Leo IV - Council of Valence III

COUNCIL OF VALENCE III

Can. 1. Quia doctorem gentium in fide et veritate ideliter commonentem oboedienterque audimus : « O Timothee, depositum custodi, devitans profanas vocum novitates et oppositiones falsi nominis scientiae, quam qui dam promittentes circa fidem exciderunt » [1 Tim 6, 20 sq] ; et iterum : Profana autem et inaniloquia devita : multum enim proficiunt ad impietatem, et sermo eorum ut cancer serpit [2 Tim 2, 16 sq] ; et iterum : « Stultas autem et sine disciplina quaestiones devita, sciens quia generant lites : servum autem Domini non oportet litigare » [2 Tim 2, 23 sq]; et iterum: « Nihil per contentionem, nequeperinanemgloriam » [Phi12, 3]: paci, quantum Deus dederit, et caritati studere cupientes, attendentes pium eiusdem Apostoli consilium: « Solliciti servare unitatem spiritus in vinculo pacis » [Eph 4, 3J, novitates vocum et praesumptivas garrulitates, unde potius inter fratres contentionum et scandalorum fomes excitari potest, quam aedificatio ulla timoris Dei succrescere, cum studio omni devitamus. Indubitanter autem doctoribus pie et recte tractantibus verbum veritatis, ipsisque sacrae Scripturae lucidissimis expositoribus, id est Cypriano, Hilario, Ambrosio, Hieronymo, Augustino, ceterisque in catholica pietate quiescentibus, reverenter auditum et obtemperanter intellectum submittimus, et pro viribus, quae ad salutem nostram scripserunt, amplectimur. Nam de praescientia Dei, et de praedestinatione, et de quaestionibus aliis, in quibus fratrum animi non parum scandalizati probantur, illud tantum firmissime tenendum esse credimus, quod ex maternis Ecclesiae visceribus nos hausisse gaudemus.

Can. 1. We have faithfully and obediently heard that Doctor of the Gentiles warning in faith and in truth: "O Timothy, guard that which has been entrusted to you, avoiding the profane novelties of words, and oppositions under the false name of knowledge, which some promising concerning faith have destroyed" [II Tim. 6:20 f.]; and again: "Shun profane and useless talk; for they contribute much toward ungodliness, and their speech spreadest like an ulcer" [11 Tim. 2:16 f.]; and again: "Avoid foolish and unlearned questions, knowing that they beget strifes; but the servant of the Lord must not quarrel" [II Tim. 2:23 f.] and again: "Nothing through contention, nothing through vain glory" [Phil. 2:3]: desiring to be zealous for peace and charity, in so far as God has given, attending the pious counsel of this same apostle: "Solicitous to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace" [Eph. 4:3], let us with all zeal avoid novel doctrines and presumptuous talkativeness, whence rather the smoke of contention and of scandal between brothers can be stirred up, than any increase of the fear of God arise. Without hesitation, however, to the doctors piously and correctly discussing the word of truth, and to those very clear expositors of Sacred Scripture, namely, Cyprian, Hilary, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and others living tranquilly in Catholic piety, we reverently and obediently submit our hearing and our understanding, and to the best of our ability we embrace the things which they have written for our salvation. For concerning the foreknowledge of God, and predestination, and other questions in which the minds of the brethren are proved not a little scandalized, we believe that we must firmly hold that only which we are happy to have drawn from the maternal womb of the Church.

