their Letter 366 The Book against Auxentius Bishop of Milan is a Manifesto against this Bishop and against those that maintain him Who because they cover'd themselves chiefly under the Cloak of procuring Peace and Unity St. Hilary says That we can have no other true Peace but that of Jesus Christ and the Gospel and that this Peace cannot take place in a time when the Ministers of the Church are become Anti-Christs by opposing the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and the Gospel while they pretend to preach it He complains That they make use of Temporal Power to maintain a False Doctrine He endeavours to prove that Auxentius fosters Heretical Opinions he recites the Conference that he had with him and exhorts the Catholicks to take heâ—d of Anti-Christ and to separate themselves from Auxentius After this Book follows a Letter of Auxentius to the Emperour wherein he endeavours to purge himself from the Heresy of Arius yet without approving the Term Consubstantial or rejecting the Creed of Ariminum The Commentaries of St. Hilary upon St. Matthew are very excellent for there he had made many very useful Historical and Moral Observations The Chief of them are these following In the 1st Canon he endeavours to reconcile the two Genealogies of Jesus Christ by saying That St. Matthew describes the Royal Race of Jesus Christ by Solomon and St. Luke the Sacerdotal Race by Nathan He maintains That the Virgin was of the same Tribe and the same Family with Joseph and that she continued a Virgin after her Child-bearing and that the Persons who are call'd in Scripture the Brethren of Jesus Christ were indeed the Children of Joseph that he had by a former Wife He says That the Wise-men acknowledg'd the Royal Power of Jesus Christ by presenting him with Gold his Divinity by offering him Incense and his Humanity by giving him Myrrh He observes That Rachel who mourn'd for her Children is a Figure of the Church which having been a long time barren became afterwards fruitful He says That the Innocents were made partakers of Eternal Life by the Martyrdom which they suffer'd In the 2d Canon he says That Jesus Christ did not cause St. John to Baptize him for the Purification of his Sins since he was without Sin but that Water might Sanctify us by Jesus Christ. Then he speaks of the Effects of Baptism After Baptism says he the Holy Spirit descends upon the baptiz'd he fills them with a Caelestial Unction and makes them the adopted Children of God In the 3d. Canon he explains the Temptations of Jesus Christ and speaks of his Fast for Forty Days He says That the Devil was ignorant of the Incarnation In the 4th he explains the Beatitudes He says That none but the perfect Man who is wholly purified from his Sins shall enjoy the Vision of God He observes That Adultery is the only cause for which married Persons can be Divorc'd He condemns Oaths Revenge and Vanity In the 5th he sends the Reader to a Book of St. Cyprian for the Explication of the Lord's Prayer He also mentions Tertullian but he says of this last Author That his following Errors depriv'd his First Books of that Authority which he could otherwise have allow'd them He occasionally says That the Soul is Corporeal In the 6th Canon he particularly recommends Good Works without which all other things are unprofitable to Salvation In the 7th he explains allegorically the Cure of the Leper and of St. Peter's Mother-in-Law understanding those places of the Curing of Sinners He compares the Church to a Ship tost with a Tempest and towards the latter End he observes That we ought not to mention the Names of Dead Infidels in the Commemorations of the Saints In the 8th he Discourses particularly of the Fall of humane Nature by the Sin of the first Man and of the Reparation of Mankind by Jesus Christ. In the 10th he Advises Catholicks not to enter into the Churches of Hereticks He observes That nothing in the Ecclesiastical Ministry ought to be sold for Money and that the Ecclesiastical State ought not to be ambitious of obtaining Temporal Authority He says That at the End of the World the Jews that shall be then alive shall believe in Jesus Christ and be saved He assures us That Man was created Free but that the Sin of Adam enslav'd him to Sin and Vice and that in Baptism we are deliver'd by the Word from Sins contracted by our Birth Towards the latter End of the 11th he explains wherein the Easiness of Christ's Yoke consists excellently and in a few Words What is more Easy says he than the Yoke of Christ and what is more Light than his Burthen It is only to be obliging to all the World To abstain from committing Sin To desire that which is Good not to desire that which is Evil To Love our Neighbour To Hate no Body To lay up for Eternity Not to addict our selves to things present Not to do to another what we would not they should do unto us In the 12th he explains after the same Manner as St. Athanasius the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost by saying That it is the denying of Jesus Christ to be God In the 13th he observes That those who are out of the Church cannot understand the Word of God In the 14th speaking of St. Joseph he says That he was a Lock-Smith and not a Carpenter as is commonly believ'd In the 15th he observes that those who are to be baptiz'd make profession of their Faith in Jesus Christ and of being firmly persuaded of his Death and Resurrection and that their Actions may be agreeable to their Words they pass all the time of the Passion of Christ in Fasting that so in some measure they may suffer with Jesus Christ. He speaks in the 16th of the Prerogative that St. Peter receiv'd when Jesus Christ gave him the Keys of his Church after this manner O happy Foundation of the Church says he in the change of your Name O Rock worthy of the Building of Jesus Christ since it was to abrogate the Laws of Hell to break its Gates and to open all the Prisons of Death O happy Porter of Heaven to whom are entrusted the Keys of admission into it and whose Judgment on Earth is a fore-judging of what is done in Heaven since whatsoever he binds or looses upon Earth shall be bound or loosed in Heaven In the 18th Canon he concludes with these Words of Jesus Christ The Angels of these Children see the Face of my Father From whence says he it may be concluded That the Angels rejoyce at the Sight of God and that they preside over the Prayers of the Faithful which they offer continually to God He says that those who are bound on Earth by the Ministers of Jesus Christ that is says he those whom the Ministers of Jesus Christ leave bound in their sins and that those who are loosed by receiving them unto the Grace of Salvation upon
