Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Word of God · Book I: On the Canonical Books
Chapter 2: That the Word of God is contained in the books called Canonical
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. I, De Verbo Dei, Book I: On the Canonical Books of Scripture. 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).
In the first place, Moses, the Prophets, Christ himself, John, and the Apostles either confirmed the divine doctrines from the Scriptures, or at the least exhorted others to read the Scriptures, and never remitted anyone, the Scriptures being set aside, to the judgment of an inner spirit. Their testimonies are brought forward by us, not because we think them greatly esteemed by the adversaries, but lest the Scriptures, whose authority the adversaries sometimes abuse against us who deservedly venerate them, should seem to make for their opinion.
Moses, then: If thou perceive that there be among you a hard and doubtful matter in judgment, etc. And below: Thou shalt do whatsoever they shall say that preside in the place which the Lord shall choose, and what they shall teach thee according to his law. Where plainly enough St. Moses teaches that controversies arising among the people of God are to be judged out of the law of the Lord. In the same manner Isaias also cries: To the law rather, and to the testimony. And Malachias: The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth, because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts. David too: Blessed are they that search his testimonies.
Christ, moreover, first confirms his own mission by the testimony of Scripture, those words of the Prophet being brought forward: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me, etc. Then he confutes the Sadducees out of the divine letters, when he says: Do you not therefore err, because you know not the Scriptures? And below: And as concerning the dead that they rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, etc.? Further, by what other argument did he impose silence on the Pharisees than by that which he drew from David? And again he sends those same Pharisees, not to any inner spirit, but to the divine Scriptures, saying: Search the Scriptures.
John the Baptist too used as witness of his mission, not the judgment of an inner spirit, but Isaias the Prophet; for being asked who he was, I am, said he, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaias the Prophet. Of the Bereans it is recorded, not without praise, in the Acts of the Apostles, that when they had heard Paul the Apostle, they searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so. And the Apostles themselves, Peter, Paul, John, James, Jude, not only frequently in their several epistles use the testimonies of the Law and the Prophets, which it would be too long here to recount, but sometimes also preach the authority of the Scriptures universally: We have, says St. Peter, the more firm prophetical word, whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place. And St. Paul: From thy infancy thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which can instruct thee to salvation. All Scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work. Finally God himself to Josue: Let not the book of this law depart from thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate on it day and night. With Moses, then, they fight, with the Prophets, with the Apostles, with Christ himself, and with God the Father and the Holy Ghost, who despise the sacred letters and the divine oracles.
Next, the rule of the Catholic faith ought to be certain and known; for if it be not known, it will be no rule to us; if it be not certain, it will not even be a rule. But a private revelation of the Spirit, however certain it be in itself, can in no way be known to us, unless perchance it be confirmed by divine testimonies, that is, by true miracles; of which those especially labor under the extremest want who in this our age boast of the spirit no less than the rest. For who will assure me that the Anabaptist lies not, when he says he is inspired by the spirit? But grant that he lies not: by what way shall I know that that spirit is a spirit of light and not a spirit of darkness? And when so many in this time glory that they have the Holy Spirit for guide and teacher, and yet so differ among themselves in minds and opinions that they are heretics one to another, it certainly cannot be that all think rightly. And if either all are deceived, or (which is altogether necessary) some are, who will dare to affirm that he is not of the number of those who are deluded by the spirit of Satan?
But than the sacred Scriptures, which are contained in the Prophetic and Apostolic letters, nothing is better known, nothing more certain; so that he must needs be most foolish who denies that faith is to be given them. That they are most known, the Christian world is witness, and the consent of all nations, among whom for many ages now they have always held the highest authority; and that they are most certain and most true, and contain not human inventions but divine oracles.
First, the truth of the prophecies is witness, of which St. Augustine thus speaks: “The faith of Scripture not undeservedly hath a wonderful authority throughout the world and among all nations, which, among the other true things it hath said, foretold with a true divinity that these nations would believe in it.” And again: “How much less is credit to be given to those writings which they have chosen to bring forth full of fabulous antiquities, against the authority of the most known and divine books, which foretold that the whole world would believe in them, and in which the whole world, as was foretold by them, hath believed; which show that they have narrated true things past, since the things they foretold as to come are fulfilled with so great a truth.”
