CHAPTER I.

THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS

[Illustration: No. X.

_Il ritratto de Savonarola_

_Fra Bartolommeo ad vivum Pinxit_ _Patch 1771._

_FRA GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA._]

THE TRIUMPH

OF THE CROSS

BY

FRA GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA

Translated from the Italian

EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION

BY THE

VERY REV. FATHER JOHN PROCTER, S.T.L.

PROVINCIAL OF THE DOMINICANS IN ENGLAND

_WITH A FRONTISPIECE PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR_

“The work ... on THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS is a witness to my faith”

—(_Letter of Savonarola to Pope Alexander VI._)

LONDON

SANDS & CO.

DUBLIN

M. H. GILL & SON

1901

Nihil obstat.

JOANNES PROCTER, O.P., S.T.L.

_Die Martii 27, 1901._

Imprimatur.

HERBERTUS CARDINALIS VAUGHAN,

_Archiepiscopus Westmonast_.

_Die Martii 28, 1901._

INTRODUCTION.

Savonarola was a speaker rather than a writer. His was the eloquent

ministry of the living word, rather than the calm apostolate of the

lifeless pen. He was more at home when standing in the pulpit of the

Duomo in Florence, facing the panting, throbbing crowd, numbering

thousands, who, with itching ears and thirsting souls, drank in his every

word, as though the words were dewdrops from heaven, than when sitting

at the little table—which is still preserved in his lowly cell at San

Marco—holding in his emaciated hand a nerveless, passionless pen. His

great master-intellect and his large sympathetic heart seemed to long

to pour out their rich pent-up treasures, freely and without stint,

through the channel of his eloquent tongue; whereas the hand that would

perpetuate his thoughts, by stamping them upon paper, at times seemed

palsied. Out of the abundance of his heart his mouth preferred to speak.

Still he wrote sometimes;—it was generally, however, under moral

compulsion, being impelled to do so by circumstances which he could not

control. He was accused of error by those, or to those at a distance;

his advice was sought by others who were far away—defence or counsel had

to be committed to paper. For a time he might not sway the masses, as he

would, by the irresistible magic of his burning words; _then_ we have the

apostolate of the pen. He retired to the seclusion of his monastic cell,

and wrote, as his zeal prompted, his message to his fellow-men. Many

of his treatises—short ones for the most part—exist. We have his five

books—we might call them chapters, they are so brief—on “The Simplicity

of the Christian Life”; a treatise on “Humility”; an exposition of the

“Our Father,” and another of the “Hail Mary”;[1] commentaries on some of

the Psalms; an explanation of the Mass, and of the ceremonies of the Holy

Sacrifice; certain rules for good Christian living (composed when he was

in prison), and a number of other letters and booklets. But perhaps the

most notable, as well as the most useful, of his writings are the four

little “Books,” as he calls them, which these words are to introduce to

the English-reading public, and which he himself styles, in the Prologue

or Introduction to the First Book, a defence of “the glorious TRIUMPH

OF THE CROSS” over “the profane and foolish babble of worldly-wise

Philosophers”.

Of St. Philip Neri, the Apostle of Rome, who was ever staunch in his

loyalty to the memory of the one who, for a time at least, was the

Apostle of his own native Florence, it is said, that this was one of his

favourite books. The Saint’s biographer, Cardinal Capecelatro, writes:

“It is well known that Philip often read the writings of Savonarola,

especially THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS, and that he used them for the

instruction of his spiritual children. There are still preserved in the

Vallicella, among the books which belonged to St. Philip, and which were

given by him to the Congregation, five of Savonarola’s works.”[2]

The history and object of THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS, which may be

considered the most important of the works, if we may so call them, of

the great Florentine Reformer, is given by Echard, the Continuator of

Quetif, in his _Scriptores Ordinis Prædicatorum_.[3]

THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS is (he tells us) an accurate work, and one

approved by all learned men. Savonarola undertook it for this special

reason, namely, that he might clearly show what were his real feelings

as regards the Catholic Faith and the Apostolic See; and that he might

refute the calumnious accusation of heresy and schism, which had been

laid to his charge by his adversaries. It begins thus: “The glorious

triumph of the Cross over the worldly wise and over wordy sophists,

etc.”. It is divided into four books, of which the first treats of the

existence, nature, and providence of God, and proves the immortality of

the soul of man. In the second the author shows, by various arguments,

how the Christian faith is in accord with truth and reason. He proceeds,

in the third, to point out that there is nothing, intrinsically, or

extrinsically, impossible in the chief mysteries of the Christian faith,

and that they are not, in any way, at variance with reason. The fourth

book is mainly devoted to an exposition of the truth of the religion

taught by Christ.

It shows that the vagaries of philosophers, astrologers, idolaters,

Jews, Mahometans, and heretics are absolutely opposed to reason.

This work Savonarola wrote in Latin, and it was printed at Florence

in 1497 in quarto. It was reprinted there, in quarto, in 1524, and

afterwards in Paris at the Ascension Press, in octavo, in the same year.

Next it was published at Basle by Henrici-Pietri, in 1540, in folio.

Then, more accurately, thanks to the zeal of the famous John Balesdens,

by John Maire at Lyons (1633), in duodecimo. It was also reproduced at

Rome by Cardinal S. Onufrius Antonius Barberini, brother of Urban VIII.,

at the Propaganda Press, in duodecimo, without any date. Finally, another

edition was issued at Grenoble, in 1666, under the care of the famous

companion of Stephen Mency.

But since many of Savonarola’s adherents were unable to obtain a copy,

and were unacquainted with the Latin language, in which it was written,

in accordance with their wishes he translated it into the Etruscan

tongue, not indeed (as he warns his readers in his introductory letter),

word for word, or line for line, but merely giving the sense and the

pith of each chapter, and sometimes (to make a special point the more

convincing to his readers), omitting some passages and adding others.[4]

He says that he did this advisedly, lest it should be purposely, and

maliciously, mis-translated by another. This was edited at Florence in

the year 1497, in quarto, and to it a Preface was written by Domenico

Benevieni, a Florentine noble, who was Canon Theologian of St. Laurence’s

in the same city. In this Preface Benevieni defended the author in a very

able manner. This version was reprinted at Venice, by Bernard of Bindoni,

in 1531, in octavo, and again, in octavo, in 1547.[5] It must be noticed

that the seventh chapter of the Fourth Book of the Latin edition was

taken out of its place, and inserted, by Theodore Bibliandrus, in his

collection of works written against the Mahometan errors. It is to be

found in the second part of the Basle Folio editions of 1543 and 1550,

under the title: “Commentatiuncula Savonarolæ Mahumeticam sectam omni

ratione carere ostendens”.

In his _Etude sur Jérome Savonarole_, the Reverend Père Bayonne, O.P.,[6]

adds to what we have already said, that the brother of Urban VIII.,

Cardinal Onufrius Antonius Barberini—a Capuchin—wishing to vindicate

his (Savonarola’s) innocence, left by will, dated 23rd of August, 1646,

500 gold crowns to bring out a reprint of THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS, and

his commentary on the _Miserere_. The heirs of the Cardinal gave this

commission, as we have seen, to the Propaganda Press; and these two works

accordingly appeared. They were sufficient to dispel all the illusions of

those who still suspected the author of heresy and of hostility to the

Holy See.

The same writer also quotes M. Perrens as saying that the Society

of Jesus printed THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS in their _Annals of the

Propagation of the Faith_ (vol. ii., p. 211). The most recent edition is

one which appeared in 1899. It was published, both in Latin and Italian,

on parallel pages, at Siena, under the title “TRIONFO DELLA CROCE di Fra

Girolamo Savonarola, edito per la prima volte, nei due teste originali

Latino e Volgare, per cura del P. Lodovico Ferretti de’ Predicatori”.

I would here acknowledge, with thanks, my indebtedness to the Reverend

Editor of this valuable edition. He has kindly put his work at my service

in editing the translation which these words introduce to the English

reader.

This is the book which is now presented to the reader in an English form.

It is the first time, as far as I can ascertain, that it appears, in

its entirety, in English.[7] I say _in its entirety_. In reality, there

are two paragraphs omitted in the eighth chapter of the Third Book, the

omitted paragraphs being denoted by asterisks. The reason of the omission

is, that the author treats of a physical question of some delicacy;

and, as, since Savonarola’s day, the views of scientists on the subject

have changed, it has been designedly left out. I may add, however, that

the omission does not in any way affect the author’s argument.[8] I am

fully aware that a work was published, some years ago, purporting to

be an English translation of the four books, and that the Rev. Father

Lucas, S.J., in his recent biographical study, _Fra Girolamo Savonarola_,

calls his readers’ attention to it as “an English translation of THE

TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS”.[9] I have the book before me as I write, and I

cannot agree with the learned Jesuit in accepting this mutilated and

eviscerated English version as a translation of SAVONAROLA’S TRIUMPH OF

THE CROSS, nor do I think that the Florentine Dominican would, were he

able to do so, give either his _Nihil Obstat_ or his _Imprimatur_ to the

work as a reproduction of his own words, or as the full profession of

his own creed. The title of the book is “THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS, by

Jerome Savonarola, translated from the Latin ... by O’Dell Travers Hill,

F.R.G.S.”; it was published in London in 1868. It is NOT a translation

of THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS. It is, apparently, only a translation of

certain portions of the book which would prove palatable to the class of

readers for whom the “translation” was clearly intended. Whole chapters

have been dropped out, evidently without the slightest compunction,

certainly without the least explanation. In some of the chapters which

appear, lengthy passages have been omitted without the shadow of

hesitation. Truly, it is _Hamlet_ without the Prince of Denmark. It

is no more a translation of the great Dominican’s famous defence of

his orthodoxy—as THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS was intended to be—than the

garden-fence of a suburban London villa is a reproduction upon English

soil of the Wall of China, or than Primrose Hill is an English _replica_

of the Alps. If the books of Catholic Apologists are to be “translated”

in this way, what is to prevent a Unitarian from giving us in English

an edition of the Bible without any allusion direct or indirect, to

the Blessed Trinity? Or what is to hinder an Agnostic from reproducing

the Gospels in our mother-tongue, without any reference to the Central

Figure, around whom the whole of the sacred writings revolve?

The “translator” tells us in his Preface that “this book is free from

all sectarian feeling or prejudice”. No doubt it is. But why? Everything

“sectarian” in THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS has been left out in the

“translation”. He speaks of “its freedom from all sectarian spirit, from

all scholastic quibblings”; and concludes that “its close consecutive

reasoning, its earnestness, convince us that its author was a man far in

advance of his age”. If the unbiassed reader will peruse the pages of

_this_ translation, from first page to last, from the opening chapter

of the First Book to the closing chapter of the Fourth, and compare the

doctrine of the four books with the teaching of any book written by any

recognised Catholic Apologist, in any tongue, in this twentieth century,

he will find that, in a sense, the words of the Preface are true, and

that Savonarola, writing in the fifteenth century, _was_ “in advance of

his age”; that he was one with the Catholic writers of this twentieth

age. If he will pursue his reading still further, and compare the true

TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS with the works of the Catholic Apologists of the

middle, and earlier, nay the earliest ages, he will find that Savonarola

was behind his age, as well as being in advance of it. There are no

“ages” in the history of the Catholic Creed of the Catholic Church.

Like Jesus Christ, the Church and the Church’s teaching are “yesterday,

to-day, and the same for ever”.[10] Savonarola’s teaching in this

profession of his creed—the creed in which he lived, in which he died,

and which he preached through life and with his dying breath—is the

creed of the Catholic Church in all places and in all times. “This is My

Covenant with them, saith the Lord. My Spirit that is in thee, and the

words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth,

nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s

seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.”[11]

The translator of what I cannot but call the _Pseudo_ TRIUMPH OF THE

CROSS, but which he ascribes to Savonarola, professes on the title-page

that it is “translated from the Latin”; and in the Preface he assures

his readers that “this translation has been made from a valuable copy,

printed with all the abbreviations peculiar to Savonarola’s manuscript,

found in the Archives of Sion College”. Where, then, does the fault

lie? Who is responsible for the omissions?[12] Is the defect—or are

the defects, for their name is “Legion”—in the original, or in the

“translation”? Let us see. There is only one Latin copy of THE TRIUMPH

OF THE CROSS in the Sion College Archives, and, as the translator says,

it _is_ “a valuable copy”. It lacks the first page; otherwise it is

complete. The loss of the title-page, however, matters little, as the

edition is recorded at the end of the book: “_Venumdatur in aedibus

Ascensianis_. Typog. Ascensiana, MDXXIIII.” Truly “a valuable copy,”

printed in Paris by a certain J. B. Ascensius in the year 1524, only

twenty-six years after the author’s tragic death. It is not the first

edition. This, as we have seen, appeared in Florence in 1497, the year

before he died. Still it is an early edition. There is another copy

of this Ascension Press edition of 1524 in the library of the British

Museum. A third copy, belonging to the library of the Dominican Fathers

at Woodchester, lies on my desk as I write these words. It is a small

octavo volume bound in vellum, and besides THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS,

it contains several other treatises of the Florentine Dominican. The

inscription at the end, with the date, corresponds to the Sion College

copy. The space at my command will only allow me to call attention to

two or three discrepancies between the original, the “valuable copy”

found in the Archives of Sion College, and the book which claims to be a

translation.

In the original Latin edition, the Third Book contains eighteen chapters;

in the translation only fifteen chapters appear. There is no explanation

given, either in the Preface or in the body of the work, of the reason

of the omission, nor is it stated that these three chapters are omitted.

The chapters which are absolutely ignored in the pseudo-translation are

those which appear in the original, and in this present translation, as

chapters xv., xvi., and xviii. If the reader will refer to them, he may

perhaps form his own opinion as to the reason of the omission from what

purports to be a translation. These chapters contain what the translator

would probably call “sectarian” teaching; they embody the “sectarian

spirit,” from which, he tells us, THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS is free. The

first of the three omitted chapters treats of the Sacraments, and teaches

that there are seven, even as does the Catholic Catechism of to-day.

Following the argument of St. Thomas, the author shows the need of each

of the seven Sacraments, from the analogy between the life of the body

and the spiritual life of the soul. In the following, or sixteenth

chapter, which the translator, on his own responsibility, evidently puts

under a ban of excommunication from an English home, Savonarola treats of

what the scholastics call “the matter and form” of the Sacraments, and

explains, in terse and clear words, the meaning and object of each of

these seven channels of grace to the soul. This chapter is “sectarian”

indeed. Hence, we may presume, its eradication, its being pulled up

root and branch from English soil; hence its elimination from English

pages; hence its absolute extermination, as far as English readers are

concerned. Savonarola wrote it in Latin, and reproduced it in Italian,

but _we_ will have no popery and no popish doctrine in our pure English

tongue! We have it, however, at last, in _this_ translation, as we have

had it from the beginning in the chapter of the original to which I

allude. Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance (or Confession),

Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, Matrimony—all are there, with their object,

their meaning, their “matter and form,” as the scholastics would call

their component parts, their mode of administration, and their effects

upon the human soul in time and in eternity.

Finally, in the third of the proscribed chapters—the eighteenth in the

original work—we have a dissertation on the Ceremonies of the Church.

Savonarola shows with what wisdom they form part of the Church’s

discipline, and how they answer to a demand of the soul of man in his

worship of the Most High. The author explains, too, some of the practices

of the Catholic Church, which, in our days, as in his own, are often

misrepresented or misunderstood.

The unprejudiced reader may draw his own conclusions as to the reason of

the omission of the three chapters from the book we have been referring

to, and which appear, probably for the first time in English, in the

pages which follow this Introduction. The Twenty-fifth of the Thirty-nine

Articles of the Anglican Creed declares: “There are two Sacraments

ordained of Christ our Lord ... Baptism and the Supper of the Lord”.

Savonarola says there are seven. The Twenty-eighth Article professes that

“transubstantiation ... cannot be proved in Holy Writ; it is repugnant to

the plain words of Scripture”. Savonarola, on the contrary, holds that

the Catholic doctrine _can_ be proved, and that it _is_ clearly taught in

Holy Writ by Jesus Christ the Divine Teacher. The Thirty-fourth Article

attaches little importance to ceremonies, and calls in question the need

of outward uniformity in the services of the Church. Savonarola has an

entire chapter written in their defence and explanation, in which he

speaks of crucifix and images, of devotion to the Mother of Jesus, of

the consecration of churches, of lighted candles, of sacred vessels, and

even of holy water. What then? The Articles are right; Savonarola must

be wrong; he must be “sectarian”. Then leave out the sectarianism; omit

the chapters in which he treats of subjects which are distinctly and

essentially Catholic. It is the old story. They _will_ make Savonarola

a Protestant, or, at least, a herald of Protestantism, a precursor of

Luther and Calvin, a harbinger of the Reformation, whether _he_ will or

no. Whereas, as every reader of his history and writings must know, he

was of Catholics the most Catholic—Catholic in life, Catholic in death,

Catholic to the heart’s core.

I must leave it to the calm unbiassed judgment of the reader to decide

whether this kind of translation is fair; whether it is just to the

memory of the great Dominican whom so many, Catholics and non-Catholics

alike, profess to revere; whether it is just even to the English-reading

people, to the vast majority of whom original works written in Latin

or Italian are sealed books, and who have consequently to depend upon

the fidelity and accuracy of a translation. If the translator had

professed to give an expurgated edition of THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS;

if he had told his readers that he had eliminated everything that was

“sectarian”; if he had undertaken to give selections from the work,

in defence of Christianity; if he had professed to reproduce, in more

modern English, the translation published by the Cambridge University

Press in 1661, to which I have referred—this we could understand; but

to call a book with several chapters ruthlessly discarded, “THE TRIUMPH

OF THE CROSS translated from the Latin”—this, assuredly, it is beyond

the power of words to condemn. The translator of the Cambridge edition

of 1661—as we may readily understand both from the date and the place

of the publication—omits the identical passages omitted in the edition

of 1868—those which I have referred to, and others to which I shall

refer,—but he is candid and fair in so doing. He prepares the reader

for this in his Preface or Dedicatory Letter, to which he appends his

initials, J. W. B. “I know” (he writes) “that you will not disdain to

look upon him (Savonarola) in this English Dress, wherewith I have

attired him; _nor blame me for having cut off some few shreds, that he

might, with more credit, appear amongst us_.... You will approve of my

choice of this author, who lived in the thickest darkness of popery.”

Not so, however, the “translator” of the English edition of 1868. He

suppresses whole paragraphs and entire chapters without note or comment.

Moreover, he assigns no reason for so doing.

