Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Sacraments in General · Book I: On the Nature and Causes of the Sacrament
Chapter 8: On the etymology and notion of Mystery and Sacrament
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. III, De Sacramentis in Genere, Book I: On the Nature and Causes of the Sacrament. 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).
Because it is certain that the Hebrew and Greek words were in the Church before the Latin word Sacrament, and that the Latins wished to express nothing else by Sacrament than what the Hebrews and Greeks expressed by their own words, we must speak first of the Hebrew, then of the Greek, and lastly of the Latin word.
The Hebrews have three words by which they are wont to signify their sacred rites. For, first, all the ceremonies, among which the sacraments are numbered, they call choq or chuqqah, as is plain from Exodus 12 and 28, and elsewhere. But this name signifies not so much the ceremony itself as the ceremonial law; for [the root] signifies to establish, and [its derivative] a lawgiver. Whence in the New Testament the ceremonies of the Jews are always called laws, as Matthew 11: The Law and the Prophets prophesied until John — that is, those figures of the ceremonies and the predictions of the Prophets until John. And Galatians 5: I testify to every man circumcising himself that he is a debtor to do the whole law — that is, he who admits circumcision is bound by the same right to admit all the ceremonies.
Another word is [millu'im], which signifies consecration or initiation, and is had in Exodus 28 and Leviticus 8, where the consecration of the priest is treated. This word is derived from the verb [male'], which signifies to fill and to perfect, because he who receives the Sacrament is perfected, that he may be fit for performing the sacred function.
The third word is [raz], which is more in use among the Chaldees than the Hebrews. Whence the Hebrews have not yet found its true root; but, as we said above, it is gathered clearly enough from Daniel chapter 2 that by this word is signified both the secret thing itself and also the sign of a secret thing.
Further, Clement of Alexandria, explaining the etymology of Mystery in his exhortatory oration to the Gentiles — of which Eusebius also makes mention in book 2 of the Evangelical Preparation, chapter 5 — says that mysterion is so called from [mysos], which signifies crime and execration. Dominic Soto reprehends this etymology in book 4 distinction 1 question 1 article 1, on the ground that [mysos] with an iota signifies crime, but hatred is written with an upsilon. But there was no need for a Latin man to contend with most grave authors, and Greeks, about the etymology of a Greek word. For although [misos] signifies hatred, yet [mysos] properly signifies crime; and Clement derived it from [mysos], not from [misos], although some Latin manuscripts of Eusebius have the latter word through the error of the copyists. Besides, Clement did not there mean to explain the proper and genuine etymology of Mystery, but of set purpose put down one less proper, yet very apt for deriding the sacred rites of the Gentiles, which was then his business. And so, since he wished to mock and detest those rites, he said that they were either called mysteria from [mysos], because they were wicked and execrable, or were called mysteria as if [mythēria], that is, fabulous.
Others derive mysterion from the verb [myo], which is “I close,” and [stoma], which is “mouth”; as if Mysteries were to be honored with silence; or from [myein] and [tērein], that is, to hide and to keep, because sacred things are to be secretly kept. It could also, not ineptly, be derived from [myeō, myēsō], which is “I initiate” or imbue with sacred rites, whence is [mystēs], that is, the president of the sacred rites, who initiates others.
Now there are three significations of this word. The first and chief is that a Mystery be called that ceremony by which men are initiated into the sacred rites. Wherefore by Cicero, book 2 On the laws, they are also called initia; and St. Ambrose wrote a book On those who are initiated into the Mysteries. And this signification answers to the etymology which we set down from the verb [myeō]; and to this word in this signification answers the Hebrew word [millu'im], that is, consecration. But because the Mysteries of the Gentiles were celebrated by night, and had to be secret, thence was born the second signification, by which Mystery is called everything that is hidden and secret. Hence is that of the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 13: If I should know all mysteries. Matthew 13: To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. And the Hebrew word answers in the former signification, or also [sod], which they use more frequently, that is, a secret.
The third signification was born from the second, by which, namely, Mystery is called every external sign of a hidden and secret thing; in which signification all the figures of the Old Testament are called Mysteries, as also the parables and similitudes which are had either in the Gospel or in the Apocalypse, as the testimonies alleged above show. And to this answers that word [raz] in the latter signification.
