Nothing New

Estne verum de quo dicatur, vide hoc novum est: jam fuit in saeculis, quae fuerunt ante nos. Apertius hoc Symmachus transtulit: Putasne est, qui possit dicere: Vide hoc novum est, et jam factum est in saeculo, quod fuit ante nos. Cum superioribus autem congruit quod nihil novum in mundo fiat: nec sit aliquis, qui possit existere, et dicere, ecce hoc novum est: siquidem omne quod se putaverit novum ostendere, jam in prioribus saeculis fuit. Nec putemus signa, atque prodigia, et multa, quae arbitrio Dei nova in mundo fiunt in prioribus saeculis esse jam facta, et locum invenire Epicurum, qui asserit per innumerabiles periodos eadam, et eisdem in locis, et per eosdem fieri. Alioquin et Judas crebro prodidit, et Christus passes est saepe pro nobis, et caetera quae facta sunt, et futura, in easdem similiter periodos revolventur. Sed dicendum, quod ex praescientia et praedestinatione Dei jam ea facta sint, quae futura sunt. Qui enim electi sunt in Christo ante constitutionem mundi, in prioribus saeculis jam fuerunt. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Caput I Source: Migne PL 23.1019b-1020a

It is not true, when it is said of something, 'See, this is new,' for it already was in the past which is behind us. 1 Symmachus more broadly translates this as: 'Do not think someone can say, 'See, this is new,' for it was done in the past, which is behind us.' This harmonises with what has been said, that there is nothing new in the world, nor is there someone who can consider it and say 'Behold, this is new,' because everything he claims to be new has been in the past. But let us not think that the signs and wonders, indeed very many of them, which the will of God has made in the world were already done in the past, turning to that passage in Epicurus which asserts that there are innumerable identical ages, and that things are done in the same place and by the same people, so that Judas has frequently betrayed, and Christ has often suffered for us, and so on with the rest of the things that were done, which likewise occur with the revolution of the ages. But it must be said that because of the prescience and predestination of God, these things were done which are yet in the future. For they who have been chosen in Christ before the beginning of the world, 2 were already so in the past. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1 1 Eccles 1.10 Vetus Latina 2 Mt 7.3-5

Nothing More

His amplius etc. Hic tertio reprimitur curiositas auditorum, quos alioquitur sub persona filii dicens: His amplius , fili mi, ne requiras, ut semper velis audire nova; sufficit enim scire necessaria; Ecclesiastici tertio: Quae praecepit tibi Deus, illa cogita semper, et in pluribus operibus eius ne fueris curiosus. Et redditur ratio duplex huius admonitionis, quia inquisitio huius curiositatis est interminata et laboriosa. Est interminata; ideo dicit: Faciendi plures libros nullus est finis; quia curiosi nunquam tot habent, quin velint audire plures, quia nunquam volunt audire vetera, sed semper nova; unde Actuum decimo septimo: Athenienses ad nihil aliud vacabant, nisi aut dicere, aut audire aliquid novi. Ideo dicitur Danielis duodecimo: Pertransibunt plurima tempora, et multiplex erit scientia, eo quod scientia semper quodam modo renovatur. Non tantum est interminata, sed etiam laboriosa curiosa inquisitio; ideo subdit: Frequensque meditatio carnis est afflictio; Ecclesiastici trigesimo primo: Vigilia honestatis tabefaciet carnem. Est, inquam, afllictio magna, et e contrario utilitas modica, secundum quod dictum est supra octavo: Est homo, qui diebus et noctibus non capit somnum oculus. Et intellexi, quod operum Dei nullam possit homo invenire rationem eorum quae fiunt sub sole. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Cap XII Source: Here, p 98

Anything more than these... 1 Here he restrains the curiosity of those who hear, speaking to them under the person of a son, saying, 'Anything more than these things, O son, do not seek,' so that you are always wanting to hear something new, for it is enough to know what is needful. 2 In the third chapter of Ecclesiasticus: 'What God has commanded you, think on these things always, and do not be curious about His many works.' 3 And there is a twofold reason for this admonition: because the pursuit of such curiosity is both endless and burdensome. That it is interminable, he then says here: 'Of making many books there is no end.' Because the curious shall never have everything, since they wish to hear more, because they will not listen to old things, but must always have new things, whence it is said in the seventeenth chapter of Acts: 'The men of Athens have leisure for nothing but to to say or hear something new.' 4 And it is said in the twelfth chapter of Daniel: 'Much time will pass and knowledge shall be multiplied,' 5 because knowledge is always being renewed in a certain way. Then that this inquisitive curiosity is not only interminable but burdensome, he adds: 'And frequent meditation is a weariness of the flesh.' In the thirty first chapter of Ecclesiasticus: 'Watchfulness for wealth wearies the flesh.' 6 And it is a grave affliction, I say, but on the contrary it is moderation that is useful, according to which it was said previously in the eighth chapter: 'There is a man who for days and nights does not allow sleep to come to his eyes. And I understood that no man is able to find the reason for the works of God which are beneath the sun.' 7 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 12 1 Eccles 12.12 2 Acts 17.21, Lk 10.42 3 Sirach 3.22 4 Acts 17.21 5 Dan 12.4 6 Sirach 31.1 7 Eccl 8.16-17

