Prevenient Grace - Catholic View
[ Ps 58:11 DRV (Ps 59:10 KJV); Ps 78:8 DRV (Ps 79:8 KJV)]
I want to talk about Prevenient Grace from a Catholic point of view. I thought I should start a new thread. If you hang in there with me on this I think you will walk away with more understanding, more food for thought and a better understanding of your own view. This is some of the mechanics of Catholic Soteriology, the Big Picture.
Dividing and Combining
Calvinists divide Romans 1 into two distinct camps. Traditionalists say everything is combined and accomplished in the preaching of the Gospel. I’m sure Traditionalists believe in Grace all the way through but maybe the steps just need to be shown theologically. Arminians I’m not familiar with but it looks like they lay things out correctly. Dr. Roger Olson describes the soul with Prevenient Grace as “Half-Regenerated” which is on the right track. So there’s, sometimes, dividing and combining that we probably would not agree on and some things we do. From the Grace point of view I think understanding Prevenient Grace helps keep everything straight.
Here’s Why: This is one division that needs to be made. Aquinas, 300 years before Luther and Calvin, divided Grace into 2 kinds: Gratuitous (Prevenient) Grace and Sanctifying Grace (STh., I-II q.111). This understanding went back into the early church. The 2nd Council of Orange in 529ad said God’s Grace goes first; it precedes our ability to do anything towards our salvation(Canon 14, Denziger’s #187,384 ). This was to counter the Pelagian Heresy. Also, it said in a similar way that God “Prepares” the “Will” (Canon 4, Denziger’s 177,374; Canon 23, Denziger’s #196,393; Trent, Decree on Justification, Ch 5 & 6, Canons 3,4 Denziger’s #797,1525 & #798, 1526 ). These quotes from Orange II were taken from St. Prosper who was St. Augustine’s prize student and protege. Notice it says grace “Prepares the Will”. This means two things: Man’s Will needs preparing but it also means using the Will in the salvation process is necessary - no denial of Free Will. You don’t prepare something you don’t need. The “Preparing” is the Grace. The church defines Free Will as man’s Will with God’s Grace in it. Sometimes we use the term Free Will in the natural sense (without God’s Grace in it - ex: power to make everyday decisions ). I like to say there is Supernatural Free Will (with God’s Grace) and Natural Free Will (without God’s Grace). Luther and Calvin didn’t make that distinction even though Erasmus and Pighius tried to tell Them. This distinction needs to be made.
The BIG PICTURE
Aquinas used these verses (STh., I-II q.111 a.5):
1 Cor 12: 4-12. - Prevenient Graces (Gratuitous)
1 Cor 12:31 - Describes Division
1 Cor 13:1-13 - Sanctifying Grace (Gratuitous)
All the Gifts of the Holy Ghost in 1 Cor 12 DO NOT SAVE YOU , per se, but Prepare you or stimulate your soul (Trent, Ch 8). Trent calls them “Preparatory Graces”. These graces appear both before and after Justification. I am only going to talk mainly about these graces before Justification right now. Fr Reginald Garrigou-LaGrange, my favorite theologian (this is why my User Name is LaGrange), describes these as “Stimulating Graces”. They move you up to the point of Justification. In the Catholic Church the point of Justification is Baptism (Regeneration)(I don’t want to argue Baptism right now). So, in essence, BOTH Faith and Works alone don’t save you. When you walk up to the Baptismal Font to be Baptized, the intrinsic “Gift of Faith” (Eph 2:8; 1 Cor 12:9) must be present in you but it, by itself, doesn’t save you (Must be Taught before Baptism Matt 28:19). You are regenerated by Baptism. If you are Arminian or a Traditionalist, you too don’t believe you are Justified until you “Accept Christ as your Savior”(Regeneration). Ask yourself: What about all the graces that led you up to that point? The preaching of the Gospel? Maybe the first time you were stimulated by the Faith was watching a Christian Show on TV; maybe a Billy Graham Crusade Rerun? This probably happened multiple times before you walked the aisle. All this was Prevenient Grace prior to the point of Accepting Christ as your Savior. The Calvinists sense this and teach that grace must precede anything in our movement toward Christ which is correct but they don’t make this division between 1 Cor 12 and 1 Cor 13 so they see all grace as what we would call “Sanctifying Grace” (Regeneration = 1 Cor 13 Grace = Charity = makes us pleasing to God; Habitual Grace; Indwelling) This looks like to Catholics, Arminians and Traditionalists, that you are Saved before you’re Saved. Another reason Calvinists believe this is because they deny the use of Supernatural Free Will. The Intrinsic Grace in Supernatural Free Will we call Actual Grace. It’s “Internal”. It gives “Power” to the Intellect and the Will; it makes the Will Free. The definition of Free Will is a Will