A Warning Meant for All

But perhaps this warning was meant for the Galatians alone. Suppose so. Then the other exhortations that follow in the same letter were meant for the Galatians alone too, such as: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be eager for empty glory, provoking one another, envying one another,” and so on. But if that alternative is absurd, and those commands were meant equally for all, then it follows that, just as the commands about conduct, so also the warnings about faith are meant equally for all. And just as it is unlawful for anyone to provoke or envy another, so it is equally unlawful for anyone to receive any gospel other than the one the catholic church preaches everywhere. [a]

Or perhaps the anathema pronounced on anyone who should preach a gospel other than the one that had been preached was meant for those times and not for the present. Then the exhortation, “Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh,” was also meant for those times and not for the present. But if it is both impious and ruinous to believe this, then it necessarily follows that, as these commands are to be kept by every age, so too those warnings that forbid altering the faith are meant for every age. Therefore, to preach any doctrine to catholic Christians other than what they have received never was lawful, never is lawful, and never will be lawful. And to pronounce anathema on those who preach anything other than what has once been received always was a duty, always is a duty, and always will be a duty. [b]

That being so, is there anyone either so bold as to preach any doctrine other than what the church preaches, or so fickle as to receive any doctrine other than what he has received from the church? That chosen vessel, that teacher of the Gentiles, that trumpet of the apostles, that preacher whose commission was to the whole earth, that man who was caught up to heaven, cries out again and again in his letters, to all, always, in every place: “If anyone preaches any new doctrine, let him be accursed.” On the other side, a short-lived, dying crowd of frogs, fleas, and flies, such as the Pelagians, call out in opposition, and to catholics at that: “Take our word for it, follow our lead, accept our interpretation. Condemn what you used to hold, and hold what you used to condemn. Cast aside the ancient faith, the institutions of your fathers, the trusts left to you by your ancestors, and receive instead—” Receive what? I tremble to say it. For it is so full of arrogance and self-conceit that it seems to me that not only affirming it, but even refuting it, cannot be done without some sort of guilt. [c]