Society of Jesus

“ Let the Society continue in its efforts to bring to pagan nations and to heretics the light of truth, to imbue the youth of our times with virtue and learning, and to inculcate the teachings of the Angelical doctor in our schools of philosophy and [901] theology. Meantime, embracing this Society of Jesus, which is most beloved by Us, We impart to its Father General and his vicar and to all and each of its members our Apostolic benediction. ”

“ The man who quotes Jesus and His relation to society, as a justification of attendance upon numerous social functions, ought also to carry out the purpose of Jesus in bringing others to a better life; he ought also to lead the conversation to the same topics. If society sways any man from the right purposes of life, and he finds that he cannot breast its temptations he should remain out of it or increase his spiritual strength.
The Christian Society, composed of a body of persons associated for the common object of exploiting Jesus Christ and His principles, at first was almost wholly social. ”

“ The Society of Jesus, which was founded in the sixteenth century, laboring zealously to extend the glory of God among the youth under its charge, found no means so effectual in forming hearts to virtue and piety, as that of placing them under Mary's protection ”

“ He failed to show from the Gospel records that the conscious aim of Jesus's life was the formation of a Society of Humanity. He could find no text for his refrain 'L'Église, c'est moi.' Yet his insistence on the social side of Jesus's work has done more for Christian union than any theological utterance of the past third of a century. Here, at any rate, is common ground. ”

“ Outcast from the fellowship and privileges of so-called Churches of Christ many have been, who had yet the assurance in their own heart that by their attachment to Him they had entered into a more lasting fellowship and unspeakably higher privileges.
By this claim to be the Door, Jesus claims to be the Founder of the one permanent society of men. Through Him alone have men access to a position of security to association with all that is worthiest among men, to a never-failing life and a boundless freedom. ”

“ The religion of the kingdom is personal, individual; the fruits, the results, are familial, social. Jesus never failed to exalt the sacredness of the individual as contrasted with the community. But he also recognized that man develops his character by unselfish service; that he unfolds his moral nature in loving relations with his fellows.
By teaching that the kingdom is within, by exalting the individual, Jesus struck the deathblow of the old society in that he ushered in the new dispensation of true social righteousness. ”

“ It was quite natural, too, that the apostles should recognise all these communities as being in reality one community for fellowship of faith and love; it was the ecclesia, or assembly, or society of Jesus, the beginning of the church of Christ, as it soon came to be called. There was no elaborate organisation; nothing could have been simpler. Every Christian seems to have thought that as it would not be long before the Master came again, the wise and right thing to do was for His followers to hold together and witness Him to the world, until that great event took place. ”

“ We have brought down our history to the beginning of the eighteenth century, an epoch in which the power and greatness of the Society of Jesus had, by a gradual march, ascended to a point from which, following the law inherent in all human things, it could not but decline; for institutions, empires, and nations, have, as well as man himself, their successive periods of infancy, youth, manhood, old age, and decrepitude ”

“ You do not belong, he says, to Paul or to Apollos; we have no claim upon you; ye are not to be called by our name: you are God’s husbandry, and God’s building, not ours; we are but labourers in His service and ministers for your good. Therefore, see to it that you live as one society in Christ Jesus, discarding all divisions, factions, and party passions and watchwords, imbued with one spirit. It is a noble exhortation to unity of life and purpose ”

“ The office of each is necessary, for the apostles, like the Christians of subsequent epochs, must needs incarnate the principles of Jesus in the midst of different social forces They thus form one stage in successive approaches to that new society whose ideal Jesus set before humanity. ”

“ The rapid rise of the Society of Jesus in the various countries of Europe, naturally attracted the attention of all those whose aim was the acquisition of as much personal power as was possible, to the detriment of individual, family, and social rights, and who had reason to fear an influence that stood for human progress and equal rights to all. ”

“ The Society of Jesus is frequently charged with being responsible for the present irreligious condition of the Latin nations, of France in particular, because, having had the absolute control of education in the past, it did not train its pupils to resist the inroads of atheism and unbelief. ”

“ It was the act of the whole Society of Jesus.
Silent themselves, they did their best to persuade others to refrain from all criticism. One example will suffice. It was after the Pope's death when the ex-Jesuits at Fribourg held a funeral service in their collegiate Church of St. Nicholas. The whole city was present, and the preacher, Father Matzel, amid the sobs of the congregation uttered these words: "Friends! beloved Friends of our former Society! whoever and wherever you may be! If ever we have had the happiness to be of help and comfort to you by our labor in city or country ”

“ The institute of the society of Jesus, composed by a man held in honour by the universal church, which sanctifies holy men, has, by our predecessors of happy memory Paul III and Julius III, Paul IV, Gregory XIII and Gregory XIV, and Paul V, been diligently examined, approved, and often confirmed, and by them and nineteen others of our predecessors honoured with peculiar favours; has been publicly extolled by bishops, not only of this age but former ones, as extremely efficient in promoting the worship, honour, and glory of God, and eminently adapted to the salvation of souls ”

“ Almighty, everlasting God, I, N., albeit every way most unworthy in Thy holy sight, yet relying on Thine infinite pity and compassion, and impelled by the desire of serving Thee, in the presence of the most holy Virgin Mary, and before all Thine heavenly host, vow to Thy divine Majesty perpetual poverty, chastity, and obedience in the Society of Jesus, and promise that I will enter the same Society, to live in it perpetually, understanding all things according to the Constitutions of the Society. ”

