no works can be good if they do not proceed from charity, which is at present banished from the hearts of all men; for which cause there are no more perfect Christians upon earth, for the Christian life is all charity, and the love of God, which is no longer in use. . . . There has been no longer charity upon earth, Sir, since Christians left the Gospel simplicity; from that time charity began to wax cold; and when the Church would needs establish herself in pomp, riches, and magnificence, this outward splendor has utterly destroyed the spirit of the Gospel. Studies have banished the Holy Spirit, and the learning of men has stifled the wisdom of God" (p. 19).
Father Lambert, a Jansenist, wrote somewhat later,—
"In examining with a good faith the different characteristics which, in the Apocalypse, the woman who is a harlot presents, it is very difficult not to recognize under this emblem the city of Rome. . . . There is then every reason to believe that the holy Apostle, in casting his eyes forward to the future, which was still separated from him by an interval of so many ages, shows us a Christian city; but which will then be depraved, corrupted, laden with iniquities, making religion subservient to her pride, her domination, her avarice; and which will merit from God the outpouring upon her of the cup of His wrath."[1]
In illustration of the proud domination here referred to, witness the declarations by Leo the Great that he possessed, as the Head of the Church and by participation, the power of Christ, and that as such he was the head of a Church whose top reached unto heaven; by Count de Maistre, that the Sovereign Pontiff is "the necessary, the only, the exclusive basis of Christianity;" by Cornelius a Lapide, that "the Pope, as being the vicar of God, represents God;" by Dionysius, that the One seen by John sitting on the throne (Rev. iv.) is the Pope; by Alcasar, that "the Pope as the vicar of Christ is in a manner Christ Himself," and that "the priests of the Church have a power more sublime than the very seraphim themselves, and one which is especially proper to God;" by St. Bernard, that their order is "preferred before angels, archangels, thrones, and dominations;" and by the Rhemish Testament, "The Father gave all power to the Son; but I see the same power altogether delivered by the Son unto them"—the priests.
- ↑ Exposition of the Prophecies and Promises made to the Church, ii. 327.
