Authors/Augustine/De moribus/De moribus ecclesiae catholicae

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Translated by Richard Stothert. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 4. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887.)

A version of the Latin with full references is here


Latin English
It is laid down at the outset that the customs of the holy life of the Church should be referred to the chief good of man, that is, God. We must seek after God with supreme affection; and this doctrine is supported in the Catholic Church by the authority of both Testaments. The four virtues get their names from different forms of this love. Then follow the duties of love to our neighbor. In the Catholic Church we find examples of continence and of true Christian conduct.
Quomodo detecturus sit fucos Manichaeorum. Chapter 1.— How the Pretensions of the Manichæans are to Be Refuted.
1. 1. In aliis libris satis opinor egisse nos, quemadmodum Manichaeorum invectionibus, quibus in Legem quod Vetus Testamentum vocatur, imperite atque impie feruntur, seseque inter imperitorum plausus, inani iactatione ventilant, possimus occurrere; quod breviter etiam hic commemorari a me potest. Quis enim mediocriter sanus non facile intelligat, Scripturarum expositionem ab his petendam esse, qui earum doctores se esse profitentur; fierique posse, immo id semper accidere, ut multa indoctis videantur absurda, quae cum a doctoribus exponuntur, eo laudanda videantur elatius quo abiectius aspernanda videbantur et eo accipiantur aperta dulcius quo clausa difficilius aperiebantur? Hoc fere in sanctis Veteris Testamenti libris evenit, si modo ille qui eis offenditur, doctorem potius eorum pium quam impium laceratorem requirat priusque studio quaerentis quam temeritate reprehendentis imbuatur. Nec si ea discere cupiens in aliquos forte inciderit vel episcopos vel presbyteros vel cuiuscemodi Ecclesiae catholicae antistites et ministros, qui aut passim caveant nudare mysteria aut contenti simplici fide altiora cognoscere non curarint, desperet ibi esse scientiam veritatis, ubi neque omnes a quibus quaeritur docere possunt neque omnes qui quaerunt discere digni sunt. Et diligentia igitur et pietas adhibenda est; altero fiet ut scientes inveniamus; altero ut scire mereamur. 		1. Enough, probably, has been done in our other books in the way of answering the ignorant and profane attacks which the Manichæans make on the law, which is called the Old Testament, in a spirit of vainglorious boasting, and with the approval of the uninstructed. Here, too, I may shortly touch upon the subject. For every one with average intelligence can easily see that the explanation of the Scriptures should be sought for from those who are the professed teachers of the Scriptures; and that it may happen, and indeed always happens, that many things seem absurd to the ignorant, which, when they are explained by the learned, appear all the more excellent, and are received in the explanation with the greater pleasure on account of the obstructions which made it difficult to reach the meaning. This commonly happens as regards the holy books of the Old Testament, if only the man who meets with difficulties applies to a pious teacher, and not to a profane critic, and if he begins his inquiries from a desire to find truth, and not in rash opposition. And should the inquirer meet with some, whether bishops or presbyters, or any officials or ministers of the Catholic Church, who either avoid in all cases opening up mysteries, or, content with simple faith, have no desire for more recondite knowledge, he must not despair of finding the knowledge of the truth in a case where neither are all able to teach to whom the inquiry is addressed, nor are all inquirers worthy of learning the truth. Diligence and piety are both necessary: on the one hand, we must have knowledge to find truth, and, on the other hand, we must deserve to get the knowledge.
Duo quibus fallunt Manichei. Two Manichæan Falsehoods
1. 2. Sed quoniam duae maxime illecebrae sunt Manichaeorum, quibus decipiuntur incauti, ut eos velint habere doctores; una cum Scripturas reprehendunt vel quas male intelligunt vel quas male intelligi volunt; altera cum vitae castae et memorabilis continentiae imaginem praeferunt: hic liber congruentem catholicae disciplinae sententiam nostram de vita et moribus continebit, in quo fortasse intelligetur et quam sit facile simulare et quam difficile habere virtutem. Eum sane modum tenebo, si potero, ut neque in illorum morbos, qui mihi sunt notissimi, tam graviter invehar quam illi in ea quae ignorant; sanari enim eos potius, si fieri potest, quam oppugnari volo. Et ea de Scripturis assumam testimonia, quibus eos necesse sit credere de Novo scilicet Testamento, de quo tamen nihil proferam eorum quae solent immissa esse dicere, cum magnis angustiis coartantur; sed ea dicam, quae et approbare et laudare coguntur. Nec omnino ullam relinquam testem sententiam productam de apostolica disciplina, cui non de Veteri Testamento similem comparem, ut si evigilare tandem deposita pertinacia somniorum suorum et in christianae fidei lucem aspirare voluerint, animadvertant et quam non sit christiana vita quam ostentant et quam sit Christi Scriptura quam lacerant. 		2. But as the Manichæans have two tricks for catching the unwary, so as to make them take them as teachers—one, that of finding fault with the Scriptures, which they either misunderstand or wish to be misunderstood, the other, that of making a show of chastity and of notable abstinence,— this book shall contain our doctrine of life and morals according to Catholic teaching, and will perhaps make it appear how easy it is to pretend to virtue, and how difficult to possess virtue. I will refrain, if I can, from attacking their weak points, which I know well, with the violence with which they attack what they know nothing of; for I wish them, if possible, to be cured rather than conquered. And I will quote such testimonies from the Scriptures as they are bound to believe, for they shall be from the New Testament; and even from this I will take none of the passages which the Manichæans when hard pressed are accustomed to call spurious, but passages which they are obliged to acknowledge and approve. And for every testimony from apostolic teaching I will bring a similar statement from the Old Testament, that if they ever become willing to wake up from their persistent dreams, and to rise towards the light of Christian faith, they may discover both how far from being Christian is the life which they profess, and how truly Christian is the Scripture which they cavil at.
Rationibus prius agit, obsequens vitiosae Manichaeorum consuetudini. Chapter 2.— He Begins with Arguments, in Compliance with the Mistaken Method of the Manichæans
2. 3. Unde igitur ordiar? Ab auctoritate an a ratione? Naturae quidem ordo ita se habet, ut cum aliquid discimus, rationem praecedat auctoritas. Nam infirma ratio videri potest, quae cum reddita fuerit, auctoritatem postea per quam firmetur assumit. Sed quia caligantes hominum mentes consuetudine tenebrarum, quibus in nocte peccatorum vitiorumque velantur, perspicuitati sinceritatique rationis aspectum idoneum intendere nequeunt, saluberrime comparatum est, ut in lucem veritatis aciem titubantem veluti ramis humanitatis opacata inducat auctoritas. Sed quoniam cum his nobis res est, qui omnia contra ordinem et sentiunt et loquuntur et gerunt, nihilque aliud maxime dicunt nisi rationem prius esse reddendam, morem illis geram et quod fateor in disputando vitiosum esse, suscipiam. Delectat enim me imitari, quantum valeo, mansuetudinem Domini mei Iesu Christi, qui etiam ipsius mortis malo quo nos exuere vellet, indutus est. 		3. Where, then, shall I begin? With authority, or with reasoning? In the order of nature, when we learn anything, authority precedes reasoning. For a reason may seem weak, when, after it is given, it requires authority to confirm it. But because the minds of men are obscured by familiarity with darkness, which covers them in the night of sins and evil habits, and cannot perceive in a way suitable to the clearness and purity of reason, there is most wholesome provision for bringing the dazzled eye into the light of truth under the congenial shade of authority. But since we have to do with people who are perverse in all their thoughts and words and actions, and who insist on nothing more than on beginning with argument, I will, as a concession to them, take what I think a wrong method in discussion. For I like to imitate, as far as I can, the gentleness of my Lord Jesus Christ, who took on Himself the evil of death itself, wishing to free us from it.
Beatus qui eo fruitur quod hominis optimum est. Chapter 3.— Happiness is in the Enjoyment of Man's Chief Good. Two Conditions of the Chief Good: 1st, Nothing is Better Than It; 2d, It Cannot Be Lost Against the Will
3. 4. Ratione igitur quaeramus, quemadmodum sit homini vivendum. Beate certe omnes vivere volumus neque quisquam est in hominum genere, qui non huic sententiae, antequam plane sit emissa, consentiat. Beatus autem, quantum existimo, neque ille dici potest, qui non habet quod amat, qualecumque sit, neque qui habet quod amat, si noxium sit, neque qui non amat quod habet, etiamsi optimum sit. Nam et qui appetit quod adipisci non potest, cruciatur et qui adeptus est quod appetendum non esse, fallitur et qui non appetit quod adipiscendum esset, aegrotat. Nihil autem istorum animo contingit sine miseria; nec miseria et beatitudo in homine uno simul habitare consueverunt; nullus igitur illorum beatus est. Quartum restat, ut video, ubi beata vita inveniri queat, cum id quod est hominis optimum, et amatur et habetur. Quid est enim aliud quod dicimus frui, nisi praesto habere quod diligis? Neque quisquam beatus est, qui non fruitur eo quod est hominis optimum nec quisquam, qui eo fruitur, non beatus. Praesto ergo esse nobis debet optimum nostrum, si beate vivere cogitamus. 		4. How then, according to reason, ought man to live? We all certainly desire to live happily; and there is no human being but assents to this statement almost before it is made. But the title happy cannot, in my opinion, belong either to him who has not what he loves, whatever it may be, or to him who has what he loves if it is hurtful or to him who does not love what he has, although it is good in perfection. For one who seeks what he cannot obtain suffers torture, and one who has got what is not desirable is cheated, and one who does not seek for what is worth seeking for is diseased. Now in all these cases the mind cannot but be unhappy, and happiness and unhappiness cannot reside at the same time in one man; so in none of these cases can the man be happy. I find, then, a fourth case, where the happy life exists,— when that which is man's chief good is both loved and possessed. For what do we call enjoyment but having at hand the objects of love? And no one can be happy who does not enjoy what is man's chief good, nor is there any one who enjoys this who is not happy. We must then have at hand our chief good, if we think of living happily.
Hominis optimum quid. Duae conditiones summi boni: 1) ut nihil eo melius sit; 2) ut tale sit quod non amittat invitus.
3. 5. Sequitur ut quaeramus quid sit hominis optimum, quod profecto deterius esse quam ipse homo non potest. Quisquis enim quod seipso est deterius, sequitur, fit et ipse deterior. Oportet autem omnem hominem id quod optimum est sequi. Non est igitur homine deterius hominis optimum. Fortasse tale aliquid erit, quale ipse homo est? Ita sit sane, si nihil est homine melius quo perfrui possit. Si autem invenimus aliquid quod et homine sit excellentius et praesto esse amanti sese homini possit, quis dubitaverit homini ad id nitendum esse ut beatus sit, quod eo ipso qui nititur manifestum est esse praestantius? Nam si id est beatum esse, ad tale bonum pervenisse quo amplius non potest, id est autem quod dicimus optimum; quo tandem pacto potest in ea definitione includi, qui ad summum bonum suum nondum pervenerit? Aut quomodo summum est, si est aliquid melius quo pervenire possimus? Hoc igitur si est, tale esse debet quod non amittat invitus. Quippe nemo potest confidere de tali bono, quod sibi eripi posse sentit, etiamsi retinere id amplectique voluerit. Quisquis autem de bono quo fruitur non confidit, in tanto timore amittendi beatus esse qui potest? 		5. We must now inquire what is man's chief good, which of course cannot be anything inferior to man himself. For whoever follows after what is inferior to himself, becomes himself inferior. But every man is bound to follow what is best. Wherefore man's chief good is not inferior to man. Is it then something similar to man himself? It must be so, if there is nothing above man which he is capable of enjoying. But if we find something which is both superior to man, and can be possessed by the man who loves it, who can doubt that in seeking for happiness man should endeavor to reach that which is more excellent than the being who makes the endeavor. For if happiness consists in the enjoyment of a good than which there is nothing better, which we call the chief good, how can a man be properly called happy who has not yet attained to his chief good? Or how can that be the chief good beyond which something better remains for us to arrive at? Such, then, being the chief good, it must be something which cannot be lost against the will. For no one can feel confident regarding a good which he knows can be taken from him, although he wishes to keep and cherish it. But if a man feels no confidence regarding the good which he enjoys, how can he be happy while in such fear of losing it?
Homo quid. Chapter 4.— Man— What?
4. 6. Quaeramus igitur quid sit homine melius. Quod profecto invenire difficile est, nisi prius considerato atque discusso quid sit ipse homo. Nec nunc definitionem hominis a me postulandam puto. Illud est magis quod mihi hoc loco quaerendum videtur, cum inter omnes paene constet, aut certe, id quod satis est, inter me atque illos cum quibus nunc agitur hoc conveniat, ex anima et corpore nos esse compositos, quid est ipse homo utrumque horum quae nominavi, an corpus tantummodo an tantummodo anima. Quamquam enim duo sint anima et corpus et neutrum homo vocaretur, si non esset alterum - nam neque corpus homo esset, si anima non esset nec rursus anima homo, si ea corpus non animaretur - fieri tamen potest ut unum horum et habeatur homo et vocetur. Quid ergo hominem dicimus? Animam et corpus tamquam bigas vel centaurum? An corpus tantum, quod sit in usu animae se regentis, tamquam lucernam non ignem simul et testam sed testam solam tamen propter ignem appellamus? An nihil aliud hominem quam animam dicimus, sed propter corpus quod regit, veluti equitem non simul equum et hominem sed hominem solum, ex eo tamen quod regendo equo sit accommodatus, vocamus? Difficile est istam controversiam diiudicare, aut si ratione facile, oratione longum est; quem laborem ac moram suscipere ac subire non opus est. Sive enim utrumque sive corpus solum sive anima sola nomen hominis teneat, non est hominis optimum quod optimum est corporis, sed quod aut corpori simul et animae aut soli animae optimum est, id est hominis optimum. 		6. Let us then see what is better than man. This must necessarily be hard to find, unless we first ask and examine what man is. I am not now called upon to give a definition of man. The question here seems to me to be—since almost all agree, or at least, which is enough, those I have now to do with are of the same opinion with me, that we are made up of soul and body—What is man? Is he both of these? Or is he the body only, or the soul only? For although the things are two, soul and body, and although neither without the other could be called man (for the body would not be man without the soul, nor again would the soul be man if there were not a body animated by it), still it is possible that one of these may be held to be man, and may be called so. What then do we call man? Is he soul and body, as in a double harness, or like a centaur? Or do we mean the body only, as being in the service of the soul which rules it, as the word lamp denotes not the light and the case together, but only the case, yet it is on account of the light that it is so called? Or do we mean only the mind, and that on account of the body which it rules, as horseman means not the man and the horse, but the man only, and that as employed in ruling the horse? This dispute is not easy to settle; or, if the proof is plain, the statement requires time. This is an expenditure of time and strength which we need not incur. For whether the name man belongs to both, or only to the soul, the chief good of man is not the chief good of the body; but what is the chief good either of both soul and body, or of the soul only, that is man's chief good.
Hominis optimum non quod solius corporis, sed quod animae optimum est. Chapter 5.— Man's Chief Good is Not the Chief Good of the Body Only, But the Chief Good of the Soul
5. 7. Corporis autem si quaerimus quid optimum sit, id certa ratio cogit fateri, per quod fit ut sese corpus quam optime habeat. Nihil est autem omnium quae vegetant corpus anima melius atque praestantius. Est ergo summum corporis bonum, non voluptas eius, non indoloria, non vires, non pulchritudo, non velocitas et si quid aliud in bonis corporis numerari solet sed omnino anima. Nam et ista quae commemorata sunt, praesentia sui exhibet corpori et quod antecellit omnibus vitam. Quamobrem non mihi videtur anima esse summum hominis bonum, sive animam simul et corpus, sive animam solam hominem dicimus. Ut enim corporis summum bonum id invenit ratio, quod est corpore melius et quo ei vigor et vita praebetur, ita sive corpus et anima sive anima ipsa per se homo sit, inveniendum est, si quid animam praecedit ipsam, quod cum anima sequitur, fit in suo genere quam potest optima. Quod si reperire poterimus, id erit profecto quod ambagibus remotis omnibus summum hominis bonum iure meritoque nominandum est. 		7. Now if we ask what is the chief good of the body, reason obliges us to admit that it is that by means of which the body comes to be in its best state. But of all the things which invigorate the body, there is nothing better or greater than the soul. The chief good of the body, then, is not bodily pleasure, not absence of pain, not strength, not beauty, not swiftness, or whatever else is usually reckoned among the goods of the body, but simply the soul. For all the things mentioned the soul supplies to the body by its presence, and, what is above them all, life. Hence I conclude that the soul is not the chief good of man, whether we give the name of man to soul and body together, or to the soul alone. For as according to reason, the chief good of the body is that which is better than the body, and from which the body receives vigor and life, so whether the soul itself is man, or soul and body both, we must discover whether there is anything which goes before the soul itself, in following which the soul comes to the perfection of good of which it is capable in its own kind. If such a thing can be found, all uncertainty must be at an end, and we must pronounce this to be really and truly the chief good of man.
5. 8. At si corpus est homo, quin hominis optimum anima ipsa sit, recusare non possum. Sed certe cum de moribus agitur, cum quaerimus quinam vitae modus tenendus sit ut beatitudinem possimus adipisci, non corpori praecepta dantur, non corporis investiganda est disciplina. Postremo bonos mores ea nostra pars actura est, quae inquirit et discit et haec animae sunt propria; non igitur de corpore, cum de virtute obtinenda satagimus, quaestio est. Quod si est consequens sicuti est, ut ipsum corpus cum ab anima regitur, quae virtutis compos est, multo et melius regatur et honestius eoque optime sese habeat quo est optima illa, quae sibi iusta lege dominatur, id erit hominis optimum quod animam optimam facit, etiamsi hominem corpus vocemus. An vero, si mihi auriga obtemperans equos quibus praeest alit ac regit commodissime atque ipse quo mihi est oboedientior, mea liberalitate perfruitur, negare quisquam potest non solum quod auriga, verum etiam quod equi sese optime habent, mihi deberi? Itaque sive corpus tantum sive tantum anima sive utrumque homo sit, non mihi maxime quaerendum videtur, nisi quid animam faciat optimam; nam eo percepto non potest homo non aut optime aut certe multo melius sese habere, quam si hoc unum defuisset. 		8. If, again, the body is man, it must be admitted that the soul is the chief good of man. But clearly, when we treat of morals,— when we inquire what manner of life must be held in order to obtain happiness—it is not the body to which the precepts are addressed, it is not bodily discipline which we discuss. In short, the observance of good customs belongs to that part of us which inquires and learns, which are the prerogatives of the soul; so, when we speak of attaining to virtue, the question does not regard the body. But if it follows, as it does, that the body which is ruled over by a soul possessed of virtue is ruled both better and more honorably, and is in its greatest perfection in consequence of the perfection of the soul which rightfully governs it, that which gives perfection to the soul will be man's chief good, though we call the body man. For if my coachman, in obedience to me, feeds and drives the horses he has charge of in the most satisfactory manner, himself enjoying the more of my bounty in proportion to his good conduct, can any one deny that the good condition of the horses, as well as that of the coachman, is due to me? So the question seems to me to be not, whether soul and body is man, or the soul only, or the body only, but what gives perfection to the soul; for when this is obtained, a man cannot but be either perfect, or at least much better than in the absence of this one thing.
Virtus animam optimam efficit; virtutem anima comparat sequendo Deum; Dei autem consecutio vita beata. Chapter 6.— Virtue Gives Perfection to the Soul; The Soul Obtains Virtue by Following God; Following God is the Happy Life
6. 9. Nemo autem dubitaverit quod virtus animam faciat optimam. Sed rectissime quaeri potest utrum ista virtus etiam per sese an nisi in anima esse non possit. Oboritur iterum altissima et longissimi sermonis indigens quaestio, sed hoc bene utar fortasse compendio; spero Deum adfuturum, ut quantum imbecillitas nostra patitur, de tantis rebus non modo dilucide sed etiam breviter doceamus. Quodlibet enim eorum sit, sive etiam per sese esse possit virtus sine anima, sive nisi animae inesse non possit, procul dubio aliquid anima sequitur ut virtutem assequatur; id erit aut ipsa anima aut virtus aut aliquid tertium. At si seipsam sequitur ut virtutem adipiscatur, stultum nescio quid sequitur; stulta est enim ante adeptam virtutem. Summa sunt autem vota sequentium, ut id quod sequimur, assequamur. Aut igitur optabit non assequi quod sequitur anima, quo nihil absurdius et perversius dici potest: aut cum se sequitur stulta, eamdem stultitiam quam vitat assequitur. Si autem virtutem sequitur hanc assequi cupiens, quomodo sequitur id quod non est? Aut quomodo assequi cupit quod habet? Aut igitur virtus est praeter animam, aut si non placet vocare virtutem, nisi habitum ipsum et quasi sapientis animae qualitatem, quae nisi in anima esse non potest, oportet aliquid aliud sequatur anima, ut ei virtus possit innasci, quia neque nihil sequendo neque stultitiam sequendo potest, quantum ratio mea fert, ad sapientiam pervenire. 		9. No one will question that virtue gives perfection to the soul. But it is a very proper subject of inquiry whether this virtue can exist by itself or only in the soul. Here again arises a profound discussion, needing lengthy treatment; but perhaps my summary will serve the purpose. God will, I trust, assist me, so that, notwithstanding our feebleness, we may give instruction on these great matters briefly as well as intelligibly. In either case, whether virtue can exist by itself without the soul, or can exist only in the soul, undoubtedly in the pursuit of virtue the soul follows after something, and this must be either the soul itself, or virtue, or something else. But if the soul follows after itself in the pursuit of virtue, it follows after a foolish thing; for before obtaining virtue it is foolish. Now the height of a follower's desire is to reach that which he follows after. So the soul must either not wish to reach what it follows after, which is utterly absurd and unreasonable, or, in following after itself while foolish, it reaches the folly which it flees from. But if it follows after virtue in the desire to reach it, how can it follow what does not exist? Or how can it desire to reach what it already possesses? Either, therefore, virtue exists beyond the soul, or if we are not allowed to give the name of virtue except to the habit and disposition of the wise soul, which can exist only in the soul, we must allow that the soul follows after something else in order that virtue may be produced in itself; for neither by following after nothing, nor by following after folly, can the soul, according to my reasoning, attain to wisdom.
