Whether by Penance One Sin Can Be Pardoned Without Another?
Objection 1: It would seem that by Penance one sin can be pardoned
without another. For it is written (Amos 4:7): "I caused it to rain
upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city; one piece
was rained upon: and the piece whereupon I rained not, withered."
These words are expounded by Gregory, who says (Hom. x super Ezech.):
"When a man who hates his neighbor, breaks himself of other vices,
rain falls on one part of the city, leaving the other part withered,
for there are some men who, when they prune some vices, become much
more rooted in others." Therefore one sin can be forgiven by Penance,
without another.
Obj. 2: Further, Ambrose in commenting on Ps. 118, "Blessed are the
undefiled in the way," after expounding verse 136 ("My eyes have sent
forth springs of water"), says that "the first consolation is that
God is mindful to have mercy; and the second, that He punishes, for
although faith be wanting, punishment makes satisfaction and raises
us up." Therefore a man can be raised up from one sin, while the sin
of unbelief remains.
Obj. 3: Further, when several things are not necessarily together,
one can be removed without the other. Now it was stated in the Second
Part (I-II, Q. 73, A. 1) that sins are not connected together, so
that one sin can be without another. Therefore also one sin can be
taken away by Penance without another being taken away.
Obj. 4: Further, sins are the debts, for which we pray for pardon
when we say in the Lord's Prayer: "Forgive us our trespasses," etc.
Now man sometimes forgives one debt without forgiving another.
Therefore God also, by Penance, forgives one sin without another.
Obj. 5: Further, man's sins are forgiven him through the love of God,
according to Jer. 31:3: "I have loved thee with an everlasting love,
therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee." Now there is
nothing to hinder God from loving a man in one respect, while being
offended with him in another, even as He loves the sinner as regards
his nature, while hating him for his sin. Therefore it seems possible
for God, by Penance, to pardon one sin without another.
_On the contrary,_ Augustine says in _De Poenitentia_ [*De vera et
falsa Poenitentia, the authorship of which is unknown]: "There are
many who repent having sinned, but not completely; for they except
certain things which give them pleasure, forgetting that our Lord
delivered from the devil the man who was both dumb and deaf, whereby
He shows us that we are never healed unless it be from all sins."
_I answer that,_ It is impossible for Penance to take one sin away
without another. First because sin is taken away by grace removing
the offense against God. Wherefore it was stated in the Second Part
(I-II, Q. 109, A. 7; Q. 113, A. 2) that without grace no sin can be
forgiven. Now every mortal sin is opposed to grace and excludes it.
Therefore it is impossible for one sin to be pardoned without
another. Secondly, because, as shown above (A. 2) mortal sin cannot
be forgiven without true Penance, to which it belongs to renounce
sin, by reason of its being against God, which is common to all
mortal sins: and where the same reason applies, the result will be
the same. Consequently a man cannot be truly penitent, if he repent
of one sin and not of another. For if one particular sin were
displeasing to him, because it is against the love of God above all
things (which motive is necessary for true repentance), it follows
that he would repent of all. Whence it follows that it is impossible
for one sin to be pardoned through Penance, without another. Thirdly,
because this would be contrary to the perfection of God's mercy,
since His works are perfect, as stated in Deut. 32:4; wherefore
whomsoever He pardons, He pardons altogether. Hence Augustine says
[*De vera et falsa Poenitentia, the authorship of which is unknown],
that "it is irreverent and heretical to expect half a pardon from Him
Who is just and justice itself."
Reply Obj. 1: These words of Gregory do not refer to the forgiveness
of the guilt, but to the cessation from act, because sometimes a man
who has been wont to commit several kinds of sin, renounces one and
not the other; which is indeed due to God's assistance, but does not
reach to the pardon of the sin.
Reply Obj. 2: In this saying of Ambrose "faith" cannot denote the
faith whereby we believe in Christ, because, as Augustine says on
John 15:22, "If I had not come, and spoken to them, they would not
have sin" (viz. unbelief): "for this is the sin which contains all
others": but it stands for consciousness, because sometimes a man
receives pardon for a sin of which he is not conscious, through the
punishment which he bears patiently.
Reply Obj. 3: Although sins are not connected in so far as they turn
towards a mutable good, yet they are connected in so far as they turn
away from the immutable Good, which applies to all mortal sins in
common; and it is thus that they have the character of an offense
which needs to be removed by Penance.
Reply Obj. 4: Debt as regards external things, e.g. money, is not
opposed to friendship through which the debt is pardoned; hence one
debt can be condoned without another. On the other hand, the debt of
sin is opposed to friendship, and so one sin or offense is not
pardoned without another; for it would seem absurd for anyone to ask
even a man to forgive him one offense and not another.
Reply Obj. 5: The love whereby God loves man's nature, does not
ordain man to the good of glory from which man is excluded by any
mortal sin; but the love of grace, whereby mortal sin is forgiven,
ordains man to eternal life, according to Rom. 6:23: "The grace of
God (is) life everlasting." Hence there is no comparison.
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