Bellarmine · Judicium de Libro Concordiae · Judgement on the Book of Concord
Chapter 4: Lies IV to X: Faith and Works, the Sacraments, Perfection, Merit, and the Invocation of the Saints
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. VII, Judicium de Libro Concordiae, a judgement of 1585 on the Lutheran Formula of Concord. 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 Fourth Lie
In the Augsburg Confession, article 12, page 15 [“Io” in the scan] of the Concord, this is found: “Those too are rejected who do not teach that the remission of sins comes through faith, but teach that the remission of sins comes because of our love and works.” These words, although they seem to have been put obscurely on purpose, yet without doubt make this sense: that they signify that those are to be rejected who teach that men are justified from sins without faith, by love and works alone. Nor can it be doubted that by these words all Catholics, and especially the scholastic theologians, are marked. And if there could have been any doubt, it has now been removed by the Apology, where this lie is repeated and pressed to the point of disgust: that the scholastics teach that justification does not come from faith but from works, that is, from works without faith. For since they themselves stand at one extreme, when they teach that men are justified by faith without works, they want to place us at the other extreme, as if we taught that men are justified by works without faith.
But this is not, and never was, the teaching of the Catholic Church, nor even of the scholastic Theologians. For we have always taught, and teach, that men are justified by faith and love and good works, in such a way that for the preparation and disposition to justification there are required acts of faith, hope and love, which yet we do not have unless God's grace goes before us, stirs us and helps us; that formal justification itself consists in the true remission of all sins and the infusion of the habits of faith, hope and charity, which God freely pours into our hearts because of the merit of Christ; and lastly that actual righteousness is obedience to and keeping of the divine law, for which we are fit not of ourselves but from the spirit of grace, that is, of faith, hope and charity, given us by God through Christ.
So teaches the Council of Trent, session 6, chapter 6: “They are disposed to righteousness itself when, stirred up and helped by divine grace, conceiving faith by hearing, they are freely moved toward God,” and so on. And chapter 7: “Although no one can be righteous except him to whom the merits of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ are communicated, yet this is done in this justification of the ungodly when, by the merit of that same most holy passion, the charity of God is poured out by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those who are justified, and inheres in them. Hence in justification itself, together with the remission of sins, man receives all these things infused at once through Jesus Christ, into whom he is grafted: faith, hope and charity.” And chapter 10: “Through the keeping of the commandments of God and of the Church, in righteousness itself, received through the grace of Christ, faith working together with good works, they grow,” and so on. You see, then, that faith is never shut out, but on the contrary is always required, whether it is justification itself that is in question, or the things that go before it or even follow it.
And lest they say that this is new teaching, and that we have only now begun to be wise, stirred up by them, as Philip boasts several times in the Apology, let us add also the testimony of the prince of the Scholastics that faith is required for justification. St. Thomas, 1-2, question 113, article 4: “For the justification of the ungodly a movement of the mind is required, by which it is turned to God. But the first turning to God is made by faith, according to that saying of Hebrews 11: He who comes to God must believe. And so a movement of faith is required for the justification of the ungodly.”
The Fifth Lie
Page 16, in article 13 of the Confession, are these words: “They condemn therefore those who teach that the sacraments justify ex opere operato, and do not teach that faith is required in the use of the sacraments, which believes that sins are forgiven.” Here too the scholastic Theologians are marked, as if they taught that the sacraments profit even without faith. But it is an open lie, for the refuting of which the testimony of St. Thomas alone will suffice, who says in part 3, question 68, article 8: “Right faith is of necessity required for Baptism, because, as it is said in Romans 3, the righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ.” And below: “To the first, then, it must be said that the Lord speaks there of Baptism according as it brings men to salvation through justifying grace, which indeed cannot be without right faith; and so he says pointedly: He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.”
The Sixth Lie
Page 17, in article 16 of the Confession, this is found: “They condemn also those who place Gospel perfection not in the fear of God and faith, but in forsaking civil duties.” It is a manifest lie against the Catholic professors of the religious orders, as if they thought perfection properly consists in forsaking civil duties: marriage, soldiering, magistracies and the like. But neither the old monks nor the more recent ever taught this. John Cassian, conference 1, chapter 7: “Fasts, vigils, meditation of the Scriptures, nakedness and the loss of all possessions are not perfection, but the instruments of perfection.” Blessed Thomas, from the Scholastics, 2-2, question 184, article 3: “Of itself and essentially,” he says, “the perfection of the Christian life consists in charity: principally according to the love of God, secondarily according to the love of neighbour.” And below: “Secondarily and as an instrument, perfection consists in the counsels, which are ordered to removing the hindrances to the act of charity, which yet are not contrary to charity; such as marriage, the occupation of worldly business, and other such things.”
