Authors/Augustine/City of God/City of God Book XXI

ON THE CITY OF GOD, BOOK XXI

Introduction
Chapter 1 Of the Order of the Discussion, Which Requires that We First Speak of the Eternal Punishment of the Lost in Company with the Devil, and Then of the Eternal Happiness of the Saints
Chapter 2 Whether It is Possible for Bodies to Last for Ever in Burning Fire
Chapter 3 Whether Bodily Suffering Necessarily Terminates in the Destruction of the Flesh
Chapter 4 Examples from Nature Proving that Bodies May Remain Unconsumed and Alive in Fire
Chapter 5 That There are Many Things Which Reason Cannot Account For, and Which are Nevertheless True
Chapter 6 That All Marvels are Not of Nature's Production, But that Some are Due to Human Ingenuity and Others to Diabolic Contrivance
Chapter 7 That the Ultimate Reason for Believing Miracles is the Omnipotence of the Creator
Chapter 8 That It is Not Contrary to Nature That, in an Object Whose Nature is Known, There Should Be Discovered an Alteration of the Properties Which Have Been Known as Its Natural Properties
Chapter 9 Of Hell, and the Nature of Eternal Punishments
Chapter 10 Whether the Fire of Hell, If It Be Material Fire, Can Burn the Wicked Spirits, that is to Say, Devils, Who are Immaterial
Chapter 11 Whether It is Just that the Punishments of Sins Last Longer Than the Sins Themselves Lasted
Chapter 12 Of the Greatness of the First Transgression, on Account of Which Eternal Punishment is Due to All Who are Not Within the Pale of the Saviour's Grace
Chapter 13 Against the Opinion of Those Who Think that the Punishments of the Wicked After Death are Purgatorial
Chapter 14 Of the Temporary Punishments of This Life to Which the Human Condition is Subject
Chapter 15 That Everything Which the Grace of God Does in the Way of Rescuing Us from the Inveterate Evils in Which We are Sunk, Pertains to the Future World, in Which All Things are Made New
Chapter 16 The Laws of Grace, Which Extend to All the Epochs of the Life of the Regenerate
Chapter 17 Of Those Who Fancy that No Men Shall Be Punished Eternally
Chapter 18 Of Those Who Fancy That, on Account of the Saints' Intercession, Man Shall Be Damned in the Last Judgment
Chapter 19 Of Those Who Promise Impunity from All Sins Even to Heretics, Through Virtue of Their Participation of the Body of Christ
Chapter 20 Of Those Who Promise This Indulgence Not to All, But Only to Those Who Have Been Baptized as Catholics, Though Afterwards They Have Broken Out into Many Crimes and Heresies
Chapter 21 Of Those Who Assert that All Catholics Who Continue in the Faith Even Though by the Depravity of Their Lives They Have Merited Hell Fire, Shall Be Saved on Account of the "Foundation" Of Their Faith
Chapter 22 Of Those Who Fancy that the Sins Which are Intermingled with Alms-Deeds Shall Not Be Charged at the Day of Judgment
Chapter 23 Against Those Who are of Opinion that the Punishment Neither of the Devil Nor of Wicked Men Shall Be Eternal
Chapter 24 Against Those Who Fancy that in the Judgment of God All the Accused Will Be Spared in Virtue of the Prayers of the Saints
Chapter 25 Whether Those Who Received Heretical Baptism, and Have Afterwards Fallen Away to Wickedness of Life; Or Those Who Have Received Catholic Baptism, But Have Afterwards Passed Over to Heresy and Schism; Or Those Who Have Remained in the Catholic Church in Which They Were Baptized, But Have Continued to Live Immorally,-May Hope Through the Virtue of the Sacraments for the Remission of Eternal Punishment
Chapter 26 What It is to Have Christ for a Foundation, and Who They are to Whom Salvation as by Fire is Promised
Chapter 27 Against the Belief of Those Who Think that the Sins Which Have Been Accompanied with Almsgiving Will Do Them No Harm

Latin	Latin
BOOK XXI []	The City of God (Book XXI) Argument-Of the end reserved for the city of the devil, namely, the eternal punishment of the damned; and of the arguments which unbelief brings against it.
BOOK XXI [I] Cum per Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum, iudicem vivorum atque mortuorum, ad debitos fines ambae peruenerint civitates, quarum est una Dei, altera diaboli, cuius modi supplicium sit futurum diaboli et omnium ad eum pertinentium, in hoc libro nobis, quantum ope divina valebimus, diligentius disputandum est. Ideo autem hunc tenere ordinem malui, et postea disseram de felicitate sanctorum, quoniam utrumque cum corporibus erit et incredibilius videtur esse in aeternis corpora durare cruciatibus quam sine dolore ullo in aeterna beatitudine permanere; ac per hoc cum illam poenam non debere esse incredibilem demonstravero, adivuabit me plurimum, ut multo facilius omni carens molestia inmortalitas corporis in sanctis futura credatur. Nec a divinis ordo iste abhorret eloquiis, ubi aliquando quidem bonorum beatitudo prius ponitur, ut est illud: Qui bona fecerunt, in resurrectionem vitae; qui autem mala egerunt, in resurrectionem iudicii; sed aliquando et posterius, ut est: Mittet filius hominis angelos suos, et colligent de regno eius omnia scandala et mittent in caminum ignis ardentem; illic erit fletus et stridor dentium; tunc iusti fulgebunt sicut sol in regno Patris sui, et illud: Sic ibunt isti in supplicium aeternum, iusti autem in vitam aeternam, et in prophetis, quod commemorare longum est, nunc ille, nunc iste ordo, si quis inspiciat, invenitur. Sed ego istum qua causa elegerim, dixi.	I Propose, with such ability as God may grant me, to discuss in this book more thoroughly the nature of the punishment which shall be assigned to the devil and all his retainers, when the two cities, the one of God, the other of the devil, shall have reached their proper ends through Jesus Christ our Lord, the Judge of quick and dead. And I have adopted this order, and preferred to speak, first of the punishment of the devils, and afterwards of the blessedness of the saints, because the body partakes of either destiny; and it seems to be more incredible that bodies endure in everlasting torments than that they continue to exist without any pain in everlasting felicity. Consequently, when I shall have demonstrated that that punishment ought not to be incredible, this will materially aid me in proving that which is much more credible, viz., the immortality of the bodies of the saints which are delivered from all pain. Neither is this order out of harmony with the divine writings, in which sometimes, indeed, the blessedness of the good is placed first, as in the words, "They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment;" John 5:29 but sometimes also last, as, "The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things which offend, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth, Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of His Father;" Matthew 13:41-43 and that, "These shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." Matthew 25:46 And though we have not room to cite instances, any one who examines the prophets will find that they adopt now the one arrangement and now the other. My own reason for following the latter order I have given.
BOOK XXI [II] Quid igitur ostendam, unde conuincantur increduli, posse humana corpora animata atque viventia non solum numquam morte dissolvi, sed in aeternorum quoque ignium durare tormentis? Nolunt enim hoc ad Omnipotentis nos referre potentiam, sed aliquo exemplo persuaderi sibi flagitant. Quibus si respondebimus esse animalia profecto corruptibilia, quia mortalia, quae tamen in mediis ignibus vivant; nonnullum etiam genus vermium in aquarum calidarum scaturrigine reperiri, quarum feruorem nemo inpune contrectat; illos autem non solum sine ulla sui laesione ibi esse, sed extra esse non posse: aut nolunt credere, si ostendere non valemus; aut, si valuerimus sive oculis demonstrare res ipsas sive per testes idoneos edocere, non satis esse hoc ad exemplum rei, de qua quaestio est, eadem infidelitate contendent, quia haec animalia nec semper vivunt et in illis feruoribus sine doloribus vivunt; suae quippe naturae convenientibus uegetantur illis, non cruciantur elementis; quasi non incredibilius sit uegetari quam cruciari talibus rebus. Mirabile est enim dolere in ignibus et tamen vivere, sed mirabilius vivere in ignibus nec dolere. Si autem hoc creditur, cur non et illud?	What, then, can I adduce to convince those who refuse to believe that human bodies, animated and living, can not only survive death, but also last in the torments of everlasting fires? They will not allow us to refer this simply to the power of the Almighty, but demand that we persuade them by some example. If, then, we reply to them, that there are animals which certainly are corruptible, because they are mortal, and which yet live in the midst of flames; and likewise, that in springs of water so hot that no one can put his hand in it with impunity a species of worm is found, which not only lives there, but cannot live elsewhere; they either refuse to believe these facts unless we can show them, or, if we are in circumstances to prove them by ocular demonstration or by adequate testimony, they contend, with the same scepticism, that these facts are not examples of what we seek to prove, inasmuch as these animals do not live for ever, and besides, they live in that blaze of heat without pain, the element of fire being congenial to their nature, and causing it to thrive and not to suffer,-just as if it were not more incredible that it should thrive than that it should suffer in such circumstances. It is strange that anything should suffer in fire and yet live, but stranger that it should live in fire and not suffer. If, then, the latter be believed, why not also the former?
BOOK XXI [III] Sed nullum est, inquiunt, corpus, quod dolere possit nec possit mori. Et hoc unde scimus? Nam de corporibus quis certus est daemonum, utrum in eis doleant, quando se affligi magnis cruciatibus confitentur? Quod si respondetur terrenum corpus solidum scilicet atque conspicuum nullum esse, atque ut uno potius nomine id explicem, nullam esse carnem, quae dolere possit morique non possit: quid aliud dicitur, nisi quod sensu corporis homines et experientia collegerunt? Nullam namque carnem nisi mortalem sciunt; et haec est eorum tota ratio, ut, quod experti non sunt, nequaquam esse posse arbitrentur. Nam cuius rationis est dolorem facere mortis argumentum, cum vitae potius sit indicium? Etsi enim quaerimus, utrum semper possit vivere: certum tamen est vivere omne quod dolet doloremque omnem nisi in re vivente esse non posse. Necesse est ergo ut vivat dolens, non est necesse ut occidat dolor, quia nec corpora ista mortalia et utique moritura omnis dolor occidit, et ut dolor aliquis possit occidere, illa causa est, quoniam sic est anima conexa huic corpori, ut summis doloribus cedat atque discedat; quoniam et ipsa compago membrorum atque vitalium sic infirma est, ut eam vim, quae magnum vel summum dolorem facit, non valeat sustinere. Tunc autem tali corpori anima et eo conectetur modo, ut illud vinculum, sicut nulla temporis longitudine soluetur, ita nullo dolore rumpatur. Proinde etiamsi caro nunc talis nulla est, quae sensum doloris perpeti possit mortemque non possit: erit tamen tunc talis caro, qualis nunc non est, sicut talis erit et mors qualis nunc non est. Non enim nulla, sed sempiterna mors erit, quando nec vivere anima poterit Deum non habendo nec doloribus corporis carere moriendo. Prima mors animam nolentem pellit e corpore, secunda mors animam nolentem tenet in corpore; ab utraque morte communiter id habetur, ut quod non uult anima de suo corpore patiatur. Adtendunt autem isti contradictores nullam esse nunc carnem, quae dolorem pati possit mortemque non possit, et non adtendunt esse tamen aliquid tale quod corpore maius sit. Ipse quippe animus, cuius praesentia corpus vivit et regitur, et dolorem pati potest et mori non potest. Ecce inventa res est, quae, cum sensum doloris habeat, inmortalis est. Hoc igitur erit tunc etiam in corporibus damnatorum, quod nunc esse scimus in animis omnium. Si autem consideremus diligentius, dolor, qui dicitur corporis, magis ad animam pertinet. Animae est enim dolere, non corporis, etiam quando ei dolendi causa existit a corpore, cum in eo loco dolet, ubi laeditur corpus. Sicut ergo dicimus corpora sentientia et corpora viventia, cum ab anima sit corpori sensus et vita: ita corpora dicimus et dolentia, cum dolor corpori nisi ab anima esse non possit. Dolet itaque anima cum corpore in eo loco eius, ubi aliquid contingit ut doleat; dolet et sola, quamvis sit in corpore, cum aliqua causa etiam inuisibili tristis est ipsa corpore incolumi; dolet etiam non in corpore constituta; nam utique dolebat dives ille apud inferos, quando dicebat: Crucior in hac flamma. Corpus autem nec exanime dolet nec animatum sine anima dolet. Si ergo a dolore argumentum recte sumeretur ad mortem, ut ideo mors possit accidere, quia potuit accidere et dolor, magis ad animam pertineret mori, ad quam magis pertinet et dolere. Cum vero illa, quae magis dolere potest, non possit mori, quid momenti affert cur illa corpora, quoniam futura sunt in doloribus, ideo etiam moritura esse credamus? Dixerunt quidem Platonici ex terrenis corporibus moribundisque membris esse animae et metuere et cupere et dolere atque gaudere; unde Vergilius: "Hinc, inquit, (id est ex moribundis terreni corporis membris) metuunt cupiuntque, dolent gaudentque." Sed conuicimus eos in duodecimo huius operis libro, habere animas secundum ipsos ab omni etiam corporis labe purgatas diram cupiditatem, qua rursus incipiunt in corpora velle reuerti. Vbi autem potest esse cupiditas, profecto etiam dolor potest. Frustrata quippe cupiditas, sive non perveniendo quo tendebat sive amittendo quo peruenerat, vertitur in dolorem. Quapropter si anima, quae vel sola vel maxime dolet, habet tamen quandam pro suo modo inmortalitatem suam, non ideo mori poterunt illa corpora, quia dolebunt. Postremo si corpora faciunt, ut animae doleant, cur eis dolorem possunt, mortem vero inferre non possunt, nisi quia non est consequens, ut mortem faciat quod dolorem facit? Cur ergo incredibile est ita ignes illis corporibus dolorem posse inferre, non mortem, sicut ipsa corpora dolere animas faciunt, quas tamen non ideo mori cogunt? Non est igitur necessarium futurae mortis argumentum dolor.	But, say they, there is no body which can suffer and cannot also die. How do we know this? For who can say with certainty that the devils do not suffer in their bodies, when they own that they are grievously tormented? And if it is replied that there is no earthly body-that is to say, no solid and perceptible body, or, in one word, no flesh-which can suffer and cannot die, is not this to tell us only what men have gathered from experience and their bodily senses? For they indeed have no acquaintance with any flesh but that which is mortal; and this is their whole argument, that what they have had no experience of they judge quite impossible. For we cannot call it reasoning to make pain a presumption of death, while, in fact, it is rather a sign of life. For though it be a question whether that which suffers can continue to live for ever, yet it is certain that everything which suffers pain does live, and that pain can exist only in a living subject. It is necessary, therefore, that he who is pained be living, not necessary that pain kill him; for every pain does not kill even those mortal bodies of ours which are destined to die. And that any pain kills them is caused by the circumstance that the soul is so connected with the body that it succumbs to great pain and withdraws; for the structure of our members and vital parts is so infirm that it cannot bear up against that violence which causes great or extreme agony. But in the life to come this connection of soul and body is of such a kind, that as it is dissolved by no lapse of time, so neither is it burst asunder by any pain. And so, although it be true that in this world there is no flesh which can suffer pain and yet cannot die, yet in the world to come there shall be flesh such as now there is not, as there will also be death such as now there is not. For death will not be abolished, but will be eternal, since the soul will neither be able to enjoy God and live, nor to die and escape the pains of the body. The first death drives the soul from the body against her will: the second death holds the soul in the body against her will. The two have this in common, that the soul suffers against her will what her own body inflicts.Our opponents, too, make much of this, that in this world there is no flesh which can suffer pain and cannot die; while they make nothing of the fact that there is something which is greater than the body. For the spirit, whose presence animates and rules the body, can both suffer pain and cannot die. Here then is something which, though it can feel pain, is immortal. And this capacity, which we now see in the spirit of all, shall be hereafter in the bodies of the damned. Moreover, if we attend to the matter a little more closely, we see that what is called bodily pain is rather to be referred to the soul. For it is the soul not the body, which is pained, even when the pain originates with the body,-the soul feeling pain at the point where the body is hurt. As then we speak of bodies feeling and living, though the feeling and life of the body are from the soul, so also we speak of bodies being pained, though no pain can be suffered by the body apart from the soul. The soul, then, is pained with the body in that part where something occurs to hurt it; and it is pained alone, though it be in the body, when some invisible cause distresses it, while the body is safe and sound. Even when not associated with the body it is pained; for certainly that rich man was suffering in hell when he cried, "I am tormented in this flame." Luke 16:24 But as for the body, it suffers no pain when it is soulless; and even when animate it can suffer only by the soul's suffering. If, therefore, we might draw a just presumption from the existence of pain to that of death, and conclude that where pain can be felt death can occur, death would rather be the property of the soul, for to it pain more peculiarly belongs. But, seeing that that which suffers most cannot die, what ground is there for supposing that those bodies, because destined to suffer, are therefore, destined to die? The Platonists indeed maintained that these earthly bodies and dying members gave rise to the fears, desires, griefs, and joys of the soul. "Hence," says Virgil (i.e., from these earthly bodies and dying members),"Hence wild desires and grovelling fears, And human laughter, human tears. "But in the fourteenth book of this work we have proved that, according to the Platonists' own theory, souls, even when purged from all pollution of the body, are yet pos sessed by a monstrous desire to return again into their bodies. But where desire can exist, certainly pain also can exist; for desire frustrated, either by missing what it aims at or losing what it had attained, is turned into pain. And therefore, if the soul, which is either the only or the chief sufferer, has yet a kind of immortality of its own, it is inconsequent to say that because the bodies of the damned shall suffer pain, therefore they shall die. In fine, if the body causes the soul to suffer, why can the body not cause death as well as suffering, unless because it does not follow that what causes pain causes death as well? And why then is it incredible that these fires can cause pain but not death to those bodies we speak of, just as the bodies themselves cause pain, but not therefore death, to the souls? Pain is therefore no necessary presumption of death.
BOOK XXI [IV] Quapropter si, ut scripserunt qui naturas animalium curiosius indagarunt, salamandra in ignibus vivit et quidam notissimi Siciliae montes, qui tanta temporis diuturnitate ac uetustate usque nunc ac deinceps flammis aestuant atque integri perseuerant, satis idonei testes sunt non omne, quod ardet, absumi et anima indicat non omne, quod dolere potest, posse etiam mori: quid adhuc a nobis rerum poscuntur exempla, quibus doceamus non esse incredibile, ut hominum corpora sempiterno supplicio punitorum et igne animam non amittant et sine detrimento ardeant et sine interitu doleant? Habebit enim tunc istam carnis substantia qualitatem ab illo inditam, qui tam miras et varias tot rebus indidit, quas videmus, ut eas, quia multae sunt, non miremur. Quis enim nisi Deus creator omnium dedit carni pauonis mortui ne putesceret? Quod cum auditu incredibile videretur, evenit ut apud Carthaginem nobis cocta apponeretur haec avis, de cuius pectore pulparum, quantum visum est, decerptum servari iussimus; quod post dierum tantum spatium, quanto alia caro quaecumque cocta putesceret, prolatum atque oblatum nihil nostrum offendit olfactum. Itemque repositum post dies amplius quam triginta idem quod erat inventum est, idemque post annum, nisi quod aliquantum corpulentiae siccioris et contractioris fuit. Quis paleae dedit vel tam frigidam vim, ut obrutas nives seruet, vel tam feruidam, ut poma inmatura maturet? De ipso igne mira quis explicet, quo quaeque adusta nigrescunt, cum ipse sit lucidus, et paene omnia, quae ambit et lambit, colore pulcherrimus decolorat atque ex pruna fulgida carbonem taeterrimum reddit? Neque id quasi regulariter definitum est; nam e contrario lapides igne candente percocti et ipsi fiunt candidi, et quamvis magis ille rubeat, illi albicent, congruit tamen luci quod album est, sicut nigrum tenebris. Cum itaque ignis in lignis ardeat, ut lapides coquat, contrarios habet non in contrariis rebus effectus. Etsi enim lapides et ligna diversa sunt, contraria tamen non sunt, sicut album et nigrum, quorum in lapidibus unum facit, alterum in lignis, clarus illos clarificans, haec offuscans, cum in illis deficeret, nisi in istis viveret. Quid, in carbonibus nonne miranda est et tanta infirmitas, ut ictu levissimo frangantur, pressu facillimo conterantur, et tanta firmitas, ut nullo umore corrumpantur, nulla aetate vincantur, usque adeo ut eos substernere soleant, qui limites figunt, ad conuincendum litigatorem, quisquis post quantalibet tempora extiterit fixumque lapidem limitem non esse contenderit? Quis eos in terra umida infossos, ubi ligna putescerent, tamdiu durare incorruptibiliter posse nisi rerum ille corruptor ignis effecit? Intueamur etiam miraculum calcis. Excepto eo, de quo iam satis diximus, quod igne candicat, quo alia taetra redduntur, etiam occultissime ab igne ignem concipit eumque iam gleba tangentibus frigida tam latenter servat, ut nulli nostro sensui prorsus appareat, sed compertus experimento, etiam dum non apparet, sciatur inesse sopitus. Propter quod eam vivam calcem loquimur, velut ipse ignis latens anima sit inuisibilis visibilis corporis. Iam vero quam mirum est, quod, cum extinguitur, tunc accenditur! Vt enim occulto igne careat, aquae infunditur aquave perfunditur, et cum ante sit frigida, inde feruescit, unde feruentia cuncta frigescunt. Velut expirante ergo illa gleba discedens ignis, qui latebat, apparet, ac deinde tamquam morte sic frigida est, ut adiecta unda non sit arsura et quam calcem vocabamus vivam, vocemus extinctam. Quid est quod huic miraculo addi posse videatur? et tamen additur. Nam si non adhibeas aquam, sed oleum, quod magis fomes est ignis, nulla eius perfusione vel infusione feruescit. Hoc miraculum si de aliquo Indico lapide legeremus sive audiremus et in nostrum experimentum venire non posset, profecto aut mendacium putaremus aut certe granditer miraremur. Quarum vero rerum ante nostros oculos cotidiana documenta versantur, non genere minus mirabili, sed ipsa assiduitate vilescunt, ita ut ex ipsa India, quae remota est pars orbis a nobis, desierimus nonnulla mirari, quae ad nos potuerunt miranda perduci. Adamantem lapidem multi apud nos habent et maxime aurifices insignitoresque gemmarum, qui lapis nec ferro nec igni nec alia vi ulla perhibetur praeter hircinum sanguinem vinci. Sed qui eum habent atque noverunt, numquid ita mirantur ut hi, quibus primum potentia eius ostenditur? Quibus autem non ostenditur, fortasse nec credunt; aut si credunt, inexperta mirantur; et si contigerit experiri, adhuc quidem mirantur insolita, sed assiduitas experiendi paulatim subtrahit admirationis incitamentum. Magnetem lapidem novimus mirabilem ferri esse raptorem; quod cum primum vidi, uehementer inhorrui. Quippe cernebam a lapide ferreum anulum raptum atque suspensum; deinde tamquam ferro, quod rapuerat, vim dedisset suam communemque fecisset, idem anulus alteri admotus est eundemque suspendit, atque ut ille prior lapidi, sic alter anulus priori anulo cohaerebat; accessit eodem modo tertius, accessit et quartus; iamque sibi per mutua circulis nexis non implicatorum intrinsecus, sed extrinsecus adhaerentium quasi catena pependerat anulorum. Quis istam virtutem lapidis non stuperet, quae illi non solum inerat, verum etiam per tot suspensa transibat et inuisibilibus ea vinculis subligabat? Sed multo est mirabilius, quod a fratre et coepiscopo meo Seuero Milevitano de isto lapide comperi. Se ipsum namque vidisse narravit, quem ad modum Bathanarius quondam comes Africae, cum apud eum conuivaretur episcopus, eundem protulerit lapidem et tenuerit sub argento ferrumque super argentum posuerit; deinde sicut subter movebat manum, qua lapidem tenebat, ita ferrum desuper movebatur, atque argento medio nihilque patiente concitatissimo cursu ac recursu infra lapis ab homine, supra ferrum rapiebatur a lapide. Dixi quod ipse conspexi, dixi quod ab illo audivi, cui tamquam ipse viderim credidi. Quid etiam de isto magnete legerim dicam. Quando iuxta eum ponitur adamans, non rapit ferrum, et si iam rapuerat, ut ei propinquaverit, mox remittit. India mittit hos lapides; sed si eos nos cognitos iam desistimus admirari, quanto magis illi, a quibus veniunt, si eos facillimos habent, sic forsitan habent, ut nos calcem, quam miro modo aqua feruescentem, qua solet ignis extingui, et oleo non feruescentem, quo solet ignis accendi, quia in promptu nobis est, non miramur.	If, therefore, the salamander lives in fire, as naturalists have recorded, and if certain famous mountains of Sicily have been continually on fire from the remotest antiquity until now, and yet remain entire, these are sufficiently convincing examples that everything which burns is not consumed. As the soul too, is a proof that not everything which can suffer pain can also die, why then do they yet demand that we produce real examples to prove that it is not incredible that the bodies of men condemned to everlasting punishment may retain their soul in the fire, may burn without being consumed, and may suffer without perishing? For suitable properties will be communicated to the substance of the flesh by Him who has endowed the things we see with so marvellous and diverse properties, that their very multitude prevents our wonder. For who but God the Creator of all things has given to the flesh of the peacock its antiseptic property? This property, when I first heard of it, seemed to me incredible; but it happened at Carthage that a bird of this kind was cooked and served up to me, and, taking a suitable slice of flesh from its breast, I ordered it to be kept, and when it had been kept as many days as make any other flesh stinking, it was produced and set before me, and emitted no offensive smell. And after it had been laid by for thirty days and more, it was still in the same state; and a year after, the same still, except that it was a little more shrivelled, and drier. Who gave to chaff such power to freeze that it preserves snow buried under it, and such power to warm that it ripens green fruit?But who can explain the strange properties of fire itself, which blackens everything it burns, though itself bright; and which, though of the most beautiful colors, discolors almost all it touches and feeds upon, and turns blazing fuel into grimy cinders? Still this is not laid down as an absolutely uniform law; for, on the contrary, stones baked in glowing fire themselves also glow, and though the fire be rather of a red hue, and they white, yet white is congruous with light, and black with darkness. Thus, though the fire burns the wood in calcining the stones, these contrary effects do not result from the contrariety of the materials. For though wood and stone differ, they are not contraries, like black and white, the one of which colors is produced in the stones, while the other is produced in the wood by the same action of fire, which imparts its own brightness to the former, while it begrimes the latter, and which could have no effect on the one were it not fed by the other. Then what wonderful properties do we find in charcoal, which is so brittle that a light tap breaks it and a slight pressure pulverizes it, and yet is so strong that no moisture rots it, nor any time causes it to decay. So enduring is it, that it is customary in laying down landmarks to put charcoal underneath them, so that if, after the longest interval, any one raises an action, and pleads that there is no boundary stone, he may be convicted by the charcoal below. What then has enabled it to last so long without rotting, though buried in the damp earth in which [its original] wood rots, except this same fire which consumes all things?Again, let us consider the wonders of lime; for besides growing white in fire, which makes other things black, and of which I have already said enough, it has also a mysterious property of conceiving fire within it. Itself cold to the touch, it yet has a hidden store of fire, which is not at once apparent to our senses, but which experience teaches us, lies as it were slumbering within it even while unseen. And it is for this reason called "quick lime," as if the fire were the invisible soul quickening the visible substance or body. But the marvellous thing is, that this fire is kindled when it is extinguished. For to disengage the hidden fire the lime is moistened or drenched with water, and then, though it be cold before, it becomes hot by that very application which cools what is hot. As if the fire were departing from the lime and breathing its last, it no longer lies hid, but appears; and then the lime lying in the coldness of death cannot be requickened, and what we before called "quick," we now call "slaked." What can be stranger than this? Yet there is a greater marvel still. For if you treat the lime, not with water, but with oil, which is as fuel to fire, no amount of oil will heat it. Now if this marvel had been told us of some Indian mineral which we had no opportunity of experimenting upon, we should either have forthwith pronounced it a falsehood, or certainly should have been greatly astonished. But things that daily present themselves to our own observation we despise, not because they are really less marvellous, but because they are common; so that even some products of India itself, remote as it is from ourselves, cease to excite our admiration as soon as we can admire them at our leisure.The diamond is a stone possessed by many among ourselves, especially by jewellers and lapidaries, and the stone is so hard that it can be wrought neither by iron nor fire, nor, they say, by anything at all except goat's blood. But do you suppose it is as much admired by those who own it and are familiar with its properties as by those to whom it is shown for the first time? Persons who have not seen it perhaps do not believe what is said of it, or if they do, they wonder as at a thing beyond their experience; and if they happen to see it, still they marvel because they are unused to it, but gradually familiar experience [of it] dulls their admiration. We know that the loadstone has a wonderful power of attracting iron. When I first saw it I was thunderstruck, for I saw an iron ring attracted and suspended by the stone; and then, as if it had communicated its own property to the iron it attracted, and had made it a substance like itself, this ring was put near another, and lifted it up; and as the first ring clung to the magnet, so did the second ring to the first. A third and a fourth were similarly added, so that there hung from the stone a kind of chain of rings, with their hoops connected, not interlinking, but attached together by their outer surface. Who would not be amazed at this virtue of the stone, subsisting as it does not only in itself, but transmitted through so many suspended rings, and binding them together by invisible links? Yet far more astonishing is what I heard about this stone from my brother in the episcopate, Severus bishop of Milevis. He told me that Bathanarius, once count of Africa, when the bishop was dining with him, produced a magnet, and held it under a silver plate on which he placed a bit of iron; then as he moved his hand with the magnet underneath the plate, the iron upon the plate moved about accordingly. The intervening silver was not affected at all, but precisely as the magnet was moved backwards and forwards below it, no matter how quickly, so was the iron attracted above. I have related what I myself have witnessed; I have related what I was told by one whom I trust as I trust my own eyes. Let me further say what I have read about this magnet. When a diamond is laid near it, it does not lift iron; or if it has already lifted it, as soon as the diamond approaches, it drops it. These stones come from India. But if we cease to admire them because they are now familiar, how much less must they admire them who procure them very easily and send them to us? Perhaps they are held as cheap as we hold lime, which, because it is common, we think nothing of, though it has the strange property of burning when water, which is wont to quench fire, is poured on it, and of remaining cool when mixed with oil, which ordinarily feeds fire.
