[The purpose of this post is to demonstrate the polemics of defending a conspiracy theory, which arrived fully clothed in the early modern period . Paradoxically, the one progenitor that strikes me as particularly significant would be John Calvin, who argues on the other side of the particular question. Part II summarizes the true doctrine that Jean Hardouin is protecting from conspirators]
Part I
I here enter upon a very important, but very
invidious undertaking. It is my intention, with the assistance of God, as long
as He grants me life, to show that all the writings which are commonly thought
to be old, are in fact, with certain exceptions to be presently named,
suppositions, and the fabrication of an unprincipled crew of literary men.
The exceptions are, the Books held by the Church to be sacred and canonical,
and six Profane Writers, four Latin, two Greek. Meanwhile I do not declare war
upon other writers, unless upon the enemies of the Almighty, of Christ, of the
supreme Pontiff, and of Royal authority.
Surely we may be as rigid in our criticism and repudiation of false monuments
from which in the slightest degree our holy Religion suffers injury, as are
judges in a court when they test and reject documents which are concerned with
men’s fortunes and estates, if any note of falsity appears in them. Now if
there be but one faulty notation of time any instrument, a Court will
decisively and with great and just indignation reject and repudiate the
instrument. How much more vehemently should we vociferate, and how much more
justly, when our holy Religion is assailed and undermined!
Religion itself and Christian Piety demand that we should deliver them at some
lesser risk from a greater peril. The
danger is less, if the falsehood of certain facts or allegations which have
hitherto obtained credit is acknowledged; but greater, nay, by far the greater
danger is, if those alleged facts are left unquestioned, and so our faith is
gradually injured and overthrown.
Let men, if they will, call the opinions I have here advanced ravings; I care
not, so long as I can discredit the doctrines which I denounce as impious and
heretical in those writings; I care not, so long as I can warn and teach my
readers to abhor them, what men may think of me; I care only to preserve the
faith concerning the true God, concerning Christ, concerning ever head and
chapter of our holy faith, sound and whole.
What matters it, I pray you, that no one before my time said what I have just
said, and that I adduce no authority or witness from the ancients in my
support? Supposing that I had a forerunner, would that affect the question of
truth? Or because he had long passed away, would that render him worthier of
support? I pray you not to believe in men, but in sound arguments.
If I had an equal genius to any of these old writers, if a desire came into my
mind to print something under the feigned name of any of those authors, whose
works are believed to have perished if I were to write it on parchment, with
ink specially prepared for the purpose of making the writing appear in the
course of a few years some 600 or 800 years old; if I were to transfer into that
work certain excerpts from old writers who are commonly supposed to be genuine
and sincere, with the view to induce belief in my work and its great age; tell me, would it not
be right for any one to try and find out and detect any hidden fraud and
impiety that he might suspect? Certainly he would be justified in doing so. And
certainly one who is first and foremost a Catholic and a Theologian must be thought
at liberty to do the like in reference to all writings which have not yet
undergone such censure.
Petavius [a noted Jesuit Chronicler], for example, was the first to deny that
certain works had been written by Athanasius, which the Benedictines ascribe to
his authorship, and he was right. And they were also justified who revised the
works ascribed to Augustine and Bernard, and who cut them down by one half,
which they repudiated. They had the same acumen to discern that they were not
all of the same style and vein. Tell me, am I not to enjoy the same license,
when I use arguments none the less certain, nay, more convincing? The Apostle
says to all, Prove all things, hold fast
that which is good.
