St. Vincent Ferrer – On Predestination (Jn 15:4 )
D526 De Praedestinatione secundum doctrinam
beatissimi Vincentii Sermo VIII
John 15:1-5 Douay
transl. I am the true vine; and my
Father is the husbandman. 2 Every
branch in me, that beareth not fruit, he will take away: and every one that
beareth fruit, he will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now you are clean by reason of
the word, which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide
in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide
in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you the
branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for
without me you can do nothing.
"Abide in me, and I in you," (Jn
15:4). In this sermon I shall explain
three doctrines or conclusions which basically and completely explain the
matter of predestination. This teaching
will be good for illuminating our intellects and enkindling our
affections. But first, the "Hail
Mary."
"Abide in me," etc. We have three conclusions in this sermon.
A. First, that God before the creation of the
world, eternally chose the good with certitude,
[certitudinaliter]
B. Second, that predestination or preknowledge
does not take away free will, but it remains freely. [liberaliter]
C. Third that whether we have been foreknown or
predestined, we ought to live well and perseveringly. [perseveranter]
A. ETERNALLY CERTAINLY CHOSEN
The first conclusion, that God, before the
creation of the world, eternally chose the good, with certitude. Because before he created anything, the
heaven or angels, he knew how many prelates, how many religious there would be
in the world, from whom so many were to be saved, and so for every status. I shall explain this through a parable about
a king wishing to celebrate the wedding of his son. He did five things.
First he wrote the invitations, who and how
many there would be, and he decided their quality and quantity and condition.
Second he chose and arranged the place or
the hall where they would eat.
Third he arranged for the food.
Fourth the servants, distinguished and
experienced,
Fifth, he arranged a place where the invited
could be made ready, where they are able to change their clothes, etc.
And
then, the execution of the banquet followed.
Now you understand the whole plan of God before the creation of the
world, and then God willed to hold the wedding banquet for his son assuming human
nature in the oneness of person. Because
just as a husband and wife are not two but one flesh, as is said in Matthew 19,
so divinity and humanity in Christ are one person. This nature was married in the hall of the
Virgin's womb. Of this wedding Matt 22
speaks, "The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage
for his son," (Mt 22:2). And before
he spent anything, that is "created," he chose saying, "So many
prelates shall eat at the banquet,"
and so for the other states, and that eternal choice is called
predestination, that is prior— before creation – destination. He also foreknew the damned, but it is not
called election or predestination, because he did not choose someone for
damnation, but he foreknew that such a
person would be damned, etc. About this
election scripture says, Eph 1: "He chose us [in him] before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight in
charity. Who has predestinated us unto the adoption of children through
Jesus Christ," (Eph 1:4-5).
Second, he arranges the place. God seeing in the book of predestination so
many noble ones invited, for this reason
he created the empyreal heaven, not for himself, because he already was living
in the palace of his eternity, Isa 57: "[Thus says the] High and the
Eminent one who inhabits eternity: and his name is Holy... on high," (v.
15). Of this home, Bar 3: "O
Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of his possession! It is great, and has no end; it is high and immense," (vv.
24-25). And like a palace of a king preparing
for a wedding it is sublimely decorated.
So also the empyreal heaven.
About which see St. Thomas I, q. 66, a. 3, when Christ speaks on the day
of judgment, Mt 25, "Come, blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world," (v. 34).
Third he orders a variety of foods, namely
the grades of glory and enjoyments, the orders and distinctions of the angels
and saints. About which Christ in Jn 14, "In my Father's house there are
many mansions," (v.2). And in Luke
22, he says, "You may eat and drink at my table, in my kingdom," (v.
30). You realize that there is no [actual]
drinking there etc., but metaphorically in experiencing glory.
Fourth, he
creates the angels as the servants and ministers of the banquet. If it is said, "The servants are more
noble than the diners," the response is that we are parents of the bride,
human nature. And so the king wishes
that we be seated. If the king were to
take as his wife, the daughter of a shepherd, the nobles and knights would respect
her parents. So Christ took human
nature, and wished that the angels would serve.
Hebrews, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister to
them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?" (Heb 1:14). Note, "all," universally etc.
Fifth, he makes
the world, so that here we might prepare ourselves, and wash our hands of sins
through penitence and change our clothes. If you are wearing the old shirt of pride,
change it and put on the new shirt of humility. And so for the rest. Eccle 3: "He has made all things good in
their time, and has delivered the world to their consideration [dispositioni],"(Eccles
3:11), other translation is "to their disputation [disputationi, Vulg.],"
namely active and passive, so that they might dispose themselves and be
disposed, by dignifying themselves for the banquet. See now
what predestination is. And the
first conclusion is clear, which also is written in Romans 8: "For whom he
foreknew, he also predestinated to be made conformable [to the image of his
Son,]... And whom he predestinated, them he also called. And whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified."
(vv. 29-30).
