|
Novelty
& The Clergy |
"Remember your
leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of
their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried away by all
kinds of strange teaching." (St. Paul, Heb. 13:7-9)
"Anyone who is
so 'progressive' as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ
does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father
and the Son." (St. John, 2 Jn. 1:9)
"Now I am
reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which
you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you
are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to
you, unless you believed in vain." (St. Paul, 1 Cor. 15:1-2)
"See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world
and not according to Christ." (St. Paul, Col. 2:8)
"Whoever
teaches something different and does not agree with the sound
words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the religious teaching is
conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid disposition for
arguments and verbal disputes. From these come envy, rivalry,
insults, evil suspicions, and mutual friction among people with
corrupted minds, who are deprived of the truth, supposing religion
to be a means of gain." (St. Paul, 1 Tm. 6:3-5)
"I am amazed
that you are so quickly forsaking the one who called you by (the)
grace (of Christ) for a different gospel (not that there is
another). But there are some who are disturbing you and wish to
pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from
heaven should preach (to you) a gospel other than the one that we
preached to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before,
and now I say again, if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than
the one that you received, let that one be accursed! Am I now
currying favor with human beings or God? Or am I seeking to please
people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a
slave of Christ. Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel
preached by me is not of human origin. For I did not receive it
from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a
revelation of Jesus Christ. For you heard of my former way of life
in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and
tried to destroy it, and progressed in Judaism beyond many of my
contemporaries among my race, since I was even more a zealot for
my ancestral traditions." (St. Paul, Gal. 1:6-14)
"O Timothy,
guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid profane babbling and
the absurdities of so-called knowledge. By professing it, some
people have deviated from the faith. Grace be with all of
you." (St. Paul, 1 Tm. 6:20-21)
"Let what you
heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the
beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in
the Father." (St. John, 1 Jn. 2:24)
"Far,
far from the clergy be the love of novelty!" (Pope St. Pius
X, "Pascendi Dominici Gregis", 1907 A.D.)
"It
is a vain illusion to think oneself able to hide one's own inner
poverty and still cooperate effectively in spreading the Kingdom
of Christ by novelties in his method of action." (Pope Pius
XII, "Menti Nostrae", 1950 A.D.)
"[It]
is incumbent on all Catholics who are anxious to approve
themselves genuine sons of Mother Church, to adhere henceforward
to the holy faith of the holy Fathers, to be wedded to it, to die
in it; but as to the profane novelties of profane men - to detest
them, abhor them, oppose them, give them no quarter." (St.
Vincent of Lerins)
"What
sad effects would not arise if that gravity of conduct which
belongs to the priest, should be in any way lessened; if he should
yield with lightness to the charm of every novelty; if he should
deport himself with pretentious indocility towards his superiors;
if he should lose that weight and measure in discussion which is
so necessary, particularly in matters of faith and morals."
(Pope Leo XIII, "Fin Dal Principio", 1902 A.D.)
"Can.
279 §1 Clerics are to continue their sacred studies even after
ordination to the priesthood. They are to hold to that solid
doctrine based on sacred Scripture which has been handed down by
our forebears and which is generally received in the Church, as
set out especially in the documents of the Councils and of the
Roman Pontiffs. They are to avoid profane novelties and
pseudo-science." (1983 Code of Canon Law)
"What else do those preachers of another gospel than that which we have received try to do, but to corrupt us from the purity which we preserve for Christ, when they stigmatize the law of God as old, and praise their own falsehoods as new, as if all that is new must be good, and all that is old bad? The Apostle John, however, praises the old commandment, and the Apostle Paul bids us avoid novelties in doctrine."
(St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)
"Wherefore,
let us also, considering that this struggle is for our all, and
that the choice is now before us, either to deny or to preserve
the faith, let us also make it our earnest care and aim to guard
what we have received, taking as our instruction the Confession
drawn up at Nicaea, and let us turn away from novelties, and teach
our people not to give heed to seducing spirits,' but altogether
to withdraw from [their] impiety" (St. Athanasius, Doctor of
the Church)
"Indeed, in no other way do these preachers
cause greater harm and scandal to the less educated than when they
preach on what should be left unspoken or when they introduce
error by teaching what is false and useless. Since such things are
known to be totally opposed to this holy and divinely instituted
religion, as being novelties and foreign to it, it is surely just
for them to be examined seriously and carefully, lest they cause
scandal for the Christian people and ruin for the souls of their
authors and of others." (Fifth Lateran Council)
"Watch earnestly lest deceitful men and the
promoters of novelties continue to spread erroneous doctrines and
false dogmas in your flock. Using the pretext of the common good,
as is their custom, they take advantage of the credulity of those
who are naive and rash, so that they may have them as blind
servants and supporters in disturbing the peace of the kingdom and
in overturning the order of society. Surely the fraud of these
would-be teachers must be uncovered in clear words for the good
and the instruction of the faithful. The fallacy of their thought
must be refuted courageously everywhere with the words of divine
scripture and the testimony of Church tradition." (Pope
Gregory XVI, "Cum Primum", 1832 A.D.)