That the state of those who leave all things for Christ and are not entangled in worldly business is more perfect than that of others who do not do this, and that this more perfect state is not commanded but counselled, is gathered clearly enough from the Lord's words, Matthew 19, where after he had said, If you will enter into life, keep the commandments, he added: If you will be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and so on. Nor do we read anywhere: If you will be perfect, take a wife, enter public life, and so on. Hence St. Augustine, letter 89, question 4: “Let that young man see how he kept those commandments of the law. But the good Master distinguished the commandments of the law from this more excellent perfection. For there he said: If you will come to life, keep the commandments. But here: If you will be perfect, go, sell all,” and so on. Eusebius, book 1 of the Demonstration of the Gospel, chapter 8, setting out the common teaching of the Catholic Church, drawn from the divine letters: “Therefore,” he says, “two ways of living have been established in the Church of God. The one goes beyond our nature and the common manner of human life; it requires no marriage, no children, no property, no means of wealth, and is given to the worship of God alone out of an immense love of heavenly things. And such is the perfect manner of life in Christianity. The other is more relaxed and more human: it is bound up with modest marriage and the begetting of children, takes on the care of a household, sets out for those who serve justly as soldiers what they must do, and does not neglect farming [“agnos” printed; read agros] and trade, with religion joined to them; and to these the second degree of piety is assigned.”
We could prove this same thing from many testimonies of Scripture and the Fathers, if it were our purpose to refute the errors of the Confession, and not only to point out its lies.
The Seventh Lie
Page 18, in article 20 of the Confession: “Ours are falsely accused of forbidding good works.”
That this is a lie no one will doubt who has read through anything of Luther's writings. Certainly in the sermon on Peter's catch of fish we read thus: “The more wicked men are, the sooner God pours in grace.” In the same place: “We must come with Isaac alone, that is, with faith; the servants and asses, that is, works, must be left below.” Likewise in the sermon God so loved the world: “I tell you that the way is narrow; you must become thin if you want to come through it. But those who are loaded with works (as we see the pilgrims of St. James loaded with shells) will not be able to get through.” And below: “If you come with great sacks full of works, you will have to put them down, otherwise you will not be able to get through.”
Further, from these springs flowed those splendid teachings which Luther's disciples tried to establish in the Colloquy of Altenburg: “The good works of the law, and the new obedience, belong not to the kingdom of Christ but to the world. Christians with all their good works belong to Satan. We must pray that in faith, without any good works, we may persevere constant to the end. So far are they from being necessary that they are even a hindrance to salvation, and harmful.”
Next, Catholics do not so much accuse the Lutherans of forbidding good works as of despising them, and teaching, with Eunomius the ancient heresiarch, and even with Simon Magus, the prince of all heretics, that they are not necessary for salvation. Of Eunomius the witness is Augustine in the book On heresies, chapter 54; of Simon, Irenaeus, book 1, chapter 20; of Luther, his own book On the Babylonian captivity, the chapter on Baptism; the book On Christian liberty; the Sermon on Moses; the Commentary on the letter to the Galatians.
The Eighth Lie
Page 19, in article 20 of the Confession: “They (the Catholic Doctors) bid men merit the remission of sins by works.” If the merit of those works is meant which are done by the powers of nature alone, and the words that follow show that the article is to be understood of that merit, it is a notable lie of Philip's. For Catholic teaching does not hold that by those works which are done without faith and the free help of God men can merit the remission of sins. And against these merits of works St. Augustine defends grace and the righteousness of faith; and so too St. Prosper in the books On the calling of the nations, which books Philip ignorantly attributes to Ambrose, since in those books the Pelagians are refuted by name, who arose after Ambrose's death.
But if it is a question of those works which proceed from faith and the grace of God, we do indeed confess that by those works we in some way merit the remission of sins. But the prophets, evangelists and fathers confess the same. Ezekiel 18: When the wicked man turns away from his wickedness, he shall save his soul alive. Daniel 4: Redeem your sins with alms. Jonah 3: God saw their works, and had mercy on them. Luke 11: Give alms, and behold, all things are clean to you. Luke 7: Many sins are forgiven her, because she loved much. Ambrose, book 10 on Luke: “Tears do not ask for pardon, but merit it.” And below: “And you, if you wish to merit pardon, wash away your fault with tears,” and so on. Jerome, book 2 against the Pelagians: “Those who simply confess their sins merit by humility the clemency of the Saviour.” Augustine, letter 105: “Nor is the remission of sins itself without some merit, if faith obtains it; for the merit of faith is not nothing: by which faith he said, God be merciful to me a sinner, and went down justified by the merit of faith, humbled, since he who humbles himself shall be exalted. It remains, then, that we attribute faith itself, from which all righteousness takes its beginning, not to human choice, by which these men are puffed up, nor to any preceding merits, since from it begin whatever good merits there are; but that we confess it to be the free gift of God, if we think of true grace, that is, without merits.” And letter 106: “If anyone says that faith merits the grace of working well, we cannot deny it; indeed we confess it most gladly.” Gregory, on 1 Kings, book 3, chapter 4: “While the Ninevites cast themselves down in heavy penance, as for a hard reconciliation, they easily merited the mercy of almighty God.”
St. Thomas too, from the Scholastics, teaches with the aforesaid Fathers that by those works which are done from faith and the help of God we in some way merit justification from sins: 2 Sentences, distinction 27, question 4, in the reply to the 4th. But this he constantly denies of those works which are done by the powers of nature alone: 1-2, question 109, article 6, and question 114, article 5.
Add to this that even to those works which are done from faith and the help of God we do not attribute such merit that a reward answers to it in justice, but only a merit of obtaining by asking, as Augustine speaks, which the scholastics usually call merit de congruo, not de condigno. Nor is there in this any disagreement among Catholics. And the Council of Trent, session 6, chapter 8, openly declares of this kind of merit that men are justified freely because neither faith nor the works that go before justification merit justification itself.
