Pints With Aquinas - 12: Was the crucifixion necessary for our salvation?

Episode Date: June 21, 2016

  Article 2. Whether there was any other possible way of human deliverance besides the Passion of Christ? Objection 1. It would seem that there was no other possible way of human deliverance besides Christ's Passion. For our Lord says (John 12:24): "Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground dieth, itself remaineth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Upon this St. Augustine (Tract. li) observes that "Christ called Himself the seed." Consequently, unless He suffered death, He would not otherwise have produced the fruit of ourredemption. Objection 2. Further, our Lord addresses the Father (Matthew 26:42): "My Father, if this chalice may not pass away but I must drink it, Thy will be done." But He spoke there of the chalice of the Passion. Therefore Christ's Passion could not pass away; hence Hilary says (Comm. 31 in Matth.): "Therefore the chalice cannot pass except He drink of it, because we cannot be restored except through His Passion." Objection 3. Further, God's justice required that Christ should satisfy by the Passion in order that man might be delivered from sin. But Christ cannot let His justice pass; for it is written (2 Timothy 2:13): "If we believe not, He continueth faithful, He cannot deny Himself." But He would deny Himself were He to deny His justice, since He is justiceitself. It seems impossible, then, for man to be delivered otherwise than by Christ's Passion. Objection 4. Further, there can be no falsehood underlying faith. But the Fathers of old believed that Christ would suffer. Consequently, it seems that it had to be that Christ should suffer. On the contrary, Augustine says (De Trin. xiii): "We assert that the way whereby God deigned to deliver us by the manJesus Christ, who is mediator between God and man, is both good and befitting the Divine dignity; but let us also show that other possible means were not lacking on God's part, to whose power all things are equally subordinate." I answer that, A thing may be said to be possible or impossible in two ways: first of all, simply and absolutely; or secondly, from supposition. Therefore, speaking simply and absolutely, it was possible for God to deliver mankindotherwise than by the Passion of Christ, because "no word shall be impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). Yet it was impossible if some supposition be made. For since it is impossible for God's foreknowledge to be deceived and His will or ordinance to be frustrated, then, supposing God's foreknowledge and ordinance regarding Christ's Passion, it was not possible at the same time for Christ not to suffer, and for mankind to be delivered otherwise than by Christ's Passion. And the same holds good of all things foreknown and preordained by God, as was laid down in I, 14, 13. Reply to Objection 1. Our Lord is speaking there presupposing God's foreknowledge and predetermination, according to which it was resolved that the fruit of man's salvation should not follow unless Christ suffered. Reply to Objection 2. In the same way we must understand what is here objected to in the second instance: "If thischalice may not pass away but I must drink of it"--that is to say, because Thou hast so ordained it--hence He adds: "Thy will be done." Reply to Objection 3. Even this justice depends on the Divine will, requiring satisfaction for sin from the human race. But if He had willed to free man from sin without any satisfaction, He would not have acted against justice. For a judge, while preserving justice, cannot pardon fault without penalty, if he must visit fault committed against another--for instance, against another man, or against the State, or any Prince in higher authority. But God has no one higher than Himself, for He is the sovereign and common good of the whole universe. Consequently, if He forgive sin, which has the formality of fault in that it is committed against Himself, He wrongs no one: just as anyone else, overlooking a personaltrespass, without satisfaction, acts mercifully and not unjustly. And so David exclaimed when he sought mercy: "To Thee only have I sinned" (Psalm 50:6), as if to say: "Thou canst pardon me without injustice." Reply to Objection 4. Human faith, and even the Divine Scriptures upon which faith is based, are both based on the Divine foreknowledge and ordinance. And the same reason holds good of that necessity which comes of supposition, and of the necessity which arises of the Divine foreknowledge and will. --- ST III, Q46. A2. --- SPONSORS EL Investments: https://www.elinvestments.net/pints Exodus 90: https://exodus90.com/mattfradd/  Hallow: http://hallow.app/mattfradd  STRIVE: https://www.strive21.com/  GIVING Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mattfradd This show (and all the plans we have in store) wouldn't be possible without you. I can't thank those of you who support me enough. Seriously! Thanks for essentially being a co-producer coproducer of the show. 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yo yo listeners to pints with aquinas i sorry i'll try that again hey listeners to pints with aquinas hey just before we get into today's discussion do you remember last week i had a contest and i was like hey if you rate my podcast i'll like buy you a book if you win and so anyway i randomly selected one of you who rated very kindly by by the way, in my podcast. And I will be sending you the Sumer of the Sumer by Peter Kreeft. We've now got well over 105 stars, I should say, reviews for Pints with Aquinas. So thank you very much to everyone who has submitted a review. Honestly, that means a lot to me.

