Introductiox

From the university of Bologna, which became the celebrated centre of the study of both laws, such eminent popes went out as Alexander III and Innocent III, and the advice of its jurisconsults was sought on questions of first import, as by Frederick Barbarossa on the plain of Roncaglia, 1158.

In his Concordantia canonum discordantium, usually called Decretum Gratiani, Gratian attempted to bring into a harmonious code the statements of councils, popes, and eminent Fathers bearing on all manner of questions concerning the government of the church and its usages. This digest had even greater authority in its department than Peter the Lombard’s Sentences in the department of systematic theology. In its sections are also contained the fictitious materials of the pseudo-Isidorian decretals, the most notorious portion of which is the donation of Constantine.

As time wore on, the need was felt of supplements to Gratian’s work, which were furnished in the Decretals, so-called, collected by order of Gregory IX, 1234,1 the Liber Sextus or Sext, by Boniface VIII, 1298, the Liber Septimus or Clementine Constitutions, by Clement V, 13 14,2 and the socalled Extravagantes, or fugitive decretals, twenty in number, issued by John XXII and incorporated into the code by John Chappuis in his edition of 1 500. Chappuis also added seventy other decretals issued between the pontificates of Boniface VIII and Sixtus IV, 1 294-1484. The completed digest, consisting of these parts, was authoritatively issued by Gregory XIII, 1582.3

The Glosses and Little Glosses, which Huss frequently quotes — the Glossa ordinaria — are comments made upon the original texts by glossators, among whom Cardinal Zabarella,

1 For Gregory’s bull sanctioning the ed. which was made by Raymund of Pennaforte, see Wetzer-Welte, 3 : 1446-1450.

2 In numbering the supplements of Boniface and Clement the VI and the VII, reference was had to four compilations made during the reign of Innocent III, which constitute the Decretals.

■ For Gregory’s bulls, see Friedberg, 1 : 79 sqq.

so prominent in Huss’s trial at Constance, d. 141 7, occupies a place of distinction.1

In this treatise and elsewhere Huss was concerned first of all to base his views upon plain Scripture, and then to find their confirmation in the pages of the canon law. In doing so, he quoted the spurious decretals of pseudo-Isidore, their genuineness in that age being still universally accepted.

It will be seen that, for Huss, the canon law at times was a heavy load to carry. He did the best he could to explain away its language which taught the high-church views which he distinctly repudiated, and to bring its statements into harmony with the teachings of Scripture he adduced. He speaks of the respect due to the body of canon law in a tone which leads us to infer that he accepted it in places with mental reservation.2 A single case in which he is seen to have absolutely set aside its plain meaning is his exposition of the last clause of the Unam sanctam to the effect, that there is no salvation except for those who fully submit to the Roman pontiff, pp. 120, 121. In a fine passage Huss makes the Roman pontiff refer to Christ, the supreme Pontiff and Shepherd, but Boniface had no such idea in mind when he issued his arrogant deliverance.

In regard to Constantine’s donation, which established the most pretentious claims made for the papal monarchy and for the sacerdotal office, Huss took the position Dante had taken before him, that Constantine had no right to bestow the privileges he did. For the first time, a generation or two after him, the genuineness of this document was seriously doubted by Laurentius Valla. It was not until 1520 that Valla’s destructive criticism was brought to Luther’s attention by Ulrich von Hutten.

To have been consistent, Huss would have been obliged

»See Schulte, 1 : 216, 226-229; 2 : 89, 217 sqq., etc; and for Zabarella, 2 : 283 sqq.

2 Pp. 94, 211 sq., 215, etc.

to discard Gratian’s compilation as Luther did, who, in 1520, threw the ponderous volume into the same flames at Wittenberg which consumed Leo X’s bull. And the marvel is that Huss, and Wyclif before him, should have been able to take the advanced views they did with this heavy load of the traditions of men — some good and some utterly anti-Scriptural — weighing them down.

VII. The Translation. This translation has been made from the second edition of Huss’s writings, entitled Historia et Monumenta J. Hus, published in two volumes at Frankfurt, 1715, with respectively 627 and 542 pages. The edition is a reprint of the earlier edition, Frankfurt, 1558, also in two volumes.1 The translator has had both editions on his table, using the second on account of the greater clearness of the print. After comparing the two editions almost paragraph by paragraph, he has failed to find a single verbal difference in the text. The only differences are an occasional case of capitalization and punctuation.

