Part 10

87. But it really shows little judgment in a man, to deny that which has been written by grave and credible Authors, and confirmed by every day experience. Thyræus’s arguments are worthless and have been already refuted, N^{rs} 45 and following. The only question which remains to be answered is this: where do those little men, or Incubi, dwell? To that I reply: as has been shown above (N^r 71), according to Guaccius, some are earthly, some aqueous, some aerial, some igneous, that is to say, that their bodies are made of the most subtle part of one of the elements, or, if of the combination of many elements, that yet there is one which predominates, either water or air, according to their nature. Their dwellings will consequently be found in that element which is prevalent in their bodies: igneous Incubi, for instance, will only stay forcibly, may be will not stay at all, in water or marshes, which are adverse to them; and aqueous Incubi will not be able to rise into the upper part of ether, the subtlety of which region is repugnant to them. We see the like happen to men who, accustomed to thicker air, cannot reach certain lofty ridges of the Alps where the air is too subtle for their lungs.

88. Pluribus sanctorum Patrum auctoritatibus, quas congerit Molina in p. p. D. Thom., q. 50., ar. 1. circa med., probare possemus Dæmonum corporeitatem; quæ tamen stante determinatione Concilii Lateranensis de incorporeitate Angelorum, ut dictum fuit supra nº 37., exponi debent de Dæmonibus istis Incubis, ac viatoribus adhuc, non autem de Damnatis. Tamen ne nimis longus sim, solius D. Augustini, summi Ecclesiæ Doctoris, auctoritates damus, quibus evidenter convincitur illum fuisse in sententia, quam nos docemus.

88. Many testimonies of Holy Fathers, gathered by Molina, in his _Commentary of St Thomas_, would go to prove the corporeity of Demons; but, taking into account the above-quoted decision of the Council of Lateran (N^r 37), concerning the incorporeity of Angels, we must understand that the Holy Fathers had in view those Incubi Demons which are still on the way to salvation, and not those that are damned. However, to make matters short, we merely give the authority of St Austin, that eminent Doctor of the Church, and it will be clearly seen how thoroughly his doctrine harmonizes with ours.

89. D. Augustinus igitur, lib. 2. =super Genesim= ad litteram c. 17. =de Dæmonibus=, sic habet: “=Quædam vera nosse, partim quia subtiliore sensus acumine, partim quia subtilioribus corporibus vigent=,” et lib. 3. c. 1., “=etsi Dæmones aerea sunt animalia, quoniam corporum aereorum natura vigent=.” Et Epistola 115. ad Hebridium affirmat, eos esse “=animantia aerea, seu ætherea acerrimi sensus=.” Et =de Civit. Dei= lib. 11. c. 23., affirmat “=Dæmonem pessimum habere corpus aereum=.” Et lib. 21. c. 10. scripsit: “=Sunt sua quædam etiam Dæmonibus corpora, sicut doctis hominibus visum est, ex isto aere crasso et humido=.” Et lib. 17. c. 23. ait “=se non audere definire, an Angeli corpore aereo, ita corporati possint etiam hanc pati libidinem, ut quomodo possint, sentientibus fœminis misceantur=.” Et in Enarrat. in Psal. 85. ait “=corpora beatorum futura post resurrectionem, qualia sunt corpora Angelorum=;” et in Enarrat. in Psal. 45. ait “=corpus Angelicum inferius esse anima=.” Et lib. =De Divinit. Dæmonum=, passim per totum, maxime c. 23., docet “=Dæmones subtilia habere corpora=.”

89. St Austin, then, in his _Commentary on Genesis_, book 2, ch. 17, writes as follows concerning Demons: “_They have the knowledge of some truths, partly through the more subtle acumen of their senses, partly through the greater subtilty of their bodies_”, and, book 3, ch. 1: “_Demons are aerial animals, because they partake of the nature of aerial bodies._” In his Epistle 115 to Hebridius, he affirms that they are “_aerial or ethereal animals, endowed with very sharp senses_.” In the _City of God_, book 11, ch. 13, he says that “_the worst Demon has an aerial body_”. Book 21, ch. 10, he writes: “_The bodies of certain Demons, as has been believed by some learned men, are even made of the thick and damp air which we breathe._” Book 15, ch. 23: _“He dares not define whether Angels, with an aerial body, could feel the lust which would incite them to communicate with women._” In his commentary on Psalm 85, he says that “_the bodies of the blessed will, after resurrection, be like unto the bodies of Angels_;” Psalm 14, he observes that “_the body of Angels is inferior to the soul_.” And, in his book _De Divinit. Dæmonum_, he every-where, and especially ch. 23, teaches that “_Demons have subtle bodies_”.

