{"id": "2/7", "url": "https://bradwardine.wrootpress.com/2/7/", "site": "bradwardine", "collection": "book-2", "title": "De causa Dei: Book II, Chapter 7", "title_alt": [], "author": "Thomas Bradwardine", "languages": ["la", "en"], "source_edition": {"title": "Thomae Bradwardini archiepiscopi olim Cantuariensis De causa Dei contra Pelagium, et de virtute causarum, ad suos Mertonenses, libri tres", "editor": "Henry Savile", "place": "London", "year": 1618, "volume": null, "locator": "490C–491C", "scan_url": "https://archive.org/details/decausadeicontra00braduoft"}, "source_text": "CAP. VII. Quod nullus non tentatus, solius Liberi Arbitrij viribus, sine gratia vel cum gratia quantacunque creata absque alio Dei auxilio potest peccatum aliquod euitare.\n\nVT autem tractatum de vitatione peccati perficiam, tantum superest vt praehabitis consequenter ostendam, nullum etiam non tentatum solius liberi arbitrij viribus sine gratia, vel in gratia quantacunque absque alio Dei auxilio posse peccatum aliquod euitare. Facilius namque est tentato vitare peccatum, quam non tentato vitare tentationem; Nam tota die tentamur inuiti, sed nunquam proprie peccamus inuiti; sed nullus tentatus solius liberi arbitrij viribus sine gratia, vel cum gratia quantacunque absque alio Dei auxilio potest vitare peccatum de quo tentatur, vt tria praemissa capitula docuerunt; ergo nullus non tentatus solius liberi arbitrij viribus sine gratia vel in gratia quantacunque\n\nabsque alio Dei auxilio potest vitare, quin de peccato tentetur, et si tentatus fuerit de peccato, et auxilium Dei non assit, necessario superatur secundum capitula memorata. Item quicunque non tentatur, hoc necessario est a Deo, quod non tentatur, sicut 11a. pars 13i. primi probat; et per 22um. primi Deus necessario habet aliquem actum voluntatis circa talem non tentari, et non nolutionem, quia tunc per decimum primi, non tentaretur, ergo volutionem, quae per idem decimum ipsum tentari non sinit: Vnde Augustinus in sermone suo in natali sanctae Mariae Magdalenae cap. vlt. Hoc, inquit, tibi dicit Deus tuus; regebam te mihi, seruabam te mihi vt adulterium non committeres, suasor defuit, et vt suasor deesser, ego feci; locus et tempus defuit, et vt haec deessent,\n\nego feci. Item si quis non tentatus hoc et sic posset, ponatur in esse; tunc per vigesimum secundum primi Deus habet aliquem actum voluntatis circa istam euitationem, et non nolutionem, quia tunc per decimum primi, ipsa non fieret; ergo volutionem; ergo per idem decimum ipsa insuperabile auxilium sibi praestat. Item illa vitatio vel fit agendo, vel non agendo; si agendo, Deus est ibi prima causa agens, sicut tertium, et quartum capitula primi probant; si non agendo, adhuc Deus est prima causa illius non actionis, sicut vndecima pars 13i. primi docet. Item secundum allegata capitulo tertio huius secundi; Gratia est necessaria ad cauendum peccata, et hoc vt videtur etiam non tentatis: Quaedam enim allegatorum ibi loquuntur generaliter de quibuscunque indistincte, non faciendo mentionem aliquam de tentatis, et illa gratia vel est Spiritus Sanctus, vel aliquod eius donum creatum, quod nihil facit nisi ipso Sancto Spiritu dirigente, vt patet ex eodem tertio et quarto sequenti. Item secundum ostensa eodem quarto, quilibet homo committeret quodcunque peccatum, si non\n\nesset a Deo specialiter praeseruatus.\n\nCOROLLARIVM.\n\nCorollarium, quod diuina voluntas sicut tentatos a ruina conseruat, sic et non tentatos tam a tentatione quam a peccato praeseruat.\n\nVNde manifestum est quod diuina voluntas sicut tentatos a ruina conseruat, sic et non tentatos tam a tentatione, quam a peccato praeseruat: Istud corollarium per praehabita potest similiter demonstrari, sicut quintum capitulum conclusionem similem demonstrauit. O ergo mira circa nos miseros et ingratos diuinae pietatis dignatio, quae non tentatos a tot et tantis tentationum turbinibus intactos praeseruat; tentatos in tot et tantis tentationum incursibus\n\ninuictos conseruat, et per ipsam non per ipsos vincentibus tot et tanta praemia coaceruat: vt igitur ipsa ducente ab ingratitudine redeamus, rogemus humiliter vt et ipsa donante accipere mereamur non spiritum huius mundi, sed spiritum qui ex Deo est, vt saltem sciamus quae a Deo donata sunt nobis, in quo clamantes Abba Pater humillimas gratias in omnibus rependamus.", "english": "Chapter 7. That no one untempted can avoid any sin by the powers of Free Choice alone, whether without grace or with grace however great and created, and without some other help of God.