Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Church Militant · The Church Spread Throughout the Whole World
Chapter 2: On the Definition of the Church
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. II, De Ecclesia Militante, On the Church Militant (of the controversy On Councils and the Church). The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
So much for the name. But of the thing itself there are five heretical opinions. The first, that the Church is the congregation of the predestined, so that the predestined alone, and all of them, are of the Church. So John Wyclif in Walden, volume 1, Book 2, chapters 8 and 9; John Hus, articles 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, as is had in the Council of Constance, session 15, of which the fifth article runs thus: “The foreknown, even if he be sometimes in grace according to present justice, yet is never a part of the holy Church; and the predestined always remains a member of the Church, though he sometimes fall from adventitious grace, but not from the grace of predestination.”
The second, that the Church is the multitude of perfect men having no sin. So once the Pelagians, as blessed Augustine relates, book on heresies, chapter 88: “They proceed even to this,” he says, “that they say the life of the just in this world has no sin at all, and that of these the Church of Christ is made perfect in this mortality.” The same Calvin attributes to the Anabaptists of this time, Book 4 of the Institutes, chapter 1, § 13.
The third, that the Church is the congregation of the just, or rather of those who have never lapsed as regards the confession of the faith. This is distinguished from the former, in that the former opinion excludes any sinners whatever, but this excludes none but notable sinners. So thought of old the Novatians, as Cyprian is author, Book 4, letter 2, and the Donatists in Augustine, book on heresies, chapter 69. For I think Calvin is deceived, in the place above, and others who think that the Novatians and Donatists excluded every kind of sinner. For clearly Cyprian, Book 4, letter 2, and Epiphanius, in the heresy of the Cathari, say that they retained in the Church cheats, adulterers, and the like, and excluded only those who had lapsed in persecution. Nor does that seem to fight with this, which Ambrose has, Book 1 on penance, chapters 1 and 2, and Theodoret, Book 3 on heretical fables, that the Novatians took away the power of remitting all sins, except the lightest. For even if they did not absolve grave sinners, yet they retained them in their assembly, unless they had lapsed as regards the faith. And Augustine, Book 3 against Parmenian, chapter 2, teaches that the Donatists did not abhor all things, but only certain greater crimes, such as that which they objected to the Catholics, of having consented to those who handed over the divine books.
The fourth is that of the Confessionists, who, though in name they condemn the Pelagians, Novatians, and Donatists, yet their opinion is composed of the heresy of the Pelagians, Novatians, and Donatists. For first, with the Pelagians, not only the Confessionists but all the Lutherans and Calvinists teach that there is no venial sin by its own nature, but that all are mortal of themselves, and venial only from the mercy of God, who does not impute them to believers. So taught Luther in the assertion, article 32; Melanchthon in the Loci, chapter on the difference of mortal and venial sin; Calvin, Book 2 of the Institutes, chapter 8, § 58 and 59.
Secondly, the Augsburg Confession, article 7, teaches that the Church is the congregation of the saints who truly believe and obey God. And in the Apology Philip endeavors to show that sinners belong to the Church only in name. Like things Brentius teaches in the Prolegomena against Peter of Soto. Nor does it stand in the way that both Philip and Brentius in the same place say that the evil are mingled with the good; for they feign two Churches. One true, and to which pertain the privileges which are narrated in the Scriptures, and this to be the congregation of the saints who truly believe and obey God, and this to be visible only to the eyes of faith. The other external, which is a Church only in name, and this to be the congregation of men agreeing in the doctrine of faith and the use of the Sacraments, and in this the good and the evil to be found. And so they never will have the evil to be parts of the true Church, and accordingly Philip cautiously does not say that the Church consists of the evil and the good, but says that the evil are mingled with the Church. And Brentius says that the evil are in some way in the Church, but not of the Church.
Luther, in his book on Councils and the Church, part 3, says that the Church is the holy Christian people; and, to show that he speaks of the sanctity of the individual members, he thence proves that the Pope and Cardinals are not of the Church, because they are not holy. If, therefore, the just alone are parts of the true Church, and all sins, however light, are mortal sins and make a man unjust, it follows that only the perfect and those lacking all sin are of the Church, which was the opinion of the Pelagians.