Days of the Creation which are mention'd in Genesis do not begin at Night but at the Morning and end at the Morning of the Day following The First and Third of his Hymns are in commendation of the Mystery of the most Holy Trinity which he explains in many Words The Second is a Prayer to God and is rather in Prose like the Creed attributed to St. Athanasius than in Verse The Poem of the Maccabees is a Description in Hexameter Verse of the Martyrdom of those Seven Brethren There is nothing extraordinary in this Poem there is nothing Poetical in it but some mean Imitations of Virgil and for the most part the Verses are low and despicable The Commentaries of Victorinus upon St. Paul have not yet been publish'd Sirmondus found some Fragments of them in a Manuscript from which he took those two little Treatises of which we have already spoken But probably he judg d them not worth publishing though he says in his Advertisement That the Stile of these Commentaries is more clear and clean than that of his Dogmatical Works There are many Philosophical Books attributed to the same Victorinus as his Commentaries upon Tully's Rhetorick cited by Cassiodorus in his Bibliotheca and by Pope Sylvester the II. in his Epistle 130 which have been Printed several times There is also attributed to him the Version of Porphyrie's Isagoge which is amongst Boetius's Works a Book about Poetry and some Books of Grammar But those sort of Books ought not to come into our Bibliotheca which should contain none but Ecclesiastical Monuments St. PACIANUS ST PACIANUS Bishop of Barcelona no less Famous says St. Jerom for the Holiness of his Life than the Eloquence of his Discourse wrote many Books among which there is one entitled St. Pacianus Cervus or The Hart and some other Treatises against the Novatians He died under the Reign of Theodosius towards the Year 380. We have three Letters of his against the Novatians address'd to Sempronianus who was of this Sect. An Exhortation to Repentance and a Treatise or Sermon of Baptism address'd to the Catechumens All these Pieces are written with much Wit and Eloquence The First Letter to Sempronianus has Two Parts In the First he makes use of the way of Prescription from the Name and Authority of the Catholick Church to show that the Sect of the Novatians cannot be the Church of Jesus Christ. In the Second he refutes their Doctrine about Repentance He observes at the beginning of the First Part That since the coming of Jesus Christ there have appear'd an infinite Number of Sects who have all been denominated from the Names of their Authors That the Name of Catholick is continued only in the True Church That the Novatians make one of those Sects which are separated from the Catholick Church That they have forsaken the Tradition of the Church under pretence of Reformation He opposes to them the Authority of the Ancient Fathers of the Church who were Successors to the Apostles Why should not we says he have a Respect to the Authority of those Apostolical Men Shall we pay no Deference to the Testimony of St. Cyprian Would we teach this Doctrine Are we wiser than he But what shall we say of so many Bishops dispers'd over all the World who are united with these Saints What shall we say of so many Venerable Old Men of so many Martyrs and so many Confessors Is it for us to Reform them Shall our times corrupted by Vice efface the Venerable Antiquity of our Ancestors My Name says he addressing himself to Sempronianus is Christian and my Sur-Name is Catholick Christianus mihi nomen est Catholicus cognomen He explains afterwards the Name of Catholick and tells us that the most Learned say that it signifies Obedient and that according to others it means one thro' all and shews that these two Significations agree to the Catholick Church which alone is obedient to the Voice of Jesus Christ and which only is the same in all the World After he has thus spoken of the Church he proceeds to Penance and so he enters into the Merits of the Question May it please God says he that none of the Faithful may ever stand in need of it That no Man after Baptism may ever fall into the precipice of Sin That so the Ministers of Jesus Christ may never be oblig'd to Preach and Apply long and tedious Remedies for fear of Patronizing the Liberty of sinning by flattering Sinners with their Remedies Nevertheless we allow this Mercy from our God not to those who are so happy as to preserve their Innocence but to those who have been so unhappy as to lose it by their Sins It is not to the Sound but to the Sick that we Preach these Remedies If the Evil Spirits have no more Power over the baptiz'd If the Fraud of the Serpent which destroy'd the first Man and gave so great occasion of Damnation to his Posterity has ceas'd If I say the Devil is gone out of the World If we may sport our selves in Peace If Man does not fall into many Sins of Thought Word and Deed Then let us not acknowledge this Gift of God Let us reject this Aid Let us have no more Confessions Let us no longer hearken to Sighs and Tears Let Justice and Innocence proudly despise these Remedies But if Man be subject to these Miseries Let us no more accuse the Mercy of God who has propos'd these Remedies to our Diseases and Rewards to those that preserve their Health Let us no more efface the Titles of God's Clemency by an unsupportable Rigour nor hinder Sinners by an inflexible hardness from rejoycing in those Gifts which he has freely bestow'd upon them 'T is not we who give this Grace of our own Authority but God himself who says Be converted to me c. After he has set down many Passages of Scripture which prove That God Pardons penitent Sinners he proposes this Objection of the Novatians God only will you say can grant Pardon of Sin That 's true answers he but what he does by his Ministers he does by his own Power For he says to his Apostles Whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth shall be loos'd in Heaven But perhaps he did not give this Power to any but the Apostles If this were true then we must say That they only had also Power to Baptize to give the Holy Spirit and to Purify the Gentiles from their Sins For in the same place where he gives them Powr to Administer the Sacrament of Baptism he also gives them Power to loose Sinners Either then these two Powers were peculiarly reserv'd to the Apostles or they are both continued to their Successors and therefore since it is certain that the Power of giving Baptism and Unction is continued in the Bishops that same must consequently be granted of the Power of binding and loosing
