Глава III

No merit precedes acquittal 6. However, they do not want glory to be given to Him because the wicked are justified by free (gatuita) grace. They, not knowing His justice, want to establish their own 13. Or, being forced to this [giving glory] by the voices of the unanimously proclaiming [grace] of the faithful and pious [people], although they acknowledge that Divine help is provided in order that one can have or do something righteous, but they do it in such a way that something related to their merit precedes them, as if they wish to be the first to give, so that it would be repaid to them by Him of Whom it is said: Who gave Him in advance that He should repay? 14 They believe that some of the merits they have precede the One about whom they hear, or rather, about whom they do not want to hear: All from Him, through Him and in Him 15. So, to what riches does the depth of His wisdom and knowledge belong, 16 of such riches also the riches of His glory, [revealed] over the vessels of mercy, whom He called for adoption as sons; and He wished to make this wealth known also through vessels of wrath, ready for destruction. And what paths are unsearchable, if not those about which the psalm sings: All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth 17? So, His mercy and truth are unsearchable, since He has mercy on whomever He wants, not according to justice, but according to the grace of mercy; and he hardens whomever he wants, 18 not out of injustice, but out of the truth of vengeance. And these mercy and truth are so related to each other (after all, it is written: Mercy and truth met 19) that mercy does not interfere with the truth, by which the one who deserves it is punished, and the truth does not interfere with mercy, by which the undeserving of it is delivered. So, how can a liberated person boast of his merits? After all, if he had been given what was due for his merits, he would certainly have been condemned. Does this mean that the righteous have no merit at all? Of course there is; otherwise they would not be righteous. But it was not merit that made them righteous; they became righteous because they were justified, but, as the apostle says: Receiving justification freely by His grace 20 . Pelagius's own anathema to his teaching 7. So, although they continue to remain enemies and enemies of this grace, Pelagius himself, at the church court in Palestine, anathematized those who say that the grace of God is given according to merit (after all, otherwise he would not have left there without punishment). However, nothing else can be found in their later reasoning, except [the assertion] that according to merit, that grace is given, which is taught most of all in the Apostolic Epistle to the Romans, [written by the apostle for the purpose] that from there, as from the capital of the world, the preaching of grace will spread throughout the entire universe. And this is the grace by which the wicked is justified, that is, who was previously wicked becomes righteous. And therefore no merit precedes the reception of this grace; after all, the wicked are due not grace, but punishment for their merits; and grace would not be grace if it were not given freely, but repaid according to debt. What grace is taught by the Apostle Paul? 8. But when they are asked what kind of grace Pelagius thought about, that it is given without any previous merits, when he anathematized those who say that the grace of God is given according to our merits, they try to answer that the grace given without any previous merits is the very human nature in which we are created: after all, it was impossible for us to deserve something before we began to be. Let this deceit be discarded by Christian hearts, for the apostle does not teach at all the grace by which we were created to be human beings, but the one by which we were justified when we became evil people. After all, this is the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. For Christ did not die for anyone (non pro nullis), that men might be created, but for the ungodly, that they might be justified; since there was already a man who said: Poor man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord 21 . Why one person believes and another does not depends on God 9 . However, they can also say that remission of sins is grace given without any previous merit; After all, how can sinners have anything related to good merit? But even this very remission of sins does not occur without any merit, if faith requests it - after all, the merit of faith (meritum fidei) is not insignificant. By this faith [the publican] said: God! Be merciful to me, a sinner! And he left justified thanks to the merit of the believer’s humility, for everyone who humbles himself will be exalted 22. Therefore, what remains for us is faith itself, from which all righteousness originates, which is why the Church is told in the Song of Songs: Come and pass from the beginning of faith. 23 What remains, I say, is faith itself to be attributed not to the human decision that these [heretics] extol, and not to any previous merits, since any good merits originate from it, but to recognize that [this faith] is a free gift of God, if we want to think about true grace, that is, given without merit, since, as we read in the same [apostolic] Epistle: God has allocated to everyone a measure of faith 24 . After all, good deeds are performed by a person, and faith acts in a person, and without this faith these deeds cannot be accomplished by any person. For everything that is not of faith is sin 25. 10. And therefore, let not the merit of the prayer itself be exalted, even if help is given to the one praying for victory over the lust for temporary things or for love for eternal blessings and the very Source of all blessings - God; After all, what prays is faith given to the one who is not yet praying, and if this faith had not been given, he would not be able to pray. For how can we call on Him in whom we have not believed? How to believe in Him about whom you have not heard? How to hear without a preacher? So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of Christ 26. Therefore, the servant of Christ and the preacher of this faith is, by the grace given to him, 27 a planter and a waterer; However, he who plants and he who waters are nothing, but God who grows everything 28, Who gave to everyone a measure of faith 29. Therefore, in another place it is said: Peace to the brethren and love with faith; and so that they do not attribute this faith to themselves, [the apostle] immediately adds: from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ 30 since not in everyone who hears the word there is faith, but in those [only] to whom