The Formation of Christendom, Volume II
1
Tertull. Apolog. xxiv, “Ideo et Ægyptiis permissa est tam vanæ superstitionis potestas, avibus et bestiis consecrandis, et capite damnandis qui aliquem hujusmodi Deum occiderint. Unicuique etiam provinciæ et civitati suus Deus est, ut Syriæ Astartes, ut Arabiæ Disares, ut Noricis Belenus, ut Africæ Cælestis, ut Mauritaniæ Reguli sui,” &c.; and Minucius Felix, Octavius vi., in like manner.
2
See Aug. de Civ. Dei, l. viii. 24.
3
Döllinger, Heidenthum und Judenthum, pp. 528, 529.
4
From Heidenthum und Judenthum, pp. 101-2.
5
Heidenthum und Judenthum, p. 480.
6
Heidenthum und Judenthum, p. 107.
7
Heidenthum und Judenthum, p. 469.
8
Ibid. pp. 468, 480.
9
Heidenthum und Judenthum, p. 344.
10
Ibid. p. 312.
11
“Epulæ, lectisternia, nudipedalia.”
12
These incidents are taken from various places in Heidenthum und Judenthum, pp. 531, 549, 550, &c.
13
Champagny, Les Antonins, liv. v. c. 3.
14
De Divinat. ii. 72.
15
Valerius Max. i. c. 2, 3.
16
Merivale's History of the Romans, ii. 447.
17
See Varro, quoted by S. Aug. De Civ. Dei, lib. vi. 5.
18
De Civ. Dei, l. vi. 5, 6, 7.
19
“Illam theatricam et fabulosam theologiam ab ista civili pendere noverunt, et ei de carminibus poetarum tanquam de speculo resultare: et ideo ista exposita, quam damnare non audent, illam ejus imaginem liberius arguunt.” De Civ. Dei, vi. 9; id. vi. 7.
20
“Quæ sunt ergo illa sacra quibus agendis tales elegit sanctitas quales nec thymelica in se admittit obscœnitas.” De Civ. Dei, vi. 7.
21
“Omnes cultores talium deorum – magis intuentur quid Jupiter fecerit, quam quid docuerit Plato vel censuerit Cato.” De Civ. Dei, ii. 7.
22
De Civ. Dei, ii. 6. “Demonstrentur vel commemorentur loca – ubi populi audirent quid dii præciperent de cohibenda avaritia, ambitione frangenda, luxuria refrænanda.” See also sec. 28.
23
See Heidenthum und Judenthum, p. 398. Herodotus, i. 199. Baruch, vi. 42-3.
24
See S. Athan, con. Gentes, 5-9. In like manner S. Theophilus, lib. i. ad Autolyc. c. 2.
25
In order to form a notion how far this division of gods could descend, and what an incredible depth of turpitude it reached, see De Civ. Dei, l. vi. c. 9, de officiis singulorum deorum. Its foulness prevents any adequate representation of it.
26
See S. Thomas, Summa, 2, 2, q. 94, a. 4.
27
Of this whole polytheism in the mass S. Paul pronounces the judgment: Οἵτινες μετήλλαξαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τῷ ψεύδει, καὶ ἐσεβάσθησαν καὶ ἐλάτρευσαν τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα. Rom. i. 25. And the Psalmist adds: Ὅτι πάντες οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν δαιμόνια; ὁ δὲ Κύριος τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἐποίησεν. Sept. xcv. 5. See also Ps. cv. 37.
28
See John xii. 31; xiv. 30; xvi. 11; Luke xxii. 53; x. 19; Apoc. xii. 9; Heb. ii. 14; 1 John v. 18; Ephes. vi. 12; ii. 2; 2 Cor. iv. 3.
29
These two subjects occupy respectively the first five and the second five books of S. Augustine's City of God, where the argument is carried out in great detail.
30
Rom. i. 20. See the Stoical argument for the unity of the deity in Cic. de Nat. Deor. 2.
31
Tertullian de Testimonio Animæ, 2.