"It
is your duty, then, to train as many really fit defenders of this
holiest of causes as you can. They must be ready to combat not
only those who deny the existence of the Supernatural Order
altogether, and are thus led to deny the existence of any divine
revelation or inspiration, but those, too, who - through an
itching desire for novelty - venture to interpret the sacred books
as though they were of purely human origin; Those, too, who scoff
at opinions held of old in the Church, or who, through contempt of
its teaching office, either [consider] little of, or
silently disregard, or at least obstinately endeavor to adapt to
their own views, the Constitutions of the Apostolic See or the
decisions of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. Would that all
Catholics would cling to St. Jerome's golden rule and obediently
listen to their Mother's words, so as modestly to keep within the
bounds marked out by the Fathers and ratified by the Church."
(Pope Benedict XV, "Spiritus Paraclitus", 1920 A.D.)
"All
these prescriptions and those of Our Predecessor are to be borne
in mind whenever there is question of choosing directors and
professors for seminaries and Catholic Universities. Anybody who
in any way is found to be imbued with Modernism is to be excluded
without compunction from these offices, and those who already
occupy them are to be withdrawn. The same policy is to be adopted
towards those who favor Modernism either by extolling the
Modernists or excusing their culpable conduct, by criticizing
scholasticism, the Holy Father, or by refusing obedience to
ecclesiastical authority in any of its depositaries; and towards
those who show a love of novelty in history, archaeology, biblical
exegesis, and finally towards those who neglect the sacred
sciences or appear to prefer to them the secular. In all this
question of studies, Venerable Brethren, you cannot be too
watchful or too constant, but most of all in the choice of
professors, for as a rule the students are modeled after the
pattern of their masters. Strong in the consciousness of your
duty, act always prudently but vigorously." (Pope St. Pius X,
"Pascendi Dominici Gregis", 1907 A.D.)
"You
are already aware that among priests, especially those less
equipped with doctrine and of less strict lives, a certain spirit
of novelty is being diffused in an ever graver and more disturbing
manner. Novelty is never in itself a criterion of truth and it can
be worthy of praise only when it confirms the truth and leads to
righteousness and virtue. The age in which we live suffers from
serious errors indeed: philosophical systems which are born and
die without improving morals in any way; monstrosities of art
which even pretend to call themselves Christian; standards of
government in many countries which are aimed at the personal
interests of individuals rather than at the common prosperity of
all; methods of living and economic and social relations which
threaten honest men more than the cunning. From this it follows
almost naturally that there are not lacking in our times priests,
infected in some way by this contagion, who imbibe opinions and
follow a mode of life even in dress and the care of their person
alien to both their dignity and their mission; priests who allow
themselves to be led astray by the mania for novelty whether it be
in their preaching to the faithful or in combating the errors of
adversaries; priests who compromise not only their consciences but
also their good name and the efficacy of their ministry."
(Pope Pius XII, "Menti Nostrae", 1950 A.D.)
