Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Sacraments in General · Book II: On the Effect, Number, and Ceremonies of the Sacraments
Chapter 7: The same proved from the Latin Fathers
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. III, De Sacramentis in Genere, Book II: On the Effect, Number, and Ceremonies of the Sacraments. 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 same proved from the Latins. Now from the Latins, Tertullian in the book On Baptism: “First,” he says, “the liquid by which it might live was given — that is, water brought forth living creatures — so that in Baptism it should be no marvel if waters know how to give life.” Likewise in the book On the resurrection of the flesh he proves that the body will rise because the Sacraments are applied to the body, that their effect may pass to the soul: “The flesh is washed, that the soul may be cleansed; the flesh is anointed, that the soul may be consecrated; the flesh is signed, that the soul may be fortified; the flesh is overshadowed by the imposition of the hand, that the soul may be enlightened by the Spirit; the flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul may be fattened from God.” Where he enumerates various effects of the Sacraments; accordingly he does not think that the Sacraments only excite faith.
Cyprian book 2 epistle 2 to Donatus writes that, before he was baptized, he could scarcely be brought to believe what was preached by the Christians of the virtue of Baptism — namely, that it suddenly changes a man, wipes away sins, infuses virtues — but that afterward he learned by his own experience that it was true: “I thought it,” he says, “difficult and hard, given the manners of that time, what the divine indulgence promised me unto salvation: that anyone could be born again, and, quickened unto a new life by the laver of saving water, lay aside what he had before, and, though the frame of the body remaining, change the man in soul and mind. How,” I said, “is so great a conversion possible?” And below: “But after the stain of my former age had been wiped off by the help of the regenerating wave, and a light from above had poured itself into my expiated and pure breast; after, the Spirit being drunk in from heaven, a second nativity had restored me into a new man, in a wondrous manner,” etc. In which words two things are to be noted. First, if the Sacraments only objectively moved the mind to believe, as the adversaries say, there would have been no cause why Cyprian should believe with difficulty the effect of Baptism; for this effect is no more difficult than that the preached word of God avails to excite faith. Note, second, that Cyprian says Baptism works suddenly and swiftly, and renews a man. But he would not say this if he believed that Baptism moves the mind only objectively; for then it would not suddenly, nor ordinarily, have its effect. For from the same sign, as also from the same words, some are moved more quickly, some more slowly, some never.
Likewise in book 3 epistle 8 to Fidus he teaches that infants are to be baptized even before the eighth day (namely if danger of life threaten), that they may receive the remission of sin. Which same Pope Siricius bids in epistle 1 chapter 2. But if Baptism only excites faith, and profits infants only for this reason, that when they have grown up they will remember, etc., to what purpose does Cyprian will infants about to die to be baptized? Likewise in epistle 7 book 4 to Magnus he says that, as the poison of the scorpion and the serpent is extinguished in water, so the Devil struggles and resists the Exorcists before Baptism, but in Baptism loses all his power. All which certainly would be ridiculous if the Sacraments worked only objectively. See also the sermons On the Baptism of Christ, On the Lord's supper, and On the unction of Chrism. Like things has Gaudentius in the first treatise on Exodus. Lactantius book 7 On the divine reward chapter 5: “When a man, purified by the heavenly laver, lays aside his infancy with every stain of his former life, and, the increase of divine vigor being received, becomes a man perfect and full.” Pope Sylvester (as Nicephorus reports book 7 chapter 33), when he baptized Constantine, thus spoke: “This water, conceived with divine virtue through the invocation of the Trinity, as it washes outside the body of man, so cleansing the soul within from filth and defilement, makes it more splendid than the rays of the sun.”
Ambrose book 2 On penance chapter 2: “It seemed impossible,” he says, “that water should wash away sin. And Naaman the Syrian did not believe that his leprosy could be cleansed by water; but what was impossible, God made possible to be, who gave us so great a grace.” See also book 1 On the Sacraments chapters 4 and 5, book 2 chapters 4 and 5, book 3 chapter 1, and the book On those who are initiated into the mysteries chapters 3 and 9, and book 9 on Luke chapter 5, and book 3 On the Holy Spirit chapter 11. Jerome in epistle 83 to Oceanus: “How great a force Baptism has, and the water sanctified in Christ has grace, I shall teach a little later.” And below, where he has brought many testimonies and figures: “The day would fail me, if I wished to set forth from the holy Scriptures all the things which pertain to the power of Baptism.” See the same in the Dialogue against the Luciferians, and book 3 against the Pelagians, at the end. Optatus book 5 against Parmenian, at the beginning: “The Baptism of Christians, made complete by the Trinity, confers grace; if it be repeated, it makes shipwreck of life.” So he. Where you first see it plainly asserted that the Sacrament confers grace. Then, that this author says the repeated Baptism brings detriment clearly demonstrates that it does not work only objectively by exciting faith; for in that manner it would be usefully repeated. See there many things on the virtue of the Sacraments.
