Summa de Ecclesia

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Moreover the Church is named Kingdom, and this because in her Christ, king of kings and Lord of lords, reigns through faith. Concerning this kingdom the prophet speaks thus in Isa. 9: He shall sit upon the throne of David and over his kingdom; the Gloss: that is, over the Church, which was signified through the kingdom of David. Again, concerning this kingdom the angel, speaking to the virgin about her son, says thus: And of his kingdom there shall be no end; the Gloss: He shall reign in the house of Jacob forever, that is, in the whole Church, which through faith and through the confession of Christ belongs to the lot of the patriarchs. This kingdom, moreover, the Apostle marks when, speaking of Christ, he says to the Corinthians, ch. 15: When he, namely Christ, shall have handed over the kingdom to God and the Father, and so on. On this word the Gloss says: For his faithful, whom he redeemed with his blood, are here called his kingdom; and every creature is also his kingdom, but every creature is called the kingdom of Christ in one way, and the Church in another. Every creature is called the kingdom of Christ according to the power of the Godhead; but the Church according to the property of the faith which is in him and through which he reigns in the faithful themselves. That the Church is designated by the name of kingdom is openly attested by the very Gospel history, in which the kingdom of heaven is named so very often, as is clear in Matt. 13, where Gregory in his homily on the virgins says thus: Often in Holy Scripture the Church of the present time is called the kingdom of heaven; concerning which the Lord also says in another place: The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals; for in that kingdom of blessedness, in which there is the highest peace, no scandals that might be gathered could be found.

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It is to be noted here that there are twelve things which make any kingdom glorious; when we shall have shown that these are present in a preeminent way in the kingdom of which we speak, the glory of the magnificence of the kingdom of the Church will shine forth more clearly. The first is: that the kingdom be founded by right institution, namely that it was acquired not by violence, nor by fraud or any other wicked device whatever, but was established by lawful authority. Just as the kingdom of Israel, in which the people are recorded to have asked that a king be instituted over them not by themselves but by God, in whose hand are all the rights of kingdoms and all powers: 1 Kings 10. The kingdom of the Church possesses this good condition of a kingdom, because it was constituted and founded by the most high God himself, the prince and lord of all kings. Hence concerning this kingdom, under the name of a city, it is said in Ps. 86: A man was born in her, and the Most High himself founded her; the Gloss: Here the prophet takes up his words again, as if he were saying: Glorious things have been said of that city, and this miracle also has come to pass in her, that a man was born in her and the Most High founded her; and below: Christ is the foundation of that city, who inasmuch as he is man was born in her, and he himself, the Most High, that is God, founded her.

The second thing that makes a kingdom glorious is that it be ancient in origin; hence we call those more noble and more glorious whose nobility has drawn its origin from parents renowned of old for uprightness. This glory of nobility shines more brightly in the kingdom of the Church, since it precedes all other earthly kingdoms, inasmuch as it took its beginning from the very origin of the human race, from the time when the just and holy began to be upon the earth, as we showed above concerning ch. 27, where the discourse on the antiquity of the Church was held.

The third thing that makes a kingdom glorious is that it be broad and extensive in the breadth of its lands, in the multitude of its peoples, and in the number of its provinces³, because, as is said in Prov. 14: In the multitude of the people is the dignity of the king. The kingdom of the Church possesses this condition of glory, because it has been spread far and wide even to the ends of the earth. Concerning the breadth of this kingdom it is said in Ps. 71: He shall rule from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth, where the Gloss says thus: Here the prophet shows what the breadth of the kingdom is. He shall rule from sea, that is, from any end of the earth, unto sea, that is, the Church shall be spread and shall be extended so widely unto any end of the earth. And from the river, namely the Jordan, he shall rule, where the voice of the Father thundered over Christ: This is my beloved Son; from there therefore his teaching began, from there the authority of his teaching office is extended. Unto the ends of the earth, with the Gospel of the kingdom of Christ preached, from there the rule of baptism flowed forth through the whole world: this is the Gloss. Concerning the extension of this kingdom the holy prophet Daniel speaks thus: He gave him, namely the Father to the Son, power and honor and kingdom, and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him: Dan. 7.