Thanks for supporting me. But the one who won the competition is this guy here. Where are we? Okay, here we go. The Kurt Jester. Or as you would say if you're American, the Kurt Jester. Okay, this is what he had to say. This is a very professional sounding podcast and Matt Fradd's enthusiasm for the faith is infectious.

He does not shy away from hot or sensitive topics and sticks to what the church teaches through the lens of the angelic doctor. When I recently became aware of this podcast, I went back and listened to the archives. Just excellent. Well, thank you very much, The Kurt Jester. You have won a copy of The Sumer of the Sumer by Peter Kreeft. So here's how you get it. Either write to me at matt at pintswithaquinas.com or contact me over Twitter. And we will send you the book, post it to you. Thanks a lot. God bless you guys. Enjoy the show. Welcome to Pints with Aquinas episode 12. I'm Matt Fradd. If you could sit down with St. Thomas Aquinas over a pint of beer and ask him any one question, what would it be? In today's episode, we'll ask

St. Thomas the question, was it necessary that Christ should suffer and die on the cross. Welcome back to Pints with Aquinas. This is the show where you and I pull up a barstool next to the angelic doctor and discuss theology and philosophy. As I already mentioned, we'll be discussing why it was that the crucifixion of Christ was fitting. Now, notice that fitting is different to necessary. So, before we discuss why it's fitting, why it was fitting, Aquinas actually gives seven reasons why it was fitting and they're beautiful and I look forward to reading them in this podcast. But before we address that, let's address that other question I referred to, was it necessary? Now, before I tell you what Thomas says, what do you think about This is what he addresses in the third part of the Summa Theologica, question 46, article 2. And the article is, whether there was any other possible way of human deliverance besides the passion of Christ.

And Aquinas says, well, it depends on what you mean. But essentially he says, no, it wasn't absolutely necessary. I mean, it was necessary because that's what God had decided, what he had ordained, and of course, God's knowledge cannot be thwarted. It's not like God can know something and then something else should occur. But if from all eternity, God had willed or known that something else would have brought about the salvation of man, then that would have happened. So, let's take a look at that first. Let's look at one of these objections here. So, again, I know I keep repeating this, but it's so cool whenever you read these objections that St. Thomas sets up, they seem pretty inescapable.

So here's the first objection in Article 2. Quote, It would seem that there was no other possible way of human deliverance besides Christ's passion. For our Lord says in John 12, 24, For our Lord says in John 12, 24, Amen, amen, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground dieth, itself remaineth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit, end quote. Upon this, St. Augustine observes that, quote, Christ called himself the seed, end quote. Consequently, unless he suffered death,

he would not otherwise have produced the fruit of our redemption. Pretty convincing, huh? And as I suppose we'll see in most of these objections, it's not as if they're devoid of all truth and merit. There is a point to them and a point in which there's, of course, they're true, but not wholly true. And here's Thomas's response to that objection. Our Lord is speaking there, presupposing God's foreknowledge and predetermination, according to which it was resolved that the fruit of man's salvation should not follow unless Christ suffered.

So, yeah, because God foreknew it, because he predetermined it, it was necessary. But if God had of predetermined something else, then something else would have occurred. So, here's his answer. He says in response to this idea that it wasn't possible for man to be delivered unless Christ should suffer and die. Uh, Aquinas says on the contrary, Augustine says, quote, we assert that the way whereby God designed to deliver us by the man, Jesus Christ, who is mediator between God and man is both good and befitting the divine dignity. And then Aquinas continues, Aquinas continues, I answer that a thing may be said to be possible or impossible in two ways. First of all, simply and absolutely, or secondly, from supposition. Therefore, speaking simply and absolutely, it was possible for God to deliver mankind otherwise than by the passion of Christ because, quote, no word shall be impossible with God, Luke 1, 37. Yet it was impossible if some supposition be made, for since it is impossible

