Wyclif’s Latin works

De ecclesia, chapter 4, part 1

Three objections: quantity, the presence of all times, and human appointment

Loserth pp. 69.5–72.10

¶169.5–69.29

69Ut dicta de sancta matre ecclesia magis appareant, obicitur aliter contra dicta. Primo, inquam, videtur quod continuum quantitative componitur ex non quantis, quia sancta mater ecclesia que est corpus Christi misticum componitur quantitative ex multis milibus beatorum spirituum, et per consequens, corpus se habet in proporcione racionali secundum quantitatem ad multitudinem spirituum beatorum. Sed hic conceditur conclusio, ut patet de attomis principiis corporum, de punctis linearum et sic de instantibus cum aliis partibus indivisibilibus continuorum. Et sic conceditur quod sancta mater ecclesia est comparabilis in proporcione racionali, eciam secundum quantitatem multitudinis celestium spirituum. Quantitatem dico virtutis, non molis; sed illam proporcionem novit sponsus ecclesie, nec oportet ex hinc esse proporcionem racionalem inter corpus et animam, vel animam esse partem quantitativam ac quiditativam formaliter sui compositi. Ymmo, equivocando in nomine corporis, concedi potest quod multitudo beatorum angelorum, sicut fuit ecclesia ut est modo, sic fuit corpus Christi misticum, et ita eadem ecclesia habuit aliquando unam quantitativam medietatem, non mole sed numero; que fuit numerus angelorum, et alia medietas fuit numerus hominum eciam secundum naturam corpoream.

That what has been said of holy mother churchecclesia: church may appear more clearly, it is objectedinstatur; obicitur: it is objected in another way against what has been said. First, I say, it seems that a continuum is quantitatively composed of things without quantity; since holy mother church, which is the mystical body of Christcorpus Christi misticum: the mystical body of Christ, is quantitatively composed of many thousands of blessed spirits; and consequently a body stands in rational proportion, according to quantity, to a multitude of blessed spirits.1 But here the conclusion is granted, as is clear of atoms, the principles of bodies, of the points of lines, and so of instants, with the other indivisible parts of continua. And so it is granted that holy mother church is comparable in rational proportion even according to the quantity of the multitude of heavenly spirits. Quantity, I say, of power, not of mass; but that proportion the bridegroomsponsa / sponsus: bride / bridegroom of the church knows. Nor need there be, from this, a rational proportion between body and soul, or the soul be a quantitative and formally quidditative part of its composite.2 Indeed, equivocating on the name "body", it can be granted that the multitude of the blessed angels, just as it was the church, as it is now, so was the mystical body of Christ; and so the same church at one time had one quantitative half, not in mass but in number, which was the number of the angels, and the other half was the number of men, also according to bodily nature.3

