Sixfold Vision of Truth – Part 5: Scripture

Saint Bonaventure wrote:

He who knows Jesus Christ can understand all sacred Scripture

The source of sacred Scripture was not human research but divine revelation. This revelation comes from the Father of Light from whom the whole concept of fatherhood in heaven and on earth derives. From him, through Jesus Christ his Son, the Holy Spirit enters into us. Then, through the Holy Spirit who allots and apportions his gifts to each person as he wishes, we receive the gift of faith, and through faith Christ lives in our hearts.

So we come to know Christ and this knowledge becomes the main source of a firm understanding of the truth of all sacred Scripture. It is impossible, therefore, for anyone to achieve this understanding unless he first receives the gift of faith in Christ. This faith is the foundation of the whole Bible, a lamp and a key to its understanding. As long as our earthly state keeps us from seeing the Lord, this same faith is the firm basis of all supernatural enlightenment, the light guiding us to it, and the doorway through which we enter upon it.

What is more, the extent of our faith is the measure of the wisdom which God has given us. Thus, no one should overestimate his wisdom; instead, he should soberly make his assessment according to the extent of the faith which God has given him.

The outcome or the fruit of reading holy Scripture is by no means negligible: it is the fullness of eternal happiness. For these are the books which tell us of eternal life, which were written not only that we might believe but also that we might have everlasting life. When we do live that life we shall understand fully, we shall love completely, and our desires will be totally satisfied. Then, with all our needs fulfilled, we shall truly know the love that surpasses understanding and so be filled with the fullness of God. The purpose of the Scriptures, which come to us from God, is to lead us to this fullness according to the truths contained in those sayings of the apostles to which I have referred. In order to achieve this, we must study holy Scripture carefully, and teach it and listen to it in the same way.

If we are to attain the ultimate goal of eternal happiness by the path of virtue described in the Scriptures, we have to begin at the very beginning. We must come with a pure faith to the Father of Light and acknowledge him in our hearts. We must ask him to give us, through his Son and in the Holy Spirit, a true knowledge of Jesus Christ, and along with that knowledge a love of him. Knowing and loving him in this way, confirmed in our faith and grounded in our love, we can know the length and breadth and height and depth of his sacred Scripture. Through that knowledge we can come at last to know perfectly and love completely the most blessed Trinity, whom the saints desire to know and love and in whom all that is good and true finds its meaning and fulfillment.

For Holy Scripture is principally concerned with the works of reparation. Wherefore it especially deals with faith, hope, and charity, by which the soul is reformed, and most of all with charity. Concerning this the Apostle says that the end of the Commandments is reached by a pure heart and a good conscience and an unfeigned faith [I Tim., 1, 5]. This is the fulfillment of the Law, as he says. And our Saviour adds that all the Law and the Prophets depend upon these two Commandments: the love of God and of one’s neighbor. Which two are united in the one spouse of the Church, Jesus Christ, Who is at once neighbor and God, at once brother and Lord, at once king and friend, at once Word uncreated and incarnate, our maker and remaker, the alpha and omega. He is the highest hierarch, purging and illuminating and perfecting His spouse, the whole Church and any holy soul.

Of this hierarch and this ecclesiastical hierarchy is the entire Holy Scripture by which we are taught to be purified, illuminated, and perfected, and this according to the triple law handed down to us in it: the law of Nature, of Scripture, and of Grace; or rather according to the triple principal part of it: the Mosaic Law purifying, the prophetic revelation illuminating, and evangelical teaching perfecting; or above all, according to the triple spiritual meaning of it–the tropological which purifies us for an honest life, the allegorical which illuminates us for the clarity of understanding, the analogical which perfects us by mental elevation and the most delightful perceptions of wisdom–in accordance with the three aforesaid theological virtues and the spiritual senses reformed and the three above-mentioned stages of elevation and hierarchical acts of the mind, by which our mind retreats into itself so that it may look upon God in the brightness of the saints [Ps., 109, 3] and in them, as in a chamber, it may sleep in peace and take its rest [Ps., 4, 9] while the spouse adjures it that it stir not up till she pleases [Cant., 2, 7].

