Fire All that I can do is to exhort you 't is your part to Labour and God's to Perfect Raise up your Minds direct your Intentions prepare your Hearts it is for your Souls that you fight and they are Eternal Treasures which you hope for The First Lecture is also an Exhortation to those that are to be baptiz'd to prepare themselves by a Holy Life and by Good Works that so they may receive the Grace of Baptism It is compos'd upon a Lesson taken out of the First Chapter of Isaiah Verse 16. which begins with these words Wash you make you clean put away the evil of your doings c. He exhorts them wholly to put off the Old-man sincerely to renounce all Sin and to spend in the Exercises of Piety the 40 Days that are appointed to Prepare them for Baptism The Second is concerning Sin and Penance He teaches them That Sin is committed voluntarily by the bad use we make of our Free-Will That the Devil was the first Sinner that afterwards he made the first Man sin That by the Sin of the first Man all Men fell under Blindness and Death That he who rais'd Lazarus rais'd our Souls and deliver'd them from Sin by his Blood That therefore we ought not to despair whatsoever Sins we have committed but to trust to the Mercy of God and to have recourse to the Remedy of Repentance He relates many Examples of God's Mercy towards the greatest Sinners He alledges also the Example of the Angels to whom he thinks God pardon'd many Faults He adds towards the end the Example of St. Peter and concludes with these words These are my Brethren the many Examples of Sinners whom God hath pardon'd as soon as they repented Do you also Confess your Sins unto the Lord and you shall obtain the Kingdom of Heaven and enjoy the Heavenly Reward together with all the Saints in Jesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever The Third Lecture is concerning the Necessity of Baptism and of Penance which ought to precede it You must prepare your selves says he by Purity of Conscience for you ought not to consider the External Baptism but the Spiritual Grace which is given with the Water that is Sanctified by the Invocation of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost The Water washes the Body but the Spirit sanctifies the Soul that we being purified may become worthy to approach unto God You cannot be perfect unless you be sanctified by the Water and the Spirit So if any one be baptiz'd without having the Holy Spirit he receives not the Grace of Baptism and likewise if any one receive not Baptism though his Conversation were never so well order'd he shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven This Discourse is bold but it is not mine but Jesus Christ's who has pronounc'd this Sentence when he said Except a man be born again of Water and the Holy Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven He proves this Truth by the Example of Cornelius then he shows the Necessity of Baptism by Water and says That none but Martyrs only can enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven without being baptiz'd The Ancients generally believed that Martyrdom was that Baptism by Fire which John Baptist fore-told Mat. 3. 11. and that was the Cup which our Saviour foretold Zebedee's Children that they should drink and the Baptism wherewith they were to be baptized He teaches That since Jesus Christ was baptiz'd to sanctifie the Waters of Baptism we must descend into the Water to be sanctified and as the Holy Spirit did then visibly appear so now he descends likewise though after an invisible manner upon those that are baptiz'd if they be well prepared for it In short he still exhorts those to whom he speaks to prepare themselves in the remaining part of Lent that so they may obtain by Baptism the Pardon of their Sins and the Grace of the Holy Spirit St. Cyril begins in the Fourth Catechetical Discourse with the Explication of the Articles of our Faith He says in his Exordium That the Worship of God consists in two things in the belief of those Doctrines that Religion teaches us and in the practice of Good Works That Faith is unprofitable without Good Works and that Good Works will prevail nothing without Faith He observes That the Articles of Faith are opposed by Pagans Jews and Hereticks and therefore it is necessary to propose it and explain it to those that enter into the Church He says That before he explains them more largely he will first give a summary of them and prays those that are already instructed to hear with Patience his Catechetical Discourses Afterwards he summarily explains the chief Doctrines of our Religion He instructs them concerning the Divinity That there is but one God only the Creator of all things who is every where present who knows all things who can do all things who never changes who will reward the Good and punish the Wicked c. He adds That we must believe also in Jesus Christ our Lord the only Son of God God begotten of God like in all things to him who begat him who was from all Eternity who sitteth now at his right hand and reigneth with him That we must not believe that the Son is of another Nature than the Father nor confound the Persons of the Father and the Son That he is the Word and the Word of God but a Word subsisting which is nothing like to the Word of Men That this Word was truly and really united to the Humane Nature That he assum'd real Flesh from the Virgin That he was truly Man subject to Humane Infirmities and to Death it self That he was crucified for our Sins That he was buried in the Grave and that he descended into Hell to deliver the Just who had been shut up there a long time with Adam That he was truly risen from the Dead That being ascended into Heaven he was worship'd by all the World and that he shall come again to Judge the Quick and the Dead and to establish an Eternal Kingdom Concerning the Holy Spirit he teaches That we ought to have the same Notions of him as of the Father and the Son That he is One Indivisible and Almighty That he knows all things That he descended in the form of a Dove upon Jesus Christ That he spoke by the Prophets That he Sanctifies the Soul in Baptism and that he ought to be honoured as the Father and the Son being one and the same Divinity He Exhorts his Auditors to hold fast this Creed and gives them Notice That he will prove it in the following Discourse by Testimonies of Scripture For says he we ought not to teach any thing concerning Divine Mysteries but what we can confirm by the Testimonies of Scripture Do not believe what I say if I do not prove it by the Holy Scriptures St. Cyril after having inform'd those whom he instructs what they ought
Bishop in writing against the Catholick Church had written for it so that it had not been necessary to have answer'd his Treatise if he had not affirm'd many things whereof he was not well-inform'd as when he charges the Catholicks with desiring Souldiers that they might Persecute the Donatists He owns That this is the only place in all the Books of Parmenianus which is against the Church and that all others are either for the Catholicks only as when he proves that there is but one Church only or for the Catholicks and the Donatists as when he shows that Hereticks have not the Sacraments of the Church Or lastly against the Donatists only as when he speaks of the Enormity of their Crime who deliver'd up the Holy Books and made a Schism He adds That the Comparison which Parmenianus has made of Baptism with Circumcision and the Flood is honourable to the Church which maintains that there is but one only Baptism as there was but one Circumcision and one Flood Optatus having made this general Remark upon the Book of Parmenianus gives an account of the Method he has observ'd in his Work and then lays down a Scheme of his Refutation and proposes the Subject of his Books I shall begin says he First of all with giving an History of the Traditors and Schismaticks with an Account of their Abode their Persons and their Names that so it may be known who those are that are guilty of the Crimes that Parmenianus has Condemn'd Secondly I must show what is the Church and where it is because there is but one only and there cannot possibly be two Churches Thirdly I am to prove That we did not desire the Souldiers and that we are not guilty of the Crimes which are said to be done by those who would have procur'd a Re-union Fourthly 'T will be necessary to shew who is the Sinner whose Sacrifice God refuses and whose Unction we must flee from In the 5th Book I shall treat of Baptism In the 6th I shall lay open your Errors and Designs This is the Argument of those Six Books of Optatus In the First Book before we come to the History of the Donatists which is the Subject of it we must observe a Mistake of Parmenianus who says That the sinful Flesh being drown'd in the Waters of Jordan was purified from all its stains He reproves this Passage of Parmenianus because from hence it would follow either that the Flesh of all Men was purified by the Baptism of Jesus Christ or that the Flesh of Jesus Christ was sinful But because he foresaw very well that Parmenianus might explain his meaning by saying That nothing else was intended by those words but that the Flesh of Men was purified in the Flesh of Jesus Christ therefore he shows that this Expression is improper for we never say That a Christian was baptiz'd in the Flesh of Jesus Christ but in the Name of Jesus Christ. He adds That the Flesh of Jesus Christ could not be baptiz'd for the Remission of Sins since he had not committed any At last That he might not Pardon Parmenian in any thing he blames him even for the term Drown'd which he uses and tells us That he could only say of Pharaoh that he continued at the bottom of the Waters and not of Jesus Christ who descended into Jordan that he might come out of it and who Sanctified the Waters of this River by his descent He says That he cannot pass over the Imprudence of Parmenianus who having given a Description of the Flood and Circumcision and spoken in the Praise of Baptism should go about if I may say so to raise from the Dead the ancient Hereticks who were buried together with their Heresies in Oblivion and whose Names and Heresies were unknown long ago in Africa such as Praxeas Sabellius Valentinus and others who had been confuted in their time by Victorinus of Passaw by Zephyrinus of Rome by Tertullian of Carthage and other Defenders of the Catholick Church Wherefore says he do ye make such a War with the Dead as does not concern the Affairs of our Time Is it because ye have no Proof that the Catholicks are Schismaticks therefore ye would swell your Book with a Catalogue of the Names and Errors of the ancient Hereticks Why do ye speak of those who had no Sacraments which are common to us Those that are in Health have no need of Remedies Vertue and Innocence seek no help nor support but in themselves Truth wants no far-fetch'd Proofs None but the Sick seek after Remedies only the Weak and Sluggish trust to External Succors and 't is a Sign of a Lye when Men take much pains to find out a Justification Parmenianus had not mention'd these Hereticks but to tell us That they had not the Signs of a true Church That their Churches were Strumpets who had no right to the Sacraments and could not be the Spouses of Jesus Christ. Optatus was so far from refuting this Proposition that he approv'd it but he wondred that Parmenianus had joyn'd the Schismaticks with them since he himself was one of this Number I see very well says he to Parmenianus That you know not who were the Authors of the Schism at Carthage Look back to the Rise of this Affair and you will see that you have condemn'd your selves by joyning the Schismaticks to the Hereticks for Caecilian did not separate from Majorinus your Predecessor but Majorinus separated from Caecilian 'T was not Caecilian that deserted the Chair of St. Peter or St. Cyprian but Majorinus in whose Chair you sit a Chair that is of no older Original than Majorinus himself This being so he wonders that Parmenian should joyn the Schismatick with the Heretick and should say of the former as well as the latter after this manner How can a Man that is defil'd cleanse another by a false Baptism How can an impure Man Purifie How can one that makes others fall lift up those that are faln down How can one that is guilty grant Pardon or one that is Condemn'd absolve Optatus confesses That all this may be truly said of Hereticks who have corrupted the Creed and have no share in the Sacraments of the Church but he denies that this can be said of those that are only Schismaticks who as he thinks may lawfully Administer the Sacraments To prove this he shows the difference between Hereticks and Schismaticks Two things says he are necessary to render the Church Catholick The Confession of the true Faith and the Unity of Hearts Schism which breaks the Bond of Peace is begotten by Discord nourish'd by Envy and confirm'd by Disputes thus impious Children forsake the Catholick Church their Mother withdraw and separate themselves as you have done being cut off from the Church and become Rebels and Enemies But they innovate nothing in Doctrine still retaining what they had learn'd from their Mother The Hereticks on the contrary are Enemies to the Truth Deserters
