Beveridge on Article XV: Of Christ alone without Sin

than they need, and what they do and suffer over and above God’s command, (as martyrdom in particular,) is set upon others’ scores, and applied to some of their brethren for the remission of their sins. But St. Augustine saith, There is no martyr but Christ suffereth death for the pardon of another’s sins.

In so clear a case it may suffice to produce one more witness, and that is St. Hilary, who, speaking of the Ten Virgins, five wise and five foolish, when the foolish came to the wise to borrow some of their oil; ”“*To whom,” saith he, “ they answered, that they could not give them any, lest by chance there might not be enough for all; to wit, that no one ean be helped by another’s works and merits, because it is necessary that every one buy oil for his own lamp;” and therefore can none have any oil, any grace, any works to spare over and above what himself needs, whereby the neces- sities of others may be supplied. So express are the Fathers in delivering the impossibility of one man’s sins being satis- fied for by another’s sufferings, and of one man’s being sup- plied from another’s merits. And that there is none that do more than is required, the Fathers clearly avouch, in saying, there is none can do so much as is required of him. For they shew how there is none lives without sin. And if they do not live without sin, they do not do as much as is required of them, for they do not avoid sin as they are commanded. And if they do not do as much as is required of them, certainly they cannot be said to do more than is commanded to them. Now that the Fathers do thus say, that there is no mere man without sin, we shall see in the next article: in the mean- while concluding from the premises, that works of supereroga- tion cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety.

n Quibus responderunt non posse dum: quia unicuique lampadi sue se dare, quia non sit forte quod omemere oleum sit necesse. Hilar. in nibus satis sit. Alienis scilicet operi- Mat. cap. 27. [5.] bus ac meritis neminem adjuvan-

Christ in the truth of our nature was made like unto us in all things (sin only excepted) from which he was clearly void, both in his flesh and in his spirit. He came to be a Lamb without spot, who, by sacrifice of himself once made, should take away the sins of the world ; and sin, as St. John saith, was not in him. But all we the rest, though baptized and born again in Christ, yet offend in many things; and if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth ts not in Us.

HEN the Son of God became the Son of man, he so

became the Son of man as still to remain the Son of God. He did not lay aside his Divine nature to assume the human; but he assumed the human nature into the Divine, not as it was corrupted by sin, but as it was at first created by God. For as it was corrupted by sin, it was corrupted with the worst of evils, and therefore, as such, both unworthy and uncapable of being united to God, the best of goods. Who therefore assuming the human nature into the unity of his Divine Person, assumed only what was *worthy and capable of such assumption, to wit, the perfect nature of man as it was in its first creation, not as it was in its sinful cor-

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Arr. XV. Of Christ alone without Sin. 327

ruption. And so he that was perfectly God as well as per- fectly man, was a perfect man also as well as a perfect God. Because it was the perfect nature of man which he assumed from his mother in time, as it was the perfect nature of God which he received of his Father from eternity. And there- fore as he in the truth of the Divine nature was begotten like unto the Father in all things, his personal properties only excepted ; so in the truth of the human nature he was made like unto us in all things, our sinful infirmities only excepted. He was in all things but sin like unto us; but in sin he was altogether unlike us. For we both in flesh and spirit are naturally full of sin, but bhe was clearly void of sin both in his flesh and spirit. For he came to be a Lamb without spot, who by sacrifice of himself once made should take away the sins of the world: whereas had he been guilty of sin in himself, he could never have taken it away from us. For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate From sinners, and made higher than the heavens ; who needed not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice first for his own sins, and then for the people’s. Heb. vii. 26, 27. And such a one was Christ ; for in him, saith St. John, és no sin, 1 John iii. 5. Indeed sin doth not reign in the saints his members ; but sin did not so much as dwell in him the Head. And as sin did not live in him, so neither did he live in sin; for he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, | Pet. ii. 22. Isa. liii. 9. And therefore doth himself say, Which of you con- vinceth me of sin? John viii. 46: and thus was he as clear from sin in his human nature as in his divine. As God, he was infinitely contrary unto sin; and as man, he was perfectly yoid of it: yea he was therefore as man perfectly void of sin,

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Gpaptia y7r7HOn; Basil. [vol. II. p. 462.] de constitut. monast. c. 4. In hoe ergo ille homo qui natus ex virgine est, magna cunctis qui ex utriusque sexus commixtione pro- ducimur distantia segregatur : quod cum omnes non similitudinem sed veritatem peccati in carne gestemus, ille non veritatem sed similitudinem peccati in vere carnis assumptione susceperit. Cassian. Collat, 1. 22. ¢.