Thirdly, the Confessionists say, in which also they agree with all the Lutherans, that all the works of man, even of the justified, are mortal sins. This the Augsburg Confession indicates, articles 6 and 20, but more clearly Luther in the assertion, article 32; from which it seems to follow that no man is of the Church. For if the just alone are of the Church, and there are no just at all in the world, since the works of all men are sins, who, I ask, will make up the Church? But they easily explain the whole matter, when they say that the works of the just man are indeed all mortal sins, but yet are not imputed if faith be present, and accordingly that he who has faith is at once most just and sins in every work. In which the Confessionists in some way agree with the Donatists and Novatians. For as those did not exclude from the Church all sinners, but only those who had committed idolatry, so these exclude not all sinners, but only those who do not truly believe: for they think, as we said, that no crime is imputed to believers.
The fifth opinion is as it were fused from all these. For it teaches that the Church consists of the just predestined alone. So Calvin, who teaches three things. First, that faith once had can never in eternity be lost, and accordingly that everyone who has faith is necessarily predestined. This he has in the Institutes, Book 3, chapter 2, § 8, 9, 10, 11, which same thing Jovinian had before expressly taught in Jerome, Book 2 against Jovinian. Secondly he teaches that the true Church can be known by God alone, and that its foundation is the divine election, because forsooth it consists of the faithful, who are necessarily of the number of the elect. This he has Book 4, chapter 1, § 3, and in the smaller Institutes, chapter 8, § 4 and following. Thirdly he teaches that there is besides a certain external Church, in which are good and evil, etc., as the Confessionists said above. This he has in the same book and chapter, in the following sections. The same too seems to think Bucer, who, in Book 1 on the kingdom of Christ, chapter 5, defines the kingdom of Christ as the procuring of the salvation of God's elect, whom God gathers on earth. The same, Tilmann Heshusius, book on the errors of the Pontificials, place 12, and Book 1 on the Church, chapter 3.
But our opinion is that there is only one Church, not two, and that that one and true one is the assembly of men bound together by the profession of the same Christian faith and the communion of the same Sacraments, under the rule of legitimate pastors, and chiefly of the one Vicar of Christ on earth, the Roman Pontiff. From which definition it can easily be gathered which men belong to the Church, and which do not belong to it. For there are three parts of this definition: the profession of the true faith, the communion of the Sacraments, and subjection to the legitimate pastor, the Roman Pontiff. By reason of the first part are excluded all infidels, both those who were never in the Church, as Jews, Turks, Pagans; and those who were and departed, as heretics and apostates. By reason of the second are excluded Catechumens and the excommunicated, since the former are not admitted to the communion of the Sacraments, and the latter are dismissed from it. By reason of the third are excluded schismatics, who have the faith and the Sacraments, but are not subject to the legitimate pastor, and therefore outside profess the faith and receive the Sacraments. But all others are included, even if reprobate, wicked, and impious.
And this is the difference between our opinion and all the others, that all the others require internal virtues to constitute someone in the Church, and therefore make the true Church invisible; but we, although we believe that in the Church are found all the virtues, Faith, Hope, Charity, and the rest, yet, that anyone may in some way be called a part of the true Church of which the Scriptures speak, we do not think that any internal virtue is required, but only the external profession of the faith and the communion of the Sacraments, which is perceived by the very sense. For the Church is an assembly of men as visible and palpable as is the assembly of the Roman people, or the Kingdom of France, or the Republic of the Venetians.
But it is to be noted from Augustine, in the little summary of the conference, conference 3, that the Church is a living body, in which there is a soul and a body; and indeed the soul is the internal gifts of the Holy Spirit, Faith, Hope, Charity, etc.; the body is the external profession of the faith and the communication of the Sacraments. Whence it comes that some are of the soul and of the body of the Church, and accordingly united to Christ the head interiorly and exteriorly; and such are most perfectly of the Church, for they are as it were living members in the body — although even among these some participate more, some less, in the life, and some have only the beginning of life and as it were sense, but not motion, as those who have faith alone without charity. Again, some are of the soul and not of the body, as Catechumens or the excommunicated, if they have faith and charity, which can happen. Finally, some are of the body and not of the soul, as those who have no internal virtue, and yet by some temporal hope or fear profess the faith and communicate in the Sacraments under the rule of the pastors; and such are like the hairs, or the nails, or the bad humors in the human body.
