Concerning the Right Use of the Fathers in Controversies, Book 1 · Chapter 7
CHAP. VII.
Reaſon VII. That the Fathèrs have not always held one and the ſame Belief; but have ſometimes changed ſome of their Opinions, according as their Judgment hath grown riper, through Study, or Age.
AMongſt all the Eccleſiaſtical Writers, the Pen men of the Old and New Teſtament only have received the knowledge of Divine things by an extraordinary Inſpiration: the reſt have acquired their knowledge by the ordinary means of Inſtruction, Reading, and Meditation; in ſuch ſort, as that this Knowledge came not unto them in an inſtant, as it did to the others; but increaſed in them by degrees, ripening and growing up by little and little, in proportion as they grew in years: whence it is, that their Writings are not all of them of the ſame weight, nor of the ſame Value. For, who ſeeth not, that what they, as it were, ſportingly wrote in their younger years, is of much leſs conſideration than thoſe other Pieces which they wrote in their riper age? Who, for inſtance,Hier. Ep. 1. ad Heli…dor: vid. Ep. 2. ad Nepot. would equal the Authority of that Epiſtle of S. Hierome to Heliodorus, written by him when he had but newly left the Rhetorick Schools, being yet a Child, and full of that innocent and inconſiderate Heat which uſually attendeth thoſe years, to that of thoſe other graver Pieces, which he afterwards ſent abroad into the Church, when he had now arrived to his full ſtrength, and ripeneſs of Wi…, and to the perfection of his Studies? S. Auguſtine hath left us a remarkable Teſtimony, that the Fathers profited by Age and Study in the Knowledge of the Truth, when as in his old age, taking Pen in hand, he reviewed and corrected all that he had ever written during his whole Life; faithfully and ingenuouſly noting whatſoever he thought worthy of reprehenſion, and giving us all thoſe his Animadverſions collected together in the Books of his Retractations; which, in my judgment, is the moſt glorious and moſt excellent of all thoſe many Monuments which he hath left to Poſterity; whether you conſider here the Learning, or the Modeſty and Sincerity of the Man.Hier. ep. 65. de Erroribus Origenis. Ipſe Origenes in Epiſtola quam ſcribit ad Fabianum, Romanae urbis Epiſcopum, poenitentiam agit cur talia ſcripſerit, &c. S. Hierome reporteth, that Origen alſo, long before, had in his old age written an Epiſtle to Fabianus Biſhop of Rome, wherein he confeſſeth, That he repented him of many things which he had taught and written. Neither is there any doubt, but that ſome ſuch like thing may have hapned to moſt of the other Fathers; and that they may have ſometime diſallowed of that which they had formerly believed, as true. Now from this conſideration there falls in our way a new Difficulty, which we are to grapple with, in this our Inquiry into the true, genuine ſenſe of the Fathers, touching our preſent Controverſies. For, ſeeing that the Condition and Nature of their Writings is ſuch, it is moſt evident, that when we would make uſe of any of their Opinions, it will concern us to be very well aſſured, that they have not only ſometime either held or written the ſame; but that they have moreover perſevered in them to the end.Vincent. Lirinenſ. lib. adv. prof. Novit. ſeu Common. Whence Vincentius Lirinenſis, in that Paſſage of his which is ſo often urged, for the making uſe of the Ancient Authors in deciding our preſent Controverſies, thinks it not fit that we ſhould be bound to receive whatſoever they have ſaid, for certain and undoubted Truth, unleſs they have aſſured and confirmed it unto us by their Perſeverance in the ſame, as he there ſpeaketh. Cardinal Perron alſo evidently ſheweth us the ſame way, by his own practice: for, diſputing about the Canon of the Holy Scriptures (which he pretendeth to have been always the very ſame in the Weſtern Church, with that which is delivered unto us by the III Council of Carthage, where the Maccabees are recko…ed in among the reſt;) and finding himſelf hardly preſſed by ſome certain Paſſages alledged by the Proteſtants out of S. Hierome to the contrary, he anſwereth the Objection, by ſaying, among other things,Perron's Repl. l. 1. c. 50. That this Father, when he wrote the ſaid Paſſages, was not yet come to the ripeneſs of his Judgment, and perfection of his Studies; whereas afterwards, when he was now more fully inſtructed in the truth of the Senſe of the Church, he changed his Opinion, and retracted (as this Cardinal ſaith) both in general, and in particular, whatſoever he had before written in thoſe three Prologues, where he had excluded the Maccabees out of the Canon.Id. ibid. And ſo likewiſe, to another Objection brought to the ſame purpoſe, out of the Commentaries of S. Gregory the Great, he gives the like anſwer, ſaying, That S. Gregory, when he wrote that Piece, was not yet come to be Pope, but was a plain Deacon only, being at that time employed at Conſtantinople, as the Popes Nuncio to the Greeks. Now theſe Anſwers of his are either inſufficient; or elſe, it will neceſſarily follow from hence, That we ought not to reſt certainly ſatisfied in the Teſtimony of any Father, except we firſt be aſſured, that not only he never afterwards retracted that Opinion of his; but that, beſides, he wrote it in the ſtrength and ripeneſs of his Judgment. And ſee now how we are fallen into a new Labyrinth: For, firſt of all, from whence, and by what means may we be able to come truly and certainly to the knowledge of this Secret; when as we can hardly meet with any light Conjectures, tending to the making of this Diſcovery, namely, Whether a Father hath in his old age changed his Opinion, touching that Point for which it is produced againſt us, or not? If they had all of them been either able, or willing to have imitated