RIPALDA, JUAN MARTINEZ. — Jesuit theologian, born at Pamplona in 1594, died at Madrid on 26 April 1648.
He entered the Order in 1609, taught philosophy for 4 years and dogmatic theology for 19 at Salamanca, then moral theology at Madrid, where he also devoted himself to answering the many questions addressed to him.
His principal work remains De ente supernaturali, which was intended to pave the way for several other treatises on theology (I, Bordeaux 1634; II, Lyon 1645; III [against Baianism], Cologne 1648; new complete edition: 3 vols., Paris 1870; 6 vols., there 1871). Volume IV, dealing with the theological virtues, was published posthumously (Lyon 1652). In it, R. demonstrates keen insight and a broad, refined analysis of the most abstruse concepts in a field that was already in itself not very accessible, and reveals himself to be bold in his judgments and eager to express something new. His characteristic theses are 4: the role of habitual Grace in sanctification; the possibility of a created substance destined, by its very essence, for the beatific vision; the elevation to the supernatural order of all morally good acts performed in the world; the salvation of infidels through a broad faith. He also published: Expositio brevis litterae Magistri sententarum (Salamanca 1635); De fide spe et caritate (Lyon 1652).