, on the
z
338 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK ll.
CHAP, iv contrary, the identity of the Three Persons is absolutely
E< ill_ 106 ' perfect. For the internal and exhaustive manifestation
of the Divine Nature is not a multiplication but a commu-
nication of It to the produced Persons, and is therefore
present in all and is identical with each of Them ; conse-
quently, as to what They are, the Persons are not only
similar, equal, and related, but are purely and simply the
same. The notion of identity, without destroying the dis-
tinction of the Persons, completes the notions of similarity
and equality, at the same time presenting them under a
form peculiar to God. The Divine Persons are similar and
equal, not by reason of like qualities and quantities possessed
by Them, but by reason of the possession in all alike
essential, perfect, eternal, and legitimate of the quality and
quantity of one Substance. On the other hand, the iden-
tity of Essence adds to simple similarity, which may exist
between separate things, the notion of intimate connection ;
and to simple equality in quantity, the notion of intrinsic
penetration. Further, it completes the notion of this con-
nection and penetration by representing them as effected,
not by some combination or union, but by the Essence of
the Three Persons being one and undivided.
buu para 4' ^ ne i nse P ara ble connection of the Divine Persons
with one another is brought about in the most perfect
manner by Their relations of origin. The produced Persons
cannot even be conceived otherwise than in connection
with their Principle, and, being the immanent manifestation
of a substantial cognition and volition, They remain within
the Divine Substance and are one with It. The producing
Principle, likewise, cannot be conceived as such, and as a
distinct Person, except inasmuch as He produces the other
Persons ; and These, being the immanent Product of His
Life, are as inseparable from their Principle as His life
itself.
Co-inher- 5. The intimate unity of the Divine Persons appears
ence, or J rr
intervene- at its highest perfection when conceived as interpenetration
and mutual comprehension. The Greek Trept^pricng, and
the Latin circuminsessio (better circumincessio), are the
technical terms for the Divine interpenetration. nepixuptiv
has a fourfold construction: Trtptvw/mv tie aAA>jA> tv aAA?'-
PART JlJ The Evotiition of the Trinity. 339
&' aXX'')Awv, and aXXrjXct ; the first three correspond CHAP, iv
with the meanings "invade," "pervade," of -^wptlv, the EC
last with its meaning of "hold" or "comprehend." The
circumincession, or comprehensive interpenetratiou, implies
the following notions. Each Person penetrates and per-
vades each other Person inasmuch as each Person is in
each other Person with His whole Essence, and possesses
the Essence of each other Person as His own ; and again,
inasmuch as each Person comprehends each other Person
in the most intimate and adequate manner by knowledge
and love, and as each Person finds in each other Person
His own Essence, it follows that it is one and the same
act of knowledge and love by which one Divine Person
comprehends and embraces the other Persons. " Each of
the Three Who speak to us from heaven is simply, and
in the full sense of the word, God, yet there is but one
God ; this truth, as a statement, is enunciated most intel-
ligibly when we say Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, being
one and the same Spirit and Being, are in each other,
which is the doctrine of the Trtpi\wpr)aiQ " (Card. Newman,
Athan., ii., p. 72 ; cf. Franzelin, th. xiv.).
By reason of these several forms of unity arising from
the unity of Essence, the Divine Persons constitute a
society unique in its kind : a society whose Members are
in the most perfect manner equal, related, and connected,
and which, therefore, is the unattainable, eternal, and
essential ideal of all other societies.
III. The unity of the Divine Persons, in all its forms, Oneness of
' external
embraces as subject-matter Their inner Being and Life, operation.
and also Their operations ad extra. As regards the power
necessary to these operations, and the various elements
concurring in its exercise (viz. idea, decree, execution),
the activity of each Person is in the most perfect manner
similar, equal, and identical with that of the other Persons,
and consequently is exercised so that all the Persons
operate together, inseparately and inseparably, not only
in external union, but intrinsically, in each other, so as to
be but one absolutely simple activity.
The absolute simplicity of the Divine activity is not
impaired by the scriptural and traditional expression " that
340 ^ Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK 11.
io > ^ 1C -^ V1 " ne P era tion proceeds from the Father through the
" Son in the Holy Ghost." This expression is intended to
convey the meaning that the Divine operation or activity
is perfectly common to the Three Persons, but is possessed
by each of Them in a particular manner, viz. in the same
manner in which they possess the prindpium quo of
action that is, the Divine Nature. Another signification
of the same formula will be explained in the following
section.
SECT. 107. The Appropriation of the Common Names,
A ttributes, and Operations to Particular Persons.
prfa- I. Although all the names, attributes, and operations
' ' which do not refer to the personal relations of the Divine
Persons are, by reason of the unity of Substance, common
to them all, it is, nevertheless, the constant style of Holy
Scripture and Tradition to ascribe certain names, attributes,
and operations to particular Persons so as to serve to dis-
tinguish one Person from another. The process by which
something common to all the Persons is attributed as
peculiar to one of Them, is called Appropriation (icoAArjme).
Such appropriation, of course, does not exclude the other
Persons from the possession of what is appropriated to one.
Whatever is appropriated is not even more the property
of one Person than of another. The only object of appro-
priation is to lay special stress on, or to bring out more
distinctly, the possession of some of the common attributes
by one Person, so as to illustrate either this particular
Person or the attributes in question, by showing their con-
nection. For this purpose it is sufficient that the Person
in question, by reason of His personal character, bears a
special relationship to the attribute, and is, therefore, not
only its owner but also its representative.
The appropriations are so indispensable that without
them it would be impossible to give a vivid picture of the
Trinity. They are useful and indispensable to represent
each Person as distinguished from the other Persons, since
we always associate separate persons with separate pro-
perties and operations ; they are especially useful and
necessary to bring out the Persons of the Father and the
PART IL] The Evolution of the Trinity. 341
Holy Ghost as distinct from the Son Who appeared among CHAP. iv.
us in a human nature with properties and operations exclu- "^J 07 *
sively His own ; they further serve to distinguish the
Divine Persons from other and imperfect beings bearing
the same names ; this is notably the case in the appella-
tions " Pater aeternus," " Filius sapiens," " Spiritus sanctus."
The appropriations also help to illustrate and represent
the Divine attributes and operations in life-like form, and
especially to represent the Divine Unity as essentially
living and working in distinct Persons.
II. The appropriations in use in Holy Scripture and The appro-
in the language of the Church, may be grouped under the clarified,
following categories :
1. Of the substantive names, "God" is appropriated God, Lord
to the Father as the " Principle of Divinity ; " " Lord " to
the Son, as the natural heir of the Father, Who, in the
Incarnation, has received from the Father a peculiar
dominion over creatures. Hence the Son is commonly
called " Son of God," and the Holy Ghost " Spirit of God,"
or " Spirit of the Lord." The Holy Ghost bears no other
appropriated Divine name, because His proper name
(Spirit), if not considered as expressing His relationship
to Father and Son, is in itself a substantive Divine name,
and, in a certain sense, only becomes a proper name by
appropriation, viz. inasmuch as, like the air in the wind,
the Divine Substance reveals in its spiration the full energy
of its Spiritual Nature. In I Cor. xii. 4, however, "Spirit"
may be taken as an appropriation on a line with " God "
and " Lord."
2. The names designating properties of the Divine Appro-
Being and Life are distributed among the Three Persons attributes,
either in the form of adjectives ("one," "true," "good,") or
of nouns ("unity," "truth," "goodness"), so as to corre-
spond with their active or passive relations of origin. The
Second and Third Persons receive only positive predicates,
because the special nature of Their origin is always taken
into account, whereas to the Father, as Ingcnerate or Un-
begotten, negative predicates are likewise appropriated, e.g.
eternity. To the Father are appropriated, in this respect,
essential being, then eternity and simplicity, also power
342 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IT.
CHAP. iv. and goodness in the sense of productive and radical fecun-
7 ' dity, because these attributes shine forth with more splen-
dour in the Unbegotten Principle of the Trinity. To the
Son, as the Word and intellectual Image of the Father, is
appropriated Truth (objective and formal, 73) and re-
splendent Beauty. To the Holy Ghost, as the Aspira-
tion, Pledge, and Gift of the eternal Love, is appropriated
Goodness, as well in its objective sense of what is perfect,
amiable, and beatifying ( 74), as in the formal sense of
holiness, bounty, and felicity. As, however, unity may be
considered under many respects, unity pure and simple is
ascribed to the Father, unity of equality to the Son, and
unity of connection to the Holy Ghost.
Appropria- 3. With regard to the Divine operations ad extra, the
external appropriations receive various forms and directions. As
operations, regards the power, wisdom, and goodness manifest in all
Divine operations, power, as efficient cause, is appropriated
to the Father ; wisdom, as exemplar cause, to the Son ;
and goodness, as final cause, to the Holy Ghost. Con-
sidering, in analogy with created activity, the order or
evolution of the Divine operations, the decree (= resolu-
tion, will) to operate is appropriated to the Father ; the
plan of the work to the Son ; the execution and preserva-
tion to the Holy Ghost. With regard to the hypostatic
character of the individual Persons, the Father is said, by
appropriation, to produce the substantial being (= the sub-
stance) and the unity of all things by creation, and to
perform works of power, such as miracles ; the Son is said
to give all things their form and to enlighten all minds,
likewise to confer dignities and functions ; the Holy Ghost
vivifies, moves, and guides all things, sanctifies spirits and
distributes the charismata.
Appropri!.- 4. In connection with these, there are other appropria-
fou n nded tions founded upon the general relation of the creature to
?5atimof God, and especially on the relations of intellectual creatures
^.tures to with their Creaton As all things exist o f t h e Father
through the Son in the Holy Ghost, so intellectual creatures
are made the children of the Father through the Son to
Whom they are likened, in the Holy Ghost with Whom
they are filled. Thus they also can direct their worship to
PART II.] The Evolution of the Trinity. 343
God the Father through the Son in the Holy Ghost, the CHAP. iv.
SECT. io&
Son and Holy Ghost being not only the object of worship,
but, at the same time, mediators of the worship offered to
the Father from Whom They originate and Whose glory
They reveal, and with Whom They receive the same worship
because They are one with Him. The Father especially is
represented as receiving the Divine worship offered to God
by the Incarnate Son as High-priest, although the sacrifice
of Christ is offered to Himself and to the Holy Ghost as
well as to the Father. Here, however, we go beyond
simple appropriations, and enter the domain of the mission
of the Divine Persons, of which we shall speak in the
following section.
A beautiful exposition of appropriations is found at the
end of St. Augustine's De Vera Religione, " Religet ergo
nos religio, etc." See also St. Thorn., /., q. 39, arts. 7, 8.
SECT. 1 08. The Temporal Mission of the Divine Persons.
I. Revelation often speaks in general terms of a coming General
of God to and into His creatures, and of a manifesting Divine '
Himself to, and dwelling in, them. This coming and in- m
dwelling is especially set forth in connection with the two
Divine Persons Who have Their eternal origin from another
Person, and it is represented so as to make this temporal
procession appear as a continuation of Their eternal pro-
cession. In consequence of this, the Person from Whom
another proceeds assumes towards the One Who proceeds
the same position as exists between a human sender and
his envoy ; and for this reason the procession ad extra of a
Divine Person is spoken of as a "Mission."
II. The external mission of Divine Persons admits of Divine
r r . . . . . mission free
none of the imperfections inherent in human missions, ofimper-
The perfect equality of the Divine Persons excludes the
notion of authority in the Sender, and, in general, any in-
fluence of the Sender on the Sent other than the relation of
origin. Again, the perfect coinherence or interpenetration
(TTtptxw/oTjo-tc) of the Divine Persons excludes the idea of
any separation of the Person sent from PI is Sender, and
of any separate activity or operation in the mission. Lastly,
the immensity and omnipresence of the Trinity exclude
344 -d Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. iv. the possibility of any local change caused by the temporal
s< 1 ' mission of one of the Persons. The procession ad extra
can be brought about only by a new manifestation of the
substantial presence of the Person sent, and consequently
by a new operation taking place in the creature, whereby
the Divine Person reveals Himself externally or enters
into union with the creature.
Animperfect III. To lay too great stress on what we have just said
notion of a ... ~ J
Divine might lead to a false notion of the missions of Divine
mission. ..-.
Persons. It must not be thought that the whole mission
consists in a Divine Person coming down to the creature
merely as representative of an operation appropriated to
Him but common to the Three Persons, thus infusing not
Himself but merely His operation into the creature, and
consequently not proceeding ad extra in the character of a
Person distinct from His Principle as well as from His
operations. As a matter of fact, in many texts of Holy
Scripture the mission of Divine Persons implies no more
than that They reveal themselves in creatures as bearers of
an activity appropriated to Them and as Principle of an
operation in the creature. Such is the case, for instance,
where, in the spiritual order, every supernatural influence
of God on the soul is ascribed to a coming of the Son or
the Holy Ghost. But the theologians of all times agree in
considering this kind of mission as an improper one, and
assert the existence of another, to which the name of mission
properly belongs.
Kinds and IV. The manifestation ad extra of a Divine Person, in
forms of .. . - . .
mission. a mission properly so called, takes place in a twofold
manner. Either the Divine Person appears in a sensible
form or image really distinct from Himself, which makes
the Person Himself and His presence in the creature appa-
rent, this is called a Visible or External Mission ; or the
Divine Person really enters into an intellectual creature,
uniting Himself with it in such intimate, real, and vivid
manner, that He dwells in it, gives Himself to it, and takes
special possession of it, this is called an Invisible or
Internal Mission.
Both forms are found in their greatest possible perfec-
tion in the Incarnation of the Son of God. In His Incar-
II.] The Evolution of the Trinity. 345
nation the Son of God contracts with a created nature, at CHAP. iv.
the same time intellectual and visible, a union which is ' h( ^ ^
proper to Himself alone, exclusively of the other Divine
Persons, and by reason of which the visible body in which
He appears is not only a symbol of His Person, but is His
own body. Besides, the Incarnation was at the same time
a mission of the Son of God in His own human nature
and to all men, among whom He dwelt visibly. The Incar-
nation stands alone as a pre-eminent mission. In other
missions the visible and invisible are not necessarily con-
nected, nor do they exist in the same perfection. A visible
mission, indeed, never takes place without an invisible one,
but invisible missions are not always accompanied by visible
manifestations. Besides, excepting the Incarnation, visible
missions are not real but symbolical ; the invisible ones
are real : but whilst in the Incarnation we have an hypostatic
union with the substance of a created nature, here we have
the hypostatic presence of the Divine Person in the life
of the creature, which presence includes an intimate relation
between the Divine and the created person, making them,
as it were, belong to each other ; wherefore this kind of
mission is termed " Missio secundum gratiam" or, better,
" secimdiim gratiam gratum facientem"
V. The invisible mission of God the Son and God the invisible
Holy Ghost, especially the latter, to the souls of the just, sou?*.
being such a consoling mystery, it is of the utmost import-
ance to gain a clear conception of it ; viz. to understand
as far as possible, how in this mission a Divine Person
enters the soul, not figuratively but really, in the proper
and strict sense of the word.
In order that the coming of a Divine Person to the
soul may be really personal, two things are required. It
is not enough that the Person should come as principle
of a new operation ; it is necessary that His Substance
should become present to the soul in a new manner, other-
wise the mission or coming would be personal only in a
figurative sense. As, however, the Divine Substance and
activity are common to all the Persons, the presence of
the Substance of a Divine Person is not sufficient to enable
us to say that He is present as a distinct Person, or as
346 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. iv. distinct from Hi's Sender. If the hypostatic character of
the Person sent is not brought to the fore, His mission is
not strictly personal, but must be considered as an appro-
priation. Moreover, the coming of a Divine Person into
the soul must be conceived from the point of view of a
living union of the Person with the soul, or of an intimate
presence of the Divine Person in the supernatural life of
the soul, in virtue of which the Divine Person gives Him-
self to the soul and at the same time takes possession of
it Holy Scripture constantly speaks of an intimate, holy,
and beatifying union as the consequence of the coming
of a Divine Person into the soul ; the Person is given to
the soul and the soul becomes His temple (cf. Rom. v. 5 ;
i Cor. iii. 16). Hence, the personal mission of the Divine
Persons consists in a donation of themselves to the soul
and in a taking possession of the soul ; their personal pre-
sence in the soul implies a relation of most intimate and
mutual appurtenance between the Divine and the human
person.
HOW to VI. We have, then, to show how, in the communication
mission by of supernatural life by means of sanctifying grace (gratia
gratum faciens), a personal presence in the soul, and a
personal relationship of the Divine Person to the soul, is
to be conceived. The demonstration may be effected in
two directions, considering, on the basis of Holy Writ, the
relation of the Divine Person to the supernatural life
of the soul: (i) as its exemplar principle, or (2) as its
final object. Both relations, however, are closely connected,
and ought to be considered together in order to arrive at
an adequate conception of the personal presence and
relationship.
-P^ i. The supernatural life of the soul consists, in its inmost
S 1 ^ Per ~ essence, in a participation in the Divine Life that is, in a
Sauii Ur f knowledge and love of such an exalted kind as is proper
only to the Divine Nature ; it has, therefore, its root and
ideal (= exemplar) in God Himself. Hence, God, when
communicating supernatural life, must approach the soul
in His Substance in a more special manner, distinct from
every other Divine influence ; so that, if He were not
already substantially present as Creator, He would become
II.] Tke Evolution of the Trinity. 347
so present as Giver of supernatural life. Moreover, this CHAP. iv.
communication of God's own life to the soul appears "
as an imitation> a continuation, and an extension of that
manifestation arid communication of life which produces
the Son and the Holy Ghost. The irradiation of super-
natural knowledge into the soul is essentially an imitation
and an extension of the internal radiation of Divine know-
ledge terminating in the Eternal Word and Image, and so
implies a speaking of His Divine Word into, and impres-
sion of this Divine Image upon, the soul. The infusion
or inspiration of supernatural love is an imitation and an
extension of the internal effusion of Divine Love terminating
in the Holy Eternal Spirit, and thus implies an effusion
of the Divine Spirit into the soul. Hence, just as the
supernatural life results from an internal and permanent
impression of the Divine Substance on the soul as from
the impression of a seal, so also the Products of the
Divine Life impress themselves on the soul in an inner-
most presence. Consequently, the Persons proceeding ad
extra, enter into a living relationship with the soul, not
only as to their Substance, but also as to their personal
characters. They are personally united to the soul,
inasmuch as They permeate the life of the soul, manifest
Their personal glory in it, and live in it.
This view of the Divine missions is alluded to in the
following texts : <
(a) The mission of the Son : " My little children, of
whom I am in labour again, until Christ be formed in
you " (Gal. iv. 19) ; " That Christ may dwell by faith in
your hearts" (Eph. iii. 17).
(U] The mission of the Holy Ghost : " The charity of
God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost Who
is given to us " (Rom. v. 5) ; " In this we know that we
abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of
His Spirit" (i John iv. 13). To these must be added all
the texts which represent the Holy Ghost as living in us,
or us as living in Him, as if He were the breath of our life.
Thus : " But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if
so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any
man have not the Spirit of Christ [= the Spirit of Love],
348 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II.
