Augustine and
his disciples reply that it has no sufficient grace until God is
pleased to bestow it. Next come the Jesuits, and they say that all
have the effectually sufficient graces. The Dominicans are consulted
on this contrariety of opinion; and what course do they pursue? They
unite with the Jesuits; by this coalition they make up a majority;
they secede from those who deny these sufficient graces; they
declare that all men possess them. Who, on hearing this, would imagine
anything else than that they gave their sanction to the opinion of the
Jesuits? And then they add that, nevertheless, these said sufficient
graces are perfectly useless without the efficacious, which are not
given to all!
"Shall I present you with a picture of the Church amidst these
conflicting sentiments? I consider her very like a man who, leaving
his native country on a journey, is encountered by robbers, who
inflict many wounds on him and leave him half dead. He sends for three
physicians resident in the neighboring towns. The first, on probing
his wounds, pronounces them mortal and assures him that none but God
can restore to him his lost powers. The second, coming after the
other, chooses to flatter the man- tells him that he has still
sufficient strength to reach his home; and, abusing the first
physician who opposed his advice, determines upon his ruin. In this
dilemma, the poor patient, observing the third medical gentleman at
a distance, stretches out his hands to him as the person who should
determine the controversy.
Pages:
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34