contradiction which that great Cardinal had not leisure to mind For the Patriarch Denis speaks onely here of what these Bishops had done under the Pontificate of Pope Cornelius and he prays Stephen the Successour of that Pope not to use them harshly for the Judgment they are of that the Baptism of Hereticks is null Them says he who under his Predecessour condemned the Heresie of Novatian Is there any thing clearer than that Baronius without minding it hath taken the Counter-sense and besides Denis of Alexandria would have had care not to call an opinion which he believed to be true an Heresie Firmilian then and the Asiaticks persisted still in their opinion as well as St. Cyprian the Africans and their successours till the decision of a General Council as may be clearly seen in an hundred passages of the Books of St. Austine which he Wrote concerning Baptism against the Donatists I know that St. Jerome says in the Dialogue against the Luciferians that the Bishops of Africa returned to the ancient custome saying What do we doe and that abandoning St. Cyprian they made a new Decree conform to that of Saint Stephen But all the Learned agree that that holy Doctour who Wrote that Dialogue before the most part of his other Works had taken that out of some Apocryphal Writings such as that which bears for Title The Repentance of St. Cyprian and was declared false and supposititious in a Synod held at Rome Threescore and fourteen years before the death of St. Jerome For to be short the quite contrary is to be seen in the Books of St. Austine that I have just now alledged in the Letter of Saint Basil to Amphilochius and in the Eighth Canon of the first Council of Arles Now if during the life of Saint Stephen there were so many Bishops who refused to obey his Decree there were as many that opposed it after his death For the Patriarch Denis of Alexandria Wrote in a high strain to Pope Sixtus the Successour of St. Stephen Euseb l. 7. hist c. 4. exhorting him to follow a conduct contrary to that of his Predecessour and not to break as he had done with so many Bishops for a constitution contrary to his own since it had been approved in several Councils Hic in Cypriani Africanae Synodi dogma consentiens de Haereticis Re-baptizandis ad diversos plurimas mifit epistolas quae usque hodie extant Hieron de script Ecclesias in Dionys and St. Jerome himself in his Treatise of Ecclesiastical Writers which he made long after his Dialogue against the Luciferians assures us that that great Man declared openly for the Doctrine of Saint Cyprian and African Bishops and that he thereupon Wrote many Letters which were still extant in his time That was the cause that the Successours of Sixtus entertained Peace with the African and Asiatick Bishops every one freely following their custome and opinion as to that Point without being blamed for it untill that a General Council had pronounced Supremely in the matter This we learn from St. Austine in his Books of Baptism against the Donatists These August l. 1. de Bapt. contra Donatis c. 7. who began their Schism against Cecilian Bishop of Carthage in the year Three hundred and two alledged continually the example of St. Cyprian and of his fellow Bishops to justifie the conduct which they held as well as those in Re-baptizing all Hereticks It is most evident that they durst not have made use of that instance if St. Cyprian and those Bishops had retracted For St. Austine would have confounded these Schismaticks upon the spot by saying that all these Bishops had condemned their former opinion Yet he never did so On the contrary he confesses that they always believed that Hereticks must be Re-baptized but he adds that it was lawfull for them to believe it and for all who have succeeded them to doubt of that point which was then in controversie and to dispute about it As indeed there were many conferences great disputes and debates on Church decided that difference and all submitted to that Sovereign Authority Cui ipse cederet si jam eo tempore quaestionis hujus veritas eliquata declarata per plenarium concilium solidaretur Ibid. c. 4.89 as St. Cyprian would have done without doubt saith St. Austine if the whole Church in a full and general Council had in his time pronounced concerning that point And because the Donatists would not submit to the Decree of that Council in that they added Heresie to their Schism Now before we come to shew what that General Council decided as to that point we must make a serious and solid reflexion upon what we have now said which will suffise to make it clearly out to us what Antiquity hath believed concerning the Infallibility of the Pope Here then we have a Pope of famous memory in the Church who makes a Decree whereby he instructs all Believers concerning a point of highest importance where the question is about the validity or nullity of Baptism without which one cannot be saved and by that Decree he pretends to oblige the whole Church to believe that Hereticks who are converted