commixtione hominis cum Dæmone aliquoties nascuntur homines, et
tali modo nasciturum esse Antichristum opinantur nonnulli Doctores:
Bellarm. lib. 1, de Rom. Pont., cap. 12; Suarez, tom. 2, disp. 54,
sec. 1.; Maluend., de =Antichr.=, l. 2., c. 8. Immo observant, quod,
qui gignuntur ab hujusmodi Incubis, naturali causa etiam evenit,
ut nascantur grandes, robustissimi, ferocissimi, superbissimi, ac
nequissimi, ut scripsit Maluenda, =loc. cit.=, =§ Ad illud=; et hujus
rationem recitat ex Vallesio Archia. Reggio. =Sac. Philosoph.=,
c. 8., dicente quod Incubi =summittant in uteros non qualecumque,
neque quantumcumque semen, sed plurimum, crassissimum, calidissimum,
spiritibus affluens et seri expers. Id vero est eis facile conquirere,
deligendo homines calidos, robustos, et abondantes multo semine, quibus
succumbant, deinde et mulieres tales, quibus incumbant, atque utrisque
voluptatem solito majorem afferendo, tanto enim abundantius emittitur
semen, quanto cum majori voluptate excernitur.= Hæc Vallesius.
Confirmat vero Maluenda supradicta, probando, ex variis et classicis
Auctoribus, ex hujusmodi concubitu natos: Romulum ac Remum, Liv. decad.
1; Plutarch., =in Vit. Romul. et Parallel.=; Servium Tullium, sextum
regem Romanorum, Dionys. Halicar., lib. 4, Plin., lib. 36., c. 27;
Platonem Philosophum, Laer. l. 9. =de Vit. Philos.=; D. Hyeron., =l. 1.
Controvers. Jovinian.=; Alexandrum Magnum, Plutarch., =in Vit. Alex.
M.=; Quint. Curt., l. 4, =de Gest. Alex. M.=; Seleucum, regem Syriæ,
Just., =Hist.=, l. 15; Appian., =in Syriac.=; Scipionem Africanum
Majorem, Liv., decad. 3, lib. 6; Cæsarem Augustum Imperatorem, Sueton.,
=in Octa.=, c. 94; Aristomenem Messenium, strenuissimum ducem Græcorum,
Strabo, =de Sit. Orb.=, lib. 8; Pausan., =de Rebus Græcor.=, lib. 3;
et Merlinum, seu Melchinum Anglicum ex Incubo et Filia Caroli Magni
Moniali, Hauller, volum. 2, Generat. 7, quod etiam de Martino Luthero,
perditissimo Heresiarcha scribit Cochlæus apud Maluendam, =de Antich.=,
lib. 2, c. 6, =§ Cæterum=.
30. Now, it is undoubted by Theologians and philosophers that carnal
intercourse between mankind and the Demon sometimes gives birth to
human beings; that is how is to be born the Antichrist, according to
some Doctors, such as Bellarmin, Suarez, Maluenda, etc. They further
observe that, from a natural cause, the children thus begotten by
Incubi are tall, very hardy and bold, very proud and wicked. Thus
writes Maluenda; as for the cause, he gives it from Vallesius,
Archphysician in Reggio: “What Incubi introduce _in uteros_, is not
_qualecumque neque quantumcumque semen_, but abundant, very thick,
very warm, rich in spirits and free from serosity. This moreover is
an easy thing for them, since they have but to choose ardent, robust
men, _et abundantes multo semine, quibus succumbant_, and then women of
a like constitution, _quibus incumbant_, taking care that both shall
enjoy _voluptatem solito majorem, tanto enim abundantius emittitur
semen, quanto cum majori voluptate excernitur_.” Those are the words
of Vallesius, confirmed by Maluenda who shows, from the testimony
of various Authors, mostly classical, that such associations gave
birth to: Romulus and Remus, according to _Livy_ and _Plutarch_;
Servius-Tullius, the sixth king of Rome, according to _Dyonisius of
Halicarnassus_ and _Pliny the Elder_; Plato the Philosopher, according
to _Diogenes Laertius_ and _Saint Hieronymus_; Alexander the Great,
according to _Plutarch_ and _Quintus-Curtius_; Seleucus, king of
Syria, according to _Justinus_ and _Appianus_; Scipio Africanus the
Elder, according to _Livy_; the emperor Cæsar Augustus, according
to _Suetonius_; Aristomenes the Messenian, an illustrious Greek
commander, according to _Strabo_ and _Pausanias_; as also Merlin or
Melchin the Englishman, born from an Incubus and a nun, the daughter of
Charlemagne; and, lastly, as shown by the writings of _Cochlæus_ quoted
by _Maluenda_, that damned Heresiarch ycleped Martin Luther.