One further reference, and I have done with this so-called translation.

In the original edition of A.D. 1524 we find in the Fourth Book nine

chapters. In the mutilated English version we find also nine. No chapter,

it is true, is bodily omitted from the Fourth Book. One chapter, however,

has come under the reckless and unscrupulous pruning knife of the

translator; evidently, again, because it ran counter to his religious

views, or the preconceived ideas of those for whose benefit he was

translating. The sixth chapter of this Fourth Book, which professedly

treats of the doctrine of heretics, is in reality a dissertation on

Church government, and a plea for visible Church unity under one visible

head. After instancing, by way of analogy, the unity of bees under one

queen, and the unity of the members of the human body under one head,

the author goes on to show the need there is of one Chief Ruler in the

Church. He quotes the prophet Osee, and also the well-known words of our

Lord about the “One fold and the One Shepherd”. He then proceeds to argue

that Christ was the visible Head of the Church when on earth, adding that

when He ascended into Heaven, He would not leave the Church “without

any earthly head,” seeing that in such a case it would become a prey

to divisions, confusion, and disorder; and therefore He said to Peter,

“Feed My sheep”. “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock,” etc. And again:

“I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven,” etc. All this

we find word for word in the English version which we are considering.

Savonarola then continues—AND THE WHOLE OF THE FOLLOWING WORDS ARE

EXCLUDED FROM THE PSEUDO-TRANSLATION:—“It can not, however, be supposed

that Christ conferred this dignity on Peter alone, to the exclusion of

his successors, since He Himself has declared that the Church should

endure for ever in the order which He had established. Speaking to His

disciples, and, in their person, addressing all the faithful, He said:

‘Behold I am with you even unto the consummation of the world’ (Matt.

xxviii. 20). And again, by the mouth of Isaias, He said: ‘He shall sit

upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom; to establish it, and

strengthen it with judgment and justice, from henceforth and for ever’

(Is. ix. 7). These passages clearly indicate that the office confided by

Christ to St. Peter, being highly expedient and necessary to the Church,

should, by an unbroken succession, be guaranteed to her for ever. Hence

it follows that, as Peter was chosen by Christ to be His vicar and the

shepherd of the whole Church, all his successors must inherit his power.

And, as the bishops of Rome hold the place of Peter, THE ROMAN CHURCH

MUST CONSEQUENTLY BE THE MISTRESS AND RULER OF ALL CHURCHES, AND THE

WHOLE BODY OF THE FAITHFUL MUST LIVE IN UNITY WITH THE ROMAN PONTIFF.

Whosoever, therefore, disagrees in his teaching with the doctrine of the

Roman Church withdraws from Christ, following crooked ways. And, as all

heretics dissent from the teaching of the Church, they have all declined

from the right way, and are unworthy of the name of Christians. For by

heretics we mean such as, falsifying the words of Holy Scripture and

choosing a religion for themselves, do obstinately persevere in their

error.

“Again, Truth, as is often said, mates with truth, and all truths confirm

each other. Now heretics disagree so entirely among themselves, that they

have scarcely one point in common, nay, rather they bespatter each other

with abuse; they present no solidity of argument. This fact alone proves

how far they have wandered from the Truth. But the doctrine of the Roman

Church, in all matters affecting faith or morals, is one; and Catholic

doctors, though almost innumerable, never dissent nor desire to dissent

from it.”

Every syllable of this profession of Savonarola’s faith in the

supremacy of the successor of St. Peter is expunged in the translated

version. There are no asterisks to show that words are left out. There

is no footnote, no word in the Preface, to explain the unpardonable

liberty of the translator. A comma is put after the words “loosed in

heaven,” and the translator continues,—as though this were the author’s

continuation,—“from which we may see that Jesus Christ,” down to the

words “He shall sit and rule upon the throne of David,” etc. The entire

passage about the successor of St. Peter, “Hence it follows,” is

summarily omitted from what purports to be a translation.

I have nothing more to say, except, in justice to Savonarola, to enter a

protest against the book to which I have been referring being considered

a translation of THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS. If I have dwelt at length upon

this subject, it is only out of respect for, and in justice to the memory

of, one for whom I have a sincere veneration, and who has so often,

and so unjustly and unjustifiably, been represented as being wanting

in loyalty to the See of Peter, of being “a forerunner of Luther,” and

“a harbinger of the Reformation”.[13] It is by such methods as the one

against which I am protesting that these accusations against the Catholic

loyalty of Savonarola have been apparently substantiated. It is by the

persistent repetition of them that they have been perpetuated. “Here”

(they say) “is a book of his which professedly gives us the articles of

his creed. It is absolutely unsectarian. There is nothing distinctively

Catholic in it. Nothing which any non-Catholic could object to. There is

not a word about the seven Sacraments, about Confession, Extreme Unction,

the Mass, Ceremonies, and above all about the Pope being the successor of

St. Peter in the government of the Church!” And yet the reader will find

all these doctrines of Catholic belief clearly and luminously treated. He

will find an explicit profession of faith in all the vital and crucial

articles of the Catholic Creed in the volume which is now presented to

him, together with the author’s “reason for the hope which was in him”.

For Savonarola was ever mindful of the admonition of the Chief Apostle,

“being always ready to satisfy every one that asketh you a reason for

that hope which is in you”.[14]

THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS ought to “satisfy” the English mind upon the

subject of his orthodoxy for ever. THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS gives the

“reason” of it, in clear and concise and unmistakable words. It is

difficult to see how any one who has read it, could entertain the shadow

of a doubt about the author’s loyal devotion to the Church of which he

was a faithful child, or of his belief in the teaching of the one whom he

proudly called his “Mother”. Indeed, it is impossible to see how, with

the evidence of this book before him, any man could hesitate for a moment

as to his belief in the unwavering loyalty of Savonarola both to the

Church and the Church’s teaching, and to her divinely appointed visible

Head.

St. Peter, the Dominican Martyr, as he fell under the blow of the

assassin’s sword, wrote with his own blood on the ground the word

CREDO. Savonarola, the Dominican Apologist, has written CREDO in large

letters over every page of THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS. It is a history of

the religious opinions of his times. It is more. It is the exposition

in writing of the doctrines which he preached, with such incomparable

eloquence, from beginning to end of his apostolic life. It is his clear

and uncompromising profession of faith to all time. It is his solemn

anathema to heresy, of which, nevertheless, men have sometimes dared to

accuse him. This book ought to lay that ghost of an accusation against

the Florentine Reformer for ever and for ever. It proclaims Savonarola’s

Catholicity beyond denial or doubt. It was intended to be his defence of

the faith. It was written as his profession of belief. It was to be his

CREDO in life, and the echo of his belief after his death, when his voice

was still, and he could no longer protest, as he did with such vigour in

his lifetime, against his false accusers. In the Preface which he wrote

to the _Apologeticum Fratrum Sancti Marci_—published probably the year

before his death—he says: “Three accusations have been brought against

me: (1) That I have taught a doctrine which is not true (_perversum

dogma_) ... to this I have already replied, _and my orthodoxy will be

clearly seen in my work_, THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS, which will shortly

appear”. In a letter to Pope Alexander VI., written from St. Marco,

Florence, on the 22nd of May, 1497,[15] he writes: “The work which I

shall shortly bring out on THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS _is a witness to my

faith_; and from it can be seen if I have ever taught heresy, or in any

way opposed the Catholic faith”. This book is his testimony unto all time.

The late indefatigable and zealous champion of Savonarola, Professor

Paolo Luotto, wrote a goodly volume, to which he gave the title: _Il Vero

Savonarola, et Il Savonarola di S. Pastor_. The English people, as well

as Signor Pastor, have had a Savonarola of their own. The Savonarola

of the English is a Savonarola created by novels and romances, by

non-Catholic and anti-Catholic histories and biographies, by prejudiced

enthusiasts, and unscrupulous translators. This faithful English

translation of the whole of THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS—for which we are

indebted to an anonymous but graceful as well as faithful pen—will,

let us hope, reveal THE TRUE SAVONAROLA—the Savonarola of fact and not

of fiction, the Savonarola of history and not merely of romance, the

Savonarola as mirrored in his own words, and not as misrepresented and

distorted, and rendered beyond recognition by many who, whilst professing

to extol him, and to add lustre to his name, have, in reality, belittled

him, and sullied his fair fame.

JOHN PROCTER, O.P.

_Postscript._—Since writing the foregoing INTRODUCTION the recent

valuable and interesting work, _The Story of Florence_, by Mr. Edmund G.

Gardner, has come into my hands. I have much pleasure in transcribing

the following note, which occurs on page 128: “Professor Villari justly

remarks that ‘Savonarola’s attacks were never directed in the slightest

degree against the dogmas of the Church of Rome, but solely against those

who corrupted them’. THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS was intended to do for the

Renaissance what St. Thomas Aquinas had accomplished for the Middle Ages

in his _Summa Contra Gentiles_. As this book is the fullest expression of

Savonarola’s creed, it is much to be regretted that more than one of its

English translators _have omitted some of its most characteristic and

important passages bearing upon Catholic practice and doctrine, without

the slightest indication that any such process of ‘expurgation’ has been

carried out_.” The _italics_ are mine.

J. P.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introduction v-xxvi

BOOK I.

Prologue 3

CHAPTER

I. How by means of visible things we arrive at the knowledge

of such as are invisible 5

II. How the Triumph of Christ testifies to the truth of our Faith 7

III. Containing certain fundamental and irrefragable principles 10

IV. Answers to the objections which may be brought against the

foregoing propositions 12

V. The mode in which our argument must be conducted 15

VI. The existence of God 17

VII. God is not a body, nor the form of a body, nor is He a

complex substance 19

VIII. God is the perfect and supreme Good, and is of Infinite

power; He is in every place; and He is immutable and

eternal 21

IX. God is One 22

X. God knows all things perfectly, and acts of His own Will,

and not from natural necessity 23

XI. The Providence of God extends over all things 25

XII. The end to which man is guided by Divine Providence 27

XIII. Man’s last end cannot be attained in this present life 28

XIV. The soul of man is immortal 33

BOOK II.

Method observed throughout this Book 39

I. Some true Religion exists in the world 41

II. Religion is both interior and exterior 42

III. No better life can be found than the Christian life 43

IV. The end presented to us by the Christian Religion is the

best which can possibly be conceived 45

V. A Christian life is the best possible means for attaining

to happiness 47

VI. The Christian life is a most sure means of attaining to

beatitude 49

VII. The faith of Christ is true, because it causes men to lead

a perfect life 51

VIII. The Doctrines taught by Christianity are true and come from

God 55

IX. The truth of the faith proved by arguments founded on the

prayer and contemplation of Christians 60

X. Proofs of the truth of the Christian Religion founded on

its external forms of worship 63

XI. The truth of Christianity evidenced by its effects on the

interior life of Christians 67

XII. The truth of Christianity manifested by its visible effects

on the lives of Christians 71

XIII. The truth of the faith demonstrated by the wonderful works

of Christ, especially those which pertain to His power 74

XIV. The truth of Christianity shown by arguments based on the

Wisdom of Christ 81

XV. The truth of Christ’s teaching is proved by His goodness 86

XVI. The truth of Christianity is proved by the power, wisdom,

and goodness of Christ, considered collectively 91

BOOK III.

Method observed throughout this Book 95

I. God contains within Himself, and can perform, an infinite

number of things surpassing human understanding 97

II. An examination of certain Articles of the Christian Creed

which exceed the limits of human understanding 99

III. The mystery of the Trinity is neither unreasonable nor

incredible 101

IV. The Christian Doctrine of Creation is neither incredible

nor unreasonable 108

V. The Christian teaching concerning the Sanctification, Glory,

and Resurrection of rational creatures contains no Article

which is either impossible or unreasonable 110

VI. The Doctrine of the Damnation of the wicked is one

befitting Christianity 113

VII. The Doctrine of the Incarnation of the Son of God is, in

no sense, incredible, unseemly, or unreasonable 114

VIII. The belief in the Virginal birth of Christ is consistent

with reason, and His life befitted, in all respects,

His dignity 117

IX. The Christian Doctrine of Original Sin is neither

unreasonable nor incredible 119

X. Our belief in the Passion of Christ, in the other mysteries

of His Humanity, and in all the Articles defined by the

Church, is strictly consistent with reason 123

XI. The Christian Religion most prudently establishes the two

precepts of charity, as the foundation of our whole moral

life 127

XII. The excellence of the moral teaching of the Church 130

XIII. The perfect reasonableness of the Christian constitution

and code of judicial law 133

XIV. The Sacraments of the Church have been instituted by Christ,

and are admirably adapted to the needs of mankind 137

XV. The number of the Sacraments is reasonable 139

XVI. The rites used in the administration of the Sacraments are

both reasonable and seemly 140

XVII. Answers to certain objections brought against the Doctrine

of the Blessed Eucharist 148

XVIII. The reasonableness of the Ceremonies of the Church 151

BOOK IV.

Introduction. Method observed throughout this Book 155

I. No Religion except Christianity can be true 157

II. The defective and erroneous Religions taught by Heathen

Philosophers 158

III. The futility and superstition of the traditions of astrology 165

IV. Idolatry is of all things the most vain 174

V. A refutation of the Jewish perfidy and superstition 179

VI. The malicious untruthfulness of heretics 190

VII. The utter irrationality of the Mahometan Religion 195

VIII. The Christian Religion will remain true and unwavering unto

the end 202

IX. Epilogue 204

Alphabetical Index 211

THE TRUTH OF FAITH MANIFESTED BY THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS.

BOOK I.

THE TRUTH OF OUR FAITH MADE MANIFEST IN THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS.

Written by FRA GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA of Ferrara, of the Order of Preachers.

PROLOGUE.

The glorious triumph of the Cross embraces so many mysteries that, in

attempting to unfold them, and thus to silence the profane and foolish

babble of worldly-wise philosophers, I am undertaking a task far above my

powers, and can trust only to the help of the Lord.

It would seem mere waste of time to discuss and analyse our Faith,

based as it is upon the miraculous works of our Saviour Jesus Christ,

which are patent to the whole world, and upon the teaching of venerable

theologians. Nevertheless, there are nowadays men living in such bondage

to vice, that, even in the light of the noonday sun, they grope in

darkness, and scorn the marvels of heavenly science. I, therefore,

on fire with zeal for the House of God, intend, for the sake of the

salvation of these misguided men, and in order to rouse them from the

slumber that oppresses them, to recall to their memory the things of

Christ, which they have forgotten and thrust from their hearts.

Our Faith cannot be demonstrated by natural principles and causes.

Nevertheless, the past and present events of Church history afford

arguments in support of our religion so convincing that no logical mind

can reject them. At the same time, no one believes that Faith itself

depends upon these arguments, seeing that it is “the gift of God; not

of works, that no man may glory” (Eph. ii. 8, 9). We make use of these

arguments indeed; but we do so in order to confirm the faith of such as

waver, to prepare unbelievers for the reception of supernatural light,

and to enable the faithful to confute the arguments of irreligious men;

and thus, by exposing their folly, to undeceive the simple and unlearned

who have been misled by them.

This use of human reasoning does not detract from the value of Faith;

for the axiom that _faith proved by argument_ has no merit, refers only

to the faith of such as refuse to believe without proof. They who, being

enlightened by God, embrace the Faith without proof, and who then, in

order to strengthen their own belief and that of others, investigate the

grounds of their faith, deserve commendation, and obey the precept of St.

Peter: “Sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to

satisfy every one that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in you”

(1 Peter iii. 15). In this book we intend to be guided by reason only.

We shall not, then, appeal to any authority, but shall proceed as if we

had no belief in any one in the world, no matter how learned he may be.

We shall rely solely on reason. Such a mode of procedure must, surely,

satisfy every one who is not absolutely foolish.

CHAPTER I.

HOW BY MEANS OF VISIBLE THINGS WE ARRIVE AT THE KNOWLEDGE OF SUCH AS ARE

INVISIBLE.

The senses, in which all our knowledge originates, take cognisance only

of extrinsic corporeal accidents. Our understanding, on the other hand,

is enabled, by its subtlety, to penetrate to the substance of natural

things, and thence to rise to the knowledge of such as are invisible and

immaterial. Thus, by the investigation of the substance and properties,

the order, the causes and the activities of visible things, we are led,

by little and little, to the understanding of invisible substance,

and, at length, to the knowledge of the Divine Majesty; just as, by

means of the external accidents and operations of man, we arrive at the

understanding of his soul, and of its invisible parts. Philosophers, from

the contemplation of the universe—of the heavens with their magnificence;

of the elements with their divers motions and operations; of the variety

and activity and individual perfections of the things composed of these

elements; and of the wonderful harmony and greatness and beauty of this

visible world—have raised their eyes to gaze upon invisible things, and

to investigate (so far as might be) their nature and properties.[16]

And, as these philosophers have understood that natural things are the

work of God’s hands, and are the means of arriving at a knowledge of His

infinite power and glory, we likewise desire to show that those things

which have been seen, and are still witnessed, in the Church of God, are

Divine works, by which we may attain to the knowledge of the glory and

Infinite Majesty of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is unseen by us.

Sages of old were wont to marshal before their eyes all the visible

things of the universe. Thus, the wonderful works of nature constrained

them to acknowledge God as the First Cause of all things, and natural

phenomena as the creation of His unerring wisdom. We, in like manner,

must bring together before our minds all the wonderful works of Christ,

whereby we desire to prove that He was the First Cause of all things,

and that all His doings proceeded from God, who cannot err. We would not

be understood to say, that these proofs cause Christians to believe; for

they are established in their faith by the supernatural light of God

(otherwise, their belief would be, not faith, but opinion). But such

testimonies confirm us in our Faith, and prove to our adversaries that we

believe, not lightly, but thoughtfully and with deliberation. In order

the better to bring the works of Christ, which are continually being

performed in the Church, before the eyes of men, we will describe them

under the figure of a triumphal car, the figure of the entire universe.

CHAPTER II.

HOW THE TRIUMPH OF CHRIST TESTIFIES TO THE TRUTH OF OUR FAITH.

As the power, wisdom and goodness of God are infinite, they could not

be manifested (save most imperfectly) in one creature. Therefore,

philosophers have been wont to contemplate the Divine Majesty, revealed

in the harmony of the universe, resulting not from one but from

numberless creatures, which, on account of their necessary dependence

one on the other, can with ease be considered simultaneously. In like

manner, we cannot understand the power and wisdom and goodness of Christ

by contemplating only one of His works. We must recall to our minds all

the wonders which He wrought. Thus we shall be constrained, not on one

count alone, but for many reasons, to acknowledge His Divinity. For,

should we not be convinced by one of His miracles or arguments, we cannot

(unless we be obstinate) fail to be persuaded when we consider His works

and teaching collectively. But, although it be easy, by reason of their

mutual dependence, to consider all the marvels of nature collectively,

it is not equally easy to contemplate all the works of Christ at once.

