The foundation for indulgences: from Colossians 1[:24].
The foundation for indulgences: from Colossians 1[:24].
§ 134. The Papists seek the main strength of their indulgences in the apostle’s statement (Col. 1:24): “I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up those things that are lacking in the suffering of Christ, in my flesh, for His Body, which is the church.” Therefore [as they argue] Paul and the rest of the saints benefit others with their sufferings in regard to satisfaction.
We respond. With these words the apostle is signifying that he, as one member of the mystical Body under Christ, its Head, fills up the sufferings not as if Christ’s Passion were an insufficient price which the saints’ sufferings must still complete, but rather since each member of the mystical Body is being given his own “portion” (so to speak) of the cross. These are the deficiencies that still must be filled up.
** In His own flesh Christ suffered hypostatically, but in His mystical Body He suffers relatively [σχετικῶς]. **
He was not doing this as a satisfaction for his own sins or for those of others or for the punishments for sins (which honor befits Christ alone), but rather that his sufferings might benefit the mystical Body for edification in the faith and in the word of the Gospel, that the faithful might be strengthened by the persecutions of the apostle in taking up the religion of Christ. That is the way the apostle explains himself (in 2 Cor. 1:6): “If we are afflicted, it is for your exhortation and salvation, which is effected in bearing the same sufferings that we suffer.” Phil. 1:12: “The things which happened to me have turned out rather for the furtherance of the Gospel.”
** The preposition pro [“for,” Col. 1:24] is usually used in five ways. (1) Sometimes it is the equivalent of the preposition de [“concerning”]. 1 Sam. 9:5: “He is concerned for us,” that is, concerning us. (See also Isa. 37:21; 1 Cor. 1:4; Phil. 1:7.) (2) It is often used for “in place of someone” and “instead of the other,” or as if it indicates an exchange. He gave “another seed for Abel” (Gen. 4:25), that is, “in place of Abel.” (See also Gen. 30:2; Exod. 7:1; Prov. 11:8.) (3) It sometimes indicates a benefit so that “to happen for someone” means to happen for his benefit. “You will never speak falsely for God” (Job 13:7), that is, “in favor of God or for His benefit.” “He who is not against us is for us” (Luke 9:50). “The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep” (John 10:11). (4) Not rarely it indicates an efficient and moving cause, so that it is the same as propter [“because of ”]. “Abraham received this with difficulty for his son” (Gen. 21:11), that is, “because of his son.” (See Gen. 27:41; 1 Chron. 16:21; Acts 12:23; Eph. 5:31.) (5) It often includes merit and indicates not only benefit but also satisfaction. Thus sacrifices are said to be offered “for sin” (Lev. 4:3, etc.). In the same sense Christ is said to have suffered “for the life of the world” (John 6:51), “for the sins of the world” (1 John 2:2), “for all” (Rom. 8:32), etc. Therefore the Papist argument proceeds from mere particulars: “to suffer for another” sometimes denotes satisfaction; therefore Paul’s suffering for the church was satisfactory. The preposition pro indicates stead or satisfaction not always but only when the subject is Christ’s suffering and death, for He alone trod the winepress (Isa. 63:3) and made satisfaction perfectly for us (1 Tim. 2:6; Heb. 2:15). Paul is said to have suffered for the church not as though to redeem it or to make satisfaction for it (for in this sense he denies that he was crucified for the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 1:13) but only with respect to benefit and advantage. He suffered for the church, that is, because of the church and its increase, not unlike his statement (in 2 Cor. 12:15): “I will most gladly spend and be spent for you,” that is, “because of you and in your benefit.” Again, 1 John 3:16: “We ought to lay down our souls for the brethren,” surely not to redeem them but to strengthen them in faith through our death, to stir them up to steadfastness, and to provide other benefits. Paul himself declares (2 Tim. 2:10): “I endure everything because of the elect, that they also may obtain salvation,” namely, by imitating my faith and steadfastness. Christ’s sufferings are of two kinds. (1) His own, which He endured on the cross in His own body; these are