The fourth thing that makes a kingdom glorious is that it be most fittingly ordered. For a multitude without order has more of confusion than of beauty. The order of a kingdom consists in this, that there be in it diverse ranks of men, distinct states of dignities, and a varied distribution of offices, according as is at once expedient and becoming for the utility of the commonwealth of the kingdom itself. This condition of glory shines most brightly in the very kingdom of the Church, which in all things and in each thing is most wisely and most fittingly ordered; for the things that are of God are ordered: to the Romans, ch. 13. Concerning the establishing of order in the Church, God speaks thus through Isa.: I will lay thy stones in order and will found thee in sapphires: Isa. 54. And the prophet in Ps. 144: They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom and shall tell of thy power; the Gloss: They shall tell, namely, how powerfully and how wondrously thou doest and disposest whatsoever thou doest in the kingdom. And below the prophet also adds: To make known to the sons of men thy power and the glory of the magnificence of thy kingdom; the Gloss: After power he commends the beauty of the kingdom. That kingdom has beauty with which nothing magnificent can be compared. It is also to be remembered that by reason of this order the kingdom of the Church was in the preceding chapter called the army of camps in array; with what necessity and in what form order is to be kept in the Church is found in ch. Singula and in ch. Ad hoc, dist. 89.

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The fifth thing that makes a kingdom glorious is that it be united in its peoples by the bond of love and concord; for plainly every kingdom divided against itself shall be laid waste, as Truth itself testifies in Luke 11; and, as Sallust says, by concord small things grow, by discord the greatest fall away. This condition of a glorious kingdom shines forth above all in the kingdom of the Church, which is united by a manifold bond, namely of faith, hope, and charity, and of the one Spirit dwelling in the whole body of the Church, concerning which very many things were said above concerning ch. 6; and in Jer. 32 the Lord says: I will give them one heart and one soul; hence concerning the first subjects of this kingdom, for the state of grace, it is said in Acts 4: And the multitude of believers had but one heart and one soul.

The sixth thing that renders a kingdom glorious is that it be peaceful, having peace with outsiders, just as it is said in praise of the kingdom of Solomon that he had peace on every side round about: 3 Kings 4. This glory and condition of a kingdom is clear in the kingdom of the Church: although at times it lacks⁵ temporal peace, yet it ever enjoys peace of heart, destined at last to arrive at the peace of eternity. Much peace have they that love thy law, says the Prophet in Ps. 118; and the prophet Isaiah: My people sat in the beauty of peace, in tents of trust and in opulent rest: Isa. 32.

The seventh thing that makes a kingdom glorious is that it be abounding in riches and goods. This condition of glory is found above all in the kingdom of the Church, which abounds in spiritual goods, which are the true riches, as Gregory says: The only true riches are those which make us rich in virtues. And Bernard, alluding to the same saying, says: True riches are not wealth, but the virtues which conscience carries, so that he may become rich forever. Hence concerning this abundance of riches of the kingdom the prophet says in Ps. 112: Glory and riches are in his house, and his justice remaineth for ever and ever; the Gloss: this is his glory, these are his riches. And the Apostle to the Ephesians, ch. 1: According to the riches of his grace, which hath superabounded in us.

The eighth thing that renders a kingdom glorious is that it be strong and unconquerable by its adversaries. This condition of glory is plainly present in the kingdom of the Church, to which the Lord promises in Matt. 16: And the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. Hence Ps. 12 says: His kingdom shall rule over all. For the kingdom of the Church can indeed be assailed, but cannot be taken by assault; nay, it grows through assaults. For this is the property of the Church, as blessed Hilary says in book 7 on the Trinity: When she is persecuted, she flourishes; when she is oppressed, she grows; when she is despised, she advances; when she is injured, she conquers; when she is accused, she understands; then she stands, when she seems to be overcome.

The ninth thing that renders a kingdom glorious is that it be ruled by the best laws and customs, because, as Augustine says: What else are kingdoms without justice but bands of robbers? This condition of the glory of a kingdom flourishes above all in the kingdom of the Church, which lives and is governed by most sacred laws and most seemly customs, concerning which Eleazar says in 2 Macc. 6: With ready mind and bravely I will undergo an honest death for the most weighty and most holy laws, and the rest that follows. We are ready to die rather than to transgress the ancestral laws of God. The reason is that the law of the Lord is spotless; the Gloss: irreprehensible, converting souls, that is, correcting by its dispensation and sending them to the grace of Christ. And below: The commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes, that is, the gaze of the inward man, says the Gloss. Concerning the holiness of ecclesiastical laws it is found in dist. 10, where in ch. Non licet the holy sixth synod says thus: It is not lawful for the emperor or for anyone who guards piety to presume anything against the divine commandments, nor to do anything opposed to the evangelical, prophetic, or apostolic rules.

