Third, that many necessary things are not contained in Scripture: A remedy for women against original sin.
Third, that many necessary things are not contained in Scripture: A remedy for women against original sin.
§ 382. (III) “Many things cannot be unknown by us, which nevertheless are not contained in Scripture. You see, in the first time of the Old Testament, they no doubt had some remedy no less for the woman than for the man by which they might be cleansed of original sin. Yet in the opinion of many, circumcision had been established for males, but nowhere does Scripture say what there was for females.” We respond. (1) in general.
Some things are contained in Scripture expressly, some analogically, some explicitly, some implicitly, some generally, some specifically, some literally, some materially. Whatever we must know for salvation is contained in one of these ways in the Scriptures, something that Bellarmine himself seems to admit when he writes: “The apostles wrote all those things that were necessary to all and that they preached openly to all the people” (De verbo Dei, bk. 4, c. 11, § His notatis). (2) Specifically, about the remedy for original sin in the case of females. [a] If ignorance of that remedy takes away the perfection of Scripture, not even the Papists themselves will have a perfect teaching, even if they sew their own traditions onto Scripture, since they cannot bring forth that remedy from the archive of traditions. [b] Not even among the Talmudists, the greatest patrons of traditions, does there exist any trace of this remedy. [c] It never entered the minds of the Scholastics to think about some such remedy. Instead, they look for reasons why males alone were commanded to be circumcised, among which causes Richard lists as the chief one “that the corruption of nature came primarily from the man.” [d] Lombard, Sent., 4, dist. 1, letter G, discusses this matter as follows: “Women were justified through faith and good working, either by their own, if they were adults, or by those of their parents, if they were young.” Hugh (De sacram., bk. 1, p. 12, c. 2) and, from him, Biel (Sent., bk. 4, dist. 1, q. 4) say more accurately: “Women were saved by faith alone, being purified by their sacrifices, offerings, and other ceremonies of the Law.” [e] Through the prayers of their parents, through sacrifices, and through offerings, the promise “I shall be the God of your seed” [Gen. 17:7] was applied to the feminine sex. If we were to consider the formula of the covenant as it was proposed in Genesis 17, it will appear that God is entering upon a covenant with the entire posterity of Abraham; yet circumcision is imposed on males alone. The terms of the covenant, therefore, were satisfied with the circumcision of males. Females did not have the external rite of circumcision, but they did not lack the fruit of the sacrament. [f] Some of the more recent writers press for this idea: that unwed females were considered as part of their parents but married ones as part of their husbands. [g] That which was a remedy for all infants born of faithful parents before the institution of circumcision was also a remedy for females after the institution of circumcision, because circumcision was established for males but not for females.