6. 10. Hoc igitur aliud, quod sequendo anima virtutis atque sapientiae compos fit, aut homo sapiens est, aut Deus. Sed supra dictum est, tale quiddam esse debere quod inviti amittere nequeamus. Quis vero cunctandum putet, hominem sapientem, si eum sequi satis putaverimus, auferri nobis non modo recusantibus sed etiam repugnantibus posse? Deus igitur restat quem si sequimur, bene, si assequimur, non tantum bene sed etiam beate vivimus. Quem si qui esse negant, quid ego cogitem quo illis sermone suadendum sit, cum quibus utrum omnino sermocinandum sit, nescio? Quod tamen si videbitur, longe aliud principium, alia ratio, alius ingressus ineundus est quam impraesentiarum suscepimus. Nunc itaque cum illis mihi res est, qui Deum esse non negant, neque id tantum sed etiam non ab eo negligi res humanas fatentur. Nullum enim arbitror aliquo religionis nomine teneri, qui non saltem animis nostris divina providentia consuli existimet. 		10. This something else then, by following after which the soul becomes possessed of virtue and wisdom, is either a wise man or God. But we have said already that it must be something that we cannot lose against our will. No one can think it necessary to ask whether a wise man, supposing we are content to follow after him, can be taken from us in spite of our unwillingness or our persistence. God then remains, in following after whom we live well, and in reaching whom we live both well and happily. If any deny God's existence, why should I consider the method of dealing with them, when it is doubtful whether they ought to be dealt with at all? At any rate, it would require a different starting-point, a different plan, a different investigation from what we are now engaged in. I am now addressing those who do not deny the existence of God, and who, moreover, allow that human affairs are not disregarded by Him. For there is no one, I suppose, who makes any profession of religion but will hold that divine Providence cares at least for our souls.
Deus auctoritate Scripturarum vestigandus. Economiae divinae erga nostram salutem ratio et praecipua mysteria. Chapter 7.— The Knowledge of God to Be Obtained from the Scripture. The Plan and Principal Mysteries of the Divine Scheme of Redemption
7. 11. Sed quo pacto sequimur quem non videmus, aut quomodo videmus, qui non solum homines sed etiam insipientes homines sumus? Quamquam enim non oculis sed mente cernatur, quae tandem mens idonea reperiri potest, quae cum stultitiae nube obtegatur, valeat illam lucem vel etiam conetur haurire? Confugiendum est igitur ad eorum praecepta, quos sapientes fuisse probabile est. Hactenus potuit ratio perduci. Versabatur namque non veritate certior sed consuetudine securior in rebus humanis. At ubi ad divina perventum est, avertit sese; intueri non potest, palpitat, aestuat, inhiat amore, reverberatur luce veritatis et ad familiaritatem tenebrarum suarum non electione sed fatigatione convertitur. Quam hic formidandum est, quam tremendum, ne maiorem inde concipiat anima imbecillitatem, ubi quietem fessa conquirit. Ergo refugere in tenebrosa cupientibus per dispensationem ineffabilis sapientiae nobis illa opacitas auctoritatis occurrat et mirabilibus rerum vocibusque librorum velut signis temperatioribus veritatis umbrisque blandiatur. 		11. But how can we follow after Him whom we do not see? Or how can we see Him, we who are not only men, but also men of weak understanding? For though God is seen not with the eyes but with the mind, where can such a mind be found as shall, while obscured by foolishness, succeed or even attempt to drink in that light? We must therefore have recourse to the instructions of those whom we have reason to think wise. Thus far argument brings us. For in human things reasoning is employed, not as of greater certainty, but as easier from use. But when we come to divine things, this faculty turns away; it cannot behold; it pants, and gasps, and burns with desire; it falls back from the light of truth, and turns again to its wonted obscurity, not from choice, but from exhaustion. What a dreadful catastrophe is this, that the soul should be reduced to greater helplessness when it is seeking rest from its toil! So, when we are hasting to retire into darkness, it will be well that by the appointment of adorable Wisdom we should be met by the friendly shade of authority, and should be attracted by the wonderful character of its contents, and by the utterances of its pages, which, like shadows, typify and attemper the truth.
Summa fidei.
7. 12. Quid potuit pro salute nostra fieri amplius? Quid beneficentius, quid liberalius divina providentia dici potest, quae a legibus suis hominem lapsum et propter cupiditatem rerum mortalium iure ac merito mortalem sobolem propagantem non omnino deseruit? Habet enim potestas illa iustissima miris et incomprehensibilibus modis per quasdam secretissimas successiones rerum sibi servientium quas creavit et severitatem vindicandi et clementiam liberandi. Quod quidem quam sit pulchrum, quam magnum, quam Deo dignum, quam postremo id quod quaeritur verum, nequaquam intelligere poterimus nisi ab humanis et proximis incipientes. Verae religionis fide praeceptisque servatis non deseruerimus viam quam nobis Deus et Patriarcharum segregatione et Legis vinculo et Prophetarum praesagio et suscepti Hominis sacramento et Apostolorum testimonio et martyrum sanguine et gentium occupatione munivit. Quare deinceps nemo ex me quaerat sententiam meam, sed potius audiamus oracula nostrasque ratiunculas divinis submittamus affatibus. 		12. What more could have been done for our salvation? What can be more gracious and bountiful than divine providence, which, when man had fallen from its laws, and, in just retribution for his coveting mortal things, had brought forth a mortal offspring, still did not wholly abandon him? For in this most righteous government, whose ways are strange and inscrutable, there is, by means of unknown connections established in the creatures subject to it, both a severity of punishment and a mercifulness of salvation. How beautiful this is, how great, how worthy of God, in fine, how true, which is all we are seeking for, we shall never be able to perceive, unless, beginning with things human and at hand, and holding by the faith and the precepts of true religion, we continue without turning from it in the way which God has secured for us by the separation of the patriarchs, by the bond of the law, by the foresight of the prophets, by the witness of the apostles, by the blood of the martyrs, and by the subjugation of the Gentiles. From this point, then, let no one ask me for my opinion, but let us rather hear the oracles, and submit our weak inferences to the announcements of Heaven.
Deus summum bonum, quo summo amore tendere iubemur. Chapter 8.— God is the Chief Good, Whom We are to Seek After with Supreme Affection
8. 13. Videamus, quemadmodum ipse Dominus in evangelio nobis praeceperit esse vivendum, quomodo etiam Paulus apostolus; has enim Scripturas illi condemnare non audent. Audiamus ergo quem finem bonorum nobis, Christe, praescribas; nec dubium est quin is erit finis, quo nos summo amore tendere iubes. Diliges, inquit, Dominum Deum tuum 1. Dic mihi etiam, quaeso te, qui sit diligendi modus, vereor enim ne plus minusve quam oportet inflammer desiderio et amore Domini mei. Ex toto, inquit, corde tuo. Non est satis. Ex tota anima tua. Ne id quidem satis est. Ex tota mente tua. Quid vis amplius? Vellem fortasse, si viderem quid posset esse amplius. Quid ad haec Paulus? Scimus, inquit, quoniam diligentibus Deum omnia procedunt in bonum 2. Dicat etiam ipse dilectionis modum. Quis ergo, inquit, nos separabit a caritate Christi? tribulatio? an angustia? an persecutio? an fames? an nuditas? an periculum? an gladius? 3 Audivimus quid diligere et quantum diligere debeamus; eo est omnino tendendum, ad id omnia consilia nostra referenda. Bonorum summa Deus nobis est. Deus nobis est summum bonum. Neque infra remanendum nobis est neque ultra quaerendum; alterum enim periculosum, alterum nullum est. 		13. Let us see how the Lord Himself in the gospel has taught us to live; how, too, Paul the apostle,— for the Manichæans dare not reject these Scriptures. Let us hear, O Christ, what chief end You prescribe to us; and that is evidently the chief end after which we are told to strive with supreme affection. "You shall love," He says, "the Lord your God." Tell me also, I pray You, what must be the measure of love; for I fear lest the desire enkindled in my heart should either exceed or come short in fervor. "With all your heart," He says. Nor is that enough. "With all your soul." Nor is it enough yet. "With all your mind." Matthew 22:37 What do you wish more? I might, perhaps, wish more if I could see the possibility of more. What does Paul say on this? "We know," he says, "that all things issue in good to them that love God." Let him, too, say what is the measure of love. "Who then," he says, "shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?" We have heard, then, what and how much we must love; this we must strive after, and to this we must refer all our plans. The perfection of all our good things and our perfect good is God. We must neither come short of this nor go beyond it: the one is dangerous, the other impossible.
Concentus Veteris et Novi Testamenti de praeceptis caritatis. Chapter 9.— Harmony of the Old and New Testament on the Precepts of Charity.
9. 14. Age nunc investigemus vel potius attendamus, praesto enim est et facillime videtur, utrum his sententiis ex Evangelio atque Apostolo prolatis etiam Testamenti Veteris auctoritas congruat. Quid dicam de superiore sententia, cum manifestum sit omnibus, eam de lege quae per Moysen data est esse depromptam? Ibi enim scriptum est: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum, ex toto corde tuo et ex tota anima tua et ex tota mente tua 4. Quid autem illi quod ab Apostolo dictum est comparare de Veteri Testamento possim, ne diutius quaererem ipse subiecit. Cum enim dixisset nulla tribulatione, nulla angustia, nulla persecutione, nulla necessitate inopiae corporalis, nullo periculo, nullo gladio nos a caritate Christi separari, statim subiunxit: Sicut scriptum est, quia propter te afficimur tota die, aestimati sumus ut oves occisionis 5. Haec illi solent a corruptoribus Scripturarum immissa esse dicere; usque adeo nihil habent quod contradicant, ut haec miseri respondere cogantur. Sed quis non intelligat convictorum hominum aliam non esse potuisse ultimam vocem? 		14. Come now, let us examine, or rather let us take notice—for it is obvious and can be seen, at once—whether the authority of the Old Testament too agrees with those statements taken from the gospel and the apostle. What need to speak of the first statement, when it is clear to all that it is a quotation from the law given by Moses? For it is there written, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." Deuteronomy 6:5 And not to go farther for a passage of the Old Testament to compare with that of the apostle, he has himself added one. For after saying that no tribulation, no distress, no persecution, no pressure of bodily want, no peril, no sword, separates us from the love of Christ, he immediately adds, "As it is written, For Your sake we are in suffering all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." The Manichæans are in the habit of saying that this is an interpolation,— so unable are they to reply, that they are forced in their extremity to say this. But every one can see that this is all that is left for men to say when it is proved that they are wrong.
In libris V. Testamenti omnia christianae fidei concinere video.
9. 15. A quibus tamen quaero, utrum istam sententiam in Veteri Testamento esse negent, an non congruere sententiae apostolicae affirment? At illud primum libris docebo; in hoc autem altero tergiversantes homines et per abrupta fugientes aut in pacem revocabo, si voluerint respicere aliquantum et considerare quid dictum sit, aut eos intelligentia ceterorum, qui sine cupiditate iudicant, insectabor. Quid enim potest amicius quam istae sibi consonare sententiae? Nam tribulatio, angustia, persecutio, fames, nuditas, periculum, hominem in hac vita constitutum graviter afficiunt. Haec itaque omnia verba illo uno concluduntur testimonio veteris legis quo dictum est: Propter te afficimur. Gladius restabat, qui non aerumnosam vitam affert, sed quam invenerit adimit. Huic ergo respondet: Aestimati sumus ut oves occisionis 6. Caritas vero ipsa non potuit significari expressius quam quo dictum est: Propter te. Fac ergo non in Paulo apostolo illud testimonium compertum, sed a me esse prolatum. Numquidnam tibi demonstrandum est, haeretice, nisi aut scriptum in vetere lege non esse aut Apostolo non convenire? Quorum si nihil dicere audes - urgeris enim cum et codex legitur, quo planum sit scriptum esse, et homines intelligunt ad id quod Apostolus dixit, nihil posse aptius convenire -, cur ergo valere aliquid putas, quod Scripturas corruptas esse insimulare audes? Postremo quid responsurus es ei qui tibi dicat: Ego sic intelligo, ego sic accipio, sic credo nec ob aliud lego illos libros, nisi quod ibi omnia christianae fidei concinere video. Illud potius dic, si audes et adversus me dicere cogitas, non esse credendum quod Apostoli et martyres propter Christum affecti gravibus aerumnis dicuntur, quod a persecutoribus ut oves occisionis aestimati sunt. Quod si non potes dicere, quid calumniaris in quo libro credam, quod me oportere credere confiteris? 		15. And yet I ask them if they deny that this is said in the Old Testament, or if they hold that the passage in the Old Testament does not agree with that of the apostle. For the first, the books will prove it; and as for the second, those prevaricators who fly off at a tangent will be brought to agree with me, if they will only reflect a little and consider what is said, or else I will press upon them the opinion of those who judge impartially. For what could agree more harmoniously than these passages? For tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, cause great suffering to man while in this life. So all these words are implied in the single quotation from the law, where it is said, "For Your sake we are in suffering." The only other thing is the sword, which does not inflict a painful life, but removes whatever life it meets with. Answering to this are the words, "We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." And love could not have been more plainly expressed than by the words, "For Your sake." Suppose, then, that this testimony is not found in the Apostle Paul, but is quoted by me, must you not prove, you heretic, either that this is not written in the old law, or that it does not harmonize with the apostle? And if you dare not say either of these things (for you are shut up by the reading of the manuscript, which will show that it is written, and by common sense, which sees that nothing could agree better with what is said by the apostle), why do you imagine that there is any force in accusing the Scriptures of being corrupted? And once more, what will you reply to a man who says to you, This is what I understand, this is my view, this is my belief, and I read these books only because I see that everything in them agrees with the Christian faith? Or tell me at once if you will venture deliberately to tell me to the face that we are not to believe that the apostles and martyrs are spoken of as having endured great sufferings for Christ's sake, and as having been accounted by their persecutors as sheep for the slaughter? If you cannot say this, why should you bring a charge against the book in which I find what you acknowledge I ought to believe?
De Deo quid doceat Ecclesia. Duo dii Manichaeorum. Chapter 10.— What the Church Teaches About God. The Two Gods of the Manichæans
10. 16. An illud dicis, concedere te quidem Deum esse diligendum, sed non illum Deum quem colunt hi qui Testamenti Veteris auctoritatem recipiunt? Non ergo illum Deum colendum esse dicitis, qui fecit caelum et terram. Iste namque per omnes partes illorum voluminum praedicatur; vos autem fatemini universum istum mundum, qui nomine caeli et terrae significatur, habere auctorem et fabricatorem Deum et Deum bonum. Cum exceptione quippe vobiscum loquendum est, quando Deus nominatur. Duos enim deos, unum bonum, alterum malum esse perhibetis. Quod si dicitis colere vos et colendum arbitrari Deum a quo factus est mundus, non tamen eum esse quem Veteris Testamenti commendat auctoritas, impudenter facitis, qui alienum animum atque sententiam quam bene atque utiliter acceperimus, male interpretari conamini, frustra omnino. Neque enim vestrae stultae atque impiae disputationes ullo modo cum piorum doctissimorumque hominum sermonibus, per quos in Ecclesia catholica Scripturae illae volentibus dignisque aperiuntur, comparari queunt. Longe prorsus aliter longe quam putatis Lex et Prophetae intelliguntur a nobis. Desinite errare; non colimus poenitentem Deum, non invidum, non indigum, non crudelem, non quaerentem de hominum vel pecorum sanguine voluptatem, non cui flagitia et scelera placeant, non possessionem suam terrae quadam particula terminantem. In has enim atque huiusmodi nugas graviter copioseque invehi soletis. Quare nos invectio vestra non tangit; sed aniles quasdam vel etiam pueriles opiniones eo ineptiore quo vehementiore oratione pervellitis. Qua quisquis movetur et ad vos transit, non Ecclesiae nostrae damnat disciplinam, sed eam se ignorare demonstrat. 		16. Will you say that you grant that we are bound to love God, but not the God worshipped by those who acknowledge the authority of the Old Testament? In that case you refuse to worship the God who made heaven and earth, for this is the God set forth all through these books. And you admit that the whole of the world, which is called heaven and earth, had God and a good God for its author and maker. For in speaking to you about God we must make a distinction. For you hold that there are two gods, one good and the other bad. But if you say that you worship and approve of worshipping the God who made heaven and earth, but not the God supported by the authority of the Old Testament, you act impertinently in trying, though vainly, to attribute to us views and opinions altogether unlike the wholesome and profitable doctrine we really hold. Nor can your silly and profane discourses be at all compared with the expositions in which learned and pious men of the Catholic Church open up those Scriptures to the willing and worthy. Our understanding of the law and the prophets is quite different from what you suppose. Mistake us no longer. We do not worship a God who repents, or is envious, or needy, or cruel, or who takes pleasure in the blood of men or beasts, or is pleased with guilt and crime, or whose possession of the earth is limited to a little corner of it. These and such like are the silly notions you are in the habit of denouncing at great length. Your denunciation does not touch us. The fancies of old women or of children you attack with a vehemence that is only ridiculous. Any one whom you persuade in this way to join you shows no fault in the teaching of the Church, but only proves his own ignorance of it.
10. 17. Quamobrem si quid humani corde geritis, si curae vobis vosmetipsi estis, quaerite potius diligenter et pie quomodo illa dicantur. Quaerite, miseri; nam talem fidem, qua Deo inconveniens aliquid creditur, nos vehementius et uberius accusamus; nam et in illis quae dicta sunt, cum sic intelliguntur ut littera sonat, et simplicitatem corrigimus et pertinaciam deridemus. Et alia multa, quae vos intelligere non potestis, vetat eos credere catholica disciplina, qui non annis sed studio atque intellectu excedentes quamdam mentis pueritiam in canos sapientiae promoventur; nam et credere Deum loco aliquo quamvis infinito per quantitatis quaecumque spatia contineri, quam sit stultum docetur; et de loco in locum vel ipsum vel aliquam eius partem moveri atque transire, arbitrari nefas habetur. Iam vero aliquid eius substantiae atque naturae commutationem vel conversionem quolibet modo pati posse si quis opinetur, mirae dementiae impietatisque damnabitur. Ita fit ut apud nos inveniantur pueri quidam, qui humana forma Deum cogitent atque ita se habere suspicentur, qua opinione nihil est abiectius; sed inveniuntur item multi senes, qui eius maiestatem non solum super humanum corpus, sed etiam super ipsam mentem manere inviolabilem atque incommutabilem eadem ipsa mente conspiciant. Quas aetates non tempore sed virtute atque prudentia discernendas esse iam dictum est. Apud vos autem nemo quidem reperitur qui Dei substantiam humani corporis figuratione describat, sed rursus nemo qui ab humani erroris labe seiungat. Itaque illi quos quasi vagientes Catholicae ubera sustentant, si ab haereticis non fuerint depraedati, pro suo quisque captu viribusque nutriuntur perducunturque alius sic, alius autem sic, primum in virum perfectum 7, deinde ad maturitatem canitiemque sapientiae 8 perveniunt, ut eis quantum volunt, vivere ac beatissime vivere liceat. 		17. If, then, you have any human feeling—if you have any regard for your own welfare—you should rather examine with diligence and piety the meaning of these passages of Scripture. You should examine, unhappy beings that you are; for we condemn with no less severity and copiousness any faith which attributes to God what is unbecoming Him, and in those by whom these passages are literally understood we correct the mistake of ignorance, and look upon persistence in it as absurd. And in many other things which you cannot understand there is in the Catholic teaching a check on the belief of those who have got beyond mental childishness, not in years, but in knowledge and understanding— old in the progress towards wisdom. For we learn the folly of believing that God is bounded by any amount of space, even though infinite; and it is held unlawful to think of God, or any part of Him, as moving from one place to another. And should any one suppose that anything in God's substance or nature can suffer change or conversion, he will be held guilty of wild profanity. There are thus among us children who think of God as having a human form, which they suppose He really has, which is a most degrading idea; and there are many of full age to whose mind the majesty of God appears in its inviolableness and unchangeableness as not only above the human body, but above their own mind itself. These ages, as we said, are distinguished not by time, but by virtue and discretion. Among you, again, there is no one who will picture God in a human form; but neither is there one who sets God apart from the contamination of human error. As regards those who are fed like crying babies at the breast of the Catholic Church, if they are not carried off by heretics, they are nourished according to the vigor and capacity of each, and arrive at last, one in one way and another in another, first to a perfect man, and then to the maturity and hoary hairs of wisdom, when they may get life as they desire, and life in perfect happiness.
Deus unice diligendus, ideoque summum hominis bonum. Deo nil melius. Chapter 11.— God is the One Object of Love; Therefore He is Man's Chief Good. Nothing is Better Than God. God Cannot Be Lost Against Our Will
11. 18. Secutio igitur Dei, beatitatis appetitus est, assecutio autem ipsa beatitas. Sed eum sequimur diligendo, consequimur vero, non cum hoc omnino efficimur quod est ipse, sed ei proximi eumque mirifico et intelligibili modo contingentes eiusque veritate et sanctitate penitus illustrati atque comprehensi. Ille namque ipsum lumen est, nobis autem ab eodem illuminari licet. Maximum ergo quod ad beatam vitam ducit, primumque mandatum est: diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo et anima et mente. Diligentibus enim Deum omnia procedunt in bonum 9. Quamobrem paulo post idem Paulus: Certus sum, inquit, quod neque mors neque vita neque angelus neque virtus neque instantia neque futura neque altitudo neque profundum neque creatura alia poterit nos separare a caritate Dei, quae est in Christo Iesu Domino nostro 10. Si igitur diligentibus Deum omnia procedunt in bonum, et summum bonum, quod etiam optimum dicitur, non modo diligendum esse nemo ambigit, sed ita diligendum ut nihil amplius diligere debeamus idque significatur et exprimitur quod dictum est: Ex toto corde et ex tota anima et ex tota mente, quis quaeso dubitaverit, his omnibus constitutis et firmissime creditis, nihil nobis aliud optimum, ad quod adipiscendum postpositis ceteris oporteat festinare quam Deum? Item si nulla res ab eius caritate nos separat, quid esse non solum melius, sed etiam certius hoc bono potest? 		18. Following after God is the desire of happiness; to reach God is happiness itself. We follow after God by loving Him; we reach Him, not by becoming entirely what He is, but in nearness to Him, and in wonderful and immaterial contact with Him, and in being inwardly illuminated and occupied by His truth and holiness. He is light itself; we get enlightenment from Him. The greatest commandment, therefore, which leads to happy life, and the first, is this: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul, and mind." For to those who love the Lord all things issue in good. Hence Paul adds shortly after, "I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor virtue, nor things present, nor things future, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39 If, then, to those who love God all things issue in good, and if, as no one doubts, the chief or perfect good is not only to be loved, but to be loved so that nothing shall be loved better, as is expressed in the words, "With all your soul, with all your heart, and with all your mind," who, I ask, will not at once conclude, when these things are all settled and most surely believed, that our chief good which we must hasten to arrive at in preference to all other things is nothing else than God? And then, if nothing can separate us from His love, must not this be surer as well as better than any other good?