for God's foreknowledge to be deceived and his will or ordinance to be frustrated, then supposing God's foreknowledge and ordinance regarding Christ's passion, it was, excuse me, it was not possible at the same time for Christ not to suffer and for mankind to be delivered otherwise than by Christ's passion. And the same holds good of all things foreknown and preordained by God as was laid down in a previous response in the first part of the Summa Theologica. I think it was question 14, if I'm reading it here correctly. Okay. Now, but what about those who might say this? Listen to this objection that Thomas places for himself to answer. Quote,

further, God's justice required that Christ should satisfy by the passion in order that man might be delivered from sin. But Christ cannot let his justice pass, for it is written in 2 Timothy 2.13, If we believe not, he continueth faithful. He cannot deny himself. with faithful. He cannot deny himself, end quote. But he would deny himself were he to deny his justice since he is justice itself. It seems impossible then for man to be delivered otherwise than by Christ's passion. Now, doesn't that sound like, you know, before I read this a few years ago, I just assumed that it was impossible for God to redeem man without the sacrifice of Christ. You know, man had committed a sin against an infinite being, therefore an infinite debt was required to be paid. And the only one who could pay that was Christ, God himself.

And the only one who could pay that was Christ, God himself. Or as I've heard Scott Hahn say it, we owed a debt we could not pay, so he paid a debt he did not owe. Now, that is absolutely true, okay? But it's not strictly necessary. It's not as if there wasn't another possible way if God had of preordained that. So, I just read that objection, okay, about God's justice requiring Christ's death. What does Aquinas say specifically to that? Here's what he says. Even this justice depends on the divine will requiring satisfaction for sin from the human race. But if he had willed to free man from sin without any satisfaction, he would not have acted against justice. Why? Aquinas says this,

for a judge, while preserving justice, cannot pardon fault without penalty if he must visit fault committed against another. For instance, against another man or against the state or any prince in higher authority. But God has no one higher than himself, for he is the sovereign and common good of the whole universe. Consequently, if he forgive sin, which has the formality of fault in that it is committed against himself, he wrongs no one. Just as anyone else overlooking a personal trespass without satisfaction acts mercifully and not unjustly. And so David exclaimed when he sought mercy, quote, to thee only have I sinned, Psalm 50 verse six, as if to say, thou canst pardon me without injustice. All right. So I hope that's a help. Now I want to bring out a really cool point here. I think

it's cool. Hopefully you do too. Before we look at those seven reasons that Thomas says it was fitting that Christ should suffer and die on the cross. Okay. So just because the cross wasn't absolutely necessary or, um, that doesn't mean that you and I don't, that you and I think less of the cross, right? We don't say, thank you for the cross, where it wasn't strictly necessary, but still really important because God foreknew it and therefore it was necessary. That would be weird. No, we say, no, you and I say stuff like this. We say the cross was necessary for our salvation. And when we say the cross was necessary for our salvation, we don't mean this inanimate object was necessary for our salvation, do we? No. What we mean is what Christ accomplished by the cross has brought about our redemption. Here's something really

cool. If you and I can say of the cross, the cross was necessary for my salvation, if you and I can say of the cross, the cross was necessary for my salvation, then you and I can say with even more certainty and vigor that the blessed mother was necessary for our salvation. But can you imagine uttering that to some, say, evangelical friends? Maybe there's some, I know for a fact that there's some evangelical people who listen to this. I had a fantastic review from a Calvinist pastor. And if you're listening, thank you so much for writing that review. You made my day. But even if you're a Protestant listening to me right now, you recognize that we can say the cross was necessary for our salvation and you get why we say it. We can also say the same thing about the blessed mother. The blessed mother is necessary for our salvation. And we mean the same thing by it. Okay. Could have Christ

been born of some other woman? Yes. Christ could have been born of a prostitute. It wasn't necessary that he be born of a sinless woman. Mary was sinless, but it wasn't necessary that she be sinless, that Christ be born sinless, okay? God is all powerful. He could have been born of a prostitute. And yet we don't say, well, Mary's not necessary because God could have chosen someone else. For the same reason, we don't say that about

the cross. Now, why do I say we can say of the blessed mother that she was necessary for our salvation with more vigor? Here's the reason. The cross is, was an inanimate object. It had no choice in the matter. The blessed virgin did. And if it were not for her, yes, mankind would not have been redeemed. Now, right now you're thinking to yourself, oh, no, no, no, no. God could have chosen another way if she said no. But listen, we've already addressed that. God could have redeemed us another way. But that doesn't mean when we say we've been saved by the cross or something like that in a poetic way, that you say, no, no, no, no, no, no. We could have been saved in another way. So, just as we can say

