This is the second in a series of posts on Reginald Pole, Cardinal in the Catholic Church during the Reformations in Europe. His initial sympathies with the spirituali and their views of justification by faith were eclipsed by his allegiance to Rome and his duty to submit to the Tridentine decrees on justification. The Treatie of Justification was found among some of his writings after his death and has been attribute to him with various levels of skepticism. This post begins an analysis of this document.

Read Part 1 here.

---

Method and Influences in The Treatie of Justification

That the Treatie of Justification is scholastic in its orientation is of no particular concern, other than for those of authorship. The work is meticulously organized, as would be expected from a theological treatise of the day, appeals heavily to historical precedent, but also appeals to Scripture. The preface includes the overtly indicative need for the whole of the ensuing argument to be grounded in Scripture, or at least for it to be grounded in the traditional interpretation of the Scripture under the authority of the Church fathers, namely Augustine.(4) In fact, the author words the preface in such a way as to leave no doubt that he is prepared to offer the reader a theology of justification wholly within the traditional Roman Catholic view. If Pole did indeed author the work, this may indicate his adoption of Tridentine theology and is here attempting to distance himself from his former views.

The author seeks to provide a Via Regia as a third alternative to two dangerous interpretations of the Scriptural doctrine of justification. The first of these dangers is a Pelagian over-reliance on works, an attempt at justification without the help and grace of God. The second danger is a Lutheran over-reliance on the grace of God, an attempt at justification without the aid of good works. The proposed Via Regia, the “true and high way,” is subsequently expounded in three aspects: how the believer is made just and righteous; how the believer is restored to justice upon falling; and how the believer may finally attain to salvation and glory.

The Influence of Augustine

Given the heavy reliance on Augustinian precedent exhibited by A Treatie of Justification, some consideration of the Augustinian view is warranted. Let it first be noted that Augustine should not be read anachronistically as attempting to settle issues debated centuries after his death. However, his posthumous support can be, and is, claimed by Protestants and Catholics alike. He can certainly be credited with bringing the doctrine of justification into the fore of medieval theological dialogue and in many ways framed the boundaries of the discussion for such
of his theological posterity. His arguments can therefore be cited by both sides of the Sixteenth Century debate for support since so much can be read into and out of his words. Consider the following:

And so extreme gilt compelling them, they fled to faith. Whereby, they might deserve the mercie of pardone, and helpe of our Lorde, which made heaven and earth, that charitie being, through the holy Ghost powred in their hartes, they might doo with love those things, which were commanded against the concupiscenses and lustes of this world.(5)

An argument can be made for either the Roman Catholic or the various Protestant views from these words. The reason being that Augustine never intended for his words to be proof for a centuries later debate. Again, in a separate work, Augustine writes that the word “justify”(6) in Romans 2:13 (“the doers of the law shall be justified”) might mean “hold just” or “account just” in the sense of forensic imputation.(7) As a whole, Augustine’s theology of justification is largely understood to have included the idea of being made righteous rather than a solely forensic declaration.(8) For the Catholic tradition subsequent to Augustine, therefore, to be justified was to become a righteous person. It is upon this conclusion that the author of A Treatie of Justification seizes and builds his argument.

This is especially evident in the author’s argumentation “that faith excludeth not Charity in
our justification, that is to saie, Faith alone justifieth no man, without the help and woorking of
Charitie.”(9) Augustine similarly wrote that “no faith profiteth, but only that which the Apostle defineth: to wit, that, which woorketh through loove and Charitie: and that the same faith without woorkes, can save no man, either without fier, or by fier.”(10) Though neither were advocating a justification by charity alone, both were advocating a theology of justification (if indeed such nomenclature can be applied anachronistically to Augustine) in which justification includes the restoration of what was lost in Adam: love, faith, hope and all the ethical implications contained therein. Clearly, the modern and largely Protestant bifurcation of justification and sanctification was an alien concept to Augustine, and one rejected by Trent and therefore by the author of the Treatie of Justification.