Deum nemo amittit invitus; quae sunt duae conditiones summi boni.
11. 19. Sed singula breviter attendamus. Nemo nos inde separat minando mortem. Id ipsum enim quo diligimus Deum, mori non potest, nisi dum non diligit Deum; cum mors ipsa sit non diligere Deum, quod nihil est aliud quam ei quidquam in diligendo atque sequendo praeponere. Nemo inde separat pollicendo vitam; nemo enim ab ipso fonte separat aquam pollicendo. Non separat angelus; non enim est angelus, cum inhaeremus Deo, nostra mente potentior. Non separat virtus; nam si virtus hic illa nominata est, quae aliquam potestatem in hoc mundo habet, toto mundo est omnino sublimior mens inhaerens Deo. Sin illa virtus dicta est, quae ipsius animi nostri rectissima affectio est, si in alio est, favet ut coniungamur Deo, si in nobis est, ipsa coniungit. Non separant instantes molestiae; hoc enim leviores eas sentimus, quo ei unde nos separare moliuntur, artius inhaeremus. Non separat promissio futurorum; nam et quidquid boni futurum est, certius promittit Deus, et nihil est ipso Deo melius, qui iam profecto bene sibi haerentibus praesens est. Non separat altitudo neque profundum; etenim si haec verba scientiae forte altitudinem vel profundum significant, non ero curiosus, ne seiungar a Deo, nec cuiusquam doctrina me ab eo separat, ut quasi depellat errorem, a quo prorsus nemo nisi separatus erraret. Si vero altitudine et profundo supera et infera huius mundi significantur, quis mihi caelum polliceatur, ut a caeli fabricatore seiungar? Aut quis terreat infernus, ut Deum deseram, quem si numquam deseruissem, inferna nescirem? Postremo quis me locus ab eius caritate divellet, qui non ubique totus esset, si ullo contineretur loco? 		19. But let us consider the points separately. No one separates us from this by threatening death. For that with which we love God cannot die, except in not loving God; for death is not to love God, and that is when we prefer anything to Him in affection and pursuit. No one separates us from this in promising life; for no one separates us from the fountain in promising water. Angels do not separate us; for the mind cleaving to God is not inferior in strength to an angel. Virtue does not separate us; for if what is here called virtue is that which has power in this world, the mind cleaving to God is far above the whole world. Or if this virtue is perfect rectitude of our mind itself, this in the case of another will favor our union with God, and in ourselves will itself unite us with God. Present troubles do not separate us; for we feel their burden less the closer we cling to Him from whom they try to separate us. The promise of future things does not separate us; for both future good of every kind is surest in the promise of God, and nothing is better than God Himself, who undoubtedly is already present to those who truly cleave to Him. Height and depth do not separate us; for if the height and depth of knowledge are what is meant, I will rather not be inquisitive than be separated from God; nor can any instruction by which error is removed separate me from Him, by separation from whom it is that any one is in error. Or if what is meant are the higher and lower parts of this world, how can the promise of heaven separate me from Him who made heaven? Or who from beneath can frighten me into forsaking God, when I should not have known of things beneath but by forsaking Him? In fine, what place can remove me from His love, when He could not be all in every place unless He were contained in none?
Caritate Deo connectimur, dum illi subicimur. Chapter 12.— We are United to God by Love, in Subjection to Him
12. 20. Non, inquit, separat alia creatura 11. O altissimorum mysteriorum virum. Non fuit contentus dicere creatura, sed alia, inquit, creatura, admonens etiam idipsum quo diligimus Deum et quo inhaeremus Deo, id est animum atque mentem creaturam esse. Alia ergo creatura corpus est; et si animus res quaedam est intelligibilis, id est quae tantum intelligendo innotescit, alia creatura est omne sensibile, id est quod per oculos vel aures vel olfactum vel gustum vel tactum quasi quamdam notitiam sui praebet atque id deterius sit necesse est, quam quod intelligentia sola capitur. Ergo cum etiam Deus dignis animis notus non nisi per intelligentiam possit esse, cum tamen sit ipsa qua intelligitur mente praestantior, quippe creator eius atque auctor est, verendum erat ne animus humanus, eo quod inter invisibilia et intelligibilia numeratur, eiusdem se naturae arbitraretur esse, cuius est ipse qui creavit et sic ab eo superbia decideret, cui caritate iungendus est. Fit enim Deo similis quantum datum est, dum illustrandum illi atque illuminandum se subicit. Et si ei maxime propinquat subiectio ne ista qua similis fit, longe ab eo fiat necesse est audacia qua vult esse similior. Ipsa est qua legibus Dei obtemperare detrectat, dum suae potestatis esse cupit ut Deus est. 		20. "No other creature," he says, separates us. O man of profound mysteries! He thought it not enough to say, no creature: but he says no other creature; teaching that with which we love God and by which we cleave to God, our mind, namely, and understanding, is itself a creature. Thus the body is another creature; and if the mind is an object of intellectual perception, and is known only by this means, the other creature is all that is an object of sense, which as it were makes itself known through the eyes, or ears, or smell, or taste, or touch, and this must be inferior to what is perceived by the intellect alone. Now, as God also can be known by the worthy, only intellectually, exalted though He is above the intelligent mind as being its Creator and Author, there was danger lest the human mind, from being reckoned among invisible and immaterial things, should be thought to be of the same nature with Him who created it, and so should fall away by pride from Him to whom it should be united by love. For the mind becomes like God, to the extent vouchsafed by its subjection of itself to Him for information and enlightenment. And if it obtains the greatest nearness by that subjection which produces likeness, it must be far removed from Him by that presumption which would make the likeness greater. It is this presumption which leads the mind to refuse obedience to the laws of God, in the desire to be sovereign, as God is.
12. 21. Quanto ergo magis longe discedit a Deo non loco sed affectione atque cupiditate ad inferiora quam est ipse, tanto stultitia miseriaque completur. Dilectione igitur redit in Deum, qua se illi non componere, sed supponere affectat. Quod quanto fecerit instantius ac studiosius, tanto erit beatior atque sublimior et illo solo dominante liberrimus. Quamobrem nosse debet se esse creaturam. Debet enim creatorem suum credere sicuti est inviolabili et incommutabili semper manere natura veritatis atque sapientiae, in se autem cadere posse stultitiam atque fallaciam vel propter errores quibus exui desiderat, confiteri. Sed rursus cavere debet, ne ab ipsius Dei caritate, qua sanctificatur ut beatissimus maneat, alterius creaturae, id est huius sensibilis mundi amore separetur. Non igitur separat nos alia creatura, siquidem et nos ipsi creatura sumus, a caritate Dei, quae est in Christo Iesu Domino nostro. 		21. The farther, then, the mind departs from God, not in space, but in affection and lust after things below Him, the more it is filled with folly and wretchedness. So by love it returns to God—a love which places it not along with God, but under Him. And the more ardor and eagerness there is in this, the happier and more elevated will the mind be, and with God as sole governor it will be in perfect liberty. Hence it must know that it is a creature. It must believe what is the truth—that its Creator remains ever possessed of the inviolable and immutable nature of truth and wisdom, and must confess, even in view of the errors from which it desires deliverance, that it is liable to folly and falsehood. But then again, it must take care that it be not separated by the love of the other creature, that is, of this visible world, from the love of God Himself, which sanctifies it in order to lasting happiness. No other creature, then—for we are ourselves a creature—separates us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Per Christum et eius Spiritum iungimur inseparabiliter Deo. Chapter 13.— We are Joined Inseparably to God by Christ and His Spirit
13. 22. Dicat nobis Paulus idem, quis iste sit Christus Iesus Dominus noster: Vocatis, inquit, praedicamus Christum Dei virtutem et Dei sapientiam 12. Quid? Ipse Christus nonne inquit: Ego sum veritas13? Si ergo quaerimus quid sit bene vivere, id est ad beatitudinem vivendo tendere, id erit profecto amare virtutem, amare sapientiam, amare veritatem et amare ex toto corde et ex tota anima et ex tota mente virtutem quae inviolabilis et invicta est, sapientiam cui stultitia non succedit, veritatem quae converti atque aliter quam semper est sese habere non novit. Per hanc ipse cernitur Pater; dictum est enim: Nemo venit ad Patrem nisi per me 14. Huic haeremus per sanctificationem. Sanctificati enim plena et integra caritate flagramus, qua sola efficitur ut a Deo non avertamur eique potius quam huic mundo conformemur. Praedestinavit enim, ut ait idem Apostolus, conformes nos fieri imaginis Filii eius 15. 		22. Let this same Paul tell us who is this Christ Jesus our Lord. "To them that are called," he says, "we preach Christ the virtue of God, and the wisdom of God." 1 Corinthians 1:23-24 And does not Christ Himself say, "I am the truth?" John 14:6 If, then, we ask what it is to live well—that is, to strive after happiness by living well—it must assuredly be to love virtue, to love wisdom, to love truth, and to love with all the heart, with all the soul, and with all the mind; virtue which is inviolable and immutable, wisdom which never gives place to folly, truth which knows no change or variation from its uniform character. Through this the Father Himself is seen; for it is said, "No man comes unto the Father but by me." To this we cleave by sanctification. For when sanctified we burn with full and perfect love, which is the only security for our not turning away from God, and for our being conformed to Him rather than to this world; for "He has predestinated us," says the same apostle, "that we should be conformed to the image of His Son." Romans 8:29
13. 23. Fiet ergo per caritatem ut conformemur Deo et ex eo conformati atque figurati et circumcisi ab hoc mundo non confundamur cum his quae nobis debent esse subiecta. Fit autem hoc per Spiritum Sanctum. Spes enim, inquit, non confundit, quoniam caritas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum Sanctum qui datus est nobis 16. Nullo modo autem redintegrari per Spiritum Sanctum possemus, nisi et ipse semper integer et incommutabilis permaneret. Quod profecto non posset, nisi Dei naturae esset ac substantiae, cui soli incommutabilitas atque ut ita dicam, inconvertibilitas semper est. Creatura enim, neque hoc ego sed idem Paulus clamat, vanitati subiecta est 17. Neque nos potest a vanitate separare veritatique connectere, quod subiectum est vanitati. Et hoc nobis Spiritus Sanctus praestat; creatura igitur non est, quia omne quod est, aut Deus, aut creatura est. 		23. It is through love, then, that we become conformed to God; and by this conformation, and configuration, and circumcision from this world we are not confounded with the things which are properly subject to us. And this is done by the Holy Spirit. "For hope," he says, "does not confound us; for the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given unto us." Romans 5:5 But we could not possibly be restored to perfection by the Holy Spirit, unless He Himself continued always perfect and immutable. And this plainly could not be unless He were of the nature and of the very substance of God, who alone is always possessed of immutability and invariableness. "The creature," it is affirmed, not by me but by Paul, "has been made subject to vanity." Romans 8:20 And what is subject to vanity is unable to separate us from vanity, and to unite us to the truth. But the Holy Spirit does this for us. He is therefore no creature. For whatever is, must be either God or the creature.
Trinitati summo bono dilectione haeremus. Chapter 14.— We Cleave to the Trinity, Our Chief Good, by Love
14. 24. Deum ergo diligere debemus trinam quamdam unitatem, Patrem et Filium et Spiritum Sanctum, quod nihil aliud dicam esse nisi idipsum esse. Est enim vere summeque Deus, ex quo omnia, per quem omnia, in quo omnia; haec verba Pauli sunt. Quid deinde subiecit ? Ipsi gloria 18. Sincerissime omnino. Neque enim ait: ipsis, nam unus est Deus. Quid est autem ipsi gloria nisi ipsi optima et summa et late patens fama? Quanto enim melius atque diffusius diffamatur, tanto diligitur et amatur ardentius. Quod cum fit, nihil aliud ab humano genere quam certo et constanti gradu in optimam vitam et beatissimam pergitur. Non arbitror cum de moribus et vita fit quaestio, amplius esse requirendum, quod sit hominis summum bonum quo referenda sunt omnia. Id enim esse patuit et ratione quantum valuimus et ea quae nostrae rationi antecellit auctoritate divina nihil aliud quam ipsum Deum. Nam quid erit aliud optimum hominis, nisi cui est haerere beatissimum? Id autem est solus Deus, cui haerere certe non valemus nisi dilectione, amore, caritate. 		24. We ought then to love God, the Trinity in unity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for this must be said to be God Himself, for it is said of God, truly and in the most exalted sense, "Of whom are all things, by whom are all things, in whom are all things." Those are Paul's words. And what does he add? "To Him be glory." Romans 11:36 All this is exactly true. He does not say, To them; for God is one. And what is meant by, To Him be glory, but to Him be chief and perfect and widespread praise? For as the praise improves and extends, so the love and affection increases in fervor. And when this is the case, mankind cannot but advance with sure and firm step to a life of perfection and bliss. This, I suppose, is all we wish to find when we speak of the chief good of man, to which all must be referred in life and conduct. For the good plainly exists; and we have shown by reasoning, as far as we were able, and by the divine authority which goes beyond our reasoning, that it is nothing else but God Himself. For how can any thing be man's chief good but that in cleaving to which he is blessed? Now this is nothing but God, to whom we can cleave only by affection, desire, and love.
Quattuor virtutes definit christiane. Chapter 15.— The Christian Definition of the Four Virtues
15. 25. Quod si virtus ad beatam vitam nos ducit, nihil omnino esse virtutem affirmaverim nisi summum amorem Dei. Namque illud quod quadripartita dicitur virtus, ex ipsius amoris vario quodam affectu, quantum intelligo, dicitur. Itaque illas quattuor virtutes, quarum utinam ita in mentibus vis ut nomina in ore sunt omnium, sic etiam definire non dubitem, ut temperantia sit amor integrum se praebens ei quod amatur, fortitudo amor facile tolerans omnia propter quod amatur, iustitia amor soli amato serviens et propterea recte dominans, prudentia amor ea quibus adiuvatur ab eis quibus impeditur sagaciter seligens. Sed hunc amorem non cuiuslibet sed Dei esse diximus, id est summi boni, summae sapientiae summaeque concordiae. Quare definire etiam sic licet, ut temperantiam dicamus esse amorem Deo sese integrum incorruptumque servantem, fortitudinem amorem omnia propter Deum facile perferentem, iustitiam amorem Deo tantum servientem et ob hoc bene imperantem ceteris quae homini subiecta sunt, prudentiam amorem bene discernentem ea quibus adiuvetur in Deum ab his quibus impediri potest. 		25. As to virtue leading us to a happy life, I hold virtue to be nothing else than perfect love of God. For the fourfold division of virtue I regard as taken from four forms of love. For these four virtues (would that all felt their influence in their minds as they have their names in their mouths!), I should have no hesitation in defining them: that temperance is love giving itself entirely to that which is loved; fortitude is love readily bearing all things for the sake of the loved object; justice is love serving only the loved object, and therefore ruling rightly; prudence is love distinguishing with sagacity between what hinders it and what helps it. The object of this love is not anything, but only God, the chief good, the highest wisdom, the perfect harmony. So we may express the definition thus: that temperance is love keeping itself entire and incorrupt for God; fortitude is love bearing everything readily for the sake of God; justice is love serving God only, and therefore ruling well all else, as subject to man; prudence is love making a right distinction between what helps it towards God and what might hinder it.
Testamenti Veteris et Novi concentus. Chapter 16.— Harmony of the Old and New Testaments
16. 26. His de singulis virtutibus quinam vivendi modus ducatur, paucis explicabo, si prius testimoniis Novi Testamenti, quibus utor iam diu, etiam de Veteri paria, ut pollicitus sum, comparavero. Num enim Paulus tantum dicit, Deo nos esse debere subiunctos, ita ut in medio quod separet nihil sit 19? Nonne et propheta commodissime hoc et brevissime significat, cum dicit: Mihi autem inhaerere Deo bonum est 20? Nonne quod ibi latissime de caritate dictum est, hic uno verbo continetur quod ait: Inhaerere? Item quod addidit: Bonum est, nonne ad illud respicit, quod ibi positum est: Diligentibus Deum omnia procedunt in bonum 21? Ita ut una sententiola duobusque verbis propheta et vim et fructum caritatis ostendat. 		26. I will briefly set forth the manner of life according to these virtues, one by one, after I have brought forward, as I promised, passages from the Old Testament parallel to those I have been quoting from the New Testament. For is Paul alone in saying that we should be joined to God so that there should be nothing between to separate us? Does not the prophet say the same most aptly and concisely in the words, "It is good for me to cleave to God?" Does not this one word cleave express all that the apostle says at length about love? And do not the words, It is good, point to the apostle's statement, "All things issue in good to them that love God?" Thus in one clause and in two words the prophet sets forth the power and the fruit of love.
16. 27. Cumque ibi dictum sit, Dei Filium, Dei Virtutem esse atque Sapientiam 22, cumque virtus ad operationem, sapientia vero ad disciplinam pertinere intelligatur - unde in Evangelio duo ipsa signantur, cum dicitur: Omnia per ipsum facta sunt 23, nam hoc operationis atque virtutis est, deinde quod ad disciplinam verique cognitionem attinet, et vita, inquit, erat lux hominum 24 -, potuitne quidquam magis concinere his testimoniis Novi Testamenti quam illud quod in Veteri dictum est de sapientia: Attingit autem a fine usque ad finem fortiter, et disponit omnia suaviter 25? Namque attingere fortiter magis virtutem significat, disponere autem suaviter quasi artem ipsam atque rationem. Sed si hoc videtur obscurum, vide quae sequuntur: Et omnium, inquit, Dominus dilexit illam: doctrix est enim disciplinae Dei, et electrix operum illius 26. Videtur hic nihil adhuc de operatione dictum; non enim hoc est eligere opera quod operari; ergo haec ad disciplinam pertinent; opus virtutis debetur, ut sit plena quam volumus demonstrare sententia. Lege igitur deinceps quod annexum est: Quod si honesta est, inquit, possessio quae concupiscitur in vita, quid sapientia est honestius, quae omnia operatur? 27 Potestne quidquam praeclarius aut manifestius aut vero etiam uberius proferri? Audi aliud, si parum putas, quod idem sonet: Sobrietatem sapientia enim, inquit, docet et iustitiam et virtutem28. Sobrietas mihi ad ipsam cognitionem veri videtur pertinere, id est ad disciplinam, iustitia vero et virtus ad actionem atque operationem. Quibus duobus, id est agendi efficacia et sobrietate contemplandi, quae Dei Virtus et Dei Sapientia, id est Dei Filius, dilectoribus suis donat, quid comparandum sit nescio, cum ipse propheta statim dicat quanti sint ista pendenda, nam ita positum est: Sobrietatem enim sapientia docet et iustitiam et virtutem, quibus utilius nihil est in vita hominibus 29. 		27. And as the apostle says that the Son of God is the virtue of God and the wisdom of God—virtue being understood to refer to action, and wisdom to teaching (as in the gospel these two things are expressed in the words, "All things were made by Him," which belongs to action and virtue; and then, referring to teaching and the knowledge of the truth, he says, "The life was the light of men" John 1:3-4)—could anything agree better with these passages than what is said in the Old Testament of wisdom, "She reaches from end to end in strength, and orders all things sweetly?" For reaching in strength expresses virtue, while ordering sweetly expresses skill and method. But if this seems obscure, see what follows: "And of all," he says, "God loved her; for she teaches the knowledge of God, and chooses His works." Nothing more is found here about action; for choosing works is not the same as working, so this refers to teaching. There remains action to correspond with the virtue, to complete the truth we wish to prove. Read then what comes next: "But if," he says, "the possession which is desired in life is honorable, what is more honorable than wisdom, which works all things?" Could anything be brought forward more striking or more distinct than this, or even more fully expressed? Or, if you wish more, hear another passage of the same meaning. "Wisdom," he says, "teaches sobriety, and justice, and virtue." Sobriety refers, I think, to the knowledge of the truth, or to teaching; justice and virtue to work and action. And I know nothing comparable to these two things, that is, to efficiency in action and sobriety in contemplation, which the virtue of God and the wisdom of God, that is, the Son of God, gives to them that love Him, when the same prophet goes on to show their value; for it is thus stated: "Wisdom teaches sobriety, and justice, and virtue, than which nothing is more useful in life to man."
