Bellarmine · Judicium de Libro Concordiae · Judgement on the Book of Concord
Chapter 8: Lies XXXV to XLIV: The Popes, the Tenth Article, Satisfaction in Cyprian, and the Encratites
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 Thirty-fifth Lie
Page 130, in the Apology, in the article on the Church, Philip speaks thus of the Roman Pontiffs: “How few of them care for the Gospel, or judge it worth reading? Many even openly mock all religion.” But why do you cite no witness of so notable a crime, unless because it is not the Pontiffs' crime but your lie, your blasphemy? Certainly Innocent III is one of those you do not approve; and yet his sermons are extant, his letters are extant, other works of his are extant, full of sacred testimonies. The same could be said of many others; to say nothing of this, that the Pontiffs have always celebrated the sacred rites in which the Gospels are read, not in Latin only but also in Greek.
The Thirty-sixth Lie
Page 136 [“13G” in the scan], in the Apology, article 10, Philip lies thus: “The tenth article was approved, in which we confess that we hold that in the Lord's Supper the body and blood of Christ are truly and substantially present, and are truly given, with those things which are seen, the bread and wine, to those who receive the Sacrament.” But, good Philip, in article 10 of the Confession, which ours accepted, no mention was made of bread and wine remaining with the body and blood of Christ. For this is the tenth article: “On the Lord's Supper they teach that the body and blood of Christ are truly present and are distributed to those who eat in the Lord's Supper.” In the German copy there had been added: under the form of bread and wine. And so far were the Catholics then from accepting such an article, about bread remaining with the body of the Lord, that they expressly warned that the decree of the general council on the transubstantiation of the bread into the body and of the wine into the blood of the Lord was to be accepted.
The Thirty-seventh Lie
Page 140, in the Apology, article 11: “Now of this faith that obtains the remission of sins there is not a syllable in so great a mass of Constitutions, Glosses, Summas, Confessional manuals; nowhere is Christ read there.” If you are speaking of the faith which alone justifies and makes men absolutely certain that their sins are forgiven, do not wonder if that faith is not found in the Glosses and Summas; for when they were made, that faith was not yet born. But that nothing is read in so many books of true faith in Christ and of Christ himself is too gross a lie. Certainly St. Antoninus, who holds not the last place among the writers of Summas, discusses both faith and Christ most fully. Nor were any others silent on these things.
The Thirty-eighth Lie
Page 140, in the Apology, article 12, Philip speaks thus: “What shall we do here, Charles, most invincible Emperor? This is the very voice of the Gospel, that by faith we obtain the remission of sins. This voice of the Gospel these writers of the confutation condemn.” But it is not so, Philip. For the confutation nowhere denies that we obtain the remission of sins by faith; but it denies that we obtain the remission of sins by faith alone: which the Gospel too denies everywhere, since it attributes the remission of sins also to the Sacraments, to love and to penance.
The Thirty-ninth Lie, but Doubled Six Times
Page 143, in the Apology, article 12, these teachings are listed as if they were those of the Catholic Theologians: “That by good works done outside grace we merit grace by a divine covenant. That by attrition we merit grace. That for the blotting out of sin the detesting of the crime alone suffices. That by contrition, not by faith in Christ, we obtain the remission of sins. That the power of the keys avails for the remission of sins, not before God but before the Church. That the receiving of the sacrament of Penance ex opere operato, without a good movement in the one using it, that is, without faith in Christ, confers grace.” But all these are not our teachings but Philip's lies. Nor is there any doubt that not eight thousand but more than eight hundred thousand Catholics would subscribe against these teachings; so that there is now a danger that the adversaries may steal from the Cretans that Apostolic praise: The Cretans are always liars.