New And Strange

Καὶ ἰδοὺ ὁ ἀστὴρ ὄν εἴδον ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ προῆγεν αὐτοὺς... Ἀκίνητος ἧν ὁ ἀστὴρ καὶ ἐστηκὼς, ἀλλ' οὐ τὸν οὐρανὸν καταλιπὼν πλησίον τῆς γῆς ἐπορεύετο· οὔτ' ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας ἐστήρικτο· οὐ γὰρ τὴν αὐτὴν κίνησιν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἄστροις ἐποιεῖτο, ἀλλὰ ξένην τινὰ καὶ ἀλλόκοτον. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source: Migne PG 72.368a

And behold the star which they saw in the east, going before them... 1 The star was immovable and fixed, for it did not leave the heavens and come nearer to the earth, 2 nor was it set in some house. 3 For this had not the same motion as rest of the stars, but it was something new and strange. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 2.9 2 As a shooting star would 3 An astrological house

God Unchanged

Οὐκ ἔσται ἐν σοι Θεὸς πρόφατος.  Πῶς οὖν Θεοποιεῖται καθ' ὑμᾶς ἄνθρωπος τῇ πρὸς τὸν Λόγον σχετικῇ συναφεὶᾳ καὶ κοινωνὸς τῷ Πατρὶ τῆς δόξης καὶ  τῆς ἀξίας δείκνυται; Ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἄνθρωπον προσφάτως θεοποιεῖσθαι φάσκομεν· ἀλλὰ τὸν πρὸ αἰώνων ὄντα Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Θεὸν, σεσαρκῶσθαι ἀτρέπτως. Μεμένηκεν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἔλαττον Θεὸς, καὶ γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος. Άγιος Ιωάννης ο Δαμασκηνός, Κατὰ τῆς Αἱρεσεως Των Νεστοριανῶν Source: Migne PG 95.194

'There shall not be among you a recent God.' 1  How then according to you does God make a man who is bound to the Word yet is deprived of the same glory and dignity with the Father? We say God made such a man recently, but that from eternity He truly was the Son of God and God, unchanged by the Incarnation. He remaining nothing less than God while made man. Saint John of Damascus, Against the Nestorian Heretics.   1  Ps 80.10

The Harmony Of The Testaments

Καινότητα δογμάτων, ὦ φιλότυς, οὐδεμίαν τῷ νόμῳ καὶ τοῖς προφήταις ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱος ἐπεισήγαγεν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς πάλαι περὶ αὐτοῦ προφανθεῖσι τὸ πέρας ἐπέθηκε. Καὶ πάντως νουνεχῶς τὴν Παλαιὰν ἀναπτύσσων, πάντα τὰ τῆς Νέας ἐν αὐτῇ κηρυχθέντα εὑρήσεις. Τοῖς τοίνυν ἐπὶ τῷ νόμῳ ἐρηρεισμένοις, καὶ ξένην ὁδὸν τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν οἰομένοις, ἐκ τῶν τοῦ νόμου ῥημάτων, τῶν τῆς χάριτος δογμάτων τὴν ἀλήθειαν τρανοῖ. Καὶ ὀψονται οὕτως ἀμφοτέρων τῶν Διαθηκῶν ἐνδιὰθετον συμφωνίαν. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΡΖ' Τιμοθεῳ Ἀναγνωστῃ Source:  Migne PG 78.256a

There was no new teaching, my friend, the Son of God introduced into the Law and the Prophets but truly to those who once foretold Him he placed an end. And certainly if you with full attention soul peruse the Old Testament you shall find that it contains everything which is proclaimed in the New Testament. So, then, with the new way and novel Gospel teaching understood as resting upon the law, from the words of the law the truth of the grace of the teaching is declared. Thus perceive the harmony of both Testaments. Saint Isidore of Pelusium,  Book 1, Letter 106, To Timotheus the Lector