¶269.30–71.28

69Secundo obicitur per hoc quod iuxta dicta de quiditate ecclesie omnia que fuerunt vel erunt sunt 70tempore suo Deo presencia, cum aliter non componeretur ecclesia ex omnibus electis presentibus, preteritis et futuris. Sed conceditur conclusio, ut concedunt sancti concorditer; unde sanctus Thomas, De Christo, conclusione octava, articulo III°, vere dicit quod corpus hominis ecclesie constituitur ex hominibus qui fuerunt a principio mundi usque ad finem eius. Et Chrisostomus In Imperfecto, Omelia XLVIª, exponens illud Matthei XXIII°, 34: Ecce ego mitto ad vos prophetas et sapientes, ostendit ex fide scripture quod oportet duas generaciones ab Adam usque ad finem mundi concurrere, scilicet generacionem iustorum que est sancta mater ecclesia et corpus Christi, et generacionem perversorum que est ecclesia malignancium et corpus diaboli. Omnium, inquit, iniquorum persecutorum et homicidarum a Caym usque ad finem mundi una generacio est: et si non omnes tempore uno, omnes tamen filii sunt persecutoris et homicide illius Caym. Ideo alibi dicit: Amen dico vobis, non transibit generacio hec, donec omnia fiant. Et illam generacionem demonstrat Christus, quando dicit de presenti: Ecce ego mitto ad vos sapientes et scribas, licet enim Caym persecutor Abel mortuus est, tamen facti sunt gigantes, persequentes filios Seth. Ecce Caym transiit, sed generacio ipsa stetit. Perierunt tercio gigantes in diluvio, sed nati sunt ex Caym Cananei et cetere gentes, persequentes filios Sem. Cananeis mortuis quarto successerunt alienigene, 71persequentes Iudeos, quinto conversis quibusdam gentibus ad Christum surrexerunt perfidi Iudei genere, martires persequentes christianos, et post ipsos sexto surrexerunt heretici quidam gentiles in eodem genere, martires persequentes; septimo insurrexerunt heretici, ecclesiam persequentes octavo gentiles quoad modicum uniendi, qui licet sint nominetenus clerici, tamen sunt discipuli Antichristi. Sicut ergo ex omnibus istis fit una generacio quoad mores, sic est una generacio iustorum, succedens cum ista quam oportet prosperando procedere. Et iste due generaciones sunt due civitates secunde ecclesie vel duo corpora, Christi et Antichristi; que Augustinus, Gregorius et alii sancti ex fide scripture ponunt concorditer. Nec aliter vere exprimetur sensus spiritus sancti de generacione huiusmodi nec de duracione ordinum vel alterius successim. Unde videtur nimis suspectum verbum modernorum dicere quod dicti sancti erant ignari logice et sequentes scripturam inciderunt in hereses manifestas. Tercio obicitur per hoc quod, sicut institucione humana preficiuntur reges, domini seculares et alii officiarii quoad seculum, sic et clerici constituuntur ordinacione humana partes ecclesie. Oportet ergo sumere ecclesiam in significacione vulgari, concedendo quod predestinatus excommunicatus fit non membrum ecclesie, prescitus autem in gracia est verum membrum ecclesie, quia aliter nemo assumeret sibi nomen ecclesiastici nec quisquam crederet suo proposito in quantum huiusmodi.

Second, it is objected, by appeal toobicitur per: it is objected, by appeal to this: that, according to what has been said of the quiddityquiditas: quiddity of the church, all things that were or will be are, 70in their time, present to God; since otherwise the church would not be composed of all the elect, present, past and future.4 But the conclusion is granted, as the saints grant with one accord. Hence St Thomas, On Christ, conclusion eight, article 3, truly says that the body of man, [that is,] of the church, is constituted of men who were from the beginning of the world to its end.5 And Chrysostom in the Incomplete [Work], homily 46, expounding that [text] of Matthew 23:34, "Behold I send to you prophets and wise men," shows from the faith of scriptureex fide: as faith teaches; with a genitive, from the faith of [scripture] that two generations must run together from Adam to the end of the world: namely, the generation of the just, which is holy mother church and the body of Christ, and the generation of the perverse, which is the church of the malignant and the body of the devil.6 "Of all the wicked," he says, "persecutors and murderers, from Cain to the end of the world, there is one generation; and if they are not all at one time, yet all are sons of that persecutor and murderer Cain. Therefore he says elsewhere: 'Amen I say to you, this generation shall not pass till all things be done.' And Christ points out that generation when he says in the present [tense]: 'Behold I send to you wise men and scribes.' For although Cain, the persecutor of Abel, is dead, yet giants came to be, persecuting the sons of Seth. See: Cain passed away, but the generation itself stood. Third, the giants perished in the flood, but from Cain were born the Canaanites and the other nations, persecuting the sons of Sem. When the Canaanites were dead, fourth, foreigners succeeded, 71persecuting the Jews; fifth, when certain nations had been converted to Christ, there arose the faithless, Jews by race, persecuting the Christians as martyrs; and after them, sixth, there arose certain heretics, gentiles of the same kind, persecuting martyrs; seventh, heretics rose up, persecuting the church; eighth, gentiles as to a little [measure] of uniting [?], who, although in name they are clerics, yet are disciples of Antichrist."7 Just as, therefore, out of all these there is made one generation as to morals, so there is one generation of the just, succeeding alongside this one, which must go forward prospering. And these two generations are two cities of the second church [?], or two bodies, of Christ and of Antichrist; which Augustine, Gregory and the other saints posit with one accord from the faith of scripture.8 Nor otherwise will the sense of the Holy Spirit be truly expressed concerning such a generation, nor concerning the duration of orders or of anything else in succession. Hence the saying of the moderns seems too suspect, that the said saints were ignorant of logic and, following scripture, fell into manifest heresies.9 Third, it is objected, by appeal to this: that just as, by human institution, kings, secular lords and other officers are set over [men] as to the world, so too clerics are constituted parts of the church by human ordinanceordinacio; ordinancia: ordinance; of the sacrament, ordination. We must, therefore, take "church" in its common signification, granting that a predestinatepredestinatus, -i: the predestinate (sg. "a predestinate [person]") [man] who is excommunicated becomes a non-member of the church, and that a foreknownprescitus, -i: the foreknown [man] in grace is a true member of the church; for otherwise no one would assume to himself the name of churchman, nor would anyone believe his superior as such.10

