History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1MacCaffrey, James
Religion
History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1
MacCaffrey, James
Catholic Church -- History -- Modern period, 1500-
The controversy in the Spanish Netherlands was only the prelude to a
much more serious conflict in Spain itself. In 1588 the well-known
Jesuit, Luis de Molina (1535-1600) published at Lisbon his celebrated
work, /Concordia liberi arbitrii cum gratiae donis etc./ with the
approbation of the Dominican, Bartholomew Ferreira, and the permission
of the Inquisition. Hardly had the work left the printing press than
it was attacked warmly by Domingo Banez (1528-1604), the friend and
spiritual director of St. Teresa, and one of the ablest Dominicans of
his time. He had been engaged already in a controversy with the
Jesuit, Montemaior, on the same subject of Grace, but the publication
of Molina's book added new fuel to the flame, and in a short time the
dispute assumed such serious proportions that bishops, theologians,
universities, students, and even the leading officials of the state,
were obliged to take sides. The Dominicans supported Banez, while the
Jesuits with some few exceptions rallied to the side of Molina. The
latter's book was denounced to the Inquisition, but as a counterblast
to this Banez also was accused of very serious errors. If Molina was
blamed for being a Semi-Pelagian, Banez was charged with having
steered too closely to Calvinism. In the hope of restoring peace to
the Church in Spain Clement VIII. reserved the decision of the case to
his own tribunal (1596).
To get a grasp of the meaning of the controversy, it should be borne
in mind that in all theories concerning the operation of Grace three
points must be safeguarded by all Catholic theologians, namely, man's
dependence upon God as the First Cause of all his actions natural as
well as supernatural, human liberty, and God's omniscience or
foreknowledge of man's conduct. Following in the footsteps of St.
Thomas, the Dominicans maintained that when God wishes man to perform
a good act He not only gives assistance, but He actually moves or
predetermines the will so that it must infallibly act. In this way the
entire act comes from God as the First Cause, and at the same time it
is the free act of the creature, because the human will though moved
and predetermined by God acts according to its own nature, that is to
say, it acts freely. In His eternal decrees by which God ordained to
give this premotion or predetermination He sees infallibly the actions
and conduct of men, and acting on this knowledge He predestines the
just to glory /ante praevisa merita/. According to this system,
therefore, the efficaciousness of Grace comes from the Grace itself,
and is not dependent upon the co-operation of the human will.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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