No vicar of Christ is head of the church: three replies refuted

Loserth pp. 25.24–28.7

¶125.24–26.7

25Contra dicta obicitur probando, primo quod prima conclusio ad sensum expositum non est de intencione domini Bonifacii nec alicuius sui successoris, cum ex illo capitulo Maioritatis et obediencie intenditur quod 26omnes principes seculi secum conversantes debent parere sibi et cuicunque pape qui fuerit pro tempore ut capiti sancte matris ecclesie. Ex quo videtur innuere quod ipse et quicunque papa sit caput universalis ecclesie. Et eodem modo videtur quod intelligit Romanam ecclesiam singulariter illam in qua ipse presidet cum cardinalibus cui sit necessarium obedire.

Against what has been said it is objected, by proving, first, that the first conclusion, in the sense expounded, is not the intention of the lord Boniface, nor of any of his successors, since from that chapter Of greatness and obedience it is maintained that 26all the princes of the world living with him must obey him, and whatever pope there may be for the time, as the head of holy mother church.¹ From this he seems to imply that he himself, and whoever is pope, is head of the universal church. And in the same way he seems to understand by the Roman church, singularly, that one over which he presides with the cardinals, which it is necessary to obey.

¶226.8–26.19

26Hic dicitur quod nullus papa citra Christum potest catholice illud intendere: ideo non debet supponi in domino papa tanta blasfemia. Nam iuxta secundam conclusionem unica est talis ecclesia cuius caput est Christus, et non habet in terris multa capita, ne sit monstrum. Cum ergo nullus Christi vicarius sit Christus, sequitur quod nullus Christi vicarius sit caput illius ecclesie. Antecedens istius consequencie ponitur in dicta decretali secundum quamlibet eius partem. Nec videtur catholicum quod dicta decretalis sit in hoc impossibilis vel improvide posita quoad logicam vel metaphysicam.

To this the answer is that no pope short of Christ can catholicly maintain that; therefore so great a blasphemy ought not to be supposed in the lord pope.² For according to the second conclusion there is only one such church, whose head is Christ, and it does not have many heads on earth, lest it be a monster. Since, therefore, no vicar of Christ is Christ, it follows that no vicar of Christ is head of that church. The antecedent of this inference is laid down in the said decretal, according to each of its parts. Nor does it seem catholic that the said decretal should in this be impossible, or set down improvidently as regards logic or metaphysics.³

¶326.20–28.7

26Sed hic posset responderi tripliciter: primo quod Christus et tota successio suorum vicariorum sunt unum caput aggregative, sed nullus eorum per se. Verumtamen non credo aliquem catholicum sani capitis hoc sentire, quia tunc negaretur Christum esse caput universalis ecclesie, sed unum aggregatum cuius Christus foret pars, et sic integrum corpus Christi non haberet Christum caput; quod reputo non minus hereticum quam blasfemum. Similiter, cum Christus sit caput tocius multitudinis vicariorum suorum et ipsi caput tocius residui, videtur quod ipse sit archicaput tocius ecclesie et nullus eorum. Vocatur enim caput matris ecclesie quod non communicat cum membris corporis in natura alia singulari, quia aliter haberet 27ecclesia nimis magnum et monstruosum caput; quod repugnaret perfeccioni opificis, et si caput eius foret tale aggregatum, insuper nullus papa foret caput illius ecclesie. Si dicatur secundo quod quilibet Christi vicarius est participacione ipse Christus, instatur tripliciter: primo per hoc quod talis participacio non tolleret distinccionem personarum et capitum, et sic mater ecclesia haberet mille capita. Secundo per hoc quod foret temeraria presumpcio vicarium Christi cui non fit revelacio asserere quod sit Christus, quia tunc verificaretur illud Luce XVII°, 23, de Antichristo dictum: Ecce hic et ecce illic. Sed Christus precipit: Nolite ire neque sectemini. Tercio per hoc quod iuxta hanc evidenciam quilibet christianus qui est membrum Christi foret caput universalis ecclesie. Et sic ecclesia foret nimis monstruosa, quia haberet quodlibet membrum caput, et per consequens, nullum aliud membrum. Vocatur enim caput universalis ecclesie persona capitalis vel principalis ecclesie quod notum est vicario Christi non posse competere, quia tunc foret super omnes angelos vel creaturas beatas in celo. Ideo tercio dicitur quod loquimur de tota ecclesia militante cuius quilibet papa est caput. Contra hunc sensum instatur tripliciter: primo videtur quod sunt tot ecclesie quot persone ecclesie, et per combinacionem longe plures, et per consequens, non foret tantum una ecclesia ad sensum decretalis in secunda conclusione expositum. Nam ista ecclesia foret iste persone fideles, que sunt omnino alie quam persone viantes tempore Petri: ergo et omnino alia ecclesia; et per idem, cum ista ecclesia individuatur ab istis personis, 28videtur quod quantumcunque corrupta vel gravata sit, erit de ecclesia, et per consequens, quicunque prepositus ecclesie foret nimis multociens viduatus et desponsatus ultra bigamiam, trigamiam et quemcunque gradum a nobis cognitum, et cum ecclesia non sit per accidens ecclesia, videtur quod mortua huic mundo manet ecclesia, sed triumphans.

