Question XIV: What must be believed by the necessity of means

A TWOFOLD necessity is assigned by the Theologians, after D. Bonaventure here, and in 4. dist. 12. p. 2. art. 2. quaest. 1. and dist. 3. p. 1. articulo 1. quaest. 3.

ONE is the necessity of means; another of precept. With the necessity of means, or of the end, that thing is necessary which, from the Law of God, by ordinary institution, is necessary for salvation, so much so that neither ignorance supplies for it, nor excuses it. That is necessary from precept which must be carried out necessarily, where the faculty and the occasion are at hand; yet not in such a way that, on account of ignorance or a lack of opportunity, the attainment of salvation is impeded. But some things are necessary in both ways, such as Penance after sin, the vow of Baptism, and faith, as the holy Doctor says at dist. 3. in the place cited.

THAT faith has always been necessary for the justification of adults, and for salvation, I proved in the first part of the Summa, Tract. 5. disput. 3. quaest. 10. And it is established by that passage of Hebr. 11. Without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must believe, etc. And Ioan. 3. He who does not believe is already judged, as the holy Doctor discusses on cap. 3. Ioan. To this also pertains what is said in Sap. 9. Through wisdom they were healed, whosoever pleased thee, O Lord, from the beginning, as the holy Doctor indicates on that passage, for by wisdom he understands Doctrine from revelation. So also D. Ambrose on the First Epistle to Tim. 3. by Wisdom understands Faith.

THIS is the Catholic teaching. So D. Bonaventure in the places alleged, and in the prologue of the Breviloquium, and Lib. 2. of the Pharetra, cap. 23. where he brings forward many holy Fathers, and in the Diaeta, tit. 5. cap. 3. and tit. 9. cap. 5. in which places he proves it from the Scriptures testifying that faith is the foundation of salvation, as Matth. 16. Upon this rock I will build my Church, namely upon Peter's confession, and upon faith founded on Christ as base. And in Hebr. 11. it is called Substance, or Foundation. And in the Hexaëmeron, serm. 8. he compares it to the Firmament. He proves it from Rom. 10. With the heart we believe unto justice: but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Heb. 11. Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for. Act. 15. Purifying their hearts by faith. And in serm. 9. he pursues the same point, proving the firmness of faith from many headings. And in serm. 10. he compares it to heaven, which is the universal cause of living things.

THERE FOLLOW D. Thomas 2. 2. quaest. 2. art. 3. where the Thomists. The Master 3. dist. 23. where the Sententiarii. Cano relect. de Sacram. in genere, p. 2. quaest. 2. Peter. ad Rom. d. 17. and cap. 2. d. 8. Valentia 2. 2. disp. 1. quaest. 2. p. 2. Sanchez Lib. 2. decal. c. 2. Suarez de fide, disp. 12. sect. 1. and 2. Becan. summae p. 2. cap. 12. and it is a dogma of faith. Nor had even the heretics almost ever denied it, except the Manichaeans, and the Pelagians, as Tannerus says, quaest. 7. num. 28. Scarcely one, Zuinglius, tom. 2. art. 12. says that Socrates, Aristides, Numa, Camillus, the Catos, the Scipios, Seneca, and others, were saved without faith, and Erasmus in the Tusculan Questions says the same of Cicero.

BUT Christ cries out against this, Matth. last chapter: He who does not believe shall be condemned. And also the Council of Trent, sess. 6. cap. 7., which same thing D. Bonaventure says, 4. dist. 3. p. 1. art. 1. quaest. 3.

IT IS PROVED by the holy Doctor in the Pharetra, from the Fathers, especially D. Augustine homil. de centum ovibus: and Lib. 5. com. Iulianum, cap. 3. de verbis Apostoli, serm. 1. serm. 18. and 38. de Tempore; de verbis Domini, serm. 61. Chrysostom homil. 62. in Ioan. Bernard epist. 77. and serm. 28. Cant. and serm. 1. Annunc. where he also assigns those things which are necessarily to be believed, saying: For it is necessary, first of all, to believe that you cannot have the remission of sins except by the indulgence of God: then, that you can have nothing at all of a good work unless he himself has given even this; finally, that you cannot merit eternal life by any works, unless it also be given gratuitously, namely, the grace by which we are enabled. See Fagundez Lib. 1. cap. 2. Caspens. disp. 3. sect. 4. Morandus quaest. 10. Tannerus quaest. 7. dub. 2. Bouer. demonst. 2. Symb. Arragon. art. 3. Cardinal Lugo disp. 12. sect. 2. who also refute Vega Lib. 6. in Trident. cap. 20. and Soto Lib. 2. de natura, et gratia, cap. 11. who say that faith regarding the supernatural object is not necessary, but only supernatural on the part of the principle: indeed Soto says, that all this is supplied by natural faith; although he retracted this in 4. dist. 1. quaest. 2. art. 3. and at the end of the question, in the recognition, frightened by D. Augustine's de natura, et gratia.