32
Οὔτω τοίνυν ἀλογωθέντων τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ οὕτω τῆς δαιμονικῆς πλάνης ἐπισκιαζούσης τὰ πανταχοῦ, καὶ κρυπτούσης τὴν περὶ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Θεοῦ γνῶσιν. S. Athan. de Incar. 13.
33
See S. August. de Civ. Dei, viii. 24. “Immundi spiritus, eisdem simulacris arte illa nefaria colligati, cultorum suorum animas in suam societatem redigendo miserabiliter captivaverant.”
34
Called by S. Athan. ἡ τῶν δαιμόνων ἀπάτη – μανία – φαντασίαι. Thus De Inc. 47. πάλαι μὲν δαίμονες ἐφαντασιασκόπουν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. προκαταλαμβάνοντες πηγὰς ἢ ποταμοὺς, ἢ ξύλα, ἢ λίθους, καὶ οὕτω ταῖς μαγγανείαις ἐξέπληττον τοὺς ἄφρονας. Νῦν δὲ τῆς θείας ἐπιφανείας τοῦ Λόγου γεγενημένης. πέπαυται τούτων ἡ φαντασία.
35
“Humana ante oculos fœde quam vita jaceretIn terris, oppressa gravi sub religione,” &c. Lucret. i. 63.
“Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas,Atque metus omnes et inexorabile fatumSubjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari.”Virg. Geo. ii. 491.
36
Acts xvi. 16.
37
1 Cor. x. 21.
38
Tertullian, Apologeticus, 23; S. Athanas. de Inc. 48; S. Aug. de Civ. Dei, xxi. 6, who says, “Ut autem demones illiciantur ab hominibus, prius eos ipsi astutissima calliditate seducunt, vel inspirando eorum cordibus virus occultum, vel étiam fallacibus amicitiis apparendo, eorumque paucos discipulos suos faciunt, plurimorumque doctores. Neque enim potuit, nisi primum ipsis docentibus, disci quid quisque illorum appetat, quid exhorreat, quo invitetur nomine, quo cogatur, unde magicæ artes carumque artifices exstiterunt.”
39
Merivale, iii. 496.
40
Beugnot, Destruction du Paganisme, i. 8.
41
ῥώμη, strength; ruma, a mother's breast.
42
Beugnot, i. 17.
43
Οἱ ἐγχώριοι θεοί.
44
S. Aug. de Trin. l. xv. c. 14, tom. viii. 984.
45
S. Cyril. Alex. tom. v. 1, pp. 544, 557 a.
46
S. Cyril. Alex. in Joh. x. p. 858 b.
47
Petav. de Trin. lib. viii. c. 7.
48
An exception must be made in favour of Persia, where the original monotheism was preserved with more or less corruption.
49
“Das Heidenthum ist nichts anderes als der gefallene und nicht wiedergeborne Mensch im Grossen.” Möhler, Kirchengeschichte, i. 169.
50
Suarez, de Gratia, Proleg. 4, cap. i. sec. 3.
51
Suarez, de Gratia, Proleg. cap. ii. sec. 3.
52
Kleutgen, die Theologie der Vorzeit, ii. p. 559.
53
Suarez, de Grat. Proleg. 4, cap. v. sec. 3.
54
Kleutgen, die Theologie der Vorzeit, vol. ii. 650.
55
This is called by S. Peter 1. i. 18 ἡ ματαία ἀναστροφὴ πατροπαράδοτος.
56
The apostle speaks here not of “wickedness,” but of a personal agent, “the wicked or malignant one;” as the context shows. “He who is born of God keeps himself, and the malignant one touches him not. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the malignant one.” 1 John v. 18, 19.
57
Gal. iv. 4. τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου.
58
τύπος τοῦ μέλλοντος. Rom. v. 14. “Forma futuri e contrario Christus ostenditur.” S. Aug. tom. x. 1335.
59
“Adam unus est, in quo omnes peccaverunt, quia non solum ejus imitatio peccatores facit, sed per carnem generans pœna: Christus unus est, in quo omnes justificentur, quia non solum ejus imitatio justos facit, sed per spiritum regenerans gratia.” S. Aug. tom. x. p. 12 c.