But it seems a paradox to the adversaries that a man should work from faith and not yet be justified from sin, since with them faith alone so justifies that faith cannot be separated from justification. But it does not seem a paradox to those who, praying from faith, say: Forgive us our debts, Matthew 6. Nor did this seem a paradox to him who prayed from faith: God be merciful to me a sinner, Luke 18. Nor lastly was this a paradox to Augustine, when he wrote in letter 105: Nor is the remission of sins itself without some merit, if faith obtains it.
The Ninth Lie, and Indeed a Manifold One
Pages 18 and 19, in the same article 20, many lies are heaped together, such as: “That our preachers formerly taught little about the works that please God; that they pressed only childish and unnecessary works; that now, warned by the Lutherans, they are unlearning these things; that they are now beginning to make mention of faith; that the teaching of faith long lay unknown.” Had Philip not read, I suppose, the Sermons of St. Bernard, Peter Damian, Innocent III, Thomas Aquinas, Vincent, Bernardine, Laurence Justinian, and countless others, in which are contained most weighty discussions on the Creed, the Decalogue, the Lord's Prayer, all the vices and all the virtues? But it is easy to say and not to prove.
The Tenth Lie
Page 22, in article 21 of the Confession: “This is about the sum of the teaching among us, in which it can be seen that there is nothing that disagrees with the Scriptures, or with the Catholic Church, or with the Roman Church, so far as it is known from the writers.” To convict this lie there will be no need to go outside this article 21. For here they assert that help is not to be asked of the saints, because Christ is the one intercessor. In this article indeed they plainly disagree with the Scriptures, with the Catholic Church and with the Roman Church.
For although there is one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, and he is the one mediator because he gave himself a redemption for many, 1 Timothy 2, and no Catholic ever taught that the saints are mediators by way of redemption: yet that there is only one intercessor, one advocate, one who pleads for us, indeed only one mediator by way of supplication, Scripture not only does not say, but most openly contradicts those who say so. Job 5: Call, if there be any that will answer you, and turn to some one of the Saints; where the Angels are made intercessors of men, as Augustine testifies in the notes on Job; so Christ is not the only intercessor. Deuteronomy 5: I, says Moses, was the go-between and in the middle between God and you on that day. 1 Kings 7, the children of Israel say to Samuel: Do not cease to cry to the Lord for us. Job, the last chapter: Go to my servant, he shall pray for you; his face I will accept. Romans 15: I beseech you, brethren, that you help me in your prayers for me to God. The same he repeats in 2 Corinthians 1, Colossians 4, Ephesians 6, Hebrews 13. How then is there only one intercessor, when Job and Moses and Samuel, and so many Romans, so many Corinthians, so many Colossians, so many Ephesians, so many Hebrews are used as intercessors?
But, they say, we are dealing with the dead, not with the living. But if the dead are not to be called on, and cannot be intercessors, lest the glory of singular intercession be taken from Christ, for the same cause neither will the living be called on, nor be able to be intercessors. Next, if those living on earth can be called on, why not rather those living in heaven? Is it perhaps because they cannot or will not pray for us, or certainly do not know what we ask? But neither does their happiness allow that they cannot; nor does their charity permit that they will not; nor can they be ignorant of the prayers directed to them, since they are not ignorant of the repentance of sinners. For there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, Luke 15.
Now the adversaries do not deny that the Council of Chalcedon was a Council of the Catholic Church, and an orthodox, general and very full Council. But that Council, in action 11, cries out thus: “Flavian lives after death; may the Martyr pray for us.” Eusebius of Caesarea, delivering the common teaching of the Catholic Church, book 13 of the Preparation for the Gospel, chapter 7: “These things,” he says, “we do daily, who are soldiers of true piety, honouring them as friends of God; we go also to their monuments and make our prayers to them as to holy men, by whose intercession with God we profess that we are helped not a little.” St. Basil was speaking to the Catholic Church when he said, in the oration on the 40 Martyrs: “Let him who is pressed by some distress flee to these; let him who again is glad pray to them; the one that he may be freed from evils, the other that he may continue in happiness.” St. Ambrose, in the book On Widows, was instructing Catholic widows when he wrote thus: “The Angels are to be besought, who have been given us for protection; the Martyrs are to be besought, whose patronage we seem to claim for ourselves by a certain pledge of their body. They can pray for our sins who washed away with their own blood whatever sins they had. For these are God's Martyrs, our protectors, the watchers of our life and our actions. Let us not be ashamed to use them as intercessors for our weakness, for they themselves knew the weakness of the body even when they conquered.”
St. Augustine, tractate 84 on John, with almost three words tears up three teachings of the adversaries, on the Sacrifice of the altar, on Prayer for the dead, and on the invocation of the Saints: “For this reason,” he says, “at that table we do not commemorate them (the Martyrs) as we do others who rest in peace, so as to pray for them too, but rather that they may pray for us.” Lastly, the emperor Theodosius was orthodox and pious, as even the adversaries confess; and yet Rufinus writes thus of him, book 2 of the history, chapter 33: “He went round all the places of prayer with the priests and the people, lay before the shrines of the Martyrs and Apostles, prostrate in sackcloth, and asked for sure help for himself by the intercession of the saints.” And of the same Chrysostom, homily 66 to the people of Antioch: “For he too who is clothed in purple comes to embrace those tombs, and, laying aside his pride, stands to beseech the saints to intercede for him with God; and he who went about crowned with the diadem prays to the tentmaker and the fishermen as his protectors.” Let those then who deny that the saints are to be prayed to see whether they do not disagree with the Catholic Church.
