Chapter 16.—Ignorance is Better Than Error. Predestination to Eternal Life, and Predestination to Eternal Death.

Do not, my son, let senile timidity displease your youthful confidence. For my own part, indeed, if I proved unequal, either under the teaching of God or of some spiritual instructor, to the task of understanding the subject of our present inquiry on the origin of souls, I am more prepared to vindicate God’s righteous will, that we should remain in ignorance on this point, as on many others, than to say in my rashness what either is so obscure that I can neither bring it home to the intelligence of other people, nor understand it myself; or certainly even to help the cause of the heretics who endeavour to persuade us that the souls of infants are entirely free from guilt, on the ground, forsooth, that such guilt would only recoil on God as its Author, for having compelled innocent souls (for the help of which He knew beforehand no laver of regeneration was prepared) to become sinful, by assigning them to sinful flesh without any provision for that grace of baptism which should prevent their incurring eternal damnation. For the fact undoubtedly is, that numberless souls of infants pass out of the body before they are baptized. God forbid that I should cast about for any futile effort to dilute this stern fact, and say what you have yourself said: “That the soul deserved to be polluted by the flesh, and to become sinful, though it previously had no sin, by reason of which it could be rightly said to have incurred this desert.” And again: “That even without baptism original sins may be remitted.” And once more: “That even the kingdom of heaven is at last bestowed on those who have not been baptized.” Now, if I were not afraid to utter these and similar poisonous allegations against the faith, I should probably not be afraid to propound some definite theory on this subject. How much better, then, is it, that I should not separately dispute and affirm about the soul, what I am ignorant of; but simply hold what I see the apostle has most plainly taught us: That owing to one man all pass into condemnation who are born of Adam135    See Rom. v. 18. unless they are born again in Christ, even as He has appointed them to be regenerated, before they die in the body, whom He predestinated to everlasting life, as the most merciful bestower of grace; whilst to those whom He has predestinated to eternal death, He is also the most righteous awarder of punishment not only on account of the sins which they add in the indulgence of their own will, but also because of their original sin, even if, as in the case of infants, they add nothing thereto. Now this is my definite view on that question, so that the hidden things of God may keep their secret, without impairing my own faith.

16. Non itaque displiceat praesumptioni tuae juvenili meus senilis timor, fili. Ego enim, si hoc quod de animarum origine quaerimus, nec Deo, nec aliquo spirituali homine docente, scire potuero, paratior sum defendere, quam recte etiam hoc Deus, sicut alia multa, nos scire noluerit, quam temere dicere, quod aut ita sit obscurum, ut hoc non solum ad aliorum intelligentiam perducere nequeam, sed nec ipse intelligam; aut certe etiam haereticos adjuvet, qui propterea persuadere conantur ab omni noxa puras esse animas parvulorum, ne scilicet eadem noxa in auctorem Deum recurrat et redeat, quod insontes animas, quibus nec lavacrum regenerationis subventurum esse praescivit, dando carni peccatrici, esse compulerit peccatrices, nulla Baptismatis gratia subventura, qua liberentur a damnatione perpetua: quandoquidem innumerabiles animae infantum antequam baptizentur, de corporibus exeunt. Absit enim, ut hoc volens diluere, dicam quae ipse dixisti: «Quod anima per carnem meruerit inquinari, et esse peccatrix, nullum habens ante peccatum, quo recte id meruisse dicatur:» et «quod etiam sine Baptismo originalia peccata solvantur:» et «quod regnum quoque coelorum non baptizatis in fine tribuatur.» Haec atque hujusmodi venena fidei nisi dicere timerem, fortasse de hac re definire aliquid non timerem. Quanto melius igitur non separatim de anima disputo et affirmo quod nescio; sed quod apertissime Apostolum video docuisse, simpliciter teneo. Ex uno homine omnes homines ire in condemnationem qui nascuntur ex Adam (Rom. V, 18), nisi ita renascantur in Christo, sicuti instituit ut renascantur, antequam corpore moriantur, quos praedestinavit ad aeternam vitam misericordissimus gratiae largitor: qui est et illis quos praedestinavit ad aeternam mortem, justissimus supplicii retributor; non solum propter illa quae volentes adjiciunt, verum etiam si infantes nihil adjiciant, 0534 propter originale peccatum. Haec est in illa quaestione definitio mea, ut occulta opera Dei habeant suum secretum, salva fide mea.