First objection: subjects must consult scripture; Jerome on the sword that separates heretics

Loserth pp. 38.25–42.9

¶138.25–41.6

38Sed contra ista instatur tripliciter: Videtur enim primo quod subditi debent consulere scripturam sacram in quocunque quod papa mandaverit. Quantum ad istud, concedi debet conclusio, cum nemo debet parere sibi plus quam alii, nisi in quantum est superior Christi vicarius, et per consequens, nisi in quantum obeditur principalius Jesu Christo; sed in omni obediencia 39Jesu Christo debet christianus consulere legem suam; ideo in omni obediencia christiani in quantum huiusmodi debet obedienciarius consulere legem Dei; et ideo ordinarunt iura ecclesie quod lex scripture tam generaliter et tam precipue a sacerdotibus et specialiter maioribus debet sciri, ne turbentur aut musitent quid et qualiter ad mandatum superioris debeant respondere. In ista scola instructa est legio Thebayca et omnes martyres, immo in illa scola instructi sunt omnes qui monitis non sapientibus caritatem Dei et proximi contradicunt iuxta illud Christi Matth. X°, 37: Qui amat patrem vel matrem plus quam me, non est me dignus; et istam leccionem docent apostoli Act.V°, 29, dicentes quod obedire magis oportet Deo quam hominibus. Ideo dicit Christus Matth. X°, 35: Non veni pacem mittere in terram sed gladium. Veni ergo separare hominem adversus patrem suum, et filiam adversus matrem suam, et nurum adversus socrum suam, et inimici hominis domestici eius. Amiciciam enim carnalem propter Deum venit Christus dissolvere, quia ille qui videtur esse familiaris homini quoad mundum est hostis suus ut plurimum quoad Deum (ut dicitur Michee VII°). Beatus Jeronymus super illo capitulo videtur exponere textum evangelii ad hunc sensum quod Christus venit ad separandum hereticos ab ecclesia quam illudunt. 40Simulant enim ex palliata ypocrisi quod sint filii Dei per graciam adopcionis et filie ecclesie matris sue pro cuius iuribus tantum zelant. Dicamus inquit scriptum de hereticis; non enim nostram salutem sed sua querunt lucra, et deceptum gregem pedibus suis conterunt. Pater heretici est Deus qui creavit eum, et mater ecclesia; socrus ad literam est mater alterius coniugum. Ast uxor nati dicitur esse nurus, cum ergo Christus secundum humanitatem sit sponsus anime, imo tocius ecclesie; et cum hoc conceptus de spiritu sancto tamquam matre sua iuxta illud quod allegat Jeronymus.... Tulit me mater mea in uno capillorum meorum (caro enim est capillus anime), patet quod spiritus sanctus, cum sit mater Christi sponsi ecclesie, est socrus anime que vendicat esse sponsa Christi, quia mater mariti. Et ex eadem consideracione anima pretendens se esse uxorem filii spiritus sancti dicitur nurus eius. Heretici ergo qui pretendunt se esse nuros spiritus sancti quem vendicant socrum suam, separantur ab eo per Christum detecta eorum fallacia, et ita cum universalis ecclesia sit domus domini Jesu Christi, et per consequens, omnes heretici qui sunt facietenus in ecclesia sunt pretense eius domestici, patet quod omnes illi sunt illi homini patrifamilias inimici. Huius inquit Jeronymus inimici sunt qui putantur in domo Christi esse, hoc 41est, in ecclesia et palliantes a capite non recedere contra caput sentiunt. Heretici inquit cum ante crediderint scripturis que a spiritu sancto scripte sunt et edite, transferunt se ad novas doctrinas et fermentum phariseorum et mandata hominum, dumque sermonem Dei contempnunt, socrui sue faciunt iniuriam.