his Pomps are Shows Plays and profane Feasts There is in this first Lecture a Passage expresly for Transubstantiation For says he as the Bread and Wine of the Eucarist which are nothing before the Invocation of the most Holy Trinity but Bread and Wine become after this Invocation the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. So those Meats which serve for the Pomp of the Devil tho' they be pure of their own Nature become impure by the Invocation of Devils All these Passages are necessarily to be understood according to those Notions wherein the Christians of that Age had been usually Instructed In the Second he treats of the Ceremonies and Effects of Baptism He says That the Catechumens after they were unclothed were anointed from the Feet unto the Head with exorcised Oyl That after this they were conducted to the Laver That they were ask'd if they believed in the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit That after they had made Profession of this Faith they were plunged three times into the Water and that they retir'd out of it by degrees at three times likewise He teaches them That the Baptism of Jesus Christ does not only remit Sins as that of John the Baptist did but also fills the Soul with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and makes us the Children of God by Adoption The Third is of Holy Chrism wherewith the Faithful were anointed immediately after they came out of the Waters of Baptism He declares to them That we ought not to imagine this to be common Oyl For says he as the Bread of the Eucharist after the Invocation of the Holy Spirit is no more common Bread but the Body of Jesus Christ. So the Holy Chrism after Consecration is no more common Oyl but it is a Gift of the Holy Spirit which has the Virtue to procure the presence of the Divinity So while the Forehead and other Parts of the Body are anointed with this visible Oyl the Soul is sanctified by this holy and quickning Spirit He observes afterwards That they anointed the Forehead the Ears the Nostrils and the Breast The Fourth Lecture is of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and the Fifth of the Celebration of the Eucharist These two Catechetical Lectures are so clear and so strong for establishing the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church about the Eucharist That we cannot excuse our selves from setting them down almost entire Take then as follows the Translation of them which has been printed in the Office of the Holy Sacrament The Doctrine of the blessed St. Paul alone is sufficient to give certain proofs of the Truth of the Divine Mysteries and the Church having judged you worthy to partake of them ye are by this means so closely united to Jesus Christ that ye are no more as one may say but one and the same Body and Blood with him For this great Apostle says in the place which we have already read That our Lord in the same Night wherein he was delivered up to his Enemies having taken Bread and given Thanks to God his Father broke it and gave it to his Disciples saying to them Take and Eat This is my Body Afterwards he took the Cup and having given Thanks he said unto them Take and Drink This is my Blood Seeing then that he speaking of the Bread declared That it was his Body Who shall ever dare to call in question this Truth And since that he speaking of the Wine has assured us so positively That it was his Blood Who can ever doubt of it And who shall dare to say 'T is not true that it was his Blood Jesus Christ being at a certain time in Cana of Galilee changed there the Water into Wine by his Will only and shall we think that it is not as worthy of Credit upon his own Word that he changed the Wine into his own Blood If he being invited to a humane and earthly Marriage wrought there this Miracle tho' no Person expected it from him there ought not we much rather to acknowledge that he has given to the Children of the heavenly Spouse his Body to Eat and his Blood to Drink that his Body and Blood may be nourishment to their Souls For under the species of Bread he has given us his Body and under the species of Wine he has given us his Blood that so being made partakers of this Body and Blood ye may become one Body and one Blood with him For by this means we become as one may say Christiferi that is to say we carry Jesus Christ in our Body when we receive into our Mouth and into our Stomach his Body and his Blood And thus according to St. Peter we are made partakers of the Divine Nature Jesus Christ speaking at another time to the Jews says to them Unless ye Eat my Flesh and drink my Blood ye shall have no Life in you But these gross and carnal Men not understanding the Words spiritually were offended with them and withdrew from him because they imagined that he would make them eat humane Flesh by morcels These Words do so fully explain St. Cyril s Sence that they need no Comment If the Jews were offended because they did not spiritually understand those Words of Jesus Christ when he talked to them in the 6th of St. John how much more according to this Father's way of Reasoning Would the Disciples have been offended if they had understood Jesus Christ literally when he Instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist There were in the Old Dispensation Loaves of Bread which were offer'd before God and because they pertain'd to that Old Dispensation they have ceas'd with it But now in the New Dispensation there is Bread from Heaven and a Cup of Salvation which Sanctisies Soul and Body For as the Bread is the Nourishment which is proper to the Body so the Word is the Nourishment which is proper to the Soul Wherefore I conjure you my Brethren not to consider them any more as common Bread and Wine since they are the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ according to his Word For tho' your Sense inform you that 't is not so yet Faith should perswade and assure you that 't is so Judge not therefore of this Truth by your Taste but let Faith make you believe with an entire certainty that you have been made worthy to partake of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Let your Soul rejoyce in the Lord being perswaded of it as a thing most certain that the Bread which appears to our Eyes is not Bread tho' our taste do judge it to be so but that it is the Body of Jesus Christ and that the Wine which appears to our Eyes is not Wine tho' our Sense of Taste takes it for Wine but that it is the Blood of Jesus Christ. Ye have seen that a Deacon gives Water to wash the Hands to the Priest that officiates and to the Priests that are about the Altar of God
a Spiritual Sence of a State of Righteousness and Holiness In the Homily upon the Words of the Proverbs Give no sleep unto your Eyes publish'd by Cotelerius St. Basil exhorts to Watchfulness and the Practice of Good Works His Homilies upon the Psalms are written in the same Stile but they are more fill'd with Morality He departs sometimes from the Literal Sence and does not always apprehend the true Sence of the Prophet Yet he does not make use of obscure and forc'd Allegories but all that he says is Intelligible Natural Useful and Pleasant The Commentary upon Isaiah is not so lofty nor so full of Morality but 't is very Intelligible and very Learned The Five Books against Eunomins are a most compleat Work of Controversy he recites the Arguments and Words of this Heretick and refutes them very solidly and very clearly In the Two first Books he refutes the principal Arguments which this Heretick used to prove that the Son was not like to his Father He answers them very clearly and discovers the Falshood of this Heretick's Reasonings In the Third he answers the Objections which he made against the Divinity of the Holy Spirit In the Fourth he proves that the Son of God is not a Creature but is truly God And Lastly in the Fifth he proves the same thing of the Holy Spirit He handles the most intricate Matters of Theology in a manner very Learned and Profound and yet without perplexing and entangling them with the Quirks the Difficulties and Terms of the Schoolmen He proves also the Trinity of Divine Persons and their Equality in the 16th Homily upon the Beginning of the Gospel of St. John and in the Book against the Sabellians He particularly Establishes the Divinity of the Holy Spirit in the Treatise of the Holy Spirit address'd to Amphilochius He compos'd it upon occasion of a Complaint that some Persons had made against him that at the Conclusion of his Sermons he had said Glory be to the Father and to the Son with the Holy Ghost instead of saying as some do In the Holy Ghost Amphilochius had ask'd him the proper Signification of these Terms and the Difference between the one and the other Expression St. Basil commends him for this Exactness and observes that 't is very useful to search out the proper Sence of the Terms and Expressions which we use In the 2d Chapter he makes this Observation That those who will use different Terms in Glorifying the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost do it for no other End but to conclude from thence the Dissimilitude and Inequality of the Three Persons of the Trinity In the 3d. Chapter he shews That the difference of these Terms of whom by whom in whom have no place but in Philosophy and we ought not to use them when we speak of the Three Divine Persons In the 4th he shows That this Particle of whom signifies in Scripture the Efficient Cause since 't is said that all things are of God In the 5th he shows That the Scripture says of the Father by whom and of the Son of whom and that it uses the same Expressions when it speaks of the Holy Ghost In the 6th he answers those who affirm That we cannot say the Son of God is with his Father because he is after his Father St. Basil maintains that the Son of God is not at all inferiour to the Father neither in respect of Time nor in respect of the Place he holds nor in respect of Honour and Glory being Eternal as the Father Infinite as the Father and having a Glory and Majesty equal to that of the Father In the 7th he proves That this Expression with the Son is not New That the Church has used it to denote the Majesty of his Divine Nature as she has also used that other by the Son to signify the access which we have to God the Father by his Son and therefore we ought to use the former Expression when we sing the Praises of God and the latter when we thank him for the Favours he has done us He explains this Distinction in Ch. 8. and there he recites many Names of Jesus Christ. In the 9th he explains his Judgment concerning the Divinity of the Holy Spirit which he received by Tradition and which is agreeable to the Doctrine of the Holy Scripture He proves that the Holy Spirit is a Spiritual Person Eternal Infinite Unchangeable c. who strengthens us and gives us Life by his Gifts In the 10th and 11th he refutes those that would not joyn the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son He proves the contrary by the Institution of Baptism and accuses those that would not add the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son Of Violating the saving Sacrament of Baptism Of Prevaricating in the Vow which they had made and of Revolting from the Religion which they had once professed In Chapter 12. he answers the first Exception of his Adversaries who said That Baptism given in the Name of Jesus Christ was sufficient St. Basil answers First That the Name of Jesus Christ denotes the whole Trinity because it signifies the Anointed of the Lord. Now he says that the Word Anointed designs him that does Anoint and him by whom he is anointed Secondly That Faith is inseparable from Baptism because Faith is perfected by Baptism and Baptism supposes Faith That the Profession of Faith precedes Baptism which is as it were the Seal of it Lastly He maintains that 't is not sufficient to Baptize in the Name of Jesus Christ but that we must invoke the Three Persons of the Godhead according to Inviolable Tradition and that we ought to add nothing to nor take any thing from this Invocation In the 13th he refutes a Second Answer of his Adversaries who say That tho' the Holy Spirit were oftentimes in Scripture joyn'd to the Father and the Son yet it would not follow from thence that he was equal to them since the Angels are there sometimes joyn'd with God St. Basil answers That there is a great Difference between the manner in which the Scripture speaks of Angels and of the Holy Spirit because it considers the former merely as Ministers whereas it considers the Holy Spirit as the Fountain of Life and joyns him with the Father because of the Unity of Essence In the 14th he resolves also a third Difficulty It was objected to him That tho' Men be baptiz'd in the Name of the Holy Spirit yet it does not follow that the Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and the Son since 't is also said in Scripture That they were all baptiz'd into Moses in the Cloud St. Basil answers That this Expression of St. Paul signifies only that Moses and the Cloud were the Figure of the Baptism of Jesus Christ but that the Truth is much more Excellent than the Type In the 15th he answers a fourth Sophism We are baptiz'd in Water said the Hereticks and yet
we do not honour the Water as the Father and the Son St. Basil answers That this Objection is ridiculous and that those who make it are mad That 't is not the Water that Baptizes us but the Spirit That the Water indeed is joyned with the Spirit as the Sign of the Death and Burial of the Old Man but that 't is the Spirit who gives a New Life That Baptism is administred by dipping three times into the Water and by invoking the Trinity three times to signify our dying to Sin and the giving of Life That the Baptism of Jesus Christ is very different from that of St. John which was only the Baptism of Water whereas that of Jesus Christ is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and of Fire Last of all he says That the Martyrs who suffer'd Death for Jesus Christ needed not the Baptism of Water in order to their receiving the Crown being baptiz'd in their own Blood He speaks also in this place of the Fire of the Day of Judgment which he calls the Baptism of Fire that shall try all Mankind In the 17th and 18th he shews That the Holy Spirit is joyn'd to the Father and to the Son as a Person equal and not as one inferiour To prove this he uses the Rules of Logick having to do with an Adversary against whom he must use these Arms. In the 19th he proves That we should celebrate the Glory and Praises of the Holy Spirit as we do those of the Father and of the Son and that we should give him the same Honours In the 20th he refutes the Opinion of those who say That the Holy Spirit is neither a Lord nor a Servant but that he is Free He shows that this Opinion is very absurd for either he is a Creature or not if not then he is God or Lord and if he is he must be a Servant for all Creatures have a Dependance upon God In the 21st he shows by many Testimonies of Scripture That the Holy Spirit is there called Lord. In the 22d he proves his Divinity by many Passages of Scripture In the 23d he alledges the Miracles attributed to the Holy Spirit to prove that he is God In the 24th he shows That we should Glorify the Holy Spirit as we do the Father and the Son In the 25th he answers those who object That the Scripture never uses this Expression The Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit and he shews that to say The Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit signifies nothing else but the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit That the erroneous way which they would have us use is not to be found in the Holy Scripture Glory be to the Father by the only Son in the Holy Spirit That the Particle in has the same Sence in this place as the Particle with That the Fathers made use of the Particle with as being most proper to oppose the Errors of Arius and Sabellius and that 't is less capable of an ill Sence That notwithstanding he is not ty'd up to this Expression provided we be willing to render Glory to the Holy Spirit In the following Chapter he goes on to explain with much subtlety the Difference between the Particles in and with In the 27th he proposes this Objection We ought to receive nothing but what is in the Holy Scripture But these Words are not to be found Glory to the Father and to the Son with the Holy Spirit In answer to which he First sends his Adversaries back to what he had said in Ch. 25. Afterwards he adds That in the Church there are some Opinions and Practices founded upon the Testimonies of Scripture but then there are also some which are founded only upon unwritten Tradition That the Scripture and Tradition have an equal Authority for the establishing of Piety and Truth and that none who follow the