The Anathemas of Trent

The Sixth Session · Decree on Justification · January 13, 1547 · thirty-three canons, each ending anathema sit.

When the Council of Trent published its decree on justification, it set sixteen chapters of positive teaching before thirty-three canons, each condemning an opposing proposition with the words “let him be anathema.” Several strike directly at the Reformation’s doctrine of justification by faith alone. They have never been revoked, and they are given below in full.

On Justification

After this Catholic doctrine on justification, which whosoever receiveth not faithfully and firmly cannot be justified, it hath pleased the holy synod to subjoin these canons, that all may know not only what they ought to hold and follow, but also what to avoid and shun.

I. Grace and the Will

Canon 1Works Without Grace

If any one shall say, that man may be justified before God by his own works, whether done through the strength of human nature, or through the teaching of the law, without the divine grace through Jesus Christ; let him be anathema.

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Canon 2Grace as a Mere Aid

If any one shall say, that the divine grace through Jesus Christ is given only unto this, that man may more easily be able to live justly, and to merit eternal life, as if, by free will without grace, he were able [to do] both, though hardly and with difficulty; let him be anathema.

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Canon 3Prevenient Grace

If any one shall say, that without the preventing inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and his help, man can believe, hope, love, or be penitent, as he ought, so that the grace of justification may be conferred upon him; let him be anathema.

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Canon 4The Will Merely Passive

If any one shall say, that the free will of man moved and excited by God, by assenting to God exciting and calling, nowise co-operates to the end that it should dispose and prepare itself for obtaining the grace of justification; and that it cannot refuse consent, if it would, but that, like something inanimate, it does nothing whatever, and is merely in a passive state; let him be anathema.

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Canon 5Free Will Lost

If any one shall say, that, since Adam’s sin, the free will of man is lost and extinguished; or, that it is a thing with a name only, yea, a title without a reality, a figment, in fine, brought into the Church by Satan; let him be anathema.

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Canon 6God and Evil Works

If any one shall say, that it is not in the power of man to make his ways evil, but that God worketh the works that are evil as well as those that are good, not by permission only, but properly, and of Himself, in such wise that the treason of Judas be no less His own proper work than the calling of Paul; let him be anathema.

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Canon 7Works Before Justification

If any one shall say, that all works which are done before justification, in what manner soever they be done, are truly sins, or deserve the hatred of God; or that, the more earnestly one strive to dispose himself for grace, so much the more grievously he sins; let him be anathema.

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Canon 8The Fear of Hell

If any one shall say, that the fear of hell, through which, by grieving for our sins, we flee unto the mercy of God, or refrain from sinning, is a sin, or makes sinners worse; let him be anathema.

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II. Faith and the Nature of Justification

Canon 9Faith Alone

If any one shall say, that by faith alone the impious is justified; so as to mean that nothing else is required to co-operate in order unto the obtaining the grace of justification, and that it is not in any respect necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema.

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Canon 10The Justice of Christ

If any one shall say, that men are justified without the righteousness of Christ, by which He merited for us to be justified; or that it is by that [justice] itself that they are formally just; let him be anathema.

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Canon 11Sole Imputation

If any one shall say, that men are justified either by the sole imputation of the righteousness of Christ, or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of the grace and the charity which is shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and is inherent in them; or even that the grace, by which we are justified, is only the favour of God; let him be anathema.

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Canon 12Faith as Confidence

If any one shall say, that justifying faith is nought else but confidence in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ’s sake; or that it is this confidence alone by which we are justified; let him be anathema.

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Canon 13Certainty of Forgiveness

If any one shall say, that it is necessary unto every one, for the obtaining the remission of sins, that he believe for certain, and without any hesitation arising from his own infirmity and indisposition, that his sins are remitted unto him; let him be anathema.

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Canon 14Absolution by Faith Alone

If any one shall say, that man is absolved from his sins and justified, because that he assuredly believed himself to be absolved and justified; or that no one is truly justified save he who believes himself justified; and that, by this faith alone, absolution and justification are perfected; let him be anathema.

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III. Predestination and Assurance

Canon 15Assurance of Election

If any one shall say, that a man, who is born again and justified, is bound of faith to believe that he is assuredly in the number of the predestinated; let him be anathema.

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Canon 16Assurance of Perseverance

If any one shall say, that he will for certain, of an absolute and infallible certainty, have that great gift of perseverance unto the end, unless that he have learnt this by a special revelation; let him be anathema.

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Canon 17Grace Only for the Predestined

If any one shall say, that the grace of justification only befalleth those who are predestined unto life; but that all others who are called, are called indeed, but receive not grace, as being, by the divine power, predestined unto evil; let him be anathema.

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IV. The Law and Obedience

Canon 18The Commandments Impossible

If any one shall say, that the commandments of God are, even for a man that is justified and constituted in grace, impossible to keep; let him be anathema.

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Canon 19Nothing Commanded but Faith

If any one shall say that nothing besides faith is commanded in the Gospel; that other things are indifferent, neither commanded nor prohibited, but free; or, that the ten commandments in nowise appertain to Christians; let him be anathema.

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Canon 20Bound Only to Believe

If any one shall say, that a man who is justified and how perfect soever, is not bound to the observance of the commandments of God and of the Church, but only to believe; as if, forsooth, the Gospel were a bare and absolute promise of eternal life, without the condition of observation of the commandments; let him be anathema.

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Canon 21Redeemer, Not Legislator

If any one shall say, that Christ Jesus was given of God unto men, as a redeemer, in whom they should trust, and not also as a legislator, whom they should obey; let him be anathema.

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V. Perseverance and the Increase of Justice

Canon 22The Help of God

If any one shall say, that the justified is able either to persevere, without the special assistance of God, in the justice received; or that, with that [assistance], he is not able; let him be anathema.

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Canon 23Sinlessness and Falling

If any one shall say, that a man once justified can sin no more, nor lose grace, and that therefore he that falls and sins was never truly justified; or, on the other hand, that he is able, throughout his whole life, to avoid all sins, even those that are venial, except by a special privilege from God, as the Church holds respecting the Blessed Virgin; let him be anathema.

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Canon 24Increase by Good Works

If any one shall say, that the justice received is not preserved, and also increased in the sight of God through good works; but that the said works are merely the fruits and signs of justification received, but not a cause of the increase thereof; let him be anathema.

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Canon 25Sin in Every Good Work

If any one shall say, that, in every good work, the just sins venially at least, or, which is still more intolerable, mortally, and therefore deserves eternal punishments; and that it is only for this cause he is not damned, because God does not impute those works unto damnation; let him be anathema.

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Canon 26Hope of Recompense

If any one shall say, that the just ought not, for their good works which have been done in God, to expect and hope for an eternal recompense from God, through His mercy and the merit of Jesus Christ, if they persevere unto the end in well doing and in keeping the divine commandments; let him be anathema.

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VI. The Loss and Recovery of Grace

Canon 27Infidelity the Only Mortal Sin

If any one shall say, that there is no deadly sin but that of infidelity; or, that grace once received is not lost by any other sin, however grievous and enormous, save only by that of infidelity; let him be anathema.

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Canon 28Faith Lost with Grace

If any one shall say, that, grace being lost through sin, faith also is always lost with it; or that the faith which remains is not a true faith, though it be not a lively faith; or, that he, who has faith without charity, is not a Christian; let him be anathema.

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Canon 29Recovery Through Penance

If any one shall say, that he, who has fallen after baptism, is not able by the grace of God to rise again; or, that he is able indeed to recover the justice lost, but by faith alone, without the sacrament of penance, contrary to what the holy Roman and universal Church, instructed by Christ and his apostles, has hitherto professed, observed and taught; let him be anathema.

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Canon 30Temporal Punishment and Purgatory

If any one shall say, that, after the grace of justification received, unto every penitent sinner the guilt is so remitted, and the penalty of eternal punishment so blotted out, that there remains not any penalty of temporal punishment, to be discharged either in this world, or in the next in purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of heaven can be laid open; let him be anathema.

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VII. Merit and Reward

Canon 31Working for Reward

If any one shall say, that the justified sins when he doeth good works with a view to an eternal recompense; let him be anathema.

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Canon 32The Merit of Good Works

If any one shall say, that the good works of a man that is justified are in such wise the gifts of God, as that they are not also the good merits of him that is justified; or, that the said justified, by the good works which are performed by him through the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, does not truly merit increase of grace, eternal life, and the attainment of that eternal life, if so be, however, that he depart in grace, and, moreover, an increase of glory; let him be anathema.

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Canon 33The Glory of God

If any one shall say, that, by this Catholic doctrine touching justification, set forth by this holy synod in this present decree, aught is derogated from the glory of God, or the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not rather that the truth of our faith, and the glory in fine of God and of Christ Jesus are rendered illustrious; let him be anathema.

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The Council of Trent