Bernardus Fontis Calidi (Bernard of Fontcaude)
(Against the Waldensian Sect)
Prologue
I. While the Lord Lucius, of illustrious memory, presided over the Holy Roman Church, new heretics suddenly raised their head, who, by a certain presage of things to come, received a name and were called Waldensians — namely from "Valle densa" (dense valley), because they are enveloped in the deep and dense darkness of errors. They, although condemned by the aforesaid supreme pontiff, recklessly vomited forth the poison of their perfidy far and wide throughout the world.
II. Therefore, on behalf of the Church of God, the Lord Bernard, Archbishop of Narbonne, distinguished for his piety and godly integrity, zealous for the law of God, set himself as a strong wall against them. Having summoned many persons, both clergy and laity, religious and secular, he called them to judgment. What more need be said? After the case was most diligently investigated, they were condemned.
III. Nevertheless, afterwards they dared to scatter the seed of their wickedness both secretly and publicly. Whence again, although it was more than sufficient, they were called to a disputation by certain persons, both clergy and laity. And, lest the dispute be prolonged further, a certain priest was chosen as judge by both parties, namely Raimund of Daventry — a man indeed religious and God-fearing, noble by birth, but nobler still by his manner of life.
(1) Lucius III began his pontificate in the year 1181.
(2) Bossuet recalls this disputation and the Abbot of Fontcaude (History of the Variations, bk. XI, nn. 75-79). [Extended French quotation from Bossuet describing the historical context: The pontificate of Pope Lucius III begins in 1181, after Waldo had appeared in Lyon. It took him about twenty years to expand and form a body of a sect worthy of notice. Then Lucius III condemned them; and since his pontificate lasted only four years, this first condemnation of the Waldensians must have occurred between 1181 and 1185. After this pope's death, despite his decree, these heretics spread greatly. Bernard, Archbishop of Narbonne, condemned them anew after a thorough examination but could not halt the sect's progress. Several pious persons, ecclesiastical and others, arranged a conference to bring them back amicably. An arbitrator was chosen by both sides — a holy priest named Raimund of Daventry, illustrious by birth but more illustrious for his holy life. The assembly was very solemn and the dispute was long. Both sides produced passages of Scripture. The Waldensians were condemned and declared heretics on all counts. The Abbot of Fontcaude, who was present at the conference, wrote up with great clarity and judgment the points debated and the passages employed on both sides. The dispute chiefly concerned obedience due to pastors, which the Waldensians refused; and that despite all prohibitions they believed they had the right to preach, men and women alike. Since this disobedience could only be founded on the unworthiness of pastors, the Catholics proved that obedience is due even to bad pastors. They also attacked the liberty laypeople took in preaching without pastoral permission, showed that women should not teach, and demonstrated the Waldensians' error in rejecting prayer for the dead.]
IV. When therefore the appointed day of the case arrived, the parties being gathered together along with very many other clergy and laity, they were accused by true Catholics on certain articles in which they held erroneous opinions. And as they responded to each point, there was a long disputation back and forth, and many authorities were produced by both sides. After hearing the arguments of both parties, the aforesaid judge gave a definitive sentence in writing, and pronounced them to be heretics in the articles on which they had been accused.
V. But by what authorities or reasons they defended their assertion; and what was answered to them by us Catholics; or by what testimonies of the Scriptures we upheld the Catholic faith — we have woven into the present little work, with the addition also of certain other treatises against other heresies. All this we did chiefly to instruct, or to admonish, certain clergy who, laboring either through inexperience or through a lack of books, by not resisting the enemies of the truth, became an offense and scandal to the faithful over whom they preside. For they do not strengthen them in the Catholic faith, nor do they nourish them with the food of the Holy Scriptures. Whence, as if fasting along the way of the present age, deprived of spiritual strength, they faint, unable to return to their fatherland, namely paradise. Just indeed is the cause of the greater evil described above: that ravening wolves — that is, demons, heretics, and tyrants — are not driven from the sheepfolds of Christ's sheep, neither by the voice of preaching, nor by the rod of discipline or severity.
VI. Let them therefore receive, I beseech you, from our lowliness, if it please them, the small gift of this little work, and let them commit to memory the authorities of the holy Fathers, so that, by God's mercy, they may have impenetrable weapons against the rulers of darkness, against the fabricators of falsehood, against the devotees of perverse doctrines — that is, against demons and heretics — so that, with God's grace going before them, they may both triumph over these enemies and, for the governance and teaching of those subject to them, merit to receive from the supreme Shepherd the unfading crown of glory.
Chapter I: Against the claim that one need not obey the supreme pontiff or other prelates
I. In the first place, therefore, they are charged with disobedience; because, namely, they do not obey the Roman Church, which has the fullness of the power of binding and loosing, and the authority of governing the other Churches.
II. Furthermore, they obey neither bishops nor priests; although, as blessed Gregory attests, bishops hold the place of Christ's disciples and possess the authority of binding and loosing, those who are allotted the office of governance. By this authority, therefore, the Roman Church and the other bishops — inasmuch as it was said to them: 'Whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven' (Matt. 16) — have bound the aforesaid heretics with the chain of excommunication, 'having in readiness,' with the Apostle, 'to avenge all disobedience' (2 Cor. 10). — 'Nothing, however,' as Augustine says in his commentary on John, 'should a Christian so dread as being separated from the body of Christ. For if he is separated from the body of God, he is not a member of it, he is not given life by His Spirit. And whoever,' says the Apostle, 'does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His' (Rom. 8). Likewise from the words of the Apostle: 'Every Christian, dearly beloved, who is excommunicated by priests, is said to be handed over to Satan. How so? Namely, because the devil is outside the Church, just as Christ is in the Church. And therefore he is, as it were, handed over to the devil who is removed from ecclesiastical communion. Whence those whom the Apostle then declares to have been handed over to Satan, he shows to have been excommunicated by himself. Hence it is also that the same Apostle says to the Thessalonians: If anyone does not obey our word through the epistle, mark that man; and do not mingle with him, so that he may be put to shame' (2 Thess. 3). Behold, the Apostle commands that the disobedient one be reproved and cast out from the communion or society of the rest, so that being thus cast out he may be ashamed.
III. To the Hebrews also he says: 'Obey your leaders and submit to them. For they keep watch as those who will have to give an account for your souls' (Heb. 13). To Timothy also he says: 'Let the presbyters who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine' (1 Tim. 5). The double honor due to presbyters is that their precepts be obeyed and that with due reverence external support be provided to them. The Lord also, to show that obedience must be rendered to prelates, said: 'The Scribes and Pharisees have sat on the chair of Moses. Therefore all things whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do' (Matt. 23). And again: 'He who hears you, hears me; and he who despises you, despises me' (Luke 10).
IV. Since therefore Christ and the apostles command that bishops and presbyters be obeyed, whoever does not obey them is consequently disobedient to Christ and His apostles. But every transgression and disobedience, as the Apostle testifies, 'receives a just recompense of reward' (Heb. 2). How then shall they escape, who have neglected the precepts of Christ and His disciples? Since therefore they stand disobedient, they are to be regarded as heathens and publicans, the Lord saying: 'If anyone will not hear the Church, let him be to you as a heathen and a publican' (Matt. 18).
V. Furthermore, one must abstain from communion with them, as is clear from the aforesaid words of the Apostle to the Thessalonians. For even under the Mosaic law, if anyone did not obey the command of the priest, he was to be put to death, lest the people be corrupted by the evil of disobedience. Whence in Deuteronomy: 'He who acts presumptuously, refusing to obey the command of the priest who at that time ministers to the Lord your God, by the decree of the judge that man shall die, and you shall remove the evil from the midst of Israel; and all the people hearing it shall fear, so that no one henceforth may swell with pride' (Deut. 17). Behold, from this it is clear how great is the crime of disobedience, since he who did not obey the priest was slain by the bodily sword. But in the time of grace, because God does not wish the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live (Ezek. 33), he is not killed bodily, but is struck by the spiritual sword, when he is separated from the communion of the faithful by the sentence of the bishop, so that being thus cast out he may be ashamed and come to his senses.
VI. Moreover, all who are disobedient are proven to be faithless, as Samuel says: 'For rebellion is as the sin of divination,' and 'stubbornness is as the crime of idolatry' (1 Sam. 15). On which passage blessed Gregory says: 'Obedience alone possesses the merit of faith, without which anyone is proven faithless, even if he seems to be faithful.' The Apostle also counts the vice of disobedience among mortal crimes, saying: 'The Gentiles, filled with all iniquity, malice, fornication, avarice' (Rom. 1). And shortly after: 'Inventors of evil, disobedient to parents' (ibid.) — to parents, that is, as the orthodox teachers explain, whether carnal or spiritual. And a little later: 'Those who do such things are worthy of death: not only those who do them, but also those who consent to those who do them' (ibid.). To consent, moreover, according to Ambrose, is when someone who could reprove remains silent, or hearing it, flatters.
VII. Nor is it surprising that those disobedient to ecclesiastical authorities are worthy of eternal death. For as the Apostle testifies: 'There is no power except from God, and those that exist are ordained by God. Therefore whoever resists the power, resists the ordinance of God. And those who resist acquire damnation for themselves' (Rom. 13). Let therefore the aforesaid erring ones, and those who agree with them, hear the precept of the Apostle who says: 'Let every soul be subject to the higher powers' (ibid.). For 'the Holy Spirit,' as the Apostle says in the Acts of the Apostles, 'has made bishops' over His flock 'to rule the Church of God which He purchased with His own blood' (Acts 20). Whoever therefore resists bishops through contumacy sins against the Holy Spirit. For even when the Jews murmured against Moses and Aaron, the answer was: 'Your murmuring is not against us, but against God' (Exod. 16). Hence Jude the brother of James says: 'Woe to those who have perished in the rebellion of Korah!' (Jude 11). For Korah and his accomplices rose up against Moses and Aaron, priests of the Lord; and immediately, by fire sent from heaven, they were consumed. Therefore those who contradict the authority of priests perish in the rebellion of Korah, and for that reason are consumed by the fire of eternal burning. Whence 'woe,' that is, eternal damnation, is upon them.
VIII. Furthermore, through the disobedience of Adam many were made sinners; and through the obedience of Christ, who was obedient to the Father even unto death, many were made righteous. Whoever therefore stands disobedient bears the image of the old man. Against which the Apostle says: 'As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us bear the image of the heavenly' (1 Cor. 15), putting on the virtue of obedience, so that we who were cast out of paradise through disobedience may return through obedience as if by another way with the Magi. 'For obedience is better than sacrifices, and to hearken is better than to offer the fat of rams' (1 Sam. 15). Because through sacrifices the flesh of another is slain, but through obedience one's own will is put to death. And Solomon says: 'The obedient man shall speak of victories' (Prov. 21). Because when we humbly submit to another's voice, we overcome ourselves in our heart. From all these things it is clear how great is the virtue of obedience, and how great the crime of disobedience.
Chapter II: On the dignity of prelates, and that deference and obedience are owed to them
I. That it may be clearer than daylight how greatly priests excel all others, and that deference and obedience are owed to them, it can be discerned from the words of the Savior, who said to the man cured of leprosy: 'Go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them' (Luke 5). For it belongs to priests to discern and judge who are Catholics and who are tainted with heretical contagion. Hence it is that although the Lord healed many who were ill, He sent only the lepers to the priests. For the varied color on the body of the leper signifies, in the heretical man, truth mixed with falsehood. Clearly the Lord did not wish the leper, even though cleansed, to be joined to the assemblies of men without the judgment of the priest, so as to show openly that he who has strayed from Catholic unity, even though he may perhaps have come to his senses, is by no means to be joined to the assemblies of the faithful without priestly judgment. And as a sign of devotion and humility, he is commanded to make an offering to the priest, so as to indicate likewise that he is subject to the one whose hand, by kissing it with divine regard, he offers as a sacrifice.
II. Likewise clergy feed others; while the rest, like sheep, are fed. And the former live from the altar; the latter, however, ought to offer. The former can hand sinners over to Satan; the latter may sit before them, but without their counsel they ought not to undertake the things that pertain to God. Whence Jerome writes to Heliodorus: 'The cause of the monk is one thing, that of the cleric another. Clerics feed the sheep; I am fed. They live from the altar; for me the axe is laid to the root of the unfruitful tree. If I do not bring a gift to the altar, I am not permitted to sit before the presbyter. If I sin, they may hand me over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that my spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.' The same to Rusticus: 'The Church has its senate, the assembly of presbyters, without whose counsel monks may do nothing. Rehoboam the son of Solomon lost his kingdom because he refused to listen to his presbyters. The Romans also had a senate, by whose counsel they did everything, and we have our senate, the assembly of presbyters.'
III. Furthermore, when anyone is in doubt about the divine law, he ought immediately to run to the priests and inquire. For they are the ones through whom the Creator of all has arranged to feed the peoples of the faithful. Hence it is that the Lord handed five or seven loaves to His disciples to set before the crowds. For He ministers spiritual teaching to the priests, who have succeeded to the place of the disciples, so that, as good stewards of God's household, they may minister nourishment to souls, lest on the road of this world they faint from lack of this food. Hence it is written: 'Who do you think is the faithful and prudent steward, whom the Lord has set over his household, to give them their measure of wheat in due season?' Whence also the Lord strikes down Paul, still Saul, on the road, but does not teach him what he must do; rather He sends him into the city to the disciple Ananias to be taught. Nor did the angel, who appeared to the centurion, a religious man, hand on to him the form of the faith, but commands Simeon to be summoned, so that through him he might be instructed in what he ought to do.
IV. From these examples it is plainly given to understand that no one ought to presume to teach anyone the way of perfection unless he is in the city — that is, in the holy Church — and is a disciple of Christ. For Christ, or His angel, refused to teach Saul or the centurion directly, in order to show that the teaching office of the Church must be inviolably preserved, and is to be attempted by no one whatsoever except those who have succeeded to the place of the disciples — that is, bishops and men of the Church, to whom the Lord delegated this office. As it is written, with Malachi attesting: 'The lips of the priest shall guard knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth; for he is the angel of the Lord of hosts.' Behold how great is the dignity of the priest. For he is, as is read in Ezekiel, the treasury in the house of the Lord, who guards the treasure of wisdom and knowledge in his breast, and from whose mouth, at the Lord's command, the law must be sought. This the Lord Himself taught by example, as the Gospel attests: He sat in the temple, in the midst of the doctors, listened to them and questioned them, teaching at the same time that in the holy Church, above all, heavenly doctrine is to be learned — not in the marketplace, not in the streets — so that it may be perceived and committed to memory all the better, inasmuch as in the Church the mind is more attentively devoted not to temporal matters but to divine things.
