Titulus I: Title page

Caput LXXVII: Chapter LXXVII. In which objections are raised against what was said on the perfection of the pontifical state and of religious.

Many objections are raised against what was said in the preceding chapter, chiefly against three points. The first of these is that the superior prelates, namely the bishops, are in the state of perfection. The second is that only bishops, the greater prelates, are in the state of perfection, but not the lesser, namely parish priests or archdeacons. The third is that the state of prelates is mightier and more sublime than the state of religious. Against the first the argument runs first as follows.

¹

Renunciation of riches seems to pertain to the state of perfection, according to Matt. 19: If you will be perfect, go and sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and come and follow me. But bishops possess, since they can licitly possess riches or temporal goods. For it is said in ch. Episcopi, xii, q. 1: Bishops leave to their heirs, if they wish, their own or acquired goods, or whatever they have of their own. It therefore seems that the state of the greater prelates, namely of bishops, is not to be called a state of perfection.

²

Second, the state of prelacy is not to be desired, as blessed Aug. says in City of God 19: The higher place, without which the people cannot be ruled, even if administered as befits, is nevertheless indecently desired. It therefore follows that the state of prelacy is not a state of perfection. The consequence seems evident, since to desire the state of perfection seems praiseworthy, whence it is praiseworthy to desire the religious state.

³

Against the second the argument runs first as follows. Just as bishops undertake the cure of souls with consecration, so also do parish priests and archdeacons, concerning whom, on Acts 6, Consider, brethren, seven men of good testimony, full of the Holy Spirit, etc., the Gloss of Bede says: Here the apostles, appointed through the Church, were setting apart seven deacons, who were of a higher rank, and as columns set closest around the altar. Moreover, in the consecration of both bishop and priest the words agree: namely, that these hands be consecrated and sanctified, etc. It therefore seems that parish priests are in the state of perfection.

⁴

Second. Just as bishops are bound to lay down their soul for their sheep, so are parish priests and archdeacons; but this pertains to the perfection of charity, according to John 10: No one has greater charity than to lay down his soul for his friends. It therefore seems that parish priests and archdeacons are in the state of perfection.

⁵

Third. Religious are in the state of perfection; therefore much more are parish priests and archdeacons. The antecedent is the conclusion of the preceding chapter, and the consequence seems evident for two reasons. First, because no one may pass from a greater state to a lesser, yet from the monastic state one may pass to the office of a priest having cure, as is clear in ch. Vos autem, xvi, q. 1. Second, this is clear from the fact that parish priests and archdeacons, in having cure of souls, are more like bishops, who are said to be in the state of perfection, than religious are. Against the third principal point the argument runs first as follows.

⁶

The principal perfection consists in love of God rather than of neighbor; but the religious state is directly ordered to love of God, whence they are named from the service and ministry of God, as Dionysius says in Ecclesiastical Hierarchy 6, whereas the state of bishops seems ordered to love of neighbor, whose care they superintend, whence they are also named, as is clear through Augustine in City of God 19. It therefore seems that the state of religious is more perfect than the state of prelates. Second.

⁷

The state of religious is ordered to the contemplative life, which is mightier than the active life to which the state of bishops is ordered. It therefore seems that the state of religious is more perfect than the state of bishops.

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.

Caput XLVI: Chapter XLVI. In which the objections already made are answered.

Caput XLVII: Chapter XLVII. In which it is shown how Christ can be called a member of the Church, and how not.

Caput XLVIII: Chapter XLVIII. That Christ as man was the head of the faithful, not only of those who came after the Incarnation, but also of those who from the beginning preceded the Incarnation.

Caput XLIX: Chapter XLIX. In which objections are raised against what was said, that Christ as man was the head of the faithful who preceded the Incarnation.

Caput L: Chapter L. In which the objections already raised are answered.

Caput LI: Chapter LI. In which, on the foregoing, one recent error is refuted.

Caput LII: Chapter LII. In which it is shown how it belongs to Christ alone as God to be head of the Church, and how not to him alone but to others.

Caput LIII: Chapter LIII. In which it is shown that Christ is head of the faithful not only as to souls but also as to bodies.

Caput LIV: Chapter LIV. In which the opinion of some is set out, with their arguments, who say that only the elect are members of Christ or of the mystical body which is the holy Church of God.

Caput LV: Chapter LV. In which the aforesaid opinion is refuted, with its foundations.

Caput LVI: Chapter LVI. In which two other ways of speaking or of marking out the members of the body of Christ are set out.

Caput LVII: Chapter LVII. In which the truth of the difficulty raised is shown: namely, of which men Christ is head, and who are to be called members of his body, which is the Church.

Caput LVIII: Chapter LVIII. In which the objections made to the contrary by those who say that only the elect are members of the body of Christ are answered.

Caput LIX: Chapter LIX. In which the arguments of the others are answered, who in second and third place spoke otherwise concerning the members of Christ in ch. 56.

Caput LX: Chapter LX. In which it is shown what the union of the members of the Church with one another is, and on the manner of the union of the members with the head.

Caput LXI: Chapter LXI. In which it is shown what the efficient cause of this union of the members of the Church with one another is.

Caput LXII: Chapter LXII. In which it is shown whether the true body of Christ is better than the mystical body of Christ, or the converse.

Caput LXIII: Chapter LXIII. On the quality and manner of the union by which the body of Christ which is the Church is said to be united to Christ the head.

Caput LXIV: Chapter LXIV. How the saying that Christ and his body which is the Church are one man is to be understood.

Caput LXV: Chapter LXV. How the saying that Christ and his body which is the Church are one person is to be understood.

Caput LXVI: Chapter LXVI. How the saying of the saints that Christ and his body which is the Church are one Christ is to be understood.

Caput LXVII: Chapter LXVII. How the saying of the saints that the body of Christ, indeed that any member of it, is Christ is to be understood.

Caput LXVIII: Chapter LXVIII. How the predications of those things said of Christ in Sacred Scripture by reason of the aforesaid mystical unity are to be understood.

Caput LXIX: Chapter LXIX. On the fittingness of the distinction and manifold variety of states and offices in the Church.

Caput LXX: Chapter LXX. In which objections are raised against the variety and diversity of states and offices in the Church of God.

Caput LXXI: Chapter LXXI. In which the answer to the objections already made against the variety and diversity of states and offices in the Church of God is given.

Caput LXXII: Chapter LXXII. On the threefold diversity principally found in the body of the Church.

Caput LXXIII: Chapter LXXIII. What is meant by the name state.

Caput LXXIV: Chapter LXXIV. That the difference of states pertaining to spiritual servitude or liberty is reckoned according to beginners, proficients, and the perfect.