And he that doth not please God, whom doth he please but himself and the devil? by whom, when man was spoiled, he was deprived not of his will, but of the sanity of his will.”

34 Therefore if God do not work in us, we can be partakers of no virtue; for without this good there is nothing good, without this light there is nothing lightsome, without this wisdom there is nothing sound, without this righteousness there is nothing right." So Fulgentius, in his book of the Incarnation and Grace of Christ: 35 If unto some who did know God, and yet did not glorify him as God, that knowledge did profit nothing unto salvation, how could they be just with God, which do so keep some goodness in their manners and works, that yet they refer it not unto the end of Christian faith and charity? In whom there may be indeed some good things that appertain to the equity of human society; but because they are not done by the love of God, profit they cannot.” And Maxentius, in the Confession of his Faith: 36 We believe that natural freewill hath ability to nothing else but to discern and desire carnal or secular things only, which not with God, but with men peradventure, may seem glorious; but for the things that pertain to everlasting life, that it can neither think, nor will, nor desire, nor effect, but by the infusion and inward operation of the Holy Ghost." And Cassiodorus, in his Exposition of the Psalms: 3 On the evil part indeed there is an execrable freedom of the will, that the sinner may

34 Qui si non operatur in nobis, nullius possumus esse participes virtutis. Sine hoc quippe bono nihil est bonum; sine hac luce nihil est lucidum; sine hac sapientia nihil sanum; sine hac justitia nihil rectum. Ibid. cap. 8.

35 Quod si quibusdam cognoscentibus Deum, nec tamen sicut Deum glorificantibus, cognitio illa nihil profuit ad salutem, quomodo hi potuerunt justi esse apud Deum, qui sic in suis moribus atque operibus bonitatis aliquid servant, ut hoc ad finem Christianæ fidei caritatisque non referant? Quibus aliqua quidem bona, quæ ad societatis humanæ pertinent æquitatem, inesse possunt; sed quia non caritate Dei fiunt, prodesse non possunt. Fulg. de Incarn. et Grat. Christi, cap. 26.

36 Liberum naturale arbitrium ad nihil

aliud valere credimus, nisi ad discernenda tantum et desideranda carnalia sive secularia; quæ non apud Deum, sed apud homines possunt fortassis videri gloriosa: ad ea vero quæ ad vitam æternam pertinent, nec cogitare, nec velle, nec desiderare, nec perficere posse, nisi per infusionem et inoperationem intrinsecus Spiritus Sancti. Jo. Maxent. in Confessione suæ Fidei.

37 Est quidem in mala parte execrabilis libertas arbitrii, ut prævaricator Creatorem deserat, et ad vitia se nefanda convertat; in bona vero parte arbitrium liberum, Adam peccante, perdidimus, ad quod nisi per Christi gratiam redire non possumus, dicente Apostolo, Deus est enim qui operatur in vobis et velle et perficere, pro bona voluntate. Cassiodor. in Psalm. cxvii.

forsake his Creator and convert himself to wicked vices; but on the good part, by Adam's sinning we have lost freewill, unto which, otherwise than by the grace of Christ, we cannot return; according to the saying of the Apostle, It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philip. ii. 13.”

The first presumptuous advancer of free-will, contrary to the doctrine anciently received in the Church, is by Vincentius Lirinensis noted to be Pelagius the heretic. For

3 who ever," saith he, "before that profane Pelagius presumed the virtue of free-will to be so great, that he did not think the grace of God to be necessary for the helping of it in good things at every act?" For maintaining of which ungodly opinion both he and his disciple Celestius were condemned by the censure of the 243 Bishops assembled in the great Council of Carthage, Anno Domini 418, 39 until they should acknowledge, by a most open confession, that by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord we are holpen not only to know, but also to do righteousness at every act; so that without it we can have, think, say, do nothing that belongeth to true and holy piety." Wherewith Pelagius being pressed, stuck not to make this profession:

40 Anathema to him who either thinketh or saith that the grace of God, whereby Christ came into this world to save sinners, is not necessary, not only at every hour or every moment, but also at every act of ours; and they who go about to take away this are worthy to suffer everlasting punishment." Four books also did he publish in defence of free-will, to which he thus referreth his adversaries for

38 Quis unquam ante profanum illum Pelagium tantam virtutem liberi præsumpsit arbitrii, ut ad hoc in bonis rebus per actus singulos adjuvandum necessariam Dei gratiam non putaret? Vincent. Lirinens. advers. Hæres. Commonit. 1. cap. 34.

