Newly translated from the Latin.
Among other works of the devil's rage, not the least is that he has largely destroyed the histories or, as they are called, the legends of the saints, and that those of which he has suffered to persist (undoubtedly against his will) have been so falsified with foolish fables and ungodly lies that some fables of the pagans are much more similar to the truth, and more useful. So great is the hatred of the serpent against the seed of the woman and the church of Christ that he persecutes the memory of the saints even after their death, so that not even their excellent sayings and deeds could serve as a salutary example or comfort to the living. Hence the evil that we do not even have the histories of the apostles, which should be most such, reliable and pure, except as much as has been left to us by Lucas, Eusebius and some others. Other things are desired and desired in vain.
For even in the city of Rome itself one does not know where the heads and bodies of the apostles Peter and Paul are, nor of their complete histories, although the popes annually display to the foolish people two wooden and artificially made heads of Peter and Paul, of which they make the common people believe, and want to be believed, that they are the natural skulls of Peter and Paul.
Paul. And on the altar where they are buried, they consecrate the pallia of the bishops, boasting that they are sent down from heaven to the heads of the apostles, as the Decretals speak, and with incredible falsehood and the most senseless desire to lie, they deceive the whole world, for the glory and honor of the devil, the father of lies, whose servants they are. They do the same with the deceitful table of Veronica. Even though they know that it is nothing, and a vain pretense, they still display it with great ostentation as the image of the Savior printed on his face-cloth (as they call it), but it is so covered with cloths that no one can see anything, not even those who display it. For who could see that which is nothing? But what need of many words? The very city that used to be the holiest and most excellent place of the whole Church in the whole world at the time of the martyrs, then became, as it still is, through the most impudent lies and the most foolish fables, because the godless and wicked popes turned a blind eye to it, the place that is most full in all corners of all shame and vice, and completely a puddle of dung. Namely, the devil's so terrifying wish is fulfilled, on which his desire has always stood, that he should make of the best church a diabolical, quite horrible
*The book, which Major, prompted by Luther, published, has the title: Vitae patrum in usum ministrorum verbi, quoad ejus fieri potuit, repurgatae. Per Georgium Majorem. Cum Praefatione D. Doctoris Martini Lutheri. Vitembergae. 1544. ocküv. At the end: Imprint Wittembergae per Petrum Seitz. Luther wrote a preface to it. The same is found in Latin in the Erlangen edition, opp. var. arZ-, toni. VII, x. 568. The book itself has been printed very often, although it is not known who the author of it is. Some mention Jerome, others Evagrius of Antioch, still others Evagrius of Pontus; even the time of writing is not known. A Dutch Jesuit, Heribert Rosweidus, published it in 1617 in folio at Leiden and reports that he had seen twenty different Latin editions published in the period from the invention of the printing press to 1596, and eleven editions in other languages, namely in Italian, English, French and Dutch. The Wittenberg edition has also been reprinted several times, in 1559, 1562 and 1578. M. Sebastian Schwan, preacher at Ratzeburg, translated the Blich together with Luther's preface into German and had it printed in quarto in 1604. Because Walch did not know about this translation, he had Luther's preface translated again by Joh. Frick. We have again prepared a new translation.
Robber's den made and a pile of manure, which is not at all clean.
Did he then dare to defile Rome in such an abominable way (God in His wrath allowed this, since our ingratitude compelled Him to do so), which Christ has cleansed by the exceedingly great work of His Spirit, as it is written, Ps. 110, 6: "He will crush the head over great lands", Dear, what should He leave us in other parts of the world (as much as His rage was able to do) that is pure and clean? Therefore, the world is full of godlessness, idolatry, worship, fables and legends of the saints, godless masses, and who can enumerate all the aversions? See even the Scriptures and the Sacraments of God, with how many kinds and subtypes of heresies and errors he has tried to corrupt them! and even today he rages in this matter no less than he always did before. With this malice he has also particularly attacked this very famous book, which the whole church calls "the life descriptions of the fathers" (vitas patrum).
But here I will first quote the saying of St. Jerome himself, which is in his letter to Ctesiphon against the Pelagians. Evagrius of Pontus, he says, the hyperborite who writes "to the virgins," writes "to the monks," has also published a book and has uttered sayings ðåñß Üðá&åéáò [about
the insensitivity), which [άπά&εια] we
impassibilitas or imperturbatio, since the mind is never moved by any affliction of disturbance, and (to put it simply) is either a stone or God. These books are read by people in the Orient in Greek, and, since his disciple Rufinus translated them, by most in the Occident in Latin. The latter also wrote a book as if it were about monks, and lists many in it who were never followers of Origen, and of whom he writes that they were. And there is no doubt that they [the followers of Origen] have been condemned by the bishops, namely Ammonius and Eusebius and Euthymius and Evagrius himself, also Origen and Isidore and many others, all of whom it would be irksome to enumerate. And according to the well-known words of Lucretius:
Ac veluti pueris absynthia tetra medentes Cum dare conantur, prius oras pocula circum Contingunt dulci mellis flavoque liquore (And just as the physicians, when they seek to give the abominable wormwood to the children, first coat the rim around the cup with the sweet and yellow liquid of honey), so he put some John at the beginning of this very book, of whom it is not doubtful that he was orthodox and holy, so that through him he would have the opportunity to bring the other heretical people (whom he had mentioned) into the church etc. The rest, dear reader, you read for yourself. There are certainly hard things about Rufinus and Eusebius of Caesarea, if the narrative is true.
