VII.

CHAP. and disagreement betwixt them, that the Roman emendators of Gratian themselves know not how to trust it. For in some copies they can find neither the book of Judith, nor the second book of Maccabees; in others they have but one book of the Kings, and one of the Chronicles; sometimes three, and sometimes two, and otherwhiles five of Solomon. So that no man can tell what Gelasius herein said, if he said any thing at all. But let it be, that some such catalogue was digested in his time: all that is gained by it, against us, is as good as nothing; for it is but a catalogue of Ecclesiastical books mixed with the Canonical; and the title of it bears no more than we usually give it ourselves, to signify that these were the books which were written in the time of

Ubi enim testamentum est.' Tertia:
'Umbram enim habens Lex futuro-
rum bonorum.' (Heb. x.) In Pascha
Domini, homilias ad ipsum diem per-
tinentes: infra hebdomadam homilias.
In Octavis Paschæ ponunt Actus Apo-
stolorum, et Epistolas canonicas, et
Apocalypsim, usque in Octavas Pen-
tecostes. In Octavis Pentecostes po-
nunt libros Regum, et Paralipomenon,
usque in Kalendas Augusti. In Do-
minica prima mensis Augusti ponunt
Salomonem, usque in Kalendas Sep-
tembris. In Dominica prima Sep-
tembris ponunt Job, Tobiam, Esther,
Esdram, usque in Kalendas Octobris.
In Dominica prima mensis Octobris
ponunt librum Machabæorum, usque
in Kalendas Novembris. In Dominica
prima mensis Novembris ponunt Eze-
chielem, et Danielem, et minores Pro-
phetas, usque in Kalendas Decembris.
In Dominica prima mensis Decembris
ponunt Esaiam prophetam, usque ad
nativitatem Domini. In natali Do-
mini legunt primum de Esaia tres
lectiones. Prima lectio: 'Primo tem-
pore alleviata est terra Zabulon,' &c.
Secunda: Consurge, consurge.' (Esai.
ix., xl., lii.) Deinde leguntur ser-
mones, vel homiliæ, ad ipsum diem
pertinentes. In natali sancti Stephani,
homilia de ipso die. In natali sancti
Johannis similiter. In natali Innocen-
tium similiter. In natali sancti Sil-
vestri similiter. In Octava Natalis
Domini homilia de ipso die. In Do-
minica prima post nativitatem Domini
ponunt Epistolas Pauli, usque in Sep-
tuagesimam. In Epiphania, lectiones
tres de Esaia. Prima lectio incipit:
'Omnes sitientes.' Secunda: 'Surge,

illuminare Hierusalem.' Tertia: 'Gaudens gaudebo in Domino.' (Esai. lv., lx., lxi.) Deinde leguntur sermones, vel homiliæ, ad ipsum diem pertinentes.]

Dist. xv. c. Sancta Romana, [ut supr. not. p.]

Emendatores Romani, in notis ad eundem canonem, verb. Mandamus. [Gratiani Decret., ubi supr.; Corp. Jur. Can., tom. i. col. 63.-Post hoc verbum in decreto Gelasii sequitur continenter: 'Item opuscula beati Cypriani,' &c. ... Sed Burchardus, et Ivo, et Pannormia, habent ut Gratianus.] Ac certe in toto hoc capite tot modis discrepant collectiones ab originali, ut satis certo statui non possit, quæ vera et pura sit Gelasii lectio; nec magnopere sit mirandum, si nonnulla sint quæ difficultatem faciunt. [Quamobrem quæ auxilio codicum tuto emendari poterant, ea sunt emendata; &c.]-Item, ad verb. Cæterum. -Hinc usque ad finem, (ubi recensentur libri Scripturæ canonici, et Ecclesiastici iisdem immixti, [Vid. supr. not. ad lit. p.]) neque in collectione Isidori, neque in ullo veteri codice Gratiani, eorum quæ collata sunt, inveniuntur. [The passage in question is found, not only in the Par. ed. 1612, here used, (ut supr. not. p,) but also in the Lugd. ed. 1572. In the earlier edition, 4to. Basil. 1500, it does not occur.]