It has, therefore, occurred to me to present them under the figure of

_a triumphal car_, a similitude easy of comprehension to the feeblest

intellect.

Let us, then, represent to our minds a four-wheeled chariot on which

is seated Christ, as Conqueror, crowned with thorns, and bearing the

marks of His wounds, thus showing that it is through His Passion and

death that He has overcome the world. Over His Head shines a light like

a triple sun. This represents the Blessed Trinity, which illuminates

His Humanity and the whole Church with unspeakable splendour. In His

left hand Christ holds the Cross and the instruments of His Passion,

in His right the Old and the New Testaments. At His Feet are the Host

and chalice; vessels of balsam and of oil; and the other symbols of

the Sacraments. The Blessed Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, is seated

beneath her Son. Around, and below her, are vessels of gold, silver and

precious stones, filled with ashes and bones of the dead. The Apostles

and Preachers go before the car, appearing to draw it. They are preceded

by the Patriarchs, the Prophets, and innumerable men and women of the

Old Testament. The chariot is encircled by the army of Martyrs, forming

as it were a crown. They, again, are surrounded by the Doctors of the

Church, bearing open books. Around them, again, circles a countless

multitude of virgins, of both sexes, adorned with lilies. Behind the car

follow innumerable men and women of all conditions—Jews, Greeks, Latins,

barbarians, rich and poor, learned and simple, small and great, old and

young; all of whom, with one accord, are praising Christ. And, all around

this multitude, gathered from the Old and from the New Testaments, are

the serried ranks of the enemies of the Church of Christ—emperors and

kings; princes and men in power; sages; philosophers; heretics; slaves

and freemen; men and women; people of every race and of every tongue.

Whilst around them lie idols, prone and broken, heretical books burnt,

and all sects, and every false religion confounded and destroyed.

Now the chariot which we have described symbolises a new world, from

whence shall spring a new philosophy. Its first cause, and the invisible

things which become known to philosophers by means of visible things,

are represented by the figure of the Blessed Trinity, True God, above

the Head of Christ which represents His Manhood, and by the innumerable

company of Angels and Blessed Spirits, who are all unseen by us. We

must arrive at the knowledge of these spiritual beings by means of the

visible beings grouped around the chariot. And, just as philosophers

teach that the heavens are the cause of all things produced beneath them,

so we say that, after the Divine Majesty, the chief cause of grace and

salvation is the Passion and Cross of Christ. Beneath the firmament are

the elements, which derive all their activity from the heavens; so to

the Passion of Christ succeed the Sacraments of the Church, deriving

all their power from It. The elements are followed in the natural world

by particular causes, such as seeds and the like. In our triumph, the

seed is represented by the teaching of the Gospel, and by the works and

example of the Saints whose relics repose in honour in glorious tombs,

and the memory of whose merits and holy lives produces continual fruit in

the Church. Particular causes are figured by the Apostles, Patriarchs,

Prophets, Martyrs and Doctors; who, while they lived, regenerated, by

their teaching, the whole world to Christ. Lastly, as in the natural

order effect follows cause, we represent effect by the countless men

and women who have been converted by the example and the preaching of

the Saints. But, as in nature, every movement is from one contrary to

another, and the generation of one thing is the destruction of something

else (for in all reproductions there are two opposing forces, of which

the stronger prevails), so, in the spiritual generation, Christ and

His elect have vanquished His enemies, represented by heresy, prostrate

around the triumphal car. The four wheels of the chariot signify the four

quarters of the world, so marvellously enlightened by Christ, and by Him

brought into subjection.

And, as philosophers, having before their eyes the order of the universe,

and considering the wonderful effects of nature, did, by searching for

their causes, ascend gradually from the lower to the higher, and attained

to the knowledge of invisible things and of the Divine Majesty; so, if

we examine attentively the works which Christ has performed, and still

does perform, in His Church (represented by this chariot), we shall begin

to be filled with wonder, and shall diligently seek the cause of those

works, and thus shall, gradually, rise to the knowledge of invisible

things, and of the Divine Majesty of Christ.

CHAPTER III.

CONTAINING CERTAIN FUNDAMENTAL AND IRREFRAGABLE PRINCIPLES.

If an argument is to be conducted satisfactorily, the disputants must

agree with each other about some point. For, if they disagree on every

point, there will be no possibility of discussion. They may, or may not,

of course, think alike on matters of minor importance; but they _must_

agree about certain principles, which are so generally accepted that no

one denies them. We must, therefore, take up our position on certain

acknowledged principles. We cannot argue with one who denies them;

for he who refuses to accept first principles is unreasonable. First,

then, we are all agreed that Jesus Christ was crucified by the Jews,

and was afterwards, throughout almost the entire world, adored as God,

as we Christians adore Him. This fact is admitted by Jews, heretics,

Mahometans, Greeks, Latins and barbarians; the belief in it has never

died, but has been handed down, from generation to generation. Testimony

to this conviction is, further, forthcoming in the books written in every

language and diffused throughout the world, and in the ruins of Christian

churches to be found in every land. These are proof positive that

there is not a spot on the face of the earth where Christ has not been

worshipped, or is not still adored, or where, at least, there is not some

knowledge of Christianity. Hence, even unbelievers speak of Christ as the

God of the Christians.

If, therefore, no reasonable being will controvert that which is made

manifest by the books and the monuments of every nation; he who should

deny that Christ was slain by the Jews, and was afterwards adored as

God throughout the world, must be so foolish, that argument with him

would be waste of time. And, if it be acknowledged that the adoration of

Christ has been universal, the same must be said of the confession of

the Blessed Trinity, and of the Eucharist, the veneration of the Cross,

of the Virgin Mary, and of the Saints. The same evidence demonstrates,

further, that the Apostles, who were at first fishermen, preached the

Cross of Christ; that they were preceded by the Jewish people, the

Patriarchs and Prophets; and that they were followed by the glorious

Martyrs, the venerable Doctors, the spotless Virgins of the Church,

and likewise by an untold number of monks and priests, both regular and

secular. Finally, we must remember that, although the tyrants and the

philosophers of the world have fought against the Church, idolatry,

nevertheless, has been destroyed, heresy has been extirpated and even the

Roman Emperor has been brought into humble subjection to the fisherman,

and that the heretics and their heretical books have been destroyed.

These things being so well known as to need no proof, we shall presuppose

them, as philosophers are wont to presuppose the truths of science.

For they are acknowledged, not only by Christians, but by nearly every

people and in almost every country, yea even by Indians and innumerable

Mahometans, amongst whom exist certain proofs of our faith, who admit

that Christ has reigned amongst them and has worked miracles, and who,

although they themselves are in grave error, yet punish severely all

who blaspheme the Christian truths. Since, then, these truths are so

clearly manifest, they can be gainsaid by none but such as are foolishly

obstinate.

CHAPTER IV.

ANSWERS TO THE OBJECTIONS WHICH MAY BE BROUGHT AGAINST THE FOREGOING

PROPOSITIONS.

But perhaps some one will say: If your assertions be true, surely it is

strange that no pagan historian or orator should make any mention of

them; but that they, who minutely describe the wars and other doings of

men, should pass over in silence the works of Christ, which are so much

greater and more wonderful. Exception must be made in the case of certain

historians, who, wishing to refute Christianity, have rendered testimony

to its truth.

To these objections we reply, that it is false to say that pagan

historians have not written concerning Christ and His Church. For

not only have many authors, both Greek and Latin, treated fully and

eloquently of His praises, but many of them have been converted to His

Faith, and have propagated it by their preaching and their writing.[17]

And, if our objectors should reply, that they allude not to those who,

after their conversion, have written about Christ, but to those who have

remained in their errors; our answer is, that our Faith has confirmed

its converts to such a degree, that, not only have they written of the

praises of Christ and of the Church, but they have not hesitated to

shed their blood for His religion. For not only have those brought up

from their infancy as Christians written in behalf of their Faith, but

likewise innumerable and well-known men, of different nations, have

embraced the truth in their more mature years. And it is a much more

convincing proof of the truth of Christianity, that its converts should

have died for it, than if they had remained heathens and had written

volumes in its praise. What wonder that proud and incredulous men should

have neglected to narrate the works of Christ, when, beholding His

miracles, they refused to accept His Faith!

There are two further reasons why pagan historians have not written in

praise of Christ. One reason is the providence of God; the other their

own blindness. God moves all things, both corporeal and spiritual, and

cares for all things; and no one can move himself to write, unless he

be inspired thereto by God. Therefore, the heathen historians have not

written of Christ, because God did not move them to do so.

Now, Divine Providence did not inspire them to write for three reasons.

First, God ordinarily makes use of fitting means to achieve an end, and

the pagan philosophers, who were stained by infidelity and other vices,

were not fit to write of the pure and holy works of Christ and of His

Church.

Secondly, as Christ is Truth itself, and came into the world to give

testimony of the truth, it was not seemly that men, who, like the pagan

poets, orators and historians, perpetuated lies and fables and praised

the foulest deeds, should have defiled the pure truths of Christ by

writing of Him.

Thirdly, the heathen orators had none but the eloquence which springs

from natural reason; they sought rather to magnify themselves than to

declare the truth. As the works of Christ, on the other hand, are above

natural reason, it is evident that these pagans were not fit men to treat

of them.

Another cause which prevented the heathen writers from bearing witness

to Christ was the blindness, caused by their sins, especially pride and

vain-glory, which so completely darkened their hearts that they took no

account of the miracles wrought by Christ, such as the restoration of

sight to the blind, the raising of the dead, and so many other wonders,

which none but God could perform. Furthermore, as the heathen authors

had been nurtured, from their infancy, in the worship of their gods,

and in idolatrous fables, they, naturally, entertained a hatred for

Christianity, the sworn enemy of idolatry. They would not, therefore,

write anything in favour of the Church, both on account of their

detestation of her, and for fear of exciting the displeasure of the

tyrants who persecuted the Christians.

Again, we must remember that these poets and orators, by their egregious

flattery, cultivated the good graces of princes, in the hope of being

rewarded by them; and, as they knew that there was nothing to be gained

from Christians who loved truth and professed poverty, it is not

surprising that they did not write about Christ. Now, on the contrary,

when the Church possesses temporal dominion, there is no lack of poets

and orators to sing the praises of her princes and prelates; they often

even mingle with their eulogies many things which are not true. If the

Gentile authors did not espouse the cause of Christ, we need not go far

to find the reason of their silence.

CHAPTER V.

THE MODE IN WHICH OUR ARGUMENT MUST BE CONDUCTED.

Since we attain to the knowledge of the invisible by means of

the visible, we must understand, that there are some among the

invisible things of God which we can know by the natural power of our

understanding, and by means of natural things. Such things are, the

Existence of God, His Unity, His Simplicity of Being, and other truths

of this sort, to the knowledge of which philosophers have attained. But

there are others among the invisible things of God, which we cannot

discover by means of human reason. This is not very strange, seeing

that, even among men who are equal by nature, philosophers can understand

high and subtle matters, of which children and simple persons must

remain in ignorance. This being so, is it to be wondered at that in God

there are secrets, which no created intellect can investigate? We cannot

understand many of the things which we meet with every day; how then

shall we comprehend God, who infinitely surpasses all things?

The Divine things which our natural reason is not competent to discover

are those which we believe by Faith, to wit, the Trinity and Unity of

God, the Divinity and Humanity of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and other

truths of the like nature. But, although we cannot prove these truths by

natural effects or human arguments, we may, nevertheless, make ourselves

very sure of them by their supernatural effects. For, just as, by natural

effects, we know that the propositions, “God exists,” and “God is One and

Infinite,” etc., are true, and yet by means of them know not God as He

is, nor behold His Substance; so also, by means of supernatural effects,

we can certify ourselves of the truth of such propositions as “God is

Three and One,” “the Son of God is both God and Man”. Yet we cannot

understand, nor see these truths, as they are in themselves.

As nature precedes grace, we will first treat of those invisible things

of God which we are competent to investigate by means of their natural

effects, and afterwards of those which can be known by their effects

which are supernatural. The truths of the first category, however, we

will consider very briefly, since Catholic theologians and philosophers

have discussed them so thoroughly, as to leave no possibility of doubt.

CHAPTER VI.

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.

If we do not mean to stultify our whole argument, we must begin by

proving the existence of God. What do we mean by God? All men use

this name to designate that which is higher and more excellent than

all other things. Some call this Highest Being the Prime Mover of all

things; others call it the First Cause and Principle, or the Highest

Good and Supreme Truth. But, whatsoever God may be called, if His name

expresses the highest and superexcellent nature, His existence must

be acknowledged. This is admitted even by philosophers. It is of His

existence that I wish briefly to speak.

Philosophers have proved, most effectually, that everything that moves

is moved by something else. Even though men and brutes move themselves,

there is in them one thing that moves and another that is moved; for the

body cannot move when abandoned by the soul. And, since every movement

under the heavens depends on the movement of the heavens, there must be

some substance that moves the heavens. Now, does that substance itself

move, or does it not? If it does not move, it must be God, who moves all

things, but is Himself immovable. But if the substance move, it must then

be moved by something else. Now, is that something else immovable, or is

it also moved? If it be moved, who moves it? If we continue this chain

of argument, we shall see that there must either be one First Mover, or

else an infinite series of movements with no First Mover. The second

hypothesis is philosophically absurd. For, if there be no First Mover, on

which other motors depend, nothing could move, and no order would reign

among the highest things. There must, then, be one supreme Mover, whom we

call God.

We can deduce a similar argument from the causation of things. Everything

in the world is caused. Nothing can make itself. Since then many causes

concur to the same effect, and one thing is always prior to another,

we must either assume an infinite series of causes, or believe in One

Supreme Cause, whom all men acknowledge as God.

Again, amongst natural things we see that one thing is always more true

and more perfect than another. This could not be the case, did it not

approximate more closely to some Supreme Truth and Perfection. We must,

therefore, agree that there exists some Supreme Being. This can be no

other but God.

Again, we see how, in the natural order, unintelligent beings proceed by

the right means from their beginning to their end. This cannot happen

by chance, since they always, or almost always, act in the same manner.

There must, then, be some Intelligence that directs them. What can this

Intelligence be save God?

To these arguments we may further add, that no natural inclination can

be futile. Now all men are naturally inclined to believe in God. From

the beginning of the world until now there has never been (as we know

from their superstitious rites and sacrifices) any nation so rude and

barbarous as not to believe in a God. Since, then, this belief has been

common to every era, and to every nation, it must be based on natural

instinct. Again, we see how men, when in danger and deprived of human

aid, will, instinctively, invoke the assistance of God. This is another

proof that belief in His existence is natural to the human soul.

CHAPTER VII.

GOD IS NOT A BODY, NOR THE FORM OF A BODY, NOR IS HE A COMPLEX SUBSTANCE.

No true philosopher entertains the slightest doubt that God is not a

body, nor the form of a body, nor a complex substance. It would be

impossible that God should be a body, seeing that He is the immovable

Mover of all things; for one body, unless it first move itself, cannot

set another in motion. Again, as spirit is more noble than body, God,

were He a body, would not be the noblest of all beings, neither would He

be the Supreme Ruler, since the body is governed by the spirit.

We must further hold, that God is not the form of a body, as the soul is

the form of the human body; because that which exists of itself is far

more noble than that which exists in others. Consequently, as God is the

most noble of all things, He must exist in Himself, and not in any body.

Again, things composed of matter and of form are more perfect than matter

alone and form alone; for the simple reason that the whole is always more

perfect than its parts. If, then, God were the form of a body, there

would be something more perfect than He; for the combination of matter

and form would be more perfect than form alone. It would further follow

that God could not act by Himself; since, as form has no being without

matter, it cannot operate without matter. Hence, as God would need

others for His operations, He would not be the First Cause.

It is, likewise, evident that God is not a complex Being, but Pure Act

and Simple Substance; for every complex being depends on others, and

composite bodies depend on those that are simple. Since, therefore, God

is the First Cause, independent of all others, and the one on whom all

things depend, He cannot be a complex Being, but must be Simple Act.

Again, were He a complex Substance, He could not be the First Supreme

Being in the universe; for complex bodies do not precede their parts, but

result from them; and the union of these parts could not take place, had

not some first cause preceded them. We must conclude, therefore, that God

is Simple Substance and Pure Act.[18]

CHAPTER VIII.

GOD IS THE PERFECT AND SUPREME GOOD, AND IS OF INFINITE POWER; HE IS IN

EVERY PLACE; AND HE IS IMMUTABLE AND ETERNAL.

If we believe (as we must) that God is Pure Act, we are also compelled

to acknowledge that He is perfect, the Supreme Good, Infinite in Power,

Ubiquitous, Immutable and Eternal. The greater the simplicity of an

immaterial thing, the greater, likewise, will be its perfection. God

being absolutely devoid of complexity, Pure Act, and Simplicity Itself,

we must also conclude that in Him is supreme Goodness and Perfection.

Again, as everything possesses greater power and virtue, in proportion

as it is raised above matter, and becomes more formal; God, as Pure Act,

being supremely elevated above all imperfection, and in the highest

degree Formal, must be infinite, and infinitely Powerful. And, just as

particular effects are reduced to particular causes, universal effects

must be reduced to universal causes. Now, being is the most universal

of all effects, because it is common to all things; it must therefore

proceed from an Universal Cause, which is God, who is the Cause of

being, not only by giving it, but also by preserving it. And, since it

is necessary that when the cause operates, it must join its power to its

effect, God, being His own Power, must be united to the being of all

things. Therefore He must be intimately in all things, because being is

more closely allied to nature than any other thing.

God, being indivisible, must be in the whole universe, and wholly in each

of its parts. He is likewise immutable; because everything that changes

must needs be composite, and God, being Pure Act, can know no change. He

must necessarily also be eternal; because, were He not eternal, He would

be mutable, having beginning and end; and thus He would not be God, but a

being dependent on other things, and consequently not the First Cause.

CHAPTER IX.

GOD IS ONE.

It is clear that there can be only one God, not many gods; for the Divine

Nature being Simplicity cannot communicate Itself outside Itself. Every

nature which is communicated to others, suffers composition, because it

must suffer diversity of being. It is impossible therefore, that the

Divine Nature should be shared by other beings.