---

4 A Treatie of Justification goes to often extraordinary lengths to link its argument with historical precedent, and especially with that of Augustine. Indeed, Augustine’s Of Faith and Workes is published together with the Treatie, along with the sections of Trent on justification. Augustine continues to play a large role in the discussion of justification and Roman Catholic and Protestant dialogue. For example, a Joint Ecumenical Commission on the Examination of the Sixteenth-Century Condemnations comprised of Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and even a few Reformed theologians produced The Condemnations of the Reformation Era (1986). The last of four principles of interpretation employed by the Commission in its discussions was, “When interpreting Trent, ‘in case of doubt, the view closest to Augustine must be preferred.’” Cited in Anthony N. S. Lane, Justification by Faith in Catholic-Protestant Dialogue (London: T&T Clark, 2002), 104.
5 Augustine, Of Faith and Workes (Farnborough, Hants., England: Gregg Press Limited, 1967 [1569 reprint]), 22. All quotations from this particular work by Augustine are from the version available to the author of this Treatie, which was also published together with it as an appendix.
6 At this point Augustine is infamously charged with ignorance of the Greek text. His understanding of the term was apparently based on the Latin iustificatio, rather than the Greek original dikaios.
7 Augustine, The Spirit and the Letter, 26:45; J. Burnaby (ed.), Augustine: Later Works. The Library of Christian Classics, vol. 8 (London: SCM Press, 1955) 228f.
8 Augustine’s The Spirit and the Letter appears to proclaim a doctrine of justification by faith, but in later Protestant terminology is more accurately a doctrine of sanctification by faith. See Lane, op. cit., 46.
9 Reginald Pole, A Treatie of Justification (Farnborough, Hants., England: Gregg Press Limited, 1967 [1569 reprint]), 36.
10 Augustine, op. cit., 24.

Popularity: 73% [?]

Catholicism, Ecclesiology, History, Soteriology | No Comments »

This is the first of a series of posts on Cardinal Reginald Pole, the theologically schizophrenic Catholic theologian during the 16th Century Reformation. He was initially sympathetic with the Reformational perspective of justification by faith alone, and was placed in a difficult position when the Pope called on him to convene the Council of Trent. The subsequent Tridentine decrees regarding justification forced him to choose between his soteriological positions and his loyalty to Rome. He chose the latter and eventually became Archbishop of Canterbury under Bloody Mary. He never wanted to have to clarify his views, and never wanted the spotlight or a position of leadership. These things were thrust upon him, and the result was a broken man. If only his soteriology had trumped his ecclesiology instead…

---

An uneasy and unsatisfied curiosity remains to the historians of Reginald Pole. At once resolute and timid, confident and diffident, deliberate and painfully reticent, Pole’s bewildering sojourn exhibits the complexity of themes, theologies, and personal pilgrimages that so plagued his conscience. These very inconsistencies, however, are what make Reginald Pole such an appealing subject for dissection. His life, career, and theology beg for a unity which so far has proven elusive to modern attempts at identifying a consistent unifying theme. One recent proposal is that Pole was a man of loyalty.(1) This is certainly true. But where did his loyalties lie and how did he reconcile opposing loyalties? And, perhaps most importantly, why? Pole was clearly a man of opposing loyalties. The crux of contemporary scholarship lies in the reasons for his choosing one loyalty over another. Indeed, this has become the foremost point of debate and the central theme for biographers.

Identifying Pole’s theology of justification in particular is a microcosm for the difficulty in understanding Pole in general. He was quite obviously reticent to express his views in written form, and did so only after much pressure from his superiors. The Tridentine statements on justification were overwhelmingly burdensome for the Cardinal, and both he and the Council grew increasingly unable to accept his nuanced positions. Neither side was satisfied with Pole and his constant reluctance to be assertive and unwavering. Eleven years after Pole’s death, a document entitled A Treatise of Justification (1568) and was attributed as having been “Founde among the writinges of Cardinal Pole.” The title page, nor anywhere else in the treatie, does not directly attribute the work to Pole’s authorship, but it clearly gives just such an impression.

The Treatie was unashamedly the offspring of Trent is its expression of the doctrine of justification. The title page indicates that the writings of Pole in which this work was found were actually “remaining in the custodie” of M. Henrie Pyning, the lately deceased secretary to the Cardinal. The clear implication is that it was intended to be received by the readership as a work of Pole, and to promote his deference to the Church of Rome over his former, and now condemned, views of justification.

Recent scholarship, however, has rightly questioned whether A Treatie of Justification was indeed authored by Pole. There would appear to be much circumstantial and critical evidence for this conclusion, the most obvious of which is that the work is not actually and directly attributed to him. Moreover, the form of the treatise is not typical for Pole in that it is overtly scholastic in its presentation as well as in its methodology.(2). It was more typical for Pole as a matter of both presentation and method, to be exegetical and to derive his argument primarily from the Scriptures. There are, however, several departures from the Tridentine theology of justification which, though not explicated at any length in the work itself, indicate some measure of uncomfortable discord with the Tridentine conclusions. It can reasonably be asserted, therefore, that although Pole possessed the work, it may not be directly attributable to his authorship with complete confidence.(3) However, attributing the authorship to Pole lends veracity to the notion that his ecclesiology did indeed trump his soteriology.