[12.]

Of Christ alone without Sin.

ART.

because as God he was infinitely contrary to it; it being impossible that such things as are infinitely contrary to one another should be ever united together.

But though Christ was thus perfectly void of sin, yet there is no other man or “woman that ever did or ever shall live

¢ No, not the Virgin Mary her- self, (who is the principal person excepted by our adversaries; but,) we have no reason to except her, or rather we have reason not to except her, considering how there is none of the Fathers that except her, (nor any one else do they except but only Christ.) Nay, they acknowledge her in particular to bea sinner, one born in sin. Et quid incoinquinatius illo utero virginis, cujus caro etiamsi de peccati propagatione venit, non ta- men de peccati propagine concepit. Aug. de Gen. ad literam, 1. 10. [32. vol. III.] Proinde corpus Christi quamvis ex carne femme assump- tum est, que de illa carnis peccati propagine concepta fuerat, tamen quia non sic in ea conceptum est quomodo fuerat illa concepta, nec ipsa erat caro peccati sed similitudo earnis peccati. Ibid. Nam licet ipsa hominis ejusdem conceptio sit mun- da, et absque carnalis delectationis peccato, virgo tamen ipsa, unde as- sumptus est, est in iniquitatibus concepta, et in peccatis concepit eam mater ejus, et cum originali peccato nata est, quia et ipsa in Adam pec- cavit, IN quo omnes peccaverunt. Anselm. Cur Deus homo, &c. 1. 2. ce. 16. [p.1z0.] And therefore saith Damascen, Mera tiv ovyxardbeow Ths ayias rapOevov mvedpua aytov em7d- Oev er avriy, Kabaipoy adtny. Da- mas¢e. Orthodox. fid. 1. 3. c. 2. And if the Holy Ghost purged her, it seems before she was unclean. And besides this, the Fathers accuse her also of several actual sins, as of an unseasonable request at the feast when our Saviour turned the water into wine. John ii. 3. Propter hoc properante Maria ad admirabile vini signum, et ante tempus volente par- ticipare compendii poculo, Dominus repellens ejus intempestivam festi-

nationem dixit, Quid mihi et tibi est mulier ? Tren, advers. her. 1. 3. [16, 7.| Indeed our Saviour’s answer to her doth itself imply as much, Té éuol kal col yuvar; ovmr@ AKee 7 Spa pov, that is, not What is that to me and thee ? but, as the Ethiopic ren-

ders it, F049? NP: POAT: i.e. Quid mihi tecum, What have I to do with thee ? mine hour is not yet come, as our translation hath it. Where Athanasius observes, that he reproved his mother, émémAnrre TH pytpt. Contra Arrian. Orat.4. And St. Chrysostome, éeripunoev dkaipas - airovon, in Mat. hom. 45. and cer- tainly not without cause, as Theo- phylact saith, ‘O d5€ emirysa adrA ovK ddyos. And if he had cause to re- prove her, (as certainly he had, or else he would never have done it,) she must needs have done some- thing she ought not to have done. Nay, and they accuse her of vain- glory too in the same act, desiring him to turn water into wine, that the people might the more honour her, the mother of such a son; *EBodXero yap Kal exeivois katabéa bat xapw, kal éavtijy Aaymporépay sroun- cat dia To watdds. Chrysost. in Joh. hom. 21. [p. 639. vol. II.] And to shew her power and authority over him that could do such things, Ov- dér@ yap nv expny mepi avrovd dd€av elxov, AXN érred7) SSwev adrov, nEélov kata THY Lowy TOY pHTépav cuVH- Oevav, o’tws Gmayta émitdtrew arta, déov ws Seomdtyny oBew kal mpooku= veiy. Ibid. Agnoscat et ejus ado- lescentiam, videat multa et magna miracula, conversionem aquarum in vinum ; in quo primo miraculo temptavit illa feemina jubere se filio posse tanquam mater, domina, que se agnoscebat ancillam, Fili, ait, de-

fecit illis vinum, &c. Aug. de symb.

