Are Catholics Bound by Human Laws?
"The binding force of Human Laws lies in this, that they are to be regarded as applications of the Eternal Law. Since the force of law consists in the imposing of obligations and the granting of rights, authority is the one and only foundation of all law. In man’s free will, or in the moral necessity that our voluntary acts must be in accordance with reason, lies the very root of the necessity of law. Nothing more foolish can be uttered or conceived than the notion that because man is free by nature, he is therefore exempt from law. Were this the case, it would follow that to become free we must be deprived of reason; whereas the truth is that we are bound to submit to law precisely because we are free by our very nature. For law is the guide of man’s actions; it turns him towards good by its rewards; it deters him from evil by its punishments.
"The nature of human liberty, however it be considered, whether in individuals or in society; whether in those who command or in those who obey, supposes the necessity of obedience to some supreme and Eternal Law which is no other than the authority of God commanding good and forbidding evil. And this most just authority of God neither diminishes nor destroys man’s liberty but rather it protects and perfects it for the real perfection of all creatures is to be found in the striving after and attaining their end. But the supreme end to which human liberty must ever aspire is God."
The above excerpt is taken from "Christian Social Principles"
#freewill
"The binding force of Human Laws lies in this, that they are to be regarded as applications of the Eternal Law. Since the force of law consists in the imposing of obligations and the granting of rights, authority is the one and only foundation of all law. In man’s free will, or in the moral necessity that our voluntary acts must be in accordance with reason, lies the very root of the necessity of law. Nothing more foolish can be uttered or conceived than the notion that because man is free by nature, he is therefore exempt from law. Were this the case, it would follow that to become free we must be deprived of reason; whereas the truth is that we are bound to submit to law precisely because we are free by our very nature. For law is the guide of man’s actions; it turns him towards good by its rewards; it deters him from evil by its punishments.
"The nature of human liberty, however it be considered, whether in individuals or in society; whether in those who command or in those who obey, supposes the necessity of obedience to some supreme and Eternal Law which is no other than the authority of God commanding good and forbidding evil. And this most just authority of God neither diminishes nor destroys man’s liberty but rather it protects and perfects it for the real perfection of all creatures is to be found in the striving after and attaining their end. But the supreme end to which human liberty must ever aspire is God."
The above excerpt is taken from "Christian Social Principles"
#freewill
Ecce Verbum
Christ Died for All Men God loves all things that He has created: "For Thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things that Thou hast made" - Wisdom 11:25. Now love cannot be idle: "All love has a force of its own, and cannot be idle", says…
God wishes all men to be saved
"So what must we do, we who know that the greater number is going to be damned, and not only out of all Catholics? What must we do? Take the resolution to belong to the little number of those who are saved. You say: If Christ wanted to damn me, then why did He create me? Silence, rash tongue! God did not create anyone to damn him; but whoever is damned, is damned because he wants to be."
First let us take these two undeniable truths as a basis: "God wants all men to be saved," "All are in need of the grace of God." Now, if I show you that God wants to save all men, and that for this purpose He gives all of them His grace and all the other necessary means of obtaining that sublime end, you will be obliged to agree that whoever is damned must impute it to his own malice, and that if the greater number of Christians are damned, it is because they want to be. "Thy damnation comes from thee; thy help is only in Me."
In a hundred places in Holy Scripture, God tells us that it is truly His desire to save all men. "Is it My will that a sinner should die, and not that he should be converted from his ways and live?... I live, saith the Lord God. I desire not the death of the sinner. Be converted and live." When someone wants something very much, it is said that he is dying with desire; it is a hyperbole. But God has wanted and still wants our salvation so much that He died of desire, and He suffered death to give us life. This will to save all men is therefore not an affected, superficial and apparent will in God; it is a real, effective, and beneficial will; for He provides us with all the means most proper for us to be saved. He does not give them to us so they will not obtain it; He gives them to us with a sincere will, with the intention that they may obtain their effect.
Far more, because God sees that we could not even make use of His grace without His help, He gives us other aids; and if they sometimes remain ineffective, it is our fault; for with these same aids, one may abuse them and be damned with them, and another may do right and be saved; he might even be saved with less powerful aids. Yes, it can happen that we abuse a greater grace and are damned, whereas another cooperates with a lesser grace and is saved.
Saint Augustine exclaims, "If, therefore, someone turns aside from justice, he is carried by his free will, led by his concupiscence, deceived by his own persuasion." But for those who do not understand theology, here is what I have to say to them: God is so good that when He sees a sinner running to his ruin, He runs after him, calls him, entreats and accompanies him even to the gates of hell; what will He not do to convert him? He sends him good inspirations and holy thoughts, and if he does not profit from them, He becomes angry and indignant, He pursues him. Will He strike him? No. He beats at the air and forgives him. But the sinner is not converted yet. God sends him a mortal illness. It is certainly all over for him. No, brothers, God heals him; the sinner becomes obstinate in evil, and God in His mercy looks for another way; He gives him another year, and when that year is over, He grants him yet another.
