Ratio, cur non ad bonum et ad malum liberum arbitrium aeque sufficiat.
The Question of Free Will and Grace
The sufficiency of grace is acknowledged, yet a question arises about why free will suffices for evil but not for good.
But someone will say: I agree — and in fact it has been amply demonstrated — that God's grace can accomplish all things in all people, without doing any violence to the freedom of the will. But whether this is truly so, who really knows? What reason is there that, just as free will needs no one's help to turn toward evil, it should not be sufficient on its own to turn toward good?
Faith, Experience, and the Word of Christ
Catholic faith, daily experience, prophetic and apostolic testimony, and Christ's own words confirm that without him we can do nothing.
And who is there for whom this is not enough: that the Catholic faith agrees with this claim, that the daily experience of each person making good progress confirms it, that prophetic and apostolic testimonies alike affirm it, and — what is greater than all these — that saying from the truthful mouth that declares: Without me you can do nothing (John✦ 15).
Purified Eyes and the Light of Truth
Once the eyes are purified by faith, reason follows, understanding is present, and the light of truth presses upon the mind.
Moreover, once the eyes are purified by this faith, reason will not be lacking; understanding will be present, and the light of truth will thrust itself upon the mind.
See, Believe, Rejoice, Persevere
Those who can see should see; those who cannot should believe, and those who see should rejoice humbly while those who do not see persevere, for unless you believe you will not understand.
Let those who can, see; let those who cannot see, believe. Let those who see rejoice — but humbly; let those who do not see believe — but persevere, because unless you believe, you will not understand (Isaiah✦ 7).
The Natural Inclination of Creatures toward Nothingness
Every creature, made from nothing and changeable, naturally inclines by its own mutability toward the nothing from which it was made.
Consider this, I say: since every creature is made from nothing and is changeable, by a certain natural impulse of its own mutability it always inclines toward that from which it was made — that is, toward nothing.
Changeable Things Need an Unchangeable Support
Everything changeable by nature needs something unchangeable so as not to be changed, since no changeable thing possesses immutability in itself, much less communicates it to another.
And in truth it's very easy to see that everything which is changeable by nature needs something unchangeable, so that it may not be changed. No changeable thing has immutability in itself — otherwise it wouldn't even be changeable; how much less, then, does it pass that quality on to another?
The Necessity of Grace for the Creature
A creature left unprotected is naturally driven toward nothingness, and so it always needs the grace of its Creator to hold its mutability in check and raise it toward higher things.
But if a creature is changed when upheld by no one's protection, who wouldn't easily see that it is driven — more naturally, so to speak, and more manifestly — by a certain necessary impulse toward that from which it was made? For which reason, in order that it may not flow downward into lesser things by its own mutability, in order that it may hold its mutability in check within the bounds of what it is, and in order that it may raise itself toward higher things under a more favorable auspice — it always needs the grace of the one whose power created it.
Read the original Latin
Sed dicet aliquis: Assentio jam, et quidem satis probatum est, Dei gratiam ita posse omnia in omnibus operari, ut nihil arbitrii praejudicet libertati. Sed utrum ita sit, quis novit? Quae ratio, ut cum nullius adminiculo ad malum egeat, ad bonum sibi non sufficiat? Et quis est, cui satis non sit, quod huic assertioni consentiat fides catholica, probet quotidiana uniuscujusque bene proficientis experientia, affirment insuper prophetica, simul et apostolica testimonia, et quod his majus est, illa illius veridici oris sententia qua dicit: Sine me nihil potestis facere (Joan. xv). Porro oculis hac fide purgatis ratio deesse non poterit, aderit intelligentia, lumen se ingeret veritatis. Videat ergo qui potest, credat qui videre non potest. Qui videt, gaudeat, sed humiliter; qui non videt, credat, sed perseveranter, quia nisi crederitis, non intelligetis (Isa.
vii). Videat, inquam, quia cum omnis creatura de nihilo sit facta, et mutabilis facta, naturali quodam suae mutabilitatis impulsu, semper ad id, de quo facta est, id est ad nihilum vergit. Et revera perfacile est videre omne quod natura mutabile est, quodam incommutabili indigere, ut non mutetur. Nullum siquidem mutabile in se habet incommutabilitatem, alioquin ne mutabile quidem esset; quanto minus alteri confert? Si vero nullius fulcita praesidio creatura mutetur, quis non facile videat eam naturalius, ut ita dicam, et expressius ad id, de quo facta est, impetu quodam necessario commutari? Quapropter ut in inferiora sua mutabilitate non defluat, ut in eo quod est, suam mutabilitatem cohibeat, ut ad altiora auspicio feliciori se subrigat, semper illius eget gratia cujus est creata potentia.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.15.5 — I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who abides in me, and I in him, this one bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.
- ↩Isa.7.9 — And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not believe, surely you will not be established.
Speculum caritatis (The Mirror of Charity) companion
Reorder one love at a time, daily
Use the study map with the free Chosen Portion app's daily readings to work through Aelred at a sustainable pace.
Aelred wrote the Mirror as a rule for daily interior discipline in community, and Chosen Portion carries that discipline forward as a short ordered reading each day.
- All 3 books and 102 chapters mapped into 4 weekly themes with page-level pointers
- Aelred's choice-motion-fruit test, turned into a one-page self-examination worksheet
- 16 discussion questions ready for personal journaling or a 4-session small group