aeV. Of Christ alone without Sin. 329

upon the face of earth, but is both defiled with it and guilty of it. Nay, though we be baptized, and our original sin be washed from us, and though born again too, and so our actual sins subdued under us; yet for all this will sin dwell in us, and we shall be guilty of sin. So that there was never any mere man but who was a sinful man. And if any one saith he is no sinner, he sins in saying so; for if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, 1 Johni.8; yea, and if we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us, ver. 10.

But besides these, there be several other places of scripture which deliver this truth unto us, that there is sin even in the best of us. For the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe, Gal. iii. 22. For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin, Rom. iii. 9. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all

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phylact. in Mat. 12. [ad fin.] But

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330 Of Christ alone without Sin. Arr.

gone out of the way, they are altogether become unprofitable; there is none that doth good, no, not one, ver. 10, 1]. Psalm xiv. 1,.2, 3: For as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned, Rom. v.12. For there is no man that sinneth not, 1 Reg. viii. 46. 2 Chron. vi. 36. Nay, There is not a just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not, Wecles. vii. 20. For in many things we offend all, Jac. iii. 2. Who therefore can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from sin? Prov. xx. 9. O enter not then into judgment with thy servant, O Lord: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified, Psalm exhii. 2.

And as the scripture doth thus assert, that all the men and women that ever lived upon the face of the earth, (Christ only excepted, who was God as well as man,) were sinners; so reason itself, if consulted aright, cannot but determine the same. Which any one may easily perceive that doth but con- sider how (as we have seen more fully in the ninth article) in Adam the whole human nature was corrupted, all sinning and being made sinners in him: for in him God said to all, Zn the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death. What death ? Certainly the death of the soul as well as the body; spiritual, consisting in the separation of the soul from God, as well as temporal death, that consisteth in the separation of the body from the soul. And so in Adam our souls were made sinful by the loss of God, as our bodies are made mortal by the loss of their souls*: sin passing from that one man into the souls, as well as death into the bodies of all mankind. And there- fore it is impossible that any particular person should be excepted from sin, seeing the whole nature is defiled with it : so that he must be no mere man that is no sinner. And therefore it is that our Saviour commanded all his disciples, his apostles, all his followers, to pray daily, f Forgive us our

e Si quis soli Adz preevaricatio- nem suam, non et ejus propagini asserit noculsse, aut certe mortem tantum corporis que poena peccati est, non autem et peccatum quod mors est anime, per unum hominem in omne genus humanum transisse testatur, injustitiam Deo dabit con- tradicens apostolo. Concil. Arausie.

f Item placuit ut quicunque dixe- rit in oratione Dominica, ideo dicere sanctos, Dimitte nobis debita nostra, ut non pro seipsis hoe dicatur, quia non est eis jam necessaria ista petitio, sed pro aliis qui sunt in suo populo peccatores, et ideo non dicere unum- quemque sanctorum, Dimitte mihi

XY. Of Christ alone without Sin. 331

trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us, Luke x1. 4: because from the fountain of sin in our hearts the streams of sin are continually flowing out in our lives, which we have need to beg daily of God to pardon, and forgive to us, to all of us.

And to this we may also take notice, how even the best of saints whilst on earth are but imperfect saints, their graces imperfect, their duties imperfect, their love imperfect, their charity imperfect, all imperfect. Which imperfection and de- fect in all their graces and duties, as it cannot be any more, so it is not any less than &sin, forasmuch as holiness is the exact conformity of the will of man to the will of God, and of the life of man to the laws of God; and how far soever any one lacks of the exactness of that conformity, so much he lacks of holiness; and how much he lacks of holiness, so much he hath of sin. And therefore so far as grace and duty is imperfect in us, so far is sin and iniquity to be acknowledged by us. Now that our graces and duties are imperfect upon earth, is plain, in that to have our graces and duties perfect, is to be in heaven; perfection of grace being itself the crown of glory. And therefore, though there be many that have sin without grace, there is none that hath grace without sin in this world. But as the » Fathers long ago acknowledged, and