The tenth thing that makes a kingdom glorious is that it have a king who is most noble, wise, powerful, and renowned for virtues. Hence it is said in Eccles. 10: Blessed is the land whose king is noble; and in Eccles. 10 it is said: A foolish king shall ruin his people. Plato also says that those commonwealths are blessed if either students of wisdom rule them or it has befallen their rulers to have studied wisdom. And Seneca in a certain letter: Among men of old the best was chosen as ruler of others. Therefore the highest happiness belonged to those nations in which no one could be more powerful unless he were better. This glory of a kingdom shines forth above all in the kingdom of the Church, which has Christ as king, who is a great king above all gods: Ps. 104; who is King of kings and Lord of lords: 1 Tim. 5; who, since he is the sublime God, of infinite goodness. He is also the one through whom other kings reign and the makers of laws decree just things: Prov. 8. Therefore the holy king David prays thus to him in 1 Paralip. 29: Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art over all princes; riches are thine, and glory is thine; thou rulest over all.

The eleventh thing that renders a kingdom glorious is that it be peopled with many noble citizens, princes, and barons. In this condition of the glory of a kingdom the kingdom of the Church shines above all, all whose true subjects shine with that nobility than which there is none greater before God, which is to be renowned for virtues. An eminent witness to the preeminence of their nobility is blessed John, speaking thus: He hath made us a kingdom and priests to God and his Father: Apoc. 1. For the elect are kings, as the Gloss says, who tame the flesh and strengthen the spirit. But priests, because they offer themselves upon the altar of the heart as a victim pleasing to God, as Chrysostom says. Not every priest is holy, but everyone who sits well upon his chair: dist. 40, ch. Multi. Again in Apoc. 5 the same blessed John says: Thou hast made us unto our God a kingdom, that is, kings and priests. Great therefore is the nobility and glory of the kingdom of the Church, in which all true subjects are kings and priests. Hence Ps. 71: All kings shall adore him; the Gloss: here the prophet shows what the household of the king is. Moreover concerning this greatest and most illustrious nobility of the kingdom of the Church we have a splendid testimony in blessed Peter, who writes thus to those who through faith had already been incorporated into the kingdom of Christ: You are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people. You are a chosen generation, because through baptism you holy ones were made sons of God by adoption, and consequently of the very race of God himself, according to that in Acts 17: For we are also his offspring; a kingly priesthood, namely by the dignity and excellence of anointing. A holy nation, that is, cleansed from sins; a purchased people, because redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. Furthermore, in this respect too the kingdom of the Church is shown to be renowned for manifold nobility, because it embraces not only elect men but also the holy angels themselves, who are known to be most illustrious both by nature and by the nobility of holiness. For one city and one kingdom of God rises compacted of holy angels and men, as Augustine says in book 1 on the City of God and on Ps. 126.

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The twelfth thing that makes a kingdom glorious is that it be ever abiding or durable, everlasting and perpetual. In this condition of glory the kingdom of the Church rejoices singularly above all other kingdoms. Hence the prophet, speaking of it, says: Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages, and so on: Ps. 144, where the Gloss says: Here the prophet praises the kingdom for its perpetuity and for the effect of its dominion. Saint Daniel also says of this kingdom: The God of heaven will raise up a kingdom that shall not be destroyed forever; and in Luke 1 it is said: Of his kingdom there shall be no end. Although therefore the present age is to come to its consummation, and our pilgrimage is to have an end, yet the kingdom of the Church shall be forever; for it will be led onward or transferred into heaven. Hence the Apostle says in 1 Cor. 15: Then the end, when he shall have handed over the kingdom to God and the Father; the Gloss: when he shall have led believers to the contemplation of God the Father, where is the end of all things and everlasting rest and joy; then shall the just shine as the sun in the kingdom of his Father; the kingdom shall shine in the kingdom when the king shall have come, the kingdom for which we now pray when we say: Thy kingdom come: this is the Gloss. And Ambrose on Luke speaks thus of this kingdom under the name of a city: Behold the city which lives forever, because it knows not how to die. For this city of Jerusalem is now seen on earth, but it shall be caught up above Elijah; Elijah was one man, he shall be transferred above Enoch, whose death is not found. For he was caught up lest malice should change his heart; but she is loved by Christ as a glorious spouse, holy and immaculate, without wrinkle; and how much better shall the whole body be taken up, as though some one man were more: for this is the hope of the Church; she shall indeed be caught up, shall be taken up, shall be transferred to heaven. Behold, Elijah was caught up in a chariot of fire; the Church shall be caught up; if thou believest not me, believe at least Paul, in whom Christ spoke. Thess. 4.

We shall be caught up, he says, in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so we shall be always with the Lord: this is Ambrose.