90. Potest etiam sententia nostra auctoritatibus Sacræ Scripturæ comprobari, quæ licet ab Expositoribus aliter declarentur, non incongrue tamen ad nostrum intentum possunt aptari. Prima est Psalmi 77., v. 24. et 25., ubi habetur: =panem Angelorum manducavit homo, panem cœli dedit eis=. Hic loquitur David de Manna, qua cibatus fuit Populus Israel toto tempore quo peregrinus fuit in deserto. Quærendum ergo venit, quo sensu Manna dici possit =panis Angelorum=. Scio quidem plerosque Doctores exponere hunc passum in sensu mystico, aientes in Manna figuratam esse =Sacram Eucharistiam=, quæ vocatur =panis Angelorum=, quia Angeli fruuntur visione Dei, qui per concomitantiam in Eucharistia reperitur.

90. Our doctrine can also be confirmed by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, which, however diversely construed by commentators, are yet capable of adaptation to our proposition. First, Psalm 77, v. 24 and 25, it is said: “_The Lord had given them of the bread of heaven; man did eat angels’ food._” David here alludes to Manna, which fed the People of Israel during the whole time that they wandered in the wilderness. It will be asked in what sense it can be said of Manna that it is the _Bread of Angels_. I am aware that most Doctors construe this passage in a mystical sense, saying that Manna figures the Holy Eucharist, which is styled the _bread of Angels_, because Angels enjoy the sight of God who, by concomitance, is found in the Eucharist.

91. Sed hæc expositio aptissima est quidem, et quam amplectitur Ecclesia in officio =Sanctissimi Corporis Christi=, sed in sensu spirituali est. Ego autem quæro sensum litteralem: neque enim in illo Psalmo David loquitur prophetice de futuris, sicut facit in aliis locis, ut proinde facile non sit sensum litteralem habere; sed loquitur historice de præteritis. Ille enim Psalmus, ut patet legenti, est pura anacephalestis, seu compendium omnium beneficiorum, quæ contulit Deus Populo Hebræo ab egressu ipsius de Ægypto, usque ad tempus Davidis, et in eo versu loquitur de Manna Deserti, ut proinde quæratur quomodo, et quo sensu Manna vocetur Panis Angelorum.

91. A most proper construction assuredly, and which is adopted by the Church in the office of the _Most Holy Body of Jesus-Christ_; but it is in a spiritual sense. Now, what I want, is the literal sense; for, in that Psalm, David does not speak, as a prophet, of things to be, as he does in other places where a literal sense is not easily to be gathered; he speaks here as a historian, of things gone by. That Psalm, as is evident to whoever reads it, is a pure anacephalæosis, or summing up of all the benefits conferred by God on the Hebrew People from the exodus from Egypt to the days of David, and the Manna of the Wilderness is spoken of in it; how, and in what sense is it styled the Bread of Angels? that is the question.

92. Scio alios, Lyran., Euthim., Bellarm., Titelman., Genebrard., in Psal. 77. v. 24. et 25., interpretari Panem Angelorum Panem ab Angelis paratum, seu Angelorum ministerio a Cœlo demissum; Hugonem autem Cardinalem Panem Angelorum exponere: quia ille cibus hoc efficiebat in Judæis, quod in Angelis efficit cibus illorum, pro parte: Angeli enim non incurrunt infirmitatem. Voluerunt enim expositores Hebræi, ut etiam asseverat Josephus, quod Judæi in Deserto vescentes manna, nec senescerent, nec ægrotarent, nec lassarentur; proinde illa esset tanquam panis, quo vescuntur Angeli, qui nec senio, nec ægritudine, nec lassitudine unquam laborant.