31. Salva tamen tot, et tantorum Doctorum, qui in ea opinione
conveniunt, reverentia, non video, quomodo ipsorum sententia possit
subsistere; tum quia, ut optime opinatur Pererius, tom. 2, in =Genes.=,
cap. 6, disp. 5, tota vis et efficacia humani seminis consistit
in spiritibus, qui difflantur, et evanescunt statim ac sunt extra
genitalia vasa, a quibus foventur et conservantur, ut scribunt Medici.
Nequit proinde Dæmon semen acceptum conservare, ita ut aptum sit
generationi, quia vas, quodcumque sit illud, in quo semen conservare
tentaret, oporteret quod caleret calore assimetro a nativo organorum
humanæ generationis; similarem enim a nullo alio præterquam ab organis
ipsis habere potest generatio. Tum quia generatio actus vitalis est,
per quem homo generans de propria substantia semen defert per organa
naturalia ad locum generationi congruentem. In casu autem delatio
seminis non potest esse actus vitalis hominis generantis, quia ab eo
non infertur in matricem; proinde nec dici potest, quod homo eujus
est semen, generet fœtum, qui ex eo nascitur. Neque Incubus ipsius
pater dici potest; quia de ipsius substantia semen non est. Hinc
fiet, quod nascetur homo, cujus nemo pater sit, quod est incongruum.
Tum quia in patre naturaliter generante duplex causalitas concurrit,
nempe materialis, quia semen, quod materia generationis, ministrat,
et efficiens, quia agens principale est in generatione, ut communiter
statuunt Philosophi. In casu autem nostro homo ministrando solum semen,
puram materiam exhiberet absque ulla actione in ordine ad generationem;
proinde non posset dici pater filii qui nasceretur: et hoc est contra
id, quod homo genitus ab Incubo non est illius filius, sed est filius
ejus viri, a quo Incubus semen sumpsit.
31. However, with due deference to so many and such learned Doctors,
I hardly see how their opinion can bear examination. For, as Pererius
truly observes in his _Commentary on the Genesis_, chapt. 6, the whole
strength and efficiency of the human sperm reside in the spirits which
evaporate and vanish as soon as issued from the genital vessels wherein
they were warmly stored: all medical men agree on that point. It is
consequently not possible that the Demon should preserve in a fit state
for generation the sperm he has received; for it were necessary that
whatever vessel he endeavoured to keep it in should be equally warm
with the human genital organs, the warmth of which is nowhere to be
met with but in those organs themselves. Now, in a vessel where that
warmth is not intrinsical but extraneous, the spirits get altered,
and no generation can take place. There is this other objection,
that generation is a vital act by which man, begetting from his own
substance, carries the sperm through natural organs to the spot which
is appropriate to generation. On the contrary, in this particular case,
the introduction of sperm cannot be a vital act of the man who begets,
since it is not carried into the womb by his agency; and, for the same
cause, it cannot be said that the man, whose sperm it was, has begotten
the fetus which proceeds from it. Nor can the Incubus be deemed
its father, since the sperm does not issue from his own substance.
Consequentially, a child would be born without a father, which is
absurd. Third objection: when the father begets in the course of
nature, there is a concurrence of two causalities: the one, material,
for he provides the sperm which is the matter of generation; the other,
efficient, for he is the principal agent of generation, as Philosophers
agree in declaring. But, in this case, the man who only provided the
sperm would contribute but a mere material, without any action tending
to generation; he could therefore not be regarded as the father of the
child begotten under those circumstances; and this is opposed to the
notion that the child begotten by an Incubus is not his son, but the
son of the man whose sperm the Incubus has taken.