Now from these two middle steps, by which we proceed to contemplate God within ourselves as in the mirrors of created images–and this as with wings opened for flying which hold the middle place–we can understand that we are led into the divine by the powers of the rational soul itself placed therein by nature as far as their operations, habits, and knowledge are concerned, as appears from the third stage. For we are led by the powers of the soul reformed by virtues freely granted, by the spiritual senses, and by mental elevation, as appears from the fourth stage. We are nonetheless led through hierarchical operations, that is, by purgation, illumination, and perfection of human minds through the hierarchical revelations of the Holy Scriptures given to us, according to the Apostle, through the Angels in the hand of a mediator [Gal., 3, 19]. And finally we are led by hierarchies and hierarchical orders which are found to be ordered in our minds in the likeness of the heavenly Jerusalem.

Our mind, filled with all these intellectual illuminations, is inhabited by the divine wisdom as the house of God; become the daughter, the spouse, and the friend of God; made a member of Christ the head, the sister, and the fellow-heir; made nonetheless the temple of the Holy Spirit, founded by faith, elevated by hope, and dedicated to God by the sanctity of the mind and the body. All of this has been brought about by the most sincere love of Christ which is poured forth into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Who is given to us [Rom., 5, 5], without which Spirit we cannot know the secrets of God. For just as no one can know the things of a man except 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., 2, 11] In charity then let us be rooted and founded, that we may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length of eternity, the breadth of liberality, the height of majesty and the depth of the wisdom which judges us [Eph., 3, 17 18].

At the outset, three questions must be considered in connection with the Trinity of God: how the unity of substance and nature may be reconciled, first, with the plurality of Persons; second, with the plurality of manifestations; third, with the plurality of appropriations.

Plurality of Persons

Concerning the plurality of Persons within the unity of nature, true faith bids us believe that, in the one nature, there are three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The First does not originate from any of the others; the Second originates from the First alone through generation; and the Third, from both the First and the Second through spiration or procession. And yet, Trinity of Persons does not exclude from the divine essence a supreme unity, simplicity, immensity, eternity, immutability, necessity, or even primacy; more, it includes supreme fecundity, love, generosity, equality, kinship, likeness, and inseparability; all of which sound faith understands to exist in the blessed Trinity.

Since faith is the first condition of divine worship and the foundation of doctrine which is according to godliness, it requires that our thinking about God be of the loftiest and most devout order. Now, our thought would not be of the loftiest order if we did not believe that God can supremely communicate Himself; and it would not be of the most devout order if, believing Him able, we believed Him unwilling to do so. Thus, if we are to think of God most loftily and most devoutly, we are to hold that He supremely communicates Himself by eternally possessing One who is beloved and One who is Mutual Love, so that He is both one and trine.

The fact that faith requires us to have a concept of God of the most devout order is evidenced by the whole Scripture, which is called doctrine . . . according to godliness. For Scripture establishes that God has an Offspring whom He supremely loves; a Word coequal with Him “whom He has begotten in eternity and in whom He has disposed all things”; by whom He produced and now governs all things. Through the precious blood of this Word made flesh, He in His all-surpassing goodness redeemed man and nourishes him, once redeemed. Through this same Word, He will dispense His supreme mercy at the end of the world, bringing liberation from every misery; so that all the elect will be the children of the supreme Father, through Christ; and thereby all love will be fulfilled: God’s love for us and our love for God.