Our definition, therefore, comprehends only this last mode of existing in the Church, because this is required as the minimum, that anyone may be said to be a part of the visible Church. It must therefore be proved in order that there do not belong to the Church the unbaptized, heretics and apostates, the excommunicated, and schismatics. Then, that there do belong to the Church the non-predestined, the imperfect, sinners even manifest, hidden infidels, if they have the Sacraments, the profession of faith, and subjection, etc.
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CAPUT II. De definitione Ecclesiae. Hsec de nomine. De re autem ipsaquinque sunt heereticae sententiae. Prima, quod Ec¬ clesia sit praedestinatorum congregatio , ita ut soli, et omnes praedestinati sint de Eccle¬ sia. Ita Joannes Wiclef apud Waldensem to. 1, lib. II, cap. 8 et 9. Joannes Huss art. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 , ut habetur in Concilio Constan- tiensi sess. XV. e quibus sic habetur artic. 5 : « Praescitus etsi aliquando sit in gratia secundum praesentem justitiam, tamen num- quam est pars sanctae Ecclesiae, et praedesti¬ natus semper manet membrum Ecclesiae, licet aliquando excidat a gratia adventitia, sed non a gratia praedestinationis. » Secunda, quod Ecclesia sit hominum per¬ fectorum nullum peccatum habentium mul¬ titudo. Ita quondam Pelagiani, ut B. Augus¬ tinus refert lib. de haeres, cap. 88 : « In id etiam, inquit, progrediuntur, ut dicant, vi¬ tam justorum in hoc saeculo nullum omnino habere peccatum, et ex his Ecclesiam Christi in hac mortalitate perfici. » Eamdem tribuit Anabaptistis hujus temporis Calvinus lib. IV Instit. cap. 1, §. 13. Tertia, quod Ecclesia ^it justorum congre¬ gatio, seu potius eorum, qui numquam lapsi sunt circa fidei confessionem. Distinguitur autem haec a superiore , quod prior opinio quoslibet peccatores excludat, haec autem non excludit , nisi insignes peccatores. Ita senserunt olim Novatiani, ut auctor est Cypr. lib. IV, epist. 2. et Donatistae apud Augusti¬ num lib. de haeres, cap. 69. existimo enim falli Calvinum, ubi supra et alios , qui pu¬ tant, Novatianos et Donatistas exclusisse omne genus peccatorum. Clare enim Cy- prian. lib. IV, epist. 2. et Epiphanius inhae¬ res. Gatharorum, dicunt, eos retinuisse in Ecclesia fraudatores , moechos, et similes : solumque exclusisse eos, qui in persecutione lapsi fuerant. Neque cum hoc pugnare vide¬ tur, quod habent Ambrosius lib. I de pcenit. cap. 1. et 2. et Theodor. lib. III de fabul. haeret Novatianos sustulisse potestatem re¬ mittendi peccata omnia, exceptis levissimis. Nam etiam si non absolvebant graves pec¬ catores, tamen in suo coetu eos retinebant, nisi lapsi essent circa fidem. Et Augustinus lib. III cont. Parmenian. cap. 2. docet, Do¬ natistas non horruisse omnia, sed solum qusedam majora scelera, quale erat illud, quod objiciebant Catholicis, consensisse tra¬ ditoribus divinorum librorum. Quarta est Confessionistarum, qui etsi no- (1) Psal. XV, 5; Ib. LXXXVIII. 6; Act- XIX, 32. — (2) Psal. LXXXI, 1. - (3) Rom. XVI, 16; Judith. VI, 21. CAPUT II. 317 mine damnent Pelagianos, Novatianos et Donatistas, tamen eorum sententia compo¬ sita est ex hseresi Pelagianorum, et No vati o- norum et Donatistarum. Docent enim primo cum Pelagianis non solum Confessionistae, sed omnes Lutherani et Calvinistee , nullum esse peccatum veniale ex natura sua, sed omnia esse mortalia ex se , venialia autem ex misericordia Dei, qui ea credentibus non imputat. Ita docuit Lutheranus in assert. art. 32. Melanchthon in locis cap. de discrimine peccati mortalis et venialis. Calvinus lib. II Instit. cap. 8, §. 