BOOK XXI [V] Verum tamen homines infideles, qui, cum divina vel praeterita vel futura miracula praedicamus, quae illis experienda non valemus ostendere, rationem a nobis earum flagitant rerum, quam quoniam non possumus reddere (excedunt enim vires mentis humanae), existimant falsa esse quae dicimus, ipsi de tot mirabilibus rebus, quas vel videre possumus vel videmus, debent reddere rationem. Quod si fieri ab homine non posse peruiderint, fatendum est eis non ideo aliquid non fuisse vel non futurum esse, quia ratio inde non potest reddi, quando quidem sunt ista, de quibus similiter non potest. Non itaque pergo per plurima, quae mandata sunt litteris, non gesta atque transacta, sed in locis quibusque manentia; quo si quisquam ire voluerit et potuerit, utrum vera sint, explorabit; sed pauca commemoro. Agrigentinum Siciliae salem perhibent, cum fuerit admotus igni, velut in aqua fluescere; cum vero ipsi aquae, velut in igne crepitare. Apud Garamantas quendam fontem tam frigidum diebus, ut non bibatur, tam feruidum noctibus, ut non tangatur. In Epiro alium fontem, in quo faces, ut in ceteris, extinguuntur accensae, sed, non ut in ceteris, accenduntur extinctae. Asbeston Arcadiae lapidem propterea sic vocari, quod accensus semel iam non possit extingui. Lignum cuiusdam ficus Aegyptiae, non ut ligna cetera in aquis natare, sed mergi; et, quod est mirabilius, cum in imo aliquamdiu fuerit, inde ad aquae superficiem rursus emergere, quando madefactum debuit umoris pondere praegrauari. Poma in terra Sodomorum gigni quidem et ad maturitatis faciem pervenire; sed morsu pressuue temptata in fumum ac favillam corio fatiscente uanescere. Pyriten lapidem Persicum tenentis manum, si uehementius prematur, adurere, propter quod ab igne nomen accepit. In eadem Perside gigni etiam lapidem seleniten, cuius interiorem candorem cum luna crescere atque deficere. In Cappadocia etiam vento equas concipere, eosdemque fetus non amplius triennio vivere. Tylon Indiae insulam eo praeferri ceteris terris, quod omnis arbor, quae in ea gignitur, numquam nudatur tegmine foliorum. De his atque aliis innumerabilibus mirabilibus, quae historia non factorum et transactorum, sed manentium locorum tenet, mihi autem aliud agenti ea persequi nimis longum est, reddant rationem, si possunt, infideles isti, qui nolunt divinis litteris credere; quid aliud quam non putantes eas esse divinas, eo quod res habeant incredibiles, sicuti hoc est unde nunc agimus. Non enim admittit, inquiunt, ulla ratio, ut caro ardeat neque absumatur, doleat neque moriatur; ratiocinatores videlicet magni, qui de omnibus rebus, quas esse mirabiles constat, possint reddere rationem. Reddant ergo de his, quae pauca posuimus, quae procul dubio si esse nescirent et ea futura esse diceremus, multo minus crederent, quam quod nunc dicentibus nobis nolunt credere aliquando venturum. Quis enim eorum nobis crederet, si, quem ad modum dicimus futura hominum viva corpora quae semper arsura atque dolitura nec tamen aliquando moritura sint, ita diceremus in futuro saeculo futurum salem, quem faceret ignis velut in aqua fluescere, eundemque faceret aqua velut in igne crepitare; aut futurum fontem, cuius aqua in refrigerio noctis sic ardeat, ut non possit tangi, in aestibus vero diei sic algeat, ut non possit bibi; aut futurum lapidem, vel eum qui suo calore manum constringentis adureret, vel eum qui undecumque accensus extingui omnino non posset, et cetera quae praetermissis aliis innumeris commemoranda interim duxi? Haec ergo in illo saeculo, quod futurum est, si diceremus futura nobisque increduli responderent: "Si uultis ut ea credamus, de singulis reddite rationem": nos non posse confiteremur, eo quod istis et similibus Dei miris operibus infirma mortalium ratiocinatio vinceretur; fixam tamen apud nos esse rationem, non sine ratione Omnipotentem facere, unde animus humanus infirmus rationem non potest reddere; et in multis quidem rebus incertum nobis esse quid velit, illud tamen esse certissimum, nihil eorum illi esse inpossibile, quaecumque voluerit; eique nos credere praedicenti, quem neque inpotentem neque mentientem possumus credere. Hi tamen fidei reprehensores exactoresque rationis quid ad ista respondent, de quibus ratio reddi ab homine non potest, et tamen sunt, et ipsi rationi naturae videntur esse contraria? Quae si futura esse diceremus, similiter a nobis, sicut eorum quae futura esse dicimus, ab infidelibus ratio posceretur. Ac per hoc, cum in talibus operibus Dei deficiat ratio cordis et sermonis humani, sicut ista non ideo non sunt, sic non ideo etiam illa non erunt, quoniam ratio de utrisque ab homine non potest reddi.	Nevertheless, when we declare the miracles which God has wrought, or will yet work, and which we cannot bring under the very eyes of men, sceptics keep demanding that we shall explain these marvels to reason. And because we cannot do so, inasmuch as they are above human comprehension, they suppose we are speaking falsely. These persons themselves, therefore, ought to account for all these marvels which we either can or do see. And if they perceive that this is impossible for man to do, they should acknowledge that it cannot be concluded that a thing has not been or shall not be because it cannot be reconciled to reason, since there are things now in existence of which the same is true. I will not, then, detail the multitude of marvels which are related in books, and which refer not to things that happened once and passed away, but that are permanent in certain places, where, if any one has the desire and opportunity, he may ascertain their truth; but a few only I recount. The following are some of the marvels men tell us:-The salt of Agrigentum in Sicily, when thrown into the fire, becomes fluid as if it were in water, but in the water it crackles as if it were in the fire. The Garamantж have a fountain so cold by day that no one can drink it, so hot by night no one can touch it. In Epirus, too, there is a fountain which, like all others, quenches lighted torches, but, unlike all others, lights quenched torches. There is a stone found in Arcadia, and called asbestos, because once lit it cannot be put out. The wood of a certain kind of Egyptian fig-tree sinks in water, and does not float like other wood; and, stranger still, when it has been sunk to the bottom for some time, it rises again to the surface, though nature requires that when soaked in water it should be heavier than ever. Then there are the apples of Sodom which grow indeed to an appearance of ripeness, but, when you touch them with hand or tooth, the peal cracks, and they crumble into dust and ashes. The Persian stone pyrites burns the hand when it is tightly held in it and so gets its name from fire. In Persia too, there is found another stone called selenite, because its interior brilliancy waxes and wanes with the moon. Then in Cappadocia the mares are impregnated by the wind, and their foals live only three years. Tilon, an Indian island, has this advantage over all other lands, that no tree which grows in it ever loses its foliage.These and numberless other marvels recorded in the history, not of past events, but of permanent localities, I have no time to enlarge upon and diverge from my main object; but let those sceptics who refuse to credit the divine writings give me, if they can, a rational account of them. For their only ground of unbelief in the Scriptures is, that they contain incredible things, just such as I have been recounting. For, say they, reason cannot admit that flesh burn and remain unconsumed, suffer without dying. Mighty reasoners, indeed, who are competent to give the reason of all the marvels that exist! Let them then give us the reason of the few things we have cited, and which, if they did not know they existed, and were only assured by us they would at some future time occur, they would believe still less than that which they now refuse to credit on our word. For which of them would believe us if, instead of saying that the living bodies of men hereafter will be such as to endure everlasting pain and fire without ever dying, we were to say that in the world to come there will be salt which becomes liquid in fire as if it were in water, and crackles in water as if it were in fire; or that there will be a fountain whose water in the chill air of night is so hot that it cannot be touched, while in the heat of day it is so cold that it cannot be drunk; or that there will be a stone which by its own heat burns the hand when tightly held, or a stone which cannot be extinguished if it has been lit in any part; or any of those wonders I have cited, while omitting numberless others? If we were to say that these things would be found in the world to come, and our sceptics were to reply, "If you wish us to believe these things, satisfy our reason about each of them," we should confess that we could not, because the frail comprehension of man cannot master these and such-like wonders of God's working; and that yet our reason was thoroughly convinced that the Almighty does nothing without reason, though the frail mind of man cannot explain the reason; and that while we are in many instances uncertain what He intends, yet that it is always most certain that nothing which He intends is impossible to Him; and that when He declares His mind, we believe Him whom we cannot believe to be either powerless or false. Nevertheless these cavillers at faith and exactors of reason, how do they dispose of those things of which a reason cannot be given, and which yet exist, though in apparent contrariety to the nature of things? If we had announced that these things were to be, these sceptics would have demanded from us the reason of them, as they do in the case of those things which we are announcing as destined to be. And consequently, as these present marvels are not non-existent, though human reason and discourse are lost in such works of God, so those things we speak of are not impossible because inexplicable; for in this particular they are in the same predicament as the marvels of earth.
BOOK XXI [VI] Hic forte respondeant: "Prorsus nec ista sunt nec ista credimus; falsa de his dicta, falsa conscripta sunt"; et adiciant ratiocinantes atque dicentes: "Si talia credenda sunt, credite et vos quod in easdem litteras est relatum, fuisse vel esse quoddam Veneris fanum atque ibi candelabrum et in eo lucernam sub divo sic ardentem, ut eam nulla tempestas, nullus imber extingueret, unde sicut ille lapis, ita ista luxnos asbestos, id est lucerna inextinguibilis, nominata est." Quod propterea poterunt dicere, ut respondendi nobis angustias ingerant; quia si dixerimus non esse credendum, scripta illa miraculorum infirmabimus; si autem credendum esse concesserimus, firmabimus numina paganorum. Sed nos, sicut iam in libro duodevicensimo huius operis dixi, non habemus necesse omnia credere, quae historia continet gentium, cum et ipsi inter se historici, sicut ait Varro, quasi data opera et quasi ex industria per multa dissentiant; sed ea, si volumus, credimus, quae non adversantur libris, quibus non dubitamus oportere nos credere. De his autem miraculorum locis nobis ad ea, quae futura persuadere incredulis volumus, satis illa sufficiant, quae nos quoque possumus experiri, et eorum testes idoneos non difficile est invenire. De isto autem fano Veneris et lucerna inextinguibili non solum in nullas coartamur angustias, verum etiam latitudinis nobis campus aperitur. Addimus enim ad istam lucernam inextinguibilem et humanarum et magicarum, id est per homines daemonicarum artium et ipsorum per se ipsos daemonum multa miracula; quae si negare voluerimus, eidem ipsi cui credimus sacrarum litterarum adversabimur veritati. Aut ergo in lucerna illa mechanicum aliquid de lapide asbesto ars humana molita est aut arte magica factum est, quod homines illo mirarentur in templo, aut daemon quispiam sub nomine Veneris tanta se efficacia praesentavit, ut hoc ibi prodigium et appareret hominibus et diutius permaneret. Inliciuntur autem daemones ad inhabitandum per creaturas, quas non ipsi, sed Deus condidit, delectabilibus pro sua diversitate diversis, non ut animalia cibis, sed ut spiritus signis, quae cuiusque delectationi congruunt, per varia genera lapidum herbarum, lignorum animalium, carminum rituum. Vt autem inliciantur ab hominibus, prius eos ipsi astutissima calliditate seducunt, vel inspirando eorum cordibus virus occultum vel etiam fallacibus amicitiis apparendo, eorumque paucos discipulos suos faciunt plurimorumque doctores. Neque enim potuit, nisi primum ipsis docentibus, disci quid quisque illorum appetat, quid exhorreat, quo inuitetur nomine, quo cogatur; unde magicae artes earumque artifices extiterunt. Maxime autem possident corda mortalium, qua potissimum possessione gloriantur, cum se transfigurant in angelos lucis. Sunt ergo facta eorum plurima, quae quanto magis mirabilia confitemur, tanto cautius vitare debemus; sed ad hoc, unde nunc agimus, nobis etiam ipsa proficiunt. Si enim haec inmundi daemones possunt, quanto potentiores sunt sancti angeli, quanto potentior his omnibus Deus, qui tantorum miraculorum effectores etiam ipsos angelos fecit! Quam ob rem si tot et tanta mirifica, quae *mhxanh/mata appellant, Dei creatura utentibus humanis artibus fiunt, ut ea qui nesciunt opinentur esse divina (unde factum est, ut in quodam templo lapidibus magnetibus in solo et camera proportione magnitudinis positis simulacrum ferreum aeris illius medio inter utrumque lapidem ignorantibus, quid sursum esset ac deorsum, quasi numinis potestate penderet; quale aliquid etiam in illa lucerna Veneris de lapide asbesto ab artifice fieri potuisse iam diximus); si magorum opera, quos nostra scriptura veneficos et incantatores vocat, in tantum daemones extollere potuerunt, ut congruere hominum sensibus sibi nobilis poeta videretur, de quadam femina, quae tali arte polleret, dicens: Haec se carminibus promittit soluere mentes Quas velit, ast aliis duras inmittere curas, Sistere aquam fluuiis et vertere sidera retro; Nocturnosque ciet manes: mugire videbis Sub pedibus terram et descendere montibus ornos: quanto magis Deus potens est facere quae infidelibus sunt incredibilia, sed illius facilia potestati; quando quidem ipse lapidum aliarumque vim rerum et hominum ingenia, qui ea miris utuntur modis, angelicasque naturas omnibus terrenis potentiores animantibus condidit, universa mirabilia mirabili vincente virtute et operandi iubendi sinendique sapientia, utens omnibus tam mirabiliter, quam creavit.	At this point they will perhaps reply, "These things have no existence; we don't believe one of them; they are travellers' tales and fictitious romances;" and they may add what has the appearance of argument, and say, "If you believe such things as these, believe what is recorded in the same books, that there was or is a temple of Venus in which a candelabrum set in the open air holds a lamp, which burns so strongly that no storm or rain extinguishes it, and which is therefore called, like the stone mentioned above, the asbestos or inextinguishable lamp." They may say this with the intention of putting us into a dilemma: for if we say this is incredible, then we shall impugn the truth of the other recorded marvels; if, on the other hand, we admit that this is credible, we shall avouch the pagan deities. But, as I have already said in the eighteenth book of this work, we do not hold it necessary to believe all that profane history contains, since, as Varro says, even historians themselves disagree on so many points, that one would think they intended and were at pains to do so; but we believe, if we are disposed, those things which are not contradicted by these books, which we do not hesitate to say we are bound to believe. But as to those permanent miracles of nature, whereby we wish to persuade the sceptical of the miracles of the world to come, those are quite sufficient for our purpose which we ourselves can observe or of which it is not difficult to find trustworthy witnesses. Moreover, that temple of Venus, with its inextinguishable lamp, so far from hemming us into a corner, opens an advantageous field to our argument. For to this inextinguishable lamp we add a host of marvels wrought by men, or by magic,-that is, by men under the influence of devils, or by the devils directly,-for such marvels we cannot deny without impugning the truth of the sacred Scriptures we believe. That lamp, therefore, was either by some mechanical and human device fitted with asbestos, or it was arranged by magical art in order that the worshippers might be astonished, or some devil under the name of Venus so signally manifested himself that this prodigy both began and became permanent. Now devils are attracted to dwell in certain temples by means of the creatures (God's creatures, not theirs), who present to them what suits their various tastes. They are attracted not by food like animals, but, like spirits, by such symbols as suit their taste, various kinds of stones, woods, plants, animals, songs, rites. And that men may provide these attractions, the devils first of all cunningly seduce them, either by imbuing their hearts with a secret poison, or by revealing themselves under a friendly guise, and thus make a few of them their disciples, who become the instructors of the multitude. For unless they first instructed men, it were impossible to know what each of them desires, what they shrink from, by what name they should be invoked or constrained to be present. Hence the origin of magic and magicians. But, above all, they possess the hearts of men, and are chiefly proud of this possession when they transform themselves into angels of light. Very many things that occur, therefore, are their doing; and these deeds of theirs we ought all the more carefully to shun as we acknowledge them to be very surprising. And yet these very deeds forward my present arguments. For if such marvels are wrought by unclean devils, how much mightier are the holy angels! and what can not that God do who made the angels themselves capable of working miracles!If, then, very many effects can be contrived by human art, of so surprising a kind that the uninitiated think them divine, as when, e.g., in a certain temple two magnets have been adjusted, one in the roof, another in the floor, so that an iron image is suspended in mid-air between them, one would suppose by the power of the divinity, were he ignorant of the magnets above and beneath; or, as in the case of that lamp of Venus which we already mentioned as being a skillful adaptation of asbestos; if, again, by the help of magicians, whom Scripture calls sorcerers and enchanters, the devils could gain such power that the noble poet Virgil should consider himself justified in describing a very powerful magician in these lines:"Her charms can cure what souls she please, Rob other hearts of healthful ease, Turn rivers backward to their source, And make the stars forget their course, And call up ghosts from night: The ground shall bellow 'neath your feet: The mountain-ash shall quit its seat, And travel down the height;- "if this be so, how much more able is God to do those things which to sceptics are incredible, but to His power easy, since it is He who has given to stones and all other things their virtue, and to men their skill to use them in wonderful ways; He who has given to the angels a nature more mighty than that of all that lives on earth; He whose power surpasses all marvels, and whose wisdom in working, ordaining, and permitting is no less marvellous in its governance of all things than in its creation of all!
