Extrabiblical, Pre-Reformation Support For Eternal Security (Part 3)

In his translation of Augustine's work cited in my last post, Gregory Lombardo wrote the following about some of the individuals Augustine was responding to:

"Augustine, however, does not mention any names, and there is no evidence either here or in any other place that he is referring to these passages from the works of Jerome. Nevertheless, both Jerome and Ambrose seemed to have shared in the not uncommon error of their time, namely, that all Christians would sooner or later be reunited to God, an error which Augustine refutes here and in a number of other places." (St. Augustine: On Faith And Works [Mahwah, New Jersey: The Newman Press, 1988], n. 3 on pp. 64-65)

The kind of view under consideration, which Lombardo attributes to Jerome and Ambrose, goes by different names in different sources, which makes researching the subject more difficult. The view is sometimes referred to as mercyism or misericordism. I'll use the former term for the remainder of this post. Brian Daley, a Roman Catholic scholar, has argued that Maximus of Turin was a mercyist:

"He also seems to echo the 'misericordism' espoused by Jerome - the doctrine that all the baptized will be saved - in a long passage developing the idea that 'the water of baptism puts out the fire of Gehenna' (Serm 22a.3)….Demanding as Christian living seems to be in his sermons, Maximus seems to be confident that the members of his flock will ultimately realize its promise." (The Hope Of The Early Church [Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2010], 126)

I've also seen some other fathers cited as advocates of mercyism or something close to it. The only one I've studied much on this issue is Jerome. There are a lot of passages from his writings that have been cited on the topic, and I haven't read all of them. I've read some of them, though, and I think it's likely that Jerome was a mercyist. The large majority of scholars I've seen commenting on the subject have also reached that conclusion. The only exception I recall is Thomas Scheck. And Scheck recently translated Jerome's Letter 119 into English, which I believe is the first time there's been an English translation. It's due out next month. Jerome is supposed to have said a lot about issues related to mercyism in that letter. I've preordered Scheck's translation, and I'll probably comment on it here if there's anything significant in it.

One reason to think Jerome was a mercyist is the similarity between his comments and what Augustine attributes to the mercyists when he's responding to them. Here's Augustine:

"And they suppose that this conjecture of theirs is not hinted at in Scripture, for the sake of stimulating many to reformation of life through fear of very protracted or eternal sufferings, and of stimulating others to pray for those who have not reformed. However, they think that the divine oracles are not altogether silent on this point; for they ask to what purpose is it said, 'How great is Thy goodness which Thou hast hidden for them that fear Thee,' [Psalm 31:19] if it be not to teach us that the great and hidden sweetness of God's mercy is concealed in order that men may fear?...There are some, too, who found upon the expression of Scripture, 'He that endureth to the end shall be saved,' and who promise salvation only to those who continue in the Church catholic; and though such persons have lived badly, yet, say they, they shall be saved as by fire through virtue of the foundation of which the apostle says [1 Corinthians 3:11-15]" (The City Of God, 21:18, 21:21)

Here's Jerome, citing Psalm 31:19 (cited by Augustine above) after citing some other Biblical passages, followed by a reference to concealment (as in Augustine), followed by a reference to 1 Corinthians 3:11-15:

"And this is what is said in another passage, 'O how great is the multitude of your goodness, O Lord, which you have hidden for those who fear you!' [Ps 31:19]. They [mercyists] reflect upon all these things and long to affirm that after the tortures and torments, there shall be relief in the future. Now, they say, this has to be concealed from those for whom fear is advantageous, so that while they are fearful of punishments, they may stop sinning. We ought to leave this to the knowledge of God alone. Not only are his mercies in equilibrium, but so are his torments, and he knows whom he ought to judge, how, and for how long. And let us say only what befits human frailty: 'O Lord, do not rebuke me in your fury, nor chastise me in your wrath' [Ps 6:1]. And just as we believe in the eternal punishment of the devil and of all deniers and of the impious, who have said in their heart, 'There is no God' [cf. Ps 14:1]; so we think that the judge's sentence is moderate and mingled with mercy, as it pertains to sinners, wicked men, and even Christians, whose works must be examined and cleansed by fire. [1 Corinthians 3:11-15]" (in Thomas Scheck, trans., St. Jerome: Commentary On Isaiah [Mahwah, New Jersey: The Newman Press, 2015], p. 880, section 18:33 in the commentary)

Those are the final words of Jerome's commentary, which is more than 800 pages long in English. He at least gives mercyism a significantly respectful treatment, and he seems to accept it or something close to it himself. His closing appeal to 1 Corinthians 3 is common mercyist argumentation. Augustine gives a lot of attention to that passage and its use by mercyists in the document I discussed earlier, On Faith And Works. It's important to keep in mind that there are multiple lines of evidence to go by in judging what view was held by a given individual, like Jerome. It isn't just a matter of what he said when considered in isolation, but also how his scripture citations, argumentation, etc. line up with what we see in other sources. There are multiple indications that Jerome was a mercyist. If he wasn't one, he at least seems to have agreed with their views enough to be highly respectful of them and to agree with them to a large extent.

John O'Connell, who wrote a doctoral thesis on Jerome's eschatology, said the following about this passage in Jerome's Isaiah commentary. It's noteworthy that Scheck offers no counterargument, but instead allows O'Connell to have the last word:

"In themselves these words are susceptible of many meanings; e.g., a gradual mitigation of the punishments of hell, complete cessation after a time of the punishments imposed by the Judge, or the imposition of a sentence to eternal punishments less severe than those deserved. However, the context makes it clear that the meaning is something short of eternal torments. For it is with eternal torments that the moderate sentence is contrasted….To say that [this passage] is a clear and irrefutable proof that Jerome taught mercyism would be to go beyond the certain meaning of the text. On the other hand, to say that it refers only to venial sinners or to repentant sinners is to choose a possible but questionable hypothesis. The text lacks the clarity required to reach a certain conclusion concerning its meaning. But it probably teaches mercyism." (n. 72 on p. 1022)

In his book cited above, Daley says of this passage in the Isaiah commentary, "It is Jerome at his most generous, and perhaps at his most profound." (104)