THE LETTERS OF ST. JEROME
LETTER I.
TO INNOCENT.
Not only the first of the letters but probably the
earliest extant composition of Jerome (c. 370 A. D.). Innocent, to whom
it is addressed, was one of the little band of enthusiasts whom Jerome
gathered round him in Aquileia. He followed his friend to Syria, where
he died in 374 A.D. (See Letter III., 3.)
1. You have frequently asked me, dearest Innocent,
not to pass over in silence the marvellous event which has happened in
our own day. I have declined the task from modesty and, as I now feel,
with justice, believing myself to be incapable of it, at once because
bureau language is inadequate to the divine praise, and because
inactivity, acting like rust upon the intellect, has dried up any
little power of expression that I have ever had. You in reply urge that
in the things of God we must look not at the work which we are able to
accomplish, but at the spirit in which it is undertaken, and that he
can never be at a loss for words who has believed on the Word.
2. What, then, must I do? The task is beyond me, and
yet I dare not decline it. I am a mere unskilled passenger, and I find
myself placed in charge of a freighted ship. I have not so much as
handled a rowboat on a lake, and now I have to trust myself to the
noise and turmoil of the Euxine. I see the shores sinking beneath the
horizon, "sky and sea on every side";(1) darkness lowers over the
water, the clouds are black as night, the waves only are white with
foam. You urge me to hoist the swelling sails, to loosen the sheets,
and to take the helm. At last I obey your commands, and as charity can
do all things, I will trust in the Holy Ghost to guide my course, and I
shall console myself, whatever the event. For, if our ship is wafted by
the surf into the wished-for haven, I shall be content to be told that
the pilotage was poor. But, if through my unpolished diction we run
aground amid the rough cross-currents of language, you may blame my
lack of power, but you will at least recognize my good intentions.
3. To begin, then: Vercellae is a Ligurian town,
situated not far from the base of the Alps, once important, but now
sparsely peopled and fallen into decay. When the consular(1) was
holding his visitation there, a poor woman and her paramour were
brought before him--the charge of adultery had been fastened upon them
by the husband--and were both consigned to the penal horrors of a
prison. Shortly after an attempt was made to elicit the truth by
torture, and when the blood-stained hook smote the young man's livid
flesh and tore furrows in his side, the unhappy wretch sought to avoid
prolonged pain by a speedy death. Falsely accusing his own passions, he
involved another in the charge; and it appeared that he was of all men
the most miserable, and that his execution was just inasmuch as he had
left to an innocent woman no means of self-defence. But the woman,
stronger in virtue if weaker in sex, though her frame was stretched
upon the rack, and though her hands, stained with the filth of the
prison, were tied behind her, looked up to heaven with her eyes, which
alone the torturer had been unable to bind, and while the tears rolled
down her face, said: "Thou art witness, Lord Jesus, to whom nothing is
hid, who triest the reins and the heart.(2) Thou art witness that it is
not to save my life that I deny this charge. I refuse to lie because to
lie is sin. And as for you, unhappy man, if you are bent on hastening
your death, why must you destroy not one innocent person, but two? I
also, myself, desire to die. I desire to put off this hated body, but
not as an adulteress. I offer my neck; I welcome the shining sword
without fear; yet I will take my innocence with me.
2
He does not die who is slain while purposing so to live."
4. The consular, who had been feasting his eyes upon
the bloody spectacle, now, like a wild beast, which after once tasting
blood always thirsts for it, ordered the torture to be doubled, and
cruelly gnashing his teeth, threatened the executioner with like
punishment if he failed to extort from the weaker sex a confession
which a man's strength had not been able to keep back.
5. Send help, Lord Jesus. For this one creature of
Thine every species of torture is devised. She is bound by the hair to
a stake, her whole body is fixed more firmly than ever on the rack;
fire is brought and applied to her feet; her sides quiver beneath the
executioner's probe; even her breasts do not escape. Still the woman
remains unshaken; and, triumphing in spirit over the pain of the body,
enjoys the happiness of a good conscience, round which the tortures
rage in vain.(1) The cruel judge rises, overcome with passion. She
still prays to God. Her limbs are wrenched from their sockets she only
turns her eyes to heaven. Another confesses what is thought their
common guilt. She, for the confessor's sake, denies the confession,
and, in peril of her own life, clears one who is in peril of his.
6. Meantime she has but one thing to say "Beat me,
burn me, tear me, if you will; I have not done it. If you will not
believe my words, a day will come when this charge shall be carefully
sifted. I have One who will judge me." Wearied out at last, the
torturer sighed in response to her groans; nor could he find a spot on
which to inflict a fresh wound. His cruelty overcome, he shuddered to
see the body he had torn. Immediately the consular cried, in a fit of
passion, "Why does it surprise you, bystanders, that a woman prefers
torture to death? It takes two people, most assuredly, to commit
adultery; and I think it more credible that a guilty woman should deny
a sin than that an innocent young man should confess one."
7. Like sentence, accordingly, was passed on both,
and the condemned pair were dragged to execution. The entire people
poured out to see the sight; indeed, so closely were the gates thronged
by the out-rushing crowd, that you might have fancied the city itself
to be migrating. At the very first stroke of the sword the head of the
hapless youth was cut off, and the headless trunk rolled over in its
blood. Then came the woman's turn. She knelt down upon the ground, and
the shining sword was lifted over her quivering neck. But though the
headsman summoned all his strength into his bared arm, the moment it
touched her flesh the fatal blade stopped short, and, lightly glancing
over the skin, merely grazed it sufficiently to draw blood. The striker
saw, with terror, his hand unnerved, and, amazed at his defeated skill
and at his drooping sword, he whirled it aloft for another stroke.
Again the blade fell forceless on the woman, sinking harmlessly on her
neck, as though the steel feared to touch her. The enraged and panting
officer, who had thrown open his cloak at the neck to give his full
strength to the blow, shook to the ground the brooch which clasped the
edges of his mantle, and not noticing this, began to poise his sword
for a fresh stroke. "See," cried the woman, "a jewel has fallen from
your shoulder. Pick up what you have earned by hard toil, that you may
not lose it."
8. What, I ask, is the secret of such confidence as
this? Death draws near, but it has no terrors for her. When smitten she
exults, and the executioner turns pale. Her eyes see the brooch, they
fail to see the sword. And, as if intrepidity in the presence of death
were not enough, she confers a favor upon her cruel foe. And now the
mysterious Power of the Trinity rendered even a third blow vain. The
terrified soldier, no longer trusting the blade, proceeded to apply the
point to her throat, in the idea that though it might not cut, the
pressure of his hand might plunge it into her flesh. Marvel unheard of
through all the ages! The sword bent back to the hilt, and in its
defeat looked to its master, as if confessing its inability to slay.
9. Let me call to my aid the example of the three
children,(1) who, amid the cool, encircling fire, sang hymns,(2)
instead of weeping, and around whose turbans and holy hair the flames
played harmlessly. Let me recall, too, the story of the blessed
Daniel,(3) in whose presence, though he was their natural prey, the
lions crouched, with fawning tails and frightened mouths. Let Susannah
also rise in the nobility of her faith before the thoughts of all; who,
after she had been condemned by an unjust sentence, was saved through a
youth inspired by the Holy Ghost.(4) In both cases the Lord's mercy was
alike shewn; for while Susannah was set free by
3
the judge, so as not to die by the sword, this woman, though condemned
by the judge, was acquitted by the sword.
10. Now at length the populace rise in arms to
defend the woman. Men and women of every age join in driving away the
executioner, shouting round him in a surging crowd. Hardly a man dares
trust his own eyes. The disquieting news reaches the city close at
hand, and the entire force of constables is mustered. The officer who
is responsible for the execution of criminals bursts from among his
men, and
Staining his hoary hair with soiling dust, exclaims:
"What! citizens, do you mean to seek my life? Do you intend to make me
a substitute for her? However much your minds are set on mercy, and
however much you wish to save a condemned woman, yet assuredly I--I who
am innocent--ought not to perish." His tearful appeal tells upon the
crowd, they are all benumbed by the influence of sorrow, and an
extraordinary change of feeling is manifested. Before it had seemed a
duty to plead for the woman's life, now it seemed a duty to allow her
to be executed.
11. Accordingly a new sword is fetched, a new
headsman appointed. The victim takes her place, once more strengthened
only with the favor of Christ. The first blow makes her quiver, beneath
the second she sways to and fro, by the third she falls wounded to the
ground. Oh, majesty of the divine power highly to be extolled! She who
previously had received four strokes without injury, now, a few moments
later, seems to die that an innocent man may not perish in her stead.
12. Those of the clergy whose duty it is to wrap the
blood-stained corpse in a winding-sheet, dig out the earth and, heaping
together stones, form the customary tomb. The sunset comes on quickly,
and by God's mercy the night of nature arrives more swiftly than is its
wont. Suddenly the woman's bosom heaves, her eyes seek the light, her
body is quickened into new life. A moment after she sighs, she looks
round, she gets up and speaks. At last she is able to cry: "The Lord is
on my side; I will not fear. What can man do unto me?"(2)
13. Meantime an aged woman, supported out of the
funds of the church, gave back her spirit to heaven from which it
came.(3) It seemed as if the course of events had been thus purposely
ordered, for her body took the place of the other beneath the mound. In
the gray dawn the devil comes on the scene in the form of a
constable,(1) asks for the corpse of her who had been slain, and
desires to have her grave pointed out to him. Surprised that she could
have died, he fancies her to be still alive. The clergy show him the
fresh turf, and meet his demands by pointing to the earth lately heaped
up, taunting him with such words as these: "Yes, of course, tear up the
bones which have been buried! Declare war anew against the tomb, and if
even that does not satisfy you, pluck her limb from limb for birds and
beasts to mangle! Mere dying is too good for one whom it took seven
strokes to kill."
14. Before such opprobrious words the executioner
retires in confusion, while the woman is secretly revived at home.
Then, lest the frequency of the doctor's visits to the church might
give occasion for suspicion, they cut her hair short and send her in
the company of some virgins to a sequestered country house. There she
changes her dress for that of a man, and scars form over her wounds.
Yet even after the great miracles worked on her behalf, the laws still
rage against her. So true is it that, where there is most law, there,
there is also most injustice.(2)
15. But now see whither the progress of my story has
brought me; we come upon the name of our friend Evagrius.(3) So great
have his exertions been in the cause of Christ that, were I to suppose
it possible adequately to describe them, I should only show my own
folly; and were I minded deliberately to pass them by, I still could
not prevent my voice from breaking out into cries of joy. Who can
fittingly praise the vigilance which enabled him to bury, if I may so
say, before his death Auxentius(4) of Milan, that curse brooding over
the church? Or who can sufficiently extol the discretion with which he
rescued the Roman bishop(5) from the toils of the net in which he was
fairly entangled, and showed him the means at once of overcoming his
opponents and of sparing them in their discomfiture? But
Such topics I must leave to other bards,
Shut out by envious straits of time and space.(6)
I am satisfied now to record the conclusion of
4
my tale. Evagrius seeks a special audience of the Emperor;(1)
importunes him with his entreaties, wins his favor by his services, and
finally gains his cause through his earnestness. The Emperor restored
to liberty the woman whom God had restored to life.
LETTER II.
TO THEODOSIUS AND THE REST OF THE
ANCHORITES.
Written from Antioch, 374 A.D., while Jerome was
still in doubt as to his future course. Theodosius appears to have been
the head of the solitaries in the Syrian Desert.
How I long to be a member of your company, and with
uplifting of all my powers to embrace your admirable community! Though,
indeed, these poor eyes are not worthy to look upon it. Oh! that I
could behold the desert, lovelier to me than any city! Oh! that I could
see those lonely spots made into a paradise by the saints that throng
them! But since my sins prevent me from thrusting into your blessed
company a head laden with every transgression, I adjure you (and I know
that you can do it) by your prayers to deliver me from the darkness of
this world. I spoke of this when I was with you, and now in writing to
you I repeat anew the same request; for all the energy of my mind is
devoted to this one object. It rests with you to give effect to my
resolve. I have the will but not the power; this last can only come in
answer to your prayers. For my part, I am like a sick sheep astray from
the flock. Unless the good Shepherd shall place me on his shoulders and
carry me back to the fold,(2) my steps will totter, and in the very
effort of rising I shall find my feet give way. I am the prodigal
son(3) who although I have squandered all the portion entrusted to me
by my father, have not yet bowed the knee in submission to him; not yet
have I commenced to put away from me the allurements of my former
excesses. And because it is only a little while since I have begun not
so much to abandon my vices as to desire to abandon them, the devil now
ensnares me in new toils, he puts new stumbling-blocks in my path, be
encompasses me on every side.
The seas around, and all around the main.(4)
I find myself in mid-ocean, unwilling to retreat and
unable to advance. It only remains that your prayers should win for me
the gale of the Holy Spirit to waft me to the haven upon the desired
shore.
LETTER III.
TO RUFINUS THE MONK.(1)
Written from Antioch, 374 A.D., to Rufinus in Egypt.
Jerome narrates his travels and the events which have taken place since
his arrival in Syria, particularly the deaths of Innocent and Hylas (
3). He also describes the life of Bonosus, who was now a hermit on an
island in the Adriatic ( 4). The main object of the letter is to induce
Rufinus to come to Syria.
1. That God gives more than we ask Him for,(2) and
that He often grants us things which "eye hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither have they entered into the heart of man,"(3) I knew indeed
before from the mystic declaration of the sacred volumes; but now,
dearest Rufinus, I have had proof of it in my own case. For I who
fancied it too bold a wish to be allowed by an exchange of letters to
counterfeit to myself your presence in the flesh, hear that you are
penetrating the remotest parts of Egypt, visiting the monks and going
round God's family upon earth. Oh, if only the Lord Jesus Christ would
suddenly transport me to you as Philip was transported to the
eunuch,(4) and Habakkuk to Daniel,(5) with what a close embrace would I
clasp your neck, how fondly would I press kisses upon that mouth which
has so often joined with me of old in error or in wisdom. But as I am
unworthy (not that you should so come to me but) that I should so come
to you, and because my poor body, weak even when well, has been
shattered by frequent illnesses; I send this letter to meet you instead
of coming myself, in the hope that it may bring you hither to me caught
in the meshes of love's net.
2. My first joy at such unexpected good tidings was
due to our brother, Heliodorus. I desired to be sure of it, but did not
dare to feel sure, especially as he told me that he had only heard it
from some one else, and as the strangeness of the news impaired the
credit of the story. Once more my wishes hovered in uncertainty and my
mind wavered, till an Alexandrian monk who had some time previously
been sent over by the dutiful zeal of the people to the Egyptian
confessors (in will already martyrs(6)), impelled me by his presence to
believe the tidings. Even then, I must admit I still hesitated. For on
5
the one hand he knew nothing either of your name or country: yet on the
other what he said seemed likely to be true, agreeing as it did with
the hint which had already reached me. At last the truth broke upon me
in all its fulness, for a constant stream of persons passing through
brought the report: "Rufinus is at Nitria, and has reached the abode of
the blessed Macarius."(1) At this point I cast away all that restrained
my belief, and then first really grieved to find myself ill. Had it not
been that my wasted and enfeebled frame lettered my movements, neither
the summer heat nor the dangerous voyage should have had power to
retard the rapid steps of affection. Believe me, brother, I look
forward to seeing you more than the storm-tossed mariner looks for his
haven, more than the thirsty fields long for the showers, more than the
anxious mother sitting on the curving shore expects her son.
3. After that sudden whirlwind(2) dragged me from
your side, severing with its impious wrench the bonds of affection in
which we were knit together,
The dark blue raincloud lowered o'er my head:
On all sides were the seas, on all the sky.(3)
I wandered about, uncertain where to go. Thrace,
Pontus, Bithynia, the whole of Galatia and Cappadocia, Cilicia also
with its burning heat, one after another shattered my energies. At last
Syria presented itself to me as a most secure harbor to a shipwrecked
man. Here, after undergoing every possible kind of sickness, I lost one
of my two eyes; for Innocent,(4) the half of my soul, (5) was taken
away from me by a sudden attack of fever. The one eye which I now
enjoy, and which is all in all to me, is our Evagrius,(6) upon whom I
with my constant infirmities have come as an additional burden. We had
with us also Hylas,(7) the servant of the holy Melanium,(8) who by his
stainless conduct had wiped out the taint of his previous servitude.
His death opened afresh the wound which had not yet healed. But as the
apostle's words forbid us to mourn for those who sleep,(9) and as my
excess of grief has been tempered by the joyful news that has since
come to me, I recount this last, that, if you have not heard it, you
may learn it; and that, if you know it already, you may rejoice over it
with me.
4. Bonosus,(1) your friend, or, to speak more truly,
mine as well as yours, is now climbing the ladder foreshown in Jacob's
dream.(2) He is bearing his cross, neither taking thought for the
morrow(3) nor looking back at what he has left.(4) He is sowing in
tears that he may reap in joy.(5) As Moses in a type so he in reality
is lifting up the serpent in the wilderness.(6) This is a true story,
and it may well put to shame the lying marvels described by Greek and
Roman pens. For here you have a youth educated with us in the refining
accomplishments of the world, with abundance of wealth, and in rank
inferior to none of his associates; yet he forsakes his mother, his
sisters, and his dearly loved brother, and settles like a new tiller of
Eden on a dangerous island, with the sea roaring round its reefs; while
its rough crags, bare rocks, and desolate aspect make it more terrible
still. No peasant or monk is to be found there. Even the little
Onesimus(7) you know of, in whose kisses he used to rejoice as in those
of a brother, in this tremendous solitude no longer remains at his
side. Alone upon the island--or rather not alone, for Christ is with
him--he sees the glory of God, which even the apostles saw not save in
the desert. He beholds, it is true, no embattled towns, but he has
enrolled his name in the new city.(8) Garments of sackcloth disfigure
his limbs, yet so clad he will be the sooner caught up to meet Christ
in the clouds.(9) No watercourse pleasant to the view supplies his
wants, but from the Lord's side he drinks the water of life.(10) Place
all this before your eyes, dear friend, and with all the faculties of
your mind picture to yourself the scene. When you realize the effort of
the fighter then you will be able to praise his victory. Round the
entire island roars the frenzied sea, while the beetling crags along
its winding shores resound as the billows beat against them. No grass
makes the ground green; there are no shady copses and no fertile
fields. Precipitous cliffs surround his dreadful abode as if it were a
prison. But he, careless, fearless, and armed from head to foot with
the apostle's armor,(11) now listens to God by reading the
6
Scriptures, now speaks to God as he prays to the Lord; and it may be
that, while he lingers in the island, he sees some vision such as that
once seen by John.(1)
5. What snares, think you, is the devil now weaving?
What stratagems is he preparing? Perchance, mindful of his old
trick,(2) he will try to tempt Bonosus with hunger. But he has been
answered already: "Man shall not live by bread alone."(3) Perchance he
will lay before him wealth and fame. But it shall be said to him: "They
that desire to be rich fall into a trap(4) and temptations,"(5) and
"For me all glorying is in Christ."(6) He will come, it may be, when
the limbs are weary with fasting, and rack them with the pangs of
disease; but the cry of the apostle will repel him: "When I am weak,
then am I strong," and "My strength is made perfect in weakness."(7) He
will hold out threats of death; but the reply will be: "I desire to
depart and to be with Christ."(8) He will brandish his fiery darts, but
they will be received on the shield of faith.(9) In a word, Satan will
assail him, but Christ will defend. Thanks be to Thee, Lord Jesus, that
in Thy day I have one able to pray to Thee for me. To Thee all hearts
are open, Thou searchest the secrets of the heart,(10) Thou seest the
prophet shut up in the fish's belly in the midst of the sea.(11) Thou
knowest then how he and I grew up together from tender infancy to
vigorous manhood, how we were fostered in the bosoms of the same
nurses, and carried in the arms of the same bearers; and how after
studying together at Rome we lodged in the same house and shared the
same food by the half savage banks of the Rhine. Thou knowest, too,
that it was I who first began to seek to serve Thee. Remember, I
beseech Thee, that this warrior of Thine was once a raw recruit with
me. I have before me the declaration of Thy majesty: "Whosoever shall
teach and not do shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven."(12)
May he enjoy the crown of virtue, and in return for his daily
martyrdoms may he follow the Lamb robed in white raiment!(13) For" in
my Father's house are many mansions,"(14) and "one star differeth from
another star in glory."(15) Give me strength to raise my head to a
level with the saints' heels!(16) I willed, but he performed. Do Thou
therefore pardon me that I failed to keep my resolve, and reward him
with the guerdon of his deserts.
I may perhaps have been tedious, and have said more
than the short compass of a letter usually allows; but this, I find, is
always the case with me when I have to say anything in praise of our
dear Bonosus.
6. However, to return to the point from which I set
out, I beseech you do not let me pass wholly out of sight and out of
mind. A friend is long sought, hardly found, and with difficulty kept.
Let those who will, allow gold to dazzle them and be borne along in
splendor, their very baggage glittering with gold and silver. Love is
not to be purchased, and affection has no price. The friendship which
can cease has never been real. Farewell in Christ.
LETTER IV.
TO FLORENTIUS.
Sent to Florentius along with the preceding letter,
which jerome requests him to deliver to Rufinus. This Florentius was a
rich Italian who had retired to Jerusalem to pursue the monastic life.
Jerome subsequently speaks of him as "a distinguished monk so pitiful
to the needy that he was generally known as the father of the poor."
(Chron. ad A.D. 381.)
1. How much your name and sanctity are on the lips
of the most different peoples you may gather from the fact that I
commence to love you before I know you. For as, according to the
apostle, "Some men's sins are evident going before unto judgment,"(1)
so contrariwise the report of your charity is so widespread that it is
considered not so much praiseworthy to love you as criminal to refuse
to do so. I pass over the countless instances in which you have
supported Christ,(2) fed, clothed, and visited Him. The aid you
rendered to our brother Heliodorus(3) in his need may well loose the
utterance of the dumb. With what gratitude, with what commendation,
does he speak of the kindness with which you smoothed a pilgrim's path.
I am, it is true, the most sluggish of men, consumed by an unendurable
sickness; yet keen affection and desire have winged my feet, and I have
come forward to salute and embrace you. I wish you every good thing,
and pray that the Lord may establish our nascent friendship.
2. Our brother, Rufinus, is said to have come from
Egypt to Jerusalem with the de-
7
vout lady, Melanium. He is inseparably bound to me in brotherly love;
and I beg you to oblige me by delivering to him the annexed letter. You
must not, however, judge of me by the virtues that you find in him. For
in him you will see the clearest tokens of holiness, whilst I am but
dust and vile dirt, and even now, while still living, nothing but
ashes. It is enough for me if my weak eyes can bear the brightness of
his excellence. He has but now washed himself(1) and is clean, yea, is
made white as snow;(2) whilst I, stained with every sin, wait day and
night with trembling to pay the uttermost farthing.(3) But since "the
Lord looseth the prisoners,"(4) and resteth upon him who is of a
contrite spirit, and that trembleth at His words,(5) perchance he may
say even to me who lie in the grave of sin: "Jerome, come forth."(6)
The reverend presbyter, Evagrius, warmly salutes
you. We both with united respect salute the brother, Martinianus.(7) I
desire much to see him, but I am impeded by the chain of sickness.
Farewell in Christ.
LETTER V.
TO FLORENTIUS.
Written a few months after the preceding (about the
end of 374 A.D.) from the Syrian Desert. After dilating on his
friendship for Florentius, and making a passing allusion to Rufinus,
Jerome mentions certain books copies of which he desires to be sent to
him. He also speaks of a runaway slave about whom Florentius had
written to him.
1. Your letter, dear friend, finds me dwelling in
that quarter of the desert which is nearest to Syria and the Saracens.
And the reading of it rekindles in my mind so keen a desire to set out
for Jerusalem that I am almost ready to violate my monastic vow in
order to gratify my affection. Wishing to do the best I can, as I
cannot come in person I send you a letter instead; and thus, though
absent in the body, I come to you in love and in spirit.(8) For my
earnest prayer is that our infant friendship, firmly cemented as it is
in Christ, may never be rent asunder by time or distance. We ought
rather to strengthen the bond by an interchange of letters. Let these
pass between us, meet each other on the way, and converse with us.
Affection will not lose much if it keeps up an intercourse of this kind.
2. You write that our brother, Rufinus, has not yet
come to you. Even if he does come it will do little to satisfy my
longing, for I shall not now be able to see him. He is too far away to
come hither, and the conditions of the lonely life that I have adopted
forbid me to go to him. For I am no longer free to follow my own
wishes. I entreat you, therefore, to ask him to allow you to have the
commentaries of the reverend Rhetitius,(1) bishop of Augustodunum,(2)
copied, in which he has so eloquently explained the Song of Songs. A
countryman of the aforesaid brother Rufinus, the old man Paul,(3)
writes that Rufinus has his copy of Tertullian, and urgently requests
that this may be returned. Next I have to ask you to get written on
paper by a copyist certain books which the subjoined list(4) will show
you that I do not possess. I beg also that you will send me the
explanation of the Psalms of David, and the copious work on Synods of
the reverend Hilary,(5) which I copied for him(6) at Treves with my own
hand. Such books, you know, must be the food of the Christian soul if
it is to meditate in the law of the Lord day and night.(7)
Others you welcome beneath your roof, you cherish
and comfort, you help out of your own purse; but so far as I am
concerned, you have given me everything when once you have granted my
request. And since, through the Lord's bounty, I am rich in volumes of
the sacred library,(8) you may command me in turn. I will send you what
you please; and do not suppose that an order from you will give me
trouble. I have pupils devoted to the art of copying. Nor do I merely
promise a favor because I am asking one. Our brother, Heliodorus,(9)
tells me that there are many parts of the Scriptures which you seek and
cannot find. But even if you have them all, affection is sure to assert
its rights and to seek for itself more than it already has.
3. As regards the present master of your slave--of
whom you have done me the honor to write--I have no doubt but that he
is his kidnapper. While I was still at Antioch the presbyter, Evagrius,
often reproved him in my presence. To whom he made this answer: "I have
nothing to fear." He declares that his master has dismissed him. If you
both want him, he is here; send
8
him whither you will. I think I am not wrong in refusing to allow a
runaway to stray farther. Here in the wilderness I cannot myself
execute your orders; and therefore I have asked my dear friend Evagrius
to push the affair vigorously, both for your sake and for mine. I
desire your welfare in Christ.
LETTER VI.
TO JULIAN, A DEACON OF ANTIOCH.
This letter, written in 374 A.D., is chiefly
interesting for its mention of Jerome's sister. It would seem that she
had fallen into sin and had been restored to a life of virtue by the
deacon, Julian. Jerome speaks of her again in the next letter ( 4).
It is an old saying, "Liars are disbelieved even
when they speak the truth."(1) And from the way in which you reproach
me for not having written, I perceive that this has been my lot with
you. Shall I say, "I wrote often, but the bearers of my letters were
negligent"? You will reply, "Your excuse is the old one of all who fail
to write." Shall I say, "I could not find any one to take my letters"?
You will say that numbers of persons have gone from my part of the
world to yours. Shall I contend that I have actually given them
letters? They not having delivered them, will deny that they have
received them. Moreover, so great a distance separates us that it will
be hard to come at the truth. What shall I do then? Though really not
to blame, I ask your forgiveness, for I think it better to fall back
and make overtures for peace than to keep my ground and offer battle.
The truth is that constant sickness of body and vexation of mind have
so weakened me that with death so close at hand I have not been as
collected as usual. And lest you should account this plea a false one,
now that I have stated my case, I shall, like a pleader, call witnesses
to prove it. Our reverend brother, Heliodorus, has been here; but in
spite of his wish to dwell in the desert with me, he has been
frightened away by my crimes. But my present wordiness will atone for
my past remissness; for, as Horace says in his satire:(2)
All singers have one fault among their friends:
They never sing when asked, unasked they never cease.
Henceforth I shall overwhelm you with
such bundles of letters that you will take the opposite line and beg me
not to write·
I rejoice that my sister(1)--to you a daughter in
Christ--remains steadfast in her purpose, a piece of news which I owe
in the first instance to you. For here where I now am I am ignorant not
only as to what goes on in my native land, but even as to its continued
existence. Even though the Iberian viper(2) shall rend me with his
baneful fangs, I will not fear men's judgment, seeing that I shall have
God to judge me. As one puts it:
Shatter the world to fragments if you will:
'Twill fall upon a head which knows not fear.(3)
Bear in mind, then, I pray you, the apostle's
precept(4) that we should make our work abiding; prepare for yourself a
reward from the Lord in my sister's salvation; and by frequent letters
increase my joy in that glory in Christ which we share together.
LETTER VII.
TO CHROMATIUS, JOVINUS, AND EUSEBIUS.(6)
This letter (written like the preceding in 374 A.D.)
is addressed by Jerome to three of his former companions in the
religious life. It commends Bonosus ( 3), asks guidance for the
writer's sister (on 4), and attacks the conduct of Lupicinus, Bishop of
Stridon ( 5).
1. Those whom mutual affection has joined together,
a written page ought not to sunder. I must not, therefore, distribute
my words some to one and some to another. For so strong is the love
that binds you together that affection unites all three of you in a
bond no less close than that which naturally connects two of your
number.(6) Indeed, if the conditions of writing would only admit of it,
I should amalgamate your names and express them under a single symbol.
The very letter which I have received from you challenges me in each of
you to see all three, and in all three to recognize each. When the
reverend Evagrius transmitted it to me in the corner of the desert
which stretches between the Syrians and the Saracens, my joy was
intense. It wholly surpassed the rejoicings felt at Rome when the
defeat of Cannae was retrieved, and Marcellus at Nola cut to pieces the
forces of Hannibal. Evagrius frequently comes to see me, and cherishes
me in Christ as his own bowels.(7) Yet as he is separated from me by a
long distance, his departure has gener-
9
ally left me as much regret as his arrival has brought me joy.
2. I converse with your letter, I embrace it, it
talks to me; it alone of those here speaks Latin. For hereabout you
must either learn a barbarous jargon or else hold your tongue. As often
as the lines--traced in a well-known hand--bring back to me the faces
which I hold so dear, either I am no longer here, or else you are here
with me. If you will credit the sincerity of affection, I seem to see
you all as I write this.
Now at the outset I should like to ask you one
petulant question. Why is it that, when we are separated by so great an
interval of land and sea, you have sent me so short a letter? Is it
that I have deserved no better treatment, not having first written to
you? I cannot believe that paper can have failed you while Egypt
continues to supply its wares. Even if a Ptolemy had closed the seas,
King Attalus would still have sent you parchments from Pergamum, and so
by his skins you could have made up for the want of paper. The very
name parchment is derived from a historical incident of the kind
which occurred generations ago.(1) What then? Am I to suppose the
messenger to have been in haste? No matter how long a
letter may be, it can be written in the course of a night. Or had you
some business to attend to which prevented you from writing? No claim
is prior to that of affection. Two suppositions remain,
either that you felt disinclined to write or else that I did not
deserve a letter. Of the two I prefer to charge you with sloth than to
condemn myself as undeserving. For it is easier to mend neglect than to
quicken love.
3. You tell me that Bonosus, like a true son of the
Fish, has taken to the water.(2) As for me who am still foul with my
old stains, like the basilisk and the scorpion I haunt the dry
places.(3) Bonosus has his heel already on the serpent's head, whilst I
am still as food to the same serpent which by divine appointment
devours the earth.(4) He can scale already that ladder of which the
psalms of degrees(5) are a type; whilst I, still weeping on its first
step, hardly know whether I shall ever be able to say: "I will lift up
mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help."(1) Amid the
threatening billows of the world he is sitting in the safe shelter of
his island,(2) that is, of the church's pale, and it may be that even
now, like John, he is being called to eat God's book;(3) whilst I,
still lying in the sepulchre of my sins and bound with the chains of my
iniquities, wait for the Lord's command in the Gospel: "Jerome, come
forth."(4) But Bonosus has done more than this. Like the prophet(5) he
has carried his girdle across the Euphrates (for all the devil's
strength is in the loins(6)), and has hidden it there in a hole of the
rock. Then, afterwards finding it rent, he has sung: "O Lord, thou hast
possessed my reins.(7) Thou hast broken my bonds in sunder. I will
offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving."(8) But as for me,
Nebuchadnezzar has brought me in chains to Babylon, to the babel that
is of a distracted mind. There he has laid upon me the yoke of
captivity; there inserting in my nostrils a ring of iron,(9) he has
commanded me to sing one of the songs of Zion. To whom I have said,
"The Lord looseth the prisoners; the Lord openeth the eyes of the
blind."(10) To complete my contrast in a single sentence, whilst I pray
for mercy Bonosus looks for a crown.
4. My sister's conversion is the fruit of the
efforts of the saintly Julian. He has planted, it is for you to water,
and the Lord will give the increase.(11) Jesus Christ has given her to
me to console me for the wound which the devil has inflicted on her. He
has restored her from death to life. But in the words of the pagan
poet, for her
There is no safety that I do not fear.(12)
You know yourselves how slippery is the path of
youth--a path on which I have myself fallen,(13) and which you are now
traversing not without fear. She, as she enters upon it, must have the
advice and the encouragement of all, she must be aided by frequent
letters from you, my reverend brothers. And--for "charity endureth all
things,"(14)--I beg you to get from Pope(15) Valerian(16) a letter to
confirm her resolution. A girl's courage, as you know, is strength-
10
ened when she realizes that persons in high place are interested in her.
5. The fact is that my native land is a prey to
barbarism, that in it men's only God is their belly,(1) that they live
only for the present, and that the richer a man is the holier he is
held to be. Moreover, to use a well-worn proverb, the dish has a cover
worthy of it; for Lupicinus is their priest.(2) Like lips like lettuce,
as the saying goes--the only one, as Lucilius tells us,(3) at which
Crassus ever laughed--the reference being to a donkey eating thistles.
What I mean is that an unstable pilot steers a leaking ship, and that
the blind is leading the blind straight to the pit. The ruler is like
the ruled.
6. I salute your mother and mine with the respect
which, as you know, I feel towards her. Associated with you as she is
in a holy life, she has the start of you, her holy children, in that
she is your mother. Her womb may thus be truly called golden. With her
I salute your sisters, who ought all to be welcomed wherever they go,
for they have triumphed over their sex and the world, and await the
Bridegroom's coming,(4) their lamps replenished with oil. O happy the
house which is a home of a widowed Anna, of virgins that are
prophetesses, and of twin Samuels bred in the Temple!(6) Fortunate the
roof which shelters the martyr-mother of the Maccabees, with her sons
around her, each and all wearing the martyr's crown!(5) For although
you confess Christ every day by keeping His commandments, yet to this
private glory you have added the public one of an open confession; for
it was through you that the poison of the Arian heresy was formerly
banished from your city.
You are surprised perhaps at my thus making a fresh
beginning quite at the close of my letter. But what am I to do? I
cannot refuse expression to my feelings. The brief limits of a letter
compel me to be silent; my affection for you urges me to speak. I write
in haste, my language is confused and ill-arranged; but love knows
nothing of order.
LETTER VIII.
TO NICEAS, SUB-DEACON OF AQUILEIA.
Niceas, the sub-deacon, had accompanied Jerome to
the East but had now returned home. In after-years he became bishop of
Aquileia in succession to Chromatius. The date of the letter is 374 A.D.
The comic poet Turpilius(1) says of the exchange of
letters that it alone makes the absent present. The remark, though
occurring in a work of fiction, is not untrue. For what more real
presence--if I may so speak--can there be between absent friends than
speaking to those whom they love in letters, and in letters hearing
their reply? Even those Italian savages, the Cascans of Ennius, who--as
Cicero tells us in his books on rhetoric--hunted their food like beasts
of prey, were wont, before paper and parchment came into use, to
exchange letters written on tablets of wood roughly planed, or on
strips of bark torn from the trees. For this reason men called
letter-carriers tablet-bearers,(2) and letter-writers bark-users,(3)
because they used the bark of trees. How much more then are we, who
live in a civilized age, bound not to omit a social duty performed by
men who lived in a state of gross savagery, and were in some respects
entirely ignorant of the refinements of life. The saintly Chromatius,
look you, and the reverend Eusebius, brothers as much by compatibility
of disposition as by the ties of nature, have challenged me to
diligence by the letters which they have showered upon me. You,
however, who have but just left me, have not merely unknit our new-made
friendship; you have torn it asunder--a process which Laelius, in
Cicero's treatise,(4) wisely forbids. Can it be that the East is so
hateful to you that you dread the thought of even your letters coming
hither? Wake up, wake up, arouse yourself from sleep, give to affection
at least one sheet of paper. Amid the pleasures of life at home
sometimes heave a sigh over the journeys which we have made together.
If you love me, write in answer to my prayer. If you are angry with me,
though angry still write. I find my longing soul much comforted when I
receive a letter from a friend, even though that friend be out of
temper with me.
LETTER IX.
TO CHRYSOGONUS, A MONK OF AQUILEIA.
A bantering letter to an indifferent correspondent.
Of the same date as the preceding.
Heliodorus,(5) who is so dear to us both, and who
loves you with an affection no less
11
deep than my own, may have given you a faithful account of my feelings
towards you; how your name is always on my lips, and how in every
conversation which I have with him I begin by recalling my pleasant
intercourse with you, and go on to marvel at your lowliness, to extol
your virtue, and to proclaim your holy love.
Lynxes, they say, when they look behind them, forget
what they have just seen, and lose all thought of what their eyes have
ceased to behold. And so it seems to be with you. For so entirely have
you forgotten our joint attachment that you have not merely blurred but
erased the writing of that epistle which, as the apostle tells us,(1)
is written in the hearts of Christians. The creatures that I have
mentioned lurk on branches of leafy trees and pounce on fleet roes or
frightened stags. In vain their victims fly, for they carry their
tormentors with them, and these rend their flesh as they run. Lynxes,
however, only hunt when an empty belly makes their mouths dry. When
they have satisfied their thirst for blood, and have filled their
stomachs with food, satiety induces forgetfulness, and they bestow no
thought on future prey till hunger recalls them to a sense of their
need.
Now in your case it cannot be that you have already
had enough of me. Why then do you bring to a premature close a
friendship which is but just begun? Why do you let slip what you have
hardly as yet fully grasped? But as such remissness as yours is never
at a loss for an excuse, you will perhaps declare that you had nothing
to write. Had this been so, you should still have written to inform me
of the fact.
LETTER X.
TO PAUL, AN OLD MAN OF CONCORDIA.
Jerome writes to Paul of Concordia, a centenarian ( 2),
and the owner of a good theological library (3), to lend him some
commentaries. In return he sends him his life (newly written) of Paul
the hermit.(2) The date of the letter is 374 A. D.
1. The shortness of man's life is the punishment for
man's sin; and the fact that even on the very threshold of the light
death constantly overtakes the new-born child proves that the times are
continually sinking into deeper depravity. For when the first tiller of
paradise had been entangled by the serpent in his snaky coils, and had
been forced in consequence to migrate earthwards, although his
deathless state was changed for a mortal one, yet the sentence(1) of
man's curse was put off for nine hundred years, or even more, a period
so long that it may be called a second immortality.
Afterwards sin gradually grew more and more virulent, till the
ungodliness of the giants(2) brought in its train the shipwreck of the
whole world. Then when the world had been cleansed by
the baptism--if I may so call it--of the deluge, human life
was contracted to a short span. Yet even this we have
almost altogether wasted, so continually do our iniquities
fight against the divine purposes. For how few there are, either who go
beyond their hundredth year, or who, going beyond it, do not regret
that they have done so; according to that which the Scripture witnesses
in the book of Psalms: "the days of our years are threescore years and
ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yetis their
strength labor and sorrow."(3)
2. Why, say you, these opening reflections so remote
and so far fetched that one might use against them the Horatian
witticism: Back to the eggs which Leda laid for Zeus, The bard is fain
to trace the war of Troy?(4)
Simply that I may describe in fitting terms your
great age and hoary head as white as Christ's.(5) For see, the
hundredth circling year is already passing over you, and yet, always
keeping the commandments of the Lord, amid the circumstances of your
present life you think over the blessedness of that which is to come.
Your eyes are bright and keen, your steps steady, your hearing good,
your teeth are white, your voice musical, your flesh firm and full of
sap; your ruddy cheeks belie your white hairs, your strength is not
that of your age. Advancing years have not, as we too often see them
do, impaired the tenacity of your memory; the coldness of your blood
has not blunted an intellect at once warm and wary.(6) Your face is not
wrinkled nor your brow furrowed. Lastly, no tremors palsy your hand or
cause it to travel in crooked pathways over the wax on which you write.
The Lord shows us in you the bloom of the resurrection that is to he
ours; so that whereas in others who die by inches whilst yet living, we
recognize the results of sin, in your case we ascribe it
12
to righteousness that you still simulate youth at an age to which it is
foreign. And although we see the like haleness of body in many even of
those who are sinners, in their case it is a grant of the devil to lead
them into sin, whilst in yours it is a gift of God to make you rejoice.
3. Tully in his brilliant speech on behalf of
Flaccus(1) describes the learning of the Greeks as "innate frivolity
and accomplished vanity."
Certainly their ablest literary men used to receive
money for pronouncing eulogies upon their kings or princes. Following
their example, I set a price upon my praise. Nor must you suppose my
demand a small one. You are asked to give me the pearl of the
Gospel,(2) "the words of the Lord," "pure words, even as the silver
which from the earth is tried, and purified seven times in the
fire,"(3) I mean the commentaries of Fortunatian(4) and--for its
account of the persecutors--the History of Aurelius Victor,(5) and with
these the Letters of Novatian;(6) so that, learning the poison set
forth by this schismatic, we may the more gladly drink of the antidote
supplied by the holy martyr Cyprian. In the mean time I have sent to
you, that is to say, to Paul the aged, a Paul that is older still.(7) I
have taken great pains to bring my language down to the level of the
simpler sort. But, somehow or other, though you fill it with water, the
jar retains the odor which it acquired when first used.(8) If my little
gift should please you, I have others also in store which (if the Holy
Spirit shall breathe favorably), shall sail across the sea to you with
all kinds of eastern merchandise.
LETTER XI.
TO THE VIRGINS OF AEMONA.
AEmona was a Roman colony not far from Stridon,
Jerome's birthplace. The virgins to whom the note is addressed had
omitted to answer his letters, and he now writes to upbraid them for
their remissness. The date of the letter is 374 A. D.
This scanty sheet of paper shows in what a
wilderness I live, and because of it I have to say much in few words.
For, desirous though I am to speak to you more fully, this miserable
scrap compels me to leave much unsaid. Still ingenuity make up for lack
of means, and by writing small I can say a great deal. Observe, I
beseech you, how I love you, even in the midst of my difficulties,
since even the want of materials does not stop me from writing to you.
Pardon, I beseech you, an aggrieved man: if I speak
in tears and in anger it is because I have been injured. For in return
for my regular letters you have not sent me a single syllable. Light, I
know, has no communion with darkness,(1) and God's handmaidens no
fellowship with a sinner, yet a harlot was allowed to wash the Lord's
feet with her tears,(2) and dogs are permitted to eat of their masters'
crumbs.(3) It was the Saviour's mission to call sinners and not the
righteous; for, as He said Himself, "they that be whole need not a
physician.(4) He wills the repentance of a sinner rather than his
death,(6) and carries home the poor stray sheep on His own
shoulders.(6) So, too, when the prodigal son returns, his father
receives him with joy.(7) Nay more, the apostle says: "Judge nothing
before the time."(8) For "who art thou that judgest another man's
servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth."(9) And "let him
that standeth take heed lest he fall."(10) "Bear ye one another's
burdens."(11)
Dear sisters, man's envy judges in one way, Christ
in another; and the whisper of a corner is not the same as the sentence
of His tribunal. Many ways seem right to men which are afterwards found
to be wrong.(12) And a treasure is often stowed in earthen vessels.(13)
Peter thrice denied his Lord, yet his bitter tears restored him to his
place. "To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much."(14) No word is
said of the flock as a whole, yet the angels joy in heaven over the
safety of one sick ewe.(15) And if any one demurs to this reasoning,
the Lord Himself has said: "Friend, is thine eye evil because I am
good?"(16)
LETTER XII.
TO ANTONY, MONK.
The subject of this letter is similar to that of the
preceding. Of Antony nothing is known except that some MSS. describe
him as "of AEmona." The date of the letter is 374 A.D.
While the disciples were disputing concerning
precedence our Lord, the teacher of
13
humility, took a little child and said: "Except ye be converted and
become as little children ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven."(1)
And lest He should seem to preach more than he practised, He fulfilled
His own precept in His life. For He washed His disciples' feet,(2) he
received the traitor with a kiss,(3) He conversed with the woman of
Samaria,(4) He spoke of the kingdom of heaven with Mary at His feet,(5)
and when He rose again from the dead He showed Himself first to some
poor women.(6) Pride is opposed to humility, and through it Satan
lost his eminence as an archangel. The Jewish people perished in their
pride, for while they claimed the chief seats and salutations in the
market place,(7) they were superseded by the Gentiles, who had before
been counted as "a drop of a bucket."(8) Two poor fishermen, Peter and
James, were sent to confute the sophists and the wise men of the world.
As the Scripture says: "God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the
humble."(9) Think, brother, what a sin it must be which has God for its
opponent. In the Gospel the Pharisee is rejected because of his pride,
and the publican is accepted because of his humility.(10)
Now, unless I am mistaken, I have already sent you
ten letters, affectionate and earnest, whilst you have not deigned to
give me even a single line. The Lord speaks to His servants, but you,
my brother servant, refuse to speak to me. Believe me, if reserve did
not check my pen, I could show my annoyance in such invective that you
would have to reply--even though it might be in anger. But since anger
is human, and a Christian must not act injuriously, I fall back once
more on entreaty, and beg you to love one who loves you, and to write
to him as a servant should to his fellow-servant. Farewell in the Lord.
LETTER XIII.
TO CASTORINA, HIS MATERNAL AUNT.
An interesting letter, as throwing some light on
Jerome's family relations. Castorina, his maternal aunt, had, for some
reason, become estranged from him, and he now writes to her to effect a
reconciliation. Whether he succeeded in doing so, we do not know. The
date of the letter is 374 A. D.
The apostle and evangelist John rightly says, in his
first epistle, that "whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer."(1)
For, since murder often springs from hate, the hater, even though he
has not yet slain his victim, is at heart a murderer. Why, you ask, do
I begin in this style? Simply that you and I may both lay aside past
ill feeling and cleanse our hearts to be a habitation for God. "Be ye
angry," David says, "and sin not," or, as the apostle more fully
expresses it, "let not the sun go down upon your wrath."(2) What then
shall we do in the day of judgment, upon whose wrath the sun has
gone down not one day but many years? The Lord says in the Gospel: "If
thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy
brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar,
and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and
offer thy gift."(3) Woe to me, wretch that I am; woe, I had
almost said, to you also. This long time past we have
either offered no gift at the altar or have offered it whilst
cherishing anger "without a cause." How have we been able in our
daily prayers to say "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors,"(4) whilst our feelings have been at variance with our
words, and our petition inconsistent with our conduct? Therefore I
renew the prayer which I made a year ago in a previous letter,(5) that
the Lord's legacy of peace(6) may be indeed ours, and that my desires
and your feelings may find favor in His sight. Soon we shall stand
before His judgment seat to receive the reward of harmony restored or
to pay the penalty for harmony broken. In case you shall prove
unwilling--I hope that it may not be so--to accept my advances, I for
my part shall be free. For this letter, when it is read, will insure my
acquittal.
LETTER XIV.
TO HELlODORUS, MONK.
Heliodorus, originally a soldier, but now a
presbyter of the Church, had accompanied Jerome to the East, but, not
feeling called to the solitary life of the desert, had returned to
Aquileia. Here be resumed his clerical duties, and in course of time
was raised to the episcopate as bishop of Altinum.
The letter was written in the first bitterness of
separation and reproaches Heliodorus for having gone back from the
perfect way of the ascetic life. The description given of this is
highly colored and seems to have produced a great impression in the
West. Fabiola was so much enchanted by it that she learned the letter
by heart.(7) The date is 373 or 374 A.D.
1. SO conscious are you of the affection which
exists between us that you cannot but
14
recognize the love and passion with which I strove to prolong our
common sojourn in the desert. This very letter--blotted, as you see,
with tears--gives evidence of the lamentation and weeping with which I
accompanied your departure. With the pretty ways of a child you then
softened your refusal by soothing words, and I, being off my guard,
knew not what to do. Was I to hold my peace? I could not conceal my
eagerness by a show of indifference. Or was I to entreat you yet more
earnestly? You would have refused to listen, for your love was not like
mine. Despised affection has taken the one course open to it. Unable to
keep you when present, it goes in search of you when absent. You asked
me yourself, when you were going away, to invite you to the desert when
I took up my quarters there, and I for my part promised to do so.
Accordingly I invite you now; come, and come quickly. Do not call to
mind old ties; the desert is for those who have left all. Nor let the
hardships of our former travels deter you. You believe in Christ,
believe also in His words: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all
these things shall be added unto you."(1) Take neither scrip nor staff.
He is rich enough who is poor--with Christ.
2. But what is this, and why do I foolishly
importune you again? Away with entreaties, an end to coaxing words.
Offended love does well to be angry. You have spurned my petition;
perhaps you will listen to my remonstrance. What keeps you, effeminate
soldier, in your father's house? Where are your ramparts and trenches?
When have you spent a winter in the field? Lo, the trumpet sounds from
heaven! Lo, the Leader comes with clouds!(2) He is armed to subdue the
world, and out of His mouth proceeds a two-edged sword(3) to mow down
all that encounters it. But as for you, what will you do? Pass straight
from your chamber to the battle-field, and from the cool shade into the
burning sun? Nay, a body used to a tunic cannot endure a buckler; a
head that has worn a cap refuses a helmet; a hand made tender by disuse
is galled by a sword-hilt.(4) Hear the proclamation of your King: "He
that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me
scattereth."(5) Remember the day on which you enlisted, when, buried
with Christ in baptism, you swore fealty to Him, declaring that for His
sake you would spare neither father nor mother. Lo, the enemy is
striving to slay Christ in your breast. Lo, the ranks of the foe sigh
over that bounty which you received when you entered His service.
Should your little nephew(1) hang on your neck, pay no regard to him;
should your mother with ashes on her hair and garments rent show you
the breasts at which she nursed you, heed her not; should your father
prostrate himself on the threshold, trample him under foot and go your
way. With dry eyes fly to the standard of the cross. In such cases
cruelty is the only true affection.
3. Hereafter there shall come--yes, there shall
come--a day when you will return a victor to your true country, and
will walk through the heavenly Jerusalem crowned with the crown of
valor. Then will you receive the citizenship thereof with Paul.(2) Then
will you seek the like privilege for your parents. Then will you
intercede for me who have urged you forward on the path of victory.
I am not ignorant of the fetters which you may
plead as hindrances. My breast is not of iron nor my heart of stone. I
was not born of flint or suckled by a tigress.(3) I have passed through
troubles like yours myself. Now it is a widowed sister who throws her
caressing arms around you. Now it is the slaves, your foster-brothers,
who cry, "To what master are you leaving us?" Now it is a nurse bowed
with age, and a body-servant loved only less than a father, who
exclaim: "Only wait till we die and follow us to our graves." Perhaps,
too, an aged mother, with sunken bosom and furrowed brow, recalling the
lullaby(4) with which she once soothed you, adds her entreaties to
theirs. The learned may call you, if they please,
The sole support and pillar of your house.(5) The
love of God and the fear of hell will easily break such bonds.
Scripture, you will argue, bids us obey our
parents.(6) Yes, but whoso loves them more than Christ loses his own
soul.(7) The enemy takes sword in hand to slay me, and shall I think of
a mother's tears? Or shall I desert the service of Christ for the sake
of a father to whom, if I am Christ's servant, I owe no rites of
burial,(8) albeit if I am Christ's true servant I owe these to all?
Peter with his cowardly advice was an offence to the Lord on the eve of
His passion;(9) and to the breth-
15
ren who strove to restrain him from going up to Jerusalem, Paul's one
answer was: "What mean ye to weep and to break my heart? For I am ready
not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the
Lord Jesus."(1) The battering-ram of natural affection which so often
shatters faith must recoil powerless from the wall of the Gospel. "My
mother and my brethren are these whosoever do the will of my Father
which is in heaven."(2) If they believe in Christ let them bid me
God-speed, for I go to fight in His name. And if they do not believe,
"let the dead bury their dead."(3)
4. But all this, you argue, only touches the case of
martyrs. Ah! my brother, you are mistaken, you are mistaken, if you
suppose that there is ever a time when the Christian does not suffer
persecution. Then are you most hardly beset when you know not that you
are beset at all. "Our adversary as a roaring lion walketh about
seeking whom he may devour,"(4) and do you think of peace? "He sitteth
in the lurking-places of the villages: in the secret places doth he
murder the innocent; his eyes are privily set against the poor. He
lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den; he lieth in wait to catch
the poor;"(5) and do you slumber under a shady tree, so as to fall an
easy prey? On one side self-indulgence presses me hard; on another
covetousness strives to make an inroad; my belly wishes to be a God to
me, in place of Christ,(6) and lust would fain drive away the Holy
Spirit that dwells in me and defile His temple.(7) I am pursued, I say,
by an enemy
Whose name is Legion and his wiles untold;(8) and, hapless wretch that
I am, how shall I hold myself a victor when I am being led away a
captive?
5. My dear brother, weigh well the various forms of
transgression, and think not that the sins which I have mentioned are
less flagrant than that of idolatry. Nay, hear the apostle's view of
the matter. "For this ye know," he writes, "that no whore-monger or
unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."(9) In a general way
all that is of the devil savors of enmity to God, and what is of the
devil is idolatry, since all idols are subject to him. Yet Paul
elsewhere lays down the law in express and unmistakable terms, saying:
"Mortify your members, which are upon the earth, laying aside
fornication, uncleanness, evil concupiscence and covetousness, which
are(1) idolatry, for which things' sake the wrath of God cometh."(2)
Idolatry is not confined to casting incense upon an
altar with finger and thumb, or to pouring libations of wine out of a
cup into a bowl. Covetousness is idolatry, or else the selling of the
Lord for thirty pieces of silver was a righteous act.(3) Lust involves
profanation, or else men may defile with common harlots(4) those
members of Christ which should be "a living sacrifice acceptable to
God."(5) Fraud is idolatry, or else they are worthy of imitation who,
in the Acts of the Apostles, sold their inheritance, and because they
kept back part of the price, perished by an instant doom.(6) Consider
well, my brother; nothing is yours to keep. "Whosoever he be of you,"
the Lord says, "that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my
disciple."(7) Why are you such a half-hearted Christian?
6. See how Peter left his net;(8) see how the
publican rose from the receipt of custom.(9) In a moment he became an
apostle. "The Son of man hath not where to lay his head,"(10) and do
you plan wide porticos and spacious halls? If you look to inherit the
good things of the world you can no longer be a joint-heir with
Christ.(11) You are called a monk, and has the name no meaning? What
brings you, a solitary, into the throng of men? The advice that I give
is that of no inexperienced mariner who has never lost either ship or
cargo, and has never known a gale. Lately shipwrecked as I have been
myself, my warnings to other voyagers spring from my own fears. On one
side, like Charybdis, self-indulgence sucks into its vortex the soul's
salvation. On the other, like Scylla, lust, with a smile on her girl's
face, lures it on to wreck its chastity. The coast is savage, and the
devil with a crew of pirates carries irons to fetter his captives. Be
not credulous, be not over-confident. The sea may be as smooth
and smiling as a pond, its quiet surface may be scarcely ruffled by a
breath of air, yet sometimes its waves are as high as mountains. There
is danger in its depths, the foe is lurking there. Ease your sheets,
spread
16
your sails, fasten the cross as an ensign on your prow. The calm that
you speak of is itself a tempest. "Why so?" you will perhaps argue;
"are not all my fellow-townsmen Christians?" Your case, I reply, is not
that of others. Listen to the words of the Lord: "If thou wilt be
perfect go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come and
follow me."(1) You have already promised to be perfect. For when you
forsook the army and made yourself an eunuch for the kingdom of
heaven's sake,(2) you did so that you might follow the perfect life.
Now the perfect servant of Christ has nothing beside Christ. Or if he
have anything beside Christ he is not perfect. And if he be not perfect
when he has promised God to be so, his profession is a lie. But "the
mouth that lieth slayeth the soul."(3) To conclude, then, if you are
perfect you will not set your heart on your father's goods; and if you
are not perfect you have deceived the Lord. The Gospel thunders forth
its divine warning: "Ye cannot serve two masters,"(4) and does any one
dare to make Christ a liar by serving at once both God and Mammon?
Repeatedly does He proclaim, "If any one will come after me let him
deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."(5) If I load myself
with gold can I think that I am following Christ? Surely not. "He that
saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk even as He
walked."(6)
7. I know you will rejoin that you possess nothing.
Why, then, if you are so well prepared for battle, do you not take the
field? Perhaps you think that you can wage war in your own country,
although the Lord could do no signs in His?(7) Why not? you ask. Take
the answer which comes to you with his authority: "No prophet is
accepted in his own country."(8) But, you will say, I do not seek
honor; the approval of my conscience is enough for me. Neither did the
Lord seek it; for when the multitudes would have made Him a king he
fled from them.(9) But where there is no honor there is contempt; and
where there is contempt there is frequent rudeness; and where there is
rudeness there is vexation; and where there is vexation there is no
rest; and where there is no rest the mind is apt to be diverted from
its purpose. Again, where, through restlessness, earnestness loses any
of its force, it is lessened by what it loses, and that which is
lessened cannot be called perfect. The upshot of all which is that a
monk cannot be perfect in his own country. Now, not to aim at
perfection is itself a sin.
8. Driven from this line of defence you will appeal
to the example of the clergy. These, you will say, remain in their
cities, and yet they are surely above criticism. Far be it from me to
censure the successors of the apostles, who with holy words consecrate
the body of Christ, and who make us Christians.(1) Having the keys of
the kingdom of heaven, they judge men to some extent before the day of
judgment, and guard the chastity of the bride of Christ. But, as I have
before hinted, the case of monks is different from that of the clergy.
The clergy feed Christ's sheep; I as a monk am fed by them. They live
of the altar:(2) I, if I bring no gift to it, have the axe laid to my
root as to that of a barren tree.(3) Nor can I plead poverty as an
excuse, for the Lord in the gospel has praised an aged widow for
casting into the treasury the last two coins that she had.(4) I may not
sit in the presence of a presbyter;(5) he, if I sin, may deliver me to
Satan, "for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be
saved."(6) Under the old law he who disobeyed the priests was put
outside the camp and stoned by the people, or else he was beheaded and
expiated his contempt with his blood.(7) But now the disobedient person
is cut down with the spiritual sword, or he is expelled
from the church and torn to pieces by ravening demons. Should the
entreaties of your brethren induce you to take orders, I shall rejoice
that you are lifted up, and fear lest you may be cast down. You will
say: "If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good
work."(8) I know that; but you should add what follows: such an one
"must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, chaste,
of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to
wine, no striker but patient."(9) After fully explaining the
qualifications of a bishop the apostle speaks of ministers of the third
degree with equal care. "Likewise must the deacons be grave," he
writes, "not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of
filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
And let these also first be proved; then, let them minister, being
found blameless."(10) Woe to the man who goes in to the supper without
a wedding garment. Nothing remains for
17
him but the stern question, "Friend, how camest thou in hither?" And
when he is speechless the order will be given, "Bind him hand and foot,
and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth."(1) Woe to him who, when he has received
a talent, has bound it in a napkin; and, whilst others make profits,
only preserves what he has received. His angry lord shall rebuke him in
a moment. "Thou wicked servant," he will say, "wherefore gavest thou
not my money into the bank that at my coming I might have required mine
own with usury?"(2) That is to say, you should have laid before the
altar what you were not able to bear. For whilst you, a slothful
trader, keep a penny in your hands, you occupy the place of another who
might double the money. Wherefore, as he who ministers well purchases
to himself a good degree,(3) so he who approaches the cup of the Lord
unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. (4)
9. Not all bishops are bishops indeed. You consider
Peter; mark Judas as well. You notice Stephen; look also on Nicolas,
sentenced in the Apocalypse by the Lord's own lips,(5) whose shameful
imaginations gave rise to the heresy of the Nicolaitans. "Let a man
examine himself and so let him come."(6) For it is not ecclesiastical
rank that makes a man a Christian. The centurion Cornelius was still a
heathen when he was cleansed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Daniel was
but a child when he judged the elders.(7) Amos was stripping mulberry
bushes when, in a moment, he was made a prophet.(8) David was only a
shepherd when he was chosen to be king.(9) And the least of His
disciples was the one whom Jesus loved the most. My brother, sit down
in the lower room, that when one less honorable comes you may be bidden
to go up higher.(10) Upon whom does the Lord rest but upon him that is
lowly and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at His word?(11) To
whom God has committed much, of him He will ask the
more.(12) "Mighty men shall be mightily tormented."(13) No
man need pride himself in the day of judgment on merely physical
chastity, for then shall men give account for every idle word,(14) and
the reviling of a brother shall be counted as the sin of murder.(15)
Paul and Peter now reign with Christ, and it is not easy to take the
place of the one or to hold the office of the other. There may come an
angel to rend the veil of your temple,(1) and to remove your
candlestick out of its place.(2) If you intend to build the tower,
first count the cost.(3) Salt that has lost its savor is good for
nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of swine.(4) If
a monk fall, a priest shall intercede for him; but who shall intercede
for a fallen priest?
10. At last my discourse is clear of the reefs: at
last this frail bark has passed from the breakers into deep water. I
may now spread my sails to the breeze; and, as I leave the rocks of
controversy astern, my epilogue will be like the joyful shout of
mariners. O desert, bright with the flowers of Christ! O solitude
whence come the stones of which, in the Apocalypse, the city of the
great king is built!(5) O wilderness, gladdened with God's especial
presence! What keeps you in the world, my brother, yon who are above
the world?(6) How long shall gloomy roofs oppress you? How long shall
smoky cities immure you? Believe me, I have more light than you. Sweet
it is to lay aside the weight of the body and to soar into the pure
bright ether. Do you dread poverty? Christ calls the poor blessed.(7)
Does toil frighten you? No athlete is crowned but in the sweat of his
brow. Are you anxious as regards food? Faith fears no famine. Do you
dread the bare ground for limbs wasted with fasting? The Lord lies
there beside you. Do you recoil from an unwashed head and uncombed
hair? Christ is your true head.(8) Does the boundless solitude of the
desert terrify you? In the spirit you may walk always in paradise. Do
but turn your thoughts thither and you will be no more in the desert.
Is your skin rough and scaly because you no longer
bathe? He that is once washed in Christ needeth not to wash again.(9)
To all your objections the apostle gives this one brief answer: "The
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory" which shall come after them, "which shall be revealed
in us."(10) You are too greedy of enjoyment, my brother, if you wish to
rejoice with the world here, and to reign with Christ hereafter.
11. it shall come, it shall come, that day when this
corruptible shall put on incorrup-
18
tion, and this mortal shall put on immortality.(1) Then shall that
servant be blessed whom the Lord shall find watching.(2) Then at the
sound of the trumpet(3) the earth and its peoples shall tremble, but
you shall rejoice. The world shall howl at the Lord who comes to judge
it, and the tribes of the earth shall smite the breast. Once mighty
kings shall tremble in their nakedness. Venus shall be exposed, and her
son too Jupiter with his fiery bolts will be brought to trial; and
Plato, with his disciples, will be but a fool. Aristotle's arguments
shall be of no avail. You may seem a poor man and country bred, but
then you shall exult and laugh, and say: Behold my crucified Lord
behold my judge. This is He who was once an infant wrapped in swaddling
clothes and crying in a manger.(4) This is He whose parents were a
workingman and a working-woman.(5) This is He, who, carried into Egypt
in His mother's bosom, though He was God, fled before the face of man.
This is He who was clothed in a scarlet robe and crowned with
thorns.(6) This is He who was called a sorcerer and a man with a devil
and a Samaritan.(7) Jew, behold the hands which you nailed to the
cross. Roman, behold the side which you pierced with the spear. See
both of you whether it was this body that the disciples stole secretly
and by night.(8) For this you profess to believe.
My brother, it is affection which has urged me to
speak thus; that you who now find the Christian life so hard may have
your reward in that day.
LETTER XV.
TO POPE DAMASUS.
This letter, written in 376 or 377 A.D., illustrates
Jerome's attitude towards the see of Rome at this time held by Damasus,
afterwards his warm friend and admirer. Referring lo Rome as the scene
of his own baptism and as a church where the true faith has remained
unimpaired ( 1), and laying down the strict doctrine of salvation only
within the pale of the church ( 2), Jerome asks "the successor of the
fisherman" two questions, viz.:(1) who is the true bishop of the three
claimants of the see of Antioch, and(2) which is the correct
terminology, to speak of three "hypostases" in the Godhead, or of one?
On the latter question he expresses fully his own opinion.
1. Since the East, shattered as it is by the
long-standing feuds, subsisting between its peoples, is bit by bit
tearing into shreds the seamless vest of the Lord, "woven from the top
throughout,"(1) since the foxes are destroying the vineyard of
Christ,(2) and since among the broken cisterns that hold no water it is
hard to discover "the sealed fountain" and "the garden inclosed,"(3) I
think it my duty to consult the chair of Peter, and to turn to a church
whose faith has been praised by Paul.(4) I appeal for spiritual food to
the church whence I have received the garb of Christ.(5) The wide space
of sea and land that lies between us cannot deter me from searching for
"the pearl of great price."(6) "Wheresoever the body is, there will the
eagles be gathered together."(7) Evil children have squandered their
patrimony; you alone keep your heritage intact. The fruitful soil of
Rome, when it receives the pure seed of the Lord, bears fruit an
hundredfold; but here the seed corn is choked in the furrows and
nothing grows but darnel or oats.(8) In the West the Sun of
righteousness(9) is even now rising; in the East, Lucifer, who fell
from heaven,(10) has once more set his throne above the stars.(11) "Ye
are the light of the world,"(12) "ye are the salt of the earth,"(13) ye
are "vessels of gold and of silver." Here are vessels of wood or of
earth,(14) which wait for the rod of iron,(15) and eternal fire.
2. Yet, though your greatness terrifies me, your
kindness attracts me. From the priest I demand the safe-keeping of the
victim, from the shepherd the protection due to the sheep. Away with
all that is overweening; let the state of Roman majesty withdraw. My
words are spoken to the successor of the fisherman, to the disciple of
the cross. As I follow no leader save Christ, so I communicate with
none but your blessedness, that is with the chair of Peter. For this, I
know, is the rock on which the church is built!(16) This is the house
where alone the paschal lamb can be rightly eaten.(17) This is the ark
of Noah, and he who is not found in it shall perish when the flood
prevails.(18) But since by reason of my sins I have betaken myself to
this desert which lies between Syria and the uncivilized waste, I
cannot, owing to the great distance between us, always ask of your
sanctity the holy thing of the Lord.(19) Con-
19
sequently I here follow the Egyptian confessors(1) who share your
faith, and anchor my frail craft under the shadow of their great
argosies. I know nothing of Vitalis; I reject Meletius; I have nothing
to do with Paulinus.(2) He that gathers not with you scatters;(3) he
that is not of Christ is of Antichrist.
3. Just now, I am sorry to say, those Arians, the
Campenses,(4) are trying to extort from me, a Roman Christian, their
unheard-of formula of three hypostases.(5) And this, too, after the
definition of Nicaea(6) and the decree of Alexandria,(7) in which the
West has joined. Where, I should like to know, are the apostles of
these doctrines? Where is their Paul, their new doctor of the Gentiles?
I ask them what three hypostases are supposed to mean. They reply three
persons subsisting. I rejoin that this is my belief. They are not
satisfied with the meaning, they demand the term. Surely some secret
venom lurks in the words. "If any man refuse," I cry, "to acknowledge
three hypostases in the sense of three things hypostatized, that is
three persons subsisting, let him be anathema." Yet, because I do not
learn their words, I am counted a heretic. "But, if any one,
understanding by hypostasis essence,(8) deny that in the three persons
there is one hypostasis, he has no part in Christ." Because this is my
confession I, like you, am branded with the stigma of Sabellianism.(9)
4. If you think fit enact a decree; and then I shall
not hesitate to speak of three hypostases. Order a new creed to
supersede the Nicene; and then, whether we are Arians or orthodox, one
confession will do for us all. In the whole range of secular learning
hypostasis never means anything but essence. And can any one, I ask, be
so profane as to speak of three essences or substances in the Godhead?
There is one nature of God and one only; and this, and this alone,
truly is. For absolute being is derived from no other source but is all
its own. All things besides, that is all things created, although they
appear to be, are not. For there was a time when they were not, and
that which once was not may again cease to be. God alone who is
eternal, that is to say, who has no beginning, really deserves to be
called an essence. Therefore also He says to Moses from the bush, "I am
that I am," and Moses says of Him, "I am hath sent me."(1) As the
angels, the sky, the earth, the seas, all existed at the time, it must
have been as the absolute being that God claimed for himself that name
of essence, which apparently was common to all. But because His nature
alone is perfect, and because in the three persons there subsists but
one Godhead, which truly is and is one nature; whosoever in the name of
religion declares that there are in the Godhead three elements, three
hypostases, that is, or essences, is striving really to predicate three
natures of God. And if this is true, why are we severed by walls from
Arius, when in dishonesty we are one with him? Let Ursicinus be made
the colleague of your blessedness; let Auxentius be associated with
Ambrose.(2) But may the faith of Rome never come to such a pass! May
the devout hearts of your people never be infected with such unholy
doctrines! Let us be satisfied to speak of one substance and of three
subsisting persons--perfect, equal, coeternal. Let us keep to one
hypostasis, if such be your pleasure, and say nothing of three. It is a
bad sign when those who mean the same thing use different words. Let us
be satisfied with the form of creed which we have hitherto used. Or, if
you think it right that I should speak of three hypostases, explaining
what I mean by them, I am ready to submit. But, believe me, there is
poison hidden under their honey; the angel of Satan has transformed
himself into an angel of light.(3) They give a plausible explanation of
the term hypostasis; yet when I profess to hold it in the same sense
they count me a heretic. Why are they so tenacious of a word? Why do
they shelter themselves under ambiguous language? If their belief
corresponds to their explanation of it, I do not condemn them for
keeping it. On the other hand, if
20
my belief corresponds to their expressed opinions, they should allow me
to set forth their meaning in my own words.
5. I implore your blessedness, therefore, by the
crucified Saviour of the world, and by the consubstantial trinity, to
authorize me by letter either to use or to refuse this formula of three
hypostases. And test the obscurity of my present abode may baffle the
bearers of your letter, I pray you to address it to Evagrius, the
presbyter, with whom you are well acquainted. I beg you also to signify
with whom I am to communicate at Antioch. Not, I hope, with the
Campenses;(1) for they--with their allies the heretics of
Tarsus(2)--only desire communion with you to preach with greater
authority their traditional doctrine of three hypostases.
LETTER XVI.
TO POPE DAMASUS.
This letter, written a few months after the
preceding, is another appeal to Damasus to solve the writer's doubts.
Jerome once more refers to his baptism at Rome, and declares that his
one answer to the factions at Antioch is, "He who clings to the chair
of Peter is accepted by me." Written from the desert in the year 377 or
378.
1. By her importunity the widow in the gospel at
last gained a hearing,(3) and by the same means one friend induced
another to give him bread at midnight, when his door was shut and his
servants were in bed.(4) The publican's prayers overcame God,(5)
although God is invincible. Nineveh was saved by its tears from the
impending ruin caused by its sin.(6) To what end, you ask, these
far-fetched references? To this end, I make answer; that you in your
greatness should look upon me in my littleness; that you, the rich
shepherd, should not despise me, the ailing sheep. Christ Himself
brought the robber from the cross to paradise,(7) and, to show that
repentance is never too late, He turned a murderer's death into a
martyrdom. Gladly does Christ embrace the prodigal son when he returns
to Him;(8) and, leaving the ninety and nine, the good shepherd carries
home on His shoulders the one poor sheep that is left.(9) From a
persecutor Paul becomes a preacher. His bodily eyes are blinded to
clear the eyes of his soul,(10) and he who once haled Christ's servants
in chains before the council of the Jews,(1) lives afterwards to glory
in the bonds of Christ.(2)
2. As I have already written to you,(3) I, who have
received Christ's garb in Rome, am now detained in the waste that
borders Syria. No sentence of banishment, however, has been passed upon
me; the punishment which I am undergoing is self-inflicted. But, as the
heathen poet says:
They change not mind but sky who cross the sea.(4) The untiring foe
follows me closely, and the assaults that I suffer in the desert are
severer than ever. For the Arian frenzy raves, and the powers of the
world support it. The church is rent into three factions, and each of
these is eager to seize me for its own. The influence of the monks is
of long standing, and it is directed against me. I meantime keep
crying: "He who clings to the chair of Peter is accepted by me."
Meletius, Vitalis, and Paulinus(6) all profess to cleave to you, and I
could believe the assertion if it were made by one of them only. As it
is, either two of them or else all three are guilty of falsehood.
Therefore I implore your blessedness, by our Lord's cross and passion,
those necessary glories of our faith, as you hold an apostolic office,
to give an apostolic decision. Only tell me by letter with whom I am to
communicate in Syria, and I will pray for you that you may sit in
judgment enthroned with the twelve;(6) that when you grow old, like
Peter, you may be girded not by yourself but by another,(7) and that,
like Paul, you may be made a citizen of the heavenly kingdom.(8) Do not
despise a soul for which Christ died.
LETTER XVII.
TO THE PRESBYTER MARCUS.
In this letter, addressed to one who seems to have
had some pre-eminence among the monks of the Chalcidian desert, Jerome
complains of the hard treatment meted out to him because of his refusal
to take any part Z in the great theological dispute then raging in
Syria. He protests his own orthodoxy, and begs permission to remain
where he is until the return of spring, when he will retire from "the
inhospitable desert," Written in A.D. 378 or 379.
1. I had made up my mind to use the words of the
psalmist: "While the wicked
21
was before me I was dumb with silence; I was humbled, and I held my
peace even from good :"(1) and "I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was
as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that
heareth not."(2) But charity overcomes all things,(3) and my regard for
you defeats my determination. I am, indeed, less careful to retaliate
upon my assailants than to comply with your request. For among
Christians, as one has said,(4) not he who endures an outrage is
unhappy, but he who commits it.
2. And first, before I speak to you of my belief
(which you know full well), I am forced to cry out against the
inhumanity of this country. A hackneyed quotation best expresses my
meaning:
What savages are these who will not grant
A rest to strangers, even on their sands!
They threaten war and drive us from their coasts.(5)
I take this from a Gentile poet that one who disregards the peace of
Christ may at least learn its meaning from a heathen. I am called a
heretic, although I preach the consubstantial trinity. I am accused of
the Sabellian impiety, although I proclaim with unwearied voice that in
the Godhead there are three distinct,(6) real, whole, and perfect
persons. The Arians do right to accuse me, but the orthodox forfeit
their orthodoxy when they assail a faith like mine. They may, if they
like, condemn me as a heretic; but if they do they must also condemn
Egypt and the West, Damasus and Peter.(7) Why do they fasten the guilt
on one and leave his companions uncensured? If there is but little
water in the stream, it is the fault, not of the channel, but of the
source. I blush to say it, but from the caves which serve us for cells
we monks of the desert condemn the world. Rolling in sack-cloth and
ashes,(8) we pass sentence on bishops. What use is the robe of a
penitent if it covers the pride of a king? Chains, squalor, and long
hair are by right tokens of sorrow, and not ensigns of royalty. I
merely ask leave to remain silent. Why do they torment a man who does
not deserve their ill-will? I am a heretic, you say. What is it to you
if I am? Stay quiet, and all is said. You are afraid, I suppose, that,
with my fluent knowledge of Syriac and Greek, I shall make a tour of
the churches, lead the people into error, and form a
schism! I have robbed no man of anything; neither have I taken what I
have not earned. With my own hand(1) daily and in the sweat of my
brow(2) I labor for my food, knowing that it is written by the apostle:
"If any will not work, neither shall he eat."(3)
3. Reverend and holy father, Jesus is my witness
with what groans and tears I have written all this. "I have kept
silence, saith the Lord, but shall I always keep silence? Surely
not."(4) I cannot have so much as a corner of the desert. Every day I
am asked for my confession of faith; as though when I was regenerated
in baptism I had made none. I accept their formulas, but they are still
dissatisfied. I sign my name to them, but they still refuse to believe
me. One thing only will content them, that I should leave the country.
I am on the point of departure. They have already torn away from me my
dear brothers, who are a part of my very life. They are, as you see,
anxious to depart--nay, they are actually departing; it is preferable,
they say, to live among wild beasts rather than with Christians such as
these. I myself, too, would be at this moment a fugitive were I not
withheld by physical infirmity and by the severity of the winter. I ask
to be allowed the shelter of the desert for a few months till spring
returns; or if this seems too long a delay, I am ready to depart now.
"The earth is the Lord' s and the fulness thereof."(5) Let them climb
up to heaven alone;(6) for them alone Christ died; they possess all
things and glory in all. Be it so. "But God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified unto me and I unto the world."(7)
4. As regards the questions which you have thought
fit to put to me concerning the faith, I have given to the reverend
Cyril(8) a written confession which sufficiently answers them. He who
does not so believe has no part in Christ. My faith is attested
both by your ears and by those of your blessed brother, Zenobius, to
whom, as well as to yourself, we all of us here send our best greeting.
22
LETTER XVIII. TO POPE DAMASUS.
This (written from Constantinople in A.D. 381) is
the earliest of Jerome's expository letters. In it he explains at
length the vision recorded in the sixth chapter of Isaiah, and enlarges
upon its mystical meaning. "Some of my predecessors," he writes, "make
'the Lord sitting upon a throne' God the Father, and suppose the
seraphim to represent the Son and the Holy Spirit. I do not agree with
them, for John expressly tells us(1) that it was Christ and not the
Father whom the prophet saw." And again, "The word seraphim means
either ' glow ' or ' beginning of speech,' and the two seraphim thus
stand for the Old and New Testaments.(2) 'Did not our heart burn within
us,' said the disciples, 'while he opened to us the Scriptures?'(3)
Moreover, the Old Testament is written in Hebrew, and this
unquestionably was man's original language." Jerome then speaks of the
unity of the sacred books. "Whatever," he asserts, "we read in the Old
Testament we find also in the Gospel; and what we red in the Gospel is
deduced from the Old Testament.(4) There is no discord between them, no
disagreement. In both Testaments the Trinity is preached."
The letter is noticeable for the evidence it affords
of the thoroughness of Jerome's studies. Not only does he cite the
several Greek versions of Isaiah in support of his argument, but he
also reverts to the Hebrew original. So far as the West was concerned
be may be said to have discovered this anew. Even educated men like
Augustine had ceased to look beyond the LXX., and were more or less
aghast at the boldness with which Jerome rejected its time-honored but
inaccurate renderings.(6)
The letter also shows that independence of judgment
which always marked Jerome's work. At the time when he wrote it he was
much under the sway of Origen. But great as was his admiration for the
master, he was not afraid to discard his exegesis when, as in the
case of the seraphim, he believed it to be erroneous.
LETTER XIX.
FROM POPE DAMASUS.
A letter from Damasus to Jerome, in which he asks
for an explanation of the word "Hosanna" (A.D. 383).
LETTER XX.
TO POPE DAMASUS.
Jerome's reply to the foregoing. Exposing the error
of Hilary of Poitiers, who supposed the expression to signify
"redemption of the house of David," he goes on to show that in the
gospels it is a quotation from Ps. cxviii. 25 and that its true meaning
is "save now" (so A.V.). "Let us," he writes, "leave the streamlets of
conjecture and return to the fountain-head. It is from the Hebrew
writings that the truth is to be drawn." Written at Rome A.D. 383.
LETTER XXI. TO DAMASUS.
In this letter Jerome, at the request of Damasus,
gives a minutely detailed explanation of the parable of the prodigal
son.
LETTER XXII.
TO EUSTOCHIUM.
Perhaps the most famous of all the letters. In it
Jerome lays down at great length(1) the motives which ought to actuate
those who devote themselves to a life of virginity, and(2) the rules by
which they ought to regulate their daily conduct. The letter contains a
vivid picture of Roman society as it then was--the luxury, profligacy,
and hypocrisy prevalent among both men and women, besides some graphic
autobiographical details (? 7, 30), and concludes with a full account
of the three kinds of monasticism then practised in Egypt (
34-36). Thirty years later Jerome wrote a similar letter to Demetrias
(CXXX.), with which this ought to be compared. Written at Rome 384 A.D.
1. "Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline
thine ear; forget also thine own people and thy father's house, and the
king shall desire thy beauty."(1) In this forty-fourth(2) psalm God
speaks to the human soul that, following the example of Abraham,(3) it
should go out from its own land and from its kindred, and should leave
the Chaldeans, that is the demons, and should dwell in the country of
the living, for which elsewhere the prophet sighs: "I think to see the
good things of the Lord in the land of the living."(4) But it is not
enough for you to go out from your own land unless you forget your
people and your father's house; unless you scorn the flesh and cling to
the bridegroom in a close embrace. "Look not behind thee," he says,
"neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain lest thou
be consumed."(5) He who has grasped the plough must not look behind
him(6) or return home from the field, or having Christ's garment,
descend from the roof to fetch other raiment.(7) Truly a marvellous
thing, a father charges his daughter not to remember her father. "Ye
are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your
will to do."(8) So it was said to the Jews. And in another place, "He
that committeth sin is of the devil."(9) Born, in the first instance,
of such parentage we are naturally black, and even when we have
repented, so long as we have not scaled the heights of virtue, we may
still say: "I am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem."(10)
But you will say to me, "I have left the home of my childhood; I have
forgotten my father, I am born anew in Christ. What reward do I receive
for this?" The context shows--"The king shall desire thy beauty." This,
then, is the great mystery. "For this cause shall
23
a man leave his father and his mother and shall be joined unto his
wife, and they two shall be" not as is there said, "of one flesh,"(1)
but "of one spirit." Your bridegroom is not haughty or disdainful; He
has "married an Ethiopian woman."(2) When once you desire the
wisdom of the true Solomon and come to Him, He will avow all His
knowledge to you; He will lead you into His chamber with His royal
hand;(3) He will miraculously change your complexion so that it shall
be said of you, "Who is this that goeth up and hath been made white?"(4)
2. I write to you thus, Lady Eustochium (I am bound
to call my Lord's bride "lady"), to show yon by my opening words that
my object is not to praise the virginity which you follow, and of which
you have proved the value, or yet to recount the drawbacks of marriage,
such as pregnancy, the crying of infants, the torture caused by a
rival, the cares of household management, and all those fancied
blessings which death at last cuts short. Not that married women are as
such outside the pale; they have their own place, the marriage that is
honorable and the bed undefiled.(6) My purpose is to show you that you
are fleeing from Sodom and should take warning by Lot's wife.(6) There
is no flattery, I can tell you, in these pages. A flatterer's words are
fair, but for all that he is an enemy. You need expect no rhetorical
flourishes setting you among the angels, and while they extol virginity
as blessed, putting the world at your feet.
3. I would have you draw from your monastic vow not
pride but fear.(7) You walk laden with gold; you must keep out of the
robber's way. To us men this life is a race-course we contend here, we
are crowned elsewhere. No man can lay aside fear while serpents and
scorpions beset his path. The Lord says: "My sword hath drunk its fill
in heaven,"(8) and do you expect to find peace on the earth? No, the
earth yields only thorns and thistles, and its dust is food for the
serpent.(9) "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but
against the principalities, against the powers, against the
world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places."(10) We are hemmed in by hosts of
foes, our enemies are upon every side. The weak flesh will soon be
ashes: one against many, it fights against tremendous odds. Not till it
has been dissolved, not till the Prince of this world has come and
found no sin therein,(1) not till then may you safely listen to the
prophet's words: "Thou shall not be afraid for the terror by night nor
for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the trouble which haunteth
thee in darkness; nor for the demon and his attacks at noonday. A
thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand; but
it shall not come nigh thee."(2) When the hosts of the enemy distress
you, when your frame is fevered and your passions roused, when you say
in your heart, "What shall I do?" Elisha's words shall give you your
answer, "Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be
with them."(3) He shall pray," Lord, open the eyes of thine handmaid
that she may see." And then when your eyes have been opened you shall
see a fiery chariot like Elijah's waiting to carry you to heaven,(4)
and shall joyfully sing: "Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the
snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken and we are escaped."(5)
4. So long as we are held down by this frail body,
so long as we have our treasure in earthen vessels;(6) so long as the
flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh,(7)
there can be no sure victory. "Our adversary the devil goeth about as a
roaring lion seeking whom he may devour."(8) "Thou makest darkness,"
David says, "and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do
creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey and seek their meat
from God."(9) The devil looks not for unbelievers, for those who are
without, whose flesh the Assyrian king roasted in the furnace.(10) It
is the church of Christ that he "makes haste to spoil."(11) According
to Habakkuk, "His food is of the choicest."(12) A Job is the victim of
his machinations, and after devouring Judas he seeks power to sift the
[other] apostles.(13) The Saviour came not to send peace upon the earth
but a sword.(14) Lucifer fell, Lucifer who used to rise at dawn;(15)
and be who was bred up in a paradise of delight had the well-earned
sentence passed upon him, "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and
though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee
down, saith the Lord."(16) For he had said in his heart, "I will exalt
my throne above the stars of God," and "I will be like the Most
High."(17) Wherefore God says
24
every day to the angels, as they descend the ladder that Jacob
saw in his dream,(1) "I have said ye are Gods and all of you are
children of the Most High. But ye shall die like men and fall like one
of the princes."(2) The devil fell first, and since "God standeth in
the congregation of the Gods and judgeth among the Gods,"(3) the
apostle writes to those who are ceasing to be Gods--" Whereas there is
among you envying and strife, are ye not carnal and walk as men?"(4)
5. If, then, the apostle, who was a chosen vessel(5)
separated unto the gospel of Christ,(6) by reason of the pricks of the
flesh and the allurements of vice keeps under his body and brings it
into subjection, lest when he has preached to others he may himself be
a castaway;(7) and yet, for all that, sees another law in his members
warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity to
the law of sin;(8) if after nakedness, fasting. hunger, imprisonment,
scourging and other torments, he turns back to himself and cries "Oh,
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?"(9) do you fancy that you ought to lay aside apprehension? See
to it that God say not some day of you: "The virgin of Israel is fallen
and there is none to raise her up."(10) I will say it boldly, though
God can do all things He cannot raise up a virgin when once she has
fallen. He may indeed relieve one who is defiled from the penalty of
her sin, but He will not give her a crown. Let us fear lest in us also
the prophecy be fulfilled, "Good virgins shall faint."(11) Notice that
it is good virgins who are spoken of, for there are bad ones as well.
"Whosoever looketh on a woman," the Lord says, "to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart."(12) So that
virginity may be lost even by a thought. Such are evil virgins, virgins
in the flesh, not in the spirit; foolish virgins, who, having no oil,
are shut out by the Bridegroom.(13)
6. But if even real virgins, when they have other
failings, are not saved by their physical virginity, what shall become
of those who have prostituted the members of Christ, and have changed
the temple of the Holy Ghost into a brothel? Straightway shall they
hear the words: "Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of
Babylon, sit on the ground; there is no throne, O daughter of the
Chaldaeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
Take the mill-stone and grind meal; uncover thy locks, make bare the
legs, pass over the rivers; thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy
shame shall be seen."(1) And shall she come to this after the
bridal-chamber of God the Son, after the kisses of Him who is to her
both kinsman and spouse?(2) Yes, she of whom the prophetic
utterance once sang, "Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in a
vesture of gold wrought about with divers col ours,"(3) shall be made
naked, and her skirts shall be discovered upon her face.(4) She shall
sit by the waters of loneliness, her pitcher laid aside; and shall open
her feet to every one that passeth by, and shall be polluted to the
crown of her head.(5) Better had it been for her to have submitted to
the yoke of marriage, to have walked in level places, than thus,
aspiring to loftier heights, to fall into the deep of hell. I pray you,
let not Zion the faithful city become a harlot:(6) let It not be that
where the Trinity has been entertained, there demons shall dance and
owls make their nests, and jackals build.(7) Let us not loose the belt
that binds the breast. When lust tickles the sense mad the soft fire of
sensual pleasure sheds over us its pleasing glow, let us immediately
break forth and cry: "The Lord is on my side: I will not fear what the
flesh can do unto me."(8) When the inner man shows signs for a time of
wavering between vice and virtue, say: "Why art thou cast down, O my
soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I
shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my
God."(9) You must never let suggestions of evil grow on you, or a babel
of disorder win strength in your breast. Slay the enemy while he
is small; and, that you may not have a crop of tares, nip the
evil in the bud. Bear in mind the warning words of the Psalmist:
"Hapless daughter of Babylon, happy shall he be that
rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be that taketh
and dasheth thy little ones against the stones."(10) Because natural
heat inevitably kindles in a man sensual passion, he is praised and
accounted happy who, when foul suggestions arise in his mind, gives
them no quarter, but dashes them instantly against the rock. "Now the
Rock is Christ."(11)
7. How often, when I was living in the desert, in
the vast solitude which gives to hermits a savage dwelling-place,
parched by a burning sun, how often did I fancy myself
25
among the pleasures of Rome! I used to sit alone because I was filled
with bitterness. Sackcloth disfigured my unshapely limbs and my skin
from long neglect had become as black as an Ethiopian's. Tears and
groans were every day my portion; and if drowsiness chanced to overcome
my struggles against it, my bare bones, which hardly held together,
clashed against the ground. Of my food and drink I say nothing: for,
even in sickness, the solitaries have nothing but cold water, and to
eat one's food cooked is looked upon as self-indulgence. Now, although
in my fear of hell I had consigned myself to this prison, where I had
no companions but scorpions and wild beasts, I often found myself amid
bevies of girls. My face was pale and my frame chilled with fasting;
yet my mind was burning with desire, and the fires of lust kept
bubbling up before me when my flesh was as good as dead. Helpless, I
cast myself at the feet of Jesus, I watered them with my tears, I wiped
them with my hair: and then I subdued my rebellious body with weeks of
abstinence. I do not blush to avow my abject misery; rather I lament
that I am not now what once I was. I remember how I often cried aloud
all night till the break of day and ceased not from beating my breast
till tranquillity returned at the chiding of the Lord. I used to dread
my very cell as though it knew my thoughts; and, stern and angry with
myself, I used to make my way alone into the desert. Wherever I saw
hollow valleys, craggy mountains, steep cliffs, there I made my
oratory, there the house of correction for my unhappy flesh. There,
also--the Lord Himself is my witness--when I had shed copious tears and
had strained my eyes towards heaven, I sometimes felt myself among
angelic hosts, and for joy and gladness sang: "because of the savour of
thy good ointments we will run after thee."(1)
8. Now, if such are the temptations of men who,
since their bodies are emaciated with fasting, have only evil thoughts
to fear, how must it fare with a girl whose surroundings are those of
luxury and ease? Surely, to use the apostle's words, "She is dead while
she liveth."(2) Therefore, if experience gives me a right to advise, or
clothes my words with credit, I would begin by urging you and warning
you as Christ's spouse to avoid wine as you would avoid poison. For
wine is the first weapon used by demons against the young. Greed does
not shake, nor pride puff up, nor ambition infatuate so much as this.
Other vices we easily escape, but this enemy is shut up within us, and
wherever we go we carry him with us. Wine and youth between them kindle
the fire of sensual pleasure. Why do we throw oil on the flame--why do
we add fresh fuel to a miserable body which is already ablaze. Paul, it
is true, says to Timothy "drink no longer water, but use a little wine
for thy stomach's sake, and for thine often infirmities."(1) But notice
the reasons for which the permission is given, to cure an aching
stomach and a frequent infirmity. And lest we should indulge ourselves
too much on the score of our ailments, he commands that but little
shall be taken; advising rather as a physician than as an apostle
(though, indeed, an apostle is a spiritual physician). He evidently
feared that Timothy might succumb to weakness, and might prove unequal
to the constant moving to and fro involved in preaching the Gospel.
Besides, he remembered that he had spoken of "wine wherein is
excess,"(2) and had said, "it is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink
wine."(3) Noah drank wine and became intoxicated; but living as he did
in the rude age after the flood, when the vine was first planted,
perhaps he did not know its power of inebriation. And to let you see
the hidden meaning of Scripture in all its fulness (for the word of God
is a pearl and may be pierced on every side) after his drunkenness came
the uncovering of his body; self-indulgence culminated in lust.(4)
First the belly is crammed; then the other members are roused.
Similarly, at a later period, "The people sat down to eat and to drink
and rose up to play."(5) Lot also, God's friend, whom He saved upon the
mountain, who was the only one found righteous out of so many
thousands, was intoxicated by his daughters. And, although they may
have acted as they did more from a desire of offspring than from love
of sinful pleasure--for the human race seemed in danger of
extinction--yet they were well aware that the righteous man would not
abet their design unless intoxicated. In fact he did not know what he
was doing, and his sin was not wilful. Still his error was a grave one,
for it made him the father of Moab and Ammon,(6) Israel's enemies, of
whom it is said: "Even to the fourteenth generation they shall not
enter into the congregation of the Lord forever."(7)
9. When Elijah, in his flight from Jezebel,
26
lay weary and desolate beneath the oak, there came an angel who raised
him up and said, "Arise and eat." And he looked, and behold there was a
cake and a cruse of water at his head.(1) Had God willed it, might He
not have sent His prophet spiced wines and dainty dishes and flesh
basted into tenderness? When Elisha invited the sons of the prophets to
dinner, he only gave them field-herbs to eat; and when all cried out
with one voice: "There is death in the pot," the man of God did not
storm at the cooks (for he was not used to very sumptuous fare), but
caused meal to be brought, and casting it in, sweetened the bitter
mess(2) with spiritual strength as Moses had once sweetened the waters
of Mara.(3) Again, when men were sent to arrest the prophet, and were
smitten with physical and mental blindness, that he might bring them
without their own knowledge to Samaria, notice the food with which
Elisha ordered them to be refreshed. "Set bread and water," he said,
"before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master."(4)
And Daniel, who might have had rich food from the king's table,(5)
preferred the mower's breakfast, brought to him by Habakkuk,(6) which
must have been but country fare. He was called "a man of desires,"(7)
because he would not eat the bread of desire or drink the wine of
concupiscence.
10. There are, in the Scriptures, countless divine
answers condemning gluttony and approving simple food. But as fasting
is not my present theme and an adequate discussion of it would require
a treatise to itself, these few observations must suffice of the many
which the subject suggests. By them you will understand why the first
man, obeying his belly and not God, was cast down from paradise into
this vale of tears;(8) and why Satan used hunger to tempt the Lord
Himself in the wilderness;(9) and why the apostle cries: "Meats for the
belly and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and
them;"(10) and why he speaks of the self-indulgent as men "whose God is
their belly."(11) For men invariably worship what they like best. Care
must be taken, therefore, that abstinence may bring back to Paradise
those whom satiety once drove out.
11. You will tell me, perhaps, that, high-born as
you are, reared in luxury and used to lie softly, you cannot do without
wine and dainties, and would find a stricter rule of life unendurable.
If so, I can only say: "Live, then, by your own rule, since God's rule
is too hard for you." Not that the Creator and Lord of all takes
pleasure in a rumbling and empty stomach, or in fevered lungs; but that
these are indispensable as means to the preservation of chastity. Job
was dear to God, perfect and upright before Him;(1) yet hear what he
says of the devil: "His strength is in the loins, and his force is in
the navel."(2)
The terms are chosen for decency's sake, but the
reproductive organs of the two sexes are meant. Thus, the descendant of
David, who, according to the promise is to sit upon his throne, is said
to come from his loins.(3) And the seventy-five souls descended from
Jacob who entered Egypt are said to come out of his thigh.(4) So, also,
when his thigh shrank after the Lord had wrestled with him, (5) he
ceased to beget children. The Israelites, again, are told to celebrate
the passover with loins girded and mortified.(6) God says to Job: "Gird
up thy loins as a man."(7) John wears a leathern girdle.(8) The
apostles must gird their loins to carry the lamps of the Gospel.(9)
When Ezekiel tells us how Jerusalem is found in the plain of wandering,
covered with blood, he uses the words: "Thy navel has not been
cut."(10) In his assaults on men, therefore, the devil's strength is in
the loins; in his attacks on women his force is in the navel.
12. Do you wish for proof of my assertions? Take
examples. Sampson was braver than a lion and tougher than a rock; alone
and unprotected he pursued a thousand armed men; and yet, in Delilah's
embrace, his resolution melted away. David was a man after God's own
heart, and his lips had often sung of the Holy One, the future Christ;
and yet as he walked upon his housetop he was fascinated by Bathsheba's
nudity, and added murder to adultery.(11) Notice here how, even in his
own house, a man cannot use his eyes without danger. Then repenting, he
says to the Lord: "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this
evil in Thy sight."(12) Being a king he feared no one else. So, too,
with Solomon. Wisdom used him to sing her praise,(13) and he treated of
all plants "from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop
that springeth out of the wall;"(14) and yet he went back from God
because he was a lover of women.(15) And, as if to show that near
relationship is no safe-
27
guard, Amnon burned with illicit passion for his sister Tamar.(1)
13. I cannot bring myself to speak of the many
virgins who daily fall and are lost to the bosom of the church, their
mother: stars over which the proud foe sets up his throne,(2) and rocks
hollowed by the serpent that he may dwell in their fissures. You may
see many women widows before wedded, who try to conceal their miserable
fall by a lying garb. Unless they are betrayed by swelling wombs or by
the crying of their infants, they walk abroad with tripping feet and
heads in the air. Some go so fat as to take potions, that they may
insure barrenness, and thus murder human beings almost before their
conception. Some, when they find themselves with child through their
sin, use drugs to procure abortion, and when (as often happens) they
die with their offspring, they enter the lower world laden with the
guilt not only of adultery against Christ but also of suicide and child
murder. Yet it is these who say: "'Unto the pure all things are
pure;'(3) my conscience is sufficient guide for me. A pure heart is
what God looks for. Why should I abstain from meats which God has
created to be received with thanksgiving?"(4) And when they wish to
appear agreeable and entertaining they first drench themselves with
wine, and then joining the grossest profanity to intoxication, they say
"Far be it from me to abstain from the blood of Christ." And when they
see another pale or sad they call her "wretch" or "manichaean;"(5)
quite logically, indeed, for on their principles fasting involves
heresy. When they go out they do their best to attract notice, and with
nods and winks encourage troops of young fellows to follow them. Of
each and all of these the prophet's words are true: "Thou hast a
whore's forehead; thou refusest to be ashamed."(6) Their robes have but
a narrow purple stripe,(7) it is true; and their head-dress is somewhat
loose, so as to leave the hair free. From their shoulders flutters the
lilac mantle which they call "maforte;" they have their feet in cheap
slippers and their arms tucked up tight-fitting sleeves. Add to these
marks of their profession an easy gait, and you have all the virginity
that they possess. Such may have eulogizers of their own, and may fetch
a higher price in the market of perdition, merely because they are
called virgins. But to such virgins as these I prefer to be displeasing.
14. I blush to speak of it, it is so shocking; yet
though sad, it is true. How comes this plague of the agapetae(1) to be
in the church? Whence come these unwedded wives, these novel
concubines, these harlots, so I will call them, though they cling to a
single partner? One house holds them and one chamber. They often occupy
the same bed, and yet they call us suspicious if we fancy anything
amiss. A brother leaves his virgin sister; a virgin, slighting her
unmarried brother, seeks a brother in a stranger. Both alike profess to
have but one object, to find spiritual consolation from those not of
their kin; but their real aim is to indulge in sexual intercourse. It
is on such that Solomon in the book of proverbs heaps his scorn. "Can a
man take fire in his bosom," he says, "and his clothes not be burned?
Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned?"(2)
15. We cast out, then, and banish from our sight
those who only wish to seem and not to be virgins. Henceforward I may
bring all my speech to bear upon you who, as it is your lot to be the
first virgin of noble birth in Rome, have to labor the more diligently
not to lose good things to come, as well as those that are present. You
have at least learned from a case in your own family the troubles of
wedded life and the uncertainties of marriage. Your sister, Blaesilla,
before you in age but behind you in declining the vow of virginity, has
become a widow but seven months after she has taken a husband. Hapless
plight of us mortals who know not what is before us! She has lost, at
once, the crown of virginity and the pleasures of wedlock. And,
although, as a widow, the second degree of chastity is hers, still can
you not imagine the continual crosses which she has to bear, daily
seeing in her sister what she has lost herself; and, while she finds it
hard to go without the pleasures of wedlock, having a less reward for
her present continence? Still she, too, may take heart and rejoice. The
fruit which is an hundredfold and that which is sixtyfold both spring
from one seed, and that seed is chastity.(9)
16. Do not court the company of married ladies or
visit the houses of the high-born. Do not look too often on the life
which you despised to become a virgin. Women of the world, you know,
plume themselves because their husbands are on the bench or in other
28
high positions. And the wife of the emperor always has an eager throng
of visitors at her door. Why do you, then, wrong your husband? Why do
you, God's bride, hasten to visit the wife of a mere man? Learn in this
respect a holy pride; know that you are better than they. And not only
must you avoid intercourse with those who are puffed up by their
husbands' honors, who are hedged in with troops of eunuchs, and who
wear robes inwrought with threads of gold. You must also shun those who
are widows from necessity and not from choice. Not that they ought to
have desired the death of their husbands; but that they have not
welcomed the opportunity of continence when it has come. As it is, they
only change their garb; their old self-seeking remains unchanged. To
see them in their capacious litters, with red cloaks and plump bodies,
a row of eunuchs walking in front of them, you would fancy them not to
have lost husbands but to be seeking them. Their houses are filled with
flatterers and with guests. The very clergy, who ought to inspire them
with respect by their teaching and authority, kiss these ladies on the
forehead, and putting forth their hands (so that, if you knew no better
you might suppose them in the act of blessing), take wages for their
visits. They, meanwhile, seeing that priests cannot do without them,
are lifted up into pride; and as, having had experience of both, they
prefer the license of widowhood to the restraints of marriage, they
call themselves chaste livers and nuns. After an immoderate supper they
retire to rest to dream of the apostles.(1)
17. Let your companions be women pale and thin with
fasting, and approved by their years and conduct; such as daily sing in
their hearts: "Tell me where thou feedest thy flock, where thou makest
it to rest at noon,"(2) and say, with true earnestness, have a desire
to depart and to be with Christ."(3) Be subject to your parents,
imitating the example of your spouse.(4) Rarely go abroad, and if you
wish to seek, the aid of the martyrs seek it in your own chamber. For
you will never need a pretext for going out if you always go out when
there is need. Take food in moderation, and never overload your
stomach. For many women, while temperate as regards wine, are
intemperate in the use of food. When you rise at night to pray, let
your breath be that of an empty and not that of an overfull stomach.
Read often, learn all that you can. Let sleep overcome you, the roll
still in your hands; when your head falls, let it be on the sacred
page. Let your fasts be of daily occurrence and your refreshment such
as avoids satiety. It is idle to carry an empty stomach if, in two or
three days' time, the fast is to be made up for by repletion. When
cloyed the mind immediately grows sluggish, and when the ground is
watered it puts forth the thorns of lust. If ever you feel the outward
man sighing for the flower of youth, and if, as you lie on your couch
after a meal, you are excited by the alluring train of sensual desires;
then seize the shield of faith, for it alone can quench the fiery darts
of the devil.(1) "They are all adulterers," says the prophet; "they
have made ready their heart like an oven."(2) But do you keep close to
the footsteps of Christ, and, intent upon His words, say: "Did not our
heart burn within us by the way while Jesus opened to us the
Scriptures?"(3) and again: "Thy word is tried to the uttermost, and thy
servant loveth it."(4) It is hard for the human soul to avoid loving
something, and our mind must of necessity give way to affection of one
kind or another. The love of the flesh is overcome by the love of the
spirit. Desire is quenched by desire. What is taken from the one
increases the other. Therefore, as you lie on your couch, say again and
again: "By night have I sought Him whom my soul loveth."(5) "Mortify,
therefore," says the apostle, "your members which are upon the
earth."(6) Because he himself did so, he could afterwards say with
confidence: "I live, yet not I, but Christ, liveth in me."(7) He who
mortifies his members, and feels that he is walking in a vain show,(8)
is not afraid to say: "I am become like a bottle in the frost.(9)
Whatever there was in me of the moisture of lust has been dried out of
me." And again: "My knees are weak through fasting; I forget to eat my
bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my
skin."(10)
18. Be like the grasshopper and make night musical.
Nightly wash your bed and water your couch with your tears.(11) Watch
and be like the sparrow alone upon the housetop.(12) Sing with the
spirit, but sing with the understanding also.(13) And let your song be
that of the psalmist: "Bless the
29
Lord, O my soul; and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all
thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life
from destruction."(1) Can we, any of us, honestly make his words our
own: "I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with
weeping?"(2) Yet, should we not weep and groan when the serpent invites
us, as he invited our first parents, to eat forbidden fruit, and when
after expelling us from the paradise of virginity he desires to clothe
us with mantles of skins such as that which Elijah, on his return to
paradise, left behind him on earth?(3) Say to yourself: "What have I to
do with the pleasures of sense that so soon come to an end? What have I
to do with the song of the sirens so sweet and so fatal to those who
hear it?" I would not have you subject to that sentence whereby
condemnation has been passed upon mankind. When God says to Eve, "In
pain and in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children," say to yourself,
"That is a law for a married woman, not for me." And when He continues,
"Thy desire shall be to thy husband,"(4) say again: "Let her desire be
to her husband who has not Christ for her spouse." And when, last of
all, He says, "Thou shalt surely die,"(5) once more, say, "Marriage
indeed must end in death; but the life on which i have resolved is
independent of sex. Let those who are wives keep the place and the time
that properly belong to them. For me, virginity is consecrated in the
persons of Mary and of Christ."
19. Some one may say, "Do you dare detract from
wedlock, which is a state blessed by God?" I do not detract from
wedlock when I set virginity before it. No one compares a bad thing
with a good. Wedded women may congratulate themselves that they come
next to virgins. "Be fruitful," God says, "and multiply, and replenish
the earth."(6) He who desires to replenish the earth may increase and
multiply if he will. But the train to which you belong is not on earth,
but in heaven. The command to increase and multiply first finds
fulfilment after the expulsion from paradise, after the nakedness and
the fig-leaves which speak of sexual passion. Let them marry and be
given in marriage who eat their bread in the sweat of their brow; whose
land brings forth to them thorns and thistles,(7) and whose crops are
choked with briars. My seed produces fruit a hundredfold.(8) "All men
cannot receive God's saying, but they to whom it is given."
Some people may be eunuchs from necessity; I am one
of free will.(1) "There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from
embracing. There is a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather
stones together."(2) Now that out of the hard stones of the Gentiles
God has raised up children unto Abraham,(3) they begin to be "holy
stones rolling upon the earth."(4) They pass through the whirlwinds of
the world, and roll on in God's chariot on rapid wheels. Let those
stitch coats to themselves who have lost the coat woven from the top
throughout;(5) who delight in the cries of infants which, as soon as
they see the light, lament that they are born. In paradise Eve was a
virgin, and it was only after the coats of skins that she began her
married life. Now paradise is your home too. Keep therefore your
birthright and say: "Return unto thy rest, O my soul."(6) To show that
virginity is natural while wedlock only follows guilt, what is born of
wedlock is virgin flesh, and it gives back in fruit what in root it has
lost. "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a
flower shall grow out of his roots."(7) The rod(8) is the mother of the
Lord--simple, pure, unsullied; drawing no germ of life from without but
fruitful in singleness like God Himself. The flower of the rod is
Christ, who says of Himself: "I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of
the valleys."(9) In another place He is foretold to be "a stone cut out
of the mountain without hands,"(10) a figure by which the prophet
signifies that He is to be born a virgin of a virgin. For the hands are
here a figure of wedlock as in the passage: "His left hand is under my
head and his right hand doth embrace me."(11) It agrees, also, with
this interpretation that the unclean animals are led into Noah's ark in
pairs, while of the clean an uneven number is taken.(12) Similarly,
when Moses and Joshua were bidden to remove their shoes because the
ground on which they stood was holy,(13) the command had a mystical
meaning. So, too, when the disciples were appointed to preach the
gospel they were told to take with them neither shoe nor
shoe-latchet;(14) and when the soldiers came to cast lots for the
garments of Jesus(15) they found no boots that they could take away.
30
For the Lord could not Himself possess what He had forbidden to His
servants.
20. I praise wedlock, I praise marriage, but it is
because they give me virgins. I gather the rose from the thorns, the
gold from the earth, the pearl from the shell. "Doth the plowman plow
all day to sow?"(1) Shall he not also enjoy the fruit of his labor?
Wedlock is the more honored, the more what is born of it is loved. Why,
mother, do you grudge your daughter her virginity? She has been reared
on your milk, she has come from your womb, she has grown up in your
bosom. Your watchful affection has kept her a virgin. Are you angry
with her because she chooses to be a king's wife and not a soldier's?
She has conferred on you a high privilege; you are now the
mother-in-law of God. "Concerning virgins," says the apostle, "I have
no commandment of the Lord."(2) Why was this? Because his own virginity
was due, not to a command, but to his free choice. For they are not to
be heard who feign him to have had a wife; for, when he is discussing
continence and commending perpetual chastity, he uses the words, "I
would that all men were even as I myself." And farther on, "I say,
therefore, to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they
abide even as I."(3) And in another place, "have we not power to lead
about wives even as the rest of the apostles?"(4) Why then has he no
commandment from the Lord concerning virginity? Because what is freely
offered is worth more than what is extorted by force, and to command
virginity would have been to abrogate wedlock. It would have been a
hard enactment to compel opposition to nature and to extort from men
the angelic life; and not only so, it would have been to condemn what
is a divine ordinance.
21. The old law had a different ideal of
blessedness, for therein it is said: "Blessed is he who hath seed in
Zion and a family in Jerusalem:"(5) and "Cursed is the barren who
beareth not:"(6) and "Thy children shall be like olive-plants round
about thy table."(7) Riches too are promised to the faithful and we are
told that "there was not one feeble person among their tribes."(8) But
now even to eunuchs it is said, "Say not, behold I am a dry tree,"(9)
for instead of sons and daughters you have a place forever in heaven.
Now the poor are blessed, now Lazarus is set before Dives in his
purple.(10) Now he who is weak is counted strong. But in those days the
world was still unpeopled: accordingly, to pass over instances of
childlessness meant only to serve as types, those only were considered
happy who could boast of children. It was for this reason that Abraham
in his old age married Keturah;(1) that Leah hired Jacob with her son's
mandrakes,(2) and that fair Rachel--a type of the church--complained of
the closing of her womb.(3) But gradually the crop grew up and then the
reaper was sent forth with his sickle. Elijah lived a virgin life, so
also did Elisha and many of the sons of the prophets. To Jeremiah the
command came: "Thou shall not take thee a wife."(4) He had been
sanctified in his mother's womb,(5) and now he was forbidden to take a
wife because the captivity was near. The apostle gives the same counsel
in different words. "I think, therefore, that this is good by reason of
the present distress, namely that it is good for a man to be as he
is."(6) What is this distress which does away with the joys of wedlock?
The apostle tells us, in a later verse: "The time is short: it
remaineth that those who have wives be as though they had none."(7)
Nebuchadnezzar is hard at hand. The lion is bestirring himself from his
lair. What good will marriage be to me if it is to end in slavery to
the haughtiest of kings? What good will little ones be to me if their
lot is to be that which the prophet sadly describes: "The tongue of the
sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst; the young
children ask for bread and no man breaketh it unto them"?(8) In those
days, as I have said, the virtue of continence was found only in men:
Eve still continued to travail with children. But now that a virgin has
conceived(9) in the womb and has borne to us a child of which the
prophet says that "Government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name
shall be called the mighty God, the everlasting Father,"(10) now the
chain of the curse is broken. Death came through Eve, but life has come
through Mary. And thus the gift of virginity has been bestowed most
richly upon women, seeing that it has had its beginning from a woman.
As soon as the Son of God set foot upon the earth, He formed for
Himself a new household there; that, as He was adored by angels in
heaven, angels might serve Him also on earth. Then chaste Judith once
more cut off the head of Holofernes.(11) Then Haman--whose name means
iniquity--was once
31
more burned in fire of his own kindling.(1) Then James and John forsook
father and net and ship and followed the Saviour: neither kinship nor
the world's ties, nor the care of their home could hold them back. Then
were the words heard: "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me."(2) For no soldier goes
with a wife to battle. Even when a disciple would have buried his
father, the Lord forbade him, and said: "Foxes have holes and the birds
of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His
head."(3) So you must not complain if you have but scanty house-room.
In the same strain, the apostle writes: "He that is unmarried careth
for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord but
he that is married careth for the things that are of the world how he
may please his wife. There is difference also between a wife and a
virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord that she
may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that is married careth
for the things of the world how she may please her husband."(4)
22. How great inconveniences are involved in wedlock
and how many anxieties encompass it I have, I think, described shortly
in my treatise--published against Helvidius(5)--on the perpetual
virginity of the blessed Mary. It would be tedious to go over the same
ground now; and any one who pleases may draw from that fountain. But
lest I should seem wholly to have passed over the matter, I will just
say now that the apostle bids us pray without ceasing,(6) and that he
who in the married state renders his wife her due(7) cannot so pray.
Either we pray always and are virgins, or we cease to pray that we may
fulfil the claims of marriage. Still he says: "If a virgin marry she
hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh."(8)
At the outset I promised that I should say little or nothing of the
embarrassments of wedlock, and now I give you notice to the same
effect. If you want to know from how many vexations a virgin is free
and by how many a wife is lettered you should read Tertullian "to a
philosophic friend,"(9) and his other treatises on virginity, the
blessed Cyprian's noble volume, the writings of Pope Damasus(10) in
prose and verse, and the treatises recently written for his sister by
our own Ambrose.(1) In these he has poured forth his soul with such a
flood of eloquence that he has sought out, set forth, and put in order
all that bears on the praise of virgins.
23. We must proceed by a different path, for our
purpose is not the praise of virginity but its preservation. To know
that it is a good thing is not enough: when we have chosen it we must
guard it with jealous care. The first only requires judgment, and we
share it with many; the second calls for toil, and few compete with us
in it. "He that shall endure unto the end," the Lord says, "the same
shall be saved,"(2) and "many are called but few are chosen."(3)
Therefore I conjure you before God and Jesus Christ and His elect
angels to guard that which you have received, not readily exposing to
the public gaze the vessels of the Lord's temple (which only the
priests are by right allowed to see), that no profane person may look
upon God's sanctuary. Uzzah, when he touched the ark which it was not
lawful to touch, was struck down suddenly by death.(4) And assuredly no
gold or silver vessel was ever so dear to God as is the temple of a
virgin's body. The shadow went before, but now the reality is come. You
indeed may speak in all simplicity, and from motives of amiability may
treat with courtesy the veriest strangers, but unchaste eyes see
nothing aright. They fail to appreciate the beauty of the soul, and
only value that of the body. Hezekiah showed God's treasure to the
Assyrians,(5) who ought never to have seen what they were sure to
covet. The consequence was that Judaea was torn by continual wars, and
that the very first things carried away to Babylon were these vessels
of the Lord. We find Belshazzar at his feast and among his concubines
(vice always glories in defiling what is noble) drinking out of these
sacred cups.(6)
24. Never incline your ear to words of mischief. For
men often say an improper word to make trial of a virgin's
steadfastness, to see if she hears it with pleasure, and if she is
ready to unbend at every silly jest. Such persons applaud whatever you
affirm and deny whatever you deny; they speak of you as not only holy
but accomplished, and say that in you there is no guile. "Behold," say
they, "a true hand-maid of Christ; behold entire singleness of heart.
How different from that rough, un-
32
sightly, countrified fright, who most likely never married because she
could never find a husband." Our natural weakness induces us readily to
listen to such flatterers; but, though we may blush and reply that such
praise is more than our due, the soul within us rejoices to hear itself
praised.
Like the ark of the covenant Christ's spouse should
be overlaid with gold within and without;(1) she should be the guardian
of the law of the Lord. Just as the ark contained nothing but the
tables of the covenant,(2) so in you there should be no thought of
anything that is outside. For it pleases the Lord to sit in your mind
as He once sat on the mercy-seat and the cherubims.(3) As He sent His
disciples to loose Him the foal of an ass that he might ride on it, so
He sends them to release you from the cares of the world, that leaving
the bricks and straw of Egypt, you may follow Him, the true Moses,
through the wilderness and may enter the land of promise. Let no one
dare to forbid you, neither mother nor sister nor kinswoman nor
brother: "The Lord hath need of you."(4) Should they seek to hinder
you, let them fear the scourges that fell on Pharaoh, who, because he
would not let God's people go that they might serve Him,(5) suffered
the plagues described in Scripture. Jesus entering into the temple cast
out those things which belonged not to the temple. For God is jealous
and will not allow the father's house to be made a den of robbers.(6)
Where money is counted, where doves are sold, where simplicity is
stifled where, that is, a virgin's breast glows with cares of this
world; straightway the veil of the temple is rent,(7) the bridegroom
rises in anger, he says: "Your house is left unto you desolate."(8)
Read the gospel and see how Mary sitting at the feet of the Lord is set
before the zealous Martha. In her anxiety to be hospitable Martha was
preparing a meal for the Lord and His disciples; yet Jesus said to her:
"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. But
few things are needful or one.(9) And Mary hath chosen that good part
which shall not be taken away from her."(10) Be then like Mary; prefer
the food of the soul to that of the body. Leave it to your sisters to
run to and fro and to seek how they may filly welcome Christ. But do
you, having once for all cast away the burden of the world, sit at the
Lord's feet and say: "I have found him whom my soul loveth; I will hold
him, I will not let him go."(1) And He will answer: "My dove, my
undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the
choice one of her that bare her."(2) Now the mother of whom this is
said is the heavenly Jerusalem.(3)
25. Ever let the privacy of your chamber guard you;
ever let the Bridegroom sport with you within.(4) Do you pray? You
speak to the Bridegroom. Do you read? He speaks to you. When sleep
overtakes you He will come behind and put His hand through the hole of
the door, and your heart(5) shall be moved for Him; and you will awake
and rise up and say: "I am sick of love."(6) Then He will reply: "A
garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain
sealed."(7)
Go not from home nor visit the daughters of a
strange land, though you have patriarchs for brothers and Israel for a
father. Dinah went out and was seduced.(8) Do not seek the Bridegroom
in the streets; do not go round the comers of the city. For though you
may say: "I will rise now and go about the city: in the streets and in
the broad ways I will seek Him whom my soul loveth," and though you may
ask the watchmen: "Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth?"(9) no one will
deign to answer you. The Bridegroom cannot be found in the streets:
"Strait and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life."(10) So the Song
goes on: "I sought him but I could not find him: I called him but he
gave me no answer."(11) And would that failure to find Him were all.
You will be wounded and stripped, you will lament and say: "The
watchmen that went about the city found me: they smote me, they wounded
me, they took away my veil from me."(12) Now if one who could say: "I
sleep but my heart waketh,"(13) and "A bundle of myrrh is my well
beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts";(14) if one
who could speak thus suffered so much because she went abroad, what
shall become of us who are but young girls; of us who, when the bride
goes in with the Bridegroom, still remain without? Jesus is jealous. He
does not choose that your face should be seen of others. You may excuse
yourself and say: "I have drawn close my veil, I have covered my face
and I have sought Thee there and have said: 'Tell me, O Thou whom my
soul
33
loveth, where Thou feedest Thy flock, where Thou makest it to rest at
noon. For why should I be as one that is veiled beside the flocks of
Thy companions?'"(1) Yet in spite of your excuses He will be wroth, He
will swell with anger and say: "If thou know not thyself, O thou
fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock and
feed thy goats beside the shepherd's tents."(2) You may be fair, and of
all faces yours may be the dearest to the Bridegroom; yet, unless you
know yourself, and keep your heart with all diligence,(3) unless also
you avoid the eyes of the young men, you will be turned out of My
bride-chamber to feed the goats, which shall be set on the left hand.(4)
26. These things being so, my Eustochium, daughter,
lady, fellow-servant, sister--these names refer the first to your age,
the second to your rank, the third to your religious vocation, the last
to the place which you hold in my affection--hear the words of Isaiah:
"Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors
about thee hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the
indignation" of the Lord "be overpast."(5) Let foolish virgins stray
abroad, but for your part stay at home with the Bridegroom; for if you
shut your door, and, according to the precept of the Gospel,(6) pray to
your Father in secret, He will come and knock, saying: "Behold, I stand
at the door and knock; if any man ... open the door, I will come in to
him, and will sup with him, and he with me."(7) Then straightway you
will eagerly reply: "It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh,
saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled." It is
impossible that you should refuse, and say: "I have put off my coat how
shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?"(8)
Arise forthwith and open. Otherwise while you linger He may pass on and
yon may have mournfully to say: "I opened to my beloved, but my beloved
was gone."(9) Why need the doors of your heart be closed to the
Bridegroom? Let them be open to Christ but closed to the devil
according to the saying: "If the spirit of him who hath power rise up
against thee, leave not thy place."(10) Daniel, in that upper story to
which he withdrew when he could no longer continue below, had his
windows open toward Jerusalem.(11) Do you too keep your windows open,
but only on the side where light may enter and whence you may see the
eye of the Lord. Open not those other windows of which the prophet
says: "Death is come up into our windows."(1)
27. You must also be careful to avoid the snare of a
passion for vainglory. "How," Jesus says, "can ye believe which receive
glory one from another?"(2) What an evil that must be the victim of
which cannot believe! Let us rather say: "Thou art my glorying,"(3) and
"He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord,"(4) and "If I yet pleased
men I should not be the servant of Christ,"(5) and "Far be it from me
to glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the
world hath been crucified unto me and I unto the world ;"(6) and once
more: "In God we boast all the day long; my soul shall make her boast
in the Lord."(7) When you do alms, let God alone see you. When you
fast, be of a cheerful countenance.(8) Let your dress be neither too
neat nor too slovenly; neither let it be so remarkable as to draw the
attention of passers-by, and to make men point their fingers at you. Is
a brother dead? Has the body of a sister to be carried to its burial?
Take care lest in too often performing such offices you die yourself.
Do not wish to seem very devout nor more humble than need be, lest you
seek glory by shunning it. For many, who screen from all men's sight
their poverty, charity, and fasting, desire to excite admiration by
their very disdain of it, and strangely seek for praise while they
profess to keep out of its way. From the other disturbing influences
which make men rejoice, despond, hope, and fear I find many free; but
this is a defect which few are without, and he is best whose character,
like a fair skin, is disfigured by the fewest blemishes. I do not think
it necessary to warn you against boasting of your riches, or against
priding yourself on your birth, or against setting yourself up as
superior to others. I know your humility; I know that you can say with
sincerity: "Lord, my heart is not haughty nor mine eyes lofty;"(9) I
know that in your breast as in that of your mother the pride through
which the devil fell has no place. It would be time wasted to write to
you about it; for there is no greater folly than to leach a pupil what
he knows already. But now that you have despised the boastfulness of
the world, do not let the fact inspire you with new boastfulness. Harbor
34
not the secret thought that having ceased to court attention in
garments of gold you may begin to do so in mean attire. And when you
come into a room full of brothers and sisters, do not sit in too low a
place or plead that you are unworthy of a footstool. Do not
deliberately lower your voice as though worn out with fasting; nor,
leaning on the shoulder of another, mimic the tottering gait of one who
is faint. Some women, it is true, disfigure their faces, that they may
appear unto men to fast.(1) As soon as they catch sight of any one they
groan, they look down; they cover up their faces, all but one eye,
which they keep free to see with. Their dress is sombre, their girdles
are of sackcloth, their hands and feet are dirty; only their
stomachs--which cannot be seen--are hot with food. Of these the psalm
is sung daily: "The Lord will scatter the bones of them that please
themselves."(2) Others change their garb and assume the mien of men,
being ashamed of being what they were born to be--women. They cut off
their hair and are not ashamed to look like eunuchs. Some clothe
themselves in goat's hair, and, putting on hoods, think to become
children again by making themselves look like so many owls.(3)
28. But I will not speak only of women. Avoid men,
also, when you see them loaded. with chains and wearing their hair long
like women, contrary to the apostle's precept,(4) not to speak of
beards like those of goats, black cloaks, and bare feet braving the
cold. All these things are tokens of the devil. Such an one Rome
groaned over some time back in Antimus; and Sophronius is a still
more recent instance. Such persons, when they have once gained
admission to the houses of the high-born, and have deceived "silly
women laden with sins, ever learning and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth,"(5) feign a sad mien and pretend to make long
fasts while at night they feast in secret. Shame forbids me to say
more, for my language might appear more like invective than admonition.
There are others--I speak of those of my own order--who seek the
presbyterate and the diaconate simply that they may be able to see
women with less restraint. Such men think of nothing but their dress;
they use perfumes freely, and see that there are no creases in their
leather shoes. Their curling hair shows traces of the tongs; their
fingers glisten with rings; they walk on tiptoe across a damp road, not
to splash their feet. When you see men acting in this way, think of
them rather as bridegrooms than as clergymen. Certain persons have
devoted the whole of their energies and life to the single object of
knowing the names, houses, and characters of married ladies. I will
here briefly describe the head of the profession, that from the
master's likeness you may recognize the disciples. He rises and goes
forth with the sun; he has the order of his visits duly arranged; he
takes the shortest road; and, troublesome old man that he is, forces
his way almost into the bedchambers of ladies yet asleep. If he sees a
pillow that takes his fancy or an elegant table-cover--or indeed any
article of household furniture--he praises it, looks admiringly at it,
takes it into his hand, and, complaining that he has nothing of the
kind, begs or rather extorts it from the owner. All the women, in fact,
fear to cross the news-carrier of the town. Chastity and fasting are
alike distasteful to him. What he likes is a savory breakfast--say off
a plump young crane such as is commonly called a cheeper. In speech he
is rude and forward, and is always ready to bandy reproaches. Wherever
you turn he is the first man that you see before you. Whatever news is
noised abroad he is either the originator of the rumor or its
magnifier. He changes his horses every hour; and they are so sleek and
spirited that you would take him for a brother of the Thracian king.(1)
29. Many are the stratagems which the wily enemy
employs against us. "The serpent," we are told, "was more subtile than
any beast of the field which the Lord God had made."(2) And the apostle
says: "We are not ignorant of his devices."(3) Neither an affected
shabbiness nor a stylish smartness becomes a Christian. If there is
anything of which you are ignorant, if you have any doubt about
Scripture, ask one whose life commends him, whose age puts him above
suspicion, whose reputation does not belie him; one who may be able to
say: "I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a
chaste virgin to Christ." Or if there should be none such able to
explain, it is better to avoid danger at the price of ignorance than to
court it for the sake of learning. Remember that you walk in the midst
of snares, and that many veteran virgins, of a chastity never called in
question, have, on the very threshold of death, let their crowns fall
from their hands.
35
If any of your handmaids share your vocation, do not
lift up yourself against them or pride yourself because you are their
mistress. You have all chosen one Bridegroom you all sing the same
psalms; together you receive the Body of Christ. Why then should your
thoughts be different?(1) You must try to win others, and that you may
attract the more readily you must treat the virgins in your train with
the greatest respect. If you find one of them weak in the faith, be
attentive to her, comfort her, caress her, and make her chastity your
treasure. But if a girl pretends to have a vocation simply because she
desires to escape from service, read aloud to her the words of the
apostle: "It is better to marry than to burn."(2)
Idle persons and busybodies, whether virgins or
widows; such as go from house to house calling on married women and
displaying an unblushing effrontery greater than that of a stage
parasite, cast from you as you would the plague. For "evil
communications corrupt good manners,"(3) and women like these care for
nothing but their lowest appetites. They will often urge you, saying,
"My dear creature, make the best of your advantages, and live while
life is yours," and "Surely you are not laying up money for your
children." Given to wine and wantonness, they instill all manner
of mischief into people's minds, and induce even the most austere
to indulge in enervating pleasures. And "when they have begun to wax
wanton against Christ they will marry, having condemnation because they
have rejected their first faith."(4)
Do not seek to appear over-eloquent, nor trifle with
verse, nor make yourself gay with lyric songs. And do not, out of
affectation, follow the sickly taste(5) of married ladies who, now
pressing their teeth together, now keeping their lips wide apart, speak
with a lisp, and purposely clip their words, because they fancy that to
pronounce them naturally is a mark of country breeding. Accordingly
they find pleasure in what I may call an adultery of the tongue. For
"what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ
with Belial?"(6) How can Horace go with the psalter, Virgil with
the gospels, Cicero with the apostle?(7) Is not a brother made to
stumble if he sees you sitting at meat in an idol's temple?(8) Although
"unto the pure all things are, pure,"(1) and "nothing is to be refused
if it be received with thanksgiving,"(2) still we ought not to drink
the cup of Christ, and, at the same time, the cup of devils.(3) Let me
relate to you the story of my own miserable experience.
30. Many years ago, when for the kingdom of heaven's
sake I had cut myself off from home, parents, sister, relations,
and--harder still--from the dainty food to which I had been accustomed;
and when I was on my way to Jerusalem to wage my warfare, I still could
not bring myself to forego the library which I had formed for myself at
Rome with great care and toil. And so, miserable man that I was, I
would fast only that I might afterwards read Cicero. After many nights
spent in vigil, after floods of tears called from my inmost heart,
after the recollection of my past sins, I would once more take up
Plautus. And when at times I returned to my right mind, and began to
read the prophets, their style seemed rude and repellent. I failed to
see the light with my blinded eyes; but I attributed the fault not to
them, but to the sun. While the old serpent was thus making me his
plaything, about the middle of Lent a deep-seated fever fell upon my
weakened body, and while it destroyed my rest completely--the story
seems hardly credible--it so wasted my unhappy frame that scarcely
anything was left of me but skin and bone. Meantime preparations for my
funeral went on; my body grew gradually colder, and the warmth of life
lingered only in my throbbing breast. Suddenly I was caught up in the
spirit and dragged before the judgment seat of the Judge; and here the
light was so bright, and those who stood around were so radiant, that I
cast myself upon the ground and did not dare to look up. Asked who and
what I was I replied: "I am a Christian." But He who presided said:
"Thou liest, thou art a follower of Cicero and not of Christ. For
'where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.'"(4) Instantly I
became dumb, and amid the strokes of the lash--for He had ordered me to
be scourged--I was tortured more severely still by the fire of
conscience, considering with myself that verse, "In the grave who shall
give thee thanks?"(5) Yet for all that I began to cry and to bewail
myself, saying: "Have mercy upon me, O Lord: have mercy upon me." Amid
the sound of the scourges this cry still made itself heard. At last the
bystanders, failing
36
down before the knees of Him who presided, prayed that He would have
pity on my youth, and that He would give me space to repent of my
error. He might still, they urged, inflict torture on me, should I ever
again read the works of the Gentiles. Under the stress of that awful
moment I should have been ready to make even still larger promises than
these. Accordingly I made oath and called upon His name, saying: "Lord,
if ever again I possess worldly books, or if ever again I read such, I
have denied Thee." Dismissed, then, on taking this oath, I returned to
the upper world, and, to the surprise of all, I opened upon them eyes
so drenched with tears that my distress served to convince even the
incredulous. And that this was no sleep nor idle dream, such as those
by which we are often mocked, I call to witness the tribunal before
which I lay, and the terrible judgment which I feared. May it never,
hereafter, be my lot to fall under such an inquisition! I profess that
my shoulders were black and blue, that I felt the bruises long after I
awoke from my sleep, and that thenceforth I read the books of God with
a zeal greater than I had previously given to the books of men.
31. You must also avoid the sin of covetousness, and
this not merely by refusing to seize upon what belongs to others,
for that is punished by the laws of the state, but also by not
keeping your own property, which has now become no longer yours.
"If have not been faithful," the Lord says, "in that which is another
man's, who shall give you that which is your own?"(1) "That which
is another man's" is a quantity of gold or of silver, while "that which
is our own" is the spiritual heritage of which it is elsewhere said:
"The ransom of a man's life is his riches."(2) "No man can serve two
masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he
will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
Mammon."(3) Riches, that is; for in the heathen tongue of the Syrians
riches are called mammon. The "thorns" which choke our faith(4) are the
taking thought for our life.(5) Care for the things which the Gentiles
seek after(6) is the root of covetousness.
But you will say: "I am a girl delicately reared,
and I cannot labor with my hands. Suppose that I live to old age and
then fall sick, who will take pity on me?" Hear Jesus speaking to the
apostles: "Take no thought what ye shall eat; nor yet for your body
what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than
raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they
reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them."(1)
Should clothing fail you, set the lilies before your eyes. Should
hunger seize you, think of the words in which the poor and hungry are
blessed. Should pain afflict you, read "Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities," and "There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above
measure."(2) Rejoice in all God's judgments; for does not the psalmist
say: "The daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O
Lord"?(3) Let the words be ever on your lips: "Naked came I out
of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither;"(4) and "We
brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing
out."(5)
32. To-day you may see women cramming their
wardrobes with dresses, changing their gowns from day to day, and for
all that unable to vanquish the moths. Now and then one more scrupulous
wears out a single dress; yet, while she appears in rags, her boxes are
full. Parchments are dyed purple, gold is melted into lettering,
manuscripts are decked with jewels, while Christ lies at the door naked
and dying. When they hold out a hand to the needy they sound a
trumpet;(4) when they invite to a love-feast(7) they engage a crier. I
lately saw the noblest lady in Rome--I suppress her name, for I am no
satirist--with a band of eunuchs before her in the basilica of the
blessed Peter. She was giving money to the poor, a coin apiece; and
this with her own hand, that she might be accounted more religious.
Hereupon a by no means uncommon incident occurred. An old woman, "full
of years and rags,"(8) ran forward to get a second coin, but when her
turn came she received not a penny but a blow hard enough to draw blood
from her guilty veins.
"The love of money is the root of all evil,"(9) and
the apostle speaks of covetousness as being idolatry.(10) "Seek ye
first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto
you."(11) The Lord will never allow a righteous soul to perish of
hunger.
37
"I have been young," the psalmist says, "and now am old, yet have I not
seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread."(1) Elijah is
fed by ministering ravens.(2) The widow of Zarephath, who with her sons
expected to die the same night, went without food herself that she
might feed the prophet. He who had come to be fed then turned feeder,
for, by a miracle, he filled the empty barrel.(3) The apostle Peter
says: "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee. In
the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk."(4) But now many, while they
do not say it in words, by their deeds declare: "Faith and pity have I
none; but such as I have, silver and gold, these I will not give thee."
"Having food and raiment let us be therewith content."(5) Hear the
prayer of Jacob: "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way
that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, then
shall the Lord be my God."(6) He prayed only for things necessary; yet,
twenty years afterwards, he returned to the land of Canaan rich in
substance. and richer still in children.(7) Numberless are the
instances in Scripture which teach men to "Beware of covetousness."(8)
33. As I have been led to touch to the subject--it
shall have a treatise to itself if Christ permit--I will relate what
took place not very many years ago at Nitria. A brother, more thrifty
than covetous, and ignorant that the Lord had been sold for thirty
pieces of silver,(9) left behind him at his death a hundred pieces of
money which he had earned by weaving linen. As there were about five
thousand monks in the neighborhood, living in as many separate cells, a
council was held as to what should be done. Some said that the coins
should be distributed among the poor; others that they should be given
to the church, while others were for sending them hack to the relatives
of the deceased. However, Macarius, Pambo, Isidore and the rest of
those called fathers, speaking by the Spirit, decided that they should
be interred with their owner, with the words: "Thy money perish with
thee."(10) Nor was this too harsh a decision; for so great fear has
fallen upon all throughout Egypt, that it is now a crime to leave after
one a single shilling.
34. As I have mentioned the monks, and know that you
like to hear about holy things, lend an ear to me for a few moments.
There are in Egypt three classes of monks. First, there are the
coenobites,(1) called in their Gentile language Sauses,(2) or, as we
should say, men living in a community.(3) Secondly, there are the
anchorites,(4) who live in the desert, each man by himself, and are so
called because they have withdrawn from human society. Thirdly, there
is the class called Remoboth,(5) a very inferior and little regarded
type, peculiar to my own province,(6) or, at least, originating there.
These live together in twos and threes, but seldom in larger numbers,
and are bound by no rule; but do exactly as they choose. A portion of
their earnings they contribute to a common fund, out of which food is
provided for all. In most cases they reside in cities and strongholds;
and, as though it were their workmanship which is holy, and not their
life, all that they sell is extremely dear. They often quarrel because
they are unwilling, while supplying their own food, to be subordinate
to others. It is true that they compete with each other in fasting;
they make what should be a private concern an occasion for a triumph.
In everything they study effect: their sleeves are loose, their boots
bulge, their garb is of the coarsest. They are always sighing, or
visiting virgins, or sneering at the clergy; yet when a holiday comes,
they make themselves sick--they eat so much.
35. Having then rid ourselves of these as of so many
plagues, let us come to that more numerous class who live together, and
who are, as we have said, called Coenobites. Among these the first
principle of union is to obey superiors and to do whatever they
command. They are divided into bodies of ten and of a hundred, so that
each tenth man has authority over nine others, while the hundredth has
ten of these officers under him. They live apart from each other, in
separate cells. According to their rule, no monk may visit another
before the ninth hour;(7) except the deans(8) above mentioned, whose
office is to comfort, with soothing words, those whose thoughts
disquiet them. After the ninth hour they meet together to sing psalms
and read the Scriptures according to usage. Then when the prayers have
ended and all have sat down, one called the
38
father stands up among them and begins to expound the portion of the
day. While he is speaking the silence is profound; no man ventures to
look at his neighbor or to clear his throat. The speaker's praise is in
the weeping of his hearers.(1) Silent tears roll down their cheeks, but
not a sob escapes from their lips. Yet when he begins to speak of
Christ's kingdom, and of future bliss, and of the glory which is to
come, every one may be noticed saying to himself, with a gentle sigh
and uplifted eyes: "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! For then would I
fly away and be at rest."(2) After this the meeting breaks up and each
company of ten goes with its father to its own table. This they take in
turns to serve each for a week at a time. No noise is made over the
food; no one talks while eating. Bread, pulse and greens form their
fare, and the only seasoning that they use is salt. Wine is given only
to the old, who with the children often have a special meal prepared
for them to repair the ravages of age and to save the young from
premature decay. When the meal is over they all rise together, and,
after singing a hymn, return to their dwellings. There each one talks
till evening with his comrade thus: "Have you noticed so-and-so? What
grace he has How silent he is! How soberly he walks!" If any one is
weak they comfort him; or if he is fervent in love to God, they
encourage him to fresh earnestness. And because at night, besides the
public prayers, each man keeps vigil in his own chamber, they go round
all the cells one by one, and putting their ears to the doors,
carefully ascertain what their occupants are doing. If they find a monk
slothful, they do not scold him; but, dissembling what they know, they
visit him more frequently, and at first exhort rather than compel him
to pray more. Each day has its allotted task, and this being given in
to the dean, is by him brought to the steward. This latter, once a
month, gives a scrupulous account to their common father. He also
tastes the dishes when they are cooked, and, as no one is allowed to
say, "I am without a tunic or a cloak or a couch of rushes," he so
arranges that no one need ask for or go without what he wants. In case
a monk falls ill, he is moved to a more spacious chamber, and there so
attentively nursed by the old men, that he misses neither the luxury of
cities nor a mother's kindness. Every Lord's day they spend their whole
time in prayer and reading; indeed, when they have finished their
tasks, these are their usual occupations. Every day they learn by heart
a portion of Scripture. They keep the same fasts all the year round,
but in Lent they are allowed to live more strictly. After Whitsuntide
they exchange their evening meal for a midday one; both to satisfy the
tradition of the church and to avoid overloading their stomachs with a
double supply of food.
A similar description is given of the Essenes by
Philo,(1) Plato's imitator; also by Josephus,(2) the Greek Livy, in his
narrative of the Jewish captivity.
36. As my present subject is virgins, I have said
rather too much about monks. I will pass on, therefore, to the third
class, called anchorites, who go from the monasteries into the deserts,
with nothing but bread and salt. Paul(3) introduced this way of life;
Antony made it famous, and--to go farther back still--John the Baptist
set the first example of it. The prophet Jeremiah describes one such in
the words: "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He
sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.
He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him, he is filled full with
reproach. For the Lord will not east off forever."(4) The struggle of
the anchorites and their life--in the flesh, yet not of the flesh--I
will, if you wish, explain to you at some other time. I must now return
to the subject of covetousness, which I left to speak of the monks.
With them before your eyes you will despise, not only gold and silver
in general, but earth itself and heaven. United to Christ, you will
sing, "The Lord is my portion."(5)
37. Farther, although the apostle bids us to "pray
without ceasing,"(6) and although to the saints their very sleep is a
supplication, we ought to have fixed hours of prayer, that if we are
detained by work, the time may remind us of our duty. Prayers, as every
one knows, ought to be said at the third, sixth and ninth hours, at
dawn and at evening.(7) No meal should be begun without prayer, land
before leaving table thanks should be returned to the Creator. We
should rise two or three times in the night, and go over the parts of
Scripture which we know by heart. When we leave the roof which shelters
us, prayer should be our armor; and
39
when we return from the street we should pray before we sit down, and
not give the frail body rest until the soul is fed. In every act we do,
in every step we take, let our hand trace the Lord's cross. Speak
against nobody, and do not slander your mother's son.(1) "Who art thou
that judgest the servant of another? To his own lord he standeth or
falleth; yea, he shall be made to stand, for the Lord hath power to
make him stand."(2) If you have fasted two or three days, do not think
yourself better than others who do not fast. You fast and are angry;
another eats and wears a smiling face. You work off your irritation and
hunger in quarrels. He uses food in moderation and gives God thanks.(3)
Daily Isaiah cries: "Is it such a fast that I have chosen, saith the
Lord?"(4) and again: "In the day of your fast ye find your own
pleasure, and oppress all your laborers. Behold ye fast for strife and
contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness. How fast ye unto
me?"(5) What kind of fast can his be whose wrath is such that not only
does the night go down upon it, but that even the moon's changes leave
it unchanged?
38. Look to yourself and glory in your own success
and not in others' failure. Some women care for the flesh and reckon up
their income and daily expenditure: such are no fit models for you.
Judas was a traitor, but the eleven apostles did not waver. Phygellus
and Alexander made shipwreck; but the rest continued to run the race of
faith.(6) Say not: "So-and-so enjoys her own property, she is honored
of men, her brothers and sisters come to see her. Has she then ceased
to be a virgin?" In the first place, it is doubtful if she is a virgin.
For "the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh upon the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."(7) Again, she may be a
virgin in body and not in spirit. According to the apostle, a true
virgin is "holy both in body and in spirit."(8) Lastly, let her glory
in her own way. Let her override Paul's opinion and live in the
enjoyment of her good things But you and I must follow better examples.
Set before you the blessed Mary, whose surpassing
purity made her meet to be the mother of the Lord. When the angel
Gabriel came down to her, in the form of a man, and said: "Hail, thou
that art highly favored; the Lord is with thee,"(9) she was
terror-stricken and unable to reply, for she had never been saluted by
a man before. But, on learning who he was, she spoke, and one who had
been afraid of a man conversed fearlessly with an angel. Now you, too,
may be the Lord's mother. "Take thee a great roll and write in it with
a man's pen Maher-shalal-hash-baz."(1) And when you have gone to the
prophetess, and have conceived in the womb, and have brought forth a
son,(2) say: "Lord, we have been with child by thy fear, we have been
in pain, we have brought forth the spirit of thy salvation, which we
have wrought upon the earth."(3) Then shall your Son reply: "Behold my
mother and my brethren."(4) And He whose name you have so recently
inscribed upon the table of your heart, and have written with a pen
upon its renewed surface(5)--He, after He has recovered the spoil from
the enemy, and has spoiled principalities and powers, nailing them to
His cross(6)--having been miraculously conceived, grows up to manhood;
and, as He becomes older, regards you no longer as His mother, but as
His bride. To be as the martyrs, or as the apostles, or as Christ,
involves a hard struggle, but brings with it a great reward.
All such efforts are only of use when they are made
within the church's pale;(7) we must celebrate the passover in the one
house,(8) we must enter the ark with Noah,(9) we must take refuge from
the fall of Jericho with the justified harlot, Rahab.(16) Such virgins
as there are said to be among the heretics and among the followers of
the infamous Manes(11) must be considered, not virgins, but
prostitutes. For if--as they allege--the devil is the author of the
body, how can they honor that which is fashioned by their foe? No; it
is because they know that the name virgin brings glory with it, that
they go about as wolves in sheep's clothing.(12) As antichrist pretends
to be Christ, such virgins assume an honorable name, that they
may the better cloak a discreditable life. Rejoice, my sister; rejoice,
my daughter; rejoice, my virgin; for you have resolved to be, in
reality, that which others insincerely feign.
40
39. The things that I have here set forth will seem
hard to her who loves not Christ. But one who has come to regard all
the splendor of the world as off-scourings, and to hold all things
under the sun as vain, that he may win Christ;(1) one who has died with
his Lord and risen again, and has crucified the flesh with its
affections and lusts;(2) he will boldly cry out: "Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" and again:
"I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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."(3)
For our salvation the Son of God is made the Son of
Man.(4) Nine months He awaits His birth in the womb, undergoes the most
revolting conditions,(5) and comes forth covered with blood, to be
swathed in rags and covered with caresses. He who shuts up the world in
His fist(6) is contained in the narrow l limits of a manger. I say
nothing of the thirty years during which he lives in obscurity,
satisfied with the poverty of his parents.(7) When He is scourged He
holds His peace; when He is crucified, He prays for His crucifiers.
"What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards me? I
will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."(8) The
only fitting return that we can make to Him is to give blood for blood;
and, as we are redeemed by the blood of Christ, gladly to lay down our
lives for our Redeemer. What saint has ever won his crown without first
contending for it? Righteous Abel is murdered. Abraham is in danger of
losing his wife. And, as I must not enlarge my book unduly, seek for
yourself: you will find that all holy men have suffered adversity.
Solomon alone lived in luxury and perhaps it was for this reason that
he fell. For "whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every
son whom He receiveth."(9) Which is best--for a short time to do
battle, to carry stakes for the palisades, to bear arms, to faint under
heavy bucklers, that ever afterwards we may rejoice as victors? or to
become slaves forever, just because we cannot endure for a single
hour?(10)
40. Love finds nothing hard; no task is difficult to
the eager. Think of all that Jacob bore for Rachel, the wife who had
been promised to him. "Jacob," the Scripture says, "served seven years
for Rachel. And they seemed unto him but a few days for the love he had
to her."(1) Afterwards he himself tells us what he had to undergo. "In
the day the drought consumed me and the frost by night."(2) So we must
love Christ and always seek His embraces. Then everything difficult
will seem easy; all things long we shall account short; and smitten
with His arrows,(3) we shall say every moment: "Woe is me that I have
prolonged my pilgrimage."(4) For "the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in
us."(5) For "tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and
experience hope; and hope maketh not ashamed."(6) When your lot seems
hard to bear read Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians: "In labors
more abundant; in stripes above measure; in prisons more frequent; in
deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one;
thrice was I beaten with rods; once was I stoned; thrice I suffered
shipwreck; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings
often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own
countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false
brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger
and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness."(7) Which of us
can claim the veriest fraction of the virtues here enumerated? Yet it
was these which afterwards made him bold to say: "I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a
crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give
me at that day."(8)
But we, if our food is less appetizing than usual,
get sullen, and fancy that we do God a favor by drinking watered wine.
And if the water brought to us is a trifle too warm, we break the cup
and overturn the table and scourge the servant in fault until blood
comes. "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take
it by force."(9) Still, unless you use force you will never seize the
kingdom of heaven. Unless you knock importunately you will never
receive the sacramental bread.(10) Is it not truly violence,
41
think you, when the flesh desires to be as God and ascends to the place
whence angels have fallen(1) to judge angels?
41. Emerge, I pray you, for a while from your
prison-house, and paint before your eyes the reward of your present
toil, a reward which "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it
entered into the heart of man."(2) What will be the glory of that day
when Mary, the mother of the Lord, shall come to meet you, accompanied
by her virgin choirs! When, the Red Sea past and Pharaoh drowned with
his host, Miriam, Aaron's sister, her timbrel in her hand, shall chant
to the answering women: "Sing ye unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed
gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea."(3)
Then shall Thecla(4) fly with joy to embrace you. Then shall your
Spouse himself come forward and say: "Rise up, my love, my fair one,
and come away, for lo! the winter is past, the rain is over and
gone."(5) Then shall the angels say with wonder: "Who is she that
looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun?"(6)
"The daughters shall see you and bless you; yea, the queens shall
proclaim and the concubines shall praise you."(7) And, after these, yet
another company of chaste women will meet you. Sarah will come with the
wedded; Anna, the I daughter of Phanuel, with the widows. In the one
band you will find your natural mother and in the other your
spiritual.(8) The one will rejoice in having borne, the other will
exult in having taught you. Then truly will the Lord ride upon his
ass,(9) and thus enter the heavenly Jerusalem. Then the little ones(of
whom, in Isaiah, the Saviour says: "Behold, I and the children whom the
Lord hath given me"(10) ) shall lift up palms of victory and shall sing
with one voice: "Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest."(11) Then shall the
"hundred and forty and four thousand "hold their harps before the
throne and before the elders and shall sing the new song. And no man
shall have power to learn that song save those for whom it is
appointed. "These are they which were not defiled with women; for they
are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he
goeth."(12) As often as this life's idle show tries to charm you; as
often as you see in the world some vain pomp, transport yourself in
mind to Paradise, essay to be now what you will be hereafter, and you
will hear your Spouse say: "Set me as a sunshade in thine heart and as
a seal upon thine arm."(1) And then, strengthened in body as well as in
mind, you, too, will cry aloud and say: "Many waters cannot quench
love, neither can the floods drown it."(2)
LETTER XXIII.
TO MARCELLA.
Jerome writes to Marcella to console her for the
loss of a friend who, like herself, was the head of a religious society
at Rome. The news of Lea's death had first reached Marcella when she
was engaged with Jerome in the study of the 73d psalm. Later in the day
he writes this letter in which, after extolling Lea, he contrasts her
end with that of the consul-elect, Vettius Agorius Praetextatus,
a man of great ability and integrity, whom he declares to be now "in
Tartarus." Written at Rome in 384 A.D.
1. To-day, about the third hour, just as I was
beginning to read with you the seventy-second psalm(3)--the first, that
is, of the third books-and to explain that its title belonged partly to
the second book and partly to the third--the previous book, I mean,
concluding with the words "the prayers of David the son of Jesse are
ended,"(4) and the next commencing with the words "a psalm of
Asaph"(5)--and just as I had come on the passage in which the righteous
man declares: "If I say, I will speak thus; behold I should offend
against the generation of thy children,"(6) a verse which is
differently rendered in our Latin version:(7)--suddenly the news came
that our most saintly friend Lea had departed from the body. As was
only natural, you turned deadly pale; for there are few persons, if
any, who do not burst into tears when the earthen vessel breaks."
But if you wept it was not from doubt as to her future lot, but
only because you had not rendered to her the last sad offices which are
due to the dead. Finally, as we were still conversing together, a
second message informed us that her remains had been already conveyed
to Ostia.
2. You may ask what is the use of repeating all
this. I will reply in the apostle's words, "much every way."(3) First,
it shows that all must hail with joy the release of a soul which has
trampled Satan under foot, and won for itself, at last, a crown of
42
tranquillity. Secondly, it gives me an opportunity of briefly
describing her life. Thirdly, it enables me to assure you that the
consul-elect,(1) that detractor of his age,(2) is now in Tartarus.(3)
Who can sufficiently eulogize our dear Lea's mode of
living? So complete was her conversion to the Lord that, becoming the
head of a monastery, she showed herself a true mother(4) to the virgins
in it, wore coarse sackcloth instead of soft raiment, passed sleepless
nights in prayer, and instructed her companions even more by example
than by precept. So great was her humility that she, who had once been
the mistress of many, was accounted the servant of all; and certainly,
the less she was reckoned an earthly mistress the more she became a
servant of Christ. She was careless of her dress, neglected her hair,
and ate only the coarsest food. Still, in all that she did, she avoided
ostentation that she might not have her reward in this world. (5)
3. Now, therefore, in return for her short toil, Lea
enjoys everlasting felicity; she is welcomed into the choirs of the
angels; she is comforted in Abraham's bosom. And, as once the beggar
Lazarus saw the rich man, for all his purple, lying in torment, so does
Lea see the consul, not now in his triumphal robe but clothed in
mourning, and asking for a drop of water from her little finger.(6) How
great a change have we here! A few days ago the highest dignitaries of
the city walked before him as he ascended the ramparts of the capitol
like a general celebrating a triumph; the Roman people leapt up to
welcome and applaud him, and at the news of his death the whole city
was moved. Now he is desolate and naked, a prisoner in the foulest
darkness, and not, as his unhappy wife(7) falsely asserts, set in the
royal abode of the milky way.(8) On the other hand Lea, who was always
shut up in her one closet, who seemed poor and of little worth, and
whose life was accounted madness,(9) now follows Christ and sings,
"Like as we have heard, so have we seen in the city of our God."(10)
4. And now for the moral of all this, which, with
tears and groans, I conjure you to remember. While we run the way of
this world, we must not clothe ourselves with two coats, that is, with
a twofold faith, or burthen ourselves with leathern shoes, that is,
with dead works; we must not allow scrips filled with money to weigh us
down, or lean upon the staff of worldly power.(1) We must not seek to
possess both Christ and the world. No; things eternal must take the
place of things transitory;(2) and since, physically speaking, we daily
anticipate death, if we wish for immortality we must realize that we
are but mortal.
LETTER XXIV.
TO MARCELLA.
Concerning the virgin Asella. Dedicated to God
before her birth, Marcella's sister had been made a church-virgin at
the age of ten. From that time she had lived a life of the severest
asceticism, first as a member and then as the head of Marcella's
community upon the Aventine. Jerome, who subsequently wrote her a
letter (XLV.) on his departure from Rome, now holds her up as a model
to be admired and imitated. Written at Rome A.D. 384.
1. Let no one blame my letters for the eulogies and
censures which are contained in them. To arraign sinners is to admonish
those in like case, and to praise the virtuous is to quicken the zeal
of those who wish to do right. The day before yesterday I spoke to you
concerning Lea of blessed memory,(3) and I had hardly done so, when I
was pricked in my conscience. It would be wrong for me, I thought, to
ignore a virgin after speaking of one who, as a widow, held a lower
place. Accordingly, in my present letter, I mean to give you a brief
sketch of the life of our dear Asella. Please do not read it to her;
for she is sure to be displeased with eulogies of which she is herself
the object. Show it rather to the young girls of your acquaintance,
that they may guide themselves by her example, and may take her
behavior as the pattern of a perfect life.
2. I pass over the facts that, before her birth, she
was blessed while still in her mother's womb, and that, virgin-like,
she was delivered to her father in a dream in a bowl of shining glass
brighter than a mirror. And I say nothing of her consecration to the
blessed life of virginity, a ceremony which took place when she was
hardly more than ten years old, a mere babe still wrapped in swaddling
clothes. For all that comes before works should be counted of grace;(4)
although, doubtless, God foreknew the future when He sanc-
43
titled Jeremiah as yet unborn,(1) when He made John to leap in his
mother's womb,(2) and when, before the foundation of the world, He set
apart Paul to preach the gospel of His son.(3)
3. I come now to the life which after her twelfth
year she, by her own exertion, chose, laid hold of, held fast to,
entered upon, and fulfilled. Shut up in her narrow cell she roamed
through paradise. Fasting was her recreation and hunger her
refreshment. If she took food it was not from love of eating, but
because of bodily exhaustion; and the bread and salt and cold water to
which she restricted herself sharpened her appetite more than they
appeased it.
But I have almost forgotten to mention that of which
I should have spoken first. When her resolution was still fresh she
took her gold necklace made in the lamprey pattern (so called because
bars of metal are linked together so as to form a flexible chain), and
sold it without her parents' knowledge. Then putting on a dark dress
such as her mother had never been willing that she should wear, she
concluded her pious enterprise by consecrating herself forthwith to the
Lord. She thus showed her relatives that they need hope to wring no
farther concessions from one who, by her very dress, had condemned the
world.
4. To go on with my story, her ways were quiet and
she lived in great privacy. In fact, she rarely went abroad or spoke to
a man. More wonderful still, much as she loved her virgin sister,(4)
she did not care to see her. She worked with her own hands, for she
knew that it was written: "If any will not work neither shall he
eat."(5) To the Bridegroom she spoke constantly in prayer and psalmody.
She hurried to the martyrs' shrines unnoticed. Such visits gave her
pleasure, and the more so because she was never recognized. All the
year round she observed a continual fast, remaining without food for
two or three days! at a time; but when Lent came she hoisted--if I may
so speak--every stitch of canvas and fasted well-nigh from week's end
to week's end with "a cheerful countenance."(5) What would
perhaps be incredible, were it not that "with God all things are
possible,"(7) is that she lived this life until her fiftieth year
without weakening her digestion or bringing on herself the pain of
colic. Lying on the dry ground did not affect her limbs, and the rough
sackcloth that she wore failed to make her skin either foul or rough.
With a sound body and a still sounder soup she sought all her delight
in solitude, and found for herself a monkish hermitage in the centre of
busy Rome.
5. You are better acquainted with all this than I
am, and the few details that I have given I have learned from you. So
intimate are you with Asella that you have seen, with your own eyes,
her holy knees hardened like those of a camel from the frequency of her
prayers. I merely set forth what I can glean from you. She is alike
pleasant in her serious moods and serious in her pleasant ones: her
manner, while winning, is always grave, and while grave is always
winning. Her pale face indicates continence but does not betoken
ostentation. Her speech is silent and her silence is speech. Her pace
is neither too fast nor too slow. Her demeanor is always the same. She
disregards refinement and is careless about her dress. When she does
attend to it it is without attending. So entirely consistent has her
life been that here in Rome. the centre of vain shows, wanton license,
and idle pleasure, where to be humble is to be held spiritless, the
good praise her conduct and the bad do not venture to impugn it. Let
widows and virgins imitate her, let wedded wives make much of her, let
sinful women fear her, and let bishops(2) look up to her.
LETTER XXV.
TO MARCELLA.
An explanation of the ten names given to God in the
Hebrew Scriptures. The ten names are El, Elohim, Sabaoth, Elion, Asher
yeheyeh (Ex. iii. 14), Adonai, Jah, the tetragram JHVH, and Shaddai.
Written at Rome 384 A.D.
LETTER XXVI.
TO MARCELLA.
An explanation of certain Hebrew words which have
been left untranslated in the versions. The words are Alleluia, Amen,
Maran atha. Written at Rome 384 A.D.
LETTER XXVII.
TO MARCELLA.
In this letter Jerome defends himself against the
charge of having altered the text of Scripture, and shows that he has
merely brought the Latin Version of the N.T. into agreement with the
Greek original. Written at Rome 384 A.D.
1. After I had written my former letter,(3)
containing a few remarks on some Hebrew words, a report suddenly
reached me that
44
certain contemptible creatures were deliberately assailing me with the
charge that I had endeavored to correct passages in the gospels,
against the authority of the ancients and the opinion of the whole
world. Now, though I might--as far as strict right goes--treat these
persons with contempt (it is idle to play the lyre for an ass(1)), yet,
lest they should follow their usual habit and reproach me with
superciliousness, let them take my answer as follows: I am not so
dull-wilted nor so coarsely ignorant (qualities which they take for
holiness, calling themselves the disciples of fishermen as if men were
made holy by knowing nothing)--I am not, I repeat, so ignorant as to
suppose that any of the Lord's words is either in need of correction or
is not divinely inspired; but the Latin manuscripts of the Scriptures
are proved to be faulty by the variations which all of them exhibit,
and my object has been to restore them to the form of the Greek
original, from which my detractors do not deny that they have been
translated. If they dislike water drawn from the clear spring, let them
drink of the muddy streamlet, and when they come to read the
Scriptures. let them lay aside(2) the keen eye which they turn on woods
frequented by game-birds and waters abounding in shellfish. Easily
satisfied in this instance alone, let them, if they will, regard the
words of Christ as rude sayings, albeit that over these so many great
intellects have labored for so many ages rather to divine than to
expound the meaning of each single word. Let them charge the great
apostle with want of literary skill, although it is said of him that
much learning made him mad.(3)
2. I know that as you read these words you will knit
your brows, and fear that my freedom of speech is sowing the seeds of
fresh quarrels; and that, if you could, you would gladly put your
finger on my mouth to prevent me from even speaking of things which
others do not blush to do. But, I ask you, wherein have I used too
great license? Have I ever embellished my dinner plates with engravings
of idols? Have I ever, at a Christian banquet, set before the eyes of
virgins the polluting spectacle of Satyrs embracing bacchanals? or have
I ever assailed any one in too bitter terms? Have I ever complained of
beggars turned millionaires? Have I ever censured heirs for the
funerals which they have given to their benefactors?(4) The one thing
that I have unfortunately said has been that virgins ought to live more
in the company of women than of men,(1) and by this I have made the
whole city look scandalized and caused every one to point at me the
finger of scorn. "They that hate me without a cause are more than the
hairs of mine head,"(2) and I am become "a proverb to them."(3) Do you
suppose after this that I will now say anything rash?
3. But "when I set the wheel rolling I began to form
a wine flagon; how comes it that a waterpot is the result?"(4) Lest
Horace laugh at me I come back to my two-legged asses, and din into
their ears, not the music of the lute, but the blare of the trumpet.(5)
They may say if they will, "rejoicing in hope; serving the time," but
we will say" rejoicing in hope; serving the Lord."(6) They may see fit
to receive an accusation against a presbyter unconditionally; but we
will say in the words of Scripture, "Against an eider(7) receive not an
accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke
before all."(8) They may choose to read, "It is a man's saying, and
worthy of all acceptation;" we are content to err with the Greeks, that
is to say with the apostle himself, who spoke Greek. Our version,
therefore, is, it is "a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation."(9) Lastly, let them take as much pleasure as they please
in their Gallican "geldings;"(10) we will be satisfied with the simple
"ass" of Zechariah, loosed from its halter and made ready for the
Saviour's service, which received the Lord on its back, and so
fulfilled Isaiah's prediction: "Blessed is he that soweth beside all
waters, where the ox and the ass tread under foot."(11)
LETTER XXVIII.
TO MARCELLA.
An explanation of the Hebrew word Selah. This word,
rendered by the LXX. <greek>diayalma</greek> and by Aquila
<greek>aei</greek>, was as much a crux in Jerome's day as
it is in ours. "Some," he writes, "make it a 'change of metre,' others
'a pause for breath,' others 'the beginning of a new subject.'
According to yet others it has something to do with rhythm or marks a
burst of instrumental music." Jerome himself inclines to follow Aquila
and Origen, who make the word mean "forever," and suggests that it
betokens completion, like the "explicit" or "feliciter" in contemporary
Latin MSS. Written at Rome A.D. 384.
45
LETTER XXIX.
TO MARCELLA.
An explanation of the Hebrew words Ephod bad (1 Sam.
ii. 18) and Teraphim (Judges xvii. 5).Written at Rome to Marcella, also
at Rome A.D. 384.
LETTER XXX.
TO PAULA.
Some account of the so-called alphabetical psalms
(XXXVII., CXI., CXII., CXIX., CXLV.). After explaining the mystical
meaning of the alphabet, Jerome goes on thus: "What honey is sweeter
than to know the wisdom of God? others, if they will, may possess
riches, drink from a jewelled cup, shine in silks, and try in vain to
exhaust their wealth in the most varied pleasures. Our riches are to
meditate in the law of the Lord day and night,(1) to knock at the
closed door,(2) to receive the 'three loaves' of the Trinity,(3) and,
when the Lord goes before us, to walk upon the water of the world."(4)
Written at Rome A.D. 384.
LETTER XXXI.
TO EUSTOCHIUM.
Jerome writes to thank Eustochium for some presents
sent to him by her on the festival of St. Peter. He also moralizes on
the mystical meaning of the articles sent. The letter should be
compared with Letter XLIV., of which the theme is similar. Written at
Rome in 384 A.D. (on St. Peter's Day).
1. Doves, bracelets, and a letter are outwardly but
small gifts to receive from a virgin, but the action which has prompted
them enhances their value. And since honey may not be offered in
sacrifice to God,(5) you have shown skill in taking off their overmuch
sweetness and making them pungent--if I may so say--with a dash of
pepper. For nothing that is simply pleasurable or merely sweet can
please God. Everything must have in it a sharp seasoning of truth.
Christ's passover must be eaten with bitter herbs.(6)
2. It is true that a festival such as the
birthday(7) of Saint Peter should be seasoned with more gladness than
usual; still our merriment must not forget the limit set by Scripture,
and we must not stray too far from the boundary of our
wrestling-ground. Your presents, indeed, remind me of the sacred
volume, for in it Ezekiel decks Jerusalem with bracelets,(8) Baruch
receives letters from Jeremiah,(9) and the Holy Spirit descends in the
form of a dove at the baptism of Christ.(10) But to give you, too, a
sprinkling of pepper and to remind you of my former letter,(11) I send
you to-day this three-fold warning. Cease not to adorn yourself with
good works--the true bracelets of a Christian woman.(1) Rend not the
letter written on your heart(2) as the profane king cut with his
penknife that delivered to him by Baruch.(3) Let not Hosea say to you
as to Ephraim, "Thou art like a silly dove."(4)
My words are too harsh, you will say, and hardly
suitable to a festival like the present. If so, you have provoked me to
it by the nature of your own gifts. So long as you put bitter with
sweet, you must expect the same from me, sharp words that is, as well
as praise.
3. However, I do not wish to make light of your
gifts, least of all the basket of fine cherries, blushing with such a
virgin modesty that I can fancy them freshly gathered by Lucullus(5)
himself. For it was he who first introduced the fruit at Rome after his
conquest of Pontus and Armenia; and the cherry tree is so called
because he brought it from Cerasus. Now as the Scriptures do not
mention cherries, but do speak of a basket of figs,(6) I will use these
instead to point my moral. May you be made of fruits such as those
which grow before God's temple and of which He says," Behold they are
good, very good."(7) The Saviour likes nothing that is half and half,
and, while he welcomes the hot and does not shun the cold, he tells us
in the Apocalypse that he will spew the lukewarm out of his mouth.(8)
Wherefore we must be careful to celebrate our holy day not so much with
abundance of food as with exultation of spirit. For it is altogether
unreasonable to wish to honor a martyr by excess who himself, as you
know, pleased God by fasting. When you take food always recollect that
eating should be followed by reading, and also by prayer. And if,
by taking this course, you displease some, repeat to yourself the words
of the Apostle: "If I yet pleased men I should not be the servant of
Christ"(9)
LETTER XXXII.
TO MARCELLA.
Jerome writes that he is busy collating Aquila's
Greek version of the Old Testament with the Hebrew, inquires after
Marcella's mother, and forwards the two preceding letters (XXX.,
XXXI.). Written at Rome in 384 A.D.
1. There are two reasons for the shortness of this
letter, one that its bearer is impatient
46
to start, and the other that I am too busy to waste time on trifles.
You ask what business can be so urgent as to stop me from a chat on
paper. Let me tell you, then, that for some time past I have been
comparing Aquila's version(1) of the Old Testament with the scrolls of
the Hebrew, to see if from hatred to Christ the synagogue has changed
the text; and--to speak frankly to a friend--I have found several
variations which confirm our faith. After having exactly revised the
prophets, Solomon,(2) the psalter, and the books of Kings, I am now
engaged on Exodus (called by the Jews, from its opening words, Eleh
shemoth(3) ), and when I have finished this I shall go on to Leviticus.
Now you see why I can let no claim for a letter withdraw me from my
work. However, as I do not wish my friend Currentius(4) to run
altogether in vain, I have tacked on to this little talk two letters(5)
which I am sending to your sister Paula, and to her dear child
Eustochium. Read these, and if you find them instructive or pleasant,
take what I have said to them as meant for you also.
2. I hope that Albina, your mother and mine, is
well. In bodily health, I mean, for I doubt not of her spiritual
welfare. Pray salute her for me, and cherish her with double affection,
both as a Christian and as a mother.
LETTER XXXIII.
TO PAULA.
A fragment of a letter in which Jerome institutes a
comparison between the industry as writers of M. T. Varro and Origen.
It is noteworthy as passing an unqualified eulogium upon Origen, which
contrasts strongly with the tone adopted by the writer in subsequent
years (see, e.g., Letter LXXXIV.). Its date is probably 384 A.D.
1. Antiquity marvels at Marcus Terentius Varro,(6)
because of the countless books which he wrote for Latin readers; and
Greek writers are extravagant in their praise of their man of brass,(7)
because he has written more works than one of us could so much as copy.
But since Latin ears would find a list of Greek writings tiresome, I
shall confine myself to the Latin Varro. I shall try to show that we of
to-day are sleeping the sleep of Epimenides,(1) and devoting to the
amassing of riches the energy which our predecessors gave to sound, if
secular, learning.
2. Varro's writings include forty-five books of
antiquities, four concerning the life of the Roman people.
3. But why, you ask me, have I thus mentioned Varro
and the man of brass? Simply to bring to your notice our Christian man
of brass, or, rather, man of adamant(2)--Origen, I mean--whose zeal for
the study of Scripture has fairly earned for him this latter name.
Would you learn what monuments of his genius he has left us? The
following list exhibits them. His writings comprise thirteen books on
Genesis, two books of Mystical Homilies, notes on Exodus, notes on
Leviticus, **** also single books,(3) four books on First Principles,
two books on the Resurrection, two dialogues on the same subject.(4)
4. So, you see, the labors of this one man have
surpassed those of all previous writers, Greek and Latin. Who has ever
managed to read all that he has written? Yet what reward have his
exertions brought him? He stands condemned by his bishop, Demetrius,(5)
only the bishops of Palestine, Arabia, Phenicia, and Achaia dissenting.
Imperial Rome consents to his condemnation, and even convenes a senate
to censure him,(6) not--as the rabid hounds who now pursue him
cry--because of the novelty or heterodoxy of his doctrines, but because
men could not tolerate the incomparable eloquence and knowledge which,
when once he opened his lips, made others seem dumb.
5. I have written the above quickly and
incautiously, by the light of a poor lantern. You will see why, if you
think of those who to-day represent Epicurus and Aristippus.(7)
47
LETTER XXXIV.
TO MARCELLA.
In reply to a request from Marcella for information
concerning two phrases in Ps. cxxvii. ("bread of sorrow," v. 2, and
"children of the shaken off," A.V. "of the youth," v. 4). Jerome, after
lamenting that Origen's notes on the psalm are no longer extant, gives
the following explanations:
The Hebrew phrase "bread of sorrow" is rendered by
the LXX. "bread of idols"; by Aquila, "bread of troubles"; by
Symmachus, "bread of misery." Theodotion follows the LXX. So does
Origen's Fifth Version, The Sixth renders "bread of error." In support
of the LXX, the word used here is in Ps. cxv. 4, translated "idols."
Either the troubles of life are meant or else the tenets of heresy.
With the second phrase he deals at greater length.
After showing that Hilary of Poitiers's view (viz. that the persons
meant are the apostles, who were told to shake the dust off their feet,
Matt. x. 14) is untenable and would require "shakers off" to be
substituted for "shaken off," Jerome reverts to the Hebrew as before
and declares that the true rendering is that of Symmachus and
Theodotion, viz. "children of youth." He points out that the LXX. (by
whom the Latin translators had been misled) fall into the same mistake
at Neh. iv. 16. Finally he corrects a slip of Hilary as to Ps. cxxviii.
2, where, through a misunderstanding of the LXX., the latter had
substituted "the labors of thy fruits" for "the labors of thy hands."
He speaks throughout with high respect of Hilary, and says that it was
not the bishop's fault that he was ignorant of Hebrew. The date of the
letter is probably A.D. 384.
LETTER XXXV.
FROM POPE DAMASUS.
Damasus addresses live questions to Jerome with a
request for information concerning them. They are:
1. What is the meaning of the words "Whosoever
slayeth Cain vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold"? (Gen. iv. 5.)
2. If God has made all things good, how comes it
that He gives charge to Noah concerning unclean animals, and says to
Peter, "What God hath cleansed that call not thou common"? (Acts x. 15.)
3. How is Gen. xv. 16, "in the fourth generation
they shall come hither again," to be reconciled with Ex. xiii.
18, LXX, "in the fifth generation the children of Israel went up out of
the land of Egypt"?
4. Why did Abraham receive circumcision as a seal of
his faith? (Rom. iv. 11.)
5. Why was Isaac, a righteous man and dear God,
allowed by God to become the dupe of Jacob? (Gen. xxvii.) Written at
Rome 384 A.D.
LETTER XXXVI.
TO POPE DAMASUS.
Jerome's reply to the foregoing. For the second and
fourth questions he refers Damasus to the writings of Tertullian,
Novatian, and Origen. The remaining three he deals with in detail.
Gen. iv. 15, he understands to mean "the slayer of
Cain shall complete the sevenfold vengeance which is to be wreaked upon
him."
Exodus xiii. is, he proposes to reconcile with Gen. xv. 16, by
supposing that in the one place the tribe of Levi is referred to, in
the other the tribe of Judah. He suggests, however, that the words
rendered by the LXX. "in the fifth generation" more probably mean
"harnessed" (so A.V.) or "laden." In reply to the question about Isaac
he says: "No man save Him who for our salvation has deigned to put on
flesh has full knowledge and a complete grasp of the truth. Paul,
Samuel, David, Elisha, all make mistakes, and holy men only know what
God reveals to them." He then goes on to give a mystical interpretation
of the passage suggested by the martyr Hippolytus. Written the day
after the previous letter.
LETTER XXXVII.
TO MARCELLA.
Marcella had asked Jerome to lend her a copy of a
commentary by Rhetitius, bishop of Augustodunum (Autun), on the Song of
Songs. He now refuses to do so on the ground that the work abounds with
errors, of which the two following are samples:(1) Rhetitius identifies
Tharshish with Tarsus, and(2) he supposes that Uphaz (in the phrase
"gold of Uphaz") is the same as Cephas. Written at Rome A.D. 384.
LETTER XXXVIII.
TO MARCELLA.
Blaesilla, the daughter of Paula and sister of
Eustochium, had lost her husband seven months after her marriage, A
dangerous illness had then led to her conversion, and she was now
famous throughout Rome for the length to which she carried her
austerities. Many censured her for what they deemed her fanaticism, and
Jerome, as her spiritual adviser, came in for some of the blame. In the
present letter he defends her conduct, and declares that persons who
cavil at lives like hers have no claim to be considered Christians.
Written at Rome in 385 A.D.
1. When Abraham is tempted to slay his son the trial
only serves to strengthen his faith.(1) When Joseph is sold into Egypt,
his sojourn there enables him to support his father and his
brothers.(2) When Hezekiah is panic-stricken at the near approach of
death, his tears and prayers obtain for him a respite of fifteen
years,(3) If the faith of the apostle, Peter, is shaken by his Lord's
passion, it is that, weeping bitterly, he may hear the soothing words:
"Feed my sheep."(4) If Paul, that ravening wolf,(5) that little
Benjamin,(6) is blinded in a trance, it is that he may receive his
sight, and may be led, by the sudden horror of surrounding darkness, to
call Him Lord Whom before he persecuted as man.(7)
2. So is it now, my dear Marcella, with our beloved
Blaesilla. The burning fever from which we have seen her suffering
unceasingly for nearly thirty days has been
48
sent to teach her to renounce her over-great attention to that body
which the worms must shortly devour. The Lord Jesus has come to her in
her sickness, and has taken her by the hand, and behold, she arises and
ministers unto Him.(1) Formerly her life savored somewhat Of
carelessness; and, fast bound in the bands of wealth, she lay as one
dead in the tomb of the world. But Jesus was moved with indignation,(2)
and was troubled in spirit, and cried aloud and said, Blaesilla, come
forth.(3) She, at His call, has arisen and has come forth, and sits at
meat with the Lord.(4) The Jews, if they will, may threaten her in
their wrath; they may seek to slay her, because Christ has raised her
up.(5) It is enough that the apostles give God the glory. Blaesilla
knows that her life is due to Him who has given it back to her. She
knows that now she can clasp the feet of Him whom but a little while
ago she dreaded as her judge.(6) Then life had all but forsaken her
body, and the approach of death made her gasp and shiver. What succour
did she obtain in that hour from her kinsfolk? What comfort was there
in their words lighter than smoke? She owes no debt to you, ye unkindly
kindred, now that she is dead to the world and alive unto Christ.(7)
The Christian must rejoice that it is so, and he that is vexed must
admit that he has no claim to be called a Christian.
3. A widow who is "loosed from the law of her
husband"(8) has, for her one duty, to continue a widow. But, you will
say, a sombre dress vexes the world. In that case, John the Baptist
would vex it, too; and yet, among those that are born of women, there
has not been a greater than he.(9) He was called an angel;(10) he
baptized the Lord Himself, and yet he was clothed in raiment of camel's
hair, and girded with a leathern girdle.(11) Is the world displeased
because a widow's food is coarse? Nothing can be coarser than locusts,
and yet these were the food of John. The women who ought to scandalize
Christians are those who paint their eyes and lips with rouge and
cosmetics; whose chalked faces, unnaturally white, are like those of
idols; upon whose cheeks every chance tear leaves a furrow; who fail to
realize that years make them old; who heap their heads with hair not
their own; who smooth their faces, and rub out the wrinkles of age; and
who, in the presence of their grandsons, behave like trembling
school-girls. A Christian woman should blush to do violence to nature,
or to stimulate desire by bestowing care upon the flesh. "They that are
in the flesh," the apostle tells us, "cannot please God."(1)
4. In days gone by our dear widow was extremely
fastidious in her dress, and spent whole days before her mirror to
correct its deficiencies. Now she boldly says: "We all with unveiled
face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into
the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the
Lord."(2) In those days maids arranged her hair, and her head, which
had done no harm, was forced into a waving head-dress. Now she leaves
her hair alone, and her only head-dress is a veil. In those days the
softest feather-bed seemed hard to her, and she could scarcely find
rest on a pile of mattresses. Now she rises eager for prayer, her
shrill voice cries Alleluia before every other, she is the first to
praise her Lord. She kneels upon the bare ground, and with frequent
tears cleanses a face once defiled with white lead. After prayer comes
the singing of psalms, and it is only when her neck aches and her knees
totter, and her eyes begin to close with weariness, that she gives them
leave reluctantly to rest. As her dress is dark, lying on the ground
does not soil it. Cheap shoes permit her to give to the poor the price
of gilded ones. No gold and jewels adorn her girdle; it is made of
wool, plain and scrupulously clean. It is intended to keep her clothes
right, and not to cut her waist in two. Therefore, if the scorpion
looks askance upon her purpose, and with alluring words tempts her once
more to eat of the forbidden tree, she must crush him beneath her feet
with a curse, and say, as he lies dying in his allotted dust:(3) "Get
thee behind me, Satan."(4) Satan means adversary,(5) and one who
dislikes Christ's commandments, is more than Christ's adversary; he is
anti-christ.
5. But what, I ask you, have we ever done that men
should be offended at us? Have we ever imitated the apostles? We are
told of the first disciples that they forsook their boat and their
nets, and even their aged father.(6) The publican stood up from the
receipt of custom and followed the Saviour once for all.(7) And when a
disciple
49
wished to return home, that he might take leave of his kinsfolk, the
Master's voice refused consent.(1) A son was even forbidden to bury his
father,(2) as if to show that it is sometimes a religious duty to be
undutiful for the Lord's sake.(3) With us it is different. We are held
to be monks if we refuse to dress in silk. We are called sour and
severe if we keep sober and refrain from excessive laughter. The mob
salutes us as Greeks and impostors(4) if our tunics are fresh and
clean. They may deal in still severer witticisms if they please; they
may parade every fat paunch(5) they can lay hold of, to turn us into
ridicule. Our Blaesilla will laugh at their efforts, and will bear with
patience the taunts of all such croaking frogs, for she will remember
that men called her Lord, Beelzebub.(6)
LETTER XXXIX.
TO PAULA.
Blaesilla died within three months of her
conversion, and Jerome now writes to Paula to offer her his sympathy
and, if possible, to moderate her grief. He asks her to remember that
Blaesilla is now in paradise, and so far to control herself as to
prevent enemies of the faith from cavilling at her conduct. Then he
concludes with the prophecy (since more than fulfilled) that in his
writings Blaesilla's name shall never die. Written at Rome in 389 A.D.
1. "Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a
fountain of tears: that I might weep," not as Jeremiah says, "For the
slain of my people,"(7) nor as Jesus, for the miserable fate of
Jerusalem,(8) but for holiness, mercy, innocence, chastity, and all the
virtues, for all are gone now that Blaesilla is dead. For her sake I do
not grieve, but for myself I must; my loss is too great to be borne
with resignation. Who can recall with dry eyes the glowing faith which
induced a girl of twenty to raise the standard of the Cross, and to
mourn the loss of her virginity more than the death of her husband? Who
can recall without a sigh the earnestness of her prayers, the
brilliancy of her conversation, the tenacity of her memory, and the
quickness of her intellect? Had you heard her speak Greek you would
have deemed her ignorant of Latin; yet when she used the tongue of Rome
her words were free from a foreign accent. She even rivalled the great
Origen in those acquirements which won for him the admiration of
Greece. For in a few months, or rather days, she so completely mastered
the difficulties of Hebrew as to emulate her mother's zeal in learning
and singing the psalms. Her attire was plain, but this plainness was
not, as it often is, a mark of pride. Indeed, her self-abasement was so
perfect that she dressed no better than her maids, and was only
distinguished from them by the greater ease of her walk. Her steps
tottered with weakness, her face was pale and quivering, her slender
neck scarcely upheld her head. Still she always had in her hand a
prophet or a gospel. As I think of her my eyes fill with tears, sobs
impede my voice, and such is my emotion that my tongue cleaves to the
roof of my mouth. As she lay there dying, her poor frame parched with
burning fever, and her relatives gathered round her bed, her last words
were: "Pray to the Lord Jesus, that He may pardon me, because what I
would have done I have not been able to do." Be at peace, dear
Blaesilla, in full assurance that your garments are always white.(1)
For yours is the purity of an everlasting virginity. I feel confident
that my words are true: conversion can never be too late. The words to
the dying robber are a pledge of this: "Verily I say unto thee, today
shall thou be with me in paradise."(2) When at last her spirit was
delivered from the burden of the flesh, and had returned to Him who
gave it;(3) when, too, after her long pilgrimage, she had ascended up
into her ancient heritage, her obsequies were celebrated with customary
splendor. People of rank headed the procession, a pail made of
cloth of gold covered her bier. But I seemed to hear a voice from
heaven, saying: "I do not recognize these trappings; such is not the
garb I used to wear; this magnificence is strange to me."
2. But what is this? I wish to check a mother's
weeping, and I groan myself. I make no secret of my feelings; this
entire letter is written in tears. Even Jesus wept for Lazarus because
He loved him.(4) But he is a poor comforter who is overcome by his own
sighs, and from whose afflicted heart tears are wrung as well as words.
Dear Paula, my agony is as great as yours. Jesus knows it, whom
Blaesilla now follows; the holy angels know it, whose company she now
enjoys. I was her father in the spirit, her foster-father in affection.
Sometimes I say: "Let the day perish wherein I was born,"(5) and again,
"Woe is me, my mother,
50
that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the
whole earth."(1) I cry: "Righteous art thou, O Lord ... yet let me talk
with thee of thy judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked
prosper?"(2) and "as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had
well-nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the
prosperity of the wicked, and I said: How doth God know? and is there
knowledge in the most high? Behold these are the ungodly who prosper in
the world; they increase in riches."(2) But again I recall other words,
"If I say I will speak thus, behold I should offend against the
generation of thy children."(4) Do not great waves of doubt surge up
over my soul as over yours? How comes it, I ask, that godless men live
to old age in the enjoyment of this world's riches? How comes it that
untutored youth and innocent childhood are cut down while still in the
bud? Why is it that children three years old or two, and even unweaned
infants, are possessed with devils, covered with leprosy, and eaten up
with jaundice, while godless men and profane, adulterers and murderers,
have health and strength to blaspheme God? Are we not told that the
unrighteousness of the father does not fall upon the son,(5) and that
"the soul that sinneth it shall die?"(6) Or if the old doctrine holds
good that the sins of the fathers must be visited upon the children,(7)
an old man's countless sins cannot fairly be avenged upon a harmless
infant. And I have said: "Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and
washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been
plagued."(8) Yet when I have thought of these things, like the prophet
I have learned to say: "When I thought to know this, it was too painful
for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their
end."(9) Truly the judgments of the Lord are a great deep.(10) "O the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out?"(11) God
is good, and all that He does must be good also. Does He decree that I
must lose my husband? I mourn my loss, but because it is His will I
bear it with resignation. Is an only son snatched from me? The blow is
hard, yet it can be borne, for He who has taken away is He who
gave.(12) If I become blind a friend's reading will console me. If I
become deaf I shall escape from sinful words, and my thoughts shall be
of God alone. And if, besides such trials as these, poverty, cold,
sickness, and nakedness oppress me, I shall wait for death, and regard
them as passing evils, soon to give way to a better issue. Let us
reflect on the words of the sapiential psalm: "Righteous art thou, O
Lord, and upright are thy judgments."(1) Only he can speak thus who in
all his troubles magnifies the Lord, and, putting down his sufferings
to his sins, thanks God for his clemency.
The daughters of Judah, we are told, rejoiced,
because of all the judgments of the Lord.(2) Therefore, since Judah
means confession, and since every believing soul confesses its
faith,(3) he who claims to believe in Christ must rejoice in all
Christ's judgments. Am I in health? I thank my Creator. Am I sick? In
this case, too, I praise God's will. For "when I am weak, then am I
strong;" and the strength of the spirit is made perfect in the weakness
of the flesh. Even an apostle must bear what he dislikes, that ailment
for the removal of which he besought the Lord thrice. God's reply was:
"My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in
weakness."(4) Lest he should be unduly elated by his revelations, a
reminder of his human weakness was given to him, just as in the
triumphal car of the victorious general there was always a slave to
whisper constantly, amid the cheerings of the multitude, "Remember that
thou art but man."(5)
3. But why should that be hard to bear which we must
one day ourselves endure? And why do we grieve for the dead? We are not
born to live forever. Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah, Peter, James, and
John, Paul, the "chosen vessel,"(6) and even the Son of God Himself
have all died; and are we vexed when a soul leaves its earthly
tenement? Perhaps he is taken away, "lest that wickedness should alter
his understanding ... for his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted
he to take him away from the people"(7)--lest in life's long journey he
should lose his way in some trackless maze. We should indeed mourn for
the dead, but only for him whom Gehenna receives, whom Tartarus
devours, and for whose punishment the eternal fire burns. But we who,
in departing, are accompanied by an escort of angels, and met
51
by Christ Himself, should rather grieve that we have to tarry yet
longer in this tabernacle of death.(1) For "whilst we are at home in
the body, we are absent from the Lord."(2) Our one longing should be
that expressed by the psalmist: "Woe is me that my pilgrimage is
prolonged, that I have dwelt with them that dwell in Kedar, that my
soul hath made a far pilgrimage."(3) Kedar means darkness, and darkness
stands for this present world (for, we are told, "the light shineth in
darkness; and the darkness comprehendeth it not"(4)). Therefore we
should congratulate our dear Blaesilla that she has passed from
darkness to light,(5) and has in the first flush of her dawning faith
received the crown of her completed work. Had she been cut off (as f
pray that none may be) while her thoughts were full of worldly desires
and passing pleasures, then mourning would indeed have been her due,
and no tears shed for her would have been too many. As it is, by the
mercy of Christ she, four months ago, renewed her baptism in her vow of
widowhood, and for the rest of her days spurned the world, and thought
only of the religions life. Have you no fear, then, lest the Saviour
may say to you: "Are you angry, Paula, that your daughter has become my
daughter? Are you vexed at my decree, and do you, with rebellious
tears, grudge me the possession of Blaesilla? You ought to know what my
purpose is both for you and for yours. You deny yourself food, not to
fast but to gratify your grief; and such abstinence is displeasing to
me. Such fasts are my enemies. I receive no soul which forsakes the
body against my will. A foolish philosophy may boast of martyrs of this
kind; it may boast of a Zeno(6) a Cleombrotus,(7) or a Cato.(8) My
spirit rests only upon him "that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and
that trembleth at my word.(9) Is this the meaning of your vow to me
that you would lead a religious life? Is it for this that you dress
yourself differently from other matrons, and array yourself in the garb
of a nun? Mourning is for those who wear silk dresses. In the midst of
your tears the call will come, and you, too, must die; yet you flee
from me as from a cruel judge, and fancy that you can avoid failing
into my hands. Jonah, that headstrong prophet, once fled from me, yet
in the depths of the sea he was still mine.(1) If you really believed
your daughter to be alive, you would not grieve that she had passed to
a better world. This is the commandment that I have given you through
my apostle, that you sorrow not for them that sleep, even as the
Gentiles, which have no hope.(2) Blush, for you are put to shame by the
example of a heathen. The devil's handmaid(3) is better than mine. For,
while she imagines that her unbelieving husband has been translated to
heaven, you either do not or will not believe that your daughter is at
rest with me."
4. Why should I not mourn, you say? Jacob lint on
sackcloth for Joseph, and when all his family gathered round him,
refused to be comforted. "I will go down," he said, "into the grave
unto my son mourning."(4) David also mourned for Absalom, covering his
face, and crying: "O my son, Absalom ... my son, Absalom! Would God I
had died for thee, O Absalom, my son!:(5) Moses,(6) too, and Aaron,(7)
and the rest of the saints were mourned for with a solemn mourning. The
answer to your reasoning is simple. Jacob, it is true, mourned
for Joseph, whom he fancied slain, and thought to meet only in
the grave (his words were: "I will go down into the grave unto my son
mourning"), but he only did so because Christ had not yet broken open
the door of paradise, nor quenched with his blood the flaming sword and
the whirling of the guardian cherubim.(8) (Hence in the story of Dives
and Lazarus, Abraham and the beggar, though really in a place of
refreshment, are described as being in hell.(9)) And David, who, after
interceding in vain for the life of his infant child, refused to weep
for it, knowing that it had not sinned, did well to weep for a son who
had been a parricide--in will, if not in deed.(10) And when we read
that, for Moses and Aaron, lamentation was made after ancient custom,
this ought not to surprise us, for even in the Acts of the Apostles, in
the full blaze of the gospel, we see that the brethren at Jerusalem
made great lamentation for Stephen.(11) This great lamentation,
however, refers not to the mourners, but to the funeral procession and
to the crowds which accompanied it. This
52
is what the Scripture says of Jacob: "Joseph went up to bury his
father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of
his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the house
of Joseph and his brethren"; and a few lines farther on: "And there
went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a great
company." Finally, "they mourned with a great and very sore
lamentation."(1) This solemn lamentation does not impose prolonged
weeping upon the Egyptians, but simply describes the funeral ceremony.
In like manner, when we read of weeping made for Moses and Aaron,(2)
this is all that is meant.
I cannot adequately extol the mysteries of
Scripture, nor sufficiently admire the spiritual meaning conveyed in
its most simple words. We are told, for instance, that lamentation was
made for Moses; yet when the funeral of Joshua is described(3) no
mention at all is made of weeping. The reason, of course, is that under
Moses--that is under the old Law--all men were bound by the sentence
passed on Adam's sin, and when they descended into hell(4) were rightly
accompanied with tears. For, as the apostle says, "death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned."(5) But under
Jesus,(6) that is, under the Gospel of Christ, who has unlocked for us
the gate of paradise, death is accompanied, not with sorrow, but with
joy. The Jews go on weeping to this day; they make bare their feet,
they crouch in sackcloth, they roll in ashes. And to make their
superstition complete, they follow a foolish custom of the Pharisees,
and eat lentils,(7) to show, it would seem, for what poor fare they
have lost their birthright.(8) Of course they are right to weep, for as
they do not believe in the Lord's resurrection they are being made
ready for the advent of antichrist. But we who have put on Christ(9)
and according to the apostle are a royal and priestly race,(10) we
ought not to grieve for the dead. "Moses," the Scripture tells us,
"said unto Aaron and unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar, his sons that were
left: Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die,
and lest wrath come upon all the people."(11) Rend not your clothes, he
says, neither mourn as pagans, lest you die. For, for us sin is death.
In this same book, Leviticus, there is a provision which may perhaps
strike some as cruel, yet is necessary to faith: the high priest is
forbidden to approach the dead bodies of his father and mother, of his
brothers and of his children;(1) to the end, that no grief may distract
a soul engaged in offering sacrifice to God, and wholly devoted to the
Divine mysteries. Are we not taught the same lesson in the Gospel
in other words? Is not the disciple forbidden to say farewell to his
home or to bury his dead father?(2) Of the high priest, again, it is
said: "He shall not go out of the sanctuary, and the sanctification of
his God shall not be contaminated, for the anointing oil of his God is
upon him."(2) Certainly, now that we have believed in Christ, and bear
Him within us, by reason of the oil of His anointing which we have
received,(4) we ought not to depart from His temple--that is, from our
Christian profession--we ought not to go forth to mingle with the
unbelieving Gentiles, but always to remain within, as servants obedient
to the will of the Lord.
5. I have spoken plainly, lest you might ignorantly
suppose that Scripture sanctions your grief; and that, if you err, you
have reason on your side. And, so far, my words have been addressed to
the average Christian woman. But now it will not be so. For in your
case, as I well know, renunciation of the world has been complete; you
have rejected and trampled on the delights of life, and you give
yourself daily to fasting, to reading, and to prayer. Like Abraham,(5)
you desire to leave your country and kindred, to forsake Mesopotamia
and the Chaldaeans, to enter into the promised land. Dead to the world
before your death, you have spent all your mere worldly substance upon
the poor, or have bestowed it upon your children. I am the more
surprised, therefore, that you should act in a manner which in others
would justly call for reprehension. You call to mind Blaesilla's
companionship, her conversation, and her endearing ways; and you cannot
endure the thought that you have lost them all. I pardon you the tears
of a mother, but I ask you to restrain your grief. When I think of the
parent I cannot blame you for weeping: but when I think of the
Christian and the recluse, the mother disappears from my view. Your
wound is still fresh, and ant touch of mine, however gentle, is more
53
likely to inflame than to heal it. Yet why do you not try to overcome
by reason a grief which time must inevitably assuage? Naomi, fleeing
because of famine to the land of Moab, there lost her husband and her
sons. Yet when she was thus deprived of her natural protectors, Ruth, a
stranger, never left her side.(1) And see what a great thing it is to
comfort a lonely woman Ruth, for her reward, is made an ancestress of
Christ.(2) Consider the great trials which Job endured, and you will
see that you are over-delicate. Amid the ruins of his house, the pains
of his sores, his countless bereavements, and, last of all, the snares
laid for him by his wife, he still lifted up his eyes to heaven, and
maintained his patience unbroken. I know what you are going to say "All
this befell him as a righteous man, to try his righteousness." Well,
choose which alternative you please. Either you are holy, in which case
God is putting your holiness to the proof; or else you are a sinner, in
which case you have no right to complain. For if so, you endure far
less than your deserts.
Why should I repeat old stories? Listen to a modern
instance. The holy Melanium,(3) eminent among Christians for her true
nobility (may the Lord grant that you and I may have part with her in
His day!), while the dead body of her husband was still unburied, still
warm, had the misfortune to lose at one stroke two of her sons. The
sequel seems incredible, but Christ is my witness that my words are
true. Would you not suppose that in her frenzy she would have unbound
her hair, and rent her clothes, and torn her breast? Yet not a tear
fell from her eyes. Motionless she stood there; then casting herself at
the feet of Christ, she smiled, as though she held Him with her hands.
"Henceforth, Lord," she said, "I will serve Thee more readily, for Thou
hast freed me from a great burden." But perhaps her remaining children
overcame her determination. No, indeed; she set so little store by them
that she gave up all that she had to her only son, and then, in spite
of the approaching winter, took ship for Jerusalem.
6. Spare yourself, I beseech you, spare Blaesilla,
who now reigns with Christ; at least spare Eustochium, whose tender
years and inexperience depend on you for guidance and instruction. Now
does the devil rage and complain that he is set at naught, because he
sees one of your children exalted in triumph. The victory which he
failed to win over her that is gone he hopes to obtain over her who
still remains. Too great affection towards one's children is
disaffection towards God. Abraham gladly prepares to slay his only son,
and do you complain if one child out of several has received her crown?
I cannot say what I am going to say without a groan. When you were
carried fainting out of the funeral procession, whispers such as these
were audible in the crowd. "Is not this what we have often said. She
weeps for her daughter, killed with fasting. She wanted her to marry
again, that she might have grandchildren. How long must we refrain from
driving these detestable monks out of Rome? Why do we not stone them or
hurl them into the Tiber? They have misled this unhappy lady; that she
is not a nun from choice is clear. No heathen mother ever wept for her
children as she does for Blaesilla." What sorrow, think you, must not
Christ have endured when He listened to such words as these! And how
triumphantly must Satan have exulted, eager as he is to snatch your
soul! Luring you with the claims of a grief which seems natural and
right, and always keeping before you the image of Blaesilla, his aim is
to slay the mother of the victress, and then to fall upon her forsaken
sister. I do not speak thus to terrify you. The Lord is my witness that
I address you now as though I were standing at His judgment seat. Tears
which have no meaning are an object of abhorrence. Yours are detestable
tears, sacrilegious tears, unbelieving tears; for they know no limits,
and bring you to the verge of death. You shriek and cry out as though
on fire within, and do your best to put an end to yourself. But to you
and others like you Jesus comes in His mercy and says: "Why weepest
thou? the damsel is not dead but sleepeth."(1) The bystanders may laugh
him to scorn; such unbelief is worthy of the Jews. If you prostrate
yourself in grief at your daughter's tomb you too will hear the chiding
of the angel, "Why seek ye the living among the dead?"(2) It was
because Mary Magdalene had done this that when she recognized the
Lord's voice calling her and fell at His feet, He said to her: "Touch
me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father;"(3) that is to say, you
are not worthy to touch, as risen, one whom you suppose still in the
tomb.
7. What crosses and tortures, think you, must not
our Blaesilla endure to see Christ
54
angry with you, though it be but a little! At this moment she cries to
you as you weep: "If ever you loved me, mother, if I was nourished at
your breast, if I was taught by your precepts, do not grudge me my
exaltation, do not so act that we shall be separated forever. Do you
fancy that I am alone? In place of you I now have Mary the mother of
the Lord. Here I see many whom before I have not known. My companions
are infinitely better than any that I had on earth. Here I have the
company of Anna, the prophetess of the Gospel;(1) and--what should
kindle in you more fervent joy--I have gained in three short months
what cost her the labor of many years to win. Both of us widows indeed,
we have been both rewarded with the palm of chastity. Do you pity me
because I have left the world behind me? It is I who should, and do,
pity you who, still immured in its prison, daily fight with. anger,
with covetousness, with lust, with this or that temptation leading the
soul to ruin. If you wish to be indeed my mother, you must please
Christ. She is not my mother who displeases my Lord." Many other things
does she say which here I pass over; she prays also to God for you. For
me, too, I feel sure, she makes intercession and asks God to pardon my
sins in return for the warnings and advice that I bestowed on her, when
to secure her salvation I braved the ill will of her family.
8. Therefore, so long as breath animates my body, so
long as I continue in the enjoyment of life, I engage, declare, and
promise that Blaesilla's name shall be forever on my tongue, that my
labors shall be dedicated to her honor, and that my talents shall be
devoted to her praise. No page will I write in which Blaesilla's name
shall not occur Wherever the records of my utterance shall find their
way, thither she, too, will travel with my poor writings. Virgins,
widows, monks and priests, as they read, will see how deeply her image
is impressed upon my mind. Everlasting remembrance will make up for the
shortness of her life. Living as she does with Christ in heaven, she
will live also on the lips of men. The present will soon pass away and
give place to the future, and that future will judge her without
partiality and without prejudice. As a childless widow she will occupy
a middle place between Paula, the mother of children, and Eustochium
the virgin. In my writings she will never die. She will hear me
conversing of her always, either with her sister or with her mother.
LETTER XL.
TO MARCELLA.
Onasus, of Segesta, the subject of this letter, was
among Jerome's Roman opponents. He is here held up to ridicule in a
manner which reflects little credit on the writer's urbanity. The date
of the letter is 385 A.D.
1. The medical men called surgeons pass for being
cruel, but really deserve pity. For is it not pitiful to cut away the
dead flesh of another man with merciless knives without being moved by
his pangs? Is it not pitiful that the man who is curing the patient is
callous to his sufferings, and has to appear as his enemy? Yet such is
the order of nature. While truth is always bitter, pleasantness waits
upon evil-doing. Isaiah goes naked without blushing as a type of
captivity to come.(1) Jeremiah is sent from Jerusalem to the Euphrates
(a river in Mesopotamia), and leaves his girdle to be marred in the
Chaldaean camp, among the Assyrians hostile to his people.(2) Ezekiel
is told to eat bread made of mingled seeds and sprinkled with the dung
of men and cattle.(3) He has to see his wife die without shedding a
tear.(4) Amos is driven from Samaria.(5) Why is he driven from it?
Surely in this case as in the others, because he was a spiritual
surgeon, who cut away the parts diseased by sin and urged men to
repentance. The apostle Paul says: "Am I therefore become your enemy
because I tell you the truth?"(6) And so the Saviour Himself found it,
from whom many of the disciples went back because His sayings seemed
hard.(7)
2. It is not surprising, then, that by exposing
their faults I have offended many. I have arranged to operate on a
cancerous nose;(8) let him who suffers from wens tremble. I wish to
rebuke a chattering daw; let the crow realize that she is offensive.(9)
Yet, after all, is there but one person in Rome
"Whose nostrils are disfigured by a scar?"(10) IS
Onasus of Segesta alone in puffing out his cheeks like bladders and
balancing hollow phrases on his tongue?
I say that certain persons have, by crime, perjury,
and false pretences, attained to this or that high position. How does
it hurt you who know that the charge does not touch you? I laugh at a
pleader who has no
55
clients, and sneer at a penny-a-liner's eloquence. What does it matter
to you who are such a refined speaker? It is my whim to inveigh against
mercenary priests. You are rich already, why should you be angry? I
wish to shut up Vulcan and burn him in his own flames. Are you his
guest or his neighbor that you try to save an idol's shrine from the
fire? I choose to make merry over ghosts and owls and monsters of the
Nile; and whatever I say, you take it as aimed at you. At whatever
fault I point my pen, you cry out that you are meant. You collar me and
drag me into court and absurdly charge me with writing satires when I
only write plain prose!
So you really think yourself a pretty fellow just
because you have a lucky name!(1) Why it does not follow at all. A
brake is called a brake just because the light does not break through
it.(2) The Fates are called "sparers,"(3) just because they never
spare. The Furies are spoken of as gracious,(4) because they show no
grace. And in common speech Ethiopians go by the name of silverlings.
Still, if the showing up of faults always angers you, I will soothe you
now with the words of Persius: "May you be a catch for my lord and
lady's daughter! May the pretty ladies scramble for you! May the ground
you walk on turn to a rose-bed!"(5)
3. All the same, I will give you a hint what
features to hide if you want to look your best. Show no nose upon your
face and keep your mouth shut. You will then stand some chance of being
counted both handsome and eloquent.
LETTER XLI.
TO MARCELLA.
An effort having been made to convert Marcella to
Montanism,(6) Jerome here summarizes for her its leading doctrines,
which he contrasts with those of the Church. Written at Rome in 385 A.D.
1. As regards the passages brought together from the
gospel of John with which a certain votary of Montanus has assailed
you, passages in which our Saviour promises that He will go to the
Father, and that He will send the Paraclete(7)--as regards these, the
Acts of the Apostles inform us both for what time the promises were
made, and at what time they were actually fulfilled. Ten days had
elapsed, we are told, from the Lord's ascension and fifty from His
resurrection, when the Holy Spirit came down, and the tongues of the
believers were cloven, so that each spoke every language. Then it was
that, when certain persons of those who as yet believed not
declared that the disciples were drunk with new wine, Peter standing in
the midst of the apostles, and of all the concourse said: "Ye men of
Judaea and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you and
hearken to my words: for these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it
is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken of
by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith
God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and
daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and
your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants, and on my
handmaidens will pour out ... of my spirit."(1)
2. If, then, the apostle Peter, upon whom the Lord
has founded the Church,(2) has expressly said that the prophecy and
promise of the Lord were then and there fulfilled, how can we claim
another fulfilment for ourselves? if the Montanists reply that Philip's
four daughters prophesied(3) at a later date, and that a prophet is
mentioned named Agabus,(4) and that in the partition of the spirit,
prophets are spoken of as well as apostles, teachers and others,(6) and
that Paul himself prophesied many things concerning heresies still
future, and the end of the world; we tell them that we do not so much
reject prophecy--for this is attested by the passion of the Lord--as
refuse to receive prophets whose utterances fail to accord with the
Scriptures old and new.
3. In the first place we differ from the Montanists
regarding the rule of faith. We distinguish the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit as three persons, but unite them as one substance.
They, on the other hand, following the doctrine of Sabellius,(6) force
the Trinity into the narrow limits of a single personality. We, while
we do not encourage them, yet allow second marriages, since Paul bids
the younger widows to marry.(7) They suppose a repetition of marriage a
sin so awful that he who has committed it is to be regarded as an
adulterer. We, according
56
to the apostolic tradition (in which the whole world is at one with
us), fast through one Lent yearly; whereas they keep three in the year
as though three saviours had suffered. I do not mean, of course, that
it is unlawful to fast at other times through the year--always
excepting Pentecost(1)--only that while in Lent it is a duty of
obligation, at other seasons it is a matter of choice. With us, again,
the bishops occupy the place of the apostles, but with them a bishop
ranks not first but third. For while they put first the patriarchs of
Pepusa(2) in Phrygia, and place next to these the ministers called
stewards,(3) the bishops are relegated to the third or almost the
lowest rank. No doubt their object is to make their religion more
pretentious by putting that last which we put first. Again they close
the doors of the Church to almost every fault, whilst we read daily, "I
desire the repentance of a sinner rather than his death,"(4) and "Shall
they fall and not arise, saith the Lord,"(5) and once more "Return ye
backsliding children and I will heal your backslidings."(6) Their
strictness does not prevent them from themselves committing grave sins,
far from it; but there is this difference between us and them, that,
whereas they in their self-righteousness blush to confess their faults,
we do penance for ours, and so more readily gain pardon for them.
4. I pass over their sacraments(7) of sin, made up
as they are said to be, of sucking children subjected to a triumphant
martyrdom.(6) I prefer, I say, not to credit these; accusations of
blood-shedding may well be false. But I must confute the open blasphemy
of men who say that God first determined in the Old Testament to save
the world by Moses and the prophets, but that finding Himself unable to
fulfil His purpose He took to Himself a body of the Virgin, and
preaching' under the form of the Son in Christ, underwent death for our
salvation. Moreover that, when by these two steps He was unable to save
the world, He last of all descended by the Holy Spirit upon Montanus
and those demented women Prisca and Maximilia; and that thus the
mutilated and emasculate(9) Montanus possessed a fulness of knowledge
such as was never claimed by Paul; for he was content to say, "We know
in part, and we prophesy in part," and again, "Now we see through a
glass darkly."(1)
These are statements which require no refutation. To
expose the infidelity of the Montanists is to triumph over it. Nor is
it necessary that in so short a letter as this I should overthrow the
several absurdities which they bring forward. You are well acquainted
with the Scriptures; and, as I take it, you have written, not because
you have been disturbed by their cavils, but only to learn my opinion
about them.
LETTER XLII.
TO MARCELLA.
At Marcella's request Jerome explains to her what is
"the sin against the Holy Ghost" spoken of by Christ, and shows
Novatian's(2) explanation of it to be untenable. Written at Rome in 385
A.D.
1. The question you send is short and the answer is
clear. There is this passage in the gospel: "Whosoever speaketh a word
against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever
speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him neither
in this world nor in the world to come."(3) Now if Novatian affirms
that none but Christian renegades can sin against the Holy Ghost, it is
plain that the Jews who blasphemed Christ were not guilty of this sin.
Yet they were wicked husbandmen, they had slain the prophets, they were
then compassing the death of the Lord;(4) and so utterly lost were they
that the Son of God told them that it was they whom he had come to
save.(5) It must be proved to Novatian, therefore, that the sin which
shall never be forgiven is not the blasphemy of men disembowelled by
torture who in their agony deny their Lord, but is the captious clamor
of those who, while they see that God's works are the fruit of virtue,
ascribe the virtue to a demon and declare the signs wrought to belong
not to the divine excellence but to the devil. And this is the whole
gist of our Saviour's argument, when He teaches that Satan cannot be
cast out by Satan, and that his kingdom is not divided against
itself.(6) If it is the devil's object to injure God's creation, how
can he wish to cure the sick and to expel himself from the bodies
possessed by him? Let Novatian prove that of those who have been
compelled to sacrifice before a judge's tribu-
57
nal any has declared of the things written in the gospel that they were
wrought not by the Son of God but by Beelzebub, the prince of the
devils;(1) and then he will be able to make good his contention that
this(2) is the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which shall never be
forgiven.
2. But to put a more searching question still: let
Novatian tell us how he distinguishes speaking against the Son of Man
from blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. For I maintain that on his
principles men who have denied Christ under persecution have only
spoken against the Son of Man, and have not blasphemed the Holy Ghost.
For when a man is asked if he is a Christian, and declares that he is
not; obviously in denying Christ, that is the Son of Man, he does no
despite to the Holy Ghost. But if his denial of Christ involves a
denial of the Holy Ghost, this heretic can perhaps tell us how the Son
of Man can be denied without sinning against the Holy Ghost. If he
thinks that we are here intended by the term Holy Ghost to understand
the Father, no mention at all of the Father is made by the denier in
his denial. When the apostle Peter, taken aback by a maid's question,
denied the Lord, did he sin against the Son of Man or against the Holy
Ghost? If Novatian absurdly twists Peter's words, "I know not the
man,"(3) to mean a denial not of Christ's Messiahship but of His
humanity, he will make the Saviour a liar, for He foretold(4) that He
Himself, that is His divine Sonship, must be denied. Now, when Peter
denied the Son of God, he wept bitterly and effaced his threefold
denial by a threefold confession.(5) His sin, therefore, was not the
sin against the Holy Ghost which can never be forgiven. It is obvious,
then, that this sin involves blasphemy, calling one Beelzebub for his
actions, whose virtues prove him to be God. If Novatian can bring an
instance of a renegade who has called Christ Beelzebub, I will at once
give up my position and admit that after such a fall the denier can win
no forgiveness. To give way under torture and to deny oneself to be a
Christian is one thing, to say that Christ is the devil is another. And
this you will yourself see if you read the passage(6) attentively.
3. I ought to have discussed the matter more fully,
but some friends have visited my humble abode, and I cannot refuse to
give myself up to them. Still, as it might seem arrogant not to
answer you at once, I have compressed a wide subject into a few words,
and have sent you not a letter but an explanatory note.(1)
LETTER XLIII.
TO MARCELLA.
Jerome draws a contrast between his daily life and
that of Origen, and sorrowfully admits his own shortcomings. He then
suggests to Marcella the advantages which life in the country offers
over life in town, and hints that he is himself disposed to make trial
of it. Written at Rome in 385 A.D.
1. Ambrose who supplied Origen, true man of adamant
and of brass,(2) with money, materials and amanuenses to bring out his
countless books--Ambrose, in a letter to his friend from Athens, states
that they never took a meal together without something being read, and
never went to bed till some portion of Scripture had been brought home
to them by a brother's voice. Night and day, in fact, were so ordered
that prayer only gave place to reading-and reading to prayer.
2. Have we, brute beasts that we are, ever hone the
like? Why, we yawn if we read for over an hour; we rub our foreheads
and vainly try to suppress our languor. And then, after this great
feat, we plunge for relief into worldly business once more.
I say nothing of the meals with which we dull our
faculties, and I would rather not estimate the time that we spend in
paying and receiving visits. Next we fall into conversation; we waste
our words, we attack people behind their backs, we detail their way of
living, we carp at them and are carped at by them in turn. Such is the
fare that engages our attention at dinner and afterwards. Then, when
our guests have retired, we make up our accounts, and these are sure to
cause us either anger or anxiety. The first makes us like raging lions,
and the second seeks vainly to make provision for years to come. We do
not recollect the words of the Gospel: "Thou fool, this night thy soul
shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou
hast provided ?"(3) The clothing which we buy is designed not merely
for use but for display. Where there is a chance of saving money we
quicken our pace, speak promptly, and keep our ears open. If we hear of
household losses--such as often occur--our looks become dejected and
gloomy. The gain of a penny(4) fills us with joy; the loss of a
half-penny(5) plunges us into sorrow. One man
58
is of so many minds that the prophet's prayer is: "Lord, in thy city
scatter their image."(1) For created as we are in the image of God and
after His likeness,(2) it is our own wickedness which makes us assume
masks.(3) Just as on the stage the same actor now figures as a brawny
Hercules, now softens into a tender Venus, now shivers in the role of
Cybele; so we--who, if we were not of the world, would be hated by the
world(4)--for every sin that we commit have a corresponding mask.
3. Wherefore, seeing that we have journeyed for much
of our life through a troubled sea, and that our vessel has been in
turn shaken by raging blasts and shattered upon treacherous reefs, let
us, as soon as may be, make for the haven of rural quietude. There such
country dainties as milk and household bread, and greens watered by our
own hands, will supply us with coarse but harmless fare. So living,
sleep will not call us away from prayer, nor satiety from reading. In
summer the shade of a tree will afford us privacy. In autumn the
quality of the air and the leaves strewn under foot will invite us to
stop and rest. In springtime the fields will be bright with flowers,
and our psalms will sound the sweeter for the twittering of the birds.
When winter comes with its frost and snow, I shall not have to buy
fuel, and, whether I sleep or keep vigil, shall be warmer than in town.
At least, so far as I know, I shall keep off the cold at less expense.
Let Rome keep to itself its noise and bustle, let the cruel shows of
the arena go on, let the crowd rave at the circus, let the playgoers
revel in the theatres and--for I must not altogether pass over our
Christian friends--let the House of Ladies(5) hold its daily sittings.
It is good for us to cleave to the Lord,(6) and to put our hope in the
Lord God, so that when we have exchanged our present poverty for the
kingdom of heaven, we may be able to exclaim: "Whom have I in heaven
but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee."(7)
Surely if we can find such blessedness in heaven we may well grieve to
have sought after pleasures poor and passing here upon earth. Farewell.
LETTER XLIV.
TO MARCELLA.
Marcella had sent some small articles as a present
(probably to Paula and Eustochium) and Jerome now writes in their name
to thank her for them. He notices the appropriateness of the gifts, not
only to the ladies, but also to himself. Written at Rome in 385 A.D.
When absent in body we are wont to converse together
in spirit.(1) Each of us does what he or she can. You send us gifts, we
send you back letters of thanks. And as we are virgins who have taken
the veil,(2) it is our duty to show that hidden meanings lurk under
your nice presents. Sackcloth, then, is a token of prayer and fasting,
the chairs remind us that a virgin should never stir abroad, and the
wax tapers that we should look for the bridegroom's coming with our
lights burning.(3) The cups also warn us to mortify the flesh and
always to be ready for martyrdom. "How bright," says the psalmist," is
the cup of the Lord, intoxicating them that drink it!"(4) Moreover,
when you offer to matrons little fly-flaps to brush away mosquitoes, it
is a charming way of hinting that they should at once check voluptuous
feelings, for "dying flies," we are told, "spoil sweet ointment."(5) In
such presents, then, as these, virgins can find a model, and matrons a
pattern. To me, too, your gifts convey a lesson, although one of an
opposite kind. For chairs suit idlers, sackcloth does for penitents,
and cups are wanted for the thirsty. And I shall be glad to light
your tapers, if only to banish the terrors of the night and the fears
of an evil conscience.
LETTER XLV.
TO ASELLA.
After leaving Rome for the East, Jerome writes
to Asella to refute the calumnies by which he had been assailed,
especially as regards his intimacy with Paula and Eustochium.Written on
board ship at Ostia, in August, 385 A.D.
1. Were I to think myself able to requite your
kindness I should be foolish. God is able in my stead to reward a soul
which is consecrated to Him. So unworthy, indeed, am I of your regard
that I have never ventured to estimate its value or even to wish that
it might be given me for Christ's sake. Some consider me a wicked man,
laden with iniquity; and such language is more than justified by my
actual sins. Yet in dealing with the bad you do well to account them
good. It is dangerous to judge another man's servant;(6) and to speak
evil of the righteous is a sin not easily pardoned. The day will surely
come
59
when you and I shall mourn for others; for not a few will be in the
flames
2. I am said to be an infamous turncoat, a slippery
knave, one who lies and deceives others by Satanic arts. Which is the
safer course, I should like to know, to invent or credit these charges
against innocent persons, or to refuse to believe them, even of the
guilty? Some kissed my hands, yet attacked me with the tongues of
vipers; sympathy was on their lips, but malignant joy in their hearts.
The Lord saw them and had them in derision,(1) reserving my poor self
and them for judgment to come. One would attack my gait or my way of
laughing; another would find something amiss in my looks; another would
suspect the simplicity of my manner. Such is the company in which I
have lived for almost three years.
It often happened that I found myself surrounded
with virgins, and to some of these I expounded the divine books as best
I could Our studies brought about constant intercourse, this soon
ripened into intimacy, and this, in turn, produced mutual confidence.
If they have ever seen anything in my conduct unbecoming a Christian
let them say so. Have I taken any one's money? Have I not disdained all
gifts, whether small or great? Has the chink of any one's coin been
heard in my hand?(2) Has my language been equivocal, or my eye wanton?
No; my sex is my one crime, and even on this score I am not assailed,
save when there is a talk of PauLa going to Jerusalem. Very well, then.
They believed my accuser when he lied; why do they not believe him when
he retracts? He is the same man now that he was then, and yet he who
before declared me guilty now confesses that I am innocent. Surely a
man's words under torture are more trustworthy than in moments of
gayety, except, indeed, that people are prone to believe falsehoods
designed to gratify their ears, or, worse still, stories which, till
then uninvented, they have urged others to invent.
3. Before I became acquainted with the family of the
saintly PauLa, alL Rome resounded with my praises. Almost every one
concurred in judging me worthy of the episcopate. Damasus, of blessed
memory, spoke no words but mine.(3) Men called me holy, humble,
eloquent.
Did I ever cross the threshold of a light woman? Was
I ever fascinated by silk dresses, or glowing gems, or rouged faces, or
display of gold? Of all the ladies in Rome but one had power to subdue
me, and that one was Paula. She mourned and fasted, she was squalid
with dirt, her eyes were dim from weeping. For whole nights she would
pray to the Lord for mercy, and often the rising sun found her still at
her prayers. The psalms were her only songs, the Gospel her whole
speech, continence her one indulgence, fasting the staple of her life.
The only woman who took my fancy was one whom I had not so much as seen
at table. But when I began to revere, respect, and venerate her as her
conspicuous chastity deserved, all my former virtues forsook me on the
spot.
4. Oh! envy, that dost begin by tearing thyself! Oh!
cunning malignity of Satan, that dost always persecute things holy! Of
all the ladies in Rome, the only ones that caused scandal were Paula
and Melanium, who, despising their wealth and deserting their children,
uplifted the cross of the Lord as a standard of religion. Had they
frequented the baths, or chosen to use perfumes, or taken advantage of
their wealth and position as widows to enjoy life and to be
independent, they would have been saluted as ladies of high rank and
saintliness. As it is, of course, it is in order to appear beautiful
that they put on sackcloth and ashes, and they endure fasting and filth
merely to go down into the Gehenna of fire! As if they could not perish
with the crowd whom the mob applauds!(1) If it were Gentiles or Jews
who thus assailed their mode of life, they would at least have the
consolation of failing to please only those whom Christ Himself has
failed to please. But, shameful to say, it is Christians who thus
neglect the care of their own households, and, disregarding the beams
in their own eyes, look for motes in those of their neighbors.(2) They
pull to pieces every profession of religion, and think that they have
found a remedy for their own doom, if they can disprove the holiness of
others, if they can detract from every one, if they can show that those
who perish are many, and sinners, a great multitude.
5. You bathe daily; another regards such
over-niceness as defilement. You surfeit yourself on wild fowl and
pride yourself on eating sturgeon; I, on the contrary, fill my belly
with beans. You find pleasure in troops of laughing girls; I prefer
Paula and Melanium who weep. You covet what belongs to others; they
disdain what is their own. You like wines flavored with honey; they
drink cold water, more delicious still. You count as lost what you
cannot have, eat up,
60
and devour on the moment; they believe in the Scriptures, and look for
good things to come. And if they are wrong, and if the resurrection of
the body on which they rely is a foolish delusion, what does it matter
to you? We, on our side, look with disfavor on such a life as yours.
You can fatten yourself on your good things as much as you please; I
for my part prefer paleness and emaciation. You suppose that men like
me are unhappy; we regard you as more unhappy still. Thus we
reciprocate each other's thoughts, and appear to each other mutually
insane.
6. I write this in haste, dear Lady Asella, as I go
on board, overwhelmed with grief and tears; yet I thank my God that I
am counted worthy of the world's hatred.(1) Pray for me that, after
Babylon, I may see Jerusalem once more; that Joshua, the son of
Josedech, may have dominion over me,(2) and not Nebuchadnezzar, that
Ezra, whose name means helper, may come and restore me to my own
country. I was a fool in wishing to sing the Lord's song in a strange
land,(3) and in leaving Mount Sinai, to seek the help of Egypt. I
forgot that the Gospel warns us(4) that he who goes down from Jerusalem
immediately fails among robbers, is spoiled, is wounded, is left for
dead. But, although priest and Levite may disregard me, there is still
the good Samaritan who, when men said to him, "Thou art a Samaritan and
hast a devil,"(5) disclaimed having a devil, but did not disclaim being
a Samaritan,(6) this being the Hebrew equivalent for our word guardian.
Men call me a mischief-maker, and I take the title as a recognition of
my faith. For I am but a servant, and the Jews still call my master a
magician. The apostle,(7) likewise, is spoken of as a deceiver. There
hath no temptation taken me but such as is common to man.(8) How few
distresses have I endured, I who am yet a soldier of the cross! Men
have laid to my charge a crime of which I am not guilty;(9) but I know
that I must enter the kingdom of heaven through evil report as well as
through good.(10)
7. Salute Paula and Eustochium, who, whatever the
world may think, are always mine in Christ. Salute Albina, your mother,
and Marcella, your sister; Marcellina also, and the holy Felicitas; and
say to them all: "We must all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ,(11) and there shall be revealed the principle by which each has
lived."
And now, illustrious model of chastity and
virginity, remember me, I beseech you, in your prayers, and by your
intercessions calm the waves of the sea.