Further, in regard to the requirement of faith that we have a concept of God of the loftiest order, this is proved not only by Holy Scripture, but also by the whole of creation. As Augustine writes in chapter four of the fifteenth part of his work “On the Trinity”: “The proof of God’s existence is founded not only upon the authority of the divine books, but also upon the entire natural universe around us, to which we ourselves belong, and which proclaims that it has a transcendent Creator: a Creator who granted us natural intelligence and reason, by which we are able to judge that living beings are superior to lifeless, sensitive to insensitive, rational to brute, immortal to mortal, potent to powerless; just to unjust, beautiful to ugly, good to evil; incorruptible to corruptible, changeless to mutable, invisible to visible, incorporeal to bodily, blessed to reprobate. And on this very account, since we certainly place the Creator above His creation, we must proclaim Him as being supremely ALIVE, PERCEIVING all things, and UNDERSTANDING all things; IMMORTAL, INCORRUPTIBLE, and IMMUTABLE; not a bodily being, but a SPIRIT, OMNIPOTENT, utterly JUST, supremely BEAUTIFUL, perfectly GOOD, and completely HAPPY.

Here, in these twelve predications, are found the highest excellences of divine Being. But, as Augustine shows in a later passage, they can be reduced to three: eternity, wisdom, and happiness; and these three, to one, wisdom, which comprises the begetting Mind, the begotten Word, and Love, their mutual bond. In these, as faith tells us, the Trinity consists.

And because supreme wisdom posits the Trinity, it posits also the attributes listed earlier: oneness, simplicity, and the rest.

PLURALITY OF MANIFESTATIONS

Concerning the plurality of manifestations, divine doctrine teaches us to hold the following. Although God is uncontainable, invisible, and immutable, He nonetheless dwells in the saints in a special way; He appeared to the patriarchs and the prophets; He came down from heaven; He sent the Son and the Holy Spirit for the salvation of mankind. While in God, the nature, power, and operation of the Trinity are undivided, yet the mission or manifestation of one Person is not the mission or manifestation of another. Although there is here, supreme equality, it belongs to the Father alone to send and not to be sent; it belongs to the Holy Spirit to be only sent, if we consider the Persons in their divinity, though we might say that He sent the assumed man; and it belongs to the Son both to send and to be sent, as may be seen from Scripture.

This should be understood as follows. Although the first Principle is immense and uncontainable, immaterial and invisible, eternal and immutable, He is nonetheless the Principle of all things material as well as spiritual, natural as well as supernatural; and thus also of all things mutable, sentient, and contained. While the Principle is Himself immutable and uncontainable, He reveals Himself, makes Himself known, through these things. He reveals Himself and makes Himself known in a general way through all the effects which emanate from Him, in which we say that He exists by essence, power, and presence, extending Himself to all creatures. He also makes Himself specifically known through particular effects which point to Him in a special manner, and by reason of which we say that He indwells, manifests Himself, comes down, is sent, and sends.

INDWELLING indicates a spiritual effect and the acceptance of it, as is the case with sanctifying grace which partakes of the life of God, leads back to God, makes God to possess us and be possessed by us, and, through this, also to dwell within us. And since the effect of grace comes from all three Persons, the indwelling is not of one Person without the others, but of the whole Trinity together.

MANIFESTATION indicates an effect that falls under the senses and has an explicit meaning; as, the Holy Spirit appearing in the form of a dove. And because the divine Persons, being distinct, may be distinctively signified both by signs and names, therefore any one Person as such is able to manifest Himself, and manifestation pertains to all as such, either together or individually. Hence, when the Spirit is described as having appeared in the form of tongues of fire and of a dove, this is not because of some new link or identification with the symbolical species, but by reason of the union between the thing signified and the sign specifically destined, both in manner and origin, to express it.

DESCENDING indicates either of the aforesaid effects when it is thought of as beginning. God, indeed, is always present in heaven to the blessed angels, for He permanently dwells and is manifest in them. But from sinners on earth He is in a certain way absent, as regards both grace and knowledge. Thus, when He first begins to be manifest and to dwell within us, He who is present in heaven, but as if absent from us, becomes present on earth; and so, even though no change occurs in Him, we say that He comes down to us.

