Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Church Militant · The Church Spread Throughout the Whole World
Chapter 31: The Eleventh Mark: Glory of Miracles
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).
The eleventh Mark is the Glory of miracles. Now two foundations must be premised. One, that miracles are necessary for persuading a new faith, or an extraordinary mission. The other, that they are efficacious and sufficient; for from the former we shall deduce that the true Church is not among the adversaries, and from the latter we shall deduce that it is among us.
That miracles are necessary is proved, first, by the testimony of Scripture. Exodus 4, when Moses was sent by God to the people, and said, They will not believe me, nor hear my voice, God did not answer, They must believe, whether they will or no, but gave him power to work miracles, and said, That they may believe that the Lord hath appeared to thee, etc. And in the New Testament, Matthew 10: Going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. John 15: If I had not done among them the works that no other man hath done, they would not have sin.
Moreover, he who is sent ought to show, by the testimony of Him from whom he is sent, his own authority; otherwise no one is bound to receive him. Now everyone who is sent to preach is either sent by God through the ordinary prelates, or extraordinarily by God alone; and he who is sent through an ordinary Prelate ought to show the testimony of the ordinary Prelate, namely his letters furnished with his seal; but he who is sent by God alone ought to show the seal of God, which is nothing else than a miracle. For so it is said, Mark last chapter: But they going forth preached everywhere, the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed. And Hebrews 2: God bearing witness by signs and wonders.
Finally, so true is this that not only blessed Augustine, Book 22 of the City of God, chapter 8, says that miracles were necessary that the world might believe, but even Philip Melanchthon grants it; for on chapter 3 of Matthew he says that when the darkness is great, new Doctors are called, and miracles are always added by God, that we may certainly know that they are sent by God.
Now as concerns the second, that a miracle is a sufficient testimony, and that where there is a true miracle, there is the true faith, it can easily be proved. For true miracles cannot be done but by the power of God; for that is called a miracle which surpasses the powers of all creatures, and therefore is wonderful to all creatures, and therefore also in the Scriptures they are called the testimonies of God, as we saw above. Wherefore, what is confirmed by a miracle is confirmed by the testimony of God; but God cannot be a witness of a lie; therefore what is confirmed by a miracle must necessarily be true. Nor is it against this that true miracles are not always done to confirm the faith, but sometimes to illustrate the life of the Saints; for when miracles are done to demonstrate the glory of some saint, those miracles show that man to be truly holy. But since no one is truly holy without true faith — for the just man liveth by faith — the same miracles show and confirm the true faith.
These foundations being laid, it will be easy to gather that among the Heathen, Turks, Jews, Heretics, there is not the true faith; for there are among them no true miracles, and yet all these preach a new doctrine, and are not sent by the ordinary Prelates.
Of the Pagans it is well known; for only certain slight things are read, which can most easily be done by the art of the demon, such as those which Valerius Maximus relates, Book 8, of the statues, of brutes speaking, and of the Vestal Virgin drawing water in a sieve, and Cicero, of the augur who cut a whetstone with a razor, Book 1 on divination. All which, how easily they could be done by demons, Tertullian shows in the Apologetic, chapters 22 and 23, and blessed Augustine, Book 10 of the City of God, chapter 16.
Of the Jews after the coming of Christ it is well known that they had no miracles, and that the one about the pool, which still lasted while Christ was preaching, afterward ceased.
Of the Mohammedans, Damascene testifies, in his book on the hundred heresies near the end, that Mohammed could prove his law by no testimony. And in the Koran he himself confesses the miracles of Christ, and that to himself the sword was given; yet chapter 64 he says that he did only once in the moon I know not what miracle, for he does not clearly explain it. But the expositors say that once the moon was divided into two parts, and then Mohammed took it in his hands, and, repaired, sent it back to heaven — but that there was no one to see this miracle but the author, that is, Mohammed.
Of the false Prophets and Heretics it is no less certain that they both often attempted miracles, and were always frustrated of their hope. Well known is the history of the Prophets of Baal, who wished to draw down fire from heaven by the invocation of Baal, and yet could not; which yet the true Prophet Elijah, by the invocation of the true God, accomplished with no trouble. See 3 Kings, chapter 18.
In like manner Simon Magus was deluded, Hegesippus writes, Book 3 on the destruction of Jerusalem, chapter 2; for he attempted both to raise the dead and to fly through the air, but nothing succeeded for him. That the Manichee vainly attempted to bring health to the sick son of a King, Epiphanius writes, heresy 66. That Cyrola the Patriarch of the Arians plainly blinded a certain wretch, who had feigned himself blind and implored aid of him, Gregory of Tours writes, Book 2 of the history of the Franks, chapter 3. That a certain Eunomian was overcome by Saint Macarius in a contest about raising a dead man, John Cassian writes, Conference 15, chapter 3. That Polychronius the Monothelite sweated in vain over raising another certain dead man, the public acts of the sixth Synod testify, act 15.
Of the Donatists, that they wrought miracles against themselves, when they cast the flask of Chrism upon the rocks, which, sustained by an Angelic hand, could not be broken, and when they wished to give the Eucharist to dogs, and were themselves torn by those same dogs, Optatus writes, Book 2 against Parmenian.
Of Timothy Aelurus the Eutychian, Theodorus the reader writes, Book 1 of his collections, that through many nights, clothed in a black habit, he ran through the cells of the Monks, saying that he was an Angel sent by God, to signify to them that they should not communicate with Proterius (he was a holy man, and Catholic Bishop of Alexandria), but should in his place designate Timothy Aelurus as Bishop.
Of a certain Iconoclast Paul the Deacon writes, in the last book of Roman affairs, that, shut up in a certain tomb, he began thence to extol Constantine the Iconoclast with praises to heaven, that so, forsooth, the heresy might be confirmed as it were by the answers of the dead.
Of the heretics of our age the same is altogether established. For first of all Luther twice attempted to do a miracle. He once wished to cast a Devil out of a certain female disciple of his, but there was danger lest she herself should be killed by the demon. See Staphylus, who was present, in the Absolute Answer.
Again (as John Cochlaeus writes in the acts of Luther of the year 1525), Nesenus, miserably drowned in the Elbe, Luther, in hope of a miracle, tried in vain by empty mutterings to recall to life. But although miracles did not succeed for the living man, yet the same after death became illustrious by a signal miracle. For when his corpse was carried in mid-winter, at which time dead bodies are wont to be preserved for many days, and was shut in a tin coffin very well closed, that it might be buried at Wittenberg, it began to breathe so foul an odor that no one could bear it. And so they were forced to leave the body on the way. See the little history of the death of Luther, which is wont to be annexed to Cochlaeus's book on the life and acts of the same Luther.
Another miracle Felician Ninguarda relates, in his book against Anna of Bourges, and Lindanus in the Dubitantius, and Alan Cope, Book 6 of the Dialogues, of a certain Minister who, on the borders of Poland and Hungary in the year 1558, wished to raise a man named Matthew, whom he himself had persuaded to feign himself dead, and in fact made him dead. A like thing is narrated of Calvin by the same, but more fully by Jerome Bolsec in the life of Calvin, chapter 13, from which it has pleased me to insert a few things here.
