the divine Scriptures, those I mean that are called canonical in the Church, it is to be believed without any doubt. But other witnesses or testimonies which are used to persuade you to believe anything, you may believe or not, just as you shall see that they have or have not any weight giving them a just claim to your confidence."

Again, after having referred to the Fathers, and quoted Ambrose, Jerome, and Athanasius in favour of the view he was advocating, against a dissentient from it, he says that he refers to them, in order that his opponent may see that the question deserved a calm and serious discussion, adding,-"For we ought not to esteem the statements of any persons, however catholic, and of whatever repute, as the canonical Scriptures, so that it may not be lawful for us, without infringing upon the honour due to those men, to blame and reject this or that in their writings, if perchance we shall have found that they have been of a different opinion to what truth requires; truth, that, by divine aid, is understood by others, or by ourselves."

Again, in his controversy with the Manichees, after observing in defence of his belonging to the Catholic Church, that the true wisdom was to be found in it, he says, that there were also many other inducements to him to remain in it, as "the consent of various people and nations, its authority, taking its rise from miracles, nourished by hope, increased by charity, established by anti

1 Si divinarum Scripturarum, earum scilicet quæ canonicæ in Ecclesia nominantur, perspicua firmatur auctoritate, sine ulla dubitatione credendum est. Aliis vero testibus vel testimoniis, quibus aliquid credendum esse suadetur, tibi credere vel non credere liceat, quantum ea momenti ad faciendum fidem vel habere vel non habere perpenderis. Ad Paulin. ep. 147. Proem. ii. 475. 2 Neque enim quorum libet disputationes, quamvis catholicorum et laudatorum hominum, velut Scripturas canonicas habere debemus, ut nobis non liceat salva honorificentia quæ illis debetur hominibus aliquid in eorum scriptis improbare atque respuere, si forte invenerimus quod aliter senserint quam veritas habet, divino adjutorio vel ab aliis intellecta vel a nobis. Talis ego sum in scriptis aliorum, tales volo esse intellectores meorum. Ad Fortunat. ep. 148. c. 4. ii. 502.

quity, the succession of priests, up to the present episcopate, from the very chair of the Apostle Peter, to whom the Lord committed his sheep to be fed after his resurrection, the very name of Catholic ;" and that among the Manichees there were no inducements of this kind but only the promise of the truth; but, adds Augustine, "if the truth is so clearly manifested that it cannot be doubted of, it is to be preferred to all those inducements to remain in the Catholic Church."1

Again, speaking of the ecclesiastical writers subsequent to the Apostles, he says,-"Which kind of literature is to be read, not with a necessity of believing, but with a liberty of judging of it ... the excellence of the 'canonical authority of the Old and New Testament is different to the books of later writers, which being established in the times of the Apostles has, through the succession of bishops and the propagation of churches, been placed as it were on high in a seat of authority, to which every faithful and pious mind ought to be in subjection.

But in the works of later writers which are contained in innumerable books, but by no means are equal to that most sacred excellence of the canonical Scriptures, even in those of them in which the same truth is found, yet the authority is far different. Therefore in them if any matters should perchance be thought to be not agreeable to the truth from their being understood differently to the sense in which they are spoken, yet the reader or hearer has in such a case an unfettered right of judgment to ap

Multa sunt alia quæ in ejus gremio me justissime teneant. Tenet consensio populorum atque gentium : tenet auctoritas miraculis inchoata, spe nutrita, caritate aucta, vetustate firmata; tenet ab ipsa sede Petri Apostoli, cui pascendas oves suas post resurrectionem Dominus commendavit usque ad præsentem episcopatum successio sacerdotum; tenet postremo ipsum Catholicæ nomen....... Apud vos autem, ubi nihil horum est quod me invitet ac teneat, sola personat veritatis pollicitatio; quæ quidem si tam manifesta monstratur ut in dubium venire non possit, præponenda est omnibus illis rebus quibus in Catholica teneor. Contr. epist. Manich. quam voc. Fundam. c. 4. viii. 153.

prove what shall please him or disapprove what shall offend him; and therefore as to all things of this kind [i. e. that may be advanced by these writers], unless they may be defended either by sure grounds of reason, or from that canonical authority, so that it may be demonstrated that what is there discussed or narrated either certainly is, or might be, as there represented, he who is not satisfied with what is said, or refuses to believe it, is not blamed. But in that canonical pre-eminence of the sacred Scriptures, although only one Prophet, or Apostle, or Evangelist, is declared to have laid down any point in his writings, supposing it to have in reality the testimony of the canon in its favour, we must not doubt of its truth; otherwise there will be no writing by which the infirmity of human ignorance may be ruled, if the salutary authority of the canonical books is either wholly destroyed through contempt, or confounded by being extended beyond its limits [i. e. when that authority is extended to other works.]"1

..