16. 28. Haec fortasse quispiam non de Filio Dei dicta esse arbitretur. Quid ergo aliud ostendit quod dictum est: Generositatem magnificat contubernium habens Dei 30? An vero generositas solet significare aliud quam parentes? Contubernium vero nonne cum ipso patre aequalitatem clamat atque asserit? Deinde cum Paulus dicat Filium Dei esse Dei Sapientiam 31, et ipse Dominus: Nemo novit Patrem, nisi unigenitus Filius 32, quid potuit a propheta congruentius dici quam illud quod dictum est: Et tecum Sapientia quae novit opera tua, quae adfuit tunc cum orbem terrarum faceres, et sciebat quid placiturum esset oculis tuis 33? Quod autem Christus est veritas, quod idem ostenditur cum splendor Patris 34 nuncupatur, nunc est quidquam in circuitu solis nisi splendor ipse quem gignit? Quid ergo potuit apertius et clarius e Veteri Testamento huic sententiae consonare quam illud quod dictum est: Veritas tua in circuitu tuo 35? Postremo dicit ipsa sapientia in Evangelio: Nemo venit ad Patrem nisi per me 36; dicit propheta: Sensum tuum ergo quis scit, nisi tu dederis sapientiam? Et paulo post: Et quae tibi placent, didicerunt homines et sanati sunt 37. 		28. Perhaps some may think that those passages do not refer to the Son of God. What, then, is taught in the following words: "She displays the nobility of her birth, having her dwelling with God?" Wisdom 8:3 To what does birth refer but to parentage? And does not dwelling with the Father claim and assert equality? Again, as Paul says that the Son of God is the wisdom of God, 1 Corinthians 1:24 and as the Lord Himself says, "No man knows the Father save the only-begotten Son," Matthew 11:27 what could be more concordant than those words of the prophet: "With You is wisdom which knows Your works, which was present at the time of Your making the world, and knew what would be pleasing in Your eyes?" Wisdom 9:9 And as Christ is called the truth, which is also taught by His being called the brightness of the Father Hebrews 1:3 (for there is nothing round about the sun but its brightness which is produced from it), what is there in the Old Testament more plainly and obviously in accordance with this than the words, "Your truth is round about You?" Once more, Wisdom herself says in the gospel, "No man comes unto the Father but by me;" John 14:6 and the prophet says, "Who knows Your mind, unless You give wisdom?" and a little after, "The things pleasing to You men have learned, and have been healed by wisdom." Wisdom 9:17-19
16. 29. Dicit Paulus: Caritas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum Sanctum qui datus est nobis 38; dicit propheta: Sanctus enim Spiritus disciplinae effugiet dolum 39. Ubi enim dolus, caritas nulla est. Dicit Paulus: Conformes nos fieri imaginis Filii Dei 40; dicit propheta: Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine 41. Ostendit Paulus Deum esse Spiritum Sanctum et ideo non esse creaturam; dicit propheta: Et miseris Spiritum Sanctum de altissimis 42. Solus enim Deus altissimus, quo nihil est altius. Ostendit Paulus Trinitatem istam unum Deum esse, cum dicit: Ipsi gloria 43; dicitur in Veteri Testamento: Audi Israel, Dominus Deus tuus, Deus unus est 44. 		29. Paul says, "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us;" Romans 5:5 and the prophet says, "The Holy Spirit of knowledge will shun guile." Wisdom 1:5 For where there is guile there is no love. Paul says that we are "conformed to the image of the Son of God;" Romans 8:29 and the prophet says, "The light of Your countenance is stamped upon us." Paul teaches that the Holy Spirit is God, and therefore is no creature; and the prophet says, "You send Your Spirit from the higher." Wisdom 9:17 For God alone is the highest, than whom nothing is higher. Paul shows that the Trinity is one God, when he says, "To Him be glory;" Romans 11:36 and in the Old Testament it is said, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God." Deuteronomy 6:4
Apostrophe ad Manichaeos, ut resipiscant. Chapter 17.— Appeal to the Manichæans, Calling on Them to Repent
17. 30. Quid vultis amplius? Quid imperite atque impie saevitis? Quid indoctas animas noxia suasione pervertitis? Utriusque Testamenti Deus unus est. Nam ut ista sibi congruunt, quae de utroque posuimus, ita etiam cetera, si diligenter et aequo iudicio velitis attendere. Sed quia multa dicuntur submissius et humi repentibus animis accommodatius, ut per humana in divina consurgant, multa etiam figurate, ut studiosa mens et quaesitis exerceatur utilius et uberius laetetur inventis, vos mirifica dispositione Spiritus Sancti ad decipiendos vestros auditores et illaqueandos abutimini. Quod ipsum cur divina providentia vos facere sinat, quamque verissime Apostolus dixerit: Oportet multas haereses esse, ut probati manifesti fiant inter vos 45, longum est disputare, et quod dicendum vobis est, non est vestrum ista intelligere. Non parum mihi cogniti estis. Crassas omnino mentes et corporeorum simulacrorum pestifero pastu morbidas ad divina iudicanda defertis, quae multo altiora sunt quam putatis. 		30. What more do you wish? Why do you resist ignorantly and obstinately? Why do you pervert untutored minds by your mischievous teaching? The God of both Testaments is one. For as there is an agreement in the passages quoted from both, so is there in all the rest, if you are willing to consider them carefully and impartially. But because many expressions are undignified, and so far adapted to minds creeping on the earth, that they may rise by human things to divine, while many are figurative, that the inquiring mind may have the more profit from the exertion of finding their meaning, and the more delight when it is found, you pervert this admirable arrangement of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of deceiving and ensnaring your followers. As to the reason why divine Providence permits you to do this, and as to the truth of the apostle's saying, "There must needs be many heresies, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you," 1 Corinthians 11:19 it would take long to discuss these things, and you, with whom we have now to do, are not capable of understanding them. I know you well. To the consideration of divine things, which are far higher than you suppose, you bring minds quite gross and sickly, from being fed with material images.
17. 31. Quare vobiscum modo non sic agendum est, ut ea iam intelligatis, quod fieri non potest; sed ut intelligere aliquando cupiatis. Facit enim hoc simplex et pura caritas Dei, quae maxime spectatur in moribus, de qua iam multa diximus, quae inspirata Spiritu Sancto perducit ad Filium, id est ad Sapientiam Dei, per quam Pater ipse cognoscitur. Nam si sapientia et veritas non totis animi viribus concupiscatur, inveniri nullo pacto potest. At si ita quaeratur, ut dignum est, subtrahere sese atque abscondere a suis dilectoribus non potest. Hinc est illud, quod in ore habere etiam vos soletis, quod ait: Petite et accipietis, quaerite et invenietis, pulsate et aperietur vobis 46. Nihil est occultum, quod non reveletur 47. Amore petitur, amore quaeritur, amore pulsatur, amore revelatur, amore denique in eo quod revelatum fuerit permanetur. Ab hoc amore sapientiae diligentiaque quaerendi non deterremur Veteri Testamento, quod semper mendacissime dicitis, sed ad haec vehementissime concitamur. 		31. We must therefore in your case try not to make you understand divine things, which is impossible, but to make you desire to understand. This is the work of the pure and guileless love of God, which is seen chiefly in the conduct, and of which we have already said much. This love, inspired by the Holy Spirit, leads to the Son, that is, to the wisdom of God, by which the Father Himself is known. For if wisdom and truth are not sought for with the whole strength of the mind, it cannot possibly be found. But when it is sought as it deserves to be, it cannot withdraw or hide itself from its lovers. Hence its words, which you too are in the habit of repeating, "Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:" Matthew 7:7 "Nothing is hid which shall not be revealed." Matthew 10:26 It is love that asks, love that seeks, love that knocks, love that reveals, love, too, that gives continuance in what is revealed. From this love of wisdom, and this studious inquiry, we are not debarred by the Old Testament, as you always say most falsely, but are exhorted to this with the greatest urgency.
17. 32. Audite itaque aliquando et advertite quaeso sine pertinacia quid per prophetam dicatur: Clara est, inquit, et quae numquam marcescat sapientia et facile videtur ab his qui diligunt illam et invenitur ab his qui quaerunt illam; praeoccupat qui se concupiscunt, ut illis se ostendat. Qui vigilaverit ad illam, non laborabit, assidentem enim illam inveniet foribus suis. Cogitare enim de illa sensus est consummatus, et qui vigilaverit propter illam, cito erit securus: quia dignos seipsa circuit quaerens et in viis ostendit se illis hilariter, et omni providentia occurrit illis. Initium enim illius verissimum disciplinae concupiscentia est. Cura ergo disciplinae dilectio est et dilectio custoditio legum illius, custoditio autem legum confirmatio incorruptionis est, incorruptio autem facit proximum Deo. Concupiscentia itaque sapientiae deducit ad regnum 48. Itane tandem adhuc adversum ista latrabitis? Nonne ita posita et nondum intellecta cuivis significant altum se quiddam et ineffabile continere? O utinam possetis intelligere quae dicta sunt. Confestim abiceretis omnes ineptias fabellarum et vanissimas imaginationes corporum totosque vos magna alacritate, sincero amore, firmissima fide, sanctissimo Ecclesiae catholicae gremio conderetis. 		32. Hear, then, at length, and consider, I pray you, what is said by the prophet: "Wisdom is glorious, and never fades away; yea, she is easily seen of them that love her, and found of such as seek her. She prevents them that desire her, in making herself first known unto them. Whoso seeks her early shall have no great travail; for he shall find her sitting at his doors. To think, therefore, upon her is perfection of wisdom; and whoso watches for her shall quickly be without care. For she goes about seeking such as are worthy of her, shows herself favorably unto them in the ways, and meets them in every thought. For the very true beginning of her is the desire of discipline; and the care of discipline is love; and love is the keeping of her laws; and the giving heed unto her laws is the assurance of incorruption; and incorruption makes us near unto God. Therefore the desire of wisdom brings to a kingdom." Wisdom 6:12-20 Will you still continue in dogged hostility to these things? Do not things thus stated, though not yet understood, make it evident to every one that they contain something deep and unutterable? Would that you could understand the things here said! Forthwith you would abjure all your silly legends and your unmeaning material imaginations, and with great alacrity, sincere love, and full assurance of faith, would betake yourselves bodily to the shelter of the most holy bosom of the Catholic Church.
In catholica sola perfecta veritas ex utriusque Testamenti consensu. Chapter 18.— Only in the Catholic Church is Perfect Truth Established on the Harmony of Both Testaments
18. 33. Poteram pro mea mediocritate discutere singula et eruere ac demonstrare quae accepi, in quorum excellentia et altitudine plerumque verba deficiunt, sed quamdiu latratis, non est faciendum. Non enim frustra dictum est: Nolite sanctum dare canibus 49. Ne succenseatis. Et ego latravi et canis fui, quando mecum iure non docendi cibo sed refellendi fustibus agebatur. Si autem in vobis esset caritas, de qua nunc agitur, vel si etiam fuerit aliquando, quantam cognoscendae veritatis magnitudo desiderat, aderit Deus qui ostendat vobis neque apud Manichaeos esse christianam fidem, quae ad summum apicem sapientiae veritatisque perducit, qua perfrui nihil est aliud nisi beatissime vivere neque esse uspiam nisi in catholica disciplina. Quid enim aliud videtur apostolus Paulus optare, cum dicit: Huius rei gratia flecto genua mea ad Patrem Domini nostri Iesu Christi, a quo omnis paternitas in caelis et in terra nominatur, ut det vobis secundam divitias gloriae suae fortitudinem, corroborari per spiritum in interiore homine, habitare Christum per fidem in cordibus vestris, ut in caritate radicati et fundati possitis comprehendere cum omnibus sanctis, quae sit altitudo et longitudo et latitudo et profundum, cognoscere etiam supereminentem scientiae caritatem Christi, ut impleamini in omnem plenitudinem Dei 50? Potestne quidquam dici manifestius? 		33. I could, according to the little ability I have, take up the points separately, and could expound and prove the truths I have learned, which are generally more excellent and lofty than words can express; but this cannot be done while you bark at it. For not in vain is it said, "Give not that which is holy to dogs." Matthew 7:6 Do not be angry. I too barked and was a dog; and then, as was right, instead of the food of teaching, I got the rod of correction. But were there in you that love of which we are speaking, or should it ever be in you as much as the greatness of the truth to be known requires, may God vouchsafe to show you that neither is there among the Manichæans the Christian faith which leads to the summit of wisdom and truth, the attainment of which is the true happy life, nor is it anywhere but in the Catholic teaching. Is not this what the Apostle Paul appears to desire when he says, "For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant unto you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man: that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the height, and length, and breadth, and depth, and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God?" Ephesians 3:14-19 Could anything be more plainly expressed?
18. 34. Obsecro, vigilate paululum, videte Testamenti utriusque concordiam, qui sit in moribus vitae modus et quo sint referenda omnia, satis aperientem et docentem. Amorem Dei concitant evangelia, cum dicitur: Petite, quaerite, pulsate 51; concitat Paulus dicendo: Ut in caritate radicati et fundati possitis comprehendere 52; concitat etiam propheta, cum dicit, facile sapientiam ab his qui eam diligunt, quaerunt, concupiscunt, vigilant, cogitant, curant, posse cognosci. Salus animi et via beatitudinis utrarumque Scripturarum pace monstratur, et vos latrare potius adversus haec quam his obtemperare diligitis. Brevi dicam quod sentio: audite doctos Ecclesiae catholicae viros tanta pace animi et eo voto quo vos ego audivi; nihil opus erit novem annis quibus me ludificastis. Longe omnino longe breviore tempore quid intersit inter veritatem vanitatemque cernetis. 		34. Wake up a little, I beseech you, and see the harmony of both Testaments, making it quite plain and certain what should be the manner of life in our conduct, and to what all things should be referred. To the love of God we are incited by the gospel, when it is said, "Ask, seek, knock;" Matthew 7:7 by Paul, when he says, "That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend;" Ephesians 3:7 by the prophet also, when he says that wisdom can easily be known by those who love it, seek for it, desire it, watch for it, think about it, care for it. The salvation of the mind and the way of happiness is pointed out by the concord of both Scriptures; and yet you choose rather to bark at these things than to obey them. I will tell you in one word what I think. Do you listen to the learned men of the Catholic Church with as peaceable a disposition, and with the same zeal, that I had when for nine years I attended on you: there will be no need of so long a time as that during which you made a fool of me. In a much, a very much, shorter time you will see the difference between truth and vanity.
Temperantiae officia ex sacris Litteris describit. Chapter 19.— Description of the Duties of Temperance, According to the Sacred Scriptures
19. 35. Sed tempus est ad illas virtutes quattuor reverti et ex his singulis eruere ac ducere vivendi modum. Itaque prius temperantiam videamus, quae nobis amoris illius quo innectimur Deo integritatem quamdam et incorruptionem pollicetur. Munus enim eius est in coercendis sedandisque cupiditatibus, quibus inhiamus in ea quae nos avertunt a legibus Dei et a fructu bonitatis eius, quod est, ut brevi explicem, beata vita. Ibi enim est fides veri, cuius contemplatione perfruentes eique penitus adhaerentes procul dubio beati sumus; inde autem decidentes magnis erroribus doloribusque implicantur. Namque, ut ait Apostolus, radix est omnium malorum cupiditas, quam quidam sequentes, naufragaverunt a fide et inseruerunt se doloribus multis 53. Quod peccatum animae in Veteri Testamento satis aperte bene intelligentibus, in ipsius hominis qui erat in paradiso praevaricatione signatur. In Adam quippe omnes morimur, ut ait idem, et in Christo omnes resurgemus 54. O alta mysteria! Sed reprimam me; non enim modo suscepi docere vos recta sed dedocere prava, si potero, id est, si Deus annuerit proposito in vos meo. 		35. It is now time to return to the four virtues, and to draw out and prescribe a way of life in conformity with them, taking each separately. First, then, let us consider temperance, which promises us a kind of integrity and incorruption in the love by which we are united to God. The office of temperance is in restraining and quieting the passions which make us pant for those things which turn us away from the laws of God and from the enjoyment of His goodness, that is, in a word, from the happy life. For there is the abode of truth; and in enjoying its contemplation, and in cleaving closely to it, we are assuredly happy; but departing from this, men become entangled in great errors and sorrows. For, as the apostle says, "The root of all evils is covetousness; which some having followed, have made shipwreck of the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 1 Timothy 6:10 And this sin of the soul is quite plainly, to those rightly understanding, set forth in the Old Testament in the transgression of Adam in Paradise. Thus, as the apostle says, "In Adam we all die, and in Christ we shall all rise again." 1 Corinthians 15:22 Oh, the depth of these mysteries! But I refrain; for I am now engaged not in teaching you the truth, but in making you unlearn your errors, if I can, that is, if God aid my purpose regarding you.
19. 36. Dicit ergo Paulus radicem omnium malorum esse cupiditatem, per quam etiam lex vetus primum hominem lapsum significat. Monet Paulus, ut exuamus nos veterem hominem et induamus novum 55. Vult autem intelligi Adam qui peccavit veterem hominem, illum autem quem suscepit in sacramento Dei Filius ad nos liberandos, novum. Dicit namque alio loco: Primus homo de terra terrenus, secundus homo de caelo caelestis. Qualis terrenus, tales et terreni; qualis caelestis, tales et caelestes. Sicut portavimus imaginem terreni, portemus et imaginem caelestis 56; hoc est: exuite veterem et induite novum. Omne igitur officium temperantiae est exuere veterem hominem, et in Deo renovari; id est contemnere omnes corporeas illecebras laudemque popularem totumque amorem ad invisibilia et divina conferre. Unde illud sequitur quod mirifice dictum est: Et si exterior homo noster corrumpitur, sed interior renovatur de die in diem57. Audi et prophetam canentem: Cor mundum crea in me, Deus, et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis 58. Quid contra istam convenientiam dici nisi a caecis latratoribus potest? 		36. Paul then says that covetousness is the root of all evils; and by covetousness the old law also intimates that the first man fell. Paul tells us to put off the old man and put on the new. Colossians 3:9-10 By the old man he means Adam who sinned, and by the new man him whom the Son of God took to Himself in consecration for our redemption. For he says in another place, "The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven, heavenly. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, let us also bear the image of the heavenly," 1 Corinthians 15:47-49 — that is, put off the old man, and put on the new. The whole duty of temperance, then, is to put off the old man, and to be renewed in God—that is, to scorn all bodily delights, and the popular applause, and to turn the whole love to things divine and unseen. Hence that following passage which is so admirable: "Though our outward man perish, our inward man is renewed day by day." 2 Corinthians 4:16 Hear, too, the prophet singing, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." What can be said against such harmony except by blind barkers?
Sensibilia omnia contemnere, et solum Deum amare iubemur. Chapter 20.— We are Required to Despise All Sensible Things, and to Love God Alone
20. 37. Illecebrae autem corporis sitae sunt in his omnibus quae corporeus sensus attingit, quae a nonnullis etiam sensibilia nominantur, in quibus maxime lux ista vulgaris excellit, quia et ipsis sensibus nostris, quibus anima per corpus utitur, nihil est oculis praeferendum; et ideo in Scripturis sanctis visibilium nomine sensibilia cuncta denotantur. Itaque in Novo Testamento sic ab istorum amore prohibemur: Non respicientes, inquit, quae videntur, sed quae non videntur. Quae enim videntur, temporalia sunt, quae autem non videntur, aeterna 59. Ex quo intelligi potest, quam christiani non sint qui solem et lunam non modo diligendos sed etiam colendos putant. Quid enim videmus, si solem et lunam non videmus? Vetiti autem sumus converti ad ea quae videntur. Non sunt igitur etiam ista diligenda ei, qui amorem illum incorruptum Deo cogitat exhibere. Sed erit mihi alius locus, quo de istis diligentius requiretur. Non enim nunc de fide sed de vita dicere institui, per quam meremur scire quod credimus. Amandus igitur solus Deus est; omnis vero iste mundus, id est omnia sensibilia contemnenda; utendum autem his ad huius vitae necessitatem. 		37. Bodily delights have their source in all those things with which the bodily sense comes in contact, and which are by some called the objects of sense; and among these the noblest is light, in the common meaning of the word, because among our senses also, which the mind uses in acting through the body, there is nothing more valuable than the eyes, and so in the Holy Scriptures all the objects of sense are spoken of as visible things. Thus in the New Testament we are warned against the love of these things in the following words: "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18 This shows how far from being Christians those are who hold that the sun and moon are to be not only loved but worshipped. For what is seen if the sun and moon are not? But we are forbidden to regard things which are seen. The man, therefore, who wishes to offer that incorrupt love to God must not love these things too. This subject I will inquire into more particularly elsewhere. Here my plan is to write not of faith, but of the life by which we become worthy of knowing what we believe. God then alone is to be loved; and all this world, that is, all sensible things, are to be despised,— while, however, they are to be used as this life requires.


Gloria popularis et curiositas sacris Litteris damnata. Chapter 21.— Popular Renown and Inquisitiveness are Condemned in the Sacred Scriptures
21. 38. Gloria vero popularis sic in Novo Testamento abicitur atque contemnitur: Si hominibus, inquit, placere vellem, Christi servus non essem 60. Est item aliud quod de corporibus per imaginationes quasdam concipit anima, et eam vocat rerum scientiam. Quamobrem recte etiam curiosi esse prohibemur, quod magnum temperantiae munus est. Hinc illud est: Cavete ne quis vos seducat per philosophiam. Et quia ipsum nomen philosophiae si consideretur, rem magnam totoque animo appetendam significat, siquidem philosophia est amor studiumque sapientiae, cautissime Apostolus, ne ab amore sapientiae deterrere videretur, subiecit: Et elementa huius mundi 61. Sunt enim qui desertis virtutibus et nescientes quid sit Deus et quanta maiestas semper eodem modo manentis naturae, magnum aliquid se agere putant, si universam istam corporis molem quam mundum nuncupamus curiosissime intentissimeque perquirant. Unde tanta etiam superbia gignitur, ut in ipso caelo, de quo saepe disputant, sibimet habitare videantur. Reprimat igitur se anima ab huiusmodi vanae cogitationis cupiditate, si se castam Deo servare disposuit. Tali enim amore plerumque decipitur, ut aut nihil putet esse nisi corpus, aut etiamsi auctoritate commota fateatur aliquid esse incorporeum, de illo tamen nisi per imagines corporeas cogitare non possit et tale aliquid esse credere, quale fallax corporis sensus infligit. Ad hoc etiam valet quod praecipitur cavendum esse a simulacris. 		38. Popular renown is thus slighted and scorned in the New Testament: "If I wished," says St. Paul, "to please men, I should not be the servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10 Again, there is another production of the soul formed by imaginations derived from material things, and called the knowledge of things. In reference to this we are fitly warned against inquisitiveness to correct which is the great function of temperance. Thus it is said, "Take heed lest any one seduce you by philosophy." And because the word philosophy originally means the love and pursuit of wisdom, a thing of great value and to be sought with the whole mind, the apostle, with great prudence, that he might not be thought to deter from the love of wisdom, has added the words, "And the elements of this world." Colossians 2:8 For some people, neglecting virtues, and ignorant of what God is, and of the majesty of nature which remains always the same, think that they are engaged in an important business when searching with the greatest inquisitiveness and eagerness into this material mass which we call the world. This begets so much pride, that they look upon themselves as inhabitants of the heaven of which they often discourse. The soul, then, which purposes to keep itself chaste for God must refrain from the desire of vain knowledge like this. For this desire usually produces delusion, so that the soul thinks that nothing exists but what is material; or if, from regard to authority, it confesses that there is an immaterial existence, it can think of it only under material images, and has no belief regarding it but that imposed by the bodily sense. We may apply to this the precept about fleeing from idolatry.