32. Præterea omni probabilitate caret quod scribit Vallesius, et ex
eo recitavimus supra nº 30; mirorque a doctissimi viri calamo talia
excidisse. Notissimum enim est apud Physicos, quod magnitudo fœtus
non est a quantitate molis, sed est a quantitate virtutis, hoc est
spirituum in semine: ab ea enim tota generationis ratio dependet, ut
optime testatur Michael Ettmullerus, =Instit. Medic. Physiolog.=, car.
22, thes. 1, fol. m., 39, scribens: =Tota generationis ratio dependet
a spiritu genitali sub crassioris materiæ involucro excreto; ista
materia seminis crassa nullo modo, vel in utero subsistente, vel seu
materia fœtum constituente: sed solus spiritus genitalis maris unitus
cum spiritu genitali mulieris in poros uteri, seu, quod rarius fit, in
tubos uteri se insinuat, indeque uterum fecundum reddit=. Quid ergo
facere potest magna quantitas seminis ad fœtus magnitudinem? Præterea
nec semper verum est, quod tales geniti ab Incubis magnitudine molis
corporeæ insignes sint: Alexander enim Magnus, qui, ut diximus, natus
taliter scribitur, statura pusillus erat; unde carmen,
=Magnus Alexander corpore parvus erat.=
Item quamvis taliter concepti supra cæteros homines excellant, non
tamen hoc semper est in vitiis, sed aliquando in virtutibus etiam in
moralibus, ut patet in Scipione Africano, Cæsare Augusto, et Platone
Philosopho, de quibus Livius, Suetonius et Laertius respective
scribunt, quod optimi in moribus fuere; ut proinde arguere possimus,
quod si alii eodem modo geniti pessimi fuere, hoc non fuerit ex hoc,
quod fuerint ab Incubo geniti, sed quia tales ex proprio arbitrio
exstitere.
Pariter ex textu Sacræ Scripturæ, =Gen.=, c. 6, v. 4, habemus quod
gigantes nati sunt ex concubitu filiorum Dei cum filiabus hominum, et
hoc ad litteram sacri textus. Gigantes autem homines erant =statura
magna=, ut eos vocat Baruch, c. 3, v. 26, et excedente communem hominum
proceritatem. Monstruosa statura, robore, latrociniis, et tyrannide
insignes: unde Gigantes per sua scelera fuerunt maxima, et potissima
causa Diluvii, ait Cornelius a Lapid. =in Gen.=, c. 6, v. 4, =§
Burgensis=. Non quadrat autem quorumdam expositio, quod nomine filiorum
Dei veniant filii Seth, et vocabulo filiarum hominum filiæ Cain, eo
quod illi erant pietati, Religioni, et cæteris virtutibus addicti,
descendentes autem a Cain vice versa: nam salva opinantium, Chrysost.,
Cyrill., Theodor. Rupert. Ab. et Hilar. in Psalm. 132, apud Cornel.,
a Lap., c. 6; G., v. 2, =§ Verum dies=, reverentia, talis expositio
non cohæret sensui patenti litteræ; ait enim Scriptura, quod ex
conjunctione talium nati sunt homines monstruosæ proceritatis corporeæ:
ante illam ergo tales gigantes non extiterunt: quod si ex ea orti sunt,
hoc non potuit esse ex eo, quod filii Seth coivissent cum filiabus
Cain, quia illi erant staturæ ordinariæ, prout etiam filiæ Cain, unde
oriri ex his naturaliter non potuerunt nisi filii staturæ ordinariæ: si
ergo monstruosa statura filii nati sunt ex tali conjunctione, hoc fuit,
quia non fuerunt prognati ex ordinaria conjunctione viri cum muliere,
sed ex Incubis dæmonibus qui ratione naturæ ipsorum optime possunt
vocari filii Dei, et in hac sententia sunt Philosophi Platonici, et
Franciscus Georgius Venetus, tom. 1, problem. 74: nec dissentiunt
ab eadem Joseph. Hebræus, Philo Judæus, S. Justinus Martyr, Clemens
Alexandrinus, et Tertullianus, Joseph. Hebræus, =Antiq.=, l. 1.; Philo,
l. =de Gigant.=; S. Justinus M., Apolog. 1.; Clemens Alex., lib. 3;
Tertull., lib. =de Habit. Mul.=, apud Cornel., loc. cit.; Hugo de S.
Victor., =Annot. in Gen.=, c. 6, qui opinantur illos fuisse Angelos
quosnam corporeos qui in luxuriam cum mulieribus delapsi sunt: ut enim
infra ostendemus, istæ duæ sententiæ in unam et eamdem conveniunt.