It may be asked, How could it be that the Atheism which I profess to have
clearly discovered in these writings, escaped the Scholastic Theologians of
former ages? But I ask in turn how it could come to pass that in this very age,
when we have more Theologians, and not less gifted, this iniquity escapes them,
especially considering how much clearer our books are, owing to the art of
Printing? Doubtless in part the cause of this has been that when the Theologians
joined hands against Heretics, they perused only those heads of Doctrine in the
alleged monuments of the ‘Fathers’ on which debate had arisen; they did not
arrive at the fountain-head of these Dogmata. All were intent upon the object
of making the testimonies opposed to them tell in favor of their own respective
parties; for example, on the Eucharist, on Penitence, on the efficacy of Grace,
and other controverted heads. In this conflict each thought himself successful
in proportion to his ingenuity. But if they had weighed the whole literature
with the like care, had they put their fingers on the sources, had they
perceived that Atheism was taught by these false ‘Fathers,’ doubtless they
would have recognized the whole fraud; they would have seen that from Atheism
nothing sound, nothing but what is most alien
from Catholic Faith, in the Eucharist and other heads could follow. They
would have understood that the writings which they have treated with great
reverence, because they believed them to have come from the ‘Fathers’, were
indeed detestable.
It is no wonder that so many impious writings were not in former times
suspected of impiety. They lay hid on the shelves of libraries. They were
brought out in a furtive and secret manner, and by degrees. Very few men knew
anything of them. But now in our day, when a great number of similarly impious
writings are in the hands of all, not only in France, but also in Belgium,
Germany, England, and elsewhere, shall no one censure them? Can you wonder at
the stupor of former ages – from the fourteenth, in which I think these
writings were framed- and or wonder at the stupor of our contemporaries? Can you
wonder that the Church has not pronounced on these matters, seeing that the writings
in question have never been brought before the tribunal of the Church? Neither the Church – that is the supreme
Pontiff – nor a Council gives judgment upon books, unless there has been a proper
judicial interpellation.
I say that before the present the vast fraud could not be detected. No one could persuade himself or make others believe that all monuments are false and suppositions that had been believed to have been written in some fifteen former ages, unless he had studied them with sedulous attention. The whole system of the impious crew, of which each student took up his own part, could not be understood except by the diligent consideration of each and every part of it. But it is only in our own time that nearly all the writing have been brought forth from the Libraries. They are of the same kind with those extant, as will be readily understood by any one who is convinced of the falsity of those in our hands.
The Catholics, then, could not readily recognize the
impieties in these writings, nor could the Heretics lay open what they had
discovered. Both acknowledge the alleged ‘Fathers’. The Catholics were not at
liberty altogether to repudiate them; that their Sons might not be said to
depart from the ‘Fathers’ Nor did it occur to the Heretics to cast off writers
who supported, as they knew, their own impious hypothesis. Moreover, their
object was to show that they were not of recent origin, that they were not the
fancies of new doctrines; and they needed the suffrages of these alleged
witnesses.
Surely Catholic prelates ought to permit me, or any better man, to detect the
mystery of iniquity, and bring it into the open light of day. Otherwise they
may well fear lest some impious adversary come forward and publish the wicked
doctrines in the monuments of the alleged ‘Fathers,’ and find support among men,
who do not wish to toil as they toiled in getting up Editions, nor acquire the
ill repute connected with evil and impious doctrine, whether it be not
understood, or which is worse, championed and defended. Soon, unless God avert
the ill, the whole Christian world will become atheist against its will.
Assuredly it is all but necessary that a member of the Society of Jesus should
detect this wicked craft and malice. For there is scarce another Family of the
Priesthood which has not been deceived by some notable book offered to it under
the name of some distinguished man in that Family; which book it has forthwith
decreed by all means and arts to defend. Thus the Dominicans have ‘Thomas
Aquinas, ‘Vincent of Beauvais,’ ‘Moneta’, ‘Reiner,’ and others. The Franciscans
have ‘Bonaventura, Alensis, ‘Scotus’. The Carmelites have ‘Thomas Walden.’
Other families have other names.
But the Benedictines have a whole legion
of them.
Therefore, if at any time the holy Apostolic See would pronounce a judgment on
my censure against ‘Augustine,’ ‘Bernard,’ and ‘Thomas’ (these three writers by
the help of God I have dispatched; also most of the Councils; I am going to
deal with other matters in like manner, while life lasts); I say when that day,
greatly desired by me, shall come, let not the Holy See admit consultation members of any Regular Family,
which thinks it has produced from its bosom any of those old writers, and which
desires to preserve them at any price. Let the Holy See employ Secular Theologians,
or men of incorrupt integrity out of those very Families, who will look after
the good of Religion alone. Let them desire preserve her alone, though all else
perish.