“I ought not,” he says, “to pass over that crafty and subtle machination which he then used, when he planned and contrived to recall to life a certain man named Brulé, of Ostun by country, that he might procure for himself the name and fame of a holy and glorious Prophet of God, and a worker of miracles. The history is this. That Brulé of whom I spoke had migrated from Ostun to Geneva, and, since both he and his wife were poor, they courted the favor of Calvin, that, commended by him, they might become partakers of the fund of the poor. To him Calvin kindly promises the supports of life, if they in return would not deny him their labor for a certain thing which he wished to be done through them: but that faith and great silence were needful. In turn they offer themselves ready for whatever he should command; and, as he had been instructed by Calvin, this wretched Brulé feigns sickness. The Ministers commend him to the people in a sermon, that they should help him with prayers and succor his poverty with alms. Not long after he puts on the person of a dead man, and feigns himself dead. Here Calvin, secretly forewarned, as if then ignorant of all, comes out for a walk; but accompanied by a great throng of friends. When they had come thither, where he heard the cries and wailings of the wife, who admirably expressed the poor desolate woman, having asked what this was, he enters the house, where he himself and the rest of the throng fall on their knees, and, pouring out prayers with a loud voice, beseeches God to show His power and restore life to this dead man, and so to declare His glory to all the people, and at the same time to make manifest that he (Calvin) was His peculiar and acceptable servant, and singularly and truly called by Him to the ministry of His Gospel and the reformation of the Church. After which prayers he approaches the dead man, and, having taken the hand of the wretched man, commands him in the name of God to rise; he repeats again, and more often, the same words, with voice raised even higher. What happens? The dead man neither hears, nor speaks, nor moves himself. For by the just judgment of God, who detests deceits and lies, he who feigned himself dead was found to be truly dead. And the wife, however she stirred him, in whatever way she pushed him, could neither wring out a word nor make him move himself; but he was all cold, all stiff. Perceiving which, the wife began to weep and to raise wailings in earnest and from her heart, and, inveighing against Calvin, calling him an impostor, an assassin, a robber, who had killed her husband, she set forth in order the whole matter, as it had been done, in a clear and loud voice.” And below: “Let the slaves of Calvin deny this as much as they will; it was sufficiently searched out and known, and the truth of the matter proved, nay confirmed by the wife herself.”
We can therefore set against these what Tertullian says in his book on prescription: “If they preach another God, why do they use the things and the Scriptures of Him against whom they preach? If the same, in what other way? Otherwise let them prove themselves new Apostles; let them say that Christ has descended again, and given them power to do the same signs. I would then, he says, bring forward their powers — except that I recognize the greatest power of theirs, by which they emulate the Apostles in a perverse way. For those raised men from the dead; these make dead men of the living.”
Calvin answers, in the preface of the Institutes, and others, that we do them injury in exacting miracles of them, since they preach the ancient doctrine, confirmed by innumerable miracles of the Apostles and Martyrs.
But on the contrary: for we showed above that their doctrine is new, and at war with all antiquity. Next, it is established that they at least teach otherwise than the ordinary pastors of the Church teach; it is established also that they are not sent by the ordinary pastors; therefore we are not bound to receive them, nor can we safely, unless they prove their mission and apostolate by divine testimony.
He answers that John the Baptist too was sent extraordinarily, and yet did no sign, as is said John 10.
But although John himself did no miracles, yet in him many and great things were done by God. First, that he was born of an old and barren woman; then, that his father was struck dumb, and afterward his tongue was loosed at the birth of his son; that he leaped in the womb; that from a boy he lived in desert places, Luke 1. Next, John was the son of a Priest, and accordingly a Priest, and an ordinary minister. Moreover he taught nothing against the common doctrine, nor separated himself from the other priests and the people. And although the Princes and Pharisees hated him, because he preached Christ, yet, when asked by Christ, Matthew 21, what they thought of the Baptism of John, they dared not disapprove it. Finally Josephus, Book 18 of the antiquities, chapter 10, testifies that John was held by the Jews among the chief men, for the cause of justice and probity. Whence it is a lie that the Centuriators say, Century 1, Book 1, chapter 10, column 303, that John was held by the priests and Pharisees for a heretic.
Let us come now to the other part, and demonstrate that our Church is the true Church of God from miracles, which in every age it had very many and most attested. And first, of the eleven first centuries it is plain from the eleven volumes of the Ecclesiastical history of the Magdeburgians. For in each of those centuries, chapter 13, they note from the authors of those times all the miracles, and in each age they find very many miracles in confirmation of our dogmas — as of Sacramental confession, of relics, of images, of the Eucharist, of the Pontificate, of monasticism, of the invocation of the saints, etc.; for they themselves put these titles. And although they afterward subjoin that all those were illusions of demons, or favorable fabrications, yet they assert nothing to prove it, except that those miracles are at war with the Gospel of Luther.
It will be useful, however, briefly to note how in all ages the Church has been illustrious for miracles, that even now we may understand that to be the true Church which is like the ancient, that is, in which this gift endures. In the first century we have the miracles of Christ and the Apostles in the Gospels and the Acts.
In the second century we have the miracles of the Christian soldiers in the army of Marcus Antoninus; of which see Tertullian in his book to Scapula, and in the Apologetic, chapter 5; Eusebius, Book 5 of the history, chapter 5; and Orosius, Book 7 of the history, chapter 15; and the very letter of the Emperor, added to the works of Justin.
In the third century we have the miracles of Gregory Thaumaturgus; of which see Basil, in his book on the Holy Spirit, chapter 29; Gregory of Nyssa in his life; Jerome, on illustrious men; and Eusebius, in the version of Rufinus, Book 7, chapter 25.
In the fourth century we have the miracles of Antony, Hilarion, Martin, Nicholas, and others, written by Athanasius, Jerome, Sulpicius, and others.
In the fifth century we have very many miracles, which Augustine describes as done in his time, Book 22 of the City of God, chapter 8.
In the sixth century we have the miracles which Gregory narrates in the Dialogues, where he narrates two done by the Roman Pontiffs, John and Agapetus, Book 3, chapters 2 and 3.
In the seventh century, the miracles done in England by Saint Augustine and his companions, of which Gregory, Book 9, letter 58, and Bede, Book 1 of the history, chapter 31; likewise by King Oswald through the wood of the cross, Book 3, chapter 2.
In the eighth century, the miracles of Saint Cuthbert and Saint John in England, Bede witnessing, Books 4 and 5 of the history.
In the ninth century, the miracles of Tarasius, written by Ignatius of Nicaea; likewise other innumerable of every kind done in the city of Soissons at the translation of the relics of Saint Sebastian the Martyr, which was made in the year of the Lord 826; of which see the annals of the Franks, written with the utmost fidelity by an author who flourished at that very time.
In the tenth century, the miracles of Saint Romuald, written by blessed Peter Damian; likewise of Wenceslaus King of the Bohemians, Saint Udalric, and Saint Dunstan, of whom see Surius.
In the eleventh century, the miracles of Saint Edward the King and Virgin, of Saint Anselm, of Pope Gregory VII, and others. After those eleven centuries —
In the twelfth century there shone in the Catholic Church by miracles blessed Malachy and blessed Bernard. Of Malachy, Bishop and legate of the Roman Pontiff, thus writes Bernard in his life, after he had narrated many of his miracles: “With what kind of the ancient miracles did Malachy not shine! If we well consider those few things which have been told, prophecy was not lacking to him, nor revelation, nor the grace of healings, nor the changing of minds, nor finally the raising of the dead.”
And blessed Bernard, a Monk, and father of Monks, and most devoted to the Roman Pontiffs, shone with more miracles than any of the Saints whose lives are written. For in one day, in the diocese of Constance, it is established that he enlightened eleven blind, cured ten maimed, and eighteen lame, as Godfrey, who lived with him, writes, Book 4, chapter 4 of his life. And besides, all the five books are most full of miracles, so that it is difficult to enter upon their number.
In the thirteenth century there shone in the Catholic Church many, but especially blessed Francis, whose life, most full of miracles, blessed Bonaventure writes; likewise blessed Dominic, whose life, though written more negligently, yet it is established that he raised three dead. There shone in the same century by miracles blessed Peter Martyr and blessed Thomas of the Order of Preachers, and blessed Antony and blessed Bonaventure of the Order of Minors; of whom see Antoninus, part 3 of the history, titles 23 and 24. And toward the end of that century there shone by very many miracles Saint Celestine V, Roman Pontiff, both before his Pontificate and after, as Peter Cardinal of Cambrai writes in his life.