“ He had witnessed all the horrors of the French Revolution, and now as he was nearing eternity — he was then eighty-five — he saw at his feet a group of men some of whom had already gained distinction in the world, but who at that moment, had only one ambition, that of being admitted into the Society of Jesus, which they hoped would be one day re-established. ”

“ Never, we perceive, would this primitive Church have formed a lasting society but for the great variety of germs deposited by Jesus in his teaching. It required more than a century for the true Christian Church—that which has converted the world—to disengage itself from this little sect of "latter-day saints," and to become a framework applicable to the whole of human society. ”

“ Although we cannot, and ought not, to openly show the good-will that we have for the Society of Jesus, who have received you, yet in the meanwhile if we cannot publicly favor them with our royal munificence, there may still be some place, room, or occasion wherein they might need our aid, and where we could contribute somewhat. ”

“ The society of Jesus was definitely organized and began its notable career in 1640, and although its members, the Jesuits, have given to history many wonderful examples of devotion and heroism, Jesuitry itself is synonymous with the extreme materialism to which the Roman Church resorted in its desperate defence against the Protestants. And on the other side, men became not less sensuous and worldly, giving as good as they got. ”

“ Like ambition and the property instinct, the religious impulse may go wrong, and subject society to its distortions or tyranny. Jesus always stood for an ethical and social outcome of religion. He sought to harness the great power of religion to righteousness and love. With a mind so purely religious we might expect that he would make all earthly and social interests subservient to personal religion. The fact that he reversed it, seems clear proof that he was socially minded and that the Kingdom of God as a right social organism was the really vital thing to him. ”

“ Jesus did not establish a church; then why should any of his followers do what he did not even suggest, and besides, claim infallibility for what they have done? Certainly in human affairs organization is essential, but principles should be first of all, and instead of wasting time over dogmas and trivial rites and ceremonies, the church, as a society, should follow and imitate Jesus in doing the work he did. ”

“ The opportunity of realizing the social aims of Jesus, of organizing society upon the principles which he laid down, is offered to the young men and women of this generation. It will be open to them so to order the life of the church that in its democracy and its simplicity it shall represent Jesus Christ, and then to extend this life into industry and commerce and politics and art and social diversion, thus bringing all the kingdoms of this world into the kingdom of the Christ. ”

“ So Jesus took what material he had, peasants and fishermen, and created a new leadership. He flung them against existing society, knowing well that they would have to face opposition. In fact, they were destined, one by one, to go to death for their cause. He tells them not to mind a little thing like death, but to do their work and rally the people around the idea of the Reign of God.
Can the men and women who are today trying to rebuild human society on a basis of social justice and fraternity claim any right of succession in the sending of the Twelve? ”

“ One would think from the tone of conservatives, that Jesus accepted the society around him, as an adequate framework for individual development into beauty and life, instead of calling his disciples 'out of the world.' We maintain, on the other hand, that Christ desired to reörganize society, and went to a depth of principle and a magnificence of plan for this end, which has never been appreciated, except here and there, by an individual, still less been carried out. ”

“ But whatever we may think of single points, let us stick to the leading thought of Jesus, that every advance toward the Kingdom of God, that is, toward the true social order, involves a raising of the ethical standards accepted by society. ”

“ Chapter III. Standing With The People We have found two simple and axiomatic social principles in the fundamental convictions of Jesus: The sacredness of life and personality, and the spiritual solidarity of men. Now confront a mind mastered by these convictions with the actual conditions of society, with the contempt for life and the denial of social obligation existing, and how will he react? How will he see the duty of the strong, and his own duty? ”

“ It is admitted, indeed, by the Socinians, that the sacraments are of farther advantage to the whole society of Christians, as being the solemn badges by which the disciples of Jesus are discriminated from other men, and the appointed method of declaring that faith in Christ, by the public profession of which Christians minister to the improvement of one another. But in these two points, the moral effect upon the individual, and the advantage to society, is contained all that a Socinian holds concerning the general nature of the sacraments. ”

“ The teaching of Jesus dealt with three recalcitrant forces, which easily escape from the control of social duty and become a clog to spiritual progress: ambition for power and leadership, and the love of property, have been considered. How about religion? Is it a help or a hindrance in the progress of humanity? Opinions are very much divided today. No student of society can neglect religion as a social force. ”

“ In its turn this points to the possibility of a beginning and progressive social order here and now. Jesus in his double revelation of God to man and humanity to man inaugurated its historical life. If consciousness of sonship is possible for men, and moral development along both individual and social lines is made possible by man's very constitution; if Jesus could speak of his immediate disciples as enjoying the blessings of the kingdom [88] and as brethren with God as their father ”

“ In a word, Jesus concentrates his attention upon the period of development. And this is the same thing as saying that the nearest approach to a realization of a Christian society is to be found where the principles of his ideal society are most nearly expressed in the institutions and life of a people, where this divine sonship and the consequent human fraternity become facts, not the premises of a doctrinaire sociology. ”

“ He tells us that “all the Christian ages with one consent acknowledge the church to be a divine society”—human-divine, Catholics would say—“governed by divine law, established by Jesus Christ.”
Here we have, then, according to the author's own words, a society, established by a person, at a certain date, which has come down from that person to to-day. Men say that it has altered from its original. Two societies claim to be the original, the Baptist and the Catholic. ”