Wyclif’s Latin works

De ecclesia, chapter 1, part 6

No christian is head; the pope as head of what he rules; three errors about the church

Loserth pp. 17.1–20.17

¶117.1–19.9

17Ex istis colligitur, cum solus Christus sit caput tocius ecclesie que non est pars ad aliam iuxta primam conclusionem, oportet concedere quod sicut nullus christianus debet presumere se esse caput universalis ecclesie, sic nec debet sine timore et sine speciali revelacione asserere quod sit caput cuiuscunque particularis ecclesie. Prima pars patet ex conclusione prima; si enim quis sit caput talis universalis ecclesie, tunc est melior angelis effectus, ymmo omni beato spiritu creato, quod soli Christo potest competere secundum apostolum Heb. 1°, 4. Oportet enim ipsum esse primogenitum ex multis fratribus, et per consequens, capitaneum ex dignitate iuris primogeniture. Unde si aliquis christianus foret cum eo caput universalis ecclesie, cum ipsa non potest esse monstrum, habens ex equo duo capita, ut dicit secunda conclusio, oporteret concedere quod est Christus, vel aliter quod Christus foret ipso inferior et humile membrum eius. Ideo apostoli confessi sunt concorditer se esse servos istius capitis et humiles ministros ecclesie sponse sue, nunquam autem presumpsit aliquis apostolorum asserere quod fuit caput vel sponsus dicte ecclesie, quia hoc foret antichristiane adulterari cum regina celi, zelotipando dominum Jesum Christum; quod foret nimis grave, cum Exodi XX°, 5, vere dicitur quod ipse sit fortis zelotes Et secunda pars patet ex hoc quod caput est nomen dignitatis atque officii dignitatis quoad predestinacionem eternam, qua Christus ordinavit prepositos (qui presunt secundum legem suam in ecclesia militante) habere mansiones superiores racione sui regiminis in ecclesia triumphante, quia si prepositi omnino deficiant ab officio ministrandi subditis sensum scripture 18et motum ad sequendum caput ecclesie, tunc non sunt caput in civitate Dei, sed in civitate diaboli capitis perimendi, quia Sap. VI°, 6, vere dicitur: Durum iudicium hiis qui presunt fiet. Cum ergo nos miseri ignoramus si sumus ad celestem Jerusalem predestinati, (quod tamen ex speciali revelacione habuerunt sancti) patet quod nimia presumpcio foret nobis pertinaciter asserere quod sumus capita cuiuscunque particularis ecclesie que foret pars sancte matris ecclesie, quia notum est ex concordi testimonio sanctorum quod nullus prescitus est vel membrum ipsius ecclesie. Quomodo ergo presumeret aliquis nostrum asserere quod sit caput, cum Eccl. IX°, 1, vere dicitur quod nemo talis scit, utrum sit dignus amore vel odio quoad predestinacionem vel reprobacionem. Insuper si respicimus ad sensum et motum quos in subditos influimus et ex alio latere ad speculum scripture iuxta quam totam vitam nostram regularemus, eligeremus pocius vocari servi et ministri ecclesie quam capita, cum notum sit, si non facimus officium capitatis, non sumus capita, quia secundum Augustinum in libello suo De Decem Cordis maritus perversus non est caput uxoris sue, multo magis prepositus ecclesie qui pure haberet a Deo dignitatem huiusmodi, si a Christo degenerat. Unde postquam Augustinus ostenderat quod femina vere christiana debet dolere de fornicacione viri non propter carnem sed propter caritatem et castitatem debitam viro Christo, dicit consequenter quod Christus loquitur in cordibus feminarum bonarum, ubi vir non audit dicens: Dole de viri tui iniuriis sed noli imitari, quin pocius ipse te imitetur in bono. Nam 19in eo quod male facit noli eum putare caput tuum sed me Deum tuum. Et probat hoc debere fieri. Si inquit in hoc quod male facit caput est, et consecuturum est corpus caput suum, eunt ambo in precipucium. Ut autem christianus non sequatur malum caput suum, teneat se ad caput ecclesie Christum, huic debens castitatem suam, huic deferens honorem suum, absens sit vir privatus, presens sit vir matri ecclesie coniugatus.