Decret. Gelasii in Synodo LXX Ep.-Ordo librorum Veteris Testamenti, [quem sancta et catholica Romana suscipit et veneratur Ecclesia; &c.-Concil. Labbe, tom. iv. col. 1260, ut supr. p. 162, not. m.]

the Old Testament, and afterwards received by the Church to be publicly read unto the people; though, in a strict and exact manner of speaking, we intend not to call them all alike canonical, no more than Gelasius and his bishops did; who must either be taken in such a latitude as we desire to be, or else they will be put, not only to disagree with the nature of the thing itself, (to say, that any book was a canonical book of the Old Testament, which during the time of that Testament was never so,) but to depart likewise from the consent of the ancient and primitive Church before them; which God forbid we should ever conceive of so many reverend and excellent persons, as either met with S. Augustine in the council of Carthage, or with Gelasius in the synod at Rome.

TEST.

CENT. V.

LXXXVII. But here at this place it will not be amiss to stand awhile, and look upon the fine pageant that M. Becanus the Jesuit hath dressed up, and set in our way. Becanus was a man of an acute wit, and subtle enough; but herein (as in many things besides) he shewed little of it, when he brings in Pope Innocent delivering the Trent-canon of Scriptures to the council of Carthaget, and the council of Carthage recommending it to S. Augustine, and S. Augustine presenting it to Pope Gelasius, and Pope Gelasius, in his council at Rome, reaching it over to Pope Eugenius in his council at Florence, (which is a leap no less than nine hundred and fifty years long,) and Pope Eugenius putting it into the hands of the council of Trent. We shall speak with the council of Florence*, and Trent †, hereafter; and, what all the rest of * Infra, this show can say, we have already heard before, and heard num. cliv.

M. Becanus, Manual. Controvers., lib. i. cap. 1. q. 1. [ed. 4to. Herbipoli, 1623. p. 2.-Hic] canon (quem pontificii amplectimur) habetur in Concilio Trident., sess. iv. Et patres illius concilii acceperunt illum per traditionem ab Eugenio Papa in Concilio Florentino, [ut videre est apud Bartholomæum Carranzam in Summa Conciliorum.] Rursum, Eugenius illum accepit a Gelasio Papa in Concilio Romano, [ut patet ex tom. ii. conciliorum, in decretis Gelasii circa finem.] Iterum, Gelasius ab Augustino, [lib. ii. de Doctrina Christiana, cap. 8.] Et Augustinus a Concilio Carthaginensi [tertio, quod alii quintum, alii sextum vocant.] Denique, patres hujus con

[vid. clviii. -clx.] cilii ab Innocentio I. [Epist. iii. ad + Num. Exuperium, cap. 7.] Vixit autem clxxxi. Innocentius anno Christi 402. Igitur, [vid. chap. ab illo tempore primitivæ Ecclesiæ ad xviii.] nos usque, per continuam traditionem, perseverat idem ille Scripturæ canon, quem nos [Catholici] nunc tenemus et amplectimur.-Vide eund., tract. de Fide, cap. 3. q. 1. num. 3. [The title of this treatise is, Martini Becani, soc. Jes., Theologiæ Scholasticæ partis secundæ, tomi posterioris, tractatus primus, De Fide, Spe, et Caritate, tom. iii.'-Ed. 8vo. Par. 1620. p. 55.-The passage referred to is an exact transcript of the former, ubi supr., Manual. Controvers., lib. i. cap. 1. q. 1. p. 2.]