But here one could reply in three ways. First, that Christ and the whole succession of his vicars are one head aggregatively, but none of them by himself. Yet I do not believe that any catholic of sound head holds this, since then it would be denied that Christ is head of the universal church, but [the head would be] one aggregate of which Christ would be a part, and so the whole body of Christ would not have Christ as head; which I reckon no less heretical than blasphemous.⁴ Similarly, since Christ is head of the whole multitude of his vicars, and they head of the whole remainder, it seems that he is the arch-head of the whole church, and none of them. For that is called the head of mother church which does not share with the members of the body in another singular nature, since otherwise 27the church would have too great and monstrous a head;⁵ which would be repugnant to the perfection of the maker; and if its head were such an aggregate, moreover, no pope would be head of that church.⁶

If it is said, second, that every vicar of Christ is by participation Christ himself, it is objected in three ways. First by this, that such participation would not take away the distinction of persons and of heads, and so mother church would have a thousand heads. Second by this, that it would be rash presumption for a vicar of Christ to whom no revelation is made to assert that he is Christ, since then that [word] of Luke 17:23, said of Antichrist, would be verified: "See here, and see there." But Christ commands: "Go ye not after, nor follow them."⁷ Third by this, that on this evidence every Christian who is a member of Christ would be head of the universal church. And so the church would be too monstrous, for it would have every member as head, and consequently no other member. For that is called the head of the universal church [which is] the capital or principal person of the church; which, it is known, cannot belong to the vicar of Christ, since then he would be above all the angels or blessed creatures in heaven.⁸

Therefore, third, the answer is that we speak of the whole church militant, of which each pope is head. Against this sense it is objected in three ways. First, it seems that there are as many churches as there are persons of the church, and by combination far more, and consequently there would not be only one church in the sense of the decretal expounded in the second conclusion. For this church would be these faithful persons, who are wholly other than the persons on the road in Peter’s time: therefore also a wholly other church. And by the same token, since this church is individuated by these persons, 28it seems that, however corrupted or weighed down it may be, it will be of the church; and consequently any superior of the church would be widowed and wedded too many times, beyond bigamy, trigamy and any degree known to us; and since the church is not a church by accident, it seems that, dead to this world, it remains a church, but triumphant.⁹

Notes

1 Boniface VIII, Unam sanctam (1302), which stands under the title De maioritate et obedientia; Loserth: Extrav. comm. 1.8.1 (our modern form of his "lib. I, tit. VIII, cap. I"; the title is Friedberg’s Tit. VIII, II, 1245). Capitulo Maioritatis et obediencie names the decretal by that title; maioritas is "greatness" (the glossary, ). Prima conclusio: the first of the conclusions drawn in ch. 1 from the decretal. Secum conversantes: "living with him", i.e. his contemporaries, as again on pp. 29 and 37. A has conversantes parere; A₁ parerent, corrected in the margin. A’s margin at 25.24: Nullus papa nec aggregatum ex papis est capud ecclesie.
2 Citra Christum: "short of Christ", i.e. any pope other than Christ himself, whom Wyclif can call the church’s true pontiff (cf. p. 30, ¶2 of 02-b). Intendere: "maintain" a thesis (the glossary, ); the objection’s intenditur (25.27) is answered in the same word.
3 The antecedent is "no vicar of Christ is Christ" together with "the one church has one head, Christ". Unam sanctam names that head as Christus videlicet et Christi vicarius Petrus, Petrique successor (Friedberg II, 1245–46): the first reply below (one aggregate head) answers to that phrase. Impossibilis: self-contradictory, the logician’s sense.
4 Aggregative: as an aggregate (a whole of parts), opposed to per se, "by himself". Sani capitis: "of sound head", a play on caput. Sed unum aggregatum: we supply "the head would be"; the sed corrects Christum esse caput.
5 Vocatur enim caput … in natura alia singulari: the head is one that does not share a further individual nature with the members, i.e. it is not one more member among them. B reads in natura aut, which does not mend the phrase. B’s margin: Quid vocatur caput matris ecclesie?
6 Opificis: "of the maker", Christ as the church’s maker; the aggregate head would mar his work. AA₁ lack si caput … aggregatum (27.2–3).
7 Luke 17:23 (DR), with the Vulgate except ecce hic et ecce illic for Ecce hic, et ecce illic. Wyclif reads it de Antichristo, of false Christs (cf. 17:24–25). Participacione: by participation in Christ’s being, as every member participates; hence the third objection.
8 Persona capitalis vel principalis: "the capital or principal person", the head-person in rank; quod refers to that position. A’s margin: Caput universalis ecclesie quid vocatur.
9 27.33 individuatur: Loserth’s reading; he notes the MSS' form (iud̄tatur, OCR) and that "the place here is certainly corrupt". 27.32 the MSS have et alia (Loserth adds omnino). 28.1 quantumcunque: Loserth’s text; the MSS have quacunque. Gravata: "weighed down"; with corrupta it seems to mean the persons’ passing away in death. Bigamia is the canon-law sense, a second marriage (a bar to orders): every change in the persons widows the church’s superior and weds him again. Prepositus ecclesie: whoever is set over the church, here the pope.

How the Latin of this chapter was established

Plate readings; page · reading · note):
- 25: CAP. II.
- 26: omnes
- 26: principes
- 26: catholice
- 26: caput (trailing b is the margin letter)
- 27: ecclesia (131c is the folio mark)
- 27: instatur (print has instatur (in-, not m)) [NW]
- 27: tripliciter [NW]
- 27: conclusione (conclu-/sione hyphenated; 131d is the folio mark)
OCR scars, read on plate n0064 and corrected in the Latin: 26.8 ic for Hic (drop initial lost); 26.20 quodl for quod; 27.2 opmcis for opificis; 27.7 aprimo and 27.26 asensum (Loserth’s alinea letter a glued: primo, sensum); 27.7 tollereta. for tolleret (the side-note’s "a." glued).
Variants noted but not affecting the English: 25.26 AA₁ tamen ex; 26.33 B in natura aut.