Second, an incredible and plainly divine conspiracy and concord of so many men is witness, who in diverse places, times, tongues, and occasions wrote the sacred volumes, so that they seem to have been not so much diverse writers as the diverse pens of one writer. Wherefore rightly Theodoret, in the preface on the Psalms, and St. Gregory, in the preface on Job, judged that the tongues and hands of the sacred writers were to be called nothing else than the pens of the Holy Spirit. And St. Augustine, speaking of this admirable concord of the Scriptures: “Our authors, in whom not in vain is the Canon of the sacred letters fixed and bounded, far be it that they should in any way disagree among themselves. Whence not undeservedly, when they wrote these things, so many and so great peoples believed that God spoke by them or through them, not a few babblers in the schools and gymnasia amid contentious disputes, but in the fields and the cities, learned and unlearned alike. They indeed ought to have been few, lest by their multitude that should grow cheap which it behoved to be precious for religion; yet not so few that their consent should not be a thing to be wondered at. For not easily among the multitude of philosophers, who have left by their literary labor the monuments of their doctrines, would one find any between whom all that they held agrees.”
Third, God himself is witness, who at times by a heavenly chastisement defended this his Scripture from human profanation. For when King Ptolemy wondered why none of the historians or ancient poets had made mention of the divine books, Demetrius Phalereus answered (as from Aristeas, Josephus and Eusebius in the Preparation of the Gospel relate) that this Scripture was divine, and given by God himself; and that therefore, if any profane men had wished to touch it, they were straightway struck by God and recoiled. And he affirmed that a certain Theopompus, because he had wished to adorn something of the divine volumes in Greek discourse, was suddenly, by a certain agitation of mind divinely sent upon him, vehemently troubled, and compelled to desist from the unfinished work; and that Theodorus the writer of tragedies, because he had resolved to transfer I know not what from the divine Scripture to a certain fable, was smitten and bereft of his sight; so that by a sudden calamity a notable rashness was straightway repressed.
Fourth, the Scripture itself is witness, whose predictions of things to come, if they were true (as the event afterward proved), why should not its testimonies of things present be true? True therefore is that which David says: The Spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me, and his word by my tongue. True what Zacharias says: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who are from the beginning. True what Peter says: The holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost. And Paul: All Scripture is inspired of God. True, finally, that which all the prophets again and again repeat: Thus saith the Lord.
Lastly, an almost infinite number of divine miracles is witness, which in all ages have been wrought to confirm those doctrines which are contained in these letters.
Wherefore, since the sacred Scripture is a most certain and most safe rule of believing, he surely will not be sound who, neglecting it, shall commit himself to the judgment of an inner spirit, often deceptive and always uncertain. And well did St. Augustine, in the prologue to the Doctrine of the Christian, admonish Christians in these words: “Let us beware of such most proud and most perilous temptations, and let us rather consider that the Apostle Paul himself, though cast down and instructed by a divine and heavenly voice, was nevertheless sent to a man that he might receive the Sacraments and be joined to the Church; and that Cornelius the centurion, although an angel announced to him that his prayers were heard and his alms regarded, was nevertheless delivered to Peter to be instructed, by whom he might not only receive the Sacraments, but also hear what was to be believed, what hoped, what loved.”
To this is added that the providence of God so rules and orders each thing as the nature of each requires; and the nature of men requires this, that since we are endued with soul and body, and grasp corporeal things more easily than spiritual, we should be led through those things which are perceived by the senses of the body, as by certain steps, to things spiritual and heavenly. Not therefore does God teach all men commonly, by an inner inspiration, what he would have believed of himself or done by his own; but through corporeal letters, which we might both look upon and read, he willed to instruct us. “From that city whence we are pilgrims,” says Augustine, “letters have come to us; and these are the Scriptures, which exhort us to live well.”
Nor indeed, if David, Moses, Isaias, Peter, Paul, John, and certain other few, being in a manner admitted into the company of the Angels, drew wisdom of themselves from the very fountain of truth, will the rest of men straightway have need neither of the divine letters nor of any teachers. For one reckoning must be of the foundations, another of the walls, another of the mountains, another of the hills. Are all Apostles? are all Prophets? are all foundations? are all mountains? And if all be mountains, where are the hills? if all be foundations, where is the house? if all be Apostles and Prophets, where is the synagogue of the peoples, of which it is written in Psalm 7: And the synagogue of the peoples shall surround thee? We therefore are built up (as the Apostle says) upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, by whose preaching and letters we are instructed; but they who themselves saw and were ministers of the word are sustained and rest upon that highest corner-stone, Christ Jesus.