V. How great a thing it is that the priest is called 'angel of the Lord,' that is, messenger! For he is sent to announce the supreme Judge; and therefore, even if he is contemptible in himself, he must nonetheless be venerated in the person of the Lord. For as blessed Gregory attests: 'Often a powerful person has a despised servant, through whom he sends some reply to his own people or to strangers; the person of the speaking servant is not despised, because the reverence due to the sending Lord is preserved in the heart.' Thus, then, any priest, even if he is perhaps rightly despised by someone, the one to whom he is sent ought nevertheless to preserve in his mind the reverence due to the Lord who sends him.
VI. Sinners must also confess their iniquities to priests, so that they may be absolved from the bonds of their guilt. For this reason the Lord said to the man dead four days: 'Lazarus, come forth' (John 11). And when he had come out alive, he was loosed from his bonds by the disciples, the Lord commanding and saying to them: 'Loose him, and let him go' (ibid.). The dead man comes forth when the sinner confesses his fault. And the disciples loose him as he comes forth, because the preachers of the Church ought to remove the penalty he deserved, since he was not ashamed to confess what he did. Indeed Judas confessed his sin — not to Christ's disciples, but to the Jews, saying: 'I have sinned in betraying righteous blood' (Matt. 27). And his confession did not profit him.
VII. Priests not only loose, but also bind the guilty, and hand them over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved. Whence the Lord says: 'Whose sins you shall remit, they are remitted to them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained' (Matt. 16). For as Gregory attests, the disciples, whose place bishops hold, in God's stead retain the sins of some and remit those of others. The Apostle also says of the fornicator: 'I have judged in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — that is, in His stead, or for His glory — to hand over such a one to Satan, that his spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Cor. 5). He hands him over to Satan so that he may be afflicted bodily and thus come to his senses. Or, according to some, it is understood as bodily death; or to excommunicate is to hand over to Satan. For just as the devil has no right over a man after the man is justified through faith, so after a man is, on account of his fault, sequestered from the sacraments of the Church — which are his armor against Satan — from that point he is bound again under the yoke of Satan.
VIII. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit often considers the dignity of the priest rather than his merit, and provides for the elect through him. Whence, since Caiaphas was high priest, he prophesied. Here the Evangelist clearly attributes the gift of prophecy to the divine sacrament, saying: 'Since he was — that is, because he was — the high priest' (John 11). For water passes through stone channels to garden beds of spices — that is, the irrigation of spiritual grace sometimes flows through the hard and insensible minds of those who preside, and waters and fills the souls of the faithful, planted and fragrant with the spices of virtues.
IX. Blessed James also shows how necessary and beneficial the order of priests is, when he says: 'Is anyone among you sick? Let him bring in the presbyters of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him' (James 5). Behold, the prayer of the priest both saves, and through it God relieves the sick and remits sins. It saves, therefore, inasmuch as the prayer of presbyters benefits both body and soul, by relieving infirmity and remitting sins. Here he likewise reproves those who call in heretics and abandon presbyters, when the Apostle commands presbyters to be called in, not heretics. He also tacitly reproves certain persons even Christians who, when they fall ill, send not for presbyters but for doctors; or in reversed order, send for them afterwards — whereas often the sickness of the soul is the cause of bodily infirmity. Whence the Lord first forgives the sins of the paralytic who was brought to Him, saying: 'Son, your sins are forgiven you' (Luke 5); and afterwards, He heals the body. 'For when the cause is removed, the effect is removed.'
X. It also belongs to priests to resolve questions arising about the Christian religion. Whence Moses, ascending the mountain, said to the elders of Israel: 'Wait here until we return. You have Aaron and Hur with you; if any question should arise, you shall refer it to them' (Exod. 24). For questions arising among the faithful about the faith or Christian worship are to be referred to bishops and presbyters. Hence it is that for this and other necessary reasons, bishops were established by the apostles in each city, and presbyters in each church. Wherefore the Apostle says to Titus: 'For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set right what is lacking, and appoint presbyters in every city, as I also directed you' (Titus 1). In the Acts of the Apostles it is also found that Paul and Barnabas appointed presbyters in each Church.
XI. It should be noted, moreover, that by the name 'presbyters' bishops are sometimes meant, as just before in the passage to Titus, and sometimes simple priests, as just above in the Acts of the Apostles. For conversely, by the name 'bishops' lesser priests are sometimes designated, as in the letter to the Philippians, when the Apostle says: 'Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons' (Phil. 1). For there are not multiple bishops in one city; nor would he, speaking of bishops while passing over priests in silence, have inserted a reference to the lesser order — that is, of deacons — unless he had called the priests 'bishops.' Sometimes, however, bishops are called, by the proper term, 'greater priests,' as daily usage confirms.
XII. Having said these things by way of digression, it should be known that in the New Testament, when the question arose whether believers ought to be circumcised and the law of Moses observed, Paul and Barnabas determined that believers should remain as they had believed, and that these same apostles and certain others from among them should go up to the apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem concerning this question. And the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter (Acts 15). And together the apostles and elders decided the question; and on this matter they sent a decretal letter, as the believers required, as is read in the Acts of the Apostles.
XIII. From this example it is clear that, when a doubt arises concerning the worship of the Christian faith, recourse must be had to the supreme patriarch who acts in the place of blessed Peter, and to others — both archbishops, who represent the persons of the apostles, and bishops, who hold the place of the other disciples, whom Luke above in the Acts calls now presbyters, now elders. For if the apostles Paul and Barnabas did not presume to decide so great a question without first sharing counsel with the apostles and elders, and without a great investigation having been made, one must carefully consider how great a presumption and madness it is to inquire about matters pertaining to the faith of God and its proper state from others rather than from Christ's priests, and especially from heretics or bad Catholics.
XIV. To this point, the Apostle writes to the Corinthians that in transitory matters the faithful ought not to bring their cases before unbelievers, but before the saints: 'Does anyone among you,' he says, 'having a dispute with another, dare to be judged before the unjust and not before the saints? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more the things of this world? If then the world is to be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?' (1 Cor. 6). And further: 'Is there not among you any wise man who can judge between his brother? But brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers? Indeed it is already altogether a fault among you that you have lawsuits among yourselves' (ibid.). If therefore the saints — that is, the faithful, not unbelievers — ought to judge cases about the smallest matters, how much more, when faith and spiritual matters are at issue or in doubt, they must be handled and judged not by heretics or unbelievers, but by holy believers. And if unbelievers are unworthy to judge even the smallest matters, much more are they unworthy to judge concerning the Christian religion and faith. Especially since Moses admonishes each one, saying: 'Ask your father and he will tell you; your elders, and they will say to you' (Deut. 32). Who is the father, or the elders, whom we must ask, if not the rulers of souls, who by training us in holy conduct beget us as spiritual children? And because they surpass us in dignity or merit, they are called 'our elders,' who by another name are called 'seniors.' To whom also blessed Peter writes, addressing believers: 'The seniors who are among you I beseech, I who am a fellow senior and a witness of the sufferings of Christ: feed the flock of God which is among you' (1 Pet. 5). And shortly after: 'Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the seniors' (ibid.).
XV. Behold, he clearly teaches by whom the flock of the faithful ought to be fed — namely, by their seniors. For as blessed Gregory says: 'Sacred Scripture calls those men seniors who mature by gravity of character, not by length of years,' as it is written: 'For venerable old age is not of long standing, nor is it counted by the number of years; but the understanding of a man is gray hair, and an unspotted life is old age.' They are also called 'youths' who are weighed down by no gravity of counsel. The chief of the apostles commands these to be subject to the seniors, so that the lightness of the light-minded may be weighed down by the gravity of the serious, according to that saying: 'With the holy you shall be holy, and with the innocent man you shall be innocent' (Ps. 17). In these words are reproved those who do not obey the precepts of the seniors — that is, of the prelates — and thus stand disobedient to the apostle Peter.
XVI. Finally, 'it belongs to priests,' as the Lord says to them in the person of Aaron the priest and his sons, to distinguish between the holy and the profane, between the clean and the unclean, and to teach all the statutes which God commanded the children of Israel through the hand of Moses, as it is written in Leviticus: 'The Lord said to Aaron: You shall not drink wine or anything that can intoxicate, you and your sons, when you enter the tabernacle of the testimony, lest you die; for it is an everlasting precept throughout your generations' (Lev. 10). And, 'that you may have the knowledge of discerning between the holy and the profane, between the polluted and the clean, and that you may teach the children of Israel all my statutes, which the Lord spoke to them through the hand of Moses' (ibid.). From this it clearly appears that it belongs to presbyters, not to others, to discern who are holy — that is, Catholics — and who are profane — that is, heretics; who are clean from the stain of crime, and who are unclean — that is, criminals. Indeed, it especially belongs to them to teach the faithful the precepts of God. Therefore it is damnable for others, who are not of the tribe of Levi — that is, of the clerical order — to usurp their office in judging or teaching.
XVII. Behold, we have gathered a few things from many, to show how great is the dignity and authority of bishops and priests: once this is recognized, let those who have hitherto been rebellious against them humbly obey them.
Chapter III: Against those who slander the rulers of souls
I. But since there are certain persons who slander those same rulers of souls and reprove them at the peril of their own souls, let us say even a few words for their correction. Let those who are such hear therefore that, as the Apostle testifies, 'slanderers hateful to God, whisperers, and the insolent are worthy of death' (Rom. 1). A slanderer is one who diminishes, as far as he can, the good of his neighbor, and imputes to him evils that are not in him. A whisperer is one who secretly carries evil reports from one neighbor to another. An insolent person is one who willingly inflicts some disgraceful shame on his neighbor, whether in word or deed. Likewise, the same Apostle says to the Corinthians: 'If he who is called a brother is a reviler — that is, a slanderer — with such a one do not even take food' (1 Cor. 5). And again: 'Revilers shall not possess the kingdom of God' (1 Cor. 6).
II. Since therefore a slanderer or reviler is not to be received into the communion of the faithful and is worthy of death, inasmuch as he shall not possess the kingdom of God, it is nevertheless especially forbidden for anyone to curse the ruler of the people. Whence Paul, when ordered to be struck on the mouth by Ananias the high priest, not knowing him to be the high priest, said: 'God shall strike you, you whitewashed wall.' And those standing by said: 'Do you revile the high priest of God?' Paul replied: 'I did not know, brothers, that he is the high priest. For it is written: You shall not curse the ruler of your people.' Behold, then: even though the ruler of the people was openly acting contrary to the law and ordering him to be struck, he says he must not be cursed, and he proves this by the authority of Scripture. Let those, therefore, who curse the rulers of the Churches, consider what condemnation they deserve; if the Apostle refrained from cursing even an unbeliever acting contrary to the law, once he knew him to be the ruler of the people; and he says the reason he had cursed him was that he did not know he was the ruler of the people.
III. Furthermore, Ham saw the shameful parts of his father Noah uncovered, and laughed; and therefore he was cursed in his posterity, Noah saying: 'Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a servant of servants to his brothers' (Gen. 9). Because one ought not to accuse or rashly divulge the faults of one's superiors, nor to rejoice at seeing them; otherwise he shall be condemned in the future. But Noah's good sons, casting their cloak upon their backs, came backwards and covered their father's shame. 'Because,' as blessed Gregory says, 'for good subjects the faults of their superiors displease them, yet they conceal these from others; and judging the deed while reverencing the office, they refuse to see what they cover.'
IV. Let the aforesaid slanderers also consider that holy David humbly obeyed Saul — proud though he was, yet still king and chosen by the Lord — even though Saul was persecuting him and wanting to kill David himself; and finally, when Saul was rejected by God on account of his sins, and David was chosen by the Lord to govern the kingdom. Although this was the case, David so obeyed the wicked king that it is written of him: 'Who in all things was found as faithful as David in your kingdom, going out and coming in, and proceeding at the king's command?' And again, when he could have struck the king who was pursuing him, he prostrated himself before him with a humble declaration, saying: 'Whom do you pursue, O king of Israel? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog, and a single flea.' From this let subjects learn: though humble, though innocent, to defer to the powers set over them by God, even when those powers rage against them — not to slander; to obey, not to contradict. The same David also, when his servants approached him to strike Saul who had entered the cave where they were, restrained them with his answers, saying he must not lay a hand on the Lord's anointed. Yet he secretly arose and cut off the edge of Saul's cloak. And because he had done this, afterwards David's heart struck him. Behold, while he considers that this man was anointed by God and set over him — even though Saul was seeking to kill him — David refuses to kill him; and because he merely cut off the edge of his cloak, he repents. On this passage, Saint Gregory says: 'The deeds of superiors are not to be struck with the sword of the mouth, even when they are rightly judged worthy of reproof. But if ever the tongue slips against them, even in the smallest matters, the heart must be burned by the affliction of penance, so that one may return to oneself. And when the authority set over us has offended, let him dread the judgment of the One by whom that authority was placed over him. For when we offend against those set over us, we oppose the ordinance of Him who set them over us.'
V. Behold, by the authorities of the Holy Scriptures and the examples of the saints, we have proven how great a reverence must be shown — with detraction set aside — toward prelates, and that deference, not slander or cursing, is owed to them: otherwise we both transgress the precepts of God and fail to follow in the footsteps of the saints.
Chapter IV: Against this: that all, even the laity, preach; and what they say in support of this, and what we say against them
I. Second, they all preach indiscriminately and without distinction of condition, age, or sex. And since many of those who are called Christians in appearance are seduced by this error, for the sake of recalling them and confirming the rest, with God's help, let us examine on what reasons or authorities they rely, what is said by Catholics to weaken and utterly void those arguments, and in the third place, what Catholics bring forward in their own assertion.
II. First, therefore, they say that everyone who knows how to sow the word of God among the people ought to preach. For James says: 'To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin' (James 4). Why then, if we know how to evangelize and we cease, do we sin gravely? When a certain heresiarch brought forward this Scripture in his own favor, it was answered to him: It is read in the Gospel that the devil said to the Lord Jesus: 'I know who You are, the Holy One of God.' And Jesus threatened him, saying: 'Be silent' (Mark 1). Behold, the Lord did not wish to be proclaimed through the mouth of the devil, even though the devil said he knew who He was, lest perhaps by mixing falsehood with truth he should deceive the simple, as in the beginning he seduced the woman. Thus, thus reply: from your mouth the name of Christ is not to be announced, even if you knew it, lest in the manner of a poisoner, while any simple person believes you are offering honeyed cups, you pour in the venom mixed with them. For of the wicked it is written: 'Their wine is the gall of dragons, and the incurable venom of asps' (Deut. 32). The incurable venom of asps is the teaching of heretics, because whoever drinks it — that is, willingly receives it by listening — beyond doubt does not escape death.
