In the name of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Here begins the work of the most illustrious and excellent
or notable man Charles, by the will of God, King of the Franks, of Gaul,
Germany, and Italy, or the neighboring provinces, ruling with the help of the
Lord, against the synod, which in the regions of Greece was foolishly or
arrogantly conducted for the worship of images.
PREFACE
Our mother church, redeemed by
the most precious blood of Christ the bridegroom and washed in the saving bath
of regeneration, and nourished by the life-giving food of the body and drink of
the blood, anointed with the ointment of nectar-like liquid, and spread
throughout the whole world in peace, sometimes endures external, sometimes internal
wars, sometimes is shaken by the attacks of outsiders, sometimes is troubled by
the tumults of its citizens. At times, indeed, it is assailed by the attacks of
unbelievers or heretics, and at other times it is disturbed by the dissensions
of schismatics or the arrogant.
For it is indeed an ark
containing souls to be saved, of which the ark of that ancient father was a
type, which passes through the most savage storms of this world without the
danger of shipwreck, and does not yield to the deadly floods of the present age
nor succumb to the siege of hostile powers. Instead, with Him fighting for it
and especially in it, who is set as a wall for it, as the prophet says: 'Our
strong city, the Savior, will set a wall and a rampart in it,' and who has
appointed watchmen on its walls, who will never be silent day or night,
resisting adversaries and enduring tumultuous disturbances, and receiving into
its bosom those who flock to the true confession of faith, while rejecting
those who obstinately resist the same confession. (source;
number in square brackets refers to the page number of the original
language source)
[11]
We suffer with Christ when, in
His love, who endured the passion of the cross for us, we crucify our flesh,
that is, the world, with its vices and desires, and we die to the world and are
buried with Christ, and thus we crucify the flesh, that is, the body, to
trample its desires. For we have been buried with Him through baptism into
death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, we too might walk in newness of life, and thus being baptized, we are
buried with Him, so that from now on we follow this life in which Christ was
raised. Baptism is the pledge and image of the resurrection, so that, remaining
in the commandments of Christ, we do not return again to past things. We are
made alive and rise with Him if we are planted together in the likeness of His
death, that is, if in baptism, putting away all vices, we are transferred to a
new life and henceforth do not sin. For the likeness of His death has provided
a similar resurrection. We are co-heirs and co-participants with Him, not
because any possession is divided among us, but because He Himself is our Lord,
our inheritance, and our possession. For the Lord says, 'The Lord is your inheritance';
and elsewhere: 'The Lord is my portion and my inheritance.' For although those
who have believed in Christ have different graces, they are nevertheless united
in one body of the Church. Therefore, He has made the saints sit together with
Christ in the heavenly places, not so that the saints sit with Him while they
are in this world and are pilgrims away from Him, but in accordance with the
aforementioned teacher's sentiment, this is the way of the Scriptures, so that
sometimes future things are expressed in the past tense—by a scheme called
prolepsis—for example, regarding the cross of the Lord: 'They pierced my hands
and my feet'; and elsewhere about His passion: 'Like a sheep he was led to
slaughter'—or certainly according to the spiritual sense—how they are not in
the flesh holy, although they live in the flesh and have their conversation in
heaven, while walking on earth, ceasing to be flesh, they are entirely turned
into spirit, thus sitting with Christ in the heavenly places. For the kingdom
of God is within us, and where our treasure is, there will our heart be also;
we sit firm and stable with Christ in wisdom, word, justice, and truth. The
apostles preached, with the Lord cooperating, that is, providing them
assistance in performing good works, and for this reason, their operation had
such power that, at their preaching, thousands of people believed, and the
broken nature of men received life, and the blind received sight, and the deaf
received hearing. For the Lord cooperates with all the saints according to the
Apostle, who says: 'I became a minister according to the gift of grace that was
given to me according to the working of His power.' However, concerning
sinners, inasmuch as they sin, it is not to be believed that He cooperates or
reigns with them in any way. (source;
number in square brackets refers to the page number of the original
language source)
[49]
He taught that the posterity of
the Israelites should be instructed, but he also warned them to remember the
astonishing miracle of the dried-up river, which should convey to future
generations this silent message: "We, whom you see, were once inhabitants
of a liquid element, now exiles in a dry land, and we, who for so many
centuries were natives of the Jordan, are now strangers, having been removed
from its swirling waters to this land, where we have been brought on the
shoulders of the Israelites and placed here to remain." For when the ark
of the Lord was before them, indeed before the face of the God of Jacob, the
priests stood in throngs, and the people, with great joy, marveled at the new
division that he would allow, causing the lower part to be swallowed by the
watery waves and raising the upper part into the air, lifting the waters to the
heights of the mountains, and providing an unusual passage for the Israelites
through the dry riverbed. Thus, we have been brought forth from ancient seats
and placed here to remain among the Israelites.
If, however, one inquires
typologically what these stones prefigure, it is revealed through the new
Joshua, namely our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who has secured for us the
habitation of the eternal homeland. He established the sacrament of baptism, through
which we reach the eternal homeland, and chose the twelve apostles, to whom He
said: "Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," which bear witness to
the perpetual sanctity of the holy Church as they call it to the heavenly
kingdoms through the most sacred sacrament of baptism.
If we consider the historical
context, the twelve stones that were placed in the Jordan signify the
patriarchs and prophets. Although they did not openly proclaim the sacrament of
baptism under the shadow of the law, they indicated it through certain mystical
and shadowy figures, as if they were overwhelmed by flowing waters; for
although they do not appear to have instituted baptism openly, they are not
believed to have been devoid of its mystery. For these fathers, the children of
the holy Church were born, that is, the apostles, whom He appointed as leaders
over all the earth, who remember the name of the Lord in every generation, so
that through them, as well as through these sacred charisms and teachings, they
may not cease to seek the Lord through faith and works, not through the deceit
of images or any superstitious matters. (source;
number in square brackets refers to the page number of the original
language source)
