The Catechism of the Council of Trent/Preface to the Catechism
PREFACE
TO THE CATECHISM
OF
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT.
INTENTION OF THE COUNCIL—OBJECT AND AUTHORITY OF THE WORK—ITS USE AND DIVISION.
Insufficiency of human reason.Such is the nature of the human mind, so limited are its intellectual powers, that, although by means of diligent and laborious inquiry it has been enabled of itself to investigate and discover many divine truths; yet guided solely by its own lights it could never know or comprehend most of those things by which eternal salvation, the principal end of man's creation and formation to the image and likeness of God, is attained. Necessity of revelation "The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, are," as the Apostle teaches, "clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made: his eternal power also and divinity."[1] But "the mystery which had been hidden from ages and generations" so far transcends the reach of man's understanding, that were it not "manifested to his saints to whom God," by the gift of faith, "would make known the riches of the glory of this mystery, amongst the Gentiles, which is Christ,"[2] it had never been given to human research to aspire to such wisdom.
And of authorized teachers.But, as "faith cometh by hearing,"[3] the necessity of the assiduous labour and faithful ministry of a legitimate teacher, at all times, towards the attainment of eternal salvation is manifest, for it is written, "how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they be sent?"[4] And, indeed, never, from the very creation of the world, has God most merciful and benignant been wanting to his own; but "at sundry times and in divers manners spoke, in times past, to the Fathers by the Prophets;"[5] and pointed out, in a manner suited to the times and circumstances, a sure and direct path to the happiness of heaven. But, as he had foretold that he would give a teacher, " to be the light of the Gentiles and salvation to the ends of the earth;"[6] "in these days he hath spoken to us by his Son,"[7] whom also by a voice from heaven, " from the excellent glory,"[8] he has commanded all to hear and to obey; and the Son " hath given some apostles, and some prophets, and others evangelists, and others pastors and teachers,"[9] to announce the word of life; that we be not carried about like children with every wind of doctrine, but holding fast to the firm foundation of the faith, " may be built together into a habitation of God in the Holy Ghost."
The pastors of the Church to be heard.That none may receive the word of God from the ministers of the Church as the word of man, but as the word of Christ, what it really is, the same Saviour has ordained that their ministry should be invested with such authority that he says to them; " he that hears you, hears me; and he that despises you, despises me;"[10] a declaration which he would not be understood to make to those only to whom his words were addressed, but likewise to all who, by legitimate succession, should discharge the ministry of the word, promising to be with them "all days, even to the consummation of the world."[11]
Peculiar necessity of pastoral instruction in these days.As this preaching of the divine word should never be interrupted in the Church of God, so in these our days it becomes necessary to labour with more than ordinary zeal and piety to nurture and strengthen the faithful with sound and wholesome doctrine, as with the food of life: for " false prophets have gone forth into the world"[12] " with various and strange doctrines"[13] to corrupt the minds of the faithful; of whom the Lord hath said Activity of the "Reformers.""I sent them not, and they ran; I spoke not to them, yet they prophesied."[14] In this unholy work, to such extremes has their impiety, practised in all the arts of Satan, been carried, that it would seem almost impossible to confine it within bounds; and did we not rely on the splendid promises of the Saviour, who declared that he had "built his Church on so solid a foundation, that the gates of hell should never prevail against it, "[15] we should be filled with most alarming apprehension lest, beset on every side by such a host of enemies, assailed by so many and such formidable engines, the Church of God should, in these days, fall beneath their combined efforts. To omit those illustrious states which heretofore professed, in piety and holiness, the Catholic faith transmitted to them by their ancestors, but are now gone astray, wandering from the paths of truth, and openly declaring that their best claims of piety are founded on a total abandonment of the faith of their fathers : there is no region however remote, no place however securely guarded, no corner of the Christian republic, into which this pestilence has not sought secretly to insinuate itself. Those, who proposed to themselves to corrupt the minds of the faithful, aware that they could not hold immediate personal intercourse with all, and thus pour into their ears their poisoned doctrines, by adopting a different plan, disseminated error and impiety more easily and extensively. Besides those voluminous works, by which they sought the subversion of the Catholic faith ; to guard against which, however, containing, as they did, open heresy, required, perhaps, little labour or circumspection ; they also composed in numerable smaller books, which, veiling their errors under the semblance of piety, deceived with incredible facility the simple and the incautious.