III. Furthermore, the Apostle does not say: 'To him who knows how to teach what is good,' but 'to do it' (James 4); therefore it is to be understood of him who does not accomplish the good that he understands, and therefore sins — not of him who does not teach the good that he knows how to teach. For not every man sins who does not teach what he knows; indeed, he rather sins if he teaches while he himself is a transgressor. For David says: 'God said to the sinner: Why do you declare my statutes, and take my covenant upon your lips?' (Ps. 49). This is what the Apostle says: 'You who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who glory in the law, do you dishonor God by transgressing the law?' (Rom. 2).
IV. Likewise, in favor of their error, they bring forward for themselves: 'Let him who hears say: Come!' (Rev. 22). On which blessed Gregory says: 'That whoever has received in his heart the voice of heavenly love, let him also give outwardly to his neighbors the voice of exhortation.' And again Gregory says on this: 'Inasmuch as you are sufficient through divine generosity, give cups of the good word to your neighbors.'
V. To this we respond: that if these passages are carefully considered, they do not help the Waldensians in their erroneous observances. For when it says: 'Let him who hears say: Come!' it is consequently understood that whoever does not hear within his heart the voice of fraternal love, or whoever does not hear the voice of God with the ear of the body, or of the heart though perhaps of the body, or who does not fulfill it in deed, should not say to another, 'Come.' For he who does not obey the word of God — with what face does he invite another to the same obedience which he himself does not fulfill in deed? Or how does he build up in another the obedience which he destroys in himself? Those, therefore, who do not hear the word of God — indeed, who stand disobedient to it, as was shown above — ought not to teach others. Whence in this same homily, the same Saint Gregory says: 'Inasmuch as you consider yourselves to have advanced, draw others also, and desire to have companions on the way of God.' From these words it is clear whom blessed Gregory admonishes to exhort their neighbors: namely, those who had advanced and were on the way of God, whom he admonishes to draw others in proportion to their advancement. But the heretics have not advanced — indeed, they have fallen away; and they are not on the way of God — indeed, as it is written: 'He made them wander in a pathless waste, and not on the way' (Ps. 106). Therefore they ought not to exhort others. For works, if faith be lacking, are as if there were great strength and the swiftest running — but off the road.
VI. Likewise they bring forward in support of their assertion that which is said in the Gospel of Mark: John indeed answered the Lord, saying: 'Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, who does not follow us, and we forbade him. But Jesus said: Do not forbid him. For no one who does a mighty work in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me; for whoever is not against you is for you' (Mark 9).
VII. Behold, they say, that man was not following the apostles; and yet, because he was casting out demons in the name of Christ, the Lord commands them not to forbid him. Therefore, if we preach the name of Christ, although we do not follow the bishops and other priests, they still ought not to forbid us.
VIII. But to this we respond: that authority does not help them but rather hurts them. For that man was doing good, because he was casting out demons, and in the name of Christ, and thus he had faith, and he was not speaking evil. For which reason, although he was not bodily following the apostles, he was not to be forbidden from doing good, because spiritually, by living through faith and works, he was following the apostles, and he was not introducing any perverse doctrine. But these men are both faithless and without obedience, which alone possesses the merit of faith; since 'without faith,' according to the Apostle, 'it is impossible to please God' (Heb. 11). And therefore their works distance them from the way of faith; nor do they draw near to God through them, but rather withdraw, and they are fabricators of falsehood and devotees of perverse doctrines. Therefore they must be forbidden, because they are opposed to the priests of Christ. On this passage also the Catholic doctors have written, saying that in heretics and bad Catholics it is not the common sacraments, in which they are with us and not against us, but the division against peace and the teaching contrary to the truth, in which they are against us, and because they do not follow the Lord with us, we must detest and prohibit.
IX. Likewise they say that the Apostle supports them, when he says: "Some indeed preach Christ out of envy and contention; but some also out of good will" (Phil. 1). For some envied the glory of the Apostle, and strove to have it, trying to make themselves equal to him in the praise of preaching. Others preached Christ, because they wished all men to come to the knowledge of the truth. And a little later: "What then? Provided that in every way, whether by occasion or by truth, Christ is proclaimed. And in this I rejoice; and indeed I shall rejoice" (ibid.). Behold, they say: the Apostle rejoices however Christ is preached, whether by the envious or by the good, whether with good intention or with bad. Why then do the bishops not likewise rejoice when Christ is preached by us, but rather contradict us? To this we say: that it matters greatly by whom Christ is proclaimed — by Catholics, or by non-Catholics. By Catholics, Christ is sometimes preached by the good, sometimes by the bad, that is, by the envious, or by those who hate their brethren; that is, sometimes the good shepherds feed the sheep of Christ, sometimes the hirelings. Of these it is said: "The Scribes and Pharisees sit upon the seat of Moses; what they say to you, do: but what they do, do not do" (Matt. 23). But of the good the Apostle says: "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you; considering the outcome of their way of life, imitate their faith" (Heb. 13).
But concerning non-Catholics, that is heretics, it is said: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing; but inwardly they are ravenous wolves" (Matt. 7). And as if someone were to ask how true prophets might be distinguished from false ones, the Lord adds: "By their fruits you shall know them" (ibid.). Because they oppress the faithful, they blaspheme God, if not in words, then in deeds. But they are especially distinguished by their impatience in time of adversity. For fasting, and prayers, and such things, are common to hypocrites as well as to the good. Therefore they are distinguished not by leaves, that is, by words alone, but by fruits. Whence the Apostle: "I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will know not the speech of those who are puffed up, but their power. For the kingdom of God is not in speech, but in power" (1 Cor. 4). As if to say: I will know not their leaves, but their fruits.
X. Furthermore, Christ is the truth, as he himself says: "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14). Therefore, whoever fabricates and proclaims a perverse doctrine does not preach Christ. The Apostle therefore speaks of bad Catholics, that is, hirelings, who nevertheless proclaim Christ, that is, the truth. But these men fabricate their own lies, and therefore, according to the precept of the Lord, we must beware of them, that is, we must diligently guard against them. Therefore when they preach, we do not rejoice, because they do not preach Christ, but falsehood. And because they are neither rulers, nor hirelings, but wolves; since shepherds are both to be heard and to be imitated, as we have already proved above through the Apostle. Hirelings are to be heard in what they teach by word, that they may know, but not to be imitated in deed, as the Lord says: wolves are to be watched for and avoided. Whence the Apostle: "I beseech you, brethren, to mark those who cause dissensions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and turn away from them: for such ones do not serve Christ the Lord, but their own belly; and through smooth speech and blessings they seduce the hearts of the innocent" (Rom. 16). Behold, because such men must be avoided, and why? Namely because they cause dissension, removing believers from the understanding of the faithful, and also cause offense against the neighbor, since it is written: "Be without offense to Jews and Gentiles, and to the Church of God" (1 Cor. 10). That is, in those matters which may or may not be done, "that you may please all in all things" (ibid.), that is, either by doing or by not doing, take care. Or he joins dissensions and offenses together for this reason: because whoever thinks otherwise than the rest of the faithful, they offend, "striking against the stone of offense and the rock of scandal." Whence also the Apostle: "Sinning against your brethren, and wounding their weak conscience, by the example which is seen in them, you sin against Christ" (1 Cor. 8), whose members they are. The Apostle therefore commands that dissensions be avoided, when he says: "I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you. But be perfect in the same mind, the same will, and the same knowledge" (1 Cor. 1), the same faith. And again he commands that offenses also be guarded against, when he says: "Judge this rather, that you put no stumbling block or scandal before a brother" (Rom. 14).
XI. Therefore heretics, who cause dissensions and offenses, are contrary to apostolic doctrine, and therefore must be avoided.
XII. Again, in their own defense they bring forward that which Moses replied to Joshua. For when Joshua wished to oppose two who remained in the camp and were prophesying, he is told through Moses: "Why are you jealous for me? Who would grant that all the people might prophesy, and that the Lord would give them his spirit" (Num. 11). Behold, the heretics say, Moses did not envy those who prophesied; rather he desired that all the people should prophesy. But the order of the clergy opposes us and envies those who prophesy, that is, those who expound the mysteries of the word of God. For prophecy is the foretelling of future things, or the revelation of hidden things, or the exposition of secret mysteries. Therefore the clergy are like not Moses, but Joshua. And because they do not follow in the footsteps of the saints, but of the envious, they sin, and are not to be heard against us.
XIII. To this we say, that just as Moses, we too would wish that all the people might prophesy, and that the Lord would give them his spirit, so that the truth, which we are not sufficient to speak, might sound from the mouths of all: "But each one has his own gift from God, one indeed in this way, another in that way. For he gave some to be apostles, and some prophets, others
indeed evangelists, and others shepherds and teachers (1 Cor. 7). Similar is what the Apostle says: "I wish all men were as I myself" (ibid.); namely, continent, "but each one has his own gift from God, etc." But God is not of dissension, but of peace, as the Apostle teaches in all the churches of the saints. Therefore prophecy has not been given to all. And we tell them that it has not been given to them. For prophecy is a gift of God; but they cause dissension and offenses, as was said above. Therefore God is not in them, who dwells in the peaceful and the harmonious. Whence the Apostle: "Be at peace; and the God of peace and love will be with you" (2 Cor. 13). And elsewhere: "Bearing with one another in charity, careful to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4). But they neither have nor love Catholic peace, but cause dissension and discord among the Christian people: so that some follow them, while others hesitate whether they should follow them or rather Catholic men. Therefore the unity of the Spirit is not in them, which is preserved in the bond of peace.
XIV. Therefore we do not envy them for prophesying; because they are not prophets, except perhaps false ones; of whom the Lord says: "Beware of false prophets," etc. (Matt. 7). And concerning such, Jeremiah says to the people of Israel: "Your prophets saw false things for you, they did not lay open your iniquity, to provoke you to repentance" (Lam. 2). Such are these men, who have seen and preach false things to the Christian people. And since it is written: "Cry aloud, do not cease, announce to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their offenses" (Isa. 58); they on the contrary do not announce to the faithful the crimes which some commit, they do not provoke them to repentance. Rightly therefore they are rejected as false prophets. And certainly the Lord says: "False christs and false prophets will arise, and they will give great signs and wonders, so as to lead into error, if it were possible, even the elect" (Matt. 24). In the last times false christs will give signs, and therefore will seduce many. Nor is it surprising, since these men who perform no signs subvert the faith of many; and through smooth speech seduce the hearts of the innocent.
XV. To this they say that many laymen have disseminated the word of God among the faithful people, such as the blessed Honoratus, and Saint Equitius, whom Saint Gregory mentions in his book of Dialogues, and in these times Saint Raymond, surnamed Paul; and to attest to his holiness, many miracles occur. Finally, the first apostles were also unlearned and without letters (Acts 4). And all these, although laymen, preached the word of God. Therefore we too, imitating their deeds, should not be rejected, but rather heard.
XVI. But to this we respond that the apostles indeed, before their calling, were without learning; but "the Lord opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures" (Luke 24), and he poured the Holy Spirit into them; and he himself sent them to preach the kingdom of God.
Furthermore, they preached not errors, but the Catholic faith and the precepts of the Lord. And because they performed new and unheard-of miracles through the grace of God: "the Lord cooperating, and confirming the word with signs following" (Mark 16). But these men do not understand the sacred letters, as the Apostle says: that "some, having strayed, have turned aside to empty talk, wishing to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say, nor the things about which they make assertions" (1 Tim. 1). They do not understand, because they lack faith, without which no one can have the gift of understanding, as it is written: "Unless you believe, you will not understand" (Isa. 7). Likewise, they do not understand, because they do not practice. If they did what is written, they would understand well, as it is written: "A good understanding to all who practice it" (Ps. 110). This is the same as the vineyard being taken from the tenants who did not render fruit, and given to other farmers who would render fruit in its seasons. And the talent was taken from the lazy servant who refused to invest it. Hence the Lord also says to the Jews: "The kingdom of God will be taken from you," that is, the understanding of sacred Scripture; "and will be given to a nation producing its fruits" (Matt. 21). But they do not have the Holy Spirit, because they have departed from the holy Church; outside of which it is given to no one. Hence the Lord says to his disciples: "Sit in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24). For the Church is the city of the great king, in which those who sit, that is, the humble, are clothed with the power of the Most High. Whence also a mighty wind "filled the whole house where they were sitting" (Acts 2), that is, the holy Church, where the humble receive the Holy Spirit. For it is written: "Upon whom will my spirit rest, if not upon the humble, and the quiet, and the one who trembles at my words?" (Isa. 66). But they themselves are not humble, since they set themselves above the rulers of the churches. On the contrary, the humble David preferred the proud king to himself, when he said: "Whom do you pursue, O king of Israel, whom do you pursue? A dead dog and a single flea" (1 Sam. 26). Note how humbly he thought of himself, when he called himself a dead dog and a single flea. And what of Saul, although rejected by God, whom he called king of Israel? Hence even more should heretics defer to ecclesiastical or secular authorities, whose merits before God they do not know, if holy David so greatly revered a proud king whom he knew to be rejected by God, and himself to be chosen for the governance of the kingdom.
XVII. Furthermore, they walk about restlessly, doing nothing, as the Apostle says of their kind, but meddling in others' affairs, to whom the Apostle commands, "that working in silence, they eat their own bread," that is, the bread of their own labor, (2 Thess. 3), not another's. Since therefore they are proud and restless, the Holy Spirit will not rest upon them, who dwells in the humble and the quiet.
XVIII. But as for what they object regarding holy laymen, that they preached the word of God — they would by no means object if they attended to the words of Saint Gregory. For he says of Saint Honoratus, that he shone with the virtue of abstinence, humility and other virtues, and moreover with miracles; and likewise, when a mass of a great rock was coming upon the cell and was about to kill the brethren, he fixed it in place by opposing it with his right hand extended, having invoked the name of Christ and the sign of the cross. Gregory testifies that he had not heard that this man had any formal training. In this the heretics seize upon the point, saying that they, like him, have disciples following them, even though they had no master. But let them attend to what Saint Gregory adds. For he says: "The proper course of right conduct is that no one should dare to lead who has not learned to be subject." And he also says: "This liberty is not to be drawn into an example: lest, while someone presumes himself to be similarly filled with the Holy Spirit, that is, taught not by human instruction, he should disdain to be a disciple of a man, and become a master of error," etc. And likewise: "These things are to be revered by the weak, not imitated."
