[1550] Various editions give principium et caput Ecclesiæ est Christus = the beginning of His ways and the Head of the Church is Christ.
[1551] For via certa others give via recta = a right way.
[1552] Gen. iii. 5
[1553] Phil. ii. 6, 7
[1554] Per ejus primatum = by means of His standing as the Firstborn. We follow the Benedictine reading, qui post ejus et per ejus primatum in Dei gratiam renascuntur. But there is another, although less authoritative, version, viz. qui post ejus primitias in Dei gratia nascimur = all of us who, subsequently to His first-fruits, are born in the grace of God.
[1555] Luke viii. 21; Rom. viii. 15-17; Gal. iv. 5; Eph. i. 5; Heb. ii. 11
[1556] Id existens quod Pater est, etc. Another version is, idem existens quod Pater Deus = subsisting as the same that God the Father is.
[1557] John i. 9
[1558] The term dispensatio occurs very frequently as the equivalent of the Greek oikonomia = economy, designating the Incarnation.
[1559] Ex. iii. 14
[1560] Deserens. With less point, deferens has been suggested = bearing it, or delivering it.
[1561] Or it may = he should fail to have any relation to the salvation.
[1562] Referring to the Manicheans.
[1563] John ii. 4
[1564] John xix. 26, 27
[1565] Matt. xii. 48
[1566] Matt. xxiii. 9
[1567] 1 Cor. i. 25
[1568] Tit. i. 15
[1569] In reference to the Manicheans.
[1570] The Benedictine text gives, quibus intervenientibus habitat majestas Verbi ab humani corporis fragilitate secretius. Another well-supported version is, ad humani corporis fragilitatem, etc. = more retired in relation to the frailty of the human body.
Chapter 5.--Of Christ's Passion, Burial, and Resurrection.
11. But little [comparatively] was the humiliation (humilitas) of our Lord on our behalf in His being born: it was also added that He deemed it meet to die in behalf of mortal men. For "He humbled Himself, being made subject even unto death, yea, the death of the cross:" [1571] lest any one of us, even were he able to have no fear of death [in general], should yet shudder at some particular sort of death which men reckon most shameful. Therefore do we believe in Him Who Under Pontius Pilate Was Crucified and Buried. For it was requisite that the name of the judge should be added, with a view to the cognizance of the times. Moreover, when that burial is made an object of belief, there enters also the recollection of the new tomb, [1572] which was meant to present a testimony to Him in His destiny to rise again to newness of life, even as the Virgin's womb did the same to Him in His appointment to be born. For just as in that sepulchre no other dead person was buried, [1573] whether before or after Him; so neither in that womb, whether before or after, was anything mortal conceived.
12. We believe also, that On the Third Day He Rose Again from The Dead, the first-begotten for brethren destined to come after Him, whom He has called into the adoption of the sons of God, [1574] whom [also] He has deemed it meet to make His own joint-partners and joint-heirs. [1575]
[1571] Phil. ii. 8
[1572] For monumenti some editions give testamenti = testament.
[1573] John xix. 41
[1574] Eph. i. 5
[1575] Rom. viii. 17
Chapter 6.--Of Christ's Ascension into Heaven.
13. We believe that He Ascended into Heaven, which place of blessedness He has likewise promised unto us, saying, "They shall be as the angels in the heavens," [1576] in that city which is the mother of us all, [1577] the Jerusalem eternal in the heavens. But it is wont to give offense to certain parties, either impious Gentiles or heretics, that we should believe in the assumption of an earthly body into heaven. The Gentiles, however, for the most part, set themselves diligently to ply us with the arguments of the philosophers, to the effect of affirming that there cannot possibly be anything earthly in heaven. For they know not our Scriptures, neither do they understand how it has been said, "It is sown an animal body, it is raised a spiritual body." [1578] For thus it has not been expressed, as if body were turned into spirit and became spirit; inasmuch as at present, too, our body, which is called animal (animale), has not been turned into soul and become soul (anima). But by a spiritual body is meant one which has been made subject to spirit in such wise [1579] that it is adapted to a heavenly habitation, all frailty and every earthly blemish having been changed and converted into heavenly purity and stability. This is the change concerning which the apostle likewise speaks thus: "We shall all rise, but we shall not all be changed." [1580] And that this change is made not unto the worse, but unto the better, the same [apostle] teaches, when he says, "And we shall be changed." [1581] But the question as to where and in what manner the Lord's body is in heaven, is one which it would be altogether over-curious and superfluous to prosecute. Only we must believe that it is in heaven. For it pertains not to our frailty to investigate the secret things of heaven, but it does pertain to our faith to hold elevated and honorable sentiments on the subject of the dignity of the Lord's body.
[1576] Matt. xxii. 30
[1577] Gal. iv. 26
[1578] 1 Cor. xv. 44
[1579] Adopting the Benedictine reading, quod ita spiritui subditum est. But several mss. give quia ita coaptandum est = it is understood to be a spiritual body, in that it is to be so adapted as to suit a heavenly habitation.
[1580] 1 Cor. xv. 51, according to the Vulgate's transposition of the negative.
[1581] 1 Cor. xv. 52