Peccatum est cum

debita mea, sed Dimitte nobis debita nostra, ut hoc pro aliis potius quam pro se justus petere intelligatur, ana- thema sit. Sanctus enim et justus erat apostolus Jacobus cum dicebat, In multis enim offendimus omnes. Concil. Milevit. 2. can. 7. [vol. I.] Item placuit ut quicumque verba ipsa Dominic orationis ubi dici- mus, Dimitte nobis debita nostra, ita volunt a sanctis dici ut humiliter non veraciter hoc dicatur, anathema sit. Ibid. can. 8.

g Virtus est charitas qua id quod diligendum est diligitur. Hec in aliis major, in aliis minor, in aliis nulla est; plenissima vero que jam non potest augeri quamdiu hic homo yivit, est in nemine; quod autem augeri potest profecto illud quod minus est quam debet, ex vitio est. Aug. Epist. [167. 15. vol. II.] ad

Hieronymum. vel non est charitas, vel minor est quam debet. Id. de perfect. justi- tie. [15. vol. X.]

h Ut enim sepe diximus, omnis humana justitia injustitia esse con- vincitur, si districte judicetur. Greg. Moral. 1. 9. [28. vol. I.] Nostra si qua est humilis justitia, recta forsan sed non pura, nisi forte meliores nos esse credimus quam patres no- stros, qui non minus veraciter quam humiliter dicebant, omnes justitice nostre tanquam pannus menstruate mulieris. Quomodo enim pura jus- titia ubi non potest adhuc culpa de- esse? Bernard. de verbis Esai. serm. 5: [p. 405.] Ex quo factum est vir- tutem que nunc est in homine justo perfectam hactenus nominari, ut ad ejus perfectionem pertineat etiam ipsius imperfectionis et in yeritate

332 Of Christ alone without Sin. Art. as we all do daily experience, our ‘graces and duties are all imperfect, and so far as they are imperfect they must needs be sinful; not as if the imperfect graces or duties themselves were sinful graces and duties, but only the imperfections of those graces and duties are all sinful imperfections, which must be through Christ forgiven to us, before any duty can be accepted from us. And therefore, not only the worst of sinners, but even the best of saints must still acknowledge, that whilst on earth he hath sin as well as grace, and must never expect till he comes to heaven to have grace without sin. No, there is none but Christ that ever on earth was so holy as not to be sinful: all others are sinful as well as holy, if not sinful only and not holy.

And if we consult the Fathers, this was their settled judg- ment too, that all mortals are sinners, except Christ. Justin Martyr calls him, i“ That only unreprovable just man.” And

Clemens Alexandrinus saith, * “ But he (Christ) was alto- .

gether free from human passions. And therefore is he alone judge, because he is alone without sin. But we, by what strength we have, strive to avoid the least sins.” And again, 1“ The Word alone is without sin, for to sin is natural and common to all.” Whence Gregory Nazianzen: ™“ Not to sin at all, God hath ordained it (as a privilege) above the human nature.” And St. Ambrose, ” “ In that thou con- fessest thou offendest, in this thou hast common fellowship with all, for none is without sin; to deny this is sacrilege.” °“ For who can glory, saith St. Hilary, “that he hath a

agnitio, et in humilitate confessio. Clem. Alex. Pedagog. 1.1. ¢. 2.

Tune enim est secundum hance in- firmitatem pro ‘suo modulo perfecta ista parva justitia, quando etiam quid sibi desit intelligit. Aug. con- tra duas epist Pelag. 1. 3. [19. vol. X.] V. et Salon. in Proverb.

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n Quod lapsum fateris, in eo tibi cum omnibus commune consortium: quia nemo sine peccato. Negare hoc sacrilegium. Ambros. in Ps. 118. [p. 1254. vol. I.]

© Quis enim gloriabitur castum se habere cor coram Deo, nec si

XV. Of Christ alone without Sin. 333 chaste heart before God? nay, though he be an infant of one day old, seeing, according to the apostle, both the origin and law of sin remaineth in us.”