XIX. Saint Equitius also was taught by an angel, and was sent. For at night a beautiful young man appeared to him in a vision, and placed a lancet on his tongue saying: "Behold, I have placed my words in your mouth; go forth to preach." This saint shone with chastity, prayer, zeal for souls, doctrine, humility, prophecy, and power in driving out unclean spirits. It is therefore not surprising that this man, taught and sent by God, and endowed with so many virtues, preached even though he did not have sacred orders. Indeed, let the heretics learn from this man's example that they ought without delay to obey both the supreme pontiff and the bishops. For when he was summoned by the Roman pontiff through Vitalianus the defensor, he immediately gave thanks to God; and at once he ordered the pack animals to be prepared at that very hour; and he began to press Vitalianus most urgently that they should set out at that very hour. But because Vitalianus was weary from the journey, at his request they remained that night. But in the morning the supreme pontiff sent word through another messenger that the servant of God Equitius should not leave the monastery. Hearing this, the servant of God, although saddened that they had not gone, remained. Behold, this saint was obedient to the Roman pontiff, both in going and in staying.
XX. Likewise, Cadorius the bishop asked this same servant of God to receive into his congregation a certain man named Basilius, who, being first in the magical arts, fleeing from Rome, sought Valeria in the monastic habit. When asked, therefore, Saint Equitius replied to the bishop: "This man whom you commend to me, Father, I see to be not a monk, but a devil." And the bishop said: "You seek an excuse, so that you need not grant what is asked of you." To whom Saint Equitius replied: "I indeed declare him to be what I see; but lest you think I am unwilling to obey, I will do what you command." He was therefore received into the monastery. But not many days later, in the absence of the servant of God, the same Basilius with his magical arts drove mad a certain virgin of the nuns over whom Equitius presided. That virgin also began to suffer fever, and said that she would die immediately unless Basilius the monk came and cured her. Word was therefore sent at once and reported to the servant of God, who both cured the virgin immediately and, when it had become evident to the brethren that Basilius was a sorcerer, had him expelled from the congregation. Behold, he also showed himself obedient to the bishop in receiving Basilius; even though through the spirit of prophecy he knew him to be a sorcerer. Let the heretics therefore learn from these examples to obey both the Roman pontiff and the other bishops.
XXI. Indeed, what they allege concerning Saint Raymond Paul, that although he was a layman he preached, and the Church received him, is true. But the man, of Catholic conduct, as is said, preached honorably with the permission of the bishops, introducing no error, but orthodox in all things, obedient to the rulers of the churches, burning with all zeal to gather souls for God, the fiercest opponent of heretics within his knowledge and ability; constructing a bridge over the most rapid river called the Durance from the alms of the faithful, and redeeming the crossing free from all toll, as is said, for pilgrims and all travelers; to which pious work, in the place called Boni Pas, he devoted himself with other needy persons, as the opportunity of the time allowed. Let the heretics therefore cease to bring forward this Catholic man in defense of their error, from whose footsteps they are known to deviate so far.
XXII. We have said these things to refute the arguments of the heretics, showing also how the authorities of the sacred Scriptures, which, as the apostle Peter testifies, they distort to their own destruction, are to be understood. But now let it be our concern to bring forth, with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, both authorities and arguments by which it may be clearer than light that they ought not to preach the word of God, nor be heard by the faithful.
Chapter V: That it is not permitted for them to minister the word of God to the faithful
I. And since the question concerns laymen, whether they are able to sow the word of God among the people, a distinction must be made: whether they are Catholics, or not. To be sure, if they are Catholics, and the honesty of their life commends them; if their speech is seasoned with the salt of wisdom; and if, according to the capacity of each, they know how to dispense the measure of the word, and have presided in a definite place, or have been under the obedience of a true Catholic — according to the measure of their progress, in knowledge or in deed, at the direction of the bishops or priests in whose territory they reside, they will be able, I think, to exhort their neighbors; provided they are not bound to wives, nor oppressed by the weight of earthly cares. Indeed, if their life has been blameworthy, there is no need for them to be heard. For what the Lord says: "What they say, do" — was not said except concerning those who sit upon the seat of Moses, that is, concerning the masters and teachers of the divine law, whom God has placed over his people. "But to the sinner God has said: Why do you declare my ordinances, and take my covenant upon your lips?" (Ps. 49). Hence it was also said to David: "You shall not build me a house; for you are a man of blood" (2 Sam. 16). A man of blood is prohibited from building the temple of God, because whoever still engages in carnal deeds must necessarily be ashamed to form the minds of his neighbors spiritually.
II. "Let speech also always be in grace, seasoned with the salt of wisdom," according to the Apostle, "that you may know how you ought to answer each one" (Col. 4). That is, in one way to the unlearned, in another to the learned, and to other persons differently. But when will a layman be able to make this distinction, when even the clergy scarcely attain to this knowledge? And indeed food is not suitable unless seasoned with salt; nor is speech useful without the instruction of wisdom. Whence in Leviticus: "In every offering you shall offer salt" (Lev. 2); that is, in all your words and deeds have apostolic wisdom. If therefore one does not have apostolic wisdom in words and deeds, his speech is useless, and therefore to be avoided. For the Apostle says to Timothy: "Avoid profane," that is, heretical, "empty babblings" (2 Tim. 2), that is, those which are without fruit, even if not so wicked as what is profane. "For they will advance much toward impiety," that is, against the worship of God; "and their speech spreads like a cancer" (ibid.), gradually corrupting what is healthy.
III. Furthermore, he who teaches must attend to the capacity of his hearers, so as to dispense the measure of wheat, that is, of the divine word, "as God has apportioned to each one the measure of faith" (2 Cor. 10). Whence the Apostle commands that prophecy, that is, the revelation of hidden things, be administered according to the proportion of faith, that is, the measure of faith of those to whom hidden things are to be revealed; lest, being as yet imperfect, it be smothered by higher things; or, being mature, be frustrated in those who have yet to be perfected. Otherwise, if the hearer is scandalized by his word, the teacher will be held guilty before God. Whence in the law it is written: "If anyone opens a cistern, or digs one, and does not cover it, and an ox or donkey falls into it, the owner of the cistern shall pay the price of the animals" (Exod. 21). To open a cistern is to penetrate the secrets of sacred Scripture through understanding. But he covers it, who conceals the sublime meanings of Scripture by silence before those who cannot grasp them. But whoever does not cover over before the dull hearts of his hearers is condemned as guilty of punishment; if through his words either a pure or an impure mind is caught in scandal.
IV. Furthermore, if they have presided in a definite place, or have been subject through obedience, they become more readily known, and it is more clearly evident that they are obedient to the holy Church; since nearly every place is within some diocese, and nearly every diocese has its own boundaries. And not only this, but also within any diocese the established churches are distinguished by their own boundaries in various ways: so that neither may a bishop exercise episcopal rights except in his own diocese; nor may a priest in another's parish have authority; since it is written: "Let no one put his sickle into another's harvest"; that is, let no one presume to judge the faithful committed to another. And the Apostle: "Who are you to judge another's servant? By his own master he stands or falls" (Rom. 14). If therefore a bishop outside his own diocese, or a priest outside his own parish, cannot regularly exercise their authority: how much less will an unknown man, and a layman, be able to put the sickle of the word into another's harvest, that is, into the people committed to another, without the permission of the bishop or priest to whose care it pertains? And certainly in the vineyard none labored, as the Gospel testifies, unless hired by the householder. And in another place it is stated that the householder leased his vineyard to farmers who would render him its fruits in their seasons. And certainly, although they did not render the fruits to the lord, but on the contrary beat, killed, and stoned his servants, and in the end killed his son; nevertheless no one presumed to seize the vineyard for himself, as long as the lord tolerated their uselessness and wickedness. Because in the flock committed to another, however useless, however wicked, as long as he is tolerated by the Church, no one presumes, without the will and permission of him to whom it has been entrusted, to labor, that is, to cast out useless vines and plant fruitful ones, to apply the hoe of the word, to prune the vineyard of what is superfluous, to propagate what is necessary.
V. Finally, who is so mad as to attempt to feed another's sheep without consulting the master? For by the very fact that he thrusts himself forward, he is suspect, especially if he is unknown. And this is he who "does not enter by the door, but climbs up another way, and is a thief and a robber. But the thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy" (John 10). And certainly, as the teachers say, one enters through the door by believing in the Son of God: and by imitating his humility, preaching to others for love of him, not for reward. Otherwise, if he is faithless, or proud, or "seeks his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 2), he is a thief, calling what belongs to another his own; and a robber, by killing.
VI. From all these things it appears that neither a cleric nor a layman whose dwelling is unknown (indeed even if it is known where he lives) may lawfully cultivate the vineyard, that is, the flock and the people of another, or feed them, without the permission of the bishop or priest to whose care it pertains. And if anyone should presume to do so, this can be objected to him: "Who made you a ruler or a judge over us?" (Acts 7). As the Gospel testifies, it is read that a certain man from the crowd said to Jesus: "Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. But he said to him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?" (Luke 12). And if in transitory matters it is required that a judge be appointed, lest anyone thrust himself forward unbidden, how much more in divine matters? As the Apostle also testifies: "Nor does anyone take this honor upon himself, but he who is called by God, as Aaron was" (Heb. 5). And so, wishing to show that in God's calling faith comes from hearing the word of God, and preaching flows from the fountain of divine grace, he says: "How shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, unless they are sent?" (Rom. 10). From this chain of reasoning it is proved that no one calls upon God unless they believe in him; nor do they believe unless they have heard; nor do they hear unless someone has preached to them; nor should anyone preach unless they are sent. Therefore the first thing is to be sent by God, from whom all good things proceed; and thus each one must obey God who sends him and preach. Thus indeed Moses is sent by God to the children of Israel, and after many excuses not to be sent, he yields to God who persists in his will. Thus Isaiah, and thus the other holy prophets, taught the people of God only after being sent.
VII. In the New Testament also, the apostles and other disciples were sent by the Lord to preach the word of God. Whence they are also called apostles, that is, ones who are sent. The apostles Paul and Barnabas were also sent by the Holy Spirit, with the disciples nevertheless fasting, praying, laying hands upon them, and setting them apart for the work to which they had been called; nor did they receive the office of preaching until all this had been done both by God and by the disciples. Then the apostles appointed presbyters in each church. Saint Paul also commands Titus to appoint presbyters, that is, bishops, in each city.
VIII. From these things it is clear that some are sent by God alone; some by God and by man; some by neither God nor man. By God alone, such as Moses, John the Baptist, and the aforementioned Saint Equitius. As the blessed Gregory testifies: "The liberty of these men is not to be drawn into an example by the weak; lest, while someone presumes himself to be similarly filled with the Holy Spirit, he should disdain to be a disciple of a man, and become a master of error." Some are sent by God and by man, such as the apostles by Christ, who is both God and man, and others by the apostles or bishops who hold their place. Hence the Apostle says to the bishops whom he himself had appointed: "Take heed to yourselves and to the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as bishops to govern the Church of God, which he acquired with his own blood" (Acts 20). Behold, as the book of the Acts of the Apostles reports, he himself had appointed them, and yet he says they were sent by the Holy Spirit. There are others who are not sent by God; but come of their own accord through the extremity of presumption; and in order to seduce more subtly, they falsely claim to be sent by God; to whom that prophetic word may truly be applied: "Woe to those who prophesy from their own heart; who walk after their own spirit. Who say, Thus says the Lord: and the Lord has not sent them" (Ezek. 13). Of whom the Savior speaks in the Gospel of John: "All who came before me are thieves and robbers" (John 10). Who came, not who were sent. For he himself says: "They were coming, and I was not sending them." In those who come of their own accord, there is the presumption of recklessness; but in those who are sent, there is the service of obedience. Woe therefore, that is, eternal damnation, to those who say they are sent and are not; as liars, thieves and robbers, and the presumptuous. Indeed, because those who are sent by God have most evident signs — virtues, namely charity, peace, patience, continence, kindness, humility, and its inseparable companion, obedience. Hence the blessed James says: "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, modest, open to persuasion, agreeing with good things, full of mercy and good fruits, not judging, without dissimulation" (James 3). Behold the evident signs of wisdom given by God!
IX. Those who are sent by God and by man have open testimony that they have been sent. But those who come of their own accord are not sent; nor do they have the testimony of a man sending them, nor of God, if they lack charity, humility, and obedience; which, as Bede testifies, is the inseparable companion of humility.
X. From all these things it is more certain than certain that those who do not have sacred orders are not to be readily heard among the people of God; that is, unless they have evident signs that they have been sent by God. And if they have not been obedient to the rulers of the holy Church, it is clear that they were not sent, but came of their own accord. "For all authority is from God; and those things which are from God are ordained. Whoever resists authority resists the ordinance of God; and those who resist the ordinance of God bring damnation upon themselves" (Rom. 13).
XI. Furthermore, those who have wives, or are oppressed by the weight of earthly cares, are not fit to disseminate the word of God. For as the Apostle testifies: "He who is with a wife is anxious about the things of the world, how to please his wife, and is divided" (1 Cor. 7). Indeed, the preacher of the word of God must have a heart free from all earthly care, so that the more clearly he himself declines such things through knowledge and life, the more perspicaciously he may see what others must flee. For the eye which is weighed down by dust cannot properly observe a blemish in things. Hence the Lord says to the first teachers of the holy Church: "Do not carry a purse, nor a wallet" (Luke 10). But what is signified by the wallet, if not the burdens of the world? Hence also the first pastor of the Church says: "It is not right that we should leave the word of God to serve tables. Let us appoint," he says, "men of good testimony for this task, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, while we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word" (Acts 6).
XII. Since therefore all the above-mentioned qualities must be observed in a teacher of the divine word, it is a fearsome thing to entrust the talent of the word to a layman, especially since this has been entrusted to priests, namely to teach all the lawful things which God commanded the children of Israel through the hand of Moses, as Malachi says: "The lips of the priest guard knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth; for he is the angel of the Lord of hosts" (Mal. 2). These things have been said if the layman should be a Catholic; namely, that without the permission of the bishop or priest, he should not put the sickle of the word into his harvest, that is, his flock, nor give the measure of wheat to the household over which the Lord has not placed him, nor thrust himself forward to feed another's flock, nor labor in another's vineyard uncalled.
