Section — Koch–Preuss
Section 5: The Moral Law of the New Testament
- The existence of a moral law in the New Testament seems to be contradicted by St. Paul and St. John. a) St. Paul declares that the commandment which was ordained to life, was "found to be unto death"; that man does not owe his liberty to the law, and that Christians walk not according to the law but in the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.1 In the same Epistle (to the Romans) he says that "the end of the law is Christ" 2 and, "after the faith is come," the operation of the law, as a pedagogue, i. e., a precursor of the Messias, ceases.3 St. John extols the grace and truth of the Gospel in opposition to the law of Moses. "The law was given by Moses," he says, "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." 4 The Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of "a setting aside of the former commandment" as a thing "which decayeth and groweth old" and "is near its end." 5 It is well known that St. Paul did not deem it necessary for pagan converts to assume the yoke of the Mosaic law.6 b) The texts quoted, however, and others like them, are not meant to abrogate the entire law of the Old Testament, but merely its ceremonial precepts, as may be seen from the following considerations.
2 Rom. X, 4; cfr. Gal. II, 16 sqq.
4 John I, 17.
5 Heb. VII, 18; VIII, 13.
6 Acts XV, 10 sq., 19 sq., 28 sq. Gal. II, 3-10.
α) Christ, who had been hailed as the Lawgiver par excellence "by the prophet Isaias,7 issued precepts and enjoined His Apostles to enforce them upon all men.8
8 Matth. V, 17; XI, 28 sqq.; XIX, 17 sqq.; XXVIII, 18 sqq.; John XII, 49 sq.; XIII, 34; XIV, 15; XV, 10.
β) The New Testament expressly acknowledges and confirms the fundamental laws of the Mosaic code, particularly that of charity and holiness, and enforces certain commandments of the Decalogue.9 γ) St. James expressly designates the New Testament as "a perfect law." 10 St. Paul calls it "the law of faith," 11 "the law of the spirit of life," 12 and "the law of Christ." 13 To the question, "Do we, then, destroy the law through faith?" he replies, "God forbid: but we establish the law." 14 δ) Christ and His Apostles repeatedly affirm that "the doers of the law shall be justified," not, however, those who merely hear it.15
9 Matth. XXII, 34-40; XIX, 18-19; Rom. XIII, 9; Eph. VI, 2 sq.; 1 Pet. I, 15 sq.
10 Jas. I, 25; II, 12.
11 Rom. III, 27.
12 Rom. VIII, 2.
13 Gal. VI, 2.
14 Rom. III, 31.
The moral law of the New Testament is not a law in the ordinary sense of the term, but only in so far as it contains and inculcates the precepts of goodness and sanctity. In other words, the Gospel is not a formal code of laws; it merely lays down general truths and principles, from which the rules of right living can be deduced. Such general truths and principles are, e. g., contained in the Sermon on the Mount,16 the description of the Last Judgment,17 and the parables of the Gospel.18 Even when Christ expressly enunciates moral principles, He does not clothe them in the form of specific precepts, but employs general terms, which require to be interpreted and applied.19
16 Matth. V, 1 sqq. to VII, 1 sqq.
17 Matth. XXV, 31 sqq.
18 Cfr. L. Fonck, S.J., The Paralies of the Gospel, New York 1915; W. Barry, in the Cath. Encyc. XI, 460 sqq. —Ph. Coghlan, C. P., The Parables of Jesus, London 1918.
19 Cfr. Matth. V, 29 sq., 39 sqq.; XIX, 29; Luke VI, 29 sq.—St. Jerome, In Matth., III, c. 19: "From the occasion of this saying some introduce a thousand years after the resurrection, saying that then a hundredfold of all the things we have left and eternal life will be given back to us. They do not understand that, although the promise may be fitting in the other things, in the case of wives disgrace appears: that he who has left one for the Lord should receive a hundred in the future." (Migne, P. L., XXVI, 130).