who thought that by his refusal he had offended them that had chosen him he answers in the first place That none ought to be afraid of offending Men when they cannot any other ways avoid it but by offending God 2. He shews that he was so far from disgracing them by his Denial that he pretended on the contrary that he obliged them very much by not exposing them to the reproaches to which they might otherwise have been subject and the false reports which might have been raised against them Is it not certain says he that had I accepted the Bishoprick then those that love to caluminate might have suspected and spoken many things not only of me but also of my Electours They would have said for example that they had respect to Riches or were blinded with the Luster of Birth or won by my Flatteries I know not whether they would not have dared to say that I had bribed them with Money But thanks be to God I took from them all these occasions of Evil-speaking and they can no more tax me with Flattery than they can accuse these good Men of being corrupted For why should he that bestowed Money or used Flattery to get an Office suffer another to take it when he might have it himself Again what might not have been said by detracting Men after my coming to the Office Could I have made Apologies sufficient to answer their Accusations Though all my Actions had been without reproach had they found no pretence to blacken me But now they have none for I have delivered those that might have chosen me from all imputations No complaints will be made of them It will not be said publickly They have entrusted young Fools with the highest and most considerable Offices they have exposed God's Flock to all sorts of Corruption Christianity is now made a jest of and they delight to render it ridiculous Now the mouth of iniquity must be stopped For if Calumniatours do thus complain of You addressing himself to Basil you will let them see that a man's Wisdom is not to be judged of by the Number of his Years nor old Age measured with Gray-hairs and that not young Men but Neophytes are to be excluded from Ecclesiastical Dignities Thus he concludes the second Book To defend himself against such as accused him of refusing the Bishoprick out of pride he says that it is not to be presumed that any Man could refuse so eminent a Dignity out of Vanity and that such as are of that opinion must needs be despisers of that high Office To undeceive them he speaks of the Priesthood in these Terms Though the Priesthood is exercised upon Earth yet it ought to be reckoned amongst heavenly Goods since neither Man nor Angel nor Archangel nor any created Power but the Holy Ghost himself established that sacred Order and made men think that they exercised a Ministry of Angels in a mortal Body Wherefore whosoever is raised up to the Priesthood ought to be as pure as if he were already in Heaven among those blessed Spirits When you see our Lord placed and offered upon the Altar The Bishop celebrating the Sacrifice and praying for the whole People dyed and made red with his precious Blood do you think that you are amongst Men and upon Earth Do you not believe your selves to be taken up into Heaven for that moment And do you not put off the thoughts of the flesh Do you not behold heavenly things with a pure Spirit and a naked Soul O Miracle O Bounty of God! He that is above with his Father suffers himself to be touched by the hands of all in this moment and gives himself to be held and embraced by those that desire it Afterwards he compares the Divine Mysteries to Elias his Sacrifice which caused Fire to come down from Heaven to consume the Victims He saith that the Bishop in like manner causeth by his Prayers not Fire from Heaven but the Holy Ghost to descend upon the Altar Having thus exalted the Dignity of the Priesthood because of the Power which they have to consecrate the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ he discourses of their Power of binding and loosing Sinners which is not less honourable nor less usefull to the Salvation of Men. For saith he living as yet upon the Earth they dispose of the things of Heaven and they have received a Power which God would give neither to Angels nor to Archangels having said unto Men and not to them What you shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven Temporal Princes have a power to bind but that is the Body only whereas Episcopal Power bindeth the Soul and reacheth unto Heaven because God ratifieth above what the Bishops do here below and the Master confirmeth the Sentence of his Servants This Power is as much above the Temporal as Heaven is nobler than the Earth and the Soul than the Body It were madness to despise a Power without which we could hope for no Salvation nor the possession of the promised Goods For if none can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven unless he be first regenerated with Water and the Holy Ghost And if he that eateth not the Flesh of the Lord and drinketh not his Blood is deprived of Eternal Life And if it be these holy Hands I mean by the hands of Bishops that all these things are done How can either the Fire of Hell be avoided or the Crowns prepared for us in Heaven be obtained without their help They and only they are intrusted by God with these spiritual Births and that regeneration which is wrought by Baptism By them we put on Christ we are united to the Son of God and become Members of his sacred Body Bishops do not judge of the Leprosie of the Body as the Priests did under the old Law they judge of that of the Soul and they do not onely enquire whether Souls be purified but they have power also to purify them Wherefore those that despise them commit a much greater Crime and are worthy of a much severer Chastisement than Dathan and his Companions Having thus exalted the Dignity of the Priesthood he discovers the Dangers that attend this Office on all sides He compares a Bishop that has the Care of a Diocess with a Pilot that hath the Charge of a Ship But a Bishop saith he is more agitated with Cares than the Sea with Winds and Storms The first Rock he meets with is vain Glory Anger Peevishness Envy Quarrelling Calumnies Accusations Lying Hypocrisies Treachery and precipitate Violence against the Innocent joy to see those that serve the Church neglect their Duty and sorrow to see them discharge it worthily love of Praise desire of Honour which is one of the most pernicious passions of the Soul Discourses where pleasure is more looked after than the profit of the Hearers servile Flatteries base Complacency Contempt of the