The work may be an expression of his fidelity to Rome, and therefore an explication of the aspects of the Tridentine theology of justification with which he agreed. One would not expect him to expound his now condemned perspectives on justification since his purpose may have been to illustrate his submission to Rome and not just an avoidance of the Inquisition. Incidentally, no reasonable theories have been proffered by those who tend toward the denial of the veracity of Pole’s authorship.

Be this as it may, the Treatie of Justification has not been adequately summarized and criticized in its relation to the Tridentine decrees, at least not in modern scholarship. This essay then, shall endeavor to provide a written comparison of the Treatie to the Tridentine soteriology, the question of authorship not withstanding. Though the various historians of Pole and Trent have their respective, and probably justified, conclusions on the dubious authorship of the Treatie, no significant work is in print which examines the content of the Treatie as its primary focus, even though such a comparison is not an overly burdensome task. This paper endeavors to meet that void.

---

1. Dermot Fenlon, Heresy and Obedience in Tridentine Italy: Cardinal Pole and the Counter Reformation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972), 283 “. . . loyalty, in the end, was his most signal virtue.”

2. This reason is most persuasive according to both Fenlon, op. cit., 198, and also to J. Fischer, “Essai Historique sur les Idees Reformatrices Des Cardinaux Jean Pierre Carafa (1476–1559) et Reginald Pole (1500–58),” Ph. D. Diss. (Paris: University of Paris, 1957), 364 n53. Although Fischer rejects Pole’s authorship of the work, he does argue that his views of justification were in reality not different from those of the Council. Fenlon disagrees quite strongly with Fischer at this point.

3. Fenlon rightly argues that for this reason the Treatie on Justification is not directly helpful in elucidating Pole’s theology of justification. Fenlon then turns his attention to “certain positive indications that Pole [did alter] his ideas on justification, so as to bring them into line with the decision of the Council.” Clearly, by 1554 he had indeed adopted the Tridentine soteriological decrees.

Popularity: 89% [?]

Catholicism, Ecclesiology, History, Reformation, Soteriology | 1 Comment »

What, they can’t just use the attic? Or rent a POD? According to the BBC:

One of the world’s oldest libraries, at the Vatican, is to close for three years for rebuilding, in an unexpected blow to scholars around the world.

The decision to shut the library was made without warning.

After the library closes for its summer break in mid-July, it will not reopen until September 2010, the Vatican says.

Read the BBC article here. I wonder if this three year lack of access will be the setback to historical and theological research that many fear, or if it will effectually speed the inevitable digitalization of their historic collections (manuscripts, incanabula, etc…). If so, this temporary closure of their collections may have the result of increasing the collections’ accessibility to all of us.

In 2002, PC World reported that the Vatican Library began digitizing 1.6 million volumes “for general perusal” with the help of Hewlett-Packard. I have not seen an update on this project, but perhaps this closure will speed things along.

An incredible library, no doubt.

The Vatican Library
The Vatican Museums
The Vatican Secret Archives
Treasures of the National Library of Vatican City

HT: Clerical Whispers

Popularity: 53% [?]

Catholicism, Libraries | No Comments »

At the behest of Russ (who himself has a blog, but, alas, I know not where), our resident computer genius, and in response to his passing chastisement concerning the recent inactivity here at CommonPlaces, I  give you these new and interesting book acquisitions in the library:

Nancy Kalikow Maxwell, Sacred Stacks: The Higher Purpose of Libraries and Librarianship (Chicago: American Library Association, 2006). Much of this book is pure drivel. It is, after all, a product of the ALA. The second chapter, however, was really quite interesting: Librarians Perform Sacred Functions. I came to be a librarian after several years of pastoral ministry, and so I found this chapter’s comparisons of librarians and clergy to be rather interesting (dare I say “insightful?”). That most clergy and librarians are INFJ in personality type is understandable. As is the comparison of librarians with ministers, especially in my context at a theological seminary. I was intrigued by her discussion of “Librarians as Respected Priests,” “Librarians and Receivers of Confessions,” “Librarians as Seers and Gurus,” and “Librarians as Magicians.” She obviously attributes way too much secular religiousity to the vocation of librarianship. Her points about libraries promoting community and transmitting culture to future generations, however, are extremely valid points. But perhaps the author goes a bit far in comparing librarians with “Ascetic, Self-Sacrificing Monks.” Oh, and it wouldn’t be an ALA product without “Librarians as Prophets for Social Justice.”