When the sun rises, the tops of the mountains are lit; and thence to the hills, and down to the lowest valleys, the rays of the light are carried. So, according to Psalm 71, the mountains receive peace for the people, and the hills justice. “The mountains,” says St. Augustine, “are the lofty souls, the hills the little souls; but the mountains therefore receive peace, that the hills may be able to receive justice. What is the justice which the hills receive? Faith: for the just man liveth by faith. But the lesser souls would not receive faith, unless the greater souls, which are called mountains, were themselves lit by wisdom, that they might pass on to the little ones what the little ones are able to receive.” And below: “When we lift our eyes to the Scriptures, because the Scriptures were ministered through men, we lift our eyes to the mountains, whence help shall come to us.”
Lastly, if in any human commonwealth, the laws and institutions of our forefathers being taken away, it were lawful to every man to do what by his own natural prudence he judged equal and just, how great a perturbation of all things, how great a confusion would follow? in how short a time would that whole commonwealth utterly perish? And yet there is no one who has not some understanding in human affairs, and who is wholly void of all judgment. What then would come to pass, if in that commonwealth which is divine rather than human, and in which many things must of necessity be believed above natural reason and many done above human powers, the sacred oracles divinely inspired were taken out of the midst, and the inner inspiration alone were to be awaited and followed? What of this, that the greatest part of men consists of the rude and unskilled, who have never felt, not even in a dream, anything divinely shown to them? What, then, of these? Are they to wait for ever? to believe nothing meanwhile? to perish unto all eternity? or shall they attain justice without faith, or beatitude without justice? But the Schwenckfeldians and Libertines have arguments by which they confirm and defend their opinion, that they may not seem to rave without reason; let us therefore inspect of what sort these are.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT II.
Libris , qui Canonici nominantur , verbum Dei
contineri.
Principio Moses, Prophetae, Christus ipse,
Joannes, Apostoli, vel divina dogmata ex
Scripturis ipsi confirmabant, vel certe ad
Scripturas legendas alios hortabantur, nec
ullum unquam ad interni spiritus judicium
Scripturis neglectis remiserunt. Quorum te¬
stimonia non eo a nobis adferentur, quod
ab adversariis magnifieri existimemus ; sed
ne Scripturae, quarum auctoritate adversus
nos qui eas merito veneramur, adversarii in¬
terdum abutuntur, pro eorum sententia fa¬
cere videantur.
Moses igitur : Si difficile , inquit, et ambi¬
guum apud te judicium esse perspexeris , etc.
Et infra : Facies quodcumque dixerint , qui
praesunt loco quem elegerit Dominas , et docue¬
rint te juxta legem ejus (3). Ubi satis aperte
S. Moses controversias exortas in populo
Dei ex lege Domini dijudicandas docet. Ad
eumdem modum et Isaias clamat : Ad legem
magis , et ad testimonium [A). Et Malach. Labia
Sacerdotis custodient scientiam , et legem requi¬
rent ex ore ejus : quia Angelus Domini exerci¬
tuum est (5). David quoque : Beati equi scru¬
tantur testimonia ejus (6).
Christus vero primum legationem suam
Scripturai testimonio confirmat, illis Prophe¬
tae verbis in medium allatis : Spiritus Do¬
mini super me, eo quod unxerit me, etc. (7).
Deinde Sadducaeos ex divinis litteris confu¬
tat, cum ait : Nonne ideo erratis non scientes
Scripturas ? Et infra : De mortuis autem quod
resurgant , non legistis in libro Moysi etc. (8)
Porro Pharisaeis quo alio argumento silen¬
tium imposuit quam illo, quod ex David de¬
prompsit? Et rursus eosdem Pharisaeos, non
ad spiritum aliquem internum, sed ad Scri¬
pturas divinas rejicit dicens : Scrutamini
Scripturas (9).