Augustine book 4 On Baptism chapter 22: “I find,” he says, “that not only suffering for the name of Christ can supply what was lacking from Baptism, but also faith and conversion of heart, if perhaps in the straits of the times aid cannot be given to celebrate the mystery of Baptism.” So he. If, then, sometimes martyrdom, sometimes faith with conversion of heart supplies the place of Baptism, it manifestly follows that Baptism does not justify by exciting faith, but by immediately applying the merits of Christ, and immediately justifying. And in the same place chapter 24 he proves that the Sacrament of Baptism profits little ones much, even though they lack faith, from Circumcision, which was given on the eighth day: “Why, then,” he says, “was it commanded him that he should thenceforth circumcise every male infant on the eighth day, who could not yet believe with the heart that it might be reputed to him unto justice, unless because the Sacrament itself, of itself, availed much?” Where Augustine teaches that the Sacrament does not work by exciting faith, but by effecting by its own force. The same Augustine book 19 against Faustus chapter 11: “The force of the Sacraments,” he says, “avails unspeakably much, and therefore, being despised, makes men sacrilegious. For that is impiously despised without which piety cannot be perfected.” So he. But if they only excited faith objectively, they would not only not avail unspeakably much, but would scarcely avail anything. For no one would say of a sermon that it avails unspeakably much, since very often by many sermons scarcely any are moved; and yet Luther confesses in the book against John Cochlaeus that a sermon is much more efficacious than Baptism — which is most true, if it be a question of the efficacy of provoking faith. The same Augustine tract 80 on John: “Whence is this so great virtue of water, that it touches the body and washes the heart?” And below: “Cleansing would by no means be attributed to the flowing and fleeting element, unless it were added in the word.”
Pope Leo in sermon 4 On the Nativity of the Lord: “To every man being born again the water of Baptism is like a virginal womb, the same Spirit filling the font which also filled the Virgin, that the sin which the sacred conception there emptied out, here the mystical washing may take away.” And sermon 5: “The origin which he took in the womb of the Virgin he placed in the font of Baptism: he gave to the water what he gave to the Mother. For the power of the Most High, and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, which made Mary bring forth the Savior, the same makes the wave regenerate the believer.” So he. The author of the homily On the Sacrament of the Lord's body, which is had among the homilies of Eusebius of Emesa, and in the ninth tome of St. Jerome: “Therefore,” he says, “as at the nod of the commanding Lord the heights of the heavens, the depths of the floods, the vast spaces of the earth suddenly stood forth out of nothing, so equal power in the spiritual Sacraments the virtue of the words affords, and the effect serves the thing,” etc. And in the same place, from the force of the Sacrament of Baptism, by which it suddenly changes and renews a man as to the soul, he proves that it ought not to seem incredible if the sacramental words change the substance of bread into the flesh of Christ. Where without doubt that objective operation for provoking faith has no place; for in the consecration of the Eucharist those words do not change the bread by exciting faith in it. And this author sets a like force in the consecration in respect of the bread, and in Baptism in respect of the soul. Gregory book 9 epistle 39 to Theoctista the Patrician teaches that in Baptism all sins are so truly forgiven as in the Red Sea the Egyptians truly died: “He, then,” he says, “who says that sins are not utterly forgiven in Baptism, let him say that in the Red Sea the Egyptians did not truly die.” Finally St. Bernard (to omit the more recent) in the sermon On the Lord's supper: “Two things,” he says, “the Sacrament of the Lord's body works in us: namely, that it both diminishes the sense in the least sins, and in the graver ones takes away consent altogether. If any of you now does not so often, nor so keenly, feel the motions of anger, of envy, of lust, or of the other things of this kind, let him give thanks to the body and blood of the Lord; because the virtue of the Sacrament works in him.” So he; whose words cannot be drawn to the effect of nourishing faith. For St. Bernard does not only say that through the Sacraments sins are remitted, which the Lutherans will have to be done through faith apprehending the justice of Christ and the good will of God; but he also says that the force of the Sacrament works in us that we consent not to sins, which by faith alone can neither be done, nor do the adversaries say it is done.