containing the Grace (Power) to make a choice toward Christ but “Not the choice itself” (it Enables you). The grace to make the choice itself is called Cooperating Grace (Synergism; Physical Premotion). Before you had the power (Grace) to move towards Christ, you already had the power or ability Not to move toward Christ; to say No. You still have the power to say No after receiving the Grace to move toward Christ. Ultimately, this means you have the ability (enabled) to say Yes or No. This gives man a real choice. Aquinas says that just as man has a Free Will in the natural order it is fitting he should also have a Free Will in the supernatural order (STh., I-II q.113 a.3). These Intrinsic Prevenient and Actual Graces St. Augustine called “Operating Graces” (ex: On Grace & Free Will, Ch 33 (17), 427ad). The final doctrine that needs to be discussed is Total Depravity and how it affects Prevenient Grace and Free Will. We do not believe in Total Depravity as such, however, we do agree that there is nothing we can do (unable), prior to God’s Prevenient and Actual Graces, to move toward Christ. Aquinas says there is some good in man’s nature, therefore some good in his soul, even after Original Sin (STh., I-II q.85 a.2 and a.3)(We were Wounded, not Totally Depraved). This is extremely important because it backs up the “helping” of Grace in the soul (Intellect and Will) rather than the kind of Force, Pull, Drag or Compulsion of the Will that Calvin asserts (Irresisitible Grace). St. Augustine admits this “Helping” (Predestination of the Saints, Ch 7 (III); On Nature and Grace, 62) This “Helping” was upheld at the Council of Mileum II (416ad) and seconded by the Council of Carthage (418ad) of which St. Augustine approved. This really condemned Luther’s Law vs Gospel Paradigm (Canon 3,4). Basically what Luther taught was that Grace takes away sin but it cannot “Help” you not to sin (Prevent) and this is what the Council condemned. The Council directed this against Pelagius! Calvin said no to this “Helping” (Inst. 3,11,15). Why? I think it’s because he didn’t recognize the division of graces; he didn’t recognize Prevenient Grace ( 1 Cor 12) and that it’s a transient grace. Calvin would probably say you don’t prepare something that’s already done. In Calvinism, it seems Total Depravity continues through the Sanctification Process and it would make sense because sins are not cleansed at Justification but merely “Covered” over in the soul but are still there [instead of buried (separated) and removed]. Your sins, not removed but covered over, points to the fact that you are still not really able to Merit. I know all of you would say you are Regenerated and Enabled but that’s a contradiction without the belief in Supernatural Free Will. Calvin also didn’t believe in Infused Virtues (1 Cor 13:13) which are powers in the soul after receiving grace (Inst 3,6,2; 1646 Westminster Confession of Faith, Ch 11, Section 1 - Acts 10:43; Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9; Acts 13:38, 39; Eph. 2:7, 8.) This means man is still helpless even after receiving grace - he is an empty shell. This is further proof of Total Depravity. So it seems Calvin believes the way God works through the soul is through nothing but God Himself so it is by Christ alone bypassing man’s Will. Further proof of this is that he denies Merit [Merit means earning more grace while in God’s Grace (in Christ) and does NOT mean Meriting Salvation]. The denial of Merit in the Sanctification Process is the lynchpin that proves Calvin and Luther believed you are Totally Depraved in the Sanctification Process. If you can’t Merit in God’s Grace, along with some residual good left in you after the Fall, then you have to be Totally Depraved by logic. In order to Merit there has to be some residual good in the soul. It’s my opinion that Calvin and Luther never mentioned Grace was present when talking about the Intellect and Will, even though the 1646 Westminster Confession of Faith Larger Catechism speaks of Infused Grace ( #77). (Calvin says Infused with “His (God’s) Holiness, Not yours”, seems to mean Grace is not really Infused - Inst 3,6,2). Seems like a contradiction. I know they believe God works through the soul but I just don’t know how except by maybe just “Passing Through”, a formality, then God continuing on and doing the Necessary Works Himself. It only just looks like you’re doing the Works. Maybe Necessary Works means Works done by Theological Necessity.
Hope this helps in the understanding of Grace. I admit I could be wrong in my interpretation of Luther and Calvin on the effects of Total Depravity on Free Will and the Soul during the Sanctification Process. If anyone can give me quotes and locations in Calvin's and Luther's Works, on Infused Grace in the soul that show I'm wrong, I would be grateful. I want to understand Calvin and Luther correctly. Thanks again!