The Fortieth Lie
Page 163 [“1G3” in the scan], in the Apology, article 12, speaking of satisfaction, Philip says thus: “This whole thing is invented, lately made up, without the authority of Scripture and of the ancient church writers. Not even Lombard speaks of satisfactions in this way. The Scholastics saw that there were satisfactions in the Church, and did not notice that those spectacles were instituted both for example's sake and to test those who asked to be received back by the Church. In short, they did not see that it is discipline, and a wholly civic matter. So they superstitiously imagined that they avail not for discipline before the Church but for appeasing God.” And page 164: “Even in Lombard's time it (satisfaction) was unknown.” And page 173: “As for the Fathers' mentioning satisfaction, and the Councils' making canons, we said above that it was church discipline set up for example's sake; nor did they think this discipline necessary either for the remission of guilt or of punishment.”
That this is a lie, Cyprian alone will show abundantly. For this author was holy, ancient and most learned: his martyrdom bears witness to his holiness, the volumes he left to his learning, all the histories to his antiquity. Certainly Cyprian is more than eight hundred years older than Peter Lombard. He, then, in the sermon On the lapsed, near the end, speaks thus: “But those who take away the penance for the crime shut the way of satisfaction; so it happens that while by the rashness of some a false salvation is promised or believed, the hope of true salvation is taken away. But you, dearest brethren, whose fear is bent toward God, and whose mind, though set in ruin, is mindful of its evil, look on your sins repenting and grieving; acknowledge the very grave crime of your conscience; open the eyes of the heart to the understanding of your fault, neither despairing of the Lord's mercy nor yet already claiming pardon. God, as much as he is always indulgent and good with a Father's love, is so much to be feared with a judge's majesty. As greatly as we have sinned, so greatly let us weep. Let a careful and long remedy not be lacking to a deep wound; let the penance not be less than the crime. Do you think the Lord can be quickly appeased, whom you denied with faithless words, to whom you preferred to put your property first, whose temple you violated with sacrilegious contagion? Do you think he will easily have mercy on you, whom you said was not yours? You must pray more earnestly and entreat, spend the day in mourning, pass the nights in vigils and weeping, fill all your time with tearful lamentations, cling to the ashes lying on the ground, roll in sackcloth and filth; after losing the garment of Christ, want no clothing here any more; after the devil's food, prefer fasting.” And below: “So under the Apostles faith flourished; so the first people of believers kept the commands of Christ.” And below: “To one who repents, works, asks, he can mercifully pardon; he can count as received whatever the martyrs have asked and the priests have done for such; or if anyone has moved him more by his satisfactions, if he has appeased his anger, the offence of one indignant, by just entreaty, he gives him again arms with which the conquered may be armed.” And below: “He who has so made satisfaction to God, who by penance for his deed, by shame for his fault, has conceived more both of virtue and of faith from the very grief of his fall, heard and helped by the Lord, will make glad the Church which he lately saddened; and he will merit now not only God's pardon but a crown.” So he.
You have here, first, the name of satisfaction three times. You have, next, that it consists in works: mourning, ashes, sackcloth, fasting, alms, prayers. You have, third, that these are not only useful but also necessary: you must pray, says Cyprian, and entreat more earnestly, and so on. You have, fourth, that by these works God is appeased; for this too is repeated several times, and so it does not belong only to outward discipline and civic satisfaction. You have, fifth, in the last words, that by such works we merit not only pardon but also a crown. You have, sixth, that faith alone is not enough, when so many other things are necessary. You have, seventh, that we ought not at once to claim pardon, even if we have already begun not only to believe but also to fear and to grieve. You have lastly that so faith flourished under the Apostles; and so it is Philip's lie that these things are new and unheard of before the times of Peter Lombard.
The Forty-first Lie
Page 180, in the Apology, article 13: “Here,” says Philip, “we condemn the whole people of the Scholastic Doctors, who teach that the sacraments confer grace on one who puts no obstacle, ex opere operato, without a good movement in the one using them. This is simply a Jewish opinion, to think that we are justified by a ceremony without a good movement of the heart, that is, without faith; and yet this ungodly and harmful opinion is taught with great authority in the whole Pontifical kingdom.” So he. Out of your own mouth I judge you, wicked servant. Did you not say above, pages 154 and 155: “The Scholastics, when they dispute about the sacrament of Penance, require contrition or attrition”? And what else is contrition, or attrition, but a movement of the heart? Next, in the confutation itself, article 12, as also in all the books of the Scholastics, is it not pressed everywhere that there are three parts of Penance: contrition, confession and satisfaction? And certainly contrition cannot be without faith, hope and love, that is, without three movements of the heart.