LETTER XLVI.
PAULA AND EUSTOCHIUM TO MARCELLA.
Jerome writes to Marcella in the name of Paula and
Eustochium, describing the charms of the Holy Land. and urging her to
leave Rome and to join her old companions at Bethlehem. Much of the
letter is devoted to disposing of the objection that since the Passion
of Christ the Holy Land has been under a curse. The date of the letter
is A.D. 386. It is written from Bethlehem, which now becomes Jerome's
home for the remainder of his life.
1. Love cannot be measured, impatience knows no
bounds, and eagerness can brook no delay. Wherefore we, oblivious of
our weakness, and relying more on our will than our capacity,
desire--pupils though we be--to instruct our mistress. We are like the
sow in the proverb,(1) which sets up to teach the goddess of invention.
You were the first to set our tinder alight; the first, by precept and
example, to urge us to adopt our present life. As a hen gathers her
chickens, so did you take us under your wing.(2) And will you now let
us fly about at random with no mother near us? Will you leave us to
dread the swoop of the hawk and the shadow of each passing bird of
prey? Separated from you, we do what we can: we utter our mournful
plaint, and more by sobs than by tears we adjure you to give back to us
the Marcella whom we love. She is mild, she is suave, she is sweeter
than the sweetest honey. She must not, therefore, be stern and morose
to us, whom her winning ways have roused to adopt a life like her own.
2. Assuming that what we ask is for the best, our
eagerness to obtain it is nothing to be ashamed of. And if all the
Scriptures agree with our view, we are not too bold in urging you to a
course to which you have yourself often urged us.
What are God's first words to Abraham? "Get thee out
of thy country and from thy kindred unto a land that I will show
thee."(3) The patriarch--the first to receive a promise of Christ--is
here told to leave the Chaldees, to leave the city of confusion(4) and
its rehoboth(5) or broad places; to leave also the plain of Shinar,
where the tower of pride had been raised to heaven.(6) He has to pass
through the waves of this world, and to ford its rivers;
61
those by which the saints sat down and wept when they remembered
Zion,(1) and Chebar's flood, whence Ezekiel was carried to Jerusalem by
the hair of his head.(2) All this Abraham undergoes that he may dwell
in a land of promise watered from above, and not like Egypt, from
below,(3) no producer of herbs for the weak and ailing,(4) but a land
that looks for the early and the latter rain from heaven.(5) It is a
land of hills and valleys,(6) and stands high above the sea. The
attractions of the world it entirely wants, but its spiritual
attractions are for this all the greater. Mary, the mother of the Lord,
left the lowlands and made her way to the hill country, when, after
receiving the angel's message, she realized that she bore within her
womb the Son of God.(7) When of old the Philistines had been overcome,
when their devilish audacity had been smitten, when their champion had
fallen on his face to the earth,(8) it was from this city that there
went forth a procession of jubilant souls, a harmonious choir to sing
our David's victory over tens of thousands.(9) Here, too, it was that
the angel grasped his sword, and while he laid waste the whole of the
ungodly city, marked out the temple of the Lord in the threshing floor
of Ornan, king of the Jebusites.(10) Thus early was it made plain that
Christ's church would grow up, not in Israel, but among the Gentiles.
Turn back to Genesis,(11) and you will find that this was the city over
which Melchizedek held sway, that king of Salem who, as a type of
Christ, offered to Abraham bread and wine, and even then consecrated
the mystery which Christians consecrate in the body and blood of the
Saviour.(12)
3. Perhaps you will tacitly reprove us for deserting
the order of Scripture, and letting our confused account ramble this
way and that, as one thing or another strikes us. If so, we say once
more what we said at the outset: love has no logic, and impatience
knows no rule. In the Song of Songs the precept is given as a hard one:
"Regulate your love towards me."(13) And so we plead that, if we err,
we do so not from ignorance but from feeling.
Well, then, to bring forward something still more
out of place, we must go back to yet remoter times. Tradition has it
that in this city, nay, more, on this very spot, Adam lived and died.
The place where our Lord was crucified is called Calvary,(1) because
the skull of the primitive man was buried there. So it came to pass
that the second Adam, that is the blood(2) of Christ, as it dropped
from the cross, washed away the sins of the buried protoplast,(3) the
first Adam, and thus the words of the apostle were fulfilled: "Awake,
thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee
light."(4)
It would be tedious to enumerate all the prophets
and holy men who have been sent forth from this place. All that is
strange and mysterious to us is familiar and natural to this city and
country. By its very names, three in number, it proves the doctrine of
the trinity. For it is called first Jebus, then Salem, then Jerusalem:
names of which the first means "down-trodden," the second "peace," and
the third "vision of peace."(5) For it is only by slow stages that we
reach our goal; it is only after we have been trodden down that we are
lifted up to see the vision of peace. Because of this peace Solomon,(6)
the man of peace, was born there, and "in peace was his place made."(7)
King of kings, and lord of lords, his name and that of the city show
him to be a type of Christ. Need we speak of David and his descendants,
all of whom reigned here? As Judaea is exalted above all other
provinces, so is this city exalted above all Judaea. To speak more
tersely, the glory of the province is derived from its capital; and
whatever fame the members possess is in every case due to the head.
4. You have long been anxious to break forth into
speech; the very letters we have formed perceive it, and our paper
already understands the question you are going to put. You will reply
to us by saying: it was so of old, when "the Lord loved the gates of
Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob," and when her foundations
were in the holy mountains.(8) Even these verses, however, are
susceptible of a deeper interpretation. But things are changed since
then. The risen Lord has proclaimed intones of thunder: "Your house is
left unto you desolate." With tears He has prophesied its downfall: "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them
which are sent un-
62
to thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together even as
a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold
your house is left unto you desolate."(1) The veil of the temple has
been rent;(2) an army has encompassed Jerusalem, it has been stained by
the blood of the Lord. Now, therefore, its guardian angels have
forsaken it and the grace of Christ has been withdrawn. Josephus,
himself a Jewish writer, asserts(3) that at the Lord's crucifixion
there broke from the temple voices of heavenly powers, saying: "Let us
depart hence." These and other considerations show that where grace
abounded there did sin much more abound.(4) Again, when the apostles
received the command: "Go ye and teach all nations,"(5) and when they
said themselves: "It was necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you, but seeing ye put it from you ... lo we turn
to the Gentiles,"(6) then all the spiritual importance(7) of Judaea and
its old intimacy with God were transferred by the apostles to the
nations.
5. The difficulty is strongly stated, and may well
puzzle even those proficient in Scripture; but for all that, it admits
of an easy solution. The Lord wept for the fall of Jerusalem,(8) and He
would not have done so if He did not love it. He wept for Lazarus
because He loved him.(9) The truth is that it was the people who sinned
and not the place. The capture of a city is involved in the slaying of
its inhabitants. If Jerusalem was destroyed, it was that its people
might be punished; if the temple was overthrown, it was that its
figurative sacrifices might be abolished. As regards its site, lapse of
time has but invested it with fresh grandeur. The Jews of old
reverenced the Holy of Holies, because of the things contained in
it--the cherubim, the mercy-seat, the ark of the covenant, the manna,
Aaron's rod, and the golden altar.(10) Does the Lord's sepulchre seem
less worthy of veneration? As often as we enter it we see the Saviour
in His grave clothes, and if we linger we see again the angel sitting
at His feet, and the napkin folded at His head.(11) Long before this
sepulchre was hewn out by Joseph,(12) its glory was foretold in
Isaiah's prediction, "his rest shall be glorious,"(13) meaning that the
place of the Lord's burial should be held in universal honor.
6. How, then, you will say, do we read in the
apocalypse written by John: "The beast that ascendeth out of the
bottomless pit shall ... kill them [that is, obviously, the prophets],
and their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which
spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was
crucified?"(1) If the great city where the Lord was crucified is
Jerusalem, and if the place of His crucifixion is spiritually called
Sodom and Egypt; then as the Lord was crucified at Jerusalem, Jerusalem
must be Sodom and Egypt. Holy Scripture, I reply first of all, cannot
contradict itself. One book cannot invalidate the drift of the whole. A
single verse cannot annul the meaning of a book. Ten lines earlier in
the apocalypse it is written: "Rise and measure the temple of God, and
the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is
without the temple leave out and measure it not; for it is given unto
the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and
two months."(2) The apocalypse was written by John long after the
Lord's passion, yet in it he speaks of Jerusalem as the holy city. But
if so, how can he spiritually call it Sodom and Egypt? It is no answer
to say that the Jerusalem which is called holy is the heavenly one
which is to be, while that which is called Sodom is the earthly one
tottering to its downfall. For it is the Jerusalem to come that is
referred to in the description of the beast, "which shall ascend out of
the bottomless pit, and shall make war against the two prophets, and
shall overcome them and kill them, and their dead bodies shall lie in
the street of the great city."(3) At the close of the book it is
farther described thus: "And the city lieth four-square, and the length
of it and the breadth are the same as the height; and he measured the
city with the golden reed twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the
breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the walls
thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure
of a man, that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was
of jasper; and the city was pure gold"(4)--and so on. Now where there
is a square there can be neither length nor breadth. And what kind of
measurement is that which makes length and breadth equal to height? And
how can there be walls of jasper, or a whole city of pure gold; its
foundations and its streets of precious stones, and its twelve gates
each glowing with pearls?
63
7. Evidently this description cannot be taken
literally (in fact, it is absurd to suppose a city the length, breadth
and height of which are all twelve thousand furlongs), and therefore
the details of it must be mystically understood. The great city which
Cain first built and called after his son(1) must be taken to represent
this world, which the devil, that accuser of his brethren, that
fratricide who is doomed to perish, has built of vice cemented with
crime, and filled with iniquity. Therefore it is spiritually called
Sodom and Egypt. Thus it is written, "Sodom shall return to her former
estate,"(2) that is to say, the world must be restored as it has been
before. For we cannot believe that Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and
Zeboim(3) are to be built again: they must be left to lie in ashes
forever. We never read of Egypt as put for Jerusalem: it always stands
for this world. To collect from Scripture the countless proofs of this
would be tedious: I shall adduce but one passage, a passage in which
this world is most clearly called Egypt. The apostle Jude, the brother
of James, writes thus in his catholic epistle: "I will, therefore, put
you in remembrance, though ye once knew this how that Jesus,(4) having
saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them
that believed not."(5) And, lest you should fancy Joshua the son of Nun
to be meant, the passage goes on thus: "And the angels which kept not
their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in
everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great
day."(6) Moreover, to convince you that in every place where Egypt,
Sodom and Gomorrah are named together it is not these spots, but the
present world, which is meant, he mentions them immediately in this
sense. "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah," he writes, "and the cities about
them, in like manner giving themselves over to fornication and going
after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the
vengeance of eternal fire."(7) But what need is there to collect more
proofs when, after the passion and the resurrection of the Lord, the
evangelist Matthew tells us: "The rocks rent, and the graves were
opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of
the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city and
appeared unto many"?(6) We must not interpret this passage straight
off, as many people(9) absurdly do, of the heavenly Jerusalem: the
apparition there of the bodies of the saints could be no sign to men of
the Lord's rising. Since, therefore, the evangelists and all the
Scriptures speak of Jerusalem as the holy city, and since the psalmist
commands us to worship the Lord "at his footstool;"(1) allow no one to
call it Sodom and Egypt, for by it the Lord forbids men to swear
because" it is the city of the great king."(2)
8. The land is accursed, you say, because it has
drunk in the blood of the Lord. On what grounds, then, do men regard as
blessed those spots where Peter and Paul, the leaders of the Christian
host, have shed their blood for Christ? If the confession of men and
servants is glorious, must there not be glory likewise in the
confession of their Lord and God? Everywhere we venerate the tombs of
the martyrs; we apply their holy ashes to our eyes; we even touch them,
if we may, with our lips. And yet some think that we should neglect the
tomb in which the Lord Himself is buried. If we refuse to believe human
testimony, let us at least credit the devil and his angels.(3) For when
in front of the Holy Sepulchre they are driven out of those bodies
which they have possessed, they moan and tremble as if they stood
before Christ's judgment-seat, and grieve, too late that they have
crucified Him in whose presence they now cower. If--as a wicked theory
maintains--this holy place has, since the Lord's passion, become an
abomination, why was Paul in such haste to reach Jerusalem to keep
Pentecost in it?(4) Yet to those who held him back he said: "What mean
ye to weep and to break my heart? For I am ready not to be bound only,
but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus."(5) Need
I speak of those other holy and illustrious men who, after the
preaching of Christ, brought their votive gifts and offerings to the
brethren who were at Jerusalem?
9. Time forbids me to survey the period which has
passed since the Lord's ascension, or to recount the bishops, the
martyrs, the divines, who have come to Jerusalem from a feeling that
their devotion and knowledge would be incomplete and their virtue
without the finishing touch, unless they adored Christ in the very spot
where the gospel first flashed from the gibbet. If a famous orator(6)
blames a man for having learned Greek at Lilybaeum instead of at
Athens, and Latin in Sicily instead of at Rome (on the ground,
64
obviously, that each province has its own characteristics), can we
suppose a Christian's education complete who has not visited the
Christian Athens?
10. In speaking thus we do not mean to deny that the
kingdom of God is within or to say that there are no holy men
elsewhere; we merely assert in the strongest manner that those who
stand first throughout the world are here gathered side by side. We
ourselves are among the last, not the first; yet we have come hither to
see the first of all nations. Of all the ornaments of the Church our
company of monks and virgins is one of the finest; it is like a fair
flower or a priceless gem. Every man of note in Gaul hastens hither.
The Briton, "sundered from our world,"(2) no sooner makes progress in
religion than he leaves the setting sun in quest of a spot of which he
knows only through Scripture and common report. Need we recall the
Armenians, the Persians, the peoples of India and Arabia? Or those of
our neighbor, Egypt, so rich in monks; of Pontus and Cappadocia; of
Caele-Syria and Mesopotamia and the teeming east? In fulfilment of the
Saviour's words, "Wherever the body is, thither will the eagles be
gathered together,"(3) they all assemble here and exhibit in this one
city the most varied virtues. Differing in speech, they are one in
religion, and almost every nation has a choir of its own. Yet amid this
great concourse there is no arrogance, no disdain of self-restraint;
all strive after humility, that greatest of Christian virtues.
Whosoever is last is here regarded as first.(4) Their dress neither
provokes remark nor calls for admiration. In whatever guise a man shows
himself he is neither censured nor flattered. Long fasts help no one
here. Starvation wins no deference, and the taking of food in
moderation is not condemned. "To his own master" each one "standeth or
falleth."(5) No man judges another lest he be judged of the Lord.(6)
Backbiting, so common in other parts, is wholly unknown here.
Sensuality and excess are far removed from us. And in the city there
are so many places of prayer that a day would not be sufficient to go
round them all.
11. But, as every one praises most what is within
his reach, let us pass now to the cottage-inn which sheltered Christ
and Mary.(7) With what expressions and what language can we set before
you the cave of the Saviour? The stall where he cried as a babe can be
best honored by silence; for words are inadequate to speak its praise.
Where are the spacious porticoes? Where are the gilded ceilings? Where
are the mansions furnished by the miserable toil of doomed wretches?
Where are the costly halls raised by untitled opulence for man's vile
body to walk in? Where are the roofs that intercept the sky, as if
anything could be finer than the expanse of heaven? Behold, in this
poor crevice of the earth the Creator of the heavens was born; here He
was wrapped in swaddling clothes; here He was seen by the shepherds;
here He was pointed out by the star; here He was adored by the wise
men. This spot is holier, me-thinks, than that Tarpeian rock(1) which
has shown itself displeasing to God by the frequency with which it has
been struck by lightning.
12. Read the apocalypse of John, and consider what
is sung therein of the woman arrayed in purple, and of the blasphemy
written upon her brow, of the seven mountains, of the many waters, and
of the end of Babylon.(2) "Come out of her, my people," so the Lord
says, "that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of
her plagues."(3) Turn back also to Jeremiah and pay heed to what he has
written of like import: "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver
every man his soul."(4) For "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,
and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul
spirit."(5) It is true that Rome has a holy church, trophies of
apostles and martyrs, a true confession of Christ. The faith has been
preached there by an apostle, heathenism has been trodden down, the
name of Christian is daily exalted higher and higher. But the display,
power, and size of the city, the seeing and the being seen, the paying
and the receiving of visits, the alternate flattery and detraction,
talking and listening, as well as the necessity of facing so great a
throng even when one is least in the mood to do so--all these things
are alike foreign to the principles and fatal to the repose of the
monastic life. For when people come in our way we either see them
coming and are compelled to speak, or we do not see them and lay
ourselves open to the charge of haughtiness. Sometimes, also, in
returning visits we are obliged to pass through proud portals and
gilded doors and to face the clamor of carping lackeys. But, as we have
65
said above, in the cottage of Christ all is simple and rustic: and
except for the chanting of psalms there is complete silence. Wherever
one turns the laborer at his plough sings alleluia, the toiling mower
cheers himself with psalms, and the vine-dresser while he prunes his
vine sings one of the lays of David. These are the songs of the
country; these, in popular phrase, its love ditties: these the shepherd
whistles; these the tiller uses to aid his toil.
13. But what are we doing? Forgetting what is
required of us, we are taken up with what we wish. Will the time never
come when a breathless messenger shall bring the news that our dear
Marcella has reached the shores of Palestine, and when every band of
monks and every troop of virgins shall unite in a song of welcome? In
our excitement we are already hurrying to meet you: without waiting for
a vehicle, we hasten off at once on foot. We shall clasp you by the
hand, we shall look upon your face; and when, after long waiting, we at
last embrace you, we shall find it hard to tear ourselves away. Will
the day never come when we shall together enter the Saviour's cave, and
together weep in the sepulchre of the Lord with His sister and with His
mother?(1) Then shall we touch with our lips the wood of the cross, and
rise in prayer and resolve upon the Mount of Olives with the ascending
Lord.(2) We shall see Lazarus come forth bound with grave clothes,(3)
we shall look upon the waters of Jordan purified for the washing of the
Lord.(4) Thence we shall pass to the folds of the shepherds,(5) we
shall pray together in the mausoleum of David.(6) We shall see the
prophet, Amos,(7) upon his crag blowing his shepherd's horn. We shall
hasten, if not to the tents, to the monuments of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, and of their three illustrious wives.(8) We shall see the
fountain in which the eunuch was immersed by Philip.(9) We shall make a
pilgrimage to Samaria, and side by side venerate the ashes of John the
Baptist, of Elisha,(10) and of Obadiah. We shall enter the very caves
where in the time of persecution and famine the companies of the
prophets were fed.(11) If only you will come, we shall go to see
Nazareth, as its name denotes, the flower(12) of Galilee. Not far off
Cana will be visible, where the water was turned into wine.(13) We
shall make our way to Tabor,(14) and see the tabernacles there which
the Saviour shares, not, as Peter once wished, with Moses and Elijah,
but with the Father and with the Holy Ghost. Thence we shall come to
the Sea of Gennesaret, and when there we shall see the spots where the
five thousand were filled with five loaves,(1) and the font thousand
with seven.(2) The town of Nain will meet our eyes, at the gate of
which the widow's son was raised to life.(3) Hermon too will be
visible, and the torrent of Endor, at which Sisera was vanquished.(4)
Our eyes will look also on Capernaum, the scene of so many of our
Lord's signs--yes, and on all Galilee besides. And when, accompanied by
Christ, we shall have made our way back to our cave through Shiloh and
Bethel, and those other places where churches are set up like standards
to commemorate the Lord's victories, then we shall sing heartily, we
shall weep copiously, we shall pray unceasingly. Wounded with the
Saviour's shaft, we shall say one to another: "I have found Him whom my
soul loveth; I will hold Him and will not let Him go."(5)
LETTER XLVII.
TO DESIDERIUS.
Jerome invites two of his old friends at Rome,
Desiderius and his sister (or wife) Serenilla, to join him at
Bethlehem. It is possible but not probable that this Desiderius is the
same with Desiderius of Aquitaine, who afterwards induced Jerome to
write against Vigilantius.
An interval of seven years separates this letter (of
which the date is 393 A.D.) from the preceding, and all the letters
written during this period have wholly perished.
1. Surprised as I have been, my excellent friend, to
read the language which your kindness has prompted you to hold
concerning me, I have rejoiced that I possess the testimony of one both
eloquent and sincere; but when I turn from you to myself I feel vexed
that, owing to my unworthiness, your words of praise and eulogy rather
weigh me down than lift me up. You know, of course, that I make it a
principle to raise the standard of humility, and to prepare for scaling
the heights by walking for the present in the lowest places. For what
am I or what is my significance that I should have the voice of
learning raised to bear witness of me, or that the palm of eloquence
should be laid at my feet by one whose style is so charming that it has
almost deterred me from writing a letter at all? I must, however, make
the attempt in order that charity which seeks not
66
her own(1) but always her neighbor's good, may at least return a
compliment, since it cannot convey a lesson.
2. I offer my congratulations to you and to your
holy and revered sister,(2) Serenilla, who, true to her name,(3) has
trodden down the troubled waves of the world, and has passed to
Christ's calm haven: a happiness which--if we may trust the augury of
your name--is in store for you also. For we read that the holy Daniel
was called" a man of desires,"(4) and the friend of God, because he
desired to know His mysteries. Therefore, I do with pleasure what the
revered Paula has asked of me. I urge and implore you both by the
charity of the Lord that you will give your presence to us, and that a
visit to the holy places may induce you to enrich us with this great
gift. Even supposing that you do not care for our society, it is still
your duty as believers to worship on the spot where the Lord's feet
once stood and to see for yourselves the still fresh traces of His
birth, His cross, and His passion.
3. Several of my little pieces have flown away out
of their nest, and have rashly sought for themselves the honor of
publication. I have not sent you any lest I should send works which you
already have. But if you care to borrow copies of them, you can do so
either from our holy sister, Marcella, who has her abode upon the
Aventine, or from that holy man, Domnio, who is the Lot of our
times.(5) Meantime, I look for your arrival, and will give you all I
have when you once come; or, if any hindrances prevent you from joining
us, I will gladly send you such treatises as you shall desire.
Following the example of Tranquillus(6) and of Apollonius the Greek,(7)
I have written a book concerning illustrious men(8) from the
apostles(9) time to our own; and after enumerating a great number I
have put myself down on the last page as one born out of due time, and
the least of all Christians.(9) Here I have found it necessary to give
a short account of my writings down to the fourteenth year(10) of the
Emperor Theodosius. If you find, on procuring this treatise from the
persons mentioned above, that there are any pieces mentioned which you
have not already got, I will have them copied for you by degrees, if
you wish it.
LETTER XLVIII.
TO PAMMACHIUS.
An "apology" for the two books "against Jovinian"
which Jerome had written a short time previously, and of which he had
sent copies to Rome. These Pammachius and his other friends had
withheld from publication, thinking that Jerome had unduly exalted
virginity at the expense of marriage. He now writes to make good his
position, and to do this makes copious extracts from the obnoxious
treatise. The date of the letter is 393 or 394 A.D.
1. Your own silence is my reason for not having
written hitherto. For I feared that, if I were to write to you without
first hearing from you, you would consider me not so much a
conscientious as a troublesome correspondent. But, now that I have been
challenged by your most delightful letter, a letter which calls upon me
to defend my views by an appeal to first principles, I receive my old
fellow-learner, companion, and friend with open arms, as the saying
goes; and I look forward to having in you a champion of my poor
writings; if, that is to say, I can first conciliate your judgment to
give sentence in my favor, and can instruct my advocate in all those
points on which I am assailed. For both your favorite, Cicero, and
before him--in his one short treatise--Antonius,(1) write to this
effect, that the chief requisite for victory is to acquaint one's self
carefully with the case which one has to plead.
2. Certain persons find fault with me because in the
books which I have written against Jovinian I have been excessive (so
they say) in praise of virginity and in depreciation of marriage; and
they affirm that to preach up chastity till no comparison is left
between a wife and a virgin is equivalent to a condemnation of
matrimony. If I remember aright the point of the dispute, the question
at issue between myself and Jovinian is that he puts marriage on a
level with virginity, while I make it inferior; he declares that there
is little or no difference between the two states, I assert that there
is a great deal. Finally--a result due under God to your agency--he has
been condemned because he has dared to set matrimony on an equality
with perpetual chastity. Or, if a virgin and a wife are to be looked on
as the same, how comes it that Rome has refused to listen to this
impious doctrine? A virgin owes her being to a man, but a man does not
owe his to a virgin. There can be no middle course. Either my view of
the matter must be embraced, or else that of Jovinian. If I am blamed
for putting wed-
67
lock below virginity, he must be praised for putting the two states on
a level. If, on the other hand, he is condemned for supposing them
equal, his condemnation must be taken as testimony in favor of my
treatise. If men of the world chafe under the notion that they occupy a
position inferior to that of virgins, I wonder that clergymen and
monks--who both live celibate lives--refrain from praising what they
consistently practise. They cut themselves off from their wives to
imitate the chastity of virgins, and yet they will have it that married
women are as good as these. They should either be joined again to their
wives whom they have renounced, or, if they persist in living apart
from them, they will have to confess--by their lives if not by their
words--that, in preferring virginity to marriage, they have chosen the
better course, Am I then a mere novice in the Scriptures, reading the
sacred volumes for the first time? And is the line there drawn between
virginity and marriage so fine that I have been unable to observe it? I
could know nothing, forsooth, of the saying, "Be not righteous
overmuch!"(1) Thus, while I try to protect myself on one side, I am
wounded on the other; to speak more plainly still, while I close with
Jovinian in hand-to-hand combat, Manichaeus stabs me in the back. Have
I not, I would ask, in the very forefront of my work set the following
preface:(2) "We are no disciples of Marcion(3) or of Manichaeus,(4) to
detract from marriage. Nor are we deceived by the error of Tatian,(5)
the chief of the Encratites,(6) into supposing all cohabitation
unclean. For he condemns and reprobates not marriage only, but foods
also which God has created for us to enjoy,(7) We know that in a large
house there are vessels not only of silver and of gold, but of wood
also and of earth.(8) We know, too, that on the foundation of Christ
which Paul the master builder has laid, some build up gold, silver, and
precious stones; others, on the contrary, hay, wood, and stubble.(9) We
are not ignorant that 'marriage is honorable ... and the bed
undefiled.'(10) We have read the first decree of God: 'Be fruitful and
multiply and replenish the earth.'(11) But while we allow marriage, we
prefer the virginity which springs from it. Gold is more precious than
silver, but is silver on that account the less silver? Is it an insult
to a tree to prefer its apples to its roots or its leaves? Is it an
injury to corn to put the ear before the stalk and the blade? As apples
come from the tree and grain from the straw, so virginity comes from
wedlock. Yields of one hundredfold, of sixtyfold, and of thirtyfold(1)
may all come from one soil and from one sowing, yet they will differ
widely in quantity. The yield thirtyfold signifies wedlock, for the
joining together of the fingers to express that number, suggestive as
it is of a loving gentle kiss or embracing, aptly represents the
relation of husband and wife. The yield sixtyfold refers to widows who
are placed in a position of distress and tribulation. Accordingly, they
are typified by that finger which is placed under the other to express
the number sixty; for, as it is extremely trying when one has once
tasted pleasure to abstain from its enticements, so the reward of doing
this is proportionately great. Moreover, a hundred--I ask the reader to
give me his best attention--necessitates a change from the left hand to
the right; but while the hand is different the fingers are the same as
those which on the left hand signify married women and widows; only in
this instance the circle formed by them indicates the crown of
virginity."(2)
3. Does a man who speaks thus, I would ask you,
condemn marriage? If I have called virginity gold, I have spoken of
marriage as silver. I have set forth that the yields an hundredfold,
sixtyfold, and thirtyfold--all spring from one soil and from one
sowing, although in amount they differ widely. Will any of my readers
be so unfair as to judge me, not by my words, but by his own opinion?
At any rate, I have dealt much more gently with marriage than most
Latin and Greek writers;(3) who, by referring the hundredfold yield to
martyrs, the sixtyfold to virgins, and the thirtyfold to widows, show
that in their opinion married persons are excluded from the good ground
and from the seed of the great Father.(4) But, lest it might be
supposed that, though cautious at the outset, I was imprudent in the
remainder of my work, have I not, after
68
marking out the divisions of it, on coming to the actual questions
immediately introduced the following:(1) "I ask all of you of both
sexes, at once those who are virgins and continent and those who are
married or twice married, to aid my efforts with your prayers."
Jovinian is the foe of all indiscriminately, but can I condemn as
Manichaean heretics persons whose prayers I need and whose assistance I
entreat to help me in my work?
4. As the brief compass of a letter does not suffer
us to delay too long on a single point, let us now pass to those which
remain. In explaining the testimony of the apostle, "The wife hath not
power of her own body, but the husband; and likewise, also, the husband
hath not power of his own body, but the wife,"(2) we have subjoined the
following:(3) "The entire question relates to those who are living in
wedlock, whether it is lawful for them to put away their wives, a thing
which the Lord also has forbidden in the Gospel.(4) Hence, also, the
apostle says: 'It is good for a man not to touch' a wife or 'a
woman,'(5) as if there were danger in the contact which he who should
so touch one could not escape. Accordingly, when the Egyptian woman
desired to touch Joseph he flung away his cloak and fled from her
hands.(6) But as he who has once married a wife cannot, except by
consent, abstain from intercourse with her or repudiate her, so long as
she does not sin, he must render unto his wife her due,(7) because he
has of his own free will bound himself to render it under compulsion."
Can one who declares that it is a precept of the Lord that wives should
not be put away, and that what God has joined together man must not,
without consent, put asunder(8)--can such an one be said to condemn
marriage? Again, in the verses which follow, the apostle says: "But
every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and
another after that."(9) In explanation of this saying we made the
following remarks:(10) "What I myself would wish, he says, is clear.
But since there are diversities of gifts in the church,(11) I allow
marriage as well, that I may not appear to condemn nature. Reflect,
too, that the gift of virginity is one thing, that of marriage another.
For had there been one reward for married women and for virgins he
would never, after giving the counsel of continence, have gone on to
say: 'But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner
and another after that.' Where each class has its proper gift, there
must be some distinction between the classes. I allow that marriage, as
well as virginity, is the gift of God, but there is a great difference
between gift and gift. Finally, the apostle himself says of one who had
lived in incest and afterwards repented:(4) Contrariwise ye ought
rather to forgive him and comfort him, '(1) and 'To whom ye forgive
anything, I forgive also.'(2) And, lest we might suppose a man's gift
to be but a small thing, he has added: 'For if I forgave anything, to
whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the sight(3) of
Christ.'(4) The gifts of Christ are different. Hence Joseph as a type
of Him had a coat of many colors.(5) So in the forty-fourth psalm(6) we
read of the Church: 'Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in a
vesture of gold, wrought about with divers colors.'(7) The apostle
Peter, too, speaks (of husbands and wives) 'as being heirs together of
the manifold grace of God.'(8) In Greek the expression is still more
striking, the word used being <greek>poikilh</greek>, that
is, 'many-colored.'"
5. I ask, then, what is the meaning of men's
obstinate determination to shut their eyes and to refuse to look on
what is as clear as day? I have said that there are diversities of
gifts in the Church, and that virginity is one gift and wedlock
another. And shortly after I have used the words: "I allow marriage
also to be a gift of God, but there is a great difference between gift
and gift." Can it be said that I condemn that which in the clearest
terms I declare to be the gift of God? Moreover, if Joseph is taken as
a type of the Lord, his coat of many colors is a type of virgins and
widows, celibates and wedded. Can any one who has any part in Christ's
tunic be regarded as an alien? Have we not spoken of the very queen
herself--that is, the Church of the Saviour--as wearing a vesture of
gold wrought about with divers colors? Moreover, when I came to discuss
marriage in connection with the following verses,(9) I still adhered to
the same view.(10) "This passage," I said, "has indeed no relation to
the present controversy; for, following the decision of the Lord, the
apostle teaches that a wife must not be put away saving for
fornication, and
69
that, if she has been put away, she cannot during the lifetime of her
husband marry another man, or, at any rate, that she ought, if
possible, to be reconciled to her husband. In another verse he speaks
to the same effect: 'The wife is bound ... as long as her husband
liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her
husband;(1) she is at liberty to be married to, whom she will; only in
the Lord,'(2) that is to a Christian. Thus the apostle, while he allows
a second or a third marriage in the Lord, forbids even a first with a
heathen."
6. I ask my detractors to open their ears and to
realize the fact that I have allowed second and third marriages" in the
Lord." If, then, I have not condemned second and third marriages, how
can I have proscribed a first? Moreover, in the passage where I
interpret the words of the apostle, "Is any man called being
circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in
uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised"(3) (a passage, it is true,
which some most careful interpreters of Scripture refer to the
circumcision and slavery of the Law), do I not in the clearest terms
stand up for the marriage-tie? My words are these:(4) "'If any man is
called in uncircumcision, let him not be circumcised.' You had a wife,
the apostle says, when you believed. Do not fancy your faith in Christ
to be a reason for parting from her. For 'God hath called us in
peace.'(5) 'Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but
the keeping of the commandments of God.'(6) Neither celibacy nor
wedlock is of the slightest use without works, since even faith, the
distinguishing mark of Christians, if it have not works, is said to be
dead,(7) and on such terms as these the virgins of Vesta or of Juno,
who was constant to one(8) husband, might claim to be numbered among
the saints. And a little further on he says: 'Art thou called being a
servant, care not for it; but, if thou mayest be made free, use it
rather;'(9) that is to say, if you have a wife, and are bound to her,
and render her her due, and have not power of your own body--or, to
speak yet more plainly--if you are the slave of a wife, do not allow
this to cause you sorrow, do not sigh over the loss of your virginity.
Even if you can find pretexts for parting from her to enjoy the freedom
of chastity, do not seek your own welfare at the price of another's
ruin. Keep your wife for a little, and do not try too hastily to
overcome her reluctance. Wait till she follows your example. If you
only have patience, your wife will some day become your sister."
7. In another passage we have discussed the reasons
which led Paul to say: "Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment
of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of
the Lord to be faithful."(1) Here also, while we have ex-tolled
virginity, we have been careful to give marriage its due.(2) "Had the
Lord commanded virginity," we said, "He would have seemed to condemn
marriage and to do away with that seed-plot of humanity from which
virginity itself springs. Had He cut away the root how could He have
looked for fruit? Unless He had first laid the foundations, how could
He have built the edifice or crowned it with a roof made to cover its
whole extent?" If we have spoken of marriage as the root whose fruit is
virginity, and if we have made wedlock the foundation on which the
building or the roof of perpetual chastity is raised, which of my
detractors can be so captious or so blind as to ignore the foundation
on which the fabric and its roof are built, while he has before his
eyes both the fabric and the roof themselves? Once more, in another
place, we have brought forward the testimony of the apostle to this
effect: "Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou
loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife."(3) To this we have appended the
following remarks:(4) "Each of us has his own sphere allotted to him.
Let me have mine, and do you keep yours. If you are bound to a wife, do
not put her away. If I am loosed from a wife, let me not seek a wife.
Just as I do not loose marriage-ties when they are once made, so do you
refrain from binding together what at present is loosed from such
ties." Yet another passage bears unmistakable testimony to the view
which we have taken of virginity and of wedlock:(5) "The apostle casts
no snare upon us,(6) nor does he compel us to be what we do not wish.
He only urges us to what is honorable and seemly, inciting us earnestly
to serve the Lord, to be anxious always to please Him, and to took for
His will which He has prepared for us to do. We are to be like alert
and armed soldiers, who immediately execute the orders given to them
and perform them without that travail of mind(7) which,
70
according to the preacher, is given to the men of this world 'to be
exercised therewith.'"(1) At the end, also, of our comparison of
virgins and married women we have summed up the discussion thus:(2)
"When one thing is good and another thing is better; when that which is
good has a different reward from that which is better; and when there
are more rewards than one, then, obviously, there exists a diversity of
gifts. The difference between marriage and virginity is as great as
that between not doing evil and doing good--or, to speak more favorably
still, as that between what is good and what is still better."
8. In the sequel we go on to Speak thus:(3) "The
apostle, in concluding his discussion of marriage and of virginity, is
careful to observe a mean course in discriminating between them, and,
turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, he keeps to the
King's highway,(4) and thus fulfils the injunction, 'Be not righteous
overmuch.'(5) Moreover, when he goes on to compare monogamy with
digamy, he puts digamy after monogamy, just as before he subordinated
marriage to virginity." Do we not clearly show by this language what is
typified in the Holy Scriptures by the terms right and left, and also
what we take to be the meaning of the words "Be not righteous
overmuch"? We turn to the left if, following the lust of Jews and
Gentiles, we burn for sexual intercourse; we turn to the right if,
following the error of the Manichaeans, we under a pretence of chastity
entangle ourselves in the meshes of unchastity. But we keep to the
King's highway if we aspire to virginity yet refrain from condemning
marriage. Can any one, moreover, be so unfair in his criticism of my
poor treatise as to allege that I condemn first marriages, when he
reads my opinion on second ones as follows:(6) "The apostle, it is
true, allows second marriages, but only to such women as are bent upon
them, to such as cannot contain,(7) lest 'when they have begun to wax
wanton against Christ they marry, having condemnation because they have
rejected their first faith,'(8) and he makes this concession because
many 'are turned aside after Satan.'(9) But they will be happier if
they abide as widows. To this he immediately adds his apostolical
authority, 'after my judgment.' Moreover, lest any should consider that
authority, being human, to be of small weight, he goes on to say, 'and
I think also that I have the spirit of God.'(1) Thus, where he urges
men to continence he appeals not to human authority, but to the Spirit
of God; but when he gives them permission to marry he does not mention
the Spirit of God, but allows prudential considerations to turn the
balance, relaxing the strictness of his code in favor of individuals
according to their several needs." Having thus brought forward proofs
that second marriages are allowed by the apostle, we at once added the
remarks which follow:(2) "As marriage is permitted to virgins by reason
of the danger of fornication, and as what in itself is not desirable is
thus made excusable, so by reason of the same danger widows are
permitted to marry a second time. For it is better that a woman should
know one man (though he should be a second husband or a third) than
that she should know several. In other words, it is preferable that she
should prostitute herself to one rather than to many." Calumny may do
its worst. We have spoken here not of a first marriage, but of a
second, of a third, or (if you like) of a fourth. But lest any one
should apply my words (that it is better for a woman to prostitute
herself to one man than to several) to a first marriage when my whole
argument dealt with digamy and trigamy, I marked my own view of these
practices with the words:(3) "'All things are lawful, but all things
are not expedient.'(4) I do not condemn digamists nor yet trigamists,
nor even, to put an extreme, case, octogamists. I will make a still
greater concession: I am ready to receive even a whore-monger, if
penitent. In every case where fairness is possible, fair consideration
must be shown."
9. My calumniator should blush at his assertion that
I condemn first marriages when he reads my words just now quoted: "I do
not condemn digamists or trigamists, or even, to put an extreme case,
octogamists." Not to condemn is one thing, to commend is another. I may
concede a practice as allowable and yet not praise it as meritorious.
But if I seem severe in saying, "In every case where fairness is
possible, fair consideration must be shown," no one, I fancy, will
judge me either cruel or stern who reads that the places prepared for
virgins and for wedded persons are different from those prepared for
trigamists, octogamists, and penitents. That Christ Himself, although
in the flesh a virgin, was in the spirit a monogamist,
71
having one wife, even the Church,(1) I have shown in the latter part of
my argument.(2) And yet I am supposed to condemn marriage! I am said to
condemn it, although I use such words as these:(3) "It is an undoubted
fact that the levitical priests were descended from the stock of Aaron,
Eleazar, and Phinehas; and, as all these were married men, we might
well be confronted with them if, led away by the error of the
Encratites, we were to contend that marriage is in itself deserving of
condemnation." Here I blame Tatian, the chief of the Encratites, for
his rejection of marriage, and yet I myself am said to condemn it! Once
more, when I contrast virgins with widows, my own words show what my
view is concerning wedlock, and set forth the threefold gradation which
I propose of virgins, widows--whether in practice or in fact(4)--and
wedded wives. "I do not deny"--these are my words(5)--" the blessedness
of widows who continue such after their baptism, nor do I undervalue
the merit of wives who live in chastity with their husbands; but, just
as widows receive a greater reward from God than wives obedient to
their husbands, they, too, must be content to see virgins preferred
before themselves."
10. Again, when explaining the witness of the
apostle to the Galatians, "By the works of the law shall no flesh be
justified," I have spoken to the following effect: "Marriages also are
works of the law. And for this reason there is a curse upon such as do
not produce offspring. They are permitted, it is true, even under the
Gospel; but it is one thing to concede an indulgence to what is a
weakness and quite another to promise a reward to what is a virtue."
See my express declaration that marriage is allowed in the Gospel, yet
that those who are married cannot receive the rewards of chastity so
long as they render their due one to another. If married men feel
indignant at this statement, let them vent their anger not on me but on
the Holy Scriptures; nay, more, upon all bishops, presbyters, and
deacons, and the whole company of priests and levites, who know that
they cannot offer sacrifices if they fulfil the obligations of
marriage. Again, when I adduce evidence from the Apocalypse,(6) is it
not clear what view I take concerning virgins, widows, and wives?
"These are they who sing a new song(7) which no man can sing except he
be a virgin. These are 'the first fruits unto God and unto the
Lamb,'(1) and they are without spot. If virgins are the first fruits
unto God, then widows and wives who live in continence must come after
the first fruits--that is to say, in the second place and in the
third." We place widows, then, and wives in the second place and in the
third, and for this we are charged by the frenzy of a heretic with
condemning marriage altogether.
11. Throughout the book I have made many remarks in
a tone of great moderation on virginity, widowhood, and marriage. But
for the sake of brevity, I will here adduce but one passage, and that
of such a kind that no one, I think, will be found to gainsay it save
some one who wishes to prove himself malicious or mad. In describing
our Lord's visit to the marriage at Cana in Galilee,(2) after some
other remarks I have added these:(3) "He who went but once to a
marriage has taught us that a woman should marry but once; and this
fact might tell against virginity if we failed to give marriage its due
place--after virginity that is, and chaste widowhood. But, as it is
only heretics who condemn marriage and tread under foot the ordinance
of God, we listen with gladness to every word said by our Lord in
praise of marriage. For the Church does not condemn marriage, but only
subordinates it. It does not reject it altogether, but regulates it,
knowing (as I have said above) that 'in a great house there are not
only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and
some to honor and some to dishonor. If a man, therefore, purge himself
... he shall be a vessel unto honor meet ... and prepared unto every
good work.'"(4) I listen with gladness, I say here, to every word said
by the apostle in praise of marriage. Do I listen with gladness to the
praise of marriage, and do I yet condemn marriage? The Church, I say,
does not condemn wedlock, but subordinates it. Whether you like it or
not, marriage is subordinated to virginity and widowhood. Even when
marriage continues to fulfil its function, the Church does not condemn
it, but only subordinates it; it does not reject it, but only regulates
it. It is in your power, if you will, to mount the second step of
chastity.(5) Why are you angry if, standing on the third and lowest
step, you will not make haste to go up higher?
12. Since, then, I have so often reminded my reader
of my views; and since I have picked
72
my way like a prudent traveller over every inch of the road, stating
repeatedly that, while I receive marriage as a thing in itself
admissible, I yet prefer continence, widowhood, and virginity, the wise
and generous reader ought to have judged what seemed hard sayings by my
general drift, and not to have charged me with putting forward
inconsistent opinions in one and the same book. For who is so dull or
so inexperienced in writing as to praise and to condemn one and the
same object, as to destroy what he has built up, and to build up what
he has destroyed; and when he has vanquished his opponent, to turn his
sword, last of all against himself? Were my detractors country bred or
unacquainted with the arts of rhetoric or of logic, I should pardon
their want of insight; nor should I censure them for accusing me if I
saw that their ignorance was in fault and not their will. As it is men
of intellect who have enjoyed a liberal education make it their object
less to understand me than to wound me, and for such I have this short
answer, that they should correct my faults and not merely censure me
for them. The lists are open, I cry; your enemy has marshalled his
forces, his position is plain, and (if I may quote Virgil(1))--
The foeman calls you: meet him face to face.
Such men should answer their opponent. They ought to keep within the
limits of debate, and not to wield the schoolmaster's rod. Their books
should aim at showing in what my statements have fallen short of the
truth, and in what they have exceeded it. For, although I will not
listen to fault-finders, I will follow the advice of teachers. To
direct the fighter how to fight when you yourself occupy a post of
vantage on the wall is a kind of teaching that does not commend itself;
and when you are yourself bathed in perfumes, it is unworthy to charge
a bleeding soldier with cowardice. Nor in saying this do I lay myself
open to a charge of boasting that while others have slept I only have
entered the lists. My meaning simply is that men who have seen me
wounded in this warfare may possibly be a little too cautious in their
methods of fighting. I would not have you engage in an encounter in
which you will have nothing to do but to protect yourself, your right
hand remaining motionless while your left manages your shield. You must
either strike or fall. I cannot account you a victor unless I see your
opponent put to the sword.
13. You are, no doubt, men of vast acquirements; but
we too have studied in the schools, and, like you, we have learned from
the precepts of Aristotle--or, rather, from those which he has derived
from Gorgias--that there are different ways of speaking; and we know,
among other things, that he who writes for display uses one style, and
he who writes to convince, another.(1) In the former case the debate is
desultory; to confute the opposer, now this argument is adduced and now
that. One argues as one pleases, saying one thing while one means
another. To quote the proverb, "With one hand one offers bread, in the
other one holds a stone."(2) In the latter case a certain frankness and
openness of countenance are necessary. For it is one thing to start a
problem and another to expound what is already proved. The first calls
for a disputant, the second for a teacher. I stand in the thick of the
fray, my life in constant danger: you who profess to teach me are a man
of books. "Do not," you say, "attack unexpectedly or wound by a
side-thrust. Strike straight at your opponent. You should be ashamed to
resort to feints instead of force." As if it were not the perfection of
fighting to menace one part and to strike another. Read, I beg of you,
Demosthenes or Cicero, or (if you do not care for pleaders whose aim is
to speak plausibly rather than truly) read Plato, Theophrastus,
Xenophon, Aristotle, and the rest of those who draw their respective
rills of wisdom from the Socratic fountain-head. Do they show any
openness? Are they devoid of artifice? Is not every word they say
filled with meaning? And does not this meaning always make for victory?
Origen, Methodius, Eusebius, and Apollinaris(3) write at great length
against Celsus and Porphyry.(4) Consider how subtle are the arguments,
how insidious the engines with which they overthrow what the spirit of
the devil has wrought. Sometimes, it is true, they are compelled to say
not what they think but what is needful; and for this reason they
employ against their opponents the assertions of the Gentiles
themselves. I say nothing of the Latin authors, of Tertullian, Cyprian,
Minutius, Victorinus, Lactantius, Hilary, lest I should appear not so
much to be defending myself as to be assailing
73
others. I will only mention the Apostle Paul, whose words seem to me,
as often as I hear them, to be not words, but peals of thunder. Read
his epistles, and especially those addressed to the Romans, to the
Galatians, and to the Ephesians, in all of which he stands in the thick
of the battle, and you will see how skilful and how careful he is in
the proofs which he draws from the Old Testament, and how warily he
cloaks the object which he has in view. His words seem simplicity
itself: the expressions of a guileless and unsophisticated person--one
who has no skill either to plan a dilemma or to avoid it. Still,
whichever way you look, they are thunderbolts. His pleading halts, yet
he carries every point which he takes up. He turns his back upon his
foe only to overcome him; he simulates flight, but only that he may
slay. He, then, if any one, ought to be calumniated; we should speak
thus to him: "The proofs which yon have used against the Jews or
against other heretics bear a different meaning in their own contexts
to that which they bear in your epistles. We see passages taken captive
by your pen and pressed into service to win you a victory which in the
volumes from which they are taken have no controversial bearing at
all." May he not reply to us in the words of the Saviour: "I have one
mode of speech for those that are without and another for those that
are within; the crowds hear my parables, but their interpretation is
for my disciples alone"?(1) The Lord puts questions to the Pharisees,
but does not elucidate them. To teach a disciple is one thing; to
vanquish an opponent, another. "My mystery is for me," says the
prophet; "my mystery is for me and for them that are mine."(2)
14. You are indignant with me because I have merely
silenced Jovinian and not instructed him. You, do I say? Nay, rather,
they who grieve to hear him anathematized, and who impeach their own
pretended orthodoxy by eulogizing in another the heresy which they hold
themselves. I should have asked him, forsooth, to surrender peaceably!
I had no right to disregard his struggles and to drag him against his
will into the bonds of truth! I might use such language had the desire
of victory induced me to say anything counter to the rule laid down in
Scripture, and had I taken the line--so often adopted by strong men in
controversy--of justifying the means by the result. As it is, however,
I have been an exponent of the apostle rather than a dogmatist on my
own account; and my function has been simply that of a commentator.
Anything, therefore, which seems a hard saying should be imputed to the
writer expounded by me rather than to me the expounder; unless, indeed,
he spoke otherwise than he is represented to have done, and I have by
an unfair interpretation wrested the plain meaning of his words. If any
one charges me with this disingenuousness let him prove his charge from
the Scriptures themselves.
I have said in my book,(1) "If 'it is good for a man
not to touch a woman,' then it is bad for him to touch one, for bad,
and bad only, is the opposite of good. But, if though bad it is made
venial, then it is allowed to prevent something which would be worse
than bad," and so on down to the commencement of the next chapter. The
above is my comment upon the apostle's words: "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."(2) In
what way does my meaning differ from that intended by the apostle?
Except that where he speaks decidedly I do so with hesitation. He
defines a dogma, I hazard an inquiry. He openly says: "It is good for a
man not to touch a woman." I timidly ask if it is good for a man not to
touch one. If I thus waver, I cannot be said to speak positively. He
says: "It is good not to touch." I add what is a possible antithesis to
"good." And immediately afterwards I speak thus:(3) "Notice the
apostle's carefulness. He does not say: 'It is good for a man not to
have a wife,' but, 'It is good for a man not to touch a woman'; as if
there is danger in the very touching of one--danger which he who
touches cannot escape." You see, therefore, that I am not expounding
the law as to husbands and wives, but simply discussing the general
question of sexual intercourse--how in comparison with chastity and
virginity, the life of angels, "It is good for a man not to touch a
woman."
"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "all is
vanity."(4) But if all created things are good,(5) as being the
handiwork of a good Creator, how comes it that all things are vanity?
If the earth is vanity, are the heavens vanity too?--and the angels,
the thrones, the dominations, the powers, and the rest of the
virtues?(6) No; if things which are
74
good in themselves as being the handiwork of a good Creator are called
vanity, it is because they are compared with things which are better
still. For example, compared with a lamp, a lantern is good for
nothing; compared with a star, a lamp does not shine at all; the
brightest star pales before the moon; put the moon beside the sun, and
it no longer looks bright; compare the sun with Christ, and it is
darkness. "I am that I am," God says;(1) and if you compare all created
things with Him they have no existence. "Give not thy sceptre," says
Esther, "unto them that be nothing"(2)--that is to say, to idols and
demons. And certainly they were idols and demons to whom she prayed
that she and hers might not be given over. In Job also we read how
Bildad says of the wicked man: "His confidence shall be rooted out of
his tabernacle, and destruction as a king shall trample upon him. The
companions also of him who is not shall abide in his tabernacle."(3)
This evidently relates to the devil, who must be in existence,
otherwise he could not be said to have companions. Still, because he is
lost to God, he is said not to be.
Now it was in a similar sense that I declared it to
be a bad thing to touch a woman--I did not say a wife--because it is a
good thing not to touch one. And I added:(4) "I call virginity fine
corn, wedlock barley, and fornication cow-dung." Surely both corn and
barley are creatures of God. But of the two multitudes miraculously
supplied in the Gospel the larger was fed upon barley loaves, and the
smaller on corn bread.(5) "Thou, Lord," says the psalmist, "shalt save
both man and beast."(6) I have myself said the same thing in other
words, when I have spoken of virginity as gold and of wedlock as
silver.(7) Again, in discussing(8) the one hundred and forty-four
thousand sealed virgins who were not defiled with women,(9) I have
tried to show that all who have not remained virgins are reckoned as
defiled when compared with the perfect chastity of the angels and of
our Lord Jesus Christ. But if any one thinks it hard or reprehensible
that I have placed the same interval between virginity and wedlock as
there is between fine corn and barley, let him read the book of the
holy Ambrose "On Widows," and he will find, among other statements
concerning virginity and marriage, the following:(10) "The apostle has
not expressed his preference for marriage so unreservedly as to quench
in men the aspiration after virginity; he commences with a
recommendation of continence, and it is only subsequently that he
stoops to mention the remedies for its opposite. And although to the
strong he has pointed out the prize of their high calling,(1) yet he
suffers none to faint by the way;(2) whilst he applauds those who lead
the van, he does, not despise those who bring up the rear. For he had
himself learned that the Lord Jesus gave to some barley bread, lest
they should faint by the way, but offered to others His own body, that
they should strive to attain His kingdom;"(3) and immediately
afterwards: "The nuptial tie, then, is not to be avoided as a crime,
but to be refused as a hard burden. For the law binds the wife to bring
forth children in labor and in sorrow. Her desire is to be to her
husband that he should rule over her.(4) It is not the widow, then, but
the bride, who is handed over to labor and sorrow in childbearing. It
is not the virgin, but the married woman, who is subjected to the sway
of a husband." And in another place, "Ye are bought," says the apostle,
"with a price;(5) be not therefore the servants of men."(6) You see how
clearly he defines the servitude which attends the married state. And a
little farther on: "If, then, even a good marriage is servitude, what
must a bad one be, in which husband and wife cannot sanctify, but only
mutually destroy each other?" What I have said about virginity and
marriage diffusely, Ambrose has stated tersely and pointedly,
compressing much meaning into a few words. Virginity is described by
him as a means of recommending continence, marriage as a remedy for
incontinence. And when he descends from broad principles to particular
details, he significantly holds out to virgins the prize of the high
calling, yet comforts the married, that they may not faint by the way.
While eulogizing the one class, he does not despise the other. Marriage
he compares to the barley bread set before the multitude, virginity to
the body of Christ given to the disciples. There is much less
difference, it seems to me, between barley and fine corn than between
barley and the body of Christ. Finally, he speaks of marriage as a hard
burden, to be avoided if possible, and as a badge of the most
unmistakable servi-
75
tude. He makes, also, many other statements, which he has followed up
at length in his three books "On Virgins."
15. From all which considerations it is clear that I
have said nothing at all new concerning virginity and marriage, but
have followed in all respects the judgment of older writers--of
Ambrose, that is to say, and others who have discussed the doctrines of
the Church. "And I would sooner follow them in their faults than copy
the dull pedantry of the writers of to-day."(1) Let married men, if
they please, swell with rage because I have said,(2) "I ask you, what
kind of good thing is that which forbids a man to pray, and which
prevents him from receiving the body of Christ?" When I do my duty as a
husband, I cannot fulfil the requirements of continence. The same
apostle, in another place, commands us to pray always.(3) "But if we
are always to pray we must never yield to the claims of wedlock for, as
often as I render her due to my wife, I incapacitate myself for
prayer." When I spoke thus it is clear that I relied on the words of
the apostle: "Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent
for a time, that ye may give yourselves to ... prayer."(4) The Apostle
Paul tells us that when we have intercourse with our wives we cannot
pray. If, then, sexual intercourse prevents what is less
important--that is, prayer--how much more does it prevent what is more
important--that is, the reception of the body of Christ? Peter, too,
exhorts us to continence, that our "prayers be not hindered."(5) How, I
should like to know, have I sinned in all this? What have I done? How
have I been in fault? If the waters of a stream are thick and muddy, it
is not the river-bed which is to blame, but the source. Am I attacked
because I have ventured to add to the words of the apostle these words
of my own: "What kind of good thing is that which prevents a man from
receiving the body of Christ?" If so, I will make answer briefly thus:
Which is the more important, to pray or to receive Christ's body?
Surely to receive Christ's body. If, then, sexual intercourse hinders
the less important thing, much more does it hinder that which is the
more important.
I have said in the same treatise(6) that David and
they that were with him could not have lawfully eaten the shew-bread
had they not made answer that for three days they had not been defiled
with women(1)--not, of course, with harlots, intercourse with whom was
forbidden by the law, but with their own wives, to whom they were
lawfully united. Moreover, when the people were about to receive the
law on Mount Sinai they were commanded to keep away from their wives
for three days.(2) I know that at Rome it is customary for the faithful
always to receive the body of Christ, a custom which I neither censure
nor indorse. "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."(3) But
I appeal to the consciences of those persons who after indulging in
sexual intercourse on the same day receive the communion--having first,
as Persius puts it, "washed off the night in a flowing stream,"(4) and
I ask such why they do not presume to approach the martyrs or to enter
the churches.(5) Is Christ of one mind abroad and of another at home?
What is unlawful in church cannot be lawful at home. Nothing is hidden
from God. "The night shineth as the day" before Him.(6) Let each man
examine himself, and so let him approach the body of Christ.(7) Not, of
course, that the deferring of communion for one day or for two makes a
Christian any the holier or that what I have not deserved to-day I
shall deserve to-morrow or the day after. But if I grieve that I have
not shared in Christ's body it does help me to avoid for a little while
my wife's embraces, and to prefer to wedded love the love of Christ. A
hard discipline, you will say, and one not to be borne. What man of the
world could bear it? He that can bear it, I reply, let him bear it;(8)
he that cannot must look to himself. it is my business to say, not what
each man can do or will do, but what the Scriptures inculcate.
16. Again, objection has been taken to my comments
on the apostle in the following passage:(9) "But lest any should
suppose from the context of the words before quoted (namely, 'that ye
may give yourselves ... to prayer and come together again') that
76
the apostle desires this consummation, and does not merely concede it
to obviate a worse downfall, he immediately adds, 'that Satan tempt you
not for your incontinency.'(1) 'And come together again.' What a noble
indulgence the words convey! One which he blushes to speak of in
plainer words, which he prefers only to Satan's temptation, and which
has its root in incontinence. Do we labor to expound this as a dark
saying when the writer has himself explained his meaning? "I speak
this,' he says, 'by way of permission, and not as a command.'(2) Do we
still hesitate to speak of wedlock as a thing permitted instead of as a
thing enjoined? or are we afraid that such permission will exclude
second or third marriages or some other case?" What have I said here
which the apostle has not said? The phrase, I suppose, "which he
blushes to speak of in plainer words." I imagine that when he says
"come together," and does not mention for what, he takes a modest way
of indicating what he does not like to name openly--that is, sexual
intercourse. Or is the objection to the words which follow--"which he
prefers only to Satan's temptation, and which has its root in
incontinence"? Are they not the very words of the apostle, only
differently arranged--"that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency"?
Or do people cavil because I said, "Do we still hesitate to speak of
wedlock as a thing permitted instead of as a thing enjoined?" If this
seems a hard saying, it should be ascribed to the apostle, who says,
"But I speak this by way of permission, and not as a command," and not
to me, who, except that I have rearranged their order, have changed
neither the words nor their meaning.
17. The shortness of a letter compels me to hasten
on. I pass, accordingly, to the points which remain. "I say," remarks
the apostle, "to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they
abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry; for it is
better to marry than to burn."(3) This section I have interpreted
thus:(4) "When he has granted to those who are married the use of
wedlock, and has made clear his own wishes and concessions, he passes
on to those who are unmarried or widows, and sets before them his own
example. He calls them happy if they abide even as he,(5) but he goes
on, 'if they cannot contain, let them marry.' He thus repeats his
former language, 'but only to avoid fornication,' and 'that Satan tempt
you not for your incontinence.' And when he says, 'If they cannot
contain, let them marry,' he gives as a reason for his words that 'it
is better to marry than to burn.' It is only good to marry, because it
is bad to burn. But take away the fire of lust, and he will not say 'it
is better to marry.' For a thing is said to be better in antithesis to
something which is worse, and not simply in contrast with what is
admittedly good. It is as though he said, 'It is better to have one eye
than none."' Shortly afterwards, apostrophizing the apostle, I spoke
thus:' "If marriage is good in itself, do not compare it with a
conflagration, but simply say, 'It is good to marry.' I must suspect
the goodness of a thing which only becomes a lesser evil in the
presence of a greater one. I, for my part, would have it not a lighter
evil but a downright good." The apostle wishes unmarried women and
widows to abstain from sexual intercourse, incites them to follow his
own example, and calls them happy if they abide even as he. But if they
cannot contain, and are tempted to quench the fire of lust by
fornication rather than by continence, it is better, he tells them, to
marry than to burn. Upon which precept I have made this comment: "It is
good to marry, simply because it is bad to burn," not putting forward a
view of my own, but only explaining the apostle's precept, "It is
better to marry than to burn;" that is, it is better to take a husband
than to commit fornication. If, then, you teach that burning or
fornication is good, the good will still be surpassed by what is still
better.(2) But if marriage is only a degree better than the evil to
which it is preferred, it cannot be of that unblemished perfection and
blessedness which suggest a comparison with the life of angels. Suppose
I say, "It is better to be a virgin than a married woman;" in this case
I have preferred to what is good what is still better. But suppose I go
a step further and say, "It is better to marry than to commit
fornication;" in that case I have preferred, not a better thing to a
good thing, but a good thing to a bad one. There is a wide difference
between the two cases; for, while virginity is related to marriage as
better is to good, marriage is related to fornication as good is to
bad. How, I should like to know, have I sinned in this explanation? My
fixed purpose was not to bend the Scriptures to my own wishes, but
simply to
77
say what I took to be their meaning. A commentator has no business to
dilate on his own views; his duty is to make plain the meaning of the
author whom he professes to interpret. For, if he contradicts the
writer whom he is trying to expound, he will prove to be his opponent
rather than his interpreter. When I am freely expressing my own
opinion, and not commenting upon the Scriptures, then any one that
pleases may charge me with having spoken hardly of marriage. But if he
can find no ground for such a charge, he should attribute such passages
in my commentaries as appear severe or harsh to the author commented
on, and not to me, who am only his interpreter.
18. Another charge brought against me is simply
intolerable! It is urged that in explaining the apostle's words
concerning husbands and wives, "Such shall have trouble in the flesh,"
I have said:(1) "We in our ignorance had supposed that in the flesh at
least wedlock would have rejoicing. But if married persons are to have
trouble in the flesh, the only thing in which they seemed likely to
have pleasure, what motive will be left to make women marry? for,
besides having trouble in spirit and soul, they will also have it even
in the flesh."(2) Do I condemn marriage if I enumerate its troubles,
such as the crying of infants, the death of children the chance of
abortion, domestic losses, and so forth? Whilst Damasus of holy memory
was still living, I wrote a book against Helvidius "On the Perpetual
Virginity of the Blessed Mary," in which, duly to extol the bliss of
virginity, I was forced to say much of the troubles of marriage. Did
that excellent man--versed in Scripture as he was, and a virgin doctor
of the virgin Church--find anything to censure in my discourse?
Moreover, in the treatise which I addressed to Eustochium(3) I used
much harsher language regarding marriage, and yet no one was offended
at it. Nay, every lover of chastity strained his ears to catch my
eulogy of continence. Read Tertullian, read Cyprian, read Ambrose, and
either accuse me with them or acquit me with them. My critics resemble
the characters of Plautus. Their only wit lies in detraction; and they
try to make themselves out men of learning by assailing all parties in
turn. Thus they bestow their censure impartially upon myself and upon
my opponent, and maintain that we are both beaten, although one or
other of us must have succeeded.
Moreover, when in discussing digamy and trigamy I
have said,(1) "It is better for a woman to know one man, even though he
be a second husband or a third, than several; it is more tolerable for
her to prostitute herself to one man than to many," have I not
immediately subjoined my reason for so saying? "The Samaritan woman in
the Gospel, when she declares that her present husband is her sixth, is
rebuked by the Lord on the ground that he is not her husband."(2) For
my own part, I now once more freely proclaim that digamy is not
condemned in the Church--no, nor yet trigamy--and that a woman may
marry a fifth husband, or a sixth, or a greater number still just as
lawfully as she may marry a second; but that, while such marriages are
not condemned, neither are they commended. They are meant as
alleviations of an unhappy lot, and in no way redound to the glory of
continence. I have spoken to the same effect elsewhere.(3) "When a
woman marries more than once--whether she does so twice or three times
matters little--she ceases to be a monogamist. 'All things are lawful
... but all things are not expedient.'(4) I do not condemn digamists or
trigamists, or even, to put an impossible case, octogamists. Let a
woman have an eighth husband if she must; only let her cease to
prostitute herself."
19. I will come now to the passage in which I am accused of
saying that--at least according to the true Hebrew text--the words "God
saw that it was good"(5) are not inserted after the second day of the
creation, as they are after the first, third, and remaining ones, and
of adding immediately the following comment:(6) "We are meant to
understand that there is something not good in the number two,
separating us as it does from unity, and prefiguring the marriage-tie.
Just as in the account of Noah's ark all the animals that enter by twos
are unclean, but those of which an uneven number is taken are
clean."(7) In this statement a passing objection is made to what I have
said concerning the second day, whether on the ground that the words
mentioned really occur in the passage, although I say that they do not
occur, or because, assuming them to occur, I have understood them in a
sense different from that which the context evidently requires. As
regards the non-occurrence of the words in question (viz., "God saw
that it was good"), let them take not my evidence, but that of all the
Jew-
78
ish and other translators--Aquila(1) namely, Symmachus,(2) and
Theodotion.(3) But if the words, although occurring in the account of
the other days, do not occur in the account of this, either let them
give a more plausible reason than I have done for their non-occurrence,
or, failing such, let them, whether they like it or not, accept the
suggestion which I have made. Furthermore, if in Noah's ark all the
animals that enter by twos are unclean, whilst those of which an uneven
number is taken are clean, and if there is no dispute about the
accuracy of the text, let them explain if they can why it is so
written. But if they cannot explain it, then, whether they will or not,
they must embrace my explanation of the matter. Either produce better
fare and ask me to be your guest, or else rest content with the meal
that I offer you, however poor it may be.(4)
I must now mention the ecclesiastical writers who
have dealt with this question of the odd number. They are, among the
Greeks, Clement, Hippolytus, Origen, Dionysius, Eusebius, Didymus; and,
among ourselves, Tertullian, Cyprian, Victorinus, Lactantius, Hilary.
What Cyprian said to Fortunatus about the number seven is clear from
the letter which he sent to him.(5) Or perhaps I ought to bring forward
the reasonings of Pythagoras, Archytas of Tarentum, and Publius Scipio
in (Cicero's) sixth book "Concerning the Common Weal." If my detractors
will not listen to any of these I will make the grammar schools shout
in their ears the words of Virgil:
Uneven numbers are the joy of God.(6)
20. To say, as I have done, that virginity is
cleaner than wedlock, that the even numbers must give way to the odd,
that the types of the Old Testament establish the truth of the Gospel:
this, it appears, is a great sin subversive of the churches and
intolerable to the world. The remaining points which are censured in my
treatise are, I take it, of less importance, or else resolve themselves
into this. I have, therefore, refrained from answering them, both that
I may not exceed the limit at my disposal, and that I may not seem to
distrust your intelligence, knowing as I do that you are ready to be my
champion even before I ask you. With my last breath, then, I protest
that neither now nor at any former time have I condemned marriage. I
have merely answered an opponent without any fear that they of my own
party would lay snares for me. I extol virginity to the skies, not
because I myself possess it, but because, not possessing it, I admire
it all the more. Surely it is a modest and ingenuous confession to
praise in others that which you lack yourself. The weight of my body
keeps me fixed to the ground, but do I fail to admire the flying birds
or to praise the dove because, in the words of Virgil,(1) it
Glides on its liquid path with motionless swift
wings?
Let no man deceive himself, let no man, giving ear to the voice of
flattery, rush upon ruin. The first virginity man derives from his
birth, the second from his second birth.(2) The words are not mine; it
is an old saying, "No man can serve two masters;"(3) that is, the flesh
and the spirit. For "the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the
spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other,"
so that we cannot do the things that we would.(4) When, then, anything
in my little work seems to you harsh, have regard not to my words, but
to the Scripture, whence they are taken.
21. Christ Himself is a virgin;(5) and His mother is
also a virgin; yea, though she is His mother, she is a virgin still.
For Jesus has entered in through the closed doors,(6) and in His
sepulchre--a new one hewn out of the hardest rock--no man is laid
either before Him or after Him.(7) Mary is "a garden enclosed ... a
fountain sealed,"(8) and from that fountain flows, according to
Joel,(9) the river which waters the torrent bed either" of cords or of
thorns;(11) the cords being those of the sins by which we were
beforetime bound,(12) the thorns those which choked the seed the
goodman of the house had sown.(13) She is the east gate, spoken of by
the prophet Ezekiel,(14) always shut and always shining, and either
concealing or revealing the Holy of Holies; and through her "the Sun of
Righteousness,"(15) our "high priest after the order of
Melchizedek,"(16) goes in and out. Let my critics explain to me how
Jesus can have entered in through closed doors when He allowed His
hands and His side to be handled, and showed that He had bones and
flesh," thus proving that His was a true body and no
79
mere phantom of one, and I will explain how the holy Mary can be at
once a mother and a virgin. A mother before she was wedded, she
remained a virgin after bearing her son. Therefore, as I was going to
say, the virgin Christ and the virgin Mary have dedicated in themselves
the first fruits of virginity for both sexes.(1) The apostles have
either been virgins or, though married, have lived celibate lives.
Those persons who are chosen to be bishops, priests, and deacons are
either virgins or widowers; or at least when once they have received
the priesthood, are vowed to perpetual chastity. Why do we delude
ourselves and feel vexed if while we are continually straining after
sexual indulgence, we find the palm of chastity denied to us? We wish
to fare sumptuously, and to enjoy the embraces of our wives, yet at the
same time we desire to reign with Christ among virgins and widows.
Shall there be but one reward, then, for hunger and for excess, for
filth and for finery, for sackcloth and for silk? Lazarus,(2) in his
lifetime, received evil things, and the rich man, clothed in purple,
fat and sleek, while he lived enjoyed the good things of the flesh but,
now that they are dead, they occupy different positions. Misery has
given place to satisfaction, and satisfaction to misery. And it rests
with us whether we will follow Lazarus or the rich man.
LETTER XLIX.
TO PAMMACHIUS.
Jerome encloses the preceding letter, thanks
Pammachius for his efforts to suppress his treatise "against Jovinian,"
but declares these to be useless, and exhorts him, if he still has any
hesitation in his mind, to turn to the Scriptures and the commentaries
made upon them by Origen and others. Written at the same time as the
preceding letter.
1. Christian modesty sometimes requires us to be
silent even to our friends, and to nurse our humility in peace, where
the renewal of an old friendship would expose us l to the charge of
self-seeking. Thus, when you have kept silence I have kept silence too,
and have not cared to remonstrate with you, lest I should be thought
more anxious to conciliate a person of influence than to cultivate a
friend. But, now that it has become a duty to reply to your letter, I
will endeavor always to be beforehand with you, and not so much to
answer your queries as to write independently of them. Thus, if I have
shown my modesty hitherto by silence, I will henceforth show it still
more by coming forward to speak.
2. I quite recognize the kindness and forethought
which have induced you to withdraw from circulation some copies of my
work against Jovinian. Your diligence, however, has been of no avail,
for several people coming from the city have repeatedly read aloud to
me passages which they have come across in Rome. In this province,
also, the books have already been circulated; and, as you have read
yourself in Horace, "Words once uttered cannot be recalled."(1) I am
not so fortunate as are most of the writers of the day--able, that is,
to correct my trifles whenever I like. When once I have written
anything, either my admirers or my ill-wishers--from different motives,
but with equal zeal--sow my work broadcast among the public; and their
language, whether it is that of eulogy or of criticism, is apt to run
to excess.(2) They are guided not by the merits of the piece, but by
their own angry feelings. Accordingly, I have done what I could. I have
dedicated to you a defence of the work in question, feeling sure that
when you have read it you will yourself satisfy the doubts of others on
my behalf; or else, if you too turn up your nose at the task, you will
have to explain in some new manner that section of the apostle(3) in
which he discusses virginity and marriage.
3. I do not speak thus that I may provoke you to
write on the subject yourself--although I know your zeal in the study
of the sacred writings to be greater than my own--but that you may
compel my tormentors to do so. They are educated; in their own eyes no
mean scholars; competent not merely to censure but to instruct me. If
they write on the subject, my view will be the sooner neglected when it
is compared with theirs. Read, I pray you, and diligently consider the
words of the apostle, and you will then see that--with a view to avoid
misrepresentation--I have been much more gentle towards married persons
than he was disposed to be. Origen, Dionysius, Pierius, Eusebius of
Caesarea, Didymus, Apollinaris, have used great latitude in the
interpretation of this epistle.(4) When Pierius, sifting and expounding
the apostle's meaning, comes to the words, "I would that all men were
even as I myself,"(5) he makes this comment upon them: "In saying this
Paul plainly preaches abstinence from mar-
80
riage." Is the fault here mine, or am I responsible for harshness?
Compared with this sentence of Pierius,(1) all that I have ever written
is mild indeed. Consult the commentaries of the above-named writers and
take advantage of the Church libraries; you will then more speedily
finish as you would wish the enterprise which you have so happily
begun.(2)
4. I hear that the hopes of the entire city are
centred in you, and that bishop(3) and people are, agreed in wishing
for your exaltation. To be a bishop (4 is much, to deserve to be one is
more.
If you read the books of the sixteen prophets(5)
which I have rendered into Latin from the Hebrew; and if, when you have
done so, you express satisfaction with my labors, the news will
encourage me to take out of my desk some other works now shut up in it.
I have lately translated Job into our mother tongue: you will be able
to borrow a copy of it from your cousin, the saintly Marcella. Read it
both in Greek and in Latin, and compare the old version with my
rendering. You will then clearly see that the difference between them
is that between truth and falsehood. Some of my commentaries upon the
twelve prophets I have sent to the reverend father Domnio, also the
four books of Kings--that is, the two called Samuel and the two called
Malachim.(6) If you care to read these you will learn for yourself how
difficult it is to understand the Holy Scriptures, and particularly the
prophets; and how through the fault of the translators passages which
for the Jews flow clearly on for us abound with mistakes. Once more,
you must not in my small writings look for any such eloquence as that
which for Christ's sake you disregard in Cicero. A version made for the
use of the Church, even though it may possess a literary charm, ought
to disguise and avoid it as far as possible; in order that it may not
speak to the idle schools and few disciples of the philosophers, but
may address itself rather to the entire human race.
LETTER L.
TO DOMNIO.
Domnio, a Roman (called in Letter XLV. "the Lot of
our time"), had written to Jerome to tell him that an ignorant monk had
been traducing his books "against Jovinian." Jerome, in reply, sharply
rebukes the folly of his critic and comments on the want of
straightforwardness in his conduct. He concludes the letter with an
emphatic restatement of his original position. Written in 394 A.D.
1. Your letter is full at once of affection and of
complaining. The affection is your own, which prompts you unceasingly
to warn me of impending danger, and which makes you on my behalf
Of safest things distrustful and afraid.(1)
The complaining is of those who have no love for me, and seek an
occasion against me in my sins. They speak against their brother, they
slander their own mother's son.(2) You write to me of these--nay, of
one in particular--a lounger who is to be seen in the streets, at
crossings, and in public places; a monk who is a noisy news-monger,
clever only in detraction, and eager, in spite of the beam in his own
eye, to remove the mote in his neighbor's.(3) And you tell me that he
preaches publicly against me, gnawing, rending, and tearing asunder
with his fangs the books that I have written against Jovinian. You
inform me, moreover, that this home-grown dialectician, this mainstay
of the Plautine company, has read neither the "Categories" of Aristotle
nor his treatise "On Interpretation," nor his "Analytics," nor yet the
"Topics" of Cicero, but that, moving as he does only in uneducated
circles, and frequenting no society but that of weak women, he ventures
to construct illogical syllogisms and to unravel by subtle arguments
what he is pleased to call my sophisms. How foolish I have been to
suppose that without philosophy there can be no knowledge of these
subjects; and to account it a more important part of composition to
erase than to write! In vain have I perused the commentaries of
Alexander; to no purpose has a skilled teacher used the "Introduction"
of Porphyry to instruct me in logic; and--to make light of human
learning--I have gained nothing at all by having Gregory of Nazianzum
and Didymus as my catechists in the Holy Scriptures. My acquisition of
Hebrew has been wasted labor; and so also has been the daily study
which from my youth I have bestowed upon the Law and the Prophets, the
Gospels and the Apostles.
2. Here we have a man who has reached perfection
without a teacher, so as to be a vehicle of the spirit and a
self-taught genius. He surpasses Cicero in eloquence, Aristotle in
argument, Plato in discretion, Aristarchus
81
in learning, Didymus, that man of brass, in the number of his books;
and not only Didymus, but all the writers of his time in his knowledge
of the Scriptures. It is reported that you have only to give him a
theme and he is always ready--like Carneades(1)--to argue on this side
or on that, for justice or against it. The world escaped a great
danger, and civil actions and suits concerning succession were saved
from a yawning gulf on the day when, despising the bar, he transferred
himself to the Church. For, had he been unwilling, who could ever have
been proved innocent? And, if he once began to reckon the points of the
case upon his fingers, and to spread his syllogistic nets, what
criminal would his pleading have failed to save? Had he but stamped his
foot, or fixed his eyes, or knitted his brow, or moved his hand, or
twirled his beard, he would at once have thrown dust in the eyes of the
jury. No wonder that such a complete Latinist and so profound a master
of eloquence overcomes poor me, who--as I have been some time(2) away
(from Rome), and without opportunities for speaking Latin--am half a
Greek if not altogether a barbarian. No wonder, I say, that he
overcomes me when his eloquence has crushed Jovinian in person. Good
Jesus! what! even Jovinian that great and clever man! So clever,
indeed, that no one can understand his writings, and that when he sings
it is only for himself--and for the muses!
3. Pray, my dear father, warn this man not to hold
language contrary to his profession, and not to undo with his words the
chastity which he professes by his garb. Whether he elects to be a
virgin or a married celibate--and the choice must rest with himself--he
must not compare wives with virgins, for that would be to have striven
in vain against Jovinian's eloquence. He likes, I am told, to visit the
cells of widows and virgins, and to lecture them with his brows knit on
sacred literature. What is it that he teaches these poor women in the
privacy of their own chambers? Is it to feel assured that virgins are
no better than wives? Is it to make the most of the flower of their
age, to eat and drink, to frequent the baths, to live in luxury, and
not to disdain the use of perfumes? Or does he preach to them chastity,
fasting, and neglect of their persons? No doubt the precepts that he
inculcates are full of virtue. But if so, let him admit publicly what
he says privately. Or, if his private teaching is the same as his
public, he should keep aloof altogether from the society of girls. He
is a young man--a monk, and in his own eyes an eloquent one (do not
pearls fall from his lips, and are not his elegant phrases sprinkled
with comic salt and humor?)--I am surprised, therefore, that he can
without a blush frequent noblemen's houses, pay constant visits to
married ladies, make our religion a subject of contention, distort the
faith of Christ by misapplying words, and--in addition to all
this--detract from one who is his brother in the Lord. He may, however,
have supposed me to be in error (for "in many things we offend all,"
and" if any man offend not in word he is a perfect man"(1)). In that
case he should have written to convict me or to question me, the course
taken by Pammachius, a man of high attainments and position. To this
latter I defended myself as best I could, and in a lengthy letter
explained the exact sense of my words. He might at least have copied
the diffidence which led you to extract and arrange such passages as
seemed to give offence; asking me for corrections or explanations, and
not supposing me so mad that in one and the same book I should write
for marriage and against it.
4. Let him spare himself, let him spare me, let him
spare the Christian name. Let him realize his position as a monk, not
by talking and arguing, but by holding his peace and sitting still. Let
him read the words of Jeremiah: "It is good for a man that he bear the
yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he
hath borne it upon him."(2) Or if he has really the right to apply the
censor's rod to all writers, and fancies himself a man of learning
because he alone understands Jovinian (you know the proverb: Balbus
best knows what Balbus means); yet, as Atilius(3) reminds us, "we are
not all writers." Jovinian himself--an unlettered man of letters if
ever there was one--will with most justice proclaim the fact to him.
"That the bishops condemn me," he says, "is not reason but treason. I
want no answers from nobodies, who, while they have authority to put me
down, have not the wit to teach me. Let one write against me who has a
tongue that I can understand, and whom to vanquish will be to vanquish
all.
82
"'I know full well: believe me, I have felt
The hero's force when rising o'er his shield
He hurls his whizzing spear.'(1)
He is strong in argument, intricate and tenacious, one to fight with
his head down. Often has he cried out against me in the streets from
late one night till early the next. He is a well-built man, and his
thews are those of an athlete. Secretly I believe him to be a follower
of my teaching. He never blushes or stops to weigh his words: his only
aim is to speak as loud as possible. So famous is he for his eloquence
that his sayings are held up as models to our curly-headed
youngsters.(2) How often, when I have met him at meetings, has he
aroused my wrath and put me into a passion! How often has he spat upon
me, and then departed spat upon! But these are vulgar methods, and any
of my followers can use them. I appeal to books, to those memorials
which must be handed down to posterity. Let us speak by our writings,
that the silent reader may judge between us; and that, as I have a
flock of disciples, he may have one also--flatterers and parasites
worthy of the Gnatho and Phormio(8) who is their master."
5. It is no difficult matter, my dear Domnio, to
chatter at street corners or in apothecaries' shops and to pass
judgment on the world. "So-and-so has made a good speech, so-and-so a
bad one; this man knows the Scriptures, that one is crazy; this man
talks glibly, that never says a word at all." But who considers him
worthy thus to judge every one? To make an outcry against a man in
every street, and to heap, not definite charges, but vague imputations,
on his head, is nothing. Any buffoon or litigiously disposed person can
do as much. Let him put forth his hand, put pen to paper, and bestir
himself; let him write books and prove in them all he can. Let him give
me a chance of replying to his eloquence. I can return bite for bite,
if I like; when hurt myself, I can fix my teeth in my opponent. I too
have had a liberal education. As Juvenal says, "I also have often
withdrawn my hand from the ferule."(4) Of me, too, it may be said in
the words of Horace, "Flee from him; he has hay on his horn."(5) But I
prefer to be a disciple of Him who says, "I gave my back to the smiters
... I hid not my face from shame and spitting."(6) When He was reviled
He reviled not again. After the buffeting, the cross, the scourge, the
blasphemies, at the very last He prayed for His crucifiers, saying,
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."(1) I, too,
pardon the error of a brother. He has been deceived, I feel sure, by
the art of the devil. Among the women he was held clever and eloquent;
but, when my poor writings reached Rome, dreading me as a rival, he
tried to rob me of my laurels. No man on earth, he resolved, should
please his eloquent self, unless such as commanded respect rather than
sought it, and showed themselves men to be feared more than favored. A
man of consummate address, he desired, like an old soldier, with one
stroke of the sword to strike down both his enemies,(2) and to make
clear to every one that, whatever view he might take, Scripture was
always with him. Well, he must condescend to send me his account of the
matter, and to correct my indiscreet language, not by censure but by
instruction. If he tries to do this, he will find that what seems
forcible on a lounge is not equally forcible in court; and that it is
one thing to discuss the doctrines of the divine law amid the spindles
and work-baskets of girls and another to argue concerning them among
men of education. As it is, without hesitation or shame, he raises
again and again the noisy shout, "Jerome condemns marriage," and,
whilst he constantly moves among women with child, crying infants, and
marriage-beds, he suppresses the words of the apostle just to cover
me--poor me--with odium. However, when he comes by and by to write
books and to grapple with me at close quarters, then he will feel it,
then he will stick fast; Epicurus and Aristippus(3) will not be near
him then; the swineherds(4) will not come to his aid; the prolific
sow(6) will not so much as grunt. For I also may say, with Turnus:
Father, I too can launch a forceful spear,
And when I strike blood follows from the wound.(6)
But if he refuses to write, and fancies that abuse is as effective as
criticism, then, in spite of all the lands and seas and peoples which
lie between us, he must hear at least the echo of my cry, "I do not
condemn marriage," "I do not condemn wedlock." Indeed--and this I say
to make my meaning quite clear to him--I should like every one to take
a wife who, because they get frightened in the night, cannot manage to
sleep alone.(7)
83
LETTER LI.
FROM EPIPHANIUS, BISHOP OF SALAMIS, IN CYPRUS, TO JOHN, BISHOP OF
JERUSALEM.
A coolness had arisen between these two bishops in
connection with the Origenistic controversy, which at this time was at
its height. Epiphanius had openly charged John with being an Origenist,
and had also uncanonically conferred priests' orders on Jerome's
brother Paulinian, in order that the monastery at Bethlehem might
henceforth be entirely independent of John. Naturally, John resented
this conduct and showed his resentment. The present letter is a kind of
half-apology made by Epiphanius for what he had done, and like all
such, it only seems to have made matters worse. The controversy is
fully detailed in the treatise "Against John of Jerusalem" in this
volume, esp. 11-14.
An interesting paragraph ( 9) narrates how
Epiphanius destroyed at Anablatha a church-curtain on which was
depicted "a likeness of Christ or of some saint"--an early instance of
the iconoclastic spirit.
Originally written in Greek, the letter was (by the
writer's request) rendered into Latin by Jerome. Its date is 394 A.D.
To the lord bishop and dearly beloved brother, John, Epiphanius sends
greeting.
1. It surely becomes us, dearly beloved, not to
abuse our rank as clergy, so as to make it an occasion of pride, but by
diligently keeping and observing God's commandments, to be in reality
what in name we profess to be. For, if the Holy Scriptures say, "Their
lots shall not profit them,"(1) what pride in our clerical position(2)
will be able to avail us who sin not only in thought and feeling, but
in speech? I have heard, of course, that you are incensed against me,
that you are angry, and that you threaten to write about me--not merely
to particular places and provinces, but to the uttermost ends of the
earth. Where is that fear of God which should make us tremble with the
trembling spoken of by the Lord--"Whosoever is angry with his brother
without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment"?(3) Not that I
greatly care for your writing what you please. For Isaiah tells us(4)
of letters written on papyrus and cast upon the waters -- missives soon
carried away by time and tide. I have done you no harm, I have
inflicted no injury upon you, I have extorted nothing from you by
violence. My action concerned a monastery whose inmates were foreigners
in no way subject to your provincial jurisdiction. Moreover their
regard for my insignificance and for the letters which I frequently
addressed to them had commenced to produce a feeling of dislike to
communion with you. Feeling, therefore, that too great strictness or
scrupulosity on my part might have the effect of alienating them from
the Church with its ancient faith, I ordained one of the brothers
deacon, and after he had ministered as such, admitted him to the
priesthood. You should, I think, have been grateful to me for this,
knowing, as you surely must, that it is the fear of God which has
compelled me to act in this way, and particularly when you recollect
that God's priesthood is everywhere the same, and that I have simply
made provision for the wants of the Church. For, although each
individual bishop of the Church has under him churches which are placed
in his charge, and although no man may stretch himself beyond his
measure,(1) yet the love of Christ, which is without dissimulation,(2)
is set up as an example to us all; and we must consider not so much the
thing done as the time and place, the mode and motive, of doing it. I
saw that the monastery contained a large number of reverend brothers,
and that the reverend presbyters, Jerome and Vincent, through modesty
and humility, were unwilling to offer the sacrifices permitted to their
rank, and to labor in that part of their calling which ministers more
than any other to the salvation of Christians. I knew, moreover, that
you could not find or lay hands on this servant of God(3) who had
several times fled from you simply because he was reluctant to
undertake the onerous duties of the priesthood, and that no other
bishop could easily find him. Accordingly, I was a good deal surprised
when, by the ordering of God, he came to me with the deacons of the
monastery and others of the brethren, to make satisfaction to me for
some grievance or other which I had against them. While, therefore, the
Collect(4) was being celebrated in the church of the villa which
adjoins our monastery--he being quite ignorant and wholly unsuspicious
of my purpose--I gave orders to a number of deacons to seize him and to
stop his mouth, lest in his eagerness to free himself he might adjure
me in the name of Christ. First of all, then, I ordained him deacon,
setting before him the fear of God, and forcing him to minister; for he
made a hard struggle against it, crying out that he was unworthy, and
protesting that this heavy burden was beyond his strength. It was with
difficulty, then, that I overcame his reluctance, persuading him as
well as I could with passages from Scripture, and setting before him
the command-
84
ments of God. And when he had ministered in the offering of the holy
sacrifices, once more with great difficulty I closed his mouth and
ordained him presbyter. Then, using the same arguments as before, I
induced him to sit in the place set apart for the presbyters. After
this I wrote to the reverend presbyters and other brothers of the
monastery, chiding them for not having written to me about him. For a
year before I had heard many of them complain that they had no one to
celebrate for them the sacraments of the Lord. All then agreed in
asking him to undertake the duty, pointing out how great his usefulness
would be to the community of the monastery. I blamed them for omitting
to write to me and to propose that I should ordain him, when the
opportunity was given to them to do so.
2. All this I have done, as I said just now, relying
on that Christian love which you, I feel sure, cherish towards my
insignificance; not to mention the fact that I held the ordination in a
monastery, and not within the limits of your jurisdiction. How truly
blessed is the mildness and complacency of the bishops of (my own)
Cyprus, as well as their simplicity, though to your refinement and
discrimination it appears deserving only of God's pity! For many
bishops in communion with me have ordained presbyters in my province
whom I had been unable to capture, and have sent to me deacons and
subdeacons(1) whom I have been glad to receive. I myself, too, have
urged the bishop Philo of blessed memory, and the reverend Theoprepus,
to make provision for the Church of Christ by ordaining presbyters in
those churches of Cyprus which, although they were accounted to belong
to my see, happened to be close to them, and this for the reason that
my province was large and straggling. But for my part I have never
ordained deaconesses nor sent them into the provinces of others,(2) nor
have I done anything to rend the Church. Why, then, have you thought
fit to be so angry and indignant with me for that work of God which I
have wrought for the edification of the brethren, and not for their
destruction?(3) Moreover, I have been much surprised at the assertion
which you have made to my clergy, that you sent me a message by that
reverend presbyter, the abbot Gregory, that I was to ordain no one, and
that I promised to comply, saying, "Am I a stripling, or do I not know
the canons?" By God's word I am telling you the truth when I say that I
know and have heard nothing of all this, and that I have not the
slightest recollection of using any language of the sort. As, however,
I have had misgivings, lest possibly, being only a man, I may have
forgotten this among so many other matters, I have made inquiry of the
reverend Gregory, and of the presbyter Zeno, who is with him. Of these,
the abbot Gregory replies that he knows nothing whatever about the
matter, while Zeno says that the presbyter Rufinus, in the course of
some desultory remarks, spoke these words. "Will the reverend bishop,
think you, venture to ordain any persons?" but that the conversation
went no further. I, Epiphanius, however, have never either received the
message or answered it. Do not, then, dearly beloved, allow your anger
to overcome you or your indignation to get the better of you, lest, you
should disquiet yourself in vain; and lest you should be thought to be
putting forward this grievance only to get scope for tendencies of
another kind,(1) and thus to have sought out an occasion of sinning. It
is to avoid this that the prophet prays to the Lord, saying: "Turn not
aside my heart to words of wickedness, to making excuses for my
sins."(2)
3. This also I have been surprised to hear, that
certain persons who are in the habit of carrying tales backwards and
forwards, and of always adding something fresh to what they have heard,
to stir up grievances and disputes between brothers, have succeeded in
disquieting you by saying that, when I offer sacrifices to God, I am
wont to say this prayer on your behalf: "Grant, O Lord, to John grace
to believe aright." Do not suppose me so untutored as to be capable of
saying this so openly. To tell you the simple truth, my dearest
brother, although I continually use this prayer mentally, I have never
confided it to the ears of others, lest I should seem to dishonor you.
But when I repeat the prayers required by the ritual of the mysteries,
then I say on behalf of all and of you as well as others, "Guard him,
that he may preach the truth," or at least this, "Do Thou, O Lord,
grant him Thine aid, and guard him, that he may preach the word of
truth, "as occasion offers itself for the words, and as the turn comes
for the particular prayer. Wherefore I beseech you, dearly beloved,
and, casting myself down at your feet, I entreat you to
85
grant to me and to yourself this one prayer, that you would save
yourself, as it is written, "from an untoward generation." Withdraw,
dearly beloved, from the heresy of Origen and from all heresies. For I
see that all your indignation has been roused against me simply because
I have told you that you ought not to eulogize one who is the spiritual
father of Arius, and the root and parent of all heresies. And when I
appealed to you not to go astray, and warned you of the consequences,
you traversed my words, and reduced me to tears and sadness; and not me
only, but many other Catholics who were present.(2) This I take to be
the origin of your indignation and of your passion on the present
occasion. On this account you threaten to send out letters against me,
and to circulate your version of the matter in all directions;(3) and
thus, while with a view to defending your heresy you kindle men's
passions against me, you break through the charity which I have shown
towards you, and act with so little discretion that you make me regret
that I have held communion with you, and that I have by so doing upheld
the erroneous opinions of Origen.
4. I speak plainly. To use the language of
Scripture, I do not spare to pluck out my own eye if it cause me to
offend, nor to cut off my hand and my foot if they cause me to do
so.(4) And you must be treated in the same way whether you are my eyes,
or my hands, or my feet. For what Catholic, what Christian who adorns
his faith with good works, can hear with calmness Origen's teaching and
counsel, or believe in his extraordinary preaching? "The Son," he tells
us, "cannot see the Father, and the Holy Spirit cannot see the Son."
These words occur in his book "On First Principles;" thus we read, and
thus Origen has spoken. "For as it is unsuitable to say that the Son
can see the Father, it is consequently unsuitable to suppose that the
Spirit can see the Son."(5) Can any one, moreover, brook Origen's
assertion that men's souls were once angels in heaven, and that having
sinned in the upper world, they have been cast down into this, and have
been confined in bodies as in barrows or tombs, to pay the penalty for
their former sins; and that the bodies of believers are not temples of
Christ but prisons of the condemned? Again, he tampers with the true
meaning of the narrative by a false use of allegory, multiplying words
without limit; and undermines the faith of the simple by the most
varied arguments. Now he maintains that souls, in Greek the "cool
things," from a word meaning to be cool,(1) are so called because in
coming down from the heavenly places to the lower world they have lost
their former heat;(2) and now, that our bodies are called by the Greeks
chains, from a word meaning chain,(3) or else (on the analogy of our
own Latin word) "things fallen,"(4) because our souls have fallen from
heaven; and that the other word for body which the abundance of the
Greek idiom supplies(5) is by many taken to mean a funeral monument,(6)
because the soul is shut up within it in the same way as the corpses of
the dead are shut up in tombs and barrows. If this doctrine is true
what becomes of our faith? Where is the preaching of the resurrection?
Where is the teaching of the apostles, which lasts on to this day in
the churches of Christ? Where is the blessing to Adam, and to his seed,
and to Noah and his sons? "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth."(7) According to Origen, these words must be a curse and not a
blessing; for he turns angels into human souls, compelling them to
leave the place of highest rank and to come down lower, as though God
were unable through the action of His blessing to grant souls to the
human race, had the angels not sinned, and as though for every birth on
earth there must be a fall in heaven. We are to give up, then, the
teaching of apostles and prophets, of the law, and of our Lord and
Saviour Himself, in spite of His language loud as thunder in the
gospel. Origen, on the other hand, commands and urges--not to say
binds--his disciples not to pray to ascend into heaven, lest sinning
once more worse than they had sinned on earth they should be hurled
down into the world again. Such foolish and insane notions he generally
confirms by distorting the sense of the Scriptures and making them mean
what they do not mean at all. He quotes this passage from the Psalms:
"Before thou didst humble me by reason of my wickedness, I went
wrong;"(8) and this, "Return unto thy rest, O my soul;"(9) this also,
"Bring my soul out of prison;"(10) and this, "I will make confession
86
unto the Lord in the land of the living,"(1) although there can be no
doubt that the meaning of the divine Scripture is different from the
interpretation by which he unfairly wrests it to the support of his own
heresy. This way of acting is common to the Manichaeans, the Gnostics,
the Ebionites, the Marcionites, and the votaries of the other eighty
heresies,(2) all of whom draw their proofs from the pure well of the
Scriptures, not, however, interpreting it in the sense in which it is
written, but trying to make the simple language of the Church's writers
accord with their own wishes.
5. Of one position which he strives to maintain I
hardly know whether it calls for my tears or my laughter. This
wonderful doctor presumes to teach that the devil will once more be
what he at one time was, that he will return to his former dignity and
rise again to the kingdom of heaven. Oh horror! that a man should be so
frantic and foolish as to hold that John the Baptist, Peter, the
apostle and evangelist John, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest of the
prophets, are made co-heirs of the devil in the kingdom of heaven! I
pass over his idle explanation of the coats of skins,(3) and say
nothing of the efforts and arguments he has used to induce us to
believe that these coats of skins represent human bodies. Among many
other things, he says this: "Was God a tanner or a saddler, that He
should prepare the hides of animals, and should stitch from them coats
of skins for Adam and Eve?" "It is clear," he goes on, "that he is
speaking of human bodies." If this is so, how is it that before the
coats of skins, and the disobedience, and the fall from paradise, Adam
speaks not in an allegory, but literally, thus: "This is now bone of my
bones and flesh of my flesh;"(4) or what is the ground of the divine
narrative, "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and
he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead
thereof; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a
woman"(5) for him? Or what bodies can Adam and Eve have covered with
fig-leaves after eating of the forbidden tree?(6) Who can patiently
listen to the perilous arguments of Origen when he denies the
resurrection of this flesh, as he most clearly does in his book of
explanations of the first psalm and in many other places? Or who can
tolerate him when he gives us a paradise in the third heaven, and
transfers that which the Scripture mentions from earth to the heavenly
places, and when he explains allegorically all the trees which are
mentioned in Genesis, saying in effect that the trees are angelic
potencies, a sense which the true drift of the passage does not admit?
For the divine Scripture has not said, "God put down Adam and Eve upon
the earth," but "He drove them out of the paradise, and made them dwell
over against the paradise."(1) He does not say "under the paradise."
"He placed ... cherubims and a flaming sword ... to keep the way of (2)
the tree of life."(3) He says nothing about an ascent to it. "And a
river went out of Eden."(4) He does not say "went down from Eden." "It
was parted and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison
... and the name of the second is Gihon."(5) I myself have seen the
waters of Gihon, have seen them with my bodily eyes. It is this Gihon
to which Jeremiah points when he says, "What hast thou to do in the way
of Egypt to drink the muddy water of Gihon?"(6) I have drunk also from
the great river Euphrates, not spiritual but actual water, such as you
can touch with your hand and imbibe with your mouth. But where there
are rivers which admit of being seen and of being drunk, it follows
that there also there will be fig-trees and other trees; and it is of
these that the Lord says, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat."(7) They are like other trees and timber, just as the
rivers are like other rivers and waters. But if the water is visible
and real, then the fig-tree and the rest of the timber must be real
also, and Adam and Eve must have been originally formed with real and
not phantasmal bodies, and not, as Origen would have us believe, have
afterwards received them on account of their sin. But, you say, "we
read that Saint Paul was caught up to the third heaven, into
paradise."(8) You explain the words rightly: "When he mentions the
third heaven, and then adds the word paradise, he shows that heaven is
in one place and paradise in another." Must not every one reject and
despise such special pleading as that by which Origen says of the
waters that are above the firmament(9) that they are not waters, but
heroic beings of angelic power,(10) and again of the waters
87
that are over the earth--that is, below the firmament--that they are
potencies(1) of the contrary sort--that is, demons? If so, why do we
read in the account of the deluge that the windows of heaven were
opened, and that the waters of the deluge prevailed? in consequence of
which the fountains of the deep were opened, and the whole earth was
covered with the waters.(2)
6. Oh! the madness and folly of those who have
forsaken the teaching of the book of Proverbs, "My son, keep thy
father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother,"(3) and
have turned to error, and say to the fool that he shall be their
leader, and do not despise the foolish things which are said by the
foolish man, even as the scripture bears witness, "The foolish man
speaketh foolishly, and his heart understandeth vanity."(4) I beseech
you, dearly beloved, and by the love which I feel towards you, I
implore you--as though it were my own members on which I would have
pity(5)--by word and letter to fulfil that which is written, "Do not I
hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that
rise up against thee?"(6) Origen's words are the words of an enemy,
hateful and repugnant to God and to His saints; and not only those
which I have quoted, but countless others. For it is not now my
intention to argue against all his opinions. Origen has not lived in my
day, nor has he robbed me. I have not conceived a dislike to him nor
quarrelled with him because of an inheritance or of any worldly matter;
but--to speak plainly--I grieve, and grieve bitterly, to see numbers of
my brothers, and of those in particular who show the most promise, and
have reached the highest rank in the sacred ministry,(7) deceived by
his persuasive arguments, and made by his most perverse teaching the
food of the devil, whereby the saying is fulfilled: "He derides every
stronghold, and his fare is choice, and he hath gathered captives as
the sand."(8) But may God free you, my brother, and the holy people of
Christ which is intrusted to you, and all the brothers who are with
you, and especially the presbyter Rufinus, from the heresy of Origen,
and other heresies, and from the perdition to which they lead. For, if
for one word or for two opposed to the faith many heresies have been
rejected by the Church, how much more shall he be held a heretic who
has contrived such perverse interpretations and such mischievous
doctrines to destroy the faith, and has in fact declared himself the
enemy of the Church! For, among other wicked things, he has presumed to
say this, too, that Adam lost the image of God, although Scripture
nowhere declares that he did. Were it so, never would all the creatures
in the world be subject to Adam's seed--that is, to the entire human
race--yet, in the words of the apostle, everything "is tamed and hath
been tamed of mankind."(1) For never would all things be subjected to
men if men had not--together with their authority over all--the image
of God. But the divine Scripture conjoins and associates with this the
grace of the blessing which was conferred upon Adam and upon the
generations which descended from him. No one can by twisting the
meaning of words presume to say that this grace of God was given to one
only, and that he alone was made in the image of God (he and his wife,
that is, for while he was formed of clay she was made of one of his
ribs), but that those who were subsequently conceived in the womb and
not born as was Adam did not possess God's image, for the Scripture
immediately subjoins the following statement: "And Adam lived two
hundred and thirty years,(2) and knew Eve his wife, and she bare him a
son in his image and after his likeness, and called his name Seth."(3)
And again, in the tenth generation, two thousand two hundred and
forty-two years afterwards,(4) God, to vindicate His own image and to
show that the grace which He had given to men still continued in them,
gives the following commandment: "Flesh ... with the blood thereof
shall ye not eat. And surely your blood will I require at the hand of
every man that sheddeth it; for in the image of God have I made
man."(5) From Noah to Abraham ten generations passed away,(6) and from
Abraham's time to David's, fourteen more,(7) and these twenty-four
generations make up, taken together, two thousand one hundred and
seventeen years.(8) Yet the Holy Spirit in the thirty-ninth(9) psalm,
while lamenting that all men walk in a vain show, and that they are
subject to sins, speaks thus: "For all that every man walk-
88
eth in the image."(1) Also after David's time, in the reign of Solomon
his son, we read a somewhat similar reference to the divine likeness.
For in the book of Wisdom, which is inscribed with his name, Solomon
says: "God created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of
His own eternity."(2) And again, about eleven hundred and eleven years
afterwards, we read in the New Testament that men have not lost the
image of God. For James, an apostle and brother of the Lord, whom I
have mentioned above--that we may not be entangled in the snares of
Origen--teaches us that man does possess God's image and likeness. For,
after a somewhat discursive account of the human tongue, he has gone on
to say of it: "It is an unruly evil ... therewith bless we God, even
the Father and therewith curse we men, which are made after the
similitude of God."(3) Paul, too, the "chosen vessel,"(4) who in his
preaching has fully maintained the doctrine of the gospel, instructs us
that man is made in the image and after the likeness of God. "A man,"
he says, "ought not to wear long hair, forasmuch as he is the image and
glory of God."(5) He speaks of "the image" simply, but explains the
nature of the likeness by the word "glory."
7. Instead of the three proofs from Holy Scripture
which you said would satisfy you if I could produce them, behold I have
given you seven. Who, then, will put up with the follies of Origen? I
will not use a severer word and so make myself like him or his
followers, who presume at the peril of their soul to assert
dogmatically whatever first comes into their head, and to dictate to
God, whereas they ought either to pray to Him or to learn the truth
from Him. For some of them say that the image of God which Adam had
previously received was lost when he sinned. Others surmise that the
body which the Son of God was destined to take of Mary was the image of
the Creator. Some identify this image with the soul, others with
sensation, others with virtue. These make it baptism, those assert that
it is in virtue of God's image that man exercises universal sway. Like
drunkards in their cups, they ejaculate now this, now that, when they
ought rather to have avoided so serious a risk, and to have obtained
salvation by simple faith, not denying the words of God. To God they
ought to have left the sure and exact knowledge of His own gift, and of
the particular way in which He has created men in His image and after
His likeness. Forsaking this course, they have involved themselves in
many subtle questions, and through these they have been plunged into
the mire of sin. But we, dearly beloved, believe the words of the Lord,
and know that God's image remains in all men, and we leave it to Him to
know in what respect man is created in His image. And let no one be
deceived by that passage in the epistle of John, which some readers
fail to understand, where he says: "Now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall See Him as He is."(1) For
this refers to the glory which is then to be revealed(2) to His saints;
just as also in another place we read the words "from glory to
glory,"(3) of which glory the saints have even in this world received
an earnest and a small portion. At their head stands Moses, whose face
shone exceedingly, and was bright with the brightness of the sun.(4)
Next to him comes Elijah, who was caught up into heaven in a chariot of
fire,(5) and did not feel the effects of the flame. Stephen, too, when
he was being stoned, had the face of an angel visible to all.(6) And
this which we have verified in a few cases is to be understood of all,
that what is written may be fulfilled. "Every one that sanctifieth
himself shall be numbered among the blessed." For, "blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God."(7)
8. These things being so, dearly beloved, keep watch
over your own soul and cease to murmur against me. For the divine
Scripture says: "Neither murmur ye [one against another(8)] as some of
them also murmured, and were destroyed of serpents."(9) Rather give way
to the truth and love me who love both you and the truth. And may the
God of peace, according to His mercy, grant to us that Satan may be
bruised under the feet of Christians,(10) and that every occasion of
evil may be shunned, so that the bond of love and peace may not be rent
asunder between us, or the preaching of the right faith be anywise
hindered.
9. Moreover, I have heard that certain persons have
this grievance against me: When I accompanied you to the holy place
called Bethel, there to join you in celebrating the Collect,(11) after
the use of the
89
Church, I came to a villa called Anablatha and, as I was passing, saw a
lamp burning there. Asking what place it was, and learning it to be a
church, I went in to pray, and found there a curtain hanging on the
doors of the said church, dyed and embroidered.(1) It bore an image
either of Christ or of one of the saints; I do not rightly remember
whose the image was. Seeing this, and being loth that an image of a man
should be hung up in Christ's church contrary to the teaching of the
Scriptures, I tore it asunder and advised the custodians of the place
to use it as a winding sheet for some poor person. They, however,
murmured, and said that if I made up my mind to tear it, it was only
fair that I should give them another curtain in its place. As soon as I
heard this, I promised that I would give one, and said that I would
send it at once. Since then there has been some little delay, due to
the fact that I have been seeking a curtain of the best quality to give
to them instead of the former one, and thought it right to send to
Cyprus for one. I have now sent the best that I could find, and I beg
that you will order the presbyter of the place to take the curtain
which I have sent from the hands of the Reader, and that you will
afterwards give directions that curtains of the other sort--opposed as
they are to our religion--shall not be hung up in any church of Christ.
A than of your uprightness should be careful to remove an occasion of
offence(2) unworthy alike of the Church of Christ and of those
Christians who are committed to your charge. Beware of Palladius of
Galatia--a man once dear to me, but who now sorely needs God's
pity--for he preaches and teaches the heresy of Origen; and see to it
that he does not seduce any of those who are intrusted to your keeping
into the perverse ways of his erroneous doctrine. I pray that you may
fare well in the Lord.
LETTER LII.
TO NEPOTIAN.
Nepotian, the nephew of Heliodorus (for whom see
Letter XIV.), had, like his uncle, abandoned the military for the
clerical calling, and was now a presbyter at Altinum, where Heliodorus
was bishop. The letter is a systematic treatise on the duties of the
clergy and on the rule of life which they ought to adopt. It had a
great vogue, and called forth much indignation against Jerome. Its date
is 394 A.D.
1. Again and again you ask me, my dear Nepotian, in
your letters from over the sea, to draw for you a few rules of life,
showing how one who has renounced the service of the world to become a
monk or a clergyman may keep the straight path of Christ, and not be
drawn aside into the haunts of vice. As a young man, or rather as a
boy, and while I was curbing by the hard life of the desert the first
onslaughts of youthful passion, I sent a letter of remonstrance(1) to
your reverend uncle, Heliodorus, which, by the tears and complainings
with which it was filled, showed him the feelings of the friend whom he
had deserted. In it I acted the part suited to my age, and as I was
still aglow with the methods and maxims of the rhetoricians, I decked
it out a good deal with the flourishes of the schools. Now, however, my
head is gray, my brow is furrowed, a dewlap like that of an ox hangs
from my chin, and, as Virgil says,
The chilly blood stands still around my heart.(9)
Elsewhere he sings:
Old age bears all, even the mind, away.
And a little further on:
So many of my songs are gone from me,
And even my very voice has left me now.(3)
2. But that I may not seem to quote only profane
literature, listen to the mystical teaching of the sacred writings.
Once David had been a man of war, but at seventy age had chilled him so
that nothing would make him warm. A girl is accordingly sought from the
coasts of Israel--Abishag the Shunamite--to sleep with the king and
warm his aged frame.(4) Does it not seem to you--if you keep to the
letter that killeth(5)--like some farcical story or some broad jest
from an Atellan play?(6) A chilly old man is wrapped up in blankets,
and only grows warm in a girl's embrace. Bathsheba was still living,
Abigail was still left, and the remainder of those wives and concubines
whose names the Scripture mentions. Yet they are all rejected as cold,
and only in the one young girl's embrace does the old man become warm.
Abraham was far older than David; still, so long as Sarah lived he
sought no other wife. Isaac counted twice the years of David, yet never
felt cold with Rebekah, old though she was. I say nothing of the
antediluvians, who, although after nine hundred years their limbs must
have been not old merely, but decayed with age, had no recourse to
girls' embraces. Moses, the leader of the Israelites, counted
90
one hundred and twenty years, yet sought no change from Zipporah.
3. Who, then, is this Shunamite, this wife and maid,
so glowing as to warm the cold, yet so holy as not to arouse passion in
him whom she warmed?(1) Let Solomon, wisest of men, tell us of his
father's favorite; let the man of peace(2) recount to us the embraces
of the man of war.(3) "Get wisdom," he writes, "get understanding:
forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her
not and she shall preserve thee: love her and she shall keep thee.
Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all thy
getting get understanding. Exalt her and she shall promote thee. She
shall bring thee to honor when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to
thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to
thee."(4)
Almost all bodily excellences alter with age, and
while wisdom alone increases all things else decay. Fasts and vigils
and almsdeeds become harder. So also do sleeping on the ground, moving
from place to place, hospitality to travellers, pleading for the poor,
earnestness and steadfastness in prayer, the visitation of the sick,
manual labor to supply money for alms-giving. All acts, in short, of
which the body is the medium decrease with its decay.
Now, there are young men still full of life and
vigor who, by toil and burning zeal, as well as by holiness of life and
constant prayer to the Lord Jesus, have obtained knowledge. I do not
speak of these, or say that in them the love of wisdom is cold, for
this withers in many of the old by reason of age. What I mean is that
youth, as such, has to cope with the assaults of passion, and amid the
allurements of vice and the tinglings of the flesh is stifled like a
fire among green boughs, and cannot develop its proper brightness. But
when men have employed their youth in commendable pursuits and have
meditated on the law of the Lord day and night,(5) they learn with the
lapse of time, fresh experience and wisdom come as the years go by, and
so from the pursuits of the past their old age reaps a harvest of
delight. Hence that wise man of Greece, Themistocles,(6) perceiving,
after the expiration of one hundred and seven years, that he was on the
verge of the grave, is reported to have said that he regretted
extremely having to leave life just when he was beginning to grow wise.
Plato died in his eighty-first year, his pen still in his hand.
Isocrates completed ninety years and nine in the midst of literary and
scholastic work.(1) I say nothing of other philosophers, such as
Pythagoras, Democritus, Xenocrates, Zeno, and Cleanthes, who in extreme
old age displayed the vigor of youth in the pursuit of wisdom. I pass
on to the poets, Homer, Hesiod, Simonides, Stesichorus, who all lived
to a great age, yet at the approach of death sang each of them a swan
song sweeter than their wont.(2) Sophocles, when charged by his sons
with dotage on account of his advanced years and his neglect of his
property, .read out to his judges his recently composed play of
OEdipus, and made so great a display of wisdom--in spite of the inroads
of time--that he changed the decorous silence of the law court into the
applause of the theatre.(3) And no wonder, when Cato the censor, that
most eloquent of Romans, in his old age neither blushed at the thought
of learning Greek nor despaired of succeeding.(4) Homer, for his part,
relates that from the tongue of Nestor, even when quite aged and
helpless, there flowed speech sweeter than honey.(5)
Even the very name Abishag in its mystic meaning
points to the greater wisdom of old men. For the translation of it is,
"My father is over and above," or "my father's roaring." The term "over
and above" is obscure, but in this passage is indicative of excellence,
and implies that the old have a larger stock of wisdom, and that it
even overflows by reason of its abundance. In another passage "over and
above" forms an antithesis to "necessary." Moreover, Abishag, that is,
"roaring," is properly used of the sound which the waves make, and of
the murmur which we hear coming from the sea. From which it is plain
that the thunder of the divine voice dwells in old men's ears with a
volume of sound beyond the voices of men. Again, in our tongue
Shunamite means" scarlet," a hint that the love of wisdom becomes warm
and glowing through religious study. For though the color may point to
the mystery of the Lord's blood, it also sets forth the warm glow of
wisdom. Hence it is a scarlet thread that in Genesis the midwife binds
upon the hand of Pharez--Pharez "the divider," so called because he
divided the partition which had before separated two peoples.(6) So,
too, with a
91
mystic reference to the shedding of blood, it was a scarlet cord which
the harlot Rahab (a type of the church) hung in her window to preserve
her house in the destruction of Jericho.(1) Hence, in another place
Scripture says of holy men: "These are they which came from the warmth
of the house of the father of Rechab."(2) And in the gospel the Lord
says: "I am come to cast fire upon the earth, and fain am I to see it
kindled."(3) This was the fire which, when it was kindled in the
disciples' hearts, constrained them to say: "Did not our heart burn
within us while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us
the Scriptures?"(4)
4. To what end, you ask, these recondite references?
To show that you need not expect from me boyish declamation, flowery
sentiments, a meretricious style, and at the close of every paragraph
the terse and pointed aphorisms which call forth approving shouts from
those who hear them. Let Wisdom alone embrace me; let her nestle in my
bosom, my Abishag who grows not old. Undefiled truly is she, and a
virgin forever for although she daily conceives and unceasingly brings
to the birth, like Mary she remains undeflowered. When the apostle says
"be fervent in spirit,"(5) he means "be true to wisdom." And when our
Lord in the gospel declares that in the end of the world--when the
shepherd shall grow foolish, according to the prophecy of
Zechariah(6)--"the love of many shall wax cold,"(7) He means that
wisdom shall decay. Hear, therefore--to quote the sainted
Cyprian--"words forcible rather than elegant."(8) Hear one who, though
he is your brother in orders, is in years your father; who can conduct
you from the cradle of faith to spiritual manhood; and who, while he
builds up stage by stage the rules of holy living, can instruct others
in instructing you. I know, of course, that from your reverend uncle,
Heliodorus, now a bishop of Christ, you have learned and are daily
learning all that is holy; and that in him you have before you a rule
of life and a pattern of virtue. Take, then, my suggestions for what
they are worth, and compare my precepts with his. He will teach you the
perfection of a monk, and I shall show you the whole duty of a
clergyman.
5. A clergyman, then, as he serves Christ's church,
must first understand what his name means; and then, when he realizes
this, must endeavor to be that which he is called. For since the Greek
word <greek>nlhros</greek> means" lot," or "inheritance,"
the clergy are so called either because they are the lot of the Lord,
or else because the Lord Himself is their lot and portion. Now, he who
in his own person is the Lord's portion, or has the Lord for his
portion, must so bear himself as to possess the Lord and to be
possessed by Him. He who possesses the Lord, and who says with the
prophet, "The Lord is my portion,"(1) can hold to nothing beside the
Lord. For if he hold to something beside the Lord, the Lord will not be
his portion. Suppose, for instance, that he holds to gold or silver, or
possessions or inlaid furniture; with such portions as these the Lord
will not deign to be his portion. I, if I am the portion of the Lord,
and the line of His heritage,(2) receive no portion among the remaining
tribes; but, like the Priest and the Levite, I live on the tithe,(3)
and serving the altar, am supported by its offerings.(4) Having food
and raiment, I shall be content with these,(5) and as a disciple of the
Cross shall share its poverty. I beseech you, therefore, and
Again and yet again admonish you; (6)
do not look to your military experience for a standard of clerical
obligation. Under Christ's banner seek for no worldly gain, lest having
more than when you first became a clergyman, you hear men say, to your
shame, "Their portion shall not profit them."(7) Welcome poor men and
strangers to your homely board, that with them Christ may be your
guest. A clergyman who engages in business, and who rises from poverty
to wealth, and from obscurity to a high position, avoid as you would
the plague. For "evil communications corrupt good manners."(8) You
despise gold; he loves it. You spurn wealth; he eagerly pursues it. You
love silence, meekness, privacy; he takes delight in talking and
effrontery, in squares, and streets, and apothecaries' shops. What
unity of feeling can there be where there is so wide a divergency of
manners?
A woman's foot should seldom, if ever, cross the
threshold of your home. To all who are Christ's virgins show the same
regard or the same disregard. Do not linger under the same roof with
them, and do not
92
rely on your past continence. You cannot be holier than David or wiser
than Solomon. Always bear in mind that it was a woman who expelled the
tiller of paradise from his heritage.(1) In case you are sick one of
the brethren may attend you; your sister also or your mother or some
woman whose faith is approved with all. But if you have no persons so
connected with you or so marked out by chaste behaviour, the Church
maintains many elderly women who by their ministrations may oblige you
and benefit themselves so that even your sickness may bear fruit in the
shape of almsdeeds. I know of cases where the recovery of the body has
but preluded the sickness of the soul. There is danger for you in the
service of one for whose face you constantly watch. If in the course of
your clerical duty you have to visit a widow or a virgin, never enter
the house alone. Let your companions be persons association with whom
will not disgrace you. If you take a reader with you or an acolyte or a
psalm-singer, let their character not their garb be their adornment
let them use no tongs to curl their hair; rather let their mien be an
index of their chastity. You must not sit alone with a woman or see one
without witnesses. If she has anything confidential to disclose, she is
sure to have some nurse or housekeeper,(2) some virgin, some widow,
some married woman. She cannot be so friendless as to have none save
you to whom she can venture to confide her secret. Beware of all that
gives occasion for suspicion; and, to avoid scandal, shun every act
that may give colour to it. Frequent gifts of handkerchiefs and
garters, of face-cloths and dishes first tasted by the giver--to say
nothing of notes full of fond expressions--of such things as these a
holy love knows nothing. Such endearing and alluring expressions as 'my
honey' and 'my darling,' 'you who are all my charm and my delight the
ridiculous courtesies of lovers and their foolish doings, we blush for
on the stage and abhor in men of the world. How much more do we loathe
them in monks and clergymen who adorn the priesthood by their vows(3)
while their vows are adorned by the priesthood. I speak thus not
because I dread such evils for you or for men of saintly life, but
because in all ranks and callings and among both men and women there
are found both good and bad and in condemning the bad I commend the
good.
6. Shameful to say, idol-priests, play-actors,
jockeys, and prostitutes can inherit property: clergymen and monks
alone lie under a legal disability, a disability enacted not by
persecutors but by Christian emperors.(1) I do not complain of the law,
but I grieve that we have deserved a statute so harsh. Cauterizing is a
good thing, no doubt; but how is it that I have a wound which makes me
need it? The law is strict and far-seeing, yet even so rapacity goes on
unchecked. By a fiction of trusteeship we set the statute at defiance;
and, as if imperial decrees outweigh the mandates of Christ, we fear
the laws and despise the Gospels. If heir there must be, the mother has
first claim upon her children, the Church upon her flock--the members
of which she has borne and reared and nourished. Why do we thrust
ourselves in between mother and children?
It is the glory of a bishop to make provision for
the wants of the poor; but it is the shame of all priests to amass
private fortunes. I who was born (suppose) in a poor man's house, in a
country cottage, and who could scarcely get of common millet and
household bread enough to fill an empty stomach, am now come to disdain
the finest wheat flour and honey. I know the several kinds of fish by
name. I can tell unerringly on what coast a mussel has been picked. I
can distinguish by the flavour the province from which a bird comes.
Dainty dishes delight me because their ingredients are scarce and I end
by finding pleasure in their ruinous cost.
I hear also of servile attention shewn by some
towards old men and women when these are childless. They fetch the
basin, beset the bed and perform with their own hands the most
revolting offices. They anxiously await the advent of the doctor and
with trembling lips they ask whether the patient is better. If for a
little while the old fellow shews signs of returning vigour, they are
in agonies. They pretend to be delighted, but their covetous hearts
undergo secret torture. For they are afraid that their labours may go
for nothing and compare an old man with a clinging to life to the
patriarch Methuselah. How great a reward might they have with God if
their hearts were not set on a temporal prize! With what great
exertions do they pursue an empty heritage! Less labour might have
purchased for them the pearl of Christ.
7. Read the divine scriptures constantly; never,
indeed, let the sacred volume be out of your hand. Learn what you have
to teach. "Hold fast the faithful word as you have been taught that you
may be able by sound doctrine to exhort and convince the gainsayers.
Continue thou in the things that thou hast learned and hast been
assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;"(2) and
93
"be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a
reason of the hope and faith that are in you."(1) Do not let your deeds
belie your words; lest when you speak in church someone may mentally
reply "Why do you not practise what you profess? Here is a lover of
dainties turned censor! his stomach is full and he reads us a homily on
fasting. As well might a robber accuse others of covetousness." In a
priest of Christ mouth mind, and hand should be at one.
Be obedient to your bishop and welcome him as the
parent of your soul. Sons love their fathers and slaves fear their
masters. "If I be a father," He says, "where is mine honour? And if I
am a master where is my fear?"(2) in your case the bishop combines in
himself many titles to your respect. He is at once a monk, a prelate,
and an uncle who has before now instructed you in all holy things. This
also I say that the bishops should know themselves to be priests not
lords. Let them render to the clergy the honour which is their due that
the clergy may offer to them the respect which belongs to bishops.
There is a witty saying of the orator Domitius which is here to the
point: "Why am I to recognize you as leader of the Senate when you will
not recognize my rights as a private member?"(3) We should realize that
a bishop and his presbyters are like Aaron and his sons. As there is
but one Lord and one Temple; so also should there be but one ministry.
Let us ever bear in mind the charge which the apostle Peter gives to
priests: "feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the
oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly as God would have
you;(4) not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind; neither as being
lords over God's heritage but being ensamples to the flock," and that
gladly; that "when the chief-shepherd shall appear ye may receive a
crown of glory that fadeth not away."(5) It is a bad custom which
prevails in certain churches for presbyters to be silent when bishops
are present on the ground that they would be jealous or impatient
hearers. "If anything," writes the apostle Paul, "be revealed to
another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all
prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be comforted; and
the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not
the author of confusion but of peace."(6) "A wise son maketh a glad
father;"(7) and a bishop should rejoice in the discrimination which has
led him to choose such for the priests of Christ.
8. When teaching in church seek to call forth not
plaudits but groans. Let the tears of your hearers be your glory. A
presbyter's words ought to be seasoned by his reading of scripture. Be
not a declaimer or a ranter, one who gabbles without rhyme or reason;
but shew yourself skilled in the deep things and versed in the
mysteries of God. To mouth your words and by your quickness of
utterance astonish the unlettered crowd is a mark of ignorance.
Assurance often explains that of which it knows nothing; and when it
has convinced others imposes on itself. My teacher, Gregory of
Nazianzus, when I once asked him to explain Luke's phrase
<greek>sabbaton</greek>
<greek>deu?eroprwtton</greek>, that is "the second-first
Sabbath," playfully evaded my request saying: "I will tell you about it
in church, and there, when all the people applaud me, you will be
forced against your will to know what you do not know at all. For, if
you alone remain silent, every one will put you down for a foot." There
is nothing so easy as by sheer volubility to deceive a common crowd or
an uneducated congregation: such most admire what they fail to
understand. Hear Marcus Tullius, the subject of that noble eulogy: "You
would have been the first of orators but for Demosthenes: he would have
been the only one but for you." Hear what in his speech for Quintus
Gallius(1) he has to say about unskilled speakers and popular applause
and then you will not be the sport of such illusions. "What I am
telling you," said he, "is a recent experience of my own. One who has
the name of a poet and a man of culture has written a book entitled
Conversations of Poets and Philosophers. In this he represents
Euripides as conversing with Menander and Socrates with Epicurus--men
whose lives we know to be separated not by years but by centuries.
Nevertheless he calls forth limitless applause and endless
acclamations. For the theatre contains many who belong to the same
school as he: like him they have never learned letters."
9. In dress avoid sombre colours as much as bright
ones. Showiness and slovenliness are alike to be shunned; for the one
savours of vanity and the other of pride. To go about without a linen
scarf on is nothing: what is praiseworthy is to be without money to buy
one. It is disgraceful and absurd to boast of having neither napkin nor
handkerchief and let to carry a well-filled purse.
Some bestow a trifle on the poor to receive a larger
sum themselves and under the cloak of almsgiving do but seek for
riches. Such are almshunters rather than almsgivers. Their methods are
those by which birds, beasts, and
94
fishes are taken. A morsel of bait is put on the hook--to land a
married lady's purse! The church is committed to the bishop; let him
take heed whom he appoints to be his almoner. It is better for me to
have no money to give away than shamelessly to beg what I mean to
hoard. It is arrogance too to wish to seem more liberal than he who is
Christ's bishop. "All things are not open to us all."(1) In the church
one is the eye, another is the tongue, another the hand, another the
foot, others ears, belly, and so on. Read Paul's epistle to the
Corinthians and learn how the one body is made up of different
members.(2) The rude and simple brother must not suppose himself a
saint just because he knows nothing; and he who is educated and
eloquent must not measure his saintliness merely by his fluency. Of two
imperfect things holy rusticity is better than sinful eloquence.
10. Many build churches nowadays; their walls and
pillars of glowing marble, their ceilings glittering with gold, their
altars studded with jewels. Yet to the choice of Christ's ministers no
heed is paid, And let no one allege against me the wealth of the temple
in Judaea, its table, its lamps, its censers, its dishes, its cups, its
spoons,(3) and the rest of its golden vessels. If these were approved
by the Lord it was at a time when the priests had to offer victims and
when the blood of sheep was the redemption of sins. They were figures
typifying things still future and were "written for our admonition upon
whom the ends of the world are come."(4) But now our Lord by His
poverty has consecrated the poverty of His house. Let us, therefore,
think of His cross and count riches to be but dirt. Why do we admire
what Christ calls "the mammon of unrighteousness"?(5) Why do we cherish
and love what it is Peter's boast not to possess?(6) Or if we insist on
keeping to the letter and find the mention of gold and wealth so
pleasing, let us keep to everything else as well as the gold. Let the
bishops of Christ be bound to marry wives, who must be virgins.(7) Let
the best-intentioned priest be deprived of his office if he bear a scar
and be disfigured.(8) Let bodily leprosy be counted worse than spots
upon the soul. Let us be fruitful and multiply and replenish the
earth,(9) but let us slay no lamb and celebrate no mystic passover, for
where there is no temple,(10) the law forbids these acts. Let us pitch
tents in the seventh month(11) and noise abroad a solemn fast with the
sound of a horn.(12) But if we compare all these things as spiritual
with things which are spiritual;(1) and if we allow with Paul that "the
Law is spiritual"(2) and call to mind David's words: "open thou mine
eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law;"(3) and if on
these grounds we interpret it as our Lord interprets it--He has
explained the Sabbath in this way:(4) then, rejecting the superstitions
of the Jews, we must also reject the gold; or, approving the gold, we
must approve the Jews as well. For we must either accept them with the
gold or condemn them with it.
11. Avoid entertaining men of the world, especially
those whose honours make them swell with pride. You are the priest of
Christ--one poor and crucified who lived on the bread of strangers. It
is a disgrace to you if the consul's lictors or soldiers keep watch
before your door, and if the Judge of the province has a better dinner
with you than in his own palace. If you plead as an excuse your wish to
intercede for the unhappy and the oppressed, I reply that a worldly
judge will defer more to a clergyman who is self-denying than to one
who is rich; he will pay more regard to your holiness than to your
wealth. Or if he is a man who will not hear the clergy on behalf of the
distressed except over the bowl, I will readily forego his aid and will
appeal to Christ who can help more effectively and speedily than any
judge. Truly "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence
in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in
princes."(5)
Let your breath never smell of wine lest the
philosopher's words be said to you: "instead of offering me a kiss you
are giving me a taste of wine." Priests given to wine are both
condemned by the apostle(6) and forbidden by the old Law. Those who
serve the altar, we are told, must drink neither wine nor shechar.(7)
Now every intoxicating drink is in Hebrew called shechar whether it is
made of corn or of the juice of apples, whether you distil from the
honeycomb a rude kind of mead or make a liquor by squeezing dates or
strain a thick syrup from a decoction of corn. Whatever intoxicates and
disturbs the balance of the mind avoid as you would wine. I do not say
that we are to condemn what is a creature of God. The Lord Himself was
called a "wine-bibber" and wine in moderation was allowed to Timothy
because of his weak stomach. I only require that drinkers should
observe that limit which their age, their health, or their constitution
requires. But if without drink-
95
ing wine at all I am aglow with youth and am inflamed by the heat of my
blood and am of a strong and lusty habit of body, I will readily forego
the cup in which I cannot but suspect poison. The Greeks have an
excellent saying which will perhaps bear translation,
Fat bellies have no sentiments refined.(1)
12. Lay upon yourself only as much fasting as you
can bear, and let your fasts be pure, chaste, simple, moderate, and not
superstitious. What good is it to use no oil if you seek after the most
troublesome and out-of-the-way kinds of food, dried figs, pepper, nuts,
dates, fine flour, honey, pistachios? All the resources of gardening
are strained to save us from eating household bread; and to pursue
dainties we turn our backs on the kingdom of heaven. There are some, I
am told, who reverse the laws of nature and the race; for they neither
eat bread nor drink water but imbibe thin decoctions of crushed herbs
and beet-juice--not from a cup but from a shell. Shame on us that we
have no blushes for such follies and that we feel no disgust at such
superstition! To crown all, in the midst of our dainties we seek a
reputation for abstinence. The strictest fast is bread and water. But
because it brings with it no glory and because we all of us live on
bread and water, it is reckoned no fast at all but an ordinary and
common matter.
13. Do not angle for compliments, lest, while you
win the popular applause, you do despite to God. "If I yet pleased
men," says the apostle, "I should not be the servant of Christ."(2) He
ceased to please men when he became Christ's servant Christ's soldier
marches on through good report and evil report,(3) the one on the right
hand and the other on the left. No praise elates him, no reproaches
crush him. He is not puffed up by riches, nor does he shrink into
himself because of poverty. Joy and sorrow he alike despises. The sun
does not burn him by day nor the moon by night.(4) Do not pray at the
corners of the streets,(5) lest the applause of men interrupt the
straight course of your prayers. Do not broaden your fringes and for
show wear phylacteries,(6) or, despite of conscience, wrap yourself in
the self-seeking of the Pharisee.(7) Would you know what mode of
apparel the Lord requires? Have prudence, justice, temperance,
fortitude.(8) Let these be the four quarters of your horizon, let them
be a four-horse team to bear you, Christ's charioteer, at full speed to
your goal. No necklace can be more precious than these; no gems can
form a brighter galaxy. By them you are decorated, you are girt about,
you are protected on every side. They are your defence as well as your
glory; for every gem is turned into a shield.
14. Beware also of a blabbing tongue and of itching
ears. Neither detract from others nor listen to detractors. "Thou
sittest," says the psalmist, "and speakest against thy brother; thou
slanderest thine own mother's son. These things hast thou done and I
kept silence; thou thoughtest wickedly that I was such an one as
thyself, but I will reprove thee and set them(1) in order before thine
eyes."(2) Keep your tongue from cavilling and watch over your words.
Know that in judging others you are passing sentence on yourself and
that you are yourself guilty of the faults which you blame in them. It
is no excuse to say: "if others tell me things I cannot be rude to
them." No one cares to speak to an unwilling listener. An arrow never
lodges in a stone: often it recoils upon the shooter of it. Let the
detractor learn from your unwillingness to listen not to be so ready to
detract. Solomon says:--"meddle not with them that are given to
detraction: for their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the
destruction of them both?"(3)--of the detractor, that is, and of the
person who lends an ear to his detraction.
15. It is your duty to visit the sick, to know the
homes and children of ladies who are married, and to guard the secrets
of noblemen. Make it your object, therefore, to keep your tongue chaste
as well as your eyes. Never discuss a woman's figure nor let one house
know what is going on in another. Hippocrates,(4) before he will teach
his pupils, makes them take an oath and compels them to swear fealty to
him. He binds them over to silence, and prescribes for them their
language, their gait, their dress, their manners. How much more reason
have we to whom the medicine of the soul has been committed to love the
houses of all Christians as our own homes. Let them know us as
comforters in sorrow rather than as guests in time of mirth. That
clergyman soon becomes an object of contempt who being often asked out
to dinner never refuses to go.
16. Let us never seek for presents and rarely accept
them when we are asked to do so. For "it is more blessed to give than to
996
receive."(1) Somehow or other the very man who begs leave to offer you
a gift holds you the cheaper for your acceptance of it; while, if you
refuse it, it is wonderful how much more he will come to respect you.
The preacher of continence must not be a maker of marriages. Why does
he who reads the apostle's words "it remaineth that they that have
wives be as though they had none"(2)--why does he press a virgin to
marry? Why does a priest, who must be a monogamist,(3) urge a widow to
marry again? How can the clergy be managers and stewards of other men's
households, when they are bidden to disregard even their own interests?
To wrest a thing from a friend is theft but to cheat the Church is
sacrilege. When you have received money to be doled out to the poor, to
be cautious or to hesitate while crowds are starving is to be worse
than a robber; and to subtract a portion for yourself is to commit a
crime of the deepest dye. I am tortured with hunger and are you to
judge what will satisfy my cravings? Either divide immediately what you
have received, or, if you are a timid almoner, send the donor to
distribute his own gifts. Your purse ought not to remain full while I
am in need. No one can look after what is mine better than I can. He is
the best almoner who keeps nothing for himself.
17. You have compelled me, my dear Nepotian, in
spite of the castigation which my treatise on Virginity has bad to
endure--the one which I wrote for the saintly Eustochium at
Rome:(4)--you have compelled me after ten years have passed once more
to open my mouth at Bethlehem and to expose myself to the stabs of
every tongue. For I could only escape from criticism by writing
nothing--a course made impossible by your request; and I knew when I
took up my pen that the shafts of all gainsayers would be launched
against me. I beg such to hold their peace and to desist from
gainsaying: for I have written to them not as to opponents but as to
friends. I have not inveighed against those who sin: I have but warned
them to sin no more. My judgment of myself has been as strict as my
judgment of them. When I have wished to remove the mote from my
neighbour's eye, I have first east out the beam in my own.(5) I have
calumniated no one. Not a name has been hinted at. My words have not
been aimed at individuals and my criticism of shortcomings has been
quite general. If any one wishes to be angry with me he will have first
to own that he himself suits my description.
LETTER LIII.
TO PAULINUS.
Jerome urges Paulinus, bishop of Nola, (for whom see
Letter LVIII.) to make a diligent study of the Scriptures and to this
end reminds him of the zeal for learning displayed not only by the
wisest of the pagans but also by the apostle Paul. Then going through
the two Testaments in detail he describes the contents of the several
books and the lessons which may be learned from them. He concludes with
an appeal to Paulinus to divest himself wholly of his earthly wealth
and to devote himself altogether to God. Written in 394 A.D.
1. Our brother Ambrose along with your little gifts
has delivered to me a most charming letter which, though it comes at
the beginning of our friendship, gives assurance of tried fidelity and
of long continued attachment. A true intimacy cemented by Christ
Himself is not one which depends upon material considerations, or upon
the presence of the persons, or upon an insincere and exaggerated
flattery; but one such as ours, wrought by a common fear of God and a
joint study of the divine scriptures.
We read in old tales that men traversed provinces,
crossed seas, and visited strange peoples, simply to see face to face
persons whom they only knew from books. Thus Pythagoras visited the
prophets of Memphis; and Plato, besides visiting Egypt and Archytas of
Tarentum, most carefully explored that part of the coast of Italy which
was formerly called Great Greece. In this way the influential Athenian
master with whose lessons the schools(1) of the Academy resounded
became at once a pilgrim and a pupil choosing modestly to learn what
others had to teach rather than over confidently to propound views of
his own. Indeed his pursuit of learning--which seemed to fly before him
all the world over--finally led to his capture by pirates who sold him
into slavery to a cruel tyrant.(2) Thus he became a prisoner, a
bond-man, and a slave; yet, as he was always a philosopher, he was
greater still than the man who purchased him. Again we read that
certain noblemen journeyed from the most remote parts of Spain and Gaul
to visit Titus Livius,(3) and listen to his eloquence which flowed like
a fountain of milk. Thus the fame of an individual had more power to
draw men to Rome than the attractions of the city itself; and the age
displayed an unheard of and noteworthy portent in the shape of men who,
entering the great city, bestowed their attention not upon it but upon
something else. Apollonius(4) too was a traveller--the one
97
I mean who is called the sorcerer(1) by ordinary people and the
philosopher by such as follow Pythagoras. He entered Persia, traversed
the Caucasus and made his way through the Albanians, the Scythians, the
Massagetae, and the richest districts of India. At last, after crossing
that wide river the Pison,(2) he came to the Brahmans. There he saw
Hiarcas(3) sitting upon his golden throne and drinking from his
Tantalus-fountain, and heard him instructing a few disciples upon the
nature, motions, and orbits of the heavenly bodies. After this he
travelled among the Elamites, the Babylonians, the Chaldeans, the
Medes, the Assyrians, the Parthians, the Syrians, the Phenicians, the
Arabians, and the Philistines.(4) Then returning to Alexandria he made
his way to Ethiopia to see the gymnosophists and the famous table of
the sun spread in the sands of the desert.(5) Everywhere he found
something to learn, and as he was always going to new places, he became
constantly wiser and better. Philostratus has written the story of his
life at length in eight books.
2. But why should I confine my allusions to the men
of this world, when the Apostle Paul, the chosen vessel(6) the
doctor(7) of the Gentiles, who could boldly say: "Do ye seek a proof of
Christ speaking m me?"(8) knowing that he really had within him that
greatest of guests--when even he after visiting Damascus and Arabia
"went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him fifteen days."(9)
For he who was to be a preacher to the Gentiles had to be instructed in
the mystical numbers seven and eight. And again fourteen years after he
took Barnabas and Titus and communicated his gospel to the apostles
lest by any means he should have run or had run in vain.(10) Spoken
words possess an indefinable hidden power, and teaching that passed
directly from the mouth of the speaker into the ears of the disciples
is more impressive than any other. When the speech of Demosthenes
against AEschines was recited before the latter during his exile at
Rhodes, amid all the admiration and applause he sighed "if you could
but have heard the brute deliver his own periods!(11)
3. I do not adduce these instances because I have
anything in me from which you either can or will learn a lesson, but to
show you that your zeal and eagerness to learn--even though you cannot
rely on help from me--are in themselves worthy of praise. A mind
willing to learn deserves commendation even when it has no teacher.
What is of importance to me is not what you find but what you seek to
find. Wax is soft and easy to mould even where the hands of craftsman
and modeller are wanting to work it. It is already potentially all that
it can be made. The apostle Paul learned the Law of Moses and the
prophets at the feet of Gamaliel and was glad that he had done so, for
armed with this spiritual armour, he was able to say boldly "the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strongholds;" armed with these we war "casting down
imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the
knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ; and being in a readiness to revenge all
disobedience."(1) He writes to Timothy who had been trained in the holy
writings from a child exhorting him to study them diligently(2) and not
to neglect the gift which was given him with the laying on of the hands
of the presbytery.(3) To Titus he gives commandment that among a
bishop's other virtues (which he briefly describes) he should be
careful to seek a knowledge of the scriptures: A bishop, he says, must
hold fast "the faithful word as he hath been taught that he may be able
by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers."(4) In
fact want of education in a clergyman(5) prevents him from doing good
to any one but himself and much as the virtue of his life may build up
Christ's church, he does it an injury as great by failing to resist
those who are trying to pull it down. The prophet Haggai says--or
rather the Lord says it by the mouth of Haggai--"Ask now the priests
concerning the law."(6) For such is the important function of the
priesthood to give answers to those who question them concerning the
law. And in Deuteronomy we read "Ask thy father and he will shew thee;
thy elders and they will tell thee."(7) Also in the one hundred and
nineteenth psalm "thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my
pilgrimage." David too, in the description of the righteous man whom he
compares to the tree of life in paradise, amongst his other excellences
speaks of this, "His delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law
doth he meditate day and night."(9) In the close of his most solemn
vision Daniel declares that "the righteous shall shine as the stars;
and the wise, that is the learned, as the firmament."(10) You can see,
therefore, how great is the difference between righteous ignorance and
instructed righteous-
98
ness. Those who have the first are compared with the stars, those who
have the second with the heavens. Yet, according to the exact sense of
the Hebrew, both statements may be understood of the learned, for it is
to be read in this way:--"They that be wise shall shine as the
brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness
as the stars forever and ever." Why is the apostle Paul called a chosen
vessel?(1) Assuredly because he is a repertory of the Law and of the
holy scriptures. The learned teaching of our Lord strikes the Pharisees
dumb with amazement, and they are filled with astonishment to find that
Peter and John know the Law although they have not learned letters. For
to these the Holy Ghost immediately suggested what comes to others by
daily study and meditation; and, as it is written,(2) they were "taught
of God." The Saviour had only accomplished his twelfth year when the
scene in the temple took place;(3) but when he interrogated the elders
concerning the Law His wise questions conveyed rather than sought
information.
4. But perhaps we ought to call Peter and John
ignorant, both of whom could say of themselves, "though I be rude in
speech, yet not in knowledge."(4) Was John a mere fisherman, rude and
untaught? If so, whence did he get the words "In the beginning was the
word, and the word was with God and the word was God."(5) Logos in
Greek has many meanings. It signifies word and reason and reckoning and
the cause of individual things by which those which are subsist. All of
which things we rightly predicate of Christ. This truth Plato with all
his learning did not know, of this Demosthenes with all his eloquence
was ignorant. "I will destroy," it is said, "the wisdom of the wise,
and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."(6) The
true wisdom must destroy the false, and, although the foolishness of
preaching(7) is inseparable from the Cross, Paul speaks "wisdom among
them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the
princes of this world that come to nought," but he speaks "the wisdom
of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before
the world."(8) God's wisdom is Christ, for Christ, we are told, is "the
power of God and the wisdom of God."(9) He is the wisdom which is
hidden in a mystery, of which also we read in the heading of the ninth
psalm "for the hidden things of the son."(10) In Him are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He also who was hidden in a mystery
is the same that was foreordained before the world. Now it was in the
Law and in the Prophets that he was foreordained and prefigured. For
this reason too the prophets were called seers,(1) because they saw Him
whom others did not see. Abraham saw His day and was glad.(2) The
heavens which were sealed to a rebellious people were opened to
Ezekiel. "Open thou mine eyes," saith David, "that I may behold
wonderful things out of thy Law."(3) For "the law is spiritual"(4) and
a revelation is needed to enable us to comprehend it and, when God
uncovers His face, to behold His glory.
5. In the apocalypse a book is shewn sealed with
seven seals,(5) which if you deliver to one that is learned saying,
Read this, he will answer you, I cannot, for it is sealed.(6) How many
there are to-day who fancy themselves learned, yet the scriptures are a
sealed book to them, and one which they cannot open save through Him
who has the key of David, "he that openeth and no man shutteth; and
shutteth and no man openeth."(7) In the Acts of the Apostles the holy
eunuch (or rather "man" for so the scripture calls him(8)) when reading
Isaiah he is asked by Philip "Understandest thou what thou readest?",
makes answer:--"How can I except some man should guide me?"(9) To
digress for a moment to myself, I am neither holier nor more diligent
than this eunuch, who came from Ethiopia, that is from the ends of the
world, to the Temple leaving behind him a queen's palace, and was so
great a lover of the Law and of divine knowledge that he read the holy
scriptures even in his chariot. Yet although he had the book in his
hand and took into his mind the words of the Lord, nay even had them on
his tongue and uttered them with his lips, he still knew not Him,
whom--not knowing--he worshipped in the book. Then Philip came and
shewed him Jesus, who was concealed beneath the letter. Wondrous
excellence of the teacher! In the same hour the eunuch believed and was
baptized; he became one of the faithful and a saint. He was no longer a
pupil but a master; and he found more in the church's font there in the
wilderness than he had ever done in the gilded temple of the synagogue.
6. These instances have been just touched upon by me
(the limits of a letter forbid a more discursive treatment of them) to
convince you that in the holy scriptures you can make no progress
unless you have a guide to shew you the way. I say nothing of the
knowledge of grammarians, rhetoricians, philoso-
99
phers, geometers, logicians, musicians, astronomers, astrologers,
physicians, whose several kinds of skill are most useful to mankind,
and may be ranged under the three heads of teaching, method, and
proficiency. I will pass to the less important crafts which require
manual dexterity more than mental ability. Husbandmen, masons,
carpenters, workers in wood and metal, wool-dressers and fullers, as
well as those artisans who make furniture and cheap utensils, cannot
attain the ends they seek without instruction from qualified persons.As
Horace says(1)
Doctors alone profess the healing art
And none but joiners ever try to join.
7. The art of interpreting the scriptures is the
only one of which all men everywhere claim to be masters. To quote
Horace again
Taught or untaught we all write poetry.(2)
The chatty old woman, the doting old man, and the wordy sophist, one
and all take in hand the Scriptures, rend them in pieces and teach them
before they have learned them. Some with brows knit and bombastic
words, balanced one against the other philosophize concerning the
sacred writings among weak women. Others--I blush to say it--learn of
women what they are to teach men; and as if even this were not enough,
they boldly explain to others what they themselves by no means
understand. I say nothing of persons who, like myself have been
familiar with secular literature before they have come to the study of
the holy scriptures. Such men when they charm the popular ear by the
finish of their style suppose every word they say to be a law of God.
They do not deign to notice what Prophets and apostles have intended
but they adapt conflicting passages to suit their own meaning, as if it
were a grand way of teaching--and not rather the faultiest of all--to
misrepresent a writer's views and to force the scriptures reluctantly
to do their will. They forget that we have read centos from Homer and
Virgil; but we never think of calling the Christless Maro(3) a
Christian because of his lines:--
Now comes the Virgin back and Saturn's reign,
Now from high heaven comes a Child newborn.(4)
Another line might be addressed by the Father to the Son:--
Hail, only Son, my Might and Majesty.(5)
And yet another might follow the Saviour's words on the cross:--
Such words he spake and there transfixed
remained.(6)
But all this is puerile. and resembles the sleight-of-hand of a
mountebank. It is idle to try to teach what you do not know, and--if I
may speak with some warmth--is worse still to be ignorant of your
ignorance.
8. Genesis, we shall be told, needs no explanation;
its topics are too simple--the birth of the world, the origin of the
human race,(1) the division of the earth,(2) the confusion of
tongues,(3) and the descent of the Hebrews into Egypt!(4) Exodus, no
doubt, is equally plain, containing as it does merely an account of the
ten plagues,(5) the decalogue,(6) and sundry mysterious and divine
precepts! The meaning of Leviticus is of course self-evident, although
every sacrifice that it describes, nay more every word that it
contains, the description of Aaron's vestments,(7) and all the
regulations connected with the Levites are symbols of things heavenly!
The book of Numbers too--are not its very figures,(8) and Balaam's
prophecy,(9) and the forty-two camping places in the wilderness (10) so
many mysteries? Deuteronomy also, that is the second law or the
foreshadowing of the law of the gospel,--does it not, while exhibiting
things known before, put old truths in a new light? So far the 'five
words' of the Pentateuch, with which the apostle boasts his wish to
speak in the Church.(11) Then, as for Job,(12) that pattern of
patience, what mysteries are there not contained in his discourses?
Commencing in prose the book soon glides into verse and at the end once
more reverts to prose. By the way in which it lays down propositions,
assumes postulates, adduces proofs, and draws inferences, it
illustrates all the laws of logic. Single words occurring in the book
are full of meaning. To say nothing of other topics, it prophesies the
resurrection of men's bodies at once with more clearness and with more
caution than any one has yet shewn. "I know," Job says, "that my
redeemer liveth, and that at the last day I shall rise again from the
earth; and I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh shall
I see God. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and
not another. This my hope is stored up in my own bosom."(13) I will
pass on to Jesus the son of Nave(14)--a type of the Lord in name as
well as in deed--who crossed over Jordan, subdued hostile kingdoms,
divided the land among the conquering people and
100
who, in every city, village, mountain, river, hill-torrent, and
boundary which he dealt with, marked out the spiritual realms of the
heavenly Jerusalem, that is, of the church.(1) In the book of Judges
every one of the popular leaders is a type. Ruth the Moabitess fulfils
the prophecy of Isaiah:--"Send thou a lamb, O Lord, as ruler of the
land from the rock of the wilderness to the mount of the daughter of
Zion."(2) Under the figures of Eli's death and the slaying of Saul
Samuel shews the abolition of the old law. Again in Zadok and in David
he bears witness to the mysteries of the new priesthood and of the new
royalty. The third and fourth books of Kings called in Hebrew Malachim
give the history of the kingdom of Judah from Solomon to Jeconiah,(3)
and of that of Israel from Jeroboam the son of Nebat to Hoshea who was
carried away into Assyria. If you merely regard the narrative, the
words are simple enough, but if you look beneath the surface at the
hidden meaning of it, you find a description of the small numbers of
the church and of the wars which the heretics wage against it. The
twelve prophets whose writings are compressed within the narrow limits
of a single volume,(4) have typical meanings far different from their
literal ones Hosea speaks many times of Ephraim, of Samaria, of Joseph,
of Jezreel, of a wife of whoredoms and of children of whoredoms,(5) of
an adulteress shut up within the chamber of her husband, sitting for a
long time in widowhood and in the garb of mourning, awaiting the time
when her husband will return to her.(6) Joel the son of Pethuel
describes the land of the twelve tribes as spoiled and devastated by
the palmerworm the canker-worm, the locust, and the blight,(7) and
predicts that after the overthrow of the former people the Holy Spirit
shall be poured out upon God's servants and handmaids;(8) the same
spirit, that is, which was to be poured out in the upper chamber at
Zion upon the one hundred and twenty believers.(9) These believers
rising by gradual and regular gradations from one to fifteen form the
steps to which there is a mystical allusion in the "psalms of
degrees."(10) Amos, although he is only "an herdman" from the country,
"a gatherer of sycomore fruit,"(11) cannot be explained in a few words.
For who can adequately speak of the three transgressions and the four
of Damascus, of Gaza, of Tyre, of Idumaea, of Moab, of the children of
Ammon, and in the seventh and eighth place of Judah and of Israel? He
speaks to the fat kine that are in the mountain of Samaria,(1) and
bears witness that the great house and the little house shall fall.(2)
He sees now the maker of the grasshopper,(2) now the Lord, standing
upon a wall(4) daubed (5) or made of adamant,(6) now a basket of
apples(7) that brings doom to the transgressors, and now a famine upon
the earth "not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of
hearing the words of the Lord."(8) Obadiah, whose name means the
servant of God, thunders against Edom red with blood and against the
creature born of earth.(9) He smites him with the spear of the spirit
because of his continual rivalry with his brother Jacob. Jonah, fairest
of doves, whose shipwreck shews in a figure the passion of the Lord,
recalls the world to penitence, and while he preaches to Nineveh,
announces salvation to all the heathen. Micah the Morasthite a joint
heir with Christ(10) announces the spoiling of the daughter of the
robber and lays siege against her, because she has smitten the jawbone
of the judge of Israel.(11) Nahum, the consoler of the world, rebukes
"the bloody city"(12) and when it is overthrown cries: -"Behold upon
the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings."(13)
Habakkuk, like a strong and unyielding wrestler,(14) stands upon his
watch and sets his foot upon the tower(15) that he may contemplate
Christ upon the cross and say "His glory covered the heavens and the
earth was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the light; he
had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his
power."(16) Zephaniah, that is the bodyguard and knower of the secrets
of the Lord,(17) hears "a cry from the fishgate, and an howling from
the second, and a great crashing from the hills."(18) He proclaims
"howling to the inhabitants of the mortar;(19) for all the people of
Canaan are undone; all they that were laden with silver are cut
off."(20) Haggai, that is he who is glad or joyful, who has sown in
tears to reap in joy,(21) is occupied with the rebuilding of the
temple. He represents the Lord(the Father, that is) as saying "Yet
once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the
earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations
101
and he who is desired(1) of all nations shall come'(2) Zechariah, he
that is mindful of his Lord,(3) gives us many prophecies. He sees
Jesus,(4) "clothed with filthy garments,"(5) a stone with seven
eyes,(6) a candle-stick all of gold with lamps as many as the eyes, and
two olivetrees on the right side of the bowl(7) and on the left. After
he has described the horses, red, black, white, and grisled,(8) and the
cutting off of the chariot from Ephraim and of the horse from
Jerusalem(9) he goes on to prophesy and predict a king who shall be a
poor man and who shall sit "upon a colt the foal of an ass."(10)
Malachi, the last of all the prophets, speaks openly of the rejection
of Israel and the calling of the nations. "I have no pleasure in you,
saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your
hand. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the
same, my name is great among the Gentiles: and in every place
incense(11) is offered unto my name, and a pure offering."(12) As for
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, who can fully understand or
adequately explain them? The first of them seems to compose not a
prophecy but a gospel. The second speaks of a rod of an almond tree(13)
and of a seething pot with its face toward the north,(14) and of a
leopard which has changed its spots.(15) He also goes four times
through the alphabet in different metres.(16) The beginning and ending
of Ezekiel, the third of the four, are involved in so great obscurity
that like the commencement of Genesis they are not studied by the
Hebrews until they are thirty years old. Daniel, the fourth and last of
the four prophets, having knowledge of the times and being interested
in the whole world, in clear language proclaims the stone cut out of
the mountain without hands that overthrows all kingdoms.(17) David, who
is our Simonides, Pindar, and Alcaeus, our Horace, our Catullus, and
our Serenus all in one, sings of Christ to his lyre; and on a psaltery
with ten strings calls him from the lower world to rise again. Solomon,
a lover of peace(18) and of the Lord, corrects morals, teaches nature,
unites Christ and the church, and sings a sweet marriage song(19) to
celebrate that holy bridal. Esther, a type of the church, frees her
people from danger and, after having slain Haman whose name means
iniquity, hands down to posterity a memorable day and a great feast.(1)
The book of things omitted' or epitome of the old dispensation(3) is of
such importance and value that without it any one who should claim to
himself a knowledge of the scriptures would make himself a laughing
stock in his own eyes. Every name used in it, nay even the conjunction
of the words, serves to throw light on narratives passed over in the
books of Kings and upon questions suggested by the gospel. Ezra and
Nehemiah, that is the Lord's helper and His consoler, are united in a
single book. They restore the Temple and build up the walls of the
city. In their pages we see the throng of the Israelites returning to
their native land, we read of priests and Levites, of Israel proper and
of proselytes; and we are even told the several families to which the
task of building the walls and towers was assigned. These references
convey one meaning upon the surface, but another below it.
9. [In Migne, 8.] You see how, carried away by my love of the
scriptures, I have exceeded the limits of a letter vet have not fully
accomplished my object. We have heard only what it is that we ought to
know and to desire, so that we too may be able to say with the
psalmist:--"My soul breaketh out for the very fervent desire that it
hath alway unto thy judgments."(4) But the saying of Socrates about
himself--"this only I know that I know nothing"(5)--is fulfilled in our
case also. The New Testament I will briefly deal with. Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John are the Lord's team of four,(6) the true cherubim or
store of knowledge.(7) With them the whole body is full of eyes,(8)
they glitter as sparks,(9) they run and return like lightning,(10)
their feet are straight feet(11) and lifted up, their backs also are
winged, ready to fly in all directions. They hold together each by each
and are interwoven one with another:(12) like wheels within wheels they
roll along(13) and go whithersoever the breath of the Holy Spirit wafts
them.(14) The apostle Paul writes to seven churches(15) (for the eighth
epistle--that to the Hebrews--is not generally counted in with the
other). He instructs
Timothy and Titus; he intercedes with Philemon for his runaway
slave.(16) Of him I think it better to say nothing than to write
inadequately. The Acts of the Apostles seem to relate a mere
unvarnished narrative descrip-
102
tive of the infancy of the newly born church but when once we realize
that their author is Luke the physician whose praise is in the
gospel,(1) we shall see that all his words are medicine for the sick
soul. The apostles James, Peter, John, and Jude, have published seven
epistles at once spiritual and to the point, short and long, short that
is in words but lengthy in substance so that there are few indeed who
do not find themselves in the dark when they read them. The apocalypse
of John has as many mysteries as words. In saying this I have said less
than the book deserves. All praise of it is inadequate; manifold
meanings lie hid in its every word.
10. [In Migne, 9.] I beg of you, my dear brother, to
live among these books, to meditate upon them, to know nothing else, to
seek nothing else. Does not such a life seem to you a foretaste of
heaven here on earth? Let not the simplicity of the scripture or the
poorness of its vocabulary offend you; for these are due either to the
faults of translators or else to deliberate purpose: for in this way it
is better fitted for the instruction of an unlettered congregation as
the educated person can take one meaning and the uneducated another
from one and the same sentence. I am not so dull or so forward as to
profess that I myself know it, or that I can pluck upon the earth the
fruit which has its root in heaven, but I confess that I should like to
do so. I put myself before the man who sits idle and, while I lay no
claim to be a master, I readily pledge myself to be a fellow-student.
"Every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to
him that knocketh it shall be opened."(2) Let us learn upon earth that
knowledge which will continue with us in heaven.
11. [In Migne, 10.] I will receive you with open
hands and--if I may boast and speak foolishly like Hermagoras(3)--I
will strive to learn with you whatever you desire to study. Eusebius
who is here regards you with the affection of a brother; he(4) has made
your letter twice as precious by telling me of your sincerity of
character, your contempt for the world, your constancy in friendship,
and your love to Christ. The letter bears on its face (without any aid
from him) your prudence and the charm of your style. Make haste then, I
beseech you, and cut instead of loosing the hawser which prevents your
vessel from moving in the sea. The man who sells his goods because he
despises them and means to renounce the world can have no desire to
sell them dear. Count as money gained the sum that you must expend upon
your outfit. There is an old saying that a miser lacks as much what he
has as what he has not. The believer has a whole world of wealth; the
unbeliever has not a single farthing. Let us always live "as having
nothing and yet possessing all things."(1) Food and raiment, these are
the Christian's wealth.(2) If your property is in your own power,(3)
sell it: if not, cast it from you. "If any man ... will take away thy
coat, let him have the cloke also."(4) You are all for delay, you wish
to defer action: unless--so you argue--unless I sell my goods piecemeal
and with caution, Christ will be at a loss to feed his poor. Nay, he
who has offered himself to God, has given Him everything once for all.
The apostles did but forsake ships and nets.(5) The widow cast but two
brass coins into the treasury(6) and yet she shall be preferred before
Croesus(7) with all his wealth. He readily despises all things who
reflects always that he must die.
LETTER LIV.
TO FURIA.
A letter of guidance to a widow on the best means of
preserving her widowhood (according to Jerome 'the second of the three
degrees of chastity'). Furia had at one time thought of marrying again
but eventually abandoned her intention and devoted herself to the care
of her young children and her aged father. Jerome draws a vivid picture
of the dangers to which she is exposed at Rome, lays down rules of
conduct for her guidance, and commends her to the care of the presbyter
Exuperius (afterwards bishop of Toulouse). The date of the letter is
394 A. D.
1. You beg and implore me in your letter to write to
you--or rather write back to you--what mode of life you ought to adopt
to preserve the crown of widowhood and to keep your reputation for
chastity unsullied. My mind rejoices, my reins exult, and my heart is
glad that you desire to be after marriage what your mother Titiana of
holy memory was for a long time in marriage.(8) Her prayers and
supplications are heard. She has succeeded in winning afresh in her
only daughter that which she herself when living possessed. It is a
high privilege of your family that from the time of Camillus(9) few or
none of your house are described as contracting second marriages.
Therefore it will not redound so much to your praise if you continue a
widow as to your shame if being a Christian you fail
103
to keep what heathen women have jealously guarded for so many centuries.
2. I say nothing of Paula and Eustochium, the
fairest flowers of your stock; for, as my object is to exhort you, I do
not wish it to appear that I am praising them. Blaesilla too I pass
over who following her husband--your brother--to the grave, fulfilled
in a short time of life a long time of virtue.(1) Would that men would
imitate the laudable examples of women, and that wrinkled old age would
pay at last what youth gladly offers at first! In saying this I am
putting my hand into the fire deliberately and with my eyes open. Men
will knit their brows and shake their clenched fists at me;
In swelling tones will angry Chremes rave.(2)
The leaders will rise as one man against my epistle; the mob of
patricians will thunder at me. They will cry out that I am a sorcerer
and a seducer; and that I should be transported to the ends of the
earth. They may add, if they will, the title of Samaritan; for in it I
shall but recognize a name given to my Lord. But one thing is certain.
I do not sever the daughter from the mother, I do not use the words of
the gospel: "let the dead bury their dead."(3) For whosoever believes.
in Christ is alive; and he who believes in Him "ought himself also so
to walk even as He walked."(4)
3. A truce to the calumnies which the malice of
backbiters continually fastens upon all who call themselves Christians
to keep them through fear of shame from aspiring to virtue. Except by
letter we have no knowledge of each other; and where there is no
knowledge after the flesh, there can be no motive for intercourse save
a religious one. "Honour thy father,"(5) the commandment says, but only
if he does not separate you from your true Father. Recognize the tie of
blood but only so long as your parent recognizes his Creator. Should he
fail to do so, David will sing to you: "hearken, O daughter, and
consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people and thy
father's house. So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty, for he is
thy Lord."(6) Great is the prize offered for the forgetting of a
parent, "the king shall desire thy beauty." You have heard, you have
considered, you have inclined your ear, you have forgotten your people
and your father's house; therefore the king shall desire your beauty
and shall say to you: -- "thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot
in thee."(7) What can be fairer than a soul which is called the
daughter of God,(1) and which seeks for herself no outward adorning.(2)
She believes in Christ, and, dowered with this hope of greatness(3)
makes her way to her spouse; for Christ is at once her bridegroom and
her Lord.
4. What troubles matrimony involves you have learned
in the marriage state itself; you have been surfeited with quails'
flesh(4) even to loathing; your mouth has been filled with the gall of
bitterness; you have expelled the indigestible and unwholesome food;
you have relieved a heaving stomach. Why will you again swallow what
has disagreed with you? "The dog is turned to his own vomit again and
the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."(5) Even brute
beasts and flying birds do not fall into the same snares twice. Do you
fear extinction for the line of Camillus if you do not present your
father with some little fellow to crawl upon his breast and slobber his
neck? As if all who marry have children! and as if when they do come,
they always resemble their forefathers! Did Cicero's son exhibit his
father's eloquence? Had your own Cornelia,(6) pattern at once of
chastity and of fruitfulness, cause to rejoice that she was mother of
her Gracchi? It is ridiculous to expect as certain the offspring which
many, as you can see, have not got, while others who have had it have
lost it again. To whom then are you to leave your great riches? To
Christ who cannot die. Whom shall you make your heir? The same who is
already your Lord. Your father will be sorry but Christ will be glad;
your family will grieve but the angels will rejoice with you. Let your
father do what he likes with what is his own. You are not his to whom
you have been born, but His to whom you have been born again, and who
has purchased you at a great price with His own blood.(7)
5. Beware of nurses and waiting maids and similar
venomous creatures who try to satisfy their greed by sucking your
blood. They advise yon to do not what is best for you but what is best
for them. They are for ever dinning into your ears Virgil's lines:--
Will you waste all your youth in lonely grief
And children sweet, the gifts of love,
forswear?(8)
Wherever there is holy chastity, there is also frugal living; and
wherever there is frugal living, servants lose by it. What they do not
get is in their minds so much taken from them. The actual sum received
is what they look to, and not its relative amount. The
104
moment they see a Christian they at once repeat the hackneyed
saying:--"The Greek! The impostor!"(1) They spread the most scandalous
reports and, when any such emanates from themselves, they pretend that
they have heard it from others, managing thus at once to originate the
story and to exaggerate it. A lying rumour goes forth; and this, when
it has reached the married ladies and has been fanned by their tongues,
spreads through the provinces. You may see numbers of these--their
faces painted, their eyes like those of vipers, their teeth rubbed with
pumice-stone--raving and carping at Christians with insane fury. One of
these ladies,
A violet mantle round her shoulders thrown,
Drawls out some mawkish stuff, speaks through
her nose,
And minces half her words with tripping
tongue.(2)
Hereupon the rest chime in and every bench expresses hoarse approval.
They are backed up by men of my own order who, finding themselves
assailed, assail others. Always fluent in attacking me, they are dumb
in their own defence; just as though they were not monks themselves,
and as though every word said against monks did not tell also against
their spiritual progenitors the clergy. Harm done to the flock brings
discredit on the shepherd. On the other hand we cannot but praise the
life of a monk who holds up to veneration the priests of Christ and
refuses to detract from that order to which he owes it that be is a
Christian.
6. I have spoken thus, my daughter in Christ, not
because I doubt that you will be faithful to your vows,(3) (you would
never have asked for a letter of advice had you been uncertain as to
the blessedness of monogamy): but that you may realize the wickedness
of servants who merely wish to sell you for their own advantage, the
snares which relations may set for you and the well meant but mistaken
suggestions of a father. While I allow that this latter feels love
toward you, I cannot admit that it is love according to knowledge. I
must say with the apostle: "I bear them record that they have a zeal of
God, but not according to knowledge."(4) · Imitate rather--I
cannot say it too often--your holy mother(5) whose zeal for Christ
comes into my mind as often as I remember her, and not her zeal
only but the paleness induced in her by fasting, the alms given by her
to the poor, the courtesy shewn by her to the servants of God,
the lowliness of her garb and heart, and the constant moderation of her
language. Of your father too I speak with respect, not because he is a
patrician and of consular rank but because he is a Christian. Let him
be true to his profession as such. Let him rejoice that he has begotten
a daughter for Christ and not for the world. Nay rather let him grieve
that you have in vain lost your virginity as the fruits of matrimony
have not been yours. Where is the husband whom he gave to you? Even had
he been lovable and good, death would still have snatched all away, and
his decease would have terminated the fleshly bond between you. Seize
the opportunity, I beg of you, and make a virtue of necessity. In the
lives of Christians we look not to the beginnings but to the endings.
Paul began badly but ended well. The start of Judas wins praise; his
end is condemned because of his treachery. Read Ezekiel, "The
righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his
transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked he shall not fall
thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness."(1) The
Christian life is the true Jacob's ladder on which the angels ascend
and descend,(2) while the Lord stands above it holding out His hand to
those who slip and sustaining by the vision of Himself the weary steps
of those who ascend. But while He does not wish the death of a sinner,
but only that he should be converted and live, He hates the lukewarm(3)
and they quickly cause him loathing. To whom much is forgiven, the same
loveth much.(4)
7. In the gospel a harlot wins salvation. How? She
is baptized in her tears and wipes the Lord's feet with that same hair
with which she had before deceived many. She does not wear a waving
headdress or creaking boots, she does not darken her eyes with
antimony. Yet in her squalor she is lovelier than ever. What place have
rouge and white lead on the face of a Christian woman? The one
simulates the natural red of the cheeks and of the lips; the other the
whiteness of the face and of the neck. They serve only to inflame young
men's passions, to stimulate lust, and to indicate an unchaste mind.
How can a woman weep for her sins whose tears lay bare her true
complexion and mark furrows on her cheeks? Such adorning is not of the
Lord; a mask of this kind belongs to Antichrist. With what confidence
can a woman raise feat-ares to heaven which her Creator must fail to
recognize? It is idle to allege in excuse for such practices
girlishness and youthful vanity. A widow who has ceased to have a
husband o please, and who in the apostle's language s a widow
indeed,(5) needs nothing more but
105
perseverance only. She is mindful of past enjoyments, she knows what
gave her pleasure and what she has now lost. By rigid fast and vigil
she must quench the fiery darts of the devil.(1) If we are widows, we
must either speak as we are dressed, or else dress as we speak. Why do
we profess one thing, and practise another? The tongue talks of
chastity, but the rest of the body reveals incontinence.
8. So much for dress and adornment. But a widow
"that liveth in pleasure"--the words are not mine but those of the
apostle--"is dead while she liveth."(2) What does that mean--"is dead
while she liveth"? To those who know no better she seems to be alive
and not as she is, dead in sin; yes, and in another sense dead to
Christ, from whom no secrets are hid. "The soul that sinneth it shall
die."(3) "Some men's sins are open ... going before to judgment: and
some they follow after. Likewise also good works are manifest, and they
that are otherwise cannot be hid.(4) The words mean this:--Certain
persons sin so deliberately and flagrantly that you no sooner see them
than you know them at once to be sinners. But the defects of others are
so cunningly concealed that we only learn them from subsequent
information. Similarly the good deeds of some people are public
property, while those of others we come to know only through long
intimacy with them. Why then must we needs boast of our chastity, a
thing which cannot prove itself to be genuine without its companions
and attendants, continence and plain living? The apostle macerates his
body and brings it into subjection to the soul lest what he has
preached to others he should himself fail to keep;(5) and can a mere
girl whose passions are kindled by abundance of food, can a mere girl
afford to be confident of her own chastity?
9. In saying this, I do not of course condemn food
which God created to be enjoyed with thanksgiving,(6) but I seek to
remove from youths and girls what are incentives to sensual pleasure.
Neither the fiery Etna nor the country of Vulcan,(7) nor Vesuvius, nor
Olympus, burns with such violent heat as the youthful marrow of those
who are flushed with wine and filled with food. Many trample
covetousness under foot, and lay it down as readily as they lay down
their purse. An enforced silence serves to make amends for a railing
tongue. The outward appearance and the mode of dress can be changed in
a single hour. All other sins are external, and what is external can
easily be cast away. Desire alone, implanted in men by God to lead them
to procreate children, is internal; and this, if it once oversteps its
own bounds, becomes a sin, and by a law of nature cries out for sexual
intercourse. It is therefore a work of great merit, and one which
requires unremitting diligence to overcome that which is innate in you;
while living in the flesh not to live after the flesh; to strive with
yourself day by day and to watch the foe shut up within you with the
hundred eyes of the fabled Argus.(1) This is what the apostle says in
other words: "Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he
that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body."(2)
Physicians and others who have written on the nature of the human body,
and particularly Galen in his books entitled On matters of health, say
that the bodies of boys and of young men and of full grown men and
women glow with an interior heat and consequently that for persons of
these ages all food is injurious which tends to promote this heat:
while on the other hand it is highly conducive to health in eating and
in drinking to take things cold and cooling. Contrariwise they tell us
that warm food and old wine are good for the old who suffer from
humours and from chilliness. Hence it is that the Saviour says "Take
heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with
surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life."(3) So too speaks
the apostle: "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess."(4) No wonder
that the potter spoke thus of the vessel which He had made when even
the comic poet whose only object is to know and to describe the ways of
men tells us that
Where Ceres fails and Liber, Venus droops.(5)
10. In the first place then, till you have passed
the years of early womanhood, take only water to drink, for this is by
nature of all drinks the most cooling. This, if your stomach is strong
enough to bear it; but if your digestion is weak, hear what the apostle
says to Timothy: "use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine
often infirmities."(6) Then as regards your food you must avoid all
heating dishes. I do not speak of flesh dishes only (although of these
the chosen vessel declares his mind thus: "it is good neither to eat
flesh nor to drink wine"(7)) but of vegetables as well. Everything
provocative or indigestible is to be refused. Be assured that nothing
is so good for young Christians as
106
the eating of herbs. Accordingly in another place he says: "another who
is weak eateth herbs."(1) Thus the heat of the body must be tempered
with cold food. Daniel and the three children lived on pulse.(2) They
were still boys and had not come yet to that frying-pan on which the
King of Babylon fried the eiders(3) who were judges. Moreover, by an
express privilege of God's own giving their bodily condition was
improved by their regimen. We do not expect that it will be so with us,
but we look for increased vigour of soul which becomes stronger as the
flesh grows weaker. Some persons who aspire to the life of chastity
fall midway in their journey from supposing that they need only abstain
from flesh. They load their stomachs with vegetables which are only
harmless when taken sparingly and in moderation. If I am to say what I
think, there is nothing which so much heats the body and inflames the
passions as undigested food and breathing broken with hiccoughs. As for
you, my daughter, I would rather wound your modesty than endanger my
case by understatement. Regard everything as poison which bears within
it the seeds of sensual pleasure. A meagre diet which leaves the
appetite always unsatisfied is to be preferred to fasts three days
long. It is much better to take a little every day than some days to
abstain wholly and on others to surfeit oneself. That rain is best
which falls slowly to the ground. Showers that come down suddenly and
with violence wash away the soil.
11. When you eat your meals, reflect that you must
immediately afterwards pray and read. Have a fixed number of lines of
holy scripture, and render it as your task to your Lord. On no account
resign yourself to sleep until you have filled the basket of your
breast with a woof of this weaving. After the holy scriptures you
should read the writings of learned men; of those at any rate whose
faith is well known. You need not go into the mire to seek for gold;
you have many pearls, buy the one pearl with these.(4) Stand, as
Jeremiah says, in more ways than one that so you may come on the true
way that leads to the Father.(5) Exchange your love of necklaces and of
gems and of silk dresses for earnestness in studying the scriptures.
Enter the land of promise that flows with milk and honey.(6) Eat fine
flour and oil. Let your clothing be, like Joseph's, of many colors.(7)
Let your ears like those of Jerusalem(8) be pierced by the word of God
that the precious grains of new corn may hang from them. In that
reverend man Exuperius(1) you have a man of tried years and faith ready
to give you constant support with his advice.
12. Make to yourself friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness that they may receive you into everlasting
habitations.(2) Give your riches not to those who feed on pheasants but
to those who have none but common bread to eat, such as stays hunger
while it does not stimulate lust. Consider the poor and needy.(3) Give
to everyone that asks of you,(4) but especially unto them who are of
the household of faith.(5) Clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the
sick.(6) Every time that you hold out your hand, think of Christ. See
to it that you do not, when the Lord your God asks an alms of you,
increase riches which are none of His.
13. Avoid the company of young men. Let long baited
youths dandified and wanton never be seen under your roof. Repel a
singer as you would some bane. Hurry from your house women who live by
playing and singing, the devil's choir whose songs are the fatal ones
of sirens. Do not arrogate to yourself a widow's license and appear in
public preceded by a host of eunuchs. It is a most mischievous thing
for those who are weak owing to their sex and youth to misuse their own
discretion and to suppose that things are lawful because they are
pleasant. "All things are lawful, but all things are not expedient."(7)
No frizzled steward nor shapely foster brother nor fair and ruddy
footman must dangle at your heels. Sometimes the tone of the mistress
is inferred from the dress of the maid. Seek the society of holy
virgins and widows; and, if need arises for holding converse with men,
do not shun having witnesses, and let your conversation be marked with
such confidence that the entry of a third person shall neither startle
you nor make you blush. The face is the mirror of the mind and a
woman's eyes without a word betray the secrets of her heart. I have
lately seen a most miserable scandal traverse the entire East. The
lady's age and style, her dress and mien, the indiscriminate company
she kept, her dainty table and her regal appointments bespoke her the
bride of a Nero or of a Sardanapallus. The scars of others should teach
us caution. 'When he that causeth trouble is scourged the fool will be
wiser.'(8) A holy love knows no impatience. A false rumor is quickly
crushed and the after life passes judgment on that which has gone
107
before. It is not indeed possible that any one should come to the end
of life's race without suffering from calumny; the wicked find it a
consolation to carp at the good, supposing the guilt of sin to be less,
in proportion as the number of those who commit it is greater. Still a
fire of straw quickly dies out and a spreading flame soon expires if
fuel to it be wanting. Whether the report which prevailed a year ago
was true or false, when once the sin ceases, the scandal also will
cease. I do not say this because I fear anything wrong in your case but
because, owing to my deep affection for you, there is no safety that I
do not fear.(1) Oh! that you could see your sister(2) and that it might
be yours to hear the eloquence of her holy lips and to behold the
mighty spirit which animates her diminutive frame. You might hear the
whole contents of the old and new testaments come bubbling up out of
her heart. Fasting is her sport, and prayer she makes her pastime. Like
Miriam after the drowning Pharaoh she takes up her timbrel and sings to
the virgin choir, "Let us sing to the Lord for He hath triumphed
gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea."(3)
She teaches her companions to be music girls but music girls for
Christ, to be luteplayers but luteplayers for the Saviour. In this
occupation she passes both day and night and with oil ready to put in
the lamps she waits the coming of the Bridegroom.(4) Do you therefore
imitate your kinswoman. Let Rome have in you what a grander city than
Rome, I mean Bethlehem, has in her.
14. You have wealth and can easily therefore supply
food to those who want it. Let virtue consume what was provided for
self-indulgence; one who means to despise matrimony need fear no degree
of want. Have about you troops of virgins whom you may lead into the
king's chamber. Support widows that you may mingle them as a kind of
violets with the virgins' lilies and the martyrs' roses. Such are the
garlands you must weave for Christ in place of that crown l of
thorns(5) in which he bore the sins of the world. Let your most noble
father thus find in you his joy and support, let him learn from his
daughter the lessons he used to learn from his wife. His hair is
already gray, his knees tremble, his teeth fall out, his brow is
furrowed through years, death is nigh even at the doors, the pyre is
all but laid out hard by. Whether we like it or not, we grow old. Let
him provide for himself the provision which is needful for his long
journey. Let him take with him what otherwise be must unwillingly leave
behind, nay let him send before him to heaven what if he declines it,
will be appropriated by earth.
15. Young widows, of whom some "are already turned
aside after Satan, when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ
"(1) and wish to marry, generally make such excuses as these. "My
little patrimony is daily decreasing, the property which I have
inherited is being squandered, a servant has spoken insultingly to me,
a maid has neglected my orders. Who will appear for me before the
authorities? Who will be responsible for the rents of my estates?(2)
Who will see to the education of my children, and to the bringing up of
my slaves?" Thus, shameful to say, they put that forward as a reason
for marrying again, which alone should deter them from doing so. For by
marrying again a mother places over her sons not a guardian but a foe,
not a father but a tyrant. Inflamed by her passions she forgets the
fruit of her womb, and among the children who know nothing of their sad
fate the lately weeping widow dresses herself once more as a bride. Why
these excuses about your property and the insolence of slaves? Confess
the shameful truth. No woman marries to avoid cohabiting with a
husband. At least, if passion is not your motive, it is mere madness to
play the harlot just to increase wealth. You do but purchase a paltry
and passing gain at the price of a grace which is precious and eternal!
If you have children already, why do you want to marry? If you have
none, why do you not fear a recurrence of your former sterility? Why do
you put an uncertain gain before a certain loss of self-respect?
A marriage-settlement is made in your favour to-day
but in a short time you will be constrained to make your will. Your
husband will feign sickness and will do for you what he wants you to do
for him. Yet he is sure to live and you are sure to die. Or if it
happens that you have sons by the second husband, domestic strife is
certain to result and intestine disputes. You will not be allowed to
love your first children, nor to look kindly on those to whom you have
yourself given birth. You will have to give them their food secretly;
yet even so your present husband will bear a grudge against your
previous one and, unless you hate your sons, he will think that you
still love their father. But your husband have may issue by a former
wife. If so when he takes you to his home, though you should be the
kindest person in the world,
108
all the commonplaces of rhetoricians and declamations of comic poets
and writers of mimes will be hurled at you as a cruel stepmother. If
your stepson fall sick or have a headache you will be calumniated as a
poisoner. If you refuse him food, you will be cruel, while if you give
it, you will be held to have bewitched him. I ask you what benefit has
a second marriage to confer great enough to compensate for these evils?
16. Do we wish to know what widows ought to be? Let
us read the gospel according to Luke. "There was one Anna," he says, "a
prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Aser."(1) The
meaning of the name Anna is grace. Phanuel is in our tongue the face of
God. Aser may be translated either as blessedness or as wealth. From
her youth up to the age of fourscore and four years she had borne the
burden of widowhood, not departing from the temple and giving herself
to fastings and prayers night and day; therefore she earned spiritual
grace, received the title 'daughter of the face of God,'(2) and
obtained a share in the ' blessedness and wealth '(3) which belonged to
her ancestry. Let us recall to mind the widow of Zarephath(4) who
thought more of satisfying Elijah's hunger than of preserving her own
life and that of her son. Though she believed that she and he must die
that very night unless they had food, she determined that her guest
should survive. She preferred to sacrifice her life rather than to
neglect the duty of almsgiving. In her handful of meal she found the
seed from which she was to reap a harvest sent her by the Lord. She
sows her meal and lo! a cruse of oil comes from it. In the land of
Judah grain was scarce for the corn of wheat had died there;(5) but in
the house of a heathen widow oil flowed in streams. In the book of
Judith--if any one is of opinion that it should be received as
canonical--we read of a widow wasted with fasting and wearing the
sombre garb of a mourner, whose outward squalor indicated not so much
the regret which she felt for her dead husband as the temper(6) in
which she looked forward to the coming of the Bridegroom. I see her
hand armed with the sword and stained with blood. I recognize the head
of Holofernes which she has carried away from the camp of the enemy.
Here a woman vanquishes men, and chastity beheads lust. Quickly
changing her garb, she puts on once more in the hour of victory her own
mean dress finer than all the splendours of the world.(7)
17. Some from a misapprehension number Deborah among
the widows, and suppose that Barak the leader of the army is her son,
though the scripture tells a different story. I will mention her here
because she was a prophetess and is reckoned among the judges, and
again because she might have said with the psalmist:--"How sweet are
thy words unto my taste! yea sweeter than honey to my mouth."(1) Well
was she called the bee(2) for she fed on the flowers of scripture, was
enveloped with the fragrance of the Holy Spirit, and gathered into one
with prophetic lips the sweet juices of the nectar. Then there is
Naomi, in Greek <greek>parakenlhmenh</greek>(3) or she who
is consoled, who, when her husband and her children died abroad,
carried her chastity back home and, being supported on the road by its
aid, kept with her her Moabitish daughter-in-law, that in her the
prophecy of Isaiah(4) might find a fulfilment. "Send out the lamb, O
Lord, to rule over the land from the rock of the desert to the mount of
the daughter of Zion."(5) I pass on to the widow in the gospel who,
though she was but a poor widow was yet richer than all the people of
Israel.(6) She had but a grain of mustard seed, but she put her leaven
in three measures of flour; and, combining her confession of the Father
and of the Son with the grace of the Holy Spirit, she cast her two
mites into the treasury. All the substance that she had, her entire
possessions, she offered in the two testaments of her faith. These are
the two seraphim which glorify the Trinity with threefold song(7) and
are stored among the treasures of the church. They also form the legs
of the tongs by which the live coal is caught up to purge the sinner's
lips.(8)
18. But why should I recall instances from history
and bring from books types of saintly women, when in your own city you
have many before your eyes whose example you may well imitate? I shall
not recount their merits here lest I should seem to flatter them. It
will suffice to mention the saintly Marcella(9) who, while she is true
to the claims of her birth and station, has set before us a life which
is worthy of the gospel. Anna "lived with an husband seven years from
her virginity";(10) Marcella lived with one for seven months. Anna
looked for the coming of Christ; Marcella holds fast the Lord whom Anna
received in her arms. Anna sang His praise when He was still a
109
wailing infant; Marcella proclaims His glory now that He has won His
triumph. Anna spoke of Him to all those who waited for the redemption
of Israel; Marcella cries out with the nations of the redeemed: "A
brother redeemeth not, yet a man shall redeem,"(1) and from another
psalm: "A man was born in her, and the Highest Himself hath established
her."(2)
About two years ago, as I well remember, I published
a book against Jovinian in which by the authority of scripture I
crushed the objections raised on the other side on account of the
apostle's concession of second marriages. It is unnecessary that I
should repeat my arguments afresh here, as you can find them all in
this treatise. That I may not exceed the limits of a letter, I will
only give you this one last piece of advice. Think every day that you
must die, and you will then never think of marrying again.
LETTER LV.
TO AMANDUS.
A very interesting letter. Amandus a presbyter of
Burdigala (Bourdeaux) had written to Jerome for an explanation of three
passages of scripture, viz. Matt. vi. 34, 1 Cor. vi. 18, 1 Cor. xv. 25,
26, and had in the same letter on behalf of a 'sister' (supposd by
Thierry to have been Fabiola) put the following question: 'Can a woman
who has divorced her first husband on account of his vices and who has
during his lifetime under compulsion married again, communicate with
the Church without first doing penance? Jerome in his reply gives the
explanations asked for but answers the farther question, that
concerning the 'sister,' with an emphatic negative. Written about the
year 394 A. D.
1. A short letter does not admit of long
explanations; compressing much matter into a small space it can only
give a few words to topics which suggest many thoughts. You ask me what
is the meaning of the passage in the gospel according to Matthew, "take
no thought for the morrow. Sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof."(3) In the holy scriptures "the morrow" signifies the time to
come. Thus in Genesis Jacob says: "So shall my righteousness answer for
me to-morrow."(4) Again when the two tribes of Reuben and Gad and the
half tribe of Manasseh had built an altar and when all Israel had sent
to them an embassy, they made answer to Phinehas the high priest that
they had built the altar lest "to-morrow" it might be said to their
children, "ye have no part in the Lord."(5) You may find many similar
passages in the old instrument.(1) While then Christ forbids us to take
thought for things future, He has allowed us to do so for things
present, knowing as He does the frailty of our mortal condition. His
remaining words "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" are to be
understood as meaning that it is sufficient for us to think of the
present troubles of this life. Why need we extend our thoughts to
contingencies, to objects which we either cannot obtain or else having
obtained must soon relinquish? The Greek word
<greek>kakia</greek> rendered in the Latin version
"wickedness" has two distinct meanings, wickedness and tribulation,
which latter the Greek call <greek>kakwsin</greek> and in
this passage "tribulation" would be a better rendering than
"wickedness." But if any one demurs to this and insists that the word
<greek>kakia</greek> must mean "wickedness" and not
"tribulation" or "trouble," the meaning must be the same as in the
words "the whole world lieth in wickedness"(2) and as in the Lord's
prayer in the clause, "deliver us from evil:"(3) the purport of the
passage will then be that our present conflict with the wickedness of
this world should be enough for us.
2. Secondly, you ask me concerning the passage in
the first epistle of the blessed apostle Paul to the Corinthians where
he says: 'every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that
committeth fornication sinneth against his own body."(4) Let us go back
a little farther and read on until we come to these words, for we must
not seek to learn the whole meaning of the section, from the concluding
parts of it, or, if I may so say, from I the tail of the chapter.(5)
"The body is not for fornication but for the Lord; and the Lord for the
body. And God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us
[with Him] by his own power. Know ye not 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. What! Know ye not that he
which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be
one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee
fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he
that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body,"(6) and so
on. The holy apostle has been arguing against excess and has just
before said "meats for the belly and the belly for meats: but God shall
destroy
110
both it and them."(1) Now he comes to treat of fornication. For excess
in eating is the mother of lust; a belly that is distended with food
and saturated with draughts of wine is sure to lead to sensual passion.
As has been elsewhere said "the arrangement of man's organs suggests
the course of his vices."(2) Accordingly all such sins as theft,
manslaughter, pillage, perjury, and the like can be repented of after
they have been committed; and, however much interest may tempt him,
conscience always smites the offender. It is only lust and sensual
pleasure that in the very hour of penitence undergo once more the
temptations of the past, the itch of the flesh, and the allurements of
sin; so that the very thought which we bestow on the correction of such
transgressions becomes in itself a new source of sin. Or to put the
matter in a different light: other sins are outside of us; and whatever
we do we do against others. But fornication defiles the fornicator both
in conscience and body; and in accordance with the words of tim Lord,
"for this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave
to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh,"(3) he too becomes one
body with a harlot and sins against his own body by making what is the
temple of Christ the body of a harlot. Not to pass over any suggestion
of the Greek commentators, I shall give you one more explanation. It is
one thing, they say, to sin with the body, and another to sin in the
body. Theft, manslaughter, and all other sins except fornication we
commit with our hands outside ourselves. Fornication alone we commit
inside ourselves in our bodies and not with our bodies upon others. The
preposition 'with' denotes the instrument used in sinning, while the
preposition 'in' signifies the sphere of the passion is ourselves. Some
again give this explanation that according to the scripture a man's
body is his wife and that when a man commits fornication he is said to
sin against his own body that is against his wife inasmuch as he
defiles her by his own fornication and causes her though herself free
from sin to become a sinner through her intercourse with him.
3. I find joined to your letter of inquiries a short
paper containing the following words: "ask him,(that is me,) whether a
woman who has left her husband on the ground that be is an adulterer
and sodomite and has found herself compelled to take another may in the
lifetime of him whom she first left be in communion with the church
without doing penance for her fault." As I read the case put I recall
the verse they make excuses for their sins. We are all the and a
indulgent to our own
faults; and what our own will leads us to do we attribute to a
necessity of nature. It is as though a young man were to say, "I am
over-borne by my body, the glow of nature kindles my passions, the
structure of my frame and its reproductive organs call for sexual
intercourse." Or a,gain a murderer might say, "I was in want, I stood
in need of food, I had nothing to cover me. If i shed the blood of
another, it was to save myself from dying of cold and hunger." Tell the
sister, therefore, who thus enquires of me concerning her condition,
not my sentence but that of the apostle. "Know ye not, brethren (for I
speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a
man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound
by the law to her husband, so long as he liveth; but if the husband be
dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then, if, while her
husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an
adulteress."(2) And in another place: "the wife is bound by the law as
long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at
liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord."(3) The
apostle has thus cut away every plea and has clearly declared that, if
a woman marries again while her husband is living, she is an
adulteress. You must not speak to me of the violence of a ravisher, a
mother's pleading, a father's bidding, the influence of relatives, the
insolence and the intrigues of servants, household losses. A husband
may be an adulterer or a sodomite, he may be stained with every crime
and may have been left by his wife because of his sins; yet he is still
her husband and, so long as he lives, she may not marry another. The
apostle does not promulgate this decree on his own authority but on
that of Christ who speaks in him. For he has followed the words of
Christ in the gospel: "whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for
the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever
shall marry her that is divorced, committeth adultery."(4) Mark what he
says: "whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery."
Whether she has put away her husband or her husband her, the man who
marries her is still an adulterer. Wherefore the apostles seeing how
heavy the yoke of marriage was thus made said to Him: "if the case of
the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry," and the Lord
replied, "he that is able to receive it, let him receive it."
111
And immediately by the instance of the three eunuchs he shows the
blessedness of virginity which is bound by no carnal tie.(1)
4. I have not been able quite to determine what it
is that she means by the words "has found herself compelled" to marry
again. What is this compulsion of which she speaks? Was she overborne
by a crowd and ravished against her will? If so, why has she not, thus
victimized, subsequently put away her ravisher? Let her read the books
of Moses and she will find that if violence is offered to a betrothed
virgin in a city and she does not cry out, she is punished as an
adulteress: but if she is forced in the field, she is innocent of sin
and her ravisher alone is amenable to the laws.(2) Therefore if your
sister, who, as she says, has been forced into a second union, wishes
to receive the body of Christ and not to be accounted an adulteress,
let her do penance; so far at least as from the time she begins to
repent to have no farther intercourse with that second husband who
ought to be called not a husband but an adulterer. If this seems hard
to her and if she cannot leave one whom she has once loved and will not
prefer the Lord to sensual pleasure, let her hear the declaration of
the apostle: "ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of
devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of
devils,"(3) and in another place: "what communion hath light with
darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?"(4) What I am about
to say may sound novel but after all it is not new but old for it is
supported by the witness of the old testament. If she leaves her second
husband and desires to be reconciled with her first, she cannot be so
now; for it is written in Deuteronomy: "When a man hath taken a wife,
and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his
eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her; then let him write
her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of
his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be
another man's wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a
bill of divorcement and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of
his house; or if the latter husband die which took her to be his wife;
her former husband, which sent her away may not take her again to be
his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the
Lord: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the Lord thy God
giveth thee for an inheritance."(6) Wherefore, I beseech you, do your
best to comfort her and to urge her to seek salvation. Diseased flesh
calls for the knife and the searing-iron. The wound is to blame and not
the healing art, if with a cruelty that is really kindness a physician
to spare does not spare, and to be merciful is cruel.(1)
5. Your third and last question relates to the
passage in the same epistle where the apostle in discussing the
resurrection, comes to the words: "for he must reign, till he hath put
all things under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is
death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith,
all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which
did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto
him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all
things under him that God may be all in all."(2) I am surprised that
you have resolved to question me about this passage when that reverend
man, Hilary, bishop of Poictiers, has occupied the eleventh book of his
treatise against the Arians with a full examination and explanation of
it. Yet I may at least say a few words. The chief stumbling-block in
the passage is that the Son is said to be subject to the Father. Now
which is the more shameful and humiliating, to be subject to the Father
(often a mark of loving devotion as in the psalm "truly my soul is
subject unto God"(3)) or to be crucified and made the curse of the
cross? For "cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree."(4) If Christ
then for our sakes was made a curse that He might deliver us from the
curse of the law, are you surprised that lie is also for our sakes
subject to the Father to make us too subject to Him as He says in the
gospel: "No man cometh unto the Father but by me,"(5) and "I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."(6) Christ then is
subject to the Father in the faithful; for all believers, nay the whole
human race, are accounted members of His body. But in unbelievers, that
is in Jews, heathens, and heretics, He is said to be not subject; for
these members of His body are not subject to the faith. But in the end
of the world when all His members shall see Christ, that is their own
body, reigning, they also shall be made subject to Christ, that is to
their own body, that the whole of Christ's body may be subject unto God
and the Father, and that God may be all in all. He does not say "that
the Father may be all in all" but that "God" may be, a title which
properly belongs to the Trinity and may be referred not only to the
Father but also to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.
112
His meaning therefore is "that humanity may be subject to the Godhead."
By humanity we here intend not that gentleness and kindness which the
Greeks call philanthropy but the whole human race. Moreover when he
says "that God may be all in all," it is to be taken in this sense. At
present our Lord and Saviour is not all in all, but only a part in each
of us. For instance He is wisdom in Solomon, generosity in David,
patience in Job, knowledge of things to come in Daniel faith in Peter,
zeal in Phinehas and Paul, virginity in John, and other virtues in
others. But when the end of all things shall come, then shall He be all
in all, for then the saints shall severally possess all the virtues and
all will possess Christ in His entirety.
LETTER LVI.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
Augustine's first letter to Jerome (printed in his
correspondence in this Library as Letter XXVIII.): through a series of
accidents it was not delivered until nine years after it had been
written. In it Augustine comments on Jerome's new Latin version of the
O. T. and advises him in his future labours to adhere more closely to
the text of the LXX. He also discusses Jerome's account (in his
commentary on the epistle to the Galatians) of the quarrel between Paul
and Peter at Antioch. This according to Jerome was not a real
misunderstanding but only one artificially 'got up' to put clearly
before the Church the mischief of Christians conforming to the now
obsolete Mosaic Law. Augustine strongly controverts this view and
maintains that it is fatal to the veracity and authority claimed felt
scripture. Written from Hippo about the year 394 A. D.
LETTER LVII.
TO PAMMACHIUS ON THE BEST METHOD OF
TRANSLATING.
Written to Pammachius (for whom see Letter LXVI.) in
A. D. 395. In the previous year Jerome had rendered into Latin Letter
LI. (from Epiphanius to John of Jerusalem) under circumstances which he
here describes ( 2). His version soon became public and incurred severe
criticism from Some person not named by Jerome but supposed by him to
have been instigated by Rufinus ( 12). Charged with having falsified
his original he now repudiates the charge and defends his method of
translation ("to give sense for sense and not word for word" 5)
by an appeal to the practice of classical ( 5), ecclesiastical ( 6),
and N. T. ( 7-10) writers.
When at a subsequent period Rufinus gave to the
world what was in Jerome's opinion a misleading version of Origen's
First Principles, he appealed to this letter as giving him ample
warranty for what he had done. See Letters LXXX, and LXXXI, and
Rufinus' Preface to the <greek>peei</greek>
'A<greek>ekpn</greek> in Vol. iii. of this series.
1. The apostle Paul when he appeared before King
Agrippa to answer the charges, which were brought against him, wishing
to use language intelligible to his hearers and confident of the
success of his cause, began by congratulating himself in these words:
"I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself
this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused by
the Jews: especially because thou art expert in all customs and
questions which are among the Jews."(1) He had read the saying of
Jesus:(2) "Well is him that speaketh in the ears of them that will
hear; "(3) and he knew that a pleader only succeeds in proportion as he
impresses his judge. On this occasion I too think myself happy that
learned ears will bear my defence. For a rash tongue charges me with
ignorance or falsehood; it alleges that in translating another man's
letter I have made mistakes through incapacity or carelessness; it
convicts me of either an involuntary error or a deliberate offence. And
test it should happen that my accuser--encouraged by a volubility which
stops at nothing and by an impunity which arrogates to itself an
unlimited license--should accuse me as he has already done our father
(Pope) Epiphanius; I send this letter to inform you--and through yon
others who think me worthy of their regard--of the true order of the
facts. 2. About two years ago the aforesaid Pope Epiphanius sent a
letter(4) to Bishop John, first finding fault with him as regarded some
of his opinions and then mildly calling him to penitence. Such was the
repute of the writer or else the elegance of the letter that all
Palestine fought for copies of it. Now there was in our monastery a man
of no small estimation in his country, Eusebius of Cremona, who, when
he found that this letter was in everybody's mouth and that the
ignorant and the educated alike admired it for its teaching and for the
purity of its style, set to work to beg me to translate it for him into
Latin and at the same time to simplify tile argument so that he might
more readily understand it; for he was himself altogether unacquainted
with the Greek language. I consented to his request and calling to my
aid a secretary speedily dictated my version, briefly marking on the
side of the page the contents of the several chapters. The fact is that
he asked me to do this merely for himself, and I requested of him in
return to keep his copy private and not too readily to circulate it. A
year and six months went by, and then the aforesaid translation found
its way by a novel stratagem from his desk to Jerusalem. For a
pretended monk--either bribed as there is much reason to believe or
actuated by malice of his own as his tempter vainly tries to convince
us--shewed himself a second Judas by robbing
113
Eusebius of his literary property and gave to the adversary an occasion
of railing(1) against me. They tell the unlearned that I have falsified
the original, that I have not rendered word for word, that I have put
'dear friend' in place of 'honourable sir,' and more shameful still!
that I have cut down my translation by omitting the words
<greek>aidesimptate</greek>
<greek>Pappa</greek>.(2) These and similar trifles form the
substance of the charges brought against me.
3. At the outset before I defend my version I wish
to ask those persons who confound wisdom with cunning, some few
questions. Where did you get your copy of the letter? Who gave it to
you? How have you the effrontery to bring forward what you have
procured by fraud? What place of safety will be left us if we cannot
conceal our secrets even within our own walls and our own
writing-desks? Were I to press such a charge against you before a legal
tribunal, I could make you amenable to the laws which even in fiscal
cases appoint penalties for meddlesome informers and condemn the
traitor even while they accept his treachery. For though they welcome
the profit which the information gives them, they disapprove the motive
which actuates the informer. A little while ago a man of consular rank
named Hesychius (against whom the patriarch Gamaliel waged an
implacable war) was condemned to death by the emperor Theodosius simply
because he had laid hold of imperial papers through a secretary whom he
had tempted. We read also in old histories(3) that the schoolmaster who
betrayed the children of the Faliscans was sent back to his boys and
handed over to them in bonds, the Roman people refusing to accept a
dishonourable victory. When Pyrrhus king of Epirus was lying in his
camp ill from the effects of a wound, his physician offered to poison
him, but Fabricius thinking it shame that the king should die by
treachery sent the traitor back in chains to his master, refusing to
sanction crime even when its victim was an enemy.(4) A principle which
the laws uphold, which is maintained by enemies, which warfare and the
sword fail to violate, has hitherto been held unquestioned among the
monks and priests of Christ. And can any one of them presume now,
knitting his brow and snapping his fingers,(5) to spend his breath in
saving: "What if he did use bribes or other inducements! he did what
suited his purpose." A strange plea truly to defend a fraud as though
robbers, thieves, and pirates did not do the same. Certainly, when
Annas and Caiaphas led hapless Judas astray, they only did what they
believed to be expedient for themselves.
4. Suppose that I wish to write down in my note
books this or that silly trifle, or to make comments upon the
scriptures, to retort upon my calumniators, to digest my wrath, to
practise myself in the use of commonplaces and to stow away sharp
shafts for the day of battle. So long as I do not publish my thoughts,
they are only unkind words not matter for a charge of libel; in fact
they are not even unkind words for the public ear never hears them.
You(1) may bribe my slaves and tamper with my clients· You may,
as the fable has it, penetrate by means of your gold to the chamber of
Danae;(2) and then, dissembling what you have done, you may call me a
falsifier; but, if you do so, you will have to plead guilty yourself to
a worse charge than any that you can bring against me. One man inveighs
against you as a heretic, another as a perverter of doctrine. You are
silent yourself; you do not venture to answer; you assail the
translator; you cavil about syllables and you fancy your defence
complete if your calumnies provoke no reply. Suppose that I have made a
mistake or an omission in my rendering. Your whole case turns upon
this; this is the defence which you offer to your accusers. Are you no
heretic because I am a bad translator? Mind, I do not say that I know
you to be a heretic; I leave such knowledge to your accuser, to him who
wrote the letter:(3) what I do say is that it is the height of folly
for you when you are accused by one man to attack another, and when you
are covered with wounds yourself to seek comfort by wounding one who is
still quiescent and unaggressive.
5. In the above remarks I have assumed that i have
made alterations in the letter and that a simple translation may
contain errors though not wilful ones. As, however the letter itself
shews that no changes have been made in the sense, that nothing has
been added, and that no doctrine has been foisted into it, "obviously
their object is understanding to understand nothing;"(4) and while they
desire to arraign another's want of skill, they betray their own. For I
myself not only admit but freely proclaim that in translating from the
Greek (except in the case of the holy scriptures where even the order
of the words is a mystery) I render sense for sense and not word for
word. For this course I have the
114
authority of Tully who has so translated the Protagoras of Plato, the
Oeconomicus of Xenophon, and the two beautiful orations(1) which
AEschines and Demosthenes delivered one against the other. What
omissions, additions, and alterations he has made substituting the
idioms of his own for those of another tongue, this is not the time to
say. I am satisfied to quote the authority of the translator who has
spoken as follows in a prologue(2) prefixed to the orations. "I have
thought it right to embrace a labour which though not necessary for
myself will prove useful to those who study. i have translated the
noblest speeches of the two most eloquent of the Attic orators, the
speeches which AEschines and Demosthenes delivered one against the
other; but I have rendered them not as a translator but as an orator,
keeping the sense but altering the form by adapting both the metaphors
and the words to suit our own idiom. I have not deemed it necessary to
render word for word but I have reproduced the general style and
emphasis. I have not supposed myself bound to pay the words out one by
one to the reader but only to give him an equivalent in value." Again
at the close of his task he says, "I shall be well satisfied if my
rendering is found, as I trust it will be, true to this standard. In
making it I have utilized all the excellences of the originals, I mean
the sentiments, the forms of expression and the arrangement of the
topics, while I have followed the actual wording only so far as I could
do so without offending our notions of taste. If all that I have
written is not to be found in the Greek, I have at any rate striven to
make it correspond with it." Horace too, an acute and learned writer,
in his Art of Poetry gives the same advice to the skilled translator:--
And care not thou with over anxious thought
To render word for word.(3)
Terence has translated Menander; Plautus and Caecilius the old comic
poets.(4) Do they ever stick at words? Do they not rather in their
versions think first of preserving the beauty and charm of their
originals? What men like you call fidelity in transcription, the
learned term pestilent minuteness.(5) Such were my teachers about
twenty years ago; and even then(6) I was the victim of a similar error
to that which is now imputed to me, though indeed I never imagined that
you would charge me with it. In translating the Chronicle of Eusebius
of Caesarea into Latin, I made among others the following prefatory
observations: "It is difficult in following lines laid down by others
not sometimes to diverge from them, and it is hard to preserve in a
translation the charm of expressions which in another language are most
felicitous Each particular word conveys a meaning of its own, and
possibly I have no equivalent by which to render it, and I make a
circuit to reach my goal, I have to go many miles to cover a short
distance.(1) To these difficulties must be added the windings of
hyperbata, differences in the use of cases, divergencies of metaphor;
and last of all the peculiar and if I may so call it, inbred character
of the language. If I render word for word, the result will sound
uncouth, and if compelled by necessity I alter anything in the order or
wording, I shall seem to have departed from the function of a
translator."(2) And after a long discussion which it would be tedious
to follow out here, I added what follows:--"If any one imagines that
translation does not impair the charm of style, let him render Homer
word for word into Latin, nay I will go farther still and say, let him
render it into Latin prose, and the result will be that the order of
the words will seem ridiculous and the most eloquent of poets scarcely
articulate."(3)
6. In quoting my own writings my only object has
been to prove that from my youth up I at least have always aimed at
rendering sense not words, but if such authority as they supply is
deemed insufficient, read and consider the short preface dealing with
this matter which occurs in a book narrating the life of the blessed
Antony.(4) "A literal translation from one language into another
obscures the sense; the exuberance of the growth lessens the yield. For
while one's diction is enslaved to cases and metaphors, it has to
explain by tedious circumlocutions what a few words would otherwise
have sufficed to make plain. I have tried to avoid this error in the
translation which at your request I have made of the story of the
blessed Antony. My version always preserves the sense although it does
not invariably keep the words of the original. Leave others to catch at
syllables and letters, do you for your part look for the meaning." Time
would fail me were I to unfold the testimonies of all who have
translated only according to the sense. It is sufficient for the
present to name Hilary the confessor(5) who has turned some homilies on
Job and several treatises on the Psalms from Greek into Latin; yet has
not bound himself to the drowsiness of the letter or fettered himself
by the
115
stale literalism of inadequate culture. Like a conqueror he has led
away captive into his own tongue the meaning of his originals.
7. That secular and church writers should have
adopted this line need not surprise us when we consider that the
translators of the Septuagint,(1) the evangelists, and the apostles,
have done the same in dealing with the sacred writings. We read in
Mark(2) of the Lord saying Talitha cumi and it is immediately added
"which is interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise." The evangelist
may he charged with falsehood for having added the words "I say unto
thee" for the Hebrew is only "Damsel arise." To emphasize this and to
give the impression of one calling and commanding he has added "I say
unto thee." Again in Matthew(3) when the thirty pieces of silver are
returned by the traitor Judas and the potter's field is purchased with
them, it is written:--"Then was fulfilled that which was spoken of by
Jeremy the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver
the price of him that was valued which(4) they of the children of
Israel did value, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord
appointed me." This passage is not found in Jeremiah at all but in
Zechariah, in quite different words and an altogether different order.
In fact the Vulgate renders it as follows:--"And I will say unto them,
If it is good in your sight, give ye me a price or refuse it: So they
weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto
me, Put them into the melting furnace and consider if it is tried as I
have been tried by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and
cast them into the house of the Lord."(5) It is evident that the
rendering of the Septuagint differs widely from the quotation of the
evangelist. In the Hebrew also, though the sense is the same, the words
are quite different and differently arranged. It says: "And I said unto
them, If ye think good, give me my price; and, if not, forbear. So they
weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto
me, Cast it unto the potter;(6) a goodly price that I was priced at of
them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the
potter in the house of the Lord."(7) They may accuse the apostle of
falsifying his version seeing that it agrees neither with the Hebrew
nor with the translators of the Septuagint: and worse than this, they
may say that he has mistaken the author's name putting down Jeremiah
when it should be Zechariah. Far be it from us to speak thus of a
follower(8) of Christ, who made it his care to formulate dogmas rather
than to hunt for words and syllables. To take another instance from
Zechariah, the evangelist john quotes from the Hebrew, "They shall look
on him whom they pierced,"(1) for which we read in the Septuagint, "And
they shall look upon me because they have mocked me," and in the Latin
version, "And they shall look upon me for the things which they have
mocked or insulted." Here the evangelist, the Septuagint, and our own
version(2) all differ; yet the divergence of language is atoned by
oneness of spirit. In Matthew again we read of the Lord preaching
flight to the apostles and confirming His counsel with a passage from
Zechariah. "It is written," he says, "I will smite the shepherd, and
the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad."(3) But in the
Septuagint and in the Hebrew it reads differently, for it is not God
who speaks, as the evangelist makes out, but the prophet who appeals to
God the Father saying:--"Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be
scattered." In this instance according to my judgment--and I have some
careful critics with me--the evangelist is guilty of a fault in
presuming to ascribe to God what are the words of the prophet. Again
the same evangelist writes that at the warning of an angel Joseph took
the young child and his mother and went into Egypt and remained there
till the death of Herod; "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
of the Lord by the prophet saying, Out of Egypt have I called my
son."(4) The Latin manuscripts do not so give the passage, but in
Hosea(5) the true Hebrew text has the following:--"When Israel was a
child then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." Which the
Septuagint renders thus:--"When Israel was a child then I loved him,
and called his sons out of Egypt." Are they(6) altogether to be
rejected because they have given another turn to a passage which refers
primarily to the mystery of Christ? Or should we not rather pardon the
shortcomings of the translators on the score of their human frailty
according to the saying of James, "In many things we offend all. If any
man offend not in word the same is a perfect man and able also to
bridle the whole body."(7) Once more it is written in the pages of the
same evangelist, "And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be
called a Nazarene."(8) Let these word fanciers and nice critics of all
composition tell us where they have read the words;
116
and if they cannot, let me tell them that they are in Isaiah.(1) For in
the place where we read and translate, "There shall come forth a rod
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots,"(2)
in the Hebrew idiom it is written thus, "There shall come forth a rod
out of the root of Jesse and a Nazarene shall grow from his root." How
can the Septuagint leave out the word 'Nazarene,' if it is unlawful to
substitute one word for another? It is sacrilege either to conceal or
to set at naught a mystery.
8. Let us pass on to other passages, for the brief
limits of a letter do not suffer us to dwell too long on any one point.
The same Matthew says:--"Now all this was done that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying. Behold a
virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall
call his name Emmanuel."(3) The rendering of the Septuagint is, "Behold
a virgin shall receive seed and shall bring forth a son, and ye shall
call his name Emmanuel." If people cavil at words, obviously 'to
receive seed' is not the exact equivalent of 'to be with child,' and
'ye shall call' differs from! 'they shall call.' Moreover in the Hebrew
we read thus, "Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall
call his name Immanuel."(4) Ahaz shall not call him so for he was
convicted of want of faith, nor the Jews for they were destined to deny
him, but she who is to conceive him, and bear him, the virgin herself.
In the same evangelist we read that Herod was troubled at the coming of
the Magi and that gathering together the scribes and the priests he
demanded of them where Christ should be born and that they answered
him, "In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet;
And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah art not the least among the
princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governour that shall
rule my people Israel."(5) In the Vulgate(6) this passage appears as
follows:--"And thou Bethlehem, the house of Ephratah, art small to be
among the thousands of Judah, yet one shall come out of thee for me to
be a prince in Israel." You will be more surprised still at the
difference in words and order between Matthew and the Septuagint if you
look at the Hebrew which runs thus:--"But thou Bethlehem Ephratah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee
shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel."(7) Consider
one by one the words of the evangelist:--"And thou Bethlehem in the
land of Judah." For "the land of Judah" the Hebrew has "Ephratah" while
the Septuagint gives "the house of Ephratah." The evangelist writes,
"art not the least among the princes of Judah." In the Septuagint this
is, "art small to be among the thousands of Judah," while the Hebrew
gives, "though thou be little among the thousands of Judah." There is a
contradiction here--and that not merely verbal--between the evangelist
and the prophet; for in this place at any rate both Septuagint and
Hebrew agree. The evangelist says that he is not little among the
princes of Judah, while the passage from which he queries says exactly
the opposite of this, "Thou art small indeed and little; but yet out of
thee, small and little as thou art, there shall come forth for me a
leader in Israel," a sentiment in harmony with that of the apostle,
"God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty."(1) Moreover the last clause "to rule" or "to feed my
people Israel" clearly runs differently in the original.
9. I refer to these passages, not to convict the
evangelists of falsification--a charge worthy only of impious men like
Celsus, Porphyry, and Julian--but to bring home to my critics their own
want of knowledge, and to gain from them such consideration that they
may concede to me in the case of a simple letter what, whether they
like it or not, they will have to concede to the Apostles in the Holy
Scriptures. Mark, the disciple of Peter, begins his gospel thus:--" The
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in the
prophet Isaiah: Behold I send my messenger before thy face which shall
prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."(2) This
quotation is made up from two prophets, Malachi that is to say and
Isaiah. For the first part: "Behold I send my messenger before thy face
which shall prepare thy way before thee," occurs at the close of
Malachi.(3) But the second part: "The voice of one crying, etc.," we
read in Isaiah.(4) On what grounds then has Mark in the very beginning
of his book set the words: "As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
Behold I send my messenger," when, as we have said, it is not written
in Isaiah at all, but in Malachi the last of the twelve prophets? Let
ignorant presumption solve this nice question if it can, and I will ask
pardon for being in the wrong. The same Mark brings before us the
Saviour thus addressing the Pharisees: "Have ye never read what David
did when he had need and was an
117
hungred, he and they that were with him, how he went into the house of
God in the days of Abiathar the highpriest, and did eat the shew-bread
which is not lawful to eat but for the priests?"(1) Now let us turn to
the books of Samuel, or, as they are commonly called, of Kings, and we
shall find there that the high-priest's name was not Abiathar but
Ahimelech,(2) the same that was afterwards put to death with the rest
of the priests by Doeg at the command of Saul.(3) Let us pass on now to
the apostle Paul who writes thus to the Corinthians: "For had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it
is written, Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love
Him."(4) Some writers on this passage betake themselves to the ravings
of the apocryphal books and assert that the quotation comes from the
Revelation of Elijah;(5) whereas the truth is that it is found in
Isaiah according to the Hebrew text: "Since the beginning of the world
men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen,
O God, beside thee what thou hast prepared for them that wait for
thee."(6) The Septuagint has rendered the words quite differently:
"Since the beginning of the world we have not heard, neither have our
eyes seen any God beside thee and thy true works, and thou wilt shew
mercy to them that wait for thee." We see then from what place the
quotation is taken and yet the apostle has not rendered his original
word for word, but, using a paraphrase, he has given the sense in
different terms. In his epistle to the Romans the same apostle quotes
these words from Isaiah: "Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone and
rock of offence,"(7) a rendering which is at variance with the Greek
version(8) yet agrees with the original Hebrew. The Septuagint gives an
opposite meaning, "that you fall not on a stumblingstone nor on a rock
of offence." The apostle Peter agrees with Paul and the Hebrew,
writing: "but to them that do not believe, a stone of stumbling and a
rock of offence."(9) From all these passages it is clear that the
apostles and evangelists in translating the old testament scriptures
have sought to give the meaning rather than the words, and that they
have not greatly cared to preserve forms or constructions, so long as
they could make clear the subject to the understanding.
10. Luke the evangelist and companion of apostles
describes Christ's first martyr Stephen as relating what follows in a
Jewish assembly. "With threescore and fifteen souls Jacob went down
into Egypt, and died himself, and our fathers were carried over(1) into
Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of
money of the sons of Emmor(2) the father of Sychem."(3) In Genesis this
passage is quite differently given, for it is Abraham that buys of
Ephron the Hittite, the son of Zohar, near Hebron, for four hundred
shekels(4) of silver, a double cave,(5) and the field that is about it,
and that buries in it Sarah his wife. And in the same book we read
that, after his return from Mesopotamia with his wives and his sons,
Jacob pitched his tent before Salem, a city of Shechem which is in the
land of Canaan, and that he dwelt there and "bought a parcel of a field
where he had spread his tent at the band of Hamor, the father of
Sychem, for an hundred lambs,"(6) and that "he erected there an altar
and called there upon the God of Israel."(7) Abraham does not buy the
cave from Hamor the father of Sychem, but from Ephron the son of Zohar,
and he is not buried in Sychem but in Hebron which is corruptly called
Arboch. Whereas the twelve patriarchs are not buried in Arboch but in
Sychem, in the field purchased not by Abraham but by Jacob. I postpone
the solution of this delicate problem to enable those who cavil at me
to search and see that in dealing with the scriptures it is the sense
we have to look to and not the words. In the Hebrew the twenty-second
psalm begins with the exact words which the Lord uttered on the cross:
Eli Eli lama azabthani, which means, "My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?"(8) Let my critics tell me why the Septuagint introduces
here the words "look thou upon me." For its rendering is as follows:
"My God, my God, look thou upon me, why hast thou forsaken me?" They
will answer no doubt that no harm is done to the sense by the addition
of a couple of words. Let them acknowledge then that, if in the haste
of dictation I have omitted a few, I have not by so doing endangered
the position of the churches.
11. It would be tedious now to enumerate, what great
additions and omissions the Septuagint has made, and all the passages
which in church-copies are marked with daggers and asterisks. The Jews
generally laugh when they hear our version of this passage of Isaiah,
"Blessed is he that hath seed in Zion and servants in Jerusalem."(9) In
Amos also(10) after a
118
description of self-indulgence(1) there come these words: "They have
thought of these things as halting and not likely to fly," a very
rhetorical sentence quite worthy of Tully. But how shall we deal with
the Hebrew originals in which these passages and others like them are
omitted, passages so numerous that to reproduce them all would require
books without number? The number of the omissions. is shown alike by
the asterisks mentioned above and by my own version when compared by a
careful reader with the old translation.(2) Yet the Septuagint has
rightly kept its place in the churches, either because it is the first
of all the versions in time, made before the coming of Christ, or else
because it has been used by the apostles (only however in places where
it does not disagree with the Hebrews(2)). On the other hand we do
right to reject Aquila, the proselyte and controversial translator, who
has striven to translate not words only but their etymologies as well.
Who could accept as renderings of "corn and wine and oil"(3) such words
as <greek>keima</greek>
<greek>opwrismos</greek>
<greek>stilpnoths</greek>, or, as we might say, 'pouring,'
and 'fruitgathering,' and 'shining'? or, because Hebrew has in addition
to the article other prefixes(5) as well, he must with an unhappy
pedantry translate syllable
by, syllable and letter, by letter thus: <greek>sun</greek>
<greek>ton</greek> <greek>ouranon</greek>
<greek>kai</greek> <greek>thn</greek>
<greek>ghn</greek>, a construction which neither Greek nor
Latin admits lion which neither Greek nor Latin admits of,(6) as many
passages in our own writers shew. How many are the phrases charming in
Greek which, if rendered word for word, do not sound well in Latin, and
again how many there are that are pleasing to us in Latin, but
which--assuming the order of the words not to be altered--would not
please in Greek.
12. But to pass by this limitless field of
discussion and to shew you, most Christian of nobles, and most noble of
Christians, what is the kind of falsification which is censured in my
translation, I will set before you the opening words of the letter in
the Greek original and as rendered by me, that from one count in the
indictment you may form an opinion of all. The letter begins
"E<greek>dei</greek> <greek>hmas</greek>,
<greek>agaphte</greek>, <greek>mh</greek>
<greek>oihsei</greek> <greek>tpn</greek>
<greek>klhrwn</greek> <greek>feresqai</greek>
which I remember to have rendered as follows: "Dearly beloved, we ought
not to misuse our position as ministers to gratify our pride." See
there, they cry, what a number of falsehoods in a single line! In the
first place <greek>agaphtos</greek> means 'loved,' not
'dearly beloved.' Then <greek>oihsis</greek> means
'estimate,' not 'pride,' for this and not
<greek>oidhma</greek> is the word used.
O<greek>idhma</greek> signifies 'a swelling' but
<greek>oihsis</greek> means 'judgment.' All the rest, say
they: "not to misuse our position to gratify our pride" is your own.
What is this you are saying, O pillar of learning(1) and latter day
Aristarchus,(2) who are so ready to pass judgment upon all writers? It
is all for nothing then that I have studied so long; that, as Juvenal
says,(3) "I have so often withdrawn my hand from the ferule." The
moment I leave the harbour I run aground. Well, to err is human and to
confess one's error wise. Do you therefore, who are so ready to
criticise and to instruct me, set me right and give me a word for word
rendering of the passage. You tell me I should have said: "Beloved, we
ought not to be carried away by the estimation of the clergy." Here,
indeed we have eloquence worthy of Plautus, here we have Attic grace,
the true style of the Muses. The common proverb is true of me: "He who
trains an ox for athletics loses both oil and money."(4) Still he is
not to blame who merely puts on the mask and plays the tragedy for
another: his teachers(5) are the real culprits; since they for a great
price have taught him--to know nothing. I do not think the worse of any
Christian because he lacks skill to express himself; and I heartily
wish that we could all say with Socrates "I know that I know
nothing;"(6) and carry out the precept
f another wise man, "Know thyself."(7) I ave always held in esteem a
holy simplicity but not a wordy rudeness. He who declares that he
imitates the style of apostles should first imitate the virtue of their
lives; the great holiness of which made up for much plainness of
speech. They confuted the syllogisms of Aristotle and the perverse
ingenuities of Chrysippus by raising the dead. Still it would be absurd
for one of us--living as we do amid the riches of Croesus and the
luxuries of Sardanapalus--to make his boast of mere ignorance. We might
as well say that all robbers and criminals would be men of culture if
they were to hide their blood-stained swords in books of philosophy and
not ill trunks of trees.