But against these things it is objected in three ways. For it seems, first, that subjects ought to consult holy scripture in whatever the pope has commanded.¹ As to this, the conclusion must be granted, since no one ought to obey him more than another, except in so far as he is a superior vicar of Christ, and consequently except in so far as Jesus Christ is obeyed more principally [through him]; now in every obedience 39to Jesus Christ a Christian ought to consult his law; therefore in every obedience of a Christian, as such, the one who obeys ought to consult the law of God. And therefore the laws of the church have ordained that the law of scripture must be known so generally and so especially by priests, and specially by the greater ones, lest they be troubled or hesitate over what and how they ought to answer to a superior’s command.² In this school the Theban legion and all the martyrs were taught;³ indeed, in that school all are taught who oppose admonitions that do not savour of the charity of God and of neighbour, according to that word of Christ, Matt. 10:37: "He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me"; and this lesson the apostles teach, Acts 5:29, saying that "we ought to obey God rather than men". Therefore Christ says, Matt. 10:35: "I came not to send peace upon earth, but the sword. I came therefore to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law; and a man’s enemies, they of his own household."⁴ For Christ came to dissolve carnal friendship for God’s sake, since he who seems to be a man’s intimate as regards the world is for the most part his enemy as regards God (as is said in Micah 7).⁵ Blessed Jerome, on that chapter, seems to expound the text of the gospel in this sense: that Christ came to separate the heretics from the church, which they mock. 40For out of cloaked hypocrisy they feign that they are sons of God by the grace of adoption, and daughters of the church their mother, for whose rights they are so zealous. "Let us say", he says, "what is written of the heretics: for they seek not our salvation but their own gains, and trample the deceived flock under their feet."⁶ The father of the heretic is God, who created him, and his mother is the church. A mother-in-law, in the literal sense, is the mother of one of the spouses; "but the wife of a son is called a daughter-in-law".⁷ Since, then, Christ according to his humanity is the bridegroom of the soul, indeed of the whole church; and since, with this, he was conceived of the Holy Spirit as of his mother, according to the saying that Jerome cites ... "My mother took me by one of my hairs" (for the flesh is the hair of the soul),⁸ it is clear that the Holy Spirit, since he is the mother of Christ the bridegroom of the church, is the mother-in-law of the soul that claims to be the bride of Christ, because [he is] the husband’s mother. And from the same consideration the soul that pretends to be the wife of the son of the Holy Spirit is called his daughter-in-law. Therefore the heretics, who pretend to be daughters-in-law of the Holy Spirit, whom they claim as their mother-in-law, are separated from him by Christ, their fallacy being exposed. And so, since the universal church is the house of the lord Jesus Christ, and consequently all heretics who are outwardly in the church are pretended members of his household, it is clear that all of them are enemies to that man, the householder.⁹ "Of him", says Jerome, "they are enemies who are thought to be in the house of Christ, that 41is, in the church, and, cloaking [it so as to seem] not to withdraw from the head, think against the head." "Heretics", he says, "although they first believed the scriptures, which were written and published by the Holy Spirit, go over to new doctrines, and to the leaven of the Pharisees, and to the commandments of men; and while they despise the word of God, they do injury to their mother-in-law."¹⁰

¶241.7–41.31

41Christus ergo ex vita et doctrina venit confutare hereticos, ut discernantur a fidelibus et postmodum separentur. Et ita subtiliter et catholice potest intelligi secundum hunc sanctum per filium, filiam et nurum hereticus qui pretense et false se nominat filium Dei patris, filiam matris sue, sapiencie Dei patris et nurum spiritus sancti et sic cognatissimum trinitati. Sed vita et doctrina Christi sunt optimum speculum, ubi possunt hec discerni, cum manifestum sit quod omnis homo et solum talis qui est in vita et doctrina Christo contrarius est hereticus, et omnis christianus et solum talis qui est in vita et doctrina Christo conformis est ut sic ab heresi elongatus. Christus ergo venit non ad faciendum primam separacionem que est proprie per peccatum, sed ad faciendum sequentem, ut per eum discernantur heretici et ab ecclesia separentur. Et hec racio quare oportet omnem catholicum cognoscere scripturam sacram. Et certus sum quod, licet prelati nostri ipsam et professores suos dissipant et conculcant, lapides clamabunt, hoc est, seculares domini in sensu scripture a domino illustrati defendent fidem catholicam, quia pharisei volentes obturare ora discipulorum scripturam istam confitencium audierunt divinum responsum: Dico vobis, quia si hii tacuerint lapides clamabunt, Luce XIX°, 40. Magnam enim vim habet veritas scripturarum.

