Source. Translated by J. Walker, J. Sheppard and H. Browne, and revised by George B. Stevens. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 11. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210213.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Adven…

1. In what has gone before he had shown that the sacrifices were unavailing for perfect purification, and were a type, and greatly defective. Since then there was this objection to his argument, If they are types, how is it that, after the truth has come, they have not ceased, nor given place, but are still performed? He here accordingly labors at this very point, showing that …

§25Jesus' conversation with the rich young man continues, in a sense, in every period of history, including our own. The question: "Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?" arises in the heart of every individual, and it is Christ alone who is capable of giving the full and definitive answer. The Teacher who expounds God's commandments, who invites others to follow him …

§66There is no doubt that Christian moral teaching, even in its Biblical roots, acknowledges the specific importance of a fundamental choice which qualifies the moral life and engages freedom on a radical level before God. It is a question of the decision of faith, of the obedience of faith (cf. Rom 16:26) "by which man makes a total and free self-commitment to God, offering 'the …

It is taught among us that man possesses some measure of freedom of the will which enables him to live an outwardly honorable life and to make choices among the things that reason comprehends. But without the grace, help, and activity of the Holy Spirit man is not capable of making himself acceptable to God, of fearing God and believing in God with his whole heart, or of expell…

Man, before he is renewed into the new creation of the Spirit's kingdom, does and endeavors nothing to prepare himself for this renewal and kingdom, and when he is renewed, he does and endeavors nothing toward his perseverance in that kingdom; but the Spirit alone works both blessings in us, regenerating us, and preserving us when regenerate, without ourselves.

He speaks of his design of forsaking the profession of rhetoric; of the death of his friends, Nebridius and Verecundus; of having received baptism in the thirty-third year of his age; and of the virtues and death of his mother, Monica. Chapter 1. He Praises God, the Author of Safety, and Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, Acknowledging His Own Wickedness. 1. O Lord, truly I am Your se…

What is the eternal law? Is it known to all? Is every law is derived from it? Are necessary things subject to the eternal law? Are natural contingencies subject to the eternal law? Are all human things subject to it? Article 1. Whether the eternal law is a sovereign type [ratio] existing in God? Objection 1. It would seem that the eternal law is not a sovereign type existing in…

Moral necessity is perfectly consistent with man's natural ability and accountability. Natural ability is the power to do a thing if one wills to do it. Moral inability consists in the want of inclination, or the prevalence of a contrary inclination. A drunkard has natural ability to be sober, but his moral inability lies in the strength of his inclination to drink. So with the…

Q. Can you live up to all this perfectly? A. No. I have a natural tendency to hate God and my neighbor.

Therefore, all people are conceived in sin and are born children of wrath, unfit for any saving good, inclined to evil, dead in their sins, and slaves to sin. Without the grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit they are neither willing nor able to return to God, to reform their distorted nature, or to dispose themselves to the reformation of it.

The Synod rejects the errors of those who teach that in spiritual death the spiritual gifts have not been separated from the human will, since the will in itself has never been corrupted but has only been hindered by the darkness of the mind and the disorder of the emotions. Once these hindrances are removed, the will is able to exercise its innate free ability, that is, the wi…

We believe that God created human beings from the dust of the earth and made and formed them in his image and likeness—good, just, and holy; able by their will to conform in all things to the will of God. But when they were in honor they did not understand it and did not recognize their excellence. But they subjected themselves willingly to sin and consequently to death and the…

In this matter we teach that there is a threefold condition or state of man. Man in his first estate before the fall was endowed with free will, so that he could either remain in goodness or decline to evil. However, he declined to evil, and has involved himself and the entire human race in sin, as has been said already. Man in his second estate, after the fall, is not deprived…

The Formula affirms that in spiritual matters — conversion and saving faith — the unregenerate human will has no power to cooperate with or prepare itself for grace. The Holy Spirit alone works faith through the Word. It denies both the Pelagian and semi-Pelagian positions that the natural will can initiate or assist in conversion. After regeneration, the renewed will cooperate…