The Antibarbarian, Treatise · Chapter 5
CHAP. V. That publique ſervice in a tongue not understood, is contrary to the Word of God, and to reaſon.
I. ABuſe in the Liturgie and publique ſervice is yet more pernitious, becauſe God himſelfe is therein wrapped up, and made a barbarian unto men, and his word by this meanes becomes not intelligible: as if men would fruſtrate God of his intention, which is to ſpeake unto us to inſtruct us; as if Ieſus Chriſt came downe from heaven of purpoſe to ſpeake to men without being underſtood. For in the Maſſe there are not onelyonly prayers unto God, but alſo therein are read places of Scriptures in which God ſpeakes unto men. In prayers in a tongue not underſtood, there is uſed this impertinent excuſe, that God underſtands all tongues, as if we ſpake with the mouth; to the end, to be underſtood by God: But here where the buſineſſe is concerning God ſpeaking to men, this excuſe hath no place; for when God ſpeaketh unto men, hee will bee heard and underſtood: and indeed when for excuſe it is ſaid, that God underſtands al tongues, it is preſuppoſed that he unto whom he ſpeaketh, ſhould underſtand that which is ſaid unto him.
II. Therefore the Scripture teacheth us that when God is provoked to diſpleaſure againſt his people; hee makes them heavie of hearing, that they may not heare, and that their hearts may not underſtand; as God himſelfe ſpeaketh by his Prophet Eſay. Chap. 6. verſe 10.
III. Beſides it is alſo one of Gods curſes, wherewith hee puniſheth the ingratitude and the contempt of his word, when he ſpeakes to a people in a ſtrange tongue, that they may not underſtand, as the Apoſtle teacheth in the firſt to the Corinthians, Chap. 14. where he bringeth in God ſpeaking thus by his Prophet Eſay. Eſay 25.11.I will ſpeake to this people by men of another tongue, and by ſtrange lips, and thus they ſhall not understand, ſaith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a ſigne not unto beleevers, but vntounto infidells. This threatning is fulfilled in the Church of Rome; wherein God puniſheth the hardneſſe of mens hearts by ſpeaking unto them in a tongue which they underſtand not.
IIII. In this matter this maxime taken out of the nature of man, and from the intention of the creature ought to be laid for the foundation; namely, that the tongue was given unto man to be the interpreter of his thoughts, and meſſenger of his conceptions. Whence it followeth that to uſe the tongue to a contrarie end, and to ſpeake to the end to be not underſtood, is to turne nature topſie turvie and quite to overthrowe her; and as much as in us lyeth to fruſtrate the Creator of his intention: and to change humane ſpeech into an unprofitable Echo, and into a ſound beating the aire. Now if this bee true in him which ſpeaketh to others in a tongue which he underſtandeth not, it is yet more true in him which is underſtood neither by himſelfe nor by another.
V. Out of the ſelfe ſame maxime, it followeth that when the Prieſt ſpeaketh Latine in the Church, he ought to ſpeake to bee underſtood by ſome body. Our adverſaries muſt tell us, whether he ſpeake to bee underſtood by the aſſiſtants, or to be underſtood by himſelfe, or to bee underſtood by God, for there is no fourth. Now hee ſpeaketh not to be underſtood of the by-ſtanders, ſeeing hee ſpeaketh ſo very lowe, and in a tongue which the people underſtand not: and beſides, in private Maſſes hee ſpeaketh alone and without any aſſiſtants: Beſides he ſpeaketh not to be underſtood of God; for God underſtands us without our ſpeaking, though we ſpeake not at all, and before wee open our mouthes: nor can it rather be ſaid, that the Prieſt in the Maſſe ſpeaketh to the end to be underſtood by himſelfe, for hee knew his owne thought before hee ſpake: ſpeech was given man not to informe himſelfe in his own thoughts, but to the end to make it knowne to another; he is utterly beſide himſelfe that ſpeaketh to himſelfe, to the end, to underſtand himſelfe.
VI. Add herevnto, that in many places of the Maſſe, the Prieſt ſpeaketh to the people, ſaying unto them, Oremus, &c. and Orate pro me fratres, &c. and many other ſuch like things, wherein the Prieſt bids the people aske of God ſuch and ſuch things, and to ioyne their prayers with his: but the people have no minde to obey that his commandement, not ſo much as knowing what the Prieſt bids them doe; the people might iuſtly ſay to him, make us understand thee, if thou wilt be obeyed.
