Grace, Actual and Habitual Part 20

*Thesis I: The three divine virtues of faith, hope, and charity are infused into the soul simultaneously with sanctifying grace.*

Some theologians (notably Suarez, Ripalda, and De Lugo) declare this thesis to be _de fide_, while others (Dom. Soto, Melchior Cano, and Vasquez) hold it merely as certain. Under the circ.u.mstances it will be safest to take middle ground by characterizing it as _fidei proxima_.

Proof. The Council of Trent teaches: "Man through Jesus Christ, in whom he is ingrafted, receives, in the said justification, together with the remission of sins, all these [gifts] infused at once-faith, hope, and charity."(1113)

a) That theological charity, as a habit, is infused together with sanctifying grace can be convincingly demonstrated from Holy Scripture.

Cfr. Rom. V, 5: "... the charity of G.o.d is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us."(1114) In connection with charity, Holy Scripture frequently mentions faith. Cfr. 1 Cor. XIII, 2: "And if I should have ... all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."(1115) All three of the theological virtues are expressly enumerated in 1 Cor. XIII, 13: "And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity."(1116) Unlike certain other texts, the one last quoted leaves no doubt that faith, hope, and charity are to be conceived as _dona inhaerentia_, _i.e._ habits or qualities inherent in the soul. This interpretation is approved by the Fathers and Scholastics.

b) St. Thomas proves the necessity of the three theological virtues for salvation as follows: "In order that we be properly moved towards our end [G.o.d], that end must be both known and desired. Desire of an end includes two things: first, hope of attaining it, because no prudent man will aspire to that which he cannot attain; and secondly, love, because nothing is desired that is not loved. And hence there are three theological virtues,-faith, by which we know G.o.d; hope, by which we trust to obtain Him; and charity, by which we love Him."(1117)

When are the three theological virtues infused into the soul? This is an open question so far as faith and hope are concerned. Of charity we know that it is always infused with habitual grace. Suarez contends that, when the soul is properly disposed, faith and hope are infused before justification proper, that is to say, in the process leading up to it. St.

Thomas and St. Bonaventure, on the other hand, hold that faith and hope, like charity, are infused at the moment when justification actually takes place in the soul. This last-mentioned opinion is favored by the Tridentine Council.(1118)

Mortal sin first destroys sanctifying grace together with the habit of charity that is inseparable from it. Faith and hope may continue to exist in the soul, and if hope, too, departs, faith may remain alone. But the loss of faith invariably entails the destruction of hope and charity.

*Thesis II: Together with sanctifying grace there are also infused the supernatural moral virtues.*

This proposition may be characterized as _sententia communior et probabilior_. Though denied by some theologians, it can claim a high degree of probability.(1119)

Proof. The infused moral virtues (_virtutes morales infusae_) differ from the theological virtues in that they have for their immediate formal object, not G.o.d Himself, but the creature in its relation to the moral law.

The moral virtues may be reduced to four, _viz._: prudence, justice, fort.i.tude, and temperance. These are called the "cardinal" virtues; first, because they perfect the princ.i.p.al faculties of the soul; secondly, because all the other virtues may be scientifically deduced from them.(1120) In the supernatural order the infusion of the cardinal virtues and of the other virtues subordinate to them has for its object the government of intellect and will in their relation towards created things and the guidance of these faculties to their supernatural end.

a) The existence of supernaturally infused moral virtues is intimated in Wis. VIII, 7: "And if a man love justice: her labors have great virtues; for she teacheth temperance, and prudence, and justice, and fort.i.tude, which are such things as men can have nothing more profitable in life."(1121) The teacher of the three cardinal virtues here mentioned is "Divine Wisdom," _i.e._ G.o.d Himself, and we may a.s.sume that He inculcates them by the same method which He employs in infusing the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.

Another relevant text is Ezechiel XI, 19 sq.: "... and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my commandments, and keep my judgments."(1122) Here Yahweh promises to give the just men of the New Covenant a "heart of flesh" as opposed to the "stony heart" of the Jews. The meaning evidently is that a disposition to do good will be a characteristic of the New Testament Christians in contradistinction to the hardhearted Old Testament Jews. He who has a "heart of flesh" will walk in G.o.d's commandments and keep His judgments. Hence "heart" signifies the sum-total of all those habits which impel and enable a man to lead a good life. Since it is G.o.d Himself who gives the "heart of flesh," _i.e._ the moral virtues, it follows that they are supernaturally infused.(1123)

b) Some of the Fathers ascribe the moral virtues directly to divine infusion.

