8. Who, then, is so wicked and faithless, who is so insane with the madness of discord, that either he should believe that the unity of God can be divided, or should dare to rend it—the garment of the Lord—the Church of Christ? He Himself in His Gospel warns us, and teaches, saying, “And there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”26 John x. 16. And does any one believe that in one place there can be either many shepherds or many flocks? The Apostle Paul, moreover, urging upon us this same unity, beseeches and exhorts, saying, “I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you; but that ye be joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”27 1 Cor. i. 10. And again, he says, “Forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”28 Eph. iv. 3. Do you think that you can stand and live if you withdraw from the Church, building for yourself other homes and a different dwelling, when it is said to Rahab, in whom was prefigured the Church, “Thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all the house of thy father, thou shalt gather unto thee into thine house; and it shall come to pass, whosoever shall go abroad beyond the door of thine house, his blood shall be upon his own head?”29 Josh. ii. 19. Also, the sacrament of the passover contains nothing else in the law of the Exodus than that the lamb which is slain in the figure of Christ should be eaten in one house. God speaks, saying, “In one house shall ye eat it; ye shall not send its flesh abroad from the house.”30 Ex. xii. 46. The flesh of Christ, and the holy of the Lord, cannot be sent abroad, nor is there any other home to believers but the one Church. This home, this household31 “Hospitium.” of unanimity, the Holy Spirit designates and points out in the Psalms, saying, “God, who maketh men to dwell with one mind in a house.”32 Ps. lxviii. 6. In the house of God, in the Church of Christ, men dwell with one mind, and continue in concord and simplicity.
VIII. Quis ergo sic est sceleratus et perfidus, quis sic discordiae furore vesanus, ut aut credat scindi posse aut audeat scindere unitatem Dei, vestem Domini, Ecclesiam Christi? Monet ipse in Evangelio 0505C suo et docet dicens: Et erit unus grex et unus pastor (Joan. X, 16). Et esse posse uno in loco aliquis existimat aut multos pastores aut plures greges? Apostolus item Paulus, hanc eamdem nobis insinuans unitatem, obsecrat et hortatur dicens: Obsecro, inquit, vos, fratres, per nomen Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ut id ipsum dicatis omnes, et non sint in vobis schismata. 0506ASitis autem compositi in eodem sensu et in eadem sententia (I Cor. I, 10). Et iterum dicit: Sustinentes invicem in dilectione, satis agentes servare unitatem spiritus in conjunctione pacis (Ephes. IV, 2, 3). Stare tu et vivere putas posse de Ecclesia recedentem, sedes sibi alias et diversa domicilia condentem, cum dictum sit ad Rahab, in qua praeformabatur Ecclesia: Patrem tuum et matrem tuam et fratres tuos et totam domum patris tui colliges ad te ipsam in domum tuam, et omnis qui exierit ostium domus tuae foras, reus sibi erit (Josue II, 18, 19). Item sacramentum Paschae nihil aliud in Exodi lege contineat quam ut agnus, qui in figura Christi occiditur, in domo una edatur. Loquitur Deus dicens: In domo una comedetur, non ejicietis de domo carnem foras (Exod. XII, 46). Caro 0506B Christi et sanctum Domini ejici foras non potest, nec alia ulla credentibus praeter unam Ecclesiam domus est. Hanc domum, hoc unanimitatis hospitium designat et denuntiat Spiritus sanctus in Psalmis dicens: Deus qui inhabitare facit unanimes in domo (Psal. LXVII, 7). In domo Dei, in Ecclesia Christi, unanimes habitant, concordes et simplices perseverant.