60
John xvii. 4.
61
S. Thomas, Summa contra Gentiles, l. i. c. 1.
62
John xviii. 37. “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, to bear witness unto the truth.”
63
Acts i. 8; Luke xxiv. 49.
64
See S. Aug. tom. iv. 1039 e. “Ipse ergo Adam,” &c.
65
Οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐσμὲν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος ὅλος ἐν τῷ πονηρῷ κεῖται; οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἥκει, καὶ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν διάνοιαν ἵνα γινώσκωμεν τὸν ἀληθινόν; καὶ ἐσμὲν ἐν τῷ ἀληθινῷ, ἐν τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ. 1 Joh. v. 19. Two persons are here opposed to each other, ὁ πονηρός and ὁ ἀληθινός. Compare the Lord's Prayer, ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ. Matt. vi. 13 and Joh. xvii. 14, 15. ἐγὼ δέδωκα αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον σου, καὶ ὁ κόσμος ἐμίσησεν αὐτοὺς, ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, καθὼς ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου. οὐκ ἐρωτῶ ἵνα ἀρῇς αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα τηρησῇς αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ.
66
Heb. iii. 1-6; Ephes. ii. 19-22; 1 Cor. iii. 9, 10-15; 2 Cor. vi. 16; 1 Peter ii. 4, 5.
67
Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐστὶ τὸ συνέχον τὴν πίστιν καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα. S. Chrys. in loc. Compare S. Irenæus, lib. i. c. 10. Τοῦτο τὸ κήρυγμα παρειληφυῖα, καὶ ταύτην τὴν πίστιν, ὡς προέφαμεν, ἡ Ἐκκλησία, καίπερ ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ διεσπαρμένη, ἐπιμελῶς φυλάσσει, ὡς ἕνα οἶκον οἰκοῦσα.
68
S. Aug. in Ps. ix. tom. iv. 51.
69
Ibid. in Ps. cxxxi. tom. iv. 1473.
70
Petavius on the Headship of Christ.
71
Passaglia de Ecclesia.
72
S. Cyprian de Unitate, 5.
73
All these five relations between Christ and the Church are mentioned in one passage of S. Paul, Ephes. v. 22-33.
74
Luke i. 35. Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπί σε, καὶ δύναμις ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοι. Acts i. 8. λήψεσθε δύναμιν, ἐπελθόντος τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς. Luke xxiv. 49. ἕως οὗ ἐνδύσησθε δύναμιν ἐξ ὕψους.
75
The Church is so called by S. Augustine.
76
These five are taken from Passaglia de Ecclesia, lib. i. cap. 3, p. 34, 5.
77
Compare S. Athanasius cont. Arian. de Incarn. p. 877 c. – καὶ ὅταν λέγῃ ὁ Πέτρος, ἀσφαλῶς οὖν γινωσκέτω πᾶς οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ ὅτι καὶ Κύριον καὶ Χριστὸν αὐτον ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὂν ὑμεῖς ἐσταυρώσατε, οὐ περὶ τῆς Θεότητος αὐτοῦ λέγει, ὅτι καὶ Κύριον αὐτὸν καὶ Χριστὸν ἐποίησεν, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος αὐτοῦ, ἥτις ἐστι πᾶσα ἡ ἐκκλησία, ἡ ἐν αὐτῷ κυριεύουσα καὶ βασιλεύουσα, μετὰ τὸ αὐτὸν σταυρωθῆναι; καὶ χριομένη εἰς βασίλειαν οὐρανῶν, ἵνα συμβασιλεύσῃ αὐτῷ, τῷ δι᾽ αὐτὴν ἑαυτὸν κενώσαντι, καὶ ἀναλαβόντι αὐτὴν διὰ τῆς δουλικῆς μορφῆς.
78
S. Aug. serm. 267, tom. v. p. 1090 e.
79
Luke xxiv. 49 and John xvi. 13. ἐκεῖνος, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὁδηγήσει ὑμᾶς εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν; and 14, 15. ἐγὼ ἐρωτήσω τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ ἄλλον παράκλητον δώσει ὑμῖν, ἵνα μένῃ μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας.