Thus St. Augustine observes that the cardinal virtues "are given to us through the grace of G.o.d."(1124) And St. Gregory the Great says that the Holy Ghost does "not desert the hearts of those who are perfect in faith, hope, and charity, and in those other goods without which no man can attain to the heavenly fatherland."(1125) St. Thomas shows the theological reason for this by pointing to the parallel that exists between nature and the supernatural. "Effects," he says, "must always be proportionate to their causes and principles. Now all virtues, intellectual and moral, which we acquire by our acts, proceed from certain natural principles preexisting in us.... In lieu of these natural principles G.o.d confers on us the theological virtues, by which we are directed to a supernatural end.... Hence there must correspond to these theological virtues, proportionally, other habits caused in us by G.o.d, and which bear the same relation to the theological virtues that the moral and intellectual virtues bear to the natural principles of virtue."(1126)

*Thesis III: The seven gifts of the Holy Ghost are also infused with sanctifying grace.*

This proposition may be qualified as "_probabilis_."

Proof. The Church's teaching with regard to the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost is based on Isaias XI, 2 sq.: "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fort.i.tude, the spirit of knowledge, and of G.o.dliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord." Four of these supernatural gifts (wisdom, understanding, counsel, and knowledge) perfect the intellect in matters pertaining to salvation, while the remaining three (fort.i.tude, G.o.dliness, and the fear of the Lord) direct the will to its supernatural end. Are these seven gifts, (or some of them), really distinct from the infused moral virtues? Are they habits or habitual dispositions, or merely transient impulses or inspirations? What are their mutual relations and how can they be divided off from one another? These and similar questions are in dispute among theologians. The prevailing opinion is that the gifts of the Holy Ghost are infused habitual dispositions, _realiter_ distinct from the theological and moral virtues, by which the soul is endowed with a supernatural capacity for receiving the inspirations of the Holy Ghost and a supernatural readiness to obey His impulses in all important matters pertaining to salvation.(1127)

That the gifts of the Holy Ghost are infused into the soul simultaneously with sanctifying grace, can be demonstrated as follows: Christ, as the mystical head, is the pattern of justification for the members of His spiritual body, who are united to Him by sanctifying grace.(1128) Now the Holy Ghost dwelled in Christ with all His gifts as permanent habits.(1129) Consequently, these gifts are imparted by infusion to those who receive the grace of justification. This is manifestly the belief of the Church, for she prays in the "_Veni Sancte Spiritus_":

"Shed upon thy faithful fold, By unbounded hope controlled, Thy seven gifts."(1130)

*Thesis IV: The process of justification reaches its climax in the personal indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the soul of the just.*

This thesis embodies what is technically called a _propositio certa_.

Proof. There are two ways in which G.o.d may dwell in the soul, either by virtue of His created grace (_inhabitatio per dona accidentalia_, ??????s?? ?at? ?????e?a?) or by virtue of His uncreated substance (_inhabitatio substantialis sive personalis_, ??????s?? ?at? ??s?a?). The personal indwelling of the Holy Ghost, therefore, may consist in a twofold grace: _gratia creata_ and _gratia increata_, of which the former is the groundwork and necessary condition of the latter, while the latter may be described as the climax and consummation of the former.(1131) The indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just is taught by Holy Scripture and attested by the Fathers.

a) Holy Scripture draws a clear-cut distinction between the accidental and the substantial indwelling of the Holy Ghost.

a) Our Lord Himself, in addition to the charismata, promised His Apostles the Holy Ghost in Person. John XIV, 16 sq.: "... the Father ... shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever, ... but you shall know him, because he shall abide with you, and shall be in you."(1132) This promise was made to all the faithful. Cfr. Rom. V, 5: "... the charity of G.o.d is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us."(1133) Hence the Holy Ghost abides in the just and sets up His throne in their souls. Cfr. Rom. VIII, 11: "And if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you; he that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of his Spirit that dwelleth in you."(1134) By His indwelling our souls become temples of G.o.d. 1 Cor. III, 16 sq.: "Know you not that you are the temple of G.o.d, and that the Spirit of G.o.d dwelleth in you?... For the temple of G.o.d is holy, which you are."(1135) 1 Cor. VI, 19: "Or know you not that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from G.o.d; and you are not your own?"(1136)

) Agreeable to this teaching of Scripture the Fathers, especially those of the East, a.s.sert the substantial indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just.