Object and authority of this workThe Fathers, therefore, of the general Council of Trent, anxious to apply some healing remedy to an evil of such magnitude, were not satisfied with having decided the more important points of Catholic doctrine against the heresies of our times, but deemed it further necessary to deliver some fixed form of instructing the faithful in the truths of religion from the very rudiments of Christian knowledge; a form to be followed by those to whom are lawfully intrusted the duties of pastor and teacher. In works of this sort many, it is true, have already employed their pens, and earned the reputation of great piety and learning. The Fathers, however, deemed it of the first importance that a work should appear, sanctioned by the authority of the Holy Synod, from which pastors and all others on whom the duty of imparting instruction devolves, may draw with security precepts for the edification of the faithful; that as there is "one Lord, one faith" [16] there may also be one standard and prescribed form of propounding the dogmas of faith, and instructing Christians in all the duties of piety.
Its subject matter.As, therefore, the design of the work embraces a variety of matter, the Holy Synod cannot be supposed to have intended to comprise, in one volume, all the dogmas of Christianity, with that minuteness of detail to be found in the works of those who profess to treat of all the institutions and doctrines of religion. Such a task would be one of almost endless labour, and manifestly ill-suited to attain the proposed end. But, having undertaken to instruct pastors and such as have care of souls in those things that belong peculiarly to the pastoral office and are accommodated to the capacity of the faithful; the Holy Synod intended that such things only should be treated of as might assist the pious zeal of pastors in discharging the duty of instruction, should they not be very familiar with the more abstruse questions of theological disputation.
Principal things to be observed by the Pastor in communicating instruction.Such being the nature and object of the present work, its order requires that, before we proceed to develope those things severally which comprise a summary of this doctrine, we premise a few observations explanatory of the considerations which should form the primary object of the pastor's attention, and which he should keep continually before his eyes, in order to know to what end, as it were, all his views and labours and studies are to be directed, and how this end, which he proposes to himself, may be facilitated and attained.
First.The first is always to recollect that in this consists all Christian knowledge, or rather, to use the words of the Apostle, " this is eternal life, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."[17] A teacher in the Church will, therefore, use his best endeavours that the faithful desire earnestly " to know Jesus Christ and him crucified,"[18] that they be firmly convinced, and with the most heart-felt piety and devotion believe, that " there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby they can be saved,"[19] for he is the propitiation for our sins."[20]
Second.But as " by this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments,"[21] the next consideration, and one intimately connected with the preceding, is to press also upon their attention that their lives are not to be wasted in ease and indolence, but that " we are to walk even as Christ walked,"[22] " and pursue," with unremitting earnestness, " justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, mildness;"[23] for, " he gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse to himself a people acceptable, a pursuer of good works."[24] These things the Apostle commands pastors to speak and to exhort.
Third.But as our Lord and Saviour has not only declared, but has also proved by his own example, that "the Law and the Prophets depend on love,"[25] and as, according to the Apostle, charity is the end of the commandments, and the fulfilment of the law,[26] it is unquestionably a paramount duty of the pastor, to use the utmost assiduity to excite the faithful to a love of the infinite goodness of God towards us; that burning with a sort of divine ardour, they may be powerfully attracted to the supreme and all perfect good, to adhere to which is true and solid happiness, as is fully experienced by him who can say with the Prophet ; " What have I in heaven but thee ? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth ?[27] This, assuredly, is that more excellent way[28] pointed out by the Apostle, when he refers all his doctrines and instructions to charity which never faileth;"[29] for whatever is proposed by the pastor, whether it be the exercise of faith, of hope, or of some moral virtue; the love of God should be so strongly insisted upon by him, as to show clearly that all the works of perfect Christian virtue can have no other origin, no other end than divine love.[30]
Fourth.But as in imparting instruction of any sort, the manner of communicating it is of considerable importance, so in conveying instruction to the people, it should be deemed of the greatest moment. Age, capacity, manners and condition demand attention, that he, who instructs, may become all things to all men, and be able to gain all to Christ,[31] and prove himself a faithful minister and steward,[32] and, like a good and faithful servant, be found worthy to be placed by his Lord over many things.[33] Nor let him imagine that those committed to his care are all of equal capacity or like dispositions, so as to enable him to apply the same course of instruction, to lead all to knowledge and piety; for some are, as it were new-born infants," others grown up in Christ, and others in some sort, of full maturity. Hence the necessity of considering who they are that have occasion for milk, who for more solid food, [34] and of affording to each such nutriment of doctrine as may give spiritual increase, " until we all meet in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son God into a perfect man, into the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ."[35] This the example of the Apostle points out to the observance of all, for, he is a debtor to the Greek and the Barbarian, to the wise and to the unwise :"[36] thus giving all who are called to this ministry, to understand that in announcing the mysteries of faith, and inculcating the precepts of morality, the instruction is to be accommodated to the capacity and intelligence of the hearers ; that, whilst the minds of the strong are filled with spiritual food, the little ones be not suffered to perish with hunger, " asking for bread, whilst there is none to break it to them."