13. I have exceeded the limits of a letter, but I
have not exceeded in the expression of my chagrin. For, though I am
called a falsifier, and have my reputation torn to shreds, wherever
there are shuttles and looms and women to
119
work them; I am content to repudiate the charge without retaliating in
kind. I leave everything to your discretion. You can read the letter of
Epiphanius both in Greek and in Latin; and, if you do so, you will see
at once the value of my accusers' lamentations and insulting
complaints. For the rest, I am satisfied to have instructed one of my
dearest friends and am content simply to stay quiet in my cell and to
wait for the day of judgment. If it may be so, and if my enemies allow
it, I hope to write for you, not philippics like those of Demosthenes
or Tully, but commentaries upon the scriptures.
LETTER LVIII.
TO PAULINUS.
In this his second letter to Paulinus of Nola Jerome
dissuades him from making a pilgrimage to the Holy Places, and
describes Jerusalem not as it ought to be but as it is. He then gives
his friend counsels for his life similar to those which he has
previously addressed to Nepotian, praises Paulinus for his Panegyric
(now no longer extant) on the Emperor Theodosius. compares his style
with those of the great writers of the Latin Church, and concludes with
a commendation of his messenger, that Vigilantius who was soon to
become the object of his bitterest contempt. Written about the year 395
A.D.
I. "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart
bringeth forth good things,"(1) and "every tree is known by his
fruit."(2) You measure me by the scale of your own virtues and because
of your own greatness magnify my littleness. You take the lowest room
at the banquet that the goodman of the house may bid you to go up
higher.(3) For what is there in me or what qualities do I possess that
I should merit praise from a man of learning? that I, small and lowly
as I am, should be eulogized by lips which have pleaded on behalf of
our most religious sovereign? Do not, my dearest brother, estimate my
worth by the number of my years. Gray hairs are not wisdom; it is
wisdom which is as good as gray hairs. At least that is what Solomon
says: "wisdom is the gray hair unto men."(4) Moses too in choosing the
seventy elders is told to take those whom he knows to be elders indeed,
and to select them not for their years but for their discretion? And,
as a boy, Daniel judges old men and in the flower of youth condemns the
incontinence of age.(5) Do not, I repeat, weigh faith by years, nor
suppose me better than yourself merely because I have enlisted under
Christ's banner earlier than you. The apostle Paul, that chosen vessel
framed out of a persecutor,(1) though last in the apostolic order is
first in merit. For though last he has laboured more than they all.(2)
To Judas it was once said: "thou art a man who didst take sweet food
with me, my guide and mine acquaintance; we walked in the house of God
with company:"(3) yet the Saviour accuses him of betraying his friend
and master. A line of Virgil well describes his end:
From a high beam he knots a hideous death.(4)
The dying robber, on the contrary, exchanges the cross for paradise and
turns to martyrdom the penalty of murder. How many there are nowadays
who have lived so long that they bear corpses rather than bodies and
are like whited sepulchres filled with dead men's bones!(5) A newly
kindled heat is more effective than a long continued lukewarmness.
2. As for you, when you hear the Saviour's counsel:
"if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the
poor, and come follow me,"(6) you translate his words into action; and
baring yourself to follow the bare cross(7) you mount Jacob's ladder
the easier for carrying nothing. Your dress changes with the change in
your convictions, and you aim at no showy shabbiness which leaves your
purse as full as before. No, with pure hands and a clear conscience you
make it your glory that you are poor both in spirit and in deed. There
is nothing great in wearing a sad or a disfigured face, in simulating
and in showing off fasts, or in wearing a cheap cloak while you retain
a large income. When Crates the Theban--a millionaire of days gone by
was on his way to Athens to study philosophy, he cast away untold gold
in the belief that wealth could not be compatible with virtue. What a
contrast he offers to us, the disciples of a poor Christ, who cram our
pockets with gold and cling under pretext of almsgiving to our old
riches. How can we faithfully distribute what belongs to another when
we thus timidly keep back what is our own?(8) When the stomach is full,
it is easy to talk of fasting. What is praiseworthy is not to have been
at Jerusalem but to have lived a good life while there.(9) The city
which we are to praise and to seek is not that which has slain the
prophets(10 and shed the blood of Christ, but that which is made glad
by the streams of the river,(11) which is set upon a mountain and so
cannot be hid,(12) which the apostle declares to be a mother of the
saints,(13) and in which he rejoices to have his citizenship with the
righteous.(14)
120
3. In speaking thus I am not laying myself open to a
charge of inconsistency or condemning the course which I have myself
taken. It is not, I believe, for nothing that I, like Abraham, have
left my home and people. But I do not presume to limit God's
omnipotence or to restrict to a narrow strip of earth Him whom the
heaven cannot contain. Each believer is judged not by his residence in
this place or in that but according to the deserts of his faith. The
true worshippers worship the Father neither at Jerusalem nor on mount
Gerizim; for "God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth."(2) "Now the spirit bloweth where it
listeth,"(2) and "the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof."(3)
When the fleece of Judaea was made dry although the whole world was wet
with the dew of heaven,(4) and when many car. from the East and from
the West (5) and sat in Abraham's bosom:(6) then God ceased to be known
in Judah only and His name to be great in Israel alone;(7) the sound of
the apostles went out into all the earth and their words into the ends
of the world.(8) The Saviour Himself speaking to His disciples in the
temple(9) said: "arise, let us go hence,"(10) and to the Jews: "your
house is left unto you desolate."(11) If heaven and earth must pass
away,(12) obviously all things that are earthly must pass away also.
Therefore the spots which witnessed the crucifixion and the
resurrection profit those only who bear their several crosses, who day
by day rise again with Christ, and who thus shew themselves worthy of
an abode so holy. Those who say "the temple of the Lord, the temple of
the Lord,"(13) should give ear to the words. of the apostle: "ye are
the temple of the Lord,"(14) and the Holy Ghost "dwelleth in you."(15)
Access to the courts of heaven is as easy from Britain as it is from
Jerusalem; for "the kingdom of God is within you."(16) Antony and the
hosts of monks who are in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Pontus, Cappadocia, and
Armenia, have never seen Jerusalem: and the door of Paradise is opened
for them at a distance from it. The blessed Hilarion, though a native
of and a dweller in Palestine, only set eyes on Jerusalem for a single
day, not wishing on the one hand when he was so near to neglect the
holy places, nor yet on the other to appear to confine God within local
limits. From the time of Hadrian to the reign of Constantine--a period
of about one hundred and eighty years(1)--the spot which had witnessed
the resurrection was occupied by a figure of Jupiter; while on the rock
where the cross had stood, a marble statue of Venus was set up by the
heathen and became an object of worship. The original persecutors,
indeed, supposed that by polluting our holy places they would deprive
us of our faith in the passion and in the resurrection. Even my own
Bethlehem, as it now is, that most venerable spot in the whole world of
which the psalmist sings: "the truth hath sprung out of the earth,"(2)
was overshadowed by a grove of Tammuz,(3) that is of Adonis; and in the
very cave(4) where the infant Christ had uttered His earliest cry
lamentation was made for the paramour of Venus.(5)
4. Why, you will say, do I make these remote allusions? To assure
you that nothing is lacking to your faith although you have not seen
Jerusalem and that I am none the better for living where I do. Be
assured that, whether you dwell here or elsewhere, a like recompense is
in store for your good works with our Lord. Indeed, if I am frankly to
express my own feelings, when I take into consideration your vows and
the earnestness with which you have renounced the world, I hold that as
long as you live in the country one place is as good as another.
Forsake cities and their crowds, live on a small patch of ground, seek
Christ in solitude, pray on the mount alone with Jesus,(6) keep near to
holy places: keep out of cities, I say, and you will never lose your
vocation. My advice concerns not bishops, presbyters, or the clergy,
for these have a different duty. I am speaking only to a monk who
having been a man of note in the world has laid the price of his
possessions at the apostles' feet,(7) to shew men that they must
trample on their money, and has resolved to live a life of loneliness
and seclusion and always to continue to reject what he has once
rejected. Had the scenes of the Passion and of the Resurrection been
elsewhere than in a populous city with court and garrison, with
prostitutes, playactors, and buffoons, and with the medley of persons
usually found in such centres; or had the crowds which thronged it been
composed of monks; then a city would be a desirable abode for those who
have embraced the monastic life. But, as things are, it would be the
height of folly first to renounce the world, to
121
forswear one's country, to forsake cities, to profess one's self a
monk; and then to live among still greater numbers the same kind of
life that you would have lived in your own country. Men rush here from
all quarters of the world, the city is filled with people of every
race, and so great is the throng of men and women that here you will
have to tolerate in its full dimensions an evil from which you desired
to flee when you found it partially developed elsewhere.
5. Since you ask me as a brother in what path you
should walk, I will be open with you. If you wish to take duty as a
presbyter, and are attracted by the work or dignity which falls to the
lot of a bishop, live in cities and walled towns,(1) and by so doing
turn the salvation of others into the profit of your own soul. But if
you desire to be in deed what you are in name--a monk,(2) that is, one
who lives alone, what have you to do with cities which are the homes
not of solitaries but of crowds? Every mode of life has its own
exponents. For instance, let Roman generals imitate men like Camillus,
Fabricius, Regulus, and Scipio. Let philosophers take for models
Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Let poets strive to rival
Homer, Virgil, Menander, and Terence. Let writers of history follow
Thucydides, Sallust, Herodotus and Livy. Let orators find masters in
Lysias, the Gracchi, Demosthenes, and Tully. And, to come to our own
case, let bishops and presbyters take for their examples the apostles
or their companions; and as they hold the rank which these once held,
let them endeavour to exhibit the same excellence. And last of all let
us monks take as the patterns which we arc to follow the lives of Paul,
of Antony, of Julian, of Hilarion, of the Macarii. And to go back to
the authority of scripture, we have our masters in Elijah and Elisha,
and our leaders in the sons of the prophets; who lived in fields and
solitary places and made themselves tents by the waters of Jordan.(3)
The sons of Rechab too are of the number who drank neither wine nor
strong drink and who abode in tents; men whom God's voice praises
through Jeremiah,(4) and to whom a promise is made that there shall
never be wanting a man of their stock to stand before God.(5) This is
probably what is meant by the title of the seventy-first psalm: "of the
sons of Jonadab and of those who were first led into captivity."(6) The
person intended is Jonadab the son of Rechab who is described in the
book of Kings(7) as having gone up into the chariot of Jehu. His sons
having always lived in tents until at last (owing to the inroads made
by the Chaldean army) they were forced to come into Jerusalem, are
described(1) as being the first to undergo captivity; because after the
freedom of their lonely life they found confinement in a city as bad as
imprisonment.
6. Since you are not wholly independent but are
bound to a wife who is your sister in the Lord, I entreat you--whether
here or there--that you will avoid large gatherings, visits official
and complimentary, and social parties, indulgences all of which tend to
enchain the soul. Let your food be coarse--say cabbage and pulse--and
do not take it until evening. Sometimes as a great delicacy you may
have some small fish. He who longs for Christ and feeds upon the true
bread cares little for dainties which must be transmuted into ordure.
Food that you cannot taste when once it has passed your gullet might as
well be--so far as you are concerned--bread and pulse. You have my
books against Jovinian which speak yet more largely of despising the
appetite and the palate. Let some holy volume be ever in your hand.
Pray constantly, and bowing down your body lift up your mind to the
Lord. Keep frequent vigils and sleep often on an empty stomach. Avoid
tittle-tattle and all self-laudation. Flee from wheedling flatterers as
from open enemies. Distribute with your own hand provisions to
alleviate the miseries of the poor and of the brethren. With your own
hands, I say, for good faith is rare among men. You do not believe what
I say? Think of Judas and his bag. Seek not a lowly garb for a swelling
soul. Avoid the society of men of the world, especially if they are in
power. Why need you look again on things contempt for which has made
you a monk? Above all let your sister(2) hold aloof from married
ladies. And, if women round her wear silk dresses and gems while
she is meanly attired, let her neither fret nor congratulate herself.
For by so doing she will either regret her resolution or sow the seeds
of pride. If you are already famed as a faithful steward of your own
substance, do not take other people's money to give away. You
understand What I mean, for the Lord has given you understanding in all
things. Be simple as a dove and lay snares for no man: but be cunning
as a serpent and let no man lay snares for you.(3) For a Christian who
allows others to deceive him is almost at much at fault as one who
tries to deceive others. If a man talks to you always or nearly always
about money (except it be about alms-giving, a topic which is open to
all) treat him as a broker rather than a monk. Besides food and
clothing and things manifestly neces-
122
sary give no man anything; for dogs must not eat the children's
bread.(1)
7. The true temple of Christ is the believer's soul;
adorn this, clothe it, offer gifts to it, welcome Christ in it. What
use are walls blazing with jewels when Christ in His poor(2) is in
danger of perishing from hunger? Your possessions are no longer your
own but a stewardship is entrusted to you. Remember Ananias and
Sapphira who from fear of the future kept what was their own, and be
careful for your part not rashly to squander what is Christ's. Do not,
that is, by an error of judgment give the property of the poor to those
who are not poor; lest, as a wise man has told us,(3) charity prove the
death of charity.Look not upon
Gay trappings or a Cato's empty name.(4)
In the words of Persius, God says:--
I know thy thoughts and read thine inmost soul.(5)
To be a Christian is the great thing, not merely to seem one. And
somehow or other those please the world most who please Christ least.
In speaking thus I am not like the sow lecturing Minerva; but, as a
friend warns a friend, so I warn you before you embark on your new
course. I would rather fail in ability than in will to serve you; for
my wish is that where I have fallen you may keep your footing.
8. It is with much pleasure that I have read the
book which you have sent to me containing your wise and eloquent
defence of the emperor Theodosius; and your arrangement of the subject
has particularly pleased me. While in the earlier chapters you surpass
others, in the latter you surpass yourself. Your style is terse and
neat; it has all the purity of Tully, and yet it is packed with
meaning. For, as someone has said,(6) that speech is a failure of which
men only praise the diction. You have been successful in preserving
both sequence of subjects and logical connexion. Whatever sentence one
takes, it is always a conclusion to what goes before or an introduction
to what follows. Theodosius is fortunate in having a Christian orator
like you to plead his cause. You have made his purple illustrious and
have consecrated for future ages his useful laws. Go on and prosper,
for, if such be your first ventures in the field, what will you not do
when you become a trained soldier? Oh! that it were mine to conduct a
genius like you, not(as the poets sing) through the Aonian mountains
and the peaks of Helicon but through Zion and Tabor and the high places
of Sinai. If I might teach you what I have learned myself and might
pass on to you the mystic rolls of the prophets, then might we give
birth to something such as Greece with all her learning could not shew.
9. Hear me, therefore, my fellow-servant, my friend,
my brother; give ear for a moment that I may tell you how you are to
walk in the holy scriptures. All that we read in the divine books,
while glistening and shining without, is yet far sweeter within. "He
who desires to eat the kernel must first break the nut."(1) "Open thou
mine eyes," says David, "that I may behold wondrous things out of thy
law."(2) Now, if so great a prophet confesses that he is in the
darkness of ignorance; how deep, think you, must be the night of
misapprehension with which we, mere babes and unweaned infants, are
enveloped! Now this veil rests not only on the face of Moses,(3) but on
the evangelists and the apostles as well.(4) To the multitudes the
Saviour spoke only in parables and, to make it clear that His words had
a mystical meaning, said:--"he that hath ears to hear, let him
hear."(5) Unless all things that are written are opened by Him "who
hath the key of David, who openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth
and no man openeth,"(6) no one can undo the lock or set them
before you. If only you had the foundation which He alone can give;
nay, if even His fingers were but passed over your work; there would be
nothing finer than your volumes, nothing more learned, nothing more
attractive, nothing more Latin.
10. Tertullian is packed with meaning but his style
is rugged and uncouth. The blessed Cyprian like a fountain of pure
water flows softly and sweetly but, as he is taken up with exhortations
to virtue and with the troubles consequent on persecution, he has
nowhere discussed the divine scriptures. Victorinus, although he has
the glory of a martyr's crown, yet cannot express what he knows.
Lactantius has a flow of eloquence worthy of Tully: would that he
had been as ready to teach our doctrines as he was to pull down those
of others! Arnobius is lengthy and unequal, and often confused from not
making a proper division of his subject. That reverend man Hilary gains
in height from his Gallic buskin; yet, adorned as he is with the
flowers of Greek rhetoric, he sometimes entangles himself in long
periods and offers by no means easy reading to the less learned
brethren. I say
123
nothing of other writers whether dead or living; others will hereafter
judge them both for good and for evil.(1)
11. I will come to yourself, my fellow-mystic, my
companion, and my friend; my friend, I say, though not yet personally
known: and I will ask you not to suspect a flatterer in one so
intimate. Better that you should think me mistaken or led astray by
affection than that you should hold me capable of fawning on a friend.
You have a great intellect and an inexhaustible store of language, your
diction is fluent and pure, your fluency and purity are mingled with
wisdom. Your head is clear and all your senses keen. Were you to add to
this wisdom and eloquence a careful study and knowledge of scripture, I
should soon see you holding our citadel against all comers; you would
go up with Joab upon the roof of Zion,(2) and sing upon the housetops
what you had learned in the secret chambers.(3) Gird up, I pray you,
gird up your loins. As Horace says:--
Life hath no gifts for men except they toil.(4)
Shew yourself as much a man of note in the church, as you were before
in the senate. Provide for yourself riches which you may spend daily
yet they will not fail. Provide them while you are still strong and
while as yet your head has no gray hairs: before, in the words of
Virgil,
Diseases creep on you, and gloomy age,
And pain, and cruel death's inclemency.(5)
I am not content with mediocrity for you: I desire all that you do to
be of the highest excellence.
How heartily I have welcomed the reverend presbyter
Vigilantius,(6) his own lips will tell you better than this letter. Why
he has so soon left. us and started afresh I cannot say; and, indeed, I
do not wish to hurt anyone's feelings.(7) Still, mere passer-by as he
was, in haste to continue his journey, I managed to keep him back until
I had given him a taste of my friendship for you. Thus you can learn
from him what you want to know about me. Kindly salute your reverend
sister(8) and fellow-servant, who with you fights the good fight in the
Lord.
LETTER LIX.
TO MARCELLA.
An answer to five questions put to Jerome by
Marcella in a letter not preserved. The questions are as follows.
(1) What are the things which eye hath not seen nor
ear heard (1 Cor. ii. 9)? Jerome answers that they are spiritual things
which as such can only be spiritually discerned.
(2) Is it not a mistake to identify the sheep and
the goats of Christ's parable (Matt. xxv. 31 sqq.) with Christians and
heathens? Are they not rather the good and the bad? For an answer to
this question Jerome refers Marcella to his treatise against Jovinian
(II. 18-23).
(3) Paul says that some shall be "alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord;" and that they shall be "caught up to meet
the Lord in the air" (1 Thess. iv. 15, 17). Are we to suppose this
assumption to be corporeal and that those assumed will escape death?
Yes, Jerome answers, but their bodies will be glorified.
(4) How is John xx. 17, "touch me not," to be
reconciled with Matt. xxviii. 9, "they came and held him by the feet"?
In the one case, Jerome replies, Mary Magdalen failed to recognize the
divinity of Jesus; in the other the women recognized it. Accordingly
they were admitted to a privilege which was denied to her.
(5) Was the risen Christ before His ascension
present only with the disciples, or was He in heaven and elsewhere as
well? The latter according to Jerome is the true doctrine. "The Divine
Nature," he writes, "exists everywhere in its entirety. Christ,
therefore, was at one and the same time with the apostles and with the
angels; in the Father and in the uttermost parts of the sea. So
afterwards he was with Thomas in India, with Peter at Rome, with Paul
in Illyricum, with Titus in Crete, with Andrew in Achaia." The date of
the letter is A. D. 395 or A. D. 396.
LETTER LX.
TO HELIODORUS.
One of Jerome's finest letters, written to console
his old friend, Heliodorus, now Bp. of Altinum, for the loss of his
nephew Nepotian who had died of fever a short time previously. Jerome
tries to soothe his friend's grief(1) by contrasting pagan despair or
resignation with Christian hope,(2) by an eulogy of the departed both
as man and presbyter, and(3) by a review of the evils which then beset
the Empire and from which, as he contended, Nepotian had been removed.
The letter is marked throughout with deep and sincere feeling. Its date
is 396 A. D.
1. Small wits cannot grapple large themes but
venturing beyond their strength fail in the very attempt; and, the
greater a subject is, the more completely is he overwhelmed who cannot
find words to unfold its grandeur. Nepotian who was mine and yours and
ours--or rather who was Christ's and because Christ's all the more
ours--has forsaken us his eiders so that we are smitten with pangs of
regret and overcome with a grief which is past bearing. We supposed him
our heir, yet now his corpse is all that is ours. For whom shall my
intellect now labour? Whom shall my poor
124
letters desire to please? Where is he, the impeller of my work, whose
voice was sweeter than a swan's last song? My mind is dazed my hand
trembles, a mist covers my eyes, stammering seizes my tongue. Whatever
my words, they seem as good as unspoken seeing that he no longer hears
them. My very pen seems to feel his loss, my very wax tablet looks dull
and sad; the one is covered with rust, the other with mould. As often
as I try to express myself in words and to scatter the flowers of this
encomium upon his tomb, my eyes fill with tears, my grief returns, and
I can think of nothing but his death. It was a custom in former days
for children over the dead bodies of their parents publicly to proclaim
their praises and (as when pathetic songs are sung) to draw tears from
the eyes and sighs from the breasts of those who heard them. But in our
case, behold, the order of things is changed: to deal us this blow
nature has forfeited her rights. For the respect which the young man
should have paid to his elders, we his elders are paying to him.
2. What shall I do then? Shall I join my tears to
yours? The apostle forbids me for he speaks of dead Christians as "them
which are asleep."(1) So too in the gospel the Lord says, "the damsel
is not dead but sleepeth,"(2) and Lazarus when he is raised from the
dead is said to have been asleep.(3) No, I will be glad and rejoice
that "speedily he was taken away lest that wickedness should alter his
understanding" for "his soul pleased the Lord."(4) But though I am loth
to give way and combat my feelings, tears flow down my cheeks, and in
spite of the teachings of virtue and the hope of the resurrection a
passion of regret crushes my too yielding mind. O death that dividest
brothers knit together in love, how cruel, how ruthless thou art so to
sunder them! "The Lord hath fetched a burning wind that cometh up from
the wilderness: which hath dried thy veins and hath made thy well
spring desolate."(5) Thou didst swallow up our Jonah, but even in thy
belly He still lived. Thou didst carry Him as one dead, that the
world's storm might be stilled and our Nineveh saved by His preaching.
He, yes He, conquered thee, He slew thee, that fugitive prophet who
left His home, gave up His inheritance and surrendered his dear life
into the hands of those who sought it. He it was who of old threatened
thee in Hoses: "O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy
destruction."(6) By His death thou art dead; by His death we live. Thou
hast swallowed up and thou art swallowed up. Whilst thou art smitten
with a longing for the body assumed by Him, and whilst thy greedy jaws
fancy it a prey, thy inward parts are wounded with hooked fangs.
3. To Thee, O Saviour Christ, do we Thy creatures
offer thanks that, when Thou wast slain, Thou didst slay our mighty
adversary. Before Thy coming was there any being more miserable than
man who cowering at the dread prospect of eternal death did but receive
life that he might perish! For "death reigned from Adam to Moses even
over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's
transgression."(1) If Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob be in hell, who can be
in the kingdom of heaven? If Thy friends--even those who had not
sinned themselves--were yet for the sins of another liable to the
punishment of offending Adam, what must we think of those who have said
in their hearts "There is no God;" who "are corrupt and abominable"(2)
in their self-will, and of whom it is said "they are gone out of the
way, they are become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no
not one"?(3) Even if Lazarus is seen in Abraham's bosom and in a place
of refreshment, still the lower regions cannot be compared with the
kingdom of heaven. Before Christ's coming Abraham is in the lower
regions: after Christ's coming the robber is in paradise. And therefore
at His rising again "many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and
were seen in the heavenly Jerusalem."(4) Then was fulfilled the saying:
"Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall
give thee light."(5) John the Baptist cries in the desert: "repent ye;
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."(6) For "from the days of John
the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent
take it by force."(7) The flaming sword that keeps the way of paradise
and the cherubim that are stationed at its doors(8) are alike quenched
and unloosed by the blood of Christ.(9) It is not surprising that this
should be promised us in the resurrection: for as many of us as living
in the flesh do not live after the flesh,(10) have our citizenship in
heaven,(11) and while we are still here on earth we are told that "the
kingdom of heaven is within us."(12)
4. Moreover before the resurrection of Christ God
was "known in Judah" only and "His name was great in Israel" alone.(12)
And they who knew Him were despite their knowledge dragged down to
hell. Where in those days were the inhabitants of the globe from India
to Britain, from the frozen zone of the North to the burning heat of
the Atlantic ocean?
125
Where were the countless peoples of the world? Where the great
multitudes?
Unlike in tongue, unlike in dress and arms?(1)
They were crushed like fishes and locusts, like flies and gnats. For
apart from knowledge of his Creator every man is but a brute. But now
the voices and writings of all nations proclaim the passion and the
resurrection of Christ. I say nothing of the Jews, the Greeks, and the
Romans, peoples which the Lord has dedicated to His faith by the title
written on His cross.(2) The immortality of the soul and its
continuance after the dissolution of the body--truths of which
Pythagoras dreamed, which Democ-ritus refused to believe, and which
Socrates discussed in prison to console himself for the sentence passed
upon him--are now the familiar themes of Indian and of Persian, of Goth
and of Egyptian. The fierce Bessians(3) and the throng of skinclad
savages who used to offer human sacrifices in honour of the dead have
broken out of their harsh discord into the sweet music of the cross and
Christ is the one cry of the whole world.
5. What can we do, my soul? Whither must we turn?
What must we take up first? What must we pass over? Have you forgotten
the precepts of the rhetoricians? Are you so preoccupied with grief, so
overcome with tears, so hindered with sobs, that you forget all logical
sequence? Where are the studies you have pursued from your childhood?
Where is that saying of Anaxagoras and Telamon (which you have always
commended) "I knew myself to have begotten a mortal"?(4) I have read
the books of Crantor which he wrote to soothe his grief and which
Cicero has imitated.(5) I have read the consolatory writings of Plato,
Diogenes, Clitomachus, Carneades, Posidonius, who at different times
strove by book or letter to lessen the grief of various persons.
Consequently, were my own wit to dry up, it could be watered anew from
the fountains which these have opened. They set before us examples
without number; and particularly those of Pericles and of Socrates's
pupil Xenophon. The former of these after the, loss of his two sons put
on a garland and delivered a harangue;(6) while the latter, on hearing
when he was offering sacrifice that his son had been slain in war, is
said to have laid down his garland; and then, on learning that he had
fallen fighting bravely, is said to have put it on his head again. What
shall I say of those Roman generals whose heroic virtues glitter like
stars on the pages of Latin history? Pulvillus was dedicating the
capitol(1) when receiving the news of his son's sudden death, he gave
orders that the funeral should take place without him. Lucius
Paullus(2) entered the city in triumph in the week which intervened
between the funerals of his two sons. I pass over the Maximi, the
Catos, the Galli, the Pisos, the Bruti, the Scaevolas, the Metelli, the
Scauri, the Marii, the Crassi, the Marcelli, the Aufidii, men who
shewed equal fortitude in sorrow and war, and whose bereavements Tully
has set forth in his book Of consolation. I pass them over lest I
should seem to have chosen the words and woes of others in preference
to my own. Yet even these instances may suffice to ensure us
mortification if our faith fails to surpass the achievements of
unbelief.
6. Let me come then to my proper subject. I will not
beat my breast with Jacob and with David for sons dying in the Law, but
I will receive them rising again with Christ in the Gospel. The Jew's
mourning is the Christian's joy. "Weeping may endure for a night but
joy cometh in the morning."(3) "The night is far spent, the day is at
hand."(4) Accordingly when Moses dies, mourning is made for him,(5) but
when Joshua is buried, it is without tears or funeral pomp.(5) All that
can be drawn from scripture on the subject of lamentation I have
briefly set forth in the letter of consolation which I addressed to
Paula at Rome.(7) Now I must take another path to arrive at the same
goal. Otherwise I shall seem to be walking anew in a track once beaten
but now long disused.
7. We know indeed that our Nepotian is with Christ
and that he has joined the choirs of the saints. What here with us he
groped after on earth afar off and sought for to the best of his
judgment, there he sees nigh at hand, so that he can say: "as we have
heard so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of
our God."(8) Still we cannot bear the feeling of his absence, and
grieve, if not for him, for ourselves. The greater the happiness which
he enjoys, the deeper the sorrow in which the loss of a blessing so
great plunges us. The sisters of Lazarus could not help weeping for
him, although they knew that he would rise again. And the Saviour
himself--to shew that he possessed true human feeling--mourned for him
whom He was about to raise.(9) His apostle also, though he says: "I
desire to depart and to be with Christ,"(10) and elsewhere "to
126
me to live is Christ and to die is gain,"(1) thanks God that
Epaphras(2) (who had been "sick nigh unto death") has been given back
to him that he might not have sorrow upon sorrow? Words prompted not by
the fear that springs of unbelief but by the passionate regret that
comes of true affection. How much more deeply must you who were to
Nepotian both uncle and bishop,(that is, a father both in the flesh and
in the spirit), deplore the loss of one so dear, as though your heart
were torn from you. Set a limit, I pray you, to your sorrow and
remember the saying "in nothing overmuch."(4) Bind up for a little
while your wound and listen to the praises of one in whose virtue you
have always delighted. Do not grieve that you have lost such a paragon:
rejoice rather that he has once been yours. As on a small tablet men
depict the configuration of the earth, so in this little scroll of mine
you may see his virtues if not fully depicted at least sketched in
outline. I beg that you will take the will for the performance.
8. The advice of the rhetoricians in such cases is
that you should first search out the remote ancestors of the person to
be eulogized and recount their exploits, and then come gradually to
your hero; so as to make him more illustrious by the virtues of his
forefathers, and to show either that he is a worthy successor of good
men, or that he has conferred lustre upon a lineage in itself obscure.
But as my duty is to sing the praises of the soul, I will not dwell
upon those fleshly advantages which Nepotian for his part always
despised. Nor will I boast of his family, that is of the good points
belonging not to him but to others; for even those holy men Abraham and
Isaac had for sons the sinners Ishmael and Esau. And on the other hand
Jephthah who is reckoned by the apostle in the roll of the righteous(5)
is the son of a harlot.(6) It is said "the soul that sinneth, it shall
die."(7) The soul therefore that has not sinned shall live. Neither the
virtues nor the vices of parents are imputed to their children. God
takes account of us only from the time when we are born anew in Christ.
Paul, the persecutor of the church, who is in the morning the ravening
wolf of Benjamin,(8) in the evening "gave food,"(9) that is yields
himself up to the sheep Ananias.(10) Let us likewise reckon our
Nepotian a crying babe and an untutored child who has been born to us
in a moment fresh from the waters of Jordan.
9. Another would perhaps describe how for his
salvation you left the east and the desert and how you soothed me
your dearest comrade by holding out hopes of a return: and all this
that you might save, if possible, both your sister, then a widow with
one little child, or, should she reject your counsels, at any rate your
sweet little nephew. It was of him that I once used the prophetic
words: "though your little nephew cling to your neck."(1) Another, I
say, would relate how while Nepotian was still in the service of the
court, beneath his uniform and his brilliantly white linen,(2) his skin
was chafed with sackcloth; how, while standing before the powers of
this world, his lips were discoloured with fasting; how still in the
uniform of one master he served another; and how he wore the sword-belt
only that he might succour widows and wards, the afflicted and the
unhappy. For my part I dislike men to delay the complete dedication of
themselves to God. When I read of the centurion Cornelius(2) that he
was a just man I immediately hear of his baptism.
10. Still we may approve these things as the
swathing bands of an infant faith. He who has been a loyal soldier
under a strange banner is sure to deserve the laurel when he comes to
serve his own king. When Nepotian laid aside his baldrick and changed
his dress, he bestowed upon the poor all the pay that he had received.
For he had read the words: "if thou wilt be perfect, sell that thou
hast, and give to the poor and follow me,"(4) and again: "ye cannot
serve two masters, God and Mammon."(5) He kept nothing for himself but
a common tunic and cloak to cover him and to keep out the cold. Made in
the fashion of his province his attire was not remarkable either for
elegance or for squalor. He burned daily to make his way to the
monasteries of Egypt, or to visit the communities of Mesopotamia, or at
least to live a lonely life in the Dalmatian islands,(6) separated from
the mainland only by the strait of Altinum. But he had not the heart to
forsake his episcopal uncle in whom he beheld a pattern of many virtues
and from whom he could take lessons without going abroad. In one and
the same person he both found a monk to imitate and a bishop to revere.
What so often happens did not happen here. Constant intimacy did not
produce familiarity, nor did familiarity breed contempt. He revered him
as a father and every day admired him for some new virtue. To be brief,
he became a clergyman, and after passing through the usual stages was
ordained a presbyter. Good
127
Jesus! how he sighed and groaned! how he fasted and fled the eyes of
all! For the first and only time he was angry with his uncle,
complaining that the burthen laid upon him was too heavy for him and
that his youth unfitted him for the priesthood. But the more he
struggled against it, the more he drew to himself the hearts of all:
his refusal did but prove him worthy of an office which he was
reluctant to assume, and all the more worthy because he declared
himself unworthy. We too in our day have our Timothy; we too have seen
that wisdom which is as good as gray hairs;(1) our Moses has chosen an
elder whom he has known to be an eider indeed.(2) Nepotian regarded the
clerical state less as an honour than a burthen. He made it his first
care to silence envy by humility, and his next to give no cause for
scandal that such as assailed his youth might marvel at his continence.
He helped the poor, visited the sick, stirred men up to hospitality,
soothed them with soft words, rejoiced with those who rejoiced and wept
with those who wept.(3) He was a staff to the blind, food to the
hungry, hope to the dejected, consolation to the bereaved. Each single
virtue was as conspicuous in him as if he possessed no other. Among his
fellow-presbyters while ever foremost in work, he was ever satisfied
with the lowest place. Any good that he did he ascribed to his uncle:
but if the result did not correspond to his expectations, he would say
that his uncle knew nothing of it, that it was his own mistake. In
public he recognized him as a bishop; at home he looked upon him as a
father. The seriousness of his disposition was mitigated by a cheerful
expression. But while his laughter was joyous it was never loud.
Christ's virgins and widows he honoured as mothers and exhorted as
sisters "with all purity."(4) When he returned home he used to leave
the clergyman outside and to give himself over to the hard rule of a
monk. Frequent in supplication and watchful in prayer he would offer
his tears not to man but to God. His fasts he regulated--as a driver
does the pace of his horses--according to the weariness or vigour of
his body. When at his uncle's table he would just taste what was set
before him, so as to avoid superstition and yet to preserve
self-control. In conversing at entertainments his habit was to propose
some topic from scripture, to listen modestly, to answer diffidently,
to support the right, to refute the wrong, but both without bitterness;
to instruct his opponent rather than to vanquish him. Such was the
ingenuous modesty which adorned his
youth that he would frankly confess from what sources his several
arguments came; and in this way, while disclaiming a reputation for
learning, he came to be held most learned. This he would say is the
opinion of Tertullian, that of Cyprian; this of Lactantius, that of
Hilary; to this effect speaks Minucius Felix, thus Victorinus, after
this manner Arnobius. Myself too he would sometimes quote, for he loved
me because of my intimacy with his uncle. Indeed by constant reading
and long-continued meditation he had made his breast a library of
Christ.
11. How often in letters from beyond the sea he
urged me to write something to him! How often he reminded me of the man
in the gospel who sought help by night(1) and of the widow who
importuned the cruel judge!(2) And when I silently ignored his request
and made my petitioner blush by blushing to reply, he put forward his
uncle to enforce his suit, knowing that as the boon was for another he
would more readily ask it, and that as I held his episcopal office in
respect he would more easily obtain it. Accordingly I did what he
wished and in a brief essay(3) dedicated our mutual friendship to
everlasting remembrance. On receiving this Nepotian boasted that he was
richer than Croesus and wealthier than Darius. He held it in his hands,
devoured it with his eyes, kept it in his bosom, repeated it with his
lips. And often when he unrolled it upon his couch, he fell
asleep with the cherished page upon his breast. When a stranger
came or a friend, he rejoiced to let them know my witness to him. The
deficiencies of my little book he made good by careful
punctuation and varied emphasis, so that when it was read aloud it was
always he not I who seemed to please or to displease. Whence came such
zeal, if not from the love of God? Whence came such untiring study of
Christ's law, if not from a yearning for Him who gave it? Let others
add coin to coin till their purses are chock-full; let others demean
themselves to sponge on married ladies; let them be richer as monks
than they were as men of the world; let them possess wealth in the
service of a poor Christ such as they never had in the service of a
rich devil; let the church lose breath at the opulence of men who in
the world were beggars. Our Nepotian spurns gold and begs only for
written books. But while he despises himself in the flesh and walks
abroad more splendid than ever in his poverty, he still seeks out
everything that may adorn the church.
12. In comparison with what has gone before what I
am now about to say may appear trivial,
128
but even in trifles the same spirit makes itself manifest. For as we
admire the Creator not only as the framer of heaven and earth, of sun
and ocean, of elephants, camels, horses, oxen, pards, bears, and lions;
but also as the maker of the most tiny creatures, ants, gnats, flies,
worms, and the like, whose shapes we know better than their names, and
as in all alike we revere the same creative skill; so the mind that is
given to Christ shews the same earnestness in things of small as of
great importance, knowing that it must render an account of every idle
word.(1) Nepotian took pains to keep the altar bright, the church walls
free from soot and the pavement duly swept. He saw that the doorkeeper
was constantly at his post, that the doorhangings were in their places,
the sanctuary clean and the vessels shining. The careful reverence that
he shewed to every rite led him to neglect no duty small or great.
Whenever you looked for him in church you found him there.
In Quintus Fabius(2) antiquity admired a nobleman
and the author of a history of Rome, yet his paintings gained him more
renown than his writings. Our own Bezaleel(3) also and Hiram, the son
of a Tyrian woman,(4) are spoken of in scripture as filled with wisdom
and the spirit of God because they framed, the one the furniture of the
tabernacle, the other that of the temple. For, as it is with fertile
tillage-fields and rich plough-lands which at times go out into
redundant growths of stalk or ear, so is it with distinguished talents
and a mind filled with virtue. They are sure to overflow into elegant
and varied accomplishments. Accordingly among the Greeks we hear of a
philosopher(5) who used to boast that everything he wore down to his
cloak and ring was made by himself. We may pass the same eulogy on our
friend, for he adorned both the basilicas of the church and the
halls(6) of the martyrs with sketches of flowers, foliage, and
vine-tendrils, so that everything attractive in the church, whether
made so by its position or by its appearance, bore witness to the
labour and zeal of the presbyter set over it.
13. Go on blessed in thy goodness! What kind of
ending should we expect after such a beginning! Ah! hapless plight of
mortal men and vanity of all life that is not lived in Christ! Why, O
my words, do you shrink back? Why do you shift and turn? I fear to come
to the end, as if I could put off his death or make his life longer.
"All flesh is as grass
and all the glory of man as the flower of grass."(1) Where now are that
handsome face and dignified figure with which as with a fair garment
his beautiful soul was clothed? The lily began to wither, alas! when
the south wind blew, and the purple violet slowly faded into paleness.
Yet while he burned with fever and while the fire of sickness was
drying up the fountains of his veins, gasping and weary he still tried
to comfort his sorrowing uncle. His countenance shone with gladness,
and while all around him wept he and he only smiled. He flung aside his
cloak, put out his hand, saw what others failed to see, and even tried
to rise that he might welcome new comers. You would have thought that
he was starting on a journey instead of dying and that in place of
leaving all his friends behind him he was merely passing from some to
others.(2) Tears roll down my cheeks and, however much I steel my mind,
I cannot disguise the grief that I feel. Who could suppose that at such
an hour he would remember his intimacy with me, and that while he
struggled for life he would recall the sweetness of study? Yet grasping
his uncle's hand he said to him: "Send this tunic that I wore in the
service of Christ to my dear friend, my father in age, but my brother
in office, and transfer the affection hitherto claimed by your nephew
to one who is as dear to you as he is to me." With these words he
passed away holding his uncle's hand and with my name upon his lips.
14. I know how unwilling you were to prove the
affection of your people at such a cost, and that you would have
preferred to win your countrymen's love while retaining your happiness.
Such expressions of feeling, pleasant as they are when all goes well,
are doubly welcome in time of sorrow. All Altinum, all Italy mourned
Nepotian. The earth received his body; his soul was given back to
Christ. You lost a nephew, the church a priest. He who should have
followed you went before you. To the office which you held, he in the
judgment of all deserved to succeed. And so one family has had the
honour of producing two bishops, the first to be congratulated because
he has held the office, the second to be lamented because he has been
taken away too soon to hold it. Plato thinks that a wise man's whole
life ought to be a meditation of death;(3) and philosophers praise the
sentiment and extol it to the skies. But much more full of power are
the words of the apostle: "I die daily through your glory."(4) For to
have an ideal is one thing, to realize it another. It is one thing to
live so as to die, another to die
129
so as to live. The sage and Christian must both of them die: but the
one always dies out of his glory, the other into it. Therefore we also
should consider beforehand the end which must one day overtake us and
which, whether we wish it or not, cannot be very far distant. For
though we should live nine hundred years or more, as men did before the
deluge, and though the days of Methuselah(1) should be granted us, yet
that long space of time, when once it should have passed away and come
to an end, would be as nothing. For to the man who has lived ten years
and to him who has lived a thousand, when once the end of life comes
and death's inexorable doom, all the past whether long or short is just
the same; except that the older a man is, the heavier is the load of
sin that he has to take with him.
First hapless mortals lose from out their life The fairest days:
disease and age come next; And lastly cruel death doth claim his
prey.(2)
The poet Naevius too says that
Mortals must many woes perforce endure.
Accordingly antiquity has feigned that Niobe because of her much
weeping was turned to stone and that other women were metamorphosed
into beasts. Hesiod also bewails men's birthdays and rejoices in their
deaths, and Ennius wisely says:
The mob has one advantage o'er its king:
For it may weep while tears for him are shame.
If a king may not weep, neither may a bishop; indeed a bishop has still
less license than a king. For the king rules over unwilling subjects,
the bishop over willing ones. The king compels submission by terror;
the bishop exercises lordship by becoming a servant. The king guards
men's bodies till they die; the bishop saves their souls for life
eternal. The eyes of all are turned upon you. Your house is set on a
watchtower; your life fixes for others the limits of their
self-control. Whatever you do, all think that they may do the same. Do
not so commit yourself that those who seek ground for cavil may be
thought to have rightly assailed you, or that those who are eager to
imitate you may be forced to do wrong. Overcome as much as you can--nay
even more than you can--the sensitiveness of your mind and check the
copious flow of your tears. Else your deep affection for your nephew
may be construed by unbelievers as indicating despair of God. You must
regret him not as dead but as absent. You must seem lobe looking
for him rather than have lost him. 15. But why do I try to heal a
sorrow which
has already, I suppose, been assuaged by time and reason? Why do I not
rather unfold to you--they are not far to seek--the miseries of our
rulers and the calamities of our time? He who has lost the light of
life is not so much to be pitied as he is to be congratulated who has
escaped from such great evils. Constantius,(1) the patron of the Arian
heresy, was hurrying to do battle with his enemy(2) when he died at the
village of Mopsus and to his great vexation left the empire to his foe.
Julian(3), the betrayer of his own soul, the murderer of a Christian
army, felt in Media the hand of the Christ whom he had previously
denied in Gaul. Desiring to annex new territories to Rome, he did but
lose annexations previously made. Jovian(4) had but just tasted the
sweets of sovereignty when a coal-fire suffocated him: a good instance
of the transitoriness of human power. Valentinian(5) died of a broken
blood vessel, the land of his birth laid waste, and his country
un-avenged. His brother Valens(6) defeated in Thrace by the Goths, was
buried where he died. Gratian, betrayed by his army and refused
admittance by the cities on his line of march, became the
laughing-stock of his foe; and your walls, Lyons, still bear the marks
of that bloody hand.(7) Valentinian was yet a youth--I may say, a mere
boy--when, after flight and exile and the recovery of his power by
bloodshed, he was put to death(8) not far from the city which had
witnessed his brother's end. And not only so but his lifeless body was
gibbeted to do him shame. What shall I say of Procopius, of Maximus, of
Eugenius,(9) who while they held sovereign sway were a terror to the
nations, yet stood one and all as prisoners in the presence of their
conquerors, and -- cruellest wound of all to the great and
powerful -- felt the pang of an ignominious slavery before they fell by
the edge of the sword.
16. Some one may say: such is the lot of kings:
The lightning ever smites the mountain-tops.(10)
I will come therefore to persons of private position, and in speaking
of these I will not go farther back than the last two years. In fact I
will content myself--omitting all others--with recounting the
respective fates of three recent consulars. Abundantius is a beggared
exile at Pityus.(11) The head of Rufinus has
130
been carried on a pike to Constantinople, and his severed hand has
begged alms from door to door to shame his insatiable greed.(1)
Timasius,(2) hurled suddenly from a position of the highest rank thinks
it an escape that he is allowed to live in obscurity at Assa. I am
describing not the misfortunes of an unhappy few but the thread upon
which human fortunes as a whole depend. I shudder when I think of the
catastrophes of our time. For twenty years and more the blood of Romans
has been shed daily between Constantinople and the Julian Alps.
Scythia, Thrace, Macedonia, Dardania, Dacia, Thessaly, Achaia, Epirus,
Dalmatia, the Pannonias--each and all of these have been sacked and
pillaged and plundered by Goths and Sarmatians, Quades and Alans, Huns
and Vandals and Marchmen. How many of God's matrons and virgins,
Virtuous and noble ladies, have been made the sport of these brutes!
Bishops have been made captive, priests and those in minor orders have
been put to death. Churches have been overthrown, horses have been
stalled by the altars of Christ, the relics of martyrs have been dug up.
Mourning and fear abound on every side
And death appears in countless shapes and forms.(3)
The Roman world is falling: yet we hold up our heads instead of bowing
them. What courage, think you, have the Corinthians now, or the
Athenians or the Lacedaemonians or the Arcadians, or any of the Greeks
over whom the barbarians bear sway? I have mentioned only a
few cities, but these once the capitals of no mean states. The East, it
is true, seemed to be safe from all such evils: and if men were
panic-stricken here, it was only because of bad news from other parts.
But lo! in the year just gone by the wolves (no longer of Arabia but of
the whole North(4)) were let loose upon us from the remotest fastnesses
of Caucasus and in a short time overran these great provinces. What a
number of monasteries they captured! What many rivers they caused to
run red with blood! They laid siege to Antioch and invested other
cities on the Halys, the Cydnus, the Orontes, and the Euphrates. They
carried off troops of captives. Arabia, Phenicia, Palestine and Egypt,
in their terror fancied themselves already enslaved.
Had I a hundred tongues, a hundred lips,
A throat of iron and a chest of brass,
I could not tell
men's countless sufferings.(5)
And indeed it is not my purpose to write a
history: I only wish to shed a few tears over your sorrows and mine.
For the rest, to treat such themes as they deserve, Thucydides and
Sallust would be as good as dumb.
17. Nepotian is happy who neither sees these things
nor hears them. We are unhappy, for either we suffer ourselves or we
see our brethren suffer. Yet we desire to live, and regard those beyond
the reach of these evils as miserable rather than blessed. We have long
felt that God is angry, yet we do not try to appease Him. It is our
sins which make the barbarians strong, it is our vices which vanquish
Rome's soldiers: and, as if there were here too little material for
carnage, civil wars have made almost greater havoc among us than the
swords of foreign foes. Miserable must those Israelites have been
compared with whom Nebuchadnezzar was called God's servant.(1) Unhappy
too are we who are so displeasing to God that He uses the fury of the
barbarians to execute His wrath against us. Still when Hezekiah
repented, one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians were destroyed
in one night by a single angel.(2) When Jehosaphat sang the praises of
the Lord, the Lord gave His worshipper the victory.(3) Again when Moses
fought against Amalek, it was not with the sword but with prayer that
he prevailed.(4) Therefore, if we wish to be lifted up, we must first
prostrate ourselves. Alas! for our shame and folly reaching even to
unbelief! Rome's army, once victor and lord of the world, now
trembles with terror at the sight of the foe and accepts defeat
from men who cannot walk afoot and fancy themselves dead if once they
are unhorsed.(5) We do not understand the prophet's words: "One
thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one."(6) We do not cut away the
causes of the disease, as we must do to remove the disease itself. Else
we should soon see the enemies' arrows give way to our javelins, their
caps to our helmets, their palfreys to our chargers.
18. But I have gone beyond the office of a consoler,
and while forbidding you to weep for one dead man I have myself mourned
the dead of the whole world. Xerxes the mighty king who rased mountains
and filled up seas, looking from high ground upon the untold host, the
countless army before him, is said(7) to have wept at the thought that
in a hundred years not one of those whom he then saw would be alive.
Oh! if we could but get up into a watch-tower so high that from it we
might behold the whole earth spread out under our feet, then I would
shew you the
131
wreck of a world, nation warring against nation and kingdom in
collision with kingdom; some men tortured, others put to the sword,
others swallowed up by the waves, some dragged away into slavery; here
a wedding, there a funeral; men born here, men dying there; some living
in affluence, others begging their bread; and not the army of Xerxes,
great as that was, but all the inhabitants of the world alive now but
destined soon to pass away. Language is inadequate to a theme so vast
and all that I can say must fall short of the reality.
19. Let us return then to ourselves and coming down
from the skies let us look for a few moments upon what more nearly
concerns us. Are you conscious, I would ask, of the stages of your
growth? Can you fix the time when you became a babe, a boy, a youth, an
adult, an old man? Every day we are changing, every day we are dying,
and yet we fancy ourselves eternal. The very moments that I spend in
dictation, in writing, in reading over what I write, and in correcting
it, are so much taken from my life. Every dot that my secretary makes
is so much gone from my allotted time. We write letters and reply to
those of others, our missives cross the sea, and, as the vessel ploughs
its furrow through wave after wave, the moments which we have to live
vanish one by one. Our only gain is that we are thus knit together in
the love of Christ. "Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity
envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; beareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Charity never faileth."(1) It lives always in the heart, and thus our
Nepotian though absent is still present, and widely sundered though we
are has a hand to offer to each. Yes, in him we have a hostage for
mutual charity. Let us then be joined together in spirit, let us bind
ourselves each to each in affection and let us who have lost a son shew
the same fortitude with which the blessed pope Chromatius(2) bore the
loss of a brother. Let every page that we write echo his name, let all
our letters ring with it. If we can no longer clasp him to our hearts,
let us hold him fast in memory; and if we can no longer speak with him,
let us never cease to speak of him.
LETTER LXI.
TO VIGILANTIUS.
Vigilantius on his return to the West after his
visit to Jerusalem (whither he had gone as the bearer of letters from
Paulinus of Nola--see Letter LVIII. (?) 11.) had openly accused Jerome
of a leaning to the heresy of Origen. Jerome now writes to him in the
most severe
tone repudiating the charge of Origenism and fastening upon his
opponent those of ignorance and blasphemy. He singles out for especial
reprobation Vigilantius's explanation of 'the stone cut out without
hands' in Daniel and urges him to repent of his sins in which case he
will have as much chance of forgiveness as the devil has according to
Origen! The letter is often referred to as showing Jerome's way of
dealing with Origen's works. Jerome subsequently wrote a refutation of
Vigilantius's work, of all his controversial writings the most violent
and the least reasonable. See the translation of it in this volume. See
also Letter CIX. The date of this letter is 396 A.D.
1. Since you have refused to believe your own ears,
I might justly decline to satisfy you by a letter; for, if you have
failed to credit the living voice, it is not likely that you will give
way to a written paper. But, since Christ has shown us in Himself a
pattern of perfect humility, bestowing a kiss upon His betrayer and
receiving the robber's repentance upon the cross, I tell you now when
absent as I have told you already when present, that I read and have
read Origen only as I read Apollinaris, or other writers whose books in
some things the Church does not receive. I by no means say that
everything contained in such books is to be condemned, but I admit that
there are things in them deserving of censure. Still, as it is my task
and study by reading many authors to cull different flowers from as
large a number as possible, not so much making it an object to prove
all things as to choose what are good. I take up many writers that
froth the many I may learn many things; according to that which is
written "reading all things, holding fast those that are good."(1)
Hence I am much surprised that you have tried to fasten upon me the
doctrines of Origen, of whose mistaken teaching on many points you are
up to the present altogether unaware. Am I a heretic? Why pray then do
heretics dislike me so? And are you orthodox, you who either against
your convictions and the words of your own mouth signed(2) unwillingly
and are consequently a prevaricator, or else signed deliberately and
are consequently a heretic? You have taken no account of Egypt; you
have relinquished all those provinces where numbers plead freely and
openly for your sect; and you have singled out me for assault, me
who not only censure but publicly condemn all doctrines that are
contrary to the church.
2. Origen is a heretic, true; but what does that
take from me who do not deny that on very many points he is heretical?
He has erred concerning the resurrection of the body, he has erred
concerning the condition of souls, he
132
has erred by supposing it possible that the devil may repent, and--an
error more important than these--he has declared in his commentary upon
Isaiah that the Seraphim mentioned by the prophet(1) are the divine Son
and the Holy Ghost. If I did not allow that he has erred or if I did
not daily anathematize his errors I should be partaker of his fault.
For while we receive what is good in his writings we must on no account
bind ourselves to accept also what is evil. Still in many passages he
has interpreted the scriptures well, has explained obscure places in
the prophets, and has brought to light very great mysteries, both in
the old and in the new testament. If then I have taken over what is
good in him and have either cut away or altered or ignored what is
evil, am I to be regarded as guilty on the score that through my agency
those who read Latin receive the good in his writings without knowing
anything of the bad? If this be a crime the confessor Hilary must be
convicted; for he has rendered from Greek into Latin Origen's
Explanation of the Psalms and his Homilies on Job. Eusebius of
Vercellae, who witnessed a like confession, must also be held in fault;
for he has translated into our tongue the Commentaries upon all the
Psalms of his heretical namesake, omitting however the unsound portions
and rendering only those parts which are profitable. I say nothing of
Victorinus of Petavium and others who have merely followed and expanded
Origen in their explanation of the scriptures. Were I to do so, I might
seem less anxious to defend myself than to find for myself companions
in guilt. I will come to your own case: Why do you keep copies of his
treatises on Job? In these, while arguing against the devil and
concerning the stars and heavens, he has said certain things which the
Church does not receive. Is it for you alone, with that very wise head
of yours, to pass sentence upon all writers Greek and Latin, with a
wave of your censor's wand to eject some from our libraries and to
admit others, and as the whim takes you to pronounce me either a
Catholic or a heretic? And am I to be forbidden to reject things which
are wrong and to condemn what I have often condemned already? Read what
I have written upon the epistle to the Ephesians, read my other works,
particularly my commentary upon Ecclesiastes, and you will clearly see
that from my youth up I have never been terrified by any man's
influence into acquiescence in heretical pravity.
3. It is no small gain to know your own ignorance.
It is a man's wisdom to know his own measure, that he may not be led
away at
the instigation of the devil to make the whole world a witness of his
incapacity. You are bent, I suppose, on magnifying yourself and boast
in your own country that I found myself unable to answer your eloquence
and that I dreaded in you the sharp satire of a Chrysippus.(1)
Christian modesty holds me back and I do not wish to lay open the
retirement of my poor cell with biting words. Otherwise I should soon
shew up all your bravery and your parade of triumph.(2) But these I
leave to others either to talk of or to laugh at; while for my own part
as a Christian speaking to a Christian I beseech you my brother not to
pretend to know more than you do, lest your pen may proclaim your
innocence and simplicity, or at any rate those qualities of which I say
nothing but which, though you do not see them in yourself others see in
you. For then you will give everyone reason to laugh at your folly.
From your earliest childhood you have been taught other lessons and
have been used to a different kind of schooling. One and the same
person can hardly be a tester both of gold coins on the counter and
also of the scriptures, or be a connoisseur of wines and an adept in
expounding prophets or apostles.(3) As for me, you tear me limb from
limb, our reverend brother Oceanus you charge with heresy, you dislike
the judgment of the presbyters Vincent and Paulinian, and our brother
Eusebius also displeases you. You alone are to be our Cato, the most
eloquent of the Roman race, and you wish us to accept what you say as
the words of prudence herself. Pray call to mind the day when I
preached on the resurrection and on the reality of the risen body, and
when you jumped up beside me and clapped your hands and stamped your
feet and applauded my orthodoxy. Now, however, that you have taken to
sea travelling the stench of the bilge water has affected your head,
and you have called me to mind only as a heretic. What can I do for
you? I believed the letters of the reverend presbyter Paulinus, and it
did not occur to me that his judgment concerning you could be wrong.
And although, the moment that you handed me the letter, I noticed a
certain incoherency in your language, yet I fancied this due to want of
culture and knowledge in you and not to an unsettled brain. I do not
censure the reverend writer who preferred, no doubt, in writing to me
to keep back what he knew rather than to accuse in his missive one who
was both under his patronage and entrusted with his letter; but I find
fault with myself that I have
133
rested in another's judgment rather than my own, and that, while my
eyes saw one thing, I believed on the evidence of a scrap of paper
something else than what I saw.
4. Wherefore cease to worry me and to overwhelm me
with your scrolls. Spare at least your money with which you hire
secretaries and copyists, employing the same persons to write for you
and to applaud you. Possibly their praise is due to the fact that they
make a profit out of writing for you. If you wish to exercise your
mind, hand yourself over to the teachers of grammar and rhetoric, learn
logic, have yourself instructed in the schools of the philosophers; and
when you have learned all these things you will perhaps begin to hold
your tongue. And yet I are acting foolishly in seeking teachers for one
who is competent to teach everyone, and in trying to limit the
utterance of one who does not know how to speak yet cannot remain
silent. The old Greek proverb is quite true "A lyre is of no use to an
ass."(1) For my part I imagine that even your name was given you out of
contrariety.(2) For your whole mind slumbers and you actually snore, so
profound is the sleep--or rather the lethargy--in which you are
plunged. In fact amongst the other blasphemies which with sacrilegious
lips you have uttered you have dared to say that the mountain in
Daniel(2) out of which the stone was cut without hands is the devil,
and that the stone is Christ, who having taken a body from Adam (whose
sins had before connected him with the devil) is born of a virgin to
separate mankind from i the mountain, that is, from the devil. Your
tongue deserves to be cut out and torn into fragments. Can any true
Christian explain this image of the devil instead of referring it to
God the Father Almighty, or defile the ears of the whole world with so
frightful an enormity? If your explanation has ever been accepted by
any--I will not say Catholic but--heretic or heathen, let your words be
regarded as pious. If on the other hand the Church of Christ has never
yet heard of such an impiety, and if yours has been the first mouth
through which he who once said "I will be like the Most High"(4)
has declared that he is the mountain spoken of by Daniel, then repent,
put on sackcloth and ashes, and with fast-flowing tears wash away your
awful guilt; if so be that this impiety may be forgiven you, and,
supposing Origen's heresy to be true, that you may obtain pardon when
the devil himself shall obtain it, the devil who has never been
convicted of greater blasphemy
than that which he has uttered through you. Your insult offered to
myself I bear with patience: your impiety towards God I cannot bear.
Accordingly I may seem to have been somewhat more acrid in this latter
part of my letter than I declared I would be at the outset. Yet having
once before repented and asked pardon of me, it is extremely foolish in
you again to commit a sin for which you must anew do penance. May
Christ give you grace to hear and to hold your peace, to understand and
so to speak.
LETTER LXII.
TO TRANQUILLINUS.
Tranquillinus, one of Jerome's Roman friends, had
written (1) to tell him of the stand that Oceanus was making against
the Origenists at Rome, and (2) to ask whether any parts of Origen's
works might be studied with safety and profit. Jerome welcomes the
tidings about Oceanus and answers the question of Tranquillinus in the
affirmative. He classes Origen with Tertullian, Apollinaris and others
whose works continued to he read in spite of their heresies. Written in
396 or
397 A. D.
I. Though I formerly doubted the fact, I have now
proved that the links which bind spirit to spirit are stronger than any
physical bond. For you, my reverend friend, cling to me with all your
soul, and I am united to you by the love of Christ. I speak simply and
sincerely to your spotless heart: the very paper on which you write,
the very letters which you have formed--voiceless though they
are--in-spire in me a sense of your affection.
2. You tell me that many have been deceived by the
mistaken teaching of Origen, and that that saintly man, my son Oceanus,
is doing battle with their madness. I grieve to think that simple folk
have been thrown off their balance, but I am rejoiced to know that one
so learned as Oceanus is doing his best to set them right again.
Moreover you ask me, insignificant though I am, for an opinion as to
the advisability of reading Origen's works. Are we, you say, to reject
him altogether with our brother Faustinus, or are we, as others tell
us, to read him in part? My opinion is that we should sometimes read
him for his learning just as we read Tertullian, Novatus, Arnobius,
Apollinarius and some other church writers both Greek and Latin, and
that we should select what is good and avoid what is bad in their
writings according to the words of the Apostle, "Prove all things: hold
fast that which is good"(1) Those, however, who are led by some
perversity in their dispositions to conceive for him too much fondness
or too much aversion seem to me to lie under the
134
curse of the Prophet:--"Woe unto them that call evil good and good
evil; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"(1) For while the
ability of his teaching must not lead us to embrace his wrong opinions,
the wrongness of his opinions should not cause us altogether to reject
the useful commentaries which he has published on the holy scriptures.
But if his admirers and his detractors are bent on having a tug of war
one against the other, and if, seeking no mean and observing no
moderation, they must either approve or disapprove his works
indiscriminately, I would choose rather to be a pious boor than a
learned blasphemer. Our reverend brother, Tatian the deacon, heartily
salutes you.
LETTER LXIII.
TO THEOPHILUS.
When the dispute arose between Jerome and Epiphanius
on the one side and Rufinus and John of Jerusalem on the other (see
Letter LI.), Theophilus bishop of Alexandria, being appealed to by the
latter sent the presbyter Isidore to report to him on the matter.
Isidore reported against Jerome and consequently Theophilus refused to
answer several of his letters. Finally he wrote counselling him to obey
the canons of the church. Jerome replies that to do this has always
been his first object. He then remonstrates with Theophilus on his too
great leniency towards the Origenists and declares it to be productive
of the worst results. The date of the letter is probably 397 A.D.
Jerome to the most blessed pope(2) Theophilus.
I. Your holiness will remember that at the time when
you kept silence towards me, I never ceased to do my duty by writing to
you, not taking so much into account what you in the exercise of your
discretion were then doing as what it became me to do. And now that I
have received a letter from your grace, I see that my reading of the
gospel has not been without fruit. For if the frequent prayers of a
woman changed the determination of an unyielding judge,(3) how much
more must my constant appeals have softened a fatherly heart Auks yours?
2. I thank you for your reminder concerning the
canons of the Church. Truly, "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."(4) Still I would assure you
that nothing is more my aim than to maintain the rights of Christ, to
keep to the lines laid down by the fathers, and always to remember the
faith of Rome; that faith which is praised by the lips of an
apostle,(1) and of which the Alexandrian church boasts to be a sharer.
3. Many religious persons are displeased that you
are so long-suffering in regard to that shocking heresy,(2) and that
you suppose yourself able by such lenity to amend those who are
attacking the Church's vitals. They believe that, while you are waiting
for the penitence of a few, your action is fostering the boldness of
abandoned men and making their party stronger. Farewell in Christ.
LETTER LXIV.
TO FABIOLA.
Fabiola's visit to Bethlehem had been shortened by
the threatened invasion of the Huns which compelled Jerome and his
friends to take refuge for a time on the seaboard of Palestine. Fabiola
here took leave of her companions and set sail for Italy, but not until
Jerome had completed this letter for her use ( 22). It contains a
mystical account of the vestments of the High Priest worked out with
Jerome's usual ingenuity and learning. Similar treatises are ascribed
to Tertullian and to Hosius bishop of Cordova, but these have long
since perished. Its date is 396 or 397 A.D.
LETTER LXV.
TO PRINCIPIA.
A commentary on Ps. XLV. addressed to Marcella's
friend and companion Principia (see Letter CXXVII.). Jerome prefaces
what he has to say by a defence of his practice of writing for women, a
practice which had exposed him to many foolish sneers. He deals with
the same subject in his dedication of the Commentary of Sophronius. The
date of the letter is 397 A.D.
LETTER LXVI.
TO PAMMACHIUS.
Pammachius a Roman senator, had lost his wife
Paulina one of Paula's daughters, while she was still in the flower of
her youth. It was not till two years had elapsed that Jerome ventured
to write to him; and when he did so he dwelt but little on the life and
virtues of Paulina. Probably there was but little to tell. The greater
part of the letter is taken up with commendation of Pammachius himself
who, in spite of his high rank and position, had become a monk and was
now living a life of severe self-denial. Jerome speaks approvingly of
the Hospice for Strangers which, in conjunction with Fabiola,
Pammachius had set up at Portus, and describes his own somewhat similar
institutions at Bethlehem. He also mentions Paula, Eustochium, and the
dead Blaesilla, all in terms of the highest praise. The date of
the letter is 397 A.D.
I. Supposing a wound to be healed and a scar to have
been formed upon the skin, any course of treatment designed to remove
the
135
mark must in its effort to improve the appearance renew the smart of
the original wound. After two years of inopportune silence my
condolence now comes rather late; yet even so I am afraid that my
present speech may be still more inopportune. I fear lest in touching
the sore spot in your heart I may by my words inflame afresh a wound
which time and reflection have availed to cure. For who can have ears
so dull or hearts so flinty as to hear the name of your Paulina without
weeping? Even though reared on the milk of Hyrcanian tigresses(1) they
must still shed tears. Who can with dry eyes see thus untimely cut down
and withered an opening rose, an undeveloped bud,(2) which has not yet
formed itself into a cup nor spread forth the proud display of its
crimson petals? In her a most priceless pearl is broken. In her a vivid
emerald is shattered. Sickness alone shews us the blessedness of
health. We realize better what we have had when we cease to have it.
2. The good ground of which we read in the parable
brought forth fruit, some an hundred-fold, some sixtyfold, and some
thirtyfold.(3) In this threefold yield I recognize an emblem of the
three different rewards of Christ which have fallen to three women(4)
closely united in blood and moral excellence. Eustochium culls the
flowers of virginity. Paula sweeps the toilsome threshing floor of
widowhood. Paulina keeps the bed undefiled of marriage. A mother with
such daughters wins for herself on earth all that Christ has promised
to give in heaven. Then to complete the team--if I may so call it--of
four saints turned out by a single family, and to match the women's
virtues by those of a man, the three have a fit companion in Pammachius
who is a cherub such as Ezekiel describes,(5) brother-in-law to the
first. son-in-law to the second, husband to the third. Husband did I
say? Nay, rather a most devoted brother; for the language of marriage
is inadequate to describe the holy bonds of the Spirit. Of this team
Jesus holds the reins, and it is of steeds like these that Habakkuk
sings: "ride upon thy horses and let thy riding be salvation."(6) With
like resolve if with unlike speed they strain after the victor's palm.
Their colours are different; their object is the same. They are
harnessed in one yoke, they obey one driver, not waiting for the lash
but answering the call of his voice with fresh efforts.
3. Let me use for a moment the language of
philosophy. According to the Stoics there are four virtues so closely
related and mutually coherent that he who lacks one lacks all. They are
prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.(1) While all of you
possess the four, yet each is remarkable for one. You have prudence,
your mother has justice, your virgin sister has fortitude, your wedded
wife has temperance. I speak of you as wise, for who can be wiser than
one who, despising the folly of the world, has followed Christ "the
power of God and the wisdom of God"?(2) Or what better instance can
there be of justice than your mother, who having divided her substance
among her offspring has taught them by her own contempt of riches the
true object on which to fix their affections? Who has set a better
example of courage than Eustochium, who by resolving to be a virgin has
breached the gates of the nobility and broken down the pride of a
consular house? The first of Roman ladies, she has brought under the
yoke the first of Roman families. Has there ever been temperance
greater than that of Paulina, who, reading the words of the apostle:
"marriage is honourable in all and the bed unde filed,"(3) and not
presuming to aspire to the happiness of her virgin sister or the
continence of her widowed mother, has preferred to keep to the safe
track of a lower path rather than treading on air to lose herself in
the clouds? When once she had entered upon the married state, her one
thought day and night was that, as soon as her union should be blessed
with offspring, she would live thenceforth in the second degree of
chastity,(4) and
Though woman, foremost in the high emprise,(5)
would induce her husband to follow a like course. She would not forsake
him but looked for the day when he would become a companion in
salvation. Finding by several miscarriages that her womb was not
barren, she could not give up all hope of having children and had to
allow her own reluctance to give way to the eagerness of her
mother-in-law and the chagrin of her husband. Thus she suffered
much as Rachel suffered,(6) although instead of bringing forth
like her a son of pangs and of the right hand,(7) the heir she had
longed for was no other than her husband. I have learned on good
authority that her wish in submitting herself to her husband was not to
take advantage of God's primitive command "Be faithful and multiply and
replenish the earth"(8) but that she only desired children that she
might bring forth virgins to Christ.
4. We read that the wife of Phinehas the priest, on hearing
that the ark of the Lord
136
had been taken, was seized suddenly with the pains of travail and that
she brought forth a son Ichabod and died a mother in the hands of the
women who nursed her.(1) Rachel's son is called Benjamin, that is 'son
of excellence' Or 'of the right hand'; but the son of the other,
afterwards to be a distinguished priest of God, derives his name from
the ark.(2) The same thing has come to pass in our own day, for since
Paulina fell asleep the Church has posthumously borne the monk
Pammachius, a patrician by his parentage and marriage, rich in alms,
and lofty in lowliness. The apostle writes to the Corinthians, "Ye see
your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men, not many noble are
called."(3) The conditions of the nascent church required this to be so
that the grain of mustard seed might grow up little by little into a
tree,(4) and that the leaven of the gospel might gradually raise more
and more the whole lump of the church.(5) In our day Rome possesses
what the world in days gone by knew not of. Then few of the wise or
mighty or noble were Christians; now many wise powerful and noble are
not Christians only but even monks. And among them all my Pammachius is
the wisest, the mightiest, and the noblest; great among the great, a
leader among leaders, he is the commander in chief of all monks. He and
others like him are the offspring which Paulina desired to have in her
life time and which she has given us in her death. "Sing, O barren,
thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou
that didst not travail with child";(6) for in a moment thou hast
brought forth as many sons as there are poor men in Rome.
5. The glowing gems which in old days adorned the
neck and face of Paulina now purchase food for the needy. Her silk
dresses and gold brocades are exchanged for soft woollen garments
intended to keep out the cold and not to expose the body to vain
admiration. All that formerly ministered to luxury is now at the
service of virtue. That blind man holding out his hand, and often
crying aloud when there is none to hear, is the heir of Paulina, is
co-heir with Pammachius. That poor cripple who can scarcely drag
himself along, owes his support to the help of a tender girl. Those
doors which of old poured forth crowds of visitors, are now beset only
by the wretched. One suffers from a dropsy, big with death; another
mute and without the means of begging, begs the more appealingly
because he cannot beg; another maimed
from his childhood implores an alms which he may not himself enjoy.
Still another has his limbs rotted with jaundice and lives on after his
body has become a corpse. To use the language of Virgil:
Had I a hundred tongues, a hundred lips,
I could not tell men's countless sufferings.(1)
Such is the bodyguard which accompanies Pammachius wherever he walks;
in the persons of such he ministers to Christ Himself; and their
squalor serves to whiten his soul. Thus he speeds on his way to heaven,
beneficent as a giver of games to the poor, and kind as a provider of
shows for the needy. Other husbands scatter on the graves of their
wives violets, roses, lilies, and purple flowers; and assuage the grief
of their hearts by fulfilling this tender duty. Our dear Pammachius
also waters the holy ashes and the revered bones of Paulina, but it is
with the balm of almsgiving. These are the confections and the perfumes
with which be cherishes the dead embers of his wife knowing that it is
written: "Water will quench a flaming fire; and alms maketh an
atonement for sins."(2) What great power compassion has and what high
rewards it is destined to win, the blessed Cyprian sets forth in an
extensive work.(3) It is proved also by the counsel of Daniel who
desired the most impious of kings--had he been willing to hear him--to
be saved by shewing mercy to the poor.(4) Paulina's mother may well be
glad of Paulina's heir. She cannot regret that her daughter's wealth
has passed into new hands when she sees it still spent upon the objects
she had at heart. Nay, rather she must congratulate herself that
without any exertion of her own her wishes are being carried out. The
sum available for distribution is the same as before: only the
distributor is changed.
6. Who can credit the fact that one, who is the
glory of the Furian stock and whose grandfathers and great grandfathers
have been consuls, moves amid the senators in their purple clothed in
sombre garb, and that, so far from blushing when he meets the eyes of
his companions, he actually derides those who deride him! "There is a
shame that leadeth to death and there is a shame that leadeth to
life."(6) It is a monk's first virtue to despise the judgments of men
and always to remember the apostle's words:--"If I yet pleased men, I
should not be tile servant of Christ."(5) In the same sense the Lord
says to the prophets that He has made their face a brazen city and
137
a stone of adamant and an iron pillar,(1) to the end that they shall
not be afraid of the insults of the people but shall by the sternness
of their looks discompose the effrontery of those who sneered at them.
A finely strung mind is more readily overcome by contumely than by
terror. And men whom no tortures can overawe are sometimes prevailed
over by the fear of shame. Surely it is no small thing for a man of
birth, eloquence, and wealth to avoid the company of the powerful in
the streets, to mingle with the crowd, to cleave to the poor, to
associate on equal terms with the untaught, to cease to be a leader and
to become one of the people. The more he humbles himself, I the more he
is exalted.(2)
7. A pearl will shine in the midst of squalor
and a gem of the first water will sparkle in the mire. This is what the
Lord promised when He said: "Them that honour me I will honour."(3)
Others may understand this of the future when sorrow shall be turned
into joy and when, although the world shall pass away, the saints shall
receive a crown which shall never pass. But I for my part see that the
promises made to the saints are fulfilled even in this present life.
Before he began to serve Christ with his whole heart, Pammachius was a
well known person in the senate. Still there were many other senators
who wore the badges of proconsular rank. The whole world is filled with
similar decorations. He was in the first rank it is true, but there
were others in it besides him. Whilst he took precedence of some,
others took precedence of him. The most distinguished privilege loses
its prestige when lavished on a crowd, and dignities themselves become
less dignified in the eyes of good men when held by persons who have no
dignity. Thus Tully finely says of Caesar, when he wished to advance
some of his adherents, "he did not so much honour them as dishonour the
honourable positions in which he placed them."(4) To-day all the
churches of Christ are talking of Pammachius. The whole world admires
as a poor man one whom heretofore it ignored as rich. Can anything be
more splendid than the consulate? Yet the honour lasts only for a year
and when another has succeeded to the post its former occupant gives
way. Each man's laurels are i lost in the crowd and sometimes triumphs
themselves are marred by the shortcomings of those who celebrate them.
An office which was once handed down from patrician to patrician, which
only men of noble birth could hold, of which the consul Marius--victor
though he was over Numidia and the Teutons and the Cimbri--was held
unworthy on account of the obscurity of his family, and which Scipio
won before his time as the reward of valour,--this great office is now
obtained by merely belonging to the army; and the shining robe of
victory(1) now envelops men who a little while ago were country boors.
Thus we have received more than we have given. The things we have
renounced are small; the things we possess are great. All that Christ
promises is duly performed and for what we have given up we have
received an hundredfold.(2) This was the ground in which Isaac sowed
his seed,(3) Isaac who in his readiness to die(4) bore the cross of the
Gospel before the Gospel came.
8. "If thou wilt be perfect," the Lord says, "go and
sell that thou hast and give to the poor .... and come and follow
me."(5) If thou wilt be perfect. Great enterprises are always left to
the free choice of those who hear of them. Thus the apostle refrains
from making virginity a positive duty, because the Lord in speaking of
eunuchs who had made themselves such for the kingdom of heaven's sake
finally said: "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it."(6)
For, to quote the apostle, "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."(7) If thou wilt be
perfect. There is no compulsion laid upon you: if you are to win the
prize it must be by the exercise of your own free will. If therefore
you will to be perfect and desire to be as the prophets, as the
apostles, as Christ Himself, sell not a part of your substance (lest
the fear of want become an occasion of unfaithfulness, and so you
perish with Ananias and Sapphira(8)) but all that you have. And when
you have sold all, give the proceeds not to the wealthy or to the
high-minded but to the poor. Give each man enough for his immediate
need but do not give money to swell what a man has already. "Thou shall
not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn,"(9) and "the
labourer is worthy of his reward."(10) Again "they which wait at the
altar are partakers with the altar."(11) Remember also these words:
"having, food and raiment let us be therewith content."(12) Where you
see smoking dishes, steaming pheasants, massive silver plate, spirited
nags, long-haired boy-slaves, expensive clothing, and embroidered
hangings, give nothing there. For he to whom you would give is richer
than you the giver. It is moreover a kind of sacrilege to give what
belongs to the poor to those who are not poor. Yet to be a
138
perfect and complete Christian it is not enough to despise wealth or to
squander and fling away one's money, a thing which can be lost and
found in a single moment. Crates the Theban(1) did this, so did
Antisthenes and several others, whose lives shew them to have had many
faults. The disciple of Christ must do more for the attainment of
spiritual glory than the philosopher of the world, than the venal slave
of flying rumours and of the people's breath. It is not enough for you
to despise wealth unless you follow Christ as well. And only he follows
Christ who forsakes his sins and walks hand in hand with virtue. We
know that Christ is wisdom. He is the treasure which in the scriptures
a man finds in his field.(2) He is the peerless gem which is bought by
selling many pearls.(3) But if you love a captive woman, that is,
worldly wisdom, and if no beauty but hers attracts you, make her bald
and cut off her alluring hair, that is to say, the graces of style, and
pare away her dead nails.(4) Wash her with the nitre of which the
prophet speaks,(5) and then take your ease with her and say "Her left
hand is under my head, and her right hand doth embrace me."(6) Then
shall the captive bring to you many children; from a Moabitess(7) she
shall become an Israelitish woman. Christ is that sanctification
without which no man shall see the face of God. Christ is our
redemption, for He is at once our Redeemer and our Ransom.(8) Christ is
all, that he who has left all for Christ may find One in place of all,
and may be able to proclaim freely. "The Lord is my portion."(9)
9, I see clearly that you have a warm affection for
divine learning and that far from trying--like some rash persons--to
teach that of which you are yourself ignorant you make it your first
object to learn what you are going to teach. Your letters in their
simplicity are redolent of the prophets and savour strongly of the
apostles. You do not affect a stilted eloquence, nor boylike balance
shallow sentences in clauses neatly-turned. The quickly frothing foam
disappears with equal quickness; and a tumour though it enlarges the
size of the body is injurious to health. It is moreover a shrewd maxim,
this of Cato, "Fast enough if well enough." Long ago it is true in the
days of our youth we laughed outright at this dictum when the finished
orator(10) used it in his exordium. I fancy you remember the
mistake(11) shared by the speaker in our Athenaeum and how the whole
room resounded with the cry taken up by the students" Fast enough if
well enough." According to Fabius(1) crafts would be sure to prosper if
none but craftsmen were allowed to criticise them. No man can
adequately estimate a poet unless he is competent himself to write
verse No man can comprehend philosophers, unless he is acquainted with
the various theories that they have held. Material and visible products
are best appraised by those who make them. To what a cruel lot we men
of letters are exposed you may gather from the fact that we are forced
to rely on the judgment of the public; and many a man is in company a
formidable opponent who would certainly be despised could he be seen
alone. I have touched on this in passing to make you content, if
possible, with the ear of the learned. Disregard the remarks which
uneducated persons make concerning your ability; but day by day imbibe
the marrow of the prophets, that you may know the mystery of Christ and
share this mystery with the patriarchs.
10. Whether you read or write, whether you wake or
sleep, let the herdsman's horn of Amos(2) always ring in your ears. Let
the sound of the clarion arouse your soul, let the divine love carry
you out of yourself; and then seek upon your bed him whom your soul
loveth,(3) and boldly say: "I sleep, but my heart waketh."(4) And when
you have found him and taken hold of him, let him not go. And if you
fall asleep for a moment and He escapes from your hands, do not
forthwith despair. Go out into the streets and charge the daughters of
Jerusalem: then shall you find him lying clown in the noontide weary
and drunk with passion, or wet with the dew of night by the flocks of
his companions, or fragrant with many kinds of spices, amid the apples
of the garden.(5) There give to him your breasts, let him suck your
learned bosom, let him rest in the midst of his heritage,(6) his
feathers as those of a dove overlaid with silver and his inward parts
with the brightness of gold. This young child, this mere boy, who is
fed on butter and honey,(7) and who is reared among curdled
mountains,(8) quickly grows up to manhood, speedily spoils all(9) that
is opposed to him in you, and when the time is ripe plunders [the
spiritual] Damascus and puts in chains the king of [the spiritual]
Assyria.
11. I hear that you have erected a hospice for
strangers at Portus and that you have planted a twig from the tree of
Abraham(10)
139
upon the Ausonian shore. Like neas you are tracing the outlines of a
new encampment; only that, whereas he, when he reached the waters of
the Tiber, under pressure of want had to eat the square flat cakes
which formed the tables spoken of by the oracle,(1) you are able to
build a house of bread to rival this little village of Bethlehem(2)
wherein I am staying; and here after their long privations you propose
to satisfy travellers with sudden plenty. Well done. You have surpassed
my poor beginning.(3) You have reached the highest point. You have made
your way from the root to the top of the tree. You are the first of
monks in the first city of the world: you do right therefore to follow
the first of the patriarchs. Let Lot, whose name means 'one who turns
aside' choose the plain(4) and let him follow the left and easy branch
of the famous letter of Pythagoras.(5) But do you make ready for
yourself a monument like Sarah's(6) on steep and rocky heights. Let the
City of Books be near;(7) and when you have destroyed the giants, the
sons of Anak,(8) make over your heritage to joy and merriment.(9)
Abraham was rich in gold and silver and cattle, in substance and in
raiment: his household was so large that on an emergency he could bring
a picked body of young men into the field, and could pursue as
far as Dan and then slay four kings who bad already put five kings to
flight.(10) Frequently exercising hospitality and never turning any man
away from his door, be was accounted worthy at last to entertain
God himself. He was not satisfied with giving orders to his servants
and hand-maids to attend to his guests, nor did he lessen the favour he
conferred by leaving others to care for them; but as though he had
found a prize, he and Sarah his wife gave themselves to the duties of
hospitality. With his own hands he washed the feet of his guests, upon
his own shoulders he brought home a fat calf from the herd. While the
strangers dined he stood by to serve them, and set before them the
dishes cooked by Sarah's hands--though meaning to fast himself.
12. The regard which I feel for you, my dear
brother, makes me remind you of these things; for you must offer to
Christ not only your money but yourself, to be a "living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service,"(11) and
you must imitate the son of man who "came not to be
ministered unto but to minister."(1) What the patriarch did for
strangers that our Lord and Master did for His servants and disciples.
"Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
But," says the devil, "touch his flesh and he will curse thee to thy
face."(2) The old enemy knows that the battle with impurity is a harder
one than that with covetousness. It is easy to cast off what
clings to us from without, but a war within our borders involves far
greater peril. We have to unfasten things joined together, we have to
sunder things firmly united. Zacchus was rich while the apostles were
poor. lie restored fourfold all that he had taken and gave to the poor
the half of his remaining substance. He welcomed Christ as his guest,
and salvation came unto his house.(3) And yet because he was little of
stature and could not reach the apostolic standard of height, he was
not numbered with the twelve apostles. Now as regards wealth the
apostles gave up nothing at all, but as regards will they one and all
gave up the whole world. If we offer to Christ our souls as well as our
riches, he will gladly receive our offering. But if we give to God only
those things which are without while we give to the devil those things
which are within, the division is not fair, and the divine voice says:
"Hast thou not sinned in offering a right, and yet not dividing
aright?"(4)
13. That you, the leader of the patrician order,
first set the example of turning monk should not be to you an occasion
of boasting hut rather one of humility, knowing as you do that the Son
of God became the Son of man. However low you may abase yourself, you
cannot be more lowly than Christ. Even supposing that you walk
barefooted, that you dress in sombre garb, that you rank yourself with
the poor, that you condescend to enter the tenements of the needy, that
you are eyes to the blind, hands to the weak, feet to the lame, that
you carry water and hew wood and make fires--even supposing that you do
all this, where are the chains, the buffets, the spittings, the
scourgings, the gibbet, the death which the Lord endured? And even when
you have done all the things I have mentioned, you are still surpassed
by your sister Eustochium as well as by Paula: for considering the
weakness of their sex they have done more work relatively if less
absolutely, than you. I myself was not at Rome but in the desert--would
that I had continued there--at the time when your father-in-law
Toxotius was still alive and his daughters were still given up to the
world. But I have heard that they were too dainty to walk in the muddy
streets, that
140
they were carried about in the arms of eunuchs, that they disliked
crossing uneven ground, that they found a silk dress a burthen and felt
sunshine too scorching. But now, squalid and sombre in their dress,
they are positive heroines in comparison with what they used to be.
They trim lamps, light fires, sweep floors, clean vegetables, put heads
of cabbage in the pot to boil, lay tables, hand cups, help dishes and
run to and fro to wait on others. And yet there is no lack of virgins
under the same roof with them. Is it then that they have no servants
upon whom they can lay these duties? Surely not. They are unwilling
that others should surpass them in physical toil whom they themselves
surpass in rigour of mind. I say all this not because I doubt your
mental ardour but that I may quicken the pace at which you are running,
and in the heat of battle may add warmth to your warmth.
14. I for my part am building in this province a
monastery and a hospice close by; so that, if Joseph and Mary chance to
come to Bethlehem, they may not fail to find shelter and welcome.
Indeed, the number of monks who flock here from all quarters of the
world is so overwhelming that I can neither desist from my enterprise
nor bear so great a burthen. The warning of the gospel has been all but
fulfilled in me, for I did not sufficiently count the cost of the tower
I was about to build;(1) accordingly I have been constrained to send my
brother Paulinian(2) to Italy to sell some ruinous villas which have
escaped the hands of the barbarians, and also the property inherited
from our common parents. For I am loth, now that I have begun it, to
give up ministering to the saints, lest I incur the ridicule of carping
and envious persons.
15. Now that I have come to the conclusion of my
letter I recall my metaphor of the four-horse team, and recollect that
Blsilla would have made a fifth had she been spared to share your
resolve. I had almost forgotten to mention her, the first of you all to
go to meet the Lord. You who once were five I now see to be two and
three. Blsilla and her sister Paulina rest in sweet sleep: you with the
two others on either side of you will fly upward to Christ more easily.
LETTER LXVII.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
Jerome having written him a short letter (no longer
extant) Augustine now replies. He speaks with approval of Jerome's
treatise On Famous Men, incorrectly called the Epitaph (see Letter
CXII. 3). He also repeats his objections to Jerome's account of
the quarrel between Paul and Peter at Antioch and then concludes with a
request that he will draw up a short notice of the principal heresies
condemned by the Church.
Like the preceding letter of Augustine (Letter LVI.)
this also failed to reach Jerome. It was however published in the West,
but without Augustine's knowledge and by degrees its contents found
their way to Bethlehem where they caused much annoyance and pain. The
date of the letter is 397 A.D. In Augustine's correspondence in this
Library it is printed in full as Letter XL.
LETTER LXVIII.
TOCASTRUTIUS.
Castrutius, a blind man of Pannonia, had set out for
Bethlehem to visit Jerome. However, on reaching Cissa (whether that in
Thrace or that on the Adriatic is uncertain) he was induced by his
friends to turn back. Jerome writes to thank him for his intention and
to console him for his inability to carry it out. He then tries to
comfort him in his blindness(1) by referring to Christ's words
concerning the man born blind (Joh. ix.(3) and(2) by telling him the
story of Antony and Didymus. The date of the letter is 397 A.D.
1. My reverend son Heraclius the deacon has reported
to me that in your eagerness to see me you came as far as Cissa, and
that, though a Pannonian and consequently a land animal, you did not
quail before the surges of the Adriatic and the dangers of the gean and
Ionian seas. He tells me that you would have actually accomplished your
purpose, had not our brethren with affectionate care held you back. I
thank you all the same and regard it as a kindness shewn. For in the
case of friends one must accept the will for the deed. Enemies often
give us the latter, but only sincere attachment can bring us the
former. And now that I am writing to you I beseech you do not regard
the bodily affliction which has befallen you as due to sin. When the
Apostles speculated concerning the man that was born blind from the
womb and asked our Lord and Saviour: "Who did sin, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?" they were told "Neither hath this man
sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made
manifest in him."(1) Do we not see numbers of heathens, Jews, heretics
and men of various opinions rolling in the mire of lust, bathed in
blood, surpassing wolves in ferocity and kites in rapacity, and for all
this the plague does not come nigh their dwellings?(2) They are not
smitten as other men, and accordingly they wax insolent against God and
lift up their faces even to heaven. We know on the other hand that holy
men are afflicted with sicknesses, miseries, and want, and perhaps they
are tempted
141
to say "Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in
innocency." Yet immediately they go on to reprove themselves, "If I
say, I will speak thus; behold I should offend against the generation
of thy children."(1) If you suppose that your blindness is caused by
sin, and that a disease which physicians are often able to cure is an
evidence of God's anger, you will think Isaac a sinner because he was
so wholly sightless that he was deceived into blessing one whom he did
not mean to bless.(2) You will charge Jacob with sin, whose vision
became so dim that he could not see Ephraim and Manasseh,(3) although
with the inner eye and the prophetic spirit he could foresee the
distant future and the Christ that was to come of his royal line.(4)
Were any of the kings holier than Josiah? Yet he was slain by the sword
of the Egyptians.(5) Were there ever loftier saints than Peter and
Paul? Yet their blood stained the blade of Nero. And to say no more of
men, did not the Son of God endure the shame of the cross? And yet you
fancy those blessed who enjoy in this world happiness and pleasure?
God's hottest anger against sinners is when he shews no anger.
Wherefore in Ezekiel he says to Jerusalem: "My jealousy will depart
from thee and i will be quiet and will be no more angry."(6) For "whom
the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He
receiveth."(7) The father does not instruct his son unless he loves
him. The master does not correct his disciple unless he sees in him
signs of promise. When once the doctor gives over caring for the
patient, it is a sign that he despairs. You should answer thus: "as
Lazarus in his lifetime(8) received evil things so will I now gladly
suffer torments that future glory may be laid up for me." For
"affliction shall not rise up the second time."(9) If Job, a man holy
and spotless and righteous in his generation, suffered terrible
afflictions, his own book explains the reason why.
2. That I may not make myself tedious or exceed the
due limits of a letter by repeating old stories, I will briefly relate
to you an incident which happened in my childhood. The saintly
Athanasius bishop of Alexandria had summoned the blessed Antony to that
city to confute the heretics there. Hereupon Didymus, a man of great
learning who had lost his eyes, came to visit the hermit and, the
conversation turning upon the holy scriptures, Antony could not help
admiring his ability and eulogizing his insight. At last he said: You
do not regret, do you, the loss of your eyes? At first Didymus was
ashamed to answer, but when the question had been repeated a second
time and a third, he frankly confessed that his blindness was a great
grief to him. Whereupon Antony said: "I am surprised that a wise man
should grieve at the loss of a faculty which he shares with ants and
flies and gnats, and not rejoice rather in having one of which only
saints and apostles have been thought worthy." From this story you may
perceive how much better it is to have spiritual than carnal vision and
to possess eyes into which the mote of sin cannot fall.(1)
Though you have failed to come this year, I do not
yet despair of your coming. If the reverend deacon(2) who is the bearer
of this letter is again caught in the toils of your affection, and if
you come hither in his company I shall be delighted to welcome you and
shall readily acknowledge that the delay in payment is made up for by
the largeness of the interest.
LETTER LXIX.
TO OCEANUS.
Oceanus, a Roman nobleman zealous for the faith, had
asked Jerome to back him in a protest against Carterius a Spanish
bishop who contrary to the apostolic rule that a bishop is to be "the
husband of one wife" had married a second time. Jerome refuses to take
the line suggested on the ground that Carterius's first marriage having
preceded his baptism cannot be taken into account. He therefore advises
Oceanus to let the matter drop. The date of the letter is 397 A.D.
1. I never supposed, son Oceanus, that the
clemency of the Emperor would be assailed by criminals, or that persons
just released from prison would after their own experience of its filth
and fetters complain of relaxations allowed to others. In the gospel he
who envies another's salvation is thus addressed: "Friend, is thine eye
evil because I am good?"(3) "God hath concluded them all in sin(4) that
he might have mercy upon all."(5) "When sin abounded grace did much
more abound."(6) The first born of Egypt are slain and not even a beast
belonging to Israel is left behind in Egypt.(7) The heresy of the
Cainites rises before me and the once slain viper lifts up its
shattered head, destroying not partially as most often hitherto but
altogether the mystery of Christ.(8) This
142
heresy declares that there are some sins which Christ cannot cleanse
with His blood, and that the scars left by old transgressions on the
body and the soul are sometimes so deep that they cannot be effaced by
the remedy which He supplies. What else is this but to say that Christ
has died in vain? He has indeed died in vain if there are any whom He
cannot make alive. When John the Baptist points to Christ and says:
"Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sins(1) of the world"(2)
he utters a falsehood if after all there are persons living whose sins
Christ has not taken away. For either it must be shewn that they are
not of the world whom the grace of Christ thus ignores: or, if it be
admitted that they are of the world, we have to choose between the
horns of a dilemma. Either they have been delivered from their sins, in
which case the power of Christ to save all men is proved; or they
remain undelivered and as it were still under the charge of misdoing,
in which case Christ is proved to be powerless. But far be it from us
to believe of the Almighty that He is powerless in aught. For "what
things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."(3)
To ascribe weakness to the Son is to ascribe it to the Father also. The
shepherd carries the whole sheep and not only this or that part of it:
all the epistles of the apostle(4) speak continually of the grace of
Christ. And, lest a single announcement of this grace might seem a
little thing, Peter says: "Grace unto you and peace be multiplied."(5)
The Scripture promises abundance; yet we affirm scarcity.
2. To what does all this tend, you ask. I reply; you
remember the question that you proposed. It was this. A Spanish bishop
named Carterius, old in years and in the priesthood has married two
wives, one before he was baptized, and, she having died, another since
he has passed through the laver; and you are of opinion that he has
violated the precept of the apostle, who in his list of episcopal
qualifications commands that a bishop shall be "the husband of one
wife."(6) I am surprised that you have pilloried an individual
when the whole world is filled with persons ordained in similar
circumstances; I do not mean presbyters or clergy of lower rank, but
speak only of bishops of whom if I were to enumerate them all one by
one I should gather a sufficient number to surpass the crowd which
attended the synod of Ariminum.(7) Still it does not become me to
defend one by incriminating many; nor if reason condemns a sin, to make
the number of those who commit it an excuse for it. At Rome an eloquent
pleader caught me, as the phrase goes, between the horns of a dilemma:
whichever way I turned I was held fast. Is it sinful, said he, to marry
a wife, or is it not sinful? I in my simplicity, not being wary enough
to avoid the snare laid for me, replied that it was not sinful. Then he
propounded another question: Is it good deeds which are done away with
in baptism or is it evil? Here again my simplicity induced me to say
that it was sins which were forgiven. At this point, just as I began to
fancy myself secure, the horns of the dilemma commenced to close in on
me from this side and from that and their points hidden before began to
shew themselves. If, said he, to marry a wife is not sinful, and if
baptism forgives sins, all that is not done away with is held over. On
the instant a dark mist rose before my eyes as though I had been struck
by a strong boxer. Yet recalling the sophism attributed to
Chrysippus:(1) "Whether you lie or whether you speak the truth, in
either case you lie," I came to myself again and turned upon my
opponent with a dilemma of my own. Pray tell me, I said, does baptism
make a new man or does it not? He grudgingly admitted that it did. I
pursued my advantage by saying. Does it make him wholly new or only
partially so? He replied, Wholly. Then I asked, Is there nothing then
of the old man held over in baptism? He assented. Hereupon I propounded
the argument; If baptism makes a man new and creates a wholly new
being, and if there is nothing of the old man held over in the new,
that which once was in the old cannot be imputed to the new. At first
my thorny friend held his tongue; afterwards however, making Piso's
mistake,(2) though he had nothing to say he could not remain silent.
Sweat stood upon Iris brow, his cheeks turned pale, his lips trembled,
his tongue clove to his mouth, his throat became dry; and fear (not
age) made him cower. At last he broke out in these words, Have you not
read how the apostle permits none to be ordained priest save the
husband of one wife, and that what he lays stress upon is the fact of
the marriage and not the time at which it is contracted? Now as the
fellow had challenged me with syllogisms, and as I saw that he was
feeling his way towards some intricate and awkward questions, I
proceeded to turn his own weapons against him. I said therefore, Whom
did the apostle select for the episcopate, baptized persons or
catechumens? He refused
143
to reply. I however made a fresh onslaught repeating my question a
second time and a third. You would have taken him for Niobe changed to
stone by excessive weeping. I turned to the audience and said: It is
all the same to me, good people, whether I bind my opponent awake or
sleeping; but it is easier to fetter a man who offers no resistance. If
those whom the apostle admits into the ranks of the clergy are not
catechumens but the faithful, and if he who is ordained bishop is
always one of the faithful, being one of the faithful he cannot have
the faults of a catechumen imputed to him. Such were the darts I hurled
at my paralysed opponent. Such the quivering spears I cast at him. At
last his mouth opened and he vomited forth the contents of his mind.
Certainly, he blurted out, that is the doctrine of the apostle Paul.
3. Accordingly I bring out two epistles of the
apostle, the first to Timothy, and the second to Titus. In the first is
the following passage: "If a man desire the office of a bishop he
desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of
one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt
to teach, not given to wine, no striker ... but patient, not a brawler,
not covetous; one that ruleth well his own house, having his children
in subjection with all gravity. (For if a man know not how to rule his
own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not a novice
lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condenmation of the
devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without;
lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."(1) While
immediately at the commencement of the epistle to Titus the following
behests are laid down: "For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou
shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders
in every city, as I had appointed thee: if any be blameless, the
husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or
unruly. For a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God; not
self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given
to filthy lucre; but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men,
sober, just, holy, temperate; holding fast the faithful word as he hath
been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort
and to convince the gainsayers."(2) In both epistles commandment is
given that only monogamists should, be chosen for the clerical office
whether as bishops or as presbyters.(3) Indeed with the ancients these
names were synonymous, one alluding to the office, the other to the age
of the clergy. No one at any rate can doubt that
the apostle is speaking only of those who have been baptized. If
therefore it in no wise prejudices the case of one who is to be
ordained bishop that before his baptism he has not possessed all the
requisite qualifications (for it is asked what he is and not what he
has been), why should a previous marriage--the one thing which is in
itself not sinful--prove a hindrance to his ordination? You argue that
as his marriage was not a sin it was not done away with at his baptism.
This is news to me indeed, that what in itself was not a sin is to be
reckoned as such. All fornication and contamination with open vice,
impiety towards God, parricide and incest, the change of the natural
use of the sexes into that which is against nature(1) and all
extraordinary lusts are washed away in the fountain of Christ. Can it
be possible that the stains of marriage are indelible, and that
harlotry is judged more leniently than honourable wedlock? t do not,
Carterius might say, hold you to blame for the hosts of mistresses and
the troops of favourites(2) that you have kept; I do not charge you
with your bloodshedding and sow-like wallowings in the mire of
uncleanness: yet you are ready to drag from her grave for my confusion
my poor wife, who has been dead long years, and whom I married that I
might be kept from those sins into which you have fallen. Tell this to
the heathen who form the church's harvest with which she stores her
granaries; tell this to the catechumens who seek admission to the
number of the faithful; tell them, I say, not to contract marriages
before their baptism, not to enter upon honourable wedlock, but like
the Scots and the Atacotti(3) and the people of Plato's republic(4) to
have community of wives and no discrimination of children, nay more, to
beware of any semblance even of matrimony; lest, after they have come
to believe in Christ, He shall tell them that those whom they have had
have not been concubines or mistresses but wedded wives.
4. Let every man examine his own conscience and let
him deplore the violence he has done to it at every period of his life;
and then when he has brought himself to deliver a true judgment on his
own former misdeeds, let him give ear to the chiding of Jesus: "Thou
hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shall
thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."(6)
Truly like the scribes and pharisees we strain out the gnat and swallow
the camel, we pay tithe of mint and anise, and we omit the just
judgment which God requires.(6) What parallel can be drawn between a
wife
144
and a prostitute? Is it fair to make a marriage now dissolved by death
a ground of accusation, while dissolute living wins for itself a
garland of praise? He, had his former wife lived, would not have
married another; but as for you, bow can you defend the bestial unions
you indiscriminately make? Perhaps indeed you will say that you feared
to contract marriage lest by so doing you might disqualify yourself for
ordination. He took a wife that he might have children by her; you by
taking a harlot have lost the hope of children. He withdrew into the
privacy of his own chamber when he sought to obey nature and to win
God's blessing: "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth."(1)
You on the contrary outraged public decency in the hot eagerness of
your lust. He covered a lawful indulgence beneath a veil of modesty;
you pursued an unlawful one shamelessly before the eyes of all. For him
it is written "Marriage is honourable and the bed undefiled." while to
you the words are read, "but whoremongers and adulterers
God wilt judge,"(2) and "if any man destroyeth the temple
of God, him shall God destroy."(3) All iniquities, we are told, are
forgiven us at our baptism, and when once we have received God's mercy
we need not afterwards dread from Him the severity of a judge.
The apostle says:--"And such were some of you: but ye are washed,
but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."(4) All sins then are
forgiven; it is an honest and faithful saying. But I ask you, how comes
it that, while your uncleanness is washed away, my cleanness is
made unclean? You reply, "No, it is not made unclean, it remains just
what it was. Had it been uncleanness, it would have
been washed away like mine." I want to know what you mean
by this shuffling. Your remarks seem to have no more point in them than
the round end of a pestle. Is a thing sin because it is not sin?
or is a thing unclean because it is not unclean? The Lord, you say, has
not forgiven because He had nothing to forgive; yet because He
has not forgiven, that which has not been forgiven still remains.
5. What the true effect of baptism is, and
what is the real grace conveyed by water hallowed in Christ, I will
presently tell you; meantime I will deal with this argument as it
deserves. 'An ill knot,' says the common proverb, 'requires but an ill
wedge to split it.' The text quoted by the objector, "a bishop must be
the husband of one wife," admits of quite another explanation. The
apostle came of the Jews and the primitive Christian
church was gathered out of the remnants of Israel. Paul knew that the
Law allowed men to have children by several wives,(1) and was aware
that the example of the patriarchs had made polygamy familiar to the
people. Even the very priests might at their own discretion enjoy the
same license.(2) He gave commandment therefore that the priests of the
church should not claim this liberty, that they should not take two
wives or three together, but that they should each have but one wife at
one time. Perhaps you may say that this explanation which I have given
is disputed; in that case listen to another. You must not have a
monopoly of bending the Law to suit your will instead of bending your
will to suit the Law. Some by a strained interpretation say that wives
are in this passage to be taken for churches and husbands for their
bishops. A decree was made by the fathers assembled at the council of
Nica(3) that no bishop should be translated from one church to another,
lest scorning the society of a poor yet virgin see he should seek the
embraces of a wealthy and adulterous one. For as the word
<greek>logismoi</greek>, that is, "disputings," refers to
the fault and misdoing of sons in the faith,(4) and as the precept
concerning the management of a house refers to the right direction of
body and of soul,(5) so by the wives of the bishops we are to
understand their churches. Concerning whom it is written in Isaiah,
"Make haste ye women and come from the show, for it is a people of no
understanding."(6) And again "Rise up, ye women that are wealthy,(7)
and hear my voice."(8) And in the Book of Proverbs, "Who can find a
virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her
husband doth safely trust in her."(9) In the same book too it is
written, "Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh
it down with her hands."(10) Nor does this, say they, derogate from the
dignity of the episcopate; for the same figure is used in relation to
God. Jeremiah writes: "As a wife treacherously departeth from her
husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of
Israel."(11) And the apostle employs the same comparison: "I have
espoused you," he says to his converts, "to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."(12) The word woman is in the
Greek ambiguous and should in all these places be understood as meaning
wife. You will say that this interpretation is harsh and does violence
to the sense. In that case give back to the scripture its simple
145
meaning and save me from the necessity of fighting you on your own
ground.(1) I will ask you the following question, Can a man who before
his baptism has kept a concubine, and after her death has received
baptism and has taken a wife, become a clergyman or not? You will
answer me that he can, because his first partner was a concubine and
not a wife. What the apostle condemns then, it would seem, is not mere
sexual intercourse but marriage contracts and conjugal rights. Many
persons, we see, because of narrow circumstances refuse to take upon
them the burthen of matrimony. Instead of taking wives they live with
their maid-servants and bring up as their own the children which these
bear to them. Thus, if through the bounty of the Emperor they gain for
their mistresses the right of wearing a matron's robes,(2) they will at
once come beneath the yoke of the apostle and sorely against their will
will have to receive their partners as their wedded wives. But, if
their poverty prevents them from obtaining an imperial rescript such as
I have mentioned, the decrees of the Church will vary with the laws of
Rome. Be careful therefore not to interpret the words "the husband of
one wife," that is, of one woman, as approving indiscriminate
intercourse and condemning only contracts of marriage.
I bring forward all these explanations not for the
purpose of resisting the true and simple sense of the words in question
but to shew you that you must take the holy scriptures as they are
written, and that you must not empty of its efficacy the baptismal rite
ordained by the Saviour, or render vain the whole mystery of the cross.
6. Let me now fulfil the promise I made a little
while ago and with all the skill of a rhetorician sing the praises of
water and of baptism. In the beginning the earth was without form and
void, there was no dazzling sun or pale moon, there were no glittering
stars. There was nothing but matter inorganic and invisible, and even
this was lost in abysmal depths and shrouded in a distorting gloom. The
Spirit of God above moved, as a charioteer, over the face of the
waters,(3) and produced from them the infant world, a type of the
Christian child that is drawn from the laver of baptism. A firmament is
constructed between heaven and earth, and to this is allotted the name
heaven,--in the Hebrew Shamayim or 'what comes out of the waters,'--(4)
and the waters which are above the heavens are parted from the others
to the praise of
God. Wherefore also in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel there is seen
above the cherubim a crystal stretched forth,(1) that is, the
compressed and denser waters. The first living beings come out of the
waters; and believers soar out of the layer with wings to heaven. Man
is formed out of clay(2) and God holds the mystic waters in the hollow
of his hand.(3) In Eden a garden(4) is planted, and a fountain in the
midst of it parts into four heads.(5) This is the same fountain which
Ezekiel later on describes as issuing out of the temple and flowing
towards the rising of the sun, until it heals the bitter waters and
quickens those that are dead.(6) When the world falls into sin nothing
but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. But as soon as the foul
bird of wickedness is driven away, the dove of the Holy Spirit comes to
Noah(7) as it came afterwards to Christ in the Jordan,(8) and, carrying
ill its beak a branch betokening restoration and light, brings tidings
of peace to the whole world. Pharaoh and his host, loth to allow God's
people to leave Egypt, are overwhelmed in the Red Sea figuring thereby
our baptism. His destruction is thus described in the book of Psalms:
"Thou didst endow the sea with virtue through thy power: thou brakest
the heads of the dragons in the waters: thou brakest the heads of
leviathan in pieces."(9) For this reason adders and scorpions haunt dry
places(10) and whenever they come near water behave as if rabid or
insane.(11) As wood sweetens Marah so that seventy palm-trees are
watered by its streams, so the cross makes the waters of the law
lifegiving to the seventy who are Christ's apostles.(12) It is Abraham
and Isaac who dig wells, the Philistines who try to prevent them.(13)
Beersheba too, the city of the oath,(14) and [Gihon], the scene of
Solomon's coronation,"(15) derive their names from springs. It is
beside a well that Eliezer finds Rebekah.(16) Rachel too is a drawer of
water and wins a kiss thereby(17) from the supplanter(18) Jacob. When
the daughters of the priests of Midian are in a strait to reach the
well, Moses opens a way for them and delivers them from outrage.(19)
The Lord's forerunner at Salem (a name which means peace or perfection)
makes ready the people for Christ with spring-water.(20) The Saviour
Himself does not preach the kingdom of heaven until by His baptismal
immersion He has cleansed the Jordan.(21)
146
Water is the matter of His first miracle(1) and it is from a well that
the Samaritan woman is bidden to slake her thirst.(2) To Nicodemus He
secretly says:--"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."(3) As His earthly course began
with water, so it ended with it. His side is pierced by the spear, and
blood and water flow forth, twin emblems of baptism and of
martyrdom.(4) After His resurrection also, when sending His apostles to
the Gentiles, He commands them to baptize these in the mystery of the
Trinity.(5) The Jewish people repenting of their misdoing are sent
forthwith by Peter to be baptized.(6) Before Sion travails she brings
forth children, and a nation is born at once.(7) Paul the persecutor of
the church, that ravening wolf out of Benjamin,(8) bows his head before
Ananias one of Christ's sheep, and only recovers his sight when he
applies the remedy of baptism.(2) By the reading of the prophet the
eunuch of Candace the queen of Ethiopia is made ready for the baptism
of Christ.(10) Though it is against nature the Ethiopian does change
his skin and the leopard his spots.(11) Those who have received only
John's baptism and have no knowledge of the Holy Spirit are baptized
again, lest any should suppose that water unsanctified thereby could
suffice for the salvation of either Jew or Gentile."(12) "The voice of
the Lord is upon the waters ... The Lord is upon many
waters ... the Lord maketh the flood to inhabit it."(13) His "teeth are
like a flock of sheep that are even shorn which came up from the
washing; whereof everyone bear twins, and none is barren among
them."(14) If none is barren among them, all of them must have udders
filled with milk and be able to say with the apostle: "Ye are my little
children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in
you;"(15) and "I have fed you with milk and not with meat."(16) And it
is to the grace of baptism that the prophecy of Micah refers: "He will
turn again, he will have compassion upon us: he will subdue our
iniquities, and will cast all our sins(17) into the depths of the
sea."(18)
7. How then can you say that all sins are drowned in
the baptismal layer if a man's wife is still to swim on the surface as
evidence against him? The psalmist says:--"Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose
sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not
iniquity."(1) It would seem that we must add something to
this song and say "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not a
wife." Let us hear also the declaration which Ezekiel the so
called "son of man"(2) makes concerning the virtue of him
who is to be the true son of man, the Christian: "I will take
you," he says, "from among the heathen ... then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your
filthiness a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit."(3)
"From all your filthiness" he says, "will I cleanse you." If all is
taken away nothing can be left. If filthiness is cleansed, how much
more is cleanness kept from defilement. "A new heart also will I give
you and a new spirit." Yes, for "in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything nor uncircumcision but a new nature."(4) Wherefore
the song also which we sing is a new song,(5) and putting off the old
man(6) we walk not in the oldness of the letter but in the newness of
the spirit.(7) This is the new stone wherein the new name is written,
"which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."(8) "Know ye not,"
says the apostle, "that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus
Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him
by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead
by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of
life."(9) Do we read so often of newness and of making new and yet can
no renewing efface the stain which the word wife brings with it? We are
buried with Christ by baptism and we have risen again by faith in the
working of God who hath called Him from the dead. And "when we were
dead in our sins and in the uncircumcision of our flesh, God hath
quickened us together with Him, having forgiven us all trespasses;
blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which
was contrary to us, and took it out of the way nailing it to His
cross."(10) Can it be that when our whole being is dead with Christ and
when all the sins noted down in the old "handwriting" are blotted out,
the one word "wife" alone lives on? Time would fail me were I to try to
lay before you in order all the passages in the Holy Scriptures which
relate to the efficacy of baptism or to explain the mysterious doctrine
of that second birth which though it is our second is yet our first in
Christ.
8. Before I make an end of dictating (for I
147
perceive that I have already exceeded the just limits of a letter) I
wish to give a brief explanation of the previous verses of the epistle
in which the apostle describes the life of him that is to be made a
bishop. We shall thus recognize him as Doctor of the Nations(1) not
only for his praise of monogamy but also for all his precepts. At the
same time I beg that no one will suppose that in what I write my design
is to blacken the priests of the present day. My one object is to
promote the interest of the church. Just as orators and philosophers in
giving their notions of the perfect orator and the perfect philosopher
do not detract from Demosthenes and Plato but merely set forth abstract
ideals; so, when I describe a bishop and explain the qualifications
laid down for the episcopate, I am but supplying a mirror for priests.
Every man's conscience will tell him that it rests with himself what
image he will see reflected there, whether one that will grieve him by
its deformity or one that will gladden him by its beauty. I turn now to
the passage in question.(2) "If a man desire the office of a bishop, he
desireth a good, work." Work, you see, not rank; toil not pleasure;
work that he may increase in lowliness, not grow proud by reason of
elevation. "A bishop then must be blameless." The same thing that he
says to Titus, "if any be blameless."(2) All the virtues are
comprehended in this one word; thus he seems to require an impossible
perfection. For if every sin, even every idle word, is deserving of
blame, who is there in this world that is sinless and blameless? Still
he who is chosen to be shepherd of the church must be one compared with
whom other men are rightly regarded as but a flock of sheep.
Rhetoricians define an orator as a good man able to speak. To be worthy
of so high an honour he must be blameless in life and lip. For a
teacher loses all his influence whose words are rendered null by his
deeds. "The husband of one wife." Concerning this requirement I have
spoken above. I will now only warn you that If monogamy is insisted on
before baptism the other conditions laid down must be insisted on
before baptism too. For it is impossible to regard the remaining
obligations as binding only on the baptized and this alone as binding
also on the unbaptized. "Vigilant (or "temperate" for
<greek>nhfalios</greek> means both) wise,(4) of good
behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach." The priests who
minister in God's temple are forbidden to drink wine and strong
drink,(5) to keep their wits from being stupefied with drunkenness and
to enable their understanding to do its duty in God's service.
By the word 'wise' those are excluded who plead simplicity as an excuse
for a priest's folly. For if the brain be not sound, all the members
will be amiss. The phrase "of good behaviour" is an extension of the
previous epithet "blameless." One who has no faults is called
"blameless; "one who is rich in virtues is said to be "of good
behaviour." Or the words may be differently explained in accord with
Tully's maxim,(1) 'the main thing is that what you do you should do
gracefully.' For some persons are so ignorant of their own measure(2)
and so stupid and foolish that they make themselves laughing stocks to
those who see them because of their gesture or gait or dress or
conversation. Fancying that they knew what is and what is not good
taste they deck themselves out with finery and bodily adornments and
give banquets which profess to be elegant: but all such attempts at
dress and display are nastier than a beggar's rags. As regards the
obligation of priests to be teachers we bare the precepts of the old
Law(3) and the fuller instructions given on the subject to Titus.(4)
For an innocent and unobtrusive conversation does as much harm by its
silence as it does good by its example. If the ravening wolves are to
be frightened away it must be by the barking of dogs and by the staff
of the shepherd. "Not given to wine, no striker." With the virtues they
are to aim at he contrasts the vices they are to avoid.
9. We have learned what we ought to be: let us now
learn what priests ought not to be Indulgence in wine is the fault of
diners out and revellers. When the body is heated with drink it soon
boils over with lust. Wine drinking means self-indulgence,
self-indulgence means sensual gratification, sensual gratification
means a breach of chastity. He that lives in pleasure is dead while he
lives,(5) and he that drinks himself drunk is not only dead but buried.
One hour's debauch makes Noah uncover his nakedness which through sixty
years of sobriety he had kept covered.(6) Lot in a fit of intoxication
unwittingly adds incest to incontinence, and wine overcomes the man
whom Sodom failed to conquer.(7) A bishop that is a striker is
condemned by Him who gave His back to the smiters,(8) and when He was
reviled reviled not again.(9) "But moderate";(10) one good thing is set
over against two evil things. Drunkenness and passion are to be held in
check by moderation. "Not a brawler, not covetous." Nothing is more
overweening than the assurance of the ignorant who fancy that incessant
chatter will carry
148
conviction with it and are always ready for a dispute that they may
thunder with turgid eloquence against the flock committed to their
charge. That a priest must avoid covetousness even Samuel teaches when
he proves before all the people that he has taken nothing from any
man.(1) And the same lesson is taught by the poverty of the apostles
who used to receive sustenance and refreshment from their brethren and
to boast that they neither had nor wished to have anything besides food
and raiment.(2) What the epistle to Timothy calls covetousness, that to
Titus openly censures as the desire for filthy lucre.(3) "One that
ruleth well his own house." Not by increasing riches, not by providing
regal banquets, not by having a pile of finely-wrought plates, not by
slowly steaming pheasants so that the heat may reach the bones without
melting the flesh upon them; no, but by first requiring of his own
household the conduct which he has to inculcate in others. "Having his
children in subjection with all gravity." They must not, that is,
follow the example of the sons of Eli who lay with the women in the
vestibule of the Temple and, supposing religion to consist in plunder,
diverted to the gratification of their own appetites all the best parts
of the victims.(4) "Not a novice lest being lifted up with pride he
fall into the condemnation of the devil." I cannot sufficiently express
my amazement at the great blindness which makes men discuss such
questions as that of marriage before baptism and causes them to charge
people with a transaction which is dead in baptism, nay even quickened
into a new life with Christ, while no one regards a commandment so
clear and unmistakable as this about bishops not being novices. One who
was yesterday a catechumen is to-day a bishop(5) ; one who was
yesterday in the amphitheatre is to-day in the church; one who spent
the evening in the circus stands in the morning at the altar: one who a
little while ago was a patron of actors is now a dedicator of virgins.
Was the apostle ignorant of our shifts and subterfuges? did he know
nothing of our foolish arguments? He not only says that a bishop must
be the husband of one wife, but he has given commandment that he must
be blameless, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality,
apt to teach, moderate,(6) not given to wine, no striker, not a
brawler, not covetous, not a novice. Yet to all these requirements we
shut our eyes and notice nothing but the wives of the aspirants. Who
cannot give instances to shew the need of the warning: "lest being
lifted up with pride he fall into
the condemnation of the devil?" A priest(1) who is made such in a
moment knows nothing of the lowliness and meekness which mark the
meanest of the faithful, he knows nothing of Christian courtesy, he is
not wise enough to think little of himself. He passes from one dignity
to another, yet he has not fasted, he has not wept, he has not taken
himself to task for his life, he has not striven by constant meditation
to amend it, he has not given his substance to the poor. Yet he is
moved from one see(2) to another, he passes, that is, from pride to
pride. There can be no doubt that arrogance is what the Apostle means
when he speaks of the condemnation and downfall of the devil. And all
men fall into this who are in a moment made masters, actually before
they are disciples. "Moreover he must have a good report of them which
are without." The last requirement is like the first. One who is really
"blameless" obtains the unanimous approval not only of his own
household but of outsiders as well. By aliens and persons outside the
church we are to understand Jews, heretics and Gentiles. A Christian
bishop then must be such that they who cavil at his religion may not
venture to cavil at his life. At present however we see but too many
bishops who are willing, like the charioteers in the horse races, to
bid money for the popular applause; while there are some so universally
hated that they can wring no money from their people, a feat which
clowns accomplish by means of a few gestures.
10. Such are the conditions, son Oceanus, which the
master-teachers of the church ought with anxiety and fear to require of
others and to observe themselves. Such too are the canons which they
should follow in the choice of persons for the priesthood; for they
must not interpret the law of Christ to suit private animosities and
feuds or to gratify ill-feeling which is sure to recoil on the man who
cherishes it. Consider how unimpeachable is the character of Carterius
in whose life his ill-wishers can find nothing to censure except a
marriage contracted before baptism. "He that said, Do not commit
adultery, said also, Do not kill. If we commit no adultery yet if we
kill, we are become transgressors of the law."(3) "Whosoever shall keep
the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."(4)
Accordingly when they cast in our teeth a marriage entered into before
baptism, we must require of them compliance with all the precepts which
are given to the baptized. For they pass over much that is not
allowable while they censure much that is allowed.
149
LETTER LXX.
TO MAGNUS AN ORATOR OF ROME.
Jerome thanks Magnus. a Roman orator, for his
services in bringing a young man named Sebesius to apologize to him for
some fault that he had committed. He then replies to a criticism of
Magnus on his fondness, for making quotations from profane writers, a
practice which he defends by the example of the fathers of the church
and of the inspired penmen of scripture. He ends by hinting that the
objection really comes not from Magnus himself but from Rufinus (here
nicknamed Calpurnius Lanarius). The date of the letter is 397 A.D.
1. That our friend Sebesius has profited by your
advice I have learned less from your letter than from his own
penitence. And strange to say the pleasure which he has given me since
his rebuke is greater than the pain he caused me from his previous
waywardness. There has been indeed a conflict between indulgence in the
father, and affection in the son; while the former is anxious to forget
the past, the latter is eager to promise dutiful behaviour in the
future. Accordingly you and I must equally rejoice, you because you
have successfully put a pupil to the test, I because I have received a
son again.
2. You ask me at the close of your letter why it is
that sometimes in my writings I quote examples from secular literature
and thus defile the whiteness of the church with the foulness of
heathenism. I will now briefly answer your question. You would never
have asked it, had not your mind been wholly taken up with Tully; you
would never have asked it had you made it a practice instead of
studying Volcatius' to read the holy scriptures and the commentators
upon them. For who is there who does not know that both in Moses and in
the prophets there are passages cited from Gentile books and that
Solomon proposed questions to the philosophers of Tyre and answered
others put to him by them.(2) In the commencement of the book of
Proverbs he charges us to understand prudent maxims and shrewd adages,
parables and obscure discourse, the words of the wise and their dark
sayings;(3) all of which belong by right to the sphere of the
dialectician and the philosopher. The Apostle Paul also, in writing to
Titus, has used a line of the poet Epimenides: "The Cretians are always
liars, evil beasts, slow bellies."(4) Half of which line was afterwards
adopted by Callimachus. It is not surprising that a literal rendering
of the words into Latin should fail to preserve the metre, seeing that
Homer when translated into
the same language is scarcely intelligible even in prose. In another
epistle Paul quotes a line of Menander: "Evil communications corrupt
good manners."(1) And when he is arguing with the Athenians upon the
Areopagus he calls Aratus as a witness citing from him the words "For
we are also his offspring;"(2) in Greek <greek>tou</greek>
<greek>gar</greek> <greek>kai</greek>
<greek>genos</greek> <greek>esmen</greek>, the
close of a heroic verse. And as if this were not enough, that leader of
the Christian army, that unvanquished pleader for the cause of Christ,
skilfully turns a chance inscription into a proof of the faith.(3) For
he had learned from the true David to wrench the sword of the enemy out
of his hand and with his own blade to cut off the head of the arrogant
Goliath.(4) He had read in Deuteronomy the command given by the voice
of the Lord that when a captive woman had had her head shaved, her
eyebrows and all her hair cut off, and her nails pared, she might then
be taken to wife.(5) Is it surprising that I too, admiring the fairness
of her form and the grace of her eloquence, desire to make that secular
wisdom which is my captive and my handmaid, a matron of the true
Israel? Or that shaving off and cutting away all in her that is dead
whether this be idolatry, pleasure, error, or lust, I take her to
myself clean and pure and beget by her servants for the Lord of
Sabaoth? My efforts promote the advantage of Christ's family, my
so-called defilement with an alien increases the number of my
fellow-servants. Hosea took a wife of whoredoms, Gomer the daughter of
Diblaim, and this harlot bore him a son called Jezreel or the seed of
God.(6) Isaiah speaks of a sharp razor which shaves "the head of
sinners and the hair of their feet;"(7) and Ezekiel shaves his head as
a type of that Jerusalem which has been an harlot,(8) in sign that
whatever in her is devoid of sense 'and life must be removed.
3. Cyprian, a man renowned both for his eloquence
and for his martyr's death, was as-sailed--so Firmian tells us'--for
having used in his treatise against Demetrius passages from the
Prophets and the Apostles which the latter declared to be fabricated
and made up, instead of passages from the philosophers and poets whose
authority he, as a heathen, could not well gainsay. Celsus(10) and
Porphyry(11) have written against us and have been ably answered, the
former by Origen, the latter by Methodius, Eusebius, and
Apollinaris.(12) Origen wrote a treatise in eight books, the work of
150
Methodius(1) extended to ten thousand lines while Eusebius(2) and
Apollinaris(3) composed twenty-five and thirty volumes respectively.
Read these and you will find that compared with them I am a mere tyro
in learning, and that, as my wits have long lain fallow, I can barely
recall as in a dream what I have learned as a boy. The emperor
Julian(4) found time during his Parthian campaign to vomit forth seven
books against Christ and, as so often happens in poetic legends, only
wounded himself with his own sword. Were I to try to confute him with
the doctrines of philosophers and stoics you would doubtless forbid me
to strike a mad dog with the club of Hercules It is true that he
presently felt in battle the hand of our Nazarene or, as he used to
call him, the Galilaean,(5) and that a spear-thrust in the vitals paid
him due recompense for his foul calumnies. To prove the antiquity of
the Jewish people Josephus(6) has written two books against Appio a
grammarian of Alexandria; and in these he brings forward so many
quotations from secular writers as to make me marvel how a Hebrew
brought up from his childhood to read the sacred scriptures could also
have perused the whole library of the Greeks. Need I speak of Philo(7)
whom critics call the second or the Jewish Plato?
4. Let me now run through the list of our own
writers. Did not Quadratus(8) a disciple of the apostles and bishop of
the Athenian church deliver to the Emperor Hadrian (on the occasion of
his visit to the Eleusinian mysteries) a treatise in defence of our
religion. And so great was the admiration caused in everyone by his
eminent ability that it stilled a most severe persecution. The
philosopher Aristides," a man of great eloquence, presented to the same
Emperor an apology for the Christians composed of extracts from
philosophic writers. His example was afterwards followed by Justin(10)
another philosopher who delivered to Antoninus Plus and his sons" and
to the senate a treatise Against the Gentiles, in which
he defended the ignominy of the cross and preached the resurrection of
Christ with all freedom. Need I speak of Melito(1) bishop of Sardis, of
Apollinaris(2) chief-priest of the Church of Hierapolis, of
Dionysius(3) bishop of the Corinthians, of Tatian,(4) of Bardesanes,(5)
of Irenaeus(6) successor to the martyr Pothinus;(7) all of whom have in
many volumes explained the uprisings of the several heresies and
tracked them back, each to the philosophic source from which it flows.
Pantaenus,(8) a philosopher of the Stoic school, was on account of his
great reputation for learning sent by Demetrius bishop of Alexandria to
India, to preach Christ to the Brahmans and philosophers there.
Clement,(9) a presbyter of Alexandria, in my judgment the most learned
of men, wrote eight books of Miscellanies(10) and as many of Outline
Sketches,(11) a treatise against the Gentiles, and three volumes called
the Pedagogue. Is there any want of learning in these, or are they not
rather drawn from the very heart of philosophy? Imitating his example
Origen(12) wrote ten books of Miscellanies, in which he compares
together the opinions held respectively by Christians and by
philosophers, and confirms all the dogmas of our religion by quotations
from Plato and Aristotle, from Numenius(13) and Cornutus.(14)
Miltiades(15) also wrote an excellent treatise against the Gentiles.
Moreover Hippolytus(16) and a Roman senator named Apollonius(17) have
each compiled apologetic works. The books of Julius Africanus(18) who
wrote a history of his own times are still extant, as also are those of
Theodore who was afterwards called Gregory,(19)
151
a man endowed with apostolic miracles as well as with apostolic
virtues. We still have the works of Dionysius(1) bishop of Alexandria,
of Anatolius(2) chief priest of the church of Laodicea, of the
presbyters Pamphilus,(3) Pierius,(4) Lucian,(5) Malchion;(6) of
Eusebius(7) bishop of Csarea, Eustathius(8) of Antioch and
Athanasius(9) of Alexandria; of Eusebius(10) of Emisa, of
Triphyllius(11) of Cyprus, of Asterius(13) of Scythopolis, of the
confessor Serapion,(13) of Titus(14) bishop of Bostra; and of the
Cappadocians Basil,(15) Gregory,(16) and Amphilochius.(17) All these
writers so frequently interweave in their books the doctrines and
maxims of the philosophers that you might easily be at a loss which to
admire most, their secular erudition or their knowledge of the
scriptures.
5. I will pass on to Latin writers. Can anything be
more learned or more pointed than the style of Tertullian?(18) His
Apology and his books Against the Gentiles contain all the wisdom of
the world. Minucius Felix(19) a pleader in the Roman courts has
ransacked all heathen literature to adorn the pages of his Octavius and
of his treatise Against the astrologers(unless indeed this latter is
falsely ascribed to him). Arnobius(20) has published seven books
against the Gentiles, and his pupil Lactantius(21) as many, besides two
volumes, one on Anger and the other on the creative activity of God. If
you read any of these you will find in them an epitome of
Cicero's dialogues. The Martyr Victorinus(1) though as a writer
deficient in learning is not deficient in the wish to use what learning
he has. Then there is Cyprian.(2) With what terseness, with what
knowledge of all history, with what splendid rhetoric and argument has
he touched the theme that idols are no Gods! Hilary(2) too, a confessor
and bishop of my own day, has imitated Quintilian's twelve books
both in number and in style, and has also shewn his ability as a writer
in his short treatise against Dioscorus the physician. In the reign of
Constantine the presbyter Juvencus(4) set forth in verse the story of
our Lord and Saviour, and did not shrink from forcing into metre the
majestic phrases of the Gospel. Of other writers dead and living I say
nothing. Their aim and their ability are evident to all who read
them.(5)
6. You must not adopt the mistaken opinion, that
while in dealing with the Gentiles one may appeal to their literature
in all other discussions one ought to ignore it; for almost all the
books of all these writers--except those who like Epicurus(6) are no
scholars--are extremely full of erudition and philosophy. I incline
indeed to fancy--the thought comes into my head as I dictate--that you
yourself know quite well what has always been the practice of the
learned in this matter. I believe that in putting this question to me
you are only the mouthpiece of another who by reason of his love for
the histories of Sallust might well be called Calpurnius Lanarius.(7)
Please beg of him not to envy eaters their teeth because he is
toothless himself, and not to make light of the eyes of gazelles
because he is himself a mole. Here as you see there is abundant
material for discussion, but I have already filled the limits at
my disposal.
LETTER LXXI.
TO LUCINIUS.
Lucinius was a wealthy Spaniard of Btica who in
conformity with the ascetic ideas of his time had made a vow of
continence with his wife Theodora. Being much interested in the study
of scripture he pro-
152
posed to visit Bethlehem, and in A.D. 397 sent several scribes thither
to transcribe for him Jerome's principal writings. To these on their
return home Jerome now entrusts the following letter. In it he
encourages Lucinius to fulfil his purpose of coming to Bethlehem,
describes the books Which he is sending to him, and answers two
questions relating to ecclesiastical usage. He also sends him some
trilling presents.
Shortly after receiving the letter (written in 398
A.D.) Lucinius died and Jerome wrote to Theodora to console her for her
loss (letter LXXV.).
1. Your letter which has suddenly arrived was not
expected by me, and coming in an unlooked for way it has helped to
rouse me from my torpor by the glad tidings which it conveys. I hasten
to embrace with the arms of love one whom my eyes have never seen, and
silently say to myself:--'"oh that I had wings like a dove! for then
would I flee away and be at rest."'(1) Then would I find him "whom my
soul loveth."(2) In you the Lord's words are now truly fulfilled: "many
shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham."(3)
In those days the faith of my Lucinius was foreshadowed in Cornelius,
"centurion of the band called the Italian band."(4) And when the
apostle Paul writes to the Romans: "whensoever I take my journey into
Spain I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to
be brought on my way thitherward by you;"(5) he shews by the tale of
his previous successes what he looked to gain from that province.(6)
Laying in a short time the foundation of the gospel "from Jerusalem and
round about unto Illyricum,"(7) he enters Rome in bonds, that he may
free those who are in the bonds of error and superstition. Two years he
dwells in his own hired house(8) that he may give to us the house
eternal which is spoken of in both the testaments.(9) The apostle, the
fisher of men,(10) has cast forth his net, and, among countless kinds
of fish, has landed you like a magnificent gilt-bream. You have left
behind you the bitter waves, the salt tides, the mountain-fissures; you
have despised Leviathan who reigns in the waters.(11) Your aim is to
seek the wilderness with Jesus and to sing the prophet's song: "my soul
thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land
where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen
thee in the sanctuary."(12) or, as he sings in another place, "lo, then
would I wander far off and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my
escape from the windy storm and tempest."(13)
Since you have left Sodom and are hastening to the mountains, I beseech
you with a father's affection not to look behind you. Your hands have
grasped the handle of the plough,(1) the hem of the Saviour's
garment,(2) and His locks wet with the dew of night;(3) do not let them
go. Do not come down from the housetop of virtue to seek for the
clothes which you wore of old, nor return home from the field.(4) Do
not like Lot set your heart on the plain or upon the pleasant
gardens;(5) for these are watered not, as the holy land, from heaven
but by Jordan's muddy stream made salt by contact with the Dead Sea.
2. Many begin but few persevere to the end. "They
which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the crown."(6) But of us
on the other hand it is said: "So run that ye may obtain."(7) Our
master of the games is not grudging; he does not give the palm to one
and disgrace another. His wish is that all his athletes may alike win
garlands. My soul rejoices, yet the very greatness of my joy makes me
feel sad. Like Ruth(8) when I try to speak I burst into tears. Zacchus,
the convert of an hour, is accounted worthy to receive the Saviour as
his guest.(9) Martha and Mary make ready a feast and then welcome the
Lord to it.(10) A harlot washes His feet with her tears and against His
burial anoints His body with the ointment of good works.(11) Simon the
leper invites the Master with His disciples and is not refused.(12) To
Abraham it is said: "Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred
and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee."(13) He
leaves Chalda, he leaves Mesopotamia; he seeks what he knows not, not
to lose Him whom he has found. He does not deem it possible to keep
both his country and his Lord; even at that early day he is already
fulfilling the prophet David's words: "I am a stranger with thee and a
sojourner, as all my fathers were."(14) He is called "a Hebrew," in
Greek <greek>peraihs</greek>, a passer-over, for not
content with present excellence but forgetting those things which are
behind he reaches forth to that which is before.(15) He makes his own
the words of the psalmist: "they shall go from strength to
strength."(16) Thus his name has a mystic meaning and he has opened for
you a way to seek not your own things but those of another. You too
must leave your home as he did, and must take for your parents,
brothers, and relations only those
153
who are linked to you in Christ. "Whosoever," He says, "shall do the
will of my father ... the sameis my brother and sister and mother."(1)
3. You have with you one who was once your
partner in the flesh but is now your partner in the spirit; once your
wife but now your sister; once a woman but now a man; once an
inferior but now an equal.(2) Under the same yoke as you she hastens
toward the same heavenly kingdom.
A too careful management of one's income, a too near
calculation of one's expenses--these are habits not easily laid aside.
Yet to escape the Egyptian woman Joseph had to leave his
garment with her.(3) And the young man who followed Jesus having
a linen cloth cast about him, when he was assailed by the servants
had to throw away his earthly covering and to flee naked.(4)
Elijah also when he was carried up in a chariot of fire to heaven
left his mantle of sheepskin on earth.(5) Elisha used for sacrifice the
oxen and the yokes which hitherto he had employed in his work.(6) We
read in Ecclesiasticus: "he that toucheth pitch shall be defiled
therewith."(7) As long as we are occupied with the things of the world,
as long as our soul is fettered with possessions and revenues, we
cannot think freely of God. "For what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And
what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel?"(8) "Ye cannot," the Lord says, "serve God
and Mammon."(9) Now the laying aside of money is for those who are
beginners in the way, not for those who are made perfect. Heathens like
Antisthenes(10) and Crates(11) the Theban have done as much before now.
But to offer one's self to God, this is the mark of Christians and
apostles. These like the widow out of their penury cast their two mites
into the treasury, and giving all that they have to the Lord are
counted worthy to hear his words: "ye also shall sit upon twelve
thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."(12)
4. You can see for yourself why I mention these
things; without expressly saying it I am inviting you to take up your
abode at the holy places. Your abundance has supported the want of many
that some day their riches may abound to supply your want;(13) you have
made to yourself "friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness that they may receive you
into everlasting habitations."(1) Such conduct deserves praise and
merits to be compared with the virtue of apostolic times. Then, as you
know, believers sold their possessions and brought the prices of them
and laid them down at the apostles' feet:(2) a symbolic act designed to
shew that men must trample on covetousness. But the Lord yearns for
believers' souls more than for their riches. We read in the Proverbs:
"the ransom of a man's soul are his own riches."(3) We may, indeed,
take a man's own riches to be those which do not come from some one
else, or from plunder; according to the precept: "honour God with thy
just labours."(4) But the sense is better if we understand a man's "own
riches" to be those hidden treasures which no thief can steal and no
robber wrest from him.(5)
5. As for my poor works which from no merits of
theirs but simply from your own kindness you say that you desire to
have; I have given them to your servants to transcribe, I have seen the
paper-copies made by them, and I have repeatedly ordered them to
correct them by a diligent comparison with the originals. For so many
are the pilgrims passing to and fro that I have been unable to read so
many volumes. They have found me also troubled by a long illness from
which this Lent I am slowly recovering as they are leaving me. If then
you find errors or omissions which interfere with the sense, these you
must impute not to me but to your own servants; they are due to the
ignorance or carelessness of the copyists, who write down not what they
find but what they take to be the meaning, and do but expose their own
mistakes when they try to correct those of others. It is a false rumour
which has reached you to the effect that I have translated the books of
Josephus(6) and the volumes of the holy men Papias(7) and Polycarp.(8)
I have neither the leisure nor the ability to preserve the charm of
these masterpieces in another tongue. Of Origen(9) and Didymus(10)I
have translated a few things, to set before my countrymen some
specimens of Greek teaching. The canon of the Hebrew verity(11)--except
the octoteuch(12) which I have at present in hand--I have placed at the
disposal of your slaves and copyists. Doubtless you already possess the
version from the septuagint(13)
154
which many years ago I diligently revised for the use of students. The
new testament I have restored to the authoritative form of the Greek
original.(1) For as the true text of the old testament can only be
tested by a reference to the Hebrew, so the true text of the new
requires for its decision an appeal to the Greek.
6. You ask me whether you ought to fast on the
Sabbath(2) and to receive the eucharist daily according to the
custom--as currently reported--of the churches of Rome and Spain.(3)
Both these points have been treated by the eloquent Hippolytus,(4) and
several writers have collected passages from different authors bearing
upon them. The best advice that I can give you is this.
Church-traditions--especially when they do not run counter to the
faith--are to be observed in the form in which previous generations
have handed them down; and the use of one church is not to be annulled
because it is contrary to that of another.(5) As regards fasting, I
wish that we could practise it without intermission as--according to
the Acts of the Apostles(6)--Paul did and the believers with him even
in the season of Pentecost and on the Lord's Day. They are not to be
accused of manichism, for carnal food ought not to be preferred before
spiritual. As regards the holy eucharist you may receive it at all
times(7) without qualm of conscience or disapproval from me. You may
listen to the psalmist's words:--"O taste and see that the Lord is
good;"(8) you may sing as he does:--"my heart poureth forth a good
word."(9) But do not mistake my meaning. You are not to fast on
feast-days, neither are you to abstain on the week days in
Pentecost.(10) In such matters each province may follow its own
inclinations, and the traditions which have been handed down should be
regarded as apostolic laws.
7. You send me two small cloaks and a sheepskin
mantle from your wardrobe and ask me to wear them myself or to give
them to the poor. In return I send to you and your sister(11) in the
Lord four small haircloths suitable
to your religious profession and to your daily needs, for they are the
mark of poverty and the outward witness of a continual penitence. To
these I have added a manuscript containing Isaiah's ten most obscure
visions which I have lately elucidated with a critical commentary. When
you look upon these trifles call to mind the friend in whom you delight
and hasten the voyage which you have for a time deferred. And because
"the way of man is not in himself" but it is the Lord that "directeth
his steps;"(1) if any hindrance should interfere--I hope none may--to
prevent you from coming, I pray that distance may not sever those
united in affection and that I may find my Lucinius present in absence
through an interchange of letters.
LETTER LXXII.
TO VITALIS.
Vitalis had asked Jerome" Is Scripture credible when
it tells us that Solomon and Ahaz became fathers at the age of eleven?"
The difficulty had previously occurred to Jerome himself(Letter XXXVI.
to, whence perhaps Vitalis took it) and in this letter he suggests
several ways in which it may be met. He is quite prepared, if
necessary, to accept the alleged fact on the grounds that "there are
many things in Scripture which sound incredible and yet are true" and
that "nature cannot resist the Lord of nature" ( 2). He is disposed,
however, to regard the question as trivial and of no importance. The
date of the letter is 398 A.D.
LETTER LXXIII.
TO EVANGELUS.
Evangelus had sent Jerome an anonymous treatise in
which Melchisedek was indentified with the Holy Ghost, and had asked
him what he thought of the theory. Jerome in his reply repudiates the
idea as absurd and insists that Melchisedek was a real man, possibly,
as the Jews said, Shem the eldest son of Noah. The date of the letter
iS 398 A.D.
LETTER LXXIV.
TO RUFINUS OF ROME.
Rufinus, a Roman Presbyter (to be carefully
distinguished from Rufinus of Aquileia and Rufinus the Syrian), had
written to Jerome for an explanation of the judgment of Solomon (1
Kings iii. 16-28). This Jerome gives at length, treating the narrative
as a parable and making the false and true mothers types of the
Synagogue and the Church. The date of the letter is 398 A.D.
LETTER LXXV.
TO THEODORA.
Theodora the wife of the learned Spaniard Lucinius
(for whom see Letter LXXI.) had recently lost her husband,
155
a bereavement which suggested the present letter. In it Jerome recounts
the many virtues of Lucinius and especially his zeal in resisting the
gnostic heresy of Marcus which during his life was prevalent in Spain.
The date of the letter is 399 A.D.
1. So overpowered am I by the sad intelligence of
the falling asleep of the holy and by me deeply revered Lucinius that I
am scarcely able to dictate even a short letter. I do not, it is true,
lament his fate, for I know that he has passed to better things: like
Moses he can say: "I will now turn aside and see this great sight."(1)
but I am tormented with regret that I was not allowed to look upon the
face of one, who was likely, as I believed, in a short time to come
hither. True indeed is the prophetic warning concerning the doom of
death that it divides brothers,(2) and with harsh and cruel hand
sunders those whose names are linked together in the bonds of love. But
we have this consolation that it is slain by the word of the Lord. For
it is said: "O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy
destruction," and in the next verse: "An east wind shall come, the wind
of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall
become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up."(3) For, as Isaiah
says, "there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a
branch shall grow out of his roots":(4) and He says Himself in the Song
of Songs, "I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley."(5) Our
rose is the destruction of death, and died that death itself might die
in His dying. But, when it is said that He is to be brought "from the
wilderness," the virgin's womb is indicated, which without sexual
intercourse or impregnation has given to us God in the form of an
infant able to quench by the glow of the Holy Spirit the fountains of
lust and to sing in the words of the psalm: "as in a dry and pathless
and waterless land, so have I appeared unto thee in the sanctuary."(6)
Thus when we have to face the hard and cruel necessity of death, we are
upheld by this consolation, that we shall shortly see again those whose
absence we now mourn. For their end is not called death but a slumber
and a falling asleep. Wherefore also the blessed apostle forbids us to
sorrow concerning them which are asleep,(7) telling us to believe that
those whom we know to sleep now may hereafter be roused from their
sleep, and when their slumber is ended may watch once more with the
saints and sing with the angels:--"Glory to God in the highest and on
earth
where there is no sin, there is glory and perpetual praise and
unwearied singing; but on earth where sedition reigns, and war and
discord hold sway, peace must be gained by prayer, and it is to be
found not among all but only among men of good will, who pay heed to
the apostolic salutation: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ."(1) For "His abode is in peace and His
dwelling place is in Zion,"(2) that is, on a watch-tower,(3) on a
height of doctrines and of virtues, in the soul of the believer; for
the angel of this latter daily beholds the face of God,(4) and
contemplates with unveiled face the glory of God.
2. Wherefore, though you are already running in the
way, I urge a willing horse, as the saying goes, and implore you, while
you regret in your Lucinius a true brother, to rejoice as well that he
now reigns with Christ. For, as it is written in the book of Wisdom, he
was "taken away lest that wickedness should alter his understanding ...
for his soul pleased the Lord ... and he ... in a short time fulfilled
a long time."(5) We may with more right weep for ourselves that we
stand daily in conflict with our sins, that we are stained with vices,
that we receive wounds, and that we must give account for every idle
word.(6) Victorious now and free from care he looks down upon you from
on high and supports you in your struggle, nay more, he prepares for
you a place near to himself; for his love and affection towards you are
still the same as when, disregarding his claim on you as a husband, he
resolved to treat you even on earth as a sister, or indeed I may say as
a brother, for difference of sex while essential to marriage is not so
to a continent tie. And since even in the flesh, if we are born again
in Christ, we are no longer Greek and Barbarian, bond and free, male
and female, but are all one in Him,(7) how much more true will this be
when this corruptible has put on incorruption and when this mortal has
put on immortality.(8) "In the resurrection," the Lord tells us, "they
neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as the angels ... in
heaven."(9) Now when it is said that they neither marry nor are given
in marriage but are as the angels in heaven, there is no taking away of
a natural and real body but only an indication of the greatness of the
glory to come. For the words are not "they shall be angels" but "they
shall be as the angels": thus while likeness to the angels is promised
156
identity with them is refused. "They shall be," Christ tells us, "as
the angels," that is like the angels; therefore they will not cease to
be human. Glorious indeed they shall be, and graced with angelic
splendour, but they will still be human; the apostle Paul will still be
Paul, Mary will still be Mary. Then shall confusion overtake that
heresy(1) which holds out great but vague promises only that it may
take away hopes which are at once modest and certain.
3. And now that I have once mentioned the word
"heresy," where can I find a trumpet loud enough to proclaim the
eloquence of our dear Lucinius, who, when the filthy heresy of
Basilides(2) raged in Spain and like a pestilence ravaged the provinces
between the Pyrenees and the ocean, upheld in all its purity the faith
of the church and altogether refused to embrace Armagil, Barbelon,
Abraxas, Balsamum, and the absurd Leusibora. Such are the portentous
names which, to excite the minds of unlearned men and weak women, they
pretend to draw from Hebrew sources, terrifying the simple by barbarous
combinations which they admire the more the less they understand
them.(3) The growth of this heresy is described for us by Irenus,
bishop of the church of Lyons, a man of the apostolic times, who was a
disciple of Papias the hearer of the evangelist John. He informs us
that a certain Mark,(4) of the stock of the gnostic Basilides, came in
the first instance to Gaul, that he contaminated with his teaching
those parts of the country which are watered by the Rhone and the
Garonne, and that in particular he misled by his errors high-born
women; to whom he promised certain secret mysteries and whose affection
he enlisted by magic arts and hidden indulgence in unlawful
intercourse. Irenus goes on to say that subsequently Mark crossed the
Pyrenees and occupied Spain, making it his object to seek out the
houses of the wealthy, and in these especially the women, concerning
whom we are told that they are "led away with divers lusts, ever
learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."(5) All
this he wrote about three hundred years ago(6) in the extremely learned
and eloquent books which he composed under the title Against all
heresies.
4. From these facts you in your wisdom will realize
how worthy of praise our dear Lucinius shewed himself when he shut his
ears that he might not have to hear the judgement passed upon
bloodshedders,(1) and dispersed all his substance and gave to the poor
that his righteousness might endure for ever.(2) And not satisfied with
bestowing his bounty upon his own country, he sent to the churches of
Jerusalem and Alexandria gold enough to alleviate the want of large
numbers. But while many will admire and extol in him this liberality, I
for my part will rather praise him for his zeal and diligence in the
study of the scriptures. With what eagerness he asked for my poor
works! He actually sent six copyists for in this province there is a
dearth of scribes who understand Latin) to copy for him all that I have
ever dictated from my youth until the present time. The honour was not
of course paid to me who am but a little child, the least of all
Christians, living in the rocks near Bethlehem because I know myself a
sinner; but to Christ who is honoured in his servants(3) and who makes
this promise to them, "He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that
receiveth me receiveth him that sent me."(4)
5. Therefore, my beloved daughter, regard this
letter as the epitaph which love prompts me to write upon your husband,
and if there is any spiritual work of which you think me to be capable,
boldly command me to undertake it: that so ages to come may know that
He who says of Himself in Isaiah, "He hath made me a polished shaft; in
his quiver hath he hid me,"(5) has with His sharp arrow so wounded two
men severed by an immense interval of sea and land, that, although they
know each other not in the flesh, they are knit together in love in the
spirit.
May you be kept holy both in body and spirit by the
Samaritan--that is, saviour and keeper--of whom it is said in the
psalm, "He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."(6) May
the watcher and the holy one who came down to Daniel(7) come also to
you, that you too may be able to say, "I sleep but my heart waketh."(8)
LETTER LXXVI.
TO ABIGAUS.
Abigaus the recipient of this letter was a blind
presbyter of Betica in Spain. He had asked the help of Jerome's prayers
in his struggles with evil and Jerome now writes to cheer and to
console him. He concludes his remarks by commending to his especial
care the widow Theodora. The letter should be compared with that
addressed to Castrutius (LXVIII.). It was written at the same time with
the preceding.
157
1. Although I am conscious of many sins and every
day pray on bended knees, "Remember not the sins of my youth nor my
transgressions,(1) yet because I know that it has been said by the
Apostle "let a man not be lifted up with pride lest he fall into the
condemnation of the devil,"(2) and that it is written in another
passage, "God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the
humble,"(3) there is nothing I have striven so much to avoid from my
boyhood up as a swelling mind and a stiff neck,(4) things which
always provoke against themselves the wrath of God. For I know that my
master and Lord and God has said in the lowliness of His flesh: "Learn
of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart,"(5) and that before this He
has sung by the mouth of David: "Lord, remember David and all his
gentleness.(6) Again we read in another passage, "Before destruction
the heart of man is haughty; and before honour is humility."(7) Do not,
then, I implore you, suppose that I have received your letter and have
passed it over in silence. Do not, I beseech you, lay to my charge the
dishonesty and negligence of which others have been guilty. For why
should I, when called on to respond to your kind advances, continue
dumb and repel by my silence the friendship which you offer? I who am
always forward to seek intimate relations with the good and even to
thrust myself upon their affection. "Two," we read, "are better than
one .... for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow .... a three
fold cord is not quickly broken, and a brother that helps his brother
shall be exalted."(8) Write to me, therefore, boldly, and overcome the
effect of absence by frequent colloquies.
2. You should not grieve that you are destitute of
those bodily eyes which ants, flies, and creeping things have as well
as men; rather you should rejoice that you possess that eye of which it
is said in the Song of Songs, "Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister,
my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes."(9) This
is the eye with which God is seen and to which Moses refers when he
says:--"I will now turn aside and see this great sight."(10) We even
read of some philosophers of this world(11) that they have plucked out
their eyes in order to turn all their thoughts upon the pure depths of
the mind. And a prophet has said "Death has entered through your
windows."(12) Our Lord too tells the Apostles: "Whosoever looketh upon
a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in
his heart."(1) Consequently they are commanded to lift up their eyes
and to look on the fields, for these are white and ready for harvest.(2)
3. You request me by my exhortations to slay in you
Nebuchadnezzar and Rabshakeh and Nebuzar-adan and Holofernes.(3) Were
they alive in you, you would never have sought my aid. No, they are
dead within you, and yon have begun to build up the ruins of Jerusalem
with the help of Zerubbabel and of Joshua the son of Josedech the high
priest, of Ezra and of Nehemiah. You do not put your wages into a bag
with holes,(4) but you lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,(5)
and if you seek my friendship, it is because you believe me to be a
servant of Christ.
I commend to you--although she needs no commendation
but her own--my holy daughter Theodora, formerly the wife or rather the
sister of Lucinius of blessed memory. Tell her that she must not grow
weary of the path upon which she has entered, and that she can only
reach the Holy Land by toiling through the wilderness. Warn her against
supposing that the work of virtue is perfected when she has made her
exodus from Egypt. Remind her that she must pass through snares
innumerable to arrive at mount Nebo and the River Jordan,(6) that she
must receive circumcision anew at Gilgal,(7) that Jericho must fall
before her, overthrown by the blasts of priestly trumpets,(8) that
Adoni-zedec must be slain,(9) that Ai and Hazor, once fairest of
cities, must both fall.(10)
The brothers who are with me in the monastery salute
you, and I through you earnestly salute those reverend persons who
deign to bestow upon me their regard.
LETTER LXXVII.
TO OCEANUS.
The eulogy of Fabiola whoso restless life had come
to an end in 399 A.D. Jerome tells the story of her sin and of her
penitence (for which see Letter LV.), of the hospital established by
her at Portus, of her visit to Bethlehem, and of her earnestness in the
study of scripture. He relates how he wrote for her his account of the
vestments of the high priest (Letter LXIV.) and how at the time of her
death he was at her request engaged upon a commentary on the forty-two
halting-places of the Israelites in the wilderness (Letter LXXIX.).
This last he now sends along with this letter to Oceanus. Jerome also
bestows praise upon Pammachius as the companion of all Fabiola's
labours. The date of the letter is 399 A.D.
158
1. Several years since I consoled the venerated
Paula, whilst her affliction was still recent for the falling asleep of
Blaesilla.(1) Four summers ago I wrote for the bishop Heliodorus the
epitaph of Nepotian, and expended what ability I possessed in giving
expression to my grief at his loss.(2) Only two years have elapsed
since I sent a brief letter to my dear Pammachius on the sudden
flitting of his Paulina.(3) I blushed to say more to one so learned or
to give him back his own thoughts: lest I should seem less the consoler
of a friend than the officious instructor of one already perfect. But
now, Oceanus my son, the duty that you lay upon me is one that I gladly
accept and would even seek unasked. For when new virtues have to be
dealt with, an old subject itself becomes new. In previous cases I have
had to soften and restrain a mother's affection, an uncle's grief, and
a husband's yearning; according to the different requirements of each I
have had to apply from scripture different remedies.
2. To-day you give me as my theme Fabiola, the
praise of the Christians, the marvel of the gentiles, the sorrow of the
poor, and the consolation of the monks. Whatever point in her character
I choose to treat of first, pales into insignificance compared with
those which follow after. Shall I praise her fasts? Her alms are
greater still. Shall I commend her lowliness? The glow of her faith is
yet brighter. Shall I mention her studied plainness in dress, her
voluntary choice of plebeian costume and the garb of a slave that she
might put to shame silken robes? To change one's disposition is a
greater achievement than to change one's dress. It is harder for us to
part with arrogance than with gold and gems. For, even though we throw
away these, we plume ourselves sometimes on a meanness that is really
ostentatious, and we make a bid with a saleable poverty for the popular
applause. But a virtue that seeks concealment and is cherished in the
inner consciousness appeals to no judgement but that of God. Thus the
eulogies which I have to bestow upon Fabiola will be altogether new: I
must neglect the order of the rhetoricians and begin all I have to say
only from the cradle of her conversion and of her penitence. Another
writer, mindful of the school, would perhaps bring forward Quintus
Maximus, "the man who by delaying rescued Rome,"(4) and the whole
Fabian family; he would describe their struggles and battles and would
exult that Fabiola had come to us through a line so noble, shewing that
qualities not apparent in the branch still existed in the root. But as
I am a lover of the inn at Bethlehem and of the Lord's stable in which
the virgin travailed with and gave birth to an infant God, I shall
deduce the lineage of Christ's handmaid not from a stock famous in
history but from the lowliness of the church.
3. And because at the very outset there is a rock in
the path and she is overwhelmed by a storm of censure, for having
forsaken her first husband and having taken a second, I will not praise
her for her conversion till I have first cleared her of this charge. So
terrible then were the faults imputed to her former husband that not
even a prostitute or a common slave could have put up with them. If I
were to recount them, I should undo the heroism of the wife who chose
to bear the blame of a separation rather than to blacken the character
and expose the stains of him who was one body with her. I will only
urge this one plea which is sufficient to exonerate a chaste matron and
a Christian woman. The Lord has given commandment that a wife must not
be put away "except it be for fornication, and that, if put away, she
must remain unmarried."(1) Now a commandment which is given to men
logically applies to women also. For it cannot be that, while an
adulterous wife is to be put away, an incontinent husband is to be
retained. The apostle says: "he which is joined to an harlot is one
body."(2) Therefore she also who is joined to a whore-monger and
unchaste person is made one body with him. The laws of Caesar are
different, it is true, from the laws of Christ: Papinianus(3) commands
one thing; our own Paul another. Earthly laws give a free rein to the
unchastity of men, merely condemning seduction and adultery; lust is
allowed to range unrestrained among brothels and slave girls, as if the
guilt were constituted by the rank of the person assailed and not by
the purpose of the assailant. But with us Christians what is unlawful
for women is equally unlawful for men, and as both serve the same God
both are bound by the same obligations. Fabiola then has put away--they
are quite right--a husband that was a sinner, guilty of this and that
crime, sins--I have almost mentioned their names--with which the whole
neighbourhood resounded but which the wife alone refused to disclose.
If however it is made a charge against her that after repudiating her
husband she did not continue unmarried, I readily admit this to have
been a fault, but at the same time declare that it may have been a case
of necessity. "It is better," the apostle tells us, "to marry than to
burn."(4) She was quite a young
159
woman, she was not able to continue in widowhood. In the words of the
apostle she saw another law in her members warring against the law of
her mind;(1) she felt herself dragged in chains as a captive towards
the indulgences of wedlock. Therefore she thought it better openly to
confess her weakness and to accept the semblance of an unhappy marriage
than, with the flame of a monogamist, to ply the trade of a courtesan.
The same apostle wills that the younger widows should marry, bear
children, and give no occasion to the adversary to speak
reproachfully.(2) And he at once goes on to explain his wish:
"for some are already turned aside after Satan."(3) Fabiola
therefore was fully persuaded in her own mind: she thought she had
acted legitimately in putting away her husband, and that when she had
done so she was free to marry again. She did not know that the rigour
of the gospel takes away from women all pretexts for re-marriage so
long as their former husbands are alive; and not knowing this, though
she contrived to evade other assaults of the devil, she at this point
unwittingly exposed herself to a wound from him.
4. But why do I linger over old and forgotten
matters, seeking to excuse a fault for which Fabiola has herself
confessed her penitence? Who would believe that, after the death of her
second husband at a time when most widows, having shaken off the yoke
of servitude, grow careless and allow themselves more liberty than
ever, frequenting the baths, flitting through the streets, shewing
their harlot faces everywhere; that at this time Fabiola came to
herself? Yet it was then that she put on sackcloth to make public
confession of her error. It was then that in the presence of all Rome
(in the basilica which formerly belonged to that Lateranus who perished
by the sword of Caesar(4)) she stood in the ranks of the penitents and
exposed before bishop, presbyters, and people--all of whom wept when
they saw her weep--her dishevelled hair, pale features, soiled hands
and unwashed neck. What sins would such a penance fail to purge away?
What ingrained stains would such tears be unable to wash out? By a
threefold confession Peter blotted out his threefold denial.(5) If
Aaron committed sacrilege by fashioning molten gold into the head of a
calf, his brother's prayers made amends for his transgressions.(6) If
holy David, meekest of men, committed the double sin of murder and
adultery, he atoned for it by a fast of seven days. He
lay upon the earth, he rolled in the ashes, he forgot his royal power,
he sought for light in the darkness.(1) And then, turning his eyes to
that God whom he had so deeply offended, he cried with a lamentable
voice: "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in
thy sight," and "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me
with thy free spirit."(2) He who by his virtues teaches me how to stand
and not to fall, by his penitence teaches me how, if I fall, I may rise
again. Among the kings do we read of any so wicked as Ahab, of whom the
scripture says: "there was none like unto Ahab which did sell himself
to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord"?(3) For shedding Naboth's
blood Elijah rebuked him, and the prophet denounced God's wrath against
him: "Hast thou killed and also taken possession? ... behold I will
bring evil upon thee and will take away thy posterity"(4) and so on.
Yet when Ahab heard these words "he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth
upon his flesh, and fasted ... in sackcloth, and went softly."(5) Then
came the word of God to Elijah the Tishbite saying: "Seest thou how
Ahab humbleth himself before me? Because he humbleth himself before me,
I will not bring the evil in his days."(6) O happy penitence which has
drawn down upon itself the eyes of God, and which has by confessing its
error changed the sentence of God's anger! The same conduct is in the
Chronicles(7) attributed to Manasseh, and in the book of the prophet
Jonah(8) to Nineveh, and in the gospel to the publican.(9) The first of
these not only was allowed to obtain forgiveness but also recovered his
kingdom, the second broke the force of God's impending wrath, while the
third, smiting his breast with his hands, "would not lift up so much as
his eyes to heaven." Yet for all that the publican with his humble
confession of his faults went back justified far more than the Pharisee
with his arrogant boasting of his virtues. This is not however the
place to preach penitence, neither am I writing against Montanus and
Novatus.(10) Else would I say of it that it is "a sacrifice ... well
pleasing to God,"(11) I would cite the words of the psalmist: "the
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,"(12) and those of Ezekiel "I
prefer the repentance of a sinner rather than his death,"(13) and those
of Baruch, "Arise, arise, O Jerusalem,(14) and many other proclamations
made by the trumpets of the prophets.
160
5. But this one thing I will say, for it is at once
useful to my readers and pertinent to my present theme. As Fabiola was
not ashamed of the Lord on earth, so He shall not be
ashamed of her in heaven.(1) She laid bare her wound to the gaze of
all, and Rome beheld with tears the disfiguring scar which marred her
beauty. She uncovered her limbs, bared her head, and closed her mouth.
She no longer entered the church of God but, like Miriam the sister of
Moses,(2) she sat apart without the camp, till the priest who had cast
her out should himself call her back. She came down like the daughter
of Babylon from the throne of her daintiness, she took the millstones
and ground meal, she passed bare-looted through rivers of tears.(3) She
sat upon the coals of fire, and these became her aid.(4) That face by
which she had once pleased her second husband she now smote with blows
she hated jewels, shunned ornaments and could not bear to look upon
fine linen.(5) In fact she bewailed the sin she had committed as
bitterly as if it had been adultery, and went to the expense of many
remedies in her eagerness to cure her one wound.
6. Having found myself aground in the shallows of
Fabiola's sin, I have dwelt thus long upon her penitence in order that
I might open up a larger and quite unimpeded space for the description
of her praises. Restored to communion before the eyes of the whole
church, what did she do? In the day of prosperity she was not forgetful
of affliction;(6) and, having once suffered shipwreck she was unwilling
again to face the risks of the sea. Instead therefore of re-embarking
on her old life, 'she broke up(7) and sold all that she could lay hands
on of her property (it was large and suitable to her rank), and turning
it into money she laid out this for the benefit of the poor. She was
the first person to found a hospital, into which she might gather
sufferers out of the streets, and where she might nurse the unfortunate
victims of sickness and want. Need I now recount the various ailments
of human beings? Need I speak of noses slit, eyes put out, feet half
burnt, hands covered with sores? Or of limbs dropsical and atrophied?
Or of diseased flesh alive with worms? Often did she carry on her own
shoulders persons infected with jaundice or with filth. Often too did
she wash away the matter discharged from wounds which others, even
though men, could not bear to look at. She gave food to her patients
with her own hand, and moistened the scarce breathing lips of the dying
with sips of liquid. I know of
many wealthy and devout persons who, unable to overcome their natural
repugnance to such sights, perform this work of mercy by the agency of
others, giving money instead of personal aid. I do not blame them and
am far from construing their weakness of resolution into a want of
faith. While however I pardon such squeamishness, I extol to the skies
the enthusiastic zeal of a mind that is above it. A great faith makes
little of such trifles. But I know how terrible was the retribution
which fell upon the proud mind of the rich man clothed in purple for
not having helped Lazarus.(1) The poor wretch whom we despise, whom we
cannot so much as look at, and the very sight of whom turns our
stomachs, is human like ourselves, is made of the same clay as we are,
is formed out of the same elements. All that he suffers we too may
suffer. Let us then regard his wounds as though they were our own, and
then all our insensibility to another's suffering will give way before
our pity for ourselves.
Not with a hundred tongues or throat of bronze Could I exhaust the
forms of fell disease(2)
which Fabiola so wonderfully alleviated in the suffering poor that many
of the healthy fell to envying the sick. However she showed the same
liberality towards the clergy and monks and virgins. Was there a
monastery which was not supported by Fabiola's wealth? Was there a
naked or bedridden person who was not clothed with garments supplied by
her? Were there ever any in want to whom she failed to give a quick and
unhesitating supply? Even Rome was not wide enough for her pity. Either
in her own person or else through the agency of reverend and
trustworthy men she went from island to island and carried her bounty
not only round the Etruscan Sea, but throughout the district of the
Volscians, as it stands along those secluded and winding shores where
communities of monks are to be found.
7. Suddenly she made up her mind, against the advice
of all her friends, to take ship and to come to Jerusalem. Here she was
welcomed by a large concourse of people and for a short time took
advantage of my hospitality. Indeed, when I call to mind our meeting, I
seem to see her here now instead of in the past. Blessed Jesus, what
zeal, what earnestness she bestowed upon the sacred volumes! In her
eagerness to satisfy what was a veritable craving she would run through
Prophets, Gospels, and Psalms: she would suggest questions and treasure
up the answers in the desk of her own bosom. And yet this eager-
161
ness to hear did not bring with it any feeling of satiety: increasing
her knowledge she also increased her sorrow,(1) and by casting oil upon
the flame she did but supply fuel for a still more burning zeal. One
day we had before us the book of Numbers written by Moses, and
she modestly questioned me as to the meaning of the great mass of names
there to be found. Why was it, she inquired, that single tribes were
differently associated in this passage and in that, how came it that
the soothsayer Balaam in prophesying of the future mysteries of
Christ(2) spoke more plainly of Him than almost any other prophet? I
replied as best I could and tried to satisfy her enquiries. Then
unrolling the book still farther she came to the passage(3) in which is
given the list of all the halting-places by which the people after
leaving Egypt made its way to the waters of Jordan. And when she asked
me the meaning and reason of each of these, I spoke doubtfully about
some, dealt with others in a tone of assurance, and in several
instances simply confessed my ignorance. Hereupon she began to press me
harder still, expostulating with me as though it were a thing
unallowable that I should be ignorant of what I did not know, yet at
the same time affirming her own unworthiness to understand mysteries so
deep. In a word I was ashamed to refuse her request and allowed her to
extort from me a promise that I would devote a special work to this
subject for her use. Till the present time I have had to defer the
fulfilment of my promise: as I now perceive, by the Will of God in
order that it should be consecrated to her memory. As in a previous
work(4) I clothed her with the priestly vestments, so in the pages of
the present(5) she may rejoice that she has passed through the
wilderness of this world and has come at last to the land of promise.
8. But let me continue the task which I have begun.
Whilst I was in search of a suitable dwelling for so great a lady,
whose only conception of the solitary life included a place of resort
like Mary's inn; suddenly messengers flew this way and that and the
whole East was terror-struck. For news came that the hordes of the Huns
had poured forth all the way from Maeotis(6) (they had their haunts
between the icy Tanais(7) and the rude Massagetae(8) where the gates of
Alexander keep back the wild peoples behind the Caucasus); and that,
speeding hither and thither on their nimble-footed horses, they were
filling all the world with panic and bloodshed. The Roman army was
absent at the time, being detained in Italy on account of the civil
wars. Of these Huns Herodotus(1) tells us that under Darius King of the
Medes they held the East in bondage for twenty years and that from the
Egyptians and Ethiopians they exacted a yearly tribute. May Jesus avert
from the Roman world the farther assaults of these wild beasts!
Everywhere their approach was unexpected, they outstripped rumour in
speed, and, when they came, they spared neither religion nor rank nor
age, even for wailing infants they had no pity. Children were forced to
die before it could be said that they had begun to live; and little
ones not realizing their miserable fate might be seen smiling in the
hands and at the weapons of their enemies. It was generally agreed that
the goal of the invaders was Jerusalem and that it was their excessive
desire for gold which made them hasten to this particular city. Its
walls uncared for in time of peace were accordingly put in repair.
Antioch was in a state of siege. Tyre, desirous of cutting itself off
from the land, sought once more its ancient island. We too were
compelled to marl our ships and to lie off the shore as a precaution
against the arrival of our foes. No matter how hard the winds might
blow, we could not but dread the barbarians more than shipwreck. It was
not, however, so much for our own safety that we were anxious as for
the chastity of the virgins who were with us. Just at that time also
there was dissension among us,(2) and our intestine struggles threw
into the shade our battle with the barbarians. I myself clung to my
long-settled abode in the East and gave way to my deep-seated love for
the holy places. Fabiola, used as she was to moving from city to city
and having no other property but what her baggage contained, returned
to her native land; to live in poverty where she had once been rich, to
lodge in the house of another, she who in old days had lodged many
guests in her own, and--not unduly to prolong my account--to bestow
upon the poor before the eyes of Rome the proceeds of that property
which Rome knew her to have sold.
9. This only do I lament that in her the holy places
lost a necklace of the loveliest. Rome recovered what it had previously
parted with, and the wanton and slanderous tongues of the heathen were
confuted by the testimony of their own eyes. Others may commend her
pity, her humility, her faith: I will rather praise her ardour of soul.
The letter(3) in which as a young man I once urged Heliodorus to the
life of a hermit she knew by heart,
162
and whenever she looked upon the walls of Rome she complained that she
was in a prison. Forgetful of her sex, unmindful of her frailty, and
only desiring to be alone she was in fact there(1) where her soul
lingered. The counsels of her friends could not hold her back; so eager
was she to burst from the city as from a place of bondage. Nor did she
leave the distribution of her alms to others; she distributed them
herself. Her wish was that, after equitably dispensing her money to the
poor, she might herself find support from others for the sake of
Christ. In such haste was she and so impatient of delay that you would
fancy her on the eve of her departure. As she was always ready, death
could not find her unprepared.
10. As I pen her praises, my dear Pammachius seems
suddenly to rise before me. His wife Paulina sleeps that he may keep
vigil; she has gone before her husband that he remaining behind may be
Christ's servant. Although he was his wife's heir, others--I mean the
poor--are now in possession of his inheritance. He and Fabiola
contended for the privilege of setting up a tent like that of
Abraham(2) at Portus. The contest which arose between them was for the
supremacy in shewing kindness. Each conquered and each was overcome.
Both admitted themselves to be at once victors and vanquished for what
each had desired to effect alone both accomplished together. They
united their resources and combined their plans that harmony might
forward what rivalry must have brought to nought. No sooner was the
scheme broached than it was carried out. A house was purchased to serve
as a shelter and a crowd flocked into it. "There was no more travail in
Jacob nor distress in Israel."(3) The seas carried voyagers to find a
welcome here on landing. Travellers left Rome in haste to take
advantage of the mild coast before setting sail. What Publius once did
in the island of Malta for one apostle and--not to leave room for
gainsaying--for a single ship's crew,(4) Fabiola and Pammachius have
done over and over again for large numbers; and not only have they
supplied the wants of the destitute, but so universal has been their
munificence that they have provided additional means for those who have
something already. The whole world knows that a home for strangers has
been established at Portus; and Britain has learned in the summer what
Egypt and Parthia knew in the spring.
11. In the death of this noble lady we have seen a
fulfilment of the apostle's words:--"All things work together for good
to them
that fear God."(1) Having a presentiment of what would happen, she had
written to several monks to come and release her from the burthen under
which she laboured;(2) for she wished to make to herself friends of the
mammon of unrighteousness that they might receive her into everlasting
habitations.(3) They came to her and she made them her friends; she
fell asleep in the way that she had wished, and having at last laid
aside her burthen she soared more lightly up to heaven. How great a
marvel Fabiola had been to Rome while she lived came out in the
behaviour of the people now that she was dead. Hardly had she breathed
her last breath, hardly had she given back her soul to Christ whose it
was when
Flying Rumour heralding the woe(4)
gathered the entire city to attend her obsequies. Psalms were chaunted
and the gilded ceilings of the temples were shaken with uplifted shouts
of Alleluia.
The choirs of young and old extolled her deeds And sang the praises of
her holy soul.(5)
Her triumph was more glorious far than those won by Furius over the
Gauls, by Papirius over the Samnites, by Scipio over Numantia, by
Pompey over Pontus. They had conquered physical force, she had mastered
spiritual iniquities.(6) I seem to hear even now the squadrons which
led the van of the procession, and the sound of the feet of the
multitude which thronged in thousands to attend her funeral. The
streets, porches, and roofs from which a view could be obtained were
inadequate to accommodate the spectators. On that day Rome saw all her
peoples gathered together in one, and each person present flattered
himself that he had some part in the glory of her penitence. No wonder
indeed that men should thus exult in the salvation of one at whose
conversion there was joy among the angels in heaven.(7)
12. I give you this, Fabiola,(8) the best gift of my
aged powers, to be as it were a funeral offering. Oftentimes have I
praised virgins and widows and married women who have kept their
garments always white(9) and who follow the Lamb whithersoever He
goeth.(10) Happy indeed is she in her encomium who throughout her life
has been stained by no defilement. But let envy depart and
censoriousness be silent. If the father of the house is good why should
our eye be evil?(11) The soul which fell among thieves has been
163
carried home upon the shoulders of Christ.(1) In our father's house are
many mansions.(2) Where sin hath abounded, grace hath much more
abounded.(3) To whom more is forgiven the same loveth more.(4)
LETTER LXXVIII.
TO FABIOLA.
A treatise on the Forty-two Mansions or
Halting-places of the Israelites, originally intended for Fabiola but
not completed until after her death. Sent to Oceanus along with the
preceding letter. These Mansions are made an emblem of the Christian's
pilgrimage, the true Hebrew hastening to pass from earth to heaven.
LETTER LXXIX.
TO SALVINA.
A letter of consolation addressed by Jerome to
Salvina (a lady of the imperial court) on the death of her husband
Nebridius. After excusing his temerity in addressing a complete
stranger Jerome eulogizes the virtues of Nebridius, particularly his
chastity and his bounty to the poor. He next warns Salvina (in no
courtier-like terms) of the dangers that will beset her as a widow and
recommends her to devote all her energies to the careful training of
the son and daughter who are now her principal charge. The tone of the
letter is somewhat arrogant and it can hardly be regarded as one of
Jerome's happiest efforts. Salvina, however, consecrated her life to
deeds of piety, and became one of Chrysostom's deaconesses. Its date is
400 A. D.
1. My desire to do my duty may, I fear, expose me to
a charge of self-seeking; and although I do but follow the
example of Him who said: "learn of me for I am meek and
lowly of heart,"(5) the course that I am taking may be attributed to a
desire for notoriety. Men may say that I am not so much trying to
console a widow in affliction as endeavouring to creep into the
imperial court; and that, while I make a pretext of offering comfort,
I am really seeking the friendship of the great. Clearly this
will not be the opinion of any one who knows the commandment: "thou
shall not respect the person of the poor,"(6) a precept given lest
under pretext of shewing pity we should judge unjust judgment.
For each individual is to be judged not by his personal
importance but by the merits of his case. His wealth need not stand in
the way of the rich man, if he makes a good use of it; and poverty
can be no recommendation to the poor if in the midst of
squalor and want he fails to keep clear of wrong doing. Proofs of these
things are not wanting either in scriptural times or our own; for
Abraham, in spite of his immense wealth, was "the friend of God"(7) and
poor men are daily arrested and punished for their crimes by law. She
whom I now address is both rich and poor so that she cannot say
what she actually has. For it is not of her purse that I am speaking
but of the purity of her soul. I do not know her face but I am well
acquainted with her virtues; for report speaks well of her and her
youth makes her chastity all the more commendable. By her grief
for her young husband she has set an example to all wives; and by her
resignation she has proved that she believes him not lost but gone
before. The greatness of her bereavement has brought out the reality of
her religion. For while she forgets her lost Nebridius, she knows that
in Christ he is with her still.
But why do I write to one who is a stranger to me?
For three reasons, First, because (as a priest is bound to do) I love
all Christians as my children and find my glory in promoting their
welfare. Secondly because the father of Nebridius was bound to me by
the closest ties.(1) Lastly--and this is a stronger reason than the
others--because I have failed to say no to my son Avitus.(2) With an
importunacy surpassing that of the widow towards the unjust judge(3) he
wrote to me so frequently and put before me so many instances in which
I had previously dealt with a similar theme, that he overcame my modest
reluctance and made the resolve to do not what would best become me but
what would most nearly meet his wishes.
2. As the mother of Nebridius was sister to the
empress(4) and as he was brought up in the bosom of his aunt, another
might perhaps praise him for having so much endeared himself to the
unvanquished emperor. Theodosius, indeed, procured him from Africa a
wife of the highest rank,(5) who, as her native land at this time was
distracted by civil wars, became a kind of hostage for its loyalty. I
ought to say at the very outset that Nebridius seems to have had a
presentiment that he would die early. For amid the splendour of the
palace and in the high positions to which his rank and not his years
entitled him he lived always as one who believed that he must soon go
to meet Christ. Of Cornelius, the centurion of the Italian band, the
sacred narrative tells us that God so fully accepted him as to send to
him an angel; and that this angel told him that to his merit was due
the mystery whereby Peter from the narrow limits of the circumcision
was conveyed to the wide field of the uncircumcision. He was the first
Gentile baptized by the apostle, and in him the Gentiles were set apart
to salvation. Now of this man it is written: "there
164
was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band
called the Italian band, a devout man and one that feared God with all
his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God
alway."(1) All this that is said of him I claim--with a change of name
only--for my dear Nebridius. So "devout" was this latter and so
enamoured of chastity that at his marriage he was still pure. So truly
did he "fear God with all his house" that forgetting his high position
he spent all his time with monks and clergymen. So profuse were the
alms which he gave to the people that his doors were continually beset
with swarms of sick and poor. And assuredly he "prayed to God alway"
that what was for the best might happen to him. Therefore "speedily was
he taken away lest that wickedness should alter his understanding
for his soul pleased the Lord."(2) Thus I may truthfully apply to him
the apostle's words: "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of
persons: but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh
righteousness, is accepted with Him."(3) As a soldier Nebridius took no
harm from his cloak and sword-belt and troops of orderlies; for while
he wore the uniform of the emperor he was enlisted in the service of
God. On the other hand nothing is gained by men who while they affect
coarse mantles, sombre tunics, dirt, and poverty, belie by their deeds
their lofty pretensions. Of another centurion we find in the gospel
this testimony from our Lord:--"I have not found so great faith, no not
in Israel."(4) And, to go back to earlier times, we read of Joseph who
gave proof of his integrity both when he was in want and when he was
rich, and who inculcated freedom of soul both as slave and as lord. He
was made next to Pharaoh and invested with the emblems of royalty;(5)
yet so dear was he to God that, alone of all the patriarchs, he became
the father of two tribes.(6) Daniel and the three children were set
over the affairs of Babylon and were numbered among the princes of the
state; yet although they wore the dress of Nebuchadnezzar, in their
hearts they served God. Mordecai also and Esther amid purple and silk
and jewels overcame pride with humility; and although captives were so
highly esteemed as to be able to impose commands upon their conquerors.
3. These remarks are intended to shew that the youth
of whom I speak used his kinship to the royal family, his abundant
wealth, and the outward tokens of power, as helps to virtue. For, as
the preacher says, "wisdom is a defence and money is a defence"(7)
also. We
must not hastily conclude that this statement conflicts with that of
the Lord: "verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter
into the kingdom of heaven; and again I say unto you, It is easier for
a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of heaven."(1) Were it so, the salvation of Zacchaeus
the publican, described in scripture as a man of great wealth, would
contradict the Lord's declaration. But that what is impossible with men
is possible with God(2) we are taught by the counsel of the apostle who
thus writes to Timothy:--"charge them that are rich in this world that
they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the
living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good,
that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute. willing to
communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation
against the time to come that they may lay hold on the true life."(3)
We have learned how a camel can pass through a needle's eye, how an
animal with a hump on its back,(4) when it has laid down its packs, can
take to itself the wings of a dove(5) and rest in the branches of the
tree which has grown from a grain of mustard seed.(6) In Isaiah we read
of camels, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah and Sheba, which carry
gold and incense to the city of the Lord.(7) On like typical camels the
Ishmaelitish merchantmen(8) bring down to the Egyptians perfume and
incense and balm(of the kind that grows in Gilead good for the healing
of wounds(9)); and so fortunate are they that in the purchase and sale
of Joseph they have for their merchandise the Saviour of the world.(10)
And AEsop's fable tells us of a mouse which after eating its fill can
no longer creep out as before it crept in.(11)
4. Daily did my dear Nebridius revolve the words:
"they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare" of the devil
"and into many lusts."(12) All the money that the Emperor's bounty gave
him or that his badges of office procured him he laid out for the
benefit of the poor. For he knew the commandment of the Lord: "If thou
wilt be perfect go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and
come and follow me."(13) And because he could not literally fulfil
these directions, having a wife and little children and a large
household, he made to himself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness
that they might receive him into everlasting habitations.(14) He
165
did not once for all cast away his brethren, as did the apostles who
forsook father and nets and ship,(1) but by an equality he ministered
to the want of others out of his own abundance that afterwards their
wealth might be a supply for his own want.(2) The lady to whom this
letter is addressed knows that what I narrate is only known to me by
hearsay, but she is aware also that I am no Greek writer repaying with
flattery some benefit conferred upon me. Far be such an imputation from
all Christians. Having food and raiment we are therewith content.(3)
Where there is cheap cabbage and household bread, a sufficiency to eat
and a sufficiency to drink, these riches are superfluous and no place
is left for flattery with its sordid calculations. You may conclude
therefore that, where there is no motive to tell a falsehood, the
testimony given is true.
5. It must not, however, be supposed that I praise
Nebridius only for his liberality in alms-giving, although we are
taught the great importance of this in the words: "water will quench a
flaming fire; and alms maketh an atonement for sins."(4) I will pass on
now to his other virtues each one of which is to be found but in few
men. Who ever entered the furnace of the King of Babylon without being
burned?(5) Was there ever a young man whose garment his Egyptian
mistress did not seize?(6) Was there ever a eunuch's(7) wife contented
with a childless marriage bed? Is there any man who is not appalled by
the struggle of which the apostle says: "I see another law in my
members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members?"(8) But wonderful
to say Nebridius, though bred up in a palace as a companion and fellow
pupil of the Augusti(9) (whose table is supplied by the whole world and
ministered to by land and sea); Nebridius, I say, though in the midst
of abundance and in the flower of his age, shewed himself more modest
than a girl and never gave occasion, even the slightest,
for scandalous rumours. Again though he was the friend,
companion, and cousin of princes and had been educated along with
them--a thing which makes even strangers intimate--he did not allow
pride to inflate him or frown with contempt upon others who were less
fortunate than he: no, he was kind to all, and while he loved the
princes as brothers he revered them as sovereigns. He used to avow that
his own health and safety were dependent upon theirs. Their attendants
and all those officers of the palace who by their numbers
add to the grandeur of the imperial court he had so well conciliated by
shewing his regard for them, that men who were in reality inferior to
him were led by his attention to believe themselves his peers. It is no
easy task to throw one's rank into the shade by one's virtue, or to
gain the affection of men who are forced to yield you precedence. What
widow was not supported by his help? What ward did not find in him a
father? To him the bishops of the entire East used to bring the prayers
of the unfortunate and the petitions of the distressed. Whenever he
asked the Emperor for a boon, he sought either alms for the poor or
ransom for captives or clemency for the afflicted. Accordingly the
princes also used gladly to accede to his requests, for they knew well
that their bounty would benefit not one man but many.
6. Why do I farther postpone the end? "All flesh is
grass and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field."(1)
The dust has returned to the dust.(2) He has fallen asleep in the Lord
and has been laid with his fathers, full of days and of light and
fostered in a good old age. For "wisdom is the grey hair unto men."(3)
"In a short time he" has "fulfilled a long time."(4) In his place we
now have his charming children. His wife is the heir of his chastity.
To those who miss his father the tiny Nebridius shews him once more, for
Such were the eyes and hands and looks he bore.(5)
A spark of the parent's excellence shines in the son: the child's face
betrays like a mirror a resemblance in character.
That narrow frame contains a
hero's heart.(6)
And with him there is his sister, a basket of roses and lilies, a
mixture of ivory and purple. Her face though it takes after that of her
father inclines to be still more attractive; and, while her complexion
iS that of her mother, she is so like both her parents that the
lineaments of each are reflected in her features. So sweet and honied
is she that she is the pride of all her kinsfolk. The Emperor(7) does
not disdain to hold her in his arms, and the Empress(8) likes nothing
better than to nurse her on her lap. Everyone runs to be the first to
catch her up. Now she clings to the neck of one, and now she is fondled
in the arms of another. She prattles and stammers, and is all the
sweeter for her faltering tongue.
7. You have, therefore, Salvina, those to
166
nurse who may well represent to you your absent husband: "Lo, children
are an heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his
reward."(1) In the place of one husband you have received two children,
and thus your affection has more objects than before. All that was due
to him you can give to them. Temper grief with love, for if he is gone
they are still with you. It is no small merit in God's eyes to bring up
children well. Hear the apostle's counsel: "Let not a widow be taken
into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one
man, well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children,
if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if
she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every
good work."(2) Here you learn the roll of the virtues which God
requires of you, what is due to the name of widow which you bear, and
by what good deeds you can attain to that second degree of chastity(3)
which is still open to you. Do not be disturbed because the apostle
allows none to be chosen as a widow under threescore years old, neither
suppose that he intends to reject those who are still young. Believe
that you are indeed chosen by him who said to his disciple, "Let no man
despise thy youth,"(4) your want of age that is, not your want of
continence. If this be not his meaning, all who become widows under
threescore years will have to take husbands. He is training a church
still untaught in Christ, and making provision for people of all
stations but especially for the poor, the charge of whom had been
committed to himself and Barnabas.(5) Thus he wishes only those to be
supported by the exertions of the church who cannot labour with their
own hands, and who are widows indeed,(6) approved by their years and by
their lives. The faults of his children made Eli the priest an offence
to God. On the other hand He is appeased by the virtues of such as
"continue in faith and charity and holiness with chastity."(7) "O
Timothy," cries the apostle, "keep thyself pure."(8) Far be it from me
to suspect you capable of doing anything wrong; still it is only a
kindness to admonish one whose youth and opulence lead her into
temptation. You must take what I am going to say as addressed not to
you but to your girlish years. A widow "that liveth in pleasure is dead
while she liveth."(9) So speaks the "chosen vessel"(10)
and the words are brought out from his treasure who could boldly say:
"Do ye seek a
proof of Christ speaking in me?"(1) Yet they are the words of one who
in his own person admitted the weakness of the human body, saying: "The
good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not that I
do."(2) And again: Therefore "I keep under my body and bring it into
subjection lest that by any means when I have preached to others I
myself should be a castaway."(3) If Paul is afraid, which of us can
venture to be confident? If David the friend of God and Solomon who
loved God(4) were overcome like other men, if their fall is meant to
warn us and their penitence to lead us to salvation, who in this
slippery life can be sure of not falling? Never let pheasants be seen
upon your table, or plump turtledoves or black cock from Ionia, or any
of those birds so expensive that they fly away with the largest
properties. And do not fancy that you eschew meat diet when you reject
pork, hare, and venison and the savoury flesh of other quadrupeds.(5)
It is not the number of feet that makes the difference but delicacy of
flavour. I know that the apostle has said: "every creature of God is
good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving."(6)
But the same apostle says: "it is good neither to eat flesh nor to
drink wine,"(7) and in another place: "be not drunk with wine wherein
is excess."(8) "Every creature of God is good"--the precept is intended
for those who are careful how they may please their husbands.(9) Let
those feed on flesh who serve the flesh, whose bodies boil with desire,
who are tied to husbands, and who set their hearts on having offspring.
Let those whose wombs are burthened cram their stomachs with flesh. But
you have buried every indulgence in your husband's tomb: over his bier
you have cleansed with tears a face stained with rouge and whitelead;
you have exchanged a white robe and gilded buskins for a sombre tunic
and black shoes; and only one thing more is needed, perseverance in
fasting. Let paleness and squalor be henceforth your jewels. Do not
pamper your youthful limbs with a bed of down or kindle your young
blood with hot baths. Hear what words a heathen poet (10) puts into the
mouth of a chaste widow:(11)
He, my first spouse, has robbed me of my loves. So be it: let him keep
them in the tomb.
If common glass is worth so much, what must be the value of a pearl of
price?(12) If in def-
167
erence to a law of nature a Gentile widow can condemn all sensual
indulgence, what must we expect from a Christian widow who owes her
chastity not to one who is dead but to one with whom she shall reign in
heaven?
8. Do not, I pray you, regard these general
remarks--applying as they do to all young women--as intended to insult
you or to take you to task. I write in a spirit of apprehension, yet
pray that you may never know the nature of my fears. A woman's
reputation is a tender plant; it is like a fair flower which withers at
the slightest blast and fades away at the first breath of wind.
Especially is this so when she is of an age to fall into temptation and
the authority of a husband is wanting to her. For the very shadow of a
husband is a wife's safeguard. What has a widow to do with a large
household or with troops of retainers? As servants, it is true, she
must not despise them, but as men she ought to blush before them. If a
grand establishment requires such domestics, let her at least set over
them an old man of spotless morals whose dignity may guard the honour
of his mistress. I know of many widows who, although they live with
closed doors, have not escaped the imputation of too great intimacy
with their servants. These latter become objects of suspicion when they
dress above their degree, or when they are stout and sleek, or when
they are of an age inclined to passion, or when knowledge of the favour
in which they are secretly held betrays itself in a too confident
demeanour. For such pride, however carefully concealed, is sure to
break out in a contempt for fellow-servants as servants. I make these
seemingly superfluous remarks that you may keep your heart with all
diligence(1) and guard against every scandal that may be broached
concerning you.
9. Take no well-curled steward to walk with you, no
effeminate actor, no devilish singer of poisoned sweetness, no spruce
and smooth-shorn youth. Let no theatrical compliments, no obsequious
adulation be associated with you. Keep with you bands of widows and
virgins; and let your consolers be of your own sex. The character of
the mistress is judged by that of the maid. So long as you have with
you a holy mother, so long as an aunt vowed to virginity is at your
side, you ought not to neglect them and at your own risk to seek the
company of strangers. Let the divine scripture be always in your hands,
and give yourself so frequently to prayer that such shafts of evil
thoughts as ever assail the young may thereby find a shield to repel
them. It is difficult, nay more it is impossible, to escape the
beginnings of those internal motions which the Greeks with much
significance call <greek>propaqeiai</greek> that is
'predispositions to passion.' The fact is that suggestions of sin
tickle all our minds, and the decision rests with our own hearts either
to admit or to reject the thoughts which come. The Lord of nature
Himself says in the gospel:--"out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies."(1) It is clear from the testimony of another book that
"the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth,"(2) and that
the soul wavers between the works of the flesh and of the spirit
enumerated by the apostle,(3) desiring now the former and now the
latter. For
From faults no mortal man is wholly free; The best is he who has but
few of them.(4)
And, to quote the same poet,
At moles men cavil when they mark fair skins.(5)
To the same effect in different words the prophet says:--"I am so
troubled that I cannot speak,"(6) and in the same book, "Be ye angry
and sin not."(7) So Archytas of Tarentum(8) once said to a careless
steward: "I should have flogged you to death had I not been in a
passion." For "the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of
God."(9) Now what is here said of one form of perturbation may be
applied to all. Just as auger is human and the repression of it
Christian, so it is with other passions. The flesh always lusts after
the things of the flesh, and by its allurements draws the soul to
partake of deadly pleasures; but it is for us Christians to restrain
the desire for sensual indulgence by an intenser love for Christ. It is
for us to break in the mettlesome brute within us by fasting, in order
that it may desire not lust but food and amble easily and steadily
forward having for its rider the Holy Spirit.
10. Why do I write thus? To shew you that you are
but human and subject, unless you guard against them, to human
passions. We are all of us made of the same clay and formed of the same
elements. Whether we wear silk or rags we are all at the mercy of the
same desire. It does not fear the royal purple; it does not disdain the
squalor of the mendicant. It is better then to suffer in stomach than
in soul to rule the body than to serve it, to lose one's balance than
to lose one's chastity. Let us not lull ourselves with the delusion
that we can always fall back on penitence. For this is at best but a
remedy
168
for misery. Let us shrink from incurring a wound which must be
painful to cure. For it is one thing to enter the haven of
salvation with ship safe and merchandise uninjured, and another
to cling naked to a plank and, as the waves toss you this way and that,
to be dashed again and again on the sharp rocks. A widow should be
ignorant that second marriage is permitted; she should know nothing of
the apostle's words:--"It is better to marry than to burn."(1) Remove
what is said to be worse, the risk of burning, and marriage will cease
to be regarded as good. Of course I repudiate the slanders of the
heretics; I know that "marriage is honourable ... and the bed
undefiled."(2) Yet Adam even after he was expelled from paradise had
but one wife. The accursed and blood-stained Lamech, descended from the
stock of Cain, was the first to make out of one rib two wives; and the
seedling of digamy then planted was altogether destroyed by the doom of
the deluge. It is true that in writing to Timothy the apostle from fear
of fornication is forced to countenance second marriage. His words are
these:--"I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children,
guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak
reproachfully." But he immediately adds as a reason for this
concession; "for some are already turned aside after Satan."(3) Thus we
see that he is offering not a crown to those who stand but a helping
hand to those who are down. What must a second marriage be if it is
looked on merely as an alternative to the brothel! "For some," he
writes, "are already turned aside after Satan." The upshot of the whole
matter is that, if a young widow cannot or will not contain herself,
she had better take a husband to her bed than the devil.
A noble alternative truly which is only to be
embraced in preference to Satan! In old days even Jerusalem went
a-whoring and opened her feet to every one that passed by.(4) It was in
Egypt that she was first deflowered and there that her teats were
bruised.(5) And afterwards when she had come to the wilderness and,
impatient of the delays of her leader Moses, had said when maddened by
the stings of lust: "these be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up
out of the land of Egypt,"(6) she received statutes that were not good
and commandments that were altogether evil whereby she should not
live(7) but should be punished through them. Is it surprising then that
when the apostle had said in another place of young widows: "when they
have begun to wax wanton against Christ they will marry, having
damnation because they have cast off their first faith,"(1) he granted
to such as should wax wanton statutes of digamy that were not good and
commandments that were altogether evil? For the reason which he gives
for allowing a second husband would justify a woman in marrying a third
or even, if she liked, a twentieth. He evidently wished to shew them
that he was not so much anxious that they should take husbands as that
they should avoid paramours. These things, dear-est daughter in Christ,
I impress upon you and frequently repeat, that you may forget those
things which are behind and reach forth unto those things which are
before.(2) You have widows like yourself worthy to be your models,
Judith renowned in Hebrew story and Anna the daughter of Phanuel famous
in the gospel. Both these lived day and night in the temple and
preserved the treasure of their chastity by prayer and by fasting.
One was a type of the Church which cuts off the head of the
devil(3) and the other first received in her arms the saviour of the
world and had revealed to her the holy mysteries which were to come.(4)
In conclusion I beg you to attribute the shortness of my letter not to
want of language or scarcity of matter but to a deep sense of modesty
which makes me fear to force myself too long upon the ears of a
stranger, and causes me to dread the secret verdict of those who read
my words.
LETTER LXXX.
FROM RUFINUS TO MACARIUS.
Rufinus on his return from Bethlehem to Rome published a
Latin version of Origen's treatise <greek>peri</greek>
A<greek>rkpn</greek>, On First Principles. To this he
prefixed the preface which is here printed among Jerome's letters.
Professing to take as his model Jerome's own translations of Origen's
commentaries which he greatly praises, he declares that, following his
example, he has paraphrased the obscure passages of the treatise and
has paraphrased the obscure passages of the treatise and has
omitted as due to interpolators such parts as seem heretical. This
preface with its insincere praise of Jerome (whose name, however, is
not mentioned) and its avowed manipulation of Origen's text caused much
perplexity at Rome (see Letters LXXXI., LXXXIII., and LXXXIV.), and
gave rise to the controversy between Rufinus and Jerome described in
the Prolegomena, and given at length in vol. iii. of this Series. The
date is 398 A.D.
1. Large numbers of the brethren have, I know, in
their zeal for the knowledge of the scriptures begged learned men
skilled in Greek literature to make Origen a Roman by bringing home his
teaching to Latin ears. One of these scholars, a dear brother and
associate,(5) at the request of bishop Damasus
169
translated from Greek into Latin his two homilies on the Song of Songs
and prefaced the work with an eloquent and eulogistic introduction such
as could not fail to arouse in all an ardent desire to read
and to study Origen. To the soul of that just man--so he declared--the
words of the Song were applicable: "the king hath brought me into his
chambers;"(1) and he went on to speak thus: "while in his other books
Origen surpasses all former writers, in dealing with the Song of Songs
he surpasses himself." In his preface he pledges himself to give to
Roman ears these homilies of Origen and as many of his other works as
he can. His style is certainly attractive but I can see that he aims at
a more ambitious task than that of a mere translator. Not content with
rendering the words of Origen he desires to be himself the teacher.(2)
I for my part do but follow up an enterprise which he has sanctioned
and commenced, but I lack his vigorous eloquence with which to adorn
the sayings of this great man. I am even afraid lest my deficiencies
and inadequate command of Latin may detract seriously from the
reputation of one whom this writer has deservedly termed second only to
the apostles as a teacher of the Church in knowledge and in wisdom.
2. Often turning this over in my mind I held my
peace and refused to listen to the brethren when--as frequently
happened--they urged me to undertake the work. But your persistence,
most faithful brother Macarius, is so great that even want of ability
cannot resist it. Thus, to escape the constant importunings to which
you subject me, I have given way contrary to my resolution; yet only on
these terms that, so far as is possible, I am to be free to follow the
rules of translation laid down by my predecessors, and particularly
those acted upon by the writer whom I have just mentioned. He has
rendered into Latin more than seventy of Origen's homiletical treatises
and a few also of his commentaries upon the apostle; (3) and in these
wherever the Greek text presents a stumbling block, he has smoothed it
down in his version and has so emended the language used that a Latin
writer can find no word that is at variance with our faith. In his
steps, therefore, I propose to walk, if not displaying the same
vigorous eloquence at least observing the same rules. I shall not
reproduce passages in Origen's books which disagree with or contradict
his own statements elsewhere. The reason of these inconsistencies I
have put more fully before you in the defence of Origen's writings
composed by
Pamphilianus(1) which I have supplemented by a short treatise of my
own. I have given what I consider plain proofs that his books have been
corrupted in numbers of places by heretics and ill-disposed persons,
and particularly those which you now urge me to translate. The books
<greek>peri</greek> A<greek>rkpn</greek>, that
is of Principles or of Powers, are in fact in other respects extremely
obscure and difficult. For they treat of subjects on which the
philosophers have spent all their days and yet have been able to
discover nothing. In dealing with these themes Origen has done his best
to make belief in a Creator and a rational account of things created
subservient to religion and not, as with the philosophers, to
irreligion. Wherever then in his books I have found a statement
concerning the Trinity contrary to those which in other places he has
faithfully made on the same subject, I have either omitted the passage
as garbled and misleading or have substituted that view of the matter
which I find him to have frequently asserted. Again, wherever--in haste
to get on with his theme--he is brief or obscure relying on the skill
and intelligence of his readers, I, to make the passage clearer, have
sought to explain it by adding any plainer statements that I have read
on the point in his other books. But I have added nothing of my own.
The words used may be found in other parts of his writings: they are
his, not mine. I mention this here to take from cavillers all pretext
for once more(2) finding fault. But let such perverse and contentious
persons look well to what they are themselves doing.
3. Meantime I have taken up this great task--if so
be that God will grant your prayers--not to stop the mouths of
slanderers (an impossible feat except perhaps to God) but to give to
those who desire it the means of making progress in knowledge.
In the sight of God, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost,(3) I adjure and require everyone who shall either read or
copy these books of mine, by his belief in a kingdom to come, by the
mystery of the resurrection from the dead, by the eternal fire which is
"prepared for the devil and his angels;(4) as he hopes not to inherit
eternally that place where "there is weeping and gnashing of teeth,"(5)
and where "their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched,"(6) let
him add nothing to what is written, let him subtract nothing, let him
insert nothing, let him alter nothing, but let him
170
compare his transcript with the copies from which it is made, let him
correct it to the letter and let him punctuate it aright. Every
manuscript that is not properly corrected and punctuated he must
reject: for otherwise the difficulties in the text arising from the
want of punctuation will make obscure arguments still more obscure to
those who read them.
LETTER LXXXI.
TO RUFINUS.
A friendly letter of remonstrance written by Jerome
to Rufinus on receipt of his version of the
<greek>peri</greek> A<greek>rkpn</greek> see
the preceding letter). Being sent m the first instance to Pammachius
this latter treacherously suppressed it and thus put an end to all hope
of the reconciliation of the two friends. The date of the letter is 399
A.D.
1. That you have lingered some time at Rome your own
language shews. Yet I feel sure that a yearning to see your spiritual
parents(1) would have drawn you to your native country,(2) had not
grief for your mother deterred you lest a sorrow scarce bearable away
might have proved unbearable at home.
As to your complaint that men listen only to the
dictates of passion and refuse to acquiesce in your judgement and mine;
the Lord is witness to my conscience that since our reconciliation I
have harboured no rancour in my breast to injure anyone; on the
contrary I have taken the utmost pains to prevent any chance occurrence
being set down to ill-will. But what can I do so long as everyone
supposes that Ire has a right to do as he does and thinks that in
publishing a slander he is requiting not originating a calumny? True
friendship ought never to conceal what it thinks.
The short preface to the books
<greek>peri</greek> A<greek>rkpn</greek> which
has been sent to me I recognize as yours by the style. You know best
with what intention it was written; but even a fool can see how it must
necessarily be understood. Covertly or rather openly I am the person
aimed at. I have often myself reigned a controversy to practise
declamation.(3) Thus I might now recall this well-worn artifice and
praise you in your own method.(4) But far be it from me to imitate what
I blame in you. In fact I have so far restrained my feelings that I
make no charge against you, and, although injured, decline for my part
to injure a friend. But another time, if you wish to follow any one,
pray be satisfied with your own judgement. The objects which we seek
are either good or bad. If they are good, they need no help from
another; and if they are bad, the fact that
many sin together is no excuse. I prefer thus to expostulate with you
as a friend rather than to give public vent to my indignation at the
wrong I have suffered. I want you to see that when I am reconciled to
anyone I become his sincere friend and do not--to borrow a figure from
Plautus(1)--while offering him bread with one hand, hold a stone in the
other.
2. My brother Paulinian has not yet returned from
home and I fancy that you will see him at Aquileia at the house of the
reverend pope Chromatius.(2) I am also sending the reverend presbyter
Rufinus(3) on business to Milan by way of Rome, and have
requested him to communicate to you my feelings and respects. I
am sending the same message to the rest of my friends; lest, as the
apostle says, ye bite and devour one another, ye be consumed one of
another.(4) It only remains for you and your friends to shew your
moderation by giving no offence to those who are disinclined to put up
with it. For you will hardly find everyone like me. There are few who
can be pleased with pretended eulogies.
LETTER LXXXII.
TO THEOPHILUS BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA.
Two years after his former attempt (see Letter
LXIII.) Theophilus again wrote to Jerome urging him to be reconciled
with John of Jerusalem. Jerome replies that there is nothing he desires
more earnestly than peace but that this must be real and not a hollow
truce. He speaks very bitterly of John who has, he alleges, intrigued
to procure his banishment from Palestine. He also deals with the
ordination of his brother Paulinian (for which see Letter LI.)and
defends himself for having translated Origen's commentaries by adducing
the example of Hilary of Poitiers. This letter should be compared with
the Treatise "Against John of Jerusalem" in this volume. Its date is
399 A.D.
1. Your letter shews you to possess that heritage of
the Lord of which when going to the Father he said to the apostles,
"peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you,"(5) and to own the
happiness described in the words, "blessed are the peace-makers."(6)
You coax as a father, you teach as a master, you enjoin as a bishop.
You come to me not with a rod and severity but in a spirit of kindness,
gentleness, and meekness.(7) Your opening words echo the humility of
Christ who saved men not with thunder and lightning(8) but as a
wailing babe in the manger and as a silent sufferer upon the cross. You
171
have read the prediction made in one who was a type of Him, "Lord,
remember David and all his meekness,"(1) and you know how it was
fulfilled afterwards in Himself. "Learn of me," He said, "for I am meek
and lowly in heart."(2) You have quoted many passages from the sacred
books in praise of peace, you have flitted like a bee over the flowery
fields of scripture, you have culled with cunning eloquence all that is
sweet and conducive to concord. I was already running after peace, but
you have made me quicken my pace: my sails were set for the voyage but
your exhortation has filled them with a stronger breeze. I drink in the
sweet streams of peace not reluctantly and with aversion but eagerly
and with open mouth.
2. But what can I do, I who can only wish for peace
and have no power to bring it about? Even though the wish may win its
recompense with God, its futility must still sadden him who cherishes
it. When the apostle said, "as much as lieth in you, live peaceably
with all men,"(3) he knew quite well that the realisation of peace
depends upon the consent of two parties. The prophet truly cries "They
say Peace, peace: and yet there is no peace."(4) To overthrow peace by
actions while professing it in words is not hard. To point out its
advantages is one thing and to strive for it another. Men's speeches
may be all for unity but their actions may enforce bondage. I wish for
peace as much as others; and not only do I wish for it, I ask for it.
But the peace which I want is the peace of Christ; a true peace, a
peace without rancour, a peace which does not involve war, a peace
which will not reduce opponents but will unite friends. How can I term
domination peace? I must call things by their right names. Where there
is hatred there let men talk of feuds; and where there is mutual
esteem, there only let peace be spoken of. For my part I neither rend
the church nor separate myself from the communion of the fathers. From
my very cradle, I may say, I have been reared on Catholic milk; and no
one can be a better churchman than one who has never been a heretic.
But I know nothing of a peace that is without love or of a communion
that is without peace. In the gospel I read:--"if thou bring thy gift
to the altar and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against
thee; leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way; first
be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."(5) If
then we l may not offer gifts that are our own unless, we are at peace
with our brothers; how much
less can we receive the body of Christ if we cherish enmity in our
hearts? How can I conscientiously approach Christ's eucharist and
answer the Amen(1) if I doubt the charity of him who ministers it?
3. Hear me, I beg you with patience and do not take
truthfulness for flattery. Is any man reluctant to communicate with
you? Does any turn his face away when you hold out your hand? Does any
at the holy banquet offer you the kiss of Judas?(2) At your approach
the monks instead of trembling rejoice. They race to meet you and
leaving their dens in the desert are fain to master you by their
humility. What compels them to come forth? Is it not their love for
you? What draws together the scattered dwellers in the desert? Is it
not the esteem in which they hold you? A parent ought to love his
children; and not only a parent but a bishop ought to be loved by his
children. Neither ought to be feared. There is an old saying:(3) "whom
a man fears he hates; and whom he hates, he would fain see dead."
Accordingly, while for the young the holy scripture makes fear the
beginning of knowledge,(4) it also tells us that "perfect love casteth
out fear."(5) You exact no obedience from them; therefore the monks
obey you. You offer them a kiss; therefore they bow the neck. You shew
yourself a common soldier; therefore they make you their general. Thus
from being one among many you become one above many. Freedom is easily
roused if attempts are made to crush it. No one gets more from a free
man than he who does not force him to be a slave. I know the canons of
the church; I know what rank her ministers hold; and from men and books
I have daily up to the present learned and gathered many things. The
kingdom of the mild David was quickly dismembered by one who chastised
his people with scorpions and fancied that his fingers were thicker
than his father's loins.(6) The Roman people refused to brook insolence
even in a king.(7) Moses was leader of the host of Israel; he brought
ten plagues upon Egypt; sky, earth, and sea alike obeyed his commands:
yet he is spoken of as "very meek above all the men which were" at that
time "upon the face of the earth."(8) He maintained his forty-years'
supremacy because he tempered the insolence of office with gentleness
and meekness. When he was being stoned by the people he
172
made intercession for them;(1) nay more he wished to be blotted out of
God's book sooner than that the flock committed to him should
perish.(2) He sought to imitate the Shepherd who would, he knew, carry
on his shoulders even the wandering sheep. "The good Shepherd"--they
are the Lord's own words--"layeth down his life for the sheep."(3) One
of his disciples can wish to be anathema from Christ for his brethren's
sake, his kinsmen according to the flesh who were Israelites.(4) If
then Paul can desire to perish that the lost may not be lost, how much
should good parents not provoke their children to wrath(5) or by too
great severity embitter those who are naturally mild.
4. The limits of a letter compel me to restrain
myself; otherwise, indignation would make me diffuse. In an epistle
which its writer regards as conciliatory but which to me appears full
of malice my opponent(6) admits that I have never calumniated him or
accused him of heresy. Why then does he calumniate me by spreading a
rumour that I am infected with that awful malady and am in revolt
against the Church? Why is he so ready to spare his real assailants and
so eager to injure me who have done nothing to injure him? Before my
brother's ordination he said nothing of any dogmatic difference between
himself and pope Epiphanius. What then can have "forced" him--I use his
own word--publicly to argue a point which no one had yet raised? One so
full of wisdom as you knows well the danger of such discussions and
that silence is in such cases the safest course; except, indeed, on
some occasion which renders it imperative to deal with great matters.
What ability and eloquence it must have needed to compress into a
single sermon--as he boasts to have done(7)--all the topics which the
most learned writers have treated in detail in voluminous treatises!
But this is nothing to me: it is for the hearers of the sermon to
notice and for the writer of the letter to realize. But as for me he
ought of his own accord to acquit me of bringing the charge against
him. I was not present and did not hear the sermon. I was only one of
the many, indeed hardly one of them; for while others were crying out I
held my peace. Let us confront the accused and the accuser, and let us
give credit to him whose services, life, and doctrine are seen to be
the best.
5. You see, do you not, that I shut my eyes
to many things and touch upon others only in the most cursory manner,
hinting at what I suppose rather than saying out what I think.
I understand and approve your manoeuvres;(1) how in
the interests of the peace of the Church you stop your ears when you
come within range of the Sirens. Moreover, trained as you have been
from childhood in sacred studies, you know exactly what is meant by
each expression which you use. You knowingly employ ambiguous terms and
carefully balanced sentences so as not to condemn others(2) or
repudiate us.(3) But it is not a pure faith and a frank confession
which look for quibbles or circumlocutions. What is simply believed
must be professed with equal simplicity. For my part I could cry
out--though it were amid the swords and fires of Babylon, "why does the
answer evade the question? why is there no frank, straightforward
declaration?" From beginning to end all is shrinking, compromise,
ambiguity: as though he were trying to walk on spikes of corn. His
blood boils with eagerness for peace; yet he will not give a
straightforward answer! others are free to insult him; for, when he is
insulted, he does not venture to retaliate. I meantime hold my peace:
for the present I shall let it be thought that I am too busy, or
ignorant, or afraid; for how would he treat me were I to accuse him, if
when I praise him--as he admits himself that I do--he secretly traduces
me?
6. His whole letter is less an exposition of his
faith than a mass of calumnies aimed at myself. Without any of those
mutual courtesies which men may use towards each other without
flattery, he takes up my name again and again, flouts it, and bandies
it about as though I were blotted out of the book of the living. He
thinks that he has beaten me black and blue with his letter; and that I
live for the trifles at which he aims, I who from my boyhood have been
shut up in a monastic cell, and have always made it my aim to be rather
than to seem a good man. Some of us, it is true, he mentions with
respect, but only that he may afterwards wound us more deeply. As if,
forsooth, we too have no open secrets to reveal! One of his charges is
that we have allowed a slave to be ordained. Yet he himself has
clergymen of the same class, and he must have read of Onesimus who,
being made regenerate by Paul in prison,(4) from a slave became a
deacon. Then he throws out that the slave in question was a common
informer; and, lest he should be compelled to prove the charge,
declares he has it from hearsay only! Why,
173
if I had chosen to repeat the talk of the crowd and to listen to
scandal-mongers, he would have learned before now that I too know what
all the world knows and have heard the same stories as other people. He
declares farther that ordination has been given to this slave as a
reward for a slander spread abroad by him. Does not such cunning and
subtlety appal one? And is there any answer to eloquence so
overwhelming? Which is best, to spread a calumny or to suffer from one?
To accuse a man whose love you may afterwards wish for, or to pardon a
sinner? And is it more tolerable that a common informer should be made
a consul than that he should be made an aedile?(1) He knows what I pass
over in silence and what I say; what I myself have heard and what--from
the fear of Christ--I perhaps refuse to believe.
7. He charges me with having translated Origen
into Latin. In this I do not stand alone for the confessor Hilary has
done the same, and we are both at one in this that while we have
rendered all that is useful, we have cut away all that was harmful. Let
him read our versions for himself, if he knows how (and as he
constantly converses and daily associates with Italians,(2) I think he
cannot be ignorant of Latin); or else, if he cannot quite take it in,
let him use his interpreters and then he will come to know that I
deserve nothing but praise for the work on which he grounds a charge
against me. For, while I have always allowed to Origen his great merit
as an interpreter and critic of the scriptures, I have invariably
denied the truth of his doctrines. Is it I then that let him loose upon
the crowd? Is it I that act sponsor to other preachers like him? No,
for I know that a difference must be made between the apostles and all
other preachers. The former always speak the truth; but the latter
being men sometimes go astray. It would be a strange defence of Origen
surely to admit his faults and then to excuse them by saying that other
men have been guilty of similar ones! As if, when you cannot venture to
defend a man openly, you may hope to shield him by imputing his mistake
to a number of others! As for the six thousand volumes of Origen of
which he speaks, it is impossible that any one should have read books
which have never been written: and I for my part find it easier to
suppose that this falsehood is due to the man who professes to have
heard it rather than to him who is said to have told it.(3)
8. Again he avers that my brother(1) is the cause of
the disagreement which has arisen, a man who is content to stay in a
monastic cell and who regards the clerical office as onerous rather
than honourable. And although up to this very day he has spoon-fed us
with insincere protestations of peace, he has caused commotion in the
minds of the western bishops(2) by telling them that a mere youth,
hardly more than a boy, has been ordained(3) presbyter of Bethlehem in
his own diocese. If this is the truth, all the bishops of Palestine
must be aware of it. For the monastery of the reverend pope
Epiphanius--called the old monastery--where my brother was ordained
presbyter is situated in the district of Eleutheropolis(4) and not in
that of lia.(5) Furthermore his age is well known to your Holiness; and
as he has now attained to thirty years I apprehend that no blame can
attach to him on that score. Indeed this particular age is stamped as
full and complete by the mystery of Christ's assumed manhood. Let him
call to mind the ancient law, and he will see that after his
twenty-fifth rear a Levite might be chosen to the priesthood;(6) or if
in this passage he prefers to follow the Hebrew he will find that
candidates for the priesthood must be thirty years old. And that he may
not venture to say that "old things are passed away; and, behold, all
things are become new,"(7) let him hear the apostle's words to Timothy,
"Let no man despise thy youth."(8) Certainly when my opponent was
himself ordained bishop, he was not much older than my brother is now.
And if he argues that youth is no hindrance to a bishop but that it is
to a presbyter because a young elder(9) is a contradiction in terms, I
ask him this question: Why has he himself ordained a presbyter of this
age or younger still, and that too to minister in another man's church?
But if he cannot be at peace with my brother unless he consents to
submit and to renounce the bishop who has ordained him, he shews
plainly that his object is not peace but revenge, and that he will not
rest satisfied with the quietude of repose and peace unless he is able
to inflict to the full every penalty that he now threatens. Had he
himself ordained my brother, it would have made no difference to this
latter. So dearly does he love seclusion that he would even then have
continued to live
174
quietly and would not have exercised his office. And should the bishop
have seen fit to rend the church on that score, he would then have owed
him nothing save the respect which is due to all who offer sacrifice.(1)
9. So much for his prolix defence of himself or I
should rather say his attack on me. In this letter I have only answered
him briefly and cursorily that from what I have said he may perceive
what I do not say, and may know that as I am a human being I am a
rational animal and well able to understand his shrewdness, and that I
am not so obtuse or brutish as to catch only the sound of his words and
not their meaning. I now ask of you to pardon my chagrin and to allow
that if it is arrogant to answer back, it is yet more arrogant to bring
baseless charges. Yet my answer has indicated what I might have said
rather than has actually said it. Why do men look for peace at a
distance? and why do they wish to have it enforced by word of command?
Let them shew themselves peacemakers, and peace will follow at once.
Why do they use the name of your holiness to terrorize us, when your
letter--strange contrast to their harsh and menacing words--breathes
only peace and meekness? For that the letter which Isidore the
presbyter has brought for me from you does make for peace and harmony I
know by this, that these insincere professors of a wish for peace have
refused to deliver it to me. Let them choose whichever alternative they
please. Either I am a good man or I am a bad one. If I am a good one
let them leave me in quiet if I am a bad one, why do they desire to be
in bad company? Surely my opponent has learnt by experience the value
of humility. He who now tears asunder things which, formerly separate,
he of his own will put together, proves that in severing now what he
then joined, he is acting at the instigation of another.(2)
10. Recently he sought and obtained a decree of
exile against me, and I only wish that he had been able to carry it
out,(3) so that, as the will is imputed to him for the deed, so I, too
not in will only but in deed might wear the crown of exile. The
church of Christ has been founded by shedding its own blood not that of
others, by enduring outrage not by inflicting it. Persecutions have
made it grow; martyrdoms have crowned it. Or if the Christians among
whom I live are unique in their love of severity and know only how to
persecute and not how to undergo persecution, there are Jews here,
there are heretics professing various false doctrines, and in
particular the foulest of all, I mean, Manichaeism. Why is it that they
do not venture to say a word against them? Why am I the only person
they wish to drive into exile? Am I who communicate with the church the
only person of whom it can be said that he rends the church? I put it
to you, is it not a fair demand either that they should expel these
others as well as myself, or that, if they keep them, they should keep
me too? All the same they honour men by sending them into exile, for by
so doing they separate them from the company of heretics. It is a
monk,(1) shame to say, who menaces monks and obtains decrees of exile
against them; and that too a monk who boasts that he holds an apostolic
chair. But the monastic tribe does not succumb to terrorism: it prefers
to expose its neck to the impending sword rather than to allow its
hands to be tied. Is not every monk an exile from his country? Is he
not an exile from the whole world? Where is the need for the public
authority, the cost of a rescript, the journeyings up and down the
earth to obtain one? Let him but touch me with his little finger, and I
will go into exile of myself. "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness
thereof."(2) Christ is not shut up in any one spot.
11. Moreover when he writes that, though I seem to
be separated from communion with him, I in reality hold communion with
him through you and through the church of Rome: he need not go so far
afield, for I am connected with him in the same way also here in
Palestine. And lest even this should appear distant, in this village of
Bethlehem I hold communion with his presbyters as much as I can. Thus
it is clear that a private chagrin is not to be taken for the cause of
the church, and that one man's choler, or even that of several stirred
up by him, ought not to be styled the displeasure of the church.
Accordingly I now repeat what I said at the beginning of my letter that
I for my part am desirous of Christ's peace, that I pray for harmony,
and that I request you to admonish him not to exact peace but to
purpose it. Let him be satisfied with the pain which he has caused by
the insults that he has inflicted upon me in the past. Let him efface
old wounds by a little new charity. Let him shew himself what he was
before, when of his own choice he bestowed upon me his esteem. Let his
words no longer be tinged with a gall that flows from the heart of
another. Let him do what he wishes himself, and not what others
175
force him to wish. Either as a pontiff, let him exercise authority over
all alike, or as a follower of the apostle, let him serve all for the
salvation of all.(1) If he will shew himself such, I am ready freely to
yield and to hold out my arms; he will find me a friend and a kinsman,
and will perceive that in Christ I am submissive to him as to all the
saints. "Charity," writes the apostle, "suffereth long and is kind;
charity envieth not; ... is not puffed up ... beareth all things,
believeth all things." (2) Charity is the mother of all virtues, and
the apostle's words about faith hope and charity(3) are like that
threefold cord which is not quickly broken.(4) We believe we hope, and
through our faith and hope we are joined together in the bond of
charity.(5) It is for these virtues that I and others have left our
homes, it is for these that we would live peaceably without any
contention in the fields and alone; paying all due veneration to
Christ's pontiffs--so long as they preach the right faith--not because
we fear them as lords but because we honour them as fathers deferring
also to bishops as bishops, but refusing to serve under compulsion,
beneath the shadow of episcopal authority, men whom we do not choose to
obey. I am not so much puffed up in mind as not to know what is due to
the priests of Christ. For he who receives them, receives not them but
Him, whose bishops they are.(6) But let them be content with the honour
which is theirs. Let them know that they are fathers and not lords,
especially in relation to those who scorn the ambitions of the world
and count peace and repose the best of all things. And may Christ who
is Almighty God grant to your prayers that I and my opponent may be
united not in a feigned and hollow peace but in true and sincere mutual
esteem, lest biting and devouring one another we be consumed one of
another.(7)
LETTER LXXXIII.
FROM PAMMACHIUS AND OCEANUS.
A letter from Pammachius and Oceanus in which they
express the, perplexity into which they have been thrown by Rufinus s
version of Origen's treatise, On First Principles (see Letter LXXX.)
and request Jerome to make for them a literal translation of the work.
Written in 399 or 400 A .D .
1. Pammachius and Oceanus to the presbyter Jerome,
health.
A reverend brother has brought to us sheets
containing a certain person's translation into Latin of a treatise by
Origen--entitled <greek>peri</greek>
<greek>arkpn</greek>. These contain many things
which disturb our poor wits and which appear to us to be uncatholic. We
suspect also that with a view of clearing the author many passages of
his books have been removed which had they been left would have plainly
proved the irreligious character of his teaching. We therefore request
your excellency to be so good as to bestow upon this particular matter
an attention which will benefit not only ourselves but all who
reside in the city; we ask you to publish in your own
language the abovementioned book of Origen exactly as
it was brought out by the author himself; and we desire you
to make evident the interpolations which his defender has introduced.
You will also confute and overthrow all statements in the sheets which
we have sent to your holiness that are ignorantly made or contradict
the Catholic faith. The writer in the preface to his work has, with
much subtlety but without mentioning your holiness's name, implied that
he has done no more than complete a work which you had yourself
promised, thus indirectly suggesting that you agree with him. Remove
then the suspicions men cannot help feeling and confute your assailant;
for, if you ignore his implications, people will say that you admit
their truth.
LETTER LXXXIV.
TO PAMMACHIUS AND OCEANUS.
A calm letter in which Jerome defines and justifies
his own attitude towards Origen, but unduly minimizes his early
enthusiasm for him. He admires him in the same way that Cyprian admired
Tertullian but does not in any way adopt his errors. He then describes
his own studies and recounts his obligations to Apollinaris, Didymus,
and a Jew named Bar-anina. The rest of the letter deals with the errors
of Origen, the state of the text of his writings, and the eulogy of him
composed by the martyr Pamphilus (the authenticity of which Jerome
assails without any sufficient reason). The date of the letter is 400 A
.D.
