A Study of Peter Chelčický's Life and a Translation from Czech of Part I of His Net of Faith (1947)/Part 2/Section 4
CHAPTER XIII
REFUTATION OF THE CLAIMS OF THE COUNCIL OF BASEL AND OF THE ARGUMENTS OF JUAN PALOMAR
Now all these words with which I praised the early Church of Christ stink (to the nostrils) of the Church of Rome as ugly heresies.The Council
of Basel
(1431–1449) This is the why and the wherefore of the vituperations of the Master Auditor at Basel1 when the Czechs had proved the use of the chalice of God by the original Holy Church, showing that this Church truly maintained the practice of the divine chalice.2 And yet this Master Auditor of the Papal Court found fault with this argument, calling it brittle, weak and harmful, and in many other ways bringing up sly objections and difficult obloquies.
He even said – among many other things – that the early Christian Church was stupid and in a sad condition, while admitting that in holy matters and in its zeal of faith it was wonderful.Arguments of
Juan Palomar For "the polished and dignified church of ritual and beauty and splendor came after the plain apostolic church of divine honesty in the sam way as ram's skins dyed red came after badgers' skins for tent covering."3 Not only divine honesty and sacramental customs but even faith of old times were explained in such a manner as to make them appear doubtful or unknown when applied to the original apostolic Church. And yet it is to this holy Church that Jesus Christ promised his constant presence: "Lo, I am with you to the end of the world."4 Concerning this Saint Augustine says – and he is quoted by Saint Thomas: "I am with you to the end of the world: this has been said to the entire holy Church in which some die and others are born, till now and to the close of the age." This, too, was quoted by the Auditor.
Wise men ought to pay attention, therefore, to the pronouncements of this master because, when he divides so cunningly the present condition of the Church from that of the early Church, attributing everything good to the former and all weaknesses to the latter, he speaks to the detriment and debasement of the early holy Church. He labels it with stupidity and ambiguity, making her case doubtful because (says he) the modern Church has corrected her stupidities and mistakes.
Furthermore, says this master, just as badgers' skins were followed by rams' skins dyed red and adorned by gold and other embellishments for the covering of Moses' tent, similarly also the plain teaching of the early holy Church with her simple worship was followed by the much wiser later Church, matured in her rituals and refined in her sacraments, splendid and beautiful.
The original Church was stupid because she worshipped without vestments and without altars and without church buildings, and knew naught but to say the Lord's Prayer."Here Peter Makes Fun of the Auditor of Basel." The present church knows how to honor God because she built great and costly cathedrals and altars out of stone, she ordered rich vestments and blessed everything, she produced many prayers and songs at masses; she honored God bountifully with ornamented churches, walls painted and dressed up with tapestries, with lights, bells, organs, with singing in high voices and with plainsongs, and melodies with polyphonic notes. All this has the wise Church secured for the honor of God! For he yearns so much to be honored; yea, He is sad if there is not enough wax to burn and if the walls do not shine with resplendent colors! This is why he (the Auditor) scorned so much the stupid Church during his lecture. But his new Church has elaborated long rituals for every occasion and sacrament, with proper incantations and benedictions intoned by powerful bishops. And when they are done with all these sacramental invocations they sell the sacraments for money to common people. What a grand way to honor God, indeed, with all these sacraments, with these simoniacal and sacrilegious customs! The wiser Church decidedly excels the stupid Church in her blasphemous inventions! The blunt-witted Church distributed sacred things foolishly without charge, while the wise Church knows how to strike a profitable bargain with them.5
Moreover, says this master, the Original Church was poor. But I say that she was not bad in poor times! From the time of Christ's death to the days of Emperor Constantine, all those who worshipped in the name of Christ lived frugally even though they were greatly tempted by both Jews and Gentiles, so that the name of Christ and his followers was damned by all; faithful Christians were tortured to death by all other nations. For these happenings, undoubtedly, the original Church was poor and unwise, in a sad estate. The present Church is wise in Christ, while the original Church is foolish and poor for Christ.6 The matured Church has prospered with riches and with honors of this world; she rests in peace while others carry the sword of temptation for her. Prosperous is she, sweetly singing praises to God in her chapels, reclining behind plenteous tables and on soft couches, prosperous and wise in Christ. Thou hast chosen the better part, until it shall be taken away from thee!7
Again, says this master, all wise things taught by the present Church – particularly those concerning the temporal power – are based on the teachings and practices of the early apostles.Se non e̍ vero
e̍ ben trovato Were this not a lie, truly an enormous number of people would be saved and the glory of God would increase, so rich is the Church in possessions!8 (But God will not accept the offerings of this ugly Church, rich in things displeasing His eye). But to go on, this doctor asserts in his speech that Christ and the Holy Spirit having established himself in the Church at Basel, directs through her the salvation of mankind. And, indeed, this is the manner in which the Council calls itself in its documents:
"The Most Holy General Council at Basel, called together by the Holy Spirit, signifies the Catholic Universal Church. . . . Wherefore this Church, governed by the Spirit of truth, having with her the Holy Spirit abiding forever and the presence of Christ till the end of the world. . ."9
Let him who can understand see and behold the signs by which this multitude is encompassed as by a deluge, all this luxury and glory usurped in the name of the Holy Spirit, this domination in his name, this infallible dispensation of salvation, and this presumption that the Holy Spirit is making his eternal abode in the Church! Who dares – from among this befuddled people – to jump over the mountain? They crawl after signs and they are dragging about more sparkling ornaments than the whole half of the open heavens could give, scaring all the drunken people of this earth with their gaudy theatre.