we've been saved by the cross and people understand what we mean, we can even say I've been saved by the blessed mother. Now, I understand that that would probably bring up more confusion and maybe scandal. So, I'm not recommending we just go out and say that willy-nilly because it would be misunderstood. But I just thought that was an interesting point that I'd share with you. Maybe you can let me know what you think. You could write to me over Twitter, send me a message or something and tell me if you think I'm blasphemous. All right, let's look at the seven reasons that Aquinas gives us as to why it was fitting that Christ should suffer on the cross. Okay, this is from the Summa Theologica, part three, question 46, article four. First of all, as an example of virtue, for Augustine thus writes, quote,

God's wisdom became man to give us an example in righteousness of living, but it is part of righteous living not to stand in fear of things which ought not to be feared. Now, there are some men who, although they do not fear death in itself, are yet troubled over the manner of their death. In order then that no kind of death should trouble an upright man, the cross of this man had to be set before him because among all kinds of death, none was more execrable, more fear-inspiring than this. End quote. Here's Thomas's second reason. Secondly, because this kind of death was especially suitable in order to atone for the sin of our first parent, which was the plucking of the apple from the forbidden tree against God's command. And so to atone for that sin, it was fitting that Christ should suffer by being fastened to a tree as if restoring what Adam had purloined. According to Psalm 68 5,

quote, then did I pay that which I took not away, end quote. Hence, Augustine says in a sermon on the passion, quote, Adam despised the command, plucking the apple from the tree, but all that Adam lost, Christ found upon the cross. End quote. Wow. How is that? Please tweet that. That's fantastic. Listen to that little quote again.

Adam despised the command, plucking the apple from the tree, but all that Adam lost, Christ found upon the cross. Any musicians out there? Put that into a song, would you? All that Adam lost, Christ found upon the cross. Here's the third reason. The third reason is because as Chrysostom says in a sermon on the passion, quote, he suffered upon a high rude. By the way, this word rude, it just means crucifix, huh? He suffered upon a high rude and not under a roof in order that the nature of the air might be purified and the earth felt a like benefit And on John 3.14, quote, The Son of Man must be lifted up, end quote. Theo Phylakt says, quote,

When you hear that he was lifted up, understand his hanging on high, he was lifted up, understand his hanging on high, that he might sanctify the air who had sanctified the earth by walking upon it, end quote. Here's the fourth reason. The fourth reason is because by dying on it, on the cross, he prepares for us an ascent into heaven. he prepares for us an ascent into heaven. He says in John 12, 32, quote, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself. The fifth reason.

The fifth reason is because it is befitting the universal salvation of the entire world. Hence, Gregory of Nyssa observes that, quote, the shape of the cross extending out into four extremes from their central point of contact denotes the power that the providence diffused everywhere of him who hung upon it, end quote. everywhere of him who hung upon it, end quote. Chrysostom also says that upon the cross, quote, he dies with outstretched hands in order to draw with one hand the people of old and with the other, those who spring from the Gentiles, end quote. We've got two more reasons here. By the way, I've said this in the past, but whenever I quote Thomas, I take the passages that I quote and I put them in the description of each podcast. So,

as you listen to them, you could even pull up your podcast and read it, or at least maybe take it to prayer time and read this. This would be a beautiful excerpt from St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica to take into adoration or a chapel and just meditate on, huh? Here's the sixth reason. The sixth reason is because of the various virtues denoted by this class of death. Hence, Augustine in his book on the grace of the Old and New Testament, says, Not without purpose did he choose this class of death, that he might be a teacher of that breadth and height and length and depth, end quote, of which the apostle speaks. For breadth is in the beam, which is fixed transversely above this appertains to good works since the

hands are stretched out upon it length is the tree's extent from the beam to the ground and there it is planted that is it stands and abides which is the note of longanimity. Height is in that portion of the tree which remains over from the transverse beam upwards to the top, and this is at the head of the crucified, because he is the supreme desire of souls of good hope. But that part of the tree which is hidden from view to hold it fixed and from which the entire rude springs denotes the depth of gracious or sorry gratuitous grace end quote and as augustine says quote the tree upon which were fixed the members of him dying was even the chair of the master teaching. Beautiful. Seventh, and this is the final one. He says, the seventh reason is because this kind of death responds to very many figures for as Augustine says in a sermon on the passion, an arc of wood preserved the human race from the waters of the deluge.