CHAP. iv. he is none of His " (Rom. viii. 9) ; " For whosoever are led
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you
have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear ; but
you have received the spirit of adoption of sons [= in filial
love], whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (ibid., 14, 15) ; "We
have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit
that is of God " (i Cor. ii. 12).
o?vine Per- 2- T^ e knowledge and love which constitute supernatural
a n FinIT ent ^ e (^ke the Divine knowledge and love of which they are
Sa'nait* a c Py) nave f r their proper object God Himself, as He
is in Himself. As in the Divine Life, so in the super-
natural life of the soul, the Divine Essence is the object
of possession and fruition, and must therefore be sub-
stantially present to the soul in a manner not required by
the natural life of the soul. This presence attains its
perfection only in the Beatific Vision and in beatific
charity, but it already exists in an obscure and imperfect
man-ner in our present state of cognition and chanty
(cognitio et caritas vice}. For if the Divine Substance
becomes an object of intimate possession and fruition to
the soul, the Divine Persons Themselves, each with His
original characters, likewise become the object of the soul's
possession and fruition by knowledge and love, and They
enter the soul as such object. The Son is given to the
soul as the Radiance and Image of the glory of the Father,
in order that in Him and through Him, the soul may know
and possess the Father. And the Holy Ghost is given as
the Effusion and the Pledge of the infinite Love that unites
Father and Son, and of God's Fatherly love for His crea-
tures ; as the Blossom of the Divine sweetness and loveli-
ness, as the personal " osculum Dei," which the soul receives
as the adopted daughter of the Father and bride of the Son,
and which is the food and the fuel of the soul's love to God.
This is the deeper sense of the words, " That the love
wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in
them " (John xvii. 26). Consequently, both Persons are
given to the soul as an uncreated Gift, and the created gift
of sanctifying grace has precisely this object to enable
the soul to receive and to enjoy the uncreated Gift.
As the object of supernatural knowledge and love, the
I'ABT II.] The Evolution of the Trinity. 349
Divine Persons are also the final object, or the end, of CHAP. iv.
the soul, in which the soul finds rest and beatitude, but SEC JjJ 09 '
which likewise claims from the soul honour and glorifi-
cation. Now, each Divine Person, in His hypostatical
character, can claim an honour especially directed to Him-
self, and a special manner of dominion over creatures ;
hence, although the Three Persons always enter the soul
together, and take possession of it and live in it as in Their
consecrated temple, nevertheless each of Them does so in
a manner peculiar to Himself. This indwelling is especially
proper to the Holy Ghost, because He is the representative
of the Divine sanctity and the model of the sanctity of the
soul ; and further because, being pre-eminently the personal
Gift of the Divine Love, He naturally receives and accepts
the love by which the soul gives itself to God. The Holy
Ghost being pre-eminently the " Sweet Host " of the soul,
is also the Holy Lord and Master Who transforms it into
His temple and takes possession of it in the name of the
Father and of the Son. (See Scheeben's Mysteries, 30 ;
and Card. Manning's two works on the Holy Ghost).
SECT. 109. The Trinity a Mystery but not a Contradiction*
I. We have shown (in 57) that the real existence of Cause of tin
the Three Persons in one God cannot be demonstrated by conceiving
, -r, , . . .. , , . the mystery
created reason. r rom this it follows that our concep- of the
tions of the Trinity of Persons can be but analogical and
imperfect, and even more obscure and imperfect than our
conceptions of the Divine Essence and Nature. It is, con-
sequently, a matter of course that our reason should find
it always difficult, and sometimes impossible, to comprehend
the possibility of the several Divine attributes and of their
coexistence in God. However, correct and accurate con-
ceptions of the analogical notions enable us not only to see
the necessary connection between several attributes, but
also to show that no evident contradiction exists between
them. Most of the contradictions which the Arians, the
Socinians, and the modern Rationalists pretend to detect
in the mystery of the Trinity, present hardly any difficulty,
because they are based either upon misrepresentation or
misconception of the dogma.
350 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK II
CHAP. iv. Our modern Rationalists are far more superficial than
.-ECT.JOO. t j ie j r p rec i ecessO rs. They think they raise a serious ob-
jection when they say that one cannot be equal to three !
As if the dogma stated that one God is three Gods or one
Person three Persons ! Most of the difficulties of detail
may be met by an accurate statement of the dogma, such
as we have been attempting to give. We only touch here
upon the chief difficulties which may still remain.
Difficulties II. These difficulties are in reality but two viz. (i) the
real distinction of the Persons, notwithstanding their identity
with one and the same absolutely simple Essence ; and (2)
their perfect equality in every perfection, notwithstanding
the origin of one Person from another. The first difficulty
rests on the axiom : Things identical with the same thing
are identical with each other ; and the second on the
principle that origin implies inferiority.
Solution of i. The first difficulty is solved thus : Although Person
difficulty, and Essence in God are " One Supreme Thing, altogether
simple," still, Person and Essence no more represent the
same side of this " Supreme Thing " than cognition and
volition. " Person " is the Supreme Thing as possessing
itself; "Essence" is It as object of possession. Hence it
is not absolutely inconceivable that a substance as wealthy
as the Divine should possess Itself in several ways ; and
if so, It must also be able to manifest Itself in several
Possessors, Who, as such, are no more identical among
Themselves than the forms of possession are identical.
If, further, each Person is identical with the Essence, He
is only identical as a special form of possession of the
Essence, and thus, from the axiom, "Things which are
identical with the same thing are identical with each other,"
it only follows that They all possess the same Essence
through identity with the same ; and not that They are
also identical in the form of possession.
Bunion of 2. The second difficulty is solved thus: An origin in
Jhe second *
difficulty. God is the result, not of an accidental, but of an essential
act that is, of an act identical with its principle as well as
with the Divine Essence, and essential to both principle
and Essence ; but this being admitted, it is not at all
evident that the produced possession ought not to be like-
PART II.] The Evolution of t fie Trinity. 351
wise essential, but merely accidental, or merely by connec- CHAP, iv
tion and not by identity with the Divine Essence. Moreover, ":LJ ia
the communication of the Nature by the Father does not
result from a power and wealth founded on His personality,
but from the power of the common Nature, which essen-
tially tends to subsist not in one but in three Persons, and
manifests this power equally in the Three Persons, although
in a different form in each.
SECT. 110. The Position and Importance of the Mystery
of the Trinity in Revelation.
I. Considered in relation to our natural knowledge of Philosophi-
cal import-
God, the dogma of the Trinity has a certain philosophical * nce of the
J dogma.
importance, inasmuch as it adds clearness and precision to
our notions of a living and personal God, perfect and self-
sufficient, operating ad extra with supreme freedom, power,
and wisdom. The dogma thus prevents pantheistic and
superficial deistic theories on God and the world. Still,
however useful it may be from this point of view, its revela-
tion cannot be said to be necessary, as such necessity would
destroy the transcendental (supernatural) character of the
dogma.
II. The revelation of the Trinity has its proper and
essential significance in relation to our supernatural know-
ledge of God (i) as object of beatific fruition, (2) as object
of glorification (pbjcctum friiitionis beatificans, objcctnm
glorifica tion is) .
I. The beatitude of intellectual creatures consists inTheknow-
their knowledge of God and in the love of God consequent Trinity in-"
upon such knowledge. Wherefore, the greater the know- fruition of r
ledge the greater the beatitude, and vice versa. Hence life. '"
the revelation of the Trinity has, in general, a substantial
value inasmuch as it essentially increases our knowledge
of God. It has also a special value, because, unlike natural
knowledge, it shows God as He is in Himself, and discloses
His internal life and activity, thus making the knowledge
by Faith an anticipation of and introduction to the imme-
diate vision of the Divine Essence and a pledge of its reality.
The revelation of the Trinity further leads us into the
35 2 A Manual of Catholic Theology, [COOK n.
CHAP. iv. knowledge of an internal manifestation of God's greatness
SECI.JIO. a ^ power, goodness and love, beatitude and glory, which
represents God as the highest Good in quite a new light,
far above anything that external manifestations could teach
us, and therefore producing, even in this life, a love full ol
delight, unknown to natural man. In the trinitary origins
especially, the Divine fecundity and tendency to com-
munication appear as objectively infinite, whereas the unity
of the Three Persons reveals the beatitude of God as possess-
ing in a wonderful manner the element which is the flower
and condiment even of created happiness that is, the
delight of sharing one's happiness with others.
Our know- 2. The knowledge of God, coupled with the admiring
ledge of the . r
Trinity in- love which it begets, constitutes also the external glorifica-
creases e
God's ex- tion of God by His intellectual creatures : the glorification
ternal glory.
increases in perfection with the perfection of the knowledge.
The influence which the knowledge of the Trinity exercises
on the perfection of God's glorification by creatures affects
its very essence. It discloses the internal greatness and
glory of God as an object of our admiration and adoration ;
it proposes for our worship not only the Divinity as a
whole, but each of the Holders and Possessors of the God-
head, and so enables us to worship the Divine Persons
separately ; it reveals in God an infinite, real, self-glorifica-
tion, the Divine Persons as Principle or Product glorifying
each other in the most sublime manner the Father glorified
in the Son as His perfect Word and Image, and Both in
the Holy Ghost as the infinite Effusion of their Love
infinitely more than in any external manifestation. The
revelation of the internal Divine self-glorification renders
it possible to creatures to join in the honours which the
Divine Persons receive from each other, and thus to com-
plete their finite worship by referring it to an infinite
worship. This is done especially in the formula : " Glory
be to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Ghost."
The dogma \\\. The revelation of the Trinity is of great importance
Trinity for the right understanding of the supernatural works of
on God's God in the world. These works bear such a close and
supernatural .... . . /- i i
works. essential relation to the internal productions in God, that
their essence, reason, and object can be understood only
PART II.] The Evolution of the Trinity. 353
when they are considered as an external reproduction, and CHAP. iv.
a real revelation ad extra, of the internal productions and '
relations of God. The supernatural works which here
come under consideration are the union of God with His
creatures (i) by Grace, (2) by the Incarnation.
I. Grace elevates the creature to be the adoptive son of The Trinity
God. The adopted son, as such, is admitted by grace to
a participation in the dignity and glory of the natural Son.
As in human relationships we cannot conceive adoptive
sonship without referring to natural sonship, so likewise in
the supernatural order the adoptive sonship of the children
of God cannot be rightly understood without referring to
the Sonship of the only-begotten Son of God. Hence the
natural Sonship in God is the ideal of all adoptive sonship
on the part of God. It is also the foundation of the possi-
bility of adoptive filiation ; for only from the fact that in
God there exists a substantial communication of His Nature,
and not from His creative power, we gather the possibility
of a participation in the Divine Nature. The natural filia-
tion in God must likewise be considered as the proper
motive and object of the adoptive filiation. It is God's
love of His only-begotten Son, and the delight He finds
in His possession, that urge Him to multiply His Son's
image ad extra. Thus He intends to bring into existence
His adoptive children in order that they may glorify His
paternity and His only-begotten Son. In the adoptive
filiation we must consider also the manner in which it is
brought about, viz. by gratuitous love. From this point of
view, adoptive sonship has its ideal, the ground of its possi-
bility, its motive, and its final object in the procession of the
Holy Ghost, as a communication by means of the purest
love and liberality. Further, it bears to the Person of the
Holy Ghost this essential relation, that the Holy Ghost is
the Pledge and Seal of the communion of God with His
adoptive sons, just as in God He is the Pledge and Seal of
the Love between Father and Son. As the grace of adop-
tive sonship, considered in its origin, is a reflex of the
Trinitarian productions and relations, so it has the effect of
introducing the creature into the most intimate communion
and fellowship with the Divine Persons : " That our fellow-
2 A
354 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK n.
CHAP. iv. ship may be with the Father and with His Son Jesus
SECT. no. ,-,, . ii / T i N
Christ (i John i. 3).
From this it follows that the triune God is the God
of the life of grace, and that a full and perfect develop-
ment of the life of grace is impossible without the know-
ledge of the Trinity. Hence in the New Testament, where
the life of grace first appears in its fulness, the relations
of man to God and man's communication with God are
always attributed to one or other of the Divine Persons.
For the same reason, the naming of the Three Persons is as
essential in the Sacrament of regeneration and adoption
as the faith and confession of the Trinity are the normal
condition of its reception. Hence also the Fathers pointed
out that the faith of Christians in God the Father tran-
scends reason and opens the way to adoptive sonship. Cf.
St. Hilary, De Trin., 1. i., c. x. sqq. ; St. Peter Chrysol.,
Senn. 68 (in Orat, Dom.) : " Behold how soon thy profession
of faith has been rewarded : as soon as thou hast confessed
God to be the Father of His only Son, thou thyself hast
been adopted as a son of God the Father."
The Trinity 2. Whereas in grace we have first an invitation and then,
^ration."" secondarily, a continuation of the Trinitarian productions
and relations, the Incarnation is first of all and in the
strictest sense a continuation ad extra of the eternal origin
of the Son of God and of His relation to the Father and
the Holy Ghost. The Incarnation must not be conceived
merely as God or any one of the Divine Persons taking flesh,
but as the incorporation of a Person gone forth from God,
and precisely of that Person Who, as Word and Image of
God, is the living testimony by which He reveals Himself
internally and externally ; Who, as Son of God, is the born
heir of His kingdom ; through Whom God reigns over and
governs the world ; Who, as the First-born of all creatures,
is naturally called to be, in His humanity, the head of the
whole universe ; Who, lastly, through His hypostatic mission
ad extra, can bring the Holy Ghost, Who proceeds from
Him, in special connection with His mystical body, and
thus make the "seal and bond of the Trinity" the seal and
bond of transfigured creation.
BOOK III.
CREATION AND THE SUPERNATURAL ORDER
Division of GOD, One in Substance and Three in Person, infinite!)
perfect and infinitely happy in Himself of His own good-
ness and almighty power, not to increase His happiness,
not to acquire but to manifest His perfection freely made
out of nothing spiritual and material beings, and man
composed of both matter and spirit. These creatures He
endowed with every perfection required by their various
natures. Angels and men, however, received gifts far sur-
passing all that their nature could claim. God raised them
to a supernatural order of existence, making them not
merely creatures but His adopted children, and destining
them to a supernatural union with Him. Hence this book
will be divided into two parts. In the first part, entitled
Creation, we shall speak of the origin and the natural end
and endowments of creatures. In the second part we shall
speak of the Supernatural Order to which angels and men
were raised;
( .357 )
PART I.
CREATION.
ALL things outside God have God for their origin and
end. They may be grouped, as already noticed, under
three heads : spiritual, material, and composite. We shall
therefore divide this part into five chapters : The Universe
created by God (ch. i.) and for God (ch. ii.) ; Angels (ch. iii.),
the Material World (ch. iv.), and Man (ch. v.).
-4 Manual jj Catholic Theology. [BOOK in.
CHAPTER I.
THE UNIVERSE CREATED BY GOD.
CHAP. i. THE Fathers treat of Creation in their writings against the
pagans and Manichseans. Among the Schoolmen, see St.
Anselm, MonoL, cc. 5-9 ; Peter Lomb., ii., Dist. i, and the
commentaries thereon by /Egidius and Estius ; St. Thorn.,
I.,q. 45, and Contra Gentes,\\., I sqq. ; Suarez, Metaph., disp.
20 ; Kleutgen, Phil., diss. ix., chap. 3.
SECT. in. The Origin of all things by Creation out
of nothing.
AII finite I. Our conception of God as the only Being existing
beings owe ...... ,, . , .
their exist- necessarily, implies that all other beings must, in some
ence to God. . . ..... T . . . .
way or other, owe their existence to Him. It also implies
that these other beings owe their whole substance, with all
its accidents and modifications, mediately or immediately,
to God. Again, the Divine Substance being simple and
indivisible, things outside God cannot be produced from
or made out of it : they can only be called into existence
out of their nothingness, by the power of God. " God exists
of Himself" is the fundamental dogma concerning God ;
the fundamental dogma concerning all things else is that
"they are produced out of nothing by God." Thus the
Vatican Council, following the Fourth Lateran Council,
says, "This one God, of His own goodness and almighty
power, ... at the very beginning of time made out of
nothing both kinds of creatures, spiritual and corporal "
(sess. Hi., c. i). And again, "If any one doth not confess
that the world and all things contained therein, both
spiritual and material, have been, as to their whole sub-
stance, produced out of nothing by God : let him be
PART I.] The Universe Created by God. 359
anathema "(can. 5). This definition is merely an explana- CHAP, i
tion of the first words of the Apostles' Creed, by which, E< ^jJ 11
from the very earliest ages, the Church confessed the
Almighty God to be the Maker, 7rotrjr//C) of heaven and
earth, of all things visible and invisible. The Latin Church
has always attached to the verb creare the meaning of
"production out of nothing ; " the Greek Church possessed
no such specific name, whereas in Hebrew the verb N?3
already had the fixed signification which the Latin creare
afterwards acquired.
When Creation is described as a production from, or
out of, nothing (de nihilo or ex nihilo, ! OUK ovrwv), the
" nothing " is not, of course, the matter out of which things
are made. It means, "out of no matter," or, "not out
of anything," or, starting from absolute non-being and
replacing it by being. The formula is also amplified into,
Productio rei ex nihilo sui et subjecti ; by the Greek Fathers,
often, iic / urja//oi KOI /ur]oa/xw ovrav.
II. Holy Scripture, both in the Old and in the New scripture.
Testament, gives abundant and decisive testimony to the
dogma of the creation of all things out of nothing.
1. This dogma is implicitly contained in the scriptural
descriptions of the Divine Essence, of the Divine Power,
and of God's absolute dominion over the world. If God in
His external works were dependent on pre-existing matter,
He could not be described as Being pure and simple, as
Almighty pure and simple, as entirely self-sufficient ; God
would not be "the First and the Last," "the Beginning
and the End," pure and simple that is, of all things if
outside of Him anything existed independently of Him.
2. Over and over again Holy Writ represents God as
the Principle of all that is, never mentioning any exception.
He is the Founder (e.g. Ps. Ixxvii. 69, Ixxxviii. 12, cii. 26),
the Supporter, and Conservator of heaven and earth ; He
is the Author of the spiritual as well as of the material
world (Col. i. 16). Pre-existing matter, which, indeed, in
the case of simple beings like spirits, would be impossible,
is nowhere spoken of. Many scriptural expressions, e.g.
Heb. xi. 3, can be understood of the fashioning of unformed
matter already existing ; yet this operation is described as
360 A Manual q/ Catholic Theology. [BOOK ill.
CHAP. i. entering into the very substance, so that it supposes a
r ' "* dominion over matter which can belong to none but its
Creator.
3. Creation is further clearly contained in the narra-
tive of the first chapter of Genesis. The narrative pur-
poses to give a full account of the origin of the world ;
had any matter existed previously to the Divine operation,
it ought certainly to have been mentioned. Yet the pro-
duction of heaven and earth is given as the first creative
action, as the foundation of the subsequent operations, and,
besides, we are told that the earth "was void and empty."