To this argument from the Fathers the heretics variously answer. Philip in the Apology article 13 speaks boldly indeed thus: “Nor can any letter be produced from the old writers which patronizes the Scholastics in this matter.” Luther in the book against Cochlaeus acknowledges the places of Augustine which Cochlaeus had cited, and of other Fathers, but after his manner despises them: “But if there be any of the Fathers,” he says, “who thought that the Sacraments justify by their own virtue — be it even Augustine, as Cochlaeus contends — I care not; they are the sayings of men, often fighting with themselves, teaching most things by human sense outside the Scriptures.” So he. But certainly it is more credible that so many holy Fathers understood the Scripture than one Luther; which he himself too would concede, unless the spirit of pride had plainly blinded him. Calvin answers, book 4 of the Institutes chapter 14 last section, that the Fathers speak hyperbolically: “Perhaps,” he says, “those immoderate encomiums of the Sacraments, which are read of our signs among the ancients, deceived those wretched Sophists; such as that of Augustine, that the Sacraments of the old law only promised the Savior, but ours give salvation. These and like figures of speech, since they did not observe that they were hyperbolical, they too promulgated their own hyperbolical dogmas.” So he. But this is a too ruinous evasion. For the cited Fathers for the most part refer these wonderful effects to the omnipotence of God; but there is no need of omnipotence where the discourses are not true and proper, but hyperbolical. Besides, the Fathers themselves sometimes admonish that they do not speak hyperbolically, as Chrysostom homily 4 to those about to be baptized, where, when he had said that by Baptism souls are perfectly washed and cleansed, he admonishes that he says these things not for the sake of ambition — that is, of amplifying, and of showing eloquence. And Augustine in epistle 23, near the end, says that those who do not believe that little ones, even without actual faith, can be saved through the Sacrament itself are unbelievers. From which we understand that he hands down not hyperbolical encomiums, but dogmas of faith. Finally, if Calvin said that one or another of the Fathers used hyperbole in a laudatory oration, it could be tolerated. But that all the Greeks and Latins, not only in sermons, but also in dogmatic books, or epistles, or commentaries on the Scriptures, speak hyperbolically, is in no way credible. Kemnitz in the second part of the Examen page 98 says that Scripture plainly attributes the power of justifying to the Sacraments, and that those places are not to be distorted by tropes into another sense, and that so they were understood by the Fathers; yet afterward he expounds all of the efficiency by the excitation of faith, which we have already refuted.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT VII. Idan probatur ex Latinis. Jam ex Latinis Tertullianus in lib. de Baptismo : « Prius, inquit, liquor, quo vive¬ ret, dedit, id est, aqua produxit animantia, ut in Baptismo mirum non sit, si aquae ani¬ mare noverunt. » Item lib. de resurrect. carnis probat, corpus resurrecturum, quia Sacramenta corpori adbibentur, ut ad ani¬ mam transeat eorum effectus : « Caro, in¬ quit, abluitur, ut anima emaculetur ; caro ungitur, ut anima consecretur; caro signa¬ tur, ut anima muniatur ; curo manus impo¬ sitione adumbratur, ut anima Spiritu illumi¬ netur ; caro corpore Christi et sanguine vescitur, ut anima de Deo saginetur. » Ubi enumerat varios effectus Sacramentorum; proinde non putat solum exciture fidem Sa¬ cramenta. Cyprianus lib. II. epistol. 