CHAP. nothing that makes to the Jesuit's purpose,-which is, to VII. set all the apocryphal or ecclesiastical books of the Bible in

[Vid.

errata, ed. prima.]

equal rank and authority with the canonical. But between
Eugenius and Gelasius there will come in so many to the
contrary, that Becanus will never be able either to maintain
his continual tradition against them, or to fetch his leap
over all their heads. That Gelasius received his catalogue
from S. Augustine, or S. Augustine from the council of Car-
thage, and the Council from Pope Innocent, is no way pro-
bable. For, first, Gelasius received his decretal epistles, (all
but one,) and his synodical declaration of the Scripture-
books, from Isidore Mercator, and Isidore Mercator (for
ought that any body knows) only from himself. Next, the
council of Carthage and Pope Innocent rather received their
catalogue from S. Augustine, than S. Augustine from them;
for he wrote his books of Christian Doctrine before he was
made a bishop, to which office he was ordained seven years"
before Pope Innocent came to that dignity, and ten years
before the epistle to Exuperius is said to be written,—an
epistle that S. Augustine perhaps never saw, (at least he
makes no mention of it,) and which the council of Carthage
never heard of"; who, following the enumeration of Scrip-
tures that S. Augustine had (with his restrictions and limita-
tions) set down before, sent it to Boniface and other bishops
of Italy, to see if they would approve it: which they would
never have done, if they had known of any former declara-
tion that Innocent had there made about it.
genius had it from [the pretended] Gelasius, and he from
S. Augustine, and S. Augustine from the Council, and they
from Pope Innocent,-from whom did this pope receive it?
(for he lived in the fifth age, which is somewhat too late a
time to begin the primitive Church withal, as Becanus here

Lastly, if Eu

con, ubi supr., tom. i. p. 299.-Theodosio VII. et Palladio Coss.—Quo tempore Pelagius jam a Pontifice Innocentio prædamnatus,-ei Afrorum vigore, et maxime Augustini Episcopi scientia, resistebatur.]

a Loco citato.-Igitur ab illo tempore primitivæ Ecclesiæ ad nos usque; &c. [Vid. Becan. Manual. Controv., ubi supra, p. 165. not. ad lit. t.]

TEST. CENT. V.

Scrinio

doth.) Did he take it from himself, and fetch it out of his own bosom? or did he alone give forth his sentence about it, without the consent and testimony of others? and (which is pectoris ? more) against all the testimony and consent of the primitive Church for the space of four hundred years before him? Into so many errors and straits doth this Jesuit cast himself, by undertaking the defence of a wrong cause.

LXXXVIII. Nor is he in any less error, when, having asked the question",--What books of Scripture were received into the canon of the Old Testament?-he answereth, That there be two canons of that Testament; one Judaical, which was made up in the time of Ezra; and another Christian, which was made up by the authority of Innocent the First: a distinction that, standing upon no foundation, destroyeth itself. For the canon of the Old Testament, if it be properly and strictly taken, (and Becanus would not have it otherwise taken,) neither is, nor can be, any other but Judaical; from which if there should be a different Christian canon, making and avowing those books to be parts of the Old Testament, which the Old Testament never had, it would imply a contradiction, which Pope Innocent's epistle will never make good. For no book can be said to be a canonical book of the Old Testament, (that ended in Ezra's time,) but such only as was received into the canon while that Testament and the ancient Judaical Church flourished under it. Therefore in this matter we can no more believe the Jesuit's saying concerning Pope Innocent than we can believe Pope Innocent himself, when in this his decretal epistle he tell

b Becanus, lib. De Analogia V. ac N. Test. cap. 1. q. 1. [ed. 8vo. Mogunt. 1620. p. 2.-Quæstio est:] Quinam libri V. T. sint canonici [hoc posteriori sensu?-id est, Quinam relati sint in catalogum seu canonem librorum Scripturæ V. Testamenti?] R[espondeo] canon seu catalogus librorum V. T. duplex est; unus Judaicus, qui tempore Esdræ, [seu ab ipso Esdra, vel a concilio sacerdotum, cui ipse interfuit,] confectus est. [In isto canone, &c. ...] Alter Christianus, qui auctoritate Innocentii Primi confectus est; [in quo præter libros jam enumeratos, continentur etiam hi: Tobias, Judith, Esther, Sapientia, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, et duo libri Machabæorum.