Ecclesiastical Laws resist them That if we should reject all Customs that are not founded on Scripture we shall greatly prejudice Religion and reduce it to a superficial Belief of some particular Opinions 'T is easy says he to give Examples of this and to begin with that which is most common Where find we it written that we must make the Sign of the Cross upon those who begin to Hope in Jesus Christ What Book of Scripture teaches us that we must turn to the East to make our Prayers What Saint has left us in his Writings the Words of Invocation when we Consecrate the Bread of the Eucharist and the Cup of Blessing For we do not content our selves with pronouncing the Words set down by the Apostle St. Paul and the Evangelists but we add several Prayers both before and after which we consider as having much Efficacy upon the Sacrament and yet we have them not but by Tradition We Consecrate the Water of Baptism the Oyl of Unction and him also who is to be baptiz'd Where is this written Is not this a Secret Tradition Is it not Custom which has taught us that we must Anoint him who is to be baptiz'd Where has the Scripture taught us that we must use three Dippings in baptizing We must say the same of the other Ceremonies of Baptism as of Renouncing the Devil and his Angels Who has oblig'd us to do these things Whence have we Learn'd them Have we them not from the Tradition of our Fathers Who observed them without divulging or publishing of them being perswaded that Silence kept up a Veneration for the Mysteries What necessity was there of putting that in Writing which it was not lawful to reveal or to explain to those who were not yet baptiz'd Afterwards he gives the Reason of some Usages which he had mentioned He observes also That Christians pray to God standing from Easter to Whitsunday That they kneel and afterwards rise up He gives Mystical Reasons for these Customs which are so forc'd that 't is easy to perceive there is no better Reason to be given than Custom and Practice Lastly he concludes That since there are so many things which we have by Tradition we ought not to reprehend one simple Particle which the Ancients made use of This he proves in the 29th Chapter where he alledges the Authorities of St. Irenaeus St. Clemens Romanus the Two Dionysii Eusebius of Caesarea Origen Africanus Athenogenes Gregory Thaumaturgus Firmilian and Meletius besides the Prayers of the Church and the Consent of the Eastern and Western Churches Towards the end of this Chapter he complains of the hardships which his Calumniators make him suffer In the last he describes the miserable State of the Church He compares it to a Fleet of Ships tost with a great Tempest which is the cause of Shipwrack to many of them and Points out the Troubles and Miseries wherewith the Church was afflicted very admirably This Chapter alone is sufficient to show that this Book is undoubtedly St. Basil's He proves also the Divinity of the Holy
up whom one might rather stile Beasts than Men because they led a Life wholly Brutal who detest Marriage abominate Baptism deride the Sacraments and Abhor the Name of Christian. In Italy there were likewise Hereticks of the same Nature who went under the Name of The Hereticks of Italy call'd Cathuri Cathari Bona-cursus who had been formerly one of their Teachers at Milan has given us a Tract of them after his Conversion publish'd by Father Luke Dachery in the Thirteenth Tome of his Spicilegium He therein lays that some of them maintain'd that God created all the Elements that others say It was the Devil who created them but that they all believ'd that it was the Devil who separated and rang'd them in their Order That they likewise believ'd that it was he who fram'd the Body of Adam out of the Clay of the Earth and that he therein infus'd an Angel of Light that he likewise made Eve and lying with her begat Cain of her Body That they assert that the Fruit which Adam was forbidden to Eat was the Carnal Knowledge of Eve That they maintain that all the Bodies which are in the Air on the Earth and in the Water were made by the Devil That it was the Devil who appear'd to the Patriarchs and who is the God of the Old Testament whom they reject That they likewise condemn St. John Baptist That they Teach that Jesus Christ had not a Body animated with a Soul and that he neither drank or Eat or did any other humane Action really but only in appearance That they did not believe either his descent into Hell or his Resurrection or his Ascension That they do not believe him to be Equal to the Father That they affirm that the Cross is the Character of the Beast That Saint Silvester is Antichrist that ever since the Pontificate of that Pope the Church had been extinct and that no person could be say'd in a Marry'd State That they condemn the Holy Fathers That they forbid the Eating of Flesh Eggs Milk and every thing else that proceeds from Animals That they do not believe that the holy Spirit is conferr'd by the Baptism of Water nor that the Visible Substance of the Bread and Wine is â—hang'd into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and that they assâ—rt that all those who swear shall be damn'd That they say that no man can be sav'd but by Imposition of Hands which they Stile Baptism That they assert that the Sun is the Devil that the Moon is Eve who â—y together as Man and Wife once a Month That all the Stars are Daemons and Lastly that no man can be sav'd unless â—e be of their Sect. The same Author speaks of other Heâ—â—eâ—icks whom he calls Passagians who Taught that one The Passagians ought to observe the Law of Mâ—ses even in the Literal Sense and that the Sabbath Circumcision and the other Ceremonial practices of the Law ought to be still in force That Jesus Christ was not equal to his Father That the Father Son and Holy Ghost were distinct Substances Lastly he speaks of the Arnoldists the Disciples of Arnold Native of Bresse who went The Heresy of Arnold of Bresse from Italy into France where he was the Scholar of Peter Abaelard Upon his Return to his own Country he took upon him the Habit of a Monk and his head was full of this thought that neither the Pope nor the Clergy ought to hold any Demeans Upon this Footing he set himself to preach that the Clerks who held any Demeans as their own Property the Bishops who wâ—re possess'd of Royalties and the Monks who enjoy'd any Lands could not be sav'd that all those things appertain'd to Princes Beside this he taught the same Errors as other Hereticks about Infant Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar He was forc'd out of Italy by Pope Innocent II. and obâ—ig'd to retire into Switzerland After that Pope's Death he return'd into Italy and went directly to Rome where he stirr'd up a Sedition against Pope Eugenius III. and afterwards against Adrian IV. who interdicted the People of Rome till such time as they had drove out that Heretick and his Followers This Menace had its Effect the Romans siez'd upon the strong Houses which those Hereticks kept in and forc'd them to retire to Otricoli in Tuscaâ—y where they were kindly receiv'd by the People who look'd upon Arnold as a Prophet However he was apprehended sometime after by Cardinal Gerard and in spight of the Endeavours of the Vicounts of Campania was brought to Rome and condemn'd by the Governor of that City to be ty'd to a stake and burnt to Ashes for fear the People should pay any Honour to his Relicks Thirty of those Hereticks cross'd over from France into England about the year 1160. where they would likewise willingly have sown the same Doctrine But they were apprehended and exterminated and communicated that Error only to one Woman who recanted The Author which makes mention of this takes notice that they were call'd Poblicans or Publicans William of Malmsbury the Historian who did not live much after this time says that those Hereticks being examin'd anâ—wer'd pretty well about the Nature of the Heavenly Physician namely Jesus Christ but that when they were told of the Remedies which he has left us namely the Sacraments they then reply'd very ill and declar'd that they condemned Baptism the Eucharist and Marriage and that they despis'd the Catholick Unity All that we have hitherto related concerning the Hereticks of the Twelfth Century is taken out of Cotemporary Authors and shews that two sorts of Errors were predominant at that Time One sort common to all those Hereticks and others were Peculiar Their Common Errors regarded the Sacraments the Practices of the Church and the Hierarchical Order against which they had all conspir'd The particular Errors were such as had some relation to Manichaeism to Arianism and other Impieties into which many had been led by a strange sort of Blindness The Condemnation of the Hereticks in the Council of Toulouse in the year 1119. These Hereticks were condemn'd in several Councils The first which pass'd a Law against them was that of Tolouse in the Year 1119. held in the presence of Calixtus II. the third Canon whereof runs thus We Condâ—mn and turn out of the Church of God as Hereticks those who under pretence of Religion reject the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ Infant Baptism Priesthood Holy-Orders and Lawful Mâ—…ages We enjoyn that they be suppress'd by the Secular Powers We subject their Defenders under the same Commendation if they do not repent This Canon was repeated in the same Words and confirm'd in the second general Lateran Council held under Innocent II. in the year 1139. in the 23d Canon Those who went into England were convicted and Condemn'd in an Assembly of Bishops held at Oxford in the Reign of Henry II. King of England
to the Body of Jesus Christ as well as to his Soul after his Death And concludes in the Affirmative In the Twenty second he enquires Whether it may be said that Jesus Christ was Man during the time that his Body lay in the Supulchre In the following Sections he treats of Faith Hope and Charity In the Thirty third he discourses of the Four Cardinal Vertues In the Thirty fourth of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost and chiefly of the Fear of God In the Thirty fifth he explains the difference between Wisdom and Knowledge In the Thirty sixth he treats of the Connexion of all the Vertues and of the Relation they have to Charity The Four last Sections of this Book contain a compendious Explication of the Decalogue The Holy Sacraments are the principal Subject treated of in the last Book In the first Section he gives a Definition of the Sacraments shews the Causes of their Institution observes the difference between those of the Old and New Law and treats in particular of Circumcision which he believes to have been so necessary for the remission of Original Sin that he affirms that the Children of the Jews who died without partaking of that Sacrament were consign'd to Damnation In the Second after having nominated the Seven Sacraments of the New Law he discourses of the Baptism by St. John the Baptist. In the Third he treats of the Baptism of Jesus Christ and after having confirm'd St. Ambrose's Opinion that Baptism might be absolutely administer'd in the Name of Jesus Christ he enquires When the Baptism of Jesus Christ was instituted and under what Form the Apostles baptized Persons As also Why Water is us'd in the Administration of this Sacrament and no other Liquor and how many Immersions ought to be made in Baptizing In the Fourth Section he treats of the Effects of Baptism shewing how some Persons receive the Sacrament and the Grace of the Sacrament and how others receive the Sacrament without the Grace and the Grace without the Sacrament He proves that Infants receive both and adds that they even receive Actual Grace which afterwards enables them to perform good Actions In the Fifth he makes it appear from St. Augustin's Principles that Baptism administred by an unworthy Priest is no less Holy than that which is perform'd by the Hands of a worthy one because the effective Power of Baptizing is inherent in Jesus Christ which he does not communicare to the Ministers In the Sixth Section he observes that the Bishops or Priests have a Right to administer this Sacrament although in case of necessity it may be done by Lay-men and even by Women And that it is valid by whomsoever it be administer'd nay when perform'd by Hereticks provided it be done in the Name of the Holy Trinity He asserts that an Infant cannot be baptized in the Mother's Belly and afterwards handles several other Questions relating to the Form and Ceremonies of Baptism In the Seventh Section he treats of the Sacrament of Confirmation and at first observes that the Form of this Sacrament are the Words pronounced by the Priest when he anoints the Fore-head of the Baptized Persons with the Holy Chrism The Author adds that the Administration of this Sacrament was always reserv'd to the Bishops that they alone are capable of administring it effectually in due Form and that it cannot be reiterated He begins in the Eighth Section to discourse of the Sacrament of the Eucharist and after having shewn some of the ancient Figures of this Sacrament proceeds to treat of its Institution of its Form which he makes to consist in these Words This is my Body this is my Blood and of the Things contain'd therein He says Three Things are to be distinguished in the Eucharist viz. the Sacrament consisting in the visible Species of the Bread and Wine the Sacrament and the Thing which is the proper Body and the proper Blood of our Lord contain'd under the Species and the Thing which is not the Sacrament that is to say the mystical Body of Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 the inward Grace In the Ninth Section he distinguishes Two Manners of receiving the Body of Jesus Christ viz. one Sacramental which is common to the worthy and to the unworthy Communicants and the other Spiritual which is peculiar only to the former In the Tenth he proves the Real Presence and the changing of the Bread and Wine into the Body ond Blood of Jesus Christ and refutes the Opinion of those who believe the Eucharist to be only a Figure In the Eleventh he at first enquires of what Nature this Change is and proves it to be substantial insomuch that the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ are under the Accidents which before cover'd the Substance of the Bread and Wine which is annihilated or return'd to the first Matter He confutes those Persons who asserted that the Substance of the Bread remain'd after the Consecration and afterwards gives an Account why the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ are administer'd to us under Two different Kinds and why Water is intermixed with the Wine In the Twelfth he endeavours to explain divers Questions relating to the Eucharistical Species and affirms that the Accidents remain therein without the Subject and that they only are broken and divided into many Parts Afterwards he discourses of the Quality which is peculiar to this Sacrament as also of its Institution and Effects In the Thirteenth Section he acknowledges that unworthy Ministers may consecrate the Elements but denies that it can be done by excommunicated Persons and declared Hereticks In the Fourteenth he begins to treat of Repentance distinguishing the Vertue of Repentance from the Sacrament of Penance He gives divers Definitions of Repentance and shews the Necessity of it as also that it may be often reiterated In the Fifteenth he proves that one cannot be truly penitent for one Sin without actually repenting of all In the Sixteenth he distinguishes the Three Parts of Repentance viz. the Compunction of the Heart the Confession of the Mouth and the Satisfaction of Works and discourses in particular of the Satisfactions that ought to be made for venial Sins He treats of Confession in the Seventeenth Section and shews that is requisite to confess ones Sins to a Priest in order to obtain the remission of them In the Eighteenth he treats of the Sacerdotal Power and of the use of the Keys and after having produced different Opinions relating to that matter concludes That God alone has the Power of absolutely binding and loosing the Sinner by cleansing the Pollution of his Sin and remitting the Penalty of Eternal Damnation That the Priests do indeed bind and loose by declaring that such Persons are bound or loosed by God and by imposing Penance or by readmitting to the Communion those whom they have excommunicated In the Nineteenth he discourses of the Qualities requisite in Ministers who are employ'd to bind and loose Sinners nevertheless he acknowledges that