2. ad Dona¬ tum, scribit, se, antequam baptizaretur, vix potuisse adduci ut crederet, quod a Christi¬ anis de Baptismi virtute praedicabatur : quod videlicet repente hominem mutet, peccata abstergat, virtutes infundat : sed postea id verum esse experientia sua didicisse: « Dif¬ ficile. inquit, ac durum pro illis tunc mori¬ bus opinabar, quod in salutem mihi divina indulgentia pollicebatur, ut quis renasci de- nuo posset, utque in novam vitam lavacro aqua; salutaris animatus, quod prius fuerat exponeret, corporis licet manente compage, hominem animo ac mente mutaret: Qui pos¬ sibilis, aiebam, est tanta conversio? » Et infra : « Sed postquam unda; genitalis auxi¬ lio superioris sevi labe detersa in expiatum pectus, ac purum desuper se lumen infudit : postquam ccelitus Spiritu hausto in novum me hominem nativitas secunda reparavit, mirum in modum etc. » In quibus verbis duo notanda sunt. Primo ; Si Sacramenta tantum objective moverent mentem ad cre¬ dendum, ut adversarii dicunt non fuisset ulla causa, cur Cyprianus difficulter crede¬ ret effectum Baptismi : non enim est hic effectus magis difficilis, quam sit, quod ver¬ bum Dei praedicatum valeat ad excitandam fidem. Nota secundo; Cyprianum dicere, Baptismum repente et perniciter operari, et renovare hominem. At hoc non diceret, si crederet, Baptismum movere mentem solum objective : Nam tunc non repente, nec ordi¬ narie haberet suum effectum. Aliqui enim ex eodem signo, ut etiam ex iisdem verbis, celerius moventur , aliqui tardius, aliqui numquam. Item in lib. III. epist. 8. ad Fidum, docet, infantes baptizandos, etiam ante octavum diem (nimirum si vita; periculum immineat) ut peccati remissionem accipiant. Quod idem jubet Siricius Papain epist I. cap. 2. At si Baptisma solum excitat fidem, et pro¬ dest infantibus tantum ea ratione, quia cum adoleverint , recordabuntur etc. quorsum infantes morituros baptizari vult Cyprianus? Item in epist. 7. lib. IV. ad Magnum, dicit, quomodo venenum scorpii et serpentis in aqua extinguitur ; ita Diabolum obluctari, et resistere Exorcistis ante Baptismum; At in Baptismo amittere omnem viitutem. Qua; certe omnia ridicula essent, si tantum ob¬ jective Sacramenta operarentur. Vide etiam sermones de Baptismo Christi, de coena Do¬ mini, et de unctione Chrismatis. Similia habet Gaudentius in I. tract. de Exodu. Lactantius lib. VII. de divino praemio cap. 3: « Cum homo cmlesti lavacro purifi¬ catus exponit infantiam cum omni labe vita; prioris, et incremento divini vigoris accepto, fit homo perfectus ac plenus. » CAPUT VII. 437 Sylvester Papa (ut refert Nicephorus lib, VII. c. 33. cum Constantinum baptizaret, ita locutus est : « Haec aqua divina virtute per invocationem Trinitatis concepta, sicut ex¬ tra corpus hominis abluit, ita animum intra a sorde et inquinatione mundans, splendi¬ diorem radiis solaribus efficit. » Ambrosius lib. II. de poenit. cap. 2: «Im¬ possibile, inquit, videbatur, ut peccatum ablueret aqua. Et Naaman Syrus lepram suum mundari per aquam posse non credi¬ dit : sed quod impossibile erat, Deus fecit possibile esse, qui tantam nobis donavit gra¬ tiam. » Vide etiam librum I. de Sacrament. cap. 4. et 3. librum II. cap. d. et 3. librum III. cap. 1. et librum de iis, qui initiantur mysteriis cap. 3. et 9. et lib. IX. super Lu¬ cam cap. 3. et lib. III. de Spiritu sancto cap. d 1 . Hieronymus in epist. 