CHAPTER IX.
EPILOGUE.
Arguments carry greatest weight when accumulated. Therefore, the conclusion of our work shall consist of a brief summary of the line of argument pursued throughout it. We will begin, therefore, by asserting that the faith of Christians in the teaching of Christ, and their observance of His commandments, is not founded on frivolous motives, but on the most prudent grounds. Every intelligent man who considers the greatness and the wondrous harmony of the universe, will be convinced, that there must be a God, the Supreme Cause and Primary Mover of all things. For, as everything that moves is moved by some other thing, there must be some First Mover. Further, spirit being more noble than body, and God being noble above all things, He must be a spirit and simple substance, or Pure Act. Hence it follows, that He is perfect, Supreme Good, Supreme Power, Immutable, Eternal, One. All that is noble is, in proportion to its elevation above matter, more fully endowed with knowledge. God, therefore, must be Highest Intelligence, and possessed of free-will. He must act, not out of necessity, but by means of His Will. As, by means of His Intelligence and Will, He acts in all things, even in the very least, we must acknowledge that His providence cares for all things, and especially for man, for whom He has created every natural thing. Hence, it pertains to God, to guide man to his last end, to wit, the contemplation of Divine things. But, as such beatitude cannot be attained in this present life, wherein we are encompassed by misery, and enjoy but scant knowledge of God, we are forced, under pain of being very inconsistent, to believe in another life, and to maintain that the soul is immortal, and that it is the form of the body. Thus the Catholic Church, with respect to the natural order of things, teaches about God and the final blessedness of man, nought save what is most reasonable and intelligible.
If we next call to mind the picture which I drew of the Triumph of the Cross, we shall see that Christians, in confessing the faith of Christ, show the truest wisdom. For, the necessity of the existence of some religion in the world cannot be denied, when man’s natural tendency to religion—the means whereby blessedness is attained—is taken into account. And, if the end of religion be a good life, and a good life be that true religion whereby God is perfectly honoured, then as no better life than the Christian life exists, we must confess Christianity to be the true religion, whereby man is surely led to blessedness.
If it be a hard matter to believe that Jesus Christ, who was crucified, is both God and Man, we must bear in mind, that, were this article of Faith an error, it could not produce, foster, and develop the Christian life. Yet, as a matter of fact, this truth produces, more than does any other article of our belief, consummate perfection among Christians. Again, we know that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, on which our whole creed is founded, must be from God. Otherwise, the innumerable events which they predict would not have been verified; nor would the Scriptures have borne such abundant fruit throughout the world. If our Faith were false, men of purified intellect could not fail, especially when they are engaged in contemplation and prayer, to discern its errors; but, contrariwise, we see that such men are the boldest champions of the Faith. Again, were our religion false, its exterior rites could not, as they do, sanctify those who practise them reverently, nor deprave those who desecrate them. Neither, were the Faith untrue, could it give to the hearts of Christians such peace, and joy, and freedom, as to make them account affliction as a blessing and consolation; nor would it beautify their very countenance with such an expression of sincerity and calm, as to render them venerable in the sight of all men, and a powerful attraction to the practice of Christian virtue.
Furthermore, when we consider the power of Christ, whereby He has overcome all—gods, emperors, tyrants, philosophers, heretics, and barbarous nations; when we remember how His work has been accomplished—not by the sword, nor by wealth, nor by human wisdom, but by the daily torture and death of His martyrs; when we think of His Divine Wisdom which has so speedily enlightened the world and purged it of its errors; and when we reflect upon His mercy, whereby He has attracted multitudes to His love so powerfully, that not only have they renounced all earthly possessions, but have gladly suffered martyrdom rather than deny one jot or tittle of the faith—can we hesitate as to the truth of Christianity? What god, or what man, has wrought like wonders? If these marvellous works have been performed without a miracle; this, of itself, would be the greatest of miracles. But if they have been wrought miraculously, these miracles prove that Christianity is blessed by God.
If we next study the teaching of Christ, we shall see that it contains nothing unreasonable. The very mystery of the Blessed Trinity is imaged forth in creatures. It is reasonable, again, to believe that God is the Creator of all things, since everything needs an efficient cause. Likewise, since man is created for supernatural happiness, it is logical to maintain the sanctification and glory of the soul, and the resurrection of the body; for without the body, the soul would be imperfect. Furthermore, in order that the senses, more especially the eyes, of glorified bodies, may have more perfect and more fitting objects on which to exercise themselves, it is rational to believe that this earth will likewise be glorified. As God is able to do more than we can conceive, He was able by His power to become man. And it was most fitting that He should become incarnate, in order to instruct mankind as to its final beatitude, as to the true means for its attainment, and also, that He might make satisfaction to the Eternal Father for the sins of men. It beseemed Him, likewise, to be born of a Spotless Virgin, and to die upon the Cross, to teach us to face even death for justice’ sake. It was meet, too, that in order to give us hopes of our resurrection, He should rise again, and that, having been unjustly judged by the wicked, He should become the Judge of the living and the dead.
