Summa de Ecclesia

For a fuller understanding and a firmer establishment of the truth of those things which we have adduced concerning the holiness of the Church, we shall raise some objections to the contrary, proving that the Church is not to be called holy. And first it is argued thus: there is sung in church in the angelic hymn, namely, Glory to God in the highest: Thou alone art holy. If therefore Christ alone is holy, since the Church is not Christ, the Church does not seem to be called holy.¹

Second²: holiness, as Dionysius says in ch. 12 of On the Divine Names, as was said above, is free from all uncleanness, and perfect, and altogether unspotted by uncleanness; but the Church in her present state is not free from all that uncleanness of sin, for blessed John the Apostle says in 1 John 1: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; therefore the Church, for her present state, is not to be called holy.

Third³ thus: in Matt. 6 Christ teaches all the faithful to pray for the remission of their sins, thus: Forgive us our debts, etc. — which prayer the Church makes continually; yet this would seem vain if the Church had no sin, especially since Aug. says in On the Good of Perseverance that in this place the Pelagian heretics are pierced through, who dare to say that a just man in this life has no sin at all, and that in such men there is already in the present time a Church not having spot or wrinkle — and this is set in the ordinary Gloss.

Fourth⁴ it is argued thus: in Rom. 3 the Apostle says: But God is true, and every man a liar; therefore it does not seem that the Church, which is the gathering of all the faithful, is to be called holy.

Fifth⁵ thus: it does not belong to the Church in the state of the present life to have no spot or wrinkle, but only in the state of the future life, when she shall appear glorious; therefore she is not now to be called holy, but in the future life. The consequence is clear, and the antecedent is proved by the authority of blessed Aug., who at the end of the first book of the Enchiridion, treating that word of the Apostle, that he might present to himself a Church not having spot or wrinkle, etc., says thus: By this, all the spots of men whatsoever are taken away by the holiness of the Christian washing, whereby Christ cleanses his Church, to present her to himself — not in this world, but in the world to come — not having spot or wrinkle or anything of the sort. For those who now say that she is such, and yet are in her — since they themselves confess that they have sins: if they speak truly, then since they are not clean from sins, the Church has a spot in them; but if they speak falsely, because they speak with a double heart, the Church has a wrinkle in them. But if they say that they have these things, not she: then they confess that they are not her members nor pertain to her body, so that even by their own confession they are condemned.⁶ Sixth, thus: in the Church good and evil are mingled together, as was shown above, and the evil in far greater number than the good; since therefore denomination ought to be made from the greater part, it seems that the Church should be called simply more unclean than holy.⁷ And it is confirmed from ch. Et hoc diximus, Causa 16, q. 7, where Origen says — and it is set in the continuous Gloss on Matt. 21 — that those who live carnally make the house of prayer, built of living stones, a den of robbers by their deeds.

⁸ Seventh, it is argued thus: in the Church are contained not only sinners but also many foreknown, who, though they now have the faith of Christ, yet will not finally persevere in the true faith and the charity of God; therefore it does not seem that the Church should be called holy simply.

⁹ Eighth, thus: the Wise man says in Eccles. 9: No man knoweth whether he be worthy of hatred or love — and less concerning another than concerning himself; therefore no one can know who is holy or unclean; therefore it seems that it does not pertain to the article of faith to believe that the Church, which is the congregation of the faithful, is holy.

¹⁰ Ninth, it is argued thus: the faithful are not confirmed in the faith or in the grace of God in the state of the present pilgrimage; therefore it does not seem that the Church, which is the collection of the faithful, should be called holy, as being established or confirmed.

¹¹ Tenth, it is argued thus: the Church is sometimes said to have been foul and stained; therefore she does not seem always to have been called holy. The consequence seems manifest; the antecedent is clear. For blessed Jerome says — and it is found in On Penance, dist. 1, § Ecclesia —: But it is possible that, as the Church which before had wrinkle and spot and uncleanness was afterwards restored, so also the sinner running to the physician, etc. And the same blessed Jerome, on Ps. 20, expounding that text, Hearken, O daughter, and see, incline thy ear, and forget the house of thy father, says of the Church thus: Forget the house of thy father, that is, the devil who before begot thee, for the whole world was set in evil; therefore incline thy ear, for the king hath coveted thy beauty, Christ Jesus by whom thou art ruled — for thou wast black in thy father's house, but now, ascending after baptism, washed within, or white by the grace of faith, for he is the Lord by whom thou hast been redeemed; and below: Before, the Church was defiled and deformed, but afterwards beautiful and fair through the laver of baptism, for the just died for the impious, that is, Christ cleansing her through the laver of his blood, as the Apostle says, not having spot or wrinkle; and Aug. speaks to the same point on the same Psalm thus: The Church was taken from the human race, that Christ might be the head of the Church; and below: Let the bride, beloved of God, rejoice. When beloved? While still foul. For all have sinned, says the Apostle, and need the glory of God; and again: For Christ died for the impious; she was loved though foul, lest she remain foul — for she was not loved as foul in truth, for it was not foulness that was loved — thus Aug.