39 Donec apertissima confessione fateantur, gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum, non solum ad cognoscendam verum etiam ad faciendam justitiam, nos per actus singulos adjuvari; ita ut sine ea nihil veræ sanctæque pietatis habere, cogitare, dicere, agere valeamus. Synod. African. Epist. ad Zosimum Pap.

apud Prosperum contra Collator. cap. 5, et Respons. ad Object. VIII. Gallorum; ubi addit, Hanc constitutionem contra inimicos gratiæ Dei totum mundum amplexum esse.

40 Anathema qui vel sentit vel dicit gratiam Dei, qua Christus venit in hunc mundum peccatores salvos facere, non solum per singulas horas aut per singula momenta, sed etiam per singulos actus nostros non esse necessariam; et qui hanc conantur auferre, pœnas sortiuntur æternas. Pelag. apud Augustin. lib. i. de Gratia Christi, contra Pelag. et Celest. cap. 2.

41 Let them read the

further satisfaction in this matter: late work which we were forced to set out the other day for free-will; and they shall perceive how unjustly they go about to defame us with the denial of grace, who throughout the whole context almost of that work do perfectly and entirely confess both free-will and grace. Yet for all this he did but equivocate in the name of grace, "under an ambiguous generality hiding what he thought, but by the term of grace breaking the envy and declining the offence" which might be taken at his doctrine, as St Augustine well observeth. For by grace he did not understand, as the Church did in this question, the infusion of a new quality of holiness into the soul, whereby it was regenerated, and the will of evil made good; but, first, the possibility of nature, that is to say, the natural freedom of will, which every one hath received from God by virtue of the first creation. Against which St Augustine thus opposeth himself: 44 "Why is there so much presumed of the possibility of nature? It is wounded, it is maimed, it is vexed, it is lost it hath need of a true confession, not of a false defence." And Prosper, speaking of the state of man's free-will after Adam's fall:

43

45 hinc arbitrium per devia lapsum
Claudicat, et cæcis conatibus inque ligatis
Motus inest, non error abest: manet ergo voluntas
Semper amans aliquid quo se ferat; et labyrintho
Fallitur, ambages dubiarum ingressa viarum.
Vana cupit, vanis tumet et timet: omnimodaque
Mobilitate ruens, in vulnera vulnere surgit.

Secondly, By grace he understood the grace of doctrine and instruction, whereby the mind was informed in the truth

41 Legant etiam recens meum opusculum, quod pro libero nuper arbitrio edere compulsi sumus, et agnoscent quam inique nos negatione gratiæ infamare gestierint, qui per totum pene ipsius textum operis perfecte atque integre et liberum arbitrium confitemur et gratiam. Id. ibid. cap. 41.

42 Sub ambigua generalitate quid sentiret abscondens, gratiæ tamen vocabulo frangens invidiam offensionemque declinans. Augustin. ibid. cap. 37.

43 Pelag. apud Augustin. de Gestis contra Pelag. cap. 10, et in Epist. xcv. Vide eundem Augustin. de Grat. et lib. Arbitr. cap. 13, et Serm. XI. de Verbis Apostoli.

44 Quid tantum de naturæ possibilitate præsumitur? Vulnerata, sauciata, vexata, perdita est. Vera confessione, non falsa defensione opus habet. August. de Natur. et Grat. cap. 53.

45 Prosper de Ingratis, cap. 27.

out of the word of God; which by Prosper is thus objected to his followers:

46 aliud non est vobiscum gratia, quam lex,

Quamque Propheta monens, et quam doctrina ministri.

Unto whom St Augustine therefore saith well: ""Let them read and understand, let them behold and confess, that not by the law and doctrine sounding outwardly, but by an inward and hidden, by a wonderful and unspeakable power, God doth work in the hearts of men not only true revelations, but good wills also." And thereupon the African Fathers, in the Council of Carthage, enacted this canon : 66 48 Whosoever shall say that the grace of God by Jesus Christ our Lord doth for this cause only help us not to sin, because by it the understanding of the commandments is revealed and opened unto us, that we may know what we ought to affect, what to shun; and that by it there is not wrought in us, that we may also love and be enabled to do that which we know should be done; let him be anathema." Thirdly, under this grace he comprehended not only the external revelation by the word, but also the internal by the illumination of God's Spirit. Whereupon he thus riseth up against his adversary: 50 We confess that this grace is not, as thou thinkest, in the law only, but in the help of God also. For God doth help us by his doctrine and revelation, whilst he openeth the eyes of our hearts, whilst he sheweth us things

46 Id. ibid. cap. 20. Vide eundem in Epist. ad Ruffinum, non procul ab initio, et Augustin. de Hæres. cap. 88, et lib. i. de Gratia Christi contra Pelag. cap. 8-10.