21. 39. Huic ergo auctoritati Novi Testamenti, qua iubemur nihil mundi huius 62 diligere, illa maxime sententia qua dictum est: Nolite conformari huic mundo 63; simul enim demonstrandum est ei rei quemque conformari quam diligit; huic ergo auctoritati, si de Veteri Testamento quaeram quid comparem, plura quidem invenio, sed unus Salomonis liber, Ecclesiastes qui dicitur, copiosissime in summum contemptum omnia ista perducit. Incipit enim sic: Vanitas vanitantium, dixit Ecclesiastes, vanitas vanitantium et omnia vanitas. Quae abundantia homini in omni labore suo, quem ipse laborat sub sole?64 Haec verba omnia si attendantur, si perpendantur, si discutiantur, multa inveniuntur pernecessaria his qui hunc mundum fugere et refugere in Deum desiderant; sed longum est, ad alia festinat oratio. Tali tamen principio constituto exsequitur omnia, vanitantes esse eos qui rebus huiusmodi falluntur; idipsum autem quo falluntur vanitatem vocans, non quod Deus ista non creaverit, sed quia subicere se homines volunt his rebus per peccata, quae illis per recte facta divina lege subiecta sunt. Quid est enim aliud falsis bonis illudi atque decipi quam teipso inferiora miranda et appetenda arbitrari? Habet igitur vir temperans in huiuscemodi rebus mortalibus et fluentibus vitae regulam utroque Testamento firmatam, ut eorum nihil diligat, nihil per se appetendum putet, sed ad vitae huius atque officiorum necessitatem quantum sat est usurpet utentis modestia, non amantis affectu. Haec dicta sunt de temperantia pro rerum magnitudine breviter, pro instituto tamen opere fortasse copiosius quam oportebat. 		39. To this New Testament authority, requiring us not to love anything in this world, 1 John 2:15 especially in that passage where it is said, "Be not conformed to this world," Romans 12:2 — for the point is to show that a man is conformed to whatever he loves,— to this authority, then, if I seek for a parallel passage in the Old Testament, I find several; but there is one book of Solomon, called Ecclesiastes, which at great length brings all earthly things into utter contempt. The book begins thus: "Vanity of the vain, says the Preacher, vanity of the vain; all is vanity. What profit has a man of all his labor which he takes under the sun?" Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 If all these words are considered, weighed, and thoroughly examined, many things are found of essential importance to those who seek to flee from the world and to take shelter in God; but this requires time and our discourse hastens on to other topics. But, after this beginning, he goes on to show in detail that the vain are those who are deceived by things of this sort; and he calls this which deceives them vanity—not that God did not create those things, but because men choose to subject themselves by their sins to those things, which the divine law has made subject to them in well-doing. For when you consider things beneath yourself to be admirable and desirable, what is this but to be cheated and misled by unreal goods? The man, then, who is temperate in such mortal and transient things has his rule of life confirmed by both Testaments, that he should love none of these things, nor think them desirable for their own sakes, but should use them as far as is required for the purposes and duties of life, with the moderation of an employer instead of the ardor of a lover. These remarks on temperance are few in proportion to the greatness of the theme, but perhaps too many in view of the task on hand.
Fortitudinem praestat amor Dei. Chapter 22.— Fortitude Comes from the Love of God
22. 40. De fortitudine vero non multa dicenda sunt. Amor namque ille de quo loquimur, quem tota sanctitate inflammatum esse oportet in Deum, in non appetendis istis temperans, in amittendis fortis vocatur. Sed inter omnia quae in hac vita possidentur, corpus homini gravissimum est vinculum iustissimis Dei legibus propter antiquum peccatum, quo nihil est ad praedicandum notius, nihil ad intelligendum secretius. Hoc ergo vinculum ne concutiatur atque vexetur, laboris et doloris, ne auferatur autem atque perimatur, mortis terrore animam quatit. Amat enim illud vi consuetudinis, non intelligens, si eo bene atque scienter utatur, resurrectionem reformationemque eius ope ac lege divina sine ulla molestia iuri suo subditam fore; sed cum hoc amore totum in Deum converterit, his cognitis mortem non modo contemnet, verum etiam desiderabit. 		40. On fortitude we must be brief. The love, then, of which we speak, which ought with all sanctity to burn in desire for God, is called temperance, in not seeking for earthly things, and fortitude in bearing the loss of them. But among all things which are possessed in this life, the body is, by God's most righteous laws, for the sin of old, man's heaviest bond, which is well known as a fact but most incomprehensible in its mystery. Lest this bond should be shaken and disturbed, the soul is shaken with the fear of toil and pain; lest it should be lost and destroyed, the soul is shaken with the fear of death. For the soul loves it from the force of habit, not knowing that by using it well and wisely its resurrection and reformation will, by the divine help and decree, be without any trouble made subject to its authority. But when the soul turns to God wholly in this love, it knows these things, and so will not only disregard death, but will even desire it.
22. 41. Sed restat cum dolore magna conflictio. Nihil est tamen tam durum atque ferreum, quod non amoris igne vincatur. Quo cum se anima rapiet in Deum, super omnem carnificinam libera et admiranda volitabit pennis pulcherrimis et integerrimis, quibus ad Dei amplexum amor castus innititur, nisi vero amatores auri, amatores laudis, amatores feminarum amatoribus suis Deus sinet esse fortiores, cum ille non amor sed congruentius cupiditas vel libido nominetur. In qua tamen apparet, quantus sit impetus animi ad ea quae diliguntur deflexo cursu per immania quaeque tendentis argumentoque nobis est, quam sint omnia perferenda, ne deseramus Deum, si tanta illi ut deserant perferunt. 		41. Then there is the great struggle with pain. But there is nothing, though of iron hardness, which the fire of love cannot subdue. And when the mind is carried up to God in this love, it will soar above all torture free and glorious, with wings beauteous and unhurt, on which chaste love rises to the embrace of God. Otherwise God must allow the lovers of gold, the lovers of praise, the lovers of women, to have more fortitude than the lovers of Himself, though love in those cases is rather to be called passion or lust. And yet even here we may see with what force the mind presses on with unflagging energy, in spite of all alarms, towards that it loves; and we learn that we should bear all things rather than forsake God, since those men bear so much in order to forsake Him.
Fortitudinis monita et exempla ex Scripturis. Chapter 23.— Scripture Precepts and Examples of Fortitude
23. 42. Quid ergo hic Novi Testamenti auctoritates colligam, ubi dictum est: Tribulatio patientiam operatur, patientia probationem, probatio spem 65: et non solum dictum, sed etiam exemplis eorum qui dixerunt, probatum atque firmatum? De Veteri potius Testamento, in quod illi rabide saeviunt, excitabo exemplum patientiae. Neque illum memorabo virum, a quo in magnis cruciatibus corporis et horribili tabe membrorum, non modo sustinentur humana, sed divina etiam disputantur. In cuius singulis vocibus satis elucet, si quis aequo animo attendat, quanti pendenda sint ista, quae cum volunt homines per dominationem tenere, ab his ipsis potius per cupiditatem tenentur, et rerum mortalium servi fiunt, cum imperite domini esse desiderant 66. Amisit namque ille omnes divitias et factus repente pauperrimus tam inconcussum animum tenuit et infixum Deo, ut satis demonstraret, non illas sibi fuisse magnas, sed se illis, sibi autem Deum. Quo animo si esse possent nostri temporis homines, non magnopere in Novo Testamento ab istorum possessione prohiberemur, ut perfecti esse possemus. Multo est enim mirabilius non inhaerere istis, quamvis possideas, quam omnino ea non possidere. 		42. Instead of quoting here authorities from the New Testament, where it is said, "Tribulation works patience; and patience, experience and experience, hope;" Romans 5:3-4 and where, in addition to these words, there is proof and confirmation of them from the example of those who spoke them; I will rather summon an example of patience from the Old Testament, against which the Manichæans make fierce assaults. Nor will I refer to the man who, in the midst of great bodily suffering, and with a dreadful disease in his limbs, not only bore human evils, but discoursed of things divine. Whoever gives considerate attention to the utterances of this man, will learn from every one of them what value is to be attached to those things which men try to keep in their power, and in so doing are themselves brought by passion into bondage, so that they become the slaves of mortal things, while seeking ignorantly to be their masters. This man, in the loss of all his wealth, and on being suddenly reduced to the greatest poverty, kept his mind so unshaken and fixed upon God, as to manifest that these things were not great in his view, but that he was great in relation to them, and God to him. Job 1:2 If this mind were to be found in men in our day, we should not be so strongly cautioned in the New Testament against the possession of these things in order that we may be perfect; for to have these things without cleaving to them is much more admirable than not to have them at all.
23. 43. Sed quoniam de dolore atque cruciatibus corporis tolerandis nunc agitur, relinquo istum virum, licet magnum, licet invictum, virum tamen. Offerunt enim mihi Scripturae illae stupendae fortitudinis feminam et ad eam iam me transire compellunt. Quae cum septem liberis tyranno atque carnifici prius viscera omnia quam unum verbum sacrilegum impendit, cum eius hortatione filii roborarentur, in quorum membris ipsa torquebatur, latura tamen etiam proprio munere, quod eos ferre praeceperat 67. Quid ad tantam patientiam quaeso addi poterit ? Quid tamen mirum si omnibus medullis conceptus Dei amor et tyranno et carnifici et dolori et corpori et sexui et affectui resistebat? An non audierat: Pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum eius 68? Non audierat: Melior vir patiens fortissimo 69? Non audierat: Omne quod tibi applicitum fuerit, accipe et in dolore sustine et in humilitate tua habe patientiam, quoniam in igne probatur aurum et argentum 70? Non audierat: Vasa figuli probat fornax et homines iustos temptatio tribulationis 71? Immo vero et haec et alia plura perceperat, quae uno Sancto Dei Spiritu ut in istis Novi Testamenti sic in illis, qui soli adhuc erant, libris divina fortitudinis praecepta conscripta sunt. 		43. But since we are speaking here of bearing pain and bodily sufferings, I pass from this man, great as he was, indomitable as he was: this is the case of a man. But these Scriptures present to me a woman of amazing fortitude, and I must at once go on to her case. This woman, along with seven children, allowed the tyrant and executioner to extract her vitals from her body rather than a profane word from her mouth, encouraging her sons by her exhortations, though she suffered in the tortures of their bodies, and was herself to undergo what she called on them to bear. What patience could be greater than this? And yet why should we be astonished that the love of God, implanted in her inmost heart, bore up against tyrant, and executioner, and pain, and sex, and natural affection? Had she not heard, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints?" Had she not heard, "A patient man is better than the mightiest?" Proverbs 16:32 Had she not heard, "All that is appointed you receive; and in pain bear it; and in abasement keep your patience: for in fire are gold and silver tried?" Sirach 2:4-5 Had she not heard, "The fire tries the vessels of the potter, and for just men is the trial of tribulation?" Sirach 27:6 These she knew, and many other precepts of fortitude written in these books, which alone existed at that time, by the same divine Spirit who writes those in the New Testament.
De iustitia et prudentia. Chapter 24.— Of Justice and Prudence
24. 44. Quid de iustitia quae ad Deum pertinet? Nonne cum et Dominus dicat: Non potestis duobus dominis servire 72, et Apostolus redarguat eos qui creaturae potius quam Creatori 73 serviunt, in Veteri Testamento prius dictum est: Dominum Deum tuum adorabis, et illi soli servies 74? Sed quid opus est hinc plura dicere, cum sententiis talibus ibi plena sint omnia? Hanc ergo iustitia vitae regulam dabit huic amatori de quo sermo est, ut Deo quem diligit, id est summo bono, summae sapientiae, summae paci libentissime serviat ceteraque omnia partim subiecta sibi regat, partim subicienda praesumat. Quae norma vivendi, ut docuimus, utriusque Testamenti auctoritate roboratur. 		44. What of justice that pertains to God? As the Lord says, "You cannot serve two masters," Matthew 6:24 and the apostle denounces those who serve the creature rather than the Creator, Romans 1:25 was it not said before in the Old Testament, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve?" Deuteronomy 6:13 I need say no more on this, for these books are full of such passages. The lover, then, whom we are describing, will get from justice this rule of life, that he must with perfect readiness serve the God whom he loves, the highest good, the highest wisdom, the highest peace; and as regards all other things, must either rule them as subject to himself, or treat them with a view to their subjection. This rule of life, is, as we have shown, confirmed by the authority of both Testaments.
24. 45. Nec de prudentia diutius disserendum est, ad quam dignoscentia pertinet appetendorum et vitandorum. Quae si desit, nihil eorum de quibus iam dictum est effici potest. Huius autem sunt excubiae atque diligentissima vigilantia, ne subrepente paulatim mala suasione fallamur, unde saepe Dominus: Vigilate 75, clamat et: Ambulate, inquit, ne vos tenebrae comprehendant 76. Itemque dicitur: Nescitis quia modicum fermentum totam massam corrumpit? 77 Quid autem proferri manifestius de Veteri Testamento contra istam dormitationem animi potest, per quam fit ut non sentiamus quasi minutatim serpentem perniciem, quam illud quod a propheta dictum est: Qui spernit modica, paulatim decidet 78? De qua sententia, si opportunum esset festinantibus copiosissime disputarem atque id a nobis nunc susceptum munus flagitaret, fortasse demonstraremus quam sint alta mysteria, quae imperitissimi et sacrilegi homines deridendo, non illi quidem paulatim iam decidunt, sed magno lapsu praecipites eunt. 		45. With equal brevity we must treat of prudence, to which it belongs to discern between what is to be desired and what to be shunned. Without this, nothing can be done of what we have already spoken of. It is the part of prudence to keep watch with most anxious vigilance, lest any evil influence should stealthily creep in upon us. Thus the Lord often exclaims, "Watch;" Matthew 24:42 and He says, "Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you." John 12:35 And then it is said, "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" 1 Corinthians 5:6 And no passage can be quoted from the Old Testament more expressly condemning this mental somnolence, which makes us insensible to destruction advancing on us step by step, than those words of the prophet, "He who despises small things shall fall by degrees." Sirach 19:1 On this topic I might discourse at length did our haste allow of it. And did our present task demand it, we might perhaps prove the depth of these mysteries, by making a mock of which profane men in their perfect ignorance fall, not certainly by degrees, but with a headlong overthrow.
Officia quattuor virtutum circa Dei amorem... Chapter 25.— Four Moral Duties Regarding the Love of God, of Which Love the Reward is Eternal Life and the Knowledge of the Truth
25. 46. Quid amplius de moribus disputem? Si enim Deus est summum hominis bonum, quod negare non potestis, sequitur profecto, quoniam summum bonum appetere est bene vivere, ut nihil sit aliud bene vivere quam toto corde, tota anima, tota mente diligere Deum, a quo existit, ut incorruptus in eo amor atque integer custodiatur, quod est temperantiae, ut nullis frangatur incommodis, quod est fortitudinis, nulli alii serviat, quod est iustitiae, vigilet in discernendis rebus, ne fallacia paulatim dolusve subrepat, quod est prudentiae. Haec est hominis una perfectio, qua sola impetrat ut veritatis sinceritate perfruatur, haec nobis Testamento utroque concinitur; haec nobis hinc atque inde suadetur. Quid adhuc Scripturis, quas ignoratis, calumniam innectitis ? Quanta imperitia lacessitis libros, quos et soli reprehendunt qui non intelligunt et soli intelligere nequeunt qui reprehendunt. Non enim eos aut ullus inimicus cognoscere sinitur aut esse nisi amicus cognitis potest. 		46. I need say no more about right conduct. For if God is man's chief good, which you cannot deny, it clearly follows, since to seek the chief good is to live well, that to live well is nothing else but to love God with all the heart, with all the soul, with all the mind; and, as arising from this, that this love must be preserved entire and incorrupt, which is the part of temperance; that it give way before no troubles, which is the part of fortitude; that it serve no other, which is the part of justice; that it be watchful in its inspection of things lest craft or fraud steal in, which is the part of prudence. This is the one perfection of man, by which alone he can succeed in attaining to the purity of truth. This both Testaments enjoin in concert; this is commended on both sides alike. Why do you continue to cast reproaches on Scriptures of which you are ignorant? Do you not see the folly of your attack upon books which only those who do not understand them find fault with, and which only those who find fault fail in understanding? For neither can an enemy know them, nor can one who knows them be other than a friend to them.
...cuius amoris praemium est aeterna vita et cognitio veritatis.
25. 47. Diligamus igitur Deum ex toto corde, ex tota anima, ex tota mente, quicumque ad vitam aeternam pervenire proposuimus. Vita enim aeterna est totum praemium, cuius promissione gaudemus, nec praemium potest praecedere merita priusque homini dari quam dignus est. Quid enim hoc iniustius et quid iustius Deo? Non ergo debemus poscere praemium antequam mereamur accipere. Hic fortasse non incongrue quaeritur, aeterna ipsa vita quid sit. Sed eius largitorem potius audiamus: Haec est, inquit, vita aeterna, ut cognoscant te verum Deum, et quem misisti Iesum Christum 79. Aeterna igitur vita est ipsa cognitio veritatis. Quamobrem videte quam sint perversi atque praeposteri, qui sese arbitrantur Dei cognitionem tradere, ut perfecti simus, cum perfectorum ipsa sit praemium. Quid ergo agendum est, quid quaeso nisi ut eum ipsum quem cognoscere volumus, prius plena caritate diligamus? Unde illud exoritur, quod ab initio satis egimus, nihil in Ecclesia catholica salubrius fieri, quam ut rationem praecedat auctoritas. 		47. Let us then, as many as have in view to reach eternal life, love God with all the heart, with all the soul, with all the mind. For eternal life contains the whole reward in the promise of which we rejoice; nor can the reward precede desert, nor be given to a man before he is worthy of it. What can be more unjust than this, and what is more just than God? We should not then demand the reward before we deserve to get it. Here, perhaps, it is not out of place to ask what is eternal life; or rather let us hear the Bestower of it: "This," He says, "is life eternal, that they should know You, the true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." John 17:3 So eternal life is the knowledge of the truth. See, then, how perverse and preposterous is the character of those who think that their teaching of the knowledge of God will make us perfect, when this is the reward of those already perfect! What else, then, have we to do but first to love with full affection Him whom we desire to know? Hence arises that principle on which we have all along insisted, that there is nothing more wholesome in the Catholic Church than using authority before argument.
Dilectio sui et proximi. Chapter 26.— Love of Ourselves and of Our Neighbor
26. 48. Sed cetera videamus, videtur enim de homine ipso, id est de amatore ipso nihil actum; sed parum dilucide qui hoc arbitratur intelligit. Non enim fieri potest ut seipsum non diligat qui diligit Deum, immo vero solus se novit diligere qui Deum diligit. Siquidem ille se satis diligit qui sedulo agit, ut summo et vero perfruatur bono; quod si nihil est aliud quam Deus, ut ea quae dicta sunt docuerunt, quis cunctari potest, quin sese amet, qui amator est Dei? Quid? Inter ipsos homines nullumne esse amoris vinculum debet? Immo vero ita debet, ut nullus certior gradus ad amorem Dei fieri posse credatur quam hominis erga hominem caritas. 		48. To proceed to what remains. It may be thought that there is nothing here about man himself, the lover. But to think this, shows a want of clear perception. For it is impossible for one who loves God not to love himself. For he alone has a proper love for himself who aims diligently at the attainment of the chief and true good; and if this is nothing else but God, as has been shown, what is to prevent one who loves God from loving himself? And then, among men should there be no bond of mutual love? Yea, verily; so that we can think of no surer step towards the love of God than the love of man to man.
26. 49. Promat nobis ergo alterum praeceptum ipse Dominus de vitae praeceptis interrogatus; non enim contentus fuit uno, qui sciret aliud Deum esse aliud hominem; atque interesse tantum, quantum inter eum qui creavit et id quod ad Creatoris similitudinem creatum est. Dicit ergo secundum praeceptum esse: Diliges proximum tuum tamquam teipsum 80. Te autem ipsum salubriter diligis, si plus quam te diligis Deum. Quod igitur agis tecum, id agendum cum proximo est; hoc est, ut etiam ipse perfecto amore Deum diligat. Non enim eum diligis tamquam teipsum, si non ad id bonum ad quod ipse tendis, adducis. Illud enim est unum bonum, quod omnibus tecum tendentibus non fit angustum. Ex hoc praecepto nascuntur officia societatis humanae, in quibus non errare difficile est. Agendum autem in primis est, ut benevoli simus, id est, ut nulla malitia, nullo dolo malo adversus hominem utamur. Quid enim homini homine propinquius? 		49. Let the Lord then supply us with the other precept in answer to the question about the precepts of life; for He was not satisfied with one as knowing that God is one thing and man another, and that the difference is nothing less than that between the Creator and the thing created in the likeness of its Creator. He says then that the second precept is, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:39 Now you love yourself suitably when you love God better than yourself. What, then, you aim at in yourself you must aim at in your neighbor, namely, that he may love God with a perfect affection. For you do not love him as yourself, unless you try to draw him to that good which you are yourself pursuing. For this is the one good which has room for all to pursue it along with you. From this precept proceed the duties of human society, in which it is hard to keep from error. But the first thing to aim at is, that we should be benevolent, that is, that we cherish no malice and no evil design against another. For man is the nearest neighbor of man.