With exceptions, Huss’s quotations are found to conform exactly to the Vulgate, the text of the canon law and the other texts which he quotes. It was the translator’s desire to examine one or more of the original manuscripts of the treatise and through the courtesy of the eminent Huss expert, Dr. Flajshans, of Prague. he received a list of the more important manuscripts.2 It was found impossible to realize this desire; but from the accuracy with which Huss has transferred quotations to his pages as found in the Frank-

)The de Ecdesia fills 75 double-columned pages, Mon., 1 : 243-317. To the librarian of Lane Theological Seminary the translator owes his thanks for the use of the original edition as well as other valuable works as he is also indebted to Dr. Henry Preserved Smith for the use of volumes from the library of Union Theological Seminary, of which he is the librarian.

2The list of manuscripts, which includes exact descriptions, gives seven in the Royal Library of Vienna, one in the Royal Library of Munich, one in the Cathedral Gymnasium Library of Magdeburg, dated 1414, and four in the university library of Prague. For a list of Huss’s works edited by Flajshans, see Schaff , Life of Huss, p. 8.

furt text, it is fair to presume that the manuscript would show no change in any essential matter. It is to be hoped that Dr. Flajshans will add to his other editions of Huss’s writings a new edition of this, Huss’s most important treatise.

Huss’s Treatise on the Church is now within the reach of readers who have known it chiefly by its fame. Its pages will enable him who reads to feel some of the pious and heroic spirit of its author, the preacher of Bethlehem chapel, and at the same time to appreciate more fully what was the doctrinal and hierarchical system handed down from the classic period of the Middle Ages to the age of Wyclif and Huss. According to the letter of this system these two men were justly pronounced heretics, but not according to the Scriptures to which they appealed.1

To follow Huss’s own presentation, the principle upon which Christ was put to death was stated in the words, ” We have a law and by that law he ought to die.” On the same principle of ecclesiastical usage Huss suffered at the stake at Constance. When the two principles emphasized in this treatise are given proper recognition — personal devotion to Christ and a daily life conformed to his teachings and example — the practice of Christian tolerance and all human tolerance will be advanced. Then will creedal union and ritualistic prepossessions be softened and the barriers of denominational self-sufficiency be broken down, barriers which, at least in part, have been erected on metaphysical definitions in theological matters or uncertain assumptions drawn from history concerning the ministry and the sacraments, for which no distinct warrant can be found in the pages of the New Testament. This treatise will have a mission to-day, if its pages promote the idea that devotion to Christ is the condition and the surety of Christian fellowship and co-operation.

1 This treatise quotes the New Testament at least 347 times and the Old Testament 72 times. The two books most frequently quoted are the Gospels of Matthew, 93 times; and John, 67 times.

Chapter Pace

I. The Unity of the Church i-io

The church an article of faith — Meaning of church in Greek— In the New Testament — The church a mother — The dove of the Canticles — The strong woman of Proverbs — Not to be believed in as God.

II. The One Universal Church Divided into Three

Parts 11-15

The church triumphant, militant, and dormant— The Apostles’ Creed — Wherein the unity consists.

III. All Christians Are Not Members of the Church 16-26

Parables of the net, etc— The human body and the spiritual body— Essential parts of the body — Four kinds of persons related to the church — Predestinated according to present righteousness — Chrisfs other sheep.

IV. Christ the Only Head of the Chtjrch … 27-38

Head by reason of his divinity and humanity — Head from the beginning — No reprobate a member of the church — Present goodness no proof of predestination — Tychonius — The word Christian.

V. Good and Bad in the Church 39-5 1

Belief and faith— Parables of the marriage-supper, etc— The least in the kingdom of heaven — Prelates may be reprobate — Clergy and church used interchangeably— Paying tithes to the clergy for their works’ sake ■ — The nominal and the real church.

VI. Christ the Head of the Elect 52-55

Devil the head of the reprobate — Sin continues in the reprobate but disjoins them — Christ head of the world as well as of the predestinate.

VII. The Roman Pontiff and the Cardlnals Not the

Universal Church 56-66

Matt. 16 : 18— The church a mixed body— Particular churches— Reasons for calling the Roman church the church.

VIII. The Faith Which Is the Foundation of the

Church 67-72

Three meanings of faith — Faith formed in love — Faith and vision — Heb. 11 : 1— Faith and hope — Fallibility of the pope — Infallibility of the Scriptures.

IX. The Church Founded on Christ, the Rock . 73-90

Christ and not Peter the rock — Paul on the church’s foundation — Texts showing Christ to be the rock — Augustine on the rock — Patriarchs looked forward not to Peter — The apostles the foundations of the church — Peter captain and primate — Peter’s virtues — The priest makes the chair, not the chair the priest — Christ the way, the truth, the life.

X. The Power of Binding and Loosing … 91-110

Spiritual and civil power — Power of the keys — Penance — Forgiveness granted only by him sinned against — How far the priest binds and looses — Things Peter could not loose — Lazarus loosed — Binding and loosing belong to all the apostles.

