Council of Trent on Extent of the atonement
Sufficient for all, efficient for the elect
But, though He died for all, yet do not all receive the benefit of His death, but those only unto whom the merit of His passion is communicated.
THE POSITION
Christ died for all, but only those to whom the merit of his passion is communicated receive its benefit. The same chapter says people would never be justified "if they were not born again in Christ." That is the distinction between the death's worth, which reaches all, and its fruit, which reaches those reborn. The decree does not limit Christ's death to the elect.
5 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Met in twenty-five sessions over three periods, at Trento in northern Italy except for two sessions held at Bologna in 1547. Called by Paul III and closed under Pius IV. It answered the Reformation point by point: Scripture and tradition, the canon, original sin, justification and the seven sacraments. From the Sixth Session on, each subject is set out in chapters and then in canons ending "let him be anathema." The Catholic Church counts it the nineteenth ecumenical council; the Orthodox and Protestant churches do not count it as ecumenical. Read here in J. Waterworth's 1848 translation.
Cite this page
"Council of Trent on Extent of the atonement", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/trent/atonement-extent (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/trent/atonement-extent).