Chapter VI: A response is given to the objection by which they say with the Apostle: It is necessary to obey God, not men; and concerning certain other matters
I. Indeed, whether a layman or a cleric has fallen into heresy, he is not to be heard by the faithful, but avoided. For a heretic is one who follows an ancient or another's heresy, or fabricates a new one. Such are those who say that obedience is not owed to bishops, to priests, nor — which is horrible to say! — to the holy Roman Church. That such men are heretics or infidels is clear from what was said above: "For obedience alone is that which possesses the merit of faith; without which anyone is convicted of being faithless, even if he appears to be faithful."
II. But, they say, we obey God, not men, following Peter who said: "It is necessary to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5). For the Lord had commanded his disciples, saying: "Going into all the world, preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mark 16). But the chief priests and magistrates of the temple and the elders had forbidden them to teach or speak in the name of Jesus. Seeing therefore that Christ had commanded them to teach every creature, and on the contrary, the leaders of the Jews had forbidden it, Peter said: "It is necessary to obey God rather than men."
III. But from this scripture the aforementioned heretics cannot defend their error. For it has not been enjoined upon them by God to teach. For those whom the Lord sends, as has been said, have evident signs of humility, whose inseparable companion is obedience, and of charity, and of other virtues and miracles: "the Lord cooperating, and confirming the word with signs following" (Mark 16). These men do not have these signs; therefore they were neither sent by God, nor ought they to speak. Whence, when the blessed Job had called his friends, in the image of heretics, "fabricators of lies and cultivators of perverse doctrines," he adds: "Would that you would be silent, that you might be thought wise!" (Job 13). Likewise: "Does God have need of your lies, that you should speak deceit on his behalf?" (ibid.). And again: "Shall windy words have no end?" (Job 16). And further: "My wrinkles bear witness against me: and a false speaker is raised up against my face, contradicting me" (ibid.). And again: "My friends are verbose" (ibid.). And again: "Attend to me, and be astonished, and place your finger upon your mouth" (Job 21). And again: "Your answer has been shown to be repugnant to the truth" (ibid.). The Lord also said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends; for you have not spoken what is right before me, as my servant Job has" (Job 42). As Gregory testifies, Job bears the type of the holy Church, and his friends the figure of heretics; who are called friends because they share with the holy Church in certain sacraments; but in the errors which they follow or fabricate, they are called fabricators of lies. And because in defending these very errors they labor, they are called cultivators of perverse doctrines. And because their malice lies hidden, they are called wrinkles, who bear witness against the holy Church, while they attack her, not with arguments, but with false and useless speeches; and therefore they are called false speakers and verbose, and their words windy. And therefore it is expedient for them to be silent. Whence Job also wishes them to be silent; and to place their finger upon their mouth, and to attend to the rulers of the holy Church as they speak; fulfilling that saying of James (ch. 1): "Let every man be swift to hear, and slow to speak."
IV. But they provoke the wrath of God upon themselves, because they teach differently from what the holy Church teaches. For this reason, God accepts neither their sacrifices nor their prayers; but if the holy Church, when they are penitent, offers or prays on their behalf, he accepts it. Whence the Lord also says to the friends of Job: "Take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job; and let him offer a burnt offering for you; and my servant Job will pray for you; I will accept his face, so that your folly may not be imputed to you. For you have not spoken what is right before me, as my servant Job has. And they did as the Lord had said to them; and the Lord accepted the face of Job, and turned to the repentance of Job, when he prayed for his friends" (Job 42).
V. Let the heretics therefore cease their wordiness; and having abandoned their proud leadership, as if having sacrificed bulls and rams, let them return in penitence to the holy Church; which intercedes with sacrifices and prayers for their wanderings; because outside of her, no one's sacrifice or prayer is accepted.
VI. That the apostles were sent by God was testified by the honesty of their life, the novelty of their miracles, the integrity of their doctrine. For this reason, the apostles were not obliged to obey the faithless Jews, the crucifiers of the Lord and persecutors of his disciples, who were commanding something else — namely that the name of the Lord be extinguished — as if blaspheming God; but rather to obey the Lord who was cooperating and confirming the word with signs following, who also had sent them. But on the contrary, the aforementioned men do not obey God at all, and moreover they obey faithless men, that is, heresiarchs; some indeed obey neither God nor men. That they do not obey God is evident from the fact that they do not obey those whom the Lord commanded to be obeyed, namely those who sit upon the seat of Moses, that is, the bishops and priests who hold the place of Moses, while they preside over the people of God, govern them, teach the precepts of God, and correct the perverse. Hence it is written: "The Scribes and Pharisees sit upon the seat of Moses: therefore all things whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do" (Matt. 23). Furthermore the Apostle says: "Obey your leaders, and be subject to them" (Heb. 13). And Peter: "Young men, be subject to the elders" (1 Pet. 5). By elders he means the pastors of the flock; of whom he had said above: "Feed the flock of God which is among you" (ibid.).
VII. From these things it most certainly appears that the aforementioned heretics obey neither God nor the apostles. Some indeed, given over to a reprobate mind, obey perfidious men, namely heresiarchs, while despising Catholic pastors. Others, like sheep without a shepherd, are subject to no obedience, which the law of God calls a son of Belial (3 Kings 21), that is, without a yoke. Indeed the Lord, about to ascend to heaven, did not leave the sheep which he himself had fed without a shepherd; but commended them to the blessed Peter, saying: "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Feed my sheep" (John 21). Instructed by this example, the apostles and apostolic men took care through the successions of time to place pastors over the faithful of God. For the flock without a shepherd perishes, and the army without a leader, and the city without a lord, and the region without a ruler is scattered, as it is written: "Where there is no governor, the people falls" (Prov. 11).
VIII. From these and similar things, let the enemies of the truth consider how foolish they are who presume to exist without God or man as governor. Therefore, from the very words of the blessed Peter, by which they were striving to prove that they obey God and not men, they are slaughtered, as it were, like Goliath by his own sword; since they are shown to obey neither God nor Catholic men. For this reason, as infidels and anathematized persons, they must be avoided, not greeted, not received into communion; but fled from and removed from the midst. Hence the Apostle says: "Do not bear a yoke with unbelievers: for what participation has justice with iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What concord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has the faithful with the unfaithful? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?" (2 Cor. 6). Likewise the same Apostle: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, and I now say again: If anyone preaches to you a gospel other than what you have received, let him be anathema" (Gal. 1). And the same: "Avoid a heretical man after one and a second admonition, knowing that such a man is subverted; that is, he is lost, who is also so incorrigible, and sins condemned by his own judgment" (Titus 3).
IX. Others are cast out from the Church by the judgment of the Church for their crimes; but heretics depart from her by their own judgment. The same Apostle commands the Thessalonians: "Do not associate with the one who does not obey the word" (2 Thess. 3) of the same Apostle. Hence also the blessed John: "Everyone who departs and does not remain in the doctrine of Christ does not have God" (2 John 9). And shortly after: "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house; and do not say to him: Hail. For whoever says hail to him shares in his evil works" (2 John 10). Hence also the blessed Paul: "We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks disorderly, and not according to the tradition which they received from us" (2 Thess. 3). And likewise: "Avoid profane and empty babblings: for they advance much toward impiety," etc. (2 Tim. 2). And again: "Do not be led away by various and strange doctrines" (Heb. 13). And likewise: "Remove the evil one from among yourselves" (1 Cor. 5), which is done when a wicked man is expelled from the communion of the Church through ecclesiastical discipline. And likewise: "You were running well, who hindered you from obeying the truth? Do not consent to anyone. For this persuasion is not from him who calls you," namely God, "but from the devil. A little leaven corrupts the whole lump" (Gal. 5). And likewise: "Do not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Eph. 5). And again: "Let no one deceive you with lofty words" (Col. 2), which loftiness, of course, exists only in words. And again John: "Do not believe every spirit; but test the spirits, whether they are from God" (1 John 4). And the blessed Peter: "Our dearest brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his Epistles: in which there are certain things difficult to understand, which the unlearned and unstable distort, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, brethren, knowing these things in advance, guard yourselves, lest having been led away by the error of the foolish, you fall from your own steadfastness" (2 Pet. 3).
X. We have excerpted these words of the sacred Scriptures as, so to speak, admonitions of salvation to be pondered and memorized by the faithful of Christ; so that they may openly know that there is to be no participation or fellowship with perfidious heretics, nor are they to be heard, being anathematized, but avoided as lost; and exposed, as disobedient; nor greeted, nor received into the home, as antichrists; but as profane and idle talkers they are to be shunned. For they drag toward impiety, and like a cancer they gradually corrupt the sound members, that is, the faithful, and like leaven they puff up with pride those who associate with them, like a similar lump of dough, having lost the natural sweetness of Catholic unity, and make them sour, that is, conformed to themselves in mind, but also corrupt in mind, as the Apostle says, and "deprived of the truth, thinking that godliness is a means of gain," since they preach for profit, not for the sake of things to come. Hence it is that they are not to be communicated with, but rather to be reproved.
XI. Whence also the Apostle, using the words of Isaiah, says as if to his children: "Go out from the midst of them, and be separate, says the Lord. And do not touch the unclean thing. And I will receive you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty" (2 Cor. 6). He is separated from the wicked who does not imitate their works. He does not touch the unclean who does not consent to sins. He goes out who does not spare with his mouth, but corrects as far as is permitted. This is the heavenly voice which John heard saying: "Come out of her, my people, and do not be partakers of her sins, and do not receive of her plagues: for her sins have reached even to heaven, and the Lord has remembered her iniquities" (Rev. 18). They do not defile us in two ways: if we do not consent to them, but reprove them as doers of the works of darkness, and as corrupters of the sacred Scriptures, as infidels and fools, and corrupters of minds, and as spiritual wolves who snatch and scatter the flock of the Lord, as it is written: "Inwardly they are ravenous wolves" (Matt. 7). Having a poisoned mind and intent, and outwardly, if the opportunity is given, by persecuting, and inwardly by corrupting, and in the manner of thorns or thistles, bloodying those who approach them and tearing them apart, as it is written: "Do they gather grapes from thorns? Or figs from thistles?" (Matt. 7).
Chapter VII: It is shown whom they especially seduce, and whom they do not
I. Having shown how much heretics harm the people of God, let us see, with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, whom they especially seduce.
II. They therefore seduce women, and men who act not manfully but in a womanish manner: the unskilled, liars; those who do not obey the truth but consent to iniquity; the greedy; and finally those who do not have the sign on their foreheads, that is, charity in their hearts. They seduce women first, and through them men; just as the devil first seduced Eve, and through her Adam. So also he sought to subvert Job through his wife, who said: "Do you still persist in your simplicity? Bless God, and die" (Job 2). So also through the wife of Pilate, who said to him: "Have nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him" (Matt. 27). He wished to impede the mystery of the Lord's passion, lest through his death he should lose his dominion. Hence the Apostle says to Timothy concerning false christs and heretics: "Having indeed an appearance of piety, but denying its power; and avoid these. For among these are those who penetrate into houses and lead captive weak women, laden with sins, who are led away by various desires" (2 Tim. 3).
III. Behold, it is clear that they seduce not the steadfast, but seducible women, worthy of being seduced, inasmuch as they are laden with sins. They also seduce men of womanish weakness, as it is written: "The congregation of bulls among the cows of the peoples" (Ps. 67). He calls the heretics bulls, who are proud and untamed in their vices; who congregate among the cows of the peoples, that is, among those who can easily be seduced.
IV. They also seduce the unskilled. Whence in Proverbs: "The foolish and noisy woman, full of the allurements of vices, and knowing absolutely nothing," etc., says: "whoever is a little one, let him turn aside to me" (Prov. 9). The foolish and noisy woman is heretical depravity. Foolish, that is, by a stupid understanding; and noisy by garrulousness; and full of the allurements of vices; and knowing nothing of anything, she says: whoever is a little one, let him turn aside to me. The little one is every fool, lacking in sense.
V. They also seduce the innocent, that is, the simple. Whence the Apostle: "By smooth speech and blessings they seduce the hearts of the innocent" (Rom. 16). They also seduce the humble of heart; whence in Proverbs: "A generation that has swords for teeth, and grinds with its molars, that it may devour the poor from the land, and the needy" (Prov. 30). Among all, heretics have swords for teeth; because their wicked teachers know how to strike rather than to heal, to kill rather than to give life. They devour the poor from the land, when by seducing those who are already slower in understanding, they touch them as if dead in their body. Likewise they strive to supplant from the congregation of the faithful the needy among all, that is, the humble of heart.
VI. They strive to seduce the upright of heart. Whence: "Behold, the sinners have bent the bow, they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, to shoot in the dark at the upright of heart" (Ps. 10). The sinners, that is, heretics, have bent the bow; this means they have twisted the Scripture of the Old and New Testament toward themselves, interpreting it according to their own error; and they have prepared their arrows, that is, poisonous words in the heart; and this for the purpose of shooting at the upright of heart in the dark, that is, in ambiguities. Or thus: in the dark, that is, in a simple sense, one obscured on account of the carnal and unskilled. Or, in the dark moon, that is, the Church, which was obscured at the beginning of the faith, or which is darkened by the mists of blasphemers; or when it is stained with the blood of martyrs. In this darkness heretics shoot. Because they know these times are suitable for deceiving the weak. And having subverted those, they think they can thus also attract the upright of heart. Or, the children of the Church are called the dark moon when they sin; in which the heretics shoot; when through such ministers they prepare the sacraments of the Church, by whom they deceive certain weak ones, by suggesting that the merits of the ministers should be considered.
VII. From these things it is clear that they seduce the weak and the ignorant. Lest this happen, the Apostle admonishes saying: "That we may no longer be little children tossed about, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the wickedness of men, by cunning, unto the circumvention of error" (Eph. 4). Let us not be, he says, little ones in understanding; tossing about, that is, now acting well, now badly; and carried about by every wind of doctrine urged by another. The doctrine of the depraved, like a wind of tempest, drives the ignorant and weak toward destruction, that is, shipwreck. Which doctrine exists in the wickedness and cunning of men, that is, through men wicked in themselves and cunning for the deception of the simple; whose doctrine is always for the circumvention of error; that is, so that by some circumvention they may lead into error. Hence elsewhere he says: "Do not become imprudent, but understanding what the will is," etc. (Eph. 5). And again: "Brethren, do not become children in understanding, but in malice be little ones, and in understanding be perfect" (1 Cor. 14).
VIII. Certainly the wise and the strong they do not seduce. Whence in Proverbs: "In vain is the net cast before the eyes of the winged" (Prov. 1). The eyes of the winged are the souls of the blessed, upheld by the wings of the virtues; which, contemplating heavenly things with keen sight, fly up to the heights. Before whose gaze the net of deception is stretched in vain by the impious; because, divinely sharpened, easily transcending the snares of the adversaries, they pass through to heavenly knowledge.