In the fourteenth century there shone by miracles also many, but especially Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Nicholas of Tolentino; of whom see Antoninus, as above.
In the fifteenth century there shone Saint Bernardine, likewise Saint Vincent, living and dead, by very many miracles, so that blessed Antoninus, part 3 of the history, title 23, says that it is established of 38 dead raised by him. The same blessed Antoninus in the same century shone by miracles, whose life is extant in Surius.
Finally, in this our age there shone, first of all, Saint Francis of Paula by very many miracles, as Pope Leo X writes in the Bull of Canonization, which Bull is extant in Surius. There shone also in the Indies by every kind of miracle the blessed Father Francis Xavier, Presbyter of the Society of Jesus. For it is established from the Indian letters, which those who were with him sent hither, that by him paralytics, the deaf, the dumb, the blind were cured, a dead man also recalled to life, and, when he was carried dead to the island of Goa from Malacca, a tempest of the sea was calmed. Finally, his body, 18 months after death, was found most whole and sweetly smelling, though it had lain for many months buried in lime; nor is there any doubt that to this day it is preserved whole and incorrupt.
Let these be compared with the life and death of Luther. Luther deserts the Monastery, takes a wife after the vow of continence, declares war on the Pope; Francis enters a religious order, keeps most diligently the vow of continence, binds himself to the Pope by a special vow of obedience, and, sent by him, sets out to the farthest shores of the world. Certainly these go by contrary ways, so that of necessity one of them wanders from the right way. Who can be a better judge than God, who searches the reins and hearts? And how could God more openly explain His judgment than by giving to one the singular gift of miracles, and preserving his body perpetually incorrupt beyond the order of nature, while meanwhile the other could not raise even a single fly, and his body, even beyond the order of nature, began suddenly to putrefy — and that in winter, when all things were stiff with frost, and to putrefy so that within the tin coffin the stench could not be contained?
Rightly therefore Augustine, in his book on the profit of believing, chapter 17, and in his book against the letter of the foundation, chapter 4, says that he is held in the Church by the bonds of miracles; and Richard of Saint Victor, Book 1 on the Trinity, chapter 2, dares to say: “Lord, if it be an error that we believe, by Thee we have been deceived; for these things have been confirmed in us by those signs and wonders which could not have been done but by Thee.”
But Calvin answers, in the preface of the Institutes, and the Magdeburgians in almost every Century, that the miracles of our Saints are either feigned or imaginary — that is, either that the thing did not so happen, and is falsely narrated by the historians, or, if they happened, that they are the illusions of demons. Wherefore the Magdeburgians, Century 5, chapter 10, column 1393, say that, if the things which Sulpicius writes of the miracles of blessed Martin are true, blessed Martin was without doubt a necromancer. And indeed that these miracles are feigned they do not prove, but only say.
But that they were illusions of demons they strive to prove from this, that true miracles confirm the Gospel, as is plain from Mark last chapter; but these overturn the Gospel and confirm idolatry — that is, the cult of relics and images, the invocation of the Saints, the Mass, and other things of that kind. They add, secondly, that from miracles no firm argument is taken to prove the true faith; which they prove by four arguments. First, because even Antichrist will do great signs and wonders, Matthew 24, Apocalypse 13, and 2 Thessalonians 2.
Secondly, because Augustine, tract 13 on John, says that the Donatists are not to be believed even if they do miracles, where in contempt he calls them wonder-workers; and in his book on the unity of the Church, chapter 16, after he had taught that the miracles of the Donatists are not to be believed, he adds, nor even the miracles of Catholics: “Whatever such things are done in the Catholic Church are therefore to be approved because they are done in the Catholic Church; the Church is not therefore made manifest because these are done in it.”
Thirdly, because of old at the sepulchre of Jeremiah miracles were done by the work of Demons; which appears from this, that they were done for the benefit of those who worshipped Jeremiah as a God, with sacrifices and divine honors.
Fourthly, because from Suetonius it is established that the Emperor Vespasian once restored sight to a blind man and gait to a lame man. Likewise from Socrates, Book 7 of the history, chapter 17, the Magdeburg Centuriators bring forward, Century 5, chapter 13, column 1463, the miracle of Paul the Novatian Bishop; nor yet is it lawful thence to gather that the religion was true which Vespasian or the Novatians worshipped.
But let us answer to each. To the first, when they deny that the miracles are done which are related by our writers, I answer that it is most impudently denied. For it is foolish to believe Calvin and Illyricus rather about ancient histories, at which they were not present, than Bernard, Bonaventure, Antoninus, who were present. Moreover, as Saint Augustine answered the Pagans denying the histories of our miracles, Book 10 of the City of God, chapter 18, if it be lawful without any reason to deny the miracles done of old, the faith of all books will perish, and not only our religion, but every other also, will be taken away. For all who are held for gods have persuaded the world of their divinity, whether true or false, by wonderful works written by learned men.
To the second, when they say that they are illusions of Demons, I answer, first, that this is an old calumny; for so the Scribes and Pharisees spoke of the miracles of Christ, Matthew 12, and the Pagans of the miracles of the martyrs, whom they were wont to call magicians and necromancers; and the Arians, Eunomians, Vigilantius of the miracles of Catholics, as Ambrose testifies in his sermon on Saints Gervasius and Protasius, Jerome against Vigilantius, and Victor, Book 2 on the Vandal persecution. Next, it has no probability that Saints Martin, Francis, and certain others, who were most simple, used magic art.
But, they say, those miracles overturn the Gospel. I answer, it is true — but the Gospel of Calvin, not of Christ; or let them prove what they so boldly affirm. Nor less easily are those last arguments refuted, by which they prove that miracles do not make a certain faith.
To the first I answer that the miracles of Antichrist will be lies, as the Apostle said, 2 Thessalonians 2 — that is, not true and solid, but apparent, or wonderful to men, yet not absolutely miracles, such as can be done by the art of the Demon. This is plain from the Apocalypse, chapter 13, where among the greatest miracles of Antichrist it is set that he will make fire descend from heaven, and that the image of the beast should speak. But that these are most easy to the Devil is plain; whereas the miracles of the Saints are the enlightenings of the blind, the healings of the lame, the raisings of the dead, which can be done only by the power of Him of whom we sing in Psalm 135: Who alone doth great wonders.
To the second I say that the miracles of the Donatists, which Augustine despises, were not such miracles as those of the Saints, but only certain hidden visions, which they boasted, without any witness, that they had seen; such as was the vision of Zwingli, who in his book entitled the Subsidy, on the Eucharist, says that he saw a spirit, but could not discern whether it were white or black; such as is also the vision which is narrated in the book entitled the Complaint, or the dream of Luther, where Luther is narrated to have appeared to certain Lutherans, and with a sad face complained that his disciples would soon desert both him and his doctrine. And so not without cause Saint Augustine calls those miracles fables.
But that Augustine makes very much of true miracles is plain from Book 22 of the City of God, chapter 8, where against the Pagans he adduces the greatest miracles, done at the relics of the Saints, especially of Stephen the Protomartyr.
To that which Augustine says, that the Church is not demonstrated from miracles, but from the Scriptures, I answer that Augustine speaks in the contrary way in his book against the letter of the foundation, chapters 4 and 5, where he says that the Church is demonstrated from miracles, not from the Scriptures; nay, that the Scriptures are demonstrated from the Church. Lest therefore he contradict himself, it must be said that in both places he speaks from hypothesis. For because the Manichees admitted miracles, and denied the Scriptures (for they said the Old was from the Devil, and said the New was wholly corrupted by forgers), Augustine, in his book against the letter of the foundation of the Manichees, from miracles demonstrates the Church, then from the Church demonstrates the Scripture. But because the Donatists believed the Scripture, both old and new, and boasted their visions, despising the miracles of the Church, so Augustine against the Donatists proceeds by another way, and from the Scriptures demonstrates the Church, then by the Church wills judgment to be made of miracles.