[ Ps 58:11 DRV (Ps 59:10 KJV); Ps 78:8 DRV (Ps 79:8 KJV)]
I want to talk about Prevenient Grace from a Catholic point of view. I thought I should start a new thread. If you hang in there with me on this I think you will walk away with more understanding, more food for thought and a better understanding of your own view. This is some of the mechanics of Catholic Soteriology, the Big Picture.
Dividing and Combining
Calvinists divide Romans 1 into two distinct camps. Traditionalists say everything is combined and accomplished in the preaching of the Gospel. I’m sure Traditionalists believe in Grace all the way through but maybe the steps just need to be shown theologically. Arminians I’m not familiar with but it looks like they lay things out correctly. Dr. Roger Olson describes the soul with Prevenient Grace as “Half-Regenerated” which is on the right track. So there’s, sometimes, dividing and combining that we probably would not agree on and some things we do. From the Grace point of view I think understanding Prevenient Grace helps keep everything straight.
Here’s Why: This is one division that needs to be made. Aquinas, 300 years before Luther and Calvin, divided Grace into 2 kinds: Gratuitous (Prevenient) Grace and Sanctifying Grace (STh., I-II q.111). This understanding went back into the early church. The 2nd Council of Orange in 529ad said God’s Grace goes first; it precedes our ability to do anything towards our salvation(Canon 14, Denziger’s #187,384 ). This was to counter the Pelagian Heresy. Also, it said in a similar way that God “Prepares” the “Will” (Canon 4, Denziger’s 177,374; Canon 23, Denziger’s #196,393; Trent, Decree on Justification, Ch 5 & 6, Canons 3,4 Denziger’s #797,1525 & #798, 1526 ). These quotes from Orange II were taken from St. Prosper who was St. Augustine’s prize student and protege. Notice it says grace “Prepares the Will”. This means two things: Man’s Will needs preparing but it also means using the Will in the salvation process is necessary - no denial of Free Will. You don’t prepare something you don’t need. The “Preparing” is the Grace. The church defines Free Will as man’s Will with God’s Grace in it. Sometimes we use the term Free Will in the natural sense (without God’s Grace in it - ex: power to make everyday decisions ). I like to say there is Supernatural Free Will (with God’s Grace) and Natural Free Will (without God’s Grace). Luther and Calvin didn’t make that distinction even though Erasmus and Pighius tried to tell Them. This distinction needs to be made.
The BIG PICTURE
Aquinas used these verses (STh., I-II q.111 a.5):
1 Cor 12: 4-12. - Prevenient Graces (Gratuitous)
1 Cor 12:31 - Describes Division
1 Cor 13:1-13 - Sanctifying Grace (Gratuitous)
All the Gifts of the Holy Ghost in 1 Cor 12 DO NOT SAVE YOU , per se, but Prepare you or stimulate your soul (Trent, Ch 8). Trent calls them “Preparatory Graces”. These graces appear both before and after Justification. I am only going to talk mainly about these graces before Justification right now. Fr Reginald Garrigou-LaGrange, my favorite theologian (this is why my User Name is LaGrange), describes these as “Stimulating Graces”. They move you up to the point of Justification. In the Catholic Church the point of Justification is Baptism (Regeneration)(I don’t want to argue Baptism right now). So, in essence, BOTH Faith and Works alone don’t save you. When you walk up to the Baptismal Font to be Baptized, the intrinsic “Gift of Faith” (Eph 2:8; 1 Cor 12:9) must be present in you but it, by itself, doesn’t save you (Must be Taught before Baptism Matt 28:19). You are regenerated by Baptism. If you are Arminian or a Traditionalist, you too don’t believe you are Justified until you “Accept Christ as your Savior”(Regeneration). Ask yourself: What about all the graces that led you up to that point? The preaching of the Gospel? Maybe the first time you were stimulated by the Faith was watching a Christian Show on TV; maybe a Billy Graham Crusade Rerun? This probably happened multiple times before you walked the aisle. All this was Prevenient Grace prior to the point of Accepting Christ as your Savior. The Calvinists sense this and teach that grace must precede anything in our movement toward Christ which is correct but they don’t make this division between 1 Cor 12 and 1 Cor 13 so they see all grace as what we would call “Sanctifying Grace” (Regeneration = 1 Cor 13 Grace = Charity = makes us pleasing to God; Habitual Grace; Indwelling) This looks like to Catholics, Arminians and Traditionalists, that you are Saved before you’re Saved. Another reason Calvinists believe this is because they deny the use of Supernatural Free Will. The Intrinsic Grace in Supernatural Free Will we call Actual Grace. It’s “Internal”. It gives “Power” to the Intellect and the Will; it makes the Will Free. The definition of Free Will is a Will containing the