Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/608

 592 INTELLECT AND FAITH. need the light of glory to elevate him to the sight of God — thus only by implication admitting that with the light of glory the soul is fitted to enjoy the Beatific Vision. When and how the dogma spread that the souls of the just are admitted at once to the presence of God does not appear, but it seems to have become generally accepted without any definite expression of approba- tion by the Holy See. In October, 1326, John XXII. treats as a heresy to be extirpated among the Greeks the belief that the saints will not enter paradise until the Day of Judgment, but not long afterwards he changed his mind, and his pride in his theological skill and learning would not let him rest until he had forced Christendom to change with him. He expressed his doubts as to the truth of the new dogma and indicated an intention of openly condemning it. His temper rendered opposition perilous, and none of the cardinals and doctors of the papal court dared to discuss it with him until, in 1331, an English Dominican, Thomas W alleys, in a sermon preached before him, boldly maintained the popular opinion and invoked the divine malediction on all who asserted the contrary. John's wrath burst forth. Galleys was seized and tried by the Inquisition, cast into jail and almost starved to death, when Philippe de Yalois intervened and procured his liberation. Having thus silenced his opponents, John proceeded to declare his opinions publicly. In the Advent of 1331 he preached several sermons in which he asserted that the saints in heaven will not have distinct vision of the Divine Essence before the Resurrection of the body and the Day of Judgment, until which time they will only see the humanity of Christ. " I know," he said, " that some persons murmur because we hold this opinion, but I cannot do otherwise." * It shows the peculiar condition of the human mind engendered by the persecution of heresy that this was a political event of the gravest importance. "VYe have seen how much stress was laid, in the quarrel between the empire and papacy, upon John's innova- Chron. Citicens. (Pistor. I. 1207. 1210).— Gob. Person. Cosmodr. ^Et. vi. c. 71.— D'Argentre I. I. 315 sqq.— P. deHerenthals Vit. Joann. XXII. ann. 1333 (Mura- tori S. R. I. III. ii. 501).— Guill. Nangiac. Contin. ann. 1331.— Villani, X. 226.— Chron. Glassberger ann. 1331.
 * C. 3, Clem. v. iii. — Ripoll II. 172.— "Wadding, ami. 1331, No. 5.— Paul Lang.