This clearly indicates that before the creation of heaven
and earth no finite thing whatever existed. Again, the
Hebrew verb &O3, although not necessarily designating a
production out of nothing, is never used except to express
an action proper to God alone, notably the operations of
His sovereignty, absolute independence, and infinity. In
the narrative of Gen. i. this verb is used to describe the
first production ; it does not occur again in the account of
the subsequent operations except at the creation of man,
ver. 27, because the soul of man is produced out of nothing,
and in ver. 21, possibly to indicate that the animals are not
the product of water and air but of the almighty Word of
God. If we compare the first words of Genesis, " In the
beginning God created," with the first words of the Gospel
of St. John, " In the beginning was the Word," and also
with Prov. viii. 22 sqq., we are forced to conclude that
time itself began with the creation of heaven and earth,
and consequently that, before this creative act, nothing
whatsoever existed outside of God. Hence the sense of
Gen. i. i, is undoubtedly expressed correctly by the
mother of the Machabees when speaking to her son :
" Look upon heaven and earth, and all that is in them :
and consider that God made them out of nothing (t OVK
ovTfuv, 2 Mach. vii. 28).
Reason. jjj p o t j ie un p re judiced mind the dogma of creation
is as plain as the dogma of a self-existing, personal God.
The two notions are correlative. Things outside of
God must, from the fact that they do not exist neces-
sarily, depend for their existence on some other being,
PABT l.J Ttie Universe Created by God. 361
which can be no other than the self-existing God. The CHAP. i.
. c SECT. na.
notion of creation, or production out of nothing, is free from
even a shadow of contradiction, whereas every other notion
concerning the origin of things involves a contradiction.
It is, we admit, quite a peculiar conception, without any
analogy in the operations of creatures ; yet our reason
plainly tells us that creative power is a necessary attribute
of God. Cf. Book II., 76.
The axiom, Ex nihilo nihil fit (Out of nothing, nothing
is made), cannot be urged against the dogma of creation.
It is true, indeed, that by nature or art nothing can be
made out of nothing, but it is certainly not proved that
no being whatever can produce things out of nothing.
Scientists who reject the true axiom, O.nine vivum ex vivo,
and hold that matter endows itself with life, ought to be
the last to raise such an objection.
IV. Active creation, implying, as it does, infinite power, Godaione
* ' can create
is an attribute of God alone. Consequently, all beings
outside of God are created directly by Him and by Him
alone, without the intervention of any other creature.
That no creature, even acting as an instrument of God,
has ever actually created anything, was defined by the
Fourth Council of the Lateran : " There is one true God, . . .
the Creator of all things visible and invisible." It is also
theologically certain that no creature has the power to
create, because this power has ever been asserted by the
Church and by the Fathers to be an exclusive attribute of
God, in the same way as eternity and omnipresence. The
question " whether a creature could be used as an instru-
ment in the act of creation " is answered differently by
different theologians. The best authorities and the best
arguments are in favour of the negative. See Bannez, in
I., q. 45 ; St. Thomas, De Pot., q. 3, a. 4.
SECT. 112. Simultaneous Beginning of the World and of
Time.
I. Holy Scripture implies throughout, and explicitly Time and
J 'the universe
states over and over again, that all things created have a be s a "
& ' together.
beginning in time. When the world was first called into
being time was not yet, because there existed nothing
362 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK III.
CHAP. i. capable of undergoing change. Hence time and the world
ECT.JLI2. k e g an a j. ^e same moment ; or, " the world was created
in the beginning of time," as it is usually expressed in the
language of the Church ; " God, at the very beginning of
time, made both kinds of creatures " (Vat. Council, sess. iii.,
c. i). Thus the formula "production out of nothing" has
the twofold meaning, " Things not existing of themselves
receive existence," and " things not yet existing or not
existing before, begin to be." Holy Scripture points out
the temporal beginning of the world, especially in order to
contrast it with the eternity of God, of the Word of God,
and of the election by grace. E.g. Ps. Ixxxix. 9 ; John
xvii. 5 ; Eph. i. 4. " In the beginning was the Word "
(John i. i) ; that is, the Word was before things began
to be (cf. Prov. viii. 22). In the narrative of Creation, Gen.
i. i, the words "in the beginning" evidently mean the
very beginning of time. This meaning is an obvious one j
it fits in with the context ; it is admissible and is often
insinuated in other texts, e.g. John i. i.
II. If the World came into being with time, the external
Thecreative efficacy of the Divine act which caused it to be, had like-
etcniai. wise a beginning. From this, however, it does not follow
that the creative act itself, as it is in God, had a beginning.
The creative act, considered as existing in God, is nothing
but the Divine decree to call the world into existence.
This act is necessarily eternal, because it is part of the
Divine Life ; but it is also an act of the free Will of God,
and therefore God is absolutely free to fix a time for its
realization.
III. To defend the Catholic dogma that, as a matter
of fact, the world had a beginning, it is certainly not
necessary to demonstrate the impossibility of the opposite
opinion. It is enough to show that a beginning in time
is possible, and that the necessity of eternal existence
cannot be proved. These two propositions are evident ;
for, if a thing does not exist necessarily, still less does it
necessarily exist always ; and God, in Whose power it is
to determine all the conditions under which His works are
to exist, can evidently determine a time for the beginning
of their existence.
l.J The Universe Created by God. 363
IV. Can our reason conceive a creation from all eternity ? CHAP. i.
As the Catholic dogma just stated remains intact which-
ever way this vexed question be answered, we leave it to creation
the disputations of philosophers. The reader will find it MemJty an
amply debated in St. Thomas, /., q. 46, art. I, Contra Gentes, question.
1. ii., c. 31, sqq. ; De Pot., q. Hi., a. 17 ; Capreolus in I Sent.,
d. i. ; Cajetan in I., q. 46, a. 2 ; Estius in 2 Sent., d. i., r i.
These maintain the possibility of eternal creation. The
following deny it : Albertus Magnus, Henry of Ghent, and
most modern theologians. Greg, of Valentia, in I., disp.
iii., q. 2, proposes an intermediate opinion.
SECT. 1 13. God the Conservator of all things.
I. No created beings can continue to exist unless God xatureot
sustains and preserves them. The Divine Conservation conserva-
required for the continuance of created existence, is not
merely negative, but positive : that is to say, it is not
enough for God not to destroy creatures ; He must exercise
some active influence on them. Again, this positive con-
servation is not indirect i.e. a mere protection against
destructive agencies but a direct Divine influence on the
very being of the creature, such that, if this influence were
withdrawn, the creature at once would return into nothing.
Hence the Divine Conservation affects even the incorrup-
tible substances of spirits ; it affects matter and form, and
the connection of both : in short, it is co-extensive with the
creative act. Conservation, like creation, implies a direct
action of the Divine Power and the immediate presence
of God in all things that He conserves. The Catechism
of the Council of Trent, and the generality of theologians
explain the dogma by two familiar analogies : things
depend for their continued existence on the preserving
influence of God in the same manner as a non-luminous
body depends for its light on the source of light, and as
the life of the body depends on the influence of the soul.
We must not believe that God is the Creator and Maker
of all things in such a way as to consider that, when the
work was completed, all things made by Him could con-
tinue to exist without the action of His infinite power. For,
just as it is by His supreme power, wisdom, and goodness
364 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK ill.
CHAP. i. that all things have been brought into being: in like
E ^_ IIo< manner, unless His continuous providence aided and con-
served them with that same force whereby they were
originally produced, they would at once fall back into
nothing. And this Scripture declares when it says (Wisd.
xi. 26), " How can anything endure, if Thou wouldst not ?
or be preserved, if not called by Thee ? " (See also Roman
Catechism, or Catechism of the Council of Trent, pt. i., chap.
2, n. 21.) Other passages of Holy Scripture bearing on the
question are the following. " But if Thou turn away Thy
face they shall be troubled ; Thou shalt take away their
breath, and they shall fail, and shall return to their dust"
(Ps. ciii. 29) ; " Last of all hath spoken to us by His Son,
... by Whom He made the world, . . . upholding all
things by the word of His power " (Heb. i. 2, 3) ; " My
Father worketh until now, and I work" (John v. 17). St.
Paul refers to the passive relation, the being upheld, in the
words, " In Him we live, and move, and be " (Acts xvii. 28).
Necessity II. The necessity of positive Conservation and its
serva'tion. peculiar character of a preserving activity result . from the
fact that the existence of creatures can in no way be due
to the creatures themselves : what is not, cannot give itself
being. The fact that a creature actually exists, does not
change its contingent character ; although it exists, it does
not exist necessarily, but depends on an external cause as
much for its continuous as for its initial existence. The
"derivative existence" of creatures stands to the "self-
existence " of God in the same relation of dependence as
the rays of light to the source of light, and as the acts of
the soul to the substance of the soul. From this point of
view, the preserving influence of God on His creatures at
once appears as a continuous creation.
Not to con- III. From the necessity and nature of this Divine
serve c influence, it follows that God, absolutely speaking, can
destroy His creatures by simply suspending Hii> creative
action (cf. Ps. ciii. 29). A creature, on the contrary, cannot
destroy itself or any other creature as to its whole sub-
stance : neither by suspending a positive conserving influ-
ence, which the creature does not possess, at least as
regards the substance of things ; nor by a positive action
PART I.] The Universe Created by God. 365
opposed to and more powerful than the Divine conserving CHAP. i.
action. Created forces can only change the conditions upon E ^i_ 114 -
which the preservation of substantial forms depends : when
these conditions cease, God ceases His conserving influence.
Cf. St. Thomas, /., q. 104, a. 3, and De Potentia, q. 5, art. 3.
Although, speaking absolutely, God could annihilate
His creatures, it is most probable that He never will
destroy any of the direct and immediate products of His
creative power. Of spiritual creatures, it can be demon-
strated that their eternal conservation by God is a moral
necessity ; as to material things, however, our reason only
leads us to presume that the Divine Will, which gave them
existence and conserved them until now, will never change :
no reason being known why it should. " God made not
death, neither hath He pleasure in the destruction of the
living ; for He created all things that they might be ; and
He made the nations of the earth for health ; and there is
no poison of destruction in them " (Wisd. i. 13, 14)
SECT. 1 14. God the Principle of all Created Action.
The absolute and universal dependence of creatures on
God implies that they can no more act as causes without
a positive Divine influence than, without such influence, they
can begin or continue to exist. God, Who conserves their
substance, also concurs in their operations, so that all
positive reality caused by the activity of creatures owes
its being directly to the action of God co-operating and
co-producing with the created cause.
I. Some notion of this Divine co-operation may be T^ School-
i men on l ^ e
gathered from an explanation of the technical terms in Divine
COilCUfSliS,
which the Schoolmen describe it. They call it " Con-
currence " (concursus) to signify a participation in the
motion (cnrsus) of another being ; " physical " co-operation,
to distinguish it from moral co-operation, which consists
in inducing another person to perform an action ; " natural "
or "general," as opposed to the supernatural and special
concurrence required to elevate our actions to the super-
natural order; "immediate" or "direct," because the Con-
currence in question directly bears upon the energy and
action of creatures, and not merely upon their substance
366 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK III.
CHAP, i and faculties. It is further described as "a Concurrence
4 " in the operations and effects of the secondary causes,"
because it embraces both the act and the effect of the
cause, God working at the same time through and with
the creature. The expression " the action of God in every
thing that acts " conveys the idea that God intrinsically
animates the created cause, working with and by it as the
soul animates the body. The Divine Concurrence must
not, however, be thought of as a force added to, or operating
side by side with the creature, but as the animating, Divine
soul of its own powers and faculties.
Proofs from I- Upon the whole, the above notion of the Divine
an r d d s'c'r- Concurrence is admitted by all theologians, however much
tlire> they may differ as to its further development. The Fathers
find it in Holy Scripture ; and it is a necessary consequence
of the relation of dependence of the creature on God.
" Not only does God watch over and administer every
thing that exists : the things that are moved and that act
He also impels by intrinsic power to motion and action
in such a way that, without hindering the operation of
secondary causes, He (as it were) goes before it (pr&veniat\
since His hidden might belongs to each thing, and, as the
Wise Man testifies, ' He reacheth from end to end mightily,
and ordereth all things sweetly.' Wherefore it was said
by the Apostle, when preaching to the Athenians the God
Whom they worshipped unwittingly : ' He is not far from
every one of us, for in Him we live and move and be ' "
(Catechism of the Council of Trent, pt. i., ch. ii., n. 22).
Holy Scripture refers to the Divine Concurrence in the texts
which ascribe to God the operations of creatures, or which
directly attribute to Him the effects of created activity.
"There are diversities of operations, but the same God
Who worketh all in all " (6 t vfpyuv TO. iravra tv iraaiv, I Cor.
xii. 6); "My Father worketh until now, and I work"
(John v. 17) ; " It is He Who giveth to all life, and breath,
and all things. . . . Although He be not far from every one
of us; for in Him we live and move and be" (Acts xvii.
25, 28) ; "Of Him, and by Him, and in Him are all things "
(f avroC KUI ot' aurot cai ttc ctvrbv ra iravra, Rom. xi. 36).
2. The intrinsic reason for the necessity of the Divine
PART 1.] TJie Universe Created by God. 367
co-operation with secondary causes lies, speaking generally, CHAP, i
in the absolute dependence of all derivative being on the "*
Essential Being. Nothing in the creature that deserves Reason,
the name of being can possibly be independent of the
Creator. But if the effects of created activity were not
directly and immediately attributable to God, they would,
to some extent, be independent of Him. This appears
most clearly in the generation of living things. Here new
and substantial beings receive an existence, the commence-
ment and continuation of which are so peculiarly and
eminently the work of God, that they cannot be conceived
independently of Him.
II. The principle which proves the necessity of the Extent of
. the Divine
Divine Concurrence, defines also its measure and its extent, concur*.
I. Everything that exists, all positive and real being, all
manifestations of a power good in itself, are dependent for
existence on the direct operation or co-operation of God.
But whatever is defective, inordinate, or morally wrong in
other words, whatever is not-being connected with the effects
produced or with the action of the created cause is not
attributable to the Divine Concurrence : the defect or defi-
ciency in either the act or its effect must be ascribed to
some defect or deficiency in the secondary cause which
God does not prevent or remove. In the production of
effects physically or morally defective, God co-operates
somewhat in the way that the soul co-operates in the im-
perfect motion of a lame foot. The motion, not the lame-
ness, is the work of the soul ; in like manner, the positive
being or reality to which an imperfection attaches, is the
work of God, but not the imperfection. Thus, sin comes
from God in as far as it is a positive act and a real being,
but not in as far as it is a deviation from justice. Cf. St.
Thomas, De Malo, q. iii., a. 2 ; and the commentators on
2 Sent. dist. 37.
2. As to the nature of the Divine Concurrence and the HowfarGod
manner in which God influences the activity of creatures, fre^tliu
great controversies exist among Theologians. The burning qSol
question is how God influences free will. According to
the followers of Molina, the Divine Concurrence is a mere
co-operation, or an influence acting side by side with the
.368 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK m.
created cause. The school of St. Thomas holds that it is
a true moving of the creature that is, an impulse given to
the creature before it acts (impulsus ad agendum}. St.
Thomas himself resolves the Divine Concurrence into these
four elements : " God is the cause of all and every action
(i) inasmuch as He gives the power to act ; (2) inasmuch
as He conserves this power ; (3) inasmuch as He applies it
to the action ; and (4) inasmuch as by His power all other
powers act " (De Pot., q. iii., a. 7). He borrows the notion of
applying the power to act to the action, from the applica-
tion of a tool to its work (" as the carpenter applies his
saw to divide a log "). The application by God of the
created power to its object differs greatly, however, from
the application of a tool to its work. The latter action is
merely external and accomplished by local motion, whereas
the former is internal and proceeds from God as its life and
its energizing principle. A better analogy is afforded by
the impulse which the root gives to the life of the plant.
The theory of St. Thomas, as originally proposed by
him, appears at first sight more in harmony with the lan-
guage of Revelation and of the Church, and expresses
better the dependence of the Creature on God. The
mystical depth of the Thomistic theory and the difficulty
of expounding its innermost nature in set sentences tell in
its favour rather than against it, for the same difficulty and
mystery are met with when we pass from a mere machine
to a living organism. The only serious objection against
the theory is that it seems to destroy the self-determining
and self-acting power of creatures. But this objection
draws all its force from a misconception. The Divine
motion is not external and mechanical, like the motion of
a tool ; but organic, like the motion imparted to a living
plant by the action of its root. Such an organic action,
far from destroying the self-acting power of the being to
which it gives an impulse, is really the foundation and
necessary condition of this power.
To enter into a detailed discussion of the two conflicting
systems would be beyond the scope of the present work.
Further information may be found in the commentaries on
/., q. 105.
( 369 )
CHAPTER II.
THE UNIVERSE CREATED FOR GOD.
SECT, r 1 5. Essential relation of Creatures to God as the
Final Object of t/ieir Being, A ctivity, and Tendencies.
I. WE may here take it for granted that every creature CHAP. n.
has, in a way, its end in itself. Creatures are either good SECT - "s-
already or tend to be good ; they possess and enjoy the ^ e a U the end
good which is in them, and find the fulfilment of their creatures -
tendencies in the union with the good to which they tend.
At the same time, however, dogma and reason alike
show that the highest and final object of creatures as such
is not in themselves, 'but in the glorification of the Creator.
" If any one shall say that the world was not created for
the glory of God, let him be anathema" (Vat. Council,
sess. iii., c. I, can. 5). The council, indeed, does not expressly
define that the glory of God is the final object ; but this is
self-evident. For if the " world " purely and simply
that is, with all its component parts and elements is made
for the glory of God, all its particular ends and objects
must be subordinate to this one great end. Besides, God
cannot be other than the highest and final object.
If we consider in detail the essential relation of crea-
tures to God as their final object, we find, first, that they
are ordained to represent, by means of their own good-
ness and beauty, the supreme goodness and beauty of the
Creator ; secondly, that they exist for the service of God,
Whose property they are, and on Whom they depend ;
thirdly, that God is the good to which they ultimately
tend, and in which they find their rest. In each of these
three respects the manifestation of the Divine glory
2 B
370 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK in.
CHAP. ii. appears in a particular form : the majesty of God's inner
perfection and beauty is reflected in the being of creatures ;
the majesty of His power and dominion is manifested in
their submission to Him ; and the majesty and glory which
accrue to Him from His being the good of all that is good
and the centre of all being, shine forth in the union of
creatures with Him as the resting-place of all their
tendencies.
Scripture. This doctrine is abundantly set forth in Holy Scripture.
"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith
the Lord God" (Apoc. i. 8); "Of Him, and by Him, and
in (unto) Him, are all things" (Rom. xi. 36) ; " For Whom
are all things, and by Whom all things " (&' bv TO. iravra iceu
&' ov TO. Travra, Heb. ii. 10). God's actual destination of
everything for His own purpose is expressed in Prov. xvi.
4 : " The Lord hath made all things for Himself." The
accomplishment and fulfilment of His purpose is that all
should be most intimately united to Him : " Afterwards
the end, . . . and when all things shall be subdued unto
Him, then the Son also Himself shall be subject unto Him
that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all "
(ra iravra Iv TTCKTIV, I Cor. xv. 24-28).