The Forty-second Lie
Page 184, in the Apology, article 15: “But these men,” says Philip, “think that God is appeased and favourable because of traditions, not because of Christ.”
The Forty-third Lie
Page 186, in the Apology, article 15, Philip lies again thus: “They teach,” he says, “that we are not justified freely by faith because of Christ, but by such acts of worship.” These and like things need no confutation, since the adversary brings no witness for himself, and against him all the Schools, all the churches, all the books of Catholics bear witness.
The Forty-fourth Lie, and Indeed a Threefold One
Page 186, in the Apology, article 13 [as printed; article 15 above]: “The Fathers had these reasons for keeping rites,” says Philip, “as Epiphanius openly testifies in the dispute against the Encratites, which kind was like our monks. For they were fellowships which laid certain traditions on themselves: they abstained from wine, and even at the Lord's Supper they ate no meat, not even fish, in which they far surpassed the brethren of the Lord; and they shrank above all from marriage.” And below: “They imagined these observances to be the worship of God and the righteousness for which they were accepted by God, by which they appeased God's anger; this opinion Epiphanius disapproves.”
Here there are three most open lies. The first, that our Monks are like the Encratites when they abstain from wine, meat and marriage. For the Encratites abstained from them as from things unclean by their nature, and lawful for no man at all; and this Epiphanius condemns. For so he writes in heresy 47, which is that of the Encratites: “They openly declare that marriage is of the Devil, and, abominating living things, they forbid them.” And below: “They too use the mysteries, with water; but wine they do not use at all, saying it is of the Devil, and that those who drink and use it are wicked and sinners.” But which of the Catholic Monks ever said that marriage is of the Devil, and did not rather honour it in married Catholics as instituted by God? Who, abominating living things, forbade them? Who asserted that wine is of the devil? Who judged those who drink it wicked? Who did not at least use it in the mysteries? And that even in the time of Epiphanius Catholic Monks abstained from marriage for other good ends, and some of them from wine, some from meat, we showed above from the summary teaching of the same Epiphanius.
The second lie is that the Encratites abstained from marriage, meat and wine for the worship of God, thinking that they would appease God in that way. For Epiphanius does not mention this end, that is, the worship of God, in that place; and he says most clearly that they used to abstain not for the sake of continence but out of fear and imagining, so as not to be condemned for eating living things. So they did not abstain in order to appease God, but so as not to provoke him further, since they believed those things were unclean and defiled those who used them.
The third lie is that Epiphanius disapproves this opinion, that abstinence from marriage, meat and wine is useful for worshipping God. For neither is such a disapproval seen in this place, and elsewhere there is found a most open approval. For so Epiphanius writes in heresy 48, which is that of the Montanists: “For most of the sects forbid contracting marriage and command abstaining from foods, not urging it for the sake of an honourable life, not for the sake of greater virtue and of rewards and crowns, but thinking abominable the things made by God. But the holy Church both glorifies virginity and praises solitude and chastity, and honours and receives chaste marriage; but forbids fornication and adultery and wantonness.” And below: “For God the Word said with a certain moderation in the Gospel, If you will be perfect, showing mercy to the frame and weakness of men. And he rejoices indeed in those who can offer the approved worship of God, and choose to practise virginity and chastity and continence. But he honours single marriage; although he has shown beforehand that he has adorned the gifts of the priesthood above all through those who have kept themselves even from a single marriage and spend their life in virginity; as also his Apostles laid down the Church's rule of the priesthood in order and holiness.” What do you say here, Philip? Do you not hear from Epiphanius that continence from a wife, from wine and meat, ought to be taken up for the sake of greater virtue and of rewards and crowns? Likewise that virginity is a worship approved by God and most pleasing to him? Lastly that the continence of priests, even from one wife, was laid down by the Apostles?
