CHAPTER X
THE POWER OF BINDING AND LOOSING
Now as to the power—authority—of Christ, given by himself to his vicars, which is touched upon in the words, "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven," that is, the power to bind and to loose sins,—Augustine says, Com. on John 21: "The effects of this power are shown, when Christ adds, 'And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.' This power is a spiritual power. Therefore, it is to be noted, that spiritual power is a power of the spirit, determining its acts of itself so that a rational creature, so far as gracious gifts go, may be guided and have his own distinctive place both as determined from the standpoint of the subject and the object." Every man, however, is a spirit, since he has two natures; as the Saviour in speaking to his disciples said: "Ye know not what spirit ye are of" [Luke 9:55], and "every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God," I John 4:3. Here the spirit is subtle and heretical, denying Jesus to be very God and very man. And it is evident that whether power in respect to God and power in respect to rational creatures are analogous or the analogy is to be restricted to the powers of men and the powers of angels, it is true that all spiritual power is a power of the spirit. And, although a man does not give grace, he nevertheless administers the sacraments, so that the inferior is guided as to gifts of grace.
But although bodily power may be the result of gifts of grace, nevertheless it is immediate, so that the creature of
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