58 et 59. Secundo, docet Confessio Augustana art. 7. Ecclesiam esse Sanctorum congregationem, qui vere credunt et obediuntDeo. Etin Apo- logia Philippus conatur ostendere, peccato¬ res non pertinere ad Ecclesiam , nisi nomi¬ ne. Similia docet Brentius' in Prdlegomenis, contra Petrum a Soto. Neque obstat, quod et Philippus et Brentius ibidem dicunt, ma¬ los esse admixtos bonis ; nam ipsi duas Ec¬ clesias fingunt. Unam veram, et ad quam pertinent privilegia, quse narrantur in Scrip¬ turis, et hanc esse Sanctorum congregatio¬ nem, qui vere credunt, et obediunt Deo, et hanc non esse visibilem, nisi oculis fidei. Al¬ teram externam, quse nomine tantum est Ecclesia, et hanc esse congregationem ho¬ minum convenientium in doctrina fidei, et usu Sacramentorum, et in hac bonos et ma¬ los inveniri. Itaque malos numquam volunt esse partes verse Ecclesiae , et proinde caute Philippus non dicit, Ecclesiam constare ex malis et bonis, sed dicit, malos admisceri Ecclesiae. Et Brentius dicit , malos esse ali¬ quo modo in Ecclesia, sed non dp Eccle¬ sia. Lutherus in lib. de Conciliis et Ecclesia, part. III dicit, Ecclesiam esse populum sanc¬ tum Christianum, et, ut ostendat se loqui ‘de sanctitate singulorum membrorum, inde pro¬ bat, Papam et Cardinales non esse de Ec¬ clesia, quia sancti non sunt. Si ergo soli justi sunt partes verae Ecclesiae et omnia peccatu , quantumvis levia sunt , peccata mortalia, et faciunt hominem injustum; se¬ quitur solos perfectos et omni peccato ca¬ rentes, esse de Ecclesia, quae erat opinio Pe¬ lagianorum. Tertio, dicunt Confessionistse, in quo etiam cum omnibus Lutheranis conveniunt, omnia opera hominis, etiam justificati , esse pec¬ cata mortalia. Id indicat Confessio Augus¬ tana art. 6 et 20. sed clarius Lutherus in as¬ sert. artic. 32. ex quo videtur sequi, nul¬ lum hominem esse de Ecclesia. Nam si soli justi sunt de Ecclesia, et nulii sunt om¬ nino in mundo justi , quippe cum omnium hominum opera sint peccata ; quinam, quee- so, Ecclesiam facient? Sed ipsi rem totam facile explicant, dum dicunt , opera quidem hominis justi omnia esse peccata mortalia, sed tamen non imputari , si adsit fides, et proinde eum, qui habet fidem, simul esse justissimum, et in omni opere peccare. In quo aliquo modo conveniunt Confessionistse cum Donatistis et Novatianis. Ut enim illi non excludebant ab Ecclesia omnes peccato¬ res, sed tantum eos, qui idololatriam com¬ miserant; ita isti non omnes peccatores ex¬ cludunt, sed tantum eos, qui non vere cre¬ dunt : putant enim, ut diximus, nullum cri¬ men imputari credentibus. Quinta sententia est quasi conflata ex om¬ nibus istis. Docet enim , Ecclesiam constare ex solis justis praedestinatis. Ita Calvinus, qui tria docet. Primo, fidem semel habitam, numquam in aeternum perdi posse, et proin¬ de omnem, qui habet fidem, necessario esse praedestinatum. Id habet in Instit. lib. III, c. 2, §. 8, 9, 10, 11, quod idem antea ex¬ presse docuerat Jovinianus apud Hierony¬ mum lib. II contra Jovinianum. Secundo docet, veram Ecclesiam a solo Deo cognosci posse, ej usque fundamentum esse divinam electionem , quia nimirum constat ex fideli¬ bus, qui necessario sunt de numero electo¬ rum. Id habet lib. IV, cap. 1, §. 3. et in mi¬ nori Institutione cap. 8, §. 