On Grace & Free Choice
Overview
Bernard ponders a question dear to early Scholasticism and the Reformation: How far can the fallen human person cooperate in salvation?
Top Highlights
“De gratia et libero arbitrio, On Grace and Free Choice. It is important to note that it is the term ‘free choice’ (liberum arbitrium) and not ‘free will’ (libera voluntas) which is the operative one in Bernard and throughout most of the period in question. The problem was essentially that of man’s ability to perform free acts.” (Page 8)
“God is the author of salvation, the free willing faculty merely capable of receiving it. None but God can give it, nothing but free choice receive it. What, therefore, is given by God alone and to free choice alone, can no more happen without the recipient’s consent than without the bestower’s grace.” (Page 54)
“in the history of the theological problem of grace and free will.” (Page 6)
“What part do you play, then, … or what reward or prize do you hope for, if it is all God’s work?” (Page 7)