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
XXXV. MENDACIUM. Pag. 130. in Apologia, artic. de Ecclesia sic de Romanis Pontificibus loquitur Phi¬ lippus. « Quotus quisque curat Evangelium, aut judicat dignum lectione? Multi etiam palam irrident religiones omnes ». At cur tam insignis criminis nullum testem citas, nisi quia non crimen Pontificum, sed tuum mendacium, tua blasphemia est? Certe In¬ nocentius III ex illis est, quos non proba¬ tis, et tamen exstant sermones ejus, exstant epistolae, exstant alia opera plena sacris te¬ stimoniis. Quod idem de multis aliis dici pos¬ set, ut omittam, quod semper Pontifices sa¬ cra fecerunt, ubi leguntur Evangelia non latine solum, sed etiam grsece. XXXVI. MENDACIUM. Pag. 13G. in Apologia, art. 10. sic menti¬ tur Philippus, (i Decimus articulus approba¬ tus est, in quo confitemur nos sentire, quod in Ccena Domini vere, et substantialiter ad¬ sint corpus et sanguis Christi, et vere exhi¬ beantur cum illis rebus, quee videntur, pane et vino, his qui Sacramentum accipiunt. At, bone Philippe, in art. 10. Confessionis, quem nostri receperunt^ nulla facta est mentio, panis et vini manentis cum corpore, et san¬ guine Christi. Hic enim est articulus deci¬ mus. Do Coeua Domini docent, quod corpis et sanguis Christi, vere adsint, et distri¬ buantur vescentibus in Coena Domini. In Germanico autem exemplari additum erat, sub specie panis et vini. Tantum vero abest, ut Catholici tunc receperint talem articulum, de pane manente cum corpore Demini, ut expresse monuerint, recipiendum esse de¬ cretum generalis concilii de transubstan- tione panis in corpus, et vini in sanguinem Domini. Tom. VII. XXXVII. MENDACIUM. Pag. 140. in Apologia, art. 11. « Nunc de hac fide, consequente remissionem peccato¬ rum, nulla est syllaba in tanta mole Consti¬ tutionum, Glossarum, Summarum, Confes- sionalium : nusquam ibi Christus legitur. » Si de fide loqueris, quee sola justificet, et certos absolute reddat remissa esse peccata, non mireris, si ea fides non inveniatur in Glossis et Summis ; nam cum illae fieri nt, ista nondum erat nata. At de fide vera in Christum et de ipso Christo, nihil in tot li¬ bris legi, mendacium est nimis crassum. Certe S. Antoninus, qui inter Summistas non postremum locum tenet, tam de fide, quam de Christo fusissime disserit. Nec ulli alii de hisce rebus siluerunt. XXXVIII. MENDACIUM. Pag. 140. in Apologia, art. 12. sic Phi¬ lippus loquitur. « Quid hic, Carole, Caesar in¬ victissime, faciemus? Hasc est propria vox Evangelii, quod fide consequamur remissio¬ nem peccatorum. Hanc vocem Evangelii damnant isti scriptores confutationis ». Sed non ita est, Philippe : non enim confutatio usquam negat, nos fide consequi remissio¬ nem peccatorum ; sed negat nos sola fide consequi remissionem peccatorum : quod et Evangelium passim negat, cum et Sacra¬ mentis, et dilectioni, et poenitentiae tribuat remissionem peccatorum. XXXIX. MENDACIUM. Sed sexies geminatum. Pag. 143. in Apologia, art. 12. numeran¬ tur haec dogmata, tamquam sint Catholico¬ rum Theologorum. « Quod per bona opera extra gratiam facta, mereamur ex pacto divino gratiam. Quod per attritionem merea¬ mur gratiam. Quod ad deletionem peccati, sola detestatio criminis sufficiat. Quod per contritionem, non fide in Christum conse¬ quamur remissionem peccatorum. Quod po¬ testas clavium valeat ad remissionem .pec¬ catorum, non coram Deo, sed coram Ecclesia. Quod susceptio sacramenti Poenitentiae, ex opere operato, sine bono motu utentis, hoc. est, sine fide in Christum, conferat gratiam » . At haec omnia non nostra dogmata, sed Phi¬ lippi mendacia sunt. Nec dubium quin sub- 9. 