47 Legant ergo et intelligant, intueantur atque fateantur, non lege atque doctrina insonante forinsecus, sed interna atque occulta, mirabili ac ineffabili potestate operari Deum in cordibus hominum non solum veras revelationes, sed etiam bonas voluntates. Augustin. ibid. cap. 24.

48 Quisquis dixerit gratiam Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum propter hoc tantum nos adjuvare ad non peccandum, quia per ipsam nobis revelatur et aperitur intelligentia mandatorum, ut sciamus quid appetere, quid vitare debcamus; non autem per illam

nobis præstari, ut quod faciendum cognoverimus, etiam facere diligamus atque valeamus, anathema sit. African. Patr. in Synod. Carthagin. Can. IV.

49 Augustin. lib. i. de Grat. Christ. contra Pelag. cap. 7 and 41.

50 Quam (gratiam) nos, non ut tu putas, in lege tantummodo, sed et in De esse adjutorio confitemur. Adjuvat enim nos Deus per doctrinam et revelationem suam, dum cordis nostri oculos aperit, dum nobis, ne præsentibus occupemur, futura demonstrat, dum diaboli pandit insidias, dum nos multiformi et ineffabili dono gratiæ cœlestis illuminat. Qui hæc dicit, gratiam tibi videtur negare? An et liberum hominis arbitrium et Dei gratiam confitetur? Pelag. ibid. cap.

7.

to come, that we be not holden with things present, whilst he discovereth the snares of the devil, whilst he enlighteneth us with the manifold and unspeakable gift of his heavenly grace. He that saith these things, doth he seem unto thee to deny grace? or doth he confess both the free-will of man and the grace of God too?" And yet in all this, as St Augustine rightly noteth, 51 he doth but "confess that grace whereby God doth shew and reveal what we ought to do; not that whereby he doth grant and help that we may do." And therefore in other places of his writings he plainly affirmeth, "that our very prayers are to be used for nothing but this, that the doctrine may be opened unto us by divine revelation, not that the mind of man may be holpen that he may also accomplish by love and action that which he hath learned should be done." Fourthly, to these he further added the grace of remission of sins. For the Pelagians said, 53 that man's nature, which was made with free-will, might be sufficient to enable us that we might not sin, and that we might fulfil righteousness; and that this is the grace of God, that we were so made, that we might do this by our will, and that he hath given us the help of his law and commandments, and that he doth pardon the sins past to those that are converted unto him; that in these things only the grace of God was to be acknowledged, and not in the help given unto all our singular actions." they said, that that grace of God which is given by the faith of Jesus Christ, which is neither

And so

66

54

51 Hinc itaque apparet, hanc eum gratiam confiteri, qua demonstrat et revelat Deus quid agere debeamus; non qua donat atque adjuvat ut agamus; cum ad hoc potius valeat legis agnitio, si gratiæ desit opitulatio, ut fiat mandati prævaricatio. Augustin. ibid. cap. 8.

52 Ipsas quoque orationes, ut in scriptis suis apertissime affirmat, ad nihil aliud adhibendas opinatur, nisi ut nobis doctrina etiam divina revelatione aperiatur ; non ut adjuvetur mens hominis, ut id, quod faciendum esse didicerit, etiam dilectione et actione perficiat. Id. ibid. cap. 41.

sa Ut non peccemus, impleamusque justitiam, posse sufficere naturam huma

nam quæ condita est cum libero arbitrio ; eamque esse Dei gratiam, quia sic conditi sumus, ut hoc voluntate possimus ; et quod adjutorium legis mandatorumque suorum dedit; et quod ad se conversis peccata præterita ignoscit; in his solis esse Dei gratiam deputandam, non in adjutorio nostrorum actuum singulorum. Id. de Gestis contra Pelagium, cap. 35.

54 Dicunt gratiam Dei, quæ data est per fidem Jesu Christi, quæ neque lex est neque natura, ad hoc tantum valere, ut peccata præterita dimittantur, non ut futura vitentur, vel repugnantia superentur. Id. de Gratia et Libero Arbitrio, cap. 13. Vide ejusdum lib. i. de Grat. Christi contra Pelag. cap. 2.