The Novelty of Popery Opposed to the Antiquity of True Christianity, Book 7 · Treatise · Chapter 7 – Chapter 8
CHAP. VII. That the Antient Chriſtian Church over all the world uſed an intelligible tongue in the publick Service.
HEre we have all the antient Church on our ſide. It is a thing out of queſtion and teſtified by the Antients, that every Country and Nation, even the moſt barbarous, had the Holy Scripture tranſlated in the Vulgar tongue, that the people might get inſtruction by the reading of the ſame: Chryſoſtom 1. Hom. upon John ſpeaks thus.(a)foreign. The Syrians, the Egyptians, the Indians, the Perſians, the Ethiopians, and other infinite Nations, having tranſlated in their tongues the doctrines propounded by this [John], being barbarous, have learned to diſcourſe like Philoſophers.
Theodoret in the fifth Sermon of the way of correcting the indiſpoſitions of the Grecians, (b)foreign, &c.Hebrew was not only tranſlated into Greek, but alſo in the tongue of the Romans, Egyptians, Perſians, Indians, Amenians, Scythians, and even of Polonians; and in a word, into all languages which Nations uſe in our dayes.
(c)Quorum tranſlationem diligentiſſime emendatam olim linguae meae hominibus dederim.Hierome hath tranſlated the Bible into the Dalmatick tongue, as himſelf teſtifieth in the Epiſtle to Sophronius.
Auſtin in the Book of Chriſtian Doctrine, ch.(d)Ex quo factum eſt ut etiam Scriptura divina quo tantis morbis humanarum voluntatum ſubvenitur, ab una lingua profecta, quae opportune potuit per totum orbem diſſeminari per varias interpretum linguas longe lateque diffuſa innoteſceret Gentibus ad futurum. 5. Whence it came to paſs that the holy Scripture which is the cure of ſo many ſickneſſes of mens will, having begun to be ſet forth in a tongue which might opportunely be disperſed over all the World, was spread far and wide, and made known to the Nations unto ſalvation, by the means of the ſeveral languages of Interpreters.
Ʋlfilas a Goth Biſhop, tranſlated the holy Scripture into the Gothick tongue, as(*)Sozom. foreign. Sozomenus witneſſeth in the 6 Book of his Hiſtory, ch. 37.
It appeareth, that the holy Scriptures were very common among the common people, ſince Hierom in his Epiſtle to Laeta, exhorts her to exerciſe her daughter Paula to read the holy Scriptures; And commendeth Fabiola (e)Deus bone, quo illa fervore, quo ſtudio intenta orat divinis voluminibus!for her aſſiduity in the lecture of ſacred Books, eſpecially the Prophets, the Evangeliſts, and the Pſalms. Thus Chryſoſtom in the 3. Hom. upon Lazarus, and 2. Hom. upon Matthew, and in the third Homily upon the ſecond Epiſtle to the Theſſalonians, and in many other places exhorteth the Tradeſmen, the women, and the unlearned to read often and carefully the holy Scriptures.
The Epiſtle to the Virgin Demetrias which is the 141. among Auſtins Epiſtles, ch. 23.(f)Ita Scripturas ſanctas lege ut ſemper memineris Dei illa verba eſſe. So read the holy Scriptures, that thou remember alwaies that they are the Word of God.
(g)Athan. Tom. 2. p. 249. adverſus cos qui nec quaerendum nec loquendum de …criptura praecipiunt. Edit. Commet. foreign.Athanaſius in the ſecond Tome, pag. 249. ſaith that Hereticks diſſwade the People from the Scriptures, ſaying that they are not acceſſible; But in effect, that they may avoid to be convinced by them.
All that preſuppoſeth that Scripture in the vulgar tongue was in the hands of the people; for otherwiſe the exhortation to read it would have been vain and unſincere. Scripture was then read in the Church in a language underſtood by the people, as it appeareth by thoſe frequent words in the Homilies of Greek and Latin Fathers, As it was read to you this day. It would have been a great abſurdity to call upon the people to remember the reading of words which they underſtood not.