VII. Wherefore in the Church of the Old Teſtament, the whole publique ſervice was performed in the vulgar tongue; and the prayers which Aaron and his Succeſſors made for the Hebrew people were made in the Hebrew tongue: which after the captivitie of Babylon being corrupted, yet was ſtill underſtood by the people, as wee will ſhew hereafter.
VIII. Our Lord Ieſus Chriſt inſtituted and celebrated the holy Supper amongſt his Diſciples in the vulgar tongue, and that which was underſtood by the aſſiſtants; his will was, that when the faithfull ſhall eat of that bread, and drinke of that cup, they ſhew forth the Lords death untill he come againe. 1 Cor. 11. ver. 26. Now this is not to ſhew forth a thing, to propound it in an unknowne tongue, not underſtood.
IX. To this very ſelfe ſame end he gave unto his Apoſtles the gift of divers tongues, to the end, that in all nations they might eſtabliſh the ſervice of God in the tongue of the countrey, and that in every tongue God might be ſerved, in ſuch ſort, that the diverſitie of tongues which at the building of Babel was a curſe, at the building of the Church is become a bleſſing.
X. The Apoſtles followed their Maſters example; for the Apoſtle writing to the Corinthians, that were Grecians, gave them in their owne tongue the forme of the Celebration of the holy Supper. 1 Cor. 11.
XI. Would Ieſus Chriſt who is the light of the world come to plunge it in darkneſſe, and to make things more obſcure? And God having ſpoken to his people by Moſes in a tongue underſtood, would hee now wrap and infold up himſelfe in darkneſſe by propounding his Word, and by giving his Sacraments in a barbarous and an unknowne tongue?
XII. But that which is yet of more ſtrength in this matter, and which clearely decides, and fully determins this controverſie, is the authoritie of the Apoſtle Saint Paul, who imployed the 14. Chapter of his 1. Epiſtle to the Corinthians, in a manner wholly to condemne the uſe of ſtrange tongues, and not underſtood in the Church. If (ſaith he) the trumpet give an uncertaine ſound, who ſhall be prepared to the warre? So likewiſe you, except you utter words which may be underſtood, how ſhall it be knowne what is ſpoken? For yee ſhall ſpeake unto the aire, and a little after. Wherefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I ſhall bee a barbarian to him that ſpeaketh, and hee that ſpeaketh ſhall be a barbarian to me: and a little after: If thou bleſſe with the ſpirit, how ſhal he that occupieth the place of the unlearned, ſay Amen, at thy giving of thankes; ſaying, he underſtandeth not what thou ſayeſt? Thou verily giueſt thankes well, but another is not thereby edified. Wherevpon he concludeth, I had rather in the Church ſpeake five words with my underſtanding, that I may teach others alſo then ten thouſand words in an unknowne tongue.
Du Perron againſt the King of great Brittaine, book 6. chap. 1. p. 109. the word tongue in S. Paul, ſignifieth an unknown tongue.XIII. Mounſieur du Perron anſwereth, that Saint Paul ſpeaketh not of an unknowne tongue which was in the Church, but of tongues infuſed and miraculous. This I willingly agree to, for this augments the force of that place againſt the ordinarie ſervice in an unknowne tongue. For theſe miraculous gifts of tongues were rare, and given unto ſome Chriſtians for a ſmall time; to the end to declare the power of God, and by conſequent the uſe of them in the Church brought with them a benefit, which the Maſſe in Latine cannot bring. Nevertheleſſe, the Apoſtle forbids them the uſe of this miraculous guift in the Church, unleſſe they interpret them inſtantly; becauſe he will have nothing ſpoken in the Church which is not underſtood. How much more condemnes hee a ſtrange language in the ordinarie ſervice, wherein that extraordinary evill which the Apoſtle would avoid, would become ordinarie? The Apoſtle forbids not an unknowne tongue in the Church, for that it is miraculous: but becauſe it is not underſtood, and becauſe that he which ſpeaketh is a barbarian to him that heareth him; & becauſe that is not underſtood, which is ſpoken, & becauſe it is to ſpeak in the aire, & becauſe ye people cānot ſay Amen to the thankſgiving, they underſtand not; and becauſe that they that heare are not thereby edified, which are truly reaſons of moment: be it that he which ſpeakes in an unknowne tongue in the Church, have learned that tongue by miracle or by ſtudie, the queſtion here is not of the manner by which a tongue is learned, but of the peoples inſtruction. Saint Paul had learned without miracle the Hebrew tongue; and yet for all that would he not celebrate at Corinth, or at Rome the holy Supper amongſt the Gentiles, in the Hebrew tongue; in a word he gives two generall rules and without exception. The one it is better to ſpeake in the Church five words underſtood, then ten thouſand not underſtood. The other, it is a curſe of God, when he ſpeaketh to a people in a tongue they underſtand not.
