Part 54 (1/2)
These canons of the Council of Carthage, A. D. 418, were incorporated in the _Codex Canon Ecclesi African_ adopted at the Council of Carthage A. D. 419. The numbers given in brackets are the numbers in that Codex. Interprovincial councils were known in North Africa as general councils.
In the consulate of the most glorious emperors, Honorius for the twelfth time and Theodosius for the eighth, on the calends of May, at Carthage in the Secretarium of the Basilica of Faustus, when Bishop Aurelius presided over the general council, the deacons standing by, it pleased all the bishops, whose names and subscriptions are indicated, met together in the holy synod of the church of Carthage:
1 [109]. That whosoever should say that Adam, the first man, was created mortal, so that whether he had sinned or not, he would have died in the bodythat is, he would have gone forth of the body, not because of the desert [or merit] of sin, but by natural necessity, let him be anathema.
2 [110]. Likewise that whosoever denies that infants newly from their mothers womb should be baptized, or says that baptism is for remission of sins, but that they derive from Adam no original sin, which is removed by the layer of regeneration, whence the conclusion follows that in them the form of baptism for the remission of sins is to be understood as false and not true, let him be anathema.
For not otherwise can be understood what the Apostle says, By one man sin has come into the world,(177) and so it pa.s.sed upon all men in that all have sinned, than as the Catholic Church everywhere diffused has always understood it. For on account of this rule of faith, even infants, who could have committed no sin themselves, therefore are truly baptized for the remission of sins, in order that what in them is the result of generation may be cleansed by regeneration.
3 [111]. Likewise, that whoever should say that the grace of G.o.d, by which a man is justified through Jesus Christ our Lord, avails only for the remission of past sins, and not for a.s.sistance against committing sins in the future, let him be anathema.
4 [112]. Also, whoever shall say that the same grace of G.o.d through Jesus Christ our Lord helps us not to sin only in that by it are revealed to us and opened to our understanding the commandments, so that we may know what to seek, what we ought to avoid, and also that we should love to do so, but that through it we are not helped so that we are able to do what we know we should do, let him be anathema. For when the Apostle says, Wisdom puffeth up, but charity edifieth, it were truly infamous were we to believe that we have the grace of Christ for that which puffeth us up, but have it not for that which edifieth, since each is the gift of G.o.d, both to know what we ought to do, and to love it so as to do it; so that wisdom cannot puff us up while charity is edifying us. For as it is written of G.o.d, Who teacheth man knowledge, so also it is written, Love is of G.o.d.
5 [113]. It seemed good that whosoever should say that the grace of justification is given to us only that we might be able more readily by grace to perform what we were commanded to do through our free will; as if when grace was not given, although not easily, yet nevertheless we could even without grace fulfil the divine commandments, let him be anathema.
For the Lord spake concerning the fruits of the commandments, when he said, Without me ye can do nothing, and not Without me ye can do it but with difficulty.
6 [114]. It seemed also good that as St. John the Apostle says, If ye shall say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us; whosoever thinks that this should be so understood as to mean that out of humility we ought to say that we have sin, and not because it is really so, let him be anathema. For the Apostle goes on to add, But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity, where it is sufficiently clear that this is said not only in humility but also in truth. For the Apostle might have said, If we shall say we have no sins we shall extol ourselves, and humility is not in us; but when he says, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, he sufficiently intimates that he who affirmed that he had no sin would speak not that which is true but that which is false.
7 [115]. It has seemed good that whosoever should say that when in the Lords Prayer, the saints say, Forgive us our trespa.s.ses, they say this not for themselves, because they have no need of this pet.i.tion, but for the rest who are sinners of the people; and that therefore none of the saints can say, Forgive me my trespa.s.ses, but Forgive us our trespa.s.ses; so that the just is understood to seek this for others rather than for himself, let him be anathema.
8 [116]. Likewise it seemed good, that whosoever a.s.serts that these words of the Lords Prayer when they say, Forgive us our trespa.s.ses, are said by the saints out of humility and not in truth, let them be anathema.
The following canon, although it seems to have been enacted for the case of Apiarius, is nevertheless often cited in the same connection as the eight against Pelagius, and is therefore given here for the sake of convenience.