92. I am aware that others look upon the Bread of Angels as bread prepared by Angels, or sent down from Heaven by the ministry of Angels. But Cardinal Hugo explains that qualification by saying that that food partly produced the same effect upon the Jews, which the food of Angels produces upon the latter. Angels, in fact, are not liable to any infirmity; on the other hand Hebrew commentators, and Josephus himself, assert that whilst in the Wilderness, living upon Manna, the Jews neither grew old, nor sickened, nor tired; so that Manna was like unto the bread that Angels feed upon, who know neither old age, nor sickness, nor fatigue.

93. Istas quidem expositiones recipere æquum est, utpote tantorum Doctorum aucthoritate suffultas. Facessit tamen difficultatem, quod ministerio Angelorum Hebræis non minus parata fuere columna nubis, et ignis, coturnices, et aqua de petra, quam manna; nec tamen ista dicta fuere columna, aqua, aut potus Angelorum. Cur ergo potius vocari deberet manna, quia parata ministerio Angelorum, =Panis Angelorum=, quam =Potus Angelorum= aqua eorumdem ministerio saxo educta? Insuper in sacra Scriptura panis dum dicitur =panis alicujus=, dicitur =panis ejus= qui illo vescitur, non ejus qui illum parat, aut fabricat, et de hoc infinita habemus exempla in sacra Scriptura: ut =Exod.= c. 23. v. 25. =Benedicam panibus tuis, et aquis=; lib. 2. =Reg.= c. 12. v. 3. =De pane illius comedens=; =Tob.= c. 4, v. 17. =Panem tuum cum egenis comede=; et v. 18. =Panem tuum super sepulturam Justi constitue=; =Ecclesiast.= c. 11. v. 1. =Mitte panem tuum super transeuntes aquas=; =Isai.= c. 58. v. 7. =Frange esurienti panem tuum=; =Jerem.= c. 11. v. 19. =Mittamus lignum in panem ejus=; =Matth.= c. 15. v. 26. =Non est bonum sumere panem filiorum=; =Luc.= c. 11. v. 3. =Panem nostrum quotidianum.= Ex quibus locis patenter habetur, quod panis dicitur ejus qui eo vescitur, non vero, qui ipsum conficit, affert, aut parat. Commode igitur in loco citato Psalmi accipi potest =Panis Angelorum=, cibus quo vescuntur Angeli non quidem incorporei (isti enim materiali cibo non egent), sed corporei, ista nempe rationalia animalia, de quibus hucusque disseruimus, degentia in aere, et quæ ratione tenuitatis suorum corporum, ac rationalis naturæ, quam maxime ad Angelos immateriales accedunt, ut proinde nuncupentur.

93. These interpretations should indeed be received with the respect due to the authority of such eminent Doctors. There is however one difficulty in this: that, by the ministry of Angels, the pillars of the cloud and fire, the quails, and the water from the rock were provided for the Hebrews, no less than the Manna; and yet they were not styled the pillar, the water or the beverage of Angels. Why therefore should Manna be called _Bread of Angels_, because provided by their ministry, when the qualification _Beverage of Angels_ is not given to the water drawn from the rock likewise by their ministry? Besides, in Holy Scripture, when it is said of bread that it is the _bread of somebody_, it is always the _bread of him_ who feeds on it, not of him who provides or makes it. Of this there are numberless instances: thus, _Exodus_, ch. 23, v. 25: “_That I may bless thy bread and thy water_;” _Kings_, book 2, ch. 12, v. 3: “_Eating of his bread_;” _Tobit_, ch. 4, v. 17: “_Give of thy bread to the hungry_,” and v. 18: “_Pour out thy bread on the burial of the Just_;” _Ecclesiasticus_, ch. 11, v. 1: “_Scatter thy bread over the flowing waters_;” _Isaiah_, ch. 58, v. 7: “_Deal thy bread to the hungry_;” _Jeremiah_, ch. 11, v. 19: “_Let us put wood into his bread_;” _Matthew_, ch. 15, v. 26: “_It is not meet to take the children’s bread_;” _Luke_, ch. 11, v. 3: “_Our daily bread_.” All those passages clearly show that, in Scripture, the bread of somebody is the bread of him who feeds upon it, not of him who makes, brings or provides it. In the passage of the Psalm we have quoted, _Bread of Angels_ may therefore easily be taken to mean the food of Angels, not incorporeal indeed, since these require no material food, but corporeal, that is to say of those rational animals we have discoursed of, who live in the air, and, from the subtlety of their bodies and their rationality, approximate so closely to immaterial Angels as to fall under the same denomination.