Jam vero Joannes Baptista testem legatio¬
nis suae, non spiritus interni judicium, sed
Isaiam Prophetam adhibuit; siquidem in¬
terrogatus quis esset : Ego , inquit, vox cla¬
mantis in deserto , dirigite viam Domini , sicut-
dixit Isaias Propheta { 10). De Beroeensibus il¬
lud non sine laude commemoratur in Actis
Apost. quod cum Paulum Apostolum audi¬
vissent, scrutabantur quotidie Scripturas, si
haec ita sc haberent (11). Ipsi vero Apostoli
Petrus, Paulus, Joannes, Jacobus, Judas, non
modo in singulis epistolis frequenter adhi¬
bent testimonia Legis et Prophetarum, quae
nimis longum esset hoc loco recensere ; sed
interdum etiam Scripturarum auctoritatem
universe praedicant : Habemus, inquit S. Pe¬
trus, firmiorem propheticum sermonem , cui
bene facitis attendentes, tanquam lucernae lu¬
centi in caliginoso loco (12). Et S. Paul. : Ab
infantia, inquit, sacras Litteras nosti, quae te
possunt instruere ad salutem. Omnis Scriptura
divinitus inspirata utilis est ad docendum, ad
arguendum, ad corrigendum, ad erudiendum in
justitia, ut perfectus sit homo Dei ad omne opus
bonum instructus (13). Denique Deus ipse ad
Josue : Non recedat , inquit, volumen legis
hujus ab ore tuo, sed meditaberis in eo diebus ac
noctibus. (14) Cum Mose igitur pugnant, cum
Prophetis, cum Apostolis, cum Christo ipso,
ac Deo Patre, et Spiritu sancto, qui sacras
litteras et oracula divina contemnunt.
Deinde regula Catholicae Fidei certa nota¬
que esse debet ; nam si nota non sit, regula
nobis non erit : si certa non sit, ne regula
quidem erit. Porro privata Spiritus revela¬
tio, utut in se certa sit, nobis tamen nota
esse nullo modo potest, nisi forte divinis te¬
stimoniis, id est, veris miraculis confirme¬
tur; quorum extrema penuria ii praesertim
laborant, qui hoc nostro saeculo non minus
quam caeteri spiritum jactant. Nam quis
mihi fidem faciet, non mentiri Anabaptis-
(1) Cap. 47. — (2) Sess. IV. — (3) Deut. XVII. 8. et 10. — (4) Cap. VIII. 20. — (5) Cap. II. 7.—
(6) Ps. CXVIII. 2. — (7) Isai. LXI. 1. — (8) Mare. XII. 24 et 26. — (9) Math. XXII. 43. et Joan. V.
39. —(10) Joan. I. 23. — (11) Cap. XVII. 11. — (12) II. Petr. I. 19. — (13) II. Timot. III. 15. —
(14) Jos. I. 8.
CAPUT II.
69
tam, cum se a spiritu afflatum dicit? Sed
fac ; non mentiri qua via cognoscam spi¬
ritum illum, spiritum lucis et non spiritum
tenebrarum esse? Et cum tam multi hoc
tempore ducem ac doctorem Spiritum Sanc¬
tum habere se glorientur, et tamen inter se
sic animis sententiisque dissideant ut alii
aliis sint haeretici, fieri certe non potest ut
omnes recte sentiant. Quod si aut falluntur
omnes, aut quod est omnino necessarium,
aliqui : quis affirmare audebit, ex eorum
numero se non esse, qui a spiritu Satanae
deluduntur ?
At sacris Scripturis, quae Propheticis et
Apostolicis litteris continentur, nihil est no¬
tius, nihil certius ; ut stultissimum esse ne-
cesse sit, qui illis fidem esse habendam ne¬
get. Notissimas enim esse, testis est orbis
Christianus et consensio omnium gentium,
apud quas multis jam saeculis summam sem-
per auctoritatem obtinuerunt : certissimas
autem atque verissimas esse, nec humana
inventa, sed oracula divina continere.
Primo testis est veritas vaticiniorum, de
qua sic loquitur S. Augustinus : «Scripturae
fides mirabilem auctoritatem non immerito
habet in orbe terrarum atque in omnibus
gentibus, quas sibi esse credituras, inter cae-
tera vera quae dixit, vera divinitate prae¬
dixit. » Et rursus : « Quanto minus, inquit,
credendum est illis litteris quas plenas fabu¬
losis velut antiquitatibus proferre voluerint,
contra auctoritatem notissimorum divino¬
rumque librorum, quae totum orbem sibi
crediturum esse praedixit, et cui totus orbis,
sicut ab ea praedictum est, credidit : quae
vera se narrasse praeterita, ex his quae fu¬
tura praenuntiavit, cum tanta veritate im¬
plentur, ostendit (1). »
Secundo testis est incredibilis quaedam et
plane divina conspiratio atque concordia tot
virorum, qui diversis locis, temporibus, lin¬
guis, occasionibus sacra volumina conscrip¬
serunt, ut non tam ipsi scriptores diversi,
quam unius scriptoris diversi calami fuisse
videantur. Itaque recte Theod. praefatione
in Psal. et Sanctus Greg. praefat. in Job,
linguas et manus Scriptorum sacrorum ni¬
hil aliud, quam Spiritus sancti calamos ap¬
pellandos esse censuerunt.