(h)In vita S. Martini. Inter Epiſcopos qui aſſuerant praecipue Defenſor quidam nomine dicitur reſtitiſſe, &c. Nam cum fortuito lector cui legendi eo die officium erat intercluſum, à populo defuiſſet, turbatis Miniſtris, dum expectatur qui non aderat, unus è circumſtantibus ſumpto Pſalterio quem primum verſum invenit arripuit: Pſalmus autem hic erat, Ex ore infantium, &c.Sulpitius Severus relateth, that one called Defenſor, oppoſed the reception of Martin into the Office of Biſhop, ſaying that he was a naſty baſe fellow; But that one day in the Deacons abſence ſome of the people taking the Pſalter began to read in the Church the 8. Pſalm, where it is ſaid, Out of the mouth of babes and ſucklings haſt thou ordained ſtrength, becauſe of thine enemies, that thou mighteſt ſtill the enemy and the avenger. What we tranſlate the avenger, the Latin verſion then read in the Church calls the Defenſor. At the reading of that word Defenſor, the whole people did ſhout aloud againſt Defenſor, Martins adverſary, as if that place of Scripture had been intended and read againſt him by Gods providence.
Our Adverſaries themſelves acknowledge, that in the Church of the Apoſtles, and many Ages after, the Service and the Prayers were made in a language underſtood by the people. Lyranus upon 1 Cor. 14. In primitiva Eccleſia benedictiones & caetera omnia fiebant in vulgari. In the Primitive Church the bleſſings and all other things were done in the vulgar tongue. We heard before how Aquinas and Harding acknowledge, that in the antient Church they prayed in a language that was underſtood; but (ſay they) that uſe was good for that time, and that cuſtome was altered ſince becauſe men are better inſtructed.
Lactantius in the third Book of Divine Inſtitutions, ch. 20. laughs at the Pagans hiding their myſteries unto the people, for fear of being laughed at if their fopperies were known.(i)Hinc fida ſilentia ſacris inſtituta ſunt ab hominibus callidis ut populus neſciat quid colat. Hence it is, ſaith he, that crafty men have inſtituted a ſacred ſilence to be kept in the ſacred Service, that the People may not know what they worſhip.
(k)Auguſt. lib. de Magiſtro c. 1. Quare non opus eſt locutione cum oramus, id eſt, ſonantibus verbis, niſi forte ſicut ſacerdotes faciunt ſignificandae mentis cauſa, non ut Deus ſed ut homines audiant.When we pray (ſaith Auſtin) there is no need of words, that is, of ſounding words, unleſs it be perhaps as Prieſts do, to expreſs their mind, not that God, but that men may hear them.
In the Council of Lateran held under Innocent the III. in the year 1215. in the ninth ch. this conſtitution is found(l)Quoniam in pleriſque partihus intra eandem civitatem, otque dioceſin permixti ſunt populi diverſarum linguarum habentes ſub una fide varios ritus & mores, diſtricte praecipimus ut Pontifices hujuſmodi civitatum ſine diooeceſium provideant viros idoneos qui ſecundum diverſitatem rituuum, & linguarum divina officia illis celebrent, et Eccleſiaſtca Sacramenta miniſtrent inſtruendo eos verbo pariter et exemplo. Becauſe in moſt places in the ſame City or Dioceſs Nations of divers languages are mingled, having under the ſame Faith diverſe ceremonies and cuſtoms; we ſtrictly command that the Biſhops of ſuch Cities or Dioceſſes provide fit men to celebrate unto them Divine Service, according to the diverſity of ceremonies and tongues, and adminiſter the Sacraments of the Church, inſtructing them by word and example. Here is a Council which our Adverſaries put among the Univerſal, authorzed by the preſence and approbation of ſuch a famous Pope, which not only permitteth but alſo commandeth, that divine Service be celebrated in another language than Latin among Nations of divers languages. And note that he ſpeaks of Nations divers in Langague, but agreeing in the Faith. That one may not think that he ſpeaketh only of the Grecians and Latins, which then were already of different belief and ſeparated in communion. And that not only in ſome few places, but in pleriſque partibus, in moſt places.
