Wyclif, Dialogus

Chapter 27

The censures of Antichrist

Pollard pp. 56.2–58.5

Falsehood and Truth56.2–58.5

56mendacium. Video quod errore stulto cecaris non timens tanquam lapis insensibilis censuras ecclesie contra tuam sentenciam fulminandas. Nam ista defendens citaberis, excommunicaberis, et ab omni fructu in ecclesia utili suspenderis. Et hoc videtur racionabile quia pertinaciter ad detrimentum ecclesie defendis heresim manifestam. Nec dubium quin ad ista consequetur incarceracio et atrocissima pena mortis. veritas. Scio quod contenciosa et terrifica verba seminas non fundata. Ideo consolatus de Christo et lege sua non timeo verba tua. Christus enim tolleravit humiliter ac pacienter tam improperia quam finaliter penam acerbam et mortem maxime exprobrosam. Quis ergo fidelis servus domini propter talia timeret prudenter dicere veritatem? Omnes enim censure antichristi non sunt nisi false umbre, a via domini timidos exterrentes. Si enim antichristus citat hominem ad locum quem non intelligit nec scit si pro tempore citationis erit in tartaris cum diabolo stabilitus, et Christus citat per legem suam, per instinctum et casus quos immittit ad partem contrariam; quis dubitat quin citacioni domini est parendum? Ideo non foret signum evidencius ad ostendendum quod talis citans sit antichristus et filius patris mendacii quam talis falsa citacio contra Christum. Et quantum ad excommunicacionem, dictum est diffuse alibi quod sonat probabiliter in dei benediccionem cum psalmo 108° scribitur Maledicent illi et tamen benedices. Et malachie 2° Maledicam benediccionibus vestris. Et Mt. 5° dicit Christus beati eritis cum maledixerint vobis homines et persecuti vos fuerint et dixerint omne malum adversus vos mencientes propter me. Christus autem non dimisit 57dicere veritatem evangelicam propter tales minas a diabolo fulminatas; quare ergo debet Christianus, securus de fide sua timere vivere vel dicere veritatem legis domini quam cognoscit, cum persecucio corporia sit malum maximum inferendum? Sed Mat. 5° scribitur beati qui persecucionem paciuntur propter justiciam, quoniam ipsorum est regnum celorum. Ecce felix premium propter penam momentaneam commutatum: ideo nullus nisi in fide trepidans vel infidelis stacionem istam in fide domini formidaret. Et quantum ad suspencionem patet quod summi episcopi jerusalem et sui complices Christum in crucis patibulo suspenderunt, quare ergo non possunt eorum vicarii suspendere veritatem evangelicam et servos fideles domini jhu Christi? Cum antichristus et sui vicarii post tantam gratitudinem a redemptore perceptam videntur esse plus istis summis sacerdotibus et phariseis ingrati, et per consequens in suspencione frivola et infundabili plus scelesti. Unum ergo solacium est fideli quod omnes iste censure mendaciter ficte non sunt fundande in Christo vel lege sua, sed ab antichristo minatorie machinate. Et quantum ad fructus ecclesie certum est quod meritum insensibile est fructus pocior quam fructus sensibilis; ideo juxta proverbium salomonis Maledictus qui propter buccellam panis deserit veritatem. Nec sum mihi conscius quod defendo vel dico heresim aut contra papam vel aliquem cardinalem, sed dico Christi sentenciam licet videatur penalis ad tempus, tamen est quoad salutem anime utilis et salubris. Et celans istam sentenciam nullam partem ecclesie Christi diligeret, cum ipse ex summo amore dileccionem istam suis fidelibus exemplavit. Et fideles ecclesie possunt ad similitudinem jeremie strenuitatem suorum militum lamentare. Milites quidem antichristi audent in causa sua vel causa mundana sapientem lucrum proprium usque ad mortem contendere. 58Sed milites Christi non audent, sicut et ipsi audent in causa diaboli vel leviter se exponere periculo imminenti, causa immensitatis mercedis perpetue sic certantibus infallibiliter repromisse; ubi non occurrit causa patula nisi infidelitas germinans supra fidem ecclesie utrobique.

