114. Voluntary Submission and the Passion of Christ

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Voluntary Nature of Christ’s Passion #

• Christ’s passion involved both external infliction by persecutors and internal voluntary acceptance
• The persecutors acted as efficient causes of death; Christ acted as an indirect cause by not impeding his own death when he had the power to do so
• Christ maintained the strength of the body through his soul even unto death, enabling him to cry out with a loud voice
• This demonstrates complete voluntary submission while acknowledging real agency of those who crucified him

Obedience as the Motive of Christ’s Passion #

• Christ suffered from obedience to the Father, not from external necessity
• Obedience implies both necessity regarding the command and willingness regarding its fulfillment
• The passion was repugnant to Christ’s natural will but willed by his rational will in obedience to the Father
• Christ fulfilled all precepts of the Old Law through his passion: moral, ceremonial, and judicial precepts
• Charity and obedience are not opposed; rather, Christ’s obedience was formed by his charity toward the Father
• Obedience is the proximate cause of the passion; charity is the universal cause underlying all virtues

The Father’s Role in Handing Over Christ #

• God the Father handed Christ over in three ways:
  1. Through eternal will, preordering Christ’s passion to the liberation of humanity
  2. By inspiring in Christ the will to suffer through pouring in charity
  3. By not protecting him from persecution but exposing him to the power of persecutors
• This action demonstrates both God’s severity (sin requires punishment) and goodness (providing a sufficient satisfier)
• The same action is judged differently according to its source: the Father and Christ acted from charity, while Judas acted from cupidity, the Jews from envy, and Pilate from fear
• Christ and the Father share one divine will, so there is no contradiction in saying both handed him over

Knowledge and Culpability of Christ’s Persecutors #

• The princes of the Jews knew Christ and deliberately rejected him despite evident signs of his divinity
• Their ignorance was ignorantia affectata (affected ignorance), which aggravates rather than excuses guilt
• The will interferes with knowledge: they did not wish to assent to what they could know due to hatred and envy
• Christ prayed forgiveness for those who “know not what they do,” but not necessarily for the princes who possessed affected ignorance
• The Gentiles possessed more genuine ignorance, having less knowledge of the law

Key Arguments #

On Indirect Causation in Christ’s Death #

• Principle: One is said to be an indirect cause of something if one does not impede it when one has the power to do so
• Application: Christ had the power to impede his passion through (1) reprimanding adversaries, (2) conserving his flesh through the power of his soul
• Medical analogy: A doctor who ceases treatment and allows a patient to die is not said to kill the patient; similarly, Christ did not kill himself but allowed death to take its course
• Conclusion: Christ is both directly caused to die by persecutors and indirectly by not impeding death

On Obedience and Charity as Co-Causes #

• Principle: Precepts of charity are fulfilled only through obedience; obedience is formed by love of the one commanding
• Application: Christ suffered from both obedience and charity, with obedience as the proximate cause and charity as the universal cause
• Analogy: As humility is the proximate cause of exaltation (“he who humbles himself shall be exalted”), so obedience is proximate to the passion, though charity underlies all virtues
• Virtue hierarchy: Charity is to the virtues as pride is to the vices—both command others in their respective orders

On the Justice of God the Father Handing Over Christ #

• Objection: It would be unjust and cruel to hand over an innocent man
• Resolution: The Father did not hand him over against his will but by inspiring the will to suffer through charity
• Manifestation: This shows both severity (sin requires punishment and restitution) and goodness (providing one who could sufficiently satisfy when man alone could not)
• Scripture basis: Romans 8:32—“He did not spare his own son, but for all of us handed him over”

Important Definitions #

Ignorantia Affectata (Affected Ignorance) #

• Deliberate refusal to know what one could know
• Does not excuse from guilt but rather aggravates it, showing intense affection for sinning
• Contrasts with simple ignorance, which diminishes culpability
• The princes of the Jews possessed this regarding Christ’s divinity despite evident signs

Passion (Passio) #

• In strict sense: suffering inflicted by external agents
• In broader sense: any action undergone, including voluntary submission to suffering
• Christ’s passion involves both: external infliction by persecutors and internal voluntary acceptance