If there were more gods than one, they would differ from one another; and

the cause of their difference would be, either some imperfection, or some

perfection. Were the cause an imperfection, the god that had it would not

be God, because God is wholly perfect. Were the cause a perfection, the

God that had it not, would, for the same reason, not be God. Thus there

cannot be more gods than one.

A third proof of the unity of God lies in the fact, that all things in

the universe are most excellently ordered. This perfect order could not

be the work of many; it must proceed from one. Among animals, such as

bees and cranes, we see one ruler directing a multitude of subjects. And

since art imitates nature, in the best human governments we, likewise,

see power vested in one head, otherwise the government could not stand.

In like manner, since the government of the Universe is of all forms of

government the most perfect, we see that in it there is but one Supreme

Lord and Ruler, who is God.

CHAPTER X.

GOD KNOWS ALL THINGS PERFECTLY, AND ACTS OF HIS OWN WILL, AND NOT FROM

NATURAL NECESSITY.

It is clear, from what has been said, that God knows all things. We see

in the natural order, that those beings that are capable of knowing have

a larger and more capacious nature than those that have no cognitive

faculty. For, not only do they know their own form, but, being of a

nature superior to matter, their cognitive power is able to receive the

forms of other things. Hence the cognition of every cognitive form is

ample and perfect, in proportion as that form is superior to matter.

God, then, being Pure Act, _i.e._, superior to all matter and all

potentiality, must possess the highest degree of cognisance, and the most

complete understanding of all things.

God does not understand as men understand, _i.e._, by receiving the

likeness of things into His understanding. For, being Simple Substance,

His wisdom and His understanding are His nature; and, being wisdom

itself He knows all things of Himself. And, since the power of God is

nought but God Himself, and He is likewise wisdom itself, His wisdom must

comprehend His power; and as His power is infinite, His wisdom must alike

be infinite.

Some men entertain the foolish opinion that God knows superterrestrial

things determinately, but that His knowledge of earthly things is

confused and general; in other words, that man knows more things, or

has a more perfect knowledge of them, than has God. Yet, even in merely

natural things, the greater and more perfect the power, the more things

it embraces and penetrates; and the more elevated a human intellect,

the greater is its range of understanding, and the more exquisite its

subtlety. Since, then, the Divine understanding is supereminent, and

infinitely perfect, it must necessarily penetrate all things to their

innermost being. And, since it is Immutable and Eternal, it is necessary

that it should have perfect knowledge, not only of all things past,

present and future, but also of all those which might ever be called into

being. Moreover, this knowledge has not only existed from all eternity,

but continues in the present, and will endure for ever.

We must, further, affirm that God acts, not from necessity, but by

His Understanding and Will. Nature acts in a certain order without

understanding it; and, as there cannot be order without intelligence, the

operations of nature must be governed by some superior intellect. Now, as

the intellect which governs is higher than the nature which is governed,

and as God is the First Principle of all things, it is evident that He

must act, not by natural necessity, but by Understanding and Will.

That which acts by natural necessity is drawn by its nature to produce

an effect as far as possible similar to itself. Now, as God is Infinite

Power, He would, therefore, were He constrained by natural necessity

to act, produce infinite things—which would be an impossibility. God

produces things according as they exist in Himself as in their Cause.

Even as a house exists in the mind of an architect who builds it by means

of his intelligence and will, so God also creates all things by means of

His Intelligence and Will.

CHAPTER XI.

THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD EXTENDS OVER ALL THINGS.

If our foregoing statements be true, there is no room for doubt that

the Providence of God extends over all things; not merely over natural

things, but over even the smallest human action.

The word _Providence_ signifies a knowledge of the order of things, with

an intention of reducing them, by fitting means, to their end. Therefore,

as God is Supreme Wisdom, to Him it belongs to order and dispose of all

things, as the First Cause, who acts on all things by His understanding,

determined by His free will. And, as He is Supreme Wisdom, whose

attribute it is to order all things aright, we must acknowledge that in

Him is perfect Providence over all things.

Philosophers have never hesitated to recognise Divine Providence in the

marvellous operations of Nature. The disordered and confused state of

human affairs has, however, presented a difficulty to them, and has led

some among them to deny the Providence of God over _human_ things.

But, if we reflect, we shall see that it is foolish to deny the

Providence of God in the conduct of human affairs, as well as in the

order of nature. For the more noble things are, the more perfectly

are they ordered; therefore, as man is the noblest of all beings, his

operations must be ordered.

Again, as the wisest men take more thought and care for the things which

are nearer to their end, than for those which are more remote from it,

so, as man is nearer to God (the end of all things) than are natural

things, it would be impossible to believe that, while Providence governs

nature, it does not extend to human affairs.

Further, Divine Providence proceeds from the love of God; and the more

God loves a creature, the greater is His Providence over it. Since, then,

by giving to man a more perfect nature and a higher order of operation

than He has given to natural things, God has shown that His love for man

is greater than His love for natural things, we cannot doubt that His

Providence, likewise, is exercised in human affairs.

Another proof of what we say lies in the fact that it is natural (as we

see in the case of animals with their young) for all causes to exercise

a certain providence over their effects. But as all secondary causes act

only in imitation of God, the First Cause, it is evident that He must

exercise Providence over all things, and especially over man, who is His

noblest effect, and whom He loves more than other natural things.

We must further remember that, if God does not extend His Providence to

man, it must be, either because He cannot do so, or knows not how to do

so, or else will not do so. Since He is Infinite Power and Infinite

Wisdom, it is vain to say that He cannot care for man, or knows not how

to do so. To say that He will not do so, is to derogate from His Infinite

Goodness; for none that is good spurns his own work, and no cause

despises its own effect. Neither would it be a righteous work to care for

imperfect things, and not for perfect ones. When even every good and wise

man cares diligently for human affairs, how shall we say that the God of

Infinite Goodness takes no heed of them?

CHAPTER XII.

THE END TO WHICH MAN IS GUIDED BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE.

Since it is the work of Divine Providence to move all things to their

end, and, since all things have their different proximate ends, they

must be moved by different means. Irrational things are led by natural

instinct, and are rather ruled by others than self-governing. Man,

however, having free will, can take thought for himself, and is moved

towards his end by God, in such a way that he governs himself, by working

together with God. It is, therefore, essential that he should diligently

strive to discover what is the last end to which he is destined by Divine

Providence; and what the means are whereby he must attain to it; that so

he may be enabled to order his life conformably to the designs of God.

Philosophers have studiously endeavoured to search out the End of Man.

In course of time, as their reasoning became more profound, and their

investigation approached nearer to the truth, they concluded that the

end of human life is the contemplation of Divine things. For this alone

is the proper operation of the human soul, and it is not directed to any

other thing as to its end, but is desired for itself, and unites man to

God. Again, man so far suffices in himself to this operation, that for it

he needs but few external aids.

This, in fact, is the end of all things that pertain to man. For all

natural things are ordered for the body of man; his body is ordered for

his soul; and all the powers of his soul serve to this contemplation,

which requires that calm and freedom from passion which art and civil

government are intended to procure for us.

It is thus evident that all things, both natural and artificial, are

ordered to this contemplation, as to the last end to which Providence

moves all men by means of moral virtues. It influences them, however, in

such a way, as to leave them the freedom of their will. It is, likewise,

clear, that if they will co-operate with the impulse of Providence, they

will, by using the fitting means, attain to their desired end.

CHAPTER XIII.

MAN’S LAST END CANNOT BE ATTAINED IN THIS PRESENT LIFE.

If we give serious consideration to what has been said, we shall see how

difficult, nay impossible, it would be for man to attain to his last end

during the course of the present life. For, although it be true that

beatitude is the last perfection of man, it is not every degree of

contemplation of Divine things which can render a man happy. Although the

contemplation of GOD forms the happiness of man, this contemplation must

be perfect, with the fullest perfection of which human nature is capable.

Whereas, during this mortal life, very few, scarce any one indeed, can

attain to this perfection. Perfect contemplation demands a fulness of

knowledge to which the greater part of mankind can never arrive. Some men

are hindered therefrom by physical ineptitude, or by some imperfection

in those interior senses which are the instruments used by the soul in

the pursuit of knowledge. Others again, are so obtuse, that they can

scarcely understand the clearest matters; whilst others are unable to

devote themselves to contemplation, by reason of the duties imposed on

them, through family cares, and the necessities of social life. And even

those who are able to free themselves from these trammels, must serve a

long apprenticeship before they can attain to the perfection of knowledge

and contemplation. This for two reasons. Firstly, remembering that we

attain to knowledge of immaterial things by means of sensible things,

it is only reasonable to expect that an extensive knowledge of material

things should be required before we can hope to attain to a perfect

knowledge of such as are in the highest degree spiritual. Secondly, in

order to attain to perfect contemplation, purity of heart, quiescence of

the passions, and the possession of moral virtues, are essential; and

these things are rarely met with except among the aged, and even among

them are not possessed save by such as have laboured diligently for their

acquisition. The greater number of those living in the world, being still

young, and, but few of them having opportunity to devote themselves to

the contemplation of the Truth, it follows that but a small number will

be able to attain to perfect happiness in this life.

Neither need we be astonished at the fact, that it is exceptional to find

souls capable of contemplation, when daily experience convinces us of

the limitations of human understanding, and of the ease with which men

are deceived in purely natural matters. How much more easily may we be

deceived in things which are Divine? All our knowledge of natural things

springs from the senses, and what more fallible than the eye, which tells

us that the sun is a tiny sphere, whereas it is much larger than our

entire earth? Again, the imagination can so obscure the intellect, as to

render it difficult for us to believe that any beings exist, save such as

are corporeal.

Our understanding, again, often deceives us, persuading us to give

credence to false and sophistical reasoning, as is proved by the many

varying opinions even amongst clever men. The divers passions and

affections of our soul, and our evil habits, are a further obstacle to

our apprehension of the truth. If, then, our intellect be so shackled in

its investigation of purely natural things, how much greater difficulty

shall we not have in learning such as are Divine? The more we consider

the hindrances which beset us in the acquisition of knowledge, the more

clear it becomes that, if true happiness is only to be found in this

life, very few amongst us can attain to it. Children, youths, women,

and all such as are not capable of learning, and are occupied in human

affairs, must be excluded from the chance of acquiring knowledge, and of

attaining, through knowledge, to beatitude. Such an idea as this is, of

course, absurd, since beatitude is the end of human life, and that for

which all mankind is created.

But there is another reason which makes it impossible for man to be

wholly happy in this life. This reason is, that happiness being the

ultimate good of man, cannot be marred by any admixture of evil, and,

being an all-sufficing good, it brings with it all other good; so that

when perfect happiness is attained, nothing further remains for man to

desire. But where shall we find, in this life, a man who wishes for

nothing, and who, having a nature subject, as is our nature, to so many

infirmities, enjoys, nevertheless, perfect immunity from every evil?

Daily experience shows us, that even those who, like Priam, have been

reputed happy, were beset by many misfortunes.

But let us assume that some one has, so far as it be possible in this

mortal life, attained to the perfect contemplation of Divine things, and

enjoys every other good, still even he cannot be called truly happy. For,

since happiness means perfect tranquillity of the human heart, and since

all men have a natural, an unceasing desire to know, this desire must be

an obstacle to perfect repose, as long as knowledge be not complete. The

number of things in the world which men do not know, and yet desire to

know, is almost infinite. Philosophers, after lifelong study, and much

learning, have died leaving much unknown. For the things of which we

have knowledge form but a small portion of that which there is to know,

and our actual knowledge is most imperfect. If, then, our intellect be

so limited regarding natural things, how can we expect to understand

such as are supernatural and Divine? The human heart cannot be satisfied

with slight knowledge, but always desires more perfect knowledge. Thus

it is, that the more it knows GOD, the more perfectly it desires to know

Him; for natural impetus is swifter, as it nears the end, than at the

beginning. Hence, it follows that, as we cannot, in the present life,

attain to any perfect knowledge of GOD, neither can we enjoy perfect

happiness.

But, supposing, for argument’s sake, that a man should attain, in this

world, to full knowledge of all things natural and Divine, he would still

fail to be perfectly happy; because perfect knowledge cannot be acquired

save in old age, when death draws nigh. Even if this knowledge could be

gained in youth, it would still be no safeguard against death. The desire

for immortality is innate in all men; hence, all men desire to continue

their lives, either in their children, or by some excellent work; for a

wise man who loves a perfect life cannot fail to hate what destroys it.

Therefore, were there no other life than this, the wisest man, yea, he

whom we assume to be truly happy, could not fail to be saddened at the

thought of death. A philosopher would not indeed banish the thought of

death, for that would be the act of an unreasonable man; but neither can

he be called happy, who has laboured all his life to acquire some good

which he is unable to retain, and who knows not whether his end is to be

in bliss, or in misery.

We see then, by the foregoing arguments, that, if there be no life

beyond the grave, the lot of man is beyond measure wretched. For all

other things are led by nature, and easily attain their end; but man is

surrounded by difficulties, and either fails to find his end, or, if

after much toil, he succeeds in finding it, he will be unable to retain

it. That such should be the fate of the noblest of God’s creatures on

earth must appear, even to the most unlearned mind, an absurdity.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE SOUL OF MAN IS IMMORTAL.

The arguments set forth in the last chapter leave no room to doubt that

there is another life; and that the human soul is immortal. For, as the

Providence of GOD conducts everything to its own end, man, if his end be

not attainable in this life, must be rendered capable of securing it in a

life to come. Were it otherwise, the Providence of GOD would not extend

to human affairs.

There is every proof of the existence of a germ of immortality in

the human soul. The operations of the intellect cannot proceed from

a physical force; because they extend beyond corporeal things, and

are occupied with GOD. This argument has compelled philosophers to

acknowledge the immortality and immateriality of the soul. It is,

nevertheless, so difficult to understand how an immaterial substance can

be the form of the body, that many different opinions have been held

about the mode of this immortality in man, which is called intellect.

It cannot, however, reasonably be denied, that the intellectual soul is

the form of the human body, since all men acknowledge that it is the

rationality of man which distinguishes him from other animals. This

distinction could not exist were not a rational soul the form of man; for

all specific differences arise from form.

Again, it is universally allowed, that the peculiar and pre-eminent

activity of man is understanding and reasoning; and man is the principle

of this activity. Man is composed of matter and form. We cannot say that

he is the principle of this activity by virtue of the matter of which he

is composed, but solely by virtue of the form. Consequently, as this form

is nothing but the intelligent soul, it is the intelligent soul which is

the form of man.

Another argument for the immortality of the soul lies in the fact that

man, like other animals, has the power of self-motion. Now, as the other

animals move by means of their form, which is their soul, it follows that

it must also be his soul which enables man to move. We know that man is

governed by will and understanding. The form of man, therefore, must be

an intelligent soul, capable of volition.

If a rational soul were not the form of man, the fact that a child,

unable to use his understanding, is man would be inexplicable; neither

could we see how intelligence could be attributed to a man who does not

use his reason. If rational substance be not the form of man, but be

self-subsisting, it will not be man, but that rational substance, which

works with the intellect. We may, of course, maintain, with Plato, that

man is not composed of soul and body; but that he is merely soul, which

is united to the body as a motor is joined to that which is movable. But

this opinion, if we adopt it, will lead us into many inconsistencies.

For, firstly, if the soul be the whole of man, to the exclusion of the

body, man will not be sensitive; and when the soul leaves the body,

corruption will not ensue; for the substance of a movable being does not

change when the motor leaves it. It follows, likewise, that the human

body does not live by the intellectual soul, and is not generated by

union with the soul; for a movable thing is not generated by union with

its motor. Human generation must, therefore, cease; for as, according

to Plato, the soul is not generated, if the body be not man, one man

will not be able to generate another. If neither the generated body, nor

the soul and body together, but only the soul (which is not generated),

be man, there will no longer, in human generation, be either fathers

or children. These, and similar absurdities, beset those who will not

acknowledge that the form of the body is an intelligent and immortal soul.

As the soul is, by its perfection, supreme among all natural and

material forms, it partakes of the nature of incorporeal and immaterial

substances; and, inasmuch as it partakes of the nature of inferior forms,

it is said to be the form of the human body. In the perfection wherein it

pertains to immaterial forms, it is separated from the body, so that the

intellectual faculty of the soul is not, like its sensitive faculties,

joined to any corporeal organ. Hence, the soul is sometimes called the

_nexus_ of the world, being the link between the highest and the lowest

things.

We cannot then escape the conclusion, that the form of the body is a

rational soul, which, in spite of the corruptibility of the body, remains

incorruptible. This attribute of incorruptibility is proper to all

intellectual substances, and is so for divers reasons:—

First, because every perfection must be proportioned to the thing of

which it is the perfection, and, as universal and incorruptible things,

and principally God, are the perfection of the intellectual soul, whose

beatitude consists in contemplating them, the soul must be incorruptible.

Secondly, as we know that the perfection of the soul is proportionate to

its abstraction from material, and its elevation to immaterial and Divine

things, it is folly to say that the soul becomes corrupted by segregation

from the body. Such an assertion is tantamount to saying, that separation

from corporeal things is, at one and the same time, both the perfection,

and the destruction of the soul. And it is equally futile to argue, that

the soul attains perfection, by abstraction from the body, by means of

the understanding, but suffers corruption by separation from the body

by means of its essence. For operation follows nature; and therefore

it is impossible that when the operation becomes perfect, the nature

should become imperfect. Hence, it is quite unreasonable to say, that the

intellectual soul suffers corruption when it is separated from the body.

The natural bias of mankind is a further argument in favour of the

doctrine of the immortality of the soul. We see that all men are

anxious about what takes place after death, and that none have been

able to persuade themselves, that there is no future life. Thus the

desire to know something of the hereafter is apparent in the writings

of philosophers, of poets, and of orators. The fact of such a desire is

a proof of our immortality; for if there were no future life, not only

would this yearning for knowledge about it be of no service to man,

but it would be injurious to him, by raising desires doomed only to

disappointment. But if we assume that the intellectual soul is immortal,

this natural desire to understand something of its future life is, far

from being useless, both wholesome and necessary; it enables man to

direct his thoughts to another life, and to tend towards beatitude.

It is evident, then, that if we deny that the intellectual soul is

the form of the body, and is immortal, we shall be involved in many

inconsistencies. We shall find it impossible to understand how man can be

a rational animal endowed with free will, and justly liable to punishment

for sin. Neither shall we be able to comprehend what is the End of man,

and what the Providence of God in his regard. But, granted that an

intellectual and immortal soul be the form of man, all these difficulties

will disappear.