The fact that no one but G.o.d can dwell substantially and personally in a creature was cited by the Greek Fathers in their controversies with the Pneumatomachians to prove the divinity of the Holy Ghost. St. Athanasius writes to Serapion:(1137) "If we by receiving the Holy Ghost are allowed to partic.i.p.ate in the Divine Nature, no one but a fool will a.s.sert that the Holy Ghost is not of divine but of human nature. For all those in whom He abides become deified(1138) for no other reason. But if He const.i.tutes them G.o.ds, there can be no doubt that His nature is divine." St. Basil comments as follows on Ps. Lx.x.xI, 6 (_Ego dixi, dii estis_): "But the Spirit that causes the G.o.ds to be G.o.ds, must be divine, and from G.o.d, ...

and G.o.d."(1139) St. Cyril of Alexandria(1140) glowingly describes the soul inhabited by the Holy Ghost as inlaid with gold, transfused by fire, filled with the sweet odor of balsam, and so forth.

The Latin Fathers, with one exception, are less definite on this point.

St. Augustine says that the Holy Ghost "is given as a gift of G.o.d in such a way that He Himself also gives Himself as being G.o.d,"(1141) and that "the grace of G.o.d is a gift of G.o.d, but the greatest gift is the Holy Spirit Himself, who therefore is called a grace."(1142) Again: "... the Holy Spirit is the gift of G.o.d, the gift being Himself indeed equal to the giver, and therefore the Holy Ghost also is G.o.d, not inferior to the Father and the Son."(1143)

b) While theologians are unanimous in accepting the doctrine of the personal indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the just as clearly contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, they differ in explaining the manner in which He dwells in the soul.

a) The great majority hold that the Holy Ghost can not dwell in the soul, as the human soul dwells in the body, _per modum informationis_, nor yet by a hypostatic union, as G.o.dhead and manhood dwell together in the Person of Christ; and that consequently His indwelling is objectively an indwelling of the whole Trinity, which is appropriated to the Third Person merely because the Holy Ghost is "hypostatic holiness" or "personal love."

This view is based on what is called "the fundamental law of the Trinity,"

_viz._: "In G.o.d all things are one except where there is opposition of relation."(1144) Sacred Scripture speaks of the personal indwelling of the Father and the Son as well as of the Holy Ghost. Cfr. John XIV, 23: "If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and will make our abode with him."(1145) St. Athanasius concludes from these words that "the _energia_ of the Trinity is one....

Indeed when the Lord says: I and the Father will come, the Spirit also comes, to dwell in us in precisely the same manner in which the Son dwells in us."(1146) And St. Augustine teaches: "Love, therefore, which is of G.o.d and is G.o.d, is properly the Holy Spirit, by whom the love of G.o.d is shed abroad in our hearts,-that love by which the whole Trinity dwells in us."(1147) Accordingly, the personal indwelling of the Holy Ghost consists in the state of grace as bearing a special relation to the Third Person of the Trinity; the "higher nature" which sanctifying grace imparts to the soul is not an absolute but a relative form (s??s??), by which the soul is mysteriously united with the Three Divine Persons and, by appropriation, with the Holy Ghost, thereby becoming a throne and temple of G.o.d. It is in this sense that the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the soul is called the climax of justification.(1148)

) Other eminent theologians (Petavius, Pa.s.saglia, Schrader, Scheeben, Hurter, _et al._) regard the explanation just given as unsatisfactory.

