Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Members of the Church · On Monks (Book II)
Chapter 17: That It Was Not Proper to the Jews to Make Vows
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. II, De Monachis (De Membris Ecclesiae, Book II), On Monks (On the Members of the Church, Book II). 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).
Now the opinion of Peter Martyr is to be refuted, who in the book On Vows and Celibacy against Smith, against all — both Catholics and heretics — forbids to Christians absolutely all vows whatever: “Wherefore,” he says, “as the other ceremonies were taken away through Christ, so also the manner of vowing ought to depart.” And below: “Wherefore a vow, though anciently it could be of use, since it pertained to the ceremonies of the law, is now exploded.”
This opinion is first refuted from that prediction (Isaiah 19): They shall worship him with sacrifices and gifts, and shall make vows to the Lord and pay them. For that these things were predicted of Christians, Saint Jerome, Saint Cyril, and all the rest in their commentary on this passage most openly teach.
Martyr answers that these things are indeed said of Christians, but that by vows and sacrifices are not understood true vows and true sacrifices, but the spiritual and Christian worship. For he says that Isaiah, when he spoke with the Jews, wished by those things by which God was then worshiped to explain the worship that would be afterward; for otherwise the Jews would not have understood what was said.
But this solution is refuted; for first, even if we do not have the same sacrifices, nor the same vows, which the Jews had, yet if we had none, Isaiah would have ill explained the Christian worship by sacrifices and vows; for a thing is not explained by that which is in no way similar to it. Far better would he have explained it by the contradictory, if he had said: They shall not worship with sacrifices, nor make vows; for then all would have understood that there would indeed be a worship, but not such as was then. Besides, that exposition of Peter Martyr cannot be proved unless there be assumed as certain that which is in question. For if thou ask him why he wishes to expound those words, They shall make vows and pay them, metaphorically rather than properly, he will answer nothing else but, Because they cannot be expounded properly, since among Christians there would be no vows. But this is what we contend about: whether Christians are to make vows; and since he denies it and we assert it, who does not see that the word of God favors us, when of Christians it says, They shall make vows and pay them?
Secondly, the same is proved from that exhortation (Psalm 75): Vow ye, and pay to the Lord your God, etc. For although Peter Martyr contends that this is said to the Jews only, yet the holy Fathers teach far otherwise; of whom Blessed Augustine so narrates this passage, speaking not to Jews but to Christians: “Let each one vow what he can, and pay it; be not slothful in vowing; for you will not fulfill it by your own strength.”
Thirdly, the same is proved from those words of Blessed Paul (first epistle to Timothy, chapter 5), where of certain widows he says: When they have grown wanton in Christ, they will marry, having damnation, because they have made void their first faith. In which passage by “first faith” all the interpreters absolutely, both Greek and Latin, understand the vow of continence. Saint Augustine (on Psalm 75): “What is it,” he says, “that they have made void their first faith? They vowed, and did not render.” But of this passage we shall discourse below at length; now let it suffice only to have hinted it. All the testimonies also and arguments which we shall bring forward to prove that monastic vows are lawful could be referred also to this.
Lastly, a vow is not a Jewish ceremony; there is therefore no reason why it should be lawful for the Jews alone, and not also for Christians, to vow. For first, the act of vowing can be accomplished by the mind alone. For although we are wont to vow also with the mouth, yet even without any voice, by the sole motion of the heart, a vow can be uttered; but all ceremonies are exterior and sensible things, as is known; therefore vows pertain not to ceremonies, but to interior worship. Then, even if vows were ceremonies, they would not straightway be Jewish; for there are many ceremonies common to every kind of men and to every religion, as to bend the knees to pray, to lift up the hands, to look up to heaven, to strike the breast. And finally, those alone are properly called Jewish ceremonies which were either instituted by Moses, or signified Christ to come, although they began before Moses; and accordingly ceased at the coming of Christ.