God has given a measure of faith, just as not everything that is planted and watered grows, but [only] that to which God gives growth. And why does one believe and the other does not believe, when both hear the same thing, and if a miracle happens before their eyes, both see the same thing - this [refers to] the abyss of the wealth of wisdom and knowledge of God 31, whose judgments are incomprehensible 32 and with whom there is no injustice, when He has mercy on whomever He wants, and hardens whomever He wants 33; after all, these courts cannot be considered unjust [only] on the basis that they are hidden. Christian faith works by love 11. Further, if after the remission of sins the Holy Spirit does not dwell in a cleansed house, then does not the unclean spirit return there with seven others, and for that person the last thing is worse than the first 34? And as for the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, doesn’t He breathe where He wants 35? And the love of God, without which no one is able to live virtuously, was poured into our hearts not from us, but by the Holy Spirit given to us 36 . And the apostle defines this faith by saying: Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has power, but faith that works through love 37 . For this is precisely the faith of Christians, and not of demons, since demons also believe and tremble, 38 but do they love? If they did not believe, they would not say: You are the Holy One of God, or: You are the Son of God 39. And if they loved, they would not say: What do you care about us? 40 God knows in advance those who believe 12. So, faith draws us to Christ, and if it had not been given to us from above as a free gift, He Himself would not have said: No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him 41. That’s why he says a little lower: The words that I speak to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who are unbelievers. And the evangelist adds here: For Jesus knew from the beginning who the unbelievers were and who would betray Him 42 . And lest anyone should consider that believers belong to His foreknowledge in the same way as unbelievers, that is, that faith is not given to them from above, but only their will is foreknown, the Evangelist immediately adds and says: And Jesus said: For this reason I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is given to him from My Father 43 . That is why it happened that of those who listened to His words about His Flesh and Blood, some, not believing, went away, while others, believing, remained; for no one can come to Him except those to whom it has been given from the Father, and therefore also from the Son Himself and from the Holy Spirit. For the gifts and actions of the indivisible Trinity are inseparable, but the Son, giving honor to the Father here, does not offer evidence of a certain distance [between Them], but shows a great example of humility. What would the Apostle Paul say to the Pelagians? 13. Here again are these defenders of a free decision (or rather, deceivers, because they are proud, and proud people, because they are arrogant), intending to speak not against us, but against the Gospel itself, what else can they say except what the apostle himself raised as an objection, speaking as if on their behalf: You will say to me: “Why else do you accuse? For who can resist His will? 44. He proposed this objection to himself as if from someone else, as if citing the voice of those who do not want to accept what he said above: So, whomever he wants, he has mercy, and whomever he wants, he hardens 45 . Therefore, together with the apostle, we will say to such [people]: And who are you, man, that you object to God? 46 - after all, we cannot find anything to say better than him. Why do some become bitter while others get rid of them? 14. And if we look for the guilt [that causes] bitterness, we will find it. For because of the guilt of sin the whole mixture [of people] was condemned; and God hardens, not imparting malice, but refusing mercy. Those who are not given mercy are not worthy and do not deserve it, but rather they are worthy and deserve not to be given [mercy]. And if we look for merit for [the manifestation of] mercy, we will not find it, since there is no merit here, so that grace does not lose its power if it turns out that it is not given for free, but is rewarded for merit 47 . There is no merit by which faith is acquired 15. After all, if we say that faith preceded [grace], and in it contained merit [contributing to the receipt of] grace, then what merit did a person have before faith in order to receive [this] faith? What does he have that he wouldn't get? And if he received it, why does he boast as if he did not receive it? 48 For just as a man would not have wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel, nor strength, nor knowledge, nor piety, nor the fear of God, if he had not received, in accordance with the prophetic saying, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, knowledge, piety and the fear of God, 49 just as he would not have strength, love and chastity, if he had not received the Spirit, of whom the apostle says: For you received the Spirit not of fear, but of power, love and sobriety 50 , just as he would not have had faith if he had not received the Spirit of faith, about which the same [apostle] says: Having the same Spirit of faith, as it is written: “I believed, and therefore I spoke,” and we believe, and therefore we speak 51 . And that they receive [this Spirit of faith] not according to merit, but through the mercy of Him who has mercy on whom He wills 52 , [the Apostle himself] quite clearly states when he speaks of himself: I have received mercy in order to be a believer 53 . J.-P. Migne. Paris, 1845. T. 33. Col. 874–891. Places with discrepancies were verified with the publication: Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Vindobonae, 1911. Vo1. 57. R. 176–214. Rom 7:24–25. In Synod, trans.: Poor man I am! who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank my God Jesus Christ our Lord. So, with my mind, I serve the law of God. but by the flesh the law of sin. See: Luke 18:13–14; 14:11 ; Matthew 23:12. Canto 4 (according to LXX). In Synod, trans. this phrase is missing. Wed. Tserkovoslav. trans.: Come and pass from the beginning of faith. Rom 12:3. In the Synod, trans.: Think [of yourself] modestly, according to the measure of faith that God has allocated to everyone. Rom 10:14–17. In Synod trans.: Hearing from the word of God. Compare: Rom 15:16, 15; 1 Cor 3:5–6; Rom 12:3. Matthew 12:43–45; Luke 11:24–26. Luke 4:41, 34; Mark 3:11–12. Matthew 8:29; Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28. You might be interested in: