1. Ethnic and Jewish Conception
tiona that the "table of good works"
and Jewish might be written upon and the " table
Conception. of sine " destroyed. The former table
is identical with the "table of life"
upon which Nebo registers man's length of life.
In the Egyptian religion Thoth corresponds to this
writing god, the heart of the dead is weighed in a
scale and Thoth notes the result. The dead man
puts in a claim, for example, for charity, "I have
given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty,
clothes to the naked, and passage to those without
ship." The Greek conception of the judgment of
the dead was influenced by the Babylonians (cf.
L. Rub], De mortuorum judicio,
Giessen, 1903). In the Zoroastrian eschatology the conceptions, good
thoughts, good words, good works, are important
(see
Zoroaster, Zoroastrianism). These accom
pany the soul in its flight to heaven. At the judgment
of the dead good works are weighed against
bad works. Here may be
found the idea of a treas
ury of
superfluous good works and that works of
pity are decisive. These ideas probably had an
influence upon the Jewish religion. Their influence
upon Islam is well known. These parallel features
are especially noteworthy: books of good and bad
works, the' weighing of them, and emphasis on
works of pity. God accepts repentance. Faith
and good works moat follow in order to drive away
former evil (J. B. Ruling, Eschotologie des Islam,
pp. 18-25, Leipsic, 1895). In the Jewish religion
ma'oaim forum, "good works," are frequently men
tioned along with mizwoth, "fulfilment
of the law."
Ma'aseh signifies the practical fulfilment of the law,
and comes neat to its study, and might include the
conception of mizwoth. It was not
limited to the
giving of alms and acts of kindness. It can not be
maintained that all good works of these two sorts
were regarded as extralegal (cf.
Deut. xv. 7
sqq.).
But although they were commanded by the law,
the measure and degree in which they were to be
performed were left'to individual initiative. The
idea of `deeds=-ofleiselaes~tc~e ~asadhim3first
appears in Ecclesiasticus and Tobit; these acts
relate to the dead, mourners, the sick, strangers,
and prisoners, and are dependent upon personal
motive. They have justifying and atoning power.
They are written down in books in heaven, and on
the judgment day God opens the books and judges
accordingly (Jubilees, xxx. 19 sqq.). Another conception is that of the garnering up of good works.
On the judgment day they "awake" (IV Ezra. vii.
35, 77). In Pirke
Aboth iv
. lla, vi. 9b, good works
are represented as companions of the departing
soul and witnesses in his favor before the judgment
seat. The idea sometimes appears of the superfluity of the good works of
the Fathers being vicariously accredited to Israel (IV Ezra 8, 26 sqq.).
On the expression kala or agatha ergs., which occurs
in the New Testament first in
Matt. v. 16,
cf. H.
Cremer,
Wbrterbuch der
neutestament-
2.
The
lichen
Grdcitat (Gotha, 1902), and
Teaching of Zahn, Das
Evangelium deg Matthdus,
Jesus. p. 203 (Leipsic, 1905). The image of a
"treasure in Heaven" is used also by
Jesus
(Matt. vi. 20),
who retains the conceptions
relating to the reward for good works. The
image of
bookkeeping with reference to good works appears
in
Rev. xx. 12;
that of the companionship of good
works in
Rev. xiv. 13.
Jesus' criticism of the
righteousness of good works is aimed at the Presumption of claiming credit with God, at the confusion of the distinction between
moral and
ritualistic works, at the increasing of the necessary
number of good works to an intolerable degree, and
at the pride and love of glory accompanying it.
The Jews commonly associated almsgiving, prayer,
and fasting as types of good works. Jesus approved
of fasting as an expression of a sorrowful mood, but
not as a means of purification. He emphasized the
importance of words as indications of the character
of the spirit
(Matt. xii. 36-37),
but he also praised
the doing of the will of God in contrast to the mere
utterance of words
(Matt. vii. 21, xxi. 28
sqq.).
He taught also that only those acts of love are
good that arise from adequate motives
(Matt. xxv. 37
sqq.). In
Luke x. 20
he uses the old image of
a book of life, meaning that his disciples had cOnfeseed God and been chosen to salvation.
Paul was not only a man of deep religious feeling, but an active character and an ethical genius.
It is an exaggeration to assert that
3. Pauline his denial of justification by works
Teaching. meant an alienation from works (A.
Sehlatter,
Der G
laube im N. T., pp. 327
sqq., 381 sqq., Stuttgart, 1905). Paul opposes the
doctrine that man may demand recompense from
God for doing that which God has bidden him do. It
is
impiety from the standpoint of the religion of salvation and faith in Christ. He opposes to the Jewish
formula, " works and faith," the principle " out of
faith alone." Faith is trust in .the grace of God,
which alone brings salvation and would no longer
be grace if the principle "by works" were valid.
The sole efficacy of predestined grace is lauded in
Rom. xi. 6;
its relation to works in
Eph. ii. 9-10.