ought not to be Re-baptized and does so pretend it that he cuts off from his communion great Bishops who would not submit to his Decree And nevertheless St. Cyprian all the Bishops of Africa Mauritania and Numidia those of Cappadocia Cilicia Galatia and Phrygia Denis Patriarch of Alexandria and the Bishops of his Patriarchate will not receive that so solemn a Decree of Stephen Pope of Rome Besides St. Austine and all the African Catholicks united with that great Doctour of the Church against the Donatists say that before the decision of the Council that came not till long after that Decree of the Pope it might freely without making a separation from the Church be held what St. Cyprian had believed concerning the Baptism of Hereticks In fine St. Athanasius St. Optatus Melevitanus Athanas Or. 3. contra Arian St. Cyril of Jerusalem Optat. l. 4. Cont. Parmen St. Basil and some others Cyril Hieros praef in Catech. who have Written as well as they after that General Council Basil Epist 3. Con. 47. whereof St. Austine speaks and before that of Constantinople have believed that all Hereticks who have not the true Faith of the Trinity ought to be Re-baptized who in those first Ages of the Church were incomparably more numerous than the other Hereticks who believed that great Mystery These are not bare conjectures that may be doubted of but uncontroverted matters of fact A Man needs no more but eyes in his head to prove them by Reading the testimonies alledged It must necessarily then follow seeing they submitted to a Council because they knew it to be Infallible which was not done in regard to the Pope St. Stephen that St. Cyprian Firmilian of Caesarea Denis of Alexandria St. Athanasius Saint
quamvis incomparabiliter inferior Cypriano sicut illud Apostoli Petri quod Gentes Judaizare cogebat nec accipio nec facio quamvis inferior incomparabiliter Petro. l. 2. contra Craescon c. 32. though I be incomparably inferiour to that great Man as though I be incomparably less than St. Peter yet I admit not neither doe what he did in compelling the Gentiles to Judaize An infinite number of great Men have in that followed St. Augustine as the Master and chief of the Doctours but at present I shall onely produce one whose authority far surpasses that of all the rest And that is Pope Pelagius II. who following the example of St. Austine in relation to St. Cyprian acknowledges and at the same time excuses the errour of Pope Vigilius by that of St. Peter It is a very remarkable matter of fact Take it thus After that wicked Nestorius had been condemned in the Council of Ephesus some of his party published certain Writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia Liberat. in Breviar c. 10. wherein under other terms than those which that Heresiarch had used he said almost the same thing making it apparent enough that by the two natures which he admitted to be in Jesus Christ he understood two distinct Persons But seeing that errour was not expressed in such formal termes that all men might discover it and that besides this same Theodore had in his life-time been held in great veneration that as it commonly happens occasioned great debates some as John Patriarch of Antioch saying that there was nothing to be found fault with in his Book Others who were headed by Rabula Bishop of Edessa maintaining that it contained pure Nestorianism a little disguised This dispute growing hotter after the death of Rabula Ibas who succeeded him in the Bishoprick of Edessa taking a course quite contrary to his Predecessour wrote a long Letter to Maris Persan a Nestorian Heretick wherein he thought it not enough to give great praises to Theodore but inveighs also sharply against St. Cyrill of Alexandria the scourge of Nestorianism though at the same time he condemns the Doctrine of Nestorius whether he spake sincerely or that he would thereby caution himself against the process that might have been brought against him for that he had so openly declared for Theodore The truth is sometime after he was accused in the famous Council of Chalcedon where that Letter was produc'd against him Ann. 451. Concil Chalced. Act. 16. and read in full Council But seeing there was nothing to be found in it but praises of Theodore whose Book had not been examined and invectives against the person and conduct of St. Cyril and besides that Ibas in that Council pronounced Anathema against Nestorius and condemned his Doctrine more severely than he had even done in his Letter He was Absolved as well as Theodoret who did the same though he had Written against St. Cyrill more bitterly than Ibas had done But the Council took no notice of that Treatise Nevertheless seeing these three Writings which are very well known by the famous name of the Three Chapters so much talked of favoured Nestorianism and that that Heresie is directly opposite to that of Eutyches which admits indeed but one person but also but one nature in Jesus Christ The Emperour Justinian was easily persuaded that if these Three Chapters were condemned the Catholicks might be reconciled with the Acephali who were a remnant of Eutychians Ann. 546. This Prince who at that time desired nothing more than the Peace of the Church zealously undertook that affair He made an Edict against these Three Chapters Petav. 