The providence of God has hitherto permitted quarrels of Theologians on the
opinions of Augustine, Thomas, etc. God cares little about controversies of that
kind so long as the faith continues sound and whole, the faith which is
necessary for all to salvation. In this faith neither can He suffer the Roman Church,
nor has He suffered the Catholic Theologians to err. Meanwhile, not one of
those works has been approved by the Apostolic See ex cathedra, - that is, after
examination instituted and the hearing of advocates on either side on the question
of the falsity or sincerity of these works. Enough for the Roman Church her own faith, her own tradition, without the
help of ‘Augustine.’ Or any other private person whatever. She derives her
authority an her magisterial power from none, except Christ and the Holy Spirit
promised to her; she should be taught by none, she should teach all, as Mother
and Mistress. Nothing so strongly proves the authority of the Roman Church and
the providence of God in conserving the true faith through the Holy Apostolic
See, as the fact that she has never been corrupted, and will never suffer herself
to be corrupted by so many great names of distinguished writers, whether Greek
or Latin.
Thirty-six years ago, in the year 1693, and
afterwards on more than one occasion I declared that the spuriousness of the ‘old
writers’ had become most plain and obvious to me. Then certain Catholics, good
and well-meaning men, but of no large views, raised a cry against me. They did
not observe that the Calvinists of Holland or Germany vociferated much more
loudly. They, forsooth, well knew that if ‘Augustine’ were snatched from them –
if he were convicted of atheism – their famous phrase ‘All Augustine is ours’ would bear this
sense- ‘A scoundrel and a foe of he true Deity is all for us.’ In point of
fact, the fellow who assumed and bears the name of ‘Augustine’; teaches absolute
atheism under the guise of Christian language.
Some one may say, ‘Are you then wiser than so many men of genius, who read the
old writings, and did not observe that they were impious?’ I will answer in the
words of one of that wicked crew itself, in those forsooth, of Lactantius book
ii, chapter 8:-
Above all, in a matter that is vital it
behooves each man to consult himself and to rely on his own judgment and proper
senses for the purpose of considering and investigating the truth, rather than
to be deceived by the errors of others, as if himself devoid of reason. God
gave to all a measure of wisdom, that they might investigate unheard-of things,
and perpend things heard. Because you have had predecessors in time, it does
not follow that they have succeeded you in wisdom, which, if it is given
equally to all, cannot be wholly enjoyed by those who went before. To be wise,
i.e., to seek the truth is innate in all; and therefore they cease to be wise
who, without any judgment, approved what our ancestors invented, and are led
like cattle by others. They are deceived in this, that under the influence of
the name of ‘elders and ancestors,’ they do not think that they can be wiser,
because they are later, or that others are foolish, having the name of ‘elders.’
What hinders that we should take examples from themselves; so that even as those
who made false inventions handed down them down to posterity, so we who find the
truth should hand down better things to our posterity?’
To listen to this, nothing assuredly incites us but the desire of seeing
the truth, which is contained in the one most Holy Catholic religion.
|But it will be asked, ‘Why are so many literary monuments attacked, which have
been received in good faith by so many ages?’ Is there so much good in those
errors, or is so much evil feared, if the truth should be laid open, as there
is in the fact that Books should be in the hands and before the eyes of all,
which have been written by a gang of men, enemies to the Catholic truth – and written
with no other design than to remove God entirely from the world, and to
overthrow the whole of the doctrines of the Christian faith? Those books
foster, and will foster, endless and interminable quarrels in the Church, until
their nature and quality are recognized. If one should make clearer than the
light of noon that the rise and birth of them fell within the last 400 years –
that is, in the fourteenth century- would this be a light boon to
Christendom? Should it not be preferred
to any other gain, if any other there could be?
