Original Douay–Rheims Annotations2 Peter 3
English College of Douai–Rheims
Read 2 Peter 3 in the BibleOriginal Douay–Rheims Annotations — English College of Douai–Rheims. CC0 1.0
English College of Douai–Rheims
Read 2 Peter 3 in the BibleOriginal Douay–Rheims Annotations — English College of Douai–Rheims. CC0 1.0
2 Peter 3:16
Certain things hard.
◦ This is a plain text to convince the Protestants, who (as all heretics lightly do and did from the beginning) say the Scriptures be easy to understand, and therefore may be not only read safely, but also expounded boldly of all the people, as well unlearned as learned: and consequently every one by himself and his private spirit, without respect of the expositions of the learned fathers, or expectation of the Church's, their Pastor's and Prelate's judgment, may determine and make choice of such sense as himself liketh or thinketh agreeable. For this is partly their saying, partly the necessary sequel of their foolish opinion, which admitteth nothing but the bare Scriptures. And Luther said that the Scriptures were more plain than all the Fathers' commentaries: and so all to be superfluous but the Bible. Præfat. assert. art. damnat.
Against all which Devilish & seditious arrogancy, tending to make the people esteem themselves learned or sufficient without their Pastor's and spiritual ruler's help, to guide themselves in all matters of doctrine & doubts in religion: the holy Apostle here telleth and forewarneth the faithful, that the Scriptures be full of difficulty, [1] & specially S. Paul's epistles of all other parts of holy writ, and that ignorant men and unstable or phantastical fellows puffed to & fro with every blast of doctrine and heresy, abuse, pervert, and misconster them to their own damnation. And [2] S. Augustine saith, that the special difficulty in S. Paul's epistles, which ignorant and evil men do so pervert, and which S. Peter meaneth, is his hard speech and much commendation of that faith which he saith doth justify. which the ignorant even from the Apostles' time, and much more now, have and do so misconster, as though he had meant that only faith without good works could justify or save a man. Against which wicked collection and abuse of S. Paul's words, the said father saith, all these Canonical or Catholic epistles were written.
[1] But the Heretics here to shift of the matter, and to creep out after their fashion, answer, that S. Peter saith not, S. Paul's epistles be hard, but that many things in them are hard [2]. Which may be to the Catholics an example of their sophistical evasions from the evidence of God's word. As though it were not all one to say, Such an author or writer is hard: and There be many things in that writer hard to be understood. For, whether it be that the argument and matter be high and past vulgar capacity, as that of predestination, reprobation, vocation of the Gentiles, and justifying faith: or whether his manner of style and writing be obscure: all prove that his epistles be hard, and other Scriptures also: because S. Peter here affirmeth that by reason of the difficulties in them, whether in the style, or in the depth of the matter, the ignorant and unstable (such as Heretics be) do pervert his writings, as also other Scriptures, to their own damnation. Whereby it is plain that it is a very dangerous thing for such as be ignorant, or for wild witted fellows, to read the Scriptures. For such conditioned men be they that become Heretics, and through ignorance, pride, and private phantasy, meeting with hard places of S. Paul's epistles or other Scriptures, breed Heresies.
And that not only the things treated of in the holy Scriptures, but also that the very manner of writing and inditing thereof, is high and hard, and purposely by God's providence appointed to be written in such sort [1], see S. Augustine li. 2. de doct. Christ. C. 6. and ep. 119. S. Ambrose ep. 44. in principio. S. Hierom to Paulinus ep. 103. c. 5. 6. 7. who also (ep. 65. c. 1.) saith, that in his old age when he should rather have taught than be taught, he went as far as Alexandria, only to hear Didymus, and to have his help for the understanding of the Scriptures, and confesseth with great thanks to the said Didymus, that he learned of him that which before he knew not. David saith, Give me understanding, and I will search thy law [2]. The Eunuch in the Acts [3] said, How can I understand with out an interpreter? The Apostles, till Christ opened their sense to understand the scriptures, could not understand them [4]. The holy Doctors by continual study, watching, fasting, and praying, had much a do to understand them: that great clerk S. Augustine confessing in the foresaid epistle 119. c. 21. that there were many more things that he understood not. then that he understood. The Heretics say the fathers did commonly err. and how could such great wise learned men be deceived in reading and expounding the Scriptures, if they were not hard? and if they were hard to them, how are they easy to these new masters the Heretics? Finally, why do they write so many new glosses, scholies, commentaries, as a cart cannot carry? Why do Luther, Zuinglius, Calvin, and their Companions agree no better upon the interpretation of the Scriptures, if they be not hard? whereat stumbled all the old heretics & the new, Arius, Macedonius, Vigilantius, Nestorius, Eutyches, Berengarius, Wicleffe, Protestants, Puritanes, Anabaptists, and the rest, but at the hardness of the Scriptures? They be hard then to understand, and Heretics pervert them to their own damnation.