IX. They also seduce those who do not receive the truth, or charity. Or, if they receive it, they do not receive it so as to be saved; and those who consent to iniquity. Whence the Apostle, wishing to show concerning the devil, who already works the mystery of iniquity through false christs, whom he deceives through the Antichrist, says: "He will destroy by the brightness of his coming him whose coming is according to the working of Satan in all power and signs, and lying wonders, and in all the seduction of iniquity for those who perish: because they did not receive the love of truth, that they might be saved. Therefore God will send them the working of error, that they may believe a lie, that all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but consented to iniquity" (2 Thess. 2).
X. And the Lord in the Gospel of John: "I have come in the name of my Father and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, him you will receive" (John 5). Behold, he who does not receive the truth, which is Christ, by the strict judgment of God believes a lie and receives the worker of error: and he who did not believe the true signs of God believes lying signs; so that he who distanced himself from the truth and its signs is joined to a liar through lying signs. Whence also David concerning the reprobate: "According to the works of his hands repay them: render their recompense to them; because they did not understand the works of the Lord, and in the works of his hands you will destroy them and not build them up" (Ps. 28).
XI. Finally, they seduce those in whom there is no sign of God, that is, charity, or the virtue of faith. Whence in the Apocalypse it was commanded to the locusts, in the figure of heretics, that they should not harm the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only those people who do not have the sign of God on their foreheads. What does the earth signify here, if not the holy Church, as it is written: "The earth stands forever" (Eccles. 1)? The grass of this earth represents the beginners, still fearing the heat of tribulations; but nevertheless clinging with all their roots, as far as they can, to the faith and unity of the Church. And what else does the green signify, if not those who show their vigor, who demonstrate the life of faith by the advancement of works? And what does the tree signify, if not those who are elevated by contemplation and by the excellence of works or virtues?
XII. Therefore heretics do not harm these three classes of the faithful; but they harm those who do not have the "sign of God," that is, charity. "By which," as the blessed John says, "the children of God and the children of the devil are made manifest" (1 John 3). And the Lord: "By this they will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13). Or the sign of God is the virtue of faith; concerning which the same John says: "This is the victory that conquers the world, your faith" (1 John 5). Therefore those who do not have this sign, it is fitting that they be harmed; "that he who is in filth, may become more filthy still" (Rev. 22); and "let the wickedness of sinners be consumed" (Ps. 7). They are worthy of having such teachers, who have despised the one Teacher, God, through whom the blind may fall with the blind into the pit. Hence in Hosea it is said to the heresiarchs: "You have become a snare to the watchtower, and a net spread over Tabor" (Hos. 5). They are a snare and a net, through whom those who lack the sign of God are entangled in the contemplation of heavenly things which they promise to them.
XIII. Rightly indeed heretics are signified by locusts: unstable, leaping, harming crops with their mouths more than all other small animals. Because "they did not stand in the truth, but went out from us; because they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would certainly have remained with us." And when placed in debate they leap about, as it were, since when convicted of some error they flee -- or rather leap -- to some shadow of reason, lest they appear defeated. And they harm with their mouths; because, as it is written: "They have sharpened their tongues like serpents; the venom of asps is under their lips" (Ps. 140). They have sharpened their tongues like serpents, so that by smooth speech and blessings they may seduce the hearts of the innocent. And therefore the venom of asps is theirs, not on the lips but under the lips; because they do not harm openly but secretly, and in the manner of serpents they inject by a bite of the tongue the incurable venom of error. Whence also, more than other wicked men who are figured by small animals, they harm crops with their mouths, that is, the works and virtues of certain faithful. Because those things which they do not entirely take away, they sometimes corrupt and ruin: so that they are either entirely deprived of the Catholic faith, or they waver in the faith. How great an evil this is, is clear from the words of the blessed James, who says: "But he who wavers," in the faith that is, "is like a wave of the sea which is moved by the wind, etc. Therefore let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord" (James 1).
XIV. Indeed also the greedy, for the most part when their sins demand it, deserve to be seduced. Whence we read that the devil said against Ahab the king, an idolater: "I will deceive Ahab. And it was said: By what means will you deceive? He answered: I will go forth and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets" (2 Chron. 18). For King Ahab, with great sins preceding, was worthy to have been condemned by such a deception: so that he who had often willingly fallen into sin might at some point unwillingly be captured for punishment. By a hidden justice, license is given to malignant spirits; so that those whom they willingly strangle in the snare of sin, they may also drag unwillingly into the punishment of sin.
XV. Likewise he who does not change a reprobate life, who does not turn his mind from perpetrating sins, when he seeks something from a prophet, hears, by God's disposition, those things which he deserves to hear as one about to be condemned. Behold, the house of Israel had departed from the worship of God under the servitude of idols, and yet came to the prophets -- by whom it was accustomed to be deceived -- with the hope of seeking favorable things. But when, acting wickedly, it heard favorable things from the mouth of the prophets, what else were the heavenly judgments doing, except that the sinful people might be captured in their heart? So that he who had sinned by following perfidy might be so deceived by the flattering words of his prophets that he would no longer even fear because he had sinned: and thereafter so much more harshly he would be dragged to punishment, the more securely he now lived in guilt.
XVI. But behold, by the bounty of God, the human race publicly professes the true faith and refuses to submit to any creature in worship. Therefore, anyone established in the faith securely consults a prophet, because he is about to hear what it is fitting for the faith to hear. I say confidently: if he has withdrawn from other impurities and from wicked deeds, he is secure. For since Paul cries out, "and greed, which is the service of idols" (Gal. 5), whoever is still subject to greed is not free from the worship of idols. If, therefore, he who pants after greed seems to be established in the faith, but covets what belongs to others, desires to receive worldly honors, lusts after temporal glory, and consults a prophet about this same glory, it is entirely just that by the merit of his guilt he hears favorable things from the mouth of a prophet; so that, if he refused to hear the words of God in sacred Scripture in order to despise earthly things and love heavenly things, then by God's judgment he may hear from the mouth of his prophet that by which he falls more deeply bound.
XVII. Behold, from these things it is clear that the greedy are not free from the worship of idols, even though they seem to be established in the faith. Hence, by God's judgment, they hear from the mouth of their prophet that by which they fall bound. And to speak generally, whoever does not change a reprobate life will hear, by God's disposition, what he deserves to hear as one to be condemned; so that the blind may thus be leaders of the blind.
Chapter VIII: Against Their Claim That Women Can Preach
I. Besides the errors already mentioned, they gravely err because they permit the women whom they admit to their fellowship to teach, although this is contrary to apostolic doctrine. For it is written: "Let women be silent in the churches. For it is not permitted to them to speak. But if they wish to learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church" (1 Cor. 14). Behold, the Apostle commands that women be silent in material churches or in gatherings of the faithful -- not indeed from prayer or the praise of God, but from teaching; and that they should not ask anything in church under the pretext of teaching, but should ask their husbands at home. Whence he says more clearly elsewhere: "Let a woman learn in silence with all submission: I do not permit a woman to teach, nor to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, having been deceived, was in transgression" (1 Tim. 2). Behold, the Apostle clearly says that a woman, even when she learns, should be silent and should not question the teacher of the Church. Likewise she is not permitted to teach or to have authority over a man for two reasons: first, because she was formed after the man; and also because she was deceived in the transgression of the Lord's commandment, as if he were saying: And not the man.
II. Therefore, by reason of time and by the demand of guilt, she is not permitted to teach or to have authority over a man, nor to question a teacher; because on account of the sin which she herself introduced, she should always be modest and should flee from public view rather than seek it. Blessed Peter also says: "Let wives be subject to their husbands, so that even if any do not believe the word, they may be won without a word through the conduct of the women; as they observe your holy conduct with fear" (1 Pet. 3). Behold, here it is said openly how faithful women ought to win over unfaithful husbands, namely by the example of holy conduct, without the word of preaching. From which it is gathered that if she cannot teach a husband by word but only by deed, much less can she teach others by word. For it must be feared that the ancient enemy, using his old art, may deceive the man through the woman's word. Thus he said to Job through his wife: "Do you still persist in your simplicity? Bless God -- that is, curse Him -- and die" (Job 2). But the man, perfect in rest and in tribulation, repulsed her saying: "You have spoken as one of the foolish women" (ibid.). And so, seated on a dung heap, he overcame him who had prostrated the first man in paradise. Hence also in the Law it is said to the woman: "You shall be under the power of the man" (Gen. 3). Hence also, as the Apostle testifies: "If a woman nourishes her hair, it is a glory to her; because her hair has been given to her as a veil" (1 Cor. 11). Behold what should be the glory of a woman: namely, to veil herself as a sign of subjection. "For the head of the woman is the man" (Eph. 5). And again: "Every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonors her head" (1 Cor. 11). And again: "Man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man. Therefore the woman ought to have authority over her head, and because of the angels" (ibid.) -- to whom, that is, the sacred and pious meaning is pleasing.
III. With what temerity, then, does a woman presume to teach the words of God publicly, she who ought not even to pray to God or prophesy unless veiled? And if the head of the woman is the man, with what boldness does she dare to teach the man, that is, her own head? And if she must wear a veil as a sign of subjection and modesty, let her remember the sin for which she was punished from the first transgression and made subject to the man; and let her not presume, being subject, to teach the law of liberty. Hence in the Decretals, distinction 23, it is ordered by the Sixth Council of Carthage: "A woman, however learned and holy, may not presume to teach men in an assembly. A layman, moreover, in the presence of clerics, may not dare to teach unless asked by them."
IV. Moreover, the glorious Mother of God and Virgin, who "kept all these words," shown to her, "pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2), is not recorded to have preached. Nor did Mary Magdalene, or any of the women who followed the Lord.
V. But, say the enemies of truth, women ought to teach, because the Apostle says to Titus: "Likewise the elder women," that is, exhort them, "to be in holy behavior; not slanderers, not given to much wine, teaching what is good; that they may teach the young women prudence, to love their husbands, to cherish their children, to be prudent, chaste, sober, taking care of the house, kind, subject to their husbands, that the word of the Lord may not be blasphemed" (Titus 2). To which it must be noted that the Apostle does not say that elder women should teach men publicly, but should teach young women privately, and in such a way that they teach them that prudence which he subsequently adds. Yet he permits only elder women to teach -- women who surpass the young both in age and in maturity of character -- so that, besides those things which they have in common with the elderly men, which the Apostle said above (namely, that they be sober, modest, prudent, sound in faith, in love and in patience), they should also have what the Apostle adds as proper to their sex, saying: "that they be in holy behavior," etc. Therefore women who savor heresy are excluded from teaching; and according to the aforesaid words, they may not teach unless they are elder women in character and age, and they may not teach anyone except young women. Indeed, they are entirely forbidden to teach, precisely because they are not sound in the faith, without which anyone who is not obedient is shown to be lacking, as was demonstrated above.
VI. Likewise they try to confirm this error by the example of Anna the prophetess, who, as the Gospel attests, at the very hour when the Lord was presented in the temple, came up and was praising the Lord and speaking about Him to all who were awaiting the redemption of Israel.
VII. But let them consider what kind of woman Anna was. For after her husband's death, she was a widow up to eighty-four years of age, "who did not depart from the temple, serving with fasting and prayers night and day" (Luke 2). Rightly, therefore, on account of such long abstinence, continence, and continual prayer, the gift of prophecy was given to her. Let someone bring forward such a woman: and I will gladly listen -- not to one teaching, but to one confessing her sins to God, or praising the Lord with a confession of praise. Nor is it said here that she preached or taught; but "she spoke of Christ to all who were awaiting the redemption of Israel" (ibid.). To preach and to speak are not the same thing. For everyone who preaches or teaches speaks; but not everyone who speaks preaches or teaches. For one speaks when praying, and yet is not said to be teaching. She was therefore speaking about Christ by confessing -- that is, by praising or prophesying, not by teaching. For the gifts of the Spirit are diverse, namely prophecy and doctrine; which can be discerned from the words of the Apostle who says: "Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what good will I do you, unless I speak to you either in revelation, or in knowledge, or in prophecy, or in teaching?" (ibid.) And again: "When you come together, brothers, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification" (1 Cor. 14). And again: "You are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed in the Church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues" (1 Cor. 12). And again: "To one indeed is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith in the same Spirit, to another the grace of healing in one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discerning of spirits, to another varieties of tongues, to another the interpretation of speeches" (ibid.).
Since, therefore, the gift of prophecy is one thing and the word of doctrine is another, I would readily grant that Anna, or certain women, prophesied; yet it does not consequently follow that they also taught. Otherwise the Apostle was wrong to present these as if they were different things.
Chapter IX: Against Their Claim That the Alms, Fasts, Solemnities of Masses, and Other Prayers of the Living Do Not Benefit the Faithful Departed
I. And since it is the habit of those who err gravely, unless they immediately come to their senses, to fall into worse things -- "that those who do harm may do harm still; and those who are in filth may be filthy still; that the iniquity of sinners may be consummated" (Rev. 22) -- these insane heretics now dare to say to those whom they seduce that the alms, fasts, and prayers of the living faithful avail nothing for the dead, nor even the solemnities of masses or prayers offered on their behalf. This heresy must be refuted first by canonical authorities, then by the writings of the Catholic Fathers, or by Catholic reasoning.
II. It is therefore read in the Book of Maccabees that Judas, a most valiant man, having taken up a collection, sent twelve thousand drachmas of silver to Jerusalem, to be offered as a sacrifice for the sins of the dead, etc. (2 Macc. 12). Behold, a man full of faith, burning with zeal for the law of God, praying much for the people of God, devoted to God, resisting tyrants, fighting for the law of his God even unto death -- for those who had fallen asleep in piety, he sent twelve thousand drachmas to Jerusalem to be offered. The Catholic Church reads this devoutly, preaches it publicly, and preserves it as an example, making offerings for the faithful departed, that freed from all guilt, they may rejoice with God without end.
III. And certainly we read in the New Testament that circumcision and certain other institutions of the Old Testament had to cease; but nowhere is it read that sacrifices for the faithful departed are prohibited -- since it is most certainly the case that certain sins of some of the faithful are loosed here, and certain others in the future. Hence also in the Book of Maccabees it is stated: "It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins" (ibid.). Hence also the Lord says: "But whoever speaks a word against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the age to come" (Matt. 12). In which statement it is given to understand that certain faults can be remitted in this age, and certain others in the future. For what is denied of one, the consequent understanding shows, is granted of others -- namely, small and very minor sins, such as constant idle talk, immoderate laughter, the sin of care for household affairs (which is scarcely managed without fault even by those who know how to avoid sin), or error of ignorance in matters that are not serious. Hence blessed Augustine says in his Enchiridion: "Nor should it be denied that the souls of the dead are relieved by the piety of their living relatives, when the sacrifice of the Mediator is offered for them, or alms are given in the church." And again: "When sacrifices whether of the altar or of any kind of alms are offered for all the baptized... for the very good they are thanksgivings; for the very wicked, even though they are no help to the dead, they are whatever consolations they may be for the living; for those who are not very wicked, they are propitiations. And for those whom they benefit, they either benefit them so that there is full remission, or at least so that the condemnation itself becomes more tolerable."