1. p. Ration l. 7. c. 7. which was signed by Mennas and the other Patriarchs of the East and to render that condemnation still more authentick seeing he was at that time Master of Italy having driven the Goths out of it he made Pope Vigilius come to Constantinople that he might oblige him to sign it as the other Patriarchs of the East had done There is nothing in History more extraordinary than the fortune of that Pope His ambition at first made him Anti-Pope having got himself to be chosen by the interest of the Empress Theodora who put him in the place of Sylverius the lawfull Pope Liber c. 28. that she caused to be deposed and banished and to whom that Intruder promised to condemn the Three Chapters Victor Tunon in Chron. and to approve the faith of Anthimius as he did And therefore Sylverius for all he was banished Sylver Epist c. Excommunicated him as an Anti-pope This holy Prelate dying shortly after that Condemnation the Clergy of Rome for avoiding a Schism elected of new Vigilius Canonically who by that means became true Pope and then changing his conduct that he might overturn all that he had done in favour of Theodora he condemned Anthimius as an Eutychian Greg. l. 2. c. 36. Paul diacon l. 17. and recalled the Condemnation of the Three Chapters which indeed were contrary to the Eutychians but also bordering upon the other extreme mightily favoured the Nestorians In this condition was he then when the Emperour called him to Constantinople to approve the Condemnation of the Three Chapters He had much adoe to resolve upon it Forundus Hermianen because he thought as many Occidentals did that that was to empeach the Council of Chalcedon which had received Ibas and Theodoret the defenders of Theodore of Mopsuestia But it was represented to him that the Council had not received them untill they had condemned the Nestorians and that it had not examined neither the Book of Theodore nor that of Theodoret and that seeing now they were sufficiently convinced and persuaded that the Doctrine of Nestorius condemned in the Council of Ephesus was contained in these Writings he ought to condemn them thereby to take all advantage from the Nestorians Vigilius at length Ann. 547. Judicatum acquiesced to these Remonstrances and the year following made his Decree whereby he condemns the Three Chapters but with this reserve Saving the respect and submission which is due to the Council of Chalcedon Justinian not satisfied with that would have the Pope seeing the question concerned not that Council which had not examined these Books to condemn them absolutely and without that modification lest the Nestorians might make use of it for eluding a like condemnation But Vigilius who was always loth to offend that Council would not condescend to it how badly soever they treated him to oblige him to doe so In fine after many debates about the subject Justinian who resolved to put an end to that affair for restoring peace to the Church caused the Fifth Council to be held at Constantinople in spight of Vigilius Ann. 553. V. Syn. 5. Tom. 3. Concil Constitutum who was so far from granting the Emperour what he desired that he made a new Constitution wherein he again takes upon him the protection of the
c. Here he relates at length the Decree of the fourth Session with that Clause Et ad reformationem Ecclesiae in capite in membris and having done so This says he to the Fathers of the Council is the Decree that you have made Dare M. Schelstrate after this still say that those of Basil have falsified that Decree by adding thereunto those Words And since for convincing him he hath obliged me to alledge so authentick a Piece in that part of this excellent Sermon which John Gerson made to the Council of Constance I should be glad he might know what after the Rehearsal of the Decree as we have it that learned Doctor adds speaking still to the Council These are his own Words which are very considerable Huic veritati fundatae supra petram sacrâ—e Scripturae quisquis à proposito detrahit cadit in haeresim jam damnatam quam nullus unquam Theologus maxime Parisiensis Sanctus asseruit Whoever opposes and contradicts that Truth founded upon the Rock of Holy Scripture falls into the Heresie that now hath been condemned which no Divine especially of the Faculty of Paris nor no Saint ever maintained In this manner Gerson speaks of the Opinion of those who will not have a Council to be above the Pope We give it a softer term and reject it not as heretical but as contrary to the Doctrine of Antiquity and consequently false Then he goes on with greater force still and expresses himself in these Words I lately saw St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure I have not here the