Monday, December 21, 2020

The Historical Understanding of 'Signs' and 'Figures'

Q. Did The Patristic authors have the same understanding of 'signs,' 'images' and 'types,' that Roman apologists assert?


A. The Patristic authors frequently refer to the Lord's supper as a 'sign,' 'image' or 'type.' It is abundantly clear that they did not understand a 'sign,' 'image' or 'type,' to be, in a carnal sense, the thing itself.


Second Clement (c. 95 - 140 A.D.):

Now the church, being spiritual, was revealed in the flesh of Christ, thereby showing us that any of us who guard her in the flesh and do  not corrupt her will receive her back again in the Holy Spirit. For this flesh is a copy [ἀντίτυπός] of the Spirit. No one, therefore, who corrupts the copy [ἀντίτυπον] will share in the original [αὐθεντικὸν]. This, therefore, is what he means, brothers and sisters: guard the flesh, in order that you may receive the Spirit. 

(Michael W. Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations of Their Writings, [Baker Academic, 2007], Second Clement, 14.3, p. 157). Here


Cf. Heb 9:24 (NAB) — For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy [ἀντίτυπα] of the true one [ἀληθινῶν], but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf. 


Tertullian, of Carthage (c. 155 - 220 A.D.):

Now the image is not in any case equal to the very thing [veritati]. It is one thing to be like the reality, and another thing to be the reality itself. 

(Philip Schaff, ANF, Vol. III, The Five Books Against Marcion, II.9). Here


Origen, of Alexandria (c. 184 - 253 A.D.):

For just as one who sees an image of someone sees him who's image it is… 

(The Fathers of the Church, Origen, Homilies on Genesis and Exodus, Trans. Ronald E. Heine, [The Catholic University of America Press, 2010], Homilies on Genesis, Hom. I.13, p. 65). Here


Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers (c. 310 - 367 A.D.):

For neither is any one an image of himself: but it is necessary for the image to designate him, of whom the image is. 

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1845], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus X, Sancti Hilarii Episcopi, Liber De Synodis, Seu De Fide Orientalium, Cap. 13, Col. 490). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 216). Here


Alternate Translation:

For no one is himself his own image, but it is necessary that the image should demonstrate him of whom it is an image. 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF2, Vol. IX, De Synodis or On the Councils, § 13). Here


Basil the Great, Bishop of Cæsarea (c. 329/30 - 379 A.D.):

The type is an exhibition of things expected, and gives an imitative anticipation of the future. So Adam was a type of “Him that was to come.” 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF2, Vol. VIII, De Spiritu Sancto, XIV.31). Here


Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa (c. 335 - 395 A.D.):

Indeed, it would be no longer an “image,” if it were altogether identical with that other;

(Philip Schaff, NPNF2, Vol. V, On the Soul and the Resurrection). Here


Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (c. 340-397 A.D.):

First, therefore, the shadow preceded, the image followed, the truth will be. The shadow in the Law, the image in the Gospel, the truth in heaven. …And He indeed assists us before the Father as our Advocate: but now we see Him not; then we shall see Him, when the image shall pass away, when the truth shall come. 

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1882], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XIV, S. Ambrosii, Enarratio In Psalmum XXXVIII, § 25, Col. 1101). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 216). Here


Ascend, therefore, O man, into heaven, and you shall see those things of which here there was a shadow or image. 

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1882], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XIV, S. Ambrosii, Enarratio In Psalmum XXXVIII, § 26, Col. 1102). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 216). Here


Marcus, Monk of Nitra (c. 4th Century A.D.):

Do not therefore, call types the truth.

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1864], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus LXV, S. Marci Eremitæ, De Melchisedech, Opusculum X, Caput. VIII, Col. 1132). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 217). Here


But where the thing itself is present, it is not called a type, but the truth.