430 MENDACIA CONCORDIAE. scriberent contra ista dogmata, non octo millia, sed plusquam octingenta millia Ca¬ tholicorum, ut jam periculum sit, ne suffu- rentur adversarii Cretensibus illud Enco- mium Apostolicum, Cretenses semper men¬ daces. XL. MENDACIUM. Pag. 1G3. in Apologia, art. 12. de satisfa¬ ctione loquens Philippus, sic ait : « IIecc tota res est commentitia, recens conficta, sine auctoritate Scripturae, et veterum scriptorum ecclesiasticorum. Ac ne Lombardus quidem, de satisfactionibus hoc modo loquitur. Scho¬ lastici viderunt in Ecclesia esse satisfactio¬ nes, nec animadverterunt, illa spectacula instituta esse, tum exempli causa, tum ad probandos hos, qui petebant recipi ab Eccle¬ sia. In summa, non viderunt esse discipli¬ nam, et rem prorsus politicam. Ideo super¬ stitiose finxerunt eas, non ad disciplinam coram Ecclesia, sed ad placandum Deum valere. Et pag. 164. Adhuc Lombardi tem¬ pore ignota erat (satisfactio). Et pag. 173. Quod Patres mentionem faciunt satisfactio¬ nis, quod Concilia fecerunt canones,, diximus supra, disciplinam ecclesiasticam fuisse exempli causa constitutam ; nec sentiebant, hanc disciplinam necessariam esse, vel ad culpre, vel ad poenae remissionem ». Hoc esse mendacium, vel unus Cyprianus abunde declarabit. Is enim auctor, et san¬ ctus, et antiquus, et doctissimus fuit. Nam de sanctitate martyrium, de doctrina volumina quae reliquit, de antiquitate, historiae omnes testimonium praebent. Certe plus quam oc¬ tingentis annis, Petro Lombardo vetustior est Cyprianus. Is igitur in sermone, qui est de lapsis, prope finem, ita loquitur : Qui au¬ tem poenitentiam criminis tollunt, satisfa¬ ctionis viam claudunt : ita fit, ut dum teme¬ ritate quorumdam promittitur salus falsa, vel creditur, spes verse salutis adimatur. Yos vero, fratres dilectissimi, quorum timor in Deum pronus est, et in ruina licet animus constitutus, mali sui memor est, poenitentes ac dolentes peccata vestra perspicite, gra¬ vissimum conscientiae crimen agnoscite, ad intelligentiam delicti vestri oculos cordis aperite, nec desperantes misericordiam Do¬ mini, nec tamen jam veniam vindicantes. Deus quantum Patris pietate indulgens sem¬ per et bonus est, tantum judicis majestate metuendus est. Quam magna deliquimus, tam granditer defleamus. Alto vulneri dili¬ gens et longa medicina non desit : poeni¬ tentia crimine minor non sit. Putasne tu Dominum cito posse placari, quem verbis perfidis abnuisti, cui patrimonium praepo¬ nere maluisti, cujus templum sacrilega con¬ tagione violasti ? Putas facile eum misereri tui, quem tuum non esse dixisti? Orare oportet impensius, et rogare, diem luctu transigere, vigiliis noctes ac fletibus ducere, tempus omne lacrymosis lamentationibus occupare, stratos solo adhaerere cineri, in cilicio et sordibus volutari : post indumen¬ tum Christi perditum, nullum hic jam velle vestitum, post diaboli cibum, malle jeju¬ nium. Et infra : Sic sub Apostolis fides vi¬ guit, sic primus credentium populus Christi mandata servavit. Et infra : Poenitenti, ope¬ ranti, roganti, potest clementer ignoscere, potest in acceptum referre, quidquid pro ta¬ libus et petierint martyres, et fecerint sacer¬ dotes : vel si. quis plus eum