\n\nTo complete the treatise on the avoidance of sin, it remains only to show, from what has been established, that no one who is untempted either can avoid any sin by the powers of free choice alone, without grace, or in grace however great, without some other help of God. For it is easier for one who is tempted to avoid sin than for one who is untempted to avoid temptation. We are tempted all day long against our will, but we never, properly speaking, sin against our will. But no one who is tempted can avoid the sin he is tempted to, by the powers of free choice alone without grace, or with grace however great, without some other help of God, as the three preceding chapters taught. Therefore no one who is untempted can avoid, by the powers of free choice alone without grace, or in grace however great, without some other help of God, being tempted to sin; and if he has been tempted to sin and God's help is not present, he is necessarily overcome, according to the chapters just mentioned.\n\nAgain, whoever is not tempted is necessarily so from God, that he is not tempted, as the eleventh part of the thirteenth of the first proves.[n1] And by the twenty-second of the first, God necessarily has some act of will concerning such a one's not being tempted, and not a nilling,[n2] because then, by the tenth of the first, he would be tempted.[n3] Therefore God has a willing, which by the same tenth does not allow him to be tempted. Hence Augustine, in his sermon on the birthday of Saint Mary Magdalene, last chapter, says:[n4] \"This your God says to you: I was ruling you for myself, I was keeping you for myself, so that you should not commit adultery. The persuader was lacking, and that the persuader should be lacking, I did it. Place and time were lacking, and that these should be lacking, I did it.\"\n\nAgain, if someone untempted could do this and do it in this way , let it be posited as actual. Then by the twenty-second of the first, God has some act of will concerning this avoidance, and not a nilling, because then, by the tenth of the first, it would not come about. Therefore he has a willing; therefore, by the same tenth, that willing supplies him with an insuperable help.\n\nAgain, that avoidance comes about either by acting or by not acting. If by acting, God is there the first acting cause, as the third and fourth chapters of the first prove. If by not acting, God is still the first cause of that non-action, as the eleventh part of the thirteenth of the first teaches.\n\nAgain, according to the authorities adduced in the third chapter of this second book, grace is necessary for guarding against sins, and, as it seems, this holds even for the untempted. Some of the authorities there speak generally of anyone whatever, without distinction, making no mention of the tempted. And that grace is either the Holy Spirit or some created gift of his, which does nothing except with the Holy Spirit himself directing, as is clear from the same third chapter and the fourth that follows.\n\nAgain, according to what was shown in the same fourth chapter, every man would commit any sin whatever, if he were not specially preserved by God.\n\nCOROLLARY.\n\nCorollary: that the divine will, as it preserves the tempted from falling, so also preserves the untempted both from temptation and from sin.