XI. The Abuse of Scripture in the Interest of Cler-

Ical Power III-I18

Claiming the power of Christ and not following him — The devil the worst of sophists — Christ came to minister — Fictitious clerical authority — Christ’s true followers — Simoniac priests — The contention of the eight doctors.

XII. Christ the True Roman Pontiff upon Whom Sal-

Vation Depends Ii9-I24

Belief in Christ alone of necessity to salvation — Christ the eternal high priest — Gregory I’s letter on the papal prerogative — Assumptions and ostentation of modern pontiffs.

XIII. The Pope Not the Head of the Church but

Christ’s Vicar 125-136

The alleged successors of Peter and the apostles — Unlettered popes — The papissa Joan — Heretic popes — Constantine’s donation — Pope and cardinals not necessarily successors of the apostles — The pope may be head of the Roman church if his life is worthy — If he is predestinate.

XIV. When the Cardinals Are the True Successors

Of the Apostles 137-I46

Cardinals not the body of Christ — Not all the predestinate — Prelates often do not seek the things of Christ — The name does not make the bishop — The pope’s display — Kissing the pope’s feet — Prelates to be tested by their works.

XV. The Church May Be Ruled Without Pope and

Cardinals 147-160

Unworthy prelates — Duties of Christ’s apostles — Ambrose, Augustine, etc, true vicars of Christ — Constantine’s donation — Lewis’s grant to Pascal — No such grant from Christ — Original identity of bishops and presbyters — Gregory XII condemned by the cardinals — The church at first without a pope — The two orders of bishop and deacon — The clergy discerned by their works.

CONTENTS xlv

Chapter Page

XVI. The Law of the Standard of Ecclesiastical

JUDGMENTS l6l-l82

Pope and cardinals as judges — Jerome on the Roman see — Christ falsely condemned by statute law — Popes to be disobeyed if their judgments are contrary to the truth — Christ did not pronounce civil judgments — Nor put to death — Old Testament examples not to be followed — The sanguinary corollary — The abomination of desolation — Cases of strife over the papacy — Wicked popes — The Avignon schism — Constantine’s donation announced by an angel, bad or good.

XVII. Huss’s Resistance to Papal Authority . 183-194

Religious superiors not ahvays to be obeyed — Chrisfs obedience to a superior — To an inferior — Obedience of the greater to the less — Of an equal to an equal — Of the less to the greater — Obedience only virtuous as it is of God — Commands and counsels — Ecclesiastical laws not commanded in Scripture.

XVIII. The Apostolic See, or Cathedra Petri . 195-216

The true priest does good works — Preaching — Pope is apostolic when he follows the apostles — Moses’ seat was Moses’ authority — Augustine on the apostolic see — Papal commands to be tested — Huss’s appeal to Christ — Pope may err — Solemn responsibility of priests who kill the sheep — Augustine on cathedras — Marcellus made mistakes — The primacy of Antioch and Rome.

XLX. When Ecclesiastical Superiors Are to Be

Obeyed 217-228

The absolutely good always to be obeyed — Commands that are intermediate — Neutrality impossible where moral action is concerned — Superiors to be obeyed alvvays when they teach Christ’s commandments — St. PauTs example — Beraard on the duty of obedience — Clerics and laics to scrutinize the commands of superiors — No blind obedience.

XX. Obedience Not Always to Be Rendered to the

Church or Its Prelates 229-240

“Prelates to be obeyed in all things” — Excommunication only for mortal sin — In matters intermediate the church sometimes to be disobeyed — Commands to be weighed by the reason — Ecclesiastical burdens hard to be borne — Christ’s yoke easy — The Christian to follow Christ’s commands — Capable priests ought to preach as much as the rich to give alms.

XXI. ClRCUMSTANCES UNDER WfflCH OBEDIENCE Is TO Be

Rendered to Prelates 241-262

Popes and prelates compared to the scribes and Pharisees — Divine counsels — Circumstances modifying commands — Huss’s reasons for not going to Rome — Commands repugnant to reason — Christ the first exemplar to be followed — Deaths of John, Martin, and Stafcon — An inferior may rebuke a superior — Objections from the canon law against rebuking a pope — Inferiors should examine commands before they obey them.

Chapter Page

“A censure from the pope not to be questioned” — Pilate’s treatment of the censure of Christ — Excommunication, suspension, interdict — Excommunication does not hurt the righteous — God must first excommunicate — The wicked already excommunicated from the body of the righteous.

Suspension must be from God to be valid — Eli and his sons — Old Testament priests less guilty than New Testament priests — Prelates more guilty than the people if they do not warn the people — Not to reprove is to consent to sin — The interdict — Christ imposed none — Unjust to the innocent community — Reasons for the interdict on Prague — The curia’s method — Boniface VIIFs bull — “The customs of the fathers” — The apostles did not fulminate interdicts — Condemnation of the XLV Wyclifite Articles— The effect.

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