of Jesus Christ with their sacred Mouth Qui Christi corpus Sacro ore conficiunt In his Commentary upon Zephaniah he seems to doubt whether wicked Priests consecrate it But 't is probable that he speaks thus rather to terrifie them than to establish a Proposition whose Consequences would prove very dangerous I add an excellent Passage of this Father concerning the Sacrament of Penance taken out of his Commentary upon these Words of the 16th Chapter of S. Matthew Whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven Some saith he Priests and Bishops of the New Law understanding not the sence of these words doe imitate the pride of the Pharisees by ascribing to themselves a power to condemn the Innocent and to absolve the Guilty But God doth not so much consider the Sentence of the Priest as the Life of the Penitent And as the Levites did not cleanse the Lepers but only separated those that were cleansed from those that were not by the knowledge which they had of the Leprosie Even so the Bishop or the Priest doth not bind those that are innocent and loose the guilty but having heard the difference of Sins he knows whom to bind and whom to loose in the discharge of his Ministery In this place we may take notice 1. Of the Custom of declaring Sins to the Priest 2. The Power which Priests had to Absolve 3. The use Priests were to make of the Keys and the care they were to take not to Absolve but such as were truly penitent * After what has been already said of S. Jerom one can hardly esteem him a Person upon whose Authority Points of Doctrine or Matters of Discipline can safely be established He may however give the Sence of the Church in his own time in Matters wherein he personally was not concerned in which we have Reason to think that he gives a faithfull Account of things And therefore since we have no Cause to disbelieve what he says of the Eucharist and of what the Church of Rome calls the Sacrament of Penance but on the contrary may reasonably suppose that he spake the Sence of the Church The Passages themselves are to be examined Of those concerning the Eucharist we are to consider 1. That he keeps himself to the Language of the New Testament in his Answer to Hedibia's Question and only confutes the Millennaries but says nothing of the Modus of the Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament 2. That his Interpretation of those Words in S. John My Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is Drink indeed of the Spiritual and Divine Flesh of Jesus Christ shews that he understood them Allegorically for he distinguishes that from the Flesh of Jesus Christ which suffered upon the Cross Now there is equal Reason to believe that what our Saviour says in the 6th Chapter of S. John concerning Eating his Flesh and Drinking his Blood is literally to be understood as what he says in the Institution of the Sacrament of the Eucharist And if one is Allegorically to be interpreted then they are both 3. That the Mysteâ—â—â—s of Religion were as nicely examined in that Age as in any since Jesus Christ declared it to the World and when every thing else that was Mysterious was controverted this single Article of the Real Presence as defined by the Council of Trent which is contrary to that Reason that the other Disputes concerning the Trinity and the Divine Decrees are properly above was never debated This is so strange if we suppose the Doctrine of the Church of Rome to have been then receiv'd that it is incredible especially when we consider 4. That the generality of the Fathers at that time interpreted every thing in Scripture Allegorically to which they could not assign a convenient Literal sence This the People were used to This was S. Jerom's practice very often and he had learnt it of Origen whom he seems sincerely to have follow'd till he quarrelled with Rufinus So that we have great Reason to think that Men so accustomed to Allegories as the Teachers and the People were in this Age would not be at a Loss to interpret our Blessed Saviour's meaning in any of his Words which Literally interpreted would contradict and do Violence to that Reason by which they were capacitated to understand any part of his Law The Passage produced in favour of Auricular Confession proves nothing less S. Jerom says That after the Priest had heard the difference of Sins he knew whom to bind and whom to loose that is very true but that is no Reason for Men to reveal all their Sins to the Priest because the Church in that Age put Men under Penance only for publick Sins those that had committed private ones of such a Nature as would if discovered have made them unfit to come to the Sacrament were exhorted to put themselves under a voluntary Penance and if they did so they were obliged to declare why they did it that so the time of their Penance might be regulated but this seems to have been left to themselves which makes it quite another thing from the practice of the Church of Rome S. Jerom's Works were published by Erasmus and printed in six Volumes at Basil from the Year 1516 to the Year 1526. In 1530 they were again printed at Lions by Gryphius and at Basil by Froben in 1553. The First Edition of Marianus was at Rome by Manutius in the Years 1565 1571 and 1572. The Second at Paris by Nivelle in 1579. The Third at Antwerp in 1579. The Fourth at Paris with Gravius his Notes in 1609. The Fifth is of 1624 at Paris The Last was printed in 1643. These are the Collections of all this Father's Works There are several of them printed by themselves as the Letters in Octavo printed at Rome by Manutius Dr. Cave mentions an Edition of S. Jerom's Works at Frankfort in 1684 in 12 Volumes in folio with all the Scholia Censures Index's and Collections of all sorts that had been printed till that time upon S. Jerom which are all comprized in the three last Volumes in 1566 at Antwerp in 1568 with Gravius's Notes and at Mentz in 1470 at Venice in 1476 at Paris in 1583 at Dilingen in 1565 at Louvain in 1573. The Book of Famous Men at Louvain and Helmstad in 1611 at Colen in 1580 at Lions in 1617 at Antwerp in 1639. The Epistles to Theophilus at Paris in 1546 and 1589. The Book of Virginity at Rome in 1562. The Treatise of Hebrew Names at Wirtemberg in 1626. I say nothing of the Editions of the Chronicon because they were mentioned in the Account of Eusebius his Works The Benedictines of the Congregation of S. Maura will soon undertake a new Edition of S. Jerom There is reason to hope that it will not be inferior either in Beauty or Exactness to those of S.