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1864], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus LXV, S. Marci Eremitæ, De Melchisedech, Opusculum X, Caput. IX, Col. 1133). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 217). Here


John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople (c. 349 - 407 A.D.):

For this is then a sign, when the reality of which it is the sign is found with thee, that is, faith; since if thou have not this, the sign to thee has no longer the power of a sign, for what is it to be the sign of? or what the seal of, when there is nothing to be sealed? much as if you were to show one a purse with a seal to it, when there was nothing laid up within. ...For the reason of your receiving a sign was that you might seek diligently for that reality whereof you have the sign: so that if you had been sure of diligently seeking thereafter without it, then you had not needed it. 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. XI, The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans, Homily VIII. [Rom. IV. 1, 2.]). Here


The figure may not be far off from the truth; otherwise it were no figure: neither may it be even, and one with the truth; otherwise it would be the truth itself.

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1862], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus LI, S. Joannis Chrysostomi, Archiep. Constantinop., In Dictum Pauli, Nolo Vos Ignorare. Etc., § 4, Col. 248). Here Trans. (The Works of John Jewel, The Second Portion, ed. John Ayre, [Cambridge: Printed at the University Press, 1847], p. 594). Here

 

For as in the benefits the types went before and the substance followed,

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. XII, Homilies on First Corinthians, Homily XXIII.4 [1 Cor. ix. 24], Ver. 6). Here


Gaudentius, Bishop of Brescia (c. ? - 410 A.D.):

For a figure is not the truth, but an imitation of the truth. [Figura etenim non est veritas, sed imitatio veritatis.] 

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1845], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XX, S. Gaudentii, Sermo II. De Exodi Lectione Secundus, Col. 855). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 218). Here 


See Also:

But a figure is not the reality of the Lord's passion. For a figure is not the truth, but an imitation of the truth. For man too was made in the image of God, but was not therefore God.

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1845], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XX, S. Gaudentii, Sermo II. De Exodi Lectione Secundus, Col. 855). Here See (John Harrison, An Answer to Dr. Pusey's Challenge Respecting the Doctrine of the Real Presence, [London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1871], p. 100). Here

 

Jerome, of Stridon (c. 347 - 420 A.D.):

When I name a figurative speech, I mean, that the thing that is spoken is not true, but fashioned under the cloud of an allegory.

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1865], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus XXIII, S. Eusebii Hieronymi, Contra Rufinum, Lib. I., § 28, Col. 438). Here Trans. (The Works of John Jewel, The Second Portion, ed. John Ayre, [Cambridge: Printed at the University Press, 1847], p. 594). Here


Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia (c. 350 - 428 A.D.):

For this reason the blessed Paul said: "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do remember the Lords death till He come." He shows that when our Lord shall come from heaven, and make manifest the future life, and effect the resurrection of all of us—from which we shall become immortal in our bodies and immutable in our souls—the use of sacraments and symbols shall by necessity cease. Since we shall be in the reality itself, we shall be in no need of visible signs to remind us of the things that shall take place. 

(Alphonse Mingana, Woodbrooke Studies: Christian Documents in Syriac, Arabic, and Garshūni, Volume 6, [1933], Theodore of Mopsuestia, Commentary on the Lord's Prayer, Baptism and the Eucharist, Ch. 5, p. 72). Here and Online Here


Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (c. 354 - 430 A.D.):

For in the Jewish people was figured the Christian people. There a figure, here the truth; there a shadow, here the body: as the apostle says, “Now these things happened to them in a figure.”

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. VII, Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John, Tractate XI.8). Here


But what can be more absurd than that He should be called image in respect to Himself? 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, On the Holy Trinity, VII.1.2). Here


For a sign is a thing which, over and above the impression it makes on the senses, causes something else to come into the mind as a consequence of itself: as when we see a footprint, we conclude that an animal whose footprint this is has passed by; and when we see smoke, we know that there is fire beneath; and when we hear the voice of a living man, we think of the feeling in his mind; and when the trumpet sounds, soldiers know that they are to advance or retreat, or do whatever else the state of the battle requires. 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. 2, On Christian Doctrine, II.1.1). Here


Now, as to follow the letter, and to take signs for the things that are signified by them, is a mark of weakness and bondage. 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. 2, On Christian Doctrine, III.9.13). Here


…and hence may be understood what I call signs: those things, to wit, which are used to indicate something else.