32. Besides, there is not a shadow of probability in what written by
Vallesius and quoted from him by us (_Vide supra nº 30_); and I wonder
that any thing so extravagant should have fallen from the pen of such
a learned man. Medical men are well aware that the size of the fetus
depends, not indeed on the quantity of matter, but on the quantity of
virtue, that is to say of spirits held by the sperm; there lies the
whole secret of generation, as is well observed by Michael Ettmuller,
_Institut. Medic. Physiolog._: “Generation”, says he, “entirely depends
upon the genital spirit contained within an envelope of thicker matter;
that spermatic matter does not remain in the uterus, and has no share
in the formation of the fetus; it is but the genital spirit of the
male, combined with the genital spirit of the female, that permeates
the pores, or, less frequently, the tubes of the uterus, which it
fecundates by that means.” Of what moment can therefore the quantity
of sperm be for the size of the fetus? Besides, it is not always a
fact that men thus begotten by Incubi are remarkable for the huge
proportions of their body: Alexander the Great, for instance, who is
said to have been thus born, as we have mentioned, was very short; as
the poet said of him:
_Magnus Alexander corpore parvus erat._
Besides, although it is generally a fact that those who are thus
begotten excel other men, yet such superiority is not always shown
by their vices, but sometimes by their virtues and even their
morals; Scipio Africanus, for instance, Cæsar Augustus and Plato the
Philosopher, as is recorded of each of them respectively by Livy,
Suetonius and Diogenes Laertius, had excellent morals. Whence may be
inferred that, if other individuals begotten in the same way have been
downright villains, it was not owing to their being born of an Incubus,
but to their having, of their own free will, chosen to be such.
We also read in the Testament, _Genesis_, chap. 6, verse 4, that giants
were born when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men: that
is the very letter of the sacred text. Now, those giants were men of
_great stature_, says _Baruch_, chap. 3, verse 26, and far superior
to other men. Not only were they distinguished by their huge size,
but also by their physical power, their plundering habits and their
tyranny. Through their criminal excesses the Giants were the primary
and principal cause of the Flood, according to Cornelius a Lapide,
in his _Commentary on Genesis_. Some contend that by Sons of God are
meant the sons of Seth, and by Daughters of men the daughters of
Cain, because the former practiced piety, religion and every other
virtue, whilst the descendants of Cain were quite the reverse; but,
with all due deference to Chrysostom, Cyrillus, Hilarius and others
who are of that opinion, it must be conceded that it clashes with the
obvious meaning of the text. Scripture says, in fact, that of the
conjunction of the above mentioned were born men of huge bodily size:
consequently, those giants were not previously in existence, and if
their birth was the result of that conjunction, it cannot be ascribed
to the intercourse of the sons of Seth with the daughters of Cain, who
being themselves of ordinary stature, could but procreate children of
ordinary stature. Therefore, if the intercourse in question gave birth
to beings of huge stature, the reason is that it was not the common
connection between man and woman, but the performance of Incubi Demons
who, from their nature, may very well be styled sons of God. Such is
the opinion of the Platonist Philosophers and of Francis Georges the
Venetian; nor is it discrepant from that of Josephus the Historian,
Philo the Jew, S. Justinus the Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and
Tertullian, who look upon Incubi as corporeal Angels who have allowed
themselves to fall into the sin of lewdness with women. Indeed, as
shall be shown hereafter, though seemingly distinct, those two opinions
are but one and the same.
33. Si ergo Incubi tales, ut fert communis sententia, Gigantes
genuerunt, accepto semine ab homine, juxta id, quod supra dictum est,
non potuerunt ex illo semine nasci nisi homines ejusdem staturæ plus
minusve, cum eo a quo semen acceptum est: nec enim facit ad altiorem
corporis staturam major seminis quantitas, ita ut attracta insolite a
Dæmone, dum Succubus fit homini, augeat ultra illius staturam enormiter
corpus ab eo geniti; quia, ut supra diximus, hoc residet in spiritu, et
non in mole seminis: ut proinde necesse sit concludere, quod ab alio
semine, quam humano, hujusmodi gigantes nati sint, et proinde Dæmon
Incubus non humano, sed alio semine utatur ad generationem. Quid igitur
dicendum?
