the Church, because although in the beginning it was the true one, still, through the fault of those who governed it, the doctrine preached by Jesus Christ became corrupted, for he, as we have seen, has promised that the gates of hell should never prevail against the Church he founded. Neither will it avail them to say that it was only the visible, and not the invisible Church that failed, on account of the wickedness of the shepherds, for it is necessary that there should always be a visible and infallible judge, in the Church, to decide all doubts, that disputes may be quashed, and the dogmas of Faith be secure and certain. I wish every Protestant would consider this, and see how he can be certain then, of his salvation outside the Holy Catholic Church.

SEC. VIII.-THE AUTHORITY OF GENERAL COUNCILS.

73. THERE can be only one Faith, for as Faith and truth are indivisibly united, and as truth is one, so Faith must be one likewise. Hence, we conclude, as we have already shown, that in all controversies regarding the dogmas of Faith, it has always been, and is always necessary to have, an infallible judge, whose decisions all should obey. The reason of this is manifest, for if the judgment of every one of the faithful was to be taken on this matter, as the sectaries expect, it would not be alone opposed to the Scriptures, as we shall see, but to reason itself, for it would be quite impossible to unite the opinions of all the faithful, and give from them a distinct and definitive judgment in dogmas of Faith, and there would be endless disputes, and, instead of unity of Faith, there would be as many creeds as persons. Neither is the Scripture alone sufficient to assure us of the truth of what we should believe, for several passages of it can be interpreted in different senses, both true and false, so that the Bible will be, for those who take it in a perverse sense, not a rule of Faith, but a fountain of errors; the Gospel, as St. Jerome says, will become, not the Gospel of Christ, but the Gospel of man, or of the devil: "Non putemus in verbis Scripturarum esse Evangelium sed in sensu, interpretatione enim perversa de Evangelio Christi fit hominis Evangelium aut diaboli." Where, in fact, can we look for the true sense of the Scriptures, only in the judgment of the Church, the pillar and the ground of truth, as the Apostle calls it?

74. That the Roman Catholic Church is the only true one, and that the others who have separated from it are false, is manifest from what we have already seen; for, as the sectaries themselves admit, the Roman Catholic Church has been certainly first founded. by Jesus Christ. He promised to assist it to the end of time, and the gates of hell, that is, as St. Epiphanius explains it, heretics and founders of heresies, will never prevail against it, as was promised to St. Peter. Hence, in all doubts of Faith, we should bow to the decisions of this Church, subjecting our judgment to her judgment,

in obedience to Christ, who, as St. Paul tells us, commands us to obey the Church: "Bring into captivity every understanding unto the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. x. 5).

75. The Church, then, teaches us through General Councils, and hence, the perpetual tradition of all the faithful has always held as infallible the definitions of General Councils, and considered as heretics those who refused obedience to them. Such have been the Lutherans and Calvinists, who have denied the infallibility of General Councils. Here are Luther's own words, taken from the thirtieth article of the forty-one condemned by Leo X. (1): "Via nobis facta est enervandi auctoritatem Conciliorum, et judicandi eorum Decreta, et confidenter confitendi quidquid verum videtur, sive prolatum fuerit, sive reprobatum a quocunque Concilio." Calvin said the same thing, and the followers of both heresiarchs have adopted their opinion. We know, especially, that Calvin and Beza both said, that no matter how holy a Council might be, still it may err in matters appertaining to Faith (2). The Faculty of Paris, however, censuring the thirtieth article of Luther, declared the contrary: "Certum est, Concilium Generale legitime congregatum in Fidei et morum determinationibus errare non posse." How, in fact, can we deny infallibility to General Councils, when we know that they represent the whole Church? for, if they could err in matters of Faith, the whole Church could err, and the infidels might say, then, that God had not provided sufficiently for the unity of Faith, as he was bound to do, when he wished that all should profess the same Faith.