Since the consideration of the other life, which awaits the soul after

death, exceeds the limits of human reason, we will here conclude our

First Book, in order to treat in the next of the supernatural truths of

Faith. For where reason halts, Faith begins. When we shall have shown,

as we hope to do in the following Book, the truth of our faith, the

immortality of the soul will be beyond doubt.

BOOK II.

METHOD OBSERVED THROUGHOUT THIS BOOK.

In our last Book we treated of those things which human reason is

capable of grasping. It is our intention to discuss, in this Book, those

things which exceed reason, and to prove the truth of the Faith, both by

natural means, and by the supernatural deeds of Christ. Since present

occurrences carry more weight than past events, our first argument shall

be founded on the deeds of Christians within the Church. We speak not

of bad Christians, who are cut off from the body of Christ, but of such

as are Christians in deed, as well as in name. We will next examine the

works which Christ wrought in times past, and which are known to all the

world. And, since He Himself by His words, “I am come that they may have

life, and may have it more abundantly” (St. John x. 10), shows that His

chief work lies in the perfection of Christian life, we will demonstrate

the truth of the Faith of Christ: first, by arguments founded on the

Christian life; secondly, by others based on the cause of this life; and

thirdly, by those drawn from the effects of this life. This chain of

reasoning will embrace almost everything which is at present taking place

within the Church militant.

CHAPTER I.

SOME TRUE RELIGION EXISTS IN THE WORLD.

In order to connect what has already been laid down with what still

remains to be said, it is necessary to acknowledge the existence on earth

of some true religion, or form of Divine worship. Religion, or worship,

signifies the due honour paid to God, as to the universal Principle,

Ruler, and End of all things. Every effect turns naturally to its cause;

submits itself to its cause, in order to become like to it; and, in a

certain sense, invokes the protection of its cause. By acting thus, the

effect is paying honour and worship to its cause. Now, as man is the

effect of God, there must be in his nature an instinct prompting him to

turn to God, to become subject to Him, to resemble Him, and to invoke

Him, in order from Him to obtain beatitude. As no natural inclination is

given us in vain, these promptings must spring from religion; and they

are proofs that some true form of Divine worship exists in the world.

This fact is, again, proved on another count. Man is possessed of reason

and of free will. Now, as reason is fallible on many points, especially

in Divine matters, it follows that, if God had not revealed some true

form of worship, we should have gone astray, as did the heathen before

the advent of Christ, and should never have attained beatitude. Thus, our

natural instinct would have misled us, and the Providence of God would

have failed us, in a matter most closely pertaining to our salvation.

It is clear that a natural tendency to religion is innate in the heart of

man, from the fact that some form, though frequently an erroneous form,

of Divine worship has existed through all generations. If, then, there be

no possibility of satisfying this natural inclination, God has provided

better for the needs of irrational creatures than for those of man.

It is the property of a cause to infuse its goodness and perfection

into its effect, in order that this effect may, as far as is possible,

resemble the cause. God, who is the Supreme Good and the First Cause of

all things, desires, more earnestly than does any other cause, to infuse

His goodness into man in order to bring him to beatitude; and, as the

perfection of man consists in that interior homage whereby he subjects

himself to God, it is clear, that God cannot have made this interior

homage impossible, and that, in other words, some true religion exists in

the world.

CHAPTER II.

RELIGION IS BOTH INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR.

God can be honoured by man, both in body and in spirit; and, therefore,

religion must be both interior and exterior. Interior worship is paid to

God by means of the understanding and the will; and exterior homage by

means of ceremonies and sacrifices.

Interior religion, then, strictly speaking, signifies uprightness of

heart before God, and perfection of life. For, as every effect honours

its cause chiefly by its perfection, man cannot pay to God a greater

homage than that of a perfect life. This, therefore, constitutes the

truth and completeness of Divine worship, even as the perfection of a

work gives glory to the worker.

And, as we pay homage to God, not only in order to honour Him, but also

in order to receive beatitude from Him; and as a good life is a more sure

way of attaining to beatitude than are sacrifices and ceremonies, it is

evident that perfection of life is a more true religion than any exterior

form of worship. God is not a body, but Pure Act: therefore man renders

to Him more perfect worship by purity of heart, than by external actions,

for “God is a Spirit, and they that adore Him, must adore Him in spirit

and in truth” (St. John iv. 24).

CHAPTER III.

NO BETTER LIFE CAN BE FOUND THAN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

As true religion consists in the perfection of human life; and as no

better life than the Christian life can be conceived, it follows that

there can be no better religion than the Christian religion. This

assertion is easily proved. Animal life is more perfect than vegetative

life; and among the different degrees of animal life, that one is the

highest which is the most largely endowed with sensible feeling. If,

further, it be the case that intellectual cognition be superior to

sensible feeling, it is certain that the life of man is more perfect

than that of animals. Among men are likewise found degrees, not of life

but of perfection; for, as man is rational, those men are the most

perfect who live the most nearly according to reason; for he who lives

not according to reason resembles a beast rather than a man. Again,

among those who live according to reason, there are divers degrees of

perfection. For, as the end of the life of reason is the contemplation of

Divine things, so the more perfectly a man abstracts himself from earthly

things, and devotes himself to the contemplation of that which is Divine,

the more perfect will be his life. Since the Christian life consists

in separating ourselves, not only from temporal things, but also from

self-love, and in drawing, by love and contemplation, near to God, so as

to become like to Him, and, so far as possible, to be made one with Him,

it is clear that nothing better than the Christian life can exist.

As we have already said, the more perfectly a man follows the dictates of

reason, the more perfect will be his life. It is evident, therefore, that

the Christian life does nothing and permits nothing, not even the least

thing, which is contrary to reason; but that it submits in all things to

the Divine Law.

A virtuous life tends to the contemplation of heavenly things, and finds

its end in this contemplation. Great purity of heart is requisite for

the attainment of this end. Consequently, as no life so purifies us,

and renders us so apt for contemplation, as does the Christian life, it

follows, that nothing better can be found on earth than Christianity.

CHAPTER IV.

THE END PRESENTED TO US BY THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION IS THE BEST WHICH CAN

POSSIBLY BE CONCEIVED.

In order to show that there can be no life better than the Christian

life, we shall first prove that the end set in view by the Christian

religion is the best possible end, and the one most in accordance with

reason, and that the means furnished by Christianity for the attainment

of that end are those best adapted to that purpose.

It is self-evident that the end held out to us by the Christian religion

is the best possible end, seeing that it is God, and the vision and

fruition of God; and this vision and fruition is not such as may be

gained by means of creatures, but that wherein God is beheld “face to

face”. Many reasons can be adduced to prove that this clear vision of

God is the end of our human life. First, as we have already proved,

man’s beatitude cannot be attained in this life; therefore, if he be

not created in vain, it must be attainable in the next. But if, in the

next life, his happiness were to consist in knowing and contemplating

God by means of creatures, it would not be complete happiness, for his

heart would not be at rest; and happiness consists in the quiescence

or satisfaction of all desires. This tranquillity would be incomplete,

whether his knowledge of creatures were perfect or imperfect. If he knew

creatures imperfectly, his heart would not be at rest, because he would

desire that this knowledge should be perfect. For we know, by daily

experience, that we desire distinct and particular cognition of the

things which we know only in a general and confused manner. Were his

knowledge of creatures perfect, he would still desire to know that on

which they depend. For it is natural to us when we see an effect to wish

to know its cause; and the more perfectly we know the effect the more

intensely do we wish to know its cause, just as the heavier an object is,

with the greater energy does it gravitate to its centre. Hence, as man

becomes happier and more perfect in proportion to his knowledge of Divine

things; and, as his desire of this knowledge increases proportionately

to his progress therein, it is certain that his wish for this knowledge

will never cease until he attains his Last End. This End can be nought

but God. For, as we know by experience, our hearts can never be satisfied

by any finite thing. Our intellect is superior to everything finite,

because there is nothing superior to its capacity; and our ability to

understand increases in proportion to our knowledge. Hence, as everything

which is inferior to God is finite; and, as our intellect is capable of

knowing infinite things, it is true to say that no creature can fill

even one-tenth part of our heart. It becomes, therefore, not merely

reasonable, but even necessary, to acknowledge that the happiness of man

consists in the vision of God, who alone is greater than the human heart.

Every natural movement, as all philosophers will admit, tends to some

end, in which, when it is attained, the thing which is moved finds

rest. Now God, who is the term of human desire, is the satisfaction of

the human heart, leaving nought else to be desired. And this because

everything else, being finite, will bear no comparison to Him who is

infinite; and, also, because all perfection of creatures is to be found

in its fullest excellence in Him who is their Cause. Thus, when the

soul of man possesses God it possesses all things; for the intellect

which knows Him, will know creatures far more perfectly; and, although

the excessive intensity of things sensible weakens the sense perceiving

them, the excess of that which is intelligible, far from injuring the

understanding, perfects it.

But we must remember that, as God is infinite, and is outside the realm

of creation, our intellect cannot, by virtue of its natural light, attain

to the vision of Him; because nothing can act beyond the limits of its

nature. Nevertheless, our understanding, which is capable of rising to

infinite things, may, by the Divine Power, be enabled to behold that

which is naturally invisible to it. Thus the beatitude of man consists

in the vision of God, and he is enabled to enjoy it by means of a

supernatural light, which is called “the light of glory”. It is plain

then, that no more reasonable or better end could be devised, as the term

of human life, than the end set before us by the Christian religion.

CHAPTER V.

A CHRISTIAN LIFE IS THE BEST POSSIBLE MEANS FOR ATTAINING TO HAPPINESS.

If the vision of God be the end of human life, God, who has made nothing

in vain, must have given us some means of attaining to it. For, just as

it would be useless for us to possess the power of motion, had we not

limbs wherewith to move, so would it be futile to be created for an end,

if we have no means of reaching it. The Christian religion teaches, that

the means whereby we are to attain to the vision of God are, purity of

heart, and grace, together with all the virtues supernaturally infused

into the soul.

We shall see how true and how reasonable this doctrine is, if we remember

that a means must be proportioned to its end. Now, as the end of man is

the supernatural vision of God, the Supreme Object of intelligence, there

is needed, in order to attain to it, perfect purity of heart, consisting

in a complete aversion of the mind and heart from the love of corporeal

things, together with a conversion to things incorporeal and Divine. This

purity of heart is far more explicitly enjoined by the Christian religion

than by any philosopher. Christianity has included all that philosophy

has taught on the subject; at the same time defining more clearly what is

meant by this purity of heart, and showing that mere natural virtue, such

as is inculcated by philosophers, is not sufficient for the attainment

of an end infinitely superior to nature. Christianity teaches that the

purity of heart which springs from temperament, imagination, natural

religion, from the influence of the heavenly bodies, or from any other

created thing, will not suffice to bring us to the vision of God. Our

purity must be the fruit of Divine grace. A fuller explanation of the

subject may be found in the treatise on _The Simplicity of Christian

Life_,[19] in which it is shown that purity of heart, and the perfect

Christian life, is not the result of natural love, nor is it the creation

of the imagination nor even of reason; that it is not influenced by the

heavenly bodies nor by any spiritual creatures; but that it comes from

the grace of God, supernaturally infused into the soul. We need not

repeat all that is written in that book, about the most perfect means

for attaining the perfection of the Christian life. Suffice it to say,

that the life of a true Christian, which embraces the highest form of a

holy life, both natural and supernatural, is most conducive to perfect

happiness.

CHAPTER VI.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS A MOST SURE MEANS OF ATTAINING TO BEATITUDE.

If, as has been proved, there be in the world some true religion,

consisting mainly in uprightness of life; and if the Christian religion

surpasses every other; we must acknowledge Christianity to be true, not

only in its interior spirit, but also in its exterior forms. For there

must be some true external worship which corresponds, in all things,

with interior religion. Therefore, if Christians live according to the

teaching of their Faith, paying due homage to God, both in order to

honour Him and to attain to beatitude, we cannot doubt that they will

thus arrive at their Last End.

If, again, it pertains to Divine Providence to bring things to their End

by fitting means, and if there are no better means than the Christian

religion whereby man may attain to beatitude, who can doubt that the

Christian religion conducts man to the eternal enjoyment of the beatific

vision?

Further, if God be just—and we must confess that He is; and if He

exercise Providence over human things, He will not suffer those who have

obeyed His commandments and professed the Christian religion to fail in

the attainment of their end. He must bring either some men to beatitude,

or none. If none are to attain to beatitude, creation is in vain. Some

men, therefore, must be saved, and among them God will not pass over

true Christians, who are of all men the best fitted and prepared for

beatitude. If Christians do not attain to the fruition of their End,

we must needs confess that none others can hope to do so; that all we

have hitherto taught and proved is false; and that all men are living

in disorder and confusion. For where there is no last end there can be

no order in life. It would follow likewise, that man lives by chance,

more miserably than the animals. This would only be one of many similar

absurdities which would inevitably follow, were we to deny the value of

Christianity.

It must be acknowledged, then, that the teaching of the Christian

religion about the end of man, and the means necessary for its

attainment, is most reasonable; and we must confess this religion to be

true.

CHAPTER VII.

THE FAITH OF CHRIST IS TRUE, BECAUSE IT CAUSES MEN TO LEAD A PERFECT LIFE.

In proving Christianity to be true, we have hitherto made use of

arguments founded on the good life of true Christians. We will now

proceed to examine the causes of this virtuous life. One of the chief

causes is, as the Scripture teaches, the belief in Christ informed by

charity: “The justice of God, by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all, and

upon all them that believe in Him” (Rom. iii. 22). “Without faith it is

impossible to please God” (Heb. xi. 6). By faith informed by charity, we

mean that, loving Christ crucified above all things, we believe Him to

be truly God and truly Man, One with the Father and the Holy Ghost, and

distinct from them only in Person.

Universal experience demonstrates the truth of what we say. For in the

present day it is evident to all, and still more was it so in days

gone by, that, as soon as a man grasps the Faith of Christ and becomes

inflamed with His love, he begins to lead a Christian life, and makes

progress in perfection, in proportion to his increase of faith and

charity; and at the same time he is confirmed in those virtues, in

proportion to his advance in perfection. On the other hand, they who

lead bad lives are deficient in faith; and they that lack faith lead bad

lives. As this is a truth admitting no denial, we will investigate it,

and, by inquiring into the causes of such wonderful effects, will deduce

proofs of the truth of the Christian religion.

First. Since all perfection depends upon its cause, no effect can be more

perfect than its cause. Therefore, if all the truth and uprightness of

the Christian life depends upon the Faith of Christ, as upon its cause,

it is impossible that the Faith of Christ should not be true. And if this

faith be true, we must, with Christians, confess that Christ is God, and

that His religion is the true religion revealed by God.

Again. It is impossible that falsehood and evil should be the cause of

truth and goodness; for evil, in so far as it is evil, and falsehood, in

so far as it is falsehood, are nothingness. If, then, the Faith of Christ

were false, His love would be vain and evil. Now, a life so perfect as

is the Christian life could not spring from falsehood and iniquity.

Therefore, the Christian religion must be true.

Furthermore. If this religion be untrue it is the most stupid falsehood

that can possibly be conceived; for to say (were it not true) that a

crucified man is God would be the extreme of folly. Now, as the Christian

life is a perfect life, it cannot spring from untruth; for all rightly

ordered life proceeds from correctness of understanding, and all error in

human conduct springs from some mistake on the part of the intellect.

It must also be remembered that capacity for improvement in any nature is

proportioned to the good disposition already existing therein. Now, as

the perfection of our intellect is truth, and as purity of heart is the

disposition which enables him to become steadfast in truth, the more a

man is purged from earthly affections the better he will know the truth,

the more closely he will embrace it, and the further he will banish

falsehood from his soul. If this be true, surely Christians, since their

lives are purer than those of other men, would be the first to know if

their religion were false. We see, however, that far from rejecting their

faith, Christians cling more closely to it in proportion as they increase

in perfection, and that their increase in perfection is proportioned to

their steadfastness in their faith. Therefore, their faith cannot be

false.

Again, as God is the First Cause moving all things, both spiritual

and corporal, it is certain that it is He who must move the human

understanding, and that, apart from Him, no truth can be known. But who

can doubt that God will inspire to know the truth those who are prepared

for its reception, rather than those who are not thus disposed, and

especially when the truth concerns eternal salvation? Since then true

Christians are better prepared than are any other men to embrace the

truth, we cannot doubt that, if the Faith of Christ were false, they

would be enlightened by God to reject it. To think otherwise, would be to

doubt the providence and goodness of God.

The end regulates the means used to attain it, and he that errs as to

his end, will err also as to the means which he uses. Christians do not

err as to the means which they adopt for attaining to beatitude, and

therefore they do not err as to their end. Now, as all Christians profess

that Christ is their End, and that they strive to be made like to Him in

this life in order to enjoy Him in the next, it cannot be erroneous to

teach that Christ is God, and is the End of human life.

Again, God proceeds in all things in a certain order, and in His wisdom

governs inferior things by those that are superior to them. And since the

cause is always more perfect than the effect, He has ordained noblest

causes for the noblest effects. As there is not in the world a more

noble effect than the Christian life, it follows that the cause from

which it springs must be the noblest possible. Since the Christian life

is an effect of the Faith of Christ, we must acknowledge that that Faith,

far from being a fable, is the noble cause of a noble effect.

All secondary causes are instruments of a primary cause. Therefore

Christ, the Man who was crucified, is the instrument whereby God chooses

to produce that wonderful effect—the Christian life. Had Christ, in spite

of His assertions, not been God, His pride and mendacity would have been

unparalleled; and God would have used a bad instrument to produce a most

perfect effect—a course quite out of keeping with His wisdom.

The more closely an effect resembles its cause, the more perfect does it

become. We become more holy and more Divine in proportion as we walk in

the footsteps of Christ and become like to Him. This is a clear proof

that Christ is true God, and the Cause of man.

Causes are known by their effects, and one of the best arguments in

favour of the Christian religion is the reflection that, whereas heathen

philosophers have laboured for years to establish rules of conduct, they

have gained but few disciples, of whom even the most virtuous have never

attained to that standard of living which has been so quickly reached by

innumerable Christians of both sexes and of every race and condition. No

one who reflects on this fact can fail to see that there is no comparison

between the efficacy of the heathen philosophy and of the Christian

Faith, which is able to render the proud, avaricious, and luxurious,

humble, benevolent and chaste. Every one, consequently, must acknowledge

that Christ, as God, is the Principal Cause of human perfection, and, as

Man, is its Means and Instrumental Cause.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE DOCTRINES TAUGHT BY CHRISTIANITY ARE TRUE, AND COME FROM GOD.

