Whether All Sins Are Taken Away by Penance?
Objection 1: It would seem that not all sins are taken away by
Penance. For the Apostle says (Heb. 12:17) that Esau "found no place
of repentance, although with tears he had sought it," which a gloss
explains as meaning that "he found no place of pardon and blessing
through Penance": and it is related (2 Macc. 9:13) of Antiochus, that
"this wicked man prayed to the Lord, of Whom he was not to obtain
mercy." Therefore it does not seem that all sins are taken away by
Penance.
Obj. 2: Further, Augustine says (De Serm. Dom. in Monte i) that "so
great is the stain of that sin (namely, when a man, after coming to
the knowledge of God through the grace of Christ, resists fraternal
charity, and by the brands of envy combats grace itself) that he is
unable to humble himself in prayer, although he is forced by his
wicked conscience to acknowledge and confess his sin." Therefore not
every sin can be taken away by Penance.
Obj. 3: Further, our Lord said (Matt. 12:32): "He that shall speak
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this
world nor in the world to come." Therefore not every sin can be
pardoned through Penance.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Ezech. 18:22): "I will not
remember" any more "all his iniquities that he hath done."
_I answer that,_ The fact that a sin cannot be taken away by Penance
may happen in two ways: first, because of the impossibility of
repenting of sin; secondly, because of Penance being unable to blot
out a sin. In the first way the sins of the demons and of men who are
lost, cannot be blotted out by Penance, because their will is
confirmed in evil, so that sin cannot displease them as to its guilt,
but only as to the punishment which they suffer, by reason of which
they have a kind of repentance, which yet is fruitless, according to
Wis. 5:3: "Repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit."
Consequently such Penance brings no hope of pardon, but only despair.
Nevertheless no sin of a wayfarer can be such as that, because his
will is flexible to good and evil. Wherefore to say that in this life
there is any sin of which one cannot repent, is erroneous, first,
because this would destroy free-will, secondly, because this would be
derogatory to the power of grace, whereby the heart of any sinner
whatsoever can be moved to repent, according to Prov. 21:1: "The
heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever He will
He shall turn it."
It is also erroneous to say that any sin cannot be pardoned through
true Penance. First, because this is contrary to Divine mercy, of
which it is written (Joel 2:13) that God is "gracious and merciful,
patient, and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil"; for, in
a manner, God would be overcome by man, if man wished a sin to be
blotted out, which God were unwilling to blot out. Secondly, because
this would be derogatory to the power of Christ's Passion, through
which Penance produces its effect, as do the other sacraments, since
it is written (1 John 2:2): "He is the propitiation for our sins, and
not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."
Therefore we must say simply that, in this life, every sin can be
blotted out by true Penance.
Reply Obj. 1: Esau did not truly repent. This is evident from his
saying (Gen. 27:41): "The days will come of the mourning of my
father, and I will kill my brother Jacob." Likewise neither did
Antiochus repent truly; since he grieved for his past sin, not
because he had offended God thereby, but on account of the sickness
which he suffered in his body.
Reply Obj. 2: These words of Augustine should be understood thus: "So
great is the stain of that sin, that man is unable to humble himself
in prayer," i.e. it is not easy for him to do so; in which sense we
say that a man cannot be healed, when it is difficult to heal him.
Yet this is possible by the power of God's grace, which sometimes
turns men even "into the depths of the sea" (Ps. 67:23).
Reply Obj. 3: The word or blasphemy spoken against the Holy Ghost is
final impenitence, as Augustine states (De Verb. Dom. xi), which is
altogether unpardonable, because after this life is ended, there is
no pardon of sins. Or, if by the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, we
understand sin committed through certain malice, this means either
that the blasphemy itself against the Holy Ghost is unpardonable,
i.e. not easily pardonable, or that such a sin does not contain in
itself any motive for pardon, or that for such a sin a man is
punished both in this and in the next world, as we explained in the
Second Part (III, Q. 14, A. 3).
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