94. Ducor, quia cum animalia sint, et ideo generabilia et corruptibilia, egent cibo, ut restauretur substantia corporea, quæ per effluvia deperditur; vita enim sentientis non consistit nisi in motu partium corporearum quæ fluunt, ac refluunt, acquiruntur, ac deperduntur, ac iterum reparantur; quæ reparatio fit per substantias spirituosas, materiales tamen, attractas a vivente, tum per aeris inspirationem, tum per fermentationem cibi, per quam substantia illius spiritualizatur, ut rationatur doctissimus Ettmullerus, =Instit. Medic. Physiolog.=, c. 2.

94. I deduce that, being animals, consequently reproducible through generation and liable to corruption, they require food for the restoration of their corporeal substance wasted by effluvia: for the life of every sensible being consists in nothing else but the motion of the corporeal elements which flow and ebb, are acquired, lost and recruited by means of substances spirituous, yet material, assimilated by the living thing, either through the inhalation of air, or by the fermentation of food which spiritualizes its substance, as shown by the most learned Ettmuller (_Instit. Medic. Physiolog._, ch. 2).

95. Quia autem eorum corpus tenue est, tenui pariter, et subtili eget alimento. Hinc est quod sicut odoribus aliisque substantiis vaporosis, ac volatilibus suæ naturæ contrariis læduntur ac fugantur, ut constat ex historiis recitatis supra, nº 71. et 72., ita paribus rebus sibi convenientibus delectantur, et aluntur. Porro “=manna non est aliud, quam halitus aquæ, terræque, solis calore exacte attenuatus et coctus, a frigore secutæ noctis in unum coactus, densatusque=,” ut scribit Cornelius; manna dico, quam demissam de cœlo comederunt Hebræi, quæ toto cœlo differt a manna nostrate, quæ in medicinis adhibetur; nam hæc, ut scribit Ettmullerus Schroder. =Dilucid. Physiolog.=, c. 1. =de Manna=, fol. m. 154., “=nihil aliud est, quam succus quarumdam arborum tenuis, vel earum transsudatio, quæ nocturno tempore permixta cum rore, matutino tempore superventu caloris solis coagulatur, et inspissatur=.” Manna autem Hebræorum diversis orta principii calore solis non coagulabatur, sed vice versa liquefiebat, ut patet ex Scriptura, =Exod.= c. 16. v. 22. Manna ergo Hebræorum utpote constans ex halitibus tenuibus terræ et aquæ, profecto tenuissimæ erat substantiæ, utpote, quæ a sole solvebatur, et disparebat; optime ergo potuit esse talium animalium cibus, ita ut diceretur a David =Panis Angelorum=.

95. But, their body being subtile, equally subtile and delicate must be its food. And, just as perfumes and other vaporous and volatile substances, when adverse to their nature, offend and put them to flight, as testified by what we related above (N^{rs} 71 and 72), in the like manner, when agreeable, they delight in and feed upon them. Now, as is written by Cornelius, “_Manna is nothing but an emanation of water and earth, refined and baked by the heat of the sun, and then coagulated and condensed by the cold of the following night_;” of course, I am speaking of the Manna sent down from Heaven for the nourishment of the Hebrews, and which differs all in all from nostrate or medicinal manna; the latter, in fact, according to Ettmuller (_Dilucid. Physiol._, ch. 1), “_is merely the juice or transudation of certain trees which, during the night, gets mixed up with dew, and, the next morning, coagulates and thickens in the heat of the sun_.” The manna of the Hebrews, on the contrary, derived from other principles, far from coagulating, liquefied in the heat of the sun, as is shown by Scripture, _Exodus_, ch. 16, v. 22. The manna of the Hebrews was therefore undoubtedly of a most subtile substance, consisting as it did of emanations of earth and water, and being dissolved by the sun and made to disappear: consequently, it may very well have been the food of the animals we are speaking of, and thus have been truly called by David _Bread of Angels_.

