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| (1) «Conclusit ora leonum, et non nocuerunt michi: quia coram eo iustitia inventa est in me». In principio huius operis propositum fuit de tribus questionibus, prout materia pateretur, inquirere; de quarum duabus primis in superioribus libris, ut credo, sufficienter peractum est. | (1) "He shut the lions' mouths, and they did not harm me, for in his sight righteousness was found in me." At the beginning of this work it was proposed to inquire into three questions, within the limits allowed by the subject-matter; the first two of them have been dealt with sufficiently, I believe, in the previous books. | |
| (2) Nunc autem de tertia restat agendum: cuius quidem veritas, quia sine rubore aliquorum emergere nequit, forsitan alicuius indignationis in me causa erit. | (2) Now it remains to deal with the third, the truth of which cannot be brought to light without putting certain people to shame, and will therefore perhaps be a cause of some resentment against me. | |
| (3) Sed quia de trono inmutabili suo Veritas deprecatur, Salomon etiam silvam Proverbiorum ingrediens meditandam veritatem, impium detestandum in se facturo nos docet, ac preceptor morum Phylosophus familiaria destruenda pro veritate suadet; assumpta fiducia de verbis Danielis premissis, in quibus divina potentia clipeus defensorum veritatis astruitur, iuxta monitionem Pauli fidei loricam induens, in calore carbonis illius quem unus de Seraphin accepit de altari celesti et tetigit labia Ysaie, gignasium presens ingrediar, et in brachio Illius qui nos de potestate tenebrarum liberavit in sanguine suo impium atque mendacem de palestra, spectante mundo, eiciam. | (3) But since truth from its unchangeable throne implores us, and Solomon too, entering the forest of Proverbs, teaches us by his own example to meditate on truth and loathe wickedness; and since our authority on morals, Aristotle, urges us to destroy what touches us closely for the sake of maintaining truth; then having taken heart from the words of Daniel cited above, in which divine power is said to be a shield of the defenders of truth, and putting on "the breast-plate of faith" as Paul exhorts us, afire with that burning coal which one of the seraphim took from the heavenly altar to touch Isaiah's lips, I shall enter the present arena, and, by his arm who freed us from the power of darkness with his blood, before the eyes of the world I shall cast out the wicked and the lying from the ring. | |
| (4) «Quid timeam, cum Spiritus Patri et Filio coecternus aiat per os David: In memoria ecterna erit iustus, ab auditione mala non timebit»? | (4) What should I fear, when the Spirit who is coeternal with the Father and the Son says through the mouth of David: "the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance and shall not be afraid of ill report"? | |
| (5) Questio igitur presens, de qua inquisitio futura est, inter duo luminaria magna versatur: romanum scilicet Pontificem et romanum Principem; et queritur utrum auctoritas Monarche romani, qui de iure Monarcha mundi est, ut in secundo libro probatum est, inmediate a Deo dependeat an ab aliquo Dei vicario vel ministro, quem Petri successorem intelligo, qui vere claviger est regni celorum. | (5) The present question, therefore, which we are now to investigate, concerns the "two great lights", that is the Roman Pope and the Roman Prince; and the point at issue is whether the authority of the Roman monarch, who is monarch of the world by right, as was proved in the second book, derives directly from God or else from some vicar or minister of God, by which I mean Peter's successor, who assuredly holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven. | |