76. Hence, we are bound to believe, that in matters relating to the dogmas of Faith, and to moral precepts, General Councils cannot err, and this is proved, in the first place, from Scripture. Christ says: "Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. xviii. 20). But then, says Calvin, according to that a Council of two persons assembled in the name of God cannot err. The Council of Chalcedon, however (Act 3, in fine), in the Epistle to Pope St. Leo, and the Sixth Synod (Act 17), had previously disposed of this objection, by explaining that the words, "in my name," show that this cannot be applied to a meeting of private persons assembled to discuss matters regarding their own private interests, but a meeting of persons congregated to decide on points regarding the whole society of Christendom. It is proved, secondly, by the words of St. John: "When he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will teach you all truth" (John, xvi. 13). And previously, in the 14th chap. 16th verse, he says: "I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever: the Spirit of Truth." Now the expression, " that he may abide with you for

(1) Luther, lib. de Concil. ar. 28, 29. (2) Joan Vysembogard. Ep. ad Lud. Colin.

ever," clearly shows that the Holy Ghost continually abides in the Church, to teach the truths of the Faith, not alone to the Apostles, who, being mortal, could not remain always with us, but to the bishops, their successors. Unless, then, in this congregation of bishops, we do not know where the Holy Ghost teaches these truths.

77. It is proved, also, from the promises made by our Saviour always to assist his Church, that it may not err: "Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world" (Matt. xxviii. 20); " And I say to thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. xvi. 18). A General Council, as has been said already, and as the eighth Synod (Act 5) declared, represents the universal Church; and, hence, this interrogatory was put to all suspected of heresy in the Council of Constance: "An non credunt Concilium Generale universam Ecclesiam repræsentare?" And St. Athanasius, St. Epiphanius, St. Cyprian, St. Augustin, and St. Gregory, teach the same thing (3). If, therefore, the Church, as it has been proved, cannot err, neither can the Council which represents the Church fall into error. It is proved, besides, from those texts, in which the faithful are commanded to obey the prelates of the Church: "Obey your prelates, and be subject to them" (Heb. xiii. 17); "Who hears you, hears me" (Luke, x. 16); "Go, therefore, teach all nations" (Matt. xxviii. 19). These prelates, separately, may fall into error, and frequently disagree with each other on controverted points, and, therefore, we should receive what they tell us as infallible, and as coming from Christ himself, when they are united in Council. On this account the Holy Fathers have always considered as heretics those who contradicted the dogmas defined by General Councils, as the reader may see, by consulting St. Gregory of Nazianzen, St. Basil, St. Cyril, St. Ambrose, St. Athanasius, St. Augustin, and St. Leo(4). 78. Besides all these proofs, there is another, that if General Councils could err, there would be no established tribunal in the Church, to terminate disputes about points of dogma, and to preserve the unity of the Faith, and if they were not infallible in their judgments, no heresy could be condemned, nor could we say it was a heresy at all. We could not be certain either of the canonicity of several books of the Scripture, as the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews, the Second Epistle of St. Peter, the Third Epistle of St. John, the Epistles of St. James and St. Jude, and the Apocalypse of St. John; for, although the Calvinists receive all these, still they

(3) St. Athanas. Ep. de Synod. Arim. St. Epiphan. An. at. in fin.; St. Cyprian. l. 4, Ep. 9; St. Augus. l. 1 contra at. c. 18, St. Greg. Ep. 24 ad Patriarch. (4) St. Greg. Nazian. Ep. ad Cledon.; St. Basil, Ep. 78; St. Cyril. de Trinit.; St. Ambr. Ep. 32; St. Athan. Ep. ad Episc. Afric.; St. Aug. l. 1, de Bapt. c. 18; St. Leo, Ep. 77, ad Anatol.

are considered doubtful by others, because they were not declared canonical by the Fourth Council. Finally, we may add, that if Councils could err, they committed an intolerable error in proposing, as Articles of Faith, matters, which they could not assert were true or false; and thus the Creeds of Nice, of Constantinople, of Ephesus, and of Chalcedon, would fall to the ground, in which several dogmas were declared, which before were not held as such, and still these four General Councils are received as Rules of Faith by the Innovators themselves. We have now to consider their numerous and importunate objections.

