De ecclesia, chapter 18, part 7

The church before the death of Christ; the argument from the formation of Eve

Loserth pp. 438.27–441.25

¶1438.27–440.4

438Quamvis enim pro instanti quo factus est primus homo fuit illa ecclesia constituta, tamen novo modo post ascensionem fuit pars eius inferior super partem eius superiorem in celestibus collocata. Partem autem eius inferiorem intelligo totam naturam humanam que secundum partem suam que est Christi humanitas 439taliter exaltatur; et ad destruendum istos errores in fide laborarent episcopi quorum principale officium foret fidem illam docere atque defendere nec non et errores in fide ista deviancium postposita solicitudine eorum que questum sapiunt declarare. Nam propter cecacionem temporalium oblita est fere ecclesia angelorum, et cum Encheridion LXI° sic scribit sanctus doctor Augustinus: Hec autem que in sanctis angelis et virtutibus Dei est ecclesia, tunc nobis sicuti est innotescet, cum ei coniuncti fuerimus in fine ad habendam beatitudinem sempiternam; ista vero que ab illa peregrinatur in terris eo nobis nocior est quod in illa sumus et quia hominum est quod et nos sumus. Et quod nulli presciti sint membra illius ecclesie sic declarat: Hec sanguine mediatoris nullum habentis peccatum ab omni est redempta peccato. Sed constat quod peccatum finalis impenitencie quale est in omni prescito non potest redimi vel deleri, ut in assimili docet Augustinus in De Dono Perseverancie VI°: Multi, inquit, finalem perseveranciam possunt non habere sed nullus amittere. Unde, quia ecclesia sancta catholica autonomatice dicitur ecclesia, ideo aput auctores scripture et sanctos doctores ipsa specialiter intelligitur, quando ecclesia nominatur, ut Ephes. V°, 25—27°: Viri diligite uxores vestras, sicut et Christus dilexit ecclesiam et semetipsum tradidit pro ea, ut eam sanctificaret, mundans eam lavacro aque in verbo vite, ut exhiberet ipse gloriosam ecclesiam non habentem maculam aut rugam aut aliquid huiusmodi, sed ut sit sancta et immaculata. Ubi non dubium quin loquitur limitate de ecclesia que est universitas predestinatorum, nam illam redemit, illam glorificabit post diem iudicii, illa erit non habens 440tunc maculam sive rugam, et illa est corpus Christi quod fovet et diligit; et nullo modo verificatur ista de numero prescitorum, quantumcunque magna sanctitate ad tempus appareat prepollere.

For although at the instant at which the first man was made that church was constituted, yet in a new way, after the ascension, its lower part was set above its upper part in the heavenly places. And by its lower part I understand the whole of human nature, which, according to its part which is the humanity of Christ, 439is so exalted.¹ And to destroy these errors in the faith the bishops should labour, whose principal office should be to teach and defend that faith, and also, setting aside their care for the things that savour of gain, to declare the errors of those who stray in this faith.² For because of the blinding by temporal goods the church of the angels is almost forgotten, although in the Enchiridion 61 the holy doctor Augustine writes thus: "And this church which is in the holy angels and powers of God will become known to us as it is when we are joined to it at the end, to have everlasting blessedness; but this which is a pilgrim from it on earth is better known to us in that we are in it, and because it is of men, which we too are."³ And that none of the foreknown are members of that church he declares thus: "This, by the blood of the mediator, who had no sin, is redeemed from all sin." Now it is evident that the sin of final impenitence, such as is in every foreknown [man], cannot be redeemed or blotted out, as Augustine teaches in a like case in On the Gift of Perseverance 6: "Many," he says, "can not have final perseverance, but no one can lose it."⁴ Whence, since the holy catholic church is called the church by antonomasia, therefore among the authors of scripture and the holy doctors it is specially understood when the church is named; as in Ephesians 5:25–27: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church and delivered himself up for it: that he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life: that he himself might present a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Where there is no doubt that he speaks restrictedly of the church which is the whole body of the predestinate; for that he redeemed, that he will glorify after the day of judgement, that will 440then be not having spot or wrinkle, and that is the body of Christ which he cherishes and loves; and in no way is this verified of the number of the foreknown, however much they may appear for a time to excel in great holiness.⁵

¶2440.5–440.23

440Nec vidi evidenciam unde crederetur quod ante mortem Christi non erat ecclesia, nisi forte per locum ab insufficienti similitudine, capta ex textu Apostoli Ephes. V°, 31: Erunt, inquit, duo in carne una. Sacramentum hoc magnum est, ego autem dico in Christo et in ecclesia. Sicut enim ex latere primi Adam resoluti in soporem formata est Eva uxor sua (ut patet Gen. II°), sic ex latere secundi Adam dormientis in cruce formata ecclesia, uxor sua (ut patet Joh. XX°). Sed ante priorem formacionem non fuit Eva, ergo ante secundam formacionem non fuit ecclesia. Ista informis argucia induceret ex omnimoda similitudine in errores tocius fidei christiane, ut puta quod Christus non fuit mortuus, quod ecclesia habuit esse materiale ex sanguine et aqua effluxis de latere Christi, et quod Christus non formavit ecclesiam de suo latere, sed ipso soporato et ignorante solum passive contulit ad formacionem ecclesie. Et sic non foret Deus redemptor vel sponsus ecclesie.