A Heretical Teacher

Solemus haereticis compendii gratia de posteritate praescribere. In quantum enim ueritatis regula prior, quae etiam haereses futuras renuntiauit, in tantum posteriores quaeque doctrinae haereses praeiudicabuntur, quia sunt quae futurae ueritatis antiquiore regula praenuntiabantur. Hermogenis autem doctrina tam novella est; denique ad hodiernum homo in saeculo, et natura quoque haereticus, etiam turbulentus, qui loquacitatem facundiam existimet et inpudentiam constantiam deputet et maledicere singulis officium bonae conscientiae iudicet. Praeterea pingit in licite, nubit assidue, legem Dei in libidinem defendit, in artem contemnit, bis falsarius, et cauterio et stilo, totus adulter, et praedicationis et carnis, siquidem et nubentium contagio foetet nec ipse apostolicus Hermogenes in regula perseuerauit.  Sed viderit persona, cum doctrina mihi quaestio est. Dominum non alium videtur agnoscere, alium tamen facit quem aliter agnoscit, immo totum quod est deus aufert nolens illum ex nihilo universa fecisse.  A Christianis enim ad philosophos conuersus, de ecclesia in Academiam et Porticum, inde sumpsit  materiam cum domino ponere, quae et ipsa semper fuerit neque nata neque facta nec initium habens omnino nec finem, ex qua dominus omnia postea fecerit. Tertullianus, Adversus Hermogenem

We are accustomed, for the sake of concision, to write against heretics by their lateness. For inasmuch as by rule truth precedes them, which also foretold future heresies, so must later teachings be prejudged as heresies, being those things which the older rule of truth predicted for days to come. Now the teaching of Hermogenes has such novelty. In short, he is a man of the present time, and by his nature a heretic, and turbulent with it, one who regards loquacity as eloquence and thinks impudence to be constancy, and judges that to malign other men is the duty of a good conscience. Besides this he paints what he will, marries continually, affirms the law of God in the promotion of lust, spurns it in his art, falsifies by a double way, with his malice and his pen, is a thorough adulterer, both in doctrine and in the flesh, since he reeks with the disease of many marriages, nor, like the Apostle's Hermogenes 1 has he persevered in the law. But we have gazed only at the character of the man, when it is his teaching I question. He seems not to acknowledge another Lord, though he acknowledges Him in a different way, or rather by this he takes from Him everything which is God, since he will not have it that He made all things from nothing. For, turning from Christians to  philosophers, from the Church to the Academy and the Porch, he learned there how to place matter beside the Lord, as if it had always been, never born, never made, having no beginning at all nor end, from which the Lord afterwards created all things. Tertullian, Against Hermogenes 1 2 Tim 1:15

The New Theology

Ἦν ὅτε ἤκμαζε τὰ ἡμέτερα, καὶ καλῶς εἶχεν, ἡνίκα τὸ μὲν περιττὸν τοῦτο, καὶ κατεγλωττισμένον τῆς θεολογίας καὶ ἔντεχνον, οὐδὲ πάροδον εἶχεν εἰς τὰς θείας αὐλὰς, ἀλλὰ ταυτὸν ἦν ψήφοις τε παίζειν, τὴν ὄψιν κλεπτούσαις τῷ τάχει τῆς μεταθέ σεως, ἢ κατορχεῖσθαι τῶν θεατῶν παντοίοις καὶ ἀνδρογύνοις λυγίσμασι, καὶ περὶ Θεοῦ λέγειν τι καὶ ἀκούειν καινότερον καὶ περίεργον· τὸ δὲ ἁπλοῦν τε καὶ εὐγενὲς τοῦ λόγου, εὐσέβεια ἐνομίζετο. Ἀφ' οὗ δὲ Σέξτοι, καὶ Πύῤῥωνες, καὶ ἡ ἀντίθετος γλῶσσα, ὥσπερ τι νόσημα δεινὸν καὶ κακόηθες, ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις ἡμῶν εἰσεφθάρη· καὶ ἡ φλυαρία παίδευσις ἔδοξε, καὶ, ὅ φησι περὶ Ἀθηναίων ἡ βίβλος τῶν Πράξεων, εἰς οὐδὲν ἄλλο εὐκαιροῦμεν, ἢ λέγειν τι καὶ ἀκούειν καινότερον. Ὢ τίς Ἱερεμίας ὀδυρεῖται τὴν ἡμετέραν σύγχυσιν καὶ σκοτόμαιναν, ὁ μόνος εἰδὼς ἐξισοῦν θρήνους πάθεσι! Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Λόγος ΚΑ'

