NIHIL OBSTAT Sti. Ludovici, die 18 Jan. 1919 F. G. Holweck, Censor Librorum IMPRIMATUR Sti. Ludovici, die 21 Jan. 1919 Joannes J. Glennon Archiepiscopus Sti. Ludovici Copyright, 1914 by Joseph Gummersbach All rights reserved Printed in U. S. A. BECKTOLD PRINTING & BOOK MFG. CO. ST. LOUIS. U. S. A. Humanity was reconciled to God by the Redemption. This does not, however, mean that every individual human being was forthwith justified, for individual justification is wrought by the applicat

1. General Notion of Grace. —The best way to arrive at a correct definition of actual grace is by the synthetic method. We therefore begin with the general notion of grace. Like “nature,” 3 grace ( gratia , χάρις) is a word of wide reach, used in a great variety of senses. Habert 4 enumerates no less than fourteen; which, however, may be reduced to four. a) Subjectively, grace signifies good will or benevolence shown by a superior to an inferior, as when a criminal is pardoned by the king's grac

a) Subjectively, grace signifies good will or benevolence shown by a superior to an inferior, as when a criminal is pardoned by the king's grace. b) Objectively, it designates a favor inspired by good will or benevolence. In this sense the term may be applied to any free and gratuitous gift ( donum gratis datum ), as when a king bestows graces on his lieges. c) Grace may also mean personal charm or attractiveness. In this sense the term frequently occurs in Latin and Greek literature (the Three

When we speak of the relation of grace to free-will, we mean efficacious grace; merely sufficient grace, as such, does not involve consent. The Protestant reformers and the Jansenists denied the freedom of the human will under the influence of efficacious grace. Catholic theologians have always staunchly upheld both the freedom of the will and the efficacy of grace, but they disagree in explaining the mutual relations between grace and free-will. 1. The Heretical Errors of Luther, Calvin, and Ja

Calvin 683 carried this teaching to its logical conclusions by asserting: (1) that the will of our first parents was free in Paradise, but lost its freedom by original sin; (2) that we cannot be delivered from the slavery of Satan except by the grace of Christ, which does not, however, restore liberty, but simply compels the will to do good; (3) that, though the will under the influence of grace is passive, and must needs follow the impulse to which it is subjected, yet its acts are vital and sp

1. The Lutheran Heresy vs. the Teaching of the Church. —The Protestant Reformers, notably Luther and Calvin, did not deny that justification is wrought by faith, but they defined justifying faith in a manner altogether foreign to the mind of the Church. a) They distinguished three kinds of faith: (1) belief in the existence of God and the historical fact that Christ has come on earth, suffered, and ascended ( fides historica ); (2) the sort of trust which is required for exercising the gift of m

Justification in the active sense ( iustificatio , δικαίωσις) is defined by the Tridentine Council as “a translation from that state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace and of the adoption of the sons of God through the second Adam, Jesus Christ, our Saviour.” 860 Justification, therefore, has both a negative and a positive element. The positive element is interior sanctification through the merits of Jesus Christ. The negative element consists in the forgiveness

Ethics and theology distinguish two kinds of merit: (1) condign merit or merit in the strict sense of the term ( meritum adaequatum sive de condigno ), and (2) congruous merit or quasi-merit ( meritum inadaequatum sive de congruo ). Condign merit supposes an equality between service and return. It is measured by commutative justice and confers a strict claim to a reward. Congruous merit, owing to its inadequacy and the lack of strict proportion between service and recompense, confers no such cla