80
Plato.
81
πανταχοῦ συνάπτει καὶ συγκολλᾷ τὴν πίστιν καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην, θαυμαστήν τινα ξυνωρίδα. S. Chrys. 3d Hom. on Ephes. tom. xi. p. 16.
82
S. Aug. serm. 272, tom. v. p. 1104 c.
83
“Quid tibi fecit Ecclesia, ut eam velis quodammodo decollare? Tollere vis Ecclesiæ caput et capiti credere, corpus relinquere, quasi exanime corpus. Sine caussa capiti quasi famulus devotus blandiris. Qui decollare vult, et caput et corpus conatur occidere.” S. Aug. tom. v. p. 636.
84
S. Aug. in Ps. ci. tom. iv. p. 1105 d.
85
S. Augustine, tom. iv. p. 1677. “Elegit hic sibi thalamum castum, ubi conjungeretur Sponsus Sponsæ. Verbum caro factum est, ut fieret caput Ecclesiæ.”
86
By the “Gloria in excelsis,” &c. in the Mass.
87
Οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸ σῶμα δύναται ποιεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ὁμοίως ἕκαστον λείπεται εἰς τὸ ποιεῖν σῶμα, καὶ δεῖ τῆς συνόδου; ὅταν γὰρ τὰ πολλὰ ἓν γίνηται, τότε ἐστὶν ἓν σῶμα… τὸ γὰρ εἶναι ἢ μὴ εἶναι σῶμα ἐκ τοῦ ἡνῶσθαι ἢ μὴ ἡνῶσθαι γίνεται… τῶν γὰρ μελῶν ἡμῶν ἕκαστον καὶ ἴδιαν ἐνέργειαν ἔχει καὶ κοινήν; καὶ κάλλος ὁμοίως καὶ ἴδιον καὶ κοινόν ἐστιν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ δοκεῖ μὲν διηρῆσθαι ταῦτα, συμπέπλεκται δὲ ἀκιβῶς, καὶ θατέρου διαφθαρέντος καὶ τὸ ἕτερον συναπόλλυται. S. Chrys. on 1 Cor. xii. tom. x. pp. 269, 271, 273.
88
S. Aug. Op. imp. contr. Julian. lib. ii. tom. x. p. 1018 d.
89
“Grana illa quæ modo gemunt inter paleas, quæ massam unam factura sunt, quando area in fine fuerit ventilata.” S. Aug. in Ps. cxxvi. tom. iv. p. 1429.
90
See Origen on Matt. xiv. 17. καὶ ὁ κτίσας γε ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς τὸν κατ᾽ εἰκόνα ὃς ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων ἄῤῥεν αὐτὸν ἐποίησε, καὶ θῆλυ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ἓν τὸ κατ᾽ εἰκόνα ἀμφοτέροις χαρισάμενος; καὶ καταλέλοιπέ γε διὰ τὴν ἐκκλήσιαν κύριος ὁ ἀνὴρ πατέρα ὃν ἑώρα, ὅτε ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπῆρχε, καταλέλοιπε δὲ καὶ τὴν μητέρα καὶ αὐτὸς υἱὸς ὢν τῆς ἂνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ ἐκολλήθη τῇ ἐνταῦθα καταπεσούσῃ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ γεγόνασιν ἐνθάδε οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν. διὰ γὰρ αὐτὴν γέγονε καὶ αὐτὸς σὰρξ, ὅτε ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ οὐκέτι γέ εἰσι δύο, ἀλλὰ νῦν μία γέ ἐστι σὰρξ, ἔπει τῇ γυναικὶ λέγεται τὸ, ὑμεῖς δέ ἐστε σῶμα Χριστοῦ καὶ μέλη ἐκ μέρους, οὐ γάρ ἐστί τι ἰδιᾳ Χριστοῦ σῶμα ἕτερον παρὰ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν οὖσαν σῶμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ μέλη ἐκ μέρους. καὶ ὁ Θεός γε τούτους τοὺς μη δύο ἀλλὰ γεγομένους σάρκα μίαν συνέζευζεν, ἐντελλόμενος ἵνα ἄνθρωπος μὴ χωρίζη τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου.
