CHAPTER XXIV. GOD'S VERACITY THE BASIS OF CATHOLIC DOGMA AND BELIEF; THE DOGMA IN THIS CASE IS THAT THERE IS A HELL, OR STATE OF ETERNAL CONDEMNATION. The Latin "Infernus," with its Hebrew and Greek Equivalents, Denotes the Eternal Abode of Angels and Men Excluded from Heaven.-Sin the Cause of this Deprivation. The Penalty is Never-Ending, because the Subjects of it are Immortal.-All Penalties Proportioned to Demerit.-Angels Constituted in a State of Probation to Win or Lose the Higher Beatitude.-The Human Race Similarly Constituted.-The Kingdom of Heaven Forfeited by Original Sin.-Christ Reopens the Door of the Kingdom, with Probation for Each and All.-Such Probation Ends with this Earthly Life in the Body.-Original Sin, in the Case of Infants, the Cause of Exclusion from Heaven.-Rigid View of Original Sin.-Milder and More Common View.-Punishment of Actual Sin.-The Rigid View.-Milder Views of some Theologians.—Mitigation or Partial Condonation Advocated by some Theologians.-Views of the Greeks.-Theory of St. Gregory of Nyssa.-St. Augustine on the Good which Remains in the Reprobate. By the Very Rev. AUGUSTINE F. HEWIT, D.D., Roman Catholic, Superior of the Paulist Institute, New York, Author of Problems of the Age, etc. WHAT I propose in the present paper is, chiefly, to explain what is taught in the system of dogmatic theology derived from the Fathers and the great Latin schoolmen, respecting the essential dogma of Catholic faith, in regard to eternal punishment. This exposition will, however, lead to some consideration of various doctrinal commentaries upon the essential dogma, and of certain aspects of Greek theology. The criterion by which dogmas of Catholic faith are determined is the clear and distinct teaching of the Church that the respective doctrines are revealed truths, and therefore to be firmly believed, by divine faith in the veracity of God. The Catholic dogma is simply and strictly this, no less, and no those which are special to the terrestrial state as one of probationary and mixed character, does not determine anything positive respecting the physical, mental, or moral constituents of this outlying world, as a part of the natural order. The elements of good and evil, felicity and misery, their proportions and circumstances, the actual modus vivendi, in its diverse conditions, of this multitude of rational beings, are left vague and undetermined. They can only be determined by reference to other doctrines. The relation of rational nature to a supernatural end must be determined, before one can form a reasonable concept of the state of immortal existence without any power or means of attaining this end. The nature of sin, and the proportion between sin and punishment, must be apprehended, before we can understand what is involved in the notion of a state of eternal condemnation. The only rational beings of whom we know that they exist and that they were destined to a supernatural end culminating in the beatific vision of God, are those pure spirits commonly called angels, and the human race of Adam. It is the Catholic doctrine that the angels were created and constituted in a state of grace; which was an inchoate beatitude, enabling them to rise to a state of confirmed sanctity and perfect beatitude, by the acts of their intelligence and free-will. They were placed in a way of trial and probation, to win or lose the crown of glory proffered to them. Some were faithful and won the crown they can never lose; others were faithless, and lost the crown which they will never have another opportunity of winning. Adam at his creation was constituted in sanctifying grace, integrity of nature, inchoate beatitude, with power to attain confirmed sanctity and perfect beatitude by the acts of his intelligence and free-will. Besides his own individual privileges and rights, which he must forfeit if he were disobedient to the law of his Creator, he had the right of transmitting the same to his posterity, likewise subject to forfeiture as the penalty of disobedience. He was disobedient, and thus forfeited all the privileges of person and race which depended on his fidelity to the conditions of this first probation. The right to the kingdom of heaven was the chief of all these boons of divine grace, which he lost for himself and all his posterity. All men are, by reason of their origin, under this condemnation, which is by its own nature eternal. Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, has re-opened the shut door of the kingdom of heaven to mankind. In this new order of grace, each individual must be singly regenerated, and, if he attain the full exercise of reason, bear the burden and meet the risks of a personal probation. The unregenerate are excluded from the kingdom of heaven. Those who come to the end of this probation, which finishes with this earthly life in the body, in the state of actual, mortal sin, descend into hell, their eternal abode, and receive a punishment proportioned to their sins. When we look into the Latin theologians for the amplification and explanation of the dogmatic doctrine which all hold as of divine and Catholic faith, we do not find unanimous consent in respect to all important points. In respect to original sin and its eternal consequences, rigid and severe opinions have had more or less currency at different periods, and have been opposed by others which are much more mild and lenient. The first class of authors magnify original sin. They treat of it as something like a minimized actual sin, a positive habit which produces aversion from God, a real though not a total depravation of human nature, as an object of the divine displeasure, and as a real ill-desert. It is a natural consequence from this view of original sin, that the state of infants who die unregenerate should be regarded as one which is more or less miserable. Those who assert an innate need and longing for the intuitive vision of God in rational nature, must deny the possibility of an order of pure nature which is normal and final, and therefore reject the idea of natural beatitude. Those rational creatures who are deprived of supernatural beatitude must therefore suffer, at least from sadness and a sense of loss. Some have supposed that a latent hatred of God, a principle of active wickedness, breaks out in such souls as soon as they become devel |