Christ, therefore, came by his life and teaching to confute the heretics, so that they may be discerned from the faithful and afterwards separated. And so, subtly and in a catholic sense, according to this saint, by "son", "daughter" and "daughter-in-law" can be understood the heretic, who pretendedly and falsely names himself son of God the Father, daughter of his mother, the wisdom of God the Father, and daughter-in-law of the Holy Spirit, and so most nearly kin to the Trinity.¹¹ But the life and teaching of Christ are the best mirror, in which these things can be discerned, since it is manifest that every man, and only such a one, who in life and teaching is contrary to Christ is a heretic, and every Christian, and only such a one, who in life and teaching is conformed to Christ is, as such, removed far from heresy.¹² Christ, therefore, came not to make the first separation, which is properly through sin, but to make the one that follows, so that through him the heretics may be discerned and separated from the church. And this is the reason why every catholic must know holy scripture. And I am certain that, although our prelates scatter and trample it and those who profess it, "the stones will cry out", that is, secular lords enlightened by the Lord in the sense of scripture will defend the catholic faith;¹³ for the Pharisees, wishing to stop the mouths of the disciples who were confessing this scripture, heard the divine answer: "I say to you that if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out", Luke 19:40. For the truth of the scriptures has great force.

¶342.1–42.9

42Secundo principaliter obicitur per hoc quod iuxta supradictam sentenciam nullus laicus teneretur credere de sacerdote suo, curato sive episcopo quod sit membrum ecclesie vel vere habens nomen talis officii, et periret omnis honor impendendus prelatis et fides populi laicalis; immo nullus viator teneretur credere Romane ecclesie in canonizando sanctos de privatis provinciis et titubaret cultus ecclesie in solemnizando festa et reliquias sanctorum.

42Second, as a principal objection, it is objected, by appeal to this: that according to the teaching given above no layman would be bound to believe of his priest, curate or bishop that he is a member of the church, or truly has the name of such an office; and all honour to be paid to prelates, and the faith of the lay people, would perish; indeed no wayfarer would be bound to believe the Roman church in canonizing saints from particular provinces, and the worship of the church in solemnizing the feasts and relics of the saints would totter.¹⁴