18 [125]. Likewise, it seemed good that presbyters, deacons, or other of the lower clergy who are to be tried, if they question the decision of their bishops, the neighboring bishops having been invited by them with the consent of their bishops shall hear them and determine whatever separates them. But should they think that an appeal should be carried from them, let them not carry the appeal except to African councils or to the primates of their provinces. But whoso shall think of carrying an appeal across the seas, shall be admitted to communion by no one in Africa.(178)
85. Semi-Pelagian Controversy
With the condemnation of Pelagianism the doctrine of Augustine in its logically worked out details was not necessarily approved. The necessity of baptism for the remission of sins in all cases was approved as well as the necessity of grace. The doctrine of predestination, an essential feature in the Augustinian system, was not only not accepted but was vigorously opposed by many who heartily condemned Pelagianism. The ensuing discussion, known as the Semi-Pelagian controversy (427-529), was largely carried on in Gaul, which after the Vandal occupation of North Africa, became the intellectual centre of the Church in the West. The leading opponent of Augustine was John Ca.s.sian (ob. 435), abbot of a monastery at Ma.r.s.eilles, hence the term Ma.s.silians applied to his party, and his pupil, Vincent of Lerins, author of _Commonitorium_, written 434. The chief Augustinians were Hilary and Prosper of Aquitaine. The discussion was not continuous. About 475 it broke out again when Lucidus was condemned at a council at Lyons and forced to retract his predestinarian views; and again about 520. The matter received what is regarded as its solution in the Council of Orange, 529, confirmed by Boniface II in 531. By the decrees of this council so much of the Augustinian system as could be combined with the teaching and practice of the Church as to the sacraments was formally approved.
(_a_) John Ca.s.sian. _Collationes_, XIII. 7 _ff._ (MSL, 49:908.)
John Ca.s.sian, born about 360, was by birth and education a man of the East, and does not appear in the West until 405, when he went to Rome on some business connected with the exile of Chrysostom, his friend and patron. In 415 he established two monasteries at Ma.r.s.eilles, one for men and the other for women. He had himself been educated as a monk and made a careful study of monasticism in Egypt and Palestine. Western monasticism is much indebted to him for his writings. _De Inst.i.tutis Cn.o.biorum_ and the _Collationes_. In the former, he describes the monastic system of Palestine and Egypt and the princ.i.p.al vices to which the monastic life is liable; in the latter, divided into three parts, Ca.s.sian gives reports or what purports to be reports of conversations he and his friend Germa.n.u.s had with Egyptian ascetics. These books were very popular during the Middle Ages and exerted a wide influence.
Ch. 7. When His [G.o.ds] kindness sees in us even the very smallest spark of good-will s.h.i.+ning forth or which He himself has, as it were, struck out from the hard flints of our hearts, He fans it and fosters it and nurses it with His breath, as He will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth [I Tim. 2:4]. For He is true and lieth not when He lays down with an oath: As I live, saith the Lord, I will not the death of a sinner, but that he should turn from his way and live [Ezek.
33:11]. For if he willeth not that one of His little ones should perish, how can we think without grievous blasphemy that He willeth not all men universally, but only some instead of all be saved. Those then who perish, perish against His will, as He testifieth against each of them day by day: Turn from your evil ways for why will ye die, O house of Israel? [Ezek.
33:11] The grace of Christ is then at hand every day, which, while it willeth all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, calleth all without exception, saying: Come all unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest [Matt. 11:28]. But if he calls not all generally but only some, it follows that not all are heavy laden with either original sin or actual sin, and that this saying is not a true one: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of G.o.d [Rom.
3:23]; nor can we believe that death pa.s.sed on all men [Rom. 5:12]. And so far do all who perish, perish against the will of G.o.d, that G.o.d cannot be said to have made death, as the Scripture itself testifieth: For G.o.d made not death, neither hath He pleasure in the destruction of the living [Wisdom 1:13].
Ch. 8. When He sees anything of good-will arisen in us He at once enlightens it and strengthens it and urges it on to salvation, giving increase to that which He himself implanted or He sees to have arisen by our own effort.