Part 29 (1/2)
Ibid. page 50, 51. sect. xiii.--[Greek: 'Atheoi men oun hos ouk esmen, ton daemiourgon toude tou pantos sebomenoi, ... ton didaskalon te touton genomenon haemin, kai eis touto genaethenta Iaesoun Christon ton staurothenta epi Pontiou Pilatou, tou genomenou en Ioudaiai epi chronois Tiberiou Kaisaros epitropou, huion autou tou ontos Theou mathontes, kai en deuterai chorai echontes, pneuma te prophaetikon en tritaei taxei, hoti meta logou timomen, apodeixomen....]
Note.--Page 134.
In the text it has been observed, that ”Coccius in his elaborate work quotes the two following pa.s.sages as Origen's, without expressing {402} any hesitation or doubt respecting their genuineness; in which he is followed by writers of the present day.”
The modern works, to which reference is here made, are chiefly the Lectures delivered by Dr. Wiseman, in the Roman Catholic Chapel in Moorfields in the year 1836, and the compilation of Messrs. Berington and Kirk [Berington and Kirk. London, 1830, p. 403.], from which Dr.
Wiseman in his preface to his Lectures (p. ix.) informs us, that in general he had drawn his quotations of the Fathers. In citing the testimony of Origen in support of the invocation of saints, it is evident that Dr. Wiseman has drawn from that source; for whereas the two confessedly spurious pa.s.sages, from the Lament, and from the Book on Job, are in that compilation quoted in the same page, Dr. Wiseman cites only the pa.s.sage from the Lament, as from a work on the Lamentations, but gives his reference to the Book on Job. His words are these:--”Again he (Origen) thus writes on the Lamentations: 'I will fall down on my knees, and not presuming, on account of my crimes, to present my prayer to G.o.d, I will invoke all the saints to my a.s.sistance. O ye saints of heaven, I beseech you with a sorrow full of sighs and tears; fall at the feet of the Lord of mercies for me, a miserable sinner,'--Lib. ii. De Job.” [Lectures on the Princ.i.p.al Doctrines and Practices of the Catholic Church, by Nicholas Wiseman, D.D. London, 1836. Vol. i. preface, p. ix.
and vol. ii. p. 107.]
When we find such pa.s.sages as these, which have been so long ago and so repeatedly p.r.o.nounced to be utterly spurious, yet cited in evidence at the present time, and represented as conveying the genuine testimony of Origen, we shall be pardoned for repeating the sentiments expressed so many years ago by the learned Bishop of Avranches with regard to the very work here cited, ”It is wonderful that, WITHOUT ANY MARK OF THEIR BEING FORGERIES, they should be sometimes cited in evidence by some theologians.”
Note.--Page 151.
The whole pa.s.sage cited as Origen's comment on the words of Ezekiel, ”The heavens are opened,” is in the Latin version as follows. The Greek original, if it ever existed, is lost. The portion between brackets is the part suspected of being an interpolation.
6. _Et aperti sunt coeli_. Clausi erant coeli, et ad adventum Christi aperti sunt, ut reseratis illis veniret super eum Spiritus Sanctus in specie columbae. Neque enirn poterat ad nos commeare nisi primum {403} ad suae naturae consortem descendisset. _Ascendit Jesus in altum, captivam duxit captivitatem, accepit dona in hominibus. Qui descendit, ipse est qui ascendit super omnes coelos ut impleret omnia. Et ipse dedit alios apostolos, alios prophetas, alios evangelistas, alios pastores et magistros in perfectionem sanctorum_.
[7. _Aperti sunt coeli_. Non sufficit unum coelum aperiri: aperiuntur plurimi, ut descendant non ab uno, sed ab omnibus coelis angeli ad eos qui salvandi sunt. Angeli qui ascendebant et descendebant super Filium hominis, et accesserunt as eum, et ministrabant ei. Descenderunt autem angeli, quia prior descenderat Christus, metuentes descendere priusquam Dominus virtutum omnium rerumque praeciperet. Quando autem viderunt principem militiae coelestis in terrestribus locis commorari, tunc per apertam viam ingressi sunt sequentes Dominum suum, et parentes voluntati ejus qui distribuit eos custodes credentium nomini suo. Tu heri sub daemonio eras, hodie sub angelo. _Nolite_, inquit Dominus, _contemnere unum de minimis istis_ qui sunt in ecclesia. _Amen enim dico vobis, quia angeli eorum per omnia vident faciem Patris qui est in coelis_.