Now I ask you, if that man is damned, is it not true that he is damned against the Will of God and because he wants to be damned? Come and ask me now: If God wanted to damn me, then why did He create me?
St. Leonard of Port Maurice
#salvation #freewill
"So what must we do, we who know that the greater number is going to be damned, and not only out of all Catholics? What must we do? Take the resolution to belong to the little number of those who are saved. You say: If Christ wanted to damn me, then why did He create me? Silence, rash tongue! God did not create anyone to damn him; but whoever is damned, is damned because he wants to be."
First let us take these two undeniable truths as a basis: "God wants all men to be saved," "All are in need of the grace of God." Now, if I show you that God wants to save all men, and that for this purpose He gives all of them His grace and all the other necessary means of obtaining that sublime end, you will be obliged to agree that whoever is damned must impute it to his own malice, and that if the greater number of Christians are damned, it is because they want to be. "Thy damnation comes from thee; thy help is only in Me."
In a hundred places in Holy Scripture, God tells us that it is truly His desire to save all men. "Is it My will that a sinner should die, and not that he should be converted from his ways and live?... I live, saith the Lord God. I desire not the death of the sinner. Be converted and live." When someone wants something very much, it is said that he is dying with desire; it is a hyperbole. But God has wanted and still wants our salvation so much that He died of desire, and He suffered death to give us life. This will to save all men is therefore not an affected, superficial and apparent will in God; it is a real, effective, and beneficial will; for He provides us with all the means most proper for us to be saved. He does not give them to us so they will not obtain it; He gives them to us with a sincere will, with the intention that they may obtain their effect.
Far more, because God sees that we could not even make use of His grace without His help, He gives us other aids; and if they sometimes remain ineffective, it is our fault; for with these same aids, one may abuse them and be damned with them, and another may do right and be saved; he might even be saved with less powerful aids. Yes, it can happen that we abuse a greater grace and are damned, whereas another cooperates with a lesser grace and is saved.
Saint Augustine exclaims, "If, therefore, someone turns aside from justice, he is carried by his free will, led by his concupiscence, deceived by his own persuasion." But for those who do not understand theology, here is what I have to say to them: God is so good that when He sees a sinner running to his ruin, He runs after him, calls him, entreats and accompanies him even to the gates of hell; what will He not do to convert him? He sends him good inspirations and holy thoughts, and if he does not profit from them, He becomes angry and indignant, He pursues him. Will He strike him? No. He beats at the air and forgives him. But the sinner is not converted yet. God sends him a mortal illness. It is certainly all over for him. No, brothers, God heals him; the sinner becomes obstinate in evil, and God in His mercy looks for another way; He gives him another year, and when that year is over, He grants him yet another.
Now I ask you, if that man is damned, is it not true that he is damned against the Will of God and because he wants to be damned? Come and ask me now: If God wanted to damn me, then why did He create me?
St. Leonard of Port Maurice
#salvation #freewill
Ecce Verbum
The Church Fathers speaking of Hell Lactantius “[T]he sacred writings inform us in what manner the wicked are to undergo punishment. For because they have committed sins in their bodies, they will again be clothed with flesh, that they may make atonement…
How Can a Good God Permit Eternal Damnation? Thomism and the Problem of Hell
The most common explanation of why God might permit some rational creatures to miss their final end is the so-called “Free Will Defense” of hell. Unfortunately, this explanation depends on a problematic conception of free will that is foreign to the Thomistic tradition. Responding to David Bentley Hart’s forceful case for universalism, this lecture suggests a “Thomistic Autonomy Defense” that escapes the problems of the Free Will Defense and goes beyond traditional Thomistic explanations of negative reprobation.
Mats Wahlberg (Ph.D., Umeå University, 2010, Ph.D., Stellenbosch University, 2014) is docent and associate professor of systematic theology at Umeå University, Sweden, and a member of the Academy of Catholic Theology.He has written two books, including Revelation as Testimony: A Philosophical-Theological Study (Eerdmans, 2014). Last semester, he was the visiting Aquinas chair at the Angelicum. Currently he is working on a research project funded by the John Templeton Foundation, about the problem of evil and evolution.
This lecture was originally livestreamed on December 4, 2021 as part of the Grace & Nature: Contemporary Controversies Conference held at the Angelicum in Rome. All of the talks for this conference will be available on our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuKHy-AJzrI&ab_channel=AngelicumThomisticInstitute
#freewill
The most common explanation of why God might permit some rational creatures to miss their final end is the so-called “Free Will Defense” of hell. Unfortunately, this explanation depends on a problematic conception of free will that is foreign to the Thomistic tradition. Responding to David Bentley Hart’s forceful case for universalism, this lecture suggests a “Thomistic Autonomy Defense” that escapes the problems of the Free Will Defense and goes beyond traditional Thomistic explanations of negative reprobation.