Gregory Nyssen also tells us: P‘ Wherefore to have no- thing of what our adversary possesseth is the privilege of the Lord alone, who was partaker with us of his passions, yet without sin.” And Theodorus Abucara: 4“ But there is none but Christ alone who was ever perfectly and altogether free from tasting of sin. But every sin, be it what it will, brings forth death.”

Cyril of Alexandria to the same purpose: * “ Christ was the first and the only man upon earth that did not commit sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” And Cassianus very sharply : s “ This thing therefore, viz. to be without sin, which is singular and proper to Christ alone, he will with the fault of blasphemous pride challenge to himself an equality in, who- soever dare profess himself to be without sin ; for then it will

‘follow that he must say, that he hath the likeness of sinful flesh only, and not the truth of sin.”

St. Augustine hath also delivered his opinion in this case very plainly. ‘‘* Perhaps,” saith he, “it is not without cause, that when we often find in scripture that men are said to be without complaint, we can find none said to be without sin, but that one alone of whom it is openly said, him who did not know sin.” And elsewhere he propounds this question,

tov. Cyril. Alex. de recta fide, ad Theodosium. [p. 18. par. ii. vol. V. | 8 Hujus ergo rei, que illi tantum

unius diei fuerit infans, manente in nobis etiam secundum apostolum et origine et lege peccati? Hilar. in

Ps. lvii. [4. p. 129. ]

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singularis ac propria est, sequalita- tem sibi blasphemiz superbie cri- mine vindicabit, quisquis se esse sine peccato ausus fuerit profiteri. Con- sequens enim est, ut similitudinem carnis peccati, et non veritatem pec- cati habere se dicat. Cassian. Col- lat\22.¢3 12.

t Non fortasse sine causa cum ali- quoties in scripturis inveniatur, ho- mines dictos esse sine querela, non invenitur qui sit dictus sine peccato, nisi unus solus de quo aperte dictum est, ewm qui non noverat peccatum.

Aug. de nat. et grat. [15. vol. X.]

334 Of Christ alone without Sin. Arr. XV. «« Whether not only there is some of the children of men, but whether there could ever have been any heretofore, or can any be hereafter, who never had or never will have any sin at all?” And he answers immediately, “It is most certain there is none, never was, nor ever will be any such at all, besides the one Mediator betwixt God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” And presently: « “If therefore these things be true that we have spoken so largely concerning infants, there neither is among the children of men, nor was, nor will be any without sin, except the one Mediator, in whom propitia- tion and justification is placed for us, whereby, the enmities of our sins being destroyed, we are reconciled to God.” And to the same purpose doth the same Father begin his book of the Spirit and Letter, with which I shall end this article. y“ Having read,” saith he, “the works I sent lately to you, my dearest son Marcelline, concerning the baptism of infants, and the perfection of the righteousness of man, that none in this life ever did or ever will attain unto it, except the one Mediator who suffered human passions in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without any sin at all.” So clear and full is this with the rest of the Fathers, in determining what is here asserted, that Christ was alone without sin.-

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x Jdeo si illa vera sunt que tam multa de parvulis diximus, nec est in filiis hominum quisquam, nec fuit, nec erit (sine peccato) excepto

uno Mediatore, in quo nobis pro- pitiatio et justificatio posita est, per quam, finitis inimicitiis peccatorum, reconciliamur Deo. Ibid.

y Lectis opusculis que ad te nuper elaboravi, fili charissime Marcelline, de baptismo parvulorum et de per- fectione justitiz hominis, quod eam nemo in hac vita vel assecutus, vel assecuturus videatur, excepto uno Mediatore, qui humana perpessus est in similitudine carnis peccati, sine ullo omnino peccato, Id. de spiritu et litera, ad Marcellinum,

e. 1. [vol. X.]

Notes

• Ttem placuit quod ait S. Johan- nes apostolus, Si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus nos ipsos seducimus et veritas in nobis non est, quisquis sic accipiendum puta- verit, ut dicat, propter humilitatem oportere dici, nos habere peccatum, non quia veritas est, anathema sit. Concil. Milevit. 2. can. 6. [p. 1218. vol. I.]
• . can. 2. [vol. II.]