Especially of II. W'hat we have said of the relation of creatures
creatures, generally to God as their Final Object, applies with greater
force to rational creatures. These, even more than irra-
tional creatures, have in themselves a final object ; they
cannot be used as mere means for the benefit of other
creatures, but have a dignity of their own, and are, there-
fore, entitled to everlasting duration. They, as it were,
belong to themselves, and they use for their own purposes
what they are and possess ; the beatitude towards which
they tend is a perfection connatural to them. The salient
point of their perfection consists in the fact that they can-
not be subjected purely and simply to any other creature,
so as to be used for its sole benefit. Their final or highest
object, however, is in God. Without some relation to Him
rational life would necessarily be imperfect, and, besides,
the possession of God constitutes the beatitude of rational
beings. Their whole being, their life and activity, and
even their own beatitude, must be referred to the glory of
PART I.] The Universe created for God. 371
God. Creatures endowed with reason ought, more than CHAP. n.
others, to publish, by means of their natural and super- ^tll! 15 '
natural likeness to God, the beauty of their Prototype.
Their whole life should be spent in the service of their
Master, and all their aspirations ought to tend to union
with Him. They alone are able to give Him true honour
and worship, based upon true knowledge and love.
The supreme felicity of rational creatures consists in
the possession of God. This does not, however, imply
that the felicity of the creature is the highest object, and
that the fruition of God is a means thereto. The beatitude
to be attained by the rational creature really consists in a
perfect union with God by means of knowledge and love,
which union contains at the same time the highest felicity
of the creature and the most perfect glorification of the
Creator ; the highest happiness of the blessed is afforded
precisely by the consciousness that their knowledge and
love of the internal beauty of God are the means of His
external glorification.
This doctrine also is expressed in countless passages of Scripture.
Holy Scripture. " The Lord hath chosen thee ... to make
thee higher than all nations which He hath created to His
own praise, and name, and glory" (Deut. xxvi. 18, 19);
" Filled with the fruit of justice, through Jesus Christ, unto
the glory and praise of God" (Phil. i. n); "Who hath
predestinated us unto the adoption of children through
Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the purpose of His
will, unto the praise of the glory of His grace " (Eph. i.
5, 6) ; " Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive
glory and honour and power, because Thou hast created
all things, and for Thy will they were and have been
created" (Apoc. iv. n).
Nothing shows better that the felicity of creatures is an
object subordinate to the glory of God, than the fact that
those who, through their own fault, fail to glorify Him by
obtaining eternal felicity for themselves, are compelled to
glorify Him by manifesting His justice. The glory of God
is, then, the final object of all things, and to this end all irrational
, , . creatures
others are subservient.
serve
III. Besides glorifying God in their imperfect way,
372 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK ni.
CHAP. ii. material things have also to serve rational creatures in
"^.II! 1 ' the attainment of their perfection and final felicity. They
belong not only to the kingdom of God, but also to the
kingdom of man. " The world is made for man," that
man may use it for the glory of his Creator. The ex-
pression "All things in creation are made to reveal or
manifest the glory of God," must not be understood of
rational creatures only. Creatures reflect in themselves
and represent the Divine perfections just as a work of art
itself represents and reveals the ideal of the artist, whether
it be taken notice of by men or not. Hence worlds un-
known to man and angels would still manifest the glory
of their Maker and attain the final object of all things,
the glorification of God. " The heavens show forth the
glory of God, and the firmament dcclareth the work of
His hands " (Ps. xviii. 2).
The hierarchy of creation, and of the ends of man in
particular, is beautifully expressed by Lactantius. " The
world was made," he says, " that we might be born. We
were born that we might know God. We know Him that
we may worship Him. We worship Him that we may
earn immortality. We are rewarded with immortality
that, being made like unto the angels, we may serve our
Father and Lord for ever and be the eternal kingdom of
God " (Instit. vii. 6).
SECT. 1 1 6. The Providence of God.
God watches I. A necessary consequence of the absolute dependence
rules the of the world on its Maker is that the world must be
governed by God, and conducted by Him to its final
destination. He owes it to His wisdom so to govern the
world as to attain the end which He Himself has ordained
for it. (Supra, pp. 219 224.)
The government of the world by God is the function
of Divine Providence, inasmuch as it consists in conducting
all things to their end by providing for each and all
of them the good to which they ultimately tend.
Reason and II. The existence of an all-governing Providence is a
Scripture.
fundamental article of Faith. Our reason, our conscience,
cannot separate the idea of an all-penetrating Providence
PAET I.] The Universe created for God. 373
from the idea of God. Holy Writ speaks of Providence CHAP, n
almost on every page. (Cf., e.g., Ps. cxxxviii. and Matt. SEC Zi^ 16 '
vi. 25 sqq.) The Vatican Council has also defined it in
outline : " God watcheth over and govcrneth by His
Providence all things that He hath made, reaching from
end to end mightily and ordering all things sweetly "
(sess. iii., c. i).
III. We subjoin some characteristics of the Divine HowDivin.
Government of the World, in its bearing upon the natural governslhe
i r . i world.
order of things.
1. The government of the world by God is both general God's Pn>-
.... . . vidence both
and special ; that is to say, it affects the world as a whole general and
as well as every creature in particular. It is not carried
out by intermediate agents: God Himself directly watches
over, leads, and controls every single thing and its every
motion. He takes a special care of personal beings whose
end is supreme felicity and whose duration is everlasting.
In virtue of His Wisdom and Infinite Power, He not
only establishes general laws and provides the means for
obeying them, but also regulates and arranges the particular
circumstances and conditions under which every creature
is to act. Thus no creature can be placed in a position
or subjected to circumstances not foreseen, preordained, or
at least permitted, by Divine Providence, or not in harmony
with the general plan of the universe. Hence God's
government of the world attains its end unerringly, with
perfect certainty, in general as well as in particular : all
things and events ultimately procure the glory of God,
and nothing of what He absolutely intends fails to happen,
nor does anything happen which He absolutely intends
to prevent. This, however, does not interfere with the
free will of rational creatures, because their freedom is
itself part of the Divine plan and is governed by God
in harmony with its nature.
2. Although God, in the government of the world, wills The general
& & ... . good higher
and promotes the good of every single creature, still, in than that
order to attain the great final object of all, He permits and individual.
even intends individual creatures not to attain their own
particular object, and thus to suffer for the general good.
Even the greatest of evils, sin, which is in direct opposition
374 A Manual of Catholic Tfaology. [BOOK ill.
CHAP ii. to the glory of God, can be permitted by Him, because
Si.cr.ji7. jjj e j g a kj e to ma k e j t subservient to His ends and to glorify
Himself by punishing it.
Material 3. The action of God's Providence appears most strik-
nature. J r r
ingly in the organization and harmonious working of material
nature. It is not so well seen in the government of personal
beings, because free will is a disturbing element which
prevents us from discerning uniform laws of conduct.
Permission 4. The greatest difficulty arises from the permission of
evil, for which, in our limited sphere of knowledge, we can
hardly account. We know, however, that all events are in
the hand of God and that nothing happens without His
knowledge and permission. Although, therefore, in particular
cases we fail to see the reason of God's government, we
must none the less bow down before His infinite Wisdom,
Goodness, and Justice. Such humble submission and
filial confidence are, in rational creatures, the best dis-
position for receiving the full benefit of God's loving
Providence.
SECT. 1 17. The World tJie Realization of tJie Divine Ideal.
The Divine I. The world is the realization of an artistic ideal,
wo e rid. ft e because God created it according to a well-conceived plan,
with the intention, not of deriving profit from it, but of
producing a work good and beautiful in itself. But the
Divine ideal is God Himself; its external representation
is, therefore, the representation and image of the Divine
Majesty and Beauty.
Hence aii II. Hence all things bear some likeness to God, and
like God, possess some degree of goodness and beauty. In as far as
they come from God, they must be good and beautiful ;
but as they also come from nothing, their goodness and
beauty are necessarily imperfect ; they are perfect only as
far as God has endowed them with being.
Realizing HI. No single creature can adequately express the
the ideal in _. . TT . - .
immense Divine Ideal. Hence the almost infinite variety and
multiplicity of created forms, each of which reproduces
and manifests something of the infinite perfection of God.
Of the fundamental forms of being known to us, viz. the
spiritual and the material, the former are a real image of
PART I.] T/ie Universe created for God. 375
their ideal, whilst the latter only contain obscure vestiges CHAP. n.
of it. Moreover, spiritual creatures, unlike material ones, EC Zl! 17 '
are conscious of their likeness to God. In man the two
forms of likeness to the Divine ideal are combined and
concentrated in such a manner that the lower is completed
and perfected by the higher, and offers it a wide field for
the display of its activities. The soul of man animating
the body is an image of the action of God on the world ;
the fecundity of man, resulting in the construction of a
new being like unto himself, represents the inner fecundity
of God. In pure spirits the likeness to God is purer and
more sublime, but in man it is more complete and com-
prehensive.
IV. Notwithstanding their immense multiplicity and Theunivene
... , . , itself has a
variety, all created beings are bound up into one whole, fin** object,
tending as it were in a mass to the one final object of all,
and together representing a harmonious picture of the
Divine Ideal.
V. Is this world, taken as a whole, the best of possible is the world
worlds ? In the treatise on God, we have already shown world"
that God was not bound to create the best of possible
worlds, and that a world than which no other could be
more perfect is an absurdity. Still we may safely say
that this world is better than any which a creature could
excogitate ; that, by means of the Incarnation, it affords
God the highest possible glorification, and thus attains its
end better than any other ; and, lastly, that, given the final
object preordained by God and the component parts of
the world, the arrangement of things and their government
by God are the best conceivable.
376 A Manual of Cathode Theology, [I:OOK in
CHAPTER III.
THE ANGELS.
CHAP. in. NONE of the Fathers has written a complete treatise on
SECT. 118.
the Angels. The work De Ccelesti Hierarchia, attributed
Authorities. . ,. 1 i i
to Dionysms the Areopagite, is the only one which deals
with the subject, and it is the source and the model of all
the speculations of the Schoolmen. Of these may be con-
sulted with advantage Petr. Lomb., 2 Sent., dist. 2 sqq. ;
William of Paris, De Universo, par. ii. (very complete and
deep) ; Alex, of Hales, 2. p., qq. 19-40, and St. Bonaventure
on the Lombard, I.e. ; St. Thomas, the Angelic doctor, /.,
qq. 50-64; Qq. Dispp. De Spirit. Creaturis ; Contra Gentes,
\. ii., cc. 46-55, 91-101 ; and Opusc. xv., De Substantiis
Separatis. Suarez, De Angelis, is the most comprehensive
work on the subject. The doctrine of the Fathers is
summarized by Petavius, De Angelis (Dogm., torn. iii.).
SECT. 1 1 8. The Nature, Existence, and Origin of the
A ngels.
Termi- I. The name " Angel," ayyeXoc, that is, messenger or
envoy, designates an office rather than a nature ; and this
office is not peculiar to the beings usually called Angels.
Holy Scripture, however, and the Church have appropriated
this name to them, because it represents them as standing
between God and the rest of the universe, above man and
nearer to God on account of their spiritual nature, and
taking a share in the government of this world, although
absolutely dependent on God. In this way the term
" Angel " is even more expressive of their nature than the
terms " spirit," or " pure spirit," because these latter, if not
further determined, are applicable also to God. In order
PART L] The Angels. 377
to prevent the belief that all superhuman beings are gods, CHAP. in.
the documents of Revelation, when speaking of these higher "^jj 1 '
beings, always style them Angels, or Zebaoth that is, the
army of God. Evil spirits, being sufficiently distinguished
from God by their wickedness, are often called " spirits,"
" bad and wicked spirits," and sometimes also " angels."
The Greek name oa/^uwy (" the knowing or knowledge-
giving ") is applied, in Holy Writ, exclusively to the spirits
of wickedness, because they resemble God only in know-
ledge, and only offer knowledge to men in order to seduce
them.
II. We conceive the Angels as spiritual beings of a The nature
higher kind than man, and more like to God ; not belong-
ing to this visible world, but composing an invisible world,
ethereal and heavenly, from which they exercise, with and
under God, a certain influence on our world.
III. The existence of Angels is an article of Faith, set The exist-
ence of
forth alike in innumerable passages of Holy Scripture and Angels.
in the Symbols of the Church. Scripture does not ex-
pressly mention the Angels in its narrative of Creation, but
St. Paul (Col. i. 1 6) enumerates them among the things
created through the Logos, and divides these " invisible
beings " into Thrones, Dominations, Principalities and
Powers. From Genesis to the Apocalypse the sacred
pages everywhere bear witness to the existence and activity
of the Angels. It is most probable that their existence
was part of the primitive revelation, the distorted remains
of which are found in polytheism. Unaided reason can
neither prove nor disprove the existence of pure spirits ;
but it can show the fittingness of their existence. Cf. St.
Thomas, /., q. 50, a. I ; C. Gentcs, 1. ii., c. 46.
IV. It is likewise an article of Faith that the Angels Angels are
were created by God. They are not emanations from His cr '
Substance, or the result of any act of generation or forma-
tion, but were made out of nothing. All other modes of
origin are inconsistent with the spiritual nature of God
and of the Angels themselves. Nor can they be eternal
or without origin, because this is the privilege of the
Infinite. Cf. Ps. cxlviii. 2 sqq. ; Col. i. 16 ; Matt. xxii.
30. However, inasmuch as the real reason why Angels
3/8 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK ill.
are not procreated by generation is their immateriality,
.. anc j j nasmuc h as j-^jg i mma teriality is an article of Faith,
it follows that we are bound to believe that no Angel has
been generated.
beginning? a V. The Fourth Lateran and the Vatican Councils have
defined that Angels were not created from all eternity, but
that they had a beginning. " God ... at the very begin-
ning of time made out of nothing both kinds of creatures,
spiritual and corporal, angelic and mundane" (sess. iii., c. i).
That the creation of the Angels was contemporaneous
with the creation of the world, is not defined so clearly,
and, therefore, is not a matter of Faith. The words " simul
ab initio temporis," according to St. Thomas (Opusc. xxiii.),
admit of another interpretation, and the definition of the
Lateran Council was directed against errors not bearing
directly on the time of the creation of the Angels. The
probabilities, however, point in the direction of a simul-
taneous creation : the universe being the realization of one
vast plan for the glory of God, it might be expected that
all its parts were created together.
where were VI. It is not easy to decide where the Angels were
the Angels
createa? created. Although their spiritual substance requires no
bodily (corporeal) room, still, considering that they are
part and parcel of the universe, it is probable that they
were created within the limits of the space in which the
material world is contained. As they are not bound or
tied to any place, it is vain to imagine where they dwell.
When Scripture makes heaven their abode, this only im-
plies that they are not tied to the earth, like man, but that
the whole of the universe is open to them.
SECT. 119. Attributes of the Angels Incorruptibility and
Relation to Space.
The attributes of the Angels, like the nature of their
substance, are to be determined by a comparison with the
attributes of God on the one hand, and with the attributes
of man on the other. As creatures, the Angels partake of
the imperfections of man ; as pure spirits, they partake
of the perfections of God.
substance is physical ly simple that is,
PART I] The Angels. 379
not composed of different parts ; but it is not metaphysi- CHAP, in
cally simple, because it admits of potentiality and actuality, ~ E ^_ 120 -
and also of accidents ( 63). It is, moreover, essentially
immutable or incorruptible ; Angels cannot perish by dis-
solution of their substance, nor can any created cause destroy
them. For this reason they are essentially immortal, not,
indeed, that their destruction is in itself an impossibility,
but because their substance and nature are such that, when
once created, perpetual conservation is to them natural.
As to accidental perfections, Angels can acquire and lose
them. Observe, however, that the knowledge they once
possess always remains, and that a loss of perfection can
only consist in a deviation from goodness.
Angels differ from the human soul in this, that they
neither are nor can be substantial forms informing a body.
When they assume a body, their union with it is neither
like that of soul and body, nor like the hypostatic union
of the two natures in Christ. The assumed body is, as it
were, only an outer garment, or an instrument for a tran-
sitory purpose. Cf. St. Thomas, /., q. 51 ; Suarez, 1. iv.,
33 sqq.
II. As regards relation to space, Angels, having like Relation to
God no extended parts, cannot occupy a place so that sp
the different portions of space correspond with different
portions of their substance, nor do they require a corporal
space to live in, nor can any such space enclose them. On
the other hand, they differ from God in this, that they can
be present in only one place at a time, and thus can move
from place to place. Their motion is, however, unlike
that of man ; probably it is as swift as thought, or even
instantaneous.
SECT. 1 20. The Natural Life and Work of the Angels,
I. The life of the Angels is purely intellectual, without Life of tin
any animal or vegetative functions, and therefore more like
the Divine Life than the life of the human soul. The
whole substance of an Angel is alive, whereas, in man, one
part is life-giving and another life-receiving. The angelic
life is inferior to the Divine in this, that the Angel's life is
not identical with its substance ; and also in this, that it is
380 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK ux
CHAP. in. susceptible of increase and decrease in perfection. So far
"uJ 20 ' all Theologians agree. But they differ very considerably
as to how Angels live that is, how and what they think
and will. Leaving aside the abstruse speculations on this
subject, we shall here only touch on the few points in
which anything like certitude is attainable.
intellect and II. It is certain from Revelation that the natural intel-
knowledge A t -n
of the lect of Angels is essentially more perfect than the human.
Angels.
and essentially less perfect than the Divine Intellect. Thus
Scripture makes the knowledge of Angels the measure of
human knowledge, e.g. 2 Kings xiv. 20 ; and in Mark
xiii. 32, Christ says that even the Angels much less man
do not know the time of the last judgment. The Fathers
call the angels voa^, intelligentias, that is, beings possessed
of immediate intuitive knowledge ; but man they call
Aoytk-oc, rationalis that is, a being whose knowledge is for
the most part inferential : whence the superiority of angelic
knowledge is manifest. Compared to the Divine Know-
ledge, the imperfection of the angelic, according to Scrip-
ture and the Fathers, consists in this, that the Angels cannot
naturally see God as He is, by immediate, direct vision ;
that they cannot penetrate the secrets either of the Divine
decrees, or of the hearts of man, or of each other ; much
less do they know future free actions. Cf. 69 and 80.
T^AngdL HI. As to the will of the Angels, we can only gather
from Revelation that it naturally possesses the perfection
of the human will, but at the same time also shares to
some extent in the imperfections of the latter. The
angelic will is free as to the choice of its acts, and is able
to perform moral actions and to enjoy true happiness.
But it is not, by virtue of its nature, directed to what is
morally good ; its choice may fall on evil. This much can
be gathered from what is revealed on the fall of the
Angels.
