Yilun Cai - The Reception of Augustine in Domingo Bañez’s Theology of Efficacious Grace

Domingo Bañez, O.P. (1528-1604) is one of the most important Thomistic theologians in the 16^th century. He is also one of the theologians involved in the well-known De Auxiliis controversy between Dominicans and Jesuits. The key issue of this controversy is around the efficacy of grace. In his arguments, Augustine, along with Thomas Aquinas, is frequently cited. So it is worth looking at Augustine’s influence on Bañez, particularly in his theology of grace. This will be a case to demonstrate the patristic influence on the scholastic theology.

In this article, I shall explore how Bañez cited Augustine to make his own theological viewpoint on efficacious grace. Firstly, we shall look at the place of the Church Fathers in Bañez’s theology. i.e. whether he saw the scholastic theology as the continuity of the Church Fathers. Then the reference to Augustine in Bañez’s works will be investigated. The investigation will focus on these two works of Bañez: the Tractus on grace and free will, and the Apologia written for the rebuttal to Molina. We shall study the reception of Augustine’s theology of grace in Bañez ‘s arguments for the distinction of efficacious and efficient grace. Besides, how Augustine is recalled by Bañez in the polemics to claim that the true human autonomy consisted in God’s grace. Particular attention will be paid to which works of Augustine are cited more frequently, which will answer whether only anti-Pelagian works are used exclusively by Bañez for the purpose of constructing his Jesuit opponents as semi-Pelagians.