26. 50. Accipe etiam quid Paulus dicat: Dilectio, inquit, proximi malum non operatur 81. Brevissimis utor testimoniis sed, nisi fallor, idoneis et quibus susceptae rei satis fiat; nam quis ignorat quam multa et quanti ponderis verba in illis libris de caritate proximi usquequaque diffusa sint? Sed cum duobus modis peccetur in homine, uno si laedatur, alio si cum potest non adiuvetur eaque ipsa sint quibus mali homines esse dicantur, quorum neutrum qui diligit facit, satis, opinor, quod volumus demonstrat ista sententia: Dilectio proximi malum non operatur 82. Et si ad bona pervenire non possumus, nisi mala operari destiterimus, ista sunt quasi cunabula caritatis Dei, quibus diligimus proximum, ut quoniam dilectio proximi malum non operatur, hinc ad illud ascendamus quod dictum est: Scimus quoniam diligentibus Deum omnia procedunt in bonum 83. 		50. Hear also what Paul says: "The love of our neighbor," he says, "works no ill." Romans 13:10 The testimonies here made use of are very short, but, if I mistake not, they are to the point, and sufficient for the purpose. And every one knows how many and how weighty are the words to be found everywhere in these books on the love of our neighbor. But as a man may sin against another in two ways, either by injuring him or by not helping him when it is in his power, and as it is for these things which no loving man would do that men are called wicked, all that is required is, I think, proved by these words, "The love of our neighbor works no ill." And if we cannot attain to good unless we first desist from working evil, our love of our neighbor is a sort of cradle of our love to God, so that, as it is said, "the love of our neighbor works no ill," we may rise from this to these other words, "We know that all things issue in good to them that love God." Romans 8:28
26. 51. Sed nescio quomodo aut pariter ista in plenitudinem perfectionemque consurgunt aut inchoatur prius Dei amor et prius perficitur proximi. Ad incipiendum enim citius nos fortasse in se divina caritas rapit, sed facilius minora perficimus. Quoquo modo autem sese res habeat, illud maxime tenendum est, ne se quisquam credat contempto proximo ad beatitudinem et ad Deum quem diligit esse venturum 84. Atque utinam, ut facile est bene instituto et benigno diligere proximum, ita facile esset vel consulere vel nihil nocere. Non enim ad haec satis est voluntas bona, sed opus est magna quadam ratione atque prudentia, qua nemo uti potest, nisi Deus ille fons omnium bonorum id tribuerit. De qua re, quantum arbitror, difficillima temptavimus dicere pro suscepto opere pauca quaedam, spem totam constituentes in eo cuius solius ista dona sunt. 		51. But there is a sense in which these either rise together to fullness and perfection, or, while the love of God is first in beginning, the love of our neighbor is first in coming to perfection. For perhaps divine love takes hold on us more rapidly at the outset, but we reach perfection more easily in lower things. However that may be, the main point is this, that no one should think that while he despises his neighbor he will come to happiness and to the God whom he loves. And would that it were as easy to seek the good of our neighbor, or to avoid hurting him, as it is for one well trained and kind-hearted to love his neighbor! These things require more than mere good-will, and can be done only by a high degree of thoughtfulness and prudence, which belongs only to those to whom it is given by God, the source of all good. On this topic— which is one, I think, of great difficulty— I will try to say a few words such as my plan admits of, resting all my hope in Him whose gifts these are.
Beneficentia in corpus proximi. Chapter 27.— On Doing Good to the Body of Our Neighbor
27. 52. Homo igitur, ut homini apparet, anima rationalis est mortali atque terreno utens corpore. Partim ergo corpori, partim vero animae hominis benefacit qui proximum diligit. Ad corpus quod pertinet, medicina nominata est, ad animam autem disciplina. Sed medicinam nunc voco, quidquid omnino corporis vel tuetur vel instaurat salutem. Ad hanc itaque pertinent non ea tantum quae ars eorum exhibet, qui proprie medici nominantur, sed etiam cibus et potus, tegmen et tectum, defensio denique omnis atque munitio, qua nostrum corpus adversus etiam externos ictus casusque servatur; nam et fames et sitis et frigus et aestus et quidquid extrinsecus graviter infligitur salutem, de qua nunc agitur, manere non sinunt. 		52. Man, then, as viewed by his fellow-man, is a rational soul with a mortal and earthly body in its service. Therefore he who loves his neighbor does good partly to the man's body, and partly to his soul. What benefits the body is called medicine; what benefits the soul, discipline. Medicine here includes everything that either preserves or restores bodily health. It includes, therefore, not only what belongs to the art of medical men, properly so called, but also food and drink, clothing and shelter, and every means of covering and protection to guard our bodies against injuries and mishaps from without as well as from within. For hunger and thirst, and cold and heat, and all violence from without, produce loss of that health which is the point to be considered.
27. 53. Quare illa omnia, quibus huiuscemodi malis incommodisve resistitur, qui officiose atque humiliter praebent, misericordes vocantur, etiamsi sapientes usque adeo sint, ut iam nullo animi dolore turbentur; nam quis ignoret ex eo appellatam esse misericordiam, quod miserum cor faciat condolescentis alieno malo? Et quis non concedat ab omni miseria liberum esse debere sapientem, cum subvenit inopi, cum esurienti cibum praestat potumque sitienti, cum vestit nudum, cum peregrinum tecto recipit, cum oppressum liberat, cum denique humanitatem suam usque ad sepulturam porrigit mortuorum? Etiamsi id faciat mente tranquilla, nullis aculeis doloris instinctus, sed adductus officio bonitatis, misericors tamen vocandus est. Huic enim nihil obest nomen, cum absit miseria. 		53. Hence those who seasonably and wisely supply all the things required for warding off these evils and distresses are called compassionate, although they may have been so wise that no painful feeling disturbed their mind in the exercise of compassion. No doubt the word compassionate implies suffering in the heart of the man who feels for the sorrow of another. And it is equally true that a wise man ought to be free from all painful emotion when he assists the needy, when he gives food to the hungry and water to the thirsty, when he clothes the naked, when he takes the stranger into his house, when he sets free the oppressed, when, lastly, he extends his charity to the dead in giving them burial. Still the epithet compassionate is a proper one, although he acts with tranquillity of mind, not from the stimulus of painful feeling, but from motives of benevolence. There is no harm in the word compassionate when there is no passion in the case.
27. 54. Stulti vero cum misericordiam quasi vitium devitant, quia officio satis moveri nequeunt, si nec perturbatione commonentur, congelascunt potius rigore inhumanitatis quam rationis tranquillitate serenantur. Itaque multo prudentius etiam Deus ipse misericors dicitur 85, qui quemadmodum dicatur, restat intelligere his qui sese idoneos religione studioque praestiterint, ne eum verbis doctorum inepte utimur, indoctorum animas prius durescere vitando misericordiam quam benignitatem appetendo mitescere faciamus. Atque ut misericordia iubet ista nos ab homine pellere incommoda, sic innocentia prohibet inferre. 		54. Fools, again, who avoid the exercise of compassion as a vice, because they are not sufficiently moved by a sense of duty without feeling also distressful emotion, are frozen into hard insensibility, which is very different from the calm of a rational serenity. God, on the other hand, is properly called compassionate; and the sense in which He is so will be understood by those whom piety and diligence have made fit to understand. There is a danger lest, in using the words of the learned, we harden the souls of the unlearned by leading them away from compassion instead of softening them with the desire of a charitable disposition. As compassion, then, requires us to ward off these distresses from others, so harmlessness forbids the infliction of them.
Beneficentia in animam proximi. Disciplinae partes duae: coercitio et instructio. Per bonos mores nobis provenit agnitio veritatis. Chapter 28.— On Doing Good to the Soul of Our Neighbor. Two Parts of Discipline, Restraint and Instruction. Through Good Conduct We Arrive at the Knowledge of the Truth
28. 55. Quod autem attinet ad disciplinam, per quam ipsi animo sanitas instauratur, quae si absit, nihil ad depellendas miserias salus illa corporis valet, difficillima omnino res est. Atque ut in corpore dicebamus aliud esse morbos et vulnera curare, quod pauci homines bene facere possunt, aliud autem famem sitimque sopire et cetera in quibus subvenire hominem homini vulgo passimque conceditur, sic in animo sunt quaedam, in quibus excellentia illa et rara magisteria non admodum desiderantur, ut cum hortamur et monemus, ut haec ipsa indigentibus exhibeantur quae corpori exhibenda esse diximus. Cum enim haec facimus, ope corpori, cum autem docemus ut fiant, disciplina animo subvenimus. Sunt vero alia, quibus multimodi variique morbi animorum magna quadam et prorsus ineffabili ratione sanantur; quae medicina nisi divinitus populis mitteretur, nulla spes salutis esset tam immoderata progressione peccantibus, quamquam et illa corporis, si altius rerum originem repetas, non invenitur unde ad homines manare potuerit, nisi a Deo, cui rerum omnium status salusque tribuenda est. 		55. As regards discipline, by which the health of the mind is restored, without which bodily health avails nothing for security against misery, the subject is one of great difficulty. And as in the body we said it is one thing to cure diseases and wounds, which few can do properly, and another thing to meet the cravings of hunger and thirst, and to give assistance in all the other ways in which any man may at any time help another; so in the mind there are some things in which the high and rare offices of the teacher are not much called for—as, for instance, in advice and exhortation to give to the needy the things already mentioned as required for the body. To give such advice is to aid the mind by discipline, as giving the things themselves is aiding the body by our resources. But there are other cases where diseases of the mind, many and various in kind, are healed in a way strange and indescribable. Unless His medicine were sent from heaven to men, so heedlessly do they go on in sin, there would be no hope of salvation; and, indeed, even bodily health, if you go to the root of the matter, can have come to men from none but God, who gives to all things their being and their well-being.
28. 56. Haec tamen disciplina de qua nunc agimus, quae animi medicina est, quantum Scripturis ipsis divinis colligi licet, in duo distribuitur, coercitionem et instructionem. Coercitio timore, instructio vero amore perficitur eius dico cui per disciplinam subvenitur, nam qui subvenit, nihil horum duorum habet nisi amare. In his duobus Deus ipse cuius bonitate atque clementia fit omnino ut aliquid simus duobus Testamentis, Veteri et Novo, disciplinae nobis regulam dedit. Quamquam enim utrumque in utroque sit, praevalet tamen in Veteri timor, amor in Novo; quae ibi servitus hic libertas ab Apostolis praedicatur. De quorum Testamentorum admirabili quodam ordine divinoque concentu longissimum est dicere et multi religiosi doctique dixerunt. Multos libros res ista flagitat, ut pro merito, quantum ab homine potest, explicari et praedicari queat. Qui ergo diligit proximum, agit quantum potest ut salvus corpore salvusque animo sit, sed cura corporis ad sanitatem animi referenda est. Agit ergo his gradibus, quod ad animum pertinet, ut primo timeat deinde diligat Deum. Hi mores sunt optimi, per quos nobis etiam ipsa provenit, ad quam omni studio rapimur, agnitio veritatis. 		56. This discipline, then, which is the medicine of the mind, as far as we can gather from the sacred Scriptures, includes two things, restraint and instruction. Restraint implies fear, and instruction love, in the person benefited by the discipline; for in the giver of the benefit there is the love without the fear. In both of these God Himself, by whose goodness and mercy it is that we are anything, has given us in the two Testaments a rule of discipline. For though both are found in both Testaments, still fear is prominent in the Old, and love in the New; which the apostle calls bondage in the one, and liberty in the other. Of the marvellous order and divine harmony of these Testaments it would take long to speak, and many pious and learned men have discoursed on it. The theme demands many books to set it forth and explain it as far as is possible for man. He, then, who loves his neighbor endeavors all he can to procure his safety in body and in soul, making the health of the mind the standard in his treatment of the body. And as regards the mind, his endeavors are in this order, that he should first fear and then love God. This is true excellence of conduct, and thus the knowledge of the truth is acquired which we are ever in the pursuit of.
Praecepta caritatis.
28. 57. Atque in his duobus convenit mihi cum Manichaeis, id est, ut Deum et proximum diligamus, sed hoc Veteri Testamento negant contineri; in quo quantum errent, satis, ut opinor, apparet ex his quas superius protulimus de utroque sententiis. Verumtamen ut breve aliquid dicam, sed tale cui resistere sit mirae dementiae, nonne animadvertunt haec ipsa duo, quae laudare coguntur, quamquam opportunissime a Domino in Evangelio de Veteri Testamento esse prolata negent, ibi esse scriptum: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo et ex tota anima tua et ex tota mente tua 86 vel illud alterum: Diliges proximum tuum tamquam te ipsum 87? Aut si haec negare non audent, premuntur enim luce veritatis, illud negare audeant, salubria esse ista praecepta, his mores optimos contineri negent si possunt et dicant non oportere Deum diligi, non oportere proximum diligi neque diligentibus Deum omnia procedere in bonum 88 neque dilectionem proximi malum non operari 89; quibus duobus saluberrime atque optime humana vita disponitur. Quae si dicunt, non solum illis cum christianis, sed nec cum hominibus quidem ratio est. Sin haec dicere non audent cogunturque confiteri esse divina, quid eos libros unde ista prolata sunt impietate nefaria lacessere atque improbare non desinunt? 		57. The Manichæans agree with me as regards the duty of loving God and our neighbor, but they deny that this is taught in the Old Testament. How greatly they err in this is, I think, clearly shown by the passages quoted above on both these duties. But, in a single word, and one which only stark madness can oppose, do they not see the unreasonableness of denying that these very two precepts which they commend are quoted by the Lord in the Gospel from the Old Testament, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind;" and the other, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself?" Or if they dare not deny this, from the light of truth being too strong for them, let them deny that these precepts are salutary; let them deny, if they can, that they teach the best morality; let them assert that it is not a duty to love God, or to love our neighbor; that all things do not issue in good to them that love God; that it is not true that the love of our neighbor works no ill (a two-fold regulation of human life which is most salutary and excellent). By such assertions they cut themselves off not only from Christians, but from mankind. But if they dare not speak thus, but must confess the divinity of the precepts, why do they not desist from assailing and maligning with horrible profanity the books from which they are quoted?
28. 58. An illud dicturi sunt, non esse consequens ut omnia ibi bona sint, ubi haec invenire potuimus? Nam hoc solent dicere. Cui ego tergiversationi quid respondeam, quemadmodum occurram, non facile video. Discutiamne verba singula Veteris Testamenti ut in his summam cum Evangelio esse concordiam pervicacibus indoctisque demonstrem? Sed quando istud erit? Quando aut ego sufficiam aut ipsi patientur? Quid ergo faciam? Deseramne causam et eos in sententia quamvis improba et falsa tamen difficili ad dissolvendum delitescere sinam? Non faciam; aderit de proximo Deus ipse, cuius illa praecepta sunt nec me in tantis angustiis inopem ac desertum esse patietur. 		58. Will they say, as they often do, that although we find these precepts in the books, it does not follow that all is good that is found there? How to meet and refute this quibble I do not well see. Shall I discuss the words of the Old Testament one by one, to prove to stubborn and ignorant men their perfect agreement with the New Testament? But when will this be done? When shall I have time, or they patience? What, then, is to be done? Shall I desert the cause, and leave them to escape detection in an opinion which, though false and impious, is hard to disprove? I will not. God will Himself be at hand to aid me; nor will He suffer me in those straits to remain helpless or forsaken.
De Scripturarum auctoritate. Chapter 29.— Of the Authority of the Scriptures
29. 59. Quamobrem adeste animis, Manichaei, si qui forte illa superstitione ita tenemini, ut evadere aliquando possitis. Adeste, inquam, et sine pertinacia, sine studio resistendi; namque aliter vobis perniciosissimum est iudicare. Certe enim nemini dubium est, nec aversi vos ita estis a vero, ut non intelligatis, si diligere Deum et proximum bonum est, quod negare nemo potest, quidquid in his duobus praeceptis pendet, vituperari iure non posse. Quid ergo in his pendet, ridiculum est si a me quaerendum putas; ipsum Christum audi, audi, inquam, Christum, audi Dei Sapientiam: In his, inquit, duobus praeceptis tota lex pendet et omnes prophetae 90. 		59. Attend, then, you Manichæans, if perchance there are some of you of whom your superstition has hold so as to allow you yet to escape. Attend, I say, without obstinacy, without the desire to oppose, otherwise your decision will be fatal to yourselves. No one can doubt, and you are not so lost to the truth as not to understand that if it is good, as all allow, to love God and our neighbor, whatever hangs on these two precepts cannot rightly be pronounced bad. What it is that hangs on them it would be absurd to think of learning from me. Hear Christ Himself; hear Christ, I say; hear the Wisdom of God: "On these two commandments," He says, "hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:40
29. 60. Quid hoc loco potes dicere impudentissima pertinacia? Non hoc Christum dixisse? In Evangelio verba eius ista conscripta sunt. Falsum esse scriptum? Quid hoc sacrilegio magis impium reperiri potest? Quid ista voce impudentius? Quid audacius? Quid sceleratius? Simulacrorum cultores, qui Christi etiam nomen oderunt, numquam hoc adversus Scripturas illas ausi sunt dicere. Consequetur namque omnium litterarum summa perversio et omnium qui memoriae mandati sunt librorum abolitio, si quod tanta populorum religione roboratum est, tanta hominum et temporum consensione firmatum, in hanc dubitationem adducitur, ut ne historiae quidem vulgaris fidem possit gravitatemque obtinere. Postremo quid de Scripturis ullis proferre poteris, ubi mihi uti hac voce non liceat, si contra meam rationem intentionemque proferatur? 		60. What can the most shameless obstinacy say to this? That these are not Christ's words? But they are written in the Gospel as His words. That the writing is false? Is not this most profane blasphemy? Is it not most presumptuous to speak thus? Is it not most foolhardy? Is it not most criminal? The worshippers of idols, who hate even the name of Christ, never dared to speak thus against these Scriptures. For the utter overthrow of all literature will follow, and there will be an end to all books handed down from the past, if what is supported by such a strong popular belief and established by the uniform testimony of so many men and so many times, is brought into such suspicion, that it is not allowed to have the credit and the authority of common history. In fine, what can you quote from any writings of which I may not speak in this way if it is quoted against my opinion and my purpose?
29. 61. Illud vero quis ferre possit, quod nos notissimis ac iam in manibus omnium libris constitutis credere vetant et his quae ipsi proferunt imperant ut credamus? Si de scriptura dubitandum est, de qua magis quam quae diffamari non meruit, quae vere potuit sub nomine alio tota mentiri? Si istam obdis invito, et auctoritatis exaggeratae ratione cogis in fidem, egone de illa, quam constanter latissime divulgatam video et Ecclesiarum per totum orbem dispersarum contestatione munitam, dubitabo miser et, quod est miserius, te auctore dubitabo? Cum si exemplaria proferres altera, tenere non deberem nisi ea quae plurium consensione commendarentur, nunc nihil te proferente quod conferas praeter inanissimam vocem temeritatisque plenissimam, putabis usque adeo genus humanum esse perversum et divinae providentiae ope desertum, ut illis Scripturis non a te prolatas alias quibus redarguantur, sed tua tantum verba praeponat? Proferendus namque tibi est alius codex eadem continens, sed tamen incorruptus et verior, ubi sola desint ea quae hic immissa esse criminaris. Ut si verbi causa Pauli epistolam, quae ad Romanos scripta est, corruptam esse contendis, aliam proferas incorruptam vel alium codicem potius, in quo eiusdem Apostoli eadem epistola sincera et incorrupta conscripta sit. Non faciam, inquis, ne ipse corrupisse credar; hoc enim soletis dicere et verum dicitis. Nihil prorsus aliud suspicabuntur vel mediocriter cordati homines, si hoc feceris. Vide ergo tu ipse quid de auctoritate tua iudicaveris et intellige utrum tuis verbis contra illas Scripturas credere debeant, si codici ob hoc solum quod abs te profertur, magnae temeritatis est credere. 		61. And is it not intolerable that they forbid us to believe a book widely known and placed now in the hands of all, while they insist on our believing the book which they quote? If any writing is to be suspected, what should be more so than one which has not merited notoriety, or which may be throughout a forgery, bearing a false name? If you force such a writing on me against my will, and make a display of authority to drive me into belief, shall I, when I have a writing which I see spread far and wide for a length of time, and sanctioned by the concordant testimony of churches scattered over all the world, degrade myself by doubting, and, worse degradation, by doubting at your suggestion? Even if you brought forward other readings, I should not receive them unless supported by general agreement; and this being the case, do you think that now, when you bring forward nothing to compare with the text except your own silly and inconsiderate statement, mankind are so unreasonable and so forsaken by divine Providence as to prefer to those Scriptures not others quoted by you in refutation, but merely your own words? You ought to bring forward another manuscript with the same contents, but incorrupt and more correct, with only the passage wanting which you charge with being spurious. For example, if you hold that the Epistle of Paul to the Romans is spurious, you must bring forward another incorrupt, or rather another manuscript with the same epistle of the same apostle, free from error and corruption. You say you will not, lest you be suspected of corrupting it. This is your usual reply, and a true one. Were you to do this, we should assuredly have this very suspicion; and all men of any sense would have it too. See then what you are to think of your own authority; and consider whether it is right to believe your words against these Scriptures, when the simple fact that a manuscript is brought forward by you makes it dangerous to put faith in it.