External IV. It is evident that the Angels are able to perform
acdvityof all the actions of man, except those which are peculiar to
the Angeis. man Q ^ accoun t o f his composite nature. Revelation,
moreover, introduces Angels acting in various ways : they
speak, exhort, enlighten, protect, move, and so forth. It is
also beyond doubt that the power of Angels is superior to
PART 1.1 TheAngels. 381
that of man, both as regards influence on material things, CHAP. IIL
and on man himself. As to the mode of action, we know EC .I_"
but little with certainty. The Angel acts by means of his
will, like God ; but he neither creates out of nothing, nor
generates like man. The only immediate effect an Angel
can produce by an act of his will, is to move bodies or
forces so as to bring them into contact or separate them,
and thus to influence their action. Bodies are moved from
place to place locally; spirits or minds are only moved
" intentionally ; " that is, the Angel who wishes to act upon
our souls or upon other spirits, puts an object before them
and directs their attention towards it. The power of
Angels over matter exceeds that of man as regards the
greater masses they are able to move and the velocity and
exactness or appropriateness of the motion. These ad-
vantages enable them to produce effects supernatural in
appearance, although entirely owing to a higher knowledge
of the laws of nature and to superior force. As this power
belongs to the angelic nature it is common to both good
and bad Angels.
Angelic speech would seem to consist simply in this,
that the speaker allows the listener to read so much of his
thoughts as he wishes to communicate. Hence Angels
can converse at any distance ; the listener sees the thought
of the speaker, and thus all possibility of error or deception
is excluded.
V. Angels have over the body of man the same power ^If",. ^
as over other material bodies. Over the human mind, man -
however, their power is circumscribed within narrow limits.
They cannot speak to man as they speak to each other,
because the mind of man is unable to grasp things purely
spiritual. But, by their power over matter, they can
exercise a great influence on the lower life of the soul,
and thus indirectly on its intellectual life also. They can
propose various objects to the senses, and also move the
sense-organs internally ; they can act on the imagination,
and feed it with various fancies ; and lastly, as the intellect
takes its ideas from the imagination, Angels are enabled to
guide and direct the noblest faculty of man cither for
better or for worse.
382 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK in.
CHAP. HI. SECT. 121 Number and Hierarchy of the Angels.
SECT. i2i.
I. We are certain, from Revelation, that the number of
Number of .
the Angels. Angels is exceedingly great, forming an army worthy of
the greatness of God. This army of the King of heaven
is mention in Deut. xxx. 2 (cf. Ps. Ixvii. 18); then in the
vision of Daniel (vii. 10), and in many other places.
HOW many H. if the Angels can be numbered, there must exist
kmdi?
between them at least personal differences ; that is to say,
each angel has his own personality. But whether they
are all of the same kind, like man, or constitute several
kinds, or are each of a different kind or species, is a
question upon which Theologians differ.
The nine 1 1 1. The Fathers have divided the Angels into nine
Orders or Choirs, the names of which are taken from
Scripture. They are : Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones,
Dominations (icvptor/j-ec), Virtues ($vva/j.ug) t Powers (loi-
o-/at), Principalities (ap^ai), Archangels and Angels. The
first two and the last two orders are often named in Holy
Writ ; the five others are taken from Ephes. i. 21 and Col. i.
1 6. It seems clear enough, especially if we take into account
the all but unanimous testimony of the Fathers, that these
names designate various Orders of Angels ; whence it
follows that there are at least nine such Orders not, how-
ever, that there are only nine. Considering, however, that
for the last thirteen centuries the number nine has been
accepted as the exact number of angelical Choirs, we are
justified in accepting it as correct.
It is impossible to determine the differences between
the several Orders of Angels with anything like precision.
The three highest Orders bear names which seem to point
to constant relations with God, as if these Angels formed
especially the heavenly court; the three lowest express
relations to man ; the three middle ones only point to >
might and power generally.
The fallen angels probably retain the same distinctions
as the good ones, because these distinctions are, in all I
likelihood, founded upon differences in natural perfections.
Scripture speaks of "the prince of demons " (Matt. xii. 24),
and applies some of the names of angelic Orders to bad
angels (Eph. vi. 12).
On the supernatural life of the Angels, see infra, 153.
CHAPTER IV.
THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE.
SECT. 122.. -Theological Doctrines concerning the Material
World generally.
THE things of this world come within the domain of CHAP. iv.
Theology only in as far as they are the work of God, and
have relations with Him and with man. The general
truths bearing on this matter may be found out even by
natural reason ; but they have also been revealed to us,
and have thus become the subject-matter of Theology.
But Theology is concerned with the natural truths in
question only in as far as they have a religious signifi-
cance that is, in as far as they express the relations of
natural things to God or to man as their end and object.
The general truths revealed, especially in Genesis, refer
to the origin, the nature, and the end or final object of the
material world.
I. The Material world owes its existence to a creative The origin
act of God ; the several species of things, their differences, teriai world.
their position and functions in the universe, are, upon the
whole, the direct work of God, Who has made them
according to a well-defined plan. Neither the angels nor
mere natural evolution made the world what it is. Organic
beings, which now propagate themselves by means of
generation, owe their existence neither to spontaneous
generation nor to unconscious evolution of inorganic
matter and forces ; each species has been created to repre-
sent a Divine exemplar, and has received the power to
perpetuate itself by producing individuals of the same
species. This doctrine is most expressly contained in the
narrative of creation in Genesis.
384 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK ill.
CHAP. iv. II. The material beings composing the universe are
SECT 123*
' ' good in substance and nature, and are perfectly adapted to
4ood. the ends for which they were created. This is the Catholic
dogma opposed to Manichaeism, which held the things of
the material world to be not only imperfect, but even bad.
On this point the words of Genesis are plain enough :
" God saw all things that He had made, and they were
very good " (i. 31).
Ibw' 1 r ^' "^ e en d or object of material beings is the glory
of God and the service of man. Man is in no wise
the servant of the inferior world ; his will is not deprived
of freedom and ruled by the laws of nature.
That God created the world, made it good, and made
it for the service of man, is contained in the narrative of
the origin of the world in the Book of Genesis. But the
Church has never defined, and consequently has left open
to discussion, how far the Mosaic narrative, besides these
three points, is of a doctrinal character, and how far it is
simply rhetorical or poetical. The scope of the present
work forbids us to enter into a detailed discussion of this
subject. In the following section we shall state briefly
what appears to us to be the better opinion.
SECT. 123. The Doctrinal Portions of the Mosaic
Hexahemeron.
The work of I. The work of the six days, the Hexahemeron, lies
'.crmation. . ..... _ . . .
between the creation of the chaos, or first creation, and the
commencement of the regular government of the world by
God. It is the work of formation, or second creation
described as " the making of the world out of formless
matter" (icrietv rov Koa/uiov e vArjc afjioptyov, Wisd. xi. 1 8),
and alluded to by St. Paul : " By faith we understand
that the world was framed by the word of God : that from
invisible things visible things might be made " (7rtor
Ka-rjpTiadai TOUC aluvaQ pfjfiaTi Geov, H TO /uij EK
TO (3\tTr6/j.tvov ytyovtvat, Heb. xi. 3). In this
sense the Hexahemeron is properly a " Cosmogony," in the
ancient meaning of the word, viz. the history of the forma-
tion and ornamentation of this visible universe, of which
the earth is the centre and man the king. It is not a
PART L] The Material Universe. 385
cosmogony in the modern sense, because it does not deal CHAP. iv.
with the formation and ornamentation of other worlds than SEC _I_ 123
ours ; nor a Geogony, because it deals only with the external
aspect of the earth.
II. The object of the Mosaic narrative being to rep re- The Cosmos
sent the Cosmos as a Divine work of art, made not with wori^oTart.
hands, but by the Word of God, Who is the expression
and image of the Divine Power and Wisdom, we must
expect to find the particular productions represented as
parts devised for the perfection of the whole work. And,
in fact, in the order observed by Moses, the work of each
day appears as part of a magnificent picture in which all
the things of this visible world find their place. The first
half of the narrative describes the formation and placing
of the chief components of the Cosmos, which lay latent
in the fluid chaotic mass. They are disposed in concentric
spheres, beginning with the outermost: light, the atmo-
sphere, and the solid earth. Then follows, in the second half,
the adorning and filling in of this framework : the heavenly
bodies shed their light on it ; living things appear, beginning
with the lowest and closing with man. The production of
plants forms the transition between the work of formation
and the work of ornamentation. The division of the six
days' work into the work of separation during the first
three days, and the work of ornamentation during the three
last days, has been in favour since the Middle Ages.
The general plan of the Cosmos centres in the idea
that the world is a dwelling-place for man. The Divine
Architect first produces the raw material in an obscure
and formless mass ; He afterwards creates light, and spans
the roof of the house, and gives it a solid floor ; here He
places the vegetable kingdom as an ornament and as a
storehouse for the food of living creatures ; then an inex-
haustible supply of light is shed abroad ; next come the
beings destined for the service of man, having their abode
in the waters and in the air ; and lastly, the animals which
dwell in the same house as man himself. The beauty of
a work of art combined with the usefulness of a dwelling-
place such is the character of the Cosmos. order of the
III. The narrative is a genetic explanation of the work K
2 C
386 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK ill
CHAP iv. of creation that is, an enumeration of its parts in the
SECT^S. orc j er j n w hi c h t} ie y necessarily or naturally succeeded
one another. Whether we consider the work of the six
days as six separate creations or as six tableaux of one
instantaneous creative act, the order of nature must be
observed. If God made things successively, He could
not make them otherwise than in the order which their
nature requires ; if He made them in one moment of time,
the Sacred Writer had no other foundation for a successive
narrative than this same order of nature. The more we
study the separate parts of the Divine work, the better
we see how they fit into each other, and how exactly the
narrative gives to each the place it holds in nature.
TheCreation IV. The best Catholic authorities on the present
be a Ji i'n- ve question are so persuaded that the intention of the writer
s ' of Genesis was to give a genetic account of the architec-
tonic order of the world, that they deem it admissible that
the whole act of creation occupied only one instant of time,
and that the division of it into six days is but a way of
presenting to the reader " the order according to the con-
nection of causes " rather than the order " according to
the intervals of time" (St. Aug., De Gen. ad Lit., 1. v.).
Such is the opinion of St. Augustine, and St. Thomas
thinks it highly probable (I., q. 66, a. i). Without ex-
amining what may be said for or against it, we may notice
that St. Augustine has, until lately, found few followers.
See Reusch, The Bible and Nature ; Bp. Clifford, Dublin
Review, April, 1883; Dr. Molloy, Geology and Revelation ;
Zahm, Bible, Science, and Faith, chap. iv.
The Mosaic V. It is quite possible and even probable that the Mosaic
possibiy'be 7 narrative is of a highly poetical character. In language
simple and true, it puts before the reader a vivid and
sublime picture of the artistic work of the Creator. Then
according to Heb. xi. 3, its aim is to show how the com-
ponent parts of the cosmos were brought by the Creator
from darkness to light, i.e. made visible. This poetical
conception finds expression in the "evening and morning"
of which the days are composed. The Hebrew words for
evening and morning are etymologically equivalent to
confiisio and apertio. At the very beginning of the narra-
PART I.] The Material Universe. 387
tive the opposition between darkness and light appears, CHAP, iv
and seems to point out that in all other works the same E< :3jj a3 -
idea is adhered to. Again, the writer's intention of making
the Creation week the model of the human week may have
led him to give to the periods of the former the same
number and name as those borne by the periods of the
latter. Lastly, it is possible that the writer received his
inspiration by means of a prophetic vision, in which the
several phases of Creation were pictured before his mind.
If so, his narrative would naturally be of a poetical
character : the divisions he adopts and the name of days
which he applies to them may be no more than a means of
conveying to the reader the number and splendour of the
visions of his mind. These and similar considerations,
quite independently of natural science, have induced the
theologians of all times to allow a very free interpretation
of the six days' duration. See Dublin Review, April, 1883.
VI. Natural Science has also undertaken to give an Creation ai.<;
account of the origin of things. The interest which sdenS.
Theology takes in this natural history of Creation is purely
apologetic, and consequently does not come within our
province.
Elaborate attempts have been made to reconcile the
two accounts. Veith and Bosizio held that the six days
were days of twenty-four hours ; the destructions of flora
and fauna, the remains of which are now found in the
crust of the earth, are placed by them in the times between
Adam and the Flood. Buckland, Wiseman, Westermaier,
Vosen, and Molloy admit the destruction of a world
.before the Hexahemeron. Others, as Pianciani, Hettinger,
Holzammer, and Reusch, place the catastrophes within
the six days of creation, but take the " days " to be long
periods. Reusch, however, in the third edition of his
work, acknowledges the impossibility of thus establishing
a harmony between natural and supernatural cosmogony,
because natural science admits the simultaneous origin
of plants and animals, and their continued simultaneous
existence. Bishop Clifford and other Catholic writers cut
the knot by considering the so-called Mosaic cosmogony,
not as a narrative, but as a hymn in which various
388 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK m.
SECT. 123. ,
week.
CHAP. iv. portions of creation are commemorated on the days of the
See the DiMin Review, I.e. On this question, see
also Proteus and A madeus, letter viii.
It is best, however, to state frankly that it is not the
object of Revelation to teach natural science. In the
words of St. Augustine (quoted by Leo XIII., in the Encyc.
Providentissimiis Deus\ "The Holy Ghost, speaking
through the Sacred Writers, did not wish to teach men
matters which in no way concerned their salvation " (De
Gen. ad Litt., II. ix. 20). St. Jerome, too, declares that
many things are related in Scripture according to the
opinions prevalent at the time, and not according to actual
fact (In Jerem. Proph* xxviii.). And St. Thomas dis-
tinctly states that Moses suited his narrative to the capacity
of his readers, and therefore followed what seemed to be
true (i q. 70, a. i). See supra, p. 56. Lagrange, Historical
Criticism and the Old Testament, 3 rd Lect.
CHAPTER V.
MAN.
THE commentaries of the Fathers on the Hexahemeron, CHAP. v.
especially St. Ambrose and St. Gregory of Nyssa. St. SEC _Ii_ ia4 '
Aug., De Gen. ad Lit., op. perf., 1. vi. sqq., and in his writ- Authorities -
ings against the Manichseans, esp. De Duabus Animabus
Petr. Lomb., 2 Sent., dist. 16 sqq., with comm. of St. Bonav.,
^Egidius, and Estius ; William of Paris, De Anima ; St.
Thorn., /., qq. 75-93 ; Cont. Gent., 1. ii. 56 sqq. Suarez, De
Opif., 1. iii. sqq., and De Anima; Benedict Pereyra, in
Genesim, 1. iv. sqq. ; Kleutgen, Philos., diss. viii.
The theological doctrine on Man may be treated under
three heads :
A. Man as the image and likeness of God.
B. The origin and substantial character of man's
nature.
C. The characteristics of man's life.
SECT. 124. Interpretation of Gen. i. 26: "Let Us make
man to Our image and likeness"
I. The change of phrase from " Let there be " to " Let Us
make," when God is about to create man, and the descrip-
tion of man as the image of the Creator, give to this last
and crowning creation a special solemnity. The notion of
man as the image of God is the perfect theological idea of
man. God Himself looks upon man, not like philosophers,
as an animal endowed with reason, but as His own like-
ness. This idea exhibits man's essence and destiny in
direct relation to God. It affords a basis for a deeper
conception of human nature in itself, and also as regards
its natural and supernatural evolution and final perfection '
390 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK in.
CHAP. v. in short, it describes the ideal man, as realized by Divine
SECT.J24. i nst } tut i on j n Adam.
The text (Gen. i. 26) is so full of meaning that many
explanations of it are given by the Fathers and by Theolo-
gians, each seeming to view the text under a different
aspect and to find in it a new meaning. The text runs :
" Let Us make man to Our image (W??) and likeness
('3D-1ECQ Sept. icar' a/cova KCU ica0' ojuotaxnv) : and let him
have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and over the
fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and
over every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.
And God created man to His own image, and to the
image of God created He him ; male and female created
He them."
The Hebrew Zelem is, like our word image, something
concrete, originally meaning a shadow ; it is also used to
designate the idols of false divinities. Demuth, on the
contrary, is something abstract, well-rendered by 6//oi'w<ne
in the Septuagint a similitude or likeness. The conjunc-
tion of the terms " image " and " likeness " is found nowhere
else in Holy Scripture, except Gen. v. 3. Wherever the
same idea is expressed in other passages, only one of the
two terms is employed a clear proof that they are con-
sidered as synonymous by the sacred writers. " God
created man to His own image, to the image of God
(Elohim) created He him " (Gen. i. 27). " God created
man ; He made him to the likeness of God (B'Demut/i)
(Gen. v. i). "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, his blood
shall be shed : for man was made to the image of God "
(Gen. ix. 6). The Hebrew text evidently shows that
man is the image of God, and not merely has this image
in him.
Expiana- II. From this we are enabled to determine the precise
sense of the text in the following manner :
Man essen I. It is evident that the expression " image and like-
fmage*" ness of God " signifies a distinct perfection belonging to
the nature of man, or rather constituting man's specific
essence as distinguished from all other visible beings, and
therefore not capable of being lost by sin. Indeed, man
is described in the same terms before and after his fall,
PABT Tj Man. 391
The literal sense of the text contains no more than this. CHAP, v
It must, however, be granted that, in their fullest meaning, SECT - "*
the words " image " and " likeness," especially the latter,
also refer to the supernatural likeness of man to God.
Those Fathers who expound the " likeness " in the sense of
a supernatural similitude to God, speak from the stand-
point of the New Testament. The first readers of Genesis,
for whom the book was primarily written, certainly were
unable to detect in it any but the natural and literal sense
given above.
2. The expression, "to make to the image," may also not merely
be understood of a destination of man to become similar f m ge,
to God either by following the good inclinations of his
nature or by yielding to a supernatural influence. But
such is not the literal and proper sense ; the text declares
what man is, not what he ought to become. His higher
destiny is a necessary consequence of his being an image
of God. His power to attain his natural destination
that is, his aptitude to lead a moral life is part of the
nature which God has created in him ; and, inasmuch as
it is neither acquired nor freely accepted, it is not lost
by sin, but remains as long as human nature itself. Sin,
however, may suspend or impair man's moral faculty.
3. Although man is really the image of God, and not yet only an
merely destined to become such, still he is an image only imagf
in a relative and analogical sense. The Son of God alone
is God's absolute and perfect Image ; and also the Ideal,
or Exemplar, after which man is made (Heb. i. 3 ; 2 Cor.
iv. 4).
The words of Gen. I. 26, give a definition of man as
a whole ; for they apply to the compound of body and
soul afterwards described, Gen. ii. 7 : " And the Lord God
formed man of the slime of the earth, and breathed into
his face the breath of life ; and man became a living
soul." Thus, by his body, which is the organ and temple
of the soul, man is an image, a shadow (Zelem, simu-
lacrum) of God ; by his spiritual soul he bears a real
likeness to Him ; and as animated body, he is the living
image and likeness, or the living effigy of the living God.
As visible and living image of God, man is the crown of
392 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK m.
CHAP. v. visible creation (the Cosmos of the Cosmos, Const. Apost.,
SECT.J2S. v ^ ^ . v j-^ ^ anc j^ ag suc j lj even animals must revere
and fear him.