Grace (Power) to make a choice toward Christ but “Not the choice itself” (it Enables you). The grace to make the choice itself is called Cooperating Grace (Synergism; Physical Premotion). Before you had the power (Grace) to move towards Christ, you already had the power or ability Not to move toward Christ; to say No. You still have the power to say No after receiving the Grace to move toward Christ. Ultimately, this means you have the ability (enabled) to say Yes or No. This gives man a real choice. Aquinas says that just as man has a Free Will in the natural order it is fitting he should also have a Free Will in the supernatural order (STh., I-II q.113 a.3). These Intrinsic Prevenient and Actual Graces St. Augustine called “Operating Graces” (ex: On Grace & Free Will, Ch 33 (17), 427ad). The final doctrine that needs to be discussed is Total Depravity and how it affects Prevenient Grace and Free Will. We do not believe in Total Depravity as such, however, we do agree that there is nothing we can do (unable), prior to God’s Prevenient and Actual Graces, to move toward Christ. Aquinas says there is some good in man’s nature, therefore some good in his soul, even after Original Sin (STh., I-II q.85 a.2 and a.3)(We were Wounded, not Totally Depraved). This is extremely important because it backs up the “helping” of Grace in the soul (Intellect and Will) rather than the kind of Force, Pull, Drag or Compulsion of the Will that Calvin asserts (Irresisitible Grace). St. Augustine admits this “Helping” (Predestination of the Saints, Ch 7 (III); On Nature and Grace, 62) This “Helping” was upheld at the Council of Mileum II (416ad) and seconded by the Council of Carthage (418ad) of which St. Augustine approved. This really condemned Luther’s Law vs Gospel Paradigm (Canon 3,4). Basically what Luther taught was that Grace takes away sin but it cannot “Help” you not to sin (Prevent) and this is what the Council condemned. The Council directed this against Pelagius! Calvin said no to this “Helping” (Inst. 3,11,15). Why? I think it’s because he didn’t recognize the division of graces; he didn’t recognize Prevenient Grace ( 1 Cor 12) and that it’s a transient grace. Calvin would probably say you don’t prepare something that’s already done. In Calvinism, it seems Total Depravity continues through the Sanctification Process and it would make sense because sins are not cleansed at Justification but merely “Covered” over in the soul but are still there [instead of buried (separated) and removed]. Your sins, not removed but covered over, points to the fact that you are still not really able to Merit. I know all of you would say you are Regenerated and Enabled but that’s a contradiction without the belief in Supernatural Free Will. Calvin also didn’t believe in Infused Virtues (1 Cor 13:13) which are powers in the soul after receiving grace (Inst 3,6,2; 1646 Westminster Confession of Faith, Ch 11, Section 1 - Acts 10:43; Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9; Acts 13:38, 39; Eph. 2:7, 8.) This means man is still helpless even after receiving grace - he is an empty shell. This is further proof of Total Depravity. So it seems Calvin believes the way God works through the soul is through nothing but God Himself so it is by Christ alone bypassing man’s Will. Further proof of this is that he denies Merit [Merit means earning more grace while in God’s Grace (in Christ) and does NOT mean Meriting Salvation]. The denial of Merit in the Sanctification Process is the lynchpin that proves Calvin and Luther believed you are Totally Depraved in the Sanctification Process. If you can’t Merit in God’s Grace, along with some residual good left in you after the Fall, then you have to be Totally Depraved by logic. In order to Merit there has to be some residual good in the soul. It’s my opinion that Calvin and Luther never mentioned Grace was present when talking about the Intellect and Will, even though the 1646 Westminster Confession of Faith Larger Catechism speaks of Infused Grace ( #77). (Calvin says Infused with “His (God’s) Holiness, Not yours”, seems to mean Grace is not really Infused - Inst 3,6,2). Seems like a contradiction. I know they believe God works through the soul but I just don’t know how except by maybe just “Passing Through”, a formality, then God continuing on and doing the Necessary Works Himself. It only just looks like you’re doing the Works. Maybe Necessary Works means Works done by Theological Necessity.
Hope this helps in the understanding of Grace. I admit I could be wrong in my interpretation of Luther and Calvin on the effects of Total Depravity on Free Will and the Soul during the Sanctification Process. If anyone can give me quotes and locations in Calvin's and Luther's Works, on Infused Grace in the soul that show I'm wrong, I would be grateful. I want to understand Calvin and Luther correctly. Thanks again!