been justified by Alexander and Theoctistus if there had been then extant a Canon of the Apostles that had so precisely forbidden it In the 34th and 35th Canons mention is made of the right of Metropolitans and of the distinction of Bishopricks which were not fixed at that time In the 50th Canon it is decreed that he that did not baptize or dip a Child twice in the Water should be deposed This practice though very ancient is later than the Apostolical times The 52d is against the Errors of the Montanists and Novatians The 60th is against Books forged by the Hereticks after the death of the Apostles And the 66th is against the Sabbatical Fast. The 69th regulates fasting in Lent In the following Canons are contained several Injunctions concerning Oil Vessels of Gold and Silver and Vails consecrated in Churches things that were not known in the time of the Apostles The last Canon comprehends a Catalogue of Sacred Books which could not be written by the Apostles In the 45th 46th and 47th Canons the Baptism of Hereticks is rejected as null and void This question was not resolved by the Apostles Moreover the style of these Canons is not like the Apostles and the matter is very different from that which was usually treated by them neither were the names of Clerk Bishop Altars Sacrifice c. so common in the Apostolical times some whereof relate to certain Questions that were not debated until many years after their death b Questions that were not debated until many years after their death Viz. The questions relating to the Feast of Easter the Baptism of Hereticks as also concerning those that make themselves Eunuchs those that would not admit Sinners to repentance those that fast on Sundays c. Vide supra But it ought to be observed that they are usually styled by the ancient Writers Ancient Canons Canons of the Fathers and Ecclesiastical Canons Titles that are likewise prefixed to them in several Manuscripts as Cotelerius has observed And if they are sometimes called or entituled Apostolical it cannot be upon the account of their belonging to the Apostles but it is sufficient that some of them have been made by Bishops that presided over the Church a little after the Apostles because they that lived at that time were generally called Apostolical Men. The Author of the Apostolical Constitutions is the first that attributed these Canons to the Apostles and he hath said some things to induce us to believe that they were actually composed by the Apostles c To induce us to believe that they were actually composed by the Apostles As for Example in the 29th Canon where it is ordained that those Bishops that should obtain the Episcopal Dignity by Money should be deposed as Simon was by St. Peter he hath added by me Peter For these words are not found in the Epistle of Tarasius to Pope Adrian nor in the Edition of Dionysius Exiguus Moreover in the 5th Canon we read at present the Lord hath declared unto us whereas in the Greek Manuscripts and in the Edition of Zonaras and Balsamon it is simply expressed the Lord hath declared and in that of Joannes Antiochenus Our Lord hath declared Lastly in the 82d Canon there is this expression as our Brother Onesimus and in the last our Acts where it ought to be read simply as in the Arabick Paraphrase as Onesimus and the Acts of the Apostles Therefore these Canons are not the Work of an Impostor who hath forged them under the Name of the Apostles but only a Collection that hath been falsly imputed to them that it might be esteemed more Authentick And I am apt to believe that no Person was more capable of performing this Artifice than the above-cited Author of the Apostolical Constitutions d I am apt to believe that no person was more capable of performing this Artifice It is suitable to the temper of this Author who designed to pass every where for a Disciple of the Apostles for which reason he has given us divers Constitutions under their name attributing to every Apostle some particular Constitutions and Liturgies at the end whereof he annexed these Canons with the above-mentioned additions and he likewise adds in the name of the Apostles This is what we thought fit to command you O ye Bishops continue to observe these things who hath in like manner ascribed many other Writings to the Apostles and hath inserted these Canons entire in his third Book As for the Antiquity of them it is apparent that they are very ancient and that a great part of them if not all were decreed by Councils that were holden before that of Nice For first they do not contain any thing according to my judgment but what is conformable to the Discipline that was observed in some Churches at the end of the second Century throughout the third and in the beginning of the fourth Secondly they comprehend certain Ordinances that are known to have been made in those times As for Example There is a Canon that prohibits the Celebration of the Feast of Easter with the Jews now we are assured that this was Decreed in divers Synods assembled in the time of Pope Victor Moreover there are three wherein the Baptism of Hereticks is rejected as void and of no effect which is declared by Firmilian and Dionysius Alexandrinus to have been determined in the Councils of Syâ—…a and Iconium that were holden some time before them But who can believe that these Canons were made or counterfeited at a time when Persons baptized by Hereticks were generally admitted without re-baptizing them And it cannot be imagined that they were forged by St. Cyprian or Firmilian on purpose to authorize their Discipline it is much more reasonable to believe that they really are the very Canons of the Synods of Iconium and Synnada which have been falsly attributed to the Apostles not by these Saints but by later Authors Thirdly It is clearly proved that the greatest part of these Canons are more ancient than the Council of Nice because they are often cited in this Council and those that were conven'd not long after as well as by the Authors who wrote in the fourth Century e They are often cited In the first Canon of the Council of Nice the second of the Apostles is alledged concerning those that make themselves Eunuchs and in the fifth Canon of the same Council the 12th and 32d is cited relating to Excommunication In the ninth Canon of the Council of Antioch the 34th is quoted concerning the Metropolitan in the 20th Canon of the same the 10th about Excommunication in the 21st Canon the 14th prohibiting Bishops to leave their Diocesses and in the 23d Canon the 76th that a Successor ought not to be elected In the Synod of Constantinople convened in the year 394 the 14th Apostolical Canon is quoted of the Jurisdiction of Bishops In the Council of Ephesus Acts 7. col 788. we find the 35th
The Doctrine of S. Polycarp as well as one called The Doctrine of S. Clement since it is cited by Maximus Bede Ado Usuardus Metaphrastes Pachyâ—…eres Honorius and Nicephorus Calistus M. Daillé perceiving thâ— weakness of his objection against the Epistle of S. Polycarp is obliged to assert that tho the first part is genuine yet the second wherein he mentions those of S. Ignatius iâ— supposititious And to prove this he shews that the Epistle was concluded with the Invocation of Jesus Christ and that which follows ought to be esteemed as an addition made afterwards being of no authority But M. Daillé cannot maintain this Hypothesis without rejecting the Testimony of Eusebius and Photius who cite this second part and more especially that which relates to the Letters of S. Ignatius neither doth it signifie any thing to urge that the Epistle was concluded before because it is evident that the Invocation of Jesus Christ is frequently inserted in the middle of an Epistle which is nevertheless continued after this sort of conclusion this is very often to be found in S. Paul's Epistles particularly in the Fifteenth Chapter of his Epistle to the Romans The only objection alledged by M. Daillé that hath any manner of probability is this It is manifest says he that the Author who wrote that part wherein S. Ignatius is mentioned supposeth him to be yet living since he requires the Philippians to inform him concerning the transactions of S. Ignatius and of those that were with him De ipso Ignatio de iis qui cum eo sunt g Qui cum eo sunt It is expressed in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say they that had been with him and who followed him when he passed through Philippi quod certius agnoveritis significate But if we observe these words it will appear that they might as well be written after the death of S. Ignatius as when he was alive and that S. Polycarp only desired an account of the particular Circumstances of the Life and Martyrdom of that eminent Bishop which were not unknown to the Christians of Philippi through which City he had passed in his Journey to Rome This Epistle being full of admirable Counsels Precepts and Exhortations taken from the Holy Scriptures is written with a great deal of elegancy and simplicity as Photius has observed already It was Printed in Latin together with the Epistles of S. Clement and S. Ignatius in the years 1498 1502 1520 1536 and 1550 at Basil in 1579 at Colen in 1530 at Paris in 1569 with the Works of S. Ireneus at Ingolstadt in 1546 at Paris in 1562 and at several other times it is likewise inserted in the Bibliotheca Patrum set forth by La Bigne Besides it was Printed at Colen in 1557 of the Translation of Perionius with the Works of Dionysius the Areopagite and in 1585 with them and the Epistles of S. Ignatius Halloixius first published part thereof in Greek from a Manuscript which Sirmondus had transcribed from a Copy written by Turrianus Usher hath Printed it in Greek and Latin afterwards with the Epistles of S. Ignatius in the year 1644. Cotelerius put it into his Collection of the ancient Records of the Fathers Moderus hath likewise procured it to be reprinted at Helmstadt and lastly it was Printed in Holland in 1687 with a Dissertation concerning the Life and Writings of S. Polycarp in a Collection of Treatises entituled Varia Sacra set forth by M. Le Moine There are several other Works attributed to this ancient Bishop as an Epistle to S. Dionysius the Areopagite quoted by Suides and a Treatise concerning the Union of S. John which is pretended to be kept in the Abby of Fleury some Passages or Notes on the Gospels are likewise produced for his which are taken from the Catena of Feuardentius under the name of Victor Capuensis But it is very probable that these Tracts are fictitious S. Jerome in his 28th Epistle to Baeticus declares that it was commonly reported in his time that the Authentick Works of Josephus Polycarp and Papias were brought to him but that it was a false rumour PAPIAS PApias Bishop of Hierapolis a Hierapolis There are several Cities of that Namâ— but this lies between Phrygia and Lydia near Laodiceâ— being famous for Springs of hot Water a City of Asia was a Disciple either of S. John the Evangelist b A Disciple of S. John the Evangelist S. Irenaeus Lib. 5. cap. 33. Hac Papias Joannis auditor Polycarpi contubernalis S. Jerom Ep. 29. Ad Theodorum Refert Irenaeus vir Apostolicorum temporum Papiae auditoris Evangelistae Joannis Discipulus In the Martyrologies of Beda Usuardus and Ado as also in the Roman in the Works of Trithemius and Andreas Casariâ—… in Anastas Sinait Lib. 7. in Hexamer Oecumen in Act. cap. 2. he is called The Disciple of S. John the Evangelist Eusebius on the contrary reciting a Passage of Papias in Hist. Lib. 3. cap. ult wherein he speaks of two Johns observes that the Master of Papias was not John the Evangelist but the other John called the Elder His Reason or rather Conjecture is that this Author in the beginning of his Books doth not assure us that he was the Disciple of the Apostles or that he had learn'd any thing from them but only that he had received that which he declares from those that were familiar with the Apostles and who knew them However in the Passage alledged by Eusebius to prove his Assertion Papias only affirms that he interrogated the ancient Men who had seen the Apostles demanding of them What says Andrew What says Philip What says S. John What says John the Elder Therefore if it may be inferred from thence that he was not the Disciple of S. John the Evangelist because he informs us that he enquired of those that had seen him what were the Opinions of this Apostle it may as well be inferred that he was not the Disciple of John the Elder However the words of Papias may be interpreted after such a manner as to signifie nothing else but that he was carefull whensoever he happened to meet with any one that had familiarly conversed with the Apostles to desire of them a particular account of their Doctrine or Judgment Which makes me believe that he was the Disciple of the Evangelist and this is confirmed by the Authority of S. Irenaeus who certainly means S. John the Evangelist for S. Polycarp was his Disciple and he asserts that Papias was the Companion of Polycarp Polycarpi contubernalis or of some other Person who bore the same name He wrote five Books entituled The Explications of our Lords Discourses which were extant even in the time of Trithemius Papias but at present we have only some few fragments in the Writings of the ancient and modern Authors He was the first that promoted the famous Opinion or rather Dotage of Antiquity c The