Now the etymology of Sacrament is most well known; for it is called from sacrum (sacred): but the significations are many. The first is that a Sacrament be called the pledge deposited by litigants in a sacred place. For, as Varro writes in book 4 On the Latin language near the end, it was a custom among the Romans that, when two men litigated, both he who affirmed and he who denied would deposit five hundred pieces of bronze in a sacred place with the Pontiff; and when the suit was finished, he who had won would receive his deposit, and he who was beaten would lose it, and his deposit would pass to the treasury as a penalty for unjust litigation. Those deposits, then, were called Sacraments, because they were kept in a sacred place. This signification, above the others, pleased Zwingli, in the book On true and false religion, chapter On the Sacraments: “A Sacrament,” he says, “is nothing else than an initiation and a pledging. For as those who were about to litigate deposited a certain weight of money, so those who are initiated by the Sacraments bind and pledge themselves.”
The second acceptation is that a Sacrament be the same as an oath, which indeed cannot be taken except by some sacred thing, since everyone who swears cites God himself as witness. And this acceptation is most frequent in the civil and Canon law, and in authors both Gentile and Christian. This acceptation pleased Calvin, book 4 of the Institutes, chapter 14, section 13; yet so that a Sacrament be not so much an oath by which a man binds himself to God, as one by which God binds himself to man. Whence Nicholas Selnecker, in the second part of the Paedagogia, chapter On the Sacraments, says that mysterion is called from [myo], which is “I close,” because the Sacraments, like the seals of God, close and bind the divine promises.
The third signification is that a Sacrament be the same as a Mystery; and accordingly it signifies those three things which we said were signified by the word Mystery: namely, a secret thing, and the sign of a secret thing, and the thing that consecrates and initiates.
All which acceptations agree with our Sacraments, but that is most proper which we named in the last place. For that first, of Varro and Zwingli, is not alien to our Sacraments. For truly through the Sacraments we bind and pledge ourselves to God; yet this acceptation is neither found in the Scriptures, nor is it so proper as to agree with our Sacraments alone. For there are many other things besides the Sacraments by which we pledge ourselves to God, as all vows. The second acceptation, of Calvin, also squares with our Sacraments. For in the Sacraments, as we bind ourselves to God for obedience, so he in some way binds himself to us for protection. But neither is this had in the Scriptures, nor is it proper to our Sacraments, since even without the Sacraments God is wont to bind himself by a simple promise. The third and fourth acceptation, by which a Sacrament is called any sacred, hidden thing, or the sign of a sacred and secret thing, are had in the Scriptures, as we showed above, and agree with our Sacraments. For all our Sacraments are both sacred, since they are of God, and hidden, since they are known to the faithful alone, and ought not to be easily disclosed to others, as Dionysius teaches On the ecclesiastical hierarchy chapter 1, and Cyril book 7 against Julian, at the end, and other Fathers here and there; and finally they signify a sacred and hidden thing, namely grace. But neither are these acceptations proper to our Sacraments, since there are very many other sacred, hidden signs, and signs which signify sacred and hidden things, as almost all the figures of the Old Testament.
The fifth acceptation, then, by which a Sacrament signifies a ceremony initiating and consecrating a man to God, or (which is almost the same) the sign of a sacred thing — not of any whatsoever, but of a sacred thing that consecrates and initiates a man — is most proper. For, in the first place, it agrees with the Sacraments alone, as we shall afterward show more fully. Next, it answers most plainly to the etymology of Mystery and of Sacrament. For we derived Mystery from [myeō], which is “I initiate”; and Sacrament is most rightly derived from consecrating. Whence St. Augustine, book 15 of the City of God chapter 26: “Thence,” he says, “flowed the Sacraments by which believers are initiated”; where he says that men are initiated by the Sacraments of the new law. And in epistle 23 he says that the Sacraments of the new law consecrate men to God. And Tertullian, in the book On prescriptions, wishing to show how the devil strives to imitate God: “He too,” he says, “dips certain persons, namely his own believers and faithful; he promises the expiation of sins from a washing, and thus Mithras too initiates.” So he; where he calls the Sacrament of Baptism an initiation. And St. Ambrose entitles the book in which he treats of the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, On those who are initiated into the Mysteries. Likewise the Master in book 4 distinction 1, and with him very many Doctors, say that a Sacrament is called from consecrating. St. Thomas, in the first part of the second part, question 102 article 5: “Those things,” he says, “are properly called Sacraments which were applied to the worshippers of God for a certain consecration, by which, namely, they were in some way deputed to the worship of God.” Finally, the Sacraments of the old law are never called in the Scripture of the Old Testament secrets, or signs of a consecrated thing, that is, [sod] or [raz], but were always called consecrations and initiations, or ceremonies, that is, [chuqqim].