Jerome to the brothers Pammachius and Oceanus, with all good wishes.
1. The sheets that you send me(1) cover me at once
with compliments and confusion; for, while they praise my ability, they
take away my sincerity in the faith. But as both at Alexandria and at
Rome and, I may say, throughout the whole world good men have made it a
habit to take the same liberties with my name, esteeming me only so far
that they cannot bear to be heretics without having me of the number, I
will leave aside personalities and only answer specific charges. For it
is of no benefit to a cause to
176
encounter railing with railing and to retaliate for attacks upon
oneself by attacks upon one's opponents. We are commanded not to return
evil for evil(1) but to overcome evil with good,(2) to take our fill of
insults, and to turn the other cheek to the smiter.(3)
2. It is charged against me that I have sometimes
praised Origen. If I am not mistaken I have only done so in two places,
in the short preface (addressed to Damasus) to his homilies on the Song
of Songs and in the prologue to my book of Hebrew Names. In these
passages do the dogmas of the church come into question? Is
anything said of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost? or of the
resurrection of the flesh? or of the condition and material of
the soul? I have merely praised the simplicity of his rendering and
commentary and neither the faith nor the dogmas of the Church come in
at all. Ethics only are dealt with and the mist of allegory is
dispelled by a clear explanation. I have praised the commentator but
not the theologian, the man of intellect but not the believer, the
philosopher but not the apostle. But if men wish to know my real
judgement upon Origen; let them read my commentaries upon Ecclesiastes,
let them go through my three books upon the epistle to the Ephesians:
they will then see that I have always opposed his doctrines. How
foolish it would be to eulogize a system so far as to endorse its
blasphemy! The blessed Cyprian takes Tertullian for his master, as his
writings prove; yet, delighted as he is with the ability of this
learned and zealous writer he does not join him in following Montanus
and Maximilla.(4) Apollinaris is the author of a most weighty book
against Porphyry, and Eusebius has composed a fine history of the
Church; yet of these the former has mutilated Christ's incarnate
humanity,(5) while the latter is the most open champion of the Arian
impiety.(6) "Woe," says Isaiah, "unto them that call evil good and good
evil; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."(7) We must not
detract from the virtues of our opponents--if they have any
praiseworthy qualities--but neither must we praise the defects of our
friends. Each several case must be judged on its own merits and not by
a reference to the persons concerned. While Lucilius is rightly
assailed by Horace(1) for the unevenness of his verses, he is equally
rightly praised for his wit and his charming style.
3. In my younger days I was carried away with a
great passion for learning, yet I was not like some presumptuous enough
to teach myself. At Antioch I frequently listened to Apollinaris of
Laodicea, and attended his lectures; yet, although he instructed me in
the holy scriptures, I never embraced his disputable doctrine as to
their meaning. At length my head became sprinkled with gray hairs so
that I looked more like a master than a disciple. Yet I went on to
Alexandria and heard Didymus.(2) And I have much to thank him for: for
what I did not know I learned from him, and what I knew already I did
not forget. So excellent was his teaching. Men fancied that I had now
made an end of learning. Yet once more I came to Jerusalem and to
Bethlehem. What trouble and expense it cost me to get Baraninas(3) to
teach me under cover of night. For by his fear of the Jews he presented
to me in his own person a second edition of Nicodemus.(4) Of all of
these I have frequently made mention in my works. The doctrines of
Apollinaris and of Didymus are mutually contradictory. The squadrons of
the two leaders must drag me in different directions, for I acknowledge
both as my masters. If it is expedient to hate any men and to loath any
race, I have a strange dislike to those of the circumcision. For up to
the present day they persecute our Lord Jesus Christ in the synagogues
of Satan.(5) Yet can anyone find fault with me for having had a Jew as
a teacher? Does a certain person dare to bring forward against me the
letter I wrote to Didymus calling him my master? It is a great crime,
it would seem, for me a disciple to give to one both old and learned
the name of master. And yet when I ask leave to look at the letter
which has been held over so long to discredit me at last, there is
nothing in it but courteous language and a few words of greeting. Such
charges are both foolish and frivolous. It would be more to the point
to exhibit a passage in which I have defended heresy or praised some
wicked doctrine of Origen. In the portion of Isaiah which describes the
crying of the two seraphim(6) he explains these to be the Son and the
Holy Ghost; but have not I altered this hateful explanation into a
reference to the two testaments?(7)
177
I have the book in my hand as it was published twenty years ago. In
numbers of my works and especially in my commentaries I have, as
occasion has offered, mangled this heathen school. And if my opponents
allege that I have done more than anyone else to form a collection of
Origen's books, I answer that I only wish I could have the works of all
theological writers that by diligent study of them, I might make up for
the slowness of my own wits. I have made a collection of his books, I
admit; but because I know everything that he has written I do not
follow his errors. I speak as a Christian to Christians: believe one
who has tried him. His doctrines are poisonous, they are unknown to the
Holy Scriptures, nay more, they do them violence. I have read Origen, I
repeat, I have read him; and if it is a crime to read him, I admit my
guilt: indeed, these Alexandrian writings have emptied my purse. If you
will believe me, I have never been an Origenist: if you will not
believe me, I have now ceased to be one. But if even this fails to
convince you, you will compel me in self-defence to write against your
favourite, so that, if you will not believe me when I disclaim him, you
will have to believe me when I attack him. But I find readier credence
when I go wrong than when I shew amendment. And this is not surprising,
for my would-be friends suppose me a fellow-disciple with them in the
arcana of their system. I am loath, they fancy, to profess esoteric
doctrines before persons who according to them are brute-like and made
of clay. For it is an axiom with them that pearls ought not to be
lightly cast before swine, nor that which is holy given to the dogs.(1)
They agree with David when he says: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart
that I might not sin against thee;"(2) and when in another place he
describes the righteous man as one "who speaketh truth with his
neighbour,"(3) that is with those who "are of the household of
faith."(4) From these passages they conclude that those of us who as
yet are uninitiated ought to be told falsehoods, lest, being still
unweaned babes, we should be choked by too solid food. Now that perjury
and lying enter into their mysteries and form a bond between them
appears most clearly from the sixth book of Origen's Miscellanies,(5)
in which he harmonizes the Christian doctrine(6) with the conceptions
of Plato.
4. What must I do then? deny that I am of Origen's
opinion? They will not believe me. Swear that I am not? They will laugh
and say that I deal in lies. I will do the one thing which they dread.
I will bring forward their sacred rites and mysteries, and will expose
the cunning whereby they delude simple folk like myself. Perhaps,
although they refuse credence to my voice when I deny, they may believe
my pen when I accuse. Of one thing they are particularly apprehensive,
and that is that their writings may some day be taken as evidence
against their master. They are ready to make statements on oath and to
disclaim them afterwards with an oath as false as the first. When asked
for their signatures they use shifts and seek excuses. One says: "I
cannot condemn what no one else has condemned." Another says: "No
decision was arrived at on the point by the Fathers."(1) It is thus
that they appeal to the judgment of the world to put off the necessity
of assenting to a condemnation. Another says with yet more assurance:
"how am I to condemn men whom the council of Nicaea has left untouched?
For the council which condemned Arius would surely have condemned
Origen too, had it disapproved of his doctrines." They were bound in
other words to cure all the diseases of the church at once and with one
remedy; and by parity of reasoning we must deny the majesty of the Holy
Ghost because nothing was said of his nature in that council. But the
question was of Arius, not of Origen; of the Son, not of the Holy
Ghost. The bishops at the council proclaimed their adherence to a dogma
which was at the time denied; they said nothing about a difficulty
which no one had raised. And yet they covertly struck at Origen as the
source of the Arian heresy: for, in condemning those who deny the Son
to be of the substance of the Father, they have condemned Origen as
much as Arius. On the ground taken by these persons we
have no right to condemn Valentine,(2) Marcion,(3) or the
Cataphrygians,(4) or Manichaeus, none of whom are named by the council
of Nicaea, and yet there is no doubt that in time they were prior to
it. But when they find themselves pressed either to subscribe or to
leave the Church, you may see some strange twisting. They qualify their
words, they arrange them anew, they use vague expressions; so as, if
possible, to, hold both our confession and that of our opponents, to be
called indifferently heretics and Catholics. As if it were not in the
same spirit that the Delphian Apollo (or, as he is sometimes called,
Loxias) gave his oracles
178
to Croesus and to Pyrrhus; cheating with a similar device two men
widely separated in time.(1) To make my meaning clear I will give a few
examples.
5. We believe, say they, in the resurrection of the
body. This confession, if only it be sincere, is free from objection.
But as there are bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial(2) and as thin
air and the aether are both according to their natures Called bodies,
they use the word body instead of the word flesh in order that an
orthodox person hearing them say body may take them to mean flesh while
a heretic will understand that they mean spirit. This is their first
piece of craft, and if this is found out, they devise fresh wiles, and,
pretending innocence themselves, accuse us of malice. As though they
were frank believers they say, "We believe in the resurrection of the
flesh." Now when they have said this, the ignorant crowd thinks it
ought to be satisfied, particularly because these exact words are found
in the creed.(3) If you go on to question them farther, a buzz of
disapproval is heard in the ring and their backers cry out: "You have
heard them say that they believe in the resurrection of the flesh; what
more do you want?" the popular favour is transferred from our side to
theirs, and while they are called honest, we are looked on as false
accusers. But if you set your face steadily and keeping a firm hold of
their admission about the flesh, proceed to press them as to whether
they assert the resurrection of that flesh which is visible and
tangible, which walks and speaks, they first laugh and then signify
their assent. And when we inquire whether the resurrection will exhibit
anew the hair and the teeth, the chest and the stomach, the hands and
the feet, and all the other members of the body, then no longer able to
contain their mirth they burst out laughing and tell us that in that
case we shall need barbers, and cakes, and doctors, and cobblers. Do
we, they ask us in turn, believe that after the resurrection men's
cheeks will still be rough and those of women smooth, and that sex will
differentiate their bodies as it does at present? Then if we admit
this, they at once deduce from our admission conclusions involving the
grossest materialism. Thus, while they maintain the resurrection of the
body as a whole, they deny the resurrection of its separate members.
6. The present is not a time to speak rhetorically
against a perverse doctrine. Neither the rich vocabulary of Cicero nor
the fervid eloquence of Demosthenes could adequately convey the warmth
of my feeling, were I to attempt to expose the quibbles by which these
heretics, while verbally professing a belief in the resurrection, in
their hearts deny it. For their women finger their breasts, slap their
chests, pinch their legs and arms, and say, "What will a resurrection
profit us if these frail bodies are to rise again? No, if we are to be
like angels,(1) we shall have the bodies of angels." That is to say
they scorn to rise again with the flesh and bones wherewith even Christ
rose.(2) Now suppose for a moment that in my youth I went astray and
that, trained as I was in the schools of heathen philosophy, I was
ignorant, in the beginning of my faith, of the dogmas of Christianity,
and fancied that what I had read in Pythagoras and Plato and Empedocles
was also contained in the writings of the apostle: Supposing, I say,
that I believed all this, why do you yet follow the error of a mere
babe and sucking child in Christ? Why do you learn irreligion of one
who as yet knew not religion? After shipwreck one has still a plank to
cling to;(3) and one may atone for sin by a frank confession. You have
followed me when I have gone astray; follow me also now that I have
been brought back. In youth we have wandered; now that we are old let
us mend our ways. Let us unite our tears and our groans; let us weep
together, and return to the Lord our Maker.(4) Let us not wait for the
repentance of the devil; for this is a vain anticipation and one that
will drag us into the deep of hell. Life must be sought or lost here.
If I have never followed Origen, it is in vain that you seek to
discredit me: if I have been his disciple, imitate my penitence. You
have believed my confession; credit also my denial.
7. But it will be said, "If you knew these things,
why did you praise him in your works?" I should praise him today but
that you and men like you praise his errors. I should still find his
talent attractive, but that some people have been attracted by his
impiety. "Read(5) all things," says the apostle, "hold fast that which
is good."(6) Lactantius in his books and particularly in his letters to
Demetrian altogether denies the subsistence of the Holy Spirit, and
following the error of the Jews says that the passages in which he is
spoken of refer to the Father or to the Son and that the words 'holy
spirit' merely prove
179
the holiness of these two persons in the Godhead. But who can forbid me
to read his Institutes--in which he has written against the Gentiles
with much ability--simply because this opinion of his is to be
abhorred? Apollinaris(1) has written excellent treatises against
Porphyry, and I approve of his labours, although I despise his doctrine
in many points because of its foolishness. If you too for your parts
will but admit that Origen errs in certain things I will not say
another syllable. Acknowledge that he thought amiss concerning the Son,
and still more amiss concerning the Holy Spirit, point out the impiety
of which he has been guilty in speaking of men's souls as having fallen
from heaven, and shew that, while in word he asserts the resurrection
of the flesh, he destroys the force of this language by other
assertions. As, for instance, that, after many ages and one
"restitution of all things,"(2) it will be the same for Gabriel
as for the devil, for Paul as for Caiaphas, for virgins as
for prostitutes. When once you have rejected these
misstatements and have parted them with your censor's wand
from the faith of the Church, I may read what left with safety,
and having first taken the antidote need no longer dread the poison.
For instance it will do me no harm to say as I have said, "Whereas in
his other books Origen has surpassed all other writers, in commenting
on the Song of Songs he has surpassed himself"; nor will I fear to face
the words with which formerly in my younger days I spoke of him as a
doctor of the churches.(3) Will it be pretended, that I was bound to
accuse a man whose works was translating by special request? that I was
bound to say in my preface, "This writer whose books I translate is a
heretic: beware of him, reader, read him not, flee from the viper: or,
if you are bent on reading him, know that the treatises which I have
translated have been garbled by heretics and wicked men; yet you need
not fear, for
have corrected all the places which they have corrupted," that in other
words I ought to have said: "the writer that I translate is a heretic,
but I, his translator, am a Catholic." The fact is that you and your
party in your anxiety to be straightforward, ingenuous, and honest,
have paid too little regard to the precepts of rhetoric and to the
devices of oratory. For in admitting that his books On First Principles
are heretical and in trying to lay the blame of this upon others, you
raise difficulties for your readers; you induce them to examine the
whole life of the author and
to form a judgment on the question from the remainder of his writings.
I on the other hand have been wise enough to emend silently what I
wished to emend: thus by ignoring the crime I have averted prejudice
from the criminal. Doctors tell us that serious maladies ought not to
be subjected to treatment, but should be left to nature, lest the
remedies applied should intensify the disease. It is now almost one
hundred and fifty years since Origen died at Tyre.(1) Yet what Latin
writer has ever ventured to translate his books On the Resurrection and
On First Principles, his Miscellanies(2) and his Commentaries or as he
himself calls them his Tomes?(3) Who has ever cared by so infamous a
work to cover himself with infamy? I am not more eloquent than Hilary
or truer to the faith than Victorinus who both have rendered his
Homilies(4) not in exact versions but in independent paraphrases.
Recently also Ambrose appropriated his Six Days' Work,(5) but in such a
way that it expressed the views of Hippolytus and Basil rather than of
Origen. You profess to take me for your model, and blind as moles in
relation to others you scan me with the eyes of gazelles. Well, had I
been ill-disposed towards Origen, I might have translated these very
books so as to make his worst writings known to Latin readers; but this
I have never done; and, though many have asked me, I have always
refused. For it has never been my habit to crow over the mistakes of
men whose talents I admire. Origen himself, were he still alive, would
soon fall out with you his would-be patrons and would say with Jacob:
"Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the
land."(6)
8. Does any one wish to praise Origen Let him praise
him as I do. From his childhood he was a great man, and truly a
martyr's son.(7) At Alexandria he presided over the school of the
church, succeeding a man of great learning the presbyter Clement. So
greatly did he abhor sensuality that, out of a zeal for God but yet one
not according to knowledge,(9) he castrated himself with a knife.
Covetousness he trampled under foot. He knew the scriptures by heart
and laboured hard day and night to explain their meaning. He delivered
in church more than a thousand sermons, and published innumerable
commentaries which he called tomes. These I now pass over, for it is
not my purpose to catalogue his writings. Which of us can read all that
he has written? and who can fail to
180
mire his enthusiasm for the scriptures? If some one in the spirit of
Judas the Zealot(1) brings up to me his mistakes, he shall have his
answer in the words of Horace:
'Tis true that sometimes Homer sleeps, but then
He's not without excuse:
The fault is venial, for his work is long.(2)
Let us not imitate the faults of one whose virtues we cannot equal.
Other men have erred concerning the faith, both Greeks and Latins, but
I must not mention their names lest I should be supposed to defend
Origen not by his own merits but by the errors of others. This, you
will say, is to accuse them and not to excuse him. You would be right,
if I had declared him not to have erred, or if I had professed a belief
that the apostle Paul or an angel from heaven(3) ought to be listened
to in a depravation of the faith. But as it is seeing I frankly admit
him to be wrong, I may read him on the same terms as I read others,
because if he is wrong so also are they. But you may say, If error is
common to many, why do you assail him alone? I answer, because he alone
is praised by you as an apostle. Take away your exaggerated love for
him, and I am ready to take away the greatness of my dislike. While you
gather other men's faulty statements out of their books merely to
defend Origen in his error, you extol this latter to the sky and will
not allow that he has erred at all. Whosoever you are who are thus
preaching new doctrines, I beseech you, spare the ears of the Romans,
spare the faith of a church which an apostle has praised.(4) Why after
four hundred years do you try to teach us Romans doctrines of which
until now we have known nothing? Why do you publicly proclaim opinions
which Peter and Paul(5) refused to profess? Until now no such teaching
has been heard of, and yet the world has become christian. For my part
I will hold fast in my old age the faith wherein I was born again in my
boyhood.(6) They speak of us as claytowners,(7) made out of dirt,
brutish and carnal, because, say they, we refuse to receive the things
of the spirit; but of course they themselves are citizens of Jerusalem
and their mother is in heaven.(8) I do not despise the flesh in which
Christ was born and rose again, or scorn the mud which, baked into a
clean vessel, reigns in heaven. And yet I wonder why they who detract
from the flesh live after the flesh,(9) and cherish and delicately
nurture that which is their enemy. Perhaps indeed they wish to fulfil
the words of scripture: "love your enemies and bless them that
persecute you."(1) I love the flesh, but I love it only when it is
chaste, when it is virginal, when it is mortified by fasting: I love
not its works but itself, that flesh which knows that it must be
judged, and therefore dies as a martyr for Christ, which is scourged
and torn asunder and burned with fire.
9. The folly also of their contention that certain
heretics and ill-disposed persons have tampered with Origen's writings
may be shewn thus. Could any person be more wise, more learned, or more
eloquent than were Eusebius and Didymus, Origen's supporters? Of these
the former in the six volumes of his Apology(2) asserts that Origen is
of the same mind with himself; while the latter, though he tries to
excuse his errors, admits that he has made them. Not being able to deny
what he finds written, he endeavours to ex-Main it away. It is one
thing to say that additions have been made by heretics, but another to
maintain that heretical statements are commendable. Origen's case would
be unique if his writings were falsified all over the world and if in
one day by an edict like that of Mithridates(3) all the truth were
shorn from his volumes. Even supposing that some one treatise of his
has been tampered with, can it be possible that all his works,
published as they were at different times and places, have been
corrupted? Origen himself in a letter written to Fabian, bishop of
Rome,(4) expresses penitence for having made erroneous statements, and
charges Ambrose(5) with over haste in making public what was meant only
for private circulation. And yet to this day his disciples search for
shifts to prove that all that excites disapprobation in his writings is
due not to him but to others.
10. Moreover, when they speak of Pamphilus as one
who praised Origen, I am personally much obliged to them for accounting
me worthy to be calumniated with that martyr. For if, sirs, you tell me
that Origen's books have been tampered with by his enemies to bring
them into discredit; why may not I in my turn allege that his friends
and followers have attributed to Pamphilus a volume composed by
themselves to vindicate their master from disrepute by the testimony of
a martyr? Lo and behold, you yourselves
181
correct in Origen's books passages which (according to you) he never
wrote: and yet you are surprised if a man is said to have published a
book which as a matter of fact he did not publish. But while your
statements can easily be brought to the test by an appeal to Origen's
published works; as Pamphilus has published nothing else, it is easier
for calumny to fix a book upon him. For shew me any other work of
Pamphilus; you will nowhere find any, this is his only one. How then
can I know that it is by Pamphilus? You will tell me, that the style
and tone ought to inform me. Well, I shall never believe that a man so
learned has dedicated the first fruits of his talent to defend doubtful
and discredited positions. The very name of an apology which the
treatise bears implies a previous charge made; for nothing is defended
that is not first attacked. I will now bring forward but a single
argument, one, however, the force of which only folly and effrontery
can deny. The treatise attributed to Pamphilus contains nearly the
first thousand lines of Eusebius's sixth book in defence of Origen.(1)
Yet in the remaining parts of his work the writer brings forward
passages by which he seeks to prove that Origen was a Catholic. Now
Eusebius and Pamphilus were in such thorough harmony with each other
that they seemed to have but one soul between them, and one even went
so far as to adopt the other's name.(2) How then could they have
disagreed so fundamentally on this point, Eusebius in all his works
proving Origen to be an Arian, and Pamphilus describing him as a
supporter of the Nicene council, which had not yet been held? It is
evident from this consideration that the book belongs not to Pamphilus
but to Didymus or somebody else, who having cut off the head of
Eusebius's sixth book supplied the other members himself. But I am
willing to be generous and to allow that the book is written by
Pamphilus, only by Pamphilus not yet a martyr. For he must have written
the book before he underwent martyrdom. And why, you will say, was he
accounted worthy of martyrdom? Surely that he might efface his error by
a martyr's death, and wash away his one fault by shedding his blood.
How many martyrs there have been all the world over who before their
deaths have been the slaves of sins! Are we then to palliate the sins
because those who committed them have afterwards become martyrs?
11. This reply to your letter, my most
loving brothers, I have dictated in all haste; and, overcoming my
scruples, I have taken up my pen against a man whose ability I once
eulogized. I would sooner, indeed, risk my reputation than my faith. My
friends have placed me in the awkward dilemma that if I say nothing I
shall be held guilty, and if I offer a defence I shall be accounted an
enemy. Both alternatives are hard; but of the two I will choose that
which is the least so. A quarrel can be made up, but blasphemy can find
no forgiveness. I leave to your judgment to discover how much labour I
have expended in translating the books On First Principles; for on the
one hand if one alters anything from the Greek the work becomes less a
version than a perversion; and on the other hand a literal adherence to
the original by no means tends to preserve the charm of its eloquence.
LETTER LXXXV. TO PAULINUS.
Paulinus had asked Jerome two questions,(1) how can
certain passages of scripture (Exod. vii. 13: Rom. ix. 16) be
reconciled with Free Will? and(2) Why are the children of believers
said to be holy (1 Cor. vii. 14) apart from baptismal grace? For the
first of these questions Jerome refers Paulinus to his version (newly
made) of Origen's treatise, On First Principles. For the second he
quotes the explanation of Tertullian. Written in 400 A.D.
1. Your words urge me to write to you but your
eloquence deters me from doing so. For as a letter-writer you are
almost as good as Tully. You complain that my letters are short and
unpolished: this is not due to carelessness but to fear of you, lest
writing to you at greater length I should but send you more sentences
to find fault with. Moreover, to make a clean breast of it to a good
man like you, just about the time the vessels sail for the west, so
many letters are demanded of me at once that, if I were to reply to all
my correspondents, I should be unable to accomplish my task. Hence it
happens that, neglecting the niceties of composition and not revising
the work of my secretaries, I dictate whatever first comes into my
head. Thus when I write to you I regard you as a friend and not as a
critic.
2. Your letter propounds two questions, the first,
why God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and why the apostle said: "So then it
is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
sheweth mercy;"(1) and other things which appear to do away with free
will: the second, how those are holy who are born of believing, that
is, of baptized parents,(2) seeing that without the gift of grace
182
afterwards received and kept they cannot be saved.
3. Your first question is most ably answered by
Origen in his treatise on First Principles which, at the request
of my friend Pammachius, I have recently translated. This task has
occupied me so fully that I am unable to keep my word with you and must
again postpone the sending my commentary on Daniel. Indeed,
distinguished and devoted to me as Pammachius is, had he been alone in
his request, I should have deferred it to another time, but, as it was,
almost all our brothers at Rome urged the same demand declaring that
many persons were in danger, and that some even accepted Origen's
heretical teaching. I have found myself forced therefore to translate a
book in which there is more of bad than of good, and to keep to this
rule that I should neither add nor subtract but should preserve in
Latin in its integrity the true sense of the Greek. You will be able to
borrow a copy of my version from the aforesaid brother, though in your
case the Greek will serve quite as well neither should you, who can
drink from the fountain head, turn to the muddy streamlets supplied by
my poor wits.
4. Moreover, as I am speaking to an educated man,
well versed both in the sacred scriptures and in secular literature, I
desire to give your excellency this note of warning. Do not suppose
that I am a clumsy buffoon(1) who condemn everything that Origen
has written,--as his injudicious friends falsely assert--or that I have
changed my mind as suddenly as the philosopher Dionysius.(2) The fact
is that I repudiate merely his objectionable dogmas. For I know that
one curse hangs over those who call evil good and over those who call
good evil, over those who put bitter for sweet, and over those who put
sweet for bitter.(3) Who would go so far in praise of another man's
teaching as to acquiesce in blasphemy?
5. Your second question is discussed by Tertullian
in his books an Monogamy(4) where he declares that the children of
believers are l called holy because they are as it were candidates for
the faith and have suffered no pollution from idolatry. Consider also
that the vessels of which we read in the tabernacle are called holy and
everything else required for the ceremonial worship: although in
strictness of speech there can be nothing holy except creatures which
know of and worship God. But it is a scriptural usage sometimes to give
the name of holy to those who are clean, or who have been purified, or
who have made expiation. For instance, it is written of Bathsheba that
she was made holy(1) from her uncleanness,(2) and the temple itself is
called the holy place.
6. I beg that you will not silently in your mind
accuse me either of vanity or of insincerity. God bears me witness in
my conscience that the unavoidable circumstances mentioned above drew
me back when I was just going to grapple with my commentary; and you
know that what is done when the mind is pre-occupied is never well
done. I gladly accept the cap that you have sent me, a mark, though
small, of no small affection and just the thing to keep an old man's
head warm. I am delighted alike with the gift and with the giver.
LETTER LXXXVI.
TO THEOPHILUS.
Jerome congratulates Theophilus on the success of
his crusade against Origenism, and speaks of the good work done in
Palestine by his emissaries Priscus and Eubulus. He then (by a singular
change in his sentiments) asks Theophilus to forgive John of Jerusalem
for having unwittingly received an excommunicated Egyptian. The date of
the Letter is 400 A.D.
Jerome to the most blessed Pope Theophilus. I have
recently received despatches from your blessedness setting right your
long silence and summoning me to return to my duty. So, though
the reverend brothers Priscus and Eubulus have been slow in bringing me
your letters, yet, as they are now hastening in the ardour of faith
from end to end of Palestine and scattering and driving into their
holes the basilisks of heresy, I write a few lines to congratulate you
on your success. The whole world glories in your victories. An exultant
crowd of all nations gazes on the standard of the cross raised by you
at Alexandria and upon the shining trophies which mark your triumph
over heresy. Blessings on your courage! blessings on your zeal! You
have shewn that your long silence has been due to policy and not to
inclination. I speak quite openly to your reverence. I grieved to find
you too for-bearing, and, knowing nothing of the course shaped by the
pilot, I yearned for the destruction of those abandoned men. But, as I
now see, you have had your hand raised and, if you have delayed to
strike, it has only been that you might strike harder. As regards the
welcome given to a certain person,(3) you have no reason to be vexed
with
183
the prelate of this city;(1) for as you gave no instructions on the
point in your letter, it would have been rash in him to decide a case
of which he knew nothing. Still I think that he would neither wish nor
venture to annoy you in any way.
LETTER LXXXVII.
FROM THEOPHILUS TO JEROME.
Theophilus informs Jerome that he has expelled the
Origenists from the monasteries of Nitria, and urges him to shew his
zeal for the faith by writing against the prevalent heresy. The date of
the letter is 400 A.D.
Theophilus, bishop, to the well-beloved and most
loving brother, the presbyter Jerome. The reverend bishop Agatho with
the well-beloved deacon Athanasius is accredited to you with tidings
relating to the church. When you learn their import I feel no doubt but
that you will approve my resolution and will exult in the church's
victory. For we have cut down with the prophet's sickle(2) certain
wicked fanatics who were eager to sow broadcast in the monasteries of
Nitria the heresy of Origen. We have remembered the warning words of
the apostle, "rebuke with all authority."(3) Do you therefore on your
part, as you hope to receive a share in this reward, make haste to
bring back with scriptural discourses those who have been deceived. It
is our desire, if possible, to guard in our days not only the Catholic
faith and the rules of the church, but the people committed to our
charge, and to give a quietus to all strange doctrines.
LETTER LXXXVIII.
TO THEOPHILUS.
Replying to the preceding letter Jerome again
congratulates Theophilus on the success of his efforts to put down
Origenism, and informs him that they have already borne fruit as far
west as Italy. He then asks him for the decrees of his council (held
recently at Alexandria). The date of the letter is 400 A.D.
Jerome to the most blessed pope Theophilus. The
letter of your holiness has given me a twofold pleasure, partly because
it has had for its bearers those reverend and estimable men, the bishop
Agatho and the deacon Athanasius, and partly because it has shewn your
zeal for the faith against a most wicked heresy. The voice of your
holiness has rung
throughout the world, and to the joy of all Christ's churches the
poisonous suggestions of the devil have been silenced. The old
serpent(1) hisses no longer, but, writhing and disembowelled, lurks in
dark caverns unable to bear the shining of the sun. I have already,
before the writing of your letter, sent missives to the West pointing
out to those of my own language some of the quibbles employed by the
heretics. I hold it due to the special providence of God that you
should have written to the pope Anastasius(2) at the same time as
myself, and should thus without knowing it have been the means of
confirming my testimony. Now that you have directly urged me to do so,
I shall shew myself more zealous than ever to recall from their error
simple souls both near and far. Nor shall I hesitate, if needful, to
incur odium with some, for we ought to please God rather than men:(3)
although indeed they have been much more forward to defend their heresy
than I and others have been to attack it. At the same time I beg that
if you have any synodical decrees bearing upon the subject you will
forward them to me, that, strengthened with the authority of so great a
prelate, I may open my mouth for Christ with more freedom and
confidence. The presbyter Vincent has arrived from Rome two days ago
and humbly salutes you. He tells me again and again that Rome and
almost the whole of Italy owe their deliverance after Christ to your
letters. Shew diligence therefore, most loving and most blessed pope,
and whenever opportunity offers write to the bishops of the West not to
hesitate--in your own words(4)--to cut down with a sharp sickle the
sprouts of evil.
LETTER LXXXIX.
FROM THEOPHILUS TO JEROME.
This letter (probably earlier in date than the three
preceding) commends to Jerome the monk Theodore, who, having come from
Rome to declare the condemnation of Origenism by the church there, had
visited the monasteries of Nitria now purged of heresy, and wished
before returning to the West to see the Holy Places as well. The date
of the letter is 400 A.D.
Theophilus, bishop, to the well-beloved lord and
most loving brother the presbyter Jerome. I have learned the project of
the monk Theodore--which will be known also to your holiness--and I
approve of it. Having to leave us on a voyage for Rome, he has been
unwilling to set out without first visiting and embracing as his own
flesh and
184
blood you and the reverend brothers who are with you in the monastery.
You will, I am sure, rejoice in the news with which he will meet your
welcome, that quiet has been restored to the church here. He has seen
all the monasteries of Nitria and can tell you of the continence and
meekness of the monks in them; as also how the Origenists have been put
down and scattered, how peace has been restored to the church, and how
the discipline of the Lord is being upheld. How gladly would I see the
mask of hypocrisy laid aside by those also who near you are said to be
undermining the truth. I feel obliged to write thus because the
brothers in your neighbourhood(1) are mistaken concerning them.
Wherefore take heed to yourselves and shun men of this type; even as it
is written:--"if any man bring not to you the faith of the church, bid
him not God speed."(2) It may, indeed, be superfluous to write thus to
you who can recall the erring from their error, yet no harm is done
when those careful for the faith admonish even the wise and learned.
Kindly salute in my name all the brothers who are with you.
LETTER XC.
FROM THEOPHILUS TO EPIPHANIUS.
Theophilus writes to Epiphanius to convoke a council
in Cyprus for the condemnation of Origenism and asks him to transmit to
Constantinople by a trustworthy messenger a copy of it's decrees
together with the synodical letter of Theophilus himself. His anxiety
about this last point is caused by the news that certain of the
excommunicated monks have set sail for Constantinople to lay their case
before the bishop, John Chrysostom. The date of the letter is 400 A.D.
Theophilus to his well-beloved lord, brother, and
fellow-bishop Epiphanius.
The Lord has said to his prophet "See, I have this
day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out and to
pull down and to destroy and ... to build and to plant."(3) In every
age he bestows the same grace upon his church, that His Body(4) may be
preserved intact and that the poison of heretical opinions may
nowhere prevail over it. And now also do we see the words
fulfilled. For the church of Christ "not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing"(5) has with the sword of the gospel cut down the
Origenist serpents crawling out of their caves, and has delivered from
their deadly contagion the fruitful host of the monks of Nitria. I have
compressed a short
account of my proceedings (it was all that
time would allow) into the general letter(1) which I have addressed
indiscriminately to all. As your excellency has often fought in
contests of the kind before me, it is your present duty to strengthen
the hands of those who are in the field and to gather together to this
end the bishops of your entire island.(2) A synodical letter should be
sent to myself and the bishop of Constantinople(3) and to l any
others whom you think fit; that by universal consent Origen himself may
be expressly condemned and also the infamous heresy of which he was the
author. I have learned that certain calumniators of the true faith,
named Ammonius, Eusebius, and Euthymius, filled with a fresh access of
enthusiasm in behalf of the heresy, have taken ship for Constantinople,
to ensnare with their deceits as many new converts as they can and to
confer anew with the old companions of their impiety. Let it be your
care, therefore, to set forth the course of the matter to all the
bishops throughout Isauria and Pamphylia and the rest of the
neighbouring provinces: moreover, if you think fit, you can add my
letter, so that all of us gathered together in one spirit with the
power of our Lord Jesus Christ may deliver these men unto Satan for the
destruction of the impiety which possesses them.(4) And to ensure the
speedy arrival of my despatches at Constantinople, send a diligent
messenger, one of the clergy (as I send fathers from the monasteries of
Nitria with others also of the monks, learned men and continent) that
when they arrive they may be able themselves to relate what has been
done. Above all I beg of you to offer up earnest prayers to the Lord
that we may be able in this contest also to gain the victory; for no
small joy has filled the hearts of the people both in Alexandria and
throughout all Egypt, because a few men have been expelled from the
Church that the body of it might be kept pure. Salute the brothers who
are with you. The people(6) with us salute you in the Lord.
LETTER XCI.
FROM EPIPHANIUS TO JEROME,
An exultant letter from Epiphanius in which he
describes the success of his council (convened at the suggestion of
Theophilus), sends Jerome a copy of its synodical letter. and urges him
to go on with his work of translating into Latin documents beating on
the Origenistic controversy. Written in 400 A.D.
To his most loving lord, son, and brother,
185
the presbyter Jerome, Epiphanius sends greeting in the Lord. The
general epistle written(1) to all Catholics belongs particularly to
you; for you, having a zeal for the faith against all heresies,
particularly oppose the disciples of Origen and of Apollinaris
whose poisoned roots and deeply planted impiety almighty God has
dragged forth into our midst, that having been unearthed at Alexandria
they might wither throughout the world. For know, my beloved son, that
Amalek has been destroyed root and branch and that the trophy of the
cross has been set up on the hilI of Rephidim.(2) For as when the hands
of Moses were held up on high Israel prevailed, so the Lord has
strengthened His servant Theophilus to plant His standard against
Origen on the altar of the church of Alexandria; that in him might be
fulfilled the words: "Write this for a memorial, for I will utterly put
out Origen's heresy from under heaven together with that Amalek
himself." And that I may not appear to be repeating the same things
over and over and thus to be making my letter tedious, I send you the
actual missive written to me that you may know what Theophilus
has said to me, and what a great blessing the Lord has granted to my
last days in approving the principles which I have always proclaimed by
the testimony of so great a prelate. I fancy that by this time you also
have published something and that, as I suggested in my former letter
to you on this subject, you have elaborated a treatise for readers of
your own language. For I hear that certain of those who have made
shipwreck(3) have come also to the West, and that, not content with
their own destruction, they desire to involve others in death with
them; as if they thought that the multitude of sinners lessens the
guilt of sin and the flames of Gehenna do not grow in size in
proportion as more logs are heaped upon them. With you and by you we
send our best greetings to the reverend brothers who are with you in
the monastery serving God.
LETTER XCII.
THE SYNODICAL LETTER OF THEOPHILUS TO THE BISHOPS OF PALESTINE AND OF
CYPRUS.
The synodical letter of the council held at
Alexandria in 400 A.D. to condemn Origenism. Written originally in
Greek it was translated into Latin by Jerome.
This letter has been sent in identical terms to the
Bishops of Palestine and to those of Cyprus. We reproduce the headings
of both copies. That to the Bishops of Palestine commences thus: To the
well-be-
loved lords, brothers, and fellow-bishops, Eulogius, John, Zebianus,
Auxentius, Dionysius, Gennadius, Zeno, Theodosius, Dicterius, Porphyry,
Saturninus, Alan, Paul, Ammonius, Helianus, Eusebius, the other Paul,
and to all the Catholic bishops gathered together at the dedication
festival of lid, Theophilus [sends] greeting in the Lord.
The Cyprians he addresses thus: To the well-be-loved
lords, brothers, and fellow-bishops, Epiphanius, Marcianus, Agapetus,
Boethius, Helpidius, Entasius, Norbanus, Macedonius. Aristo, Zeno,
Asiaticus, Heraclides, the other Zeno, Cyriacus, and Aphroditus,
Theophilus [sends] greeting in the Lord.
The scope of the letter is as follows:
We have personally visited the monasteries of Nitria
and find that the Origenistic heresy has made great ravages among them.
It is accompanied by a strange fanaticism: men even maim themselves or
cut out their tongues(2) to show how they despise the body. I find that
some men of this kind have gone from Egypt into Syria and other
countries(3) where they speak against us and the truth.
The books of Origen have been read before a council
of bishops and unanimously condemned. The following are his chief
errors, mainly found in the <greek>peri</greek>
A<greek>rkpn</greek>.
1. The Son compared with us is truth, but compared
with the Father he is falsehood.
2. Christ's kingdom will one day come to an end.
3. We ought to pray to the Father alone, not to the
Son.
4. Our bodies after the resurrection will be
corruptible and mortal.
5. There is nothing perfect even in heaven; the
angels themselves are faulty, and some of them feed on the Jewish
sacrifices.
6. The stars are conscious of their own movements,
and the demons know the future by their courses.
7. Magic, if real, is not evil.
8. Christ suffered once for men; he will suffer
again for the demons.
The Origenists have tried to coerce me; they have
even stirred up the heathen by denouncing the destruction of the
Serapeum; and have sought to withdraw from the ecclesiastical
jurisdiction two persons accused of grave crimes. One of these is the
woman(4)
186
who was wrongly placed on the list of widows by Isidore, the other
Isidore himself. He is the standard-bearer of the heretical faction,
and his wealth supplies them with unbounded resources for their violent
enterprises. They have tried to murder me; they seized the monastery
church at Nitria, and for a time prevented the bishops from entering
and the offices from being performed. Now, like Zebul (Beelzebub) they
go to and fro on the earth.
I have done them no harm; I have even protected
them. But I would not let an old friendship (with Isidore) impair our
faith and discipline. I implore you to oppose them wherever they come,
and to prevent them from unsettling the brethren committed to you.
LETTER XCIII.
FROM THE BISHOPS OF PALESTINE TO
THEOPHILUS.
The synodical letter of the council of Jerusalem
sent to Theophilus in reply to the preceding. The translation as before
is due to Jerome.
The following is an epitome: We have done all that
you wished, and Palestine is almost wholly free from the taint of
heresy. We wish that not only the Origenists, but Jews, Samaritans and
heathen also, could be put down. Origenism does not exit among us. The
doctrines you describe are never heard here. We anathematize those who
hold such doctrines, and also those of Apollinaris, and shall not
receive anyone whom you excommunicate.
LETTER XCIV.
FROM DIONYSIUS TO THEOPHILUS.
In this letter (translated into Latin by Jerome)
Dionysius, bishop of Lydda, praises Theophilus for his signal victories
over Origenism and urges him to continue his efforts against that
heresy. Written in 400
A.D.
LETTER XCV.
FROM POPE ANASTASIUS TO SIMPLICIANUS.
At the request of Theophilus Anastasius, bishop of
Rome, writes to Simplicianus, bishop of Milan, to inform him that he,
like Theophilus, has condemned Origen whose blasphemies have been
brought under his notice by Eusebius of Cremona. This latter had shewn
him a copy of the version by Rufinus of the treatise On First
Principles. The date of the letter is 400 A.D.
To his lord and brother Simplicianus, Anastasius.
1. It is felt right that a shepherd should bestow
great care and watchfulness upon his flock. In like manner too from his
lofty tower the careful watchman keeps a lookout day and night on
behalf of the city. So also in the hour of tempest when the sea is
dangerous the shipmaster suffers keen anxiety(1) lest the gale and the
violence of the waves shall dash his vessel upon the rocks. It is with
similar feelings that the reverend and honourable Theophilus our
brother and fellow-bishop, ceases not to watch over the things that
make for salvation, that God's people in the different churches may not
by reading Origen run into awful blasphemies.
2. Being informed, then, by a letter of the
aforesaid bishop, we inform your holiness that we in like manner who
are set in the city of Rome in which the prince of the apostles, the
glorious Peter, first founded the church and then by his faith
strengthened it; to the end that no man may contrary to the commandment
read these books which we have mentioned, have condemned the same; and
have with earnest prayers urged the strict observance of the precepts
which God and Christ have inspired the evangelists to teach. We have
charged men to remember the words of the venerable apostle Paul,
prophetic and full of warning:--"if any than preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed."(2) Holding fast, therefore, this precept, we have intimated
that everything written in days gone by by Origen that is contrary to
our faith is even by us rejected and condemned.
3. I send this letter to your holiness by the hand
of the presbyter Eusebius,(3) a man filled with a glowing faith and
love for the Lord. He has shewn to me some blasphemous chapters which
made me shudder as I passed judgement on them. If Origen has put forth
any other writings, you are to know that they and their author are
alike condemned by me. The Lord have you in safe keeping, my lord and
brother deservedly held in honour.
LETTER XCVI.
FROM THEOPHILUS.
A translation by Jerome of Theophilus's paschal
letter for the year 401 A.D. In it Theophilus refutes at length the
heresies of Apollinaris and Origen.
LETTER XCVII.
TO PAMMACHIUS AND MARCELLA.
With this letter Jerome sends to Pammachius and
Marcella a translation of the paschal letter issued by
187
Theophilus for the year 402 A.D. together with the Greek original. He
takes the precaution of sending this latter because in the preceding
year complaints have been made that his translation was not accurate.
Written in 402 A.D.
1. Once more with the return of spring I enrich you
with the wares of the east and send the treasures of Alexandria to
Rome: as it is written, "God shall come from the south and the Holy One
from Mount Paran, even a thick shadow."(1)(Hence in the Song of Songs
the joyous cry of the bride: "I sat down under his shadow with great
delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste."(2)) Now truly is Isaiah's
prophecy fulfilled: "In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in
the land of Egypt."(3) "Where sin hath abounded, grace doth much more
abound."(4) They who fostered the infant Christ now with glowing faith
defend Him in His manhood; and they who once saved Him from the hands
of Herod are ready to save Him again from this blasphemer and heretic.
Demetrius expelled Origen from the city of Alexander; but he is now
thanks to Theophilus outlawed from the whole world. Like him to whom
Luke has dedicated the Acts of the Apostles(5) this bishop derives his
name from his love to God. Where now is the wriggling serpent?(6) In
what plight does the venomous viper find himself? His is
A human face with wolfish body joined.(7)
Where now is that heresy which crawled hissing through the world and
boasted that both the bishop Theophilus and I were partisans of its
errors? Where now is the yelping of those shameless hounds who, to win
over the simple minded, falsely proclaimed our adherence to their
cause? Crushed by the authority and eloquence of Theophilus they are
now like demon-spirits only able to mutter and that from out of the
earth.(8) For they know nothing of Him who, as He comes from above,(9)
speaks only of the things that are above.
2. Would that this generation of vipers(10) would
either honestly accept our doctrines, or else consistently defend its
own; that we might know whom we are to esteem and whom we are to shun.
As it is they have invented a new kind of penitence, hating us as
enemies though they dare not deny our faith. What, I ask, is this
chagrin of theirs which neither time nor reason seems able to cure?
When swords flash in battle and men fall and blood flows in streams,
hostile hands are
often clasped in amity and the fury of war is exchanged for an
unexpected peace. The partisans of this heresy alone can make no terms
with churchmen; for they repudiate mentally the verbal assent that is
extorted from them. When their open blasphemy is made plain to the
public ear, and when they perceive their hearers clamouring against
them; then they assume an air of simplicity, declaring that they hear
such doctrines for the first time and that they have no previous
knowledge of them as taught by their master. And when you hold their
writings in your hand, they deny with their lips what their hands have
written. Why, sirs, need you beset the Propontis,(1) shift your abode,
wander through different countries, and rend with foaming mouths a
distinguished prelate of Christ and his followers? If your recantations
are sincere, you should replace your former zeal for error with an
equal zeal for the faith. Why do you patch together from this quarter
and from that these rags of cursing? And why do you rail at the lives
of men whose faith you cannot resist? Do you cease to be heretics
because according to you sundry persons believe us to be sinners? And
does impiety cease to disfigure your lips because you can point to
scars on our ears? So long as you have a leopard's spots and an
Ethiopian's skin,(2) how can it help your perfidy to know that I too am
marked by moles? See, Pope Theophilus is freely allowed to prove Origen
a heretic; and the disciples do not defend the master's words. They
merely pretend that they have been altered by heretics and tampered
with, like the works of many other writers. Thus they seek to maintain
his cause not by their own belief but by other people's errors. So much
I would say against heretics who in the fury of their unjust hostility
to us betray the secret feelings of their minds and prove the incurable
nature of the wound that rankles in their breasts.
3. But you are Christians and the lights of the
senate: accept therefore from me the letter which I append.(3) This
year I send it both in Greek and Latin that the heretics may not again
lyingly assert that I have made many changes in and additions to the
original. I have laboured hard, I must confess, to preserve the charm
of the diction by a like elegance in my version: and keeping within
fixed lines and never allowing myself to deviate from these I have done
my best to maintain the smooth flow of the writer's
188
eloquence and to render his remarks in the tone in which they are made.
Whether I have succeeded in these two objects or not I must leave to
your judgement to determine. As for the letter itself you are to know
that it is divided into four parts. In the first Theophilus exhorts
believers to celebrate the Lord's passover; in the second he slays
Apollinarius; in the third he demolishes Origen; while in the fourth
and last he exhorts the heretics to penitence. If the polemic against
Origen should seem to you to be inadequate, you are to remember that
Origenism was fully treated in last year's letter;(1) and that this
which I have just translated, as it aims at brevity, was not bound to
dwell farther upon the subject. Besides, its terse and clear confession
of faith directed against Apollinarius is not lacking in dialectical
subtlety. Theophilus first wrests the dagger from his opponent's hand,
and then stabs him to the heart.
4. Entreat the Lord, therefore, that a composition
which has won favour in Greek may not fail to win it also in Latin, and
that what the whole East admires and praises Rome may gladly take to
her heart. And may the chair of the apostle Peter by its preaching
confirm the preaching of the chair of the evangelist Mark. Popular
rumour, indeed, has it that the blessed pope Anastasius is of like zeal
and spirit with Theophilus and that he has pursued the heretics even to
the dens in which they lurk. Moreover his own letters inform us that he
condemns in the West what is already condemned in the East. May he live
for many years(2) so that the reviving sprouts of heresy may in course
of time by his efforts be made to wither and to die.
LETTER XCVIII.
FROM THEOPHILUS.
A translation by Jerome of Theophilus's paschal
letter for the year 402 A.D. Like that of the previous! year (Letter
XCVI.) it deals mainly with the heresies of Apollinarius and Origen.
LETTER XCIX.
TO THEOPHILUS.
Jerome forwards to Theophilus a translation of the
latter's paschal letter for 404 A.D. and apologizes for his delay in
sending it, on the ground that ill-health and grief for the death of
Paula have prevented him from doing literary work. The date of the
letter is 404 A.D.
To the most blessed pope Theophilus,, Jerome.
1. From the time that I received the letters of your
holiness together with the paschal
treatise(1) until the present day I have been so harassed with sorrow
and mourning, with anxiety, and with the different reports which have
come from all quarters concerning the condition of the church, that I
have hardly been able to turn your volume into Latin. You know the
truth of the old saying, grief chokes utterance; and it is more than
ever true when to sickness of the mind is added sickness of the body. I
have now been five days in bed in a burning fever: consequently it is
only by using the greatest haste that I can dictate this very letter.
But I wish to shew your holiness in a few words what pains I have
taken, in translating your treatise, to transfer the charm of diction
which marks every sentence in the original, and to make the style of
the Latin correspond in some degree with that of the Greek.
2. At the outset you use the language of philosophy;
and, without appearing to particularize, you slay one(2) while you
instruct all. In the remaining sections--a task most difficult of
accomplishment--you combine philosophy and rhetoric and draw together
for us Demosthenes and Plato. What diatribes you have launched against
self-indulgence! What eulogies you have bestowed upon the virtue of
continence! With what secret stores of wisdom you have spoken of the
interchange of day and night, the course of the moon, the laws of the
sun, the nature of our world; always appealing to the authority of
scripture lest in a paschal treatise you should appear to have borrowed
anything from secular sources! To be brief, I am afraid to praise you
for these things lest I should be charged with offering flattery. The
book is excellent both in the philosophical portions and where, without
making personal attacks, you plead the cause which you have espoused.
Wherefore, I beseech you, pardon me my backwardness: I have been so
completely overcome by the falling asleep of the holy and venerable
Paula(3) that except my translation of this book I have hitherto
written nothing bearing on sacred subjects. As you yourself know, I
have suddenly lost the comforter whom I have led about with me,
not--the Lord is my witness--to minister to my own needs, but for the
relief and refreshment of the saints upon whom she has waited with all
diligence. Your holy and estimable daughter Eustochium (who refuses to
be comforted for the loss of her mother), and with her all the
brotherhood humbly salute you. Kindly send me the books which you say
that you have lately written that I may translate them or, if not that,
at least read them. Farewell in Christ.
189
LETTER C.
FROM THEOPHILUS.
A translation by Jerome of Theophilus's paschal
letter for 404 A.D. In it Theophilus inculcates penitence for sinners,
recommends the practice of fasting and condemns the errors of Origen.
LETTER CI.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
A letter from Augustine in which he denies that he
has written a book against Jerome and sent it to Rome but confesses
that he has criticized him although without giving details. Written in
402 A.D. This and the following letters are to be found in the First
Volume of the First Series of this Library. Letter LXVII.
LETTER CII.
TO AUGUSTINE.
Jerome's reply to the foregoing in which, it has
been said, friendship struggles with suspicion and resentment. He warns
Augustine not to provoke him, lest old as he is he may prove a
dangerous opponent; and encloses part of his reply to the apology of
Rufinus. Written in 402 A.D. See Augustine, vol. i., Letter LXVIII.
LETTER CIII.
TO AUGUSTINE.
A letter of introduction in which Jerome commends
the deacon Praesidius to the kind offices of Augustine. Written in 403
A.D. See Augustine, vol. i., Letter XXXIX.
LETTER CIV.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
In this letter Augustine(1) commends to Jerome the
deacon Cyprian,(2) explains how it is that his first letter (Letter
LVI.) has miscarried, and(3) urges Jerome to base his scriptural
labours not on the Hebrew text but on the version of the LXX. The date
of the letter is 403 A.D. See Augustine, vol. i., Letter LXXI.
LETTER CV.
TO AUGUSTINE.
Jerome's answer to the foregoing. He complains that
even now he has not received Augustine's letter and asks him to Send
him a copy of it. Popular rumour, be declares, credits Augustine with a
deliberate suppression of the letter in order that he may seem to win
an easy victory over his opponent. Jerome next deals with Augustine's
denial of having made a written attack upon him and concludes by
refusing for the present all discussion of points of criticism. The
date of the letter is 403 A.D. See Augustine, vol. i., Letter LXXII.
LETTER CVI.
TO SUNNIAS AND FRETELA.
A long letter in which Jerome answers a number of
questions put to him by two sojourners in Getica, Sunnias and Fretela.
Diligent students of scripture, these men were at a loss to understand
the frequent differences between Jerome's Latin psalter of 383 A.D.
(the so-called Roman psalter) and the LXX, and accordingly sent him a
long list of passages with a request for explanation. Jerome in his
reply deals fully with all these and points out to his correspondents
that they have been misled by their edition of the LXX. (the "common"
edition) which differs widely from the critical text of Origen as
given in the Hexapla and used by himself. He also expresses his joy to
find that even among the Getae the scriptures are now diligently
studied. The date of the letter is about 403 A.D.
LETTER CVII.
TO LAETA.
Laeta, the daughter-in-law of Paula, having written
from Rome to ask Jerome how she ought to bring up her infant daughter
(also called Paula) as a virgin consecrated to Christ, Jerome now
instructs her in detail as to the child's training and education.
Feeling some doubt, however, as to whether the scheme proposed by him
will be practicable at Rome, he advises Laeta in case of difficulty to
send Paula to Bethlehem where she will be under the care of her
grandmother and aunt, the eider Paula and Eustochium. Laeta
subsequently accepted Jerome's advice and sent the child to Bethlehem
where she eventually succeeded Eustochium as head of the nunnery
rounded by her grandmother. The date of the letter is 403 A.D.
1. The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians and
instructing in sacred discipline a church still untaught in Christ has
among other commandments laid down also this: "The woman which hath an
husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let
her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the
believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing
husband; else were your children unclean but now are they holy."(1)
Should any person have supposed hitherto that the bonds of discipline
are too far relaxed and that too great indulgence is conceded by the
teacher, let him look at the house of your father, a man of the highest
distinction and learning, but one still walking in darkness; and he
will perceive as the result of the apostle's counsel sweet fruit
growing from a bitter stock and precious balsams exhaled from common
canes. You yourself are the offspring of a mixed marriage; but the
parents of Paula--you and my friend Toxotius--are both Christians. Who
could have believed that to the heathen pontiff Albinus should be
born--in answer to a mother's vows--a Christian granddaughter; that a
delighted grandfather should hear from the little one's faltering lips
Christ's Alleluia, and that in his old age he should nurse in his bosom
one of God's own virgins? Our expectations have been fully gratified.
The one unbeliever is sanctified by his holy and believing family. For,
when a main is surrounded by a believing crowd of children and grand-
190
children, he is as good as a candidate for the faith. I for my part
think that, had he possessed so many Christian kinsfolk when he was a
young man, he might then have been brought to believe in Christ. For
though he may spit upon my letter and laugh at it, and though he may
call me a fool or a madman, his son-in-law did the same before he came
to believe. Christians are not born but made. For all its gilding the
Capitol is beginning to look dingy. Every temple in Rome is covered
with soot and cobwebS. The city is stirred to its depths and the people
pour past their half-ruined shrines to visit the tombs of the martyrs.
The belief which has not been accorded to conviction may come to be
extorted by very shame.
2. I speak thus to you, Laeta my most devout
daughter in Christ, to teach you not to despair of your father's
salvation. My hope is that the same faith which has gained you your
daughter may win your father too, and that so you may be able to
rejoice over blessings bestowed upon your entire family. You know the
Lord's promise: "The things which are impossible with men are possible
with God."(1) It is never too late to mend. The robber passed even from
the cross to paradise.(2) Nebuchadnezzar also, the king of Babylon,
recovered his reason, even after he had been made like the beasts in
body and in heart and had been compelled to live with the brutes in the
wilderness.(3) And to pass over such old stories which to unbelievers
may well seem incredible, did not your own kinsman Gracchus whose name
betokens his patrician origin, when a few years back he held the
prefecture of the City, overthrow, break in pieces, and shake to pieces
the grotto of Mithras(4) and all the dreadful images therein? Those I
mean by which the worshippers were initiated as Raven, Bridegroom,
Soldier, Lion, Perseus, Sun, Crab, and Father? Did he not, I repeat,
destroy these and then, sending them before him as hostages,
obtain for himself Christian baptism?
Even in Rome itself paganism is left in solitude.
They who once were the gods of the nations remain under their lonely
roofs with horned-owls and birds of night. The standards of the
military are emblazoned with the sign of the Cross. The emperor's robes
of purple and his diadem sparkling with jewels are ornamented with
representations of the shameful yet saving gibbet. Already the Egyptian
Serapis has been made a Christian;(5) while at
Gaza Marnas(1) mourns in confinement and every moment expects to see
his temple overturned. From India, from Persia, from Ethiopia we daily
welcome monks in crowds. The Armenian bowman has laid aside his quiver,
the Huns learn the psalter, the chilly Scythians are warmed with the
glow of the faith. 'The Getae,(2) ruddy and yellow-haired, carry
tent-churches about with their armies: and perhaps their success in
fighting against us may be due to the fact that they believe in the
same religion.
3. I have nearly wandered into a new subject, and
while I have kept my wheel going, my hands have been moulding a flagon
when it has been my object to frame an ewer.(3) For, in answer to your
prayers and those of the saintly Marcella, I wish to address you as a
mother and to instruct you how to bring up our dear Paula, who has been
consecrated to Christ before her birth and vowed to His service before
her conception. Thus in our own day we have seen repeated the story
told us in the Prophets,(4) of Hannah, who though at first barren
afterwards became fruitful. You have exchanged a fertility bound up
with sorrow for offspring which shall never die. For I am confident
that having given to the Lord your first-born you will be the mother of
sons. It is the first-born that is offered under the Law.(5) Samuel and
Samson are both instances of this, as is also john the Baptist who when
Mary came in leaped for joy.(6) For he heard the Lord speaking by the
mouth of the Virgin and desired to break from his mother's womb to meet
Him. As then Paula has been born in answer to a promise, her parents
should give her a training suitable to her birth. Samuel, as you know,
was nurtured in the Temple, and John was trained in the wilderness. The
first as a Nazarite wore his hair long, drank neither wine nor strong
drink, and even in his childhood talked with God. The second shunned
cities, wore a leathern girdle, and had for his meat locusts and wild
honey.(7) Moreover, to typify that penitence which he was to preach, he
was clothed in the spoils of the hump-backed camel.(8)
4. Thus must a soul be educated which is to be a
temple of God. It must learn to hear nothing and to say nothing
but what belongs to the fear of God. It must have no under-
191
standing of unclean words, and no knowledge of the world's songs. Its
tongue must be steeped while still tender in the sweetness of the
psalms. Boys with their wanton thoughts must be kept from Paula: even
her maids and female attendants must be separated from worldly
associates. For if they have learned some mischief they may teach more.
Get for her a set of letters made of boxwood or of ivory and called
each by its proper name. Let her play with these, so that even her play
may teach her something. And not only make her grasp the right
order of the letters and see that she forms their names into a rhyme,
but constantly disarrange their order and put the last letters in the
middle and the middle ones at the beginning that she may know them all
by sight as well as by sound. Moreover, so soon as she begins to use
the style upon the wax, and her hand is still faltering, either guide
her soft fingers by laying your hand upon hers, or else have simple
copies cut upon a tablet; so that her efforts confined within these
limits may keep to the lines traced out for her and not stray outside
of these. Offer prizes for good spelling and draw her onwards with
little gifts such as children of her age delight in. And let her have
companions in her lessons to excite emulation in her, that she may be
stimulated when she sees them praised. You must not scold her if she is
slow to learn but must employ praise to excite her mind, so that she
may be glad when she excels others and sorry when she is excelled by
them, Above all you must take care not to make her lessons distasteful
to her lest a dislike for them conceived in childhood may continue into
her maturer years. The very words which she tries bit by bit to put
together and to pronounce ought not to be chance ones, but names
specially fixed upon and heaped together for the purpose, those for
example of the prophets or the apostles or the list of patriarchs from
Adam downwards as it is given by Matthew and Luke. In this way while
her tongue will be well-trained, her memory will be likewise developed.
Again, you must choose for her a master of approved years, life,
and learning. A man of culture will not, I think, blush to do for a
kinswoman or a highborn virgin what Aristotle did for Philip's son
when, descending to the level of an usher, he consented to teach him
his letters.(1) Things must not be despised as of small account in the
absence of which great results cannot be achieved. The very
rudiments and first beginnings of knowledge sound differently in
the mouth of an educated man and of an uneducated. Accordingly
you must see that the child is not led away by the silly
coaxing of women to form a habit of shortening long words or of decking
herself with gold and purple. Of these habits one will spoil her
conversation and the other her character. She must not therefore learn
as a child what afterwards she will have to unlearn. The eloquence of
the Gracchi is said to have been largely due to the way in which from
their earliest years their mother spoke to them.(1) Hortensius(2)
became an orator while still on his father's lap. Early impressions are
hard to eradicate from the mind. When once wool has been dyed purple
who can restore it to its previous whiteness? An unused jar
long retains the taste and smell of that with which it is first
filled.(3) Grecian history tells us that the imperious Alexander who
was lord of the whole world could not rid himself of the tricks of
manner and gait which in his childhood he had caught from his governor
Leonides.(4) We are always ready to imitate what is evil; and faults
are quickly copied where virtues appear inattainable. Paula's nurse
must not be intemperate, or loose, or given to gossip. Her bearer must
be respectable, and her foster-father of grave demeanour. When she sees
her grandfather, she must leap upon his breast, put her arms round his
neck, and, whether he likes it or not, sing Alleluia in his ears. She
may be fondled by her grandmother, may smile at her father to shew that
she recognizes him, and may so endear herself to everyone, as to make
the whole family rejoice in the possession of such a rosebud. She
should be told at once whom she has for her other grandmother and whom
for her aunt; and she ought also to learn in what army it is that she
is enrolled as a recruit, and what Captain it is under whose banner she
is called to serve. Let her long to be with the absent ones and
encourage her to make playful threats of leaving you for them.
5. Let her very dress and garb remind her to Whom
she is promised. Do not pierce her ears or paint her face consecrated
to Christ with white lead or rouge. Do not hang gold or pearls about
her neck or load her head with jewels, or by reddening her hair make it
suggest the fires of gehenna. Let her pearls be of another kind and
such that she may sell them hereafter and buy in their place the pearl
that is "of great price."(5) In days gone by a lady of rank,
Praetextata by name, at the bidding of her husband Hymettius, the uncle
of Eustochium, altered that virgin's dress and appearance and arranged
her neglected hair after the manner of the world, desiring to overcome
the resolution of the virgin herself and the expressed wishes of her
mother. But
192
lo in the same night it befell her that an angel came to her in her
dreams. With terrible looks he menaced punishment and broke silence
with these words, 'Have you presumed to put your husband's commands
before those of Christ? Have you presumed to lay sacrilegious hands
upon the head of one who is God's virgin? Those hands shall forthwith
wither that you may know by torment what you have done, and at the end
of five months you shall be carried off to hell.(1) And farther, if you
persist still in your wickedness, you shall be bereaved both of your
husband and of your children.' All of which came to pass in due time, a
speedy death marking the penitence too long delayed of the unhappy
woman. So terribly does Christ punish those who violate His temple,(2)
and so jealously does He defend His precious jewels. I have related
this story here not from any desire to exult over the misfortunes of
the unhappy, but to warn you that you must with much fear and
carefulness keep the vow which you have made to God.
6. We read of Eli the priest that he became
displeasing to God on account of the sins of his children;(3) and we
are told that a man may not be made a bishop if his sons are loose and
disorderly.(4) On the other hand it is written of the woman that "she
shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity
and holiness with chastity."(5) If then parents are responsible for
their children when these are of ripe age and independent; how much
more must they be responsible for them when, still unweaned and weak,
they cannot, in the Lord's words, "discern between their right hand and
their left:"(6)--when, that is to say, they cannot yet distinguish good
from evil? If you take precautions to save your daughter from the bite
of a viper, why are you not equally careful to shield her from "the
hammer of the whole earth"?(7) to prevent her from drinking of the
golden cup of Babylon? to keep her from going out with Dinah to see the
daughters of a strange land?(8) to save her from the tripping dance and
from the trailing robe? No one administers drugs till be has rubbed the
rim of the cup with honey;(9) so, the better to deceive us, vice puts
on the mien and the semblance of virtue. Why then, you will say, do we
read:--" the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither
shall the father bear the iniquity of the son," but "the soul that
sinneth it shall die"?(10) The passage, I answer, refers to those who
have discretion, such as he of whom his parents said in the
gospel:--"he is of age ... he shall speak for himself." (1) While
the son is a child and thinks as a child and until he comes to years of
discretion to choose between the two roads to which the letter of
Pythagoras points,(2) his parents are responsible for his actions
whether these be good or bad. But perhaps you imagine that, if they are
not baptized, the children of Christians are liable for their own sins;
and that no guilt attaches to parents who withhold from baptism those
who by reason of their tender age can offer no objection to it. The
truth is that, as baptism ensures the salvation of the child, this in
turn brings advantage to the parents. Whether you would offer
your child or not lay within your choice, but now that you have offered
her, you neglect her at your peril. I speak generally for in your case
you have no discretion, having offered your child even before her
conception. He who offers a victim that is lame or maimed or marked
with any blemish is held guilty of sacrilege.(3) How much more then
shall she be punished who makes ready for the embraces of the king a
portion of her own body and the purity of a stainless soul, and
then proves negligent of this her offering?
7. When Paula comes to be a little older and
to increase like her Spouse in wisdom and stature and in favour with
God and man,(4) let her go with her parents to the temple of
her true Father but let her not come out of the temple with
them. Let them seek her upon the world's highway amid the crowds and
the throng of their kinsfolk, and let them find her nowhere but in the
shrine of the scriptures,(5) questioning the prophets and the apostles
on the meaning of that spiritual marriage to which she is
vowed. Let her imitate the retirement of Mary whom Gabriel found alone
in her chamber and who was frightened,(6) it would appear, by seeing a
man there. Let the child emulate her of whom it is written that "the
king's daughter is all glorious within."(7) Wounded with love's arrow
let her say to her beloved, "the king hath brought me into his
chambers."(8) At no time let her go abroad, lest the watchmen find her
that go about the city, and lest they smite and wound her and take away
from her the veil of her chastity,(9) and leave her naked in her
blood.(10) Nay rather when one knocketh at her door(11) let her say: "I
am a wall and my breasts like towers.(12)I
193
have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?"(1)
8. Let her not take her food with others, that is,
at her parents' table; test she see dishes she may long for. Some, I
know, hold it a greater virtue to disdain a pleasure which is actually
before them, but I think it a safer self-restraint to shun what must
needs attract you. Once as a boy at school I met the words: 'It is ill
blaming what you allow to become a habit.'(2) Let her learn even now
not to drink wine "wherein is excess."(3) But as, before children come
to a robust age, abstinence is dangerous and trying to their tender
frames, let her have baths if she require them, and let her take a
little wine for her stomach's sake.(4) Let her also be supported on a
flesh diet, lest her feet fail her before they commence to run their
course. But I say this by way of concession not by way of command;
because I fear to weaken her, not because I wish to teach her
self-indulgence. Besides why should not a Christian virgin do wholly
what others do in part? The superstitious Jews reject certain animals
and products as articles of food, while among the Indians the Brahmans
and among the Egyptians the Gymnosophists subsist altogether on
porridge, rice, and apples. If mere glass repays so much labour, must
not a pearl be worth more labour still?(5) Paula has been born in
response to a vow. Let her life be as the lives of those who were born
under the same conditions. If the grace accorded is in both cases the
same, the pains bestowed ought to be so too. Let her be deaf to the
sound of the organ, and not know even the uses of the pipe, the lyre,
and the cithern.
9. And let it be her task daily to bring to you the
flowers which she has culled from scripture. Let her learn by heart so
many verses in the Greek, but let her be instructed in the Latin also.
For, if the tender lips are not from the first shaped to this,
the tongue is spoiled by a foreign accent and its native speech
debased by alien elements. You must yourself be her mistress, a model
on which she may form her childish conduct. Never either in you nor in
her father let her see what she cannot imitate without sin. Remember
both of you that you are the parents of a consecrated virgin, and that
your example will teach her more than your precepts. Flowers are quick
to fade and a baleful wind soon withers the violet, the lily, and the
crocus. Let her never appear in public unless accompanied by you. Let
her never visit a church or a martyr's shrine unless with her mother.
Let no young man greet her with smiles; no dandy with
curled hair pay compliments to her. If our little virgin goes to keep
solemn eves and all-night vigils, let her not stir a hair's breadth
from her mother's side. She must not single out one of her maids to
make her a special favourite or a confidante. What she says to one all
ought to know. Let her choose for a companion not a handsome
well-dressed girl, able to warble a song with liquid notes but one pale
and serious, sombrely attired and with the hue of melancholy. Let her
take as her model some aged virgin of approved faith, character, and
chastity, apt to instruct her by word and by example. She ought to rise
at night to recite prayers and psalms; to sing hymns in the morning; at
the third, sixth, and ninth hours to take her place in the line to do
battle for Christ; and, lastly, to kindle her lamp and to offer her
evening sacrifice.(1) In these occupations let her pass the day, and
when night comes let it find her still engaged in them. Let reading
follow prayer with her, and prayer again succeed to reading. Time will
seem short when employed on tasks so many and so varied.
10. Let her learn too how to spin wool, to hold the
distaff, to put the basket in her lap, to turn the spinning wheel and
to shape the yarn with her thumb. Let her put away with disdain silken
fabrics, Chinese fleeces,(2) and gold brocades: the clothing which she
makes for herself should keep out the cold and not expose the body
which it professes to cover. Let her food be herbs and wheaten
bread(3) with now and then one or two small fishes. And that I may not
waste more time in giving precepts for the regulation of appetite (a
subject I have treated more at length elsewhere)(4) let her meals
always leave her hungry and able on the moment to begin reading or
chanting. I strongly disapprove--especially for those of tender
years--of long and immoderate fasts in which week is added to week and
even oil and apples are forbidden as food. I have learned by experience
that the ass toiling along the high way makes for an inn when it is
weary.(5) Our abstinence may turn to glutting, like that of the
worshippers of Isis and of Cybele who gobble up pheasants and
turtle-doves piping hot that their teeth may not violate the gifts of
Ceres.(6) If perpetual fasting is allowed, it must be so regulated that
those who have a long journey before them may hold out all through; and
we must take care that we do not, after starting well, fall halfway.
However in Lent, as I have written before now, those who
194
practise self-denial should spread every stitch of canvas, and the
charioteer should for once slacken the reins and increase the speed of
his horses. Yet there will be one rule for those who live in the world
and another for virgins and monks. The layman in Lent consumes the
coats of his stomach, and living like a snail on his own juices makes
ready a paunch for rich foods and feasting to come. But with the virgin
and the monk the case is different; for, when these give the rein to
their steeds, they have to remember that for them the race knows of no
intermission. An effort made only for a limited time may well be
severe, but one that has no such limit must be more moderate. For
whereas in the first case we can recover our breath when the race is
over, in the last we have to go on continually and without stopping.
11. When you go a short way into the country, do not
leave your daughter behind you. Leave her no power or capacity of
living without you, and let her feel frightened when she is left to
herself. Let her not converse with people of the world or associate
with virgins indifferent to their vows. Let her not be present at the
weddings of your slaves and let her take no part in the noisy games of
the household. As regards the use of the bath, I know that some
are content with saying that a Christian virgin should not bathe along
with eunuchs or with married women, with the former because they are
still men. at all events in mind, and with the latter because women
with child offer a revolting spectacle. For myself, however, I wholly
disapprove of baths for a virgin of full age. Such an one should blush
and feel overcome at the idea of seeing herself undressed. By vigils
and fasts she mortifies her body and brings it into subjection. By a
cold chastity she seeks to put out the flame of lust and to quench the
hot desires of youth. And by a deliberate squalor she makes haste to
spoil her natural good looks. Why, then, should she add fuel to a
sleeping fire by taking baths?
12. Let her treasures be not silks or gems but
manuscripts of the holy scriptures; and in these let her think less of
gilding, and Babylonian parchment, and arabesque patterns,(1) than of
correctness and accurate punctuation. Let her begin by learning the
psalter, and then let her gather rules of life out of the proverbs of
Solomon. From the Preacher let her gain the habit of despising the
world and its vanities.(2) Let her follow the example set in Job of
virtue and of patience. Then let her pass on to the gospels never to be
laid
aside when once they have been taken in hand. Let her also drink in
with a willing heart the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles. As soon
as she has enriched the storehouse of her mind with these treasures,
let her commit to memory the prophets, the heptateuch,(1) the books of
Kings and of Chronicles, the rolls also of Ezra and Esther. When she
has done all these she may safely read the Song of Songs but not
before: for, were she to read it at the beginning, she would fail to
perceive that, though it is written in fleshly words, it is a marriage
song of a spiritual bridal. And not understanding this she would suffer
hurt from it. Let her avoid all apocryphal writings, and if she is led
to read such not by the truth of the doctrines which they contain but
out of respect for the miracles contained in them; let her understand
that they are not really written by those to whom they are ascribed,
that many faulty elements have been introduced into them, and that it
requires infinite discretion to look for gold in the midst of dirt.
Cyprian's writings let her have always in her hands. The letters of
Athanasius(2) and the treatises of Hilary(3) she may go through without
fear of stumbling. Let her take pleasure in the works and wits of all
in whose books a due regard for the faith is not neglected. But if she
reads the works of others let it be rather to judge them than to follow
them.
13. You will answer, 'How shall I, a woman of the
world, living at Rome, surrounded by a crowd, be able to observe all
these injunctions?' In that case do not undertake a burthen to which
you are not equal. When you have weaned Paula as Isaac was weaned and
when you have clothed her as Samuel was clothed, send her to her
grandmother and aunt; give up this most precious of gems, to be placed
in Mary's chamber and to rest in the cradle where the infant Jesus
cried. Let her be brought up in a monastery, let her be one amid
companies of virgins, let her learn to avoid swearing, let her regard
lying as sacrilege, let her be ignorant of the world, let her live the
angelic life, while in the flesh let her be without the flesh, and let
her suppose that all human beings are like herself. To say nothing of
its other advantages this course will free you from the difficult task
of minding her, and from the responsibility of guardianship. It is
better to regret her absence than to be for ever trembling for her. For
you cannot but tremble as you watch what she
195
says and to whom she says it, to whom she bows and whom she likes best
to see. Hand her over to Eustochium while she is still but an infant
and her every cry is a prayer for you. She will thus become her
companion in holiness now as well as her successor hereafter. Let her
gaze upon and love, let her "from her earliest years admire"(1) one
whose language and gait and dress are an education in virtue.(2) Let
her sit in the lap of her grandmother, and let this latter repeat to
her granddaughter the lessons that she once bestowed upon her own
child. Long experience has shewn Paula how to rear, to preserve, and to
instruct virgins; and daily inwoven in her crown is the mystic century
which betokens the highest chastity.(3) O happy virgin! happy Paula,
daughter of Toxotius, who through the virtues of her grandmother and
aunt is nobler in holiness than she is in lineage! Yes, Laeta: were it
possible for you with your own eyes to see your mother-in-law and your
sister, and to realize the mighty souls which animate their small
bodies; such is your innate thirst for chastity that I cannot doubt but
that you would go to them even before your daughter, and would
emancipate yourself from God's first decree of the Law(4) to put
yourself under His second dispensation of the Gospel.(5) You would
count as nothing your desire for other offspring and would offer up
yourself to the service of God. But because "there is a time to
embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing,"(6) and because "the
wife hath not power of her own body,"(7) and because the apostle says
"Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called"(8) in
the Lord, and because he that is under the yoke ought so to run as not
to leave his companion in the mire, I counsel you to pay back to the
full in your offspring what meantime you defer paying in your own
person. When Hannah had once offered in the tabernacle the son
whom she had vowed to God she never took him back; for she
thought it unbecoming that one who was to be a prophet should grow up
in the same house with her who still desired to have other children.
Accordingly after she had conceived him and given him birth, she did
not venture to come to the temple alone or to appear before the Lord
empty, but first paid to Him what she owed; and then, when she had
offered up that great sacrifice, she returned home and because she had
borne her firstborn for God, she was given five children for
herself.(9) Do you marvel at the happiness of that holy woman? Imitate
her faith. Moreover, if you will only send Paula, I promise to be
myself both a tutor and a fosterfather to her. Old as I am I will carry
her on my shoulders and train her stammering lips; and my charge will
be a far grander one than that of the worldly philosopher;(1) for while
he only taught a King of Macedon who was one day to die of Babylonian
poison, I shall instruct the handmaid and spouse of Christ who must one
day be offered to her Lord in heaven.
LETTER CVIII.
TO EUSTOCHIUM.
This, one of the longest of Jerome's letters, was
written to console Eustochium for the loss of her mother who had
recently died. Jerome relates the story of Paula in detail; speaking
first of her high birth, marriage, and social success at Rome, and then
narrating her conversion and subsequent life as a Christian ascetic.
Much space is devoted to an account of her journey to the East which
included a visit to Egypt and to the monasteries of Nitria as well as a
tour of the most sacred spots in the Holy Land. The remainder of the
letter describes her daily routine and studies at Bethlehem, and
recounts the many virtues for which she was distinguished. It then
concludes with a touching description of her death and burial and gives
the epitaph placed upon her grave. The date of the letter is 404 A.D.
1. If all the members of my body were to be
converted into tongues, and if each of my limbs were to be gifted with
a human voice, I could still do no justice to the virtues of the holy
and venerable Paula. Noble in family, she was nobler still in holiness;
rich formerly in this world's goods, she is now more
distinguished by the poverty that she has embraced for Christ. Of the
stock of the Gracchi and descended from the Scipios, the heir and
representative of that Paulus whose name she bore, the true and
legitimate daughter of that Martia Papyria who was mother to Africanus,
she yet preferred Bethlehem to Rome, and left her palace glittering
with gold to dwell in a mud cabin. We do not grieve that we have lost
this perfect woman; rather we thank God that we have had her, nay that
we have her still. For "all live unto" God,(2) and they who
return unto the Lord are still to be reckoned members of his
family. We have lost her, it is true, but the heavenly mansions have
gained her; for as long as she was in the body she was absent from the
Lord(3) and would constantly complain with tears:--" Woe is me that
I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar; my soul
hath been this long time a pilgrim."(4) It was no wonder that she
196
sobbed out that even she was in darkness (for this is the meaning of
the word Kedar) seeing that, according to the apostle, "the world lieth
in the evil one;"(1) and that, "as its darkness is, so is its
light;"(2) and that "the light shineth in darkness and the darkness
comprehended it not."(3) She would frequently exclaim: "I am a stranger
with thee and a sojourner as all my fathers were,"(4) and again, I
desire "to depart and to be with Christ."(5) As often too as she was
troubled with bodily weakness (brought on by incredible abstinence and
by redoubled fastings), she would be heard to say: "I keep under my
body and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway;"(6) and "It is good
neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine;"(7) and "I humbled my soul with
fasting;"(8) and "thou wilt make all" my "bed in" my "sickness;"(9) and
"Thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of
summer."(10) And when the pain which she bore with such wonderful
patience darted through her, as if she saw the heavens opened" she
would say "Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away
and be at rest."(12)
2. I call Jesus and his saints, yes and the
particular angel who was the guardian and the companion of this
admirable woman to bear witness that these are no words of adulation
and flattery but sworn testimony every one of them borne to her
character. They are, indeed, inadequate to the virtues of one whose
praises are sung by the whole world, who is admired by bishops,(13)
regretted by bands of virgins, and wept for by crowds of monks and
poor. Would you know all her virtues, reader, in short? She has left
those dependent on her poor, but not so poor as she was herself. In
dealing thus with her relatives and the men and women of her small
household--her brothers and sisters rather than her servants--she has
done nothing strange; for she has left her daughter Eustochium--a
virgin consecrated to Christ for whose comfort this sketch is made--far
from her noble family and rich only in faith and grace.
3. Let me then begin my narrative. Others may go
back a long way even to Paula's cradle and, if I may say so, to her
swaddling-clothes, and may speak of her mother Blaesilla and her father
Rogatus. Of these the former was a descendant of the Scipios and the
Gracchi; whilst the latter came of a line distinguished in Greece down
to the present day. He was said, indeed, to have in his
veins the blood of Agamemnon who destroyed Troy after a ten years'
siege. But I shall praise only what belongs to herself, what wells
forth from the pure spring of her holy mind. When in the gospel the
apostles ask their Lord and Saviour what He will give to those who have
left all for His sake, He tells them that they shall receive an
hundredfold now in this time and in the world to come eternal life.(1)
From which we see that it is not the possession of riches that is
praiseworthy but the rejection of them for Christ's sake; that, instead
of glorying in our privileges, we should make them of small account as
compared with God's faith. Truly the Saviour has now in this present
time made good His promise to His servants and handmaidens. For
one who despised the glory of a single city is to-day famous throughout
the world; and one who while she lived at Rome was known by no one
outside it has by hiding herself at Bethlehem become the admiration of
all lands Roman and barbarian. For what race of men is there which does
not send pilgrims to the holy places? And who could there find a
greater marvel than Paula? As among many jewels the most precious
shines. most brightly, and as the sun with its beams obscures and puts
out the paler fires of the stars; so by her lowliness she surpassed all
others in virtue and influence and, while she was least among all, was
greater than all. The more she cast herself down, the more she was
lifted up by Christ. She was hidden and yet she was not hidden. By
shunning glory she earned glory; for glory follows virtue as its
shadow; and deserting those who seek it, it seeks those who despise it.
But I must not neglect to proceed with my narrative or dwell too long
on a single point forgetful of the rules of writing.
4. Being then of such parentage, Paula married
Toxotius in whose veins ran the noble blood of neas and the Julii.
Accordingly his daughter, Christ's virgin Eustochium, is called Julia,
as he Julius.
A name from great lulus handed down.(2)
I speak of these things not as of importance to
those who have them, but as worthy of remark in those who despise them,
Men of the world look up to persons who are rich in such
privileges. We on the other hand praise those who for the Saviour's
sake despise them; and strangely depreciating all who keep them, we
eulogize those who are unwilling to do so. Thus nobly born, Paula
through her fruitfulness and her chastity won approval from all, from
her husband first, then from
197
her relatives, and lastly from the whole city. She bore five children;
Blaesilla, for whose death I consoled her while at Rome;(1) Paulina,
who has left the reverend and admirable Pammachius to inherit both her
vows(2) and property, to whom also I addressed a little book on her
death; Eustochium, who is now in the holy places, a precious necklace
of virginity and of the church; Rufina, whose untimely end overcame the
affectionate heart of her mother; and Toxotius, after whom she had no
more children. You can thus see that it was not her wish to fulfil a
wife's duty, but that she only complied with her husband's longing to
have male offspring.
5. When he died, her grief was so great that she
nearly died herself: yet so completely did she then give herself to the
service of the Lord, that it might have seemed that she had desired his
death.
In what terms shall I speak of her distinguished,
and noble, and formerly wealthy house; all the riches of which she
spent upon the poor? How can I describe the great consideration she
shewed to all and her far reaching kindness even to those whom she had
never seen? What poor man, as he lay dying, was not wrapped in
blankets given by her? What bedridden person was not supported with
money from her purse? She would seek out such with the greatest
diligence throughout the city, and would think it a misfortune
were any hungry or sick person to be supported by another's food. So
lavish was her charity that she robbed her children; and, when her
relatives remonstrated with her for doing so, she declared that
she was leaving to them a better inheritance in the mercy of Christ.
6. Nor was she long able to endure the visits and
crowded receptions, which her high position in the world and her
exalted family entailed upon her. She received the homage paid to her
sadly, and made all the speed she could to shun and to escape those who
wished to pay her compliments. It so happened that at that time(3) the
bishops of the East and West had been summoned to Rome by letter from
the emperors(4) to deal with certain dissensions between the churches,
and in this way she saw two most admirable men and Christian prelates,
Paulinus bishop of Antioch and Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis or, as it
is now called, Constantia, in Cyprus. Epiphanius, indeed, she received
as her guest; and, although Paulinus was staying in another person's
house, in the warmth of her heart she treated him as if he too were
lodged with her. Inflamed by their virtues she thought more and more
each moment of forsaking her
home. Disregarding her house, her children, her servants, her property,
and in a word everything connected with the world, she was eager--alone
and unaccompanied (if ever it could be said that she was so)--to go to
the desert made famous by its Paula and by its Antonies. And at
last when the winter was over and the sea was open, and when the
bishops were returning to their churches, she also sailed with
them in her prayers and desires. Not to prolong the story, she went
down to Portus accompanied by her brother, her kinsfolk and above all
her own children eager by their demonstrations of affection to overcome
their loving mother. At last the sails were set and the strokes of the
rowers carried the vessel into the deep. On the shore the little
Toxotius stretched forth his hands in entreaty, while Rufina, now grown
up, with silent sobs besought her mother to wait till she should be
married. But still Paula's eyes were dry as she turned them
heavenwards; and she overcame her love for her children by her love for
God. She knew herself no more as a mother, that she might approve
herself a handmaid of Christ. Yet her heart was rent within her, and
she wrestled with her grief, as though she were being forcibly
separated from parts of herself. The greatness of the affection she had
to overcome made all admire her victory the more. Among the cruel
hardships which attend prisoners of war in the hands of their enemies,
there is none severer than the separation of parents from their
children. Though it is against the laws of nature, she endured this
trial with unabated faith; nay more she sought it with a joyful heart:
and overcoming her love for her children by her greater love for God,
she concentrated herself quietly upon Eustochium alone, the partner
alike of her vows and of her voyage. Meantime the vessel ploughed
onwards and all her fellow-passengers looked back to the shore. But she
turned away her eyes that she might not see what she could not behold
without agony. No mother, it must be confessed, ever loved her children
so dearly. Before setting out she gave them all that she had,
disinheriting herself upon earth that she might find an inheritance in
heaven.
7. The vessel touched at the island of Pontia
ennobled long since as the place of exile of the illustrious lady
Flavia Domitilla who under the Emperor Domitian was banished because
she confessed herself a Christian;(1) and Paula, when she saw the cells
in which this lady passed the period of her long martyrdom, taking to
herself the wings of faith, more than ever desired to see Jerusalem
198
and the holy places. The strongest winds seemed weak and the greatest
speed slow. After passing between Scylla and Charybdis(1) she committed
herself to the Adriatic sea and had a calm passage to Methone.(2)
Stopping here for a short time to recruit her wearied frame
She stretched her dripping limbs upon the shore:
Then sailed past Malea and Cythera's isle,
The scattered Cyclades, and all the lands
That narrow in the seas on every side.(3)
Then leaving Rhodes and Lycia behind her, she at last came in sight of
Cyprus, where failing at the feet of the holy and venerable Epiphanius,
she was by him detained ten days; though this was not, as he supposed,
to restore her strength but, as the facts prove, that she might do
God's work. For she visited all the monasteries in the island, and
left, so far as her means allowed, substantial relief for the brothers
in them whom love of the holy man had brought thither from all parts of
the world. Then crossing the narrow sea she landed at Seleucia, and
going up thence to Antioch allowed herself to be detained for a little
time by the affection of the reverend confessor Paulinus.(4) Then, such
was the ardour of her faith that she, a noble lady who had always
previously been carried by eunuchs, went her way--and that in
midwinter-riding upon an ass.
8. I say nothing of her journey through Coele-Syria
and Phoenicia (for it is not my purpose to give you a complete
itinerary of her wanderings); I shall only name such places as are
mentioned in the sacred books. After leaving the Roman colony of
Berytus and the ancient city of Zidon she entered Elijah's town on the
shore at Zarephath and therein adored her Lord and Saviour. Next
passing over the sands of Tyre on which Paul had once knelt(5) she came
to Acco or, as it is now called, Ptolemais rode over the plains of
Megiddo which had once witnessed the slaying of Josiah,(6) and
entered the land of the Philistines. Here she could not fail to admire
the ruins of Dor, once a most powerful city; and Struto's Tower, which
though at one time insignificant was rebuilt by Herod king of Judaea
and named Caesarea in honour of Caesar Augustus.(7) Here she saw the
house of Cornelius now turned into a Christian church; and the humble
abode of Philip; and the chambers of his daughters the
four virgins "which did prophesy." (1) She arrived next at Antipatris,
a small town half in ruins, named by Herod after his father Anti-pater,
and at Lydda, now become Diospolis, a place made famous by the raising
again of Dorcas(2) and the restoration to health of neas.(3) Not far
from this are Arimathaea, the village of Joseph who buried the Lord,(4)
and Nob, once a city of priests but now the tomb in which their slain
bodies rest.(5) Joppa too is hard by, the port of Jonah's flight;(6)
which also--if I may introduce a poetic fable--saw Andromeda bound to
the rock.(7) Again resuming her journey, she came to Nicopolis, once
called Emmaus, where the Lord became known in the breaking of bread;(8)
an action by which He dedicated the house of Cleopas as a church.
Starting thence she made her way up lower and higher Bethhoron, cities
founded by Solomon(9) but subsequently destroyed by several devastating
wars; seeing on her right Ajalon and Gibeon where Joshua the son of Nun
when fighting against the five kings gave commandments to the sun and
moon,(10) where also he condemned the Gibeonites(who by a crafty
stratagem had obtained a treaty) to be hewers of wood and drawers of
water.(11) At Gibeah also, now a complete ruin, she stopped for a
little while remembering its sin, and the cutting of the concubine into
pieces, and how in spite of all this three hundred men of the tribe of
Benjamin were saved(12) that in after days Paul might be called a
Benjamite.
9. To make a long story short, leaving on her left
the mausoleum of Helena queen of Adiabene(13) who in time of famine had
sent corn to the Jewish people, Paula entered Jerusalem, Jebus, or
Salem, that city of three names which after it had sunk to ashes and
decay was by lius Hadrianus restored once more as lia.(14) And although
the proconsul of Palestine, who was an intimate friend of her house,
sent forward his apparitors and gave orders to have his official
residence(15) placed at her disposal, she chose a humble cell in
preference to it. Moreover, in visiting the holy places so great was
the passion and the enthusiasm she exhibited for each, that she could
never have torn herself away from one had she not been eager to visit
the rest. Before the Cross she threw herself down in
199
adoration as though she beheld the Lord hanging upon it: and when she
entered the tomb which was the scene of the Resurrection she kissed the
stone which the angel had rolled away from the door of the
sepulchre.(1) Indeed so ardent was her faith that she even licked with
her mouth the very spot on which the Lord's body had lain, like one
athirst for the river which he has longed for. What tears she shed
there, what groans she uttered, and what grief she poured forth, all
Jerusalem knows; the Lord also to whom she prayed knows. Going out
thence she made the ascent of Zion; a name which signifies either
"citadel" or "watch-tower." This formed the city which David formerly
stormed and afterwards rebuilt.(2) Of its storming it is written, "Woe
to Ariel, to Ariel"--that is, God's lion, (and indeed in those days it
was extremely strong)--"the city which David stormed:"(3) and of its
rebuilding it is said, "His foundation is in the holy mountains:
the Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of
Jacob."(4) He does not mean the gates which we see to-day in dust and
ashes; the gates he means are those against which hell prevails not(5)
and through which the multitude of those who believe in Christ enter
in.(6) There was shewn to her upholding the portico of a church the
bloodstained column to which our Lord is said to have been bound when
He suffered His scourging. There was shewn to her also the spot where
the Holy Spirit came down upon the souls of the one hundred and twenty
believers, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Joel.(7)
10. Then, after distributing money to the poor and
her fellow-servants so far as her means allowed, she proceeded to
Bethlehem stopping only on the right side of the road to visit Rachel's
tomb. (Here it was that she gave birth to her son destined to be not
what his dying mother called him, Benoni, that is the "Son of my pangs"
but as his father in the spirit prophetically named him Benjamin, that
is "the Son of the right hand)."(8) After this she came to Bethlehem
and entered into the cave where the Saviour was born.(9) Here, when she
looked upon the inn made sacred by the virgin and the stall where the
ox knew his owner and the ass his master's crib,(10) and where the
words of the same prophet had been fulfilled "Blessed is he that soweth
beside the waters where the ox and the ass trample the seed under their
feet:"(11) when she looked upon these things I say, she protested in my
hearing that she could behold
with the eyes of faith the infant Lord wrapped in swaddling clothes and
crying in the manger, the wise men worshipping Him, the star shining
overhead, the virgin mother, the attentive foster-father, the shepherds
coming by night to see "the word that was come to pass"(1) and thus
even then to consecrate those opening phrases of the evangelist John
"In the beginning was the word" and "the word was made flesh."(2) She
declared that she could see the slaughtered innocents, the raging
Herod, Joseph and Mary fleeing into Egypt; and with a mixture of tears
and joy she cried: 'Hail Bethlehem, house of bread,(3) wherein was born
that Bread that came down from heaven.(4) Hail Ephratah, land of
fruitfulness(5) and of fertility, whose fruit is the Lord Himself.
Concerning thee has Micah prophesied of old, "Thou Bethlehem Ephratah
art not(6) the least among the thousands of Judah, for out of thee
shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings
forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore wilt thou(6)
give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought
forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children
of Israel."(7) For in thee was born the prince begotten before
Lucifer.(8) Whose birth from the Father is before all time: and the
cradle of David's race continued in thee, until the virgin brought
forth her son and the remnant of the people that believed in Christ
returned unto the children of Israel and preached freely to them in
words like these: "It Was necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you and judge
yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the
Gentiles."(9) For the Lord hath said: "I am not sent but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel."(10) At that time also the words of Jacob
were fulfilled concerning Him, "A prince shall not depart from Judah
nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until He come for whom it is laid
up,(11) and He shall be for the expectation of the nations."(12) Well
did David swear, well did he make a vow saying: "Surely I will
not come into the tabernacle of my house nor go up into my bed: I will
not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, or rest to the
temples of my head,(13) until I find out a place for the Lord, an
habitation for the ..
God of Jacob."(14) And immediately he
200
explained the object of his desire, seeing with prophetic eyes that He
would come whom we now believe to have come. "Lo we heard of Him at
Ephratah: we found Him in the fields of the wood."(1) The Hebrew word
Zo as have learned from your lessons(2) means not her, that is Mary the
Lord's mother, but him that is the Lord Himself. Therefore he says
boldly: "We will go into His tabernacle: we will worship at His
footstool."(3) I too, miserable sinner though I am; have been accounted
worthy to kiss the manger in which the Lord cried as a babe, and to
pray in the cave in which the tray, fling virgin gave birth to the
infant Lord. "This is my rest" for it is my Lord's native place; "here
will I dwell"(4) for this spot has my Saviour chosen. "I have prepared
a lamp for my Christ"(5) "My soul shall live unto Him and my seed shall
serve Him.
After this Paul, went a short distance down the hill
to the tower of Edar,(7) that is 'of the flock,(7) near which Jacob fed
his flocks, and where the shepherds keeping watch by night were
privileged to hear the words: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth
peace, goodwill toward men."(8) While they were keeping their sheep
they found the Lamb of God whose fleece bright and clean was made wet
with the dew of heaven when it was dry upon all the earth beside,(9)
and whose blood when sprinkled on the doorposts drove off the destroyer
of Egypt(10) and took away the sins of the world.(11)
11. Then immediately quickening her pace she began
to move along the old road which leads to Gaza, that is to the 'power'
or 'wealth' of God, silently meditating on that type of the Gentiles,
the Ethiopian eunuch, who in spite of the prophet changed his skin(12)
and whilst he read the old testament found the fountain of the
gospel.(13) Next turning to the right she passed from Bethzur(14) to
Eshcol which means "a cluster of grapes." It was hence that the spies
brought back that marvellous cluster which was the proof of the
fertility of the land(15) and a type of Him who says of Himself: "I
have trodden the wine press alone; and of the people there was none
with me."(14) Shortly afterwards she entered the home(17) of Sarah and
beheld the birthplace of Isaac and the traces of Abraham's oak under
which he saw Christ's day and was glad.(18) And rising up from thence
she
went up to Hebron, that is Kirjath-Arba, or the City of the Four Men.
These are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the great Adam whom the Hebrews
suppose(from the book of Joshua the son of Nun) to be buried there.(1)
But many are of opinion that Caleb is the fourth and a monument at one
side is pointed out as his. After seeing these places she did not care
to go on to Kirjath-sepher, that is "the village of letters;" because
despising the letter that killeth she had found the spirit that giveth
life.(7) She admired more the upper springs and the nether springs
which Othniel the son of Kenaz the son of Jephunneh received in place
of a south land and a waterless possession,(3) and by the conducting of
which he watered the dry fields of the old covenant. For thus did he
typify the redemption which the sinner finds for his old sins in the
waters of baptism. On the next day soon after sunrise she stood upon
the brow of Caphar-barucha,(4) that is, "the house of blessing," the
point to which Abraham pursued the Lord when he made intercession with
Him.(5) And here, as she looked down upon the wide solitude and upon
the country once belonging to Sodom and Gomorrah, to Admah and Zeboim,
she beheld the balsam vines of Engedi and Zoar. By Zoar I mean that
"heifer of three years old"(6) which was formerly called Bela(7) and in
Syriac is rendered Zoar that is 'little.' She called to mind the cave
in which Lot found refuge, and with tears in her eyes warned the
virgins her companions to beware of "wine wherein is excess;"(8) for it
was to this that the Moabites and Ammonites owe their origin.(9)
12. I linger long in the land of the midday sun for
it was there and then that the spouse found her bridegroom at rest(10)
and Joseph drank wine with his brothers once more.(11)
will return to Jerusalem and, passing through Tekoa the home of
Amos,(12) I will look upon the glistening cross of Mount Olivet from
which the Saviour made His ascension to the Father.(13) Here year by
year a red heifer was burned as a holocaust to the Lord and its ashes
were used to purify the children of Israel.(14) Here also according to
Ezekiel the Cherubim after leaving the temple rounded the church of the
Lord.(15)
After this Paula visited the tomb of Lazarus and
beheld the hospitable roof of Mary and Martha, as well as Bethphage,
'the town of the
201
priestly jaws." Here it was that a restive foal typical of the Gentiles
received the bridle of God, and covered with the garments of the
apostles(2) offered its lowly back(3) for Him to sit on. From this she
went straight on down the hill to Jericho thinking of the wounded man
in the gospel, of the savagery of the priests and Levites who passed
him by, and of the kindness of the Samaritan, that is, the guardian,
who placed the half-dead man upon his own beast and brought him down to
the inn of the church.(4) She noticed the place called Adomim(5) or the
Place of Blood, so-called because much blood was shed there in the
frequent incursions of marauders. She beheld also the sycamore tree(6)
of Zacchaeus, by which is signified the good works of repentance
whereby he trod under foot his former sins of bloodshed and rapine, and
from which he saw the Most High as from a pinnacle of virtue. She was
shewn too the spot by the wayside where the blind men sat who,
receiving their sight from the Lord,(7) became types of the two
peoples(9) who should believe upon Him. Then entering Jericho she saw
the city which Hiel founded in Abiram his firstborn and of which he set
up the gates in his youngest son Segub.(9) She looked upon the camp of
Gilgal and the hill of the foreskins(10) suggestive of the mystery of
the second circumcision:(11) and she gazed at the twelve stones brought
thither out of the bed of Jordan(12) to be symbols of those twelve
foundations on which are written the names of the twelve apostles.(13)
She saw also that fountain of the Law most bitter and barren which the
true Elisha healed by his wisdom changing it into a well sweet and
fertilising.(14) Scarcely had the night passed away when burning with
eagerness she hastened to the Jordan, stood by the brink of the river,
and as the sun rose recalled to mind the rising of
the sun of righteousness;(15) how the priest's feet stood firm in the
middle of the river-bed;(16) how afterwards at the command of Elijah
and Elisha the waters were divided hither and thither and made way for
them to pass; and again how the Lord had cleansed by His baptism waters
which the deluge had polluted and the destruction of mankind had
defiled.
13. It would be tedious were I tell of the valley of
Achor, that is, of 'trouble and crowds,' where theft and covetousness
were condemned;(17) and of Bethel, 'the house of God,' where Jacob poor
and destitute slept upon the bare ground. Here it was that, having set
beneath his head a stone which in Zechariah is described as having
seven eyes(1) and in Isaiah is spoken of as a corner-stone,(2) he
beheld a ladder reaching up to heaven; yes, and the Lord standing high
above it(3) holding out His hand to such as were ascending and hurling
from on high such as were careless. Also when she was in Mount Ephraim
she made pilgrimages to the tombs of Joshua the son of Nun and of
Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, exactly opposite the one to the
other; that of Joshua being built at Timnath-serah "on the north side
of the hill of Gaash,"(4) and that of Eleazar "in a hill that pertained
to Phinehas his son.''(5) She was somewhat surprised to find that he
who had had the distribution of the land in his own hands had selected
for himself portions uneven and rocky. What shall I say about Shiloh
where a ruined altar(6) is still shewn to-day, and where the tribe of
Benjamin anticipated Romulus in the rape of the Sabine women?(7)
Passing by Shechem (not Sychar as many wrongly read") or as it is now
called Neapoils, she entered the church built upon the side of Mount
Gerizim around Jacob's well; that well where the Lord was sitting when
hungry and thirsty He was refreshed by the faith of the woman of
Samaria. Forsaking her five husbands by whom are intended the five
books of Moses, and that sixth not a husband of whom she boasted, to
wit the false teacher Dositheus,(9) she found the true Messiah and the
true Saviour. Turning away thence Paula saw the tombs of the twelve
patriarchs, and Samaria which in honour of Augustus Herod renamed
Augusta or in Greek Sebaste. There lie the prophets Elisha and Obadiah
and John the Baptist than whom there is not a greater among those that
are born of women.(10) And here she was filled with terror by the
marvels she beheld; for she saw demons screaming under different
tortures before the tombs of the saints, and men howling like wolves,
baying like dogs, roaring like lions, hissing like serpents and
bellowing like bulls. They twisted their heads and bent them backwards
until they touched the ground; women too were suspended head downward
and their clothes did not fall off.(11) Paula pitied them all, and
shedding tears over them prayed Christ to have mercy on them. And weak
as she was she climbed the mountain on foot; for in two of its caves
Obadiah in a time of persecution
202
and famine had fed a hundred prophets with bread and water.(1) Then she
passed quickly through Nazareth the nursery of the Lord; Cana and
Capernaum familiar with the signs wrought by Him; the lake of Tiberias
sanctified by His voyages upon it; the wilderness where countless
Gentiles were satisfied with a few loaves while the twelve baskets of
the tribes of Israel were filled with the fragments left by them that
had eaten.(2) She made the ascent of mount Tabor whereon the Lord was
transfigured.(3) In the distance she beheld the range of Hermon;(4) and
the wide stretching plains of Galilee where Sisera and all his host had
once been overcome by Barak; and the torrent(5) Kishon separating the
level ground into two parts. Hard by also the town of Nain was pointed
out to her, where the widow's son was raised.(6) Time would fail me
sooner than speech were I to recount all the places to which the
revered Paula was carried by her incredible faith.
14. I will now pass on to Egypt, pausing for a while
on the way at Socoh, and at Samson's well which he clave in the hollow
place that was in the jaw.(7) Here I will lave my parched lips and
refresh myself before visiting Moresheth; in old days famed for the
tomb of the prophet Micah,(8) and now for its church. Then skirting the
country of the Horites and Gittites, Mareshah, Edom, and Lachish, and
traversing the lonely wastes of the desert where the tracks of the
traveller are lost in the yielding sand, I will come to the river
of Egypt called Sihor,(9) that is "the muddy river," and go
through the five cities of Egypt which speak the language of
Canaan,(10) and through the land of Goshen and the plains of Zoan(11)
on which God wrought his marvellous works. And I will visit the city of
No, which has since become Alexandria;(12) and Nitria, the town of the
Lord, where day by day the filth of multitudes is washed away with the
pure nitre of virtue. No sooner did Paula come in sight of it than
there came to meet her the reverend and estimable bishop, the confessor
Isidore, accompanied by countless multitudes of monks many of whom were
of priestly or of Levitical rank.(12) On seeing these Paula rejoiced to
behold the Lord's glory manifested in them; but protested that she had
no claim to be received with such honour. Need I speak of the Macarii,
Arsenius, Serapion,(14) or other pillars of Christ! Was there
any cell that she did not enter? Or any man at whose feet she did not
throw herself? In each of His saints she believed that she saw Christ
Himself; and whatever she bestowed upon them she rejoiced to feel that
she had bestowed it upon the Lord. Her enthusiasm was wonderful and her
endurance scarcely credible in a woman. Forgetful of her sex and of her
weakness she even desired to make her abode, together with the girls
who accompanied her, among these thousands of monks. And, as they were
all willing to welcome her, she might perhaps have sought and obtained
permission to do so; had she not been drawn away by a still greater
passion for the holy places. Coming by sea from Pelusium to Maioma on
account of the great heat, she returned so rapidly that you would have
thought her a bird. Not long afterwards, making up her mind to dwell
permanently in holy Bethlehem, she took up her abode for three years m
a miserable hostelry; till she could build the requisite cells and
monastic buildings, to say nothing of a guest house for passing
travellers where they might find the welcome which Mary and Joseph had
missed. At this point I conclude my narrative of the journeys that she
made accompanied by Eustochium and many other virgins.
15. I am now free to describe at greater length the
virtue which was her peculiar charm; and in setting forth this I call
God to witness that I am no flatterer. I add nothing. I exaggerate
nothing. On the contrary I tone down much that I may not appear to
relate incredibilities. My carping critics must not insinuate that I am
drawing on my imagination or decking Paula, like sop's crow, with the
fine feathers of other birds. Humility is the first of Christian
graces, and hers was so pronounced that one who had never seen her, and
who on account of her celebrity had desired to see her, would have
believed that he saw not her but the lowest of her maids. When she was
surrounded by companies of virgins she was always the least remarkable
in dress, in speech, in gesture, and in gait. From the time that her
husband died until she fell asleep herself she never sat at meat with a
man, even though she might know him to stand upon the pinnacle of the
episcopate. She never entered a bath except when dangerously ill. Even
in the severest fever she rested not on an ordinary bed but on the hard
ground covered only with a mat of goat's hair; if that can be called
rest which made day and night alike a time of almost unbroken prayer.
Well did she fulfil the words of the psalter: "All the night make I my
bed to swim; I water my couch with my tear"!(1)
203
Her tears welled forth as it were from fountains, and she lamented her
slightest faults as if they were sins of the deepest dye. Constantly
did I warn her to spare her eyes and to keep them for the reading of
the gospel; but she only said: 'I must disfigure that face which
contrary to God's commandment I have painted with rouge, white lead,
and antimony. I must mortify that body which has been given up to many
pleasures. I must make up for my long laughter by constant weeping. I
must exchange my soft linen and costly silks for rough goat's hair. I
who have pleased my husband and the world in the past, desire now to
please Christ.' Were I among her great and signal virtues to select her
chastity as a subject of praise, my words would seem superfluous; for,
even when she was still in the world, she set an example to all the
matrons of Rome, and bore herself so admirably that the most
slanderous never ventured to couple scandal with her name.(1) No mind
could be more considerate than hers, or none kinder towards the lowly.
She did not court the powerful; at the same time, if the proud and the
vainglorious sought her, she did not turn from them with disdain. If
she saw a poor man, she supported him: and if she saw a rich one, she
urged him to do good. Her liberality alone knew no bounds. Indeed, so
anxious was she to turn no needy person away that she borrowed money at
interest and often contracted new loans to pay off old ones. I was
wrong, I admit; but when I saw her so profuse in giving, I reproved her
alleging the apostle's words: "I mean not that other men be eased and
ye burthened; but by an equality that now at this time your abundance
may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a
supply for your want.''(2) I quoted from the gospel the Saviour's
words: "he that hath two coats, let him impart one of them to him that
hath none";(3) and I warned her that she might not always have
means to do as she would wish. Other arguments I adduced to the same
purpose; but with admirable modesty and brevity she overruled them all.
"God is my witness," she said, "that what I do I do for His sake. My
prayer is that I may die a beggar not leaving a penny to my daughter
and indebted to strangers for my winding sheet." She then concluded
with these words: "I, if I beg, shall find many to give to me; but if
this beggar does not obtain help from me who by borrowing can give it
to him, he will die; and if he
dies, of whom will his soul be required?" wished her to be more
careful in managing her concerns, but she with a faith more glowing
than mine clave to the Saviour with her whole heart and poor in
spirit followed the Lord in His poverty, giving back to Him what
she had received and becoming poor for His sake. She obtained her wish
at last and died leaving her daughter overwhelmed with a mass of debt.
This Eustochium still owes and indeed cannot hope to pay off by
her own exertions; only the mercy of Christ can free her from it.
16. Many married ladies make it a habit to confer
gifts upon their own trumpeters, and while they are extremely profuse
to a few, with hold all help from the many. From this fault Paula
was altogether free. She gave her money to each according as each had
need, not ministering to self-indulgence but relieving want, No
poor person went away from her empty handed. And all this she was
enabled to do not by the greatness of her wealth but by her careful
management of it. She constantly had on her lips such phrases as these:
"Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy:"(1) and "water
will quench a flaming fire; and alms maketh an atonement for sins;"(2)
and "make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that
... they may receive you into everlasting habitations;"(3) and "give
alms ... and behold all things are clean unto you;"(4) and Daniel's
words to King Nebuchadnezzar in which he admonished him to redeem his
sins by almsgiving.(5) She wished to spend her money not upon these
stones, that shall pass away with the earth and the world, but
upon those living stones, which roll over the earth;(6) of which
in the apocalypse of John the city of the great king is built;(7)
of which also the scripture tells us that they shall be changed
into sapphire and emerald and jasper and other gems.(8)
17. But these qualities she may well share with a
few others and the devil knows that it is not in these that the highest
virtue consists. For, when Job has lost his substance and when his
house and children have been destroyed, Satan says to the Lord: "Skin
for skin, yea all that a man hath, will he give for his life. But put
forth thine hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will
curse thee to thy face."(9) We know that many persons while they have
given alms have yet given nothing which touches their bodily comfort;
and while they have held out a helping hand to those in need are
themselves overcome with sensual indulgences; they white-
204
wash the outside but within they are "full of dead men's bones."(1)
Paula was not one of these. Her self-restraint was so great as to be
almost immoderate; and her fasts and labours were so severe as almost
to weaken her constitution. Except on feast days she would scarcely
ever take oil with her food; a fact from which may be judged what she
thought of wine, sauce, fish, honey, milk, eggs, and other things
agreeable to the palate. Some persons believe that in taking these they
are extremely frugal; and, even if they surfeit themselves with them,
they still fancy their chastity safe.
18. Envy always follows in the track of virtue: as
Horace says, it is ever the mountain top that is smitten by the
lightning.(2) It is not surprising that I declare this of men and
women, when the jealousy of the Pharisees succeeded in crucifying our
Lord Himself. All the saints have had illwishers, and even Paradise was
not free from the serpent through whose malice death came into the
world.(3) So the Lord stirred up against Paula Hadad the Edomite(4) to
buffet her that she might not be exalted, and warned her frequently by
the thorn in her flesh(5) not to be elated by the greatness of her own
virtues or to fancy that, compared with other women, she had attained
the summit of perfection. For my part I used to say that it was best to
give in to rancour and to retire before passion. So Jacob dealt with
his brother Esau so David met the unrelenting persecution of Saul. I
reminded her how the first of these fled into Mesopotamia;(6) and how
the second surrendered himself to the Philistines,(7) and chose to
submit to foreign foes rather than to enemies at home. She however
replied as follows:--'Your suggestion would be a wise one if the devil
did not everywhere fight against God's servants and handmaidens, and
did he not always precede the fugitives to their chosen refuges.
Moreover, I am deterred from accepting it by my love for the holy
places; and I cannot find another Bethlehem elsewhere. Why may I not by
my patience conquer this ill will? Why may I not by my humility break
down this pride, and when I am smitten on the one cheek offer to the
smiter the other?(8) Surely the apostle Paul says "Overcome evil with
good."(9) Did not the apostles glory when they suffered reproach for
the Lord's sake? Did not even the Saviour humble Himself, taking the
form of a servant and being made obedient to the Father unto death,
even the death of the cross,(10) that He might save us by His passion?
If Job had not fought the battle and won the victory, he would never
have received the crown of righteousness, or have heard the Lord say:
"Thinkest thou that I have spoken unto thee for aught else than this,
that thou mightest appear righteous."(1) In the gospel those only are
said to be blessed who suffer persecution for righteousness' sake.(2)
My conscience is at rest, and I know that it is not from any fault of
mine that I am suffering; moreover affliction in this world is a ground
for expecting a reward hereafter.' When the enemy was more than usually
forward and ventured to reproach her to her face, she used to chant the
words of the psalter: "While the wicked was before me, I was dumb with
silence; I held my peace even from good:"(3) and again, "I as a deaf
man heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth:"(4)
and "I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no
reproofs."(5) When she felt herself tempted, she dwelt upon the words
in Deuteronomy: "The Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.''(6) In
tribulations and afflictions she turned to the splendid language of
Isaiah: "Ye that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts,
look for tribulation upon tribulation, for hope also upon hope: yet a
little while must these things be by reason of the malice of the lips
and by reason of a spiteful tongue."' This passage of scripture she
explained for her own consolation as meaning that the weaned, that is,
those who have come to full age, must endure tribulation upon
tribulation that they may be accounted worthy to receive hope upon
hope. She recalled to mind also the words of the apostle, "we glory in
tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and
patience experience, and experience hope: and hope maketh not
ashamed"(8) and "though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is
renewed day by day":(9) and "our light affliction which is but for a
moment worketh in us(10) an eternal weight of glory; 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.(11) She used to say that, although to human
impatience the time might seem slow in coming, yet that it would not be
long but that presently help would come from God who says: "In an
acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I
helped
205
thee."(1) We ought not, she declared, to dread the deceitful lips and
tongues of the wicked, for we rejoice in the aid of the Lord who warns
us by His prophet: "fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye
afraid of their revilings; for the moth shall eat them up like a
garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool":(2) and she quoted His
own words, "In your patience ye shall win your souls":(3) as well as
those of the apostle, "the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed m us":(4)
and in another place, "we are to suffer affliction"(5) that we may be
patient in all things that befall us, for "he that is slow to wrath is
of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth
folly."(6)
19. In her frequent sicknesses and infirmities she
used to say, "when I am weak, then am I strong:"(7) "we have our
treasure in earthen vessels"(8) until "this corruptible shall have put
on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality"(9) and
again "as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation
also aboundeth by Christ:"(10) and then "as ye are partakers of the
sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.(11) In sorrow she
used to sing: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou
disquieted within me? hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him who
is the health of my countenance and my God."(12) In the hour of danger
she used to say: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me:"(13) and again "whosoever will
save his life shall lose it," and "whosoever will lose his life for my
sake the same shall save it."(14) When the exhaustion of her substance
and the ruin of her property were announced to her she only said: "What
is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own
soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul:"(15) and
"naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return
thither. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the
name of the Lord:"(16)and Saint John's words, "Love not the world
neither the things that are in the world. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life,
is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passeth away
and the lust thereof."(17) I know that when word was sent to her of the
serious illnesses of her children and particularly of Toxotius whom she
dearly loved, she first by her self-control fulfilled the saying: "I
was troubled and I did not speak,"(18)
and then cried out in the words of scripture, "He that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me."(1) And she prayed to the
Lord and said: Lord "preserve thou the children of those that are
appointed to die,"(2) that is, of those who for thy sake every day die
bodily. I am aware that a talebearer--a class of persons who do a great
deal of harm--once told her as a kindness that owing to her great
fervour in virtue some people thought her mad and declared that
something should be done for her head. She replied in the words of the
apostle, "we are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to
men,"(3) and "we are fools for Christ's sake"(4) but "the foolishness
of God is wiser than men."(5) It is for this reason she said that even
the Saviour says to the Father, "Thou knowest my foolishness,"(6) and
again "I am as a wonder unto many, but thou art my strong refuge."(7)
"I was as a beast before thee; nevertheless I am continually with
thee."(8) In the gospel we read that even His kinsfolk desired to bind
Him as one of weak mind.(9) His opponents also reviled him saying "thou
art a Samaritan and hast a devil,"(10) and another time "he casteth out
devils through Beelze-bub the chief of the devils."(11) But let us, she
continued, listen to the exhortation of the apostle, "Our rejoicing is
this, the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and sincerity
... by the grace of God we have had our conversation in the world."(12)
And let us hear the Lord when He says to His apostles, "If ye were of
the world the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the
world ... therefore the world hateth you."(13) And then she turned to
the Lord Himself, saying, "Thou knowest the secrets of the heart,"(14)
and "all this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither
have we dealt falsely in thy covenant; our heart is not turned
back."(15) "Yea for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are
counted as sheep for the slaughter."(16) But "the Lord is on my side: I
will not fear what man doeth unto me."(17) She had read the words of
Solomon, "My son, honour the Lord and thou shalt be made strong; and
beside the Lord fear thou no man."(18) These passages and others like
them she used as God's armour against the assaults of wickedness, and
particularly to defend herself against the furious onslaughts of envy;
and thus by patiently enduring wrongs she soothed the violence of the
most savage breasts. Down to the very
206
day of her death two things were conspicuous in her life, one her great
patience and the other the jealousy which was manifested towards her.
Now jealousy gnaws the heart of him who harbours it: and while it
strives to injure its rival raves with all the force of its fury
against itself.
20. I shall now describe the order of her monastery
and the method by which she turned the continence of saintly souls to
her own profit. She sowed carnal things that she might reap spiritual
things;(1) she gave earthly things that she might receive heavenly
things; she forewent things temporal that she might in their stead
obtain things eternal. Besides establishing a monastery for men, the
charge of which she left to men, she divided into three companies and
monasteries the numerous virgins whom she had gathered out of different
provinces, some of whom are of noble birth while others belonged to the
middle or lower classes. But, although they worked and had their meals
separately from each other, these three companies met together for
psalm-singing and prayer. After the chanting of the Alleluia--the
signal by which they were summoned to the Collect(2)-no one was
permitted to remain behind. But either first or among the first Paula
used to await the arrival of the rest, urging them to diligence rather
by her own modest example than by motives of fear. At dawn, at the
third, sixth, and ninth hours, at evening, and at midnight they recited
the psalter each in turn.(3) No sister was allowed to be ignorant of
the psalms, and all had every day to learn a certain portion of the
holy scriptures. On the Lord's day only they proceeded to the church
beside which they lived, each company following its own
mother-superior. Returning home in the same order, they then devoted
themselves to their allotted tasks, and made garments either for
themselves or else for others. If a virgin was of noble birth, she was
not allowed to have an attendant belonging to her own household lest
her maid having her mind full of the doings of old days and of the
license of childhood might by constant converse open old wounds and
renew former errors. All the sisters were clothed alike. Linen was not
used except for drying the hands. So strictly did Paula separate them
from men that she would not allow even eunuchs to approach them; lest
she should give occasion to slanderous tongues (always ready to cavil
at the religious) to console themselves for their own misdoing. When a
sister was backward in coming to the recitation of the psalms or shewed
herself remiss in her work, Paula used to approach her in different
ways. Was she quick-tempered? Paula coaxed her. Was she phlegmatic?
Paula chid her, copying the example of the apostle who said: "What will
ye? Shall I come to you with a rod or in love and in the spirit of
meekness?"(1) Apart from food and raiment she allowed no one to have
anything she could call her own, for Paul had said, "Having food and
raiment let us be therewith content."(2) She was afraid lest the custom
of having more should breed covetousness in them; an appetite which no
wealth can satisfy, for the more it has the more it requires, and
neither opulence nor indigence is able to diminish it.(3) When the
sisters quarrelled one with another she reconciled them with soothing
words. If the younger ones were troubled with fleshly desires, she
broke their force by imposing redoubled fasts; for she wished her
virgins to be ill in body rather than to suffer in soul. If she chanced
to notice any sister too attentive to her dress, she reproved her for
her error with knitted brows and severe looks, saying; "a clean body
and a clean dress mean an unclean soul. A virgin's lips should never
utter an improper or an impure word, for such indicate a lascivious
mind and by the outward man the faults of the inward are made
manifest." When she saw a sister verbose and talkative or forward and
taking pleasure in quarrels, and when she found after frequent
admonitions that the offender shewed no signs of improvement; she
placed her among the lowest of the sisters and outside their society,
ordering her to pray at the door of the refectory instead of with the
rest, and commanding her to take her food by herself, in the hope that
where rebuke had failed shame might bring about a reformation. The sin
of theft she loathed as if it were sacrilege; and that which among men
of the world is counted little or nothing she declared to be in a
monastery a crime of the deepest dye. How shall I describe her kindness
and attention towards the sick or the wonderful care and devotion with
which she nursed them? Yet, although when others were sick she freely
gave them every indulgence, and even allowed them to eat meat; when she
fell ill herself, she made no concessions to her own weakness, and
seemed unfairly to change in her own case to harshness the kindness
which she was always ready to shew to others.
21. No young girl of sound and vigorous constitution
could have delivered herself up to a regimen so rigid as that imposed
upon
207
herself by Paula whose physical powers age had impaired and enfeebled.
I admit that in this she was too determined, refusing to spare herself
or to listen to advice. I will relate what I know to be a fact. In the
extreme heat of the month of July she was once attacked by a violent
fever and we despaired of her life. However by God's mercy she rallied,
and the doctors urged upon her the necessity of taking a little light
wine to accelerate her recovery; saying that if she continued to drink
water they feared that she might become dropsical. I on my side
secretly appealed to the blessed pope Epiphanius to admonish, nay even
to compel her, to take the wine. But she with her usual sagacity and
quickness at once perceived the stratagem, and with a smile let him see
that the advice he was giving her was after all not his but mine. Not
to waste more words, the blessed prelate after many exhortations left
her chamber; and, when I asked him what he had accomplished, replied,
"Only this that old as I am I have been almost persuaded to drink no
more wine." I relate this story not because I approve of persons rashly
taking upon themselves burthens beyond their strength (for does not the
scripture say: "Burden not thyself above thy power"?(1)) but because I
wish from this quality of perseverance in her to shew the passion of
her mind and the yearning of her believing soul; both of which made her
sing in David's words, "My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth
after thee."(2) Difficult as it is always to avoid extremes, the
philosophers(3) are quite right in their opinion that virtue is a mean
and vice an excess, or as we may express it in one short sentence "In
nothing too much."(4) While thus un- yielding in her contempt for
food Paula was easily moved to sorrow and felt crushed by the deaths of
her kinsfolk, especially those of her children. When one after another
her husband and her daughters fell asleep, on each occasion the shock
of their loss endangered her life. And although she signed her mouth
and her breast with the sign of the cross, and endeavoured thus to
alleviate a mother's grief; her feelings overpowered her and her
maternal instincts were too much for her confiding mind. Thus while her
intellect retained its mastery she was overcome by sheer physical
weakness. On one occasion a sickness seized her and clung to her so
long that it brought anxiety to us and danger to herself. Yet even then
she was full of joy and repeated every moment the apostle's words: "O
wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?"(5)
The careful reader may say that my words are an invective rather than
an eulogy. I call that Jesus whom she served and whom I desire to serve
to be my witness that so far from unduly eulogizing her or depreciating
her I tell the truth about her as one Christian writing of another;
that I am writing a memoir and not a panegyric, and that what were
faults in her might well be virtues in others less saintly. I speak
thus of her faults to satisfy my own feelings and the passionate regret
of us her brothers and sisters, who all of us love her still and all of
us deplore her loss.
22. However, she has finished her course, she has
kept the faith, and now she enjoys the crown of righteousness.(1) She
follows the Lamb whithersoever he goes.(2) She is filled now because
once she was hungry.(3) With joy does she sing: "as we have heard, so
have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our
God."(4) O blessed change! Once she wept but now laughs for evermore.
Once she despised the broken cisterns of which the prophet speaks;(5)
but now she has found in the Lord a fountain of life.(6) Once she were
haircloth but now she is clothed in white raiment, and can say: "thou
hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness."(7) Once she
ate ashes like bread and mingled her drink with weeping;(8) saying "my
tears have been my meat day and night;" (9) but now for all time she
eats the bread of angels(10) and sings: "O taste and see that the Lord
is good;"(11) and "my heart is overflowing with a goodly matter; I
speak the things which I have made touching the king."(12) She now sees
fulfilled Isaiah's words, or rather those of the Lord speaking through
Isaiah: "Behold, my servants shall eat but ye shall be hungry: behold,
my servants shall drink but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants
shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: behold, my servants shall sing
for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall bowl
for vexation of spirit."(13) I have said that she always shunned the
broken cisterns: she did so that she might find in the Lord a fountain
of life, and that she might rejoice and sing: "as the hart panteth
after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. When shall
I come and appear before God?"(14)
23. I must briefly mention the manner in which she
avoided the foul cisterns of the heretics whom she regarded as no
better than heathen. A certain cunning knave, in his own estimation
both learned and clever, began with-
208
out my knowledge to put to her such questions as these: What sin has an
infant committed that it should be seized by the devil? Shall we be
young or old when we rise again? If we die young and rise young, we
shall after the resurrection require to have nurses. If however we die
young and rise old, the dead will not rise again at all: they will be
transformed into new beings. Will there be a distinction of sexes in
the next world? Or will there be no such distinction? If the
distinction continues, there will be wedlock and sexual intercourse and
procreation of children. If however it does not continue, the bodies
that rise again will not be the same. For, he argued, "the earthy
tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things,"(1) but
the bodies that we shall have in heaven will be subtle and spiritual
according to the words of the apostle: "it is sown a natural body: it
is raised a spiritual body."(2) From all of which considerations he
sought to prove that rational creatures have been for their faults and
previous sins subjected to bodily conditions; and that according to the
nature and guilt of their transgression they are born in this or that
state of life. Some, he said, rejoice in sound bodies and wealthy and
noble parents; others have for their portion diseased frames and
poverty stricken homes; and by imprisonment in the present world and in
bodies pay the penalty of their former sins. Paula listened and
reported what she heard to me, at the same time pointing out the man.
Thus upon me was laid the task of opposing this most noxious viper and
deadly pest. It is of such that the Psalmist speaks when he writes:
"deliver not the soul of thy turtle dove unto the wild beast,"(3) and
"Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds;"(4) creatures who write iniquity
and speak lies against the Lord and lift up their mouths against the
Most High. As the fellow had tried to deceive Paula, I at her request
went to him, and by asking him a few questions involved him in a
dilemma. Do you believe, said I, that there will be a resurrection of
the dead or do you disbelieve? He replied, I believe. I went on: Will
the bodies that rise again be the same or different? He said, The same.
Then I asked: What of their sex? Will that remain unaltered or will it
be changed? At this question he became silent and swayed his head this
way and that as a serpent does to avoid being struck. Accordingly I
continued, As you have nothing to say I will answer for you and will
draw the conclusion from your premises. If the woman shall not rise
again as a woman nor the man as I a man, there will be no resurrection
of the
dead. For the body is made up of sex and members. But if there shall be
no sex and no members what will become of the resurrection of the body,
which cannot exist without sex and members? And if there shall be no
resurrection of the body, there can be no resurrection of the dead. But
as to your objection taken from marriage, that, if the members shall
remain the same, marriage must inevitably be allowed; it is disposed of
by the Saviour's words: "ye do err not knowing the scriptures nor the
power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given
in marriage but are as the angels."(1) When it is said that they
neither marry nor are given in marriage, the distinction of sex is
shewn to persist. For no one says of things which have no capacity for
marriage such as a stick or a stone that they neither marry nor are
given in marriage; but this may well be said of those who while they
can marry yet abstain from doing so by their own virtue and by the
grace of Christ. But if you cavil at this and say, how shall we in that
case be like the angels with whom there is neither male nor female,
hear my answer in brief as follows. What the Lord promises to us is not
the nature of angels but their mode of life and their bliss. And
therefore John the Baptist is called an angel(2) even before he is
beheaded, and all God's holy men and virgins manifest in themselves
even in this world the life of angels. When it is said "ye shall be
like the angels," likeness only is promised and not a change of nature.
24. And now do you in your turn answer me these
questions. How do you explain the fact that Thomas felt the hands of
the risen Lord and beheld His side pierced by the spear?(3) And the
fact that Peter saw the Lord standing on the shore(4) and eating a
piece of a roasted fish and a honeycomb.(5) If He stood, He must
certainly have had feet. If He pointed to His wounded side He must have
also had chest and belly for to these the sides are attached and
without them they cannot be. If He spoke, He must have used a tongue
and palate and teeth. For as the bow strikes the strings, so to produce
vocal sound does the tongue come in contact with the teeth. If His
hands were felt, it follows that He must have had arms as well. Since
therefore it is admitted that He had all the members which go to make
up the body, He must have also had the whole body formed of them, and
that not a woman's but a man's; that is to say, He rose again in the
sex in which He died. And if you cavil farther and say: We shall eat
209
then, I suppose, after the resurrection; or How can a solid and
material body enter in contrary to its nature through closed doors? you
shall receive from me this reply. Do not for this matter of food find
fault with belief in the resurrection: for our Lord after raising the
daughter of the ruler of the synagogue commanded food to be given
her.(1) And Lazarus who had been dead four days is described as sitting
at meat with Him,(2) the object in both cases being to shew that the
resurrection was real and not merely apparent. And if from our Lord's
entering in through closed doors(3) you strive to prove that His body
was spiritual and aerial, He must have had this spiritual body even
before He suffered; since--contrary to the nature of heavy bodies--He
was able to walk upon the sea.(4) The apostle Peter also must be
believed to have had a spiritual body for he also walked upon the
waters with buoyant step.(5) The true explanation is that when anything
is done against nature, it is a manifestation of God's might and power.
And to shew plainly that in these great signs our attention is asked
not to a change in nature but to the almighty power of God, he who by
faith had walked on water began to sink for the want of it and would
have done so had not the Lord lifted him up with the reproving words,
"O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt?"(6) I wonder that
you can display such effrontery when the Lord Himself said, "reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand and
thrust it into my side: and be not faithless but believing."(7) and in
another place, "behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself: handle
me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have.
And when he had thus spoken he shewed them his hands and his feet."(8)
You hear Him speak of bones and flesh, of feet and hands; and yet you
want to palm off on me the bubbles and airy nothings of which the
stoics rave!(9)
25. Moreover, if you ask how it is that a mere
infant which has never sinned is seized by the devil, or at what age we
shall rise again seeing that we die at different ages; my only
answer--an unwelcome one, I fancy--will be in the words of scripture:
"The judgments of God are a great deep,"(10) and "O the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are
his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the
mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?"(11) No difference
of age can affect the reality of the body. Although
our frames are in a perpetual flux and lose or gain daily, these
changes do not make us different individuals. I was not one person at
ten years old, another at thirty and another at fifty; nor am I another
now when all my head is gray.(1) According to the traditions of the
church and the teaching of the apostle Paul, the answer must be this;
that we shall rise as perfect men in the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ.(2) At this age the Jews suppose Adam to have been
created and at this age we read that the Lord and Saviour rose again.
Many other arguments did I adduce from both testaments to stifle the
outcry of this heretic.
26. From that day forward so profoundly did Paula
commence to loathe the man--and all who agreed with him in his
doctrines--that she publicly proclaimed them as enemies of the Lord. I
have related this incident less with the design of confuting in a few
words a heresy which would require volumes to confute it, than with the
object of shewing the great faith of this saintly woman who preferred
to subject herself to perpetual hostility from men rather than by
friendships hurtful to herself to provoke or to offend God.
27. To revert then to that description of her
character which I began a little time ago; no mind was ever more docile
than was hers. She was slow to speak and swift to hear,(3) remembering
the precept, "Keep silence and hearken, O Israel."(4) The holy
scriptures she knew by heart, and said of the history contained in them
that it was the foundation of the truth; but, though she loved even
this, she still preferred to seek for the underlying spiritual meaning
and made this the keystone of the spiritual building raised within her
soul. She asked leave that she and her daughter might read over the old
and new testaments(6) under my guidance. Out of modesty I at first
refused compliance, but as she persisted in her demand and frequently
urged me to consent to it, I at last did so and taught her what I had
learned not from myself--for self-confidence is the worst of
teachers--but from the church's most famous writers. Wherever I stuck
fast and honestly confessed myself at fault she would by no means rest
content but would force me by fresh questions to point out to her which
of many different solutions seemed to me the most probable. I will
mention here another fact which to those who are envious may well seem
incredible. While I myself beginning as a young man have with much toil
and effort partially acquired the Hebrew tongue and study it now unceas-
210
ingly lest if I leave it, it also may leave me; Paula, on making up her
mind that she too would learn it, succeeded so well that she could
chant the psalms in Hebrew and could speak the language without a trace
of the pronunciation peculiar to Latin. The same accomplishment can be
seen to this day in her daughter Eustochium, who always kept close to
her mother's side, obeyed all her commands, never slept apart from her,
never walked abroad or took a meal without her never had a penny that
she could call her own, rejoiced when her mother gave to the poor her
little patrimony, and fully believed that in filial affection she had
the best heritage and the truest riches. I must not pass over in
silence the joy which Paula felt when she heard her little
granddaughter and namesake, the child of Laeta and Toxotius--who was
born and I may even say conceived in answer to a vow of her parents
dedicating her to virginity--when, I say, she heard the little one in
her cradle sing "alleluia" and falter out the words "grandmother" and
"aunt." One wish alone made her long to see her native land again; that
she might know her son and his wife and child(1) to have renounced the
world and to be serving Christ. And it has been granted to her in part.
For while her granddaughter is destined to take the veil, her
daughter-in-law has vowed herself to perpetual chastity, and by faith
and alms emulates the example that her mother has set her. She strives
to exhibit at Rome the virtues which Paula set forth in all their
fulness at Jerusalem.
28. What ails thee, my soul? Why dost thou shudder
to approach her death? I have made my letter longer than it should be
already; dreading to come to the end and vainly supposing that by
saying nothing of it and by occupying myself with her praises I could
postpone the evil day. Hitherto the wind has been all in my favour and
my keel has smoothly ploughed through the heaving waves. But now my
speech is running upon the rocks, the billows are mountains high, and
imminent shipwreck awaits both you and me. We must needs cry out:
"Master; save us we perish:"(2) and "awake, why sleepest thou, O
Lord?"(3) For who could tell the tale of Paula's dying with dry eyes?
She fell into a most serious illness and thus gained what she most
desired, power to leave us and to be joined more fully to the Lord.
Eustochium's affection for her mother, always true and tried, in this
time of sickness approved itself still more to all. She sat by Paula's
bedside, she fanned her, she supported her head, she
arranged her pillows, she chafed her feet, she rubbed her stomach, she
smoothed down the bedclothes, she heated hot water, she brought towels.
In fact she anticipated the servants in all their duties, and when one
of them did anything she regarded it as so much taken away from her own
gain. How unceasingly she prayed, how copiously she wept, how
constantly she ran to and fro between her prostrate mother and the cave
of the Lord! imploring God that she might not be deprived of a
companion so dear, that if Paula was to die she might herself no longer
live, and that one bier might carry to burial her and her mother. Alas
for the frailty and perishableness of human nature! Except that our
belief in Christ raises us up to heaven and promises eternity to our
souls, the physical conditions of life are the same for us as for the
brutes. "There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the
good and to the evil; to the clean and to the unclean; to him that
sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good so is the
sinner; and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath."(1) Man and
beast alike are dissolved into dust and ashes.
29. Why do I still linger, and prolong my suffering
by postponing it? Paula's intelligence shewed her that her death was
near. Her body and limbs grew cold and only in her holy breast did the
warm beat of the living soul continue. Yet, as though she were leaving
strangers to go home to her own people, she whispered the verses of the
psalmist: "Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place
where thine honour dwelleth,"(2) and "How amiable are thy tabernacles,
O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the courts of
the Lord,"(3) and "I had rather be an outcast in the house of my God
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."(4) When I asked her why she
remained silent refusing to answer my call,(5) and whether she was in
pain, she replied in Greek that she had no suffering and that all
things were to her eyes calm and tranquil. After this she said no more
but closed her eyes as though she already despised all mortal things,
and kept repeating the verses just quoted down to the moment in which
she breathed out her soul, but in a tone so low that we could scarcely
hear what she said. Raising her finger also to her mouth she made the
sign of the cross upon her lips. Then her breath failed her and she
gasped for death; yet even when her soul was eager to break free, she
turned the death-rattle (which comes
211
at last to all) into the praise of the Lord. The bishop of Jerusalem
and some from other cities were present, also a great number of the
inferior clergy, both priests and levites.(1) The entire monastery was
filled with bodies of virgins and monks. As soon as Paula heard the
bridegroom saying: "Rise up my love my fair one, my dove, and come
away: for, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and
gone," she answered joyfully "the flowers appear on the earth;
the time to cut them has come"(2) and" I believe that I shall see the
good things of the Lord in the land of the living."(3)
30. No weeping or lamentation followed her death,
such as are the custom of the world; but all present united in chanting
the psalms in their several tongues. The bishops lifted up the dead
woman with their own hands, placed her upon a bier, and carrying her on
their shoulders to the church in the cave of the Saviour, laid her down
in the centre of it. Other bishops meantime carried torches and tapers
in the procession, and yet others led the singing of the choirs. The
whole population of the cities of Palestine came to her funeral. Not a
single monk lurked in the desert or lingered in his cell. Not a single
virgin remained shut up in the seclusion of her chamber. To each and
all it would have seemed sacrilege to have withheld the last tokens of
respect from a woman so saintly. As in the case of Dorcas,(4) the
widows and the poor shewed the garments Paula had given them; while the
destitute cried aloud that they had lost in her a mother and a nurse.
Strange to say, the paleness of death had not altered her expression;
only a certain solemnity and seriousness had overspread her features.
You would have thought her not dead but asleep.
One after another they chanted the psalms, now in
Greek, now in Latin, now in Syriac; and this not merely for the three
days which elapsed before she was buried beneath the church and close
to the cave of the Lord, but throughout the remainder of the week. All
who were assembled felt that it was their own funeral at which they
were assisting, and shed tears as if they themselves had died. Paula's
daughter, the revered virgin Eustochium, "as a child that is weaned of
his mother,"(5) could not be torn away from her parent. She kissed her
eyes, pressed her lips upon her brow, embraced her frame, and wished
for nothing better than to be buried with her.
31. Jesus is witness that Paula has left not a
single penny to her daughter but, as I said before, on the contrary a
large mass of debt;
and, worse even than this, a crowd of brothers and sisters whom it is
hard for her to support but whom it would be undutiful to cast off.
Could there be a more splendid instance of self-renunciation than that
of this noble lady who in the fervour of her faith gave away so much of
her wealth that She reduced herself to the last degree of poverty?
Others may boast, if they will, of money spent in charity, of large
sums heaped up in God's treasury,(1) of votive offerings hung up with
cords of gold. None of them has given more to the poor than Paula, for
Paula has kept nothing for herself. But now she enjoys the true riches
and those good things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither
have they entered into the heart of man.(2) If we mourn, it is for
ourselves and not for her; yet even so, if we persist in weeping for
one who reigns with Christ, we shall seem to envy her her glory.
32. Be not fearful, Eustochium: you are endowed with
a splendid heritage. The Lord is your portion; and, to increase your
joy, your mother has now after a long martyrdom won her crown. It is
not only the shedding of blood that is accounted a confession: the
spotless service of a devout mind is itself a daily martyrdom. Both
alike are crowned; with roses and violets in the one case, with lilies
in the other. Thus in the Song of Songs it is written: "my beloved is
white and ruddy;"(3) for, whether the victory be won in peace or in
war, God gives the same guerdon to those who win it. Like Abraham your
mother heard the words: "get thee out of thy country, and from thy
kindred, unto a land that I will shew thee;"(4) and not only that but
the Lord's command given through Jeremiah: "flee out of the midst of
Babylon, and deliver every man his soul."(5) To the day of her
death she never returned to Chalda, or regretted the fleshpots of Egypt
or its strong-smelling meats. Accompanied by her virgin bands she
became a fellow-citizen of the Saviour; and now that she has ascended
from her little Bethlehem to the heavenly realms she can say to the
true Naomi: "thy people shall be my people and thy God my God."(6)
33. I have spent the labour of two nights in
dictating for you this treatise; and in doing so I have felt a grief as
deep as your own. I say in 'dictating' for I have not been able to
write it myself. As often as I have taken up my pen(7) and have tried
to fulfil my promise; my fingers have stiffened, my hand has fallen,
and my power over it has vanished. The rudeness of the diction, devoid
as it is of all
212
elegance or charm, bears witness to the feeling of the writer.
34. And now, Paula, farewell, and aid with your
prayers the old age of your votary. Your faith and your works unite you
to Christ; thus standing in His presence you will the more readily gain
what you ask. In this letter "I have built" to your memory "a monument
more lasting than bronze,"(1) which no lapse of time will be able to
destroy. And I have cut an inscription on your tomb, which I here
subjoin; that, wherever my narrative may go, the reader may learn that
you are buried at Bethlehem and not uncommemorated there.
THE INSCRIPTION ON PAULA'S TOMB.
Within this tomb a child of Scipio lies,
A daughter of the farfamed Pauline house,
A scion of the Gracchi, of the stock
Of Agamemnon's self, illustrious:
Here rests the lady Paula, well-beloved
Of both her parents, with Eustochium
For daughter; she the first of Roman dames
Who hardship chose and Bethlehem for Christ.
In front of the cavern there is another
inscription as follows:--
Seest thou here hollowed in the rock a grave,
'Tis Paula's tomb; high heaven has her soul.
Who Rome and friends, riches and home forsook
Here in this lonely spot to find her rest.
For here Christ's manger was, and here the
kings
To Him, both God and man, their offerings made.
35. The holy and blessed Paula fell asleep on the
seventh day before the Kalends of February, on the third day of the
week, after the sun had set. She was buried on the fifth day before the
same Kalends, in the sixth consulship of the Emperor Honorius and the
first of Aristnetus. She lived in the vows of religion five years at
Rome and twenty years at Bethlehem. The whole duration of her life was
fifty-six years eight months and twenty-one days.
LETTER CIX.
TO RIPARIUS.
Riparius, a presbyter of Aquitaine had written to
inform Jerome that Vigilantius (for whom see Letter LXI.) was preaching
in southern Gaul against the worship of relics and the keeping of night
vigils; and this apparently with the consent of his bishop. Jerome now
replies in a letter more noteworthy for its bitterness than for its
logic. Nevertheless he offers to write a full confutation of
Vigilantius if Riparius will send him the book containing his heresies.
This Riparius subsequently did and then Jerome wrote his treatise
Against Vigilantius, the most extreme and least convincing of all his
works.
The date of the letter is 404 A.D.
1. Now that I have received a letter from you, if I
do not answer it I shall be guilty of pride, and if I do I shall be
guilty of rashness. For the matters concerning which you ask my opinion
are such that they cannot either be spoken of or listened to without
profanity. You tell me that Vigilantius (whose very name Wakeful is a
contradiction: he ought rather to be described as Sleepy) has again
opened his fetid lips and is pouring forth a torrent of filthy venom
upon the relics of the holy martyrs; and that he calls us who cherish
them ashmongers and idolaters who pay homage to dead men's bones.
Unhappy wretch! to be wept over by all Christian men, who sees not that
in speaking thus he makes himself one with the Samaritans and the Jews
who hold dead bodies unclean and regard as defiled even vessels which
have been in the same house with them, following the letter that
killeth and not the spirit that giveth life.(1) We, it is true, refuse
to worship or adore, I say not the relics of the martyrs, but even the
sun and moon, the angels and archangels, the Cherubim and Seraphim and
"every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that
which is to come."(2) For we may not "serve the creature rather than
the Creator, who is blessed for ever.(3) Still we honour the relics of
the martyrs, that we may adore Him whose martyrs they are. We honour
the servants that their honour may be reflected upon their Lord who
Himself says:--"he that receiveth you receiveth me."(4) I ask
Vigilantius, Are the relics of Peter and of Paul unclean? Was the body
of Moses unclean, of which we are told (according to the correct Hebrew
text) that it was buried by the Lord Himself?(5) And do we, every time
that we enter the basilicas of apostles and prophets and martyrs, pay
homage to the shrines of idols? Are the tapers which burn before their
tombs only the tokens of idolatry? I will go farther still and ask a
question which will make this theory recoil upon the head of its
inventor and which will either kill or cure that frenzied brain of his,
so that simple souls shall be no more subverted by his sacrilegious
reasonings. Let him answer me this, Was the Lord's body unclean when it
was placed in the sepulchre? And did the angels clothed in white
raiment merely watch over a corpse dead and defiled, that ages
afterwards this sleepy fellow might indulge in dreams and vomit forth
his filthy surfeit, so as, like the persecutor Julian, either to
destroy the basilicas of the saints or to convert them into heathen
temples?
5. I am surprised that the reverend bishop(4)
213
in whose diocese he is said to be a presbyter acquiesces in this his
mad preaching, and that he does not rather with apostolic rod, nay with
a rod of iron, shatter this useless vessel(1) and deliver him for the
destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved.(2) He should
remember the words that are said: "When thou sawest a thief, then thou
consentedst unto him; and hast been partaker with adulterers;"(3) and
in another place, "I will early destroy all the wicked of the land;
that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord and again
"Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with
those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred."(5)
If the relics of the martyrs are not worthy of honour, how comes it
that we read "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
saints?"(6) If dead men's bones defile those that touch them, how came
it that the dead Elisha raised another man also dead, and that life
came to this latter from the body of the prophet which according to
Vigilantius must have been unclean? In that case every encampment of
the host of Israel and the people of God was unclean; for they carried
the bodies of Joseph and of the patriarchs with them in the wilderness,
and carried their unclean ashes even into the holy land. In that case
Joseph, who was a type of our Lord and Saviour, was a wicked man; for
he carried up Jacob's bones with great pomp to Hebron merely to put his
unclean father beside his unclean grandfather and great grandfather,
that is, one dead body along with others. The wretch's tongue should be
cut out, or he should be put under treatment for insanity. As he does
not know how to speak, he should learn to be silent. I have myself
before now seen the monster, and have done my best to bind the maniac
with texts of scripture, as Hippocrates binds his patients with chains;
but "he went away, he departed, he escaped, he broke out,"(7) and
taking refuge between the Adriatic and the Alps of King Cotius(8)
declaimed in his turn against me. For all that a fool says must be
regarded as mere noise and mouthing.
3. You may perhaps in your secret thoughts find
fault with me for thus assailing a man behind his back. I will frankly
admit that my indignation overpowers me; I cannot listen with patience
to such sacrilegious opinions. I have read of the javelin of
Phinehas,(9) of the harshness of Elijah,(10) of the jealous anger of
Simon the zealot,(11) of the severity of Peter
in putting to death Ananias and Sapphir,(1) and of the firmness of Paul
who, when Elymas the sorcerer withstood the ways of the Lord, doomed
him to lifelong blindness.(2) There is no cruelty in regard for God's
honour. Wherefore also in the Law it is said: "If thy brother or thy
friend or the wife of thy bosom entice thee from the truth, thine hand
shall be upon them and thou shalt shed their blood,(3) and so shalt
thou put the evil away from the midst of Israel."(4) Once more I ask,
Are the relics of the martyrs unclean? If so, why did the apostles
allow themselves to walk in that funeral procession before the
body--the unclean body--of Stephen? Why did they make great lamentation
over him,(5) that their grief might be turned into our joy?
You tell me farther that Vigilantius execrates
vigils. In this surely he goes contrary to his name. The Wakeful one
wishes to sleep and will not hearken to the Saviour's words, "What,
could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter not
into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is
weak."(6) And in another place a prophet sings: "At midnight I will
rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments."(7)
We read also in the gospel how the Lord spent whole nights in prayer(8)
and how the apostles when they were shut up in prison kept vigil all
night long, singing their psalms until the earth quaked, and the keeper
of the prison believed, and the magistrates and citizens were filled
with terror.(9) Paul says: "continue in prayer and watch in the
same,"(10) and in another place he speaks of himself as "in watchings
often."(11) Vigilantius may sleep if he pleases and may choke in his
sleep, destroyed by the destroyer of Egypt and of the Egyptians. But
let us say with David: "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither
slumber nor sleep."(12) So will the Holy One and the Watcher come to
us.(13) And if ever by reason of our sins He fall asleep, let us say to
Him: "Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord;"(14) and when our ship is
tossed by the waves let us rouse Him and say, "Master, save us: we
perish."(15)
4. I would dictate more were it not that the limits
of a letter impose upon me a modest silence. I might have gone on, had
you sent me the books which contain this man's rhapsodies, for in that
case I should have known what points I had to refute. As it is I am
only beating the air(16) and revealing not so
214
much his infidelity--for this is patent to all--as my own faith. But if
you wish me to write against him at greater length, send me those
wretched dronings of his and in my answer he shall hear an echo of John
the Baptist's words
"Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore every
tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the
fire."(1)
LETTER CX.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
Augustine's answer to Letter CII. He now tries to
soothe Jerome's wounded feelings. begs him to overlook the offence that
he has committed, and implores him not to break off the friendly
relations hitherto maintained between them. He touches on the quarrel
between Jerome and Rufinus and sincerely hopes that no such breach may
ever separate Jerome from himself. The tone of the letter is throughout
conciliatory and is marked in places with deep feeling. More than once
Augustine dwells on Jerome's words ("would that I could embrace you and
that by mutual converse we might learn one from the other," Letter
CII. 2) and speaks of the comfort which they have brought to him.
The date of the letter is 404 A.D.
LETTER CXI.
FROM AUGUSTINE TO PRSIDIUS.
Augustine asks Prsidius to forward the preceding
letter to Jerome and also to write himself to urge him to forgive
Augustine.
LETTER CXII.
TO AUGUSTINE.
On receiving Letter CIV. together with duly
authenticated copies of Letters LVI. and LXVII. Jerome in three days
completes an exhaustive reply to all the questions which Augustine had
raised. lie explains what is the true title of his book On Illustrious
Men, deals at great length with the dispute between Paul and Peter,
expounds his views with regard to the Septuagint, and shews by the
story of "the gourd" how close and accurate his translations are. His
language throughout is kind but rather patronising: indeed in this
whole correspondence Jerome seldom sufficiently recognizes the
greatness of Augustine. The date of the letter is 404 A.D.
LETTER CXIII.
FROM THEOPHILUS TO JEROME.
Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, had compiled an
invective against John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople who was
nosy (largely through his efforts) an exile from his see. This he now
sends to Jerome with a request that the latter will render it into
Latin for dissemination in the West. The invective (of which only a few
fragments remain) is of the most violent kind. Nevertheless Jerome
translated it along with this letter, the date of which is 405 A.D. The
latter part of the letter has perished.
To the well-beloved and most loving
brother Jerome, Theophilus sends greeting in the Lord.
1. At the outset the verdict which is in accordance
with the truth satisfies but few. But the Lord speaking by the prophet
says: "my judgment goeth forth as the light?"(1) and they who are
surrounded with a horror of darkness and do not with clear
comprehension perceive the nature of things, are covered with eternal
shame and know by the issues of their acts that their efforts have been
in vain. Wherefore we also have always desired for John who has for a
time ruled the church of Constantinople grace that he might please God,
and we have been slow to attribute to him the rash acts which have
caused his downfall. But, not to speak of his other misdeeds, he has
taken the Origenists into his confidence, has advanced many of them to
the priesthood, and by committing this crime has saddened with no
slight grief that man of God, Epiphanius of blessed memory, who has
shone throughout all the world a bright star among bishops. And
therefore he has rightly come to hear the words of doom: "Babylon is
fallen, is fallen."(2)
2. Knowing then that the Saviour has said: "judge
not according to the appearance but judge righteous judgment."(3) ...
LETTER CXIV.
TO THEOPHILUS.
Jerome writes to Theophilus to apologize for his
delay in sending Latin versions of the latter's letter (CXIII.) and
invective against John Chrysostom. Possibly, however. the allusion may
be not to these but to some other work of Theophilus (e.g. a paschal
letter.) This delay he attributes to the disturbed state of Palestine,
the severity of the winter, the prevalent famine, and his own
ill-health. He now sends the translations that he has made and, while
he deprecates criticism on his own work, praises that of Theophilus,
quoting with particular approval the directions given by this latter
for the reverent care of the vessels used in celebrating the holy
communion. The date of the letter is 405 A.D.
To the most blessed pope Theophilus, Jerome.
1. My delay in sending back to your holiness your
treatise translated into Latin is accounted for by the many
interruptions and obstacles that I have met with. There has been a
sudden raid of the Isaurians; Phoenicia and Galilee have been laid
waste; Palestine has been panic-stricken, and particularly Jerusalem;
we have all been engaged in making not books but walls. There has also
been a severe winter and an almost unbearable famine; and these have
told heavily upon me who have the charge of many brothers. Amid
215
these difficulties the work of translation went on by night, as I could
save or snatch time to give to it. At last I got it done and by Lent
nothing remained but to collate the fair copy with the original.
However, just then a severe illness seized me and I was brought to the
threshold of death, from which I have only been saved by God's mercy
and your prayers; perhaps for this very purpose that I might fulfil
your behest and render with its writer's elegance the charming volume
which you have adorned with the scripture's fairest flowers. But bodily
weakness and sorrow of heart have, I need hardly say, dulled the edge
of my intellect and obstructed the free flow of, my language.
2. I admire in your work its practical aim, designed
as it is to instruct by the authority of scripture ignorant persons in
all the churches concerning the reverence with which they must handle
holy things and minister at Christ's altar; and to impress upon them
that the sacred chalices, veils,' and other accessories used in the
celebration of the Lord's passion are not mere lifeless and senseless
objects devoid of holiness, but that rather, from their association
with the body and blood of the Lord, they are to be venerated with the
same awe as the body and the blood themselves.
3. Take back then your book, nay mine or better
still ours; for when you flatter me you will but flatter yourself. It
is for you that my brain has toiled; it is for you that I have striven
with the poor resources of the Latin tongue to find an equivalent for
the eloquence of the Greek. I have not indeed given a word-for-word
rendering, as skilled translators do, nor have I counted out the money
you have given to me coin by coin; but I have given you full weight.
Some words may be missing but none of the sense is lost. Moreover I
have translated into Latin and profixed to this volume the letter that
you sent to me, so that all who read it may know that I have acted
under the commands of your holiness, and have not rashly and
over-confidently undertaken a task that is beyond my powers. Whether I
have succeeded in it I must leave to your judgment. Even though you may
blame my weakness, you will at least give me credit for my good
intention.
LETTER CXV.
TO AUGUSTINE.
A short but most friendly letter in which Jerome
excuses himself for the freedom with which he has dealt with
Augustino's questions (the allusion is to Letter CXII.) and hopes that
henceforth they may be able to
avoid controversy and to labour like brothers in the field of scripture.
Written probably in 405 A.D.
LETTER CXVI.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
A long letter in which Augustine for the third time see Letters LVI.,
LXVII.) restates his opinion about Jerome's theory of the dispute
between Peter and Paul at Antioch. In doing so, however, he disclaims
all desire to hurt Jerome's feelings, apologizes for the tone of his
previous letters, and again explains that it is not his fault that they
have failed so long to reach Jerome. Written shortly after the
preceding.
LETTER CXVII.
TO A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER LIVING
IN GAUL.
A monk of Gaul had during a visit to Bethlehem asked
Jerome for advice under the following circumstances. His mother was a
church-widow and his sister a religious virgin but the two could not
agree. They were accordingly living apart but neither by herself. For
each had taken into her house a monk ostensibly to act as steward but
really to be a paramour. At the request of his visitor Jerome now
writes to both mother and daughter urging them to dismiss their
companions; or at any rate to live together: and pointing out the grave
scandal that must otherwise be caused.
From the treatise against Vigilantius ( 3) we learn
that ill-natured critics maintained that the persons and circumstances
described in the letter were alike fictitious and that Jerome in
writing it was but exercising his ingenuity on a congenial theme.
The date is A. D. 405.
INTRODUCTION.
1. A certain brother from Gaul has told me that his
virgin-sister and widowed mother, though living in the same city, have
separate abodes and have taken to themselves clerical protectors either
as guests or stewards; and that by thus associating with strangers they
have caused more scandal than by living apart. When I groaned and
expressed what I felt more by silence than words; "I beseech you," said
he, "rebuke them in a letter and recall them to mutual harmony; make
them once more mother and daughter." To whom I replied, "a nice task
this that you lay upon me, for me a stranger to reconcile two women
whom you, a son and brother, have failed to influence. You speak as
though I occupied the chair of a bishop instead of being shut up m a
monastic cell where, far removed from the world's turmoil, I
lament the sins of the past and try to avoid the temptations of the
present. Moreover, it is surely inconsistent, while one buries oneself
out of sight, to allow one's tongue free course through the world."
"You are too fearful," he replied; "where is
216
that old hardihood of yours which made you 'scour the world with
copious salt,' as Horace says of Lucilius?"(1) "It is this," I
rejoined, "that makes me shy and forbids me to open my lips. For
through accusing crime I have been myself made out a criminal. Men have
disputed and denied my assertions until, as the proverb goes, I hardly
know whether I have ears or feeling left. The very walls have resounded
with curses levelled at me, and 'I was the song of drunkards.'(2) Under
the compulsion of an unhappy experience I have learned to be silent,
thinking it better to set a watch before my mouth and to keep the door
of my lips than to incline my heart to any evil thing,(3) or, while
censuring the faults of others, myself to fall into that of
detraction." In answer to this he said: "Speaking the truth is not
detraction. Nor will you lecture the world by administering a
particular rebuke; for there are few persons, if any, open to this
special charge. I beg of you, therefore, as I have put myself to the
trouble of this long journey, that you will not suffer me to have come
for nothing. The Lord knows that, after the sight of the holy places,
my principal object in coming has been to heal by a letter from you the
division between my sister ant my mother." "Well," I replied, "I will
do as you wish, for after all the letters will be to persons beyond the
sea and words written with reference to definite persons can seldom
offend other people. But I must ask you to keep what I say secret. You
will take my advice with you to encourage you by the way; if it is
listened to, I will rejoice as much as you; while if, as I rather
think, it is rejected, I shall have wasted my words and you will have
made a long journey for nothing."
THE LETTER.
2. In the first place my sister and my daughter, I
wish you to know that I am not writing to you because I suspect
anything evil of you. On the contrary I implore you to live in harmony,
so as to give no ground for any such suspicions. Moreover had I
supposed you fast bound in sin--far be this from you--I should never
have written, for I should have known that my words would be addressed
to deaf ears. Again, if I write to you somewhat sharply, I beg of you
to ascribe this not to any harshness on my part but to the nature of
the ailment which I attempt to treat. Cautery and the knife are the
only remedies when mortification has once set in; poison is the only
antidote known for poison; great pain can only be relieved by
inflicting greater pain.
Lastly I must say this that even if your own consciences acquit you of
misdoing, yet the very rumour of such brings disgrace upon you. Mother
and daughter are names of affection; they imply natural ties and
reciprocal duties; they form the closest of human relations after that
which binds the soul to God. If you love each other, your conduct calls
for no praise: but if you hate each other, you have committed a crime.
The Lord Jesus was subject to His parents.(1) He reverenced that mother
of whom He was Himself the parent; He respected the foster-father whom
He had Himself fostered; for He remembered that He had been carried in
the womb of the one and in the arms of the other. Wherefore also when
He hung upon the cross He commended to His disciple(2) the mother whom
He had never before His passion parted from Himself.
3. Well, I shall say no more to the mother, for
perhaps age, weakness, and loneliness make sufficient excuses for her;
but to you the daughter I say: "Is a mother's house too small for you
whose womb was not too small? When you have lived with her for ten
months in the one, can you not bear to live with her for one day in the
other? or are you unable to meet her gaze? Can it be that one who has
borne you and reared you, who has brought you up and knows you, is
dreaded by you as a witness of your homelife? If you are a true virgin,
why do you fear her careful guardianship; and, if you have fallen, why
do you not openly marry? Wedlock is like a plank offered to a
shipwrecked man and by its means you may remedy what previously you
have done amiss. I do not mean that you are not to repent of your sin
or that you are to continue in evil courses; but, when a tie of the
kind has been formed, I despair of breaking it altogether. However, a
return to your mother will make it easier for you to bewail the
virginity which you have lost through leaving her. Or if you are still
unspotted and have not lost your chastity, be careful of it for you may
lose it. Why must you live in a house where you must daily struggle for
life and death? Can any one sleep soundly with a viper near him? No;
for, though it may not attack him it is sure to frighten him. It is
better to be where there is no danger, than to be in danger and to
escape. In the one case we have a calm; in the other careful steering
is necessary. In the one case we are filled with joy; in the other we
do but avoid sorrow.
4. But you will perhaps reply: "my mother is not
well-behaved, she desires the things of the world, she loves riches,
she disregards
217
fasting, she stains her eyes with antimony, she likes to walk abroad in
gay attire, she hinders me from the monastic vow, and so I cannot live
with her." But first of all, even though she is as you say, you will
have the greater reward for refusing to forsake her with all her
faults. She has carried you in her womb, she has reared you; with
gentle affection she has borne with the troublesome ways of your
childhood. She has washed your linen, she has tended you when sick, and
the sickness of maternity was not only borne for you but caused by you.
She has brought you up to womanhood, she has taught you to love Christ.
You ought not to be displeased with the behaviour of a mother who has
consecrated you as a virgin to the service of your spouse. Still if you
cannot put up with her dainty ways and feel obliged to shun them, and
if your mother really is, as people so often say, a woman of the world,
you have others, virgins like yourself, the holy company of chastity.
Why, when you forsake your mother, do you choose for companion a than
who perhaps has left behind him a sister and mother of his own? You
tell me that she is hard to get on with and that he is easy; that she
is quarrelsome and that he is amiable. I will ask you one question: Did
you go straight from your home to the man, or did you fall in with him
afterwards? If you went straight to him, the reason why you left your
mother is plain. If you fell in with him afterwards, you shew by your
choice what you missed under your mother's roof.[1] The pain that I
inflict is severe and I feel the knife as much as you. "He that walketh
uprightly walketh surely."[2] Only that my conscience would smite me, I
should keep silence and be slow to blame others where I am not
guiltless myself. Having a beans in my own eye I should be reluctant to
see the mote in my neighbour's. But as it is I live far away among
Christian brothers; my life with them is honourable as eyewitnesses of
it can testify; I rarely see, or am seen by, others. It is most
shameless, therefore, in you to refuse to copy me in respect of
self-restraint, when you profess to take me as your model. If you say:
"my conscience is enough for me too. God is my judge who is witness of
my life. I care not what men may say;" let me urge upon you the
apostle's words: "provide things honest" not only in the sight of God
but also "in the sight of all men."[3] If any one carps at you for
being a Christian a virgin, mind it not; you have left your mother it
may be said to live in a monastery among virgins, but censure on this
score is your glory. When men blame a maid of God
not for self-indulgence but only for insensibility to affection, what
they condemn as callous disregard of a parent is really a lively
devotion towards God. For you prefer to your mother Him whom you are
bidden to prefer to your own soul.[1] And if the day ever comes that
she also shall so prefer Him, she will find in you not a daughter only
but a sister as well.
5. "What then?" you will say, "is it a crime to have
a man of religion in the house with me?" You seize me by the collar and
drag me into court either to sanction what I disapprove or else to
incur the dislike of many. A man of religion never separates a daughter
from her mother. He welcomes both and respects both. A daughter
may be as religious as she pleases; still a mother who is a widow
is a guaranty for her chastity. If this person whoever he is is of the
same age with yourself, he should honour your mother as though she were
his own; and, if he is older, he should love you as a daughter and
subject you to a mother's discipline. It is not good either for your
reputation or for his that he should like you more than your mother:
for his affection might appear to be less for you than for your youth.
This is what I should say if a monk were not your brother and if you
had no relatives able to protect you. But what excuse has a stranger
for thrusting himself in where there are both a mother and a brother,
the one a widow and the other a monk? It is good for you to feel that
you are a daughter and a sister. However, if you cannot manage both,
and if your mother is too hard a morsel to swallow, your brother at any
rate should satisfy you. Or, if he is too harsh, she that bore you may
prove more gentle. Why do you turn pale? Why do you get excited? Why do
you blush, and with trembling lips betray the restlessness of your
mind? One thing only can surpass a woman's love for her mother and
brother; and that is her passion for her husband.
6. I am told, moreover, that you frequent suburban
villas and their pleasant gardens in the company of relatives and
intimate friends. I have no doubt that it is some female cousin or
connexion who for her own satisfaction carries you about with her as a
novel kind of attendant. Far be it from me to suspect that you would
desire men's society; even though they should be those of your own
family. But pray, maiden, answer me this; do you appear alone in your
kinsfolk's society? or do you bring your favourite with you? Shameless
as you may be, you will hardly venture to flaunt him in the eyes of the
world. If you ever do so, your whole circle will cry out about both you
218
and him; every one's finger will be pointed at you; and your cousins
who in your presence to please you call him a monk and a man of
religion, will laugh at you behind your back for having such an
unnatural husband. If on the other hand you go out alone--which I
rather suppose to be the case--you will find yourself clothed in sober
garb among slave youths, women married or soon to be so, wanton girls,
and dandies with long hair and tight-fitting vests.[1] Some bearded fop
will offer you his hand he will hold you up if you feel tired, and the
pressure of his fingers will either be a temptation to you, or will
shew that you are a temptation to him. Again when you sit down to table
with married men and women, you will have to see kisses in which you
have no part, and dishes partaken of which are not for you. Moreover it
cannot but do you harm to see other women attired in silk dresses and
gold brocades. At table also whether you like it or not, you will be
forced to eat flesh and that of different kinds. To make you drink wine
they will praise it as a creature of God. To induce you to take baths
they will speak of dirt with disgust; and, when on second thoughts you
do as you are bid, they will with one voice salute you as spotless and
open, a thorough lady. Meantime some singer will give to the company a
selection of softly flowing airs; and as he will not venture to look at
other men's wives, he will constantly fix his eyes on you who have no
protector. He will speak by nods and convey by his tone what he is
afraid to put into words. Amid inducements to sensuality so marked as
these, even iron wills are apt to be overcome with desire; an appetite
which is the more imperious in virgins because they suppose. that
sweetest of which they have no experience. Heathen legends tell us that
sailors actually ran their ships on the rocks that they might listen to
the songs of the Sirens; and that the lyre of Orpheus had power to draw
to itself trees and animals and to soften flints. In the banquet-hall
chastity is hard to keep. A shining skin shews a sin-stained soul.
7. As a schoolboy I have read of one--and have seen
his effigy true to the life in the streets--who continued to cherish an
unlawful passion even when his flesh scarcely clung to his bones, and
whose malady remained uncured until death cured it. What then will
become of you a young girl physically sound, dainty, stout, and ruddy,
if you allow yourself free range among flesh-dishes, wines, and baths,
not to mention married men and bachelors? Even if when solicited you
refuse to consent, you will take the fact of your being asked as
evidence that you are considered handsome. A sensual mind pursues
dishonourable objects with greater zest than honourable ones; and when
a thing is forbidden hankers after it with greater pleasure. Your very
dress, cheap and sombre as it is, is an index of your secret feelings.
For it has no creases and trails along the ground to make you appear
taller than you are. Your vest is purposely ripped asunder to shew what
is beneath and while hiding what is repulsive, to reveal what is fair.
As you walk, the very creaking of your black and shiny shoes attracts
the notice of the young men. You wear stays to keep your breasts in
place, and a heaving girdle closely confines your chest. Your hair
covers either your forehead or your ears. Sometimes too you let your
shawl drop so as to lay bare your white shoulders; and, as if unwilling
that they should be seen, you quickly conceal what you have purposely
disclosed. And when in public you for modesty's sake cover your face,
like a practised harlot you only shew what is likely to please.
8. You will exclaim "How do you know what I am like,
or how, when you are so far away, can you see what I am doing?" Your
own brother's tears and sobs have told me, his frequent and scarcely
endurable bursts of grief. Would that he had lied or that his words had
been words of apprehension only and not of accusation. But, believe me,
liars do not shed tears. He is indignant that you prefer to himself a
young man, not it is true clothed in silk or wearing his hair long but
muscular and dainty in the midst of his squalor; and that this fellow
holds the purse-strings, looks after the weaving, allots the servants
their tasks, rules the household, and buys from the market all that is
needed. He is at once steward and master, and, as he anticipates the
slaves in their duties,[1] he is carped at by all the domestics.
Everything that their mistress has not given them they declare that he
has stolen from them. Servants as a class are full of complaints; and
no matter what you give them, it is always too little. For they do not
consider how much you have but only how much you give; and they make up
for their chagrin in the only way they can, that is, by grumbling. One
calls him a parasite, another an impostor, another a money-seeker,
another by some novel appellation that hits his fancy. They noise it
abroad that he is constantly at your bed-side, that when you are sick
he runs to fetch nurses, that he holds basins, airs sheets, and folds
bandages for you. The world is only too ready to believe scandal, and
stories invented at home soon get afloat
219
abroad. Nor need you be surprised if your servantmen and servantmaids
get up such tales about you, when even your mother and your brother
complain of your conduct.
9. Do, therefore, what I advise you and entreat you
to do: if possible, be reconciled with your mother; or, if this may not
be, at least come to terms with your brother. Or if you are filled with
an implacable hatred of relationships usually so dear, separate at all
events from the man, whom you are said to prefer to your own flesh and
blood, and, if even this is impossible for you, (for, if you could
leave him, you would certainly return to your own) pay more regard to
appearances in harbouring him as your companion. Live in a separate
building and take your meals apart; for if you remain under one roof
with him slanderers will say that you share with him your bed. You may
thus easily get help from him when you feel you need it, and yet to a
considerable degree escape public discredit. Yet you must take care not
to contract the stain of which Jeremiah tells us that no nitre or
fuller's soap can wash it out.[1] When you wish him to come to see you,
always have witnesses present; either friends, or freedmen, or slaves.
A good conscience is afraid of no man's eyes. Let him come in
unembarrassed and go out at his ease. Let his silent looks, his
unspoken words and his whole carriage, though at times they may imply
embarrassment, yet indicate peace of mind. Pray, open your ears and
listen to the outcry of the whole city. Yon have already both of you
lost your own names and are known each by that of the other. You are
spoken of as his, and he is said to be yours. Your mother and your
brother have heard this and are ready to take you in between them. They
implore you to consent to this arrangement, so that the scandal of your
intimacy with this man which is confined to yourself may give place to
a glory common to all. You can live with your mother and he with your
brother. You can more boldly shew your regard for one who is your
brother's comrade; and your mother will more properly esteem one who is
the friend of her son and not of her daughter. But if you frown and
refuse to accept my advice, this letter will openly expostulate with
you. 'Why,' it will say, 'do you beset another man's servant? Why do
you make Christ's minister your slave? Look at the people and scan each
face as it comes under your view. When he reads in the church all eyes
are fixed upon you; and you, using the licence of a wife, glory in your
shame. Secret infamy no longer contents you; you call boldness freedom;
"you have a whore's forehead and refuse to be ashamed."[2]
10. Once more you exclaim that I am over-suspicious,
a thinker of evil, too ready to follow rumours. What? I suspicious? I
ill-natured? I, who as I said in the beginning have taken up my pen
because I have no suspicions? Or is it you that are careless, loose,
disdainful? You who at the age of twenty-five have netted in your
embrace a youth whose beard has scarcely grown? An excellent instructor
he must be, able no doubt by his severe looks both to warn and frighten
you! No age is safe from lust, yet gray hairs are some security for
decent conduct. A day will surely come (for time glides by
imperceptibly) when your handsome young favourite will find a wealthier
or more youthful mistress. For women soon age and particularly if they
live with men. You will be sorry for your decision and regret your
obstinacy in a day when your means and reputation shall be alike gone,
and when this unhappy intimacy shall be happily broken off. But perhaps
you feel sure of your ground and see no reason to fear a breach where
affection has had so long a time to develop and grow.
11. To you also, her mother, I must say a word. Your
years put you beyond the reach of scandal; do not take advantage of
this to indulge in sin. It is more fitting that your daughter
should learn from you how to part from a companion than that you should
learn from her how to give up a paramour. You have a son, a daughter,
and a son-in-law, or at least one who is your daughter's partner.[1]
Why then should you seek other society than theirs, or wish to
kindle anew expiring flames? It would be more becoming in you to
screen your daughter fault than to make it an excuse for your own
misdoing. Your son is a monk, and, if he were to live with you, he
would strengthen you in your religious profession and in your vow of
widowhood. Why should you take in a complete stranger, especially in a
house not large enough to hold a son and a daughter? You are old enough
to have grand-children. Invite the pair home then. Your daughter went
away by herself; let her return with this man. I say 'man' and not
'husband' that none may cavil. The word describes his sex and not his
relation to her. Or if she blushes to accept your offer or finds the
house in which she was born too narrow for her, then move both of you
to her abode. However limited may be its accommodation, it can take in
a mother and a brother better than a stranger. In fact, if she lives in
the same house and occupies the same room with a man, she cannot long
preserve her chastity. It is different when two women and two men live
together. If the third person concerned
220
--he, I mean, who fosters your old age--will not make one of the party
and causes only dissension and confusion, the pair of you[1] can do
without him. But if the three of you remain together, then your brother
and son[2] will offer him a sister and a mother. Others may speak of
the two strangers as step-father and son-in-law; but your son must
speak of them as his foster-father and his brother.
NOTE.
12. Working quickly I have completed this letter in
a single night anxious alike to gratify a friend and to try my hand on
a rhetorical theme. Then early in the morning he has knocked at my door
on the point of starting. I wish also to shew my detractors that like
them I too can say the first thing that comes into my head. I have,
therefore, introduced few quotations from the scriptures and have not,
as in most of my books, interwoven its flowers in my discourse. The
letter has been, in fact, dictated off-hand and poured forth by
lamp-light so fast that my tongue has outstripped my secretaries' pens
and that my volubility has baffled the expedients of shorthand. I have
said this much that those who make no allowances for want of ability
may make some for want of time.
LETTER CXVIII.
TO JULIAN.
Jerome writes to Julian, a wealthy nobleman
apparently of Dalmatia ( 5), to console him for the loss of his wife
and two daughters all of whom had recently died. He reminds Julian of
the trials of Job and recommends him to imitate the patience of the
patriarch. He also urges him to follow the example set by Pammachius
and Paulinus, that is, to give up his riches and to become a monk for
the sake of Christ. The date of the letter is 406 A.D.
I. At the very instant of his departure Ausonius, a
son to me as he is a brother to you, gave me a late glimpse of himself
but quickly hurried away again, saying good-morning and good-bye
together. Yet he thought that be would return empty-handed unless he
could bring you some trifle from me however hastily written. Clothed in
scarlet as befitted his rank, he had already strapped on his
sword-belt[3] and sent down a requisition to have a stage-horse
saddled. Still he made me send for my secretary and dictate a letter to
him. This I did with such rapidity that his nimble hand could hardly
keep pace with my words or manage to put down my hurried
sentences. Thus hasty dictation has taken the place of careful writing;
and, if I break my long silence, it is but to offer you an expression
of good will. This is an impromptu letter without logical order or
charm of style. You must ,look on me for once as a friend only; you
will find, I assure you, nothing of the orator here. Bear in mind that
it has been dashed off on the spur of the moment and given as a
provision for the way to one in a hurry to depart.
Holy scripture says: "a tale out of season is as
musick in mourning."[1] Accordingly I have disdained the graces of
rhetoric and those charms of eloquence which boys find so captivating,
and have fallen back on the serious tone of the sacred writings. For in
these are to be found true medicines for wounds and sure remedies for
sorrow. In these a mother receives back her only son even on the
bier.[2] In these a crowd of mourners hears the words: "the maid is not
dead but sleepeth."[3] In these one that is four days dead comes forth
bound at the call of the Lord."[4]
2. I hear that in a short space of time you have
suffered. several bereavements, that you have buried in quick
succession two young unmarried daughters, and that Faustina, most
chaste and loyal of wives, your sister in the fervour of her faith and
your one comfort in the loss of your children, has suddenly fallen
asleep and been taken from you. You have been like a shipwrecked man,
who has no sooner reached the shore than he falls into the hands of
brigands, or in the eloquent language of the prophet like one "who did
flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and
leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him."[5] Pecuniary
losses have followed your bereavements; the entire province has been
overrun by a barbarian enemy, and in the general devastation your
private property has been destroyed, your flocks and herds have been
driven off, and your poor slaves either made prisoners or else slain.
To crown all, your only daughter, made all the more dear to you by the
loss of the others, has for her husband a young nobleman who, to say
nothing worse of him, has given you more occasion for sorrow than for
rejoicing. Such is the list of the trials that have been laid upon you;
such is the conflict waged by the old enemy against Julian a raw
recruit to Christ's standard. If you look only to yourself your
troubles are indeed great but if you look to the strong Warrior,[6]
they are but child's play and the conflict is only the semblance of
one. After
221
untold trials a wicked wife was still left to the blessed Job, the
devil hoping that he might learn from her to blaspheme God. You on the
other hand have been deprived of an excellent one that you might learn
to go without consolation in the hour of misfortune. Yet it is far
harder to put up with a wife whom you dislike than it is to mourn for
one whom you dearly love. Moreover when Job's children died they found
a common tomb beneath the ruins of his house, and all he could do to
shew his parental affection was to rend his garments to fall upon the
ground and to worship, saying: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb,
and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken
away: it has been as the Lord pleased: blessed be the name of the
Lord."[1] But you, to put the matter briefly, have been allowed to
perform the obsequies of your dear ones; and those obsequies have been
attended by many respectful kinsmen and comforting friends. Again Job
lost all his wealth at once; and, as, one after another, the messengers
of woe unfolded new calamities, he flinched as little as the sage of
whom Horace writes:[2]--
Shatter the world to atoms if you will.
Fearless will be the man on
whom it falls.
But with you the case is different. The greater part of your substance
has been left to you, and your trials have not been greater than you
can bear. For you have not yet attained to such perfection that the
devil has to marshal all his forces against you.
3. Long ago this wealthy proprietor and still
wealthier father was made by a sudden stroke destitute and bereaved.
But as, in spite of all that befel him, he had not sinned before God or
spoken foolishly, the Lord--exulting in the victory of his servant and
regarding Job's patience as His own triumph--said to the devil: "Hast
thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the
earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth
evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity?"[3] He finely adds the
last clause because it is difficult for innocence to refrain from
murmuring when it is overborne by misfortune; and to avoid making a
shipwreck of faith when it sees that its sufferings are unjustly
inflicted. The devil answered the Lord and said: "Skin for skin, yea,
all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand
now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy
face."[4] See how crafty the adversary is, and how hardened in sin his
evil days have made him! He knows the difference between things
external and internal. He knows that even the philosophers of the world
call the former <greek>adiafora</greek>, that is
indifferent, and that the perfection of virtue does not consist in
losing or disdaining them. It is the latter, those that are internal
and objects of preference,[1] the loss of which inevitably causes
chagrin. Wherefore he boldly contradicts what God has said and declares
that Job deserves no praise at all; since he has yielded up no part of
himself but only what is outside himself, since he has given for his
own skin the skins of his children, and since he has but laid down his
purse to secure the health of his body. From this your sagacity may
perceive that your trials have so far only reached the point at which
you give hide for hide, skin for skin, and are ready to give all that
you have for your life. The Lord has not yet stretched forth His hand
upon you, or touched your flesh, or broken your bones. Yet it is when
such afflictions as these are laid upon you that it is Bard not to
groan and not to 'bless' God to His face, that is to curse Him. The
word 'bless' is used in the same way in the books of Kings where it is
said of Naboth that he 'blessed' God and the king and was therefore
stoned by the people.[2] But the Lord knew His champion and felt sure
that this great hero would even in this last and severest conflict
prove unconquerable. Therefore He said: "Behold he is in thine hand;
but save his life."[3] The holy man's flesh is placed at the devil's
disposal, but his vital powers are withheld. For if the devil had
smitten that on which sensation and mental judgment depend, the guilt
arising from a misuse of these faculties I would have lain at the door
not of him who committed the sin but of him who had overthrown the
balance of his mind.
4. Others may praise you if they will, and celebrate
your victories over the devil. They may eulogize you for the smiling
face with which you bore the loss of your daughters, or for the
resolution with which, forty days after they fell asleep, you exchanged
your mourning for a white robe to attend the dedication of a martyr's
bones; unconcerned for a bereavement which was the concern of the whole
city, and anxious only to share in a martyr's triumph. Nay, say they,
when you bore your wife to burial, it was not as one dead but as one
setting forth on a journey. But I shall not deceive you with flattering
words or take the ground froth under your feet with slippery praises.
Rather will I say what it is good for you to hear: "My son, if thou
come to serve
222
the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation,"[1] and "when thou shalt
have done all those things which are commanded thee, say, I am an
unprofitable servant; I have done that which was my duty to do."[2] Say
to God: "the children that thou hast taken from me were Thine own gift.
The hand-maiden that Thou hast taken to Thyself Thou also didst lend to
me for a season to be my solace. I am not aggrieved that Thou hast
taken her back, but thankful rather that Thou hast previously given her
to me."
Once upon a time a rich young man boasted that he
had fulfilled all the requirements of the law, but the Lord said to him
(as we read in the gospel): "One thing thou lackest: if thou wilt be
perfect, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor;
and come and follow me."[3] He who declared that he had done all things
gave way at the first onset to the power of riches. Wherefore they who
are rich find it hard to enter the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom which
desires for its citizens souls that soar aloft free from all ties and
hindrances. "Go thy way," the Lord says, "and sell" not a part of thy
substance but "all that thou hast, and give to the poor;" not to thy
friends or kinsfolk or relatives, not to thy wife or to thy children. I
will even go farther and say: keep back nothing for yourself because
you fear to be some day poor, lest by so doing you share the
condemnation of Ananias and Sapphira;[4] but give everything to the
poor and make to yourself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that
they may receive you into everlasting habitations.[5] Obey the Master's
injunction "follow me,"[6] and take the Lord of the world for your
possession; that you may be able to sing with the prophet, "The Lord is
my portion,"[7] and like a true Levite[8] may possess no earthly
inheritance. I cannot but advise you thus if you wish to be perfect, if
you desire to attain the pinnacle of the apostles' glory, if you wish
to take up your cross and to follow Christ. When once you have put your
hand to the plough you must not look back;[9] when once you stand on
the housetop you must think no more of your clothes within; to escape
your Egyptian mistress[10] you must abandon the cloak that belongs to
this world. Even Elijah, in his quick translation to heaven could not
take his mantle with him, but left in the world the garments of the
world.[11] Such conduct, you will object, is for him who would emulate
the apostles, for the man who aspires to be perfect. But why should not
you aspire to be
perfect? Why should not you who hold a foremost place in the world hold
a foremost place also in Christ's household? Is it because you have
been married? Peter was married too, but when he forsook his ship and
his nets he forsook his wife also.[1] The Lord who wills that all men
shall be saved and prefers the repentance of a sinner to his death[2]
has, in His almighty providence, removed from you this excuse. Your
wife can no longer draw you earthwards, but you can follow her as she
draws you heaven-wards. Provide good things for your children who have
gone home before you to the Lord. Do not let their portions go to swell
their sister's fortune, but use them to ransom four own soul and to
give sustenance to the needy. These are the necklaces your daughters
expect from you; these are the jewels they wish to see sparkle on their
foreheads. The money which they would have wasted in buying silks may
well be considered saved when it provides cheap clothing for the poor.
They ask you for their portions. Now that they are united to their
spouse they are loth to appear poor and undistinguished: they desire to
have the ornaments that befit their rank.
5. Nor may you excuse yourself on the score of your
noble station and the responsibilities of wealth. Look at Pammachius
and at Paulinus that presbyter of glowing faith both of whom have
offered to the Lord not only their riches but themselves. In spite of
the devil and his shuffling they have by no means given skin for skin,
but have consecrated their own flesh and bones, yea and their very
souls unto the Lord. Surely these may lead you to higher things both by
their example and by their preaching, that is, by their deeds and
words. You are of noble birth, so are they: but in Christ they are made
nobler still. You are rich and held in repute, so once were they: but
now instead of being rich and held in repute they are poor and obscure,
yet, because it is for Christ's sake, they are really richer and more
famous than ever. You too, it is true, show yourself beneficent, you
are said to minister to the wants of the saints, to entertain monks,
and to present large sums of money to churches. This however is only
the a b c of your soldiership. You despise money; the world's
philosophers have done the same. One of these[3]--to say nothing of the
rest--cast the price of many possessions into the sea, saying as he did
so "To the bottom with you, ye provokers of evil lusts. I shall drown
you in the sea that you may never drown me in sin." If then a
philosopher--a creature of
223
vanity whom popular applause can buy and sell--laid down all his
burthen at once, how can you think that you have reached virtue's
crowning height when you have yielded up but a portion of yours? It is
you yourself that the Lord wishes for, "a living sacrifice ...
acceptable unto God."[1] Yourself, I say, and not what you have. And
therefore, as he trained Israel by subjecting it to many plagues and
afflictions, so does He now admonish you by sending you trials of
different kinds. "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth."[2] The poor widow did but cast two mites
into the treasury; yet because she cast in all that she had it is said
of her that she surpassed all the rich in offering gifts to God.[3]
Such gifts are valued not by their weight but by the good-will with
which they are made. You may have spent your substance upon numbers of
people, and a portion of your fellows may have reason to rejoice in
your bounty; yet those who have received nothing at your hands are
still more numerous. Neither the wealth of Darius nor the riches of
Croesus would suffice to satisfy the wants of the world's poor. But if
you once give yourself to the Lord and resolve to follow the Saviour in
the perfection of apostolic virtue, then you will come to see what your
place has hitherto been, and how you have lagged in the rear of
Christ's army. Hardly had you begun to mourn for your dead daughters
when the fear of Christ dried the tears of paternal affection upon your
cheeks. It was a great triumph of faith, true. But how much greater was
that won by Abraham who was content to slay his only son, of whom he
had been told that he was to inherit the world, yet did not cease to
hope that after death Isaac would live again.[4] Jephthah too offered
up his virgin daughter. and for this is placed by the apostle in the
roll of the saints.[5] I would not therefore have you offer to the Lord
only what a thief may steal from you or an enemy fall upon, or a
proscription confiscate, what is liable to fluctuations in value now
going up and now down, what belongs to a succession of masters who
follow each other as fast as in the sea wave follows wave, and--to say
everything in a word--what, whether you like it or not, you must leave
behind you when you die. Rather offer to God that which no enemy can
carry off and no tyrant take from you, which will go down with you into
the grave, nay on to the kingdom of heaven and the enchantments of
paradise. You already build monasteries and support in the various
islands of Dalmatia a large number of holy men. But you would
do better still if you were to live among these holy men usa holy man
yourself. "Be ye holy, saith the Lord, for I am holy."[1] The apostles
boasted that they had left all things and had followed the Saviour."[2]
We do not read that they left anything except their ship and their
nets; yet they were crowned with the approval of Him who was to be
their judge. Why? Because in offering up themselves they had indeed
left all that they had.
6. I say all this not in disparagement of your good
works or because I wish to underrate your generosity in almsgiving, but
because I do not wish you to be a monk among men of the world and a man
of the world among monks. I shall require every sacrifice of you for I
hear that your mind is devoted to the service of God. If some friend,
or follower, or kinsman tries to combat this counsel of mine and to
recall you to the pleasures of a handsome table, be sure that he is
thinking less of your soul than of his own belly, and remember that
death in a moment terminates both elegant entertainments and all other
pleasures provided by wealth. Within the short space of twenty days you
have lost two daughters, the one eight years old and the other six; and
do you suppose that one so old as you are yourself can live much
longer? David tells you how long a time you can look for: "the days of
our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength
they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow."[3]
Happy is he and to be held worthy of the highest bliss whom old age
shall find a servant of Christ and whom the last day shall discover
fighting for the Saviour's cause. "He shall not be ashamed when he
speaketh with his enemies in the gate."[4] On his entrance into
paradise it shall be said to him: "thou in thy lifetime receivedst evil
things but nowhere thou art comforted."[5] The Lord will not avenge the
same sin twice. Lazarus, formerly poor and full of ulcers, whose sores
the dogs licked and who barely managed to live, poor wretch, on the
crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, is now welcomed into
Abraham's bosom and has the joy of finding a father in the great
patriarch. It is difficult nay impossible for a man to enjoy both the
good things of the present and those of the future, to satisfy his
belly here and his mind yonder, to pass from the pleasures of this life
to the pleasures of that, to be first in both worlds, and to be held in
honour both on earth and in heaven.
7. And if in your secret thoughts you are troubled
because I who give you this advice am not myself what I desire you to
be, and
224
because you have seen some after beginning well fall midway on their
journey; I shall briefly plead in reply that the words which I speak
are not mine but those of the Lord and Saviour, and that I urge upon
you not the standard which is possible to myself but the ideal which
every true servant of Christ must wish for and realize. Athletes as a
rule are stronger than their backers; yet the weaker presses the
stronger to put forth all his efforts Look not upon Judas denying his
Lord but upon Paul confessing Him. Jacob's father was a man of great
wealth; yet, when Jacob went to Mesopotamia, he went alone and
destitute leaning upon his staff. When he felt weary he had to lie down
by the wayside and, delicately nurtured as he had been by his mother
Rebekah, was forced to content himself with a stone for a pillow. Yet
it was then[1] that he saw the ladder set up from earth to heaven, and
the angels ascending and descending on it, and the Lord above it
holding out a helping hand to such as fall and encouraging the climbers
to fresh efforts by the vision of Himself. Therefore is the spot called
Bethel or the house of God; for there day by day there is ascending and
descending. When they are careless, even holy men lose their footing;
and sinners, if they wash away their stains with tears regain their
place. I say this not that those coming down may frighten you but that
those going up may stimulate you. For evil can never supply a model and
even in worldly affairs incentives to virtue come always from the
brighter side.
But I have forgotten my purpose and the limits set
to my letter. I should have liked to say a great deal more. Indeed all
that I can say is inadequate alike to satisfy the seriousness of the
subject and the claims of your rank. But here is our Ausonius beginning
to be impatient for the sheets, hurrying the secretaries, and in his
impatience at the neighing of his horse, accusing my poor wits of
slowness. Remember me, then, and prosper in Christ. And one thing more;
follow the example set you at home by the holy Vera,[2] who like a true
follower of Christ does not fear to endure the hardships of pilgrimage.
Find in a woman your 'leader in this high emprise.'[3]
LETTER CXIX.
TO MINERVIUS AND ALEXANDER.
Minervius and Alexander two monks of Toulouse had
written to Jerome asking him to explain for them a large number of
passages in scripture. Jerome in his
reply postpones most of these to a future time but deals with two in
detail viz. (I) "we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed," I
Cor. xv. 51; and (2) "we shall be caught up in the clouds," I Th. iv.
17. With regard to (I) Jerome prefers the reading "we shall all sleep
but we shall not all be changed," and with regard to (2) he looks upon
the language as metaphorical and interprets it to mean that believers
will be ' assumed ' into the company of the apostles and prophets.The
date of the letter is 406 A.D.
LETTER CXX.
TO HEDIBIA.[1]
At the request of Hedibia, a lady of Gaul much
interested in the study of scripture, Jerome deals with the following
twelve questions. It will be noticed that several of them belong to the
historical criticism of our own day.
(1) How can anyone be perfect? and How ought a widow
without children to live to God?
(2) What is the meaning of Matt. xxvi. 29?
(3) How are the discrepancies in the evangelical
narratives to be accounted for? How can Matt. xxviii. I be reconciled
with Mark xvi. I, 2?
(4) How can Matt. xxviii. 9 (Saturday evening) be
reconciled with John xx. 1--18 (Sunday morning)?
(5) How can Matt. xxviii. 9 be reconciled with John
xx. 17?
(6) How was it that, if there was a guard of
soldiers at the sepulchre, Peter and John were allowed to go in freely?
(Matt. xxvii. 66: John xx. 1-8.)
(7) How is the statement of Matthew and Mark that
the apostles were ordered to go into Galilee to see Jesus there to be
reconciled with that of Luke and John who make Him appear to them in
Jerusalem?
(8) What is the meaning of Matt. xxvii. 50, 51?
(9) How is the statement of John xx. 22 that Jesus
breathed on his apostles the Holy Ghost to be reconciled with that of
Luke (Luke xxiv. 49: Acts i. 4) that He would send it to them after His
ascension?
(10) What is the meaning of the passage, Rom. ix.
14-29?
(11) What is the meaning of 2 Cor. ii. 16? (12) What is the meaning of
I Th. v. 23? The date of the letter is 406 or 407 A.D.
LETTER CXXI.
TO ALGASIA.
Jerome writes to a lady of Gaul named Algasis to
answer eleven questions which she had submitted to him. They were as
follows:--
(1) How is Luke vii. 18, 19, to be reconciled with
John i. 36?
(2) What is the meaning of Matt. xii. 20?
(3) And of Matt. xvi. 24?
(4) And of Matt. xxiv. 19, 20?
(5) And of Luke ix. 53?
(6) What is the meaning of the parable of the unjust
steward?
(7) What is the meaning of Rom. v. 7? (8) And of
Rom. vii.8?
(9) And of Rom. ix. 3?
(10) And of Col. ii. 18?
(11) And of 2 Th. ii. 3?
The date of the letter is 406 A.D.
225
LETTER CXXII.
TO RUSTICUS.
Rusticus and Artemia his wife having made a vow of
continence broke it. Artemia proceeded to Palestine to do penance for
her sin and Rusticus promised to follow her. However he failed to do
so, and Jerome was asked to write this letter in the hope that it might
induce him to fulfil his promise. The date is about 408 A.D.
I. I am induced to write to you, a stranger to a
stranger, by the entreaties of that holy servant of Christ Hedibia[1]
and of my daughter in the faith Artemia, once your wife but now no
longer your wife but your sister and fellow-servant. Not content with
assuring her own salvation she has sought yours also, in former days at
home and now in the holy places. She is anxious to emulate the
thoughtfulness of the apostles Andrew and Philip; who after Christ had
found them, desired in their turn to find, the one his brother Simon
and the other his friend Nathanael.[2] To the former of these it was
said "Thou art Simon, the son of Jona: thou shall be called Cephas
which is by interpretation a stone;"[3] while the latter, whose name
Nathanael means the gift of God, was comforted by Christ's witness to
him: "behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile."[4] So of old
Lot[5] desired to rescue his wife as well as his two daughters, and
refusing to leave blazing Sodom and Gomorrah until he was himself
half-on-fire, tried to lead forth one who was tied and bound by her
past sins. But in her despair she lost her composure, and looking back
became a monument of an unbelieving soul.[6] Yet, as if to make up for
the loss of a single woman, Lot's glowing faith set free the whole city
of Zoar. In fact when he left the dark valleys in which Sodom lay and
came to the mountains the sun rose upon him as he entered Zoar or the
little City; so-called because the little faith that Lot
possessed, though unable to save greater places, was at least
able to preserve smaller ones. For one who had gone so far astray as to
live in Gomorrah could not all at once reach the noonland where
Abraham, the friend of God,[7] entertained God and His angels.[8] (For
it was in Egypt that Joseph fed his brothers, and when the bride speaks
to the Bridegroom her cry is: "tell me where thou feedest, where thou
makest thy flock to rest at noon."[9]) Good men have always sorrowed
for the sins of others. Samuel of old lamented for Saul[10] because he
neglected to treat the ulcers of pride with the balm of penitence. And
Paul
wept for the Corinthians[1] who refused to wash out with their tears
the stains of fornication. For the same reason Ezekiel swallowed the
book where were written within and without song, and lamentation and
woe;[2] the song in praise of the righteous, the lamentation over the
penitent, and the woe for those of whom it is written, "When the wicked
man falleth into the depths of evil, then is he filled with scorn."[3]
It is to these that Isaiah alludes when he says: "in that day did the
Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning and to baldness and
to girding with sackcloth: and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen;
and killing sheep, eating flesh" and saying, "let us eat and drink, for
tomorrow we die."[4] Yet of such persons Ezekiel is bidden to speak
thus: "O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye
speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we
pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live,
saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but
that the wicked turn from his way and live," and again, "turn ye, turn
ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?"[5]
Nothing makes God so angry as when men from despair of better things
cleave to those which are worse; and indeed this despair in itself is a
sign of unbelief. One who despairs of salvation can have no expectation
of a judgment to come. For if he dreaded such, he would by doing good
works prepare to meet his Judge. Let us hear what God says through
Jeremiah, "withhold thy foot from a rough way and thy throat from
thirst"[6] and again" shall they fall, and not arise? Shall he turn
away, and not return? "[7] Let us hear also what God says by Isaiah:
"When thou shalt turn and bewail thyself, then shall thou be saved, and
then shalt thou know where thou hast hitherto been."[8] We do not
realize the miseries of sickness till returning health reveals them to
us. So sins serve as a foil to the blessedness of virtue; and light
shines more brightly when it is relieved against darkness. Ezekiel uses
language like that of the other prophets because he is animated by a
similar spirit. "Repent," he cries, "and turn yourselves from all your
transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you
all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a
new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For
I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord."[9]
Wherefore in a subsequent passage
226
he says: "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the
death of the wicked: but that the wicked turn from his way and
live."[1] These words shew us that the mind must not through disbelief
in the promised blessings give way to despair; and that the soul once
marked out for perdition must not refuse to apply remedies on the
ground that its wounds are past curing. Ezekiel describes God as
swearing, that if we refuse to believe His promise in regard to our
salvation we may at least believe His oath. It is with full confidence
that the righteous man prays and says, "Turn us, O God of our
salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease,"[2] and again,
"Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou
didst hide thy face and I was troubled."[3] He means to say, "when I
forsook the foulness of my faults for the beauty of virtue, God
strengthened my weakness with His grace." Lo, I hear. His promise: "I
will pursue mine enemies and overtake them: neither will I turn again
till they are consumed,"[4] so that I who was once thine enemy and a
fugitive from thee, shall be laid hold of by thine hand. Cease not from
pursuing me till my wickedness is consumed, and I return to my old
husband who will give me my wool and my flax, my oil and my fine flour
and will feed me with the richest foods.[5] He it was who hedged up and
enclosed my evil ways[6] that I might find Him the true way. who says
in the gospel, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."[7] Hear the
words of the prophet: "they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He
that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless
come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."[8] Say also
with him: "All the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with
my tears "[9]: and again, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks,
so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for
the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have
been my meat day and night,"[10] and in another place, "O God, thou art
my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh
longeth for thee in a dry and weary land where no water is. So have I
looked upon thee in the sanctuary."[11] For although my soul has
thirsted after thee, yet much more have I sought thee by the labour of
my flesh and have not been able to look upon thee in thy sanctuary; not
at any rate till I have first dwelt in a land barren of sin, where the
weary wayfarer is no more assailed by the adversary, and where there
are no pools or rivers of lust.
The Saviour also wept over the city of Jerusalem
because its inhabitants had not repented;[1] and Peter washed out his
triple denial with bitter tears,[2] thus fulfilling the words of the
prophet: "rivers of waters run down mine eyes."[3] Jeremiah too laments
over his impenitent people, saying: "Oh that my head were
waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and
night for ... my people!"[4] And farther on he gives a reason for his
lamentation: "weep ye not for the dead," he writes, "neither bemoan
him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no
more."[5] The Jew and the Gentile therefore are not to be bemoaned, for
they have never been in the Church and have died once for all (it is of
these that the Saviour says: "let the dead bury their dead"[6]); weep
rather for those who by reason of their crimes and sins go away from
the Church, and who suffering condemnation for their faults shall no
more return to it. It is in this sense that the prophet speaks to
ministers of the Church, calling them its walls and towers, and saying
to each in turn, "O wall, let tears run down."[7] In this way, it is
prophetically implied, you will fulfil the apostolic precept:" rejoice
with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep,"[8] and by your
tears you will melt the hard hearts of sinners till they too weep;
whereas, if they persist in evil doing they will find these words
applied to them, "I ... planted thee a noble vine wholly a right seed:
how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine
unto me?"[9] and again "saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a
stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto
me, and not their face."[10] He means, they would not turn towards God
in penitence; but in the hardness of their hearts turned their backs
upon Him to insult Him. Wherefore also the Lord says to Jeremiah: "hast
thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? She is gone up upon
every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played
the harlot. And I said after she" had played the harlot and "had done
all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not."[11]
2. How hard hearted we are and how merciful God is!
who even after our many sins urges us to seek salvation. Yet not even
so are we willing to turn to better things. Hear the words of the Lord:
"If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another
man's and shall afterwards desire to
227
return to him, will he at all receive her? Will he not loathe her
rather? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers: yet return
again to me, saith the Lord." In place of the last clause the true
Hebrew text (which is not preserved in the Greek and Latin versions)
gives the following: "thou hast forsaken me, yet return, and I will
receive thee, saith the Lord."[1] Isaiah also speaking in tim same
sense uses almost the same words: "Return," he cries, "O children of
Israel, ye who think deep counsel and wicked."[2] Return thou unto me
and I will redeem thee. I am God, and there is no God else beside me; a
just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be
ye saved, all the ends of the earth.[3] Remember this and shew
yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. Return in
heart and remember the former things of old: for I am God and there is
none else."[4] Joel also writes: "turn ye even to me with all your
heart, and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning: and rend
your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God; for
he is gracious and merciful ... and repenteth him of the evil."[5] How
great His mercy is and how excessive--if I may so say--and unspeakable
is His pitifulness, the prophet Hosea tells us when he speaks in the
Lord's name: "how shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver
thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as
Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled
together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger.'[6] David
also says in a psalm: "in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the
grave who shall give thee thanks? "[7] and in another place: "I
acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I
said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou
forgavest the iniquity of my sin. For this shall every one that is
godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the
floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him."[8]
3. Think how great that weeping must be which
deserves to be compared to a flood of waters. Whosoever so weeps and
says with the prophet Jeremiah "let not the apple of mine eye cease
"[9] shall straightway find the words fulfilled of him: "mercy and
truth are met together: righteousness and peace have kissed each
other;"[10] so that, if righteousness and truth terrify him, mercy and
peace may encourage him to seek salvation.
The whole repentance of a sinner is exhibited to us
in the fifty-first[1] psalm written by David after he had gone in unto
Bathsheba the wife of Uriah the Hittite,[2] and when, to the rebuke of
the prophet Nathan he had replied, "I have sinned." Immediately that he
confessed his fault he was comforted by the words: "the Lord also hath
put away thy sin."[3] He had added murder to adultery; yet bursting
into tears he says: "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving
kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out
my transgressions."[4] A sin so great needed to find great mercy.
Accordingly he goes on to say: "Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my
sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only have I sinned"--as a
king he had no one to fear but Gods--"and done this evil in thy sight;
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when
thou judgest."[5] For "God hath concluded all in unbelief, that he
might have mercy upon all."[6] And such was the progress that David
made that he who had once been a sinner and a penitent afterwards
became a master able to say: "I will teach transgressors thy ways; and
sinners shall be converted unto thee."[7] For as "confession and beauty
are before God,"[8] so a sinner who confesses his sins and says: "my
wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness "[9] loses his
foul wounds and is made whole and clean. But "he that covereth his sins
shall not prosper."[10]
The ungodly king Ahab, who shed the blood of Naboth
to gain his vineyard, was with Jezebel, the partner less of his bed
than of his cruelty, severely rebuked by Elijah. "Thus saith the Lord,
hast thou killed and also taken possession?" and again, "in the place
where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even
thine;" and "the dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel."[11]
"And it came to pass"--the passage goes on--" when Ahab heard those
words that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh,
and fasted, and lay in sackclothand the word of the Lord came to
Elijah saying, Because Ahab humbleth himself before me, I will not
bring the evil in his days."[12] Ahab's sin and Jezebel's were the
same; yet because Ahab repented, his punishment was postponed so as to
fall upon his sons, while Jezebel persisting in her wickedness
met her
doom then and there.
228
Moreover the Lord tells us in the gospel, "the men
of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall
condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas;"[1] and
again He says I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to
repentance."[2] The lost piece of silver is sought for until it is
found in the mire.[3] So also the ninety and nine sheep are left in the
wilderness, while the shepherd carries home on his shoulders the one
sheep which has gone astray.[4] Wherefore also "there is joy in the
presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth."[5] What a
blessed thought it is that heavenly beings rejoice in our salvation!
For it is of us that the words are said: "Repent ye: for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand."[6] Death and life are contrary the one to the
other; there is no middle term. Yet penitence can knit death to life.
The prodigal son, we are told, wasted all his substance, and in the far
country away from his father "would fain have filled his belly with the
husks that the swine did eat." Yet, when he comes back to his father,
the fatted calf is killed, a robe and a ring are given to him.[7] That
is to say, he receives again Christ's robe which he had before defiled,
and hears to his comfort the injunction: "let thy garments be always
white."[8] He receives the signet of God and cries to the Lord:
"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee;" and receiving
the kiss of reconciliation, he says to Him: "Now is the light of thy
countenance sealed upon us, O Lord."[9]
Hear the words of Ezekiel: "as for the wickedness of
the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from
his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his
righteousness in the day that he sinneth."[10] The Lord judges every
man according as he finds him. It is not the past that He looks upon
but the present. Bygone sins there may be, but renewal and conversion
remove them. "A just man," we read "falleth seven times and riseth up
again."[11] If he falls, how is he just? and if he is just, how does he
fall? The answer is that a sinner does not lose the name of just if he
always repents of his sins and rises again. If a sinner repents, his
sins are forgiven him not only till seven times but till seventy times
seven.[12] To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much.[13] The
harlot washed with her tears the Saviour's feet and wiped them with her
hair;
and to her, as a type of the Church gathered from the nations, was the
declaration made: "Thy sins are forgiven."[1] The self-righteous
Pharisee perished in his pride, white the humble publican was saved by
his confession.[2]
God makes asseveration by the mouth of the prophet
Jeremiah: "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and
concerning a kingdom, to pluck up to pull down and to destroy it: if
that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I
will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what
instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom to
build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my
voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit
them." And immediately he adds: "Behold, I frame evil against you, and
devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way,
and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, there is no
hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do
the imagination of his evil heart."[3] The righteous Simeon says in the
gospel: "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of
many,"[4] for the fall, that is, of sinners and for the rising again of
the penitent. So the apostle writes to the Corinthians: "it is reported
commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as
is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his
father's wife. And ye are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he
that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you." [5] And
in his second epistle to the same, "lest such a one should be swallowed
up with overmuch sorrow,"[6] he calls him back, and begs them to
confirm their love towards him, so that he who had been destroyed by
incest might be saved by penitence.
"There is no man clean from sin; even though he has
lived but for one day."[7] And the years of man's life are many in
number. "The stars are not pure in his sight,[8] and his angels he
charged with folly."[9] If there is sin in heaven, how much more must
there be sin on earth? If they are stained with guilt who have no
bodily temptations, how much more must we be, enveloped as we are in
frail flesh and forced to cry each one of us with the apostle: "O
wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?[10] For in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing."[11] For we do
not what we would but what we would not; the soul desires to do one
229
thing, the flesh is compelled to do another. If any persons are called
righteous in scripture, and not only righteous but righteous in the
sight of God, they are called righteous according to that righteousness
mentioned in the passage I have quoted: "A just man falleth seven times
and riseth up again,"(1) and on the principle laid down that the
wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him in the day that he turns to
repentance."(2) In fact Zachariah the father of John who is described
as a righteous man sinned in disbelieving the message sent to him and
was at once punished with dumbness.(3) Even Job, who at the outset of
his history is spoken of as perfect and upright and uncomplaining, is
afterwards proved to be a sinner both by God's words and by his own
confession. If Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the prophets also and the
apostles were by no means free from sin and if the finest wheat had
chaff mixed with it, what can be said of us of whom it is written:
"What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord?"(4) Yet the chaff is
reserved for future burning; as also are the tares which at present are
mingled with the growing corn. For one shall come whose fan is in His
hand, and shall purge His floor, and shall gather His wheat into the
garner, and shall burn the chaff in the fire of hell.(5)
4. Roaming thus through the fairest fields of
scripture I have culled its loveliest flowers to weave for your brows a
garland of penitence; for my aim is that, flying on the wings of a
dove, you may find rest(6) and make your peace with the Father of
mercy. Your former wife, who is now your sister and fellow-servant, has
told me that, acting on the apostolic precept,(7) you and she lived
apart by consent that you might give yourselves to prayer; but that
after a time your feet sank beneath you as if resting on water and
indeed--to speak plainly--gave way altogether. For her part she heard
the Lord saying to her as to Moses: "as for thee stand thou here by
me;"(8) and with the psalmist she said of Him: "He hath set my feet
upon a rock."(9) But your house--she went on--having no sure foundation
of faith fell before a whirlwind of the devil.(10) Hers however still
stands in the Lord, and does not refuse its shelter to you; you can
still be joined in spirit to her to whom you were once joined in body.
For, as the apostle says, "he that is joined unto the Lord is one
spirit" with him.(11) Moreover, when the fury of the barbarians and the
risk of captivity separated you again, you promised with a solemn oath
that, if she made her way to the holy
places, you would follow her either immediately or later, and that you
would try to save your soul now that by your carelessness you had
seemed to lose it. Perform, now, the vow which you then made in the
presence of God. Human life is uncertain. Therefore, lest you may be
snatched away before you have fulfilled your promise, imitate her whose
teacher you ought to have been. For shame! the weaker vessel overcomes
the world, and yet the stronger is overcome by it!
A woman leadeth in the high emprise;(1)
and yet you will not follow her when her salvation leads you to the
threshold of the faith! Perhaps, however, you desire to save the
remnants of your property and to see the last of your friends and
fellow-citizens and of their cities and villas. If so, amid the horrors
of captivity, in the presence of exulting foes. and in the shipwreck of
the province, at least hold fast to the plank of penitence;(2) and
remember your fellow-servant(3) who daily sighs for your salvation and
never despairs of it. While you are wandering about your own country
(though, indeed, you no longer have a country; that which you once had,
you have lost) she is interceding for you in the venerable spots which
witnessed the nativity, crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and
Saviour, and in the first of which He uttered His infant-cry. She draws
you to her by her prayers that you may be saved, if not by your own
exertions, at any rate by her faith. Of old one lay upon his bed sick
of the palsy, so powerless in all his joints that he could neither move
his feet to walk nor his hands to pray; yet when he was carried to our
Lord by others, he was by Him so completely restored to health as to
carry the bed which a little before had carried him.(4) You too--absent
in the body but present to her faith--your fellow-servant offers to her
Lord and Saviour; and with the Canaanite woman she says of you: "my
daughter is grievously vexed with a devil."(5) Souls are of no sex;
therefore I may fairly call your soul the daughter of hers. For as a
mother coaxes her unweaned child which is as yet unable to take solid
food; so does she call you to the milk suitable for babes and offer to
you the sustenance that a nursing mother gives. Thus shall you be able
to say with the prophet: "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek
thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments."(6)
230
LETTER CXXIII.
TO AGERUCHIA.
An appeal to the widow Ageruchia, a highborn lady of
Gaul, not to marry again. It should be compared with the letters to
Furia (LIV.) and to Salvina (LXXIX.) The allusion to Stilicho's treaty
with Alaric fixes the date to 409 A.D.
1. I must look for a new track on the old road and
devise a natural treatment, the same yet not the same, for a hackneyed
and well-worn theme.(1) It is true that there is but one road; yet one
can often reach one's goal by striking across country. I have several
times written letters to widows(2) in which for their instruction I
have sought out examples from scripture, weaving its varied flowers
into a single garland of chastity. On the present occasion I address
myself to Ageruchia; whose very name(3) (allotted to her by the divine
guidance) has proved a prophecy of her after-life. Around her stand her
grandmother, her mother, and her aunt; a noble band of tried Christian
women. Her grandmother, Metronia, now a widow for forty years, reminds
us of Anna the daughter of Phanuel in the gospel.(4) Her mother,
Benigna, now in the fourteenth year of her widowhood, is surrounded by
virgins whose chastity bears fruit a hundredfold.(5) The sister of
Celerinus, Ageruchia's father, has nursed her niece from infancy and
indeed took her into her lap the moment that she was born. Deprived of
the solace of her husband she has for twenty years trained her
brother's child, teaching her the lessons which she has learned from
her own mother.
2. I make these brief remarks to shew my young
friend that in resolving not to marry again she does but perform a duty
to her family; and that, while she will deserve no praise for
fulfilling it, she will be justly blamed if she fails to do so. The
more so that she has a posthumous son named after his father Simplicius
and thus cannot plead loneliness or the want of an heir. For the lust
of many shelters itself under such excuses as though the promptings of
incontinence were only a desire for offspring. But why do I speak as to
one who wavers when I hear that Ageruchia seeks the church's protection
against the many suitors whom she meets in the palace? For the devil
inflames men to vie with one another in proving the chastity of our
beloved widow; and rank and beauty, youth and riches cause her to be
sought after by all. But the greater the assaults that are made
upon her continence, the greater will be the rewards that will follow
her victory.
3. But no sooner do I clear the harbour than I find
my way to the sea barred by a rock.(1) I am confronted with the
authority of the apostle Paul who in writing to Timothy thus speaks
concerning widows: "I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear
children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak
reproachfully. For some are already turned aside after Satan." I must
accordingly begin by considering the meaning of this pronouncement and
examining the context of the whole passage. I must then plant my feet
in the steps of the apostle and, as the saying goes, not deviate a
hair's breadth from them either to this side or to that. He had
previously described his idea widow as one who had been the wife of one
man, who had brought up children, who was well reported of for good
works, who had relieved the afflicted with her substance,(3) whose
trust had been in God, and who had continued in prayer day and
night.(4) With her he contrasted her opposite, saying: "She that liveth
in pleasure is dead while she liveth." And that he might warn his
disciple Timothy with all needful admonition, he immediately added
these words: "the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to
wax wanton against Christ they will marry; having damnation because
they have cast off their first faith."(5) It is then for these who have
outraged Christ their Spouse by committing fornication against Him (for
this is the sense of the Greek word
<greek>katasrhniaswsi</greek>)--it is for these that the
apostle wishes a second marriage, thinking digamy preferable to
fornication; but this second marriage is a concession and not a command.
4. We must also take the passage clause by clause.
"I will," he says, "that the younger women marry." Why, pray? because I
would not have young women commit fornication. "That they bear
children;"(6) for what reason? That they may not be induced by fear of
the consequences to kill children whom they have conceived in adultery.
"That they be the heads of households."(7) Wherefore, pray? Because it
is much more tolerable that a woman should marry again than that she
should be a prostitute, and better that she should have a second
husband than several paramours. The first alternative brings relief in
a miserable plight, but the second involves a sin and its punishment.
He continues: "that they give none occasion to the adversary to speak
reproachfully," a brief and comprehen-
231
sive precept in which many admonitions are summed up. As for
instance these: that a woman must not bring discredit upon her
profession of widowhood by too great attention to her dress, that she
must not draw troops of young men after her by gay smiles or expressive
glances, that she must not profess one thing by her words and
another by her behaviour, that she must give no ground for the
application to herself of the well known line:
She gave a meaning look and slyly
smiled.(1)
Lastly, that Paul may compress into a few words all the reasons for
such marriages, he shews the motive of his command by saying: "for some
are already turned aside after Satan." Thus he allows to the
incontinent a second marriage, or in case of need a third, simply that
he may rescue them from Satan, preferring that a woman should be joined
to the worst of husbands rather than to the devil. To the
Corinthians he uses somewhat similar language: "I say therefore to the
unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as
I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to
marry than to burn."(2) Why, O apostle, is it better to marry? He
answers immediately: because it is worse to burn.(3)
5. Apart from these considerations, that which is
absolutely good and not merely relatively so is to be as the apostle,
that is loose, not bound; free, not enslaved; caring for the things of
God, not for the things of a wife. Immediately afterwards he adds: "The
wife is bound by the law to her husband as long as her husband liveth,
but if her husband be fallen asleep,(4) she is at liberty to be married
to whom she will; only in the Lord. But she is happier if she so abide,
after my judgment: and I think also that I have the spirit of God."(5)
This passage corresponds with the former in meaning, because the spirit
of the two is the same. For though the epistles are different, they are
the work of one author. While her husband lives the woman is bound, and
when be is dead, she is loosed. Marriage then is a bond, and widowhood
is the loosing of it. The wife is bound to the husband and the husband
to the wife; and so close is the tie that they have no power over their
own bodies, but each stands indebted to the other. They who are under
the yoke of wedlock have not the option of choosing continence. When
the apostle adds the words "only in the Lord," he excludes heathen
marriages of which he had spoken in another place thus: "be ye not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for
what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what
communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with
Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what
agreement hath the temple of God with idols?"(1) We must not plough
with an ox and an ass together;(2) nor weave our wedding garment of
different colours. He at once takes back the concession he made, and,
as if repenting of his opinion, withdraws it by saying: "She is happier
if she so abide," that is, unmarried; and declares that in his judgment
this course is preferable. And that this may not be made light of as a
merely human utterance, he claims for it the authority of the Holy
Spirit, so that we are listening not to a fellowman making concessions
to the weakness of the flesh but to the Holy Spirit using the apostle
for his mouthpiece.
6. Again, no widow of youthful age must quiet her
qualms of conscience by the plea that he gives commandment that no
widow is to be taken into the number under three-score years old.(3) He
does not by this arrangement urge unmarried girls or youthful widows to
marry, seeing that even of the married he says: "the time is short: it
remaineth that they that have wives be as though they had none."(4) No,
he is speaking of widows who have relations able to support them, who
have sons and grandsons to be responsible for their maintenance. The
apostle commands these latter to shew piety at home, and to requite
their parents and to relieve them adequately; that the church may not
be charged, but may be free to relieve those that are widows indeed.
"Honour widows," he writes, "that are widows indeed," that is, such as
are desolate and have no relations to help them, who cannot labour with
their hands, who are weakened by poverty and overcome by years, whose
trust is in God and their only work prayer.(5) From which it is easy to
infer that the younger widows, unless they are excused by ill health,
are either left to their own exertions or else are consigned to the
care of their children or relations. The word 'honour' in this passage
implies either alms or a gift, as also in the verse immediately
following: "Let the elders ... be counted worthy of double honour,
especially they who labour in the word and doctrine."(6) So also in the
gospel when the Lord discusses that commandment of the Law which says:
"Hon-our thy father and thy mother,"(7) He declares that it is to be
interpreted not of mere words which while offering an empty shew of
regard may still leave a parent's wants unrelieved, but of the actual
provision of the necessaries
232
of life. The Lord commanded that poor parents should be supported by
their children and that these should pay them back when old those
benefits which they had themselves received in their childhood. The
scribes and pharisees on the other hand taught the children to answer
their parents by saying: "It is Corban, that is to say, a gift(1) which
I have promised to the altar and engaged to present to the temple: it
will relieve you as much there, as if I were to give it you directly to
buy food."(2) So it frequently happened that while father and mother
were destitute their children were offering sacrifices for the priests
and scribes to consume. If then the apostle compels poor widows--yet
only those who are young and not broken down by sickness--to labour
with their hands that the church, not charged with their maintenance,
may be able to support such widows as are old, what plea can be urged
by one who has abundance of this world's goods, both for her own wants
and those of others, and who can make to herself friends of the mammon
of unrighteousness able to receive her into everlasting habitations?(3)
Consider too that no one is to be elected a widow,
except she has been the wife of one husband. We sometimes fancy it to
be the distinctive mark of the priesthood that none but monogamists
shall be admitted to the altar. But not only are the twice-married
excluded from the priestly office, they are debarred from receiving the
alms of the church. A woman who has resorted to a second marriage is
held unworthy to be supported by the faithful. And even the layman is
bound by the law of the priest, for his conduct must be such as to
admit of his election to the priesthood. If he has been twice married,
he cannot be so elected. Therefore, as priests are chosen from the
ranks of laymen, the layman also is bound by the commandment,
fulfilment of which is indispensable for the attainment of the
priesthood.(4)
7. We must distinguish between what the apostle
himself desires and what he is compelled to acquiesce in. If he allows
me to marry again, this is due to my own incontinence and not to his
wish. For he wishes all men to be as he is, and to think the things of
God, and when once they are loosed no more to seek to be bound. But
when he sees unstable men in danger through their incontinence of
falling into the abyss of lust, he extends to them the offer of a
second marriage; that, if they must wallow in the mire, it may be with
one and not with many. The husband of a second wife must not consider
this a harsh saying or one that conflicts with the rule laid down by
the apostle. The apostle is of two minds: first, he proclaims a
command," I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for
them if they abide even as I." Next. he makes a concession, "But if
they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to
burn."(1) He first shews what he himself desires, then that in which he
is forced to acquiesce. He wishes us--after one marriage--to abide even
as he, that is, unmarried, and sets before us in his own apostolic
example an instance of the blessedness of which he speaks. If however
he finds that we are unwilling to do as he wishes, he makes a
concession to our incontinence. Which then of the two alternatives do
we choose for ourselves? The one which he prefers and which is in
itself good? Or the one which in comparison with evil is tolerable, yet
as it is only a substitute for evil is not altogether good? Suppose
that we choose that course which the apostle does not wish but to which
he only consents against his will, allowing those who seek lower ends
to have their own way; in this case we carry out not the apostle's wish
but our own. We read in the old testament that the daughters of the
priests who have been married once and have become widows are to eat of
the priests' food and that when they die they are to be buried with the
same ceremonies as their father and mother.(2) If on the other hand
they take other husbands they are to be kept apart both from their
father and from the sacrifices and are to be counted as strangers.(3)
8. These restraints on marriage are observed even
among the heathen; and it is our condemnation if the true faith cannot
do for Christ what false ones do for the devil, who has substituted for
the saving chastity of the gospel a damning chastity of his own.(4) The
Athenian hierophant disowns his manhood and weakens his passions by a
perpetual restraint.(5) The holy office of the flamen is limited to
those who have been once married, and the attendants of the flamens'
wives must also have had but one husband.(6) Only monogamists are
allowed to share in the sacred rites connected with the Egyptian
bull.(7) I need say nothing of the vestal virgins and those of Apollo,
the Achivan Juno, Diana, and Minerva, all of whom waste away in the
perpetual virginity required by their vocation. I will just glance at
the queen of Carthage(8) who was willing to burn herself
233
rather than marry king Iarbas; at the wife of Hasdrubal(1) who taking
her two children one in each hand cast, herself into the flames beneath
her rather than surrender her honour; and at Lucretia(2) who having
lost the prize of her chastity refused to survive the defilement of her
soul. I will not lengthen my letter by quoting the many instances of
the like virtue which you can read to your profit in my first book
against Jovinian.(3) I will merely relate one which took place in your
own country and which will shew you that chastity is held in high
honour even among wild and barbarous and cruel peoples. Once the
Teutons who came from the remote shores of the German Ocean overran all
parts of Gaul, and it was only when they had cut to pieces several
Roman armies that Marius at last defeated them in an encounter at Aquae
Sextiae.(4) By the conditions of the surrender three hundred of their
married women were to be handed over to the Romans. When the Teuton
matrons heard of this stipulation they first begged the consul that
they might be set apart to minister in the temples of Ceres and
Venus;(5) and then when they failed to obtain their request and were
removed by the lictors, they slew their little children and next
morning were all found dead in each other's arms having strangled
themselves in the night.(6)
9. Shall then a highborn lady do what these
barbarian women refused to do even as prisoners of war? After losing a
first husband, good or bad as the case may be, shall she make trial of
a second, and thus run counter to the judgment of God? And in case that
she immediately loses this second, shall she take a third? And if he
too is called to his rest, shall she go on to a fourth and a fifth, and
by so doing identify herself with the harlots? No, a widow must take
every precaution not to overstep by an inch the bounds of chastity. For
if she once oversteps them and breaks through the modesty which becomes
a matron, she will soon riot in every kind of excess; so much so that
the prophet's words shall be true of her "Thou hast a whore's forehead,
thou refusest to be ashamed."(7)
What then? do I condemn second marriages? not at
all; but I commend first ones. Do I expel twice-married persons from
the church? Far from it; but I urge those who have been once married to
lives of continence. The Ark of Noah contained unclean animals as well
as clean. It contained both creeping things and human beings, In a
great house there are vessels of different kinds, some to honour and
some to dishonour.(1) In the gospel parable the seed sown in the good
ground brings forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some
thirtyfold.(2) The hundredfold which comes first betokens the crown of
virginity; the sixtyfold which comes next refers to the work of widows;
while the thirtyfold--indicated by joining together the points of the
thumb and forefinger(3)--denotes the marriage-tie. What room is left
for double marriages? None. They are not counted. Such weeds do not
grow in good ground but among briers and thorns, the favourite haunts
of those foxes to whom the Lord compares the impious Herod.(4) A woman
who marries more than once fancies herself worthy of praise because she
is not so bad as the prostitutes, because she compares favourably with
these victims of indiscriminate lust by surrendering herself to one
alone and not to a number.