I ASSERT, therefore, that the acts of faith necessary for salvation are supernatural.

¶ IT IS PROVED by D. Bonaventure in the places alleged. From Hebr. 11. He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and is a rewarder. It is confirmed by the Fathers alleged and by the Council of Trent sess. 6. cap. 6. and can. 3. It is a matter de fide.

YOU WILL OBJECT first from Rom. 2. where it is said of the infidels: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God.

IT IS ANSWERED that only this is meant: that certain gentiles, by natural knowledge, with the added supernatural light, could have come to the knowledge of God; but that they were unwilling.

YOU WILL OBJECT secondly. If Baptism in voto suffices: Therefore also faith, in the same way.

IT IS ANSWERED by denying the consequence; for faith is a per se disposition necessary for the natural intrinsic mutation: not so external acts, such as Baptism and confession, as Fagundez rightly observes, number 13.

¶ IT IS ASKED, first: Whether before the Incarnation implicit faith in the Trinity, and in Christ the Lord, sufficed: And, likewise, whether it sufficed after the Incarnation up to the sufficient promulgation of the Gospel. The holy Doctor treats of this, 3. dist. 25. quaest. 2.

ALL indeed agree that faith in the Incarnation, or faith regarding Christ, was implicit, from Adam up to Christ. So the Theologians commonly, 3. dist. 25. with D. Bonaventure. Albertus art. 1. Scotus quaest. 1. Gabr. quaest. 1. art. 2. Alens. 3. part. quaest. 82. memb. 3. art. 1. Richardus art. 3. Durandus quaest. 1. and others. Valentia quaest. 1. p. 4. Soto Lib. de natura, et gratia, cap. 11. and 12. Cano Relect. de Sacram. in genere, p. 2. concl. 1. Vega Lib. 6. in Trident. cap. 20. D. Thom. 3. p. quaest. 69. art. 4. and 2 2. quaest. 2. art. 7. where the Thomists, Sanchez Lib. 2. decal. cap. 2. num. 7. Suarez de fide, disp. 12. sect. 4. Fagundez Lib. 1. cap. 2. in decal. num. 17. Caspens. disp. 3. sect. 5. Morandus quaest. 10. de fide, Lugo disp. 12. sect. 4. Tannerus quaest. 7. dub. 2. Becan. cap. 12. quaest. 2. Petrus a S. Ioseph Fuliensis lib. 3. cap. 5. Bassaeus V. Fides 1. num. 6. Bouet. loco cit. art. 1.

SOME, however, say that it was necessary explicitly, even before the promulgation of the Gospel. So Becanus, alleging D. Bonaventure and others. Others, indeed, hold that even after the promulgation of the Gospel implicit faith regarding Christ suffices: So Soto above, and in 4. dist. 5. quaest. unic. art. 2. Canus loco cit. concl. 3. Vega loco cit. and it seems D. Thom. 3. p. quaest. 69. art 4. ad 2. Richardus art. 4. quaest. 1. Medina lib. 4. de recta fide, cap. 20. Maldonat. Ioan. 5. num. 25. Arretinus 3. dist. 25. quaest. 1. art. 8. Suarez, Couninch. Lugo, Arriaga, Turtianus, Poncius in Mastrius disp. 6. quaest. 16.

OTHERS, indeed, say such faith is necessary for beatitude, but not for justification. So Caietanus relect. de Sacram. p. 2. quaest. 2. Bannes 2. 2. quaest. 2. art. 8. and certain other Thomists, who are commonly rejected; for the reason is the same for both. Therefore in Act. 10. it is said: To receive the remission of sins through his name: and cap. 15. Purifying their hearts by faith, and c. 26. it is related that Paul was sent by God to preach, that they may receive the remission of sins through faith which is in Christ. But Fuliensis says that explicit faith regarding Christ is not required with the necessity of means.

