Fourth, from the appeal of heretics to Scripture.
Fourth, from the appeal of heretics to Scripture.
§ 469. (IV) From the appeal of heretics to Scripture. “No one appeals to that judge by whom he knows he will be condemned. Yet all heretics appeal to Scripture. Therefore they do not acknowledge that they are condemned in Scripture, and, consequently, Scripture is not the judge.” We respond. (1) We invert the argument. If you evade the judgment of someone, you know that he will not be favorable to you. The Papists evade the judgment of Scripture. Therefore they know that this judge will not be favorable to them. Consequently, Eck confessed before Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria at the Diet of Augsburg in the year 1530: “The Lutheran confession cannot be refuted from the Scriptures.” This is written in the acts of that diet, which are in Luther’s Works, German, vol. 5, f. 35. Albertus Pighius admits the same thing: “If we had been mindful of this doctrine (namely, that one must not debate with heretics on the basis of the Scriptures), our cause would certainly be in a better place. But then, to display our ingenuity and erudition, we went into a contest of the Scriptures with Luther, and, alas, this fire that we now see has kindled!” (De eccles. hierarch., bk. 1, at the end of c. 4).
(2) Although not all heretics know and sense that the Holy Spirit in the Holy Scriptures and the Scriptures condemn them, nevertheless from the denial of a knowledge and sensing of this condemnation one cannot draw an argument for the denial of the matter itself. The Jews did not know that Moses was accusing them, and as a result, they kept appealing to Moses; the Truth itself, however, bears witness that Moses did accuse them (John 5:45).
(3) Scripture in and of itself is useful “for reproof, that the man of God may be perfect” (2 Tim. 3:16[-17]). “God has set up a foundation in the Holy Scriptures against insidious errors,” say Irenaeus (bk. 3, c. 2) and Augustine (Epist. Johann., tractate 2). Therefore it is false for the heretics to cover Scripture with their errors. The tyrant arrogates for himself the title of “good prince”; the prostitute arrogates for herself the title of “honorable virgin.” In the same way, heretics arrogate for themselves both the name and weapons of the orthodox, namely, Holy Scripture.
** Theodoret, in Opuscul. contra varias haereses (found in vol. 2 of the works of Athanasius): “If they see that you are asking that their foolishness be restrained by proofs from Scripture, they refuse (
) both the aim and use of Scripture. But if they ever think that some bare statement, lopped out of the genuine context, is favorable to their intent, they adapt it to confirm their own purposes.” **
The Gnostics used to sew the purple of Scripture onto their rags. Irenaeus, however, with a beautiful simile compares them to those “who take apart the pieces of an image of the king made from choice gems, then put the pieces together again in the shape of a dog or little fox. Then they try to convince people that this is the same image of the king that the original craftsman fashioned because it is still made of the same gemstones.”
(4) Eck says, “In the temptation (Matt. 4:6), the devil quoted the Scriptures against Christ” (Enchir., c. 4). We add, however, that Christ overcame the devil with statements of Scripture (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10) and three times repeats and forces on the devil: “It is written.” So also, from Scripture we can powerfully convict the heretics who appeal to Scripture. Our adversaries said at the Colloquy of Regensburg, p. 203, Neob. edition: “No heresy can ever be refuted from the Scriptures.” The history of the Church and experience itself, however, teach that no heresy ever began that was so absurd and monstrous, so specious and plausible, that one could not overcome it with the weapons of Scripture. That statement of the ancient rabbinic scholars is golden: “In whatever passage of Scripture you find an objection in favor of heretics, you will also find a remedy at its side.”
(5) Not all heretics appeal to Scripture. Some hide their rotten wares under the cloak of tradition and in this way try to foist them upon the Church.