"'Keep
the deposit.' What is 'The deposit'? That which has been intrusted
to thee, not that which thou hast thyself devised: a matter not of
wit, but of learning; not of private adoption, but of public
tradition; a matter brought to thee, not put forth by thee,
wherein thou art bound to be not an author but a keeper, not a
teacher but a disciple, not a leader but a follower. 'Keep the
deposit.' Preserve the talent of Catholic Faith inviolate,
unadulterate. That which has been intrusted to thee, let it
continue in thy possession, let it be handed on by thee. Thou hast
received gold; give gold in turn. Do not substitute one thing for
another. Do not for gold impudently substitute lead or brass. Give
real gold, not counterfeit... O Timothy! O Priest! O Expositor! O
Doctor! if the divine gift hath qualified thee by wit, by skill,
by learning, be thou a Bazaleel
of the spiritual tabernacle (cf. Ex. 31:1-5), engrave the precious gems of divine
doctrine, fit them in accurately, adorn them skillfully, add
splendor, grace, beauty. Let that which formerly was believed,
though imperfectly apprehended, as expounded by thee be clearly
understood. Let posterity welcome, understood through thy
exposition, what antiquity venerated without understanding. Yet
teach still the same truths which thou hast learnt, so that though
thou speakest after a new fashion, what thou speakest may not be
new." (St. Vincent of Lerins)
"'Study
to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.' Everywhere this
'not being ashamed'! And why is he ever so careful to guard him
against shame? Because it was natural for many to be ashamed both
of Paul himself, as being a tent-maker, and of the preaching,
since its teachers perished. For Christ had been crucified,
himself was about to be beheaded, Peter was crucified with his
head downwards, and these things they suffered from audacious and
despicable men. Because such men were in power, he says, 'Be not
ashamed'; that is, fear not to do anything tending to godliness,
though it be necessary to submit to slavery or any other
suffering. For how does any one become approved? By being 'a
workman that needeth not to be ashamed.' As the workman is not
ashamed of any work, so neither should he be ashamed who labors in
the Gospel. He should submit to anything. 'Rightly dividing the
word of truth.' This he hath well said. For many distort it, and
pervert it in every way, and many additions are made to it. He has
not said directing it, but 'rightly dividing,' that is, cut away
what is spurious, with much vehemence assail it, and extirpate it.
With the sword of the Spirit cut off from your preaching, as from
a [lash], whatever
is superfluous and foreign to it. 'And shun profane novelties of
speech.' For they will not stop there. For when anything new has
been introduced, it is ever producing innovations, and the error
of him who has once left the safe harbor is infinite, and never
stops. 'For they will increase unto more ungodliness,' he says,
'And their word will eat as doth a canker.' It is an evil not to
be restrained, not curable by any medicine, it destroys the whole
frame. He shows that novelty of doctrine is a disease, and worse
than a disease." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)
"Rest
assured, Venerable Brethren, that We on Our side will use the
greatest diligence to prevent the members of the clergy from being
drawn to the snares of a certain new and fallacious science, which
savoureth not of Christ, but with masked and cunning arguments
strives to open the door to the errors of rationalism and
semi-rationalism; against which the Apostle warned Timothy to be
on his guard, when he wrote: 'Keep that which is committed to thy
trust, avoiding the profane novelties of words, and oppositions of
knowledge falsely so called which some promising have erred
concerning the faith' (I Tim. vi., 20). This does not prevent
Us from esteeming worthy of praise those young priests who
dedicated themselves to useful studies in every branch of learning
the better to prepare themselves to defend the truth and to refute
the calumnies of the enemies of the faith. Yet We cannot conceal,
nay, We proclaim in the most open manner possible that Our
preference is, and ever will be, for those who, while cultivating
ecclesiastical and literary erudition, dedicate themselves more
closely to the welfare of souls through the exercise of those
ministries proper to a priest jealous of the divine glory. 'It is
a great grief and a continual sorrow to our heart' (Rom. ix., 2)
to find Jeremiah's lamentation applicable to our times: 'The
little ones asked for bread, and there was none to break it to
them' (Lam. iv., 4). For there are not lacking among the clergy
those who adapt themselves according to their bent to works of
more apparent than real solidity - but not so numerous perhaps are
those who, after the example of Christ, take to themselves the
words of the Prophet: 'The Spirit of the Lord hath anointed me,
hath sent me to evangelize the poor, to heal the contrite of
heart, to announce freedom to the captive, and sight to the blind'
(Luke iv., 18-19)." (Pope St. Pius X, "E Supremi", 1903 A.D.)
"For
it is right that those ancient doctrines of heavenly philosophy
should, as time goes on, be cared for, smoothed, polished; but not
that they should be changed, not that they should be maimed, not
that they should be mutilated. They may receive proof,
illustration, definiteness; but they must retain withal their
completeness, their integrity, their characteristic properties.
For if once this license of impious fraud be admitted, I dread to
say in how great danger religion will be of being utterly
destroyed and annihilated. For if any one part of Catholic truth
be given up, another, and another, and another will thenceforward
be given up as a matter of course, and the several individual
portions having been rejected, what will follow in the end but the
rejection of the whole? On the other hand, if what is new begins
to be mingled with what is old, foreign with domestic, profane
with sacred, the custom will of necessity creep on universally,
till at last the Church will have nothing left untampered with,
nothing unadulterated, nothing sound, nothing pure; but where
formerly there was a sanctuary of chaste and undefiled truth,
thenceforward there will be a brothel of impious and base errors.