That they disagree equally with the Roman Church, so far as it is known from the ancient Writers, is very well known from Leo and Prudentius, to leave out the rest. For Leo, who was Bishop of the Roman Church eleven hundred years ago, and for the excellence of his holiness and wisdom, and also of his eloquence, deserved to be called the Great, instructed the Roman Church thus, sermon 5 on the Epiphany: “Make firm your friendships with the holy Angels, and join yourselves to the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles and Martyrs. Desire their riches, and by good rivalry seek their prayers.” And sermon 1 on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul: “As we too have found,” he says, “and our forefathers proved, we believe and trust that among all the labours of this life, for obtaining the mercy of God, we shall always be helped by the prayers of our special patrons.” Prudentius, in the hymn on St. Laurence, speaking of the Roman Church, sang thus:
What each one asks as a suppliant
He carries off, granted, with good success,
And no one goes back sad.
Be at hand always,
And your nurslings of the city,
Embraced in a nursing bosom,
Feed with a father's love.
What kind of lie, then, and how shameless, is this Confession's, which in that very article affirms that in no part of its teaching does it disagree with the Scriptures, or the Catholic Church, or the Roman Church; in which article it attacks the invocation of the saints, which the Scriptures, the Catholic Church and the Roman Church have most openly taught! Nor is this the only thing in which the Augsburg Confession differs from the Confession of the Catholic and Roman Church. For there is agreement neither on the Church itself, nor on Original sin, nor on Justification, nor on the Sacrifice, nor on the sacrament of the Eucharist, nor on the other sacraments. But one was enough to uncover the lie.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
IV. MENDACIUM. In Confessione Augustana, art. 12, pag. Io. Concordiae, sic habetur: « Rejiciuntur et isti, qui non docent, remissionem peccato¬ rum per finem contingere ; sed docent, re¬ missionem peccatorum contingere propter nostram dilectionem, et opera». Haec verba etsi de industria obscure proposita esse vi¬ dentur, tamen sine dubio hunc faciunt sen¬ sum, ut rejiciendos esse significent illos, qui docent homines justificari a peccatis sine fide, per solam dilectionem, et opera. Nec dubitari potest, quin bis verbis notentur Ca¬ tholici omnes, et praesertim theologi schola¬ stici. Et si quod dubium esse potuisset jam est sublatum per Apologiam, ubi usque ad nauseam repetitur, et inculcatur hoc menda¬ cium, quod scholastici doceant, justificatio¬ nem non contingere ex fide, sed ex operibus hoc est, ex operibus sine fide. Quoniam enim versantur ipsi in uno extremo, cum docent, justificari homines ex fide sine operibus, cu¬ piunt nos in altero extremo collocare, quasi doceamus, justificari homines ex operibus sine fide. At non est ista, nec unquam fuit, doctrina Ecclesiae Catholicae, nec etiam scho¬ lasticorum Theologorum. Scniper enim do¬ cuimus et docemus, justificari homines ex fide et dilectione, ac operibus bonis, ita ut ad praeparationem, ac dispositionem ad ju¬ stificationem, requirantur actus fidei, spei, et dilectionis, quos ipsos tamen non habe¬ mus, nisi Dei gratia nos praeveniente, exci¬ tante, et adjuvante ; ipsa vero formalis ju¬ stificatio consistat in remissione vera om¬ nium peccatorum, et infusione habituum fidei, spei, et charitatis, quos propter Chri¬ sti meritum, Deus in corda nostra gratis diffundit; denique actualis justitia sit legis divina} obedientia et observatio, ad quam non ex nobis idonei sumus, sed ex spiritu gratiae, id est, fidei, spei, et charitatis, nobis a Deo per Christum donato, tta docet Gon- cil. Trident. sess. 6. cap. 6. Disponuntur, in¬ quit, ad ipsam justitiam, dum excitati divina gratia, et adjuti, fidem ex auditu concipien¬ tes, libere moventur in Deum etc. Et cap. 7. Quamquam nemo possit esse justus, nisi cui merita passionis Domini nostri Jesu Christi communicantur, id tamen in hac impii ju- Tom. VII. 8. 