Apostrophe ad Ecclesiam totius sapientiae magistram. Doctrina catholicae Ecclesiae. Chapter 30.— The Church Apostrophised as Teacher of All Wisdom. Doctrine of the Catholic Church
30. 62. Sed quid hinc plura? Quis enim non videat eos qui contra Scripturas christianas haec audent dicere, ut illud non sint quod homines suspicantur, certe tamen non esse christianos? Nam christianis haec data est forma vivendi, ut diligamus Dominum Deum nostrum ex toto corde, ex tota anima, ex tota mente 91, deinde proximum nostrum tamquam nosmetipsos 92. In his enim duobus praeceptis tota lex pendet, et omnes prophetae 93. Merito, Ecclesia catholica, mater christianorum verissima, non solum ipsum Deum cuius adeptio vita beatissima est, purissime atque castissime colendum praedicas, nullam nobis adorandam creaturam inducens, cui servire iubeamur et ab illa incorrupta et inviolabili aeternitate, cui soli homo subiciendus est, cui soli rationalis anima cohaerendo non misera est, excludens omne quod factum est, quod obnoxium commutationi, quod subditum tempori neque confundens quod aeternitas, quod veritas, quod denique pax ipsa distinguit nec rursum separans quod maiestas una coniungit, sed etiam proximi dilectionem atque caritatem ita complecteris, ut variorum morborum, quibus pro peccatis suis animae aegrotant, omnis apud te medicina praepolleat. 		62. But why say more on this? For who but sees that men who dare to speak thus against the Christian Scriptures, though they may not be what they are suspected of being, are at least no Christians? For to Christians this rule of life is given, that we should love the Lord Our God with all the heart, with all the soul, and with all the mind, and our neighbor as ourselves; for on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Rightly, then, Catholic Church, most true mother of Christians, do you not only teach that God alone, to find whom is the happiest life, must be worshipped in perfect purity and chastity, bringing in no creature as an object of adoration whom we should be required to serve; and from that incorrupt and inviolable eternity to which alone man should be made subject, in cleaving to which alone the rational soul escapes misery, excluding everything made, everything liable to change, everything under the power of time; without confounding what eternity, and truth, and peace itself keeps separate, or separating what a common majesty unites: but you also contain love and charity to our neighbor in such a way, that for all kinds of diseases with which souls are for their sins afflicted, there is found with you a medicine of prevailing efficacy.
30. 63. Tu pueriliter pueros, fortiter iuvenes, quiete senes, prout cuiusque non corporis tantum sed animi aetas est, exerces et doces. Tu feminas viris suis non ad explendam libidinem sed ad propagandam prolem et ad rei familiaris societatem casta et fideli oboedientia subicis. Tu viros coniugibus non ad illudendum imbecilliorem sexum sinceri amoris legibus praeficis 94. Tu parentibus filios libera quadam servitute subiungis, parentes filiis pia dominatione praeponis. Tu fratribus fratres religionis vinculo firmiore atque artiore quam sanguinis nectis. Tu omnem generis propinquitatem et affinitatis necessitudinem, servatis naturae voluntatisque nexibus, mutua caritate constringis. Tu dominis servos non tam conditionis necessitate quam officii delectatione doces adhaerere. Tu dominos servis summi Dei communis Domini consideratione placabiles et ad consulendum quam coercendum propensiores facis. Tu cives civibus, gentes gentibus et prorsus hominibus homines primorum parentum recordatione, non societate tantum sed quadam etiam fraternitate coniungis. Doces reges prospicere populis; mones populos se subdere regibus. Quibus honor debeatur, quibus affectus, quibus reverentia, quibus timor, quibus consolatio, quibus admonitio, quibus cohortatio, quibus disciplina, quibus obiurgatio, quibus supplicium, sedulo doces ostendens quemadmodum et non omnibus omnia et omnibus caritas et nulli debeatur iniuria. 		63. Your training and teaching are childlike for children, forcible for youths, peaceful for the aged, taking into account the age of the mind as well as of the body. Thou subjectest women to their husbands in chaste and faithful obedience, not to gratify passion, but for the propagation of offspring, and for domestic society. You give to men authority over their wives, not to mock the weaker sex, but in the laws of unfeigned love. Thou dost subordinate children to their parents in a kind of free bondage, and dost set parents over their children in a godly rule. You bind brothers to brothers in a religious tie stronger and closer than that of blood. Without violation of the connections of nature and of choice, you bring within the bond of mutual love every relationship of kindred, and every alliance of affinity. Thou teachest servants to cleave to their masters from delight in their task rather than from the necessity of their position. You render masters forbearing to their servants, from a regard to God their common Master, and more disposed to advise than to compel. Thou unitest citizen to citizen, nation to nation, yea, man to man, from the recollection of their first parents, not only in society but in fraternity. Thou teachest kings to seek the good of their peoples; you counsel peoples to be subject to their kings. Thou teachest carefully to whom honor is due, to whom regard, to whom reverence, to whom fear, to whom consolation, to whom admonition, to whom encouragement, to whom discipline, to whom rebuke, to whom punishment; showing both how all are not due to all, and how to all love is due, and how injury is due to none.
30. 64. Iam vero cum haec humana dilectio inhaerentem uberibus tuis nutriverit et roboraverit animum, sequendo Deo factus idoneus, ubi eius maiestas ex tanta parte quanta homini, dum terrae huius inhabitator est, sufficit, aperire se coeperit, tantus caritatis ardor innascitur et tantum divini amoris consurgit incendium, ut exustis omnibus vitiis et homine purgato atque sanctificato satis appareat quam divine dictum sit: Ego sum ignis consumens, et: Ignem veni mittere in mundum 95. Quae duae voces unius Dei in duobus Testamentis signatae sanctificationem animae concordi attestatione declarant, ut fiat aliquando illud quod item in Novam Scripturam de Veteri assumptum est: Absorta est mors in victoriam. Ubi est, mors, aculeus tuus? Ubi est, mors, contentio tua? 96 Quod unum isti haeretici intelligere si valerent, nusquam profecto Deum nisi apud te atque in tuo gremio minime superbi et bene pacati venerarentur. Merito apud te divina praecepta late diffuseque servantur. Merito apud te bene intelligitur, quam sit gravius cognita quam incognita lege peccare. Aculeus enim mortis peccatum, virtus autem peccati lex97, quam gravius feriat et interimat contempti praecepti conscientia. Merito apud te visum est, quam sit sub lege operatio vana, cum libido animum vastat et cohibetur poenae metu, non amore virtutis obruitur. Merito tibi tam multi hospitales, multi misericordes, multi officiosi, multi docti, multi casti, multi sancti, multi usque adeo Dei amore flagrantes, ut eos in summa continentia atque mundi huius incredibili contemptu etiam solitudo delectet. 		64. Then, after this human love has nourished and invigorated the mind cleaving to your breast, and fitted it for following God, when the divine majesty has begun to disclose itself as far as suffices for man while a dweller on the earth, such fervent charity is produced, and such a flame of divine love is kindled, that by the burning out of all vices, and by the purification and sanctification of the man, it becomes plain how divine are these words, "I am a consuming fire," and, "I have come to send fire on the earth." Luke 12:49 These two utterances of one God stamped on both Testaments, exhibit with harmonious testimony, the sanctification of the soul, pointing forward to the accomplishment of that which is also quoted in the New Testament from the Old: "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? Where, O death, is your contest?" Could these heretics understand this one saying, no longer proud but quite reconciled, they would worship God nowhere but with you and in your bosom. In you, as is fit, divine precepts are kept by widely-scattered multitudes. In you, as is fit, it is well understood how much more heinous sin is when the law is known than when it is unknown. For "the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law," 1 Corinthians 15:56 which adds to the force with which the consciousness of disregard of the precept strikes and slays. In you it is seen, as is fit, how vain is effort under the law, when lust lays waste the mind, and is held in check by fear of punishment, instead of being overborne by the love of virtue. Yours, as is fit, are the many hospitable, the many friendly, the many compassionate, the many learned, the many chaste, the many saints, the many so ardent in their love to God, that in perfect continence and amazing indifference to this world they find happiness even in solitude.
Manichaeorum continentiae opponit anachoretarum et coenobitarum vitam. Chapter 31.— The Life of the Anachoretes and Cœnobites Set Against the Continence of the Manichæans
31. 65. Quid est quaeso quod vident qui non possunt hominem non diligere et tamen possunt hominem non videre? Profecto quidquid illud est, praestantius est rebus humanis, cuius contemplatione potest homo sine homine vivere. Iam enim accipite, Manichaei, perfectorum christianorum, quibus summa castitas non laudanda tantum sed etiam capessenda visa est, mores et continentiam singularem, ne vos impudenter iactare apud animos imperitorum quasi difficillima rerum abstinentia, si quid in vobis pudoris est, audeatis. Nec ea dicam quae vos ignoratis, sed quae nobis occultatis. Quis enim nescit summae continentiae hominum christianorum multitudinem per totum orbem in dies magis magisque diffundi et in oriente maxime atque Aegypto, quod vos nullo modo potest latere? 		65. What must we think is seen by those who can live without seeing their fellow-creatures, though not without loving them? It must be something transcending human things in contemplating which man can live without seeing his fellow-man. Hear now, you Manichæans, the customs and notable continence of perfect Christians, who have thought it right not only to praise but also to practise the height of chastity, that you may be restrained, if there is any shame in you, from vaunting your abstinence before uninstructed minds as if it were the hardest of all things. I will speak of things of which you are not ignorant, though you hide them from us. For who does not know that there is a daily increasing multitude of Christian men of absolute continence spread all over the world, especially in the East and in Egypt, as you cannot help knowing?
Anachoretae.
31. 66. Nihil de his dicam quos paulo ante commemoravi, qui secretissimi penitus ab omni hominum conspectu, pane solo, qui eis per digesta intervalla temporum affertur, et aqua contenti, desertissimas terras incolunt perfruentes colloquio Dei, cui puris mentibus inhaeserunt et eius pulchritudinis contemplatione beatissimi, quae nisi sanctorum intellectu percipi non potest. Nihil, inquam, de his loquar, videntur enim nonnullis res humanas plus quam oporteret deseruisse, non intelligentibus quantum nobis eorum animus in orationibus prosit et vita ad exemplum, quorum corpora videre non sinimur. Sed hinc disputare longum et supervacaneum puto; nam hoc tam excellens fastigium sanctitatis, cui non sua sponte mirandum et honorandum videtur, oratione nostra videri qui potest? Tantum isti admonendi sunt, qui sese inaniter iactant, in tantum processisse temperantiam et continentiam sanctissimorum catholicae fidei christianorum, ut restringenda nonnullis et quasi ad humanos fines revocanda videatur; usque adeo supra homines illorum animos evasisse ab his etiam quibus id displicet iudicatur. 		66. I will say nothing of those to whom I just now alluded, who, in complete seclusion from the view of men, inhabit regions utterly barren, content with simple bread, which is brought to them periodically, and with water, enjoying communion with God, to whom in purity of mind they cleave, and most blessed in contemplating His beauty, which can be seen only by the understanding of saints. I will say nothing of them, because some people think them to have abandoned human things more than they ought, not considering how much those may benefit us in their minds by prayer, and in their lives by example, whose bodies we are not permitted to see. But to discuss this point would take long, and would be fruitless; for if a man does not of his own accord regard this high pitch of sanctity as admirable and honorable, how can our speaking lead him to do so? Only the Manichæans, who make a boast of nothing, should be reminded that the abstinence and continence of the great saints of the Catholic Church has gone so far, that some think it should be checked and recalled within the limits of humanity—so far above men, even in the judgment of those who disapprove, have their minds soared.
Coenobitae.
31. 67. Sed si hoc excedit nostram tolerantiam, quis non illos miretur et praedicet, qui contemptis atque desertis mundi huius illecebris, in communem vitam sanctissimam et castissimam congregati, simul aetatem agunt, viventes in orationibus, in lectionibus, in disputationibus, nulla superbia tumidi, nulla pervicacia turbulenti, nulla invidentia lividi, sed modesti, verecundi, placati concordissimam vitam et intentissimam in Deum, gratissimum munus ipsi offerunt, a quo ista posse meruerunt? Nemo quidquam possidet proprium, nemo cuiquam onerosus est. Operantur manibus ea quibus et corpus pasci possit et a Deo mens impediri non possit. Opus autem suum tradunt eis quos decanos vocant, eo quod sint denis praepositi, ut neminem illorum cura sui corporis tangat neque in cibo neque in vestimento neque si quid aliud opus est vel quotidianae necessitati vel mutatae, ut assolet, valetudini. Illi autem decani cum magna sollicitudine omnia disponentes et praesto facientes quidquid illa vita propter imbecillitatem corporis postulat, rationem tamen etiam ipsi reddunt uni, quem patrem vocant. Hi vero patres non solum sanctissimi moribus sed etiam divina doctrina excellentissimi, omnibus rebus excelsi, nulla superbia consulunt iis quos filios appellant, magna sua in iubendo auctoritate, magna illorum in obtemperando voluntate. Conveniunt autem diei tempore extremo de suis quisque habitaculis, dum adhuc ieiuni sunt, ad audiendum illum patrem et conveniunt ad singulos patres terna ut minimum hominum millia, nam etiam multo numerosiores sub uno agunt. Audiunt autem incredibili studio, summo silentio, affectiones animorum suorum, prout eos pepulerit disserentis oratio, vel gemitu vel fletu vel modesto et omni clamore vacuo gaudio significantes. Corpus deinde reficitur, quantum saluti et salubritati satis est, coercente unoquoque concupiscentiam, ne profundat vel in ea ipsa quae praesto sunt parce et vilissima. Ita non solum a carnibus et a vino abstinent pro sufficientia domandarum libidinum, sed ab his etiam quae tanto concitatius ventris et gutturis provocant appetitum, quanto quasi mundiora nonnullis videntur; quo nomine solet turpe desiderium exquisitorum ciborum, quod a carnibus alienum est, ridicule turpiterque defendi. Sane quidquid necessario victui redundat - nam redundat plurimum ex operibus manuum, et epularum restrictione -, tanta cura egentibus distribuitur, quanta non ab ipsis qui distribuunt comparatum est. Nullo modo namque satagunt, ut haec sibi abundent, sed omni modo agunt ut non apud se re maneat quod abundaverit usque adeo, ut oneratas etiam naves in ea loca mittant, quae inopes incolunt. Non opus est plura de re notissima dicere. 		67. But if this is beyond our tolerance, who can but admire and commend those who, slighting and discarding the pleasures of this world, living together in a most chaste and holy society, unite in passing their time in prayers, in readings, in discussions, without any swelling of pride, or noise of contention, or sullenness of envy; but quiet, modest, peaceful, their life is one of perfect harmony and devotion to God, an offering most acceptable to Him from whom the power to do those things is obtained? No one possesses anything of his own; no one is a burden to another. They work with their hands in such occupations as may feed their bodies without distracting their minds from God. The product of their toil they give to the decans or tithesmen,— so called from being set over the tithes—so that no one is occupied with the care of his body, either in food or clothes, or in anything else required for daily use or for the common ailments. These decans, again, arranging everything with great care, and meeting promptly the demands made by that life on account of bodily infirmities, have one called "father," to whom they give in their accounts. These fathers are not only more saintly in their conduct, but also distinguished for divine learning, and of high character in every way; and without pride they superintend those whom they call their children, having themselves great authority in giving orders, and meeting with willing obedience from those under their charge. At the close of the day they assemble from their separate dwellings before their meal to hear their father, assembling to the number of three thousand at least for one father; for one may have even a much larger number than this. They listen with astonishing eagerness in perfect silence, and give expression to the feelings of their minds as moved by the words of the preacher, in groans, or tears, or signs of joy without noise or shouting. Then there is refreshment for the body, as much as health and a sound condition of the body requires, every one checking unlawful appetite, so as not to go to excess even in the poor, inexpensive fare provided. So they not only abstain from flesh and wine, in order to gain the mastery over their passions, but also from those things which are only the more likely to whet the appetite of the palate and of the stomach, from what some call their greater cleanness, which often serves as a ridiculous and disgraceful excuse for an unseemly taste for exquisite viands, as distant from animal food. Whatever they possess in addition to what is required for their support (and much is obtained, owing to their industry and frugality), they distribute to the needy with greater care than they took in procuring it for themselves. For while they make no effort to obtain abundance, they make every effort to prevent their abundance remaining with them—so much so, that they send shiploads to places inhabited by poor people. I need say no more on a matter known to all.
Sanctimoniales.
31. 68. Haec etiam vita feminarum Deo sollicite casteque servientium, quae habitaculis segregatae ac remotae a viris quam longissime decet; pia tantum illis caritate iunguntur et imitatione virtutis; ad quas iuvenum nullus accessus est neque ipsorum quamvis gravissimorum et probatissimorum senum nisi usque ad vestibulum necessaria praebendi quibus indigent gratia. Lanificio namque corpus exercent atque sustentant vestesque ipsas fratribus tradunt, ab his invicem quod victui opus est praesumentes. Hos mores, hanc vitam, hunc ordinem, hoc institutum si laudare velim, neque digne valeo, et vereor ne iudicare videar per seipsum tantummodo expositum placere non posse, si super narratoris simplicitatem cothurnum etiam laudatoris addendum putavero. Haec, Manichaei, reprehendite, si potestis. Nolite caecis hominibus et discernere invalidis ostentare nostra zizania. 		68. Such, too, is the life of the women, who serve God assiduously and chastely, living apart and removed as far as propriety demands from the men, to whom they are united only in pious affection and in imitation of virtue. No young men are allowed access to them, nor even old men, however respectable and approved, except to the porch, in order to furnish necessary supplies. For the women occupy and maintain themselves by working in wool, and hand over the cloth to the brethren, from whom, in return, they get what they need for food. Such customs, such a life, such arrangements, such a system, I could not commend as it deserves, if I wished to commend it; besides, I am afraid that it would seem as if I thought it unlikely to gain acceptance from the mere description of it, if I considered myself obliged to add an ornamental eulogium to the simple narrative. You Manichæans, find fault here if you can. Do not bring into prominence our tares before men too blind to discriminate.
Clericorum laus. Chapter 32.— Praise of the Clergy
32. 69. Neque tamen ita sese anguste habent Ecclesiae catholicae mores optimi, ut eorum tantum vita, quos commemoravi, arbitrer esse laudandos. Quam enim multos episcopos optimos viros sanctissimosque cognovi, quam multos presbyteros, quam multos diaconos et cuiuscemodi ministros divinorum sacramentorum, quorum virtus eo mihi mirabilior et maiore praedicatione dignior videtur, quo difficilius est eam in multiplici hominum genere et in ista vita turbulentiore servare. Non enim sanatis magis quam sanandis hominibus praesunt. Perpetienda sunt vitia multitudinis ut curentur, et prius toleranda quam sedanda est pestilentia. Difficillimum est hic tenere optimum vitae modum et animum pacatum atque tranquillum. Quippe, ut brevi explicem, hi agunt ubi vivere discitur, illi ubi vivitur. 		69. There is not, however, such narrowness in the moral excellence of the Catholic Church as that I should limit my praise of it to the life of those here mentioned. For how many bishops have I known most excellent and holy men, how many presbyters, how many deacons, and ministers of all kinds of the divine sacraments, whose virtue seems to me more admirable and more worthy of commendation on account of the greater difficulty of preserving it amidst the manifold varieties of men, and in this life of turmoil! For they preside over men needing cure as much as over those already cured. The vices of the crowd must be borne with in order that they may be cured, and the plague must be endured before it is subdued. To keep here the best way of life and a mind calm and peaceful is very hard. Here, in a word, we are among people who are learning to live. There they live.
Aliud genus in civitate simul viventium. Ieiunia triduana. Chapter 33.— Another Kind of Men Living Together in Cities. Fasts of Three Days
33. 70. Nec ideo tamen laudabile christianorum genus contempserim eorum scilicet qui in civitatibus degunt a vulgari vita remotissimi. Vidi ego sanctorum diversorium Mediolani non paucorum hominum, quibus unus presbyter praeerat vir optimus et doctissimus. Romae etiam plura cognovi, in quibus singuli gravitate atque prudentia et divina scientia praepollentes ceteris secum habitantibus praesunt christiana caritate, sanctitate, libertate viventibus; ne ipsi quidem cuiquam onerosi sunt, sed orientis more et Pauli apostoli auctoritate manibus suis se transigunt. Ieiunia etiam prorsus incredibilia multos exercere didici, non quotidie semel sub noctem reficiendo corpus, quod est usquequaque usitatissimum, sed continuum triduum vel amplius saepissime sine cibo ac potu ducere. Neque hoc in viris tantum sed etiam in feminis; quibus item multis viduis et virginibus simul habitantibus et lana ac tela victum quaeritantibus praesunt singulae gravissimae ac probatissimae, non tantum in instituendis componendisque moribus sed etiam instruendis mentibus peritae ac paratae. 		70. Still I would not on this account cast a slight upon a praiseworthy class of Christians—those, namely, who live together in cities, quite apart from common life. I saw at Milan a lodging-house of saints, in number not a few, presided over by one presbyter, a man of great excellence and learning. At Rome I knew several places where there was in each one eminent for weight of character, and prudence, and divine knowledge, presiding over all the rest who lived with him, in Christian charity, and sanctity, and liberty. These, too, are not burdensome to any one; but, in the Eastern fashion, and on the authority of the Apostle Paul, they maintain themselves with their own hands. I was told that many practised fasts of quite amazing severity, not merely taking only one meal daily towards night, which is everywhere quite common, but very often continuing for three days or more in succession without food or drink. And this among not men only, but women, who also live together in great numbers as widows or virgins, gaining a livelihood by spinning and weaving, and presided over in each case by a woman of the greatest judgment and experience, skilled and accomplished not only in directing and forming moral conduct, but also in instructing the understanding.
