Chapter XXXIII.
The Children of the Catholic Church ought to adhere to the Faith of their Fathers and die for it.
[86.] Whoever then gainsays these Apostolic and Catholic determinations, first of all necessarily insults the memory of holy Celestine, who decreed that novelty should cease to assail antiquity; and in the next place sets at naught the decision of holy Sixtus, whose sentence was, "Let no license be allowed to novelty, since it is not fit that any addition be made to antiquity;" moreover, he condemns the determination of blessed Cyril, who extolled with high praise the zeal of the venerable Capreolus, in that he would fain have the ancient doctrines of the faith confirmed, and novel inventions condemned; yet more, he tramples upon the Council of Ephesus, that is, on the decisions of the holy bishops of almost the whole East, who decreed, under divine guidance, that nothing ought to be believed by posterity save what the sacred antiquity of the holy Fathers, consentient in Christ, had held, who with one voice, and with loud acclaim, testified that these were the words of all, this was the wish of all, this was the sentence of all, that as almost all heretics before Nestorius, despising antiquity and upholding novelty, had been condemned, so Nestorius, the author of novelty and the assailant of antiquity, should be condemned also. Whose consentient determination, inspired by the gift of sacred and celestial grace, whoever disapproves must needs hold the profaneness of Nestorius to have been condemned unjustly; finally, he despises as vile and worthless the whole Church of Christ, and its doctors, apostles, and prophets, and especially the blessed Apostle Paul: he despises the Church, in that she hath never failed in loyalty to the duty of cherishing and preserving the faith once for all delivered to her; he despises St. Paul, who wrote, "O Timothy, guard the deposit intrusted to thee, shunning profane novelties of words;" [524] and again, "if any man preach unto you other than ye have received, let him be accursed." [525] But if neither apostolical injunctions nor ecclesiastical decrees may be violated, by which, in accordance with the sacred consent of universality and antiquity, all heretics always, and, last of all, Pelagius, Coelestius, and Nestorius have been rightly and deservedly condemned, then assuredly it is incumbent on all Catholics who are anxious to approve themselves genuine sons of Mother Church, to adhere henceforward to the holy faith of the holy Fathers, to be wedded to it, to die in it; but as to the profane novelties of profane men--to detest them, abhor them, oppose them, give them no quarter.
[87.] These matters, handled more at large in the two preceding Commonitories, I have now put together more briefly by way of recapitulation, in order that my memory, to aid which I composed them, may, on the one hand, be refreshed by frequent reference, and, on the other, may avoid being wearied by prolixity.
[524] 1 Tim. vi. 20.
[525] Gal. i. 9.
Appendix I.
Note on Section 41, Page 143.
There is so close an agreement, both in substance and often in the form of expression, between the preceding sections (36-42) and the so-called Athanasian Creed, that it led Antelmi (Nova de Symb. Athanas. Disquisitio,) to ascribe that document to Vincentius as its author, and to suppose that in it we have the fulfilment of the promise here referred to. If, however, the Creed was the work of Vincentius, it cannot well be the work promised at the close of § 41, for Vincentius's words point to a fuller and more explicit treatment of the subjects referred to, whereas in the Athanasian Creed, though the subjects are the same, the treatment of them is very much briefer and more concise.
Whoever was the author however, if it was not Vincentius, he must at least, as the subjoined extracts seem to prove, have been familiar with the Commonitory, as also with St. Augustine's writings, of which, as well as of the Commonitory, the Creed bears evident traces. I subjoin the following instances of agreement between the Commonitory and the Creed: Antelmi gives several others.
Commonitory:
Athanasian Creed:
Unum Christum Jesum, non duos, eumdemque Deum pariter atque Hominem confitetur. § 36.
Est ergo Fides recta, ut credamus et confiteamur, quia Dominus noster Jesus Christus, Dei Filius, Deus pariter et Homo est. v. 28.
Alia est Persona Patris, alia Filii, alia Spiritus Sancti. § 37.
Alia est Persona Patris, alia Filii, alia Spiritus Sancti. v. 5.
Unus idemque Christus, Deus et Homo, Idem Patri et æqualis et minor, Idem ex Patre ante sæcula genitus, Idem in sæculo ex Matre generatus, perfectus Deus, perfectus Homo. § 37.
Deus ex substantia Patris, ante sæcula genitus, Homo ex substantia Matris, in sæculo natus; perfectus Deus perfectus Homo. vv. 29, 30.
Unus, non corruptibili nescio qua Divinitatis et Humanitatis confusione, sed integra et singulari quadam unitate Personæ. § 37.
Unus omnino, non conversione sustantiæ, sed unitate Personæ. v. 34.
Sicut Verbum in carne caro, ita Homo in Deo Deus est. § 40.
Unus, non conversione Divinitatis in carne, sed Adsumptione Humanitatis in Deo. [526] v. 33.
[526] This is probably the true reading.
Appendix II.
Note on Section 69, Page 149.
That Vincentius had Augustine and his adherents in view in this description will hardly be doubted by any one who will compare it with the following extracts, the first from Prosper's letter to Augustine, [527] giving him an account of the complaints made against his doctrine by the Massilian clergy; the second from St. Augustine's treatise, "De dono Perseveranti " [528] written in consequence of it.
Commonitory, § 69.