10. The story which I am about to relate is an
incredible one; yet it is vouched for by many witnesses. A great many
years ago when I was helping Damasus bishop of Rome with his
ecclesiastical correspondence, and writing his answers to the questions
referred to him by the councils of the east and west, I saw a married
couple, both of whom were sprung from the very dregs of the people. The
man had already buried twenty wives, and the woman had had twenty-two
husbands. Now they were united to each other as each believed for the
last time. The greatest curiosity prevailed both among men and women to
see which of these two veterans would live to bury the other. The
husband triumphed and walked before the bier of his often-married wife,
amid a great concourse of people from all quarters, with garland and
palm-branch, scattering spelt as he went along among an approving
crowd. What shall we say to such a woman as that? Surely just what the
Lord said to the woman of Samaria: "Thou hast had twenty-two husbands,
and he by whom you are now buried is not your husband."(5)
11. I beseech you therefore, my devout
daughter in Christ, not to dwell on those passages which offer succour
to the incontinent and the unhappy but rather to read those in which
chastity is crowned. It is enough for you that you have lost the first
and highest kind, that of virginity, and that you have passed through
the third to the second; that is to say, having formerly fulfilled the
obligations of a wife, that you now live in continence as a widow.
Think not of the
234
lowest grade, nay of that which does not count at all, I mean,
second marriage; and do not seek for far fetched precedents to justify
you in marrying again. You cannot too closely imitate your grandmother,
your mother, and your aunt; whose teaching and advice as to life will
form for you a rule of virtue. For if many wives in the lifetime of
their husbands come to realize the truth of the apostle's words: "all
things are lawful unto me but all things are not expedient,"(1)
and make eunuchs of themselves for the kingdom of heaven's sake(2)
either by consent after their regeneration through the baptismal
laver, or else in the ardour of their faith immediately after their
marriage; why should not a widow, who by God's decree has ceased to
have a husband, joyfully cry again and again with Job: "the
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away,"(3) and seize the opportunity
offered to her of having power over her own body instead of again
becoming the servant of a man. Assuredly it is much harder to abstain
from enjoying what you have than it is to regret what you have
lost. Virginity is the easier because virgins know nothing of the
promptings of the flesh, and widowhood is the harder because widows
cannot help thinking of the license they have enjoyed in the past. And
it is harder still if they suppose their husbands to be lost and
not gone before; for while the former alternative brings pain, the
latter causes joy.
12. The creation of the first man should teach us to
reject more marriages than one. There was but one Adam and but one Eve;
in fact the woman was fashioned from a rib of Adam.(4) Thus divided
they were subsequently joined together in marriage; in the words of
scripture "the twain shall be one flesh," not two or three. "Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his
wife."(5) Certainly it is not said "to his wives." Paul in explaining
the passage refers it to Christ and the church;(6) making the first
Adam a monogamist in the flesh and the second a monogamist in the
spirit As there is one Eve who is "the mother of all living,"(7) so is
there one church which is the parent of all Christians. And as the
accursed Lamech made of the first Eve two separate wives,(8) so also
the heretics sever the second into several churches which, according to
the apocalypse of John, ought rather to be called synagogues of the
devil than congregations of Christ.(9) In the Book of Songs we read as
follows:--"there are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and
virgins without
number. My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her
mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her."(1) It is to this
choice one that the same John addresses an epistle in these words, "the
elder unto the elect lady and her children."(2) So too in the case of
the ark which the apostle Peter interprets as a type of the church,(3)
Noah brings in for his three sons one wife apiece and not two.(4)
Likewise of the unclean animals pairs only are taken, male and female,
to shew that digamy has no place even among brutes, creeping things,
crocodiles and lizards. And if of the clean animals there are seven
taken of each kind,(5) that is, an uneven number; this points to the
palm which awaits virginal chastity. For on leaving the ark Noah
sacrificed victims to God(5) not of course of the animals taken by twos
for these were kept to multiply their species, but of those taken by
sevens some of which had been set apart for sacrifice.
13. It is true that the patriarchs had each of them
more wives than one and that they had numerous concubines besides. And
as if their example was not enough, David had many wives and Solomon a
countless number. Judah went in to Tamar thinking her to be a
harlot;(7) and according to the letter that killeth the prophet Hosea
married not only a whore but an adulteress.(8) If these instances are
to justify us let us neigh after every woman that we meet;(9) like the
people of Sodom and Gomorrah let us be found by the last day buying and
selling, marrying and giving in marriage;(10) and let us only end our
marrying with the close of our lives. And if both before and after the
deluge the maxim held good: "be fruitful and multiply and replenish the
earth:"(11) what has that to do with us upon whom the ends of the ages
are come,(12) unto whom it is said, "the time is short,"(13) and "now
the axe is laid unto the root of the trees;"(14) that is to say, the
forests of marriage and of the law must be cut down by the chastity of
the gospel. There is "a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from
embracin."(15) Owing to the near approach of the captivity Jeremiah is
forbidden to take a wife.(16) In Babylon Ezekiel says: "my wife is dead
and my mouth is opened."(17) Neither he who wished to marry nor he who
had married could in wedlock prophesy freely. In days gone by men
rejoiced to hear it said of them: "thy children shall be like olive
plants
235
round about thy table," and "thou shalt see thy children's
children."(1) But now it is said of those who live in continence: "he
that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit;"(2) and my soul
followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me."(3) Then it was
said "an eye for an eye;" now the commandment is "whosoever shall smite
thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."(4) In those days
men said to the warrior: "gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most
mighty;"(5) now it is said to Peter: "put up again thy sword into his
place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with
the sword."(6)
In speaking thus I do not mean to sever the law from
the gospel, as Marcion(7) falsely does. No, I receive one and the same
God in both who, as the time and the object vary, is both the Beginning
and the End, who sows that He may reap, who plants that He may have
somewhat to cut down, and who lays the foundation that in the fulness
of time He may crown the edifice. Besides, if we are to deal with
symbols and types of things to come, we must judge of them not by our
own opinions but in the light of the apostle's explanations. Hagar and
Sarah, or Sinai and Zion, are typical of the two testaments.(8) Leah
who was tender-eyed and Rachel whom Jacob loved(9) signify the
synagogue and the church. So likewise do Hannah and Peninnah of whom
the former, at first barren, afterwards exceeded the latter in
fruitfulness. In Isaac and Rebekah we see an early example of monogamy:
it was only to Rebekah that the Lord revealed Himself in the hour of
childbirth and she alone went of herself to enquire of the Lord.(10)
What shall I say of Tamar who bore twin sons, Pharez and Zarah?(11) At
their birth was broken down that middle wall of partition which
typified the division existing between the two peoples;(12) while the
binding of Zarah's hand with the scarlet thread even then marked the
conscience of the Jews with the stain of Christ's blood. And how shall
I speak of the whore married by the prophet(13) who is a figure either
of the church as gathered in from the Gentiles or--an interpretation
which better suits the passage--of the synagogue? First adopted from
among the idolaters by Abraham and Moses, this has now denied the
Saviour and proved unfaithful to Him. Therefore it has long been
deprived of its altar, priests, and prophets and has to abide many days
for its first husband.(14) For
when the fulness of the Gentiles shall have come in, all Israel shall
be saved.(1)
14. I have tried to compress a great deal into a
limited space as a draughtsman does when he delineates a large country
in a small map. For I wish to deal with other questions, the first of
which I shall give in Anna's words to her sister Dido:
Why waste your youth alone in ceaseless grief
Unblest with offspring, sweetest gift of love?
Think you the buried dead require this?
To whom the sufferer thus briefly replies:
'Twas you, my sister, you, who were the first
To plunge my frenzied soul into this woe.
Why could I not have lived a virgin life
Like some wild creature innocent of care?
Alas ! I pledged my soul unto the dead:
I vowed a vow and I have broken it.(2)
You set before me the joys of wedlock. I for my part will
remind you of Dido's sword and pyre and funeral flames. In marriage
there is not so much good to be hoped for as there is evil which may
happen and must be feared. Passion when indulged always brings
repentance with it; it is never satisfied, and once quenched it is soon
kindled anew. Its growth or decay is a matter of habit; led like a
captive by impulse it refuses to obey reason. But you will argue, 'the
management of wealth and property requires the superintendence of a
husband.' Do you mean to say that the affairs of those who live single
are ruined; and that, unless you make yourself as much a slave as your
own servants, you will not be able to govern your household? Do not
your grandmother, your mother and your aunt enjoy even more than their
old influence and respect, looked up to as they are by the whole
province and by the leaders of the churches? Do not soldiers and
travellers manage their domestic affairs and give entertainments to one
another with no wives to help them?(3) Why can you not have grave and
elderly servants or freed-men, such as those who have nursed you
in your childhood, to preside over your house, to answer public
calls, to pay taxes; men who will look up to you as a patroness, who
will love you as a nursling, who will revere you as a saint? "Seek
first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto
you."(4) If you are careful for raiment the gospel bids you "consider
the lilies;" and, if for food, to go back to the fowls which "sow not
neither do they reap; yet your heavenly father feedeth them."(5) How
many virgins and widows there are who have looked after their property
for
236
themselves without thereby incurring any stain of scandal!
15. Do not associate with young women or cleave to
them, for it is on account of such that the apostle makes his
concession of second marriage, and so you may be shipwrecked in what
appears to be calm water. If Paul can say to Timothy, "the younger
widows refuse,"(1) and again "love the eider women as mothers; the
younger as sisters, with all purity,"(2) what plea can you urge for
refusing to hear my admonitions? Avoid all persons to whom a suspicion
of evil living may attach itself, and do not content yourself with the
trite answer. 'my own conscience is enough for me; I do not care what
people say of me.' That was not the principle on which the apostle
acted. He provided things honest not only in the sight of God but in
the sight of all men;(3) that the name of God might not be blasphemed
among the Gentiles.(4) Though he had power to lead about a sister, a
wife,(5) he would not do so, for he did not wish to be judged by an
unbeliever's conscience.(6) And, though he might have lived by the
gospel,(7) he laboured day and night with his own hands, that he might
not be burdensome to the believers.(8) "If meat," he says, "make my
brother to offend. I will eat no flesh while the world standeth."(9)
Let us then say, if a sister or a brother causes not one or two but the
whole church to offend, 'I will not see that sister or that brother.'
It is better to lose a portion of one's substance than to imperil the
salvation of one's soul. It is better to lose that which some day,
whether we like it or not, must be lost to us and to give it up freely,
than to lose that for which we should sacrifice all that we have. Which
of us can add--I will not say a cubit for that would be an immense
addition--but the tenth part of a single inch to his stature? Why are
we careful what we shall eat or what we shall drink? Let us "take no
thought for the morrow: sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof."(10)
Jacob in his flight from his brother left behind in
his father's house great riches and made his way with nothing into
Mesopotamia. Moreover, to prove to us his powers of endurance, he took
a stone for his pillow. Yet as he lay there he beheld ladder set up on
the earth reaching to heaven and behold the Lord stood above it, and
the angels ascended and descended on it;(11) the lesson being thus
taught that the sinner must not despair of salvation nor the righteous
man rest secure in his virtue.(12)
To pass over much of the story (for there is no time to explain all the
points in the narrative) after twenty years he who before had passed
over Jordan with his staff returned into his native land with three
droves of cattle, rich in flocks and herds and richer still in
children.(1) The apostles likewise travelled throughout the world
without either money in their purses, or staves in their hands, or
shoes on their feet;(2) and yet they could speak of themselves as
"having nothing and yet possessing all things."(3) "Silver and gold,"
say they, "have we none, but such as we have give we thee: in the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk."(4) For they were not
weighed down with the burthen of riches. Therefore they could stand, as
Elijah, in the crevice of the rock, they could pass through the
needle's eye, and behold the back parts of the Lord.(5)
But as for us we burn with covetousness and, even
while we declaim against the love of money, we hold out our skirts to
catch gold and never have enough.(5) There is a common saying about the
Megarians which may rightly be applied to all who suffer from this
passion: "They build as if they are to live forever; they live as if
they are to die to-morrow." We do the same, for we do not believe the
Lord's words. When we attain the age which all desire we forget the
nearness of that death which as human beings we owe to nature and with
futile hope promise to ourselves a long length of years. No old man is
so weak and decrepit as to suppose that he will not live for one year
more. A forgetfulness of his true condition gradually creeps upon him;
so that--earthly creature that he is and close to dissolution as he
stands--he is lifted up into pride, and in imagination seats himself in
heaven.
16. But what am I doing? Whilst I talk about the
cargo, the vessel itself founders. He that letteth(7) is taken out of
the way, and yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near. Yes,
Antichrist is near whom the Lord Jesus Christ "shall consume with the
spirit of his mouth."(8) "Woe unto them," he cries, "that are with
child, and to them that give suck in those days."(9) Now these things
are both the fruits of marriage.
I shall now say a few words of our present miseries.
A few of us have hitherto survived them, but this is due not to
anything we have done ourselves but to the mercy of the Lord. Savage
tribes in countless numbers have over-
237
run all parts of Gaul. The whole country between the Alps and the
Pyrenees, between the Rhine and the Ocean, has been laid waste by
hordes of Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans, Gepids, Herules, Saxons,
Burgundians, Allemanni and--alas! for the commonweal!--even Pannonians.
For "Assur also is joined with them."(1) The once noble city of
Moguntiacum(2) has been captured and destroyed. In its church many
thousands have been massacred. The people of Vangium(3) after standing
a long siege have been extirpated. The powerful city of Rheims, the
Ambiani, the Altrebatae,(4) the Belgians on the skirts of the world,
Tournay, Spires, and Strasburg have fallen to Germany: while the
provinces of Aquitaine and of the Nine Nations, of Lyons and of
Narbonne are with the exception of a few cities one universal scene of
desolation. And those which the sword spares without, famine ravages
within. I cannot speak without tears of Toulouse which has been kept
from failing hitherto by the merits of its reverend bishop
Exuperius.(5) Even the Spains are on the brink of ruin and tremble
daily as they recall the invasion of the Cymry; and, while others
suffer misfortunes once in actual fact, they suffer them continually in
anticipation.
17. I say nothing of other places that I may not
seem to despair of God's mercy. All that is ours now from the Pontic
Sea to the Julian Alps in days gone by once ceased to be ours. For
thirty years the barbarians burst the barrier of the Danube and fought
in the heart of the Roman Empire. Long use dried our tears. For all but
a few old people had been born either in captivity or during a
blockade, and consequently they did not miss a liberty which they had
never known. Yet who will hereafter credit the fact or what histories
will seriously discuss it, that Rome has to fight within her own
borders not for glory but for bare life; and that she does not even
fight but buys the right to exist by giving gold and sacrificing all
her substance? This humiliation has been brought upon her not by the
fault of her Emperors(6) who are both most religious men, but by the
crime of a half-barbarian traitor(7) who with our money has armed our
foes against us.(8) Of old the Roman Empire was branded with eternal
shame because after ravaging the country and routing the Romans at the
Allia, Brennus with his Gauls entered, Rome itself.(9) Nor could this
ancient stain be
wiped out until Gaul, the birth-place of the Gauls, and Gaulish
Greece,(1) wherein they had settled after triumphing over East and
West, were subjugated to her sway. Even Hannibal(2) who swept like a
devastating storm from Spain into Italy, although he came within sight
of the city, did not dare to lay siege to it. Even Pyrrhus(3) was so
completely bound by the spell of the Roman name that destroying
everything that came in his way, he yet withdrew from its vicinity and,
victor though he was, did not presume to gaze upon what he had learned
to be a city of kings. Yet in return for such insults--not to say such
haughty pride--as theirs which ended thus happily for Rome, one(4)
banished from all the world found death at last by poison in Bithynia;
while the other(5) returning to his native land was slain in his own
dominions. The countries of both became tributary to the Roman people.
But now, even if complete success attends our arms, we can wrest
nothing from our vanquished foes but what we have already lost to them.
The poet Lucan describing the power of the city in a glowing passage
says:(6)
If Rome be weak, where shall we look for strength?
we may vary his words and say:
If Rome be lost, where shall we look for help? or
quote the language of Virgil:
Had I a hundred tongues and throat of bronze
The woes of captives I could not relate
Or ev'n recount the names of all the slain.(7)
Even what I have said is fraught with danger both to me who say it and
to all who hear it; for we are no longer free even to lament our fate.
and are unwilling, nay, I may even say, afraid to weep for our
sufferings.
Dearest daughter in Christ, answer me this question:
will you marry amid such scenes as these? Tell me, what kind of husband
will you take? One that will run or one that will fight? In either case
you know what the result will be. Instead of the Fescennine song,(8)
the hoarse blare of the terrible trumpet will deafen your ears and your
very brides-women may be turned into mourners. In what pleasures can
you hope to revel now that you have lost the proceeds of all your
possessions, now that you see your small retinue under close blockade
and a prey to the inroads of pestilence and famine? But far be it from
me to think so meanly of you or to harbour any suspicions of one who
has dedicated her soul to the Lord. Though nomin-
238
ally addressed to you my words are really meant for others such as are
idle, inquisitive and given to gossip. These wander from house to house
and from one married lady to another,(1) their god is their belly and
their glory is in their shame,(2) of the scriptures they know nothing
except the texts which favour second marriages, but they love to quote
the example of others to justify their own self-indulgence, and flatter
themselves that they are no worse than their fellow-sinners. When you
have confounded the shameless proposals of such women by explaining the
true drift of the apostle's meaning; then to show you by what mode of
life you can best preserve your widowhood, you may read with advantage
what I have written. I mean my treatise on the preservation of
virginity addressed to Eustochium(3) and my two letters to Furia(4) and
Salvina.(5) Of these two latter you may like to know that the first is
daughter-in-law to Probus some time consul, and the second daughter to
Gildo formerly governour of Africa. This tract on monogamy I shall call
by your name.
LETTER CXXIV.
TO AVITUS.
Avitus to whom this letter is addressed is probably
the same person who induced Jerome to write to Salvina (see Letter
LXXIX.,(?) 1, ante). The occasion of writing is as follows. Ten years
previously (that is to say in A.D. 399 or 400) Pammachius had asked
Jerome to supply him with a correct version of Origen's First
Principles to enable him to detect the variations introduced by Rufinus
into his rendering. This Jerome willingly did (see Letters LXXXIII. and
LXXXIV.) but when the work in its integrity was perused by Pammachius
he thought it so erroneous in doctrine that he determined not to
circulate it. However, "a certain brother" induced him to lend the MS.
to him for a short time; and then, when he had got it into his hands,
had a hasty and incorrect transcript made, which he forthwith published
much to the chagrin of Pammachius. Falling into the hands of Avitus a
copy of this much perplexed him and he seems to have appealed to Jerome
for an explanation. This the latter now gives forwarding at the same
time an authentic edition of his version of the First Principles. The
date of the letter is A.D. 409 or 410.
1. About ten years ago that saintly man Pammachius
sent me a copy of a certain person's rendering,(6) or rather
misrendering, of Origen's First Principles; with a request that in a
Latin version I should give the true sense of the Greek and should set
down the writer's words for good or for evil without bias in either
direction.(7) When I did as he wished and sent him the book,(8) he was
shocked to read it and
locked it up in his desk lest being circulated it might wound the souls
of many. However, a certain brother, who had "a zeal for God but not
according to knowledge,"(1) asked for a loan of the manuscript that he
might read it; and, as he promised to return it without delay,
Pammachius, thinking no harm could happen in so short a time,
unsuspectingly consented. Hereupon he who had borrowed the book to
read, with the aid of scribes copied the whole of it and gave it back
much sooner than he had promised. Then with the same rashness or--to
use a less severe term--thoughtlessness he made bad worse by confiding
to others what he had thus stolen. Moreover, since a bulky treatise on
an abstruse subject is difficult to reproduce with accuracy, especially
if it has to be taken down surreptitiously and in a hurry, order and
sense were sacrificed in several passages. Whence it comes, my dear
Avitus, that you ask me to send you a copy of my version as made for
Pammachius and not for the public, a garbled edition of which has. been
published by the aforesaid brother.
2. Take then what you have asked for; but know that
there are countless things in the book to be abhorred, and that, as the
Lord says, you will have to walk among scorpions and serpents.(2) It
begins by saying that Christ was made God's son not born;(3) that God
the Father, as He is by nature invisible, is invisible even to the
Son;(4) that the Son, who is the likeness of the invisible Father,
compared with the Father is not the truth but compared with us who
cannot receive the truth of the almighty Father seems a figure of the
truth so that we perceive the majesty and magnitude of tire greater in
the less, the Father's glory limited in the Son;(5) that God the Father
is a light incomprehensible and that Christ compared with him is but a
minute brightness, although by reason of our incapacity to us he
appears a great one.(6) The Father and the Son are compared to two
statues, a larger one and a small; the first filling the world and
being somehow invisible through its size, the second cognisable by the
eyes of men.(7) God the Father omnipotent the writer terms good and of
perfect goodness; but of the Son he says: "He is not good but an
emanation and likeness of goodness; not good absolutely but only with a
qualification, as 'the good shepherd' and the like."(8) The Holy Spirit
he places after the Father and the Son as third in dignity and honour.
And while he de-
239
clares that he does not know whether the Holy Spirit is created or
uncreated,(1) he has later on given his own opinion that except God the
Father alone there is nothing uncreated. "The Son," he states, "is
inferior to the Father, inasmuch as He is second and the Father first;
and the Holy Spirit which dwells in all the saints is inferior to the
Son. In the same way the power of the Father is greater than that of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Likewise the power of the Son is
greater than that of the Holy Spirit, and as a consequence the Holy
Spirit in its turn has greater virtue than other things called holy."(2)
3. Then, when he comes to deal with rational
creatures and to describe their lapse into earthly bodies as due to
their own negligence, he goes on to say: "Surely it argues great
negligence and sloth for a soul so far to empty itself as to fall into
sin and allow itself to be tied to the material body of an unreasoning
brute;" and in a subsequent passage: "These reasonings induce me to
suppose that it is by their own free act that some are numbered with
God's saints and servants, and that it was through their own fault that
others fell from holiness into such negligence that they were changed
into forces of an opposite kind."(3) He maintains that after every end
a fresh beginning springs forth and an end from each beginning, and
that wholesale variation is possible; so that one who is now a human
being may in another world become a demon, while one who by reason of
his negligence is now a demon may hereafter be placed in a more
material body and thus become a human being.(4) So far does he carry
this transforming process that on his theory an archangel may become
the devil and the devil in turn be changed back into an archangel.
"Such as have wavered or faltered but have not altogether fallen shall
be made subject, for rule and government and guidance, to better
things--to principalities and powers, to thrones and dominations; and
of these perhaps another human race will be formed, when in the words
of Isaiah there shall be 'new heavens and a new earth.'(5) But
such as have not deserved to return through humanity to their former
estate shall become the devil and his angels, demons of the worst sort;
and according to what they have done shall have special
duties assigned to them in particular worlds." Moreover, the very
demons and rulers of darkness in any world or worlds, if they are
willing to turn to better things, may become human beings and so come
back to their first beginning. That is to say, after
they have borne the discipline of punishment and torture for a longer
or a shorter time in human bodies, they may again reach the angelic
pinnacles from which they have fallen. Hence it may be shewn that we
men may change into any other reasonable beings, and that not once only
or on emergency but time after time; we and angels shall become demons
if we neglect our duty; and demons, if they will take to themselves
virtues, may attain to the rank of angels.
4. Bodily substances too are to pass away utterly or
else at the end of all things will become highly rarified like the sky
and rather and other subtle bodies. It is clear that these principles
must affect the writer's view of the resurrection. The sun also and the
moon and the rest of the constellations are alive. Nay more; as we men
by reason of our sins are enveloped in bodies material and sluggish; so
the lights of heaven have for like reasons received bodies more or less
luminous, and demons have been for more serious faults clothed with
starry frames. This, he argues, is the view of the apostle who
writes:--"the creation has been subjected to vanity and shall be
delivered for the revealing of the sons of God."(1) That it may not be
supposed that I am imputing to him ideas of my own I shall give his
actual words. "At the end and consummation of the world," he writes,
"when souls and beings endowed with reason shall be released from
prison by the Lord, they will move slowly or fly quickly according as
they have previously been slothful or energetic. And as all of
them have free will and are free to choose virtue or vice, those
who choose the latter will be much worse off than they now
are. But those who choose the former will improve their condition.
Their movements and decisions in this direction or in that will
determine their various futures; whether, that is, angels are to become
men or demons, and whether demons are to become men or angels." Then
after adducing various arguments in support of his thesis and
maintaining that while not incapable of virtue the devil has yet not
chosen to be virtuous, he has Finally reasoned with much diffuseness
that an angel, a human soul, and a demon--all according to him of
one nature but of different wills--may in punishment for great
negligence or folly be transformed into brutes. Moreover, to avoid the
agony of punishment and the burning flame the more sensitive may choose
to become low organisms, to dwell in water, to assume the shape
of this or that animal; so that we have reason to fear a metamorphosis
not only into four-footed things but even into fishes. Then,
240
lest he should be held guilty of maintaining with Pythagoras the
transmigration of souls, he winds up the wicked reasoning with which he
has wounded his reader by saying: "I must not be taken to make dogmas
of these things; they are only thrown out as conjectures to shew that
they are not altogether overlooked."
5. In his second book he maintains a plurality of
worlds; not, however, as Epicurus taught, many like ones existing at
once, but a new one beginning each time that the old comes to an end.
There was a world before this world of ours, and after it there will be
first one and then another and so on in regular succession. He is in
doubt whether one world shall be so completely similar to another as to
leave no room for any difference between them, or whether one world
shall never wholly be indistinguishable from another. And again a
little farther on he writes: "if, as the course of the discussion makes
necessary, all things can live without body, all bodily existence shall
be swallowed up and that which once has been made out of nothing shall
again be reduced to nothing. And yet a time will come when its use will
be once more necessary." And in the same context: "but if, as reason
and the authority of scripture shew, this corruptible shall put on
incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality, death shall be
swallowed up in victory and corruption in incorruption.(1) And it may
be that all bodily existence shall be removed, for it is only in this
that death can operate." And a little farther on: "if these things are
not contrary to the faith, it may be that we shall some day live in a
disembodied state. Moreover, if only he is fully subject to Christ who
is disembodied, and if all must be made subject to Him, we too shall
lose our bodies when we become fully subject to Him." And in the same
passage: "if all are to be made subject to God, all shall lay aside
their bodies; and then all bodily existence shall be brought to Bought.
But if through the fall of reasonable beings it is a second time
required it will reappear. For God has left souls to strive and
struggle, to teach them that full and complete victory is to be
attained not by their own efforts but by His grace. And so to my mind
worlds vary with the sins which cause them, and those are exploded
theories which maintain that all worlds are alike." And again: "three
conjectures occur to me with regard to the end; it is for the reader to
determine which is nearest to the truth. For either we shall be
bodiless when being made subject to Christ we shall be made subject to
God and He shall be all in all; or as things
made subject to Christ shall be with Christ Himself made subject to God
and brought under one law, so all substance shall be refined into its
most perfect form and rarified into aether which is a pure and
uncompounded essence; or else the sphere which I have called motionless
and all that it contains will be dissolved into nothing, and the sphere
in which the antizone(1) itself is contained shall be called 'good
ground,'(2) and that other sphere which in its revolution surrounds the
earth and goes by the name of heaven shall be reserved for the abode of
the saints."
6. In speaking thus does he not most clearly follow
the error of the heathen and foist upon the simple faith of Christians
the ravings of philosophy? In the same book he writes: "it remains that
God is invisible. But if He is by nature invisible, He must be so
even to the Saviour." And lower down: "no soul which has descended into
a human body has borne upon it so true an impress of its previous
character as Christ's soul of which He says: 'no man taketh it from me,
but I lay it down of myself.'"(3) And in another place: "we must
carefully consider whether souls, when they have won salvation and have
attained to the blessed life, may not cease to be souls. For as the
Lord and Saviour came to seek and to save that which was lost(4) that
it might cease to be lost; so the lost soul which the Lord came to
save, when saved, will cease to be a soul. We must ask ourselves
whether, as the lost was not lost once and again will not be, the soul
likewise may have been and again may be not a soul."(5) And after a
good many remarks upon the soul he brings in the following,
"<greek>nous</greek> or" intelligence by falling becomes a
soul; and by acquiring virtue this will become intelligence again. This
at least is a fair inference from the case of Esau who for his old sins
is condemned to lead a lower life. And concerning the heavenly bodies
we must make a similar acknowledgment. The soul of the sun--or whatever
else you like to call it--does not date its existence from the creation
of the world; it already existed before it entered its shining and
glowing body. So also with the moon and stars. From antecedent causes
they have been made subject to vanity not willingly but for future
reward,(6) and are forced to do not their own will but the creator's
who has assigned to them their several spheres."
7. Hellfire, moreover, and the torments with
241
which holy scripture threatens sinners he explains not as external
punishments but as the pangs of guilty consciences when by God's power
the memory of our transgressions is set before our eyes. "The whole
crop of our sins grows up afresh from seeds which remain in the soul,
and all our dishonourable and undutiful acts are again pictured before
our gaze. Thus it is the fire of conscience and the stings of remorse
which torture the mind as it looks back on former self-indulgence." And
again: "but perhaps this coarse and earthly body ought to be described
as mist and darkness; for at the end of this world and when it becomes
necessary to pass into another, the like darkness will lead to the like
physical birth." In speaking thus he clearly pleads for the
transmigration of souls as taught by Pythagoras and Plato.(1) And at
the end of the second book in dealing with our perfection he has
said: "when we shall have made such progress as not only to cease to be
flesh or body but perhaps also to cease to be souls our perfect
intelligence and perception, undimmed with any mist of passion, will
discern reasonable and intelligible substances face to face.
8. In the third book the following faulty statements
are contained. "If we once admit that, when one vessel is made to
honour and another to dishonour,(2) this is due to antecedent causes;
why may we not revert to the mystery of the soul and allow that it is
loved in one and hated in another because of its past actions, before
in Jacob it becomes a supplanter and before in Esau it is
supplanted?"(3) And again: "the fact that souls are made some to honour
and some to dishonour is to be explained by their previous history."
And in the same place: "on this hypothesis of mine a vessel made to
honour which fails to fulfil its object will in another world become a
vessel made to dishonour; and contrariwise a vessel which has from a
previous fault been condemned to dishonour will, if it accepts
correction in this present life, become in the new creation a vessel
'sanctified and meet for the Master's use and prepared unto every good
work."(4) And he immediately goes on to say: "I believe that men who
begin with small faults may become so hardened in wickedness that, if
they do not repent and turn to better things, they must become inhuman
energies;(5) and contrariwise that hostile and demonic beings may in
course of time so far heal their wounds and cheek the current of their
former sins that they may attain to the abode of the perfect. As I have
often said, in those countless and unceasing worlds in which the soul
lives and has its being some
grow worse and worse until they reach the lowest depths of degradation;
while others in those lowest depths grow better and better until they
reach the perfection of virtue." Thus he tries to shew that men, or
rather their souls, may become demons; and that demons in turn may be
restored to the rank of angels. In the same book he writes: "this too
must be considered; why the human soul is diversely acted upon now by
influences of one kind and now by influences of another." And he
surmises that this is due to conduct which has preceded birth. It is
for this, he argues, that John leaps in his mother's womb when at
Mary's salutation Elizabeth declares herself unworthy of her notice.(1)
And he immediately subjoins: "on the other hand infants that are hardly
weaned are possessed with evil spirits and become diviners and
soothsayers;(2) indeed, some are indwelt from their earliest years with
the spirit of a python. Now as they have done nothing to bring upon
themselves these visitations, one who holds that nothing happens
without God's permission, and that all things are governed by His
justice, cannot suppose that God's providence has abandoned them
without good reason.
9. Again, of the world he writes thus: "The belief
commends itself to me that there was a world before this world and that
after it there will be another. Do you wish to know that after the
decay of this world there will be a new one? Hear the words of Isaiah:
'the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain
before me.'(3) Do you wish to know that before the making of this
world there have previously been others? Listen to the Preacher
who says: 'the thing which hath been, it is that which shall be; and
that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new
thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See,
this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.'(4)
A passage which proves not only that other worlds have been but that
other worlds shall be; not, however, simultaneously and side by side
but one after another." And he immediately adds: "I hold that heaven is
the abode of the deity, the true place of rest; and that it was there
that reasonable creatures enjoyed their ancient bliss, before coming
down to a lower plane and exchanging the invisible for the visible,
they fell to the earth and came to need material bodies. Now that they
have fallen, God the creator has made for them bodies suitable to their
surroundings; and has fashioned this visible world, and has sent into
it ministers to ensure the salva-
242
tion and correction of the fallen. Of these ministers some have held
assigned positions and have been subject to the world's necessary laws;
while others have intelligently performed duties laid upon them in
times and seasons determined by God's plan. To the former class belong
the sun, moon, and stars called by the apostle 'the creation;' and
these have had allotted to them the heights of heaven. Now the creation
is subjected to vanity(1) because it is encased in material bodies and
visible to the eye. And yet it is 'made subject to vanity not willingly
but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.' Others again
of the second class, at particular places and times known to their
Maker only, we believe to be His angels sent to steer the world." A
little farther on he says: "the affairs of the world are so ordered by
Providence that while some angels fall from heaven others freely glide
down to earth. The former are hurled down against their will; the
latter descend from choice alone. The former are forced to continue in
a distasteful service for a fixed period; the latter spontaneously
embrace the task of lending a hand to those who fall." Again he writes:
"whence it follows that these different movements result in the
creation of different worlds; and that this world of ours will be
succeeded by one quite unlike it. Now, as regards this falling and
rising, this rewarding of virtue and punishment of vice, whether they
take place in the past, present, or future, God, the creator, can alone
apportion desert and make all things converge to one end. For He only
knows why He allows some to follow their own inclination and to descend
from the higher planes to the lowest; and why He visits others and
giving them His hand draws them back to their former state and places
them once more in heaven."
10. In discussing the end of the world he has made
use of the following language. "Since, as I have often said, a new
beginning springs from the end, it may be asked whether bodies will
then continue to exist, or whether, when they have been annihilated, we
shall live without bodies and be incorporeal as we know God to be. Now
there can be no doubt but that, if bodies or, as the apostle calls
them, visible things, belong only to our sensible world, the life of
the disembodied will be incorporeal." And a little farther on: "when
the apostle writes, 'the creation shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God,'(2)
I explain his words thus. Reasonable and incorporeal beings are the
highest of
God's creatures, for not being clothed with bodies they are not the
slaves of corruption. Since where there are bodies, there corruption is
sure to be found. But hereafter 'the creation shall be delivered from
the bondage of corruption,' and then men shall receive the glory of the
children of God and God shah be all in all." And in the same passage he
writes: "that the final state will be an incorporeal one is rendered
credible by the words of our Saviour's prayer: 'as thou, Father, art in
me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.'(1) For we ought to
realize what God is and what the Saviour will finally be, and how the
likeness to the Father and the Son here promised to the Saints consists
in this that as They are one in Themselves so we shall be one in Them.
For if in the end the life of the Saints is to be assimilated to the
life of God, we must either admit that the Lord of the universe is
clothed with a body and that he is enveloped in matter as we are in
flesh; or, if it is unbecoming to suppose this, especially in persons
who have but small clues from which to infer God's majesty and to guess
at the glory of His innate and transcendent nature, we are reduced to
the following dilemma. Either we shall always have bodies and in that
case must despair of ever being like God; or, if the blessedness of the
life of God is really promised to us, the conditions of His life must
be the conditions of ours."
11. These passages prove what his view is regarding
the resurrection. For he evidently maintains that all bodies will
perish and that we shall be incorporeal as according to him we were
before we received our present bodies. Again when he comes to argue for
a variety of worlds and to maintain that angels will become demons,
demons either angels or men, and men in their turn demons; in a word
that everything will be turned into something else, he thus sums up his
own opinion: "no doubt, after an interval matter will exist afresh and
bodies will be formed and a different world will be created to meet the
varying wills of reasonable beings who, having forfeited the perfect
bliss which continues to the end, have gradually fallen into so great
wickedness as to change their nature and refuse to keep their first
estate of unalloyed blessedness. Many reasonable beings, it is right to
say, keep it until a second, a third, and a fourth world, and give God
no ground for changing their condition. Others deteriorate so little
that they seem to have lost hardly anything, and others again have to
be hurled headlong into the abyss. God who orders all things alone
knows how to use each class according to its
243
deserts in a suitable sphere; for He only understands opportunities and
motives and the course in which the world must be steered. Thus one who
has borne away the palm for wickedness and has sunk into the lowest
degradation will in the world which is hereafter to be fashioned be
made a devil, a kind of first fruits of the Lord's handiwork, to be a
laughing stock to the angels who have lost their first virtue." What is
this but to argue that the sinful men of this world may become a devil
and demons in another; and contrariwise that those who are now demons
may hereafter become either men or angels? And after a lengthy
discussion in which he maintains that all corporeal creatures must
exchange their material for subtle and spiritual bodies and that all
substance must become one pure and inconceivably bright body, of which
the human mind can at present form no conception, he winds up
thus:--"'God shall be all in all;' that is to say, all bodily existence
shall be made as perfect as possible; it shall be brought into the
divine essence, than which there is none better."
12. In the fourth and last book of his work the
following passages deserve the church's condemnation. "It may be that
as, when men die in this world by the separation of soul and body, they
are allotted different positions in hell according to the difference in
their works; so when angels die, out of the system of the heavenly
Jerusalem, they come down to this world as a hell and are placed on
earth according to their deserts." And again: "as we have compared the
souls which pass from this world to hell with those which as they come
from heaven to us are in a manner dead; so we must carefully inquire
whether this is true of all souls without exception. For in that case
souls born on earth when they desire better things rise out of hell and
assume human bodies or when they desire worse things come down to us
from better worlds; and in the firmament above us likewise there are
souls on their way from our world to higher ones, and others who, while
they have fallen from heaven, have not sinned so grievously as to be
thrust down to earth." He thus tries to prove that the firmament,
that is the sky, is hell compared with heaven; and that this
earth is hell compared with the firmament; and again that our world is
heaven to hell. Or in other words what is hell to some is heaven to
others. And not content with saying this he goes on: "at the end of all
things when we shall return to the heavenly Jerusalem the hostile
powers shall declare war(1) against the people of God to breathe and
exercise their valour and strengthen their resolve. For this they
cannot have until they have faced and foiled their foes; of whom we
read in the book of Numbers(1) that they are overcome by reason,
discipline, and tactical skill."
13. After saying that according to the apocalypse of
John "the everlasting gospel" which shall be revealed in heaven(2) as
much surpasses our gospel as Christ's preaching does the sacraments(3)
of the ancient law, he has asserted what it is sacrilegious even to
think; that Christ will once more suffer in the sky for the salvation
of demons. And although he has not expressly said it, it is yet implied
in his words that as for men God became man to set men free, so for the
salvation of demons when He comes to deliver them He will become a
demon. To shew that this is no gloss of mine, I must give his own
words: "As Christ," he writes, "has fulfilled the shadow of the law by
the shadow of the gospel, and as all law is a pattern and shadow of
things done in heaven, we must inquire whether we are justified in
supposing that even the heavenly law and the rites of the celestial
worship are still incomplete and need the true gospel which in the
apocalypse of John is called everlasting to distinguish it from ours
which is only temporal, set forth in a world that shall pass away. Now
if we extend our inquiry to the passion of our Lord and Saviour, it may
indeed be overbold to suppose that He will suffer in heaven; yet if
there is spiritual wickedness in heavenly places(4) and if we confess
without a blush that the Lord has once been crucified to destroy those
thing's which He has destroyed by His passion; why need we fear to
imagine a like occurrence in the upper world m the fulness of time, so
that the nations of all realms shall be saved by a passion of Christ?"
14. Here is another blasphemy which he has spoken of
the Son. "Assuming that the Son knows the Father, it would seem that by
this knowledge He can comprehend Him as much as a craftsman can
comprehend the rules of his art. And, doubtless, if the Father is in
the Son, He is also comprehended by Him in whom He is. But if we mean
by comprehension not merely that the knower takes a thing in by
perception and insight but that he contains it within himself by virtue
of a special faculty; in this sense we cannot say that the Son
comprehends the Father. For the Father comprehends all things, and of
these the Son is one; therefore, He comprehends the Son." And to shew
us reasons why, while the Father
244
comprehends the Son, the Son cannot comprehend the Father, he adds:
"the curious reader may inquire whether the Father knows Himself in the
same way that the Son knows Him. But if he recalls the words: 'the
Father who sent me is greater than I,'(1) he will allow that they must
be universally true and will admit that, in knowledge as in everything
else, the Father is greater than the Son, and knows Himself more
perfectly and immediately than the Son can do."
15. The following passage is a convincing proof that
he holds the transmigration of souls and annihilation of bodies. "If it
can be shewn that an incorporeal and reasonable being has life in
itself independently of the body and that it is worse off in the body
than out of it; then beyond a doubt bodies are only of secondary
importance and arise from time to time to meet the varying conditions
of reasonable creatures. Those who require bodies are clothed with
them, and contrariwise, when fallen souls have lifted themselves up to
better things, their bodies are once more annihilated. They are thus
ever vanishing and ever reappearing." And to prevent us from minimizing
the impiety of his previous utterances he ends his work by maintaining
that all reasonable beings, that is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, angels, powers, dominations, and virtues, and even man by right
of his soul's dignity, are of one and the same essence. "God," he
writes, "and His only-begotten Son and the Holy Spirit are conscious of
an intellectual and reasonable nature. But so also are the angels, the
powers, and the virtues, as well as the inward man who is created in
the image and after the likeness of God.(2) From which I conclude that
God and they are in some sort of one essence." He adds "in some sort"
to escape the charge of blasphemy; and while in another place he will
not allow the Son and the Holy Spirit to be of one substance with the
Father lest by so doing he should appear to make the divine essence
divisible, he here bestows the nature of God almighty upon angels and
men.
16. This being the nature of Origen's book. is it
anything short of madness to change a few blasphemous passages
regarding the Son and the Holy Spirit and then to publish the rest
unchanged with an unprincipled eulogy when the parts unaltered as well
as the parts altered flow from the same fountain head of gross impiety?
This is not the time to confute all the statements made in detail; and
indeed those who have written against Arius, Eunomius, Manichaeus, and
various other heretics must be supposed to have answered these
blasphemies as well. If anyone, therefore, wishes to read the work let
him walk with his feet shod towards the land of promise; let him guard
against the jaws of the serpent and the crooked jaws of the scorpion;
let him read this treatise first and before he enters upon the path let
him know the dangers which he wilt have to avoid.
LETTER CXXV.
TO RUSTICS.
Rustics, a young monk of Tailless, (to be carefully
distinguished from the recipient of Letter CS.) is advised by Jerome
not to become an anchorite but to continue in a community. Rules are
suggested for the monastic life and a vivid picture is drawn of the
difference between a good monk and a bad. Incidentally Jerome indulges
his spleen against his dead opponent Rufinus ( 18). The date of the
letter is 411 A.D.
1. No man is happier than the Christian, for to him
is promised the kingdom of heaven. No man struggles harder than he, for
he goes daily in danger of his life. No man is stronger, for he
overcomes the Devil. No man is weaker, for he is overcome by the flesh.
Both pairs of statements can be proved by many examples. For instance,
the robber believes upon the cross and immediately hears the assuring
words: "verily I say unto thee, To-day shall thou be with me in
paradise :"(1) while Judas falls from the pinnacle of the apostolate
into the abyss of perdition. Neither the close intercourse of the
banquet nor the dipping of the sop(2) nor the Lord's gracious
kiss(3) can save him from betraying as man Him whom he had known as the
Son of God. Could any one have been viler than the woman of
Samaria? Yet not only did she herself believe, and after her six
husbands find one Lord, not only did she recognize that Messiah by the
well, whom the Jews failed to recognize in the temple; she brought
salvation to many and, while the apostles were away buying food,
refreshed the Saviour's hunger and relieved His weariness.(4) Was ever
man wiser than Solomon? Yet love for women made even him foolish. Salt
is good, and every offering must be sprinkled with it.(5) Wherefore
also the apostle has given commandment: "let your speech be alway with
grace, seasoned with salt."(6) But "if the salt have lost his savour,"
it is cast out.(7) And so utterly does it lose its value that it is not
even fit for the dunghill,(8) whence believers fetch manure to enrich
the barren soil of their souls.
I begin thus, Rustics my son, to teach you
245
the greatness of your enterprise and the loftiness of your ideal; and
to shew you that only by trampling under foot youthful lusts can you
hope to climb the heights of true maturity. For the path along which
you walk is a slippery one and the glory of success is less than the
shame of failure.
2. I need not now conduct the stream of my discourse
through the meadows of virtue, nor exert myself to shew to you the
beauty of its several flowers. I need not dilate on the purity of the
lily, the modest blush of the rose the royal purple of the violet, or
the promise of glowing gems which their various colours hold out. For
through the mercy of God you have already put your hand to the
plough;(1) you have already gone up upon the housetop like the apostle
Peter.(2) Who when he became hungry among the Jews had his hunger
satisfied by the faith of Cornelius, and stilled the craving caused by
their unbelief through the conversion of the centurion and other
Gentiles. By the vessel let down from heaven to earth, the four corners
of which typified the four gospels, he was taught that all men can be
saved. Once more, this fair white sheet which in his vision was taken
up again was a symbol of the church which carries believers from earth
to heaven, an assurance that the Lord's promise should be fulfilled:
"blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."(3)
All this means that I take you by the hand and do my
best to impress certain facts upon your mind; that, like a skilled
sailor who has been through many shipwrecks, I am anxious to caution an
inexperienced passenger of the risks before him. For on one side is the
Charybdis of covetousness, "the root of all evil ;"(4) and on the other
lurks the Scylla of detraction girt with the railing hounds of which
the apostle says: "if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye
be not consumed one of another."(5) Sometimes, you must know, the
quicksands of vice(6) suck us down as we sail at ease through the calm
water; and the desert of this world is not untenanted by venomous
reptiles.
3. Those who navigate the Red Sea--where we must
pray that the true Pharaoh may be drowned with all his host--have to
encounter many difficulties and dangers before they reach the city of
Auxuma.(7) Nomad savages and ferocious wild beasts haunt the shores on
either side. Thus travellers must be always armed and on the alert, and
they must carry with them a whole year's provisions. Moreover, so full
are the waters of hidden reefs and
impassable shoals that a look-out has constantly to be kept from the
masthead to direct the helmsman how to shape his course. They may count
themselves fortunate if after six months they make the port of the
above-mentioned city. At this point the ocean begins, to cross which a
whole year hardly suffices. Then India is reached and the river
Ganges--called in holy scripture Pison--"which compasseth the whole
land of Havilah"(1) and is said to carry down with it--from its source
in paradise--various dyes and pigments. Here are found rubies and
emeralds, glowing pearls and gems of the first water, such as high born
ladies passionately desire. There are also mountains of gold which
however men cannot approach by reason of the griffins, dragons, and
huge monsters which haunt them; for such are the guardians which
avarice needs for its treasures.
4. What, you ask, is the drift of all this? Surely
it is clear enough. For if the merchants of the world undergo such
hardships to win a doubtful and passing gain, and if after seeking it
through many dangers they only keep it at risk of their lives; what
should Christ's merchant do who "selleth all that he hath" that he may
acquire the "one pearl of great price;" who with his whole substance
buys a field that he may find therein a treasure which neither thief
can dig up nor robber carry away?(2)
5. I know that I must offend large numbers who will
be angry with my criticisms as aimed at their own deficiencies. Yet
such anger does but shew an uneasy conscience and they will pass a far
severer sentence on themselves than on me. For I shall not mention
names; or copy the licence of the old comedy(3) which criticized
individuals. Wise men and wise women will try to hide or rather to
correct whatever they perceive to be amiss in them; they will be more
angry with themselves than with me, and will not be disposed to heap
curses upon the head of their monitor. For he, although he is liable to
the same charges, is certainly superior in this that he is discontented
with his own faults.
6. I am told that your mother is a religious woman,
a widow of many years' standing; and that when you were a child she
reared and taught you herself. Afterwards when you had spent some time
in the flourishing schools of Gaul she sent you to Rome, sparing no
expense and consoling herself for your absence by the thought of the
future that lay before you. She hoped to see the exuberance and
246
glitter of your Gallic eloquence toned down by Roman sobriety, for she
saw that you required the rein more than the spur. So we are told of
the greatest orators of Greece that they seasoned the bombast of Asia
with the salt of Athens and pruned their vines when they grew too fast.
For they wished to fill the wine-press of eloquence not with the
tendrils of mere words but with the rich grape-juice of good sense.
Your mother has done the same thing for you; you should, therefore,
look up to her as a parent, love her as a tender nurse, and venerate
her as a saint. You must not imitate those who leave their own
relations and pay court to strange women. Their infamy is apparent to
all, for what they aim at under the pretence of pure affection(1) is
simply illicit intercourse. I know some women of riper years, indeed a
good many, who, finding pleasure in their young freedmen, make them
their spiritual children and thus, pretending to be mothers to them,
gradually overcome their own sense of shame and allow themselves in the
licence of marriage. Other women desert their maiden sisters and unite
themselves to strange widows. There are some who hate their parents and
have no affection for their kin. Their state of mind is indicated by a
restlessness which disdains excuses; they rend the veil of chastity and
put it aside like a cobweb. Such are the ways of women; not, indeed,
that men are any better. For there are persons to be seen who (for all
their girded loins, sombre garb, and long beards) are inseparable from
women, live under one roof with them, dine in their company, have young
girls to wait upon them, and, save that they do not claim to be called
husbands, are as good as married. Still it is no fault of Christianity
that a hypocrite falls into sin; rather, it is the confusion of the
Gentiles that the churches condemn what is condemned by all good men.
7. But if for your part you desire to be a
monk and not merely to seem one, be more careful of your soul than of
your property; for in adopting a religious profession you have
renounced this once for all. Let your garments be squalid to shew that
your mind is white; and your tunic coarse to prove that you despise the
world. But give not way to pride lest your dress and language be
found at variance. Baths stimulate the senses and must,
therefore, be avoided; for to quench natural heat is the aim of
chilling fasts. Yet even these must be moderate, for, if they are
carried to excess, they weaken the stomach and by making more food
necessary to it promote indigestion, that fruitful parent of unclean
desires. A frugal and temperate diet is good for both body and soul.
See your mother as often as you please but not with
other women, for their faces may dwell in your thoughts and so
A secret wound may fester in your breast.(1)
The maidservants who attend upon her you must regard
as so many snares laid to entrap you; for the lower their condition is
the more easy is it for you to effect their ruin. John the Baptist had
a religious mother and his father was a priest.(2) Yet neither his
mother's affection nor his father's wealth could induce him to live in
his parents' house at the risk of his chastity. He lived in the desert,
and seeking Christ with his eyes refused to look at anything else. His
rough garb, his girdle made of skins, his diet of locusts and wild
honey(3) were all alike designed to encourage virtue and continence.
The sons of the prophets, who were the monks of the Old Testament,
built for themselves huts by the waters of Jordan and forsaking the
crowded cities lived in these on pottage and wild herbs.(4) As long as
you are at home make your cell your paradise,(5) gather there the
varied fruits of scripture, let this be your favourite companion, and
take its precepts to your heart. If your eye offend you or your foot or
your hand, cast them from you.(6) To spare your soul spare nothing
else. The Lord says: "whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her
hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."(7) "Who can
My," writes the wise man, "I have made my heart clean?"(8) The stars
are not pure in the Lord's sight; how much less men whose whole life is
one long temptation.(9) Woe be to us who commit fornication every time
that we cherish lust. "My sword," God says, "hath drunk its fill in
heaven;" (10) much more then upon the earth with its crop of thorns and
thistles.(11) The chosen vessel(12) who had Christ's name ever on his
lips kept under his body and brought it into subjection.(13) Yet even
he was hindered by carnal desire and had to do what he would not. As
one suffering violence he cries: "O wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?"(14) Is it likely then that you
can pass without fall or wound, unless you keep your heart with all
diligence,(15) and say with the Saviour: "my mother and my brethren are
these which hear the word of God and do it."(16) This may seem cruelty,
but it is really affection. What
247
greater proof, indeed, can there be of affection than to guard for a
holy mother a holy son? She too desired your eternal welfare and is
content to forego seeing you for a time that she may see you for ever
with Christ. She is like Hannah who brought forth Samuel not for her
own solace but for the service of the tabernacle.(1) The sons of
Jonadab, we are told, drank neither wine nor strong drink and dwelt in
tents pitched wherever night overtook them.(2) l According to the
psalter they were the first to undergo captivity; for, when the
Chaldaeans began to ravage Judah they were compelled to take refuge in
cities.(3)
8. Others may think what they like and follow each his own
bent. But to me a town is a prison and solitude paradise. Why do we
long for the bustle of cities, we whose very name speaks of
loneliness?(4) To fit him for the leadership of the Jewish people Moses
was trained for forty years in the wilderness;(5) and it was not till
after these that the shepherd of sheep became a shepherd of men. The
apostles were fishers on lake Gennesaret before they became "fishers of
men."(6) But at the Lord's call they forsook all that they had, father,
net, and ship, and bore their cross daily without so much as a rod in
their hands.
I say these things that, in case you desire to enter the ranks
of the clergy, you may learn what you must afterwards teach, that you
may offer a reasonable sacrifice(7) to Christ, that you may not think
yourself a finished soldier while still a raw recruit, or suppose
yourself a master while you are as yet only a learner. It does not
become one of my humble abilities to pass judgment upon the clergy or
to speak to the discredit of those who are ministers in the churches.
They have their own rank and station and must keep it. If ever you
become one of them my published letter to Nepotian(8) will teach you
the mode of life suitable to you
in that vocation. At present I am dealing with the forming and training
of a monk; of one too who has put the yoke of Christ upon his neck
after receiving a liberal education in his younger days.
9. The first point to be considered is whether you ought
to live by yourself or in a monastery with others.(9) For my part I
should like you to have the society of holy men so as not to be thrown
altogether on your resources. For if you set out upon a road that is
new to you without a guide, you are sure to turn aside immediately
either to the right or to the left, to lay yourself open to the
assaults of error, to go too far or else not far enough, to weary
yourself with running too fast or to loiter by the way and to fall
asleep. In loneliness pride quickly creeps upon a man: if he has fasted
for a little while and has seen no one, he fancies himself a person of
some note; forgetting who he is, whence he comes, and whither he goes,
he lets his thoughts riot within and outwardly indulges in rash speech.
Contrary to the apostle's wish he judges another man's servants,(1)
puts forth his hand to grasp whatever his appetite desires, sleeps as
long he pleases, fears nobody, does what he likes, fancies everyone
inferior to himself, spends more of his time in cities than in his
cell, and, while with the brothers he affects to be retiring, rubs
shoulders with the crowd in the streets. What then, you will say? Do I
condemn a solitary life? By no means: in fact I have often commended
it. But I wish to see the monastic schools turn out soldiers who have
no fear of the rough training of the desert, who have exhibited the
spectacle of a holy life for a considerable time, who have made
themselves last that they might be first, who have not been overcome by
hunger or satiety, whose joy is in poverty, who teach virtue by their
garb and mien, and who are too conscientious to invent--as some silly
men do--monstrous stories of struggles with demons, designed to
magnify their heroes in the eyes of the crowd and before all to extort
money from it.
10. Quite recently we have seen to our sorrow a fortune worthy
of Croesus brought to light by a monk's death, and a city's alms,
collected for the poor, left by will to his sons and successors. After
sinking to the bottom the iron has once more floated upon the
surface,"(2) and men have again seen among the palm-trees the bitter
waters of Marah.(3) In this there is, however, nothing strange, for the
man had for his companion and teacher one who turned the hunger of the
needy into a source of wealth for himself and kept back sums left to
the miserable to his own subsequent misery. Yet their cry came up to
heaven and entering God's ears overcame His patience. Wherefore, He
sent an angel of woe to say to this new Carmelite, this second
Nabal,(4) "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of
thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast
provided?"(5)
11. If I wish you then not to live with your mother, it is for
the reasons given above, and above all for the two following. If she
offers you delicacies to eat, you will grieve her by refusing them; and
if you take them, you will add fuel to the flame that already
burns within
248
you. Again in a house where there are so many girls you will see in the
daytime sights that will tempt you at night. Never take your hand or
your eyes off your book; learn the psalms word for word, pray without
ceasing,(1) be always on the alert, and let no vain thoughts lay hold
upon you. Direct both body and mind to the Lord, overcome wrath by
patience, love the knowledge of scripture, and you will no longer love
the sins of the flesh. Do not let your mind become a prey to
excitement, for if this effects a lodgment in your breast it will have
dominion over you and will lead you into the great transgression.(2)
Always have some work on hand, that the devil may find you busy. If
apostles who had the right to live of the Gospel(3) laboured with their
own hands that they might be chargeable to no man,(4) and bestowed
relief upon others whose carnal things they had a claim to reap as
having sown unto them spiritual things;(5) why do you not provide a
supply to meet your needs? Make creels of reeds or weave baskets out of
pliant osiers. Hoe your ground; mark out your garden into even plots;
and when you have sown your cabbages or set your plants convey water to
them in conduits that you may see with your own eyes the lovely vision
of the poet:
Art draws fresh water from the hilltop near
Till the stream plashing down among the rocks
Cools the parched meadows and allays their thirst.(6)
Graft unfruitful stocks with buds and slips that you may shortly be
rewarded for your toil by plucking sweet apples from them. Construct
also hives for bees, for to these the proverbs of Solomon send you,(7)
and you may learn from the tiny creatures how to order a monastery and
to discipline a kingdom. Twist lines too for catching fish, and copy
books; that your hand may earn your food and your mind may be satisfied
with reading. For "every one that is idle is a prey to vain
desires."(8) In Egypt the monasteries make it a rule to receive none
who are not willing to work; for they regard labour as necessary not
only for the support of the body but also for the salvation of the
soul. Do not let your mind stray into harmful thoughts, or, like
Jerusalem in her whoredoms, open its feet to every chance comer.(9)
12. In my youth when the desert walled me in with its solitude I
was still unable to endure the promptings of sin and the natural heat
of my blood; and, although I tried by frequent fasts to break the force
of both, my mind still surged with [evil] thoughts.(10) To subdue its
turbulence I betook myself to a brother(1) who before his conversion
had been a Jew and asked him to teach me Hebrew. Thus, after having
familiarised myself with the pointedness of Quintilian, the fluency of
Cicero, the seriousness of Fronto and the gentleness of Pliny, I began
to learn my letters anew and to study to pronounce words both harsh and
guttural. What labour I spent upon this task, what difficulties I went
through, how often I despaired, how often I gave over and then in my
eagerness to learn commenced again, can be attested both by myself the
subject of this misery and by those who then lived with me. But I thank
the Lord that from this seed of learning sown in bitterness I now cull
sweet fruits.
13. I will recount also another thing that i saw in Egypt. There
was in a community a young Greek the flame of whose desire neither
continual fasting nor the severest labour could avail to quench. He was
in great danger of falling, when the father of the monastery saved him
by the following device. He gave orders to one of the older brothers to
pursue him with objurgations and reproaches, and then after having thus
wronged him to be beforehand with him in laying a complaint against
him. When witnesses were called they spoke always on behalf of the
aggressor. On hearing such falsehoods he used to weep that no one gave
credit to the truth; the father alone used cleverly to put in a word
for him that he might not be "swallowed up with overmuch sorrow."(2) To
make the story short, a year passed in this way and at the expiration
of it the young man was asked concerning his former evil thoughts and
whether they still troubled him. "Good gracious," he replied, "how can
I find pleasure in fornication when I am not allowed so much as to
live?" Had he been a solitary hermit, by whose aid could he have
overcome the temptations that assailed him?
14. The world's philosophers drive out an old passion by
instilling a new one; they hammer out one nail by hammering in
another.(3) It was on this principle that the seven princes of Persia
acted towards king Ahasuerus, for they subdued his regret for queen
Vashti by inducing him to love other maidens.(4) But whereas they cured
one fault by another fault and one sin by another sin, we must overcome
our faults by learning to love the opposite virtues. "Depart from
evil," says the psalmist, "and do good; seek peace and pursue it."(5)
For if we do not hate evil we cannot love
249
good. Nay more, we must do good if we are to depart from evil. We must
seek peace if we are to avoid war. And it is not enough merely to seek
it; when we have found it and when it flees before us we must pursue it
with all our energies. For "it passeth all understanding;"(1) it is the
habitation of God. As the psalmist says, "in peace also is his
habitation."(2) The pursuing of peace is a fine metaphor and may be
compared with the apostle's words, "pursuing hospitality."(3) It is not
enough, he means, for us to invite guests with our lips; we should be
as eager to detain them as though they were robbers carrying off our
savings.
15. No art is ever learned without a master. Even dumb animals
and wild herds follow leaders of their own. Bees have princes, and
cranes fly after one of their number in the shape of a Y.(4) There is
but one emperor and each province has but one judge. Rome was rounded
by two brothers,(5) but, as it could not have two kings at once, was
inaugurated by an act of fratricide. So too Esau and Jacob strove in
Rebekah's womb.(6) Each church has a single bishop, a single
archpresbyter, a single archdeacon;(7) and every ecclesiastical order
is subjected to its own rulers. A ship has but one pilot, a house but
one master, and the largest army moves at the command of one man. That
I may not tire you by heaping up instances, my drift is simply this. Do
not rely on your own discretion, but live in a monastery. For there,
while you will be under the control of one father, you will have many
companions; and these will teach you, one humility, another patience, a
third silence, and a fourth meekness. You will do as others wish; you
will eat what you are told to eat; you will wear what clothes are given
you; you will perform the task allotted to you; you will obey one whom
you do not like, you will come to bed tired out; you will go to sleep
on your feet and you will be forced to rise before you have had
sufficient rest. When your turn comes, you will recite the psalms, a
task which requires not a well modulated voice but genuine emotion. The
apostle says: "I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the
understanding also,"(8) and to the Ephesians, "make melody in your
hearts to the Lord."(9) For he had read the precept of the psalmist:
"Sing ye praises with understanding."(10) You will serve the brothers,
you will wash the guests'
feet; if you suffer wrong you will bear it in silence; the superior of
the community you will fear as a master and love as a father. Whatever
he may order you to do you will believe to be wholesome for you. You
will not pass judgment upon those who are placed over you, for your
duty will be to obey them and to do what you are told, according to the
words spoken by Moses: "keep silence and hearken, O Israel."(1) You
will have so many tasks to occupy you that you will have no time for
[evil] thoughts; and while you pass from one thing to another and fresh
work follows work done, you will only be able to think of what you have
it in charge at the moment to do.
16. But I myself have seen monks of quite a different stamp from
this, men whose renunciation of the world has consisted in a change of
clothes and a verbal profession, while their real life and their former
habits have remained unchanged. Their property has increased rather
than diminished. They still have the same servants and keep the same
table. Out of cheap glasses and common earthenware they swallow gold.
With servants about them in swarms they claim for themselves the name
of hermits. Others who though poor think themselves discerning, walk as
solemnly as pageants(2) through the streets and do nothing but snarl(3)
at every one whom they meet. Others shrug their shoulders and croak out
what is best known to themselves. While they keep their eyes fixed upon
the earth, they balance swelling words upon their tongues.(4)
Only a crier is wanted to persuade you that it is his excellency the
prefect who is coming along. Some too there are who from the dampness
of their cells and from the severity of their fasts, from their
weariness of solitude and from excessive study have a singing in their
ears day and night and turn melancholy mad so as to need the poultices
of Hippocrates(5) more than exhortations from me. Great numbers are
unable to break free from the crafts and trades they have previously
practised. They no longer call themselves dealers but they carry on the
same traffic as before; seeking for themselves not "food and
raiment"(6) as the apostle directs, but money-profits and these greater
than are looked for by men of the world. In former days the greed of
sellers was kept within bounds by the action of the Ædiles or as
the Greeks call them market-inspectors,(7) and men could not then cheat
with impunity. But now persons who profess religion are not ashamed to
seek unjust profits and the good name of Christianity is more
250
often a cloak for fraud than a victim to it. I am ashamed to say it,
yet it must be said--we are at least bound to blush for our
infamy--while in public we hold out our hands for alms we conceal gold
beneath our rags; and to the amazement of every one after living as
poor men we die rich and with our purses well-filled.
But you, since you will not be alone but one of a community,
will have no temptation to act thus. Things at first compulsory will
become habitual. You will set to work unbidden and will find pleasure
in your toil. You will forget things which are behind and will reach
forth to those which are before.(1) You will think less of the evil
that others do than of the good you ought to do.
17. Be not led by the multitude of those who sin, neither let
the host of those who perish tempt you to say secretly: "What? must all
be lost who live in cities? Behold, they continue to enjoy their
property, they serve churches, they frequent baths, they do not disdain
cosmetics, and yet they are universally well-spoken of." To this kind
of remark I have before replied and now shortly reply again that the
object of this little work is not to discuss the clergy but to lay down
rules for a monk. The clergy are holy men and their lives are always
worthy of praise. Rouse yourself then and so live in your monastery
that you may deserve to be a clergyman, that you may preserve your
youth from defilement, that you may go to Christ's altar as a virgin
out of her chamber. See that you are well-reported of without and that
women are familiar with your reputation but not with your appearance.
When you come to mature years, if, that is, you live so long, and when
you have been chosen into the ranks of the clergy either by the people
of the city or by its bishop, act in a way that befits a clergyman, and
choose for your models the best of your brothers. For in every rank and
condition of life the bad are mingled with the good.
18. Do not be carried away by some mad caprice and rush into
authorship. Learn long and carefully what you propose to teach. Do not
credit all that flatterers say to you, or, I should rather say, do not
lend too ready an ear to those who mean to mock you. They will fawn
upon you with fulsome praise and do their best to blind your judgment;
yet if you suddenly look behind you, you will find that they are making
gestures of derision with their hands, either a stork's neck or the
flapping ears of a donkey or a thirsty dog's protruding tongue.(2)
Never speak evil of anyone or suppose that
you make yourself better by assailing the reputations of others. The
charges we bring against them often come home to ourselves; we inveigh
against faults which are as much ours as theirs; and so our eloquence
ends by telling against ourselves. It is as though dumb persons were to
criticize orators. When the grunter(1) wished to speak he used to come
forward at a snail's pace(2) and to utter a word now and again with
such long pauses between that he seemed less making a speech than
gasping for breath. Then, when he had placed his table and arranged on
it his pile of books, he used to knit his brow, to draw in his
nostrils, to wrinkle his forehead and to snap his fingers, signs meant
to engage the attention of his pupils. Then he would pour forth a
torrent of nonsense and declaim so vehemently against every one that
you would take him for a critic like Longinus(3) or fancy him a second
Cato the Censor(4) passing judgment on Roman eloquence and excluding
whom he pleased from the senate of the learned. As he had plenty of
money he made himself still more popular by giving entertainments.
Numbers of persons shared in his hospitality; and thus it was not
surprising that when he went out he was surrounded always by a buzzing
throng. At home he was a monster like Nero, abroad a paragon like Cato.
Made up of different and opposing natures, as a whole he baffled
description. You would say that he was formed of jarring elements like
that unnatural and unheard of monster of which the poet tells us that
it was 'in front a lion, behind a dragon, in the middle the goat whose
name it bears.'(5)
19. Men such as these you must never look at or associate with.
Nor must you turn aside your heart unto words of evil(6) lest the
psalmist say to you: "Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother;
thou slanderest thine own mother's son,"(7) and lest you become as "the
sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows,"(8) and as the man whose
"words were softer than oil yet were they drawn swords."(9) The
Preacher expresses this more clearly still when he says: "Surely the
serpent will bite where there is no enchantment, and the slan-
251
derer is no better."(1) But you will say, 'I am not given to
detraction, but how can check others who are?' If we put forward such a
plea as this it can only be that we may "practise wicked works with men
that work iniquity."(2) Yet Christ is not deceived by this device. It
is not I but an apostle who says: "Be not deceived; God is not
mocked."(3) "Man looketh upon the outward appearance but the Lord
looketh upon the heart."(4) And in the proverbs Solomon tells us that
as "the north wind driveth away rain, so doth an angry countenance a
backbiting tongue."(5) It sometimes happens that an arrow when it is
aimed at a hard object rebounds upon the bowman, wounding the would-be
wounder, and thus, the words are fulfilled, "they were turned aside
like a deceitful bow,"(6) and in another passage: "whoso casteth a
stone on high casteth it on his own head."(7) So when a slanderer sees
anger in the countenance of his hearer who will not hear him but stops
his ears that he may not hear of blood,(8) he becomes silent on the
moment, his face turns pale, his lips stick fast, his mouth becomes
parched. Wherefore the same wise man says: "meddle not with them that
are given to detraction: for their calamity shall rise suddenly; and
who knoweth the ruin of them both?"(9) of him who speaks, that is, and
of him who hears. Truth does not love corners or seek whisperers. To
Timothy it is said, "Against an elder receive not an accusation
suddenly; but him that sinneth rebuke before all, that others also may
fear."(10) When a man is advanced in years you must not be too ready to
believe evil of him; his past life is itself a defence, and so also is
his rank as an eider. Still, since we are but human and sometimes in
spite of the ripeness of our years fall into the sins of youth, if I do
wrong and you wish to correct me, accuse me openly of my fault: do not
backbite me secretly. "Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a
kindness, and let him reprove me; but let not the oil of the sinner
enrich my head."(11) For what says the apostle? "Whom the Lord loveth,
he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."(12) By the
mouth of Isaiah the Lord speaks thus: "O my people, they who call you
happy cause you to err and destroy the way of your paths."(13) How do
you help me by telling my misdeeds to others? You may, without my
knowing of it, wound some one else by the narration of my sins or
rather of those which you slanderously attribute to me;
and while you are eager to spread the news in I all quarters, you may
pretend to confide in each individual as though you had spoken to no
one else. Such a course has for its object not my correction but the
indulgence of your own failing. The Lord gives commandment that those
who sin against us are to be arraigned privately or else in the
presence of a witness, and that if they refuse to hear reason, the
matter is to be laid before the church, and those who persist in their
wickedness are to be regarded as heathen men and publicans.(1)
20. I lay great emphasis on these points that I may deliver a
young man who is dear to me from the itching both of the tongue and of
the ears: that, since he has been born again in Christ, I may present
him without spot or wrinkle(2) as a chaste virgin,(3) chaste in mind as
well as in body; that the virginity of which he boasts may be more than
nominal and that he may not be shut out by the bridegroom because being
unprovided with the oil of good works his lamp has gone out.(4) In
Proculus you have a reverend and most learned pre-late,(5) able by the
sound of his voice to do more for you than I with my written sheets and
sure to direct you on your path by daily homilies. He will not suffer
you to turn to the right hand or to the left or to leave the king's
highway; for to this Israel pledges itself to keep in its hasty passage
to the land of promise.(6) May God hear the voice of the church's
supplication. "Lord, ordain peace for us, for thou hast also wrought
all our works for us."(7) May our renunciation of the world be made
freely and not under compulsion! May we seek poverty gladly to win its
glory and not suffer anguish because others lay it upon us! For the
rest amid our present miseries with the sword making havoc around us,
he is rich enough who has bread sufficient for his need, and he is
abundantly powerful who is not reduced to be a slave. Exuperius(8)' the
reverend bishop of Toulouse, imitating the widow of Zarephath,(9) feeds
others though hungry himself. His face is pale with fasting, yet it is
the cravings of others that torment him most. In fact he has bestowed
his whole substance to meet the needs of Christ's poor. Yet none is
richer than he, for his wicker basket contains the body of the Lord,
and his plain glass-cup the precious blood. Like his Master he has
banished greed out of the temple; and without either scourge of cords
or words of chiding he has overthrown the chairs of them that sell
doves, that is, the gifts of the
252
Holy Spirit. He has upset the tables of Mammon and has scattered the
money of the money-changers; zealous that the house of God may be
called a house of prayer and not a den of robbers.(1) In his steps
follow closely and in those of others like him in virtue, whom the
priesthood makes poor men and more than ever humble. Or if you will be
perfect, go out with Abraham from your country and from your kindred,
and go whither you know not.(2) If you have substance, sell it and give
to the poor. If you have none, then are yon free from a great burthen.
Destitute yourself, follow a destitute Christ. The task is a hard one,
it is great and difficult; but the reward is also great.
LETTER CXXVI.
TO MARCELLINUS AND ANAPSYCHIA.
Marcellinus, a Roman official of high rank, and Anapsychia his
wife had written to Jerome from Africa to ask him his opinion on the
vexed question of the origin of the soul. Jerome in his reply briefly
enumerates the several views that have been held on the subject. For
fuller information he refers his questioners: to his treatise against
Rufinus and also to their bishop Augustin who will, he says, explain
the matter to them by word of mouth. Although it hardly appears
in this letter Jerome is a decided creationist (see his Comm. on
Eccles. xii. 7). But, though he vehemently condemns Rufinus (Ap.
ii. 10) for professing ignorance on the subject, he assents (Letter
CXXXIV.) to Augustin (Letter CXXXI.) who similarly professes ignorance
but seems to lean to traducianism. The date of writing is A. D. 412.
To his truly holy lord and lady, his children worthy of the
highest respect and affection, Marcellinus and Anapsychia, Jerome sends
greeting.
1. I have at last received from Africa your joint letter and no
longer regret the effrontery which led me, in spite of your silence to
ply you both with so many missives. I hoped, indeed, by so doing to
gain a reply and to learn of your welfare not indirectly from others
but directly from yourselves.
I well remember your little problem about the nature of the
soul; although I ought not to call it little, seeing that it is one of
the greatest with which the church has to deal. You ask whether it has
fallen from heaven, as Pythagoras, all Platonists, and Origen suppose;
or whether it is part of God's essence as the Stoics, Manes, and the
Spanish Priscillianists hint. Whether souls created long since are kept
in God's storehouse as some ecclesiastical writers(3) foolishly
imagine; or whether they are formed by God and introduced into bodies
day by day according to that saying in the Gospel: "my Father
worketh hitherto and I work;"(4) or
whether, lastly, they are transmitted by propagation. This is the view
of Tertullian, Apollinaris, and most western writers who hold that soul
is derived from soul as body is from body and that the conditions of
life are the same for men and brutes. I have given my opinion on the
matter in my reply to the treatise which Rufinus presented to
Anastasius, bishop of Rome, of holy memory. He strives in this by an
evasive and crafty but sufficiently foolish confession to play with the
simplicity of his hearers, but only succeeds in playing with his own
faith or rather want of it. My book,(1) which has been published a good
while, contains an answer to the calumnies which in his various
writings Rufinus has directed against me. Your reverend father
Oceanus(2) has, I think, a copy of it. But if you cannot procure it
your bishop Augustine is both learned and holy. He will teach you by
word of mouth and will give you his opinion, or rather mine, in his own
words.
2. I have long wished to attack the prophecies of Ezekiel and to
make good the promises which I have so often given to curious readers.
When, however, I began to dictate I was so confounded By the havoc
wrought in the West and above all by the sack of Rome that, as the
common saying has it, I forgot even my own name. Long did I remain
silent knowing that it was a time to weep.(3) This year I began again
and had written three books of commentary when a sudden incursion of
those barbarians of whom your Virgil speaks(4) as the "far-wandering
men of Barce" (and to whom may be applied what holy scripture says of
Ishmael: "he shall dwell over against all his brethren"(5)) overran the
borders of Egypt, Palestine, Phenicia, and Syria, and like a raging
torrent carried everything before them. It was with difficulty and only
through Christ's mercy that we were able to escape from their hands.
But if, as the great orator says, "amid the clash of arms law ceases to
he heard;"(6) how much more truly may it be said that war puts an end
to the study of holy scripture. For this requires plenty of books and
silence and careful copyists anti above all freedom from alarm and a
sense of security. I have accordingly only been able to complete two
books and these I have sent to my daughter, Fabiola,(7) from
253
whom you can if you like borrow them. For want of time I have not been
able as yet to transcribe the rest. But when you have read these you
will have seen the ante-chamber and will easily form from this a notion
of the whole edifice. I trust in God's mercy and believe that, as he
has helped me in the difficult opening chapters of the prophecy, so he
will help me in the chapters towards the close. These describe the wars
of Gog and Magog, and set forth the mode of building, the plan, and the
dimensions of the holy and mysterious temple.
3. Our reverend brother Oceanus to whom you desire
an introduction is a great and good man and so learned in the law of
the Lord that no words of mine are needed to make him able and willing
to instruct you both and to explain to you in conformity with the rules
which govern our common studies, my opinion and his on all questions
arising out of the scriptures. In conclusion, my truly holy lord and
lady, may Christ our God by his almighty power have you in his
safekeeping and cause you to live long and happily.
LETTER CXXVII.
TO PRINCIPIA.
This letter is really a memoir of Marcella (for whom see note on Letter
XXIII.) addressed to her greatest friend. After describing her history,
character, and favourite studies, Jerome goes on to recount her eminent
services in the cause of orthodoxy at a time when, through the efforts
of Rufinus, it seemed likely that Origenism would prevail at Rome ( 9,
10). He briefly relates the fall of the city and the horrors consequent
upon it ( 12, 13) which appear to have been the immediate cause of
Marcella's death ( 14). The date of the letter is 412 A.D.
1. You have besought me often and earnestly,
Principia,(1) virgin of Christ, to dedicate a letter to the memory of
that holy woman Marcella,(2) and to set forth the goodness long enjoyed
by us for others to know and to imitate. I am so anxious myself to do
justice to her merits that it grieves me that you should spur me on and
fancy that your entreaties are needed when I do not yield even to you
in love of her. In putting upon record her signal virtues I shall
receive far more benefit myself than I can possibly confer upon others.
If I have hitherto remained silent and have allowed two years to go
over without making any sign, this has not been owing to a wish to
ignore her as you wrongly suppose, but to an incredible sorrow which so
overcame my mind that I judged it better to remain silent for a while
than to praise her virtues in inadequate language. Neither will I now
follow the rules of rhetoric in eulogizing one so dear to both of us
and to all the saints, Mar-cella the glory of her native Rome. I will
not set forth her illustrious family and lofty lineage, nor will I
trace her pedigree through a line of consuls and praetorian prefects. I
will praise her for nothing but the virtue which is her own and which
is the more noble, because forsaking both wealth and rank she has
sought the true nobility of poverty and lowliness.
2. Her father's death left her an orphan, and she
had been married less than seven months when her husband was taken from
her. Then as she was young, and highborn, as well as distinguished for
her beauty--always an attraction to men--and her self-control, an
illustrious consular named Cerealis paid court to her with great
assiduity. Being an old man he offered to make over to her his fortune
so that she might consider herself less his wife than his daughter. Her
mother Albina went out of her way to secure for the young widow so
exalted a protector. But Marcella answered: "had I a wish to marry and
not rather to dedicate myself to perpetual chastity, I should look for
a husband and not for an inheritance;" and when her suitor argued that
sometimes old men live long while young men die early, she cleverly
retorted: "a young man may indeed die early, but an old man cannot live
long." This decided rejection of Cerealis convinced others that they
had no hope of winning her hand.
In the gospel according to Luke we read the
following passage: "there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of
Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of great age, and had lived with
an husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about
fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple but served
God with fastings and prayers night and day."(1) It was no marvel that
she won the vision of the Saviour, whom she sought so earnestly. Let us
then compare her case with that of Marcella and we shall see that the
latter has every way the advantage. Anna lived with her husband seven
years; Marcella seven months. Anna only hoped for Christ; Marcella held
Him fast. Anna confessed him at His birth; Marcella believed in Him
crucified. Anna did not deny the Child; Marcella rejoiced in the Man as
king. I do not wish to draw distinctions between holy women on the
score of their merits, as some persons have made it a custom to do as
regards holy men and leaders of churches; the conclusion at which I aim
is that, as both have one task, so both have one reward.
254
3. In a slander-loving community such as Rome,
filled as it formerly was with people from all parts and bearing the
palm for wickedness of all kinds, detraction assailed the upright and
strove to defile even the pure and the clean. In such an atmosphere it
is hard to escape from the breath of calumny. A stainless reputation is
difficult nay almost impossible to attain; the prophet yearns for it
but hardly hopes to win it: "Blessed," he says, "are the undefiled in
the way who walk in the law of the Lord."(1) The undefiled in the way
of this world are those whose fair fame no breath of scandal has ever
sullied, and who have earned no reproach at the hands of their
neighbours. It is this which makes the Saviour say in the gospel:
"agree with," or be complaisant to, "thine adversary whilst thou art in
the way with him."(2) Who ever heard a slander of Marcella that
deserved the least credit? Or who ever credited such without making
himself guilty of malice and defamation? No; she put the Gentiles to
confusion by shewing them the nature of that Christian widowhood which
her conscience and mien alike set forth. For women of the world are
wont to paint their faces with rouge and white-lead, to wear robes of
shining silk, to adorn themselves with jewels, to put gold chains round
their necks, to pierce their ears and hang in them the costliest pearls
of the Red Sea,(3) and to scent themselves with musk. While they mourn
for the husbands they have lost they rejoice at their own deliverance
and freedom to choose fresh partners--not, as God wills, to obey
these(4) but to rule over them.
With this object in view they select for their
partners poor men who contented with the mere name of husbands are the
more ready to put up with rivals as they know that, if they so much as
murmur, they will be cast off at once. Our widow's clothing was meant
to keep out the cold and not to shew her figure. Of gold she would not
wear so much as a seal-ring, choosing to store her money in the
stomachs of the poor rather than to keep it at her own disposal. She
went nowhere without her mother, and would never see without witnesses
such monks and clergy as the needs of a large house required her to
interview. Her train was always composed of virgins and widows, and
these women serious and staid; for, as she well knew, the levity of the
maids speaks ill for the mistress and a woman's character is shewn by
her choice of companions.(5)
4. Her delight in the divine scriptures was
incredible. She was for ever singing, "Thy words have I hid in mine
heart that I might not sin against thee,"(1) as well as the words which
describe the perfect man, "his delight is in the law of the Lord; and
in his law doth he meditate day and night."(2) This meditation in the
law she understood not of a review of the written words as among the
Jews the Pharisees think, but of action according to that saying of the
apostle, "whether, therefore, ye eat or drink or what soever ye do, do
all to the glory of God."(3) She remembered also the prophet's words,
"through thy precepts I get understanding,"(4) and felt sure that only
when she had fulfilled these would she be permitted to understand the
scriptures. In this sense we read elsewhere that "Jesus began both to
do and teach."(5) For teaching is put to the blush when a man's
conscience rebukes him; and it is in vain that his tongue preaches
poverty or teaches alms-giving if he is rolling in the riches of
Croesus and if, in spite of his threadbare cloak, he has silken robes
at home to save from the moth.
Marcella practised fasting, but in moderation. She
abstained from eating flesh, and she knew rather the scent of wine than
its taste; touching it only for her stomach's sake and for her often
infirmities.(6) She seldom appeared in public and took care to avoid
the houses of great ladies, that she might not be forced to look upon
what she had once for all renounced. She frequented the basilicas of
apostles and martyrs that she might escape from the throng and give
herself to private prayer. So obedient was she to her mother that for
her sake she did things of which she herself disapproved. For example,
when her mother, careless of her own offspring, was for transferring
all her property from her children and grandchildren to her brother's
family, Marcella wished the money to be given to the poor instead, and
yet could not bring herself to thwart her parent. Therefore she made
over her ornaments and other effects to persons already rich, content
to throw away her money rather than to sadden her mother's heart.
5. In those days no highborn lady at Rome had made
profession of the monastic life, or had ventured--so strange and
ignominious and degrading did it then seem--publicly to call
herself a nun. It was from some priests of Alexandria, and from pope
Athanasius, and subsequently from Peter,(7) who, to escape the
persecution of the Arian heretics, had all fled for refuge to Rome as
the safest haven in which they could find communion--it was from these
that Marcella heard of the life of the blessed Antony, then still
alive, and of the
255
monasteries in the Thebaid founded by Pachomius, and of the discipline
laid down for virgins and for widows. Nor was she ashamed to profess a
life which she had thus learned to be pleasing to Christ. Many years
after her example was followed first by Sophronia and then by others,
of whom it may be well said in the words of Ennius:(1)
Would that ne'er in Pelion's woods
Had the axe these pinetrees felled.
My revered friend Paula was blessed with Marcella's friendship, and it
was in Marcella's cell that Eustochium, that paragon of virgins, was
gradually trained. Thus it is easy to see of what type the mistress was
who found such pupils.
The unbelieving reader may perhaps laugh at me for
dwelling so long on the praises of mere women; yet if he will but
remember how holy women followed our Lord and Saviour and ministered to
Him of their substance, and how the three Marys stood before the cross
and especially how Mary Magdalen--called the tower(2) from the
earnestness and glow of her faith--was privileged to see the rising
Christ first of all before the very apostles, he will convict himself
of pride sooner than me of folly. For we judge of people's virtue not
by their sex but by their character, and hold those to be worthy of the
highest glory who have renounced both rank and wealth. It was for this
reason that Jesus loved the evangelist John more than the other
disciples. For John was of noble birth(3) and known to the high priest,
yet was so little appalled by the plottings of the Jews that he
introduced Peter into his court,(4) and was the only one of the
apostles bold enough to take his stand before the cross. For it was he
who took the Saviour's parent to his own home;(5) it was the virgin
son(6) who received the virgin mother as a legacy from the Lord.
6. Marcella then lived the ascetic life for many
years, and found herself old before she bethought herself that she had
once been young. She often quoted with approval Plato's saying that
philosophy consists in meditating on death.(7) A truth which our own
apostle indorses when he says: "for your salvation I die daily."(8)
Indeed according to the old copies our Lord himself says: "whosoever
doth not bear His cross daily and come after me cannot be my
disciple."(1) Ages before, the Holy Spirit had said by the prophet:
"for thy sake are we killed all the day long: we are counted as sheep
for the slaughter.(2) Many generations afterwards the words were
spoken: "remember the end and thou shalt never do amiss,(3) as well as
that precept of the eloquent satirist: "live with death in your mind;
time flies; this say of mine is so much taken from it.(4) Well then, as
I was saying, she passed her days and lived always in the thought that
she must die. Her very clothing was such as to remind her of the tomb,
and she presented herself as a living sacrifice, reasonable and
acceptable, unto God.(5)
7. When the needs of the Church at length brought me
to Rome(6) in company with the reverend pontiffs, Paulinus and
Epiphanius--the first of whom ruled the church of the Syrian Antioch
while the second presided over that of Salamis in Cyprus,--I in my
modesty was for avoiding the eyes of highborn ladies, yet she pleaded
so earnestly, "both in season and out of season"(7) as the apostle
says, that at last her perseverance overcame my reluctance. And, as in
those days my name was held in some renown as that of a student of the
scriptures, she never came to see me that she did not ask me some
question concerning them, nor would she at once acquiesce in my
explanations but on the contrary would dispute them; not, however, for
argument's sake but to learn the answers to those objections which
might, as she saw, be made to my statements. How much virtue and
ability, how much holiness and purity I found in her I am afraid to
say; both lest I may exceed the bounds of men's belief and lest I may
increase your sorrow by reminding you of the blessings that you have
lost. This much only will I say, that whatever in me was the fruit of
long study and as such made by constant meditation a part of my nature,
this she tasted, this she learned and made her own. Consequently after
my departure from Rome, in case of a dispute arising as to the
testimony of scripture on any subject, recourse was had to her to
settle it. And so wise was she and so well did she understand what
phi-losphers call <greek>to</greek>
<greek>prepon</greek>, that is, the becoming, in what she
did, that when she answered questions she gave her own opinion not as
her own but as from me or some one else, thus admitting that what she
taught she had herself learned from others. For she knew that the
apostle had said: "I suffer not a
256
woman to teach,"(1) and she would not seem to inflict a wrong upon the
male sex many of whom (including sometimes priests) questioned her
concerning obscure and doubtful points.
8. I am told that my place with her was immediately
taken by you, that you attached yourself to her, and that, as the
saying goes, you never let even a hair's-breadth(2) come between her
and you. You both lived in the same house and occupied the same room so
that every one in the city knew for certain that you had found a mother
in her and she a daughter in you. In the suburbs you found for
yourselves a monastic seclusion, and chose the country instead of the
town because of its loneliness. For a long time you lived together, and
as many ladies shaped their conduct by your examples, I had the joy of
seeing Rome transformed into another Jerusalem. Monastic establishments
for virgins became numerous, and of hermits there were countless
numbers. In fact so many were the servants of God that monasticism
which had before been a term of reproach became subsequently one of
honour. Meantime we consoled each other for our separation by words of
mutual encouragement, and discharged in the spirit the debt which in
the flesh we could not pay. We always went to meet each other's
letters, tried to outdo each other in attentions, and anticipated each
other in courteous inquiries. Not much was lost by a separation thus
effectually bridged by a constant correspondence.
9. While Marcella was thus serving the Lord in holy
tranquillity, there arose in these provinces a tornado of heresy which
threw everything into confusion; indeed so great was the fury into
which it lashed itself that it spared neither itself nor anything that
was good. And as if it were too little to have disturbed everything
here, it introduced a ship(3) freighted with blasphemies into the port
of Rome itself. The dish soon found itself a cover;(4) and the muddy
feet of heretics fouled the clear waters(5) of the faith of Rome. No
wonder that in the streets and in the market places a soothsayer can
strike fools on the back or, Catching up his cudgel, shatter the teeth
of such as carp at him; when such venomous and filthy teaching as this
has found at Rome dupes whom it can lead astray. Next came the
scandalous version(6) of Origen's book On First Principles, and that
'fortunate' disciple(7) who would have been indeed fortunate had he
never fallen in with such a master. Next followed the confutation set
forth by my supporters, which destroyed the case of the Pharisees(1)
and threw them into confusion. It was then that the holy Marcella, who
had long held back lest she should be thought to act from party
motives, threw herself into the breach. Conscious that the faith of
Rome--once praised by an apostle(2)--was now in danger, and that this
new heresy was drawing to itself not only i priests and monks but also
many of the laity besides imposing on the bishop(3) who fancied others
as guileless as he was himself, she publicly withstood its teachers
choosing to please God rather than men.
10. In the gospel the Saviour commends the unjust
steward because, although he defrauded his master, he acted wisely for
his own interests.(4) The heretics in this instance pursued the same
course; for, seeing how great a matter a little fire had kindled,(5)
and that the flames applied by them to the foundations had by this time
reached the housetops, and that the deception practised on many could
no longer be hid, they asked for and obtained letters of commendation
from the church,(6) so that it might appear that till the day of their
departure they had continued in full communion with it. Shortly
afterwards(7) the distinguished Anastasius succeeded to the
pontificate; but he was soon taken away, for it was not fitting that
the head of the world should be struck off(8) during the episcopate of
one so great. He was removed, no doubt, that he might not seek to turn
away by his prayers the sentence of God passed once for all. For the
words of the Lord to Jeremiah concerning Israel applied equally to
Rome: "pray not for this people for their good. When they fast I will
not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt-offering and oblation, I
will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword and by the
famine and by the pestilence."(9) You will say, what has this to do
with the praises of Marcella? I reply, She it was who originated the
condemnation of the heretics. She it was who furnished witnesses first
taught by them and then carried away by their heretical teaching. She
it was who showed how large a number they had deceived and who brought
up against them the impious books On First Principles, books which were
passing from hand to hand after being 'improved' by the hand of the
scorpion.(10)
257
She it was lastly who called on the heretics in letter after letter to
appear in their own defence. They did not indeed venture to come, for
they were so conscience-stricken that they let the case go against them
by default rather than face their accusers and be convicted by them.
This glorious victory originated with Marcella, she was the source and
cause of this great blessing. You who shared the honour with her know
that I speak the truth. You know too that out of many incidents I only
mention a few, not to tire out the reader by a wearisome
recapitulation. Were I to say more, ill natured persons might fancy me,
under pretext of commending a woman's virtues, to be giving vent to my
own rancour. I will pass now to the remainder of my story.
11. The whirlwind(1) passed from the West into the
East and threatened in its passage to shipwreck many a noble craft.
Then were the words of Jesus fulfilled: "when the son of man cometh,
shall he find faith on the earth?"(2) The love of many waxed cold.(3)
Yet the few who still loved the true faith rallied to my side. Men
openly sought to take their lives and every expedient was employed
against them. So hotly indeed did the persecution rage that "Barnabas
also was carried away with their dissimulation;"(4) nay more he
committed murder, if not in actual violence at least in will. Then
behold God blew and the tempest passed away; so that the prediction of
the prophet was fulfilled, "thou takest away their breath, they die,
and return to their dust.(5) In that very day his thoughts perish,"(6)
as also the gospel-saying, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be
required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast
provided?"(7)
12. Whilst these things were happening in Jebus(8) a
dreadful rumour came from the West. Rome had been besieged(9) and its
citizens had been forced to buy their lives with gold. Then thus
despoiled they had been besieged again so as to lose not their
substance only but their lives. My voice sticks in my throat; and, as I
dictate, sobs choke my utterance. The City which had taken the whole
world was itself taken;(10) nay more famine was beforehand with the
sword and but few citizens were left to be made captives. In their
frenzy the starving people had recourse to hideous food; and tore each
other limb from limb that they might have flesh to eat. Even the mother
did not spare the babe at her breast. In the night was Moab taken, in
the night did her wall fall down.(1) "O God, the heathen have come into
thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have made
Jerusalem an orchard.(2) The dead bodies of thy servants have they
given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints
unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water
round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them."(3)
Who can set forth the carnage of that night?
What tears are equal to its agony?
Of ancient date a sovran city falls;
And lifeless in its streets and houses lie
Unnumbered bodies of its citizens.
In many a ghastly shape doth death appear.(4)
13. Meantime, as was natural in a scene of such
confusion, one of the bloodstained victors found his way into
Marcella's house. Now be it mine to say what I have heard,(6) to relate
what holy men have seen; for there were some such present and they say
that you too were with her in the hour of danger. When the soldiers
entered she is said to have received them without any look of alarm;
and when they asked her for gold she pointed to her coarse dress to
shew them that she had no buried treasure. However they would not
believe in her self-chosen poverty, but scourged her and beat her with
cudgels. She is said to have felt no pain but to have thrown herself at
their feet and to have pleaded with tears for you, that you might not
be taken from her, or owing to your youth have to endure what she as an
old woman had no occasion to fear. Christ softened their hard hearts
and even among bloodstained swords natural affection asserted its
rights. The barbarians conveyed both you and her to the basilica of the
apostle Paul, that you might find there either a place of safety or, if
not that, at least a tomb. Hereupon Marcella is said to have burst into
great joy and to have thanked God for having kept you unharmed in
answer to her prayer. She said she was thankful too that the taking of
the city had found her poor, not made her so, that she was now in want
of daily bread, that Christ satisfied her needs so that she no longer
felt hunger, that she was able to say in word and in deed: "naked came
I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord
gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."(5)
14. After a few days she fell asleep in the Lord;
but to the last her powers remained unimpaired. You she made the heir
of her
258
poverty, or rather the poor through you. When she closed her eyes, it
was in your arms; when she breathed her last breath, your lips received
it; you shed tears but she smiled conscious of having led a good life
and hoping for her reward hereafter.
In one short night I have dictated this letter in
honour of you, revered Marcella, and of you, my daughter Principia; not
to shew off my own eloquence but to express my heartfelt gratitude to
you both; my one desire has been to please both God and my readers.
LETTER CXXVIII.
TO GAUDENTIUS.
Gaudentius had written from Rome to ask Jerome's
advice as to the bringing up of his infant daughter whom after the
religious fashion of the day he had dedicated to a life of virginity.
Jerome's reply may be compared with his advice to Laeta (Letter CVII.)
which it closely resembles. It is noticeable also for the vivid account
which it gives of the sack of Rome by Alaric in A.D. 410. The date of
the letter is A.D. 413.
1. It is hard to write to a little girl who cannot
understand what you say, of whose mind you know nothing, and of whose
inclinations it would be rash to prophesy. In the words of a famous
orator "she is to be praised more for what she will be than for what
she is."(1) For how can you speak of self-control to a child who is
eager for cakes, who babbles on her mother's knee, and to whom honey is
sweeter than any words? Will she hear the deep things of the apostle
when all her delight is in nursery tales? Will she heed the dark
sayings of the prophets when her nurse can frighten her by a frowning
face? Or will she comprehend the majesty of the gospel, when its
splendour dazzles the keenest intellect? Shall I urge her to obey her
parents when with her chubby hand she beats her smiling mother? For
such reasons as these my dear Pacatula must read some other time the
letter that I send her now. Meanwhile let her learn the alphabet,
spelling, grammar, and syntax. To induce her to repeat her lessons with
her little shrill voice, hold out to her as rewards cakes and mead and
sweetmeats.(2) She will make haste to perform her task if she hopes
afterwards to get some bright bunch of flowers, some glittering bauble,
some enchanting doll. She must also learn to spin, shaping the yarn
with her tender thumb; for, even if she constantly breaks the threads,
a day will come when she will no longer break them. Then when she has
finished her lessons she ought to have some recreation. At such times
she may hang round her mother's neck, or snatch kisses from her
relations. Reward her for singing psalms that she may love what she has
to learn. Her task will then become a pleasure to her and no compulsion
will be necessary.
2. Some mothers when they have vowed a daughter to
virginity clothe her in sombre garments, wrap her up in a dark cloak,
and let her have neither linen nor gold ornaments. They wisely refuse
to accustom her to what she will afterwards have to lay aside. Others
act on the opposite principle. "What is the use," say they, "of keeping
such things from her? Will she not see them with others? Women are fond
of finery and many whose chastity is beyond question dress not for men
but for themselves Give her what she asks for, but shew her that those
are most praised who ask for nothing. It is better that she should
enjoy things to the full and so learn to despise them than that from
not having them she should wish to have them." "This," they continue,
"was the plan which the Lord adopted with the children of Israel. When
they longed for the fleshpots of Egypt He sent them flights of quails
and allowed them to gorge themselves until they were sick.(1) Those who
have once lived worldly lives more readily forego the pleasures of
sense than such as from their youth up have known nothing of desire."
For while the former--so they argue--trample on what they know, the
latter are attracted by what is to them unknown. While the former
penitently shun the insidious advances which pleasure makes, the latter
coquet with the allurements of sense and fancying them to be as sweet
as honey find them to be deadly poison. They quote the passage which
says that "the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb;"(2) which
is sweet indeed in the eater's mouth but is afterwards found more
bitter than gall.(3) This they argue, is the reason that neither honey
nor wax is offered in the sacrifices of the Lord,(4) and that oil the
product of the bitter olive is burned in His temple.(5) Moreover it is
with bitter herbs that the passover is eaten,(6) and "with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."(7) He that receives these
shall suffer persecution in the world. Wherefore the prophet
symbolically sings: "I sat alone because I was filled with
bitterness."(8)
3. What then, I reply? Is youth to run riot that
self-indulgence may afterwards be more resolutely rejected? Far from
it, they rejoin: "let every man, wherein he is called, therein
abide.(9) Is any called being circumcised,"--
259
that is, as a virgin?--"let him not become uncircumcised"(1)--that is,
let him not seek the coat of marriage given to Adam on his expulsion
from the paradise of virginity.(2) "Is any called in
uncircumcision,"--that is, having a wife and enveloped in the skin of
matrimony? let him not seek the nakedness of virginity(3) and of that
eternal chastity which he has lost once for all. No, let him "possess
his vessel in sanctification and honour,"(4) let him drink of his own
wells not out of the dissolute cisterns(5) of the harlots which cannot
hold within them the pure waters of chastity.(6) The same Paul also in
the same chapter, when discussing the subjects of virginity and
marriage, calls those who are married slaves of the flesh, but those
not under the yoke of wedlock free-men who serve the Lord in all
freedom.(7)
What I say I do not say as universally applicable;
my treatment of the subject is only partial. I speak of some only, not
of all. However my words are addressed to those of both sexes, and not
only to "the weaker vessel."(8) Are you a virgin? Why then do you find
pleasure in the society of a woman? Why do you commit to the high seas
your frail patched boat, why do you so confidently face the great peril
of a dangerous voyage? You know not what you desire, and yet you cling
to her as though you had either desired her before or, to put it as
leniently as possible, as though you would hereafter desire her. Women,
you will say, make better servants than men. In that case choose a
misshapen old woman, choose one whose continence is approved in the
Lord. Why should you find pleasure in a young girl, pretty, and
voluptuous? You frequent the baths, walk abroad sleek and ruddy, eat
flesh, abound in riches, and wear the most expensive clothes; and yet
you fancy that you can sleep safely beside a death-dealing serpent. You
tell me perhaps that you do not live in the same house with her. This
is only true at night. But you spend whole days in conversing with her.
Why do you sit alone with her? Why do you dispense with witnesses? By
so doing if you do not actually sin you appear to do so, and (so
important is your influence) you embolden unhappy men by your example
to do what is wrong. You too, whether virgin or widow, why do you
allow a man to detain you in conversation so long? Why are you not
afraid to be left alone with him? At least go out of doors to
satisfy the wants of nature, and for this at any rate leave the man
with whom you have given yourself more liberty than you would with your
brother, and have behaved more immodestly than you would with your
husband. You have some question, you say, to ask concerning the holy
scriptures. If so, ask it publicly; let your maids and your attendants
hear it. "Everything that is made manifest is light."(1) He who says
only what he ought does not look for a corner to say it in; he is glad
to have hearers for he likes to be praised. He must be a fine teacher,
on the other hand, who thinks little of men, does not care for the
brothers, and labours in secret merely to instruct just one weak woman!
3a. l have wandered for a little from my immediate
subject to discuss the procedure of others in such a case as yours; and
while it is my object to train, nay rather to nurse, the infant
Pacatula, I have in a moment drawn upon myself the hostility of many
women who are by no means daughters of peace.(2)But I shall now return
to my proper theme.
A girl should associate only with girls, she should
know nothing of boys and should dread even playing with them. She
should never hear an unclean word, and if amid the bustle of the
household she should chance to hear one, she should not understand it.
Her mother's nod should be to her as much a command as a spoken
injunction. She should love her as her parent, obey her as her
mistress, and reverence her as her teacher. She is now a child without
teeth and without ideas, but, as soon as she is seven years old, a
blushing girl knowing what she ought not to say and hesitating as to
what she ought, she should until she is grown up commit to memory the
psalter and the books of Solomon; the gospels, the apostles and the
prophets should be the treasure of her heart. She should not appear in
public too freely or too frequently attend crowded churches. All her
pleasure should be in her chamber. She must never look at young men or
turn her eyes upon curled fops; and the wanton songs of sweet voiced
girls which wound the soul through the ears must be kept from her. The
more freedom of access such persons possess, the harder is it to avoid
them when they come; and what they have once learned themselves they
will secretly teach her and will thus contaminate our secluded Danae by
the talk of the crowd. Give her for guardian and companion a mistress
and a governess, one not given to much wine or in the apostle's words
idle and a tattler, but sober, grave, industrious in spinning wool(3)
and one whose words will form her childish mind to the practice of
virtue. For, as water follows a finger drawn
260
through the sand, so one of soft and tender years is pliable for good
or evil; she can be drawn in whatever direction you choose to guide
her. Moreover spruce and gay young men often seek access for themselves
by paying court to nurses or dependants or even by bribing them, and
when they have thus gently effected their approach they blow up the
first spark of passion until it bursts into flame and little by little
advance to the most shameless requests. And it is quite impossible to
check them then, for the verse is proved true in their case: "It is ill
rebuking what you have once allowed to become ingrained."(1) I am
ashamed to say it and yet I must; high born ladies who have rejected
more high born suitors cohabit with men of the lowest grade and even
with slaves. Sometimes in the name of religion and under the cloak of a
desire for celibacy they actually desert their husbands in favour of
such paramours. You may often see a Helen following her Paris without
the smallest dread of Menelaus. Such persons we see and mourn for but
we cannot punish, for the multitude of sinners procures tolerance for
the sin.
4. The world sinks into ruin: yes! but shameful to
say our sins still live and flourish. The renowned city, the capital of
the Roman Empire, is swallowed up in one tremendous fire; and there is
no part of the earth where Romans are not in exile. Churches once held
sacred are now but heaps of dust and ashes; and yet we have our minds
set on the desire of gain. We live as though we are going to die
tomorrow; yet we build as though we are going to live always in this
world.(2) Our walls shine with gold, our ceilings also and the capitals
of our pillars; yet Christ dies before our doors naked and hungry in
the persons of His poor. The pontiff Aaron, we read, faced the raging
flames, and by putting fire in his censer checked the wrath of God. The
High Priest stood between the dead and the living, and the fire dared
not pass his feet.(3) On another occasion God said to Moses, "Let me
alone ... that I may consume this people,"(4) shewing by the words "let
me alone" that he can be withheld from doing what he threatens. The
prayers of His servant hindered His power. Who, think you, is there now
under heaven able to stay God's wrath, to face the flame of His
judgment, and to say with the apostle, "I could wish that I myself were
accursed for my brethren"?(5) Flocks and shepherds perish together,
because as it is with the people, so is it with the priest.(6) Of old
it was not so. Then Moses spoke in a passion of pity, "yet now if thou
wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy
book."(1) He is not satisfied to secure his own salvation, he desires
to perish with those that perish. And he is right, for "in the
multitude of people is the king's honour."(2)
Such are the times in which our little Pacatula is
born. Such are the swaddling clothes in which she draws her first
breath; she is destined to know of tears before laughter and to feel
sorrow sooner than joy. And hardly does she come upon the stage when
she is called on to make her exit. Let her then suppose that the world
has always been what it is now. Let her know nothing of the past,
let her shun the present, and let her long for the future.
These thoughts of mine are but hastily mustered. For
my grief for lost friends has known no intermission and only recently
have I recovered sufficient composure to write an old man's letter to a
little child. My affection for you, brother Gaudentius, has induced me
to make the attempt and I have thought it better to say a few words
than to say nothing at all. The grief that paralyses my will will
excuse my brevity; whereas, were I to say nothing, the sincerity of my
friendship might well be doubted.
LETTER CXXIX.
TO DARDANUS.
In answer to a question put by Dardanus, prefect of
Gaul, Jerome writes concerning the Promised Land which he identifies
not with Canaan but with heaven. He then points out that the present
sufferings of the Jews are due altogether to the crime of which they
have been guilty in the crucifixion of Christ. The date of the letter
is 414 A.D.
LETTER CXXX.
TO DEMETRIAS.
Jerome writes to Demetrias, a highborn lady of Rome
who had recently embraced the vocation of a virgin. After narrating her
life's history first at Rome and then in Africa, he goes on to lay down
rules and principles to guide her in her new life. These which cover
the whole field of ascetic practice and include the duties of study, of
prayer, of fasting, of obedience, of giving up money for Christ, and of
constant industry, are in substance similar to those which thirty years
before Jerome had suggested to Eustochium (Letter XXII.). The tone of
the letter is however milder and less fanatical; the asceticism
recommended is not so severe; there is less of rhapsody and more of
common sense. This letter should also be compared with the letter
addressed to Demetrias by Pelagius, which is given in Vol. xi. of
Jerome's works (Migne's Patr. Lat. xxx. ed. 15). The date is 414 A.D.
1. Of all the subjects that I have treated from my
youth up until now, either with my
261
own pen or that of my secretaries I have dealt with none more difficult
than that which now occupies me. I am going to write to Demetrias a
virgin of Christ and a lady whose birth and riches make her second to
none in the Roman world. If, therefore, I employ language adequate to
describe her virtue, I shall be thought to flatter her; and if I
suppress some details on the score that they might appear incredible,
my reserve will not do justice to her undoubted merits. What am I to do
then? I am unequal to the task before me, yet I cannot venture to
decline it. Her grandmother and her mother are both women of mark, and
they have alike authority to command, faith to seek and perseverance to
obtain that which they require. It is not indeed anything very new or
special that they ask of me; my wits have often been exercised upon
similar themes. What they wish for is that I should raise my voice and
bear witness as strongly as I can to the virtues of one who--in the
words of the famous orator(1)--is to be praised less for what she is
than for what she gives promise of being. Yet, girl though she is, she
has a glowing faith beyond her years, and has started from a point at
which others think it a mark of signal virtue to leave off.
2. Let detraction stand aloof and envy give way; let
no charge of self seeking be brought against me. I write as a stranger
to a stranger: at least so far as the personal appearance is concerned.
For the inner man finds itself well known by that knowledge whereby the
apostle Paul knew the Colossians and many other believers whom he had
never seen. How high an esteem I entertain for this virgin, nay more
what a miracle of virtue I think her, you may judge by the fact that
being occupied in the explanation of Ezekiel's description of the
temple--the hardest piece in the whole range of scripture--and finding
myself in that part of the sacred edifice wherein is the Holy of Holies
and the altar of incense, I have chosen by way of a brief rest to pass
from that altar to this, that upon it I might consecrate to eternal
chastity a living offering acceptable to God(2) and free from all
stain. I am aware that the bishop(3) has with words of prayer covered
her holy head with the virgin's bridal-veil, reciting the while the
solemn sentence of the apostle: "I wish to present you all as a chaste
virgin to Christ."(4) She stood as a queen at his right hand, her
clothing of wrought gold and her raiment of needlework.(5) Such was the
coat of many colours, that is, formed of many different virtues, which
Joseph wore; and similar ones were of old the ordinary dress of king's
daughters. Thereupon(1) the bride herself rejoices and says: "the king
hath brought me into his chambers,''(2) and the choir of her companions
responds: "the king's daughter is all glorious within."(3) Thus she is
a professed virgin. Still these words of mine will not be without their
use. The speed of racehorses is quickened by the applause of
spectators; prize fighters are urged to greater efforts by the cries of
their backers; and when armies are drawn up for battle and swords are
drawn, the general's speech does much to fire his soldiers' valour. So
also is it on the present occasion. The grandmother and the mother have
planted, but it is I that water and the Lord that giveth the
increase.(4)
3. It is the practice of the rhetoricians to exalt
him who is the subject of their praises by referring to his forefathers
and the past nobility of his race, so that a fertile root may make up
for barren branches and that you may admire in the stem what you have
not got in the fruit. Thus I ought now to recall the distinguished
names of the Probi and of the Olybrii, and that illustrious Anician
house, the representatives of which have seldom or never been unworthy
of the consulship. Or I ought to bring forward Olybrius our virgin's
father, whose untimely loss Rome has had to mourn. I fear to say more
of him, lest I should intensify the pain of your saintly mother, and
lest the commemoration of his virtues should become a renewing of her
grief. He was a dutiful son, a loveable husband, a kind master, a
popular citizen. He was made consul while still a boy;(5) but the
goodness of his character made him more illustrious as a senator. He
was happy in his death(6) for it saved him from seeing the ruin of his
country; and happier still in his offspring, for the distinguished name
of his great grandmother Demetrias has become yet more distinguished
now that his daughter Demetrias has vowed herself to perpetual chastity.
4. But what am I doing? Forgetful of my purpose and
filled with admiration for this young man, I have spoken in terms of
praise of mere worldly advantages; whereas I should rather have
commended our virgin for having rejected all these, and for having
determined to regard herself not as a wealthy or a high born lady, but
simply as a woman like other women. Her strength of mind almost passes
belief. Though she had silks and jewels freely at her disposal, and
though
262
she was surrounded by crowds of eunuchs and serving-women, a bustling
household of flattering and attentive domestics, and though the
daintiest feasts that the abundance of a large house could supply were
daily set before her; she preferred to all these severe fasting, rough
clothing, and frugal living. For she had read the words of the Lord:
"they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses."(1) She was filled
with admiration for the manner of life followed by Elijah and by John
the Baptist; both of whom confined and mortified their loins with
girdles of skin,(2) while the second of them is said to have come in
the spirit and power of Elijah as the forerunner of the Lord.(3) As
such he prophesied while still in his mother's womb,(4) and before the
day of judgment won the commendation of the Judge.(5) She admired also
the zeal of Anna the daughter of Phanuel, who continued even to extreme
old age to serve the Lord in the temple with prayers and fastings.(6)
When she thought of the four virgins who were the daughters of
Philip,(7) she longed to join their band and to be numbered with those
who by their virginal purity have attained the grace of prophecy. With
these and similar meditations she fed her mind, dreading nothing so
much as to offend her grandmother and her mother. Although she was
encouraged by their example, she was discouraged by their expressed
wish and desire; not indeed that they disapproved of her holy purpose,
but that the prize was so great that they did not venture to hope for
it, or to aspire to it. Thus this poor novice in Christ's service was
sorely perplexed. She came to hate all her fine apparel and cried like
Esther to the Lord: "Thou knowest that I abhor the sign of my high
estate"--that is to say, the diadem which she wore as queen--"and that
I abhor it as a menstruous rag."(8) Among the holy and highborn ladies
who have seen and known her some have been driven by the tempest which
has swept over Africa, from the shores of Gaul to a refuge in the holy
places. These tell me that secretly night after night, though no one
knew of it but the virgins dedicated to God in her mother's and
grandmother's retinue, Demetrias, refusing sheets of linen and beds of
down, spread a rug of goat's hair upon the ground and watered her face
with ceaseless tears. Night after night she cast herself in thought at
the Saviour's knees and implored him to accept her choice, to fulfil
her aspiration, and to soften the hearts of her grandmother and of her
mother.
5. Why do I still delay to relate the sequel? When
her wedding day was now close at hand and when a marriage chamber was
being got ready for the bride and bridegroom; secretly without any
witnesses and with only the night to comfort her, she is said to have
nerved herself with such considerations as these: "What ails you,
Demetrias? Why are you so fearful of defending your chastity? What you
need is freedom and courage. If you are so panic-stricken in time of
peace, what would you do if you were called on to undergo martyrdom? If
you cannot bear so much as a frown from your own, how would you steel
yourself to face the tribunals of persecutors? If men's examples leave
you unmoved, at least gather courage and confidence from the blessed
martyr Agnes(1) who vanquished the temptations both of youth and of a
despot and by her martyrdom hallowed the very name of chastity. Unhappy
girl! you know not, you know not to whom your virginity is due. It is
not long since you have trembled in the hands of the barbarians and
clung to your grandmother and your mother cowering under their cloaks
for safety. You have seen yourself a prisoner(2) and your chastity not
in your own power. You have shuddered at the fierce looks of your
enemies; you have seen with secret agony the virgins of God ravished.
Your city, once the capital of the world, is now the grave of the Roman
people; and will you on the shores of Libya, yourself an exile, accept
an exile for a husband? Where will you find a matron to be present at
your bridal?(3) Whom will you get to escort you home? No tongue but a
harsh Punic one will sing for you the wanton Fescennine verses.(4) Away
with all hesitations! 'Perfect love' of God 'casteth out fear.'(5) Take
to yourself the shield of faith, the breastplate of righteousness, the
helmet of salvation,(6) and sally forth to battle. The preservation of
your chastity involves a martyrdom of its own. Why do you fear your
grandmother? Why do you dread your mother? Perhaps they may themselves
wish for you a course which they do not think you wish for yourself."
When by these and other arguments she had wrought herself to the
necessary pitch of resolution, she cast from her as so many hindrances
all her ornaments and worldly attire.
263
Her precious necklaces, costly pearls, and glowing gems she put back in
their cases. Then dressing herself in a coarse tunic and throwing over
herself a still courser cloak she came in at an unlooked for moment,
threw herself down suddenly at her grandmother's knees, and with tears
and sobs shewed her what she really was. That staid and holy woman was
amazed when she beheld her granddaughter in so strange a dress. Her
mother was completely overcome for joy. Both women could hardly believe
that true which they had longed to be true. Their voices stuck in their
throats,(1) and, what with blushing and turning pale, with fright and
with joy, they were a prey to many conflicting emotions.
6. I must needs give way here and not attempt to
describe what defies description. In the effort to explain the
greatness of that joy past all belief, the flow of Tully's eloquence
would run dry and the bolts poised and hurled by Demosthenes would
become spent and fall short. Whatever mind can conceive or speech can
interpret of human gladness was seen then. Mother and child grandmother
and granddaughter kissed each other again and again. The two eider
women wept copiously for joy, they raised the prostrate girl, they
embraced her trembling form. In her purpose they recognized their own
mind, and congratulated each other that now a virgin was to make a
noble house more noble still by her virginity. She had found they said,
a way to benefit her family and to lessen the calamity of the ruin of
Rome Good Jesus! What exultation there was all through the house! Many
virgins sprouted out at once as shoots from a fruitful stem, and the
example set by their patroness and lady was followed by a host both of
clients and servants. Virginity was warmly espoused in every house and
although those who made profession of it were as regards the flesh of
lower rank than Demetrias they sought one reward with her, the reward
of chastity. My words are too weak. Every church in Africa danced for
joy. The news reached not only the cities, towns, and villages but even
the scattered huts. Every island between Africa and Italy was full of
it, the glad tidings ran far and wide, disliked by none. Then Italy put
off her mourning and the ruined walls of Rome resumed in part their
olden splendour; for they believed the full conversion of their
fosterchild to be a sign of God's favour towards them. You would fancy
that the Goths had been annihilated and that that concourse of
deserters and slaves had fallen by a thunderbolt from the Lord on high.
There was less elation in Rome when Marcellus won his first success at
Nola(1) after thousands of Romans had fallen at the Trebia, Lake
Thrasymenus, and Cannae. There was less joy among the nobles cooped up
in the capitol, on whom the future of Rome depended, when after buying
their lives with gold they heard that the Gauls had at length been
routed.(2) The news penetrated to the coasts of the East, and this
triumph of Christian glory was heard of in the remote cities of the
interior. What Christian virgin was not proud to have Demetrias as a
companion? What mother did not call Juliana's womb blessed? Unbelievers
may scoff at the doubtfulness of rewards to come. Mean, time, in
becoming a virgin you have gained more than you have sacrificed. Had
you become a man's bride but one province would have known of you;
while as a Christian virgin you are known to the whole world. Mothers
who have but little faith in Christ are unhappily wont to dedicate to
virginity only deformed and crippled daughters for whom they can find
no suitable husbands. Glass beads, as the saying goes, are thought
equal to pearls.(3) Men who pride themselves on their religion give to
their virgin daughters sums scarcely sufficient for their maintenance,
and bestow the bulk of their property upon sons and daughters living in
the world. Quite recently in this city a rich presbyter left two of his
daughters who were professed virgins with a mere pittance, while he
provided his other children with ample means for self-indulgence and
pleasure. The same thing has been done, I am sorry to say, by many
women who have adopted the ascetic life. Would that such instances were
rare, but unfortunately they are not. Yet the more frequent they are
the more blessed are those who refuse to follow an example which is set
them by so many.
7. All Christians are loud in their praises of
Christ's holy yokefellows,(4) because they gave to Demetrias when she
professed herself a virgin the money which had been set apart as a
dowry for her marriage. They would not wrong her heavenly bridegroom;
in fact they wished her to come to Him with all her previous riches,
that these might not be wasted on the things of the world, but might
relieve the distress of God's servants.
Who would believe it? That Proba, who of all persons
of high rank and birth in the
264
Roman world bears the most illustrious name, whose holy life and
universal charity have won for her esteem even among the barbarians,
who has made nothing of the regular consulships enjoyed by her three
sons, Probinus, Olybrius, and Probus,-- that Proba, I say, now that
Rome has been taken and its contents burned or carried off, is said to
be selling what property she has and to be making for herself friends
of the mammon of unrighteousness, that these may receive her into
everlasting habitations!(1) Well may the church's ministers, whatever
their degree, and those monks who are only monks in name, blush for
shame that they are buying estates, when this noble lady is selling
them.
Hardly had she escaped from the hands of the
barbarians, hardly had she ceased weeping for the virgins whom they had
torn from her arms, when she was overwhelmed by a sudden and unbearable
bereavement, one too which she had had no cause to fear, the death of
her loving son.(2) Yet as one who was to be grandmother to a Christian
virgin, she bore up against this death-dealing stroke, strong in hope
of the future and proving true of herself the words of the lyric:
"Should the round world in fragments burst, its fall May strike the
just, may slay, but not appal.''(3)
We read in the book of Job how, while the first messenger of evil was
yet speaking, there came also another;(4) and in the same book it is
written: "is there not a temptation"--or as the Hebrew better gives
it--"a warfare to man upon earth?"(6) It is for this end that we
labour, it is for this end that we risk our lives in the warfare of
this world, that we may be crowned in the world to come. That we should
believe this to be true of men is nothing wonderful, for even the Lord
Himself was tempted,(6) and of Abraham the scripture bears witness that
God tempted him.(7) It is for this reason also that the apostle says:
"we glory in tribulations ... knowing that tribulation worketh
patience; and patience experience; and experience hope; and hope maketh
not ashamed;"(8) and in another passage: "Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or
famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, For thy sake
we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter."(9) The prophet Isaiah comforts those in like case in these
words: "ye that are weaned from the milk, ye that are drawn from the
breasts, look for tribulation upon tribulation, but also for hope upon
hope."(1) For, as the apostle puts it "the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us."(2) Why I have here brought together all these passages
the sequel will make plain.
Proba who had seen from the sea the smoke of her
native city and had committed her own safety and that of those dear to
her to a fragile boat, found the shores of Africa even more cruel than
those which she had left. For one(3) lay in wait for her of whom it
would be hard to say whether he was more covetous or heartless, one who
cared for nothing but wine and money, one who under pretence of serving
the mildest of emperors(4) stood forth as the most savage of all
despots. If I may be allowed to quote a fable of the poets, he was like
Orcus(5) in Tartarus. Like him too he had with him a Cerberus,(6) not
three headed but many headed, ready to seize and rend everything within
his reach. He tore betrothed daughters from their mothers' arms(7) and
sold high-born maidens in marriage to those greediest of men, the
merchants of Syria. No plea of poverty induced him to spare either ward
or widow or virgin dedicated to Christ. Indeed he looked more at the
hands than at the faces of those who appealed to him. Such was the
dread Charybdis and such the hound-girt Scylla which this lady
encountered in fleeing from the barbarians; monsters who neither spared
the shipwrecked nor heeded the cry of those made captive. Cruel
wretch!(8) at least imitate the enemy of the Roman Empire. The Brennus
of our day(9) took only what he found, but you seek what you cannot
find.
Virtue, indeed, is always exposed to envy, and
cavillers may marvel at the secret agreement by which Proba purchased
the chastity of her numerous companions. They may allege that the count
who could have taken all would not have been satisfied(10) with a part;
and that she could not have questioned his claim since in spite of her
rank she was but a slave in his despotic hands. I perceive also that I
am laying myself open to the attacks of enemies and that I may seem to
be flattering a lady of the highest birth and distinction. Yet these
men will not be able to accuse me when
265
they learn that hitherto I have said nothing about her. I have never
either in the lifetime of her husband or since his decease praised her
for the antiquity of her family or for the extent of her wealth and
power, subjects which others might perhaps have improved in mercenary
speeches. My purpose is to praise the grandmother of my virgin in a
style befitting the church, and to thank her for having aided with her
goodwill the desire which Demetrias has formed. For the rest my cell,
my food and clothing, my advanced years, and my narrow circumstances
sufficiently refute the charge of flattery. In What remains of my
letter I shall direct all my words to Demetrias herself, whose holiness
ennobles her as much as her rank, and of whom it may be said that the
higher she climbs the more terrible will be her fall.
For the rest
This one thing, child of God, I lay on thee; Yea before all, and urge
it many times:[1]
Love to occupy your mind with the reading of scripture. Do not in the
good ground of your breast gather only a crop of darnel and wild oats.
Do not let an enemy sow tares among the wheat when the householder is
asleep[2] (that is when the mind which ever cleaves to God is off its
guard); but say always with the bride in the song of songs: " By night
I sought him whom my soul loveth. Tell me where thou feedest, where
thou makest thy flock to rest at noon; "[3] and with the psalmist: "my
soul followeth hard after thee thy right hand upholdeth me;"[4] and
with Jeremiah: "I have not found it hard to follow thee,''[5] for "
there is no grief in Jacob neither is there travail in Israel.''[6]
When you were in the world you loved the things of the world. You
rubbed your cheeks with rouge and used whitelead to improve your
complexion. You dressed your hair and built up a tower on your head
with tresses not your own. I shall say nothing of your costly earrings,
your glistening pearls from the depths of the Red Sea,[7] your bright
green emeralds, your flashing onyxes, your liquid sapphires,--stones
which turn the heads of matrons, and make them eager to possess the
like. For you have relinquished the world and besides your baptismal
vow have taken a new one; you have entered into a compact with your
adversary and have said: "I renounce thee, O devil, and thy world and
thy pomp and thy works." Observe, therefore, the treaty that you have
made, and keep terms with your adversary while you are in the way of
this world. Otherwise he may some day deliver you to the judge and
prove that you have taken what is his; and then the judge will deliver
you to the officer--at once your foe and your avenger--and you will be
cast into prison; into that outer darkness[1] which surrounds us with
the greater horror as it severs us from Christ the one true light.[2]
And you shall by no means come out thence till you have paid the
uttermost farthing,[3] that is, till you have expiated your most
trifling sins; for we shall give account of every idle word in the day
of judgment.[4]
8. In speaking thus I do not wish to utter an
ill-omened prophecy against you but only to warn you as an apprehensive
and prudent monitor who in your case fears even what is safe. What says
the scripture? "If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave
not thy place."[5] We must always stand under arms and in battle array,
ready to engage the foe. When he tries to dislodge us from our position
and to make us fall back, we must plant our feet firmly down, and say
with the psalmist, "he hath set my feet upon a rock"[6] and "the rocks
are a refuge for the conies."[7] In this latter passage for ' conies '
many read ' hedgehogs.' Now the hedgehog is a small animal, very shy,
and covered over with thorny bristles. When Jesus was crowned with
thorns and bore our sins and suffered for us, it was to make the roses
of virginity and the lilies of chastity grow for us out of the brambles
and briers which have formed the lot of women since the day when it was
said to Eve, "in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire
shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee."[8] We are told
that the bridegroom feeds among the lilies,[9] that is, among those who
have not defiled their garments, for they have remained virgins[10] and
have hearkened to the precept of the Preacher: "let thy garments be
always white."[11] As the author and prince of virginity He says boldly
of Himself: "I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys."[12]
"The rocks" then "are a refuge for the tonics" who when they are
persecuted in one city flee into another[13] and have no fear that the
prophetic words "refuge failed me"[14] will he fulfilled in their case.
"The high hills are a refuge for the wildgoats,"[15] and their food are
the serpents which a little child draws out of their holes. Meanwhile
the leopard lies down with the kid and the
266
lion eats straw like the ox;[1] not of course that the ox may learn
ferocity from the lion but that the lion may learn docility from the OX.
But let us turn back to the passage first quoted,
"If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place,"
a sentence which is followed by these words: "for yielding pacifieth
great offences."[2] The meaning is, that if the serpent finds his way
into your thoughts you must "keep your heart with all diligence"[3] and
sing with David, "cleanse thou me from secret faults keep back thy
servant also from presumptuous sins," and come not to "the great
transgression "[4] which is sin in act. Rather slay the allurements to
vice while they are still only thoughts; and dash the little ones of
the daughter of Babylon against the stones[5] where the serpent can
leave no trail. Be wary and vow a vow unto the Lord: "let them not have
dominion over me: then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent
from the great transgression."[6] For elsewhere also the scripture
testifies, "I will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation."[7] That is to say, God will not
punish us at once for our thoughts and resolves but will send
retribution upon their offspring, that is, upon the evil deeds and
habits of sin which arise out of them. As He says by the mouth of Amos:
"for three transgressions of such and such a city and for four I will
not turn away the punishment thereof."[8]
9. I cull these few flowers in passing from the fair
field of the holy scriptures. They will suffice to warn you that you
must shut the door of your breast and fortify your brow by often making
the sign of the cross. Thus alone will the destroyer of Egypt find no
place to attack you; thus alone will the first-born of your soul escape
the fate of the first-born of the Egyptians;[9] thus alone will you be
able with the prophet to say: "my heart is fixed, O God, my heart is
fixed; I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery
and harp."[10] For, sin stricken as she is, even Tyre is bidden to take
up her harp" and to do penance; like Peter she is told to wash away the
stains of her former foulness with bitter tears. Howbeit, let us know
nothing of penitence, lest the thought of it lead us into sin. It is a
plank for those who have had the misfortune to be shipwrecked;[12] but
an inviolate virgin may hope to save the ship itself. For it is one
thing to look for what you have cast away, and another to keep what you
have never lost. Even the apostle kept under his body and brought it
into subjection, lest having preached to others he might himself become
a castaway.[1] Heated with the violence of sensual passion he made
himself the spokesman of the human race: "O wretched man that I am! who
shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" and again, "I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is
present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For
the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I
do ;"[2] and once more: "they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the
spirit of God dwell in you."[3]
10. After you have paid the most careful attention
to your thoughts, you must then put on the armour of fasting and sing
with David: "I chastened my soul with fasting,"[4] and "I have eaten
ashes like bread,"[5] and "as for me when they troubled me my clothing
was sackcloth."[6] Eye was expelled from paradise because she had eaten
of the forbidden fruit. Elijah on the other hand after forty days of
fasting was carried in a fiery chariot into heaven. For forty days and
forty nights Moses lived by the intimate converse which he had with
God, thus proving in his own case the complete truth of the saying,
"man doth not live by bread only but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of the Lord."[7] The Saviour of the world, who in His
virtues and His mode of life has left us an example to follow,[8] was,
immediately after His baptism, taken up by the spirit that He might
contend with the devil,[9] and after crushing him and overthrowing him
might deliver him to his disciples to trample under foot. For what says
the apostle? "God shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly."[10] And
yet after the Saviour had fasted forty days, it was through food that
the old enemy laid a snare for him, saying, "If thou be the Son of God,
command that these stones be made bread."[11] Under the law, in the
seventh month after the blowing of trumpets and on the tenth day of the
month, a fast was proclaimed for the whole Jewish people, and that soul
was cut off from among his people which on that day preferred
self-indulgence to self-denial.[12] In Job it is written of behemoth
that "his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his
267
belly."[1] Our foe uses the heat of youthful passion to tempt young men
and maidens and "sets on fire the wheel of our birth."[2] He thus
fulfils the words of Hosea, "they are all adulterers, their heart is
like an oven ;"[3] an oven which only God's mercy and severe fasting
can extinguish. These are "the fiery darts"[4] with which the devil
wounds men and sets them on fire, and it was these which the king of
Babylon used against the three children. But when he made his fire
forty-nine cubits high[5] he did but turn to his own ruin[6] the seven
weeks which the Lord had appointed for a time of salvation.[7] And as
then a fourth bearing a form like the son of God slackened the terrible
heat[8] and cooled the flames of the blazing fiery furnace, until,
menacing as they looked, they became quite harmless, so is it now with
the virgin soul. The dew of heaven and severe fasting quench in a girl
the flame of passion and enable her soul even in its earthly tenement
to live the angelic life. Therefore the chosen vessel[9] declares that
concerning virgins he has no commandment of the Lord.[10] For you must
act against nature or rather above nature if you are to forswear your
natural function, to cut off your own root, to cull no fruit but
that of virginity, to abjure the marriage-bed, to shun intercourse with
men, and while in the body to live as though out of it.
11. I do not, however, lay on you as an obligation
any extreme fasting or abnormal abstinence from food. Such practices
soon break down weak constitutions and cause bodily sickness before
they lay the foundations of a holy life. It is a maxim of the
philosophers that virtues are means, and that all extremes are of the
nature of vice;[11] and it is in this sense that one of the seven wise
men propounds the famous saw quoted in the comedy," In nothing too
much."[12] You must not go on fasting until your heart begins to throb
and your breath to fail and you have to be supported or carried by
others. No; while curbing the desires of the flesh, you must keep
sufficient strength to read scripture, to sing psalms, and to observe
vigils. For fasting is not a complete virtue in itself but only a
foundation on which other virtues may be built. The same may be said of
sanctification and of that chastity without which no man shall see the
Lord.[13] Each of these is a step on the upward way, yet none of them
by itself will avail to win the virgin's crown. The gospel teaches us
this in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins; the former of whom
enter into the bridechamber of the bridegroom, while the latter are
shut out from it because not having the oil of good works[1] they allow
their lamps to fail.[2] This subject of fasting opens up a wide field
in which I have often wandered myself,[3] and many writers have devoted
treatises to the subject. I must refer you to these if you wish to
learn the advantages of self-restraint and on the other hand the evils
of over-feeding.
12. Follow the example of your Spouse :[4] be
subject to your grandmother and to your mother. Never look upon a man,
especially upon a young man, except in their company. Never know a man
whom they do not know. It is a maxim of the world that the only sure
friendship is one based on an identity of likes and dislikes.[5] You
have been taught by their example as well as instructed by the holy
life of your home to aspire to virginity, to recognize the commandments
of Christ, to know what is expedient for you and what course you ought
to choose. But do not regard what is your own as absolutely your own.
Remember that part of it belongs to those who have communicated their
chastity to you and from whose honourable marriages and beds
undefiled[6] you have sprung up like a choice flower. For you are
destined to produce perfect fruit if only you will humble yourself
under the mighty hand of God,[7] always remembering that it is written:
"God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble."[8] Now where
there is grace, this is not given in return for works but is the free
gift of the giver, so that the apostles' words are fulfilled: "it is
not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that
sheweth mercy."[9] And yet it is ours to will and not to will; and all
the while the very liberty that is ours is only ours by the mercy of
God.
13. Again in selecting for yourself eunuchs and
maids and servingmen look rather to their characters than to their good
looks; for, whatever their age or sex, and even if mutilation ensures
in them a compulsory chastity, you must take account of their
dispositions, for these cannot be operated on save by the fear of
Christ. When you are present buffoonery and loose talk must find no
place. You should never hear an improper word; if you do hear one, you
must not be carried away by it. Abandoned men often make use of a
single light expression to
268
try the gates of chastity.[1] Leave to worldlings the privileges of
laughing and being laughed at. One who is in your position ought to be
serious. Cato the Censor, in old time a leading man in your city, (the
same who in his last days turned his attention to Greek literature
without either blushing for himself as censor or despairing of success
on account of his age) is said by Lucilius[2] to have laughed only once
in his life, and the same remark is made about Marcus Crassus. These
men may have affected this austere mien to gain for themselves
reputation and notoriety. For so long as we dwell in the tabernacle of
this body and are enveloped with this fragile flesh, we can but
restrain and regulate our affections and passions; we cannot wholly
extirpate them. Knowing this the psalmist says: "be ye angry and
sin not ;"[3] which the apostle explains thus: "let not the sun go down
upon your wrath."[4] For, if to be angry is human, to put an end to
one's anger is Christian.
14. I think it unnecessary to warn you against
covetousness since it is the way of your family both to have riches and
to despise them. The apostle too tells us that covetousness is
idolatry,[5] and to one who asked the Lord the question: "Good Master
what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life ?" He thus
replied: "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give
to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and
follow me."[6] Such is the climax of complete and apostolic virtue--to
sell all that one has and to distribute to the poor,[7] and thus freed
from all earthly encumbrance to fly up to the heavenly realms with
Christ. To us, or I should rather say to you, a careful stewardship is
entrusted, although in such matters full freedom of choice is left to
every individual, whether old or young. Christ's words are "if thou
wilt be perfect." I do not compel you, He seems to say, I do not
command you, but I set the palm before you, I shew you the prize; it is
for you to choose whether you will enter the arena and win the crown.
Let us consider how wisely Wisdom has spoken. " Sell that thou hast."
To whom is the command given ? Why, to him to whom it was said, "if
thou wilt be perfect." Sell not a part of thy goods but "all that thou
hast." And when you have sold them, what then ? "Give to the poor." Not
to the rich, not to your kinsfolk, not to minister to self indulgence;
but to relieve need. It does not matter whether a man is a priest or a
relation or a connexion, you must think of nothing but his poverty. Let
your praises come from the stomachs of the hungry and not from the rich
banquets of the overfed. We read in the Acts of the Apostles how, while
the blood of the Lord was still warm and believers were in the fervour
of their first faith, they all sold their possessions and laid the
price of them at the apostles' feet (to shew that money ought to be
trampled underfoot) and "distribution was made unto every man according
as he had need."[1] But Ananias and Sapphira proved timid stewards, and
what is more, deceitful ones; therefore they brought on themselves
condemnation. For having made a vow they offered their money to God as
if it were their own and not His to whom they had vowed it; and keeping
back for their own use a part of that which belonged to another,
through fear of famine which true faith never fears, they drew down on
themselves suddenly the avenging stroke, which was meant not in cruelty
towards them but as a warning to others.[2] In fact the apostle Peter
by no means called down death upon them as Porphyry[3] foolishly says.
He merely announced God's judgment by the spirit of prophecy, that the
doom of two persons might be a lesson to many. From the time of your
dedication to perpetual virginity your property is yours no longer; or
rather is now first truly yours because it has come to be Christ's. Yet
while your grandmother and mother are living you must deal with it
according to their wishes. If, however, they die and rest in the sleep
of the saints (and I know that they desire that you should survive
them); when your years are riper, and your will steadier, and your
resolution stronger, you will do with your money what seems best to
you, or rather what the Lord shall command, knowing as you will that
hereafter you will have nothing save that which you have here spent on
good works. Others may build churches, may adorn their walls when built
with marbles, may procure massive columns, may deck the unconscious
capitals with gold and precious ornaments, may cover church doors with
silver and adorn the altars with gold and gems. I do not blame those
who do these things; I do not repudiate them.[4] Everyone must follow
his own judgment. And it is better to spend one's money thus than to
hoard it up and brood over it. However
269
your duty is of a different kind. It is yours to clothe Christ in the
poor, to visit Him in the sick, to feed Him in the hungry, to shelter
Him in the homeless, particularly such as are of the household of
faith,[1] to support communities of virgins, to take care of God's
servants, of those who are poor in spirit, who serve the same Lord as
you day and night, who while they are on earth live the angelic life
and speak only of the praises of God. Having food and raiment they
rejoice and count themselves rich. They seek for nothing more,
contented if only they can persevere in their design. For as soon as
they begin to seek more they are shewn to be undeserving even of those
things that are needful.
The preceding counsels have been addressed to a
virgin who is wealthy and a lady of rank.
15. But what I am now going to say will be addressed
to the virgin alone. I shall take into consideration, that is, not your
circumstances but yourself. In addition to the rule of psalmody and
prayer which you must always observe at the third, sixth, and ninth
hours, at evening, at midnight, and at dawn,[2] you should determine
how much time you will bind yourself to give to the learning and
reading of scripture, aiming to please and instruct the soul rather
than to lay a burthen upon it. When you have spent your allotted time
in these studies, often kneeling down to pray as care for your soul
will impel you to do; have some wool always at hand, shape the threads
into yarn with your thumb, attach them to the shuttle, and then throw
this to weave a web, or roll up the yarn which others have spun or lay
it out for the weavers. Examine their work when it is done, find fault
with its defects, and arrange how much they are to do. If yon busy
yourself with these numerous occupations, you will never find your days
long; however late the summer sun may be in setting, a day will always
seem too short on which something remains undone. By observing such
rules as these you will save yourself and others, you will set a good
example as a mistress, and you will place to your credit the chastity
of many. For the scripture says: "the soul of every idler is filled
with desires."[3] Nor may you excuse yourself from toil on the plea
that God's bounty has left you in want of nothing. No; you must labour
with the rest, that being always busy you may think only of the service
of the Lord. I shall speak quite plainly. Even supposing that you give
all your property to the poor, Christ will value nothing more highly
than what you have wrought with your own hands. You may work for
yourself or to set an example to your virgins; or you may make presents
to your mother and grandmother to draw from them larger sums for the
relief of the poor.
16. I have all but passed over the most important
point of all. While you were still quite small, bishop Anastasius of
holy and blessed memory ruled the Roman church.[1] In his days a
terrible storm of heresy[2] came from the East and strove first to
corrupt and then to undermine that simple faith which an apostle has
praised.[3] However the bishop, rich in poverty and as careful of his
flock as an apostle, at once smote the noxious thing on the head, and
stayed the hydra's hissing. Now I have reason to fear--in fact a report
has reached me to this effect that the poisonous germs of this heresy
still live and sprout in the minds of some to this day. I think,
therefore, that I ought to warn you, in all kindness and affection, to
hold fast the faith of the saintly Innocent, the spiritual son of
Anastasius and his successor in the apostolic see; and not to receive
any foreign doctrine, however wise and discerning you may take yourself
to be. Men of this type whisper in corners and pretend to inquire into
the justice of God. Why, they ask, was a particular soul born in a
particular province ? What is the reason that some are born of
Christian parents, others among wild beasts and savage tribes who have
no knowledge of God ? Wherever they can strike the simple with their
scorpion-sting and form an ulcer fitted to their purpose, there they
diffuse their venom. "Is it for nothing, think you,"-thus they
argue--"that a little child scarcely able to recognize its mother by a
laugh or a look of joy,[4] which has done nothing either good or evil,
is seized by a devil or overwhelmed with jaundice or doomed to bear
afflictions which godless men escape, while God's servants have to bear
them?" Now if God's judgments, they say, are "true and righteous
altogether,"[5] and if "there is no unrighteousness in Him,''[6] we are
compelled by reason to believe that our souls have pre-existed in
heaven, that they are condemned to and, if I may so say, buried in
human bodies because of some ancient sins, and that we are punished in
this valley of weeping[7] for old misdeeds. This according to them is
the prophet's reason for saying: "Before I was afflicted I went
astray,"[8] and again, "Bring my soul out of prison."[9] They explain
in the same way the question of the disciples in the gospel: "Who did
sin, this
270
man or his parents, that he was born blind ? "[1] and other similar
passages.
This godless and wicked teaching was formerly ripe
in Egypt and the East; and now it lurks secretly like a viper in its
hole among many persons in those parts, defiling the purity of the
faith and gradually creeping on like an inherited disease till it
assails a large number. But I am sure that if you hear it you will not
accept it. For you have preceptresses under God whose faith is a rule
of sound doctrine. You will understand what I mean, for God will give
you understanding in all things. You must not ask me on the spot to
give you a refutation of this dreadful heresy and of others worse
still; for were I to do so I should "criticize where I ought to
forbid,"[2] and my present object is not to refute heretics but to
instruct a virgin. However, I have defeated their wiles and
counterworked their efforts to undermine the truth in a treatise[3]
which by God's help I have written; and if you desire to have this, I
shall send it to you promptly and with pleasure. I say, if you desire
to have it, for as the proverb says, wares proffered unasked are little
esteemed, and a plentiful supply brings down prices, which are always
highest where scarcity prevails.
17. Men often discuss the comparative merits of life
in solitude and life in a community; and the preference is usually
given to the first over the second. Still even for men there is always
the risk that, being withdrawn from the society of their fellows, they
may become exposed to unclean and godless imaginations, and in the
fulness of their arrogance and disdain may look down upon everyone but
themselves, and may arm their tongues to detract from the clergy or
from those who like themselves are bound by the vows of a solitary
life.[4] Of such it is well said by the psalmist, "as for the children
of men their teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp
sword."[5] Now if all this is true of men, how much more does it apply
to women whose fickle and vacillating minds, if left to their own
devices, soon degenerate. I am myself acquainted with anchorites of
both sexes who by excessive fasting have so impaired their faculties
that they do not know what to do or where to turn, when to speak or
when to be silent. Most frequently those who have been so affected have
lived in solitary cells, cold and damp. Moreover if persons untrained
in secular learning read the works of able church writers, they only
acquire from them a wordy fluency and not, as they might do, a fuller
knowledge of the scriptures. The old saying is found true of them,
although they have not the wit to speak, they cannot remain silent.
They teach to others the scriptures that they do not understand
themselves; and if they are fortunate enough to convince them, they
take upon themselves airs as men of learning.[1] In fact, they set up
as instructors of the ignorant before they have gone to school
themselves. It is a good thing therefore to defer to one's betters, to
obey those set over one, to learn not only from the scriptures but from
the example of others how one ought to order one's life, and not to
follow that worst of teachers, one's own self-confidence. Of women who
are thus presumptuous the apostle says that they "are carried about
with every wind of doctrine,[2] ever learning and never able to come to
the knowledge of the truth."[3]
18. Avoid the company of married women who are
devoted to their husbands and to the world, that your mind may not
become unsettled by hearing what a husband says to his wife, or a wife
to her husband. Such conversations are filled with deadly venom. To
express his condemnation of them the apostle has taken a verse of a
profane writer and has pressed it into the service of the church. It
may be literally rendered at the expense of the metre: "evil
communications corrupt good manners."[4] No; you should choose for your
companions staid and serious women, particularly widows and virgins,
persons of approved conversation, of few words, and of a holy modesty.
Shun gay and thoughtless girls, who deck their heads and wear their
hair in fringes, who use cosmetics to improve their skins and affect
tight sleeves, dresses without a crease, and dainty buskins; and by
pretending to be virgins more easily sell themselves into destruction.
Moreover, the character and tastes of a mistress are often inferred
from the behaviour of her attendants. Regard as fair and lovable and a
fitting companion one who is unconscious of her good looks and careless
of her appearance; who does not expose her breast out of doors or throw
back her cloak to reveal her neck; who veils all of her face except her
eyes, and only uses these to find her way.
19. I hesitate about what I am going to say but, as
often happens, whether I like it or not, it must be said; not that I
have
271
reason to fear anything of the kind in your case, for probably you know
nothing of such things and have never even heard of them, but that in
advising you I may warn others. A virgin should avoid as so many
plagues and banes of chastity all ringletted youths who curl their hair
and scent themselves with musk; to whom may well be applied the words
of Petronius Arbiter, "too much perfume makes an ill perfume."[1] I
need not speak of those who by their pertinacious visits to virgins
bring discredit both on themselves and on these; for, even if nothing
wrong is done by them, no wrong can be imagined greater than to find
oneself exposed to the calumnies and attacks of the heathen. I do not
here speak of all, but only of those whom the church itself rebukes,
whom sometimes it expels, and against whom the censure of bishops and
presbyters is not seldom directed. For, as it is, it is almost more
dangerous for giddy girls to shew themselves in the abodes of religion
than even to walk abroad. Virgins who live in communities and of whom
large numbers are assembled together, should never go out by themselves
or unaccompanied by their mother.[2] A hawk often singles out one of a
flight of doves, pounces on it and tears it open till it is gorged with
its flesh and blood. Sick sheep stray from the flock and fall into the
jaws of wolves. I know some saintly virgins who on holy days keep at
home to avoid the crowds and refuse to go out when they must either
take a strong escort, or altogether avoid all public places.
It is about thirty years since I published a
treatise on the preservation of virginity,[3] in which I felt
constrained to oppose certain vices and to lay bare the wiles of the
devil for the instruction of the virgin to whom it was addressed. My
language then gave offence to a great many, for everyone applied what I
said to himself and instead of welcoming my admonitions turned away
from me as an accuser of his deeds. Was it any use, do you ask, thus to
arm a host of remonstrants and to show by my complaints the wounds
which my conscience received? Yes, I answer, for, while they have
passed away, my book still remains. I have also written short
exhortations to several virgins and widows, and in these smaller works
I have gathered together all that there is to be said on the subject.
So that I am reduced to the alternative of repeating exhortations which
seem superfluous or of omitting them to the serious injury of this
treatise. The blessed Cyprian has left a noble work on virginity;[1]
and many other writers, both Greek and Latin, have done the same.
Indeed the virginal life has been praised both with tongue and
pen among all nations and particularly among the churches. Most,
however, of those who have written on the subject have addressed
themselves to such as have not yet chosen virginity, and who need help
to enable them to choose aright. But I and those to whom I write have
made our choice; and our one object is to remain constant to it.
Therefore, as our way lies among scorpions and adders, among snares and
banes, let us go forward staff in hand, our loins girded and our feet
shod;[2] that so we may come to the sweet waters of the true Jordan,
and enter the land of promise and go up to the house of God. Then shall
we sing with the prophet: "Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy
house and the place where thine honour dwelleth;"[3] and again: "one
thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life."[4]
Happy is the soul, happy is the virgin in whose
heart there is room for no other love than the love of Christ. For in
Himself He is wisdom and chastity, patience and justice and every other
virtue. Happy too is she who can recall a man's face without the least
sigh of regret, and who has no desire to set eves on one whom, after
she has seen him, she may find herself unwilling to give up. Some there
are, however, who by their ill-behaviour bring discredit on the holy
profession of virginity and upon the glory of the heavenly and angelic
company who have made it. These must be frankly told either to marry if
they cannot contain, or to contain if they will not marry. It is also a
matter for laughter or rather for tears, that when mistresses walk
abroad they are preceded by maids better dressed than themselves;
indeed so usual has this become that, if of two women you see one less
neat than the other, you take her for the mistress as a matter of
course. And yet these maids are professed virgins. Again not a few
virgins choose sequestered dwellings where they will not he under the
eyes of others, in order that they may live more freely than they
otherwise could do. They take baths, do what they please, and try as
much as they can to escape notice. We see these things and yet we put
up with them; in fact, if we catch sight of the glitter of gold, we are
ready to account of them as good works.
20. I end as I began, not content to have
272
given you but a single warning. Love the holy scriptures, and wisdom
will love you. Love wisdom, and it will keep you safe. Honour wisdom,
and it will embrace you round about.[2] Let the jewels on your breast
and in your ears be the gems of wisdom. Let your tongue know no theme
but Christ, let no sound pass your lips that is not holy, and let your
words always reproduce that sweetness of which your grandmother and
your mother set you the example. Imitate them, for they are models of
virtue.
LETTER CXXXI.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
At the suggestion of Jerome, Marcellinus (for whom
see Letter CXXVI.) had consulted Augustine on the difficult question of
the origin of the soul but had failed to get any definite opinion from
this latter. Augustine now writes to Jerome confessing his inability to
decide the question and asking for advice upon it. He begins by
reciting--and justifying--his own belief that the soul is immortal and
incorporeal and that its fall into sin is due not to God but to its own
free choice. He then goes on to say that he is quite ready to accept
creationism as a solution of the difficulty if Jerome will shew him how
this theory is reconcilable with the church's condemnation of Pelagius
and its assertion of the doctrine of original sin. The damnation of
unbaptized infants is assumed throughout.
The date of the letter is 415 A.D. Its number in the
Letters of Augustine is CLXVI.
LETTER CXXXII.
FROM AUGUSTINE.
In this letter Augustine deals with the statement of
James ii, 10 ("whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one
point, he is guilty of all ") and explains it by saying that every
breach of the law is a breach of love. He also takes occasion to
criticise two doctrines of the schools then prevalent, (I) that all
sins are equal and (2) that he who has one virtue has all and that all
virtues are wanting to him who lacks one.
The date of the letter is 415 A.D. Its number in the
Letters of Augustine is CLXVII.
LETTER CXXXIII.
TO CTESIPHON.
Ctesiphon had written to Jerome for his opinion on
two points in the teaching of Pelagius, (I) his quietism and (2) his
denial of original sin. Jerome now refutes these two doctrines and
points out that Pelagius has drawn them partly from the philosophers
and partly from the heretics. He censures Rufinus. who had died
5 years before, for attributing to Sixtus bishop of Rome a book which
is really the work of Xystus a Pythagorean, and for passing off as the
composition of the martyr Pamphilus a panegyric of Origen really due to
his friend Eusebius. In both these assertions, however. Jerome is more
wrong than right. (See Prolegomena to the works of Rufinus.) The letter
concludes with a promise to deal more fully with the heresy of Pelagius
at some future time, a promise afterwards redeemed by the publication
of a 'dialogue against the Pelagians.' The date of the letter is 415
A.D.
I. In acquainting me with the new controversy which
has taken the place of the old you are wrong in thinking that you have
acted rashly, for your conduct has been prompted by zeal and
friendship. Already before the arrival of your letter many in the East
have been deceived into a pride which apes humility and have said with
the devil: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God; I will be like the Most High."[1] Can there be greater
presumption than to claim not likeness to God but equality with Him,
and so to compress into a few words the poisonous doctrines of all the
heretics which in their turn flow from the statements of the
philosophers, particularly of Pythagoras and Zeno the founder of the
Stoic school? For those states of feeling which the Greeks call
<greek>paqh</greek> and which we may describe as
"passions," relating to the present or the future such as vexation and
gladness, hope and fear,--these, they tell us, it is possible to root
out of our minds; in fact all vice may be destroyed root and branch in
man by meditation on virtue and constant practice of it. The position
which they thus take up is vehemently assailed by the Peripatetics who
trace themselves to Aristotle, and by the new Academics of whom Cicero
is a disciple; and these overthrow not the facts of their
opponents--for they have no facts--but the shadows and wishes which do
duty for them. To maintain such a doctrine is to take man's nature from
him, to forget that he is constituted of body as well as soul, to
substitute mere wishes for sound teaching? For the apostle says :-- "O
wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?"[3] But as I cannot say all that I wish in a short letter I will
briefly touch on the points that you must avoid. Virgil writes:--
Thus mortals fear and hope, rejoice and grieve, And shut in darkness
have no sight of heaven.[4]
For who can escape these feelings? Must we not all clap our hands when
we are joyful, and shrink at the approach of sorrow? Must not hope
always animate us and fear put us in terror? So in one of his Satires
the poet Horace, whose words are so weighty, writes:
From faults no mortal is completely free; He that has fewest is the
perfect man?
2. Well does one of our own writers[6] say: "the
philosophers are the patriarchs of the
273
heretics." It is they who have stained with their perverse doctrine the
spotlessness of the Church, not knowing that of human weakness it is
said: "Why is earth and ashes proud?"[1] So likewise the apostle: "I
see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and
bringing me into captivity";[2] and again, "The good that I would I do
not: but the evil which I would not that I do."[3] Now if Paul does
what he wills not, what becomes of the assertion that a man may be
without sin if he will? Given the will, how is it to have its way when
the apostle tells us that he has no power to do what he wishes?
Moreover if we ask them who the persons are whom they regard as sinless
they seek to veil the truth by a new subterfuge. They do not, they say,
profess that men are or have been without sin; all that they maintain
is that it is possible for them to be so. Remarkable teachers truly,
who maintain that a thing may be which on their own shewing, never has
been; whereas the scripture says:--" The thing which shall be, it is
that which hath been already of old time."[4]
I need not go through the lives of the saints or
call attention to the moles and spots which mark the fairest skins.
Many of our writers, it is true, unwisely, take this course; however, a
few sentences of scripture will dispose alike of the heretics and the
philosophers. What says the chosen vessel? "God had concluded all in
unbelief that he might have mercy upon all;[5] and in another place,
"all have shined and come short of the glory of God."[6] The preacher
also who is the mouthpiece of the Divine Wisdom freely protests and
says: "there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth
not: "[7] and again, "if thy people sin against thee, for there is no
man that sinneth not :"[8] and "who can say, I have made my heart
clean?"[9] and "none is clean from stain not even if his life on earth
has been but for one day. David insists on the same thing when he says:
"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me
;"[10] and in another psalm, "in thy sight shall no man living be
justified."[11] This last passage they try to explain away from motives
of reverence, arguing that the meaning is that no man is perfect in
comparison with God. Yet the scripture does not say: "in comparison
with thee shall no man living be justified but "in thy sight shall no
man living be justified." And when it says "in thy sight" it means that
those who seem holy to men to God in his fuller knowledge are by no
means holy. For "man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord
looketh on the heart."[1] But if in the sight of God who sees all
things and to whom the secrets of the heart lie open[2] no man is just;
then these heretics instead of adding to man's dignity, clearly take
away from God's power. I might bring together many other passages of
scripture of the same import; but were I to do so, I should exceed the
limits I will not say of a letter but of a volume.
3. It is with no new doctrines that in their
self-applauding perfidy they deceive the simple and untaught. They
cannot, however, deceive theologians who meditate in the law of the
Lord day and night.[3] Let those blush then for their leaders and
companions who say that a man may be "without sin" if he will, or, as
the Greeks term it <greek>anamarthtos</greek>, "sinless."
As such a statement sounds intolerable to the Eastern churches, they
profess indeed only to say that a man may be "without sin" and do not
presume to allege that he may be "sinless" as well. As if, forsooth,
"sinless" and "without sin" had different meanings; whereas the only
difference between them is that Latin requires two words to express
what Greek gives in one. If you adopt "without sin" and reject
"sinless," then condemn the preachers of sinlessness. But this you
cannot do. You know[4] very well what it is that you teach your pupils
in private; and that while you say one thing with your lips you engrave
another on your heart. To us, ignorant outsiders you speak in parables;
but to your own followers you avow your secret meaning. And for this
you claim the authority of scripture which says: "to the multitudes
Jesus spake in parables;" but to his own disciples He said:" it is
given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
them it is not given."[5]
But to return; I will shortly set forth the names of
your leaders and companions to shew you who those are of whose
fellowship you make your boast. Manichus says of his elect--whom he
places among Plato's orbits in heaven--that they are free from all sin,
and cannot sin even if they will. To so great heights have they
attained in virtue that they laugh at the works of the flesh. Then
there is Priscillian in Spain whose infamy makes him as bad as
Manichus, and whose disciples profess a high esteem for you. These are
rash enough to claim for them-
274
selves the twofold credit of perfection and wisdom. Yet they shut
themselves up alone with women and justify their sinful embraces by
quoting the lines:
The almighty father takes the earth to wife; Pouring upon her
fertilizing rain,
That from her womb new harvest he may reap.[1]
These heretics have affinities with Gnosticism which
may be traced to the impious teaching of Basilides.[2] It is from him
that you derive the assertion that without knowledge of the law it is
impossible to avoid sin. But why do I speak of Priscillian who has been
condemned by the whole world and put to death by the secular sword?[3]
Evagrius[4] of Ibera in Pontus who sends letters to virgins and monks
and among others to her whose name bears witness to the blackness of
her perfidy,[5] has published a book of maxims on apathy, or, as we
should say, impassivity or imperturbability; a state in which the mind
ceases to be agitated and--to speak simply--becomes either a stone or a
God. His work is widely read, in the East in Greek and in the West in a
Latin translation made by his disciple Rufinus.[6] He has also written
a book which professes to be about monks and includes in it many not
monks at all whom he declares to have been Origenists, and who have
certainly been condemned by the bishops. I mean Ammonius, Eusebius,
Euthymius,[7] Evagrius himself, Horus,[8] Isidorus,[9] and many others
whom it would be tedious to enumerate. He is careful, however, to do as
the physicians, of whom Lucretius says:[10]
To children bitter wormwood still they give
In cups with juice of sweetest honey smeared.
That is to say, he has set in the forefront of his book John,[11] an
undoubted Catholic and saint, by his means to introduce to the church
the heretics mentioned farther on. But who can adequately characterize
the rashness or madness which has led him to ascribe a book of the
Pythagorean philosopher Xystus,[1] a heathen who knew nothing of
Christ, to Sixtus[2] a martyr and bishop of the Roman church? In this
work the subject of perfection is discussed at length in the light of
the Pythagorean doctrine which makes man equal with God and of one
substance with Him. Thus many not knowing that its author was a
philosopher and supposing that they are reading the words of a martyr,
drink of the golden cup of Babylon. Moreover in its pages there is no
mention of prophets, patriarchs, apostles, or of Christ; so that
according to Rufinus[3] there has been a bishop and a martyr who had
nothing to do with Christ. Such is the book from which you and your
followers quote passages against the church. In the same way he played
fast and loose with the name of the holy martyr Pamphilus ascribing to
him the first of the six books in defence of Origen written by Eusebius
of Csarea[4] who is admitted by every body to have been an Arian. His
object in doing so was of course to commend to Latin ears Origen's four
wonderful books about First Principles.
Would you have me name another of your masters in
heresy? Much of your teaching is traceable to Origen. For, to give one
instance only, when he comments on the psalmist's words: "My reins also
instruct me in the night season,"[5] he maintains that when a holy man
like yourself has reached perfection, he is free even at night from
human infirmity and is not tempted by evil thoughts. You need not blush
to avow yourself a follower of these men; it is of no use to disclaim
their names when you adopt their blasphemies. Moreover, your teaching
275
corresponds to Jovinian's second position.[1] You must, therefore, take
the answer which I have given to him as equally applicable to yourself.
Where men's opinions are the same their destinies can hardly be
different.
4. Such being the state of the case, what object is
served by "silly women laden with sins, carried about with every wind
of doctrine, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of
the truth?"[2] Or how is the cause helped by the men who dance
attendance upon these, men with itching ears[3] who know neither how to
hear nor how to speak? They confound old mire with new cement and, as
Ezekiel says, daub a wall with untempered mortar; so that, when the
truth comes in a shower, they are brought to nought.[4] It was with the
help of the harlot Helena that Simon Magus founded his sect.[6] Bands
of women accompanied Nicolas of Antioch that deviser of all
uncleanness.[6] Marcion sent a woman before him to Rome to prepare
men's minds to fall into his snares.[7] Apelles possessed in Philumena
an associate in his false doctrines.[8] Montanus, that mouthpiece of an
unclean spirit, used two rich and high born ladies Prisca and Maximilla
first to bribe and then to pervert many churches.[9] Leaving ancient
history I will pass to times nearer to our own. Arius intent on leading
the world astray began by misleading the Emperor's sister.[10] The
resources of Lucilla helped Donatus to defile with his polluting
baptism many unhappy persons throughout Africa.[11] In Spain the blind
woman Agape led the blind man Elpidius into the ditch.[12] He was
followed by Priscillian, an enthusiastic votary of Zoroaster and a
magian before he became a bishop. A woman named Galla seconded his
efforts and left a gadabout sister to perpetuate a second heresy of a
kindred form.[13] Now also the mystery of iniquity is working.[14] Men
and women in turn lay snares for each other till we cannot but recall
the prophet's words: "the partridge hath cried aloud, she hath gathered
young which she hath not brought forth, she getteth riches and not by
right; in the midst of her days she shall leave them, and at her end
she shall be a fool."[1]
5. The better to deceive men they have added to the
maxim given above[2] the saving clause "but not without the grace of
God;" and this may at the first blush take in some readers. However,
when it is carefully sifted and considered, it can deceive nobody. For
while they acknowledge the grace of God, they tell us that our
acts do not depend upon His help. Rather, they understand by the grace
of God free will and the commandments of the Law. They quote Isaiah's
words: "God hath given the law to aid men,"[3] and say that we ought to
thank Him for having created us such that of our own free will we can
choose the good and avoid the evil. Nor do they see that in alleging
this the devil uses their lips to hiss out an intolerable blasphemy.
For if God's grace is limited to this that He has formed us with wills
of our own, and if we are to rest content with free will, not seeking
the divine aid lest this should be impaired, we should cease to pray;
for we cannot entreat God's mercy to give us daily what is already in
our hands having been given to us once for all. These who think thus
make prayer impossible and boast that free will makes them not merely
controllers of themselves but as powerful as God. For they need no
external help. Away with fasting, away with every form of
self-restraint ! For why need I strive to win by toil what has once for
all been placed within my reach? The argument that I am using is not
mine; it is that put forward by a disciple of Pelagius, or rather one
who is the teacher and commander of his whole army.[4] This man, who is
the opposite of Paul for he is a vessel of perdition, roams through
thickets--not, as his partisans say, of syllogisms, but of solecisms,
and theorizes thus: "If I do nothing without the help of God and if all
that I do is His act, I cease to labour and the crown that I shall win
will belong not to me but to the grace of God. It is idle for Him to
have given me the power of choice if I cannot use it without His
constant help. For will that requires external support ceases to be
will. God has given me freedom of
276
choice, but what becomes of this if I cannot do as I wish?" Accordingly
he propounds the following dilemma: "Either once for all I use the
power which is given to me, and so preserve the freedom of my will; or
I need the help of another, in which case the freedom of my will is
wholly abrogated."
6. Surely the man who says this is no ordinary
blasphemer; the poison of his heresy is no common poison. Since our
wills are free they argue, we are no longer dependent upon God; and
they forget the Apostle's words "what hast thou that thou didst not
receive? Now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou
hadst not received it?"[1] A nice return, truly, does a man make to God
when to assert the freedom of his will he rebels against Him ! For our
parts we gladly embrace this freedom, but we never forget to thank the
Giver; knowing that we are powerless unless He continually preserves in
us His own gift. As the apostle says, "it is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."[2] To will and
to run are mine, but they will cease to be mine unless God brings me
His continual aid. For the same apostle says "it is God which worketh
in you both to will and to do."[3] And in the Gospel the Saviour says:
"my Father worketh hitherto and I work."[4] He is always a giver,
always a be-slower. It is not enough for me that he has given me grace
once; He must give it me always. I seek that I may obtain, and when I
have obtained I seek again. I am covetous of God's bounty; and as He is
never slack in giving, so I am never weary in receiving. The more I
drink, the more I thirst. For I have read the song of the psalmist: "O
taste and see that the Lord is good."[5] Every good thing that we have
is a tasting of the Lord. When I fancy myself to have finished the book
of virtue, I shall then only be at the beginning. For "the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom,"[6] and this fear is in its turn cast
out by love.[7] Men are only perfect so far as they know themselves to
be imperfect. "So likewise ye," Christ says, "when ye shall have done
alI those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable
servants: we have done that which was our duty to do."[8] If he is
unprofitable who has done all, what must we say of him who has failed
to do so? This is why the Apostle declares that he has attained
in part and apprehended in part, that he is not yet
perfect, and that forgetting those things which are behind he
reaches forth unto those things which are before.[1] Now he who always
forgets the past and longs for the future shews that he is not content
with the present.
They are for ever objecting to us that we destroy
free will. Nay, we reply, it is you who destroy it; for you use it
amiss and disown the bounty of its Giver. Which really destroys
freedom? the man who thanks God always and traces back his own tiny
rill to its source in Him? or the man who says: "come not near to me,
for I am holy ;[2] I have no need of Thee. Thou hast given me once for
all freedom of choice to do as I wish. Why then dost Thou interfere
again to prevent me from doing anything unless Thou Thyself first
makest Thy gifts effective in me?" To such an one I would say: "your
profession of belief in God's grace is insincere. For you explain this
of the state in which man has been created and you do not look for God
to help him in his actions. To do this, you argue, would be to
surrender human freedom. Thus disdaining the aid of God you have to
look to men for help."
7. Listen, only listen, to the blasphemer.
"Suppose," he avers, "that I want to bend my finger or to move my hand,
to sit, to stand, to walk, to run to and fro, to spit or to blow my
nose, to perform the offices of nature; must the help of God be always
indispensable to me?" Thankless, nay blasphemous wretch, hear the
apostle's declaration: "whether therefore ye eat or drink, or
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."[3] Hear also the words
of James: "go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into
such a city and continue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain.
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow: for what is your life?
It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then
vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall
live, and do this or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings; all
such rejoicing is evil."[4] You fancy that a wrong is inflicted on you
and your freedom of choice is destroyed if you are forced to fall back
on God as the moving cause of all your actions, if you are made
dependent on His Will, and if you have to echo the psalmist's words:
"mine eyes are ever toward the Lord: for it is he that shall pluck my
feet out of the net."[5] And so you presume rashly to maintain that
each individual is governed by his own choice. But if he is governed by
his own choice, what becomes of God's help? If he does not need Christ
to rule him, why does Jeremiah write: "the way of man is not in
himself"[6] and "the Lord directeth his steps."[7]
277
You say that the commandments of God are easy, and
yet you cannot produce any one who has fulfilled them all. Answer me
this: are they easy or are they difficult ? If they are easy, then
produce some one who has fulfilled them all. Explain also the words of
the psalmist: "thou dost cause toil by thy law,"[1] and "because of the
words of thy lips I have kept hard ways."[2] And make plain our Lord's
sayings in the gospel: "enter ye in at the strait gate;"[3] and "love
your enemies;" and "pray for them which persecute you."[4] If on the
other hand the commandments are difficult and if no man has kept them
all, how have you presumed to say that they are easy? Do not you see
that you contradict yourself? For either they are easy and countless
numbers have kept them; or they are difficult and you have been too
hasty in calling them easy.
8. It is a common argument with your party to say
that God's commandments are either possible or impossible. So far as
they are the former you admit that they are rightly laid upon us; but
so far as they are the latter you allege that blame attaches not to us
who have received them but to God who has imposed them on us. What! has
God commanded me to be what He is,[5] to put no difference between
myself and my creator, to be greater than the greatest of the angels,
to have a power which no angels possess ? Sinlessness is made a
characteristic of Christ, "who did no sin neither was guile found in
his mouth."[6] But if I am sinless as well as He, how is sinlessness
any longer His distinguishing mark ? for if this distinction exists,
your theory becomes fatal to itself.
You assert that a man may be without sin if he will;
and then, as though awakening from a deep sleep, you try to deceive the
unwary by adding the saving clause "yet not without the grace of God."
For if by his own efforts a man can keep himself without sin, what need
has he of God's grace ? If on the other hand he can do nothing without
this, what is the use of saying that he can do what he cannot do ? It
is argued that a man may be without sin and perfect if he only wills
it. What Christian is there who does not wish to be sinless or who
would reject perfection if, as you say, it is to be had for the
wishing, and if the will is sure to be followed by the power ? There is
no Christian who does not wish to be sinless; wishing to be so,
therefore, they all will be so. Whether you like it or not you will be
caught in this dilemma, that you can produce nobody or hardly anybody
who is without sin, yet have to admit that everybody may be sinless if
he likes. God's commandments, it is argued, are possible to keep. Who
denies it ? But how this truth is to be understood the chosen vessel
thus most clearly explains: "what the law could not do in that it was
weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh;"[1] and again:
"by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified."[2] And to
shew that it is not only the law of Moses that is meant or all those
precepts which collectively are termed the law, the same apostle
writes: "I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see
another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O
wretched man that I am: who shall deliver me from the body of this
death ? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.''[3] Other
words of his further explain his meaning: "we know that the law is
spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I
know[4] not: for what I would that do I not, but what I hate that do I.
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is
good. Now then it is no more I that do it: but sin that dwelleth in me.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.
For to will is present with me: but how to perform that which is good I
find not. For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I
would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I
that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.''[5]
9. But you will demur to this and say that I follow
the teaching[6] of the Manichaeans and others who make war against the
church's doctrine in the interest of their belief that there are two
natures diverse from one another and that there is an evil nature which
can in no wise be changed. But it is not against me that you must make
this imputation but against the apostle who knows well that God is one
thing and man another, that the flesh is weak and the spirit strong.[7]
"The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh:
and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the
things that ye would.''[8] But from me you will never hear that any
nature is essentially evil. Let us learn then from him who tells us so
in what sense the flesh is weak. Ask him why he has said:
278
"the good that I would, I do not the evil which I would not, that I
do."[1] What necessity fetters his will ? What compulsion commands him
to do what he dislikes ? And why must he do not what he wishes but what
he dislikes and does not wish? He will answer you thus: "nay, but, O
man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say
unto him that formed it Why hast thou made me thus ? Hath not the
potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto
honour and another unto dishonour ?"[2] Bring a yet graver charge
against God and ask Him why, when Esau and Jacob were still in the
womb, He said: "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."[3] Accuse
Him of injustice because when Achan the son of Carmi stole part of the
spoil of Jericho, He butchered so many thousands for the fault of
one.[4] Ask Him why for the sin of the sons of Eli the people were
well-nigh annihilated and the ark captured.[5] And why, when David
sinned by numbering the people, so many thousands lost their lives.[6]
Or lastly make your own the favorite cavil of your associate Porphyry,
and ask how God can be described as pitiful and of great mercy when
from Adam to Moses and from Moses to the coming of Christ He has
suffered all nations to die in ignorance of the Law and of His
commandments.[7] For Britain, that province so fertile in despots, the
Scottish tribes, and all the barbarians round about as far as the ocean
were alike without knowledge of Moses and the prophets. Why should
Christ's coming have been delayed to the last times ? Why should He not
have come before so vast a number had perished ? Of this last question
the blessed apostle in writing to the Romans most wisely disposes by
admitting that he does not know and that only God does. Do you too,
then, condescend to remain ignorant of that into which you inquire.
Leave to God His power over what is His own; He does not need you to
justify His actions. I am the hapless being against whom you ought to
direct your insults, I who am for ever reading the words: "by grace ye
are saved,"[8] and "blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered."[9] Yet, to lay bare my own weakness, I know that
I wish to do many things which I ought to do and yet cannot. For while
my spirit is strong and leads me to life my flesh is weak and draws me
to death. And I have the warning of the Lord in my ears: "watch and
pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak."[1]
10. It is in vain that you misrepresent me and try
to convince the ignorant that I condemn free will. Let him who condemns
it be himself condemned. We have been created endowed with free will;
still it is not this which distinguishes us from the brutes. For human
free will, as I have said before, depends upon the help of God and
needs His aid moment by moment, a thing which you and yours do not
choose to admit. Your position is that, if a man once has free will, he
no longer needs the help of God. It is true that freedom of the will
brings with it freedom of decision. Still man does not act immediately
on his free will, but requires God's aid who Himself needs no aid. You
yourself boast that a man's righteousness may be perfect and equal to
God's; yet you confess that you are a sinner. Answer me this, then; do
you or do you not wish to be free from sin ? If you do, why on your
principle do you not carry out your desire ? And if you do not, do you
not prove yourself a despiser of God's commandments ? If you are a
despiser, then you are a sinner. And if you are a sinner, then the
scripture says: "unto the wicked God saith, what hast thou to do to
declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy
mouth ? seeing thou hatest instruction and castest my words behind
thee.''[2] So long as you are unwilling to do what God commands, so
long do you cast His words behind you. And yet like a new apostle you
lay down for the world what to do and what not to do. However, your
words and your thoughts by no means correspond. For when you say that
you are a sinner--yet that a man may be without sin if he will, you
wish it to be understood that you are a saint and free from all sin. It
is only out of humility[3] that you call yourself a sinner; to give you
a chance of praising others while you depreciate yourself.
11. Another of your arguments is also intolerable,
one which runs thus: "To be sinless is one thing, to be able to be so
is another. The first is not in our power, the second generally is. For
though none ever has been sinless, yet, if a man wills to be so, he can
be so." What sort of reasoning, I ask, is this ? that a man can be what
a man never has been! that a thing is possible which according to your
own admission, no man has yet achieved! You are predicating of man a
quality which, for aught you know, he may never possess ! and you are
assigning to any chance person a grace which you cannot
279
shew to have marked patriarchs, prophets, or apostles. Listen to the
Church's words, plain as they may seem to you or crude or ignorant. And
speak what you think; preach publicly what secretly you tell your
disciples. You profess to have freedom of choice; why do you not speak
your thoughts freely? Your secret chambers hear one doctrine, the crowd
around the platform hear another. The uneducated throng, I suppose, is
not able to digest your esoteric teaching. Satisfied with the milk-diet
of an infant it cannot take solid food.[1]
I have written nothing yet, and still you menace me
with the thunders of a reply; hoping, I suppose, that I may be scared
by your terrors and may not venture to open my mouth. You fail to see
that my purpose in writing is to force you to answer and to commit
yourself plainly to doctrines which at present you maintain or ignore,
as time, place, and person require. One kind of freedom I must deny to
you, the freedom to deny what you have once written. An open avowal on
your part of the opinions that you hold will be a victory for the
church. For either the language of your reply will correspond to mine,
in which case I shall count you no longer as opponents but as friends;
or else you will gainsay my doctrine, in which case the making known of
your opinion to all the churches will be a triumph for me. To have
brought your tenets to light is to have overcome them. Blasphemy is
written on the face of them, and a doctrine, which in its very
statement is blasphemous, needs no refutation. You threaten me with a
reply, but this nobody can escape except the man who does not write at
all. How do you know what I am going to say that you talk of a reply ?
Perhaps I shall take your view and then you will have sharpened your
wits to no purpose. Eunomians, Arians, Macedonians--all these, unlike
in name, alike in impiety, give me no trouble. For they say what they
think. Yours is the only heresy which blushes openly to maintain what
secretly it does not fear to teach. But the frenzy of the disciples
exposes the silence of the masters; for what they have heard from them
in the closet they preach upon the housetop. If their auditors like
what they say, their masters get the credit; and if they dislike it,
only the disciples are blamed, the masters go free. In this way your
heresy has grown and you have deceived many; especially those who
cleave to women and are assured that they cannot sin. You are always
teaching, you are always denying; you deserve to have the prophet's
words applied to you: "give to them glory, O Lord, when they are in
travail and in the throes of labour. Give them, O Lord; what wilt thou
give ? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.''[1] My temper
rises and I cannot check my words. The limits of a letter do not admit
of a lengthy discussion. I assail nobody by name here. It is only
against the teacher of perverse doctrine that I have spoken. If
resentment shall induce him to reply, he will but betray himself like a
mouse which always leaves traces of its presence; and, when it comes to
blows in earnest, will receive more serious wounds.
12. From my youth up until now I have spent many
years in writing various works and have always tried to teach my
hearers the doctrine that I have been taught publicly in church. I have
not followed the philosophers in their discussions but have preferred
to acquiesce in the plain words of the apostles. For I have known that
it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring
to nothing the understanding of the prudent,"[2] and "the foolishness
of God is wiser than men.''[3] This being the case, I challenge my
opponents thoroughly to sift all my past writings and, if they can find
anything that is faulty in them, to bring it to light. One of two
things must happen. Either my works will be found edifying and I shall
confute the false charges brought against me; or they will be found
blameworthy and I shall confess my error. For I would sooner correct an
error than persevere in an opinion proved to be wrong. And as for you,
illustrious doctor, go you and do likewise: either defend the
statements that you have made, and support your clever theories with
corresponding eloquence, and do not when the whim takes you disown your
own words; or if, as a man may do, you have made a mistake, confess it
frankly and restore harmony where there has been disagreement. Recall
to mind how even the soldiers did not rend the coat of the Saviour.[4]
When you see brothers at strife you laugh; and are glad that some are
called by your name and others by that of Christ. Better would it be to
imitate Jonah and say: "If it is for my sake that this great tempest is
upon you, take me up and cast me forth into the sea.''[5] He in his
humility was thrown into the deep that he might rise again in glory to
be a type of the Lord.[6] But you are lifted up in your pride to the
stars, only that of you too Jesus may
280
say: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."[1]
13. It is true that in the holy scriptures many are
called righteous, as Zacharias and Elizabeth, Job, Jehosaphat, Josiah,
and many others who are mentioned in the sacred writings. Of this fact
I shall, if God gives me grace, give a full explanation in the work
which I have promised[2]; in this letter it must suffice to say that
they are called righteous, not because they are faultless but because
their faults are eclipsed by their virtues.[3] In fact Zacharias is
punished with dumbness,[4] Job is condemned out of his own mouth,[5]
and Jehoshaphat and Josiah who are beyond a doubt described as
righteous are narrated to have done things displeasing to the Lord The
first leagued himself with the ungodly Ahab and brought upon himself
the rebuke of Micaiah;[6] and the second--though forbidden by the word
of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah--went against Pharaoh-Nechoh, king of
Egypt, and was slain by him.[7] Yet they are both called righteous. Of
the rest this is not the time to write; for you have asked me not for a
treatise but for a letter. For a complete refutation I require leisure
and then I hope to destroy all their cavils by the help of Christ. For
this purpose I shall rely on the holy scriptures in which God every day
speaks to those who believe. And this is the warning which I would give
through you to all who are assembled within your holy and illustrious
house, that they should not allow one or at the most three mannikins to
taint them with the dregs of so many heresies and with the infamy--to
say the least--attaching to them. A place once famous for virtue and
holiness must not be defiled by the presumption of the devil and by
unclean associations. And let those who supply money to such men know
that they are adding to the ranks of the heretics, raising up enemies
to Christ and fostering his avowed opponents. It is idle for them to
profess one thing with their lips when by their actions they are proved
to think another.
LETTER CXXXIV.
TO AUGUSTINE.
Jerome acknowledges the receipt of Letters CXXXI.
and CXXXII. and excuses himself from answering the questions raised in
them on the twofold ground (I) that the times are evil and (2) that it
is inexpedient that he should be supposed to differ from Augustine. He
prays for the speedy extinction of Pelagianism, regrets that he cannot
send Augustine a critical Latin text of the O.T., and concludes with a
number of salutations from himself and those with him. The date of the
letter is 416 A.D. Its number in Augustine's Letters is CLXXII.
LETTER CXXXV.
FROM POPE INNOCENT TO AURELIUS.
Shortly after the synod of Diospolis the Pelagians
exulting in their success made an attack upon Jerome's monasteries at
Bethlehem which they pillaged and partially burned. This gained for him
the sympathy of Innocent who now (A.D. 417) asks Aurelius to transmit
to him the letter which follows this.
Innocent to his most esteemed friend and brother
Aurelius.[1]
Our fellow-presbyter Jerome has informed us of your
most dutiful desire to come to see us. We suffer with him as with a
member of our own flock. We have been swift also to take such measures
as have appeared to us expedient and practicable. As you count yourself
one of us, most dear brother, make haste to transmit the following
letter[2] to the aforesaid Jerome.
LETTER CXXXVI.
FROM POPE INNOCENT TO JEROME.
Innocent expresses his sympathy with Jerome and
promises to take strong measures to punish his opponents if he will
bring specific charges against them. The date of the letter is A.D. 417.
Innocent to his most esteemed son, the presbyter
Jerome.
The apostle[3] bears witness that contention has
never done good in the church; and for this reason he gives direction
that heretics should be admonished once or twice in the beginning of
their heresy and not subjected to a long series of rebukes. Where this
rule is negligently observed, the evil to be guarded against so far
from being evaded is rather intensified.
Your grief and lamentation have so affected us that
we can neither act nor advise.
To begin however, we commend you for the constancy
of your faith. To quote your own words spoken many times in the ears of
many, a man will gladly face misrepresentation or even personal danger
on behalf of the truth; if he is looking for the blessedness that is to
come. We remind you of what you have yourself preached although we are
sure that you need no reminder. The spectacle of these terrible evils
has so thoroughly roused us that we have hastened to put forth the
authority of the apostolic see to repress the plague in all its
manifestations; but as your letters name no individuals and bring no
specific charges, there is no one at present against whom we can
proceed. But we do
281
all that we can; we sympathize deeply with you. And if you will lay a
clear and unambiguous accusation against any persons in particular we
will appoint suitable judges to try their cases; or if you, our highly
esteemed son, think that it is needful for us to take yet graver and
more urgent action, we shall not be slow to do so. Meantime we have
written to our brother bishop John[1] advising him to act more
considerately, so that nothing may occur in the church committed to him
which it is his duty to foresee and to prevent, and that nothing may
happen which may subsequently prove a source of trouble to him.
LETTER CXXXVII.
FROM POPE INNOCENT TO JOHN, BISHOP OF
JERUSALEM.
Innocent censures John for having allowed the
Pelagians to effuse the disturbance at Bethlehem mentioned in the two
preceding letters and exhorts him to be more watchful over his diocese
in future. The date of the letter is A.D. 417. This was the year of the
death of both John and Innocent, and it is probable that John never
received the letter.
Innocent to his most highly esteemed brother John.
The holy virgins Eustochium and Paula[2] have
deplored to me the ravages, murders, fires and outrages of all kinds,
which they say that the devil has perpetrated in the district belonging
to their church; for with wonderful clemency and generosity they have
left untold the name and motive of his human agent. Now although there
can be no doubt as to who is the guilty person ;[3] yet you, my
brother, ought to have taken precautions and to have been more careful
of your flock so that no disturbance of the kind might arise; for
others suffer by your negligence, and you encourage men by it to make
havoc of the Lord's flock till His tender lambs, fleeced and weakened
by fire, sword and persecution, their relations murdered and dead, are,
as we are informed, themselves scarce alive. Does it not touch your
sacred responsibility as a priest[4] that the devil has shewn himself
so powerful against you and yours ? Against you, I say; for surely it
speaks ill of your capacity as a priest that a crime so terrible should
have been committed in the pale of your church. Where were your
precautions ? Where, after the blow had been struck, were your attempts
at relief ? Where too were your words of comfort ? These ladies tell me
that up to the present they have been in a state of too great
apprehension to complain of what they have already suffered. I should
judge more gravely of the matter had they spoken to me concerning it
more freely than they have. Beware then, brother, of the wiles of the
old enemy, and in the spirit of a good ruler be vigilant either to
correct or to repress such evils. For they have reached my ears in the
shape of rumours rather than as specific accusations. If nothing is
done, the law of the Church on the subject of injuries may compel the
person who has failed to defend his flock to shew cause for his
negligence.
LETTER CXXXVIII.
TO RIPARIUS.
Jerome praises Riparius for his zeal on behalf of
the Catholic faith and for his efforts to put down the Pelagians. He
then describes the attack made by these heretics upon the monasteries
of Bethlehem. Now, he is glad to say, they have at last been driven
from Palestine. Most of them, that is, for some still linger at Joppa
including one of their chief leaders. The date is A.D. 417.
That you fight Christ's battles against the enemies
of the Catholic Faith your own letters have informed me as well as the
reports of many persons, but I am told that you find the winds contrary
and that those who ought to have been the world's champions have backed
the cause of perdition to each other's ruin. You are to know that in
this part of the world, without any human help and merely by the decree
of Christ, Catiline[1] has been driven not only from the capital but
from the borders of Palestine. Lentulus, however, and many of his
fellow-conspirators still linger to our sorrow in Joppa. I myself have
thought it better to change my abode than to surrender the true faith;
and have chosen to leave my pleasant home rather than to suffer
contamination from heresy. For I could not communicate with men who
would either have insisted on my instant submission or would else have
summoned me to support my opinions by the sword. A good many, I dare
say, have told you the story of my sufferings and of the vengeance
which Christ's uplifted hand has on my behalf taken upon my enemies. I
would beg of you, therefore, to complete the task which you have taken
up and not, while you are in it,
282
to leave Christ's church without a defender. Every one knows the
weapons that must be used in this warfare; and you, I feel sure will
ask for no others. You must contend with all your might against the
foe; but it must be not with physical force but with that spiritual
charity which is never overcome. The reverend brothers who are with me,
unworthy as I am, salute you warmly. The reverend brother, the deacon
Alentius, is sure to give you, my worshipful friend, a faithful
narrative of all the facts. May Christ our Lord, of His almighty power,
keep you safe and mindful of the, truly reverend sir and esteemed
brother.
LETTER CXXXIX.
TO APRONIUS.
Of Apronius nothing is known; but from the mention
of Innocent (for whom see Letter CXLIII.) it seems a fair inference
that he lived in the West. Jerome here congratulates him on his
steadfastness in the faith and exhorts him to come to Bethlehem. He
then touches on the mischief done by Pelagius and complains that his
own monastery has been destroyed by him or by his partisans. The date
of the letter is A. D. 417.
I know not by what wiles of the devil it has come to
pass that all your toil and the efforts of the reverend presbyter
Innocent[1] and my own prayers and wishes seem for the moment to
produce no effect. God be thanked that you are well and that the fire
of faith glows in you even when you are in the midst of the devil's
wiles. My greatest joy is to hear that my spiritual sons are fighting
in the cause of Christ; and assuredly He in Whom we believe will so
quicken this zeal of ours that we shall be glad freely to shed our
blood in defence of His faith.
I grieve to hear that a noble family has been
subverted,[2] for what reason I cannot learn; for the bearer of the
letter could give me no information. We may well grieve over the loss
of our common friends and ask Christ the only potentate and Lord [3] to
have mercy upon them. At the same time we have deserved to receive
punishment at God's hand for we[4] have harboured the enemies of the
Lord.
The best course you can take is to leave everything
and to come to the East, before all to the holy places; for everything
is now quiet here. The heretics have not, it is true, purged the venom
from their breasts, but they do not venture to open their impious
mouths. They are "like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear."[1]Salute
your reverend brothers on my behalf.
As for our house,[2] so far as fleshly wealth is
concerned, it has been completely destroyed by the onslaughts of the
heretics; but by the mercy of Christ it is still filled with spiritual
riches. To live on bread is better than to lose the faith.
LETTER CXL.
TO CYPRIAN THE PRESBYTER.
Cyprian had visited Jerome at Bethlehem and had
asked him to write an exposition of Psalm XC. in simple language such
as might be readily understood. With this request Jerome now complies,
giving a very full account of the psalm, verse by verse, and bringing
the treasures of his learning and especially his knowledge of Hebrew to
bear upon it. He asserts its Mosaic authorship but is careful to add
that "the man of God" may have spoken not for himself but in the name
of the Jewish people. He speaks of the five books into which the
psalter is divisible and says that it is a mistake to ascribe all the
psalms to David. An allusion to the doctrine of Pelagius shows that the
letter must belong to Jerome's last years, and Vallarsi is probably
right m assigning it to A. D. 418.
LETTER CXLI.
TO AUGUSTINE.
A short note in which Jerome praises Augustine for
the determined stand which he has made against heresy and speaks of him
as" the restorer of the ancient faith." The allusion seems to be to his
action in the Pelagian controversy. If so, the date is probably 418
A.D. This letter is among those of Augustine, number 195.
LETTER CXLII.
TO AUGUSTINE.
There is good ground for supposing this to form part
of the previous letter. If so, Jerome speaks in a figure of the success
gained by Pelagianism in Palestine. "Jerusalem," he says, "is in the
hands of Nebuchadnezzar and will not heed the voice of Jeremiah," that
is, as the context shews, Jerome himself.This letter is among those of
Augustine, number 123.
LETTER CXLIII.
TO ALYPIUS AND AUGUSTINE.
In this letter Jerome congratulates Alypius and
Augustine on their success in strangling the heresy of Caelestius, the
co-adjutor of Pelagius, and states that, if he can find time and
secretaries, he hopes to write a refutation of the absurd errors of the
Pelagian pseudodeacon Annianus. The date is 419 A.D.This letter is
among those of Augustine, number 202.
283
LETTER CXLIV.
FROM AUGUSTINE TO OPTATUS.
Augustine writes to Optatus, bishop of Milevis, to
say that he cannot send him a copy of his letter to Jerome on the
origin of the soul (Letter CXXXI.) as it is incomplete without Jerome's
reply which he has not yet received. He then criticises the arguments
with which Optatus combats traducianism and points out that his
reasoning is inconclusive. The date of the letter is A. D. 420. The
letter has been somewhat compressed in translation: the involved
sentences of the original have been simplified and its redundancies
curtailed.
To the blessed lord and brother, sincerely loved and
longed-for, his fellow-bishop Optatus, Augustine [sends] greeting in
the Lord.
1. By the hand of the reverend presbyter Saturninus
I have received a letter from you, venerable sir, in which you
earnestly ask me for what I have not yet got. You thus shew clearly
your belief that I have already had a reply to my question on the
subject. Would that I had! Knowing the eagerness of your expectation, I
should never have dreamed of keeping back from you your share in the
gift; but if you will believe me, dear brother, it is not so. Although
five years have elapsed since I despatched to the East my letter (which
was one of inquiry, not of assertion), I have so far received no reply,
and am consequently unable to untie the knot as you wish me to do. Had
I had both[1] letters, I should gladly have sent you both; but I think
it better not to circulate mine[2] by itself lest he to whom it is
addressed and who may still answer me as I desire should prove
displeased. If I were to publish so elaborate a treatise as mine
without his reply to it, he might be justly indignant, and suppose me
more intent on displaying my talents than on promoting some useful end.
It would look as if I were bent on starting problems too hard for him
to solve. It is better to wait for the answer which he probably means
to send. For I am well aware that he has other subjects to occupy him
which are more serious and urgent than this question of mine. Your
holiness will readily understand this if you read what he wrote to me a
year later when my messenger was returning. The following is an extract
from his letter:[3]
"A most trying time has come upon us[4] in which I
have found it better to hold my peace than to speak. Consequently my
studies have ceased, that I may not give occasion to what Appius calls
'the eloquence of dogs." For this reason I have not been able to send
any answer to your two learned and brilliant letters. Not, indeed, that
I think anything in them needs correction, but that I recall the
Apostle's words: 'One judges in this way, another in that; let
every man give full expression to his own opinion."[2] All that a lofty
intellect can draw from the well of holy scripture has been drawn by
you. So much your reverence must allow me to say in praise of your
ability. But though in any discussion between us our joint object is
the advancement of learning, our rivals and especially the heretics
will ascribe any difference of opinion between us to mutual jealousy.
For my part, however, I am resolved to love you, to look up to you, to
reverence and admire you, and to defend your opinions as my own. I have
also in a dialogue which I have recently brought out made allusion to
your holiness in suitable terms. Let us, rather, then, strain every
nerve to banish from the churches that most pernicious heresy,[3] which
feigns repentance that it may have liberty to teach in our churches.
For were it to come out into the light of day, it would be expelled and
die."
2. You can see, worshipful brother, from this reply
that my friend does not refuse to answer my inquiry; he postpones it
because he is condemned to give his time to more urgent matters.
Moreover, that he is well disposed towards me is clear from his
friendly warning that a controversy between us begun in all charity and
in the interests of learning may be misconstrued by jealous and
heretical persons as due to mutual illfeeling. No; it will be better
for the public to have both together, his explanation as well as my
inquiry. For, as I shall have to thank him for instructing me if he is
able to explain the matter, the discussion will be of no small
advantage when it comes to the knowledge of the world. Those who come
after us will not only know what view they ought to take of a subject
thus fully argued but will also learn how under the divine mercy
brothers in affection may dispute a difficult question and yet preserve
each other's esteem.
3. On the other hand, if I were to publish the
letter in which I raise this obscure point without the reply in which
it may be set at rest, it might circulate widely and reach men who
"comparing themselves," as the Apostle says, "with themselves,"[4]
would misconstrue a motive which they could not understand, and would
explain my feeling towards one whom I love and esteem for his immense
ser-
284
vices not as it would appear to them (for it would be invisible to
them) but as their own fancy and malice would dictate. Now this is a
danger which, so far as in me lies, I am bound to guard against. But if
a document which I am unwilling to publish is published without my
consent and placed in hands from which I would withhold it, then I
shall have to resign myself to the will of God. Indeed, had I wished to
keep my words permanently undivulged I should never have sent them to
any one. For if (though I hope it may not be so) chance or necessity
shall prevent any reply being ever given me, my letter of inquiry is
still bound sooner or later to come to light. Nor will it be useless to
those who read it; for, although they will nor find what they seek,
they will learn how much better it is, when one is uninformed, to put
questions than to make assertions; and in the meantime those whom they
consult[1] will work out the points raised by me, laying aside
contention and in the interests of learning and charity trying to
obtain sound opinions about them. Thus they will either arrive at the
solutions they desire, or their faculties will be quickened and they
will learn from the investigation that farther inquiry is useless. At
present, however, as I have no reason to despair of an answer from my
friend I have decided not to publish the letter I have sent him, and I
trust, my dear comrade, that this decision may commend itself to
you. It should do so, for you have not asked for my letter so much as
for the answer to it; and this I would gladly send you if I had it to
send. It is true that in your epistle you speak of" the lucid
demonstration of my wisdom which in virtue of my life the Giver of
light has bestowed upon me "; and if by this you mean not the way in
which I have stated the problem but a solution which I have obtained of
the point in question, I should like to gratify your wish. But I must
admit that I have so far failed to discover how the soul can derive its
sin from Adam (a truth which it is unlawful to question) and yet not
itself be derived from Adam. At present I think it better to sift the
matter farther than to dogmatize rashly.
4. Your letter speaks of "many old men and persons
educated by learned priests whom you have failed to recall to your
modest way of thinking, and to a statement of the case which is truth
itself." You do not, however, explain what this mode of expression is.
If your old men hold fast what they have received from learned priests,
how comes it that you are troubled by a boorish mob of unlettered
clerics? On the other hand, if the old men and the unlettered clerics
have wickedly departed from the priests' teachings, surely these latter
are the persons to correct them and restrain them from controversial
excesses. Again when you say that "you as a new-fledged and
inexperienced teacher have been afraid to tamper with the doctrines
handed down by great and famous bishops, and that you have been loth to
draw men into a better path lest you should cast discredit on the
dead," do you not imply that in refusing to agree with you the objects
of your solicitude are but preferring the tradition of great and famous
bishops to the views of a new-fledged and inexperienced teacher? Of
their conduct in the matter I say nothing, but I am most anxious to
learn that "mode of expression which is truth itself," not the
thing expressed, but the mode of expression.
5. For you have made it sufficiently plain to me
that you disapprove of those who assert that men's souls are derived
from that of the protoplast[1] and propagated from one generation to
another; but as your letter does not inform me, I have no means of
knowing on what grounds and from what passages of scripture you have
shewn this view to be false. What does commend itself to you is not
clear either from your letter to the brothers at Caesarea or from that
which you have lately addressed to me. Only I see that you believe and
write that "God has been, is, and will be the maker of men, and that
there is nothing either in heaven or on earth which does not owe its
existence wholly to Him." This is of course a truism which nobody can
call in question. But as you affirm that souls are not propagated, you
ought to explain out of what God makes them. Is it out of some
pre-existing material, or is it out of nothing? For it is impossible
that you should hold the opinion of Origen, Priscillian, and other
heretics that it is for deeds done in a former life that souls are
confined in earthly and mortal bodies. This opinion is, indeed, flatly
contradicted by the apostle who says of Jacob and Esau that before they
were born they had done neither good nor evil.[2] Your view of the
matter, then, is known to me though only partially, but of your reasons
for supposing it to be true I know nothing. This was why in a former
letter I asked you to send me your confession of faith, the one which
you were vexed to find that one of your presbyters had signed
dishonestly. I now again ask you for this, as well as for any passages
of scripture which you have brought to bear on the question. For you
say in your letter to the broth-
285
ers at Caesarea that you "have resolved to have all definitions of
dogma reviewed by lay judges, sitting by general invitation, and
investigating all points touching the faith." And you continue: "the
divine mercy has made it possible for them to put forward their views
in a positive and definite form, which your modest ability has
reinforced with a great weight of evidence." Now it is this "great
weight of evidence" which I am so anxious to obtain. For, so far as I
can see, your one aim has been to refute your opponents when they deny
that our souls are the handiwork of God. If they hold such a view, you
are right in thinking that it should be condemned. Were they to say the
same thing of our bodies, they would be forced to retract it, or else
be held up to execration. For what Christian can deny that every single
human body is the work of God? Yet when we admit that they are of
divine origin we do not mean to deny that they are humanly engendered.
When therefore it is asserted that our souls are procreated from a kind
of immaterial seed, and that they, like our bodies, come to us from our
parents, yet are made souls by the working of God, it is not by human
guesses that the assertion is to be refuted, but by the witness of
divine scripture. Numbers of passages may indeed be quoted from the
sacred books which have canonical authority, to prove that our souls
are God's handiwork. But such passages only refute those who deny that
each several human soul is made by God; not at all those who while they
admit this contend that, like our bodies, they are formed by divine
agency through the instrumentality of parents. To refute these you must
look for unmistakable texts; or, if you have already discovered such,
shew your affection by communicating them to me. For though I seek them
most diligently I fail to find them.
As stated shortly by yourself (at the end of your
letter to the brothers at Caesarea) your dilemma is as follows:
"inasmuch as I am your son and disciple and have but recently by God's
help come to consider these mysteries, I beg you with your priestly
wisdom to teach me which of two opposite views I ought to hold. Am I to
maintain that souls are transmitted by generation, and that they are
derived in some mysterious way from Adam our first-formed father?[1] Or
am I with your brothers and the priests who are here to hold that God
has been, is, and will be the author and maker of all things and all
men?"
6. Of the two alternatives which you thus put
forward you wish to be urged to choose one or other; and this would be
the course of wisdom if your alternatives were so contrary that the
choice of one would involve the rejection of the other. But as it is,
instead of selecting one of them a man may say that they are both true.
He may maintain that the souls of all mankind are derived from Adam our
first-formed father, and yet believe and assert that God has been, is,
and will be the author and maker of all things and all men. How on your
principles is such a man to be confuted? Shall we say: "If they are
transmitted by generation God is not their author, for He does not make
them?" In that case he will reply: "Bodies too are engendered and not
made by God; on your shewing, then He is not their author." Will any
one maintain that God is the maker of no bodies but Adam's which He
made out of the dust and Eve's which He formed out of Adam's side; and
that other bodies are not made by Him because they are engendered by
human parents?
7. If your opponents go so far in maintaining the
derivation of souls as to deny that they are made and formed by God,
you may use this argument as a weapon to confute them so far as God's
help enables you. But if, while they assert that the soul's beginnings
come from Adam first and then from a man's parents, they at the same
time hold that the soul in every man is created and formed by God the
author of all things, they can only be confuted out of scripture.
Search therefore till you find a passage that is neither obscure nor
capable of a double meaning; or if you have already found one, hand it
on to me as I have begged you to do. But if, like myself, you have so
far failed to discover any such passage, you must still strain every
nerve to confute those who say that souls are in no sense God's
handiwork. This seems to be your opponents' position, for in your first
letter you write that "they have secretly whispered scandalous
doctrines and have forsaken your communion and the obedience of the
church on account of this foolish, nay impious opinion." Against such
men defend and uphold by every possible expedient the doctrine you have
laid down in the same letter, that God has been, is, and will be the
maker of souls; and that everything in heaven and on earth owes its
existence wholly to Him. For this is true of every creature; and as
such is to be believed, asserted, defended, and proved. God has been,
is, and will be the author and maker of all things and all men as you
have told your fellow-bishops of the province of Caesarea, exhorting
them to adopt the doctrine by the ex-
286
ample of your brothers and fellow-priests. But there are two quite
distinct dilemmas:(1) Is God the author and maker of all souls and
bodies (the true view), or is there something in nature which He has
not made (a view which is wholly erroneous)?(2) If souls are
undoubtedly God's handiwork, does He make them directly, or indirectly
by propagation? It is in dealing with this second dilemma that I would
have you to be sober and vigilant. Else in refuting the
propagation-theory you may fall incautiously into the heresy of
Pelagius. Everybody knows that human bodies are propagated by
generation; yet if we are right in saying that all human souls--and not
only those of Adam and Eve--are created by God, it is clear that to
assert their transmission by generation is not to deny their divine
origin. For in this view God makes the soul as He makes the body,
indirectly by a process of generation. If the truth condemns this as an
error, some fresh argument must be sought to confute it. No persons
could better advise you on the point (if only they were within reach)
than those dead worthies whom you feared to discredit by drawing men
away from them into a better path. They were, you said, great and
famous bishops while you were a new-fledged and inexperienced teacher;
thus you were loth to tamper with their doctrines. Would that I could
know on what passages these great men rested their opinion that souls
are transmitted! For in your letter to the brothers at Caesarea, you
speak of their view with a total disregard of their authority, as a new
invention, an unheard-of doctrine; though we all know that, error as it
may be, it is no novelty but old and of ancient date.
8. Now when we have reason to be doubtful about a
point, we need not doubt that we are right in doubting. There is no
doubt but that we ought to doubt things that are doubtful. For
instance, the Apostle has no doubt about doubting whether he was in the
body or out of the body when he was carried up into the third
heaven.[1] Whether it was thus or thus, he says, I know not; God knows.
Why may not I, then, so long as I have no light, doubt whether my soul
comes to me by generation or unengendered? Why may I not be doubtful
about this, so long as I do not doubt that in either case it is the
work of God most high? Why may I not say; "I know that my soul owes its
existence to God and is altogether His handiwork; but whether it comes
by generation, as the body does, or unengendered, as was Adam's soul, I
know not; God knows." You wish me to assert positively one view or the
other. I might do so if I knew which was right. You may have some light
on the point, and if so you will find me keener to learn what I know
not than to teach what I know. But if, like myself, you are in the
dark, you should pray, as I do, that either through one of His
servants, or with His own lips, He would teach us who said to His
disciples: "Be not ye called masters; for one is your master, even
Christ."[1] Yet such knowledge is only expedient for us when He knows
it to be expedient who knows both what He has to teach and what we
ought to learn. Nevertheless, to you, my dear friend, I confess my
eagerness. Still much as I desire to know this after which you seek, I
would sooner know when the desire of all nations shall come and when
the kingdom of the saints will be set up, than how my soul has come to
its earthly abode. But when His disciples (who are our apostles) put
this question to the all-knowing Christ, they were told: "It is not
yours to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His
own power."[2] What if Christ, who knows what is expedient for us,
knows this knowledge not to be expedient? Through Him I know that it is
not ours to know the times which God has placed in His own power; but
concerning the origin of souls, I am ignorant whether it is or is not
ours to know. If I could be sure that such knowledge is not for us, I
should cease not only to dogmatize, but even to inquire. As it is,
though the subject is so deep and dark that my fear of becoming a rash
teacher is almost greater than my eagerness to learn the truth, I still
wish to know it if I can do so. It may be that the knowledge for which
the psalmist prays: "Lord, make me to know mine end,"[3] is much more
necessary; yet I would that my beginning also might be revealed to me.
9. But even as touching this I must not be
ungrateful to my Master. I know that the human soul is spiritual not
corporeal, that it is endowed with reason and intelligence, and that it
is not of God's essence but a thing created. It is both mortal and
immortal: the first because it is subject to corruption and separable
from the life of God in which it is alone blessed, the second because
its consciousness must ever continue and form the source of its
happiness or woe. It does not, it is true, owe its immersion in the
flesh to acts done before the flesh; yet in man it is never without
sin, not even when "its life has been but for one day."[4] Of those
engendered of the seed of Adam no man is born without
287
sin, and it is necessary even for babes to be born anew in Christ by
the grace of regeneration. All this I know concerning the soul and it
is much; the greater part of it, indeed is not only knowledge but
matter of faith as well. I rejoice to have learned it all and I can
truly say that I know it. If there are things of which I am still
ignorant (as whether God creates souls by generation or apart from
it--for that He does create them I have no doubt) I would sooner know
the truth than: be ignorant of it. But so long as I cannot know it I
had rather suspend my judgment than assert what is plainly
contrary to an indisputable truth.
10. You, my brother, ask me to decide for you
whether men's souls as made by the Creator come like their bodies by
generation from Adam, or whether like his soul they are made without
generation and separately for each individual. For in one way or the
other we both admit that they are God's handiwork. Suffer me then in
turn to ask you a question. Can a soul derive original sin from a
source from which it is not itself derived? For unless we are to fall
into the detestable heresy of Pelagius, we must both of us allow that
all souls do derive original sin from Adam. And if you cannot answer my
question, pray give me leave to confess my ignorance alike of your
question and of my own. But if you already know what I ask, teach me
and then I will teach you what you wish to know. Pray do not be
displeased with me for taking this line, for though I have given you no
positive answer to your question, I have shewn you how you ought to put
it. When once you are clear about that, you may be quite positive where
you have been doubtful.[1]
This much I have thought it right to write to your
holiness seeing that you are so sure that the transmission of souls is
a doctrine to be rejected. Had I been writing to maintainers of the
doctrine I might perhaps have shewn how ignorant they are of what they
fancy they know and how cautious they should be not to make rash
assertions.
It may perhaps perplex you that in my friend's
answer as I have quoted it in this letter he mentions two letters of
mine to which he has no time to reply. Only one of these deals with the
problem of the soul;[2] in the other I have asked light on another
difficulty.[3] Again when he urges me to take more pains for the
removal from the church of a most pernicious heresy, he alludes to the
error of the Pelagians which I earnestly beg you, my brother, at all
hazards to avoid. In speculating or arguing on the origin of the soul
you must never give place to this heresy with its insidious
suggestions. For there is no soul, save that of the one Mediator, which
does not derive original sin from Adam. Original sin is that which is
fastened on the soul at its birth and from which it can only be freed
by being born again.
LETTER CXLV.
TO EXUPERANTIUS.
Jerome advises Exuperantius, a Korean soldier, to
come to Bethlehem and with his brother Quintilian to become a monk.
According to Palladius (H. L. c. lxxx.) Exuperantius came to Jerome but
went away again unable to endure his violence and ill-will.' The
date of the letter is unknown.
Among all the favours that my friendship with the
reverend brother Quintilian has conferred upon me the greatest is this
that he has introduced me in the spirit to you whom I do not know
personally. Who can fail to love a man who, while he wears the cloak
and uniform of a soldier does the work of a prophet, and while his
outer man gives promise of quite a different character, overcomes this
by the inner man which is formed after the image of the creator. I come
forward therefore to challenge you to an interchange of letters and beg
that you will often give me occasion to reply to you that I may for the
future feel less constraint in writing.
For the present I will content myself by suggesting
to your discretion that you should bear in mind the apostle's words:
"Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed
from a wife? Seek not a wife;"[1] that is, seek not that binding which
is contrary to loosing. He who has contracted the obligations of
marriage, is bound, and he who is bound is a slave; on the other hand
he who is loosed is free. Since therefore you rejoice in the freedom of
Christ, since your life is better than your profession, since you are
all but on the housetop of which the Saviour speaks; you ought not to
come down to take your clothes,[2] you ought not to look behind you,
you ought not having put your hand to the plough, then to let it go.[3]
Rather, if you can, imitate Joseph and leave your garment in the hand
of your Egyptian mistress,[4] that naked you may follow your Lord and
Saviour. For in the gospel He says: "Whosoever doth not leave all that
he hath and bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."[5]
Cast from you the burthen of the things of this world, and seek not
those riches which in the gospel are compared to the
288
humps[1] of camels. Naked and unencumbered fly up to heaven; masses of
gold will but impede the wings of your virtue. I do not speak thus
because I know you to be covetous, but because I have a notion that
your object in remaining so long in the army is to fill that purse
which the Lord has commanded you to empty. For they who have
possessions and riches are bidden to sell all that they have and to
give to the poor and then to follow the Saviour.[2] Thus if your
worship is rich already you ought to fulfil the command and sell your
riches; or if you are still poor you ought not to amass what you will
have to pay away. Christ accepts the sacrifices made for him[3]
according as he who makes them has a willing mind. Never were any men
poorer than the apostles; yet never any left more for the Lord than
they. The poor widow in the gospel who cast but two mites into the
treasury was set before all the men of wealth because she gave all that
she had.[4] So it should be with you. Seek not for wealth which you
will have to pay away; but rather give up that which you have already
acquired that Christ may know his new recruit to be brave and resolute,
and then when you are a great way off His Father will run with joy to
meet you. He will give you a robe, will put a ring upon your finger.
and will kill for you the fatted calf.[3] Then when you are freed from
all encumbrances God will soon make a way for you to cross the sea to
me with your reverend brother Quintilian. I have now knocked at
the door of friendship: if you open it to me you will find me a
frequent visitor.
LETTER CXLVI.
TO EVANGELUS.
Jerome refutes the opinion of those who make deacons
equal to presbyters, but in doing so himself makes presbyters equal to
bishops.
The date of the letter is unknown.t
1. We read in Isaiah the words, "the fool will
speak folly,"[6] and I am told that some one has been mad enough
to put deacons before presbyters, that is, before bishops. For
when the apostle clearly teaches that presbyters are the same as
bishops, must not a i mere server of tables and of widows[7] be
insane to set himself up arrogantly over men through whose
prayers the body and blood of Christ are produced?[8] Do you ask for
proof of what I say? Listen to this passage: "Paul and
Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in
Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons."[1] Do
you wish for another instance? In the Acts of the Apostles Paul thus
speaks to the priests[2] of a single church: "Take heed unto yourselves
and to all the flock, in the which the Holy Ghost hath made you
bishops, to feed the church of God which He purchased with His own
blood."[3] And lest any should in a spirit of contention argue that
there must then have been more bishops than one in a single church,
there is the following passage which clearly proves a bishop and a
presbyter to be the same. Writing to Titus the apostle says: "For this
cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things
that are wanting, and ordain presbyters[4] in every city, as I had
appointed thee: if any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having
faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be
blameless as the steward of God."[6] And to Timothy he says: "Neglect
not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with
the laying on of the hands of the presbytery."[6] Peter also says in
his first epistle: "The presbyters which are among you I exhort, who am
your fellow-presbyter and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and
also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: feed the flock of
Christ' ... taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but
willingly, according unto God."[3] In the Greek the meaning is still
plainer, for the word used is <greek>episkopountes</greek>,
that is to say, overseeing, and this is the origin of the name overseer
or bishop.[9] But perhaps the testimony of these great men seems to you
insufficient. If so, then listen to the blast of the gospel trumpet,
that son of thunder,[10] the disciple whom Jesus loved[11] and who
reclining on the Saviour's breast drank in the waters of sound
doctrine. One of his letters begins thus: "The presbyter unto the elect
lady and her children whom I love in the truth; "[12] and another thus:
"The presbyter unto the well-beloved Gains whom I love in the
truth."[13] When subsequently one presbyter was chosen to preside over
the rest, this was done to remedy schism and to prevent each individual
from rending the church of Christ by drawing t to himself. For even at
Alexandria from the time of Mark the Evangelist until the episcopates
of Heraclas and Dionysius the presbyters always named as bishop
one of their own number chosen by themselves and set in a
more exalted position, just as an army elects a general, or as
deacons appoint one of themselves whom they know to be diligent
289
and call him archdeacon. For what function excepting ordination,
belongs to a bishop that does not also belong to a presbyter? It is not
the case that there is one church at Rome and another in all the world
beside. Gaul and Britain, Africa and Persia, India and the East worship
one Christ and observe one rule of truth. If you ask for authority, the
world outweighs its capital.[1] Wherever there is a bishop, whether it
be at Rome or at Engubium, whether it be at Constantinople or at
Rhegium, whether it be at Alexandria or at Zoan, his dignity is one and
his priesthood is one. Neither the command of wealth nor the lowliness
of poverty makes him more a bishop or less a bishop. All alike are
successors of the apostles.[2]
2. But you will say, how comes it then that at Rome
a presbyter is only ordained on the recommendation of a deacon? To
which I reply as follows. Why do you bring forward a custom which
exists in one city only? Why do you oppose to the laws of the Church a
paltry exception which has given rise to arrogance and pride? The rarer
anything is the more it is sought after. In India pennyroyal is more
costly than pepper. Their fewness makes deacons persons of
consequence[3] while presbyters are less thought of owing to their
great numbers. But even in the church of Rome the deacons stand while
the presbyters seat themselves, although bad habits have by degrees so
far crept in that I have seen a deacon, in the absence of the bishop,
seat himself among the presbyters and at social gatherings give his
blessing to them? Those who act thus must learn that they are wrong and
must give heed to the apostles' words: "it is not reason that we should
leave the word of God and serve tables."[5] They must consider the
reasons which led to the appointment of deacons at the beginning. They
must read the Acts of the Apostles and bear in mind their true position.
Of the names presbyter and bishop the first denotes
age, the second rank. In writing both to Titus and to Timothy the
apostle speaks of the ordination of bishops and of deacons, but says
not a word of the ordination of presbyters; for the fact is that the
word bishops includes presbyters also. Again when a man is promoted it
is from a lower place to a higher. Either then a presbyter should be
ordained a deacon, from the lesser office, that
is, to the more important, to prove that a presbyter is inferior to a
deacon; or if on the other hand it is the deacon that is ordained
presbyter, this latter should recognize that, although he may be less
highly paid than a deacon, he is superior to him in virtue of his
priesthood. In fact as if to tell us that the traditions handed down by
the apostles were taken by them from the old testament, bishops,
presbyters and deacons occupy in the church the same positions as those
which were occupied by Aaron, his sons, and the Levites in the
temple.[1]
LETTER CXLVII.
TO SABINIANUS.
Jerome writes in severe but moderate language to
Sabinianus, a deacon, calling on him to repent of his sins. Of these he
recounts at length the two most serious, an act of adultery at Rome and
an attempt to seduce a nun at Bethlehem. The date of the letter is
uncertain.
I. Of old, when it had repented the Lord that he had
anointed Saul to be king over Israel,[2] we are told that Samuel
mourned for him; and again, when Paul heard that there was fornication
among the Corinthians and such fornication as was not so much as named
among the gentiles,[3] he besought them to repent with these tearful
words: "lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you and
that I shall bewail many which have sinned already and have not
repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which
they have committed.''[4] If an apostle or a prophet, themselves
immaculate, could speak thus with a clemency embracing all, how much
more earnestly should a sinner like me plead with a sinner like you.
You have fallen and refuse to rise; you do not so much as lift your
eyes to heaven; having wasted your father's substance you take pleasure
in rite husks that the swine eat;[5] and climbing the precipice of
pride you fall headlong into the deep. You make your belly your God
instead of Christ; you are a slave to lust; your glory is in your
shame;[6] you fatten yourself like a victim for the slaughter, and
imitate the lives of the wicked, careless of their doom. "Thou knowest
not that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. But after thy
hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up unto thyself wrath
against the day of wrath."[7] Or is it that your heart is hardened, as
Pharaoh's was, because your punishment is deferred and you are not
smitten at the moment? The ten plagues were sent upon Pharaoh not as by
an
290
angry God but as by a warning father, and his day of grace was
prolonged until he repented of his repentance. Yet doom overtook him
when he pursued through the wilderness the people whom he had
previously let go and presumed to enter the very sea in the eagerness
of his pursuit. For only in this one way could he learn the lesson that
He is to be dreaded whom even the elements obey. He had said: "I know
not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go;"[1] and you imitate him
when you say: "The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and
he prophesieth of the times that are far off."[2] Yet the same prophet
confutes you with these words: "Thus saith the Lord God, There shall
none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have
spoken shall be done." David too says of the godless (and of
godlessness you have proved yourself not a slight but an eminent
example), that in this world they rejoice in good fortune and say: "How
doth God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold these
are the ungodly who prosper in the world; they increase in riches."[3]
Then almost losing his footing and staggering where he stands he
complains, saying "Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed
my hands in innocency."[4] For he had previously said: "I was envious
at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have
no regard for death,[1] but their strength is firm. They are not in
trouble as other men are; neither are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth
them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more
than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning
oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the
heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth."[5]
2. Does not this whole psalm seem to you to be
written of yourself? Certainly you are hale and strong; and like a new
apostle of Antichrist, when you are found out in one city, you pass to
another.[6] You are in no need of money, no crushing blow strikes you
down, neither are you plagued as other men who are not like you mere
brute beasts. Therefore you are lifted up into pride, and lust covers
you as a garment. Out of your fat and bloated carcass you breathe out
words fraught with death. You never consider that you must some day
die, nor feel the slightest repentance when you have satisfied your
lust.
You have more than heart can wish; and, not to be alone in your
wrongdoing, you invent scandals concerning those who are God's
servants. Though you know it not, it is against the most High that you
are speaking iniquity and against the heavens that you are setting your
mouth. It is no wonder that God's servants small and great are
blasphemed by you, when your fathers did not scruple to call even the
master of the house Beelzebub. "The disciple is not above his master
nor the servant above his lord."[1] If they did this with the green
tree, what will you do with me, the dry?[2] Much in the same way also
the offended believers in the book of Malachi gave expression to
feelings like yours; for they said, "It is vain to serve God: and what
profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked
mournfully before the Lord of Hosts? And now we call the proud happy;
yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are
even delivered." Yet the Lord afterwards threatens them with a day of
judgment; and announcing beforehand the distinction that shall then be
made between the righteous and the unrighteous, speaks to them thus:
"Return ye,[3] and discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not."[4]
3. All this may perhaps seem to you matter for
jesting, seeing that you take so much pleasure in comedies and lyrics
and mimes like those of Lentulus;[5] although so blunted is your wit
that I am not disposed to allow that you can understand even language
so simple. You may treat the words of prophets with contempt, but Amos
will still make answer to you: "Thus saith the Lord, For three
transgressions and for four shall I not turn away from him? "[6] For
inasmuch as Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, the Ammonites and the Moabites,
the Jews also and the children of Israel, although God had often
prophesied to them to turn and to repent, had refused to hear His
voice, the Lord wishing to shew that He had most just cause for the
wrath that he was going to bring upon them used the words already
quoted, "For three transgressions and for four shall I not turn away
from them?" It is wicked, God says, to harbour evil thoughts; yet I
have allowed them to do so. It is still more wicked to carry them out;
yet in My mercy and kindness I have permitted even this. But should the
sinful thought have become the sinful deed? Should men in their pride
have trampled thus on my tenderness?
