A Theology Thesis Defended by an Irish Clerical Student in Paris in 1739

A Theology Thesis Defended by an Irish Clerical Student in Paris in 1739Author(s): Thomas O'ConnorSource: Archivium Hibernicum, Vol. 51 (1997), pp. 3-15Published by: Catholic Historical Society of IrelandStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25484151 .

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Thomas O'Connor

A Theology Thesis defended by an Irish clerical student in Paris in 1739

A number of 18th-century Irish clerical students received their theological formation at the university of Paris.1 Some went on to complete the licentiate

programme.2 This was a two-year cycle of lectures in the course of which can

didates presented four sets of propositions for public defence before the faculty of theology. The theses were called the tentative, the sorbonnique, the mineur and the majeur. To become full faculty members doctorands presented two fur ther theses, the vesperie and the resumpt?.

All theses were carefully vetted by faculty officials. The candidate first pre sented his propositions in manuscript form to his master of studies and to the dean. With their approval he had the propositions printed on one side of a

tabloid-sized sheet and arranged a date for the defence. Copies of the thesis were circulated among faculty members and the candidate's peers. On the day of the defence the candidate defended the propositions according to a strict eti

quette. At the end of the session the assembled faculty members voted. The result was announced at the following monthly meeting of the faculty, the

prima mensis.

In the 1730s hundreds of theses passed before the faculty every year. It could happen that, in spite of the careful vetting procedures, theses attracted the attention of the civil power. This was most likely to occur in periods of

high tension between civil and ecclesiastical authorities. This was the case dur

ing the crisis provoked by the registration of the papal bull Unigenitus (1713) and the subsequent government heave in the 1720s and 1730s against Jansenist

sympathisers. The government and the parlement of Paris entered into conflict with one another and with the faculty of theology over the political issues raised by the ban on Jansenist theology and the removal from public office of Jansenist sympathisers. This was a politicised series of conflicts as it concerned not only questions of papal authority and the status of the Gallican Church but also monarchical centralisation and the realignment of civil and ecclesiastical authorities. It was not unusual for the authors of theses to find themselves called to Versailles or hauled before the parlement of Paris to receive repri

mands, to explain their positions or to suffer civil censure.

Several Irish clerical students, in the course of their doctoral studies, partic ipated in these controversies. One of these was a priest of the archdiocese of

Dublin, Luke Joseph Hooke.3 In his majeur of 1739 he defended the ecumenic

ity of the Council of Florence, a status denied the council by the civil power in France. His thesis was referred to the office of the solicitor-general. The text

presented is taken from the printed version of Hooke's thesis preserved in the

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ARCHIVIUM HIBERNICUM

Biblioth?que Nationale, Paris.4 Dr. David Woods, department of Ancient

Classics, Maynooth, read and corrected the final draft of the translation. Rev. Thomas Finan offered valuable advice. Any errors or inaccuracies remaining are the translator's own.

DE MORTE RESURGENTI

QUAESTIO THEOLOGIAE: QUIS NON RELIQUIT SEMETIPSUM SINE TESTIMONIO?

I Deus, cujus existentiam perpetuamque providentiam testantur stupenda mundi structura, naturae leges omnino arbitrariae, substantiae spiritualis et cor

poreae admiranda comrnunio. Cultum et honorem ab homine exigit: homo cul tum d?bet cum internum cum externum; sed ut est nunc comparatus officii sui vel plene cognoscendi vel exequendi, per se prorsus est incapax; hinc a priori evincitur ad informandam hominis vitam revelationis n?cessitas: haec ubi facta

est, miraculis et Prophetiis certo dignoscitur. Est miraculum opus singulare contra vel extra consuetum naturae cursum. Eorum possibilitati non officit div ina immutabilitas; nullam exceptionem vel interruptionem pati leges naturae ridicule contendit Spinoza. Nulla miracula in vitii, erroris vel superstitionis confirmationem patrari possunt, contrarium non probant Magorum Pharonis

prodigia: Magi Simonis et Apollonii Thianaei Signa, vel futura Anti-Christi

portenta. Alterum revelationis argumentum Prophetia quae est eventus futuri et

contingentis praenuntiatio; ut vim habeat argument! illius sensus d?bet esse

perspicuus ante eventum vel clare in eventu determinan: hinc Prophetiis non annumeres Paganorum oracula, nunquam a daemonibus per statuas aut alio

quovis modo data: fuere sacerdotum paganorum [plerumque falsae] conjec tural Omnis divinatio sive per astra vel auguria vel aruspicia vel secretiores

magiae artes vana et ridicula. Sybillae non fuere Prophetissae: versuum

Sybillinorum quae nunc extat collectio spuria, et versus medium secundi sae culi confecta fuit. Sola Hebraerorum nat?o Deum habuit appropinquantem sibi;

apud illos vera reperiuntur miracula, verae Prophetiae: apud illos ergo quaeren da revelatio veraque religio.

II Judaei Libros habent ver? sacros de quorum veritate, authenticitate et divinitate nulla potest esse legitima dubitatio. Perierunt quidem Libri aliquot ver? sacri, sed qui nunc nee extant in Chaldaico exterminio, nec alias unquam interfere: soluta capitiv?tate Esdras omnes quos repetir? potuit, collegit, diges sit, caracteribus Chalaicis conscripsit, nuilum ex integro reparavit: Puncta vocalia non invenit; nongentis abhinc annis a Massoretis excogitata nullius sunt necessitatis, nullius ferme utilitatis: ab iisdem introductae sunt variae

Scripturae Sectiones in Bibliis notatae: hodierna in capita distributio nonnisi saeculo 13. prodiit. Pentateuchas Samaritanus antiquis Hebraeorum et

Phoenicum Litteris conscriptus, ejusdem est cum exemplari Hebraeo authori tatis: a Dosithaeo non fuit interpolates; Esdrinae correctione videtur anterior. Summa semper fuit et d?bet esse authoritas versionis 72 Interpretum: Historia cellularum fabulosa: forsan in ea adornanda non incubere Interpretes numero 72: forsan tota non fuit eodem tempore et ab iisdem confecta. V?tus ?tala ex

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A THEOLOGY THESIS DEFENDED BY AN IRISH CLERICAL STUDENT IN PARIS IN 1739

Graeco translata olim erat authentica: ex ea partim, partim ex versione S.