The Fathers III. The ante-Nicene Fathers considered man's body as
I'mageo'f the image of God. In the fourth century, however, when
anthropomorphic heresies arose, the custom prevailed
of insisting almost exclusively on the likeness which the
soul bears to God. The reasons for this change are
obvious. The body is the image of God only in as far as
it is informed, animated, and worked by the soul ; besides,
there was danger of conceiving the Ideal after whose like-
ness man is made, as being itself a body. Again, in the
Arian controversies, the terms ajcwv and imago, as applied
to the Son of God, the Image of the Father, had received
a fixed meaning, viz. a likeness such as exists only between
the Persons of the Trinity.
SECT. 125. Man the Image of God.
I. The definition of man given in Genesis shows better
than any other the excellence and dignity of his essence,
position, and destiny among and above the rest of creation.
Man the I. The image of God is seen in man from the fact that
Diverse! ' man is able and is destined to rule the whole visible world
and to turn it to his service. His dominion is an imitation
of Divine Providence, with the limitations that necessarily
distinguish the rule of a creature from that of the Creator
(Ps. viii.) This attribute of regal dignity and dominion essen-
tially implies Personality in man. None but a personal
being can be the end of other beings, can possess itself,
enjoy happiness, and use other things for its own ends. The
excellence of personality is founded upon intellect and
will. For this reason, the Fathers find the likeness of man
to God expressed most vividly in these two faculties.
Holy Scripture itself points out in several places the
dignity which accrues to*man from his being the image of
God (cf. Gen. ix. 6 and James iii. 9).
His Soul. 2. The human soul bears a further likeness to God in the
spirituality of its substance ; and this is the principal point
of similarity, from which all others spring. The soul is
created a spirit in order to be like to God ; its spirituality
PART I] Man. 393
implies incorruptibility and immortality, by which it is CHAP, v
placed above all things material and perishable, and par-
takes of the Divine immutability and eternity (see Wisd.
ii. 23). The same attribute is the reason why the soul
cannot be procreated by generation, but is the direct
product of an act of creation. Hence the Apostle said,
" Being, then, the offspring of God " (Acts xvii. 29) to
point out the substantial likeness of the soul to God.
3. Lastly, the intellectual life of man has the same con- ^ Inte '~
tents ( = subject-matter), the same direction, and the same
final object as the life of God Himself. In fact, the soul
is enabled and destined to know and to love God Himself,
and so to apprehend its Divine prototype and to be united
with Him. " Man is after God's image," says St. Augus-
tine (De Trin., xiv. 8), " by the very fact that he is capable
of God and can be a partaker of Him." As the soul
receives immediately from God its being and life, so also
it has in God alone its direct final object and its rule of
life ; that is to say, no fruition except the fruition of God
can fill the soul ; no one but God can claim the posses-
sion of the human soul ; no will, except the will of God,
can bind the free will of the soul.
II. A comparison of man with the Angels as to the Maninsomt
' respects
perfection of representing the image and likeness of God, m r e like
1 1-1 r ' God than
shows that, in several respects, man is a more perfect like- the Angels
ness of his Maker than even the Angels. The latter, of
course, represent the Divine Substance and the Divine
intellectual life in greater perfection ; but man has several
points in his favour.
1. Just as God, intrinsically present in all things, gives
being and activity to all things by a continuous act of
creation, so does the soul of man, intrinsically present in
his body, hold together and develop its organization, and
generate new human organisms, thus possessing a plastic
activity not given to the Angels.
2. As the All-present Creator breathes life into His
creatures, the human soul communicates life to the vegeta-
tive and animal organs of the body, and disposes the new
organisms for the reception of life ; a privilege also denied
to the Angels.
394 -A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK in.
CHAP. v. 3. The beauty of the world manifests the beauty and
ECT.J2S. g ranc j eur o f Q O( J . so the noble form and beauty of the
human body reproduce and manifest the beauty of the soul.
The works of the Angels, on the contrary, are only works
of art : they are not their own in the same way as the body
is the soul's own, and they bear no intrinsic relation to the
internal beauty of their authors.
4. The Divine Concurrence, in virtue of which God is
the Author of all that is done by His creatures, and
especially of their moral actions, is imaged in the concursus
or co-operation of the soul with the body : most actions of
the body are so intimately bound up with those of the soul
that they form but one action attributable to the soul.
Angels, on the contrary, have but the power to move
bodies from without as something distinct from themselves.
5. Lastly, as God is the final object of all that is, so
the soul of man is the final object of man's body : the
body exists entirely for the soul, and has no dignity or
worth except in as far as it is subservient to the soul.
But the human body is the highest and most perfect organ-
ism of the material world, a microcosm, containing in itself
a compendium of all other organisms : hence the whole
material world, in and through the human body, bears a
relation to the human soul, and through the medium of
the human soul is, as it were, consecrated and brought into
relation with God. Thus the spirit of man is not only the
king, but also the priest of the world. The relation of
the material world to the Angels is merely external ; they
have no other point in common than that they are created
by, and for the glory of, the same God.
Man is, therefore, more than the Angels, the image and
likeness of God. To man alone this title is given purely
and simply in Holy Writ. In the later books of the Old
Testament (Wisd. vii. 26), and in the New Testament,
Christ, as the Son of God, is also called the Image of
God (2 Cor. iv. 4), in order to place Him in dignity above
all creatures whatever, just as the same title places man
above all visible creatures. The Son of God, however, is
the Image of the Father in a deeper sense than man :
the Son is an absolute, man a relative, likeness. Not-
PABT L] Man. 395
withstanding this essential difference, the external image, CHAP. v.
man, corresponds so perfectly with the internal image, the EC J:J 2
Word, that man is, as it were, a reproduction of the Word.
In the Incarnation the Internal Image entered the ex-
ternal and the external image was drawn into the Internal
by hypostatic union, thus achieving the most astonishing
of Divine Works.
SECT. 126. The Likeness to God in Man and Woman.
From what has been said, it is clear that man is the
image of God by reason of his peculiar nature. Holy
Scripture suggests two further questions on this subject,
viz. Are man and woman in the same degree the image
of God ? Is the distinction of Persons in God reproduced
in His created Image ?
I. As to the first question, it is evident that both man Man more
and woman are the image of God in as far as both possess thali woman
the same human nature. The text Gen. i. 27, affirms this '"'
explicitly ; and in Gen. ii. 18-20, the woman is distin-
guished from the animals as being a help like unto or
meet for man that is, of the same nature.
It is, nevertheless, true that of man alone Scripture
says, directly and formally, that he is made to the like-
ness of God. Hence St. Paul teaches : " The man indeed
ought not to cover his head, because he is the image and
glory of God ; but the woman is the glory of the man.
For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the
man. For the man was not created for the woman, but
the woman for the man" (i Cor. xi. 7-9). Woman, then,
having received human nature only mediately through
man, and to be a helpmate to man, is not an image of God
in the same full sense as man. Woman, considered as
wife that is, in a position of subjection and dependence,
is in no wise an image of God, but rather a type of the
relation which the creature bears to the Creator and Lord.
II. The question whether the Trinity is copied in man Man an
.. .. ,-, ^ ,, T rr t image of the
originates from the text Gen. i. 26 : " Let Us make man to Trinity.
Our image," which is commonly understood as having been
.spoken between the Three Divine Persons. This form of
speech certainly does not exclude a likeness of man to the
396 A Manual of Cathohc Theology. [BOOK in.
CHAP, v, one nature of God, for it admits the sense, " Let Us make
SECT.J26. man to Q ur j ma g e by giving him a nature like unto Our
own." As a matter of fact, Scripture adds directly, " In
the image of God created He them." The post-Nicene
Fathers have found no other sense in this text ; on the
contrary, from the fact that one man is the copy of a nature
common to three persons, they conclude the unity of sub-
stance and nature in God. But does the human image of
the Divine Nature bear also a likeness to the Trinity ? As
the Divine Persons are not distinct substances but only
distinct relations, they can be represented only by some
analogous relation in man. The text of Genesis is silent
on the existence of such relations. If, however, on theo-
logical grounds we can show that they do exist, it is safe
to say that, in the intention of God, the text Gen. i. 26, 27,
has this meaning. Man's likeness to the Trinity cannot
be of such perfection that a single human nature is common
to three distinct persons. On the other hand, the three
so-called faculties of the soul memory, understanding, and
will do not present a sufficient likeness, because the three
corresponding attributes in God are not each of them
peculiar to a Person, but are merely appropriated. The
likeness must be found in some productions of human
nature. Now, here man offers a twofold similarity to the
Trinity. First, in common with the Angels, his mind pro-
duces acts of knowledge and love which, especially when
they are concerned with God, represent the origins and
relations of the Divine Persons as to their spiritual and
immanent, but not as to their hypostatic, character.
Secondly, the production of sons by generation, and the
production of the first woman out of the side of man, afford
a likeness to the origins and relationships in the Trinity,
as considered in their hypostatic character. In other
words, man's mental acts show forth the identity of Nature
in the Trinity, while his generative act shows forth the
distinction of Persons. This twofold likeness to the Trinity
once more shows man in the centre of creation as the
complete image of God.
PART L] Man. 397
SECT. 127. Essential Constitution of Man.
The words of Gen. ii. 7, in which the creation of the
first man is described, contain the essential constitution
of human nature : " And the Lord God formed man from
the slime of the earth, and breathed into his face the
breath of life, and man became a living soul." Man is
composed of a body taken from the earth, and of a spiritual
soul breathed into the body by God. The body is made
for the soul and the soul for the animation of the body :
from the union of both results a living nature, akin alike
to the living things on earth and to the living God.
I. As to the body of man, the Church, basing her Man's body
doctrine on its revealed origin, teaches that it is composed
of earthy or material elements ; that its organization as a
human body is not the result of either chance or the com-
bined action of physical forces, but is formed after a clearly
defined Divine Idea, either directly by Divine action, as in
the case of the first man, or indirectly through the plastic
force of generation. Hence we cannot admit the descent
of man from ape-like ancestors by a process of gradual
organic modification, even supposing that God directly
created the soul when the organism had acquired a suffi-
cient degree of perfection. Even apart from Revelation,
sound philosophy will never admit that such a transforma-
tion of the types of organic beings is possible as would be
required to arrive at the human organism. The astonish-
ing unity in the immense variety of organisms is conclusive
evidence of the Divine Wisdom of the Creator, but it is
no evidence whatsoever of a successive transformation of
the lower into higher organisms.
II. As to the other component part of man, the soul, Man's soul
Revelation confirms the teaching of natural reason, viz.
that the soul of man essentially differs from the vital prin-
ciples of animals in its acts, its faculties, and its substance.
It is neither a body nor matter composed of extended
parts ; its existence and activity are not, like the life-prin-
ciples of animals, dependent on union with an organism.
Over and above the life which it imparts to the body, the
soul, as vovg, or mens, possesses a spiritual life of its own,
398 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK in.
CHAP. v. independent of, and different from, the life of the body.
Its substance, unlike that of other vital principles, is
entirely incorporeal and immaterial. The soul is a spirit.
The spirituality of its substance causes it to be naturally
immortal : it cannot perish, either by decomposition, because
it has no parts, or by separation from a substratum neces-
sary to its existence, because it is independent of such
substratum. Compared to lower vital principles, the human
soul is more independent or self-sufficient, more simple or
refined in substance, and altogether more perfect.
The immortality of the soul, being easily conceived,
and being of immediate practical importance, is the popular
characteristic of its substantial character. The spirituality
of the soul has been defined in the Fourth Lateran Council
and repeated in that of the Vatican ; the immortality of
the soul is asserted in a definition of the Fifth Lateran
Council. The soul, in the two first-mentioned Councils,
is called " spirit " and " spiritual creature," even as in the
Vatican Council God is called a " spiritual substance," in
opposition to " corporal creatures." The word " spirit "
is not explained by the Councils, and consequently it
is to be taken in its ordinary sense. The Fifth Council
of the Lateran condemned as heretical the doctrines of
Averroes and his school concerning the mortality of the
soul.
The soul the III. The spiritual substance, which is the life-giving
the entire principle of the body, is also the sole principle of all life
life of man. \ .......
in the body ; besides the soul, there is no other principle
of life whatever in man. The Church has upheld the
unity of the vital principle in man against the Apolli-
narists, who, in order to defend their doctrine that in Christ
the Logos took the place of the rational soul, pretended
that the life of the flesh was dependent on another principle
distinct from the rational soul. " Whoever shall presume
to assert that the rational or intellectual soul is not directly
and essentially (per se et essentialiter) the form [that is,
the life-giving principle] of the body, shall be deemed a
heretic " (Council of Vienne against the errors of Peter of
Soul and OllVa).
IV. The soul, being the principle of animal and vege-
body one
nature.
PABT i.J Man. 399
tative life in the body, constitutes with the body one nature. CHAP. v.
Soul and body are, at least in a certain respect, the common ^jj^
and direct principle, or subject, of the functions of the
animal and vegetative life of man, and therein consists the
unity of nature. This unity, however, presupposes a union
of both substances by which they become real parts of one
whole, become dependent on each other, belong to the com-
plete and entire essence of which they are the parts, and
lose, when separated, the perfection they had when united.
Soul and body united form one complete nature in which
the soul is the vivifying, active, determining principle,
and the body the passive element. In the language of
the Schoolmen this doctrine is expressed by the formula,
" The soul is the substantial form of the body." See the
definition of the Council of Vienne, quoted above.
Holy Scripture clearly indicates the unity of nature in
man when it calls the soul and body together a " living
soul " that is, a living thing or animal ; and, at the same
time, it frequently applies the term " flesh " (caro, crap) to
the whole man, which could not be done unless body and
soul together constituted one nature and essence.
V. Body and soul, united so as to form one nature, also Soul and
constitute one hypostasis, or person. All the attributes of
man which give him the dignity of personality spring from
and reside in his soul ; besides, the soul can exist and live
independently of the body, whereas the organization and
life of the body are entirely dependent on the soul.
Whence it may be said that, although man as a whole is
a person, yet personality belongs more properly to the soul.
In the human person, not less than in the human nature,
the soul is the dominating principle. The prominent posi-
tion of the soul in the human person ought not, however,
to be urged to the extent of destroying or endangering the
unity of the human nature, as Bishop Butler has done in
his Analogy ; for it is precisely to its place in the nature of
man that the soul owes its dignity in the human hypo-
stasis.
400 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK m.
CHAP. V.
SECT. 128. Production of the First Woman The Essence
of Marriage.
Distinction I. The words in Gen. i. 27, " Male and female He
created them," are sufficient proof that the distinction of
sexes and the corresponding organization of the human
body were, from the very beginning, intended by the
Creator as belonging to the concrete constitution of human
nature. This further implies that the distinction of sexes is
a natural good, given by God as means to the end expressed
in Gen. i. 28 : " Increase, and multiply, and fill the earth."
It is not, therefore, as some heretics have asserted, the
lesser of two evils, permitted or ordained by the Creator in
order to avoid a greater one. Again, from the text (Gen.
i. 27), " To the image of God He created them ; male and
female He created them," it clearly appears that the sexual
distinction constitutes merely a difference in the nature of
man and not a difference of nature.
suai dis- II. Considered externally and materially, the distinc-
tinction com- . /- 1*1 <T-><
montoman tion of sexes is common to man and animals. The sexual
but h^s a* s> relations of man, however, are of a much higher order than
Kin. 6 " those of animals. Their object in man is the production,
with a special Divine co-operation, of a new " image of
God." This higher consideration is, according to the sense
of Holy Writ and generally received opinion, the reason
why man and woman were not, like the animals of different
sexes, created at the same time and from the same earth.
The creation of Eve, so fully and solemnly described (Gen.
ii.), evidently has a far-reaching significance, acknowledged
by Adam himself and confirmed by the explanations
given in the New Testament (Matt. xix. 4) ; yet, in the
first and primary sense, it refers to the sexual relations
of man.
Union of III. The formation of the first woman out of a rib of
woma'n.' 1 the first man, indicates that God intended to give to the
union of man and woman a higher unity than that of the
male and female of animals, a unity in keeping with the
Divine images existing in the parents and in their offspring.
Thus the production of Eve founded the diversity of sexes,
but also laid down the constitution of the ordinary principle
PART L] Man. 40 1
of propagation. We arrive at this conclusion (i) from CHAP, v
the effects of the Divine act itself, and (2) from the Divine
command expressed in the act, a law which determines the
moral essence of the first and of all other marriages.
Before we proceed to demonstrate this, we give the
full text upon which the demonstration is based. "And
the Lord God said : It is not good for man to be alone :
let Us make him a help like unto [meet for or answering
to] himself. And the Lord God having formed out of
the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls
of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would
call them : for whatsoever Adam called any living creature,
the same is its name. And Adam called all the beasts
by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the
cattle of the field : but for Adam there was not found
a helper like himself. Then the Lord God cast a deep
sleep upon Adam : and when he was fast asleep, He took
one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it. And the Lord
God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman
[" And He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh
instead thereof; and the rib which the Lord God had
taken from the man builded He into a woman," R.V.] : and
brought her to Adam. And Adam said : This now is bone
of my bones, and flesh of my flesh ; she shall be called
woman, because she was taken out of man. Wherefore a
man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife : and they shall be two in one flesh" (Gen. ii. 18-24).
I. The fact that Eve was formed out of Adam, instead The pro-
of being produced independently, establishes between the Eve made
S 5 , her radical)
parents of mankind a substantial and radical unity, befitting one with
man as the image and representative of the one God in the
dominion over material nature. Again, the origin of Eve
shows that in man, who is the likeness of the triune God,
the communication of nature proceeds from one principle ;
just as in the Trinity, the communication of the Divine
Nature proceeds from the Father. Both these considera-
tions acquire more force from the fact that Eve was formed
from the bone, not simply from the flesh, of Adam, that is,
from his inmost self. The Fathers, commenting on this,
point out that it proves the identity of nature in man and
2 D
402 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK ill.
CH *P. v. woman, and ought to urge us to fraternal love as being 1 all
SECT. 128. f , .
oi the same kindred.
2. The Divine Law, expressed in the fact, by which the
union of the sexes is consecrated as a conjugal union and
by which the essence of marriage is determined, contains
the following elements :
The physical (#) The idea and will of the Creator, as manifested by
union must . . - . ....
be preceded the peculiar production of Eve, is that the physical union
byajuridicai - , . . , ,
union. of the sexes in the act of generation should be preceded
by and founded upon a moral, juridical, and holy union of
the bodies of the progenitors ; a union, that is, which is
sanctioned by God as the sovereign ruler of nature, and
gives to each of the parties an exclusive and inviolable
right over the body of the other, so that, during their union,
neither can dispose of his body in favour of a third person.
The Divine idea of such an union is sufficiently expressed
in the act of producing Eve from the substance of Adam
as it were, a new member of the same body. The will of
God that such union should exist is manifested by the
fact that He Himself planned and executed the formation
of Eve and handed her over to Adam as flesh of his flesh,
or rather as united to him by Divine act and will. The
inmost essence of marriage consists, therefore, in the moral
union of man and woman. The relation between this ideal
and spiritual bond on one side, and man's dignity as image
of God on the other side ; and, further, the possibility and
necessity of this bond, will appear from the following con-
siderations.