291
Nevertheless "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that
the wicked turn from his way and live; "[1] and as it is not they that
are whole who need a physician but they that are sick,[2] even after
his sin I hold out a hand to the prostrate sinner and exhort him,
polluted as he is in his own blood,[3] to wash away his stains with
tears of penitence. But if even then he shews himself unwilling to
repent, and if, after he has suffered shipwreck, he refuses to clutch
the plank which alone can save him, I am compelled at last to say:
"Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions and for four shall I not
turn away from him?" For this "turning away" God accounts a punishment,
inasmuch as the sinner is left to his own devices. It is thus that he
visits the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation;[4] not punishing those who sin immediately but
pardoning their first offences and only passing sentence on them for
their last. For if it were otherwise and if God were to stand forth on
the moment as the avenger of iniquity, the church would lose many of
its saints; and certainly would be deprived of the apostle Paul. The
prophet Ezekiel, from whom we have quoted above, repeating God's words
spoken to himself speaks thus: "Open thy mouth and eat what I shall
give thee. And behold," he says, "an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a
roll of a book was therein; and he spread it before me; and it was
written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations,
and a song, and woe."[5] The first of these three belongs to you if you
prove willing, as a sinner, to repent of your sins. The second belongs
to those who are holy, who are called upon to sing praises to God; for
praise does not become a sinner's mouth. And the third belongs to
persons like you who in despair have given themselves over to
uncleanness, to fornication, to the belly, and to the lowest lusts; men
who suppose that death ends all and that there is nothing beyond it;
who say: "When the overflowing scourge shall pass through it shall not
come unto us.''[6] The book which the prophet eats is the whole series
of the Scriptures, which in turn bewail the penitent, celebrate the
righteous, and curse the desperate. For nothing is so displeasing to
God as an impenitent heart. Impenitence is the one sin for which there
is no forgiveness. For if one who ceases to sin is pardoned even after
he has sinned, and if prayer has power to bend the judge; it follows
that every impenitent sinner must provoke his judge to wrath. Thus
despair is the one sin for which there is no remedy. By obstinate
rejection of
God's grace men turn His mercy into sternness and severity. Yet, that
you may know that God does every day call sinners to repentance, hear
Isaiah's Words: "In that day," he says, "did the Lord God of Hosts call
to weeping and to mourning and to baldness and to girding with
sackcloth: and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing
sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine; let us eat and drink, for
to-morrow we shall die." After these words filled with the recklessness
of despair the Scripture goes on to say: "And it was revealed in my
ears by the Lord of Hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged
from you till ye die."[1] Only when they become dead to sin, will their
sin be forgiven them. For, so long as they live in sin, it cannot be
put away.
4. Have mercy I beseech you upon your soul. Consider
that God's judgment will one day overtake you. Remember by what a
bishop you were ordained. The holy man was mistaken in his choice; but
this he might well be. For even God repented that he had anointed Saul
to be king.[2] Even among the twelve apostles Judas was found a
traitor. And Nicolas of Antioch--a deacon like yourself[3]
--disseminated the Nicolaitan heresy and all manner of uncleanness.[4]
I do not now bring up to you the many virgins whom you are said to have
seduced, or the noble matrons who have suffered death[5] because
violated by you, or the greedy profligacy with which you have hied
through dens of sin. For grave and serious as such sins are in
themselves, they are trivial indeed when compared with those which I
have now to narrate. How great must be the sin beside which seduction
and adultery are insignificant? Miserable wretch that you are! when you
enter the cave wherein the Son of God was born, where truth sprang out
of the earth and the land did yield her increase,[6] it is to make an
assignation. Have you no fear that the babe will cry from the manger,
that the newly delivered virgin will see you, that the mother of the
Lord will behold you? The angels cry aloud, the shepherds run, the star
shines down from heaven, the wise men worship, Herod is terrified,
Jerusalem is in confusion, and meantime you creep into a virgin's cell
to seduce the virgin to whom it belongs. I am filled with consternation
and a shiver runs through me, soul and body, when I try to set before
your eyes the deed that you have done. The whole church was keeping
vigil by night and proclaiming Christ as its Lord; m one spirit though
in different tongues the
292
praises of God were being sung. Yet you were squeezing your love-notes
into the openings of what is now the altar, as it was once the manger,
of the Lord, choosing this place in order that your unhappy victim
might find and read them when she came to kneel and worship there. Then
you took your place among the singers, and with impudent nods
communicated your passion to her.
5. Oh! crying shame! I can go no farther. For sobs
anticipate my words, and indignation and grief choke me in the act of
utterance. Oh! for the sea of Tully's eloquence! Oh! for the impetuous
current of the invective of Demosthenes! Yet in this case I am sure you
would both be dumb; your eloquence would fail you. A deed has been
disclosed which no rhetoric can explain; a crime has been discovered
which no mime can represent, nor jester play, nor comedian describe.[1]
It is usual in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria
for virgins and widows who have vowed themselves to God and have
renounced the world and have trodden under foot its pleasures, to ask
the mothers of their communities to cut their hair; not that afterwards
they go about with heads uncovered in defiance of the apostle's
command,[2] for they wear a close-fitting cap and a veil. No one knows
of this in any single case except the shearers and the shorn, but as
the practice is universal, it is almost universally known. The custom
has in fact become a second nature. It is designed to save those who
take no baths and whose heads and faces are strangers to all unguents,
from accumulated dirt and from the tiny creatures which are sometimes
generated about the roots of the hair.
6. Let us see then, my good friend, how you acted in
these surroundings. You promised to marry your unhappy victim; and then
in that venerable cave you took from her, either as securities for her
fidelity or as a pledge of the engagement, some locks of hair, some
handkerchiefs, and a girdle, swearing at the same time that you would
never love another as you loved her. Then you ran to the place where
the shepherds were watching their flocks when they heard the angels
singing over head, and there again you plighted your troth. I say no
more; I do not accuse you of kissing her or of embracing her. Although
I believe that there is nothing of which you are not capable, still the
sacred character of stable and field forbids me to suppose you guilty
except in will and determination. Unhappy man! When you first stood
beside the virgin in the cave, surely a mist must have dimmed your eyes,
your tongue must have been paralysed, your arms must have fallen to
your sides, your chest must have heaved, your gait must have become
unsteady. She had assumed the bridal-veil of Christ in the basilica of
the apostle Peter and had vowed to live henceforth in the monastery, in
the spots consecrated by the Lord's Cross, His Resurrection, and His
Ascension; and yet after all this you dared to accept that hair, which
at Christ's command she had cut off in the cave of His birth, as a
token of her readiness to sleep with you. Again you used to sit beneath
her window from the evening till the morning; and because owing to its
height you could not come to close quarters with her, you conveyed
things to her and she in her turn to you by the aid of a cord. How
careful the lady superior must have been is shewn by the fact that you
never saw the virgin except in church; and that, although both of you
had the same inclination, you could find no means of conversing with
each other except at a window under cover of night. As I was afterwards
told you used to be quite sorry when the sun rose. Your face looked
bloodless, shrunken, and pale; and to remove all suspicion, you used to
be for ever reading Christ's gospel as if you were a deacon indeed.[1]
I and others used to attribute your paleness to fasting, and to admire
your bloodless lips--so unlike the brilliant colour which they
generally shewed--in the belief that they were caused by frequent
vigils. You were already preparing ladders to fetch the unhappy virgin
from her cell; you had already arranged your route, ordered vessels,
settled a day, and thought out the details of your flight, when,
behold, the angel who kept the door of Mary's chamber, who watched over
the cradle of the Lord and who bore in his arms the infant Christ, in
whose presence you had committed these great sins, himself and none
other, betrayed you.
7. Oh! my unlucky eyes! Oh! day worthy of the most
solemn curse, on which with utter consternation I read your letters,
the contents of which I am forced to remember still! What obscenities
they contained! What blandishments! What exultant triumph in the
prospect of the virgin's dishonour. A deacon should not have even known
such things, much less should he have spoken of them. Unhappy man!
where can you have learned them, you who used to boast that you had
been reared in the church. It is true, however, that in these letters
you swear that you have never led a chaste life and that you are not
really a deacon. If you try to disown them your own handwriting will
convict you, and the very
293
letters will cry out against you. But meantime you may make what you
can of your sin, for what you have written is so foul that I cannot
bring it up as evidence against you.
8. You threw yourself down at my knees, you
prostrated yourself, you begged me--I use your own words--to spare
"your half-pint of blood." Oh! miserable wretch! you thought nothing of
God's judgment, and feared no vengeance but mine. I forgave you, I
admit; what else being a Christian could I do? I urged you to repent,
to wear sackcloth, to roll in ashes, to seek seclusion, to live in a
monastery, to implore God's mercy with constant tears. You however
showed yourself a pillar of confidence, and excited as you were by the
viper's sting you became to me a deceitful bow; you shot at me arrows
of reviling. I am become your enemy because I tell you the truth.[1] I
do not complain of your calumnies; everyone knows that you only praise
men as infamous as yourself. What I lament is that you do not lament
yourself, that you do not realize that you are dead, that, like a
gladiator ready for Libitina,[2] you deck yourself out for your own
funeral. You wear not sackcloth but linen, you load your fingers with
rings, you use toothpowder for your teeth, you arrange the stray hairs
on your brown skull to the best advantage. Your bull's neck bulges out
with fat and droops no whit because it has given way to lust. Moreover
you are redolent of perfume, you go from one bath to another, you wage
war[3] against the hair that grows in spite of you, you walk through
the forum and the streets a spruce and smooth-faced rake. Your face has
become the face of a harlot: you know not how to blush.[4] Return,
unhappy man, to the Lord, and He will return to you.[5] Repent, and He
will repent of the evil that He has purposed to bring upon you.
9. Why is it that you disregard your own scars and
try to defame others? Why is it that when I give you the best advice
you attack me like a madman? It may be that I am as infamous as you
publicly proclaim; in that case you can at least repent as heartily as
I do. It may be that I am as great a sinner as you make me out; if so,
you can at least imitate a sinner's tears. Are my sins your virtues? Or
does it alleviate your misery that many are in the same plight as
yourself? Let a few tears fall on the silk and fine linen which make
you so resplendent. Realize that you:
are naked, torn, unclean, a beggar.[1] It is never too late to
repent.[2] You may have gone down from Jerusalem and may have been
wounded on the way; yet the Samaritan will set you upon his beast, and
will bring you to the inn and will take care of you.[3] Even if you are
lying in your grave, the Lord will raise you though your flesh may
stink.[4] At least imitate those blind men for whose sake the Saviour
left His home and heritage and came to Jericho. They were sitting in
darkness and in the shadow of death when the light shone upon them."[5]
For when they learned that it was the Lord who was passing by they
began to cry out saying: "Thou Son of David, have mercy on us."[6] You
too will have your sight restored; if you cry to Him, and cast away
your filthy garments at His call.[7] "When thou shalt turn and bewail
thyself then shalt thou be saved, and then shalt thou know where thou
hast hitherto been."[8] Let Him but touch your scars and pass his hands
over your eyeballs; and although you may have been born blind from the
womb and although your mother may have conceived you in sin, he will
purge you with hyssop and you shall be clean, he will wash you and you
shall be whiter than snow.[9] Why is it that you are bowed together and
bent down to the ground, why is it that you are still prostrate in the
mire? She whom Satan had bound for eighteen years came to the Saviour;
and being cured by Him was made straight so that she could once more
look up towards heaven.[10] God says to you what He said to Cain: "Thou
hast sinned: hold thy peace."[11] Why do you flee from the face of God
and dwell in the land of Nod? Why do you struggle in the waves[12] when
you can plant your feet upon the rock? See to it that Phinehas does not
thrust you through with his spear while you are committing fornication
with the Midianitish woman.[13] Amnon did not spare Tamar,[14] and you
her brother and kinsman in the faith have had no mercy upon this
virgin. But why is it that when you have defiled her you change into an
Absalom and desire to kill a David who mourns over your rebellion and
spiritual death? The blood of Naboth[15] cries out against you. The
vineyard also of
294
Jezreel, that is, of God's seed, demands due vengeance upon you, seeing
that you have turned it into a garden of pleasures and made it a
seed-bed of lust. God sends you an Elijah to tell you of torment and of
death. Bow yourself down therefore and put on sackcloth for a little
while; then perhaps the Lord will say of you what He said of Ahab:
"Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? Because he humbleth
himself before me,[1] I will not bring the evil in his days."
10. But possibly you flatter yourself that since the
bishop who has made you a deacon is a holy man, his merits will atone
for your transgressions. I have already told you that the father is not
punished for the son nor the son for the father. "The soul that sinneth
it shall die."[2] Samuel too had sons who forsook the fear of the Lord
and "turned aside after lucre" and iniquity.[3] Eli also was a holy
priest, but he had sons of whom we read in the Hebrew that they lay
with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of God, and
that like you they shamelessly claimed for themselves the right to
minister in His sanctuary.[4] Wherefore the tabernacle itself was
overthrown and the holy place made desolate by reason of the sins of
those who were God's priests. And even Eli himself offended God by
shewing too great leniency to his sons; therefore, so far from the
righteousness of your bishop being able to deliver you, it is rather to
be feared that your wickedness may hurl him from his seat and that
falling on his back like Eli he may perish irretrievably.[5] If the
Levite Uzzah was smitten merely because he tried to hold up from
falling the ark which it was his special province to carry;[6] what
punishment, think you, will be inflicted upon you who have tried to
overthrow the Lord's ark when standing firm? The more estimable the
bishop is who ordained you, the more detestable are you who have
disappointed the expectations of so good a man. His long ignorance of
your misdoings is indeed easy to account for; as it generally happens
that we are the last to know the scandals which affect our homes, and
are ignorant of the sins of our children and wives even when our
neighbors talk of nothing else. At all events all Italy was aware of
your evil life; and it was everywhere a subject of lamentation that you
should still stand before the altar of Christ. For you had neither the
cunning nor the forethought to conceal your vices. So hot were you, so
lecherous, and so wanton, so entirely under the sway of this and
that caprice of self-indulgence, that, not content with satisfying your
passions, you gloried in each intrigue as a triumph and emerged from it
bearing palms of victory.
11. Once more the fire of unchastity seized you,
this time among savage swords and in the quarters of a married
barbarian of great influence and power. You were not afraid to commit
adultery in a house where the injured husband might have punished you
without calling in a judge's aid. You found yourself attracted and
drawn to suburban parks and gardens; and, in the husband's absence
behaved as boldly and madly as if you supposed your companion to be not
your paramour but your wife. She was at last captured, but you escaped
through an underground passage and secretly made your way to Rome.
There you hid yourself among some Samnite robbers; and on the first
hint that the aggrieved husband was coming down from the Alps like a
new Hannibal in search of you, you did not think yourself safe till you
had taken refuge on shipboard. So hasty indeed was your flight that you
chose to face a tempest at sea rather than take the consequences of
remaining on shore. Somehow or other you reached Syria, and on arriving
there professed a wish to go on to Jerusalem and there to serve the
Lord. Who could refuse to welcome one who declared himself to be a
monk; especially if he were ignorant of your tragical career and had
read the letters of commendation which your bishop had addressed to
other prelates?[1] Unhappy man! you transformed yourself into an angel
of light;[2] and while you were in reality a minister of Satan, you
pretended to be a minister of righteousness. You were only a wolf in
sheep's clothing;[3] and having played the adulterer once towards the
wife of a man, you desired now to play the adulterer to the spouse of
Christ.[4]
12. My design in recounting these events has been to
sketch for you the picture of your evil life and to set your misdeeds
plainly before your eyes. I have wished to prevent you from making
God's mercy and His abundant tenderness an excuse for committing new
sins and to save you from crucifying to yourself the son of God afresh
and putting Him to an open shame. For you may do these things if you do
not read the words which follow the passage to which I have alluded.
They are these: "The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft
upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed,
295
receiveth blessings from God: but that which beareth thorns and briers
is rejected and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned."[1]
LETTER CXLVIII.
TO THE MATRON CELANTIA.
This is an interesting letter addressed to a lady of
rank, on the principles and methods of a holy life. It is not, however,
the work of Jerome, of whose style it shews few traces. It has been
ascribed in turn to Paulinus of Nola and Sulpicius Severus.
LETTER CXLIX.
ON THE JEWISH FESTIVALS.
The theme of this letter is the abrogation of the Jewish festivals by
the evangelical law.It has no claim to be considered a work of Jerome.
LETTER CL.
FROM PROCOPIUS TO JEROME.
This letter is extant also among those of Procopius
of Gaza, to whose works it properly belongs. As this Procopius
flourished a century later than Jerome, the letter cannot be addressed
to him,
TREATISES
2
99
THE LIFE OF PAULUS THE FIRST HERMIT
The Life of Paulus was written in the year 374 or
375 during Jerome's stay in the desert of Syria, as is seen from c, 6,
and was dedicated to Paulus of Concordia as stated in Jerome's Ep. x.
c. 3.
1. It has been a subject of wide-spread and frequent
discussion what monk was the first to give a signal example of
the hermit life. For some going back too far have found a beginning in
those holy men Elias and John, of whom the former seems to have been
more than a monk and the latter to have begun to prophesy before his
birth. Others, and their opinion is that commonly received, maintain
that Antony was the originator of this mode of life, which view is
partly true. Partly I say, for the fact is not so much that he preceded
the rest as that they all derived from him the necessary stimulus. But
it is asserted even at the present day by Amathas and Macarius, two of
Antony's disciples, the former of whom laid his master in the grave,
that a certain Paul of Thebes was the leader in the movement, though
not the first to bear the name, and this opinion has my approval also.
Some as they think fit circulate stories such as this--that he was a
man living in an underground cave with flowing hair down to his feet,
and invent many incredible tales which it would be useless to detail.
Nor does the opinion of men who lie without any sense of shame seem
worthy of refutation. So then inasmuch as both Greek and Roman writers
have handed down careful accounts of Antony, I have determined to write
a short history of Paul's early and latter days, more because the thing
has been passed over than from confidence in my own ability. What his
middle life was like, and what snares of Satan he experienced, no man,
it is thought, has yet discovered.
2. During the persecutions of Decius and Valerian,
when Cornelius at Rome and Cyprian at Carthage shed their blood in
blessed martyrdom, many churches in Egypt and the Thebaid were laid
waste by the fury of the storm. At that time the Christians would
often pray that they might be smitten with the sword for the name of
Christ. But the desire of the crafty foe was to slay the soul, not the
body; and this he did by searching diligently for slow but deadly
tortures. In the words of Cyprian himself who suffered at his hands:
they who wished to die were not suffered to be slain. We give two
illustrations, both as specially noteworthy and to make the cruelty of
the enemy better known.
3. A martyr, steadfast in faith, who stood fast as a
conqueror amidst the racks and burning plates, was ordered by him to be
smeared with honey and to be made to lie under a blazing sun with his
hands tied behind his back, so that he who had already surmounted the
heat of the frying-pan might be vanquished by the stings of flies.
Another who was in the bloom of youth was taken by his command to some
delightful pleasure gardens, and there amid white lilies and blushing
roses, close by a gently murmuring stream, while overhead the soft
whisper of the wind played among the leaves of the trees, was laid upon
a deep luxurious feather-bed, bound with fetters of sweet garlands to
prevent his escape. When all bad withdrawn from him a harlot of great
beauty drew near and began with voluptuous embrace to throw her arms
around his neck, and, wicked even to relate! to handle his person, so
that when once the lusts of the flesh were roused, she might accomplish
her licentious purpose. What to do, and whither to turn, the soldier of
Christ knew not. Unconquered by tortures he was being overcome by
pleasure. At last with an inspiration from heaven he bit off the end of
his tongue and spat it in her face as she kissed him. Thus the
sensations of lust were subdued by the intense pain which followed.
4. While such enormities were being perpetrated in the lower part
of the Thebaid, Paul and his newly married sister were bereaved of both
their parents, he being about sixteen years of age. He was heir to a
rich inheritance, highly skilled in both Greek and Egyptian learning,
gifted with a gentle disposition and a deep love for God. Amid the
thunders of persecution he retired to a house at a considerable
distance and in a more secluded spot. But to what crimes does not the
"accursed thirst for gold" impel the human heart? His brother-in-law
conceived the thought of betraying the youth whom he was bound to
conceal. Neither a wife's tears which so often prevail, nor the ties of
blood, nor the all-seeing eye of God above him could turn the traitor
from his wickedness. "He
300
came, he was urgent, he acted with cruelty while seeming only to press
the claims of affection."
5. The young man had the tact to understand this,
and, conforming his will to the necessity, fled to the mountain wilds
to wait for the end of the persecution. He began with easy stages, and
repeated halts, to advance into the desert. At length he found a rocky
mountain, at the foot of which, closed by a stone, was a cave of no
great size. He removed the stone (so eager are men to learn what is
hidden), made eager search, and saw within a large hall, open to the
sky, but shaded by the wide-spread branches of an ancient palm. The
tree, however, did not conceal a fountain of transparent clearness, the
waters whereof no sooner gushed forth than the stream was swallowed up
in a small opening of the same ground which gave it birth. There were
besides in the mountain, which was full of cavities, many habitable
places, in which were seen, now rough with rust, anvils and hammers for
stamping money. The place, Egyptian writers relate, was a secret mint
at the time of Antony's union with Cleopatra.
6. Accordingly, regarding his abode as a gift from
God, he fell in love with it, and there in prayer and solitude spent
all the rest of his life. The palm afforded him food and clothing. And,
that no one may deem this impossible, I call to witness Jesus and His
holy angels that I have seen and still see in that part of the desert
which lies between Syria and the Saracens' country, monks of whom one
was shut up for thirty years and lived on barley bread and muddy water,
while another in an old cistern (called in the country dialect of Syria
Gubba) kept himself alive on five dried figs a day. What I relate then
is so strange that it will appear incredible to those who do not
believe the words that "all things are possible to him that believeth."
7. But to return to the point at which I digressed.
The blessed Paul had already lived on earth the life of heaven for a
hundred and thirteen years, and Antony at the age of ninety was
dwelling in another place of solitude (as he himself was wont to
declare), when the thought occurred to the latter, that no monk more
perfect than himself had settled in the desert. However, in the
stillness of the night it was revealed to him that there was farther in
the desert a much better man than he, and that he ought to go and visit
him. So then at break of day the venerable old man, supporting and
guiding his weak limbs with a staff, started to go: but what direction
to choose he knew not. Scorching noontide came, with a broiling sun
overhead, but still he did not suffer himself to be turned from the
journey he had begun. Said he, "I believe in my God: some time or other
He will shew me the fellow-servant whom He promised me." He said no
more. All at once he beholds a creature of mingled shape, half horse
half man, called by the poets Hippocentaur. At the sight of this he
arms himself by making on his forehead the sign of salvation, and then
exclaims, "Holloa! Where in these parts is a servant of God living?"
The monster after gnashing out some kind of outlandish utterance, in
words broken rather than spoken through his bristling lips, at length
finds a friendly mode of communication, and extending his right hand
points out the way desired. Then with swift flight he crosses the
spreading plain and vanishes from the sight of his wondering companion.
But whether the devil took this shape to terrify him, or whether it be
that the desert which is known to abound in monstrous animals engenders
that kind of creature also, we cannot decide.
8. Antony was amazed. and thinking over what
he had seen went on his way. Before long in a small rocky valley shut
in on all sides he sees a mannikin with hooked snout, horned forehead,
and extremities like goats' feet. When he saw this, Antony like a good
soldier seized the shield of faith and the helmet of hope: the creature
none the less began to offer to him the fruit of the palm-trees to
support him on his journey and as it were pledges of peace. Antony
perceiving this stopped and asked who he was. The answer he received
from him was this: "I am a mortal being and one of those inhabitants of
the desert whom the Gentiles deluded by various forms of error worship
under the names of Fauns, Satyrs, and Incubi. I am sent to represent my
tribe. We pray you in our behalf to entreat the favour of your Lord and
ours. who, we have learnt, came once to save the world, and 'whose
sound has gone forth into all the earth.' " As he uttered such words as
these, the aged traveller's cheeks streamed with tears, the marks of
his deep feeling, which he shed in the fulness of his joy. He rejoiced
over the Glory of Christ and the destruction of Satan, and marvelling
all the while that he could understand the Satyr's language, and
striking the ground with his staff, he said, "Woe to thee, Alexandria,
who instead of God worshippest monsters! Woe to thee, harlot city, into
which have flowed together the demons of the whole world! What will you
say now? Beasts speak of Christ, and you instead of God worship
monsters." He had not finished speaking when, as if on wings, the wild
creature fled away. Let no one scruple to believe this incident; its
truth is
301
supported by what took place when Constantine was on the throne, a
matter of which the whole world was witness. For a man of that kind was
brought alive to Alexandria and shewn as a wonderful sight to the
people. Afterwards his lifeless body, to prevent its decay through the
summer heat, was preserved in salt and brought to Antioch that the
Emperor might see it.
9. To pursue my proposed story. Antony traversed the
region on which he had entered, seeing only the traces of wild beasts,
and the wide waste of the desert. What to do, whither to wend his way,
he knew not. Another day had now passed. One thing alone was left him,
his confident belief that he could not be forsaken by Christ. The
darkness of the second night he wore away in prayer. While it was still
twilight, he saw not far away a she-wolf gasping with parching thirst
and creeping to the foot of the mountain. He followed it with his eyes;
and after the beast had disappeared in a cave he drew near and began to
look within. His curiosity profiled nothing: the darkness hindered
vision. But, as the Scripture saith, perfect love casteth out fear.
With halting step and bated breath he entered, carefully feeling his
way; he advanced little by little and repeatedly listened for the
sound. At length through the fearful midnight darkness a light appeared
in the distance. In his eager haste he struck his foot against a stone
and roused the echoes; whereupon the blessed Paul closed the open door
and made it fast with a bar. Then Antony sank to the ground at the
entrance and until the sixth hour or later craved admission, saying,
"Who I am, whence, and why I have come, you know. I know I am not
worthy to look upon you: yet unless I see you I will not go away. You
welcome beasts: why not a man? I asked and I have found: I knock that
it may be opened to me. But if I do not succeed, I will die here on
your threshold. You will surely bury me when I am dead."
"Such was his constant cry: unmoved he stood. To whom the hero
thus brief answer made"
"Prayers like these do not mean threats; there is no trickery in tears.
Are you surprised at my not welcoming you when you have come here to
die?" Thus with smiles Paul gave him access, and, the door being
opened, they threw themselves into each other's arms, greeted. one
another by name, and joined in thanksgiving to God.
10 After the sacred kiss Paul sat down and thus
began to address Antony. "Behold the man whom yon have sought with so
much toil, his limbs decayed with age, his gray hairs unkempt. You see
before you a man who were long will be dust. But love endures all
things. Tell me therefore, I pray you, how fares the human race? Are
new homes springing up in the ancient cities? What government directs
the world? Are there still some remaining for the demons to carry
away by their delusions?" Thus conversing they noticed with wonder a
raven which had settled on the bough of a tree, and was then flying
gently down till it came and laid a whole loaf of bread before them.
They were astonished, and when it had gone, "See," said Paul, "the Lord
truly loving, truly merciful, has sent us a meal. For the last sixty
years i have always received half a loaf: but at your coming Christ has
doubled his soldier's rations."
11. Accordingly, having returned thanks to the Lord,
they sat down together on the brink of the glassy spring. At this point
a dispute arose as to who should break the bread, and nearly the whole
day until eventide was spent in the discussion. Paul urged in support
of his view the rites of hospitality, Antony pleaded age. At length it
was arranged that each should seize the loaf on the side nearest to
himself, pull towards him, and keep for his own the part left in his
hands. Then on hands and knees they drank a little water from the
spring, and offering to God the sacrifice of praise passed the night in
vigil. At the return of day the blessed Paul thus spoke to Antony: "I
knew long since, brother, that you were dwelling in those parts: long
ago God promised you to me for a fellow-servant; but the time of my
falling asleep now draws nigh; I have always longed to be dissolved and
to be with Christ; my course is finished, and there remains for me a
crown of righteousness. Therefore you have been sent by the Lord to lay
my poor body in the ground, yea to return earth to earth."
12. On hearing this Antony with tears and groans
began to pray that he would not desert him, but would take him for a
companion on that journey. His friend replied: "You ought not to seek
your own, but another man's good. It is expedient for you to lay aside
the burden of the flesh and to follow the Lamb; but it is expedient for
the rest of the brethren to be trained by your example. Wherefore be so
good as to go and fetch the cloak Bishop Athanasius gave you, to wrap
my poor body in." The blessed Paul asked this favour not because he
cared much whether his corpse when it decayed were clothed or naked
(why should he indeed, when he had so long worn a garment of
palm-leaves stitched together?) ; but that he might soften his friend's
regrets at
302
his decease. Antony was astonished to find Paul had heard of Athanasius
and his cloak; and, seeing as it were Christ Himself in him, he
mentally worshipped God without venturing to add a single word; then
silently weeping he once more kissed his eyes and hands, and set out on
his return to the monastery which was afterwards seized by the
Saracens. His steps lagged behind his will. Yet, exhausted as he was
with fasting and broken by age, his courage proved victorious over his
years.
13. At last wearied and panting for breath he
completed his journey and reached his little dwelling. Here he was met
by two disciples who had begun to wait upon him in his advanced age.
Said they, "Where have you stayed so long, father?" He replied, "Woe to
me a sinner! I do not deserve the name of monk. I have seen Elias, I
have seen John in the desert, and I have really seen Paul in Paradise."
He then closed his lips, beat upon his breast, and brought out the
cloak from his cell. When his disciples asked him to explain the matter
somewhat more fully he said," There is a time to keep silence, and a
time to speak."
14. He then went out, and without taking so much as
a morsel of food returned the same way he came, longing for him alone,
thirsting to see him, having eyes and thought for none but him. For he
was afraid, and the event proved his anticipations correct, that in his
absence his friend might yield up his spirit to Christ. And now another
day had dawned and a three hours' journey still remained, when he saw
Paul in robes of snowy white ascending on high among the bands of
angels, and the choirs of prophets and apostles. Immediately he fell on
his face, and threw the coarse sand upon his head, weeping and wailing
as he cried, "Why do you cast me from you, Paul? Why go without one
farewell? Have you made yourself known so late only to depart so soon?"
15. The blessed Antony used afterwards to relate
that he traversed the rest of the distance at such speed that he flew
along like a bird; and not without reason: for on entering the cave he
saw the lifeless body in a kneeling attitude, with head erect and hands
uplifted. The first thing he did, supposing him to be alive, was to
pray by his side. But when he did not hear the sighs which usually come
from one in prayer, he fell to kisses and tears, and he then understood
that even the dead body of the saint with duteous gestures was praying
to God unto whom all things live.
16. Then having wrapped up the body and carried it
forth, all the while chanting hymns and psalms according to the
Christian tradition, Antony began to lament that he had no implement
for digging the ground. So in a surging sea of thought and pondering
many plans he said: "If i return to the monastery, there is a four
days' journey: if I stay here I shall do no good. I will die then, as
is fitting, beside Thy warrior, O Christ, and will quickly breathe my
last breath." While he turned these things over in his mind, behold,
two lions from the recesses of the desert with manes flying on their
necks came rushing along. At first he was horrified at the sight, but
again turning his thoughts to God, he waited without alarm, as though
they were doves that he saw. They came straight to the corpse of the
blessed old man and there stopped, fawned upon it and lay down at its
feet, roaring aloud as if to make it known that they were mourning in
the only way possible to them. Then they began to paw the ground close
by, and vie with one another in excavating the sand, until they dug out
a place just large enough to hold a man. And immediately, as if
demanding a reward for their work, pricking up their ears while they
lowered their heads. they came to Antony and began to lick his hands
and feet. He perceived that they were begging a blessing from him, and
at once with an outburst of praise to Christ that even dumb animals
felt His divinity, he said, "Lord, without whose command not a leaf
drops from the tree, not a sparrow falls to the ground, grant them what
thou knowest to be best." Then he waved his hand and bade them depart.
When they were gone he bent his aged shoulders beneath the burden of
the saint's body, laid it in the grave, covered it with the excavated
soil, and raised over it the customary mound. Another day dawned, and
then, that the affectionate heir might not be without something
belonging to the intestate dead, he took for himself the tunic which
after the manner of wicker-work the saint had woven out of palm-leaves.
And so returning to the monastery he unfolded everything in order to
his disciples, and on the feast-days of Easter and Pentecost he always
wore Paul's tunic.
17. I may be permitted at the end of this little
treatise to ask those who do not know the extent of their possessions,
who adorn their homes with marble, who string house to house and field
to field, what did this old man in his nakedness ever lack? Your
drinking vessels are of precious stones; he satisfied his thirst with
the hollow of his hand. Your tunics are of wrought gold; he had not the
raiment of the meanest of your slaves. But on the other hand, poor
though he was, Paradise is open to him; you with all your gold will be
received into Gehenna. He though naked yet kept the robe of Christ;
you, clad
303
in your silks, have lost the vesture of Christ. Paul lies covered with
worthless dust, but will rise again to glory; over you are raised
costly tombs, but both you and your wealth are doomed to the burning.
Have a care, I pray you, at least have a care for the riches you love.
Why are even the grave-clothes of your dead made of gold? Why does not
your vaunting cease even amid mourning and tears? Cannot the carcases
of rich men decay except in silk?
18. I beseech you, reader, whoever you may be, to
remember Jerome the sinner. He, if God would give him his choice, would
much sooner take Paul's tunic with his merits, than the purple of kings
with their punishment.
THE LIFE OF S. HILARION
The life of Hilarion was written by Jerome in 390 at
Bethlehem. Its object was to further the ascetic life to which he was
devoted. It contains, amidst much that is legendary, some statements
which attach it to genuine history, and is in any case a curious record
of the state of the human mind in the 4th century. A theory started in
Germany, that it was a sort of religious romance, seems destitute of
foundation. It may possibly have been, in Jerome's intention, a
contribution to the church history the writing of which he proposed but
never executed. (See the Life of Malchus, c. I.)
I. Before I begin to write the life of the blessed
Hilarion I invoke the aid of the Holy Spirit who dwelt in him, that He
who bestowed upon the saint his virtues may grant me such power of
speech to relate them that my words may be adequate to his deeds. For
the virtue of those who have done great deeds is esteemed in proportion
to the ability with which it has been praised by men of genius.
Alexander the Great of Macedon who is spoken of by Daniel as the ram,
or the panther, or the he-goat, on reaching the grave of Achilles
exclaimed "Happy Youth! to have the privilege of a great herald of your
worth," meaning, of course, Homer. I, however, have to tell the story
of the life and conversation of a man so renowned that even Homer
were he here would either envy me the theme or prove unequal to it. It
is true that that holy man Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, who
had much intercourse with Hilarion, set forth his praises in a
short but widely circulated letter. Yet it is one thing to praise the
dead in general terms, another to relate their characteristic virtues.
And so we in taking up the work begun by him do him service rather than
wrong: we despise the abuse of some who as they once disparaged
my hero Paulus,[1] will now perhaps disparage Hilarion; the former they
censured for his solitary life; they may find fault with the latter for
his intercourse with the world; the one was always out of sight,
therefore they think he had no existence; the other was seen by many,
therefore he is deemed of no account. It is just what their ancestors
the Pharisees did of old! they were not pleased with[2] John fasting in
the desert, nor with our Lord and Saviour in the busy throng, eating
and drinking. But I will put my hand to the work on which I have
resolved, and go on my way closing my ears to the barking of Scylla's
hounds.
2. The birth place of Hilarion was the village
Thabatha, situate about five miles to the south of Gaza, a city of
Palestine. His parents were idolaters, and therefore, as the saying is,
the rose blossomed on the thorn. By them he was committed to the charge
of a Grammarian at Alexandria, where, so far as his age allowed, he
gave proofs of remarkable ability and character: and in a short time
endeared himself to all and became an accomplished speaker. More
important than all this, he was a believer in the Lord Jesus, and took
no delight in the madness of the circus, the blood of the arena, the
excesses of the theatre: his whole pleasure was in the assemblies of
the Church.
3. At that time he heard of the famous name of Antony,
which was in the mouth of all the races of Egypt. He was fired with a
desire to see him, and set out for the desert. He no sooner saw him
than he changed his former mode of life and abode with him about two
months, studying the method of his life and the gravity of his conduct:
his assiduity in prayer, his humility in his dealings with the
brethren, his severity in rebuke, his eagerness in exhortation. He
noted too that the saint would never on account of bodily weakness
break his rule of abstinence or deviate from the plainness of his food.
At last, unable to endure any longer the crowds of those who visited
the saint because of various afflictions or the assaults of demons, and
deeming it a strange anomaly that he should have to bear in
304
the desert the crowds of the cities, he thought it was better for him
to begin as Antony had begun. Said he: "Antony is reaping the reward of
victory like a hero who has proved his bravery. I have not entered on
the soldier's career." He therefore returned with certain monks to his
country, and, his parents being now dead, gave part of his property to
his brothers, part to the poor, keeping nothing at all for himself, for
he remembered with awe the passage in the Acts of the Apostles and
dreaded the example and the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira above
all he was mindful of the Lord's words,[1] "whosoever he be of you that
renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." At this
time he was about fifteen years old. Accordingly, stripped bare and
armed with the weapons of Christ, he entered the wilderness which
stretches to the left seven miles from Majoma, the port of Gaza, as you
go along the coast to Egypt. And although the locality had a record of
robbery and of blood, and his relatives and friends warned him of the
danger he was incurring, he despised death that he might escape death.
4. His courage and tender years would have been a
marvel to all, were it not that his heart was on fire and his eyes
bright with the gleams and sparks of faith. His cheeks were smooth, his
body thin and delicate, unfit to bear the slightest injury which cold
or heat could inflict. What then? With no other covering for his limbs
but a shirt of sackcloth, and a cloak of skins which the blessed Antony
had given him when he set out, and a blanket of the coarsest sort, he
found pleasure in the vast and terrible wilderness with the sea on one
side and the marshland on the other. His food was only fifteen dried
figs after sunset. And because the district was notorious for
brigandage, it was his practice never to abide long in the same place.
What was the devil to do? Whither could he turn? He who once boasted
and said,[2] "I will ascend into heaven, I will set my throne above the
stars of the sky, I will be like the most High," saw himself conquered
and trodden under foot by a boy whose years did not allow of sin.
5. Satan therefore tickled his senses and, as is his
wont, lighted in his maturing body the fires of lust. This mere
beginner in Christ's school was forced to think of what he knew not,
and to revolve whole trains of thought concerning that of which he had
no experience. Angry with himself and beating his bosom (as if with the
blow of his hand he could shut out his thoughts) "Ass! " he exclaimed,
"I'll stop your kicking, I will not feed you with barley, but with
chaff. I will weaken you with hunger and thirst, I will lade you with
heavy burdens, I will drive you through heat and cold, that you may
think more of food than wantonness." So for three or four days
afterwards he sustained his sinking spirit with the juice of herbs and
a few dried figs, praying frequently and singing, and hoeing the ground
that the suffering of fasting might be doubled by the pain of toil. At
the same time he wove baskets of rushes and emulated the discipline of
the Egyptian monks, and put into practice the Apostle's precept,[1] "If
any will not work, neither let him eat." By these practices he became
so enfeebled and his frame so wasted, that his bones scarcely held
together.
6 One night he began to hear the wailing of infants,
the bleating of flocks, the lowing of oxen, the lament of what seemed
to be women, the roaring of lions, the noise of an army, and moreover
various portentous cries which made him in alarm shrink from the sound
ere he had the sight. He understood that the demons were disporting
themselves, and falling on his knees he made the sign of the cross on
his forehead. Thus armed as he lay he fought the more bravely, half
longing to see those whom he shuddered to hear, and anxiously looking
in every direction. Meanwhile all at once in the bright moonlight he
saw a chariot with dashing steeds rushing upon him. He called upon
Jesus, and suddenly before his eyes, the earth was opened and the whole
array was swallowed up. Then he said,[2] "The horse and his rider hath
He thrown into the sea." And,[3] "Some trust in chariots, and some in
horses; but we will triumph in the name of the Lord our God."
7. So many were his temptations and so various the
snares of demons night and day, that if I wished to relate them, a
volume would not suffice. How often when he lay down did naked women
appear to him, how often sumptuous feasts when he was hungry! Sometimes
as he prayed a howling wolf sprang past or a snarling fox, and when he
sang a gladiatorial show was before him, and a man newly slain would
seem to fall at his feet and ask him for burial.
8. Once upon a time he was praying with his head
upon the ground. As is the way with men, his attention was withdrawn
from his devotions, and he was thinking of something else, when a
tormentor sprang upon his back and driving his heels into his sides and
beating him across the neck with a horse-whip
305
cried out "Come! why are you asleep?" Then with a loud laugh asked if
he was tired and would like to have some barley.
9. From his sixteenth to his twentieth year he
shielded himself from heat and rain in a little hut which he had
constructed of reeds and sedge. Afterwards he built himself a small
cell which remains to the present day, five feet in height, that is
less than his own height, and only a little more in length. One might
suppose it a tomb rather than a house.
10. He shaved his hair once a year on Easter Day,
and until his death was accustomed to lie on the bare ground or on a
bed of rushes. The sackcloth which he had once put on he never washed,
and he used to say that it was going too far to look for cleanliness in
goats' hair-cloth. Nor did he change his shirt unless the one he wore
was almost in rags. He had committed the Sacred Writings to memory, and
after prayer and singing was wont to recite them as if in the presence
of God. It would be tedious to narrate singly the successive steps of
his spiritual ascent; I will therefore set them in a summary way before
my reader, and describe his mode of life at each stage, and will
afterwards return to proper historical sequence.
11. From his twentieth to his twenty-seventh year,
for three years his food was half a pint of lentils moistened with cold
water, and for the next three dry bread with salt and water. From his
twenty-seventh year onward to the thirtieth, he supported himself on
wild herbs and the raw roots of certain shrubs. From his thirty-first
to his thirty-fifth year, he had for food six ounces of barley bread,
and vegetables slightly cooked without oil. But finding his eyes
growing dim and his whole body shrivelled with a scabby eruption and
dry mange, he added oil to his former food and up to the sixty-third
year of his life followed this temperate course, tasting neither fruit
nor pulse, nor anything whatsoever besides. Then when he saw that his
bodily health was broken down, and thought death was near, from his
sixty-fourth year to his eightieth he abstained from bread. The fervour
of his spirit was so wonderful, that at times when others are wont to
allow themselves some laxity of living he appeared to be entering like
a novice on the service of the Lord. He made a sort of broth from meal
and bruised herbs, food and drink together scarcely weighing six
ounces, and, while obeying this rule of diet, he never broke his
fast before sunset, not even on festivals nor in severe sickness. But
it is now time to return to the course of event.
12. While still living in the hut, at the age of
eighteen, robbers came to him by night, either supposing that he had
something which they might carry off, or considering that they
would be brought into contempt if a solitary boy felt no dread of their
attacks. They searched up and down between the sea and the marsh from
evening until daybreak without being able to find his resting place.
Then, having discovered the boy by the light of day they asked him,
half in jest, "What would you do if robbers came to you?" He replied,
"He that has nothing does not fear robbers." Said they, "At all events,
you might be killed." "I might," said he, "I might; and therefore I do
not fear robbers because I am prepared to die." Then they marvelled at
his firmness and faith, confessed how they had wandered about in the
night, and how their eyes had been blinded, and promised to lead a
stricter life in the future.
13. He had now spent twenty-two years in the
wilderness and was the common theme in all the cities of Palestine,
though everywhere known by repute only. The first person bold enough to
break into the presence of the blessed Hilarion was a certain woman of
Eleutheropolis who found that she was despised by her husband on
account of her sterility (for in fifteen years she had borne no fruit
of wedlock). He had no expectation of her coming when she suddenly
threw herself at his feet. "Forgive my boldness," she said: "take pity
on my necessity. Why do you turn away your eyes? Why shun my
entreaties? Do not think of me as a woman, but as an object of
compassion. It was my sex that bore the Saviour.[1] They that are whole
have no need of a physician, but they that are sick." At length, after
a long time he no longer turned away, but looked at the woman and asked
the cause of her coming and of her tears. On learning this he raised
his eyes to heaven and bade her have faith, then wept over her as she
departed. Within a year he saw her with a son.
14. This his first miracle was succeeded by another
still greater and more notable. Aristnete the wife of Elpidius who was
afterwards pretorian prefect, a woman well known among her own people,
still better known among Christians, on her return with her husband,
from visiting the blessed Antony, was delayed at Gaza by the sickness
of her three children; for there, whether it was owing to the vitiated
atmosphere, or whether it was, as afterwards became clear, for the
glory of God's servant Hilarion, they were all alike seized by a
semi-tertian ague and despaired of by the physicians. The mother lay
wailing, or as one might say walked up and down between the corpses of
her three
306
sons not knowing which she should first have to mourn for. When,
however, she knew that there was a certain monk in the neighbouring
wilderness, forgetting her matronly state (she only remembered she was
a mother) she set out accompanied by her handmaids and eunuchs, and was
hardly persuaded by her husband to take an ass to ride upon. On
reaching the saint she said, "I pray you by Jesus our most merciful
God, I beseech you by His cross and blood, to restore to me my three
sons, so that the name of our Lord and Saviour may be glorified in the
city of the Gentiles. Then shall his servants enter Gaza and the idol
Marnas shall fall to the ground." At first he refused and said that he
never left his cell and was not accustomed to enter a house, much less
the city; but she threw herself upon the ground and cried repeatedly,
"Hilarion, servant of Christ, give me back my children: Antony kept
them safe in Egypt, do you save them in Syria." All present were
weeping, and the saint himself wept as he denied her. What need to say
more? the woman did not leave him till he promised that he would enter
Gaza after sunset. On coming thither he made the sign of the cross over
the bed and fevered limbs of each, and called upon the name of Jesus.
Marvellous efficacy of the Name! As if from three fountains the sweat
burst forth at the same time: in that very hour they took food,
recognized their mourning mother, and, with thanks to God, warmly
kissed the saint's hands. When the matter was noised abroad, and the
fame of it spread far and wide, the people flocked to him from Syria
and Egypt, so that many believed in Christ and professed themselves
monks. For as yet there were no monasteries in Palestine, nor had
anyone known a monk in Syria before the saintly Hilarion. It was he who
originated this mode of life and devotion, and who first trained men to
it in that province. The Lord Jesus had in Egypt the aged Antony: in
Palestine He had the youthful Hilarion.
15. Facidia is a hamlet belonging to Rhino-Corura, a
city of Egypt. From this village a woman who had been blind for ten
years was brought to the blessed Hilarion, and on being presented to
him by the brethren (for there were now many monks with him) affirmed
that, she had spent all her substance on physicians. The saint replied:
"If you had given to the poor what you have wasted on physicians, the
true physician Jesus would have cured you." But when she cried aloud
and entreated pity, he spat into her eyes, in imitation of the Saviour,
and with similar instant effect.
16. A charioteer, also of Gaza, stricken by a demon in his chariot
became perfectly stiff, so that he could neither move his hand nor bend
his neck. He was brought on a litter, but could only signify his
petition by moving his tongue; and was told that he could not be healed
unless he first believed in Christ and promised to forsake his former
occupation. He believed, he promised, and he was healed: and rejoiced
more in the saving of the soul than in that of the body.
17. Again, a very powerful youth called Marsitas
from the neighbourhood of Jerusalem plumed himself so highly on his
strength that he carried fifteen bushels of grain for a long time and
over a considerable distance, and considered it as his highest glory
that he could beat the asses in endurance. This man was afflicted with
a grievous demon and could not endure chains, or fetters, but broke
even the bolts and bars of the doors. He had bitten off the noses and
ears of many: had broken the feet of some, the legs of others. He had
struck such terror of himself into everybody, that he was laden with
chains and dragged by ropes on all sides like a wild bull to the
monastery. As soon as the brethren saw him they were greatly alarmed
(for the man was of gigantic size) and told the Father. He, seated as
he was, commanded him to be brought to him and released. When he was
free, " Bow your head," said he, "and come." The man began to tremble;
he twisted his neck round and did not dare to look him in the face, but
laid aside all his fierceness and began to lick his feet as he sat. At
last the demon which had possessed the young man being tortured by the
saint's adjurations came forth on the seventh day.
18. Nor must we omit to tell that Orion, a leading
man and wealthy citizen of Aira, on the coast of the Red Sea, being
possessed by a legion of demons was brought to him. Hands, neck. sides,
feet were laden with iron, and his glaring eyes portended an access of
raging madness. As the saint was walking with the brethren and
expounding some passage of Scripture the man broke from the hands of
his keepers, clasped him from behind and raised him aloft. There was a
shout from all, for they feared lest he might crush his limbs wasted as
they were with fasting. The saint smiled and said, "Be quiet, and let
me have my rival in the wrestling match to myself." Then he bent back
his hand over his shoulder till he touched the man's head, seized his
hair and drew him round so as to be foot to foot with him; he then
stretched both his hands in a straight line, and trod on his two feet
with both his own, while he cried out again and again, "To torment with
you! ye crowd of demons, to torment!" The sufferer shouted aloud
307
and bent back his neck till his head touched the ground, while the
saint said, "Lord Jesus, release this wretched man, release this
captive. Thine it is to conquer many, no less than one." What I now
relate is unparalleled from one man's lips were heard different voices
and as it were the confused shouts of a multitude. Well, he too was
cured, and not long after came with his wife and children to the
monastery bringing many gifts expressive of his gratitude. The saint
thus addressed him--"Have you not read what befell Gehazi and Simon,
one of whom took a reward, the other offered it, the former in order to
sell grace, the latter to buy it ?" And when Orion said with tears,
"Take it and give it to the poor," he replied, "You can best distribute
your own gifts, for you tread the streets of the cities and know the
poor. Why should I who have forsaken my own seek another man's? To many
the name of the poor is a pretext for their avarice; but compassion
knows no artifices. No one better spends than he who keeps nothing for
himself." The man was sad and lay upon the ground. "Be not sad, my
son," he said; "what I do for my own good I do also for yours. If I
were to take these gifts I should myself offend God, and, moreover, the
legion would return to you."
19. There is a story relating to Majomites of Gaza
which it is impossible to pass over in silence. While quarrying
building stones on the shore not far from the monastery he was
helplessly paralysed, and after being carried to the saint by his
fellow-workman immediately returned to his work in perfect health. I
ought to explain that the shore of Palestine and Egypt naturally
consists of soft sand and gravel which gradually becomes consolidated
and hardens into rock; and thus though to the eye it remains the same
it is no longer the same to the touch.
20. Another story relates to Italicus, a citizen of
the same town. He was a Christian and kept horses for the circus to
contend against those of the Duumvir of Gaza who was a votary of the
idol god Mamas. This custom at least in Roman cities was as old as the
days of Romulus, and was instituted in commemoration of the successful
seizure of the Sabine women. The chariots raced seven times round the
circus in honour of Consus in his character of the God of Counsel.[1]
Victory lay with the team which tired out the horses opposed to them.
Now the rival of Italicus had in his pay a magician to incite his
horses by certain demoniacal incantations, and keep back those of his
opponent. Italicus therefore came to the blessed Hilarion and besought
his aid not so much for the injury of his adversary as for protection
for himself. It seemed absurd for the venerable old man to waste
prayers on trifles of this sort. He therefore smiled and said, "Why do
you not rather give the price of the horses to the poor for the
salvation of your soul ?" His visitor replied that his office was a
public duty, and that he acted not so much from choice as from
compulsion, that no Christian man could employ magic, but would rather
seek aid from a servant of Christ, especially against the people of
Gaza who were enemies of God, and who would exult over the Church of
Christ more than over him. At the request therefore of the brethren who
were present he ordered an earthenware cup out of which he was wont to
drink to be filled with water and given to Italicus. The latter took it
and sprinkled it over his stable and horses, his charioteers and his
chariot, and the barriers of the course. The crowd was in a marvellous
state of excitement, for the enemy in derision had published the news
of what was going to be done, and the backers of Italicus were in high
spirits at the victory which they promised themselves. The signal is
given; the one team flies towards the goal, the other sticks fast: the
wheels are glowing hot beneath the chariot of the one, while the other
scarce catches a glimpse of their opponents' backs as they flit past.
The shouts of the crowd swell to a roar, and the heathens themselves
with one voice declare Marnas is conquered by Christ. After this the
opponents in their rage demanded that Hilarion as a Christian magician
should be dragged to execution. This decisive victory and several
others which followed in successive games of the circus caused many to
turn to the faith.
21. There was a youth in the neighbourhood of the
same market-town of Gaza who was desperately in love with one of God's
virgins. After he had tried again and again those touches, jests, nods,
and whispers which so commonly lead to the destruction of virginity,
but had made no progress by these means, he went to a magician at
Memphis to whom he proposed to make known his wretched state, and then,
fortified with his arts, to return to his assault upon the virgin.
Accordingly after a year's instruction by the priest of AEsculapius,
who does not heal souls but destroys them, he came full of the lust
which he had previously allowed his mind to entertain, and buried
beneath the threshold of the girl's house certain magical formula: and
revolting figures engraven on a plate of Cyprian brass. Thereupon the
maid began to show signs of insanity, to throw away the covering of her
308
head, tear her hair, gnash her teeth, and loudly call the youth by
name. Her intense affection had become a frenzy. Her parents therefore
brought her to the monastery and delivered her to the aged saint. No
sooner was this done than the devil began to howl and confess. "I was
compelled, I was carried off against my will. How happy I was when I
used to beguile the men of Memphis in their dreams! What crosses, what
torture I suffer ! You force me to go out, and I am kept bound under
the threshold. I cannot go out unless the young man who keeps me there
lets me go." The old man answered, "Your strength must be great indeed,
if a bit of thread and a plate can keep you bound. Tell me, how is it
that you dared to enter into this maid who belongs to God ?" "That I
might preserve her as a virgin," said he. "You preserve her, betrayer
of chastity ! Why did you not rather enter into him who sent you ?"
"For what purpose," he answers, "should I enter into one who was in
alliance with a comrade of my own, the demon of love ?" But the saint
would not command search to be made for either the young man or the
charms till the maiden had undergone a process of purgation, for fear
that it might be thought that the demon had been released by means of
incantations, or that he himself had attached credit to what he said.
He declared that demons are deceitful and well versed in dissimulation,
and sharply rebuked the virgin when she had recovered her health for
having by her conduct given an opportunity for the demon to enter.
22. It was not only in Palestine and the
neighbouring cities of Egypt or Syria that he was in high repute, but
his fame had reached distant provinces. An officer[1] of the Emperor
Constantius whose golden hair and personal beauty revealed his country
(it lay between the Saxons and the Alemanni, was of no great extent but
powerful, and is known to historians as Germany, but is now called
France), had long, that is to say from infancy, been pursued by a
devil, who forced him in the night to howl, groan, and gnash his teeth.
He therefore secretly asked the Emperor for a post-warrant, plainly
telling him why he wanted it, and having also obtained letters to the
legate at Palestine came with great pomp and a large retinue to
Gaza. On his inquiring of the local senators where Hilarion the
monk dwelt, the people of Gaza were much alarmed, and supposing that he
had been sent by the Emperor, brought him to the monastery, that
they might show respect to one so highly accredited, and that, if any
guilt had been incurred by them by injuries previously done by them to
Hilarion it might be obliterated by their present dutifulness. The old
man at the time was taking a walk on the soft sands and was humming
some passage or other from the psalms. Seeing so great a company
approaching he stopped, and having returned the salutes of all while he
raised his hand and gave them his blessing, after an hour's interval he
bade the rest withdraw, but would have his visitor together with
servants and officers remain: for by the man's eyes and countenance he
knew the cause of his coming. Immediately on being questioned by the
servant of God the man sprang up on tiptoe, so as scarcely to touch the
ground with his feet, and with a wild roar replied in Syriac in which
language he had been interrogated. Pure Syriac was heard flowing from
the lips of a barbarian who knew only French and Latin, and that
without the absence of a sibilant, or an aspirate, or an idiom of the
speech of Palestine. The demon then confessed by what means he had
entered into him. Further, that his interpreters who knew only Greek
and Latin might understand, Hilarion questioned him also in Greek, and
when he gave the same answer in the same words and alleged in excuse
many occasions on which spells had been laid upon him, and how he was
bound to yield to magic arts, "I care not," said the saint, "how you
came to enter, but I command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
to come out." The man, as soon as he was healed, with a rough
simplicity offered him ten pounds of gold. But the saint took from him
only bread, and told him that they who were nourished on such food
regarded gold as mire.
23. It is not enough to speak of men; brute animals
were also daily brought to him in a state of madness, and among them a
Bactrian camel of enormous size amid the shouts of thirty men or more
who held him tight with stout ropes. He had already injured many. His
eyes were bloodshot, his mouth filled with foam, his rolling tongue
swollen, and above every other source of terror was his loud and
hideous roar. Well, the old man ordered him to be let go. At once those
who brought him as well as the attendants of the saint fled away
without exception. The saint went by himself to meet him, and
addressing him in Syriac said, "You do not alarm me, devil, huge though
your present body is. Whether in a fox or a camel you are just the
same." Meanwhile he stood with outstretched hand. The brute raging and
looking as if he would devour Hilarion came up to him, but immediately
fell down, laid its head on the ground, and to the amazement of all
present showed suddenly no
309
less tameness than it had exhibited ferocity before. But the old man
declared to them how the devil, for men's sake, seizes even beasts of
burden; that he is inflamed by such intense hatred for men that he
desires to destroy not only them but what belongs to them. As an
illustration of this he added the fact that before he was permitted to
try the saintly Job, he made an end of all his substance. Nor ought it
to disturb anyone that[1] by the Lord's command two thousand swine were
slain by the agency of demons, since those who witnessed the miracle
could not have believed that so great a multitude of demons had gone
out of the man unless an equally vast number of swine had rushed to
ruin, showing that it was a legion that impelled them.
24 Time would fail me if I wished to relate
all the miracles which were wrought by him. For to such a pitch of
glory was he raised by the Lord that the blessed Antony among the rest
hearing of his life wrote to him and gladly received his letters. And
if ever the sick from Syria came to him he would say to them, "Why have
you taken the trouble to come so far, when you have there my son
Hilarion ?" Following his example, however, innumerable monasteries
sprang up throughout the whole of Palestine, and all the monks flocked
to him. When he saw this he praised the Lord for His grace, and
exhorted them individually to the profit of their souls, telling them
that the fashion of this world passes away, and that the true life is
that which is purchased by suffering in the present.
25. Wishing to set the monks an example of humility
and of zeal he was accustomed on fixed days before the vintage to visit
their cells. When the brethren knew this they would all come together
to meet him, and in company with their distinguished leader go the
round of the monasteries, taking with them provisions, because
sometimes as many as two thousand men were assembled. But, as time went
on, all the settlements round gladly gave food to the neighbouring
monks for the entertainment of the saints. Moreover, the care he took
to prevent any brother however humble or poor being passed over is
evidenced by the journey which he once took into the desert of Cades to
visit one of his disciples. With a great company of monks he reached
Elusa, as it happened on the day when the annual festival had brought
all the people together to the temple of Venus. This, goddess is
worshipped on account of Lucifer to whom the Saracen nation is devoted.
The very town too is to a great extent semi-barbarous, owing to its
situation. When therefore it was heard that Saint Hilarion was passing
through (he had frequently healed many Saracens possessed by demons),
they went to meet him in crowds with their wives and children, bending
their heads and crying in the Syriac tongue Barech, that is, Bless. He
received them with courtesy and humility, and prayed that they might
worship God rather than stones; at the same time, weeping copiously, he
looked up to heaven and promised that if they would believe in Christ
he would visit them often. By the marvellous grace of God they did not
suffer him to depart before he had drawn the outline of a church, and
their priest with his garland upon his head had been signed with the
sign of Christ.
26. Another year, again, when he was setting out to
visit the monasteries and was drawing up a list of those with whom he
must stay and whom he must see in passing, the monks knowing that one
of their number was a niggard, and being at the same time desirous to
cure his complaint, asked the saint to stay with him. He replied, "Do
you wish me to inflict injury on you and annoyance on the brother ?"
The niggardly brother on hearing of this was ashamed, and with the
strenuous support of all his brethren, at length obtained from the
saint a reluctant promise to put his monastery on the roll of his
resting places. Ten days after they came to him and found the keepers
already on guard in the vineyard through which their course lay, to
keep off all comers with stones and clods and slings. In the morning
they all departed without having eaten a grape, while the old man
smiled and pretended not to know what had happened.
27. Once when they were being entertained by another
monk whose name was Sabus (we must not of course give the name of the
niggard, we may tell that of this generous man), because it was the
Lord's day, they were all invited by him into the vineyard so that
before the hour for food came they might relieve the toil of the
journey by a repast of grapes. Said the saint, "Cursed be he who looks
for the refreshment of the body before that of the soul. Let us pray,
let us sing, let us do our duty to God, and then we will hasten to the
vineyard." When the service was over, he stood on an eminence and
blessed the vineyard and let his own sheep go to their pasture. Now
those who partook were not less than three thousand. And whereas the
whole vineyard had been estimated at a hundred flagons, within thirty
days he made it worth three hundred. The niggardly brother gathered
much less than usual, and he was grieved to find that even what he had
turned to vinegar. The old man had predicted this to many
310
brethren before it happened. He particularly abhorred such monks as
were led by their lack of faith to hoard for the future, and were
careful about expense, or raiment, or some other of those things which
pass away with the world.
28. Lastly he would not even look at one of the
brethren who lived about five miles off because he ascertained that he
very jealously guarded his bit of ground, and had a little money. The
offender wishing to be reconciled to the old man often came to the
brethren, and in particular to Hesychius who was specially dear to
Hilarion. One day accordingly he brought a bundle of green chick-pea
just as it had been gathered. Hesychius placed it on the table against
the evening, whereupon the old man cried out that he could not bear the
stench, and asked where it came from. Hesychius replied that a certain
brother had sent the brethren the first fruits of his ground. "Don't
you notice," said he, "the horrid stench, and detect the foul odour of
avarice in the peas ? Send it to the cattle, send to the brute-beasts
and see whether they can eat it." No sooner was it in obedience to his
command laid in the manger than the cattle in the wildest alarm and
bellowing loudly broke their fastenings and fled in different
directions. For the old man was enabled by grace to tell from the odour
of bodies and garments, and the things which any one had touched, by
what demon or with what vice the individual was distressed.
29. His sixty-third year found the old man at the
head of a grand monastery and a multitude of resident brethren. There
were such crowds of persons constantly bringing those who suffered from
various kinds of sickness or were possessed of unclean spirits, that
the whole circuit of the wilderness was full of all sorts of people.
And as the saint saw all this he wept daily and called to mind with
incredible regret his former mode of life. When one of the brethren
asked him why he was so dejected he replied, "I have returned again to
the world and have received my reward in my lifetime. The people of
Palestine and the adjoining province think me of some importance, and
under pretence of a monastery for the well-ordering of the brethren I
have all the apparatus of a paltry life about me." The brethren,
however, kept watch over him and in particular Hesychius, who had a
marvellously devoted affection and veneration for the old man. After he
had spent two years in these lamentations Aristaenete' the lady of whom
we made mention before, as being then the wife of a prefect though
without any of a prefect's ostentation, came to him intending to pay a
visit to Antony also. He said to her, "I should like to go myself too
if I were not kept a prisoner in this monastery, and if my going could
be fruitful. For it is now two days since mankind was bereaved of him
who was so truly a father to them all." She believed his word and
stayed where she was: and after a few days the news came that Antony
had fallen asleep.
30. Some may wonder at the miracles he worked, or
his incredible fasting, knowledge, and humility. Nothing so astonishes
me as his power to tread under foot honour and glory. Bishops,
presbyters, crowds of clergymen and monks, of Christian matrons even (a
great temptation), and a rabble from all quarters in town and country
were congregating about him, and even judges and others holding high
positions, that they might receive at his hands the bread or oil which
he had blessed. But he thought of nothing but solitude, so much so that
one day he determined to be gone, and having procured an ass (he was
almost exhausted with fasting and could scarcely walk) endeavoured to
steal away. The news spread far and wide, and, just as if a public
mourning for the desolation of Palestine were decreed, ten thousand
people of various ages and both sexes came together to prevent his
departure. He was unmoved by entreaties, and striking the sand with his
stick kept saying: "I will not make my Lord a deceiver; I cannot look
upon churches overthrown, Christ's altars trodden down, the blood of my
sons poured out." All who were present began to understand that some
secret had been revealed to him which he was unwilling to confess, but
they none the less kept guard over him that he might not go. He
therefore determined, and publicly called all to witness, that he would
take neither food nor drink unless he were released. Only after seven
days was he relieved from his fasting; when having bidden farewell to
numerous friends, he came to Betilium attended by a countless
multitude. There he prevailed upon the crowd to return and chose as his
companions forty monks who had resources for the journey and were
capable of travelling during fasting-time, that is, after sunset. He
then visited the brethren who were in the neighbouring desert and
sojourning at a place called Lychnos, and after three days came to the
castle of Theubatus to see Dracontius, bishop and confessor, who was in
exile there. The bishop was beyond measure cheered by the presence of
so distinguished a man. At the end of another three days he set out for
Babylon and arrived there after a hard journey. Then he visited Philo
the bishop, who was also a confessor; for the Emperor Constantius who
favoured the Arian heresy had transported both of them to those parts.
Departing thence he came in three days to
311
the town Aphroditon. There he met with a deacon Baisanes who kept
dromedaries which were hired, on account of the scarcity of water in
the desert, to carry travellers who wished to visit Antony. He then
made known to the brethren that the anniversary of the blessed Antony's
decease was at hand, and that he must spend a whole night in vigil in
the very place where the saint had died. So then after three days'
journey through the waste and terrible desert they at length came to a
very high mountain, and there found two monks Isaac and Pelusianus, the
former of whom had been one of Antony's attendants.[1]
31. The occasion seems a fitting one, since we are
on the spot itself, to describe the abode of this great man. There is a
high and rocky mountain extending for about a mile, with gushing
springs amongst its spurs, the waters of which are partly absorbed by
the sand, partly flow towards the plain and gradually form a stream
shaded on either side by countless palms which lend much pleasantness
and charm to the place. Here the old man might be seen pacing to and
fro with the disciples of blessed Antony. Here, so they said, Antony
himself used to sing, pray, work, and rest when weary. Those vines and
shrubs were planted by his own hand: that garden bed was his own
design. This pool for watering the garden was made by him after much
toil. That hoe was handled by him for many years. Hilarion would lie
upon the saint's bed and as though it were still warm would
affectionately kiss it. The cell was square, its sides measuring no
more than the length of a sleeping man. Moreover on the lofty
mountaintop, the ascent of which was by a zig-zag path very difficult,
were to be seen two cells of the same dimensions, in which he stayed
when he escaped from the crowds of visitors or the company of his
disciples. These were cut out of the live rock and were only furnished
with doors When they came to the garden, "You see," said Isaac, "this
garden with its shrubs and green vegetables; about three years ago it
was ravaged by a troop of wild asses. One of their leaders was hidden
by Antony to stand still while he thrashed the animals' sides with a
stick and wanted to know why they devoured what they had not sown. And
ever afterwards, excepting the water which they were accustomed to come
and drink, they never touched anything, not a bush or a vegetable." The
old man further asked to be shown his burial place, and they thereupon
took him aside; but whether they showed him the tomb or not is unknown.
It is related that the motive for secrecy was compliance with Antony's
orders and to prevent Pergamius, a very wealthy man of the district,
from removing the saint's body to his house and erecting a shrine to
his memory.
32. Having returned to Aphroditon and keeping with
him only two of the brethren, he stayed in the neighbouring desert, and
practised such rigid abstinence and silence that he felt that then for
the first time he had begun to serve Christ. Three years had now
elapsed since the heavens had been closed and the land had suffered
from drought, and it was commonly said that even the elements were
lamenting the death of Antony. Hilarion did not remain unknown to the
inhabitants of that place any more than to others, but men and women
with ghastly faces and wasted by hunger earnestly eatreated the servant
of Christ, as being the blessed Antony's successor, to give them rain.
Hilarion when he saw them was strangely affected with compassion had,
raising his eyes to heaven and lifting up both his hands, he at once
obtained their petition. But, strange to say, that parched and sandy
district, after the rain had fallen, unexpectedly produced such vast
numbers of serpents and poisonous animals that many who were bitten
would have died at once if they had not run to Hilarion. He therefore
blessed some oil with which all the husbandmen and shepherds touched
their wounds, and found an infallible cure.
33. Seeing that even there surprising respect was
paid to him, he went to Alexandria, intending to cross from thence to
the farther oasis of the desert. And because he had never stayed in
cities since he entered on the monk's life, he turned aside to some
brethren at Bruchium, not far from Alexandria, whom he knew, and who
welcomed the old man with the greatest pleasure. It was now night when
all at once they heard his disciples saddling the ass and making ready
for the journey. They therefore threw themselves at his feet and
besought him not to leave them; they fell prostrate before the door,
and declared they would rather die than lose such a guest. He answered:
"My reason for hastening away is that I may not give you trouble. You
will no doubt afterwards discover that I have not suddenly left without
good cause." Next day the authorities of Gaza with the lictors of the
prefect having heard of his arrival on the previous day, entered the
monastery, and when they failed to find him anywhere they began to say
to one another: "What we heard is true. He is a magician and knows the
future." The fact was that the city of Gaza on Julian's accession to
the throne, after the departure of Hilarion from Palestine and the
destruction of his monastery, had pre-
312
sented a petition to the Emperor requesting that both Hilarion and
Hesychius might be put to death, and a proclamation had been published
everywhere that search should be made for them.
34. Having then left Bruchium, he entered the oasis
through the trackless desert, and there abode for a year, more or less.
But, inasmuch as his fame had travelled thither also, he felt that he
could not be hidden in the East, where he was known to many by report
and by sight, and began to think of taking ship for some solitary
island, so that having been exposed to public view by the land, he
might at least find concealment in the sea. Just about that time
Hadrian, his disciple, arrived from Palestine with information that
Julian was slain and that a Christian emperor[1] had commenced his
reign; he ought therefore, it was said, to return to the relics of his
monastery. But he, when he heard this, solemnly refused to return; and
hiring a camel crossed the desert waste and reached Paretonium, a city
on the coast of Libya. There the ill-starred Hadrian wishing to return
to Palestine and unwilling to part with the renown so long attaching to
his master's name, heaped reproaches upon him, and at last having
packed up the presents which he had brought him from the brethren, set
out without the knowledge of Hilarion. As I shall have no further
opportunity of referring to this man, I would only record, for the
terror of those who despise their masters, that after a little while he
was attacked by the king's-evil[2] and turned to a mass of corruption.
35. The old man accompanied by Gazanus went on board
a ship which was sailing to Sicily. Half way across the Adriatic he was
preparing to pay his fare by selling a copy of the Gospels which he had
written with his own hand in his youth, when the son of the master of
the ship seized by a demon began to cry out and say: "Hilarion, servant
of God, why is it that through you we cannot be safe even on the sea ?
Spare me a little until I reach land. Let me not be cast out here and
thrown into the deep." The saint replied: "If my God permit you to
remain, remain; but if He casts you out, why bring odium upon me a
sinner and a beggar?" This he said that the sailors and merchants on
board might not betray him on reaching shore. Not long after, the boy
was cleansed, his father and the rest who were present having given
their word that they would not reveal the name of the saint to any one.
36. On approaching Pachynus, a promontory of Sicily,
he offered the master the Gospel for the passage of himself and
Gazanus. The man was unwilling to take it, all the more because he saw
that excepting that volume and the clothes they wore they had nothing,
and at last he swore he would not take it. But the aged saint, ardent
and confident in the consciousness of his poverty, rejoiced exceedingly
that he had no worldly possessions and was accounted a beggar by the
people of the place.
37. Once more, on thinking the matter over and
fearing that merchants coming from the East might make him known, he
fled to the interior, some twenty miles from the sea, and there on an
abandoned piece of ground, every day tied up a bundle of firewood which
he laid upon the back of his disciple, and sold at some neighbouring
mansion. They thus supported themselves and were able to purchase a
morsel of bread for any chance visitors. But that came exactly to pass
which is written:[1] "a city set on a hill cannot be hid." It happened
that one of the shields-men[2] who was vexed by a demon was in the
basilica of the blessed Peter at Rome, when the unclean spirit within
him cried out, "A few days ago Christ's servant Hilarion entered Sicily
and no one knew him, and he thinks he is hidden. I will go and betray
him." Immediately he embarked with his attendants in a ship lying in
harbour, sailed to Pachynus and, led by the demon to the old man's hut,
there prostrated himself and was cured on the spot. This, his first
miracle in Sicily, brought the sick to him in countless numbers (but it
brought also a multitude of religious persons); insomuch that one of
the leading men who was swollen with the dropsy was cured the same day
that he came. He afterwards offered the saint gifts without end, but
the saint replied to him in the words of the Saviour to his
disciples:[3] "Freely ye received, freely give."
38. While this was going on in Sicily Hesychius his
disciple was searching the world over for the old man, traversing the
coast, penetrating deserts, clinging all the while to the belief that
wherever he was he could not long be hidden. At the end of three years
he heard at Methona from a certain Jew, who dealt in old-clothes, that
a Christian prophet had appeared in Sicily, and was working such
miracles and signs, one might think him one of the ancient saints. So
he asked about his dress, gait, and speech, and in particular his age,
but could learn nothing. His informant merely
313
declared that he had heard of the man by report. He therefore crossed
the Adriatic and after a prosperous voyage came to Pachynus, where he
took up his abode in a cottage on the shore of the bay, and, on
inquiring for tidings of the old man, discovered by the tale which
every one told him where he was, and what he was doing. Nothing about
him surprised them all so much as the fact that after such great signs
and wonders he had not accepted even a crust of bread from any one in
the district. And, to cut my story short, the holy man Hesychius fell
down at his master's knees and bedewed his feet with tears; at length
he was gently raised by him, and when two or three days had been spent
in talking over matters, he learned from Gazanus that Hilarion no
longer felt himself able to live in those parts, but wanted to go to
certain barbarous races where his name and fame were unknown.
39. He therefore brought him to Epidaurus,[1] a town
in Dalmatia, where he stayed for a few days in the country near, but
could not be hid. An enormous serpent, of the sort which the people of
those parts call boas[2] because they are so large that they often
swallow oxen, was ravaging the whole province far and wide, and was
devouring not only flocks and herds, but husbandmen and shepherds who
were drawn in by the force of its breathing. He ordered a pyre to be
prepared for it, then sent up a prayer to Christ, called forth the
reptile, bade it climb the pile of wood, and then applied the fire. And
so before all the people he burnt the savage beast to ashes. But now he
began anxiously to ask what he was to do, whither to betake himself.
Once more he prepared for flight, and in thought ranged through
solitary lands, grieving that his miracles could speak of him though
his tongue was silent.
40. At that time there was an earthquake over the
whole world, following on the death of Julian, which caused the sea to
burst its bounds, and left ships hanging on the edge of mountain
steeps. It seemed as though God were threatening a second deluge, or
all things were returning to original chaos. When the people of
Epidaurus saw this, I mean the roaring waves and heaving waters and the
swirling billows mountain-high dashing on the shore, fearing that what
they saw had happened elsewhere might befall them and their town be
utterly destroyed, they made their way to the old man, and as if
preparing for a battle placed him on the shore. After making the sign
of the cross three times on the sand, he
faced the sea, stretched out his hands, and no one would believe to
what a height the swelling sea stood like a wall before him. It roared
for a long time as if indignant at the barrier, then little by
little sank to its level. Epidaurus and all the region roundabout tell
the story to this day, and mothers teach their children to hand down
the remembrance of it to posterity. Verily, what was said to the
Apostles,[1] "If ye have faith, ye shall say to this mountain, Remove
into the sea, and it shall be done," may be even literally fulfilled,
provided one has such faith as the Lord commanded the Apostles to have.
For what difference
does it make whether a mountain descends into the sea, or huge
mountains of waters everywhere else fluid suddenly become hard as
rock at the old man's feet?
41. The whole country marvelled and the fame of the
great miracle was in everyone's mouth, even at Salonµ.[2] When
the old man knew this was the case he escaped secretly by night in a
small cutter, and finding a merchant ship after two days came to
Cyprus. Between[3] Malea and[4] Cythera, the pirates, who had left on
the shore that part of their fleet which is worked by poles instead of
sails, bore down on them with two light vessels of considerable size;
and besides this they were buffeted by the waves on every side. All the
towers began to be alarmed, to weep, to leave their places, to get out
their poles, and, as though one message was not enough, again and again
told the old man that pirates were at hand. Looking at them in the
distance he gently smiled, then turned to his disciples and said,[5] "O
ye of little faith, wherefore do ye doubt? Are these more than the army
of Pharaoh? Yet they were all drowned by the will of God." Thus he
spake, but none the less the enemy with foaming prows kept drawing
nearer and were now only a stone's throw distant. He stood upon the
prow of the vessel facing them with out-stretched hand, and said, "Thus
far and no farther." Marvellous to relate, the boats at once bounded
back, and though urged forward by the oars fell farther and farther
astern. The pirates were astonished to find themselves going back, and
laboured with all their strength to reach the vessel, but were carried
to the shore faster by far than they came.
42. I pass by the rest for fear I should seem in my
history to be publishing a volume of miracles. I will only say this,
that when sailing with a fair wind among the Cyclades he heard the
voices of unclean spirits shouting in all
314
directions from towns and villages, and running in crowds to the shore.
Having then entered Paphos, the city of Cyprus renowned in the songs of
the poets, the ruins of whose temples after frequent earthquakes are
the only evidences at the present day of its former grandeur, he began
to live in obscurity about two miles from the city, and rejoiced in
having a few days' rest. But not quite twenty days passed before
throughout the whole island whoever had unclean spirits began to cry
out that Hilarion Christ's servant had come, and that they must go to
him with all speed. Salamis, Curium, Lapetha, and the other cities
joined in the cry, while many declared that they knew Hilarion and that
he was indeed the servant of Christ, but where he was they could not
tell. So within a trifle more than thirty days, about two hundred
people, both men and women, came together to him. When he saw them he
lamented that they would not suffer him to be quiet, and thirsting in a
kind of manner to avenge himself, he lashed them with such urgency of
prayer that some immediately, others after two or three days, all
within a week, were cured.
43. Here he stayed two years, always thinking of
flight, and in the meantine sent Hesychius, who was to return in the
spring, to Palestine to salute the brethren and visit the ashes of his
monastery. When the latter returned he found Hilarion longing to sail
again to Egypt, that is to the locality called[1] Bucolia; but he
persuaded him that, since there were no Christians there, but only a
fierce and barbarous people, he should rather go to a spot in Cyprus
itself which was higher up and more retired. After long and diligent
search he found such a place twelve miles from the sea far off among
the recesses of rugged mountains, the ascent to which could hardly be
accomplished by creeping on hands and knees. Thither he conducted him.
The old man entered and gazed around. It was indeed a lonely and
terrible place; for though surrounded by trees on every side, with
water streaming from the brow of the hill, a delightful bit of garden,
and fruit-trees in abundance (of which, however, he never ate), yet it
had close by the ruins of an ancient temple from which, as he himself
was wont to relate and his disciples testify, the voices of such
countless demons re-echoed night and day, that you might have thought
there was an army of them. He was highly pleased at the idea of having
his opponents in the neighbourhood, and abode there five years, cheered
in these his last days by the frequent visits of Hesychius, for owing
to the
steep and rugged ascent, and the numerous ghosts (so the story ran),
nobody or scarcely anybody either could or dared to go up to him. One
day, however, as he was leaving his garden, he saw a man completely
paralysed lying in front of the gates. He asked Hesychius who he was,
or how he had been brought. Hesychius replied that he was the agent at
the country-house to which the garden belonged in which they were
located. Weeping much and stretching out his hand to the prostrate man
he said, "I bid you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ arise and
walk." The words were still on the lips of the speaker, when, with
miraculous speed, the limbs were strengthened and the man arose and
stood firm. Once this was noised abroad the need of many overcame even
the pathless journey and the dangers of the place. The occupants of all
the houses round about had nothing so much in their thoughts as to
prevent the possibility of his escape, a rumour having spread
concerning him to the effect that he could not stay long in the same
place. This habit of his was not due to levity or childishness, but to
the fact that he shunned the worry of publicity and praise, and always
longed for silence and a life of obscurity.
44. In his eightieth year, during the absence of
Hesychius, he wrote by way of a will a short letter with his own hand,
and left him all his riches (that is to say, a copy of the gospels, and
his sack-cloth tunic, cowl and cloak), for his servant had died a few
days before. Many devout men therefore came to the invalid from Paphos,
and specially because they had heard of his saying that he must soon
migrate to the Lord and must be liberated from the bonds of the body.
There came also Constantia a holy woman whose son-in-law and daughter
he had anointed with oil and saved from death. He earnestly entreated
them all not to let him be kept even a moment of time after death, but
to bury him immediately in the same garden, just as he was, clad in his
goat-hair tunic, cowl, and his peasant's cloak.
45. His body was now all but cold, and nought was
left of life but reason. Yet with eyes wide open he kept repeating, "Go
forth, what do you fear? Go forth, my soul, why do you hesitate? You
have served Christ nearly seventy years, and do you fear death?" Thus
saying he breathed his last. He was immediately buried before the city
heard of his death.
46. When the holy man Hesychius heard of his
decease, he went to Cyprus and, to lull the suspicions of the natives
who were keeping strict guard, pretended that he wished to live in the
same garden, and then in the course of about ten months, though at
great peril to his
315
life, stole the saint's body. He carried it to Majuma; and there all
the monks and crowds of towns-folk going in procession laid it to rest
in the ancient monastery. His tunic, cowl and cloak, were uninjured;
the whole body as perfect as if alive, and so fragrant with sweet
odours that one might suppose it to have been embalmed.
47. In bringing my book to an end I think I ought
not to omit to mention the devotion of the holy woman Constantia who,
when a message was brought her that Hilarion's body was in Palestine,
immediately died, proving even
by death the sincerity of her love for the servant of God. For she was
accustomed to spend whole nights in vigil at his tomb, and to converse
with him as if he were present in order to stimulate her prayers. Even
at the present day one may see a strange dispute between the people of
Palestine and the Cypriotes, the one contending that they have the
body, the other the spirit of Hilarion. And yet in both places great
miracles are wrought daily, but to a greater extent in the garden of
Cyprus, perhaps because that spot was dearest to him.
THE LIFE OF MALCHUS, THE CAPTIVE MONK
The life of Malchus was written at Bethlehem,
A.D., 391. Its origin and purpose are sufficiently described in
chapters 1 and 2.
I. They who have to fight a naval battle prepare for
it in harbours and calm waters by adjusting the helm, plying the oars,
and making ready the hooks and grappling irons. They draw up the
soldiers on the decks and accustom them to stand steady with poised
foot and on slippery ground; so that they may not shrink from all this
when the real encounter comes, because they have had experience of it
in the sham fight. And so it is in my case. I have long held my peace,
because silence was imposed on me by one to whom I give pain when I
speak of him. But now, in preparing to write history on a wider scale I
desire to practise myself by means of this little work and as it were
to wipe the rust from my tongue. For I have purposed (if God grant me
life, and if my censurers will at length cease to persecute me, now
that I am a fugitive and shut up in a monastery) to write a history of
the church of Christ[1] from the advent of our Saviour up to our own
age, that is from the apostles to the dregs of time in which we live,
and to show by what means and through what agents it received its
birth, and how, as it gained strength, it grew by persecution and was
crowned with martyrdom; and then, after reaching the Christian
Emperors, how it increased in influence and in wealth but decreased in
Christian virtues. But of this elsewhere. Now to the matter in hand.
2. Maronia is a little hamlet some thirty miles to
the east of Antioch in Syria. After
having many owners or landlords,[1] at the time when I was staying as a
young man in Syria[2] it came into the possession of my intimate
friend, the Bishop Evagrius,[3] whose name I now give in order to show
the source of my information. Well, there was at the place at that time
an old man by name Malchus, which we might render "king," a Syrian by
race and speech, in fact a genuine son of the soil. His companion was
an old woman very decrepit who seemed to be at death's door, both of
them so zealously pious and such constant frequenters of the Church,
they might have been taken for Zacharias and Elizabeth in the Gospel
but for the fact that there was no John to be seen. With some curiosity
I asked the neighbours what was the link between them; was it marriage,
or kindred, or the bond of the Spirit? All with one accord replied that
they were holy people, well pleasing to God, and gave me a strange
account of them. Longing to know more I began to question the man with
much eagerness about the truth of what I heard, and learnt as follows.
3. My son, said he, I used to farm a bit of ground
at Nisibis[4] and was an only son. My parents regarding me as the heir
and the only survivor of their race, wished to force me into marriage,
but I said I would rather be a monk. How my father threatened and my
mother coaxed me to betray my chastity requires no other proof than the
fact that I fled from home and parents. I could not go to the East
because Persia was close by and
316
the frontiers were guarded by the soldiers of Rome; I therefore turned
my steps to the West, taking with me some little provision for the
journey, but barely sufficient to ward off destitution. To be brief, I
came at last to the desert of Chalcis[1] which is situate between Immae
and Beroa farther south There, finding some monks, I placed myself
under their direction, earning my livelihood by the labour of my hands,
and curbing the wantonness of the flesh by fasting. After many years
the desire came over me to return to my country, and stay with my
mother and cheer her widowhood while she lived (for my father, as I had
already heard, was dead), and then to sell the little property and give
part to the poor, settle part on the monasteries and (I blush to
confess my faithlessness) keep some to spend in comforts for myself. My
abbot began to cry out that it was a temptation of the devil, and that
under fair pretexts some snare of the old enemy lay hid. It was, he
declared, a case of the dog returning to his vomit. Many monks, be
said, had been deceived by such suggestions, for the devil never showed
himself openly. He set before me many examples from the Scriptures, and
told me that even Adam and Eve in the beginning had been overthrown by
him through the hope of becoming gods. When he failed to convince me he
fell upon his knees and besought me not to forsake him, nor ruin myself
by looking back after putting my hand to the plough. Unhappily for
myself I had the misfortune to conquer my adviser. I thought he was
seeking not my salvation but his own comfort. So he followed me from
the monastery as if he had been going to a funeral, and at last bade me
farewell, saying, "I see that you bear the brand of a son of Satan. I
do not ask your reasons nor take your excuses. The sheep which forsakes
its fellows is at once exposed to the jaws of the wolf."
4. On the road from Beroa to Edessa[2]
adjoining the high-way is a waste over which the Saracens roam to and
fro without having any fixed abode. Through fear of them travellers in
those parts assemble in numbers, so that by mutual assistance they may
escape impending danger. There were in my company men, women, old men,
youths, children, altogether about seventy persons. All of a sudden the
Ishmaelites on horses and camels made an assault upon us, with their
flowing hair bound with fillets, their bodies half-naked, with their
broad military boots, their cloaks streaming behind them, and their
quivers slung upon the
shoulders. They carried their bows unstrung and brandished their long
spears; for they had come not to fight, but to plunder. We were seized,
dispersed, and carried in different directions. I, meanwhile, repenting
too late of the step I had taken, and far indeed from gaining
possession of my inheritance, was assigned, along with another poor
sufferer, a woman, to the service of one and the same owner. We were
led, or rather carried, high upon the camel's back through a desert
waste, every moment expecting destruction, and suspended, I may say,
rather than seated. Flesh half raw was our food, camel's milk our drink.
5. At length, after crossing a great river we came
to the interior of the desert, where, being commanded after the custom
of the people to pay reverence to the mistress and her children, we
bowed our heads. Here, as if I were a prisoner, I changed my dress,
that is, learnt to go naked, the heat being so excessive as to allow of
no clothing beyond a covering for the loins. Some sheep were given to
me to tend, and, comparatively speaking, I found this occupation a
comfort, for I seldom saw my masters or fellow slaves. My fate seemed
to be like that of Jacob in sacred history, and reminded me also of
Moses; both of whom were once shepherds in the desert. I fed on fresh
cheese and milk, prayed continually, and sang psalms which I had learnt
in the monastery. I was delighted with my captivity, and thanked God
because I had found in the desert the monk's estate which I was on the
point of losing in my country.
6. But no condition can ever shut out the Devil. How
manifold past expression are his snares ! Hid though I was, his malice
found me out. My master seeing his flock increasing and finding no
dishonesty in me (I knew that the Apostle has given command that
masters should be as faithfully served as God Himself), and wishing to
reward me in order to secure my greater fidelity, gave me the woman who
was once my fellow servant in captivity. On my refusing and saying I
was a Christian, and that it was not lawful for me to take a woman to
wife so long as her husband was alive (her husband had been captured
with us, but carried off by another master), my owner was relentless in
his rage, drew his sword and began to make at me. If I had not without
delay stretched out my hand and taken possession of the woman, he would
have slain me on the spot. Well; by this time a darker night than usual
had set in and, for me, all too soon. I led my bride into an old cave;
sorrow was bride's-maid; we shrank from each other but did not confess
it. Then I really felt my captivity; I threw myself down on the ground,
and began to lament the monastic state which
317
I had lost, and said: "Wretched man that I am ! have I been preserved
for this? has my wickedness brought me to this, that in my gray hairs I
must lose my virgin state and become a married man? What is the good of
having despised parents, country, property, for the Lord's sake, if I
do the thing I wished to avoid doing when I despised them? And yet it
may be perhaps the case that I am in this condition because I longed
for home. What are we to do, my soul? are we to perish, or conquer? Are
we to wait for the hand of the Lord, or pierce ourselves with our own
sword? Turn your weapon against yourself; I must fear your death, my
soul, more than the death of the body. Chastity preserved has its own
martyrdom. Let the witness for Christ lie unburied in the desert; I
will be at once the persecutor and the martyr." Thus speaking I drew my
sword which glittered even in the dark, and turning its point towards
me said: "Farewell, unhappy woman: receive me as a martyr not as a
husband." She threw herself at my feet and exclaimed: "I pray you by
Jesus Christ, and adjure you by this hour of trial, do not shed your
blood and bring its guilt upon me. If you choose to die, first turn
your sword against me. Let us rather be united upon these terms.
Supposing my husband should return to me, I would preserve the chastity
which I have learnt in captivity; I would even die rather than lose it.
Why should you die to prevent a union with me? I would die if you
desired it. Take me then as the partner of your chastity; and love me
more in this union of the spirit than you could in that of the
body only. Let our master believe that you are my husband. Christ knows
you are my brother. We shall easily convince them we are married when
they see us so loving." I confess, I was astonished and, much as I had
before admired the virtue of the woman, I now loved her as a wife still
more. Yet I never gazed upon her naked person; I never touched her
flesh, for I was afraid of losing in peace what I had preserved in the
conflict. In this strange wedlock many days passed away. Marriage had
made us more pleasing to our masters, and there was no suspicion of our
flight; sometimes I was absent for even a whole month like a trusty
shepherd traversing the wilderness.
7. After a long time as I sat one day by myself in
the desert with nothing in sight save earth and sky, I began quickly to
turn things over in my thoughts, and amongst others called to
mind my friends the monks, and specially the look of the father who had
instructed me, kept me, and lost me. While I was thus musing I saw a
crowd of ants swarming over a narrow path. The loads they carried
were
clearly larger than their own bodies. Some with their forceps were
dragging along the seeds of herbs: others were excavating the earth
from pits and banking it up to keep out the water. One party, in view
of approaching winter, and wishing to prevent their store from
being converted into grass through the dampness of the ground, were
cutting off the tips of the grains they had carried in; another with
solemn lamentation were removing the dead. And, what is stranger still
in such a host, those coming out did not hinder those going in; nay
rather, if they saw one fall beneath his burden they would put their
shoulders to the load and give him assistance. In short that day
afforded me a delightful entertainment. So, remembering how Solomon
sends us to the shrewdness of the ant and quickens our sluggish
faculties by setting before us such an example, I began to tire of
captivity, and to regret the monk's cell, and long to imitate those
ants and their doings, where toil is for the community, and, since
nothing belongs to any one, all things belong to all.
8. When I returned to my chamber, my wife met me. My
looks betrayed the sadness of my heart. She asked why I was so
dispirited. I told her the reasons, and exhorted her to escape. She did
not reject the idea. I begged her to be silent on the matter. She
pledged her word. We constantly spoke to one another in whispers; and
we floated in suspense betwixt hope and fear. I had in the flock two
very fine he-goats: these I killed, made their skins into bottles, and
from their flesh prepared food for the way. Then in the early evening
when our masters thought we had retired to rest we began our journey,
taking with us the bottles and part of the flesh. When we reached the
river which was about ten miles off, having inflated the skins and got
astride upon them, we intrusted ourselves to the water, slowly
propelling ourselves with our feet, that we might be carried down by
the stream to a point on the opposite bank much below that at which we
embarked, and that thus the pursuers might lose the track. But
meanwhile the flesh became sodden and partly lost, and we could not
depend on it for more than three days' sustenance. We drank till we
could drink no more by way of preparing for the thirst we expected to
endure, then hastened away, constantly looking behind us, and advanced
more by night than day, on account both of the ambushes of the roaming
Saracens, and of the excessive heat of the sun. I grow terrified even
as I relate what happened; and, although my mind is perfectly at rest,
yet my frame shudders from head to foot.
9. Three days after we saw in the dim
318
distance two men riding on camels approaching with all speed. At once
foreboding ill I began to think my master purposed putting us to death,
and our sun seemed to grow dark again. In the midst of our fear, and
just as we realized that our footsteps on the sand had betrayed us, we
found on our right hand a cave which extended far underground. Well, we
entered the cave: but we were afraid of venomous beasts such as vipers,
basilisks, scorpions, and other creatures of the kind, which often
resort to such shady places so as to avoid the heat of the sun. We
therefore barely went inside, and took shelter in a pit on the left,
not venturing a step farther, lest in fleeing from death we should run
into death. We thought thus within ourselves: If the Lord helps us in
our misery we have found safety: if He rejects us for our sins, we have
found our grave. What do you suppose were our feelings? What was our
terror, when in front of the cave, close by, there stood our master and
fellow-servant, brought by the evidence of our footsteps to our hiding
place? How much worse is death expected than death inflicted ! Again my
tongue stammers with distress and fear; it seems as if I heard my
master's voice, and I hardly dare mutter a word. He sent his servant to
drag us from the cavern while he himself held the camels and, sword in
hand, waited for us to come. Meanwhile the servant entered about three
or four cubits, and we in our hiding place saw his back though he could
not see us, for the nature of the eye is such that those who go into
the shade out of the sunshine can see nothing. His voice echoed through
the cave: "Come out, you felons; come out and die; why do you stay? Why
do you delay? Come out, your master is calling and patiently waiting
for you." He was still speaking when lo ! through the gloom we saw a
lioness seize the man, strangle him, and drag him, covered with blood,
farther in. Good Jesus! how great was our terror now, how intense our
joy! We beheld, though our master knew not of it, our enemy perish. He,
when he saw that he was long in returning, supposed that the fugitives
being two to one were offering resistance. Impatient in his rage, and
sword still in hand, he came to the cavern, and
shouted like a madman as he chided the slowness of his slave, but was
seized upon by the wild beast before he reached our hiding place. Who
ever would believe that before our eyes a brute would fight for us?
One cause of fear was removed, but there was the
prospect of a similar death for ourselves, though the rage of the lion
was not so bad to bear as the anger of the man. Our hearts failed for
fear: without venturing to stir a step we awaited the issue, having no
wall of defence in the midst of so great dangers save the consciousness
of our chastity; when, early in the morning, the lioness, afraid of
some snare and aware that she had been seen took up her cub in her
teeth and carried it away, leaving us in possession of our retreat. Our
confidence was not restored all at once. We did not rush out, but
waited for a long time; for as often as we thought of coming out we
pictured to ourselves the horror of falling in with her.
10. At last we got rid of our fright; and when that
day was spent, we sallied forth towards evening, and saw the camels, on
account of their great speed called dromedaries, quietly chewing the
cud. We mounted, and with the strength gained from the new supply of
grain, after ten days' travelling through the desert arrived at the
Roman camp. After being presented to the tribune we told all, and from
thence were sent to Sabianus, who commanded in Mesopotamia, where we
sold our camels. My dear old abbot was now sleeping in the Lord; I
betook myself therefore to this place, and returned to the monastic
life, while I entrusted my companion here to the care of the virgins;
for though I loved her as a sister, I did not commit myself to her as
if she were my sister.
Malchus was an old man, I a youth, when he told me
these things. I who have related them to you am now old, and I have set
them forth as a history of chastity for the chaste. Virgins, I exhort
you, guard your chastity. Tell the story to them that come after, that
they may realize that in the midst of swords, and wild beasts of the
desert, virtue is never a captive, and that he who is devoted to the
service of Christ may die, but cannot be conquered.
319
THE DIALOGUE AGAINST THE LUCIFERIANS
Introduction.
This Dialogue was written about 379, seven years
after the death of Lucifer, and very soon after Jerome's return from
his hermit life in the desert of Chalcis. Though he received ordination
from Paulinus, who had been consecrated by Lucifer, he had no sympathy
with Lucifer's narrower views, as he shows plainly in this Dialogue.
Lucifer, who was bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia, first came into
prominent notice about A. D. 354, when great efforts were being made to
procure a condemnation of S. Athanasius by the Western bishops. He
energetically took up the cause of the saint, and at his own request
was sent by Liberius, bishop of Rome, in company with the priest
Pancratius and the deacon Hilarius, on a mission to the Emperor
Constantius. The emperor granted a Council, which met at Milan in A.D.
354. Lucifer distinguished himself by resisting a proposition to
condemn Athanasius, and did not hesitate to oppose the emperor with
much violence. In consequence of this he was sent into exile from A. D.
355 to A. D. 361, the greater portion of which time was spent at
Eleutheropolis in Palestine, though he afterwards removed to the
Thebaid. It was at this time that his polemical writings appeared, the
tone and temper of which is indicated by the mere titles De Regibus
Apostaticis (of Apostate Kings), De non Conveniendo cum Haereticis,
etc. (of not holding communion with heretics). On the death of
Constantius in 361, Julian permitted the exiled bishops to return; but
Lucifer instead of going to Alexandria where a Council was to be held
under the presidency of Athanasius for the healing of a schism in the
Catholic party at Antioch (some of which held to Meletius, while others
followed Eustathius), preferred to go straight to Antioch. There he
ordained Paulinus, the leader of the latter section, as bishop of the
Church. Eusebius of Vercellae soon arrived with the synodal letters of
the Council of Alexandria, but, finding himself thus anticipated, and
shrinking from a collision with his friend, he retired immediately.
Lucifer stayed, and "declared that he would not hold communion with
Eusebius or any who adopted the moderate policy of the Alexandrian
Council. By this Council it had been determined that actual Arians, if
they renounced their heresy, should be pardoned, but not invested with
ecclesiastical functions; and that those bishops who had merely
consented to Arianism should remain undisturbed. It was this latter
concession which offended Lucifer, and he became henceforth the
champion of the principle that no one who had yielded to any compromise
whatever with Arianism should be allowed to hold an ecclesiastical
office." He was thus brought into antagonism with Athanasius himself,
who, it has been seen, presided at Alexandria. Eventually he returned
to his see in Sardinia where, according to Jerome's Chronicle, he died
in 371. Luciferianism became extinct in the beginning of the following
century, if not earlier. It hardly appears to have been formed into a
separate organization, though an appeal was made to the emperor by some
Luciferian presbyters about the year 384, and both Ambrose and
Augustine speak of him as having fallen into the schism.
The argument of the Dialogue may be thus stated. It
has been pointed out above that Lucifer of Cagliari, who had been
banished from his see in the reign of Constantius because of his
adherence to the cause of Athanasius, had, on the announcement of
toleration at the accession of Julian (361), gone to Antioch and
consecrated Paulinus a bishop. There were then three bishops of
Antioch, Dorotheus the Arian (who had succeeded Euzoius in 376),
Meletius who, though an Athanasian in opinion, had been consecrated by
Arians or Semi-Arians, and Paulinus; besides Vitalis, bishop of a
congregation of Apollinarians. Lucifer, in the earnestness of his
anti-Arian opinion, refused to acknowledge as bishops those who had
come over from Arianism, though he accepted the laymen who had been
baptized by Arian bishops. This opinion led to the Luciferian schism,
and forms the subject of the Dialogue.
The point urged by Orthodoxus throughout is that,
since the Luciferian accepts as valid the baptism conferred by Arian
bishops, it is inconsistent in him not to acknowledge the bishops who
have repented of their Arian opinions. The Luciferian at first(2) in
his eagerness, declares the Arians to be no better than heathen; but he
sees that he has gone too far, and retracts this opinion. Still it is
one thing, he says,(3) to admit a penitent neophyte, another to admit a
man to be bishop and celebrate the Eucharist. We do not wish, he
says(4) to preclude individuals who have fallen from repentance. And
we, replies Orthodoxus, by admitting the bishops save not them only but
their flocks also. "The salt," says the Luciferian(5), "which has lost
its savour cannot be salted," and, "What communion has Christ with
Belial?" But this, it is answered(6), would prove that Arians could not
confer baptism at all. Yes, says the objector, they are like John the
Baptist, whose baptism needed to be followed by that of Christ. But, it
is replied, the bishop gives Christ's baptism and confers the Holy
Spirit. The confirmation which follows(9) is rather a custom of the
churches than the necessary means of grace.
The argument is felt to be approaching to a
philosophical logomachy(10, 11), but it is resumed by the Luciferian.
There is a real difference, he says(12), between the man who in his
simplicity accepts baptism from an Arian bishop, and the bishop himself
who understands the heresy. Yet both, it is replied(13), when they are
penitent, should be received.
At this point(14) the Luciferian yields. But he
wishes to be assured that what Orthodoxus recommends has been really
the practice of the Church. This leads to a valuable chapter of Church
history. Orthodoxus recalls the victories of the Church, which the
Luciferians speak of as corrupt(15). The shame is that, though they
have the true creed, they have too little faith. He then describes(17,
18) how the orthodox bishops were beguiled into accepting the creed of
Ariminum, but afterwards saw their error(19). "The world groaned to
find itself Arian." They did all that was possible to set things right.
Why should they not be received, as all but the authors of heresy had
been received at Nicaea?(20) Lucifer who was a good shepherd, and
Hilary the Deacon, in separating their own small body into a sect have
left the rest a prey to the wolf(20, 21). The wheat and tares must grow
together(22). This has been the principle of the Church(23). as shown
by Scripture(24) and Apostolic custom, and even Cyprian, when he wished
penitent heretics to be re-baptized(25), could not prevail. Even Hilary
by receiving baptism from the Church which always has re-admitted
heretics in repentance(26, 27) acknowledges this principle. In that
Church and its divisions and practice it is our duty to abide.
320
1. It happened not long ago that a follower of
Lucifer had a dispute with a son of the Church. His loquacity was
odious and the language he employed most abusive. For he declared that
the world belonged to the devil, and, as is commonly said by them at
the present day, that the Church was turned into a brothel. His
opponent on the other hand, with reason indeed, but without due regard
to time and place, urged that Christ did not die in vain, and that it
was for something more than a Sardinian cloak of skins[1] that the Son
of God came down from heaven. To be brief, the dispute was not settled
when night interrupted the debate, and the lighting of the street-lamps
gave the signal for the assembly to disperse. The combatants therefore
withdrew, almost spitting in each other's faces, an arrangement having
been previously made by the audience for a meeting in a quiet porch at
daybreak. Thither, accordingly, they all came, and it was resolved that
the words of both speakers should be taken down by reporters.
2. When all were seated, Helladius the Luciferian
said, I want an answer first to my question. Are the Arians Christians
or not?
Orthodoxus. I answer with another question, Are all
heretics Christians?
L. If you call a man a heretic you deny that he is a
Christian.
O. No heretics, then, are Christians.
L. I told you so before.
O. If they are not Christ's, they belong to the
devil.
L. No one doubts that.
O. But if they belong to the devil, it makes no
difference whether they are heretics or heathen.
L. I do not dispute the point.
O. We are then agreed that we must speak of a
heretic as we would of a heathen.
L. Just so.
O. Now it is decided that heretics are heathen, put
any question you please.
L. What I wanted to elicit by my question has been
expressly stated, namely, that heretics are not Christians. Now comes
the inference. If the Arians are heretics, and all heretics are
heathen, the Arians are heathen too. But if the Arians are heathen and
it is beyond dispute that the church has no communion with the Arians,
that is with the heathen, it is clear that your church which welcomes
bishops from the Arians, that is from the heathen, receives priests of
the Capitol[2] rather than bishops, and accordingly it ought more
correctly to be called the synagogue of AntiChrist than the Church of
Christ.
O. Lo! what the prophet said is fulfilled:[1] "They
have digged a pit before me, they have fallen into the midst thereof
themselves."
L. How so?
O. If the Arians are, as you say, heathen, and the
assemblies of the Arians are the devil's camp, how is it that you
receive a person who has been baptized in the devil's camp?
L. I do receive him, but as a penitent.
O. The fact is you don't know what you are saying.
Does any one receive a penitent heathen?
L. In my simplicity I replied when we began that all
heretics are heathen. But the question was a captious one, and you
shall have the full credit of victory in the first point. I will now
proceed to the second and maintain that a layman coming from the Arians
ought to be received if penitent, but not a cleric.
O. And yet, if you concede me the first point, the
second is mine too.
L. Show me how it comes to be yours.
O. Don't you know that the clergy and laity have
only one Christ, and that there is not one God of converts and another
of bishops? Why then should not he who receives laymen receive clerics
also?
L. There is a difference between shedding tears for
sin, and handling the body of Christ; there is a difference between
lying prostrate at the feet of the brethren, and from the high altar
administering the Eucharist to the people. It is one thing to lament
over the past, another to abandon sin and live the glorified life in
the Church. You who yesterday im-piously declared the Son of God to be
a creature, you who every day, worse than a Jew, were wont to cast the
stones of blasphemy at Christ, you whose hands are full of blood, whose
pen was a soldier's spear, do you, the convert of a single hour, come
into the Church as an adulterer might come to a virgin? If you repent
of your sin, abandon your priestly functions: if you are shameless in
your sin, remain what you were.
O. You are quite a rhetorician, and fly from the
thicket of controversy to the open fields of declamation. But, I
entreat you, refrain from common-places, and return to the ground and
the lines marked out; afterwards, if you like, we will take a wider
range.
L. There is no declamation in the case; my
indignation is more than I can bear. Make what statements you please,
argue as you please, you will never convince me that a penitent bishop
should be treated like a penitent layman.
321
O. Since you put the whole thing in a nutshell and
obstinately cling to your position, that the case of the bishop is
different from that of the layman, I will do what you wish, and I shall
not be sorry to avail myself of the opportunity you offer and come to
close quarters. Explain why you receive a layman coming from the
Arians, but do not receive a bishop.
L. I receive a layman who confesses that he has
erred; and the Lord willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that
he should repent.
O. Receive then also a bishop who, as well as the
layman, confesses that he has erred, and it still holds good that the
Lord willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should
repent.
L. If he confesses his error why does he continue a
bishop? Let him lay aside his[1] episcopal functions, and I grant
pardon to the penitent.
O. I will answer you in your own words. If a layman
confesses his error, how is it he continues a layman? Let him lay aside
his lay-priesthood, that is, his baptism, and I grant pardon to the
penitent. For it is written[2] " He made us to be a kingdom, to be
priests unto his God and Father." And again,[3] "A holy nation, a royal
priesthood, an elect race." Everything which is forbidden to a
Christian, is forbidden to both bishop and layman. He who does penance
condemns his former life. If a penitent bishop may not continue what he
was, neither may a penitent layman remain in that state on account of
which he confesses himself a penitent.
L. We receive the laity, because no one will be
induced to change, if he knows he must be baptized again. And then, if
they are rejected, we become the cause of their destruction.
O. By receiving a layman you save a single soul: and
I in receiving a bishop unite to the Church, I will not say the people
of one city, but the whole[4] province of which he is the head; if I
drive him away, he will drag down many with him to ruin. Wherefore I
beseech you to apply the same reason which you think you have for
receiving the few to the salvation of the whole world. But if you are
not satisfied with this, if you are so hard, or rather so unreasonably
unmerciful as to think him who gave baptism an enemy of Christ, though
you account him who received it a son, we do not so contradict
ourselves: we either receive a bishop as well as the people which is
constituted as a Christian people by him, or if we do not receive a
bishop, we know that we must also reject his people.
5. L. Pray, have you not read what is said
concerning the bishops,[1] "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the
salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is
thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot
of man." And then there is the fact that the priest[2] intercedes with
God for the sinful people, while there is no one to entreat for the
priest. Now these two passages of Scripture tend to the same
conclusion. For as salt seasons all food and nothing is so pleasant as
to please the palate without it: so the bishop is the seasoning of the
whole world and of his own Church, and if he lose his savour through
the denial of truth, or through heresy, or lust, or, to comprehend all
in one
word, through sin of any kind, by what other can he be seasoned, when
he was the seasoning of all? The priest, we know, offers his oblation
for the layman, lays his hand upon him when submissive, invokes the
return of the Holy Spirit, and thus, after inviting the prayers of the
people, reconciles to the altar him who had been delivered to Satan for
the destruction of the flesh that the spirit might he saved; nor does
the restore one member to health until all the members have wept
together with him. For a father easily pardons his son, when the mother
entreats for her offspring. If then it is by the priestly order that a
penitent layman is restored to the Church, and pardon follows where
sorrow has gone before, it is clear that a priest who has been removed
from his order cannot be restored to the place he has forfeited,
because either he will be a penitent and then he cannot be a priest, or
if he continues to hold office he cannot be brought back to the Church
by penitential discipline. Will you dare to spoil the savour of the
Church with the salt which has lost its savour? Will you replace at the
altar the man who having been cast out ought to lie in the mire and be
trodden under foot by all men? What then will become of the Apostle's
command,[3] "The bishop must be blameless as God's steward"? And
again,[4] "But let a man prove himself, and so let him come." What
becomes of our Lord's intimation,[5] "Neither cast your pearls before
the swine"? But if you understand the words as a general admonition,
how much mere must care be exercised in the case of priests when so
much precaution is taken where the laity are concerned?[6] "Depart, I
pray you," says the Lord by Moses, "from the tents of these wicked men,
and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.'[1]
And
322
again in the Minor Prophets,[1] "Their sacrifices shall be unto them as
the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted." And in
the Gospel the Lord says,[2] " The lamp of the body is the eye: if
therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."
For when the bishop preaches the true faith the darkness is scattered
from the hearts of all. And he gives the reason,[3]" Neither do men
light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it
shineth unto all that are in the house." That is, God's motive for
lighting the fire of His knowledge in the bishop is that he may not
shine for himself only, but for the common benefit. And in the next
sentence[4] "If," says he, "thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be
full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness,
how great is the darkness!" And rightly; for since the bishop is
appointed in the Church that he may restrain the people from error, how
great will the error of the people be when he himself who teaches errs.
How can he remit sins, who is himself a sinner? How can an impious man
make a man holy? How shall the light enter into me, when my eye is
blind? 0 misery! Antichrist's disciple governs the Church of Christ.
And what are we to think of the words,[4] "No man can serve two masters
"? And that too[5] "What communion hath light and darkness? And what
concord hath Christ with Belial?" In the old testament we read,[6] "No
man that hath a blemish shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the
Lord." And again,[7] "Let the priests who come nigh to the Lord their
God be clean, lest haply the Lord forsake them." And in the same
place,[7] "And when they draw nigh to minister in holy things, let them
not bring sin upon themselves, lest they die." And there are many other
passages which it would be an endless task to detail, and which I omit
for the sake of brevity. For it is not the number of proofs that
avails, but their weight. And all this proves that you with a little
leaven have corrupted the whole lump of the Church, and receive the
Eucharist to-day from the hand of one whom yesterday you loathed like
an idol.
6. O. Your memory has served you, and you have
certainly given us at great length many quotations from the sacred
books: but after going all round the wood, you are caught in my
hunting-nets. Let the case be as you would have it, that an Arian
bishop is the enemy of Christ, let him be the salt that has lost its
savour, let him be a lamp without flame, let him be an eye without a
pupil: no doubt your argument will take you thus far--that he cannot
salt another who himself has no salt: a blind man cannot enlighten
others, nor set them on fire when his own light has gone out. But why,
when you swallow food which he has seasoned, do you reproach the
seasoned with being saltless? Your Church is bright with his flame, and
do you accuse his lamp of being extinguished? He gives you eyes, and
are you blind? Wherefore, I pray you, either give him the power of
sacrificing since you approve his baptism, or reject his baptism if you
do not think him a priest. For it is impossible that he who is holy in
baptism should be a sinner at the altar.
L. But when I receive a lay penitent, it is with
laying on of hands, and invocation of the Holy Spirit, for I know that
the Holy Spirit cannot be given by heretics.
O. All the paths of your propositions lead to the
same meeting-point, and it is with you as with the frightened
deer--while you fly from the feathers fluttering in the wind, you
become entangled in the strongest of nets. For seeing that a man,
baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost,
becomes a temple of the Lord, and that while the old abode is destroyed
a new shrine is built for the Trinity, how can you say that sins can be
remitted among the Arians without the coming of the Holy Ghost? How is
a soul purged from its former stains which has not the Holy Ghost? For
it is not mere water which washes the soul, but it is itself first
purified by the Spirit that it may be able to spiritually wash the
souls of men.[1] " The Spirit of the Lord," says Moses, "moved upon the
face of the waters," from which it appears that there is no baptism
without the Holy Ghost. Bethesda, the pool in Judea, could not cure the
limbs of those who suffered from bodily weakness without the advent of
an angel,[2] and do you venture to bring me a soul washed with simple
water, as though it had just come from the bath? Our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself, of whom it is less correct to say that He was cleansed by
washing than that by the washing of Himself He cleansed all waters, no
sooner raised His head from the stream than He received the Holy Ghost.
Not that He ever was without the Holy Ghost, inasmuch as He was born in
the flesh through the Holy Ghost; but in order to prove that to be the
true baptism by which the Holy Ghost comes. So then if an Arian cannot
give the Holy Spirit, he cannot even baptize, because there is no
baptism of the Church without the Holy Spirit. And you, when you
receive a person baptized by an
323
Arian and afterwards invoke the Holy Ghost, ought either to baptize
him, because without the Holy Ghost he could not be baptized, or, if he
was baptized in the Spirit, you must not invoke the Holy Ghost for your
convert who received Him at the time of baptism.
7. L. Pray tell me, have you not read[1] in the Acts
of the Apostles that those who had already been baptized by John, on
their saying in reply to the Apostles' question that they had not even
heard what the Holy Ghost was, afterwards obtained the Holy Ghost?
Whence it is clear that it is possible to be baptized, and yet not to
have the Holy Ghost.
O. I do not think that those who form our audience
are so ignorant of the sacred books that many words are needed to
settle this little question. But before I say anything in support of my
assertion, listen while I point out what confusion, upon your view, is
introduced into Scripture. What do we mean by saying that John in his
baptism could not give the Holy Spirit to others, yet gave him to
Christ? And who is that John?[2]" The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, make his paths
straight." He who used to say,[3] "Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sins of the world": I say too little, he who from his
mother's womb cried out,[4]" And whence is this to me that the mother
of my Lord should come unto me," did he not give the Holy Ghost? And
did[6] Ananias give him to Paul? It perhaps looks like boldness in me
to prefer him to all other men. Hear then the words of our Lord,[6]
"Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than
John the Baptist." For no prophet had the good fortune both to announce
the coming of Christ, and to point Him out with the finger. And what
necessity is there for me to dwell upon the praises of so illustrious a
man when God the Father even calls him an angel?[7] "Behold, I send my
messenger (angel) before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before
thee." He must have been an angel who after lodging in his mother's
womb at once began to frequent the desert wilds, and while still an
infant played with serpents; who, when his eyes had once gazed on
Christ thought nothing else worth looking at; who exercised his voice,
worthy of a messenger of God, in the words of the Lord, which are
sweeter than honey and the honey-comb. And, to delay my question no
further, thus it behooved[8] the Forerunner f of the Lord to grow up.
Now is it possible f that a man of such character and renown did not
give the Holy Ghost, while Cornelius the centurion received Him before
baptism? Tell me, pray, why could he not give Him? You don't know? Then
listen to the teaching of Scripture: the baptism of John did not so
much consist in the forgiveness of sins as in being a baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins, that is, for a future remission,
which was to follow through the sanctification of Christ. For it is
written,[1] "John came, who baptized in the wilderness, and preached
the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins." And soon after, "[2]
"And they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their
sins." For as he himself preceded Christ as His forerunner, so also his
baptism was the prelude to the Lord's baptism.[3] "He that is of the
earth," he said, "speaketh of the earth; he that cometh from heaven is
above all." And again,[4] "I indeed baptize you with water, he shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost." But if John, as he himself confessed,
did not baptize with the Spirit, it follows that he did not forgive
sins either, for no man has his sins remitted without the Holy Ghost.
Or if you contentiously argue that, because the baptism of John was
from heaven, therefore sins were forgiven by it, show me what more
there is for us to get in Christ's baptism. Because it forgives sins,
it releases from Gehenna. Because it releases from Gehenna, it is
perfect. But no baptism can be called perfect except that which depends
on the cross and resurrection of Christ. Thus, although John himself
said,[5]" He must increase, but I must decrease," in your perverse
scrupulosity you give more than is due to the baptism of the servant,
and destroy that of the master to which you leave no more than to the
other. What is the drift of your assertion? Just this--it does not
strike you as strange that those who had been baptized by John, should
afterwards by the laying on of hands receive the Holy Ghost, although
it is evident that they did not obtain even remission of sins apart
from the faith which was to follow. But you who receive a person
baptized by the Arians and allow him to have perfect baptism, after
that admission do you invoke the Holy Ghost as if this were still some
slight defect, whereas there is no baptism of Christ without the Holy
Ghost? But I have wandered too far, and when I might have met my
opponent face to face and repelled his attack, I have only thrown a few
light darts rom a distance. The baptism of John was so ar imperfect
that it is plain they who had been baptized by him were afterwards
baptized with the baptism of Christ. For thus the history relates[6]"
And it came to pass that while
324
Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country
came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples: and he said unto them,
Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed? And they said unto him,
Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Ghost was given. And
he said, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into John's
baptism. And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance,
saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him which should
come after him, that is, on Jesus. And when they heard this, they were
baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus: And when Paul had laid his
hands upon them, immediately the Holy Ghost fell on them." If then they
were baptized with the true and lawful baptism of the Church, and thus
received the Holy Ghost: do you follow the apostles and baptize those
who have not had Christian baptism, and you will be able to invoke the
Holy Ghost.
8. L. Thirsty men in their dreams eagerly gulp down
the water of the stream, and the more they drink the thirstier they
are. In the same way you appear to me to have searched everywhere for
arguments against the point I raised, and yet to be as far as ever from
being satisfied. Don't you know that the laying on of hands after
baptism and then the invocation of the Holy Spirit is a custom of the
Churches? Do you demand Scripture proof? You may find it in the Acts of
the Apostles. And even if it did not rest on the authority of Scripture
the consensus of the whole world in this respect would have the force
of a command. For many other observances of the Churches, which are due
to tradition, have acquired the authority of the written law, as for
instance[1] the practice of dipping the head three times in the layer,
and then, after leaving the water, of[2] tasting mingled milk and honey
in representation of infancy;[3] and, again, the practices of standing
up in worship on the Lord's day, and ceasing from fasting every
Pentecost; and there are many other unwritten practices which have won
their place through reason and custom. So you see we follow the
practice of the Church, although it may be clear that a person was
baptized before the Spirit was invoked.
9. O. I do not deny that it is the practice of the
Churches in the case of those who living far from the greater towns
have been baptized by presbyters and deacons, for the bishop to visit
them, and by the laying on of hands to invoke the Holy Ghost upon them.
But how shall I describe your habit of applying the laws of the Church
to heretics, and of exposing the virgin entrusted to you in the
brothels of harlots? If a bishop lays his hands on men he lays them on
those who have been baptized in the right faith, and who have believed
that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are three persons, but one
essence. But an Arian has no faith but this (close your ears, my
hearers, that you may not be defiled by words so grossly impious), that
the Father alone is very God, and that Jesus Christ our Saviour is a[1]
creature, and[2] the Holy Ghost the Servant of both. How can he then
receive the Holy Ghost from the Church, who has not yet obtained
remission of sins? For the Holy Ghost must have a clean abode: nor will
He become a dweller in that temple which has not for its chief priest
the true faith. But if you now ask how it is that a person baptized in
the Church does not receive the Holy Ghost, Whom we declare to be given
in true baptism, except by the hands of the bishop, let me tell you
that our authority for the rule is the fact that after our Lord's
ascension the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles. And in many
places we find it the practice, more by way of honouring the[3]
episcopate than from any compulsory law. Otherwise, if the Holy Ghost
descends only at the bishop's prayer, they are greatly to be pitied who
in isolated houses, or in forts, or retired places, after being
baptized by the presbyters and deacons have fallen asleep before the
bishop's visitation. The well-being of a Church depends upon the
dignity of its chief-priest, and unless some extraordinary and unique
functions be assigned to him, we shall have as many schisms in the
Churches as there are priests. Hence it is that without ordination and
the bishop's license neither presbyter nor deacon has the power to
baptize. And yet, if necessity so be, we know that even laymen may, and
frequently do, baptize. For as a man receives, so too he can give; for
it will hardly
325
be said that we must believe that the eunuch whom Philip[1] baptized
lacked the Holy Spirit. The Scripture thus speaks concerning him, "And
they both went down into the water; and Philip baptized him." And on
leaving the water, "The Holy Spirit fell upon the eunuch." You may
perhaps think that we ought to set against this the passage in which we
read, "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria
had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who,
when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the
Holy Ghost: for as yet he was fallen upon none of them." But why this
was, the context tells us,--"Only they had been baptized into the name
of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they
received the Holy Ghost." And if you here say that you do the same,
because the heretics have not baptized into the Holy Spirit, I must
remind you that Philip was not separated from the Apostles, but
belonged to the same Church and preached the same Lord Jesus Christ:
that he was without question a deacon of those who afterwards laid
their hands on his converts. But when you say that the Arians have not
a Church, but a synagogue, and that their clergy do not worship God but
creatures and idols, how can you maintain that you ought to act upon
the same principle in cases so totally different?
L. You repel my attack in front with vigour and
firmness: but you are smitten in the rear and leave your back exposed
to the darts. Let us even grant that the Arians have no baptism, and
therefore that the Holy Ghost cannot be given by them, because they
themselves have not yet received remission of sins; this altogether
makes for victory on my side, and all your argumentative wrestling is
but laborious toil to give me the conqueror's palm. An Arian has no
baptism; how is it then that he has the episcopate? There is not even a
layman among them, how can there be a bishop? I may not receive a
beggar, do you receive a king? You surrender your camp to the enemy,
and are we to reject one of their deserters?
11. O. If you remember what has been said you would
know that you have been already answered; but in yielding to the love
of contradiction you have wandered from the subject, like those persons
who are talkative rather than eloquent, and who, when they cannot
argue, still continue to wrangle. On the present occasion it is not my
aim to either accuse or defend the Arians, but rather to get safely
past the turning-post of the race, and to main-lain that we receive a
bishop for the same reason that you receive a layman. If you grant
forgiveness to the erring, I too pardon the penitent. If he that
baptizes a person into our belief has had no injurious effect upon the
person baptized, it follows that he who consecrates a bishop in the
same faith causes no defilement to the person consecrated. Heresy is
subtle, and therefore the simple-minded are easily deceived. To be
deceived is the common lot of both layman and bishop. But you say, a
bishop could not have been mistaken. The truth is, men are elected to
the episcopate who come from the bosom of Plato and Aristophanes. How
many can you find among them who are not fully instructed in these
writers? Indeed all, whoever they may be, that are ordained at the
present day from among the literate class make it their study not how
to seek out the marrow of Scripture, but how to tickle the ears of the
people with the flowers of rhetoric. We must further add that the Arian
heresy goes hand in hand with the wisdom of the world, and[1] borrows
its streams of argument from the fountains of Aristotle. And so we will
act like children when they try to outdo one another--whatever you say
I will say: what you assert, I will assert: whatever you deny, I will
deny. We allow that an Arian may baptize; then he must be a bishop.[2]
If we agree that Arian baptism is invalid, you must reject the layman,
and I must not accept the bishop. I will follow you wherever you go; we
shall either stick in the mud together, or shall get out together.
12. L. We pardon a layman because, when he was
baptized, he had a sincere impression that he was joining the Church.
He believed and was baptized in accordance with his faith.
O. That is something new for a man to be made a
Christian by one who is not a Christian. When he joined the Arians into
what faith was he baptized? Of course into that which the Arians held.
If on the other hand we are to suppose that his own faith was correct,
but that he was knowingly baptized by heretics, he does not deserve the
indulgence we grant to the erring. But it is quite absurd to imagine
that, going as a pupil to the master, he understands his art before he
has been taught. Can you suppose that a man who has just turned from
worshipping idols knows Christ better than his teacher does? If you
326
say, he sincerely believed in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, and therefore obtained baptism, what, let me ask, is the meaning
of being sincerely ignorant of what one believes? He sincerely
believed. What did he believe? Surely when he heard the three names, he
believed in three Gods, and was an idolater; or by the three titles he
was led to believe in a God with three names, and so fell into the[1]
Sabellian heresy. Or he was perhaps trained by the Arians to believe
that there is one true God, the Father, but that the Son and the Holy
Spirit are creatures. What else he may have believed, I know not: for
we can hardly think that a man brought up in the Capitol would have
learnt the doctrine of the co-essential Trinity. He would have known in
that case that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not divided in
nature, but in person. He would have known also that the name of Son
was implied in that of Father and the name of Father in that of Son. It
is ridiculous to assert that any one can dispute concerning the faith
before he believes it; that he understands a mystery before he has been
initiated; that the baptizer and the baptized hold different views
respecting God. Besides, it is the custom at baptism to ask, after the
confession of faith in the Trinity, do you believe in Holy Church? Do
you believe in the remission of sins? What Church do you say he
believed in? The Church of the Arians? But they have no Church. In
ours? But the man was not baptized into it: he could not believe in
that whereof he was ignorant.
L. I see that you can prattle cleverly about each
point that I raise; and when we let fly a dart you elude it by a
harangue which serves you for a shield; I will therefore hurl a single
spear which will be strong enough to pierce your defences and the
hail-storm of your words. I won't allow strength any longer to be
overcome by artifice. Even a layman baptized without the Church, if he
be baptized according to the faith, is received only as a penitent: but
a bishop either does no penance and remains a bishop, or, if he does
penance he ceases to be a bishop. Wherefore we do right both in
welcoming the penitent layman, and in rejecting the bishop, if he
wishes to continue in his office.
O. An arrow which is discharged from the tight-drawn
bow is not easy to avoid, for it reaches him at whom it was aimed
before the shield can be raised to stop it. On the other hand your
propositions are pointless and therefore cannot pierce an opponent. The
spear then which you have hurled with all your might and about which
you speak such threatening words, I turn aside, as the saying is, with
my little finger. The point in dispute is not merely whether a bishop
is incapable of penitence and a layman capable, but whether a heretic
has received valid baptism. If he has not (and this follows from your
position), how can he be a penitent, before he is a Christian? Show me
that a layman coming from the Arians has valid baptism, and then I will
not deny him penitence. But if he is not a Christian, if he had no
priest to make him a Christian, how can he do penance when he is not
yet a believer?
14. L. I beseech you lay aside the methods of the
philosophers and let us talk with Christian simplicity; that is, if you
are willing to follow not the logicians, but the Galilean fishermen.
Does it seem right to you that an Arian should be a bishop?
O. You prove him a bishop because you receive those
he has baptized. And it is here that you are to blame:--Why are there
walls of separation between us when we are at one in faith and in
receiving Arians?
L. I asked you before not to talk like a
philosopher, but like a Christian.
O. Do you wish to learn, or to argue?
L. Of course I argue because I want to know the
reason for what you do.
O. If you argue, you have already had an answer. I
receive an Arian bishop for the same reason that you receive a person
who is only baptized. If you wish to learn, come over to my. side: for
an opponent must be overcome, it is only a disciple who can be taught.
L. Before I can be a disciple, I must hear one
preach whom I feel to be my master.
O. You are not dealing quite fairly: you wish me to
be your teacher on the terms that you may treat me as an opponent
whenever you please. I will teach you therefore in the same spirit. We
agree in faith, we agree in receiving heretics, let us also be at one
in our terms of communion.
L. That is not teaching, but arguing.
O. As you ask for peace with a shield in your hand,
I also must carry my olive branch with a sword grafted in it.
L. I drop my hands in token of submission. You are
conqueror. But in laying down my arms, I ask the meaning of the oath
you force me to take.
O. Certainly, but first I congratulate you, and
thank Christ my God for your good dispositions which have made you turn
from the
327
unsavoury teaching of the[1] Sardinians to that which the whole world
approves as true; and no longer say as some do,[2] " Help, Lord; for
the godly man teaseth." By their impious words they make of none effect
the cross of Christ, subject the Son of God to the devil, and would
have us now understand the Lord's lamentation over sinners to apply to
all men,[3] " What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the
pit?" But God forbid that our Lord should have died in vain.[4] The
strong man is bound, and his goods are spoiled. What the Father says is
fulfilled,[5] "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy
possession."[6] "Then the channels of water appeared, and the
foundations of the world were laid bare."[7] " In them hath he set a
tabernacle for the sun, and there is nothing hid from the heat
thereof." The Psalmist fully possessed by God sings,[8] " The swords of
the enemy are come to an end, and the cities which thou hast
overthrown."
15. And what is the position, I should like to know,
of those excessively scrupulous, or rather excessively profane persons,
who assert that there are more synagogues than Churches? How is it that
the devil's kingdoms have been destroyed, and now at last in the
consummation of the ages, the idols have fallen? If Christ has no
Church, or if he has one only, in Sardinia, be has grown very poor. And
if Satan owns Britain, Gaul, the East, the races of India, barbarous
nations, and the whole world at the same time, how is it that the
trophies of the cross have been collected in a mere corner of the
earth? Christ's powerful opponent, forsooth, gave over to him the[9]
serpent of Spain: he disdained to own a poor province and its
half-starved inhabitants. If they flatter themselves that they have on
their side that verse of the gospel,[10] "Howbeit when the Son of man
cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" let me remind them that the
faith in question is that of which the Lord himself said,[11] "Thy
faith hath made thee whole." And elsewhere, of the centurion,[12] "I
have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." And again, to the
Apostles,[13] "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" In another
place also,[14] "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall
say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall
remove." For neither the centurion nor that poor woman who for twelve
years was wasting away with a bloody flux, had believed in the
mysteries of the Trinity, for these were revealed to the Apostles after
the resurrection of Christ; so that the faith of such as believe in the
mystery of the Trinity might have its due preeminence: but it was her
singleness of mind and her devotion to her God that met with our Lord's
approval:[1] "For she said within herself, If I do but touch his
garment, I shall be made whole." This is the faith which our Lord said
was seldom found. This is the faith which even in the case of those who
believe aright is hard to find in perfection.[2] "According to your
faith, be it done unto you," says God. I do not, indeed, like the sound
of those words. For if it be done unto me according to my faith, I
shall perish. And yet I certainly believe in God the Father, I believe
in God the Son, and I believe in God the Holy Ghost. I believe in one
God; nevertheless, I would not have it done unto me according to my
faith. For the enemy often comes, and sows tares in the Lord's harvest.
I do not mean to imply that anything is greater than the purity of
heart which believes that mystery; but undoubted faith towards God it
is hard indeed to find. To make my meaning plain, let us suppose a
case:--I stand to pray; I could not pray, if I did not believe; but if
I really believed, I should cleanse that heart of mine with which God
is seen, I should beat my hands upon my breast, the tears would stream
down my cheeks, my body would shudder, my face grow pale, I should lie
at my Lord's feet, weep over them, and wipe them with my hair, I should
cling to the cross and not let go my hold until I obtained mercy. But,
as it is, frequently in my prayers I am either walking in the arcades,
or calculating my interest, or am carried away by base thoughts, so as
to be occupied with things the mere mention of which makes me blush.
Where is our faith? Are we to suppose that it was thus that Jonah
prayed? or the three youths? or Daniel in the lion's den? or the robber
on the cross? I have given these illustrations that you may understand
my meaning. But let every one commune with his own heart, and he will
find throughout the whole of life how rare a thing it is to find a soul
so faithful that it does nothing through the love of glory, nothing on
account of the petty gossip of men. For he who fasts does not as an
immediate consequence fast unto God, nor he who holds out his hand to a
poor man, lend to the Lord.
328
Vice is next-door neighbour to virtue. It is hard to rest content with
God alone for judge.
16. L. I was reserving that passage until last, and
you have anticipated my question about it. Almost all our party, or
rather not mine any more, use it as a sort of controversial battering
ram: as such I am exceedingly glad to see it broken to pieces and
pulverized. But will you be so good as to fully explain to me, not in
the character of an opponent but of a disciple, why it is that the
Church receives those who come from the Arians? The truth is I am
unable to answer you a word, but I do not yet give a hearty assent to
what you say.
17. O. When Constantius was on the throne and
Eusebius and Hypatius were Consuls, there was composed, under the
pretext of unity and faith,[1] an unfaithful creed, as it is now
acknowledged to have been. For at that time, nothing seemed so
characteristic of piety, nothing so befitting a servant of God, as to
follow after unity, and to shun separation from communion with the rest
of the world. And all the more because the current profession of faith
no longer exhibited on the face of it anything profane. "We believe,"
said they, "in one true God, the Father Almighty. This we also confess:
We believe in the only begotten Son of God, who, before all worlds, and
before all their origins,[2] was born of God. The only-begotten Son,
moreover, we believe to be born alone of the Father alone, God of God,
like to his Father who begot Him, according to the Scriptures; whose
birth no one knows, but the Father alone who begot Him." Do we find any
such words inserted here as[3] " There was a time, when he was not?"
Or, "The Son of God is a creature though not made of things which
exist." No. This is surely the perfection of faith to say we believe
Him to be God of God. Moreover, they called Him the only begotten, "
born alone of the Father." What is the meaning of barn? Surely, not
made. His birth removed all suspicion of His being a creature. They
added further, "Who came down from heaven, was conceived of the Holy
Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified by Pontius Pilate, rose again
the third day from the dead, ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right
hand of the Father, who will come to judge the quick and the dead."
There was the ring of piety in the words, and no one thought that
poison was mingled with the honey of such a proclamation.
18. As regards the term[1] Usia, it was not rejected
without a show of reason for so doing.[2] "Because it is not found in
the Scriptures," they said, "and its novelty is a stumbling-block to
many, we have thought it best to dispense with it." The bishops were
not anxious about the name, so long as that which it implied was
secured. Lastly, at the very time when rumour was rife that there had
been some insincerity in the statement of the faith, Valens, bishop of
Mursa, who had drawn it up, in the presence of Taurus the pretorian
prefect who attended the Synod by imperial command, declared that he
was not an Arian, and that he utterly abhorred their blasphemies.
However, the thing had been done in secret, and it had not extinguished
the general feeling. So on another day, when crowds of bishops and
laymen came together in the Church at Ariminum, Muzonius, bishop of the
province of Byzacena, to whom by reason of seniority the first rank was
assigned by all, spoke as follows: "One of our number has been
authorized to read to you, reverend fathers, what reports are being
spread and have reached us, so that the evil opinions which ought to
grate upon our ears and be banished from our hearts may be condemned
with one voice by us all." The whole body of bishops replied, Agreed.
And so when Claudius, bishop of the province of Picenum, at the request
of all present, began to read the blasphemies attributed to Valens,
Valens denied they were his and cried aloud, "If anyone denies Christ
our Lord, the Son of God, begotten of the Father before the worlds, let
him be anathema." There was a general chorus of approval, "Let him be
anathema."[3] " If anyone denies that the Son is like the Father
according to the Scriptures, let him be anathema." All replied, "Let
him be anathema." "If anyone does not say that
329
the Son of God is co-eternal with the Father, let him be anathema."
There was again a chorus of approval, "Let him be anathema." "If anyone
says that the Son of God is a creature, like other creatures, let him
be anathema." The answer was the same, "Let him be anathema." "If
anyone says that the Son was of no existing things, yet not of God the
Father, let him be anathema." All shouted together, "Let him be
anathema." "If anyone says, There was a time when the Son was not, let
him be anathema." At this point all the bishops and the whole Church
together received the words of Valens with clapping of hands and
stamping of feet. And if anyone thinks we have invented the story let
him examine the public records. At all events the muniment-boxes of the
Churches are full of it, and the circumstance is fresh in men's memory.
Some of those who took part in the Synod are still alive, and the
Arians themselves (a fact which may put the truth beyond dispute) do
not deny the accuracy of our account. When, therefore, all extolled
Valens to the sky and penitently condemned themselves for having
suspected him, the same Claudius who before had begun to read, said
"There are still a few points which have escaped the notice of my lord
and brother Valens; if it seem good to you, let us, in order to remove
all scruples, pass a general vote of censure upon them. If anyone says
that the Son of God was indeed before all worlds but was by no means
before all time, so that he puts some thing before Him, let him be
anathema." And many other things which had a suspicious look were
condemned by Valens when Claudius recited them. If anyone wishes to
learn more about them he will find the account in the acts of the Synod
of Ariminum, the source from which I have myself drawn them.
19. After these proceedings the Council was
dissolved. All returned in gladness to their own provinces. For the
Emperor and all good men had one and the same aim, that the East and
West should be knit together by the bond of fellowship. But wickedness
does not long lie hid, and the sore that is healed superficially before
the bad humour has been worked off breaks out again. Valens and[1]
Ursacius and others associated with them in their wickedness, eminent
Christian bishops of course, began to wave their palms, and to
say they had not denied that He was a creature, but that He was
like other creatures. At that moment the term Usia was abolished: the
Nicene Faith stood condemned by acclamation. The whole world groaned,
and was astonished to find itself Arian. Some, therefore, remained in
their own communion, others began to send letters to those Confessors
who as adherents of Athanasius were in exile; several despairingly
bewailed the better relations into which they had entered. But a few,
true to human nature, defended their mistake as an exhibition of
wisdom. The ship of the Apostles was in peril, she was driven by the
wind, her sides beaten with the waves: no hope was now left. But the
Lord awoke and bade the tempest cease; the[1] beast died, and there was
a calm once again. To speak more plainly, all the bishops who had been
banished from their sees, by the clemency of the new[2] emperor
returned to their Churches. Then Egypt welcomed the[3] triumphant
Athanasius; then[4] Hilary returned from the battle to the embrace of
the Church of Gaul; then[5] Eusebius returned and Italy laid aside her
mourning weeds. The bishops who had been caught in the snare at
Ariminum and had unwittingly come to be reported of as heretics, began
to assemble, while they called the Body of our Lord and all that is
holy in the Church to witness that they had not a suspicion of anything
faulty in their own faith. We thought, said they, the words were to be
taken in their natural meaning, and we had no suspicion that in the
Church of God, the very home of simplicity and sincerity in the
confession of truth, one thing could be kept secret in the heart,
another uttered by the lips. We thought too well of bad men and were
deceived. We did not suppose that the bishops of Christ were fighting
against Christ. There was much besides which they said with tears, but
I pass it over for brevity's sake. They were ready to condemn their[6]
former subscription as well as all the blasphemies of the Arians. Here
I ask our excessively scrupulous friends what they think ought to have
been done with those who made this Confession? Deprive the old bishops,
they will say, and ordain new ones. The plan was tried. But how many
whose conscience does not condemn them will allow themselves to be
deprived. Particularly when all the people who loved their bishops
flocked together, ready to stone and slay those who attempted to
deprive them. The bishops should, it may be said, have kept to
themselves
330
within their own communion. That is to say, with senseless cruelty they
would have surrendered the whole world to the devil. Why condemn those
who were not Arians? Why rend the Church when it was continuing in the
harmony of the faith? Lastly, were they by obstinacy to make Arians of
orthodox believers? We know that at the Council of Nica, which was
assembled on account of the Arian perfidy, eight Arian bishops were
welcomed, and there is not a bishop in the world at the present day
whose ordination is not dependent on that Council. This being so, how
could they act in opposition to it, when their loyalty to it had cost
them the pain of exile?
20. L. Were Arians really then received after all?
Pray tell me who they were.
O.[1] Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia,[2] Theognis,
bishop of Nica, Saras, at the time presbyter of Libya,[3] Eusebius,
bishop of Csarea in Palestine, and others whom it would be tedious to
enumerate; Arius also the presbyter, the original source of all the
trouble; Euzoius the deacon,[4] who succeeded Eudoxius as bishop of
Antioch, and Achillas, the reader. These three who were clerics of the
Church of Alexandria were the originators of the heresy.
L. Suppose a person were to deny that they were
welcomed back, how is he to be refuted?
O. There are men still living who took part in that
Council. And if that is not enough, because owing to the time that has
elapsed they are but few, and it is impossible for witnesses to be
everywhere, if we read the acts and names of the bishops of the Council
of Nica, we find that those who we saw just now were welcomed back, did
subscribe the homoousion along with the rest.
L. Will you point out how, after the Council of
Nica, they relapsed into their unfaithfulness?
O. A good suggestion, for unbelievers are in the
habit of shutting their eyes and denying that things which they dislike
ever happened. But how could they afterwards do anything but relapse,
when it was owing to them that the Council was convened, and their
letters and impious treatises which were published before the Council,
remain even to the present day? Seeing, therefore, that at that time
three hundred bishops or more welcomed a few men whom they might have
rejected without injury to the Church, I am surprised that certain
persons, who are certainly upholders of the faith of Nica, are so harsh
as to think that[1] three Confessors returning from exile were not
bound in the interests of the world's salvation to do what so many
illustrious men did of their own accord. But, to go back to our
starting point, on the return of the Confessors it was determined, in a
synod afterwards[2] held at Alexandria, that, the authors of the heresy
excepted (who could not be excused on the ground of error), penitents
should be admitted to communion with the Church: not that they who had
been heretics could be bishops, but because it was clear that those who
were received had not been heretics. The West assented to this
decision, and it was through this conclusion, which the necessities of
the times demanded, that the world was snatched from the jaws of Satan.
I have reached a very difficult subject, where I am compelled against
my wishes and my purpose, to think somewhat otherwise of that saintly
man Lucifer than his merits demand, and my own courtesy requires. But
what am I to do? Truth opens my mouth and urges my reluctant tongue to
utter the thoughts of my heart. At such a crisis of the Church, when
the wolves were wildly raging, he separated off a few sheep and
abandoned the remnant of the flock. He himself was a good shepherd, but
he was leaving a vast spoil to the beasts of prey. I take no notice of
reports originating with certain evil speakers, though maintained by
them to be authenticated facts; such as that he acted thus through the
love of glory, and the desire of handing down his name to posterity; or
again that he was influenced by the grudge he bore against Eusebius on
account of the[3] quarrel at Antioch. I believe none of these reports
in the case of such a man; and this I will constantly affirm even
now--that the difference between us and him is one of words, not of
things, if he really does receive those who have been baptized by the
Arians.
21. L. The account I used before to hear given of
these things was widely different, and, as I now think, better
calculated to promote error than hope. But I thank Christ my God for
pouring into my heart the light of truth, that I might no longer
profanely call the
331
Church, which is His Virgin, the harlot of the devil. There is one
other point I should like you to explain. What are we to say about[1]
Hilary who does not receive even those who have been baptized by the
Arians?
O. Since Hilary when he left the Church was
only a deacon, and since the Church is to him, though to him alone, a
mere worldly multitude, he can neither duly celebrate the Eucharist,
for he has no bishops or priests, nor can he give baptism without the
Eucharist. And since the man is now dead, inasmuch as he was a deacon
and could ordain no one to follow him, his sect died with him. For
there is no such thing as a Church without bishops. But passing over a
few very insignificant persons who are in their own esteem both laymen
and bishops, let me point out to you what views we should hold
respecting the Church at large.
L. You have settled a great question in three words,
as the saying is, and indeed while you speak, I feel that I am on your
side. But when you stop, some old misgivings arise as to why we receive
those who have been baptized by heretics.
O. That is just what I had in mind when I said I
would point out what views we ought to hold concerning the Church at
large. For many are exercised by the misgivings you speak of. I shall
perhaps be tedious in my explanation, but it is worth while if the
truth gains.
22. Noah's ark was a type of the Church, as the
Apostle Peter says--[2] "In Noah's ark few, that is, eight souls, were
saved through water: which also after a true likeness doth now save us,
even baptism." As in the ark there were all kinds of animals, so also
in the Church there are men of all races and characters. As in the one
there was the leopard with the kids, the wolf with the lambs, so in the
other there are found the righteous and sinners, that is,[3] vessels of
gold and silver with those of wood and of earth. The ark had its rooms:
the Church has many mansions. Eight souls were saved in Noah's ark.
And[4] Ecclesiastes bids us "give a portion to seven yea, even unto
eight," that is to believe both Testaments. This is why some psalms
bear the inscription[5] for the octave, and why the one hundred and
nineteenth psalm is divided into portions of eight verses each
beginning with its own letter for the instruction of the righteous. The
beatitudes which our Lord spoke to his disciples on the mountain,
thereby delineating the Church, are eight. And Ezekiel for the building
of the temple employs the number eight. And you will find many other
things expressed in the same way in the Scriptures. The raven also is
sent forth from the ark but does not return, and afterwards the dove
announces peace to the earth. So also in the Church's baptism, that
most unclean bird the devil is expelled, and the dove of the Holy
Spirit announces peace to our earth. The construction of the ark was
such that it began with being thirty cubits broad and gradually
narrowed to one. Similarly the Church, consisting of many grades, ends
in deacons, presbyters, and bishops. The ark was in peril in the flood,
the Church is in peril in the world. When Noah left the ark he planted
a vineyard, drank thereof, and was drunken. Christ also, born in the
flesh, planted the Church and suffered. The elder son made sport of his
father's nakedness, the younger covered it: and the Jews mocked God
crucified, the Gentiles honoured Him. The daylight would fail me if I
were to explain all the mysteries of the ark and compare them with the
Church. Who are the eagles amongst us? Who the doves and lions, who the
stags, who the worms and serpents? So far as our subject requires I
will briefly show you. It is not the sheep only who abide in the
Church, nor do clean birds only fly to and fro there; but amid the
grain other seed is sown,[1] "amidst the neat corn-fields burrs and
caltrops and barren oats lord it in the land." What is the husbandman
to do? Root up the darnel? In that case the whole harvest is destroyed
along with it. Every day the farmer diligently drives the birds away
with strange noises, or frightens them with scarecrows: here he cracks
a whip, there he spreads out some other object to terrify them.
Nevertheless he suffers from the raids of nimble roes or the wantonness
of the wild asses; here the mice convey the corn to their garners
underground, there the ants crowd thickly in and ravage the corn-field.
Thus the case stands. No one who has land is free from care.[2] While
the householder slept the enemy sowed tares among the wheat, and when
the servants proposed to go and root them up the master forbade them,
reserving for himself the separation of the chaff and the grain.[3]
There are vessels of wrath and of mercy which the Apostle speaks of in
the house of God. The day then will come when the storehouses of the
Church shall be opened and the Lord will
332
bring forth the vessels of wrath; and, as they depart, the saints will
say,[1] "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they
had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us." No one can
take to himself the prerogative of Christ, no one before the day of
judgment can pass judgment upon men. If the Church is already cleansed,
what shall we reserve for the Lord?[2] "There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." When our
judgment is so prone to error, upon whose opinion can we rely?
23. Cyprian of blessed memory tried to avoid broken
cisterns and not to drink of strange waters: and therefore, rejecting
heretical baptism, he summoned his[3] African synod in opposition to
Stephen,[4] who was the blessed Peter's twenty-second successor in the
see of Rome. They met to discuss this matter; but the attempt failed.
At last those very bishops who had together with him determined that
heretics must be re-baptized, reverted to the old custom and published
a fresh decree. Do you ask what course we must pursue? What we do our
forefathers handed down to us as their forefathers to them. But why
speak of later times? When the blood of Christ was but lately shed and
the apostles were still in Judæa, the Lord's body was asserted to
be a phantom; the Galatians had been led away to the observance of the
law, and the Apostle was a second time in travail with them; the
Corinthians did not believe the resurrection of the flesh, and he
endeavoured by many arguments to bring them back to the right path.
Then came[5] Simon Magus and his disciple Menander. They asserted
themselves to be[6] powers of God. Then[7] Basilides invented the most
high god Abraxas and the three hundred and sixty-five manifestations of
him. Then[8] Nicolas, one of the seven Deacons, and one whose lechery
knew no rest by night or day, indulged in his filthy dreams. I say
nothing of the Jewish heretics who before the coming of Christ
destroyed the law delivered to them: of[9] Dositheus, the leader of the
Samaritans who rejected the prophets: of the Sadducees who sprang from
his root and denied even the resurrection of the flesh: of the
Pharisees who separated themselves from the Jews[1] on account of
certain superfluous observances, and took their name from the fact of
their dissent: of the Herodians who accepted Herod as the Christ. I
come to those heretics who have mangled the Gospels,[2] Saturninus, and
the[3] Ophites,[4] the Cainites and[5] Sethites, and[6] Carpocrates,
and[7] Cerinthus, and his successor[8] Ebion, and the other pests, the
most of which broke out while the apostle John was still alive, and yet
we do not read that any of these men were re-baptized.
24. As we have made mention of that distinguished
saint, let us show also from his Apocalypse that repentance
unaccompanied by baptism ought to be allowed valid in the case of
heretics. It is imputed (Rev. ii. 4) to the angel of Ephesus that he
has forsaken his first love. In the angel of the Church of Pergamum the
eating of idol-sacrifices is censured (Rev. ii. 14), and the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans (ib. 15). Likewise the angel of Thyatira is rebuked
(ib. 20) on account of Jezebel the prophetess, and the idol meats, and
fornication. And yet the Lord encourages all these to repent, and adds
a threat, moreover, of future punishment if they do not turn. Now he
would not urge them to repent unless he intended to grant pardon
333
to the penitents. Is there any indication of his having said, Let them
be re-baptized who have been baptized in the faith of the Nicolaitans?
or let hands be laid upon those of the people of Pergamum who at that
time believed, having held the doctrine of Balaam? Nay, rather, "Repent
therefore,"[1] he says, "or else I come to thee quickly, and I will
make war against them with the sword of my mouth."
25. If, however, those men who were ordained by
Hilary, and who have lately become sheep without a shepherd, are
disposed to allege Scripture in support of what the blessed Cyprian[2]
left in his letters advocating the re-baptization of heretics, I beg
them to remember that he did not anathematize those who refused to
follow him. At all events, he remained in communion with such as
opposed his views. He was content with exhorting them, on account of[3]
Novatus and the numerous other heretics then springing up, to receive
no one who did not condemn his previous error. In fact, he thus
concludes the discussion of the subject with Stephen, the Roman
Pontiff: "These things, dearest brother, I have brought to your
knowledge on account of our mutual respect and love unfeigned,
believing, as I do, that from the sincerity of your piety and your
faith you will approve such things as are alike consonant with piety
and true in themselves. But I know that some persons are unwilling to
abandon views which they have once entertained, and are averse to a
change of purpose; they would rather, without breaking the bond of
peace and concord between colleagues, adhere to their own plans, when
once they have been adopted. This is a matter in which we do not force
anyone, or lay down a law for anyone; let each follow his own free
choice in the administration of the Church: let each be ruler in his
own sphere since he must give account of his action to the Lord." In
the letter also to Jubaianus on the re-baptization of heretics, towards
the end, he says this: "I have written these few remarks, my dearest
brother, to the best of my poor ability, without dictating to anyone,
or prejudicing the case of anyone: I would not hinder a single bishop
from doing what he thinks right with the full exercise of his own
judgment. So far as is possible, we avoid disputes with colleagues and
fellow-bishops about the heretics, and maintain with them a divine
harmony and the Lord's peace, particularly since the Apostle says:[1]
'But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither
the churches of God.' With patience and gentleness we preserve charity
at heart, the honour of our order, the bond of faith, the harmony of
the episcopate."
26. There is another argument which I shall adduce,
and against that not even Hilary,[2] the modern Deucalion, will venture
to mutter a syllable. If heretics are not baptized and must be
re-baptized because they were not in the Church, Hilary himself also is
not a Christian. For he was baptized in that Church which always
allowed heretical baptism. Before the Synod of Ariminum was held,
before Lucifer went into exile, Hilary when a deacon of the Roman
Church welcomed those who came over from the heretics on account of the
baptism which they had previously received. It can hardly be that
Arians are the only heretics, and that we are to accept all but those
whom they have baptized. You were a deacon, Hilary (the Church may
say), and received those whom the Manichæans had baptized. You
were a deacon, and acknowledged Ebion's baptism. All at once after
Arius arose you began to be quite out of conceit with yourself. You and
your household separated from us, and opened a new layer of your own.
If some angel or apostle has re-baptized you, I will not disparage your
procedure. But since you who raise your sword against me are the son of
my womb, and nourished on the milk of my breasts, return to me what I
gave you, and be, if you can, a Christian in some other way. Suppose I
am a harlot, still I am your mother. You say, I do not keep the
marriage bed undefiled: still what I am now I was when you were
conceived. If I commit adultery with Arius, I did the same before with
Praxias, with Ebion, with Cerinthus, and Novatus. You think much of
them and welcome them, adulterers as they are, to your mother's home. I
don't know why one adulterer more than others should offend you.
27. But if anyone thinks it open to question whether
heretics were always welcomed by our ancestors, let him read the
letters of the blessed Cyprian in which he applies the lash to Stephen,
bishop of Rome, and his errors which had grown inveterate by usage.[3]
Let
334
him also read the pamphlets of Hilary on the re-baptization of heretics
which he published against us, and he will there find Hilary himself
confessing that[1] Julius, Marcus, Sylvester, and the other bishops of
old alike welcomed all heretics to repentance; and, further, to shew
that he could not justly claim possession of the true custom; the
Council of Nicæa also, to which we referred not long ago,
welcomed all heretics with the exception of[2] the disciples of Paul of
Samosata. And, what is more, it allows a Novatian bishop on conversion
to have the rank of presbyter,[3] a decision which condemns both
Lucifer and Hilary, since the same person who is ordained is also
baptized.
28. I might spend the day in speaking to the same
effect, and dry up all the streams of argument with the single Sun of
the Church. But as we have already had a long discussion and the
protracted controversy has wearied out the attention of our audience, I
will tell you my opinion briefly and without reserve. We ought to
remain in that Church which was rounded by the Apostles and continues
to this day. If ever you hear of any that are called Christians taking
their name not from the Lord Jesus Christ, but from some other, for
instance, Marcionites, Valentinians, Men of the mountain or the
plain,[1] you may be sure that you have there not the Church of Christ,
but the synagogue of Antichrist. For the fact that they took their rise
after the foundation of the Church is proof that they are those whose
coming the Apostle foretold. And let them not flatter themselves if
they think they have Scripture authority for their assertions, since
the devil himself quoted Scripture, and the essence of the Scriptures
is not the letter, but the meaning. Otherwise, if we follow the letter,
we too can concoct a new dogma and assert that such persons as wear
shoes and have two coats must not be received into the Church.
L. You must not suppose that victory rests with you
only. We are both conquerors, and each of us carries off the palm,--you
are victorious over me, and I over my error. May I always when I argue
be so fortunate as to exchange wrong opinions for better ones. I must,
however, make a confession, because I best know the character of my
party, and own that they are more easily conquered than convinced.
THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY OF BLESSED MARY
Against Helvidius.
This tract appeared about A.D. 383. The question
which gave occasion to it was whether the Mother of our Lord remained a
Virgin after His birth. Helvidius maintained that the mention in the
Gospels of the "sisters" and "brethren" of our Lord was proof that the
Blessed Virgin had subsequent issue, and he supported his opinion by
the writings of Tertullian and Victorinus. The outcome of his views was
that virginity was ranked below matrimony. Jerome vigorously takes the
other side, and tries to prove that the "sisters" and "brethren" spoken
of, were either children of Joseph by a former marriage, or first
cousins, children of the sister of the Virgin. A detailed account of
the controversy will be found in Farrar's "Early Days of Christianity,"
pp. 124 sq. When Jerome wrote this treatise both he and Helvidius were
at Rome, and Damasus was Pope. The only contemporary notice preserved
of Helvidius is that by Jerome in the following pages.
Jerome maintains against Helvidius three propositions:--
1st. That Joseph was only putatively, not really, the husband of Mary.
2d. That the "brethren" of the Lord were his cousins, not his own
brethren.
3d. That virginity is better than the married state.
1. The first of these occupies ch. 3-8. It turns
upon the record in Matt. i. 18-25, and especially on the words, "Before
they came together" (c. 4), "knew her not till, &c." (5-8).
2. The second (c. 9-17) turns upon the words
"first-born son" (9, 10), which, Jerome argues, are applicable not only
to the eldest of several, but also to an only son: and the mention of
brothers and sisters, whom Jerome asserts to have been children of Mary
the wife of Cleophas or Clopas (11-16); he appeals to many Church
writers in support of this view (17).
335
3. In support of his preference of virginity to
marriage, Jerome argues that not only Mary. but Joseph also remained in
the virgin state (19); that, though marriage may sometimes be a holy
estate, it presents great hindrances to prayer (20), and the teaching
of Scripture is that the states of virginity and continency are more
accordant with God's will than that of marriage (21, 22).
1. I was requested by certain of the brethren not
long ago to reply to a pamphlet written by one Helvidius. I have
deferred doing so, not because it is a difficult matter to maintain the
truth and refute an ignorant boor who has scarce known the first
glimmer of learning, but because I was afraid my reply might make him
appear worth defeating. There was the further consideration that a
turbulent fellow, the only individual in the world who thinks himself
both priest and layman, one who,[1] as has been said, thinks that
eloquence consists in loquacity and considers speaking ill of anyone to
be the witness of a good conscience, would begin to blaspheme worse
than ever if opportunity of discussion were afforded him. He would
stand as it were on a pedestal, and would publish his views far and
wide. There was reason also to fear that when truth failed him he would
assail his opponents with the weapon of abuse. But all these motives
for silence, though just, have more justly ceased to influence me,
because of the scandal caused to the brethren who were disguised at his
ravings. The axe of the Gospel must therefore be now laid to the root
of the barren tree, and both it and its fruitless foliage cast into the
fire, so that Helvidius who has never learnt to speak, may at length
learn to hold his tongue.
2. I must call upon the Holy Spirit to express His
meaning by my mouth and defend the virginity of the Blessed Mary. I
must call upon the Lord Jesus to guard the sacred lodging of the womb
in which He abode for ten months from all suspicion of sexual
intercourse. And I must also entreat God the Father to show that the
mother of His Son, who was a mother before she was a bride, continued a
Virgin after her son was born. We have no desire to career over the
fields of eloquence, we do not resort to the snares of the logicians or
the thickets of Aristotle. We shall adduce the actual words of
Scripture. Let him be refuted by the same proofs which he employed
against us, so that he may see that it was possible for him to read
what is written, and yet to be unable to discern the established
conclusion of a sound faith.
3. His first statement was: "Matthew says,[2] Now
the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had
been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with
child of the Holy Ghost. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man,
and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her
away privately. But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel
of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of
David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is
conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." Notice, he says, that the word
used is betrothed, not intrusted as you say, and of course the only
reason why she was betrothed was that she might one day be married. And
the Evangelist would not have said before they came together if they
were not to come together, for no one would use the phrase before he
dried of a man who was not going to dine. Then, again, the angel calls
her wife and speaks of her as united to Joseph. We are next invited to
listen to the declaration of Scripture:[1] "And Joseph arose from his
sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto
him his wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth her son."
4. Let us take the points one by one, and follow the
tracks of this impiety that we may show that he has contradicted
himself. He admits that she was betrothed, and in the next breath will
have her to be a man's wife whom he has admitted to be his betrothed.
Again, he calls her wife, and then says the only reason why she was
betrothed was that she might one day be married. And, for fear we might
not think that enough, "the word used," he says, "is betrothed and not
intrusted, that is to say, not yet a wife, not yet united by the bond
of wedlock." But when he continues, "the Evangelist would never have
applied the words, before they came together to persons who were not to
come together, any more than one says, before he dined, when the man is
not going to dine," I know not whether to grieve or laugh. Shall I
convict him of ignorance, or accuse him of rashness? Just as if,
supposing a person to say, "Before dining in harbour I sailed to
Africa," his words could not hold good unless he were compelled some
day to dine in harbour. If I choose to say, "the apostle Paul before he
went to Spain was put in fetters at Rome," or (as I certainly might)
"Helvidius, before he repented, was cut off by death," must Paul on
being released at once go to Spain, or must Helvidius repent after
death, although the Scripture says[2] "In sheol who shall give thee
thanks?" Must we not rather understand
336
that the preposition before, although it frequently denotes order in
time, yet sometimes refers only to order in thought? So that there is
no necessity, if sufficient cause intervened to prevent it, for our
thoughts to be realized. When, then, the Evangelist says before they
came together, he indicates the time immediately preceding marriage,
and shows that matters were so far advanced that she who had been
betrothed was on the point of becoming a wife. As though he said,
before they kissed and embraced, before the consummation of marriage,
she was found to be with child. And she was found to be so by none
other than Joseph, who watched the swelling womb of his betrothed with
the anxious glances, and, at this time, almost the privilege, of a
husband. Yet it does not follow, as the previous examples showed, that
he had intercourse with Mary after her delivery, when his desires had
been quenched by the fact that she had already conceived. And although
we find it said to Joseph in a dream, "Fear not to take Mary thy wife
"; and again, "Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the
Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife," no one ought to be
disturbed by this, as though, inasmuch as she is called wife, she
ceases to be betrothed, for we know it is usual in Scripture to give
the title to those who are betrothed. The following evidence from
Deuteronomy establishes the point.[1] "If the man," says the writer,
"find the damsel that is betrothed in the field, and the man force her,
and lie with her, he shall surely die, because he hath humbled his
neighbour's wife." And in another place,[2] "If there be a damsel that
is a virgin betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city,
and lie with her; then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of
that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the
damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because
he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away the evil
from the midst of thee." Elsewhere also,[3] "And what man is there that
hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return
unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her."
But if anyone feels a doubt as to why the Virgin conceived after she
was betrothed rather than when she had no one betrothed to her, or, to
use the Scripture phrase, no husband, let me explain that there were
three reasons. First, that by the genealogy of Joseph, whose kinswoman
Mary was, Mary's origin might also be shown. Secondly, that she might
not in accordance with the law of Moses be stoned as an adulteress.
Thirdly, that in her flight to Egypt she might have some solace, though
it was that of a guardian rather than a husband. For who at that time
would have believed the Virgin's word that she had conceived of the
Holy Ghost, and that the angel Gabriel had come and announced the
purpose of God? and would not all have given their opinion against her
as an adulteress, like Susanna? for at the present day, now that the
whole world has embraced the faith, the Jews argue that when Isaiah
says,[1] "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son," the Hebrew
word denotes a young woman, not a virgin, that is to say, the word is
ALMAH, not BETHULAH, a position which, farther on, we shall dispute
more in detail. Lastly, excepting Joseph, and Elizabeth, and Mary
herself, and some few others who, we may suppose, heard the truth from
them, all considered Jesus to be the son of Joseph. And so far was this
the case that even the Evangelists, expressing the prevailing opinion,
which is the correct rule for a historian, call him the father of the
Saviour, as, for instance,[2] "And he (that is, Simeon) came in the
Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child
Jesus, that they might do concerning him after the custom of the law;"
and elsewhere,[3] "And his parents went every year to Jerusalem at the
feast of the passover." And afterwards,[4] "And when they had fulfilled
the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus tarried behind in
Jerusalem; and his parents knew not of it." Observe also what Mary
herself, who had replied to Gabriel with the words,[5] "How shall this
be, seeing I know not a man?" says concerning Joseph,[6] "Son, why hast
thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee
sorrowing." We have not here, as many maintain, the utterance of Jews
or of mockers. The Evangelists call Joseph father: Mary confesses he
was father. Not (as I said before) that Joseph was really the father of
the Saviour: but that, to preserve the reputation of Mary, he was
regarded by all as his father, although, before he heard the admonition
of the angel,[7] "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee
Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Ghost," he had thoughts of putting her away privily; which shows that
he well knew that the child conceived was not his. But we have said
enough, more with the aim of imparting instruction than of answering an
opponent, to show why Joseph is called the father of our Lord, and why
Mary is called Joseph's wife. This also
337
at once answers the question why certain persons are called his
brethren.
5. This, however, is a point which will find its
proper place further on. We must now hasten to other matters. The
passage for discussion now is, "And Joseph arose from his sleep, and
did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife
and knew her not till she had brought forth a son, and he called his
name Jesus." Here, first of all, it is quite needless for our opponent
to show so elaborately that the word know has reference to coition,
rather than to intellectual apprehension: as though anyone denied it,
or any person in his senses could ever imagine the folly which
Helvidius takes pains to refute. Then he would teach us that the adverb
till implies a fixed and definite time, and when that is fulfilled, he
says the event takes place which previously did not take place, as in
the case before us, "and knew her not till she had brought forth a
son." It is clear, says he, that she was known after she brought forth,
and that that knowledge was only delayed by her engendering a son. To
defend his position he piles up text upon text, waves his sword like a
blind-folded gladiator, rattles his noisy tongue, and ends with
wounding no one but himself.
6. Our reply is briefly this,--the words knew and
till in the language of Holy Scripture are capable of a double meaning.
As to the former, he himself gave us a dissertation to show that it
must be referred to sexual intercourse, and no one doubts that it is
often used of the knowledge of the understanding, as, for instance,
"the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem, and his parents knew it
not." Now we have to prove that just as in the one case he has followed
the usage of Scripture, so with regard to the word till he is
utterly refuted by the authority of the same Scripture, which
often denotes by its use a fixed time (he himself told us so),
frequently time without limitation, as when God by the mouth of the
prophet says to certain persons,[1] "Even to old age I am he." Will He
cease to be God when they have grown old ? And the Saviour in the
Gospel tells the Apostles,[2] "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world." Will the Lord then after the end of the world has
come forsake His disciples, and at the very time when seated on twelve
thrones they are to judge the twelve tribes of Israel will they be
bereft of the company of their Lord ? Again Paul the Apostle writing to
the Corinthians[3] says, "Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that
are Christ's, at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have
delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have
put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign, till
he hath put all enemies under his feet." Granted that the passage
relates to our Lord's human nature, we do not deny that the words are
spoken of Him who endured the cross and is commanded to sit afterwards
on the right hand. What does he mean then by saying, "for he must
reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet"? Is the Lord to
reign only until His enemies begin to be under His feet, and once they
are under His feet will He cease to reign ? Of course His reign will
then commence in its fulness when His enemies begin to be under His
feet. David also in the fourth Song of Ascents[1] speaks thus, "Behold,
as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master, as the eyes
of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look unto the
Lord our God, until he have mercy upon us." Will the prophet, then,
look unto the Lord until he obtain mercy, and when mercy is obtained
will he turn his eyes down to the ground ? although elsewhere he
says,[2] "Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy
righteousness." I could accumulate countless instances of this usage,
and cover the verbosity of our assailant with a cloud of proofs; I
shall, however, add only a few, and leave the reader to discover like
ones for himself.
7. The word of God says in Genesis,[3] "And they
gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and the
rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which
was by Shechem, and lost them until this day." Likewise at the end of
Deuteronomy,[4] "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the
land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in
the valley, in the land of Moab over against Beth-peor: but no man
knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day." We must certainly understand
by this day the time of the composition of the history, whether you
prefer the view that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch or that
Ezra re-edited it. In either case I make no objection. The question now
is whether the words unto this day are to be referred to the time of
publishing or writing the books, and if so it is for him to show, now
that so many years have rolled away since that day, that either the
idols hidden beneath the oak have been found, or the grave of Moses
discovered; for he obstinately maintains that what does not happen so
long as the point of time indicated by until and unto has not been
attained, begins to be when that point
338
has been reached. He would do well to pay heed to the idiom of Holy
Scripture, and understand with us, (it was here he stuck in the mud)
that some things which might seem ambiguous if not expressed are
plainly intimated, while others are left to the exercise of our
intellect. For if, while the event was still fresh in memory and men
were living who had seen Moses, it was possible for his grave to be
unknown, much more may this be the case after the lapse of so many
ages. And in the same way must we interpret what we are told concerning
Joseph. The Evangelist pointed out a circumstance which might have
given rise to some scandal, namely, that Mary was not known by her
husband until she was delivered, and he did so that we might be the
more certain that she from whom Joseph refrained while there was room
to doubt the import of the vision was not known after her
delivery.
8. In short, what I want to know is why Joseph
refrained until the day of her delivery ? Helvidius will of course
reply, because he heard the angel say,[1] "that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost." And in turn we rejoin that he had certainly
heard him say,[2] "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto
thee Mary thy wife." The reason why he was forbidden to forsake his
wife was that he might not think her an adulteress. Is it true then,
that he was ordered not to have intercourse with his wife ? Is it not
plain that the warning was given him that he might not be separated
from her ? And could the just man dare, he says, to think of
approaching her, when he heard that the Son of God was in her womb ?
Excellent ! We are to believe then that the same man who gave so much
credit to a dream that he did not dare to touch his wife, yet
afterwards, when he had learnt from the shepherds that the angel of the
Lord had come from heaven and said to them,[3] "Be not afraid: for
behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all
people, for there is born to you this day in the city of David a
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord;" and when the heavenly host had
joined with him in the chorus[4] "Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace among men of good will ;" and when he had seen just Simeon
embrace the infant and exclaim,[5] "Now lettest thou thy servant
depart, O Lord, according to thy word in peace: for mine eyes have seen
thy salvation;" and when he had seen Anna the prophetess, the Magi, the
Star, Herod, the angels; Helvidius, I say, would have us believe that
Joseph, though well acquainted with such surprising wonders,
dared to touch the temple of God, the abode of the Holy Ghost, the
mother of his Lord ? Mary at all events "kept all these sayings in her
heart." You cannot for shame say Joseph did not know of them, for Luke
tells us,[1] "His father and mother were marvelling at the things which
were spoken concerning Him." And yet you with marvellous effrontery
contend that the reading of the Greek manuscripts is corrupt, although
it is that which nearly all the Greek writers have left us in their
books, and not only so, but several of the Latin writers have taken the
words the same way. Nor need we now consider the variations in the
copies, since the whole record both of the Old and New Testament has
since that time been[2] translated into Latin, and we must believe that
the water of the fountain flows purer than that of the stream.
9. Helvidius will answer, "What you say, is m my
opinion mere trifling. Your arguments are so much waste of time, and
the discussion shows more subtlety than truth. Why could not Scripture
say, as it said of Thamar and Judah,[3] ' And he took his wife, and
knew her again no more'? Could not Matthew find words to express his
meaning ? ' He knew her not,' he says, ' until she brought forth a
son.' He did then, after her delivery, know her, whom he had refrained
from knowing until she was delivered."
10. If you are so contentious, your own thoughts
shall now prove your master. You must not allow any time to intervene
between delivery and intercourse. You must not say,[4] "If a woman
conceive seed and bear a man child, then she shall be unclean seven
days; as in the days of the separation of her sickness shall she be
unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be
circumcised. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying three
and thirty days. She shall touch no hallowed thing," and so forth. On
your showing, Joseph must at once approach, her, and be subject to
Jeremiah's[5] reproof, " They were as mad horses in respect of women:
every one neighed after his neighbour's wife." Otherwise, how can the
words stand good, "he knew her not, till she had brought forth a son,"
if he waits after the time of another purifying has expired, if his
lust must brook another long delay of forty days ? The mother must go
unpurged from her child-bed taint, and the wailing infant be attended
to by the midwives, while the husband clasps his exhausted wife. Thus
for-
339
sooth must their married life begin so that the Evangelist may not be
convicted of falsehood. But God forbid that we should think thus of the
Saviour's mother and of a just man. No midwife assisted at His birth;
no women's officiousness intervened. With her own hands she wrapped Him
in the swaddling clothes, herself both mother and midwife,[1] " and
laid Him," we are told, "in a manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn "; a statement which, on the one hand, refutes the
ravings of the apocryphal accounts, for Mary herself wrapped Him in the
swaddling clothes, and on the other makes the voluptuous notion of
Helvidius impossible, since there was no place suitable for married
intercourse in the inn.
11. An ample reply has now been given to what he
advanced respecting the words before they came together, and he knew
her not till she had brought forth a son. I must now proceed, if my
reply is to follow the order of his argument, to the third point. He
will have it that Mary bore other sons, and he quotes the passage,[2]
"And Joseph also went up to the city of David to enroll himself with
Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child. And it came to
pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be
delivered, and she brought forth her first-born son." From this he
endeavours to show that the term first-born is inapplicable except to a
person who has brothers, just as he is called only begotten who is the
only son of his parents.
12. Our position is this: Every only begotten son is
a first-born son, but not every first-born is an only begotten. By
first-born we understand not only one who is succeeded by others, but
one who has had no predecessor.[3] "Everything," says the Lord to
Aaron, "that openeth the womb of all flesh which they offer unto the
Lord, both of man and beast, shall be thine: nevertheless the first
born of man shall thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean
beasts shalt thou redeem." The word of God defines first-born as
everything that openeth the womb. Otherwise, if the title belongs to
such only as have younger brothers, the priests cannot claim the
firstlings until their successors have been begotten, lest, perchance,
in case there were no subsequent delivery it should prove to be the
first-born but not merely the only begotten.[4] "And those that are to
be redeemed of them from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to
thine estimation for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the
sanctuary (the same is twenty gerahs). But the firstling of an ox, or
the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not
redeem; they are holy." The word of God compels me to dedicate to God
everything that openeth the womb if it be the firstling of clean
beasts: if of unclean beasts, I must redeem it, and give the value to
the priest. I might reply and say, Why do you tie me down to the short
space of a month ? Why do you speak of the first-born, when I cannot
tell whether there are brothers to follow ? Wait until the second is
born. I owe nothing to the priest, unless the birth of a second should
make the one I previously had the first-born. Will not the very points
of the letters cry out against me and convict me of my folly, and
declare that first-born is a title of him who opens the womb, and is
not to be restricted to him who has brothers? And, then, to take the
case of John: we are agreed that he was an only begotten son: I want to
know if he was not also a first-born son, and whether he was not
absolutely amenable to the law. There can be no doubt in the matter. At
all events Scripture thus speaks of the Saviour,[1] "And when the days
of her purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they
brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord (as it is
written in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall
be called holy to the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice according to that
which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves, or two
young pigeons." If this law relates only to the first-born, and there
can be no first-born unless there are successors, no one ought to be
bound by the law of the first-born who cannot tell whether there will
be successors. But inasmuch as he who i has no younger brothers is
bound by the law of the first-born, we gather that he is called the
first-born who opens the womb and who has been preceded by none, not he
whose birth is followed by that of a younger brother. Moses writes in
Exodus,[2] "And it came to pass at midnight, that the Lord smote all
the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh
that sat on his throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in
the dungeon: And all the first-born of cattle." Tell me, were they who
then perished by the destroyer, only your first-born, or, something
more, did they include the only begotten ? If only they who have
brothers are called first-born, the only begotten were saved from
death. And if it be the fact that the only begotten were slain, it was
contrary to the sentence pronounced, for the only begotten to die as
well as the first-born. You must either release the only begotten from
the penalty, and in that case you become ridiculous: or, if you allow
that they were slain, we gain our point, though
340
we have not to thank you for it, that only begotten sons also are
called first-born.
13. The last proposition of Helvidius was this, and
it is what he wished to show when he treated of the first-born, that
brethren of the Lord are mentioned in the Gospels. For example,[1]
"Behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to
him." And elsewhere,[2] "After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and
his mother, and his brethren." And again,[3] "His brethren therefore
said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples
also may behold the works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything
in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these
things, manifest thyself to the world." And John adds,[4] "For even his
brethren did not believe on him." Mark also and Matthew,[5] "And coming
into his own country he taught them in their synagogues, insomuch that
they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and
mighty works ? Is not this the carpenter's son ? is not his mother
called Mary ? and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas
? And his sisters, are they not all with us ?" Luke also in the Acts of
the Apostles relates,[6] "These all with one accord continued
stedfastly in prayer, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and
with his brethren." Paul the Apostle also is at one with them, and
witnesses to their historical accuracy,[7] "And I went up by
revelation, but other of the apostles saw I none, save Peter and James
the Lord's brother." And again in another place,[8] "Have we no right
to eat and drink ? Have we no right to lead about wives even as the
rest of the Apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas ?" And
for fear any one should not allow the evidence of the Jews, since it
was they from whose mouth we hear the name of His brothers, but should
maintain that His countrymen were deceived by the same error respect of
the brothers into which they fell in their belief about the father,
Helvidius utters a sharp note of warning and cries, "The same names are
repeated by the Evangelists in another place, and the same persons are
there brethren of the Lord and sons of Mary." Matthew says,[9] "And
many women were there (doubtless at the Lord's cross) beholding from
afar, which had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses,
and the mother of the sons of Zebedee." Mark also,[1] "And there were
also women beholding from afar, among whom were both Mary Magdalene,
and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome"; and in
the same place shortly after, "And many other women which came up with
him unto Jerusalem." Luke too,[2] "Now there were Mary Magdalene, and
Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them."
14. My reason for repeating the same thing again and
again is to prevent him from raising a false issue and crying out that
I have withheld such passages as make for him, and that his view has
been torn to shreds not by evidence of Scripture, but by evasive
arguments. Observe, he says, James and Joses are sons of Mary, and the
same persons who were called brethren by the Jews. Observe, Mary is the
mother of James the less and of Joses. And James is called the less to
distinguish him from James the greater, who was the son of Zebedee, as
Mark elsewhere states,[3] "And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of
Joses beheld where he was laid. And when the sabbath was past, they
bought spices, that they might come and anoint him." And, as might be
expected, he says: "What a poor and impious view we take of Mary, if we
hold that when other women were concerned about the burial of Jesus,
she His mother was absent; or if we invent some kind of a second Mary;
and all the more because the Gospel of S. John testifies that she was
there present, when the Lord upon the cross commended her, as His
mother and now a widow, to the care of John. Or must we suppose that
the Evangelists were so far mistaken and so far mislead us as to call
Mary the mother of those who were known to the Jews as brethren of
Jesus ?"
15. What darkness, what raging madness rushing to
its own destruction ! You say that the mother of the Lord was present
at the cross, you say that she was entrusted to the disciple John on
account of her widowhood and solitary condition: as if upon your own
showing, she had not four sons, and numerous daughters, with whose
solace she might comfort herself ? You also apply to her the name of
widow which is not found in Scripture. And although you quote all
instances in the Gospels, the words of John alone displease you. You
say in passing that she was present at the cross, that you may not
appear to have omitted it on purpose, and yet not a word about the
women who were with her. I could pardon you if you were ignorant, but I
341
see you have a reason for your silence. Let me point out then what John
says,[1] "But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and
his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene." No
one doubts that there were two apostles called by the name James, James
the son of Zebedee, and James the son of Alphaeus. Do you intend the
comparatively unknown James the less, who is called in Scripture the
son of Mary, not however of Mary the mother of our Lord, to be an
apostle, or not ? If he is an apostle, he must be the son of Alphaeus
and a believer in Jesus, "For neither did his brethren believe in him."
If he is not an apostle, but a third James (who he can be I cannot
tell), how can he be regarded as the Lord's brother, and how, being a
third, can he be called less to distinguish him from greater, when
greater and less are used to denote the relations existing, not between
three, but between two ? Notice, moreover, that the Lord's brother is
an apostle, since Paul says,[2] "Then after three years I went up to
Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and tarried with him fifteen days. But other
of the Apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother." And in the
same Epistle,[3] "And when they perceived the grace that was given unto
me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars," etc.
And that you may not suppose this James to be the son of Zebedee, you
have only to read the Acts of the Apostles, and you will find that the
latter had already been slain by Herod. The only conclusion is that the
Mary who is described as the mother of James the less was the wife of
Alphaeus and sister of Mary the Lord's mother, the one who is called by
John the Evangelist "Mary of Clopas," whether after her father, or
kindred, or for some other reason. But if you think they are two
persons because elsewhere we read, "Mary the mother of James the less,"
and here, "Mary of Clopas," you have still to learn that it is
customary in Scripture for the same individual to bear different names.
Raguel, Moses' father-in-law, is also called Jethro. Gedeon,[4] without
any apparent reason for the change, all at once becomes Jerubbaal.
Ozias, king of Judah, has an alternative, Azarias. Mount Tabor is
called Itabyrium. Again Hermon is called by the Phenicians Sanior, and
by the Amorites Sanir. The same tract of country is known by three
names,[5] Negebh, Teman, and Darom in Ezekiel. Peter is also called
Simon and Cephas. Judas the zealot in another Gospel is called
Thaddaeus. And there are numerous other examples which the reader will
be able to collect for himself from every part of Scripture.
16. Now here we have the explanation of what I am
endeavouring to show, how it is that the sons of Mary, the sister of
our Lord's mother, who though not formerly believers afterwards did
believe, can be called brethren of the Lord. Possibly the case might be
that one of the brethren believed immediately while the others did not
believe until long after, and that one Mary was the mother of tames and
Joses, namely, "Mary of Clopas," who is the same as the wife of
Alphaeus, the other, the mother of James the less. In any case, if she
(the latter) had been the Lord's mother S. John would have allowed her
tile title, as everywhere else, and would not by calling her the mother
of other sons have given a wrong impression. But at this stage I do not
wish to argue for or against the supposition that Mary the wife of
Clopas and Mary the mother of James and Joses were different women,
provided it is clearly understood that Mary the mother of James and
Joses was not the same person as the Lord's mother. How then, says
Helvidius, do yon make out that they were called the Lord's brethren
who were not his brethren ? I will show how that is. In Holy Scripture
there are four kinds of brethren--by nature, race, kindred, love.
Instances of brethren by nature are Esau and Jacob, the twelve
patriarchs, Andrew and Peter, James and John. As to race, all Jews are
called brethren of one another, as in Deuteronomy,[1] "If thy brother,
an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee
six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from
thee." Anti in the same book,[2] "Thou shalt in anywise set him king
over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy
brethren shall thou set king over thee; thou mayest not put a foreigner
over thee, which is not thy brother." And again,[3] "Thou shalt not see
thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them:
thou shalt surely bring them again unto thy brother. And if thy brother
be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shall bring
it home to thine house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother
seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again." And the Apostle
Paul says,[4] " I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ
for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh: who are
Israelites." Moreover they are called brethren by kindred who are of
one family, that is <greek>patria</greek>,
342
which corresponds to the Latin paternitas, because from a single root a
numerous progeny proceeds. In Genesis[1] we read, "And Abram said unto
Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and
between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we are brethren." And again,
"So Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east: and
they separated each from his brother." Certainly Lot was not Abraham's
brother, but the son of Abraham's brother Aram. For Terah begat Abraham
and Nahor and Aram: and Aram begat Lot. Again we read,[2] "And Abram
was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram
took Sarai his wife. and Lot his brother's son." But if you still doubt
whether a nephew can be called a son, let me give you an instance.[3]
"And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth
his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen." And
after describing the night attack and the slaughter, he adds, "And he
brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot."
Let this suffice by way of proof of my assertion. But for fear you may
make some cavilling objection, and wriggle out of your difficulty like
a snake, I must bind you fast with the bonds of proof to stop
your hissing and complaining, for I know you would like to say you have
been overcome not so much by Scripture truth as by intricate arguments.
Jacob, the son of Isaac and Rebecca, when in fear of his brother's
treachery he had gone to Mesopotamia, drew nigh and rolled away the
stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the flocks of Laban, his
mother's brother.[4] "And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice,
and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and
that he was Rebekah's son." Here is an example of the rule already
referred to, by which a nephew is called a brother. And again,[5]
"Laban said unto Jacob. Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou
therefore serve me for nought ? Tell me what shall thy wages be." And
so, when, at the end of twenty years, without the knowledge of his
father-in-law and accompanied by his wives and sons he was returning to
his country, on Laban overtaking him in the mountain of Gilead and
failing to find the idols which Rachel hid among the baggage, Jacob
answered and said to Laban,[6] "What is my trespass ? What is my sin,
that thou hast so hotly pursued after me ? Whereas thou hast felt all
about my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? Set it
here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt
us two." Tell me who are those brothers of Jacob and Laban who were
present there ? Esau, Jacob's brother, was certainly not there, and
Laban, the son of Bethuel, had no brothers although he had a sister
Rebecca.
17. Innumerable instances of the same kind are to be
found in the sacred books. But, to be brief, I will return to the last
of the four classes of brethren, those, namely, who are brethren by
affection, and these again fall into two divisions, those of the
spiritual and those of the general relationship. I say spiritual
because all of us Christians are called brethren, as in the verse,[1]
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity." And in another psalm the Saviour says,[2] "I will declare
thy name unto my brethren." And elsewhere,[3] "Go unto my brethren and
say to them." I say also general, because we are all children of one
Father, there is a like bond of brotherhood between us all.[4] "Tell
these who hate you," says the prophet, "ye are our brethren." And the
Apostle writing to the Corinthians:[5] "If any man that is named
brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or
a drunkard, or an extortioner: with such a one no, not to eat." I now
ask to which class you consider the Lord's brethren in the Gospel must
be assigned. They are brethren by nature, you say. But Scripture does
not say so; it calls them neither sons of Mary, nor of Joseph. Shall we
say they are brethren by race ? But it is absurd to suppose that a few
Jews were called His brethren when all Jews of the time might upon this
principle have borne the title. Were they brethren by virtue of close
intimacy and the union of heart and mind ? If that were so, who were
more truly His brethren than the apostles who received His private
instruction and were called by Him His mother and His brethren ? Again,
if all men, as such, were His brethren, it would have been foolish to
deliver a special message, "Behold, thy brethren seek thee," for all
men alike were entitled to the name. The only alternative is to adopt
the previous explanation and understand them to be called brethren in
virtue of the bond of kindred, not of love and sympathy, nor by
prerogative of race, nor yet by nature. Just as Lot was called
Abraham's brother, and Jacob Laban's, just as the daughters of
Zelophehad received a lot among their brethren, just as Abraham himself
had to wife Sarah his sister, for he says,[6] "She is in-
343
deed my sister, on the father's side, not on the mother's," that is to
say, she was the daughter of his brother, not of his sister. Otherwise,
what are we to say of Abraham, a just man, taking to wife the daughter
of his own father ? Scripture, in relating the history of the men of
early times, does not outrage our ears by speaking of the enormity in
express terms, but prefers to leave it to be inferred by the reader:
and God afterwards gives to the prohibition the sanction of the law,
and threatens,[1] "He who takes his sister, born of his father, or of
his mother, and beholds her nakedness, hath commited abomination, he
shall be utterly destroyed. He hath uncovered his sister's nakedness,
he shall bear his sin."
18. There are things which, in your extreme
ignorance, you had never read, and therefore you neglected the whole
range of Scripture and employed your madness in outraging the Virgin,
like the man in the story who being unknown to everybody and finding
that he could devise no good deed by which to gain renown, burned the
temple of Diana: and when no one revealed the sacrilegious act, it is
said that he himself went up and down proclaiming that he was the man
who had applied the fire. The rulers of Ephesus were curious to know
what made him do this thing, whereupon he replied that if he could not
have fame for good deeds, all men should give him credit for bad
ones. Grecian history relates the incident. But you do worse. You have
set on fire the temple of the Lord's body, you have defiled the
sanctuary of the Holy Spirit from which you are determined to make a
team of four brethren and a heap of sisters come forth. In a word,
joining in the chorus of the Jews, you say,[2] "Is not this the
carpenter's son ? is not his mother called Mary ? and his brethren
James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? and his sisters, are they not
all with us ? The word all would not be used if there were not a crowd
of them." Pray tell me, who, before you appeared, was acquainted with
this blasphemy ? who thought the theory worth two-pence ? You have
gained your desire, and are become notorious by crime. For myself who
am your opponent, although we live in the[3] same city, I don't know,
as the saying is, whether you are white or black. I pass over faults of
diction which abound in every book you write. I say not a word about
your absurd introduction. Good heavens! I do not ask for eloquence,
since, having none yourself, you applied for a supply of it to your
brother Craterius. I do not ask for grace of style, I look for
purity of soul: for with Christians it is the greatest of solecisms and
of vices of style to introduce anything base either in word or action.
I am come to the conclusion of my argument. I will deal with you as
though I had as yet prevailed nothing; and you will find yourself on
the horns of a dilemma. It is clear that our Lord's brethren bore the
name in the same way that Joseph was called his father:[1] "I and thy
father sought thee sorrowing." It was His mother who said this, not the
Jews. The Evangelist himself relates that His father and His mother
were marvelling at the things which were spoken concerning Him, and
there are similar passages which we have already quoted in which Joseph
and Mary are called his parents. Seeing that you have been foolish
enough to persuade yourself that the Greek manuscripts are corrupt, you
will perhaps plead the diversity of readings. I therefore come to the
Gospel of John, and there it is plainly written,[2] "Philip findeth
Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the
law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
You will certainly find this in your manuscript. Now tell me, how is
Jesus the son of Joseph when it is clear that He was begotten of the
Holy Ghost ? Was Joseph His true father ? Dull as you are, you will not
venture to say that. Was he His reputed father ? If so, let the same
rule be applied to them when they are called brethren, that you apply
to Joseph when he is called father.
19. Now that I have cleared the rocks and shoals I
must spread sail and make all speed to reach his epilogue. Feeling
himself to be a smatterer, he there produces Tertullian as a witness
and quotes the words of Victorinus bishop of[3] Petavium. Of Tertullian
I say no more than that he did not belong to the Church. But as regards
Victorinus, I assert what has already been proved from the Gospel--that
he spoke of the brethren of the Lord not as being sons of Mary, but
brethren in the sense I have explained, that is to say, brethren in
point of kinship not by nature. We are, however, spending our strength
on trifles, and, leaving the fountain of truth, are following the tiny
streams of opinion. Might I not array against you the whole series of
ancient writers ? Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and many
other apostolic and eloquent men, who against Ebion, Theodotus of
Byzantium, and Valentinus, held these same views, and wrote volumes
replete with wisdom. If you had ever read what they wrote, you would be
a wiser man. But I think it better to reply
344
briefly to each point than to linger any longer and extend my book to
an undue length.
20. I now direct the attack against the passage in
which, wishing to show your cleverness, you institute a comparison
between virginity and marriage. I could not forbear smiling, and I
thought of the proverb, did you ever see a cared dance ? "Are virgins
better," you ask, "than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were married men
? Are not infants daily fashioned by the hands of God in the wombs of
their mothers ? And if so, are we bound to blush at the thought of Mary
having a husband after she was delivered ? If they find any disgrace in
this, they ought not consistently even to believe that God was born of
the Virgin by natural delivery. For according to them there is more
dishonour in a virgin giving birth to God by the organs of generation,
than in a virgin being joined to her own husband after she has been
delivered." Add, if you like, Helvidius, the other humiliations of
nature, the womb for nine months growing larger, the sickness, the
delivery, the blood, the swaddling-clothes. Picture to yourself the
infant in the enveloping membranes. Introduce into your picture the
hard manger, the wailing of the infant, the circumcision on the eighth
day, the time of purification, so that he may be proved to be unclean.
We do not blush, we are not put to silence. The greater the
humiliations He endured for me, the more I owe Him. And when you have
given every detail, you will be able to produce nothing more shameful
than the cross, which we confess, in which we believe, and by which we
triumph over our enemies.
21. But as we do not deny what is written, so we do
reject what is not written. We believe that God was born of the Virgin,
because we read it. That Mary was married after she brought forth, we
do not believe, because we do not read it. Nor do we say this to
condemn marriage, for virginity itself is the fruit of marriage; but
because when we are dealing with saints we must not judge rashly. If we
adopt possibility as the standard of judgment, we might maintain that
Joseph had several wives because Abraham had, and so had Jacob, and
that the Lord's brethren were the issue of those wives, an invention
which some hold with a rashness which springs from audacity not from
piety. You say that Mary did not continue a virgin: I claim still more,
that Joseph himself on account of Mary was a virgin, so that from a
virgin wedlock a virgin son was born. For if as a holy man he does not
come under the imputation of fornication, and it is nowhere written
that he had another wife, but was the guardian of Mary whom he was
supposed to have to wife rather than her husband, the conclusion is
that he who was thought worthy to be called father of the Lord,
remained a virgin.
22. And now that I am about to institute a
comparison between virginity and marriage, I beseech my readers not to
suppose that in praising virginity I have in the least disparaged
marriage, and separated the saints of the Old Testament from those of
the New, that is to say, those who had wives and those who altogether
refrained from the embraces of women: I rather think that in accordance
with the difference in time and circumstance one rule applied to the
former, another to us upon whom the ends of the world have come. So
long as that law remained,[1] "Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish
the earth "; and[2] "Cursed is the barren woman that beareth not seed
in Israel," they all married and were given in marriage, left father
and mother, and became one flesh. But once in tones of thunder the
words were heard,[3] "The time is shortened, that henceforth those that
have wives may be as though they had none ": cleaving to the Lord, we
are made one spirit with Him. And why?[4] Because "He that is unmarried
is careful for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord: but
he that is married is careful for the things of the world, how he may
please his wife. And there is a difference also between the wife and
the virgin. She that is unmarried is careful for the things of the
Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is
married is careful for the things of the world, how she may please her
husband." Why do you cavil ? Why do you resist ? The vessel of election
says this; he tells us that there is a difference between the wife and
the virgin. Observe what the happiness of that state must be in which
even the distinction of sex is lost. The virgin is no longer called a
woman.[5] "She that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord,
that she may be holy both in body and in spirit." A virgin is defined
as she that is holy in body and in spirit, for it is no good to have
virgin flesh if a woman be married in mind.
"But she that is married is careful for the things
of the world, how she may please her husband." Do you think there is no
difference between one who spends her time in prayer and fasting, and
one who must, at her husband's approach, make up her countenance, walk
with mincing gait, and feign a shew of endearment ? The virgin's aim is
to appear less comely; she will wrong herself
345
so as to hide her natural attractions. The married woman has the paint
laid on before her mirror, and, to the insult of her Maker, strives to
acquire something more than her natural beauty. Then come the prattling
of infants, the noisy household, children watching for her word and
waiting for her kiss, the reckoning up of expenses, the preparation to
meet the outlay. On one side you will see a company of cooks, girded
for the onslaught and attacking the meat: there you may hear the hum of
a multitude of weavers. Meanwhile a message is delivered that the
husband and his friends have arrived. The wife, like a swallow, flies
all over the house. "She has to see to everything. Is the sofa smooth ?
Is the pavement swept ? Are the flowers in the cups ? Is dinner ready
?" Tell me, pray, where amid all this is there room for the thought of
God ? Are these happy homes? Where there is the beating of drums, the
noise and clatter of pipe and lute, the clanging of cymbals, can any
fear of God be found ? The parasite is snubbed and feels proud of the
honour. Enter next the half-naked victims of the passions, a mark for
every lustful eye. The unhappy wife must either take pleasure in them,
and perish, or be displeased, and provoke her husband. Hence arises
discord, the seed-plot of divorce. Or suppose you find me a house where
these things are unknown, which is a rata avis indeed ! yet even there
the very management of the household, the education of the children,
the wants of the husband, the correction of the servants, cannot fail
to call away the mind from the thought of God.[1] "It had ceased to be
with Sarah after the manner of women": so the Scripture says, and
afterwards Abraham received the command,[2] "In all that Sarah saith
unto thee, hearken unto her voice." She who is not subject to the
anxiety and pain of child-bearing and having passed the change of life
has ceased to perform the functions of a woman, is freed from the curse
of God: nor is her desire to her husband, but on the contrary her
husband becomes subject to her, and the voice of the Lord commands him,
"In all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice." Thus they
begin to have time for prayer. For so long as the debt of marriage is
paid, earnest prayer is neglected.
23. I do not deny that holy women are found both
among widows and those who have husbands; but they are such as have
ceased to be wives, or such as, even in the close bond of marriage,
imitate virgin chastity. The Apostle, Christ speaking in him, briefly
bore witness to this when he said, [1] "She that is unmarried is
careful for the things of the Lord, how she may please the Lord: but
she that is married is careful for the things of the world, how she may
please her husband." He leaves us the free exercise of our reason in
the matter. He lays no necessity upon anyone nor leads anyone into a
snare: he only persuades to that which is proper when he wishes all men
to be as himself. He had not, it is true, a commandment from the Lord
respecting virginity, for that grace surpasses the unassisted power of
man, and it would have worn an air of immodesty to force men to fly in
the face of nature, and to say in other words, I want you to be what
the angels are. It is this angelic purity which secures to virginity
its highest reward, and the Apostle might have seemed to despise a
course of life which involves no guilt. Nevertheless in the immediate
context he adds,[2] "But I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained
mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I think therefore that this is good
by reason of the present distress, namely, that it is good for a man to
be as he is." What is meant by present distress ?[3] "Woe unto them
that are with child and to them that give suck in those days !" The
reason why the wood grows up is that it may be cut down. The field is
sown that it may be reaped. The world is already full, and the
population is too large for the soil. Every day we are being cut down
by war, snatched away by disease, swallowed up by shipwreck, although
we go to law with one another about the fences of our property. It is
only one addition to the general rule which is made by those who follow
the Lamb, and who have not defiled their garments, for they have
continued in their virgin state. Notice the meaning of defiling. I
shall not venture to explain it, for fear Helvidius may be abusive. I
agree with you, when you say, that some virgins are nothing but tavern
women; I say still more, that even adulteresses may be found among
them, and, you will no doubt be still more surprised to hear, that some
of the clergy are inn-keepers and some monks unchaste. Who does not at
once understand that a tavern woman cannot be a virgin, nor an
adulterer a monk, nor a clergyman a tavern-keeper ? Are we to blame
virginity if its counterfeit is at fault ? For my part, to pass over
other persons and come to the virgin, I maintain that she who is
engaged in huckstering, though for anything I know she may be a virgin
in body, is no longer one in spirit.
24. I have become rhetorical, and have dispotted
myself a little like a platform orator.
346
You compelled me, Helvidius; for, brightly as the Gospel shines at the
present day, you will have it that equal glory attaches to virginity
and to the marriage state. And because I think that, finding the truth
too strong for you, you will turn to disparaging my life and abusing my
character (it is the way of weak women to talk tittle-tattle in corners
when they have been put down by their masters), I shall anticipate you.
I assure you that I shall regard your railing as a high distinction,
since the same lips that assail me have disparaged Mary, and I, a
servant of the Lord, am favoured with the same barking eloquence as His
mother.
AGAINST JOVINIANUS
Book I.
Jovinianus, concerning whom we know little more than
is to be found in the two following books, had published at Rome a
Latin treatise containing all, or part of the opinions here
controverted, viz. (I) "That a virgin is no better as such than a wife
in the sight of God. (2) Abstinence is no better than a thankful
partaking of food. (3) A person baptized with the Spirit as well as
with water cannot sin. (4) All sins are equal. (5) There is but one
grade of punishment and one of reward in the future state." In addition
to this he held the birth of our Lord to have been by a "true
parturition," and was thus at issue with the orthodoxy of the time,
according to which the infant Jesus passed through the walls of the
womb as His Resurrection body afterwards did out of the tomb or through
the closed doors. Pammachius, Jerome's friend, brought Jovinian's book
under the notice of Siricius, bishop of Rome, and it was shortly
afterwards condemned in synods at that city and at Milan (about A.D.
390). He subsequently sent Jovinian's books to Jerome, who answered
them in the present treatise in the year 393. Nothing more is known of
Jovinian, but it has been conjectured from Jerome's remark in the
treatise against Vigilantius, where Jovinian is said to have "amidst
pheasants and pork rather belched out than breathed out his life," and
by a kind of transmigration to have transmitted his opinions into
Vigilantius, that he had died before 409, the date of that work.
The first book is wholly on the first proposition of
Jovinianus, that relating to marriage and virginity. The first three
chapters are introductory. The rest may be divided into three parts:
1 (ch. 4-13). An exposition, in Jerome's sense, of St.
Paul's teaching in I Cor. vii.
2 (ch. 14-39). A statement of the teaching which
Jerome derives from the various books of both the Old and the New
Testaments.
3. A denunciation of Jovinianus (c. 40), and the praises
of virginity and of jingle marriages derived from examples in the
heathen world.
The treatise gives a remarkable specimen of Jerome's
system of interpreting Scripture, and also of the methods by which
asceticism was introduced into the Church, and marriage brought into
disesteem.
1. Very few days have elapsed since the holy
brethren of Rome sent to me the treatises of a certain Jovinian with
the request that I would reply to the follies contained in them, and
would crush with evangelical and apostolic vigour the[1] Epicurus of
Christianity. I read but could not in the least comprehend them. I
began therefore to give them closer attention, and to thoroughly sift
not only words and sentences, but almost every single syllable; for I
wished first to ascertain his meaning, and then to approve, or refute
what he had said. But the style is so barbarous, and the language so
vile and such a heap of blunders, that I could neither understand what
he was talking about, nor by what arguments he was trying to prove his
points. At one moment he is all bombast, at another he grovels: from
time to time he lifts himself up, and then like a wounded snake finds
his own effort too much for him. Not satisfied with the language of
men, he attempts something loftier.
[1] "The mountains labour; a poor mouse is
born."
[2] "That he's gone mad ev'n mad Orestes
swears."
Moreover he involves everything in such inextricable
confusion that the saying of[3] Plautus might be applied to him :--"
This is what none but a Sibyl will ever read."
To understand him we must be prophets. We read
Apollo's[4] raving prophetesses. We remember, too, what[5] Virgil says
of senseless
347
noise.[1] Heraclitus, also, surnamed the Obscure, the philosophers find
hard to understand even with their utmost toil. But what are they
compared with our riddle-maker, whose books are much more difficult to
comprehend than to refute ? Although (we must confess) the task of
refuting them is no easy one. For how can you overcome a man when you
are quite in the dark as to his meaning ? But, not to be tedious to my
reader, the introduction to his second book, of which he has discharged
himself like a sot after a night's debauch, will show the character of
his eloquence, and through what bright flowers of rhetoric he takes his
stately course.
2. "I respond to your invitation, not that I may go
through life with a high reputation, but may live free from idle
rumour. I beseech the ground, the young shoots of our plantations, the
plants and trees of tenderness snatched from the whirlpool of vice, to
grant me audience and the support of many listeners. We know that the
Church through hope, faith, charity, is inaccessible and impregnable.
In it no one is immature: all are apt to learn: none can force a way
into it by violence, or deceive it by craft."
3. What, I ask, is the meaning of these portentous
words and of this grotesque description ? Would you not think he was in
a feverish dream, or that he was seized with madness and ought to be
put into the strait jacket which Hippocrates prescribed ? However often
I read him, even till my heart sinks within me, I am still in
uncertainty of his meaning.[2] Everything starts from, everything
depends upon, something else. It is impossible to make out any
connection; and, excepting the proofs from Scripture which he has not
dared to exchange for his own lovely flowers of rhetoric, his words
suit all matter equally well, because they suit no matter at all. This
circumstance led me shrewdly to suspect that his object in proclaiming
the excellence of marriage was only to disparage virginity. For when
the less is put upon a level with the greater, the lower profits by
comparison, but the higher suffers wrong. For ourselves, we do not
follow the views of [3] Marcion and Manichaeus, and disparage marriage;
nor, deceived by the error of[4] Tatian, the leader of the Encratites,
do we think all intercourse impure; he condemns and rejects not only
marriage but also food which God created for the use of man. We know
that in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver,
but also of wood and earthenware. And that upon the foundation, Christ,
which Paul the master-builder laid, some build gold, silver, precious
stones: others, on the contrary, hay, wood, straw. We are not ignorant
of the words,[1] " Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed
undefiled." We have read God's first command,[2] "Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth "; but while we honour marriage we
prefer virginity which is the offspring of marriage. Will silver cease
to be silver, if gold is more precious than silver ? Or is despite done
to tree and corn, if we prefer the fruit to root and foliage, or the
grain to stalk and ear ? Virginity is to marriage what fruit is to the
tree, or grain to the straw. Although the hundred-fold, the sixty-fold,
and the thirty-fold spring from one earth and from one sowing, yet
there is a great difference in respect of number. The thirty-fold has
reference to marriage. The very way the[3] fingers are combined--see
how they seem to embrace, tenderly kiss, and pledge their troth either
to other--is a picture of husband and wife. The sixty-fold applies to
widows, because they are placed in a position of difficulty and
distress. Hence the upper finger signifies their depression, and the
greater the difficulty in resisting the allurements of pleasure once
experienced, the greater the reward. Moreover (give good heed, my
reader), to denote a hundred, the right hand is used instead of the
left: a circle is made with the same fingers which on the left hand
represented widowhood, and thus the crown of virginity is expressed. In
saying this I have followed my own impatient spirit rather than the
course of the argument. For I had scarcely left harbour, and had barely
hoisted sail, when a swelling tide of words suddenly swept me into the
depths of the discussion. I must stay my course, and take in canvas for
a little while; nor will I indulge my sword, anxious as it is to strike
a blow for virginity. The farther back the catapult is drawn, the
greater the force of the missile. To linger is not to lose, if by
lingering victory is better assured. I will briefly set forth our
adversary's views, and will drag them out from
348
his books like snakes from the holes where they hide, and will separate
the venomous head from the writhing body. What is baneful shall be
discovered, that, when we have the power, it may be crushed.
He says that "virgins, widows, and married women,
who have been once passed through the layer of Christ, if they are on a
par in other respects, are of equal merit."
He endeavours to show that "they who with full
assurance of faith have been born again in baptism, cannot be
overthrown by the devil."
His third point is "that there is no difference
between abstinence from food, and its reception with thanksgiving."
The fourth and last is "that there is one reward in
the kingdom of heaven for all who have kept their baptismal vow."
4. This is the hissing of the old serpent; by
counsel such as this the dragon drove man from Paradise. For he
promised that if they would prefer fulness to fasting they should be
immortal, as though it were an impossibility for them to fall; and
while he promises they shall be as Gods, he drives them from Paradise,
with the result that they who, while naked and unhampered, and as
virgins unspotted enjoyed the fellowship of the Lord were cast down
into the vale of tears, and sewed skins together to clothe themselves
withal. But, not to detain the reader any longer, I will keep to the
division given above and taking his propositions one by one will rely
chiefly on the evidence of Scripture to refute them, for fear he may
chatter and complain that he was overcome by rhetorical skill rather
than by force of truth. If I succeed in this and with the aid of a
cloud of witnesses from both Testaments prove too strong for him, I
will then accept his challenge, and adduce illustrations from secular
literature. I will show that even among philosophers and distinguished
statesmen, the virtuous are wont to be preferred by all to the
voluptuous, that is to say men like[1] Pythagoras,[2] Plato and[3]
Aristides, to[4] Aristippus,[5] Epicurus and [1] Alcibiades. I entreat
virgins of both sexes and all such as are continent, the married also
and the twice married, to assist my efforts with their prayers.
Jovinian is the common enemy For he who maintains all to be of equal
merit, does no less injury to virginity in comparing it with marriage
than he does to marriage, when he allows it to be lawful, but to the
same extent as second and third marriages. But to digamists and
trigamists also he does wrong, for he places on a level with them
whoremongers and the most licentious persons as soon as they have
repented; but perhaps those who have been married twice or thrice ought
not to complain, for the same whoremonger if penitent is made equal in
the kingdom of heaven even to virgins. I will therefore explain more
clearly and in proper sequence the arguments he employs and the
illustrations he adduces respecting marriage, and will treat them in
the order in which he states them. And I beg the reader not to be
disturbed if he is compelled to read Jovinian's nauseating trash. He
will all the more gladly drink Christ's antidote after the devil's
poisonous concoction. Listen with patience, ye virgins; listen, I pray
you, to the voice of the most voluptuous of preachers; nay rather close
your ears, as you would to the Syren's fabled songs, and pass on. For a
little while endure the wrongs you suffer: think you are crucified with
Christ, and are listening to the blasphemies of the Pharisees.
5. First of all, he says, God declares that[2] "
therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." And lest we should say
that this is a quotation from the Old Testament, he asserts that it has
been[3] confirmed by the Lord in the Gospel--" What God hath joined
together, let not man put asunder ": and he immediately adds,[4] "Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." He next repeats the
names of Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah,
Lamech, Noah, and tells us that they all had wives and in accordance
with the will of God begot sons, as though there could be any table of
descent or any history of mankind without wives and children. "There,"
says he, "is Enoch, who walked with God and was carried up to heaven.
There is Noah, the only person who, except his wife, and his sons and
their wives, was saved at the deluge, although there must have been
many persons not of marriageable age, and therefore presumably virgins.
Again, after the deluge, when the human race started as it were anew,
men and women were paired together and a fresh blessing was pronounced
on procreation,
349
[1]"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." Moreover, free
permission was given to eat flesh,[2] "Every moving thing that liveth
shall be food for you; as the green herb have I given you all." He then
flies off to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of whom the first had three
wives, the second one, the third four, Leah, Rachel, Billah, and
Zilpah, and he declares that Abraham by his faith merited the blessing
which he received in begetting his son. Sarah, typifying the Church,
when it had ceased to be with her after the manner of women, exchanged
the curse of barrenness for the blessing of child-bearing. We are
informed that Rebekah went like a prophet to inquire of the Lord, and
was told,[3] "Two nations and two peoples are in thy womb." that Jacob
served for his wife, and that when Rachel, thinking it was in the power
of her husband to give her children, said,[4] "Give me children, or
else I die," he replied,[5] "Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld
from thee the fruit of the womb ?" so well aware was he that the fruit
of marriage cometh from the Lord and not from the husband. We next
learn that Joseph, a holy man of spotless chastity, and all the
patriarchs, had wives, and that God blessed them all alike through the
lips of Moses. Judah also and Thamar are brought upon the scene, and he
censures Onan, slain by the Lord, because he, grudging to raise up seed
to his brother, marred the marriage rite. He refers to Moses and the
leprosy of Miriam, who, because she chided her brother on account of
his wife, was stricken by the avenging hand of God. He praises Samson,
I may even say extravagantly panegyrizes the uxorious Nazarite. Deborah
also and Barak are mentioned, because, although they had not the
benefit of virginity, they were victorious over the iron chariots of
Sisera and Jabin. He brings forward Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite,
and extols her for arming herself with the[6] stake. He says there was
no difference between Jephthah and his virgin daughter, who was
sacrificed to the Lord: nay, of the two, he prefers the faith of the
father to that of the daughter who met death with grief and tears. He
then comes to Samuel, another Nazarite of the Lord, who from infancy
was brought up in the tabernacle and was clad in a linen ephod, or, as
the words are rendered, in listen vestments: he, too, we are told,
begot sons without a stain upon his priestly purity. He places Boaz and
his wife Ruth side by side in his repository, and traces the descent of
Jesse and David from them. He then points out how David himself, for
the price of two hundred foreskins and at the peril of his life, was
bedded with the king's daughter. What shall I say of Solomon, whom he
includes in the list of husbands, and represents as a type of the
Saviour, maintaining that of him it was written,[1] "Give the king thy
judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son "? And[2]
"To him shall be given of the gold of Sheba, and men shall pray for him
continually." Then all at once he makes a jump to Elijah and Elisha,
and tells us as a great secret that the spirit of Elijah rested on
Elisha. Why he mentioned this he does not say. It can hardly be that he
thinks Elijah and Elisha, like the rest, were married men. The next
step is to Hezekiah, upon whose praises he dwells, and yet (I wonder
why) forgets to mention that he said,[3] " Henceforth I will beget
children." He relates that Josiah, a righteous man, in whose time the
book of Deuteronomy was found in the temple, was instructed by Huldah,
wife of Shallum. Daniel also and the three youths are classed by him
with the married. Suddenly he betakes himself to the Gospel, and
adduces Zachariah and Elizabeth, Peter and his father-in-law, and the
rest of the Apostles. His inference is thus expressed: "If they idly
urge in defence of themselves the plea that the world in its early
stage needed to be replenished, let them listen to the words of
Paul,[4] ' I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear
children.' And[5] 'Marriage is honourable and the bed undefiled.'
And[6] ' A wife is bound for so long time as her husband liveth; but if
the husband be dead, she is free to be married to whom she will; only
in the Lord.' And[7] Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being
beguiled hath fallen into transgression: but she shall be saved through
the child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love and
sanctification with sobriety.' Surely we shall hear no more of the
famous Apostolic utterance,[8] 'And they who have wives as though they
had them not.' It can hardly be that you will say the reason why he
wished them to be married was that some widows had already turned back
after Satan: as though virgins never fell and their fall was not more
ruinous. All this makes it clear that in forbidding to marry, and to
eat food which God created for use, you have consciences seared as with
a hot iron, and are followers of the Manichaeans." Then comes much more
which it would be unprofitable to discuss. At last he dashes into
rhetoric and apostrophizes virginity thus: "I do you no wrong, Virgin:
you have chosen a life of chastity on account of the present distress:
you determined on
350
the course in order to be holy in body and spirit: be not proud: you
and your married sisters are members of the same Church."
6. I have perhaps explained his position at too
great a length, and become tedious to my reader; but I thought it best
to draw up in full array against myself all his efforts, and to muster
all the forces of the enemy with their squadrons and generals, lest
after an early victory there should spring up a series of other
engagements. I will not therefore do battle with single foes, nor will
I be satisfied with skirmishes in which I meet small detachments of my
opponents. The battle must be fought with the whole army of the enemy,
and the disorderly rabble, fighting more like brigands than soldiers,
must be repulsed by the skill and method of regular warfare. In the
front rank I will set the Apostle Paul, and, since he is the bravest of
generals, will arm him with his own weapons, that is to say, his own
statements. For the Corinthians asked many questions about this matter,
and the doctor of the Gentiles and master of the Church gave full
replies. What he decreed we may regard as the law of Christ speaking in
him. At the same time, when we begin to refute the several arguments, I
trust the reader will give me his attention even before the Apostle
speaks, and will not, in his eagerness to discuss the most weighty
points, neglect the premises, and rush at once to the conclusion.
7. Among other things the Corinthians asked in their
letter whether after embracing the faith of Christ they ought to be
unmarried, and for the sake of continence put away their wives, and
whether believing virgins were at liberty to marry. And again,
supposing that one of two Gentiles believed on Christ, whether the one
that believed should leave the one that believed not ? And in case it
were allowable to take wives, would the Apostle direct that only
Christian wives, or Gentiles also, should be taken ? Let us then
consider Paul's replies to these inquiries.[1] "Now concerning the
things whereof ye wrote: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
But, because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let
each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife
her due: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not
power over her own body, but the husband: And likewise also the husband
hath not power over his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the
other, except it be by consent for a season, that ye may give
yourselves unto prayer, and may be together again, that Satan tempt you
not because of your incontinency. But this I say by way of permission
not of commandment. Yet I would that all men were even as I myself.
Howbeit each man hath his own gift from God, one after this manner, and
another after that. But I say to the Unmarried and to widows, it is
good for them if they abide even as I. But if they have not continency,
let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn." Let us turn
back to the chief point of the evidence: "It is good," he says, "for a
man not to touch a woman." If it is good not to touch a woman, it is
bad to touch one: for there is no opposite to goodness but badness. But
if it be bad and the evil is pardoned, the reason for the concession is
to prevent worse evil. But surely a thing which is only allowed because
there may be something worse has only a slight degree of goodness. He
would never have added "let each man have his own wife," unless he had
previously used the words "but, because of fornications." Do away with
fornication, and he will not say "let each man have his own wife." Just
as though one were to lay it down: "It is good to feed on wheaten
bread, and to eat the finest wheat flour," and yet to prevent a person
pressed by hunger from devouring cow-dung, I may allow, him to eat
barley. Does it follow that the wheat will not have its peculiar
purity, because such an one prefers barley to excrement? That is
naturally good which does not admit of comparison with what is bad, and
is not eclipsed because something else is preferred. At the same time
we must notice the Apostle's prudence. He did not say, it is good not
to have a wife: but, it is good not to touch a woman: as though there
were danger even in the touch: as though he who touched her, would not
escape from her who "hunteth for the precious life," who causeth the
young man's understanding to fly away.[1] " Can a man take fire in his
bosom, and his clothes not be burned ? Or can one walk upon hot coals.
and his feet not be scorched?" As then he who touches fire is instantly
burned, so by the mere touch the peculiar nature of man and woman is
perceived, and the difference of sex is understood, Heathen fables
relate how[2] Mithras and[3] Ericthonius were begotten of the soil, in
stone or earth, by raging lust. Hence it was that our Joseph, because
the Egyptian woman wished to touch him, fled from her hands, and, as if
he had been bitten by a mad dog and feared the spreading poison,
351
threw away the cloak which she had touched. "But, because of
fornications let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have
her own husband." He did not say, because of fornication let each man
marry a wife: otherwise by this excuse he would have thrown the reins
to lust, and whenever a man's wife died, he would have to marry another
to prevent fornication, but "have his own wife." Let him he says have
and use his own wife, whom he had before he became a believer, and whom
it would have been good not to touch, and, when once he became a
follower of Christ, to know only as a sister, not as a wife unless
fornication should make it excusable to touch her. "The wife hath not
power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband
hath not power over his own body, but the wife." The whole question
here concerns those who are married men. Is it lawful for them to do
what our Lord forbade in the Gospel, and to put away their wives ?
Whence it is that the Apostle says, " It is good for a man not to touch
a woman." But inasmuch as he who is once married has no power to
abstain except by mutual consent, and may not reject an unoffending
partner, let the husband render unto the wife her due. He bound himself
voluntarily that he might be under compulsion to render it. "Defraud ye
not one the other, except it be by consent for a season, that ye may
give yourselves unto prayer." What, I pray you, is the quality of that
good thing which hinders prayer ? which does not allow the body of
Christ to be received ? So long as I do the husband's part, I fail in
continency. The same Apostle in another place commands us to pray
always. If we are to pray always, it follows that we must never be in
the bondage of wedlock, for as often as I render my wife her due, I
cannot pray. The Apostle Peter had experience of the bonds of marriage.
See how he fashions the Church, and what lesson he teaches
Christians:[1] "Ye husbands in like manner dwell with your wives
according to knowledge, giving honour unto the woman, as unto the
weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; to the
end that your prayers be not hindered." Observe that, as S. Paul
before, because in both cases the spirit is the same, so S. Peter now,
says that prayers are hindered by the performance of marriage duty.
When he says "likewise," he challenges the husbands to imitate their
wives, because he has already given them commandment:[2] " beholding
your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it
not be the outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing
jewels of gold, or of putting on apparel: but let it be the hidden man
of the heart, in the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit,
which is in the sight of God of great price." You see what kind of
wedlock he enjoins. Husbands and wives are to dwell together according
to knowledge, so that they may know what God wishes and desires, and
give honour to the weak vessel, woman. If we abstain from intercourse,
we give honour to our wives: if we do not abstain, it is clear that
insult is the opposite of honour. He also tells the wives to let their
husbands "see their chaste behaviour, and the hidden man of the heart,
in the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit." Words truly
worthy of an apostle, and of Christ's rock ! He lays down the law for
husbands and wives, condemns outward ornament, while he praises
continence, which is the ornament of the inner man, as seen in the
incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit. In effect he says
this: Since your outer man is corrupt, and you have ceased to possess
the blessing of incorruption characteristic of virgins, at least
imitate the incorruption of the spirit by subsequent abstinence, and
what you cannot show in the body exhibit in the mind. For these are the
riches, and these the ornaments of your union, which Christ seeks.
8. The words which follow, "that ye may give
yourselves unto prayer, and may be together again," might lead one to
suppose that the Apostle was expressing a wish and not making a
concession because of the danger of a greater fall. He therefore at
once adds, "lest Satan tempt you for your incontinency." It is a fine
permission which is conveyed in the words "be together again." What it
was that he blushed to call by its own name, and thought only better
than a temptation of Satan and the effect of incontinence, we take
trouble to discuss as if it were obscure, although he has explained his
meaning by saying, "this I say by way of permission, not by way of
command." And do we still hesitate to speak of marriage as a concession
to weakness, not a thing commanded, as though second and third
marriages were not allowed on the same ground, as though the doors of
the Church were not opened by repentance even to fornicators, and what
is more, to the incestuous ? Take the case of the man who outraged his
step-mother. Does not the Apostle, after delivering him, in his first
Epistle to the Corinthians, to Satan for the destruction of the flesh
that his spirit might be saved, in the second Epistle take the offender
back and strive to prevent a brother from being swallowed up by
overmuch grief. The Apostle's wish is one thing, his pardon another. If
a wish be ex-
352
pressed, it confers a right; if a thing is only called pardonable, we
are wrong in using it. If you wish to know the Apostle's real mind you
must take in what follows: "but I would that all men were as I am."
Happy is the man who is like Paul! Fortunate is he who attends to the
Apostle's command, not to his concession. This, says he, I wish, this I
desire that ye be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ, who was a
Virgin born of a Virgin, uncorrupt of her who was uncorrupt. We,
because we are men, cannot imitate our Lord's nativity; but we may at
least imitate His life. The former was the blessed prerogative of
divinity, the latter belongs to our human condition and is part of
human effort. I would that all men were like me, that while they are
like me, they may also become like Christ, to whom I am like. For[1]
"he that believeth in Christ ought himself also to walk even as He
walked."[2] " Howbeit each man hath his own gift from God, one after
this manner, and another after that." What I wish, he says, is clear.
But since in the Church there is a diversity of gifts, I acquiesce in
marriage, lest I should seem to condemn nature. At the same time
consider, that the gift of virginity is one, that of marriage, another.
For were the reward the same for the married and for virgins, he would
never after enjoining continence have said:[3] " Each man hath his own
gift from God, one after this manner, and another after that." Where
there is a distinction in one particular, there is a diversity also in
other points. I grant that even marriage is a gift of God, but between
gift and gift there is great diversity. In fact the Apostle himself
speaking of the same person who had repented of his incestuous conduct,
says:[3] " so that contrariwise ye should rather forgive him and
comfort him, and to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also." And that
we might not think a man's gift contemptible, he added,[4] "for what I
also have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, for your sakes have I
forgiven it, in the presence of Christ." There is diversity in the
gifts of Christ. Hence it is that by way of type Joseph has a coat of
many colours. And in the forty-fifth psalm we read,[5] " at thy right
hand doth Stand the queen in a vesture of gold wrought about with
divers colours." And the Apostle Peter says,[6] " as heirs together of
the manifold grace of God," where the more expressive Greek word
<greek>poikilhs</greek>, i.e., varied, is used.
9. Then come the words[7] "But I say to the
unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I.
But if they have not continency, let them marry: for it is better to
marry than to burn." Having conceded to married persons the enjoyment
of wedlock and pointed out his own wishes, he passes on to the
unmarried and to widows, sets before them his own practice for
imitation, and calls them happy if they so abide. "But if they have not
continency, let them marry," just as he said before "But because of
fornications," and "Lest Satan tempt you, because of your
incontinency." And he gives a reason for saying "If they have not
continency, let them marry," viz. "It is better to marry than to burn."
The reason why it is better to marry is that it is worse to burn. Let
burning lust be absent, and he will not say it is better to marry. The
word better always implies a comparison with something worse, not a
thing absolutely good and incapable of comparison. It is as though he
said, it is better to have one eye than neither, it is better to stand
on one foot and to support the rest of the body with a stick, than to
crawl with broken legs. What do you say, Apostle ? I do not believe you
when you say " Though I be rude in speech, yet am I not in knowledge."
As humility is the source of the sayings "For I am not worthy to be
called an Apostle," and "To me who am the least of the Apostles," and
"As to one born out of due time," so here also we have an utterance of
humility. You know the meaning of language, or you would not quote
Epimenides,[2] Menander, and[3] Aratus. When you are discussing
continence and virginity you say, "It is good for a man not to touch a
woman." And, "It is good for them if they abide even as I." And, "I
think that this is good by reason of the present distress." And, "That
it is good for a man so to be." When you come to marriage, you do not
say it is good to marry, because you cannot then add "than to burn;"
but you say, "It is better to marry than to burn." If marriage in
itself be good, do not compare it with fire, but simply say" It is good
to marry." I suspect the goodness of that thing which is forced into
the position of being only the lesser of two evils. What I want is not
a smaller evil, but a thing absolutely good.