relapse into the very same Sins as things of no value that he approves of Marriage and believes it indissoluble that he blames Polygamy and even second Marriages He speaks but little of the Eucharist and what he says of it is very obscure because he endeavours to conceal this Mystery from those who were not Baptised But he declares expresly in the Second Book of the Pedagogue Chap. 2. that the Bread and Wine are the Matter of it and condems the Hereticks who used any thing else besides Bread and Wine mingled with Water He observes that in several Churches after the Eucharist was distributed it was left to the liberty of each Lib. 3. Stromat p. 462 465. Lib. 1. Stromat init Lib. 7. p. 754. of the Faithful to take a part of it He often cites Apocryphal Books as the Gospel according to the Egyptians the Book of Hermas yet in the mean time he only allows the Four Gospels to be Canonical He admits of the Authority of Tradition and that of the Church These are the Opinions of S. Clement upon the Principal Articles of our Faith which are conformable to the Doctrine of the Church in all the main Points and different only in some Things of lesser Consequence But this cannot be said concerning his Work of Institutions which according to the Testimony of Photius contained several Errors even contrary to what he had taught in his other Works Let us see what this Learned Critick says of the Matter The Hypotiposes says he were written upon some Passages of the Old and New Testament which he explains and interprets briefly but though he has in several places very Orthodox and true Notions yet in others he has some that are very Erroneous and Fabulous For he says that Matter is Eternal and he feigns Eternal Idea's produced by the Decrees of God he places the Sun in the number of Created Beings he holds the Metempsychosis he pretends that there were several Worlds before Adam he fancies Eve to be produced from Adam after an infamous manner and different from that which is set down in the Scripture he imagines that the Angels having had to do with Women begat Children of them he thinks that the WORD was not really and truly Incarnate but only in Appearance he feigns two WORDS of GOD the one Superior and the other Inferior this last was that which appeared unto Men he adds that this WORD is not of the same nature with the WORD of GOD that it was not the WORD of the Father that was incarnate but a certain Vertue and Power of GOD proceeding from the WORD which being a Spirit entred into the Souls of Men. He endeavours to prove these Opinions by Scripture In a word these Eight Books are full of such sort of Errors and Blasphemies whether it be the Author of this Book that has written them or whether it be any other who puts them out under his name The intent and design of the whole Work appears to be an Explication of Genesis Exodus the Psalms the Canonical Epistles and Ecclesiasticus The Author observes that he was the Disciple of Pantaenus If this Work was so full of Errors as there seems no reason at all to doubt after the Testimony of Photius who had seen it it must needs have been composed by S. Clement before he was throughly instructed in the Christian Religion and had altogether quitted the Opinions of Plato which seems very probable for we cannot say that he was not the Author of these Books which are attributed to him by all Antiquity and there is no likelihood that they were falsified by the Hereticks in so many places Besides that these are the Opinions of one who would accommodate the Platonick Philosophy to the Christian Religion or rather of one who was half a Platonist and half a Christian. However among the Ancients these Books have been had in sufficient esteem and reputation Eusebius cites several Passages out of them In the First Book Chap. 12. of his History he brings one out of the Fifth Book where it is said that Cephas Matthias Barnabas and Thaddaeus were of the number of the Seventy Disciples of Jesus Christ. The same Eusebius in the Second Book Chap. 1. produces another passage taken out of the Sixth Book were he says that Peter James and John though they were preferr'd by Jesus Christ to the other Apostles did not dispute about Precedency but chose with one consent St. James the Just to be Bishop of Jerusalem And another out of the Seventh Book where he says that these Three Apostles had the Spirit of Knowledge which they communicated to the Seventy Disciples In the 9th Chapter there is another Passage taken from the Seventh Book where he says that James the Brother of John by his Constancy converted his Accuser and that they were both beheaded for the Faith of Christ. In the 15th Chapter he says that S. Clement in his Sixth Book of Institutions affirms that S. Mark composed his Gospel by the Direction of S. Peter and that this Apostle approved of it when it was finish'd Lastly Eusebius in the Sixth Book 14th Chapter tells us that S. Clement in his Institutions explains all the Books of the Old and New Testament not omitting even those of which many Persons doubted as the Epistles of S. Jude S. Barnabas and the Revelation of S. Peter That he says that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written by S. Paul and translated by S. Luke That S. Paul would not put his Name to it because he was hated by the Hebrews He sets down the Order of the Gospels he says that the Gospels of S. Matthew and S. Luke were first written that S. Mark composed his at Rome at the Instance of the Faithful and by S. Peter's Order and that S. John writ his the last at the desire of his Friends to explain what was most Spiritual in Jesus Christ the others having sufficiently spoken of his Body The famous Valesius has observed that we have still a very considerable Greek fragment of this Work at the end of S. Clement Entituled An Extract of the Oriental Doctrine of Theodotus For it contains those very Errors concerning Christ's Person which Photius has observed in the Hypotiposes and the Author says towards the end that Pantaenus was his Master It is also likely that the other fragment which follows which is a Collection of Words and Expressions of Scripture is likewise taken out of these Books for besides that it is found with the Works of S. Clement it is written after that manner in which Eusebius and Photius acquaints us that the Work of S. Clement was composed and it appears that it is the very same Design There is also another considerable Fragment of S. Clement taken from his Book What Rich Man can be saved in Eusebius Book 3. Chap. 23. where he tells us a famous Story of S. John He says that this Apostle coming to a City of
is so common and if I may say it so trivial that I do not think it necessary to say any thing of it in this Place Hermogenes was another African Heretick who maintained that Matter was Eternal and that God did not create it when he made the World but that he only made use thereof to form things as we see He suckt this Error from the Philosophy of the Stoicks and defended it by Syllogisâ—… connected according to their Methods of Reasoning which made Tertullian say in the Treatise which he composed against him that the Philosophers were the Patriarchs of the Hereticks He there discovers the Fallacies of the Sophisms of this Heretick and shews that our Religion teaches us that God created even that Matter whereof he made the World The Book against the Valentinians is rather a Satyr and Raillery than a serious Confutation of the Extravagant Sentiments of these Hereticks Valentinus the first Author of this Sect separated from the Church out of spight because hoping to be Elected a Bishop by reason of his Wit and Eloquence he was put by to prefer another Person who had suffered for the Faith of Jesus Christ in times of Persecution After he had separated from the Church he invented or rather revived an old Opinion according to the Principles of which he feigned a Succession and imaginary Generation of a kind of Deities His Disciples refined upon his Notion and formed quite different Systems But as all these Fancies were impertinent and ridiculous so they took great Care to conceal them lest if they should discover them all the World should be presently sensible of their Extravagancy 'T is this which Tertullian upbraids them with If you teach the Truth says he to them why don't you discover it It persuades by teaching and it teaches by persuading it is not ashamed of shewing it self on the contrary 't is ashamed of nothing but of being concealed You reproach us for our Simplicity it is true we love it because it is by this means that we know and make known the Will of God But 't is no wonder that the Hereticks should blame this Simplicity and should so carefully conceal their Principles for they were so extravagant that the bare Discovering of them would be sufficient to render them ridiculous 'T is this which Tertullian does in this Work I undertake says he in this Book to discover to the Eyes of all Men the hidden Mystery but though I profess to relate the Opinions of these Hereticks without making a particular Confutation yet I hope I shall be pardoned if I cannot forbear censuring them in some Places What I do is nothing but a Sport before a real Combat I shall rather shew them where I could strike them than lay them on But if there are found some Passages that may excite Laughter 't is because the very Subject causes it There are many things which deserve to be jeered and ridiculed at this rate lest if we should confute them seriously we should seem to lay too great Stress upon them Nothing is more due to Vanity than Laughter and to Laugh does properly belong to the Truth because it is pleasant and to Sport with its Enemies because it is certain of the Victory And these are all the Books which are particularly against the Hereticks there are others in which Tertullian likewise confutes some Errors and defends some Catholick Truths though they were not written against any Hereticks in particular Such are the following Books The Book of the Flesh of Jesus Christ. wherein he proves against the Hereticks Marcion Apelles and Valentinus that Jesus Christ took upon him true Flesh like to ours in the Womb of the Virgin The Title alone of the Book of the Resurrection of the Flesh is enough to discover that it was written against the Sadducees and against the Hereticks who denied the Resurrection The Scorpiacus so called because it is a Remedy against the Poison of Hereticks like Scorpions defends the Necessity and Excellency of Martyrdom against the Gnosticks The Book of the Soul written against the Opinions of the Philosophers and the Hereticks treats at large of the Nature of the Soul and its Qualities But it is full of false Principles and Errors He pretends that the Soul is Corporeal and that it takes a certain Form of a Body though it be invisible he confutes the Opinion of Plato concerning Reminiscency or the Faculty of Remembring and Pythagoras's Transmigration he affirms that the Soul does not come from Heaven but that it is formed with the Body and that as the Body of the Parents produces a Body so their Soul produces a Soul That all Souls and even those of the Martyrs which some have excepted are disposed of after Death in a certain Subterraneous Place where they receive Refreshment and Torment according to the Good or Evil which they have done And that they expect the Resurrection and the Day of Judgment which will render them entirely happy or entirely Miserable to all Eternity There are likewise in this Treatise some other particular Opinions as for Instance that the Soul and Breath are the same thing that that which is unreasonable in the Soul comes from the Devil that every Soul has its Daemon that all Dreams are not vain The Book of Baptism is divided into two Parts the First relating to Doctrine and the Second to Discipline In the First he defends the Necessity and Efficacy of the Sacrament of Baptism against the Hereticks called Caiannites he proves that the Waters of Baptism do procure to us Forgiveness of our Sins and of the Punishment which they deserve What can there be says he more miraculous than to see that by washing the Body by an external Baptism we efface at the same time the Mortal Stain of the Soul and when that Stain is once taken away the Punishment is likewise remitted to us He afterwards discourses of the Imposition of Hands and of the Unction which followed after Baptism to make the Holy Ghost descend upon the Faithful and to draw down upon them the Blessings of Heaven We do not receive says he the Fulness of the Holy Ghost by Water but it prepares us for receiving it by washing us from our Sins And as St. John prepared the Way of the Lord so the Angel which is present in Baptism prepares the Way for the Holy Ghost by the Absolution of our Sins which we obtain by Faith which is confirmed and sealed by the Invocation of the Father Son and Holy Ghost When we come out of the Font we are anointed and this Unction which is performed on our Flesh is profitable to our Soul as external Baptism has a spiritual Effect which is to deliver us from our Sins Afterwards there is the Laying on of Hands to draw upon us the Holy Ghost and this most Holy Spirit descends voluntarily from Heaven into purified and blessed Bodies In the Second Part he discourses of several Questions concerning Baptism