From these things it is gathered, since Christ alone is head of the whole churchecclesia: church, which is not a part relative to another (according to the first conclusion), that it must be granted that, just as no Christian ought to presume that he is head of the universal church, so neither ought he, without fear and without special revelation, to assert that he is head of any particular church.1 The first part is clear from the first conclusion; for if anyone is head of such a universal church, then he is "made better than the angels", indeed than every blessed created spirit, which can belong to Christ alone, according to the apostle, Hebrews 1:4. For he must be "the firstborn" out of many brethren, and consequently the captain by the dignity of the rightius: right / law of primogeniture.2 Hence if some Christian were, with him, head of the universal church, since she cannot be a monster having two heads on an equal footing, as the second conclusion says, it would have to be granted that he is Christ, or else that Christ would be inferior to him and a lowly member of his. Therefore the apostles confessed with one accord that they were servants of that head and lowly ministers of the church, his bridesponsa / sponsus: bride / bridegroom; but none of the apostles ever presumed to assert that he was head or bridegroomsponsa / sponsus: bride / bridegroom of the said church, for this would be to commit adultery, antichristianly, with the queen of heaven, provoking the Lord Jesus Christ to jealousy; which would be too grave, since in Exodus 20:5 it is truly said that he is "mighty, jealous".3

And the second part is clear from the fact that "head" is a name of dignity, and of the office of dignity, with respect to eternal predestination, by which Christ ordained that superiorsprepositi: superiors (who are set over [others] according to his law in the church militantecclesia militans / triumphans / dormiens: the church militant / triumphant / sleeping) should have higher mansions, by reason of their rule, in the church triumphant;4 for if superiors wholly fail in the office of ministering to their subjects the sense of scripture 18and the motive to follow the head of the church, then they are not head in the city of God, but in the city of the devil, the head that is to be destroyed; for in Wisdom 6:6 it is truly said: "A severe judgment shall be for them that bear rule."5 Since, therefore, we wretches are ignorant ofignorare: to be ignorant of whether we are predestinatepredestinatus, -i: the predestinate (sg. "a predestinate [person]") to the heavenly Jerusalem (which the saints nevertheless had by special revelation), it is clear that it would be too great a presumption for us to assert pertinaciously that we are heads of any particular church which would be part of holy mother church; for it is known from the concordant testimony of the saints that no foreknownprescitus, -i: the foreknown [person] is even a member of that church.6 How then would any of us presume to assert that he is head, since in Ecclesiastes 9:1 it is truly said that no such man knows whether he is "worthy of love, or hatred", as to predestination or reprobation?7 Moreover, if we look to the sense and motion which we pour into our subjects, and on the other side to the mirror of scripture, by which we should rule our whole life, we would choose rather to be called servants and ministers of the church than heads; since it is known that if we do not do the office of headship we are not heads.8 For according to Augustine, in his little book On the Ten Strings, a perverse husband is not the head of his wife; much more [is this so of] a superior of the church, who would have such a dignity purely from God, if he degenerates from Christ.9 Hence, after Augustine had shown that a truly Christian woman ought to grieve over the fornication of her husband, not on account of the flesh but on account of the charitycaritas: charity and chastity owed to the husband Christ, he says next that Christ speaks in the hearts of good women, where the husband does not hear, saying: "Grieve over your husband’s wrongs, but do not imitate [them]; rather, let him imitate you in good. For 19in that in which he does evil, do not think him your head, but me, your God." And he proves that this ought to be done: "If," he says, "he is head in that in which he does evil, and the body is to follow its head, both go over the precipice."10 And so that a Christian should not follow his evil head, let him hold to the head of the church, Christ, owing to him his chastity, bearing to him his honour; let the private husband be absent, let the husband wedded to mother church be present.11

¶219.10–19.30

19Patet ergo quod, sicut infinitum maiorem honorem debemus patri spirituali domino Jesu Christo et sponse sue ecclesie que est regina, assistens a dexteris eius (ut dicitur Psal. XLIV°, 10) quam alicui parenti nostro carnali, sic nemo est parens vel proles huius celestis coniugii, nisi faciat debitum quod in predestinacione divina est deputatum isti officio. Nam esse caput vel membrum sancte matris ecclesie est inseparabiliter nomen officii. Ex istis septimo sequitur quod dominus papa, si predestinatus est et exercet pastorale officium, est caput tante militantis ecclesie quantam regit, ut si sic regit capitaliter secundum legem Christi totam iam militantem ecclesiam, tunc est eius particularis capitaneus sub archicapite, domino Jesu Christo. Hoc autem debet supponi in domino Romano pontifice, nisi factum doceat evidenter oppositum, cum clerus iam peregrinans consensit in eum ut capitaneum. Verumptamen non est in potestate alicuius christiani constitucione, eleccione vel acceptacione statuere quod dominus papa sit caput vel membrum sancte matris ecclesie. Nam hoc consistit in predestinacione et gracia Dei nostri.