But there might
be an argument to the contrary. One might say, "From these aforesaid five causes,
the fifth, that this world has been made for preparing oneself, is opposed to
the first, because if we are predestined, whether we prepare ourselves or not,
we shall be there, because the knowledge of God cannot fail. I reply that this argument embodies ignorance
or inattention. As if the king had
invited many nobles to his wedding etc. And they would say, "Why do I have
to prepare?" Would that not be stupid? Rather, they ought to say, "Because the
king invited me, I must prepare well, because if you come ill prepared, you
would not enter, when your are at the gate, namely the gate of death. Ps. 117: "This is the gate of the Lord;
the just shall enter into it," (v. 20).
But, you say, "Divine predestination can never fail?" I reply that no change of creatures argues or
places a change in God.
Remember the
story in Mt 25 of the ten virgins invited etc.
Note it is said "ten," because of the observance of the ten
commandments, and "virgins," because of the purity which they should
have, who are to enter. Five were
prudent, because they prepared themselves.
And five were foolish, because they did not prepare themselves, arguing
from the reason of infallibility, alleging the aforesaid reason and
argument: Because we were invited, we
shall be received there. And so he calls
them foolish. Note, and they who were
prepared entered with him to the wedding, and the gates were closed to the
unprepared. Ovid the poet, "It is
harmful to postpone, when you are prepared." Finally the remaining virgins arrive. From this God is not variable and changeable
in his knowledge, but the banquet includes the disposition of those
entering.
It is clear the
stupidity of many saying, "Why do I need to prepare?" I reply that if God by his very voice had
said to you, "You shall be saved,"
and to another, "You shall be damned." It is understood conditionally. For even if it were possible that someone
unprepared entered, he would be expelled, as Christ himself says in Matthew 22,
"And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had
not on a wedding garment. And he said to him: 'Friend, how did you come in
here,'" (Mt 22:11-12). Draw the
conclusion. If those who are inside are
unprepared, they will be expelled, how shall you enter unprepared? And so Matt 24: "be ready also, [because
at what hour you know not the Son of man will come.]" (v. 44). If it is said, "O therefore God and his
predestination is changed," it is not true, but predestination includes
preparation. God is not changed, as
Boethius says in III De consol., met. 9, but the creatures are changed.
Note the example
of a ship without a sailor on the sea and the rock etc. So this world is a river.
Whence 2 Sam 14: Behold, "We all die, and like waters that return no
more," (v. 14). And it seems to us that the rock, that is, God is moved or
changed, it is not true. And so we
prepare ourselves through a good life because otherwise it will go badly for us. Behold the word of God through the mouth of
the prophet, Ezekiel 33: Thus says the Lord: "Yea, if I shall say to the
just that he shall surely live, and he, trusting in his justice, commits
iniquity: all his justices shall be forgotten, and in his iniquity, which he has
committed, in the same shall he die," (v. 13).
Likewise for
preknowledge it says there, "And if I shall say to the wicked: You shall
surely die: and he does penance for his sin, and does judgment and
justice. And if that wicked man restores
the pledge, and renders what he had robbed, and walks in the commandments of
life, and does no unjust thing: he shall surely live, and shall not die,"
(Ez 33:14-15). Just as, therefore,
predestination includes disposition, so preknowledge indisposition. And so God says, Jeremiah 18, "I will
suddenly speak against a nation, and against a kingdom, to root out, and to
pull down, and to destroy it. If that nation against which I have spoken,
shall repent of their evil, I also will repent of the evil that I have thought
to do to them," (Jer 18:7-8). If
you wish you can see the whole chapter Nabuchodonosor in Decretals 23, q. 4,
where there is much about this.
B, FREE WILL REMAINS
The second conclusion, that divine and eternal
predestination of the good and
foreknowledge of the evil does not take away nor impede free will, moreover he
remains in his liberty, otherwise he would be saved without merits, and he
would be damned without demerits, because if someone did not have free will, he
would not have sinned. This conclusion
is stated in Ecclesiastes 5: "God made man from the beginning, and left
him in the hand of his own counsel," (Sir 15:14). The interlinear Gloss, In liberty of free
will, there follows "He added his
commandments and precepts. If you will keep the commandments ..., they shall
preserve you. He has set water and fire
before you: stretch forth your hand to which you will. Before man is life and
death, good and evil, that which he shall choose shall be given him" (Sir
15:15-18), Note, "from the
beginning," of the world and of the life of each. Note the difference between commandment and
precept, because commandments are affirmative precepts, which lead to
virtues. And precepts are negative,
which restrain from sins and oblige always.
Otherwise for commandments, because from some just circumstances they
should not be observed, even without sin one can do the opposite. But of
negative [precepts] no situation of the world can one do the opposite without
sin, for example [puta], "Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God
in vain," (Ex 20:7). You are well able to swear an oath when necessary,
but not in vain etc.
Note "he has
set water," the good and devout life, "and fire," namely
eternal, life, namely eternal and death, namely of Gehenna. "Good," of glory, "and
evil" of punishment, "that which he shall choose [shall be given
him]," (Sir 15:18). Now someone
might say, "I want the good of glory," etc. you have a
"wish"[velleitatem], but not a "will" [voluntatem], as St. Thomas says III, q. 21, a. 4, and in II Sent, dist. 33, where he
says a wish is of impossibles. Proof. Just as he who says that he wants to go to
the right but turns left, therefore lies; so, many want to go to paradise in
word, but in fact they take the way of hell, namely of pride and vanity. Because therefore you take this way, you do
not will to go to paradise but you will to go that opposite way. The same for the greedy and lustful person.