Now it is to be observed that the Church is rightly demonstrated from miracles, and miracles from the Church, but by a diverse kind of demonstration — just as from the effect the cause is demonstrated, and from the cause the effect. For from miracles the Church is demonstrated, not as to the evidence or certitude of the thing, but as to the evidence and certitude of credibility. The reason of which is that before the approbation of the Church it is not evident, nor certain with the certitude of faith, of any miracle, that it is a true miracle; yet it is such as evidently to make the thing credible. And indeed that it is not evident is plain, because then the faith would be evident; that it is not certain with the certitude of faith is plain, because it is not established to us with that certitude, under which falsehood cannot lie, that it is not an illusion of the Demon. For the Demon, although he cannot do true miracles, yet can do apparently even the greatest things.
Why then (you will say) were those bound to believe Christ preaching, who saw His miracles? I answer, because man cannot be saved without the faith of Christ; and therefore he is bound to receive that faith, as a means necessary to his salvation. But God did not wish to oblige men to believe incredible things, but only when, through miracles and like motives, the faith was made credible. But from the Church the miracle is demonstrated as to the certitude of the thing; because, when the Church declares a miracle done to be a true miracle, we are certain that it is so.
To the third I say that it is a lie of Calvin that the peoples worshipped Jeremiah with sacrifices and divine honors. For he adduces no witness of this thing, except that in the margin he puts (Jerome, preface on Jeremiah). But neither in the preface of Jerome on Jeremiah, translated by himself, nor in the preface of the Commentaries on Jeremiah, is any mention made of this history. Moreover there is extant a certain other little preface in the Bibles of Benedict, prefixed to Jeremiah, to which Calvin seems to have looked. But it is not Jerome's, nor in it is mention made of sacrifices and divine honors, but only that miracles were done at his sepulchre. Finally Epiphanius and Isidore in the life of Jeremiah say indeed that miracles were done, but of sacrifices and divine honors they say nothing.
To the fourth I answer that neither a truly blind man nor a truly lame man was cured by Vespasian. For, as Cornelius Tacitus writes, Book 4 of the history, the Physicians, being asked whether the diseases of those two were curable, answered that they were curable: “The Physicians,” he says, “discoursed variously: that in the one the power of sight was not consumed, and would return if the obstacles were driven off; that in the other the limbs, slipped into a distorted state, could be restored, if a healthful force were applied.” It is therefore no wonder if diseases naturally curable were cured by the work of the Devil. Add that, as Tertullian teaches in the Apologetic, chapter 22, it is credible that that whole disease was from the Devil, who, sitting in the eye of the one and the shin of the other, hindered the use of those members; and that to this end, that he might seem to heal, when he ceased to hurt.
To the last, on the miracle of the Novatian, I answer that the miracle was done not in confirmation of the faith of the Novatian, but of Catholic Baptism. For this Socrates writes for a miracle, that when to Paul the Novatian Bishop a certain Jewish impostor had come, to be baptized by him and to mock Baptism among them, straightway all the water of the sacred font vanished. But that this was not a miracle of the Novatian error, but of true Baptism, is plain from this, that the same Socrates subjoins that it was known a little after that that Jew had already before been baptized by the Catholic rite by Atticus, Bishop of Constantinople. And so God, because He would not have Baptism, duly received in the Church, mocked, did not permit the Jewish impostor to be baptized again by a heretical Bishop.
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CAPOT XIV. Nota undecima. Undecima Nota est Gloria miraculorum. Sunt autem duo fundamenta praemittenda. Unum, quod miracula sint necessaria ad no¬ vam fidem , vel extraordinariam missionem persuadendam. Alterum, quod sint efficacia, et sufficentia , nam ex priore deducemus non esse apud adversarios veram Eccle¬ siam : ex posteriore deducemus eam esse apud nos. Quod igitur miracula sint necessaria, pro¬ batur primo Scripturae testimonio. Exod. IY cum Moses mitteretur a Deo ad popu¬ lum, ac diceret : Non credent mihi , neque au¬ dient vocem meam. Non respondit Deus, de¬ bent credere, velint nolint, sed dedit illi po¬ testatem faciendi miracula , et ait : Ut cre¬ dant , quod apparuerit tibi Dominus etc. (2) . Et in novo Testamento Matth. X : Euntes , prcedicate dicentes : Appropinquavit regnum caelorum , infirmos curate , mortuos suscitate , leprosos mundate , daemones ejicite. Joan. XV: Si opera non fecissem in eis , quae nemo alius fecit , peccatum non haberent (3). Praeterea qui mittitur, debet ostendere testimonio ejus a quo mittitur, suam aucto¬ ritatem, alioqui nemo tenetur eum recipere. Omnis autem, qui mittitur ad praedicandum, vel mittitur a Deo per ordinarios praelatos, vel extraordinarie a solo Deo ; et quidem qui mittitur per ordinarium Praelatum, debet os¬ tendere testimonium ordinarii Praelati, nimi¬ rum litteras ejus sigillo munitas ; qui vero mittitur a solo Deo, debet ostendere sigil¬ lum Dei, quod nihil est aliud, quam mira¬ culum. Sic enim dicitur Mare. ult. : Illi vero profecti praedicaverunt ubique Domino coope- rante , et sermonem confirmante , sequentibus signis. Et Heb. II : Contestante Deo signis, et virtutibus (4). Denique adeo est hoc verum , ut non so¬ lum B. Augustinus lib. XXII de civit. Dei, (1) De qua materia non pauca inveniuntur in operibus, cui titulus : La Reforme contre la Re for me, auctore Hoeninghaus; et La Reforme, son developpement inUrieur , auctore DoellingA’, qui liberalismi sectae nondum addictus, scriptis sibi Ecclesiae amorem conciliabat. — (2) Exod. IV, 1 et 5. — (3) Mat. X, 7 et 8; Joan. XV, 24. — (4) Mare. XVI, 20: Hebr. II, 4. CAPUT XIY. 397 cap. 8. dicat miracula fuisse necessaria, ut mundus crederet , sed etiam Philippus Me- lanchthon id concedat*, nam in c. III Mattii, dicit, quando magnae sunt tenebrae, vocari novos Doctores, et semper addi a Deo mi¬ racula, ut certo sciamus a Deo esse mis¬ sos. Jam quod attinet ad secundum, quod mi¬ raculum sit testimonium sufficiens, et ubi est verum miraculum , ibi sit vera fides, facile probari potest. Si quidem vera miracula non possunt fieri, nisi Dei virtute ; dicitur enim miraculum, quod superat