Et S. Augustinus de hac admirabili con¬
cordia Scripturarum loquens : « Auctores
nostri, inquit, in quibus non frustra sacra¬
rum litterarum figitur et terminatur Canon,
absit ut inter se aliqua ratione dissentiant.
Unde non immerito cum illa scriberent, eis
Deum, vel per eos locutum, non pauci in
scholis atque Gymnasiis litigiosis disputatio¬
nibus garruli, sed in agris atque urbibus,
cum doctis atque indoctis, tot tantique po¬
puli crediderunt. Ipsi sane pauci esse de¬
buerunt, ne multitudine vilesceret, quod re¬
ligione carum esse oporteret, nec tamen ita
pauci, ut eorum non sit miranda consensio.
Neque enim in multitudine Philosophorum,
qui labore etiam litterario monumenta suo¬
rum dogmatum reliquerunt, facile quis in¬
venerit, inter quos cuncta quae sensere con¬
veniant (2).
Tertio testis est Deus ipse, qui aliquando
coelesti animadversione Scripturam hanc
suam ab humana profanatione' defendit. Mi¬
ranti siquidem Ptolemaeo Regi, cur divino¬
rum librorum nulli, neque Historici, neque
Poetae veteres meminissent ; Demetrius Pha-
lerseus respondit, ut ex Aristaeo referunt Jo-
seph, et Euseb. Prsepar. Evang. (3) Divi¬
nam hanc Scripturam esse, atque a Deo ipso
datam ; propterea si qui profanorum homi¬
num eam attingere voluerunt, eos a Deo
percussos continuo resiliisse. Affirmavitque,
Theopompum quemdam, quod aliquid divi¬
norum voluminum Grseca oratione ornare
voluerat, subito, mentis quadam agitatione
divinitus immissa, vehementer perturbatum
ab inempto opere coactum esse desistere :
Theodorum vero Tragoediarum scriptorem,
quod nescio quid e divina Scriptura ad fa¬
bulam quamdam transferre decreverat, lu¬
minibus captum orbatumque esse : ita re¬
pentina calamitate insignem temeritatem
continuo esse repressam.
Quarto testis est ipsa Scriptura, cujus si
verae fuerunt praedictiones rerum futura¬
rum, ut eventus postea comprobavit, cur
vera non sint rerum praesentium testimonia?
Verum igitur est, quod ait David : Spiritus
Domini locutus est per me , et sermo ejus per
linguam meam (4) . Verum quod ait Zacha-
rias : Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel etc. Si¬
cut locutus est per os Sanctorum , qui a saeculo
sunt , Prophetarum ejus (5). Verum quod ait
(1) Civ. Dei. Lib. XII. Cap. 9. et 10. — (2) Civ. Dei Lib. XVIII. Cap. 41. - (3) Antiq. Jud. Lib.
XII. Cap. 2. ; Prsepar. Ev. Lib. VIII. Cap. 1. — (4) II. Reg. XXIII. 2. — (5) Luc. I. 68 et 70.
70
LIBER I.
Petrus : Spiritu sancto inspirati locuti sunt
sancti Dei homines (1). Et Paulus : Omnis
Scriptura divinitus inspirata (2). Verum de¬
nique id quod omnes prophetae identidem
repetunt : Haec dicit Dominus.
Postremo testis est infinitus prope nume¬
rus divinorum miraculorum, quae omnibus
saeculis facta sunt ad ea dogmata compro¬
banda, quae in his Litteris continentur.
