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282 THE HISTORY OF HERESIES,
said that he wills that all should be saved ? We answer, with St.
John of Damascus, St. Thomas of Aquin, and the great body of
Catholic Doctors, that with regard to the reprobation of sinners,
it is necessary to distinguish between the priority of time and
the priority of order, or, if we may say, of reason. In priority of
time, the Divine Decree is anterior to man s sin ; but in priority
of order,sin is anterior to the Divine Decree ; for God has
decreed many sinners to hell, inasmuch as he has foreseen their
sins. Hence we may see that God, with that antecedent will which
regards his goodness, truly wills that all should be saved, but by
that consequent will which regards the sins of the reprobate, he
wishes their damnation. Hear the words of St. John of Damascus
" Deus precedentur vult omnes salvari, ut
on the subject (5) :
efficiat nos bonitatis suae particepes ut bonus; peccantes autem
puniri vult ut Justus;" and St. Thomas says: "Voluntas antecedens
est, qua (Deus) omnes homines salvos fieri vult Con-
sideratis autem omnibus circumstantiis persona?,
sic non invcnitur
de omnibus bonum esse quod salventur ; bonum enim est eum qui
se praDparat, et consentit, salvari ; non vero nolentem, ct rcsi-
stentcrn Et hacc dicitur voluntas consequens,^o quod pra?supponit
pra3scientiam operum, non tanquam causam voluntatis, sed
quasi rationem voliti" (6).
60. There are many other texts to prove
that God wills the
salvation of all. I will quote at least a few. Christ says :
" Come
to me, all you that labour and are burthened, and I will refresh
you" (Matt, xi, 28). Come, he says, all you burthened with your
sins, and I will repair the ruin you yourselves have occasioned.
When, therefore, he invites all to accept a remedy, he wishes that
all should be saved. In another place St. Peter says, the Lord
"
dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should return to penance" (II. Peter, iii, 9).
Mark this, "that all should return to penance." God does not
wish that any one should be damned, even sinners, while in this
life, but that all should repent of their sins, and be saved. Again,
" For wrath is in his indignation,
in another place, David says :
and life in his good will" (Psalm xxix, 6). St. Basil, explaining
this passage, says, that it proves that God wishes all men to be
(5) St. Joan. Damas. /. 2, de Fide. (6) St, Thorn, cap. 6, Joan. lee. 4.
Orthod. c. 2.