Falsehood. I see that you are blinded by a foolish error, not fearing, like an unfeeling stone,1 the censurescensura: censure of the churchecclesia: church that are to be thundered against your teachingsentencia: teaching. For in defending these things you will be citedcitare; citacio: to cite; citation, you will be excommunicated, and you will be suspendedsuspendere; suspencio: to suspend; suspension from every useful fruit in the church. And this seems reasonable,2 because you obstinately defend a manifest heresy to the church's harm. Nor is there any doubt that imprisonment and the most dreadful punishment of death will follow upon these.

Truth. I know that you sow contentious and terrifying words that have no foundation. Therefore, consoled by Christ and his law, I do not fear your words. For Christ bore humbly and patiently both reproaches and, in the end, a bitter punishment and a most shameful death. Who then, being a faithful servant of the Lord, would for such things fear to speak the truth prudently? For all the censures of Antichrist are nothing but false shadows, frightening the timid away from the wayvia / patria: the way / the homeland of the Lord. For if Antichrist cites a man to a place that he does not understand, and does not know whether, by the time of the citation, he will be established in hell with the devil, and Christ cites by his law, by prompting, and by the chances that he sends, to the contrary part:3 who doubts that the Lord's citation must be obeyed? Therefore there would be no more evident sign to show that such a citer is Antichrist and a son of the father of lies than such a false citation against Christ. And as to excommunication, it has been said at length elsewhere that it probably redounds to God's blessing, since in Psalm 108 it is written: "They will curse, and yet thou wilt bless"4 (Ps. 108:28); and in Malachi 2: "I will curse your blessings" (Mal. 2:2); and in Matthew 5 Christ says: "Blessed shall ye be when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake" (Matt. 5:11).5 Now Christ did not leave off 57speaking the gospel truth because of such threats thundered by the devil. Why then should a Christian, secure in his faith, fear to live or to speak the truth of the Lord's law which he knows, although bodily persecution is the greatest evil that can be inflicted?6 But in Matthew 5 it is written: "Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdomregnum: kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:10). Behold a happy reward given in exchangecommutacio; commutare: exchange; to exchange for a momentary pain: therefore no one but one who trembles in faith, or an unbelieverinfidelis: unbeliever; with a dative, faithless (to), would dread this station in the Lord's faith.7 And as to suspension, it is clear that the chief bishopsepiscopus; dominus episcopus: bishop; the lord bishop of Jerusalem and their accomplices suspended Christ on the gibbet of the cross; why then can their vicars not suspend the gospel truth and the faithful servants of the Lord Jesus Christ?8 For Antichrist and his vicars, after so great a kindnessgratitudo: kindness (received) received from the Redeemer, seem to be more ungratefulingratus: displeasing (to God) than those high priestssacerdos / presbiter: priest / presbyter and Pharisees,9 and consequently more wicked in a frivolous and groundless suspension. One consolation, then, the faithful man has: that all these censures, lyingly feigned, are not to be founded in Christ or his law, but are contrived by Antichrist by way of threat. And as to the fruits of the church, it is certain that imperceptibleinsensibilis: imperceptible; of a thing that cannot feel, without sensation merit is a better fruit than perceptiblesensibilis: perceptible fruit; therefore, according to Solomon's proverb, "Cursed is he who for a morsel of bread forsaketh the truth"10 (Prov. 28:21). Nor am I conscious of defending or speaking heresy, or [speaking] against the popepapa: pope or any cardinal; but I speak Christ's teaching, which, though it seem painful for a time, yet is useful and wholesome as regards the salvation of the soul. And one who concealed this teaching would love no part of Christ's church, since he, out of the highest love, set this love as an example to his faithful.11 And the faithful of the church may, after the likeness of Jeremiah, lament the valour of their soldiers.12 The soldiers of Antichrist indeed dare, in their own cause or in a worldly cause that savours of their own gain,13 to strive even to death. 58But the soldiers of Christ do not dare, as those others dare in the devil's cause, even lightly to expose themselves to impending danger, for the sake of the immensity of the everlasting reward infallibly promised to those who so strive; where no evident cause appears except unbeliefinfidelitas: heathenism, unbelief sprouting up over the faith of the church on both sides.14

