The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-01-11

For he that cometh to God, must be-
lieve that He is, and Is a rewarder to
them that seek Him" (Heb. XII, g..
Wilfully to turn from the light that
would lead to God is to incur damna-
ton. But we cannot say what amount
of light has been thrown across their
path, or to what extent they have
turned from it. "Unbelief,' writes ST.
Thomas, may be understood in two
ways; in one way as mere negat1on,
so that man is called an unbeliever
simply from not having the Faith In
another way, unbelief may be under
stood as signifying contrary opposition
to the Faith, whereby one stands out
against the hearing of the Faith or
even despises faith; and in this the
proper and complete essence OF I'M
belief consists; and thus understood,
unbelief is a sin. But if it is taken for
pure negation, as in those who have
heard nothing of the Faith, it has not
the character of sin, but rather of
a penalty, inasmuch as such ignor-
ance of divine things is a consequence
of the sin of our first parent. Unbe-
levers of this class are damned for
other sins that cannot be forgiven
without faith [St Thomas is sup
posing that they do commit such
grievous sins1, but they are not
damned for the sin of unbelief." 1t
may not be easy for us to understand
how God draws them out of the
shadow of death into the light of
faith; or how He forgives them their
sins; but what we do know of Gods
mercy forbids us to say that He does
not enlighten them or forgive them.
st. Paul, dealing with this very ques-
ton in the Epistle to the Romans,
throws a flood of light on Gods deal
ings with the heather. He speaks OF
one master-law, that controls life in
every part-"the law that man makes
or unmakes himself for eternity by
his deeds" God will render to
every man according to his works.
To them indeed, who according to
patience in good work, seek glory, and
honor, and immortality, eternal life.
But to them that are contentious, and
who obey not the truth, but give
credit to iniquity, wrath and indigna-
ton. Tribulation and anguish upon
every soul of man that worketh evil,
of the Jew first, also of the Greek
THAT is, the Gentle, the heathen].
But glory, and honor, and peace to
every one that worketh good, to the
Jew first and also to the Greek. For
there is no respect of persons with
God" (Rom. ii, GID. We see lmme-
diately the justice and the mercy OF
this law of freedom that embraces all
tribes and tongues and peoples: it
fits in so obviously with our sense OF
right which requires that men shall
be treated, each individually, accord.
ing to the light of faith they have re-
ceived, the power they had to keep
the law, and the use they have made
of that power Equal justice is meas
ured out to Jew and Gentle, believer
and unbeliever. There cannot be
favoritism with God. He gives, in
deed, according to His good pleasure:
but in the final Judgment how can He
exact that for which He gave no op.
portunity? How demand the impos'
sible?
The theological axiom, God does
not deny grace to him who does what
is in his power to do" applies to un
believers, and gives us some insight
into the workings of Gods providence
in their regard. To quote Archbishop
Carr, First, when an infidel arrives
at the use of reason, he cannot fai
to observe in the visible world about
him evident proofs of wonderful pow
er, of admirable order, and of super
human wisdom. His reason tells hin
that such effects could not exist with
out a sufficient cause, and that the
cause or Creator must be worthy o.
his worship. Then God, by His actua
grace, supernaturally enlightens hi:
mind and moves his will to make
further enquiry. If the infidel co
operates with this first grace, anC
seeks to know more Got
further aids him by His grace till he il
brought to at least knowledge o
those articles of faith that are abso
: lutely necessary for salvation.
We do not presume to limit the means
) by which the Almighty may effec
His purpose. There are a Thousand
means beyond our ken by which CO.
may lead him to a knowledge of thu
, necessary articles of faith. Havin;
the grace of faith, God will next lea
him to the grace Of justification
either through the Sacrament of Bar
. tism, or by the baptism of desire
After justification God give
the special graces that are requires
for perseverance, and thus in ever
stage of his salvation the axiom i
/ verified: God does not deny grac
to him who does what is in his powe
t to do" If, on the other hand, the in
fidel should fail to correspond wit
, any of these graces that are so man
links in the golden chain intende
ultimately to bind him to God, b
may, without any violation of justice
or any want of mercy on Gods par
i be left in his infidelity or in his sir
and be lost. However, we may we
0 believe that even after a first, and
second, and a third failure, God wi
d continue to offer him, through life
the same graces that had been prev
ously rejected, so that if he is ult
mately lost, his destruction will b
the work of his own wilful perversity