To BE SENT refers to the same aforesaid effects when they imply eternal generation: for then only does the Father send the Son when, through revelation or grace, He makes Him present to us, and thus shows that the Son proceeds from Him. And since the Father proceeds from no other, nowhere is it said that He is sent. But since the Son both produces and is produced, He both sends and is sent. And since the Holy Spirit is eternally produced but does not produce, except in time, it is proper to Him to be sent; but to send applies to Him only in regard to the creature. Thus it is clear that the following propositions are improperly expressed, and must be qualified: the Holy Spirit sends Himself; the Holy Spirit sends the Son; the Son sends Himself-unless the object “Himself” here refers to Christ as a man born of the Virgin. It is also clear that to send and to be sent do not pertain to all; for although both imply an effect upon creatures, they are also the signs of an intrinsic relationship, in that to send implies authority, and to be sent subjection to authority in the order of eternal generation within the Godhead.

Plurality of Appropriations

In the third place, concerning the plurality of appropriations, Holy Scripture teaches us to hold the following. Even though all the essential attributes apply equally and without distinction to all the Persons, yet oneness is appropriated to the Father, truth to the Son, and goodness to the Holy Spirit. Hilarion indicates another series of appropriations based on this! “Eternity belongs to the Father, splendor to the Likeness, and fruition to the Gift.” From this, in turn, derives a third series of appropriations: In the Father is the efficient principle, in the Son the exemplary principle, and in the Holy Spirit the final principle. And from this, lastly, derives a fourth series: of omnipotence to the Father, of omniscience to the Son, and of supreme will or benevolence to the Holy Spirit. Now, these are said to be appropriated, not as actually becoming proper, since they are always common, but as leading to the understanding and knowledge of proper realities, that is, the three Persons.

This should be understood as follows. Since the first Principle is utterly exalted and utterly perfect, it follows that in Him are found in utter perfection the highest and most universal properties of being. These properties are: oneness, truth, and goodness. They do not narrow down the concept of being in terms of distinct supposits, but determine it rationally. For “one” describes being in that it is whole, by reason of inner indivision; “true,” in that it is intelligible, by reason of indivision between itself and its proper species; and “good,” in that it is communicable, by reason of indivision between itself and its proper operation.

This triple indivision has an orderly reference to understanding, in the sense that true presupposes one, and good presupposes both one and true. That is why these three, as being perfect and transcendental, are supremely attributed to the first Principle, and, as having an orderly reference, are attributed to the three Persons. Thus, supreme ONENESS is attributed to the Father who is the origin of Persons; supreme TRUTH, to the Son who proceeds from the Father as the Word; supreme GOODNESS, to the Holy Spirit who proceeds from both as the Love and the Gift.

The Supremely One is supremely first because He is absolutely without beginning; the Supremely True is supremely conforming and beautiful; the Supremely Good is supremely satisfying and beneficent.

From this follows the second mode of appropriation, of blessed Hilarion, according to which ETERNITY is in the Father, since He has no beginning but is first in every respect; SPLENDOR is in the Likeness, that is, in the Word, since He is supremely beautiful; FRUITION is in the Gift, that is, in the Holy Spirit, since He is supremely beneficent and generous. The same is expressed in different words by Augustine: “In the Father, there is oneness; in the Son, conformity; in the Holy Spirit, the harmony of oneness and conformity.”

Again, supreme oneness and priority imply the concepts of principle and origin; supreme beauty and resplendence, the concepts of expression and exemplarity; supreme beneficence and goodness, the concept of end- for “the good and the end are the same.” Hence the third mode of appropriation: EFFICIENCY to the Father, EXEMPLARITY to the Son, and FINALITY to the Holy Spirit.

