Supererogation.

Supererogation. WORKS OF (Lat. opera supererogatoria), a class of works which, in the Roman Catholic system, are described as not absolutely required of each individual as conditions to his eternal salvation. The doctrine is based on the distinction between præcepta and consilia evangelica, the former including the common duties of all, the latter (called also 'Counsels of Perfection') establishing a merit. Roman Catholics found this definition on the distinction between what they believe to be commanded and what they hold to be only counselled, for an example of which they appeal to the words of our Lord to the young man in Matthew, xix. 21, which distinguish one class of works which are necessary in order to 'enter into life,' and a further class which must only be done if we 'would be perfect.' Roman Catholics do not profess to recognise in works of supererogation any distinctive essential quality by which they differ, whether in their physical or their moral entity, from other works, and in virtue of which, by their own nature, the individual may found upon them a personal claim to reward. For works of supererogation, as for all supernaturally good works, they hold that the assistance of God's grace is indispensably necessary; and they do not ascribe to them any merit, except that which arises from God's own free and gratuitous promise. In one word, the only distinctive characteristic of a work of supererogation lies in its not being supposed to be prescribed or commanded as absolutely necessary for the salvation of the individual, and its being done for the sake of greater perfection; and the doctrine which teaches the possibility of such works is, according to Catholics, a necessary consequence of the unequal fervour and unequal degrees of holiness which exist even in the class of the virtuous servants of God. The main difficulty comes in at the next step—the claim that a further consequence of this doctrine is that God may accept the superabundant works of one in atonement for the defective service of another. Hence in the theory of indulgences, along with what they regard as the infinite and inexhaustible treasure of the merits of our Lord, Roman Catholics also regard, although in a degree infinitely inferior, the superabundant merits of the saints as forming part of that 'treasure of the church' which is applied in the form of indulgences. See INDULGENCE.