RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Soteriology Soto
sin, and accepting sinners as if they were righteous,
on the ground generically of all that Christ has done
in the munus triplex of mediation, and
5. Relation specifically on the ground of what he to Justifi- has suffered as well as done in our be-
cation. half as our great high priest and sacrifice. To accept the sinner as if he were righteous, and to adopt him (see Adoption) into the family of God, and make him an heir of spiritual privileges and blessings, without requiring from him repentance, and return to loyalty, as conditions, and with no provision for his deliverance from the legal penalties incurred by his sin, would be an unworthy transaction. The only adequate warrant for such acceptance and adoption must be found, not in any worthiness inherent in the nature of man or any merit seen in his life, nor even in his faith and repentance viewed as concomitants or consequences, but in the mediatorial, and especially in the sacrificial, work of Christ.
The kingly office of the Savior is a necessary element in his broad work of mediation. He is king because he has been prophet and priest; he is also king inherently, as divine. His king-
6. Relation dom commences in the believing heart, to Christ's and is essentially spiritual: it is an
Kingly authority exercised in love, and for Office. the purpose of salvation. His church, as composed of those who have thus submitted to him personally, is his gracious empire; and over that empire he is the supreme head, everywhere and always. This kingdom was founded by him before his earthly advent; it has been extended through many lands and centuries by his grace and power; it will continue to increase, through the agency of the forces now incorporated in it, until it has filled the earth. The notion, that, as a kingdom of love, it will ere long be supplanted by a kingdom of power, in which Christ will visibly appear as an earthly monarch, subduing his enemies by irresistible strength, and exalting his saints with him to a species of temporal domination (see Millennium, Millenarianism), is at variance with the truth. Beyond this earthly empire of the Lord as already defined, may be discerned his princely exaltation even now, at the right hand of the Father, to be advocate and intercessor for his people. This advocacy and intercession are to continue until all who are his are finally brought together with him into what is literally the kingdom of heaven.
Returning from this survey of the specific functions or offices of Christ to the underlying idea of mediation, in one view may be com- 7. Summary, prehended the full doctrine of salvation as wrought out by him in behalf of man. There is indeed a subjective soteriology, which includes especially the work wrought within the soul of man by the Savior through his spirit, and which is expressed in the terms regeneration and sanctification. But objective soteriology, which is here under consideration, is summed up rather in the triple phrase of Aquinas — Christus legislator, sacerdos, rex. To the Protestant mind it is pictured forth essentially in the term justification, which, equally with regeneration and sanctification, shows wherein the divine salvation consists. E. D. Morris.
Bibliography: The place of the topic in systematic theo'ogy is discussed in G. R. Crooks and J. F. Hurst, Theological Encyclopaedia and Methodology, pp. 455-457, New York, 1894; and in A. Cave, Introduction to Theology, consult Index under " Salvation, Doctrine of," Edinburgh, 1896. The subject hardly needs a separate bibliography, being a topic treated in practically all works on systematic theology (see Dogma, Dogmatics; e.g., Shedd, ii. 353- 587, iii. 400-470; Hodge, ii. 455-608), which usually provide abundant references to literature. Moreover, relevant literature is noted under the articles to which reference is made in the text, especially under Atonement, and Satisfaction.
SOTO, so'to, DOMINGO DE : Spanish Dominican ; b. at Segovia (45 m. n.w. of Madrid) 1494; d. at Salamanca Nov. 15, 1560. Educated, after a youth of poverty which obliged him to begin as a sacristan in the village of Ochando, at Alcala and Paris, he became, in 1520, professor of philosophy at the former university, gaining a reputation as an opponent of nominalism. At this same period he also began his commentaries on Aristotle's " Dialectics " (Salamanca, 1544), " Physics " (1545), and " Categories " (Venice, 1583), as well as the preparation of his own Summulce (Salamanca, 152J, abridged ed., 1539 and often). Determining to embrace the monastic life, he entered the Dominican order at Burgos in 1524, being professed in the following year and taking the name Domingo instead of his baptismal Francisco. He now taught philosophy and theology at Burgos until 1532, when he returned to Salamanca as professor of scholastic philosophy. He was an important figure at the Council of Trent, where he maintained that the Roman Catholic Church did not teach assurance of grace, likewise defending Thomistic teachings regarding the doctrines of original sin, justification, predestination, good works, etc., these controversies also bearing fruit in his De natura et gratia libri tres (Venice, 1547) and Apologia de certitudine gratia; (1547) .
When, in 1547, the council was transferred to Bologna, de Soto returned to the court of Charles V., who made him his confessor, and in 1549 appointed him to the bishopric of Segovia. Not only was the latter honor declined, but in 1550 de Soto resigned his post of confessor and retired to the monastery at Salamanca, where he became prior. About this time he wrote his anti-Protestant Commentarii in epistolam Pauli ad Romanos (Antwerp, 1550), and he also sought to allay the controversy between Sepulveda and Las Casas regarding the treatment of the American aborigines. In 1552 he resumed teaching at Salamanca, but in 1556 he returned to his monastery and was again chosen prior. His chief works, besides those already mentioned, were De ratione tegendi et detegendi secretum (Salamanca, 1551); De justitia et jure libri septem (1556); In quartum librum Sententiarum commentaria, sive de sacramentis (2 vols., 1557-60) ; and the still unedited De ratione promulgandi Evangelium and In primam partem Sancti Thomm et in utramque secundam commentarii. (O. ZoCKLERf.)
Bibliography: N. Antraius, Bibliotheca Hispanice, i. 255- 258, Rome, 1672; J. Quetif and J. Echard, Scriptores ordinis prwdicatorum, ii. 171 sqq., Paris, 1721; N. Paulus, D. Soto und die Beichte in Niirnberg, in Der Katholik, 1899, i. 282-288; G. Hoffmann, Die Lehre von der Fides implicita innerhalb der katholischen Kirche, pp. 227-230, Leipsic, 1903; KL, xi. 530-531.
Soto
Soul and Spirit