On Grace & Free Choice

by Bernard of Clairvaux

Publisher:

Cistercian Publications

, 2008

Overview

Bernard ponders a question dear to early Scholasticism and the Reformation: How far can the fallen human person cooperate in salvation?

Contents

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)

Product Details

• Title: On Grace & Free Choice
• Author: Bernard of Clairvaux
• Publisher: Cistercian Publications
• Print Publication Date: 2008
• Logos Release Date: 2020
• Pages: 116
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Grace (Theology) › Early works to 1800; Free will and determinism › Early works to 1800
• Resource ID: LLS:BCGRACEFREECHOICE
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T19:11:47Z

About Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) was a French abbot, confessor, saint, and Doctor of the Church. He is honored as a founder of the Cistercian order because of his role in popularizing the order in the twelfth century. He takes his name from a monastery he founded on June 25, 1115—soon after joining the Cistercians. He named the monastery Claire Vallée, which evolved into Clairvaux. St. Bernard spent 40 years in cloister, but wielded considerable influence in the Church during that time—working to end a schism, combat heresy, and start the Second Crusade. After his death, he was canonized by Pope Alexander III in 1174. His numerous theological writings are so timeless and powerful that they earned him the title of Doctor of the Church in 1830, and Pope Pius XII wrote an encyclical on him, Doctor Mellifluus, in 1953.