Nor have I seen evidence from which it should be believed that before the death of Christ there was no church, unless perhaps by the topic from insufficient likeness, taken from the text of the Apostle, Ephesians 5:31[–32]: "They shall be," he says, "two in one flesh. This is a great sacrament: but I speak in Christ and in the church."⁶ For just as from the side of the first Adam, sunk in sleep, Eve his wife was formed (as is clear from Genesis 2), so from the side of the second Adam, sleeping on the cross, the church was formed, his wife (as is clear from John 20).⁷ Now before the former formation there was no Eve; therefore before the second formation there was no church. This unformed quibble would lead, from likeness in every respect, into errors against the whole christian faith: for instance, that Christ was not dead; that the church had material being from the blood and water that flowed out of Christ’s side; and that Christ did not form the church from his side, but, he being asleep and unaware, contributed only passively to the formation of the church. And so God would not be the redeemer or bridegroom of the church.⁸

¶3440.24–441.25

440Ideo oportet intelligere hoc sacramentum ad literam iuxta sensum historicum expressum de primis parentibus, et supra hunc sensum oportet intelligere hoc sacramentaliter vel mistice de Christo et ecclesia secundum catholicam similitudinem a Christo et sanctis doctoribus expressatam. Christus enim secundum deitatem sicut ordinavit domum sponse sue mundum sensibilem, sic prius dignitate ordinavit sponsam ecclesiam sibi domum, sed utrumque factum est in principio mundi. Et sicut Deus immisit soporem in 441Adam muliere formata ex eo sine priori contractu mutuo ad assensum, sic primus Adam secundum deitatem ex eternis racionibus exemplaribus formavit in principio mundi eciam ecclesiam sine previa consideracione consensus meritorii, quia (ut dicit Augustinus Enchiridion LVI°) ecclesia celestis semper ex quo condita est cohesit domino. Nam tam angelus quam homo creabatur in gracia gratificante, posterius autem in plenitudine temporis formavit ecclesiam suam humanitus que per multa millia annorum fuit prius, dum dormiens in cruce mortuus fecit eam formosam ex principiis eam mundantibus, virtute quorum tota prior ecclesia, sicut et ecclesia sequens accepit vitam spiritualem et pulchritudinem vite naturali superadditam. Et sicut preter materiam coste Adam oportet multiplicari spiritualiter, quia miraculose nobis abscondite aliam materiam ex quibus constituitur mater Eva, sic principaliter mundiciam vel virtutem corporalem sanguinis et aque redempcionis humane oportet dare ampliorem spiritualem mundiciam et virtutem ex eis originatam que se extendit ad totam ecclesiam preteritam et futuram; sed procul undique hoc venenum pestiferum, ut credatur ante mortem Christi non fuisse ecclesiam, sed Christum cum suis apostolis fuisse viando solummodo synagogam.

Therefore this sacrament must be understood according to the letter, following the historical sense expressed of the first parents; and above this sense it must be understood sacramentally or mystically of Christ and the church, according to the catholic likeness expressed by Christ and the holy doctors.⁹ For Christ according to his deity, just as he ordained the perceptible world as the house of his bride, so, first in dignity, he ordained his bride the church as a house for himself; but both were made in the beginning of the world. And just as God sent a deep sleep upon 441Adam, the woman being formed from him without a prior mutual contract to assent, so the first Adam, according to his deity, formed from eternal exemplar reasons, in the beginning of the world, the church also, without previous consideration of a meritorious consent;¹⁰ for (as Augustine says, Enchiridion 56) "the heavenly church has always, since it was founded, cleaved to the Lord". For both angel and man were created in grace that makes pleasing; but later, in the fullness of time, he formed in human wise his church, which had existed for many thousands of years before, when, sleeping on the cross, dead, he made it beautiful from principles that cleanse it, by the power of which the whole prior church, as also the following church, received spiritual life and a beauty added over natural life.¹¹ And just as, beyond the matter of Adam’s rib, other matter, from which mother Eve is constituted, had to be multiplied spiritually, since [it was done] miraculously, in a way hidden from us, so principally the bodily cleanness or power of the blood and water of human redemption must give a fuller spiritual cleanness and power, originating from them, which extends itself to the whole church, past and future. But far, on every side, [be] this pestilent poison, that it should be believed that before the death of Christ there was no church, but that Christ with his apostles was, in his wayfaring, only the synagogue.¹²