\n\nHence it is manifest that the divine will, as it preserves the tempted from falling, so also preserves the untempted both from temptation and from sin. This corollary can be demonstrated in the same way from what has been established, just as the fifth chapter demonstrated a similar conclusion. O how wondrous, then, is the condescension of divine mercy toward us, wretched and ungrateful as we are! It keeps the untempted untouched by so many and such great whirlwinds of temptations; it keeps the tempted unconquered in so many and such great onslaughts of temptations; and it heaps up so many and such great rewards for those who conquer through it, not through themselves. {491C} Therefore, with it as our guide, let us return from ingratitude. Let us humbly ask that, by its gift, we may deserve to receive not the spirit of this world but the Spirit who is of God, so that we may at least know the things that have been given to us by God;[n5] and in him, crying \"Abba, Father,\" let us render most humble thanks in all things.", "apparatus": {"notes": [{"n": 1, "text": "Throughout this chapter Bradwardine cites Book I by bare ordinals: \"the eleventh part of the thirteenth of the first,\" \"the tenth of the first,\" \"the twenty-second of the first.\" Only \"the third and fourth chapters of the first\" are explicitly chapters. I keep his references as written (Conventions §5.4) and do not expand them."}, {"n": 2, "text": "Nolutio (\"nilling,\" the act of willing-not) is formed by Bradwardine on the pattern of volutio. \"Nilling\" keeps the symmetry."}, {"n": 3, "text": "Savile's text, here and in the keyed text, reads non tentaretur (\"he would not be tempted\"). The argument requires the opposite: if God nilled his not being tempted, then by the tenth of the first he would be tempted. Compare the parallel at 491A: \"because then, by the tenth of the first, it would not come about.\" I translate the evident sense and flag the problem; the Latin is not emended."}, {"n": 4, "text": "Not, so far as I can determine, a genuine work of Augustine; the sermon belongs to the pseudo-Augustinian corpus. I have not traced the quotation to a source, and I give the attribution as Bradwardine and Savile's margin give it."}, {"n": 5, "text": "1 Cor 2:12 (\"we have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is of God, that we may know the things that are given us by God\"), followed by Rom 8:15 (\"in whom we cry, Abba, Father\"). Neither is flagged by Savile."}], "errata": [{"address": "490E", "keyed": "deesser", "print": "deesset"}]}, "segments": [{"anchor": "p490C", "url": "https://bradwardine.wrootpress.com/2/7/#p490C", "locator_display": "490C–490E", "source_text": "CAP. VII. Quod nullus non tentatus, solius Liberi Arbitrij viribus, sine gratia vel cum gratia quantacunque creata absque alio Dei auxilio potest peccatum aliquod euitare.\n\nVT autem tractatum de vitatione peccati perficiam, tantum superest vt praehabitis consequenter ostendam, nullum etiam non tentatum solius liberi arbitrij viribus sine gratia, vel in gratia quantacunque absque alio Dei auxilio posse peccatum aliquod euitare. Facilius namque est tentato vitare peccatum, quam non tentato vitare tentationem; Nam tota die tentamur inuiti, sed nunquam proprie peccamus inuiti; sed nullus tentatus solius liberi arbitrij viribus sine gratia, vel cum gratia quantacunque absque alio Dei auxilio potest vitare peccatum de quo tentatur, vt tria praemissa capitula docuerunt; ergo nullus non tentatus solius liberi arbitrij viribus sine gratia vel in gratia quantacunque\n\nabsque alio Dei auxilio potest vitare, quin de peccato tentetur, et si tentatus fuerit de peccato, et auxilium Dei non assit, necessario superatur secundum capitula memorata. Item quicunque non tentatur, hoc necessario est a Deo, quod non tentatur, sicut 11a. pars 13i. primi probat; et per 22um. primi Deus necessario habet aliquem actum voluntatis circa talem non tentari, et non nolutionem, quia tunc per decimum primi, non tentaretur, ergo volutionem, quae per idem decimum ipsum tentari non sinit: Vnde Augustinus in sermone suo in natali sanctae Mariae Magdalenae cap. vlt. Hoc, inquit, tibi dicit Deus tuus; regebam te mihi, seruabam te mihi vt adulterium non committeres, suasor defuit, et vt suasor deesser, ego feci; locus et tempus defuit, et vt haec deessent,", "english": "Chapter 7. That no one untempted can avoid any sin by the powers of Free Choice alone, whether without grace or with grace however great and created, and without some other help of God.