"Si quis interroget quempiam hæreticorum sibi talia persuadentem, Unde probas, unde doces quod Ecclesiæ Catholicæ universalem et antiquam fidem dimittere debeam? Statum ille, Scriptum est enim,' et continuo mille testimonia, mille exempla, mille auctoritates parat de Lege, de Psalmis, de Apostolis, de Prophetis, quibus, novo et malo more interpretatis, ex arce Catholica in hæreseos barathrum infelix anima præcipitetur. Audent enim polliceri et docere, quod in Ecclesia sua, id est, in communionis suæ conventiculo, magna et specialis ac plane personalis quædam sit Dei gratia, adeo ut sine ullo labore, sine ullo studio, sine ulla industria, etiamsi nec petant, nec quærant, nec pulsent, quicunque illi ad numerum suum pertinent, tamen ita divinitus dispensentur, ut, angelicis evecti manibus, id est, angelica protectione servati, nunquam possint offendere ad lapidem pedem suum, id est, nunquam scandalizari."
Prosper to Augustine.
"The Massilian clergy complain," he says, "Romoveri omnem industriam, tollique virtutes, si Dei constitutio humanus præveniat voluntates." § 3.
Then referring to the teaching of the Massilians themselves, Prosper continues,
"Ad conditionem hanc velint uniuscujusque hominis pertinere, ut ad cognitionem Dei et ad obedientiam mandatorum Ejus possit suam dirigere voluntatem, et ad hanc gratiam qua in Christo renascimur pervenire, per naturalem scilicet facultatem, petendo, quærendo, pulsando."
Referring to the line of argument pursued by himself and others of Augustine's friends and the Massilian way of dealing with it, he says, "Et cum contra eos Scripta Beatitudinis tuæ validissimis et innumeris testimoniis Divinarum Scriptuarum instructa proferimus,...obstinationem suam vetustate defendunt." § 3.
St. Augustine replies to Prosper not in an ordinary letter, but in two short Treatises, which must have been written immediately afters its receipt, for he died in August 430, the first entitled "De Prædestinatione Sanctorum," the second "De Dono Perseverantiæ."
The following extract is from the latter:
"Attendant ergo quomodo falluntur qui putant Esse a nobis, non dari nobis, ut petamus, quæramus, pulsemus. Et hoc esse, dicunt, quod gratia præceditur merito nostro, ut sequatur illa cum accipimus petentes, et invenimus quærentes, aperiturque pulsantibus. Nec volunt intelligere etiam hoc divini muneris esse ut oremus, hoc est, petamus, quæramus, atque pulsamus."--De Dono Persev. c. 23, § 64.
Vincentius's language is in keeping with that of others of St. Augustine's opponents, as Cassian and Faustus, extracts from whom are given by Noris; only, as he observes, while Vincentius uses the term "heresy" of the doctrine impugned,--they are content to use the milder term "error."--Histor. Pelag. p. 246.
[527] Inter Epistolas S. August. Ep. 225. Tom. ii. and again Tom. x. col. 1327.
[528] Opera ix. col. 1833.
Appendix III.
Note on Section 85, Page 156.
Celestine's letter was addressed to certain Bishops of Southern Gaul, who are particularized by name.
It appears that Prosper and Hilary had made a journey to Rome, where they then were, for the purpose of complaining to Celestine of the connivance of certain bishops of Southern Gaul with the unsound teaching of their clergy. They complained too of the disrespectful manner in which these same clergy treated the memory of Augustine, then recently deceased.
Celestine writes to these bishops: blames their connivance with a fault, which, says he, by their silence they make their own, and then proceeds to charge them, as in the passage quoted in the text, "Rebuke these people: restrain their liberty of preaching. If the case be so, let novelty cease to assail antiquity, let restlessness cease to disturb the Church's peace." Then, after some further exhortation, he adds, "We cannot wonder at their thus assailing the living, when they do not shrink from seeking to asperse the memory of the departed. With Augustine, whom all men everywhere loved and honoured, we ever held communion. Let a stop be put to this spirit of disparagement, which unhappily is on the increase."
The manner in which Vincentius deals with this letter has been very commonly thought, and with reason, to indicate a Semipelagian leaning. [529] His "si ita est," "if the case be so," emphasized by being repeated again and again, quite in an excited manner, as we should say, shows an evident wish to shift the charge of novelty from those against whom it had been brought, and fix it upon the opposite party. "Who are the introducers of novelty? The Massilians, as Prosper represents them, or their calumniators? Not the Massilians: they notoriously appeal to antiquity,--not the Massilians, but Prosper and the rest of Augustine's followers."
The feeling with regard to Augustine, on the part of the Massilian clergy, as indicated in Celestine's letter, is quite in accordance with the animus of § 69 above. See the note on that place, and see Noris's remarks, pp. 246-248.
[529] E.g. "Hunc locum Vincentius Lirinensis sic a vero sensu contra Prosperum et Hilarium detorquet, ut ipse haud injuria in erroris Semipelagiani suspicionem veniat." The Benedictine editor of St. Augustine's works on Celestine's letter, Tom. x. col. 2403. To the same purpose, among others, Card. Norris, Histor. Pelag., 246. Vossius, Histor. Pelag. Tillemont, T. xv. pp. 145, 862. Neander, Church History, iv. p. 388.
The Works of John Cassian.
Translated,
with prolegomena, prefaces, and notes,
by
Rev. Edgar C. S. Gibson, M.A.,
Principal of the Theological College, Wells, Somerset.