FifthNor should our zeal in communicating Christian knowledge be relaxed, because it is sometimes to be exercised in expounding matters apparently humble and unimportant, and, therefore, comparatively uninteresting to minds accustomed to repose in the contemplation of the more sublime truths of religion. If the wisdom of the eternal Father descended upon the earth in the meanness of our flesh, to teach as the maxims of a heavenly life, who is there whom the love of Christ does not compel[37] to be come little in the midst of his brethren ; and, as a nurse fostering her children, so anxiously to wish for the salvation of his neighbour, that as the Apostle testifies of himself, he desires to deliver not only the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them, but even his own life for them.[38]
Where the doctrines of Christianity are contained.But all the doctrines of Christianity, in which the faithful are to be instructed, are derived from the word of God, which includes Scripture and tradition. To the study of these, therefore, the pastor should devote his days and his nights, always keeping in mind the admonition of St. Paul to Timothy, which all who have the care of souls should consider as addressed to themselves ; "Attend to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine,[39] for all Scripture divinely inspired, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work."[40]
Division of the work.But as the truths revealed by Almighty God, are so many and so various, as to render it no easy task to comprehend them, or, having comprehended them, to retain so distinct a recollection of them as to be able to explain them with ease and promptitude when occasion may require; our predecessors in the faith have very wisely reduced them to these four heads—The Apostle's Creed—The Sacraments—The ten Commandments—and the Lord's Prayer. First part.The Creed contains all that is to be held according to the discipline of the Christian faith, whether it regard the knowledge of God, the creation and government of the world; or the redemption of man, the rewards of the good and the punishments of the wicked. Second part.The doctrine of the seven Sacraments comprehends the signs, and, as it were, the instruments of grace. Third part.The Decalogue, whatever has reference to the law, " the end whereof is charity." [41] Fourth part.Finally, the Lord's Prayer contains whatever can be the object of the Christian's desires, or hopes, or prayers. The exposition, therefore, of these, as it were, common-places of sacred Scripture, includes almost every thing to be known by a Christian.
Application of the Catechism to the Gospel of the Sunday.We, therefore, deem it proper to acquaint pastors that, whenever they have occasion, in the ordinary discharge of their duty, to expound any passage of the Gospel, or any other part of Scripture, they will find its substance under some one of the four heads already enumerated, to which they will recur, as the source from which their exposition is to be drawn. Thus, if the Gospel of the first Sunday of Advent is to be explained, " There shall be signs in the sun and in the moon, &c. [42] what ever regards its explanation is contained under the article of the creed, " He shall come to judge the living and the dead," and by imbodying the substance of that article in his exposition, the pastor will at once instruct his people in the creed and in the Gospel. Whenever, therefore, he has to communicate instruction and expound the Scriptures, he will observe the same rule of referring all to these four principal heads, which, as we have already observed, comprise the whole force and doctrine of Holy Scripture.
Why it begins with the explanation of the Creed.He will, however, observe that order which he deems best suited to persons, times and circumstances. Walking in the footsteps of the Fathers, who to initiate men in Christ the Lord and instruct them in his discipline begin with the doctrine of faith, we have deemed it useful to explain first in order what appertains to faith.