Hieronymi prodiit nostra vulgata: hanc intactis fontibus aequissime pronuntavit authenticam Trid. Synodus. Translationes vernaculae modo in illis adornandis serventur Ecclesiae leges optimae sunt et laudabiles. Sensus Scripturae duplex,

Litteralis et Mysticus. Neutrum alicui licet pro libitu fingere. Fanatismo viam

aperit figuristarum methodus. Scriptura in multis obscura etiam fidelibus: maxime commendanda est illius lectio, non tarnen omnibus necessaria nee

omnibus permittenda. Omnia fidei dogmata expresse non continet: aequali ven eratione suscipienda ubi pura ad nos decurrit Traditio: Judaeorum Kabbala in

plerisque ridicula et insana nullius est authoritatis. IIIA sacris Scriptoribus tradita nobis historia coeteras omnes dignitate ante

cellit: fabulosae sunt caeterarum gentium etiam Graecorum et Romanorum

antiquitatis: contra horum Chronologiam contendimus Trojam captam non

fuisse nisi annis ante Christum circiter 900. Aeneam et Didonem, Numam et

Pythagoram fuisse coaetaneos. Moyses omnium qui nunc extant (si Jobum

excipias) Scriptorum vetutissimus Pentateuchum vere scripsit. In illo admirando

opere mundum e nihilo in principio creatum, globum nostrum terraqueum sex dierum spatio ex Chao generatum docet. Primus homo Adam, in loco amaenis simo versus Mesopotamiam constitutus, Dei Praeceptum libere transgreditur,

miseriis exinde factus obnoxius futuri Redemptoris spe consolatur; cujus cruen ta mors sacrificiis, quae nunquam natura suggessit hominibus, ex positivo prae cepto adumbratur. Hominum impietate ad cumulum provecta post annos 1656 universa terra diluvio submergitur; hujus catastrophae veritatem probant ipsa telluris viscera. Solus N?e cum sua familia ab aquis salvus fuit. Pergentibus

Occidentem versus eius filiis ille versimiliter in Sinarum regione consedit,

sobolique post-diluvianae linguam reliquit primigeniam. Illius ex ante-diluvian is filiis nepotes primum struxerunt idolatriae monimentum, turrim Babel. Ibi

Deo sic volente linguarum introducta diversitas. Prima Idolatriae species astro rum cultura; deinde coluntur Manes, horum simulacra primitus Theraphim; hisce sacrificarunt in deserto Israelitae initiati Beelphegor; tandem ipsa coluntur simulacra temer? contradicente Calvino. Gliscente passim Idololatria, anno post diluvium 427 vocatur Abraham, Patreque mortuo Haman reliquit anno aet 75. In eius Genealogia insititius Cainan, usitatam fuisse ante eum Circumcisionem vel

mactatos in Sacrificium homines temer? asseritur: qui ei benedixit Melchisedech versimiliter Patriarcha Cham. Empacta a quibusdam Abrahae,

Isaaco et Jacobo peccata quodammodo excusari possunt; inexcusabile Thamaris et Judae factum injusta et inhumana Simeonis et Levi in Sichimitas vindicta.

IV Post anno a vocatione Abrahae 215 Jacob cum familia Aegyptam migravit. lilis temporibis vixisse videtur Job, sub ejus nomine Libri canonicus ex ar?bico sermone in Hebraeum translatus. Exactis in Aegypto 215 annis

Mosis regimini committuntur a Deo Israelitae: ille multiplicibus et vetis

prodigiis et calamitatibus perterruit Aegyptios, horum spoliis juste ditavit Hebraeos: quae narr?t transitus maris rubri, manna e coelo delapsi, aquae e

petra scaturientis, etc miracula non causis naturalibus sed Deo vero sunt tribuenda. Tune primum instituta fuit Sabbati celebratio. In Mose omnes

Gentilium D?os solus vidit Huetius. Nec felicius majores D?os ad Abrahae familiam revocat nuper Mythologus linguarum peritia clarissimus. Mortuo

Mose, Populi Israelitici Regimen jubente Deo in se suscepit Josu?, Libri cog

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ARCHIVIUM HIBERN?CUM

nomis Author: eius jussu sistitur Sol; sive vere sive apparenter perinde est ad miraculi splendorem. Triginta et uno debellatis regibus ac sex totis annis majori subacta Palestinae parte, earn duodecim tribubus dividit anno post exodum 47: hie primus fuit Sabbaticus annus. Post 17 annorurn imperium moriens Josu?*,

populi regimen senioribus reliquit. Post horum mortem contingere Michae et

infelicis Levitae historiae. Commemorata in Libris Judicum servitutum inter valla cum judicum annis sunt confundenda. Debora vere judex. Jephte nee cru entum vovit sacrificium, nee in Filia perfecit. In fine 6 servitutis Philistinos infestabat Samson: post mortem Heli praefuit Samul annis 21 cum sex mensi bus. Saul 40 annos regnavit; totidem David; ergo ab ?xodo ad jacta templi fun damenta intercedunt anni 480. Libri Judicum appendix Ruth, uterque divinis a

