1 The translation that follows is of the first controversy in the first volume of St. Robert Bellarmine’s famous Disputations about Controversies of the Christian Faith against the Heretics of this Age, first published at Ingolstadt in 1581-1593 and republished several times thereafter. The Latin text can be downloaded from Google books: http://books.google.com/books?id=vqJaa8h_teQC&pg=PP22&dq=bellarmini+contro versiae&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5ZGvUcO9HtS44APBqoHgAg&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAjgU Peter L P Simpson June 2013. 2 Robert Bellarmine’s Disputations about Controversies of the Christian Faith Volume One First General Controversy: On the Word of God, Written and Unwritten In Four Books Book One: On the Sacred and Apocryphal Books. Page 5 Chapter One: Is Scripture the Word of God? Chapter Two: In the Books called Canonical the Word of God is Contained Chapter Three: The Objection from the Words of St. Paul is Refuted, that the Letter kills and the Spirit gives Life. Chapter Four: Which are the Sacred Books Chapter Five: About the Heretics who Opposed the books of the Old Testament of the First Order Chapter Six: On the Heretics who Attack the Books of the New Testament Enumerated Above Chapter Seven: On the Book of Esther Chapter Eight: On the Book of Baruch Chapter Nine: On Certain Chapters in Daniel Chapter Ten: On the Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, and Maccabees Chapter Eleven: On the Book of Tobit Chapter Twelve: On the Book of Judith Chapter Thirteen: On the Book of Wisdom Chapter Fourteen: On Ecclesiasticus Chapter Fifteen: On the Books of the Maccabees Chapter Sixteen: On Certain Parts of the Books of Mark, Luke, and John Chapter Seventeen: On the Epistle to the Hebrews Chapter Eighteen: On the Epistles of James, of Jude, of Second Peter, of Second and Third John Chapter Nineteen: On the Apocalypse Chapter Twenty: On the Apocryphal Books Book Two: On the Hebrew, Chaldee, Greek and Latin Vulgate Editions. Page 73 Chapter One: It is Shown that the Hebrew Edition of Moses and the Prophets has never Perished Chapter Two: Whether the Hebrew Edition has been Corrupted Chapter Three: On the Chaldee Edition 3 Chapter Four: On the Syriac Edition Chapter Five: On the Various Greek Editions Chapter Six: On the Septuagint Chapter Seven: On the Greek Edition of the New Testament Chapter Eight: On the Latin Editions Chapter Nine: On the Author of the Vulgate Edition Chapter Ten: On the Authority of the Latin Vulgate Edition Chapter Eleven: The Objections of the Heretics against the Vulgate Edition are Solved Chapter Twelve: The Places are Defended that Chemnitz says are Distorted in the Vulgate Chapter Thirteen: The Places in the Psalms are Defended that Calvin Contends were Badly Translated by the Latin Translator Chapter Fourteen: The Places are Defended that the Heretics say are Corrupt in the Latin Edition of the New Testament Chapter Fifteen: On Vernacular Editions Chapter Sixteen: The Objections of the Heretics are Solved Book Three: On the Interpretation of the Word of God. Page 137 Chapter One: Scripture is not so per se Open that it Suffices without Explanation for the Settling of Controversies of the Faith Chapter Two: The Objections of the Adversaries are Solved Chapter Three: A Question is Posed about the Judge of Controversies, and Discussion is given at the same time about the Senses of the Scriptures Chapter Four: Testimonies are Adduced from the Old Testament for the Opinion of Catholics Chapter Five: The Same is Proved from the New Testament Chapter Six: The Same is Proved from the Custom of the Church Chapter Seven: the Same is proved by the Testimonies of Pontiffs and Emperors Chapter Eight: the Same is Proved by the Testimony of the Fathers Chapter Nine: the Same is Proved by Reason Chapter Ten: the Objections are Solved Book Four: On the Unwritten Word of God. Page 172 Chapter One: Those who have most of all Defended or Attacked Unwritten Traditions Chapter Two: What and How Multiple Tradition is Chapter Three: the State of the Question is Explained, and certain Falsehoods of the Adversaries are Uncovered Chapter Four: the Necessity for Traditions is Shown Chapter Five: That there are True Traditions is Demonstrated from the Scriptures Chapter Six: The Same is Shown by the Testimonies of the Pontiffs and the Councils Chapter Seven: The Same is Proved from the Fathers 4 Chapter Eight: The Same is Proved by Four Other Arguments Chapter Nine: Five Rules are Explained by which we Come to Knowledge of True Traditions Chapter Ten: The Objections of the Adversaries Taken from the Scriptures are Solved Chapter Eleven: The Objections from the Fathers are Solved Chapter Twelve: The Reasonings of the