Let him who is humble come and behold the vainglorious haughtiness! For a congregation of fornicators has entered into a covenant with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit reigns over them who are an assembly of harlots, assassins of righteous men, and transgressors of all commandments of God.The Work of the Devil in Basel But he, this shameful nude, refused to put on anything less than the raiment of the Holy Spirit, and he rules over the good things of Christ, not stupidly but cleverly, in the disguise of the Holy Spirit, and is more generous and wise than the apostles. The devil who dwells among us under a shadow as it were, has a rich accoutrement indeed, And who shall unveil his face which he hides by the shadow of the Holy Spirit?
1 The Auditor mentioned here is Juan Palomar, a Spanish doctor of law and archdeacon of Barcelona. In the documents of the Basel Council he is identified as "Johannes de Palomar, decretorum doctor, Papae capellanus, sacri palatii apostolici causarum auditor, archydyaconus Barcinonensis." (Cf. Monumenta Conciliorum Generalium seculi decimi quinti: Concilium Basileense, ed. Francis Palacky̍ and Ernst Birk, Vienna: Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1857). During the early days of the council Palomar defended the right of the clergy to have temporal possessions and attacked the Czech position in a long "filibustering" speech lasting from February 23rd till February 28th, 1433, with additional comments made public on April 7th and 8th of the same year. For details of the proceedings see the highly interesting diary of a Hussite eye-witness, Peter of Zatec, "Petri Zatecensis Orphanorum sectae presbyteri liber diurnus de gestis Bohemorum in Concilio Basileensi," included in the above Monumenta, vol.I, pp.317–348. In Jacques Lenfant's unsympathetic account, Histoire de la guerre des Hussites et du Concile de Basle, vol.I, p.372 (Utrecht:LeFebure, 1731), we read that Pope Eugenius IV appointed Cardinal Julian to preside over the Council in Basel. But because of his other preoccupations during the period of the initial sessions, Julian sent to Basel two men as his official representatives, Juan Palomar and John of Ragusa.
2 The rediscovery of the cup, in 1414, was the chief contribution of Jakoubek of Str̄i̍bro, based on accurate historical research. With it, Jakoubek can be legitimately called the second founder of the Hussite Reformation. This was a revolutionary discovery by which Jakoubek renewed, of his own initiative, the form of serving bread and wine at the sacrament of communion. And this more than anything else led to the separation of the Hussite movement from the Church of Rome and to the establishment of the independent Hussite Church, of which Jakoubek became the chief theologian. Cf. F.M. Bartos̄, M. Jakoubek ze Str̄i̍bra, spolubojovni̍k Husūv a obnovitel kalicha, ("Master Jakoubek of Str̄i̍bro, Associate of Hus and Restorer of the Chalice"), Ta̍bor: Jihočesky̍ sborni̍k historicky̍, vol.XII, 1939. Also his Duchovni otec ta̍borstvi̍, ("The Spiritual Father of Taboritism"), Ta̍bor: JSH, vol.II, 1929, pp.75–84. "The practice of the communion in both kinds is the chief contribution of the Bohemian Reformation to the Protestant world." Bartos̄, Hleda̍ni̍ podstaty kr̄est̍anstvi̍ v c̄eske̍ reformaci," ("The Seeking of the Essence of Christianity in the Czech Reformation"), Prague: Kalich, 1939, p.2.
5 Cf. Savonarola's dictum, "In the original Church the chalices were of wood, the prelates of gold; in these days the Church hath chalices of gold and prelates of wood."
6 Cf. I-Cor.1:20–27 and Matt.10:9–10.
8 Meaning: if possessions were as much worth as salvation, what a treasury of salvation the Church would have!
9 In the Monumenta Conciliorum Generalium. . . (Vide supra p.63, n.1) the following allocutions are found:"Sacrosancta generalis synodus basiliensis, in spiritu sancto legitime congregata, universalem ecclesiam repraesentans. . .; Spiritus Sanctus paracletus, hujus sacri concilii gubernator et director. . . qui cum Patre et Filio regnat in secula. . ."