Notes

1 Instatur tripliciter: three objections follow, the first here, the second at 42.1, the third at 47.7. A and B’s margins: Obieccio prima; A: Contra dicta. Ista: the conclusion of 38.12–24, that Urban is to be obeyed only so far as he commands Christ’s counsels. EnimL (38.25) is translated as enim.
2 Concedi debet conclusio: Wyclif grants the objection’s claim (AB margin: Responsio), so the "objection" is turned into his thesis. Principalius: the pope is obeyed only as Christ is obeyed in him; "through him" is supplied. Obedienciarius: the one who renders obedience. Ordinarunt: Loserth’s correction for the MSS' in ordinarunt (39.4). Iura ecclesie: the canons ("laws"), not rights; at 40.2 (pro cuius iuribus) the sense is "rights". Musitent: "mutter", here "hesitate". A’s margin: In obediencia ad superiorem consulenda est scriptura sacra.
3 The Theban legion under St Maurice, martyred for refusing an imperial command against their faith; Loserth refers to Bordier, Dissertation critique sur le martyre de la légion thébéenne (Amsterdam, 1705). B reads concorditer contradicunt (39.11).
4 Matt. 10:37 (DR); Wyclif quotes only the first clause and has vel for the Vulgate’s aut. Acts 5:29 (DR), given indirectly. Matt. 10:35 is Wyclif’s reference; the quotation begins at 10:34, abridged (Non veni pacem mittere in terram sed gladium; Vulg. Nolite arbitrari quia pacem venerim … non veni pacem mittere, sed gladium), and ergo stands for the Vulgate’s enim in 10:35. DR wording, adjusted to his Latin; 10:36 has no verb in the Latin. B’s margin: Math. 10, Act. 5.
5 Mic. 7:6, DR "and a man’s enemies are they of his own household". Ut plurimum: "for the most part" (the glossary, ). Familiaris … hostis: Wyclif glosses domestici of the household’s worldly intimacy. A’s margin: Dissolucio carnalis amicicie. M (39.24) before Beatus is not construed.
6 Jerome, Commentarii in Michaeam II, on Mic. 7:5–7 PL 25:1221C–1222B (Loserth’s "1281" at 39.20 is a slip for 1221; his "pag. 1180" at 40.6 is wrong). Dicamus inquit scriptum de hereticis: Jerome’s own words (et dicamus scriptum de haereticis, 1221C), "let us say what is written of heretics". B quod sint dei (40.1); B filie matris sue pro quibus viribus (40.2); B contrivit (40.5–6).
7 Socrus … mater alterius coniugum. Ast uxor nati dicitur esse nurus: a school definition, the second half an elegiac pentameter (ast uxor nati dicitur esse nurus), quoted to fix the kinship terms of Matt. 10:35. We end the sentence at nurus, against the print’s comma: the cum ergo clause begins a new period whose main verb is patet (40.15).
8 Tulit me mater mea in uno capillorum meorum: from the Gospel according to the Hebrews, which Jerome cites on Mic. 7:6 (Modo tulit me mater mea, sanctus spiritus, in uno capillorum meorum, PL 25:1221D–1222A, from the Gospel "which we recently translated"); Wyclif drops Modo. Loserth marks a lacuna in the MSS after Jeronymus (40.12), printed as dots. B’s margin (41.21, misplaced) repeats the quotation. Caro enim est capillus anime is Wyclif’s gloss.
9 B’s lower margins (39–40) set out the scheme: Deus pater per creacionem … Ecclesia nurus … Spiritus sanctus socrus, against Hereticus pretensus filius per adopcionem … filia secundum pretensionem … nurus secundum simulacionem. Fallacia: here deceit; we keep the glossary’s "fallacy". Illi homini patrifamilias: the homo of Matt. 10:36, Christ the householder. B et igitur (40.21). Facietenus: "outwardly", in face only.
10 Huius: A₁’s correction, which Loserth adopts (cf. Jerome, l.c.); AB huiusmodi inquit (40.25). Hoc est, in ecclesia: Loserth notes the MSS' false hoc est ecclesia (41.1). B transferuntur (41.4). Fermentum phariseorum: Matt. 16:6; mandata hominum: Matt. 15:9.
11 Filiam matris sue, sapiencie Dei patris: we take sapiencie in apposition to matris, so that the mother here is the wisdom of God the Father; B’s margin reads it so (Quomodo hereticus est filius matris sue sapiencie Dei patris, 41.12). The heretic claims kinship with each person of the Trinity. B possunt intelligi (41.9).
12 Omnis … et solum talis: both quantifiers are kept: every such man and only such is a heretic. Ut sic: "as such", in so far as he is conformed. AA₁ ubi poterunt discerni (41.14); B Sed et vita (41.13). AB margin: Conclusio; B: Nota: quid est hereticus (41.18).
13 Ipsam: scripture; professores suos: those who profess it. Seculares domini: the lay lords as defenders of the faith, untagged (not the glossary’s temporales domini). B catholicam et pharisei (41.27); A abturare (41.28).
14 Obicitur per hoc quod: "by appeal to this, that" (the glossary, ). De privatis provinciis: saints of particular provinces, as against the universal church. AB margin: Secunda obieccio. B lacks iuxta (42.1); B tenetur (42.2). The answer begins at 42.10 (next chunk).

How the Latin of this chapter was established

Plate readings; page · reading · note):
- 39: Christi
- 39: Act.V° (token prints as 'Act.V°,' (no space); degree sign present)
- 39: Christus
- 39: Christus
- 40: Simulant
- 40: Christus
- 40: Christi
- 40: nuros (print has nuros) [NW]
- 41: cum ('Christ' is side-note text glued)
- 38: obediencia (obe- here, 133c diencia at top of p.39; main token holds whole word)
Corrected in the Latin; plate): 38.25 enimL (alinea letter); 39.24 M (alinea letter, not text).
40.3 scriptum: a Latin doubt (n. 6). 40.12 Jeronymus....: Loserth’s lacuna (n. 8).
39.4 ordinarunt and 40.25 Huius: Loserth’s corrections (nn. 2, 10).