83. ad Oceanum : « Quantam vim, inquit, habeat Baptisma, et aqua in Christo sanctificafa gratiam, paulo post docebo. » Et infra, ubi plurima attulit testimonia et figuras : « Dies, inquit, me deficiet, si cuncta, quae ad potentiam Bap¬ tismi pertinent, de Scripturis sanctis voluero digerere. » Vide eumdem in Dialog. contra Luceferianos, et lib. III. contra Pelagianos extremo. Optatuslib. V. cont. Parmenianum, initio: « Baptisma, inquit, Christianorum Trinitate confectum , confert gratiam ; si repetatur, facit vitaejacturam. » Haec ille. Ubi primum vides, aperte asseri, Sacramentum conferre gratiam. Deinde, quod hic auctor ait, Bap¬ tismum repetitum detrimentum adferre, clare demonstrat, non operari tantum objec- tive excitando fidem; nam eo modo utiliter repeteretur. Vide ibidem multa de virtute Sacramentorum. Augustinus lib. IV.de Baptismo, cap. 22: « Invenio, inquit, non tantum passionem pro nomine Christi id, quod ex Baptismo dee¬ rat, posse supplere, sed etiam fidem , con¬ versionemque cordis , si forte ad celebran¬ dum mysterium Baptismi in angustiis tem¬ porum succurri non potest. » Haec ille. Si ergo aliquando martyrium , aliquando fides cum cordis conversione supplet vicem Bap¬ tismi, manifeste sequitur, non justificare ex¬ citando fidem , sed immediate applicando Christi merita, atque immediate justifican¬ do. Et ibidem cap. 24. probat, Sacramen¬ tum Baptismi multum parvulis prodesse, etiamsi illi cureant fide ; ex Circumcisione. quae dabatur octavo die: « Cur ergo, inquit, ei praeceptum est , ut omnem deinceps in¬ fantem masculum octavo die circumcideret, qui nondum poterant corde credere , ut ei deputaretur ad justitiam, nisi quia, et ipsum per se ipsum Sacramentum multum vale¬ bat?» Ubi Augustinus docet, Sacramentum non operari excitando fidem, sed vi sua effi¬ ciendo. Idem Augustinus lib. XIX. contra Faustum, cap. H : « Sacramentorum, in¬ quit, vis inenarrabiliter valet plurimum, et ideo contempta, sacrilegos facit. Impie quip¬ pe contemnitur, sine qua non potest perfici pietas. » Haec ille. At si tantum excitarent fidem objective, non modo non inenarrabi¬ liter valerent plurimum, sed vix aliquid va¬ lerent. Nam de concione nemo diceret, eam inenarrabiliter plurimum valere, cumssepis- sirae multis concionibus vix aliqui movean¬ tur: et tamen fatetur Lutherus in libro con¬ tra Joannem Cochlseum, multo efficaciorem esse concionem Baptismo. Quod verissimum est, si agatur de efficacitate provocandi fi¬ dem. Idem Augustinus tract. 80 in Joann. : « Unde tanta virtus aquar, ut corpus tangat et cor abluat? » Et infra : « Mundatio, ne¬ quaquam fluxo, et labili tribueretur elemen¬ to, nisi adderetur in verbo.» Leo Papa in serm. 4. de Natali Domini : « Omni homini renascenti aqua Baptismatis, instar est uteri virginalis , eodem Spiritu replente fontem , qui replevit et Virginem, ut peccatum , quod ibi vacuavit sacra con¬ ceptio, hic mystica tollat ablutio.» Et serm. 3 : « Originem, quam sumpsit in utera Vir¬ ginis , posuit in fonte Baptismatis : dedit aquar, quod dedit Matri. Virlusenim Altissi- mi, et obumbratio Spiritus sancti, quae fe¬ cit , ut Maria pareret Salvatorem , eadem fecit, ut regeneret unda credentem. » Harc ille. Auctor homilise de Sacramento corporis Domini, quar habetur inter EusebiiEmisseni homilias, et in IX. tom. S. Hieronymi : «Er¬ go, inquit, ut ad nutum praecipientis Domi¬ ni , repente ex nihilo substiterunt excelsa coelorum, profunda fluctuum , vasta terra¬ rum : ita parem potentiam in spiritualibus Sacramentis verbis praebet virtus, et rei ser¬ vit effectus etc. » Et ibidem ex vi Sacramenti Baptismatis , quo repente hominem mutat, ac renovat quoad animam, probat, non de¬ bere videri incredibile, si verba Sacramen- talia mutent substantiam panis in carnem Christi. Ubi sine dubio nullum habet locum f 438 LIBER II. operatio illa objectiva ad provocandam fi¬ dem; neque enim in consecratione Eucha¬ ristiae verba illa mutant panem excitando in eo fidem. Similem autem vim ponit hic auc¬ tor in consecratione respectu panis , et in Baptismo respectu animae. Gregorius lib. IX, epist. 