Again, nothing can be more in accordance with reason, than is the judicial and ethical code of Christianity; since no life is so perfect as is the Christian life. This results from the government of the Church, whose doctrines contain all that is best in the teaching of philosophers and sages. There is, again, nothing unreasonable, or absurd, in ecclesiastical ceremonies. This is evidenced by the sanctity of life, resulting from devout observance of them.
Where, then, shall we find a religion, established on such solid grounds of reason, as is Christianity? Philosophers ignored the true end of human life. Astrology is a web of superstition. Idolatry contains neither morality nor truth. Judaism is refuted by its prophets of old, and by the present captivity of its followers. The discord among heretics, and the extermination of their sects, is a strong proof that they are in error. Mahometanism outrages every principle of philosophy. Christianity alone is resplendent with natural and supernatural light; and is adorned by sanctity, wisdom, miracles, and wondrous deeds.
Can any intelligent man, then, refrain from devoutly embracing the Faith of Christ? Can any one fail to perceive the rashness and folly of those who revile a religion, blessed by God, and preserved by Him through centuries of persecution, and consecrated by the blood of innumerable martyrs? Surely, every man of sound judgment acknowledges Christianity to be true. Every man must believe that there exists another life, into which all must pass; that each one of us must stand before the awful Judge who will place on His left hand the wicked condemned to eternal punishment, and, on His right, the good who will enter into everlasting bliss. In this glory unutterable they shall gaze for ever on God in Trinity unspeakable, infinite. They shall rejoice in the grace of our all-conquering and triumphant Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, to whom be power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, for ever and ever. AMEN.
FOOTNOTES
[1] A translation has recently been published by the Catholic Truth Society.
[2] Life of St. Philip Neri, translated by Father Pope, vol. i., p. 278.
[3] Tome i., p. 885. Edit. Paris, 1719.
[4] This will account for some few slight and unimportant verbal variations from the original Latin edition in the present English translation, which, though it has been compared with the Latin, has been made from the Italian version.
[5] Many other editions were afterwards printed in Italy and elsewhere, which are not mentioned by Echard.
[6] Page 339. Edit. Paris, 1879.
[7] An imperfect edition in English appeared in 1661. A copy is to be found in the Cambridge University Library. It was “printed by John Field, printer to the University, Cambridge,” under the title, “The Truth of the Christian Faith; or, The Triumph of the Cross, by Hieronymus Savonarola, done into English out of the author’s own Italian copy”; and it was dedicated “To the much honoured Francis S. John, Esq.”.
[8] The alphabetical Index at the end of this translation is not found in either the Latin or the Italian edition. It is added for the convenience of the English reader.
[9] Page 235.
[10] Heb. xiii. 8.
[11] Isa. lix. 21.
[12] In addition to the instances which I shall give later on, the reader will look in vain in Mr. Travers Hill’s translation for the reference to “the blessed Mother of God, the Virgin Mary,” the “Host,” “Chalice,” “Mary,” and “Relics,” which will be found in chapter ii. of the First Book in this translation (and in the original, which Mr. Hill professes to reproduce in English). In the following chapter he will also fail to find Savonarola’s words about “Virgins,” “the Eucharist,” “the Veneration of the Cross,” and “the reverence due to Mary and the Saints”. In the eleventh chapter of the Second Book the subjects of cloistral-life, fasting and watching, and the three vows of religious, which are found in the original, are suppressed in the “translation”. In the thirteenth chapter of the same Book, after the words “born of the Virgin Mary,” the author adds, “Whom He wishes to be reverenced (quam vult adorari) as the true Mother of God”; the translator omits the words. Later on, in the same chapter, Savonarola, writing of the Blessed Sacrament—“My Body and Blood under the appearance of bread and wine”—says: “They shall most devoutly venerate It”. (In the Italian edition Savonarola expresses it “they shall adore It as God”), not so the “translator”; nor does he insert Savonarola’s words: “My Virgin Mother shall be honoured,” which immediately follow the reference to the Blessed Sacrament. The profession of faith in the Roman Catholic Church, which the reader of this volume will find at the end of the tenth chapter of the Third Book, and which begins: “Therefore, the Catholic faith most fittingly,” etc. (see page 127), is ignored completely by Mr. Hill, but is found word for word in Savonarola’s original work. In one place (Book ii., chap. xiii.) the words, relating to the Eucharist: “In Ipsius Corpus et Sanguinem transmutari” are rendered “represent His body and blood”!