\n\nTo complete the treatise on the avoidance of sin, it remains only to show, from what has been established, that no one who is untempted either can avoid any sin by the powers of free choice alone, without grace, or in grace however great, without some other help of God. For it is easier for one who is tempted to avoid sin than for one who is untempted to avoid temptation. We are tempted all day long against our will, but we never, properly speaking, sin against our will. But no one who is tempted can avoid the sin he is tempted to, by the powers of free choice alone without grace, or with grace however great, without some other help of God, as the three preceding chapters taught. Therefore no one who is untempted can avoid, by the powers of free choice alone without grace, or in grace however great, without some other help of God, being tempted to sin; and if he has been tempted to sin and God's help is not present, he is necessarily overcome, according to the chapters just mentioned.\n\nAgain, whoever is not tempted is necessarily so from God, that he is not tempted, as the eleventh part of the thirteenth of the first proves.[n1] And by the twenty-second of the first, God necessarily has some act of will concerning such a one's not being tempted, and not a nilling,[n2] because then, by the tenth of the first, he would be tempted.[n3] Therefore God has a willing, which by the same tenth does not allow him to be tempted. Hence Augustine, in his sermon on the birthday of Saint Mary Magdalene, last chapter, says:[n4] \"This your God says to you: I was ruling you for myself, I was keeping you for myself, so that you should not commit adultery. The persuader was lacking, and that the persuader should be lacking, I did it. Place and time were lacking, and that these should be lacking, I did it.\"", "margins": [{"id": "490D·1", "kind": "variant", "text": "(variant) tentamentum, [for peccatum]."}, {"id": "490E·1", "kind": "source", "text": "(source) Augustine."}]}, {"anchor": "p491A", "url": "https://bradwardine.wrootpress.com/2/7/#p491A", "locator_display": "491A–491B", "source_text": "ego feci. Item si quis non tentatus hoc et sic posset, ponatur in esse; tunc per vigesimum secundum primi Deus habet aliquem actum voluntatis circa istam euitationem, et non nolutionem, quia tunc per decimum primi, ipsa non fieret; ergo volutionem; ergo per idem decimum ipsa insuperabile auxilium sibi praestat. Item illa vitatio vel fit agendo, vel non agendo; si agendo, Deus est ibi prima causa agens, sicut tertium, et quartum capitula primi probant; si non agendo, adhuc Deus est prima causa illius non actionis, sicut vndecima pars 13i. primi docet. Item secundum allegata capitulo tertio huius secundi; Gratia est necessaria ad cauendum peccata, et hoc vt videtur etiam non tentatis: Quaedam enim allegatorum ibi loquuntur generaliter de quibuscunque indistincte, non faciendo mentionem aliquam de tentatis, et illa gratia vel est Spiritus Sanctus, vel aliquod eius donum creatum, quod nihil facit nisi ipso Sancto Spiritu dirigente, vt patet ex eodem tertio et quarto sequenti. Item secundum ostensa eodem quarto, quilibet homo committeret quodcunque peccatum, si non\n\nesset a Deo specialiter praeseruatus.", "english": "Again, if someone untempted could do this and do it in this way , let it be posited as actual. Then by the twenty-second of the first, God has some act of will concerning this avoidance, and not a nilling, because then, by the tenth of the first, it would not come about. Therefore he has a willing; therefore, by the same tenth, that willing supplies him with an insuperable help.\n\nAgain, that avoidance comes about either by acting or by not acting. If by acting, God is there the first acting cause, as the third and fourth chapters of the first prove. If by not acting, God is still the first cause of that non-action, as the eleventh part of the thirteenth of the first teaches.