' Quod genus litterarum non cum credendi necessitate, sed cum judicandi libertate legendum. Cui tamen ne intercluderetur locus, et adimeretur posteris ad quæstiones difficiles tractandas atque versandas linguæ ac stili saluberrimus labor, distincta est a posteriorum libris excellentia canonicæ auctoritatis veteris et novi Testamenti, quæ Apostolorum confirmata temporibus per successiones Episcoporum et propagationes Ecclesiarum tamquam in sede quadam sublimiter constituta est, cui serviat omnis fidelis et pius intellectus In opusculis autem posteriorum, quæ libris innumerabilibus continentur, sed nullo modo illæ sacratissimæ canonicarum Scripturarum excellentiæ coæquantur, etiam in quibuscumque eorum invenitur eadem veritas, longe tamen est impar auctoritas. Itaque in eis, si qua forte propterea dissonare putantur a vero, quia non ut dicta sunt intelliguntur, tamen liberum ibi habet lector auditorve judicium, quo vel approbet quod placuerit, vel improbet quod offenderit; et ideo cuncta ejusmodi, nisi vel certa ratione vel ex illa canonica authoritate defendantur, ut demonstretur sive omnino ita esse, sive fieri potuisse quod vel disputatum ibi est, vel narratum, si cui displicuerit, aut credere noluerit, non reprehenditur. In illa vero canonica eminentia sacrarum litterarum etiamsi unus Propheta, seu Apostolus aut Evangelista aliquid in suis litteris posuisse ipsa canonis confirmatione declaratur, non licet dubitare quod verum sit: alioquin nulla erit pagina, qua humanæ imperitiæ regatur infirmitas, si librorum canonicorum saluberrima auctoritas aut contemta penitus aboletur aut interminata confunditur. Contr. Faust. lib. xi. c. 5. viii. 221, 2.

VOL. II.

FF

I ask the impartial reader, Is it possible that Augustine could have spoken thus, if he had held that the consent of these writers formed part,-and through the obscurity of Scripture a necessary part,—of the rule of faith?

Again, when the Donatists objected to him the statements of Cyprian, and the Council held under him, he says, " But who is ignorant that the holy canonical Scripture of the Old and New Testament is limited to certain bounds, and is so far above all the later writings of bishops, that of it it cannot be doubted or disputed whether it is true or right, whatsoever shall appear to be written in it; but that as to the writings of bishops which either have been written or are being written since the confirmation of the canon, that they may be found fault with, both by the wiser discourse of any one more skilful in the matter, and by the weightier authority and more learned wisdom of other bishops, and by councils; and that local and provincial councils yield without any doubt to the authority of those plenary councils that are assembled together from the whole Christian world; AND THAT

AS TO THOSE VERY CECUMENICAL COUNCILS, THE FORMER

ARE OFTEN CORRECTED BY LATER, when experience opens what was closed, and brings to light that which was hidden, without any swellings of sacrilegious pride, without any exaltation of the neck of arrogance, without any envious contentions, with holy humility, with catholic peace, with Christian charity."1

1 Quis autem nesciat sanctam Scripturam canonicam, tam veteris quam novi Testamenti, certis suis terminis contineri, eamque omnibus posterioribus episcoporum litteris ita præponi, ut de illa omnino dubitari et disceptari non possit, utrum verum vel utrum rectum sit, quidquid in ea scriptum esse constiterit. episcoporum autem litteras quæ post confirmatum canonem vel scriptæ sunt vel scribuntur, et per sermonem forte sapientiorem cujuslibet in ea re peritioris, et per aliorum episcoporum graviorem auctoritatem doctioremque prudentiam, et per concilia licere reprehendi, si quid in eis forte a veritate deviatum est; et ipsa concilia quæ per singulas regiones vel provincias fiunt, plenariorum conciliorum auctoritati quæ fiunt ex universo orbe Christiano sine ullis ambagibus cedere; ipsaque plenaria sæpe priora posterioribus emendari, cum aliquo experimento rerum aperitur quod clausum erat et cognoscitur quod latebat, sine ullo typho sacrilega superbiæ, sine ulla inflata cervice arrogantiæ, sine ulla contentione lividæ invidiæ, cum sancta humilitate, cum pace catholica, cum caritate Christiana. De bapt. contr. Donat. lib. ii. c. 3. ix, 98.

Lastly, in reply to the Pelagians, on the important doctrine of original sin, after having proved his view of the point in question from the holy Scriptures, he says,— "But what shall I say of those interpreters of the divine Scriptures who have flourished in the catholic church, how they have not attempted to turn these testimonies to other senses, since they stood firm in the antient and sound faith, and were not moved by novel error. If I should wish to collect them, and make use of their testimonies, it will be both too long a task, AND I SHALL PERHAPS SEEM TO HAVE RELIED LESS THAN I OUGHT UPON THE CANONICAL AUTHORITIES, FROM WHICH WE OUGHT NOT TO 99 1 ALLOW OUR ATTENTION TO BE WITHDRAWN.

So far is he from giving to those writers the place demanded for them by the Tractators.

Before I pass on, I have only to remark, that as it respects matters of faith, I know of no testimonies that can be produced from Augustine that even semblably support the views of our opponents. The reader will consider whether the passages we have already adduced do not forbid the supposition that any real support for their views could be found in him. His sentiments as it respects the Rule of practice we shall consider hereafter.

CHRYSOSTOM (fl. a. 398.)

From Augustine let us pass on to the equally celebrated Chrysostom. "Let us, I beseech you," says Chrysostom, "shut our ears against all such persons, and follow closely the Rule (or Canon) of the Holy Scripture."

'Quid autem dicam de ipsis divinarum Scripturarum tractatoribus qui in catholica Ecclesia floruerunt, quomodo hæc non in alios sensus conati sunt vertere, quoniam stabiles erant in antiquissima et robustissima fide, non autem novitio movebantur errore. Quos si colligere et eorum testimoniis uti velim, et nimis longum erit, et de canonicis auctoritatibus, a quibus non debemus averti, minus fortasse videbor præsumsisse quam debui. De nupt. et concup. lib. ii. c. 29. x. 328.

2

Παρακαλω, πασι τοις τοιούτοις τας ακοάς αποτείχισαντες, τω κανονι της άγιας γραφής κατακολουθησωμεν. CHRYSOSTOMI in Genes. hom. xiii. § 3. tom. iv. p. 103. ed. Bened. Paris. 1718 et séq.