Further, vows did not begin from Moses; for the Patriarch Jacob made a vow (Genesis 28) long before Moses was born; nor were vows instituted to signify Christ to come. For what have vows of fasts, of continence, of alms, and the like, to do with Christ to come? Nor finally did they cease with Moses. For although in the Church of Christ, after the full promulgation of the Gospel, circumcision ceased, the sacrifices of sheep and oxen, and other things of that kind, yet vows never ceased, as appears even from one passage of Saint Augustine; for on that of Psalm 75, Vow ye, and pay, he says thus of the Christians of his time: “One vows to God conjugal chastity, that he know no other than his wife. Others also vow, though they have experienced such marriage, to suffer nothing more of the kind, to desire or endure nothing of the kind; and these have vowed something greater than the former. Others vow virginity itself from their early age, that they may not even experience anything of the kind which the former experienced and left; and these have vowed the most. Others vow that their house shall be hospitable to all the saints who come; they vow a great vow. Another vows to leave all his goods, distributing them to the poor, and to go into the common life, into the society of the saints; he vows a great vow.” So he.
And lest perchance it be answered that the ceremony of vowing is abrogated by law, but not in fact, and that there were not lacking those who vowed, but that they did what was not lawful: it is to be considered that not men of any sort, but the most learned and most holy — such as Augustine, Basil, Jerome, Bernard, and very many others — vowed vows and praised them, whose testimonies will afterward be brought forward. Now I thought Augustine could suffice, especially since our adversary does not deny it.
For Martyr answers that no heed is to be paid to what men have done, even though blameless and without controversy pleasing to God, because not their life, but the word of God, is the rule of our faith. Which indeed Martyr received from Luther, who in the book On Abrogating the Mass most fully teaches that it is not to be considered what the saints did, but what they ought to have done according to the rule of the word of God.
But how, I pray, can it be that those were blameless and pleasing to God who frequented vows in the Church of Christ, if vows pertain to the Jewish ceremonies? Certainly, if any at this time publicly celebrated either circumcision, or the Sabbath, or bloody sacrifices, they could in no way be blameless and pleasing to God, especially if they labored under no ignorance. If, then, vows are similar to circumcision and to bloody sacrifices, as Martyr affirms, how were Basil, Augustine, Bernard, and other most learned men blameless and pleasing to God, who made vows and persuaded others to make them?
Then it is not our question whether we ought to hold the word of God or the examples of the saints for the rule of faith and morals, but which of the two better understood the word of God: Peter Martyr, Calvin, Luther, and such men, or those men whom both sides confess to have been most holy and most learned. For the examples of the saints do not fight with the word of God, but explain or declare it; therefore also the Apostle said, Be ye imitators of me. And Christ (Matthew 5) compares holy men to a lamp set upon a candlestick, which shines to all who are in the house. Nor is it repugnant to this truth that even the saints sometimes fall, as appears of the drunkenness of Noah, of the adultery of David, of the dissimulation of Blessed Peter, which Paul reprehended; for we do not say that all the deeds of the saints are to be imitated, but only those which neither openly fight with the rule of faith, nor are found reprehended either by Scripture or by other holy men, but rather on the contrary are everywhere praised by the pious and learned. And that vows are of this kind no one can deny, unless one who has either read nothing or believes nothing.