Notes

  1. 1 Lapis insensibilis: a stone without sensation, hence "unfeeling". The the glossary's insensibilis "imperceptible" (paired with sensibilis) fits 57.20 but not this passive sense of the word; tagged there, not here.
  2. 2 Et (56.6) was missed in the first plate read of this single-witness line; restored from the plate (n0087).
  3. 3 The subject of non intelligit nec scit is taken as Antichrist: he summons to a court he does not understand and may himself be in hell by the day set. It may instead be the man cited. Ad partem contrariam, "to the contrary part", is taken as the opposite of Antichrist's summons. B, B¹, C read instrumentum, "instrument", for instinctum (56.19).
  4. 4 Vulgate et tu benedices, "and thou wilt bless"; Wyclif reads et tamen, "and yet".
  5. 5 Wyclif reads beati eritis ("blessed shall ye be"), adds homines ("men") and has adversus; Vulgate beati estis ... adversum vos, without homines.
  6. 6 Corporia is printed (57.4), evidently for corporea, "bodily". Cum ... sit is taken as concessive. B, B¹, C read non sit: "since bodily persecution is not the greatest evil"; they also omit vivere vel, "to live or".
  7. 7 Stacio: a post or station, as of a soldier on guard, anticipating the soldiers of 57.30. B, B¹, C omit domini.
  8. 8 Suspendere carries both senses: the chief priests (summi episcopi) "suspended" Christ by hanging him on the cross, and Antichrist's vicars "suspend" preachers from office.
  9. 9 Ingratus is here "ungrateful" (to the Redeemer, whose kindness they received), not "displeasing to God": the glossary, 's exception.
  10. 10 Vulgate iste et pro buccella panis deserit veritatem, "such a man even for a morsel of bread forsaketh the truth"; Wyclif makes it a curse, Maledictus qui propter buccellam.
  11. 11 B, B¹, C read Christus for ipse, making Christ explicit as the one who set the example.
  12. 12 Strenuitatem ... lamentare: to lament the state of their soldiers' valour, that is, its want (so Pollard's side-note, "less daring"). No single passage of Jeremiah is cited.
  13. 13 Print sapientem (57.32) construes with nothing. B, C read capiente; B¹ corrects capiente to sapiente, agreeing with causa mundana: "a worldly cause savouring of their own gain". B¹ translated.
  14. 14 Ipsi is taken as Antichrist's soldiers; vel as "even" (B, C read saltem vel, "at least even"). B, B¹, C read periculis imminente causa. Utrobique, "on both sides", is taken of both armies; it may mean "in both cases".
How the Latin of this chapter was established
  • Plate readings; page · reading · note):
    • 56: CAPITULUM 27m.
    • 56: hoc
    • 56: videtur
    • 56: a (line-final: a | via)
    • 56: ∅ (same gap as 6.3)
    • 56: 108°
    • 57: propter (italic)
    • 57: evangelicam (evan-|gelicam)
    • 57: ∅ (side-note "It is better")
    • 57: ∅ (proverbium already joined)
    • 57: ∅ (side-note "to the Church")
    • 57: ∅ (English side-note word leaked into the column (layout error shared across scans))
    • 56: filius (plate: MS mark 113 b. glued)
  • Latin fixed from the plate: 56.6 hoc videtur corrected to Et hoc videtur (plate decision revised; note 2).
  • Omitted per §3.5 / kept in the English (margin matter): reference Ps. cix. 28. (56.26); reference Mal. ii. 2. (56.27); reference Matt. v. 11. (56.28); reference Matt. v. 10. (57.5); reference Prov. xxviii. 21. (57.23).
  • MS folio marks omitted per §3.5: B. 15 b. (56.11); B¹. 157 c. (56.16); C. 15 b. (56.17); 113 b. (56.22); B. 15 c. (57.8); C. 18 a. (58.2); B¹. 157 d. (58.4); B. 15 d. (58.5).