(a) The parties are themselves images of God, and, as
such, possess moral liberty and dominion over the members
of their bodies. Hence, each of them can acquire a right
of disposing of the other's body, and can make it morally
his own. In this manner the two bodies belong to one
mind, just as though they were naturally members of the
same body. This mutual transfer and appropriation of
bodies, rendered possible by the power of disposal which
their owners have over them, is seen to be necessary if we
consider that a moral being like man can dispose and
make use of nothing but what belongs to him by some
right : especially in the present case, where the appropria-
tion must be a lasting one.
PART I.] Man.
403
From this moral and juridical point of view alone, how- CHAP. v.
ever, we cannot perceive how the conjugal union of man ^ C 2LL^'
and woman possesses that inviolable solidity which makes
it unlawful for the contractors to break their contract even
by mutual consent. The human will cannot impart to the
conjugal union a solidity which almost puts it on a level
with the union of members of one and the same body.
The intervention of God is needed, Who, as He established
the natural union of members in the body, so also estab-
lished the indivisible, spiritual union of man and woman
in matrimony. He intervenes as the absolute master of
both bodies, and disposes of them as His own property,
making each of them an organ of the spirit of the other.
In the case of Adam and Eve He intervened directly,
previous to any act on their part ; He intervenes indirectly
or mediately in subsequent marriages, acting through the
will of the contracting parties. The Divine intervention
gives sanctity as well as inviolability to the contract.
(/3) The reason why marriage must be considered in Dignity of
this fuller and higher sense is that the object of marriage m '
is the production of an "image and likeness" of God.
This entails, on the one hand, that the product of genera-
tion should come into existence as the property of God
alone, and consequently as something consecrated to Him ;
and, on the other hand, that the carnal action of the parents
cannot attain its object without a special creative co-opera-
tion on God's part, the parents acting as the instrumental
cause, subordinated to Him. The two bodies united act
as one organ of the Divine Spirit. Hence the progenitors,
when giving each other power over their bodies, ought to
consider them as the special property of God, and ought to
dispose of them in His name and by His power. In this
manner the moral and juridical transfer of the bodies re-
ceives, in its very essence, a religious consecration ; and the
unity of members resulting therefrom is endowed with the
character of holiness and inviolability. It is, in a way, like
the natural unity of the members of the same body, and
cannot be dissolved by the mere will of the parties. Generation
() It is evident that the procreation of children and nountiST
carnal pleasure are not the sole objects of marriage. The m b riLgc!'
404 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK m.
CHAP. v. fact that Eve was formed out of a rib of Adam, points to
BC 2^ 29 ' the formation of a society of personal beings, founded upon
mutual respect and love, or upon the union of minds and
hearts. The society of husband and wife, being the root
of all other societies, is the most natural and the most
intimate of all, and consequently the most complete and
indissoluble. The spiritual or social aspect of the union of
the sexes, as ordained by the Creator, appertains to its
essence to such an extent that it can exist, not indeed with-
out the possibility of carnal connection, but without its
actual realization. Such a virginal union fulfils at least
the social ends of marriage. It may even correspond with
the intentions of the Creator in an eminent degree, if the
parties regard their union as consecrated by and to God,
and make it the means of mutual assistance for leading a
holy life.
Thenspec- (c) Lastly, the way in which God produced the first
husband woman points out the respective rank of husband and wife.
Adam is the principle of Eve ; Eve is given him as a help :
hence the woman is a member and a companion of man,
who, according to the Apostle, is the head of the wife
(Eph. v. 23). Yet the wife is no slave or handmaid. Adam
became the principle of Eve only by giving up a portion
of his own substance, and Eve was made by God a help
like unto Adam himself. There is, therefore, a co-ordination
of interests and rights in the conjugal union : the husband
is the owner of the body of the wife, and the wife is the
owner of the body of her husband ; respect and love are
due on both sides ; and the wife shares in the husband's
dominion over all things that are his (See Leo XIII.'s
EncycL Arcamnn).
SECT. 129. Reproduction of Human Nature.
The com- \ Immediately after the creation of the first man and
rnand to
increase. woman, God blessed them as before He had blessed the
beasts : " Increase (Heb. bear fruit, i.e. generate), and
multiply, and fill the earth" (Gen. i. 28). These words
imply that the multiplication of mankind was to take
place by generation that is, by the reproduction of human
nature by its first possessors. Moreover the blessing
L] Man. 405
points to a special Divine co-operation in the multiplica- CHAP. v.
tion of mankind, especially as after the creation of the ^JLJ 29
plants neither blessing nor command to multiply is
mentioned.
Although the blessing given to man and the blessing
given to the beasts are expressed in the same terms, still
there is a difference in their import. The blessing on man
is followed by the commandment to subdue and rule the
earth, a commandment not given to the beasts. Hence
the product of human generation possesses, by virtue of
the Divine blessing, an excellence, an essential perfection,
not granted to the beasts. But if there is an essential
difference in the product of the two generations, a similar
difference necessarily exists in the two principles. In
other words : God's blessing on the generation of man
implies a Divine co-operation, promised neither to the
beasts nor to the plants.
This conclusion is confirmed and further illustrated if
we consider it in connection (i) with the Divine Idea of
man (God's image and likeness) and (2) with the descrip-
tion given of the origin of the first man.
1. In Gen. v. I we read : " God created man, and made The pro duct
him to the likeness of God," and v. 3 : " Adam begot a son generation
to his own image and likeness ; " from which it appears that, o" Godf
just as Adam had been made to the image of God, so, by
generation, he produced offspring to his own image. In
other words, the images of God were multiplied by way of
generation, whence the proper object of generation is the
production of an image of God. But an image of God
cannot be made without a special Divine co-operation.
Human generation results in an image of the progenitor
and an image of God : the two are inseparable. That,
however, which makes the image of the progenitor into an
image of God, that whereby the nature of man is like unto
the nature of God, viz. his spiritual soul, must be referred
to a special, creative co-operation on God's part.
2. The preceding consideration acquires new force from The creation
i r A of Adam and
the manner in which the first man was created. As the the genera-
., tion of Cam
creation of Adam was different from that of lower animals, compared,
so the reproduction of Adam's nature is different from that
406 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK in.
CHAP. v. of the beasts. The body alone of the first man was taken
" 9 ' from the earth, and made a fit dwelling for his spiritual
soul : whereas the soul was breathed into him by the
Creator. In like manner, the procreative action of man
only prepares a fit dwelling for the soul, which is the
immediate work of God.
Scripture. Holy Scripture teaches the same doctrine : " Adam
knew his wife, who conceived and brought forth Cain, say-
ing : I have gotten a man through God" (Gen. iv. I.) And
again : " (Before) the dust return into its earth, from whence
it was, and the spirit return to God Who gave it " (Eccles.
xii. 7.)
From the close connection of the words " increase " (be
fruitful, generate) and " multiply," it further appears that the
multiplication of human nature in its entirety, viz. of material
body and spiritual soul, by the command of God, shall
take place in connection with the generative act of man.
The act of human generation, therefore, is not intended
merely to prepare a habitation for a soul already existing,
nor does God create the soul independently of the act of
generation. He produces it only for and in the body
organized by human generation. The manner in which
the first man was created throws an additional light on
these propositions.
origin of the II. The question of the origin of the human soul is of
great theological importance, because of its bearing on the
dogmas of Original Justice, Original Sin, and Redemption.
It must be solved in such a way as not to clash with the
propositions just established, viz. (i) that the product of
generation is the image and likeness of God, enjoying
personal dignity and personal individuality ; (2) that
generation is a real and true reproduction and com-
munication of the whole nature of the progenitor ; and
(3) that between parent and offspring there exists a
relation of unity and dependence. The difficulty of a
solution in harmony with so many other points of
doctrine has always been recognized by the Fathers,
which may account for their indecision and vagueness
when dealing with it. Part of the difficulty, however,
arose from an incorrect statement of the question. What
PART I.] Man. 407
we have really to inquire is the origin of man as a whole, CHAP. v.
rather than how the soul that is, a part of the whole SE( ^jj 2 9-
comes into being ; and next, how far God concurs in the
act of generation. As, however, the origin of the soul is
the burning point of the question, and as the errors opposed
to the Catholic doctrine are mainly connected with and
named after it, we shall deal first with the origin of the soul.
i. False notions concerning the origin of the soul have Erroneous
been due chiefly to the neglect of the Divine idea of man and
of the origin of the first man. These errors may be divided
into two opposite classes, the truth being the mean between
them.
(a) The first class contains the various opinions com-
prised under the general term of Generationism. This
doctrine lays stress upon the fact that human generation
is a real and true reproduction of the whole human nature.
Starting from this, it goes on to assert that in man, as in
all other living beings on earth, the generating principle
ought to produce, out of and by means of itself , the spiritual
soul, which is consequently as much the product of genera-
tion as the bodily organism.
() The second class goes by the general name of Pre-
existentianism. This system insists on the spiritual inde-
pendence or self-subsistent character of the soul, and
consequently asserts that the origin of the soul must be
entirely independent of human generation, and that, like
the angels, the soul is created by God alone before the
bodily organism is generated by man.
Both these systems are equally injurious to the doctrine
of the Church. Generationism destroys the image of God
in the soul, supposing, as it does, or at least logically lead-
ing to the conclusion, that the soul is not an independent,
purely spiritual substance. At any rate, this system de-
prives the human soul of a privilege essential to the " image
of God," viz. that of dependence on God alone as its Cause.
Pre-existentianism, on the other hand, destroys the unity
of human nature : first, in the individual, by estranging the
two component parts from each other; secondly, in man-
kind as a whole, by cutting off the individuals from a
common stem. In this system, generation is not really
408 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK in.
CHAP. v. the means of propagating mankind ; it makes the origin
29 ' of the image of God something distinct from the origin of
man as such.
the Catholic 2. The doctrine opposed to the above-named errors is
CreaVionism. commonly called Creationism, although " Concreationism "
might be a better name for it, since Pre-existentianism
likewise implies a kind of creation. Creationism takes as
its basis the independent, spiritual substantiality of the
soul, from which it argues that the soul can be produced
only by creation. Human generation, in as far as it must
be distinguished from creation, cannot produce anything
simple. The system further affirms that God gives exist-
ence to the soul at the very moment when it is to be united
to the body produced by generation, because it is primarily
designed to form with that body one human nature.
Creationism is neither more nor less than an explanation
of the contents of two Catholic dogmas : the spirituality of
the soul and the unity of nature in man. The fact that
Creationism has not always been universally held in the
Church, must be ascribed to the difficulty of harmonizing
it with other dogmas, e.g. the transmission of sin, and also
with certain expressions of Holy Scripture, e.g. that God
rested on the seventh day. We find it questioned only in
those times and places in which the controversies on
Original Sin against the Pelagians were carried on. Doubts
began to arise in the West, in the time of St. Augustine ;
two centuries later, when the struggle with Pelagianism
was at an end, we hear of them no more.
Combined jjj Creationism solves the question of the origin of
man fiT* ^6 human soul, but not that of the origin of human nature
generation, ^y generation, at least not completely. On the contrary,
it introduces a new difficulty, inasmuch as the creation of
the soul by God divides the production of man into two
acts, and makes it more difficult to see how human genera-
tion is a reproduction and communication of the whole
nature and especially of life, and how there is a relation of
dependence between the souls of children and those of
their parents. This difficulty, much insisted upon by the
Generationists, can only be removed by maintaining, not
indeed the production of one soul by another through ema-
PART I.] Man. 409
nation or creation, but a certain relation of causality CHAP, v
whereby the souls of the parents are, in a certain sense, K 2Ll**
the principle of the souls of the children. Here, as in the
co-existence of grace and free will, we have two principles
combined for the production of one effect. In order to
understand the combined action of God and of man in
the production of the human soul, we must bear in mind
that the creation of the soul, although a true creation,
is not the creation of a being complete in itself: on the
contrary, its tendency is to produce that part of the human
nature which is destined to give form and life to the body
and to constitute with it one human nature. But as this
also applies to the creation of the first soul, which was not
the product of generation, we must add this other circum-
stance that the soul is created in an organic body because
of the action of the human generative principle. So far
we have two principles and two activities standing side by
side and meeting in one common product, but we have not
yet that unity of the principles, whereby not only a part,
but even the whole, of the product may be ascribed to
each of them. Such a unity is established by the fact
that each of the principles, although producing by its own
power only part of the product, tends, nevertheless, to
produce the whole product as a whole: the generative
principle producing the organism solely for the purpose of
being animated by the soul ; the creative principle creating
the soul merely for the purpose of animating the organism.
The following considerations will help to illustrate the
unity of the combined Divine and human actions. Each
of the two actions requires the co-operation of the other
in order to attain its object : they thus complete one
another and are intrinsically co-ordained for common action.
As man has received his procreative power and its direction
from God, and exercises it with the Divine concurrence, in
the act of generation he stands to God as a subordinate
and dependent instrument ; not, however, as a mere tool,
because man's generative power and tendency are natural
to him, and are exercised spontaneously. Whence it appears
that the common action begins with man, but is supported
throughout and completed by God. This Divine co-opera-
4io A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK in.
CHAP. v. tion might be called supernatural in as far as it is distinct
ac 2Ll :>0 ' from and superior to the Divine concurrence granted to all
created causes ; but, strictly speaking, it is only natural,
because it is exercised in accordance with a law of nature.
The production of the soul is due not to a miraculous
interference with the course of nature, but to the natural
Providence of God, carrying out the laws which He Himself
has framed for the regular course of nature.
We can now easily understand (i) how human gene-
ration is a true generation not only of the flesh but of man
as a whole ; (2) how a relation of causality exists between
the progenitor and the soul of his offspring ; (3) how the
creation of the soul by God is not a creation in the same
absolute sense as the original creation of things ; (4) how
the natural consequences of generation are safe-guarded.
Dignity of IV. The Divine co-operation in human generation ele-
vates human paternity to the highest degree of dignity, for
the human father is admitted to participate in the Divine
paternity ; like God, " the Father of spirits " (Heb. xii. 9),
he gives origin to and has authority over a personal and
immortal being, the image of God. Paternal authority thus
receives a religious and sacred character, possessed by no
other authority on earth except that of the Church, which
is founded upon similar principles. Again, the children
belong not so much to the parents as to God, Who gives
them to the parents as a sacred pledge. Practically, then,
as well as theoretically, the Divine origin of the soul is a
doctrine of the greatest importance. The gravity of the
sins against chastity becomes more apparent when con-
sidered in the light of this doctrine : they imply a sacri-
legious abuse of members and actions which are destined
exclusively to the service of God. See I Cor. vi. 15, 16.
SECT. 130. Descent of all Mankind from one Pair of Pro-
genitors, and the consequent Unity of the Human Race.
AH men I. The blessing of multiplication, bestowed by God on
frm e one d Adam and Eve, shows not only that the human race was
p v to be propagated by way of generation, but also that it
was to spring from the pair who received the blessing. No
mention whatever is made of any other progenitors, and it
PART I.] Man. 4 1 1
is distinctly stated that by multiplying their kind Adam CHAP, v
and Eve were to " fill the earth," and exercise over the SECT ' 13
earth that dominion which is implied in the Divine Idea of
man. Eve is called " the mother of all the living " (Gen.
iii. 20), and Adam " the father of the world," who " was
created alone" (Wisd. x. i). St. Paul told the Athenians
on Mars' Hill that " God hath made of one all mankind,
to dwell upon the whole face of the earth " (Acts xvii. 26).
Upon this doctrine the Apostle bases his teaching on
Original Sin and Redemption (Rom. v.).
It is the province of Apologetics to deal with the diffi-
culties raised against this dogma by modern unbelievers.
To overthrow the historical evidence in favour of the descent
of all mankind from one pair, science must demonstrate
the impossibility of such descent. But the fact that mar-
riages between members of the most different races are
prolific, proves that they all belong to the same species
and that their origin from a single pair of progenitors is
possible.
II. In the Divine Plan of Creation the unity of origin Oniyone
In mankind is intended, first of all, to secure and manifest !L
the perfect unity of the human species. A specific unity is,
indeed, conceivable even without unity of origin ; but, con-
sidering the great diversity existing among the several
races of men, their specific unity would not be so manifest
without the unity of origin. Again, the unity of origin
gives to all individuals of the human species a sameness of
nature which forms them into a species ultima that is to
say, into a species not further divisible. As a matter of
fact, when the heathens lost the idea of the common origin
of mankind, they took up false notions of human society.
With them male and female, Greek and barbarian, bond
and free, were beings of different natures. It is easily
seen why, according to the Divine Idea of man as the
visible image of God on earth, human nature must possess
the strictest specific unity. Set over all visible things and
made only a little lower than the angels, man is the con-
necting link between the double cosmos, a position which
he could not hold if his nature was sub-divided into several
species like the lower animals and the angels.
412 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK m.
CHAP. v. III. The full significance of the unity of origin lies, how-
ever, less in the unity of nature and species consequent
famiiy? ma> upon it, than in the fact that it unites mankind into one
family with one head, thus establishing between all men
an organic or living unity. Specific unity by itself renders
possible only a society of equals, whereas the unity existing
in a family constitutes a natural bond between its members,
which bond is the natural foundation of the unity of des-
tiny, of the duty of mutual assistance, and of the possi-
bility of solidarity between humanity as a whole on one
side, and God on the other. The family union of men
strengthens the ties of universal brotherhood which exists
between them as like creatures of the same God ; it is also
the essential condition of the solidarity in grace and sin
which exists between the first parent and all his descendants,
and likewise of the solidarity in the merits of Redemption
which exists between all mankind and Christ, the Second
Adam and Head of the Supernatural Order.
SECT. 131. Division and Order of the Vital Forces in Man.
J 1 "^ I. As man is a microcosmos, we can distinguish in his
degrees of
life m man. nature three different degrees of life. The first is vegetative
life, which performs the functions of nutrition, growth, and
propagation, and is common to man, animal, and plant.
Next comes sensitive life, made up of the knowledge
obtained through the senses and of the tendencies or appe-
tites connected therewith ; this life is common to man and
animal. Lastly, we have the intellectual or spiritual life,
consisting in intellectual knowledge and volitions directed
by the intellect. This life man has in common with God
and with the angels ; it is the highest order of life in man,
the object and the rule of the other vital functions.
Human jj Qualities or privileges which Divine liberality
nature pure a -'
and simple, freely gave to man at his creation, or which Divine justice
had bound itself to confer upon him by reason of his
supernatural end, do not belong to human nature : because
they do not necessarily flow from the human essence, or
constituent principles. On the other hand, the nature of
man contains not only the vital perfections which elevate
him above the brute creation and make him the image
PAKT I.] Man.
of God, but also the imperfections inherent in the lower CHAP. v.
degrees of life. Human Nature, considered apart from the SKC JjJ 3a -
elevating influence of God and the deteriorating influence
of sin, but with the perfections and imperfections necessarily
connected with the human substance, is called by the
Schoolmen nature pure and simple. Even after the Fall,
the nature of man is still what it was when first created ;
all the essential perfections of the original nature continue
to be transmitted, and all the imperfections of nature in its
present state already existed, at least radically, in the
original nature. This doctrine was denied by the Reformers,
who held an essential and intrinsic difference between
human nature as it was before, and as it is after, the Fall.