the Modeſty of S. Auguſtine, we ſhould then have had little left to trouble us. But you will hardly find any, either of the Ancients, or of thoſe of Later times, that have followed this example; unleſs it be Cardinal Bellarmine, who hath lately thought good to revive this Piece of Modeſty, which had lain dead and buried for the ſpace of ſo many Ages together, by writing a Book of Retractations: which Book of his is very diverſly received by the Learned, as well of the one, as of the other Religion. But yet, if you will ſtand ſtiff upon it, with Cardinal Perron, and not allow the ſaying of a Father to be of any value, unleſs it were written by him after the Ripeneſs of his Studies; I ſhall then deſpair of our ever making any Progreſs, ſo much as one ſtep forward, by this means, in the buſineſs in hand. For, (will the one and the other Party ſay, upon every Teſtimony that ſhall be produced againſt them) how do we know whether this Father had yet arrived to the Ripeneſs of his Judgment, when he wrote this Book, or not? Who can tell whether or no thoſe days of his Life that he enjoyed after the Writing hereof, might not have beſtowed as well clearneſs on his Underſtanding, as Whiteneſs on his Head; and have changed his Judgment, as well as his Hair? We ſuppoſe here, that no ſuch thing appeareth in any of his other Writings. How many Authors are there who have changed their Opinions, and yet have not retracted what they had formerly written? But ſuppoſe now, that we ſhould have loſt that particular Tract wherein the Author had given Teſtimony of the changing of his Opinion; what ſhould we do in this cafe? If Time ſhould have deprived us of S. Auguſtine's Retractations, and ſome other of his later Writings, as it hath of an infinite number of other Pieces, both of his, and other of the Fathers, which would have been of as great importance to us, we muſt certainly have thought, that he had believed, that the Cauſe of Predeſtination is the Preſcience or Foreſeeing of the Faith of Men, reading but what he ſaith in one of the Books which he firſt wrote, namely,aAuguſt. Expoſit. quar. prop. ex Ep. Rim. propoſit. 60. Non ergo elegit Deus opera cujuſquam in praeſcientiâ, quae ipſe daturus eſt: ſed … dem elegit, &c. That God hath not elected the Works of any Man, according to his Preſcience; ſeeing that it is▪ He himſelf that gives the ſame to a Man: But, that he hath elected his Faith by His Preſ…ience; that is, He hath elected thoſe who He foreſaw would believe his Word; that is to ſay, He made choice of them to beſtow His Holy Spirit upon, that ſo by doing Good Works they might attain everlaſting. Life. Now would the Pelagians and Semipelagians have brought this Paſſage as an infallible Argument that S. Auguſtine was of their Opinion; but that his Retractations, and his other Books which were written afterwards, in his later time, clearly make it appear, that this Argument is of no force at all; foraſmuch as this Learned Father, having afterwards better conſidered of this Point, wholly altered his Opinion:bId. Retract. lib. 1. cap 23. Nondum diligentiùs quaeſiveram, nec adhuc inveneram, qualis ſit Electio Gratiae, de qua idem dicit Apoſtolus, Reliquiae, &c. I had not (ſaith he) as yet diligently enough inquired into, nor found out, what the Election of Grace was, whereof the Apoſtle ſpeaketh in theſe words; There is a Remnant (to be ſaved) according to the Election of Grace: which certainly is not Grace, if any Merits preceded it; ſo that that which is given, ſhould be rendred rather as due to the Merits, than as given freely by Grace. Now who knoweth, but that among thoſe Fathers whom we ſo confidently alledge every day, ſome of them may have retracted thoſe things which we at this day read in their Works; and that Time may have devoured their Retractations of thoſe their Opinions, and may have left us only their Errors? Beſides, who knows, and can truly inform us, what Date their Writings bear? Whether they were the Fruits of their Spring, or of their Summer, or of their Autumn? Whether they were gathered green, or were ſuffered to ripen upon the Tree? Doubtleſs this whole Inquiry is very dark; there being ſcarcely any mark of their Seaſon to be found upon the greateſt part of them. There are indeed ſome few of them, that have ſome of theſe Marks; but yet they are ſo doubtful and uncertain ones, as that the moſt able and choiceſt Wits are ſometimes deceived in this their Inquiry. And when all is done, who knoweth not, that there are ſome Trees that bear their Summer-fruit even in the very beginning of the Summer, when as the Spring-time is yet hardly paſt? And again, the Fruits which are gathered at the end of the Later Seaſon, are not always the ripeſt: for Time, in ſtead of ripening, many times rotteth them. In like manner is it alſo with Men, and conſequently with the Fathers. Sometimes their Summer yieldeth much more, and better Fruit than their Autumn. For, as for the Winter, that is to ſay, the laſt part of our Age, it is evident that it uſually brings forth nothing at all, or if it do chance to force it ſelf beyond Nature, the Fruits it bringeth forth are yet worſe, and more crude and imperfect, than thoſe even of the Spring. Seeing therefore it is for the moſt part impoſſible to give any certain judgment of theſe things, either by the Hiſtory of theſe Authors, or by their Books themſelves; and that again on the other ſide, without this we ought not to ſit down upon any thing we find in their Writings, as reckoning we have made a diſcovery what their Opinions have been: we may ſafely conclude in this Point alſo, as we have done in the former, That it is a very hard matter to know truly and preciſely what the Opinions and Senſe of the Ancients have been, touching the Differences at this day debated amongſt us.