S amule probabiliter scrip tus. Quatuor Regum authores incerti. Horum librorum

chronologia licet intricata elucidabitur, si quaedam concedantur postulata. V Hoc temporis intervallo Psalmos, non tarnen omnes, cecinit David Rex et

Propheta, Sanctissimi hujus viri Deoque dilecti Principis vitam iniqua censura

vellicat Aristarchus Amestelodamus. Paulo post Salomon scripsit Proverbia, Ecclesiastem et Canticum Canticorum in quo castos amores Christi et Ecclesiae

figurata locutione commendat. Illius poenitentia si non certa, saltern versimilis. Post ejus mortem diviso illius Imperio, Jeroboam v?tulos ?ureos tanquam veri Dei symbola in Dan et Bethel erexit; ritus Mosaicos non immutavit. Solaris dumtaxat umbrae non solis sub Ezechia retrocessio. Hisce temporibus scripti sunt plerique Prophetarum Libri ab iis quorum prae se ferunt nomina, aliud non

evincit Libri Theologo politici author. R?gnante Manasse contigere historiae Judith et Tobiae, utriusque liber canonicus. Anno a fundatione templi 476 ante Christum 536, a prima deportatione 70, Regn? sui primo Cyrus solvit

Capitivitatem; Muros tarnen Jerusalem non aedificarunt Esdras et Nehemias nisi anno Artaxeris Longimani 20, a quo currunt 70 Hebdomades Danielis. Hoc inter vallo scripti sunt Libri Esther, Sapientiae et Ecclesiastici omnes Canonici. Veteris Testamenti librorum Catalogum claudunt duo Machabaeorum Libri incerti authoris, sed divinae authoritatis. Machabaeorum familia non rebellis cum Antiochi furoribus arma exercitusque opposit. Circa horum t?mpora ortae sunt Sadducaeorum et Pharisaeorum sectae, Scribarum nomen non sectae sed officii. Essenii Hircano coaevi, a Rechabitis diversi tres in sectas divisi erant; qui ex illis Asceticae vitae instituto fuere celebres iidem cum Philonis Therapeutis.

VI Anno ante AE. V. 5 mundi 4000 Christus Jesus nascitur ex femine David de Maria semper Virgine cujus texitur a S Luca Genealog?a. In ipso omnes V. T. de Messia prophetiae et figurae adimpletae sunt. Legis obscuri tatem dissipavit: Judaicae Religioni Christianam substituit Hujus historiam et fundamenta complectuntur quattuor Evangelia SS. Mathaei, Marci, Lucae et Joannis vere divina, genuina omne fide digna; non dissonant inter se. Christianae religionis divinitatem demonstrant: ipsius author vere divinus, ejus miracula quorum veridici testes Apostoli, Apostolorum stupenda mutatio,

Martyrum constantia, Evangelii mirabilis propagado. Denique invictum adver sus Judaeos et infideles subministrant argumentum Oracula in N.T. allegata non ea solum, ut putat Grotius, quae unicum, sed etiam ilia quae duplicem habent sensum; utraque in vim argumenti adhibita leguntur a Christo ab

Apostolis et a vetustissimis causae Christianae defensoribus. Anno AE. V. 33 in medio ultimae Hebedomadarum Danielis, feria sexta, peracto pridie legali

6




Paschate in crucem actus est; feria prima subs?quente a mortuis resurgens idem consecravit Dominicain; per 40 dies redivivus edocet Apost?los, quorum Principem honore et jurisdiction S. Petrum constituit. Ascendit in Coelum,

Spiritu Sancto roborati Apostoli Evangelium Gentibus praedicant: Symbolum ab ipsis fuisse compositum nulla probat autoritas. AE. V. 55 Romam venit S.

Petrus, ibique martyrio coronatus est. Joannis morte anno 98 aetas

Apostolorum finitur. Per id tempus acta Apostolorum Lucas scripsit. 14.

Epistolas S. Paulus. Unam Jacobus, Petrus duas, Judas unam tres Joannis

Epistolae et Apocalypsis N. T. claudunt. Omnes hi Libri Graece scripti sunt,

excepto Mathaei Evangelio, quod Syriace scriptum fuit. VII Christianos, injustis persecutionibus actos, primis illis saeculis adjuva

bant et consolabantur viri Apostolici in genuiniis suis scriptis; S. Clemens

Epist. ad Corinthios, S. Ignatius Martyr in septem Epistolis, ab Usserio editis, S. Polycarpus Epistol. ad Philippenses, S. Justinus, Tertul. Arnob. etc. in suis

apologiis. Multa etiam, his temporibus attributa vel conficta sunt, opera spuria, quae cum genuinis Traditionis fontibus non sunt confundenda; qualia sunt Acta

Pilati, Epistola Lentuli ad Senatum, Pauli ad Laodicenses; ejusdem ad

Senecam, et Senecae ad ipsum. Liturgiae SS. Jacobi, P?tri, Mattaei, Marci; omnes Ca?ones Apostolorum, duae Epistolae S. Clem. ad Jacobum, ejusdem Libri decem recognitionum; Constitutiones Apostolicae, falso Clementi

adscriptae. Persecutionum crudelitati, modum posuit, Constantinus Victor anno 312. Miraculosa ejus ad fidem conversio; ipsius auspiciis et favore, novi non

annis, dilatata Christi Religio, longius se Romanis finibus extendit. Romano

pontifici Romae principatum non d?dit. In hac cathedra viguit semper Apost?lica successio et fidei constantia. Quo tempore Victor R.P. excommuni cationem in Asi?ticos Luna 14. cum Judaeis, contra Apostolicam Traditionem, Pascha celebrantes, intendabat: in Galliis fundata, jam vigebat Christiana