suis satisfactio¬ nibus moverit, si ejus iram, si indignantis offensam, justa deprecatione placaverit ; dat ille et arma rursum, quibus victus armetur. Et infra : Qui sic Deo satisfecerit, qui poeni¬ tentia facti sui, qui pudore delicti, plus et virtutis et fidei de ipso lapsus sui dolore conceperit, exauditus et adjutus a Domino, quam contristaverat nuper, Iretam faciet Ec¬ clesiam ; nec jam solum Dei veniam mere¬ bitur, sed coronam. Urec ille. Habes hic in primis ter nomen satisfactionis. Habes deinde, illam consistere in operibus, luctu, cinere, cilicio, jejunio, eleemosynis, preci¬ bus. Habes tertio, ha?c non tantum expedire, sed necessaria etiam esse ; orare oportet, inquit Cyprianus, et impensius rogare, etc. Habes quarto, his operibus Deum placari; nam et hoc aliquoties repetitum est , et proinde non ad solam disciplinam externam, et politicam satisfactionem pertinere. Habes quinto in ultimis verbis, per ejusmodi opera non solum nos veniam, sed etiam coronam promereri. Habes sexto, non sufficere fidem solam, quando tam multa alia necessaria sunt. Habes septimo, non debere nos con¬ tinuo veniam vindicare, etiamsi jam coepe¬ rimus non solum credere, sed etiam timere et clolere. Habes postremo, sic sub Apostolis fidem viguisse ; et propterea mendacium esse Philippi, quod ista sint nova, et inau¬ dita ante tempora Petri Lombardi. XLIY. MENDACIUM. 131 XLT. MENDACIUM. Pag. 180. in Apologia, (artic. 13. « Hic damnamus (inquit Philippus) totum popu¬ lum Scholasticorum Doctorum, qui docet, quod sacramenta non ponenti obicem confe¬ rant gratiam, ex opere operato, sine bono motu utentis. Haec simpliciter [Judaica opi¬ nio est, sentire quod per caeremoniam justi¬ ficemur, sine bono motu cordis, hoc est, sine fide ; et tamen hsec impia et perniciosa opinio magna auctoritate docetur in toto regno Pontificio ». Hsec ille. Ex ore tuo te judico , serve nequam ; nonne tu dixisti supra pag. 154. et 155 : « Scholasticos cum de sacramento Poenitentiae disputant, requi¬ rere contritionem vel attritionem » : et quid aliud est tam contritio, quam attritio, nisi motus cordis? Deinde in ipsa confutatione art. 12. ut etiam in omnibus libris Scholasti¬ corum, nonne passim inculcatur, tres esse partes Poenitentiae, contritionem, confessio¬ nem, et satisfactionem ? Et certe contritio, sine fide, spe, et dilectione, id est sine tribus cordis motibus, esse non potest. XLIT. MENDACIUM. Pag. 184. in Apologia, art. 15. « At isti (inquit Philippus) sentiunt Deum esse placa¬ tum , propitium , propter traditiones, non propter Christum » . XLIII. MENDACIUM. Pag. 186. in Apologia, art. 15. sic rursum mentitur Philippus. « Docent, inquit, quod non propter Christum gratis justificemur per fidem, sed per tales cultus ». Haec et similia non egent confutatione , cum nec adversarius ullum pro se testem adducat, et contra eum omnes Scholae, omnia templa, omnes libri Catholicorum testentur. XLIV . MENDACIUM Et quidem tergeminum . Pag. 186. in Apologia, art. 13. « Has cau¬ sas habebant Patres (inquitPhilippus) rituum servandorum, ut aperte testatur Ephiphan. in disputatione contra Encratitas, quod ge¬ nus simile fuit , monachorum nostrorum. Fuerunt enim sodalitia, quae sibi certas tra¬ ditiones imponebant, abstinebant a vino, et in ipsa Ccena Domini, nullis carnibus vesce¬ bantur, ne piscium quidem ; qua in re fra¬ tres Domini longe superabant; a conjugio vero vel maxime abhorrebant ». Et infra : « Has observationes fingebant esse cultum Dei, et justitiam, propter quam Deo accepti essent, qua placarent iram Dei : hanc opi¬ nionem improbat Epiphanius» . Hic tria sunt apertissima mendacia. Primum, quod Mo¬ nachi nostri similes sint Encratitis, dum ab¬ stinent a vino, a carnibus, a conjugio. Nam Encratitse abstinebant, ut a rebus natura sua immundis, et quae nulli omnino hominum licitae essent; et hoc damnat Epiphanius. Sic enim scribit haeres. 