Mats Wahlberg (Ph.D., Umeå University, 2010, Ph.D., Stellenbosch University, 2014) is docent and associate professor of systematic theology at Umeå University, Sweden, and a member of the Academy of Catholic Theology.He has written two books, including Revelation as Testimony: A Philosophical-Theological Study (Eerdmans, 2014). Last semester, he was the visiting Aquinas chair at the Angelicum. Currently he is working on a research project funded by the John Templeton Foundation, about the problem of evil and evolution.
This lecture was originally livestreamed on December 4, 2021 as part of the Grace & Nature: Contemporary Controversies Conference held at the Angelicum in Rome. All of the talks for this conference will be available on our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuKHy-AJzrI&ab_channel=AngelicumThomisticInstitute
#freewill
YouTube
How Can a Good God Permit Eternal Damnation? Thomism and the Problem of Hell | Mats Wahlberg
How Can a Good God Permit Eternal Damnation? Thomism and the Problem of Hell | Mats Wahlberg
The most common explanation of why God might permit some rational creatures to miss their final end is the so-called “Free Will Defense” of hell. Unfortunately,…
The most common explanation of why God might permit some rational creatures to miss their final end is the so-called “Free Will Defense” of hell. Unfortunately,…
Ecce Verbum
How Can a Good God Permit Eternal Damnation? Thomism and the Problem of Hell The most common explanation of why God might permit some rational creatures to miss their final end is the so-called “Free Will Defense” of hell. Unfortunately, this explanation…
Original sin didn't deprave man's substance, evil is secondary to goodness, man was endowed with free will
St. Hippolytus
"The Logos alone of this God is from God himself; wherefore also the Logos is God, being the substance of God. Now the world was made from nothing; wherefore it is not God; as also because this world admits of dissolution whenever the Creator so wishes it.
But God, who created it, did not, nor does not, make evil. He makes what is glorious and excellent; for He who makes it is good.
Now man, that was brought into existence, was a creature endued with a capacity of self-determination, yet not possessing a sovereign intellect, nor holding sway over all things by reflection, and authority, and power, but a slave to his passions, and comprising all sorts of contrarieties in himself. But man, from the fact of his possessing a capacity of self-determination, brings forth what is evil, that is, accidentally; which evil is not consummated except you actually commit some piece of wickedness. For it is in regard of our desiring anything that is wicked, or our meditating upon it, that what is evil is so denominated.
Evil had no existence from the beginning, but came into being subsequently.
Since man has free will, a law has been defined for his guidance by the Deity, not without answering a good purpose. For if man did not possess the power to will and not to will, why should a law be established? For a law will not be laid down for an animal devoid of reason, but a bridle and a whip; whereas to man has been given a precept and penalty to perform, or for not carrying into execution what has been enjoined "
From a fragment of The Refutation of All Heresies, chapter XXIX - The Doctrine of the Truth
more:
🔗 substance and accident - Christian Philosophy by Louis De Poissy
🔗 substance and accident in short
🔗 will and free will in Summa Theologiae
🔗 The effects of original sin in Summa
#freewill #sin
St. Hippolytus
"The Logos alone of this God is from God himself; wherefore also the Logos is God, being the substance of God. Now the world was made from nothing; wherefore it is not God; as also because this world admits of dissolution whenever the Creator so wishes it.
But God, who created it, did not, nor does not, make evil. He makes what is glorious and excellent; for He who makes it is good.
Now man, that was brought into existence, was a creature endued with a capacity of self-determination, yet not possessing a sovereign intellect, nor holding sway over all things by reflection, and authority, and power, but a slave to his passions, and comprising all sorts of contrarieties in himself. But man, from the fact of his possessing a capacity of self-determination, brings forth what is evil, that is, accidentally; which evil is not consummated except you actually commit some piece of wickedness. For it is in regard of our desiring anything that is wicked, or our meditating upon it, that what is evil is so denominated.
Evil had no existence from the beginning, but came into being subsequently.
Since man has free will, a law has been defined for his guidance by the Deity, not without answering a good purpose. For if man did not possess the power to will and not to will, why should a law be established? For a law will not be laid down for an animal devoid of reason, but a bridle and a whip; whereas to man has been given a precept and penalty to perform, or for not carrying into execution what has been enjoined "
From a fragment of The Refutation of All Heresies, chapter XXIX - The Doctrine of the Truth
more:
🔗 substance and accident - Christian Philosophy by Louis De Poissy
🔗 substance and accident in short
🔗 will and free will in Summa Theologiae
🔗 The effects of original sin in Summa
#freewill #sin