vires omnium crea¬ turarum , et ideo omnibus creaturis est mf- rabile , et propterea etiam in Scripturis di¬ cuntur testimonia Dei, ut supra vidimus. Quare , quod miraculo confirmatur , Dei testimonio confirmatur , Deus autem non potest esse testis mendacii , igitur quod miraculo confirmatur verum sit necesse est. Neque repugnat, quod vera miracula non semper fiunt ad confirmandam fidem, sed interdum ad illustrandam Sanctorum vitam ; nam cum miracula fiunt ad glo¬ riam alicujus sancti demonstrandam, illa miracula ostendunt eum hominem vere esse sanctum. Cum autem nemo sit vere sanctus sine vera fide : Quia justus ex fide vivit (1) : eadem miracula ostendunt, et confirmant veram fidem. His jactis fundamentis facile erit colligere apud Ethnicos, Tureas, Judeeos, Haereticos non esse veram fidem, nulla sunt enim apud eos vera miracula, et tamen omnes illi no¬ vam doctrinam praedicant, et non sunt missi ab ordinariis Praelatis. De Paganis notum est , nam solum legun¬ tur quaedam levia, quae facillime arte daemo¬ nis fieri possunt, qualia sunt quae refert Va¬ lerius Maximus, lib. VIII de statuis, de bru¬ tis loquentibus,deque Virgine Vestali aquam cribro hauriente, et M. T. de augure, qui novacula cotem scidit , libro I de divinatio¬ ne. Quae omnia quomodo a daemonibus fa¬ cillime fierent, ostendunt, Tertullianus in Apolog. cap. 22. et 23. et B. Augustinus l.X de civitate Dei, cap. 16. De Judaeis post Christi adventum notum est, non habuisse eos ulla miracula, et id unum de piscina, quod adhuc durabat Chris¬ to praedicante, postea interiisse. De Mahumetanis testatur Damascenus lib. de centum haeres, circa finem, Mahumetum nullo testimonio probare potuisse suam le¬ gem. Et in Alcorano ipse fatetur Christi mi¬ racula, sibi gladium esse datum : tamen cap. 64. dicit, tantum semel in luna nescio quod miraculum fecisse, non enim clare ex¬ plicat. Expositores autem dicunt aliquando lunam in duas partes fuisse divisam , tunc Mahumetum eam in manus accepisse, et re¬ paratam ad coelum-remisisse , sed neminem fuisse, qui videret hoc miraculum, nisi auc¬ torem, id est, Mahumetum. De falsis Prophetis , et Haereticis non mi¬ nus est certum, eos et saepe miracula facere conatos, et semper spe sua esse frustratos. Nota est Historia Prophetarum Baal, qui ig¬ nem de coelo deducere voluerunt per invoca¬ tionem Baal ; nec tamen potuerunt quod ta¬ men verus Propheta Elias per invocationem veri Dei nullo negotio effecit. Vide lib. III Regum cap. 18. Pari ratione delusum Simonem Magum scribit Hegesippus lib. III de excidio Hiero- sol. cap. 2. nam et mortuum excitare, et per aerem volare tentavit, sed nihil ei successit. Manichseum frustra conatum filio Regis ae¬ grotanti sanitatem afferre scribit Epiphanius haeresi 66. Gyrolam Patriarcham Arianorum plane excsecasse miserum quemdam , qui se caecum finxerat, et ab eo praesidium implo¬ rabat, scribit Gregorius Turonicus lib. II histor. Francorum, cap. 3. Eunomianum quemdam a S. Machario victum in conten¬ tione de suscitatione hominis mortui, scribit Joannes Cassianus collatione XV, c. 3. Po- lychronium Monothelitam frustra sudasse in excitatione alterius cujusdam defuncti, tes¬ tantur publica acta sextae Synodi, act. 15. De Donatistis quod contra se miracula fe¬ cerint, dum ampullam Chrismatis projece¬ runt in saxa, quae Angelica manu sustentata frangi non potuit, et dum Eucharistiam ca¬ nibus dare voluerunt, et ipsi ab iisdem cani¬ bus discerpti sunt, scribit Optatus 1. II con¬ tra Parmenianum. De Thimotheo iEluro Eutychiano scribit Theodorus lector lib. I. collectaneorum, per multas noctes cum habitu nigro indutum per cellas Monachorum discurrisse , dicentem : se esse Angelum a Deo missum , ut illis sig¬ nificaret, ne Proterio (is erat vir sanctus, et Catholicus Episcopus Alexandrire) communi¬ carent; sed ejus loco Timotheum .Murum Episcopum designarent. \ (1) Hebr. X, 38. 398 UBER IV. De quodam Iconomacho scribit Paulus Diaconus lib. ult. rerum Romanarum , eum in sepulchro quodam inclusum, inde Con¬ stantinum Iconomachum laudibus in c<e- lum vehere ccepisse , ut nimirum ita quasi mortuorum responsis heeresis confirmare¬ tur. De nostri saeculi haereticis idem omnino constat. Nam in primis Lutherus bis tenta- vit miraculum facere : voluit aliquando de quadam discipula sua Diabolum ejicere, sed periculum fuit, ne ipsa a daemone occidere¬ tur. Vide Staphylum , qui interfuit in abso¬ luta responsione. Rursum, (ut scribit Joannes Cochlaeus in actis Lutheri anno 1323.) Nesenum in Albi misere submersum, spe miraculi Lutherus vanis immurmurationibus frustra in vitam ravocare tentavit. Sed quamvis viventi mi¬ racula non successerint , idem tamefa post mortem miraculo insigni claruit. Nam ejus cadaver cum deferretur in media hyeme, quo tempore corpora mortua in multos dies conservari solent, et esset inclusum in arca stannea optime clausa; ut Wittembergce sepeliretur, tam tetrum odorem spirare coe¬ pit, ut nemo eum ferre potuerit. Proinde coacti fuerunt corpus relinquere in itinere. Vide historiolam de morte Lutheri, quae so¬ let annecti libro Gochlaei de vita, et actis ejusdem Lutheri. Aliud miraculum refert Felicianus Nin- guarda in libro contra Annam Burgensem, et Lindanus in Dubitantio, et Alanus Gopus lib. VI Dialogorum cujusdam Ministri, qui in finibus Poloniae et Hungarhe anno 1558. excitare voluit hominem, n-omine Matthaeum, quem ipse persuaserat, ut se mortuum fin¬ geret, et revera mortuum effecit. Simile nar¬ ratur de Calvino ab iisdem, sed fusius a Hie¬ ronymo Bolseco in vita Calvini, cap. 13. ex quo hinc pauca inserere placuit. « Praeterire, inquit, non debeo vafram ejus, et subtilem machinationem, qua tum usus est, cum quemdam, cui Bruleo nomen, et patria Ostunum, in vitam revocare cogi¬ taret, molireturque, ut sancti atque gloriosi Dei Prophetae, miraculorumque patratoris nomen sibi, et famam pararet. Historia talis est; Is, quem dixi Bruleus Ostuno Genevam demigrarat, et cum inops esset ipse, et uxor ejus, Calvini gratiam aucupabantur, ut ei commendati, peculii pauperum fierent parti¬ cipes. Ei Calvinus vitae subsidia benigne pol¬ licetur, si ipsi contra suam operam sibi non negarent ad rem (Juandam, quam per eos fieri vellet : sed opus esse fide, et magna taciturnitate. Vicissim illi ad id quod jubere vellet promptos se offerunt, et quemadmo¬ dum a Calvino instructus fuerat, miser hic Bruleus morbum simulat. Ministri pro con¬ cione populo commendant, ut precibus juva¬ rent, et eleemosynis paupertati succurrerent. Non diu post personam mortui induit ; et mortuum se simulat. Hic Calvinus clam ad¬ monitus, quasi tum omnium rerum ignarus deambulatum prodit ; sed comitatus magna caterva amicorum, postquam eo ventum es¬ set, ubi clamores, et ejulatus uxoris, quae misellam, et desolatam egregie exprimebant, exaudiret, quidnam hoc