¶371.29–72.10

71Hic dicitur (ut supra) quod ecclesia dicitur dupliciter, scilicet vere et pretense. Vere, quod est vere corpus Christi et sponsa eius; pretense, quod viantes reputant corpus Christi, licet sit sinagoga sathane. 72Primo modo loquendo de ecclesia solum subest ordinacioni Dei eterne vel Christi instituere eius partes. Sicut enim rex terrenus ordinat temporaliter regnum suum, sic rex celestis ordinat eternaliter regnum suum, cum regni illius non erit finis (ut patet Danielis VII°, 14 et Luce 1° 33). Alii autem iuvant vel persequuntur regnum illud quod est ecclesia secundum quod Deus eternaliter ordinavit. Et sic loquendum est de ecclesia vera et de ecclesia pretensa vel mixta; sed de prima est nobis sermo.

Here the answer isdicitur multipliciter: is said in many ways (as above) that "church" is said in two ways, namely truly and pretendedly: truly, what is truly the body of Christ and his bridesponsa / sponsus: bride / bridegroom; pretendedly, what those on the roadviantes: those on the road reckon the body of Christ, although it is "the synagogue of Satan."11 72Speaking of the church in the first way, to institute its parts lies only under the eternal ordinanceordinacio; ordinancia: ordinance; of the sacrament, ordination of God, or of Christ. For just as an earthly king orders his kingdomregnum: kingdom temporally, so the heavenly king orders his kingdom eternally, since "of his kingdom there shall be no end" (as is clear from Daniel 7:14 and Luke 1:33). And others help or persecute that kingdom, which is the church, according as God has eternally ordained. And so we must speak of the true church and of the pretended or mixed church; but our discourse is of the first.12