Iſidorus in the firſt Book of Eccleſiaſtical Offices, chap. 10.(m)Eſt autem lectio non parva audientium aedificatio. Unde oportet ut quando Pſallitur, ab omnibus pſallatur; cum oratur, oretur ab omnibus; quando lectio fit, facto ſilentio, aeque audiatur à cunctis. Readi…g is not of ſmal edification to hearers; Wherefore when one ſaith the Pſalter, all muſt ſay the Pſalter; when prayer is ſaid, all muſt pray; when the Leſſon is read, all muſt hearken with ſilence.
Yet to this day in the Roman Church the Order of Reader is conferred by the Biſhop pronouncing theſe words,(n)Studete verba Dei, videlicet lectiones ſacras diſtincte et aperte ad intelligentiam et aedificationem fidelium abſque omni mendacio falſitatis proferre, &c. quatenus auditores veſtros verbo pariter et exemplo veſtro docere poſſitis. Study to pronounce the Words of God, that is, the ſacred Leſſons diſtinctly and openly to the intelligence and edification of the faithful, without any untruth of falſeſhood. And a little after, ſo that you may teach your hearers both by word and example. This is found in the Pontifical reformed by Pope Clement the VIII. in the Chapter of the Ordination of Rtaders. That Form of Ordination is more antient than the abuſe which came ſince; and I wonder why that Pope having corrected many things in the Pontifical, did not cauſe that Clauſe to be put out, which driveth the Readers of the Roman Church into a perjury; for they are obliged in their ordination ſo to read, that the faithful may underſtand their reading, and that they may edifie their Readers. For by making them read Scripture in Latin, they take away from them the means of fulfilling the promiſe which they made unto God.
Wherefore John Belet, as Caſſander relateth in his Sum of Divine Offices, after he hath praiſed the cuſtom of the antient Church, in which it was not permitted to ſay any thing in the Churh in unknown language without giving the interpretation, addeth,(o)Quid autem in noſtris temporibus eſt agendum, ubi nullus vel rarus invenitur legens vel audiens quod intelligat, videns vel agens quod animadvertat? Jam videtur eſſe completum quod à Propheta dicitur, Et erit ſacerdos quaſi de populo unus. Videtur ergo potius eſſe tacendum quam pſallendum, potius ſilendum quam tripudiandum. What muſt be done then in our time, when none is found, or very ſeldom, that either readeth or heareth that which he underſtands, or that ſeeth or doth that which he perceiveth? Now the Prophets ſaying ſeems to be fulfilled, The Prieſt ſhall be as one of the people. It ſeems then that it is better to be ſilent then to ſing, and rather hold ones peace then to dance. So he derided the ſinging and the geſticulations of the Prieſt.
All the Churches of the World that are not ſubject unto the Pope, and ſome alſo that are ſubject unto him, are for us in this point. For in Greece the Service is ſaid in Greek; and for a thouſand years after Chriſt and more, the tongue of the Liturgy was the vulgar tongue. Now that by the domination of the Turk and the putting down of Schools the language is altered, yet the vulgar Greek is not ſo corrupted but that the Greek of the Liturgy is intelligible unto the people. And though it were otherwiſe, yet the example of antiquity, for the ſpace of a thouſand years and more, is more conſiderable then the corruption happened of late.
Caſſiodorus who writ about the year 520, or 530. hath an excellent paſſage upon this Subject upon the 44. Pſ.(p)Perſcrutemur cur Eccleſia Dei de veſtis varietate laudetur cui totum ſimplex convenit atque unum; Sed hic varietatem aut linguas multiplices ſignificat, quia omnes gentes ſecundum ſuam patriam in Eccleſia pſallunt ut authori virtutum pulcherrimam diverſitatem demonſtrent. Let us carefully ſearch why the Church of God is praiſed for her raiment of divers colours, whereas all ſimplicity and unity is convenient to her. But this ſignifieth the variety or multiplicity of tongues, becauſe all Nations ſay the Pſalter in the Church according to the language of their Country, to ſhew to the author of vertues a moſt beautiful diverſity.