XIV. Others goe about to eſcape by another way. They ſay that Saint Paul ſpeakes not of the ordinarie ſervice which is ſaid in the Church, but of certaine hymnes and ſpirituall ſongs. In ſpeaking thus they would perſwade us, that ſuch hymnes ought to bee pronounced in a tongue underſtood, but that the reſt of the ſervice was ſaid in a tongue not underſtood by the Corinthians, but this they know to be falſe. It being a thing well knowne, that in Greece the publique ſervice was ever performed and ſaid in Greeke, and is ſo ſaid yet to this day. So that if ſuch hymnes and ſpirituall ſongs ought to be pronounced in a tongue underſtood, then much more the ordinarie prayers and the reading of Gods Word, whence the people receive more edification.
XV. But it is eaſy for us to prove that the Apoſtle in this place ſpeaketh of another matter then of hymnes and ſpirituall ſongs. For when hee ſaith that ſtrange tongues are for a ſigne, not unto the beleevers, but unto unbeleevers: and ranketh that amongſt the threatnings and curſes of God; when God threatens to ſpeake to a people in a ſtrange tongue, to the end, not to be underſtood; it is cleere that he ſpeaketh not of hymnes or ſongs in which men ſpeake unto God, but of the Word of God, which is directed unto men.
XVI. And when the Apoſtle ſaith, that hee had rather ſpeake five words in the Church underſtood to inſtruct others, then tenne thouſand in a tongue, it is evident he ſpeaketh of whatſoever is ſpoken in the Church.
XVII. And theſe words, If I know not what is ſignified by the words, I ſhall be a barbarian to him that ſpeaketh, and he that ſpeaketh ſhall be a barbarian unto me; are they not alſo as true in him that readeth the Scriptures in publique, as in him that pronounceth hymnes? For barbarians are all they eſteemed, whoſe tongue one underſtands not: and this is it that Ovid ſaith of himſelfe being baniſhed among the Getes.Ovid Tri…ium lib. 5. Eleg. 10.
Barbarus hîc ego ſum quia non intelligor vlli.
Et rident ſtolidi verba Latina Getae.
XVIII. Moreover, when the Prieſt pronounceth prayers in the Maſſe, and the people underſtand not ſo much as one word of them; may wee not, and ought we not to apply unto him the Apoſtles ſentence: how ſhall hee which occupieth the place of the unlearned, ſay Amen unto thy giving of thankes? for hee knoweth not what thou ſayeſt.
Chryſoſtome comm…nting on this place, underſtood it as we doe. For hee brings in the Apoſtle ſpeaking thus:aChryſ. Hom. 35. in 1. ad Corinth. foreign. If I ſpeake not the thing to you, which may bee underſtood by you, and which may bee plaine and evident unto you: but ſhew you onelyonly that I have the gift of tongues, when you have heard ſtrange tongues, you ſhall goe your way from me without any benefit at all thereby. For what profit can there redound to you from a voice you understand not?
Saint Ambroſe in his commentarie on this place, hath given it the very ſame ſenſe.bSi utique ad aedificandam Eccleſiam conueneritis, ea debent dici quae intelligant audientes Nam quid prodeſt ut quis loquatur lingua quam ſolus ſcit, ut qui audit nih…l proficiat? &c. If (ſaith he) you meet together to edifie the Church, thoſe things muſt be delivered which the Auditors underſtand: for to what purpoſe or profit is it that any one ſpeake a tongue which he himſelfe onelyonly underſtands, and whereof hee that heareth can reape no fruit? and a little aftercIn Eccleſia volo qumque verba loqui per legem, ut & alios aedificem quam prolixam orationem habere in obſcuro. The Apostle ſaith, I had rather ſpeake five words in the Church acccording to the law, that I edifie withall others, then any long and large diſcourſe with obſcuritie.
