Original Douay–Rheims Annotations1 Timothy 6

Languishing.

Even these be the good disputes of our new Sect-masters, and the world hath too long proved these inconveniences here named, to be the fruits of such endless altercations in religion as these unhappy sects have brought forth.

Depositum.

^[1] The whole doctrine of our Christianity being taught by the Apostles, and delivered to their successors, and coming down from one Bishop to another, is called the Depositum, as it were a thing laid into their hands, and committed unto them to keep. Which because it passeth from hand to hand, from age to age, from Bishop to Bishop without corruption, change, or alteration, is all one with Tradition, and is the truth given unto the holy Bishops to keep, and not to lay men. See the notable discourse of Vincentius Lirinensis upon this text. li. cont. profan. hær. Novationes. And it is for this great, old, and known treasure committed to the Bishops' custody, that S. Irenæus calleth the Catholic Church Depositorium dives, the rich treasury of truth. li. 3. c. 4. And as Clemens Alexandrinus writeth li. 2. Strom. this place maketh so much against all Heretics who do all change this Depositum, that for it only such men in his days denied this Epistle. The Heretics of our days challenge also the truth, and say it is the old truth. but they leap 14 or 15 hundreth years for it over men's heads to the Apostles. ^[2] But we call for the Depositum, and ask them in whose hands that truth which they pretend, was laid up, and how it came down to them. For it cannot be Apostolical, unless it were Depositum in some Timothee's hand, so to continue from one Bishop to another until our time and to the end.

• 1 Depositum, is the Catholic truth descending from the Apostles by succession of Bishops, even unto the end.
• 2 The Protestants can shew no such depositum.

profane novelties.

Non dixit antiquitates (saith Vincentius Lirinensis) non dixit vetustates, sed prophanas novitates. Nam si vitanda est novitas, tenenda est antiquitas: si prophana est novitas, sacrata est vetustas; that is, He said not, Antiquities: he said not, Ancientness: but Profane Novelties. For if novelty is to be avoided, antiquity is to be kept: If novelty be profane, ancientness is holy and sacred. See his whole book against the profane novelties of heresies. ^◦ We may not measure the newness or oldness of words and terms of speaking in religion, by holy Scriptures only: as though all those or only those were new and to be rejected, that are not expressly found in holy writ: but we must esteem them by the agreeableness or disagreeableness they have to the true sense of scriptures, to the form of Catholic faith and doctrine, to the phrase of the old Christians, to the Apostolic use of speech come unto us by tradition of all ages and Churches, and to the prescription of holy Councels and Schools of the Christian world: which have given out (according to the time and questions raised by heretics and contentious persons) very fit, artificial, and significant words, to discern and defend the truth by, against falsehood.

• ◦ Profane novelties of words how to be tried and examined.

^◦

These terms, Catholic, Trinity, Person, Sacrament, Incarnation, Mass, and many more, are not (in that sense wherein the Church useth them) in the Scriptures at all, and diverse of them were spoken by the Apostles before any part of the new Testament was written, some of them taken up straight after the Apostles' days in the writings and preachings of holy Doctors, and in the speech of all faithful people, and therefore cannot be counted Novelties of words. Others beside these, as. Consubstantial, Deipara, Transubstantiation, and the like, which are neither in express terms found in Scriptures, nor yet in sense (if we should follow the judgement of the special sects against which the said words were first invented, the Arians crying out against Nicene Councel, for the first: the Nestorians against the Ephesine Councel, for the second: the Lutherans & Calvinists against the Lateran and the later Councels, for the third) these words also not withstanding, by the judgement of holy Church and Councels approved to be consonant to God's word, and made authentical among the faithful, are sound and true words, and not of those kind which the Apostle calleth Novelties.

^[1]

• 1 Heretical novelties of words.
• ◦ Catholic terms not expressly in the Scriptures, but in sense, are no such novelties of words.