(q)Hardingus lib. de precibus linguae peregr. Sect. 38. Quae gentes preces publicas vernaculo ſemper ſermone hahuerunt, &c. quales ſunt Muſcovitae, Armenii et Aethiopes, &c. Ruſſianis, Moraviis aliiſ que quibuſdam ante 600. abhinc annos permiſſum fuit ut Miſſam lingua Dalmatica celebrarent.Harding acknowledgeth, that the Muſcovites, Armenians and Ethiopians, had alwaies their publick Prayers in their vulgar tongues; And that to the Ruſſians and Moravians and other Nations, it was permitted ſix hundred years ago to have the Service in the Dalmatick tongue.
The Abyſſine or Ethiopian Churches have their Service in the Ethiopick tongue, as Francis Alvarez a Portughes Monk teſtifieth, who lived ſeven years in the Court of the great Neguz of Ethiopia; (r)Franc. Alvarez. hiſt. Ethiop. ch. 3. Et in tanto conſecra nella ſua lingua con le proprie noſtre parole & non la licua. Et il medeſimo fanel calice et non l'atza. Dice ſopra quello le proprie noſtre parole nella ſua lingua.Then he conſecrateth in his tongue with our very words, and makes no elevation. He doth the ſame of the chalice, and doth not elevate it; And ſaith upon it our very words in his tongue. Caſſander in his Liturgica tranſlated theſe words of Alvarez into Latin.
The ſame Caſſander in the fifteenth ch. of the ſame Book alledgeth the Commentaries of Sigiſmundus Liber de rebus Muſcoviticis, ſpeaking thus(ſ)In ſingulis Templis unicum tantum altare, & in dies ſingulos unumquodque ſacrum faciendum putant. Totum ſacrum ſeu Miſſa gentili ac vernacula lingua apud illos peragi ſolet. The Muſcovites have but one Altar in every Temple, and think that one celebration of the Sacrament muſt be done every day, and the whole Service or Maſs uſeth to be done among them in the vulgar tongue.
Shortly, no Church and no Nation hath Divine Service in Latin, but ſuch as are ſubject unto the Pope. Yea ſome Churches that acknowledge him, yet would not in this point conform themſelves unto the example of the Roman Church.
Bellarmin in his recognitions of the Books de verbo Dei confeſſeth, that among the Moſcovites, Armenians and Maronites, there are Roman Catholcks that have not the publick ſervice in Latin.
The cuſtom of the Antient Church both in the Eaſt and Weſt, was, that the Prieſt and the People anſwered one another, the Prieſt ſaying Lift up your hearts, and the people anſwering We have them unto the Lord. The Prieſt ſaying The Lord be with you, and the people anſwering And with thy ſpirit, and every where anſwering to the Prayers of the Prieſt with a great noyſe like a thunder, as it may be ſeen in the Liturgies attributed to Baſil and to Chryſoſtome. Hierom in his Preface upon the ſecond book on the Epiſtle to the Galathians ſaith, that at Rome (t)Ad ſimilitudinem coeleſtis tonitrui Amen reboat.the Amen of the People did ſound like a thunder from heaven. Which Bellarmin acknowledgeth in the ſixteenth chapter of the ſecond book of the Word of God, (u)Tunc quia Chriſtiani erant pauci, omnes ſimul pſallebant in Eccleſia, & reſpondebant in divinis Officiis: at poſtea creſcente populo diviſa ſunt magis officia, et ſolis Clericis relictum eſt ut communes preces et laudes in Eccleſia peragant.Then (ſaith he) becauſe Chriſtians were in ſmall number, all ſung together in the Church, and anſwered one another in divine Offices. But ſince that time the people growing, the Offices were more divided, and it was refered unto the Clerks only to celebrate in the Church the Common Prayers and Praiſes. This he ſaith with his wonted truth; For he knew that the moſt populous Churches that ever were in the World, were the Churches of Conſtantinople and Rome in the fourth and fifth Ages, in which theſe anſwers of the people were uſed as well as in the ſmall Churches, and where the whole ſervice was done in the vulgar tongue. Neither was that dividing the Office or ſervice when the Romaniſts brought the people to ſilence, and ſuffered none to ſpeak but the Clerks.