Saint Hierome in his commentarie on this place,dOmnis ſermo qui non intelligitur barbarus iudicatur. Every word which is not underſtood is adiudged barbarous. And in the ſame place,eIbid. Si quis incognitis aliis linguis loquatur, mēs eius non ipſi efficitur fine fructu, ſed audienti: quic quid enim dicitur ignorat. if any man ſpeake in a tongue not underſtood unto another, his ſpirit is unfruitfull, not to himſelfe, but unto his hearer, for he underſtands not what is heard.
Baſil in his Aſcepticks is very expreſſe for this point, in his 278. anſwer of his briefe definitions. He asks,fforeign &c. foreign. what is this that the ſpirit of a man prayeth, but his underſtanding is without fruit? Then he anſwers it. This was ſpoken [by the Apoſtle] touching thoſe that make their prayers in an unknowne tongue unto them that heare them; for he ſaith, if I pray in a tongue, my ſpirit prayeth, but my underſtanding is without fruit. For when the words of the prayer are unknowne to them that are there preſent, his understanding that prayeth is without fruit, not profiting at all. But when the aſsiſtants understand the prayer, which may profit them which heare, then hee which prayeth hath this fruit, namely, the bettering of thoſe that have thereby profited. And ſo it fareth with ALL, and with whatſoever is delivered out of the Word of God. For it is written, if there bee any word profitable for the building up of faith. This holy man underſtands this place of the Apoſtle, not onelyonly of hymnes or ſongs, but of all prayer, and of all reading and pronouncing of the Word of God.
And concerning this wee have a law of the Emperour Iuſtinian which is in Nouvelle 123. in the Greeke Editions in theſe words,gAd haec iubemus ut omnes Epiſcopi pariter & Preſbyteri non tacito modo, ſed clara voce quae à fideli populo exandiatur ſacram oblationem & preces in ſancto baptiſmate ad hibitas celebrent, quo maiore exinde devotione in depromendis Dei laudibus audientum animi efferantur. Ita enim & Divus Apoſtolus docet 1. ad Cor. epiſt we will and command that all Biſhops and Prieſts celebrate the ſacred oblation, and the prayers therevnto added in holy Baptiſme not in a lowe voice, but with a lowd and cleare voice which may bee underſtood by the faithfull people, that thereby the minds of the hearers may be raiſed up with greater devotion to ſet forth the praiſes of the Lord God. For ſo teacheth the holy Apoſtle in the firſt to the Corinthians. This Emperiall law is extant in the Greeke Coppies of Haloander, and is alledged by Caſſander the Divine of Cologne, and is acknowledged by Cardinall Bellarmine in his 2. booke of the Maſſe, Chap. 12. Whence deteſtable is the fraud and perverſitie of thoſe that have raſed it out of the Latine verſions of Iustinian.
Herevnto Bellarmine anſwers, that it belongs not to the Emperour to give lawes touching ſacred matters. But if this N be not received for a law, at the leaſt it ſerveth for a teſtimonie of the cuſtome of the Church in the Romane Empire unto the time of this Emperor, who died about the yeare of our Lord 165.
Hee ſaith alſo that commandement is onelyonly given to the Greeke Churches: This Cardinall could not be ignorant that the Cittie of Rome, and the Biſhop thereof were then in the Emperor Iuſtinians Subjection, which might appeare by the ſame Nouvel; in the which, the Biſhop of Rome is taxed by the Emperor at foure thouſand Crownes for his entrance into his charge, and the other Patriarchs at three thouſand: For then the Biſhops of the principall Seas, payed firſt fruits to the Emperor, and the ſame Emperor created two Biſhops of Rome, namely, Silverius, and Vigilius.
In a word, this paſſage of the Apoſtle Saint Paul of the 14. Chapter of the 1. to the Corinthians; wherein is condemned the uſe of ſtrange tongues in the Church, doth ſo racke our Adverſaries, that ſome of them of better conſcience let fall from them a voluntarie condemnation thereof.
Nicholas de Lyra in his notes on this Chapter ſpeaketh thus:aHic conſequenter idem o…endit in oratione publica, quia ſi populus intelligat orationem ſeu benedictionem ſacerdotis, melius reducitur in Deum, & deuotius reſpondet Amen. Heere conſequently the Apoſtle ſheweth the ſame concerning publique prayer, for that if the people understand the prayer and bleſsing of the Priest, they are the more eaſily caried on to thinke on God, and to anſwer more devoutly Amen. Alſo, if the Priest bleſse in minde, that is to ſay, without being underſtood of the people, what benefit reape the ſimple people that underſtand him not?