Religio, Marcellini lapsus, commentitius: Synuessanae Synodi acta suppositi tia. Liberius propter lapsum suum, si tarnen lapsus est, ut Arianus, non est tra ducendus nec propter Epistolas suas, ut Monothelita, Honorius. His tempo ribus, major Episcoporum Ecclesiae pars, errorem non fuit amplexa. Inter

Sergium II et Benedictum II Papissae fabula. Circa annum 700 veterum Pontificum Decretales ad Siricium usque fabricatae sunt. Omnium primus, injusto conatu, Principes exautorare aggressus est Gregorius VIL jus illud

praetensum promisserunt ejus successores Innocentius III, Innocentius IV et

alii, quorum exempla veritati non praejudicant. Justis interim, licet saepius infaustis, Bellis, christianos Terrae Sanctae Aliorumque locorum juvabant,

Cruce-signatorum exercitus. Bonifacio VIII. Philippum Pulchrum deponere satagenti, juste obstiterunt omnes regni gallicani ordines, jusque et formam

appellationum ad concilium gen?rale, nobis reliquerunt. Haec in decretis Summorum Pontificum dogmaticis, ab Ecclesia receptis, locum non habeat Vix a longo Schismate quiescentem Occidentis ecclesiam, exagitavit Luterana et

Cal[ ] quasi surculus Janseniana. Quod in Occidente amittebat in Oriente

reparabat, pia mater cum novis de cultu Confucii et Sinensium superstitiosis ritibus dissidiis affligi coepit haec f?liciter judicio dogm?tico composuit

Clemens XL VIII In omni societate, positivis fundata legibus, exist?t necesse est, aliquis

controversiarum supremus judex Christi legibus, seu scriptis, seu traditis,

7




utrisque divinis, stat Christianorum Res publica, cujus Principes et Rectores ab

ipso constituti sunt Episcopi, unum quasi corpus, cujus caput Romanus

Pontifex, constituentes. In his, exclusis Presbyteris, Parochis et plebe, regimin is summa potestas residet. Hinc falsa est Sententia Claudii, Juriaei, Richerii et

Quesnelli docentis: Ecclesiam authoritatem habere ut earn exerceat per primos pastores, de consensu, saltern praesumpto totius corporis: ergo societas

Christiana, in qua ab Apostolis ad nos successione non interrupta, docuit et

gubernavit Episcopalis ordo, sola vera est Christi Ecclesia. Haec semper visi

bilis, perpetua, indefectibilis, omnium Christianorum magistra, omnium reli

gionis controversiarum, etiam in factis dogmatis, judex infallibilis; ergo non

Scriptura sola, non spiritus privatus non Princeps saecularis. Quoties Ecclesia de aliqua doctrina exterius pronunitat, toties conditiones requisistas adhibuit. Ad ejus definitionis authoritatem sufficit unanimitas moralis. Censetur adesse ubi corpus Episcopale congregatum vel dispersum, capiti suo, t?cito vel

expresso consensu adhaerens, d?finit. Ergo constitutio Unigenitus est dog maticum Ecclesiae judicium, cui interiorem fidei assensum debemus. Ecclesia

regimen monarchicum, Aristocratia temperatura: unicum, non duplex caput visibile. Honoris et juridictionis primatum, in universa Ecclesia, jure divino, obtinet Romanus Pontifex, totius catholicae unitatis et communionis centrum, Conciliis oecumenicis inferior. Ea jure ordinario convocat iisque praeest; Canonum, quibus ipse adstringitur, executioni invigilat; ab iis justis de causis

dispens?t. Rebelles poenis spiritualibus coercet; ad ipsum majores causae def

erentur; ad universas ecclesias pertinent ejus decreta, licet de se non irreforma bilia. Ecclesiae authoritas, vere legislativa, poenis spiritualibus coercitiva, ad sola spiritualia de se ordinatur. Ne indirecto quidem jure in Regum temporalia gaudet. Horum subditos a fidelitatis sacramento absolvere non potest. Qua parte visibilis est, legitime definitur: coetus hominum qui ejusdem fidei profes sione, eorumdem sacramentorum participatione, legitimis Pastoribus ac

Romano praesertim Pontifici subjectione inter se colliguntur: ergo Excommunicati, Schismatici, Haeretici publici non sunt in Ecclesia; ergo sunt extra salutis viam. Solis tarnen non constat praedestinatis et justis: sed malos et

peccatores etiam p?blicos, non dissitente S. Aug. in suo sinu, licet gemens, pat inar, imo haereticos occultos.

IX Ecclesia una est, unitate fidei capitis visibilis, professionis et cultus externi. Hujus unitatis praescindendae nulla est justa n?cessitas; ergo Schismatici sunt Calvinistae et Lutherani: eos ab hoc crimine non purgat, punc torum fundementalium a non fundamentalibus vana et postica Juriaei distinctio: Sancta est, Catholica, Apost?lica. Hi sunt perspicui et infallibiles ecclesiae car acteres qui soli Catholico-Romanae societati competunt. Ergo reformatorum societates apud quas tanta fidei varietas, nulla legitima Pastorum succesio, nulla

pastoribus legitimis subordinatio, falsae et adulterae sunt Ecclesiae. Concilia

praecipua sunt Ecclesiae monumenta: particularla licet errare possint, haud levis sunt ponderis. Generalia aliquando sunt necessaria: infallibilia sunt. Haec ab

Apostolis ad nos computantur: Nicaenum primum anno 325, cui praefuit Osius, nomine Sylvestri Romani Pontif?cis; 20 tantum edidit ca?ones; sextus nihil pri

matui summi Pontificis detrahit. Ejus appendix Sardicense, vere Oecumenicum.