They contend that the Fathers, especially those of the East, conceived the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just, not as an indwelling (??????s??) of the Trinity, appropriated to the Holy Ghost, but as a union (???s??) of the Holy Ghost Himself with the soul.(1149) This union, they say, is neither physical nor hypostatic, but an altogether unique and inexplicable relation by which the soul is morally, accidentally, and actively united to the person of the Holy Ghost.(1150)

?) Unfortunately this exalted and mystic theory cannot be squared with the theological principles underlying the Catholic teaching on the Trinity, especially that portion of it which concerns the appropriations and missions of the three Divine Persons.(1151) It is true that sanctifying grace culminates in a communication of the Divine Nature, and that this ?e??s?? is effected by imprinting upon the soul an image of the divine processes of generation and spiration,-the first by adoptive filiation, the second by an indwelling of the Holy Ghost.(1152) In fact all the Trinitarian relations are reflected in the justification of the sinner.

Thus regeneration corresponds to the generation of the Logos by the Father; adoptive sonship and the accompanying partic.i.p.ation of the soul in the Divine Nature corresponds to our Lord's natural sonship and his consubstantiality with the Father; the indwelling of the Holy Ghost and His union with the soul, on the other hand, corresponds to the divine process of Spiration, inasmuch as it is preeminently a supernatural union of love and effects a sort of mutual inexistence or perich.o.r.esis of the soul in the Holy Ghost or the three Divine Persons respectively.(1153) Since, however, this union of the soul with the substance of the three Divine Persons in general, and the Holy Ghost in particular, is not a substantial and physical but only an accidental and moral union, the regeneration of the sinner must be conceived as generation in a metaphorical sense only, divine sonship as adoptive sonship, the deification of man as a weak imitation of the divine _h.o.m.oousia_, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the soul as a shadowy a.n.a.logue of the Divine Perich.o.r.esis.(1154)

READINGS:-Deharbe, _Die vollkommene Liebe Gottes nach dem hl.

Thomas von Aquin_, Ratisbon 1856.-Marchant, _Die theologischen Tugenden_, Ratisbon 1864.-Mazzella, _De Virtutibus Infusis_, 4th ed., Rome 1894.-G. Lahousse, S. J., _De Virtutibus Theologicis_, Louvain 1890.-S. Schiffini, S. J., _Tractatus de Virtutibus Infusis_, Freiburg 1904.-J. Kirschkamp, _Der Geist des Katholizismus in der Lehre vom Glauben und von der Liebe_, Paderborn 1894.-C. Weiss, _S. Thomae Aquinatis de Septem Donis Spiritus Sancti Doctrina Proposita et Explicata_, Vienna 1895.

On the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just see A. Scholz, _De Inhabitatione Spiritus Sancti_, Wurzburg 1856.-*Franzelin, _De Deo Trino_, pp. 625 sqq., Rome 1881.-Oberdorffer, _De Inhabitatione Spiritus Sancti in Animabus Iustorum_, Tournai 1890.-* B. Froget, O. P., _De l'Inhabitation du S. Esprit dans les ames Justes d'apres la Doctrine de S. Thomas d'Aquin_, Paris 1901.-De Bellevue, _L'Oeuvre du S. Esprit ou la Sanctification des ames_, Paris 1901.

On the historic development of the dogma see Schwane, _Dogmengeschichte_, 2nd ed., Vol. II, -- 56-75, Freiburg 1895.

Section 3. The Properties Of Sanctifying Grace

By a property (_proprium_, ?d???) we understand a quality which, though not part of the essence of a thing, necessarily flows from that essence by some sort of causation and is consequently found in all individuals of the same species.(1155) A property, as such, is opposed to an accident (_accidens_, s?e????), which is neither part of, nor necessarily attached to, the essence, but may or may not be present in the individual.

Thus the ability to laugh is a property of human nature, whereas the color of the skin is an accident.

How do the properties of grace differ from its formal effects, and from its supernatural concomitants? The formal effects of grace, as we have seen, are the elements const.i.tuting its nature, the properties are determinations necessarily flowing from that nature, while the supernatural concomitants are free gifts superadded by G.o.d.

According to the Protestant theory, justification is absolutely certain, equal in all men, and incapable of being lost. The Catholic Church, on the contrary, teaches that justification is (1) uncertain, (2) unequal, and (3) amissible. We will explain this teaching in three theses.

*Thesis I: No man knows with certainty of faith whether he is justified or not.*

This proposition is _de fide_.