It is clear, therefore, that, just as we owe infinitely greater honour to our spiritual father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to his bride the church, who is queen, standing at his right hand (as is said in Psalm 44:10), than to any carnal parent of ours, so no one is parent or offspring of this heavenly marriage unless he renders the due which in divine predestination is assigned to that office.12 For to be head or member of holy mother church is inseparably the name of an office. From these things, in the seventh place, it followssequitur: it follows that the lord popepapa: pope, if he is predestinate and exercises the pastoral office, is head of as much of the church militant as he rules; so that, if he thus rules as head, according to the law of Christ, the whole church now militant, then he is its particular captain under the arch-head, the Lord Jesus Christ.13 And this ought to be supposed in the lord Roman pontiff unless the fact evidently shows the opposite, since the clergy now on pilgrimagepars peregrinans; peregrinari: the pilgrim part; to be a pilgrim consented to him as captain. Nevertheless it is not in the power of any Christian, by constitution, election or acceptance, to establish that the lord pope is head or member of holy mother church. For this consists in the predestination and grace of our God.14

¶319.31–20.17

19In ista vero materia sunt quotlibet subterfugia, ut unus dicit quod nulla mater ecclesia potest esse; sed 20iste videtur michi infideli deterior, cum nedum negat fidem scripture et fidem ecclesie de credulitate qua oportet christianum credere ecclesiam sanctam catholicam, sed de facto non est filius illius celestis coniugii, sine cuius gignicione non possumus esse filii Dei, et Per consequens, nec heredes regni. Alii autem dicunt quod sancta mater ecclesia est eciam ecclesia, sed non est aliquid, et sic nec mulier nec corpus Christi mysticum nec regina Sed isti; (ut tetigi alias) debent negare magnam partem fidei scripture, decreta ecclesie Romane et simbolum fidei christiane. Tercii vero dicunt quod universalis ecclesia non est nec erit ante diem iudicii, sed multi fuerunt et multi sunt qui erunt tunc partes eius, sed nec habet nec habuit partes aliquas, eo quod nec est nec fuit, cum tunc foret universitas predestinatorum qui erunt in die iudicii. Quod est impossibile, cum multi eorum sint generandi.

But in this matter there are any number of subterfuges: as one says that there can be no mother church; but 20this man seems to me worse than an unbelieverinfidelis: unbeliever; with a dative, faithless (to), since he not only denies the faith of scripture and the faith of the church concerning the credencecredulitas: credence by which a Christian must believe the holy catholic church, but in fact he is not a son of that heavenly marriage, without whose begetting we cannot be sons of God, and consequently not heirs of the kingdomregnum: kingdom.15 And others say that holy mother church is also a church, but is not anything, and so is neither a woman nor the mystical body of Christcorpus Christi misticum: the mystical body of Christ nor a queen. But these (as I have touched on elsewhere) must deny a great part of the faith of scripture, the decrees of the Roman church and the creed of the Christian faith.16 And a third [party] say that the universal church is not, nor will be before the day of judgement; but many have been and many are who will then be its parts; but it neither has nor has had any parts, because it neither is nor was, since [only] then would it be the totality of the predestinate who will be at the day of judgement. Which is impossible, since many of them are yet to be begotten.17