\n\nAgain, according to the authorities adduced in the third chapter of this second book, grace is necessary for guarding against sins, and, as it seems, this holds even for the untempted. Some of the authorities there speak generally of anyone whatever, without distinction, making no mention of the tempted. And that grace is either the Holy Spirit or some created gift of his, which does nothing except with the Holy Spirit himself directing, as is clear from the same third chapter and the fourth that follows.\n\nAgain, according to what was shown in the same fourth chapter, every man would commit any sin whatever, if he were not specially preserved by God.", "margins": [{"id": "491A·1", "kind": "variant", "text": "(variant) peccatum vitare sic [for hoc et sic]."}]}, {"anchor": "p491B", "url": "https://bradwardine.wrootpress.com/2/7/#p491B", "locator_display": "491B–491C", "source_text": "COROLLARIVM.\n\nCorollarium, quod diuina voluntas sicut tentatos a ruina conseruat, sic et non tentatos tam a tentatione quam a peccato praeseruat.\n\nVNde manifestum est quod diuina voluntas sicut tentatos a ruina conseruat, sic et non tentatos tam a tentatione, quam a peccato praeseruat: Istud corollarium per praehabita potest similiter demonstrari, sicut quintum capitulum conclusionem similem demonstrauit. O ergo mira circa nos miseros et ingratos diuinae pietatis dignatio, quae non tentatos a tot et tantis tentationum turbinibus intactos praeseruat; tentatos in tot et tantis tentationum incursibus\n\ninuictos conseruat, et per ipsam non per ipsos vincentibus tot et tanta praemia coaceruat: vt igitur ipsa ducente ab ingratitudine redeamus, rogemus humiliter vt et ipsa donante accipere mereamur non spiritum huius mundi, sed spiritum qui ex Deo est, vt saltem sciamus quae a Deo donata sunt nobis, in quo clamantes Abba Pater humillimas gratias in omnibus rependamus.", "english": "COROLLARY.\n\nCorollary: that the divine will, as it preserves the tempted from falling, so also preserves the untempted both from temptation and from sin.\n\nHence it is manifest that the divine will, as it preserves the tempted from falling, so also preserves the untempted both from temptation and from sin. This corollary can be demonstrated in the same way from what has been established, just as the fifth chapter demonstrated a similar conclusion. O how wondrous, then, is the condescension of divine mercy toward us, wretched and ungrateful as we are! It keeps the untempted untouched by so many and such great whirlwinds of temptations; it keeps the tempted unconquered in so many and such great onslaughts of temptations; and it heaps up so many and such great rewards for those who conquer through it, not through themselves. {491C} Therefore, with it as our guide, let us return from ingratitude. Let us humbly ask that, by its gift, we may deserve to receive not the spirit of this world but the Spirit who is of God, so that we may at least know the things that have been given to us by God;[n5] and in him, crying \"Abba, Father,\" let us render most humble thanks in all things.", "margins": []}], "provenance": {"method": "Machine translation drafted with Claude (Anthropic) under a set translation convention; the image of each Savile page was supplied to the translator, who logged differences between the keyed Latin and the print as errata. Not yet reviewed by a human scholar.", "corrected_against_scan": true, "verified_on": null, "status": "draft"}, "license_source": "CC0 1.0 (EEBO-TCP A16626); the underlying text is public domain", "license_translation": "CC BY-NC 4.0", "license_apparatus": "CC BY-NC 4.0", "credits": [{"name": "EEBO-TCP (Text Creation Partnership), A16626: the Latin", "license": "CC0 1.0", "url": "https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A16626.0001.001"}, {"name": "Internet Archive: the Minerva facsimile page images (linked, not hosted)", "license": null, "url": "https://archive.org/details/decausadeicontra00braduoft"}], "generated": "2026-10-28", "version": "0.1-draft"}