men c. Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 488. Ed. P. v. 6. p. 523. A Sermon upon the Woman that had an Issue of Blood Matth. ch 9. Ed. Eng. v. 5. p. 816. Ed. P. v. 6. p. 533. A Sermon upon these words of St. Matth. ch 13 The Jews consulted together Ed. Eng. v. 7. p 752. Ed. P. v. 6. p. 385. Three Sermons upon the Transfiguration Matth. ch 17. ed. eng v. 7. p. 332. 339. 345. A Sermon upon the Woman of Cana ed. eng v. 5. p. 771. ed. P. v. 6. p. 295. A Sermon upon the Parable of an Housholder and his Workmen Matth. 20. ed. eng v. 5. p. 508. ed. P. v. 6. p. 539. A Sermon upon the withered Fig-tree ed. eng v. 7. p. 252. ed. P. v. 6. p. 552. A Sermon upon these words of Jesus Christ Matth. ch 18. Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth c. ed. eng v. 7. p. 268. An Homily upon Matth. ch 21. By what authority do ye c. published by Cotelerius A Sermon upon the Ten foolish Virgins Matth. 25. ed. eng v. 7. p. 554. ed. P. v. 6. p. 589. A Sermon upon St. Peter's denyal Matth. ch 26. ed. eng v. 7. p. 275. ed. P. v. 6. p. 626. An Homily upon these words Matth. 26. The Pharisees consulted together to destroy Jesus ed. eng v. 7. p. 326. Homilies upon the Women that brought Spices to the Sepulcher of Jesus Christ ed. Eton. v. 5. p. 740. A Sermon upon these words of St. Luke Caesar Augustus made a Decree that all the World should be taxed Ed. Eton. v. 5. p. 715. ed. P. v. 6. p. 503. A Sermon upon Zacharias's Vision and Elizabeth's Conception Ed. Eton v. 7. p. 340. Ed. P. v. 6. p. 412. An Homily upon the Centurion v. 7. ed. Eton p. 403. An Homily upon the resurrection of the Widows Son at Naim ed. Eton. v. 7. p. 439. A Sermon upon the publican Woman whose repentance is recorded in St. Luk. Ch. 7. ed. eng v. 7. p. 440. ed. P. v 6. p. 395. An Homily upon the parable of Seeds Luk. 8. ed. eng v. 7. p. 409. An Homily of the Pharisee and the Banquet Luk. 11. Ed. En. v. 7. p. 280. Ed. P. v. 6. p. 560. Two other â—ermons upon the same Subject Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 357. and 376. Two Sermons upon the Parable of a man fallen among Thieves Luk. 10. Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 387. and 506. An Homily upon these words Luk. 12. I came to bring War c. Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 478. An Homily upon the Groat Luk. 15. Ed. Eton. v. 7. p. 418. An Homily of the Prodigal Son Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 539. Ed. P. v. 6. p. 369. An Homily upon the Parable of Lazarus and Dives Luk. 16. Ed. Eng. v. 5. p. 728. Ed. P. v. 6. p. 564. A Sermon upon the Parable of the unjust Steward Luk. 16. Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 433. An Homily of the Publican and the Pharisee Luk. 18. Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 233. Ed. P. v. 6. p. 569. Another Sermon upon the same Subject Ed. En. v. 7. p. 462. An Homily upon Zaccheus Ed. Eton. v. 7. p. 403. An Homily of the Blind man and Zaccheus Luk. 18. Ed. Eng. v. 5. p. 731. Ed. P. v. 6. p. 675. An Homily upon the first words of St. John's Gospel In the beginning was the Word Ed. Eng. v. 5. p. 745. Ed. P. v. 6. p. 235. A Sermon upon the Marriage in Cana of Galilee John ch 2. Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 284. Ed. P. v. 6. p. 256. An Homily upon John ch 11. v. 47. The Jews assembled their Counsel Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 532. An Homily upon what Jesus Christ saith of the Shepherd John ch 10. Ed. Eng. v. 5. p. 984. Ed. P. v. 6. p. 265. An Homily upon Christ's coming to Jerusalem Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 369. A Sermon upon Lazarus's resurrection in John ch 11. Ed. Eng. v. 5. p. 270. Ed. P. v. 5. p. 146. Four Homilies upon the same Subject Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 320. 524. 528. 530. An Homily upon the Woman of Samaria John 4. Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 42. P. v. 6. p. 409. Another Homily upon the same Subject Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 374. An Homily of the man sick of a Palsie John 5. Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 414. An Homily of the man born Blind Ed. Eng. v. 5. p. 761. P. v. 6. p. 432. A Sermon upon these words of St. John ch 7. v. 24. Judge not according to outward appearance Ed. Eng. v. 7. p. 272. An Homily upon these words Romans ch 7. v. 15. The good that I would I do not c. Ed. Eton. v. 5. p. 789. An Homily upon these words 2 Cor. ch 12. My grace is sufficient Ed. Eton. v. 5. p. 799. P. v. 6. p. 340. An Homily upon these words of the Epistle to the Hebrews If we Sin wilfully there remaineth no more Oblation c. Ed. Eng. v. 5. p. 772. It is a Fragment of the 20th and 15th Homilies upon the Epistle to the Hebrews Sermons upon some Points of Doctrine Genuine BOOKS SIx Sermons against the Jews ed. eng v. 6. p. 312 c. P. v. 1. p. 385 c. An Homily of the Resurrection of the Dead Ed. Eng. v. 6. p. 703. Ed. P. v. 5. p. 440 Sermons concerning the Pleasures of another Life Ed. Eton v. 8. p. 71. P. v. 5. p. 647. Five Sermons of the incomprehensible Nature of God against the Anomaeans Preached at Antioch Ed. Eton v. 6. p. 389 c. Ed. P. v. 1. p. 294. A sixth Preached at Constantinople Ed. Eton v. 6. p. 434. P. v. 1. 698. A Sermon of Consubstantiality Ed. Eng. v. 6. p. 425. Ed. P. v. 1. p. 360. A Sermon concerning the Request of the Mother of Zebedee's Children Ed. Eng. v. 5. p. 206. P. v. 1. p. 374. An Homily concerning the Prayers of Jesus Christ Ed. Eng. v. 6. p. 714. P. v. 5. p. 595. Two Sermons One against those who affirm that the Devil rules things here below and the other against such as ask Why God did not destroy him Ed. Eng. v. 6. p. 680 and 690. P. v. 1. p. 285 and v. 5. p. 689. Books Spurious A Discourse upon the Apostle's Creed Ed. Eton vol. 5. p. 287. A Sermon to Catechumens Ed. Eng. v. 6. p. 971. A Sermon directed to the Neophytes ibid. Another Sermon to those that are to be Baptized ibid. p. 851. A Discourse of the Trinity Ed. Eng. v. 6. p. 955. P. v. 6. p. 189. A Sermon of the Holy Ghost Ed. Eng. v. 6. p. 729. P. v. 6. p. 204. An Homily to prove that there is but one Law-giver in the Old and New Covenant Ed. A. v. 5. p. 622. P. v. 6. p. 1. Five Homilies of Providence and Destiny Ed. Eng. v. 6. p. 563. A Sermon concerning Faith and the Law of Nature Ed. Eng. v. 6. p. 837. P. v. 6. p. 177. A Sermon against Hereticks Ed. Eng. v. 6. p. 979. A Latin Sermon upon the