39. ad Theodis- tam Patritiam , docet , in Baptismo omnia peccata ita vere dimitti , ut in mari rubro vere iEgyptii mortui sunt : « Qui ergo, in¬ quit, dicit , peccata in Baptismate funditus non dimitti, dicat in mari rubro, yEgyptios non veraciter mortuos. » Denique S. Bernardus (ut recentiores omit¬ tam) in serm. de coma Domini : « Duo, in¬ quit, operatur in nobis Sacramentum Do¬ minici corporis , ut videlicet et sensum mi¬ nuat in minimis, et in gravioribus peccatis tollat omnino consensum. Si quis vestrum non tam saepe modo, non tam acerbos sen¬ tit iracundiae motus, invidiae , luxuriae, aut caeterorum hujusmodi, gratias agat corpori et sanguini Domini : quoniam virtus Sacra¬ menti operatur in eo. » Haec ille : cujus ver¬ ba non possunt trahi ad eflectum nutriendae fidei. Non enim S. Bernardus solum dicit, per Sacramenta remitti peccata , quod Lu- therani fieri volunt, per fidem apprehenden¬ tem Christi justitiam, et Dei benevolentiam; sed etiam dicit , vim Sacramenti operari in nobis, ut non consentiamus peccatis , quod p r solam fidem nec potest fieri, neque ad¬ versarii fieri dicunt. Ad hoc argumentum ex Patribus varie respondent haeretici ; Philippus in Apologia, art. 13. audacter sane ita loquitur : «Neque ulla littera ex veteribus scriptoribus proferri potest, quae patrocinetur in hac re Scholas¬ ticis. » Lutherus in lib. contra Cochlaeum, agnos¬ cit loca Augustini, quae citaverat Cochlaius, et aliorum Patrum , sed more suo contem¬ nit : « Quod si qui sunt, inquit, ex Patribus, qui senserunt, Sacramenta sua virtute justi¬ ficare, esto etiam Augustinus, ut Cochleeus contendit, nihil moror, hominum sunt dicta, sibiipsis saepius pugnantium , pleraque hu¬ mano sensu extra Scripturas docentium. » Haec ille. At certe credibilius est, tot sanctos Patres Scripturam intellexisse , quam unum Lutherum : quod ipse quoque concederet, nisi eum plane superbiae spiritus excaecas- set. Calvinus respondet lib. IV Institut. c. 14. §. ult. Patres hyperbolice loqui : « Forte, inquit, miseros istos Sophistas deceperunt immodica illa Sacramentorum encomia,quai de signis nostris apud veteres leguntur : quale est illud Augustini, quod veteris legis Sacramenta Salvatorem tantum promitte¬ bant, nostra vero dent salutem. Has et simi¬ les dicendi figuras, cum non adverterent hy- perbolicas esse, et ipsi hyperbolica sua dog¬ mata promulgarunt. » Haec ille. At hoc ni¬ mis ruinosum est effugium. Nam citati Pa¬ tres , ut plurimum referunt ad omnipoten¬ tiam Dei hos mirabiles effectus : nulla au¬ tem est opus omnipotentia, ubi non veri ac proprii, sed hyperbolici sermones sunt. Prae¬ terea Patres ipsi aliquando monent, se non loqui hyperbolice , ut Chrysostomus homil. 4. ad baptizandos, ubi cum dixisset, Baptis¬ mo perfecte lavari, et mundari animas, mo¬ net se non ea dicere ambitionis gratia , id est, amplificandi, et eloquentiae ostendendae studio. Et Augustinus in ep. 23. circa finem, dicit, eos qui non credunt, posse fieri ut parvuli etiam sine fide actuali per ipsum Sacramen¬ tum salventur, infideles esse. Ex quo intel- ligimus, eum non hyperbolica encomia, sed dogmata fidei tradere. Denique si diceret Calvinus, unum, aut alterum ex Patribus Hyperbole usum in oratione laudatoria, pos¬ set tolerari. At quod omnes Graeci et Latini, non modo in concionibus , sed etiam in li¬ bris dogmaticis, vel epistolis, vel commen¬ tariis Scripturarum hyperbolice loquantur, nullo modo credibile est. Kemnitius in2. par. Examinis, pag. 98. di¬ cit, Scripturam aperte tribuere vim justifi¬ candi Sacramentis : nec esse ea loca per tropos detorquenda in alium sensum, et sic a Patribus esse intellecta; tamen postea ex¬ ponit omnia de efficientia per excitationem fidei, quod jam refutavimus.