Charlotte Kroeker, ed., Music in Christian Worship: At the Service of the Liturgy (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2005). I mention this book only in order to recommend the first chapter, “Thinking About Church Music,” by the recently retired Nicholas Wolterstorff from Yale University. Wolterstorff’s philosophical argumentation usually goes way over my head, but I found this chapter to be particularly clear. His discussion of “fittingness” in musical style is especially helpful. Though I may not agree with all that he has to say here (I am, however, still chewing on much of it), it is refreshing to read something substantive and objective on the issue. And not by a Southern Baptist with a church to grow.

Ryan K. Smith, Gothic Arches, Latin Crosses: Anti-Catholicism and American Church Designs in the Nineteenth Century (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006). Just plain interesting.

Roger Homan, The Art of the Sublime: Principles of Christian Art and Architecture (Ashgate, 2006). For when you are feeling like you need more culture in your life.

The Classical Good CD & DVD Guide, 2006 is a 1400+ page book of over 3000 reviews of Classical music CDs currently available. Really quite good.

Popularity: 68% [?]

Art, Catholicism, Commonplaces, Libraries, Music, Theology | No Comments »

The pope is on vacation. Evidently he is at the papal equivalent of Camp David, or maybe Kennebunkport, the papal digs in the Italian Alps region of Castel Gandolfo. Here’s a picture:

He is apparently enjoying his vacation very much, and good for him. The Catholic World News reported on his remarks last Sunday:

The Pontiff had devoted most of his remarks at the Angelus audience to summer vacations. The break from work, he said, should provide not only “simple amusement and diversion,” but allow for true refreshment “in body and in spirit.”

Vacation time is important as an antidote to “daily wear and tear in the frenetic course of modern life,” the Pope said. He suggested that the time away from work could afford opportunities for visiting friends and relatives, reviving “those human contacts that the pace of our daily lives keeps us from cultivating.” He added that the time would be ideal for visiting the sick and the elderly, helping to break their loneliness.

Free time also provides room for cultural pursuits, the Pope continued. And he strongly encouraged vacationers to spend some time in quiet prayer and contemplation, reading of the Scriptures, and visits to monasteries or shrines.

It reminded me of a recent book that crossed my desk: Patricia Ranft, The Theology of Work: Peter Damian and the Medieval Religious Renewal Movement (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2006). In the Introduction, Ranft cites John Paul II’s 1981 encyclical Laborem Exercens. So I looked it up.

Here is part of what John Paul II had to say about work (incidentally, he also wrote about while on retreat at Castel Gandolfo — it would seem it is a place conducive to reflecting on what to do):

And yet in spite of all this toil — perhaps, in a sense, because of it — work is a good thing for man. Even though it bears the mark of a bonum arduum, in the Terminology of St. Thomas, this does not take away the fact that, as such, it is a good thing for man. It is not only good in the sense that it is useful or something to enjoy it is also good as being something worthy, that is to say, something that corresponds to man’s dignity, that expresses this dignity and increases it. If one wishes to define more clearly the ethical meaning of work, it is this truth that one must particularly keep in mind .Work is a good thing for man — a good thing for his humanity — because through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfillment as a human being and indeed in a sense becomes “more a human being.” [Paragraph 40]

I agree with Benedict that time away from work to devote to reflection and the cultivation of relationships is a good and needed thing. I guess my question is this: in an ideal world, would vacations still be necessary?

JP2 said that work has wrongly been viewed as “a sort of merchandise that the worker … sells to the employer” and that this “danger of treating work as a special kind of ‘merchandise’ or as an impersonal ‘force’ needed for production … always exists, especially when the whole way of looking at the question of economics is marked by the premises of materialistic economism.” [Paragraph 29]

Did JP2 think that capitalism is possible without such a degeneration, and if so, would Benedict argue that vacations are still as necessary for the reasons he outlined last Sunday?

Oh, and don’t forget about the Opus Dei — that group within RCC founded by Josemaria Escriva in 1928 that exists to change the “human work of our usual working day into the work of God: something that will last forever.” Aside from all of their mystery and lore, is the Opus Dei on to something? Would Benedict speak differently about needing a vacation from that? By the way, JP2 canonized Escriva in 2002.

Oy, I need a vacation.

So what do you think? In an ideal world where work is a spiritual and not just economic commodity, would vacations be necessary?

Popularity: 31% [?]

Catholicism | No Comments »