91
As S. Irenæus, v. 20. “Omnibus unum et eundem Deum Patrem præcipientibus, et eamdem dispositionem incarnationis Filii Dei credentibus, et eamdem donationem Spiritus scientibus;” and S. Aug. tom. v. app. p. 307 f. “Ecce iterum humanis divina miscentur, id est, Vicarius Redemtoris: ut beneficia quæ Salvator Dominus inchoavit peculiari Spiritus Sancti virtute consummet, et quod ille redemit, iste sanctificet, quod ille acquisivit, iste custodiat.” This striking sermon is quoted by Petavius as genuine, but placed by the Benedictines in the appendix.
92
There is in the original words here something which is lost both in the Vulgate and in the English translation. First, c. xiv. 6. ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια, καὶ ἡ ζωή; then c. xvi. 13. ὅταν δὲ ἔλθη ἐκεῖνος τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὁδηγίσει ὑμᾶς εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. As Christ is the ὁδὸς, so His Spirit is the ὁδηγῶν. “Ego sum via et veritas; ille vos docebit omnem veritatem,” does not render this: and as little, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; He shall lead you into all truth.”
93
S. Aug., quoted above in note.
94
This word is used as the equivalent of λόγος, ratio, Vernunft, in man.
95
See Petavius de Trin. vii. 7, where he states it to be the general belief of the ancient writers that a new and substantial presence of the Holy Ghost began at the day of Pentecost.
96
S. Aug. tom. v. 398 g.
97
S. Aug. tom. iii. pp. 2, 527.
98
Ib. tom. v. 47.
99
Ib. tom. v. 392 e.
100
S. Thomas in Joh. i. lec. 10: “Nam unitas Spiritus Sancti facit in Ecclesia unitatem.”
101
ὁδηγεῖν.
102
Epist. 185. tom. ii. p. 663. “Proinde Ecclesia Catholica sola corpus est Christi, cujus ille caput est, Salvator corporis sui. Extra hoc corpus neminem vivificat Spiritus Sanctus, quia sicut ipse dicit Apostolus; Caritas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum Sanctum, qui datus est nobis. Non est autem particeps divinæ caritatis, qui hostis est unitatis. Non habent itaque Spiritum Sanctum qui sunt extra Ecclesiam.”
103
Matt. xxiv. 14.
104
See Möhler, Die Einheit in der Kirche, p. 176. “Der Körper des Menschen ist eine Offenbarung des Geistes, der in ihm sein Dasein bekundet, und sich entwickelt. Der Staat ist eine nothwendige Erscheinung, eine Bildung und Gestaltung des von Gott gegebenen κοινωνικόν.”
105
Möhler, Einheit, &c. p. 8. “Wie das Leben des sinnlichen Menschen nur einmal unmittelbar aus der Hand des Schöpfers kam, und wo nun sinnliches Leben werden soll, es durch die Mittheilung der Lebenskraft eines schon Lebenden bedingt ist, so sollte das neue göttliche Leben ein Auströmen aus den schon Belebten, die Erzeugung desselben sollte ein Ueberzeugung sein.”
106
For instance, two passages on the Incarnation in S. Cyril of Alexandria, tom. iv. pp. 819-824 and 918-920, set forth the whole sequence of the Fall and the Restoration, and how wonderfully the gift of the Spirit replaces what was lost in Adam.
107
See S. Cyril. Alex. in Joan. p. 997 e. ἐν δὲ τούτοις ἤδη πως καὶ φυσικὴν τὴν ἑνότητα δεικνῦναι σπουδάζομεν, καθ᾽ ἢν ἡμεῖς τε ἀλλήλοισ καὶ οἱ πάντες Θεῷ συνδούμεθα; κ.τ.λ.; and p. 998. τίς γὰρ ἂν καὶ διέλοι καὶ τῆς εἰς ἀλλήλους φυσικῆς ἑνώσεως ἐξοικέοι τοὺς δι᾽ ἑνὸς τοῦ ἁγίου σώματος πρὸς ἑνότητα τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν ἀναδεσμουμένουσ?