The reading, hearing, and study of Holy Scripture is both a cause of our

Christian life, and the substance and foundation of our religion, of

which the object is the truth of the Faith. Having examined the arguments

founded on the Faith of Christ, we now proceed to investigate those drawn

from Holy Writ.

We know that there can be no certain truth or knowledge about future

things which may or may not happen. Even philosophers, who were truly

wise, admitted this. These can be known to God alone, and to man only

when God reveals them to him. Man could not know them, unless it pleased

God to make them known. Now Holy Scripture, in almost every portion, but

especially in the Old Testament, has foretold things which should come

to pass, and which depended on man’s free will. These prophecies concern

not only general, but also particular things; and they relate to events

which were to occur, not only in one year or in ten, but in a hundred

or a thousand, or three or four thousand years; they were to happen not

only to the Jews and to Christ and His Church, but were to concern also

the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the Persians, the Medes, the Greeks, the

Romans, and other lesser kingdoms.[20] Now many of the events foretold

by the Prophets have come to pass; and the fact of their fulfilment

inspires us with confidence that any that have not yet been accomplished

will eventually be verified. We must, therefore, acknowledge the Holy

Scriptures to be, not a work of human ingenuity, but the revelation of

God’s Providence towards us.

God alone has prescience of the future. Therefore, no man, be he ever so

diligent or wise, can order the wars and doings of kings and princes, and

the names and places, and divers actions and circumstances of men in such

a way that they shall foreshadow things to come. The reason is simple.

God has the ordering of things which are to come; they are subject to

Him. They are beyond the power and knowledge of man. The Old Testament

foretells the New Testament, and the things which Christ has done and

suffered, both in His Person and in His Church. Therefore, we have good

reason to believe that both the Old Testament and the New are the Word of

God.

It is not reasonable to say that Christians have interpreted the

prophecies of Scripture according to their desires. For, taking into

account the differences of times and circumstances, of language and of

authors, the extraordinary uniformity which exists between the Old and

the New Testaments would not be possible, were they not the work of one

Mind, which knows all that has taken place at all times. Neither can this

uniformity be ascribed to chance, since there is no discord or want of

harmony between the two Testaments, but perfect agreement between them,

even in the smallest particulars; so that what is obscure in one passage

is explained in another; and the Scripture interprets itself. Although

those who have not studied the Bible may be ignorant of this fact,

the truth of what I say will be acknowledged by all who examine Holy

Scripture with faith, humility and purity of heart.

It is on account of this harmony between the Old and New Testaments, that

the Bible possesses the dignity of an allegorical meaning. But, observe,

that by an allegorical, we do not mean a fabulous, interpretation—such

as we find in the poets—for we interpret parables also, and their

interpretation is not called an allegorical, but literal and parabolic

meaning. We do not intend by the words of the fable or parable to express

what is signified by the words themselves, but rather what we understand

by the meaning underlying those words. An allegory requires, first,

that the words should narrate, not a fiction, but some fact that has

really occurred; secondly, that this fact should prefigure some future

event; thirdly, that the fact narrated should have taken place not only

on account of its intrinsic importance, but also as a forecast of some

future occurrence. As no one but God can compose such allegories, and as

the Holy Scriptures are full of them, it is clear that only God can be

their Author.

The language and style of the Bible are so peculiar, that none of our

most learned and eloquent Doctors have ever been able to imitate it; nor

has it been copied by any other writer. The Prophets, although they lived

at different times and wrote with varying degrees of elegance, have all

retained the same mode of expression, which has not been imitated by any

other author, and is, in fact, inimitable. This is a clear proof that the

Holy Scriptures are a Divine and not a human work.

A further confirmation of what we say may be perceived, if we observe

the effects which proceed from the Scriptures; for the virtue of a cause

is known by its effect. Now, as upon earth there is no more sublime

effect than the Christian life, and as the Bible is a most powerful

instrumental cause and foundation of this life, it is manifest that it

can only proceed from the First Cause of the Christian life, _viz._, God.

Long experience teaches us that human science avails but little in the

formation of virtuous habits; for, before Christianity was preached, the

whole world was wrapped in the darkness of ignorance and sin; but from

the time the Apostles taught the truth, mankind has been enlightened and

initiated into many heavenly secrets.

And even in our own days, we see how the teaching of the Holy Scripture

has more efficacy than has any other doctrine, in enlightening and

consoling men, and in inclining them to live virtuously. For the

preachers who discourse only on philosophical subjects, and pay great

attention to oratorical effect, produce scarcely any fruit among their

Christian hearers. Whereas our forefathers, who in past times confined

themselves to the simple preaching of the Holy Scriptures, were able

to fill their hearers with Divine love, enabling them to rejoice in

affliction and even in martyrdom. I speak also from personal experience.

For, when at one time (in order to demonstrate the profundity of Holy

Scripture to sciolists, proud of their intelligence) I was wont to

discourse on subtle points of philosophy, I found that the people who

heard me were inattentive. But as soon as I devoted myself to the

exposition of the Bible, I beheld all eyes riveted upon me, and my

audience so intent upon my words, that they might have been carved out of

stone. I found, likewise, that when I set aside theological questions,

and confined myself to explaining Holy Scripture, my hearers received

much more light, and my preaching bore more fruit, in the conversion of

men to Christ and to a perfect life. For Holy Scripture contains that

marvellous doctrine, which, more surely than a two-edged sword, pierces

men’s hearts with love, which has adorned the world with virtue, and has

overthrown idolatry, superstition, and numberless errors. This proves

that it can proceed from none but God.

The more completely the human intellect is purified, the more capable it

becomes of apprehending the truth. Now, as there is no purity of life

so perfect as that produced by Christianity, Christian doctors, of whom

there are many, would (were the Bible not the work of God) on account

of their learning and their holiness, be the first to discern the fact.

So far, however, from denying the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures,

the Fathers of the Church have left many volumes extolling the teaching

of Holy Writ, and have written and preached that it is unlawful to alter

one iota of the sacred text. Some of them have, in defence of the Divine

origin of the Bible, even shed their blood. If these men had not had some

certainty that the Scriptures were the work of God, they would, most

assuredly, not have sacrificed their lives in such a cause.

Again, truth can never disagree with truth; truth must be in harmony

with truth; but it is invariably at war with falsehood. Now, as every

science agrees with Holy Scripture, it is evident that it must contain,

not falsehood, but truth. The leaders of thought, in every branch of

science, have proved that no true science is repugnant to Holy Scripture.

Therefore, Christians are not forbidden to study any science, save

divination and such like pernicious superstitions, which are derided

by all true scientists. This harmony between science and the Bible is

a proof of the truth of the latter. Were the Scriptures false, they

would infallibly contradict science; whereas the Doctors of the Church

show that the Bible and science agree; and they are able to explain any

_apparent_ discrepancy between them.

Further. The more truth is impugned, the more, if it have a defender, it

becomes clear to the human intellect, which has a natural tendency to

truth as to its own perfection. Christianity has been always opposed,

both by philosophers and by temporal sovereigns, and has invariably

proved itself invincible. This, again, is a strong proof of its

truth; for, had it been false, it must, inevitably, have succumbed to

persecution.

CHAPTER IX.

THE TRUTH OF THE FAITH PROVED BY ARGUMENTS FOUNDED ON THE PRAYER AND

CONTEMPLATION OF CHRISTIANS.

Faith, and meditation on the Holy Scriptures are not only the cause, but

also the nourishment and perfection, of the Christian life. Experience,

both past and present, shows that Christians given to continual prayer,

acquire great perfection in a short space of time, and find such delight

in spiritual things, that everything else seems worthless to them. This

is the case not with a few learned men only, but with many also of the

uneducated. In fact, this is the experience of all, both men and women of

every degree, who exercise themselves in prayer. On this fact we intend

to found an argument for the truth of our faith.

First. Since God is Pure Act, Supreme Truth, and Infinite Light, it

follows that the nearer man approaches to Him (in spirit not in body),

the more he will partake of the Divine purity, truth and light. Now, as

the Christian life is more pure and perfect than any other, it must be

nearer to God than any other life; and Christians approach most closely

to Him when they are engaged in the exercise of prayer and contemplation,

which renders the soul peculiarly capable of receiving the Divine purity,

truth, and light. Since, then, it is by prayer and contemplation, that

Christians are confirmed in their Faith in Christ Crucified, and fired

with love of Him, it is undeniable that the Faith is Divine truth and

light.

Again. Our understanding is naturally inclined to delight in truth, to

desire it, and to shun falsehood; and the more a natural inclination is

purified, the more vehement it becomes. Prayer purifies the understanding

more efficaciously than does any other mental act; and therefore, if in

time of prayer, the soul be more drawn to embrace the Faith of Christ

than at any other time, this is a proof that the Faith is truth and not

falsehood.

Further. Christians, when they pray, make their supplications to God for

the sake of Christ Crucified, and through His merits; and nevertheless

they ask for great things. Even should this assertion be disbelieved,

it cannot, at least, be denied that the chief prayer of a Christian

is for grace to live a Christian life, and for joy and peace of soul.

Now, if Christ were not the One whom they think Him to be, God would

surely enlighten them to see the truth. Or, if they preferred to remain

obstinately in error, their prayers would not be, as they now are, heard

for the sake of Christ.

Again. No cause prevents matter from receiving a form; and no natural

motor prevents a thing from tending to its end. As beatitude is the end

to be attained by a good life and by prayer, and as man cannot move

himself to pray and to live virtuously, but must be inspired thereto by

God, who inspires Christians to so perfect a life, and to such sublimity

of prayer, and confirms them in Faith, it is manifest that Faith is the

means by which we are to attain to beatitude, and that this Faith must

proceed from God.

Every cause listens, if we may so speak, to the prayer of its effect, and

by this _prayer_ we mean the desire of the effect for its perfection,

which, if its dispositions be ordered aright, it will seek to obtain

from its cause. We see in the natural order, that when matter is duly

prepared, the cause does not delay in giving it form; and this proceeds

from the goodness of the cause, for the characteristic of good is to

communicate itself. Hence, as God is Supreme Goodness, He exceeds all

causes in listening to the prayer of His effects, when they are disposed

to receive His influx. Now, the Christian life, especially as exhibited

in the act of prayer and contemplation, is the best possible preparation

for being heard by God; and the prayers of Christians are, most surely,

not made in vain. There is nothing which Christians more earnestly

implore of God than to be enlightened as to the truth. Thus David, in

the name of all, prays, saying, “Enlighten mine eyes, O Lord, that I

may never sleep in death” (Ps. xii. 4). And therefore we must believe

that true Christians are enlightened as to the truth which pertains to

salvation. The more they pray, the more confirmed do they become in their

faith in Christ. Thus, we have good grounds for believing this faith to

be true, and not false.

A further argument is, that if Christ be not God, it would be blasphemy

to believe and to confess that He is God—One with the Father and the

Holy Ghost—and to pray through His merits. How could the Divine Goodness

leave in such blindness Christians, the best of mankind, always ready to

extirpate any error which may dishonour the Divine Majesty? It is absurd

to say that God leaves them in their misbelief, because they obstinately

persevere in it. For, were this the case, why should He hear their

blasphemous prayers? Why, on the contrary, should He not punish them

severely?

If, again, the Faith of Christ be false, could there be a more absurd

superstition than to adore a crucified man as God? Our understanding

naturally loves truth and abhors falsehood; how then could it be

possible, that innumerable Christians, amongst them men of vast genius

and great learning, could so delight in the contemplation and love of

Christ Crucified, as for His sake, not only willingly to bear, but even

eagerly to desire, hunger and thirst, labours, threats, opprobrium,

scourges, imprisonment, and even death? Truly the finger of God is here.

CHAPTER X.

PROOFS OF THE TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION FOUNDED ON ITS EXTERNAL

FORMS OF WORSHIP.

Our arguments for the truth of Christianity have hitherto been drawn from

the interior aspect of that religion. We will now proceed to proofs based

on its Sacraments, ceremonies, and other external rites. We will, instead

of considering them individually, which would be a lengthy task, group

all the ceremonies and Sacraments of the Church under the one which is

chief and most venerable, _viz._, the Sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist.

We know by experience, and since the first days of Christianity it has

been proved, that the reverent observance of this exterior worship is

the cause, the nourishment, and the perfection of the Christian life;

that they who frequent the Sacraments devoutly become more holy day by

day; and that they who treat them with irreverent familiarity become more

hardened than other men in sin. We see this fact exemplified in priests,

who, day and night, administer the Sacraments, and perform the ceremonies

of the Church. For, those who do so devoutly, are most holy men, so

completely purified from earthly affection, and so closely united to God,

that, for love of Him, they fear not to expose their lives.

Those, on the other hand, who perform their sacred duties irreligiously,

are worse than any other men; for, besides being guilty of pride,

avarice, envy, and other sins, they are in the most hopeless state

possible, for they are incorrigible; and the admonitions, reprimands

and good examples, which cause others to amend, are for them only an

incitement to scorn, hatred, and worse sin. We cannot, therefore, deny

that the same Sacraments produce contrary effects in different men. We

must now investigate the cause of this phenomenon. It is in no wise

repugnant to philosophy, that contrary effects should, by reason of

contrary disposition of matter, spring from the same cause. For, we

see how the rays of the sun harden the earth, and melt ice, cause a

well-planted tree to bear flower and fruit, and wither another whose

roots have not struck deeply. The two effects of which we have been

speaking, _viz._, the good effect produced by the Sacraments on good

priests and religious, and the bad effect produced on those that are

bad, cannot spring from a false or empty cause. For, if the externals of

religion did not depend on God, and were not the instruments of Divine

virtue and truth, they could not produce an effect so excellent as to

give birth to the Christian life, and to nourish and perfect it. For as

this life is wholly spiritual and Divine, it cannot proceed from any

physical power. Who is there that believes that baptism with water,

anointing with chrism, smoke of incense, oblation of bread and wine upon

the altar, and other rites and ceremonies of the same description, could

of themselves, without any other power, suffice to render a soul perfect?

Surely if these things were human inventions, or deceits of the devil,

they could not produce holy lives.

But, perhaps you will say, the Christian life is not produced by this

external worship, but by the exercise of virtues, and by the credulity of

men, who, believing these exterior ceremonies to be Divine, do by means

of them lead a good life, and thus make progress in virtue. Why is it,

then, we would answer, that other men who practise virtue without the

Sacraments, never attain to the same degree of holiness, as these good

priests? Surely, if external worship were false and useless, those who

abstained from it would become all the better, not being contaminated by

error; and priests who despised these rites and ceremonies, and made a

jest of them, would be the best of men. Daily experience, however, shows

us, that facts are quite otherwise.

Again, it stands to reason that as God is the Supreme Truth, man, the

more closely he draws nigh to God, partakes more fully of His light and

truth; and the more he becomes involved in error and falsehood, the

further he recedes from God. But we know that those who devoutly frequent

the Sacraments, and make use of the ceremonies of the Church, become so

united to God, that manifest signs of the presence of the Divine light

appear in their countenance, and many are rapt in ecstasy, and their

faces are then so transfigured, that they appear to all men attractive

and venerable. And although such phenomena were more common in past

times than at present, these marvels are still often to be seen in our

own days, amongst both men and women, learned and ignorant. Whence come

these ecstasies, and this holy contemplation, this fervour of spirit, and

these tears which accompany exterior worship? In truth, if these external

ceremonies are not ordained by God, they are full of absurdities and

fallacies; for they are all typical of things spiritual and Divine; and

our churches, sacraments, altars, priestly vestments, sacred psalmody,

and ceremonies all typify falsehoods, especially concerning Christ,

of whom they are a figure, and they amount to nothing save useless

lies. But if these exterior rites are a mere mockery, good men would

not take such delight in them, nor by their means draw so near to God.

For, as we have said, in proportion as men are involved in error, they

recede from God. Hence, we must conclude that the ritual of the Church

is full of grace and truth. The wonderful ceremonial of the Church,

again, and the symbolical signification of her rites wherein there is

nothing trivial, nothing irrational—but everything, even the most minute

detail, is typical of some mystery—proves, that these rites are not a

human invention, but a Divine ordinance. It is not our intention here

to enlarge upon the meaning of the ecclesiastical ceremonies, as this

subject will be briefly handled in the next Book. If, however, any one

wishes to know more of these mysteries without further delay, he will

find them explained in the Christian doctrine; and he will see that there

is no less harmony and order in the ceremonies of the Church than in the

operations of nature. And, unless he be thoroughly perverse, he will be

forced to acknowledge, that our worship is the outcome, not of a human,

but of a Divine Spirit.

CHAPTER XI.

THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY EVIDENCED BY ITS EFFECTS ON THE INTERIOR LIFE

OF CHRISTIANS.

We have, to the best of our poor ability, proved the truth of the Faith

by arguments founded on the internal and external causes of the Christian

life. We will next proceed to demonstrate its truth by its effects on

this life. Its chief interior effect is peace and joy of spirit, and

liberty of soul. We see this effect exemplified in the Saints of former

times (when there was more fervour than at present). They enjoyed a

serenity and peace of mind which enabled them, not only to remain

unshaken in the midst of affliction, but even to rejoice at martyrdom.

Now, as this joy in the midst of tribulation increases in them in

proportion as they draw nearer to Christ, we see that peace of soul can

only be attained by union with God, the last end and only satisfaction of

the human heart, in whom alone we can find rest. Those who are closely

united to Him have such firm hope of enjoying happiness after this life,

that they make no account of the good things of this world, and fear

neither persecution nor loss of life, but eagerly look forward to death,

as the passage to eternal bliss. And God, though He is everywhere, dwells

specially in such souls as these, by His grace and love, and by the gift

of contemplation. He sustains them by His presence, delivering them from

all fear, and giving them such liberty of spirit, that they are neither

cast down by adversity, nor uplifted by prosperity.

This peace, joy, and freedom of soul cannot proceed from any natural

human power, weakened as we are by sensuality and ignorance. It must be a

supernatural gift of God, causing us to lift our eyes to the Divine light

and the beatitude promised to us.

We can prove that this peace of soul is caused by union with God, if

we reason in the following manner. The soul is one, and all its powers

spring from it. If, then, the soul be fixed on the operation of one

power, it cannot attend to the operation of another; just as in intense

contemplation the operations of the senses are suspended, and in great

physical pain or enjoyment the understanding is no longer exercised.