Notes

  1. 1 Continuum … ex non quantis: the objection turns the church’s composition from spirits, which have no extension, into the thesis that a continuum is made of indivisibles; the church is then in "rational proportion" (a ratio of whole numbers) to them. A margin: Prima obieccio (69.5); Composicio sancte matris ecclesie et parcium proporcio (69.30).
  2. 2 Conceditur conclusio: Wyclif grants it, as an atomist: bodies are composed of atoms, lines of points, times of instants. Quantitatem … virtutis, non molis: quantity of power, not of mass (bulk). Quiditativam: belonging to what the composite is; untagged (an adjective of quiditas). AB margin: Responsio (69.13).
  3. 3 Sicut fuit ecclesia ut est modo, sic fuit corpus Christi misticum: construed "as the multitude was the church, as [the church] is now, so it was the mystical body". Medietas … numero: the church’s two halves are counted, not measured: angels and men (Augustine, Enchiridion 29, men restoring the number of the fallen angels, PL 40:246).
  4. 4 B de presencia for presencia (70.1). Tempore suo: each at its own time; the objection draws from the church of "all the elect, present, past and future" that past and future things are present to God. AB margin: Responsio (70.3).
  5. 5 Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae III q.8 a.3 (Wyclif "conclusion eight", for question 8; Loserth: Opp. V, 51). Corpus hominis ecclesie (70.6), as printed: Aquinas has corpus ecclesiae; hominis does not construe well, and the bracket is ours; a doubt, reported. B margin: Affirmat sanctus Thomas ampliacionem verbi ut videtur: the reader saw a case of ampliation (the verb’s supposition extended to past and future men).
  6. 6 The Opus imperfectum in Matthaeum (Loserth: of an uncertain author), hom. 46 as printed; the MSS Omelia XXIX (70.8); Loserth: hom. 45, ed. Montfaucon, Chrysost. Opp. VI, cxciii E. Matt. 23:34, DR in part (et scribas omitted). [illud (70.9): a stray bracket in the Latin, reported. Ecclesia malignancium: Ps. 25:5, "the assembly of the malignant". B lacks Adam (70.11).
  7. 7 Matt. 24:34, DR, with Wyclif’s transibit and omnia fiant (Vulgate praeteribit … omnia haec fiant). Where the Opus imperfectum ends is not marked; the seventh and eighth persecutions read as Wyclif’s extension. B lacks genere martires (71.3) and heretici (71.4); A cum sunt (71.8). Quoad modicum uniendi (71.7), as printed, hardly construes (B quoad modum); quoad modum vivendi, "as to their manner of life", would suit the clerics in name: a doubt, reported.
  8. 8 Prosperando procedere: cf. Ps. 44:5, prospere procede. Secunde ecclesie (71.12), as printed, does not construe; perhaps seu due ecclesie, "or two churches": a doubt, reported. The two cities: Augustine, De civitate Dei XIV.28 (also I.35; PL 41:436, 41:46); Gregory not traced.
  9. 9 A and A₁ read verborum at 71.17 (perhaps for ordinum, 71.16; the apparatus is not clear). Verbum modernorum: the "moderns" who taxed the fathers with ignorance of logic, against Wyclif’s logica scripture (03-f).
  10. 10 A summere (71.23); B sit non for fit non (71.25). Suo proposito (71.28), as printed, is taken as preposito, "his superior" (cf. prepositi, the glossary, ); as proposito it would be "his purpose": a doubt, reported. Predestinatus, prescitus: the predestinate and the foreknown (the foreknown are those God foreknows will be damned).
  11. 11 Apoc. 2:9, "the synagogue of Satan" (DR). Ut supra: the twofold sense of ecclesia in chapter 1. B margin: Responsio … Duplex de ecclesia (71.29).
  12. 12 Instituere (72.2) is the reading of A₁ as corrected, which Loserth prints; A and B iusti cure. Solum subest … instituere eius partes: the infinitive is the subject. Luke 1:33, DR; Dan. 7:14 ("his kingdom that shall not be destroyed").
How the Latin of this chapter was established
  • Plate readings; page · reading · note):
    • 69: CAP. IV.
    • 69: Christi
    • 70: Thomas
    • 70: 34
    • 71: persequentes (138a is the folio mark)
    • 71: Iudeos
    • 71: Iudei (italic capital I)
    • 71: iustorum [NW]
    • 71: successim (succes-/sim hyphenated; print has successim) [NW]
    • 71: preficiuntur [NW]
    • 71: Christi
    • 70: XLVIª, [-MARK]
  • Corrected in the Latin: 70.9 [illud; 70.19 dic t (print dic’t, i.e. dicit; plate); 71.20 Tercioobicitur. Latin doubts left as printed: 70.6 hominis; 71.7 modicum uniendi; 71.12 secunde; 71.28 proposito.