BOOK XXI [VII] Cur itaque facere non possit Deus, ut et resurgant corpora mortuorum et igne aeterno crucientur corpora damnatorum, qui fecit mundum in caelo in terra, in aere in aquis innumerabilibus miraculis plenum, cum sit omnibus quibus plenus est procul dubio maius et excellentius etiam mundus ipse miraculum? Sed isti, cum quibus vel contra quos agimus, qui et Deum esse credunt, a quo factus est mundus, et deos ab illo factos, per quos ab illo administratur mundus, et miraculorum effectrices sive spontaneorum sive cultu et ritu quolibet impetratorum sive etiam magicorum mundanas vel non negant vel insuper et praedicant potestates, quando eis rerum vim mirabilem proponimus aliarum, quae nec animalia sunt rationalia nec ulla ratione praediti spiritus, sicut sunt ea, quorum pauca commemoravimus, respondere adsolent: "Vis est ista naturae, natura eorum sic sese habet, propriarum sunt istae efficaciae naturarum." Tota itaque ratio est, cur Agrigentinum salem flamma fluere faciat, aqua crepitare, quia haec est natura eius. At hoc esse potius contra naturam videtur, quae non igni, sed aquae dedit salem soluere, torrere autem igni, non aquae. Sed ista, inquiunt, salis huius naturalis est vis, ut his contraria patiatur. Haec igitur ratio redditur et de illo fonte Garamantico, ubi una vena friget diebus, noctibus feruet, vi utraque molesta tangentibus; haec et de illo alio, qui cum sit contrectantibus frigidus et facem sicut alii fontes extinguat accensam, dissimiliter tamen atque mirabiliter idem ipse accendit extinctam; haec et de lapide asbesto, qui cum ignem nullum habeat proprium, accepto tamen sic ardet alieno, ut non possit extingui; haec de ceteris, quae piget retexere, quibus licet vis insolita contra naturam inesse videatur, alia tamen de illis non redditur ratio, nisi ut dicatur hanc eorum esse naturam. Brevis sane ista est ratio, fateor, sufficiensque responsio. Sed cum Deus auctor sit naturarum omnium, cur nolunt fortiorem nos reddere rationem, quando aliquid velut inpossibile nolunt credere eisque redditionem rationis poscentibus respondemus hanc esse voluntatem omnipotentis Dei? qui certe non ob aliud vocatur omnipotens, nisi quoniam quidquid uult potest, qui potuit creare tam multa, quae nisi ostenderentur aut a credendis hodieque dicerentur testibus, profecto inpossibilia putarentur, non solum quae ignotissima apud nos, verum etiam quae notissima posui. Illa enim quae [apud nos] praeter eos, quorum de his libros legimus, non habent testem et ab eis conscripta sunt, qui non sunt divinitus docti atque humanitus falli forte potuerunt, licet cuique sine recta reprehensione non credere. Nam nec ego volo temere credi cuncta quae posui, quia nec a me ipso ita creduntur, tamquam nulla de illis sit in mea cogitatione dubitatio, exceptis his, quae vel ipse sum expertus et cuivis facile est experiri; sicut de calce, quod feruet in aqua, in oleo frigida est; de magnete lapide, quod nescio qua sorbitione insensibili stipulam non moveat et ferrum rapiat; de carne non putescente pauonis, cum putuerit et Platonis; de palea sic frigente, ut fluescere nivem non sinat, sic calente ut maturescere poma compellat; de igne fulgido, quod secundum suum fulgorem lapides coquendo candificet et contra eundem suum fulgorem urendo plurima offuscet. Tale est et quod nigrae maculae offunduntur ex oleo splendido, similiter nigrae lineae de candido inprimuntur argento, de carbonibus etiam, quod accendente igne sic vertantur in contrarium, ut de lignis pulcherrimis taetri, fragiles de duris, inputribiles de putribilibus fiant. Haec ipse quaedam cum multis, quaedam cum omnibus novi, et alia plurima, quae huic libro inserere longum fuit. De his autem, quae posui non experta, sed lecta, praeter de fonte illo, ubi faces et extinguuntur ardentes et accenduntur extinctae, et de pomis terrae Sodomorum forinsecus quasi maturis, intrinsecus fumeis, nec testes aliquos idoneos, a quibus utrum vera essent audirem, potui reperire. Et illum quidem fontem non inveni qui in Epiro vidisse se dicerent, sed qui in Gallia similem nossent non longe a Gratianopili civitate. De fructibus autem arborum Sodomitarum non tantum litterae fide dignae indicant, verum etiam tam multi se loquuntur expertos, ut hinc dubitare non possim. Cetera vero sic habeo, ut neque neganda neque adfirmanda decreuerim; sed ideo etiam ipsa posui, quoniam apud eorum, contra quos agimus, historicos legi, ut ostenderem qualia multa multique illorum nulla reddita ratione in suorum litteratorum scripta litteris credant, qui nobis credere, quando id, quod eorum experientiam sensumque transgreditur, omnipotentem Deum dicimus esse facturum, nec reddita ratione dignantur. Nam quae melior et validior ratio de rebus talibus redditur, quam cum Omnipotens ea posse facere perhibetur et facturus dicitur, quae praenuntiasse ibi legitur, ubi alia multa praenuntiavit, quae fecisse monstratur? Ipse quippe faciet, quia se facturum esse praedixit, quae inpossibilia putantur, qui promisit et fecit ut ab incredulis gentibus incredibilia crederentur.	Why, then, cannot God effect both that the bodies of the dead shall rise, and that the bodies of the damned shall be tormented in everlasting fire,-God, who made the world full of countless miracles in sky, earth, air, and waters, while itself is a miracle unquestionably greater and more admirable than all the marvels it is filled with? But those with whom or against whom we are arguing, who believe both that there is a God who made the world, and that there are gods created by Him who administer the world's laws as His viceregents,-our adversaries, I say, who, so far from denying emphatically, assert that there are powers in the world which effect marvellous results (whether of their own accord, or because they are invoked by some rite or prayer, or in some magical way), when we lay before them the wonderful properties of other things which are neither rational animals nor rational spirits, but such material objects as those we have just cited, are in the habit of replying, This is their natural property, their nature; these are the powers naturally belonging to them. Thus the whole reason why Agrigentine salt dissolves in fire and crackles in water is that this is its nature. Yet this seems rather contrary to nature, which has given not to fire but to water the power of melting salt, and the power of scorching it not to water but to fire. But this they say, is the natural property of this salt, to show effects contrary to these. The same reason, therefore, is assigned to account for that Garamantian fountain, of which one and the same runlet is chill by day and boiling by night, so that in either extreme it cannot be touched. So also of that other fountain which, though it is cold to the touch, and though it, like other fountains, extinguishes a lighted torch, yet, unlike other fountains, and in a surprising manner, kindles an extinguished torch. So of the asbestos stone, which, though it has no heat of its own, yet when kindled by fire applied to it, cannot be extinguished. And so of the rest, which I am weary of reciting, and in which, though there seems to be an extraordinary property contrary to nature, yet no other reason is given for them than this, that this is their nature,-a brief reason truly, and, I own, a satisfactory reply. But since God is the author of all natures, how is it that our adversaries, when they refuse to believe what we affirm, on the ground that it is impossible, are unwilling to accept from us a better explanation than their own, viz., that this is the will of Almighty God,-for certainly He is called Almighty only because He is mighty to do all He will,-He who was able to create so many marvels, not only unknown, but very well ascertained, as I have been showing, and which, were they not under our own observation, or reported by recent and credible witnesses, would certainly be pronounced impossible? For as for those marvels which have no other testimony than the writers in whose books we read them, and who wrote without being divinely instructed, and are therefore liable to human error, we cannot justly blame any one who declines to believe them.For my own part, I do not wish all the marvels I have cited to be rashly accepted, for I do not myself believe them implicitly, save those which have either come under my own observation, or which any one can readily verify, such as the lime which is heated by water and cooled by oil; the magnet which by its mysterious and insensible suction attracts the iron, but has no affect on a straw; the peacock's flesh which triumphs over the corruption from which not the flesh of Plato is exempt; the chaff so chilling that it prevents snow from melting, so heating that it forces apples to ripen; the glowing fire, which, in accordance with its glowing appearance, whitens the stones it bakes, while, contrary to its glowing appearance, it begrimes most things it burns (just as dirty stains are made by oil, however pure it be, and as the lines drawn by white silver are black); the charcoal, too, which by the action of fire is so completely changed from its original, that a finely marked piece of wood becomes hideous, the tough becomes brittle, the decaying incorruptible. Some of these things I know in common with many other persons, some of them in common with all men; and there are many others which I have not room to insert in this book. But of those which I have cited, though I have not myself seen, but only read about them, I have been unable to find trustworthy witnesses from whom I could ascertain whether they are facts, except in the case of that fountain in which burning torches are extinguished and extinguished torches lit, and of the apples of Sodom, which are ripe to appearance, but are filled with dust. And indeed I have not met with any who said they had seen that fountain in Epirus, but with some who knew there was a similar fountain in Gaul not far from Grenoble. The fruit of the trees of Sodom, however, is not only spoken of in books worthy of credit, but so many persons say that they have seen it that I cannot doubt the fact. But the rest of the prodigies I receive without definitely affirming or denying them; and I have cited them because I read them in the authors of our adversaries, and that I might prove how many things many among themselves believe, because they are written in the works of their own literary men, though no rational explanation of them is given, and yet they scorn to believe us when we assert that Almighty God will do what is beyond their experience and observation; and this they do even though we assign a reason for His work. For what better and stronger reason for such things can be given than to say that the Almighty is able to bring them to pass, and will bring them to pass, having predicted them in those books in which many other marvels which have already come to pass were predicted? Those things which are regarded as impossible will be accomplished according to the word, and by the power of that God who predicted and effected that the incredulous nations should believe incredible wonders.
BOOK XXI [VIII] Si autem respondent propterea se non credere quae de humanis semper arsuris nec umquam morituris corporibus dicimus, quia humanorum corporum naturam novimus longe aliter institutam, unde nec illa ratio hinc reddi potest, quae de illis naturis mirabilibus reddebatur, ut dici possit: "Vis ista naturalis est, rei huius ista natura est"; quoniam scimus humanae carnis istam non esse naturam: habemus quidem quod respondeamus de litteris sacris, hanc ipsam scilicet humanam carnem aliter institutam fuisse ante peccatum, id est, ut posset numquam perpeti mortem; aliter autem post peccatum, qualis in aerumna huius mortalitatis innotuit, ut perpetem vitam tenere non possit; sic ergo aliter, quam nobis nota est, instituetur in resurrectione mortuorum. Sed quoniam istis non credunt litteris, ubi legitur qualis in paradiso vixerit homo quantumque fuerit a necessitate mortis alienus (quibus utique si crederent, non cum illis de poena damnatorum, quae futura est, operosius ageremus): de litteris eorum, qui doctissimi apud illos fuerunt, aliquid proferendum est, quo appareat posse fieri, ut aliter se habeat quaeque res, quam prius in rebus innotuerat suae determinatione naturae. Est in Marci Varronis libris, quorum inscriptio est: De gente populi Romani, quod eisdem verbis, quibus ibi legitur, et hic ponam: "In caelo, inquit, mirabile extitit portentum; nam <in> stella Veneris nobilissima, quam Plautus Vesperuginem, Homerus Hesperon appellat, pulcherrimam dicens, Castor scribit tantum portentum extitisse, ut mutaret colorem, magnitudinem, figuram, cursum; quod factum ita neque antea nec postea sit. Hoc factum Ogygo rege dicebant Adrastos Cyzicenos et Dion Neapolites, mathematici nobiles." Hoc certe Varro tantus auctor portentum non appellaret, nisi esse contra naturam videretur. Omnia quippe portenta contra naturam dicimus esse; sed non sunt. Quo modo est enim contra naturam, quod Dei fit voluntate, cum voluntas tanti utique conditoris conditae rei cuiusque natura sit? Portentum ergo fit non contra naturam, sed contra quam est nota natura. Quis autem portentorum numerat multitudinem, quae historia gentium continetur? Sed nunc in hoc uno adtendamus, quod ad rem, de qua agimus, pertinet. Quid ita dispositum est ab auctore naturae caeli et terrae, quem ad modum cursus ordinatissimus siderum? Quid tam ratis legibus fixisque firmatum? Et tamen, quando ille voluit, qui summo regit imperio ac potestate quod condidit, stella prae ceteris magnitudine ac splendore notissima colorem, magnitudinem, figuram et (quod est mirabilius) sui cursus ordinem legemque mutavit. Turbavit profecto tunc, si ulli iam fuerunt, canones astrologorum, quos velut inerrabili computatione de praeteritis ac futuris astrorum motibus conscriptos habent, quos canones sequendo ausi sunt dicere, hoc, quod de Lucifero contigit, nec antea nec postea contigisse. Nos autem in divinis libris legimus etiam solem ipsum et stetisse, cum hoc a Domino Deo petivisset vir sanctus Iesus Nave, donec coeptum proelium victoria terminaret, et retrorsum redisse, ut regi Ezechiae quindecim anni ad vivendum additi hoc etiam prodigio promissionis Dei significarentur adiuncto. Sed ista quoque miracula, quae meritis sunt concessa sanctorum, quando credunt isti facta, magicis artibus tribuunt. Vnde illud est, quod superius commemoravi dixisse Vergilium: Sistere aquam fluuiis et vertere sidera retro. Nam et fluuium stetisse superius inferiusque fluxisse, cum populus Dei ductore supra memorato Iesu Nave viam carperet, et Helia propheta transeunte ac postea discipulo eius Helisaeo id esse factum in sacris litteris legimus, et retro versum fuisse maximum sidus regnante Ezechia modo commemoravimus. Quod vero de Lucifero Varro scripsit, non est illic dictum alicui petenti homini id fuisse concessum. Non ergo de notitia naturarum caliginem sibi faciant infideles, quasi non possit in aliqua re divinitus fieri aliud, quam in eius natura per humanam suam experientiam cognoverunt; quamvis et ipsa, quae in rerum natura omnibus nota sunt, non minus mira sint, essentque stupenda considerantibus cunctis, si solerent homines mirari mira nisi rara. Quis enim consulta ratione non videat in hominum innumerabili numerositate et tanta naturae similitudine valde mirabiliter sic habere singulos singulas facies, ut nisi inter se similes essent, non discerneretur species eorum ab animalibus ceteris; et rursum nisi inter se dissimiles essent, non discernerentur singuli ab hominibus ceteris? Quos ergo similes confitemur, eosdem dissimiles invenimus. Sed mirabilior est consideratio dissimilitudinis, quoniam similitudinem iustius videtur exposcere natura communis. Et tamen quoniam quae sunt rara ipsa sunt mira, multo amplius admiramur quando duos ita similes reperimus, ut in eis discernendis aut semper aut frequenter erremus. Sed quod dixi scriptum a Varrone, licet eorum sit historicus idemque doctissimus, fortasse vere factum esse non credunt; aut quia non diu mansit alius eiusdem sideris cursus, sed reditum est ad solitum, minus isto moventur exemplo. Habent ergo aliud, quod etiam nunc possit ostendi eisque puto debere sufficere, quo commoneantur, cum aliquid adverterint in aliqua institutione naturae eamque sibi notissimam fecerint, non se inde Deo debere praescribere, quasi eam non possit in longe aliud, quam eis cognita est, vertere atque mutare. Terra Sodomorum non fuit utique ut nunc est, sed iacebat simili ceteris facie eademque vel etiam uberiore fecunditate pollebat; nam Dei paradiso in divinis eloquiis comparata est. Haec postea quam tacta de caelo est, sicut illorum quoque adtestatur historia et nunc ab eis qui veniunt ad loca illa conspicitur, prodigiosa fuligine horrori est et poma eius interiorem favillam mendaci superficie maturitatis includunt. Ecce non erat talis, et talis est. Ecce a conditore naturarum natura eius in hanc foedissimam diversitatem mirabili mutatione conversa est; et quod post tam longum accidit tempus, tam longo tempore perseuerat. Sicut ergo non fuit inpossibile Deo, quas voluit instituere, sic ei non est inpossibile, in quidquid voluerit, quas instituit, mutare naturas. Vnde illorum quoque miraculorum multitudo siluescit, quae monstra ostenta, portenta prodigia nuncupantur; quae recolere et commemorare si velim, huius operis quis erit finis? Monstra sane dicta perhibent a monstrando, quod aliquid significando demonstrent, et ostenta ab ostendendo, et portenta a portendendo, id est praeostendendo, et prodigia, quod porro dicant, id est futura praedicant. Sed viderint eorum coniectores, quo modo ex eis sive fallantur sive instinctu spirituum, quibus cura est tali poena dignos animos hominum noxiae curiositatis retibus implicare, etiam vera praedicant sive multa dicendo aliquando in aliquid veritatis incurrant. Nobis tamen ista, quae velut contra naturam fiunt et contra naturam fieri dicuntur (quo more hominum locutus est et apostolus dicendo contra naturam in olea insitum oleastrum factum esse participem pinguedinis oleae) et monstra ostenta, portenta prodigia nuncupantur, hoc monstrare debent, hoc ostendere vel praeostendere, hoc praedicere, quod facturus sit Deus, quae de corporibus hominum se praenuntiavit esse facturum, nulla impediente difficultate, nulla praescribente lege naturae. Quo modo autem praenuntiaverit, satis in libro superiore docuisse me existimo, decerpendo de scripturis sanctis et novis et ueteribus non quidem omnia ad hoc pertinentia, sed quae sufficere huic operi iudicavi.	But if they reply that their reason for not believing us when we say that human bodies will always burn and yet never die, is that the nature of human bodies is known to be quite otherwise constituted; if they say that for this miracle we cannot give the reason which was valid in the case of those natural miracles, viz., that this is the natural property, the nature of the thing,-for we know that this is not the nature of human flesh,-we find our answer in the sacred writings, that even this human flesh was constituted in one fashion before there was sin,-was constituted, in fact, so that it could not die,-and in another fashion after sin, being made such as we see it in this miserable state of mortality, unable to retain enduring life. And so in the resurrection of the dead shall it be constituted differently from its present well-known condition. But as they do not believe these writings of ours, in which we read what nature man had in paradise, and how remote he was from the necessity of death,-and indeed, if they did believe them, we should of course have little trouble in debating with them the future punishment of the damned,-we must produce from the writings of their own most learned authorities some instances to show that it is possible for a thing to become different from what it was formerly known characteristically to be.From the book of Marcus Varro, entitled, Of the Race of the Roman People, I cite word for word the following instance: "There occurred a remarkable celestial portent; for Castor records that, in the brilliant star Venus, called Vesperugo by Plautus, and the lovely Hesperus by Homer, there occurred so strange a prodigy, that it changed its color, size, form, course, which never happened before nor since. Adrastus of Cyzicus, and Dion of Naples, famous mathematicians, said that this occurred in the reign of Ogyges." So great an author as Varro would certainly not have called this a portent had it not seemed to be contrary to nature. For we say that all portents are contrary to nature; but they are not so. For how is that contrary to nature which happens by the will of God, since the will of so mighty a Creator is certainly the nature of each created thing? A portent, therefore, happens not contrary to nature, but contrary to what we know as nature. But who can number the multitude of portents recorded in profane histories? Let us then at present fix our attention on this one only which concerns the matter in hand. What is there so arranged by the Author of the nature of heaven and earth as the exactly ordered course of the stars? What is there established by laws so sure and inflexible? And yet, when it pleased Him who with sovereignty and supreme power regulates all He has created, a star conspicuous among the rest by its size and splendor changed its color, size, form, and, most wonderful of all, the order and law of its course! Certainly that phenomenon disturbed the canons of the astronomers, if there were any then, by which they tabulate, as by unerring computation, the past and future movements of the stars, so as to take upon them to affirm that this which happened to the morning star (Venus) never happened before nor since. But we read in the divine books that even the sun itself stood still when a holy man, Joshua the son of Nun, had begged this from God until victory should finish the battle he had begun; and that it even went back, that the promise of fifteen years added to the life of king Hezekiah might be sealed by this additional prodigy. But these miracles, which were vouchsafed to the merits of holy men, even when our adversaries believe them, they attribute to magical arts; so Virgil, in the lines I quoted above, ascribes to magic the power to"Turn rivers backward to their source, And make the stars forget their course. "For in our sacred books we read that this also happened, that a river "turned backward," was stayed above while the lower part flowed on, when the people passed over under the above-mentioned leader, Joshua the son of Nun; and also when Elias the prophet crossed; and afterwards, when his disciple Elisha passed through it: and we have just mentioned how, in the case of king Hezekiah the greatest of the "stars forgot its course." But what happened to Venus, according to Varro, was not said by him to have happened in answer to any man's prayer.Let not the sceptics then benight themselves in this knowledge of the nature of things, as if divine power cannot bring to pass in an object anything else than what their own experience has shown them to be in its nature. Even the very things which are most commonly known as natural would not be less wonderful nor less effectual to excite surprise in all who beheld them, if men were not accustomed to admire nothing but what is rare. For who that thoughtfully observes the countless multitude of men, and their similarity of nature, can fail to remark with surprise and admiration the individuality of each man's appearance, suggesting to us, as it does, that unless men were like one another, they would not be distinguished from the rest of the animals; while unless, on the other hand, they were unlike, they could not be distinguished from one another, so that those whom we declare to be like, we also find to be unlike? And the unlikeness is the more wonderful consideration of the two; for a common nature seems rather to require similarity. And yet, because the very rarity of things is that which makes them wonderful, we are filled with much greater wonder when we are introduced to two men so like, that we either always or frequently mistake in endeavoring to distinguish between them.But possibly, though Varro is a heathen historian, and a very learned one, they may disbelieve that what I have cited from him truly occurred; or they may say the example is invalid, because the star did not for any length of time continue to follow its new course, but returned to its ordinary orbit. There is, then, another phenomenon at present open to their observation, and which, in my opinion, ought to be sufficient to convince them that, though they have observed and ascertained some natural law, they ought not on that account to prescribe to God, as if He could not change and turn it into something very different from what they have observed. The land of Sodom was not always as it now is; but once it had the appearance of other lands, and enjoyed equal if not richer fertility; for, in the divine narrative, it was compared to the paradise of God. But after it was touched [by fire] from heaven, as even pagan history testifies, and as is now witnessed by those who visit the spot, it became unnaturally and horribly sooty in appearance; and its apples, under a deceitful appearance of ripeness, contain ashes within. Here is a thing which was of one kind, and is of another. You see how its nature was converted by the wonderful transmutation wrought by the Creator of all natures into so very disgusting a diversity,-an alteration which after so long a time took place, and after so long a time still continues. As therefore it was not impossible to God to create such natures as He pleased, so it is not impossible to Him to change these natures of His own creation into whatever He pleases, and thus spread abroad a multitude of those marvels which are called monsters, portents, prodigies, phenomena, and which if I were minded to cite and record, what end would there be to this work? They say that they are called "monsters," because they demonstrate or signify something; "portents," because they portend something; and so forth. But let their diviners see how they are either deceived, or even when they do predict true things, it is because they are inspired by spirits, who are intent upon entangling the minds of men (worthy, indeed, of such a fate) in the meshes of a hurtful curiosity, or how they light now and then upon some truth, because they make so many predictions. Yet, for our part, these things which happen contrary to nature, and are said to be contrary to nature (as the apostle, speaking after the manner of men, says, that to graft the wild olive into the good olive, and to partake of its fatness, is contrary to nature), and are called monsters, phenomena, portents, prodigies, ought to demonstrate, portend, predict that God will bring to pass what He has foretold regarding the bodies of men, no difficulty preventing Him, no law of nature prescribing to Him His limit. How He has foretold what He is to do, I think I have sufficiently shown in the preceding book, culling from the sacred Scriptures, both of the New and Old Testaments, not, indeed, all the passages that relate to this, but as many as I judged to suffice for this work.
BOOK XXI [IX] Quod igitur de sempiterno supplicio damnatorum per suum prophetam Deus dixit, fiet, omnino fiet: Vermis eorum non morietur et ignis eorum non extinguetur. Ad hoc enim uehementius commendandum etiam Dominus Iesus, cum membra quae hominem scandalizant pro his hominibus poneret, quos ut sua membra dextra quis diligit, eaque praeciperet amputari: Bonum est tibi, inquit, debilem introire in vitam quam duas manus habentem ire in gehennam, in ignem inextinguibilem, ubi vermis eorum non moritur et ignis non extinguitur. Similiter de pede: Bonum est tibi, inquit, claudum introire in vitam aeternam quam duos pedes habentem mitti in gehennam ignis inextinguibilis, ubi vermis eorum non moritur et ignis non extinguitur. Non aliter ait et de oculo: Bonum est tibi luscum introire in regnum Dei quam duos oculos habentem mitti in gehennam ignis, ubi vermis eorum non moritur et ignis non extinguitur. Non eum piguit uno loco eadem verba ter dicere. Quem non terreat ista repetitio et illius poenae commendatio tam uehemens ore divino? Vtrumque autem horum, ignem scilicet atque vermem, qui volunt ad animi poenas, non ad corporis pertinere, dicunt etiam uri dolore animi sero atque infructuose paenitentes eos, qui fuerint a regno Dei separati, et ideo ignem pro isto dolore urente non incongrue poni potuisse contendunt; unde illud apostoli est: Quis scandalizatur, et non ego uror? Eundem etiam vermem putant intellegendum esse. Nam scriptum est, inquiunt: Sicut tinea uestimentum et vermis lignum, sic maeror excruciat cor viri. Qui vero poenas et animi et corporis in illo supplicio futuras esse non dubitant, igne uri corpus, animum autem rodi quodam modo verme maeroris adfirmant. Quod etsi credibilius dicitur, quia utique absurdum est, ibi dolorem aut corporis aut animi defuturum: ego tamen facilius est ut ad corpus dicam utrumque pertinere quam neutrum, et ideo tacitum in illis divinae scripturae verbis animi dolorem, quoniam consequens esse intellegitur, etiamsi non dicatur, ut corpore sic dolente animus quoque sterili paenitentia crucietur. Legitur quippe et in ueteribus scripturis: Vindicta carnis impii ignis et vermis. Potuit brevius dici: Vindicta impii. Cur ergo dictum est: carnis impii, nisi quia utrumque, id est et ignis et vermis, poena erit carnis? Aut si vindictam carnis propterea dicere voluit, quia hoc in homine vindicabitur, quod secundum carnem vixerit (propter hoc enim veniet in mortem secundam, quam significavit apostolus dicens: Si enim secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini), eligat quisque quod placet, aut ignem tribuere corpori, animo vermem, hoc proprie, illud tropice, aut utrumque proprie corpori. Iam enim satis superius disputavi posse animalia etiam in ignibus vivere, in ustione sine consumptione, in dolore sine morte, per miraculum omnipotentissimi Creatoris; cui hoc possibile esse qui negat, a quo sit quidquid in naturis omnibus miratur ignorat. Ipse est enim Deus, qui omnia in hoc mundo magna et parua miracula, quae commemoravimus, et incomparabiliter plura, quae non commemoravimus fecit, eademque ipso mundo uno atque omnium maximo miraculo inclusit. Eligat ergo unum e duobus quisque quod placet, utrum et vermem ad corpus proprie an ad animum translato a corporalibus ad incorporalia vocabulo existimet pertinere. Quid autem horum verum sit, res ipsa expeditius indicabit, quando erit scientia tanta sanctorum, ut eis cognoscendarum illarum poenarum necessaria non sit experientia, sed ea, quae tunc erit plena atque perfecta, ad hoc quoque sciendum sapientia sola sufficiat (nunc enim ex parte scimus, donec veniat quod perfectum est); dum tamen nullo modo illa corpora talia futura esse credamus, ut nullis ab igne afficiantur doloribus.	So then what God by His prophet has said of the everlasting punishment of the damned shall come to pass-shall without fail come to pass,-"their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched." Isaiah 66:24 In order to impress this upon us most forcibly, the Lord Jesus Himself, when ordering us to cut off our members, meaning thereby those persons whom a man loves as the most useful members of his body, says, "It is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dies not, and their fire is not quenched." Similarly of the foot: "It is better for you to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched." So, too, of the eye: "It is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched." Mark 9:43-48 He did not shrink from using the same words three times over in one passage. And who is not terrified by this repetition, and by the threat of that punishment uttered so vehemently by the lips of the Lord Himself?Now they who would refer both the fire and the worm to the spirit, and not to the body, affirm that the wicked, who are separated from the kindgdom of God, shall be burned, as it were, by the anguish of a spirit repenting too late and fruitlessly; and they contend that fire is therefore not inappropriately used to express this burning torment, as when the apostle exclaims "Who is offended, and I burn not?" 2 Corinthians 11:29 The worm, too, they think, is to be similarly understood. For it is written they say, "As the moth consumes the garment, and the worm the wood, so does grief consume the heart of a man." Isaiah 51:8 But they who make no doubt that in that future punishment both body and soul shall suffer, affirm that the body shall be burned with fire, while the soul shall be, as it were, gnawed by a worm of anguish. Though this view is more reasonable,-for it is absurd to suppose that either body or soul will escape pain in the future punishment,-yet, for my own part, I find it easier to understand both as referring to the body than to suppose that neither does; and I think that Scripture is silent regarding the spiritual pain of the damned, because, though not expressed, it is necessarily understood that in a body thus tormented the soul also is tortured with a fruitless repentance. For we read in the ancient Scriptures, "The vengeance of the flesh of the ungodly is fire and worms." Sirach 7:17 It might have been more briefly said, "The vengeance of the ungodly." Why, then, was it said, "The flesh of the ungodly," unless because both the fire and the worm are to be the punishment of the flesh? Or if the object of the writer in saying, "The vengeance of the flesh," was to indicate that this shall be the punishment of those who live after the flesh (for this leads to the second death, as the apostle intimated when he said, "For if you live after the flesh, you shall die" Romans 8:13, let each one make his own choice, either assigning the fire to the body and the worm to the soul,-the one figuratively, the other really,-or assigning both really to the body. For I have already sufficiently made out that animals can live in the fire, in burning without being consumed, in pain without dying, by a miracle of the most omnipotent Creator, to whom no one can deny that this is possible, if he be not ignorant by whom has been made all that is wonderful in all nature. For it is God Himself who has wrought all these miracles, great and small, in this world which I have mentioned, and incomparably more which I have omitted, and who has enclosed these marvels in this world, itself the greatest miracle of all. Let each man, then, choose which he will, whether he thinks that the worm is real and pertains to the body, or that spiritual things are meant by bodily representations, and that it belongs to the soul. But which of these is true will be more readily discovered by the facts themselves, when there shall be in the saints such knowledge as shall not require that their own experience teach them the nature of these punishments, but as shall, by its own fullness and perfection, suffice to instruct them in this matter. For "now we know in part, until that which is perfect is come;" 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 only, this we believe about those future bodies, that they shall be such as shall certainly be pained by the fire.