Hence, humanly speaking, it would be quite impossible that, in the

midst of intense bodily torture, the intellect should enjoy peace and

happiness. And, yet, we behold this phenomenon in innumerable martyrs, of

both sexes, and of every rank of life. Of course the sages of this world

will adduce examples of a few individuals, who, although not Christians,

have experienced the same ecstacy in the midst of sufferings. But the

Christians in whom this miracle has been wrought are innumerable, and

the least child who is a true Christian is superior to all the heathen

saints, whose erroneous judgment and perverted affections are conspicuous

in their writings. Thus, this power of rejoicing in the midst of

suffering, is not natural; it is a supernatural gift of God. This again

is a proof of the veracity of Christianity. For were the Faith of Christ

(which is the cause of these wonderful effects), proved to be false,

it would not come from God, and Christians would thus be left to their

natural weakness, and involved in many errors.

The more virtuously a man lives, the more clearly he discerns the truth,

and the better he loves good and hates evil and falsehood. If, then,

the religion of Christ were not true, Christians would live in error,

and their persistence in adoring Christ as God would be criminal. But

experience shows us that Christians are confirmed in their faith, and

enjoy peace, and joy, and liberty of soul in proportion to their virtue.

This would certainly not be the case were Christianity a falsehood.

The truth of our Faith is also confirmed by the example of the many

religious of both sexes, who in these days, as well as in past times,

have from desire of perfection left friends and kinsfolk, riches,

pleasure, and even their own will, and have retired into a cloister in

some far-off land, where, submitting to strangers, they have promised to

observe poverty, to possess nothing save with the permission of their

superior, to preserve chastity of soul and body, to fast and watch as

much as their weakness will permit, and to practise obedience to all

commands. Thus, they renounce worldly possessions, earthly happiness and

their own will; and yet they live as joyfully, and take as much delight

in praising God, as if they had all that earth can give. With one consent

they acknowledge that all their peace and joy of soul is based on the

Faith in Jesus Crucified. And we cannot repute them as fools, since among

them are not only ignorant persons, but men renowned for learning,

prudence, and judgment, who would, were their Faith false, speedily

recognise their error. Hence, we must reckon that the cause of this

wonderful effect is the religion of Christ, which is not false but true.

As these religious, being in a state of life wherein a high degree of

perfection is attainable, make every effort to advance in perfection,

it follows that they are more fitted than are other men to receive

heavenly illumination. Were the faith false, it would not be possible

for its falsehood to be disguised during so many centuries, and among

so many worthy men; nor could these men confirm their religion every

hour in their hearts, by their words, their works, and their innumerable

writings; nor, being in the greatest subjection, live in such spiritual

liberty and joy.

Again. Every cause does, as far as possible, direct its effect to its

end, especially when the effect is disposed to receive the influx of its

cause. Hence, God, being supremely good, conducts all things to their

end, unless they are hindered, by their unfitness, from attaining to it.

Now, as no better disposition for attaining to beatitude can be found

than the life of religious, it follows that they must be guided by God to

beatitude, and that their peace and joy are a participation of beatitude.

As this aptitude for beatitude springs from the Faith of Christ, and

increases in proportion to the growth of that Faith, it is clear that the

Faith cannot be false, or God would be fostering errors and spurious joy

in the souls of well-disposed men, and would thus be leading them astray.

All joy again is based on love, which is that first act of the appetite

and will, on which all other acts depend. Now, as the happiness of

religious is not centred on worldly goods, which they have relinquished,

and as they unanimously acknowledge that the well-spring of their joy is

the Faith of Christ and the hope of another life, they cannot be living

in error. For, the uprightness of their life would cause them to perceive

their mistake; and thus would banish their peace of mind. But we see that

they experience quite contrary effects, which prove that the Faith of

Christ is true.

CHAPTER XII.

THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY MANIFESTED BY ITS VISIBLE EFFECTS ON THE LIVES

OF CHRISTIANS.

Another signal effect of the Christian religion is to be perceived in

the exterior of those who profess it; for their countenance and manner

constrain men to reverence them and hold them in honour. The fiercest

men have become gentle, at the sight of devout Christians clad in lowly

guise. Attila, the ferocious King of the Huns, beholding Saint Leo,

the Pope, in the city of Ravenna, and hearing his words, abandoned the

invasion of Italy. Totila, the savage King of the Goths, could not

confront the poor and humble monk, St. Benedict; but, prostrating himself

upon the ground, would only rise at the Saint’s behest. Theodosius, the

Emperor, after the slaughter of the inhabitants of Thessalonica, was by

St. Ambrose banished from the temple of God, and, not daring to disobey,

humbled himself and did penance. Time would fail me were I to make

mention of all the examples that I can recall; but it is not necessary

to enlarge upon what is so clear. Even in our own time we have seen

arrogant sinners, smitten with compunction at the sight of holy men; and

this compunction has led them to an entire reformation of life.

Now the cause of this effect is supernatural grace, with the infusion of

all virtues. For we know how the soul can, by means of the imagination,

alter the whole countenance. Thus angry feelings express themselves

openly on the face: we grow pale with fear, red with shame; joy makes the

eye sparkle, etc. For, as the understanding makes use of those corporeal

organs, the senses; the thoughts of the understanding (when they are very

intense) often stamp themselves upon the body, especially on the eyes and

countenance. Thus a haughty mind can be recognised by the arrogance of

a man’s looks; cruelty by his rolling eye; light-mindedness by restless

limbs. Nay, sometimes sin can infect the very air and the bodies of

others—as we see in the case of malignant old women, who can bewitch

little children. Good and bad habits, when they are deeply rooted in the

soul, cannot be so completely disguised that they never appear in the

face. As we know that every effect expresses its cause, the beautiful and

venerable aspect of perfect Christians can proceed from nothing, save

from the beauty of their soul, which is, of itself, most efficacious

in the conversion of sinners. Even though a man be uneducated, if he

leads a holy life, he will have more influence with his fellows than an

eloquent and learned philosopher, or than miracles, either reported or

witnessed. We see how attentively an audience will listen to the words

of a learned preacher, without making any change in their lives; yet,

although his eloquence may be much praised, it will remain barren if his

life corresponds not to his words. In the same way, both in past days

and in our own time, many miracles have been wrought, and crowds of men

and women have flocked to see them; but they have produced but little

fruit in the reformation of their lives.

A perfect Christian life, on the contrary, will convert to God numberless

souls, not only among the poor and simple, but among the learned, and

will fill them with compunction. Indeed many have been so strongly

influenced by the holiness of life exhibited by perfect Christians, that

they have left the world and retired into a cloister. There must, then,

be some intrinsic power in those who lead holy lives, which enables them

to produce such marvellous effects. I say _intrinsic_, for this power

is not exterior, since the body does not, strictly speaking, act upon

the spirit; and therefore the exterior of a perfect Christian could not

have power to change the will and the understanding of other men. The

chief virtue of a perfect Christian, and that which produces both his

good life and his exterior beauty, is his Faith in, and love of Christ

Crucified. And the more this Faith and love increase, the more beautiful

and venerable does his exterior aspect become.

Truth is stronger than falsehood. Now there is, as we have already said,

no more efficacious means of inducing men to lead a good life, than the

example of a good Christian. For, the example of virtuous heathens led

very few to heathen perfection; whereas those who have been converted by

the example of Christianity are innumerable. Hence the root and essence

of the Christian religion cannot be false or futile; otherwise it would

produce less effect on the lives of men than does philosophy. This, as we

know, is not the case.

God is the primary Cause of motion, without which nothing moves; and,

as He does all things wisely, He produces the noblest effects from the

noblest causes. Therefore, as the Christian life is a most noble effect,

it springs from most noble causes, of which one is the good example

exhibited by this life. One begets the other, as man begets man, and

animals beget animals. Therefore we must acknowledge, that the example of

a good life is a most noble cause and instrument, used by God to lead men

to true virtue, and that, as this virtue is Faith informed by charity,

Faith also must be true.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE TRUTH OF THE FAITH DEMONSTRATED BY THE WONDERFUL WORKS OF CHRIST,

ESPECIALLY THOSE WHICH PERTAIN TO HIS POWER.

We have, by the assistance of God, proved the truth of Faith by the

effects daily visible in the Church of Christ. In further confirmation

of our proofs, we can bring forward further arguments, based on the

works which Christ wrought in past times, and which were patent to the

whole world. As philosophers investigate the natural causes of the

things which they see, we will place before our eyes the Triumph of the

Cross, described before. And, as philosophers, seeing the greatness and

wonderful order and perfection of the Universe, believe God to be the

most powerful, the wisest and most perfect Cause of causes, and Prime

Mover of all things, we, likewise, from the marvels described in the

Triumph of the Cross, desire to show that Christ Crucified has surpassed,

in power and wisdom and goodness, all those that have been honoured and

adored as gods, and has done incomparably greater and more wonderful

things than they have wrought; so that He, most surely, is “a great God,

and a great King above all gods” (Ps. xciv. 3).

Let us then begin by considering His power, and by placing before our

eyes the Triumph of the Cross. Let us argue in this wise. Either Christ

is the True God and the First Cause of all things, or He is not. If He

be God, it follows that Christianity is true; and there is no need for

further discussion. If He be not God, He must have been the proudest man,

and the greatest liar that ever lived. He must also have been exceedingly

foolish. For it would have been, indeed, the height of folly for a

man, unaided by wealth or worldly power, ignorant of philosophy and of

rhetoric, to attempt, merely by virtue of his death, to fight against

the Divine Majesty, and to usurp to himself the honour due to It; or to

strive to induce learned and powerful men to join a new religion which

should change the whole face of the earth, should acknowledge him as God,

and should inspire his followers with such fervent love for him, that

for his sake they should be ready to lay down life itself. Could any

absurdity equal such aspirations as these? If, then, Jesus of Nazareth

were not true God, He would be a most foolish and sacrilegious seducer.

How could such a man have been able to supersede the Law of Moses, and to

struggle successfully against men of authority and learning, against the

powers of heaven and hell, nay, against God Himself? Why, O Jews, did not

your God take vengeance on Him? For what reason, ye Gentiles, have your

deities not overthrown Him? How has it come to pass that a poor and lowly

man, put to death by Crucifixion, has accomplished such mighty deeds?

What God, I speak not of men, can be compared with Christ?

Again, consider how foolish it is to draw a comparison between Jesus

Christ and Apollonius, Pythagoras, Socrates, Cæsar, or any emperor;

since none of them has either proclaimed himself God, or done any deed

which can be compared to the works of Christ. Mahomet, who never called

himself God, attracted a barbarous people to himself by force of arms and

by sensual indulgence; he spoke admiringly of Christ, but himself never

proposed anything to his followers, above the force of human nature.

Jesus Christ did not act thus. His commands to men are most arduous and

most difficult to obey; since He would have them believe in a God, One

in Nature, Three in Person. His followers must confess that the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Ghost are true God, Simple Substance, and that He

is very God, the Son of God, One with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

and true Man, the Son of the Virgin Mary, who must be reverenced as the

true Mother of God. Furthermore, Christians are bound to confess that

the Cross, which used to be an instrument of punishment, is a powerful

sign of our salvation, and that a little bread and wine is changed, by

virtue of certain words pronounced over it, into the Body and Blood of

Christ, the heavenly food of our souls, and as such has to be adored. We

must also believe that no one can enter into the Kingdom of God unless he

receive the baptism which confers heavenly grace. And we must hold, with

inviolable firmness, every point taught by Scripture, however difficult

it may be to human understanding.

Neither is Faith sufficient for salvation. We must also love invisible

things so much as to despise such as are visible, and to be ready to

suffer persecution, and even death itself, rather than offend God in

anything. Christ does not promise us in this world riches, or honour,

or dignity, but rather poverty, persecution, scourges, exile, prison,

and death. He reserves for us hereafter happiness unspeakable, a share

in the glory of the angels, the resurrection of the body, and joy which

“eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the

heart of man to conceive” (1 Cor. ii. 9). And although the things which

our Lord sets before us are most difficult to human nature, innumerable

Christians, of all times and conditions of life, have accepted His

teaching, and adhered to it so closely, that they have preferred to die

rather than to deny it.

Let us, then, place before our eyes Christ living in poverty, the reputed

son of a carpenter; and let us question Him as to His thoughts. He will

reply: I, poor though I be and an exile on earth, propose to lay down

laws for the whole human race, and so to change the face of the world,

that, although I shall be crucified, men shall adore Me as true God, One

with the Father and the Holy Ghost. And it is My will that the cross and

nails and thorny crown, and all the other instruments of My Passion,

shall be honoured and held in veneration as most precious treasures.

Likewise men shall believe that a little bread and wine is changed into

My Body and Blood, and shall adore It as God. They shall confess that the

water of baptism cleanses from sin, and that oil and chrism sanctify, and

that My doctrine, of which it is not lawful to change one jot or tittle,

surpasses all other teaching. My Virgin Mother also shall be honoured and

loved throughout the whole world, and My Apostles, who were fishermen,

shall be so revered, that men shall honour their very bones and ashes.

If any poor man were to speak thus, should we not deride him as a madman?

But, if, in spite of your ridicule, He should say further: It is My

will, not only that men should believe these things, but should on

their account live in holiness, and should for the sake of invisible

things spurn such as are visible, suffering for love of Me poverty,

hunger, thirst, labour, torture and death—would you not think that He

had lost His senses? And were He to add: I shall accomplish all these

things against the will of the whole world, and shall overcome kings and

princes, the powers of hell, and the machinations of men—would you not

think Him completely mad?

But what would be your opinion of Him, if, when you asked Him with what

weapons He proposed to achieve these victories, He should reply: My

only arms will be the tongue, used not in rhetorical or philosophical

eloquence, but in simplicity of preaching; and I know that by means of

this preaching many will be converted to Me, and will for My name endure

suffering and death; and the blood of My faithful will become the seed

of the Church. And so great will be the power of My doctrine that Peter

the fisherman and his successors will become heads of the proud city

of Rome, and the chiefs of the world; and emperors will humbly stoop

to kiss their feet. And good and learned men shall, in every language,

compose innumerable books filled with My praises, and in defence of My

doctrine. And when my priests shall, with great reverence and solemnity,

pronounce My word, all people shall listen to it, standing with bared

heads. And none shall prevail against Me, but My religion shall endure

for ever. Would you not have treated such words as foolish dreams? And,

surely, when we consider how all these prophecies have been fulfilled,

shall we not see that they could not possibly have been accomplished by

one poor man, nor by all men, nor by all natural or supernatural power,

but only by the infinite power of God? Beholding these things, can we

possibly doubt that they are the work of God, and that the Faith of

Christ is true? What conjuror, what philosopher, what powerful king has

ever performed the like? Can Mahomet, can the heathen gods be compared to

Christ, before whose coming none of these things were accomplished, or

even imagined? Neither can we say that these marvels happened by chance,

for they had been foretold years before their accomplishment by the

Prophets and Sybils, whose books are known to the whole world. This is

another argument in favour of the truth of Christianity.

In the course of nature some causes invariably produce their effect;

others do so nearly always; and others are indifferent as to whether

they produce their effect or not. Again, some arguments, _i.e._, those

called demonstrative, infallibly constrain the understanding to accept a

proposition; others almost always incline the understanding to receive

it; and others sometimes appeal to the mind, and at other times produce

no effect upon it. Demonstration abounds in mathematical science, though

there is very little of it in natural science, and still less in moral

science which treats of sublime and Divine things. For our understanding

is so weak, that it does not really know the nature of things; and,

therefore, it is with difficulty convinced with regard to things which

are not manifest. If, then, it be difficult to persuade the understanding

to embrace moral and Divine things, how much harder must it not be to

incline it to virtue and contemplation, seeing how the flesh ever rebels

against the spirit? But it is, above all things, difficult to incline the

intellect to perseverance in good works. In philosophical schools we see

many systems under many founders; but few sincerely love what they learn

or teach. For, very few who know what really are good works, are, as a

consequence, by their knowledge of them, attracted to persevere in their

performance. If, then, the greatest philosophers, with all their learning

and eloquence, have scarcely succeeded in persuading a few men to believe

things dictated by reason—such as, for instance, God’s providence over

human affairs and the duty of practising virtue and avoiding vice—how

much less able would they have been to induce men to believe things above

natural reason, and, above all, to love good works? But the disciples

of Christ, unknown fishermen, were able, by their simple preaching, to

persuade the world to accept the truths of faith and to love these truths

so ardently, and to pursue good works so unflaggingly, that in comparison

with them they esteemed all earthly things as dust and ashes, and refused

to deny their faith either for promises or threats, or even for death

itself. Surely, if Christianity were false, the Apostles could not more

easily have persuaded men to accept it, than philosophers had induced

them to embrace systems which appealed to natural reason. And the words

of the poor fishermen would not alone have sufficed to convert the world,

but those words must needs have been confirmed by miracles. And who but

God could have enabled them to work their miracles, which surpassed all

the powers of human nature? But, supposing that the Apostles worked no

miracles at all, surely the wonder of wonders would be that a crucified

man should be able, by means of twelve poor fishermen, to persuade, by

words alone, the entire world to embrace His doctrine. Therefore, whether

the spread of Christianity be due to miracles or not, we cannot deny that

the power of Christ has been beyond any natural power. And, since the

First Cause is that which is more powerful than other causes, so the true

God must be He that is more mighty than any other god. Therefore, Jesus

Christ, whose Faith has been victorious over all other forms of religion,

must be the true God, and His teaching must be the true religion.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY SHOWN BY ARGUMENTS BASED ON THE WISDOM OF

CHRIST.

The property of wisdom is a capacity to subordinate things to their

end. Thus, that artist is considered a master who can dispose the

circumstances of his art towards the end which he wishes to attain;

and it is to the architect, and not to the builders, that the credit

of an edifice is due. But artists, seeing that they only work towards

some particular end, are relatively, not absolutely, wise. He alone

who labours for the last end of human life, and who directs all his

activities towards the attainment of that end, is endowed with absolute

wisdom. Now, as Jesus of Nazareth has pointed out the true end of human

life, and the true means of attaining thereto, and has done so with a

clearness and a force exercised by no other man, He alone can be called

truly and pre-eminently wise.

Again. As power to beget children is a sign of perfect virility, so

power to teach is a mark of perfect wisdom. And, surely, never has

teacher arisen whose doctrine is more sublime, or more useful, than is

that of Christ; and never has one taught with ease and power comparable

to His. The systems of philosophers are obscure, and mingled with many

errors; and the teachers themselves are uncertain on many points, such as

Divine Providence, the end of human life, and the things which pertain

to salvation. But our Saviour, Jesus Christ, has enlightened even women

and children, to understand clearly many things incomprehensible to

philosophers, and has enabled them to hold His doctrine with a firmness

invincible even by death.