96. Alia auctoritas habetur in Evangelio Joannis, in quo, =Johannes=, c. 10. v. 16., ita dicitur: =Alias oves habeo, quæ non sunt ex hoc ovili, et illas oportet me adducere, et vocem meam audient, et fiet unum ovile, et unus Pastor=. Si quæramus quænam sint oves, quæ non sunt ex hoc ovili, et qualenam sit ovile de quo loquitur Christus Dominus, respondent communiter Expositores unum ovile Christi esse Ecclesiam, ad quam perducendi erant per prædicationem Evangelii Gentiles, qui erant oves alterius ovilis, ab ovili Hebræorum: opinantur enim Synagogam esse Christi ovile, quia dicebat David, =Psal. 94.= v. 9: =Nos populus ejus et oves pascuæ ejus=; et quia Messias promissus fuerat Abraham et David oriturus ex eorum semine, et a populo Hebræo expectatus, et a Prophetis qui Hebræi erant vaticinatus, et ejus adventus, conversatio, passio, mors et resurrectio in sacrificiis, cultu, et ceremoniis Hebræorum legis erant præfigurata.

96. We have another authority in the Gospel according to St John, ch. 10, v. 16, where it is said; “_And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd._” If we inquire what are those sheep which are not of that fold, and what the fold of which the Lord Christ speaketh, we are answered by all Commentators that the only fold of Christ is the Church to which the preaching of the Gospel was to bring the Gentiles, sheep of another fold than that of the Hebrews. They are, in fact, of opinion that the fold of Christ was the Synagogue, because David had said, Psalm 95, v. 7: “_We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand_”, and also because Abraham and David had been promised that the Messiah should be born of their race, because he was expected by the Hebrew people, foretold by the Prophets who were Hebrews, and that his advent, his acts, his passion, death and resurrection were prefigured in the sacrifices, worship and ceremonials of the Hebrew law.

97. Sed salva semper Sanctorum Patrum, ac aliorum Doctorum reverentia, non videtur talis expositio ad plenum satisfacere. Habemus enim quod de fide est a principio mundi Ecclesiam Fidelium extitisse unam, usque ad finem sæculi duraturam. Cujus Ecclesiæ caput est mediator Dei et hominum Christus Jesus, cujus contemplatione creata sunt universa, et omnia per ipsum facta. Fides enim unius Dei Trini (quamvis non ita explicite), et Verbi Incarnatio revelata fuit primo homini, et ab ipso edocti ejus filii, et ab iis descendentes. Hinc est quod quamvis plerique homines ad idolatriam deflexerint, ac veram fidem deseruerint, multi tamen veram fidem a patribus sibi traditam retinuerunt, et legem naturæ servantes in vera Ecclesia Fidelium permanserunt, ut observat Cardinalis Toletus in =Job=, c. 10. v. 16., et apparet in Job, qui inter Gentiles Idolatras sanctus fuit. Quamvis autem Deus populo Hebræo speciales favores contulerit, peculiaremque legem, ac ceremonias illi præscripserit, ac a Gentilibus segregaverit, non tamen ad eam legem Gentes tenebantur, nec fideles Hebræi aliam Ecclesiam constituebant ab Ecclesia Gentilium, qui fidem unius Dei et Messiæ venturi profitebantur.