Itaque tam hi, quam illi priores, canonici sunt.] Et quidem de prioribus, [qui continentur in canone Judæorum,] non est disputatio. Omnes, tam Judæi, quam Christiani, agnoscunt illos pro canonicis. De posterioribus aliqua dissentio est. [Judæi, Lutherani, et Calvanistæ, negant esse canonicos. Affirmant Innocentius I., Epist. iii. ad Exuperium, cap. 7; Augustinus, libr. ii. de Doctrina Christiana, cap. 8; Patres Concilii Carthaginensis; Gelasius in Concilio Romano; Concil. Florentinum apud Bartholomæum Caranzam, in Summa Conciliorum; Concilium Tridentinum, sess. iv.; et omnes Catholici qui hoc concilium secuti sunt.]

VII.

CHAP. eth us, (if yet it were he,) that Solomon king of Judah wrote a book in the time of Ptolemyd king of Egypt; for he attributeth five books to Solomone, whereof Ecclesiasticus must be one, that was written by Sirach seven hundred and sixty years after Solomon was dead. The question in our case is concerning a matter of fact, in a time long since past, which no power is able to change into any other thing than at that time it was, and make it what it was not. The demand then being, What are the canonical books of the Old Testament, (which was now past and gone four whole ages before the time of Pope Innocent,) recourse is to be had unto the time of the Old Testament itself, that herein must only give us our sure and certain resolution. For, if the pope had an omnipotent faculty, yet that faculty could not revoke a time, nor make things then to be, that then had no being; as it is both confessed here by the Jesuit, and was made clear before, that his new canonical books had then no such being at all. Besides, Pope Innocent's answer was not given to Exuperius in such high terms of authority (whereby to regulate and bind the Christian Church after him) as Becanus here would have it; for he answereth only as far as his understanding gave him leave, and according as his reason persuaded him, having first consulted the books, and the order of times wherein they were written. But, if he had made the ecclesiastical books of equal authority with the canonical, or determined those writings to be parts of the Old Testament, which never were acknowledged by them that lived under it properly to belong thereunto, his answer had been clear otherwise than what his understanding led

Supra, chap. II.

[vid. num. xxvi. pp. 18, 19.]

c Ann. Mundi 2940. [Salomon moritur circa ann. 975, ante Christum.]

d Ann. Mundi 3704. [Ptolemæus Euergetes moritur ann. 221, ante Christum.]

e Innoc. I. in Epistola [ad Exuperium, tit. vii.-Concil. Labbe, tom. ii. col. 1256, ut supr. p. 153, not. ad lit. d.] Salomonis libri quinque.

f Præfat. Siracidis filii, in Ecclesiasticum. [Bibl. Sacr. ed. Vulg. Par. 1564. p. 97.] Nam in xxxviii. anno, temporibus Ptolemæi Euergetæ regis, postquam perveni in Ægyptum, [et cum multum temporis ibi fuissem, inveni ibi libros relictos non parvæ neque

contemnendæ doctrinæ.-The Greek is: ἐν γὰρ τῷ ὀγδόῳ καὶ τριακοστῷ ἔτει ἐπὶ τοῦ Εὐεργέτου βασιλέως παραγενηθεὶς εἰς Αἴγυπτον, καὶ συγχρονίσας, εὗρον οὐ μικρᾶς παιδείας ἀφόμοιον· κ.τ.λ. -Vet. Test. ex vers. Septuagint., ed. Oxon. 1817. tom. iv. pp. 289, 290.]

8 Innoc. I., in Epistola ad Exuper. [Labbe, tom. ii. col. 1254, ut supr. p. 159, not. ad lit. a.] Pro captu intelligentiæ meæ (quæ sunt visa] respondi, quid sequendum vel docilis ratio persuaderet, vel auctoritas lectionis ostenderet, vel custodita series temporum demonstraret.