47. quse est Encra- titarum : Nuptias palam Diaboli esse decer¬ nunt, animata vero abominantes interdicunt. Et infra : Utuntur et ipsi mysteriis, per aquam; vino vero omnino non utuntur, Dia¬ bolicum esse dicentes, et bibentes ac utentes iniquos esse ac peccatores. At quis unquam Mona.chorum Catholicorum, nuptias Diaboli esse dixit, et non potius ut a Deo institutas in conjugatis Catholicis honoravit? Quis ani¬ matas res abominans interdixit? Quis vinum diabolicum asseruit? Quis illud bibentes ini¬ quos judicavit? Quis non saltem inter my¬ steria illo usus est ? Quod vero etiam tempore Epiphanii, Catholici Monachi, ad alios bonos fines, a conjugio abstinerent, et quidam eo¬ rum a vino, quidam a carnibus, supra osten¬ dimus, ex compendiaria doctrina ejusdem Epiphanii. Alterum mendacium est, quod Encratitae abstinerent a conjugio, carnibus et vino, propter cultum Dei, existimantes se eo modo Deum placaturos. Nam non meminit Epiphanius eo loco hujus finis, id est, cultus Dei ; et clarissime dicit, eos abstinere solitos, non continentise gratia, sed propter timo¬ rem, et imaginationem, ut ne condemnaren¬ tur propter animatorum esum. Itaque non abstinebant, ut Deum placarent, sed ne ma¬ gis irritarent, cum crederent, res illas im¬ mundas esse, et contaminare eos, qui illis uterentur. Tertium mendacium est, quod E- piphanius improbet hanc opinionem ; quod . abstinentia a conjugio, carnibus et vino, sit utilis ad colendum Deum. Nam neque hoc loco talis improbatio cernitur, et alibi aper¬ tissime habetur approbatio. Sic enim Epi¬ phanius scribit haeres. 48. quae est Montani- starum : Plerae que enim sectarum matrimo¬ nium contrahere prohibent, et a cibis abstinere praecipiunt, non honestae vitae gratia exhor- 132 MENDACIA CONCORDLE. tantes, non majoris virtutis gratia et prae¬ miorum ac coronarum ; sed abominabilia ea, quse a Deo facta sunt, putantes. At vero sancta Ecclesia, et virginitatem glorificat, et solitudinem, ac castitatem laudat, et nuptias pudicas honorat, et suscipit : Scortationem vero et adulterium, ac petulantiam interdicit. Et infra: Etenim cum moderatione quadam, Deus, verbum inEvangelio dixit : Si vis per¬ fectus esse misericordiam exhibeas hominum formationi ac debilitati. Et gaudet quidem his, qui approbatum Dei cultum praestare possunt, et virginitatem ac castitatem, et con¬ tinentiam exercere deligunt. Yerum unas nuptias honorat, etiamsi maxime sacerdotii dona per eos, qui ab unis etiam nuptiis se con¬ tinuerunt, et in virginitate vitam degunt, se ornasse praeexpressit : velut etiam Apostoli ipsius, Ecclesiasticam sacerdotii regulam or dinate ac sancte constituerunt. Quid hic di¬ cis, Philippe ? Nonne audis ab Epiphanio continentiam ab uxore, a vino et carnibus debere suscipi, gratia majoris virtutis et praemiorum ac coronarum ? Item virginita¬ tem cultum esse a Deo approbatum, et illi gratissimum? Denique sacerdotum continen¬ tiam, etiam ab una uxore, sancitam ab Apo¬ stolis fuisse ?