10. So far the first section has been explained. Let
us now come to those which follow.[4] "But unto the married I give
charge, yea not I, but the Lord. That the wife depart not from her
husband (but and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or else be
reconciled to her husband): and that the husband leave not his wife.
But to the rest say I, not the Lord: If any brother hath an unbelieving
wife, and she is content to dwell
353
with him, let him not leave her," and so on to the words "As God hath
called each, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all the churches."
This passage has no bearing on our present controversy. For he ordains,
according to the mind of the Lord, that excepting the cause of
fornication, a wife must not be put away, and that a wife who has been
put away, may not, so long as her husband lives, be married to another,
or at all events that her duty is to be reconciled to her husband. But
in the case of those who are already married at the time of conversion,
that is to say, supposing one of the two were a believer, he enjoins
that the believer shall not put away the unbeliever. And after stating
his reason, viz., that the unbeliever who is unwilling to leave the
believer becomes thereby a candidate for the faith, he commands, on the
other hand, that if the unbeliever reject the faithful one on account
of the faith of Christ, the believer ought to depart, lest husband or
wife be preferred to Christ, in comparison with Whom we must hold even
life itself cheap. Yet at the present day many women despising the
Apostle's command, are joined to heathen husbands, and prostitute the
temples of Christ to idols. They do not understand that they are part
of His body though indeed they are His ribs. The Apostle is lenient to
the union of unbelievers, who having (believing) husbands, afterwards
come to believe in Christ. He does not extend his indulgence to those
women who, although Christians, have been married to heathen husbands.
To these he elsewhere says,[1] "Be not unequally yoked with
unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity ? or
what communion hath light with darkness ? And what concord hath Christ
with Belial ? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever ? And
what agreement hath a temple of God with idols ? For we are a temple of
the living God." Although I know that crowds of matrons will be furious
against me: although I know that just as they have shamelessly despised
the Lord, so they will rave at me who am but a flea and the least of
Christians: yet I will speak out what I think. I will say what the
Apostle has taught me, that they are not on the side of righteousness,
but of iniquity: not of light, but of darkness: that they do not belong
to Christ, but to Belial: that they are not temples of the living God,
but shrines and idols of the dead. And, if you wish to see more clearly
how utterly unlawful it is for a Christian woman to marry a Gentile,
consider what the same Apostle says,[2] "A wife is bound for so long
time as her husband liveth: but if the husband be dead, she is free to
be married to whom she will; only in the Lord," that is, to a
Christian. He who allows second and third marriages in the Lord,
forbids first marriages with a Gentile. Whence Abraham also makes his
servant swear upon his thigh, that is, on Christ, Who was to spring
from his seed, that he would not bring an alien-born as a wife for his
son Isaac. And Ezra checked an offence of this kind against God by
making his countrymen put away their wives. And the prophet Malachi
thus speaks,[1] "Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is
committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the
holiness of the Lord which he loveth, and hath married the daughter of
a strange god. The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this,[2] him
that teacheth and him that learneth, out of the tents of Jacob, and him
that offers an offering unto the Lord of hosts." I have said this that
they who compare marriage with virginity, may at least know that such
marriages as these are on a lower level than digamy and trigamy.
11. In the above discussion the Apostle has taught
that the believer ought not to depart from the unbeliever, but remain
in marriage as the faith found them, and that each man whether married
or single should continue as he was when baptized into Christ; and then
he suddenly introduces the metaphors of circumcision and
uncircumcision, of bond and free, and under those metaphors treats of
the married and unmarried.[3] "Was any man called being circumcised ?
let him not become uncircumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and
uncircumcision is nothing: but the keeping of the commandments of God.
Let each man abide in that calling wherein he was called. Wast thou
called being a bondservant ? Care not for it: but even if thou canst
become free, use it rather. For he that was called in the Lord being a
bondservant, is the Lord's freedman; likewise he that was called, being
free, is Christ's bondservant. Ye were bought with a price; become not
bondservants of men. Brethren, let each man, wherein he was called,
therein abide with God." Some, I suppose, will find fault with the
Apostle's way of reasoning. I would therefore ask first, What we are to
infer from his suddenly passing in a discussion concerning husbands and
wives to a comparison of Jew and Gentile, bond and free, and then
returning, when this point is settled, to the question about virgins,
and telling us "Concerning virgins I have no commandment from the Lord
"; what has a comparison of Jew and Gentile, bond and free, to do with
wedlock and virginity ? In the next
354
place, how are we to understand the words "Hath any been called in
uncircumcision, let him not be circumcised" ?[1] Can a man who has lost
his foreskin restore it again at his pleasure ? Then, in what sense are
we to explain "For he that was called in the Lord, being a bondservant,
is the Lord's freedman : likewise he that was called, being free, is
Christ's bondservant." Fourthly, how is it that he who commanded
servants to obey their masters according to the flesh, now says,
"Become net bondservants of men." Lastly, how are we to connect with
slavery, or with circumcision, his saying" Brethren, let each man,
wherein he was called, therein abide with God," which even contradicts
his previous opinion. We heard him say "Become not bondservants of
men." How can we then possibly abide in that vocation wherein we were
called, when many at the time they became believers had masters
according to the flesh, whose bondservants they are now forbidden to be
? Moreover, what has the argument about our abiding in the vocation
wherein we were called, to do with circumcision? for in another place
the same Apostle cries aloud "Behold i Paul tell you that, if ye be
circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing "? We must conclude,
therefore, that a higher meaning should be given to circumcision and
uncircumcision, bond and free, and that these words must be taken in
close connection with what has gone before. "Was anyone called being
circumcised ? let him not become uncircumcised." If, he says, at the
time you were called and became a believer in Christ, if I say, you
were called being circumcised from a wife, that is, unmarried, do not
marry a wife, that is, do not become uncircumcised, lest you lay upon
the freedom of circumcision and chastity the burden of marriage. Again,
if anyone was called in uncircumcision, let him not be circumcised. You
had a wife, he says, when you believed: do not think the faith of
Christ a reason for disagreement, because God called us in peace.[2] "
Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but the keeping
of the commandments of God." For neither celibacy nor marriage availeth
anything without works, since even faith, which is specially
characteristic of Christians, if it have not works, is said to be dead,
and vestal virgins and Juno's widows might upon these terms be numbered
with the saints. "Let each man in the vocation wherein he was called,
therein abide." Whether he had, or had not, a wife when he believed,
let him remain in that condition in which he was when called.
Accordingly he does not so strongly urge virgins to be married, as
forbid divorce. And as he debars those who have wives from putting them
away, so he cuts off from virgins the power of being married. "Thou
wast called being a slave, heed it not; but even if thou canst become
free, use it rather." Even if you have, he says, a wife, and are bound
to her, and pay her due, and have not power over your own body; or if,
to speak more clearly, you are the bondservant of your wife, be not sad
upon that account, nor sigh for the loss of your virginity. But even if
you can find some causes of discord, do not, for the sake of thoroughly
enjoying the liberty of chastity, seek your own welfare by destroying
another. Keep your wife awhile, and do not go too fast for her lagging
footsteps: wait till she follows. If you are patient, your spouse will
become a sister, "For he that was called in the Lord, being a
bondservant, is the Lord's freedman: likewise, he that was called being
free, is Christ's bondservant." He gives his reasons for not wishing
wives to be forsaken. He therefore says, I command that Gentiles who
believe on Christ do not abandon the married state in which they were
before embracing the faith: for he who had a wife when he became a
believer, is not so strictly devoted to the service of God as virgins
and unmarried persons. But, in a manner, he has more freedom, and the
reins of his bondage are relaxed; and, while he is the bondservant of a
wife, he is, so to speak, the freedman of the Lord. Moreover, he who
when called by the Lord had not a wife and was free from the bondage of
wedlock, he is truly Christ's bondservant. What happiness to be the
bondservant, not of a wife but of Christ, to serve not the flesh, but
the spirit ![1] " For he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit."
There was some fear that by saying "Wast thou called being a
bondservant ? Care not for it: but, even if thou canst become free, use
it rather," he might seem to have flouted continence, and to have given
us up to the slavery of marriage. He therefore makes a remark which
removes all cavil: "Ye were bought with a price, become not servants of
men." We have been redeemed with the most precious blood of Christ: the
Lamb was slain for us, and having been sprinkled with hyssop and the
warm drops of His blood, we have rejected poisonous pleasure. Why do we
at whose baptism Pharaoh died and all his host was drowned, again turn
back in our hearts to Egypt, and after the manna, angels' food, sigh
for the garlic and the onions and the cucumbers, and Pharaoh's meat?
355
12. Having discussed marriage and continency he at
length comes to virginity and says[1] "Now concerning virgins I have no
commandment of the Lord: but I give my judgement, as one that hath
obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I think therefore that this
is good by reason of the present distress, namely, that it is good for
a man to be as he is," Here our opponent goes utterly wild with
exultation: this is his strongest battering-ram with which he shakes
the wall of virginity. "See," says he, "the Apostle confesses that as
regards virgins he has no commandment of the Lord, and he who had with
authority laid down the law respecting husbands and wives, does not
dare to command what the Lord has not enjoined. And rightly too. For
what is enjoined is commanded, what is commanded must be done, and that
which must be done implies punishment if it be not done. For it is
useless to order a thing to be done and yet leave the individual free
to do it or not do it. If the Lord had commanded virginity He would
have seemed to condemn marriage, and to do away with the seed-plot of
mankind, of which virginity itself is a growth. If He had cut off the
root, how was He to expect fruit ? If the foundations were not first
laid, how was He to build the edifice, and put on the roof to cover all
! Excavators toil hard to remove mountains; the bowels of the earth are
pierced in the search for gold. And, when the tiny particles, first by
the blast of the furnace, then by the hand of the cunning workman have
been fashioned into an ornament, men do not call him blessed who has
separated the gold from the dross but him who wears the beautiful gold.
Do not marvel then if, placed as we are, amid temptations of the flesh
and incentives to vice, the angelic life be not exacted of us, but
merely recommended. If advice be given, a man is free to proffer
obedience; if there be a command, he is a servant bound to compliance.
"I have no commandment," he says, "of the Lord: but I give my
judgement, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful."
If you have no commandment of the Lord, how dare you give judgement
without orders ? The Apostle will reply: Do you wish me to give orders
where the Lord has offered a favour rather than laid down a law ? The
great Creator and Fashioner, knowing the weakness of the vessel which
he made, left virginity open to those whom He addressed; and shall I,
the teacher of the Gentiles, who have become all things to all men that
I might gain all, shall I lay upon the necks of weak believers from the
very first the burden of perpetual chastity ? Let them[1] begin with
short periods of release from the marriage bond, and give themselves
unto prayer, that when they have tasted the sweets of chastity they may
desire the perpetual possession of that wherewith they were temporarily
delighted. The Lord, when tempted by the Pharisees, and asked whether
according to the law of Moses it was permitted to put away a wife,
forbade the practice altogether. After weighing His words the disciples
said to Him:[2] " If the case of the man is so with his wife, it is not
expedient to marry. But He said unto them, all men cannot receive this
saying, but they to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs, which were
so born from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, which were
made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, which made themselves
eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive
it, let him receive it." The reason is plain why the Apostle said,
"concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord." Surely; because
the Lord had previously said "All men cannot receive the word, but they
to whom it is given," and "He that is able to receive it, let him
receive it."[3] The Master of the Christian race offers the reward,
invites candidates to the course, holds in His hand the prize of
virginity, points to the fountain of purity, and cries aloud[4]" If any
man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." "He that is able to
receive it, let him receive it." He does not say, you must drink, you
must run, willing or unwilling: but whoever is willing and able
to run and to drink, he shall conquer, he shall be satisfied. And
therefore Christ loves virgins more than others, because they willingly
give what was not commanded them. And it indicates greater grace to
offer what you are not bound to give, than to render what is exacted of
you. The apostles, contemplating the burden of a wife, exclaimed, "If
the case of the man is so with his wife, it is not expedient to marry."
Our Lord thought well of their view. You rightly think, said He, that
it is not expedient for a man who is hastening to the kingdom of heaven
to take a wife: but it is a hard matter, and all men do not receive the
saying, but they to whom it has been given. Some are eunuchs by nature,
others by the violence of men. Those eunuchs please Me who are such not
of necessity, but of free choice. Willingly do I take them into my
bosom who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's
sake, and in order to worship Me
356
have renounced the condition of their birth. We must now explain the
words, "Those who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of
heaven's sake." If they who have made themselves eunuchs have the
reward of the kingdom of heaven, it follows that they who have not made
themselves such cannot be placed with those who have. He who is able,
he says, to receive it, let him receive it. It is a mark of great faith
and of great virtue, to be the pure temple of God, to offer oneself a
whole burnt-offering, and, according to the same apostle, to be holy
both in body and in spirit. These are the eunuchs, who thinking
themselves dry trees because of their impotence, hear by the mouth
of[1] Isaiah that they have a place prepared in heaven for sons and
daughters. Their type is[2] Ebedmelech the eunuch in Jeremiah, and the
eunuch of Queen Candace in the[3] Acts of the Apostles, who on account
of the strength of his faith gained the name of a man. These are they
to whom Clement, who was the successor of the Apostle Peter, and of
whom the Apostle Paul makes mention, wrote letters, directing almost
the whole of his discourse to the subject of virgin purity. After them
there is a long series of apostolic men, martyrs, and men illustrious
no less for holiness than for eloquence, with whom we may very easily
become acquainted through their own writings.[4] "I think, therefore,"
he says, "that this is good for the present distress." What is this
distress which, in contempt of the marriage tie, longs for the liberty
of virginity ?[5] "Woe unto them that are with child and to them that
give suck in those days." We have not here a condemnation of harlots
and brothels, of whose damnation there is no doubt, but of the swelling
womb, and wailing infancy, the fruit as well as the work of marriage.
"For it is good for a man so to be." If it is good for a man so to be,
it is bad for a man not so to be.[6] "Art thou bound unto a wife ? Seek
not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife ? Seek not a wife." Each
one of us has his appointed bounds; let me have what is mine, and keep
your own. If thou art bound to a wife, give her not a bill of divorce.
If I am loosed from a wife, I will not seek a wife. As I do not
dissolve marriages once contracted: so you should not bind what is
loosed. And at the same time the meaning of the words must be taken
into account. He who has a wife is regarded as a debtor, and is said to
be uncircumcised, to be the servant of his wife, and like bad servants
to be bound. But he who has no wife, in the first place owes no man
anything, then is circumcised, thirdly is free, lastly, is loosed.
13. Let us run through the remaining points, for our
author is so voluminous that we cannot linger over every detail. "But
and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned." It is one thing not to sin,
another to do good. "And if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned." Not
that virgin who has once for all dedicated herself to the service of
God: for, should one of these marry, she will have damnation, because
she has made of no account her first faith. But, if our adversary
objects that this saying relates to widows, we reply that it applies
with still greater force to virgins, since marriage is forbidden even
to widows whose previous marriage had been lawful. For virgins who
marry after consecration are rather incestuous than adulterous. And,
for fear he should by saying, "And if a virgin marry, she hath not
sinned," again stimulate the unmarried to be married, he immediately
checks himself, and by introducing another consideration, invalidates
his previous concession. "Yet," says he, "such shall have tribulation
in the flesh." Who are they who shall have tribulation in the flesh ?
They to whom he had before indulgently said "But and if thou marry,
thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Yet
such shall have tribulation in the flesh." We in our inexperience
thought that marriage had at least the joys of the flesh. But if they
who are married have tribulation even in the flesh, which is imagined
to be the sole source of their pleasure, what else is there to marry
for, when in the spirit, and in the mind, and in the flesh itself there
is tribulation. "But I would spare you." Thus, he says, I allege
tribulation as a motive, as though there were not greater obligations
to refrain. "But this I say, brethren, the time is shortened, that
henceforth both those that have wives may be as though they had none."
I am by no means now discussing virgins, of whose happiness no one
entertains a doubt. I am coming to the married. The time is short, the
Lord is at hand. Even though we lived nine hundred years, as did men of
old, yet we ought to think that short which must one day have an end,
and cease to be. But, as things are, and it is not so much the joy as
the tribulation of marriage that is short, why do we take wives whom we
shall soon be compelled to lose ?[1] "And those that weep, and those
that rejoice, and those that buy, and those that use the world, as
though they wept not, as though they rejoiced not, as though they
bought not, as though they did not use the world: for the fashion of
this world passeth
357
away." If the world, which comprehends all things, passes away, yea if
the fashion and intercourse of the world vanishes like the clouds,
amongst the other works of the world, marriage too will vanish away.
For after the resurrection there will be no wedlock. But if death be
the end of marriage, why do we not voluntarily embrace the inevitable ?
And why do we not, encouraged by the hope of the reward, offer to God
that which must be wrung from us against our will. "He that is
unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord how he may please the
Lord: but he that is married is careful for the things of the world how
he may please his wife, and is[1] divided." Let us look at the
difference between the cares of the virgin, and those of the married
man. The virgin longs to please the Lord, the husband to please his
wife, and that he may please her be is careful for the things of the
world, which will of course pass away with the world. "And he is
divided," that is to say, is distracted with manifold cares and
miseries. This is not the place to describe the difficulties of
marriage, and to revel in rhetorical commonplaces. I think I delivered
myself fully as regards this point in my argument against[2] Helvidius,
and in the book which I addressed to[3] Eustochium. At all events[4]
Tertullian while still a young man, gave himself full play with this
subject. And my teacher,[5] Gregory of Nazianzus, discussed virginity
and marriage in some Greek verses. I now briefly beg my reader to note
that in the Latin manuscripts we have the reading "there is a
difference also between the virgin and the wife." The words, it is
true, have a meaning of their own, and have by me, as well as by
others, been so explained as showing the bearing of the passage. Yet
they lack apostolic authority, since the Apostle's words are as we have
translated them--" He is careful for the things of the world, how he
may please his wife,[6] and he is divided." Having laid down this, he
passes to the virgins and the continent, and says "The woman that is
unmarried and a virgin thinks of the things of the Lord, that she may
be holy in body and in spirit." Not every unmarried woman is also a
virgin. But every virgin is of course unmarried. It may be, that regard
for elegance of expression led him to repeat the same idea by means of
another word and speak of "a woman unmarried and a virgin"; or at least
he may have wished to give to "unmarried" the definite meaning of
"virgin," so that we might not suppose him to include harlots, united
to no one by the fixed bonds of wedlock, among the "unmarried." Of
what, then, does she that is unmarried and a virgin think ? "The things
of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit."
Supposing there were nothing else, and that no greater reward followed
virginity, this would be motive enough for her choice, to think of the
things of the Lord. But he immediately points out the contents of her
thought--that she may be holy both in body and spirit. For there are
virgins in the flesh, not in the spirit, whose body is intact, their
soul corrupt. But that virgin is a sacrifice to Christ, whose mind has
not been defiled by thought, nor her flesh by lust. On the other hand,
she who is married thinks of the things of the world, how she may
please her husband. Just as the man who has a wife is anxious for the
things of the world, how he may please his wife, so the married woman
thinks of the things of the world, how she may please her husband. But
we are not of this world, which lieth in wickedness, the fashion of
which passeth away, and concerning which the Lord said to the
Apostles,[1] "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own."
And lest perchance someone might suppose that he was laying the heavy
burden of chastity on unwilling shoulders, he at once adds his reasons
for persuading to it, and says:[2] "And this I say for your profit; not
that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is seemly, and
that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." The Latin words
do not convey the meaning of the Greek. What words shall we use to
render <greek>Pros</greek> <greek>to</greek>
<greek>euskhmon</greek> <greek>kai</greek>
<greek>euprosedron</greek> <greek>tr</greek>
K<greek>uriw</greek>
<greek>aperispastws</greek>The difficulty of translation
accounts for the fact that the clause is completely wanting in Latin
manuscripts. Let us, however, use the passage as we have translated it.
The Apostle does not lay a snare upon us, nor does he compel us to be
what we do not wish to be; but he gives his advice as to what is fair
and seemly, he would have us attend upon the Lord and ever be anxious
about that service, and await the Lord's will, so that like active and
well-armed soldiers we may obey orders, and may do so without
distraction, which, according to[3] Ecclesiastes, is given to the men
of this world that they may be exercised thereby. But if anyone
considers that his virgin, that is, his flesh, is wanton and boiling
with lust, and cannot be
358
bridled, and he must do one of two things, either take a wife or fall,
let him do what he will, he does not sin if he marry. Let him do, he
says, what he will, not what he ought. He does not sin if he marry a
wife; yet, he does not well if he marry :[1] "But he that standeth
stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power as touching
his own will, and hath determined this in his own heart, to keep his
own virgin, shall do well. So then both he that giveth his own virgin
in marriage doeth well; and he that giveth her not in marriage shall do
better." With marked propriety he had previously said "He who marries a
wife does not sin": here he tells us "He that keepeth his own virgin
doeth well." But it is one thing not to sin, another to do well.[2] "
Depart from evil," he says, "and do good." The former we forsake, the
latter we follow. In this last lies perfection. But whereas he says
"and he that giveth his virgin in marriage doeth well," it might be
supposed that our remark does not hold good; he therefore forthwith
detracts from this seeming good and puts it in the shade by comparing
it with another, and saying, "and he that giveth her not in marriage
shall do better." If he had not intended to draw the inference of doing
better, he would never have previously referred to doing well. But
where there is something good and something better, the reward is not
in both cases the same, and where the reward is not one and the same,
there of course the gifts are different. The difference, then, between
marriage and virginity is as great as that between not sinning and
doing well; nay rather, to speak less harshly, as great as between good
and better.
14. He has ended his discussion of wedlock and
virginity, and has carefully steered between the two precepts without
turning to the right hand or to the left. He has followed the royal
road and fulfilled the command[3] not to be righteous over much. Now
again he compares monogamy with digamy, and as he had subordinated
marriage to virginity, so he makes second marriages inferior to first,
and says,[4] "A wife is bound for so long time as her husband liveth;
but if the husband be dead, she is free to be married to whom she will;
only in the Lord. But she is happier if she abide as she is, after my
judgment: and I think that I also have the Spirit of God." He allows
second marriages, but to such persons as wish for them and are not able
to contain; lest,[3] having "waxed wanton against Christ," they desire
to marry, "having condemnation, because they have rejected their first
faith;" and he makes the concession because many had already turned
aside after Satan. [1]" But," says he, "they will be happier if they
abide as they are," and he immediately adds the weight of Apostolic
authority, "after my judgement." And that an Apostle's authority might
not, like that of an ordinary man, be without weight, he added, "and I
think that I also have the Spirit of God." When he incites to
continence, it is not by the judgement or spirit of man, but by the
judgement and Spirit of God; when, however, he grants the indulgence of
marriage, he does not mention the Spirit of God, but weighs his
judgement with wisdom, and adapts the severity of the strain to the
weakness of the individual. In this sense we must take the whole of the
following passage:[2] "For the woman that hath a husband is bound by
law to the husband while he liveth;but if the husband die, she is
discharged from the law of the husband. So then if, while the husband
liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall be called an
adulteress: but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so that
she is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man." And
similarly the words to Timothy,[3] " I desire therefore that the
younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, give none
occasion to the adversary for reviling: for already some are turned
aside after Satan," and so on. For as on account of the danger of
fornication he allows virgins to marry, and makes that excusable which
in itself is not desirable, so to avoid this same fornication, he
allows second marriages to widows. For it is better to know a single
husband, though he be a second or third, than to have many paramours:
that is, it is more tolerable for a woman to prostitute herself to one
man than to many. At all events this is so if the Samaritan woman in
John's Gospel who said she had her sixth husband was reproved by the
Lord because he was not her husband. For where there are more husbands
than one the proper idea of a husband, who is a single person, is
destroyed. At the beginning one rib was turned into one wife. "And they
two, " he says, "shall be one flesh": not three, or four; otherwise,
how can they be any longer two, if they are several. Lamech, a man of
blood and a murderer, was the first who divided one flesh between two
wives. Fratricide and digamy were abolished by the same
punishment--that of the deluge. The one was avenged seven times, the
other seventy times seven. The guilt is as widely different as are the
numbers. What the holiness of second marriage is, appears from
this--that
359
a person twice married[1] cannot be enrolled in the ranks of the
clergy, and so the Apostle tells Timothy,[2] "Let none be enrolled as a
widow under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man." The
whole command concerns those widows who are supported on the alms of
the Church. The age is therefore limited, so that those only may
receive the food of the poor who can no longer work. And at the same
time, consider that she who has had two husbands, even though she be a
widow, decrepit, and in want, is not a worthy recipient of the Church's
funds. But if she be deprived of the bread of charity, how much more is
she deprived of that bread which cometh down from heaven, and of which
if a man eat unworthily, he shall be guilty of outrage offered to the
body and the blood of Christ ?
15. The passages, however, which I have adduced in
support of my position and in which it is permitted to widows, if
they so desire, to marry again, are interpreted by some concerning
those widows who had lost their husbands and were found in that
condition when they became Christians. For, supposing a person baptized
and her husband dead, it would not be consistent if the Apostle were to
bid her marry another, when he enjoins even those who have wives to be
as though they had them not. And this is why the number of wives which
a man may take is not defined, because when Christian baptism has been
received, even though a third or a fourth wife has been taken, she is
reckoned as the first. Otherwise, if, after baptism and after the death
of a first husband, a second is taken why should not a sixth after the
death of the second, third, fourth, and fifth, and so on? For it is
possible, that through some strange misfortune, or by the judgement of
God cutting short repeated marriages, a young woman may have several
husbands, while an old woman may be left a widow by her first husband
in extreme age. The first Adam was married once: the second was
unmarried. Let the supporters of second marriages shew us as their
leader a third Adam who was twice married. But granted that Paul
allowed second marriages: upon the same grounds it follows that he
allows even third and fourth marriages, or a woman may marry as often
as her husband dies. The Apostle was forced to choose many things which
he did not like. He circumcised Timothy, and shaved his own head,
practised going barefoot, let his hair grow long, and cut it at
Cenchrea. And he had certainly chastised the Galatians, and blamed
Peter because for the sake of Jewish observances he separated himself
from the Gentiles. As then in other points connected with the
discipline of the Church he was a Jew to Jews, a Gentile to Gentiles,
and was made all things to all men, that he might gain all: so too he
allowed second marriages to incontinent persons, and did not limit the
number of marriages, in order that women, although they saw themselves
permitted to take a second husband, in the same way as a third or a
fourth was allowed, might blush to take a second, lest they should be
compared to those who were three or four times married. If more than
one husband be allowed, it makes no difference whether he be a second
or a third, because there is no longer a question of single
marriage.[1] "All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient."
I do not condemn second, nor third, nor, pardon the expression, eighth
marriages: I will go still further and say that I welcome even a
penitent whoremonger. Things that are equally lawful must be
weighed in an even balance.
16. But he takes us to the Old Testament, and
beginning with Adam goes on to Zacharias and Elizabeth. He next
confronts us with Peter and the rest of the Apostles. We are therefore
bound to traverse the same course of argument and show that chastity
was always preferred to the condition of marriage. And as regards Adam
and Eve we must maintain that before the fall they were virgins in
Paradise: but after they sinned, and were cast out of Paradise, they
were immediately married. Then we have the passage,[2] "For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife,
and the twain shall become one flesh," in explanation of which the
Apostle straightway adds,[3] "This mystery is great, but I speak in
regard of Christ, and of the Church." Christ in the flesh is a virgin,
in the spirit he is once married. For he has one Church, concerning
which the same Apostle says,[4] "Husbands, love your wives, even as
Christ also loved the Church." If Christ loves the Church holily,
chastely, and without spot, let husbands also love their wives in
chastity. And let everyone know how to possess his vessel in
sanctification and honour, not in the lust of concupiscence, as the
Gentiles who know not God :[5] "For God called us not for uncleanness,
but in sanctification: seeing that ye have put off the old man with his
doings, and have
360
put on the new man, which is being renewed unto knowledge after the
image of him that created him: where there cannot be male and female,
Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncumcision, barbarian, Scythian,
bondman, free man: but Christ is all, and in all." The link of marriage
is not found in the image of the Creator. When difference of sex is
done away, and we are putting off the old man, and putting on the new,
then we are being born again into Christ a virgin, who was both born of
a virgin, and is born again through[1] virginity. And whereas he says
"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth," it was necessary
first to plant the wood and to let it grow, so that there might be an
after-growth for cutting down. And at the same time we must bear in
mind the meaning of the phrase, "replenish the earth." Marriage
replenishes the earth, virginity fills Paradise. This too we must
observe, at least if we would faithfully follow the Hebrew, that while
Scripture on the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth days relates
that, having finished the works of each, "God saw that it was good," on
the second day it omitted this altogether, leaving us to understand
that two is not a good number because it destroys unity, and prefigures
the marriage compact. Hence it was that all the animals which Noah took
into the ark by pairs were unclean. Odd numbers denote cleanness. And
yet by the double number is represented another mystery: that not even
in beasts and unclean birds is second marriage approved. For unclean
animals went in two and two, and clean ones by sevens, so that Noah
after the flood might be able to immediately offer to God sacrifices
from the latter.
17. But if Enoch was translated, and Noah was
preserved at the deluge, I do not think that Enoch was translated
because he had a wife, but because he was[2] the first to call upon God
and to believe in the Creator; and the Apostle Paul fully instructs us
concerning him in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Noah, moreover, who was
preserved as a kind of second root for the human race, must of course
be preserved together with his wife and sons, although in this there is
a Scripture mystery. The ark,[3] according to the Apostle Peter, was a
type of the Church, in which eight souls were saved. When Noah entered
into it, both he and his sons were separated from their wives; but when
he landed from it, they united in pairs, and what had been separated in
the ark, that is, in the Church, was joined together in the intercourse
of the world. And at the same time if the ark had many compartments and
little chambers, and was made with second and third stories, and was
filled with different beasts, and was furnished with dwellings, great
or small, according to the kind of animal, I think all this diversity
in the compartments was a figure of the manifold character of the
Church.
18. He raises the objection that when God gave his
second blessing, permission was granted to eat flesh, which had not in
the first benediction been allowed. He should know that just as divorce
according to the Saviour's word was not permitted from the beginning,
but on account of the hardness of our heart was a concession of Moses
to the human race, so too the eating of flesh was unknown until the
deluge. But after the deluge, like the quails given in the desert to
the murmuring people, the poison of flesh-meat was offered to our
teeth. The Apostle writing to the Ephesians[1] teaches that God had
purposed in the fulness of time to sum up and renew in Christ Jesus all
things which are in heaven and in earth. Whence also the Saviour
himself in the Revelation of John says,[2] "I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the ending." At the beginning of the human race we
neither ate flesh, nor gave bills of divorce, nor suffered circumcision
for a sign. Thus we reached the deluge. But after the deluge, together
with the giving of the law which no one could fulfil, flesh was given
for food, and divorce was allowed to hard-hearted men, and the knife of
circumcision was applied, as though the hand of God had fashioned us
with something superfluous. But once Christ has come in the end of
time, and Omega passed into Alpha and turned the end into the
beginning, we are no longer allowed divorce, nor are we circumcised,
nor do we eat flesh, for the Apostle says,[3] "It is good not to eat
flesh, nor to drink wine." For wine as well as flesh was consecrated
after the deluge.
19. What shall I say of Abraham who had three wives,
as Jovinianus says, and received circumcision as a sign of his faith ?
If we follow him in the number of his wives, let us also follow him in
circumcision. We must not partly follow, partly reject him. Isaac,
moreover, the husband of one wife, Rebecca, prefigures the Church of
Christ, and reproves the wantonness of second marriage. And if Jacob
had two pairs of wives and concubines, and our opponent will not admit
that blear-eyed Leah, ugly and prolific, was a type of the synagogue,
but that Rachel, beautiful and long barren, indicated the mystery of
the Church, let me remind him that when Jacob did this
361
thing he was among the Assyrians, and in Mesopotamia in bondage to a
hard master. But when he wished to enter the holy land, he raised on
Mount Galeed[1] the heap of witness, in token that the lord of
Mesopotamia had failed to find anything among his baggage, and there
swore that he would never return to the place of his bondage; and
when,[2] after wrestling with the angel at the brook Jabbok, he began
to limp, because the great muscle of his thigh was withered, he at once
gained the name of Israel.[3] Then the wife whom he once loved, and for
whom he had served, was slain by the son of sorrow near Bethlehem which
was destined to be the birthplace of our Lord, the herald of virginity:
and the intimacies of Mesopotamia died in the land of the Gospel.
20. But I wonder why he set[4] Judah and Tamar
before us for an example, unless perchance even harlots give him
pleasure; or[5] Onan who was slain because he grudged his brother seed.
Does he imagine that we approve of any sexual intercourse except for
the procreation of children? As regards Moses, it is clear that he
would have been in peril at the inn, if[6] Sephora which is by
interpretation a bird, had not circumcised her son, and cut off the
foreskin of marriage with the knife which prefigured the Gospel. This
is that Moses who when he saw a great vision and heard an angel, or the
Lord speaking in the bush,[7] could not by any means approach to him
without first loosing the latchet of his shoe, that is, putting off the
bonds of marriage. And we need not be surprised at this in the case of
one who was a prophet, lawgiver, and the friend of God, seeing that all
the people when about to draw nigh to Mount Sinai, and to hear the
voice speaking to them, were commanded to sanctify themselves in three
days, I and keep themselves from their wives. I am out of order in
violating historical sequence, but I may point out that the same thing
was said by[8] Ahimelech the priest to David when he fled to Nob: "If
only the young men have kept themselves from women." And David
answered," of a truth about these three days." For the shew-bread, like
the body of Christ, might not be eaten by those who rose from the
marriage bed. And in passing we ought to consider the words "if only
the young men have kept themselves from women." The truth is that, in
view of the purity of the body of Christ, all sexual intercourse is
unclean. In the law also it is enjoined that the[9] high priest must
not marry any but a virgin, nor must he take to wife a widow. If a
virgin and a widow are on the same level, how is it that one is taken,
the other rejected ?[1] And the widow of a priest is bidden abide in
the house of her father, and not to contract a second marriage.[2] If
the sister of a priest dies in virginity, just as the priest is
commanded to go to the funeral of his father and mother, so must he go
to hers. But if she be married, she is despised as though she belonged
not to him. He who has[3] married a wife, and he who has planted a
vineyard, an image of the propagation of children, is forbidden to go
to the battle. For he who is the slave of his wife cannot be the Lord's
soldier. And the layer in the tabernacle was cast from the mirrors of
the women who[4] fasted, signifying the bodies of pure virgins: And
within,[5] in the sanctuary, both cherubim, and mercy-seat, and the ark
of the covenant, and the table of shew-bread, and the candle-stick, and
the censer, were made of the purest gold. For silver might not be
brought into the holy of holies.
21. I must not linger over Moses when my purpose is
at full speed to lightly touch on each topic and to sketch the outline
of a proper knowledge of my subject. I will pass to Joshua the son of
Nun, who was previously called Ause, or better, as in the Hebrew, Osee,
that is, Saviour. For he,[6] according to the epistle of Jude, saved
the people of Israel and led them forth out of Egypt, and brought them
into the land of promise. As soon as this Joshua[7] reached the Jordan,
the waters of marriage, which had ever flowed in the land, dried up and
stood in one heap; and the whole people, barefooted and on dry ground,
crossed over, and came to Gilgal, and there was a second time
circumcised. If we take this literally, it cannot possibly stand. For
if we had two foreskins, or if another could grow after the first was
cut off, there would be room for speaking of a second circumcision. But
the meaning is that Joshua circumcised the people who had crossed the
desert, with the Gospel knife, and he circumcised them with a stone
362
knife, that what in the case of Moses' son was prefigured in a few
might under Joshua be fulfilled in all. Moreover, the very foreskins
were heaped together and buried, and covered with earth, and the fact
that the reproach of Egypt was taken away, and the name of the place,
Gilgal, which is by interpretation[1] revelation show that while the
people wandered in the desert uncircumcised their eyes were blinded Let
us see what follows. After this Gospel circumcision and the
consecration of twelve stones at the place of revelation, the Passover
was immediately celebrated, a lamb was slain for them, and they ate the
food of the Holy Land. Joshua went forth, and was met by the Prince of
the host, sword in hand, that is either to shew that he was ready to
fight for the circumcised people, or to sever the tie of marriage. And
in the same way that Moses was commanded, so was he:[2] " loose thy
shoe, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." For if the
armed host of the Lord was represented by the trumpets of the priests,
we may see in Jericho a type of the overthrow of the world by the
preaching of the Gospel. And to pass over endless details (for it is
not my purpose now to unfold all the mysteries of the Old
Testament),[3] five kings who previously reigned in the land of
promise, and opposed the Gospel army, were overcome in battle with
Joshua. I think it is clearly to be understood that before the Lord led
his people from Egypt and circumcised them, sight, smell, taste,
hearing, and touch had the dominion, and that to these, as to five
princes, everything was subject. And when they[4] took refuge in the
cave of the body and in a place of darkness, Jesus entered the body
itself and slew them, that the source of their power might be the
instrument of their death.
22. But it is now time for us to raise the standard
of Joshua's chastity. It is written that Moses had a wife. Now Moses is
interpreted both by our Lord and by the Apostle to mean the law:[5]
"They have Moses and the prophets." And[6] " Death reigned from Adam
until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of
Adam's transgression." And no one doubts that in both passages Moses
signifies the law. We read that Moses, that is the law, had a wife:
shew me then in the same way that Joshua the son of Nun had either wife
or children, and if you can do so, I will confess that I am beaten. He
certainly received the fairest spot in the division of the land of
Judah, and died, not in the twenties, which are ever unlucky in
Scripture--by them are reckoned the years of[1] Jacob's service,[2] the
price of Joseph, and[3] sundry presents which Esau who was fond of them
received-but in the[4] tens, whose praises we have often sung; and he
was buried in[5] Thamnath Sore, that is, most perfect sovereignty, or
among those of a new covering, to signify the crowds of virgins,
covered by the Saviour's aid on Mount Ephraim, that is, the fruitful
mountain; on the north of the Mountain of Gaash, which is, being
interpreted, disturbance: for[6] " Mount Sion is on the sides of the
north, the city of the Great King," is ever exposed to hatred, and in
every trial says[7] "But my feet had well nigh slipped." The book which
bears the name of Joshua ends with his burial. Again in the book of
Judges we read of him as though he had risen and come to life again,
and by way of summary his works are extolled. We read too[8] "So Joshua
sent the people away, every man unto his inheritance. that they might
possess the land." And "Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua,"
and so on. There immediately follows: "And Joshua the son of Nun, the
servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old." Moses,
moreover, only saw the land of promise; he could not enter: and[9] "he
died in the land of Moab, and the Lord buried him in the valley in the
land of Moab over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his
sepulchre unto this day." Let us compare the burial of the two: Moses
died in the land of Moab, Joshua in the land of Judaea. The former was
buried in a valley over against the house of Phogor, which is, being
interpreted, reproach (for the Hebrew Phogor corresponds to
Priapus[10]); the latter in Mount Ephraim on the north of Mount Gaash.
And in the simple expressions of the sacred Scriptures there is always
a more subtle meaning. The Jews gloried in children and child-bearing;
and the barren woman, who had not offspring in Israel, was accursed;
but blessed was he whose seed was in Sion, and his family in Jerusalem;
and part of the highest blessing was,[11] "Thy wife shall be as a
fruitful vine,
363
in the innermost parts of thy house, thy children like olive plants,
round about thy table." Therefore his grave is described as placed in a
valley over against the house of an idol which was in a special sense
consecrated to lust. But we who fight under Joshua our leader, even to
the present day know not where Moses was buried. For we despise Phogor,
and all his shame, knowing that they who are in the flesh cannot please
God. And the Lord before the flood had said[1] " My spirit shall not
abide in man for ever, for that he also is flesh." Wherefore, when
Moses died, the people of Israel mourned for him but Joshua like one on
his way to victory was unmourned. For marriage ends at death; virginity
thereafter begins to wear the crown.
23. Next he brings forward Samson, and does not
consider that the Lord's Nazarite was once shaven bald by a woman. And
although Samson continues to be a type of the Saviour because he loved
a harlot from among the Gentiles, which harlot corresponds to the
Church, and because he slew more enemies in his death than he did in
his life, yet he does not set an example of conjugal chastity. And he
surely reminds us[2] of Jacob's prophecy--he was shaken by his runaway
steed, bitten by an adder and fell backwards. But why he enumerated
Deborah, and Barak, and the wife. of Heber the Kenite, I am at a loss
to understand. For it is one thing to draw up a list of military
commanders in historical sequence, another to indicate certain figures
of marriage which cannot be found in them. And whereas he prefers the
fidelity of the father Jephthah to the tears of the virgin daughter,
that makes for us. For we are not commending virgins of the world so
much as those who are virgins for Christ's sake, and most Hebrews blame
the father for the rash vow he made,[3] "If thou wilt indeed deliver
the children of Ammon into mine hand, then it shall be, that whatsoever
cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in
peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be for the Lord's, and I
will offer it up for a burnt offering." Supposing (they say) a dog or
an ass had met him, what would he have done ? Their meaning is that God
so ordered events that he who had improvidently made a vow, should
learn his error by the death of his daughter. And if Samuel who was
brought up in the tabernacle married a wife, how does that prejudice
virginity ? As if at the present day also there were not many married
priests, and as though the Apostle did not[4] describe a bishop as the
husband of one wife, having children with all purity. At the same time
we must not forget that Samuel was a Levite, not a priest or
high-priest. Hence it was that his mother made for him a linen ephod,
that is, a linen garment to go over the shoulders, which was the proper
dress of the Levites and of the inferior order. And so he is not named
in the Psalms among the priests, but among those who call upon the name
of the Lord:[1] "Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among
those who call upon his name." For[2] Levi begat Kohath, Kohath begat
Amminadab, Amminadab begat Korah, Korah begat Assir, Assir begat
Elkanah, Elkanah begat Zuph, Zuph begat Tahath, Tahath begat Eliel,
Eliel begat Jeroham, Jeroham begat Elkanah, Elkanah begat Samuel. And
no one doubts that the priests sprang from the stock of Aaron, Eleazar,
and Phinees. And seeing that they had wives, they would be rightly
brought against us, if, led away by the error of the Encratites, we
were to maintain that marriage deserved censure, and our high priest
were not after the order of Melchizedek, without father, without
mother,[3] A<greek>genealoghtos</greek>', that is,
unmarried. And much fruit truly did Samuel reap from his children! he
himself pleased God, but[4] begat such children as displeased the Lord.
But if in support of second marriage, he urges the instance of Boaz and
Ruth, let him know that in the Gospel (S. Matt. i. 6) to typify the
Church even Rahab the harlot is reckoned among our Lord's ancestors.
24. He boasts that David bought his wife for two
hundred foreskins. But he should remember that David had numerous other
wives, and afterwards received Michal, Saul's daughter, whom her father
had delivered to another, and when he was old got heat from the embrace
of the Shunammite maiden. And I do not say this because I am bold
enough to disparage holy men, but because it is one thing to live under
the law, another to live under the Gospel. David slew Uriah the Hittite
and committed adultery with Bathsheba. And because he was a man of
blood--the reference is not, as some think, to his wars, but to the[5]
murder--he was not permitted to build a temple of the Lord. But as for
us,[6] if we cause one of the least to stumble, and if we say to a
brother[7] Raca, or[8] use our eyes improperly, it were good that a
millstone
364
were hanged about our neck, we shall be in danger of Gehenna, and a
mere glance will be reckoned to us for adultery. He passes on to
Solomon, through whom wisdom itself sang its own praises. Seeing that
not content with dwelling upon his praises, he calls him uxorious, I am
surprised that he did not add the words of the Canticles:[1] "There are
threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and maidens without
number," and those of the First Book of Kings;[2] And he had seven
hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and others
without number." These are they who turned away his heart from the
Lord: and yet before he had many wives, and fell into sins of the
flesh, at the beginning of his reign and in his early years he built a
temple to the Lord. For every one is judged not for what he will be,
but for what he is. But if Jovinianus approves the example of Solomon,
he will no longer be in favour of second and third marriages only, but
unless he has seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, he
cannot be the king's antitype or attain to his merit. I earnestly again
and again remind you, my reader, that I am compelled to speak as I do,
and that I do not disparage our predecessors under the law, but am well
aware that they served their generation according to their
circumstances, and fulfilled the Lord's command to increase, and
multiply, and replenish the earth. And what is more they were figures
of those that were to come. But we to whom it is said,[3] "The time is
shortened, that henceforth those that have wives may be as though they
had none," have a different command, and for us virginity is
consecrated by the Virgin Saviour.
25. What folly it was to include Elijah and Elisha
in a list of married men, is plain without a word from me. For, since
John Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and John was a
virgin, it is clear that he came not only in Elijah's spirit, but also
in his bodily chastity. Then the passage relating to Hezekiah might be
adduced (though Jovinianus with his wonted stupidity did not notice
it), in which after his recovery and the addition of fifteen years to
his life he said, "Now will I beget children." It must be remembered,
however, that in the Hebrew texts the passage is not so, but runs
thus:[4] "The father to the children shall make known thy
faithfulness." Nor need we wonder that Huldah, the prophetess, and wife
of Shallum, was[5] consulted by Josiah, King of Judah, when the
captivity was approaching and the wrath of the Lord was falling upon
Jerusalem: since it is the rule of Scripture when holy men fail, to
praise women to the reproach of men. And it is superfluous to speak of
Daniel, for the Hebrews to the present day affirm that the three youths
were eunuchs, in accordance with the declaration of God which Isaiah
utters to Hezekiah:[1] "And of thy sons that shall issue from thee,
which thou shalt beget, shall they take away: and they shall be eunuchs
in the palace of the King of Babylon." And again in Daniel we read:[2]
"And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he
should bring in certain of the children of Israel, even of the seed
royal and of the nobles: youth in whom was no blemish, but well
favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and
understanding science." The conclusion is that if Daniel and the three
youths were chosen from the seed royal, and if Scripture foretold that
that there should be eunuchs of the seed royal, these men were those
who were made eunuchs. If he meets us with the argument that in
Ezekiel[3] it is said that Noah, Daniel and Job in a sinful land could
not free their sons and daughters, we reply that the words are used
hypothetically. Noah and Job were not in existence at that time: we
know that they lived many ages before. And the meaning is this: if
there were such and such men in a sinful land, they shall not be able
to save their own sons and daughters: because the righteousness of the
father shall not save the son, nor shall the sin of one be imputed to
another.[4] " For the soul that sinneth, it shall die." This, too, must
be said, that Daniel, as the history of his book shows, was taken
captive with King Jehoiakim at the same time that Ezekiel was also led
into captivity. How then could he have sons who was still a youth ? And
only three years had elapsed when he was brought in to wait upon the
king. Let no one suppose that Ezekiel at this time remembers Daniel as
a man, not as a youth; for "It came to pass," he says,[5] "in the sixth
year," that is of King Jehoiakim, "in the sixth month, in the fifth day
of the month :" and, "as I sat in my house, and the eiders of Judah sat
before me." Yet on that same day it was said to him,[6] " Though these
three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it." Daniel was therefore a
youth, and known to the people, either on account of his interpretation
of the king's dreams,[7] or on account of the release of Susannah, and
the slaying of the elders. And it is clearly proved that at the time
these
365
things were spoken of Noah, Daniel, and Job, Daniel was still a youth
and could not have had sons and daughters, whom he might save by his
righteousness. So far concerning the Law.
26. Coming to the Gospel he sets before us Zacharias
and Elizabeth, Peter and his mother-in-law, and, with a shamelessness
to which we have now grown accustomed, fails to understand that they,
too, ought to have been reckoned among those who served the Law. For
the Gospel had no being before the crucifixion of Christ--it was
consecrated by His passion and by His blood. In accordance with this
rule Peter and the other Apostles (I must give Jovinianus something now
and then out of my abundance) had indeed wives, but those which they
had taken before they knew the Gospel. But once they were received into
the Apostolate, they forsook the offices of marriage. For when Peter,
representing the Apostles, says to the Lord:[1] "Lo we have left all
and followed thee," the Lord answered him,[2] "Verily I say unto you,
there is no man that hath left house or wife, or brethren, or parents,
or children for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive
manifold more in this time, and in the world to come eternal life." But
if, in order to show that all the Apostles had wives, he meets us with
the words[3] "Have we no right to lead about women or wives" (for
<greek>gunh</greek> in Greek has both meanings) "even as
the rest of the apostles, and Cephas, and the brethren of the Lord ?"
let him add what is found in the Greek copies, "Have we no right to
lead about women that are sisters, or wives ?" This makes it clear that
the writer referred to other holy women, who, in accordance with Jewish
custom, ministered to their teachers of their substance, as we read was
the practice with even our Lord himself. Where there is a previous
reference to eating and drinking, and the outlay of money, and mention
is afterwards made of women that are sisters, it is quite clear, as we
have said, that we must understand, not wives, but those women who
ministered of their substance. And we read the same account in the Old
Testament of the Shunammite who was wont to welcome Elisha, and to put
for him a table, and bread, and a candlestick, and the rest. At all
events if we take <greek>gunaikas</greek>> to mean
wives, not women, the addition of the word sisters destroys the effect
of the word wives, and shews that they were related in spirit, not by
wedlock. Nevertheless, with the exception of the Apostle Peter, it is
not openly stated that the Apostles had wives; and since the statement
is made of one while nothing is said about the rest, we must understand
that those of whom Scripture gives no such description had no wives.
Yet Jovinianus, who has arrayed against us Zacharias and Elizabeth,
Peter and his wife's mother, should know, that John was the son of
Zacharias and Elizabeth, that is, a virgin was the offspring of
marriage, the Gospel of the law, chastity of matrimony; so that by a
virgin prophet the virgin Lord might be both announced and baptized.
But we might say concerning Peter, that he had a mother-in-law when he
believed, and no longer had a wife, although in the[1] "Sentences" we
read of both his wife and daughter. But for the present our argument
must be based wholly on Scripture. He has made his appeal to the
Apostles, because he thinks that they, who hold the chief authority in
our moral system and are the typical Christian teachers, were not
virgins. If, then, we allow that they were not virgins (and, with the
exception of Peter, the point cannot be proved), yet I must tell him
that it is to the Apostles that the words of Isaiah relate:[2] "Except
the Lord of hosts had left unto us a small remnant, we should have been
as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah." So, then, they who
were by birth Jews could not under the Gospel recover the virginity
which they had lost in Judaism. And yet John, one of the disciples, who
is related to have been the youngest of the Apostles, and who was a
virgin when he embraced Christianity, remained a virgin, and on that
account was more beloved by our Lord, and lay upon the breast of Jesus.
And what Peter, who had had a wife, did not dare ask,[3] he requested
John to ask. And after the resurrection, when Mary Magdalene told them
that the Lord had risen,[4] they both ran to the sepulchre, but John
outran Peter. And when they were fishing in the ship on the lake of
Gennesaret, Jesus stood upon the shore, and the Apostles knew not who
it was they saw;[5] the virgin alone recognized a virgin, and said to
Peter, "It is the Lord." Again, after hearing the prediction that he
must be bound by another, and led whither he would not, and must suffer
on the cross. Peter said, "Lord what shall this man do ?" being
unwilling to desert John, with whom he had always been
366
united. Our Lord said to him, "What is that to thee if I wish him so to
be ?" Whence the saying went abroad among the brethren that that
disciple should not die. Here we have a proof that virginity does not
die, and that the defilement of marriage is not washed away by the
blood of martyrdom, but virginity abides with Christ, and its sleep is
not death but a passing to another state. If, however, Jovinianus
should obstinately contend that John was not a virgin, (whereas we have
maintained that his virginity was the cause of the special love our
Lord bore to him), let him explain, if he was not a virgin, why it was
that he was loved more than the other Apostles. But you say,[1] the
Church was rounded upon Peter: although[2] elsewhere the same is
attributed to all the Apostles, and they all receive the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and the strength of the Church depends upon them all
alike, yet one among the twelve is chosen so that when a head has been
appointed, there may be no occasion for schism. But why was not John
chosen, who was a virgin ? Deference was paid to age, because Peter was
the eider: one who was a youth, I may say almost a boy, could not be
set over men of advanced age; and a good master who was bound to remove
every occasion of strife among his disciples, and who had said to
them,[3] " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you," and, 4 "
He that is the greater among you, let him be the least of all," would
not be thought to afford cause of envy against the youth whom he had
loved. We maybe sure that John was then a boy because ecclesiastical
history most clearly proves that he lived to the reign of Trajan, that
is, he fell asleep in the sixty-eighth year after our Lord's passion,
as I have briefly noted in my treatise on Illustrious Men.[5] Peter is
an Apostle, and John is an Apostle--the one a married man, the other a
virgin; but Peter is an Apostle only, John is both an Apostle and an
Evangelist, and a prophet. An Apostle, because he wrote to the Churches
as a master; an Evangelist, because he composed a Gospel, a thing which
no other of the Apostles, excepting Matthew, did; a prophet, for he saw
in the island of Patmos, to which he had been banished by the Emperor
Domitian as a martyr for the Lord, an Apocalypse containing the
boundless mysteries of the future Tertullian, moreover, relates that he
was sent to Rome, and that having been plunged into a jar of boiling
oil he came out fresher and more active than when he went in. But his
very Gospel is widely different from the rest. Matthew as though he
were writing of a man begins thus: "The book of the Generation of Jesus
Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham ;" Luke begins with the
priesthood of Zacharias; Mark with a prophecy of the prophets Malachi
and Isaiah. The first has the face of a man, on account of the
genealogical table; the second, the face of a calf, on account of the
priesthood; the third, the face of a lion, on account of the voice of
one crying in the desert,[1] " Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His
paths straight." But John like an eagle soars aloft, and reaches the
Father Himself, and says,[2] " In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God," and so on. The virgin writer expounded mysteries which the
married could not, and to briefly sum up all and show how great was the
privilege of John, or rather of virginity in John, the Virgin Mother[3]
was entrusted by the Virgin Lord to the Virgin disciple.
27. But we toil to no purpose. For our opponent
urges against us the Apostolic sentence and says,[4] "Adam was first
formed, then Eve; and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being
beguiled hath fallen into transgression: but she shall be saved through
the child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love and
sanctification with sobriety." Let us consider what led the Apostle to
make this declaration:[5] "I desire therefore that the men pray in
every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and disputing." So in
due course he lays down rules of life for the women and says "In like
manner that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with
shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls
or costly raiment; but (which becometh women professing godliness)
through good works. Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection.
But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but
to be in quietness." And that the lot of a woman might not seem a hard
one, reducing her to the condition of a slave to her husband, the
Apostle recalls the ancient law and goes back to the first example:
that Adam was first made, then the woman out of his rib; and that the
Devil could not seduce Adam, but did seduce Eve; and that after
displeasing God she was immediately subjected to the man, and began to
turn to her husband; and he points out that she who was once tied with
the bonds of marriage and was reduced to the condition of Eve, might
blot out the" old transgression
367
by the[1] procreation of children: provided, however, that she bring up
the children themselves in the faith and love of Christ, and in
sanctification and chastity; for we must not adopt the faulty reading
of the Latin texts, sobrietas, but castitas, that is,[2]
<greek>swfrosunh</greek>. You see how you are mastered by
the witness of this passage also, and cannot but be driven to admit
that what you thought was on the side of marriage tells in favour of
virginity. For if the woman is saved in child-bearing, and the more the
children the greater the safety of the mothers, why did he add "if they
continue in faith and love and sanctification with chastity"? The woman
will then be saved, if she bear not children who will remain virgins:
if what she has herself lost, she attains in her children, and makes up
for the loss and decay, of the root by the excellence of the flower and
fruit.
28. Above, in passing, when our opponent adduced
Solomon, who, although he had many wives, nevertheless built the
temple, I briefly replied that it was my intention to run over the
remaining points. Now that he may not cry out that both Solomon and
others under the law, prophets and holy men, have been dishonoured by
us, let us show what this very man with his many wives and concubines
thought of marriage. For no one can know better than he who suffered
through them, what a wife or woman is. Well then, he says in the
Proverbs:[3] "The foolish and bold woman comes to want bread." What
bread? Surely that bread which cometh down from heaven: and he
immediately adds[4] "The earth-born perish in her house, rush into the
depths of hell." Who are the earth-born that perish in her house? They
of course who follow the first Adam, who is of the earth, and not the
second, who is from heaven. And again in another place: "Like a worm in
wood, so a wicked woman destroyeth her husband." But if you assert that
this was spoken of bad wives, I shall briefly answer: What necessity
rests upon me to run the risk of the wife I marry proving good or
bad?[5] "It is better," he says, "to dwell in a desert land, than with
a contentious and passionate woman in a wide house." How seldom we find
a wife without these faults, he knows who is married. Hence that
sublime orator, Varius Geminus[6] says well "The man who does not
quarrel is a bachelor.[1] "It is better to dwell in the corner of
the housetop, than with a contentious woman in a house in common." If a
house common to husband and wife makes a wife proud and breeds contempt
for the husband: how much more if the wife be the richer of the two,
and the husband but a lodger in her house! She begins to be not a wife,
but mistress of the house; and if she offend her husband, they must
part.[2] "A continual dropping on a wintry day" turns a man out of
doors, and so will a contentious woman drive a man from his own house.
She floods his house with her constant nagging and daily chatter, and
ousts him from his own home, that is the Church. Hence the same Solomon
previously commands:[3] "My son flows forth beyond." And the Apostle,
writing to the Hebrews, says "Therefore we ought to give the more
earnest heed to the things spoken, lest haply we flow forth beyond."
But who can hide from himself what is thus enigmatically expressed?[4]
"The horseleech had three I daughters, dearly loved, but they satisfied
her not, and a fourth is not satisfied when you say Enough; the
grave, and woman's love, and the earth that is not satisfied with
water, and the fire that saith not, Enough." The horse-leech is the
devil, the daughters of the devil are dearly loved, and they cannot be
satisfied with the blood of the slain: the grave, and woman's love, and
the earth dry and scorched with heat. It is not the harlot, or the
adulteress who is spoken of; but woman's love in general is accused of
ever being insatiable; put it out, it bursts into flame; give it
plenty, it is again in need; it enervates a man's mind, and engrosses
all thought except for the passion which it feeds. What we read in the
parable which follows is to the same effect: "For three things the
earth cloth tremble, and for four which it cannot bear: for a servant
when he is king: and a fool when he is filled with meat: for an odious
woman when she is married to a good husband: and an handmaid that is
heir to her mistress." See how a wife is classed with the greatest
evils. But if you reply that it is an odious wife, I will give you the
same answer as before--the mere possibility of such danger is in itself
no light matter. For he who marries a wife is uncertain whether he is
marrying an odious woman or one worthy of his love. If she be odious,
she is intolerable. If worthy of love, her love
368
is compared to the grave, to the parched earth, and to fire.
29. Let us come to Ecclesiastes and adduce a few
corroborative passages from him also.[1] "To everything there is a
season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be
born, and a time to die: a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that
which is planted." We brought forth young under the law with Moses, let
us die under the Gospel with Christ. We planted in marriage, let us by
chastity pluck up that which was planted. "A time to embrace, and a
time to refrain from embracing: a time to love, and a time to hate: a
time for war, and a time for peace." And at the same time he warns us
not to prefer the law to the Gospel; nor to think that virgin purity is
to be placed on a level with marriage:[2] " Better," he says, "is the
end of a thing than the beginning thereof." And he immediately adds:
"Say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better than
these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this." And he gives
the reason why the latter days are better than the former:[3] " For
wisdom with an inheritance is good." Under the law carnal wisdom was
followed by the sword of death;under the Gospel an eternal inheritance
awaits spiritual wisdom. "Behold, this have I found,[4] saith the
Preacher, one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all
those have I not found. Behold this only have I found, that God
made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." He says
that he had found man upright. Consider the force of the words.
The word man comprehends both male and female. "But a woman," he
says, "among all these have I not found." Let us read the beginning of
Genesis, and we shall find Adam, that is man, called both male and
female. Having then been created by God good and upright, by our own
fault we have fallen to a worse condition; and that which in Paradise
had been upright, when we left Paradise was corrupt. If you object that
before they sinned there was a distinction in sex between male and
female, and that they could without sin have come together, it is
uncertain what might have happened. For we cannot know the judgements
of God, and anticipate his sentence as we choose. What really happened
is plain enough,--that they who in Paradise remained in perpetual
virginity, when they were expelled from Paradise were joined together.
Or if Paradise admits of marriage, and there is no difference between
marriage and virginity, what prevented their previous intercourse even
in Paradise? They are driven out of Paradise; and what they did not
there, they do on earth; so that from the very earliest days of
humanity virginity was consecrated by Paradise, and marriage by
earth.[1] "Let thy garments be always white." The eternal whiteness of
our garments is the purity of virginity. In the morning we sowed our
seed, and in the evening let us not cease. Let us who served marriage
under the law, serve virginity under the Gospel.
30. I pass to the Song of Songs, and whereas our
opponent thinks it makes altogether for marriage, I shall show that it
contains the mysteries of virginity. Let us hear what the bride says
before that the bridegroom comes to earth, suffers, descends to the
lower world, and rises again.[2] "We will make for thee likenesses of
gold with ornaments of silver while the king sits at his table." Before
the Lord rose again, and the Gospel shone, the bride had not gold, but
likenesses of gold. As for the silver, however, which she professes to
have at the marriage, she not only had silver ornaments, but she had
them in variety--in widows, in the continent, and in the married. Then
the bridegroom makes answer to the bride, and teaches her that the
shadow of the old law has passed away, and the truth of the Gospel has
come.[3] " Rise up, my love my fair one, and come away, for lo, the
winter is past, the rain is over and gone." This relates to the Old
Testament. Once more he speaks of the Gospel and of virginity: "The
flowers appear on the earth, the time of the pruning of vines has
come." Does he not seem to you to say the very same thing that the
Apostle says:[4] "The time is shortened that henceforth both those that
have wives may be as though they had none "? And more plainly does he
herald chastity:[5] "The voice," he says, "of the turtle is heard in
our land." The turtle, the chastest of birds, always dwelling in lofty
places, is a type of the Saviour. Let us read the works of naturalists
and we shall find that it is the nature of the turtle-dove, if it lose
its mate, not to take another; and we shall understand that second
marriage is repudiated even by dumb birds. And immediately the turtle
says to its fellow:[6] "The fig tree hath put forth its green figs,"
that is, the commandments of the old law have fallen, and the
blossoming vines of the Gospel give forth their fra-
369
grance. Whence the Apostle also says,[1] "We are a sweet savour of
Christ."[2] " Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove,
thou art in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the steep place.
Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy
voice, and thy countenance is comely."[3] Whilst thou coveredst thy
countenance like Moses and the veil of the law remained, I neither saw
thy face, nor did I condescend to hear thy voice. I said,[4] "Yea, when
ye make many prayers, I will not hear." But now with unveiled face
behold my glory, and shelter thyself in the cleft and steep places of
the solid rock. On hearing this the bride disclosed the mysteries of
chastity:[6] " My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth his flock
among the lilies," that is among the pure virgin bands. Would you know
what sort of a throne our true Solomon, the Prince of Peace, has, and
what his attendants are like?[6] "Behold," he says, "it is the
litter of Solomon: threescore mighty men are about it, of the mighty
men of Israel. They all handle the sword, and are expert in war: every
man hath his sword upon his thigh." They who are about Solomon have
their sword upon their thigh, like Ehud, the left-handed judge, who
slew the fattest of foes, a man devoted to the flesh, and cut short all
his pleasures.[7] "I will get me," he says, "to the mountain of myrrh;"
to those, that is, who have mortified their bodies; "and to the hill of
frankincense," to the crowds of pure virgins; "and I will say to my
bride, thou art all fair, my love, and there is no spot in thee."
Whence too the Apostle:[8] "That he might present the church to himself
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing."[9]
"Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon. Thou shalt
come[10] and pass on from the beginning of faith, from the top of Sanir
and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards."
Lebanon is, being interpreted, whiteness. Come then, fairest bride,
concerning whom it is elsewhere said[11] "Who is she that cometh up,
all in white?" and pass on by way of this world, from the beginning of
faith, and from Sanir, which is by interpretation, God of light, as we
read in the psalm:[12] "Thy word is a lantern unto my feet, and light
unto my path;" and "from Hermon," that is, consecration: and "flee from
the lions' dens, and the mountains of the leopards who cannot change
their spots." Flee, he says, from the lions' dens, flee from the pride
of devils, that when thou hast been consecrated to me, I may be able to
say unto thee:[1] "Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my bride,
thou hast ravished mine heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of
thy neck." What he says is something like this--I do not reject
marriage: you have a second eye, the left, which I have given to you on
account of the weakness of those who cannot see the right. But I am
pleased with the right eye of virginity, and if it be blinded the whole
body is in darkness. And that we might not think he had in view carnal
love and bodily marriage, he take once excludes this meaning by
saying[2] "Thou hast ravished my heart, my bride, my sister." The name
sister excludes all suspicion of unhallowed love. "How fair are thy
breasts with wine," those breasts concerning which he had said above,
My beloved is mine, and I am his: "betwixt my breasts shall he lie,"
that is in the princely portion of the heart where the Word of God has
its lodging. What wine is that which gives beauty to the breasts of the
bride, and fills them with the milk of chastity? That, for-sooth, of
which the bridegroom goes on to speak:[3] "I have drunk my wine with my
milk. Eat, O friends: yea, drink and be drunken, my brethren." Hence
the Apostles also were said to be filled with new wine; with new, he
says, not with old wine; because[4] new wine is put into fresh
wine-skins, and they[5] did not walk in oldness of the letter, but in
newness of the Spirit. This is wine wherewith when youths and maidens
are intoxicated, they at once thirst for virginity; they are filled
with the spirit of chastity, and the prophecy of Zechariah comes to
pass, at least if we follow the Hebrew literally, for he prophesied
concerning virgins:[6] "And the streets of the city shall be full of
boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. For what is his
goodness, and what is his beauty, but the corn of the elect, and wine
that giveth birth to virgins?" They are virgins of whom it is written
in the forty-fifth psalm:[7] "The virgins her companions that follow
her shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they
be led: they shall enter into the King's palace." 31. Then follows:[8]
"A garden shut up is my
370
sister, my bride: a garden shut up, a fountain sealed." That which is
shut up and sealed reminds us of the mother of our Lord who was a
mother and a Virgin. Hence it was that no one before or after our
Saviour was laid in his new tomb, hewn in the solid rock. And yet she
that was ever a Virgin is the mother of many virgins. For next we read:
"Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with precious fruits." By
pomegranates and fruits is signified the blending of all virtues in
virginity.[1] " My beloved is white and ruddy "; white in virginity,
ruddy in martyrdom. And because He is white and ruddy, therefore it is
immediately added[2] " His mouth is most sweet, yea, he is altogether
lovely." The virgin bridegroom having been praised by the virgin bride,
in turn
praises the virgin bride, and says to her:[3]. How beautiful are thy
feet in sandals,[4] O daughter of Aminadab," which is, being
interpreted, a people that affereth itself willingly. For virginity is
voluntary, and therefore the steps of the Church in the beauty of
chastity are praised. This is not the time for me like a commentator to
explain all the mysteries of virginity from the Song of Songs I have no
doubt that the fastidious reader will turn up his nose at what has
already been said.
32. Isaiah tells of the mystery of our faith and
hope:[5] "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall
call his name Emmanuel." I know that the Jews are accustomed to meet us
with the objection that in Hebrew the word Almah does not mean a
virgin, but a young woman. And, to speak truth, a virgin is properly
called Bethulah, but a young woman, or a girl, is not Almah, but
Naarah![6] What then is the meaning of Almah? A hidden virgin, that is,
not merely virgin, but a virgin and something more, because not every
virgin is hidden, shut off from the occasional sight of men. Then
again, Rebecca, on account of her extreme purity, and because she was a
type of the Church which she represented in her own virginity, is
described in Genesis as Almah, not Bethulah, as may clearly be proved
from the words of Abraham's servant, spoken by him in Mesopotamia:[7]
"And he said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now thou do
prosper my way which I go: behold I stand by the fountain of water; and
let it come to pass, that the maiden which cometh forth to draw, to
whom I shall say, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of this pitcher
to drink; and she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also
draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath
appointed for my master's son." Where he speaks of the maiden coming
forth to draw water, the Hebrew word is Almah, that is, a virgin
secluded., and guarded by her parents with extreme care. Or, if if this
be not so, let them at least show me where the word is applied to
married women as well, and I will confess my ignorance. "Behold a
virgin shall conceive and bear a son." If virginity be not preferred to
marriage, why did not the Holy Spirit choose a married woman, or a
widow? For at that time Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of
Aser, was alive, distinguished for purity, and always free to devote
herself to prayers and fasting in the temple of God. If the life, and
good works, and fasting without virginity can merit the advent of the
Holy Spirit, she might well have been the mother of our Lord. Let us
hasten to the rest:[1] "The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee
and laughed thee to scorn." To her whom he called daughter the prophet
also gave the title virgin, for fear that if he spoke only of a
daughter, it might be supposed that she was married. This is the virgin
daughter whom elsewhere he thus addresses:[2] " Sing, O barren, thou
that dost not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that
didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the
desolate, than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord." This
is she of whom God by the mouth of Jeremiah speaks, saying:[3] "Can a
maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire." Concerning her we
read of a great miracle in the same prophecy[4]--that a woman should
compass a man, and that the Father of all things should be contained in
a virgin's womb.
33. "Granted, "says Jovinianus," that there is a
difference between marriage and virginity, what have you to say to
this,--Suppose a virgin and a widow were baptized, and continued as
they were, what difference will there be between them?" What we have
already said concerning Peter and John, Anna and Mary, may be of
service here. For if there is no difference between a virgin and a
widow, both being baptized, because baptism makes a new man, upon the
same principle harlots and prostitutes, if they are baptized, will be
equal to virgins. If previous marriage is no prejudice to a baptized
widow, and past pleas-
371
ures and the exposure of their bodies to public lust are no detriment
in the case of harlots, once they have approached the layer they will
gain the rewards of virginity. It is one thing to unite with God a mind
pure and free from any stain of memory, another to remember the foul
and forced embraces of a man, and in recollection to act a part which
you do not in person. Jeremiah, who was[1] sanctified in the womb, and
was known in his mother's belly, enjoyed the high privilege Because he
was predestined to the blessing of virginity. And when all were
captured, and even the vessels of the temple were plundered by the King
of Babylon, he alone was[2] liberated by the enemy, knew not the
insults of captivity, and was supported by the conquerors; and
Nebuchadnezzar, though he gave Nebuzaradan no charge concerning the
Holy of Holies, did give him charge concerning Jeremiah. For that is
the true temple of God, and that is the Holy of Holies, which is
consecrated to the Lord by pure virginity. On the other hand, Ezekiel,
who was kept captive in Babylon, who saw the[3] storm approaching from
the north, and the whirlwind sweeping all before it, says,[4] "My wife
died in the evening and I did in the morning as I was commanded." For
the Lord had previously told him that in that day he should open his
mouth, and speak, and no longer keep silence. Mark well, that while his
wife was living he was not at liberty to admonish the people. His wife
died, the bond of wedlock was broken, and without the least hesitation
he constantly devoted himself to the prophetic office. For he who was
called being free, is truly the Lord's bondservant. I do not deny the
blessedness of widows who remain such after their baptism; nor do I
disparage those wives who maintain their chastity in wedlock; but as
they attain a greater reward with God than married women who pay the
marriage due, let widows themselves the content to give the preference
to virginity. For if a chastity which comes too late, when the glow of
bodily pleasure is no longer felt, makes them feel superior to married
women, why should they not acknowledge themselves inferior to perpetual
virginity.
34. All that goes for nothing, says Jovinianus,
because even bishops, priests, and deacons, husbands of one wife, and
having children, were appointed by the Apostle. Just as the Apostle[5]
says he has no commandment respecting virgins, and yet gives his
advice, as one who had obtained mercy from the Lord, and is anxious
throughout the whole discussion to give virginity the preference over
marriage, and advises what he does not venture to command, lest he seem
to lay a snare, and to put a heavier burden upon man's nature than it
can bear; so also in establishing the constitution of the Church,
inasmuch as the elements of the early Church were drawn from the
Gentiles, he made the rules for fresh believers somewhat lighter
that they might not in alarm shrink from keeping them.
Then, again, the Apostles and elders wrote[1] letters from Jerusalem
that no heavier burden should be laid on Gentile believers than that
they should keep themselves from idolatry, and from fornication, and
from things strangled. As though they were providing for infant
children, they gave them milk to drink, not solid food. Nor did they
lay down rules for continence, nor hint at virginity, nor urge to
fasting, nor repeat the directions[2] given in the Gospel to the
Apostles, not to have two tunics, nor scrip, nor money in their
girdles, nor staff in their hand, nor shoes on their feet. And they
certainly did not bid them,[3] if they wished to be perfect, go and
sell all that they had and give to the poor, and "come follow me." For
if the young man who boasted of having done all that the law enjoins,
when he heard this went away sorrowful, because he had great
possessions, and the Pharisees derided an utterance such as this from
our Lord's lips: how much more would the vast multitude of Gentiles,
whose highest virtue consisted in not plundering another's goods, have
repudiated the obligation of perpetual chastity and continence, when
they were told in the letter to keep themselves from idols, and from
fornication, seeing that fornication was heard of among them, and such
fornication as was not "even among the Gentiles." But the very choice
of a bishop makes for me. For he does not say: Let a bishop be chosen
who marries one wife and begets children; but who marries one wife,
and[4] has his children in subjection and well disciplined. You surely
admit that he is no bishop who during his episcopate begets children.
The reverse is the case--if he be discovered, he will not be bound by
the ordinary obligations of a husband, but will be condemned as an
adulterer. Either permit[5] priests to perform the work of marriage
with the result that virginity and marriage are on a par: or if it is
unlawful for priests to touch their wives, they are so far holy in that
they imitate virgin chastity. But something more follows. A layman, or
any believer, cannot pray unless he abstain from sexual intercourse.
Now a
372
priest must always offer sacrifices for the people: he must therefore
always pray. And if he must always pray, he must always be released
from the duties of marriage. For even under the old law they who used
to offer sacrifices for the people not only remained in their houses,
but purified themselves for the occasion by separating from their
wives, nor would they drink wine or strong drink which are wont to
stimulate lust. That married men are elected to the priesthood, I do
not deny: the number of virgins is not so great as that of the priests
required. Does it follow that because all the strongest men are chosen
for the army, weaker men should not be taken as well? All cannot be
strong. If an army were constituted of strength only, and numbers went
for nothing, the feebler men might be rejected. As it is, men of second
or third-rate strength are chosen, that the army may have its full
numerical complement. How is it, then, you will say, that frequently at
the ordination of priests a virgin is passed over, and a married man
taken? Perhaps because he lacks other qualifications in keeping with
virginity, or it may be that he is thought a virgin, and is not: or
there may be a stigma on his virginity, or at all events virginity
itself makes him proud, and while he plumes himself on mere bodily
chastity, he neglects other virtues; he does not cherish the poor: he
is too fond of money. It sometimes happens that a man has a gloomy
visage, a frowning brow, a walk as though he were in a solemn
procession, and so offends the people, who, because they have no fault
to find with his life, hate his mere dress and gait. Many are chosen
not out of affection for themselves, but out of hatred for another. In
most cases the election is won by mere simplicity, while the shrewdness
and discretion of another candidate elicit opposition as though they
were evils. Sometimes the judgement of the commoner people is at fault,
and in testing the qualities of the priesthood, the individual inclines
to his own character, with the result that he looks not so much for a
good candidate as for one like himself. Not unfrequently it happens
that married men, who form the larger portion of the people, in
approving married candidates seem to approve themselves, and it does
not occur to them that the mere fact that they prefer a married person
to a virgin is evidence of their inferiority to virgins. What I am
going to say will perhaps offend many. Yet I will say it, and good men
will not be angry with me, because they will not feel the sting of
conscience. Sometimes it is the fault of the bishops, who choose into
the ranks of the clergy not the best, but the cleverest, men, and think
the more simple as well as innocent ones incapable; or, as though they
were distributing the offices of an earthly service, they give posts to
their kindred and relations; or they listen to the dictates of wealth.
And, worse than all, they give promotion to the clergy who besmear them
with flattery. To take the other view, if the Apostle's meaning be that
marriage is necessary in a bishop, the Apostle himself ought not to
have been a bishop, for he said,[1] "Yet I would that all men were even
as I myself." And John will be thought unworthy of this rank, and all
the virgins, and the continent, the fairest gems that give grace and
ornament to the Church. Bishop, priest, and deacon, are not honourable
distinctions, but names of offices. And we do not read:[2] " If a man
seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good degree," but, "he
desireth a good work," because by being placed in the higher order an
opportunity is afforded him, if he choose to avail himself of it, for
the practice of virtue.
35. "The bishop, then, must be without reproach, so
that he is the slave of no vice: "the husband of one wife," that is, in
the past, not in the present; "sober," or[3] better, as it is in the
Greek, "vigilant," that is <greek>nhfaleon</greek>;
"chaste," for that is the[4] meaning of
<greek>swfrona</greek>;[5] "distinguished," both by
chastity and conduct: "hospitable," so that he imitates Abraham, and
with strangers, nay rather in strangers, entertains Christ; "apt to
teach," for it profits nothing to enjoy the consciousness of virtue,
unless a man be able to instruct the people intrusted to him, so that
he can exhort in doctrine, and refute the gainsayers;[6] "not a
drunkard," for he who is constantly in the Holy of Holies and offers
sacrifices, will not drink wine and strong drink, since wine is a
luxury. If a bishop drink at all, let it be in such a way that no one
will know whether he has drunk or not. "No striker," that is,[7] a
striker of men's consciences, for the Apostle is not pointing out what
a boxer, but a pontiff ought not to do. He directly teaches what he
ought to do: "but gentle, not contentious, no lover of money, one that
ruleth well his own house, having his children in
373
subjection with all chastity." See what chastity is required in a
bishop ! If his child be unchaste, he himself cannot be a bishop, and
he offends God in the same way as did[1] Eli the priest, who had indeed
rebuked his sons, but because he had not put away the offenders, fell
backwards and died before the lamp of God went out.[2] "Women in like
manner must be chaste," and so on. In every grade, and in both sexes,
chastity has the chief place. You see then that the blessedness of a
bishop, priest, or deacon, does not lie in the fact that they are
bishops, priests, or deacons, but in their having the virtues which
their names and offices imply. Otherwise, if a deacon be holier than
his bishop, his lower grade will not give him a worse standing with
Christ. If it were so, Stephen the deacon, the first to wear the
martyr's crown, would be less in the kingdom of heaven than many
bishops, and than Timothy and Titus, whom I venture to make neither
inferior nor yet superior to him. Just as in the legions of the army
there are generals, tribunes, centurions, javelin-men, and light-armed
troops, common soldiers, and companies, but once the battle begins, all
distinctions of rank are dropped, and the one thing looked for is
valour: so too in this camp and in this battle, in which we contend
against devils, not names but deeds are needed: and under the true
commander, Christ, not the man who has the highest title has the
greatest fame, but he who is the bravest warrior.
36. But you will say: "If everybody were a virgin,
what would become of the human race" ? Like shall here beget like. If
everyone were a widow, or continent in marriage, how will mortal men be
propagated ? Upon this principle there will be nothing at all for fear
that something else may cease to exist. To put a case: if all men were
philosophers, there would be no husbandmen. Why speak of husbandmen ?
there would be no orators, no lawyers, no teachers of the other
professions. If all men were leaders, what would become of the soldiers
? If all were the head, whose head would they be called, when there
were no other members ? You are afraid that if the desire for virginity
were general there would be no prostitutes, no adulteresses, no wailing
infants in town or country. Every day the blood of adulterers[3] is
shed, adulterers are condemned, and lust is raging and rampant in the
very presence of the laws and the symbols of authority and the courts
of justice. Be not afraid that all will become virgins: virginity is a
hard matter, and therefore rare, because it is hard: "Many are called,
few chosen." Many begin, few persevere. And so the reward is great for
those who have persevered. If all were able to be virgins, our Lord
would never have said:[1] " He that is able to receive it, let him
receive it:" and the Apostle would not have hesitated to give his
advice,--[2] " Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the
Lord." Why then, you will say, were the organs of generation created,
and why were we so fashioned by the all-wise creator, that we burn for
one another, and long for natural intercourse ? To reply is to endanger
our modesty: we are, as it were, between two rocks, the[3] Symplegades
of necessity and virtue, on either side; and must make shipwreck of
either our sense of shame, or of the cause we defend: If we reply to
your suggestions, shame covers our face. If shame secures silence, in a
manner we seem to desert our post, and to leave the ground clear to the
raging foe. Yet it is better, as the story goes, to shut our eyes and
fight like the[4] blindfold gladiators, than not to repel with the
shield of truth the darts aimed at us. I can indeed say: "Our hinder
parts which are banished from sight, and the lower portions of the
abdomen, which perform the functions of nature, are the Creator's
work." But inasmuch as the physical conformation of the organs of
generation testifies to difference of sex, I shall briefly reply: Are
we never then to forego lust, for fear that we may have members of this
kind for nothing ? Why then should a husband keep himself from his wife
? Why should a widow persevere in chastity, if we were only born to
live like beasts ? Or what harm does it do me if another man lies with
my wife ? For as the teeth were made for chewing, and the food
masticated passes into the stomach, and a man is not blamed for giving
my wife bread: similarly if it was intended that the organs of
generation should always be performing their office, when my vigour is
spent let another take my place, and, if I may so speak, let my wife
quench her burning lust where she can. But what does the Apostle mean
by exhorting to continence, if continence be contrary to nature ? What
does our Lord mean when He instructs us in the various kinds of
eunuchs.[5] Surely[6] the Apostle who bids us emulate his own chastity,
must be asked, if we are to be consistent, Why are you like other men,
Paul ? Why are
374
you distinguished from the female sex by a beard, hair, and other
peculiarities of person ? How is it that you have not swelling bosoms,
and are not broad at the hips, narrow at the chest ? Your voice is
rugged, your speech rough, your eyebrows more shaggy. To no purpose you
have all these manly qualities, if you forego the embraces of women. I
am compelled to say something and become a fool: but you have forced me
to dare to speak. Our Lord and Saviour,[1] Who though He was in the
form of God, condescended to take the form of a servant, and became
obedient to the Father even unto death, yea the death of the
cross--what necessity was there for Him to be born with members which
He was not going to use ? He certainly was circumcised to manifest His
sex. Why did he cause John the Apostle and John the Baptist to make
themselves eunuchs through love of Him, after causing them to be born
men ? Let us then who believe in Christ follow His example. And if we
knew Him after the flesh, let us no longer know Him according to the
flesh. The substance of our resurrection bodies will certainly be the
same as now, though of higher glory. For the Saviour after His descent
into hell had so far the selfsame body in which He was crucified,
that[2] He showed the disciples the marks of the nails in His hands and
the wound in His side. Moreover, if we deny the identity of His body
because[3] He entered though the doors were shut, and this is not a
property of human bodies, we must deny also that Peter and the Lord had
real bodies because they[4] walked upon the water, which is contrary to
nature.[5] " In the resurrection of the dead they will neither marry
nor be given in marriage, but will be like the angels." What others
will hereafter be in heaven, that virgins begin to be on earth. If
likeness to the angels is promised us (and there is no difference of
sex among the angels), we shall either be of no sex as are the angels,
or at all events which is clearly proved, though we rise from the dead
in our own sex, we shall not perform the functions of sex.
37. But why do we argue, and why are we eager to
frame a clever and victorious reply to our opponent ?[6] "Old things
have passed away, behold all things have become new." I will run
through the utterances of the Apostles, and as to the instances
afforded by Solomon I added short expositions to facilitate their being
understood, so now I will go over the passages bearing on Christian
purity and continence, and will make of many proofs a connected series.
By this method I shall succeed in omitting nothing relating to
chastity, and shall avoid being tediously long. Amongst other passages,
Paul the Apostle writes to the Romans:[1] "What fruit then had ye at
that time in the things whereof ye are now ashamed ? for the end of
those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become
servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end
eternal life." I suppose too that the end of marriage is death. But the
compensating fruit of sanctification, fruit belonging either to
virginity or to continence, is eternal life. And afterwards:[2]
"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the
body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to him who
was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God. For
when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the
law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we
have been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were
holden; so that we serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in oldness
of the letter." "When," he says, "we were in the flesh, and not in the
newness of the Spirit but in the oldness of the letter," we did those
things which pertained to the flesh, and bore fruit unto death. But now
because we are dead to the law, through the body of Christ, let us bear
fruit to God, that we may belong to Him who rose from the dead. And
elsewhere, having previously said,[3] "I know that the law is
spiritual," and having discussed at some length the violence of the
flesh which frequently drives us to do what we would not, he at last
continues: "O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me out of the
body of this death ? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." And
again, "So then I myself with the mind serve the law of God; but with
the flesh the law of sin." And,[4] "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the
flesh. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free
from the law of sin and death." And more clearly in what follows he
teaches that Christians do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit:[5] "For they that are after the flesh do mind
the things of the flesh; but they that are after the spirit the things
of the spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the
spirit is life and peace: because the mind of the flesh is enmity
against
375
God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be:
and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you," and so on to where he says,[1] "So then, brethren, we are
debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh: for if ye live
after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the spirit ye mortify the deeds
of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of
God, these are sons of God." If the[2] wisdom of the flesh is enmity
against God, and they who are in the flesh cannot please God, I think
that they who perform the functions of marriage love the wisdom of the
flesh, and therefore are in the flesh. The Apostle being desirous to
withdraw us from the flesh and to join us to the Spirit, says
afterwards:[3] " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of
God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to
God, which is your reasonable service. And be not fashioned according
to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that
ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that is
among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think;
but to think according to chastity "[4] (not soberly as the Latin
versions badly render), but "think," he says, "according to chastity,"
for the Greek words are <greek>eis</greek>
<greek>to</greek> <greek>swfronein</greek>. Let
us consider what the Apostle says: "Be ye transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and
perfect will of God." What he says is something like this--God indeed
permits marriage, He permits second marriages, and if necessary,
prefers even third marriages to fornication and adultery. But we who
ought to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to
God, which is our reasonable service, should consider, not what God
permits, but what He wishes: that we may prove what is the good and
acceptable and perfect will of God. It follows that what He merely
permits is neither good, nor acceptable, nor perfect. And he gives his
reasons for this advice:[5] "Knowing the season, that now it is high
time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us
than when we first believed. The night is far spent, and the day is at
hand." And lastly:" Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not
provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." God's will is
one thing, His indulgence another. Whence, writing to the Corinthians,
he says,[1] "I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual,
but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with
milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it,
neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal." He who[2] is in
the merely animal state, and does not receive the things pertaining to
the Spirit of God (for he is foolish, and cannot understand them,
because they are spiritually discerned), he is not fed with the food of
perfect chastity, but with the coarse milk of marriage. As through man
came death, so also through man came the resurrection of the dead. As
in Adam we all die, so in Christ we shall all be made alive. Under the
law we served the old Adam, under the Gospel let us serve the new Adam.
For the first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a
quickening spirit.[3] "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the
second man is of heaven. 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, we shall also bear the
image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit
incorruption." This is so clear that no explanation can make it
clearer: "Flesh and blood," he says, "cannot inherit the Kingdom of
God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." If corruption
attaches to all intercourse, and incorruption is characteristic of
chastity, the rewards of chastity cannot belong to marriage.[4] "For we
know that if the earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have
a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the
heavens. For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with
our habitation which is from heaven. We are willing to be absent from
the body, and to be at home with the Lord. Wherefore also we make it
our aim, whether in the body, or out of the body, to be well-pleasing
unto God." And by way of more fully explaining what he did not wish
them to be he says elsewhere:[5] "I espoused you to one husband, that I
might present you as a pure virgin to Christ." But if you choose to
apply the words to the whole Assembly of believers, and in this
betrothal to Christ include both married women, and the twice-
376
married, and widows, and virgins, that also makes for us. For whilst he
invites all to chastity and to the reward of virginity, he shows that
virginity is more excellent than all these conditions. And again
writing to the Galatians he says:[1] "Because by the works of the law
shall no flesh be justified." Among the works of the law is marriage,
and accordingly under it they are cursed who have no children. And if
under the Gospel it is permitted to have children, it is one thing to
make a concession to weakness another to hold out rewards to virtue.
38. Something else I will say to my friends who
marry and after long chastity and continence begin to burn and are as
wanton as the brutes :[2] "Are ye so foolish ? having begun in the
Spirit, are ye now perfected in the flesh ? Did ye suffer so many
things in vain ?" If the Apostle in the case of some persons loosens
the cords of continence, and lets them have a slack rein, he does so on
account of the infirmity of the flesh. This is the enemy he has in view
when he once more says :[3] "Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not
fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh." It is unnecessary now to speak of
the works of the flesh: it would be tedious, and he who chooses can
easily gather them from the letter of the Apostle. I will only speak of
the Spirit and its fruits, love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, meekness,[4] continence. All the virtues of the
Spirit are supported and protected by continence, which is as it were
their solid foundation and crowning point. Against such there is no
law.[5] "And they that are of Christ have crucified their flesh with
the passions and the lusts thereof. If we live by the Spirit, by the
Spirit let us also walk." Why do we who with Christ have crucified our
flesh and its passions and desires again desire to do the things of the
flesh?[6] "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he
that soweth unto his own flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but
he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life."
I think that he who has a wife, so long as he reverts to the practice
in question, that Satan may not tempt him, is sowing to the flesh and
not to the Spirit. And he who sows to the flesh (the words are not
mine, but the Apostle's) reaps corruption. God the Father chose us in
Christ before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and
without spot before Him.[1] We walked in the lusts of the flesh, doing
the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were children of
wrath, even as the rest. But now He has raised us up with Him, and made
us to sit with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,[2] that we
may put away according to our former manner of life the old man, which
is corrupt according to the lusts of deceit, and that blessing may be
applied to us which so finely concludes the mystical Epistle to the
Ephesians: 3 " Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ
in uncorruptness."[4] " For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence
also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion
anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body
of his glory.[5] Whatsoever things then are true, whatsoever are
chaste, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things pertain to
purity, let us join ourselves to these, let us follow these.[6] Christ
hath reconciled us in his body to God the Father through his death, and
has presented us holy and without spot, and without blame before
himself: in whom we have been also circumcised, not with the
circumcision made with hands, to the spoiling of the body of the flesh,
but with the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in
baptism, wherein also we rose with him. If then we have risen with
Christ, let us seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth
on the right hand of God; let us set our affections on things above,
not upon the things that are upon the earth. For we are dead, and our
life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ our life shall appear, then
we also shall appear with him in glory.[7] No soldier on service
entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him
who enrolled him as a soldier.[8] For the grace of God hath appeared,
bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live purely and
righteously and godly in this present world."
39. The day would not be long enough were I to
attempt to relate all that the Apostle enjoins concerning purity. These
things are those concerning which our Lord said to the Apostles :[9] "I
have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into
all the truth." After the crucifixion of Christ, we find in the[10]
Acts of the Apostles that one house, that of Philip
377
the Evangelist, produced four virgin daughters, to the end that
Caesarea, where the Gentile Church had been consecrated in the person
of Cornelius the centurion, might afford an illustration of virginity.
And whereas our Lord said in the Gospel:[1] "The law and the prophets
were until John," they because they were virgins are related to have
prophesied even after John. For they could not be bound by the law of
the Old Testament, who had shone with the brightness of virginity. Let
us pass on to James, who was called the brother of the Lord, a man of
such sanctity and righteousness, and distinguished by so rigid and
perpetual a virginity, that even[2] Josephus, the Jewish historian,
relates that the overthrow of Jerusalem was due to his death. He, the
first bishop of the Church at Jerusalem, which was composed of Jewish
believers, to whom Paul went, accompanied by Titus and Barnabas, says
in his Epistle:[3] "Be not deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good
gift and every perfect boon is from above, coming down from the Father
of lights,[4] with whom there is no difference, neither shadow that is
cast by turning. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures."
Himself a virgin, he teaches virginity in a mystery. Every perfect gift
cometh down from above, where marriage is unknown; and it cometh down,
not from any one you please, but from the Father of lights, Who says to
the apostles, "Ye are the light of the world;" with Whom there is no
difference of Jew, or Gentile, nor does that shadow which was the
companion of the law, trouble those who have believed from among the
nations; but with His word He begat us, and with the word of truth,
because some shadow, image, and likeness of truth went before in the
law, that we might be the first-fruits of His creatures. And as He who
was Himself the[5] first begotten from the dead has raised all that
have died in Him: so He who was a virgin, consecrated the first-fruits
of His virgins in His own virgin self. Let us also consider what Peter
thinks of the calling of the Gentiles:[6] " Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat
us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who by the power of God
are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the
last time." Where we read of an inheritance incorruptible, and
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, prepared in heaven and reserved
for the last time, and of the hope of eternal life when they will
neither marry, nor be given in marriage, there, in other words, the
privileges of virginity are described. For he shows as much in what
follows :[1] "Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and
set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ; as children of obedience, not
fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of
your ignorance; but like as he which called you is holy, be ye
yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, ye
shall be holy; for I am holy.[2] For we were not redeemed with
contemptible things, with silver or gold; but with the precious blood
of a lamb without spot, Jesus Christ,[3] that we might purify our souls
in obedience to the truth, having been begotten again not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God,[4] who
liveth and abideth. And as living stones let us be built up a spiritual
house, an holy priesthood offering up spiritual sacrifices through
Christ our Lord.[5] For we are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a people for God's own possession.[6] Christ died for us
in the flesh. Let us arm ourselves with the same conversation as did
Christ; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
that we should no longer live the rest of our time in the flesh to the
lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past is sufficient
for us when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, and other vices. Great
and precious are the promises attaching to virginity which He has given
us,[7] that through it we may become partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped from the corruption that is in the world through
lust.[8] The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation,
and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgement,
but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement,
and despise dominion, daring, self-willed. For they, as beasts of
burden, without reason, think only of their belly and their lusts,
railers who shall in their corruption be destroyed, and shall receive
the reward of iniquity: men that count unrighteousness delight, spots
and blemishes, think-
378
ing of nothing but their pleasures; having eyes full of adultery and
insatiable lust, deceiving souls not yet strengthened by the love of
Christ. For they utter swelling words and easily snare the unlearned
with the seduction of the flesh; promising them liberty while they
themselves are the slaves of vice, luxury, and corruption. For of what
a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage. But if,
after they had escaped the defilements of the world through the
knowledge of our Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again overcome by that
which they before overcame, the last state is become worse with them
than the first. And it were better for them not to have known the way
of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back and forsake the
holy commandment delivered unto them. And it has happened unto them
according to the true proverb, the dog hath turned to his own vomit
again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire." I have
hesitated, for fear of being tedious, to quote the whole passage of the
second Epistle of Peter, and have merely shown that the Holy Spirit in
prophecy foretold the teachers of this time and their heresy. Lastly,
he more clearly denotes them, saying,[1] "In the last days seducing
mockers shall come, walking after their own lusts."
40. The Apostle has described Jovinianus speaking
with swelling cheeks and nicely balancing his inflated utterances,
promising heavenly liberty, when he himself is the slave of vice and
self-indulgence, a dog returning to his vomit. For although he boasts
of being a monk, he has exchanged his dirty tunic, bare feet, common
bread, and drink of water, for a snowy dress, sleek skin, honey-wine
and dainty dishes, for the sauces of[2] Apicius and[3] Paxamus, for
baths and rubbings, and for the cook-shops. Is it not clear that he
prefers his belly to Christ, and thinks his ruddy complexion worth the
kingdom of heaven ? And yet that handsome monk so fat and sleek, and of
bright appearance, who always walks with the air of a bridegroom, must
either marry a wife if he is to show that virginity and marriage are
equal: or if he does not marry one, it is useless for him to bandy
words with us when his acts are on our side. And John agrees with this
almost to the letter:[4] "Love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is
not in him. For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, and
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of this life, which is not of the
Father, but is of the world." And, "The world passeth away, and the
lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. A new
commandment have I written unto you, which thing is true both in Christ
and in you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light
already shineth." And again,[1] " Beloved, now are we the children of
God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. But we know
that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him: for we shall see
him even as he is. And every one that hath this hope purifieth himself,
even as he is pure.[2] Herein is our love made perfect, if we have
boldness in the day of judgement: that as he is, even so may we be in
this world." The Epistle of Jude also expresses nearly the same:[3]
"Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." Let us read the
Apocalypse of John, and we shall there find the Lamb upon Mount
Sion,[4] and with Him "a hundred and forty-four thousand of them that
were sealed, having His name and the name of His Father written in
their foreheads, who sing a new song, and no one can sing that song
save they who have been redeemed out of the earth. These are they who
have not defiled themselves with women, for they continued virgins.
These follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth: for they were redeemed
from among men, first-fruits to God and to the Lamb, and in their mouth
was found no guile, and they are without spot." Out of each tribe, the
tribe of Dan excepted, the place of which is taken by the tribe of
Levi, twelve thousand virgins who have been sealed are spoken of as
future believers, who have not defiled themselves with women. And that
we may not suppose the reference to be to those who know not harlots,
he immediately added: "For they continued virgins." Whereby he shows
that all who have not preserved their virginity, in comparison of pure
and angelic chastity and of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, are
defiled.[6] " These are they who sing a new song which no man can sing
except him that is a virgin. These are first-fruits unto God and unto
the Lamb, and are without blemish." If virgins are first-fruits, it
follows that widows and the continent in marriage, come after the
first-fruits, that is, are in the second and third rank: nor can a lost
people be saved unless it offer such sacrifices of chastity to God, and
with pure victims reconcile the spotless Lamb.
379
It would be endless work to explain the Gospel mystery of the ten
virgins, five of whom were wise and five foolish. All I say now is,
that as mere virginity without other works does not save, so all works
without virginity, purity, continence, chastity, are imperfect. And we
shall not be hindered in the least from taking this view by the
objection of our opponent that our Lord was at Cana of Galilee, and
joined in the marriage festivities when He turned water into wine. I
shall very briefly reply, that He Who was circumcised on the eighth
day, and for Whom a pair of turtle-doves and two young pigeons were
offered on the day of purification, like others before He suffered,
shewed His approval of Jewish custom, that He might not seem to give
His enemies just cause for putting Him to death on the pretext that He
destroyed the law and condemned nature. And even this was done for our
sakes. For by going once to a marriage, He taught that men should marry
only once. Moreover, at that time it was possible to injure virginity
if marriage were not placed next to it, and the purity of widowhood in
the third rank. But now when heretics are condemning wedlock, and
despise the ordinance of God, we gladly hear anything he[1] may say in
praise of marriage. For the Church does not condemn marriage, but makes
it subordinate; nor does she reject it, but regulates it; for she
knows, as was said before, that[2] in a great house there are not
only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earthenware; and
that some are to honour, some to dishonour; and that whoever cleanses
himself will be a vessel of honour, necessary, prepared for every good
work.
41. I have given enough and more than enough
illustrations from the divine writings of Christian chastity and
angelic virginity. But as I understand that our opponent in his
commentaries summons us to the tribunal of worldly wisdom, and we are
told that views of this kind are never accepted in the world, and that
our religion has invented a dogma against nature, I will quickly run
through Greek and Roman and Foreign History, and will show that
virginity ever took the lead of chastity. Fable relates that Atalanta,
the virgin of Calydonian fame, lived for the chase and dwelt always in
the woods; in other words that she did not set her heart on marriage
with its troubles of pregnancy and of sickness, but upon the nobler
life of freedom and chastity. [3] Harpalyce too, a Thracian virgin, is
described by the famous poet; and so is[4] Camilia, queen of the
Volsci, on whom, when she came to his assistance,
Turnus had no higher praise which he could bestow than to call her a
virgin. "O Virgin, Glory of Italy!" And that famous daughter of[1]
Leos, the lady of the brazen house, ever a virgin, is related to have
freed her country from pestilence by her voluntary death: and the blood
of the virgin[2] Iphigenia is said to have calmed the stormy winds.
What need to tell of the Sibyls of Erythrae and Cum, and the eight
others? for Varro asserts there were ten whose ornament was virginity,
and divination the reward of their virginity. But if in the olian
dialect "Sibyl" is represented by <greek>Qeoboulh</greek>,
we must understand that a knowledge of the Counsel of God is rightly
attributed to virginity alone. We read, too, that Cassandra and
Chryseis, prophetesses of Apollo and Juno, were virgins. And there were
innumerable priestesses of the Taurian Diana, and of Vesta. One of
these, Munitia, being suspected of unchastily was[3] buried alive,
which would be in my opinion an unjust punishment, unless the violation
of virginity were considered a serious crime. At all events how highly
the Romans always esteemed virgins is clear from the fact that consuls
and generals even in their triumphal chariots and bringing home the
spoils of conquered nations, were wont to make way for them to pass.
And so did men of all ranks. When[4] Claudia, a Vestal Virgin, was
suspected of unchastily, and a vessel containing the image of Cybele
was aground in the Tiber, it is related that she, to prove her
chastity, with her girdle drew the ship which a thousand men could not
move. Yet, as[5] the uncle of Lucan the poet says, it would have been
better if this circumstance had decorated a chastity tried and proved,
and had not pleaded in defence of a chastity equivocal. No wonder that
we read such things of human beings, when heathen error also invented
the virgin goddesses Minerva and Diana, and placed the Virgin among the
twelve signs of the Zodiac, by means of which, as they suppose, the
world
380
revolves. It is a proof of the little esteem in which they held
marriage that they did not even among the scorpions, centaurs, crabs,
fishes, and capricorn, thrust in a husband and wife. When the thirty
tyrants of Athens had slain Phidon at the banquet, they commanded his
virgin daughters to come to them, naked like harlots, and there upon
the ground, red with their father's blood, to act the wanton. For a
little while they hid their grief, and then when they saw the revellers
were intoxicated, going out on the plea of casing nature, they embraced
one another and threw themselves into a well, that by death they might
save their virginity. The virgin daughter of Demotion, chief of the
Areopagites, having heard of the death of her betrothed,[1] Leosthenes,
who had originated the Lamian war, slew herself, for she declared that
although in body she was a virgin, yet if she were compelled to: accept
another, she should regard him as her second husband, when she had
given her heart to Leosthenes. So close a friendship long existed
between Sparta and Messene that for the furtherance of certain
religious rites they even exchanged virgins. Well, on one occasion when
the men of Messene attempted to outrage fifty Lacedmonian virgins, out
of so many not one consented, but they all most gladly died in defence
of their chastity. Whence there arose a long and grievous war, and in
the long run[2] Mamertina was destroyed. Aristoclides, tyrant of
Orchomenos, fell in love with a virgin of Stymphalus, and when after
the death of her father she took refuge in the temple of Diana, and
embraced the image of the goddess and could not be dragged thence by
force, she was slain on the spot. Her death caused such intense grief
throughout Arcadia that the people took up arms and avenged the
virgin's death.[3] Aristomenes of Messene, a just man, at a time when
the Lacedmonians, whom he had conquered, were celebrating by night the
festival called the[4] Hyacinthia, carried off from the sportive bands
fifteen virgins, and fleeing all night at full speed got away from the
Spartan territory. His companions wished to outrage them, but he
admonished them to the best of his power not to do so, and when certain
refused to
obey, he slew them, and restrained the rest by fear. The maidens were
afterwards ransomed by their kinsmen, and on seeing Aristomenes
condemned for murder would not return to their country until clasping
the knees of the judges they beheld the protector of their chastity
acquitted. How shall we sufficiently praise the daughters of Scedasus
at Leuctra in Boeotia? It is related that in the absence of their
father they hospitably entertained two youths who were passing by, and
who having drunk to excess violated the virgins in the course of the
flight. Being unwilling to survive the loss of their virginity, the
maidens inflicted deadly wounds on one another. Nor would it be right
to omit mention of the Locrian virgins. They were sent to Ilium
according to custom which had lasted for nearly a thousand years, and
yet not one gave occasion to any idle tale or filthy rumour of
virginity defiled. Could any one pass over in silence the seven virgins
of Miletus who, when the Gauls spread desolation far and wide, that
they might suffer no indignity at the hands of the enemy, escaped
disgrace by death, and left to all virgins the lesson of their
example--that noble minds care more for chastity than life? Nicanor
having conquered and overthrown Thebes was himself overcome by a
passion for one captive virgin, whose voluntary self-surrender he
longed for. A captive maid, he thought, must be only too glad. But he
found that virginity is dearer to the pure in heart than a kingdom,
when with tears and grief he held her in his arms slain by her own
hand. Greek writers tell also of another Theban virgin who had been
deflowered by a Macedonian foe, and who, hiding her grief for a while,
slew the violator of her virginity as he slept, and then killed herself
with the sword, so that she would neither live when her chastity
was lost, nor die before she had avenged herself.
42. To come to the Gymnosophists of india, the
opinion is authoritatively handed down that Budda, the founder of their
religion, had his birth through the side of a virgin. And we need not
wonder at this in the case of Barbarians when cultured Greece supposed
that Minerva at her birth sprang from the head of Jove, and Father
Bacchus from his thigh.[1] Speusippus also, Plato's nephew, and[2]
"Clearchus in his eulogy of Plato, and[3] Anaxelides in the second book
of his
381
philosophy, relates that Perictione, the mother of Plato, was violated
by an apparition of Apollo, and they agree in thinking that the prince
of wisdom was born of a virgin.[1] Timus writes that the[2] virgin
daughter of[3] Pythagoras was at the head of a band of virgins, and
instructed them in chastity.[4] Diodorus, the disciple of Socrates, is
said to have had five daughters skilled in dialectics and distinguished
for chastity, of whom a full account is given by Philo the master of[5]
Carneades. And mighty Rome cannot taunt us as though we had invented
the story of the birth of our Lord and Saviour from a virgin; for the
Romans believe that the founders of their city and race were the
offspring of the virgin[6] Ilia and of Mars.
43. Let these allusions to the virgins of the world,
brief and hastily gathered from many histories, now suffice. I will
proceed to married women who were reluctant to survive the decease or
violent death of their husbands for fear they might be forced into a
second marriage, and who entertained a marvellous affection for the
only husbands they had. This may teach us that second marriage was
repudiated among the heathen. Dido, the sister of Pygmalion, having
collected a vast amount of gold and silver, sailed to Africa, and there
built Carthage. And when her hand was sought in marriage by Iarbas,
king of Libya, she deferred the marriage for a while until her country
was settled. Not long after, having raised a[7] funeral pyre to the
memory of her former husband Sichus, she preferred to "burn rather than
to marry." Carthage was built by a woman of chastity, and its end was a
tribute to the excellence of the virtue.
For the[1] wife of Hasdrubal, when the city was captured and set on
fire, and she saw that she could not herself escape capture by the
Romans, took her little children in either hand and leaped into the
burning ruins of her house.
44. What need to tell of the wife of[2] Niceratus,
who, not enduring to wrong her husband, inflicted death upon herself
rather than subject herself to the lust of the thirty tyrants whom
Lysander had set over conquered Athens?[3] Artemisia, also, wife of
Mausolus, is related to have been distinguished for chastity. Though
she was queen of Caria, and is extolled by great poets and historians,
no higher praise is bestowed upon her than that when her husband was
dead she loved him as much as when he was alive, and built a tomb so
great that even to the present day all costly sepulchres are called
after his name, mausoleums.[4] Teuta, queen of the Illyrians, owed her
long sway over brave warriors, and her frequent victories over Rome, to
her marvellous chastity. The Indians and almost all the Barbarians have
a plurality of wives. It is a law with them that the favourite wife
must be burned with her dead husband. The wives therefore vie with one
another for the husband's love, and the highest ambition of the rivals,
and the proof of chastity, is to be considered worthy of death. So then
she that is victorious, having put on her former dress and ornaments,
lies down beside the corpse, embracing and kissing it, and to the glory
of chastity despises the flames which are burning beneath her. I
suppose that she who dies thus, wants no second marriage. The famous
Alcibiades, the friend of Socrates, when Athens was conquered, fled to
Pharnabazus, who took a bribe from Lysander the Lacedmonian leader and
ordered him to be slain. He was strangled, and when his head had been
cut off it was sent to Lysander as proof of the murder, but the rest of
his body lay unburied. His concubine, therefore, all alone, in defiance
of the command of the cruel enemy, in the midst of strangers, and in
the face of peril, gave him due burial, for she was ready to die for
the dead man whom she had loved when living. Let matrons, Christian
matrons at all events, imitate the fidelity of concubines, and
382
exhibit in their freedom what she in her captivity preserved.
45. Strato, ruler of Sidon, thought of dying by his
own hand, that he might not be the sport of the Persians, who were
close by and whose alliance he had discarded for the friendship of the
king of Egypt. But he drew back in terror, and eying the sword which he
had seized, awaited in alarm the approach of the enemy. His wife,
knowing that he must be immediately taken, wrested the weapon from his
hand, and pierced his side. When the body was properly laid out she lay
down upon it in the agony of death, that she might not violate her
virgin troth in the embraces of another.[1] Xenophon, in describing the
early years of the eider Cyrus, relates that when her husband Abradatas
was slain, Panthea who had loved him intensely, placed herself beside
the mangled body, then stabbed herself, and let her blood run into her
husband's wounds. The[2] queen whom the king her husband had shewn
naked and without her knowledge to his friend, thought she had good
cause for slaying the king. She judged that she was not beloved if it
was possible for her to be exhibited to another. Rhodogune, daughter of
Darius, after the death of her husband, put to death the nurse who was
trying to persuade her to marry again.[3] Alcestis is related in story
to have voluntarily died for Admetus, and Penelope's chastity is the
theme of Homer's song. Laodamia's praises are also sung by the poets,
because, when[4] Protesilaus was slain at Troy, she refused to survive
him.
46. I may pass on to Roman women; and the first that
I shall mention is[5] Lucretia, who would not survive her violated
chastity, but blotted out the stain upon her person with her own blood.
Duilius, the first Roman who won a[6] naval triumph, took to wife a
virgin, Bilia, of such extraordinary chastity that she was an example
even to an age which held unchastity to be not merely vicious but
monstrous. When he was grown old and feeble he was once in the course
of a quarrel taunted with having bad breath. In dudgeon he betook
himself home, and on complaining to his wife that she had never told
him of it so that he might remedy
the fault, he received the reply that she would have done so, but she
thought that all men had foul breath as he had. In either case this
chaste and noble woman deserves praise, whether she was not aware there
was anything wrong with her husband, or if she patiently endured, and
her husband discovered his unfortunate condition not by the disgust of
a wife, but by the abuse of an enemy. At all events the woman who
marries a second time cannot say this. Marcia, Cato's younger daughter,
on being asked after the loss of her husband why she did not marry
again, replied that she could not find a man who wanted her more than
her money. Her words teach us that men in choosing their wives look for
riches rather than for chastity, and that many in marrying use not
their eyes but their fingers. That must be an excellent thing which is
won by avarice! When the same lady was mourning the loss of her
husband, and the matrons asked what day would terminate her grief, she
replied, "The same that terminates my life." I imagine that a woman who
thus followed her husband in heart and mind had no thought of marrying
again. Porcia, whom [1] Brutus took to wife, was a virgin; Cato's
wife,[2] Marcia, was not a virgin; but Marcia went to and fro between
Hortensius and Cato, and was quite content to live without Cato;
while[3] Porcia could not live without Brutus; for women attach
themselves closely to particular men, and to keep to one is a strong
link in the chain of affection. When a relative urged Annia to marry
again (she was of full age and a goodly person), she answered, "I shall
certainly not do so. For, if I find a good man, I have no wish to be in
fear of losing him: if a bad one, why must I put up with a bad husband
after having had a good one?"[4] Porcia the younger, on hearing a
certain lady of good character, who had a second husband, praised in
her house, replied, "A chaste and happy matron never marries more than
once." Marcella the eider, on being asked by her mother if she was glad
she was married, answered, "So much so that I want nothing more."[5]
Valeria, sister of the Messalas, when she lost her husband Servius,
would marry no one else.
383
On being asked why not, she said that to her, her husband Servius was
ever alive.
47. I feel that in giving this list of women I have
said far more than is customary in illustrating a point, and that I
might be justly censured by my learned reader. But what am I to do when
the women of our time press me with apostolic authority, and before the
first husband is buried, repeat from morning to night the precepts
which allow a second marriage? Seeing they despise the fidelity which
Christian purity dictates, let them at least learn chastity from the
heathen. A book On Marriage, worth its weight in gold, passes under the
name of[1] Theophrastus. In it the author asks whether a wise man
marries. And after laying down the conditions--that the wife must be
fair, of good character, and honest parentage, the husband in good
health and of ample means, and after saying that under these
circumstances a wise man sometimes enters the state of matrimony, he
immediately proceeds thus: "But all these conditions are seldom
satisfied in marriage. A wise man therefore must not take a wife. For
in the first place his study of philosophy will be hindered, and it is
impossible for anyone to attend to his books and his wife. Matrons want
many things, costly dresses, gold, jewels, great outlay, maid-servants,
all kinds of furniture, litters and gilded coaches. Then come
curtain-lectures the livelong night: she complains that one lady goes
out better dressed than she: that another is looked up to by all: 'I am
a poor despised nobody at the ladies' assemblies.' 'Why did you
ogle that creature next door?' 'Why were you talking to the maid?'
'What did you bring from the market?' 'I am not allowed to have a
single friend, or companion.' She suspects that her husband's love goes
the same way as her hate. There may be in some neighbouring city the
wisest of teachers; but if we have a wife we can neither leave her
behind, nor take the burden with us. To support a poor wife, is hard:
to put up with a rich one, is torture. Notice, too, that in the case of
a wife you cannot pick and choose: you must take her as you find her.
If she has a bad temper, or is a fool, if she has a blemish, or is
proud, or has bad breath, whatever her fault may be--all this we learn
after marriage. Horses, asses, cattle, even slaves of the smallest
worth, clothes, kettles, wooden seats, cups, and earthenware pitchers,
are first tried and then bought: a wife is the only thing that is not
shown before she is married, for fear she may not give satisfaction.
Our gaze must always be directed to her face, and we must always praise
her beauty: if you look at another woman, she thinks that she is out of
favour. She must be called my lady, her birth-day must be kept, we must
swear by her health and wish that she may survive us, respect must be
paid to the nurse, to the nursemaid, to the father's slave, to the
foster-child, to the handsome hanger-on, to the curled darling who
manages her affairs, and to the eunuch who ministers to the safe
indulgence of her lust: names which are only a cloak for adultery. Upon
whomsoever she sets her heart, they must have her love though they want
her not. If you give her the management of the whole house, you must
yourself be her slave. If you reserve something for yourself, she will
not think you are loyal to her; but she will turn to strife and hatred,
and unless you quickly take care, she will have the poison ready. If
you introduce old women, and soothsayers, and prophets, and vendors of
jewels and silken clothing, you imperil her chastity; if you shut the
door upon them, she is injured and fancies you suspect her. But what is
the good of even a careful guardian, when an unchaste wife cannot be
watched, and a chaste one ought not to be? For necessity is but a
faithless keeper of chastity, and she alone really deserves to be
called pure, who is free to sin if she chooses. if a woman be fair, she
soon finds lovers; if she be ugly, it is easy to be wanton. It is
difficult to guard what many long for. It is annoying to have what no
one thinks worth possessing. But the misery of having an ugly wife is
less than that of watching a comely one. Nothing is safe, for which a
whole people sighs and longs. One man entices with his figure, another
with his brains, another with his wit, another with his open hand.
Somehow, or sometime, the fortress is captured which is attacked on all
sides. Men marry, indeed, so as to get a manager for the house, to
solace weariness, to banish solitude; but a faithful slave is a far
better manager, more submissive to the master, more observant of his
ways, than a wife who thinks she proves herself mistress if she acts in
opposition to her husband, that is, if she does what pleases her, not
what she is commanded. But friends, and servants who are under the
obligation of benefits received, are better able to wait upon us in
sickness than a wife who makes us responsible for her tears (she will
sell you enough to make a deluge for the hope of a legacy), boasts of
her anxiety, but drives her sick husband to the distraction of despair.
But if she herself is poorly, we must fall sick with her and never
leave her bedside. Or if she be a good and agreeable wife (how rare a
bird she is!), we have to share
384
her groans in childbirth, and suffer torture when she is in danger. A
wise man can never be alone. He has with him the good men of all time,
and turns his mind freely wherever he chooses. What is inaccessible to
him in person he can embrace in thought. And, if men are scarce, he
converses with God.[1] He is never less alone than when alone. Then
again, to marry for the sake of children, so that our name may not
perish, or that we may have support in old age, and leave our property
without dispute, is the height of stupidity. For what is it to us when
we are leaving the world if another bears our name, when even a son
does not all at once take his father's title, and there are countless
others who are called by the same name. Or what support in old age is
he whom you bring up, and who may die before you, or turn out a
reprobate? Or at all events when he reaches mature age, you may seem to
him long in dying. Friends and relatives whom you can judiciously love
are better and safer heirs than those whom you must make your heirs
whether you like it or not. Indeed, the surest way of having a good
heir is to ruin your fortune in a good cause while you live, not to
leave the fruit of your labour to he used you know riot how."
48. When Theophrastus thus discourses, are there any
of us, Christians, whose conversation is in heaven and who daily say[2]
"I long to be dissolved, and to be with Christ," whom he does not put
to the blush? Shall a joint-heir of Christ really long for human heirs?
And shall he desire children and delight himself in a long line of
descendants, who will perhaps fall into the clutches of Antichrist,
when we read that[3] Moses and[4] Samuel preferred other men to their
own sons, and did not count as their children those whom they saw to be
displeasing to God? When Cicero after[5] divorcing Terentia was
requested by[6] Hirtius to marry his sister, he[7] set the matter
altogether on one side, and said that he could not possibly devote
himself to a wife and to philosophy. Meanwhile that excellent partner,
who had herself drunk wisdom at Tully's fountains, married[1] Sallust
his enemy, and took for her third husband Messala Corvinus, and thus,
as it were, passed through three degrees of eloquence. Socrates had two
wives, Xantippe and Myron, grand-daughter of Aristides. They frequently
quarrelled, and he was accustomed to banter them for disagreeing about
him, he being the ugliest of men, with snub nose, bald forehead,
rough-haired, and bandy-legged. At last they planned an attack upon
him, and having punished him severely, and put him to flight, vexed him
for a long time. On one occasion when he opposed Xantippe; who from
above was heaping abuse upon him, the termagant soused him with dirty
water, but he only wiped his head and said, "I knew that a shower
must follow such thunder as that."[2] Metella, consort of L. Sulla
the[3] Fortunate (except in the matter of his wife) was[4] openly
unchaste. It was the common talk of Athens, as I learnt in my youthful
years when we soon pick up what is bad, and yet Sulla was in the dark,
and first got to know the secrets of his household through the abuse of
his enemies. Cn. Pompey had an impure wife[5] Mucia, who was surrounded
by eunuchs from Pontus and troops of the countrymen of Mithridates.
Others thought that he knew all and submitted to it; but a comrade told
him during the campaign, and the conqueror of the whole world was
dismayed at the sad intelligence.[6] M. Cato, the Censor, had a wife
Actoria Paula, a woman of low origin, fond of drink, violent, and (who
would believe it?) haughty to Cato. I say this for fear anyone may
suppose that in marrying a poor woman he has secured peace. When[7]
Philip king of Macedon, against whom "Demosthenes thundered in his
Philippics, was entering his bed-room as usual, his wife
385
in a passion shut him out. Finding himself excluded he held his tongue,
and consoled himself for the insult by reading a tragic poem.
[1]Gorgias the Rhetorician recited his excellent treatise on Concord to
the Greeks, then at variance among themselves, at Olympia. Whereupon
[2]Melanthius his enemy observed: "Here is a man who teaches us
concord, and yet could not make concord between himself his wife, and
maid-servant, three persons in one house." The truth was that his wife
envied the beauty of the girl, and drove the purest of men wild with
daily quarrels. Whole tragedies of Euripides are censures on women.
Hence Hermione says,[3] "The counsels of evil women have beguiled me."
In the semi-barbarous and remote city [4]Leptis it is the custom for a
daughter-in-law on[5] the second day to beg the loan of a jar from her
mother-in-law. The latter at once denies the request, and we see how
true was the remark of [6]Terence, ambiguously expressed on
purpose--"How is this? do all mothers-in-law hate their
daughters-in-law?" We read of a certain Roman noble who, when his
friends found fault with him for having divorced a wife, beautiful,
chaste, and rich, put out his foot and said to them, "And the shoe
before you looks new and elegant, yet no one but myself knows where it
pinches." Herodotus[7] tells us that a woman puts off her modesty with
her clothes. And our own comic poet [8]thinks the man fortunate who has
never been married. Why should I refer to Pasiphae,[9] Clytemnestra,
and Eriphyle, the first of whom, the wife of a king and swimming in
pleasure, is said to have lusted for a bull, the second to have killed
her: husband for the sake of an adulterer, the third to have betrayed
Amphiaraus, and to have preferred a gold necklace to the welfare of her
husband. In all the bombast of tragedy and the overthrow of houses,
cities, and kingdoms, it is the wives and concubines who stir up
strife. Parents take up arms against their children: unspeakable
banquets are served: and on account of the rape of one wretched woman
Europe and Asia are involved in a ten years' war. We read of some who
were divorced the day after they were married, and immediately married
again. Both husbands are to blame, both he who was so soon
dissatisfied, and he who was so soon pleased. Epicurus the patron of
pleasure (though [1]Metrodorus his disciple married Leontia) says that
a wise man can seldom marry, because marriage has many drawbacks. And
as riches, honours, bodily health, and other things which we call
indifferent, are neither good nor bad, but stand as it were midway, and
become good and bad according to the use and issue, so wives stand on
the border line of good and ill. It is, moreover, a serious matter for
a wise man to be in doubt whether he is going to marry a good or a bad
woman. [2]Chrysippus ridiculously maintains that a wise man should
marry, that he may not outrage Jupiter[3] Gamelius and Genethlius. For
upon that principle the Latins would not marry at all, since they have
no Jupiter who presides over marriage. But if, as he thinks, the life
of men is determined by the names of gods, whoever chooses to sit will
offend Jupiter[4] Stator.
49. Aristotle and Plutarch and our Seneca have
written treatises on matrimony, out of which we have already made some
extracts and now add a few more. "The love of beauty is the forgetting
of reason and the near neighbour of madness; a foul blot little in
keeping with a sound mind. It confuses counsel, breaks high and
generous spirits, draws away men from great thoughts to mean ones; it
makes men querulous, ill-tempered, foolhardy, cruelly imperious,
servile flatterers, good for nothing, at last not even for love itself.
For although in the intensity of passion it burns like a raging fire,
it wastes much time through suspicions, tears, and complaints: it
begets hatred of itself, and at last hates itself." The course of love
is laid bare in Plato's Phaedrus from beginning to end, and Lysias
explains all its drawbacks--how it is led not by reason, but by frenzy,
and in particular is a harsh gaoler over lovely wives. Seneca, too,
relates that he knew an accomplished man who before going out used to
tie
386
his wife's garter upon his breast, and could not bear to be absent from
her for a quarter of an hour; and this pair would never take a drink
unless husband and wife alternately put their lips to the cup; and they
did other things just as absurd in the extravagant outbursts of their
warm but blind affection. Their love was of honourable birth, but it
grew out of all proportion. And it makes no difference how honourable
may be the cause of a man's insanity. Hence [1]Xystus in his Sentences
tells us that "He who too ardently loves his own wife is an adulterer."
It is disgraceful to love another man's wife at all, or one's own too
much. A wise man ought to love his wife with judgment, not with
passion. Let a man govern his voluptuous impulses. and not rush
headlong into intercourse. There is nothing blacker than to love a wife
as if she were an adulteress. Men who say they have contracted marriage
and are bringing up children, for the good of their country and of the
race, should at least imitate the brutes, and not destroy their
offspring in the womb; nor should they appear in the character of
lovers, but of husbands. In some cases marriage has grown out of
adultery: and, shameful to relate! men have tried to teach their wives
chastity after having taken their chastity away. Marriages of that sort
are quickly dissolved when lust is satiated. The first allurement gone,
the charm is lost. What shall I say, says Seneca, of the poor men who
in numbers are bribed to take the name of husband in order to evade the
laws promulgated against bachelors? How can he who is married under
such conditions be a guide to morality, teach chastity, and maintain
the authority of a husband? It is the saying of a very learned man,
that chastity must be preserved at all costs, and that when it is lost
all virtue falls to the ground. This holds the primacy of all virtues
in woman. This it is that makes up for a wife's poverty, enhances her
riches, redeems her deformity, gives grace to her beauty; it makes her
act in a way worthy of her forefathers whose blood it does not taint
with bastard offspring; of her children, who through it have no need to
blush for their mother, or to be in doubt about their father; and above
all, of herself, since it defends her from external violation. There is
no greater calamity connected with captivity than to be the victim of
another's lust. The consulship sheds lustre upon men; eloquence gives
eternal renown; military glory and a triumph immortalise an obscure
family. Many are the spheres ennobled by splendid ability. The virtue
of woman is, in a special sense, purity. It was this that made
[1]Lucretia the equal of Brutus, if it did not make her his superior,
since Brutus learnt from a woman the impossibility of being a slave. It
was this that made [2]Cornelia a fit match for Gracchus, and [3]Porcia
for a second Brutus. [4]Tanaquil is better known than her husband. His
name, like the names of many other kings, is lost in the mists of
antiquity. She, through a virtue rare among women, is too deeply rooted
in the hearts of all ages for her memory ever to perish. Let my married
sisters copy the examples of [5]Theano, [6]Cleobuline, Gorgente,
[7]Timoclia, the [8]Claudias and Cornelias; and when they find the
Apostle conceding second marriage to depraved women, they will read
that before the light of our religion shone upon the world wives of one
husband ever held high rank among matrons, that by their hands the
sacred rites of Fortuna [9]Muliebris were performed, that a priest or
[10]Flamen twice [11]married was unknown, that the high-priests of
Athens to this day [12]emasculate themselves by drinking hemlock, and
once they have been drawn in to the pontificate, cease to be men.
387
Book II.
Jerome answers the second, third, and fourth propositions of Jovinianus.
I. (c. 1-4). That those who have become regenerate
cannot be overthrown by the devil, Jerome (c. 1) puts it that they
cannot he tempted by the devil. He quotes 1 John i. 8-ii. 2, as shewing
that faithful men can be tempted and sin and need an advocate. The
expressions (3) in Heb. vi. as to those who crucify the Son of God
afresh do not apply to ordinary sins after baptism, as supposed by
Montanus and Novatus. The epistles to the Seven Churches show that the
lapsed may return. The Angels, and even our Lord Himself, (4) could be
tempted.
II. (c. 5-I7). That there is no difference (morally)
between one who fasts and one who takes food with thanksgiving.
Jovinian has quoted (5) many texts of Scripture to show that God has
made animals for men's food. But (6) there are many other uses of
animals besides food. And there are many warnings like 1 Cor. vi. 13,
as to the danger arising from food, There are among the heathen (7)
many instances of abstinence. They recognize (8) the evil of sensual
allurements, and often, like Crates the Theban, (9) have cast away what
would tempt them; the senses, they teach. (10) should be subject to
reason; and, that (11) except for athletes (Christians do not want to
be like Milo of Crotona) bread and water suffice. Horace (12), Xenophon
and other eminent Greeks (13), the Essenes and the Brahmans (14), as
well as philosophers like Diogenes, testify to the value of abstinence.
The Old Testament stories (15) of Esau's pottage, of the lusting of
Israel for the flesh-pots of Egypt, and those in the New Testament of
Anna, Cornelius, &c., commend abstinence. If some heretics
inculcate fasting (16) in such a way as to despise the gifts of God,
and weak Christians are not to be judged for their use of flesh, those
who seek the higher life (17) will find a help in abstinence.
III. (c. 18-34). The fourth proposition of
Jovinianus, that all who are saved will have equal reward, is refuted
(19) by the various yields of thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold in the
parable of the sower, by (20) the "stars differing in glory" of I Cor.
xv. 41. It is strange (21) to find the advocate of self-indulgence now
claiming equality to the saints. But (22) as there were differences in
Ezekiel between cattle and cattle, so in St. Paul between those who
built gold or stubble on the one foundation. The differences of gifts
(23), of punishments (24), of guilt (25), as in Pilate and the Chief
Priests, of the produce of the good seed (26), of the mansions promised
in heaven (27-29), of the judgment upon sins both in the church and in
Scripture (30-31), of those called at different times to the vineyard
(32) are arguments for the diversity of rewards. The parable of the
talents (33) holds out as rewards differences of station, and so does
the church (34) in its different orders.
Jerome now recapitulates (35) and appeals (36)
against the licentious views of Jovinianus, which have already induced
many virgins to break their vows; and which, as the new Roman heresy
(37), he calls upon the Imperial City (38) to reject.
1. The second proposition of Jovinianus is that the
baptized cannot be tempted [1]by the devil. And to escape the
imputation of folly in saying this, he adds: "But if any are tempted,
it only shows that they were baptized with water, not with the Spirit,
as we read was the case with Simon Magus." Hence it is that John says,
[2]"Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because his seed abideth
in him: and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God. In this the
children of God are manifest, and the children of the Devil." And at
the end of the Epistle, [3]"Whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not;
but his being begotten of God keepeth him, and the evil one toucheth
him not."
2. This would be a real difficulty and one for ever
incapable of solution were it not solved by the witness of John
himself, who immediately goes on to say, [4]" My little children, guard
yourselves from idols." If everyone that is born of God sinneth not,
and cannot be tempted by the devil, how is it that he bids them beware
of temptation? Again in the same Epistle we read: [5]" If we say that
we have no sins, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not
sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." I suppose that
John was baptized and was writing to the baptized: I imagine too that
all sin is of the devil. Now John confesses himself a sinner, and hopes
for forgiveness of sins after baptism. My friend Jovinianus says,
[1]"Touch me not, for I am clean." What then? Does the Apostle
contradict himself? By no means. In the same passage he gives his
reason for thus speaking: [2]"My little children, these things write I
unto you, that ye may not sin. But if any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation
for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. And
hereby know we that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that
saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the
truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the
love of God been perfected. Hereby know we that we are in him: he that
saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked."
My reason for telling you, little children, that everyone who is born
of God sinneth not, is that you may not sin, and
388
that you may know that so long as you sin not I you abide in the birth
which God has given you. Yea, they who abide in that birth cannot sin.
[1]"For what communion hath light with darkness? Or Christ with
Belial?" As day is distinct from night, so righteousness and
unrighteousness, sin and good works, Christ and Antichrist cannot
blend. If we give Christ a lodging-place in our hearts, we banish the
devil from thence. If we sin and the devil enter through the gate of
sin, Christ will immediately withdraw. Hence David after sinning says:
[2]"Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation," that is, the joy which
he had lost by sinning. [3]"He who saith, I know him, and keepeth not
his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." Christ is
called the truth: [4]"I am the way, the truth, and the life." In vain
do we make our boast in him whose commandments we keep not. To him that
knoweth what is good, and doeth it not, it is sin. [5]"As the body
apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead."
And we must not think it a great matter to know the only God, when even
devils believe and tremble. "He that saith he abideth in him ought
himself also to walk even as he walked." Our opponent may choose
whichever of the two he likes; we give him his choice. Does he abide in
Christ, or not? If he abide, let him then walk as Christ walked. But if
there is [6]rashness in professing to copy the virtues of our Lord, he
does not abide in Christ, for he does not walk as did Christ. [7]"He
did not sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: when he was reviled,
he reviled not again, and as a lamb is dumb before its shearer, so
opened he not his mouth." To Him came the prince of this world, and
found nothing in Him: although He had done no sin, God made Him sin for
us. But we, according to the Epistle of James, [8]"all stumble in many
things," and [9]"no one is pure from sin, no not if his life be but a
day long." [10]For who will boast "that he has a clean heart? or who
will be sure that he is pure from sin?" And we are held guilty after
the similitude of Adam's transgression. Hence David says, [11]"Behold,
I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." And
the blessed Job, [12]"Though I be righteous my mouth will speak
wickedness, and though I be perfect, I shall be found perverse. If I
wash myself with snow water and make my hands never so clean, yet wilt
thou plunge me in the ditch and mine own clothes shall abhor me." But
that we may not utterly despair and think that if we sin after baptism
we cannot be saved, he immediately checks the tendency: [1]"And if any
man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours
only, but also for the whole world." He addresses this to baptized
believers, and he promises them the Lord as an advocate for their
offences. He does not say: If you fall into sin, you have an advocate
with the Father, Christ, and He is the propitiation for your sins: you
might then say that he was addressing those whose baptism had been
destitute of the true faith: but what he says is this, "We have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, and he is the propitiation for
our sins." And not only for the sins of John and his contemporaries,
but for those of the whole world. Now in "the whole world" are included
apostles and all the faithful, and a clear proof is established that
sin after baptism is possible. It is useless for us to have an advocate
Jesus Christ, if sin be impossible.
3. The apostle Peter, to whom it was said, [2]"He
that is bathed needeth not to wash again," and [3]"Thou art Peter, and
upon this rock I will build my Church," through fear of a maid-servant
denied Him. Our Lord himself says, [4]"Simon, Simon, behold Satan asked
to have you, that he might sift you as wheat. But I made supplication
for thee, that thy faith fail not." And in the same place, "Watch and
pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak." If you reply that this was said before the
Passion, we certainly say after the Passion, in the Lord's prayer,
[5]"Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors; and lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." If we do not
sin after baptism, why do we ask that we may be forgiven our sins,
which were already forgiven in baptism? Why do we pray that we may not
enter into temptation, and that we may be delivered from the evil one,
if the devil cannot tempt those who are baptized? The case is different
if this prayer belongs to the Catechumens, and is not adapted to
faithful Christians. Paul, the chosen vessel, [6]chastised his body,
and brought it into subjection, lest after preaching to others he
himself should be found a reprobate, and [7]he tells that there was
given to him "a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of
389
Satan to buffet" him. And to the Corinthians he writes: [1]"I fear,
lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your
minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is toward Christ."
And elsewhere: [2]"But to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also: for
what I also have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, for your sakes
have I forgiven it in the person of Christ: that no advantage may be
gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices." And
again: [3]"There hath no temptation taken you, but such as man can
bear; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above
that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of
escape, that ye may be able to endure it." And, [4]"Let him that
thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." And to the Galatians:
[5]"Ye were running well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey
the truth?" And elsewhere: [6]"We would fain have come unto you, I Paul
once and again; and Satan hindered us." And to the married he says:
[7]"Be together again, that Satan tempt you not because of your
incontinency." And again: [8]"But I say, walk by the Spirit and ye
shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary
the one to the other: that ye may not do the things that ye would." We
are a compound of the two, and must endure the strife of the two
substances. And to the Ephesians: [10]"Our wrestling is not against
flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers,
against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places." Does any one think that we are
safe, and that it is right to fall asleep when once we have been
baptized? And so, too, in the epistle to the Hebrews: [10]"For as
touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and tasted the good
word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it
is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify
to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."
Surely we cannot deny that they have been baptized who have been
illuminated, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have been made
partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God.
But if the baptized cannot sin, how is it now that the Apostle
says, "And have fallen away?
[1]Montanus and [2]Novatus would smile at this, for
they contend that it is impossible to renew again through repentance
those who have crucified to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to
an open shame. He therefore corrects this mistake by saying: [3]"But,
beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that
accompany salvation, though we thus speak; for God is not unrighteous
to forget your work and the love which ye shewed towards his name, in
that ye ministered unto the Saints, and still do minister." And truly
the unrighteousness of God would be great, if He merely punished sin,
and did not welcome good works. I have so spoken, says the Apostle, to
withdraw you from your sins, and to make you more careful through fear
of despair. But, beloved, I am persuaded better things of you, and
things that accompany salvation. For it is not accordant with the
righteousness of God to forget good works, and the fact that you have
ministered and do minister to the Saints for His name's sake, and to
remember sins only. The Apostle James also, knowing that the baptized
can be tempted, and fall of their own free choice, says: [4]"Blessed is
the man that endureth temptation: for when he hath been approved, he
shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that
love him." And that we may not think that we are tempted by God, as we
read in Genesis Abraham was, he adds: "Let no man say when he is
tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, and
He Himself tempteth no man. But each man is tempted when he is drawn
away by his own lust and enticed. Then the lust, when it hath
conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is full grown, bringeth
forth death." God created us with free will, and we are not forced by
necessity either to virtue or to vice. Otherwise, if there be
necessity, there is no crown. As n good works it is God who brings them
to perfection, for it is not of him that willeth,
390
nor of him that runneth, but of God that pitieth and gives us help that
we may be able to reach the goal: so in things wicked and sinful, the
seeds within us give the impulse, and these are brought to maturity by
the devil. When he sees that we are building upon the foundation of
Christ, hay, wood, stubble, then he applies the match. Let us then
build gold, silver, costly stones, and he will not venture to tempt us:
although even thus there is not sure and safe possession. For the lion
lurks in ambush to slay the innocent. [1]"Potters' vessels are proved
by the furnace, and just men by the trial of tribulation." And in
another place it is written: [2]"My son, when thou comest to serve the
Lord, prepare thyself for temptation." Again, the same James says:
[3]"Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only. For if any one is a
hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his
natural face in a mirror: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and
straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." It was useless to
warn them to add works to faith, if they could not sin after baptism.
He tells us that [4]"whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all." Which of us is
without sin? [5]"God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might
have mercy upon all." Peter also says: [6]"The Lord knows how to
deliver the godly out of temptation." And concerning false teachers:
[7]"These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm; for
whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved. For, uttering proud
words of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by
lasciviousness, those who had just escaped, and have turned back to
error." Does not the Apostle in these words seem to you to have
depicted the new party of ignorance? For, as it were, they open the
fountains of knowledge and yet have no water: they promise a shower of
doctrine like prophetic clouds which have been visited by the truth of
God, and are driven by the storms of devils and vices. They speak great
things, and their talk is nothing but pride: [8]"But every one is
unclean with God who is lifted up in his own heart." Like those who had
just escaped from their sins, they return to their own error, and
persuade men to luxury, and to the delights of eating and the
gratification of the flesh. For who is not glad to hear them say: "Let
us eat and drink, and reign for ever"? The wise and prudent they call
corrupt, but pay more attention to the honey-tongued. John the apostle,
or rather the Saviour in the person of John, writes thus to the angel
of the Church of Ephesus: [1]"I know thy works and thy toil and
patience, and that thou didst bear for my name's sake, and hast not
grown weary. But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy
first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent,
and do the first works; or else I will come to thee, and will move thy
candlestick out of its place, except thou repent." Similarly He urges
the other churches, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia,
Laodicea, to repentance, and threatens them unless they return to the
former works. And in Sardis He says He has a few who have not defiled
their garments, and they shall walk with Him in white, for they are
worthy. But they to whom He says: "Remember from whence thou art fallen
"; and, "Behold the devil is about to cast some of you into prison,
that ye may be tried "; and, "I know where thou dwellest, even where
Satan's throne is "; and, "Remember how thou hast received, and didst
hear, and keep it, and repent," and so on, were of course believers,
and baptized, who once stood, but fell through sin.
4. I delayed for a little while the production of
proofs from the Old Testament, because, wherever the Old Testament is
against them they are accustomed to cry out that [2]the Law and the
Prophets were until John. But who does not know that under the other
dispensation of God all the saints of past times were of equal merit
with Christians at the present day? As Abraham in days gone by pleased
God in wedlock, so virgins now please him in perpetual virginity. He
served the Law and his own times; let us now serve the Gospel and our
times, [3]upon whom the ends of the ages have come. David the chosen
one, the man after God's own heart, who had performed all His pleasure,
and who in a certain psalm had said, [4]"Judge me, O Lord, for I have
walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord and shall not
slide. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart,"
even he was afterwards tempted by the devil; and repenting of his sin
said, [5]"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness."
He would have a great sin blotted out by great loving-kindness.
Solomon, beloved of the Lord, and to whom God had twice revealed
Himself, because he loved women forsook the love of God. It is related
in the [6]Book of Days that Manasses the wicked king was restored after
the Babylonish captivity to his former rank. And
391
Josiah, a holy man, [1]was slain by the king of Egypt on the plain of
Megiddo. [2]Joshua also, the son of Josedech and high-priest, although
he was a type of our Saviour Who bore our sins, and united to Himself a
church of alien birth from among the Gentiles, is nevertheless,
according to the letter of Scripture, represented in filthy
garments after he attained to the priesthood, and with the devil
standing at his right hand; and white raiment is afterwards restored to
him. It is needless to tell how Moses and Aaron [2]offended God at the
water of strife, and did not enter the land of promise. For the blessed
Job relates that even the angels and every creature can sin. [4]"Shall
mortal man," he says, "be just before God? Shall a man be
spotless in his works? If he putteth no trust in his servants, and
chargeth his angels with folly, how much more them that dwell in houses
of clay," amongst whom are we, and made of the same clay too. [5]"The
life of man is a warfare upon earth." [6]Lucifer fell who was sending
to all nations, and he who was nurtured in a paradise of delight as one
of the twelve precious stones, was wounded and went down to hell from
the mount of God. Hence the Saviour says in the Gospel: [7]"I beheld
Satan falling as lightning from heaven." If he fell who stood on so
sublime a height, who may not fall? If there are falls in heaven, how
much more on earth! And yet though Lucifer be fallen (the old serpent
after his fall), [8]"his strength is in his loins, and his force is in
the muscles of his belly. The great trees are overshadowed by him, and
he sleepeth beside the reed, the rush, and the sedge." [9]He is king
over all things that are in the waters--that is to say in the seat of
pleasure and luxury, of propagation of children, and of the
fertilisation of the marriage bed [10]" For who can strip off his outer
garment? Who can open the doors of his face? Nations fatten upon him,
and the tribes of Phenicia divide him." And lest haply the reader in
his secret thought might imagine that those tribes of Phenicia and
peoples of Ethiopia only are meant by those to whom the dragon was
given for food, we immediately find a reference to those who are
crossing the sea of this world, and are hastening to reach the haven of
salvation: [1]"His head stands in the ships of the fishermen like an
anvil that cannot be wearied: [2]he counteth iron as straw, and brass
as rotten wood. And all the gold of the sea under him is as mire. He
maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he values the sea like a pot of
ointment, and the blackness of the deep as a captive. He beholdeth
everything that is high." And my friend Jovinianus thinks he can gain
an easy mastery over him. Why speak of holy men and angels, who, being
creatures of God, are of course capable of sin? He dared to tempt the
Son of God, and though smitten through and through with our Lord's
first and second answer, nevertheless raised his head, and when thrice
wounded, withdrew only for a time, and deferred rather than removed the
temptation. And we flatter ourselves on the ground of our baptism,
which though it put away the sins of the past, cannot keep us for the
time to come, unless the baptized keep their hearts with all diligence.
5. At length we have arrived at the question of
food, and are confronted by our third difficulty. "All things were
created to serve for the use of mortal men.' And as man, a rational
animal, in a sense the owner and tenant of the world, is subject to
God, and worships his Creator, so all things living were created either
for the food of men, or for clothing, or for tilling the earth, or
conveying the fruits thereof, or to be the companions of man, and
hence, because they are man's [3]helpers, they have their name jumenta.
[4]'What is man,' says David, 'that thou art mindful of him? And the
son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him but little
lower than the angels, and crownest him with glory and honour. Thou
madest him to have dominion over the works of thine hands; thou hast
put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts
of the field: the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatsoever
passeth through the paths of the seas.' Granted, he says, that the ox
was created for ploughing, the horse for riding, the dog for watching,
goats for their milk, sheep for their fleeces. What is the use of swine
if we may not eat their flesh? of roes, stags, fallow-deer, boars,
hares, and such like game? of geese, wild and tame? of wild ducks and
[5]fig-peckers? of woodcocks? of coots? of thrushes? Why do hens run
about our houses? If they are not eaten, all these creatures were
created by
392
God for nothing. But what need is there of argument when Scripture
clearly teaches that every moving creature, like herbs and vegetables,
were given to us for food, and the Apostle cries aloud [1]'All things
are clean to the clean, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be
received with thanksgiving,' and [2]tells us that men will come in the
last days, forbidding to marry, and to eat meats, which God created for
use? The Lord himself was called by the Pharisees a wine-bibber and a
glutton, the friend of publicans and sinners, because he did not
decline the invitation of Zacchaeus to dinner, and went to the
marriage-feast. But it is a different matter if, as you may foolishly
contend, he went to the dinner intending to fast, and after the manner
of deceivers said, I eat this, not that; I do not drink the wine which
I created out of water. He did not make water, but wine, the type of
his blood. After the resurrection he ate a fish and part of a
honey-comb, not sesame nuts and service-berries. The apostle, Peter,
did not wait like a Jew for the stars to peep, but went upon the
house-top to dine at the sixth hour. Paul in the ship broke bread, not
dried figs. When Timothy's stomach was out of order, he advised him to
drink wine, not perry. In abstaining from meats they please their own
fancy: as though superstitious Gentiles did not observe the [3]rites of
abstinence connected with the Mother of the Gods and with Isis."
6. I will follow in detail the views now expounded,
and before I come to Scripture and show by it that fasting is pleasing
to God, and chastity accepted by him, I will meet philosophic argument
with argument, and will prove that we are not followers of Empedocles
and Pythagoras, who on account of their doctrine of the transmigration
of souls think nothing which lives and moves should be eaten, and look
upon him who fells a fir-tree or an oak as equally guilty with the
parricide or the poisoner: but that we worship our Creator Who made all
things for the use of man. And as the ox was created for ploughing, the
horse for riding, dogs for watching, goats for milk, sheep for their
wool: so it was with swine and stags, and roes and hares, and other
animals: but the immediate purpose of their creation was not that they
might serve for food, but for other uses of men. For if everything that
moves and lives was made for food, and prepared for the stomach, let my
opponents tell me why elephants, lions, leopards, and wolves were
created; why vipers, scorpions, bugs, lice, and fleas; why the vulture,
the eagle, the crow, the hawk; why whales, dolphins, seals, and small
snails were created. Which of us ever eats the flesh of a lion, a
viper, a vulture, a stork, a kite, or the worms that crawl upon our
shores? As then these have their proper uses, so may we say that other
beasts, fishes, birds, were created not for eating, but for medicine.
In short, to how many uses the flesh of vipers, from which we make our
antidotes against poison, may be applied, physicians know well. Ivory
dust is an ingredient in many remedies. Hyena's gall restores
brightness to the eyes, and its dung and that of dogs cures gangrenous
wounds. And (it may seem strange to the reader) Galen asserts in his
treatise on Simples, that human dung is of service in a multitude of
cases. Naturalists say that snake-skin, boiled in oil, gives wonderful
relief in ear-ache. What to the uninitiated seems so useless as a bug?
Yet, suppose a leech to have fastened on the throat, as soon as the
odour of a bug is inhaled the leech is vomited out, and difficulty in
urinating is relieved by the same application. As for the fat of pigs,
geese, fowls, and pheasants, how useful they are is told in all medical
works, and if you read these books you will see there that the vulture
has as many curative properties as it has limbs. Peacock's dung allays
the inflammation of gout. Cranes, storks, eagle's gall, hawk's blood,
the ostrich, frogs, chameleons, swallow's dung and flesh--in what
diseases these are suitable remedies, I could tell if it were my
purpose to discuss bodily ailments and their cure. If you think proper
you may read Aristotle and [1]Theophrastus in prose, or [2]Marcellus of
Side, and our [3]Flavius, who discourse on these subjects in hexameter
verse; the [4]second Pliny also, and [5]Dioscorides, and others,
both naturalists and physicians, who assign to every herb, every stone,
every animal whether reptile, bird, or fish, its own use in the art of
which they treat. So then when you ask me why the pig was created, I
immediately reply, as if two boys were disputing, by asking you why
were vipers and scorpions? You must not judge that anything from the
hand of God is superfluous, because
393
there are many beasts and birds which your palate rejects. But this may
perhaps look more like contentiousness and pugnacity than truth. Let me
tell you therefore that pigs and wild-boars, and stags, and the rest of
living creatures were created, that soldiers, athletes, sailors,
rhetoricians, miners, and other slaves of hard toil, who need physical
strength, might have food: and also those who carry arms and
provisions, who wear themselves out with the work of hand or foot, who
ply the oar, who need good lungs to shout and speak, who level
mountains and sleep out rain or fair. But our religion does not train
boxers, athletes, sailors, soldiers, or ditchers, but followers of
wisdom, who devote themselves to the worship of God, and know why they
were created and are in the world from which they are impatient to
depart. Hence also the Apostle says: [1]"When I am weak, then am I
strong." And. [2]"Though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward
man is renewed day by day." And [3]"I have the desire to depart and be
with Christ." And, [4]"Make not provision for the flesh to fulfil the
lusts thereof." Are all commanded [5]not to have two coats, nor food in
their scrip, money in their purse, a staff in the hand, shoes on the
feet? or to sell all they possess and give to the poor, and follow
Jesus? Of course not: but the command is for those who wish to be
perfect. On the contrary John the Baptist lays down one rule for the
soldiers, another for the publicans. But the Lord says in the Gospel to
him who had boasted of having kept the whole law: [6]"If thou wilt be
perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and
come, follow me." That He might not seem to lay a heavy burden on
unwilling shoulders, He sent His hearer away with full power to please
himself, saying "If thou wilt be perfect." And so I too say to you: If
you wish to be perfect, it is good not to drink wine, and eat flesh. If
you wish to be perfect, it is better to enrich the mind than to stuff
the body. But if you are an infant and fond of the cooks and their
preparations, no one will snatch the dainties out of your mouth. Eat
and drink, and, if you like, with Israel rise up and play, and sing
[7]"Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die." Let him eat and
drink, who looks for death when he has feasted, and who says with
Epicurus, "There is nothing after death, and death itself is nothing."
We believe Paul when he says in tones of thunder: [8]"Meats for the
belly, and the belly for meats. But God will destroy both them and it."
7. I have quoted these few passages of Scripture to show
that we are at one with the philosophers. But who does not know that no
universal law of nature regulates the food of all nations, and that
each eats those things of which it has abundance? For instance, the
Arabians and Saracens, and all the wild tribes of the desert live on
camel's milk and flesh: for the camel, to suit the climate and barren
soil of those regions, is easily bred and reared. They think it wicked
to eat the flesh of swine. Why? Because pigs which fatten on acorns,
chestnuts, roots of ferns, and barley, are seldom or never found among
them: and if they were found, they would not afford the nourishment of
which we spoke just now. The exact opposite is the case with the
northern peoples. If you were to force them to eat the flesh of asses
and camels, they would think it the same as though they were compelled
to devour a wolf or a crow. In Pontus and Phrygia a paterfamilias pays
a good price for fat white worms with blackish heads, which breed in
decayed wood. And as with us the woodcock and fig-pecker, the mullet
and scar, are reputed delicacies, so with them it is a luxury to eat
the [1]xylophagus. Again, because throughout the glowing wastes of the
desert clouds of locusts are found, it is customary with the peoples of
the East and of Libya to feed on locusts. John the Baptist proves the
truth of this. Compel a Phrygian or a native of Pontus to eat a locust,
and he will think it scandalous. Force a Syrian, an African, or Arabian
to swallow worms, he will have the same contempt for them as for flies,
millepedes, and lizards, although the Syrians are accustomed to eat
land-crocodiles, and the Africans even green lizards. In Egypt and
Palestine, owing to the scarcity of cattle no one eats beef, or makes
the flesh of bulls or oxen, or calves, a portion of their food.
Moreover, in my province [2]it is considered a crime to eat veal.
Accordingly the Emperor Valens recently promulgated a law throughout
the East, prohibiting the killing and eating of calves. He had in view
the interests of agriculture, and wished to check the bad practice of
the commoner sort of the people who imitated the Jews in devouring the
flesh of calves, instead of fowls and sucking pigs. The Nomad tribes,
and the [3]Troglodytes, and Scythians, and the barbarous [4]Hurts with
whom we have recently become acquainted,
394
eat flesh half raw. Moreover the Icthyophagi, a wandering race on the
shores of the Red Sea, broil fish on the stones made hot by the sun,
and subsist on this poor food. The [1]Sarmatians, the [2]Chuadi, the
[3]Vandals, and countless other races, delight in the flesh of horses
and wolves. Why should I speak of other nations when I myself, a youth
on a visit to Gaul. heard that the Atticoti, a British tribe, eat human
flesh, and that although they find herds of swine, and droves of large
or small cattle in the woods, it is their custom to cut off the
buttocks of the shepherds and the breasts of their women, and to regard
them as the greatest delicacies? The Scots have no wives of their own;
as though they read Plato's Republic and took Cato for their leader, no
man among them has his own wife, but like beasts they indulge their
lust to their hearts' content. The Persians, Medes, Indians, and
Ethiopians, peoples on a par with Rome itself, have intercourse with
mothers and grandmothers, with daughters and granddaughters. The
[4]Massagetae and [5]Derbices think those persons most unhappy who die
of sickness--and when parents, kindred, or friends reach old age, they
are murdered and devoured. It is thought better that they should be
eaten by the people themselves than by the worms. The [6]Tibareni
crucify those whom they have loved before when they have grown old. The
[7]Hyrcani throw them out half alive to the birds and dogs: the
Caspians leave them dead for the same beasts. The Scythians bury alive
with the remains of the dead those who were beloved of the deceased.
The Bactrians throw their old men to dogs which they rear for the very
purpose, and when Stasanor, Alexander's general, wished to correct the
practice, he almost lost his province. Force an Egyptian to drink
sheep's milk: drive, if you can, a Pelusiote to eat an onion. Almost
every city in Egypt venerates its own beasts and monsters, and whatever
be the object of worship, that they think inviolable and sacred. Hence
it is that their towns also are named after animals Leonto, Cyno, Lyco,
Busyris, Thmuis, which is, being interpreted, a he-goat. And to make us
understand what sort of gods Egypt always welcomed, one of their cities
was recently called [1]Antinous after Hadrian's favourite. You see
clearly then that not only in eating, but also in burial, in wedlock,
and in every department of life, each race follows its own practice and
peculiar usages, and takes that for the law of nature which is most
familiar to it. But suppose all nations alike ate flesh. and let that
be everywhere lawful which the place produces. How does it concern us
whose conversation is in heaven? who, as well as Pythagoras and
Empedocles and all lovers of wisdom, are not bound to the circumstances
of our birth, but of our new birth: who by abstinence subjugate our
refractory flesh, eager to follow the allurements of lust? The eating
of flesh, and drinking of wine, and fulness of stomach, is the
seed-plot of lust. And so the comic poet says, [2]"Venus shivers unless
Ceres and Bacchus be with her."
8. Through the five senses, as through open windows,
vice has access to the soul. The metropolis and citadel of the mind
cannot be taken unless the enemy have previously entered by its doors.
The soul is distressed by the disorder they produce, and is led captive
by sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. If any one delights in the
sports of the circus, or the struggles of athletes, the versatility of
actors, the figure of women, in splendid jewels, dress, silver and
gold, and other things of the kind, the liberty of the soul is lost
through the windows of the eyes, and the prophet's words are fulfilled:
[3]"Death is come up into our windows." Again, our sense of hearing is
flattered by the tones of various instruments and the modulations of
the voice; and whatever enters the ear by the songs of poets and
comedians, by the pleasantries and verses of pantomimic actors, weakens
the manly fibre of the mind. Then, again, no one but a profligate
denies that the profligate and licentious find a delight in sweet
odours, different sorts of incense, fragrant balsam, [4]kuphi,
[5]oenanthe, and musk, which is nothing but the skin of a foreign rat.
And who does not know that gluttony is the mother of avarice, and, as
it were, fetters the heart and keeps it pressed down upon the earth?
For the sake of a temporary gratification of the appetite, land and sea
are ransacked, and we toil and sweat our lives through, that we may
send down our throats honey-wine and costly food. The desire to handle
other men's persons, and the burning lust for women, is a passion
bordering on
395
insanity. To gratify this sense we languish, grow angry, throw
ourselves about with joy, indulge envy, engage in rivalry, are filled
with anxiety, and when we have terminated the pleasure with more or
less repentance, we once more take fire, and want to do that which we
again regret doing. Where, then, that which we may call the thin edge
of disturbance, has entered the citadel of the mind through these
doors, what will become of its liberty, its endurance, its thought of
God, particularly since the sense of touch can picture to itself even
bygone pleasures, and through the recollection of vice forces the soul
to take part in them, and after a manner to practice what it does not
actually commit?
9. At the call of reasoning such as this, many
philosophers have forsaken the crowded cities, and their pleasure
gardens in the suburbs with well-watered grounds, shady trees,
twittering birds, crystal fountains, murmuring brooks, and many charms
for eye and ear, lest through luxury and abundance of riches, the
firmness of the mind should be enfeebled, and its purity debauched. For
there is no good in frequently seeing objects which may one day lead to
your captivity, or in making trial of things which you would find it
hard to do without. Even the Pythagoreans shunned company of this kind
and were wont to dwell in solitary places in the desert. The Platonists
also and Stoics lived in the groves and porticos of, temples, that,
admonished by the sanctity of their restricted abode, they might think
of nothing but virtue. Plato, moreover, himself, when [1]Diogenes
trampled on his couches with muddy feet (he being a rich man), chose a
house called [2]Academia at some distance from the city, in a spot not
only lonely but unhealthy, so that he might have leisure for
philosophy. His object was that by constant anxiety about sickness the
assaults of lust might be defeated, and that his disciples might
experience no pleasure but that afforded by the things they learned. We
have read of some who took out their own eyes lest through sight they
might lose the contemplation of philosophy. Hence it was that [3]Crates
the famous Theban, after throwing into the sea a considerable weight of
gold, exclaimed, "Go to the bottom, ye evil lusts: I will drown you
that you may not drown me." But if anyone thinks to enjoy keenly meat
and drink in excess, and at the same time to devote himself to
philosophy, that is to say, to live in luxury and yet not to be
hampered by the vices attendant on luxury, he deceives himself. For if
it be the case that even when far distant from them we are frequently
caught in the snares of nature, and are compelled to desire those
things of which we have a scant supply: what folly it is to think we
are free when we are surrounded by the nets of pleasure! We think of
what we see, hear, smell, taste, handle, and are led to desire the
thing which affords us pleasure. That the mind sees and hears, and that
we can neither hear nor see anything unless our senses are fixed upon
the objects of sight and hearing, is an old saw. It is difficult, or
rather impossible, when we are swimming in luxury and pleasure not to
think of what we are doing: and it is an idle pretence which some men
put forward [1]that they can take their fill of pleasure with their
faith and purity and mental uprightness unimpaired. It is a violation
of nature to revel in pleasure, and the Apostle gives a caution against
this very thing when he says, [2]"She that giveth herself to pleasure
is dead while she liveth."
10. The bodily senses are like horses madly racing,
but the soul like a charioteer holds the reins. And as horses without a
driver go at break-neck speed, so the body if it be not governed by the
reasonable soul rushes to its own destruction. The philosophers make
use of another illustration of the relations between soul and body;
[3]they say the body is a boy, the soul his tutor. Hence the
[4]historian tells us "that our soul directs, our body serves. The one
we have in common with the gods, the other with the beasts." So then
unless the vices of youth and boyhood are regulated by the wisdom of
the tutor, every effort and every impulse sets strongly in the
direction of wantonness. We might lose four of the senses and yet
live,--that is we could do without sight, bearing, smell, and the
pleasures of touch. But a human being cannot subsist without tasting
food. It follows that reason must be present, that we may take food of
such a kind and in such quantities as will not burden the body, or
hinder the free movement of the soul: for it is the way with us that we
eat, and walk, and sleep, and digest our food, and afterwards in the
fulness of blood have to bear the spur of lust. [5]"Wine is a mocker,
strong drink a brawler." Whosoever has much to do with these is not
wise.
396
And we should not take such food as is difficult of digestion, or such
as when eaten will give us reason to complain that we got it and lost
it with much effort The preparation of vegetables, fruit, and pulse is
easy, and does not require the skill of expensive cooks: our bodies are
nourished by them with little trouble on our part; and, if taken in
moderation, such food is easier to digest, and at less cost, because it
does not stimulate the appetite, and therefore is not devoured with
avidity. No one has his stomach inflated or overloaded if he eats only
one or two dishes, and those inexpensive ones: such a condition comes
of pampering the taste with a variety of meats. The smells of the
kitchen may induce us to eat, but when hunger is satisfied, they make
us their slaves. Hence gorging gives rise to disease: and many persons
find relief for the discomfort of gluttony in emetics,--what they
disgraced themselves by putting in, they with still greater disgrace
put out.
11. [1]Hippocrates in his Aphorisms teaches that
stout persons of a coarse habit of body, when once they have attained
their full growth, unless the plethora be quickly relieved by
blood-letting, develop tendencies to paralysis and the worst forms of
disease: they must therefore be bled, that there may be room for fresh
growth. For it is not the nature of our bodies to continue in one stay,
but go on either to increase or decrease, and no animal can live which
is incapable of growth. Whence [2]Galen, a very learned man and the
commentator on Hippocrates, says in his exhortation to the practice of
medicine that athletes whose whole life and art consists in stuffing
cannot live long, nor be healthy: and that their souls enveloped with
superfluous blood and fat, and as it were covered with mud, have no
refined or heavenly thoughts, but are always intent upon gluttonous and
voracious feasting. Diogenes maintains that tyrants do not bring about
revolutions in cities, and foment wars civil or foreign for the sake of
a simple diet of vegetables and fruits, but for costly meats and the
delicacies of the table. And, strange to say, Epicurus, the defender of
pleasure, in all his books speaks of nothing but vegetables and fruits;
and he says that we ought to live on cheap food because the preparation
of sumptuous banquets of flesh involves great care and suffering, and
greater pains attend the search for such delicacies than pleasures the
consumption of them. Our bodies need only something to eat and drink.
Where there is bread and water, and the like, nature is satisfied.
Whatever more there may be does not go to meet the wants of life, but
are ministers to vicious pleasure. Eating and drinking does not quench
the longing for luxuries, but appeases hunger and thirst. Persons who
feed on flesh want also gratifications not found in flesh. But they who
adopt a simple diet do not look for flesh. Further, we cannot devote
ourselves to wisdom if our thoughts are running on a well-laden table,
the supply of which requires an excess of work and anxiety. The wants
of nature are soon satisfied: cold and hunger can be banished with
simple food and clothing. Hence the Apostle says: "Having food and
clothing let us be therewith content." Delicacies and the various
dishes of the feast are the nurses of avarice. The soul greatly exults
when you are content with little: you have the world beneath your feet,
and can exchange all its power, its feasts, and its lusts, the objects
for which men rake money together, for common food, and make up for
them all with a sack-cloth shirt. Take away the luxurious feasting and
the gratification of lust, and no one will want riches to be used
either in the belly, or beneath it. The invalid only regains his health
by diminishing and carefully selecting his food, i.e., in medical
phrase, by adopting a "slender diet." The same food that recovers
health, can preserve it, for no one can imagine vegetables to be the
cause of disease. And if vegetables do not give the strength of Milo of
Crotona--a strength supplied and nourished by meat--what need has a
wise man and a Christian philosopher of such strength as is required by
athletes and soldiers, and which, if he had it, would only stimulate to
vice? Let those persons deem meat accordant with health who wish to
grat-tify their lust, and who, sunk in filthy pleasure, are always at
heat. What a Christian wants is health, but not superfluous strength.
And it ought not to disturb us if we find but few supporters; for the
pure and temperate are as rare as good and faithful friends, and virtue
is always scarce. Study the temperance of [1]Fabricius, or the poverty
of [2]Curius, and in a great city you will find few worthy of your
imitation. You need not fear that if you do not eat flesh, fowlers and
hunters will have learnt their craft in vain.
397
12. We have read that some who suffered l with
disease of the joints and with gouty humours recovered their health by
proscribing delicacies, and coming down to a simple board and mean
food. For they were then free from the worry of managing a house and
from unlimited feasting. Horace [1]makes fun of the longing for food
which when eaten leaves nothing but regret.
"Scorn pleasure; she but hurts when bought with pain."
And when, in the delightful retirement of the
country, by way of satirizing voluptuous men, he described himself as
plump and fat, his sportive verse ran thus:
"Pay me a visit if you want to laugh,
You'll find me fat and sleek with well-dress'd hide,
Like any pig from Epicurus' sty."
But even if our food be the commonest, we must avoid
repletion. For nothing is so destructive to the mind as a full belly,
fermenting like a wine vat and giving forth its gases on all sides.
What sort of fasting is it, or what refreshment is there after fasting,
when we are blown out with yesterday's dinner, and our[2] stomach is
made a factory for the closet? We wish to get credit for
protracted abstinence, and all the while we devour so much that a day
and a night can scarcely digest it. The proper name to give it is not
fasting, but rather debauch and rank indigestion.
13. [3]Dicarchus in his book of Antiquities,
describing Greece, relates that under Saturn that is in the Golden Age,
when the ground brought forth all things abundantly, no one ate flesh,
but every one lived on field produce and fruits which the earth bore of
itself. Xenophon in eight books narrates the life of Cyrus, King of the
Persians, and asserts that they supported life on barley, cress, salt,
and black bread. Both the aforesaid Xenophon, Theophrastus, and almost
all the Greek writers testify to the frugal diet of the Spartans.
[4]Chremon the Stoic, a man of great eloquence, has a treatise on the
life of the ancient priests of Egypt, who, he says, laid aside all
worldly business and cares, and were ever in the temple, studying
nature and the regulating causes of the heavenly bodies; they never had
intercourse with women; they never from the time they began to devote
themselves to the divine service set eyes on their kindred and
relations, nor even saw their children; they always abstained
from flesh and wine, on account of the light-headedness and dizziness
which a small quantity of food caused, and especially to avoid the
stimulation of the lustful appetite engendered by this meat and drink.
They seldom ate bread, that they might not load the stomach. And
whenever they ate it, they mixed pounded hyssop with all that they
took, so that the action of its warmth might diminish the weight of the
heavier food. They used no oil except with vegetables, and then only in
small quantities, to mitigate the unpalatable taste. What need, he
says, to speak of birds, when they avoided even eggs and milk as flesh.
The one, they said, was liquid flesh, the other was blood with the
colour changed? Their bed was made of palm-leaves, called by them bai:
a sloping footstool laid upon the ground served for a pillow, and they
could go without food for two or three days. The humours of the body
which arise from sedentary habits were dried up by reducing their diet
to an extreme point.
14. [1]Josephus in the second book of the history of
the Jewish captivity, and in the eighteenth book of the Antiquities,
and the two treatises against Apion, describes three sects of the Jews,
the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. On the last of these he bestows
wondrous praise because they practised perpetual abstinence from wives,
wine, and flesh, and made a second nature of their daily fast.
[2]Philo, too, a man of great learning, published a treatise of his own
on their mode of life. [3]Neanthes of Cizycus, and [4]Asclepiades of
Cyprus, at the time when Pygmalion ruled over the East, relate that the
eating of flesh was unknown. Eubulus, also, who wrote the history of
[5]Mithras in many volumes, relates that among the Persians there are
three kinds of Magi, the first of whom, those of greatest learning and
eloquence, take no food except meal and vegetables. At Eleusis it is
customary to abstain from fowls and fish and certain fruits.
[6]Bardesanes, a Babylonian, divides the Gymnosophists of India into
two classes, the one called Brahmans, the other Samaneans, who
are so rigidly self-restrained
398
that they support themselves either with the fruit of trees which grow
on the banks of the Ganges, or with common food of rice or flour, and
when the king visits them, he is wont to adore them, and thinks the
peace of his country depends upon their prayers. Euripides relates that
the prophets of Jupiter in Crete abstained not only from flesh, but
also from cooked food. [1]Xenocrates the philosopher writes that at
Athens out of all the laws of [2]Triptolemus only three precepts remain
in the temple of Ceres: respect to parents, reverence for the gods, and
abstinence from flesh. [3]Orpheus in his song utterly denounces the
eating of flesh. I might speak of the frugality of Pythagoras,
Socrates, and [4]Antisthenes to our confusion: but it would be tedious,
and would require a work to itself. At all events this is the
Antisthenes who, after teaching rhetoric with renown, on hearing
Socrates, is related to have said to his disciples, "Go, and seek a
master, for I have now found one." He immediately, sold what he had,
divided the proceeds among the people, and kept nothing for himself but
a small cloak. Of his poverty and toil Xenophon in the Symposium is a
witness, and so are his countless treatises, some philosophical, some
rhetorical. His most famous follower was the great Diogenes, who was
mightier than King Alexander in that he conquered human nature. For
Antisthenes would not take a single pupil, and when he could not get
rid of the persistent Diogenes he threatened him with a stick if he did
not depart. The latter is said to have laid down his head and said, "No
stick will be hard enough to prevent me from following you."
[5]Satyrus, the biographer of illustrious men, relates that Diogenes to
guard himself against the cold, folded his cloak double: his scrip was
his pantry: and when aged he carried a stick to support his feeble
frame, and was commonly called "Old Hand-to-mouth," because to that
very hour he begged and received food from any one. His home was the
gateways and city arcades. And when he wriggled into his tub, he would
joke about his movable house that adapted itself to the seasons. For
when the weather was cold he used to turn the mouth of the tub towards
the
south: in summer towards the north; and whatever the direction of the
sun might be, that way the palace of Diogenes was turned. He had a
wooden dish for drinking; but on one occasion seeing a boy drinking
with the hollow of his hand he is related to have dashed the cup to the
ground, saying that he did not know nature provided a cup. His virtue
and self-restraint were proved even by his death. It is said that, now
an old man, he was on his way to the Olympic games, which used to be
attended by a great concourse of people from all parts of Greece, when
he was overtaken by fever and lay down upon the bank by the road-side.
And when his friends wished to place him on a beast or in a conveyance,
he did not assent, but crossing to the shade of a tree said, "Go your
way, I pray you, and see the games: this night will prove me either
conquered or conqueror. If I conquer the fever, I shall go to the
games: if the fever conquers me, I shall enter the unseen world." There
through the night he lay gasping for breath and did not, as we are
told, so much die as banish the fever by death. I have cited the
example of only one philosopher, so that our fine, erect, muscular
athletes, who hardly make a shadow of a footmark in their swift
passage, whose words are in their fists and their reasoning in their
heels, who either know nothing of apostolic poverty and the hardness of
the cross. or despise it, may at least imitate Gentile moderation.
15. So far I have dealt with the arguments and
examples of philosophers. Now I will pass on to the beginning of the
human race, that is, to the sphere which belongs to us. I will first
point out that Adam received a command in paradise to abstain from one
tree though he might eat the other fruit. The blessedness of paradise
could not be consecrated without abstinence from food. So long as he
fasted, he remained in paradise; he ate, and was east out; he was no
sooner cast out than he married a wife. While he fasted in paradise he
continued a virgin: when he filled himself with food in the earth, he
bound himself with the tie of marriage. And yet though cast out he did
not immediately receive permission to eat flesh; but only the fruits of
trees and the produce of the crops, and herbs and vegetables were given
him for food, that even when an exile from paradise he might feed not
upon flesh which was not to be found in paradise, but upon grain and
fruit like that of paradise. But afterwards when [1]God saw that the
heart of man from his youth was set on wickedness continually, and that
His Spirit could not remain in them because they were
399
flesh, He by the deluge passed sentence on the works of the flesh, and,
taking note of the extreme greediness of men, [1]gave them liberty to
eat flesh: so that while understanding that all things were lawful for
them, they might not greatly desire that which was allowed, lest they
should turn a commandment into a cause of transgression. And yet even
then, fasting was in part commanded. For, seeing that some animals are
called clean, some unclean, and the unclean animals were taken into
Noah's ark by pairs, the clean in uneven numbers (and of course the
eating of the unclean was forbidden, otherwise the term unclean would
be unmeaning), fasting was in part consecrated: restraint in the use of
all was taught by the prohibition of some. Why did Esau lose his
birthright? Was it not on account of food? and he could not
atone with tears for the impatience of his appetite. The people of
Israel cast out from Egypt and on their way to the land of promise, the
land flowing with milk and honey, longed for the flesh of Egypt, and
the melons and garlic, saying:[2] "Would that we had died by the hand
of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots." And
again,[3] "Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish
which we did eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons,
and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: but now our soul is
dried away: we have nought save this manna to look to."
They despised angels' food, and sighed for: the
flesh of Egypt. Moses for forty days and forty nights fasted on Mount
Sinai, and showed even then that man does not live on bread alone, but
on every word of God. He says to the Lord, "the people is full and
maketh idols." Moses with empty stomach received the law written with
the finger of God. The people that ate and drank and rose up to play
fashioned a golden calf, and preferred an Egyptian ox to the majesty of
the Lord. The toil of so many days perished through the fulness of a
single hour. Moses boldly broke the tables: for he knew that drunkards
cannot hear the word of God. [4]"The beloved grew thick, waxed fat, and
became sleek: he kicked and forsook the Lord which made him, and
departed from the God of his salvation." Hence also it is enjoined in
the same Book of Deuteronomy:[5] "Beware, lest when thou hast eaten and
drunk, and hast built goodly houses, and when thy herds and thy
flocks multiply, and thy silver and gold is multiplied, then
thine heart be lifted
up, and thou forget the Lord thy God." In short the people ate and
their heart grew thick, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and understand with their heart: so the people well
fed and fat-fleshed could not bear the countenance of Moses who fasted,
for, to correctly render the Hebrew, it was[1] furnished with horns
through his converse with God. And it was not, as some think, to
show that there is no difference between virginity and marriage, but to
assert his sympathy with severe fasting, that our Lord and Saviour when
he was transfigured on the Mount revealed Moses and Elias with Himself
in glory. Although Moses and Elias were properly types of the Law and
the Prophets, as is clearly witnessed by the Gospel:[2] "They spake of
his departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem." For the
passion of our Lord is declared not by virginity or marriage, but by
the Law and the Prophets. If, however, any persons contentiously
maintain that by Moses is signified marriage, by Elias virginity, let
me tell them briefly that Moses died and was buried, but Elias was
carried off in a chariot of fire and entered on immortality before he
approached death. But the second writing of the tables could not be
effected without fasting. What was lost by drunkenness was regained by
abstinence, a proof that by fasting we can return to paradise, whence,
though fulness, we have been expelled. In [3]Exodus we read that the
battle was fought
against Amalek while Moses prayed, and the whole people fasted until
the evening. [4]Joshua, the son of Nun, bade sun and moon stand still,
and the victorious army prolonged its fast for more than a day.
[5]Saul, as it is written in the first book of Kings, pronounced a
curse on him who ate bread before the evening, and until he had avenged
himself upon his enemies. So none of his people tasted any food. And
all they of the land took food. And so binding was a solemn fast once
it was proclaimed to the Lord, that Jonathan, to whom the victory was
due, was taken by lot, and [6]could not escape the charge of sinning in
ignorance, and his father's hand was raised against him, and the
prayers of the people scarce availed to save him. [7]Elijah after the
preparation of a forty days' fast saw God on Mount Horeb, and heard
from Him
400
the words, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" There is much more
familiarity in this than in the "Where art thou, Adam?" of Genesis. The
latter was intended to excite the fears of one who had fed and was
lost; the former was affectionately addressed to a fasting servant.
[1]When the people were assembled in Mizpeh, Samuel proclaimed a fast,
and so strengthened them, and thus made them prevail against the enemy.
[2]The attack of the Assyrians was repulsed, and the might of
Sennacherib utterly crushed, by the tears and sackcloth of King
Hezekiah, and by his humbling himself with fasting. So also the city of
Nineveh by fasting excited compassion and turned aside the threatening
wrath of the Lord. And [3]Sodom and Gomorrha might have appeased it,
had they been willing to repent, and through the aid of fasting gain
for themselves tears of repentance. [4] Ahab, the most impious of
kings, by fasting and wearing sackcloth, succeeded in escaping the
sentence of God, and in deferring the overthrow of his house to the
days of his posterity. [5]Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, by fasting won
the gift of a son. [6] At Babylon the magicians came into peril, every
interpreter of dreams, soothsayer, and diviner was slain. Daniel and
the three youths gained a good report by fasting, and although they
were fed on pulse, they were fairer and wiser than they who ate the
flesh from the king's table. Then it is written that Daniel fasted for
three weeks; he ate no pleasant bread; flesh and wine entered not his
mouth; he was not anointed with oil; and the angel came to him saying,
[7]" Daniel, thou art worthy of compassion." He who in the eyes of God
was worthy of compassion, afterwards was an object of terror to the
lions in their den. How fair a thing is that which propitiates God,
tames lions, terrifies demons! Habakkuk (although we do not find
this in the Hebrew Scriptures[8]) was sent to him with the reaper's
meal, for by a week's abstinence he had merited so distinguished a
server. David, when his son was in danger after his adultery, made
confession in ashes and with fasting. [9]He tells us that he ate ashes
like bread, and mingled his drink with weeping. [10]And that his knees
became weak through fasting. Yet he had certainly heard from Nathan the
words, [11]"The Lord also hath put away thy sin." Samson and Samuel
drank neither wine nor strong drink, for they were children of promise,
and conceived
in abstinence and fasting. [1]Aaron and the other priests when about to
enter the temple, refrained from all intoxicating drink for fear they
should die. Whence we learn that they die who minister in the Church
without sobriety. And hence it is a reproach against Israel:[2] "Ye
gave my Nazarites wine to drink." Jonadab, the son of Rechab, commanded
his sons to drink no wine for ever. And when Jeremiah offered them wine
to drink, and they of their own accord refused it, the Lord spake by
the prophet, saying: [3]"Because ye have obeyed the commandment
of Jonadab your father, Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man
to stand before me for ever." On the [4]threshold of the Gospel appears
Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, the wife of one husband, and a woman who
was always fasting. Long-continued chastity and persistent fasting
welcomed a Virgin Lord. His forerunner and herald, John, fed on locusts
and wild honey, not on flesh; and the hermits of the desert and the
monks in their cells, at first used the same sustenance. But the Lord
Himself consecrated His baptism by a forty days' fast, and He taught us
that the more violent devils [5]cannot be overcome, except by prayer
and fasting. [6]Cornelius the centurion was found worthy through
alms-giving and frequent fasts to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
before baptism. [7]The Apostle Paul, after speaking of hunger and
thirst, and his other labours, perils from robbers, shipwrecks,
loneliness, enumerates frequent fasts. And he [8]advises his disciple
Timothy, who had a weak stomach, and was subject to many infirmities,
to drink wine in moderation: "Drink no longer water," he says. The fact
that he bids him no longer drink water shows that he had previously
drunk water. The apostle would not have allowed this had not frequent
infirmities and bodily pain demanded the concession.
16. The Apostle does indeed [9]blame those who
forbade marriage, and commanded to abstain from food, which God created
for use with thanksgiving. But he has in view Marcion, and Tatian, and
other heretics, who inculcate perpetual abstinence, to destroy, and
express their hatred and contempt for, the works of the Creator. But we
praise every creature of God, and yet prefer leanness to corpulence,
abstinence to luxury, fasting to fulness. [10] "He that laboureth
laboureth for
401
himself, and he is eager to his own destruction." And,[1] "From the
days of John the Baptist (who fasted and was a virgin) until now the
kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by
force." For we are afraid lest at the coming of the eternal judge we be
caught, as in the days of the flood, and at the overthrow of Sodom and
Gomorrha, eating and drinking, and marrying, and giving in marriage.
For both the flood and the fire from heaven found fulness as well as
marriage ready for destruction. Nor need we wonder if the Apostle
commands that everything sold in the market be bought and eaten, since
with idolaters, and with those who still ate in the temples of the
idols meats offered to idols as such, it passed for the highest
abstinence to abstain only from food eaten by the Gentiles. And if he
says to the Romans:[2] "Let not him that eateth set at nought him that
eateth not: and let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth," he
does not make fasting and fulness of equal merit, but he is speaking
against those believers in Christ who were still judaizing: and he
warns Gentile believers, not to offend those by their food who were
still too weak in faith. In brief this is clear enough in the
sequel:[3]" I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is
unclean of itself: save that to him who accounteth anything to be
unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of meat thy brother is
grieved, thou walkest no longer in love. Destroy not with thy meat him
for whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: for the
Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking." And that no one may suppose
he is referring to fasting and not to Jewish superstition, he
immediately explains,[4] "One man hath faith to eat all things: but he
that is weak eateth herbs." And again,[5] "One man esteemeth one day
above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let each man be fully
assured in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto
the Lord: and he that eateth, eateth unto the Lord, for he giveth God
thanks; and he that eateth not, unto the Lord he eateth not, and giveth
God thanks." For they who were still weak in faith and thought some
meats clean, some unclean: and supposed there was a difference between
one day and another, for example, that the Sabbath, and the New Moons,
and the Feast of Tabernacles were holier than other days, were
commanded to eat herbs which are indifferently partaken of by all. But
such as were of stronger faith believed all meats and all days to be
alike.
17. My opponent has dared to maintain that our Lord
was called by the Pharisees a wine-bibber and a glutton: and from the
fact of His going to marriage feasts and from His not despising the
banquets of sinners, I am to infer His wishes respecting ourselves.
That Lord, so you suppose, is a glutton who fasted forty days to hallow
Christian fasting; [1]who calls them blessed that hunger and
thirst; [2]who says that He has food, not that which the disciples
surmised, but such as would not perish for ever; [3]who forbids us to
think of the morrow; who, though He is said to have hungered and
thirsted, and to have gone frequently to various meals, except in
celebrating the mystery whereby He represented His passion, or [4]in
proving the reality of His body is nowhere described as ministering to
His appetite; [5]who tells of purple-clad Dives in hell for his
feasting, and says that poor Lazarus for his abstinence was in
Abraham's bosom; who, when we fast, [6]bids us anoint our head and wash
our face, that we fast not to gain glory from men, but praise from the
Lord; who did indeed [7]after His resurrection eat part of a broiled
fish and of a honey-comb, not to allay hunger and to gratify His
palate, but to show the reality of a His own body. For whenever He
raised anyone from the dead He [8]ordered that food should be given him
to eat, lest the resurrection should be thought a delusion. And this is
why Lazarus after his resurrection is [9]described as being at the
feast with our Lord. We do not deny that fish and other kinds of flesh,
if we choose, may be taken as food; but as we prefer virginity to
marriage, so do we esteem fasting and spirituality above meats and
full-bloodedness. And if Peter [10]before dinner went to the supper
chamber at the sixth hour, a chance fit of hunger does not prejudice
fasting. For, if this were so, because our Lord" at the sixth hour sat
weary on the well of Samaria and wished to drink, all must of
necessity, whether they so desire or not, drink at that time. Possibly
it was the Sabbath, or the Lord's day, and he hungered at the sixth
hour after two or three days' fasting; for I could never believe that
the Apostle, if he had eaten a dinner only one day previous and had
been blown out with a great meal, would have been hungry by noon next
day. But if he did dine the day pre-
402
vious, and was hungry next day before luncheon, I do not think that a
man who was so soon hungry ate until he was satisfied. Again, God by
the mouth of Isaiah says what fast He did not choose: [1]"In the day of
your fast ye find pleasure, and afflict the lowly: ye fast for strife
and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness. it is not such a
fast that I have chosen, saith the Lord." What kind He has chosen He
thus teaches: "Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the houseless
poor into thy house. When thou seest the naked cover him, and hide not
thyself from thine own flesh." He did not therefore reject fasting, but
showed what He would have it to be: for that bodily hunger is not
pleasing to God which is made null and void by strife, and plunder, and
lust. If God does not desire fasting, how is it that in [2]Leviticus He
commands the whole people in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the
month, to fast until the evening, and threatens that he who does not
afflict his soul shall die and be cut off from his people? How is
it that the [3]graves of lust where the people fell in their
devotion to flesh remain even to this day in the wilderness? Do we not
read that the stupid people gorged themselves with quails until the
wrath of God came upon them? Why was the man of God at whose
prophecy the hand of King Jeroboam withered, and who ate contrary to
the command of God, [4]immediately smitten? Strange that the lion
which left the ass safe and sound should not spare the prophet just
risen from his meal! He who, while he was fasting, had wrought
miracles, no sooner ate a meal than he paid the penalty for the
gratification. Joel also cries aloud: [5]"Sanctify a fast, proclaim a
time of healing," that it might appear that a fast is sanctified by
other works, and that a holy fast avails for the cure of sin. Moreover,
just as true virginity is not prejudiced by the counterfeit professions
of the virgins of the devil, so neither is true fasting by the periodic
fast and perpetual abstinence from certain kinds of food on the part of
the worshippers of Isis and Cybele, particularly when a fast from bread
is made up for by feasting on flesh. And just as the signs of Moses
were imitated by the signs of the Egyptians which were in reality no
signs at all, for the rod of Moses swallowed up the rods of the
magicians: so when the devil tries to be
the rival of God this does not prove that our religion is
superstitious, but that we are negligent, since we refuse to do what
even men of the world see clearly to be good.
18. His fourth and last contention is that there are
two classes, the sheep and the goats, the just and the unjust: that the
just stand on the right hand, the other on the left: and that to the
just the words are spoken: [1]"Come, ye blessed of my Father, and
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
But that sinners are thus addressed: [2]"Depart from me, ye cursed,
into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels."
That a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, nor an evil tree good
fruit. Hence it is that the Saviour says to the Jews: [3]"Ye are of
your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to
do." He quotes the parable of the ten virgins, the wise and the
foolish, and shows that the five who had no oil remained outside, but
that the other five who had gotten for themselves the light of good
works went into the marriage with the bridegroom. He goes back to the
flood, and tells us that they who were righteous like Noah were saved,
but that the sinners perished all together. We are informed that among
the men of Sodom and Gomorrha no difference is made except between the
two classes of the good and the bad. The righteous are delivered, the
sinners are consumed by the same fire. There is one salvation for those
who are released, one destruction for those who stay behind. Lot's wife
is a clear warning that we must not deviate a hair's breadth from
right. If, however, he says, you object and ask me why the righteous
toils in time of peace, or in the midst of persecution, if he is to
gain nothing nor have a greater reward, I would assert that he does
this, not that he may gain a further reward but that he may not lose
what he has already received. In Egypt also the ten plagues fell with
equal violence upon all that sinned, and the same darkness hung over
master and slave, noble and ignoble, the king and the people. Again at
the Red Sea the righteous all passed over, the sinners were all
overwhelmed. Six hundred thousand men, besides those who were unfit for
war through age or sex, all alike fell in the desert, and two who were
alike in righteousness are alike delivered. For forty years all Israel
toiled and died alike. As regards food, an homer of manna was the
measure for all ages: the clothes of all alike did not wear out: the
hair of all alike did not grow, nor the beard increase: the shoes of
all lasted the same time. Their feet grew not hard: the
403
food in the mouths of all had the same taste. They went on their way to
one resting place with equal toil and equal reward. All Hebrews had the
same Passover, the same Feast of Tabernacles, the same Sabbath, the
same New Moons. In the seventh, the Sabbatical Year, all prisoners were
released without distinction of persons, and in the year of Jubilee all
debts were forgiven to all debtors, and he who had sold land returned
to the inheritance of his fathers.
19. Then, again, as regards the parable of the sower
m the Gospel, we read that the good ground brought forth fruit, some a
hundred fold, some sixty fold, and some thirty fold; and, on the other
hand, that the bad ground admitted of three degrees of sterility: but
Jovinianus makes only two classes, the good soil and the bad. [1] And
as in one Gospel our Lord promises the Apostles a hundred fold, in
another seven fold, for leaving children and wives, and in the world to
come life eternal; and the seven and the hundred mean the same thing:
so, too, in the passage before us, the numbers describing the fertility
of the soil need not create any difficulty, particularly when the
Evangelist Mark gives the inverse order, thirty, sixty, and a hundred.
The Lord says, [2]"He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood
abideth in me, and I in him." As, then, there are not varying degrees
of Christ's presence in us, so neither are there degrees of our abiding
in Christ. [3]"Every one that loveth me will keep my word: and my
Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode
with him." He that is righteous, loves Christ: and if a man thus loves,
the Father and the Son come to him, and make their abode with him. Now
I suppose that when the guest is such as this the host cannot
possibly lack anything. And if our Lord says, [4]"In my Father's
house are many mansions," His meaning is not that there are
different mansions in the kingdom of heaven, but He indicates the
number oft Churches in the whole world, for though the Church be
seven-fold she is but one "I go," He says, "to prepare a place for
you," not places. If this promise is peculiar to the twelve apostles,
then Paul is shut out from that place, and the chosen vessel will be
thought superfluous and unworthy. John and James, because they asked
more than the others, did not obtain it; and yet their dignity is not
diminished, because they were equal to the rest of the apostles. [5]"
Know ye not that your bodies are a temple of the Holy
Ghost?" A temple, He says, not temples, in order to show that God
dwells in all alike. '" Neither for these only do I pray, but for them
also that believe on me through their word; as thou, Father, in me, and
I in thee, are one, so they may be all one in us. And the glory which
thou hast given me I have given unto them. I have loved them, as thou
hast loved me. And as we are Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one God, so
may they be one people in themselves, that is, like dear children,
partakers of the divine nature." Call the Church what you will, bride,
sister, mother, her assembly is but one and never lacks husband,
brother, or son. Her faith is one, and she is not defiled by variety of
doctrine, nor divided by heresies. She continues a virgin.
Whithersoever the Lamb goeth, she follows Him: she alone knows the Song
of Christ.
20. "If you tell me," says he, "that one star
differeth from another star in glory, I reply, that one star does
differ from another star; that is, spiritual persons differ from
carnal. We love all the members alike, and do not prefer the eye to the
finger, nor the finger to the ear: but the loss of any one is attended
by the sorrow of all the rest. We all alike come into this world, and
we all alike depart from it. There is one Adam of the earth, and
another from heaven. The earthly Adam is on the left hand, and will
perish: the heavenly Adam is on the right hand, and will be saved. He
who says to his brother, 'thou
fool,' and 'rata,' will be in danger of Gehenna.
And the murderer and the adulterer will likewise be sent into Gehenna.
In times of persecution some are burnt, some strangled, some beheaded,
some flee, or die within the walls of a prison: the struggle varies in
kind, but the victors' crown is one. No difference was made between the
son who had never left his father, and his brother who was welcomed as
a returning penitent. To the labourers of the first hour, the third,
the sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh, the same reward of a penny was
given, and what may perhaps seem still more strange to you, the first
to receive the reward were they who had toiled least in the vineyard."
21. Who is there even of God's elect that would not
be disturbed at these and similar passages of Holy Scripture which our
crafty opponent, with a perverse ingenuity, twists to the support of
his own views? The Apostle John says that many Antichrists had come,
and to make no difference between John himself and the lowest penitent
is the preaching of a real Antichrist. At the same time, I am amazed at
the portentous forms which Jovi-
404
nianus, as slippery as a snake and like another Proteus, so rapidly
assumes. In sexual intercourse and full feeding he is an Epicurean; in
the distribution of rewards and punishments he all at once becomes a
Stoic, He exchanges Jerusalem for [1]Citium, Judaea for Cyprus, Christ
for Zeno. If we may not depart a hair's breadth from virtue, and all
sins are equal, and a man who in a fit of hunger steals a piece of
bread is no less guilty than he who slays a man: you must, in your
turn, be held guilty of the greatest crimes. The case is different if
you say that you have no sin, not even the least, and if, although all
apostles and prophets and all the saints (as I have maintained in
dealing with [2] his second proposition) bewail their sinfulness, you
alone boast of your righteousness. But a minute ago you were
barefooted: now you not only wear shoes, but decorated ones. Just now
you wore a rough coat and a dirty shirt, you were grimy, and haggard,
and your hand was horny with toil: now you are clad in linen and silks,
and strut like an exquisite in the fashions of the Atrebates and the
Laodiceans. Your cheeks are ruddy, your skin sleek, your hair smoothed
down in front and behind, your belly protrudes, your shoulders are
little mountains, your neck full and so loaded with fat that the
half-smothered words can scarce make their escape. Surely in such
extremes of dress and mode of life there must be sin on the one side or
the other. I will not assert that the sin lies in the food or clothing,
but that such fickleness and changing for the worse is almost
censurable in itself. And what we censure, is far removed from virtue;
and what is far from virtue becomes the property of vice; and what is
proved to be vicious is one with sin. Now sin, according to you, is
placed on the left hand, and corresponds to the goats. You must,
therefore, return to your old habits if you are to be a sheep on the
right hand; or, if you perversely repent of your former views and
change them for others, whether you like it or not, and although you
shave off your beard, you will be reckoned among the goats.
22. But what is the good of calling a [3]one-eyed
man Old One-eye, and of showing the inconsistency of an assailant, when
we have to refute a whole series of statements? That the sheep
and the goats on the right hand and. on the left are the two classes of
the righteous and the wicked, I do not deny. That a good tree does not
bring forth evil fruit, nor an evil one good fruit, no one doubts. The
ten
virgins also, wise and foolish, we divide into good and bad. We are not
ignorant that at the deluge the righteous were delivered, and sinners
overwhelmed with the waters. That at Sodom and Gomorrha the just man
was rescued, while the sinners were consumed by fire, is clear to
everyone. We are also aware that Egypt was stricken with the ten
plagues, and that Israel was saved. Even little children in our schools
sing how the righteous passed through the Red Sea, and Pharaoh with his
host was drowned. That six hundred thousand fell in the desert because
they were unbelieving, and that two only entered the land of promise,
is taught by Scripture; and so is the rest of your description of the
two classes, good and bad, down to the labourers in the vineyard. But
what are we to think of your assertion, that because there is a
division into good and bad, the good, or the bad it may be, are not
distinguished one from another, and that it makes no difference whether
one is a ram in the flock or a poor little sheep? whether the
sheep have the first or the second fleece? whether the flock is
diseased and covered with the scab, or full of life and vigour? [1]
especially when by the authoritative utterances of His own prophet
Ezekiel God clearly points out the difference between flock and flock
of His rational sheep, saying, "Behold I judge between cattle and
cattle, and between the rams and the he-goats, and between the fat
cattle and the lean. Because ye have thrust with side and with
shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, until they were
scattered abroad." And that we might know what the cattle were, He
immediately added: [2] "Ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men."
Will Paul and that penitent who had lain with his father's wife be on
an equality, because the latter repented and was received into the
Church: and shall the offender because he is with him on the right hand
shine with the same glory as the Apostle? How is it then that
tares and wheat grow side by side in the same field until the harvest,
that is the end of the world? What is the significance of good
and bad fish being contained in the Gospel net? Why, in Noah's
ark, the type of the Church, are there different animals with different
abodes according to their rank? Why standeth the queen upon the
Lord's right hand, in raiment of wrought gold, in a vesture of
gold? Why had Joseph, representing Christ, a coat of many
colours? Why does the Apostle say to the Romans: [3]" According
as God had dealt to each man a measure of faith. For even as we have
405
many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office:
so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one
of another. And having gifts differing according to the grace that was
given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the
proportion of our faith; or ministry, let us give ourselves to our
ministry; or he that teacheth, to his teaching; or he that exhorteth,
to his exhorting: he that giveth, let him do it with liberality; he
that ruleth, with diligence," and so on. And elsewhere: [1]" One man
esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let
every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." To the Corinthians he
says: ' "I have planted, Apollos watered: but God gave the increase. So
then, neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth:
but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that
watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according
to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God, ye are God's
husbandry, ye are God's building." And again elsewhere: 3 ,, According
to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder I
laid a foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take
heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay,
than thai which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if any man buildeth
on the foundation, gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble:
each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall reveal it,
because it is revealed in fire: and the fire itself shall prove each
man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work shall abide which he
built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be
burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as
through fire." If the man whose work is burnt and
is to suffer the loss of his labour, while he himself is saved, yet not
without proof of fire: it follows that if a man's work remains which he
has built upon the foundation, he will be saved without probation by
fire, and consequently a difference is established between one degree
of salvation and another. Again in another place be says: ' "Let a man
so account of us, as of ministers of Christ, and stewards of the
mysteries of God. Here, moreover, it is required in stewards, that a
man be found faithful." Would you be assured that between one steward
and another there is a great difference (I am not speaking of bad and
good, but of the good themselves who stand
on the right hand)? then listen to the sequel: [1]" Know ye not
that they which minister about the sacrifices, eat of the sacrifices,
and they which wait upon the altar have their portion with the
altar? Even so did the Lord ordain that they which proclaim the
gospel should live of the gospel. But I have used none of these things:
and I wrote not these things that it may be so done in my case: for it
were good for me rather to die, than that any man should make my
glorying void. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of;
for necessity is laid upon me; for woe is unto me if I preach not the
gospel. For if l do this of mine own will, I have a reward: but if not
of mine own will, I have a steward-ship intrusted to me. What then is
my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel
without charge, so as not to use to the full my right in the gos-
For though I was free from all men, I brought myself
under bondage to all, that [ might gain the more." You surely cannot
say that men commit sin by living by the Gospel, and partaking of the
sacrifices. Of course not. The Lord himself made the rule that they who
preach the Gospel, should live by the Gospel. But an Apostle who does
not abuse this freedom, but labours with his hands that he may not be a
burden to anyone, and toils. night and day and ministers to his corn-
of course does this, that for his greater toil he
may receive a greater reward.
23. Let us hasten to what remains. [2] " There are
diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of
ministrations, and the same Lord. And there are diversities of
operations, but the same God who worketh all things in all. But to each
one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal." And
again: [3] "As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the
members of the body, being many, are one' body: so also is Christ." But
he precludes you from saying that the different members of the one body
have the same rank; for he immediately describes the orders of the
Church, and says: [4]"And God hath set some in the Church, first,
apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers; then miracles, then
gifts of healings, helps, governments, divers kinds of tongues. Are all
apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all
workers of miracles? have all gifts of healings? do all speak
with tongues? do all interpret? But desire earnestly the greater gifts.
And a still more excellent way shew I unto you." And after discoursing
more in detail of the graces of
406
charity, he added: [1] "Whether there be prophecies, they shall be done
away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be
knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy
in part: but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in
part shall be done away." And afterwards we read: [2] "But now abideth
faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Follow after love; yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather
that ye may prophesy." And again: 3 "I would have you all speak with
tongues, but rather that ye should prophesy: and greater is he that
prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues." And again: [4] "I
thank God, I speak with tongues more than you all." Where there are
different gifts, and one man is greater, another less, and all are
called spiritual, they are all certainly sheep, and they stand on the
right hand; but there is a difference between one sheep and another. It
is humility that leads the Apostle Paul to say: [5]" I am the least of
the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I
persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am:
and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not found vain: but I
laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God
which was with me." But the very fact of his thus humbling himself
shows the possibility of there being apostles of higher or lower rank,
and God is not unjust that lie will forget tim work of him who is
called the chosen vessel of election, and who laboured more abundantly
than they all, or assign equal rewards to unequal deserts. Afterwards
we read, [6] "As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be now
alive. But each in his own order." If each is to rise in his own order,
it follows that those who rise are of different degrees of merit. [7]
"All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one flesh of men, and
another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of
fishes. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but
the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is
another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon,
and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another
star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead." Like a learned
commentator, you have explained this passage by saying that the
spiritual differ from the carnal. It follows that in heaven there will
be both spiritual and carnal persons, and not only will the sheep climb
thither, but your
goats also. "One star," he says, "differeth from another star in glory
": this is not the distinction of sheep and goat, but of sheep and
sheep, star and star. Lastly, he says, "there is one glory of the sun,
and another glory of the moon." But for this, you might maintain that
the phrase one star from another star covers the whole human race; but
he introduces the sun and moon, and you cannot possibly reckon them
among the goats. "So," says he, "is also the resurrection of the dead
"-the just will shine with the brightness of the sun, and those of the
next rank will glow with the splendour of the moon, so that one will be
a Lucifer, another an Arcturus, a third an Orion, another Mazzaroth, or
some other of the stars whose names are hollowed in the book of Job.
[1] [2]" For we all," he says, "must be made manifest before the
judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in
the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
And you cannot say that the mode of our manifestation before the
judgment-seat of Christ is such that the good receive good things, the
bad evil things; for he [3] teaches us in the same epistle that he who
soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he that soweth
bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Surely he who sows more and he
who sows less are both on the right side. And although they belong to
the same class, that of the sower, yet they differ in respect of
measure and number. The same Paul, writing to the Ephesians, says: [4]
"to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the
heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold
wisdom of God." You observe that it is a varied and manifold wisdom of
God which is spoken of as existing in the different ranks of the
church. Arid in the same epistle we read, [5]"Unto each one of us was
the grace given according to the measure of the grace of Christ": not
that Christ's measure varies, but only that so much of His grace is
poured out as we can receive.
24. In vain, therefore, do you multiply instances of
sheep and goats, of the five wise and five foolish virgins, of
Egyptians and Israelites, and so forth, because retribution is not in
the present, but will be in the future. Hence we find that the day of
judgment is promised at the end of all things, because the judgment is
not now. For it would be absurd to call the last day the day of
judgment, if God were judging at the present time. Now we sail the
ship, wrestle, and fight, that at last
407
we may reach the haven, be crowned, and triumph. But you, with no less
adroitness than perversity, make the life of this world illustrate that
of the world to come, although we know full well that here
unrighteousness prevails, there, righteousness: [1] "until we go into
the sanctuary of God, and understand the end of those men." The saint
does not die one way, the sinner another. Those who sail the same sea
have the same calm and storm. A violent death is not one thing to the
robber, another to the martyr. Children are not born one way of
adultery and prostitution, in another of pure marriage. Certainly our
Lord and the robbers incurred the same penalty of crucifixion. If the
judgment of this world and of that which is to come be the same, it
follows that they who were here crucified side by side, will also be
esteemed of equal rank hereafter. Paul and they who bound him, sailed
together, endured the same storm, escaped together to the shore when
the ship was broken with the waves. You cannot deny that the prisoner
and the keepers were of unequal merit. And what were the circumstances
of that same shipwreck of the Apostle and the soldiers? The
Apostle Paul afterwards [2] related a vision, and said that they who
were with him in the ship had been given to him by the Lord. Are we to
suppose that he to whom they were given, and they who were given to
him, were of one degree of merit? Ten righteous men can save a
sinful city. Lot together with his daughters was delivered from the
fire: his sons-in-law would also have been saved, had they been willing
to leave the city. Now there was surely a great difference between Lot
and
his sons-in-law. One city out of the five, [3] Zoar, was saved, and a
place which lay under
the same sentence as Sodom, Gomorrha, Admah, and Zeboiim, was preserved
by the prayers of a holy man. Lot and Zoar were of different merit, but
both of them escaped the fire. [4]The robbers who in the absence of
David had laid waste Ziklag, and made a prey of the wives and children
of the inhabitants were slain on the third day in the plain, but forty
men mounted on camels fled. Will you maintain that there was some
difference between those who were slain and those who made good their
escape? We read in the [6] Gospel that the tower of Siloam fell
upon eighteen men who perished in the ruins. Certainly our Saviour did
not regard them as the only sinners: but they were punished to terrify
the rest: it was like scourging a pestilent fellow to teach fools
wisdom. If all sinners
are punished alike, it is unjust for one to be slain while another is
admonished by his comrade's death.
25. You raise the objection that all Israelites had
the same measure of manna, an homer, and were alike in respect of
dress, and hair, and beard, and shoes; as though we did not all alike
partake of the body of Christ. In the Christian mysteries there is one
means of : sanctification for the master and the servant, :the noble
and the low-born, for the king and his soldiers, and yet, that which is
one varies according to the merits of those who receive it. [1]"
Whosoever shall eat or drink unworthily shall be guilty of the body and
blood of the Lord." Does it follow that because Judas drank of the same
cup as the rest. of the apostles, that he and they are of equal
merit? But suppose that we do not choose to receive the
sacrament, at all events we all have the same life, breathe the same
air, have the same blood in our veins, are fed on the same food.
Moreover, if our viands are improved by culinary skill and are made
more palatable for the consumer, food of this kind does not satisfy
nature, but tickles the appetite. We are all alike subject to hunger,
all alike suffer with cold: we alike are shrivelled with the frost, or
melted with the broiling heat. The sun and the moon, and all the
company of the stars, the showers, the whole world run their course for
us all alike, and, as the Gospel tells us, the same refreshing rain
falls upon all, good and bad, just and unjust. If the present is a
picture of the future, then the Sun of Righteousness will rise upon
sinners as well as upon the righteous, upon the wicked and the holy,
upon the heathen as well as upon Jews and Christians, though the
Scripture says, [2] "Unto you that fear the Lord shall the Sun of
Righteousness arise." If He will rise to those that fear, He will set
to the despisers and the false prophets. The sheep which stand on the
right hand will be brought into the kingdom of heaven, the goats will
be thrust down to hell. The parable does not contrast the sheep one
with another, or on the other hand the goats, but merely makes a
difference between sheep and goats. The whole truth is not taught in a
single passage: we must always bear in mind the exact point of an
illustration. For instance, the ten virgins are not examples of the
whole human race, but of the careful and the slothful: the former are
ever anticipating the advent of our Lord, the latter abandon themselves
to idle slumber without a thought of future judgment. And so at the end
of the parable it is said, [3] "Watch, for ye know not the
408
day, nor the hour." If at the deluge Noah was delivered, and the whole
world perished, all men were flesh, and therefore were destroyed. You
must either say that the sons of Noah and Noah for whose sake they were
delivered were of unequal merit, or you must place the accursed Ham in
the same rank as his father because he was delivered with him from the
flood. At the passion of Christ all wavered, all were unprofitable
together: there was none that did good, no not one. Will you therefore
dare to say that Peter and the rest of the Apostles who fled denied the
Saviour in the same sense as Caiaphas and the Pharisees and the people
who cried out, [1] "Crucify him, crucify him"? And, to say no more
about the Apostles, do you think Annas add Caiaphas, and Judas the
traitor guilty of no greater crime than Pilate who was compelled
against his will to give sentence against our Lord? The guilt of
Judas is proportioned to his former merit, and the greater the guilt,
the greater the penalty too. [2] "For the mighty shall mightily suffer
torment." An evil tree does not bear good fruit, nor a good tree evil
fruit. If this be so, tell me how it was that Paul though he was an
evil tree and persecuted the Church of Christ, afterwards bore good
fruit? And Judas, though he was a good tree and wrought miracles
like the other Apostles, afterwards turned traitor and brought forth
evil fruit? The truth is that a good tree does not bear evil
fruit, nor an evil tree good fruit, so long as they continue in their
goodness, or badness. And if we read that every Hebrew keeps the same
Passover, and that in [3] the seventh year every prisoner is set free,
and that at Jubilee, that is the fiftieth year, [4] every possession
returns to its owner, all this refers not to the present, but to the
future; for being in bondage during the six days of this world, on the
seventh day, the true and eternal Sabbath, we shall be free, at any
rate if we wish to be free while still in bondage in the world. If,
however, we do not desire it, our ear will be bored in token of our
disobedience, and together with our wives and children, whom we
preferred to liberty, that is, with the flesh and its works, we shall
be in perpetual slavery.
26. As for the parable of the sower which makes both
good and bad ground bear a triple crop, and the passage from the
apostle in which upon Christ as the foundation one man builds gold,
silver, costly stones, another wood, hay, stubble, the meaning is
perfectly clear. We know that in a great house there are different
vessels, and to wish to contradict so
plain a truth would be sheer impudence. Yet that Jovinianus may not
triumph in a lie and quote the instance of the apostles by way of
discrediting the hundred fold, sixty fold, and thirty fold, let
me inform him that in [1] Matthew and Mark a hundred fold is promised
to the apostles who had left all. And I would tell him further, that in
the Gospel of Luke we find much more, that is
<greek>polu</greek> <greek>pleioua</greek>, and
that there is absolutely no instance in the Gospels of a hundred
standing for seven ,. and that he is convicted either of forgery, or of
ignorance; and that our cause is not prejudiced by the fact that in one
Gospel the enumeration begins at a hundred, in another at thirty, since
it is a rule with all Scripture, and especially with the older
writings, to put the lowest number first and so ascend by degrees to
the higher. For instance, suppose one to say that so-and-so lived five
and seventy and a hundred years, it does not follow that five and
seventy are more than a hundred because they were first mentioned. If
you do not on the side of good admit the difference between a hundred,
sixty, and thirty, neither will you do so on the side of evil, and the
seed which fell by the wayside, upon the rock, and among thorns, will
be equally faulty. But if the former three, or the latter three, on the
side of good, or on the side of evil respectively, are one and the
same, it was foolish instead of speaking of two things to enumerate six
kinds, and all the more because according to the account of the parable
in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Saviour always added: "He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear." Where there is no deep inner meaning, it
is useless to draw our attention to the mystic sense.
27. You give it as your opinion that, since the
Father and the Son make their abode with the faithful, and since Christ
is their guest, nothing is lacking. I suppose, however, that Christ's
abiding with the Corinthians was one thing, with the Ephesians another:
it was one thing, I say, for Him to abide with those whom Paul blamed
for many sins, another for Him to dwell with those to whom the apostle
revealed mysteries hidden from the beginning of the world; one thing
for Him to be in Titus and Timothy, another in Paul. Certainly amongst
them that have been born of women, there has not arisen a greater than
John the Baptist. But the term greater implies others who are less. And
[2] "he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." You
see then that in heaven one is greatest and another is least, and that
among the angels and the
409
invisible creation there is a manifold and infinite diversity. Why do
the apostles say: [1]"Lord, increase our faith," if there is one
measure for all? And why did our Lord rebuke His disciple, saying: [[2]
"O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? " In Jeremiah also
we read concerning the future kingdom: [3] "Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel, and with the house of Judah
not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers." And soon
after: [4] "I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart
will I write it; and I will be their God and they shall be my people:
and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the
least of them unto the greatest of them." The context of this passage
clearly shows that the prophet is describing the future kingdom, and
how can there possibly be in it a least or greatest, if all are to be
equal? The secret is disclosed in the Gospel: [5] "Whosoever
shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven:
but whosoever shall teach, and not do, shall be least." [6] The Saviour
taught us at a feast to take the lowest place, lest, when one greater
than us came, we should be thrust with disgrace from the higher place.
If we cannot fall, but only raise ourselves by penitence, what is the
meaning of the ladder at Bethel, on which the angels come from heaven
to earth and descend as well as ascend? Surely while on that
ladder they are reckoned among the sheep and stand on the right hand.
There are angels who descend from heaven; but Jovinianus is sure that
they retain their inheritance.
28. But when Jovinianus supposes that the many
mansions in our Father's house are churches scattered throughout the
world, who can refrain from laughing; since Scripture plainly teaches
in John's Gospel that our Lord was discoursing not of the number of the
churches, but of the heavenly mansions, and the eternal tabernacles for
which the prophet longed? [7] "In my Father's house," He says,
"are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go
to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I
will come again, and will receive you unto myself, that where I am,
there ye may be also." The place and the mansions which Christ says He
would prepare for the apostles are of course in the Father's house,
that is, in the kingdom of heaven, not on
earth, where for the present He was leading the apostles. And at the
same time regard must be had to the sense of Scripture: "1 might tell
you," He says," that I go to prepare a place for you, if there were not
many mansions in my Father's house, that is to say, if each individual
did not prepare for himself a mansion through his own works rather than
receive it through the bounty of God. The preparation is therefore not
mine, but yours." This view is supported by the fact that it profiled
Judas nothing to have a place prepared, since he lost it by his own
fault. And we must interpret in the same way what our Lord says to the
sons of Zebedee, one of whom wished to sit on His left hand, the other
on His right: [1] "My cup indeed ye shall drink: but to sit on my right
hand, and on my left hand, is not mine to give, but it is for them for
whom it hath been prepared of my Father." It is not the Son's to give;
how then is it the Father's to prepare? There are, He says, prepared in
heaven, many different mansions, destined for many different virtues,
and they will be awarded not to persons, but to persons' works. In vain
therefore do you ask of me what rests with yourselves, a reward which
my Father has prepared for those whose virtues will entitle them to
rise to such dignity. Again when He says: [2] "I will come again, and
will receive you unto myself: that where I am, there ye may be also,"
He is speaking especially to the apostles, concerning whom it is
elsewhere written, "That as I and thou, Father, are one, so they also
may be one in us," inasmuch as they have believed, have been perfected,
and can say, [3] "the Lord is my portion." If, however, there are not
many mansions, how is it taught in the Old Testament correspondingly
with the New, that the chief priest has one rank, the priests another,
the Levites another, the door-keepers another, the sacristans
another? How is it that in the [4] book of Ezekiel, where a
description is given of the future Church and of the heavenly
Jerusalem. the priests who have sinned are degraded to the rank of
sacristans and doorkeepers, and although they are in the temple of God,
that is on the right hand, they are not among the rams, but among the
poorest of the sheep? How again is it that in the river which
flows from the temple. and replenishes the salt sea, and gives new life
to everything, we read there are many kinds of fish? Why do we
read that in the kingdom of heaven there are Archangels, Angels,
Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Cherubim and Seraphim, and every name which
is named, not only in this present world, but also that which is to
come? A difference of
410
name is meaningless where there is not a difference of rank. An
Archangel is of course an Archangel to other inferior angels, and
Powers, and Dominions have other spheres over which they exercise
authority. This is what we find in heaven and in the administration of
God. You must not therefore smile and sneer at us, as is your wont, for
making a graduated series of emperors, praefects and counts, tribunes
and centurions, companies, and all the other steps in the service.
29. It is mere trifling to quote the passage: [1]
"Know ye not that your bodies are a temple of the Holy Ghost," for it
is customary in Holy Scripture to speak of a single object as though it
were many, and of many as though they were one. And Jovinianus himself
should know that even in a temple there are many divisions--the outer
and the inner courts, the vestibules, the holy place, and the Holy of
Holies. There are also in a temple kitchens, pantries, oil-cellars, and
cupboards for the vessels. And so in the temple of our body there are
different degrees of merit. God does not dwell in all alike, nor does
He impart Himself to all in the same degree. A portion of the spirit of
Moses was taken and given to the seventy elders. I suppose there is a
difference between the abundance of the river, and that of the
rivulets. [2] Elijah's spirit was given in double measure to Elisha,
and thus double grace wrought greater miracles. Elijah while living
restored a dead man to life; Elisha after death did the same. Elijah
invoked famine on the people; Elisha in a single day put the enemy's
forces in the power of the city which they besieged. No doubt the
words, "Know ye not that your bodies are a temple of the Holy Ghost,"
refer to the whole assembly of the faithful, who, joined together, make
up the one body of Christ. But the question now is, who in the body is
worthy to be the feet of Christ, and who the head? who is His
eye, and who His hand? --a distinction indicated by the 3 two women in
the Gospel, the penitent and the holy woman,one of whom held His feet,
the other His head. Some authorities. however, think there was only one
woman, and that she who began at His feet gradually advanced to His
head. Jovinianus further urges against us our Lord's words, [4] "I pray
not for these only, but also for those who shall believe on me through
their word: that as I, Father, in thee and thou in me are one, so they
all may be one in us," and reminds us that the whole Christian people
is one in God, and, as His well-beloved sons, are [5]" partakers of the
divine nature." We have already said, and the truth must now be
inculcated more in detail, that we are not one in the Father and the
Son according to nature, but according to grace. For the essence of the
human soul and the essence of God are not the same, as the Manichaeans
constantly assert. But, says our Lord: [1] "Thou hast loved them as
thou hast loved me." You see, then, that we are privileged to partake
of His essence, not in the realm of nature, but of grace, and the
reason why we are beloved of the Father is that He has loved the Son;
and the members are loved, those namely of the body. [2] "For as many
as received Christ, to them gave He power to become sons of God, even
to them that believe on His name: which were born not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." The Word
was made flesh that we might pass from the flesh into the Word. The
Word did not cease to be what He had been; nor did the human nature
lose that which it was by birth. The glory was increased, the nature
was not changed. Do you ask how we are made one body with Christ?
Your creator shall be your instructor: [3] "He that eateth my flesh and
drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father
sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he that eateth me, he
also shall live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of
heaven." But the Evangelist John, who had drunk in wisdom from the
breast of Christ, agrees herewith, and says: [4] "Hereby know we that
we abide in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in
him, and he in God." If you believe in Christ, as the apostles
believed, you shall be made one body with them in Christ. But, if it is
rash for you to claim for yourself a faith and works like theirs when
you have not the same faith and works, you cannot have the same place.
30. You repeat the words bride, sister, mother, and
affirm that all these are titles of the one Church and names applied to
all believers. The fact goes against you. For if the Church admits but
one rank, and has not many members in one body, what necessity is there
for calling her bride, sister, mother? It must be that she is the
bride of some, the sister of others, the mother of others. All indeed
stand on the right hand, but one stands as a bridegroom, another as a
brother, a third as a son. [5] "My little children" says the Apostle,
"of whom I am again in travail
411
until Christ be formed in you." Do you think that the children who are
being born and the apostle who is in travail are of equal rank?
And the folly of your contention that we love all the members alike,
and do not prefer the eye to the finger, nor the hand to the ear, but
that if one be lost all mourn, is proved by the lesson which the
apostle teaches the Corinthians: [1] "Some members are more honourable,
others excite the sense of shame: and those parts to which shame
attaches are clothed with more abundant honour; whereas our comely
parts have no need of our care." Do you think that the mouth and the
belly, the eyes and the outlets of the body are to be classed together
as of equal merit? [2] "The lamp of thy body," he says, "is thine
eye. If thine eye be blinded, thy whole body is in darkness." If you
cut off a finger, or the tip of the ear, there is indeed pain, but the
loss is not so great, nor is the disfigurement attended by so much pain
as it would be were you to take out the eyes, mutilate the nose, or saw
through a bone. Some members we can dispense with and yet live: without
others life is an impossibility. Some offences are light, some heavy.
It is one thing to owe ten thousand talents, another to owe a farthing.
We shall have to give account of the idle word no less than of
adultery; but it is not the same thing to be put to the blush, and to
be put upon the rack, to grow red in the face and to ensure lasting
torment. Do you think I am merely expressing my own views? Hear
what the Apostle John says: [3] "He who knows that his brother sinneth
a sin not unto death, let him ask, and he shall give him life, even to
him that sinneth not unto death. But he that hath sinned unto death,
who shall pray for him? "You observe that if we entreat for smaller
offences, we obtain pardon: if for greater ones, it is difficult to
obtain our request: and that there is a great difference between sins.
And so with respect to the people of Israel who had sinned a sin unto
death, it is said to Jeremiah: [4] "Pray not thou for this people,
neither entreat for them, and do not withstand me, for I will not hear
thee." Moreover, if it be true that we all alike enter the world and
all alike leave it, and this is a precedent for the world to come, it
follows that whether righteous or sinners we shall all be equally
esteemed by God, because the conditions of our birth and death are now
the same. And if you contend that there are two Adorns, the one of the
earth, the other from heaven; and that they who were in the earthly
Adam stand on the left hand, those who were
in the heavenly are on the right hand, before we go further, let me ask
you a question concerning two brothers: Was Esau in the earthly Adam,
or in the heavenly? No one doubts that you will reply, he was in
the earthly. In which was Jacob? Without hesitation you will say,
in the heavenly. How then was he in the heavenly when Christ had not
yet come in the flesh--Christ who is called the second Adam from
heaven? You must either reckon all before the incarnation of
Christ in the old Adam, and even the just in the man from the earth,
and then they will be on the left among your goats; or, if it be
impious to give Isaac the same place as Ishmael, Jacob as Esau, the
saints as sinners, the last Adam will date from the time when Christ
was born of a Virgin, and your argument from the two Adams will not
benefit your sheep and goats, because we have proved that in the first
Adam there were both sheep and goats, and that of those who were in one
and the same man, some stood on the right hand of God, others on the
left: [1]"For from Adam even until Moses death reigned over all, even
over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's
transgression."
31. As regards your attempt to show that railing and
murder, the use of the expression rata and adultery, the idle word and
godlessness, are rewarded with the same punishment, I have already
given you my reply, and will now briefly repeat it. You must either
deny that you are a sinner if you are not to be in danger of
Gehenna: or, if you are a sinner you will be sent to hell for even a
light offence: [2]"The mouth that lieth," says one, "kills the
soul." I suspect that you, like other men, have occasionally told a
lie: [3] for all men are liars, that God alone may be true, [4]
and that He may be justified in His words, and may prevail when He
judges. It follows either that you will not be a man lest you be found
a liar: or if you are a man and are consequently a liar, you will be
punished with parricides and adulterers. For you admit no difference
between sins, and the gratitude of those whom you raise from the mire
and set on high will not equal the rage against you of those whom for
the trifling offences of daily life you have thrust into utter
darkness. And if it be so that in a persecution one is stifled, another
beheaded, another floes, or the fourth dies within the walls of a
prison, and one crown of victory awaits various kinds of struggle, the
fact tells in our favour. For in martyrdom it is the will, which gives
occasion to the death, that is crowned. My duty is to
412
resist the frenzy of the heathen, and not deny the Lord. It rests with
them either to behead, or to burn, or to shut up in prison, or enforce
various other penalties. But if I escape, and die in solitude. there
will not at my death be the same crown for me as for them, because the
confession of Christ will not have been to me as to them the cause of
death. As for your remark that absolutely no difference was made
between the brother who had always been with his father, and him who
was afterwards welcomed as a penitent, I am willing to add, if you
like, that the one drachma which was lost and was found was put with
the others, and that the one sheep which the good shepherd, leaving the
ninety and nine, sought and brought back, made up the full tale of a
hundred. But it is one thing to be a penitent, and with tears sue for
pardon, another to be always with the father. And so both the shepherd
and the father say by the mouth of Ezekiel to the sheep that was
carried back, and to the son that was lost, [1] "And I will establish
my covenant with thee; and thou shall know that I am the Lord: that
thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth ever
more, because of thy shame, when I have forgiven thee all that thou
hast done." That penitents may have their due it is enough for them to
feel shame instead of all other punishment. Hence in another place it
is said to them, [2] "Then shall ye remember your evil ways, and all
the crimes wherewith ye were defiled, and ye shall loathe yourselves in
your own sight for all the wickedness that ye have done; and ye shall
know that I am the Lord, when I shall have done you good for my name's
sake, and not according to your evil ways, nor according to your evil
doings." The son, moreover, was reproved by his father for envying his
brother's deliverance, and for being tormented by jealousy while the
angels in heaven were rejoicing. The parallel, however, is not to be
drawn between the merits of the two sons (one of whom was temperate,
the other a prodigal) and those of the whole human race, but the
characters depicted are either Jews and Christians, or saints and
penitents. In the lifetime of Bishop Damasus I dedicated to him a small
treatise upon this parable. [3]
32. And if a penny was given to all the labourers,
those of the first, the third, the sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh
hours, and they came first for the reward who were the last to work in
the vineyard, even here the persons described do not belong to one time
or one age, but from the beginning of the world
to the end of it there are different calls and a special meaning
attaches to each. Abel and Seth were called at the first hour: Enoch
and Noah at the third: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the sixth: Moses
and the prophets at the ninth: at the eleventh the Gentiles, to whom
the recompense was first given because they believed on the crucified
Lord, and inasmuch as it was hard for them to believe they earned a
great reward. Many kings and prophets have desired to see the things
that we see, and have not seen them. But the one penny does not
represent one reward, but one life, and one deliverance from Gehenna.