IV. Furthermore, that the prayers of the living benefit the faithful departed is established by not a few examples. For behold, as blessed Gregory attests, when Germanus, bishop of Capua, had entered the baths of Angulanum for the health of his body at the prescription of physicians, he found Paschasius, a deacon of the apostolic see who had already died -- a man of wondrous holiness, devoted especially to works of almsgiving, a patron of the poor and despiser of himself -- standing and serving in the hot waters. And when asked what so great a man was doing there, he answered that he had been assigned to that penal place for this reason only: because he had sided with Laurentius against Symmachus, so that Symmachus being rejected, Laurentius might be made supreme pontiff -- while other faithful held the contrary opinion and prevailed. "But I beg you," he said, "to pray to the Lord for me; and by this you will know that you have been heard: if, returning here, you do not find me." For this reason, Germanus, man of the Lord, devoted himself to prayers. And after a few days he returned, but no longer found the aforesaid Paschasius in that place.
V. In the same book also, when Peter asked what could possibly avail to benefit the souls of the dead, blessed Gregory responds: "If faults after death are not insoluble, the sacred offering of the saving victim greatly helps souls even after death; so much so that sometimes the souls of the dead themselves seem to seek it." For a certain priest in the diocese of the city of Centumcellae was accustomed to bathe in the hot springs whenever bodily need required it. A certain unknown man with great attentiveness would remove the shoes from his feet, receive his garments, offer him towels as he came out from the hot waters, and perform every service. When this had happened many times, one day the priest offered the man who attended him two offering-loaves as a blessing, asking him to kindly accept what he offered as a gift of charity. The man humbly refused the offering and said, among other things: "If you wish to help me, offer this bread to almighty God on my behalf, that you may intercede for my sins; and you will know that you have been heard when you come here to bathe and do not find me." With these words he vanished; and he who had seemed to be a man, by disappearing, made it known that he was a spirit. The same priest then afflicted himself with tears for an entire week on his behalf, offered the saving victim daily, and when he returned afterward to the bath, he no longer found him. From this it is shown how greatly the immolation of the sacred offering benefits souls, since the very spirits of the dead seek it from the living and give signs by which they seem to have been absolved through it.
VI. A certain monk also in the monastery of Blessed Gregory, in his final illness, was despised by the brethren on account of three gold pieces which he had hidden as his own; so that they refused to attend his death and he was denied burial among the brethren. But thirty days after his death, at the direction of blessed Gregory, the saving victim was immolated for thirty continuous days. And after this, appearing to someone in a vision at night, he said that all was well with him, because he had received communion, since on the preceding day the thirtieth offering had been completed on his behalf.
VII. Behold, from these examples it is clear that the prayers and the immolation of the saving victim greatly benefit the spirits of the dead; since through these means the aforesaid Paschasius was absolved from the sin of dissension or schism, and the aforesaid monk was absolved from the sin of private ownership -- after the bitterness of soul experienced at death, and after the torment of purgatorial fire lasting thirty days.
VIII. This is also strengthened and confirmed, with every scruple of doubt removed, by the testimony and the very long-standing custom of the Catholic Church, which the Apostle calls the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim. 3). For the Church prays for the faithful departed not only at other times, but also during the sacred solemnities of the Mass. And certainly, if no other authority, example, or reason were available, the custom of the holy Church approved over such a long time ought to suffice. For if "every word stands on the testimony of two or three witnesses" (2 Cor. 15), how much more when the entire Church throughout the whole world proclaims this in unison! For the Holy Spirit, as the Lord says, teaches her all truth. He has filled the whole world, that is, the holy Church, which is throughout the whole world; and therefore He does not permit her to err. For these are the seven lamps upon the lampstand of the tabernacle. The sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit illuminates the Catholic Church, lest she be wrapped in the darkness of errors.
IX. Catholic reasoning also supports these things. For as Augustine says: "A certain manner of living is neither so good that it does not require these things after death, nor so bad that these things do not benefit it after death. But there is one so good that it does not require these things; and there is again one so bad that it cannot be helped by them once it has departed this life." Therefore for those who are not very wicked, they are propitiations; for the very good, thanksgivings; for the very wicked, they are no help to the dead, but whatever consolations they may be for the living.
X. Nor is it surprising if the good deeds or prayers of the living benefit the dead physically in the loosing of certain faults; since they also benefit those dead in soul for the abolition of the stain of unbelief or other crimes. For blessed Stephen prayed for those who were stoning him, and Paul was converted. They prayed for the paralytic whom four men were carrying, and his sins were forgiven and his bodily health was restored.
XI. Likewise, Christ, placed bodily in the tomb, descending in spirit into hell, led forth from there His own. What wonder, then, if the elect, descending to places of purgation, are afterward led out from there, when that victim is immolated on their behalf which uniquely saves the soul from eternal destruction, which restores to us through mystery the death of the Only-Begotten? And if a prayer offered for another benefits him, what wonder if almsgiving or fasting performed for another profits him? For these are the words of the Apostle: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5). Saint Augustine says: "The just man never ceases to pray unless he ceases to be just. He always prays who always acts rightly."
XII. Likewise: "Just as in one body we have many members, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. But God has tempered the body so that there be no schism, that is, discord, in the body" (Rom. 12), that is, in the Church, where there ought to be unity. "But the members should be mutually concerned for one another" (1 Cor. 12). Concerned, I say, with that same solicitude which is equal -- that is, impartial -- so that one labors no less for another than for oneself. "If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. If one member is honored, all the members rejoice together" (ibid.).
XIII. From these things it is clear that just as the diverse members live and are bound together through the same soul, so also the diverse members of Christ are governed and preserved in unity through the same Spirit of Christ. Hence all the faithful established in the body of Christ are concerned for one another, so that if one suffers, the rest suffer with him. And therefore, for the faithful who suffer in the fire of purgatory, the rest, suffering with them, are concerned for them: "not slothful in solicitude" (Rom. 12), but laboring as though for themselves for the absolution of those souls. Hence by fasting, keeping vigil, persisting in almsgiving and other pious acts, pressing on in prayers, the Church endeavors to assist with such remedies both the living and the dead who are established in the body of Christ through the unity of faith and the bond of love.
XIV. And indeed, "the Holy and True One, who has the key of David, who shuts and no one opens, who opens and no one shuts, who has the keys of death and of hell," hears the desire of the poor, and His ears attend to their prayers (Rev. 3), so that He looses whom the Church looses, and binds whom the Church binds, just as He Himself says: "Whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven" (Matt. 16). And therefore if those whom the Church looses on earth are loosed also in heaven -- whether they be the living or the dying faithful. For He says: Whatever.
XV. It is also read in the Book of Dialogues that blessed Benedict excommunicated two nuns for the vice of their tongue, unless they corrected themselves. They, not having changed their former ways, died shortly after and were buried in the church. But whenever the sacrifice of holy communion was celebrated, they were seen to leave the church. Then blessed Benedict was informed, and he immediately gave an offering with his own hand, ordering that it be offered for them. When it had been immolated on their behalf, they were no longer seen to leave the church. For they had received communion from the Lord through the servant of the Lord. Behold, from this also it is clear how greatly the offering of the faithful benefits the spirits of the departed. For in order that flesh might be able to judge concerning spirits, God deigned to grant this, having become flesh for the sake of men.
XVI. But to this the enemies of truth object that after this death, the aforesaid things benefit no one. And in support of their error they adduce these testimonies. For the Lord says: "Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you" (John 12). And the Apostle: "Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6). And again: "While we have time, let us do good to all, but especially to the household of faith" (Gal. 6). And Solomon: "Whatever your hand is able to do, do it earnestly; because there will be neither work, nor reason, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the netherworld, where you hasten" (Eccl. 9). And David: "For His mercy endures forever" (Ps. 117). From these words it is clear that after death he is wrapped in the darkness of punishments who in this light disdained to walk the way of God. For here, to those who act rightly, the mercy of God is given. But for the wicked, after this life there will be not mercy but the judgment of God. Because then they can acquire for themselves no help or salvation. Therefore the dead cannot acquire salvation or account through the good deeds of the living. Likewise, as the Apostle testifies: "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each may receive what is proper to the body, according as he has done, whether good or evil" (2 Cor. 5). Behold, according to these words, each will receive in judgment the good or evil which he did in his own body. From which it is given to understand that what another did for him after the dissolution of the body does not benefit him.
XVII. To this it must be understood that these authorities suggest that after death no one can acquire any merit for himself. For no one who was negligent in this life, after he has died, will be able to earn God's favor. Nevertheless, if anyone has closed his last day in faith working through love, he can be helped by the prayers of the faithful or by pious acts. For here he merited to be helped by the faithful, because living faithfully among the faithful he preserved the faith, and was a member among the members of the body of Christ. Hence blessed Augustine says: "Here all merit is acquired by which anyone may be relieved or burdened after this life. Let no one prepare himself who neglected this, when he has departed, to earn God's favor." Therefore those things which the Church regularly performs for commending the dead are not contrary to that apostolic statement which says: "We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that each may receive according to what he has done through the body, whether good or evil" (Rom. 14). Because each person also acquired this merit for himself while living in the body: that these things might benefit him. For they do not benefit all. And why do they not benefit all, unless on account of the difference of life which each one led in the body? Hence also blessed Gregory says: "It must be known that there no one will obtain anything at all of worthy purgation, even for the smallest things, unless by good deeds while still placed in this life he merits to obtain it there." Hence he says that the aforementioned Paschasius "from the generosity of his almsgiving obtained this: that he could then merit pardon when he could no longer do any work." And what the Apostle says "through the body" is to be understood as through the time in which he lived in the body.
Chapter X: Against Those Who Deny Purgatorial Fire, and Claim That Spirits Freed from the Flesh Immediately Go to Heaven or Hell
I. There are indeed certain heretics who assert that souls freed from the flesh immediately ascend to heaven or descend to the punishment of hell. For they deny the fire of purgation. Authorities, examples, and Catholic reason contradict them. For the Apostle says that Christ is the foundation, and adds: "If anyone builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If anyone's work remains, which he built upon it, he shall receive a reward; if anyone's work is burned, he shall suffer loss; yet he himself shall be saved, but so as through fire" (1 Cor. 3). This can be understood as referring to the fire of future purgation.
II. Therefore it must be carefully considered that he said that the one who can be saved through fire is not the one who builds upon this foundation iron, bronze, or lead -- that is, greater sins, and therefore harder and at that point insoluble -- but wood, hay, stubble, that is, the smallest and lightest sins, which fire easily consumes. Likewise Augustine in his Enchiridion: "It is not incredible that some of the faithful are found or remain hidden who, through a certain purgatorial fire, are saved more slowly or more quickly in proportion to how much or how little they loved perishable goods; yet not such as those of whom it is said that they shall not possess the kingdom of God, unless the same crimes are forgiven to those who repent fittingly. And I said 'fittingly,' meaning that they should not be barren in almsgiving." Likewise blessed John the Baptist says to the people concerning Christ: "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Mark 1). For the Lord purges sins in baptism and in the fire of temporal tribulation, or the fire of purgation. Likewise it is written: "Set the pot empty upon the coals, until it grows hot and its bronze melts, and its rust is consumed" (Ezek. 24). The pot is any faithful soul, now full of virtues and good works, now empty, that is, imperfect. And because it is plainly not perfect in holy desires and works, but is defiled by the rust of venial sins, it is therefore commanded to be placed upon the coals of purgatorial fire until it is tormented by the heat of fire and the filth of light sins is consumed in the fire. For the delay of remaining in the fire will be as great as the rust of sin.
Chapter XI: Against Those Who Say That the Spirits of the Dead, Before the Judgment, Enter Neither Heaven nor Hell, but Are Contained in Other Receptacles
I. On the contrary, there are others who say that souls enter neither heaven nor hell before the judgment. Rather, that the souls of the just are contained in pleasant receptacles, and the spirits of the reprobate in places of punishment. And that the receptacles of the pious are called paradise, just as the penal places of the wicked are called hell. But after the judgment, the elect shall possess heavenly mansions, and the reprobate shall be tormented with the punishments of hell.
II. But these too are mistaken in their assertion. For there are three places which receive spirits freed from the flesh. Paradise receives the spirits of the perfect. Hell receives the very wicked. The fire of purgation receives those who are neither very good nor very bad. And so, a very good place receives the very good; a supremely bad place receives the very bad; a moderately bad place receives the moderately bad -- a place lighter than hell, but worse than the world. Among the very good was the Apostle, who said: "I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ" (Phil. 1). But Christ is at the right hand of God the Father, where He also intercedes for us. Therefore, he who desired to be with Christ after the dissolution of the body, without doubt desired to be in heaven where Christ is. Whence more clearly he says to the Corinthians: "We know that if our earthly house of this habitation is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5). Behold, without any ambiguity the Apostle knows that after the dissolution of the earthly house, that is, of the body which is from the earth, he has in heaven an eternal house, not made by hands -- that is, not by the ministry of another -- but from God, that is, by divine operation. Hence also the Lord says: "Where the body is, there also will the eagles be gathered" (Luke 17). Because spiritual souls, freed from the mass of the body, ascend to heaven where Christ is, not only according to His divine nature, but also according to His human nature, in which He bodily ascended into the heavens.
III. And again: "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there also My servant shall be" (John 12). And again: "If I go away and prepare a place for you, I come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am, you also may be" (John 14). And again: "Father, those whom You have given Me, I will that where I am, they also may be with Me, that they may see My glory which You have given Me" (John 17). Great, therefore, is the reward of love and of good work: to be with Christ. Truly an inestimable honor, that the adopted son should be with the Only-Begotten; that he should be where the Only-Begotten is -- not coequal to the divinity, but associated with eternity.
IV. Concerning the very wicked, the Apostle says: "Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor those who lie with men, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor the abusive, nor the rapacious shall possess the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6). And in the Apocalypse the Lord says: "For the cowardly and unbelieving, and the accursed and murderers, fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars: their part shall be in the lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Rev. 21). Behold, those who commit great crimes shall not possess the kingdom of God, but shall be thrust into hell.