esset, sciscitatus, domum ingreditur, ubi in genua ipse, et re¬ liqua caterva provolvitur, precibusque alta voce profusis Deum obtestatur potentiam suam ostendere et mortuo huic vitam resti¬ tuere, gloriamque suam sic universo populo declarare vellet, simulque manifestum facere se (Calvinum) peculiarem, sibique gratum servum esse, et a se ad Evangelii sui minis¬ terii atque Ecclesiae reformationem singula¬ riter, et vere vocatum. Post quas preces ad mortuum appropinquat, et miseri hominis manu apprehensa in Dei nomine imperat, ut se erigat : repetit iterum, ssepiusque eos¬ dem sermones voce etiam altius elevata. Quid fit? neque audit, neque loquitur, neque se commovet mortuus. Justo enim Dei judi¬ cio, qui fucos, mendaciaque detestatur, is, qui se mortuum simulabat, vere esse mor¬ tuus repertus est. Et uxor, quidquid eum agitaret, quomodocumque impelleret, neque vocem extorquere, neque ut se commove¬ ret, efficere potuit; sed totus frigebat, rige¬ bat totus. Quo animadverso plorare, ulula¬ tus serio edere et ex animo coepit uxor, et in Calvinum invecta, impostorem eum, sica¬ rium, latronem, qui maritum interemisset, appellans, ex ordine rem, quo modo erat gesta, clara altaque voce exposuit. » Et infra: « Negent hoc quantum velint Calvini manci¬ pia, exploratum et cognitum satis fuit, veri¬ tasque rei probata, imo per ipsammet uxo¬ rem confirmata. » Possumus ergo his opponere quod ait Ter¬ tullianus in libro de praescript. : « Si alium Deum praedicant, cur ejusdem rebus, et lit¬ teris utuntur, contra quem praedicant? Si eumdem, quomodo aliter? Alioqui probent se novos Apostolos : dicant Christum iterum descendisse, et dedisse eis virtutem eadem CAPUT XIV. 399 signa edendi. Volo igitur, inquit, virtutes eorum proferre, nisi quod agnosco maximam virtutem eorum, qua Apostolos in perver¬ sum aemulantur? Illi enim de mortuis susci¬ tabant, isti de vivis mortuos faciunt. » Respondet Calvinus in praefat. institut. et alii, nos injuriam eis facere, quod ab eis miracula exigimus, cum ipsi doctrinam an¬ tiquam, et innumeris miraculis ab Apostolis, et Martyribus confirmatam praedicent. At contra; nam ostendimus supra doctri¬ nam eorum esse novam, et pugnantem cum tota antiquitate. Deinde constat eos saltem aliter docere, quam doceant ordinarii pasto¬ res Ecclesiae ; Constat etiam eos non missos ab ordinariis pastoribus; ergo non tenemur eos recipere, nec tuto possumus, nisi suam missionem, et apostolatum probent divino testimonio. Respondet, Joannem quoque Baptistam missum extraordinarie, et tamen signum nullum fecisse, ut dicitur Joan. X. At quamquam Joannes ipse non fecit mi¬ racula, tamen in eo facta sunt a Deo multa, et magna. Primum quod natus de anu, et sterili : deinde quod pater ejus obmutuit, et postea soluta est lingua ejus in nativitate filii : quod in utero exultavit : quod a puero in desertis locis vixit. Luc. I. Deinde Joan¬ nes erat filius Sacerdotis, et proinde Sacer¬ dos, et ordinarius minister. Praeterea nihil docuit contra communem doctrinam, neque se a caeteris sacerdotibus, et populo separa¬ vit. Et quamquam Principes, et Pharisaei eum odissent, quia Christum praedicabat, ta¬ men interrogati a Christo, Matt. XXI. quid sen- ■ tirent de Baptismo Joannis, non sunt ausi il¬ lum improbare. Denique Josephuslib. XVIII. antiquit. cap. 10. testatur Joannem a Judaeis habitum inter praecipuos viros, justitiae et probitatis causa. Unde mendacium est, quod Centuriatores dicunt, Cent. I, lib. I, cap. 10, coi. 303. Joan. habitum a sacerdotibus, et Pharisaeis pro haeretico. Veniamus nunc ad alteram partem, ac nostram Ecclesiam esse veram Dei Eccle¬ siam demonstremus ex miraculis, quae sin¬ gulis aetatibus habuit plurima, et testatissi¬ ma : Ac primum de undecim primis saeculis planum est ex XI tomis histor. Ecclesiasticae Magdeburgensium. In singulis enim centu¬ riis illis, c. 13. annotant ex auctoribus illo¬ rum temporum omnia miracula, et in singu¬ lis saeculis inveniunt miracula plurima in confirmationem dogmatum nostrorum, ut confessionis Sacramentalis, reliquiarum, imaginum, Eucharistiae, Pontificatus, mona¬ chatus, invocationis sanctorum etc. ipsi enim hos titulos ponunt. Et quamvis postea sub¬ jungant, illa omnia fuisse daemonum illusio¬ nes, vel favisas narrationes ; tamen nihil asse¬ runt, quo id probent, nisi quod ea miracula pugnant cum Evangelio Lutheri. Proderit tamen breviter annotare, quo¬ modo omnibus saeculis Ecclesia miraculis claruerit, ut etiam nunc intelligamus eam esse veram Ecclesiam, quae antiquae similis est, id est, in qua durat hoc donum. Primo saeculo habemus miracala Christi et Apos¬ tolorum in Evangeliis, et Actis. Secundo saeculo habemus miracula Chris¬ tianorum militum in exercitu M. Antonini, de quo vide Tertul. in lib. ad Scapulum, et in Apolog. cap. 5. Euseb. lib. V hist. cap. 5 et Oros. lib. VII hist. cap. 15. et ipsam epis¬ tolam Imperatoris, ad Justini opera adjunc¬ tam. Tertio saeculo habemus miracula Gregorii Thaumaturgi, de quibus vide Basilium libro de Spiritu sancto, cap. 29. Gregorium Nys- senum in vita ejus. Hieronymum de viris illustribus, et Eusebium ex versione Ruffini lib. VII, cap. 25. Quarto saeculo habemus miracula Antonii, Hilarionis, Martini, Nicolai, et aliorum, scripta ab Athanasio, Hieronymo, Sulpitio, et aliis. Quinto saeculo habemus miracula plurima, quae describit Augustinus facta suo tempore, lib. XXII de civitate Dei, cap. 8. Sexto saeculo habemus miracula, quae nar¬ rat Gregorius in Dialogis, ubi narrat duo facta a Romanis Pontificibus, Joanne, et Aga- peto, lib. III, c. 2 et 3. Septimo saeculo miracula facta in Anglia a S. Augustino, et sociis, de quibus Grego¬ rius lib. IX, epist. 58. et Beda lib. I hist. cap. 31. Item ab Osvaldo Rege per lignum crucis lib. III, cap. 2. Octavo saeculo miracula S. Gutbberti, et S. Joannis in Anglia, teste Beda lib. IV et V hist. Nono saeculo miracula Tharasii, scripta ab Ignatio Nicaeno. Item alia innumerabilia omnis generis facta in civitate Suessionensi in translatione reliquiarum S. Sebastiani Martyris, quae facta est anno Domini 826. De qua vide annales Francorum, scriptos summa fide ab auctore, qui illo ipso tempore floruit. 