108
S. Iren. iv. c. 33, 7. ἀνακρινεῖ τοὺς τὰ σχίσματα ἐργαζομένους, κένους ὄντας τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγάπης, καὶ τὸ ἴδιον λυσιτελὲς σκοποῦντας, ἀλλὰ μὴ τὴν ἕνωσιν τῆς ἐκκλησίας; καὶ διὰ μικρὰς καὶ τὰς ὑψούσας αἰτίας τὸ μέγα καὶ ἔνδοξον σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ τέμνοντας καὶ διαιροῦντας, καὶ ὅσον τὸ ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἀναιροῦντας, τοὺς εἰρήνην λαλοῦντας καὶ πόλεμον ἐργαζομένους, ἀληθῶς διυλίζοντας τὸν κώνωπα, καὶ τὸν κάμηλον καταπίνοντας.
109
Acts ii. 3. ὤφθησαν αὐτοῖς διαμεριζόμεναι γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρὸς, ἐκάθισέ τε ἐφ᾽ ἕνα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπλήσθησαν ἅπαντες Πνεύματος ἁγίου.
110
“Non jam visitator subitus, sed perpetuus consolator et habitator æternus.” S. Aug. tom. v. d. app. p. 307.
111
Con. Crescou. lib. ii. c. 14, tom. ix. p. 418. “Hic Spiritus sanctus veniens in eos tale signum primitus dedit, ut qui eum acciperent linguis omnium gentium loquerentur, quia portendebat Ecclesiam per omnes gentes futuram, nec quemquam accepturum Spiritum sanctum nisi qui ejus unitati copularetur. Hujus fontis largo atque invisibili flumine lætificat Deus civitatem suam, quia Propheta dixit: Fluminis impetus lætificat civitatem Dei. Ad hunc enim fontem nullus extraneus, quia nullus nisi vita æterna dignus accedit. Hic est proprius Ecclesiæ Christi.”
112
Ἡ ἀλήθεια: there seems to be no one word in the New Testament of more pregnant signification than this, which in a great number of instances bears the sense of the whole body of the divine revelation. The root of this meaning would seem to lie in Christ Himself, who as the Divine Word is the αὐτοαλήθεια, the εἰκὼν of the Father; on which title S. Athanasius and S. Cyril of Alexandria specially dwell, while S. Hilary expresses the Blessed Trinity by “Æternitas in Patre, Species in Imagine, Usus in Munere,” on which see S. Augustine's magnificent comment, de Trin. l. vi. 10, p. 850; and as our Lord is from eternity the Truth, so in and by His Incarnation He becomes in a special sense the Truth to man: ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια, καὶ ἡ ζωή: and so the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, “ille ineffabilis quidam complexus Patris et Imaginis” (S. Aug.), is τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, who ὁδηγήσει ὑμᾶς εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν: and again, 1 John v. 6, τὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστι τὸ μαρτυροῦν, ὅτι τὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια. This is the first meaning. Secondly, as derived from it, the Truth is the whole body of the divine revelation. In this sense it is used in a great many places of S. John's Gospel and the Apostolic Epistles, e. g. John i. 14, 17; viii. 31; xvi. 13; xvii. 17; xviii. 37; 1 John ii. 21; iii. 19; 2 John i. 1-3; 3 John 3, 4, 8, 12; 1 Tim. iii. 15, where, because this whole body of truth dwells in the Church of Christ and there alone, it is emphatically called the “House of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the Truth;” 1 Tim. ii. 3; Rom. xv. 8; 2 Cor, iv. 2; xiii. 8; Gal. iii. 1; v. 7; Ephes. i. 13; iv. 21-24 (in which passage the Apostle contrasts heathen man with Christian, the one, τὸν φθειρόμενον κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἁπάτης; the other, τὸν κατὰ Θεὸν κτισθέντα ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ὁσιότητι τῆς ἀληθείας, and again, the mass of the Gentiles, as τὰ ἔθνη περιπατεῖ ἐν ματαιότητι τοῦ νοὸς αὐτῶν, ἐσκοτισμένοι τῇ διανοίᾳ, while Christians ἐν αὐτῷ ἐδιδάχθητε, καθώς ἐστιν ἀλήθεια ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ); 2 Thess. ii. 8-13; 1 Tim. iv. 3; vi. 5; 2 Tim. ii. 15, 25; iii. 7, 8; iv. 4; Titus i. 1 and 14; Heb. x. 26; Jac. v. 19; 1 Pet. i. 22; 2 Pet. ii. 2. In this second sense, as signifying the whole body of the divine revelation, the expression has been searched for, but without success, in the Gospels of S. Matthew, S. Mark, and S. Luke, and in the Acts.