Can. 2. « Deum praescire et praescisse aeternaliter et bona, quae boni erant facturi, et mala, quae mali sunt gesturi », quia vocem Scripturae dicentis habemus: « Deus aeterne, qui absconditorum es cognitor, qui nosti omnia antequam fiant » [Dn 13, 42], fideliter tenemus; et placet tenere, « bonos praescisse omnino per gratiam suam bonos futuros, et per eandem gratiam aeterna praemia accepturos : malos praescisse per propriam malitiam malos futuros, et per suam iustitiam aeterna ultione damnandos » : ut secundum Psalmistam: Quia potestas Dei est, et Domini misericordia, ut reddat unicuique secundum opera sua [Ps 61, 12 s], et sicut apostolica doctrina se habet: His quidem, qui secundum patientiam boni operis gloriam et honorem et incorruptionem quaerunt, vitam aeternam : his autem, qui [sunt] ex contentione, et qui non acquiescunt veritati, credunt autem iniquitati, ira et indignatio, tribulatio et angustia in omnem animam hominis operantis malum [Rom 2, 7ss]. In eodem sensu idem alibi : In revelatione, inquit, Domini nostri Jesu Christi de caelo cum angelis virtutis eius, in igne flammae dantis vindictam his, qui non noverunt Deum, et qui non oboediunt evangelio Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui poenas dabunt in interitu aeternas, . . . cum venerit glorificari in Sanctis suis et admirabilis fieri in omnibus, qui crediderunt [2 Thess 1, 7ss]. Nec prorsus ulli malo praescientiam Dei imposuisse necessitatem, ut aliud esse non posset, sed quod ille futurus erat ex propria voluntate, sicuti Deus, qui novit omnia antequam fiant, praescivit ex sua omnipotenti et incommutabili majestate. « Nec ex praejudicio ejus aliquem, sed ex merito propriae iniquitatis credimus condemnari ». « Nec ipsos malos ideo perire, quia boni esse non potuerunt; sed quia boni esse noluerunt, suoque vitio in massa damnationis vel merito originali vel etiam actuali permanserunt ».

Can. 2. We faithfully hold that "God foreknows and has foreknown eternally both the good deeds which good men will do, and the evil which evil men will do," because we have that word of Scripture which says: "Eternal God, who are the witness of all things hidden, who knew all things before they are" [Dan. 13:42]; and it seems right to hold "that the good certainly have known that through His grace they would be good, and that through the same grace they would receive eternal rewards; that the wicked have known that through their own malice they would do evil deeds, and that through His justice they would be condemned by eternal punishment"; so that according to the Psalmist: "Because power belongs to God and mercy to the Lord, so that He will render to each man according to his works" [Ps. 61:12 f.], and as apostolic doctrine holds: "To them indeed, who according to patience in good works, seek glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life; but to them that are contentious, and who obey not the truth, but give credit to iniquity, wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man doing evil" [Rom. 2:7 ff.]. In the same sense, this same one says elsewhere: "In the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of His power, in a flame of fire, giving vengeance to them who do not know God, and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall suffer eternal punishment in destruction . . . when He shall come to be glorified in His Saints, and to be made wonderful in all them who have believed" [II Thess. 1:7 ff.]. Certainly neither (do we believe) that the foreknowledge of God has placed a necessity on any wicked man, so that he cannot be different, but what that one would be from his own will, as God, who knew all things before they are, He foreknew from His omnipotent and immutable Majesty. "Neither do we believe that anyone is condemned by a previous judgment on the part of God but by reason of his own iniquity." "Nor (do we believe) that the wicked thus perish because they were not able to be good; but because they were unwilling to be good, they have remained by their own vice in the mass of damnation either by reason of original sin or even by actual sin."

Can. 3. Sed et de praedestinatione Dei placuit, et fideliter placet, iuxta auctoritatem apostolicam, quae dicit: An non habet potestatem figulus luti ex eadem massa facere aliud vas in honorem, aliud vero in contumeliam? [Rom 9, 21 ] ubi et statim subiungit : Quod si volens Deus ostendere iram et notam facere potentiam suam, sustinuit in multa patientia vasa irae aptata sive praeparata in interitum, ut ostenderet divitias gratiae suae in vasa misericordiae, quae praeparavit in gloriam [Rom 9, 22 sq]: fidenter fatemur praedestinationem electorum ad vitam, et praedestinationem impiorum ad mortem: in electione tamen salvandorum misericordiam Dei praecedere meritum bonum : in damnatione autem periturorum meritum malum praecedere iustum Dei iudicium. « Praedestinatione autem Deum ea tantum statuisse, quae ipse vel gratuita misericordia vel iusto iudicio facturus erat » secundum Scripturam dicentem: Qui fecit, quae futura sunt [Is 45, 11: LXX]: in malis vero ipsorum malitiam praescivisse, quia ex ipsis est, non praedestinasse, quia ex illo non est. Poenam sane maium meritum eorum sequentem, uti Deum, qui omnia prospicit, praescivisse et praedestinasse, quia iustus est, apud quem est, ut sanctus Augustinus ait, de omnibus omnino rebus tam fixa sententia quam certa praescientia. Ad hoc siquidem facit Sapientis dictum : Parata sunt derisoribus iudicia, et mallei percutientes stultorum corporibus [Prv 19, 29]. De hac immobilitate praescientiae praedestinationis Dei, per quam apud eum futura iam facta sunt, etiam apud Ecclesiasten bene intelligitur dictum: Cognovi, quod omnia opera, quae fecit Deus, perseverent in perpetuum. Non possumus his addere nec auferre, quae fecit Deus, ut timeatur [Eccle 3,14]. « Verum aliquos ad malum praedestinatos esse divina potestate », videlicet ut quasi aliud esse non possint, « non solum non credimus, sed etiam si sunt, qui tantum mali credere velint cum omni detestatione », sicut Arausica[na] Synodus, « illis anathema dicimus ».