Finally, all power derives from the first and supreme Cause; all wisdom flows from the first and supreme Exemplar; all will tends toward the supreme End. The One who is first must, therefore, be all-powerful, all-wise, and all-loving. Now, first and supreme Oneness, returning upon Itself in a complete and perfect circle, is in fact OMNIPOTENCE; first and supreme Truth, returning upon Itself, is OMNISCIENCE; first and supreme Goodness, returning upon Itself, is utter BENEVOLENCE. The attribution of these three perfections is founded on the order they imply: will presupposes knowledge, and both will and knowledge presuppose an influx of power. “The capacity to know implies a power.”

Thus, we see what the appropriated attributes are; to whom they are appropriated; and why. Since in the Scriptures the Trinity is more often praised in terms of the last three – omnipotence, omniscience, and benevolence – something more should be said of them, if only briefly and summarily.

ON GOD’S OMNIPOTENCE

Concerning God’s omnipotence, the following must be held according to the sacred teaching. God is almighty, but in such a manner that acts of culpability, for instance, lying, or intending evil, cannot be attributed to Him; nor can acts of penalty [for original sin], such as fearing and sorrowing; nor corporeal and material acts, such as sleeping and walking, except figuratively; nor contradictory acts, such as making something greater than Himself, or producing another God equal to Himself, or creating some being that would be infinite in act; and so forth. As Anselm writes, “whatever is contradictory, be it the smallest thing, is not found in God.” Although God cannot do such things, yet He is truly, properly, and perfectly omnipotent.

This should be understood as follows. The first Principle is powerful by a power that is unqualified; therefore the universal “omni” prefacing “potent” covers all those things the power to do which is power unqualified: that is, all things that proceed from a power both complete and orderly. We call COMPLETE a power that cannot disappear, succumb, or be limited. But sin implies a disappearance of power, pain a collapse of power, and bodily operation a limitation of power. Divine power, supreme and utterly perfect, is not created, nor is it dependent upon anything, nor is it wanting in anything. Therefore, it cannot be the subject of culpable, penal, or corporeal acts: and this precisely because it is omnipotent through a power that is complete.

Now, there are three senses in which a power can be called ORDERLY: as it is in act; as it signifies potency on the part of a creature; and as it signifies potency on the part of the uncreated Might alone. That which is possible to power in the first sense is not only possible but actual. That which is possible in the second sense but not in the first is simply possible, although not actual. That which is possible in the third sense, but not in the first or second, is possible to God but impossible to creatures. That which is not possible in any of the foregoing senses, i. e., whatever, by reason of primordial and eternal principles and causes, is directly opposed to order, is simply impossible; as it would be for God to produce something infinite in act, to make something to be and not to be at the same time, to make a past event as never having happened, and so forth. The order and completeness of divine might exclude the possibility of doing such things.

This clearly shows the scope of divine might, the meaning of the simply possible and of the simply impossible, and the fact that some impossibility is compatible with true omnipotence.

ON GOD’S WISDOM, PRE-ELECTION, AND FOREKNOWLEDGE

Concerning God’s wisdom, the following must be held. This wisdom most clearly knows all things, good and evil, past, present, and future, actual and possible. Thus it also knows things beyond our understanding and things eternal. But it knows all these things in such a manner that it is not diversified in itself, although it is given different names. In its awareness of all the possibles, this wisdom is called knowledge or cognition; in its awareness of all that occurs in the universe, it is called vision; in its awareness of all that is done well, it is called approval; in its awareness of all that is to come about, it is called prescience or foresight; in its awareness of what God Himself will do, it is called providence; in its awareness of what is to be rewarded, it is called pre-election; and in its awareness of what is to be condemned, it is called reprobation.