Anſelme whom the Pope hath Canoniz'd for a Saint, in his expoſition on this Chapter.bBonum eſt quod Ioqueris, ſed alter non aedificatur in verbis tuis quae non intelligit. Ideo cum ad Eccleſiā propter aedificationem conueniatis, ea debent in Eccleſia dici quae intelligantur ab hominibus, & praeſtent aedificationem audientibus. That which thou ſayeſt is good, but another is not edified by thy words, which hee underſtands not; therefore ſeeing you are aſſembled together in the Church for edification, there must be nothing ſpoken in the Church, but what is underſtood by the people, and may bring edification to the hearers.
Thomas the chiefe of the Schoolemen in his commentarie upon this very Chapter of the Apoſtle, in the fourth Lect: findeth himſelfe ſo puſled, that at the laſt he is faine to ſay, that this commandement of the Apoſtle was good for the Primitive Church, but that now it is no more in practiſe, becauſe the faithfull are better inſtructed.cSed qu are non dantur benedictiones in vulgari, vt intelligatur à populo, & conforment ſe magis eis? R. Dicendum eſt quod hoc forte fuit in Eccleſia primitiua, ſed poſtquā fideles inſtructi ſunt & ſciunt quae audiunt in communi officio, fiunt benedictiones in Latino. Wherefore (ſaith he) are not the bleſsings given in the vulgar tongue, that the people might understand them, and conforme themſelves the better unto them? His anſwer is; We muſt ſay, that it may be this was done in the Primitive Church, but ſince, the people were afterward inſtructed, and knew what they heard in the Common ſervice, the bleſsings were delivered in Latine. And in his fifth Lect: he ſaith, that in the Primitive Church, it had beene a follie to pray in an unknowne tongue, becauſe men were rude, but that now all are inſtructed, wherein he much deceiveth himſelfe. For never were the people more ignorant then they were in the time of this Thomas, and in the two hundred yeares following And even now that the Scripture is ſet forth to the ſight, and that learning floriſheth, ſcarce of an hundred perſons of the Church of Rome, ſhall there bee found two, that know what is contained in the Maſſe, or that ſo much as take the paines once to enquire after it.
Harding a great Defendor of Popery in England, in his 3. Article of his diſputation againſt Iewel in the 30. Section hath followed the impietie of Thomas, ſpeaking thus.dHardin. Art. 3. Sect. 30. Quod autem Divus Paulus morem precandi lingua in Eccleſia tanquam fructus & aedificationi… ex pertem improbare videtur, & quinque verba aut ſententias intellectas & perceptas, ex quibus reliquus populus inſtituatur decem mil libus pe reg…ino incognito ſermone pronuntiatis anteponere, iſta omnia ad illorum temporum conditionem referenda ſunt, quae hodierno Eccleſiae ſtatui longè diſſimilis eſt. As for that it ſeemeth that Saint Paul diſalloweth prayer made in the Church in an unknowne tongue, as being fruitleſſe, and without edification, and that he preferreth five words or ſentences underſtood wherewith the people might bee inſtructed, before ten thouſand pronounced in a ſtrange tongue and not understand; all things ought to be referred to the condition of thoſe times, which is very unlike to the eſtate of the Church of this time. Marke this audacious boldneſſe and impietie, which hewes downe the authority of Gods Word even by the very root. For if it bee permitted unto men to ſay, that was the law at the beginning, and ſo they were taught in the time of the Apoſtles; but now this is changed, and the Church being better tutored doth otherwaies. What remaines there but to change the whole Word of God? And to give the Pope authoritie to caſheere Gods lawes, and to plucke God out of his throne to ſet up the Pope above God?
Cardinall Cajetan was aſhamed of this: For in his commentarie upon the fourteenth of the firſt to the Corinthians, hee ſpeaketh as one deſiring, that the Latine were baniſhed out of the publique ſervice, and that it were performed in the vulgar.eEx hac Pauli ùoctrina habetur quod melius ad aedificationem Eccleſiae eſt orationes publicas quae audiente populo dicuntur dici lingua communi clericis & populo quā dici Latiné. By this doctrine of Saint Paul (ſaith hee) it is to bee gathered, that it is better for the edification of the Church, that the publique prayers which are ſaid in the hearing of the people, were ſaid in a tongue common as well to the Clergie as to the people, then to ſay it in the Latine. Which is a very notable confeſſion of a Cardinall of ſo great authority in the Church of Rome.