BOOK XXI [X] Hic occurrit quaerere: Si non erit ignis incorporalis, sicut est animi dolor, sed corporalis, tactu noxius, ut eo possint corpora cruciari: quo modo in eo erit etiam poena spirituum malignorum? Idem quippe ignis erit, supplicio scilicet hominum adtributus et daemonum, dicente Christo: Discedite a me, maledicti, in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo et angelis eius. Nisi quia sunt quaedam sua etiam daemonibus corpora, sicut doctis hominibus visum est, ex isto aere crasso atque umido, cuius inpulsus vento flante sentitur. Quod genus elementi si nihil igne perpeti posset, non ureret feruefactus in balneis. Vt enim urat, prior uritur facitque cum patitur. Si autem quisquam nulla habere corpora daemones adseuerat, non est de hac re aut laborandum operosa inquisitione aut contentiosa disputatione certandum. Cur enim non dicamus, quamvis miris, tamen veris modis etiam spiritus incorporeos posse poena corporalis ignis affligi, si spiritus hominum, etiam ipsi profecto incorporei, et nunc potuerunt includi corporalibus membris et tunc poterunt corporum suorum vinculis insolubiliter alligari? Adhaerebunt ergo, si eis nulla sunt corpora, spiritus daemonum, immo spiritus daemones, licet incorporei corporeis ignibus cruciandi, non ut ignes ipsi, quibus adhaerebunt, eorum iunctura inspirentur et animalia fiant, quae constent spiritu et corpore, sed, ut dixi, miris et ineffabilibus modis adhaerendo, accipientes ex ignibus poenam, non dantes ignibus vitam; quia et iste alius modus, quo corporibus adhaerent spiritus et animalia fiunt, omnino mirus est nec conprehendi ab homine potest, et hoc ipse homo est. Dicerem quidem sic arsuros sine ullo suo corpore spiritus, sicut ardebat apud inferos ille dives, quando dicebat: Crucior in hac flamma, nisi convenienter responderi cernerem talem fuisse illam flammam, quales oculi quos leuavit et Lazarum vidit, qualis lingua cui umorem exiguum desideravit infundi, qualis digitus Lazari de quo id sibi fieri postulavit; ubi tamen erant sine corporibus animae. Sic ergo incorporalis et illa flamma qua exarsit et illa guttula quam poposcit, qualia sunt etiam visa dormientium sive in ecstasi cernentium res incorporales, habentes tamen similitudinem corporum. Nam et ipse homo cum spiritu, non corpore, sit in talibus visis, ita se tamen tunc similem suo corpori videt, ut discernere omnino non possit. At vero gehenna illa, quod etiam stagnum ignis et sulphuris dictum est, corporeus ignis erit et cruciabit corpora damnatorum, aut et hominum et daemonum, solida hominum, aeria daemonum, aut tantum hominum corpora cum spiritibus, daemones autem spiritus sine corporibus haerentes sumendo poenam, non inpertiendo vitam corporalibus ignibus. Vnus quippe utrisque ignis erit, sicut Veritas dixit.	Here arises the question: If the fire is not to be immaterial, analogous to the pain of the soul, but material, burning by contact, so that bodies may be tormented in it, how can evil spirits be punished in it? For it is undoubtedly the same fire which is to serve for the punishment of men and of devils, according to the words of Christ: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels;" Matthew 25:41 unless, perhaps, as learned men have thought, the devils have a kind of body made of that dense and humid air which we feel strikes us when the wind is blowing. And if this kind of substance could not be affected by fire, it could not burn when heated in the baths. For in order to burn, it is first burned, and affects other things as itself is affected. But if any one maintains that the devils have no bodies, this is not a matter either to be laboriously investigated, or to be debated with keenness. For why may we not assert that even immaterial spirits may, in some extraordinary way, yet really be pained by the punishment of material fire, if the spirits of men, which also are certainly immaterial, are both now contained in material members of the body, and in the world to come shall be indissolubly united to their own bodies? Therefore, though the devils have no bodies, yet their spirits, that is, the devils themselves, shall be brought into thorough contact with the material fires, to be tormented by them; not that the fires themselves with which they are brought into contact shall be animated by their connection with these spirits, and become animals composed of body and spirit, but, as I said, this junction will be effected in a wonderful and ineffable way, so that they shall receive pain from the fires, but give no life to them. And, in truth, this other mode of union, by which bodies and spirits are bound together and become animals, is thoroughly marvellous, and beyond the comprehension of man, though this it is which is man.I would indeed say that these spirits will burn without any body of their own, as that rich man was burning in hell when he exclaimed, "I am tormented in this flame," Luke 16:24 were I not aware that it is aptly said in reply, that that flame was of the same nature as the eyes he raised and fixed on Lazarus, as the tongue on which he entreated that a little cooling water might be dropped, or as the finger of Lazarus, with which he asked that this might be done,-all of which took place where souls exist without bodies. Thus, therefore, both that flame in which he burned and that drop he begged were immaterial, and resembled the visions of sleepers or persons in an ecstasy, to whom immaterial objects appear in a bodily form. For the man himself who is in such a state, though it be in spirit only, not in body, yet sees himself so like to his own body that he cannot discern any difference whatever. But that hell, which also is called a lake of fire and brimstone, Revelation 20:10 will be material fire, and will torment the bodies of the damned, whether men or devils,-the solid bodies of the one, aerial bodies of the others; or if only men have bodies as well as souls, yet the evil spirits, though without bodies, shall be so connected with the bodily fires as to receive pain without imparting life. One fire certainly shall be the lot of both, for thus the truth has declared.
BOOK XXI [XI] Si autem quidam eorum, contra quos defendimus civitatem Dei, iniustum putant, ut pro peccatis quamlibet magnis, paruo scilicet tempore perpetratis, poena quisque damnetur aeterna, quasi ullius id umquam iustitia legis adtendat, ut tanta mora temporis quisque puniatur, quanta mora temporis unde puniretur admisit: octo genera poenarum in legibus esse scribit Tullius, damnum, vincla, verbera, talionem, ignominiam, exilium, mortem, seruitutem _ quid horum est quod in breue tempus pro cuiusque peccati celeritate coartetur, ut tanta vindicetur morula, quanta deprehenditur perpetratum, nisi forte talio? Id enim agit, ut hoc patiatur quisque quod fecit. Vnde illud est legis: Oculum pro oculo, dentem pro dente. Fieri enim potest, ut tam brevi tempore quisque amittat oculum seueritate vindictae, quam tulit ipse alteri inprobitate peccati. Porro autem si alienae feminae osculum infixum rationis sit verbere vindicare, nonne qui illud puncto temporis fecerit, incomparabili horarum spatio verberatur et suavitas voluptatis exiguae diuturno dolore punitur? Quid, in vinculis numquid tamdiu quisque iudicandus est esse debere, quamdiu fecit unde meruit alligari; cum iustissime annosas poenas seruus in compedibus pendat, qui verbo aut ictu celerrime transeunte vel lacessivit dominum vel plagavit? Iam vero damnum, ignominia, exilium, seruitus cum plerumque sic infliguntur, ut nulla venia relaxentur, nonne pro huius vitae modo similia poenis videntur aeternis? Ideo quippe aeterna esse non possunt, quia nec ipsa vita, quae his plectitur, porrigitur in aeternum; et tamen peccata, quae vindicantur longissimi temporis poenis, brevissimo tempore perpetrantur; nec quisquam extitit qui censeret tam cito nocentium finienda esse tormenta, quam cito factum est vel homicidium vel adulterium vel sacrilegium vel quodlibet aliud scelus non temporis longitudine, sed iniquitatis et impietatis magnitudine metiendum. Qui vero pro aliquo grandi crimine morte multatur, numquid mora qua occiditur, quae perbrevis est, eius supplicium leges aestimant et non quod eum in sempiternum auferunt de societate viventium? Quod est autem de ista civitate mortali homines supplicio primae mortis, hoc est de illa civitate inmortali homines supplicio secundae mortis auferre. Sicut enim non efficiunt leges huius civitatis, ut in eam quisque reuocetur occisus: sic nec illius, ut in vitam reuocetur aeternam secunda morte damnatus. Quo modo ergo verum es.t, inquiunt, quod ait Christus uester: In qua mensura mensi fueritis, in ea remetietur vobis, si temporale peccatum supplicio punitur aeterno? Nec adtendunt non propter aequale temporis spatium, sed propter vicissitudinem mali, id est ut qui mala fecerit mala patiatur, eandem dictam fuisse mensuram. Quamuis hoc in ea re proprie possit accipi, de qua Dominus cum hoc diceret loquebatur, id est de iudiciis et condemnationibus. Proinde qui iudicat et condemnat iniuste, si iudicatur et condemnatur iuste, in eadem mensura recipit, quamvis non hoc quod dedit. Iudicio enim fecit, iudicio patitur; quamvis fecerit damnatione quod iniquum est, patiatur damnatione quod iustum est.	Some, however, of those against whom we are defending the city of God, think it unjust that any man be doomed to an eternal punishment for sins which, no matter how great they were, were perpetrated in a brief space of time; as if any law ever regulated the duration of the punishment by the duration of the offence punished! Cicero tells us that the laws recognize eight kinds of penalty,-damages, imprisonment, scourging, reparation, disgrace, exile, death, slavery. Is there any one of these which may be compressed into a brevity proportioned to the rapid commission of the offence, so that no longer time may be spent in its punishment than in its perpetration, unless, perhaps, reparation? For this requires that the offender suffer what he did, as that clause of the law says, "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth." Exodus 21:24 For certainly it is possible for an offender to lose his eye by the severity of legal retaliation in as brief a time as he deprived another of his eye by the cruelty of his own lawlessness. But if scourging be a reasonable penalty for kissing another man's wife, is not the fault of an instant visited with long hours of atonement, and the momentary delight punished with lasting pain? What shall we say of imprisonment? Must the criminal be confined only for so long a time as he spent on the offence for which he is committed? or is not a penalty of many years' confinement imposed on the slave who has provoked his master with a word, or has struck him a blow that is quickly over? And as to damages, disgrace, exile, slavery, which are commonly inflicted so as to admit of no relaxation or pardon, do not these resemble eternal punishments in so far as this short life allows a resemblance? For they are not eternal only because the life in which they are endured is not eternal; and yet the crimes which are punished with these most protracted sufferings are perpetrated in a very brief space of time. Nor is there any one who would suppose that the pains of punishment should occupy as short a time as the offense; or that murder, adultery, sacrilege, or any other crime, should be measured, not by the enor mity of the injury or wickedness, but by the length of time spent in its perpetration. Then as to the award of death for any great crime, do the laws reckon the punishment to consist in the brief moment in which death is inflicted, or in this, that the offender is eternally banished from the society of the living? And just as the punishment of the first death cuts men off from this present mortal city, so does the punishment of the second death cut men off from that future immortal city. For as the laws of this present city do not provide for the executed criminal's return to it, so neither is he who is condemned to the second death recalled again to life everlasting. But if temporal sin is visited with eternal punishment, how, then, they say, is that true which your Christ says, "With the same measure that you mete withal it shall be measured to you again?" Luke 6:38 and they do not observe that "the same measure" refers, not to an equal space of time, but to the retribution of evil or, in other words, to the law by which he who has done evil suffers evil. Besides, these words could be appropriately understood as referring to the matter of which our Lord was speaking when He used them, viz., judgments and condemnation. Thus, if he who unjustly judges and condemns is himself justly judged and condemned, he receives "with the same measure" though not the same thing as he gave. For judgment he gave, and judgment he receives, though the judgment he gave was unjust, the judgment he receives just.
BOOK XXI [XII] Sed poena aeterna ideo dura et iniusta sensibus videtur humanis, quia in hac infirmitate moribundorum sensuum deest ille sensus altissimae purissimaeque sapientiae, quo sentiri possit quantum nefas in illa prima praeuaricatione commissum sit. Quanto enim magis homo fruebatur Deo, tanto maiore impietate dereliquit Deum et factus est malo dignus aeterno, qui hoc in se peremit bonum, quod esse posset aeternum. Hinc est universa generis humani massa damnata; quoniam, qui hoc primus admisit, cum ea quae in illo fuerat radicata sua stirpe punitus est, ut nullus ab hoc iusto debitoque supplicio nisi misericordi et indebita gratia liberetur atque ita dispertiatur genus humanum, ut in quibusdam demonstretur quid valeat misericors gratia, in ceteris quid iusta vindicta. Neque enim utrumque demonstraretur in omnibus, quia, si omnes remanerent in poenis iustae damnationis, in nullo appareret misericors gratia; rursus si omnes a tenebris transferrentur in lucem, in nullo appareret veritas ultionis. In qua propterea multo plures quam in illa sunt, ut sic ostendatur quid omnibus deberetur. Quod si omnibus redderetur, iustitiam vindicantis iuste nemo reprehenderet; quia vero tam multi exinde liberantur, est unde agantur maximae gratiae gratuito muneri liberantis.	But eternal punishment seems hard and unjust to human perceptions, because in the weakness of our mortal condition there is wanting that highest and purest wisdom by which it can be perceived how great a wickedness was committed in that first transgression. The more enjoyment man found in God, the greater was his wickedness in abandoning Him; and he who destroyed in himself a good which might have been eternal, became worthy of eternal evil. Hence the whole mass of the human race is condemned; for he who at first gave entrance to sin has been punished with all his posterity who were in him as in a root, so that no one is exempt from this just and due punishment, unless delivered by mercy and undeserved grace; and the human race is so apportioned that in some is displayed the efficacy of merciful grace, in the rest the efficacy of just retribution. For both could not be displayed in all; for if all had remained under the punishment of just condemnation, there would have been seen in no one the mercy of redeeming grace. And, on the other hand, if all had been transferred from darkness to light, the severity of retribution would have been manifested in none. But many more are left under punishment than are delivered from it, in order that it may thus be shown what was due to all. And had it been inflicted on all, no one could justly have found fault with the justice of Him who takes vengeance; whereas, in the deliverance of so many from that just award, there is cause to render the most cordial thanks to the gratuitous bounty of Him who delivers.
BOOK XXI [XIII] Platonici quidem, quamvis inpunita nulla velint esse peccata, tamen omnes poenas emendationi adhiberi putant, vel humanis inflictas legibus vel divinis, sive in hac vita sive post mortem, si aut parcatur hic cuique aut ita plectatur ut hic non corrigatur. Hinc est Maronis illa sententia, ubi, cum dixisset de terrenis corporibus moribundisque membris, quod animae Hinc metuunt cupiuntque, dolent gaudentque, nec auras Suspiciunt, clausae tenebris et carcere caeco, secutus adiunxit atque ait: Quin et supremo cum lumine vita reliquit (id est cum die novissimo reliquit eas ista vita), Non tamen (inquit) omne malum miseris, nec funditus omnes Corporeae excedunt pestes, penitusque necesse est Multa diu concreta modis inolescere miris. Ergo exercentur poenis ueterumque malorum Supplicia expendunt; aliae panduntur inanes Suspensae ad ventos, aliis sub gurgite uasto Infectum eluitur scelus aut exuritur igni. Qui hoc opinantur, nullas poenas nisi purgatorias volunt esse post mortem, ut, quoniam terris superiora sunt elementa aqua, aer, ignis, ex aliquo istorum mundetur per expiatorias poenas, quod terrena contagione contractum est. Aer quippe accipitur in eo quod ait: "Suspensae ad ventos"; aqua in eo quod ait: "Sub gurgite uasto"; ignis autem suo nomine expressus est, cum dixit: "Aut exuritur igni." Nos vero etiam in hac quidem mortali vita esse quasdam poenas purgatorias confitemur, non quibus affliguntur, quorum vita vel non inde fit melior vel potius inde fit peior; sed illis sunt purgatoriae, qui eis coherciti corriguntur. Ceterae omnes poenae, sive temporariae sive sempiternae, sicut unusquisque divina providentia tractandus est, inferuntur vel pro peccatis sive praeteritis sive in quibus adhuc vivit ille qui plectitur, vel pro exercendis declarandisque virtutibus per homines et angelos seu bonos seu malos. Nam etsi quisque mali aliquid alterius inprobitate vel errore patiatur, peccat quidem homo, qui vel ignorantia vel iniustitia cuiquam mali aliquid facit; sed non peccat Deus, qui iusto, quamvis occulto, iudicio fieri sinit. Sed temporarias poenas alii in hac vita tantum, alii post mortem, alii et nunc et tunc, verum tamen ante iudicium illud seuerissimum novissimumque patiuntur. Non autem omnes veniunt in sempiternas poenas, quae post illud iudicium sunt futurae, qui post mortem sustinent temporales. Nam quibusdam, quod in isto non remittitur, remitti in futuro saeculo, id est, ne futuri saeculi aeterno supplicio puniantur, iam supra diximus.	The Platonists, indeed, while they maintain that no sins are unpunished, suppose that all punishment is administered for remedial purposes, be it inflicted by human or divine law, in this life or after death; for a man may be scathless here, or, though punished, may yet not amend. Hence that passage of Virgil, where, when he had said of our earthly bodies and mortal members, that our souls derive-"Hence wild desires and grovelling fears, And human laughter, human tears; Immured in dungeon-seeming night, They look abroad, yet see no light, "goes on to say: "Nay, when at last the life has fled, And left the body cold and dead, Ee'n then there passes not away The painful heritage of clay; Full many a long-contracted stain Perforce must linger deep in grain. So penal sufferings they endure For ancient crime, to make them pure; Some hang aloft in open view, For winds to pierce them through and through, While others purge their guilt deep-dyed In burning fire or whelming tide. "They who are of this opinion would have all punishments after death to be purgatorial; and as the elements of air, fire, and water are superior to earth, one or other of these may be the instrument of expiating and purging away the stain contracted by the contagion of earth. So Virgil hints at the air in the words, "Some hang aloft for winds to pierce;" at the water in "whelming tide;" and at fire in the expression "in burning fire." For our part, we recognize that even in this life some punishments are purgatorial,-not, indeed, to those whose life is none the better, but rather the worse for them, but to those who are constrained by them to amend their life. All other punishments, whether temporal or eternal, inflicted as they are on every one by divine providence, are sent either on account of past sins, or of sins presently allowed in the life, or to exercise and reveal a man's graces. They may be inflicted by the instrumentality of bad men and angels as well as of the good. For even if any one suffers some hurt through another's wickedness or mistake, the man indeed sins whose ignorance or injustice does the harm; but God, who by His just though hidden judgment permits it to be done, sins not. But temporary punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by others after death, by others both now and then; but all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But of those who suffer temporary punishments after death, all are not doomed to those everlasting pains which are to follow that judgment; for to some, as we have already said, what is not remitted in this world is remitted in the next, that is, they are not punished with the eternal punishment of the world to come.
BOOK XXI [XIV] Rarissimi sunt autem qui nullas in hac vita, sed tantum post eam poenas luunt. Fuisse tamen aliquos, qui usque ad decrepitam senectutem ne levissimam quidem febriculam senserint quietamque duxerint vitam, et ipsi novimus et audivimus; quamquam vita ipsa mortalium tota poena sit, quia tota temptatio est, sicut sacrae litterae personant, ubi scriptum est: Numquid non temptatio est vita humana super terram? Non enim parua poena est ipsa insipientia vel inperitia, quae usque adeo fugienda merito iudicatur, ut per poenas doloribus plenas pueri cogantur quaeque artificia vel litteras discere; ipsumque discere, ad quod poenis adiguntur, tam poenale est eis, ut nonnumquam ipsas poenas, per quas compelluntur discere, malint ferre quam discere. Quis autem non exhorreat et mori eligat, si ei proponatur aut mors perpetienda aut rursus infantia? Quae quidem quod non a risu, sed a fletu orditur hanc lucem, quid malorum ingressa sit nesciens prophetat quodam modo. Solum, quando natus est, ferunt risisse Zoroastrem, nec ei boni aliquid monstrosus risus ille portendit. Nam magicarum artium fuisse perhibetur inventor; quae quidem illi nec ad praesentis vitae uanam felicitatem contra suos inimicos prodesse potuerunt; a Nino quippe rege Assyriorum, cum esset ipse Bactrianorum, bello superatus est. Prorsus quod scriptum est: Grave iugum super filios Adam a die exitus de ventre matris eorum usque in diem sepulturae in matrem omnium, usque adeo impleri necesse est, ut ipsi paruuli per lauacrum regenerationis ab originalis peccati, quo solo tenebantur, vinculo iam soluti mala multa patientes nonnulli et incursus spirituum malignorum aliquando patiantur. Quae quidem passio absit ut eis obsit, si hanc vitam in illa aetate etiam ipsa passione ingravescente et animam de corpore excludente finierint.	Quite exceptional are those who are not punished in this life, but only afterwards. Yet that there have been some who have reached the decrepitude of age without experiencing even the slightest sickness, and who have had uninterrupted enjoyment of life, I know both from report and from my own observation. However, the very life we mortals lead is itself all punishment, for it is all temptation, as the Scriptures declare, where it is written, "Is not the life of man upon earth a temptation?" Job 7:1 For ignorance is itself no slight punishment, or want of culture, which it is with justice thought so necessary to escape, that boys are compelled, under pain of severe punishment, to learn trades or letters; and the learning to which they are driven by punishment is itself so much of a punishment to them, that they sometimes prefer the pain that drives them to the pain to which they are driven by it. And who would not shrink from the alternative, and elect to die, if it were proposed to him either to suffer death or to be again an infant? Our infancy, indeed, introducing us to this life not with laughter but with tears, seems unconsciously to predict the ills we are to encounter. Zoroaster alone is said to have laughed when he was born, and that unnatural omen portended no good to him. For he is said to have been the inventor of magical arts, though indeed they were unable to secure to him even the poor felicity of this present life against the assaults of his enemies. For, himself king of the Bactrians, he was conquered by Ninus king of the Assyrians. In short, the words of Scripture, "An heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam, from the day that they go out of their mother's womb till the day that they return to the mother of all things," Sirach 40:1 -these words so infallibly find fulfillment, that even the little ones, who by the layer of regeneration have been freed from the bond of original sin in which alone they were held, yet suffer many ills, and in some instances are even exposed to the assaults of evil spirits. But let us not for a moment suppose that this suffering is prejudicial to their future happiness, even though it has so increased as to sever soul from body, and to terminate their life in that early age.
BOOK XXI [XV] Verum tamen in gravi iugo, quod positum est super filios Adam a die exitus de ventre matris eorum usque in diem sepulturae in matrem omnium, etiam hoc malum mirabile reperitur, ut sobrii simus atque intellegamus hanc vitam de peccato illo nimis nefario, quod in paradiso perpetratum est, factam nobis esse poenalem totumque, quod nobiscum agitur per testamentum nouum, non pertinere nisi ad novi saeculi hereditatem nouam, ut hic pignore accepto illud cuius hoc pignus est suo tempore consequamur, nunc autem ambulemus in spe et proficientes de die in diem spiritu facta carnis mortificemus. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius; et quotquot spritu Dei aguntur, hi filii sunt Dei, sed gratia, non natura. Vnicus enim natura Dei filius propter nos misericordia factus est hominis filius, ut nos, natura filii hominis, filii Dei per illum gratia fieremus. Manens quippe ille inmutabilis naturam nostram, in qua nos susciperet, suscepit a nobis et tenax divinitatis suae nostrae infirmitatis particeps factus est; ut nos in melius commutati, quod peccatores mortalesque sumus, eius inmortalis et iusti participatione amittamus et, quod in natura nostra bonum fecit, impletum summo bono in eius naturae bonitate seruemus. Sicut enim per unum hominem peccantem in hoc tam grave malum devenimus, ita per unum hominem eundemque Deum iustificantem ad illud bonum tam sublime veniemus. Nec quisquam se debet ab isto ad illum transisse confidere, nisi cum ibi fuerit, ubi temptatio nulla erit; nisi pacem tenuerit, quam belli huius, in quo caro concupiscit adversus spiritum et spiritus adversus carnem, multis et variis certaminibus quaerit. Hoc autem bellum numquam ullum esset, si natura humana per liberum arbitrium in rectitudine, in qua facta est, perstitisset. Nunc vero quae pacem felix cum Deo habere noluit, secum pugnat infelix, et cum sit hoc malum miserabile, melius est tamen quam priora vita huius. Melius confligitur quippe cum vitiis, quam sine ulla conflictione dominantur. Melius est, inquam, bellum cum spe pacis aeternae quam sine ulla liberationis cogitatione captivitas. Cupimus quidem etiam hoc bello carere et ad capessemdam ordinatissimam pacem, ubi firmissima stabilitate potioribus inferiora subdantur, igne divini amoris accendimur Sed si (quod absit) illius tanti boni spes nulla esset, malle debuimus in huius conflictationis molestia remanere quam vitiis in nos dominationem non eis resistendo permittere.	Nevertheless, in the "heavy yoke that is laid upon the sons of Adam, from the day that they go out of their mother's womb to the day that they return to the mother of all things," there is found an admirable though painful monitor teaching us to be sober-minded, and convincing us that this life has become penal in consequence of that outrageous wickedness which was perpetrated in Paradise, and that all to which the New Testament invites belongs to that future inheritance which awaits us in the world to come, and is offered for our acceptance, as the earnest that we may, in its own due time, obtain that of which it is the pledge. Now, therefore, let us walk in hope, and let us by the spirit mortify the deeds of the flesh, and so make progress from day to day. For "the Lord knows them that are His;" 2 Timothy 2:19 and "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God," Romans 8:14 but by grace, not by nature. For there is but one Son of God by nature, who in His compassion became Son of man for our sakes, that we, by nature sons of men, might by grace become through Him sons of God. For He, abiding unchangeable, took upon Him our nature, that thereby He might take us to Himself; and, holding fast His own divinity, He became partaker of our infirmity, that we, being changed into some better thing, might, by participating in His righteousness and immortality, lose our own properties of sin and mortality, and preserve whatever good quality He had implanted in our nature perfected now by sharing in the goodness of His nature. For as by the sin of one man we have fallen into a misery so deplorable, so by the righteousness of one Man, who also is God, shall we come to a blessedness inconceivably exalted. Nor ought any one to trust that he has passed from the one man to the other until he shall have reached that place where there is no temptation, and have entered into the peace which he seeks in the many and various conflicts of this war, in which "the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh." Galatians 5:17 Now, such a war as this would have had no existence if human nature had, in the exercise of free will, continued steadfast in the uprightness in which it was created. But now in its misery it makes war upon itself, because in its blessedness it would not continue at peace with God; and this, though it be a miserable calamity, is better than the earlier stages of this life, which do not recognize that a war is to be maintained. For better is it to contend with vices than without conflict to be subdued by them. Better, I say, is war with the hope of peace everlasting than captivity without any thought of deliverance. We long, indeed, for the cessation of this war, and, kindled by the flame of divine love, we burn for entrance on that well-ordered peace in which whatever is inferior is for ever subordinated to what is above it. But if (which God forbid) there had been no hope of so blessed a consummation, we should still have preferred to endure the hardness of this conflict, rather than, by our non-resistance, to yield ourselves to the dominion of vice.