Obsequuntur saluti tuae angeli, concessi sunt ad ministerium Filii Dei, et dic.u.n.tinter se: si ille descendit, et descendit in corpus; si mortali indutus est carne, et sustinuit crucem, et pro hominibus mortuus est, quit nos quiescimus? quid parcimus n.o.bis? Eja omnes angeli descendamus e coelo. Ideo et mult.i.tudo militiae coelestis erat laudantium et glorificantium Deum, quando natus est Christus. Omnia angelis plena sunt: veni, angeli, suscipe sermone conversum ab errore pristino, a doctrina daemoniorum, ab iniquitate in altum loquente: et suscipiens eum quasi medicus bonus confove atque inst.i.tue, parvulus est, hodie nascitur senex repuerascens: et suscipe tribuens ei baptismum secundae regenerationis, et advoca tibi alios socios ministerii tui, ut concti pariter eos qui aliquando decepti sunt, erudiatis ad fidem. _Gaudium enim est majus in coelis super unum peccatorem poenitentiam agentem, quam supra nonaginta novem justos quibus non opus est poenitentia_.
Exultat omnis creatura, collaetatur et applaudit his qui salvandi sunt.
Nam _expectatio creaturae revelationem filiorum Dei expectat_. Et licet nolint ii qui scripturas apostolicas interpolaverunt istiusmodi sermones inesse libris eorum quibus possit Creator Christus approbari, expectat tamen omnis creatura filios Dei, quando liberentur a delicto, quando auferentur de Zabuli manu, quando regenerentur a Christo. Verum jam tempus est, ut de praesenti loco aliqua tangamus. Vidit Propheta non visionem, sed visiones Dei. {404} Quare non vidat unam, sed plurimas visiones? Audi Dominum pollicentem atque dicentem: _Ego visiones multiplicavi_. 8. _Quinta mensis_. Hic annus quinta captivitatis regis Joachim. Trigesimo anno aetatis Ezekielis, et quinto captivitatis Joachim, Propheta mittiur ad Judaeos. Non despexit clementissimus pater, nec longo tempore incommonitum populum dereliquit. Quintus est annus.
Quantum temporis intercessit? Quinque anni interfluxerunt ex quo captivi serviunt.]
Statim descendit Spiritus Sanctus,--aperuit coelos, ut hi qui captivitatis jugo premebantur, viderent ea quae videbantur a Propheta.
Dicente quippe eo, _Et aperti sunt coeli_, quodam modo et ipsi intuebantur oculis cordis quae ille etiam oculis carnis aspexerat.--Vol.
iii. p. 358.
Note.--Page 165.
In a note on the Epistle of St. Cyprian to his brother, reference was made to the Appendix for a closer comparison of Cyprian's original letter with the modern translation of the pa.s.sage under consideration.
By placing the two versions in parallel columns side by side, we shall immediately see, that the mode of citing the testimony of St. Cyprian adopted in Dr. Wiseman's Lectures, from the compilation of Messrs.
Berington and Kirk, is rather to subst.i.tute his own comment and inference, than to allow the witness to speak for himself in his own words. The whole paragraph, as it appears in Dr. Wiseman's Lectures, is this:--
”St. Cyprian in the same century: 'Let us be mindful of one another in our prayers; with one mind and with one heart, in this world and in the next, let us always pray with mutual charity relieving our sufferings and afflictions. And may the charity of him, who, by the divine favour, shall first depart hence, still persevere before the Lord; may his prayer, for our brethren and sisters, not cease.' Therefore, after having departed this life, the same offices of charity are to continue, by praying for those who remain on earth.” [Lect. xiii. vol. ii. p. 107, and Berington and Kirk, p. 430.]
_St. Cyprian's words_. _Epist._ lvii. _p._ 96.
_Translation adopted by Dr. Wiseman from Berington and Kirk._
1. Memories nostri invicem simus,
1. Let us be mindful of one another IN OUR PRAYERS; {405}
2. Concordes atque unanimes, 2. With one mind and with one heart.
3. Utrobique. 3. In this world and in the next,
4. PRO n.o.bIS semper oremus, 4. Let us always pray,