Adversaries are Solved END OF FIRST CONTROVERSY 5 Book One: On the Sacred and Apocryphal Books Chapter One: Is Scripture the Word of God? In my resolve to dispute of the sacred books, this question first offers itself: is the Prophetic and Apostolic Scripture to be received as the word of God, or is that only to be held for the word of God which the Holy Spirit speaks to each privately in his heart? Which question, otherwise unworthy of treatment among Christian theologians, has been brought forth for us at the present time in part by the ravings of Schwenckfeld and the Libertines. Gaspar Schwenckfeld (as is reported by Frederick Staphilus in his book on the agreement among the disciples of Luther and by Petrus Palladius in his book on the heresies of the present age) repulses the written word as the letter that killeth, and bids us to be content with the internal spirit alone. About the Libertines, who arose from their founders Coppinus and Quintinus, John Calvin writes in this way in his instructions against the Libertines ch.9: “We have stated already,” he says, “that they were accustomed from the beginning openly to laugh if anyone appealed to the Scriptures, and that they did not hide the fact they held the Scriptures for fables. In the meantime nevertheless they did not cease, if there was ever occasion, to use them in any sense of their own to which they were able to twist them. Not that they put faith in that sense, but only to perturb the ignorant and so to trouble them that they could at length draw them to themselves. If any passage was objected against them, they would reply that we are not at all beholden to the letter but that we should follow the spirit that vivifies. Indeed that pig Quintinus branded some of the Apostles in a mocking poem, in his own speech of Picardy, calling Paul a broken vessel, John a foolish youth, Peter a denier of God, Matthew a usurer.” So Calvin. Further, Martin Luther and John Calvin, and all the many followers and disciples of them that there are, do not fear, by a most impudent lie, to ascribe this very error of Schwenckfeld and the Libertines to the Roman Pontiff and to the whole Catholic Church. The words of Luther in his book on the Councils and the Church near the end are as follows: “The Pope has on this matter filled almost the whole world with an enormous mass of commentaries and books, and has changed the name of sin and justice into pure snares of conscience, rules, exactions, divine and human rights, articles of faith; so that he should deserve again to have his decretals consigned to the flames; for the Church could easily do without such a book, which has inflicted horrible and irreparable damage on a great part of the human race, has buried the Sacred Scripture in dust, and almost totally destroyed Christian doctrine.” So the words of Luther, to which like words are found in his book against the King of England and his book on the false state of the Clergy and elsewhere. Calvin’s words at the beginning of his book or instruction against the Anabaptists are as follows: “For we do not, in the manner of Papists, say that the sacrosanct Scriptures must be let alone so that we may rest on the authority of men, for we consider this shunning to be an execrable blasphemy.” Wherefore, so that we may in brief refute the error of the former and the lie of the latter, this point will have to be established first: that the Prophetical and Apostolical books according to the mind of the Catholic Church, made clear both long ago in the Third Council of Carthage ch.47 6 and recently in the Council of Trent sess.4, are the true word of God and the certain and stable rule of faith. Therefore we will prove it with the arguments the follow. Chapter Two: In the Books called Canonical the Word of God is Contained At the beginning Moses, the Prophets, Christ himself, John, and the Apostles either themselves confirmed divine dogmas from the Scriptures or they certainly encouraged others to read the Scriptures, and they never referred anyone to the judgment of internal spirit to the neglect of the Scriptures. These testimonies are not adduced by us for the reason that we consider they are made much of by our adversaries, but so that the Scriptures, whose authority our adversaries from time to time misuse against us who rightly venerate them, may not seem to support their opinion. Moses then in Deuteronomy 17 says: “If you discern that a judgment is difficult and ambiguous for you etc.” and later: “Whatever you do, let them speak who are over the place which the Lord chooses, and let them teach you according to his law.” Here Moses sufficiently plainly teaches that controversies, when they arise among the people of God, are to be judged from the law of the Lord.