4. et seq. Tertio docet, esse praeterea quamdam Ecclesiam ex¬ ternam, in qua sint boni et mali etc. ut su¬ pra dixerunt Confessionistae. Id habet eodem libro et capite, in sequentibus sectionibus. Idem etiam sentire videtur Bucerus , qui in lib. I de regno Christi c. 5. definit regnum Christi, procurationem salutis electorum Dei, quos Deus in terris colligit. Idem Til— mannus Heshusius lib. de erroribus Pon¬ tificiorum, loco 12. et lib. I. de Ecclesia cap. 3. Nostra autem sententia est, Ecclesiam unam tantum esse, non duas, et illam unam et- veram esse coetum hominum ejusdem Christianae fidei professione, et eorumdem Sa¬ cramentorum communione colligatum , sub regimine legitimorum pastorum , ac praeci¬ pue unius Christi in terris Vicarii Romani Pontificis. Ex qua definitione facile colligi potest , qui homines ad Ecclesiam perti- 318 LIBER III. neant, qui vero ad eam non pertineant. Tres enim sunt partes hujus definitionis. Profes¬ sio verae fidei , Sacramentorum communio, et subjectio ad legitimum pastorem Roma¬ num Pontificem. Ratione primae partis ex¬ cluduntur omnes infideles tam qui numquam fuerunt in Ecclesia, ut Judaei, Tureae, Pa¬ gani; tam qui fuerunt, et recesserunt, ut haeretici et apostatae. Ratione secundae, ex¬ cluduntur Catechumeni et excommunicati, quoniam illi non sunt admissi ad Sacramen¬ torum communionem, isti sunt dimissi. Ra¬ tione tertiae , excluduntur schismatici , qui habent fidem et Sacramenta, sed non sub¬ duntur legitimo pastori , et ideo foris profi¬ tentur fidem, et Sacramenta percipiunt. In¬ cluduntur autem omnes alii, etiamsi reprobi, scelesti et impii sint. Atque hoc interest inter sententiam nos¬ tram, et alias omnes, quod omnes aliae requi¬ runt internas virtutes ad constituendum ali¬ quem in Ecclesia, et propterea Ecclesiam veram invisibilem faciunt ; nos autem , et credimus in Ecclesia inveniri omnes virtutes, Fidem, Spem, Charitatem, et caeteras ; ta¬ men ut aliquis aliquo modo dici possit pars verae Ecclesiae, de qua Scripturae loquuntur, non putamus requiri ullam internam virtu¬ tem, sed tantum externam professionem fi¬ dei, et Sacramentorum communionem, quae sensu ipso percipitur. Ecclesia enim est coetus hominum ita visibilis, et palpabilis, ut est coetus populi Romani, vel Regnum Galliae, aut Respublica Venetorum. Notandum autem est ex Augustino in bre¬ viculo collationis , collat. 3. Ecclesiam esse corpus vivum, in quo est anima et corpus, et quidem anima sunt interna dona Spiritus sancti, Fides, Spes, Charitas etc. Corpus sunt externa professio fidei , et communica¬ tio Sacramentorum. Ex quo fit, ut quidam sint de anima et de corpore Ecclesiae, et proinde uniti Christo capiti interius, et ex¬ terius ; et tales sunt perfectissime de Eccle¬ sia ; sunt enim quasi membra viva in cor¬ pore, quamvis etiam inter istos aliqui magis, aliqui minus vitam participent , et aliqui etiam solum initium vitae habeant , et quasi sensum, sed non motum , ut qui habent so¬ lam fidem sine charitate. Rursum aliqui sint de anima, et non de corpore , ut Catechu¬ meni, vel excommunicati, si fidem et chari¬ tatem habeant, quod fieri potest. Denique, aliqui sint de corpore, et non de anima, ut qui nullam habent internam virtutem , et tamen spe, aut timore aliquo temporali pro¬ fitentur fidem, et in Sacramentis communi¬ cant sub regimine pastorum et tales sunt si¬ cut capilli, aut ungues, aut mali humores in corpore humano. Definitio igitur nostra solum comprehen¬ dit hunc ultimum modum existendi in Eccle¬ sia, quia hic requiritur ut minimum ; ut quis possit dici esse pars visibilis Ecclesiae. Pro¬ bandum igitur est ordine , non pertinere ad Ecclesiam non baptizatos, haereticos, et apos¬ tatas, excommunicatos, et schismaticos. De¬ inde pertinere ad Ecclesiam non praedesti¬ natos, non perfectos, peccatores etiam ma¬ nifestos, infideles occultos, si habeant Sa¬ cramenta, professionem fidei , et subjectio¬ nem etc.