199 S&OItABIBN'L'O m eBJfBILZL. [Boor [I. no one of them is in any respect more honourable th,m another; let him be accra'seal. "�is doctrine would not seem very consistent with another point of their divinity, namely, that the ministrations of a wicked mtministra?or Me as valid and as efficient as those of a pious or godly nmu. 4. It is a question among them respecting the grace, and the man* her of it, which is conferred on those who receive the sacrements only by desire. The Council of Trent teaches that they may be received in this manner, and produce their proper fruits in those who are ri?atly disposed.t The divines maintain that sacraments thus received do not impress a character; that they do not confer grace ? opm'? operate, by tAe/r own pomer, but e? oF?e opermtt/s, in consequence of the good dis- pooition of the recoiver.? 3. Tb m?m?J' i,? teA/cA tb ?c,-ameAtr amf?' g?*ace. (1.) They say the sacraments not only ?/f?, but aluo contain Mid conf,' grace, as instruments of God's appointment. As to.the manner, however, in which they confer grace, much dispute has existed in the Church of Rome. Some contend that the sacraments confer grace ?r ol?e oldate , while others maintain that they produce grace operm?tiv. It is also disputed much whether the sacraments operate pky?y or mo?'a//y. Some' explanation of the foregoing technical terms may be proper, as they are very evasive indexes of thought when considered in their detached technical form. Dens says that it is one thing to cause grace e? opere ?, another ? o? operate, and yet another as �ondit/o ? ? ?o?t.? He "To cause grace ca: opere ?, is to cause it from the merit the operator, whether minister or receiver, or from the Peculiar value of the work as it proceeds from the operator, that is, from the singular devotion of the minister. "To cause grace ca: opere operate, is to cause it, not from the merits of the minister or the receiver, but from the power and influence of the work or sacramental action, which is, by divine institution, em- ployed in effecting in the receiver (provided every hinderance be out of the way) that which it signifles."? Bdlly says: "To produce grace ? oF,re op?,-ato, is to confer it the power of the external act instituted by Christ, provided there is hinderance. But to produce grace ex oper? operantiv, is to confer it on account of the merit and dispositions of the receiver or minister?[ Ferraris, on the word sacramenturn, (art. ii, No. 9,) defines these difficult and evasive phrases as follows: "For the sacraments to cause grace ex opere operato, is to confer it by the power of the sacramental action itself, exhibited to the receiver, considered according to the dig- nlty and efficacy which the action hath from Christ's institution, w/th- out any respect or dependance on the merits of him who exercises the action. And it is sa/d e? opere operate, because, on account of the in- fallible divine promise. the grace is conferred on account of the merit8 of Christ, and the v//'tue of his passion, which are now a completed work. On the contrary, to cause grace e? oFff'? opera, is to confer
- Be#. 7, c. $. t Idem, sero. 13, c. 8, de Each. /C Dens, de Sicrum., No. ?4.
�, deeem?n.,No. 17. Illdem. �r. mm.,c.&,?rt.i, tom. iii, p. eO6. I ?,?,t,? ?,Gooc?le
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