33. If therefore these Incubi, in conformity with general belief, have
begotten Giants by means of sperm taken from man, it is impossible,
as aforesaid, that of that sperm should have been born any but men of
approximately the same size as he from whom it came; for it would be
in vain for the Demon, when acting the part of a Succubus, to draw
from man an unwonted quantity of prolific liquor in order to procreate
therefrom children of higher stature; quantity has nothing to do here,
since all depends, as we have said, upon the vitality of that liquor,
not its quantity. We are therefore bound to infer that Giants are born
of another sperm than man’s, and that, consequently, the Incubus Demon,
for the purpose of generation, uses a sperm which is not man’s. But
then, what is to be said?
34. Quantum ad hoc, sub correctione Sanctæ Matris Ecclesiæ, et mere
opinative dico, Incubum Dæmonem, dum mulieribus commiscetur, ex proprio
ipsius semine hominem generare.
34. Subject to correction by our Holy Mother Church, and as a mere
expression of opinion, I say that the Incubus Demon, when having
intercourse with women, begets the human fetus from his own sperm.
35. Paradoxa in fide, et parum sana nonnullis videbitur hæc opinio;
sed lectorem meum deprecor, ut judicium non præcipitet de ea: ut enim
incivile est nondum tota lege perspecta judicare, ut Celsus, lib. 24.
ff. de legib. et S. C., ait, ita neque damnanda est opinio, nisi prius
examinatis, ac solutis argumentis, quibus innititur. Ad probandam
igitur supradatam conclusionem, nonnulla sunt necessario præmittenda.
35. To many that proposition will seem heterodox and hardly sensible;
but I beg of my reader not to condemn it precipitately; for if,
as Celsus says, it is improper to deliver judgment without having
thoroughly inquired into the law, no less unfair is the rejection of
an opinion, before the arguments upon which it rests have been weighed
and confuted. I have therefore to prove the above conclusion, and must
necessarily premise with some statements.
36. Præmittendum primo de fide est, quod dentur Creaturæ pure
spirituales nullo modo de materia corporea participantes, prout
habetur ex Concilio Lateranensi, sub Innocentio Tertio, c. Firm. de
Sum. Trin. et Fid. Cath. Conc. Eph. in Epist. Cyrill. ad Reggia, et
alibi. Hujusmodi autem sunt Angeli beati, et Dæmones damnati ad ignem
perpetuum. Quamvis vero nonnulli Doctores, Bann. par. 1. q. 5. ar.
1. Can. =de Loc. Theol.= l. 5. c. 5. Sixt. seu =Bibliot. San.= l. 5.
annot. 8., Mirand. =Sum. Concil.= vº. =Angelus=, Molina, p. 1. q.
50., a. 1., Carranz., =Annot. ad Synod.= 7., etiam post Concilium illud
docuerint spiritualitatem Angelorum et Dæmonum non esse de fide, ita
ut nonnulli alii, Bonav. in lib. 2. sent. dist. 3. q. 1., Scot. =de
Anim.= q. 15., Cajet. =in Gen.= c. 4., Franc. Georg. =Problem.= l. 2.
c. 57., August. Hyph., =de Dæmon.=, l. 3. c. 3., scripserint illos esse
corporeos, et proinde Angelos Dæmonesque corpore et spiritu constare
non esse propositionem hæreticam, neque erroneam, probet Bonaventura
Baro, =Scot. Defens.= tom. 9. apolog. 2., act. 1., p. § 7.: tamen quia
Concilium ipsum statuit de fide tenendum, =Deum esse Creatorem omnium
visibilium et invisibilium, spiritualium et corporalium, qui utramque
de nihilo condidit creaturam spiritualem et corporalem Angelicam,
videlicet ut mundanam=: ideo dico de fide esse quasdam creaturas dari
mere spirituales, et tales esse Angelos, non quidem omnes, sed quosdam.
