SUPEREROGATION
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SUPEREROGATION
ly. This, then, brings us back again to the distinction hctvfeen jn-cEcejJtu and consUia, as the basis of the opera supere7-of/atira. Protestantism, on the contrary, looks upon the divine law as one indivisible, and being in this form the rule of all human life and action. Objectively, it is the expression of the idea of that which is good iu itself, while subjectively it finds its accomplishment in love. But in order to satisfy the manifold exigencies of life, it presents itself also in the form of a plurality of commandments. These, however, are not to be con- sidered as separate from each other, nor, when taken to- gether, as forming an incommensurable whole ; but, as it is man's duty to do iu every circumstance that which is good in itself, each distinct commandment is to be looked vpon as the seal of the complete moral idea, as the whole divine law in its relation to the circumstance under con- sideration. As to which of the many commandments finds its application in a given case, this is a question entirely distinct from that which is objectively to be de- fined. The perception of it is given to the regenerate by the Holy Spirit through a conscience filled wifh love. It is evident that in this system there is no pos- sibility of supposing a human power in those regener- ated in Christ by virtue of which the}' could, under any circumstance, do more than is required of them, i.e. more than that which is absolutely good in itself. Thus, we maj' not only assert in abstructo that the young woman who devotes her life to taking care of the sick, or the missionary, does not thereby attain a higiier de- gree of moral perfection than others who contribute but a mite towards the advancement of the kingdom of God. All depends in this respect on the individual, and on the position in which God has placed him. Thus, a young woman who, having an aged mother dependent on her care, should enter an order — such, for instance, as the Sisters of Mercy — would do a bad action. Of the woman who anointed him our Lord said himself, "She hath done what she could" (Mark xiv, 8). In Luke xvii,TO, he saj's, "When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say. We are unprofit- able servants." Of the stewards, it is required that thev' should be found faithful, and nothing else. Of Christ himself it is said that he was "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil, ii, 8), and to be more than obedient is impossible, while to be less is to be disobedient. The contrary doctrine, which as- cribes merits to man aside from the grace of God, is not only immoral, but positively irreligious. It is even il- logical when looked at from the Roman Catholic stand- point, since (Mtihler, p. 300) no living man ever accom- plishes the whole law. See .Janow, De Rer/ulis ; Con/. A uff. art. xxvii ; Apol. n. 140, 1G3, 187, 2G9 ; A rt. Smalc. iii, 3, 322; Conf. Angl. xiv.
We should neglect one of the principal consequences of the theory of the opiis supererogativum if we forgot to consider its relation to indulgences (q. v.). While the sacrament of penance and the absolution connect- ed with it grant exemption from sin and from eternal punishment, the Church possesses a means of lessening or even remitting the temporal punishments required by divine justice by means of uidulgences. These tem- poral punishments are otherwise to be undergone partly on this earth, as penances and ecclesiastical expiations (pxnce vindicativK), partlj' afterwards in purgatorj' (Per- rone, ix, 2). But whence does the Church possess the power thus to set up as the "representative of God's mercy and justice in our time," and as such to exercise such a right of grace as is so far from being ecclesiasti- cal in its character that it extends (under some restric- tion) even beyond this life? How can it defend the as- sumption of a. potestas conferendi indulf/entias a Christo concessa, mentioned in Cone. Trid. Sess. xxv? On this point they refer, as was already done by Alexander of Hales, to the thesaurus supereroc/ationis perfectorum founded by the supererogatory merits of Christ and of the saints: "Est indulgentia remissio poenai temporalis adhuc post absolutionem sacrameutalem peccatis debi-
tae, in foro interno coram Deo valida, facta per applica- tionem thesauri Ecclesi;u a superiore legitimo" (Perrone, ix, 1). That there exists such a fund capable of aton- ing for all tlie sins of humanity, of any kind, the basis and foundation of which are the infinite merits of the Son of God as man, and of Christ in his saints (Klee, Do(/m. ii, 335), is considered as Jidei pi-oximum. Aside from the fact that it is implicitly established by the sanc- tion of indulgences (Cone. Trid. Sess. xxv, can. 21), it is confirmed by the express declarations of popes Clement VI {Const. Unif/eniltis).LQO X, Pius V, Gregory XIII, Pius VI, and Benedict XIV. See also Alex. Ales. pt. iv, qu. 23, a. l,m.l ; Albertus Magnus, >S'e«Mv, dist. 20, a. 17,18; Thomas Aquinas, pt. iii, qu. 25, a. 1 ; Sent, iv, dist. 20, qu. 1 , a. 3 ; Summ. adv. Gent, iii, 156 ; Bonaventura, Sent, iv, dist. 20, pt. ii, qu. 1 ; Bellarmine, De Indulg. c. ii, iii ; Veroni- us, Rec/ula Fidei, ii, 4; Bossuet, Exposition, § 8 ; Balleri- ni [Peter], Sunnn. Theol. Priel. iii. Still there may re- main some doubt as to whether the merita on which the sj'stem of indulgences rests is to be considered as active performances in the strict sense of the opus su- pererogationis, or as unmerited suiferings, such as those undergone by the saints, and which were not to be con- sidered as punishments, but which thus served to atone beforehand for the faults afterwards committed by the universality of sinners. It is only in the first case that the doctrine of the opus supererogationis forms the basis of the system of indulgences, or the notion of the ojnis sup)ererogativum must also embrace the superfluous suf- ferings of the perfect; and on this the orthodox writers of the Roman Catholic Church do not agree. In their polemical defences of the doctrine of a fund of merits, they mostly base themselves on the second considera- tion. If we leave these, we find in their other works so much that is obscure and indefinite on this as well as on most other points that it is impossible for Protes- tant expositors to attemjit to define the doctrine of the Church without being at once accused by Roman Cath- olics of misunderstanding their authors. The same Moh- ler who in Neue Untersuchungen, § 68, derives the thesau- rus from the excessive sufferings of some, in § 69, p. 411, considers good works as eflicient as undeserved sufferings in freeing the j-et ensnared members of the body of Christ. This is still more expressly asserted hy Klee {Dogm. ii, 334) and Bellarmine {De Aforiach. c. vii, viii). And it could not be otherwise, for the thesaurus, that basis of indulgences, the product of the "merita Christi et sanctorum, quatenus ha3C satisfactoi-ia sunt," is alone " norunt theologi omnes opera bona esse meritoria, impetratoria, et satisj'actoria." Thus the opera superero- gativa contribute unquestionably to making up the fund of merits imparted to those who need it in the form of indulgences. "Les bonnes oenvres de tons les hommes, le sang des martyrs, les sacrifices et les larmes de I'in- nocence s'accumulent sans relache pour faire equilibre au mal. L'action de graces, la priere, les satisfactions, les secours, les inspirations, la foi, I'esperance et I'amour circulent de I'un ;i I'autre comme des fleuves bienfaisans" (De Maistre, Soirees de St.-Petershoui-g).