The Christian religion, therefore, is a law, and inasmuch as it is good and holy, —truth in respect of the intellect and holiness in respect of the will,20 —and is confirmed by the conscience and conviction of the inner man,21 grace does not abrogate, but reaffirms it and gives it additional force.22
20 Rom. VII, 12; 1 Tim. I, 8—Already in the Old Testament the law was called chokma, i. e., ethical wisdom. Cfr. H. Zschokke, Der dogmatisch-ethische Lehrgehalt der alttestamentlichen Weisheitsbücher, Vienna 1889.
21 Rom. VI, 2-6; VI, 16-22; Gal. II, 13 sq.
22 Cfr. B. Bartmann, St. Paulus und St. Jakobus, Freiburg 1897, pp. 34 sqq., 80 sqq., 124 sqq.
- The Catholic teaching just explained is denied by the Protestant "Reformers" and by a certain group of mystics, who claim that the Gospel has no legal character. a) The so-called Reformers hold Gospel to be synonymous with liberty and contend that under the New Dispensation the law completely lost its original character and was no longer a compulsory measure, because sin, for the sake of which it had originally been given, was destroyed by the atonement, and man restored to full liberty; that whereas Moses was a lawgiver, Christ came solely for the purpose of reconciling men with God and redeeming them from sin. Against this teaching the Council of Trent defines: "If anyone saith that Jesus Christ was given by God to men as a Redeemer in whom to trust, and not also as a legislator whom to obey, let him be anathema."23
23 Sess. VI, can. 21: "If anyone says that Christ Jesus was given by God to men as a Redeemer in whom they should trust, but not also as a legislator whom they should obey, let him be anathema."
The error thus condemned is based upon a one-sided view of the Scriptures and involves a misconception of the moral requisite of the Redemption. The New Testament abrogated the ceremonial and judicial code, but not the moral law of nature. Nor is every man justified and raised to the liberty of the children of God by the fact of Christ's death. Humanity was reconciled to God by the atonement, but individual justification, as Dr. Pohle says, "is wrought by the application to the soul of grace derived from the inexhaustible merits of Jesus Christ." 24 Finally, it is false to assert that liberty and law are absolutely incompatible. Christian liberty means order in conformity with the law of God, not license. "We are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free: by the freedom wherewith Christ made us free."25 "Make not liberty an occasion to the flesh, but by charity of the spirit serve one another."26 "For so is the will of God, that by doing well you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not as making liberty a cloak for malice, but as the servants of God."27
24 Pohle-Preuss, Grace, Actual and Habitual, 2nd ed., p. 2.
25 Gal. IV, 31.
26 Gal. V, 13.
27 1 Pet. II, 16; 2 Cor. III, 17. —Cfr. J. Weiss, Die christliche Freiheit nach der Verkündigung des Apostels Paulus, Göttingen 1902, pp. 7 sqq.; J. MacRory, The Epistles of St. Paul to the Corinthians, Dublin 1915, Part II, pp. 42 sq.
It has been aptly said that the commandments of God are like iron chains that weigh heavily upon us if we fear Him, but like a silken harness that sits lightly on the soul if we love him.
Luther claims that Christ abrogated not only the Old Law but the Ten Commandments as well, and that concupiscence has such power over man that he cannot observe them.28 This teaching is directly opposed to Revelation. Gen. IV, 7: ''The lust thereof [i. e. sin] shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it." 29 I Cor. X, 13: "God... will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able: but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it." 30 1 Pet. V, 9: "Whom [the devil] resist ye, strong in faith: knowing that the same affliction befalls your brethren who are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will himself perfect you, and confirm you, and establish you." 31 James I, 12: "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him." 32 The Reformers, particularly Melanchthon and his school, were forced by the inevitable consequences of their Antinomistic teaching to return to the Catholic conception of the New Testament. In practice, however, Protestantism is to this day essentially Antinomian, holding faith to be the only necessary requirement for salvation.
28 Cfr. H. Denifle, O.P., Luther and Lutherdom, Vol. I, Part I, Somerset, O., 1917.
29 Gen. IV, 7: "Its desire shall be under you, and you shall have dominion over it."
30 1 Cor. X, 13: "God ... will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will also make with temptation an issue, that you may be able to bear it." —On this passage cfr. MacRory, The Epistles of St. Paul to the Corinthians, I, pp. 143 sq.
