Summa de Ecclesia
Juan de Torquemada (1388–1468)
First published 1561
Torquemada's Summa de Ecclesia from the Venice 1561 edition, Books I-IV with the Florentine union apparatus, in Latin with a new English translation.
Titulus I: Title page
Privilegium I: Privilege
Epistola I: Dedicatory letter
Index I: Full index
Prologus I: Prologue
Liber I: Book I — On the Universal Church
Caput I: Chapter I. On the name Church and how it differs from the name synagogue.
Caput II: Chapter II. On the various senses of the name Church.
Caput III: Chapter III. In which sense the discussion of the Church is to be taken in what follows, where it is shown that in the Church the good and the wicked are mingled together.
Caput IV: Chapter IV. In which objections are raised against what was said, that in the holy and universal Church the good and the wicked are contained together.
Caput V: Chapter V. In which the distinction is given by which the just faithful and sinful faithful are said to be in the Church, and the objections raised are answered.
Caput VI: Chapter VI. Proving that the Church is one, and on its manifold unity.
Caput VII: Chapter VII. In which objections are raised against what was said on the unity of the Church.
Caput VIII: Chapter VIII. In which the objections raised are answered.
Caput IX: Chapter IX. In which it is shown that the Church is holy.
Caput X: Chapter X. In which objections are raised against what was said on the holiness of the Church.
Caput XI: Chapter XI. In which the objections raised are answered.
Caput XII: Chapter XII. In which a certain way of speaking about the holiness of the Church is disapproved.
Caput XIII: Chapter XIII. That the Church is to be called Catholic.
Caput XIV: Chapter XIV. In which objections are raised against what was said, that the Christian faith is to be called Catholic.
Caput XV: Chapter XV. In which the arguments already made are answered.
Caput XVI: Chapter XVI. Where objections are raised against what was said, that the Church is to be called Catholic.
Caput XVII: Chapter XVII. In which the objections of the preceding chapter are answered.
Caput XVIII: Chapter XVIII. In which it is shown by arguments that the Church is called Apostolic.
Caput XIX: Chapter XIX. In which some objections are raised against what was said, that the Church is to be called Apostolic.
Caput XX: Chapter XX. How the words 'We believe in one holy Church' are to be understood.
Caput XXI: Chapter XXI. In which the error of those who say that men can be saved outside the unity of this holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is refuted.
Caput XXII: Chapter XXII. When the Church began, and on its ages.
Caput XXIII: Chapter XXIII. In which objections are raised against what was said on the antiquity of the Church.
Caput XXIV: Chapter XXIV. In which the solution to the arguments of the preceding chapter is given.
Caput XXV: Chapter XXV. From whom the Church began.
Caput XXVI: Chapter XXVI. In which objections are raised against the foregoing.
Caput XXVII: Chapter XXVII. In which the objections already made are answered.
Caput XXVIII: Chapter XXVIII. That after the Church began it has not ceased to be, and that in it faith, holiness, doctrine, prelacy, and the sacraments will endure to the end of the age.
Caput XXIX: Chapter XXIX. In which some objections are raised against what was said on the duration of the Church.
Caput XXX: Chapter XXX. In which the objections already made are answered.
Caput XXXI: Chapter XXXI. Why the Church is called heaven, earth, field, and net.
Caput XXXII: Chapter XXXII. On the reasons why the holy Church is called the vineyard of God, and the garden, fountain, and well of living waters.
Caput XXXIII: Chapter XXXIII. In which the reasons are given why the Church is called Ship, House, City, and an army in battle array.
Caput XXXIV: Chapter XXXIV. On the reasons why the Church is called a Kingdom, and on the twelve things by which the glory of the magnificence of the kingdom of the Church is shown.
Caput XXXV: Chapter XXXV. On the reasons why the Church is called the tabernacle and temple of God.
Caput XXXVI: Chapter XXXVI. On the reasons why the Church is called Woman, Beloved, and Dove, Perfect, Sister, and Daughter.