Constantinopolitanum I inconsulto D?maso covocatum, accedente ipsius con sensu et Ecclesiae Occidentalis evasit oecumenicum. Ephesinum cui praefuere

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Legati Romani Pontificis, in eo legitime damnatus est Nestorius. Chalcedonense

cujus Ca?ones omnes, excepto 28, a S Leone fuere approbata. Constantinopolitanum II consentiente Vigilio, convocavit Justinianus: ipsi prae fuit Eutychius Constantinoplitanus Patriarcha. Illud approbavit Vigilius et Ecclesia. Tria capitula, et Theodori personam, eorumque defensores, juste damnavit. Constantinoplitanum III adversus Monothelitas; Nicaenum II adver sus Iconoclastas legitime convocata. Constantinopolitanum IV m?rito Photium

deposuit. Lateranense I anno 1123 celebratum, de Investituris dissidium f?liciter

composuit. Latertanense II usuras jure divino prohiben, legitime asseruit; Lateranense III adversus haereticos non egit injuste. Lateranensi IV Septuaginta Ca?ones tribuantur; minime vero depositio Frederici II. Lugdunensi I jus regali ae non coarctavit, Lugdunense II in Viennensi m?rito extinctus Templariorum ordo. Constantiense oecumenicum. Basileense pariter oecumenicum, usque ad translationem Ferariam. Florentini quoque oecumenici non est decretum de

Armenorum institutione. Tridentinum ultimum oecumenicum dogma catholicum in tuto posuit, nihil ultra progressum: irreligosa prorsus sunt in illud Concilium novi commentatoris Gallici scholia. Ecclesiae suae aderit Deus qui non relinquit semetipsum sine testimonio.

Has theses, Deo duce, auspice Dei-Para et praeside S.M.N. Joanne Durand Sacrae Facultatis Parisiensis Doctore Theologe tueri conabitur Lucius-Josephus

Hooke, baccalaureus Theologus socius Sorbonicus die Sabbati quatra mensis

Aprilis, anno domini 1739 ab octava matutina ad sextam vespertinam in Sorbona pro majore ordinaria.

TO HIM WHO RAISES FROM THE DEAD

A Question of Theology: Who did not leave himself without attestation?

I God, to whose existence and eternal providence the wondrous order of the

world, the fixed laws of nature and the marvellous unions of bodily and spiritu al substance testify, demands worship and respect from man. Man owes wor

ship both internal and external; but as he is constitued now he is utterly inca

pable by himself of either fully recognising or accomplishing his duty. Hence the necessity for revelation in order to inform the life of man is proven a priori:

When this has happened, it is certainly recongisable by miracles and by prophecies. A miracle is an extraordinary event against or outside the accus

tomed course of nature. Divine immutability does not prevent their possibility; Spinoza is ridculous to claim that the laws of nature suffer no exception or

interruption. No miracles can be effected in support of vice, error or supersti tion. The prodigies of the Pharaoh's Magi do not prove the contrary nor the

signs of Simon Magus and Apollinus of Tyana or the future portents of the Anti-Christ. The second proof of revelation is prophecy which is the prediction of a future and unfolding event. In order to have the force of argument its

meaning must be clear before the event or distinctly limited to the event. So do not count among prophecies pagan oracles, which were never given by demons

through statues or by any other means: they were the conjectures, generally false of pagan priests. All divination whether by the stars or by augury, or by

9




the inspection of entrails or by more secret magic arts is fruitless and ridicu lous. The Sybills were not prophetesses: the collection of Sybilline verses

which is extant now is spurious and was composed about the middle of the sec ond century. The Hebrew nation alone had a God who drew nigh to them:

among them were found the true miracles, the true prophecies: among them, so, are revleation and true religion be be found.

II The Jewish have books, truly sacred, concerning whose truth, authentici

ty and divine origin they can be no legitimiate doubt. Perish indeed did some

truly sacred books, but those which are now extant never perished, neither in exile at Babylon nor at another time. After the captivity, Esdras collected all the books he could find, arranged them, copied them out in Chaldean script but restored none anew. He did not devise vocalic signs: they were contrived by the Massoretes nine hundred years ago and are not necessary and for the most

part of no use: by them were introduced the various cuttings of Scripture distin

guished in Bibles; the modern distribution into chapters did not arise except in the 13th century. The Samaritan Pentateuch was written in the ancient letters of the Hebrews and the Phoenicians and is of the same authority as the Hebrew version. It was not interpolated by Dositheus. It seems to be earlier than the corrections of Esdras. The authority of the version of the 72 translators always was and has to be the highest; the story concerning of the cells is a myth. Perhaps 72 writers in number did not labour, perhaps the whole work was not

completed at the same time and by the same men. The Old Italian version once translated from Greek was authentic; partly from this version and partly from that of St Jerome came our present Vulgate. This, since its sources were unde

filed, the Council of Trent most justly declared authentic. Vernacular transla tions are also praiseworthy provided that the most excellent laws of the Church are preserved in their preparation. The sense of Scripture is two-fold, literal and

mystical. No-one has the right to interpret either according to his personal plea sure. The method of the figurists opens the way to fanaticism: scripture is in

many things obscure even to the faithful: its reading is especially to be com mended although it is not necessary for all, nor to be permitted to all. It does not explicitly contain all the dogmas of faith; tradition is to be received with

equal reverence when it reaches us without contamination: the Kabbala of the

Jews, laughable and absurd in most things, is of no authority. III The account handed down to us by the sacred writers surpasses all others

in its value. Fictitious are the ancient tales, even of the Greeks and Romans.