31 1 Pet. V, 9: "Whom resist, strong in faith, knowing that the same affliction that is in the world befalls your brotherhood. But the God of all grace, who called us into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little will Himself perfect, confirm, and establish you."
32 Jac. I, 12: "Blessed is the man who endures temptation, because when he has been proved he shall receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him."
"It is not always an easy matter," says Dr. Aveling, "to determine with any degree of precision how far certain forms and offshoots of Calvinism, Socinianism, or even Lutheranism, may not be susceptible of Antinomian interpretations; while at the same time it must be remembered that many sects and individuals holding opinions dubiously, or even indubitably, of an Antinomian nature, would indignantly repudiate any direct charge of teaching that evil works and immoral actions are no sins in the case of justified Christians. The shades and gradations of heresy here merge insensibly the one into the other. To say that a Christian cannot sin because he is justified is very much the same thing as to state that no action, whether sinful in itself or not, can be imputed to the justified Christian as a sin. Nor is the doctrine that good works do not help in promoting the sanctification of an individual far removed from the teaching that evil deeds do not interfere with it. There is a certain logical nexus between these three forms of the Protestant doctrine of justification that would seem to have its natural outcome in the assertion of Antinomianism. The only doctrine that is conclusively and officially opposed to this heresy, as well as to those forms of the doctrine of justification by faith alone that are so closely connected with it, is to be found in the Catholic dogma of faith, justification, and sanctification." 33 b) The pseudo-mystics to whom we have alluded, claim that it is useless for man to obey the law once he has outgrown the need of discipline, and that, consequently, God intended the law for the sinner, not for the perfect Christian. This theory grossly distorts the teaching of St. Paul,34 and, aside from its false postulate that the interior state of the soul alone determines man's moral standing, is heretical. The Tridentine Council defines: "If anyone saith that the man who is justified, and how perfect soever, is not bound to observe the commandments of God and of the Church, but only to believe: as if indeed the Gospel were a bare and absolute promise of eternal life, without the condition of observing the commandments; let him be anathema."35 No man can become so perfect as to be entirely dispensed from obeying the law of God.36 If anyone believes that he has attained to such a degree of perfection, he lacks humility and egregiously deceives himself. Furthermore, every man is a member of society, and as such subject to the laws that govern the social order.
33 F. Aveling in the Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. I, p. 567.
34 Cfr. 1 Tim., I, 8 sqq.: "We know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully: knowing this, that the law is not made for the just man, but for the unjust and disobedient, for the ungodly, and for sinners, for the wicked and defiled, for murderers of fathers, and murderers of mothers, for manslayers," etc. —Cfr. St. Justin Martyr, De Resurrect., c. 1: "The word of truth is both free and self-determined." (ed. Otto, Vol. III, 3rd ed., p. 210). —Tractatus Origenis (?) De Libris SS. Script., ed. P. Batiffol, Paris 1900, p. 197: "Christian liberty knows how to fear nothing." —St. Augustine, Epist., 127 (al. 45), n. 5: "This is the one burden [the yoke of the Lord] by which its bearer is not weighed down, but raised up." (Migne, P. L., XXXIII, 485).
35 Sess. VI, can. 20: "If anyone says that a justified man, however perfect, is not bound to the observance of the commandments of God and of the Church, but only to believe, as though the Gospel were a bare and absolute promise of eternal life without the condition of observing the commandments, let him be anathema." (Cfr. Sess. VI, can. 19; Sess. VII, De Bapt., can. 7 sq.); Prop. Damnat. M. de Molinos, n. 33-35, 40, 59 sq., 66-68 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 1253 sqq., 1260, 1279 sq., 1286 sqq.)