But God does not
force someone to go to hell, rather he calls them back. Note the example of the spy in the tower,
seeing two ways, the hard but safe way, and the delightful, straight, but
dangerous way, full of robbers. And he
cries out to the travelers saying that having abandoned the dangerous way they set
out upon the other, and the travelers preferred not, rather they scoffed at
[truffantur] the guide. The vision of
that guide or spy does not force anyone to go via one way or the other,
although he sees what they will be. This
spy is God, high in the tower of eternity.
Isaiah: God, "the High and the Eminent that inhabits
eternity," (Isa 57:15), sees time past, present and future, because all
things are present to him. There are two
ways, the carnal and delightful life, and the spiritual, the difficult and hard
penitential life. All want to go by the
first way. "Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to
destruction, and many there are who go in there," (Mt 7: 13).
About the second
he says in the same place, "How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way
that leads to life: and few there are that find it!" (Mt 7:14). And he cries out through preachers or
prophets warning, Isa 30, "This is the way, walk ye in it: and go not
aside neither to the right hand, nor to the left," (v. 21). Right, when the good way is abandoned out of
love of creatures. Left, when out of
their fear you say, "O you wish that I dismiss this young man or that I take
him back? I shall dismiss my son that he take back. The knowledge of God does not take away free
will, nor impedes it, rather it helps it by the precepts ordinations,
preachings, warnings and inspirations, and he wills that we all be saved. Authority 1 Tim, 2: "For this is good
and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who wills that all men be saved,
and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one
mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus: who gave himself a redemption
for all," (vv. 3-6). Therefore he
does not take away free will.
C. LIVE A GOOD LIFE PERSEVERINGLY
Third
conclusion. However we all are, whether
predestined or foreknown, we ought to try to live a good life perseveringly. It
is a rule of theology, that when God ordains some end, he ordains also the
means to that end, without which he cannot come to that end. Even if he does not say, he is understood to
have said, as is clear, because if the king makes someone governor, he
understands that he should act justly, even if it is not stated in the mandate
etc. Note how those to be saved are
written in the book of predestination: "John shall be saved by his
innocence. Peter through repentance," etc., so that not only is the end or
the term written, but also the way or means through which it is attained. The same for the foreknown etc. If the pope appoints a bishop, it is
understood that he be a priest, even if he does not say it. Same in nature, about rain from clouds. Same for predestination. And so there is a triple fault in those who
say, "Why do I need to do good?"
The first is
ignorance, because when it is written in the book of predestination that such a
person is to be saved, it is stated also the way and the means by which,
through his humility or mercy, etc. And
so to regard the end without the means is ignorance, and such a one fails by saying, "Why must I work?" Rather certainly it is necessary to
work. Otherwise you take away one part
of the predestination, namely the way and means through which [the end is
attained]. And so Gregory, 1 Dialog. And it is placed 23, q. 4, c. to be obtained. This perennial predestination to the eternal
kingdom is so arranged by the omnipotent God that the chosen arrive there through
effort, postulating that they merit to receive what the almighty God had
disposed to give them before the ages.
So you do not wish to go to hell. Remove the way and means, namely sin and you
shall not go. "Woe to the wicked
unto evil," (Isa 3:11).
The second defect is stupidity, to say,
"Why must I do good?" Note how
God knows all future things. He knows if
today you shall eat dinner, just as if you shall be saved. If you say "Why must I prepare food for
lunch," etc., no one makes an
argument about lunch. Yet he argues
about the soul. Same if you are ill: "Why
do I need to call a doctor?"
Because God already knows if I will be cured, etc. If you wish to be healed, the way is through
doctors. And so they ought not to be
dismissed. Also, God knows if this year
you shall have a crop [bladum], so why is it necessary to plow. Response: Because this is the means. Also God knows if the king will have a
victory over his enemies why is it necessary to have armed men? Response: because that is the means to victory.
The third defect
is the greatest error. To deny the
trinity is an error against only one article [of faith], and so for the others,
but to say that the predestined ought not to do good is an error against all
the articles, which it destroys. Why
does God will to be incarnated? I
respond: That men might ascend into
heaven. And did God not know whether men
are to be saved? Why did he need to be
incarnated? And so for the others. Same what
purpose faith, baptism etc. because before them God knew who would be
saved. It is a great error to presume
the end without the means.
Now therefore the
final conclusion is, as the theme says, "Abide in me," through a good
life, "and I in you," (Jn 15:4) through grace. And so 2Pet 1, "Brethren, labor the
more, that by good works you may make sure your calling and election. For doing
these things, you shall not sin at any time. For so an entrance shall be
ministered to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ," (2 Pet 1:10-11).
St. Thomas Aquinas on Predestination
