Wyclif’s Latin works

Dialogus, chapter 15

The saints in heaven and the prelates of today

Pollard pp. 29.2–31.9

Falsehood29.2–29.10

29mendacium. Adhuc tota multitudo ecclesie militat contra tuam sentenciam, cum ecclesia acceptat curiam romanam, sanctos episcopos et abbates, ex sanctitate vite preterite, in sanctitate et oracionis efficacia sacerdotes vulgares et populum excellentes, et hoc idem confirmant miracula adhuc recencia et miracula in cronicis satis publicis memorata. Quis ergo crederit tue sentencie nisi qui non habet fidem quod deus peccatum suum preteritum quandocunque confessum fuerit non delebit.

Falsehood. Further, the whole multitude of the churchecclesia: church fights against your teachingsentencia: teaching, since the church accepts the Roman curiacuria romana: the Roman curia, and holy bishopsepiscopus; dominus episcopus: bishop; the lord bishop and abbots who, from the holiness of their past life, excel common priestssacerdotes vulgares: common priests and the people in holiness and in the efficacy of prayer;1 and this same thing is confirmed by miracles still recent, and by miracles recorded in chronicles that are well enough known. Who then will believe your teaching, except one who has not faith that God will not blot out his past sin whenever it has been confessed?2

Truth29.11–31.9

29veritas. Percipio quod calliditatem ut innatam habeas quod falsitatem reseres prope verum, ut ex cautela diaboli commisceas facilius falsitatem, sic enim diabolus maliciose temptando evam cur deus proibuit datum fructum, percipiendo quod eva per adverbium forte' in fide domini trepidavit, statim miscebat mendacium nequaquam, inquit, moriemini. Supponit autem catholicus citra fidem quod multi pape, episcopi et abbates ex gracia Christi et contricione sua finali sunt in celestibus nunc beati. Sed numquid ista opinio citra fidem justificat nunc papas, episcopos et abbates qui a lege domini hodie plus declinant? Constat quod si petrus, stephanus et magdalene ex fide scripture nunc in celestibus sunt beati, non propterea quilibet de pura secta Christi, sive vir sive femina, esse in vita approbata a domino est censendus. Ergo homines de quibus est vulgaris opinio, licet [vi]dentur esse beati a domino non faciunt evidenciam quod illi de secta sua hodie sunt beati; cum sancti ex fide scripture 30docti esse modo beato non faciunt quod homines de pura secta Christi, sicut ipsi fuerant, sint nunc sancti. Verum quidem est quod isti tres modi hominum si modo, sicut probabiliter creditur, sunt beati, non propter talem dotacionem, nec propter hoc quod a pauperie et vita domini declinarunt, sed propter hoc quod, defective tenentes pauperiem et legem Christi, fructuose finaliter penitebant. Que ergo evidencia quod isti tres prelati plus peccantes hodie observant ideo statum sanctum. Observemus ergo solam vitam Christi pro regula infallibili, vel vitam aliorum de quanto secuti fuerint dominum jhm Christum. Ut licet petrus ihm secutus fuerat non tamen propterea debemus Christum negare et menciendo anatematizare et jurare quod Christum non novimus, licet in evangelio legimus petrum apostolum sic fecisse. Sequamur ergo papas episcopos et abbates de quanto ipsi secuti fuerant dominum jhm Christum. Et ad istum sensum dicit ciprianus 8ª d, c° [decimo], si solus Christus, quod solum debemus de apostolis vel sanctis aliis audire dominum jhm Christum. Christus enim in ipsis loquitur quando dicunt veritatem catholicam; et precise de tanto christianos alios audiamus. Doce ergo si sciveris quod iste persone de tanto sunt de ecclesia de quanto extollunt ad beatitudinem istum papam istos episcopos vel abbates. Sed constat mihi quod nec vel perfunctoria evidencia scis istud probare. Quomodo ergo non erubesceret infidelis, deserendo fundacionem in lege domini que non potest deficere, et preeligendo vitas peccatrices apocrifas, secundum illud in quo non docetur quod secuti fuerint dominum jhm Christum. Et specialiter dimittendo 31illud perfectum in vitis eorum in quo secuti fuerant dominum jhm Christum. Ut beatus possidonius narrat de Augustino quando voluit cives iponenses illas possessiones quas sibi dederant rehabere. Beatus jeronimus nullo modo voluit possessiones tales accipere, nec extraclaustraliter vivere nec clericorum predia approbare. Et sic de beatis benedicto, gregorio et bernardo; pauca temporalia in pauperie possidebant et tamen, ut creditur, de illa possessione finaliter penitebant.