[13] See Savonarola and the Reformation—a Reply to Dean Farrar, by the present writer (Catholic Truth Society).
[14] First Epistle of St. Peter iii. 15.
[15] Given by Quetif, Annales O. P., vol. ii., p. 125. An English translation of the letter is to be found in Savonarola and the Reformation, before referred to, at page 114.
[16] “When we look up to the sky and contemplate the heavenly bodies, what can be so evident and so clear, as the existence of a Deity, with a most marvellous mind, by whom all these bodies are governed?” (Cicero, De Natura Deorum, lib. ii.)—Editor.
[17] E.g., St. Ignatius the Martyr, St. Polycarp, St. Clement of Alexandria, etc.—Editor.
[18] As this expression occurs frequently in the following pages, it may be well, for the uninitiated in scholastic phraseology, to explain its meaning. Savonarola, in the 10th chapter of this 1st Book, defines Pure Act as being “superior to all matter and possibility” and in the 2nd chapter of the following Book, he writes: “God is not a body, but Pure Act”. The term Pure Act is applied to the Most High by theologians, to exclude all imperfection, and all possibility of change, or of any further acquisition. St. Thomas in his Summa Theologica (Pars prima, Quaest. xxv. art. 1) distinguishes between that which is in actu, and that which is in potentia. To say of anything that it is in potentia (or possibility) implies that it may still receive something, or become something which it has not or is not, something which it lacks; and that, therefore, it is wanting and imperfect (deficiens et imperfectum)—e.g., a child is in potentia to become a man—he may some day be a man; or an ignorant man is in potentia to learning—he may become a learned man; there is a possibility of it—therefore, as yet, he is imperfect. In actu, on the other hand, means that it actually possesses some special gift or perfection. God has everything that He possibly can have, He is everything that He possibly can be in the scale of perfection—nothing is wanting to Him, nothing further is possible to Him. Hence St. Thomas concludes: “God is Pure Act simply and universally perfect; nor is there any imperfection in Him” (ibid.). No creature can be called Pure Act; because every creature is in potentia—he may receive or become something which he has not or is not. The term is applied to God alone.—Editor.
[19] De Simplicitate Vitæ Christianæ. This little work consists of five short treatises, or, as the author calls them, “Books”. It is from the pen of Savonarola himself. It was first published in Italian at Florence in the year 1496, and afterwards, in Latin, at Venice, and at the Ascension Press in Paris. As the title suggests, it treats of certain practical and simple rules, which help souls to attain to the perfection of the Christian life. I do not know of any existing English translation of this booklet.—Editor.
[20] The author, probably, had in his mind the dream of Nabuchadonosor, interpreted by the prophet Daniel (Dan. ii.).—Editor.
[22] The reader will, naturally, recall the words of St. Thomas, in the Lauda Sion:—
of which the late Father Aylward, O.P., has left the following translation:—
[23] i.e., in Italian. It was published in Florence in the year 1495. Afterwards a Latin edition, Contra Astrologiam Divinatricem lib. iii., was printed.—Editor.
[24] i.e., angels, or else disembodied spirits, or souls which have left this world; to some of which pagans gave Divine worship.—Editor.
[25] i.e., Divine worship.—Editor.
[26] The author, quoting the Book of Leviticus, has already said (p. 183), that the “week” of Daniel’s prophecy is to be interpreted as being a week of years. He here reminds his readers that in the middle of the week our Lord was crucified, i.e., after three years and a half (or half of seven years) preaching. “He shall confirm His covenant with many, in one week: and in the half of the week the victim and sacrifice shall fail” (Dan. ix. 27).—Editor.
[27] Probably a reference to St. Paul’s words: “For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery (lest you should be wise in your own conceits), that blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in. And so all Israel should be saved, as it is written: there shall come out of Sion, He that shall deliver, and shall turn away impiety from Jacob.... According to the Gospel, indeed, they are enemies for your sake: but according to election they are most dear for the sake of the fathers” (Rom. xi. 25, 26, 28).—Editor.