for governing the Church of Constantinople by describing the wonderful Effects he had produc'd in that Church he prays them to grant him a Successor with as much Earnestness as others desire the Greatest Sees The Reasons which he alledges for obtaining Permission to retire are First his great Age the Quarrels of Churches and Bishops the Envy that some bore to him the Division of the East and the West and his Love of Retirement and Solitude He adds some other Reasons which tend to the Confusion of his Enemies such as the Persecutions which he had endur'd with Patience his Frugality his Modesty his Humility At last He conjures them to create another Bishop who should be more agreeable to the relish of the World Here he represents very naturally the Luxury Ambition and Arts which were but too common among the Bishops of the Great Sees At last He bids Adieu to his Dear Anastasia to the other Churches of Constantinople to the Council the Clergy the People and to the Court These Adieu's are pathetical to those that had an Esteem of him and are very picquant to those that were his Enemies and wish'd that he would abdicate his Charge 'T is plain that this Discourse is the last of those which he spoke at Constantinople The Five following Discourses are Entitled Of Theology because St. Gregory Nazianzen explains there what concerns the Divine Nature and the Trinity of Persons There he treats of the Rules which ought to be observed in the Administration of the Word of God He says First That this Function does not suit all Men That he who discharges it must be pure in Heart and Mind That he should not apply himself to it but with a sedate Temper and Lastly That he ought not to treat of those Matters before Pagans nor before those who have no sence of Religion and who think of nothing but Pleasures He adds many fine things about the Dispositions and Qualifications that are necessary to a Divine He blames those who having their Hands tied that is who do no Good Works yet have a wonderful Itch to prate and those who think to be great Divines because they understand the Subtilties of Aristotle's Logick and the Gentile Philosophy which they make use of nothing to the purpose when they Discourse about Mysteries In the 2d Discourse he enquires what may be conceiv'd concerning the Nature of God He says That his Existence is known by the Creatures That his Immensity Spirituality and his other Attributes are known but that it does not follow from hence that his Essence and Nature can be comprehended which he proves against Eunomius in the second Discourse of Theology which contains many great Notions concerning the Nature and Attributes of God In the 3d. he proves the Equality of the Three Persons of the Divinity and the Son and answers the most part of Eunomius's Sophisms The 4th continues the same subject and in the 5th he proves That the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person distinct from the Father and the Son That he proceeds from the Father and that he is not begotten as the Son tho' he be of the same Substance and the same Nature He observes towards the End of this Discourse That under the Old Testament the Father only was distinctly known That the Son is clearly Reveal'd in the New That in it also there are found Passages enough to prove the Divinity of the Holy Spirit but that it was fully clear'd by the Tradition of the Church These Discourses seem also to have been spoken at Constantinople And thus we are come to the 38th Sermon upon the Festival of the Birth of Jesus Christ. In it St. Gregory admires the Wonders of the Mysteries of the Incarnation He describes the Fall of the first Man which he supposes to have been the Cause of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and reckons up the Advantages which Mankind receiv'd by this Mystery At last He teaches Christians to Celebrate the Festival of Christmas by purifying themselves from their Sins by imitating the Vertues of Jesus Christ and particularly his Patience and Humility The 39th Discourse is a Sermon upon the Festival Of Lights that is upon the Feast of Epiphany on which also the Solemnity of the Baptism of Jesus Christ is observ'd There he speaks of the Wonderful Effects of this Baptism which had the Vertue of purifying us He distinguishes many sorts of Baptism viz. The Baptism of Moses the Baptism of St. John the Baptism of Jesus Christ the Baptism of the Martyrs and the Baptism of Penance which he calls a Laborious Baptism and taking occasion from this last he Discourses against the Error of the Novatians Last of all He adds also to this Baptism which we have already mentioned the Baptism of Fire wherewith he says one may be baptiz'd in another Life The following Discourse was spoken the next Day 'T is an Instruction about Baptism to those that are to be baptiz'd There he observes the Excellence of Baptism and its marvellous Effects He sets down and explains the different Names that are given to this Sacrament He observes That it consists in Two Things the Water and the Spirit That the washing the Body with Water represents the Operation of the Spirit in purifying the Soul He says That Baptism is a Compact which we make with God by which we oblige our selves to lead a New Life That 't is very dangerous to break the Promise which we made at Baptism for there is no more Regeneration nor perfect Renovation to be hop'd for afterwards That we may indeed cover the Wound by a multitude of Tears and Sighs but that it would be much better not to need this Second Remedy because it is very difficult and troublesome and that we can have no assurance but Death may surprize us before our Penance be finish'd You says he addressing himself to the Ministers of Jesus Christ you can as the Gardener mention'd in the Gospel pray the Lord to excuse the barren Fig-tree yet a little longer you can desire him that he would not cut it down and that he would permit you to dung it that 's to say to impose as a Penance upon it Weeping Watching lying upon the hard Ground Corporal Mortifications and making humble Satisfaction but what certainty have you that God will pardon him Wherefore my Brethren being buried by Baptism with Jesus Christ let us rise with him let us descend with him into the Waters that we may ascend with him into Heaven He proves afterwards that we ought not to delay the Receiving of Baptism and refutes the vain pretences of those who delay it He says that Infants are to be Baptiz'd to consecrate them to Jesus Christ from their Infancy He distinguishes Three Sorts of Persons that are Baptiz'd the First are those who do Evil wilfully and with Delight the Second are those who commit Sin with some reluctancy and without approving it the Third are those who live well
rather that is the only Doctrine which he opposes there It is no ways probable therefore that this Treatise should be his and we must still continue in as great uncertainties as ever concerning its Author The Book of Mysteries or Sacraments is an Instruction to the New-baptiz'd wherein St. Ambrose explains to them the Significations and Virtue of the Sacraments which they had receiv'd Here is an Abridgment of what is most remarkable in this Instruction After we have spoken every day of Morality and propos'd to you the Examples of the Patriarchs and Prophets while the Proverbs were reading that you might be accustom'd to follow the Examples of the Saints and to lead a Life becoming those Persons who are purified by Baptism 'T is now time to discourse to you of the Mysteries and to explain the Sacraments for if we had explain'd them to you before you were initiated we should have thought that we had profan'd rather than discover'd them Besides that the light of the Mysteries themselves which you did not expect has now astonish'd you more than if we had instructed you about them before Open therefore now your Ears to receive the sweet word of Eternal Life which we signified to you when we celebrated the Ceremony by which we wish'd that they might be open'd by saying Ephatha that so all those who were to come to Baptism might know what was demanded of them and what they answer'd At last you are introduc'd into the place where the Sacrament of Baptism is Administred you are oblig'd to renounce the Devil and his Works the World and its Pomps and Pleasures You found in this place the Waters and a Priest who consecrated them the Body was plung'd into this Water to wash away Sins the Holy Spirit descended upon this Water you ought not to fix your mind upon the External part of it but to consider in it a Divine Virtue Do not imagine therefore that it is this Water which purifies you 't is the Holy Spirit There are Three things in Baptism the Water the Blood and the Spirit and without these Three Things the Sacrament is not compleat neither the Remission of Sins nor Grace is receiv'd unless it be in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost The Baptism of Jews and Infidels does not purify at all 't is the Holy Spirit which descended formerly under the Figure of a Dove which sanctifies these Waters We must not consider the merit of the Priest for it is our Lord Jesus Christ who baptizes You made Profession of believing in the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost After this you drew near unto the Priest he anointed you and your Feet were washed This Sacrament blots out your hereditary Sins and the Baptism blots out the Sins contracted by your own Will After this you receiv'd white Garments to signifie that you were stript of Sin and clothed with Innocence You received the Seal of the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Wisdom of Power c. The Father hath mark'd you out the Son hath confirm'd you and the Holy Spirit hath given you assurance of your Salvation Afterwards you run to the Heavenly Feast and see the Altar prepar'd where you receive a nourishment infinitely exceeding that of Manna a Bread more excellent than that of Angels 'T is the Flesh of Jesus Christ the Body of Life 't is the incorruptible Manna 't is the Truth whereof the Manna was only the Figure Perhaps you will tell me But I see another thing How do you assure me that it is the Body of Jesus Christ which I receive That we must prove We must show that it is not the Body which Nature hath form'd but that which the Benediction hath Consecrated Which St. Ambrose confirms by an infinite number of the like Miracles and lastly by the Mystery of the Incarnation which he compares to that of the Eucharist A Virgin says he brought forth This is against the Order of Nature The Body which we consecrate came forth of a Virgin Why do you seek for the Order of Nature in the Body of Jesus Christ since Jesus Christ was born of a Virgin contrary to the Order of Nature Jesus Christ had real Flesh which was fastened to the Cross and laid in the Sepulchre So the Eucharist is the true Sacrament of this Flesh. Jesus Christ himself assures us of it This is says he my Body before the Benediction of these Heavenly Words it is of another Nature after the Consectation it is the Body So likewise of the Blood Before Consecration it is call'd by another Name after Consecration it is call'd the Blood of Jesus Christ and ye Answer Amen that 's to say 'T is true Let the Mind acknowledge inwardly that which the Mouth brings forth let the Heart be of that Judgment which the Words express The Church exhorts her Children to Receive these Sacraments which contain the Body of Jesus Christ. This is not Bodily but Spiritual Food for the Body of the Lord is Spiritual Lastly this Heavenly Meat gives us strength this Divine Drink rejoyces us Having therefore receiv'd these Sacraments let us be persuaded that we are regenerated and let us not say How can this be 'T is not by Nature but by the Holy Spirit From hence we may learn the chief Ceremonies which were observed in the Church of Milan As to the Administration of the Sacraments these which follow are remark'd The Ears of the Catechumens were touch'd saying Ephatha and after that they were bidden enter into the place where they were to be baptiz'd There they were oblig'd to renounce the Devil the World and its Pomps the Bishop blessed the Water of Baptism the Creed was repeated to the Catechumens they were anointed with Holy Chrisms their Feet were wash'd they were plung'd into the Water and at the same time the Three Divine Persons were invocated afterwards they were cloathed with White Garments the Sacrament of Confirmation was given them and the Holy Spirit was called upon for them From thence they were conducted to the Altar where they were present at the Consecration of the Eucharist and received the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ answering Amen Since these Ceremonies and the Doctrine of this Treatise do not agree with the Opinions of Protestants some among them have done what they could to raise Doubts about this Book whether it were St. Ambrose's But the Reasons which they alledge are so weak that the ablest Men among them have sincerely acknowledg'd that it is really his There are very strong Proofs that it is this Father's the beginning alone discovers that it is his for there he speaks plainly of the Sermons he had made to the Catechumens upon the Lives of the Patriarchs and Prophets This does not agree to any other Author but St. Ambrose 't is the Stile of this Father tho' he treats of things more particularly than in his other Books 'T is his Doctrine and no body doubts but it is
the Death of Paulina his Wife in 397 wherein having exhorted him to stop his Tears and moderate his Sorrow he commends his great Charity to the poor of the City of Rome In the Fourteenth and Fifteenth to Delphinus and Amandus S. Paulinus testifies his joy for Delphinus's Recovery who had been dangerously Sick giving him thanks for the Service he had done to Basilius the Priest In the first upon occasion of Delphinus his Sickness he saith That the Afflictions of the Righteous are profitable 1. For the Exercise of their Vertue 2. To keep them from Pride 3. To imprint in them the fear of God's Justice which will grievously punish the Impious since it deals so severely with the Righteous The Sixteenth Letter to Jovius is an excellent Discourse of Providence It is placed in 399. In the Seventeenth to Severus Sulpicius he complains that he came not to see him neither met him at Rome whither he was gone to celebrate the Feast of the Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul He exhorts him to come into that Countrey to Honour S. Foelix the Martyr This Letter was written by S. Paulinus at the latter end of the Year 399 after a Recovery from Sickness The Eighteenth is written to Victricius Bishop of Rouen he sent it by Paschasius his Deacon whom he found at Rome and had brought to Nola. Having excused himself for detaining him so long he makes a Panegyrick upon Victricius describing the Torments which he had suffered for the Faith of Jesus Christ. This Letter is of the same Date with the foregoing The Three following to Delphinus Bishop of Bourdeaux were sent in the Year 400 by Cardamas an Exorcist who came to visit him from that Bishop In the First he shows his gratitude for the Love which that Bishop had for him He owns himself to be one of that Bishop's planting praying him that he would cultivate the same Plant by his Prayers and water it with his Counsels In the Second he gives him Notice of the Tokens of love and respect that had been shewed him by Anastasius Bishop of Rome and Veneris Bishop of Milan At last having commended Cardamas he expounds the beginning of S. John's Gospel In the Twenty second to Severus He describeth the Luxury and Effeminateness of the Men of the World and exalteth the Frugality of the Monks in very elegant and proper words Here is a very pleasant Letter from Severus to Paulinus wherein he recommends a Cook to him affirming that he was very fit for him knowing exactly well how to dress a Dish of Beans and Lettices and one that would destroy as many Pot-Herbs as any Man he ever saw S. Paulinus made this Cook called Victor welcome being so highly commended and Paulinus was so well pleased with him that he makes his Panegyrick in the Twenty third Letter commending him because he cut his Hair perfectly well He speaks of the use of Hair and from thence takes opportunity to give an Allegorical exposition of the Histories of Sampson and Mary Magdalen Sulpicius Severus had written S. Paulinus a Letter wherein he commended that Saint for distributing his Estate to the Poor S. Paulinus answers him That it is but a small thing to renounce this World's wealth except one also denies himself and that a Man may quit the Goods of this World heartily without parting with them altogether He treateth afterwards of the Conditions of Evangelical poverty and the dangers and temptations that attend a Spiritual life Both these Letters are supposed to have been written about the