The words then here forbidden, are the new profane terms and speeches invented or specially used by heretics, such as S. Irenee recordeth the Valentinians had a number most monstrous: as the Manichees had also diverse, as may be seen in S. Augustine: The Arians had their ^[2] Similis substantiæ, and Christ to be ex non existentibus: The other heretics after those days had their ^[3] Christiparam, and such like, agreeable to their sects. But the Protestants pass in this kind, ^[4] as they exceed most heretics in the number of new opinions: as their Seruum arbitrium, their sole faith, their fiduce, their apprehension of Christ's justice, their imputative righteousness: their horrible terms of terrors, anguishes, distresses, distrust, fears and feeling of hell pains in the soul of our Saviour, to express their blasphemous fiction of his temporal damnation, which they call his descending to hell: Their marks, tokens, and badges Sacramental, their Companation, Impanation, Circumpanation, to avoid the true conversion in the Eucharist: their presence in figure, in faith, sign, spirit, pledge, effect, to avoid the real presence of Christ's body. These and such like innumerable which they occupy in every part of their false doctrine, are in the sense that they use them, all false, captious and deceitful words, and are novitates vocum here forbidden.

• 2 * ὁμοιoύσιον.
• 3 * Χριςοτόκον.
• 4 The Protestants' profane novelties of words.

And though some of the said terms have been by some occasion obiter without ill meaning spoken by Catholics before these Heretics arose, yet now knowing them to be the proper speeches of Heretics, Christian men are bound to avoid them, wherein the Church of God hath ever been as diligent to resist Novelties of words, as her Adversaries are busy to invent them. For which cause she will not have us communicate with them, nor follow their fashion and phrase newly invented, though in the nature of the words sometime there be no harm. ^[1] In S. Augustine's days when Christian men had any good befallen them, or entered into any man's house, or met any friend by the way, they used always to say, Deo gratias. The Donatists and Circumcellians of that time being new-fangled, forsook the old phrase and would always say, Laus Deo: from which the Catholic men did so abhor (as the said Doctor writeth ^[2] ) that they had as lief met a thief as one that said to them, Laus Deo, instead of Deo gratias. As now we Catholics must not say, The Lord, but, Our Lord: as we say, Our Lady, for his mother, not, The Lady. Let us keep our fore-fathers' words, and we shall easily keep our old and true faith that we had of the first Christians. let them say, Amendment, abstinence, the Lord's Supper, the Communion table, Elders, Ministers, Superintendent, Congregation, so be it, praise ye the Lord, Morning-Prayer, Evening-prayer, and the rest, as they will: Let us avoid those Novelties of words, according to the Apostle's prescript, and keep the old terms, Penance, Fasting, Priest, Church, Bishop, Mass, Matins, Evensong, the B. Sacrament, Altar, Oblation, Host, Sacrifice, Alleluia, Amen, Lent, Palm-Sunday, Christmas, & the very words will bring us to the faith of our first Apostles, and condemn these new apostatæs' new faith and phrases.

• 1 Catholics must abhor from heretical phrases and words.
• 2 in Ps. 132.

Falsely called knowledge.

^◦ It is the property of all Heretics to arrogate to themselves great knowledge, and to condemn the simplicity of their Fathers the holy Doctors and the Church. But the Apostle calleth their pretended skill, a knowledge falsely so called, being in truth high and deep blindness. Such (saith S. Irenæus li. 5. c. 17. ) as forsake the preaching of the Church, argue the holy Priests of unskillfulness, not considering how far more worth a religious idiot is, than a blasphemous and impudent sophister, such as all Heretics be. And again Vincentius Lirinensis speaking in the person of Heretics saith, Come, o ye foolish and miserable men, that are commonly called Catholics, and learn the true faith which hath been hid many ages heretofore, but is revealed and shewed of late. &c. See his whole book concerning these matters.

• ◦ Heretics arrogate knowledge falsely so called.