Not only does this wisdom imply the power of knowing: it actually is the very principle of knowing. Therefore, it is called LIGHT as being the principle of knowing all that is known; MIRROR as being the principle of knowing all that is seen and approved; EXEMPLAR as being the principle of all that is foreseen and disposed; BOOK OF LIFE as being the principle of all that is pre-elected and reproved. In respect to things as they return to Him, God is the Book of Life; as they proceed from Him, He is the Exemplar; as they follow their course, He is the Mirror; and from all viewpoints together, He is the Light. To the Exemplar pertain idea, word, art, and purpose: IDEA, as regards the act of foreseeing; WORD, as regards the act of proposing; ART, as regards the act of carrying out; and PURPOSE, as regards the act of completing, for it adds final intention. Since all these acts are the same in God, one is often understood for another.

Because of the distinction between the objects of knowledge and their various connotations, divine wisdom is given a variety of names. Yet it is not diversified for any intrinsic reason, for it knows the contingent infallibly, the mutable immutably, the future presently, the temporal eternally, the dependent independently, the created uncreatedly; and all things that are not itself, it knows in itself and through itself. And since it knows the contingent infallibly, freedom and indetermination of the [created] will are compatible with pre-election and foreknowledge.

This should be understood as follows. The first Principle, because He is first and supreme, has a knowledge which is utterly simple and perfect. On account of this utter perfection, He knows all things most distinctly in all their actual and possible states. Thus, He knows the future things as future, and the present as present; He knows the good as deserving of approbation, the evil, of reprobation. That is why His wisdom is given several names, as explained above.

But because, with perfection of wisdom, there coexists utter simplicity, therefore it is in Himself and through Himself that the first Principle knows all things that are distinct from Him. From this it follows that He knows, second, created things uncreatedly; third, dependent things independently; fourth, temporal things eternally; fifth, future things presently; sixth, mutable things immutably; and seventh, contingent things infallibly.

And so contingent things, while remaining contingent, are infallibly predictable for divine wisdom. This applies to contingent things both in the order of nature and in the order of free will. Thus, if we want to grasp this truth, that freedom of the created will coexists with infallibility of eternal predestination, we should begin our reasoning with the last statement, and work backward through the seven above-mentioned levels until we reach the original proposition: that the first Principle knows all things perfectly through His own Self- a truth of utmost certainty out of which all the conclusions are necessarily deduced.

So, certainty in divine knowledge coexists with contingency in the objects known, since divine wisdom is both utterly simple and perfect. Likewise, and for the same reason, oneness is consistent with the multiplicity of determining principles and of ideas. Since divine wisdom is utterly perfect, it knows each thing and every thing in the most distinct fashion, conceiving them all most clearly and perfectly; thus we say that God possesses the determining principles and ideas of all individual beings, as the perfectly expressive likenesses of these same beings.

But since God’s wisdom is utterly simple, all the likenesses of these beings are one in this same wisdom. Hence, as God produces in time through a single power all things in their complete fullness, even so He expresses them all in eternity through a single truth. While there is in the most high and omnipotent God a really single operative act, we speak in the plural of creative productions because of the plurality of the things produced. So, too, while there is in God but a single truth contained in a single act of intellection, we speak in the plural of likenesses, ideas, and determining principles because of the plurality of present, future, or possible things to which they apply.

Now, these principles and ideas, even though they are one truth, one light, one essence, are not called a single principle or idea. The reason is that, in the order of intellection, the principle or idea is considered in relation to the object, since it designates the likeness of that which is known. This likeness is really in God, but from the viewpoint of intellection, it appears as expressing something that exists in the created object.

Were we to seek a parallel to this in creatures, we would fail, for the Exemplar- simple, infinite, and utterly perfect, as explained above- is also unique. Since the Exemplar is utterly simple and perfect, He is pure act; and since He is infinite and immense, He is outside of all generaliii

And that is how something that is really one may still be a likeness representing many.

ON GOD’S WILL AND PROVIDENCE

Concerning the will of God, the following must be held. This will is so righteous that it could never be made to deviate; it is so effective that it could never be obstructed; it is one, yet it properly manifests itself by many signs.

