A Treatise on Grace and Free Will.

Translated by ANF/NPNF editors

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About this edition

(English) · Translated by ANF/NPNF editors

Contents 52 sections

Title Page.Front matter
Extract from Augustin’s Retractations.
Two Letters Written by Augustin to Valentinus and the Monks of Adrumetum.
Letter I
Letter II
Abstract.
The Occasion and Argument of This Work.
He Proves the Existence of Free Will in Man from the Precepts Addressed to Him by God.
Sinners are Convicted When Attempting to Excuse Themselves by Blaming God, Because They Have Free Will.
The Divine Commands Which are Most Suited to the Will Itself Illustrate Its Freedom.
He Shows that Ignorance Affords No Such Excuse as Shall Free the Offender from Punishment; But that to Sin with Knowledge is a Graver Thing Than to Sin in Ignorance.
God’s Grace to Be Maintained Against the Pelagians; The Pelagian Heresy Not an Old One.
Grace is Necessary Along with Free Will to Lead a Good Life.
Conjugal Chastity is Itself the Gift of God.
Entering into Temptation. Prayer is a Proof of Grace.
Free Will and God’s Grace are Simultaneously Commended.
Other Passages of Scripture Which the Pelagians Abuse.
He Proves Out of St. Paul that Grace is Not Given According to Men’s Merits.
The Grace of God is Not Given According to Merit, But Itself Makes All Good Desert.
Paul First Received Grace that He Might Win the Crown.
The Pelagians Profess that the Only Grace Which is Not Given According to Our Merits is that of the Forgiveness of Sins.
Paul Fought, But God Gave the Victory: He Ran, But God Showed Mercy.
The Faith that He Kept Was the Free Gift of God.
Faith Without Good Works is Not Sufficient for Salvation.
How is Eternal Life Both a Reward for Service and a Free Gift of Grace?
The Question Answered. Justification is Grace Simply and Entirely, Eternal Life is Reward and Grace.
Eternal Life is 'Grace for Grace.'
Who is the Transgressor of the Law? The Oldness of Its Letter. The Newness of Its Spirit.
The Pelagians Maintain that the Law is the Grace of God Which Helps Us Not to Sin.
Who May Be Said to Wish to Establish Their Own Righteousness. ‘God’s Righteousness,’ So Called, Which Man Has from God.
As The Law is Not, So Neither is Our Nature Itself that Grace by Which We are Christians.
The Pelagians Contend that the Grace, Which is Neither the Law Nor Nature, Avails Only to the Remission of Past Sins, But Not to the Avoidance of Future Ones.
Grace Effects the Fulfilment of the Law, the Deliverance of Nature, and the Suppression of Sin’s Dominion.
Faith is the Gift of God.
God is Able to Convert Opposing Wills, and to Take Away from the Heart Its Hardness.
The Grace by Which the Stony Heart is Removed is Not Preceded by Good Deserts, But by Evil Ones.
Free Will Has Its Function in the Heart’s Conversion; But Grace Too Has Its.
In What Sense It is Rightly Said That, If We Like, We May Keep God’s Commandments.
A Good Will May Be Small and Weak; An Ample Will, Great Love. Operating and Co-operating Grace.
The Apostle’s Eulogy of Love. Correction to Be Administered with Love.
Commendations of Love.
Love Commended by Our Lord Himself.
The Love Which Fulfils the Commandments is Not of Ourselves, But of God.
We Would Not Love God Unless He First Loved Us. The Apostles Chose Christ Because They Were Chosen; They Were Not Chosen Because They Chose Christ.
The Spirit of Fear a Great Gift of God.
The Ignorance of the Pelagians in Maintaining that the Knowledge of the Law Comes from God, But that Love Comes from Ourselves.
The Wills of Men are So Much in the Power of God, that He Can Turn Them Whithersoever It Pleases Him.
God Does Whatsoever He Wills in the Hearts of Even Wicked Men.
God Operates on Men’s Hearts to Incline Their Wills Whithersoever He Pleases.
Gratuitous Grace Exemplified in Infants.
The Reason Why One Person is Assisted by Grace, and Another is Not Helped, Must Be Referred to the Secret Judgments of God.
Understanding and Wisdom Must Be Sought from God.

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