A Comparison of
their Crimes under Fourteen Heads, with the Sins of the
Devils of all and every Kind.
So
heinous are the crimes of witches that they even exceed
the sins and the fall of the bad Angels; and if this is
true as to their guilt, how should it not also be true
of their punishments in hell? And it is not difficult to
prove this by various arguments with regard to their
guilt. And first, although the sin of Satan is
unpardonable, this is not on account of the greatness of
his crime, having regard to the nature of the Angels,
with particular attention to the opinion of those who
say that the Angels were created only in a state of
nature, and never in a state of grace. And since the
good of grace exceeds the good of nature, therefore the
sins of those who fall from a state of grace, as do the
witches by denying the faith which they received in
baptism, exceed the sins of the Angels. And even if we
say that the Angels were created, but not confirmed, in
grace; so also witches, though they are not created in
grace, have yet of their own will fallen from grace;
just as Satan sinned of his own will.
Secondly, it
is granted that Satan's sin is unpardonable for various
other reasons. For S. Augustine saus that he sinned at
the instigation of none, therefore his sin is justly
remediable by none. And S. John Damascene says that he
sinned in his understanding against the character of
God; and that his sin was the greater by reason of the
nobility of his understanding. For the servant who knows
the will of his master, etc. The same authority says
that, since Satan is incapable of repentance, therefore
he is incapable of pardon; and this is due to his very
nature, which, being spiritual, could only be changed
once, when he changed it for ever; but this is not so
with men, in whom the flesh is always warring against
the spirit. Or because he sinned in the high places of
heaven, whereas man sins in the earth.
But
notwithstanding all this, his sin is in many respects
small in comparison with the crimes of witches. First,
as S. Anselm showed in one of his Sermons, he
sinned in his pride while there was yet no punishment
for sin. But witches continue to sin after great
punishments have been often inflicted upon many other
witches, and after the punishments which the Church
teaches them have been inflicted by reason of the devil
and his fall; and they make light of all these, and
hasten to commit, not the least deadly of sins, as do
other sinners who sin through infirmity or wickedness
yet not from habitual malice, but rather the most
horrible crimes from the deep malice of their hearts.
Secondly,
although the Bad Angel fell from innocence to guilt, and
thence to misery and punishment; yet he fell from
innocence once only, in such a way that he was never
restored. But the sinner who is restored to innocence by
baptism, and again falls from it, falls very deep. And
this is especially true of witches, as is proved by
their crimes.
Thirdly, he
sinned against the Creator; but we, and especially
witches, sin against the Creator and the Redeemer.
Fourthly, he
forsook God, who permitted him to sin but accorded him
no pity; whereas we, and witches above all, withdraw
ourselves from God by our sins, while, in spite of his
permission of our sins, He continually pities us and
prevents us with His countless benefits.
Fifthly, when
he sinned, God rejected him without showing him and
grace; whereas we wretches run into sin although God is
continually calling us back.
Sixthly, he
keeps his heart hardened against a punisher; but we
against a merciful persuader. Both sin against God; but
he against a commanding God, and we against One who dies
for us, Whom, as we have said, wicked witches offend
above all.
The Solutions of the Arguments again Declare
the Truth by Comparison.
To the
arguments. The answer to the first is clear from what
was said in the beginning of this whole question. It was
submitted that one sin ought to be thought heavier than
another; and that the sins of witches are heavier than
all others in respect of guilt, but not in respect of
the penalties that they entail. To this it must be said
that the punishment of Adam, just as his guilt, may be
considered two ways; either as touching him personally,
or as touching the whole of nature, that is, the
posterity whcih came after him. As to the first, greater
sins have been committed after Adam; for he sinned only
in doing that which was evil, not in itself, but because
it was forbidden. Therefore such sins deserve the
heavier punishment.
As to the
second, it is true that the greatest punishment resulted
from the first sin; but this is only indirectly true, in
that through Adam all posterity was infected with
original sin, and he was the first father of all those
for whom the Only Son of God was able to atone by the
power which was ordained. Moreover, Adam in his own
person, with the mediation of Divine grace, repented,
and was afterwards saved through the Sacrifice of
Christ. But the sins of witches are incomparably
greater, since they are not content with their own sins
and perdition, but ever draw countless others after
them.
And thirdly,
it follows from what has been said that it was by
accident that Adam's sin involved the greater injury.
For he found nature uncorrupted, and it was inevitable,
and not of his own will, that he left it defiled;
therefore it does not follow that his sin was
intrinsically greater than others. And again, posterity
would have committed the same sin if it had found nature
in the same state. Similarly, he who has not found grace
does not commit so deadly a sin as he who has found it
and lost it. This is the solution of S. Thomas (II, 21,
art. 2), in his solution of the second argument. And if
anyone wishes fully to understand this solution, he must
consider that even if Adam had kept his original
innocence, he would not have passed it down to all
posterity; for, as S. Anselm says, anyone coming after
him could still have sinned. See also S. Thomas, dist.
20, where he considers whether new-born children would
have been confirmed in grace; and in dist. 101, whether
men who are now saved would have been saved if Adam had
not sinned.
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