When our affairs flourished and all was well, when this over elaborate and indeed obscene treatment of theology had not made its way into the Divine halls, but to play with pebbles which deceive the eye by the swiftness of their changes, or to dance before spectators with varied and effeminate contortions, was looked down upon in the same way as speaking or hearing of God in a manner novel or frivolous, only simple and noble speech was thought holy. But since then the Sextuses and Pyrrhos, 1 and the antithetic style, like a fearful and malignant disease, have infected our churches, and puerile chattering is esteemed, and we, as the book of the Acts says of the Athenians, spend our time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear something new. 1 O what Jeremiah  will bewail our confusion and dark madness? Only he could utter lamentations equal to our sufferings. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Oration 21 1 Skeptic philosophers 2 Acts 17:21

Small Beginnings

Nam ante parvum tempus a quibusdam transitorie colloquentibus cursim mihi aures perstrictae sunt, cum illic apud Carthaginem essemus, non ideo parvulos baptizari, ut remissionem accipiant peccatorum, sed ut sanctificentur in Christo. Qua novitate permotus et quia opportunum non fuit, ut contra aliquid dicerem, et non tales homines erant, de quorum essem auctoritate sollicitus, facile hoc in transactis atque abolitis habui. Et ecce iam studio flammante defenditur, ecce scribendo etiam memoriae commendatur, ecce res in hoc discrimen adducitur, ut hinc etiam a fratribus consulamur, ecce contra disputare atque scribere cogimur!   Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, De peccatorum meritis et remissione et de baptismo parvulorum

For but a little time ago while we were at Carthage, in a passing conversation with certain persons, my ears were suddenly struck with: ' It is not that little ones are baptized that they receive remission of sin but that they may be sanctified in Christ.' Although I was shaken by the novelty of it, since there was no opportunity for me to speak against it, and the men were were not persons whose authority would cause me anxiety, I freely let the matter pass into neglect and oblivion. And behold, it is now defended with burning zeal, and behold, it is deposited into our memory by writing, and behold, it becomes so divisive that we are even consulted on it by our brethren, and behold, we are driven to oppose it by disputation and writing. Saint Augustine of Hippo,On Merit and the Forgiveness of Sins, and the Baptism of Infants

Determining The Truth

Saepe igitur magno studio et summa attentione perquirens a quamplurimis sanctitate et doctrina praestantibus viris quonam modo possim certa quadam et quasi generali ac regulari via catholicae fidei veritatem ab haereticae pravitatis falsitate discernere, hujusmodi semper responsum ab omnibus fere retuli , quod sive ego, sive quis alius vellet exsurgentium haereticorum fraudes deprebendere laqueosque vitare, et in fide sana sanus atque integer permanere, duplici modo munire fidem suam, Domino adjuvante, deberet : primum scilicet divinae legis auctoritate, tum deinde Ecclesiae catholicae traditione. Hic forsitan requirat aliquis : Currsit perfectus Scripturarum Canon , sibique ad omnia satis superque sufficiat , quid opus est ut ei Ecclesiasticae intelligentiae jungatur auctoritas? Quia videlice Scripturam sacram pro ipsa sua altitudine non uno eodemque sensu universi accipiunt, sed ejusdem eloquia aliter atque aliter alius atque alius interpretatur ; ut pene quot homines sunt, tot illinc sententioe erui posse videantur. Aliter namque illam Novatianus, aliter Sabellius, aliter Donatus exponit, aliter Arius, Eunomius, Macedonius ; aliter Photinus , Apollinaris, Priscillianus , aliter Jovinianus , Pelagius , Coelestius; aliter postremo Nestorius. Atque idcirco multum necesse est , propter tantos tam varii erroris anfractus, ut propheticae et apostolicoe interpretationis linea secundum Ecclesiaslici et Catholici sensus normam dirigatur. In ipsa item Catholica Ecclesia magnopere curandum est ut id teneamus quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est. Hoc est etenim vere proprieque catholicum, quod ipsavis nominis ratioque declarat, quoe omnia fere universaliter comprehendit. Sed hoc ita demum fiet , si sequamur universitalem , antiquitatem, consensionem. Sequemur autem universilatem hoc modo , si hanc unam fidem veram esse fateamur quam toti per orbem terrarum confitetur Ecclesia ; antiquitatem vero ita , si ab his sensibus nullatenus recedamus quos sanctos majores ac patres nostros celebrasse manifestum est : consensionem quoque itidem, si, in ipsa vetustate, omnium vel certo pene omnium sacerdotum pariter et magistrorum definitiones sententiasque sectemur. Quid igitur tunc faciet Christianus catholicus, si se aliqua Ecclesiae particula ab universalis fidei communioneproeciderit? Quid utique nisi ut pesiifero corruptoque membro sanitatem universi corporis anteponat? Quid si novella aliqua contagio non jam portiunculam tantum , sed totam pariter Ecclesiam commaculare conetur? Tunc item providebit ut antiquitati inhaereat , quae prorsum jam non potest ab ulla novitatis fraude seduci. Quid si in ipsa vetustale, duorum aut trium hominum, vel cerle civitatis unius aut etiam provincise alicujus error deprehendatur? Tunc omnino curabit ut paucorum temeritati vel inscitiae , si qua sunt, universaliter antiquitus universalis Ecclesiae decreta praeponat. Quid si tale aliquid emergat ubi nihil hujusmodi reperiatur? Tunc operam dabit utcollatas inter se majorum consulat interrogetque sententias, eorum duntaxat qui diversis licet temporibus et locis, in unius tamen Ecclesiae Catholicoe communione et fide permanentes , magistri probabiles exstiterunt ; et quicquid non unus aut duo tantum, sed omnes pariter uno eodemque consensu aperte, frequenter, perseveranter tenuisse, scripsisse, docuisse eognoverit, id sibi quoque intelligat absque ulla dubitatione credendum.  Sanctus Vincentius Lirinensis, Commonitorium