Can. 3. But also it has seemed right concerning predestination and truly it is right according to the apostolic authority which says: "Or has not the potter power over the clay, from the same lump, to make one vessel unto honor, but another unto dishonor?" [Rom. 9:21] where also he immediately adds: "What if God willing to show His wrath and to make known His power, endured with much patience vessels of wrath fitted or prepared for destruction, so that He might show the riches of His grace on the vessels of mercy, which He has prepared unto glory" [Rom. 9:22 f.]: faithfully we confess the predestination of the elect to life, and the predestination of the impious to death; in the election, moreover, of those who are to be saved, the mercy of God precedes the merited good. In the condemnation, however, of those who are to be lost, the evil which they have deserved precedes the just judgment of God. In predestination, however, (we believe) that God has determined only those things which He Himself either in His gratuitous mercy or in His just judgment would do according to Scripture which says: "Who has done the things which are to be done" [Isa. 45:11, LXX] ; in regard to evil men, however, we believe that God foreknew their malice, because it is from them, but that He did not predestine it, because it is not from Him. (We believe) that God, who sees all things, foreknew and predestined that their evil deserved the punishment which followed, because He is just, in whom, as Saint Augustine says, there is concerning all things everywhere so fixed a decree as a certain predestination. To this indeed he applies the saying of Wisdom: "Judgments are prepared for scorners, and striking hammers for the bodies of fools" [Prov. 19:29]. Concerning this unchangeableness of the foreknowledge of the predestination of God, through which in Him future things have already taken place, even in Ecclesiastes the saying is well understood: "I know that all the works which God has made continue forever. We cannot add anything, nor take away those thing which God has made that He may be feared" [Eccles. 3:14]. "But we do not only not believe the saying that some have been predestined to evil by divine power," namely as if they could not be different, "but even it there are those who wish to believe such malice, with all detestation," as the Synod of Orange, "we say anathema to them."

Can. 4. Item de redemptione sanguinis Christi, propter nimium errorem,qui de hac causa exortus est, ita ut quidam, sicut eorum scripta indicant, etiam pro illis impiis, qui a mundi exordio usque ad passionem Domini in sua impietate mortui aeterna damnatone puniti sunt, effusum eum definiant. contra illud propheticum: « Ero mors tua, o mors, morsus tuus ero, inferne » [Os l3, 14]: illud nobis simpliciter et fideliter tenendum ac docendum placet iuxta evangelicam et apostolicam veritatem, quod pro illis hoc datum pretium teneamus, de quibus ipse Dominus noster dicit: Sicut Moyses exaltavit serpentem in deserto, ita exaltari oportet Filium hominis, ut omnis qui credit in ipso [ipsum], non pereat, sed habeat vitam aeternam. Sic enim Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum unigenitum daret: ut omnis, qui credit in eum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam aeternam [Io 3, 14 sqq], et Apostolus: « Christus », inquit, « semel oblatus est ad multorum exhaurienda peccata » [Hebr 9, 28]. Porro capitula--[quattuor, quae a concilio fratrum nostrorum minus prospecte suscepta sunt, propter inutilitatem vel etiam noxietatem, et errorem contrarium veritati: sed et alia]--XIX syllogismis ineptissime conclusa et, licet iactetur, nulla saeculari litteratura nitentia, in quibus commentum diaboli potius quam argumentum aliquod fidei deprehenditur, a pio auditu fidelium penitus explodimus, et ut talia et similia caveantur per omnia, auctoritate Spiritus Sancti interdicimus: novarum etiam rerum introductores, ne districtius feriantur, castigandos esse censemus.