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT VIII. De etymologia, et notione Mysteidi et Sacramenti. Quia certum est prius in Ecclesia fuisse voces Hebraicas et Graecas, quam Latinam, Sacramentum, et Latinos nihil aliud voluisse exprimere per Sacramentum,' nisi quod He¬ braei, et Graeci exprimebant per sua voca¬ bula ; Primum de Hebraica ; Deinde de Grae¬ ca; Postremo de Latina voce dicendum erit. Hebraei tres habent voces, quibus Sacra¬ menta sua significare solent. Primum enim omnes caeremonias, inter quas numerantur Sacramenta, vocant Dipn vel npn, ut patet Exod. XII. XXVIII. et alibi. Sed hoc nomen non tam ipsam caeremoniam, quam legem caeremonialem significat; nam ppn statuere significat, et pp?no legislatorem. Unde in testamento novo semper caeremoniae J udaeo- rum dicuntur leges, ut Matth. XI : Lex el Propheta; usque ad Joannem, id est, Figurae illa; caeremoniarum, et vaticinia Propheta¬ rum usque ad Joannem. Et Galat. Y. Con¬ testor omni circumcidenti se, quod debitor est (1) Psal. CXXI, 6. CAPUT VIII. 349 universae legis faciendae (1). Id est, qui admit¬ tit circumcisionem, debet eodem jure admit¬ tere omnes caeremonias. Aliud vocabulum est tobn Dixba et nwSa quod consecrationem, seu initiationem signi¬ ficat, et habetur Exod. XXVIII. et Levit. VIII. ubi agitur de consecratione Saeerdo- fis. Deducitur autem haec vox a verbo ttbn quod significat implere, et perficere ; quia qui Sacramentum suscipit, perficitur, ut sit idoneus ad sacram functionem peragendam. Tertia vox est ?" et N"H quae magis in usu est Chaldaeis, quam Hebraeis. Unde Hebraei nondum invenerunt veram ejus radicem ; sed, ut supra diximus, satis aperte colligitur ex cap. II. Danielis, ea voce significari tum rem ipsam secretam, tum etiam signum rei secretae. Porro etymologiam Mysterii explicans Clemens Alexandrinus in oratione exhorta¬ toria ad Gentes, cujus etiam meminit Euse- bius in II. de praeparat. Evangelica cap. 5. dicit p-j orripiov dici a pio-oc , quod scelus, et exeerationem significat. Reprehendit Domi¬ nicus a Soto hanc etymologiam in IV. dist. I. q. 1 . art. \ . quod g Ito; per iota significet scelus, et odium autem scribatur per upsilon. Sed non erat opus, ut homo La¬ tinus cum auctoribus gravissimis , atque Graecis, de Graecae vocis etymologia conten¬ deret. Nam etsi gio-o; odium, [xycros tamen scelus proprie significat : Porro Clemens a puov deduxit non a ghrov, licet pos¬ teriorem hanc vocem habeant aliqui Latini codices Eusebii, ex errore librariorum. Prae¬ terea Clemens non voluit eo loco propriam, ac germanam etymologiam Mysterii expli¬ care, sed de industria posuit quamdam minus propriam, sed valde aptam ad irridenda sacra Gentilium, quod tum agebat. Itaque cum vellet sacra illa ridere, ac detestari, dixit vel appellari pugr-^ota an b roO pio-ovj, quod scelesta, et exeeranda essent, vel dicta esse pjor-^oia, quasi ^-jOripia, id est, fabulosa. Alii deducunt pwrhpioj a verbo pw, quod est claudo, et <rr 6ya, quod est os : quasi Mys¬ teria silentio honoranda sint : vel a gisstv, et mpeiv, id est abscondere, et servare, quod sint occulte servandae res sacra}. Posset etiam non inepte deduci a fiviv puViiTw, quod est initio, seu sacris imbuo, unde est