I ſay then, that theſe anſwers of the people are an evident proof, that the people underſtood what the Paſtour ſaid; for how could they have anſwered words which they underſtood not? But this cuſtom ceaſed in the Roman Church, when the people loſt the intelligence of the divine Service. The Prieſt being become a Barbarian unto the people, the people alſo is become dumb and deaf unto the words of the Prieſt.
Hereupon it is good to conſider the words of the Jeſuite Salmeron, in his Comment upon 1 Cor. 14.(*)Diſp. 22. Sect. Ac Subdit. Ne benedicens ſacerdos dicat, Ego quidem intelligo cum gratias ago peregrina lingua; reſpondet Apoſtolus, At alter non aedificatur, id eſt, inde nullam derivari aedificationem Eccleſiae cujus inprimis ratio habenda erat. Nam omnia tum ad aedificationem Eccleſia fieri ſolebant, ut docet Apoſtolus; ita ut nolit ullas preces publicas in Eccleſia celebrari ignoto prorſus ſermone. Leſt that the Prieſt giving the bleſſing ſay, I underſtand well what I ſay when I give thanks in a ſtrange tongue, the Apoſtle anſwereth, but another is not edified thereby, that is, no edification thereby accreweth unto the Church, which ought to have been conſidered before all things. For then all things uſed to be done for the edification of the Church, as the Apoſtle teacheth; ſo that he will not have any Prayer to be done in the Church in a language altogether unknown. If ſuch was the Apoſtles conſtitution, as this Jeſuite acknowledgeth, who hath given power to the Pope to break it, and to prohibite the ſaying of divine ſervice in vulgar tongues?(x)Bellar. l. 2. de verbo Dei. c. 15. At Catholica. Prohibetur ne in publico & communi uſu Eccleſiae Scripturae legantur vel canantur vulgaribus linguis. as Bellarmine acknowledgeth, that it is forbidden to read or ſing the Scriptures in the Church in a vulgar language. But if in the time of the Apoſtles all publick Prayers were to be ſaid in a known tongue, becauſe (ſaith Salmeron) all things were to be done for the edification and conſolation of the Church, have we not the ſame neceſſity in our dayes? and ſhould the Paſtours of the Church be leſs careful of the edification of the Church?
Wherefore when the Council of Trent (y)Si quis dixerit lingua tantum vulgari Miſſam celebrari debere, anathema ſit.in the ninth Canon of the 22. Seſſion doth thunder out Anathema's upon all that ſay, that the Euchariſt which they term Maſs, ought to be celebrated in the vulgar tongue, do they not involve the Apoſtle St. Paul, and the Prophets, and the Apoſtles, and the whole Ancient Church within that excommunication?
Sixtus Senenſis in the ſixth book of his Library, in the 263. Annotation, to confute Cardinal Cajetan, who ſaith, that publick Prayer ought rather to be ſaid in a known language then in Latin, alledgeth Ambroſius de Compſa (z)Miratus ſum Cajetanum non eſſe deterritum à fructu hujuſmodi traditionis quae primum à Luthero, immo à diabolo in Luthero loquente inventa eſt.who ſaith, that this tradition was invented by Luther, or rather by the Devil, who ſpoke in Luther. And yet Luther taught no other thing in this point, but what the Apoſtle himſelf taught, by the confeſſion of our very Adverſaries, as we proved before.
