[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

The reference is to those to whom the Gospel has not reached their shores or their ears. This will include Muslim children who never get to hear, read, or even think of Christ and His Church but instead are indoctrinated and forced to abide. If however they lead the virtues spelled out in the Beatitudes, they are not sealed off from the graces of God.

I forgot to comment on this. The gist of the quotation is that everyone has access to the Grace of God, even if it is in a Pelagian sense (by their good works they access it). Augustine says that Grace is not given to all, and that God is sovereign and righteous in choosing who does and does not get it.

These views contradict. The latter is entirely Reformed, as understood by Luther, the Augustinian monk, or Bishop Jansen, whose book "Augustus," which only elucidates Augustine's teachings, was condemned by multiple Popes.

[Cvengr]

I think we both value the Early Church Fathers as good historical development in Christian theology, but using them as doctrinal guidance can be very misleading.

It took the Church some 400 years to get a grasp on the doctrine of the Trinity.

Tertullian and Augustine vary wildly in their doctrines on the origin of the soul and the timing of its introduction to the body.

Many doctrines ridiculed as heretical by the RCC today were promoted by these same Early Church Fathers, but somewhat ignored when the RCC claims them as their theological forefathers.