Can. 4. Likewise concerning the redemption of the blood of Christ, because of the great error which has arisen from this cause, so that some, as their writings indicate, declare that it has been shed even for those impious ones who from the beginning of the world even up to the passion of our Lord, have died in their wickedness and have been punished by eternal damnation, contrary to that prophet: "O death, I will be Thy death, O hell, I will be thy bite" [Osee 13:14]; it seems right that we should simply and faithfully hold and teach according to the evangelical and apostolic truth, because we hold this price to have been paid for those concerning whom our Lord Himself says: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so it is necessary that the Son of man be lifted up, that all, who believe in Him, may not perish, but may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son: that all, who believe in Him, may not perish but may have eternal life" [John 3:14 ff.], and the Apostle: "Christ," he said, "once has been offered to exhaust the sins of many" [Heb. 9:28]. Furthermore, although they are becoming widely spread, we completely remove from the pious hearing of the faithful the chapters (four, which by the council of our brothers have been unwisely accepted, because of the uselessness or even the harmfulness, and the error contrary to truth, and other reasons) absurdly concluded with nineteen syllogisms, and not outstanding in learning, in which the machination of the devil rather than any tenet of faith is found, and that such and similar things may be avoided through all (chapters), we by the authority of the Holy Spirit forbid (them); we believe also that those who introduce these novel doctrines must be punished lest they become too harmful.

Can. 5. Item firmissime tenendum credimus, quod omnis multitudo fidelium ex aqua et Spiritu Sancto [Io 3, 5] regenerata, ac per hoc veraciter Ecclesiae incorporata, et iuxta doctrinam apostolicam in morte Christi baptizata [Rom 6, 3], in eius sanguine sit a peccatis suis abluta: quia nec in eis potuit esse vera regeneratio, nisi fieret et vera redemptio: cum in Ecclesiae sacramentis nihil sit cassum, nihil ludificatorium, sed prorsus totum verum, et ipsa sui veritate ac sinceritate subnixum. Ex ipsa tamen multitudine fidelium et redemptorum alios salvari aeterna salute, quia per gratiam Dei in redemptione sua fideliter permanent, ipsius Domini sui vocem in corde ferentes: « Qui . . . perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit » [Mt 10,22 et 24,13]: alios, quia noluerunt permanere in salute fidei, quam initio acceperunt, redemptionisque gratiam potius irritam facere prava doctrina vel vita, quam servare elegerunt, ad plenitudinem salutis et ad perceptionem aeternae beatitudinis nullo modo pervenire. In utroque siquidem doctrinam pii Doctoris habemus : « Quicunque baptizati sumus in Christo Iesu, in morte ipsius baptizati sumus » [Rom 6, 3], et : Omnes qui in Christo baptizati estis, Christum induistis [Gal 3, 27], et iterum « Accedamus cum vero eorde in plenitudine fidei, aspersi corda a conscientia mala, et abluti corpus aqua nzunda teneamus spei nostrae confessionem indeelinabilem » [Hebr 10, 22 sq], et iterum : « Voluntarie . . . peccarrtibus nobis post acceptam notitiam veritatis iam non relinquitur pro peocatis hostia » [Hebr 10, 26], et iterum: « Irritasn quis faciens legezn. Moysis, sine ulla miseratione duobus vel tribus testibus nzoritur. Quanto magis putatis deteviora mereri supplicia, qui Filium Dei conculcaverit, et sanguinem testamenti pollutum duxerit, in quo sanetificatus est, et Spiritui gratiae contumeliam fecerit? » [Hebr 10, 28 sq.]