pjsry;?, id est, sacrorum antistes, qui alios initiat. Sunt autem tres hujus vocis significatio¬ nes. Prima ac praecipua est, ut Mysterium dicatur ea caeremonia, qua homines sacris initiantur. Quocirca a M. T. lib. II. de legi¬ bus dicuntur etiam initia : et S. Ambrosius librum scripsit, de iis, qui Mysteriis initian¬ tur. Et haec significatio respondet etymolo¬ giae, quam posuimus a verbo piEw, et huic voci in hac significatione respondet vox He¬ braea HNJiaS, id est, consecratio. Quia vero Mysteria Gentilium noctu celebrabantur, et secreta esse oportebat, inde nata est. Secunda significatio, qua Mysterium dici¬ tur id omne, quod arcanum, et secretum est. Hinc est illud Apostoli, I Corinth. XIII : Si noverim Mysteria omnia. Matth. XIII: Vobis datum est nosse Mysteria regni Dei (2) : Et respondet verbum Hebraeum in priore significatione, vel etiam T>D quo frequentius utuntur, id est, secretum. Tertia significatio ex secunda nata est, qua videlicet Mysterium dicitur omne signum externum rei arcanae, et latentis : qua signi¬ ficatione omnes figurae Testamenti veteris dicuntur Mysteria , nec non parabolae et similitudines quae habentur vel in Evangelio, vel in Apocalysi, ut testimonia supra allata ostendunt. Et huic respondet vox illa H in posteriore significatione. Jam vero Sacramenti etymologianotissima est ; dicitur enim a sacro : sed significationes multae sunt. Prima est, ut Sacramentum di¬ catur pignus a litigantibus in loco sacro po¬ situm. Ut enim scribit Varro lib. IV. de lingua Latina prope finem, mos erat apud Romanos, ut cum duo litigabant, tum qui affirmabat , tum qui negabat , deponeret quingenta aeris in loco sacro apud Pontifi¬ cem : finita vero lite, qui vicerat, depositum suum reciperet, qui vinceretur, perderet, ejusque depositum serario cederet in poenam injustae litigationis. Illa ergo deposita Sacra¬ menta dicebantur, quod in loco sacro serva¬ rentur. Iloec significatio proeter eseteras pla¬ cuit Zwinglio, in lib. de vera et falsa religione cap. de Sacramentis : « Sacramentum , in¬ quit, nihil aliud est quam initiatio, et oppig- neratio. Sicut enim qui litigaturi erant, certum pecuniae pondus deponebant; sic qui Sacramentis initiantur, sese obstringunt, et oppignerant. » Secunda acceptio est, ut Sacramentum idem sit, quod juramentum, quod quidem t (1) Matth. XI, 13; Galat. V, 3. — (2) I. Cor. XIII, 2; Matth. XIII, 11. 350 LIBFJt I. nisi per rem aliquam sacram fieri non potest, cum Deum ipsum testem citet omnis, qui jurat. Est autem haec acceptio frequenlis- sima in jure civili, et Canonico, et in aucto¬ ribus tum Gentilibus, tum etiam Christianis, llaec acceptio Calvino placuit lib. IV. Instit, cap. 14. §. 13. Sic tamen, ut Sacramentum non tam sit juramentum , quo se homo obstringit Deo, quam quo se Deus obstringit homini. Unde Nicolas Selnecerus in 2. par Paedagogiae cap. de Sacramentis, dicit gy<r- rfyjioy, dici a pW, quod est claudo, quia Sacramenta quasi Dei sigilla claudunt, et obstringunt divinas promissiones. Tertia significatio est, ut Sacramentum idem sit, quod Mysterium ; et proinde signi¬ ficet tria illa, quae Mysterii voce significari diximus ; nimirum, rem secretam, et signum rei secretae , et rem sacrantem , et ini¬ tiantem. Quae