latter end of the Year 400. The Twenty fifth Letter is addressed to a Person of Quality whom he exhorts to quit the World and advises him not to deferr his Conversion In the Twenty sixth Letter he praises a Monk named Sebastian and a Deacon named Benedictus upon their having worthily discharged their Duties These two Letters are in the Ninth Tome of S. Jerom's Works among those falsely attributed to him They seem to have been written in the Year 401. The Twenty seventh Letter to Severus Sulpicius contains nothing considerable The Twenty eighth directed to the same is something more usefull there are several passages of Scripture applied to Jesus Christ with much wit and dexterity He writes that he sent to him by Victor whom he commends again in this place his Panegyrick of Theodosius the Emperor and his Verses in commendation of S. Foelix the Martyr Both these Letters are believed to be of the Year 401. By the Twenty ninth he thanks Severus for a Suit of Camel's Hair which he had sent him judging that he thereby intended to let him understand the need he had of Penance and that in exchange he sent him a Suit of Lamb's Wool which Melania had given him whereupon he takes occasion to commend that famous Widow who lately passed through Nola. If this Letter was written in the same Year that Melania returned from Jerusalem as he that writ the Notes upon it supposes then it is of the Year 397 and not of 402 as he affirms But there is no proof that it is of the same Year Sulpicius Severus had desired to have S. Paulinus's Picture The Saint refuses to give it and calls his Request a piece of Folly And this puts him upon discoursing in the Thirtieth Letter of the inward and the outward Man it is thought to be of 402. There he draws a wonderfull Picture of Man's Heart this is one excellent passage of it much admired of S. Augustin in his 186th Epistle How should I dare give you my Picture that am altogether like the Earthly Man and by my Actions represent the Carnal Man Shame presseth me on every side I am ashamed to have my Picture drawn as I am and I dare not have it made otherwise I hate what I am and I am not what I would be But what will it avail me wretched Man to hate Vice and love Vertue since I am what I hate and my laziness hinders me from endeavouring to doe what I love I find my self at variance with my self and am torn by an intestine War The Flesh fights against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh. The Law of the Body opposes the Law of the Spirit Woe is me because I have not taken away the taste of the poisoned Tree by that of the saving Cross. The poison communicated to all Men from our first Parent by his Sin abideth yet in me About the same time Severus asked S. Paulinus to send him some Ashes of the Martyrs to consecrate a Church S. Paulinus having none sent him a Bit of the true Cross which Melania had brought from Jerusalem with a Design to send it to Bassula Severus his Mother-in-Law This precious Relick was locked up in a Golden Box. Upon Occasion of this Present he writes the History of the Invention of the Holy Cross. He says that Adrianus the Emperor caused a Temple to Jupiter to be built in the place where Christ suffered and
the Greeks owned it for such but the Latins rejected it It made 102 Canons In the 1st It approves all that was done in the first Six General Councils condemns the Errors and the Persons they had condemned and pronounces Anathema to those that hold any other Doctrine than that they have Established In the 2d The Bishops of this Council deliver the number of Canons which they received which are the Constitutions attributed to Clemens the Canons of the Councils of Nice Ancyra Neo-Caesarea Gangra Antioch Laodicea Constantinople Ephesus Chalcedon Sardica and Carthage The Canons made in the time of Nectarius at Constantinople and in the time of Theophilus at Alexandria the Canons of Denys and Peter of Alexandria of Gregory Thaumaturgus of S. Athanasius S. Basil S. Gregory Nyssen S. Gregory Nazianzen of Amphilachius Timothy and Theophilus of Alexandria S. Cyril Gennadius of Constantinople and the Canon of S. Cyprian and his Council which is only observed in Africk according to their custom The 3d Canon is concerning those of the Clergy Presbyters or Deacons that had Married two Wives They declare that those that would not leave that custom shall be deposed but as to those whose second Wives are dead or who have left them they shall keep the honour and place of their Dignity being forbidden only to perform the Functions of it it being not fitting say they that he that ought to heal his own wounds should bless others As for them who had Married Widows or had Married being Priests Deacons or Subdeacons they ordain they shall for a time be suspended from their Functions but they grant them the power of being restored when they leave their Wives upon condition that they shall not be raised to a superior Order And Lastly they Ordain That for the future all those that have been Married Twice after Baptism or have had Concubines shall not be made Bishops Priests Deacons or Clergy-Men as also those that have Married Divorced or Prostituted Women or Slaves or Stage-Players The 4th Canon inflicts the punishment of Deposition upon such Ecclesiastical Persons as shall company with a Virgin Consecrated to God and of Excommunication upon Lay-Men The 5th Renews the Canon which forbids Clerks to have with them Women not related to them except those which the Canons allow them to dwell withal It extends this prohibition to the Eunuchs The 6th Forbids those that are in Orders including the Subdeacons to Marry after their Ordination The 7th forbids 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 down before 〈◊〉 Presbyter unless they represent the Person of the Pâ—â—riarch or Metropolitan The 8th ordains That a Synod shall be kept at least once a Year in each Province The 9th forbids Clerks to keep a Tavern or to resort thither The 10th forbids them to lend upon Usury The 11th forbids them having any Commerce or Familiarity with the Jews The 12th â—yes the Bishops of Africk and Lybia to the Law of the Celibacy The 13th probits the Separation of Presbyters Deacons or Sub-deacons from their Wives or binding them to Continenoy before they be ordained The 14th renews the Canon ordaining That he who is made a Priest shall be 30 Years old at least and a Deacon 25. The 15th decrees That he who is ordained Sub-deacon be at least 20 Years old The 16th declares That the seven Deacons spoken of in the Acts of the Apostles were but Ministers of common Tables and not of Altars and thereby rejects the Canon of the Council of Neo-caesarea which by the Authority of this Place had ordained that there should be but seven Deacons in every Church The 17th forbids Clerks to go out of their Churches without dimissory Letters from their Bishops The 18th enjoyns those who were forced to withdraw because of the Incursions of the Barbarians or for any other Cause to comeback again as soon as they can The 19th enjoyns those who govern Churches to preach to those committed to their Care the Doctrine of the Church and to expound the Scripture agreeably to the Sentiments of the Fathers The 20th forbids Bishops to preach in a Church which is out of their Diocess The 21st gives permission to Clerks deposed if they repent of their Fault to wear short Hair like other Clerks But if they lead a secular Life it binds them to wear long Hair like other Laymen The 22d ordains That they shall be deposed that have been ordained for Money The 23d prohibits exacting Mony for the distribution of the Holy Communion The 24th forbids Clerks to be present at the Shews of Stage-players The 25th ordains That Country-parishes shall belong to the Bishop who had them in possession 30 Years ago and if before 30 Years possession any will prove them not to belong to them the Matter shall be examined in the Provincial Council The 26th renews the Prohibition made to a Priest engaged in an unlawful Marriage to execute his Function The 27th forbids Clerks to wear any other Garb than such as belongs to their Order and separateth for a Week those that do The 28th forbids distributing with the Oblation the Grapes offered at the Altar by reason the Oblation ought to be given to the People for the Sanctification and Remission of Sins whereas Fruits are only blessed and distributed for Thanksgivings The 29th ordains That according to the Council of Carthage the Mysteries shall be celebrated Fasting not excepting Holy Thursday itself The 30th ordains That the Bishops of Churches in barbarous Countries if they will leave their Wives shall dwell no longer with them The 31st forbids Clerks to baptize or to celebrate the Mysteries in Chappels of private Houses without the Bishop's Consent The 32d condemns the Practice of the Armenians who put no Water into the Wine which they did consecrate The 33d rejects another Custom of the same Armenians who admitted none into the Clergy but those of a Sacerdotal Race and made them Clerks and Readers without cutting their Hair The Council does not allow that regard should be had to the Race of those that are ordained but only to their Merit and forbids the Readers to read publickly in the Church without their Hair cut and without receiving the Blessing of the Pastor of the Church The 34th decrees the Penalty of Deposition against caballing Clerks The 35th forbids a Metropolitan to seize on the Estate of a Bishop deceased or on his Church and appoints that they shall be in the Keeping of the Clerks till there be another Bishop unless there be no Clerks in which case the Metropolitan shall keep them for the Successor The 36th renews the Canons of the Councils of Constantinople and Chalcedon concerning the Authority of the See of the Church of Constantinople and grants to it the same Privileges as to the See of old Rome the same Authority in Ecclesiastical Affairs and the 2d place the 3d to that of Alexandria the 4th to that of Antioch and the 5th to that of Jerusalem The 37th preserveth to the Bishops ordained
for the clothing and warming of them In the 30th he sets down the Festivals when the Bishop is to Feast them In the 31st he enjoins the Clerks of his Society to have a Propriery in nothing and to give what they have to the Church of S. Paul Yet he gives them leave to reserve the use of it to themselves for Almsgiving and to dispose of their Moveables as they please by their Wills The 32d imports That the Alms bestowed upon private Persons as upon Priests for saying Mass or hearing Confessions or upon other Clerks for praying shall be their own but those bestowed upon the Community shall be common He will not have Ecclesiastical Persons to take a great quantity of Alms for fear of over-burdening themselves with the Sins of others The 33d Article is concerning the time and manner in which those Clerks ought to come to Mass on Holy-days The last Canon respects Clerks inducted into other Churches he charges them to come twice in a Month once in a Fortnight to the Church of S. Steven to receive necessary Instructions and Advices from the Bishop or him who taketh care of that Church STEVEN II. AFter ZACHARY's decease the Romans elected a Presbyter named Steven in his his room but this dying 3 days after his Election they preferred to the Pontificate the 27th of March 752. Pope Constantin's Son named Steven II. In the beginning of his Pontificate Steven II. he repaired and built Hospitals Astulphus who was then King of Lombardy threatned the City of Rome Stevâ—â— to appease his Fury sent Deputies with Presents to him and concluded a Peace with him 40 Years but Astulphus intending to make himself Master of Rome did soon break it The Pope sent some Religious Persons to him to pacifie him but he did not at all regard their Entreaties or Arguments In this Conjuncture John the chief Silentiary of the Emperor of Greece came to Rome with some Letters from the Emperor to the Pope and to King Astulphus whom he did exhort to restore the Places he had usurped He brought these Orders to Astulphus who slighted them and sent him back again without any favourable Answer The Pope seeing the danger he was in sent some Deputies to the Emperor to let him know That it was high time for him to come with an Army to defend the Provinces he had yet in Italy if he had a mind to preserve them and for his part he imployed publick Prayers to obtain from God the Peace of Italy and endeavoured with Entreaties to still the Anger of the King of Lombardy But seeing at last there was no hope left of any assistance from the Greek Emperor he applied himself to Pepin King of France who did voluntarily offer himself to help the Pope and the Romans He judged it fit to bring the Pope into France where he received him favourably and promised him That he would force the Lombard to restore him the Exarchy of Ravenna and all the Territories belonging to the Romans Astulphus to avert this Storm sent Carloman Pepin's Brother who was a Monk in Mount-Cassin to oppose this Design but he could not dissuade Pepin from his Enterprize wherefore he retreated into a Monastery in France Pepin did immediately send Ambassadors to the King of the Lombards to oblige him to make Peace and to restore to the Romans the Towns and Lands he had taken from them The Pope likewise urged him by Letters but all in vain so Pepin came with an Army to attack him The Lombard having assay'd to force Pepin's Troops in a Passage of the Alps was routed put to flight and forced to fly into Pavia which was presently besieg'd by Pepin's Army Astulphus was forced to sue for Peace which was granted him upon condition he should restore the Exarchy of Ravenna and what he had taken But instead of performing this Treaty as soon as he was delivered he marched towards Rome with an intent to take it Pepin having notice of it returned again with his Army besieg'd Astulphus and forced him to perform the Articles of the Treaty The Greek Emperor's Envoy re-demanded the Exarchy of Ravenna but Pepin looking upon that Country as an Estate which he had acquired by the right of Arms gave it to the Church of Rome and sent Fulradus Abbot of S. Denys to receive the Towns of the Pantapolis and Aemilia which the Lombard was bound to restore After Astulphus's death Desiderius who had possessed himself of the Kingdom of the Lombards confirmed this Treaty and rendred to the Pope all the Places agreed on All this was done under Steven II's Pontificate which lasted 5 Years He died Apr. 24. 757. This Pope's Letters are concerning all those Affairs In the 1st he thanks Pepin for the assistance he had promised by Chrodegand In the 2d he desires the great French Lords to help forward his Request to their King In the 3d. directed to King Pepin whom he calls his Godfather and to his Sons Charles and Carloman whom he stiles Kings and Nobles of Rome he entreats them to cause Astulphus to perform the Treaty he had made In the 4th he begs Pepin's help against Astulphus who was come to besiege the City of Rome The 5th is a Letter in S. Peter and Steven's Name to implore Aid against the Lombards It seems to be Supposititious and of a quite different Stile from the rest The 6th is a Letter of Thanks to Pepin for setting at liberty the City and Church of Rome He inform him withal of the death of Astulphus and that Desiderius succeeded him and entreats him to cause him to restore the rest of the Towns of the Exarchate and the Pantopolis which were to be restored to him by the agreement There is a 7th Letter wherein he requests Pepin and his Sons to force Astulphus to restore him the Towns and Lands which they had bestowed upon the Holy See To those Letters are joined 4 Privileges granted by Steven to Fulradus Abbot of S. Denys and a Relation of a Revelation which they pretend this Pope had being extream sick in the Abby of S. Denys but these last Monuments are of small Authority and good for little This Pope's Letters are eloquent and powerful We have moreover under his Name a Collection of some Canonical Constitutions which he made at Cressy to answer the Questions propounded to him by the Monks of the Monastery of Bretigny It contains 19 Constitutions for the most part drawn out of Popes Decrees and the proceeding Councils but there be some upon Baptism somewhat singular For in the 11th he excuses a Priest who in case of necessity had baptized with Wine for want of Water and he intimates that Baptism to be valid in these words Infantes sic permaneant in ipso Baptismo I know very well that some have believed That this Parenthesis is a gloss impertinently crept into the Text and that some others have pretended that of these 19 Articles 10 are Supposititious whereof