BOOK XXI [XVI] Verum tanta est Dei misericordia in uasa misericordiae, quae praeparavit in gloriam, ut etiam prima hominis aetas, id est infantia, quae sine ullo renisu subiacet carni, et secunda, quae pueritia nuncupatur, ubi nondum ratio suscepit hanc pugnam et fere sub omnibus vitiosis delectationibus iacet, quia, licet fari iam valeat et ideo infantiam transisse videatur, nondum in ea est praecepti capax infirmitas mentis, si sacramenta Mediatoris acceperit, etiamsi hanc in eis annis vitam finiat, translata scilicet a potestate tenebrarum in regnum Christi non solum poenis non praeparetur aeternis, sed ne ulla quidem post mortem purgatoria tormenta patiatur. Sufficit enim sola spiritalis regeneratio, ne post mortem obsit quod carnalis generatio cum morte contraxit. Cum autem ventum fuerit ad aetatem, quae praeceptum iam capit et subdi potest legis imperio, suscipiendum est bellum contra vitia et gerendum acriter, ne ad damnabilia peccata perducat. Et si quidem nondum victoriarum consuetudine roborata sunt, facilius vincuntur et cedunt; si autem vincere atque imperare consuerunt, laboriosa difficultate superantur. Neque id fit veraciter atque sinceriter nisi verae delectatione iustitiae; haec est autem in fide Christi. Nam si lex iubens adsit et spiritus ivuans desit, per ipsam prohibitionem desiderio crescente atque vincente peccati etiam reatus praeuaricationis accedit. Nonnumquam sane apertissima vitia aliis vitiis vincuntur occultis, quae putantur esse virtutes, in quibus regnat superbia et quaedam sibi placendi altitudo ruinosa. Tunc itaque victa vitia deputanda sunt, cum Dei amore vincuntur, quem nisi Deus ipse non donat nec aliter nisi per mediatorem Dei et hominum, hominem Christum Iesum, qui factus est particeps mortalitatis nostrae, ut nos participes faceret divinitatis suae. Paucissimi autem sunt tantae felicitatis, ut ab ipsa ineunte adulescentia nulla damnabilia peccata committant vel in flagitiis vel in facinoribus vel in nefariae cuiusquam impietatis errore, sed magna spiritus largitate opprimant, quidquid eis posset carnali delectatione dominari. Plurimi vero praecepto legis accepto, cum prius victi fuerint praeualentibus vitiis et praeuaricatores eius effecti, tunc ad gratiam confugiunt adivuantem, qua fiant et amarius paenitendo et uehementius pugnando prius Deo subdita atque ita carni praeposita mente victores. Quisquis igitur cupit poenas euadere sempiternas, non solum baptizetur, verum etiam iustificetur in Christo, ac sic vere transeat a diabolo ad Christum. Purgatorias autem poenas nullas futuras opinetur, nisi ante illud ultimum tremendumque iudicium. Nequaquam tamen negandum est etiam ipsum aeternum ignem pro diversitate meritorum quamvis malorum aliis leviorem, aliis futurum esse graviorem, sive ipsius vis atque arbor pro poena digna cuiusque varietur, sive ipse aequaliter ardeat sed non aequali molestia sentiatur.	But such is God's mercy towards the vessels of mercy which He has prepared for glory, that even the first age of man, that is, infancy, which submits without any resistance to the flesh, and the second age, which is called boyhood, and which has not yet understanding enough to undertake this warfare, and therefore yields to almost every vicious pleasure (because though this age has the power of speech, and may therefore seem to have passed infancy, the mind is still too weak to comprehend the commandment), yet if either of these ages has received the sacraments of the Mediator, then, although the present life be immediately brought to an end, the child, having been translated from the power of darkness to the kingdom of Christ, shall not only be saved from eternal punishments, but shall not even suffer purgatorial torments after death. For spiritual regeneration of itself suffices to prevent any evil consequences resulting after death from the connection with death which carnal generation forms. But when we reach that age which can now comprehend the commandment, and submit to the dominion of law, we must declare war upon vices, and wage this war keenly, lest we be landed in damnable sins. And if vices have not gathered strength, by habitual victory they are more easily overcome and subdued; but if they have been used to conquer and rule, it is only with difficulty and labor they are mastered. And indeed this victory cannot be sincerely and truly gained but by delighting in true righteousness, and it is faith in Christ that gives this. For if the law be present with its command, and the Spirit be absent with His help, the presence of the prohibition serves only to increase the desire to sin, and adds the guilt of transgression. Sometimes, indeed, patent vices are overcome by other and hidden vices, which are reckoned virtues, though pride and a kind of ruinous self-sufficiency are their informing principles. Accordingly vices are then only to be considered overcome when they are conquered by the love of God, which God Himself alone gives, and which He gives only through the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who became a partaker of our mortality that He might make us partakers of His divinity. But few indeed are they who are so happy as to have passed their youth without committing any damnable sins, either by dissolute or violent conduct, or by following some godless and unlawful opinions, but have subdued by their greatness of soul everything in them which could make them the slaves of carnal pleasures. The greater number having first become transgressors of the law that they have received, and having allowed vice to have the ascendency in them, then flee to grace for help, and so, by a penitence more bitter, and a struggle more violent than it would otherwise have been, they subdue the soul to God, and thus give it its lawful authority over the flesh, and become victors. Whoever, therefore, desires to escape eternal punishment, let him not only be baptized, but also justified in Christ, and so let him in truth pass from the devil to Christ. And let him not fancy that there are any purgatorial pains except before that final and dreadful judgment. We must not, however deny that even the eternal fire will be proportioned to the deserts of the wicked, so that to some it will be more, and to others less painful, whether this result be accomplished by a variation in the temperature of the fire itself, graduated according to every one's merit, or whether it be that the heat remains the same, but that all do not feel it with equal intensity of torment.
BOOK XXI [XVII] Nunc iam cum misericordibus nostris agendum esse video et pacifice disputandum, qui vel omnibus illis hominibus, quos iustissimus iudex dignos. gehennae supplicio iudicabit, vel quibusdam eorum nolunt credere poenam sempiternam futuram, sed post certi temporis metas pro cuiusque peccati quantitate longioris sive brevioris eos inde existimant liberandos. Qua in re misericordior profecto fuit Origenes, qui et ipsum diabolum atque angelos eius post graviora pro meritis et diuturniora supplicia ex illis cruciatibus eruendos et sociandos sanctis angelis credidit. Sed illum et propter hoc et propter alia nonnulla et maxime propter alternantes sine cessatione beatitudines et miserias et statutis saeculorum interuallis ab istis ad illas atque ab illis ad istas itus ac reditus interminabiles non inmerito reprobavit ecclesia; quia et hoc, quod misericors videbatur, amisit faciendo sanctis veras miserias, quibus poenas luerent, et falsas beatitudines, in quibus verum ac securum, hoc est sine timore certum, sempiterni boni gaudium non haberent. Longe autem aliter istorum misericordia humano errat affectu, qui hominum illo iudicio damnatorum miserias temporales, omnium vero qui vel citius vel tardius liberantur aeternam felicitatem putant. Quae sententia si propterea bona et vera quia misericors est, tanto erit melior et verior quanto misericordior. Extendatur ergo ac profundatur fons huius misericordiae usque ad damnatos angelos saltem post multa atque prolixa quantumlibet saecula liberandos. Cur usque universam naturam manat humanam, et cum ad angelicam ventum fuerit, mox arescit? Non audent tamen se ulterius miserando porrigere et ad liberationem ipsius quoque diaboli pervenire. Verum si aliquis audeat, vincit nempe istos. Et tamen tanto invenitur errare deformius et contra recta Dei verba peruersius, quanto sibi videtur sentire clementius.	I must now, I see, enter the lists of amicable controversy with those tender-hearted Christians who decline to believe that any, or that all of those whom the infallibly just Judge may pronounce worthy of the punishment of hell, shall suffer eternally, and who suppose that they shall be delivered after a fixed term of punishment, longer or shorter according to the amount of each man's sin. In respect of this matter, Origen was even more indulgent; for he believed that even the devil himself and his angels, after suffering those more severe and prolonged pains which their sins deserved, should be delivered from their torments, and associated with the holy angels. But the Church, not without reason, condemned him for this and other errors, especially for his theory of the ceaseless alternation of happiness and misery, and the interminable transitions from the one state to the other at fixed periods of ages; for in this theory he lost even the credit of being merciful, by allotting to the saints real miseries for the expiation of their sins, and false happiness, which brought them no true and secure joy, that is, no fearless assurance of eternal blessedness. Very different, however, is the error we speak of, which is dictated by the tenderness of these Christians who suppose that the sufferings of those who are condemned in the judgment will be temporary, while the blessedness of all who are sooner or later set free will be eternal. Which opinion, if it is good and true because it is merciful, will be so much the better and truer in proportion as it becomes more merciful. Let, then, this fountain of mercy be extended, and flow forth even to the lost angels, and let them also be set free, at least after as many and long ages as seem fit! Why does this stream of mercy flow to all the human race, and dry up as soon as it reaches the angelic? And yet they dare not extend their pity further, and propose the deliverance of the devil himself. Or if any one is bold enough to do so, he does indeed put to shame their charity, but is himself convicted of error that is more unsightly, and a wresting of God's truth that is more perverse, in proportion as his clemency of sentiment seems to be greater.
BOOK XXI [XVIII] Sunt etiam, quales in conlocutionibus nostris ipse sum expertus, qui, cum venerari videantur scripturas sanctas, moribus inprobandi sunt et agendo causam suam multo maiorem quam isti misericordiam Deo tribuunt erga humanum genus. Dicunt enim de malis et infidelibus hominibus divinitus quidem verum praedictum esse, quod digni sunt; sed cum ad iudicium ventum fuerit, misericordiam esse superaturam. Donabit enim eos, inquiunt, misericors Deus precibus et intercessionibus sanctorum suorum. Si enim orabant pro illis, quando eos patiebantur inimicos, quanto magis quando videbunt humiles supplicesque prostratos! Neque enim credendum est, aiunt, tunc amissuros sanctos viscera misericordiae, cum fuerint plenissimae ac perfectissimae sanctitatis, ut, qui tunc orabant pro inimicis suis, quando et ipsi sine peccato non erant, tunc non orent pro supplicibus suis, quando nullum coeperint habere peccatum. Aut vero Deus tunc eos non exaudiet tot et tales filios suos, quando in tanta eorum sanctitate nullum inveniet orationis impedimentum? Testimonium vero psalmi et illi quidem, qui permittunt infideles atque impios homines saltem longo tempore cruciari et postea de mis omnibus erui, sed magis isti pro se dicunt esse, ubi legitur: Numquid obliviscetur misereri Deus aut continebit in ira sua miserationes suas? Ira eius est, inquiunt, ut omnes indigni beatitudine sempiterna ipso iudicante puniantur supplicio sempiterno. Sed si vel longum vel prorsus ullum esse permiserit, profecto, ut possit hoc fieri, continebit in ira sua miserationes suas, quod eum psalmus dicit non esse facturum. Non enim ait: "Numquid diu continebit in ira sua miserationes suas?" sed quod prorsus non continebit ostendit. Sic ergo isti volunt iudicii Dei comminationem non esse mendacem, quamvis sit neminem damnaturus, quem ad modum eius comminationem, qua dixit euersurum se esse Nineuen civitatem, mendacem non possumus dicere; et tamen factum non est, inquiunt, quod sine ulla condicione praedixit. Non enim ait: "Nineue euertetur, si non egerint paenitentiam seque correxerint"; sed hoc non addito praenuntiavit futuram euersionem illius civitatis. Quam comminationem propterea veracem putant, quia hoc praedixit Deus quod vere digni erant pati, quamvis hoc non esset ipse facturus. Nam etsi paenitentibus pepercit, inquiunt, utique illos paenitentiam non ignorabat acturos, et tamen absolute ac definite eorum euersionem futuram esse praedixit. Hoc ergo erat, inquiunt, in veritate seueritatis, quia id erant digni; sed in ratione miserationis non erat, quam non continuit in ira sua, ut ab ea poena supplicibus parceret, quam fuerat contumacibus comminatus. Si ergo tunc pepercit, aiunt, quando sanctum suum prophetam fuerat parcendo contristaturus, quanto magis tunc miserabilius supplicantibus parcet, quando ut parcat omnes sancti eius orabunt! Sed hoc, quod ipsi suis cordibus suspicantur, ideo putant scripturas tacuisse divinas, ut multi se corrigant vel prolixarum vel aeternarum timore poenarum, et sint qui possint orare pro eis, qui non se correxerint; nec tamen opinantur omni modo id eloquia divina tacuisse. Nam quo pertinet, inquiunt, quod scriptum est: Quam multa multitudo dulcedinis tuae, Domine, quam abscondisti timentibus te, nisi ut intellegamus propter timorem fuisse absconditam misericordiae divinae tam multam secretamque dulcedinem? Addunt etiam propterea dixisse apostolum: Conclusit enim Deus omnes in infidelitate, ut omnium misereatur, quo significaret, quod ab illo nemo damnabitur. Nec isti tamen, qui hoc sentiunt, hanc opinationem suam usque ad liberationem vel nullam damnationem diaboli atque angelorum eius extendunt; humana quippe circa solos homines moventur misericordia et causam maxime agunt suam, per generalem in genus humanum quasi Dei miserationem inpunitatem falsam suis perditis moribus pollicentes; ac per hoc superabunt eos in praedicanda Dei misericordia, qui hanc inpunitatem etiam principi daemonum et eius satellitibus pollicentur.	There are others, again, with whose opinions I have become acquainted in conversation, who, though they seem to reverence the holy Scriptures, are yet of reprehensible life, and who accordingly, in their own interest, attribute to God a still greater compassion towards men. For they acknowledge that it is truly predicted in the divine word that the wicked and unbelieving are worthy of punishment, but they assert that, when the judgment comes, mercy will prevail. For, say they, God, having compassion on them, will give them up to the prayers and intercessions of His saints. For if the saints used to pray for them when they suffered from their cruel hatred, how much more will they do so when they see them prostrate and humble suppliants? For we cannot, they say, believe that the saints shall lose their bowels of compassion when they have attained the most perfect and complete holiness; so that they who, when still sinners, prayed for their enemies, should now, when they are freed from sin, withhold from interceding for their suppliants. Or shall God refuse to listen to so many of His beloved children, when their holiness has purged their prayers of all hindrance to His answering them? And the passage of the psalm which is cited by those who admit that wicked men and infidels shall be punished for a long time, though in the end delivered from all sufferings, is claimed also by the persons we are now speaking of as making much more for them. The verse runs: "Shall God forget to be gracious? Shall He in anger shut up His tender mercies?" His anger, they say, would condemn all that are unworthy of everlasting happiness to endless punishment. But if He suffer them to be punished for a long time, or even at all, must He not shut up His tender mercies, which the Psalmist implies He will not do? For he does not say, Shall He in anger shut up His tender mercies for a long period? but he implies that He will not shut them up at all.And they deny that thus God's threat of judgment is proved to be false even though He condemn no man, any more than we can say that His threat to overthrow Nineveh was false, though the destruction which was absolutely predicted was not accomplished. For He did not say, "Nineveh shall be overthrown if they do not repent and amend their ways," but without any such condition He foretold that the city should be overthrown. And this prediction, they maintain, was true because God predicted the punishment which they deserved, although He was not to inflict it. For though He spared them on their repentance yet He was certainly aware that they would repent, and, notwithstanding, absolutely and definitely predicted that the city should be overthrown. This was true, they say, in the truth of severity, because they were worthy of it; but in respect of the compassion which checked His anger, so that He spared the suppliants from the punishment with which He had threatened the rebellious, it was not true. If, then, He spared those whom His own holy prophet was provoked at His sparing, how much more shall He spare those more wretched suppliants for whom all His saints shall intercede? And they suppose that this conjecture of theirs is not hinted at in Scripture, for the sake of stimulating many to reformation of life through fear of very protracted or eternal sufferings, and of stimulating others to pray for those who have not reformed. However, they think that the divine oracles are not altogether silent on this point; for they ask to what purpose is it said, "How great is Your goodness which You have hidden for them that fear You," if it be not to teach us that the great and hidden sweetness of God's mercy is concealed in order that men may fear? To the same purpose they think the apostle said, "For God has concluded all men in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all," Romans 11:32 signifying that no one should be condemned by God. And yet they who hold this opinion do not extend it to the acquittal or liberation of the devil and his angels. Their human tenderness is moved only towards men, and they plead chiefly their own cause, holding out false hopes of impunity to their own depraved lives by means of this quasi compassion of God to the whole race. Consequently they who promise this impunity even to the prince of the devils and his satellites make a still fuller exhibition of the mercy of God.
BOOK XXI [XIX] Item sunt alii ab aeterno supplicio liberationem nec ipsis saltem omnibus hominibus promittentes, sed tantummodo Christi baptismate ablutis, qui participes fiunt corporis eius, quomodolibet vixerint, in quacumque haeresi vel impietate fuerint, propter illud quod ait Iesus: Hic est panis qui de caelo descendit, ut, si quis ex ipso manducaverit, non moriatur. Ego sum panis vivus, qui de caelo descendi. Si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane, vivet in aeternum. Ab aeterna ergo morte, inquiunt, necesse est istos erui et ad vitam aeternam quandocumque perduci.	So, too, there are others who promise this deliverance from eternal punishment, not, indeed, to all men, but only to those who have been washed in Christian baptism, and who become partakers of the body of Christ, no matter how they have lived, or what heresy or impiety they have fallen into. They ground this opinion on the saying of Jesus, "This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that if any man eat thereof, he shall not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If a man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." John 6:50-51 Therefore, say they, it follows that these persons must be delivered from death eternal, and at one time or other be introduced to everlasting life.
BOOK XXI [XX] Item sunt, qui hoc nec omnibus habentibus baptismatis Christi et eius corporis sacramentum, sed solis catholicis quamvis male viventibus pollicentur, quia non solo sacramento, sed re ipsa manducaverunt corpus Christi, in ipso eius corpore constituti, de quo dicit apostolus: Vnus panis, unum corpus multi sumus; ut, etiamsi postea in aliquam haeresim vel etiam in gentilium idolatriam lapsi fuerint, tantum quia in corpore Christi, id est in catholica ecclesia, sumpserunt baptismum Christi et manducaverunt corpus Christi, non moriantur in aeternum, sed vitam quandoque consequantur aeternam; atque illa omnis impietas, quanto maior fuerit, non eis valeat ad aeternitatem, sed ad diuturnitatem magnitudinemque poenarum.	There are others still who make this promise not even to all who have received the sacraments of the baptism of Christ and of His body, but only to the Catholics, however badly they have lived. For these have eaten the body of Christ, not only sacramentally but really, being incorporated in His body, as the apostle says, "We, being many, are one bread, one body;" 1 Corinthians 10:17 so that, though they have afterwards lapsed into some heresy, or even into heathenism and idolatry, yet by virtue of this one thing, that they have received the baptism of Christ, and eaten the body of Christ, in the body of Christ, that is to say, in the catholic Church, they shall not die eternally, but at one time or other obtain eternal life; and all that wickedness of theirs shall not avail to make their punishment eternal, but only proportionately long and severe.
BOOK XXI [XXI] Sunt autem, qui propter id quod scriptum est: Qui perseueraverit usque in finem, hic saluus erit, non nisi in ecclesia catholica perseuerantibus, quamvis in ea male viventibus, hoc promittunt, per ignem videlicet saluandis merito fundamenti, de quo ait apostolus: Fundamentum enim aliud nemo potest ponere praeter id, quod positum est, quod est Christus Iesus. Si quis autem aedificat super fundamentum aurum, argentum, lapides pretiosos, ligna, fenum, stipulam: uniuscuiusque opus manifestabitur; dies enim declarabit, quoniam in igne reuelabitur, et uniuscuiusque opus quale sit ignis probabit. Si cuius opus permanserit quod superaedificavit, mercedem accipiet, Si cuius autem opus arserit, damnum patietur; ipse autem saluus erit, sic tamen quasi per ignem. Dicunt ergo cuiuslibet vitae catholicum Christianum Christum habere in fundamento, quod fundamentum nulla haeresis habet a corporis eius unitate praecisa; et ideo propter hoc fundamentum, etiamsi malae vitae fuerit catholicus Christianus, velut qui superaedificaverit ligna, fenum, stipulam, putant eum saluum fieri per ignem, id est post poenas ignis illius liberari, quo igne in ultimo iudicio punientur mali.	There are some, too, who found upon the expression of Scripture, "He that endures to the end shall be saved," Matthew 24:13 and who promise salvation only to those who continue in the Church catholic; and though such persons have lived badly, yet, say they, they shall be saved as by fire through virtue of the foundation of which the apostle says, "For other foundation has no man laid than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day of the Lord shall declare it, for it shall be revealed by fire; and each man's work shall be proved of what sort it is. If any man's work shall endure which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. But if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire." 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 They say, accordingly, that the catholic Christian, no matter what his life be, has Christ as his foundation, while this foundation is not possessed by any heresy which is separated from the unity of His body. And therefore, through virtue of this foundation, even though the catholic Christian by the inconsistency of his life has been as one building up wood, hay, stubble, upon it, they believe that he shall be saved by fire, in other words, that he shall be delivered after tasting the pain of that fire to which the wicked shall be condemned at the last judgment.
BOOK XXI [XXII] Comperi etiam quosdam putare eos tantummodo arsuros illius aeternitate supplicii, qui pro peccatis suis facere dignas elemosynas neglegunt, iuxta illud apostoli Iacobi: Iudicium autem sine misericordia illi, qui non fecit misericordiam. Qui ergo fecit, inquiunt, quamvis mores in melius non mutaverit, sed inter ipsas suas elemosynas nefarie ac nequiter vixerit, iudicium illi cum misericordia futurum est, ut aut nulla damnatione plectatur aut post aliquod tempus sive paruum sive prolixum ab illa damnatione liberetur. Ideo iudicem ipsum vivorum atque mortuorum noluisse existimant aliud commemorare se esse dicturum sive dextris, quibus est vitam daturus aeternam, sive sinistris, quos aeterno supplicio damnaturus, nisi elemosynas sive factas sive non factas. Ad hoc pertinere aiunt et in oratione Dominica cotidianam postulationem: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Quisquis enim illi, qui in eum peccavit, dimittit ignoscendo peccatum, procul dubio elemosynam facit. Quam rem Dominus ipse sic commendavit, ut diceret: Si enim dimiseritis peccata hominibus, dimittet vobis et pater uester peccata uestra; si autem non dimiseritis hominibus, neque pater uester, qui in caelis est, dimittet vobis. Ergo et ad hoc genus elemosynarum pertinet quod ait apostolus Iacobus iudicium futurum sine misericordia ei, qui non fecit misericordiam. Nec dixit Dominus, inquiunt, magna vel parua, sed: Dimittet vobis pater uester peccata uestra, si et vos dimiseritis hominibus. Ac per hoc putant etiam eis, qui perdite vixerint donec claudant diem vitae huius extremum, per hanc orationem, qualiacumque et quantacumque fuerint, omnia cotidie peccata dimitti, sicut ipsa cotidie frequentatur oratio, si hoc tantummodo custodire meminerint, ut, quando ab eis veniam petunt, qui eos peccato qualicumque laeserunt, ex corde dimittant. Cum ad haec omnia Deo donante respondero, liber iste claudendus est.	I have also met with some who are of opinion that such only as neglect to cover their sins with alms-deeds shall be punished in everlasting fire; and they cite the words of the Apostle James, "He shall have judgment without mercy who has shown no mercy." James 2:13 Therefore, say they, he who has not amended his ways, but yet has intermingled his profligate and wicked actions with works of mercy, shall receive mercy in the judgment, so that he shall either quite escape condemnation, or shall be liberated from his doom after some time shorter or longer. They suppose that this was the reason why the Judge Himself of quick and dead declined to mention anything else than works of mercy done or omitted, when awarding to those on His right hand life eternal, and to those on His left everlasting punishment. Matthew 25:33 To the same purpose, they say, is the daily petition we make in the Lord's prayer, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Matthew 6:12 For, no doubt, whoever pardons the person who has wronged him does a charitable action. And this has been so highly commended by the Lord Himself, that He says, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Matthew 6:14-15 And so it is to this kind of alms-deeds that the saying of the Apostle James refers, "He shall have judgment without mercy that has shown no mercy." And our Lord, they say, made no distinction of great and small sins, but "Your Father will forgive your sins, if you forgive men theirs." Consequently they conclude that, though a man has led an abandoned life up to the last day of it, yet whatsoever his sins have been, they are all remitted by virtue of this daily prayer, if only he has been mindful to attend to this one thing, that when they who have done him any injury ask his pardon, he forgive them from his heart.When, by God's help, I have replied to all these errors, I shall conclude this (twenty-first) book.