With these words St. Jerome seems to call this book and to point to it with his finger. If this book was already so corrupted and confused at that time, what and how much fables and lies do you think were added after those times? Such as that of Marinus, of Euphrosine, of Simeon 1) on the column, and many similar things, which are partly poetical, by which boastful people wanted to make it seem as if the Stoic insensitivity (apathias) had been surpassed in the church, which, however, no Stoic has ever seen or experienced, and partly the most impudent fables, with which the church has been mocked in its right miracles.
But this must be noted in the words of St. Jerome, that 2) among this kind of monks he condemns only those who were Pelagians and followers of Origen. And since one cannot deny that many have had the same name, some of whom were heretics, others orthodox, this confusion arises, that one does not know who and how he was. For if one wanted to condemn the whole monastic state (as it was at that time), one would first of all condemn St. Jerome himself, who not only praised this state too highly, as you see in Anthony, Paul, Hilarion, Malchus, but-
1) In our original: Kirnons instead of: 8im6yn6. -Cf. Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. VIII, 1054, p 60.
2) Instead of Hui, it will probably read HuocI.
The fact that he himself left the city [Rome] and became a monk is a dangerous example for many.
It was at that time the use, if such a great raging of Satan can otherwise be called a use, that one began to put into practice with greater impetuosity what Paul had foretold, 1 Tim. 4, 3: "And forbid to become celibate, and to avoid food" etc., as if no one could be a Christian if he were not celibate and had enough of the Stoic doctrines, so that even the books of Jerome himself require a reader of sharp judgment, since he is quite unjust against marriage, and, if he had been at liberty, would have considered the second marriage equal to whoredom. But the service of faithful bishops, who condemned the errors of Pelagius and Origen, brought him back from this and corrected him afterwards, although he had not hesitated before to write that Origen was the right teacher (Magistrum) of the churches after the time of the apostles.
Since it is now the case that this book "the biographies 1) of the fathers" requires a very strict examination and sifting (censura), after everything has been mixed up in an unspeakable way by evil raging, so that one cannot know what belongs to Rufinus, what to Jerome or others, then what of Jerome's things is certain, in which spirit he wrote this or that: so I have incited v. Georg Major and have hardly been able to persuade him by pleading that he take on this burden of sorting out and cleaning all these things, which is no doubt very burdensome. Georg Major, and by pleading could hardly induce him to take upon himself this burden of sorting out and cleaning all these things, which is undoubtedly very burdensome. For in this book, as in Jerome, there are many excellent speeches and deeds that must be picked up like lumps from the table of the Gospel and not thrown away with the filth that other impertinent
1) Instead of Vitas, Wohl Vitae will be read.
The first two of these are the birds that have interfered with the people, just as those hideous birds defiled the meal of Aeneas in Virgil's work.
However, it is not difficult to recognize and distinguish which of the two one has to agree with. For the Pelagians and the followers of Origen insist on the Stoic insensitivity and on I don't know what kind of perfections of life. In this they also gave Augustine a hard time. Incidentally, they are very reserved and quiet about grace, faith, forgiveness of sins and the true miraculous deeds of God, through which, as Isaiah says, even a child overcomes death, sin and hell, not to say they are completely silent about it, but they puff up their stoic insensitivity with full cheeks. On the other hand, the orthodox, who walk on the right middle road, do not let sins take the reins, nor do they presume perfections, but attach forgiveness of sins, grace, life and blessedness to penitent and believing sinners. As these works are only of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, they are hidden from those who are wise and prudent. For who is there among them who sees that a baptized little child is a lord and victor over sin, death and the devil? But they have already forgotten their baptism, and attack this enemy with their own powers to overcome him, that is, the devil, sin, death. They should realize that he is already overcome for them in their baptism, that is, in Christ, the seed of the woman.
This shall be the rule that was and will be for all eternity. To God be praise and glory. Amen.
2) The old translator offers: "impudent minds", so instead of impruä6iit68 he has read: imxuäentks. In this we follow him.
3) VirA. tit). Ill, v. 225 8HH.