Truth. I perceive that you have, as if it were inborn, the cunning to set falsehood close to the truth,3 so that by the devil’s wile you may the more easily mix falsehood in. For so the devil, maliciously tempting Eve [with] why God had forbidden the fruit that was given, perceiving that Eve wavered in faith in the Lord by the adverb "perhaps", at once mixed in the lie: "By no means," he said, "shall you die."4 And a catholic supposes, short of faithcitra fidem: short of faith, that many popespapa: pope, bishops and abbots, by the grace of Christ and their final contrition, are now blessed in heaven. But does this opinionopinio: opinion, short of faith, now justify the popes, bishops and abbots who today turn aside the more from the law of the Lord? It is evident that if Peter, Stephen and Magdalene are now blessed in heaven from the faith of scriptureex fide: as faith teaches; with a genitive, from the faith of [scripture], not for that reason is anyone whatever of the pure sectreligio privata; secta: private religion; sect of Christ, whether man or woman, to be judged to be in a life approved by the Lord.5 Therefore men about whom there is a common opinion, although they are seen to be blessed by the Lord, do not make evidenceevidencia: evidence that those of their sect are blessed today; since saints shown from the faith of scripture 30to be now in a blessed state do not make it so that men of the pure sect of Christ, as they themselves had been, are now saints.6 True it is indeed that these three kinds of men, if they are now blessed, as is probably believed, [are so] not because of such endowmentdotacio: endowment, nor because they turned aside from the poverty and life of the Lord, but because, keeping poverty and the law of Christlex dei / lex Christi / lex evangelica: God's law / the law of Christ / the gospel law defectively, they repented fruitfully at the last. What evidence is there, then, that these three [kinds of] prelatesprelatus: prelate, sinning the more today, therefore keep a holy state? Let us therefore keep the life of Christ alone as an infallible rule, or the life of others in so far as they have followed the Lord Jesus Christ. As: although Peter had followed Jesus, yet we ought not for that reason to deny Christ and, lying, to curse and to swear that we know not Christ, although we read in the gospel that the apostle Peter did so.7 Let us therefore follow popes, bishops and abbots in so far as they themselves had followed the Lord Jesus Christ. And to this sense Cyprian says (dist. 8, ch. 10), "if Christ alone", that from the apostles or other saints we ought to hear only the Lord Jesus Christ.8 For Christ speaks in them when they speak the catholic truth; and precisely to that extent let us hear other Christians. Teach, then, if you know it, that these persons are of the church to the extent that they exalt this pope, these bishops or abbots to blessedness.9 But it is evident to me that you cannot prove this by even cursory evidence. How then should the unbelieverinfidelis: unbeliever; with a dative, faithless (to) not blush, deserting the foundation in the law of the Lord, which cannot fail, and choosing before it sinful, apocryphalapocrifa; apocrifus: apocrypha; apocryphal lives, according to that [part of them] in which it is not shown that they followed the Lord Jesus Christ? And especially setting aside 31that perfect thing in their lives in which they had followed the Lord Jesus Christ. As blessed Possidius relates of Augustine, when he wished the citizens of Hippo to have back those possessions which they had given him. Blessed Jerome would in no way accept such possessions, nor live outside the cloister, nor approve the estates of clericsclerus; clericus: the clergy; cleric.10 And so of blessed Benedict, Gregory and Bernard: they possessed few temporal goodstemporalia: temporal goods in poverty, and yet, as is believed, they repented at the last of that possession.

Notes

  1. 1 Ex sanctitate vite preterite is taken with excellentes (they excel from the holiness of their past life); it could also go with acceptat (the church accepts them on the strength of their past life). Sacerdotes vulgares: ordinary priests, beside populum.
  2. 2 The Latin has two negatives: nisi qui non habet fidem quod deus ... non delebit. Translated as printed; the sense wanted, as Pollard’s side-note takes it, is "one who has no faith that God will blot out his sin". The second non is probably pleonastic. B, B¹, C read quantumcunque, "however great", for quandocunque.
  3. 3 Reseres is taken from reserere, "to set, plant (again)", matching commisceas. Read as reseres for reseras, from reserare, it would mean "that you lay open falsehood close to the truth". The sense is the same either way.
  4. 4 Gen. 3:1–4. "Why God had forbidden" paraphrases 3:1 (cur precepit). "Perhaps" is Eve’s ne forte moriamur, "lest perhaps we die" (3:3). The serpent’s words are shortened: Vulgate Nequaquam morte moriemini, DR "No, you shall not die the death" (3:4). B, B¹, C add ne comederetis after fructum; B, B¹ read addicionem adverbii, "the addition of the adverb".
  5. 5 Pura secta Christi: so printed. In B pura is corrected in the margin by another hand to privata; B¹, C read privata, and B, B¹, C omit Christi. That reading gives "anyone of a private sect", i.e. of the religious orders.
  6. 6 [vi]dentur is Pollard’s supplement; B, B¹ read videntur, C viderentur. At 30.1 the print’s esse modo beato is construed as "to be now [modo] in a blessed state"; modo beato could be "in a blessed manner". For esse modo beato ... sint B, B¹, C read tunc (om. C) non modo sciverant si sunt.
  7. 7 Mark 14:71, cepit anathematizare et jurare, DR "he began to curse and to swear"; Matt. 26:72, 74, "I know not the man". Wyclif turns the denial into the first person plural, quod Christum non novimus.
  8. 8 Pollard’s margin: Cyprian, Ad Caecilium § 14 (Ep. 63), where the words run si solus Christus audiendus est (B¹ adds audiendus). Wyclif cites it through Gratian, Decretum D. 8; B, B¹, C read ut patet 8 d. decimo capitulo.
  9. 9 Iste persone is taken as the church’s multitude of Falsehood’s speech (29.2), which "exalts" the prelates to blessedness. B, B¹, C read illum for istum.
  10. 10 Possidius, Vita Augustini 23 (PL 32:53): Augustine told his people he was ready to give up the church’s possessions to them, sed nunquam id laici suscipere voluerunt; Wyclif tells the story again in the Epilogue (p. 88), where Pollard’s margin gives "Vita Aug. c 23". For Jerome no single source has been found; compare his letters to Nepotian (Ep. 52.5: the cleric whose portion is the Lord can have nihil extra Dominum, PL 22:531) and to Paulinus (Ep. 58.5: si … monachus, … quid facis in urbibus?, PL 22:582–583). B, B¹, C read quod for quando.
How the Latin of this chapter was established
  • Plate readings; page · reading · note):
    • 29: CAPITULUM 15m.
    • 30: 8ª (plate n61: ciprianus 8ª d, c° [decimo])
    • 30: ∅ (superscript a, joined at 141)
    • 30: d, (plate n61)
    • 30: c° (plate n61)
    • 30: ∅ (degree sign, joined at 144)
  • Omitted per §3.5 / kept in the English (margin matter): MS mark Bl. 153 d. (31.28).