THE TRUE teaching is that after the promulgation of the Gospel explicit faith regarding Christ is necessary. So the others commonly, to whom add Toletus, Summa p. p. cap. 2. Lorin. Act. 4. Molina p. p. quaest. 9. punct 4. and others in Mastrius loco cit. Tannerus num. 46. who also brings forward D. Bonaventure 3. dist. 25. quaest. 2. whom Bassaeus also alleges num. 7.

I ASSERT first, that before the Incarnation up to the promulgation of the Gospel, implicit faith regarding Christ sufficed, but explicit faith was not necessary.

NOTE with D. Bonaventure in the body. Those things are believed implicitly which are not believed expressly, and in particular, or perfectly in themselves; but only in something else, e.g. when someone believes what the Church believes; he believes also that Christ the Lord died, etc. So also it was believed implicitly in ancient times, if they believed that God would save the world, or redeem it from sins, in the manner in which it had already been revealed to the holy Church. Becanus above thinks this mode explicit, and therefore the Seraphic Doctor added it for the sake of his own teaching, while nevertheless saying that implicit faith sufficed. For this express faith in God the Liberator, D. Bonaventure is cited by Tannerus num 42. dist 25. quaest. 2. with D. Thom. art. 7. ad 3. and others.

EXPLICITLY are believed those things which are believed distinctly in themselves, as when you believe that the Messiah was the Son of God, incarnate, etc. But that which is believed explicitly must be known. Now that Christ was believed in that implicit manner before his coming, S. Bonaventure teaches and proves, Lib. 2. Pharetrae, cap. 23. from D. Bernard epist. 77. ad Hugonem de S. Victore, where he says: Many, before the coming of the Savior, fearing and loving God the omnipotent, with him as the most gracious promiser of their salvation, hoping in him as the most certain Redeemer, were saved in this faith and expectation, although they did not know when, and how, and in what order the promised salvation would be accomplished.

¶ IT IS PROVED by D. Bonaventure, first with the Master, from 4 Act. There is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved. Similar things are found. Rom 3. 4. and 5. Galat. 2. and 3. Prima Corinth. 3.

THEN, because Christ is the Head of the whole Church, as is had in Ephes. first, and the following. Prima Corinth. 3. Coloss. 1. Therefore he flowed into the motion and vital sense of all; But he cannot infuse unless they are united to him in faith, as the Apostle discusses there: Therefore.

THIRD, No one could be saved unless he were justified, nor justified except through grace: but this was not given except through the merits of the Redeemer, who therefore is called: The Lamb slain from the beginning of the world. Apoc. 13. and who opened the closed Book, cap. 5. And Ioan. first, Grace and truth were made through Jesus Christ. Therefore Galat. 3. The Scripture concluded all under sin, that the promise might be given by the faith of Jesus Christ to those who believe, namely, grace and the other gifts were given in that faith. Next it is shown that implicit faith regarding Christ sufficed.

IT IS PROVED first, by the example of Cornelius, Act. 10. who is called just before he learned faith in Christ, as the holy Doctor intimated in the text.

IT IS PROVED secondly by the holy Doctor in the body, and on the arguments, with the reasoning that Fagundez uses. No divine thing obliges one to believe unless it be revealed; but before the preaching of the Gospel, that Law, and its articles, were not manifest to the gentiles; indeed not revealed except to very few: Therefore.

NOTE, however, with D. Bonaventure here on 5. that before the sufficient publication of the Gospel, some renowned worshippers of God knew the Mysteries of Redemption, as Iob 19. testifies, and the Sibyls in the law of Nature; and in the written law Moses, David, and others, as the holy Doctor observes on those words of Lucae 24. All things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. And on Ioan. 5. on those words: For if you did believe Moses, you would perhaps believe me also: for he wrote of me. And so those knew and believed Christ expressly. The Master seems to indicate the same regarding Cornelius, whom the holy Doctor points out, dist. 25. in littera. But in the question he maintains that all of them had only implicit faith until Christ was revealed, excepting the distinguished ones, among whom Cornelius is not counted, who certainly had that faith only implicitly, as S. Augustine indicates, quaest. 84. in Levit. and lib. de praedest. Sanctorum, cap. 7. Therefore the holy Doctor, dub. 4. in fine says that the things said about the faith of Cornelius are plain.

I ASSERT secondly, that after the Gospel was promulgated, explicit faith regarding Christ is necessary.

IT IS PROVED by the holy Doctor on 3. Ioan. with those words: But he who does not believe is already judged: because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. Actorum 4. For in this alone is salvation, and there is no other name under heaven given, whereby we must be saved.