36 Cfr. 1 Cor. X, 12; Phil. III, 11-14.
The pseudo-mystic tendency with which we are dealing has almost invariably led to libertinism in practice.37
37 See the history of the Lollards, Beghards, and Beguins.
"The end of the law," says St. Paul, "is Christ, unto justice to every one that believeth." 38 And again: "Love therefore is the fulfilling of the law."39 And: "Now the end of the commandment is charity from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith."40 The commandments are one and all directed towards, and converge in love, as "the fulfilling of the law," for "the law leads to faith, faith obtains the Holy Ghost who pours forth love, and love fulfills the law." 41 Not by his own power, therefore, but by the aid of charity alone can man observe the law perfectly, and charity makes easy the fulfilment of all other commandments, even the most difficult of them, —self-denial.42
38 Rom. X, 4.
39 Rom. XIII, 10.
40 1 Tim. I, 5.—Cfr. St. Augustine, Tract. in Ioa., XVII, n. 9: "Therefore charity is the law of Christ." (Migne, P. L., XXXV. 1532). See J. E. Belser, Die Briefe des Apostels Paulus an Timotheus und Titus, Freiburg 1907, pp. 30 sqq.
41 St. Augustine, Enchiridion, c. 121: "All the divine precepts are referred to charity, of which the Apostle says: The end of the commandment is charity from a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith (1 Tim. I, 5). Therefore the end of every precept is charity; that is, every precept is referred to charity." (Migne, P. L., XL, 288). —IDEM, Enarr. in Ps., 141, n. 7: "They are called the paths of God because there are many precepts, and because those many precepts are reduced to one, since charity is the fullness of the law (Rom. XIII, 10). Therefore these ways in their many precepts are gathered into one, and it is called one because charity is our way." (Migne, P. L., XXXVII, 1837).—IDEM, Epist., 145 (a/. 144), n. 3: "By teaching and commanding what cannot be fulfilled without grace, the law shows man his weakness, so that the weakness thus shown may seek the Savior, by whom the will, healed, can do what it could not do when weak. The law therefore leads to faith; faith obtains the bountiful Spirit; the Spirit pours forth charity; charity fulfills the law." (P. L., XXXIII, 593).
42 St. Augustine, De Natura et Gratia, c. 69, n. 83: "All things are made easy by charity." (Migne, P. L., XLIV, 289). —IDEM, Serm., 96 (a/. 47 de Diversis), n. 1: "What the Lord commanded—that if anyone wishes to follow Him, he must deny himself—seems hard and burdensome. But what He commands is not hard or burdensome, for He helps it to be done when He commands it. ... Whatever is hard in the precepts, charity makes light." (Migne, P. L., XXXVIII, 384).—IDEM, Enarrat. in Ps., 67, n. 18: "Whatever is difficult in a precept is light to one who loves. Nor is 'my burden is light' (Matth. XI, 30) rightly understood for any other reason than that [God] gives the Holy Spirit, through whom charity is poured forth in our hearts (Rom. V, 5), so that through love we may do freely what one who does it through fear does servilely; nor is he a friend of what is right when he would prefer, if it were possible, that what is right should not be commanded." (P. L., XXXVI, 823). —Cfr. H. Denifle, Luther and Lutherdom, Vol. I, Part I.
Therefore the law is "for the unjust and disobedient, for the ungodly, and for sinners," 43 i. e., for those who acknowledge no authority and give free rein to their passions. They shall learn through the law that they are living in sin and must prepare for penitence. For "the just man," on the other hand, into whose heart the Holy Ghost has poured that charity which is the fulfilment of the law, "the law is not"; not as if the justified sinner were not subject, or could afford to be indifferent, to the law, but because he "uses it lawfully," i. e., in conformity with his rational nature and the will of God, in other words, because he obeys the law for conscience' sake.44
43 1 Tim. I, 9.
44 1 Tim. I, 8-10.
READINGS. —H. Jakoby, Neutestamentliche Ethik, Königsberg 1899. —J. Weiss, Die christliche Freiheit nach der Verkündigung des Apostels Paulus, Göttingen 1902. —Th. Slater, S.J., in the Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. IX, pp. 71 sq. —Chr. Pesch, S.J., Praelectiones Dogmaticae, Vol. V. —Ph. Bachmann, Die Sittenlehre Jesu, Leipsic 1904. —F. P. Kenrick, Theologia Moralis, Vol. I, 2nd ed., pp. 41 sqq. —A. Tanquerey, S.S., Synopsis Theologiae Moralis, Vol. II, pp. 140 sqq. —C. S. Devas, The Key to the World's Progress, London 1906, pp. 189 sqq.