Faith, how understood here.As the word faith has a variety of meanings in the Sacred Scriptures, it may not be unnecessary to observe that here we speak of that faith by which we yield our entire assent to whatever has been revealed by Almighty God. That faith thus understood is necessary to salvation no man can reasonably doubt ; particularly as the Sacred Scriptures declare that " Without faith it is impossible to please God." [43] For as the end proposed to man as his ultimate happiness is far above the reach of the human understanding, it was, therefore, necessary that it should be made known to him by Almighty God. This knowledge is nothing else than faith, by which we yield our unhesitating assent to whatever the authority of our Holy Mother the Church teaches us to have been revealed by Almighty God : for the faithful cannot doubt those things of which God, who is truth itself, is the author. Hence we see the great difference that exists between this faith which we give to God, and the credence which we yield to profane historians. But faith, though comprehensive, and differing in degree and dignity, [for we read in Scripture these words," O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt" [44] and "great is thy faith," [45] and" Increase our faith," [46] also " Faith without works is dead" [47] and " Faith which worketh by charity; [48]"] is yet the same in kind, and the full force of its definition applies equally to all its degrees. Its fruit and advantages to us, we shall point out when explaining the articles of the Creed. The first, then, and most important points of Christian faith are those which the holy Apostles, the great leaders and teachers of the faith, men inspired by the Holy Ghost, have divided into the twelve articles of the Creed: The Creed who composed by the Apostles.for as they had received a command from the Lord to go forth " in the whole world," " as his ambassadors, and preach the Gospel to every creature, [49] they thought proper to compose a form of Christian faith, " that all may speak and think the same thing;" [50] and that amongst those whom they should have called to the unity of faith, no schisms should exist; but that they should be perfect in the same mind, and in the same spirit. This profession of Christian faith and hope, drawn up by themselves, the Apostles called a " symbol," either because it was an aggregate of the combined sentiments of all; or because, by it, as by a common sign and watch-word, they might easily distinguish false brethren, deserters from the faith, " unawares brought in," " who adultered the word of God," [51] from those who had pledged an oath of fidelity to serve under the banner of Christ.
- ↑ Rom i. 20.
- ↑ Coloss. i. 26, 27.
- ↑ Rom. x. 17
- ↑ Rom. x. 14, 15.
- ↑ Heb. i. 1
- ↑ Is. xlix. 6
- ↑ Heb. i. 2
- ↑ 2 Pet. i. 17
- ↑ Eph. iv. 11
- ↑ Luke x 16
- ↑ Matt xxviii. 20
- ↑ 1 John iv. 1
- ↑ Heb. xiii 9
- ↑ Jerem xxiii. 21
- ↑ Matt xvi 18
- ↑ Eph. iv. 5.
- ↑ John xvii 3
- ↑ 1 Cor ii 2
- ↑ Acts iv 12
- ↑ 1 John ii 2
- ↑ 1 John ii 3
- ↑ 1 John ii 6
- ↑ 1 Tim vi 11
- ↑ Tit ii 14
- ↑ Matt xxii. 40
- ↑ 1 Tim i. 5
- ↑ Psalm lxxii 25
- ↑ 1 Cor xii 31
- ↑ 1 Cor xiii 8
- ↑ 1 Cor xvi 14
- ↑ 1 Cor ix. 22
- ↑ 1 Cor iv 1,2
- ↑ Matt xxv 23.
- ↑ 1 Cor iii 2. Heb v. 12
- ↑ Eph iv. 13
- ↑ Rom i 14.
- ↑ 2 Cor v 14.
- ↑ 1 Thess ii 7,8
- ↑ 1 Tim iv 13
- ↑ 2 Tim iii 6, 17
- ↑ 1 Tim. i. 5.
- ↑ Luke xxi. 25.
- ↑ Heb. xi. 6.
- ↑ Matt. xiv 31.
- ↑ Matt. xv. 28.
- ↑ Luke xvii. 5.
- ↑ James ii. 17.
- ↑ Gal. v. 6
- ↑ 2 Cor. v. 18, 19, 20.
- ↑ 1 Cor. 1. 10.
- ↑ 2 Cor. 11. 17.