B. Human Powerlessness and Divine Initiative
B. Human Powerlessness and Divine Initiative
The Council of Trent was quite clear in its Decree on Original Sin that the damage done by humanity in Adam—that is, in original sin—could not be repaired by efforts of human nature or by any other means besides the merit of Christ.1056 In the same paragraph, it also emphasizes the sacrament of baptism as responsible for mediating this merit, bringing forgiveness and new life. These two convictions—that humans are naturally guilty before God, and that God comes to their rescue through Christ in the sacrament of baptism—lay essential groundwork for understanding the Catholic doctrine of justification.
The Council of Trent’s Decree on Justification begins by revisiting the portrait of humanity’s “unclean” condition as described by the Decree on Original Sin. Neither the forces of nature nor the law of Moses, it states, can provide liberation from the corrupting and condemning power of sin. Human assets are simply insufficient. It is only by God’s grace given through the passion of Christ that anyone acquires the ability to move in the direction of righteousness.1057 This “predisposing grace,” which God imparts, is the initial step in an individual’s conversion (when he is transferred from sin to forgiveness), and, by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, it enables him to “freely assent to and cooperate with this same grace.”1058 Thus, God empowers the one so endowed to freely repent, believe, hope, love and keep the commandments.1059
We have observed how Peter Martyr vigorously repudiates the idea that anyone can dispose himself for justification through willful co-operation (despite the fact that it is on the basis of God’s empowering grace). Since Vermigli regards human nature as corrupt (unlike the Catholic position which regards nature as working in concert with a predisposing grace), he also necessarily hold it to be impossible for any human to move toward God prior to regeneration.1060 After making this point against Trent, Martyr then quips, “What else would Pelagius say if he were now alive?”1061 For Vermigli, it is not a “predisposing grace” empowering one’s volition that results in justifying faith; it is the complete renewal of the heart from stone to flesh that “fully persuades, bends, and changes the will.”1062 He thus concludes, “Our men of Trent do indeed grant that God renews the heart of man by illumination of the Holy Spirit. However, so that a man himself should do something, they add that the man who admits such inspiration may also reject it.” For Vermigli, the Tridentine understanding of human volition is guilty of “works” righteousness and thus amounts to Pelagianism.1063
As Vermigli illustrates, to the extent that the Catholic position grants human will a contribution to the ground of justification, Reformed Protestantism will dissent from it. This dissension, however, should not prevent Reformed Protestants from recognizing their agreement with Catholics on the basic conviction that God’s intervening grace in some way enables a person to believe (call it “prevenient grace” if you like).1064 Accordingly, the most significant differences between Vermigli and Rome are two-fold: the ultimate basis of acceptance (the formal cause) and the delivery system—the instrumental means by which the Holy Spirit and his gifts are imparted (the sacraments compared to sola fide). We shall consider these differences in due course; but for the moment we are interested in recognizing the common commitment to upholding divine initiative in justification. In the words of Trent, chapter seven:
For though no one can be just unless the merits of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ are communicated to him; nevertheless, in the justification of a sinner this in fact takes place when, by the merit of the same most holy passion, the love of God is poured out by the agency of the holy Spirit in the hearts of those who are being justified, and abides in them. Consequently, in this process of justification, together with the forgiveness of sins a person received, through Jesus Christ into whom he is grafted, all these infused at the same time: faith, hope and charity.1065
The same note is hit by the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.”1066
Finally, the JD also safeguards divine initiative when it asserts that every salutary act directed at salvation relies on divine grace, and no action prior to justification is strictly meritorious:
We confess together that all persons depend completely on the saving grace of God for their salvation. The freedom they possess in relation to persons and the things of this world is no freedom in relation to salvation, for as sinners they stand under God’s judgment and are incapable of turning by themselves to God to seek deliverance, of meriting their justification before God, or of attaining salvation by their own abilities. Justification takes place solely by God’s grace.1067