Cap. VI Arg. 3: Prosper, Hilary, Faustus — election-on-faith always meant prior merit
Augustine is not alone: whoever of old hung election to life on a faith-condition thereby admitted prior dignity and merit in the elect. Prosper (Letter to Augustine), on the so-called Pelagian remnants: as far as God goes, eternal life is prepared for all; as far as free choice goes, it is grasped by those who spontaneously believed, and received grace help by the merit of believing. Hilary to Augustine: those who rejected election according to God's purpose and brought in election by foresight of faith and penitence recognized in that faith and conversion the merit and cause of election — by the merit of willing and believing they can be healed, and later, whatever grief arises, they call that the very cause why one is taken and another rejected. Faustus of Riez, careful Semi-Pelagian: as he grounds election in foresighted faith, so he does not hide that it is also from merit — Foreknowledge knows what will be done; predestination then describes the retribution; the one foresees merits, the other preordains rewards. Remonstrants are too clever, and desert their elders, when they have God elect by foresight of faith and still deny that foresighted faith is the cause.
Latin
Nec Augustinus solummodo arguit beneficium illud ex merito dari, quod datur ex fidei conditione praeeunte, sed (quod notatu dignum est) quicunque olim electionem ad vitam ex conditione fidei suspenderunt, inde dignitatem et meritum antecedaneum in electis agnoverunt. Sic Prosper in Epist. ad Augustinum, ubi exponit sententiam illorum qui reliquiae Pelagianorum appellabantur: Quantum ad Deum pertinet, omnibus paratam vitam aeternam esse dicunt; quantum autem ad arbitrii libertatem, ab his eam apprehendi qui Deo sponte crediderint, et auxilium gratiae merito credulitatis acceperint. Sic etiam Hilarius ad Augustinum scribens de eadem materia, ostendit eos qui rejiciebant electionem secundum Dei propositum, et introducebant electionem secundum fidei et paenitentiae praevisionem, in hac fide et conversione meritum et causam electionis agnovisse: Eo merito quo voluerint et crediderint a suo morbo se posse sanari, etc. Et Paulo post, Si qualiscunque dolor oriatur, hanc ipsam dicunt causam propter quam alius assumatur, alius rejiciatur. Denique Faustus Regiensis, qui accuratissime Semipelagianorum sententiam tutatur, sicut electionem ex fide praevisa statuit, ita etiam ex merito eandem fieri non dissimulat: Praescientia, inquit, gerenda praenoscit, postmodum praedestinatio retribuenda describit; illa praevidet merita, haec praeordinat praemia. Nimis igitur arguti sunt, et a majoribus suis desciscunt Remonstrantes, quando ponunt Deum eligere homines secundum praescientiam fidei, et tamen negant fidem praevisam esse causam dictae electionis.
About this text
New English, free to read. Open any section below.
English follows locked 1650 Cambridge Latin of De morte Christi Cap. 1-6 opening (origin + Thesis 1 + Cap. 2 Rat. 1-ultima + Cap. 3 Satisfit through Obj. 17 + Cap. 4 Thesis 2 tip through Mem. 1 close + Cap. 4 Mem. 2 through Mem. 3 tip + Cap. 4 Mem. 3 possible-faith through Thesis 2 close + Cap. 5 Thesis 3 tip through Mem. 2 Scripture close + Cap. 5 Mem. 2 Rat. 1-4 + Cap. 5 Mem. 2 Fathers tip + Cap. 5 Mem. 2 Huberiana objections tip through Obj. 3 Solut close + Cap. 5 Mem. 2 elect-from-eternity objections tip through Obj. 3 Solut close + Cap. 5 Mem. 2 Scripture elect objections tip through Cap. 5 thesis close + Cap. 6 opening tip through Arg. 1 close before Arg. 2), reconstructed from the Internet Archive PDF (pdftotext + tesseract) of the Roger Daniel folio with DjVu OCR check. The 1683 reprint was not used as copy-text. No modern English was copied.
Catalogue & scope
Partial through De praedestinatione Cap. 1 subject tip. Cap. 1 mid-Thesis+ remain.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De morte Christi Cap. 1-5 densify through Cap. 5 Mem. 2 Fathers tip (Daniel 1650) (Latin)
- Print Facsimile Internet Archive PDF of the 1650 Cambridge folio (Latin)
- Checked print Internet Archive DjVu OCR of the 1650 Cambridge folio (Latin)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.