Monk of St. German at Auxerre ibid. Diodericus a Monk of Hirsfeldt ibid. Andrew a Monk of Fleury or of St. Benedict on the Loire ibid. Odo a Monk of St. Maur des Fosses ibid. Bovo Abbot of St. Berthin ibid. Gislebert a Monk of St. Amand ibid. St. William Abbot of Richanaw 105 Alberic Cardinal ibid. Jotsald a Monk of Cluny ibid. Wolferus a Canon of Hildesheim ibid. Gotzelin a Monk of Canterbury ibid. Peter a Monk of Maillezais ibid. William a Monk of Chiusi in Tuscany ibid. Raimond a Monk of St. Andrew at Avignon ibid. Heymo a Monk of Richenaw ibid. Gerard de Venna a Monk of La Chaise-Dieu ibid. Egiward a Monk of St. Burchard at Wurtzburg ibid. Gautier or Gauterius ibid. Grimaldus ibid. Rudolf a Monk of La Chaise-Dieu ibid. Notcherus Abbot of Hautvilliers ibid. W. a Monk of Walsor ibid. CHAP. XII Of the Greek Ecclesiastical Writers who flourish'd in the Eleventh Century 106 Leo the Grammarian ibid. Alexius Patriarch of Constantinople ibid. Eugesippus ibid. Theophanes the Ceramean Archbishop of Tauromenium ibid. Nilus Doxopatrius Archimandrita ibid. Nicetas Pectoratus a Monk of Studa ibid. Michael Psellus a Senator of Constantinople ibid. Simeon the Young Abbot of Xerocerce 107 John Archbishop of Euchaita 108 Joannes Thracesius Scylitzes Curopalata ibid. Georgius Cedrenus ibid. Constantinus Lichudes Patriarch of Constantinople ibid. John Xiphilin Patriarch of Constantinople ibid. Samonas Archbishop of Gaza ibid. Nicolas Bishop of Metone ibid. Theophylact Archbishop of Acris ibid. Nicetas Serron Archbishop of Heraclea 109 Nicolas sirnam'd the Grammarian Patriarch of Constantinople ibid. Peter Deacon and Chartophylax of the Church of Constantinople ibid. Samuel of Morocco a converted Jew ibid. CHAP. XIII Of the Councils held in the Eleventh Century 109 The COUNCILS of FRANCE The Council of Orleans held in the Year 1017. ibid. The Synod of Ãrras in 1025. 110 The Council of Bourges in 1031. 111 of Limoges held in the same Year 112 Divers Councils held in France in 1040. 113 The Council of Rheims in 1049. 114 of Tours in 1060 115 of Soissons in 1092. ibid. Roscelin a Clerk of the Church of Compiegne ibid. Theobald a Clerk of Etampes 116 Divers Councils held in Normandy The Council of Roan conven'd A. D. 1050. 116 of Lisieux in 1055. ibid. of Roan in 1063. ibid. of Roan in 1072. 117 A Quarrel between the Archbishop of Roan and the Monks of St. Owen 118 The Council of Roan in 1074. ibid. of Lillebonne in 1080. ibid. The Councils of the Province of Aquitaine The Council of Narbonne held in the Year 1054. 119 of Toulouse in 1056. ibid. The COUNCILS of GERMANY The Council of Dortmundt held A. D. 1005. 120 of Selingenstadt in 1023. ibid. of Mentz in 1069. 121 of Mentz in 1071. ibid. of Erford in 1073. ibid. The COUNCILS of ENGLAND The Council of Aenham held in the Year 1010. 121 King Ethelred and King Canut's Laws 122 The Council of London in 1075. ibid. of Winchester in 1076. ibid. of London in 1102. 123. The COUNCILS of SPAIN The Council of Leon held in the Year 1012. 123 of Coyaco in 1050. 124 of Elna in Roussillon in 1065. 125 CHAP. XIV Observations on the Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Eleventh Century 125 The Study of Divinity in this Century ibid. Of the Rights of the Popes and of the Church of Rome 126 Divers Points of Discipline concerning the Clergy ibid. Remarks on the scourging Discipline and Fasts ibid. Observations on the Mass and on divers Points of Discipline 127 on the Monastick Life ibid. The Order of Camaldolites ibid. of Carthusian Monks ibid. of St. Antony ibid. of Cistercian Friers 128 of Regular Canons ibid. A Chronological Table of the Ecclesiastical History of the Eleventh Age of the Church A Chronological Table of the Ecclesiastical Authors that flourish'd in the Eleventh Century A Table of the Works of the Ecclesiastical Authors of the Eleventh Century A Table of the Acts Letters and Canons of the Councils held in this Century A Table of the Writings of the Ecclesiastical Authors dispos'd according to the Matters they treat of An Alphabetical Table of the Ecclesiastical Authors in this Century An Alphabetical Table of the Councils held in this Century An Alphabetical Table of the Principal Matters contain'd in this Volume AN HISTORY OF THE CONTROVERSIES AND OTHER Ecclesiastical Affairs Which happen'd in the Eleventh Century CHAP. I. Of the Writings of S. Fulbert Bishop of Chartres WE will begin this Eleventh Century with S. Fulbert Bishop of Chartres who S. Fulbert Bishop of Chartres was one of the principal Restorers of Learning of the Sciences and of Divinity He came from Rome to France and held his publick Lectures in the Schools of the Church of Chartres about the end of the Tenth and the beginning of the Eleventh Century His Reputation gain'd him Scholars from all Parts who went out of his School full of Learning and Piety and diffused his Light in France and Germany insomuch that all the Ingenious Persons of that time gloried in having been his Scholars He was in great Repute with King Robert and as some Historians tell us he was his Chancellor In the Year 1007. he succeeded Radulphus in the Bishoprick of Chartres and govern'd that Church with a great deal of Vigilance and Prudence for the space of One and twenty Years and some Months He dy'd April 10 1028. He compos'd several Letters Sermons and Pieces of Poetry His Letters amount to 134. In the First he explains three Essential Points of our Faith namely The Mystery of the Trinity the Sacrament of Baptism and the Sacraments of Life to wit of the Body and Blood of our Lord. We shall not here stand to repeat what he has said about the Mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation 't is enough to take notice that he has given a very exact Explanation of them and that he has very particularly refuted the Errors of the Arians Nestorians and Eutychians Upon the Sacraments he says That we ought not to rest upon the External and Visible Signs but to attend to the Invisible Power and Efficacy of these Mysteries We know says he and 't is an unquestionable Truth That we were polluted by our first Birth and purified by the second therefore we are buried and we die with JESUS CHRIST that we may be born again and quicken'd with him The Water and the Holy Ghost are united in that Sacrament the Water denotes the Burial the Holy Ghost the Life Eternal as JESUS CHRIST lay buried in the Ground for three Days so is Man dipp'd and as it were buried three times in the Water that he may rise again by the Holy Spirit He afterwards proves That 't is God which Baptizeth and that tho' a wicked Man should administer this Sacrament yet it does not hinder the Remission of Sins because 't is not he who is the Author but only the Minister of the Sacrament as he himself acknowledges when he
says He who has regenerated you by Water and the Holy Spirit grant you the Unction of Salvation Now 't is God alone who is the Author of Grace the Dispenser of Spiritual Gifts and who remits Sins In discoursing on the third Point namely concerning the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of CHRIST after he had taken notice of its Sublimity and its Incomprehensibility he says That God commiserating our Frailty has provided a Remedy for us by this propitiatory Sacrifice offer'd for our daily Faults and forasmuch as he has taken out of our sight and carry'd to Heaven that Body which he offer'd for our Redemption that we might not be depriv'd of the present Protection of his Body he has left us a Salutary Pledge of his Body and Blood which is not a Symbol of a vain empty Mystery but the real Body of JESUS CHRIST which his secret Efficacy produceth every Day after an invisible manner in the Solemnity of those Mysteries under the visible Form of the Creature 'T is this Body which he spake of to his Disciples a little before his Passion This is my Body and this is my Blood And elsewhere He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him John 6. 56. Being therefore thus instructed by the Will and Pleasure of this true Master in partaking of his Body and Blood we may boldly maintain That we are chang'd into his Body and that he dwelleth in us not only by an Union of the Will but by the Reality of the Nature which is united to us He adds That we should not imagine it to be any Dishonour to a God who condescended to enter into the Womb of a Virgin to be in Pure and Virgin Creatures That what appears externally to be the Substance of Bread and Wine became internally the Body and Blood of JESUS CHRIST And to make this Change the more credible he compares it to the Creation and says That if God could make Creatures out of Nothing he could more easily convert them into the Substance of his Body The Second Letter of Fulbert of Chartres is concerning a Custom in use in his time of giving to the Priests after their Ordination a Consecrated Host which they kept and communicated of for forty Days together He had been ask'd the Reason of this Custom But before he reply'd to that he observ'd That different Churches had their different Customs which was no hindrance of their being united in the same common Faith Afterwards he says That this Custom was observ'd by all the Bishops of his Country That he remember'd that formerly a Priest having receiv'd a consecrated Host from his Bishop and communicating thereof every Day it one Day happen'd That after he had celebrated these Mysteries he lost this Host by wrapping his Habit in the Communion Table-cloth That on the Morrow in the time of Celebration when he came to communicate he was very much surpriz'd at his missing the Host. That the Bishop being inform'd of what had happen'd through his Carelessness had impos'd on him a very severe Pennance S. Fulbert adds That this Accident gave him an occasion of asking this Bishop Whether it were not better that the Priests should eat this Host the first or second Day after it was consecrated without dividing it into so many Pieces But that this Bishop had return'd him this Answer That they were oblig'd to keep this Host for the space of Forty Days because as JESUS CHRIST had been Forty Days upon Earth after his Resurrection and appear'd to his Apostles several times so the Bishop in ordaining his Priests gave them the Eucharist to take for Forty Days together to put them in mind of those Forty Days during which our Lord appear'd to his Apostles after his Resurrection Fulbert having ask'd Whether this Mystery might not be as well perform'd by the Bread which the Priests consecrated every Day was answer'd by the Bishop That as many particular Churches spread over the Face of the whole Earth made but One Catholick Church because they have all one Common Faith just so many Particucular Hosts offer'd by many Faithful are only One Bread because of the Unity of the Body of CHRIST That the Bread consecrated by the Bishop and the Bread consecrated by the Priest are chang'd into one and the same Body of JESUS CHRIST by the Omnipotency of the same Virtue which operateth in both but as it may be said in some measure That the Body of JESUS CHRIST born of the Virgin and nailed to the Cross is different from the Body of JESUS CHRIST when raised from the Dead Even so it seems That the Bread consecrated on the Ordination-day and kept by the Priests may have a particular Signification distinct from the Bread which was consecrated every Day the former may denote the Body of JESUS CHRIST raised from the Dead to die no more the latter JESUS CHRIST who dies and rises again every Day for us The Third and Fourth Letters are directed to King Robert wherein he prays him to order Eudes Count of Chartres to cause the Castles to be demolish'd which were built by Vicount Geofrey and very much incommoded the Church of Chartres The Two following contain nothing in them remarkable The Seventh is directed to Leoterick Archbishop of Sens whom he exhorts to make use of his Authority in succouring Avisgaudus Bishop of Mans whom the Count of that City oppress'd and to threaten the said Count with Excommunication in case he did not restore to him his Revenue and let him be quiet The Eighth is a Copy of a Letter which he had written to this Avisgaudus who complain'd that Fulbert and Leoterick had publish'd his Confession Fulbert gives him to understand That he wrong'd them in having such a Thought of them That they had never publish'd any thing but what was for his Advantage and which might serve to justifie him against those who had accus'd him of having quitted his Bishoprick out of Avarice Baseness or for some other dishonourable Cause That if he had trusted to their Secrecy such Things as he ought to repent of they had taken great Care to conceal them but that they had no Power to conceal those which were publick both before and after his Confession As to that part of this Bishop's Complaint that they had said of him That he was in Love with a Monastick Life Fulbert returns him this Answer That he ought not to take this amiss since it could be no Prejudice to him for the Love of a Religious Life render'd him rather worthy than unworthy of the Bishoprick into which he desir'd to enter again were there nothing else to hinder him from it But that they could not perceive how he could be put into Possession again because he could not complain that he had been turn'd out of it or that any one had been put into Possession of that See against his Will since he had voluntarily quitted it under