114 MENDACIA CONCORDIAE. stificatione fit , dum ejusdem sanctissimae passionis merito, per Spiritum sanctum cha- ritas Dei diffunditur in cordibus eorum, qui justificantur, atque ipsis inhaeret. Unde in ipsa justificatione, cum remissione peccato¬ rum, haec omnia simul infusa accipit homo, per Jesum Christum, cui inseruit, fidem, spem, et charitatem. Et cap, 10. Per obser¬ vationem mandatorum Dei et Ecclesiae in ipsa justitia, per Christi gratiam accepta, coope- rantc fide, bonis operibus, crescunt, etc. Vi¬ des igitur fidem numquam excludi, sed con¬ tra potius semper requiri, sive de ipsa justi¬ ficatione agatur, sive de iis, quae illam aut praecedunt, aut etiam consequuntur. Ac ne dicant novam hanc esse doctrinam, et nos nunc demum ab ipsis excitatos sapere coe¬ pisse, ut aliquoties Philippus jactat in Apo- logia, addamus etiam testimonium principis Scholasticorum, quod fides aci justificationem requiratur. S. Thomas 1. 2. quaest. 113. art. 4. Ad justificationem impii requiritur motus mentis, quo convertitur in Deum. Prima au¬ tem conversio in Deum, fit per fidem, juxta illud Hebr. xi : Accedentem ad Deum opor¬ tet credere. Et ideo, motus fidei requiritur ad justificationem impii. V. MENDACIUM. Pag. 16. in art. 13. Confess. habentur haec verba : « Damnant' igitur illos, qui docent, quod sacramenta ex opere operato justifi¬ cent, nec docent fidem requiri in usu sacra¬ mentorum, quae credat remitti peccata ». Hoc etiam loco Theologi scholastici notantur quasi doceant, sacramenta etiam sine fide prodesse. Sed apertum mendacium est, ad quod refellendum unius S. Thomse testimo¬ nium sufficiet, qui 3. part. q. 68. art. 8 : Recta fides, inquit, ex necessitate requiritur ad Baptismum, quia sicut dicitur Ilom. m. Justitia Dei est per fidem Jesu Christi. Et infra : Ad primum ergo dicendum : quod Dominus loquitur ibi de Baptismo, secundum quod perducit homines ad salutem, per gra¬ tiam justificantem, quod quidem sine recta fide esse non potest, et ideo signanter dicit : Qui crediderit, et baptizatus fuerit, salvus erit. VI. MENDACIUM. Pag. 17. in art. 16. Confess. ita habetur : e Damnant et illos, qui Evangelicam perfe¬ ctionem non collocant in timore Dei, et fide sed in deserendis civilibus officiis ». Menda¬ cium est manifestum contra Catholicos pro¬ fessores ordinum religiosorum, quasi existi¬ ment perfectionem proprie consistere in de¬ serendis civilibus officiis, conjugio, militia, magistratibus, et similibus. At neque vete¬ res, neque recentiores monachi, unquam hoc docuerunt. Joannes Cassianus collat. 1. cap. 7 : Jejunia, vigilise, meditatio Scriptu¬ rarum, nuditas, ac privatio omnium faculta¬ tum, non perfectio, sed perfectionis instru¬ menta sunt. B. Thomas ex Scholasticis, 2. 2. q. 184. art. 3. Per se, inquit, et essentialiter consistit perfectio Christianae vitae in chari- tate; principaliter quidem secundum dilectio¬ nem Dei, secundario autem secundum di¬ lectionem proximi. Et infra : Secundario, et instrumenl aliter consistit perfectio in consi¬ liis, quae ordinantur ad removendum impe¬ dimenta actus cbaritatis, quae tamen chari- tati non contrariantur ; sicut est matrimo¬ nium, occupatio negotiorum saecularium, et alia hujusmodi. Quod autem status perfectior sit eorum, qui deserunt omnia propter Christum, nec implicantur negotiis saecularibus, quam ali¬ orum, qui hoc non faciunt; et quod hic per¬ fectior status, non imperetur, sed consulatur satis aperte colligitur ex verbis Domini, Matth. xix. ubi postquam dixerat : Si vis ad vitam ingredi, serva mandata ; subjunxit : Si vis perfectus esse, vade, vende omnia, quae habes, etc. Nec usquam legimus : Si vis perfectus esse, uxorem ducito, capesse Rempu- blicam etc. Hinc D. Augustinus epist. 89. quaest. 4. Viderit, inquit, ille juvenis, quem¬ admodum illa legis mandata servaverit. Verumtamen Magister bonus mandata legis ab ista excellentiore perfectione distinxit. Ibi enim dixit: Si vis venire ad vitam, serva mandata. Hic autem : Si vis perfectus esse, vade, vende omnia etc. Eusebius lib. i. de Demonstrat. Evangel. cap. 8. declarans com¬ munem doctrinam Ecclesiae Catholicae, ex divinis litteris derivatam : Quocirca, inquit, in Ecclesia Dei, duo modi vivendi instituti sunt. Alter quidem naturam nostram, et communem hominum vitre rationem exce¬ dens ; non nuptias, non sobolem, non sub¬ stantiam, non opum facultatem requirens, et soli divino cultui, ex immenso rerum coele¬ stium amore, addictus. Et talis quidem exi- stit in Christianismo vitae perfecte modus. » VIIT. MENDACIUM. Alter vero remissior, atque humanior ; hic et modesto conjugio, et sobolis procreatione implicatur, et rei familiaris curam assumit, et juste militantibus quse sint agenda descri¬ bit, agnos quoque et mercaturam, adjuncta religione, non negligit ; et his quidem se¬ cundus pietatis attributus est gradus. lioc idem ex pluribus Scripturae, et Patrum testimoniis probare possemus, si refellere errores Confessionis, et non solum mendacia indicare, propositum nobis esset, VII. MENDACIUM. h Pag. 18. in artic. 