that an œcumenical council confirmed by the Roman patriarch is in itself infallible; so that the approbation of the catholic church does not add to its authority, but merely proves that the council was truly oecumenical d. Against this doctrine I shall first prove that it is only a matter of opinion, even in the Roman obedience; and, secondly, that it is an erroneous opinion. SECTION I. THE INFALLIBILITY OF A GENERAL SYNOD, LAWFULLY CELEBRATED, AND CONFIRMED BY THE ROMAN PONTIFF ALONE, IS ONLY A MATTER OF OPINION IN THE ROMAN CHURCHES. It is necessary to premise that I here speak only of such a synod as consists of the clear minority of the whole body of catholic bishops, as has been the case in all synods hitherto. I do not speak of a synod in which the great majority of bishops were assembled, and decreed unanimously. Having stated this, I argue thus: 1. According to the universal doctrine of those Roman theologians who admit the infallibility of a general council confirmed by their pope, their infallibility, when united, arises not from their union, but solely from that of one or other of the parts, i. e. either from the council (as the Gallicans hold), or from the pope (as the Ultramontanes hold). But the infallibility of either d 66 'Subsequens ecclesiæ dispersæ approbatio est tantum signum, quo illius œcumenicitas ita declaratur, ut de illius suprema et infallibili autoritate nullum moveri possit dubium, sub quocumque prætextu conditionum quæ in illo desiderari dicerentur. Delahogue, De Ecclesia, p. 166. See also L. Jos. Hooke, Religionis Nat. et e "Quisquis sit numerus episcoporum adstantium numquam constituit majorem omnium universi orbis episcoporum partem." -Delahogue, De Ecclesia, p. 166. "Ex quo apparet totam firmitatem conciliorum legitimo part is not matter of faith (as Roman theologians admit); therefore that of the whole, founded on it, cannot be matter of faith. 2. No proofs from scripture or tradition have been adduced to prove the infallibility of this united authority, except as proving the infallibility of one or other of its parts; but these passages are not sufficiently clear to render the infallibility of either part a matter of faith amongst Romanists; therefore they cannot render that of the whole a matter of faith. 3. According to Bossuet, "that only is to be held impossible in the church, which being done, there would no longer be any safeguard for the truth";" but if a general council, confirmed by the pope, were liable to error, the authority of the catholic church, dispersed throughout the world, would still constitute a sufficient rum esse a pontifice, non partim ... Walenburghs, Veron, Du Perron, the synod of Trent, &c. that the papal infallibility is not de fide. -De Eccl. p. 386, &c. Bellarmine, Valentia, Canus, and the Ultramontanes generally, profess to prove that the infallibility of councils, apart from the pope's authority, is so far from being de fide, that it is an error. "Id tantum in ecclesia habendum est pro impossibili, quo facto, nullum superesset veritati præsidium: at in casu quem dicimus, tutum superesset in ecclesiæ catholicæ auctoritate præsidium: non ergo ille casus est impossibilis. Quæ cum ita sint, ecclesia catholica sola est, quæ nunquam deficere, nunquam errare possit, ac ne momento quidem." Bossuet, Defensio Declar. Cleri Gallicani, lib. x. C. Delahogue proves from the 36. guard for the truth, and therefore it is not impossible that such a council may err. 4. La Chambre, and other Roman theologians, have maintained, without any censure, that the catholic church herself cannot define whether a disputed general council was really general. This opinion is said by Delahogue, to lead to no serious inconvenience, because its authors admit that the consent given by the church to any council, confers on it all the authority of a general council. Nor is there any greater inconvenience in oùr doctrine, which supposes that the approbation of the church dispersed, gives to the decrees of any council a final and irrefragable authority; therefore it is equally free from censure. 5. In fact several theologians of the Roman churches have taught this very doctrine. Bouvier says: "some theologians are of opinion, that this approbation of the church confers all its authority on a general council'." This doctrine is taught by De Barral, archbishop of Tours, and by Trevern, bishop of Strasburgh, after Bossuet. The first says, "There are facts which prove in an invincible manner that neither the decrees of popes, nor even k It In this those of councils, acquire an irrefragable authority, except by virtue of the consent of the universal church *." Trevern cites the following passage from Bossuet, which very plainly teaches that the final authority is in all cases vested in the whole catholic church. "The last mark," he says, "of any council or assembly's representing truly the catholic church, is when the whole body of the episcopate, and the whole society which professes to receive its instructions, approve and receive that council: this, I say, is the last seal of the authority of this council and the infallibility of its decrees."-" The council of Orange was by no means universal. contained chapters which the pope had sent. council there were scarcely twelve or thirteen bishops. But because it was received without opposition, its decisions are no more disputed than those of the council of Nice, because every thing depends on consent. There were but few bishops of the West in the council of Nice, there were none in that of Constantinople, none in that of Ephesus, and at Chalcedon only the legates of the pope and the same may be said of others. But because all the world consented then or afterwards, those decrees are the decrees of the whole world. . . If we go further back, Paul of Samosata was condemned only by a particular council held at Antioch: but because its decree was addressed to all the bishops in the world, and received by them (for in this resides the whole force, and without it the mere address would be nothing) this decree is immoveable." Hence I conclude that the doctrine of the infallibility of a general council con De Barral, Défense des Libertés de l'Eglise Gallicane, p. 284. 1 Réponse de M. Bossuet à plusieurs lettres de M. Leibnitz. -Lettre xxii, cited by Trevern, Discussion Amicale, t. i. p. 222, 223. firmed by the pope, independently of the consent of the catholic church, is only an opinion in the Roman churches; and though it be the more common opinion, I have shown in the last chapter that the common opinion may not be true. And though some Roman theologians may esteem the contrary doctrine which I shall maintain, as heretical, their opinion by no means proves that this doctrine may not be lawfully held by members of the Roman churches". A SECTION II. GENERAL SYNOD CONFIRMED BY THE ROMAN PONTIFF, HAS NOT, WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH, ANY IRREFRAGABLE AUTHORITY". 1. The authority of the Roman pontiff is not that of the catholic church. Bossuet, and many other theologians have proved convincingly that he is liable to error and heresy, and that his decision alone affords no infallible ground of faith o. 2. Assuming still that the synod consists of the minority of the episcopal body, its judgment cannot be final and irrefragable, because Christ has committed the public and authoritative judgment of controversies of faith to all the successors of the apostles in common and equally but it is contrary to all reason that the This subject is well treated by Ockham, Dialogus, part i. lib. v. c. 25-28, and lib. iii. prim. tract. iii. part. c. 5-13. m See the second division of rationis cleri Gallicani" is the the last Chapter. best work against the exagge rations of the papal power. See also Ockham, Dialogus, part i. lib. v. c. 1-24, where the papal infallibility is refuted. Delahogue shows that the papal infallibility may be lawfully denied by Romanists.-De Ecclesia, p. 386, See Bossuet, Gallia Orthodoxa, c. liv, and Defens. Decl. Cler. Gall. lib. vii. c. 21-28, where he shows that Honorius erred though speaking ex cathedra. The "Defensio Decla &c. This is admitted by the theologians of Rome. "Verba qui |