But Polydorus Virgilius a Learned man among our Averſaries, complaineth of the abuſe practiſed in the Roman Church, ſaying,(a)Polidor. Virgil. de Inventor rerum lib. 6. Cantores noſtri in templis noſtris conſtrepunt ut nihil praeter vocem audiatur; et qui interſunt, ejuſdem vocum concentu quo eorum aures maxime calent, contenti, de vi verborum nihil curant. Unde ventum eo eſt ut omnis divini cultus ratio in iſtis cantoribus ſita eſſe videatur. Our ſinging men make a noyſe in our Temples, ſo that nothing is heard but the voice, and the by-ſtanders being contented with the harmony of ſuch voyces wherewith their ears are warmed, care not for the ſenſe of the words; and ſo far we are gone, that among the people the whole Divine Service ſeems to conſiſt in thoſe ſinging-men; and that moſt people come to the Church to hear them as if they came to a ſtage for playes.
Yea Sixtus Senenſis, in the forealledged place, after Ambroſius de Compſa, acknowledgeth, that very often in the Roman Church the Prieſts themſelves underſtand not what they ſay.(b)Illud potius vituperandum crat quod non ſolum qui ſupplent locum idiotae plerunque non intelligant quid oretur, verum etiam ſaepenumero nec ipſi presbyteri aut diaconi qui orant aut legunt. Not only (ſaith he) they that ſupply the place of the ignorant, underſtand not for the moſt part that which is ſaid in the Prayer, but even the Prieſts themſelves, or the Deacons that pray or read, very often underſtand it not, which is an abuſe, &c.(c)In his ſixth book ch. 1. p. 1079. Cardinal du Perron could not diſſemble this, ſaying, that if there be Churchmen that want learning or underſtanding, the fault lyeth upon them that ordain them. For he know well enough that the Country is full of Prieſts that can hardly read, and are far from underſtanding Latin.
Eſtius a Doctor of Dovay in his Comment upon the fourteenth chap. of the firſt Epiſtle to the Corinthians, defends with all his ſtrength the uſe of an unknown tongue in the publick ſervice. Yet this Confeſſion comes from him.(d)Quamvis per ſe bonum ſit ut divina officia celebrentur ea lingua quam plebs intelligat, id enim per ſe confert ad plebis aedificationem, ut bone probat hic locus. In it ſelf it is a good thing that Divine Offices be celebrated in a language underſtood by the people; for this ſerveth of it ſelf unto the edification of the people, as it is well proved by thr Text of St. Paul. Wherefore Cajetans opinion being formally and abſtractly conſidered, is true.
CHAP. VIII. Two cauſes that move the Pope and his Clergy to maintain the celebration of the Maſs and of the ordinary Service in the Latin Tongue.
POpery is a bulk of doctrines and ceremonies built up with marvellous art: All the deepeſt craft of humane prudence was ſet on work to contrive and maintain it. No wonder then that the Apoſtle calls the ſtructure of the Kingdom of the ſon of perdition, the myſtery of iniquity.
In the point we have in hand, the Pope and his Clergy propoſed to themſelves two ends. The firſt is, to keep the people in ignorance, and uſe them to believe without knowing, to follow their leaders with blindfolded eyes, and to obey without inquiring. This is evident, in that the leaders of the Church were afraid that even the Latin ſhould be too intelligible, and therefore they would have the principal parts of the Maſs to be ſaid with ſuch a low murmur, that the voyce of the Prieſt cannot be heard. To the ſame end tends the prohibition of reading Scripture, and the Images, and the implicite Faith, and that Maxime that the Pope cannot err in the Faith. For in effect his Empire is grounded upon the blindneſs of the people, and the ignorance of the people is his ſtrongeſt prop.
The ſecond end of the Pope in eſtabliſhing the Latin tongue in the publick Service, was, to plant the marks and ſtandart of his Empire among the Nations which he had conquered. The cuſtom of great Monarchs is to give their tongue to the Nations brought under their power, to tame them and inure them to their dominations. So did the Romans in Gaules and in Spain. And the King of Spain obligeth the Indians to ſpeak Spaniſh; and thoſe Indians being become Spaniards in language, become alſo Spaniards in affection. The Pope doth the ſame, giving to the Kingdoms which he hath ſubdued his tongue with his religion. The ſimple people believe that their Religion muſt be Roman as well as the tongue which is uſed in Religion, and that both Chriſtian Faith and the Language come from the ſame place.