his Imprudence had been the Occasion of all this Then he relates the Emperor's Threatnings to him in these Terms I will send to Rome says he to break down St. Peter's Image and will carry Gregory away as Constans did formerly Martin He answers him thus ' You ought to know and be sure that the Roman Bishops do always imploy themselves to Maintain the Peace between the East and the West our Predecessors endeavoured to do it and we do follow their Example But if you go on to insult over us and threaten us we will not fight against you but will withdraw within 24 Furlongs from Rome into Campania after that do what you please Then he puts him in Mind that Constans who persecuted Pope Martin died unfortunately in his Sin being slain in the Temple by one of his Officers being informed by the Bishops of Sicily that he was an Heretick That Martin contrariwise was honoured as a Saint in the Place of his Banishment in Thrace and the Northern Countries That he desires nothing more than to tread in the Steps of his Predecessors but that he thought himself bound to preserve his own Life for the Peoples Good because in all the West every bodies Eyes were upon him and all Christians had Confidence in him and St. Peter whose Image Leo threatned to destroy that they looked upon St. Peter as a God upon Earth and if Leo attempted any thing in the West he feared that they would also avenge those of the East mis-used by him That he knew his Empire did not reach far in Italy that Rome only had cause to fear by reason that the Sea was so near but if the Pope removed but 24 Furlongs he was safe He wonders lastly That when all the most barbarous People of the West grew mild the Emperor of the East should grow fierce and barbarous He declares to him That if he sends Men to break down St. Peter's Image the Blood that will be spilt shall fall upon his Head As for himself he protests he is clear and pure from it This Letter shews the Falshood of what some Greek Historiographers out of Hatred to the Pope have reported That Gregory II. had forbidden the Romans and Italians to pay the Tributes due to Leo the Emperor and had freed them from their Oath of Allegiance to this Prince This Letter did not alter Leo the Isaurian's Mind nay he wrote to the Pope that he was Emperor and Chief Bishop Imperator sum Sacerdos Gregory writing again to him in his Second Letter tells him It 's true the Emperors his Predecessors shewed themselves both Emperors and Chief Bishops by their Deeds defending Religion joyntly with the Bishops but he could not pretend to this Dignity seeing he divested the Church of its Ornaments and spoiled Temples of Images which did equally instruct and edifie the People That Emperors ought not to meddle with Doctrine that Bishops only had the Understanding necessary to decide them that Ecclesiastical and Civil Matters being judged by quite different Principles he might be very skilful in Civil Matters and have very little Skill in Matters Ecclesiastical that as Bishops had no Right to meddle with State Affairs so the Emperor had no Right to Govern Church Affairs to make Elections in the Clergy to Consecrate to Administer the Sacraments no nor to receive them but from the Bishops Hands That the Prince does punish the Guilty with Death Banishment and other Penalties but the Bishops don't do so but when any body hath sinned and confessed his Sin instead of Beheading or Hanging of him they lay on his Head the Gospel or the Cross they put him in the Vestry or among the Catechumens they make him Fast Watch and Pray so that after a long Correction and Affliction they at last give him the Body and Blood of Christ and having purify'd him and made him a Vessel of Election they lead him to Heaven Then he does sharply rebuke him for his Cruelty Barbarity and Tyranny and exhorts him to submit himself And as to that which was objected qq Obj. That in the six first General Councils nothing had been said of Images A very weighty Objection and not to be stid over with such an Answer as the Pope gives it viz. That they were so common that there was no need to speak of them There was hardly any Doctrine or Practise of the Christian Church but had been either Explained Confirmed or Regulated by some of these Councils and had Image-Worship been then used it would have been mentioned in some of them But the Truth of it was that it was a perfect Innovation a Practise never used but among Heathens and therefore this Pope could do no other than pass it over with such an insufficient and sorry Answer that in the six first Councils nothing had been said of Images he answers That they were so common that there was no need to speak of them He advises him to refer himself to his Judgment and German's Patriarch of Constantinople seeing they have received from Christ the Power of Binding and loosing in Heaven and on Earth All this did not hinder Leo the Emperor from going on in his Enterprize and from setting out Jam. 7. An. 730. an Edict whereby he ordered Images to be removed out of Churches and Sacred Places and to be thrown into the Fire inflicting Penalties upon those that would not obey this Order German was then turn'd out and Anastasius put in his Room in the See of Constantinople Constantine Copronymus Leo's Son followed his Father's Steps and for the better establishing the Discipline he had a mind to introduce he called a Council An. 754. at Constantinople composed of 338 Bishops It began in February and ended in August This Council made a Decree against the Use and Worship of Images which we will set down afterwards It was not received by the Romans But by the Authority of the Emperor a great part of the Eastern Churches received and executed it till rr Irene A second Athalia or Jezebel not less Zealous for Images nor less Scandalous and Notorious for Wickedness and Cruelty for she put out the Eyes of her Son Constantine gave her self up to follow Wizzards and Sorcerers put many good and Innocent Persons to Death a fit Instrument to set up this Doctrine of Devils Irene who had married Leo the Fourth's Brother to Constantin Copronimus being a Widow and Mistress of the Empire her Son Constantine being but young yet was so devout as to set them up again To succeed in her Enterprize she resolved to call a new Council and wrote to Adrian in her own and her Son's Name shewing him that the Princes her Predecessors had destroyed Images in the East and had drawn the People and all the Eastern Churches to their Persuasion that to reform this Abuse they judged it fit to assemble a Council and desired him to be there without fail to hold the Place of the first
