So heinous are the crimes of witches
that they even exceed the sins and the fall of the bad Angels; and if
this is true as to their guilt, how should it not also be true of
their punishments in hell? And it is not difficult to prove this by
various arguments with regard to their guilt. And first, although the
sin of Satan is unpardonable, this is not on account of the greatness
of his crime, having regard to the nature of the Angels, with
particular attention to the opinion of those who say that the Angels
were created only in a state of nature, and never in a state of
grace. And since the good of grace exceeds the good of nature,
therefore the sins of those who fall from a state of grace, as do the
witches by denying the faith which they received in baptism, exceed
the sins of the Angels. And even if we say that the Angels were
created, but not confirmed, in grace; so also witches, though they
are not created in grace, have yet of their own will fallen from
grace; just as Satan sinned of his own will.
Secondly, it is granted that Satan's sin is unpardonable for
various other reasons. For S. Augustine saus that he sinned at the
instigation of none, therefore his sin is justly remediable by none.
And S. John Damascene says that he sinned in his understanding
against the character of God; and that his sin was the greater by
reason of the nobility of his understanding. For the servant who
knows the will of his master, etc. The same authority says that,
since Satan is incapable of repentance, therefore he is incapable of
pardon; and this is due to his very nature, which, being spiritual,
could only be changed once, when he changed it for ever; but this is
not so with men, in whom the flesh is always warring against the
spirit. Or because he sinned in the high places of heaven, whereas
man sins in the earth.
But
notwithstanding all this, his sin is in many respects small in
comparison with the crimes of witches. First, as S. Anselm showed in
one of his Sermons, he sinned in his pride while there was yet
no punishment for sin. But witches continue to sin after great
punishments have been often inflicted upon many other witches, and
after the punishments which the Church teaches them have been
inflicted by reason of the devil and his fall; and they make light of
all these, and hasten to commit, not the least deadly of sins, as do
other sinners who sin through infirmity or wickedness yet not from
habitual malice, but rather the most horrible crimes from the deep
malice of their hearts.
Secondly,
although the Bad Angel fell from innocence to guilt, and thence to
misery and punishment; yet he fell from innocence once only, in such
a way that he was never restored. But the sinner who is restored to
innocence by baptism, and again falls from it, falls very deep. And
this is especially true of witches, as is proved by their crimes.
Thirdly, he sinned against the Creator; but we,
and especially witches, sin against the Creator and the Redeemer.
Fourthly, he forsook God, who permitted him to
sin but accorded him no pity; whereas we, and witches above all,
withdraw ourselves from God by our sins, while, in spite of his
permission of our sins, He continually pities us and prevents us with
His countless benefits.
Fifthly, when
he sinned, God rejected him without showing him and grace; whereas we
wretches run into sin although God is continually calling us back.
Sixthly, he keeps his heart hardened against a
punisher; but we against a merciful persuader. Both sin against God;
but he against a commanding God, and we against One who dies for us,
Whom, as we have said, wicked witches offend above all.
The Solutions of the Arguments again Declare the Truth by Comparison.
To the
arguments. The answer to the first is clear from what was said in the
beginning of this whole question. It was submitted that one sin ought
to be thought heavier than another; and that the sins of witches are
heavier than all others in respect of guilt, but not in respect of
the penalties that they entail. To this it must be said that the
punishment of Adam, just as his guilt, may be considered two ways;
either as touching him personally, or as touching the whole of
nature, that is, the posterity whcih came after him. As to the first,
greater sins have been committed after Adam; for he sinned only in
doing that which was evil, not in itself, but because it was
forbidden. Therefore such sins deserve the heavier punishment.
As to the second, it is true that the greatest
punishment resulted from the first sin; but this is only indirectly
true, in that through Adam all posterity was infected with original
sin, and he was the first father of all those for whom the Only Son
of God was able to atone by the power which was ordained. Moreover,
Adam in his own person, with the mediation of Divine grace, repented,
and was afterwards saved through the Sacrifice of Christ. But the
sins of witches are incomparably greater, since they are not content
with their own sins and perdition, but ever draw countless others
after them.
And thirdly, it follows
from what has been said that it was by accident that Adam's sin
involved the greater injury. For he found nature uncorrupted, and it
was inevitable, and not of his own will, that he left it defiled;
therefore it does not follow that his sin was intrinsically greater
than others. And again, posterity would have committed the same sin
if it had found nature in the same state. Similarly, he who has not
found grace does not commit so deadly a sin as he who has found it
and lost it. This is the solution of S. Thomas (II, 21, art. 2), in
his solution of the second argument. And if anyone wishes fully to
understand this solution, he must consider that even if Adam had kept
his original innocence, he would not have passed it down to all
posterity; for, as S. Anselm says, anyone coming after him could
still have sinned. See also S. Thomas, dist. 20, where he considers
whether new-born children would have been confirmed in grace; and in
dist. 101, whether men who are now saved would have been saved if
Adam had not sinned.