Examples & Illustrations #

Medical Cases of Voluntary Death #

• Hospital patients who lose the will to live often cannot survive, even with treatment
• The person who stops fighting an illness is not said to commit suicide but to let nature take its course
• One example: a person with advanced cancer who lost control of bodily functions, consulted a priest about stopping food and drink, was told it was permissible because eating and drinking caused more harm than benefit
• Pope John Paul II’s case: he did not wish to go to the hospital for a final infection and resisted treatment, which Berquist argues was not suicide but a decision not to prolong suffering

The Blessed Virgin’s Magnificat #

• Her exaltation is attributed to her humility, not to her charity, though humility is formed by charity
• Humility is the proximate cause of exaltation; charity is the remote but fundamental cause
• “He has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid; therefore all generations will call me blessed”
• Similarly, Christ’s passion is attributed to obedience as the proximate cause, though charity is the fundamental cause

Literary Example from Shakespeare #

• Shakespeare avoids using the words “virtue” and “vice” directly in dramatic contexts as too pedantic
• Instead, he uses “scorn” (an effect of pride) to represent vice, and places virtue opposite it
• This illustrates that pride is to the vices as charity is to the virtues—each commanding others in their respective order

Plant Growth as Acting for an End #

• Plants send out feelers to find supports to climb on
• This demonstrates that nature acts for an end, showing design and purpose
• Such observation contradicts the modern scientific view that denies teleology in nature

Notable Quotes #

“I have the power of laying down my soul and I have the power of again taking it up; and this command I have taken from my Father.” (John 10:18) — Demonstrates Christ’s voluntary nature of his passion

“My God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46) — Christ on the cross, expressing the Father’s allowing him to be exposed to persecution

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) — Christ’s prayer for persecutors, showing distinction between affected and genuine ignorance

“He did not spare his own son, but for all of us handed him over.” (Romans 8:32) — Indicates the Father’s role in handing Christ over for universal salvation

“Through the obedience of one man many just were constituted.” (Romans 5) — Shows how Christ’s obedience undoes Adam’s disobedience

Questions Addressed #

On Whether Ceasing Treatment Constitutes Suicide #

• Question: If someone stops fighting illness and dies, is that suicide?
• Berquist’s position: No, if the person simply lets nature take its course without actively impeding recovery, it is not suicide. The key is whether one is actively impeding one’s life or passively allowing it to end.

On Whether Pope John Paul II’s Refusal of Hospital Care Was Suicide #

• Question: When John Paul II refused to go to the hospital for final treatment, did he commit suicide?
• Berquist’s answer: Doubt it. He had seen his bodily health decline and chose not to fight anymore, saying “Let me go to the house of the Father.” This is more like accepting one’s appointed time than actively killing oneself.

On Whether It Was Suitable That Both Jews and Gentiles Participated in the Passion #

• Question: Since Jews offered the figurative sacrifices of the Old Law, should they have offered the true sacrifice alone?
• Resolution: The passion was suitable to begin with the Jews and be completed through the Gentiles, showing how salvation passed from Jews to Gentiles. The Jews’ role in beginning Christ’s passion and the Gentiles’ role in completing it mirrors the spread of salvation itself.

On the Role of the Will in Knowledge and Rejection #

• Question: Did the persecutors of Christ know who he was?
• Resolution: The princes knew him but possessed affected ignorance due to hatred and envy. They would not assent to what evident signs showed because their will opposed belief. The lesser Jews had more genuine ignorance; the Gentiles had the most.

Philosophical and Theological Principles #

On Natural Teleology and Modern Science #

• If nature acts for an end, God must exist
• Some modern scientists recognize this but resist admitting it because it leads to requiring moral change
• The resistance to teleology is fundamentally a moral problem, not an intellectual one—people do not wish to admit God because they are attached to sin

On the Relationship Between Proximate and Remote Causes #

• Effects are often attributed to proximate causes rather than remote causes, even when both are operative
• In the Virgin’s exaltation, humility (proximate cause) is emphasized over charity (remote cause), but both are truly involved
• This principle applies to understanding Christ’s passion as proceeding from obedience (proximate) informed by charity (universal cause)

On the Nature of Satisfaction #

• Satisfaction requires showing to the one offended something equal to or greater than what is hated in the offense
• God the Father’s justice required satisfaction for sin
• Christ’s passion provides superabundant satisfaction through the dignity of his person as God-man