IlL] T?t?tDrno?. 117 But we must adduce our quotations from Tertullian. He says: "Whether all thin?os were made' of any subject matter, I have as yet read nowhere. Let the school of Hermogenes show that it is written; if it is not written, let them fear the curse allotted to such as add or diminish."* Speaking*of the heretics of his day, Tertullian, in his Pre?/p?, m*i?es use of the following language, which applies exactly to the modern Roman Church :--" They confessed indeed that the apostles were ignorant of nothing, and differed not among them- selves in their preaching; but they are unwilling to allow that they revealed all things to all: for some things they delivered openly and- to all, some things secretly and to a few; and that because Paul uses this saying to Timothy: 0 Timothy, lu? tlu?t wAic? is committed to thy trust. And again: t?u?t good t?in? whi? wa? committed unto t?e, These same texts, adduced b? the aneieixt heretics, are quoted by the doctors of the Church of Rome in fayour of their traditions.? Tertullian seems to have formed some very curious opinions respect- ing trs?itions. He asks: "Do you not think it lawful for every faith- ful man to appoint whatever he thinks may please God unto discipline ?ud salvation?"[[ Tertullian was of the opinion, that when customs are derived from their ancestors, and have been duly observed, they are properly apostolical: "If I find no written law for the thing, it fol- lows that tradition hath sanctioned by usage this custom, which, by a rational interpretation, must possess apostolical authority."�w far some' of Tertulli?'s opinions are to be followed with respect to tra- dition will appear from the following quotation from him, where he defends, in his book D? Corooa Militia, tAz action of a #oldie', who had refused to put a crown upon his head; he maintains that it is abso- Jutely prohibited to Christians to crown themselves, and even to bear arms. He speaks of custom and tradition, and relates several remark- able examples of ceremonies which he pretends to be derived from tradition. "To begin,'ys he, "with baptism, when we are ready to enter into the water, even before we make our protestations fore the bishop, and in the church, that we renounce the devil, all his pomps and ministers; afterward we are plunged in the water three times, and they make us answer to some things which are not precisely m the gospel; after that they make us taste milk and honey, and we bathe ourselves every day during the whole week. We receive the sacrament of the eucharist, instituted by Jesus Christ, when we eat, and in the morning assemblies, and we do not receive it but by the hands of dmse that preside there. We offer yearly oblations for the dead, in honour of the martyrs. We believe that it is not lawful ot '* "An ?mu.? de diqui .ubjaceuti materil f',ct. lint omn? nosquint adhuc legS. Scrijmnn eme doceet Hermogenis of F?cina. $i non eat Scripture, timeat v,e i]lud ..mijur. bnt?bu. nut deu?Mntibus destbmtum."?7'?rt?. ?t.'Y. ?m'am?., c. 22, tom.
- p. 807.
f "Cou;?tentur quidera nihfi ,poetoles ignoresee, ,ed non omnh illo. volunt omnibus revehne; quee<!am e._ !*? palam et univefib, quedam secrete et I?uci. demanduse., quh et hoc verbo usuo eat Paulus mi Timerheum: O Tunethee, depomtum cueteds. Et mr.m; ]b.sm ?]Mf?u.m c?J?. ?7'?'fuZ. ? Pr?Jcr?p. Adt?'rf. ?'., c. 25, ?n. ii, p. 468. See BeliaL, lib. iv, de verbo Dei, c. 5, eL 8. II De Corona Milit., c. 4. ?' 8i legera nusqum reperlo, mJqmtur ut truditio cormuotudini morem hum: dotlent, IBbimrum ?uendoq?o fq?oetoli'" utorJ't?tem ex interpreterlone mtionis."--To't. de Coro? Mdit., c. 4. 1 ,Goocle
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