BOOK XXI [XXIII] Ac primum quaeri oportet atque cognosci, cur ecclesia ferre nequiverit hominum disputationem diabolo etiam post maximas et diuturnissimas poenas purgationem vel indulgentiam pollicentem. Neque enim tot sancti et sacris ueteribus ac novis litteris eruditi mundationem et regni caelorum beatitudinem post qualiacumque et quantacumque supplicia qualibuscumque et quantiscumque angelis inuiderunt, sed potius viderunt divinam uacuari vel infirmari non posse sententiam, quam se Dominus praenuntiavit in iudicio prolaturum atque dicturum: Discedite a me, maledicti, in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo et angelis eius (sic quippe ostendit aeterno igne diabolum et angelos eius arsuros); et quod scriptum est in apocalypsi: Diabolus, qui seducebat eos, missus est in stagnum ignis et sulphuris, quo et bestia et pseudopropheta; et cruciabuntur die et nocte in saecula saeculorum. Quod ibi dictum est aeternum, hic dictum est in saecula saeculorum, quibus verbis nihil scriptura divina significare consuevit, nisi quod finem non habet temporis. Quam ob rem prorsus nec alia causa nec iustior atque manifestior inveniri potest, cur verissima pietate teneatur fixum et inmobile nullum regressum ad iustitiam vitamque sanctorum diabolum et angelos eius habituros, nisi quia scriptura, quae neminem fallit, dicit eis Deum non pepercisse, et sic ab illo esse interim praedamnatos, ut carceribus caliginis inferi retrusi traderentur servandi atque ultimo iudicio puniendi, quando eos aeternus ignis accipiet, ubi cruciabuntur in saecula saeculorum. Quod si ita est, quo modo ab huius aeternitate poenae vel universi vel quidam homines post quantumlibet temporis subtrahentur, ac non statim eneruabitur fides, qua creditur sempiternum daemonum futurum esse supplicium? Si enim quibus dicetur: Discedite a me, maledicti, in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo et angelis eius, vel universi vel aliqui eorum non semper ibi erunt, quid causae est cur diabolus et angeli eius semper ibi futuri esse credantur? An forte Dei sententia, quae in malos et angelos et homines proferetur, in angelos vera erit, in homines falsa? Ita plane hoc erit, si non quod Deus dixit, sed quod suspicantur homines plus valebit. Quod fieri quia non potest, non argumentari adversus Deum, sed divino potius, dum tempus est, debent parere praecepto, qui sempiterno cupiunt carere supplicio. Deinde quale est aeternum supplicium pro igne diuturni temporis existimare et vitam aeternam credere sine fine, cum Christus eodem ipso loco, in una eademque sententia dixerit utrumque complexus: Sic ibunt isti in supplicium aeternum, iusti autem in vitam aeternam? Si utrumque aeternum, profecto aut utrumque cum fine diuturnum aut utrumque sine fine perpetuum debet intellegi. Par pari enim relata sunt, hinc supplicium aeternum, inde vita aeterna. Dicere autem in hoc uno eodemque sensu: "Vita aeterna sine fine erit, supplicium aeternum finem habebit" multum absurdum est. Vnde, quia vita aeterna sanctorum sine fine erit, supplicium quoque aeternum quibus erit finem procul dubio non habebit.	First of all, it behoves us to inquire and to recognize why the Church has not been able to tolerate the idea that promises cleansing or indulgence to the devil even after the most severe and protracted punishment. For so many holy men, imbued with the spirit of the Old and New Testament, did not grudge to angels of any rank or character that they should enjoy the blessedness of the heavenly kingdom after being cleansed by suffering, but rather they perceived that they could not invalidate nor evacuate the divine sentence which the Lord predicted that He would pronounce in the judgment, saying, "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:41 For here it is evident that the devil and his angels shall burn in everlasting fire. And there is also that declaration in the Apocalypse, "The devil their deceiver was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where also are the beast and the false prophet. And they shall be tormented day and night for ever." Revelation 20:10 In the former passage "everlasting" is used, in the latter "for ever;" and by these words Scripture is wont to mean nothing else than endless duration. And therefore no other reason, no reason more obvious and just, can be found for holding it as the fixed and immovable belief of the truest piety, that the devil and his angels shall never return to the justice and life of the saints, than that Scripture, which deceives no man, says that God spared them not, and that they were condemned beforehand by Him, and cast into prisons of darkness in hell, 2 Peter 2:4 being reserved to the judgment of the last day, when eternal fire shall receive them, in which they shall be tormented world without end. And if this be so, how can it be believed that all men, or even some, shall be withdrawn from the endurance of punishment after some time has been spent in it? how can this be believed without enervating our faith in the eternal punishment of the devils? For if all or some of those to whom it shall be said, "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," Matthew 25:41 are not to be always in that fire, then what reason is there for believing that the devil and his angels shall always be there? Or is perhaps the sentence of God, which is to be pronounced on wicked men and angels alike, to be true in the case of the angels, false in that of men? Plainly it will be so if the conjectures of men are to weigh more than the word of God. But because this is absurd, they who desire to be rid of eternal punishment ought to abstain from arguing against God, and rather, while yet there is opportunity, obey the divine commands. Then what a fond fancy is it to suppose that eternal punishment means long continued punishment, while eternal life means life without end, since Christ in the very same passage spoke of both in similar terms in one and the same sentence, "These shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into life eternal!" Matthew 25:46 If both destinies are "eternal," then we must either understand both as long-continued but at last terminating, or both as endless. For they are correlative,-on the one hand, punishment eternal, on the other hand, life eternal. And to say in one and the same sense, life eternal shall be endless, punishment eternal shall come to an end, is the height of absurdity. Wherefore, as the eternal life of the saints shall be endless, so too the eternal punishment of those who are doomed to it shall have no end.
BOOK XXI [XXIV] Hoc autem et adversus eos valet, qui suas agentes causas contra Dei venire verba velut misericordia maiore conantur, ut ideo videlicet vera sint, quia ea, quae dixit homines esse passuros, pati digni sunt, non quia passuri sunt. Donabit enim eos, inquiunt, precibus sanctorum suorum, etiam tunc tanto magis orantium pro inimicis suis, quanto sunt utique sanctiores, eorumque efficacior est oratio et exauditione Dei dignior, iam nullum habentium omnino peccatum. Cur ergo eadem perfectissima sanctitate et cuncta impetrare valentibus mundissimis et misericordissimis precibus etiam pro angelis non orabunt, quibus paratus est ignis aeternus, ut Deus sententiam suam mitiget et reflectat in melius eosque ab illo igne faciat alienos? An erit forsitan quisquam, qui et hoc futurum esse praesumat adfirmans etiam sanctos angelos simul cum sanctis hominibus, qui tunc aequales erunt angelis Dei, pro damnandis et angelis et hominibus oraturos, ut misericordia non patiantur, quod veritate merentur pati? Quod nemo sanae fidei dixit, nemo dicturus est. Alioquin nulla causa est, cur non etiam nunc pro diabolo et angelis eius oret ecclesia, quam magister Deus pro inimicis suis iussit orare. Haec igitur causa, qua fit ut nunc ecclesia non oret pro malis angelis, quos suos esse novit inimicos, eadem ipsa causa est, qua fiet ut in illo tunc iudicio etiam pro hominibus aeterno igne cruciandis, quamvis perfecta sit sanctitate, non oret. Nunc enim propterea pro eis orat, quos in genere humano habet inimicos, quia tempus est paenitentiae fructuosae. Nam quid maxime pro eis orat, nisi ut det illis Deus, sicut dicit apostolus, paenitentiam et resipiscant de diaboli laqueis, a quo captivi tenentur secundum ipsius voluntatem? Denique si de aliquibus ita certa esset, ut qui sint illi etiam nosset, qui, licet adhuc in hac vita sint constituti, tamen praedestinati sunt in aeternum ignem ire cum diabolo: tam pro eis non oraret, quam nec pro ipso. Sed quia de nullo certa est, orat pro omnibus dumtaxat hominibus inimicis suis in hoc corpore constitutis; nec tamen pro omnibus exauditur. Pro his enim solis exauditur, qui, etsi adversantur ecclesiae, ita sunt tamen praedestinati, ut pro eis exaudiatur ecclesia et filii efficiantur ecclesiae. Si qui autem usque ad mortem habebunt cor impaenitens nec ex inimicis convertentur in filios, numquid iam pro eis, id est pro talium defunctorum spiritibus, orat ecclesia? Quid ita, nisi quia in parte iam diaboli computatur, qui cum esset in corpore non est translatus ad Christum? Eadem itaque causa est, cur non oretur tunc pro hominibus aeterno igne puniendis, quae causa est, ut neque nunc neque tunc oretur pro angelis malis; quae itidem causa est, ut, quamvis pro hominibus, tamen iam nec nunc oretur pro infidelibus impiisque defunctis. Nam pro defunctis quibusdam vel ipsius ecclesiae vel quorumdam piorum exauditur oratio, sed pro his, quorum in Christo regeneratorum nec usque adeo vita in corpore male gesta est, ut tali misericordia iudicentur digni non esse, nec usque adeo bene, ut talem misericordiam reperiantur necessariam non habere; sicut etiam facta resurrectione mortuorum non deerunt, quibus post poenas, quas patiuntur spiritus mortuorum, inpertiatur misericordia, ut in ignem non mittantur aeternum. Neque enim de quibusdam veraciter diceretur, quod non eis remittatur neque in hoc saeculo neque in futuro, nisi essent quibus, etsi non in isto, tamen remittitur in futuro. Sed cum dictum fuerit a iudice vivorum atque mortuorum: Venite, benedicti patris mei, possidete paratum vobis regnum a constitutione mundi, et aliis e contrario: Discedite a me, maledicti, in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo et angelis eius, et ierint isti in supplicium aeternum, iusti autem in vitam aeternam: nimiae praesumptionis est dicere cuiquam eorum aeternum supplicium non futurum, quo Deus ituros in supplicium dixit aeternum, et per huius praesumptionis persuasionem facere, ut de ipsa quoque vita vel desperetur vel dubitetur aeterna. Nemo itaque sic intellegat psalmum canentem: Numquid obliviscetur misereri Deus, aut continebit in ira sua miserationes suas? ut opinetur de hominibus bonis veram, de malis falsam, aut de bonis hominibus et malis angelis veram, de malis autem hominibus falsam Dei esse sententiam. Hoc enim, quod ait psalmus, ad uasa misericordiae pertinet et ad filios promissionis, quorum erat unus etiam ipse propheta, qui cum dixisset: Numquid obliviscetur misereri Deus aut continebit in ira sua miserationes suas? continuo subiecit: Et dixi: Nunc coepi, haec est inmutatio dexterae Excelsi. Exposuit profecto quid dixerit: Numquid continebit in ira sua miserationes suas? Ira enim Dei est etiam ista vita mortalis, ubi homo uanitati similis factus est; dies eius velut umbra praetereunt. In qua tamen ira non obliviscitur misereri Deus, faciendo solem suum oriri super bonos et malos et pluendo super iustos et iniustos, ac sic non continet in ira sua miserationes suas; maximeque in eo, quod expressit hic psalmus dicendo: Nunc coepi, haec est inmutatio dexterae Excelsi, quoniam in hac ipsa aerumnosissima vita, quae ira Dei est, uasa misericordiae mutat in melius, quamvis adhuc in huius corruptionis miseria maneat ira eius, quia nec in ipsa ira sua continet miserationes suas. Cum ergo isto modo compleatur divini illius cantici veritas, non est eam necesse etiam illic intellegi, ubi non pertinentes ad civitatem Dei sempiterno supplicio punientur. Sed quibus placet istam sententiam usque ad illa impiorum tormenta protendere, saltem sic intellegant, ut manente in eis ira Dei, quae in aeterno est praenuntiata supplicio, non contineat Deus in hac ira sua miserationes suas et faciat eos non tanta quanta digni sunt poenarum atrocitate cruciari; non ut eas poenas vel numquam subeant vel aliquando finiant, sed ut eas mitiores quam merita sunt eorum levioresque patiantur. Sic enim et ira Dei manebit, et in ipsa ira sua miserationes suas non continebit. Quod quidem non ideo confirmo, quoniam non resisto. Ceterum eos, qui putant minaciter potius quam veraciter dictum: Discedite a me, maledicti, in ignem aeternum, et: ibunt isti in supplicium aeternum, et: Cruciabuntur in saecula saeculorum, et: Vermis eorum non morietur et ignis non extinguetur, et cetera huius modi, non tam ego, quam ipsa scriptura divina planissime atque plenissime redarguit ac refellit. Ninevitae quippe in hac vita egerunt paenitentiam et ideo fructuosam, velut in hoc agro seminantes, in quo Deus voluit cum lacrimis seminari, quod postea cum laetitia meteretur; et tamen quis negabit, quod Dominus praedixit in eis fuisse completum, nisi parum advertat, quem ad modum peccatores Deus non solum iratus, verum etiam miseratus euertat? Euertuntur enim peccatores duobus modis, aut sicut Sodomitae, ut pro peccatis suis ipsi homines puniantur, aut sicut Ninevitae, ut ipsa hominum peccata paenitendo destruantur. Factum est ergo quod praedixit Deus; euersa est Nineue quae mala erat, et bona aedificata est quae non erat. Stantibus enim moenibus atque domibus euersa est civitas in perditis moribus. Ac sic, quamvis propheta fuerit contristatus, quia non est factum quod illi homines timuerunt illo prophetante venturum, factum est tamen quod fuerat Deo praesciente praedictum, quoniam noverat qui praedixit, quo modo in melius esset implendum. Vt autem noverint isti in peruersum misericordes quo pertineat quod scriptum est: Quam multa multitudo dulcedinis tuae, Domine, quam abscondisti timentibus te) legant quod sequitur: Perfecisti autem sperantibus in te. Quid est abscondisti timentibus, perfecisti sperantibus, nisi quia illis, qui timore poenarum suam iustitiam volunt constituere quae in lege est, non est iustitia Dei dulcis, quia nesciunt eam? Non enim gustaverunt eam. In se namque sperant, non in ipso, et ideo eis absconditur multitudo dulcedinis Dei; quoniam timent quidem Deum, sed illo timore seruili, qui non est in caritate, quia perfecta caritas foras mittit timorem. Ideo sperantibus in eum perficit dulcedinem suam inspirando eis caritatem suam, ut timore casto, non quem caritas foras mittit, sed permanente in saeculum saeculi, cum gloriantur, in Domino glorientur. Iustitia quippe Dei Christus est, qui factus est nobis, sicut dicit apostolus, sapientia a Deo et iustitia et sanctificatio et redemptio, ut, quem ad modum scriptum est, qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur. Hanc Dei iustitiam, quam donat gratia sine meritis, nesciunt illi, qui suam iustitiam volunt constituere, et ideo iustitiae Dei, quod est Christus, non sunt subiecti. In qua iustitia est multa multitudo dulcedinis Dei, propter quam dicitur in psalmo: Gustate et videte quam dulcis est Dominus. Et hanc quidem in hac peregrinatione gustantes, non ad satietatem sumentes, esurimus eam potius ac sitimus, ut ea postea saturemur, cum videbimus eum, sicuti est, et implebitur quod scriptum est: Saturabor, cum manifestabitur gloria tua. Ita perficit Christus multam multitudinem dulcedinis suae sperantibus in eum. Porro autem si eam, quam illi putant, dulcedinem suam Deus abscondit timentibus eum, qua non est impios damnaturus, ut hoc nescientes et damnari timentes recte vivant ac sic possint esse qui orent pro non recte viventibus: quo modo eam perficit sperantibus in eum, quando quidem, sicut somniant, per hanc dulcedinem non damnaturus est eos, qui non sperant in eum? Illa igitur eius dulcedo quaeratur, quam perficit.sperantibus in eum, non quam proficere putatur contemnentibus et blasphemantibus eum. Frustra itaque homo post hoc corpus inquirit, quod in hoc corpore sibi comparare neglexit. Illud quoque apostolicum: Conclusit enim Deus omnes in infidelitate, ut omnium misereatur, non ideo dictum est, quod sit neminem damnaturus, sed superius apparet unde sit dictum. Nam cum de Iudaeis postea credituris apostolus loqueretur ad gentes, ad quas utique iam credentes conscribebat epistulas: Sicut enim vos, inquit, aliquando non credidistis Deo, nunc autem misericordiam consecuti estis illorum incredulitate: sic et hi nunc non crediderunt in uestram misericordiam, ut et ipsi misericordiam consequantur. Deinde subiecit, unde isti sibi errando blandiuntur, atque ait: Conclusit enim Deus omnes in infidelitate, ut omnium misereatur. Quos omnes, nisi de quibus loquebatur, tamquam dicens: Et vos et illos? Deus ergo et gentiles et Iudaeos, quos praescivit et praedestinavit conformes imaginis filii sui, omnes in infidelitate conclusit, ut de amaritudine infidelitatis suae paenitendo confusi et ad dulcedinem misericordiae Dei credendo conversi clamarent illud in psalmo: Quam multa multitudo dulcedinis tuae, Domine, quam abscondisti timentibus te, perfecisti autem sperantibus, non in se, sed in te ) Omnium itaque miseretur uasorum misericordiae. Quid est omnium? Et eorum scilicet quos ex gentibus, et eorum quos ex Iudaeis praedestinavit vocavit, iustificavit glorificavit, non hominum omnium, sed istorum omnium neminem damnaturus.	And this reasoning is equally conclusive against those who, in their own interest, but under the guise of a greater tenderness of spirit, attempt to invalidate the words of God, and who assert that these words are true, not because men shall suffer those things which are threatened by God, but because they deserve to suffer them. For God, they say, will yield them to the prayers of His saints, who will then the more earnestly pray for their enemies, as they shall be more perfect in holiness, and whose prayers will be the more efficacious and the more worthy of God's ear, because now purged from all sin whatsoever. Why, then, if in that perfected holiness their prayers be so pure and all-availing, will they not use them in behalf of the angels for whom eternal fire is prepared, that God may mitigate His sentence and alter it, and extricate them from that fire? Or will there, perhaps, be some one hardy enough to affirm that even the holy angels will make common cause with holy men (then become the equals of God's angels), and will intercede for the guilty, both men and angels, that mercy may spare them the punishment which truth has pronounced them to deserve? But this has been asserted by no one sound in the faith; nor will be. Otherwise there is no reason why the Church should not even now pray for the devil and his angels, since God her Master has ordered her to pray for her enemies. The reason, then, which prevents the Church from now praying for the wicked angels, whom she knows to be her enemies, is the identical reason which shall prevent her, however perfected in holiness, from praying at the last judgment for those men who are to be punished in eternal fire. At present she prays for her enemies among men, because they have yet opportunity for fruitful repentance. For what does she especially beg for them but that "God would grant them repentance," as the apostle says, "that they may return to soberness out of the snare of the devil, by whom they are held captive according to his will?" 2 Timothy 2:25-26 But if the Church were certified who those are, who, though they are still abiding in this life, are yet predestinated to go with the devil into eternal fire, then for them she could no more pray than for him. But since she has this certainty regarding no man, she prays for all her enemies who yet live in this world; and yet she is not heard in behalf of all. But she is heard in the case of those only who, though they oppose the Church, are yet predestinated to become her sons through her intercession. But if any retain an impenitent heart until death, and are not converted from enemies into sons, does the Church continue to pray for them, for the spirits, i.e., of such persons deceased? And why does she cease to pray for them, unless because the man who was not translated into Christ's kingdom while he was in the body, is now judged to be of Satan's following?It is then, I say, the same reason which prevents the Church at any time from praying for the wicked angels, which prevents her from praying hereafter for those men who are to be punished in eternal fire; and this also is the reason why, though she prays even for the wicked so long as they live, she yet does not even in this world pray for the unbelieving and godless who are dead. For some of the dead, indeed, the prayer of the Church or of pious individuals is heard; but it is for those who, having been regenerated in Christ, did not spend their life so wickedly that they can be judged unworthy of such compassion, nor so well that they can be considered to have no need of it. As also, after the resurrection, there will be some of the dead to whom, after they have endured the pains proper to the spirits of the dead, mercy shall be accorded, and acquittal from the punishment of the eternal fire. For were there not some whose sins, though not remitted in this life, shall be remitted in that which is to come, it could not be truly said, "They shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in that which is to come." Matthew 12:32 But when the Judge of quick and dead has said, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world," and to those on the other side, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels," and "These shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life," it were excessively presumptuous to say that the punishment of any of those whom God has said shall go away into eternal punishment shall not be eternal, and so bring either despair or doubt upon the corresponding promise of life eternal.Let no man then so understand the words of the Psalmist, "Shall God forget to be gracious? shall He shut up in His anger His tender mercies" as if the sentence of God were true of good men, false of bad men, or true of good men and wicked angels, but false of bad men. For the Psalmist's words refer to the vessels of mercy and the children of the promise, of whom the prophet himself was one; for when he had said, "Shall God forget to be gracious? shall He shut up in His anger His tender mercies?" and then immediately subjoins, "And I said, Now I begin: this is the change wrought by the right hand of the Most High," he manifestly explained what he meant by the words, "Shall he shut up in His anger His tender mercies?" For God's anger is this mortal life, in which man is made like to vanity, and his days pass as a shadow. Yet in this anger God does not forget to be gracious, causing His sun to shine and His rain to descend on the just and the unjust; Matthew 5:45 and thus He does not in His anger cut short His tender mercies, and especially in what the Psalmist speaks of in the words, "Now I begin: this change is from the right hand of the Most High;" for He changes for the better the vessels of mercy, even while they are still in this most wretched life, which is God's anger, and even while His anger is manifesting itself in this miserable corruption; for "in His anger He does not shut up His tender mercies." And since the truth of this divine canticle is quite satisfied by this application of it, there is no need to give it a reference to that place in which those who do not belong to the city of God are punished in eternal fire. But if any persist in extending its application to the torments of the wicked, let them at least understand it so that the anger of God, which has threatened the wicked with eternal punishment, shall abide, but shall be mixed with mercy to the extent of alleviating the torments which might justly be inflicted; so that the wicked shall neither wholly escape, nor only for a time endure these threatened pains, but that they shall be less severe and more endurable than they deserve. Thus the anger of God shall continue, and at the same time He will not in this anger shut up His tender mercies. But even this hypothesis I am not to be supposed to affirm because I do not positively oppose it.As for those who find an empty threat rather than a truth in such passages as these: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire;" and "These shall go away into eternal punishment;" Matthew 25:41, 46 and "They shall be tormented for ever and ever;" Revelation 20:10 and "Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched," Isaiah 66:24 -such persons, I say, are most emphatically and abundantly refuted, not by me so much as by the divine Scripture itself. For the men of Nineveh repented in this life, and therefore their repentance was fruitful, inasmuch as they sowed in that field which the Lord meant to be sown in tears that it might afterwards be reaped in joy. And yet who will deny that God's prediction was fulfilled in their case, if at least he observes that God destroys sinners not only in anger but also in compassion? For sinners are destroyed in two ways,-either, like the Sodomites, the men themselves are punished for their sins, or, like the Ninevites, the men's sins are destroyed by repentance. God's prediction, therefore, was fulfilled,-the wicked Nineveh was overthrown, and a good Nineveh built up. For its walls and houses remained standing; the city was overthrown in its depraved manners. And thus, though the prophet was provoked that the destruction which the inhabitants dreaded, because of his prediction, did not take place, yet that which God's foreknowledge had predicted did take place, for He who foretold the destruction knew how it should be fulfilled in a less calamitous sense.But that these perversely compassionate persons may see what is the purport of these words, "How great is the abundance of Your sweetness, Lord, which You have hidden for them that fear You," let them read what follows: "And You have perfected it for them that hope in You." For what means, "You have hidden it for them that fear You," "You have perfected it for them that hope in You," unless this, that to those who through fear of punishment seek to establish their own righteousness by the law, the righteousness of God is not sweet, because they are ignorant of it? They have not tasted it. For they hope in themselves, not in Him; and therefore God's abundant sweetness is hidden from them. They fear God, indeed, but it is with that servile fear "which is not in love; for perfect love casts out fear." 1 John 4:18 Therefore to them that hope in Him He perfects His sweetness, inspiring them with His own love, so that with a holy fear, which love does not cast out, but which endures for ever, they may, when they glory, glory in the Lord. For the righteousness of God is Christ, "who is of God made unto us," as the apostle says, "wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 This righteousness of God, which is the gift of grace without merits, is not known by those who go about to establish their own righteousness, and are therefore not subject to the righteousness of God, which is Christ. Romans 10:3 But it is in this righteousness that we find the great abundance of God's sweetness, of which the psalm says, "Taste and see how sweet the Lord is." And this we rather taste than partake of to satiety in this our pilgrimage. We hunger and thirst for it now, that hereafter we may be satisfied with it when we see Him as He is, and that is fulfilled which is written, "I shall be satisfied when Your glory shall be manifested." It is thus that Christ perfects the great abundance of His sweetness to them that hope in Him. But if God conceals His sweetness from them that fear Him in the sense that these our objectors fancy, so that men's ignorance of His purpose of mercy towards the wicked may lead them to fear Him and live better, and so that there may be prayer made for those who are not living as they ought, how then does He perfect His sweetness to them that hope in Him, since, if their dreams be true, it is this very sweetness which will prevent Him from punishing those who do not hope in Him? Let us then seek that sweetness of His, which He perfects to them that hope in Him, not that which He is supposed to perfect to those who despise and blaspheme Him; for in vain, after this life, does a man seek for what he has neglected to provide while in this life.Then, as to that saying of the apostle, "For God has concluded all in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all," Romans 11:32 it does not mean that He will condemn no one; but the foregoing context shows what is meant. The apostle composed the epistle for the Gentiles who were already believers; and when he was speaking to them of the Jews who were yet to believe, he says, "For as you in times past believed not God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief; even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy." Then he added the words in question with which these persons beguile themselves: "For God concluded all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all." All whom, if not all those of whom he was speaking, just as if he had said, "Both you and them?" God then concluded all those in unbelief, both Jews and Gentiles, whom He foreknew and predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that they might be confounded by the bitterness of unbelief, and might repent and believingly turn to the sweetness of God's mercy, and might take up that exclamation of the psalm, "How great is the abundance of Your sweetness, O Lord, which You have hidden for them that fear You, but hast perfected to them that hope," not in themselves, but "in You." He has mercy, then, on all the vessels of mercy. And what means "all?" Both those of the Gentiles and those of the Jews whom He predestinated, called, justified, glorified: none of these will be condemned by Him; but we cannot say none of all men whatever.
