"In that case God alone can pardon, or one who has received power from Him to do so. We read that Jesus Christ alone has that power, and this furnishes a convincing proof of His divinity. His enemies were wiser than they were aware of, when they said, 'Who can forgive sins, but God only?'"
"But the Church has received the power through St. Peter, along with the keys."
"Keys signify, in the spiritual sense, no other power than that of intelligence. We say, the key of the mystery, the key of the business, the key to an enigma, or to a cipher, or to characters. Therefore Christ, when he speaks of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, means us to understand, knowledge and intelligence in heavenly things, or in the essentials of the Church. By the words, 'Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,'[109] you understand binding and loosing, pardoning and the reverse. Well then, if such be the sense of the passage, the sins that are to be pardoned are those which we commit against each other; and it was with reference to our duty on such occasions that Peter asked of Christ, 'Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?'[110] If therefore I offend you, Father Borg, (which I would not willingly do, if conscious of it,) and confess the evil I have committed, it is your duty to forgive me."
"Your interpretation respecting 'the kingdom of heaven' is altogether new to me. Why should it be called the kingdom of heaven?"
"My good friend, it is the kingdom of heaven for which we supplicate the Lord, in the prayer which He has Himself given us, 'Thy kingdom come;' were it otherwise, we ought to say,—May we come into thy kingdom. And it is the same kingdom of which Christ speaks to His disciples, when He says to them: 'Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.'[111] Now here are the keys of the kingdom of heaven given to all the disciples; that is, to all believers. In fact, the privilege granted to Peter, was also granted to all the faithful alike. Christ says, 'Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.'[112] But to put the matter beyond doubt, the very same power of pardoning sins is given to all the disciples; 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.'[113] Do you imagine now that Jesus Christ at that time made so many penitentiaries of His disciples, or that He granted them the reserved cases in Bulla Cœnæ?"
"But St. Thomas Aquinas does not understand it in that way," observed Chiappa; "read his work."
"My dear master, it is better to read the Holy Scriptures," replied I; "in them only should we believe. I know quite enough of Thomas Aquinas; you yourself may remember how much time I wasted over his works! I am sorry I did. I feel myself now called upon to make up for it by giving my whole attention to the Holy Word; not only to counteract the impressions I formerly received, but what I have also taught to others, when I myself was blind and leading the blind. You refer me to Thomas Aquinas, and I refer you to the Bible."
"How! you reject the authority of the Angelic Doctor, he to whom the celebrated Crucifix spoke, saying, 'Thou hast written well of me, Thomas.' You dare to contradict him! and make your appeal to the Bible! None studied it more than he did, none understood it so fully. Do you pretend to say that you know it better?"
"But," said I to him, "you are now going upon another question. I think it would be as well to settle the original one first."
"I cannot argue," replied he, "with one who doubts such authority. You know what Pope John XX. said of Thomas Aquinas: that whoever departed from his doctrine, semper fuit de veritate suspectus." So saying, up rose Father Chiappa, and abruptly left the room.