omnes acceptiones conveniunt nos¬ tris Sacramentis, sed maxime propria est ea, quam ultimo loco nominavimus. Nam illa Prima Varronis et Zwinglii non est aliena a nostris Sacramentis. Vere enim per Sacra¬ menta nos obstringimus, et oppigneramus Deo, tamen haec acceptio nec invenitur in Scripturis, nec est ita propria, ut solis Sa¬ cramentis nostris conveniat. Multa enim 'sunt alia praeter Sacramenta, quibus nos op¬ pigneramus Deo, ut omnia vota. Secunda acceptio Calvini, quadrat, etiam in nostra Sacramenta. Nam in Sacramentis, ut nos Deo obstringimus ad obsequium, ita se nobis ille quodammodo obstringit ad pro¬ tectionem. Sed neque hajc habetur in Scrip¬ turis, neque est propria nostrorum Sacra¬ mentorum, cum etiam sine Sacramentis per simplicem promissionem se Deus obstringere soleat. Tertia et quarta acceptio, qua Sacramen¬ tum dicitur quaecumque res sacra, arcana, vel signum rei sacrae et secretae, habentur in Scripturis, ut supra ostendimus, et Sacra¬ mentis nostris conveniunt. Nam omnia nos¬ tra Sacramenta, et sacra sunt, cum Dei sint; et arcana sunt, cum solis fidelibus nota sint, nec debeant aliis facile prodi, ut docet Dio¬ nysius de Eccles. hierar. cap. I. et Cyrillus lib. VII. in Julianum, extremo, et alii Patres passim, et denique rem sacram, et occultam significent, nimirum gratiam. Sed neque hae acceptiones sunt propria; nostris Sacramen¬ tis, cum plurima sint alia signa sacra, ar¬ cana, et quae res sacras, et arcanas signifi¬ cent, ut omnes fere figurae Testamenti ve¬ teris. Quinta igitur acceptio, qua Sacramentum significat caeremoniam initiantem, et conse¬ crantem hominem Deo, sive (quod fere est idem) signum rei sacras , non cujuscum- que, sed rei sacrae sacrantis, et initian¬ tis hominem, propriissima est. Nam in pri¬ mis solis Sacramentis convenit, ut postea fusius ostendemus. Deinde respondet apertissime etymologias Mysterii, et Sacramenti. Nam Mysterium de¬ duximus a gutto, quod est initio; et Sacra¬ mentum rectissime deducitur a sacrando. Unde S. Augustinus lib. XV. Civit, cap. 2G : « Inde, inquit, Sacramenta manarunt, qui¬ bus credentes initiantur » : ubi dicit, initiari Sacramentis novae legis. Et epist. 23. dicit, Sacramenta novae legis consecrare homines Deo. Et Tertullianus lib. de praescriptionibus, ostendere volens quemadmodum diabolus Deum imitari studeat : « Tingit, inquit, et ipse quosdam, utique, credentes, et fideles suos; expiationem delictorum de lavacro re¬ promittit, et sic etiam initiat Mithra. » Haec ille; ubi Baptismi Sacramentum initiationem appellat. Et S. Ambrosius librum, in quo de Sacramentis Baptismi et Eucharistiae tractat, inscribit, De iis, qui initiantur Mysteriis. Item Magister in IV. dist. I. et cum eo Doctores plurimi dicunt, Sacramentum dici a sacran¬ do. S. Thomas in 1. 2. quaest CII. art. 5 : <( Sacramenta, inquit, proprie dicuntur illa, quae adhibebantur Dei cultoribus ad quam¬ dam consecrationem, per quam scilicet de¬ putabantur quodammodo ad cultum Dei. » Denique Sacramenta veteris legis nura- quam vocantur in Scriptura Testamenti ve¬ teris secreta, vel signa rei sacratae, id est, 11D vel Y-j sed semper appellabantur conse¬ crationes, et initiationes, id est, vel caeremoniae, id est, mpn.