BOOK XXI [XXV] Sed iam respondeamus etiam illis, qui non solum diabolo et angelis eius, sicut nec isti, sed ne ipsis quidem omnibus hominibus liberationem ab aeterno igne promittunt, verum eis tantum, qui Christi baptismate abluti et corporis eius et sanguinis participes facti sunt, quomodolibet vixerint, in quacumque haeresi vel impietate fuerint. Sed contradicit eis apostolus dicens: Manifesta autem sunt opera carnis, quae sunt fornicatio, inmunditia, luxuria, idolorum seruitus, veneficia, inimicitiae, contentiones, aemulationes, animositates, dissensiones, haereses, inuidiae, ebrietates, comisationes et his similia; quae praedico vobis, sicut praedixi, quoniam qui talia agunt regnum Dei non possidebunt. Haec profecto apostolica falsa sententia est, si tales post quantalibet tempora liberati regnum Dei possidebunt. Sed quoniam falsa non est, profecto regnum Dei non possidebunt. Et si in regni Dei possessione numquam erunt, aeterno supplicio tenebuntur; quoniam non est medius locus, ubi non sit in supplicio, qui illo non fuerit constitutus in regno. Quam ob rem quod ait Dominus Iesus: Hic est panis qui de caelo descendit, ut, si quis ex ipso manducaverit, non moriatur. Ego sum panis vivus, qui de caelo descendi; si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane, vivet in aeternum, quo modo sit accipiendum, merito quaeritur. Et ab istis quidem, quibus nunc respondemus, hunc intellectum auferunt illi, quibus deinde respondendum est; hi sunt autem, qui hanc liberationem nec omnibus habentibus sacramentum baptismatis et corporis Christi, sed solis catholicis, quamvis male viventibus, pollicentur, quia non solo, inquiunt, sacramento, sed re ipsa manducaverunt corpus Christi, in ipso scilicet eius corpore constituti; de quo corpore ait apostolus: Vnus panis, unum corpus multi sumus. Qui ergo est in eius corporis unitate, id est in Christianorum compage membrorum, cuius corporis sacramentum fideles communicantes de altari sumere consuerunt, ipse vere dicendus est manducare corpus Christi et bibere sanguinem Christi. Ac per hoc haeretici et schismatici ab huius unitate corporis separati possunt idem percipere sacramentum, sed non sibi utile, immo vero etiam noxium, quo iudicentur gravius, quam vel tardius liberentur. Non sunt quippe in eo vinculo pacis, quod illo exprimitur sacramento. Sed rursus etiam isti, qui recte intellegunt, non dicendum esse manducare corpus Christi, qui in corpore non est Christi, non recte promittunt eis, qui vel in haeresim vel etiam in gentilium superstitionem ex illius corporis unitate labuntur, liberationem quandoque ab aeterni igne supplicii; primum, quia debent adtendere, quam sit intolerabile atque a sana doctrina nimis devium, ut multi ac paene omnes, qui haereses impias condiderunt exeuntes de catholica ecclesia et facti sunt haeresiarchae, meliores habeant causas, quam hi, qui numquam fuerunt catholici, cum in eorum laqueos incidissent, si illos haeresiarchas hoc facit liberari a supplicio sempiterno, quod in catholica ecclesia baptizati sunt et sacramentum corporis Christi in vero Christi corpore primitus acceperunt; cum peior sit utique desertor fidei et ex desertore oppugnator eius effectus quam ille, qui non deseruit quod numquam tenuit; deinde quia et his occurrit apostolus eadem verba proferens et enumeratis illis carnis operibus eadem veritate praedicens: Quoniam qui talia agunt, regnum Dei non possidebunt. Vnde nec illi in perditis et damnabilibus moribus debent esse securi, qui usque in finem quidem velut in communione ecclesiae catholicae perseuerant, intuentes quod dictum est: Qui perseueraverit usque in finem, hic saluus erit, et per vitae iniquitatem ipsam vitae iustitiam, quod eis Christus est, deserunt, sive fornicando sive alias inmunditias flagitiorum, quas nec exprimere apostolus voluit, in suo corpore perpetrando, sive turpitudine luxuriae diffluendo sive aliquid aliud eorum agendo, de quibus ait: Quoniam qui talia agunt, regnum Dei non possidebunt; ac per hoc, quicumque agunt talia, nisi in sempiterno supplicio non erunt, quia in Dei regno esse non poterunt. In his enim perseuerando usque in huius vitae finem non utique dicendi sunt in Christo perseuerasse usque in finem, quia in Christo perseuerare est in eius fide perseuerare; quae fides, ut eam definit idem apostolus, per dilectionem operatur; dilectio autem, sicut ipse alibi dicit, malum non operatur. Nec isti ergo dicendi sunt manducare corpus Christi, quoniam nec in membris computandi sunt Christi. Vt enim alia taceam, non possunt simul esse et membra Christi et membra meretricis. Denique ipse dicit: Qui manducat carnem meam et bibit sanguinem meum, in me manet, et ego in eo. Ostendit quid sit non sacramento tenus, sed re vera corpus Christi manducare et eius sanguinem bibere; hoc est enim in Christo manere, ut in illo maneat et Christus. Sic enim hoc dixit, tamquam diceret: "Qui non in me manet, et in quo non maneo, non se dicat aut existimet manducare corpus meum aut bibere sanguinem meum." Non itaque manent in Christo, qui non sunt membra eius. Non sunt autem membra Christi, qui se faciunt membra meretricis, nisi malum illud paenitendo esse destiterint et ad hoc bonum reconciliatione redierint.	But let us now reply to those who promise deliverance from eternal fire, not to the devil and his angels (as neither do they of whom we have been speaking), nor even to all men whatever, but only to those who have been washed by the baptism of Christ, and have become partakers of His body and blood, no matter how they have lived, no matter what heresy or impiety they have fallen into. But they are contradicted by the apostle, where he says, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variances, emulations, wrath, strife, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and the like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, for they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Galatians 5:19-21 Certainly this sentence of the apostle is false, if such persons shall be delivered after any lapse of time, and shall then inherit the kingdom of God. But as it is not false, they shall certainly never inherit the kingdom of God. And if they shall never enter that kingdom, then they shall always be retained in eternal punishment; for there is no middle place where he may live unpunished who has not been admitted into that kingdom.And therefore we may reasonably inquire how we are to understand these words of the Lord Jesus: "This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." John 6:50-51 And those, indeed, whom we are now answering, are refuted in their interpretation of this passage by those whom we are shortly to answer, and who do not promise this deliverance to all who have received the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's body, but only to the Catholics, however wickedly they live; for these, say they, have eaten the Lord's body not only sacramentally, but really, being constituted members of His body, of which the apostle says, "We being many are one bread, one body." 1 Corinthians 10:17 He then who is in the unity of Christ's body (that is to say, in the Christian membership), of which body the faithful have been wont to receive the sacrament at the altar, that man is truly said to eat the body and drink the blood of Christ. And consequently heretics and schismatics being separate from the unity of this body, are able to receive the same sacrament, but with no profit to themselves,-nay, rather to their own hurt, so that they are rather more severely judged than liberated after some time. For they are not in that bond of peace which is symbolized by that sacrament.But again, even those who sufficiently understand that he who is not in the body of Christ cannot be said to eat the body of Christ, are in error when they promise liberation from the fire of eternal punishment to persons who fall away from the unity of that body into heresy, or even into heathenish superstition. For, in the first place, they ought to consider how intolerable it is, and how discordant with sound doctrine, to suppose that many, indeed, or almost all, who have forsaken the Church catholic, and have originated impious heresies and become heresiarchs, should enjoy a destiny superior to those who never were Catholics, but have fallen into the snares of these others; that is to say, if the fact of their catholic baptism and original reception of the sacrament of the body of Christ in the true body of Christ is sufficient to deliver these heresiarchs from eternal punishment. For certainly he who deserts the faith, and from a deserter becomes an assailant, is worse than he who has not deserted the faith he never held. And, in the second place, they are contradicted by the apostle, who, after enumerating the works of the flesh, says with reference to heresies, "They who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."And therefore neither ought such persons as lead an abandoned and damnable life to be confident of salvation, though they persevere to the end in the communion of the Church catholic, and comfort themselves with the words, "He that endures to the end shall be saved." By the iniquity of their life they abandon that very righteousness of life which Christ is to them, whether it be by fornication, or by perpetrating in their body the other uncleannesses which the apostle would not so much as mention, or by a dissolute luxury, or by doing any one of those things of which he says, "They who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Consequently, they who do such things shall not exist anywhere but in eternal punishment, since they cannot be in the kingdom of God. For, while they continue in such things to the very end of life, they cannot be said to abide in Christ to the end; for to abide in Him is to abide in the faith of Christ. And this faith, according to the apostle's definition of it, "works by love." Galatians 5:6 And "love," as he elsewhere says, "works no evil." Romans 13:10 Neither can these persons be said to eat the body of Christ, for they cannot even be reckoned among His members. For, not to mention other reasons, they cannot be at once the members of Christ and the members of a harlot. In fine, He Himself, when He says, "He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him," John 6:56 shows what it is in reality, and not sacramentally, to eat His body and drink His blood; for this is to dwell in Christ, that He also may dwell in us. So that it is as if He said, He that dwells not in me, and in whom I do not dwell, let him not say or think that he eats my body or drinks my blood. Accordingly, they who are not Christ's members do not dwell in Him. And they who make themselves members of a harlot, are not members of Christ unless they have penitently abandoned that evil, and have returned to this good to be reconciled to it.
BOOK XXI [XXVI] Sed habent, inquiunt, Christiani catholici in fundamento Christum, a cuius unitate non recesserunt, tametsi huic fundamento superaedificaverunt quamlibet pessimam vitam, velut ligna, fenum, stipulam; recta itaque fides, per quam Christus est fundamentum, quamvis cum damno, quoniam illa, quae superaedificata sunt, exurentur, tamen poterit eos quandoque ab illius ignis perpetuitate saluare. Respondeat eis breviter apostolus Iacobus: Si quis dicat se fidem habere, opera autem non habeat, numquid poterit fides saluare eum? Et quis est, inquiunt, de quo dicit apostolus Paulus: Ipse autem saluus erit, sic tamen quasi per ignem? Simul quis iste sit, inquiramus; hunc tamen non esse certissimum est, ne duorum apostolorum sententias mittamus in rixam, si unus dicit: "Etiamsi mala opera quis habuerit, saluabit eum per ignem fides"; alius autem: Si opera non habeat, numquid poterit fides saluare eum? Inveniemus ergo quis possit saluari per ignem, si prius invenerimus quid sit habere in fundamento Christum. Quod ut de ipsa similitudine quantocius advertamus: nihil in aedificio praeponitur fundamento; quisquis itaque sic habet in corde Christum, ut ei terrena et temporaria nec ea quae licita sunt atque concessa praeponat, fundamentum habet Christum; si autem praeponit, etsi videatur habere fidem Christi, non est tamen in eo fundamentum Christus, cui talia praeponuntur; quanto magis, si salutaria praecepta contemnens committat inlicita, non praeposuisse Christum, sed postposuisse conuincitur, quem posthabuit imperantem sive concedentem, dum contra eius imperata sive concessa suam per flagitia delegit explere libidinem! Si quis itaque Christianus diligit meretricem eique adhaerens unum corpus efficitur, iam in fundamento non habet Christum. Si quis autem diligit uxorem suam, si secundum Christum, quis ei dubitet in fundamento esse Christum? si vero secundum hoc saeculum, si carnaliter, si in morbo concupiscentiarum, sicut et gentes quae ignorant Deum, etiam hoc secundum veniam concedit apostolus, immo per apostolum Christus. Potest ergo et iste in fundamento habere Christum. Si enim nihil ei talis affectionis voluptatisque praeponat, quamvis superaedificet ligna, fenum, stipulam, Christus est fundamentum, propter hoc saluus erit per ignem. Delicias quippe huius modi amoresque terrenos, propter coniugalem quidem copulam non damnabiles, tribulationis ignis exuret; ad quem pertinent ignem et orbitates et quaecumque calamitates quae auferunt haec. Ac per hoc ei, qui aedificavit, erit aedificatio ista damnosa, quia non habebit, quod superaedificavit, et eorum amissione cruciabitur, quibus fruendo utique laetabatur; sed per hunc ignem saluus erit merito fundamenti, quia, etsi utrum id habere mallet an Christum a persecutore proponeretur, illud Christo non praeponeretur. Vide in apostoli verbis hominem aedificantem super fundamentum aurum, argentum, lapides pretiosos: Qui sine uxore est, inquit, cogitat quae sunt Dei, quo modo placeat Deo. Vide alium aedificantem ligna, fenum, stipulam: Qui autem matrimonio iunctus est, inquit, cogitat quae sunt mundi, quo modo placeat uxori. Vniuscuiusque opus manifestabitur; dies enim declarabit (dies utique tribulationis), quoniam in igne, inquit, reuelabitur. (Eandem tribulationem ignem vocat, sicut alibi legitur: Vasa figuli probat fornax et homines iustos temptatio tribulationis.) Et uniuscuiusque opus quale sit, ignis probabit. Si cuius opus permanserit (permanet enim quod quisque cogitat quae sunt Dei, quo modo placeat Deo), quod superaedificavit mercedem accipiet (id est, unde cogitavit, hoc sumet); si cuius autem opus arserit, damnum patietur (quoniam quod dilexerat non habebit), ipse autem saluus erit (quia nulla eum tribulatio ab illius fundamenti stabilitate semovit); sic tamen quasi per ignem (quod enim sine inliciente amore non habuit, sine urente dolore non perdit). Ecce, quantum mihi videtur, inventus est ignis, qui nullum eorum damnet, sed unum ditet, alterum damnificet, ambos probet. Si autem ignem illum loco isto voluerimus accipere, de quo Dominus dicet sinistris: Discedite a me, maledicti, in ignem aeternum; ut in eis etiam isti esse credantur, qui aedificant super fundamentum ligna, fenum, stipulam, eosque ex illo igne post tempus pro malis meritis impertitum liberet boni meritum fundamenti: quid arbitrabimur dextros quibus dicetur: Venite, benedicti patris mei, possidete paratum vobis regnum, nisi eos, qui aedificaverunt super fundamentum aurum, argentum, lapides pretiosos? Sed in illum ignem, de quo dictum est: Sic tamen quasi per ignem, si hoc modo est intellegendus, utrique mittendi sunt, et dextri scilicet et sinistri. Illo quippe igne utrique probandi sunt, de quo dictum est: Dies enim declarabit, quoniam in igne reuelabitur, et uniuscuiusque opus quale sit, ignis probabit. Si ergo utrumque probabit ignis, ut, si cuius opus permanserit, id est non fuerit igne consumptum, quod superaedificavit mercedem accipiat; si cuius autem opus arserit, damnum patiatur: profecto non est ipse aeternus ille ignis. In illum enim soli sinistri novissima et perpetua damnatione mittentur, iste autem dextros probat. Sed alios eorum sic probat, ut aedificium, quod super Christum fundamentum ab eis invenerit esse constructum, non exurat atque consumat; alios autem aliter, id est, ut quod superaedificaverunt ardeat damnumque inde patiantur, salui fiant autem, quoniam Christum in fundamento stabiliter positum praecellenti caritate tenuerunt. Si autem salui fient, profecto et ad dexteram stabunt et cum ceteris audient: Venite, benedicti patris mei, possidete paratum vobis regnum, non ad sinistram, ubi illi erunt, qui salui non erunt et ideo audient: Discedite a me, maledicti, in ignem aeternum. Nemo quippe ab illo igne saluabitur, quia in supplicium aeternum ibunt illi omnes, ubi vermis eorum non moritur et ignis non extinguitur, quo cruciabuntur die ac nocte in saecula saeculorum. Post istius sane corporis mortem, donec ad illum veniatur, qui post resurrectionem corporum futurus est damnationis et remunerationis ultimus dies, si hoc temporis interuallo spiritus defunctorum eius modi ignem dicuntur perpeti, quem non sentiant illi, qui non habuerunt tales mores et amores in huius corporis vita, ut eorum ligna et fenum et stipula consumatur; alii vero sentiant, qui eius modi secum aedificia portaverunt, sive ibi tantum sive et hic et ibi sive ideo hic ut non ibi saecularia, quamvis a damnatione venialia, concremantem ignem transitoriae tribulationis inveniant: non redarguo, quia forsitan verum est. Potest quippe ad istam tribulationem pertinere etiam mors ipsa carnis, quae de primi peccati perpetratione concepta est, ut secundum cuiusque aedificium tempus quod eam sequitur ab unoquoque sentiatur. Persecutiones quoque, quibus martyres coronati sunt et quas patiuntur quicumque Christiani, probant utraque aedificia velut ignis et alia consumunt cum ipsis aedificatoribus, si Christum in eis non inveniunt fundamentum; alia sine ipsis, si inveniunt, quia licet cum damno salui erunt ipsi; alia vero non consumunt, quia talia reperiunt quae maneant in aeternum. Erit etiam in fine saeculi tribulatio tempore Antichristi, qualis numquam antea fuit. Quam multa erunt tunc aedificia, sive aurea sive fenea, super optimum fundamentum, quod est Christus Iesus, ut ignis ille probet utraque et de aliis gaudium, de aliis inferat damnum, neutros tamen perdat, in quibus haec inveniet, propter stabile fundamentum! Quicumque autem, non dico uxorem, cuius etiam commixtione carnis ad carnalem utitur voluptatem, sed ipsa quae ab eius modi delectationibus aliena sunt nomina pietatis humano more carnaliter diligendo Christo anteponit, non eum habet in fundamento et ideo non per ignem saluus erit, sed saluus non erit, quia esse cum saluatore non poterit, qui de hac re apertissime loquens ait: Qui amat patrem aut matrem plus quam me, non est me dignus; et qui amat filium aut filiam super me, non est me dignus. Verum qui has necessitudines sic amat carnaliter, ut tamen eas Christo Domino non praeponat, malitque ipsis carere quam Christo, si ad hunc fuerit articulum temptationis adductus, per ignem erit saluus, quia ex earum amissione tantum necesse est urat dolor, quantum haeserat amor. Porro qui patrem matrem, filios filias secundum Christum dilexerit, ut ad eius regnum obtinendum eique cohaerendum illis consulat, vel hoc in eis diligat, quod membra sunt Christi: absit ut ista dilectio reperiatur in lignis, feno et stipula consumenda, sed prorsus aedificio aureo, argenteo, gemmeo deputabitur. Quo modo autem potest eos plus amare quam Christum, quos amat utique propter Christum?	But, say they, the catholic Christians have Christ for a foundation, and they have not fallen away from union with Him, no matter how depraved a life they have built on this foundation, as wood, hay, stubble; and accordingly the well-directed faith by which Christ is their foundation will suffice to deliver them some time from the continuance of that fire, though it be with loss, since those things they have built on it shall be burned. Let the Apostle James summarily reply to them: "If any man say he has faith, and have not works, can faith save him?" James 2:14 And who then is it, they ask, of whom the Apostle Paul says, "But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire?" Let us join them in their inquiry; and one thing is very certain, that it is not he of whom James speaks, else we should make the two apostles contradict one another, if the one says, "Though a man's works be evil, his faith will save him as by fire," while the other says, "If he have not good works, can his faith save him?"We shall then ascertain who it is who can be saved by fire, if we first discover what it is to have Christ for a foundation. And this we may very readily learn from the image itself. In a building the foundation is first. Whoever, then, has Christ in his heart, so that no earthly or temporal things-not even those that are legitimate and allowed-are preferred to Him, has Christ as a foundation. But if these things be preferred, then even though a man seem to have faith in Christ, yet Christ is not the foundation to that man; and much more if he, in contempt of wholesome precepts, seek forbidden gratifications, is he clearly convicted of putting Christ not first but last, since he has despised Him as his ruler, and has preferred to fulfill his own wicked lusts, in contempt of Christ's commands and allowances. Accordingly, if any Christian man loves a harlot, and, attaching himself to her, becomes one body, he has not now Christ for a foundation. But if any one loves his own wife, and loves her as Christ would have him love her, who can doubt that he has Christ for a foundation? But if he loves her in the world's fashion, carnally, as the disease of lust prompts him, and as the Gentiles love who know not God, even this the apostle, or rather Christ by the apostle, allows as a venial fault. And therefore even such a man may have Christ for a foundation. For so long as he does not prefer such an affection or pleasure to Christ, Christ is his foundation, though on it he builds wood, hay, stubble; and therefore he shall be saved as by fire. For the fire of affliction shall burn such luxurious pleasures and earthly loves, though they be not damnable, because enjoyed in lawful wedlock. And of this fire the fuel is bereavement, and all those calamities which consume these joys. Consequently the superstructure will be loss to him who has built it, for he shall not retain it, but shall be agonized by the loss of those things in the enjoyment of which he found pleasure. But by this fire he shall be saved through virtue of the foundation, because even if a persecutor demanded whether he would retain Christ or these things, he would prefer Christ. Would you hear, in the apostle's own words, who he is who builds on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones? "He that is unmarried," he says, "cares for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord." 1 Corinthians 7:32 Would you hear who he is that builds wood, hay, stubble? "But he that is married cares for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. 1 Corinthians 7:33 "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it,"-the day, no doubt, of tribulation-"because," says he, "it shall be revealed by fire." 1 Corinthians 3:13 He calls tribulation fire, just as it is elsewhere said, "The furnace proves the vessels of the potter, and the trial of affliction righteous men." Sirach 27:5 And "The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide"-for a man's care for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord, abides-"which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward,"-that is, he shall reap the fruit of his care. "But if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss,"-for what he loved he shall not retain:-" but he himself shall be saved,"-for no tribulation shall have moved him from that stable foundation,-"yet so as by fire;" 1 Corinthians 3:14-15 for that which he possessed with the sweetness of love he does not lose without the sharp sting of pain. Here, then, as seems to me, we have a fire which destroys neither, but enriches the one, brings loss to the other, proves both.But if this passage [of Corinthians] is to interpret that fire of which the Lord shall say to those on His left hand, "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire," Matthew 25:41 so that among these we are to believe there are those who build on the foundation wood, hay, stubble, and that they, through virtue of the good foundation, shall after a time be liberated from the fire that is the award of their evil deserts, what then shall we think of those on the right hand, to whom it shall be said, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you," Matthew 25:34 unless that they are those who have built on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones? But if the fire of which our Lord speaks is the same as that of which the apostle says, "Yet so as by fire," then both-that is to say, both those on the right as well as those on the left-are to be cast into it. For that fire is to try both, since it is said, "For the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." 1 Corinthians 3:13 If, therefore, the fire shall try both, in order that if any man's work abide-i.e., if the superstructure be not consumed by the fire-he may receive a reward, and that if his work is burned he may suffer loss, certainly that fire is not the eternal fire itself. For into this latter fire only those on the left hand shall be cast, and that with final and everlasting doom; but that former fire proves those on the right hand. But some of them it so proves that it does not burn and consume the structure which is found to have been built by them on Christ as the foundation; while others of them it proves in another fashion, so as to burn what they have built up, and thus cause them to suffer loss, while they themselves are saved because they have retained Christ, who was laid as their sure foundation, and have loved Him above all. But if they are saved, then certainly they shall stand at the right hand, and shall with the rest hear the sentence, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you;" and not at the left hand, where those shall be who shall not be saved, and shall therefore hear the doom, "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire." For from that fire no man shall be saved, because they all shall go away into eternal punishment, where their worms shall not die, nor their fire be quenched, in which they shall be tormented day and night for ever.But if it be said that in the interval of time between the death of this body and that last day of judgment and retribution which shall follow the resurrection, the bodies of the dead shall be exposed to a fire of such a nature that it shall not affect those who have not in this life indulged in such pleasures and pursuits as shall be consumed like wood, hay, stubble, but shall affect those others who have carried with them structures of that kind; if it be said that such worldliness, being venial, shall be consumed in the fire of tribulation either here only, or here and hereafter both, or here that it may not be hereafter,-this I do not contradict, because possibly it is true. For perhaps even the death of the body is itself a part of this tribulation, for it results from the first transgression, so that the time which follows death takes its color in each case from the nature of the man's building. The persecutions, too, which have crowned the martyrs, and which Christians of all kinds suffer, try both buildings like a fire, consuming some, along with the builders themselves, if Christ is not found in them as their foundation, while others they consume without the builders, because Christ is found in them, and they are saved, though with loss; and other buildings still they do not consume, because such materials as abide for ever are found in them. In the end of the world there shall be in the time of Antichrist tribulation such as has never before been. How many edifices there shall then be, of gold or of hay, built on the best foundation, Christ Jesus, which that fire shall prove, bringing joy to some, loss to others, but without destroying either sort, because of this stable foundation! But whosoever prefers, I do not say his wife, with whom he lives for carnal pleasure, but any of those relatives who afford no delight of such a kind, and whom it is right to love,-whosoever prefers these to Christ, and loves them after a human and carnal fashion, has not Christ as a foundation, and will therefore not be saved by fire, nor indeed at all; for he shall not possibly dwell with the Saviour, who says very explicitly concerning this very matter, "He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:37 But he who loves his relations carnally, and yet so that he does not prefer them to Christ, but would rather want them than Christ if he were put to the proof, shall be saved by fire, because it is necessary that by the loss of these relations he suffer pain in proportion to his love. And he who loves father, mother, sons, daughters, according to Christ, so that he aids them in obtaining His kingdom and cleaving to Him, or loves them because they are members of Christ, God forbid that this love should be consumed as wood, hay, stubble, and not rather be reckoned a structure of gold, silver, precious stones. For how can a man love those more than Christ whom he loves only for Christ's sake?