Caput XXXVII: Chapter XXXVII. Why she is also called bride, and on the time of her espousal.
Caput XXXVIII: Chapter XXXVIII. In which the solution to a certain difficulty concerning what was said on the time of the espousal of the Church is given.
Caput XXXIX: Chapter XXXIX. On the gifts and presents with which Christ adorned his bride the Church, singularly even above the angels.
Caput XL: Chapter XL. That the Church is called the spouse of Christ and the mother of the faithful.
Caput XLI: Chapter XLI. That although the Church is said to be the spouse of Christ and the mother of all the faithful, she does not cease to be wholly a virgin.
Caput XLII: Chapter XLII. That the Church is called queen.
Caput XLIII: Chapter XLIII. On the reasons why the Church is called a body, namely the mystical body of Christ.
Caput XLIV: Chapter XLIV. On the variety of the members of the Church and their signification.
Caput XLV: Chapter XLV. In which objections are raised against what was said on the head of the body of the Church.
But against what has been said about the head of the body of the Church, objection will be raised with several arguments that Christ is not the head of the Church, so that from the solution of those arguments the truth of what has already been said may finally become more splendid to us. It is argued first that Christ should not be called the head but rather the heart of the Church, because the heart is the principle of life in the whole body, as wise Solomon says in Prov. iv: Guard your heart with all keeping, for from it life proceeds; but this befits Christ, who gives life to the whole Church, according to 1 Cor. xv: As in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall be made alive; therefore Christ should above all be called the heart of the Church. And it is confirmed, because the first act of the soul is life, the second is to enlighten and to give sensation, and life proceeds first from the heart into the members and afterwards sensation from the head into the members; therefore Christ should be named more from the first act than from the second, and thus should rather be called the heart of the Church than the head.
Second, it is argued thus. If Christ were to be called the head of the Church, he would be so called either according to the divine nature or according to the human; but neither in the one way nor in the other; therefore in no way. The minor is proved for each part, and first that not according to the divine nature, because head and body are of one nature, but Christ according to the divine substance is not of the same nature as the body of the Church, as is evident of itself; therefore it seems that Christ according to the divine nature should not be called the head of the Church.
That he is so neither according to the human nature is argued thus. From the head the animal spirit is diffused to the members, but the Holy Spirit is not diffused from Christ into the Church according as he is man but inasmuch as he is God, for Aug. says in xv on the Trinity that Christ does not give the Holy Spirit inasmuch as he is man, but inasmuch as he is God; therefore it does not befit Christ according to the human nature to be the head of the Church.
Third, thus. Sensation and motion are transmitted from the head into the members, but grace, which produces the motion of life in the body of the Church, is not by transmission from one to another; therefore Christ according to this likeness cannot be called the head of the Church.
Fourth, the grace of the head flows only into those who are already members, and none are members unless they are joined by faith and charity; therefore it flows into none except those having faith and charity; but those having faith and charity have motion and sensation; therefore it seems that the grace of the head infuses neither motion nor sensation into anyone; therefore it seems that to infuse sensation and motion does not befit Christ.
Fifth, thus. A head has no other head, but the head of Christ is God, according to 1 Cor. xii: The head of Christ is God; therefore Christ himself is not a head.
Sixth, it is confirmed thus. Of one body there is one head, but Christ is the head of the Church according to the Godhead; therefore not according to the humanity.
Seventh, thus. It belongs to the character of the head that it have all the senses which are in the body, as Aug. says in the letter to Dardanus, but there is a certain spiritual sense in the Church which is not in Christ, namely faith and hope; therefore Christ should not be called the head of the Church.
Eighth. The head in man is a particular member receiving influence from the heart, but Christ, since he is the universal principle of the Church, receives no influence from any member of the body, but the whole body receives from him, according to John i: Of his fullness we have all received; therefore he is not the head of the Church. On the contrary are the things we say in the preceding chapter.