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11 Whose mouth must be stopped A good pastor ought therefore to be on the watch, so as not to give silent permission to wicked and dangerous doctrines to make gradual progress, or to allow wicked men an opportunity of spreading them. But it may be asked, “How is it possible for a bishop to constrain obstinate and self-willed men to be silent? For such persons, even though they are vanquished in argument, still do not hold their peace; and it frequently happens that, the more manifestly they are refuted and vanquished, they become the more insolent; for not only is their malice strengthened and inflamed, but they give themselves up to indolence.” I reply, when they have been smitten down by the sword of God’s word, and overwhelmed by the force of the truth, the Church may command them to be silent; and if they persevere, they may at least be banished from the society of believers, so that they shall have no opportunity of doing harm. ²²⁷²²⁷     “If we mark such persons, and point them out with the finger, everybody will avoid them, and thus they will be prevented from doing harm This its what Paul had in his eye. Following his example, when we see people who can do nothing but contrive measures for disturbing and ruining the Church, and who are altogether addicted to evil, it is true that, if we can bring them back in a gentle manner to the right path, we should endeavor to do so. But if they persist, and if we perceive that they are obstinate in their malice, we must not be wiser than the Holy Spirit. They must be known, they must be exposed, and their baseness must be held up to public view, that they may be abhorred, and that others may withdraw from them, as we have formerly seen in other passages. As for those who murmur when we make use of such liberty, they shew plainly that they aim at nothing but confusion in the Church. They do indeed make a show of having some regard to humanity. ‘And must we degrade people, and hold them up to scorn, as if we wished to put them to shame?’ We answer, Must we leave the poor Church of God in the power of wolves and robbers? Must all the flock be scattered, the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ trampled under foot, and souls which he has redeemed at so costly a price go to perdition, and all order be set aside; and must we nevertheless be silent and shut our eyes?”—Fr. Ser. Yet by “shutting the mouth” Paul simply means — “to refute their vain talking,” even though they should not cease to make a noise; for he who is convicted by the word of God, however he may chatter, has nothing to say.

Who overturn whole houses. If the faith of one individual were in danger of being overturned, (for we are speaking of the perdition of a single soul redeemed by the blood of Christ) the pastor should immediately gird himself for the combat; how much less tolerable is it to see whole houses overturned?

Teaching things which they ought not. The manner in which they were overturned is described in these words. Hence we may infer how dangerous it is to make even the smallest departure from sound doctrine; for he does not say that the doctrines, by which they overturned the faith of many, were openly wicked; but we may understand by this designation every kind of corruptions, when there is a turning aside from the desire of edification. Thus it is in reality, that, amidst so great weakness of the flesh, we are exceedingly prone to fall; and hence it arises, that Satan easily and speedily destroys, by his ministers, what godly teachers had reared with great and long-continued toil.

He next points out the source of the evil, a desire of dishonest gain; by which he reminds us how destructive a plague avarice is in teachers; for, as soon as they give themselves up to the pursuit of gain, they must labor to obtain the favor and countenance of men. This is quickly followed by the corruption of pure doctrine.