36. Firstly, I premise, as an article of belief, that there are purely
spiritual creatures, not in any way partaking of corporeal matter,
as was ruled by the Council of Lateran, under the pontificate of
Innocent III. Such are the blessed Angels, and the Demons condemned
to ever-lasting fire. Some Doctors, it is true, have professed,
subsequently even to this Council, that the spirituality of Angels and
Demons is not an article of belief; others even have asserted that
they are corporeal, whence Bonaventure Baron has drawn the conclusion
that it is neither heretical nor erroneous to ascribe to Angels and
Demons a twofold substance, corporeal and spiritual. Yet, the Council
having formally declared it to be an article of belief that _God is the
maker of all things visible and invisible, spiritual and corporeal, who
has raised from nothing every creature spiritual or corporeal. Angelic
or terrestrial_, I contend it is an article of belief that there are
certain merely spiritual creatures, and that such are Angels; not all
of them, but a certain number.
37. Inaudita forsan erit sententia hæc, sed non destituta erit
probabilitate. Si enim a Theologis tanta inter Angelos diversitas
specifica, et proinde essentialis statuitur, ut in via D. Thomæ,
p. p. 50, ar. 4, plures Angeli nequeant esse in eadem specie, sed
quilibet Angelus propriam speciem constituat, profecto nulla invenitur
repugnantia, quod Angelorum nonnulli sint purissimi spiritus, et
proinde excellentissimæ naturæ, alii autem corporei, et minus
excellentes, et eorum differentia petatur per corporeum et incorporeum.
Accedit quod hac sententia facile solvitur alias insolubilis
contradictio inter duo Concilia Œcumenica, nempe Septimam Synodum
generalem, et dictum Concilium Lateranense: siquidem in illa Synodo,
quæ est secunda Nicæna, actione quinta, productus est liber Joannis
Thessalonicensis scriptus contra quemdam Philosophum gentilem, in quo
ita habetur: =De Angelis et Archangelis, atque eorum Potestatibus,
quibus nostras Animas adjungo, ipsa Catholica Ecclesia sic sentit,
esse quidem intelligibiles, sed non omnino corporis expertes, et
insensibiles, ut vos Gentiles dicitis, verum tenui corpore præditos, et
aereo, sive igneo, sicut scriptum est: qui facit Angelos suos spiritus,
et ministros suos ignem urentem=. Et infra: =Quamquam autem non sint ut
nos, corporei, utpote ex quatuor elementis, nemo tamen vel Angelos,
vel Dæmones, vel Animas dixerit incorporeas: multoties enim in proprio
corpore visi sunt ab illis, quibus Dominus oculos aperuit=. Et cum
omnia lecta fuissent coram Patribus synodaliter congregatis, Tharasius,
Patriarcha Constantinopolitanus, poposcit adprobationem Sanctæ Synodi
his verbis: =Ostendit Pater, quod Angelos pingi oporteat, quoniam
circumscribi possunt, et ut homines apparuerunt. Synodus autem uno ore
respondit: Etiam, Domine=.
37. It may seem strange, yet it must be admitted not to be unlikely.
If, in fact, Theologians concur in establishing amongst Angels a
specific, and therefore essential, diversity so considerable that,
according to St. Thomas, there are not two Angels of the same species,
but that each of them is a species by himself, why should not certain
Angels be most pure spirits, of a consequently very superior nature,
and others corporeal, therefore of a less perfect nature, differing
thus from each other in their corporeal or incorporeal substance?
This doctrine has the advantage of solving the otherwise insoluble
contradiction between two Œcumenical Councils, namely the Seventh
General Synod and the above-mentioned Council of Lateran. For, during
the fifth sitting of that Synod, the second of Nicea, a book was
introduced written by John of Thessalonica against a pagan Philosopher,
wherein occur the following propositions: “_Respecting Angels,
Archangels and their Powers, to which I adjoin our own Souls, the
Catholic Church is really of opinion that they are intelligences, but
not entirely bodyless and senseless, as you Gentiles aver; she on the
contrary ascribes to them a subtile body, aerial or igneous, according
to what is written: He makes the spirits His Angels, and the burning
fire His Minister_”. And further on: “_Although not corporeal in the
same way as ourselves, made of the four elements, yet it is impossible
to say that Angels, Demons and Souls are incorporeal; for they have
been seen many a time, invested with their own body, by those whose
eyes the Lord had opened_”. And after that book had been read through
before all the Fathers in Council assembled, Tharasius, the Patriarch
of Constantinople, submitted it to the approval of the Council, with
these words: “_The Father showeth that Angels should be pictured, since
their form can be defined, and they have been seen in the shape of
men_”. Without a dissentient, the Synod answered: “_Yes, my Lord_”.