400 LIBER IV. Decimo saeculo miracula S. Romualdi, scripta a B. Petro Damiani : Item Wenceslai Regis Bohemorum, S. Udalrici, et S. Duns- tani, de quibus vide Surium. Undecimo saeculo miracula S. Eduardi Regis et Virginis, S. Anselmi, Gregorii Papae VII, et aliorum. Post illa undecim saecula. Duodecimo saeculo claruerunt in Ecclesia Catholica miraculis B. IV^lachias, et B. Ber- nardus. De Malachia Episcopo legato Pont. Rom. sic scribit Bernardus in vita ejus, pos- teaquam narravit multa ejus miracula : « Quo, inquit, antiquorum genere miraculo¬ rum Malachias non claruit ! Si bene adverti¬ mus pauca ipsa, quae dicta sunt, non pro¬ phetia defuit illi, non revelatio, non gratia sanitatum, non mutatio mentium, non deni¬ que mortuorum suscitatio. » Beatus autem Bernardus Monachus; et pa¬ ter Monachorum, ac Romanis Pontificibus addictissimus, pluribus miraculis claruit, quam ullus Sanctorum, quorum vitae scriptae exstant. Nam una die in Constantiensi dioe¬ cesi constat eum illuminasse caecos undecim, curasse mancos decem, et claudos decem et octo, ut scribit Gotfridus, qui cum ipso vixit, lib. IV, cap. 4. vitae ejus. Et praeterea om¬ nes quinque libri plenissimi sunt miraculis, ut difficile sit eorum numerum inire. Decimotertio saeculo claruerunt in Ecclesia Catholica multi, sed praecipue B. Franciscus, cujus vitam miraculis plenissimam scribit B. Bonaventura : Item B. Dominicus, cujus vita, etsi negligentius scripta fuit, tamen constat eum tres mortuos excitasse. Clarue¬ runt eodem saeculo miraculis B. Petrus Mar¬ tyr, et B. Thomas ex ordine Praedicatorum, et B. Antonius, ac B. Bonaventura ex ordine Minorum, de quibus vide Antoninum 3. par hist. tit. XXIII et XXIV et ad finem ejus sae¬ culi claruit miraculis plurimis S. Coelesti- nus V, Pontifex Romanus tam ante Pontifi¬ catum, quam postea, ut scribit in ejus vita Petrus Cardinalis Cameracensis. Decimoquarto saeculo claruerunt miraculis etiam multi, sed praecipue, S. Catharina Se¬ nensis, S. Nicolaus Tolentinas, de quibus vide Antoninum, ubi supra. Decimoquinto saeculo claruit S. Bernardi- nus, item S. Vincentius vivus, et mortuus miraculis plurimis, adeo ut B. Antonius 3. parte hist. tit. XXIII dicat, constare de 38. mortuis per eum excitatis. Idem B. Antonius eodem saeculo miraculis claruit, cujus vita exstat apud Surium. Denique hoc nostro saeculo claruit in pri¬ mis S. Franciscus de Paula plurimis miracu¬ lis, ut in Bulla Canonizationis scribit Leo X. Pont, quae Bulla exstat apud Surium. Claruit etiam in Indiis omni genere miraculorum B. Pater Franciscus Xaverius Societatis Jesu Presbyter. Constat enim ex Indicis litteris, quas si, qui cum eo versabantur, huc mise¬ runt, ab eo paralyticos, surdos, mutos, cae¬ cos esse curatos, mortuum quoque ad vitam revocatum, et cum mortuus deferretur ad insulam Goam ex Malacca, maris tempesta¬ tem sedatam. Denique corpus ejus post IS. menses a morte integerrimum, et suaviter olens repertum, cum tamen jacuisset per multos menses calce obrutum ; nec dubium est, quin usque ad hanc diem integrum et incorruptum conservetur. Conferantur ista cum Lutheri vita, et morte. Lutherus deserit Monasterium, ducit uxorem post votum continentiae, bellum in¬ dicit Papae ; Franciscus ingreditur ordinem religiosum, servat diligentissime votum con¬ tinentiae : obligat se Papae voto obedientiae peculiari, et ab eo missus in extremas mun¬ di oras proficiscitur. Certe isti contrariis iti¬ neribus incedunt, ut necesse sit alterum eo¬ rum aberrare a recta via. Quis poterit me¬ lior esse judex, quam Deus, qui scrutatur renes et corda? Quomodo autem potuit Deus apertius sententiam suam explicare; quam tribuendo uni donum singulare miraculo¬ rum, et conservando corpus ejus praeter na¬ turae ordinem perpetuo incorruptum, cum. interim alter ne unam quidem muscam ex¬ citare potuerit, et corpus ejus praeter natu¬ rae etiam ordinem subito putrescere coeperit, idque in hyeme, quando gelu omnia rige¬ bant, et ita putrescere, ut intra arcam stam- neam foetor contineri nequiverit? Merito igitur Augustinus libro de utilitate credendi, cap. 17. et libro contra epistolam fundamenti, cap. 4. dicit, se teneri in Eccle¬ sia vinculis miraculorum; et Richardus de S. Victore lib. I de Trinitate, cap. 2 , audet dicere : « Domine, si error est quod credi¬ mus, a te decepti sumus ; ista enim in nobis iis signis et prodigiis confirmata sunt, quse non nisi a te fieri potuerunt. » Sed respondet Calvinus in praefatione Ins¬ titutionis, etMagdeburgensesin singulis fere Centuriis, miracula Sanctorum nostrorum vel esse ficta, vel imaginaria, id est, vel non ita res contigisse, et falso narrari ab histo¬ ricis, vel si_contigerunt, esse praestigias dae- CAPUT XIV. 401 monum. Quocirca Magdeburgenses Cent. V, c. 10. coi. 1393. dicunt, si vera sunt, quae de miraculis B. Martini scribit Sulpitius, B. Martinum sine dubio fuisse necromanticum. Et quidem esse hsec miracula ficta, non pro¬ bant, sed dicunt solum. Fuisse autem daemonum praestigias, cx eo probare nituntur, quod vera miracula con¬ firmant Evangelium, ut constat Marci ulti¬ mo ; ista autem evertunt Evangelium, et con¬ firmant idololatriam, id est, reliquiarum, et imaginum cultum, Sanctorum invocationem, Missam, et alia id genus. Addunt secundo, ex miraculis non sumi argumentum firmum ad probandam veram fidem, id quod pro¬ bant quatuor argumentis. Primo, quia etiam Antichristus faciet signa, etprodigia magna, Matth. XXIV, Apocalyp. XIII, et II. Thes- sal. II. Secundo, quia Augustinus tractatu 13. in Joan. dicit, non esse credendum Donatistis etiamsi miracula faciant; ubi per contemp¬ tum vocat eos mirabiliarios; et libro de uni¬ tate Ecclesiae, cap. 16. postquam docuit non esse credendum miraculis Donatistarum, addit, nec etiam miraculis Catholicorum : « Quaecumque, inquit, talia in Catholica fiunt, ideo sunt approbanda, quia in Catho¬ lica fiunt : non ideo ipsa manifestatur Eccle¬ sia, quia haec in ea fiunt. » Tertio, quia olim ad sepulchrum Hiere- miae fiebant miracula, opera Daemonum ; Iquod inde patet, quia fiebant in eorum utili¬ tatem, qui Hieremiam pro Deo, sacrificiis, divinisque honoribus colebant. Quarto, quia ex Suetonio constat Vespa¬ sianum Imperatorem caeco lumen, et claudo gressum aliquando reddidisse. Item ex So- crat. lib. VII hist. cap. 17.. proferunt Centu- riatores Magdeburgenses Cent. V, cap. 13, coi. 1463. miraculum Pauli Episcopi Nova- tiani; nec tamen, inde colligere licet veram fuisse religionem, quam Vespasianus, aut Novatiani colebant. Sed respondeamus ad singula. Ad pri¬ mum cum negant facta esse miracula, quae a nostris referuntur. Respondeo, impuden¬ tissime negari. Stultum enim est credere po¬ tius Calvino et Illyrico de historiis antiquis, quibus non interfuerunt, quam Bernardo, Bonaventurse, Antonino, qui interfuerunt. Praeterea, ut S. Augustinus respondit, Pa¬ ganis negantibus historias miraculorum nos- (1) Psal. CXXXV, 4. Tom. II. trorum lib. X de Civit. Dei, cap. 18. si liceat absque ulla ratione negare facta olim mira¬ cula peribit fides omnium librorum, et tol¬ letur non solum nostra, sed etiam omnis alia religio. Omnes enim, qui Dii habentur, ope¬ ribus mirabilibus, a doctis viris conscriptis, divinitatem suam, sive veram, sive falsam, mundo persuaserunt. Ad secundum, curti dicunt esse praestigias Daemonum, Respondeo, in primis hanc esse veterem calumniam ; sic enim Scribae et et Pharissei loquebantur de miraculis Chris¬ ti, Matth. XII, et Pagani de miraculis mar¬ tyrum, quos magos