Quare cum sacra Scriptura regula cre¬
dendi certissima tutissimaque sit, sanus pro¬
fecto non erit, qui ea neglecta, spiritus in¬
terni saepe fallacis, et semper incerti, judi¬
cio se commiserit. Et probe sanctus Augus¬
tinus in prologo de Doctrina Christiana, his
verbis Christianos admonuit : «Caveamus ta¬
les tentationes superbissimas et periculosis¬
simas, magisque cogitemus, et ipsum Apo¬
stolum Paulum, licet divina et coelesti voce
prostratum et instructum, ad hominem ta¬
men missum esse, ut Sacramenta percipe¬
ret, atque copularetur Ecclesiae : et Centurio¬
nem Cornelium, quamvis exauditas oratio¬
nes ejus, eleemosynasque respectas ei Ange¬
lus nuntiaverit, Petro tamen traditum im¬
buendum ; per quem non solum Sacramenta
perciperet, sed etiam quid credendum, quid
sperandum, quid diligendum esset, audi¬
ret. »
Huc accedit, quod providentia Dei ita quod¬
que regit et moderatur , ut cuj usque natura
postulat : natura autem hominum id postu¬
lat, ut quoniam animo et corpore praediti
sumus, et corporalia facilius quam spiritua¬
lia capimus ; per ea , quae sensibus corporis
percipiuntur, quasi per quosdam gradus, ad
spiritualia et coelestia deducamur. Non igi¬
tur omnes vulgo, per internum afflatum Deus
docet, quid de se credi, quidve a suis agi ve¬
lit : sed per corporales litteras , quas et cer¬
neremus, et legeremus , erudire nos voluit.
«De illa civitate, unde peregrinamur, inquit
Augustinus, litterae nobis venerunt; ipsae sunt
Scripturae, quae nos hortantur, ut bene viva¬
mus (3). »
Neque vero si David, Moses , Isaias , Pe¬
trus, Paulus, Joannes, et alii quidam paiffci
in coetum quodammodo Angelorum admissi,
ab ipso fonte veritatis per se sapientiam hau¬
serunt , continuo caeteri etiam homines , ne¬
que divinis litteris, neque ullis doctoribus
opus habebunt. Alia siquidem ratio esse de¬
bet fundamentorum, alia parietum, alia mon¬
tium , alia collium. Numquid omnes Apos¬
toli? numquid omnes Prophetae? numquid
omnes fundamenta? numquid omnes mon¬
tes ? et si omnes montes ; ubi colles ?
si omnes fundamenta ; ubi domus ? si om¬
nes Apostoli et Prophetae; ubi synagoga po¬
pulorum? de qua scriptum est in Psalm.
VII. Et synagoga populorum circumdabit
te (4). Nos igitur superaedificamur, ut Apo¬
stolus ait , super fundamentum Apostolo¬
rum et Prophetarum (5), quorum praedica¬
tione et litteris erudimur : illi vero , qui ipsi
viderunt, et ministri fuerunt sermonis , sus¬
tentantur atque nituntur ipso summo angu¬
lari lapide Christo Jesu.
Sole exoriente , montium cacumina illus¬
trantur ; inde autem ad colles , et usque ad
imas valles radii luminis derivantur. Ita
juxta Psalm. LXXI, suscipiunt montes pa¬
cem populo , et colles justitiam : « Montes,
inquit S. Augustinus , excelsae animae sunt,
colles parvae animae sunt ; sed ideo montes
excipiunt pacem, ut colles possint excipere
justitiam. Quae est justitia quam colles exci¬
piunt? Fides : quia justus ex fide vivit. Non
autem exciperent minores animae fidem, nisi
majores animae, quae montes dictae sunt, ab
ipsa sapientia illustrarentur, ut possent par¬
vulis trajicere, quod possint parvuli capere. »
Et infra : « Oculos nostros cum levamus ad
Scripturas, quia per homines ministratae sunt
Scripturae, levamus oculos nostros ad mon¬
tes, unde auxilium veniet nobis (6). »
Postremo, si in quavis humana Republica,
sublatis legibus institutisque majorum , id
unicuique liceret, quod naturali sua pruden¬
tia aequum ac justum censeret; quanta per¬
turbatio rerum omnium? quanta confusio se¬
queretur? quam brevi tempore tota ea Res¬
publica funditus interiret? et nemo tamen
est, qui non aliquid sapiat in rebus huma¬
nis, quique omni prorsus judicio careat.
Quid igitur fieret , si in ea Republica , quae
divina potius quam humana est , et in qua
multa necessario supra rationem naturalem
credenda, multa supra humanas vires agen¬
da sunt , sacra eloquia divinitus inspirata
tollerentur e medio , et solus internus affla¬
tus expectandus et sequendus esset? quid,
quod maxima pars hominum ex rudibus et
imperitis constat, qui nihil sibi divinitus in¬
dicari, ne per somnium quidem unquam
senserunt; quid igitur isti?^expectabunt sem-
(1) II. Petr. I. 21. — (2) II. Timoth. III. 16. — (3) Cone. 11. in Psal. 90. — (4) Psalm. VII. 8. —
(5) Epii. II, 20. — (6) Tract. I. in Joan.