From very many men eminent for sanctity and learning I have often sought with great diligence and the utmost attention how I may by a certain way, and indeed as a general rule, distinguish the truth of Catholic faith from the falsehood of depraved heresy; and I have always received the response that whenever I or any someone else wishes to detect the lies and avoid the traps of heretics, and so to remain unharmed and intact in the pure faith, one should, with the Lord's assistance, fortify faith in two ways: first, by the authority of Divine Law, then, by the Tradition of the Catholic Church. Here perhaps some one perhaps may ask, 'Since the canon of Scripture is finished, and for everything sufficient and indeed more than sufficient, why should it be bound to the authority of the Church's interpretation?' Because, of course, on account of the depth of Holy Scripture, not everyone receives it in the same sense, but one understands the words in one way, another in another way; so it seems that as many as there are men so there are as many interpretations. For Novatian expounds it one way, Sabellius another, Donatus another, Arius, Eunomius, Macedonius, another, Photinus, Apollinaris, Priscillian, another, Jovinian, Pelagius, Celestius, another, lastly, Nestorius another. On account of these great complexity of various errors it is absolutely necessary that the measure for the correct meaning of the prophets and apostles should be directed by the standard of Ecclesiastical and Catholic interpretation. And in the same Catholic Church the greatest care must be taken that we hold to that which everywhere, always, and by all has been believed. That is truly and properly Catholic, which, as the name itself and reason declare, comprehends all universally. This rule we shall observe if we follow universality, antiquity, agreement. We shall follow universality in this way: if we confess the one faith to be true which the whole Church throughout the world confesses; antiquity: if we in no manner depart from those interpretations which it is patent were famously held by our holy ancestors and fathers; agreement: if in this antiquity we cleave to the consonant definitions and decisions of all, or almost all, priests and teachers. What then will a Catholic Christian do, if a particular Church cut itself off from the communion of the universal faith? What but to prefer the soundness of the whole body to a diseased and corrupt member? What if some new contagion try to infect not only a portion of the Church, but the whole? Then he will be wise to cleave to antiquity, which can no longer be seduced by any deceit of novelty. But what if in the past there be found error infecting two or three men, or even a whole city or a province? Then it will be his care to prefer the decrees, if there are any, of the universal Church to the recklessness and blundering of a few men. But what if some error should come about on which no such decree speaks? Then his duty is to collate and consult and interrogate the opinions of the ancients who, though living in various times and places persevered in the communion and faith of the one Catholic Church, standing forth as approved teachers; and whatever he finds held, written and taught, not by one or two only, but by all, equally, in harmony, overtly, frequently and persistently, that he shall understand that he is to trust without any doubt. Saint Vincent of Lerins, from the Commonitory