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT XVII. Non fuisse Judaeorum proprium vota facere , sed cum Christianis etiam id esse commune. Refellenda nunc est Petri Martyris senten¬ tia, qui in libro de votis et coelibatu contra Smithaeum adversus omnes, tum Catholi¬ cos, tum haereticos, omnia omnino vota Christianis interdicit : « Quare, inquit, ut aliae caeremoniae per Christum sublatae sunt, itaetvovendi ratio debet facessere.» Et infra : «Quare votum, licet antiquitus potuerit usui esse, cum ad legis caeremonias pertineret, modo explosum est. » Haec sententia primo refellitur ex illa prae¬ dictione, Isaiae XIX : Colent eum in hostiis et muneribus, et vota vovebunt Domino , et sol¬ vent (3). Haec enim de Christianis praedicta esse, S. Hieronymus, S. Gyrillus, et caeteri omnes in commentario hujus loci appertissi- me docent. Respondet; Martyr, haec quidem de Chris¬ tianis dici, sed per vota et hostias non intel- ligi vera vota, verasque hostias, sed cultum spi¬ ritualem et Christianum. Dicit enim, Isaiam, cum Judaeis loqueretur, per ea, quibus tunc Deus colebatur, explicare voluisse cultum postea futurum; non enim aliter Judaeos in¬ tellecturos fuisse, quae dicebantur. Sed refellitur haec solutio ; nam in primis etiamsi non habeamus easdem hostias, ne¬ que eadem vota, quae Judaei habuerunt, ta- — (2) Rom. XIV, 23. — (3) Isai. XIX, 21. ; 35 540 LIBER II. men si nulla haberemus, male explicuisset Isaias cultum Christianum per hostias et vota; non enim explicatur aliquid per id, quod nullo modo ei simile est. Longe me¬ lius explicuisset per contradictorium, si di¬ xisset : Non colent hostiis, nec vota vove¬ bunt; tunc enim omnes intellexissent cultum quidem futurum, sed non qualis tunc erat. Praeterea expositio ista Petri Martyris non potest probari, nisi assumatur ut certum id, quod est in quaestione. Nam si petas ab eo, cur illa verba : Vota vovebunt , et solvent , expo¬ nere velit metaphorice potius, quam pro¬ prie, nihil aliud respondebit, nisi quia pro¬ prie exponi non possunt, cum apud Chris¬ tianos nulla essent futura vota. At hoc est, de quo contendimus : An Christiani sint vota facturi, et cum ille neget, nos asseramus, quis non videt verbum Dei nobis favere, cum de Christianis dicat : Vota vovebunt , et solvent. Secundo, idem probatur ex illa exhorta¬ tione Ps. LXXY : Vovete , et reddite Domino Deo vestro etc. (1) tametsi enim Petrus Mar¬ tyr contendat, haec Judaeis tantum dici, ta¬ men longe aliud docent sancti Patres, ex quibus B. Augustinus hunc locum ita enar¬ rat, non Judaeis, sed Christianis loquens : « Quisque quod potest voveat, et reddat ; non sitis pigri ad vovendum; non enim viri¬ bus vestris implebitis. » Tertio, idem probatur ex illis verbis B. Pauli prioris epistolae ad Timotheum cap. V. ubi de viduis quibusdam dicit : Cum luxu¬ riatae fuerint in Christo, nubere volunt , haben¬ tes damnationem , quia primam fidem irritam fecerunt (2). Quo loco per primam fidem omnes omnino interpretes, tum Graeci, tum Latini, intelligunt votum continentiae. Sanc¬ tus Augustinus in Psalm. LXXY : « Quid est, inquit, primam fidem irritam fecerunt? voverunt, et non reddiderunt. » Sed de hoc loco infra fuse disseremus, nunc solum in¬ nuisse sufficiat. Omnia quoque testimonia et argumenta, quae proferemus, ad probandum vota monastica esse licita, huc etiam referri possent. Ultimo, votum non est caeremonia J udaica, nulla igitur causa est cur solis Judaeis, et non etiam Christianis liceat vovere ; nam in pri¬ mis vovendi actus sola mente perfici potest. Tametsi enim ore quoque vovere solemus, tamen etiam sine ulla voce solo cordis motu votum emitti potest : caeremoniae autem om¬ nes res sunt exteriores et sensibiles, ut no¬ tum est; non igitur vota ad caeremonias, sed ad internum cultum pertinent. Deinde, lieet vota caeremoniae essent, non continuo Judaicae essent; multae enim sunt caeremo¬ niae omni hominum generi, et omni religioni communes, ut genua flectere ad orandum, manus attollere, coelum aspicere, tundere