(Philip Schaff, NPNF1, Vol. II, On Christian Doctrine, I.2.2). Here


Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus (c. 393 - 458/66 A.D.):

Compare then the image with the archetype, and you will see the likeness, for the type must be like the reality. 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF2, Vol. III, Theodoret, Dialogue II.—The Unconfounded. Orthodoxos and Eranistes). Here


Orth.—Tell me now; the mystic symbols which are offered to God by them who perform priestly rites, of what are they symbols? 

Eran.—Of the body and blood of the Lord. 

Orth.—Of the real body or not? 

Eran.—The real. 

Orth.—Good. For there must be the archetype of the image. So painters imitate nature and paint the images of visible objects. 

(Philip Schaff, NPNF2, Vol. III, Theodoret, Dialogue II.—The Unconfounded. Orthodoxos and Eranistes). Here


Haymo, Bishop of Halberstadt (c. ? - 853 A.D.):

That thing is no sign, of which the sign is, nor is anything called a sign of itself, but of another thing. And in general every sign, so far as it is perceived to be a sign, is different from that which it signifies.  

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1880], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus CXVIII, Haymonis Halberstatensis Episcopi, De Corpore Et Sanguine Domini, Col. 817). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 218). Here 


Adelmanus, Bishop of Bresse (c. 11th Century A.D.):

 

According to Adelmanus, Berengar of Tours (c. 999 - 1088 A.D.) taught that the Eucharist was:


…not the true body, nor the truth blood of Christ, but a certain figure and similitude [sed figuram quamdam et similitudinem].

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1853], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus CXLIII, Adelmanni Episcopi Brixiensis, Epist de Eucharistiæ Sacramento, Col. 1290). Here Trans. (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], p. 246). Here


Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux (c. 1090 - 1153 A.D.):

That the visible sign is as a ring, which is given not for itself or absolutely, but to invest and give possession of an estate made over to one. Many things (saith he) are done for their own sake, and many in reference to something else, and then they are called signs. A ring is given absolutely as a gift, and then it hath no other meaning: it is also given to make good an investiture or contract, and then it is a sign; so that he that receives it may say, ‘the ring is not worth much; it is what it signifies, the inheritance, I value.’ In this manner, when the passion of our Lord drew nigh, He took care that His disciples might be invested with His grace, that His invisible grace might be assured and given to them by a visible sign. To this end all sacraments are instituted, and to this the participation of the eucharist is appointed. 

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1854], Patrologiæ Latinæ, Tomus CLXXXIII, S. Bernardi Abbatis Claræ-Vallensis, In Coena A Domini Sermo [de baptismo, sacramento allaris, et ablutione pedum], § 2, Col. 271). Here Trans. (John Cosin, The History of Popish Transubstantiation, edited by John Sherren Brewer, [1840], pp. 181-182). Here 


Ending Note:

The Patristic writers often refer to the Lord's supper as being a Symbol, Image, Type, Antitype, Figure, Representation, Commemoration etc. of the body and blood of Christ. While it is acknowledged that they likely did not utilize the term "symbol" to denote the same limited meaning it does in the modern vernacular, the term most certainly did not confer the meaning of "literal, corporeal, carnal substance." As is clearly seen in the documentation above. A "symbol," by definition, cannot be, in a carnal sense, the thing symbolized, otherwise it is not a symbol. The Reformed position (and all other positions opposed to the Roman dogma of transubstantiation) does not deny that the bread and wine are really Christ's body and blood, the denial is that they are the Lord's body and blood in a carnal or corporeal sense.



~ Soli Deo Gloria



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