accuses Peter Abaelard of treating of the Trinity like Arius Abelaard's Doctrine Examined of Grace like Pelagius and of the Incarnation like Nestorius of having bragg'd that he was ignorant of nothing and of being never willing to say Nescio i. e. I do not know of being willing to expound inexplicable things and to comprehend incomprehensible Mysteries Of giving a reason for that which was above Reason of believing nothing but what Reason discovers to us of placing Degrees in the Trinity Terms and Limits to the Majesty of God and Numbers in Eternity These are the general Reflections which he cast upon him In particular he finds fault with those Expressions of Abaelard concerning the Holy Ghost viz. That he is not of the same substance with the Father as the Son is He is astonish'd to find him on one side owning that he is Consubstantial to the Father and the Son and on the other side denying that he proceeds from the substance of the Father and the Son He maintains that the absolute Attributes of God such as his Omnipotence Wisdom and Mercy does not agree more to one than to another of the Three Divine Persons He opposes Abaelard's Comparison taken from a Seal and the material whereof 't is made He finds fault with the Definition of Faith which Abaelard makes use of because he therein gives to Faith the name of Estimation which is of too loose a Signification He omits speaking to several other Propositions of Abaelard that Jesus Christ had not the Spirit of Fear That the fear of God will not subsist in the other Life That the Accidents of the Bread and Wine after the Consecration are in the Air That the Demons do not tempt Men but only by the Virtue of some Stones and of some Herbs which they know and make use of That the Holy Ghost is the Soul of the World Proceeding afterwards to what relates to the Incarnation he in the first place cites the Proposition wherein Abaelard maintain'd that Jesus Christ did not come into the World on purpose to redeem Mankind upon this he urges the Business very home to him and shews that neither Scripture nor Tradition acknowledge any other end of the Incarnation beside the redeeming of Mankind from the Bondage of the Devil into which they had faln by the Sin of their first Parent He charges him with such things as he only advanc'd in his Commentary by way of Query He demonstrates in opposition to Abaelard that the end of Redemption does not consist in the Love of Jesus Christ since Infants are redeem'd by Baptism before they arrive to the use of Reason and consequently before they are capable of loving at all Lastly he considers three things in the Incarnation The example of Humility which God has given us by thus abasing himself The measure of Charity which he extended so far as to the Death upon the Cross and the Sacrament of Redemption whereby he has deliver'd Men from Death by his Death These are the Heads whereof St. Bernard treats in his large Letter against Abaelard directed to Pope Innocent II. which makes the Eleventh of his Opuscula But to come to an exact knowledge of all the Errors charg'd upon Peter Abaelard 't is sufficient only to consult the Collection of the Propositions extracted out of his Works which was read in the Council of Sens and sent to the Pope It consists of Fourteen Propositions The first is the Comparison which he makes of a Seal of Copper to explain the mystery of the Trinity The second is that which he says of the Holy Ghost viz. That the Holy Ghost is not a Power nor of the substance of the Father though the Three Persons of the Trinity are of the same substance The third that God cannot do any thing else but what he does do The fourth that the end of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ was not only to redeem Mankind but to inlighten the World with the Lustre of his Wisdom The fifth that speaking properly and without a Figure we cannot say that Jesus Christ is a third Person of the Trinity The sixth that God has not given more Grace to him who is sav'd than to him who is not before the former has cooperated with his Grace that he offers his Grace to all the World and that it depends on the Freedom of Men's Will whether they will make use of it or reject it The seventh that God ought not nor cannot hinder Evil. The eighth that when 't is said that Infants contract Original Sin this ought to be understood of the Temporal and Eternal Punishment which is due to them because of Adam's Sin The ninth that the Accidents which remain after the Consecration of the Eucharist are not joyn'd to the substance of the Body of Jesus Christ as they were to the Bread and Wine but are in the Air That the Body of Jesus Christ retains its Figure and Lineaments and that what we see are false appearances under which the Body of Jesus Christ is hid The tenth that 't is not the outward Action but the Will and the Intention which render Men either Good or Bad. The eleventh that the Jews who crucified Jesus Christ in ignorance and out of Zeal for the Law did not commit any Sin in so doing and shall not be condemn'd for this Action but for their former Sins which merited this Blindness The twelfth that those Words whatsoever you shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven are to be understood thus Whatsoever you shall bind in this present Life Abaelard's Doctrine examin'd shall be bound in the present Church That none but the Apostles had this Power and that if it had been communicated to their Successors 't is to be understood only of those who have the Holy Ghost The thirteenth that neither the Suggestion nor the Pleasure which follows it are sinful but the consenting to an Evil Action and the contempt of God The fourteenth that Omnipotence belongs only to the Father as a Personal Attribute Abaelard in his Apology disowns the Heretical meaning of those Propositions but the Question which still remains is to know in what Sense he advanc'd them It cannot be deny'd but that he had Catholick Notions about the mystery of the Trinity and did believe that the Three Divine Persons were of the same Nature The Comparison of a Seal which he makes use of to explain this Mystery is not altogether exact nor does he pretend that it is but he owns that we can find nothing among the Creatures which perfectly resembles this incomparable Mystery Nor does he deny that Power Wisdom and Love are such Attributes as are common to the Three Divine Persons he declares the contrary even in express Terms but he attributes Power to the Father Wisdom to the Son and Love to the Holy Ghost only by way of Appropriation wherein he seems not to disagree from the Doctrine of the Fathers and Divines But