satisfactory and utterly perfect. (2) Appropriated, which He suffers not in His own flesh but in His saints (Acts 9:4). The latter sufferings have not yet obtained every completion, and about these the apostle is speaking. **
Thomas Aquinas himself confirms our explanation ([ST,] part 3, q. 48, art 5, resp. to 3): “It must be stated that the sufferings of the saints benefit the church, certainly not in the manner of redemption, but in the manner of example and encouragement, according to the words: ‘Whether we be in tribulation, it is for your exhortation and salvation’ [2 Cor. 1:6].” The Glossa interlin.: “In the sufferings which I endure for you, namely, in confirming you in the truth of the Gospel.” Lyra (in the same place): “ ‘In the sufferings,’ that is, in prison, which I suffer for you Gentiles because I have preached the Gospel to the Gentiles to whom you belong. But Christ’s sufferings are spoken of in two ways: in one way in His own body, in which He suffered hunger, thirst, and death; taking it in this way, there was nothing left to be filled up. In another way He suffers in His members, which are the faithful, according to the statement: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ [Acts 9:4]. That is how the apostle is speaking here.” Bellarmine himself (De indulg., bk. 2, ch. 5): “This meaning is observed and approved by many of our people.” Salmeron (commentary on Philippians 2): “Σπένδομαι [Phil. 2:17], that is, ‘I am being sacrificed on the sacrifice and offering of your faith.’ He calls death their liberation, not by which they would be reconciled to God but by which they would be strengthened in faith.”
** For their second argument they bring forth Job 6[:1–3]: “Oh, that my sins, for which I have deserved wrath, and the calamity which I endure were weighed in a balance. As the sand of the sea, this would appear heavier.” Therefore [as they argue] the saints endure more tribulations than they need for the expiation of their own sins. We respond. (1) It is a faulty translation. For where the Latin has “my sins, for which I have deserved wrath,” the Hebrew sources simply have ּכעׂשי, which means “my mockery and indignation,” just as the Septuagint translators and also the Chaldean have. (2) What Job means by his wrath or indignation is clear from chs. 3 and 7, where he bemoans the day of his conception and birth and complains very bitterly over his griefs because of the impatience of his flesh, even though the word ּכעׂשי (“my wrath”) can be explained quite conveniently in a passive sense, referring to God’s wrath. (3) The meaning is that he wants these complaints, groans, and sighs, along with their cause, which was in the extreme torments of body and soul, to be included in a book and examined on a balance. He then soon affirms that both of these would be of a heavier weight than the sand of the sea, that is, greater than can be tolerated by any man. (4) There is no proportion between the sins which offend the infinite righteousness of God and their temporal punishments. (5) Even if Job had evaluated his torments as weightier than his sins, he still would not have said this out of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit but out of the impatience of his flesh.
They also urge Eph. 3:13: “Do not faint because of my tribulations, which I am suffering for you.” We respond. Paul is saying that he endures his tribulations because of the Ephesians, because he preached the Gospel to them and to other Gentiles, because of which the Jews kept persecuting him and were sending him to Rome in chains, just as he wrote this to the Ephesians while he was in chains.
They also say that the word “indulgence” occurs in Scripture and in the fathers. We respond. They are speaking not of the pope’s indulgence but of God’s. “I will praise God because of all the good which He shows to the house of Israel according to His indulgence ( רַחֲמָיו )” (Isa. 63:7). “In His love and indulgence He redeemed them” (v. 9). “Having poured out our tears, let us beg His indulgence” (Judith 8:[14, Vg]). In these passages it means God’s mercy; elsewhere it is used for the forgiveness of faults and of eternal punishment. “He sent me to preach indulgence to the captives” (Isa. 61:1). The apostle uses it for “permission”: “I say this according to indulgence” (1 Cor. 7:6). In the early church it was used for the relaxation of canonical punishments, which usually were imposed upon sinners publicly. **