At the exodus of God's people from Egypt, Moses with a rod divided the sea, overthrew Pharaoh and saved the people of God. The same Moses dipped his rod into the water, changing it from bitter to sweet. dipped his rod into the water, changing it from bitter to sweet. At the touch of a wooden rod, a salutary spring gushed forth from a spiritual rock. Now, likewise, in order to overcome Amalek, Moses stretched forth his arm with a rod in hand. Lastly, God's law is entrusted to the wooden ark of the covenant, all of which are like steps by which we mount to the wood of the cross. Those are the seven reasons and they are beautiful and certainly worth meditating upon. on this 12th episode, I want to share with you just a beautiful song, a beautiful hymn by Isaac Watts, who was a Protestant minister in the 17th century. It's When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. I'm sure you've heard it, but I thought as we wrap up here today, I would just say it as a prayer for you and I. When I survey the wondrous cross, where the young prince

of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the cross of Christ my God, all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood. See from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did ever such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown. Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. When you and I meditate upon the cross, what we see is a God who though he doesn't need us acts as if he does and though he could have saved us with a drop of blood or no blood at all

he chose to save us with all of his blood to show us just how crazy in love he is for us there is nothing that you and I can do to win God's love for us. There's nothing we can do to manipulate God's love for us. It's a free gift. This, my brothers and sisters, is the bedrock of the spiritual life. What is it? It's who we are to him. If we begin from any other place than God's love for us, then the spiritual life becomes perverted. We have to continually

return to this truth that God loves us and that he's not standing with some sort of scowl, arms crossed, disappointed, asking us to perform. No, he looks at us as a heavenly father, bent over us, looking upon us with inexpressible affection and gentleness. I've read this in a book that I don't have on the tip of my tongue, so forgive me, but he says, you know, our Lord has opened up salvation under our feet. Yeah. Heaven under our feet. And yet you and I so often act as orphans as if it were hell that had been opened up under our feet. We are men of far too little faith. Can I ask this of you guys? Why don't you find some time to meditate upon the cross of Christ? Kneel before our Lord and thank him for his love for you.

Say to him, Lord, tell me you love me and don't stop until I finally believe you. Lord, tell me you love me and don't stop until I finally believe you. I'd like to share with you a spiritual practice I've implemented into my own spiritual life. I bought a crucifix, nothing too elaborate, just a nice crucifix that I found at a Catholic bookstore. And I've placed that crucifix by my bed. Catholic bookstore. And I've placed that crucifix by my bed. Now, every morning that I wake up, the first thing I do is I reach for that crucifix and I kiss it and I put it down. Let me ask you this, what's the first thing you reach for? Because until I did this, the first thing I reached for was my phone, to be honest with you, or the cup of water next to my bed. Now, the first thing I do is I grab that crucifix. Now, I know that in this context, that sounds like a really pious,

beautiful thing to do. And I think it is a beautiful thing to do. But the majority of times I do this, guys, I don't feel massively pious. I don't feel pious at all. I feel groggy. I feel exhausted. I feel hot and bothered. You know, I can hear my kids screaming in the next room. I'm caffeine deprived. I'm thinking about everything I've got to do that day. And yet I do this anyway, because the circumstances of our life always change, but we can be faithful to certain spiritual acts daily. Those spiritual acts can be like an anchor that we throw down amidst a raging storm, the raging storm of our life. And we can cling to these little things to kind of keep us grounded, if you will, in the spiritual life. And that's just one that I actually

learned, I should have said, from my friend Taylor Marshall. He's got a great podcast himself, by the way, Taylor Marshall podcast. I think it's called taylormarshall.com to learn more about him. But he's the one who told me he did this and I just started doing it. So I share that with you and I hope that's a help. Well, guys, hey, beautiful episode, I think. Beautiful because we've been meditating upon the love that God has for us. Can I ask you to rate the podcast? And can I ask you to tell people you know about it? And also visit us at mattfradd.com.

I know some people don't have iTunes. And so if you go to mattfradd.com, there's a page there where you can just see all of the links and you can listen directly from that website. So you can share that with them as well. Well, I guess that's it. So, hey, please pray for me and I will promise to pray for you. God bless you. Speak to you next week. When I haven't finished dreaming yet And I battle with my consciousness