Can. 5. Likewise we believe that we must hold most firmly that all the multitude of the faithful, regenerated "from the water and the Holy Spirit" [John 3:5], and through this truly incorporated in the Church, and according to the apostolic doctrine baptized in the death of Christ [ Rom. 6:3 ], in His blood has been absolved from its sins; that neither for these could there have been true regeneration unless there were true redemption; since in the sacraments of the Church there is nothing false, nothing theatrical, but certainly everything true, dependent upon truth itself and sincerity. Moreover, from this very multitude of the faithful and the redeemed some are preserved in eternal salvation, because through the grace of God they remain faithfully in their redemption, bearing in their hearts the voice of their God Himself: "Who . . . perseveres even unto the end, he will be saved" [Matt. 10:22; 24:13]; that others, because they were unwilling to remain in the safety of faith, which in the beginning they received, and because they choose by wrong teaching or by a wrong life to make void rather than to preserve the grace of redemption, came in no way to the fullness of salvation and to the reception of eternal beatitude. In both certainly we have the doctrine of the holy Doctor: "We who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in His death" [Rom. 6:3], and: "All you who are baptized in Christ have put on Christ" [Gal. 3:27], and again: "Let us approach with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with clean water let us hold unwavering the confession of our hope" [Heb. 10:22], and again: "For to us sinning willfully after the accepted knowledge of the truth, there is now left no sacrifice for sins" [Heb. 10:26], and again: "He who making void the law of Moses, dies without mercy with two or three witnesses. How much more do you think he deserves worse punishments, who has crushed under foot the son of God, and has considered the blood of the testament unclean, by which he was sanctified, and has offered insult to the Spirit of grace?" [Heb. 10:28].

Can 6. Item de gratia, per quam salvantur credentes, et sine qua rationalis creatura numquam beate vixit, et de 1ibero arbitrio per peccatum in primo homine infirmato, sed per gratiam Domini Iesu fidelibus eius redintegrato et sanato, idipsum constantissimi et fide plena fatemur, quod sanctissimi Patres auctoritate sacrarum Scripturarum nobis tenendum reliquerunt, quod Africana, quod Arausica[na] Synodus professa est, quod beatissimi Pontifices Apostolicae Sedis catholica fide tenuerunt : sed et de natura et gratia, in aliam partem nullo modo declinare praesumentes. Ineptas autem quaestiunculas, et aniles pene fabulas [1 Tim 4, 7], Scotorumque pultes puritati fidei nauseam inferentes quae periculosissimis et gravissimis temporibus, ad cumulum laborum nostrorum, usque ad scissionem caritatis miserabiliter et lacrimabilter succreverunt, ne mentes christianae inde corrumpantur et excidant a simplicitate et castitate fidei, quae est in Christo [2 Cor 11, 3] Jesu, penitus respuimus, et ut fraterna caritas cavendo a talibus auditum castiget, Domini Christi amore monemus. Recordetur fraternitas malis mundi gravissimis se urgeri, messe nimia iniquorum, et paleis levium hominum se durissime suffocari. Haec vincere ferveat, haec corrigere laboret, et superfluis coetum pie dolentium et gementium non oneret: sed potius certa et vera fide, quod a sanctis Patribus de his et similibus sufficienter prosecutum est, amplectatur. . . .

Can. 6. Likewise concerning grace, through which those who believe are saved, and without which never has a rational creature lived happily, and concerning free will weakened through sin in our first parents, but reintegrated and healed through the grace of our Lord Jesus for His faithful, we most constant and in complete faith confess the same, which the most Holy Fathers by the authority of the Sacred Scriptures have left for us to hold, which the Synod of Africa and the Synod of Orange have professed, which the most blessed Pontiffs of the Apostolic See in the Catholic faith have held; but also concerning nature and grace, we presume in no manner to change to another way. We thoroughly refute, however, the foolish questions, and the utterly old wives' tales, the porridge of the Scoti bearing nausea to the purity of faith, which in these most dangerous and grave times, to the summit of our labors even up to the dividing of charity wretchedly and tearfully have arisen, lest Christian minds henceforth be corrupted and cut off even from the purity of faith, which is in Christ [II Cor. 11:31] Jesus, and we warn by the love of our Lord Christ that brotherly charity, by being on its guard, protects the hearing from such things. Let the brotherhood recall that it is hard pressed by the very grave evils of the world, by the excessive harvest of iniquity, and that it is most cruelly suffocated by the chaff of light men. Let it have zeal to conquer these things; let it labor to correct these things; and let it not burden the assembly with the inanities of those who grieve and weep piously, but rather in certain and true faith, let that be embraced which has been sufficiently determined by the Holy Fathers concerning these and similar things.

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