Indeed, the divine will, which is a will of good-pleasure, is manifested through the will of sign, according to the fivefold division of signs, that is, through command, prohibition, counsel, fulfillment, and sufferance. Everything that occurs in the universe comes about by this will of good-pleasure. “Indeed, God’s will is the first and supreme cause of all species and motions. Nothing visible and sensible ever occurs in the immeasurably vast and comprehensive empire of the created world that does not proceed by either command or permission from the inner, invisible, and rational authority of the supreme Emperor, and that does not conform to ineffable justice in the distribution of rewards and penalties, favors and punishments.”

This rationally organized will is called Providence. It follows, then, that all events in the universe are brought about and regulated by this divine Providence, which is beyond reproach throughout, since it orders, prohibits, and counsels with utter justice, acts with utter goodness, and never permits anything unjustly.

This should be understood as follows. Since the first Principle is the Being of the highest order, He both possesses a will, and possesses it in the most noble manner. Now, will in itself indicates, in self-determined beings, that by which their deeds are righteous, and their actions effective. God’s will, therefore, must be utterly righteous and effective: utterly righteous because in Him will and truth are the same; utterly effective, because in Him will and power or might are identical. Now, since there cannot be in the divine will the slightest deviation from truth, not only is it righteous – it is the very norm of righteousness; and since there cannot be in it the slightest defect of power, not only is it effective – it is the fountainhead and origin of all efficiency, so that nothing can be accomplished without it, nothing can prevail against it, and there is nothing it cannot do.

Now, since God’s will is utterly RIGHTEOUS, no one can be righteous without conforming to it; and no one can conform to it unless it has been revealed to him. Hence, God’s will must be communicated to us as the norm of righteousness.

There is a certain righteousness that is of law, and it consists in doing the good that must be done, and in avoiding evil; there is also a righteousness of perfection, and it consists in doing more than must be done. Accordingly, God’s will is made known to us through the threefold manifestation of COMMAND, PROHIBITION, and COUNSEL. This means to accept God’s good-pleasure as just by doing what divine will commands, abstaining from what it prohibits, and fulfilling what it counsels.

These manifestations are the infallible signs of God’s will considered as the norm of righteousness.

Furthermore, since God’s will is utterly EFFECTIVE, no one can effect anything unless that will operates and cooperates with him; and no one can fail or sin unless that will justifiedly forsakes him. There are two manifestations of God’s will which correspond to this: FULFILLMENT, which is the sign of God’s will as efficacious, and SUFFERANCE, which is the sign of God’s will as justifiedly forsaking man. God may well forsake man in all justice, for it is just that He so administer the things He created as not to infringe upon the laws He Himself established, and that He so co-operate “with the things He has made as to let them move by their own inner powers.” And so, if He suffers free will to fall, He does so in all justice, since by the very law of its nature free will is able to turn either way.

Likewise, when through grace He helps and sustains someone, He does no injustice to anyone else; He acts not unjustifiedly, neither does He act in strict justice, considering what merit is entitled to: for the merit always falls short of the grace. He acts gratuitously and lovingly, and also, in a certain sense, according to justice, insofar as He acts as fully befits His bounty. When, therefore, He condemns and reproves, He acts according to justice; when He pre-elects, He acts according to grace and love, which do not preclude justice. All men, belonging as they did to the throng of perdition, were headed for condemnation. Therefore, more souls are reproved than are elected, in order to show that salvation is by special grace, while condemnation is by ordinary justice. No one, then, has the right to complain about God’s will, for it does all things with utter righteousness. We should, instead, give thanks in all circumstances, and exalt the ways of divine Providence.

If anyone should ask why the gift of grace is more generously lavished upon one sinner than upon another, this would be the time to silence human talk, and exclaim with the apostle: Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments and how unsearchable His ways! For “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counsellor? Or who has first given to Him, that recompense should be made him?” For from Him and through Him and unto Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever, amen.