Paul certainly valued highly the activity of Christians in works, which, religiously considered, is
nothing less than God's "good works." The saving
power of good
works arises from the fact that at the
judgment decision will be based upon them. This
seems contradictory of the doctrine of justification
by faith alone. It will not do to regard the former
of these views as a mere survival in Paul of a Jewish
mode of thought., Paul not only felt that Christ
was producing all those heroic works which he,
Paul, was able to do through love of Christ, but
he also recognized in himself freedom, power, and
responsibility. He was filled with the spirit of selfsacrifice and joy because he was able to do something
for the love of Christ, for which he hoped to receive
not " reward "from Christ, but favor and friendly
recognition. Faith in Christ as judge because of his
"meekness and gentleness"
(II Cor. x. 1)
made the
idea of man's hoping in his littleness to deserve
anything of God because of his works seem less
presumptuous. The ethical conception that salvation must
be dependent upon activity, responsibility, and duty was developed in Paul's mind by
the idea of the atonement. The pastoral letters
mention frequently the idea of good works, which
then passed into church doctrine and terminology.
While these letters do not contain the phrase " faith
and works," they do contain the phrase " faith and
love."
For the evolution of the idea of justification by
works see
Justification.
The best material bearing
on the common postapostolic view of
4. Patristic good work is presented in A.
Titius,
and Roman
Die neutestamentliche Lehre von der
Catholic
Seligkeit, vol. iv.,
chap. iv. (Tübingen,
Doctrine. 1900). For the apostolic fathers, E. J.
Goodspeed,
Index patristicus
(Leipsic,
1907) is valuable. Their ethicism is currently explained as due to Jewish influence. The significance
of Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine for
the Roman
Catholic doctrine of good works is very great (see
Justification).
Augustine's
De ,fide et operibus
established in the Church Paul's doctrine of " faith
which worketh by love "
(Gal. v. 6).
The specific
Roman Catholic combination of
a religion of salvation and a religion of justice began after the time of
Tertullian to be formed by means of an elastic
and
complicated conception of Merit (q.v.). The thesis
of Augustine that God crowns as human desert his
own gifts of grace made the combination possible.
The scholastics treat many problems relative to
this subject not under the title of bona opera, " good
works," but under
actus humani,
"human activities," as belonging to ethics. As they recognized
seven principal virtues, seven gifts of the Holy
Spirit, and as especially good acts, eight evangelical
beatitudes, so also they counted
seven corporal and
seven spiritual works of charity. The corporal
were the Jewish "deeds of kindness" (Lactantius,
Epitome, Ix.;
Augustine,
De moribm ecclesim
catholicce, xxvii.).
These works of pity especially,
but also the other categories mentioned, are still
important in the Roman Church. The prevailing,
external, reward-hungry doctrine of the Middle Ages
was undermined by mystics like Bernard, Eckhart,
and
Tauler (qq.v.).
The Tridentine council defended the "regard for reward" (see
Reward)
and
the fear of hell and judgment. Christ is not only
the Savior whom one should trust, but the lawgiver
whom one must obey. The Gospel is not a bare and
unconditioned promise of eternal life without the
requirement of observing the commands of God
and of the Church. As works of satisfaction are
mentioned " fasting, works of charity, prayer, and
other exercises of the spiritual life." The point of
view is not alone that of the observance of the,
commandments. Good works are regarded also
as sufferings with Christ
(
Rom. viii. 17),
as war
with the flesh; and especially noteworthy is the
connection with Johannean mysticism. The current
Roman Catholic doctrine of good works may be
sketched briefly as follows: even a man who has
committed a sin deserving of death may perform
naturally good works, which, although they will
not bring him to Heaven, " are very useful in obtaining from the Divine pity the grace of conversion,
and in winning temporal reward or avoiding temporal punishment " (Katholischer
Katechismus für
das Apostolische Vikariat im Königreiche Sachsen,
p. 89). The commands of God and of the Church,
the performance of which will win Heaven for the
doer, are to hear mass, to fast, to confess and partake
of the communion, to pay church tithes, and not
to marry at forbidden times. To the question, which
works . are especially recommended by the Bible,
the catechism quoted, p. 90, mentions prayer,
fasting, and almsgiving, in which are included all
works of reverence, mortification, and love of neighbors. A great theological-ethical tradition beginning
with Augustine lies back of the doctrine of the
catechism that. God " especially regards the good
intention, through which even with slight works
we may obtain great reward of God." The good
intention should be awakened every morning with
prayer; to renew it frequently through the day
increases the merit. A good intention that does not
coincide with the proper aim and direction of a
good work adds a new species of goodness to the
good work, makes it doubly good. An alms, an
action or suffering of anything irksome, is spoken
of as being "brought as a sacrifice" to God. The
good intention then makes doubly good the deed
good in itself. The awakening of the good intention
is an act of explicit love of God. The acts of faith
and hope also should frequently be awakened.
These three theological virtues are, together with
sanctifying grace, an inpoured ornament of the
soul disposing to a fulness of good works. It is
evident how great is the number of possible good
works. The Catholic needs many of them not only
to obtain merit in order to attain blessedness, but
also as acts of penance in order to escape temporal
punishment for his sins. The acts of penance imposed by the confessor (prayer, fasting, and alms)
must be supplemented by voluntary deeds, which
avail to help the poor soul suffering the fires of
purgatory.
In the Eastern Church the spirit of an Augustine
has been lacking to lead the way beyond the formula