IT IS PROVED secondly by the holy Doctor on that passage Ioan. 17. Now this is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent, where the Seraphic Doctor also notes that explicit knowledge of the Holy Trinity is already necessary; hence Rom. 3. The justice of God through the faith of Jesus Christ in all, and upon all, who believe in him. Galat. 2. Man is not justified except through the faith of Jesus Christ.

IT IS PROVED thirdly by the holy Doctor with the reasoning that he uses, and Fagundez before num. 21; this reasoning is had in dub. 2. litt. and here is its first foundation: since Christ has now been made known to be the Head of the Church, and to have redeemed us by his merits, and founded our Church, we rightly owe him confession, and consequently to believe explicitly. Therefore in Matth. last chapter it is said: Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

THE holy Doctor CONFIRMS this whole matter from other Scriptures. And first on cap. 6. Ioan. from that passage: He who believes in me has eternal life, Ioan. 14. You believe in God, believe also in me. The holy Doctor strengthens these passages with other testimonies of Scripture and of the Fathers. Now there is an outstanding discourse of Christ, Ioan. 3. which the holy Doctor solemnly runs through for the matter: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert: so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believes in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. He infers that all who believe in his Divine Person incarnate and lifted up on the cross are saved from death, just as those were saved who, seeing the brazen Serpent distinctly, believed and hoped for salvation from the Lord. For the holy Doctor observes the parallels and notes that the humanity is signified when it is said: Son of man; death on the cross, when it is said; So must the Son of man be lifted up: the efficacy: that whosoever believes in him may not perish, etc.

IT IS PROVED by the holy Doctor also from other Scriptures. First from that passage of Lucae last chapter: Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said to them, that thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead the third day, and that penance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Then the holy Doctor argues thus in his commentary: Christ was given, that he might open the way to heaven. Therefore it is said Isaïae 12. I will give the key of David upon his shoulder, and he shall open. Therefore it is said Dan. 2. He reveals deep things. But to this end he reveals, that he, being known, may be adored. Wherefore in Apoc. 5. he is introduced as the Lamb to open the sealed Book, from which the Elders, and the Animals, and the Nations confessed him expressly: The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive Divinity, because, namely, he opened the Mysteries that are referred to him, as to the Head; and to the body of the Church, compared to him from the fact that it ought to acknowledge him as the principle of its salvation, which he distributed only to those willing, through penance and Baptism, that is, in a manner fitting to a free nature; But they could not consent to these things unless they acknowledged him as the principle; which Valentia also notes. And he strengthens this with accumulated testimonies of the Scriptures.

For in him all nations were to be blessed. Genes. 22. Therefore the nations ought to acknowledge the Fountain of their blessings. So in Genes. 49. he is called: He shall be the expectation of the nations; But only a good, well known, is awaited. In Psal. 2. it is said: Ask of me, and I will give thee the gentiles for thy inheritance. Therefore the nations, from whom he was to be named, ought to acknowledge their Christ the Lord distinctly. And in Psal. 116. it is said: Praise him, all ye nations. Certainly they ought to acknowledge him, that they might praise him; for in Isa. 49. it is said: I have given thee to be the light of the gentiles. And Isa. 2. Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge the gentiles, etc. And cap. 61. For Sion's sake I will not hold my peace, until her just one go forth as brightness, and her Savior be lighted as a lamp. And the gentiles shall see thy Just One. Thou shalt no more be called Forsaken, etc. Behold the Lord hath made it to be heard in the ends of the earth, say to the daughter of Sion: Behold thy Savior cometh: Behold his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call him, A holy people, redeemed by the Lord. But thou shalt be called: A sought-out city, and not Forsaken.

Christ PROCEEDS: But you are witnesses of all these things. Therefore Act. 1. You shall be witnesses to me in Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth, and therefore Peter says, Act. 10. We are witnesses of all things which he did, etc. whom they slew, hanging him on a tree. Him God raised up the third day, and gave him to be made manifest to witnesses preordained, etc. And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and of the dead. Therefore our faith stands especially in the distinct acknowledgment of Christ the Lord.