BOOK XXI [XXVII] Restat eis respondere, qui dicunt aeterno igne illos tantummodo arsuros, qui pro peccatis suis facere dignas elemosynas neglegunt, propter illud quod ait apostolus Iacobus: Iudicium autem sine misericordia illi, qui non fecit misericordiam. Qui ergo fecit, inquiunt, quamvis non correxerit perditos mores, sed nefarie ac nequiter inter ipsas suas elemosynas vixerit, cum misericordia illi futurum est iudicium, ut aut non damnetur omnino aut post aliquod tempus a damnatione novissima liberetur. Nec ob aliud existimant Christum de solo dilectu atque neglectu elemosynarum discretionem inter dextros et sinistros esse facturum, quorum alios in regnum, alios in supplicium mittat aeternum. Vt autem cotidiana sibi opinentur, quae facere omnino non cessant, qualiacumque et quantacumque sint, per elemosynas dimitti posse peccata, orationem, quam docuit ipse Dominus, et suffragatricem sibi adhibere conantur et testem. Sicut enim nullus est, inquiunt, dies, quo a Christianis haec oratio non dicatur: ita nullum est cotidianum qualecumque peccatum, quod per illam non dimittatur, cum dicimus: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, si quod sequitur facere curemus: Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Non enim ait Dominus, inquiunt: Si dimiseritis peccata hominibus, dimittet vobis pater uester cotidiana parua peccata, sed: Dimittet, inquit, vobis peccata uestra. Qualiacumque ergo vel quantacumque sint, etiamsi cotidie perpetrentur nec ab eis vita discedat in melius commutata: per elemosynam veniae non negatae remitti sibi posse praesumunt. Sed bene, quod isti dignas pro peccatis elemosynas commonent esse faciendas; quoniam si dicerent qualescumque elemosynas pro peccatis et cotidianis et magnis et quantacumque scelerum consuetudine misericordiam posse impetrare divinam, ut ea cotidiana remissio sequeretur, viderent se rem dicere absurdam atque ridiculam. Sic enim cogerentur fateri fieri posse, ut opulentissimus homo decem nummulis diurnis in elemosynas inpensis homicidia et adulteria et nefaria quaeque facta redimeret. Quod si absurdissimum atque insanissimum est dicere, profecto si quaeratur, quae dignae sint pro peccatis elemosynae, de quibus etiam Christi praecursor ille dicebat: Facite ergo fructus dignos paenitentiae, procul dubio non invenientur eas facere, qui vitam suam usque ad mortem cotidianorum criminum perpetratione confodiunt; primum, quia in auferendis rebus alienis longe plura diripiunt, ex quibus perexigua pauperibus largiendo Christum se ad hoc pascere existimant, ut licentiam malefactorum ab illo se emisse vel cotidie potius emere credentes securi damnabilia tanta committant. Qui si pro uno scelere omnia sua distribuerent indigentibus membris Christi, nisi desisterent a talibus factis habendo caritatem, quae non agit perperam, aliquid eis prodesse non posset. Qui ergo dignas pro suis peccatis elemosynas facit, prius eas facere incipiat a se ipso. Indignum est enim, ut in se non faciat, qui facit in proximum, cum audiat dicentem Deum: Diliges proximum tuum tamquam te ipsum; itemque audiat; Miserere animae tuae placens Deo. Hanc elemosynam, id est, ut Deo placeat, non faciens animae suae quo modo dignas pro peccatis suis elemosynas facere dicendus est? Ad hoc enim et illud scriptum est: Qui sibi malignus est, cui bonus erit? Orationes quippe adivuant elemosynae; et utique intuendum est quod legimus: Fili, peccasti, ne adicias iterum et de praeteritis deprecare, ut tibi dimittantur. Propter hoc ergo elemosynae faciendae sunt, ut, cum de praeteritis peccatis deprecamur, exaudiamur; non ut in eis perseuerantes licentiam malefaciendi nos per elemosynas comparare credamus. Ideo autem Dominus et dextris elemosynas ab eis factas et sinistris non factas se inputaturum esse praedixit, ut hinc ostenderet quantum valeant elemosynae ad priora delenda, non ad perpetua inpune committenda peccata. Tales autem elemosynas non dicendi sunt facere, qui vitam nolunt a consuetudine scelerum in melius commutare. Quia et in hoc quod ait: Quando uni ex minimis meis non fecistis, mihi non fecistis, ostendit eos non facere etiam quando se facere existimant. Si enim Christiano esurienti panem tamquam Christiano darent, profecto sibi panem iustitiae, quod ipse Christus est, non negarent; quoniam Deus, non cui detur, sed quo animo detur, adtendit. Qui ergo Christum diligit in Christiano, hoc animo ei porrigit elemosynam, quo accedit ad Christum, non quo uult recedere inpunitus a Christo. Tanto enim magis quisque deserit Christum, quanto magis diligit quod inprobat Christus. Nam quid cuiquam prodest, quod baptizatur, si non iustificatur? Nonne qui dixit: Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiritu, non intrabit in regnum Dei, ipse etiam dixit: Nisi abundaverit iustitia uestra super scribarum et Pharisaeorum, non intrabitis in regnum caelorum? Cur illud timendo multi currunt baptizari, et hoc non timendo non multi curant iustificari? Sicut ergo non fratri suo dicit: Fatue, qui cum hoc dicit non ipsi fraternitati, sed peccato eius infensus est (alioquin reus erit gehennae ignis): ita e contrario, qui porrigit elemosynam Christiano, non Christiano porrigit, qui non in eo diligit Christum; non autem diligit Christum, qui iustificari recusat in Christo. Et quem ad modum si quis praeoccupatus fuerit hoc delicto, ut fratri suo dicat: Fatue, id est, non eius peccatum volens auferre conuicietur iniuste, parum est illi ad hoc redimendum elemosynas facere, nisi etiam quod ibi sequitur remedium reconciliationis adiungat (ibi enim sequitur: Si ergo offeres munus tuum ad altare et ibi recordatus fueris, quia frater tuus habet aliquid adversum te, relinque ibi munus tuum ad altare et uade prius, reconciliare fratri tuo, et tunc veniens offeres munus tuum); ita parum est elemosynas quantaslibet facere pro quocumque scelere et in consuetudine scelerum permanere. Oratio vero cotidiana, quam docuit ipse Iesus, unde et dominica nominatur, delet quidem cotidiana peccata, cum cotidie dicitur: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, atque id quod sequitur non solum dicitur, sed etiam fit: Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; sed quia fiunt peccata, ideo dicitur, non ut ideo fiant, quia dicitur. Per hanc enim nobis voluit Saluator ostendere, quantumlibet iuste in huius vitae caligine atque infirmitate vivamus, non nobis deesse peccata, pro quibus dimittendis debeamus orare et eis, qui in nos peccant, ut et nobis ignoscatur, ignoscere. Non itaque propterea Dominus ait: Si dimiseritis peccata hominibus, dimittet vobis et pater uester peccata uestra, ut de hac oratione confisi securi cotidiana scelera faceremus, vel potentia qua non timeremus hominum leges vel astutia qua ipsos homines falleremus; sed ut per illam disceremus non putare nos esse sine peccatis, etiamsi a criminibus essemus inmunes; sicut etiam legis ueteris sacerdotes hoc ipsum Deus de sacrificiis admonuit, quae iussit eos primum pro suis, deinde pro populi offerre peccatis. Nam et ipsa verba tanti magistri et Domini nostri vigilanter intuenda sunt. Non enim ait: "Si dimiseritis peccata hominibus, et pater uester dimittet vobis qualiacumque peccata", sed ait: Peccata uestra. Cotidianam quippe orationem docebat et iustificatis utique discipulis loquebatur. Quid est ergo: Peccata uestra nisi "peccata sine quibus nec vos eritis, qui iustificati et sanctificati estis"? Vbi ergo illi, qui per hanc orationem occasionem perpetrandorum cotidie scelerum quaerunt, dicunt Dominum significasse etiam magna peccata, quoniam non dixit: "Dimittet vobis parua", sed peccata uestra: ibi nos considerantes qualibus loquebatur et audientes dictum peccata uestra nihil aliud debemus existimare quam parua, quoniam talium iam non erant magna. Verum tamen nec ipsa magna, a quibus omnino mutatis in melius moribus recedendum est, dimittuntur orantibus, nisi fiat quod ibi dicitur: Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Si enim minima peccata, sine quibus non est etiam vita iustorum, aliter non remittuntur: quanto magis multis et magnis criminibus inuoluti, etiamsi ea perpetrare iam desinant, nullam indulgentiam consequuntur, si ad remittendum aliis, quod in eos quisque peccaverit, inexorabiles fuerint, cum dicat Dominus: Si autem non dimiseritis hominibus, neque pater uester dimittet vobis. Ad hoc enim valet quod etiam Iacobus apostolus ait iudicium futurum sine misericordia illi, qui non fecit misericordiam. Venire quippe debet in mentem etiam seruus ille, cui debitori dominus eius relaxavit decem milia talentorum, quae postea iussit ut redderet, quia ipse non misertus est conserui sui, qui ei debebat centum denarios. In his ergo, qui filii sunt promissionis et uasa misericordiae, valet quod ait idem apostolus consequenter adiungens: Superexultat autem misericordia iudicio, quoniam et illi iusti, qui tanta sanctitate vixerunt, ut alios quoque recipiant in tabernacula aeterna, a quibus amici facti sunt de mammona iniquitatis, ut tales essent, misericordia liberati sunt ab eo, qui iustificat impium, imputans mercedem secundum gratiam, non secundum debitum. In eorum quippe numero est apostolus, qui dicit: Misericordiam consecutus sum, ut fidelis essem. Illi autem, qui recipiuntur a talibus in tabernacula aeterna, fatendum est quod non sint his moribus praediti, ut eis liberandis sine suffragio sanctorum sua possit vita sufficere, ac per hoc multo amplius in eis superexultat misericordia iudicio. Nec tamen ideo putandus est quisquam sceleratissimus, nequaquam vita vel bona vel tolerabiliore mutatus, recipi in tabernacula aeterna, quoniam obsecutus est sanctis de mammona iniquitatis, id est de pecunia vel divitiis, quae male fuerant adquisitae, aut etiamsi bene, non tamen veris, sed quas iniquitas putat esse divitias, quoniam nescit quae sint verae divitiae, quibus illi abundabant, qui et alios recipiunt in tabernacula aeterna. Est itaque quidam vitae modus nec tam malae, ut his qui eam vivunt nihil prosit ad capessendum regnum caelorum largitas elemosynarum, quibus etiam iustorum sustentatur inopia et fiunt amici qui in tabernacula aeterna suscipiant, nec tam bonae, ut ad tantam beatitudinem adipiscendam eis ipsa sufficiat, nisi eorum meritis, quos amicos fecerint, misericordiam consequantur (Mirari autem soleo etiam apud Vergilium reperiri istam Domini sententiam, ubi ait: Facite vobis amicos de mammona iniquitatis, ut et ipsi recipiant vos in tabernacula aeterna; cui est et illa simillima: Qui recipit prophetam in nomine prophetae, mercedem prophetae accipiet. et qui recipit iustum in nomine iusti, mercedem iusti accipiet. Nam cum Elysios campos poeta ille describeret, ubi putant habitare animas beatorum, non solum ibi posuit eos, qui propriis meritis ad illas sedes pervenire potuerunt, sed adiecit atque ait: Quique sui memores alios fecere merendo, id est, qui promeruerunt alios eosque sui memores promerendo fecerunt; prorsus tamquam eis dicerent, quod frequentatur ore Christiano, cum se cuique sanctorum humilis quisque commendat et dicit: "Memor mei esto", atque id ut esse possit promerendo efficit.) Sed quis iste sit modus, et quae sint ipsa peccata, quae ita impediunt peruentionem ad regnum Dei, ut tamen sanctorum amicorum meritis inpetrent indulgentiam, difficillimum est invenire, periculosissimum definire. Ego certe usque ad hoc tempus cum inde satagerem ad eorum indaginem pervenire non potui. Et fortassis propterea latent, ne studium proficiendi ad omnia cavenda peccata pigrescat. Quoniam si scirentur quae vel qualia sint delicta, pro quibus etiam permanentibus nec provectu vitae melioris absumptis intercessio sit inquirenda et speranda iustorum, eis secura se obuolueret humana segnitia, nec euolui talibus implicamentis ullius virtutis expeditione curaret, sed tantummodo quaereret aliorum meritis liberari, quos amicos sibi de mammona iniquitatis elemosynarum largitate fecisset. Nunc vero dum venialis iniquitatis, etiamsi perseueret, ignoratur modus, profecto et studium in meliora proficiendi orando et instando vigilantius adhibetur et faciendi de mammona iniquitatis sanctos amicos cura non spernitur. Verum ista liberatio, quae fit sive suis quibusque orationibus sive intercedentibus sanctis, id agit ut in ignem quisque non mittatur aeternum, non ut, cum fuerit missus, post quantumcumque inde tempus eruatur. Nam et illi, qui putant sic intellegendum esse quod scriptum est, adferre terram bonam uberem fructum, aliam tricenum, aliam sexagenum, aliam centenum, ut sancti pro suorum diversitate meritorum alii tricenos homines liberent, alii sexagenos, alii centenos, hoc in die iudicii futurum suspicari solent, non post iudicium. Qua opinione quidam cum videret homines inpunitatem sibi peruersissime pollicentes, eo quod omnes isto modo ad liberationem pertinere posse videantur, elegantissime respondisse perbibetur, bene potius esse vivendum, ut inter eos quisque reperiatur, qui pro aliis intercessuri sunt liberandis, ne tam pauci sint, ut cito ad numerum suum vel tricenum vel sexagenum vel centenum unoquoque eorum perveniente multi remaneant, qui erui iam de poenis illorum intercessione non possint et in eis inveniatur quisquis sibi spem fructus alieni temeritate uanissima pollicetur. Haec me illis respondisse suffecerit, qui sacrarum litterarum, quas communes habemus, auctoritatem non spernunt, sed eas male intellegendo non quod illae loquuntur, sed hoc potius putant futurum esse quod ipsi volunt. Hac itaque responsione reddita librum, sicut promisimus, terminamus.	It remains to reply to those who maintain that those only shall burn in eternal fire who neglect alms-deeds proportioned to their sins, resting this opinion on the words of the Apostle James, "He shall have judgment without mercy that has showed no mercy." James 2:13 Therefore, they say, he that has showed mercy, though he has not reformed his dissolute conduct, but has lived wickedly and iniquitously even while abounding in alms, shall have a merciful judgment, so that he shall either be not condemned at all, or shall be delivered from final judgment after a time. And for the same reason they suppose that Christ will discriminate between those on the right hand and those on the left, and will send the one party into His kingdom, the other into eternal punishment, on the sole ground of their attention to or neglect of works of charity. Moreover, they endeavor to use the prayer which the Lord Himself taught as a proof and bulwark of their opinion, that daily sins which are never abandoned can be expiated through alms-deeds, no matter how offensive or of what sort they be. For, say they, as there is no day on which Christians ought not to use this prayer, so there is no sin of any kind which, though committed every day, is not remitted when we say, "Forgive us our debts," if we take care to fulfill what follows, "as we forgive our debtors." Matthew 6:12 For, they go on to say, the Lord does not say, "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you your little daily sins," but "will forgive you your sins." Therefore, be they of any kind or magnitude whatever, be they perpetrated daily and never abandoned or subdued in this life, they can be pardoned, they presume, through alms-deeds.But they are right to inculcate the giving of aims proportioned to past sins; for if they said that any kind of alms could obtain the divine pardon of great sins committed daily and with habitual enormity, if they said that such sins could thus be daily remitted, they would see that their doctrine was absurd and ridiculous. For they would thus be driven to acknowledge that it were possible for a very wealthy man to buy absolution from murders, adulteries, and all manner of wickedness, by paying a daily alms of ten paltry coins. And if it be most absurd and insane to make such an acknowledgment, and if we still ask what are those fitting alms of which even the forerunner of Christ said, "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance," Matthew 3:8 undoubtedly it will be found that they are not such as are done by men who undermine their life by daily enormities even to the very end. For they suppose that by giving to the poor a small fraction of the wealth they acquire by extortion and spoliation they can propitiate Christ, so that they may with impunity commit the most damnable sins, in the persuasion that they have bought from Him a license to transgress, or rather do buy a daily indulgence. And if they for one crime have distributed all their goods to Christ's needy members, that could profit them nothing unless they desisted from all similar actions, and attained charity which works no evil He therefore who does alms-deeds proportioned to his sins must first begin with himself. For it is not reasonable that a man who exercises charity towards his neighbor should not do so towards himself, since he hears the Lord saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," Matthew 22:39 and again, "Have compassion on your soul, and please God." Sirach 30:24 He then who has not compassion on his own soul that he may please God, how can he be said to do alms-deeds proportioned to his sins? To the same purpose is that written, "He who is bad to himself, to whom can he be good?" Sirach 21:1 We ought therefore to do alms that we may be heard when we pray that our past sins may be forgiven, not that while we continue in them we may think to provide ourselves with a license for wickedness by alms-deeds.The reason, therefore, of our predicting that He will impute to those on His right hand the alms-deeds they have done, and charge those on His left with omitting the same, is that He may thus show the efficacy of charity for the deletion of past sins, not for impunity in their perpetual commission. And such persons, indeed, as decline to abandon their evil habits of life for a better course cannot be said to do charitable deeds. For this is the purport of the saying, "Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me." Matthew 25:45 He shows them that they do not perform charitable actions even when they think they are doing so. For if they gave bread to a hungering Christian because he is a Christian, assuredly they would not deny to themselves the bread of righteousness, that is, Christ Himself; for God considers not the person to whom the gift is made, but the spirit in which it is made. He therefore who loves Christ in a Christian extends alms to him in the same spirit in which he draws near to Christ, not in that spirit which would abandon Christ if it could do so with impunity. For in proportion as a man loves what Christ disapproves does he himself abandon Christ. For what does it profit a man that he is baptized, if he is not justified? Did not He who said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of God," John 3:5 say also, "Unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven?" Matthew 5:20 Why do many through fear of the first saying run to baptism, while few through fear of the second seek to be justified? As therefore it is not to his brother a man says, "You fool," if when he says it he is indignant not at the brotherhood, but at the sin of the offender,-for otherwise he were guilty of hell fire,-so he who extends charity to a Christian does not extend it to a Christian if he does not love Christ in him. Now he does not love Christ who refuses to be justified in Him. Or, again, if a man has been guilty of this sin of calling his brother Fool, unjustly reviling him without any desire to remove his sin, his alms-deeds go a small way towards expiating this fault, unless he adds to this the remedy of reconciliation which the same passage enjoins. For it is there said, "Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there rememberest that your brother has anything against you; leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." Matthew 5:23-24 Just so it is a small matter to do alms-deeds, no matter how great they be, for any sin, so long as the offender continues in the practice of sin. Then as to the daily prayer which the Lord Himself taught, and which is therefore called the Lord's prayer, it obliterates indeed the sins of the day, when day by day we say, "Forgive us our debts," and when we not only say but act out that which follows, "as we forgive our debtors;" Matthew 6:12 but we utter this petition because sins have been committed, and not that they may be. For by it our Saviour designed to teach us that, however righteously we live in this life of infirmity and darkness, we still commit sins for the remission of which we ought to pray, while we must pardon those who sin against us that we ourselves also may be pardoned. The Lord then did not utter the words, "If you forgive men their trespasses, your Father will also forgive you your trespasses," Matthew 6:14 in order that we might contract from this petition such confidence as should enable us to sin securely from day to day, either putting ourselves above the fear of human laws, or craftily deceiving men concerning our conduct, but in order that we might thus learn not to suppose that we are without sins, even though we should be free from crimes; as also God admonished the priests of the old law to this same effect regarding their sacrifices, which He commanded them to offer first for their own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For even the very words of so great a Master and Lord are to be intently considered. For He does not say, If you forgive men their sins, your Father will also forgive you your sins, no matter of what sort they be, but He says, your sins; for it was a daily prayer He was teaching, and it was certainly to disciples already justified He was speaking. What, then, does He mean by "your sins," but those sins from which not even you who are justified and sanctified can be free? While, then, those who seek occasion from this petition to indulge in habitual sin maintain that the Lord meant to include great sins, because He did not say, He will forgive you your small sins, but "your sins," we, on the other hand, taking into account the character of the persons He was addressing, cannot see our way to interpret the expression "your sins" of anything but small sins, because such persons are no longer guilty of great sins. Nevertheless not even great sins themselves-sins from which we must flee with a total reformation of life-are forgiven to those who pray, unless they observe the appended precept, "as you also forgive your debtors." For if the very small sins which attach even to the life of the righteous be not remitted without that condition, how much further from obtaining indulgence shall those be who are involved in many great crimes, if, while they cease from perpetrating such enormities, they still inexorably refuse to remit any debt incurred to themselves, since the Lord says, "But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses?" Matthew 6:15 For this is the purport of the saying of the Apostle James also, "He shall have judgment without mercy that has showed no mercy." James 2:13 For we should remember that servant whose debt of ten thousand talents his lord cancelled, but afterwards ordered him to pay up, because the servant himself had no pity for his fellow-servant, who owed him an hundred pence. Matthew 18:23 The words which the Apostle James subjoins,"And mercy rejoices against judgment," James 2:13 find their application among those who are the children of the promise and vessels of mercy. For even those righteous men, who have lived with such holiness that they receive into the eternal habitations others also who have won their friendship with the mammon of unrighteousness, Luke 16:9 became such only through the merciful deliverance of Him who justifies the ungodly, imputing to him a reward according to grace, not according to debt. For among this number is the apostle, who says, "I obtained mercy to be faithful." 1 Corinthians 7:25 But it must be admitted, that those who are thus received into the eternal habitations are not of such a character that their own life would suffice to rescue them without the aid of the saints, and consequently in their case especially does mercy rejoice against judgment. And yet we are not on this account to suppose that every abandoned profligate, who has made no amendment of his life, is to be received into the eternal habitations if only he has assisted the saints with the mammon of unrighteousness,-that is to say, with money or wealth which has been unjustly acquired, or, if rightfully acquired, is yet not the true riches, but only what iniquity counts riches, because it knows not the true riches in which those persons abound, who even receive others also into eternal habitations. There is then a certain kind of life, which is neither, on the one hand, so bad that those who adopt it are not helped towards the kingdom of heaven by any bountiful alms-giving by which they may relieve the wants of the saints, and make friends who could receive them into eternal habitations, nor, on the other hand, so good that it of itself suffices to win for them that great blessedness, if they do not obtain mercy through the merits of those whom they have made their friends. And I frequently wonder that even Virgil should give expression to this sentence of the Lord, in which He says, "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that they may receive you into everlasting habitations;" Luke 16:9 and this very similar saying, "He that receives a prophet, in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receives a righteous man, in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward." Matthew 10:41 For when that poet described the Elysian fields, in which they suppose that the souls of the blessed dwell, he placed there not only those who had been able by their own merit to reach that abode, but added,-"And they who grateful memory won By services to others done; "that is, they who had served others, and thereby merited to be remembered by them. Just as if they used the expression so common in Christian lips, where some humble person commends himself to one of the saints, and says, Remember me, and secures that he do so by deserving well at his hand. But what that kind of life we have been speaking of is, and what those sins are which prevent a man from winning the kingdom of God by himself, but yet permit him to avail himself of the merits of the saints, it is very difficult to ascertain, very perilous to define. For my own part, in spite of all investigation, I have been up to the present hour unable to discover this. And possibly it is hidden from us, lest we should become careless in avoiding such sins, and so cease to make progress. For if it were known what these sins are which, though they continue, and be not abandoned for a higher life, do yet not prevent us from seeking and hoping for the intercession of the saints, human sloth would presumptuously wrap itself in these sins, and would take no steps to be disentangled from such wrappings by the deft energy of any virtue, but would only desire to be rescued by the merits of other people, whose friendship had been won by a bountiful use of the mammon of unrighteousness. But now that we are left in ignorance of the precise nature of that iniquity which is venial, even though it be persevered in, certainly we are both more vigilant in our prayers and efforts for progress, and more careful to secure with the mammon of unrighteousness friends for ourselves among the saints. But this deliverance, which is effected by one's own prayers, or the intercession of holy men, secures that a man be not cast into eternal fire, but not that, when once he has been cast into it, he should after a time be rescued from it. For even those who fancy that what is said of the good ground bringing forth abundant fruit, some thirty, some sixty, some an hundred fold, is to be referred to the saints, so that in proportion to their merits some of them shall deliver thirty men, some sixty, some an hundred,-even those who maintain this are yet commonly inclined to suppose that this deliverance will take place at, and not after the day of judgment. Under this impression, some one who observed the unseemly folly with which men promise themselves impunity on the ground that all will be included in this method of deliverance, is reported to have very happily remarked, that we should rather endeavor to live so well that we shall be all found among the number of those who are to intercede for the liberation of others, lest these should be so few in number, that, after they have delivered one thirty, another sixty, another a hundred, there should still remain many who could not be delivered from punishment by their intercessions, and among them every one who has vainly and rashly promised himself the fruit of another's labor. But enough has been said in reply to those who acknowledge the authority of the same sacred Scriptures as ourselves, but who, by a mistaken interpretation of them, conceive of the future rather as they themselves wish, than as the Scriptures teach. And having given this reply, I now, according to promise, close this book.	}

Authors/Augustine/City of God/City of God Book XXI

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