SECT. 132. The Spiritual Side of Human Nature.
I. The Catholic Church teaches that the human soul Spiritual
... - . .life natural
possesses, by reason of the act of creation, an active force to man.
and tendency to lead a moral and religious life, in accord-
ance with the soul's essential character of image of God.
Catholics consider the moral and religious life of the soul
as the exercise of a faculty essential to the soul, or as a
natural result of its constituent principles ; whereas the
Reformers held that the soul was merely a subject capable
of receiving from outside the imprint of the Divine image.
The Catholic sees the image of God in natural man,
independently of supernatural influence ; the Protestant
sees in natural man only a subject intended to be made
an image of God by a further Divine action. The Catholic
doctrine is plainly founded upon reason. Every substance,
and especially every living substance, is itself the active
principle of the activity natural to its species ; hence the
spiritual soul must be the radical principle of its entire
natural activity. The life of the soul, being rooted in its
essence and substance, cannot be lost while the substance
is not destroyed ; and since all human souls have the same
essence and are similarly created by God, what is true of the
souls of our first parents likewise applies to the souls of all
their posterity. The perfect development, however, of the
religious and moral faculty, may be impeded through the
absence of external aid or of self-exertion, or by positive
414 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK IIL
CHAP. v. hindrances, and thus the image of God in the soul may
SECT 1^2
' be deprived of its perfection and disfigured by unnatural
stains.
We may appeal also to Holy Scripture. " The image
and likeness of God " is the result of the creation of man ;
and even after the Fall, he is still defined as the image and
likeness of God. The likeness being the perfection of the
image, it is evident that, before and after the Fall, the
substance and essence and the nature of man remained
the same. In other words, man is the image of God and
is able to live the life of an image of God by virtue of
the constituent principles of his nature, and not merely by
virtue of qualities or faculties which may be added to
and taken from his nature.
II. The above general principle includes the following
special conclusions.
kSedge. * ^ e numan soul possesses, as an essential constituent
principle of its reasonable nature, power to acquire by
itself the knowledge of God, of the relations between Creator
and Creature, and consequently of the moral order as based
upon Divine Law (Rom. i. 20; ii. 14, 15). This living
force develops itself, to a certain degree, spontaneously, so
that a knowledge of God is gained as soon as the mind
develops itself.
Spiritual 2. The human soul likewise possesses, as an essential con-
cr moral .
stituent of its will, a living force and tendency to love and
worship spiritual beings, and, above all, God. As the know-
ledge of God is the natural perfection of reason, so the love
and worship of Him is the natural perfection of the will ;
without the innate power to love God, the soul would be
mutilated. Again, the soul, the image of God, has a natural
relationship with Him ; consequently a tendency to love
Him is as natural to the soul as the tendency to love itself
and other reasonable beings. The soul would be unnatural
indeed if by nature it had the power to love only itself and
other creatures. This power is first felt in involuntary emo-
tions of complacency and esteem which follow the knowledge
of God and influence the voluntary acts of love ; it is most
manifest in the sense of the duty to love and serve God.
This sense of duty is but a sense of love and reverence for
PART!.] Man. 415
God and His ordinances, which forces itself upon the soul CHAP, v
even against its free will. The development, however, of
this root can be hindered still more than the development
of the knowledge of God. It has to contend with free
will and with many other tendencies of human nature ;
it may be stunted to such a degree that it becomes morally
unable to produce an act of love effectively placing God
above all other things. Yet in itself it is indestructible,
because it is part of the soul's nature ; and even the most
hardened sinner feels the unrest caused by the consciousness
that he acts against the natural rectitude of his will. See
below, the treatises on Original Sin and Grace.
3. The faculty and tendency of the human will to love j
and respect rational beings, and especially God, implies
that the freedom of the will is not only physical but also
moral ; that is to say, man has not only the power to
determine his own and other forces, and to direct them to
an end (physical liberty), but also the power of willing them
for the sake of their own goodness and of directing them
to a moral end, and consequently the power of rejecting
and avoiding sin as such (moral liberty). The human will
is thus an image of the Divine Will in a twofold manner:
first, in as far as the Divine Will disposes its external acts
and works with consciousness and with a plan ; secondly,
in as far as God is Himself the ultimate object of all
His actions and volitions. Of course, the exercise of moral
liberty is not as essential to man as to God. By abusing
his physical liberty man is able to suspend the exercise of
his moral liberty, and even to render its further use almost
impossible. The moral energy of man is the foundation
of every further influence in the form of illumination and
assistance coming from God ; without such foundation in
the soul itself, man could not personally co-operate with
the Divine influence.
(a) In its general idea, moral liberty does not at all
imply the faculty of choosing between good and evil. It
simply consists in the radical power to will the morally
good as such, for the sake of its dignity and worth, and to
consciously direct the acts of the will to their moral end.
In the concise language of the Schoolmen, it is the power
416 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK ill.
CHAP. v. of willing what is right because it is right. The greater
this power, the greater is moral liberty. It is greatest in
God, where it manifests itself as the immutable power to
will the morally good immutably ; where, consequently,
the will is necessarily inclined to what is good only. God
possesses this attribute essentially, so that He is as essen-
tially holy as He is essentially free. But creatures also
should attain such liberty by the means of grace, which
clarifies their will through the caritas glories, and elevates
them to the " freedom of the sons of God."
(U] Moral liberty, in the above general sense, is essential
to the human will, and is part of the natural image of God.
But the positive power to will what is morally good, if not
clarified by grace or fixed by a previous persevering deter-
mination, is essentially coupled with the power not to will
what is good and to will evil instead ; it is " a power to
will what is right, together with the power not to will what
is right " or " to turn away from what is right." This
power, then, in man, is affected by a deficiency in deter-
mination for what is good, and by the possibility of willing
evil. The human will, belonging to a being created out
of nothing, does not possess by reason of its essence all
the perfection of which it is capable. Again, as it is the
will of a being distinct from God, it may have special
interests, by which it may be led to refuse God the respect
due to Him.
(c] If, notwithstanding its inherent imperfection, the
positive power to will what is morally good is to be a true
and real power, it must be conceived as " a power of the
will to elect the good and to reject the evil by its own
free determination," which stamps it as " a moral elective
faculty." In as far as moral liberty in man exerts itself
only as an elective faculty, requiring to be determined, it
is imperfect and implies a dissimilarity to God, Whose
will is essentially inclined to the supreme good. But, in
as far as it is still able to exert itself in this manner, and
has the power to annul its indetermination by its own
decision, it has a peculiar similarity to Divine liberty.
This power enables man not only to acquire, possess, and
preserve moral goodness, but also to make it his own by
PABT l.J Man. 4.1 7
his own exertions, just as it is God's own by His essence, CHAP, v
and thus to deserve for it praise and reward, just as God, SK 2l2 3 ^
for His goodness, deserves the highest honour. Moral
liberty, in this same sense, is also the condition not the
principle of moral guilt, placing, as it does, face to face
with the faculty of electing evil, the power of resisting and
avoiding it, so that evil cannot be chosen except on con-
dition that the will renounces the use of its power of
resistance.
(d} The likeness of moral liberty in man to God's liberty,
according to what has been said, consists, not in man's
power of doing evil, but his power of avoiding the evil
proposed to his choice.
(e) The power to choose what is morally good is not
given to man in such a way that, before the choice takes
place, there is in him no inclination or direction towards
what is good, and, consequently, no goodness bestowed on
him by the Creator independently of man's free election.
On the contrary, such choice would be impossible unless
man already possessed a tendency to good. The actual
goodness of the will is but the fruit of the habitual goodness
received from God ; the object of the choice is not the "first
production of moral goodness, but the development and
the exercise of the goodness already bestowed on the soul
by the Creator.
Man's free will, being founded upon a tendency granted Freew.n
J in relation
by God, can only operate dependently on God; it has to God.
an essential tendency to view all moral good as willed and
commanded by God, and to seek after it as such, for the
sake of the high respect due to God and His law, and
especially to direct the will on God as its ultimate object.
From this point of view, moral liberty is " a power to will
what is right, according to God and for God's own sake."
Considered specially as an elective faculty, it consists in
this, that man, by his own election, gives to God that
homage which is due to Him as to the Giver of moral
liberty and the Author of the fruits springing from its
root.
2 E
4i 8 A Manual of Catftohc Tkeology. [BOOK ill.
CHAP. V
SECT.J33. SECT. 133. The Animal Side of Man's Nature.
Pilncipics. I- Although the soul which animates the human body
differs essentially from the principle which gives life to the
lower animals, and although the soul, by means of its
spiritual functions, exercises control over the body and
its life : still, the animal and vegetative life of the
body of man is subject to physical laws. Man and
animal have in common not only the abstract concept of
"animal life," but also its concrete mode of existence, its
status and conditions. The imperfections which Holy
Scripture sums up under the name of " infirmity of the
flesh " have their origin in the animal part of man. The
spiritual soul informs the body in the same manner as
the vital principle informs the bodies of mere animals,
viz. in such a way as to endow the body with a life in
keeping with its nature. The soul does not spiritualize
the body, or give it the impassibility and incorruptibility
proper to spirits ; it does not even absolutely control all
the bodily motions and tendencies. By the mere fact of
creation, then, and not on account of any subsequent
derangement, the animal life of man is naturally subject
to the imperfections of animal life in general.
Holy Scripture offers a foundation for this doctrine
when it teaches that the body, taken from the earth, was,
through the inbreathing of a spiritual soul, made into " a
living soul " that is, received the life proper to its own
earthly nature. This is the argument of St. Paul (i Cor.
xv. 44 sqq.), who further deduces from the earthly origin
of man his infirmities and corruptibility.
Special II. The general principle just laid down contains the
Principles. . -.-
following special propositions :
Nutrition. i. The constitution of the human body subjects it to
the laws and conditions of existence and development
which rule the life of plants and animals, viz. the laws of
nutrition, growth, and reproduction. The first characteristic,
then, which distinguishes the animal body from the pure
spirit is this very necessity of taking something from with-
out for its sustenance, a necessity which appears most
clearly in the functions of respiration
PART L] Man. 4 1 9
2. The fact that life is dependent on a continual supply CHAP. v.
of external nourishment, shows that increase, decrease, and
extinction are natural to it. The tree of life, provided by Dead? aad
God for our first parents, bore indeed a food which would
have prevented the extinction of life. But to partake of
the fruit of life would only have averted the natural neces-
sity of decay and death. Left to its natural resources, the
immortal soul of man would not have been able to secure
immortality for the body. Again, the words of the Divine
curse, " Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return,"
point clearly to the fact that death was due to the Fall
only inasmuch as man, by reason of his sin, was left to his
natural corruptibility. The possibility and necessity of
death are, therefore, natural attributes, flowing from the
very constitution of human nature. By a positive Divine
disposition they were suspended until the first sin was
committed.
3. The spiritual essence of the soul in like manner can- Pain,
not prevent the internal and external disturbances of the
vital functions which lead to pain and suffering. The
possibility of suffering was certainly the same in our first
parents as in us ; God alone, by supernatural intervention,
was able to prevent this possibility from passing into
actuality.
4. Vegetative life in plants and animals is subject to The
..... ,....- . Passion*
a passibihty which, in the former, appears as corruption
of their substance, in the latter as pain and suffering. On
a level with these phenomena the Fathers place that pos-
sibility which is peculiar to the sensitive life of man and
animals. It consists in the sensitive faculties being affected
in anticipation or even in spite of reason. Such motions
are rightly called " passions," because they result from an
impulse received on the ground of some subjective want,
and are more or less dependent on the excitability of the
bodily organism. Of course, a positive force is required
for action at the reception of the objective impulse ; the
imperfection of the sensitive faculty lies both in the in-
ability to act without such impulse, and in the necessity
to act in accordance with it. This passive excitability of
the appetitive faculties of animal life is described by St.
420 A Manual of Catholic Tk&ology. [BOOK ill.
CHAP. v. Augustine as a weakness and idleness of nature, or as a
SECT.J33. mor j D j c j q ua iity of nature.
Catholic doctrine and sound philosophy alike demand
that the appetitive faculties of sensitive life in man should
occupy an inferior position. Reason should rule over pas-
sion as far as possible by controlling inordinate desires,
and by refusing the use of the body for wrong purposes.
This refusal is always in the power of rational will, for the
power of man over the external motions of his body is
despotic, whereas his power over his desires is only politic,
or, as we now say, constitutional. Although the motions
of concupiscence are due to the infirmity of human nature,
the soul cannot get rid of this infirmity, because the in-
fluence of the soul, as form of the body, is like the influence
of non-spiritual forms ; the life it gives is animal life with
all its concomitant perfections and imperfections,
oncupis- 5- It is thus evident that, by the very constitution of his
ence " nature, man is liable to spontaneous motions in his sensi-
tive tendencies, over which the will has, at best, but little
control. In other words, concupiscence is an attribute of
human nature. In animals which have no reason, concu-
piscence is the mainspring of activity ; it is in harmony
with their whole nature, whereas in man it is a disturbing
element in the higher life of the soul. The subjection to
concupiscence in man belongs to the same order as the
possibility and necessity of death and of physical pain, viz.
to passibility and corruptibility in animal life.
eneration ^. The nature f tne animal body asserts itself most in
the manifestations of the sexual instinct. These are the
most impetuous ; they are accompanied by spontaneous
motions of the flesh, and are the least controllable by reason.
This peculiarity is accounted for on the ground that the
functions of vegetative life, to which the sexual instinct
belongs, are carried out independently of the will. Another
and better ground is, that the object of this instinct is the
preservation, rather than the multiplication, of the race, so
that by satisfying it the mortal individual secures to itself
the only immortality it can attain, viz. a continued exist-
ence in individuals of its own kind. Inasmuch, then, as
the human body shared with other earthly beings the faculty
PART I.] Afan. 421
of propagation as well as the necessity of death, it was but CHAP. -\
natural that it should also share with them the morbid SE ^Il! 3 ''
excitability of the most natural of instincts. Again, no
other domain of life brings out better the contrast between
the spiritual and the animal faculties of the soul. The
"law of death" in the manifestations of the sexual instinct
is so strong that in their presence the soul loses command
over the motions, and almost over the very use, of the
body. The imperfection and lowness of its animal life is
thus strongly brought home to the soul, and the contrast
with its nobler spiritual life may account for the sense of
shame inseparable from sexual excitement.
III. Thus all the imperfections and defects to be found Summary,
in the animal part of man are not the result of the destruc-
tion and perversion of man's original state, but the necessary
natural result of the constitution of human nature. The
objections raised against the Catholic doctrine are based
upon misconception or misrepresentation. To answer them
in detail would lead to a needless repetition of the proposi-
tions contained in this chapter.
SECT. 134. The Natural Imperfections or the Animal
Character of the Spiritual Life (" ratio inferior ") in
Man, and its Consequences,
I. The union with a passible and corruptible body influence of
entails upon the spiritual soul a certain imperfection and {he higher 1 ""
weakness, in consequence of which the soul's own life is J^i?
subject to gradual increase, and is dependent on external in-
fluences ; and, unlike the life of pure spirits, is in many ways
hindered in its free and full development. "The corruptible
body is a load upon the soul, and the earthly habitation
presseth down the mind that museth upon many things "
(Wisd. ix. 15). The chief cause of this is, that the animal
life and the animal side of the spiritual life both exercise a
disturbing influence upon the higher reason. The imperfec-
tion of man's spiritual life, arising from its dependence on
animal life, may fitly be styled an "animal quality" of the
spiritual life. In fact, St. Paul (i Cor. ii. 14) sums up all
the imperfections of natural man in the term "animal man"
TTOG i/>ux<Koe)- I" the mind of the Apostle, this is
422 A Manual of Catholic Theology. [BOOK ITT.
CHAP. v. intended to explain why man, on the whole, (i.e. with his
L.- j4 ' spiritual as well as his animal nature), has no sense of the
supernatural, and is even, to a certain extent, opposed to
it. Now this expression is connected with the argument
in chap, xv., ver. 45, of the same epistle, where it is stated
that the first man was created as " living soul " (tig ^in^r/v
wo-ov). Hence, as the argument in chap. xv. is evidently
taken from the account of man's creation in Genesis, so
also is the argument in chap. ii. ; from which it further
follows that, according to St. Paul, the imperfections of
our spiritual life flow from the original constitution of our
nature.
intellectual II. Intellectual knowledge, the noblest function of the
imperfection
soul, is derived from and supported by the knowledge
acquired through the senses. Hence it is less clear and
its attainment is more difficult than in the case of pure
spirits ; and its indistinctness and difficulty increase the
more it is removed from the domain of the senses. Thus
the difficulty of acquiring and retaining distinct notions is
greater in the higher reason than in the lower, because in
the latter the subject-matter of knowledge is always either
directly afforded by the senses or is at least illustrated by
mental images of the imagination. Consequently, although
the soul possesses a spiritual light enabling it to know
moral and religious truths, yet the acquisition of a full and
certain knowledge of such truths is beset with many diffi-
culties, so that many moral precepts may be either unknown
or misunderstood ( 3). This imperfection constitutes what
theologians call "malum ignorantise." The knowledge
even when acquired by the superior reason, is exposed to
the disturbing influence of the lower orders of cognition.
In case of conflict, the lower knowledge and the motions
of concupiscence accompanying it are apt to obscure and
disturb the intellect,
imperfection III. The will is naturally inclined to the good and the
o the Will. . . . _ J . c ,
beautiful, and, therefore, to the love and esteem ot (jod ;
but it is also naturally inclined to seek its own good, and,
therefore, is greatly moved by love of self. Self-love is no
disturbing element in the will of pure spirits, because their
superior and accurate knowledge enables them to esteem
PART L] Man. 423
everything at its exact moral value ; hence, in the con- CHAP. v.
flict between self-love and love of God, the former never
can be an inducement to wrong. In man, on the contrary,
self-love is handicapped with the weakness and passibility
of the human organism ; the human will is attracted and
affected by its own good, before reason has a chance to
estimate the moral value of such good, and the attraction
and affection persist even when condemned by higher
reason. This state of things has its explanation in the
mode of working of our organism. The sensitive faculties
are moved before the intellectual, and, by reason of the
sympathy between the various faculties, anticipating the
judgment of the intellect, they awaken in the will the so-
called condelectation that is, they incline the will towards
their own sensible object. Again, the lower reason, preced-
ing the action of the higher intellect and supported by the
imagination, directly excites in the will affections and
desires for sensible goods, regardless of their moral value.
In both cases the will is moved passively, just as the
sensitive appetites are moved in all their acts. In both
cases, also, a conflict between such motions of the will and
the judgment of the higher reason is possible ; and the
act of the will, dictated by such judgment, is not always
able to repress or subdue the sensual allurements. Thus
the passibility of the will, which results from the very
fact of its union with a corruptible body, establishes
between the higher and lower regions of mental life the
same antagonism which exists between the rational and
the sensitive appetitive faculties.
The natural inclination for good is the spring which
moves moral liberty. Hence the weakness of the will, as
just described, constitutes a weakness in our m 