The holy Doctor confirms this further on cap. 3. of John with those words: The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand, as is said in Matth. 11. All things are delivered to me by my Father. Therefore he adds: He who believes in the Son has life everlasting, because, as is said Ioan. 17. Now this is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. They have (I say) life everlasting in pledge, and in root, as is said 2. Corinth. 5. There Ioan. continues: But he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him, etc. But the holy Doctor observes that John threatens more vehemently, and more intensely, than Christ did before, those who do not believe in the Son of God; for Christ only said: He who does not believe is already judged: because he does not believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. But he spoke more gently, lest he might seem to speak out of love for himself. Then the holy Doctor observes that the Wrath of God remains; First sin, second punishments, third dereliction; fourth the sentence of damnation, so as to infer that he is excluded from grace and glory who does not believe in the Son of God.

S. Bonaventure PROVES it further, serm. 8. Hexaemer. from that passage of 1. Ioan. 5. There are three who give testimony in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three who give testimony on earth: the spirit, the water, and the blood: and these three are one; namely, in the Spirit the Divinity; in the Water the Humanity; in the blood the Life, poured out in redemption. These things, therefore, must be believed absolutely; for he had already said: Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And afterwards he adds: He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony of God in himself. He who does not believe the Son makes him a liar. He notes the same thing, that the Trinity and the Incarnation are set down distinctly in the Symbol.

The holy Doctor also uses a lofty argument, serm. 9. Hexaemer. which the holy Fathers used: Ambrose lib. 1. offic. cap. 29. Hieron. in cap. 1. ad Ephes. Gregory lib. 7. epist. 47. taken from the first Corinth. 3. where Christ is called the Foundation of the Church. And Isaia 28. where he is called (as also in Ephes. 1. 2. Petri 2.) the foundational, angular stone; And on Ephes. 1. and 3. where he is called the Origin of our salvation. Now S. Bonaventure thus discourses: The Testimony of Faith is to be taken from the Father, and the Word, and the Holy Ghost, as is said in the first epistle of Ioan. 5. For by the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm. Psal. 32. namely, the heaven of the Church. For the whole new testament consists in declaring Christ. Therefore the Father also bears testimony from heaven, Matth. 3. But of this faith Christ is the Foundation, as is said in the first epistle to Corinth. 3. Another foundation no one can lay, besides that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. He is the angular stone Isa. 28. the first epistle of Petri 2. Ephes. 2. Upon this stone the whole Church leans. Therefore it was necessary that this be believed most distinctly. Therefore the Apostle in Hebr. 1. says: God, who at sundry times spoke in times past to the fathers in the prophets; last of all has spoken in his Son. And he adds: Who, being the brightness of his glory (namely, according to the deity,) making purgation of sins, through his humanity: For the faith and confession of Christ the Martyrs were slain, the Apostles toiled, etc. Who, therefore, will deny that express faith in Christ is necessary? It is confirmed from the practice of the Church, which questions those to be baptized regarding explicit faith in Christ.

YOU WILL OBJECT first against the first assertion, from Hebr. 11. it is said: He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and is a rewarder: Therefore faith in the Redeemer was not necessary.

Valentia ANSWERS from Marsilius 3. quaest. 14. art. 3. It would have been better to have said, from D. Bonaventure on the first, that the Apostle does not enumerate all things necessary for salvation, but only asserts that it is necessary to believe those two things: That God is, and that he is a Rewarder. But he enumerates these, because they were necessary to be believed even in the state of integral nature. But I do not know why Valentia col. 317. Assertion one says that in the state of integral nature they ought to have believed more concerning the Incarnation of Christ, and by what means he was going to redeem mankind through death; Certainly in the state of integral nature the Redeemer was not revealed; nor was he necessary, nor would the Son of God have come into the world, as he himself maintains.

YOU WILL OBJECT secondly. That faith suffices which sufficiently directs one to Hope, and Charity. Such is faith in God the Rewarder: Therefore.

The holy Doctor ANSWERS by denying the minor; because we ought to hope for salvation through the merits of Christ, and to love God, not only as Creator; but also as Savior.

YOU WILL OBJECT thirdly. Many were saved who did not know that Christ was to come to death for our salvation.

The holy Doctor ANSWERS that all believed implicitly in the Redeemer, whom the wiser expressed in their sacrifices; but the rest awaited implicitly some one to come by whom they would be saved, even if they were ignorant: Whether he was the Son of God: Whether he was to die, etc. And in this act there was implicit faith regarding Christ. So AEgidius; whom Gaspar disp. 3. sect. 5. praises as the author of this view, although it is also the Seraphic Doctor's in the body.