V. But those who commit light sins pass to purgatorial fire, to be purified -- if, however, while still placed in this life, they obtain by good deeds that they may come there. These are the ones whom the Apostle says are saved, "yet so as through fire" (1 Cor. 3), as was said above.
Chapter XII: Against Those Who Refuse to Pray in Church and Assert That It Should Not Be Called a Church
I. Furthermore, they heap iniquity upon iniquity, and despising the house of God, that is, the house of prayer, they prefer to pray in stables or in bedchambers or in private rooms rather than in the church. And to increase the contempt, they strive to persuade weak women and the foolish that there is no such thing as a church, and that it should not be called such.
II. Against whom we bring forth the testimonies of Sacred Scripture, "that the faithful, knowing these things beforehand," as blessed Peter teaches, "may guard themselves lest, led astray by the error of the foolish, they fall from their own steadfastness" (2 Pet. 3). Therefore it must be considered that the house of God is called the house of prayer, and the church. And how great a reverence must be shown to it is written in the Book of the Gospels: that the Lord found in the temple those selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money-changers seated; and having made a sort of whip from cords, He drove them all out of the temple, the sheep and the oxen as well, and pouring out the money of the money-changers, He overturned the tables. And to those selling doves He said: "Take these things away, and do not make My Father's house a house of commerce" (John 2). This is from John. But Mark says that the Lord did not allow "anyone to carry a vessel through the temple, and He taught them saying: Is it not written that My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves" (Mark 11). And after these things, according to Luke, "He was teaching daily in the temple" (Luke 21).
III. Behold, it is clearly evident that He calls the temple the house of His Father, and His own house, and the house of prayer -- not only for Himself or for the apostles, but for all nations, that is, for the elect from both Jews and Gentiles. But the heretics neither call it the house of God nor the house of prayer, nor do they take care to pray there with the elect; rather they prefer to pray in their own houses than in the house of God. In which it is clear that they follow the Lord Jesus Christ neither in word nor in deed, since the temple which He Himself so greatly venerates both in speech and in deed, they blaspheme; nor do they pray in the place where He foretold that the nations should pray. For they follow the Beast, that is, the Antichrist -- that is, they imitate him -- who, as it is said in the Apocalypse: "Opened his mouth in blasphemies, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven" (Rev. 13).
IV. They blaspheme the tabernacle of God when they say that one should pray in bedchambers or stables rather than in the house of God. They blaspheme the name of God when they say that He did not create or govern the world. They blaspheme those who dwell in heaven when they say that the apostles, martyrs, and citizens of heaven can offer no help to those who pray to them.
V. Moreover, He taught in the temple, as was said: "And He was teaching daily in the temple" (Luke 21). There He listened to the teachers, as it is written of His parents, that "they found Him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and questioning them" (Luke 2). And when they said, "with sorrow we have been seeking You" (ibid.), He answered: "Why were you seeking Me? Did you not know that I must be in the things that are My Father's?" (ibid.) Behold, found in the temple, He answers that it belongs to His Father, and that He must be in it.
VI. Furthermore it is written in the Gospel of Luke concerning the disciples of the Lord after the Ascension: "And they were always in the temple, praising and blessing God" (Luke 24). And after the coming of the Holy Spirit, as is contained in the Acts of the Apostles: "They continued daily with one accord in the temple" (Acts 2). And again: "Peter and John went up to the temple at the ninth hour of prayer" (Acts 3); and then they healed the man who had been lame from his mother's womb.
VII. Likewise the angel of the Lord, leading the apostles out of prison, said: "Go, and standing in the temple speak to the people all the words of this life. And having heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and taught" (Acts 5). Likewise: "While Paul was praying in the temple, it happened that he fell into a trance and saw Jesus" (Acts 22). Also the widow Anna "did not depart from the temple, serving night and day" (Luke 2). Simeon also, "a just and devout man, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and took Jesus into his arms, and blessed God" (ibid.).
VIII. From these things it is clear that the apostles pray and praise God in the temple; and Paul sees Jesus there; and at the command of the angel they teach there. Anna also did not depart from the temple, serving the Lord day and night. The holy man Simeon also, full of the Holy Spirit, came in the same Spirit into the temple, and received Jesus, and blessed God. Why, then, do the impious heretics boast that they keep the Gospel and follow the apostles, when they do not pray in the temple but in the bedchamber, and do not teach there but in the marketplace, and some secretly in homes?
IX. O senseless ones! Is it troublesome to you that God should have a house in every city, town, and fortress, to be honored by His own, when many of you have not one but several houses for your own purposes? Likewise you have houses, one for eating, another for sleeping, another for other uses. Why do you begrudge the Christian people if they have a house for praying and praising God, or for teaching the words of life? Likewise, because God belongs to all and not to one alone, He is to be prayed to by all in common.
X. That the house of prayer is called a church is proved both by authority and by reason. For 'church' is used to mean now a gathering of the faithful, now a congregation of the wicked, now the house of God, to which for the most part both groups come together. 'Church' means the gathering of the faithful, as is written: "Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved and fellow worker, and to Apphia our dearest sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the Church which is in his house. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philemon). 'Church' also means a congregation of the wicked, as David says: "I have hated the assembly of evildoers" (Ps. 25). 'Church' also means the house of prayer, as the Apostle says to the Corinthians: "When you come together in the church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it" (1 Cor. 11). And shortly after: "When you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper. For each one takes his own supper ahead of time. And one indeed goes hungry, while another is drunk. Do you not have houses for eating and drinking? Or do you despise the Church of God and put to shame those who have nothing?" (ibid.) He says clearly that the Corinthians, of whom some were good and some bad, came together in the church, that is, in the house of prayer, as the authoritative commentators say. And therefore he adds: "When you come together in one place." What does "to come together in one place" mean, if not to come simultaneously to one place, which place he named above as the church? And since in that place, that is, in the church, they were refreshing themselves, he rebukes them saying: "Do you not have houses for eating and drinking? Or do you despise the Church of God?" That is: do you not have other places where you may refresh yourselves? Or, having other places, do you despise the Church of God, that is, the house of prayer, by eating or drinking there? As if to say: the church is not a house for eating or drinking, but for praying. And therefore, if you have houses for eating or drinking, refresh yourselves there, not in the house of prayer, that is, in the church. Hence whoever eats or drinks in the Church of God despises it, especially if he has a house for eating. For the Church of God is not a house for eating and drinking, but a house of prayer.
XI. From these things it is clear that the Church of God in this passage means the house of prayer. Otherwise, if anyone should say that the Church of God here means the faithful, let him consider what great absurdity follows. For the Apostle here rebukes the Corinthians for eating in the Church of God. And if the Church of God is understood here as the gathering of the faithful, then it would consequently seem that he is rebuking those who eat in the assembly of the faithful; and so the Lord would be reprehensible, who ate and drank with His disciples. From this it would follow that one must not eat with anyone, or that one must eat only with unbelievers -- which to hold would be the height of madness. It remains, therefore, that we understand the Church of God there as the house of prayer. Hence also 'church' is said by its etymology to be the dwelling of clerics: not that they alone gather in it, but because they do so more frequently than the other faithful; and because it is their duty to guard it, close it, open it, and celebrate the divine mysteries there.
XII. Nor is it surprising that the Church of God is called both the gathering of the faithful and the place of prayer where they assemble, just as 'house' means both a dwelling and those dwelling in it. For when it is read that the Lord entered the house of a ruler of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath (Luke 14), 'house' means the dwelling. But when it is read of the official: "he himself believed, and his whole house" (ibid.), 'house' means those dwelling in the house. 'City' likewise means both the place of certain citizens and the citizens dwelling there. It means the place when it is said: "Seeing the city, Jesus wept" (Luke 19). It means the citizens when it is said: "When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred, saying: Who is this?" (Matt. 21). For it was not the circuit of the walls or the place itself that was saying "Who is this?" but the citizens dwelling within.
XIII. 'Synagogue' is likewise the name of the place of prayer where the Jews gathered. For the Jews themselves say to the Lord concerning the centurion: "He himself built the synagogue for us" (Luke 7), signifying by the name 'synagogue' the house which he had built for them for prayer. John also says to the angel of the Church of Smyrna: "You are blasphemed by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan" (Rev. 2). In which passage, without any scruple, he calls the Jews a synagogue of Satan.
XIV. It is therefore manifest, both from the authority of the Apostle and by the induction of the aforementioned analogies, that the Church of God is called both the house of prayer and the gathering of the faithful. For in the material church, the variety or multitude of stones or timbers signifies the diverse orders of the faithful; the pavement and the roof signify subjects and prelates; the windows through which the light of heaven is poured in signify the teachers through whom the other faithful are illuminated, who are enlightened by the light of the word of God. The foundation, which sustains the entire weight of the Church, is Christ, who bears our ways; the door is faith; the altar is God; the breadth of the church is charity; its height, hope; its length, perseverance; the lamps or candles are the Scriptures or the virtues; the cymbals, a sign of jubilation. Since, therefore, the material church signifies the spiritual one, it fittingly receives its name. Because for the most part a sign is reckoned by the name of the thing of which it is the sign. Hence the Prophet says of the manna: "Man ate the bread of angels" (Ps. 77) -- not because it was the bread of angels, but because it signified it. And the Apostle says of the rock which poured forth water for the Jews: "The rock followed them, and the rock was Christ" (1 Cor. 10) -- not because the rock was Christ, but because it signified Christ, who gives us to drink with the water of wisdom.
XV. But when we say that one should pray in the house of prayer, that is, in the church, the enemies of truth bring against us that Gospel passage: "But you, when you pray, enter into your chamber, and having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you" (Matt. 6). From these words they claim that one should pray in the bedchamber, not in the church.
XVI. But if one must pray in the bedchamber and not in the church, then Jesus Christ, in whose mouth there was no deceit, erred when He called it a house of prayer, if prayer is not offered there. But if He spoke the truth -- indeed, because Truth itself spoke the truth -- it is a house of prayer because one must pray there. Likewise, if one should not pray in the church, then Peter and John sinned, who went up to the temple at the ninth hour of prayer. Likewise Paul sinned; Anna sinned, who did not depart from the temple, serving with fasting and prayers night and day. To hold such a thing is surely the height of madness. Let it be established, therefore, that one must pray in the church, both by the authority of Christ and by the examples of the apostles and other saints.
XVII. Nevertheless, one must pray everywhere, as the Apostle says: "I want men to pray in every place, lifting up pure hands, without anger and disputation; likewise also women" (1 Tim. 2). And the Prophet: "In every place of His dominion, bless the Lord, O my soul" (Ps. 102). Since, therefore, one must pray everywhere, God willed that there be a place especially set apart for prayer -- solely for praying and serving God -- so that prayer may be offered with all the more attention inasmuch as that place is devoted solely to God, lest anything else be done there. For other places are generally entangled with many kinds of business. And therefore, if one prays there, whether one wishes it or not, one is sometimes interrupted. "For dying flies spoil the sweetness of the ointment" (Eccl. 10). Temporal concerns, after the manner of flies, intruding through insolence, confuse the hearts of those praying, lest the prayers which in themselves would be fragrant like spices may render a sweet odor to God in those who pray.
XVIII. Therefore when the Lord says that one about to pray should enter into the bedchamber, He does not establish that the material bed is the place of prayer, for He never did this; He never called a bed or a bedchamber the house of prayer. Rather, He calls the temple the house of God and the house of prayer. It is therefore not to be understood of the marital bed, but of a spiritual one. He calls 'chamber,' then, the secret place of the heart, where if the conscience is good, one rests sweetly; but if it is bad, one is grievously burdened. Therefore one who is about to pray must enter the secret place of the heart, so that he prays not only with the mouth but also with the heart. Let him enter the chamber of the heart, lest the mind, scattered through external things, lose the fruit of prayer. But turned back upon itself, it obtains so much more easily through prayer, the more it strives, despising all other things, to attend to God alone. And therefore, as long as one persists in prayer, the door must be closed -- that is, the hearing of the heart must be guarded through circumspection; so that illicit desires may be restrained, and carnal concupiscence not admitted; but with the entire intention of the heart may the heavenly Father be prayed to all the more attentively, since with the entrance of the heart closed, prayer is not interrupted by cares that intrude. This is the prayer that penetrates heaven. This knocks at the ears of the heavenly Father. This obtains whatever it asks. Hence it is added: "And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you" (Matt. 6).
XIX. Moreover, because they refuse to pray in the church, they stretch forth excuses in sins against us, and bring forward what blessed Stephen says in the Acts of the Apostles: "Solomon built a house for God; but the Most High does not dwell in things made by hands, as the Prophet says: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is the footstool of My feet. What house will you build for Me, says the Lord? Or what is the place of My rest? Has not My hand made all these things?" (Acts 7). And they say: if the Most High does not dwell in things made by hands, He does not dwell in churches made by the hands of men. And if He does not dwell there, why would we go there to pray?
XX. To which we answer that it should be understood thus: "God does not dwell in things made by hands" -- that is, He is not enclosed or contained in things made by hands. For God is immense and uncircumscribed and non-local, and therefore is not circumscribed or contained in a place. For to Him whose throne is heaven and whose footstool is the earth, how could He be contained in any house? When you dwell in your house, you are enclosed there and are nowhere else. But God does not dwell in temples made by hands in such a way that He is enclosed there as though He were nowhere else.
XXI. Moreover, "God is Spirit" (2 Cor. 3), as the same says, and therefore He is not contained in a bodily place; but He dwells by grace in the hearts of the elect. Hence the Apostle says to the Ephesians: "May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ grant you that Christ may dwell through faith in your hearts" (Eph. 3). For your faith about Christ is Christ in your heart. Hence also the Prophet: "And He rejected the tabernacle of Shiloh, His tabernacle where He dwelt among men" (Ps. 77). Behold how God dwelt in His tabernacle: He dwelt there among men. So God dwells in churches by dwelling in men; and therefore He dwells there rather than elsewhere, because at times more people gather there and converge with greater devotion and more fervent faith. God is served with prayers and with the reception of the sacred food, that is, the body of Christ and the divine word. Since, therefore, God is always and everywhere in the hearts of the elect, He fills them more fully and more perfectly in the churches when He sees them more ready in His service. Nevertheless, if God is everywhere, since He says: "I fill heaven and earth" (Jer. 23), He is in things made by hands, containing and governing them; but He does not so inhabit there as He does in the hearts of the elect. For in the hearts of the elect He inhabits also by grace; but in the other things He is present by essence, power, and presence.