Why did God so long delay the exposure of the fraud? The answer is, He suffered
it to be committed that He might one day triumph over it; and he delayed to
show it to Catholics until as I have said, all the books, or at least the
greater part, and the most important books had been brought out of the
Libraries, had been fairly edited and could be conveniently read and
understood, and tested by the marginal references. This has come to pass in our
own time; hardly before. How helpful are these aids to students, students well
know. I judge them to be so important that, before they we afforded, I do not
believe the designs of the wicked crew could have been detected
In was the month of August, 1690, that I began to
scent fraud in Augustine and his contemporaries; in the month of November I
suspected the same in all; and I detected the whole in the month of May, 1692, after I had written
down long extracts from particular Greek and Latin writers. In this labor I
toiled almost to the point of disgust and weariness, though I had often moments
of great delight in the discovery of the truth.
On the question of the good faith of ‘Cyril, Theodore, Augustine, Jerome’ and
others, special treatises have been published, and the strife is not yet at an
end. If one were to make clear that the authors of such strife emerged from the
infernal regions into the world about 400 years ago, to pursue their ill design
of publishing the impious writings under the names of the Saints and others –
ought you not to thank such a man, if he proves the point by perspicuous arguments?
For who would undertake the advocacy of impious writings?
Part
II
The
Royal Psalmist, singing ‘The Heavens do tell, etc., and the Wise Man, chapter
xiii 3-5, and Paul, and other sacred books, prove that God exists from His
admirable works; that is, they teach of a Workman distinct from His works, and
that by a real distinction, the greatest conceivable – no distinction alone,
but real separability. He exists infinite ages before the world that he made;
and He can will forever to annihilate the same. None of those writers, none of
those falsely named ‘Fathers’ proved the existence of God by this argument – that
all things hold together by the Truth by which they are formally true; or from this
argument, that there is a certain universal Reason, the Light of rational minds.
But such was New Gospel of the false ‘Fathers.’
By the great Providence of God it came to pass that they whom the Lord Christ
desired to be the first Doctors of the Church were common men, plebeians, men
of the lowest vulgar herd. For if he had chosen out Philosophers, or other men
of the highest ability, there would now be the greatest temptation in the
Church, and occasion of suspicion –whether what ought to be understood by the
name of God is not that rather which is expounded in the writings of the false ‘Fathers’;
and is greedily taken out of them – the Essence of Essences and as the new
philosophers and Jansenists say- rather than what we Catholics worship.
God provided against this evil. First he sent Moses, to teach the true God as
creator of Nature. Afterwards he sent Christ, who as a greater prophet should
teach greater things in God. He taught that God could do many things above
Nature, much greater things than he did in creation; that he subsisted in a sublimer
manner than he who was known by the Jews. God made nothing in vain. It was
necessary that Christ should teach us the three Persons in God, that he should
make known and require belief in the miracle of the Eucharist. Otherwise, credence
would readily be given to the falsely called ‘Fathers’; and new atheists ,that
there was no other God than theirs; if there was nothing in the world that does
not appear to have been made according to the laws of motion and mechanics –
immutable laws which nature follows, as they reason.
But in reply to this it must be said that Atheists cannot fit their Nature or Essences
of Essences, or the Laws of Motion, the Ternary number of Persons, who are really
distinct from one another, because of the double vital operation of intellect
and will. The Miracle in the perpetual and continuous reproduction of the Body of
Christ under the species of Bread, the former substance being destroyed, infers
that God must be other than the Nature of Things, the Essence of Essences, and
Truth or formal Reality of Things. Both these propositions had to be laid
before the faithful that they might understand that the deity proposed for
worship by the faithful was not the object of worship which they themselves had
learned from Moses, and Christ, and the Apostles and their own ancestors and
elders. For Nature and Truth can do nothing but what the human mind can
conceive; cannot subsist in any manner beyond our intelligence. That the faith
of the true God might be preserved and conserved, it behooved that greater
things should be revealed to the Christians concerning Him than to the Jews. Especially
God foresaw what has actually happened, that the Rabbis of the Jews would be,
many of them, carried away into that Atheism – deceived by the Cabbalistic
books, which the same impious crew conflicted in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries.