Contrary to their chronology we content that Troy was not captured until about 900BC and that Aeneas, Dido, Numa and Phytagoras were contemporaries.

Moses, who, with the exception of Job, the oldest writer who now survives, did indeed write the Pentateuch. In this admirable work he teaches that the uni verse was created out of nothing in the beginning, that our earthly globe was created from chaos in the space of six days. The first man Adam, when estab lished in a most delightful place in the direction of Mesopotamia, freely broke

God's command. Subjected to affliction thereafter, he was consoled by the

hope of a future redeemer. His bloody death was foreshadowed by sacrifices

according to positive law, which nature did not suggest to man.. After 1656

years the whole world was covered with a flood as a result of the accumulation of men's impieties. The very innards of the earth prove the truth of this cata

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strophe. Noah alone, was saved from the waters, together with his family. While his sons moved away towards the West, Noah himself settled probably

in the region of China and he left the first language to his postdiluvian progeny. It was descendants of the Noah's antediluvian sons who first built that monu

ment of idolatry, the tower of Babel. There, by God's will, the diversity of lan

guages was introduced. The first type of idolatry was the worship of the stars; then the shades were worshipped, of which the Terpahim were likenesses at

first; it was to these that the Israelites, adepts of Baalpeor sacrificed in the

desert; finally, pace Calvin, the images themselves were heedlessly wor

shipped. Idolatry gradually spread in every direction and Abraham was called in the 427th year of the Flood and when his had father died, Haman departed in the 75th year of life. Cainan was interpolated into his genealogy. It is rash to assert that before his time circumcision was customary and men slaughtered for sacrifice. Melchizedek who blessed him was was probably patriarch of Cham.

The sins attributed by some to Abraham, Issac and Jacob can be excused to some extent; the action of Tamar and Judah was inexcusable, the revenge of Simeon and Levi on Shechem was unjust and inhumane.

IV Next, in the 215th year from the death of Abraham, Jacob emigrated to

Egypt with his family. Job seems to have lived at this time; the canon of the book under his name was translated from Arabic into Hebrew. When 215 years had

gone by in Egypt the Israelites were entrusted by God to the rule of Moses: he terrified the Egyptians with prodigies and disasters: he justly enriched the

Hebrews with their spoils. The miracles which he recounts - crossing the Red

Sea, manna fallen from heaven, waters bubbling forth from rock - are not to be attributed to natural causes but to the true God. Then first was the celebration of the Sabbath established. Only Pierre Huet saw in Moses all the gods of the

pagans. No more successfully did Mythologus, most distinguished in languages, recently trace the older gods back to the family of Abraham. When Moses died, Josuah, the author of the book of that name, at God's command, assumed the

government of Israel. At his command the sun stood still; whether really or appar ently is all the same as far as the magnificence of the miracles is concerned.

When the 31 kings had been defeated and the greater part of Palestine had been

conquered six times within so many years, Joshua divided it among the twelve tribes in the 47th year after the Exodus. This was the first year of the Sabbath.

After a reign of 17 years Josuah died and left the government of the people to elders. The stories of Micah and the unhappy Levi took place after their death. The periods of the servitudes in the books of the Judges are to be conjoined with the years of the Judges. Debrorah was indeed a Judge. Jephtah neither promised blood sacrifice nor did he accomplish it in his daughter. At the end of the sixth servitude Samson attacked the Philistines. Following the death of Eli, Samuel

reigned for 21 years and six months. Saul reigned for 40 years, David for the same number. Four hundred and eighty years elapsed between the Exodus and the

laying of the foundations of the Temple. Ruth is an appendix to the books of the

Judges; probably written by Samuel, with divine inspiration, were both books. The authors of the four books of Kings are unknown. The chronology of these

books, although complex, can be understood if certain postulates are conceded. V At this period of time, David, the King and Prophet, composed the

Psalms though not all. Aristarchus of Amsterdam carps the life of this most

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blessed man and leader chosen by God with unfair criticism. Shortly after wards Solomon wrote the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs in which he commends, in a figurative way, the chaste loves of Christ and his Church. If his penance is not certain it is at least probable. After his death the

kingdom was divided. Jeroboam set up golden calves as if symbols of the true God in Dan and Bethel; the Mosaic rites he did not change. The retreat of the shadow of the sun, strictly speaking, not of the sun, was in the time of

Hezekiah. Most of the books of the prophets were written at these times by those whose names they bear. The author of the book Tractatus theologico

politicus does not prove otherwise. During the reign of Manasseh the incidents

concerning Judith and Tobit happened. Both these books are canonical. In the 476th year from the foundation of the temple, the 536th before the birth of Christ and the 70th after the first deportation, Cyrus, in the first year of his

reign, ended the captivity. Ezra and Nehemiah did not build the walls of Jerusalem except in the 20th year of Artaxerxes the Long-armed from which run the 70 weeks of Daniel. During this time the books of Esther, Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus were written, all canonical. The two books of Maccabees, of uncertain authorship but of divine authority end the collection of the books of the Old Testament. The family of the Maccabees was not rebellious when it

opposed arms and armies to the furies of Antiochus, About this time sprang up the Sadducees and the Pharisees; the name Scribes refers not to a sect but an office. The Essennes contemporaries of John Hyrkanus, distinct from the Rechabites were divided into three; those who were distinguised from their ascetic life are identical with the Therapeutae of Philo.