pectus. Et denique, illae solae dicuntur pro¬ prie Judaicae caeremoniae, quae vel a Mose sunt institutae, vel Christum venturum si¬ gnificabant, quamvis ante Mosem coepe¬ rint ; et proinde Christo adveniente cessa¬ verunt. Porro vota non caeperunt a Mose ; nam Jacob Patriarcha votum vovit, Genes. XXYIII. longe antequam Moses nasceretur; neque vota ad Christum venturum significandum instituta sunt. Quid enim habent cum Christo venturo vota jejuniorum, continentiae, elee¬ mosynarum, etsimilia? NecdemumcumMose cessarunt. Nam licet in Ecclesia Christi post Evangelii plenam promulgationem cessave- ritcircumcisio, sacrificia ovium ac bovum, et alia id genus, tamen vota numquam cessa¬ runt, ut patet vel ex uno loco sancti Augus¬ tini : siquidem in illud Psalm. LXXY : Vo¬ vete, et reddite, sic ait de Christianis sui tem¬ poris : « Alius vovet Deo castitatem conjuga¬ lem, ut prseter uxorem non noverit aliam. Alii etiam vovent, etsi experti tale conju¬ gium, ultra nihil tale pati, nihil tale concu¬ piscere, aut sustinere, et ipsi voverunt ali¬ quid maj us, quam illi. Alii virginitatem ipsam ab ineunte aetate vovent, ut nihil tale vel experiantur, quale illi experti sunt, et reli¬ querunt; et isti voverunt plurimum. Alii vo¬ vent, domum suam esse hospitalem omnibus sanctis advenientibus, magnum votum vo¬ vent. Alius vovet, relinquere omnia sua, distribuendo pauperibus, et ire in commu¬ nem vitam, in societatem Sanctorum, ma¬ gnum votum vovit. » Haec ille. Ac ne forte respondeatur, vovendi caere¬ moniam esse jure abrogatam, sed non facto, ac non defuisse qui voverint, sed eos fecisse, quod non licebat : considerandum est, non qualescumque homines, sed doctissimos et sanctissimos, ut Augustinum, Basilium, Hie¬ ronymum, Bernardum, aliosque permultos vota vovisse, et laudasse, quorum testimo¬ nia postea afferentur. Nunc Augustinum (1) Psal. LXXIX, 12.— (2) Timoth. V, 11 et 12. CAPUT XVIII. 547 Sufficere posse putavi, praesertim cum id ad¬ versarius noster non neget. Respondet enim Martyr, non esse curan¬ dum, quod homines, etiamsi inculpati, et sine controversia Deo grati, fecerint, quia iion illorum vita, sed verbum Dei est regula nostree fidei. Quod quidem accepit Martyr a Luthero, qui in libro de abroganda Missa fusissime docet, non esse cogitandum, quid Sancti fecerint, sed quid facere debuerint secundum regulam verbi Dei. At quomodo, quaeso, potest fieri, ut incul¬ pati et Deo grati fuerint, qui vota frequenta¬ runt in Christi Ecclesia, si vota ad caeremo¬ nias Judaicas pertinent? Certe, si qui hoc tempore, vel circumcisionem, vel Sabba¬ tum, vel sacrificia cruenta publice celebra¬ rent, nullo modo inculpati, et grati Deo esse possent, praesertim si nulla ignorantia labo¬ rarent. Si ergo vota similia sunt circumci¬ sioni, et sacrificiis cruentis, ut Martyr affir¬ mat, qnomodo inculpati, et grati Deo fue¬ runt Basibus, Augustinus, Bernardus, et alii doctissimi viri, qui vota fecerunt, et aliis facienda suaserunt? Deinde non est nostra quaestio, verbum Dei ne, an exempla Sanctorum pro regula fidei et morum habere debeamus, sed utri verbum Dei melius intellexerint : Petrus Martyr, Calvinus, Lutherus, et similes homi¬ nes, an viri illi, quos sanctissimos, et doc¬ tissimos fuisse utrique confitemur : exempla enim Sanctorum non repugnant verbo Dei, sed explicant, aut declarant, ideo et Aposto¬ lus dicebat : Imitatores, mei estote. Et Chris¬ tus, Matth. V. viros sanctos comparat lucer¬ na? positae super candelabrum, quse lucet omnibus, qui in domo sunt. Neque huic ve¬ ritati repugnat, quod etiam sancti interdum labuntur, ut patet de ebrietate Noe, de adul¬ terio Davidis, de simulatione B. Petri, quam Paulus reprehendit ; non enim omnia facta Sanctorum imitanda esse dicimus, sed ea solum, quae neque pugnant aperte cum re¬ gula fidei, neque inveniuntur vel a Scrip¬ tura, vel ab aliis sanctis viris reprehensa, sed contra potius a piis et doctis passim lau¬ data. Ejusmodi autem esse vota, nemo ne¬ gare potest, nisi qui vel nihil legerit, vel nihil credat.