Notes

1 Pro instanti quo: at the instant at which. The lower part of the church, human nature, is set above the upper, the angels, in Christ’s humanity after the ascension; in celestibus, "in the heavenly places", as Ephesians 2:6. T. At 438.27 A reads factus est factus.
2 Laborarent … foret: subjunctives, taken as what bishops ought to do ("should"). Que questum sapiunt: things that savour of gain.
3 Et cum … scribit: taken as concessive, "although": the angels’ church is forgotten though Augustine wrote of it. S. Augustine, Enchiridion 15.61 (PL 40); Wyclif has in fine for in finem, omits simul, and Loserth prints nocior for notior. T. The manuscripts read Encheridion LXIX; Loserth’s correction to LXI is translated (439.7). At 439.12 AA₁ read quo in illa. R. A in the margin at 439.7: Augustinus. Presciti non sunt de ecclesia, probatur per Augustinum.
4 At 439.14 AA₁ read presciti sunt; at 439.19 the manuscripts read de bono perseverancie, corrected by Loserth. S. Augustine, De dono perseverantiae 6 (Loserth: Opp. X, p. 826); the words as quoted are compressed and altered: Augustine has multi eam possunt habere, nullus amittere (PL 45), where Wyclif’s possunt non habere sed reverses the first clause. C. In assimili: "in a like case": final perseverance, like final impenitence, cannot be undone once given. R. A in the margin at 439.16: Nota.
5 Ephesians 5:25–27: Wyclif adds eam after mundans and omits sibi after ipse (DR "present it to himself"). C. Limitate: in a restricted sense, of the predestinate only. Quantumcunque magna sanctitate … prepollere: "however much they excel in great holiness". T. At 439.28 AA₁ read atque rugam.
6 Per locum ab insufficienti similitudine: by the dialectical topic from likeness (glossary: locus a simili), here an insufficient likeness. S. Ephesians 5:31–32; inquit is Wyclif’s. R. A in the margin at 440.5: Apparens argumentum pro incepcione ecclesie post mortem Christi; B in the margin at 440.9: Magnum sacramentum desponsacionis inter Christum et ecclesiam.
7 Genesis 2:21–22. The blood and water from Christ’s side are John 19:34; the print reads Joh. XX°, and Wyclif’s chapter is kept. T. At 440.12 the manuscripts read Gen. III°; Loserth’s II° is translated.
8 Informis argucia: an "unformed" quibble, with a play on formacio: the argument presses the likeness omnimode, in every respect, and so would make Christ’s death a sleep and his part merely passive.
9 Ad literam … sensum historicum: the literal, historical sense of Genesis, about Adam and Eve; sacramentaliter vel mistice, the sense Ephesians gives it. T. At 440.25 AA₁ read expresse. R. A in the margin at 440.23: Quomodo formata est ecclesia.
10 Sic primus Adam secundum deitatem: so printed (441.2, read on the plate). The comparison requires Christ, the second Adam, according to his deity, and primus is suspect; the print is translated. Sine priori contractu mutuo ad assensum: without a prior mutual contract [leading] to assent; Eve did not consent to her making, nor did the church to hers. T. At 440.33 the manuscripts read sic Deus for sicut Deus.
11 Augustine, Enchiridion 15.56, as at 438.1–2. T. The manuscripts read Enchiridion LXIV; Loserth’s LVI is translated (441.6). At 441.11 B omits dormiens. C. Gracia gratificante: the grace that makes pleasing (gratia gratum faciens). Humanitus: in his humanity, as against secundum deitatem. R. A in the margin at 441.10: Nota.
12 Oportet multiplicari … aliam materiam: aliam materiam is taken as the subject of multiplicari, and quia miraculose nobis abscondite as elliptical ("since [it was done] miraculously, hidden from us"); ex quibus is plural for the matter of the rib and the other matter together. Procul … hoc venenum: "far [be]", the verb understood. Viando: while on the way, Christ as wayfarer. R. After synagogam (441.25) A adds a prayer in Czech, which Loserth prints and glosses in Latin, Misericors domine, dimittere digneris nobis peccata vetera nec non recentiora ("Merciful Lord, deign to forgive us our old and also more recent sins").

How the Latin of this chapter was established

Plate readings; page · reading · note):
- 438: primus (alinea letter V glued)
- 439: in (print has in fine as two words)
- 439: 27°
- 440: Christi
- 440: per
- 440: 31
- 440: ∅ (1 already held in main token 31)
- 440: II° (leaf zoom: degree sign broken open on right, looks like ᶜ)
- 440: secundum (alinea letter a at right edge glued)
- 441: Adam (alinea letter b glued)
- 441: gratificante
- 441: Christi