Theological Theses · §2566 · Louis Le Blanc de Beaulieu

Sufficient and efficacious differ only morally

Thesis CXXIX. The first grace is the one they call sufficient, the second the one they call efficacious. Those called in the first way are said to be called incongruously; those called in the second, congruously. The second calling originates in a decree by which the conversion of those called has been predefined; the first does not.

Even so, on these doctors' view, the grace conferred through the first calling and named sufficient is not really distinct from efficacious grace, whether in physical entity or in power to act. It differs only morally, that is, in its relation to the act that is to follow. A person may lack the efficacious aid by which he is in fact converted, yet through the aid called sufficient he can actually be converted if he wishes, with no new aid serving as the source of the good work.

Latin

CXXIX. Prior illa gratia est quam sufficientem vocant: posterior vero quam vocant efficacem. Qui priori modo vocantur, dicuntur vocari modo non congruo: Qui posteriori, modo congruo. Posterior haec vocatio originem habet a decreto, quo eorum qui vocantur conversio praedefinita est: prior vero non item. Et tamen gratia quae per priorem istam vocationem confertur, & sufficiens appellatur, juxta mentem istorum Doctorum, non distinguitur realiter, seu quoad entitatem Physicam, aut vim agendi, a gratia efficaci; sed tantum moraliter, seu per ordinem ad operationem secuturam: Licet enim quis non habeat auxilium efficax, quo de facto convertatur, potest tamen per illud quod dicitur sufficiens, actu converti si velit, sine novo auxilio, quod se habeat tanquam boni operis principium.

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