33. 71. Atque inter haec nemo urgetur in aspera quae ferre non potest, nulli quod recusat imponitur nec ideo condemnatur a ceteris, quod in eis imitandis se fatetur invalidum; meminerunt enim quantopere Scripturis omnibus commendata sit caritas; meminerunt: Omnia munda mundis 98 et: Non quod intrat in os vestrum vos coinquinat, sed quod exit 99. Itaque non reiciendis generibus ciborum quasi pollutis sed concupiscentiae perdomandae et dilectioni fratrum retinendae invigilat omnis industria. Meminerunt: Esca ventri et venter escis; Deus autem et hunc et has destruet 100; et alibi: Neque si manducaverimus, abundabimus neque si non manducaverimus, egebimus 101; et illud prae ceteris: Bonum est, fratres, non manducare carnes neque bibere vinum neque in quo frater tuus offenditur 102. Hic enim ostendit quam sint ad finem caritatis haec omnia dirigenda. Alius enim credit manducare omnia; qui autem infirmus est, olus, inquit, manducet. Qui manducat, non manducantem non spernat; et qui non manducat, manducantem non iudicet; Deus enim illum assumit. Tu quis es, qui iudices alienum servum? Suo Domino stat aut cadit; stabit autem, potens est enim Deus statuere eum 103. Et paulo post: Qui manducat, Domino manducat et gratias agit Deo; et qui non manducat, Domino non manducat, et gratias agit Deo 104. Et item inconsequentibus: Itaque unusquisque nostrum pro se rationem reddet. Non ergo amplius iudicemus invicem; sed hoc iudicate magis, ne ponatis offensionem fratri vel scandalum. Scio et confido in Domino Iesu, quia nihil commune per ipsum, nisi ei qui existimat quid commune esse, illi commune est 105. Potuitne magis ostendere, non in ipsis rebus quibus vescimur, sed in animo esse vim quamdam, quae ad eum valeat maculandum; et propterea his etiam qui ad haec contemnenda sunt idonei certoque sciunt non se pollui, si quid ciborum sine turpi cupiditate altitudine mentis assumpserint, caritatem tamen esse intuendam? Vide quid sequatur: Nam si propter escam frater tuus contristatur, iam non secundum caritatem ambulas 106. 		71. With all this, no one is pressed to endure hardships for which he is unfit; nothing is imposed on any one against his will; nor is he condemned by the rest because he confesses himself too feeble to imitate them: for they bear in mind how strongly Scripture enjoins charity on all: they bear in mind "To the pure all things are pure," Titus 1:15 and "Not that which enters into your mouth defiles you, but that which comes out of it." Matthew 15:11 Accordingly, all their endeavors are concerned not about the rejection of kinds of food as polluted, but about the subjugation of inordinate desire and the maintenance of brotherly love. They remember, "Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God shall destroy both it and them;" 1 Corinthians 6:13 and again, "Neither if we eat shall we abound, nor if we refrain from eating shall we be in want;" 1 Corinthians 8:8 and, above all, this: "It is good, my brethren, not to eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor anything whereby your brother is offended;" for this passage shows that love is the end to be aimed at in all these things. "For one man," he says, "believes that he can eat all things: another, who is weak, eats herbs. He that eats, let him not despise him that eats not; and let not him that eats not judge him that eats: for God has approved him. Who are you that you should judge another man's servant? To his own master he stands or fails; but he shall stand: for God is able to make him to stand." And a little after: "He that eats, to the Lord he eats, and gives God thanks; and he that eats not, to the Lord he eats not, and gives God thanks." And also in what follows: "So every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not, then, any more judge one another: but judge this rather, that you place no stumbling-block, or cause of offense, in the way of a brother. I know, and am confident in the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing common in itself: but to him that thinks anything to be common, to him it is common." Could he have shown better that it is not in the things we eat, but in the mind, that there is a power able to pollute it, and therefore that even those who are fit to think lightly of these things, and know perfectly that they are not polluted if they take any food in mental superiority, without being gluttons, should still have regard to charity? See what he adds: "For if your brother be grieved with your meat, now you do not walk charitably." Romans 14:2-21
33. 72. Lege cetera, nam longum est omnia interponere, et invenies praeceptum his qui possunt ista contemnere, id est firmioribus et securioribus, ideo tamen esse temperandum, ne offendantur illi quibus adhuc pro sua imbecillitate huiuscemodi opus est temperantia. Haec illi de quibus agebam norunt et tenent, christiani sunt enim, non haeretici; intelligunt Scripturas secundum apostolicam disciplinam, non secundum superbum et commentitium nomen apostoli. Non manducantem nemo spernit, manducantem nemo iudicat; qui infirmus est, olus manducat. Multi tamen firmi propter infirmos idem faciunt; multis non est causa ista faciendi, sed quod viliore victu vivere placet minimeque sumptuoso corporis sustentaculo aetatem tranquillissimam ducere. Omnia enim mihi licita sunt, sed ego non redigar sub potestatem ullius 107. Ita multi neque vescuntur carnibus neque tamen eas immundas superstitiose putant. Itaque iidem ipsi qui salvi temperant, si ratio valetudinis cogat, aegroti sine ulla formidine accipiunt. Multi vinum non bibunt nec tamen eo se coinquinari arbitrantur, nam et quibusdam languidioribus et prorsus omnibus qui sine illo nequeunt salutem corporis obtinere, humanissime ac modestissime praeberi faciunt. Et stulte nonnullos recusantes fraterne admonent, ne vana superstitione debiliores citius quam sanctiores fiant. Legunt eis Apostolum discipulo praecipientem, ut aliquantum vini sumat propter varias infirmitates suas 108. Ita pietatem sedulo exercent, corporis vero exercitationem, ut ait idem Apostolus, ad exiguum tempus pertinere noverunt 109. 		72. Read the rest: it is too long to quote all. You will find that those able to think lightly of such things—that is, those of greater strength and stability—are told that they must nevertheless abstain, lest those should be offended who from their weakness are still in need of such abstinence. The people I was describing know and observe these things; for they are Christians, not heretics. They understand Scripture according to the apostolic teaching, not according to the presumptuous and fictitious name of apostle. Him that eats not no one despises; him that eats no one judges; he who is weak eats herbs. Many who are strong, however, do this for the sake of the weak; with many the reason for so doing is not this, but that they may have a cheaper diet, and may lead a life of the greatest tranquillity, with the least expensive provision for the support of the body. "For all things are lawful for me," he says; "but I will not be brought under the power of any." 1 Corinthians 6:12 Thus many do not eat flesh, and yet do not superstitiously regard it as unclean. And so the same people who abstain when in health take it when unwell without any fear, if it is required as a cure. Many drink no wine; but they do not think that wine defiles them; for they cause it to be given with the greatest propriety and moderation to people of languid temperament, and, in short, to all who cannot have bodily health without it. When some foolishly refuse it, they counsel them as brothers not to let a silly superstition make them weaker instead of making them holier. They read to them the apostle's precept to his disciple to "take a little wine for his many infirmities." 1 Timothy 5:23 Then they diligently exercise piety; bodily exercise, they know, profits for a short time, as the same apostle says. 1 Timothy 4:8
33. 73. Continent se igitur hi qui possunt, qui tamen sunt innumerabiles, et a carnibus et a vino duas ob causas, vel propter fratrum imbecillitatem vel propter libertatem suam. Caritas praecipue custoditur; caritati victus, caritati sermo, caritati habitus, caritati vultus aptatur; coitur in unam conspiraturque caritatem, hanc violare tamquam Deum nefas ducitur; huic si quid resistit, expugnatur atque eicitur; hanc si quid offendit, unum diem durare non sinitur. Sciunt hanc commendatam esse a Christo et Apostolis, ut si haec una desit, inania, si haec adsit, plena sint omnia. 		73. Those, then who are able, and they are without number, abstain both from flesh and from wine for two reasons: either for the weakness of their brethren, or for their own liberty. Charity is principally attended to. There is charity in their choice of diet, charity in their speech, charity in their dress, charity in their looks. Charity is the point where they meet, and the plan by which they act. To transgress against charity is thought criminal, like transgressing against God. Whatever opposes this is attacked and expelled; whatever injures it is not allowed to continue for a single day. They know that it has been so enjoined by Christ and the apostles; that without it all things are empty, with it all are fulfilled.
Ex malorum christianorum moribus non vituperandam Ecclesiam. Chapter 34.— The Church is Not to Be Blamed for the Conduct of Bad Christians, Worshippers of Tombs and Pictures
34. 74. Istis, Manichaei, si potestis, obsistite; istos intuemini, istos sine mendacio, si audetis, et eum contumelia nominate; istorum ieiuniis vestra ieiunia, castitati castitatem, vestitum vestitui, epulas epulis, modestiam modestiae, caritatem denique caritati et, quod res maxime postulat, praeceptis praecepta conferte. Iam videbitis quid inter ostentationem et sinceritatem, inter viam rectam et errorem, inter fidem atque fallaciam, inter robur et tumorem, inter beatitatem et miseriam, inter unitatem et conscissionem, postremo quid inter superstitionis sirenas et portum religionis intersit. 		74. Make objections against these, you Manichæans, if you can. Look at these people, and speak of them reproachfully, if you dare, without falsehood. Compare their fasts with your fasts, their chastity with yours; compare them to yourselves in dress, food, self-restraint, and, lastly, in charity. Compare, which is most to the point, their precepts with yours. Then you will see the difference between show and sincerity, between the right way and the wrong, between faith and imposture, between strength and inflatedness, between happiness and wretchedness, between unity and disunion; in short, between the sirens of superstition and the harbor of religion.
Sepulcrorum et picturarum adoratores.
34. 75. Nolite mihi colligere professores nominis christiani neque professionis suae vim aut scientes aut exhibentes. Nolite consectari turbas imperitorum, qui vel in ipsa vera religione superstitiosi sunt vel ita libidinibus dediti, ut obliti sint quid promiserint Deo. Novi multos esse sepulcrorum et picturarum adoratores. Novi multos esse qui cum luxuriosissime super mortuos bibant et epulas cadaveribus exhibentes super sepultos seipsos sepeliant et voracitates ebrietatesque suas deputent religioni. Novi multos esse qui renuntiaverunt verbis huic saeculo et se omnibus huius saeculi molibus opprimi velint oppressosque laetentur. Nec mirum est in tanta copia populorum, quod non vobis desunt, quorum vita vituperata decipiatis incautos et a catholica salute avertatis, cum in vestra paucitate magnas patiamini angustias, dum a vobis exigitur vel unus ex his quos electos vocatis, qui praecepta illa ipsa custodiat, quae irrationabili superstitione defenditis. Sed et illa quam vana sint, quam noxia, quam sacrilega et quemadmodum a magna parte vestrum atque adeo paene ab omnibus vobis non observentur, alio volumine ostendere institui. 		75. Do not summon against me professors of the Christian name, who neither know nor give evidence of the power of their profession. Do not hunt up the numbers of ignorant people, who even in the true religion are superstitious, or are so given up to evil passions as to forget what they have promised to God. I know that there are many worshippers of tombs and pictures. I know that there are many who drink to great excess over the dead, and who, in the feasts which they make for corpses, bury themselves over the buried, and give to their gluttony and drunkenness the name of religion. I know that there are many who in words have renounced this world, and yet desire to be burdened with all the weight of worldly things, and rejoice in such burdens. Nor is it surprising that among so many multitudes you should find some by condemning whose life you may deceive the unwary and seduce them from Catholic safety; for in your small numbers you are at a loss when called on to show even one out of those whom you call the elect who keeps the precepts, which in your indefensible superstition you profess. How silly those are, how impious, how mischievous, and to what extent they are neglected by most, nearly all of you, I have shown in another volume.
34. 76. Nunc vos illud admoneo, ut aliquando Ecclesiae catholicae maledicere desinatis vituperando mores hominum quos et ipsa condemnat et quos quotidie tamquam malos filios corrigere studet. Sed quicumque illorum bona voluntate Deique auxilio corriguntur, quod amiserant peccando, poenitendo recuperant. Qui autem voluntate mala in pristinis vitiis perseverant aut etiam addunt graviora prioribus, in agro quidem Domini sinuntur esse et cum bonis seminibus crescere, sed veniet tempus quo zizania separentur. Aut si iam propter ipsum christianum nomen magis in palea quam in spinis esse arbitrandi sunt, veniet etiam qui aream purget, et a frumentis paleam separet et singulis partibus pro suo cuiusque merito quod oportet summa aequitate distribuat 110. 		76. My advice to you now is this: that you should at least desist from slandering the Catholic Church, by declaiming against the conduct of men whom the Church herself condemns, seeking daily to correct them as wicked children. Then, if any of them by good will and by the help of God are corrected, they regain by repentance what they had lost by sin. Those, again, who with wicked will persist in their old vices, or even add to them others still worse, are indeed allowed to remain in the field of the Lord, and to grow along with the good seed; but the time for separating the tares will come. Or if, from their having at least the Christian name, they are to be placed among the chaff rather than among thistles, there will also come One to purge the floor and to separate the chaff from the wheat, and to assign to each part (according to its desert) the due reward.
Coniugium et possessiones baptizatis etiam concessa per Apostolum. Chapter 35.— Marriage and Property Allowed to the Baptized by the Apostles
35. 77. Vos interea quid saevitis, quid excaecamini studio partium? Quid tanti erroris longa defensione implicamini? Fruges in agro, frumenta in area quaerite, apparebunt facile seseque offerent ipsa quaerentibus. Quid nimis in purgamenta oculum intenditis? Quid ab opimi horti ubertate imperitos homines sepium asperitate terretis? Est certus aditus, quamvis paucioribus notus, qua possit intrari, quem vos aut esse non creditis aut invenire non vultis. Sunt in Ecclesia catholica innumerabiles fideles qui hoc mundo non utuntur, sunt qui utuntur tamquam non utentes 111, ut ab Apostolo dicitur; et quod illis temporibus iam probatum est, quibus ad idolorum cultum christiani cogebantur. Quot enim tunc pecuniosi homines, quot patresfamilias rusticani, quot negotiatores, quot militares, quot primates urbium suarum, quot denique senatores, utriusque sexus, haec omnia vana et temporalia relinquentes, quibus utique quamvis uterentur, non detinebantur, mortem pro salubri fide ac religione subierunt demonstraruntque infidelibus a se potius illa omnia quam se ab eis esse possessos. 		77. Meanwhile, why do you rage? Why does party spirit blind your eyes? Why do you entangle yourselves in a long defence of such great error? Seek for fruit in the field, seek for wheat in the floor: they will be found easily, and will present themselves to the inquirer. Why do you look so exclusively at the dross? Why do you use the roughness of the hedge to scare away the inexperienced from the fatness of the garden? There is a proper entrance, though known to but a few; and by it men come in, though you disbelieve it, or do not wish to find it. In the Catholic Church there are believers without number who do not use the world, and there are those who "use it," in the words of the apostle, "as not using it," 1 Corinthians 7:31 as was proved in those times when Christians were forced to worship idols. For then, how many wealthy men, how many peasant householders, how many merchants, how many military men, how many leading men in their own cities, and how many senators, people of both sexes, giving up all these empty and transitory things, though while they used them they were not bound down by them, endured death for the salutary faith and religion, and proved to unbelievers that instead of being possessed by all these things they really possessed them?
35. 78. Quid calumniamini, quod fideles iam baptismate renovati procreare filios et agros ac domos pecuniamque ullam possidere non debeant? Permittit hoc Paulus. Nam quod negari non potest, fidelibus scripsit post multorum quippe vitiosorum enumerationem, qui regnum Dei non possidebunt: Et haec, inquit, quidem fuistis, sed abluti estis, sed sanctificati estis, sed iustificati estis in nomine Domini Iesu Christi et in Spiritu Dei nostri 112. Ablutos procul dubio et sanctificatos nemo nisi fideles et eos qui huic mundo renuntiaverint, intelligere audebit. Sed quoniam ostendit quibus scripserit, videamus utrum his illa permittat. Ita enim sequitur: Omnia mihi licita sunt, sed non omnia expediunt, omnia mihi licita sunt, sed ego sub nullius redigar potestatem. Esca ventri et venter escis; Deus autem et has et hanc destruet. Corpus autem non fornicationi sed Domino et Dominus corpori. Deus vero suscitavit Dominum et nos quoque suscitabit per virtutem suam. An nescitis quoniam corpora vestra membra Christi sunt? Tollens ergo membra Christi efficiam membra meretricis? Absit. An nescitis quoniam qui adhaeret meretrici, unum corpus efficitur? Erunt enim, inquit, duo in carne una. Qui autem adhaeret Domino, unus spiritus est. Fugite fornicationem. Omne peccatum quodcumque fecerit homo, extra corpus est, qui autem fornicatur, in corpus suum peccat. An nescitis quoniam membra vestra templum est Spiritus Sancti, qui in vobis est, quem habetis a Deo, et non estis vestri? Empti enim estis pretio magno. Glorificate et portate Deum in corpore vestro 113. De quibus autem scripsistis mihi: bonum est homini mulierem non tangere, propter incontinentiam autem unusquisque suam uxorem habeat, et unaquaeque suum virum habeat. Uxori vir debitum reddat, similiter autem et uxor viro. Mulier sui corporis potestatem non habet, sed vir. Similiter autem et vir sui corporis potestatem non habet, sed mulier. Nolite fraudare invicem nisi forte ex consensu ad tempus, ut vacetis orationi: et iterum revertimini in idipsum, ne vos temptet satanas propter incontinentiam vestram. Hoc autem dico secundum indulgentiam, non secundum imperium. Volo autem omnes homines esse sicut meipsum: sed unusquisque proprium habet donum ex Deo, alius quidem sic, alius vero sic 114. 		78. Why do you reproach us by saying that men renewed in baptism ought no longer to beget children, or to possess fields, and houses, and money? Paul allows it. For, as cannot be denied, he wrote to believers, after recounting many kinds of evil-doers who shall not possess the kingdom of God: "And such were you," he says: "but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." By the washed and sanctified, no one, assuredly, will venture to think any are meant but believers, and those who have renounced this world. But, after showing to whom he writes, let us see whether he allows these things to them. He goes on: "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meat for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. But God raised up the Lord, and will raise us up also by His own power. Do you not know that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. Do you not know that he which is joined to an harlot is made one body? For the two, says He, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Whatever sin a man does is without the body: but he that commits fornication sins against his own body. Do you not know that your members are the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a great price: glorify God, and carry Him in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:11-20 "But of the things concerning which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife has not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband has not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that you may have leisure for prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself: but every man has his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that." 1 Corinthians 7:1-7
35. 79. Satisne vobis videtur Apostolus, et fortibus demonstrasse quid summum sit et imbecillioribus permisisse quod proximum est? Nam non attingere mulierem, summum ostendit esse, cum ait: Vellem omnes homines esse sicut meipsum. Huic autem summo coniugalis castitas proxima est, ne homo fornicatione vastetur. Numquid propterea istos dixit adhuc fideles non esse, quia utuntur coniugibus? Quandoquidem hac castitate coniugii et ex se invicem ipsos qui coniuncti sunt, si alter eorum fuerit infidelis et eam quae inde nascitur prolem sanctificari dicit : Sanctificatus est enim, inquit, vir infidelis in muliere fideli, et sanctificata est mulier infidelis per virum fidelem; alioquin filii vestri immundi essent; nunc autem sancti sunt115. Quid obstrepitis pertinacia tantae veritati? Quid lucem Scripturarum vanis umbris obnubilare conamini? 		79. Has the apostle, think you, both shown sufficiently to the strong what is highest, and permitted to the weaker what is next best? Not to touch a woman he shows is highest when he says, "I would that all men were even as I myself." But next to this highest is conjugal chastity, that man may not be the prey of fornication. Did he say that these people were not yet believers because they were married? Indeed, by this conjugal chastity he says that those who are united are sanctified by one another, if one of them is an unbeliever, and that their children also are sanctified. "The unbelieving husband," he says, "is sanctified by the believing wife, and the unbelieving woman by the believing husband: otherwise your children would be unclean; but now are they holy." 1 Corinthians 7:14 Why do you persist in opposition to such plain truth? Why do you try to darken the light of Scripture by vain shadows?
35. 80. Nolite iam dicere, catechumenis licere uti coniugibus, fidelibus autem non licere; catechumenis licere habere pecuniam, fidelibus autem non licere. Nam et multi sunt qui utuntur tamquam non utentes. Et illo sacrosancto lavacro inchoatur innovatio novi hominis, ut proficiendo perficiatur in aliis citius, in aliis tardius; a multis tamen proceditur in novam vitam, si quisquam non inimice sed diligenter intendat. Ipse quippe sic ait Apostolus: Etsi exterior homo noster corrumpitur, sed interior renovatur de die in diem 116. Apostolus de die in diem interiorem hominem renovari dicit ut perficiatur, et vos a perfectione vultis incipiat. Quod utinam velitis, sed quaeritis potius, non unde erigatis invalidos, sed unde fallatis incautos. Hoc enim non debuistis tanta dicere audacia nec si vos in eis ipsis nugatoriis mandatis vestris perfectos esse constaret. Cum vero noverit vestra conscientia eos quos in sectam vestram introducitis, cum vobis familiarius iungi coeperint, multa inventuros quae in vobis esse, cum alios accusaretis, nemo suspicabatur; quae tanta impudentia est, perfectionem in catholicis imbecillioribus quaerere, ut inde imperitos avertas, et eam nullo modo apud te his quos averteris exhibere? Sed ne quid in vos temere iam videamur effundere iste sit huius voluminis modus, ut ad demonstranda praecepta vitae vestrae moresque memorabiles aliquando veniamus. 		80. Do not say that catechumens are allowed to have wives, but not believers; that catechumens may have money, but not believers. For there are many who use as not using. And in that sacred washing the renewal of the new man is begun so as gradually to reach perfection, in some more quickly, in others more slowly. The progress, however, to a new life is made in the case of many, if we view the matter without hostility, but attentively. As the apostle says of himself, "Though the outward man perish, the inward man is renewed day by day." 2 Corinthians 4:16 The apostle says that the inward man is renewed day by day that it may reach perfection; and you wish it to begin with perfection! And it were well if you did wish it. In reality, you aim not at raising the weak, but at misleading the unwary. You ought not to have spoken so arrogantly, even if it were known that you are perfect in your childish precepts. But when your conscience knows that those whom you bring into your sect, when they come to a more intimate acquaintance with you, will find many things in you which nobody hearing you accuse others would suspect, is it not great impertinence to demand perfection in the weaker Catholics, to turn away the inexperienced from the Catholic Church, while you show nothing of the kind in yourself to those thus turned away? But not to seem to inveigh against you without reason, I will now close this volume, and will proceed at last to set forth the precepts of your life and your notable customs.

Notes

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