97. But, saving always the reverence due to the Holy Fathers and other Doctors, that explanation does not seem quite satisfactory. For it is an article of belief that the Church of the Faithful has been the only one in existence from the beginning of the world, and will thus endure to the end of time. The head of that Church is Jesus-Christ, the mediator between God and men, by whose contemplation all things were made and created. Indeed, the faith in the divine Trinity, though less explicitly, and the Incarnation of the Word were revealed to the first man, and by him taught his children, who, in their turn, taught them their descendants. And thus, although most men had strayed into idolatry and deserted the true faith, many kept the faith they had received from their fathers, and observing the law of nature, stayed in the true Church of the Faithful, as is noticed by Cardinal Tolet in reference to Job, who was a saint among idolatrous Gentiles. And, although God had conferred especial favours upon the Hebrew people, prescribed for them peculiar laws and ceremonials, and separated them from the Gentiles, yet those laws were not obligatory on the Gentiles, and the faithful Hebrews did not constitute a Church different from that of the Gentiles who professed their faith in one God and the coming of the Messiah.

98. Hinc est, quod etiam ex Gentilibus fuere, qui Christi adventum, et alia Christianæ fidei dogmata prophetarunt, ut patet de =Balaam=, =Mercurio Trismegisto=, =Hydaspe=, ac =Sibyllis=, de quibus loquitur Lactantius, lib. 1. c. 6., ut scribit Cardinalis Baronius in =Apparatu Annal.= nº 18. Et quod Messias erat a Gentilibus expectatus habet Isaias in pluribus locis, et luculentum testimonium de hoc est prophetia Patriarchæ Jacob de Messia, quæ sic ait, =Gen.= c. 49. v. 10: =Non auferetur sceptrum de Juda, et dux de femore ejus, donec veniat qui mittendus est, et ipse erit expectatio Gentium=. Item Prophetia Aggæi, c. 2. v. 8: =Movebo omnes Gentes, et veniet desideratus cunctis gentibus=, quem locum explicans Cornelius a Lap. in Aggæ. c. 2. v. 8. § =Denique gentes=, ait: “=Gentes ante Christum credentes in Deum lege naturæ, æque ac Judæi expectabant ac desiderabant Christum=.” Pariter Christus ita se prodidit, et manifestavit Gentibus, sicut Judæis: si enim in ipsius nativitate per Angelum ejus notitia data fuit Pastoribus, per stellam miraculosam ad sui adorationem vocavit Magos, qui cum essent Gentiles fuerunt primitiæ Gentium in Christo agnoscendo, et adorando, ut ait S. Fulgentius, =Sermon. 6. de Epiph.=, sicut Pastores fuerunt primitiæ Judæorum. Itidem manifestatio adventus Christi per prædicationem (non quidem Apostolorum) prius facta est Gentilibus, quam Judæis; siquidem ut scribit Ven. Mater Soror Maria de Agreda, in =Vita J. C. et B. M. V.=, p. 1. l. 4. c. 26. n. 664: “=Quando B. M. Virgo cum S. Joseph portavit Puerum Jesum in Ægyptum, fugiendo Herodis persecutionem, mansit ibi per septennium: quo tempore ipsa Beatissima Virgo prædicavit Ægyptiis veri Dei fidem, et Filii Dei in carne humana adventum=.” Ulterius in Christi nativitate multa fuere prodigia non solum in Judæa, sed in Ægypto, ubi corruerunt idola, ac oracula conticuere; Romæ, ubi fons olei scaturiit; visus globus aurei coloris de cœlo in terram descendere; apparuere tres soles; ac contra naturam circulus variegatus ad modum iridis solis discum circumscripsit; in Græcia, ubi oraculum Delphicum obmutuit, et interrogatus Apollo ab Augusto ipsi sacrificante in proprio palatio, ubi eidem aram extruxerat, de causa silentii sui, respondit, ut referunt Nicephorus, l. 1 c. 17., Suidas, verbo =Augustus=, et Cedrenus, =Compend. Histor.=:

=Me puer Hebræus, Divos Deus ipse gubernans, Cedere sede jubet, tristemque redire sub orcum; Aris ergo dehinc tacitis abscedito nostris.=

Et multa alia acciderunt prodigia, quibus prænunciabatur Gentilibus Filii Dei adventus, quæ ex variis Aucthoribus recitat Baronius, =Apparat. Annal. Eccles.= nº 24. et seq., et Cornelius in =Aggæ.= c. 2. v. 8.