Further. As the power of an agent is known by the extent and duration of

his work, the wisdom of a teacher is recognised by the number of ignorant

sinners whom he converts, and the speed wherewith their conversion

is effected. For it is no great sign of power to attract those who

are naturally and habitually well disposed; but only great wisdom can

instruct, in a short time, men of mean understanding, and women and

children, and can reform notorious sinners. Christ alone has succeeded in

effecting these wonders throughout the whole world. Therefore, He alone

is endowed with incomparable wisdom.

Again. It is no great thing to produce natural effects by natural causes.

For example, it does not surprise us if a conflagration be caused by

fire, but it would be marvellous were it produced by water. Hence, it is

only supreme and infinite power that can act on natural objects, either

without instruments or with such as are diametrically opposed to the

effect produced; or that can operate on all natural objects with the

same instrument. Thus it is nothing very wonderful that philosophers

should have been able to teach by means of ordinary methods; but only

Supreme Power could have taught by means of that which, in the world, is

accounted foolishness. Now Christ, by means of the folly and the ignominy

of the Cross, has imparted to men sublime wisdom, true wisdom, which can

only be acquired by the teaching of the Cross, wisdom, compared to which

all human learning is foolishness. Therefore, the wisdom of Christ must

itself be pre-eminent.

If wisdom mean the science of Divine things, the wisdom of Christ must

exceed all other wisdom. For, as we see by comparing Christian doctrine

with philosophical systems, no one has treated of Divine things so fully,

or so sublimely, as Christ has done. Theology has purged philosophy, and

made it perfect, and has diffused so widely the knowledge of the Divine,

that Christians, even the least educated, easily understand points which

are stumbling-blocks to philosophers. And, further, the preaching of the

Apostles has illuminated the world to see its errors. Since this dawn of

the light of Christ, philosophers and poets, ashamed of their false gods

and fables, have tried to disguise their superstitions under a cloak of

allegory.

Again. It is only great wisdom that can understand sublime and intricate

matters. Christ has taught and easily defended, most subtle doctrine.

How, then, shall we hesitate to declare His wisdom incomparable? His

doctrine has not only stood the test of argument, but likewise that of

cruel persecution, under which philosophers would have denied their first

principles. For as their philosophy proceeded from natural reason, they

would have had neither strength nor wisdom to uphold it. But the teaching

of Christ, being supernatural, is likewise, of necessity, invincible.

Christianity is either false or true. If it be true, discussion is at

an end. If it be false, Christ must still be acknowledged to have been

the wisest of men, seeing that He was able to persuade men to accept

doctrines, difficult and unpalatable, and to adhere to them so firmly,

that no human reason or power has been able to uproot them from the

world. Nevertheless, in all that Christ has taught there is nothing

repugnant to philosophy or to science. On the contrary, Christianity

culls truth from all systems, even from paganism. If Christ had not been

Wisdom Itself, He could never have founded so wise a religion as is this.

If His doctrine had been false, it would not be defensible by science.

For philosophers find it sufficiently difficult to defend even truth

against their opponents. Even were we obliged to acknowledge Christianity

to be a falsehood, we should still be constrained to recognise the

extraordinary sagacity of its Founder, who by means of subtle fallacies

has been able to lead His disciples to sublime perfection of life. But,

seeing that there can be no harmony between virtue and deceit, and no

agreement between truth and falsehood, we are driven to confess that

Christ is truly wise, with a wisdom surpassing that of men. His wisdom is

attested by the many who have extolled it, not only by their words and

writing, but by their works, and by the shedding of their blood.

Finally. The greatest power of wise men appears, chiefly, in the fact,

that they require but a short time in which to lead their pupils to the

perfection of knowledge. But as no one has given such clear proofs of

this power as Christ has manifested, it is evident that He alone is wise

above all men. Every science is either rational or real. By rational

science we understand logic, rhetoric and poetry; and the end aimed at

by these branches of rational science is to teach us to weave together

arguments, chains of reasoning, and exhortations, which will convert

men to agree with our opinions. Now, Christ instructed the Apostles in

rational science to such good purpose, that, by their preaching, they

exercised more influence in the world, than had ever been achieved

by any human power or learning. Real science is either practical and

moral, or speculative. Christ has taught practical and moral science so

effectually, that Christians need no philosophy but His. Speculative

science may be concerned with Divine things, and in the teaching of

Christ is contained such fulness of Divine knowledge that, beside it,

all human wisdom is stultified. Or, on the other hand, it may teach the

knowledge of numbers and of figures, as do arithmetic and geometry; but

as this knowledge is in no wise necessary to salvation, the teaching

of Christ disregards it, except for purposes of allegory. Thirdly,

speculative science may treat of sensible things, in order, by means of

them, to lead men to speculation on intelligible things. The teaching

of Christ exhibits most perfectly this speculative science, seeing that

His preaching abounds in the use of visible things, as images or mirrors

of such as are invisible. Thus we see that Christ only is supremely

wise, since He only has been able, easily, to lead men to the fulness of

knowledge.

Again. The pleasures of the mind are far greater than those of the

senses; but the greatest of all intellectual enjoyments is the

contemplation of Supreme Truth. Therefore, since wisdom consists in

the cognition and contemplation of this Truth, he must be wisest who

most delights in it. Now, never has the contemplation of Truth been

so ardently loved, and so strenuously sought after, as in these days,

when, for its sake, men abandon every earthly joy, and, living like

disembodied spirits, heed not the things of the flesh, and are disturbed

at no tribulation. Thus do they prove that Christ, their Teacher, is wise

beyond all human wisdom, and beyond all the wisdom of heathen deities,

yea, that He is the very Wisdom of the Eternal God.

CHAPTER XV.

THE TRUTH OF CHRIST’S TEACHING IS PROVED BY HIS GOODNESS.

We have shown that Jesus of Nazareth surpasses, in wisdom and in power,

all men and all heathen deities. Hence, if we believe in the existence

of any god, He only can be that God. It will next be our duty to prove

His Divinity by arguments founded on His goodness, and to show that Jesus

Christ is the Supreme Good and the End of human life. And we must premise

that all human operations, i.e., such as proceed from free will, are

effected for some end; for appetite always tends to that which either

is good, or appears to be good. It cannot tend to two things as to its

ultimate end; for it is so fully satisfied by its last end, that it can

desire nothing which is not ordered thereto. Now, as men, though not all

of the same opinion or endowed with the same degree of knowledge, are

yet all of the same nature, they must all tend to the same end, which is

happiness; although, from their difference of condition, they do not all

place their happiness in the same thing. If, then, we can prove that

Christ is the Last End, to which all nature tends, it will be clear that

He must be the very Truth, the First Cause, the Supreme Good, and in fact

the true God.

In order to make this argument more clear, we must remember, that, when

one thing tends naturally to another as to its end, it will be hindered

in the attainment of this end, if it be joined by another thing of a

contrary nature. Thus, if a heavy thing move towards its centre, it will

be impeded in its course if it be joined to a light thing whose tendency

it is to go upwards. Thus birds, whose bodies are heavy, are nevertheless

raised aloft by their wings; whereas, a merely heavy thing moves swiftly

towards its centre. Now, as man is composed of a corporeal and a

spiritual nature, it happens, that, while his spiritual nature tends to

true beatitude, his senses disturb and trouble him in the pursuit of his

end; and, although they cannot force him to evil, they often incline him

to inordinate desires. From these molestations, and from the weakness of

his understanding, arise the divers human conceptions of happiness. If

we would learn, by means of man’s natural desire, in what his beatitude

consists, we must not consider the desires and inclinations of such as

live like beasts, but of such as live according to reason. Just as, if we

want to see whether heavy things move downwards or upwards, we must not

choose birds as a test; but must select something completely heavy. We

may learn what is the Last End of man by examining the desires of such

as have purified themselves from the defilement of the senses, and who

live according to reason. And as no life is so pure and so reasonable as

the Christian life, we can, from the desires common to Christians, learn

what is the Last End of man. Now, as Christians unite in an intense love

for Christ Crucified, as the Last End of human life, it follows that we

cannot reasonably hold that any but Christ can be the Last End of man.

Again. Man’s last end is his ultimate perfection; and the more perfect he

becomes, the nearer does he approach to his end. Now, nothing causes man

to become so perfect in life and in contemplation, as does Jesus Christ

Crucified; and they who least resemble Him and are the most remote from

Him, are the worst and most imperfect of men. He, therefore, must be the

Last End of human life.

Further. The desire of the last end is natural to everything, and is

ineradicable. When, therefore, men, who are purged from vice desire

something, they love it so much that all other things appear to them

as nought in comparison with the object of their desire. They would

rather die than relinquish their pursuit of it. Now, as the life of true

Christians is a pure life, and as they desire Christ Crucified with so

steadfast a desire that they would sacrifice life itself rather than lose

His love, and would most gladly die for His sake, it is manifest that

Christ is the Supreme Truth and the Last End of human life. Our argument

is further strengthened by the fact, that nothing is so steadfastly

desired as He. For when men love other things, they love them not more

than themselves, but for their own satisfaction; and would rather abandon

them than die for their sake.

We see, likewise, how all things of the same species incline naturally to

the same end; as all heavy things tend towards their centre. Therefore,

Christ must be the Last End of human life, since nothing has been pursued

by men with the same ardour and constancy, that they have shown in

following Him. This is the reason why Christians are so closely united

together; for we see that they love Jesus Christ above all things. For

His sake they likewise love each other, of whatsoever race and country

they may be; and the more their faith in Christ increases, the stronger

grows their brotherly love. This could not be the case were their faith

not true. For fallacy and error cause, not harmony, but discord.

Again. The soul enjoys greater happiness in proportion as, by love and

contemplation, it draws nearer to its last end. But the happiness enjoyed

by Christians far surpasses all pleasures of understanding and sense.

This truth is proved by the invincible constancy of the martyrs, who went

to death rejoicing and exulting; by the numberless monks and hermits who,

relinquishing all things, and living in the practice of the greatest

austerity, have yet enjoyed incomparable happiness; and by the numerous

philosophers who have found such delight in the study of Holy Scripture,

that, in order to devote themselves to it, they have abandoned every

other branch of learning. Hence we see that the joy which souls find in

Christ exceeds all other happiness. If, then, felicity be synonymous with

proximity to our last end, Christ, in whom all happiness is found, must

be the Last End of human life.

In order to comprehend, collectively, all the properties of our Last

End we reason thus. As all things of the same species tend naturally to

the same end, be it proximate or ultimate, it follows that men, who are

all of the same species, must be fitted for some one thing which is the

common end of human life. Now, all men agree in professing that they

tend towards a last end; but they differ as to that wherein their last

end is to be found. But since the happiness of mankind consists in the

act of understanding, it is natural to conclude that this last end is to

be found in that thing, towards which they who live the most rationally

and whose affections are the most purified do uniformly incline; that

to which they steadfastly adhere, loving it better than themselves;

delighting in it; drawing from it sanctity of ways and brightness of

heavenly life; and being raised by its influence so far above this world,

that, in comparison with their end, they repute all earthly things as

worthless. Now, as all these wonderful effects have never been produced

in man by any, save by Christ Crucified, He must be the Last End of human

life.

But why do we insist on so self-evident a truth knowing, as we do, that

it is the property of Good to communicate itself, and that the graces

and blessings diffused by Christ over mankind are absolutely unequalled?

His coming has purged the world from error, filled it with sanctity

and virtue, and communicated to all His followers happiness which no

earthly thing could give. His supreme goodness is further shown by the

promptitude and liberality wherewith He not only forgives sinners, but so

enriches them with His gifts, that where sin did abound, grace has much

more abounded, and they who return to Him from their sins are enabled

to lead a virtuous life and enjoy their pristine peace and happiness,

whereas they who forsake Him lose all tranquillity of mind. What further

proof do we require that Christ is the Supreme Good, and the Last End of

man?

CHAPTER XVI.

THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY IS PROVED BY THE POWER, WISDOM, AND GOODNESS OF

CHRIST, CONSIDERED COLLECTIVELY.

We may sum up in a few words what has been already said about the power,

the wisdom, and the goodness of Christ. Had Christ not been God, He would

have been the most proud and the most foolish of men. And if (as some

hold) the assertion of His Divinity was not made by Himself but by His

disciples, how can a religion of such goodness, wisdom, and power, be

the outcome of such a falsehood? If Christ be not God, who is God? God

preserves and governs all inferior things by the requisite means; and,

as no means are so suitable for the attainment of a virtuous life as the

Faith and love of our Saviour Jesus Christ, we must either acknowledge

that He is the true means whereby we attain beatitude, or must hold, with

fatalists, that things happen by chance; and we must end in denying the

existence of God.

Again. If there be any true religion in the world; and if no religion be

supported by such arguments and undeniable proofs as is the Christian

religion; where, save in Christianity, are we to seek the true religion?

Further. No religion has endured the constant and cruel persecution

inflicted on Christianity. Other religions, or rather superstitions, have

never roused in the world the hatred excited by the Faith of Christ. Yet,

in spite of this fact, other religions which persecuted Christianity,

have died out, of themselves, without being persecuted. Christianity has

only flourished, and waxed stronger, by means of its conflicts. How do we

account for this fact, if Christianity be untrue?

We must remember, likewise, that they who have persecuted Christians have

been, not good and upright men, but men of infamous life. Is not this a

further proof of the truth of our religion?

Again. No religion has made converts under the same conditions as those

in which men have accepted the Faith of Christ. For those who have become

Christians have done so, not in hopes of gaining riches, or honour, or

pleasure, but with the expectation of having to bear poverty and shame,

torture and death. If these men had not been enlightened by true light,

could they have acted thus?

This collection of arguments, surely, ought to convince all men of the

truth of Christianity. For, although the intellect may not be persuaded

by one proof, nor by two, nor by three, a series of proofs carries as

much weight as does a chain of mathematical demonstrations, or the sight

of a dead man raised to life.

If, then, Christianity be true, all other religions must be false; for

none can be saved except by Faith. This condition for salvation is a

most reasonable one; for our beatitude is to consist in the vision and

fruition of God, to which none can attain, save by the supernatural gift

of Faith, without which, as St. Paul says, “it is impossible to please

God” (Heb. xi. 6). Neither have they any ground for excuse or complaint

who live in distant lands, where Christianity is unknown. For, as all

men are endowed with reason, which leads to the knowledge of God, and

as God further manifests Himself in the natural order of Creation, it

follows that if any one live according to reason, and turn to God for

help (as nature teaches every effect to turn to its cause), Almighty

God, the Supreme Good who is never wanting to any necessity of, even His

irrational, creatures, will still less fail man in matters pertaining to

salvation. He will rather enlighten him, either by interior inspiration,

as He enlightened Job; or by the ministry of angels, as He instructed

Cornelius the Centurion; or by preaching, as He taught the Eunuch of

Candace, by means of Philip the Apostle.

BOOK III.

METHOD OBSERVED THROUGHOUT THIS BOOK.

We have already proved the truth of Christianity, by means of arguments

based on the past and present works of Christ. But it is our duty, not

merely to demonstrate the solid foundations of our Faith, but, also, to

defend it against the objections raised against it; and to show that,

while it teaches many things surpassing human understanding, not one

point of its doctrine is either unreasonable or incredible.

We will, then, first, discuss the articles of our belief. Next, we

will examine the reasons for the divers moral commandments imposed

upon us. Thirdly, we will demonstrate the equity of the laws, of which

Christianity makes use in judging. And lastly, we will explain the hidden

meaning of the ceremonies used in our religious rites.

It is true that many learned writers have treated these points, fully

and eloquently, but we could not omit them in our work, without leaving

it imperfect. And, whereas other authors have handled these matters with

great diffuseness and subtlety; it is our intention to set them forth so

simply, and so briefly, as to make them easily intelligible, not only to

the learned, but to the ignorant and unbelieving.

CHAPTER I.

GOD CONTAINS WITHIN HIMSELF, AND CAN PERFORM, AN INFINITE NUMBER OF

THINGS SURPASSING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING.

If we think, for a moment, of the natural weakness of our intellect,

we shall easily see that in God there must be many things which exceed

our mental capacity. We believe that the acme of human wisdom has

been reached by a certain number of great philosophers; yet even they

acknowledge themselves to be baffled by some purely natural phenomena.

If, then, men of the very highest order of intelligence have been able

to attain merely to a very imperfect knowledge of the everyday things

of nature, how can we expect to understand heavenly mysteries, and the

Divine truths which are so far above any earthly intelligence?

Again. Although men are all of the same species, they differ so much

in mental capacity, that many, although making every effort, could

never succeed in understanding matters which are comparatively simple

to others. Why then should we wonder, if the angelic mind be so

differentiated from the human, that angels know many things which men are

quite incapable of comprehending? And as God is infinitely superior to

angels, must there not be in Him infinite things surpassing the powers

of human reason? And although we can, as a rule, know a cause by its

effects; yet when a cause greatly exceeds its effects, the effects do

but most imperfectly manifest their cause. Hence, God, being infinitely

superior to His effects, can only be most imperfectly known by them.

It is not difficult, furthermore, to prove that God can do infinite

things of which the human intellect is incapable. For, as all our

knowledge begins from the senses, our intellect can only, naturally,

grasp such things as are made clear to it by means of the senses; and

whatever efforts we may make, we can never know anything which exceeds

the natural order, or which is beyond our imagination. Now, God, being

Pure Act and Infinite Power, is not tied down to any order whatsoever,

but infinitely exceeds all created things, both spiritual and corporeal.

Thus we are constrained to acknowledge, that He can do infinite things

which we can never understand. We know, further, not only that He can

do, but that He has done many such things, _viz_., things spiritual and

angelic.

We can assign three reasons which make it fitting that God should have

done, and should have manifested to the world, many supernatural things,

surpassing the capacity of human understanding. First. He has done so

with a view to the salvation of mankind. For, as man is made for God,

and for a supernatural end, he could not attain to that end, were it

not revealed to him by God, together with the means conducive to it.

Secondly. God has acted thus, in order to humble man, and to teach him

to know his own nothingness as compared to the Divine Majesty. For, in

proportion as we realise that we can neither know nor contemplate (save

most imperfectly) even things revealed to us, we shall become more lowly

minded, and more reverent towards such as are Divine. Thirdly. By the

manifold revelation of His mysteries, which God has made to the world,

man has acquired a great relish for eternal truths, and has learned to

love the Divine goodness and condescension.

Hence, the fact that we cannot understand the truths of Christianity is

no reason for rejecting these truths. It is a reason, rather, for making

a serious study of the religion which teaches them, and of thus proving

to ourselves that it contains nothing either unreasonable or incredible.

But to make this more evident, we will (in the succeeding chapters)

descend to particular instances.