But it was certainly a supernatural FAITH, which is wholly necessary for a supernatural end, and so the Councils speak against Ripalda primo de Ente supernaturali, disp. 29. and 63. who devised, I know not what broad faith from natural human knowledge. For against him is the sense of the Councils, especially the Tridentine sessione 6. See Lugum disp. 11. sect. 1.

YOU WILL OBJECT fourthly. No man is bound to know what the Angels are ignorant of; but before the Incarnation, the Angels were ignorant of this Mystery: Therefore. The major is certain. The minor is proved by that passage Isa. 63. Who is this that cometh from Edom? For it is the exclamation of the Angels, as the Gloss says: And Ephes. 3. That it may be made known to the Principalities and Powers, as Chrysostom expounds, and the Gloss on that passage Ephes. 3. What is the dispensation of the Mystery hidden from eternity in God.

The holy Doctor ANSWERS that the Angels all knew that a Savior was to come: for they announced the Mysteries to the prophets, especially Isaiah. But they admired and learned each thing with singular wonder. Nor is there invincible ignorance of these things, according to D. Bonaventure and others.

YOU WILL OBJECT fifthly. He who fulfilled the law according to the dictate of nature arrived at salvation, as the Apostle intimated, Rom. 2. The gentiles, who have not the law, do naturally those things that are of the law. And: The doers of the law shall be justified: But in the law of nature, or the written law, there is no necessity of believing in the Mediator: Therefore.

D. Bonaventure ANSWERS that the law of nature sufficed, aided by the gift of grace and of faith, which dictated the Mediator implicitly. So also Vasquez disp. 190. cap. 15. Fagundez lib. 1. Decal. cap. 2. num. 10. from D. Augustine lib. de spiritu et litt. cap. 27. where he expounds the word naturally thus: without the written law, but with natural aid from grace, they do the things that are of the law.

YOU WILL OBJECT sixthly. No one is bound to believe what he cannot learn; but in the law of nature no one could learn of the Incarnation, nor was there anyone teaching it: Therefore.

The holy Doctor ANSWERS that some were taught even then in this mystery, as Iob testifies cap. 19. Now he was before the written law, as Lyra notes, and Henoch also, as is said by D. Jude, vers. 14. Now Henoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying: Behold the Lord cometh with his holy thousands to execute judgment against all, etc. Where he calls Christ the Judge, and therefore supposes him incarnate.

I ASSERT thirdly, for the same reason, that before the coming of Christ explicit faith in the Most Holy Trinity was not necessary.

IT IS PROVED by D. Bonaventure, because before the Incarnation of Christ, as I showed above, the Son of God was unknown: Therefore also the Father; for he who knows the Son knows also the Father, as Christ says. Ioan. 15. Yet the holy Doctor adds, quaest. 2. that some had even then this explicit knowledge, which is asserted of the Sibyls, Henoch, Iob, Adam, and others.

I ASSERT fourthly; that now, with the necessity of means, explicit knowledge of the Most Holy Trinity is necessary. So D. Bonaventure quaest. 5. D. Thom. art. 8. q. 2. Valentia quaest. 2. p. 5. assert. 2. Fagundez lib. 1. cap. 2. num. 24. Becanus quaest. 2. and quaest. 8. dub. primo, Caspens. disp. 3. sect. 5. num. 3. Maestr. disp. 19. sect. 2. and others, whom Morand. quaest. 10. follows, against some who say it is not necessary with the necessity of means, but only of precept, even after the promulgated Gospel. See Palaum tom. 1. tract. 4. disp. 1. p. 9. citing many. With these is also Ful. lib. 3. cap. 5.

IT IS PROVED by D. Bonaventure in 4. dist. 3. p. 1. quaest. 2. The same faith is intrinsically necessary which is intimated to each one externally, that he may profess it expressly: For with the heart we believe unto justice; but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation; but faith expressly in the Most Holy Trinity is intimated to all to be professed expressly in baptism, through the form drawn from Matth. last chapter, where Christ commands: Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. But to infants it is intimated through the Sponsor, that he may profess it in his name, and afterwards teach it: Therefore.

I ASSERT fifthly, that all are held, with the necessity of means, to believe all the articles of FAITH implicitly, in such a way that each one be ready to believe them, if he is taught. See Becanum quaest. 4. Valentiam quaest. 2 p. 6. Indeed Valentia loc. cit. Aragon. art. 5. Tannerus n. 51. say one is held explicitly. Especially Baptism, Penance, and the Eucharist.