20. Confess. c Falso ac¬ cusantur nostri, quod bona opera prohi¬ beant ». Mendacium hoc esse non dubitabit, qui¬ cumque aliquid scriptorum Lutheri perlege¬ rit. Certe in serm. de piscatione Petri sic le¬ gimus : « Quanto scelerationes, tanto citius Deus gratiam infundit». Ibidem : « Debemus cum solo Isaac venire, id est, cum fide ; servos et asinos, hoc est, opera, deorsum dimittere oportet ». Item in serm. sic Deus dilexit mundum : « Ego dico tibi, quia an¬ gusta est via ; oportet te fieri tenuem, si vis per eam venire. Cseterum, qui operibus one¬ rati sunt (sicut conchilibus onustos videmus Jacobi peregrinos) ii non poterunt pene¬ trare ». Et infra : « Si veneris cum magnis saccis operum plenis, deponere oportebit, alioqui non poteris penetrare ». Porro ex his fontibus manarunt illa praeclara dogmata quae Lutheri discipuli in Colloquio Altenbur- gensi stabilire conati sunt. « Opera bona legis, et nova obedientia, non ad regnum Christi, sed ad mundum pertinent. Ad Sata- nam spectant Christiani cum omnibus bonis operibus. Precari verp oportet, ut in fide sine bonis operibus omnibus , ad finem usque constantes perseveremus. Adeo necessaria illa non sunt, ut etiam ad salutem incommo¬ dent, sintque perniciosa. » Deinde Catholici non tam Lutheranos accusant, quod prohi¬ beant opera bona, quam quod ea contem¬ nunt, et cum Eunomio antiquo haeresiarcha, immo etiam cum Simone Mago haereticorum omnium principe, non necessaria ad salutem esse, doceant. Ac de Eunomio quidem testis est Augustinus in lib. de haeres, cap. 54, de Simone Irenseus lib. i. cap. 20, de Luthero, liber ipsius de captivitate Babylonica, cap. de Baptismo : liber de libertate Christiana ; 115 Sermo de Moyse ; Comment. in epist. ad Galat. VIII. MENDACIUM. Pag. 19. in artic. 20. Confess. : « Jubent (Catholici Doctores) mereri remissionem pec¬ catorum operibus ». Si de merito operum illorum, quae fiunt solis naturae viribus, ser¬ mo sit, de quo merito articulum intelligen- ■ dum esse, consequentia verba declarant in¬ signe est mendacium Philippi. Non enim id habet Catholica doctrina, ut operibus illis, quae fiunt sine fide, et auxilio Dei gratuito mereri possint homines remissionem pecca¬ torum, et contra haec operum merita defendit S. Augustinus gratiam et justitiam fidei : nec non etiam S. Prosper in libris de vocatione gentium, quos libros imperite Philippus tri¬ buit Ambrosio, cum in iis libris nominalim refellantur Pelagiani, qui post Ambrosii obi¬ tum orti sunt. Si vero de illis operibus aga¬ tur, quae ex fide et gratia Dei proficiscuntur, fatemur quidem nos illis operibus aliquo modo mereri remissionem peccatorum. Sed idem fatentur prophetae, evangelistae, patres. Ezechiel. xviii, Cum averterit se impius ab impietate sua, ipse animam suam vivificabit. Daniel. iv, peccata tua eleemosynis redime. Jonae ni, vidit Deus opera eorum, et miser¬ tus est eis. Lucae xi, Date eleemosynam, et ecce omnia munda sunt vobis. Lucae vn, re¬ mittuntur ei peccata multa, quia dilexit mul¬ tum. Ambros. lib. x. in Lucam : Lacrymae veniam non postulant, sed merentur. Et in¬ fra : Et tu si veniam vis mereri, dilue oul- pam tuam lacrymis etc. Hieronymus lib. n. contra Pelagianos : Qui peccata simpliciter confitentur, merentur humilitate clementiam Salvatoris. Augustinus epist. 105 : Nec ipsa remissio peccatorum sine aliquo merito est, si fides hanc impetrat ; neque enim nullum est meritum fidei : qua fide ille dicebat, Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori, et descendit justificatus merito fidei humiliatus, quoniam qui se humiliat exaltabitur. Restat igitur, ut ipsam fidem, unde omnis justitia sumit ini¬ tium, non humano, quo isti extolluntur, tri¬ buamus arbitrio , nec ullis priecedentibus meritis, quoniam inde incipiunt bona quie- cumque sunt merita, sed gratuitum donum Dei esse fateamur, si gratiam veram, id est, sine meritis, cogitamus. Et epist. 10G : Si quis dixerit, quod gratiam bene operandi fides mereatur, negare non possumus, immo MENDACIA CONCORDIA. 116 gratissime confitemur. Gregorius in lib. I Reg. lib. iii. cap. 4 : Dum Ninivitae, veluti pro difficili reconciliatione, gravi poenitentia se dejiciunt, omnipotentis Dei misericordiam facile meruerunt. Sanctus etiam Thomas, ex Scholasticis, cum praedictis Patribus docet iis operibus, quae fiunt ex fide, et auxilio Dei, mereri nos aliquo modo justificationem a peccatis, 2. sentent. dist. 27. quaest. 