the same Subject And in the sixtieth he declar'd That all the Presentations made in the Archbishoprick of York without the consent of that Archbishop upon pretence of his being suspended were nothing In the sixty first he determin'd That an excommunicate Person who before he died acknowledged his fault and designed to come to Rome to receive Absolution ought not to be denied Ecclesiastical Burial Here are the words of his Answer which may very well deserve your attention The Judgment of God is always founded on infallible Truth but the Judgment of the Church often depends upon an opinion which may be under a mistake Upon this account it sometimes happens that he who is bound before God is free before the Church and he that is free before God is bound by an Ecclesiastical Sentence The Chain wherewith the Sinner is bound before God is loosened by a Remission of the Fault but that wherewith he is bound in respect of the Church is loosen'd only by Absolution from the Sentence which appears in the Resurrection of Lazarus whom our Saviour first raises again and then orders the Apostles to untie him So the Man concerning whom he is talking having promised with an Oath to obey the Church and to give signs of his penitence might very well be absolved in the sight of God but not having received Absolution he is not so in respect of the Church Yet the Church could and ought to remedy this that is because his penitence was true by the plain marks he gave thereof while he lived it could give him Absolution after his Death And it signifies nothing that the power of binding and unbinding was not granted the Church in respect of dead men so that it cannot bind or unbind any but what are upon the Earth or as it is written cannot communicate with a man that is dead with whom it did not communicate while he was living for although it did not communicate with him yet it ought to have done it it not being any ill will to Religion but an inevitable accident which hindred him from receiving absolution And we read in the Canons that the Church has bound and unbound the dead He order'd that this Absolution be desired of the Holy See the case for which he was to be absolved being a reserved case that it should be performed with a penitential Psalm the Lord's Prayer and the Prayer used upon that occasion and that his Heirs should make satisfaction In the sixty second he order'd a certain Lord to reserve a Treasure which had been found in a Country of the Patrimony of St. Peter as belonging of right to the Holy See The sixty third is written to the Archbishop of Sens about the Dean of Nevers whom having been suspected of Heresy he sends back to him with orders to reestablish him after he had canonically cleared himself by the witness of fourteen Priests In the sixty fourth he confirm'd the Order made by the Bishop of Osma in Spain to have none but Regular Canons in his Church and some other Constitutions which he had made In the sixty fifth he wrote to the same Bishop and determin'd that such of the Clergy as were notoriously scandalous in keeping Concubines ought to be condemned without Witnesses or Accusers but that such whose Crime was not so notorious but that it might admit of some doubt could not be condemned but upon the deposition of Witnesses and not on simple Declarations In the sixty sixth he declar'd That those Laicks who keep any of the Clergy in prison incur excommunication as well as those who give them ill treatment That such as communicate with an excommunicated Person so as to partake of or contribute to his Crimes cannot be absolved of the Excommunication which they incur but by him who excommunicated the Person with whom they communicated or by his Superiour But if they communicated with them only so as to eat or drink with them or in any other manner without partaking of their Crimes then they might be absolved by their own Bishop or any other Priest Lastly he determin'd that not only those who have contracted two valid Marriages are to be accounted Bigamous but those too who have contracted such as were nulled because that although they were not in facto Bigamous for want of the Sacrament yet the Intention of being so was the same and there was a Fault committed besides therefore he would not have a Dispensation granted such as there is to other Bigamous Persons By the sixty seventh he confirm'd the Dean of Toledo in his Benefice and puts him under the protection of the Holy See By the next he confirm'd an Archdeacon in his Benefices The sixty ninth is a Confirmation of the establishment of the Abbey of St. Michael of the Order of Premontre In the seventieth he order'd that the Saracens should be forced to pay their Tithes to the Parishes By the seventy first he nam'd the Bishops of Lincoln and Ely with the Abbot of St. Edmund to make up the difference between the Archbishop and Monks of Canterbury or to give Judgment in it The 72d 73d 74th 76th 79th 89th 90th 92d 93d 98th 100th 101st 102d 108th 109th 110th 116th 153d and 274th are Confirmations of the Privileges of Monastries By the seventy fifth he order'd the Archbishop of Compostella to make use of Ecclesiastical Censures to oblige the King of Leon to put away the Daughter of the King of Castille whom he had married tho she was his kin within the prohibited degrees In the seventy seventh to the Archbishop of Tours he determin'd That a Metropolitan who is infirm or has any other reasonable excuse may commission another Bishop to consecrate his Suffragans In the seventy eighth he order'd the Bishop of Castellane to take off the Interdict pronounced against the Inhabitants of his City because they had submitted and rejected him whom they had chosen Governor of the City without the consent of the Pope In the eightieth he committed to the Abbot of Fertè and to the Archdeacons of Challons the ordering of the difference between the Church of Autun and the Monastry of Baume The eighty first contains the Judgment in a Process between the Monastry of St. Owen and that de la Croix-Saint-Leufroy His Judgment is in favour of the latter according to the first Sentence in this case tho there had been a second which seemed to contradict it The seven following Letters contain a famous Sentence in favour of the Archbishop of Tours against the Church of Dol by which the Bishop of Dol is declared his Suffragan and hath the Pallium taken from him In the ninety first after having first given his Judgment that the Monks of Citeaux had acted rashly in changing the Abbys of Regular Canons which were in the Islands of Hieres into Monastries of their Order he nominated the Bishops of Marseille and Agde to make a Reform among these Regular Canons The ninety fourth is a