V In the year before the 4005th of the age of the antiquity of the world Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary of David's line whose genealogy is

presented by St Luke. In Him were fulfilled all the prophecies and pr?figura tions of the Old Testament concerning the Messiah. He dissipated the obscurity of the Mosaic Law and substituted the Christian for the Jewish religion. The four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, truly divine and genuinely

worthy of every faith, include His life and basic teachings; they do not contra dict one another. The following demonstrate the divinity of the Christian reli

gion: its truly divine authorship; its miracles of which the Apostles are truthful

witnesses; the amazing conversion of the Apostles, the steadfastness of the

martyrs, the wonderous spread of the Gospel. Finally, the New Testament ora

cles mentioned serve as an invincible argument against Jews and unbelievers, not just those oracles, which according to Hugo Grotius, have only one but also those which have two senses. Both senses, used as arguments, are read by

Christ, the apostles and by the most virtuous defenders of the Christian cause.

At the age of thirty three, in the middle of the last weeks of Daniel, on the sixth

day, when the Passover of the law had been completed on the previous day, he was crucified; rising from the dead on the first day following he made Sunday holy at the same time; resurrected he taught the apostles for 40 days, whose leader in honour and jurisdiction he made Saint Peter. He ascended into heaven and the Apostles, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, taught the Gospel to the nations. No authority proves that they composed the Creed, In the year of the Lord 55 Saint Peter came to Rome and there he was crowned with martyrdom.

With the death of John in the year of the Lord 98 the Apostolic age ended. At

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this time Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Paul his 14 letters, James

one, Peter his two and Jude his one. The three letters of John and the

Apocalypse close the New Testament. All these books were written in Greek

except the gospel of Matthew which was written in Syriac. VII In their genuine writings Apostolic men helped and consoled the Chris

tians driven by unfair persecutions: St Clement in his Letter to the Corinthians; St Ignatius Martyr in his Seven Letters, edited by Ussher, St Polycarp in his Letter to the Philippians, St Justin, Tertullian, Arnobius etc. in their apologies. There are also many supurious works, attributed to or fabricated at that time, which are not to be confused with the genuine sources of tradition: of such type are the Acts of Pilate, Lentulus's Letter to the Senate, Paul's Letter to the

Laodiceans, the same man's letter to Seneca and Seneca's to him, the Liturgies of James, Peter, Matthew, Mark, all the Canons of the Apostles, St Clement's two letters to James, the same man's ten books of Recognitions and, also falsely ascribed to him, the Apostolic Constitutions. The victorious Constantine put an

end to the cruelty of persecutions in the year 312. His conversion to the faith was miraculous. It was with his favour and help that the religion of Christ, he who was new but not in years, spread further to the frontiers of the Empire. He did not give the government of Rome to the Pope. In this seat, the apostolic succes sion and constancy of faith have always flourished. At this time, Pope Victor I directed an order of excommunication against the Asians who were celebrating the Paschal feast on the 14th day of Nisan, contrary to the Apostolic tradition.

About this time the Church was founded in Gaul and there the Christian religion flourished. The fall of Marcellinus is fictitious; the acts of the council of Sinuessa are forgeries. Liberius is not to be traduced as an Arian on account of his lapse, if he did yet lapse, nor Honorius as a Monothelite on account of his let ters. The greater part of the bishops of the church did not embrace error at this time. The "popess" between the Sergius II and Benedict II is a myth. The decrees of the ancient Popes up to the time of Siricius were invented about 700. Gregory VII, first of all, by unjust effort, set about deposing Princes. His successors, Innocent III, Innocent IV and others, promoted the same pretended right whose

examples do not prejudice the truth. Meanwhile the Crusader armies helped the Christians of the Holy Land and other places and in wars just but often unsuc cessful. All the orders of the Gallican Kingdom rightly opposed Boniface VIII,

over-reaching himself to depose Philip the Fair, and they left to us the right and form of appeals to a general council. This form should not have a place in the

dogmatic decrees of the Popes received by the Church. Scarcely recovered from the Great Schism, the peace of the Church was disturbed by the Lutheran and

Calvinist [heresies] and their offshoot as it were, the Jansenist. That which she

[Church] lost in the West she recovered in the East. When Holy Mother began to be wracked with new dissensions concerning the worship of Confucius and the

superstitious rites of the Chinese, Clement XI successfully settled these with a

dogmatic constitution. VIII In every society founded on positive laws there exists the necessity for

some supreme authority to judge controversies concerning the laws of Christ which arise from the study of Scripture or in the tradition, both of which are

divinely inspired; there stands the government of Christians whose leaders and

directors, instituted by Christ, are the bishops who form one body with the

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Roman Pontiff as its head. The highest power of government resides in them,

excluding elders, priests and people. For this reason, the propositions of

Claudius, Jurieu, Richer and Quesnel who teach that the Church has the author

ity to exercise it [power] through the chief pastors as a result of the consent,

persumed at least, of the whole body, is false. So the Christian community in which an episcopal order has taught and governed without interruption from the time of the apostles to the present is the only true Church of Christ. She is the ever-visible, ever-lasting, without fault, the mistress of all Christians, the infallible judge of all religious controversies, even in matters of dogma: so [the

highest authority] is not scripture alone, nor the private conscience nor the sec

ular prince. As often as the Church makes a public pronouncement concerning a certain doctrine so often has it fulfilled the requisite conditions. Moral una

nimity suffices for the authority of the definition. This is deemed to exist when the episcopal order defines, either in the presence of or dispersed from its head, the Pope, giving its tacit or its explicit consent to the teaching on the matter in