et necromanticos vo¬ care solebant; et Ariani, Eunomiani, Vigi¬ lantiam de miraculis Catholicorum, ut tes¬ tantur Ambrosius in serm. de SS. Gervasio et Protasio, Hieronym. cont. Vigilantium, et Victor lib. II depersecut. Wandalica. De¬ inde nullam habet probabilitatem, quod SS. Martinus, Franciscus, et alii quidam, qui simplicissimi erant, magica arte uterentur. Sed, inquiunt , ista miracula evertunt Evangelium. R,espondeo, verum est, sed Calvini, non Christi; vel probent ipsi quod tam audacter affirmant. Nec minus facile re¬ felluntur illa argumenta postrema, quibus probant, miracula non facere certam fidem. Ad primum respondeo, miracula Anti- christi fore mendacia, ut Apostolus dixit II. Thessal. II, id est, non vera et solida, sed apparentia, vel mirabilia hominibus, non ta¬ men absolute miracula, qualia arte Daemo¬ nis fieri possunt. Id patet ex Apocalypsis c. XIII, ubi pro maximis Antichristi miraculis ponitur, quod faciet ignem de coelo descen¬ dere, et ut imago bestiae loquatur. Haec au¬ tem facillima esse Diabolo, palam est : At miracula Sanctorum sunt illuminationes cae¬ corum, curationes claudorum, excitationes mortuorum : quae non nisi ejus virtute fieri possunt, de quo canimus in Psalm. CXXXV : Qui facit mirabilia magna solus (1). Ad secundum dico, miracula Donatista¬ rum, quae Augustinus contemnit, non fuisse miracula talia, qualia Sanctorum sunt, sed occultas quasdam visiones tantum, quas sine ullo teste jactabant se vidisse; qualis fuit visio Zwinglii, qui in lib. qui inscribitur sub¬ sidium de Eucharistia, dicit se vidisse spi- ritunf* sed non potuisse discernere, esset ne albus, an niger; qualis est etiam visio, quae narratur in libro qui inscribitur querela, vel 26 ! 402 LIBER IV. somnium Lutheri, ubi Lutherus narratur ap¬ paruisse quibusdam Lutheranis, tristique vultu conquestus, quod tam se, quam doc¬ trinam suam discipuli sui brevi essent de¬ serturi. Itaque non sine causa ea miracula S. Augustinus vocat fabulas. Quod autem Augustinus maximi faciat vera miracula, patet ex lib. XXII de Civit. Dei, cap. 8. ubi contra Paganos adducit mi¬ racula maxima, facta ad reliquias Sancto¬ rum, praecipue Stephani Protomartyris. Ad id, quod Augustinus dicit, Ecclesiam non demonstrari ex miraculis, sed ex Scrip¬ turis . Respondeo , Augustinum contrario modo loqui in lib. cont. epist. fundamenti, cap. 4 et 5. ubi dicit, Ecclesiam demonstrari ex miraculis, non ex Scripturis, imo Scrip¬ turas demonstrari ex Ecclesia. Ne igitur se- cum pugnet, dicendum est, in utroque loco eum loqui ex hypothesi. Quia enim Mani¬ chaei admittebant miracula , et negabant Scripturas (nam veterem dicebant esse a Diabolo, novam dicebant esse totam corrup¬ tam a falsariis) Augustinus in lib. cont. epis- tol. fundamenti Manichaeorum, ex miraculis demonstrat Ecclesiam, deinde ex Ecclesia demonstrat Scripturam. Sed quia Donatistae credebant Scripturae tam veteri, quam no¬ vae, et jactabant suas visiones, contemnen¬ tes miracula Ecclesiae, ita Augustinus cont. Donatistas alia via procedit, et ex Scripturis demonstrat Ecclesiam, deinde per Ecclesiam vult judicari de miraculis. Est autem observandum, recte demons¬ trari ex miraculis Ecclesiam, et ex Ecclesia miracula, sed diverso genere demonstratio¬ nis ; quemadmodum ex effectu demonstra¬ tur causa, et ex causa effectus. Nam ex mi¬ raculis demonstratur Ecclesia, non quoad evidentiam, vel certitudinem rei, sed quoad evidentiam et certitudinem credibilitatis. Cujus rei ratio est, quia ante approbationem Ecclesiae, non est evidens aut certum certi¬ tudine fidei de ullo miraculo, quod sit verum miraculum; tamen est tale, ut evidenter fa¬ ciat rem credibilem. Et quidem, quod non sit evidens, patet, quia tunc fides esset evi¬ dens ; quod non sit certum certitudine fidei, patet, quia non constat nobis certitudine, cui non possit subesse falsum, illam no^ esse illusionem Daemonis. Daemon enim etsi non potest facere vere miracula, tamen potest facere apparenter etiam maxima quaeque. Cur ergo (inquies) tenebantur credere Christo praedicanti, qui ejus miracula vide¬ bant? Respondeo, quia homo non potest sal¬ vari sine fide Christi : et ideo tenetur acci¬ pere eam fidem, ut medium ad salutem suam necessarium. Noluit autem Deus obli¬ gare homines, ut crederent incredibilia, sed solum quando per miracula, et similia mo- tiva fides facta est credibilis : at ex Ecclesia demonstratur miraculum, quoad certitudi¬ nem rei, quia, quando Ecclesia declarat mi¬ raculum factum, esse verum miraculum, certi sumus ita esse. Ad tertium dico, mendacium esse Calvini, quod populi coluerint Hieremiam sacrificiis, divinisque honoribus. Nam nullum testem adducit hujus rei, nisi quod in margine po¬ nit (Hieronymus praefatione in Hieremiam). Caeterum, neque in praefatione Hieronymi in Hieremiam, a se translatum, neque in prae¬ fatione Commentariorum Hieremiae ulla mentio fit hujus historiae. Praeterea exstat alia quaedam praefatiuncula in Bibliis Bene¬ dicti, Hieremiae praefixa, ad quam videtur Calvinus respexisse. Sed ea non est Hiero¬ nymi, neque in ea fit mentio sacrificiorum, divinorumque honorum; sed solum, quod miracula facta sint ad sepulchrum ejus. De¬ nique Epiphanius et Isidorus in vita Hiere¬ miae, dicunt quidem miracula facta ; sed de sacrificiis, divinisque honoribus nihil di¬ cunt. Ad quartum respondeo, nec caecum vere, nec vere claudum a Vespasiano esse cura¬ tum. Nam, ut scribit Cornelius Tacitus lib. IV hist. interrogati Medici, an morbi duo¬ rum illorum curabiles essent; responderunt, esse curabiles : « Medici, inquit, varia dis¬ serere : huic non exesam vim luminis, et re¬ dituram, si pellantur obstantia, illi elapsos in pravum artus, si salubris vis adhibeatur, posse integrari. » Igitur mirum non est, si morbi curabiles naturaliter, opera Diaboli curati fuerint. Adde, quod, ut Tertullianus docet in Apologetico, cap. 22. credibile est, totum illum morbum fuisse a Diabolo, qui insidens in oculo unius, et alterius tibia, impediebat usum eorum membrorum : id- que eo fine, ut videretur sanare, cum desi¬ neret nocere. Ad postremum de miraculo Novatiani res¬ pondeo, miraculum factum esse non in con¬ firmationem fidei Novatiani, sed Catholici Baptismi. Id enim pro miraculo scribit So¬ crates, quod cum ad Paulum Episcopum Novatianum venisset quidam Judaeus impos¬ tor, ut ab eo baptizaretur, et apud se Bap- CAPUT XV. 403 tismum irrideret, continuo tota sacri fontis aqua evanuit. At non fuisse hoc miraculum Novatiani erroris, sed veri Baptismi perspi¬ cuum est ex eo, quod idem Socrates sub¬ jungit, cognitum paulo post fuisse, eum Ju¬ daeum jam antea baptizatum ritu Catholico ab Attico Episcopo Constantinopolitano. Ita¬ que Deus, quia noluit irrideri Baptismum, in Ecclesia rite susceptum, non permisit im¬ postorem Judaeum ab haeretico Episcopo ite¬ rum baptizari.