Thirdly, as the effect of this revelation to man, the Truth signifies uprightness, as equivalent to justice or sanctity, in the individual.
Fourthly, it means sincerity, absence of hypocrisy: and Fifthly, correspondence to fact.
In the Apocalypse our Lord is designated “the holy, the true,” “the Amen, the Witness faithful and true,” the rider of the white horse, “called faithful and true,” “whose name is the Word of God.” iii. 7, 14; xix. 11.
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“La creatura, la più amabile, la più amata, e la più amante di Dio.” S. Alfonso, Gran Mezzo della Preghiera, p. 280.
114
Acts ii. 38.
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“Non te fefellit sponsus tuus: non te fefellit qui suo sanguine te dotavit.” S. Aug. tom. v. 1090 b.
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“Quod tunc faciebat unus homo accepto Spiritu sancto, ut unus homo linguis omnium loqueretur, hoc modo ipsa unitas facit, linguis omnibus loquitur. Et modo unus homo in omnibus gentibus linguis omnibus loquitur, unus homo, caput et corpus, unus homo, Christus et Ecclesia, vir perfectus, ille sponsus, illa sponsa. Sed erunt, inquit, duo in carne una; judicia Dei vera, justificata in idipsum: propter unitatem.” S. Aug. in Ps. xviii. 2, tom. iv. 85 f.
117
Ephes. iv. 11-16. ἀληθεύοντες ἐν ἀγάπῃ. Joh. xvii. 19. ἡγιασμένοι ἐν ἀληθείᾳ.
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1 Cor. xii. 12. οὕτω καὶ ὁ Χριστός.
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So says the great maintainer of episcopal power, S. Cyprian, in his famous aphorism: “Episcopatus unus est, cujus a singulis in solidum pars tenetur.”
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Matt. xxiv. 14.
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Rom. x. 15.
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ἡ παράδοσις. It will be shown hereafter that the four great writers, Irenæus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen, unanimously refer to Tradition in this sense.
123
See S. Irenæus, ii. 1. expressly stating this of S. Mark's and S. Luke's Gospel, and of the Apostles generally: “quod (Evangelium) quidem tunc præconaverunt, postea vero per Dei voluntatem in Scripturis nobis tradiderunt;” which is repeated by Euseb. Hist. ii. 15, who declares that the Roman Christians, not content τῇ ἀγράφῳ τοῦ θείου κηρύγματος διδασκαλία, besought Mark with many prayers ὡς ἂν καὶ διὰ γραφῆς ὑπόμνημα τῆς διὰ λόγου παραδοθείσης αὐτοῖς καταλείψοι διδασκαλίας, which S. Peter afterwards approved.
124
Luke i. 2-4.
125
John xx. 30.
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As one instance out of many take the words of S. Paul, 2 Cor. i. 22: “He that confirms us with you is Christ, and that has anointed us is God; who has also sealed us, and given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts.” How differently would this passage appear to one who had received the confirming chrism, with the words conveying it, “Signo te signo crucis, et confirmo te chrismate salutis;” and to one who had lost the possession of this Sacrament. Those who have deserted the ecclesiastical tradition and practice read the Scriptures with a negative mind, and so fail to draw out the truth which is in them.