question. So the constitution Unigenitus is a dogmatic judgment of the Church to which we owe the inner assent of faith. The church is a monarchy tempered by aristocracy; the visible head is single, not double. The Roman Pontiff, the centre of the whole Catholic union and community [but] subject to the ecu

menical councils, has primacy of honour and jurisdiction in the whole church

by divine right. By ordinary right he convenes these and presides them. He

supervises the execution of these canons, by which he himself is bound. He

may, if circumstances justify it, allow dispensations from conciliar canons. He checks the rebellious with spiritual penalties; the greater cases are deferred to

him; his decrees apply to the whole Church even if they are not all irreformable of themselves. The authority of the church, which truly gives it the power to

legislate and the power to check with spiritual punishment, pertains to the spiri tual realm only. It has no authority in the temporal affairs of kings, not even

indirectly. It does not possess the authority to release subjects of kings from their oaths of loyalty. In her visible aspect she is defined judicially as follows: that body of people who by the profession of the same faith, participation in the same sacraments, by subjection to the same legitimate pastors and especially to the Roman Pontiff form one society. Therefore there are no excommunicates, schismatics or public heretics in the Church; so they are outside the way of sal vation. Nevertheless the Church does not consist solely of the predestined and the just: but she suffers evil men and even public sinners in her bosom,

although sorrowfully, as St Augustine does not disagree, even hidden heretics. IX The Church is one as a result of the unity of faith, of a visible head, of a

creed and of an external worship. There is no just need to split this unity; so the Cavlinists and the Lutherans are schismatics; Jurieu's groundless distinction in

hindsight between fundamental and non-fundamental points does not clear them of this charge; [the Church] is holy and apostolic. These are the self-evi dent and unmistakable characteristics of the Church which befit the Roman Catholic community alone. So the communities of the reformed, among whom there is such a great variety of faith but no rightful succession of shepherds, no

obedience of rightful shepherds, are false and adulterous churches. The Councils are the special monuments of the Church. Although local councils

may err they are of no light authority. General councils are sometimes necessary;

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they are infallible. From the time of the apostles to the present these are num

bered: the first Nicean council in 325, at which Ossius presided in the name of the Roman Pontiff, Sylvester. It produced only 20 canons; the sixth in no way

compromises the authority of the supreme Pontiff. The Council of Serdica, an

appendix to Nicea, was truly ecumenical. The First Council of Constantinople, convoked without consulting Pope Damasus, became ecumenical by the com

ing to agreement of him and the Oriental Church. The Council of Ephesus, over which presided legates of the Roman Pontiff and at which Nestorius was

rightly condemned; the Council of Chalcedon, all of whose canons, except number 28, were approved by Saint Leo. Justinian summoned the Second Council of Constantinople with the agreement of Vigilius; the Patriarch of

Constantinople, Eutychius presided this. Vigilius and the Church approved it. It

rightly condemned the Three Chapters, the person of Theodore and their defenders. The Third Council of Constantinople was first summoned against the Monothelites. The Second Council of Nicea was legitimately summoned

against the iconoclasts. The Fourth Council of Constantinople deservedly deposed Photius. The First Lateran Council held in 1123 successfully settled the dispute about investiture. The Second Lateran Council rightly declared that

usury was forbidden by divine law. The Third Lateran Council acted against heretics not unjustly. To the Fourth Lateran Council are attributed 70 canons; in no way was the deposition of Frederick II the work of the first Council of

Lyons. The second council of Lyon did not restrict the right of r?gale; at the Council of Vienne the order of the Templars was deservedly abolished. The Council of Constance was ecumenical. The Council of Basle was equally ecu

menical until the transfer to Ferrara. The decree concerning the arrangement of the Armenians was not part of the Council of Florence, also ecumenical. The

Council of Trent, the last ecumenical council, safeguarded Catholic dogma [but] nothing that went any further. The remarks of a recent Gallic commenta tor against this council are absolutely impious. God, who does not leave him self without attestation, will be at hand to his Church.

These theses with God as his guide, with the Mother of God as his protec tor, and under the presidency of our sacred master John Durand, doctor of the

ology of the faculty of Paris, Luke Joseph Hooke, bachelor in theology, mem

ber of the society of the Sorbonne will attempt to defend on the fourth Saturday of the month of April 1739 from the eight hour in the morning until the sixth in the evening in the Sorbonne for the major-ordinary.

1 L. W. B. Brockliss and P. Fert?, "Irish Clerics in France in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: a Statistical

Study" in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 87c, 8 (1987); L.W.B. Brockliss, 'The University of Paris and the Maintenance of Catholicism in the British Isles 1426-1789: a Study in Clerical Recruitment' in D. Julia and J.

Revel (eds.) Histoire Sociale des Populations ?tudiantes, 2 vols (Paris, 1986, 1989) ii, pp. 577-616. On the state of university education in general see Hilde de Ridder-Symoens, (ed.) A History of the University in Europe, 2

vols., ii, (Cambridge, 1997). 2 L.W.B. Brockliss, French Higher Education in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, (Oxford, 1987), pp.

228-76. 3 See A. Gwynn, 'A forgotten Irish Theologian' in Studies 63 251 (1974) pp. 259-68; T. O'Connor, An Irish

Theologian in Enlightenment France: Luke Joseph Hooke 1714-96, (Dublin 1995); 'Surviving the Civil Constitution of the Clergy: Luke Joseph Hooke1 s Revolutionary Experiences' in Eighteenth-Century Ireland 11

(1996), pp. 129-145. 4 Biblioth?que Nationale (Paris) Collection Joly de Fleury, vol. 195, folio 5.

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Documents

A Theology Thesis Defended by an Irish Clerical Student in Paris in 1739