Notes

  1. 1 The sixth conclusion (so the margins of the MSS). Que non est pars ad aliam: the universal church, which is not part of any other church. Sine timore: "fear", not the formido of assent. B reads primam questionem for conclusionem here and at 17.7 and after.
  2. 2 Heb. 1:4, DR "Being made so much better than the angels". Rom. 8:29, Vg primogenitus in multis fratribus (DR "amongst"); Wyclif has ex multis, and we translate his Latin. Capitaneus: "captain", kept apart from caput (glossary proposal). AA₁ omnino beato (17.9); AB lack esse (17.11).
  3. 3 Exod. 20:5, DR "mighty, jealous"; B lacks vere and glosses it in the margin. The MSS have antichristine (17.23). The queen of heaven is the church (Ps. 44:10, ¶2); zelotipando, "provoking to jealousy", keeps the marriage figure. Zelotes stands at line-end without stop before Et (plate reading).
  4. 4 Nomen dignitatis atque officii dignitatis: we keep the repeated dignitatis ("the office of dignity"); it may be a doubling for "of dignity and of office". Prepositi: "superiors" (the glossary), here everyone set over others in the church, not only heads of houses. Mansiones: John 14:2. A sue regiminis (17.30).
  5. 5 Diaboli capitis perimendi: we take capitis perimendi in apposition to the devil, "the head to be destroyed"; B capitatis perimendi (18.2). Wisd. 6:6, Vg iudicium durissimum, DR "a most severe judgment"; Wyclif has durum, and we translate his Latin.
  6. 6 Prescitus: those God foreknows will be damned (the glossary). Vel: "even". AA₁ lack ecclesie — membrum (18.9–11), which would leave the sentence without its ground. B quantum ex speciali (18.6).
  7. 7 Eccles. 9:1, Vg nescit homo utrum amore an odio dignus sit; Wyclif’s nemo talis scit paraphrases, and the DR words are used only where the Latin agrees.
  8. 8 Capitatis, "headship", is not classical; B capitis (18.19). Sensum et motum: the figure of the head, from which sense and motion flow into the body, picking up sensum scripture et motum at 17.32–18.1.
  9. 9 Augustine, Sermo 9 (De decem chordis), capp. 3 and 11 (PL 38:77, 83–84; Loserth: Opp. V.1, 50, 56, his "9" is §11). Pure: "purely", that is, only from God and not by election.
  10. 10 Augustine, Sermo 9.11 (PL 38:83–84), abridged and reworded: Augustine has Dole; sed ipsum noli imitari … eunt ambo per praeceps. Precipucium for precipicium; B tum ambo (19.4). Cf. Matt. 15:14, "both fall into the pit". B’s margin: an evil prelate is not to be imitated or obeyed in what he does ill.
  11. 11 Wyclif turns the counsel to the wife into a rule for any Christian (christianus … suam), so we write "him … his"; the closing pair keeps the marriage figure: the private husband absent, Christ, wedded to mother church, present. B hinc debens (19.7).
  12. 12 Ps. 44:10, DR "The queen stood on thy right hand"; a reference, not a quotation. Debitum: "the due", which in the figure of marriage is also the marriage debt (1 Cor. 7:3).
  13. 13 The seventh conclusion (AB margins). Capitaliter: "as head". Even ruling the whole church militant, the pope would be a "particular" captain, because the church militant is a part of the church.
  14. 14 Clerus iam peregrinans: the clergy of the church on its pilgrimage, the electors. The last sentence limits the seventh conclusion: election makes a captain, not a head or member.
  15. 15 Infideli deterior: 1 Tim. 5:8, DR "worse than an infidel". De credulitate qua: we take de as "concerning". A’s margin: "against those who deny that the church exists". B igitur oportet (20.3).
  16. 16 Est eciam ecclesia, sed non est aliquid: they grant the name "church" and deny that it is a thing (side-note 20.6); B aliquis, "anyone" (20.8). Regina Sed isti; (20.7) is the print’s pointing. B lacks autem (20.6).
  17. 17 Quod est impossibile … completes the third party’s argument (the church cannot exist now, since many of its members are not yet born); Wyclif’s answer opens the next part. B nunc non est (20.12).
How the Latin of this chapter was established
  • Plate readings; page · reading · note):
    • 17: Christo
    • 17: fortis zelotes (print has 'fortis zelotes.' at end of line 25 before Et (two words, italic))
    • 18: motum
    • 19: in (130b is the folio mark)
    • 19: quod
    • 19: precipucium (precipu-/cium hyphenated across line)
    • 19: ∅ ('if' is the side-note (if he is predestinate), not main text)
    • 19: Christi
    • 19: iam (i with dot, not l) [NW]
    • 19: ut ('Some' is side-note text)
    • 19: unus (leading a is the margin letter) [NW]
    • 20: negat (130c is the folio mark)
    • 20: dicunt (trailing b is the margin letter) [NW]
    • 20: regina
    • 20: Sed
    • 20: isti
    • 20: sed
    • 20: iudicii, [-MARK]
  • OCR scars corrected in the Latin: 19.13 diciturPsal.XLIV0; 19.29 caputvel; 20.7 tetjgj. Still as in the established Latin: 20.4 Per (capital), 20.7 regina Sed isti; (pointing).
  • 17.23 antichristiane: MSS antichristine.
  • Variants noted but not affecting the English: 18.4 B cum igitur (and passim); 18.19 B capitis (note 8); 20.13 A culti sunt (OCR of the apparatus unclear).