4. in resp. ad 4. Quod tamen constanter negat de illis operibus, quae fiunt solis naturae viribus, 1. 2. qu. 109. art. 6. et quaest. 114. art. 5. Huc accedit, quod istis etiam operibus, quae fiunt ex fide, et auxilio Dei, non tale tribui¬ mus meritum, ut ei respondeat, ex justitia merces ; sed meritum solum impetrationis, ut Augustinus loquitur, quod scholastici me¬ ritum de congruo, non de condigno nominare solent. Neque in hoc ulla est inter Catholicos dissensio. Et Concil. Trident. sess. 6. cap. 8. de hoc genere meriti aperte pronunciat, ideo gratis justificari homines, quia nec fides, nec opera, quae justificationem praecedunt, ipsam merentur. Sed paradoxum videtur adversa¬ riis, quod homo operetur ex fide, et nondum sit justificatus a peccato, cum apud ipsos ita fides sola justificet, ut separari nequeat fides a justificatione. At non illis paradoxum vide¬ tur, qui ex fide orantes dicunt : Dimitte no¬ bis debita nostra, Matth. vi. Nec illi para¬ doxum hoc videbatur, qui ex fide orabat ; Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori, Luc. xviii. Nec denique Augustino paradoxum hoc erat, cum scriberet in epist. 105. Nec ipsa remis¬ sio peccatorum sine aliquo merito est, si fides hanc impetrat. IX. MENDACIUM Et quidem multiplex . Pag. 18. et 19. in eodem art. 20. multa simul conglomerantur mendacia, ut : « Quod nostri concionatores olim parum docebant de operibus, quae Deo placent; quod tantum urgerent puerilia, et non necessaria opera; quod nunc a Lutheranis admoniti, haec dedi¬ scant : quod jam incipiant fidei mentionem facere ; quod doctrina fidei diu jacuerit ignota ». Scilicet, non legerat Philippus Ser¬ mones S. Bernardi, Petri Damiani, Innocen- tii III, Thomae Aquinatis, Yincentii, Bernar- dini, Laurentii Justiniani, et aliorum innu¬ merabilium, in quibus de Symbolo, de De¬ calogo, de oratione Dominica, de omnibus vitiis, omnibusque virtutibus gravissimae dis¬ putationes continentur? Sed facile est dice¬ re, et non probare. X. MENDACIUM. Pag. 22. in artic. 21. Gonfess. : « Haec fere summa est doctrinae apud nos, in qua cerni potest nihil inesse, quod discrepet a Scriptu¬ ris, vel ab Ecclesia Catholica, vel ab Eccle¬ sia Romana, quatenus ex scriptoribus nota est ». Ad hoc mendacium convincendum, non erit opus ut extra articulum istum 21 . egrediamur. Hic enim asserunt, non esse a sanctis auxilium petendum, eo quod unus sit intercessor Christus. In quo quidem articulo manifeste dissentiunt a Scripturis, ab Eccle¬ sia Catholica, et ab Ecclesia Romana. Nam etsi unus est mediator Dei et hominum, homo Christus Jesus; et ideo unus mediator, quia dedit semetipsum redemptionem pro multis, I Tim. ii, nec ullus Catholicorum docuit un¬ quam sanctos esse mediatores per modum redemptionis : tamen unum esse tantum in¬ tercessorem, unum advocatum, unum qui interpellet pro nobis, imo etiam unum tan¬ tum mediatorem per modum supplicationis, non modo Scriptura non dicit, sed etiam ita dicentibus apertissime contradicit. Job v. Yoca si quis est, qui tibi respondeat, et ad aliquem Sanctorum convertere, ubi Angeli fiunt intercessores homimum, teste Augustin. in annotationibus in Job, non igitur solus est intercessor Christus. Deuter. v. Ego, inquit Moyses, sequester fui, et medius inter Deum, et vos, in illa die. I Reg. vii. dicunt filii Is¬ rael ad Samuelem : Ne cesses pro nobis cla¬ mare ad Dominum. Job ult. Ite ad servum meum, ille orabit pro vobis : suscipiam fa¬ ciem ejus. Roman. xv. obsecro vos, fratres, ut adjuvetis me in orationibus pro me ad Deum. Idem repetit, IlCorinth. i, Coloss. iv, Ephes. vi, Hebr. xm. Quomodo igitur unus est tantum intercessor, cum et Job, et Moy¬ ses, et Samuel, et tot Romani, et tot Corin¬ thii, tot Colossenses, tot Ephesii, tot Hebreei, adhibeantur intercessores ? At inquiunt, de mortuis agimus, non de viventibus. Sed si ideo mortui invocandi non sunt, nec esse possunt intercessores, ne Christo gloria sin¬ gularis intercessionis detrahatur, eadem de causa nec viventes invocandi erunt, nec esse poterunt intercessores. Deinde si viventes in terris invocari possunt, cur non magis viven¬ tes in coelis ? An fortassis ideo, quia non va- X. MENDACIUM. i 17 leant, aut non velint illi pro nobis orare, aut certe nesciant quid petamus? Sed nec eorum felicitas patitur, ut non valeant ; nec chari- tas sinit ut non velint; nec possunt ignorare preces ad se porrectas, cum non ignorent poenitentiam peccatorum. Gaudium enim est in coelo super uno peccatore poenitentiam agente, Luc. xv. Jam vero Concilium Ghalce- donense, Concilium Ecclesiae Catholicae fuis¬ se, et Concilium orthodoxum, generale, ple¬ nissimum, adversarii non negant. Concilium autem istud actor. 