May God's mercy avert this wickedness from the minds of his
servants; be it rather the frenzy of the ungodly... Who ever
originated a heresy that did not first dissever himself from the
consentient agreement of the universality and antiquity of the
Catholic Church? That this is so is demonstrated in the clearest
way by examples... There are innumerable instances of this kind,
which for brevity's sake, pass over; by all of which, however, it
is manifestly and clearly shown, that it is an established law, in
the case of almost all heresies, that they evermore delight in
profane novelties, scorn the decisions of antiquity, and, through
oppositions of science falsely so called, make shipwreck of the
faith. On the other hand, it is the sure characteristic of
Catholics to keep that which has been committed to their trust by
the holy Fathers, to condemn profane novelties, and, in the
apostle's words, once and again repeated, to anathematize every
one who preaches any other doctrine than that which has been
received." (St. Vincent of Lerins)
"Such
being the case, when I think over these things, and revolve them
in my mind again and again, I cannot sufficiently wonder at the
madness of certain men, at the impiety of their blinded
understanding, at their lust of error, such that, not content with
the rule of faith delivered once for all, and received from the
times of old, they are every day seeking one novelty after
another, and are constantly longing to add, change, take away, in
religion, as though the doctrine, 'Let what has once for all been
revealed suffice,' were not a heavenly but an earthly rule, - a
rule which could not be complied with except by continual
emendation, nay, rather by continual fault-finding; whereas the
divine Oracles cry aloud, 'Remove not the landmarks, which thy
fathers have set,' and 'Go not to law with a Judge,' and 'Whoso
breaketh through a fence a serpent shall bite him,' and that
saying of the Apostle wherewith, as with a spiritual sword, all
the wicked novelties of all heresies often have been, and will
always have to be, decapitated, 'O Timothy, keep the deposit,
shunning profane novelties of words and oppositions of the
knowledge falsely so called, which some professing have erred
concerning the faith.' After words such as these, is there any one
of so hardened a front, such anvil-like impudence, such adamantine
pertinacity, as not to succumb to so huge a mass, not to be
crushed by so ponderous a weight, not to be shaken in pieces by
such heavy blows, not to be annihilated by such dreadful
thunderbolts of divine eloquence? 'Shun profane novelties,' he
says. He does not say shun 'antiquity.' But he plainly points to
what ought to follow by the rule of contrary. For if novelty is to
be shunned, antiquity is to be held fast; if novelty is profane,
antiquity is sacred. He adds, 'and oppositions of science falsely
so called.' 'Falsely called' indeed, as applied to the doctrines
of heretics, where ignorance is disguised under the name of
knowledge, fog of sunshine, darkness of light. 'Which some
professing have erred concerning the faith.' Professing what? What
but some (I know not what) new and unheard-of doctrine. For thou
mayest hear some of these same doctors say, 'Come, O silly
wretches, who go by the name of Catholics, come and learn the true
faith, which no one but ourselves is acquainted with, which same
has lain hid these many ages, but has recently been revealed and
made manifest. But learn it by stealth and in secret, for you will
be delighted with it. Moreover, when you have learnt it, teach it
furtively, that the world may not hear, that the Church may not
know. For there are but few to whom it is granted to receive the
secret of so great a mystery.' Are not these the words of that
harlot who, in the proverbs of Solomon, calls to the passengers
who go right on their ways, 'Whoso is simple let him turn in
hither.' And as for them that are void of understanding, she
exhorts them saying: 'Drink stolen waters, for they are sweet, and
eat bread in secret for it is pleasant.' What next? 'But he
knoweth not that the sons of earth perish in her house.' Who are
those 'sons of earth '? Let the apostle explain: 'Those who have
erred concerning the faith.'" (St. Vincent of Lerins)
Also
See: Novel
Teachings Are Forbidden (Coming Home Reflections) | Against
Modernism / Novelty (Latin Mass & Catholic Tradition
Reflections) | Against
Human 'Progress' in Religion (Coming Home Reflections) | Error
/ Truth (Coming Home Reflections) | One
Should Not Be Open Minded to Error (Coming Home Reflections) |
Truth
is Unchanging (Coming Home Reflections) | Duty
to Reject Strange Doctrine (Coming Home Reflections) | Heresy/Heretics
(Coming Home Reflections) | Duties
& Responsibilities of Priests | Proper
Dress
/ Comportment [Pg.] | Latin
Mass & Catholic Tradition Section | Errors
/ Modernism (Classic Encyclicals) | Truth
(Topical Scripture) | Heresy
/ Error
(Topical Scripture)
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