79. First, Calvin objects (5) several passages of the Scriptures, in which the prophets, priests, and pastors, are called ignorant and liars: "From the prophet to the priest, all deal deceitfully" (Jer. viii. 10); "His watchmen are all blind..........the shepherds themselves know no understanding" (Isaias, lvi. 10, 11). We answer, that frequently in the Scriptures, because some are wicked, all are reprimanded, as St. Augustin (6) says, explaining that passage (Phil. ii. 21): "All seek the things that are their own, and not the things that are Jesus Christ's." But the Apostles surely did not seek the things which were their own; they sought solely the glory of God, and, therefore, St. Paul calls on the Philippians, and tells them: "Be followers of me, brethren, and observe them who walk, so as you have our model" (Phil. iii. 17). We should, besides, remember that the texts quoted speak of priests and prophets divided among themselves, and deceiving the people, and not of those who speak to us, assembled in the name of God. Besides, the Church of the New Testament has received surer promises than did the Synagogue of old, which was never called "The Church of the living God, the pillar and the firmament of truth” (1 Tim. iii. 15). Calvin, however, says (7), that even in the New Law there are many false prophets and deceivers, as St. Matthew (xxiv. 11) tells us: "Many false prophets shall arise, and seduce many." This is also true; but he ought to apply this text to himself, and Luther, and Zuinglius, and not to the Ecumenical Councils of bishops, to whom the assistance of the Holy Ghost is promised, and who can say: "It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us" (Acts, xv. 28).

80. Calvin bjects, secondly, the iniquity of the Council of Caiphas, which, withal, was a General one, composed of the Princes and Priests, and still condemned Jesus Christ as guilty of death (Matt. xxvi. 66). Therefore, he says, even General Councils are fallible. We reply, that we call infallible those legitimate General Councils alone, at which the Holy Ghost assists; but how can we call that council either legitimate, or assisted by the Holy Ghost,

(5) Calv. Inst. l. 4, c. 9, sec. 3. (6) St. Aug. de Unit. Eccl. c. 11. (7) Calvin, loc. cit. sec. 4.

in which Christ was condemned as a blasphemer, for attesting that he was the Son of God, after so many proofs given by him that he was really so-whose proceedings were all based on false testimony, suborned for the purpose, and which was governed by envy alone, as even Pilate knew: "For he knew that for envy they had delivered him" (Matt. xxvii. 18.)

81. Luther objects, thirdly, (in art. 29), that, in the Council of Jerusalem, St. James changed the sentence given by St. Peter, who decided that the Gentiles were not bound to the observance of the precepts of the Law; but St. James said that they should abstain from meats offered to idols, from things suffocated, and from blood, and this was forcing them to a Jewish observance. We answer, with St. Augustin and St. Jerome (8), that this prohibition does not subvert the decision of St. Peter; nor, properly speaking, was it an imposition of the precepts of the Old Law, but a mere temporary precept of discipline, to satisfy the Jews, who could not bear just then, at the beginning of Christianity, to see the Gentiles eating blood and meats abhorred by them. It was, however, only a simple command, which fell into disuse, when the time passed away it was intended for, as St. Augustin remarks (9).

82. They object, fourthly, that in the Council of Neocesarea, received by the First Council of Nice, as the Council of Florence attests, second marriages were condemned: "Presbyterum convivio secundarum nuptiarum interesse non debere." But how, say they, could such a prohibition be given, when St. Paul says: "If her husband should die, she is at liberty; let her marry to whom she will, only in the Lord" (1 Cor. vii. 39). We answer that, in the Council of Neocesarea, second marriages are not forbidden, but only the solemn celebration of them, and the banquets which were usual at first marriages alone; and, therefore, it was forbidden to the priests to attend, not at the marriage, but at the banquets, which were a part of the solemnity. Fifthly, Luther objects that the Council of Nice prohibited the profession of arms, although St. John the Baptist (Luke, iii. 14) held it as lawful. We answer, that the Council did not prohibit the profession of arms, but forbid the soldiers to sacrifice to idols, to obtain the belt, or military distinction, which, as Ruffinus (10) tells us, was only given to those who offered sacrifice; and it is these alone the Council condemned in the Second Canon. Sixthly, Luther objects that this same Council ordained that the Paulinians should be re-baptized, while another Council, which St. Augustin calls Plenary, and which is believed to have been the Council celebrated by the whole French Church in Arles, prohibited the re-baptism of heretics, as the Pope St. Stephen commanded, in opposition to St. Cyprian. We answer, that the Council

(8) St. Augus. 1. 32, contra Faust, c. 13; St. Hier. Ep. ad Aug. quæ est 11 inter Epist. August. (9) St. Aug. loc. cit. (10) Ruffin. Histor. l. 10, c. 32.