11. ita clamat : Flavianus post mortem vivit, Martyr pro nobis oret. Eusebius Caesariensis Catholicae Ecclesiae communem doctrinam tradens, lib. xm. Praeparat. Evangelicae, cap.7 : Haec nos, in¬ quit, quotidie factitamus, qui verae pietatis milites, ut Dei amicos honorantes, ad moni- menta quoque illorum accedimus, votaque ipsis facimus, tamquam viris sanctis, quo¬ rum intercessione ad Deum, non parum ju¬ vari profitemur. S. Basilius ad Catholicam Ecclesiam verba faciebat, cum diceret, ora¬ tione in 40. Martyres : Qui aliqua premitur angustia, ad nos confugiat, qui rursum lae¬ tatur, hos oret, ille, ut a malis liberetur ; iste, ut duret in rebus lsetis. S. Ambrosius, in lib. de Viduis, catholicas viduas institue¬ bat, cum ita scriberet : Obsecrandi sunt An¬ geli, qui nobis ad praesidium dati sunt, Mar¬ tyres obsecrandi , quorum videmur nobis quoddam corporis pignore patrocinium vin¬ dicare. Possunt pro peccatis rogare nostris, qui proprio sanguine, etiam si quae habue¬ runt peccata, laverunt. Isti enim sunt Dei Martyres, nostri praesules, speculatores vitae, actuumque nostrorum. Non erubescamus eos intercessores nostrae infirmitatis adhibere, quia ipsi infirmitatem corporis, etiam cum vincerent, cognoverunt. S. Augustinus tract. 84. in Joan. tribus pene verbis tria adversa¬ riorum dogmata convellit, de Sacrificio alta¬ ris, de Oratione pro defunctis, de invoca¬ tione Sanctorum : Ideo quippe, inquit, ad ipsam mensam, non sic eos (Martyres) com¬ memoramus, quemadmodum alios, qui in pace requiescunt, ut etiam pro eis oremus, sed magis, ut ipsi pro nobis orent. Denique Theodosius imperator, orthodoxus et pius erat, ut etiam adversarii confitentur ; et ta¬ men de eo sic scribit Ruffinus lib. ii. hist. cap. 33 : Circumibat cum sacerdotibus et po¬ pulo omnia orationum loca, ante Martyrum et Apostolorum thecas jacebat, cilicio pro¬ stratus, et auxilia sibi fida sanctorum inter¬ cessione poscebat. Et de eodem Chrysosto- mus, homil. 66. ad populum Antiochenum : Nam et ipse, qui purpuram indutus est ac¬ cedit, illa complexurus sepulcra , et fastu deposito, stat sanctis supplicaturus, ut pro se apud Deum intercedant ; et scenarum fa¬ brum, et piscatores, ut protectores orat, qui diademate redimitus incedebat. Viderint ergo qui negant sanctos esse orandos, an ab Ec¬ clesia Catholica non dissentiant. Quod autem ab Ecclesia Romana, quate¬ nus ex antiquis Scriptoribus nota est, pari¬ ter dissentiant, ex Leone, et Prudentio, ut caeteros omittamus, notissimum est. Leo si¬ quidem, qui Episcopus Romanae Ecclesiae ante mille et centum annos fuit, et propter sanctitatis, et sapientiae, atque etiam elo¬ quentiae excellentiam, Magnus dici meruit, Romanam Ecclesiam ita instituebat, serm. 5. de Epiphania : Confirmate amicitias cum sanctis Angelis, et Patriarchis, Prophetis, Apostolis, Martyribusque sociamini. Horum divitias concupiscite, et per bonam aemula¬ tionem ipsorum ambite suffragia. Et serm. 1. de natali SS. Petri et Pauli : Sicut, inquit, et nos experti sumus, et nostri probavere majores, credimus atque confidimus, inter omnes labores istius vitae, ad obtinendam misericordiam Dei, semper nos specialium patronorum orationibus adjuvandos. Pru¬ dentius in hymno de S. Laurentio, de Ro¬ mana Ecclesia loquens, ita cecinit : Quod quisque supplex postulat, Fert impetratum prospere, Et tristis haud ullus redit, En praesto semper adsies, Tuosque alumnos urbicos, Lactante complexus sinu, Paterno amore nutrias. Quale igitur et quam impudens mendacium est hujus Confessionis, quae in eo ipso arti¬ culo affirmat, in nulla parte doctrinae dissen¬ tire se a Scripturis, vel Ecclesia Catholica, vel Ecclesia Romana, in quo articulo san¬ ctorum invocationem oppugnat, quam et Scripturae, et Ecclesia Catholica, et Ecclesia Romana apertissime docuerunt. Neque vero hoc unum est, in quo discrepat Confessio Augustana, a Confessione Catholicae et Ro¬ manae Ecclesiae. Nam nec de ipsa Ecclesia, nec de peccato Originis, nec de Justificatione, nec de Sacrificio, nec de sacramento Eucha¬ ristiae, nec de aliis sacramentis consensio est. Sed unum sufficiebat, ad mendacium detegendum, MENDACIA CONCORDLE. 418