A.D. 1176. EXAMINATION OF THE ALBIGENSES. 403 Btruction of the flesh.'88 And, ' Absent I have judged as though present, concerning him that hath so done this deed.'6 9 And again, 'I f any man preach any other Gospel unto you'than that ye have received, let him be accursed.' " 7 0 In the seventh place, the above-named bishop questioned them upon repentance, if it could take place at the last moment, unto salvation, or whether soldiers who had received a fatal wound could be saved if they repented at the last moment : or if each ought to confess his sins to the priests and ministers of the Church, or to any one of the laity, or to those of whom Saint James has said : " Confess' your faults one to another;"7 1 to which they made answer, and said, that it was sufficient for the sick if they confessed to whom they pleased ; but that, as to soldiers, they were unwilling to say, as Saint James speaks only of the sick. He also asked them if contrition of the heart and confession by the lips were alone sufficient, or if it was necessary to make atonement after repentance [by confession], by fasting, alms-giving, and mortification, thus bewailing their sins, if they had the means of so doing. To this they made answer, saying that the words of Saint James were : " Confess your faults one to another, that ye may be healed :" by which they understood that the Apostle commanded nothing else but that they should confess, and so should be healed ; and that they had no wish to be wiser than the Apostle, so as to add anything of their own, as the bishops did. To this the heretics added, that the bishop who had given judgment was the heretic and not they, that he was an enemy to them, a ravening wolf, a hypocrite, and an enemy to God, and that he had not given a righteous judgment ; that they were not willing to make answer on their faith, because they were on their guard against him, in obe •dience to what our Lord had commanded in the Gospel, " Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves ;" 7 i and that he was a fraudulent persecutor of them, and they were prepared to show by the Gospels and the Epistles, that he was not a good shepherd, neither he nor the other bishops and priests, but, on the contrary, were hirelings. To this the bishop made answer and said, that the judgment 8 8 1 Cor. v. 5. "ICar.v . 3. » Gal. i. 9. St. James v. 16. r ' Malt. vii. 15. VOL. I. ρ j