Books of other Doctors They allow the Pope the supreme and full Ecclesiastical Power Vidi nuper Sanctum Thomam Bonaventuram hic reliquorum libros non habeo dant supremam plenam summo pontifici potestatem Ecclesiasticam rectè proculdubio sed boc faciunt in comparatione ad fideles singulos particulares Ecclesias Dum etiam comparatio facienda fuisset ad anctoritatem Ecclesiae Synodaliter congregatae subjecissent Paepam usum potestatis suae eidem Ecclesiae tanquam matri suae cujus legem dimitti non debere iradit sapiens tanquam praeterea regulae vel legi directivae infallibiliter cui se submittere tenetur omnis frater peccabilis de Ecclesia cujus anctoritatem si non audierit frater quilibet etiam Papa qui nobiscum dicit Pater Noster audi itur quid dixerit omni Catholico Christus sit tibi inquit sicut Ethnicus Publicanus id est excommunicatus and without doubt they are in the right because saying so they compare the Pope with all Believers and all Churches taken particularly But if they had been to compare him with the Authority of the Church assembled in a Council they would have subjected him and the exercise of his Power to the same Church as to his Mother whose Laws the Wise Man says one should never forsake and as to the Rule which directs us infallibly and to which all men in the Church liable to failing are obliged to submit And if any one whoever he be of our Brethren though he were Pope who says his Pater Noster as we do will not acknowledge her Authority and obey her let us hearken to that which Jesus Christ enjoyns to every Catholick Let him be to you saith he as an Heathen and as a Publican that is to say as an excommunicate Person And this is just the same which the Pope Silvester II. said in express terms many Ages before Gerson And to prevent M. Schelstrate from offering to say that the Text of this Doctor hath been falsified by adding thereunto these words Et ad reformationem Ecclesiae in caepite in membris I declare unto him that the Treatise de potestate Ecclesiastica where that great man quotes that Decree hath been collationed with four Manuscripts two of the History of St. Victor marked N N. S. and M M. 11. with one of the Colledge of Naevarr and of the Bibliotheke of Monsieur Colbert marked 99. That the Treatise An quomodâ— appellare liceat à summo pontifice where the same Decree is to be found is altogether conform to two Manuscripts one of St. Victor marked N N. 9. and the other of the Bibliotheke of Navarr That the Sermon pro viagio Regis Romanorum hath in like manner most exactly been compared with a Manuscript of St. Victor marked according to the ancient Catalogues N N. 11. with one of the Bibliotheke of Navarr and with one of the Library of Monsieur Colbert marked 99. In a word that what is to be read in the Sermon Nuptiae factae sunt c. wherein Gerson repeated before the Council the Decree of the fourth Session is to be found in a very ancient Manuscript of St. Victor marked N N. 19. word for word as we have caused it to be printed All these Manuscripts have been communicated to me by Monsieur d' Herouval Regular Canon of St. Victor and Doctor of the Surhonne whose merit already well known to the Learned will shortly be to the Publick in the new Edition that he is preparing of the Works of Gerson which by his Care and Pains will be found restored to their Perfection that they have never hitherto had This I think is enough to oblige M. Schelstrate to yield Would he have any thing more precise He shall be satisfied The Council of Basil ten Years before the Extract made which he pretends they falsified proposed that Decree such as we have it and renewed the same in the second Session Cardinal Julian who was nominated by Martin V. to preside in that Council and who after the Death of that Pope presided therein in Name of Eugenius IV. consented to that Decree in behalf of the Pope in that second Session and defended it in the Letter which he wrote to Eugenius to remonstrate to him the Reasons which obliged his Holiness not to offer to dissolve that Council Had not this Decree been that of Constance most faithfully proposed would he have consented to it Would not he have objected against that notorious Falsification Et tibi prout opus â—â—deris esse juxta tibi injuncta ordinata in Concilio Constantiensi optimè provideas Julian Ep. 2. ad Eugen Would not he have protested that what was added to the end of the Decree was no part of it he who was very well acquainted with his Council of Constance and daily studied it having express Orders from Eugenius to act in the Council of Basil as he should find it expedient according as he was enjoyned and directed by the Decrees of the Council of Constance Would he have more still Here is enough to satisfie him Eugenius IV. in the Bull which he published during the sixteenth Session declares That according to the Decrees of Constance he had called the Council of Basil for the Extirpation of Heresies the Peace of Christian People and the general Reformation of the Church