The treasury of merits in Bonaventure and the decretists; three arguments for the opinion; how one may make satisfaction for another

"Secondly, the merit of Christ cooperates in the sacraments and the power of the keys, and by this a part of the punishment is remitted. And thirdly, merit for fleeing evil arises by virtue of the church’s unity. And correspondingly there arises a threefold pardon of punishment, so that thus mercy may run with justice. And in each such pardon there is an exchangecommutacio; commutare: exchange; to exchange of the greater into the less: hence eternal punishment is first 555changed into temporal in the remission of punishment and guilt; secondly, temporal punishment, great and beyond one’s strength, is changed into a punishment suited to one’s strength in the priest’s absolution; and thirdly the punishment which falls to the judgment of the churchecclesia: church is exchanged, by relaxation, into a lesser, in virtue of the residue of the merits of the church." And all these originate from the merit of Christ’s passion and satisfaction, nowhere prejudicing justice.¹² And so he says that indulgences are made from the merits of supererogation of the membersmembrum: member of the church, which treasury it belongs to bishops alone to dispense, at least publicly, because they are vicars succeeding in the place of Christ, the elder brother who died, that they may raise up his seed by begetting spiritual sons for him.³ And each of these doctors replies to the objectionsinstancia; objectum: objection to the contrary.

And the doctors of the decrees often inculcate that teachingsentencia: CONTEXTUAL: teaching / sentence, holding that an indulgence is a liberal and gracious gift from the treasury of the church, made by the vicar of Christvicarius Christi: vicar of Christ to sinners for their punishments, to which they are bound in justice. "This treasury," they say, "is the abundance of merits which many saints have paid out beyond the measure of their debts, and the tribulations which they unjustly bore; of which merits so great is the plenty that it exceeds all punishment owed to the living; and especially the passion and merit of Christ, of whom the least drop of blood or sweat would suffice for the expiation of all sins: these and other goods he paid out beyond what was owed, all of which are placed in the coffer of Christ’s breast as the treasury of the church."⁴ This teaching is clear from William in De reliquiis et veneracione sanctorum, chapter 5. And it is clear 556how the decretists took this teaching from the theologians; and if it is groundless and a principle of error for the faithful, the gravity of the sin in the authors of that fictionficticia: fiction is clear.⁵

In this matter I shall proceed thus: first I shall ground, or give colour tocolorare: give colour to, the possibility and probability of that teaching; secondly I shall object in many ways against it; and thirdly I shall say what seems to me probably to be maintained.⁶

As to the first, I argue thus: not only can God, of his absolute powerpotencia absoluta: absolute power, remit any sins whatever even without satisfaction, but one can, in the common course, make satisfaction for another; and consequently God can commit to his vicar the power of dispensing in this way against any sins whatever. This granted, it is urged in three ways that he does so: first, because the headcaput: head of the church, for whom Christ prayed (Luke 22:32) that his faith fail not, claims to do so in fact; now it would be an intolerable error if in this he strayed from the faith, just as it would be a most damnable folly for the members of the church to impose this on him; therefore it is to be presumed that this deed is catholic.⁷

Again, in Matthew 16:19 Christ granted to Peter and to each of his vicars singly the plenitude of powerplenitudo potestatis: plenitude of power, saying: "Whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." Since, then, the lord popepapa: pope so looses and binds on earth, it seems from the gospel that proportionately it is done in heaven; for otherwise the faith of the church would totter.⁸

Again, God left one head in the church for deciding doubts, who cannot be held to be anyone but Peter’s vicar; therefore it remains for him to decide this difficulty; now since his deed is the most manifest interpreter of his meaning, it seems that by the deed he teaches this to be 557catholic. Who, I ask, would judge the pope with his convent to err?⁹

The assumptionassumptum: the assumption of the first argument, then, is shown thus. It must be believed, as faith teachesex fide: as faith teaches; with a genitive, from the faith of [scripture], that Christ made satisfaction for all his members, just as by virtue of the communion of saints each member of the church has made satisfaction for another, since the apostle says in Galatians 6:2: "Bear ye one another’s burdens"; therefore by the same token it is possible for the blessed church to make satisfaction for one on the roadviantes: those on the road. Again, it is possible for one to bring condemnation on another, as is clear of the first parents and of many others, on account of their heads and associates who were accused. Since, then, God is more prone to reward than to punish, it seems that it is possible for one to make satisfaction for another.¹⁰ For thus the arm naturally exposes itself for the head; much more in the mystical body of Christcorpus Christi misticum: the mystical body of Christ, where it is bound more strongly, it seems that one member ought, by making satisfaction, to bear the weight of another, according to that of the Apostle, 2 Corinthians 11:29: "Who is weak, and I am not weak?" Again, God is freer to receive satisfaction from his debtors than his servant from his debtors; now a man often reasonably receives the debt of one by the pure satisfaction of another; therefore it is possible for God, most free, to do this. If, then, a creditor kindly accepts a talent owed by Peter from the pure satisfaction of Paul paying it for him, much more God the merciful. If, then, one in grace obtainsimpetrare: obtain (by request) for another the remission of guilt, which is greater, he can more evidently obtain for him the remission of punishment, which is less. This position, therefore, is pious, consoling to the faithful and honouring to the clergy.¹¹

First, then, this conclusionconclusio: conclusion is to be granted: that it is possible for one to make satisfaction for another. But it must be noted 558that this can be understood in three ways: first participatively, by making satisfaction for one’s own share; secondly helpingly, by co-causing the whole satisfaction in one wholly other; and thirdly of oneself, without the concurrence of the other, by making satisfaction for the whole debt.¹² An example of the first is in the assumption of human nature by Christ in an individual, and the completion of the first-fruits of the whole debt of the human race for sin. An example of the second is how not only Christ but other members help toward the full satisfaction of their brethren; and in the third way one makes satisfaction for the particular debt of another to a particular creditor.¹³ In each of the first two satisfactions the debtor must concur; so that, although Christ made himself the human nature which owed God satisfaction for the sin of the first man, yet that satisfaction could not profit the members unless, by the help of the head, they disposed themselves actively to receive the medicine, or at least to pay together the service owed; so much so that an infant of one day, dying in grace, is first baptized by the Spiritbaptismus flaminis: baptism of the Spirit, secondly serves God meritoriously, and so thirdly shares in the fruit of the heavenly medicine.¹⁴

And so to the first it is clear that the conclusion is to be granted, but¹⁵

let us not believe that Christ made satisfaction for the debt of that