And as by the favour of the sovereign those guilty of various crimes
are released from prison, and each one, according to his toil and
exertions, is in this or that condition of life, so too the penny, as
it were by the favour of our Sovereign, is the discharge from prison of
us all by baptism. Now our work is, according to our different virtues,
to prepare for ourselves a different future.
33. So far I have replied to the separate portions
of his argument; I shall now address myself to the general question.
Our Lord says to his disciples, [1] "Whosoever would become great among
you, let him be least of all." If we are all to be equal in heaven, in
vain do we humble ourselves here that we may be greater there. Of the
two debtors who owed, one five hundred pence, the other fifty, he to
whom most was forgiven loved most. And so the Saviour says, [2]" I say
to you, her sins which are many are forgiven her, for she hath loved
much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." He who
loves little, and has little forgiven, he will of coarse be of inferior
rank. [3] The householder when he set out delivered to his servants his
goods, to one five talents, to another two, to another one, to each
according to his ability. Just as in another Gospel it is written that
a nobleman setting out for a far country to receive for himself a
kingdom and return, called the servants, and gave them each a sum of
money, with which one gained ten pounds, another five, and they, each
according to his ability and the gain he had made, received ten or five
cities. But one who had received a talent, or a pound, buried it in the
ground, or tied it up in a napkin, and kept it until his master's
return. Our first thought is that if, according to the modern Zeno, the
righteous do not toil in hope of reward, but to avoid the loss of what
they already have. he who buried his pound or talent that he might not
lose it, did no wrong,
413
and the caution of him who kept his money is worthy of more praise than
the fruitless toil of those who wore themselves out and yet received no
reward for their labour. Then observe that the very talent which was
taken from the timid or negligent servant, was not l given to him who
had the smaller profit, but to him who had gained the most, that is, to
him who had been placed over ten cities. If difference of rank is not
constituted by the difference in number, why did our Lord say, "He gave
to everyone according to his ability"? If the gain of five
talents and ten talents is the same, why were not ten cities given to
him who gained the least, and five to him who gained the most?
But that our Lord is not satisfied with what we have, but always
desires more, He himself shows by saying, "Wherefore didst thou not
give my money to the money-changers, that so when I came I might have
received it with usury?" The Apostle Paul understood this, and [1]
forgetting those things which were behind, reached forward to those
things which were in front, that is, he made daily progress, and did
not keep the grace given to him carefully wrapped up in a napkin, but
his spirit, like the capital of a keen man of business, was renewed
from day to day, and if he were not always growing larger, he thought
himself growing less. Six cities of refuge are mentioned in the law,
provided for fugitives who were involuntary homicides, and the cities
themselves belonged to the priests. I should like to ask whether you
would put those fugitives among your goats, or among our sheep. If they
were goats, they would be slain like other homicides, and would not
enter the cities of God's ministers. If you say they were sheep, they
will not possibly be such sheep as can enjoy full liberty and feed
without fear of wolves. And it will be plain to you that sheep indeed
they are, but wandering sheep: that they are on the right hand, but do
not stand there: they flee until the High Priest dies and descending
into hell liberates their souls. The Gibeonites met the children of
lsrael, and although other nations were slaughtered, they were kept [2]
for hewers of wood and drawers of water. [3] And of such value were
they in God's eyes, that the family of Saul was destroyed for the wrong
done to them. Where would you put them? Among the goats?
But they were not slain, and they were avenged by the determination of
God. Among the sheep? But IDly Scripture says they were not of the same
merit as the Israelites. You see then that they do indeed
stand on the
right hand, but are of a far inferior grade. Jonathan came between
David, the holy man, and Saul, the worst of kings, and we can neither
place him among the kids because he was worthy of a prophet's love, nor
amongst the rams test we make him equal to David, and particularly when
we know that he was slain. He will, therefore, be among the sheep, but
low down. And just as in the case of David and Jonathan, you will be
bound to recognize differences between sheep and sheep. [1]"That
servant, which knew his lord's will, and made not ready, nor did
according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he that
knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few
stripes. And to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be
required: and to whom they commit much, of him will they ask the more."
Lo! more or less is committed to different servants, and according to
the nature of the trust, as well as of the sin, is the number of
stripes inflicted.
34. The whole account of the land of Judah and of
the tribes is typical of the church in heaven. Let us read Joshua. the
son of Nun, or the concluding portions of Ezekiel, and we shall see
that the historical division of the land as related by the one finds a
counterpart in the spiritual and heavenly promises of the other. What
is the meaning of the seven and eight steps in the description of the
temple? or again, what significance attaches to the fact that in
the Psalter, after being taught the mystic alphabet by the zone hundred
and eighteenth psalm we arrive by fifteen steps at the point where we
can sing: [3] "Behold, now bless the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord:
ye who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of
our God." Why did [4] two tribes and a half dwelt on the other side of
Jordan, a district abounding in cattle, while the remaining nine tribes
and a half either drove out the old inhabitants from their possessions,
or dwelt with them? Why did the tribe of Levi [5] receive no
portion in the land, but have the Lord for their portion? And how
is it that of the priests and Levites, themselves, the [6] high priest
alone entered the Holy of Holies where were the cherubim and the
mercy-seat? Why did the other priests wear [7] linen raiment
only, and not have their clothing of
414
wrought gold, blue, scarlet, purple, and fine cloth? The priests
and [1]Levites of the lower order took care of the oxen and wains:
those of the higher order carried the ark of the Lord on their
shoulders. If you do away with the gradations of the tabernacle, the
temple, the Church, if, to use a common military phrase, all upon the
right hand are to be "up to the same standard," bishops are to no
purpose, priests in vain, deacons useless. Why do virgins
persevere? widows toil? Why do married women practise
continence? Let us all sin, and when once we have repented, we
shall be on the same footing as the apostles.
35. But now we have just sighted land: the foaming
billows have been rolling mountain-high: our ship has been borne aloft,
or has rushed headlong into the depths beneath: little by little the
haven opens tO the view of the weary and exhausted sailors. We have
discussed the married, widows, and virgins. We have preferred virginity
to widowhood, widow-hood to marriage. The passage of the apostle, in
which he treats questions of this kind, has been expounded, and
particular objections have been met. We also took a survey of secular
literature, and inquired what was thought of virgins, and what of those
who had one husband; and by way of contrast we pointed out the cares
which sometimes attend wedlock. Then we passed to the second division,
in which our opponent denies the possibility of sinning to those who
have been baptized with complete faith. And we showed that God alone is
faultless, and every creature is at fault, not because all have sinned,
but because all may sin, and those who stand have cause to fear when
they see the fall of men like themselves. In the third place we came to
fasting, and inasmuch as our opponent's argument fell under two heads,
and he appealed either to philosophy, or to Holy Scripture, we also
furnished a several reply. In the fourth, that is the last section, the
sheep and goats on the right hand and the left, the righteous and the
wicked, were distributed into two classes, the intention being to
show that there is no difference between one just man t and
another, or between one sinner and an- t other. To prove the point
Jovinianus had ac- cumulated countless instances from Scripture r
which apparently favoured his view, and e this contention we rebutted
both by arguments and illustrations from Scripture, and c pulverized
Zeno's old opinion no less with t common sense than with the words of
inspiration.
36. I must in conclusion say a few words to
our modern Epicurus wantoning in his gardens
with his favourites of both sexes. On your side are the fat and the
sleek in their festal attire. If I may mock like Socrates, add if
you please, all swine and dogs, and, since you like flesh so well,
vultures too, eagles, hawks, and owls. We shall never be afraid of the
host of [1] Aristippus. If ever I see a fine fellow, or a man who is no
stranger to the curling-irons, with his hair nicely done and his cheeks
all aglow, he belongs to your herd, or rather grunts in concert with
your pigs. To our flock belong the sad, the pale, the meanly clad, who,
like strangers in this world, though their tongues are silent, yet
speak by their dress and bearing. [2] "Woe is me," say they, "that my
so-journing is prolonged! that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!" that
is to say, in the darkness of this world, for the light shineth in the
darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. Boast not of having
many disciples. The Son of God taught in Judaea, and only twelve
apostles followed Him. (3) "I have trodden the wine-press alone," He
says, "and of the peoples there was no man with me." At the passion He
was left alone, and even Peter's fidelity to Him wavered: on the other
hand all the people applauded the doctrine of the Pharisees, saying,
(4) "Crucify him, crucify him. We have no king but Caesar," that is in
effect, we follow vice, not virtue; Epicurns, not Christ; Jovinianus,
not the Apostle Paul. If many assent to' your views, that only
indicates voluptuousness; for they do not so much approve your
utterances, as favour their own vices. in our crowded thoroughfares a
false prophet may be seen any day stick in hand belabouring the fools
about him, and knocking out the teeth of those who offend him, and yet
he never lacks constant followers. And do you regard it as a mark of
great wisdom if you have a following of many pigs, whom you are feeding
to make pork for hell? Since you published your views, and set
the mark of your approval on baths in which the sexes bathe together,
the impatience which once threw over burning lust the semblance of a
robe of modesty has been laid bare and exposed. What was once hidden is
now open to the gaze of all. You have revealed your disciples, such as
they are, not made them. One result of your teaching is that sin is no
longer even repented Of. Your virgins whom, with a depth of wisdom
never found before in speech or writing, you have taught the apostle's
maxim that it is better to marry than to burn, have turned secret
adulterers into acknowledged
415
husbands.[1] It was not the apostle, the chosen vessel, who gave this
advice; it was Virgil's widow:
[2]"She calls it wedlock; thus she veils her fault."
37. About four hundred years have passed since the
preaching of Christ flashed upon the world, and during that time in
which His robe has been torn by countless heresies, almost the whole
body of error has been derived from the Chaldaean, Syriac, and Greek
languages. Basilides, the master of licentiousness and the grossest
sensuality, after the lapse of so many years, and like a second[3]
Eupborbus, was changed by transmigration into Jovinian, so that the
Latin tongue might have a heresy of its own. Was there no other
province in the whole world to receive the gospel of pleasure, and into
which the serpent might insinuate itself, except that which was founded
by the teaching of Peter, upon the rock Christ? Idol temples had fallen
before the standard of the Cross and the severity of the Gospel: now on
the contrary lust and gluttony endeavour to overthrow the solid
structure of the Cross. And so God says by Isaiah,[4]" O my people,
they which bless you cause you to err, and trouble the paths of your
feet." Also by Jeremiah,[5]" Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save
every man his life, and believe not the false prophets which say,
Peace, peace, and there is no peace;" who are always repeating,[6]"The
temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord." "Thy prophets have seen
for thee false and foolish things; they have not laid bare thine
iniquity that they might call thee to repentance: who devour God's
people like bread: they have not called upon God." Jeremiah announced
the captivity and was stoned by the people.[7] Hananiah, the son of
Azzur, broke the bars of wood for the present, but was preparing bars
of iron for the future. False prophets always promise pleasant things,
and please for a thee. Truth is bitter, and they who preach it are
filled with bitterness. For with the unleavened bread of sincerity and
truth the Lord's passover is kept, and it is eaten with bitter herbs.
Admirable are your utterances and worthy of the ears of the bride of
Christ standing in the midst of her virgins, and widows, and celibates!
(their very name is[8]derived from the fact that they who abstain from
intercourse are fit for heaven). This is what you say: "Fast seldom,
marry often. You cannot do the work of marriage unless you take mead,
and flesh, and solid food. For lust strength is required. Flesh is soon
spent and enervated. You need not be afraid of fornication. He who has
been once baptized into Christ cannot fall, for he has the consolation
of marriage to slake his lust. And if you do fall, repentance will
restore you, and you who were hypocrites at baptism may have a firm
faith in your repentance. Be not disturbed by the thought of a
difference between the righteous and the penitent, and do not imagine
that pardon even gives a lower place; rather believe that it takes away
your crown. For there is one reward: he who stands on the right hand
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." Through counsels such as these
your swine-herds are richer than our shepherds, and the he-goats draw
after them many of the other sex:[1] "They were as fed horses: they
were mad after women": they no sooner see a woman than they neigh after
her, and, shame to say! find scriptural authority for the consolation
of their incontinence. But the very women, unhappy creatures! though
they deserve no pity, who chant the words of their instructor (for what
does God require of them but to become mothers?), have lost not only
their chastity, but all sense of shame, and defend their licentious
practices with an access of impudence. You have, moreover, in your army
many subalterns, you have your guardsmen and your skirmishers at the
outposts, the round-bellied, the well-dressed, the exquisites, and
noisy orators, to defend you with tooth and nail. The noble make way
for you, the wealthy print kisses on your face. For unless you had
come, the drunkard and the glutton could not have entered paradise. All
honor to your virtue, or rather to your vices! You have in your camp,
even amazons with uncovered breasts, bare arms and knees, who challenge
the men who come against them to a battle of lust. Your household is a
large one, and so in your aviaries not only turtle-doves, but hoopoes
are fed, which may wing their flight over the whole field of rank
debauchery. Pull me to pieces and scatter me to the winds: tax me with
what offences you please: accuse me of luxurious and delicate living:
you would like me better if I were guilty, for I should belong to your
herd.
38. But I will now address myself to you, great
Rome, who with the confession of Christ have blotted out the blasphemy
written on your forehead. Mighty city, mistress-city of the world, city
of the Apostle's praises, shew the meaning of your name. Rome is either
strength in Greek, or height in Hebrew. Lose
416
not the excellence your name implies: let virtue lift you up on high,
let not voluptuousness bring you low. By repentance. as the history of
Nineveh proves, you may escape the curse wherewith the Saviour
threatened you in the Apocalypse. Beware of the name of Jovinianus. It
is derived from that of an idol.[1] The Capitol is in ruins: the
temples of Jove with their ceremonies have perished. Why should his
name and vices flourish now in the midst of you, when even in the time
of Numa Pompilius, even under the sway of kings, your ancestors gave a
heartier welcome to the self-restraint of Pythagoras than they did
under the consuls to the debauchery of Epicurus?
417
AGAINST VIGILANTIUS
Introduction.
Full details respecting Vigilantius, against whom
this treatise, the result of a single night's labour, is directed, may
be found in a work on" Vigilantius and His Times," published in 1844 by
Dr. Gilly, canon of Durham. It will perhaps, however. assist the reader
if we briefly remark that he was born about 370, at Calagurris. near
Convenae (Comminges). which was a station on the Roman road from
Aquitaine to Spain. His father was probably the keeper of the inn, and
Vigilantius appears to have been brought up to his father's business.
He was of a studious character, and Sulpicius Severus, the
ecclesiastical historian. who had estates in those parts, took him into
his service, and, possibly, made him manager of his estates. Having
been ordained he was introduced to Jerome (then living at Bethlehem, in
395) through Paulinus of Nola, who was the friend of Sulpicius Severus.
After staying with Jerome for a considerable thee he begged to be
dismissed. and left in great haste without giving any reason. Returning
to Gaul, he settled in his native country. Jerome hearing that he was
spreading reports of him as favouring the views of Origen, and in other
ways defaming him and his friends, wrote him a sharp letter of rebuke
(Letter LXI.). The work of Vigilantius which drew from Jerome the
following treatise was written in the year A.D. 406; not" hastily,
under provocation such as he may have felt in leaving Bethlehem." but
after the lapse of six or seven years. The points against which he
argued as being superstitious are: (1) the reverence paid to the relics
of holy men by carrying them round the church in costly vessels or
silken wrappings to be kissed. and the prayers offered to the dead; (2)
the late watchings at the basilicas of the martyrs. with their
attendant scandals. the burning of numerous tapers. alleged miracles,
etc.; (3) the sending of aims to Jerusalem, which. Vigilantius urged,
had better be spent among the poor in each separate diocese. and the
monkish vow of poverty; (4) Me exaggerated estimate of virginity.
The bishop of the diocese, Exsuperius of Toulouse,
was strongly in favour of the views of Vigilantius, and they began to
spread widely. Complaints having reached Jerome through the presbyter
Riparius, he at once expressed his indignation, and offered to answer
in detail if the work of Vigilantius were sent to him. In 406 he
received it through Sisinnius, who was bearing alms to the East. It has
been truly said that this treatise has less of reason and more of abuse
than any other which Jerome wrote. But in spite of this the author was
followed by the chief ecclesiastics of the day, and the practices
impugned by Vigilantius prevailed almost unchecked till the sixteenth
century.
1. The world has given birth to many monsters; in
'Isaiah we read of centaurs and sirens, screech-owls and pelicans. Job,
in mystic language, describes Leviathan and Behemoth; Cerberus and the
birds of Stymphalus, the Erymanthian boar and the Nemean lion, the
Chimaera and the many-headed Hydra, are told of in poetic fables.
Virgil describes Cacus. Spain has produced Geryon, with his three
bodies. Gaul alone has had no monsters, but has ever been rich in men
of courage and great eloquence. All at once Vigilantius, or, more
correctly, Dormitantius, has arisen, animated by an unclean spirit, to
fight against the Spirit of Christ. and to deny that religious
reverence is to be paid to the tombs of the martyrs. Vigils, he says,
are to be condemned; Alleluia must never be sung except at Easter;
continence is a heresy; chastity a hot-bed of lust. And as Euphorbus is
said to have been born again in the person of Pythagoras, so in this
fellow the corrupt mind of Jovinianus has arisen; so that in him, no
less than in his predecessor, we are bound to meet the snares of the
devil. The words may be justly applied to him:[2] "Seed of evil-doers,
prepare thy children for the slaughter because of the sins of thy
father." Jovinianus, condemned by the authority of the Church of Rome,
amidst pheasants and swine's flesh, breathed out, or rather belched out
his spirit. And now this tavern-keeper of Calagurris, who, according to
the name of his[1] native village is a Quintilian, only dumb instead of
eloquent, is[2] mixing water with the wine. According to the trick
which he knows of old, he is trying to blend his perfidious poison with
the Catholic faith; he assails virginity and hates chastity; he revels
with worldlings and declaims against the fasts of the saints; he plays
the philosopher over his cups, and soothes himself with the sweet
strains of psalmody, while he smacks his lips over his cheese-cakes;
nor could he deign to listen to the songs of David and Jeduthun, and
Asaph and the sons of Core, except at the banqueting table. This I have
poured forth with more grief than amusement, for I cannot restrain
myself and turn a deaf ear to the wrongs inflicted on apostles and
martyrs.
2. Shameful to relate, there are bishops who are
said to be associated with him in his wickedness--if at least they are
to be called bishops--who ordain no deacons but such as have been
previously married; who credit no celibate with chastity--nay, rather,
who show
418
clearly what measure of holiness of life they can claim by indulging in
evil suspicions of all men, and, unless the candidates for ordination
appear before them with pregnant wives, and infants wailing in the arms
of their mothers, will not administer to them Christ's ordinance. What
are the Churches of the East to do? What is to become of the Egyptian
Churches and those belonging to the Apostolic Seat, which accept for
the ministry only men who are virgins, or those who practice
continency, or, if married, abandon their conjugal rights? Such is the
teaching of Dormitantius, who throws the reins upon the neck of lust,
and by his encouragement doubles the natural heat of the flesh, which
in youth is mostly at boiling point, or rather slakes it by intercourse
with women; so that there is nothing to separate us from swine, nothing
wherein we differ from the brute creation, or from horses, respecting
which it is written:[1] "They were toward women like raging horses;
everyone neighed after his neighbour's wife." This is that which the
Holy Spirit says by the mouth of David:[2] "Be ye not like horse and
mule which have no understanding." And again respecting Dormitantius
and his friends: [3]"Bind the jaws of them who draw not near unto thee
with bit and bridle."
3. But it is now thee for us to adduce his own words
and answer him in detail. For, possibly, in his malice, he may choose
once more to misrepresent me, and say that I have trumped up a case for
the sake of showing off my rhetorical and declamatory powers in
combating it, like the letter[4] which I wrote to Gaul, relating to a
mother and daughter who were at variance. This little treatise, which I
now dictate, is due to the reverend presbyters Riparius and Desiderius,
who write that their parishes have been defiled by being in his
neighbourhood, and have sent me, by our brother Sisinnius, the books
which he vomited forth in a drunken fit. They also declare that some
persons are found who, from their inclination to his vices, assent to
his blasphemies. He is a barbarian both in speech and knowledge. His
style is rude. He cannot defend even the truth; but, for the sake of
laymen, and poor women, laden with sins, ever learning and never coming
to a knowledge of the truth, I will spend upon his melancholy trifles a
single night's labour, otherwise I shall seem to have treated with
contempt the letters of the reverend persons who have entreated me to
undertake the task.
4. He certainly well represents his race. Sprung
from a set of brigands and persons collected together from all quarters
([mean those whom Cn. Pompey, alter the conquest of Spain, when he was
hastening to return for his triumph, brought down from the Pyrenees and
gathered together into one town, whence the name of the city
Convenae[1]), he has carried on their brigand practices by his attack
upon the Church of God. Like his ancestors the Vectones, the Arrabaci,
and the Celtiberians, he makes his raids upon the churches of Gaul, not
carrying the standard of the cross, but, on the contrary, the ensign of
the devil. Pompey did just the same in the East. After overcoming the
Cilician and Isaurian pirates and brigands, he founded a city, bearing
his own name, between Cilicia and Isauria. That city, however, to this
day, observes the ordinances of its ancestors, and no Dormitantius has
arisen in it; but Gaul supports a native foe, and sees seated in the
Church a man who has lost his head and who ought to be put in the
strait-jacket which Hippocrates recommended. Among other blasphemies,
he may be heard to say," What need is there for you not only to pay
such honour, not to say adoration, to the thing, whatever it may be,
which you carry about in x little vessel and worship?" And again, in
the same book," Why do you kiss and adore a bit of powder wrapped up in
a cloth?" And again, in the same book," Under the cloak of religion we
see what is all but a heathen ceremony introduced into the churches:
while the sun is still shining, heaps of tapers are lighted, and
everywhere a paltry bit of powder, wrapped up in a costly cloth, is
kissed and worshipped. Great honour do men of this sort pay to the
blessed martyrs, who, they think, are to be made glorious by trumpery
tapers, when the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne, with all the
brightness of His majesty, gives them light?"
5. Madman, who in the world ever adored the martyrs?
who ever thought man was God? Did not[2] Paul and Barnabas, when the
people of Lycaonia thought them to be Jupiter and Mercury, and would
have offered sacrifices to them, rend their clothes and declare they
were men? Not that they were not better than Jupiter and Mercury, who
were but men long ago dead, but because, under the mistaken ideas of
the Gentiles, the honour due to God was being paid to them. And we read
the same respecting Peter, who, when Cornelius wished to adore him,
raised him by the hand, and said, [3]"Stand up, for I also am a man."
And have you the audacity to speak of "the mysterious something or
other which you
419
carry about in a little vessel and worship?" I want to know what it is
that you call "something or other." Tell us more clearly (that there
may be no restraint on your blasphemy) what you mean by the phrase" a
bit of powder wrapped up in a costly cloth in a tiny vessel." It is
nothing less than the relics of the martyrs which he is vexed to see
covered with a costly veil, and not bound up with rags or
hair-cloth, or thrown on the midden, so that Vigilantius alone in his
drunken slumber may be worshipped. Are we, therefore guilty of
sacrilege when we enter the basilicas of the Apostles? Was the Emperor
Constantius I. guilty of sacrilege when he transferred the sacred
relics of Andrew, Luke, and Timothy to Constantinople? In their
presence the demons cry out, and the devils who dwell in Vigilantius
confess that they feel the influence of the saints. And at the present
day is the Emperor Arcadius guilty of sacrilege, who after so long a
thee has conveyed the bones of the blessed Samuel from Judea to Thrace?
Are all the bishops to be considered not only sacrilegious, but silly
into the bargain, because they carried that most worthless thing, dust
and ashes, wrapped in silk in golden vessel? Are the people of all the
Churches fools, because they went to meet the sacred relics, and
welcomed them with as much joy as if they beheld a living prophet in
the midst of them, so that there was one great swarm of people from
Palestine to Chalcedon with one voice re-echoing the praises of Christ?
They were forsooth, adoring Samuel and not Christ, whose Levite and
prophet Samuel was. You Show mistrust because you think only of the
dead body, and therefore blaspheme. Read he Gospel--[1]"The God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob: He is not the God of the
dead, but of the living." If then they are alive, they are not, to use
your expression, kept in honourable confinement.
6. For you say that the souls of Apostles and
martyrs have their abode either in the bosom of Abraham, or in the
place of refreshment, or under the altar of God, and that they
cannot leave their own tombs, and be present there they will. They are,
it seems, of senatorial rank. and are not subjected to the worst kind
of prison and the society of murderers, but are kept apart in liberal
and honourable custody in the isles of the blessed and the Elysian
fields. Will you lay down the law for God? Will you put the Apostles
into chains? So that to the day of judgment they re to be kept in
confinement, and are not with their Lord, although it is written
concerning them, [3]"They follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth." If
the Lamb is present everywhere, the same must be believed respecting
those who are with the Lamb. And while the devil and the demons wander
through the whole world, and with only too great speed present
themselves everywhere; are martyrs, after the shedding of their blood,
to be kept out of sight shut up in a[1] coffin, from whence they cannot
escape? You say, in your pamphlet, that so long as we are alive we can
pray for one another; but once we die, the prayer of no person for
another can be heard, and all the more because the martyrs, though
they[2] cry for the avenging of their blood, have never been able to
obtain their request. If Apostles and martyrs while still in the body
can pray for others, when they ought still to be anxious for
themselves, how much more must they do so when once they have won their
crowns, overcome, and triumphed? A single man, Moses, oft[3] wins
pardon from God for six hundred thousand armed men; and[4] Stephen, the
follower of his Lord and the first Christian martyr, entreats pardon
for his persecutors; and when once they have entered on their life with
Christ, shall they have less power than before? The Apostle Paul[6]
says that two hundred and seventy-six souls were given to him in the
ship; and when, after his dissolution, he has begun to be with Christ,
must he shut his mouth, and be unable to say a word for those who
throughout the whole world have believed in his Gospel? Shall
Vigilantius the live dog be better than Paul the dead lion? I should be
right in saying so after[6] Ecclesiastes, if I admitted that Paul is
dead in spirit. The truth is that the saints are not called dead, but
are said to be asleep. Wherefore[7] Lazarus, who was about to rise
again, is said to have slept. And the Apostle[8] forbids the
Thessalonians to be sorry for those who were asleep. As for you, when
wide awake you are asleep, and asleep when you write, and you bring
before me an apocryphal book which, under the name of Esdras, is read
by you and those of your feather, and in this book it is[9] written
that after death no one dares pray for others. I have never read the
book: for what need is there to take up what the Church does not
receive? It can hardly be your intention to confront me with Balsamus,
and Barbelus, and the Thesaurus of Manichaeus, and the ludicrous name
of Leusiboras; though possibly because you live at the foot of the
Pyrenees, and border on Iberia, you
420
follow the incredible marvels of the ancient heretic[1] Basilides and
his so-called knowledge, which is there ignorance, and set forth what
is condemned by the authority of the whole world. I say this because in
your short treatise you quote Solomon as if he were on your side,
though Solomon never wrote the words in question at all; so that, as
you have a second Esdras you may have a second Solomon. And, if you
like, you may read the imaginary revelations of all the patriarchs and
prophets, and, when you have learned them, you may sing them among the
women in their weaving-shops, or rattler order them to be read in your
taverns, the more easily by these melancholy ditties to stimulate the
ignorant mob to replenish their cups.
7. As to the question of tapers, however, we do not,
as you in vain misrepresent us, light them in the daytime, but by their
solace we would cheer the darkness of the night, and watch for the
dawn, lest we should be blind like you and sleep in darkness. And if
some persons, being ignorant and simple minded laymen, or, at all
events, religious women--of whom we can truly sa, [2]"I allow that they
hive a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge"--adopt the
practice in honour of the martyrs, what harm is thereby done
to you? Once upon a thee even the Apostles[3] pleaded that the ointment
was wasted, but they were rebuked by the voice of the Lord. Christ did
not need the ointment, nor do martyrs need the light of tapers; and yet
that woman poured out the ointment in honour of Christ, and her heart's
devotion was accepted. All those who light these tapers have their
reward according to their faith, as the Apostle says: [4]"Let every one
abound in his own meaning." Do you call men. of this sort idolaters? I
do not deny, that all of us who believe in Christ have passed from the
error of idolatry. For we are not: born Christians, but become
Christians by being born again. And because we formerly worshipped
idols, does it follow that we ought not now to worship God lest we seem
to pay like honour to Him and to idols? In the one case respect was
paid to idols, and therefore the ceremony is to be abhorred; in the
other the martyrs are venerated, and the same ceremony is therefore to
be allowed. Throughout the whole Eastern Church, even when there are no
relics of the martyrs, whenever the Gospel is to be read the candles
are lighted, although the dawn may be reddening the sky, not of course
to scatter the darkness, but by way of evidencing our joy. [1]And
accordingly the virgins in the Gospel always have their lamps lighted.
And the Apostles are[2] told to have their loins girded, and their
lamps burning in their hands. And of John Baptist we read, [3]"He was
the lamp that burneth and shineth"; so that, under the figure of
corporeal light, that light is represented of which we read in the
Psalter, [4]"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, O Lord, and a light unto
my paths."
8. Does the bishop of Rome do wrong when he offers
sacrifices to the Lord over the venerable bones of the dead men Peter
and Paul, as we should say, but according to you, over a worthless bit
of dust, and judges their tombs worthy to be Christ's altars? And not
only is the bishop of one city in error, but the bishops of the whole
world, who, despite the tavern-keeper Vigilantius, enter the basilicas
of the dead, in which" a worthless bit of dust and ashes lies wrapped
up in a cloth," defiled and defiling all else. Thus, according to you,
the sacred buildings are like the sepulchres of the Pharisees, whitened
without, while within they have filthy remains, and are full of foul
smells and uncleanliness. And then he dares to expectorate his filth
upon the subject and to say: "Is it the case that the souls of the
martyrs love their ashes, and hover round them, and are always present,
lest haply if any one come to pray and they were absent, they could not
hear? " Oh, monster, who ought to be banished to the ends of the earth!
do you laugh at the relics of the martyrs, and in company with
Eunomius, the father of this heresy, slander the Churches of Christ?
Are you not afraid of being in such company, and of speaking against us
the same things which he utters against the Church? For all his
followers refuse to enter the basilicas of Apostles and martyrs, so
that, forsooth, they may worship the dead Eunomius, whose books they
consider are of more authority than the Gospels; and they believe that
the light of truth was in him. just as other heretics maintain that the
Paraclete came into Montanus, and say that Manichaeus himself was the
Paraclete. You cannot find an occasion of boasting even in supposing
that you are the inventor of a new kind of wickedness, for your heresy
long ago broke out against the Church. It found, however, an opponent
in Tertullian, a very learned man, who wrote a famous treatise which he
called most correctly Scorpiacum,[5] because, as the scorpion bends
itself like a bow to inflict its wound. so what was formerly called the
heresy of Cain pours poison into the body of the Church; it has
421
slept or rather been buried for a long thee, but has been now awakened
by Dormitantius. I am surprised you do not tell us that there must upon
no account be martyrdoms, inasmuch as God, who does not ask for the
blood of goats and bulls, much less requires the blood of men. This is
what you say, or rather, even if you do not say it, you are taken as
meaning to assert it. For in maintaining that the relics of the martyrs
are to be trodden under foot, you forbid the shedding of their blood as
being worthy of no honour.
9. Respecting vigils and the frequent keeping of
night-watches in the basilicas of the martyrs, I have given a brief
reply in another letter[1] which, about two years ago, I wrote to the
reverend presbyter Riparias. You argue that they ought to be abjured,
lest we seem to be often keeping Easter, and appear not to observe the
customary yearly vigils. If so, then sacrifices should not be offered
to Christ on the Lord's day lest we frequently keep the Easter of our
Lord's Resurrection, and introduce the custom of having many Easters
instead of one. We must not. however, impute to pious men the faults
and errors of youths and worthless women such as are often detected at
night. It is true that, even at the Easter vigils, something of the
kind usually comes to light; but the faults of a few form no argument
against religion in general, and such persons, without keeping vigil,
can go wrong either in their own houses or in those of other people.
The treachery of Judas did not annul the loyalty of the Apostles. And
if others keep vigil badly, our vigils are not thereby to be stopped;
nay, rather let those who sleep to gratify their lust be compelled to
watch that they may preserve their chastity. For if a thing once done
be good, it cannot be bad if often done; and if there is some fault to
be avoided, the blame lies not in its being done often, but in its
being done at all. And so we should not watch at Easter-tide for fear
that adulterers may satisfy their long pent-up desires, or that the
wife may find an opportunity for sinning without having the Key turned
against her by her husband. The occasions which seldom recur are those
which are most eagerly longed for.
10. I cannot traverse all the topics embraced
in the letters of the reverend presbyters; I will adduce a few points
from the tracts of Vigilantius. He argues against the signs and
miracles which are wrought in the basilicas of the martyrs, and
says that they are of service to the unbelieving, not to believers, as
I though the question now were for whose advantage they occur, not by
what power. Granted that signs belong to the faithless, who, because
they would not obey the word and doctrine, are brought to believe by
means of signs. Even our Lord wrought signs for the unbelieving, and
yet our Lord's signs are not on that account to be impugned, because
those people were faithless, but must be worthy of greater admiration
because they were so powerful that they subdued even the hardest
hearts, and compelled men to believe. And so I will not have you tell
me that signs are for the unbelieving; but answer my question--how is
it that poor worthless dust and ashes are associated with this wondrous
power of signs and miracles? I see, I see, most unfortunate of
mortals, why you are so sad and what causes your fear. That unclean
spirit who forces you to write these things has often been tortured by
this worthless dust, aye, and is being tortured at this moment, and
though in your case he conceals his wounds, in others he makes
confession. You will hardly follow the heathen and impious Porphyry and
Eunomius, and pretend that these are the tricks of the demons, and that
they do not really cry out, but feign their torments. Let me give you
my advice: go to the basilicas of the martyrs, and some day you will be
cleansed; you will find there many in like case with yourself, and will
be set on fire, not by the martyrs' tapers which offend you, but by
invisible flames; and you will then confess what you now deny, and will
freely proclaim your name--that you who speak in the person of
Vigilantius are really either Mercury, for greedy of gain was he; or
Nocturnus, who, according to Plautus's "Amphitryon," slept while
jupiter, two nights together, had his adulterous connection with
Alcmena, and thus begat the mighty Hercules; or at all events Father
Bacchus, of drunken fame, with the tankard hanging from his shoulder,
with his ever ruby face, foaming lips, and unbridled brawling.
11. Once, when a sudden earthquake in this province
in the middle of the night awoke us all out of our sleep, you, the most
prudent and the wisest of men, began to pray without putting your
clothes on, and recalled to our minds the story of Adam and Eve in
Paradise; they, indeed, when their eyes were opened were ashamed, for
they saw that they were naked, and covered their shame with the leaves
of trees; but you, who were stripped Mike of your shirt and of your
faith, in the sudden terror which overwhelmed you, and with the fumes
of your last night's booze still hanging about you, showed your wisdom
by exposing your nakedness in only too evident a manner to the eyes of
the brethren. Such
422
are the adversaries of the Church; these are the leaders who fight
against the blood of the martyrs; here is a specimen of the orators who
thunder against the Apostles, or, rather, such are the mad dogs which
bark at the disciples of Christ.
12. I confess my own fear, for possibly it may be
thought to spring from superstition. When I have been angry, or have
had evil thoughts in my mind, or some phantom of the night has beguiled
me, I do not dare to enter the basilicas of the martyrs, I shudder all
over in body and soul. You may smile, perhaps, and deride this as on a
level with the wild fancies of weak women. If it be so, I am not
ashamed of having a faith like that of those who were the first to see
the risen Lord; who were sent to the Apostles; who, in the person of
the mother of our Lord and Saviour, were commended to the holy
Apostles. Belch out your shame, if yon will, with men of the world, I
will fast with women; yea, with religious men whose looks witness to
their chastity, and who, with the cheek pale from prolonged abstinence,
show forth the chastity of Christ.
13. Something, also, appears to be troubling you.
You are afraid that, if continence, sobriety, and fasting strike root
among the people of Gaul, your taverns will not pay, and you will be
unable to keep up through the night your diabolical vigils and drunken
revels. Moreover, I have learnt from those same letters that, in
defiance of the authority of Paul, nay, rather of Peter, John, and
James, who gave the right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas, and
commanded them to remember the poor, you forbid any pecuniary relief to
be sent to Jerusalem for the benefit of the saints. Now, if I reply to
this, you will immediately give tongue and cry out that I am pleading
my own cause. You, forsooth, were so generous to the whole community
that if you had not come to Jerusalem, and lavished your own money or
that of your patrons, we should all be on the verge of starvation. I
say what the blessed Apostle Paul says in nearly all his Epistles; and
he makes it a rule for the Churches of the Gentiles that, on the first
day of the week, that is, on the Lord's day, contributions should be
made by every one which should be sent up to Jerusalem for the relief
of the saints, and that either by his own disciples, or by those whom
they should themselves approve; and if it were thought fit, he would
himself either send, or take what was collected. Also in the Acts of
the Apostles, when speaking to the governor Felix, he says,[1] "After
many years I went up to Jerusalem to bring alms to my nation and
offerings, and to perform my vows, amidst which they found me purified
in the temple." Might he not have distributed in some other part of the
world, and in the infant Churches which he was training in his own
faith, the gifts he had received from others? But he longed to
give to the poor of the holy places who, abandoning their own little
possessions for the sake of Christ, turned with their whole heart to
the service of the Lord. It would take too long now if I purposed to
repeat all the passages from the whole range of his Epistles in which
he advocates and urges with all his heart that money be sent to
Jerusalem and to the holy places for the faithful; not to gratify
avarice, but to give relief; not to accumulate wealth, but to support
the weakness of the poor body, and to stave off cold and hunger. And
this custom continues in Judea to the present day, not only among us,
but also among the Hebrews, so that they who[1] meditate in the law of
the Lord, day and night, and have[2] no father upon earth except the
Lord alone, may be cherished by the aid of the synagogues and of the
whole world; that there may be[3] equality--not that some may be
refreshed while others are in distress, but that the abundance of some
may support the need of others.
14. You will reply that every one can do this in his
own country, and that there will never be wanting poor who ought to be
supported with the resources of the Church. And we do not deny that
doles should be distributed to all poor people, even to Jews and
Samaritans, if the means will allow. But the Apostle teaches that alms
should be given to all, indeed,[4] especially, however, to those who
are of the household of faith. And respecting these the Saviour said in
the Gospel,[5] "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness, who may receive you into everlasting habitations."
What! Can those poor creatures, with their rags and filth, lorded over,
as they are, by raging lust, can they who own nothing, now or
hereafter, have eternal habitations? No doubt it is not the poor
simply, but the poor in spirit, who are called blessed; those of whom
it is written,[6] "Blessed is he who gives his mind to the poor
and needy; the Lord shall deliver him in the evil day." But the fact
is, in supporting the poor of the common people, what is needed is not
mind, but money. In the case of the saintly poor the mind has blessed
exercises, since you give to one who receives with a blush, and when he
has received is grieved,
423
that while sowing spiritual things he must reap your carnal things. As
for his argument that they who keep what they have, and distribute
among the poor, little by little, the increase of their property, act
more wisely than they who sell their possessions, and once for all give
all away, not I but the Lord shall make answer:[1] "If thou wilt be
perfect, go sell all that thou hast and give to the poor, and come,
follow Me." He speaks to him' who wishes to be perfect, who, with the
Apostles, leaves father, ship, and net. The man whom you approve stands
in the second or third rank; yet we welcome him provided it be
understood that the first is to be preferred to the second, and the
second to the third.
15. Let me add that our monks are not to be deterred
from their resolution by you with your viper's tongue and savage bite.
Your argument respecting them runs thus: If all men were to seclude
themselves and live in solitude, who is there to frequent the
churches? Who will remain to win those engaged in secular
pursuits? Who will be able to urge sinners to virtuous conduct?
Similarly, if all were as silly as you, who could be wise? And,
to follow out your argument, virginity would not deserve our
approbation. For if all were virgins, we should have no marriages; the
race would perish; infants would not cry in their cradles; midwives
would lose their pay and turn beggars; and Dormitantius, all alone and
shrivelled up with cold, would lie awake in his bed. The truth is,
virtue is a rare thing and not eagerly sought after by the many. Would
that all were as the few of whom it is said: [2]"Many are called, few
are chosen." The prison would be empty. But, indeed, a monk's function
is not to teach, but to lament; to mourn either for himself or
for the world, and with terror to anticipate our Lord's
advent. Knowing his own weakness and the frailty of the vessel
which he carries, he is afraid of stumbling, lest he strike against
something, and it fall and be broken. Hence he shuns the sight of
women, and particularly of young women, and so far chastens himself as
to dread even what is safe.
16. Why, you will say, go to the desert? The
reason is plain: That I may not hear or see you; that I may not be
disturbed by your madness; that I may not be engaged in conflict with
you; that the eye of the harlot nay not lead me captive: that beauty
may not lead me to unlawful embraces. You will reply: "This is not to
fight, but to run away. Stand in line of battle, put on your armour and
resist your foes, so that, having overcome, you may wear the crown." I
confess my weakness. I would not fight in the hope of victory, lest
some thee or other I lose the victory. If I flee, I avoid the sword; if
I stand, I must either overcome or fall. But what need is there for me
to let go certainties and follow after uncertainties? Either with
my shield or with my feet I must shun death. You who fight may either
be overcome or may overcome. I who fly do not overcome, inasmuch as I
fly; but I fly to make sure that I may not be overcome. There is no
safety in sleep with a serpent beside you. Possibly he will not bite
me, yet it is possible that after a thee he may bite me. We call women
mothers who are no older than sisters and daughters,[1] and we do not
blush to cloak our vices with the names of piety. What business has a
monk in the women's cells? What is the meaning of secret conversation
and looks which shun the presence of witnesses? Holy love has no
restless desire. Moreover, what we have said respecting lust we must
apply to avarice, and to all vices which are avoided by solitude. We
therefore keep clear of the crowded cities, that we may not be
compelled to do what we are urged to do, not so much by nature as by
choice.
17. At the request of the reverend presbyters, as I
have said, I have devoted to the dictation of these remarks the labour
of a single night, for my brother Sisinnius is hastening his departure
for Egypt, where he has relief to give to the saints, and is impatient
to be gone. If it were not so, however, the subject itself was so
openly blasphemous as to call for the indignation of a writer rather
than a multitude of proofs. But if Dormitantius wakes up that he may
again abuse me, and if he thinks fit to disparage me with that same
blasphemous mouth with which he pulls to pieces Apostles and martyrs, I
will spend upon him something more than this short lucubration. I will
keep vigil for a whole night in his behalf and in behalf of his
companions, whether they be disciples or masters, who think no man to
be worthy of Christ's ministry unless he is married and his wife is
seen to be with child.
424
TO PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF
JERUSALEM
Introduction.
The letter against John of Jerusalem was written
about the year 398 or 399, and was a product of the Origenistic
controversy. Its immediate occasion was the visit of Epiphanius, bishop
of Salamis in Cyprus, at Jerusalem, in 394. The bishop preached, in the
Church of the Resurrection ( 11), a pointed sermon against Origenism,
which was thought to be so directly aimed at John that the latter sent
his archdeacon to remonstrate with the preacher ( 14). After many
unseemly scenes. Epiphanius advised Jerome and his friends to separate
from their bishop ( 39). But how were they to have the ministrations of
the Church? This difficulty was surmounted by Epiphanius, who
took Jerome's brother to the monastery which he had rounded at Ad. in
the diocese of Eleutheropolis, and there ordained him against his will,
even using force to overcome his opposition (Jerome, Letter LI. 1).
Epiphanius attempted to defend his action (Jerome, Letter LI. 2), but
John, after some thee, appealed to Alexandria against Jerome and his
supporters as schismatics. The bishop, Theophilus, at once took the
side of John: but a letter, written by his emissary Isidore and
intended for John, fell into the hands of Jerome ( 37). The letter
showed that Isidore was coming as a mere partisan of John, and Jerome,
therefore, treated both it and the bearer with secret contempt. The
dispute was thus prolonged for about four years, and, after some
attempts at reconciliation, and the exhibition of much bitterness,
amounting to the practical excommunication of Jerome and his friends,
the dispute was stopped, perhaps by Theophilus, perhaps through the
influence of Melania. The letter written to Pammachius at Rome, in 397
or 398, against John, was abruptly broken off, and it is almost certain
that it was never published during Jerome's lifetime. Jerome afterwards
had so much influence with Theophilus that we find him interceding for
John, who had fallen under the Pontiff's displeasure (Letter LXXXVI. 1).
The date of this treatise is the subject of
controversy. In I Jerome says that he wrote "after three years,"
that is, three years from the visit of Epiphanius to Jerusalem, which
was in 394. This would give the date 397. At 14. also, he says
that Epiphanius had been brooding over his wrongs for three years.
Another note of thee is found in the words of 43, that John had
"lately" sought to obtain a sentence of exile against Jerome from "that
wild beast who threatened the necks of the whole world," that is, the
Prefect Rufinus, who died at the end of 395. All these statements point
to the year 397. On the other hand, at 17, he speaks of his
"Commentaries" on Ecclesiastes and Ephesians as having been written
"about (ferme) ten years ago"; and the preface to Ecclesiastes says
that he bad read Ecclesiastes with Blesilla at Rome "about (ferme) five
years ago," consequently, fifteen years before the writing of this
treatise. Blesilla's death was in 384. The reading of Ecclesiastes may,
therefore, have been in 383. And the fifteen years would bring us to
398. Also, at 41, Jerome says, addressing John. "You seem to have
slept for thirteen years," implying that it was for thirteen years that
the state of things complained of by John had existed, that is, the
presence of the monks in his diocese, or, at least, their leaving their
own dioceses. Jerome left Antioch, the diocese of his ordination, at
the end of 385 or beginning of 386; these thirteen years, therefore,
bring us to 399, the date adopted by Vallarsi. There is, however, an
intimation in "Pallad. Hist. Laus.," c. 117, that Melania, the friend
of Rufinus, gave assistance in the matter of "the schism of nearly 400
monks who followed Paulinus," which is admitted to relate to the schism
at Bethlehem, caused by the question of the ordination of Paulinianus.
We know that Melania and Rufinus left Jerusalem early in 397, and that,
before their departure, Jerome and Rufinus were reconciled. It would,
therefore, seem most probable that the treatise, which is written with
so much animosity against John, Rufinus's fellow-worker, and contains
invidious allusions to Rufinus himself ( 11, "your friends, who grin
like dogs and turn up their noses," Jerome's constant description of
Rufinus), was written before the reconciliation of Rufinus and Jerome,
that is, in the end of 386 or the beginning of 387, and that it was
broken off and kept unpublished because the situation had changed.
Vallarsi places it in 399. He quotes the passages which make for the
later date, but strangely omits the more definite statements which make
for the earlier. It should be added that the letter of Jerome (LXXXII.)
to Theophilus is evidently written at the same thee, and under the same
feelings, as this treatise. and, if the arguments above given are
valid, that letter must be placed in 397, not in 399, as stated in the
note prefixed to it. The short letter (LXXXVI.) to Theophilus is, in
that case, probably to be placed in 398 or 399, rather than 401, as
there stated.
The treatise is a letter to Pammachius, who had been
disturbed by the complaints of Bishop John to Siricius, bishop of Rome,
against Jerome. Jerome begins (1) by pleading necessity for his attack
on the bishop. Epiphanius has accused him of heresy (2). Let him answer
plainly (3), for it is pride alone (4) which prevents this. It is said
that John's letter of explanation or apology was approved by Theophilus
(5); bat it did not touch the point, that is, the accusation of
Origenism. Only three points are treated (6), and Epiphanius adduced
eight--namely (7) Origen's opinions (i.) that the Son does not see the
Father; (ii.) that souls a@e confined in earthly bodies, as in a
prison; (iii.) that the devil may be saved; (iv.) that the skins with
which God clothed Adam and Eve were human bodies: (v.) that the booty
in the resurrection will be without sex: (vi.) that the descriptions of
Paradise are allegorical: trees meaning angels. and rivers the heavenly
virtues: (vii) that the waters above and below the firmament are angels
and devils; (viii.) that the image of God was altogether lost at the
Fall. John, instead of answering on the first head, merely expressed
his faith in the Trinity (S, 9), and all through tries to make out (10)
that the question between him and Epiphanius relates merely to the
ordination of Paulinianus. Jerome then relates the extraordinary scenes
of the altercation between Epiphanius and John (11-14). He then turns
to the Origenistic notions that angels are cast down into human souls
(15, 16), that the spirits of men pass into the heavenly bodies (17),
and that the souls of men had a previous existence (18), and pass up
and down in the scale of creation (19, 20). John, instead of answering
on these points, contents himself with protest
425
ing against Manichaeism (21). Jerome presses him on the question of the
origin of souls (22), pronouncing rashly for creationism. He then
passes to the question of the state of the body after the resurrection
(23). asserting the restoration of the flesh as it now is (24-27). both
in the case of Christ (28) and in our own, adducing testimonies from
the Old Testament (29-32), and discussing the appearances of our Lord
after His resurrection (3436). He then passes to a detailed examination
of John's letter or "Apology "to Theophilus (37), quoting its words,
and telling the story of the mission of Isidore (37, 38), and the
attempts of the Count Archelaus to make peace (39). The ordination of
Paulinianus, on which John lays stress, is a subterfuge (40, 41). The
schism is due to the heretical tendencies of the bishop, who is
everywhere denounced by Epiphanius (42, 43).
The letter is, throughout, violent and contemptuous
in its tone, with an arrogant assumption that the writer is in
possession of the whole truth on the difficult subject on which he
writes, and that he has a right to demand from his bishop a confession
of faith on each point on which he chooses to catechise him. Its
importance lies in the fact that it, to a large extent, fixed the
belief of churchmen on the points it deals with, and the mode of
dealing with supposed heresy, for more than a thousand years.
I. If, according to the 'Apostle Paul, we cannot
pray as we feel, and speech does not express the thoughts of our own
minds, how much more dangerous is it to judge of another man's heart,
and to trace and explain the meaning of the particular words and
expressions which he uses? The nature of man is prone to mercy,
and in considering another's sin, every one commiserates himself.
Accordingly, if you blame one who offends in word, a man will say it
was only-simplicity; if you tax a man with craft, he to whom you speak
will not admit that there is anything more in it than ignorance, so
that he may avoid the suspicion of malice. And it will thus come to
pass that you, the accuser, are made a slanderer, and the censured
party is regarded, not as a heretic, but merely as a man without
culture. You know, Pammachius, you know that it is not enmity or the
lust of glory which leads me to engage in this work, but that I have
been stimulated by your letters and that I act out of the fervour of my
faith; and, if possible, I would have all understand that I cannot be
blamed for impatience and rashness, seeing that I speak only after the
lapse of three years. In fact, if you had not told me that the minds of
many are troubled at the "Apology" which I am about to discuss, and are
tossing to and fro on a sea of doubt, I had determined to persist in
silence.
2. So away with[2] Novatus, who would not hold out a
hand to the erring ! perish[3] Montanus and his mad women ! Montanus,
who would hurl the fallen into the abyss that they may never rise
again. Every, day we all sin and make some slip or other. Being then
merciful to ourselves, we are not rigorous towards others; nay, rather,
we pray and beseech[4] him either to simply tell us our own faults, or
to openly defend those of other men. I dislike ambiguities; I dislike
to be told what is capable of two meanings. Let us contemplate with'
unveiled face the glory of the Lord. Once upon a thee the people of
israel halted[2] between two opinions. But, said Elias, which is by
interpretation the strong one of the Lord,[3] "How Ion,@ halt e between
two opinions? If the Lord be God, go after him; but if Baal,
follow him." And the Lord himself says concerning the Jews,' "the
strange children lied unto me; the strange children became feeble, and
limped out of their by-paths." If there really is no ground for
suspecting him of heresy (as I wish and believe), why does he not speak
out my opinion in my own words? He calls it simplicity; I interpret it
as artfulness. He wishes to convince me that his belief is sound; let
his speech, then, also be sound. And, indeed, if the ambiguity attached
to a single word, or a single statement, or two or three, I could be
indulgent on the score of ignorance; nor would I judge what is obscure
or doubtful by the standard of what is certain and clear. But, as
things are, this "simplicity" is nothing but a platform trick, like
walking on tiptoe over eggs or standing corn; there is doubt and
suspicion everywhere. You might suppose he was not writing an
exposition of the faith, but was writing a disputation on some
imaginary theme. What he is now so keen upon, we learnt long ago in the
schools. He puts on our own armour to fight against us. Even if his
faith be correct, and he speaks with circumspection and reserve, his
extreme care rouses my suspicions.[5]"He that walketh uprightly,
walketh boldly." It is folly to bear a bad name for nothing. A charge
is brought against him of which he is not conscious. Let him
confidently deny the charge which hangs upon a single word, and freely
turn the tables against his adversary. Let the one exhibit the same
boldness in repelling the charge which the other shows in advancing it.
And when he
426
has said all that he wishes and purposes to say, and such things as are
above suspicion, if his opponent persists in slander, let him try
conclusions in open court. I wish no one to sit still under an
imputation of heresy, lest, if he say nothing, his want of openness be
interpreted, amongst those who are not aware of his innocence, as the
consciousness of guilt, although there is no need to demand the
presence of a man and to reduce him to silence when you have his
letters in your possession.
3. We all know what' he wrote to you, what charge he
brought against you, wherein (as you maintain) he has slandered you.
Answer the points, one by one; follow the footsteps of tiffs letter;
leave not a single jot or tittle of the slander unnoticed. For if you
are careless, and accidentally pass over any thing as I believe you on
your oath to have done, he will immediately cry out: "Now, now, you
have got the worst of it, the whole thing turns upon this." Words do
not sound the same in the ears of friends and enemies. An enemy looks
for a knot even in a bulrush; a friend judges even crooked to be
straight. It is a saying of secular writers that lovers are blind in
their judgments, though, perhaps, you are too busy with the sacred
books to pay any attention to such literature. You should never boast
of what your friends think of you. That is true testimony which comes
from the lips of foes. On the contrary, if a friend speaks in your
behalf he will be considered not as a witness but a judge or a
partisan. This is the sort of thing your enemies will say, who perhaps
give no credit to you, and only wish to vex you. But I, whom you say
you have never willingly injured, yet whose name you are always bound
to bandy about in your letters, advise you either to openly proclaim
the faith of the Church, or to speak as you believe. For that cautious
mincing and weighing of words may, no doubt, deceive the unlearned; but
a careful hearer and reader will quickly detect the snare, and will
show in open daylight the subterranean mines by which truth is
overthrown. The Arians (no one knows more about them than you) for a
long thee pretended that they condemned the[2] Homoousion on account of
the offence it gave, and they besmeared poisonous error with honeyed
words. But at last the snake uncoiled itself, and its deadly head,
which lay concealed under all its folds, was pierced by the sword of
the Spirit. The Church, as you know, welcomes penitents, and is so
overwhelmed by the multitude of sinners that it is forced, in the
interests of the misguided flocks, to be lenient to the wounds of the
shepherds.' Ancient and modern heresy observes the same rule--the
people hear one thing, the priests preach another.
4. And first, before I translate and insert in this
book the letter which you wrote to Bishop Theophilus, and show you that
I understand your excessive care and circumspection, I should like a
word of expostulation with you. What is the meaning of this towering
arrogance which makes you refuse to reply to those who question you
respecting 'the faith? How is it that you regard almost as public
enemies the vast multitude of brethren, and the bands of monks, who
refuse to communicate with you in Palestine? The Son of God, for
the sake of one sick sheep, leaving the ninety and nine on the
mountains, endured the buffering, the cross, the scourge; He took up
the burden, and patiently carried on His shoulders to heaven the
voluptuous woman that was a sinner. Is it for you to act the "most
reverend father in God," the fastidious prelate; to stand apart in
)'our wealth and wisdom, in your grandeur and your learning; to frown
superciliously upon your fellow servants, and,. scarce vouchsafe a
glance to those who have been redeemed with the blood of your
Lord? Is this what you have learnt from the Apostles' precept to
be "' "ready always to give answer to ever), man that asketh you a
reason concerning the hope that is in you "? Suppose we do, as you
pretend, seek occasion, and that, under the pretext of zeal for the
faith, we are sowing strife, framing a schism, and fomenting quarrels.
Then take away the occasion from those who wish for an occasion; so
that having given satisfaction on the point of faith, and solved all
the difficulties in which you are involved, you may show clearly to all
that the dispute is not one of doctrine, but of 'order. But perhaps
when questioned concerning the faith, you say that it is from wise
forethought that you hold )'our tongue, so that it may not be said that
you have proved yourself a heretics in as much as you make satisfaction
to your accusers. If that be so, then men ought not to refute any
charges of which they are accused, lest, having denied them, they may
be held to be guilty. The accusations of the laity, deacons, and
presbyters, are, I suppose, beneath your notice. For yon can, as you
are perpetually boast-
427
ing, make a thousand clerics in an hour. But you have to answer
Epiphanius, our father in God, who, in the letters which he sent,
openly calls you a heretic. Certainly you are not his superior in
respect of years, of learning, of his exemplary life, or of the
judgment of the whole world. If it is a question of age, you are a
young man writing to an old one. If it is one of knowledge, you are a
person not so very accomplished writing to a learned man, although your
partisans maintain that you are a more finished speaker than
Demosthenes, more sharp-witted than Chrysippus, wiser than Plato, and
perhaps have persuaded you that they are right. As regards his life and
devotion to the faith, I will say no more, that I may not seem to be
seeking to wound you. At the time when the whole East (except our
fathers in God Athanasius and Paulinus) was overrun by the Arian and
Eunomian heresies; when you did not hold communion with the Westerns;
then, in the very worst of the exile which made them confessors, he,
though a simple convent priest, gained the ear of Eutychius, and
afterwards as bishop of Cyprus was unmolested by Valens. For he was
always so highly venerated that heretics on the throne thought it would
redound to their own disgrace if they persecuted such a man. Write
therefore to him. Answer his letter. So let the rest understand your
purpose and judge of your eloquence and wisdom; do not keep all your
accomplishments to yourself. Why, when you are challenged, in one
quarter, do you turn your arms towards another? A question is put to
you in Palestine, your answer is given in Egypt. When some are
blear-eyed, you anoint the eyes of others who are not affected. If you
tell another what is meant to give us satisfaction, such action springs
entirely from pride; if you tell him what we do not ask for, it is
entirely uncalled for.
5. But you say "the bishop of Alexandria approved of
my letter." What did he approve of? Your correct utterances against
Arius, Photinus, and Manichaeus. For who, at this time of day, accuses
you of being an Arian? Who now fastens on you the guilt of Photinus and
Manichaeus? Those faults were one ago corrected, those enemies
were shattered. You were not so foolish as to openly defend a heresy
which you knew was offensive to the whole Church. You knew hat if you
had done this, you must have been immediately removed, and your heart
was upon the pleasures of your episcopal throne. You so tuned
your expressions as to neither displease the simple, nor offend your
own incontestably marked by deceit and slipperiness; what, then, are we
to do with the remaining five, with regard to which, because no
opportunity was afforded for ambiguity, supporters. You wrote well, but
nothing to the purpose. How was the bishop of Alexandria to know of
what you were accused, or what things they were of which a confession
was demanded from you? You ought to have set forth in detail the
charges brought against you, and then have met them one by one. There
is an old story which tells how a certain man, who, when he was
speaking fluently, was carried along by a torrent of words, without
touching the question before the court, and thus drew the wise remark
from the judge, "Excellent! excellent! but to what purpose is all this
excellence?" Quacks have but one lotion for all affections of the eyes.
He who is accused of many things, and in dissipating the charges passes
over some, confesses all that he omits to mention. Did you not reply to
the letter of Epiphanius, and yourself choose the points for
refutation? No doubt, in replying, you rested on the axiom, that
no man is so brave as to put the sword to his own throat. Choose which
alternative you like. You shall have your choice: you either replied to
the letter of Epiphanius, or you did not. If you did reply, why did you
take no notice of the most important, and the most numerous, of the
charges brought against you? If you did not reply, what becomes
of your" Apology," of which you boast amongst the simple, and which you
are scattering broadcast amongst those who do not understand the
matter?
6. The questions for you to answer were arranged, as
I shall presently show. under eight heads. You touch only three, and
pass on. As regards the rest, you maintain a magnificent silence. If
you had with perfect frankness replied to seven, I should still cling
to the charge which remained; and what you said nothing about, that I
should hold to be the truth. But as things are, you have caught the
wolf by the ears; you can neither hold fast, nor dare let go. With a
sort of careless security and an air of abstraction, you skim over and
touch the surface of three in which there is nothing or but little of
importance. And your procedure is so dark and close that you confess
more by your silence than you rebut by your arguments. Every one has
the right forthwith to say to you, [1] "If the light that is in thee be
darkness, how great is the darkness." Even in answering three little
questions, respecting which volt seemed to say something, you are not
clear from suspicion and from blame, but your replies are
428
and you were therefore unable to cheat your hearers, you preferred to
maintain unbroken silence rather than openly confess what had been
covered in obscurity?
7. The questions relate to the passages in the
<greek>Peri</greek> A<greek>rkpn</greek>. The
first is this, "for as it is unfitting to say that the Son can see the
Father, so neither is it meet to think that the Holy Spirit can see the
Son." The second point is the statement that souls are tied up in the
body as in a prison; and that before man was made in Paradise they
dwelt amongst rational creatures in the heavens. Wherefore, afterwards
to console itself. the soul says in the Psalms, [2] "Before I was
humbled, I went wrong"; and [3]"Return, my soul, to thy rest"; and [4]"
Lead my soul out of prison"; and similarly elsewhere. Thirdly, he says
that both the devil and demons will some time or other repent, and
ultimately reign with the saints. Fourthly, be interprets the
coats of skin, with which Adam and Eve were clothed after their
fall and ejection from Paradise, to be human bodies, and we are
to suppose of course that previously, in Paradise, they had
neither flesh, sinews, nor bones. Fifthly, he most openly denies
the resurrection of the flesh and the bodily structure, and the
distinction of senses, both in his explanation of the first Psalm, and
in many other of his treatises. Sixthly, he so allegorises Paradise as
to destroy historical truth, understanding angels instead of trees,
heavenly virtues instead of rivers, and he overthrows all that is
contained in the history of Paradise by his figurative interpretation.
Seventhly, he thinks that the waters which are said in Scripture to be
above the heavens are holy and supernal essences, while those which are
above the earth and beneath the earth are, on the contrary, demoniacal
essences. The eighth is Origen's cavil that the image and likeness of
God, in which man was created, was lost, and was no longer in man after
he was expelled from Paradise.
8. These are the arrows with which you are pierced;
these the weapons with which throughout the whole letter you are
wounded; or I should rather say Epiphanius throws himself as a
suppliant at your knees, and casts his hoary locks beneath your feet,
and, for a time laying aside his episcopal dignity, prays for your
salvation in words such as these: "Grant to me and to yourself the
favour of your salvation; save yourself, as it is written, from this
crooked generation, [5] and forsake the heresy of Origen, and all
heresies, dearly beloved." And lower down," In the defence of heresy
you kindle hatred against me, and destroy that love which I had towards
you; insomuch that you would make us even repent of holding communion
with you who so resolutely defend the errors and doctrines of Origen."
Tell me, prince of arguers, to which, out of the eight sections, you
have replied. For the present, I say nothing of the rest. Take the
first blasphemy--that the Son cannot see the Father, nor the Holy
Spirit the Son. By what weapons of yours has it been pierced? the
answer we get is, "We believe that the Holy and Adorable Trinity are of
the same substance; that they are co-eternal, and of the same glory and
Godhead, and we anathematize those who say that there is any greatness,
smallness, inequality, or aught that is visible in the Godhead of the
Trinity. But as we say the Father is incorporeal, invisible, and
eternal; so we say the Son and Holy Spirit are incorporeal, invisible,
and eternal." If you did not say this, you would not hold to the
Church. I do not ask whether there was not a time when you refused to
say this. I will not discuss the question, whether you were fond of
those who preached such doctrines; on whose side you were when, for
expressing those sentiments, they underwent banishment; or who the man
was that, when the presbyter Theo preached in the Church that the Holy
Spirit is God, closed his ears, and excitedly rushed out of doors that
he might not so much as hear the impiety. I recognize a man, as one may
say, as one of the faithful, even though his repentance comes late.
[1]That unhappy man Praetextatus, who died after he had been chosen
consul, a profane person and an idolater, was wont in sport to say to
blessed Pope Damascus, "Make me bishop of Rome, and I will at once be a
Christian." Why do you, with many words and intricate periods, take the
trouble to show me that you are not an Arian? Either deny that
the accused said what is imputed to him, or, if he did give utterance
to such sentiments, condemn him for so speaking. You have still to
learn how intense is the zeal of the orthodox. Listen to the Apostle:
[2] "If I or an angel from heaven bring you another gospel than that we
have declared, let him be anathema." You would extenuate the fault and
hide the name of the guilty party: as though everything were right and
no one were accused of blasphemy, you frame, in artificial language, an
uncalled-for profession of your faith. Speak out at once, and let
429
your letter thus begin: "Let him be accursed who has dared to write
such things." Pure faith is impatient of delay. As soon as the scorpion
appears, he must be crushed under foot. David, who was proved to be a
man after God's own heart, says: [1] "Do not I hate those that hate
thee, O Lord, and did not I pine away over thine enemies? I hated
them with a perfect hatred." Had I heard my father, or mother, or
brother say such things against my Master Christ, I would have broken
their blasphemous jaws like those of a mad dog, and my hand should have
been amongst the first lifted up against them. They who said to father
and mother, [2] "We know you not," these men fulfilled the will of the
Lord. [3] He that loveth father or mother more than Christ, is not
worthy of Him.
9. It is alleged that your master, whom you call a
Catholic, and whom you resolutely defend, said, "the Son sees not the
Father, and the Holy Spirit sees not the Son." And you tell me that the
Father is invisible, the Son invisible, the Holy Ghost invisible, as
though the angels, both cherubim and seraphim, were not also, in
accordance with their nature, invisible to our eyes. David was
certainly in doubt even as regards the appearance of the heavens: [4]
"I shall see," he says, "the heavens, the works of Thy fingers." I
shall see, not I see. I shall see when with unveiled face I shall
behold the glory of the Lord: but [5] now we see in part, and we know
in part. The question is whether the Son sees the Father, and you say"
The Father is invisible." It is disputed whether the Holy Spirit sees
the Son, and you answer" The Son is invisible." The point at issue is,
whether the Trinity have mutually the vision of one another; human ears
cannot endure such blasphemy, and you say the Trinity is invisible. You
wander in the realms of praise in all other directions; you spend your
eloquence on things which no one wants to hear about. You put your
hearer off the scent, to avoid telling us what we ask for. But granted
that all this is superfluous. We make you a present of the fact that
you are not an Arian; nay, even more, that you never have been. We
allow that in the explanation of the first section no suspicion rests
upon you, and that all that you said was frank and free from error. We
speak to you with equal frankness. Did our father in God, Epiphanius,
accuse you of being an Arian? Did he fasten upon you the heresy
of [6] Eunomius, the Godless, or that of [7] Aerius? The point of the
whole letter is that you follow the erroneous doctrines of Origen, and
are associated with others in this heresy. Why, when a question is put
to you on one point, do you give an answer about another; and, as if
you were speaking to fools? hide the charges contained in the letters,
and tell us what you said in the church in the presence of
Epiphanius? A confession of faith is demanded of you, and you
inflict upon us your very eloquent dissertations. I beseech my readers
to remember the judgment seat of the Lord, and as you know that you
must be judged for the judgment you give, favour neither me nor my
opponent, and consider not the persons of the arguers, but the case
itself. Let us then continue what we began.
10. You write in your letter that, before
Paulinianus was made a presbyter, the pope Epiphanius never took you to
task in connection with Origen's errors. To begin with, this is
doubtful, and I have to consider which of the two men I should believe.
He says that he did object, you deny it; he brings forward witnesses,
you will not listen to them when they are produced; he even relates
that [1] another besides yourself was arraigned by him: you refuse to
admit this in the case of either; be sends a letter to you by one of
his clergy, and demands an answer: you are silent, dare not open your
lips, and, challenged in Palestine, speak at Alexandria. Which of you
is to be believed is not for me to say. I suppose that you yourself
would not, in the face of so distinguished a man, venture to claim
truth for yourself, and impute falsehood to him. But it is possible
that each speaks from his own point of view. I will call a witness
against you, and that witness is yourself. For if there were no dispute
about doctrines, if you had not roused the anger of an old man, if he
had given you no reply, what need was there for you, who do not excel
in gifts of speech, to discuss in a single sermon in the church the
whole circle of doctrine--the Trinity, the assumption of our Lord's
body, the cross, hell, the nature of angels, the condition of souls,
the Saviour's resurrection and our own, and this as taking place on
this earth (topics perhaps omitted in your manuscript) in the presence
of the masses, in the presence, too, of a man of such
distinction? and to speak with such perfect assurance and
to gallop through it all without stopping to draw breath? What
shall we say of the ancient writers of the Church, who were scarce able
to explain single difficulties in many volumes? What of the
vessel of election,
430
the Gospel trumpet, the roaring of our lion, the thunderer of the
Gentiles, the river of Christian eloquence, who, when confronted by the
[1] mystery concealed from ages and generations, and by the depth of
the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, rather marvels at it
than discusses it? What of Isaiah, who pointed beforehand to the
Virgin? That single thing was too much for him, and he says, [3]
"Who shall declare his generation? " In our age a poor mannikin has
been found, who, with one turn of the tongue, and a brilliancy
exceeding that of the sun, discourses on all ecclesiastical questions.
If no one asked you for the display, and everything was quiet, you were
foolish to enter voluntarily upon so hazardous a discussion. If, on the
other hand, the object of your speaking was the satisfaction you owed
to the faith, it follows that the cause of strife was not the
ordination of a [4] priest, who, it is certain, was ordained long
after. You have deceived only those who were not on the spot, and your
letters flatter the ears of strangers only.
11. We were present (we know the whole case) when
the bishop Epiphanius spoke against Origen in your church, and he was
the ostensible, you the real object of attack. You and your crew
grinned like dogs, drew in your nostrils, scratched your heads, nodded
to one another, and talked of the "silly old man." Did you not, in
front of the Lord's tomb, send your archdeacon to tell him to cease
discussing such matters? What bishop ever gave such a command to
one of his own presbyters in the presence of the people? When you
were going from the Church of the Resurrection to the Church of the
Holy Cross, and a crowd of all ages, and both sexes, was flowing to
meet him, presenting to him their little ones, kissing his feet,
plucking the fringes of his garments, and when he could not stir a step
forward, and could hardly stand against the waves of the surging crowd,
were not you so tortured by envy as to exclaim against "the
vainglorious old man"? And you were not ashamed to tell him to his face
that his stopping was of set purpose and design. Pray recall that day
when the people who had been called together were kept waiting until
the seventh hour by the mere hope of hearing Epiphanius, and the
subject of the harangue you then delivered. Yon spoke, forsooth, with
indignant rage against the Anthropomorphites, who, with rustic
simplicity, think that God has actually the members of which we read in
Scripture; and showed by your eyes, hands, and every gesture that you
had the old man in view, and wished him to be suspected of that most
foolish heresy. When through sheer fatigue, with dry month, head thrown
back, and quivering lips, to the satisfaction of the whole people, who
had longed for the end, yon at last wound up, how did the crazy and
"silly old man" treat you? He rose to indicate that he would say
a few words, and after saluting the assembly with voice and hand
proceeded thus: "All that has been said by one who is my brother in the
episcopate, but my son in point of years, against the heresy of the
Anthropomorphites, has been well and faithfully spoken, and my voice,
too, condemns that heresy. But it is fair that, as we condemn this
heresy so we should also condemn the perverse doctrines of Origen." You
cannot, I think, have forgotten what a burst of laughter, what shouts
of applause ensued. This is what you call in your letter his speaking
to the people anything he chose, no matter what it might be. He,
forsooth, was mad because he contradicted you in your own kingdom.
"Anything he chose, no matter what." Either give him praise, or blame.
Why, here as well as elsewhere, do you move with so uncertain a
step? If what he said was good, why not openly proclaim it?
if evil, why not boldly censure it? And yet, let us note with
what wisdom, modesty, and humility this pillar of truth and faith, who
dares to say that so illustrious a man speaks to the people what he
chooses, alludes to himself. "One day I was speaking in his presence;
and, taking occasion from some words in the lesson for the day, I
expressed, in his hearing and in that of the whole Church, such views
respecting the faith and all the doctrines of the Church as by the
grace of God I unceasingly teach in the Church, and in my catechetical
lectures."
12. What, I ask. is the meaning of this effrontery
and bombast? All philosophers and orators attack Gorgias of Leontini
for daring openly to pledge himself to answer any question which any
person might choose to put to him. If the honour of the priesthood and
respect for your title did not restrain me, and if I did not know what
the Apostle says, [1] "I wist not, brethren, that he was the high
priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of
thy people," how loudly and indignantly might I complain of what you
relate! You, on the contrary, disparage the dignity of your title by
the contempt which you throw, both in word and deed, on one who is
almost the father of the whole episcopate, and a monument of the
sanctity of former days. You say that on a certain day, when something
in the lesson for
431
the day stirred you up, you made a discourse in his hearing, and in
that of the whole Church, concerning the faith and all the doctrines of
the Church. After this we cannot but wonder at the weakness of
Demosthenes; for we are told that he spent a long tithe in elaborating
his splendid oration against AEschines. We are quite mistaken in
looking up to Tully; for his merit, according to Cornelius Nepos, who
was present, was nothing but this, that he delivered his famous defence
of the seditious tribune Cornelius, almost word for word as it was
published. Behold a Lysias [[1] and a Gracchus raised up for us ! or,
to name one of more modern days, Quintus Aterius, [2] the man who had
all his powers at hand like a stock of ready money, so that he needed
some one to tell him when to stop, and of whom Caesar Augustus said
very well, "Our friend Quintus must have the break put on."
13. Is there any man in his right senses who would
declare that in a single sermon he had discussed the faith and all the
doctrines of the Church? Pray show me what that lesson is which
is so seasoned with the whole savour of Scripture that its occurrence
in the service induced you to enter the arena and put your wit to the
hazard. And if you had not been overwhelmed by the torrent of your
eloquence, you might have been convinced that it was impossible for you
to speak upon the whole circle of doctrines without any deliberation.
But how stands the case? You promise one thing and present
another. Our custom is, for the space of forty days, to deliver public
lectures to those who are to be baptized on the doctrine of the Holy
and Adorable Trinity. If the lesson for the day stimulated you to
discuss all doctrines in a single hour, what necessity was there to
repeat the instruction of the previous forty days? But if you
meant to recapitulate what you had been saying during the whole of
Lent, how could one lesson on a certain day "stir you up" to speak of
all these doctrines? But even here his language is ambiguous; for
possibly he took occasion, from the particular lesson, to go over
summarily what he was accustomed to deliver in church to the candidates
for baptism during the forty days of Lent. For it is eloquence all the
same whether few things are said in many words, or many things in few
words. There is another permissible meaning, that, as soon as the one
lesson gave him the spur, he was fired with such oratorical zeal that
for forty days he never ceased speaking. But, then, even the easy-going
old man, who was hanging upon his lips, and longing to know what he had
never heard before, must have almost fallen from his seat asleep.
However, we must put up with it; perhaps this, also, is a case of the
simplicity which we know to be his manner.
14. Let us quote the rest, in which, after the
labyrinths of his perplexing discussion, he expresses himself by no
means ambiguously but openly, and thus concludes his wonderful
homilies: "When we had thus spoken in his presence, and when out of the
extreme honour which we paid him we invited him to speak after us, he
praised our preaching, and said that he marvelled at it, and declared
to all that it was the Catholic faith." The extreme honour you paid him
is evidenced by the extreme insults offered to him, when through the
archdeacon you bade him be silent, and loudly proclaimed that it was
the love of praise which made him linger among the crowd. The present
is the key to the past. For three whole years from that time he has
brooded in silence [1] over the wrongs he suffered, and, spurning all
personal strife, has only asked for a more correct expression of your
faith. You, with your endless resources, and making a profit out of the
religion of the whole world, have been sending those very dignified
envoys of yours hither and thither, and have been trying to awake the
old man out of his sleep that he might answer you. And in truth it was
right that as you had conferred such signal honour upon him he should
praise your utterances, particularly such as were ex tempore. But as
men have a way of sometimes praising what they do not approve, and of
nourishing another's folly by meaningless commendation, he not only
praised your utterances, but praised and marvelled at them as well; and
what is more, to magnify the marvel, he declared to the whole people
that they were in harmony with the Catholic faith. Whether he really
said all this, we ourselves are witnesses. The fact is, he came to us
half dead with dismay at your words, and saying that he had been too
precipitate in communicating with you. And further, when he was much
entreated by the whole monastery to return to you from Bethlehem, and
was unable to resist the entreaties of so many, he did indeed return in
the evening, but only to escape again at midnight. His letters to the
pope Siricius prove the same thing, and if you read them you will see
clearly in what sense he marvelled at your utterances and acknowledged
them Catholic. But we are threshing chaff, and have spent
432
many words in refuting gratuitous nonsense and old wives' fables.
15. Let us pass on to the second point. Here, as
though there were nothing for his consideration, he vapours, and vents
himself unconcernedly, pretending to be asleep, so that he may lull his
readers also into slumber. "But we were speaking of the other matters
pertaining to the faith, that is to say, that all things visible and
invisible, the heavenly powers and terrestrial creatures have one and
the same creator, even God, that is, the Holy Trinity, as the blessed
David says,(1) 'By the word of the Lord were the heavens established,
and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth'; and the creation
of man is a simple proof of the same; for it was God Himself who took
slime from the earth, and through the grace of His own inspiration
bestowed on it a reasonable soul, and one endowed with free will; not a
part of His own nature (as some impiously teach), but His own
workmanship. And concerning the holy angels, the belief of Christians
similarly follows Holy Scripture, which says of God,(2)"Who maketh His
angels spirits, and His ministers a flaming fire." Holy Scripture does
not allow us to believe that their nature is unchangeable, for it
says,(3)"And angels which kept not their own principality, but left
their proper habitation, He hath kept in everlasting bonds under
darkness unto the judgment of the great day"; we know, therefore, that
they have changed, and having lost their own dignity and glory have
become more like demons. But that the souls of men are caused by the
fall of the angels, or by their conversion, we never believed, nor have
we so taught (God forbid!), and we confess that the view is at variance
with the teaching of the Church."
16. We want to know whether souls, before man was
made in paradise, and Adam was fashioned out of the earth, were among
reasonable creatures; whether they had their own rank, lived,
continued, subsisted; and whether the doctrine of Origen is true, who
said that all reasonable creatures, incorporeal and invisible, if they
grow remiss, little by little sink to a lower level, and, according to
the character of the places to which they descend, take to themselves
bodies. (For instance, that they may be at first ethereal, afterward
aerial.) And that when they reach the neighbourhood of earth they
are invested with grosset bodies, and last of all are tied to human
flesh; and that the demons themselves who, of their own choice,
together with their leader the devil, have forsaken the service of God,
if they begin to amend a little, are clothed with human flesh, so that,
when they have undergone a process of repentance after the
resurrection, and after passing through the same circuit by which they
reached the flesh, they may return to proximity to God, being released
even from aerial and ethereal bodies; and that then every knee will bow
to God, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the
earth, and that God may be all to all. When these are the real
questions, why do you pass over the points at issue, and, leaving the
arena, fix yourself in the region of remote and utterly irrelevant
discussion?
17. You believe that one God made all creatures,
visible and invisible. Arius, who says that all things were created
through the Son, would also confess this. If you had been accused of
holding Marcion's heresy, which introduces two Gods, the one the God of
goodness, the other of justice, and asserts that the former is the
Creator of things invisible, the latter of things visible, your answer
would have been well adapted to satisfy me on a question of that sort.
You believe it is the Trinity which creates the universe. Arians and
Semi-Arians deny that, blasphemously maintaining that the Holy Spirit
is not the Creator, but is Himself created. But who now lays it to your
charge that you are an Arian? You say that the souls of men are not a
part of the nature of God, as though you were now called a Manichaean
by Epiphanius. You protest against those who assert that souls are made
out of angels, and say that their nature, in its fall, becomes the
substance of humanity. Don't conceal what you know, nor feign a
simplicity which you do not possess. Origen never said that souls are
made out of angels, since he teaches that the term angels describes an
office, not a nature. For in his book h<greek>Peri</greek>
A<greek>rkpn</greek>e says that angels, and thrones, and
dominions, powers and rulers of the world, and of darkness, and(1)
every name which is named, not only in this world, but in that which is
to come, become the souls of those bodies which they have taken on
either through their own desire or for the sake of their appointed
duties; that the sun also, himself, and the moon, and the company of
all the stars, are the souls of what were once reasonable and
incorporeal creatures; and that though now subject to vanity, that is
to say, to fiery bodies which we, in our ignorance and inexperience,
call luminaries of the world, they shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption and brought to the liberty of the glory of the sons of
433
God. Wherefore every creature groaneth and travaileth in pain together.
And the Apostle laments, saying,[1] "Wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?" This is not the time to
controvert this doctrine, which is partly heathen, and partly Platonic.
About ten years ago in nay "Commentary" on Ecclesiastes, and in
my explanation of the Epistle to the Ephesians, I think my own
views were made clear to thoughtful men.
18. I now beg you, whose eloquence is so exuberant,
and who expound the truth concerning all topics in the course of one
sermon, to give an answer to your interrogators in concise and clear
terms. When God formed man out of slime, and through the grace of His
own inspiration gave him a soul, had that soul previously existed and
subsisted which was afterwards bestowed by the inspiration of God, and
where was it? or did it gain its capacity both to exist and to live
from the power of God, on the sixth day, when the body was formed out
of the slime? You are silent regarding this, and pretend you do not
know what is wanted, and busy yourself with irrelevant questions. You
leave Origen untouched, and rave against the absurdities of
Marcion Apollinaris, Eunomius, Manichaeus, and the other
heretics. You are asked for a hand and you put out a foot, and all the
while covertly insinuate the doctrine to which you hold. You speak
smooth things to plain men like us, but in such a way as in no degree
to displease those of your own party.
19. You say that demons rather than souls are made
out of angels, as though you did not know that, according to Origen,
the demons themselves are souls belonging to aerial bodies, and, after
being demons, destined to become human souls if they repent. You write
that the angels are mutable; and, under cover of a pious opinion,
introduce an impiety by maintaining that, after the lapse of many ages,
souls are produced not from the angels, but froth whatever it was into
which the angels were first changed. I wish to make my meaning clearer;
suppose a person of the rank of tribune to be degraded through his own
misconduct, and to pass through the several steps of the cavalry
service until he becomes a private, does he all at once cease to be a
tribune[2] and become a recruit? No; but he is first colonel, then,
successively, major officer of two hundred, captain, commissary,
patrol, trooper, and, lastly, a recruit; and although our tribune
eventually becomes a common soldier, still he did not pass from the
rank of tribune to that of recruit, but to that of colonel. Origen uses
Jacob's ladder to teach that reasonable creatures by slow degrees sink
to the lowest step, that is to flesh and blood; and that it is
impossible for any one to be suddenly precipitated from number one
hundred to number one without reaching the last by passing through the
successive numbers, as in descending the rounds of a ladder; and that
they change their bodies as often as they change their resting-places
in going from heaven to earth. These are the tricks and artifices by
which you make us out to be [1]"Pelusiots" and "beasts of burden" and
"animal men" who do "not receive the things pertaining to the
Spirit."[2] You are the" people of Jerusalem," and can make a mock even
of the angels. But your mysteries are being dragged into the light, and
your doctrine, which is a mere conglomerate of heathen fables, is
publicly exposed in the ears of Christians. What you so much admire we
long ago despised when we found it in Plato. And we despised it because
we received the foolishness of Christ. And we received the foolishness
of Christ because[3] the weakness of God is wiser than men. And is it
not a shame for us, who are Christians and priests of God, to entangle
ourselves in words of doubtful meaning, as though we were merely
jesting; to keep our phrases balanced between two meanings, in a way
which deceives the speaker himself more than his hearers?
20. One of your company, when pressed by me to say
what he thought concerning the soul, whether it had existed before the
flesh, or not, replied that soul and body had existed together. I knew
the man was a heretic, and was seeking to entangle me in my speech. At
last I caught him saying that the soul gained that name from the time
when it began to animate a body, whereas it was formerly called a
demon, or angel of Satan, or spirit of fornication, or, on the other
hand, dominion, power, agent of the spirit, or messenger. Well, but if
the soul existed before Adam was made in Paradise (in any rank and
condition), and lived and acted (for we cannot think that what is
incorporeal and eternal is dull and torpid like a dormouse) there must
have been some precedent cause to account for the soul, which at first
had no body, being afterwards invested with a body. And if it is
natural to the soul to be without a body, it must be contrary to nature
for it to be in a body. If it is contrary to nature to be in a body, it
follows that the resurrection of the body is contrary to nature. But
the resurrection will not be contrary to
434
nature; therefore, according to you, the body, which is contrary to
nature, when it rises again will be without a soul.
21. You say that the soul is not of the essence of
God. Well! This is what we might expect, for you condemn the impious
Manichaeus, to make mention of whose name is pollution. You say that
angels are not turned into souls. I agree to some extent, although I
know what meaning you give to the words. But, now that we have learnt
what you deny, we wish to know what you believe. "Having taken slime of
the earth," you say, "God fashioned man, and through the grace of His
own inbreathing bestowed upon him a rational soul, and through the
grace of free will, not a portion of His own divine nature (as some
impiously maintain), but His own handiwork." See how he goes out of his
way to be eloquent about what we did not ask for. We know that God
fashioned man out of the earth; we are aware that He breathed into his
face, and man became a living soul; we are not ignorant that the soul
is characterized by reason and free choice, and we know that it is the
workmanship of God. No one doubts that Manichaeus errs in saying that
the soul is the essence of God. I now ask: When was that soul made,
which is the work of God, which is distinguished by free will and
reason, and is not of the essence of the Creator? Was it made at the
same time that man was made out of the slime, and the breath of life
was breathed into his face? Or, having previously existed, and having
associated with reasonable and incorporeal creatures as well as lived,
was it afterwards gifted with the inbreathing of God? Here you are
silent; here you feign a rustic simplicity, and make scriptural words a
cloak for unscriptural tenets. Where you affirm what no one wants to
know, that the soul is not a part of God's own nature (as some
impiously maintain), you ought rather to have declared (and this is
what we all want to know) that it is not that which previously existed,
which He had before created, which had long dwelt among rational,
incorporeal, and invisible creatures. You say none of these things; you
bring forward Manichaeus, and keep Origen out of sight, and, just as
when children ask for something to eat their nursemaids put them off
with some little joke, so you direct the thoughts of us poor rustics to
other matters, so that we may be taken up with the fresh character on
the stage, and may not ask for what we want.
22. But suppose the fact to be that you merely omit
this, and that your simplicity does not mean something you are shrewd
enough to conceal. Having once begun to speak of the soul, and to
deduce arguments on such an important topic from man's first creation,
why do you leave the discussion in mid-air, and suddenly pass to the
angels, and the conditions under which the body of our Lord existed?
Why do you pass by such a vast slough of difficulty, and leave us to
stick in the mire? If the inbreathing of God (a view for which you have
no liking, and a point which you now leave unsettled) is the creating
of the human soul; whence had Eve her soul, seeing that God did not
breathe into her face? But I will not dwell upon Eve, since she, as a
type of the Church, was made out of one of her husband's ribs, and
ought not, after so many ages, to be subjected to the calumnies of her
descendants. I ask whence Cain and Abel, who were the first-born of our
first parents, had their souls? And the whole human race downwards,
what, are we to think, was the origin of their souls? Did they come by
propagation, like brute beasts? So that, as body springs from body, so
soul from soul. Or is it the case that rational creatures, longing for
bodily existence, sink by degrees to earth, and at last are tied even
to human bodies? Surely (as the Church teaches in accordance with the
Saviour's words,[1] "My Father worketh hitherto and I work"; and the
passage in Isaiah,[2] "Who maketh the spirit of man in him"; and in the
Psalms,[3] "Who fashioneth one by one the hearts of them ") God is
daily making souls--He, with whom to will is to do, and who never
ceases to be a Creator. I know what you are accustomed to say in
opposition to this, and how you confront us with adultery and incest.
But the dispute about these is a tedious one, and would exceed the
narrow limits of the time at our disposal. The same argument may be
retorted upon you, and whatever seems unworthy in the Creator of the
present dispensation is again not unworthy, since it is His gift. Birth
from adultery imputes no blame to the child, but to the father. As in
the case of seeds, the earth which cherishes does not sin, nor the seed
which is thrown into the furrows, nor the heat and moisture, under
whose influence the grain bursts into bud, but some man, as for
example, the thief and robber, who, by fraud and violence, plucks up
the seed: so in the begetting of men, the womb, which corresponds to
the earth, receives its own, and nourishes what it has received, and
then gives a body to that which it nourishes, and divides into the
several members the body it has formed. And among those secret recesses
of the belly the hand of God is always working, and there is the same
Creator of body and soul. Do not despise
435
the goodness of your Maker, who fashioned you and made you as He chose.
He Himself is the virtue of God and the wisdom of God, who, in the womb
of the Virgin, built a house for Himself. Jephthah, who is reckoned by
the Apostle among the saints, is the son of a harlot. But listen: Esau,
born of Rebecca had Isaac, a "hairy man," both in mind and body, like
good wheat, degenerates into darnel and wild oats; because the cause of
vice and virtue does not lie in the seed, but in the will of him who is
born. If it is an offence to be born with a human body, how is it that
Isaac, Samson, John Baptist, are the children of promise? You see, I
trust, what it is to have the courage of one's convictions. Suppose I
am wrong, I openly say what I think. Do you, then, likewise either
freely profess our opinions, or firmly maintain your own. Do not set
yourself in my line of battle, so that, by feigning simplicity, you may
be safe, and may be able, when you choose, to stab your opponent in the
back. It is impossible for me, at the present moment, to write a book
against the opinions of Origen. If Christ gives us life, we will devote
another work to them. The point now is, whether the accused has
answered the questions put to him, and whether his reply be clear and
open.
23. Let us pass from this to the most notorious
point, that relating to the resurrection of the flesh and of the body;
and here, my reader, I would admonish you that you may know I speak
under a sense of fear and of the judgment of God, and that you ought so
to hear. For, if the pure faith is to be found in his exposition, and
there is no suspicion of unfaithfulness, I am not so foolish as to seek
an occasion of accusing him, and while I wish to censure another for
his fault be myself censured as a slanderer. I will ask you, therefore,
to read what follows on the resurrection of the flesh; and, having read
it, if it satisfies you (I know it is well calculated to please the
ignorant), suspend your judgment, wait a while, refrain from expressing
an opinion until I have finished my reply; and if after that it
satisfies you, then you shall fix on us the brand of slander. "His
passion also on the cross, His death and burial, which was the saving
of the world, and His resurrection in a true and not an imaginary
sense, we confess; and that[1] being the firstborn from the dead, He
conveyed to heaven the firstfruits of our bodily substance which, after
being laid in the tomb, He raised to life, thus giving us the hope of
resurrection in the resurrection of His own body; wherefore we all hope
so to rise from the dead, as He rose again; not in any foreign and
strange bodies, which are but phantom shapes assumed for the moment;
but as He Himself rose again in that body which was laid in the holy
sepulchre at our very doors, so we, in the very bodies with which we
are now clothed, and in which we are now buried, hope to rise again for
the same reason and by the same[1] command. For the bodies which, as
the Apostle says, are sown in corruption, shall rise in incorruption;
being sown in dishonour, they shall rise in glory.[2] 'It is sown an
animal body, it shall rise a spiritual body'; and of them the Saviour
said in his teaching: "For they who shall be worthy of that world, and
of the resurrection from the dead, shall neither marry nor be given in
marriage, for they can die no more, but shall be as the angels of God,
since they are the sons of the resurrection.'"
24. Again, in another part of his letter, that is,
towards the end of his own homilies, that he might cheat the ear of the
ignorant, he makes a grand parade and noise about the Resurrection, but
in ambiguous and balanced language. He says: "We have not omitted the
second glorious advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall come in His
own glory to judge the quick and the dead; for He shall awake all the
dead, and cause them to stand before His own judgment-seat; and shall
render to every one according to what he has done in the body, whether
it be good or bad; for i every one shall either be crowned in the
body because he lived a pure and righteous life, or be
condemned, because he was the slave alike of pleasure and
iniquity." What we read in the Gospel, that at the end of the world,[4]
if it were possible, even the elect are to be seduced, we see verified
in this passage. The ignorant crowd hears of the dead and buried, hears
of the resurrection of the dead in a true and not an imaginary sense,
hears that the firstfruits of our bodily substance in our Lord's body
have reached the heavenly regions, hears that we shall rise again not
in foreign and strange bodies, which are mere phantom shapes, but, as
our Lord rose in the body which lay amongst us in the holy sepulchre,
so we also in the very bodies with which we are now clothed and buried
shall rise again in the day of judgment. And that no one might think
this too little, he adds in the last section: "And He shall render to
every one according to what he did in the body, whether it were good or
bad: for every one shall either be crowned in the body for his pure and
righteous life, or shall be condemned, be-
436
cause he was the slave of pleasure and iniquity." Hearing these things
the ignorant crowd suspects no artifice, no snares in all this noise
about the dead, the burial of the body, and the resurrection. It
believes things are as they are said to be. For there is more devotion
in the ears of the people than in the priest's heart.
55. Again and again, my reader, I admonish you to be
patient, and to learn what I also have learnt through patience; and
yet, before I take the veil off the dragon's face, and briefly explain
Origen's views respecting the resurrection (for you cannot know the
efficacy of the antidote unless you see clearly what the poison is), I
beg you to read his statements with caution, and to go over them again
and again. Mark well that, though he nine times speaks of the
resurrection of the body, he has not once introduced the resurrection
of the flesh, and you may fairly suspect that he left it out on
purpose. Well, Origen says in several places, and especially in his
fourth book "Of the Resurrection," and in the "Exposition of the First
Psalm," and in the "Miscellanies," that there is a double error
common in the Church, in which both we and the heretics are implicated:
"We, in our simplicity and fondness for the flesh, say that the same
bones, and blood, and flesh, in a word, limbs and features, and the
whole bodily structure, rise again at the last day: so that, forsooth,
we shall walk with our feet, work with our hands, see with our eyes,
hear with our ears, and carry about with us a belly never satisfied,
and a stomach which digests our food. Consequently, believing this, we
say that we must eat, drink, perform the offices of nature, marry
wives, beget children. For what is the use of organs of generation, if
there is to be no marriage? For what purpose are teeth, if the food is
not to be masticated? What is the good of a belly and of meats, if,
according to the Apostle, both it and they are to be destroyed? And the
same Apostle again exclaims,[1] 'Flesh and blood shall not inherit the
Kingdom of God, nor shall corruption inherit incorruption.'" This,
according to him, is what we in our rustic innocence maintain. But as
for the heretics, amongst whom are Marcion, Apelies, Valentinus, Manes
(a synomym for Mania), he says that they Utterly deny the resurrection
of the flesh and of the body, and allow salvation only to the soul, and
hold that it is futile for us to say that we shall rise after the
pattern of our Lord, since our Lord also Himself rose again in a
phantom body, and not only His resurrection, but His very nativity was
docetic or imaginary; that is, more apparent than real. Origen himself
is dissatisfied with both opinions. He says that he shuns both errors,
that of the flesh, which our party maintain, and that of the phantoms,
maintained by the heretics, because both sides go to the opposite
extremes, some wishing to be the same that they have been, others
denying altogether the resurrection of the body. "There are four
elements," he says, "known to philosophers and physicians: earth,
water, air, and fire, and out of these all things and human bodies are
compacted. We find earth in flesh, air in the breath, water in the
moisture of the body, fire in its heat. When, then, the soul, at the
command of God, lets go this perishing and feeble body, little by
little all things return to their parent substances: flesh is again
absorbed into the earth, the breath is mingled with the air, the
moisture returns to the depths, the heat escapes to the ether. And as
if you throw into the sea a pint of milk and wine, and wish again to
separate what is mixed together, although the wine and milk which you
threw in is not lost, and yet it is impossible to keep separate what
was poured out; so the substance of flesh and blood does not perish,
indeed, so far as concerns the original matter, yet they cannot again
become the former structure, nor can they be altogether the same that
they were." Observe that when such things are said, the firmness of the
flesh, the fluidity of the blood, the density of the sinews, the
interlacing of the veins, and the hardness of the bones is denied.
26. "For another reason," he says, "we confess the
resurrection of our bodies, those which have been laid in the grave and
have turned to dust; Paul's body will be that of Paul, Peter's that of
Peter, and each will have his own; for it is not right that souls
should sin in one body and be tormented in another, nor is it worthy of
the Righteous Judge that one body should shed its blood for Christ and
another be crowned." Who, hearing this, would think he denied the
resurrection of the flesh? "And," he says. "every seed has its own law
of being inherent in it by the gift of God, the Creator, which law
contains in embryonic form the future growth. The bulky tree, with its
trunk, boughs, fruit, leaves, is not seen in the seed, but nevertheless
exists in the seed by implication or, according to the Greek
expression, by the spermatikos logos.[1] There is within the grain of
corn a marrow, or vein, which, when it has been dissolved in the earth,
attracts to itself the surrounding materials, and rises again in
437
the shape of stalk, leaves, and ear; and thus, while it is one tiling
when it dies, it is another thing when it rises from the dead; for in
the grain of wheat, roots, stalk, leaves, ears, trunk are as yet
unseparated. In the same manner, in human bodies, according to the law
of their being, certain original principles remain which ensure their
resurrection, and a sort of marrow, that is a seed-plot of the dead, is
fostered in the bosom of the earth. But when the day of judgment shall
have come, and at the voice of the archangel, and the sound of the last
trumpet, the earth shall totter, immediately the seeds will be instinct
with life, and in a moment of time will cause the dead to burst into
life; yet the flesh which they will reconstitute will not be the same
flesh, nor will it be in the old forms. To give you the assurance that
we speak the truth, let me quote the words of the Apostle:[1] 'But some
one says, How shall the dead rise? and with what body will they come?
Thou fool, that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body which
shall be, but a bare grain, it may be of wheat, or the seed of a vine
and a tree.' And as we have already made the grain of wheat, and to
some extent the planting of trees, the subject of our reasoning, let us
now take the grape-stone as an example. It is a mere granule, so small
that you can scarcely hold it between your two fingers. Where are the
roots? where the tortuous interlacing of roots, of trunk and
off-shoots? where the shade of the leaves, and the lovely clusters
teeming with coming wine? What you have in your fingers is parched and
scarcely discernible; nevertheless, in that dry granule, by the power
of God and the secret law of propagation, the foaming new wine must
have its origin. You will allow all this in the case of a tree; will
you not admit such things to be possible in the case of a man? The
plant which perishes is thus decked with beauty;why should we think
that man, who abides, will receive back his former meanness? Do you
demand that there should be flesh, bones, blood, limbs, so that you
must have the barber to cut your hair, that your nose may run, your
nails must be trimmed, your lower parts may gender filth or minister to
lust? If you introduce these foolish and gross notions, you forget what
is told us of the flesh, namely, that in it we cannot please God, and
that it is an enemy; you forget, also, what is told us of the
resurrection of the dead:[2] 'It is sown in corruption, it shall rise
in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory. It is
sown in weakness, it shall rise in power. It is sown a natural body, it
shall rise a spiritual body.' Now we see with our eyes, hear with our
ears, act with our hands, walk with our feet. But in that spiritual
body we shall be all sight, all hearing, all action, all movement. The
Lord shall transfigure: the body of our humiliation and fashion it
according to His own glorious body. In saying transfigure he affirms
identity with the members which we now have. But a different body,
spiritual and ethereal, is promised to us, which is neither tangible,
nor perceptible to the eye, nor ponderable; and the change it undergoes
will be suitable to the difference in its future abode. Otherwise, if
there is to be the same flesh and if our bodies are to be the same,
there will again be males and females, there will again be marriage;
men will have the shaggy eyebrow and the flowing beard; women will have
their smooth cheeks and narrow chests, and their bodies must adapt
themselves to conception and parturition. Even tiny infants will rise
again; old men will also rise; the former to be nursed, the latter to
be supported by the staff. And, simple ones, be not deceived by the
resurrection of our Lord, because He showed His side anti His hands,
stood on the shore, went for a walk with Cleophas, and said that He had
flesh and bones. That body, because it was not born of the seed of man
and the pleasure of the flesh, has its peculiar prerogatives. He ate
and drank after His resurrection, and appeared in clothing, and allowed
Himself to be touched, that He might make His doubting Apostles believe
in His resurrection. But still He does not fail to manifest the nature
of an aerial and spiritual body. For He enters when the doors are shut,
and in the breaking of bread vanishes out of sight. Does it follow then
that after our resurrection we shall eat and drink, and perform the
offices of nature? If so, what becomes of the promise,[2] 'The mortal
must put on immortality.'"
27. Here we have the complete explanation, of the
fact that in your exposition of the faith, to deceive the ears of the
ignorant, you nine times make mention of the body, and not even once of
the flesh, and all the while men think that you confess the body of
flesh, and that the flesh is identical with the body. If it is the same
as the body, it means nothing different. I say this, for I know your
answer: "I thought the body was the same as the flesh; I spoke with all
simplicity." Why do you not rather call it flesh to signify the body,
and speak indifferently at one time of the flesh, at another of the
body, that the body may be shown to consist of flesh, and the flesh to
be
438
the body. But believe me, your silence is not the silence of
simplicity. For flesh is defined one way, the body another; all flesh
is body, but not every body is flesh. Flesh is properly what is
comprised in blood, veins, bones, and sinews. Although the body is also
called flesh, yet sometimes it is designated ethereal or aerial,
because it is not subject to touch and sight; and yet it is frequently
both visible and tangible. A wall is a body, but is not flesh; a stone
is a body, but it is not said to be flesh. Wherefore the Apostle calls
some bodies celestial, some terrestrial. A celestial body is that of
the sun, moon, stars; a terrestrial body is that of fire, air, water,
and the rest, which bodies being inanimate are known as consisting of
material elements. You see we understand your subtleties, and publish
abroad the mysteries which you utter in the bedchamber and amongst the
perfect, mysteries which may not reach the ears of outsiders. You
smile, and with hand uplifted and a snap of the fingers retort,[1] "All
the glory of the king's daughter is within." And,[2] "The king led me
into his bedchamber." It is clear why you spoke of the resurrection of
the body and not of that of the flesh; of course it was that we in our
ignorance might think that when body was spoken of flesh was meant;
while yet the perfect would understand that, when body was spoken of,
flesh was denied. Lastly, the Apostle, in his Epistle to the
Colossians, wishing to show that the body of Christ was made of flesh,
and was not spiritual, aerial, attenuated, said significantly,[3] "And
you, when you were some time alienated from Christ and enemies of His
spirit in evil works, He has reconciled in the body of His flesh
through death." And again in the same Epistle:[4] "In whom ye were
circumcised with a circumcision made without hands in the putting off
of the body of the flesh." If by body is meant flesh only, and the word
is not ambiguous, nor capable of diverse significations, it was quite
superfluous to use both expressions--bodily and of flesh--as though
body did not imply flesh.
28. In the symbol of our faith and hope, which was
delivered by the Apostles, and is not written with paper and ink, but
on fleshy tables of the heart, after the confession of the Trinity and
the unity of the Church, the whole symbol of Christian dogma concludes
with the resurrection of the flesh. You dwell so exclusively upon the
subject of the body, harping upon it in your discourse, repeating first
the body, and secondly the body, and again the body. and nine times
over the body, that you do not even once name the flesh; whereas they
always speak of the flesh, but say nothing of the body. I would have
you know that we see through what you craftily add, and with wise
precaution seek to conceal. For you make use of the same passages to
prove the reality of the resurrection by means of which Origen denies
it; you support questionable positions with doubtful arguments, and
thus raise a storm which in a moment overthrows the settled fabric of
faith. You quote the words,[1] "It is sown an animal body: it shall
rise a spiritual body." "For they shall neither marry, nor be given in
marriage, but shall be as the angels in heaven." What other instances
would you take if you were denying the resurrection? You intend to
confess the resurrection of the flesh, you say, in a real and not an
imaginary sense. After the remarks with which you smooth things over to
the ears of the ignorant, to the effect that we rise again with the
very bodies with which we died and were buried, why do you not go on
and speak thus: "The Lord after His resurrection showed the prints of
the nails in His hands, pointed to the wound of the spear in His side,
and when the Apostles doubted because they thought they saw a phantom,
gave them reply,[2] 'Handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and
blood as ye see Me have'; and specially to Thomas,[a] 'Put thy finger
into My hands, and thy hand into My side, and be not faithless, but
believing.' Similarly after the resurrection we shall have the same
members which we now use, the same flesh and blood and bones, for it is
not the nature of these which is condemned in Holy Scripture, but their
works. Then again, it is written in Genesis:[4] 'My Spirit shall not
abide in those men, because they are flesh.' And the Apostle Paul,
speaking of the corrupt doctrine and works of the Jews, says:[5] 'I
rested not in flesh and blood.' And to the Saints, who, of course, were
in the flesh, he says :[6] 'But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you.' For by denying that they
were in the flesh who clearly were in the flesh, he condemned not the
substance of the flesh but its sins."
29. The true confession of the resurrection declares
that the flesh will be glorious, but without destroying its reality.
And when the Apostle says,[7] "This is corruptible and mortal," his
words denote this very body, that is to say, the flesh which was then
seen. But when he adds that it puts on incorruption and immortality, he
does not say that that which is put on, that is the clothing, does
439
away with the body which it adorns in glory, but that it makes that
body glorious, which before lacked glory; so that the more worthless
robe of mortality and weakness being laid aside, we may be clothed with
the gold of immortality, and, so to speak, with the blessedness of
strength as well as virtue; since we wish not to be stripped of the
flesh, but to put on over it the vesture of glory, and desire to be
clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven, that mortality may
be swallowed up by life. Certainly, no one is clothed upon who was not
previously clothed. Accordingly, our Lord was not so transfigured on
the mountain that He lost His hands and feet and other members, and
suddenly began to roll along in a round shape like that of the sun or a
ball; but the same members glowed with the brightness of the sun and
blinded the eyes of the Apostles. Hence, also, His garments were
changed, but so as to become white and glistening, not aerial, for I
suppose you do not intend to maintain that His clothes also were
spiritual.[1] The Evangelist adds that His face shone like the sun; but
when mention is made of His face, I reckon that His other members were
beheld as well. Enoch was translated in the flesh; Elias was carried up
to heaven in the flesh. They are not dead, they are inhabitants of
Paradise, and even there retain the members with which they were rapt
away and translated. What we aim at in fasting, they have through
fellowship with God. They feed on heavenly bread, and are satisfied
with every word of God, having Him as their food who is also their
Lord. Listen to the Saviour saying:[3] "And my flesh rests in hope."
And elsewhere, "'His flesh saw not corruption." And again,' "All flesh
shall see the salvation of God." And must you be for ever making the
body a twofold thing? Rather quote the vision of[5] Ezekiel, who joins
bones to bones and brings them forth from their sepulchres, and then,
making them to stand on their feet binds them together with flesh and
sinews and clothes them with skin.
30. Listen to those words of thunder which fall from
Job, the vanquisher of torments, who, as he scrapes away the filth of
his decaying flesh with a potsherd, solaces his miseries with the hope
and the reality of the resurrection:[6] "Oh, that," he says, "my words
were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book with an iron pen,
and on a sheet of lead, that they were graven in the rock for ever! For
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that in the last day I shall rise
from the earth, and again be clothed with my skin, and in my flesh
shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold,
and not another. This my hope is laid up in my bosom." What can be
clearer than this prophecy? No one since the days of Christ speaks so
openly concerning the resurrection as he did before Christ. He wishes
his words to last for ever; and that they might never be obliterated by
age, he would have them inscribed on a sheet of lead, and graven on the
rock. He hopes for a resurrection; nay, rather he knew and saw that
Christ, his Redeemer, was alive, and at the last day would rise again
from the earth. The Lord had not yet died, and the athlete of the
Church saw his Redeemer rising from the grave. When he says, "And
I shall again be clothed with my skin, and in my flesh see God," I
suppose he does not speak as if he loved his flesh, for it was decaying
and putrifying before his eyes; but in the confidence of rising again,
and through the consolation of the future, he makes light of his
present misery. Again he says: "I shall be clothed with my skin." What
mention do we find here of an ethereal body? What of an aerial body,
like to breath and wind? Where there is skin and flesh, where there are
bones and sinews, and blood and veins, there assuredly is fleshy tissue
and distinction of sex. "And in my flesh," he says, "I shall see God."
When all flesh shall see the salvation of God, and Jesus as God, then
I, also, shall see the Redeemer and Saviour, and my God. But I shall
see him in that flesh which now tortures me, which now melts away for
pain. Therefore, in my flesh shall I behold God, because by His own
resurrection He has healed all my infirmities" Does it not seem to you
that Job was then writing against Origen, and was holding a controversy
similar to ours against the heretics, for the reality of the flesh in
which he underwent tortures? For he could not bear. to think that all
his sufferings would be in vain; while the flesh he actually bore was
tortured as flesh indeed, it would be some other and spiritual kind of
flesh that would rise again. Wherefore he presses home and emphasizes
the truth, and puts a stop to all that might lie hid in an artful
confession, by speaking out plainly: "Whom I shall see for myself and
my eyes shall behold and not another." If he is not to rise again in
his own sex, if he is not to have the same members which were then
lying on the dunghill, if he does not open the same eyes to see God
with which he was then looking at the worms, where will Job then be?
You do away with what constituted Job, and give me the hollow phrase,
Job shall rise again; it is as if you
440
were to order a ship to be restored after shipwreck, and then were to
refuse each particular thing of which a ship is made.
31. I will speak freely, and although you screw your
mouths, pull your hair, stamp your feet, and take up stones like the
Jews, I will openly confess the faith of the Church. The reality of a
resurrection without flesh and bones, without blood and members, is
unintelligible. Where there are flesh and bones where there are blood
and members, there must of necessity be diversity of sex. Where there
is diversity of sex, there John is John, Mary is Mary. You need not
fear the marriage of those who, even before death, lived in their own
sex without discharging the functions of sex. When it is said, "In that
day they shall neither marry, nor be given in marriage," the words
refer to those who can marry, and yet will not do so. For no one says
of the angels, "They shall not marry, nor be given in marriage." I
never heard of a marriage being celebrated among the spiritual virtues
in heaven: but where there is sex there you have man and woman. Hence
it is that, although you were reluctant, you were compelled by the
truth to confess that, "A man must either be crowned in the body
because he lived a pure and upright life, or be condemned in the body,
because he was the slave of pleasure and iniquity." Substitute flesh
for body, and you have not denied the existence of male and female. Who
can have any glory from a life of chastity if we have no sex which
would make unchastity possible? Who ever crowned a stone for continuing
a virgin? Likeness to the angels is promised us, that is, the
blessedness of their angelic existence without flesh and sex will be
bestowed on us in our flesh and with our sex. I am simple enough so to
believe, and so know how to confess that sex can exist without the
functions of the Senses; that it is thus that men rise, and that it is
thus that they are made equal to the angels. Nor will the resurrection
of the members all at once seem superfluous, because they are to have
no office, since, while we are still in this life, we strive not to
perform the works of the members. Moreover, likeness to the angels does
not imply a changing of men into angels, but their growth in
immortality and glory.
32. But as for the arguments drawn from boys, and
infants, and old men, and meats, and excrements, which you employ
against the Church, they are not your own; they flow from a heathen
source. For the heathen mock us with the same. You say you are a
Christian; lay aside the weapons of the heathen. It is for them to
learn from you to confess the resurrection of the dead, not for you to
learn from them to deny it. Or if you belong to the enemy's camp, show
yourself openly as an adversary, that you may share the wounds we
inflict on the heathen. I will allow you your jest about the necessity
of nursemaids to stop the infants from crying; of the decrepit old men,
who, you fear. would be shrivelled with winter's cold. I will admit
also that the barbers have learnt their craft for nothing, for do we
not know that the people of israel for forty years experienced no
growth of either nails or hair; and, still more, their clothes were not
worn out, nor did their shoes wax old? Enoch and Elias, concerning whom
we spoke a while ago, abide all this time in the same state in which
they were carried away. They have teeth, belly, organs of generation,
and yet have no need of meats, or wives. Why do you slander the power
of God, who can from that[1] marrow and seed-plot of which you speak,
not only produce flesh from flesh, but also make one body from another;
and change water, that is worthless flesh, into the precious wine of an
aerial body? the same power by which He created all things out of
nothing can give back what has existed, because it is a much smaller
thing to restore what has been, than to make what never was. Do you
wonder that there is a resurrection from the condition of infancy and
old age to that of mature manhood, seeing that a perfect man was made
out of the slime of the earth without having gone through successive
stages of growth? A rib is changed into a woman; and by the third mode
of creating man, the poor elements of our birth which put us to the
blush are changed into flesh, bound together by the members, run into
veins, harden into bones. There is a fourth sort of human generation of
which I can tell you. "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the
power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Wherefore that[2] holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Adam
was created one way, Eve another, Abel another, the man Jesus Christ
another. And yet, different as are all these beginnings, the nature of
man remains one and the same.
33. If I wished to prove the resurrection of the
flesh and of all the members, and to give the meaning of the several
passages, many books would be, required; but the matter in hand does
not call for this. For I purposed not to reply to Origen in every
detail, but to disclose the mysteries of your insincere "Apol-
441
ogy." I have, however, tarried long in maintaining the opposite to your
position, and am afraid that, in my eagerness to expose fraud, I may
leave a stumbling-block in the way of the reader. I will, therefore,
mass together the evidence, and glance at the proofs in passing, so
that we may bring all the weight of Scripture to bear upon your
poisonous argument. He who has not a wedding garment, and has not kept
that command,[1] "Let your garments be always white," is bound hand and
foot that he may not recline at the banquet, or sit on a throne, or
stand at the right hand of God;[3] he is sent to Gehenna, where there
is weeping and gnashing of teeth.[3] "The hairs of your head are
numbered." If the hairs, I suppose the teeth would be more easily
numbered. But there is no object in numbering them if they are some day
to perish.[4] "The hour will come in which all who are in the tombs
shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth." They
shall hear with ears, come forth with feet. This Lazarus had already
done. They shall, moreover, come forth from the tombs; that is, they
who had been laid in the tombs, the dead, shall come, and shall rise
again from their graves. For the dew which God gives is[5] healing to
their bones. Then shall be fulfilled what God says by the prophet,[6]
"Go, my people, into thy closets for a little while, until mine anger
pass." The closets signify the graves, out of which that, of course, is
brought forth which had been laid therein. And they shall come out of
the graves like young mules free from the halter. Their heart shall
rejoice, and their bones shall rise like the sun; all flesh shall come
into the presence of the Lord, and He shall command the fishes of the
sea; and they shall give up the bones which they had eaten; and He
shall bring joint to joint, and bone to bone; and[7] they who slept in
the dust of the earth shall arise, some to life eternal, others to
shame and everlasting confusion. Then shall the just see the punishment
and tortures of the wicked, for[8] their worm shall not die, and their
fire shall not be extinguished, and they shall be beheld by all flesh.
As many of us, therefore, as have this hope, as we have yielded our
members servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto iniquity, so let
us yield them servants to righteousness unto holiness, that[9] we may
rise from the dead and walk in newness of life. As also the life of the
Lord Jesus is manifested in our mortal body. so[10] also He who raised
up Jesus Christ from the dead shall quicken our mortal bodies on
account of His Spirit Who dwelleth in us. For it is right that as we
have always borne about the putting to death of Christ in our body, so
the life, also, of Jesus, should be manifested in our mortal body, that
is, in our flesh, which is mortal according to nature, but eternal
according to grace. Stephen also[1] saw Jesus standing on the right
hand of the Father, and the[2] hand of Moses became snowy white, and
was afterwards restored to its original colour. There was still a hand,
though the two states were different. The potter in[2] Jeremiah, whose
vessel, which he had made, was broken through the roughness of the
stone, restored from the same lump and from the same clay that which
had fallen to pieces; and, if we look at the word resurrection itself,
it does not mean that one thing is destroyed, another raised up; and
the addition of the word dead, points to our own flesh, for that which
in man dies, that is also brought to life.[4] The wounded man on the
road to Jericho is taken to the inn with all his limbs complete, and
the stripes of his offences are healed with immortality.
34. Even the graves were opened[5] at our Lord's
passion when the sun fled, the earth trembled, and many of the bodies
of the saints arose, and were seen in the holy city.[6] "Who is this,"
says Isaiah," that cometh up from Edom, with shining raiment from
Bozrah, so beautiful in his glistening robe?" Edom is by interpretation
either earthy or bloody; Bosor either flesh, or in tribulation. In few
words he shows the whole mystery of the resurrection, that is, both the
reality of the flesh and the growth in glory. And the meaning is: Who
is he that cometh up from the earth, cometh up from blood? According to
the[7] prophecy of Jacob, He has bound His foal to the vine, and has
trodden the wine-press alone, and His garments are red with new wine
from Bosor, that is from flesh, or from the tribulation of the world:
for He Himself[8] has conquered the world. And, therefore, His garments
are red and shining, because He is[9] beauteous in form more than the
sons of men, and on account of the glory of His triumph they have been
changed into a white robe; and then, in truth, as concerns Christ's
flesh, were fulfilled the words,[10] "Who is this that cometh up all in
white, leaning upon her beloved?" And that which is written in the same
book:[11] "My beloved is white and ruddy." These men are his true
followers who have not[12] defiled their gar-
442
ments with women, for they have continued virgins, who have made
themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. And so they shall
be in white clothing. Then shall the saying of our Lord appear
perfectly realised: [1]"All that my Father has given me, I shall not
lose aught thereof, but I will raise it up again at the last day;" the
whole of His humanity, forsooth, which He had taken upon Him in its
entirety at His birth. Then shall the sheep which was[2] lost, and was
wandering in the lower world, be carried whole on the Saviour's
shoulders, and the sheep which was sick with sin shall be supported by
the mercy of the Judge. Then shall they see him who pierced Him, who
shouted,[3] "Crucify Him, crucify Him." Again and again shall they beat
their breasts, they and their women, those women to whom our Lord said,
as He carried His cross,[4] "Ye daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me
but weep for yourselves, and for your children." Then shall be
fulfilled the prophecy of the angels, who said to the stupefied
Apostles, [6]"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking with astonishment
into heaven? This Jesus who is taken from you into heaven, shall come
in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." But what are we to
think of a man saying that our Lord[6] ate with the Apostles for forty
days after His resurrection in order that they might not think Him to
be a phantom, and then asserting that it was a phantom which did this
very thins which ate and which was seen by many in the flesh. That
which was seen is either real, or false. If it is real, it follows that
He really ate, and really had members. But if it is false, how could He
be willing to give false impressions in order to prove the truth of His
resurrection? For no one proves what is true by means of what is false.
You will say, are we then going to eat after our resurrection? I know
not. Scripture does not tell us; and yet, if the question be asked, I
do not think we shall eat. For I have read that the kingdom of God is
not meat and drink, while it promises[7] such things as eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man. Moses
fasted forty days and forty nights. Human nature does not allow of
this, but what is impossible with men is not impossible with God. Just
as, in foretelling the future, it matters not whether a person
announces what will take place after ten years or after a hundred,
since the knowledge of futurity is all one; so he who can fast for
forty days and yet live,--not, indeed, that he can of himself fast, but
that he lives by the power of God,--will also be able to live for ever
without food and drink. Why did our Lord eat an honeycomb? To prove the
resurrection: not to give your palate the pleasure of tasting of honey.
He asked for a fish broiled on the coals that He might [1]confirm the
doubting Apostles, who did not dare approach Him because they thought
they saw not a body, but a spirit. [2]The daughter of the ruler of the
synagogue was raised to life and took food. [3]Lazarus, who had been
four days dead, rose again, and comes before us at a dinner; not
because he was accustomed to eat in the lower world, but because a case
which presented such difficulties challenged the believer's criticism.
As He showed them real hands and a real side, so He really ate with His
disciples; really walked with Cleophas; conversed with men with a real
tongue; really reclined at supper; with real hands took bread, blessed
and brake it, and was offering it to them. And as for His suddenly
vanishing out of their sight, that is the power of God, not of a
shadowy phantom. Besides, even before His resurrection, when they had
led Him out from Nazareth that they might cast Him down headlong from
the brow of the hill, He passed through the midst of them, that is,
escaped out of their hands. Can we follow Marcion, and say that
because, when He was held fast, He escaped in a manner contrary to
nature, therefore His birth must have been only apparent? Has not the
Lord a privilege which is conceded to magicians? It is related of
Apollonius of Tyana that, when standing in court before Domitian, he
all at once disappeared. Do not put the power of the Lord on a level
with the tricks of magicians, so that He may appear to have been what
He was not, and may be thought to have eaten without teeth, walked
without feet, broken bread without hands, spoken without a tongue, and
showed a side which had no ribs.
35. And how was it, you will say, that they did not
recognize Him on the road if He had the same body which He had before?
Let me recall what Scripture says: [4]"Their eyes were holden, that
they might not know Him." And again, "Their eyes were opened, and they
knew Him." Was He one person when He was not known, and another when He
was known? He was surely one and the same. Whether, therefore, they
knew Him, or not, depended on their sight; it did not depend upon Him
Who was seen; and yet it did depend on Him in this sense, that He held
their eyes that they might not know Him. Lastly, that you may see that
the
443
mistake which held them was not to be attributed to the Lord's body,
but to the fact that their eyes were closed, we are told: [1]"Their
eyes were opened, and they knew Him." Wherefore, also, Mary Magdalene
so long as she did not recognize Jesus, and sought the living among the
dead, thought He was the gardener. Afterwards she recognized Him and
then she called Him Lord. After His resurrection Jesus was standing on
the shore, His disciples were in the ship. When the others did not know
Him, the disciple whom Jesus loved[2] said to Peter, "It is the Lord."
For virginity is the first to recognize a virgin body. He was the same,
yet was not seen alike by all as the same. And immediately it is
added,[3] "And no one durst ask Him, Who art Thou? for they knew
that He was the Lord." No one durst, because they knew that He was God.
They ate with Him at dinner because they saw He was a man and had
flesh; not that He was one person as God, another as man: but, being
one and the same Son of God, He was known as man, adored as God. I
suppose I must now air my philosophy, and say that our senses are not
to be relied on, and especially sight. A [4]Carneades must be awaked
from the dead to tell us the truth--that an oar seems broken in the
water, porticos afar off look more magnificent, the angles of towers
seem rounded in the distance, that the backs of pigeons change their
colours with every movement. When Rhoda[5] announced Peter, and told
the Apostles, they did not believe that he had escaped, on account of
the greatness of the danger, but suspected it was a phantom. Moreover,
in passing through closed doors, He exhibited the same power as in
vanishing out of sight. [6]Lynceus, as fable relates, used to see
through a wall. Could not the Lord enter when the doors were shut,
unless He were a phantom? Eagles and vultures perceive dead bodies
across the sea. Shall not the Saviour see His Apostles without opening
the door? Tell me, sharpest of disputants, which is greater, to hang
the vast weight of the earth on nothing, and to balance it on the
changing surface of the waves; or that God should pass through a closed
door, and the creature yield to the Creator? You allow the greater; you
object to the less. Peter[7] walked upon the waters with his heavy and
solid body. The soft water does not yield: his faith doubts a little,
and immediately his body understands its own nature; that we may know
that it was not his body that walked on the water, but his faith.
36. I pray you, who use such elaborate arguments
against the resurrection, let us have some simple talk together. Do you
believe that our Lord really rose again in the same body in which He
died and was buried, or do you not believe it? If you believe it, why
do you make propositions which lead to the denial of the resurrection?
If you do not believe, you who thus try to deceive the minds of the
ignorant, and parade the word resurrection, though you mean nothing by
it, listen to me. Not long ago, a certain disciple of Marcion said:
"Woe to him who rises again with this flesh and these bones!" Our
heart at once with joy replied,[1] "We are buried together, and we
shall rise together with Christ through baptism." "Do you speak of the
resurrection of the soul, or of the flesh?" I answered, "Not that of
the soul alone, but that of the flesh, which, together with the soul,
is born again in the layer. And how shall that perish which has been
born again in Christ?" "Because it is written," said he,[2] " 'Flesh
and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God.'" "I intreat you to
mind what is said--'Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of
God.' " "It is said that they shall not rise again." "Not at all, but
only 'they shall not inherit the kingdom.'" "How so?" "'Because,' it
follows,[3] 'neither shall corruption inherit incorruption.' So long
then as they remain mere flesh and blood, they shall not inherit the
kingdom of God. But when the[4] corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and the mortal shall have put on immortality, and the
clay of the flesh shall have been made into a vessel, then that flesh
which was formerly kept down by a heavy weight upon the earth, when
once it has received the wings of the spirit--wings which imply its
change, not its destruction--shall fly with fresh glory to heaven; and
then shall be fulfilled that which is written, [5]'Death is swallowed
up in victory. Where, O death, is thy boasting? O death, where is thy
sting?' "
37. Reversing the order, we have given our answer
respecting the state of souls and the resurrection of the flesh; and,
leaving out the opening portions of the letter, we have confined
ourselves to the refutation of this most remarkable treatise. For we
preferred to speak of the things of God rather than of our own wrongs.
[6]"If one man sin against another, they shall pray for him to the
Lord. But if he sin against God, who shall pray for him?" In these
days, on the contrary, we make it our first business to pursue with
undying
444
hate those who have injured us--to those who blaspheme God we
indulgently hold out the hand. John writes to Bishop Theophilus an
apology, of which the introduction runs thus: "You, indeed, as a man of
God, adorned with apostolic grace, have upon you the care of all the
Churches, especially of that which is at Jerusalem, though you yourself
are distracted with countless anxieties for the Church of God, which is
under you." This is barefaced adulation, and an attempt to
concentrate[1] authority in the hands of an individual. You, who ask
for ecclesiastical rules, and make use of the[2] canons of the Council
of Nicaea, and claim authority over clerics who belong to another
diocese and are[3] actually living with their own bishop, answer my
question, What has Palestine to do with the bishop of Alexandria?
Unless I am deceived, it is decreed in those canons that Caesarea is
the metropolis of Palestine, and Antioch of the whole of the East. You
ought therefore either to appeal to the bishop of Caesarea, with whom
you know that we have communion while we disdain to communicate with
you, or, if judgment were to be sought at a distance, letters ought
rather to be addressed to Antioch. But I know why you were unwilling to
send to Caesarea, or to Antioch. You knew what to flee from, what to
avoid. You preferred to assail with your complaints ears that were
preoccupied rather than pay due honour to your metropolitan. And
I do not say this because I have anything to blame in the mission
itself, except certain partialities which beget suspicion, but because
you ought rather to clear yourself in the actual presence of your
questioners. You begin with the words, "You have sent a most devoted
servant of God, the presbyter Isidore, a man of influence no less from
the dignity of his very gait and dress than from that of his divine
understanding, to heal those whose souls are grievously sick; would
that they had any sense of their illness! A man of God sends a man of
God." No difference is made between a priest and a bishop; the same
dignity belongs to the sender and the sent; this is lame enough; the
ship, as the saying goes; is wrecked in harbour. That Isidore, whom you
extol to the sky by your praises, lies under the same imputation of
heresy[1] at Alexandria as you at Jerusalem; wherefore he appears to
have come to you not as an envoy, but as a confederate. Besides, the
letters in his own handwriting, which, three months before the sending
of the embassy, had been sent to us[2] through an error in the address,
were delivered to the presbyter Vincentius, and to this day they are in
his keeping. In these letters the writer encourages the leader of his
army[3] to plant his foot firmly upon the rock of the faith, and not to
be terrified by our Jeremiads. He promises, before we had any suspicion
of his mission. that he will come to Jerusalem, and that on his arrival
the ranks of his adversaries will be instantly crushed. And amongst the
rest he uses these words: "As smoke vanishes in the air, and wax melts
beside the fire, so shall they be scattered who are for ever resisting
the faith of the Church, and are now through simple men endeavouring to
disturb that faith."
38. I ask you, my reader, what does a man, who
writes these things before he comes, appear to you to be? An adversary,
or an envoy? This is the man whom we may, indeed, call most pious, or
most religious, and, to give the exact equivalent of the word, one
devoted to the worship of God. This is the man of divine understanding,
so influential, and of such dignity in gait and dress, that, like a
spiritual Hippocrates, he is able by his presence to relieve the
sickness of our souls, provided, however, we are willing to submit to
his treatment. If such is his medicine, let him heal himself, since he
is accustomed to heal others. To us, that divine understanding of his
is folly for the sake of Christ. We willingly remain in the sickness of
our simplicity, rather than, by using your eye-salve, learn an impious
abuse of sight. Next come the words: "The excellent intentions of your
Holiness compel our prayers to the Lord night and day; and, as though
those intentions were already perfectly realised, we offer our prayers
to Him in the holy places, that He may give you a perfect reward, and
bestow on you the crown of life." You do right in giving thanks; for,
if Isidore had not come you would not now have found in the whole of
Palestine such a faithful associate. If he had not brought you the aid
he had promised beforehand, you would find yourself surrounded by a
crowd of rustics incapable of
445
understanding your wisdom. This very apology of which we are now
speaking was dictated in the presence and, to a great extent, with the
assistance of Isidore, so that the same person both composed the letter
and carried it to its destination.
39. Your letter goes on to relate that "though he
had come hither and had had three separate interviews with us, and had
applied to the matter the healing language no less of your divine
wisdom than of his own understanding, he found that he could be of no
use to any one, nor could any one be of use to him." The fact is that
he who is said to have had "three separate interviews with us," so that
in his coming he might maintain the mystic number, and who talked to us
about the command issued by Bishop Theophilus, did not choose to
deliver the letters sent to us by him. And when we said: If you are an
envoy, produce your credentials; if you have no letters, how can you
prove to us that you are an envoy? he replied that he had, indeed,
letters to us but he had been adjured by the bishop of Jerusalem not to
give them to us. You see here the true envoy consistent with his proper
character; you see how impartial he shows himself to both sides, that
he may make peace, and exclude the suspicion of favouring either party.
At all events, he had come without a plaster, and had not the
physician's instruments at his command, and therefore his medicine was
of no avail. "Jerome and those associated with him," you continue,"
both secretly, and in the presence of all, again and again and with the
attestation of an oath, satisfied him that they never had any doubts of
our orthodoxy, saying: We have now just the same feeling toward him, as
regards matters of faith, that we had when we used to communicate with
him." See what dogmatic agreement can do. Isidore, in order that he
might make such a report as this, is taken into close fellowship, and
is spoken of as a man of God, and a most devout priest, a man of
influence, of holy and venerable gait, and of divine understanding, the
Hippocrates of the Christians. I, a poor wretch, hiding away in
solitude, suddenly cut off by this mighty pontiff, have lost the name
of priest. This "Jerome," then, with his ragged herd and shabby
following, did he dare to give any answer to Isidore and his
thunderbolts? Of course not; and doubtless for no other motive than
fear that the envoy would never yield, and might overwhelm them by his
presence and [1]gigantic stature. "Not once, nor thrice, but again and
again [2]they swore that they knew the individual in question to be
orthodox, and that they had never suspected him of heresy." What
undisguised and shameless lying! A witness borne by a man to himself!
Such witness as is not believed even in the mouth of a Cato,
for[1] in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be
established. Was there ever a word said, or a message sent to you, to
the effect that, without being satisfied as to your orthodoxy, we would
endure communion with you? When, through the instrumentality of the
Count Archelaus, a most accomplished as well as a most Christian man,
who tried to negotiate a peace between us, a place had been appointed
where we were to meet, was not one of the first things postulated that
the faith should form the basis of future agreement? He promised
to come. Easter was approaching; a great multitude of monks had
assembled; you were expected at the appointed place; what to do you did
not know. All at once you sent word that some one or other was sick,
you could not come that day. Is it a stage-player or a bishop who thus
speaks? Suppose what you said was true, to suit the pleasure of one
feeble woman who fears that she may have a headache, or may feel sick,
or haste a pain in the stomach, while you are away, do you neglect the
interests of the Church? Do you despise so many men, Christians and
monks assembled together? We were unwilling to give occasion for
breaking off the negotiation; we saw through the artifice of your
procrastination, and sought to overcome the wrong you did us by
patience. Archelaus wrote again, advising him that he was staying on
for two days, in case he should be willing to come. But be was busy;
his dear little woman bad not ceased to vomit, he could not bestow a
thought upon us until she should have escaped from her nausea. Well,
after two months, at last the long-looked for Isidore arrived, and what
he heard from us was not as you pretend, a testimony in your behalf,
but the reason why we demanded satisfaction. For when he raised the
point, "Why, if be were a heretic, did you communicate with him?" he
was answered by us all that we communicated without any suspicion of
his heresy; but that, after he had been summoned by the Most Reverend
Epiphanius, both by word and by letter, and had disdained to answer,
documents were addressed to the monks by Epiphanius himself, to the
effect that, unless he gave satisfaction respecting the faith, no one
should rashly communicate with him. The letters are in our hands; there
can be no doubt about the matter. This, then,
446
was the reply made by the whole body of the brethren: not, as you
maintain, that you were not an heretic, because at a former time you
were not said to be one. For upon that showing, a man must be said not
to be sick because previous to his sickness he was in good health.
40. To proceed with the letter. "But when the
ordination of Paulinianus, and the others associated with him, was
brought forward, they began to feel that they themselves were in the
wrong. For the sake of charity and concord every concession was made to
them, and the only point insisted on was that, though they had been
ordained contrary to the rules, yet they should be subject to the
authority of the Church of God, that they should not rend it, and set
up an authority of their own. But they, not agreeing to this, began to
raise questions concerning the faith; and thus they made it evident to
all that if the presbyter Jerome and his friends were not accused, they
had no charge to bring against us, but that they only betook themselves
to doctrinal questions because, when charges of error and misconduct
were brought against them, they were utterly unable to reply to us on
matters of that sort, or to give any satisfactory explanation of their
wrong-doing: not that they had any hope that we could be convicted of
heresy, but they were striving to injure our reputation."
41. No one must blame the translator for this
verbiage: the Greek is the same. Meanwhile I rejoice that whereas I
thought I was beheaded I find my presbyterial head on my shoulders
again. He says that we are utterly incapable of conviction, and he
draws back from the encounter. If the cause of discord is not due to
discussions about the faith, but springs from the ordination of
Paulinianus, is it not the extreme of folly to give occasion to those
who seek occasion by refusing to answer? Confess the faith; but do it
so as to answer the question put to you, that it may be clear to all
that the dispute is not one of faith, but of order. For so long as you
are silent when questioned concerning the faith, your adversary has a
right to say to you: "The matter is not one of order but of faith." If
it is a question of order, you act foolishly in saying nothing when
questioned concerning the faith. If it is one of faith, it is foolish
of you to make a pretext of the question of order. Moreover, when you
say your aim was that they might be subject to the Church, that they
might not rend it, nor set up an authority of their own; who they are
of whom you speak I do not well understand. If you are speaking of me
and the presbyter Vincentius, you have been asleep long enough, if you
only wake up now, after thirteen years,[1] to say these things. For the
reason why I forsook Antioch and he Constantinople,[2] both famous
cities, was, not that we might praise your popular eloquence, but that,
in the country and in solitude, we might weep over the sins of our
youth, and draw down upon us the mercy of Christ. But if Paulinianus is
the subject of your remarks, he, as you see, is subject to his[3]
bishop, and lives at Cyprus: he sometimes comes to visit us, not as one
of your clergy, but as another's, his, namely, by whom he was ordained.
But if he wished even to stay here, and to live a quiet, solitary life
sharing our exile, what does he owe you except the respect which we owe
to all bishops? Suppose that he had been ordained by you; he would only
tell you the same that I, a poor wretch of a man, told Bishop Paulinus
of blessed memory. "Did I ask to be ordained by you?" I said. "If in
bestowing the rank of presbyter you do not strip us of the monastic
state, you can bestow or withhold ordination as you think best. But if
your intention in giving the name presbyter was to take from me that
for which I forsook the world, I must still claim to be what I always
was; you have suffered no loss by ordaining me."[4]
42. "That they might not rend the Church," he says,
"and set up an authority of their own." Who rends the Church? Do we,
who as a complete household at Bethlehem communicate in the Church? Or
is it you, who either being orthodox refuse through pride to speak
concerning the faith, or else being heterodox are the real render of
the Church? Do we rend the Church, who, a few months ago, about the day
of Pentecost, when the sun was darkened and all the world dreaded the
immediate coming of the Judge, presented forty candidates of different
ages and sexes to your presbyter for baptism? There were certainly five
presbyters in the monastery who had the right to baptize; but they were
unwilling to do anything to move you to anger, for fear you might make
this a pretext for reticence concerning the faith. Is it not you, on
the contrary, who rend the Church, you who commanded your presbyters at
Bethlehem not to give baptism to our candidates at Easter, so that we
sent them to [5]Diospolis to the Confessor and Bishop Dionysius for
baptism? Are we said to rend the Church, who, outside our cells, hold
no position in the Church? Or do not you rather rend the Church, who
issue an order to your clergy
447
that if any one says Paulinianus was consecrated presbyter by
Epiphanius, he is to be forbidden to enter the Church. Ever since that
time to this day we can only look from without on the cave of the
Saviour, and, while heretics enter, we stand afar off and sigh.
43. Are we schismatics? Is not he the schismatic who
refuses a habitation to the living, a grave to the dead, and demands
the exile of his brethren? Who was it that set at our throats, with
special fury, that wild beast who constantly menaced the throats of the
whole world?[1] Who is it that permits the rain to beat upon the bones
of the saints, and their harmless ashes, up to the present hour? These
are the endearments with which the good shepherd invites us to
reconciliation, and at the same time accuses us of setting up an
authority of our own--us who are united in communion and charity with
all the bishops, so long, at least, as they are orthodox. Do you
yourself constitute the Church, and is whosoever offends you shut out
from Christ? If we defend our own authority--prove that we have a
bishop in your diocese. The reason that we have not had communion with
you is the question of faith; answer our questions, and it will become
one of order.
44. "They,"you go on, "also take advantage of other
letters which they say Epiphanius wrote to them. But he, too shall give
account for all his doings before the judgment seat of Christ, where
great and small shall be judged without respect of persons. Still, how
can they rely on his letter which he wrote only because we took him to
task on the matter of the unlawful ordination of Paulinianus and his
associates; as in the opening of that very letter he intimates?" What,
I ask, is the meaning of this blindness? how is it that he is immersed,
as the saying goes, in Cimmerian darkness? He says that we make a
pretext, and that we have no letters from Epiphanius against him, and
he immediately adds, "How can they rely on his letter, which he only
wrote because he was taken to task by us, in the matter of the unlawful
ordination of Paulinianus and his associates; as in the opening of that
very letter he intimates?" We have no such letter! And what letter then
is that, which in its opening sentence speaks of Paulinianus? There is
something in the body of the letter of which you are afraid to make
mention. Well! He was taken to task, you say, by you because of the age
of Paulinianus. But you yourself ordain a man presbyter, and send him
out as an envoy and a colleague. You have the boldness falsely to call
Paulinianus a boy, and then to send out your own boy presbyter. You
likewise take Theoseca, a deacon of the church of Thiria, and make him
presbyter, and put weapons into his hands against us, and make a misuse
of his eloquence for our injury. You alone are at liberty to trample on
the rights of the Church; whatever you do, is the standard of teaching;
and you do not blush to challenge Epiphanius to stand with you before
the judgment seat of Christ. The sequel of this passage is to the
following effect: he throws it in the teeth of Epiphanius that he was
the partner of his table and an inmate of his house, and declares that
they never had any talk together concerning the views of Origen, and he
supports what he says with the attestation of an oath, saying: "He
never showed, as God is witness, that he had even the suspicion that
our faith was not correct?" I am unwilling to answer and argue
acrimoniously, lest I seem to be convicting a bishop of perjury. There
are several letters of Epiphanius in our possession. One to John
himself, others to the bishops of Palestine, and one of recent date to
the pontiff of Rome; and in these he speaks of himself as impugning his
views in the presence of many, and says that he was not thought worthy
of a reply, "and the whole Monastery," he says, "is witness to what we
in our insignificance assert."
AGAINST THE PELAGIANS
DIALOGUE BETWEEN ATTICUS, A CATHOLIC, AND CRITOBULUS, A HERETIC.
The anti-Pelagian Dialogue is the last of Jerome's
controversial works, having been written in the year 417, within three
years of his death. It shows no lack of his old vigour, though perhaps
something of the prolixity induced by old age. He looks at the subject
more calmly than those of the previous treatises, mainly because it lay
somewhat outside the track of his own thoughts. He was induced to
interest himself in it by his increasing regard for Augustin, and by
the coming of the young Spaniard, Orosius, in 414, from Augustin to sit
at his feet. Pelagius also had come to Palestine, and, after an
investigation of his tenets, at a small council at Jerusalem, in
448
415, presided over by Bishop John, and a second, at Diospolis in 416,
had been admitted to communion. Jerome appears to have taken no part in
these proceedings, and having been at peace with Bishop John for nearly
twenty years, was no doubt unwilling to act against him. But he had
come to look upon Pelagius as infected with the heretical "impiety,"
which he looked upon (i. 28) as far worse than moral evil; and
connected him, as we see from his letter to Ctesiphon (CXXXIII.), with
Origenism and Rufinus; and he brings his great knowledge of Scripture
to bear upon the controversy. He quotes a work of Pelagius, though
giving only the headings, and the numbers of the chapters, up to 100
(i. 26-32); and, though at times his conviction appears weak, and there
are passages (i. 5, ii. 6-30, iii. 1) which give occasion to the
observation that he really, if unconsciously, inclined to the views of
Pelagius, and that he is a" Synergist," not, like Augustin, a thorough
predestinarian, the Dialogue, as a whole, is clear and forms a
substantial contribution to our knowledge. Although its tone is less
violent than that of his ascetic treatises, it appears to have stirred
up the strongest animosity against him. The adherents of Pelagius
attacked and burned the monasteries of Bethlehem, and Jerome himself
only escaped by taking refuge in a tower. His sufferings, and the
interference of Pope Innocentius in his behalf, may be seen by
referring to Letters CXXXV.-CXXXVII., with the introductory notes
prefixed to them.
The following is a summary of the argument: Atticus,
the Augustinian, at once (c. 1) introduces the question: Do you affirm
that, as Pelagius affirms, men can live without sin? Yes, says the
Pelagian Critobulus, but I do not add, as is imputed to us, "without
the grace of God." Indeed, the fact that we have a free will is from
grace. Yes, replies Atticus, but what is this grace? Is it only our
original nature, or is it needed in every act. In every act. is the
reply (2); yet one would hardly say that we cannot mend a pen without
grace (3), for, if so, where is our free will? But, says Atticus (5),
the Scriptures speak of our need of God's aid in everything. In that
case, says Critobulus, the promised reward must be given not to us but
to God, Who works in us. Reverting then to the first point stated,
Atticus asks, does the possibility of sinlessness extend to single
acts, or to the whole life? Certainly to the whole as well as the part,
is the answer. But we wish, or will to be sinless; why then are we not
actually sinless? Because (8) we do not exert our will to the full. But
(9) no one has ever lived without sin. Still, says the Pelagian, God
commands us to be perfect, and he does not command impossibilities.
Job, Zacharias, and Elizabeth are represented as perfectly righteous.
No, it is answered (12), faults are attributed to each of them. John
says, "He that is born of God sinneth not" (13); yet, "If we say we
have no sin we deceive ourselves." The Apostles, though told to be
perfect (14) were not perfect: and St. Paul says (14a)," I count not
myself to have apprehended." Men are called just and perfect only in
comparison of others (16), or because of general subjection to the will
of God (18), or according to their special characteristics (19), as we
may speak of a bishop as excellent in his office, though he may not
fulfil the ideal of the pastoral epistles (22).
The discussion now turns to the words of Pelagius'
book, "All are ruled by their own will" (27). No; for Christ says, "I
came not to do My own will." "The wicked shall not be spared in the
judgment." But we must distinguish between the impious or heretics who
will be destroyed (28) and Christian sinners who will be forgiven. Some
of his sayings contradict each other or are trifling (29, 30). "The
kingdom of heaven is promised in the Old Testament." Yes, but more
fully in the New. Returning to the first thesis, "That a man can be
without sin if he wills it, "the Pelagian says, If things, like desires
which arise spontaneously and have no issue, are reckoned blamable, we
charge the sin on our Maker; to which it is only answered that, though
we cannot understand God's ways, we must not arraign His justice. In
the rest of the book, Atticus alone speaks, going through the Old
Testament, and showing that each of the saints falls into some sin,
which, though done in ignorance or half-consciousness, yet brings
condemnation with it.
Prologue.
I. After writing the [1]letter to Ctesiphon, in
which I replied to the questions propounded, I received frequent
expostulations from the brethren, who wanted to know why I any longer
delayed the promised work in which I undertook to answer all the
subtleties of the preachers of Impassibility.[2] For every one knows
what was the contention of the Stoics and Peripatetics, that is, the
old Academy, some of them asserted that the
<greek>paqh</greek>, which we may call emotions, such as
sorrow, joy, hope, fear, can be thoroughly eradicated from the minds of
men; others that their power can be broken, that they can be governed
and restrained, as unmanageable horses are held in check by peculiar
kinds of bits. Their views have been explained by Tully in the
"Tusculan Disputations," and Origen in his" Stromata "endeavours to
blend them with ecclesiastical truth. I pass over Manichaeus,[1]
Priscillianus,[2] Evagrius of Ibora, Jovinianus, and the heretics found
throughout almost the whole of Syria, who, by a perversion of the
import of their name, are commonly called [3]Massalians, in Greek,
Euchites, all of whom hold that it is possible for human virtue and
human knowledge to attain perfection, and arrive, I will not say merely
at a likeness to, but an equality
449
with God; and who go the length of asserting that, when once they have
reached the height of perfection, even sins of thought and ignorance
are impossible for them. And although in my former letter addressed to
Ctesiphon and aimed at their errors, so far as time permitted, I
touched upon a few points in the book which I am now endeavouring to
hammer out, I shall adhere to the method of Socrates. What can be said
on both sides shall be stated; and the truth will thus be clear when
both sides express their opinions. Origen is peculiar in maintaining on
the one hand that it is impossible for human nature to pass through
life without sin, and on the other, that it is possible for a man, when
he turns to better things, to become so strong that he sins no more.
2. I shall add a few words in answer to those who
say that I am writing this work because I am inflamed with envy. I have
never spared heretics, and I have done my best to make the enemies of
the Church my own. [1]Helvidius wrote against the perpetual virginity
of Saint Mary. Was it envy that led me to answer him, whom I had never
seen in the flesh? [2]Jovinianus, whose heresy is now being fanned into
flame, and who disturbed the faith of Rome in my absence, was so devoid
of gifts of utterance, and had such a pestilent style that he was a
fitter object for pity than for envy. So far as I could, I answered him
also. [3]Rufinus did all in his power to circulate the blasphemies of
Origen and the treatise "On First Principles"
(<greek>peri</greek> A<greek>rkwn</greek>), not
in one city, but throughout the whole world. He even published the
first book of [4]Eusebius' "Apology for Origen "under the name of
[5]Pamphilus the martyr, and, as though Origen had not said enough,[6]
vomited forth a fresh volume on his behalf. Am I to be accused of envy
because I answered him? and was his eloquence such a rushing torrent as
to deter me through fear from writing or dictating anything in reply?
[7]Palladius, no better than a villainous slave, tried to impart energy
to the same heresy, and to excite against me fresh prejudice on account
of my translation of the Hebrew. Was I [1]envious of such distinguished
ability and nobility? Even now the [2]mystery of iniquity worketh, and
every one chatters about his views: yet I, it seems, am the only one
who is filled with envy at the glory of all the rest; I am so poor a
creature that I envy even those who do not deserve envy. And so, to
prove to all that I do not hate the men but their errors, and that I do
not wish to vilify any one, but rather lament the misfortune of men who
are deceived by knowledge falsely so-called, I have made use of the
names of Atticus and Critobulus in order to express our own views and
those of our opponents. The truth is that all we who hold the Catholic
faith, wish and long that, while the heresy is condemned, the men may
be reformed. At all events, if they will continue in error, the blame
does not attach to us who have written, but to them, since they have
preferred a lie to the truth. And one short answer to our calumniators,
whose curses fall upon their own heads, is this, that the Manichaean
doctrine condemns the nature of man, destroys free will, and does away
with I the help of God. And again, that it is manifest madness for man
to speak of himself as being what God alone is. Let us so walk
along the royal road that we turn neither to the right hand nor to the
left; and let us always believe that the eagerness of our wills is
governed by the help of God. Should any one cry out that he is
slandered and boast that he thinks with us; he will then show that he
assents to the true faith, when he openly and sincerely condemns the
opposite views. Otherwise his case will be that described by the
prophet: [3]"And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not
returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly." It is a smaller
sin to follow evil which you think is good, than not to venture to
defend what you know for certain is good. If we cannot endure threats,
injustice, poverty, how shall we overcome the flames of Babylon? Let us
not lose by hollow peace what we have preserved by war. I should be
sorry to allow my fears to teach me faithlessness, when Christ has put
the true faith in the power of my choice.
450
Book I.
1. Atticus. I hear, Critobulus, that you have
written that man can be without sin, if he chooses; and that the
commandments of God are easy. Tell me, is it true?
Critobulus. It is true, Atticus; but our rivals do
not take the words in the sense I attached to them.
A. Are they then so ambiguous as to give rise to a
difference as to their meaning? I do not ask for an answer to two
questions at once. You laid down two propositions; the one, that[1] man
can be without sin, if he chooses: the other, that God's commandments
are easy. Although, therefore, they were uttered together, let them be
discussed separately, so that, while our faith appears to be one, no
strife may arise through our misunderstanding each other.
C. I said, Atticus, that man can be without sin, if
he chooses; not, as some maliciously make us say, without the grace of
God (the very thought is impiety), but simply that he can, if he
chooses; the aid of the grace of God being presupposed.
A. Is God, then, the author of your evil works?
C. By no means. But if there is any good in me, it
is brought to perfection through His impulse and assistance.
A. My question does not refer to natural
constitution, but to action. For who doubts that God is the Creator of
all things? I wish you would tell me this: the good you do, is it
your's or God's?
C. It is mine and God's: I work and He assists.
A. How is it then that everybody thinks you do away
with the grace of God, and maintain that all our actions proceed from
our own will?
C. I am surprised, Atticus, at your asking me for
the why and wherefore of other people's mistakes, and wanting to know
what I did not write, when what I did write is perfectly clear. I said
that man can be without sin, if he chooses. Did I add, without the
grace of God?
A. No; but the fact that you added nothing implies
your denial of the need of grace.
C. Nay, rather, the fact that I have not denied
grace should be regarded as tantamount to an assertion of it. It is
unjust to suppose we deny whatever we do not assert.
A. You admit then that man can be sinless, if he
chooses, but with the grace of God.
C. I not only admit it, but freely proclaim it.
A. So then he who does away with the grace of God is
in error.
C. Just so. Or rather, he ought to be thought
impious, seeing that all things are governed by the pleasure of God,
and that we owe our existence and the faculty of individual choice and
desire to the goodness of God, the Creator. For that we have free will,
and according to our own choice incline to good or evil, is part of His
grace who made us what we are, in His own image and likeness.
2. A. No one doubts, Critobulus, that all things
depend on the judgment of Him Who is Creator of all, and that whatever
we have ought to be attributed to His goodness. But I should like to
know respecting this faculty, which you attribute to the grace of God,
whether you reckon it as part of the gift bestowed in our creation, or
suppose it energetic in our separate actions, so that we avail
ourselves of its assistance continually; or is it the case that, having
been once for all created and endowed with free will, we do what we
choose by our own choice or strength? For I know that very many of your
party refer all things to the grace of God in such a sense that they
understand the power of the will to be a gift not of a particular, but
of a general character, that is to say, one which is bestowed not at
each separate moment, but once for all at creation.
C. It is not as you affirm; but I maintain both
positions, that it is by the grace of God we were created such as we
are, and also that in our several actions we are supported by His aid.
A. We are agreed, then, that in good works, besides
our own power of choice, we lean on the help of God; in evil works we
are prompted by the devil.
C. Quite so; there is no difference of opinion on
that point.
A. They are wrong, then, who strip us of the help of
God in our separate actions. The Psalmist sings: [1]"Except the Lord
build the house, they labour in vain who build it. Except the Lord keep
the city, the watchman waketh but in vain;" and there are similar
passages. But these men endeavour by perverse, or rather ridiculous
interpretations, to twist his words to a different meaning.
3. C. Am I bound to contradict others when you have
my own answer?
451
A. Your answer to what effect? That they are right,
or wrong?
C. What necessity compels me to set my opinion
against other men's?
A. You are bound by the rules of discussion, and by
respect for truth. Do you not know that every assertion either affirms,
or denies, and that what is affirmed or denied ought to be reckoned
among good or bad things? You must, therefore, admit, and no thanks to
you, that the statement to which my question relates is either a good
thing or a bad.
C. If in particular actions we must have the help of
God, does it follow that we are unable to make a pen,[1] or mend it
when it is made? Can we not fashion the letters, be silent or speak,
sit, stand, walk or run, eat or fast, weep or laugh, and so on, without
God's assistance?
A. From my point of view it is clearly impossible.
C. How then have we free will, and how can we guard
tile grace of God towards us, if we cannot do even these things without
God?
4. A. The bestowal of the grace of free will is not
such as to do away with the support of God in particular actions.
C. The help of God is not made of no account;
inasmuch as creatures are preserved through the grace of free will once
for all
given to them. For if without God, and except He assist me in every
action, I can do nothing. He can neither with justice crown me for my
good deeds, nor punish me for my evil ones, but in each case He will
either receive His own or will condemn the assistants He gave.
A. Tell me, then, plainly, why you do away with the
grace of God. For whatever you destroy in the parts you must of
necessity deny in the whole.
C. I do not deny grace when I assert that I was so
created by God, that by the grace of God it was put within the power of
my choice either to do a thing or not to do it.
A. So God falls asleep over our good actions, when
once the faculty of free will has been given; and we need not pray to
Him to assist us in our separate actions, since it depends upon our own
choice and will either to do a thing if we choose, or not to do it if
we do not choose.
5. C. As in the case of other creatures, the
conditions of elicit creation are observed; so, when once the power of
free will was granted, everything was left to our own choice.
A. It follows, as I said, that I ought not to beg
the assistance of God in the details of conduct, because I consider it
was given once for all.
C. If He co-operates with me in everything the
result is no longer mine, but His Who assists, or rather works in and
with me; and all the more because I can do nothing without Him.
A. Have you not read, pray,[1] "that it is not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth
mercy!" From this we understand that to will and to run is ours, but
the carrying into effect our willing and running pertains to the mercy
of God, and is so effected that on the one hand in willing and running
free will is preserved; and on the other, in consummating our willing
and running, everything is left to the power of God. Of course, I ought
now to adduce tile frequent testimony of Scripture to show that in the
details of conduct the saints intreat the help of God, and in their
several actions desire to have Him for their helper and protector. Read
through the Psalter, and all the utterances of the saints, and you will
find their actions never unaccompanied by prayer to God. And this is a
clear proof that you either deny the grace which you banish from the
parts of life; or if you concede its presence in the parts, a
concession plainly much against your will, you must have come over to
the views of us who preserve free will for man, but so limit it that we
do not deny the assistance of God in each action.
6. C. That is a sophistical conclusion and a mere
display of logical skill. No one can strip me of the power of free
will; otherwise, if God were really my helper in what I do, the reward
would not be due to me, but to Him who wrought in me,
A. Make the most of your free will; arm your tongue
against God, and therein prove yourself free, if you will, to
blaspheme. But to go a step farther, there is no doubt as to your
sentiments, and the delusions of your profession have become as clear
as day. Now, let us turn back to the starting-point of our discussion.
You said just now that, granted God's assistance, man may be sinless if
he chooses. Tell me, please, for how long? For ever, or only for a
short time?
C. Your question is unnecessary. If I say for a
short time, for ever will none the less be implied. For whatever you
allow for a short time, you will admit may last for ever.
A. I do not quite understand your meaning.
C. Are you so senseless that yon do not recognize
plain facts?
7. A. I am not ashamed of my ignorance.
452
And both sides ought to be well agreed on a definition of the subject
of dispute.
C. I maintain this: he who can keep himself from sin
one day, may do so another day: if be can on two, he may on three; if
on three, on thirty: and so on for three hundred or three thousand, or
as long as ever he chooses to do so.
A. Say then at once that a man may be without sin
for ever, if he chooses. Can we do anything we like?
C. Certainly not, for I cannot do all I should like;
but all I say is this, that a man can be without sin, if be chooses.
A. Be so good as to tell me this: do you think I am
a man or a beast?
C. If I had any doubt as to whether you were a man,
or a beast, I should confess myself to be the latter.
A. If then, as you say, I am a man, how is it that
when I wish and earnestly desire not to sin, I do transgress?
C. Because your choice is imperfect. If you really
wished not to sin, you really would not.
A. Well then, you who accuse me of not having a real
desire, are you free from sin because you have a real desire?
C. As though I were talking of myself whom I admit
to be a sinner, and not of the few exceptional ones, if any, who have
resolved not to sin.
8. A. Still, I who question, and you who answer,
both consider ourselves sinners.
C. But we are capable of not being so, if we please.
A. I said I did not wish to sin, and no doubt your
feeling is the same. How is it then that what we both wish we can
neither do?
C. Because we do not wish perfectly.
A. Show me any of our ancestors who had a perfect
will and the power in perfection.
C. That is not easy. And when I say that a man may
be without sin if he chooses, I do not contend that there ever have
been such; I only maintain the abstract possibility--if he chooses. For
possibility of being is one thing, and is expressed in Greek by
<greek>th</greek> <greek>dunamei</greek>
(possibility); being is another, the equivalent for which is
<greek>th</greek> <greek>energeia</greek>
(actuality). I can be a physician; but meanwhile I am not. I can be an
artisan; but I have not yet learnt a trade. So, whatever I am able to
be, though I am not that yet, I shall be if I choose.
9. A. Art is one thing, that which is[1] above art
is another. Medical skill, craftsmanship, and so on, are found in many
persons; but to be always without sin is a characteristic of the Divine
power only. Therefore, either give me an instance of those who were for
ever without sin; or, if you cannot find one, confess your impotence,
lay aside bombast. and do not mock the ears of fools with this being
and possibility of being of yours. For who willgrant that a man can do
what no man was ever able to do? You have not learnt even the rudiments
of logic. For if a man is able, he is no longer unable. Either grant
that some one was able to do what you maintain was possible to be done;
or if no one has had this power, you must, though against your will, be
held to this position, that no one is able to effect what yet you
profess to be possible. That was the point at issue between the
powerful logicians,[1] Diodorus and[2] Chrysippus, in their discussion
of possibility. Diodorus says that alone can possibly happen which is
either true or will be true. And whatever will be, that, he says, must
of necessity happen. But whatever will not be, that cannot possibly
happen. Chrysippus, however, says that things which will not be might
happen; for instance, this pearl might be broken, even though it never
will. They, therefore, who say that a man can be without sin if he
chooses, will not be able to prove the truth of the assertion, unless
they show that it will come to pass. But whereas the whole future is
uncertain, and especially such things as have never occurred, it is
clear that they say something will be which will not be. And
Ecclesiastes supports this decision: "All that shall be, has already
been in former ages."
10. C. Pray answer this question: has God given
possible or impossible commands?
A. I see your drift. But I must discuss it later on,
that we may not, by confusing different questions, leave our audience
in a fog. I admit that God has given possible commands, for otherwise
He would Himself be the author of injustice, were He to demand the
doing of what cannot possibly be done. Reserving this until later,
finish your argument that a man can be without sin, if he chooses. You
will either give instances of such ability, or, if no one has had the
power, you will clearly confess that a man cannot avoid sin always.
C. Since you press me to give what I am not bound to
give, consider what our Lord says,[3] "That it is easier for a camel to
go
453
through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom
of heaven." And yet he said a thing might possibly happen, which never
has happened. For no camel has ever gone through a needle's eye.
A. I am surprised at a prudent man submitting
evidence which goes against himself. For the passage in question does
not speak of a possibility, but one impossibility is compared with
another. As a camel cannot go through a needle's eye, so neither will a
rich man enter the kingdom of heaven. Or, if you should be able to show
that a rich man does enter the kingdom of heaven, it follows, also,
that a camel goes through a needle's eye. You must not instance Abraham
and other rich men, about whom we read in the Old Testament, who,
although they were rich, entered the kingdom of heaven; for, by
spending their riches on good works, they ceased to be rich; nay,
rather, inasmuch as they were rich, not for themselves, but for others,
they ought to be called God's stewards rather than rich men. But we
must seek evangelical perfection, according to which there is the
command,[1]" If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast,
and give to the poor, and come, follow Me."
11. C. You are caught unawares in your own snare.
A. How so?
C. You quote our Lord's utterance to the effect
that. a man can be perfect. For when He says, "If thou wilt be perfect,
sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come, follow Me," He
shows that a man, if he chooses, and if he does what is commanded, can
be perfect?
A. You have given me such a terrible blow that I am
almost dazed. But yet the very words you quote, "If thou wilt be
perfect," were spoken to one who could not, or rather would not, and,
therefore, could not; show me now, as you promised, some one who would
and could.
C. Why am I compelled to produce instances of
perfection, when it is clear from what the Saviour said to one, and
through one to all, "If thou wilt be perfect" that it is possible for
men to be perfect?
A. That is a mere shuffle. You still stick fast in
the mire. For, either, if a thing is possible, it has occurred at some
time or other; or, if it never has happened, grant that it is
impossible.
12. C. Why do I any longer delay? You must be
vanquished by the authority or Scripture. To pass over other passages,
you must be silenced by the two in which we read the praises of Job,
and of Zacharias and Elizabeth. For, unless I am deceived, it is thus
written in the book of Job:[1] "There was a man in the land of Uz,
whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, a true
worshipper of God, and one who kept himself from every evil thing." And
again:[2]" Who is he that reproveth one that is righteous and free from
sin, and speaketh words without knowledge?" Also, in the Gospel
according to Luke, we read:[3]" There was in the days of Herod, king of
Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and
he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." If a true
worshipper of God is also without spot and without offence, and if
those who walked in all the ordinances of the Lord are righteous before
God, I suppose they are free from sin, and lack nothing that pertains
to righteousness.
A. You have cited passages which have been detached
not only from the rest of Scripture, but from the books in which they
occur. For even Job, after he was stricken with the plague, is
convicted of having spoken many things against the ruling of God, and
to have summoned Him to the bar:[4] "Would that a man stood with God in
the judgment as a son of man stands with his fellow." And again:[5]" Oh
that I had one to hear me! that the Almighty might hear my desire, and
that the judge would himself write a book!" And again:[6] "Though I be
righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn me: though I be perfect, it
shall prove me perverse. If I wash myself with snow-water, and make my
bands never so clean, Thou hast dyed me again and again with filth.
Mine own clothes have abhorred me." And of Zacharias it is written,
that when the angel promised the birth of a son, he said:[7]" Whereby
shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in
years." For which answer he was at once condemned to silence:[8] "Thou
shalt be silent, and not able to speak, until the day that these things
shall come to pass, because thou believest not my words, which shall be
fulfilled in their season." From this it is clear that men are called
righteous, and said to be without fault; but that, if negligence comes
over
454
them, they may fall; and that a man always occupies a middle place, so
that he may slip from the height of virtue into vice, or may rise from
vice to virtue; and that he is never safe, but must dread shipwreck
even in fair weather; and, therefore, that a man cannot be without sin.
Solomon says,[1]" There is not a righteous man upon earth that doeth
good and sinneth not"; and likewise in the book of Kings:[2] "There is
no man that sinneth not." So, also, the blessed David says:[3] "Who can
understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from hidden faults, and keep
back Thy servant from presumptuous sins." And again:[4] "Enter not into
judgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight shall no man living be
justified." Holy Scripture is full of passages to the same effect.
13. C. But what answer will you give to the famous
declaration of John the Evangelist[5]" We know that whosoever is
begotten of God sinneth not; but the begetting of God keepeth him, and
the evil one toucheth him not. We know that we are of God, and the
whole world lieth in the evil one?"
A. I will requite like with like, and will show
that, according to you, the little epistle of the Evangelist
contradicts itself. For, if whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not
because His seed abideth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born
of God, how is it that the writer says in the same place:[6] "If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us?"
You cannot explain. You hesitate and are confused. listen to the same
Evangelist telling us that[7] "If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness." We are then righteous when we confess that we are
sinners, and our righteousness depends not upon our own merits, but on
the mercy of God, as the Holy Scripture says, [8]" The righteous man
accuseth himself when he beginneth to speak," and elsewhere,[9] "Tell
thy sins that thou mayest be justified."[10] "God hath shut up all
under sin, that He may have mercy upon all." And the highest
righteousness of man is this--whatever virtue he may be able to
acquire, not to think it his own, but the gift of God. He then who is
born of God does not sin, so long as the seed of God remains in him,
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. But seeing that, while
the householder slept, an enemy sowed tares, and that when we know not,
a sower by night scatters in the Lord's field darnel and wild oats
among the good corn, this parable of the householder in the Gospel
should excite our fears. He cleanses his floor, and gathers the wheat
into his garner, but leaves the chaff to be scattered by the winds, or
burned by the fire. And so we read in Jeremiah,[1]" What is the chaff
to the wheat? saith the Lord." The chaff, moreover, is separated from
the wheat at the end of the world, a proof that, while we are in the
mortal body, chaff is mixed with the wheat. But if you object, and ask
why did the Apostle say "and he cannot sin, because he is born of God,"
I reply by asking you what becomes of the reward of his choice? For if
a man does not sin because he cannot sin, free will is destroyed, and
goodness cannot possibly be due to his efforts, but must be part of a
nature unreceptive of evil.
14. C. The task I set you just now was an easy one
by way of practice for something more difficult. What have you to say
to my next argument? Clever as you are, all your skill will not avail
to overthrow it. I shall first quote from the Old Testament, then from
the New. Moses is the chief figure in the Old Testament, our Lord and
Saviour in the New. Moses says to the people,[2] "Be perfect in the
sight of the Lord your God." And the Saviour bids the Apostles[3] " Be
perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." Now it was either possible
for the hearers to do what Moses and the Lord commanded, or, if it be
impossible, the fault does not lie with them who cannot obey, but with
Him who gave impossible commands.
A. This passage to the ignorant, and to those who
are unaccustomed to meditate on Holy Scripture, and who neither know
nor use it, does appear at first sight to favour your opinion. But when
you look into it, the difficulty soon disappears. And when you compare
passages of Scripture with others, that the Holy Spirit may not seem to
contradict Himself with changing place and time, according to what is
written,[4] "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water spouts,"
the truth will show itself, that is, that Christ did give a possible
command when He said: "Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is
perfect," and yet that the Apostles were not perfect.
C. I am not talking of what the Apostles did, but of
what Christ commanded. And the fault does not lie with the giver of the
command, but with the hearers of it, because we cannot admit the
justice of him who commands without conceding the possibility of doing
what is commanded.
A. Good! Don't tell me then that a man
455
can be without sin if he chooses, but that a man can be what the
Apostles were not.
C. Do you think me fool enough to dare say such a
thing?
A. Although you do not say it in so many words,
however reluctant you may be to admit the fact, it follows by natural
sequence from your proposition. For if a man can be without sin, and it
is clear the Apostles were not without sin, a man can be higher than
the Apostles: to say nothing of patriarchs and prophets whose
righteousness under the law was not perfect, as the Apostle says,[1]
"For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God: being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus: whom God set forth to be a propitiator."
14a. C. This way of arguing is intricate and brings
the simplicity which becomes the Church into the tangled thickets of
philosophy. What has Paul to do with Aristotle? or Peter with Plato?
For as the latter was the prince of philosophers, so was the former
chief of the Apostles: on him the Lord's Church was firmly rounded, and
neither rushing flood nor storm can shake it.
A. Now you are rhetorical, and while you taunt me
with philosophy, you yourself cross over to the camp of the orators.
But listen to what your same favourite orator says:[2] "Let us have no
more commonplaces: we get them at home."
C. There is no eloquence in this, no bombast like
that of the orators, who might be defined as persons whose object is to
persuade, and who frame their language accordingly. We are seeking
unadulterated truth, and use unsophisticated language. Either the Lord
did not give impossible commands, so that they are to blame who did not
do what was possible; or, if what is commanded cannot be done, then not
they who do not things impossible are convicted of unrighteousness, but
He Who commanded things impossible, and that is an impious statement.
A. I see you are much more disturbed than is your
wont; so I will not ply you with arguments. But let me briefly ask what
you think of the well-known passage of the Apostle when he wrote to the
Philippians :[3] " Not that I have already obtained, or am already made
perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may apprehend that for which
also I was apprehended by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to
have yet apprehended: but one thing I do; forgetting the things which
are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I
press on towards the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus. Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded:
and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, even this shall God reveal
unto you," and so on; no doubt you know the rest, which, in my desire
to be brief, I omit. He says that he had not yet apprehended, and was
by no means perfect; but, like an archer, aimed his arrows at the mark
set up (more expressively called[1] <greek>skopos</greek>
in Greek), lest the shaft, turning to one side or the other, might show
the unskilfulness of the archer. He further declares that he always
forgot the past, and ever stretched forward to the things in front,
thus teaching that no heed should be paid to the past, but the future
earnestly desired; so that what to-day he thought perfect, while he was
stretching forward to better things and things. in front, to-morrow
proves to have been imperfect. And thus at every step, never standing
still, but always running, he shows that to be imperfect which we men
thought perfect, and teaches that our only perfection and true
righteousness is that which is measured by the excellence of God. "I
press on towards the goal," he says, "unto the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus." Oh, blessed Apostle Paul, pardon me, a
poor creature who confess my faults, if I venture to ask a question.
You say that you had not yet obtained, nor yet apprehended, nor were
yet perfect, and that you always forgot the things behind, and
stretched forward to the things in front, if by any means you might
have part in the resurrection of the dead, and win the prize of your
high calling. How, then, is it that you immediately add, "As many
therefore as are perfect are thus minded"? (or, let us be thus minded,
for the copies vary). And what mind is it that we have, or are to have?
that we are perfect? that we have apprehended that which we have not
apprehended, received what we have not received, are perfect who are
not yet perfect? What mind then have we, or rather what mind ought we
to have who are not perfect? To confess that we are imperfect, and have
not yet apprehended, nor yet obtained, this is true wisdom in man: know
thyself to be imperfect; and, if I may so speak, the perfection of all
who are righteous, so long as they are in the flesh, is imperfect.
Hence we read in Proverbs:[2] "To understand true righteousness." For
if there were not also a false righteousness, the righteousness of God
would never be called true. The Apostle continues: "and if ye are
otherwise minded, God will also reveal that to you." This sounds strange
456
to my ears. He who but just now said, "Not that I have already
obtained, or am already perfect "; the chosen vessel, who was so
confident of Christ's dwelling in him that he dared to say "Do ye seek
a proof of Christ that speaketh in me? "and yet plainly confessed that
he was not perfect; he now gives to the multitude what he denied to
himself in particular, he unites himself with the rest and says, "As
many of us as are perfect, let us be thus minded." But why he said
this, he explains presently. Let us, he means, who wish to be perfect
according to the poor measure of human frailty, think this, that we
have not yet obtained, nor yet apprehended, nor are yet perfect, and
inasmuch as we are not yet perfect, and, perhaps, think otherwise than
true and perfect perfection requires, if we are minded otherwise than
is dictated by the full knowledge of God, God will also reveal this to
us, so that we may pray with David and say,[1] "Open Thou mine eyes
that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law."
15. All this makes it clear that in Holy Scripture
there are two sorts of perfection, two of righteousness, and two of
fear. The first is that perfection, and incomparable truth, and perfect
righteousness sand fear, which is the beginning of wisdom, and which we
must measure by the excellence of God; the second, which is within the
range not only of men, but of every creature, and is not inconsistent
with our frailty, as we read in the Psalms:[3] "In Thy sight shall no
man living be justified," is that righteousness which is said to be
perfect, not in comparison with God, but as recognized by God. Job, and
Zacharias, and Elizabeth, were called righteous, in respect of that
righteousness which might some day turn to unrighteousness, and not in
respect of that which is incapable of change, concerning which it is
said,[4] "I am God, and change not." And this is that which the Apostle
elsewhere writes:[5] "That which hath been made glorious hath not been
made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth";
because, that is, the righteousness of the law, in comparison of the
grace of the Gospel, does not seem to be righteousness at all.[6] "For
if," he says, that which passeth away was with glory, much more that
which remaineth is in glory."[7] And again, "We know in part, and we
prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is
in part shall be done away." And,[8] "For now we see in a mirror,
darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I
know even as also I have been known." And in the Psalms,[1] "Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto
it." And again,[2] "When I thought how I might know this, it was too
painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God, and considered
their latter end." And in the same place,[3] "I was as a beast before
thee: nevertheless I am continually with thee." And Jeremiah says,[4] "
Every man is become brutish and without knowledge." And to return to
the Apostle Paul,[6] "The foolishness of God is wiser than men." And
much besides, which I omit for brevity's sake.
16. C. My dear Atticus, your speech is really a clever feat of
memory. But the labour you have spent in mustering this host of
authorities is to my advantage. For I do not any more than you compare
man with God. but with other men, in comparison with whom he who takes
the trouble can be perfect. And so, when we say that man, if he
chooses, can be without sin, the standard is the measure of man, not
the majesty of God, in comparison with Whom no creature can be perfect.
A. Critobulus, I am obliged to you for reminding me
of the fact. For it is just my own view that no creature can be perfect
in respect of true and finished righteousness. But that one differs
from another, and that one man's righteousness is not the same as
another's, no one doubts; nor again that one may be greater or less
than another, and yet that, relatively to their own status and
capacity, men may be called righteous who are not righteous when
compared with others. For instance, the Apostle Paul, the chosen vessel
who laboured more than all the Apostles, was, I suppose, righteous when
he wrote to Timothy,[6] "I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the course, I have kept tile faith: henceforth there is laid up for me
the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall
give to me at that day: and not only to me, but also to all them that
love His appearing." Timothy, his disciple and imitator, whom he taught
the rules of action and the limits of virtue, was also righteous. Are
we to think there was one and the same righteousness in them both, and
that he had not more merit who laboured more than all? "In my Father's
house are many mansions." I suppose there are also different degrees of
merit. "One star differeth from another star in glory," and in the one
body of the Church there are different members. The sun has its own
splendour, the moon
457
tempers the darkness of the night; and the five heavenly bodies which
are called planets traverse the sky in different tracks and with
different degrees of luminousness. There are countless other stars
whose movements we trace in the firmament. Each has its own brightness,
and though each in respect of its own is perfect, yet, in comparison
with one of greater magnitude, it lacks perfection. In the body also
with its different members, the eye has one function, the hand another,
the foot another. Whence the Apostle says,(1) "The eye cannot say to
the hand, I have no need of thee: or again the head to the feet, I have
no need of you. Are all Apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers?
are all workers of miracles? have all gifts of healing? do all speak
with tongues? do all interpret? But desire earnestly the greater gifts.
But all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one
severally even as He will." And here mark carefully that he does not
say, as each member desires, but as the Spirit Himself will. For the
vessel cannot say to him that makes it,(2) "Why dost thou make me thus
or thus? Hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump
to make one part a vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?" And
so in close sequence he added, "Desire earnestly the greater gifts," so
that, by the exercise of faith and diligence, we may win something in
addition to other gifts, and may be superior to those who, compared
with us, are in the second or third class. In a great house there are
different vessels, some of gold, some of silver brass, iron, wood. And
yet while in its kind a vessel of brass is perfect, in comparison with
one of silver it is called imperfect, and again one of silver, compared
with one of gold, is inferior. And thus, when compared with one
another, all things are imperfect and perfect. In a field of good soil,
and from one sowing, there springs a crop thirty-fold, sixty-fold, or a
hundred-fold. The very numbers show that there is disparity in the
parts of the produce, and yet in its own kind each is perfect.
Elizabeth and Zacharias, whom you adduce and with whom you cover
yourself as with an impenetrable shield, may teach us how far they are
beneath the holiness of blessed Mary, the Lord's Mother, who, conscious
that God was dwelling in her, proclaims without reserve,(3) "Behold,
from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is
mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is His name. And His
mercy is unto generations and generations of them that fear Him: He
hath showed strength with His arm." Where, observe, she says she is
blessed not by her own merit and virtue, but by the mercy of God
dwelling in her. And John himself, a greater than whom has not arisen
among the sons of men, is better than his parents. For not only does
our Lord compare him with men, but with angels also. And yet he, who
was greater on earth than all other men, is said to be less than the
least in the kingdom of heaven.
17. Need we be surprised that, when saints are
compared, some are better, some worse, since the same holds good in the
comparison of sins? To Jerusalem, piecred and wounded with many sins,
it is said,(1) "Sodom is justified by thee." It is not because Sodom,
which has sunk for ever into ashes, is just in herself, that it is said
by Ezekiel,(2) "Sodom shall be restored to her former estate"; but
that, in comparison with the more accursed Jerusalem, she appears just.
For Jerusalem killed the Son of God; Sodom through fulness of bread and
excessive luxury carried her lust beyond all bounds. The publican in
the Gospel who smote upon his breast as though it were a magazine of
the worst thoughts, and, conscious of his offences, dared not lift up
his eyes, is justified rather than the proud Pharisee. And Thamar in
the guise of a harlot deceived Judah, and in the estimation of this man
himself who was deceived, was worthy of the words,(3) "Thamar is more
righteous than I." All this goes to prove that not only in comparison
with Divine majesty are men far from perfection, but also when compared
with angels, and other men who have climbed the heights of virtue. You
may be superior to some one whom you have shown to be imperfect, and
yet be outstripped by another; and consequently may not have true
perfection, which, if it be perfect, is absolute.
18. C. How is it then, Atticus, that the Divine Word
urges us to perfection?
A. I have already explained that in proportion to
our strength each one, with all his power, must stretch forward, if by
any means he may attain to, and apprehend the reward of his high
calling. In short Almighty God, to whom, as the Apostle teaches, the
Son must in accordance with the dispensation of the Incarnation be
subjected, that(4) "God may be all in all," clearly shows that all
things are by no means subject to Himself. Hence the prophet
anticipates his own final subjection, saying,(5) "Shall not my soul be
subject to God alone? for of Him cometh my salvation." And because in
the body of the Church Christ is the head, and some of the members
458
still resist, the body does not appear to be subject even to the head.
For if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, and the whole
body is tortured by the pain in one member. My meaning may be more
clearly expressed thus. So long as we have the treasure in earthen
vessels, and are clothed with frail flesh, or rather with mortal and
corruptible flesh, we think ourselves fortunate if, in single virtues
and separate portions of virtue, we are subject to God. But when this
mortal shall have put on immortality, and this corruptible shall have
put on incorruption, and death shall be swallowed up in the victory of
Christ, then will God be all in all: and so there will not be merely
wisdom in Solomon, sweetness in David, zeal in Elias and Phinees, faith
in Abraham, perfect love in Peter, to whom it was said,(1) "Simon, son
of John, lovest thou me?" zeal for preaching in the chosen vessel, and
two or three virtues each in others, but God will be wholly in all, and
the company of the saints will rejoice in the whole band of virtues,
and God will be all in all.
19. C. Do I understand you to say that no saint, so
long as he is in this poor body, can have all virtues?
A. Just so, because now we prophesy in part, and
know in part. It is impossible for all things to be in all men, for no
son of man is immortal.
C. How is it, then, that we read that he who has one
virtue appears to have all?
A. By partaking of them, not possessing them, for
individuals must excel in particular virtues. But I confess I don't
know where to find what you say you have read.
C. Are you not aware that the philosophers take that
view?
A. The philosophers may, but the Apostles do not. I
heed not what Aristotle, but what Paul, teaches.
C. Pray does not James the Apostle(2) write that he
who stumbles in one point is guilty of all?
A. The passage is its own interpreter. James did not
say, as a starting-point for the discussion, he who prefers a rich man
to a poor man in honour is guilty of adultery or murder. That is a
delusion of the Stoics who maintain the equality of sins. But he
proceeds thus: "He who said, Thou shalt not commit adultery, said also,
Thou shalt not kill: but although thou dost not kill, yet, if thou
commit adultery, thou art become a transgressor of the law." Light
offences are compared with light ones, and heavy offences with heavy
ones. A fault that deserves the rod must not be avenged with the sword;
nor must a crime worthy of the sword, be checked with the rod.
C. Suppose it true that no saint has all the
virtues: you will surely grant that within the range of his ability, if
a man do what he can, he is perfect.
A. Do you not remember what I said before?
C. What was it?
A. That a man is perfect in respect of what he has
done, imperfect in respect of what he could not do.
C. But as he is perfect in respect of what he has
done, because he willed to do it, so in respect of that which
constitutes him imperfect, because he has not done it, he might have
been perfect, had he willed to do it.
A. Who does not wish to do what is perfect? Or who
does not long to grow vigorously. in all virtue? If you look for all
virtues in each individual, you do away with the distinctions of
things, and the difference of graces, and the variety of the work of
the Creator, whose prophet cries aloud in the sacred song:(1) "In
wisdom hast thou made them all." Lucifer may be indignant because he
has not the brightness of the moon. The moon may dispute over her
eclipses and ceaseless toil, and ask why she must traverse every month
the yearly orbit of the sun. The sun may complain and want to know what
he has done that he travels more slowly than the moon. And we poor
creatures may demand to know why it is that we were made men and not
angels; although your teacher,(2)the Ancient, the fountain from which
these streams flow, asserts that all rational creatures were created
equal and started fairly, like charioteers, either to succumb halfway,
or to pass on rapidly and reach the wished-for goal. Elephants, with
their huge bulk, and griffins, might discuss their ponderous frames and
ask why they must go on four feet, while flies, midges, and other
creatures like them have six feet under their tiny wings, and there are
some creeping things which have such an abundance of feet that the
keenest vision cannot follow their countless and simultaneous
movements. Marcion and all the heretics who denied the Creator's works
might speak thus. Your principle goes so far that while its adherents
attack particular points, they are laying hands on God; they are asking
why He only is God, why He envies the creatures, and why they are not
all endowed with the same power and impor-
459
tance. You would not say so much (for you are not mad enough to openly
fight against God), yet this is your meaning in other words, when you
give man an attribute of God, and make him to be without sin like God
Himself. Hence the Apostle, with his voice of thunder, says, concerning
different graces:(1) "There are diversities of gifts, but the same
spirit; and differences of ministrations, but the same Lord; and there
are diversities of workings, but the same God, Who worketh all things
in all."
20. C. You push this one particular point too far in
seeking to convince me that a man cannot have all excellences at the
same time. As though God were guilty of envy, or unable to bestow upon
His image and likeness a correspondence in all things to his Creator.
A. Is it I or you who go too far? You revive,
questions already settled, and do not understand that likeness is one
thing, equality another; that the former is a painting, the latter,
reality. A real horse courses over the plains; the painted one with his
chariot does not leave the wall. The Arians do not allow to the Son of
God what you give to every man. Some do not dare to confess the perfect
humanity of Christ, lest they should be compelled to accept the belief
that He had the sins of a man as though the Creator were unequal to the
act of creating, and the title Son of Man were co-extensive with the
title Son of God. So either set me something else to answer, or lay
aside pride and give glory to God.
C. You forget a former answer of yours, and have
been so busy forging your chain of argument, and careering through the
wide fields of Scripture, like a horse that has slipped its bridle,
that you have not said a single word about the main point. Your
forgetfulness is a pretext for escaping the necessity of a reply. It
was foolish in me to concede to you for the nonce what you asked, and
to suppose that you would voluntarily give up what you had received,
and would not need a reminder to make you pay what you owed.
A. If I mistake not, it was the question of possible
commands of which I deferred the answer. Pray proceed as you think best.
21. C. The commands which God has given are either
possible or impossible. If possible, it is in our power to do them, if
we choose. If impossible, we cannot be held guilty for omitting duties
which it is not given us to fufil. Hence it results that, whether God
has given possible or impossible commands, a man can be without sin if
he chooses.
A. I beg your patient attention, for what we seek is
not victory over an opponent, but the triumph of truth over falsehood.
God has put within the power of mankind all arts, for we see that a
vast number of men have mastered them. To pass over those which the
Greeks call(1) <greek>bananusoa</greek>, as we may say, the
manual arts, I will instance grammar, rhetoric, the three sorts of
philosophy--physics, ethics, logic--geometry also, and astronomy,
astrology, arithmetic, music, which are also parts of philosophy;
medicine, too, in its threefold division--theory, investigation,
practice; a knowledge of law in general and of particular enactments.
Which of us, however clever he may be, will be able to understand them
all, when the most eloquent of orators, discussing rhetoric and
jurisprudence, said: "A few may excel in one, in both no one can." You
see, then, that God has commanded what is possible, and yet, that no
one can by nature attain to what is possible. Similarly he has given
different rules and various virtues, all of which we cannot possess at
the same time. Hence it happens that a virtue which in one person takes
the chief place, or is found in perfection, in another is but partial;
and yet, he is not to blame who has not all excellence, nor is he
condemned for lacking that which he has not; but be is justified
through what he does possess. The Apostle described the character of a
bishop when he wrote to Timothy,(2)"The bishop, therefore, must be
without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, modest, orderly,
given to hospitality, apt to teach; no brawler, no striker; but gentle,
not contentious, no lover of money; one that ruleth well his own house,
having his children in subjection with all modesty." And again, "Not a
novice, lest, being puffed up, he fall into the condemnation of the
devil. Moreover, he must have good testimony from them that are
without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."
Writing also to his disciple Titus, he briefly points out what sort of
bishops he ought to ordain:(3)"For this cause left I thee in Crete,
that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and
appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge; if any man is
blameless, the husband of one wife, having children that believe, who
are not accused of riot or unruly. For the bishop must be blameless (or
free from accusation, for so much is conveyed by the original) as God's
steward; not self-willed, not soon angry, no brawler, no striker, not
greedy of filthy lucre; but given to hospitality, kind, modest, just,
460
holy, temperate; holding to the faithful word which is according to the
teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in the sound doctrine, and
to convict the gainsayers." I will not now say anything of the various
rules relating to different persons, but will confine myself to the
commands connected with the bishop.
22. God certainly wishes bishops or priests to be
such as the chosen vessel teaches they should be. As to the first
qualification it is seldom or never that one is found without reproach;
for who is it that has not some fault, like a mole or a wart on a
lovely body? If the Apostle himself says of Peter that he did not tread
a straight path in the truth of the Gospel, and was so far to blame
that even Barnabas was led away into the same dissimulation, who will
be indignant if that is denied to him which the chief of the Apostles
had not? Then, supposing you find one, "the husband of one wife,
sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality," the next
attribute--<greek>didaktikon</greek>, apt to teach, not
merely as the Latin renders the word, apt to be taught--you will hardly
find in company with the other virtues. A bishop or priest that is a
brawler, or a striker, or a lover of money, the Apostle rejects, and in
his stead would have one gentle, not contentious, free from avarice,
one that rules well his own house, and what is very hard, one who has
his children in subjection with all modesty, whether they be children
of the flesh or children of the faith. "With all modesty," he says. It
is not enough for him to have his own modesty unless it be enhanced by
the modesty of his children, companions, and servants, as David
says,(1) "He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall minister unto me."
Let us consider, also, the emphasis laid on modesty by the addition of
the words "having his children in subjection with all modesty." Not
only in deed but in word and gesture must he hold aloof from immodesty,
lest perchance the experience of Eli be his. Eli certainly rebuked his
sons, saying,(2) "Nay, my sons, nay; it is not a good report which I
hear of you." He chided them, and yet was punished, because he should
not have chided, but cast them off. What will he do who rejoices at
vice or lacks the courage to correct it? Who fears his own conscience,
and therefore pretends to be ignorant of what is in everybody's mouth?
The next point is that the bishop must be free from accusation, that he
have a good report from them who are without, that no reproaches of
opponents be levelled at him, and that they who dislike his doctrine
may be pleased with his life. I suppose it would not be easy to find
all this, and particularly one "able to resist the gain-sayers," to
check and overcome erroneous opinions. He wishes no novice to be
ordained bishop, and yet in our time we see the youthful novice sought
after as though he represented the highest righteousness. If baptism
immediately made a man righteous, and full of all righteousness, it was
of course idle for the Apostle to repel a novice; but baptism annuls
old sins, does not bestow new virtues; it looses from prison, and
promises rewards to the released if he will work. Seldom or never, I
say, is there a man who has all the virtues which a bishop should have.
And yet if a bishop lacked one or two of the virtues in the list, it
does not follow that he can no longer be called righteous, nor will he
be condemned for his deficiencies, but will be crowned for what he has.
For to have all and lack nothing is the virtue of Him(1) "Who did no
sin; neither was guile found in His mouth; Who, when He was reviled,
reviled not again;" Who, confident in the consciousness of virtue,
said,(2) "Behold the prince of this world cometh, and findeth nothing
in me;"(3)"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a
servant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God gave Him the name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on
earth, and things under the earth." If, then, in the person of a single
bishop you will either not find at all, or with difficulty, even a few
of the things commanded, how will you deal with the mass of men in
general who are bound to fulfil all the commandments?
23. Let us reason from things bodily to things
spiritual. One man is swift-fooled, but not strong-handed. That man's
movements are slow, but he stands firm in battle. This man has a fine
face, but a harsh voice: another is repulsive to look at, but sings
sweetly and melodiously. There we see a man of great ability, but
equally poor memory; here is another whose memory serves him, but whose
wits are slow. In the very discussions with which when we were boys we
amused ourselves, all the disputants are not on a level, either in
introducing a subject, or in narrative, or in digressions, or wealth of
illustration, and charm of peroration, but their various oratorical
efforts exhibit different degrees of merit. Of churchmen I will say
more. Many discourse well upon
461
the Gospels, but in explaining an Apostle's meaning are unequal to
themselves. Others, although most acute in the New Testament are dumb
in the Psalms and the Old Testament. I quite agree with Virgil--Non
omnia possumus omnes; and seldom or never is the rich man found who in
the abundance of his wealth has everything in equal proportions. That
God has given possible commands, I admit no less than you. But it is
not for each one of us to make all these possible virtues our own, not
because our nature is weak, for that is a slander upon God, but because
our hearts and minds grow weary and cannot keep all virtues
simultaneously and perpetually. And if you blame the Creator for having
made you subject to weariness and failure, I shall reply, your censure
would be still more severe if you thought proper to accuse Him of not
having made you God. But you will say, if I have not the power, no sin
attaches to me. You have sinned because you have not done what another
could do. And again, he in comparison with whom you are inferior will
be a sinner in respect of some other virtue, relatively to you or to
another person; and thus it happens that whoever is thought to be
first, is inferior to him who is his superior in some other particular.
24. C. If it is impossible for man to be without
sin, what does the Apostle Jude mean by writing,(1) "Now unto Him that
is able to keep you without sin, and to set you before the presence of
His glory without blemish"? This is clear proof that it is possible to
keep a man without sin and without blemish.
A. You do not understand the passage. We are not
told that a man can be without sin, which is your view, but that God,
if He chooses, can keep a man free from sin, and of His mercy guard him
so that he may be without blemish. And I say that all things are
possible with God; but that everything which a man desires is not
possible to him, and especially, an attribute which belongs to no
created thing you ever read of.
C. I do not say that a man is without sin, which,
perhaps, appears to you to be possible; but that he may be, if he
chooses. For actuality is one thing, possibility another. In the actual
we look for an instance; possibility implies that our power to act is
real.
A. You are trifling, and forget the proverb, "Don't
do what is done." You keep turning in the same mire,(2) and only make
more dirt. I shall, therefore, tell you, what is clear to all, that you
are trying to establish a thing that is not, never was, and, perhaps,
never will be. To employ your own words, and show the folly and
inconsistency of your argument, I say that you are maintaining an
impossible possibility. For your proposition, that a man can be without
sin if he chooses, is either true or false. If it be true, show me who
the man is; if it be false, whatever is false can never happen. But let
us have no more of these notions. Hissed off the stage, and no longer
daring to appear in public, they should stay on the book shelves, and
not let themselves be heard.
25. Let us proceed to other matters. And here I must
speak uninterruptedly, so far, at least, as is consistent with giving
you an opportunity of refuting me, or asking any question you think fit.
C. I will listen patiently, though I cannot say
gladly. The ability of your reasoning will strike me all the more,
while I am amazed at its falsity.
A. Whether what I am going to say is true or false,
you will be able to judge when you have heard it.
C. Follow your own method. I am resolved, if I am
unable to answer, to hold my tongue rather than assent to a lie.
A. What difference does it make whether I defeat you
speaking or silent, and, as it is in the(1) story of Proteus, catch you
asleep or awake?
C. When you have said what you like, you shall hear
what you will certainly not like. For though truth may be put to hard
shifts it cannot be subdued.
A. I want to sift your opinions a little, that your
followers may know what an inspired genius you are. You say, "It is
impossible for any but those who have the knowledge of the law to be
without sin"; and you, consequently, shut out from righteousness a
large number of Christians, and, preacher of sinlessness though you
are, declare nearly all to be sinners. For how many Christians have
that knowledge of the law which you can find but seldom, or hardly at
all, in many doctors of the Church? But your liberality is so great
that, in order to stand well with your Amazons, you have elsewhere
written, "Even women ought to have a knowledge of the law," although
the Apostle preaches that women ought to keep silence in the churches,
and if they want to know anything consult their husbands at home. And
you are not content with having given your cohort a knowledge of
Scripture, but you must delight yourself with their songs and
canticles, for
462
you have a heading to the effect that "Women also should sing unto
God." Who does not know that women should sing in the privacy of their
own rooms, away from the company of men and the crowded congregation?
But you allow what is not lawful, and the consequence is, that, with
the support of their master, they make an open show of that which
should be done with modesty, and with no eye to witness.
26. You go on to say, "The servant of God should
utter from his lips no bitterness, but ever that which is sweet and
pleasant"; and as though a servant of God were one thing, a doctor and
priest of the Church another, forgetting what was previously laid down,
you say in another heading, "A priest or doctor ought to watch the
actions of all, and confidently rebuke sinners, lest he be responsible
for them and their blood be required at his hands." And, not satisfied
with saying it once, you repeat it, and inculcate that, "A priest or
doctor should flatter no one, but boldly rebuke all, lest he destroy
both himself and those who hear him." Is there so little harmony in one
and the same work that you do not know what you have previously said?
For if the servant of God ought to utter no bitterness from his mouth,
but always that which is sweet and pleasant, it follows either that a
priest and doctor will not be servants of God who ought to confidently
rebuke sinners, and flatter no one, but boldly reprove all: or, if a
priest and a doctor are not only servants of God, but have the chief
place among His servants, it is idle to reserve smooth and pleasant
speeches for the servants of God, for these are characteristic of
heretics and of them who wish to deceive; as the Apostle says,(1) "They
that are such serve not our Lord Christ but their own belly, and by
their smooth and fair speech they beguile the hearts of the innocent."
Flattery is always insidious, crafty, and smooth. And the flatterer is
well described by the philosophers as "a pleasant enemy." Truth is
bitter, of gloomy visage and wrinkled brow, and distasteful to those
who are rebuked. Hence the Apostle says,(2) "Am I become your enemy,
because I tell you the truth?" And the comic poet tells us that
"Obsequiousness is the mother of friendship, truth of enmity."
Wherefore we also eat the Passover with bitter herbs, and the chosen
vessel teaches that the Passover should be kept with truth and
sincerity. Let truth in our case be plain speaking, and bitterness will
instantly follow.
27. In another place you maintain that "All are
governed by their own free choice." What Christian can bear to hear
this? For if not one, nor a few, nor many, but all of us are governed
by our own free choice, what becomes of the help of God? And how do you
explain the text,(1) "A man's goings are ordered by the Lord"? And(2)
"A man's way is not in himself"; and(3)"No one can receive anything,
unless it be given him from above"; and elsewhere,(4) "What hast thou
which thou didst not receive? But if thou didst receive it, why dost
thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?" Our Lord and Saviour
says:(5)"I am come down from heaven not to do Mine own will, but the
will of the Father who sent Me." And in another place,(6) "Father, if
it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not My will,
but Thine be done." And in the Lord's prayer,(7) "Thy will be done as
in heaven, so on earth." How is it that you are so rash as to do away
with all God's help? Elsewhere, you make a vain attempt to append the
words" not without the grace of God"; but in what sense you would have
them understood is clear from this passage, for you do not admit His
grace in separate actions, but connect it with our creation, the gift
of the law, and the power of free will.
28. The argument of the next section is, "In the day
of judgment, no mercy will be shown to the unjust and to sinners, but
they must be consumed in eternal fire." Who can bear this, and suffer
you to prohibit the mercy of God, and to sit in judgment on the
sentence of the Judge before the day of judgment, so that, if He wished
to show mercy to the unjust and the sinners, He must not, because you
have given your veto? For you say it is written in the one hundred and
fourth Psalm,(8) "Let sinners cease to be in the earth, and the wicked
be no more." And in Isaiah,(9)"The wicked and sinners shall be burned
up together, and they who forsake God shall be consumed." Do you not
know that mercy is sometimes blended with the threatenings of God? He
does not say that they must be burnt with eternal fires, but let them
cease to be in the earth, and the wicked be no more. For it is one
thing for them to desist from sin and wickedness, another for them to
perish for ever and be burnt in eternal fire. And as for the passage
which you quote from Isaiah, "Sinners and the wicked shall be burned up
together," he does not add for ever. "And they who forsake God shall be
consumed." This properly refers to heretics, who leave the straight
path of the faith, and shall be consumed if they will not return to the
Lord
463
whom they have forsaken. And the same sentence is ready for you if you
neglect to turn to better things. Again, is it not marvellous temerity
to couple the wicked and sinners with the impious, for the distinction
between them is great? Every impious person is wicked and a sinner; but
we cannot conversely say every sinner and wicked person is also
impious, for impiety properly belongs to those who have not the
knowledge of God, or, if they have once had it, lose it by
transgression. But the wounds of sin and wickedness, like faults in
general, admit of healing. Hence, it is written,[1] "Many are the
scourges of the sinner"; it is not said that he is eternally destroyed.
And through all the scourging and torture the faults of Israel are
corrected,[2] "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom He receiveth." It is one thing to smite with the
affection of a teacher and a parent; another to be madly cruel towards
adversaries. Wherefore, we sing in the first Psalm,[3] "The impious do
not rise in the judgment," for they are already sentenced to
destruction; "nor sinners in the counsel of the just." To lose the
glory of the resurrection is a different thing from perishing for ever.
"The hour cometh," he says,[4] "In which all that are in the tombs
shall hear His voice, and shall come forth they that have done good
unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done ill unto the
resurrection of judgment." And so the Apostle, in the same sense,
because in the same Spirit, says to the Romans,[5] "As many as have
sinned without law shall also perish without law; and as many as have
sinned under law, shall be judged by law." The man without law is the
unbeliever who will perish for ever. Under the law is the sinner who
believes in God, and who will be judged by the law, and will not
perish. If the wicked and sinners are to be burned with everlasting
fire, are you not afraid of the sentence you pass on yourself, seeing
that you admit you are wicked and a sinner, while still you argue that
a man is not without sin, but that he may be. It follows that the only
person who can be saved is an individual who never existed, does not
exist, and perhaps never will, and that all our predecessors of whom we
read must perish. Take your own case. You are puffed up with all the
pride of Cato, and have[6] Milo's giant shoulders; but is it not
amazing temerity for you, who are a sinner, to take the name of a
teacher? If you are righteous, and, with a false humility, say you are
a sinner, we may be surprised, but we shall rejoice at having so unique
a treasure, and at reckoning amongst our friends a personage unknown to
patriarch, prophet, and Apostle. And if Origen does maintain that no
rational creatures ought to be lost, and allows repentance to the
devil, what is that to us, who say that the devil and his attendants,
and all impious persons and transgressors, perish eternally, and
that[1] Christians, if they be overtaken by sin, must be saved after
they have been punished?
29.[2] Besides all this you add two chapters which
contradict one another, and which, if true, would effectually close
your mouth. "Except a man have learned, he cannot be acquainted with
wisdom and understand the Scriptures." And again, "He that has not been
taught, ought not to assume that he knows the law." You must, then,
either produce the master from whom you learned, if you are lawfully to
claim the knowledge of the law; or, if your master is a person who
never learned from any one else, and taught you what he did nor know
himself, it follows that you are not acting rightly in claiming a
knowledge of Scripture, when you have not been taught, and in starting
as a master before you have been a disciple. And yet, perhaps, with
your customary humility, you make your boast that the Lord Himself, Who
teaches all knowledge, was your master, and that, like Moses in the
cloud and darkness, face to face, you hear the words of God, and so,
with the[3] halo round your head, take the lead of us. And even this is
not enough, but all at once you turn Stoic, and thunder in our ears
Zeno's proud maxims. "A Christian ought to be so patient that if any
one wished to take his property he would let it go with joy." Is it not
enough for us patiently to lose what we have, without returning thanks
to him who ill-treats and plunders us, and sending after him all
blessings? The Gospel teaches that to him who would go to law with us,
and by strife and litigation take away our coat, we must give our cloak
also. It does not enjoin the giving of thanks and joy at the loss of
our property. What I say is this, not that there is any enormity in
your view, but that everywhere you are prone to exaggeration, and
indulge in ambitious flights. This is why you add that "The bravery of
dress and ornament is an enemy of God." What enmity, I should like to
know, is there to-
464
wards God if my tunic is cleaner than usual, or if the bishop, priest,
or deacon, or any other ecclesiastics, at the offering of the
sacrifices walk in white? Beware, ye clergy; beware, ye monks; widows
and virgins, you are m peril unless the people see you begrimed with
dirt, and clad in rags. I say nothing of lay-men, who proclaim open war
and enmity against God if they wear costly and elegant apparel.
30. Let us hear the rest. "We must love our enemies
as we do our neighbours"; and immediately, falling into a deep slumber,
you lay down this proposition: "We must never believe an enemy." Not a
word is heeded from me to show the contradiction here. You will say
that both propositions are found in Scripture, but you do not observe
the particular connection in which the passages occur. I am told to
love my enemies and pray for my persecutors. Am I bidden to love them
as though they were my neighbours, kindred, and friends, and to make no
difference between a rival and a relative? If I love my enemies as my
neighbours, what more affection can I show to my friends? If you had
maintained this position, you ought to have taken care not to
contradict yourself by saying that we must never believe an enemy. But
even the law teaches us how an enemy should be loved.[1] If an enemy's
beast be fallen, we must raise it up. And the Apostle tells us,[2] "If
thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink. For by so
doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head," not by way of curse
and condemnation, as most people think, but to chasten and bring him to
repentance, so that, overcome by kindness, and melted by the warmth of
love, he may no longer be an enemy.
31. Your next point is that "the kingdom of heaven
is promised even in the Old Testament," and you adduce evidence from
the Apocrypha, although it is clear that the kingdom of heaven was
first preached under the Gospel by John the Baptist, and our Lord and
Saviour, and the Apostles. Read the Gospels. John the Baptist cries in
the desert,[3] "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"; and
concerning the Saviour it is written,[4] "From that time He began to
preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And
again,[5] "Jesus went round about the towns and villages, teaching in
their synagogues, and preaching the kingdom of God." And He commanded
His Apostles to[6] "go and preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at
hand." But you call us Manichaeans because we prefer the Gospel to the
law, and say that in the latter we have the shadow, in the former, the
substance, and you do not see that your foolishness goes hand in hand
with impudence. It is one thing to condemn the law, as Manichaeus did;
it is another to prefer the Gospel to the law, for this is in
accordance with apostolic teaching. In the law the servants of the Lord
speak, in the Gospel the Lord Himself; in the former are the promises,
in the latter their fulfilment; there are the beginnings, here is
perfection; in the law the foundations of works are laid; in the Gospel
the edifice is crowned with the top-stone of faith and grace. I have
mentioned this to show the character of the teaching given by our
distinguished professor.
32. The hundredth heading runs thus: "A man can be
without sin, and easily keep the commandments of God if he chooses," as
to which enough has already been said. And although he professes to
imitate, or rather complete the work of the blessed martyr Cyprian in
the treatise which the latter wrote to[1] Quirinus, he does not
perceive that he has said just the opposite in the work under
discussion. Cyprian, in the fifty-fourth heading of the third book,
lays it down that no one is free from stain and without sin, and he
immediately gives proofs, among them the passage in Job,[2] "Who is
cleansed from uncleanness? Not he who has lived but one day upon the
earth."[3] And in the fifty-first Psalm, "Behold I was shapen in
iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." And in the Epistle of
John,[4] "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us." You, on the other hand, maintain that "A man can
be without sin," and that you may give your words the semblance of
truth, you immediately add, "And easily keep the commandments of God,
if he chooses," and yet they have been seldom or never kept by any one.
Now, if they were easy, they ought to have been kept by all. But if, to
concede you a point, at rare intervals some one may be found able to
keep them, it is clear that what is rare is difficult. And by way of
supplementing this and displaying the greatness of your own virtues (we
are to believe, forsooth, that you bring forth the sentiment out of the
treasure of a good conscience), you have a heading to the effect that:
"We ought not to commit even light offences." And for fear some one
might think you had not explained in the work the meaning of light, you
add that, "We must not even think an evil thought," forgetting the
words,[5] "Who
465
understands his offences? Clear thou me from hidden faults, and keep
back thy servant from presumptuous sins, O Lord." You should have known
that the Church admits even failures through ignorance and sins of mere
thought to be offences; so much so that she bids sacrifices be offered
for errors, and the high priest who makes intercession for the whole
people previously offers victims for himself. Now, if he were not
himself righteous, he would never be commanded to offer for others.
Nor, again, would he offer for himself if he were free from sins of
ignorance. If I were to attempt to show that error and ignorance is
sin, I must roam at large over the wide fields of Scripture.
33. C. Pray have you not read that[1] "He who looks
upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already
in his heart?" It seems that not only are the look and the allurements
to vice reckoned as sin, but whatever it be to which we give assent.
For either we can avoid an evil thought, and consequently may be free
from sin; or, if we cannot avoid it, that is not reckoned as sin which
cannot be avoided.
A. Your argument is ingenious, but you do not see
that it goes against Holy Scripture, which declares that even ignorance
is not without sin. Hence it was that Job offered sacrifices for his
sons, test, perchance, they had unwittingly sinned in thought. And if,
when one is cutting wood, the axe-head flies from the handle and kills
a man, the owner is[2] commanded to go to one of the cities of refuge
and stay there until the high priest dies; that is to say, until he is
redeemed by the Saviour's blood, either in the baptistery, or in
penitence which is a copy of the grace of baptism, through the
ineffable mercy of the Saviour, who[3] would not have any one perish,
nor delights in the death of sinners, but would rather that they should
be converted and live.
C. It is surely strange justice to hold me guilty of
a sin of error of which my conscience does not accuse itself. I am not
aware that I have sinned, and am I to pay the penalty for an offence of
which I am ignorant? What more can I do, if I sin voluntarily?
A. Do you expect me to explain the purposes and
plans of God? The Book of Wisdom gives an answer to your foolish
question:[4] "Look not into things above thee, and search not things
too mighty for thee." And elsewhere,[5] "Make not thyself overwise, and
argue not more than is fitting." And in the same place, "In wisdom and
simplicity of heart seek God." You will perhaps deny the authority of
this book; listen then to the Apostle blowing the Gospel trumpet:[6] "O
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past tracing out! For who
hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor?" Your
questions are such as he elsewhere describes:[7] "But foolish and
ignorant questioning avoid, knowing that they gender strifes." And in
Ecclesiastes (a book concerning which there can be no doubt) we
read,[8] "I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me. That which is
exceeding deep, who can find it out?" You ask me to tell you why the
potter makes one vessel to honour, another to dishonour, and will not
be satisfied with Paul, who replies on behalf of his Lord,[9] "O man,
who art thou that repliest against God?"
The remainder of this book is occupied by a series
of quotations from the Old Testament, designed to show that it is not
only the outer and conscious act which is reckoned sinful, but the
opposition to the Divine will, which is often implicit and
half-conscious. Occasionally, also, the speaker shows how the texts
quoted enforce the argument which he has before used, that men may be
spoken of as righteous in a general sense, yet by no means free from
sins of thought or desire, if not of act.
466
Book II.
This book can hardly be said to form part of a
dialogue. It is rather an argument from Scripture to prove the point of
the Augustinian arguer, Atticus. From the fourth chapter onwards it
consists, like the last five chapters of Book I., of a chain of
Scripture texts, taken from the New Testament and the Prophets, to show
the universality of sin, and thus to refute the Pelagian assertion that
a man can be without sin if he wills. We shall, therefore, give, as in
the previous case, a list of the texts and the first words of them,
only giving Jerome's words where he introduces some original remark of
his own, or some noteworthy comment.
The Pelagian begins by reiterating the dilemma: If
the commandments are given to be obeyed, then man can be without sin;
if he is, by his creation, such that he must be a sinner, then God, not
he, is the author of sin. To the argument that sacrifices are enjoined
for sins of ignorance, he replies by appealing from the Old Testament
to the New, which leads to a discussion (2, 3) on St. Paul's
description of the conflict with sin, in Romans vii. Paul, it is
argued, speaks not as a sinner, but as a man, and thus confesses the
sinfulness of humanity. That men may be without ingrained vice is
possible; that they can be without sin is not. This leads the
Augustinian, Atticus, resuming his list of testimonies, to the fact
that, though men are found who are righteous as avoiding wickedness
(<greek>lamia</greek>), yet none is without sin
(<greek>anamarthtos</greek>).
467
6. There are four emotions which agitate mankind,
two relating to the present, two to the future; two to good, and two to
evil. There is sorrow, called in Greek <greek>luph</greek>,
and joy, in Greek <greek>kara</greek> or
<greek>hdonh</greek>, although many translate the latter
word by voluptas, pleasure; the one of which is referred to evil, the
other to good. And we go too far if we rejoice over such things as we
ought not, as, for example, riches, power, distinctions, the bad
fortune of enemies, or their death; or, on the other hand, if we are
tortured with grief on account of present evils, adversity, exile,
poverty, weakness, and the death of kindred, all of which is forbidden
by the Apostle. And again, if we covet those things which we consider
good, inheritance, distinctions, unvaried prosperity, bodily health,
and the like, in the possession of which we rejoice and find enjoyment;
or if we fear those things which we deem adverse. Now, according to the
Stoics, Zeno that is to say and Chrysippus, it is possible for a
perfect man to be free from these emotions; according to the
Peripatetics, it is difficult and even impossible, an opinion which has
the constant support of all Scripture. Hence Josephus, the historian of
the Maccabees, said that the emotions can be subdued and governed, not
extirpated, and Cicero's five books of "Tusculan Disputations" are full
of these discussions.[1] Accord-to the Apostle, the weakness of the
body and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places fight
against us. And the same writer[2] tells us that the works of the flesh
and the works of the spirit are manifest, and these are contrary the
one to the other, so that we do not the things that we would. If we do
not what we would, but what we would not, how can you say that a man
can be without sin if he chooses? You see that neither an Apostle, nor
any believer can perform what he wishes.[3] "Love covereth a multitude
of sins," not so much sins of the past as sins of the present, that we
may not sin any more while the love of God abideth in us. Wherefore it
is said concerning the woman that was a sinner,[4] "Her sins which are
many are forgiven her, for she loved much." And this shows us that the
doing what we wish does not depend merely upon our own power, but upon
the assistance which God in His mercy gives to our will.
7. The quotations from Scripture are now continued:
469
Luke xxii. 43. Even Christ in his agony needs an angel
to
strengthen Him.
46. Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
17.
John v. 30. Even Christ says, "I cannot do anything by myself"; and
vii. 10. Was irresolute about going up to the Feast
of
Tabernacles,
19. None
of you doeth the law.
viii. 3. None of the accusers of the woman
taken in
adultery
were without sin. Christ wrote their names in the
earth
(Jerem. xvii. 13).
x. 8. All who came (not who were sent; Jerem.
xiv.
15)
before Christ were robbers.
xvii. 12. I kept them--they did not keep
themselves.
Acts xv. 39. Paul and Barnabas quarrelled.
xvi. 6, 7. They were forbidden to preach where
they chose.
18. Even the Apostles, with their full light, showy
their dependence
on grace.
Acts xvii. 30. The times before Christ were times of ignorance.
1 Cor. iv. 19. I will come if the Lord will.
James ii. 10. To stumble in one point is to be guilty of all.
iii. 2.In many things we all stumble,
8.The
tongue is a deadly poison.
19.
James iv. 1. Wars arise from our lust. David indeed said,
Ps. xxvi. 2. "Examine me and prove me," etc. This
self-confidence
led to his fall.
li. 1. Have mercy on me, O God.
lxxx. 5. "Thou feedest us with the
bread of
tears."
Similarly
Ps. xxx. 6, 7.I said I shall never be moved ... Thou didst hide
Thy
face.
xxxii. 5.I said I will confess my sin,
xxxvii. 5, 6. He shall make thy righteousness as the
light.
39.
The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord.
xxxviii. 7. There is no soundness in my flesh.
Rom. vii. 18. In my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
Ps. xxxviii. 8. Vulgate. My loins are filled with deceits.
xxxix. 5. He hath made our days as handbreadths.
lxix. 5. My sins are not hid from thee.
lxxvii. 2. My soul refused to be comforted,
10.
This is the changing of the right hand of
the
Most High. (1)
20.
Ps. lxxxix. 2.Mercy shall be built up forever.
xci. 6. From "the thing (2) that walketh
in darkness"
who
can be free? For
xi. 2. "The wicked bend their bow "--an
image of
the
heretics.
xcii. 14. Those that are planted in the
house of the
Lord
shall flourish.
ciii. 8, 10. The Lord is full of
compassion.
2 Sam. viii. 13, 14. David receives the promises with the
humble
confession of his weakness. "Is this the law of man,
O
God?"
xvi. 10. He humbles himself under
Abishai's violence
and
Shimei's curse.
xvii. 14. And is delivered only by God's
confounding
the
counsel of Ahithophel.
1 Kings xiv. 8. It was God who gave Jeroboam the kingdom.
21
1 Kings xv. 11.Asa, though a good man, was faulty.
xix. 4.Elijah fled from
Jezebel.
Ps. cxviii. 6. The Lord is my keeper.
2 Chron. xvii. 3. Jehoshaphat prospers because the Lord is
with
him. Yet
xix. 2. He is rebuked for
joining with Ahab.
2 Chron. xxii. 9. Ahaziah received burial among kings
because
descended from righteous Jehoshaphat.
2 Kings xviii. 3, 4, 7. Hezekiah did great things, but
only
through the Lord's help.
14. He gave the consecrated gold to the king
of
Assyria,
22. Even the best kings of Judah were imperfect.
2 Kings xx. 1, 5. Hezekiah wept when death was at hand,
and
recovered through special mercy.
13,
17, But he sinned in receiving the
Babylonian
envoys.
2 Chron. xxxii. 26. He fell by the lifting up of his heart.
xxxiv. 2. Josiah was a
righteous man; yet
22, 23. He needed the aid of Huldah; and
xxxv. 22. He was slain
through not heeding God's
warning;
and
23. The prophets also are weak and sinful.
Lam. iv. 20. Jeremiah (3) lamented his fall.
Numb. xx. 10, 12. Moses is punished for his sin at Meribah.
This
is the meaning of
Ps. cxli. 6. Vulgate. Their judges were swallowed up, joined to
the
Rock, etc.
470
Hosea ii. 19.God in mercy forgives Israel's unfaithfulness.
xi. 9. "I will not enter into the city."
Only the Holy
One
is not joined to the mass of ungodliness.
Amos vi. 13.We turn righteousness into wormwood.
Jonah i. 14.The sailors confess that God is just in raising
the
storm.
Micah vii. 2.The godly man is perished from the earth, etc.
vi. 8.The command of justice, mercy, and a
humble walk
with
God is only possible to humble faith, for
Ps. cxl. 6."The wicked walk on every side," and
James iv. 6.God giveth grace to the humble.
24.
Habakkuk iii. 16. Let rottenness enter into my bones, if only I
may rest,
etc.
Zech. iii. 1. Joshua is represented as clothed in filthy
garments,
and is freed through God's mercy.
But Jovinian's heir says "I am quite free from sin,
I have no filthy garments, I am governed by my own will, I am greater
than an Apostle. The Apostle does what he would not, and what he would
he does not; but I do what I will, and what I would not I do not: the
kingdom of heaven has been prepared for me, or rather I have by my
virtuous life prepared it for myself. Adam was subject to punishment,
and so are others who think themselves guilty after the similitude of
Adam's transgressions; I and my crew alone have nothing to fear. Other
men shut up in their cells and who never see women, because, poor
creatures! they do not listen to my words, are tormented with desire:
crowds of women may surround me, I feel no stirring of concupiscence.
For to me may be applied the (1)words, 'Holy stones are rolled upon the
ground,' and the reason why I am insensible to the attraction of sin is
that in the power of free will I carry Christ's trophy about with me."
But let us listen to God (2) proclaiming by the mouth of Isaiah: "O my
people, they which call thee happy cause thee to err, and destroy the
way of thy paths." Who is the greatest subverter of the people of
God--he who, relying on the power of free choice, despises the help of
the Creator, and is satisfied with following his own will, or he who
dreads to be judged by the details of the Lord's commandments? To men
of this sort, God (3) says, "Woe unto you that are wise in your own
eyes, and prudent in your own sight." Isaiah, if we follow the Hebrew,
laments (4) and says, "Woe is me because I have been silent, because I
am a man of unclean lips: and I dwell in the midst of a people of
unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the Lord of Hosts." He for his
meritorious; and virtuous life enjoyed the sight of God, and conscious
of his sins confessed that he had unclean lips. Not that he had said
anything repugnant to the will of God, but because, either from fear,
or from a deep sense of shame, he had been (5) silent, and had not
reproved the errors of the people so freely as a prophet should. When
do we sinners rebuke offenders, we who flatter wealth and accept the
persons of sinners for the sake of filthy lucre? for we shall hardly
say that we speak with perfect frankness to men of whose assistance we
stand in need. Suppose that we do not such things as they, suppose we
keep ourselves from every form of sin; to refrain from speaking the
truth is certainly sin. In the Septuagint, however, we do not find the
words "because I have been silent," but "because I was pricked," that
is with the consciousness of sin; and thus the words of the (6)prophet
are fulfilled. "My life was turned into misery while I was pierced by
the thorn." He was pricked by the thorn of sin: you are decked with the
flowers of virtue. (7) "The moon shall be ashamed, and the sun
confounded, when the Lord shall punish the host of heaven on high."
This is explained by another passage Even the
stars are unclean in His sight," and again, (9) "He chargeth His angels
with folly." The moon is ashamed, the sun is confounded, and the sky
covered with sackcloth, and shall we fearlessly and joyously, as though
we were free from all sin, face the majesty of the Judge, when the
mountains shall melt away, that is, all who are lifted up by
pride, and all the host of the heavens, whether they be stars, or
angelic powers, when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll,
and all their host shall fade away like leaves?
The argument is now carried on mostly by the
quotation of passages from the prophets:
25. Is xxxiv. 5. "My sword hath drunk its fill in the heavens.
It will
come down in Edom." How much more
is t here wrath against sin on earth! Edom
means
blood,
which cannot inherit the kingdom (1 Cor. xv. 50).
xlv. 9. Woe unto him who striveth
with his Maker.
liii. 6. We have all gone astray
like sheep.
Ezek. xvi. 14. Jerusalem is perfect in beauty; yet
471
Ezek. xvi. 60, 61. Her salvation is not of merit but of mercy.
Nahum i. 3. Though he cleanse, (1) yet will he not make
thee
innocent.
1 Cor. xv. 9. I am not worthy--because I persecuted.
Ezek. xx. 43, 44. When pardoned, Jerusalem will still remember her sin.
Let us confess with shame that these are the
utterances of men who have already won their reward; sinners upon
earth, and still in our frail and mortal bodies let us adopt the
language of the saints in heaven who have even been endowed with
incorruption and immortality. (2)"And ye say the way of the Lord is not
equal, when your ways are not equal." It is Pharisaic pride to
attribute to the injustice of the Creator sins which are due to our own
will, and to slander His righteousness. The sons of Zadok, the priests
of the spiritual temple, that is the Church, (3)go not out to the
people in their ministerial robes, lest by human intercourse they may
lose their holiness and be defiled. And do you suppose that you, in the
thick of the throng, and an ordinary individual, are pure?
26. Let us hastily run through the prophet Jeremiah:
Jerem. v. 1, 2. Is there any that doeth justly, etc.
vii. 21, 22. God rejects the sacrifices, because of
the
worshippers' evil lives. xiii. 23. Can the
Ethiopian
change his skin?
27.
Jerem. xvii. 14. "Heal me, O Lord," Otherwise Jeremiah could
only say,
as in the text next quoted,
xx. 14, 17, 18. Cursed be the day
wherein I was born,
etc. xxiii. 23, Am I a
God at hand, etc. So conscious is he
of
God's power. xxiv. 6, 7. God, not they themselves,
will
plant them, etc.
xxvi. 21-24. Jeremiah needed the
help of Ahikam.
How
much more do we need that of God.
28.
Jerem. xxxi. 34. The promise of the new covenant.
xxxii. 30. The children of Israel have perpetually
done evil.
xxxvii. 18, 19. Yet Jeremiah
himself trembled
before
Zedekiah.
xxx. 10, 11. Fear not, O Jacob,
for I am with thee.
29
Amos vi. 14. "We have taken us horns by our own strength."
These are
the boasts of heretics. But
Is. xvi. 6. His strength (Moab's) is by no means according to
his
arrogance. (4)
Jerem. i. 7, 20. Men's sin will only be abolished because God
is gracious
to them. If you will abandon your assertions
of natural
ability, I will concede that your
whole
contention stands good, but only by the gift of God.
Lam. iii. 26-42. It is good that a man should quietly wait for
the
salvation of the Lord.
30
Dan. iv. 17. The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men.
Ps. cxiii. 7. 8. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust.
Is. xl. I7. He deeth what He will in heaven and in earth.
The words of (2) Maccabees v. 17, which say
that Antiochus Epiphanes had power to overthrow the Temple, "because of
the multitude of sins," are quoted in connection with the confessions
of Daniel.
Dan. ix. 5. "We have sinned and dealt perversely," which is
shown by
20. "While I was yet praying," etc., to be a personal, not only
a national
confession.
24. The prophecy of the seventy weeks shows that the prophet
looked to
God alone for the establishment of righteousness.
So then, until that end shall come, and this
corruptible and mortal shall put on incorruption and immortality, we
must be liable to sin; not, as you falsely say, owing to the fault of
our nature and creation, but through the frailty and fickleness of
human will, which varies from moment to moment; because God alone
changeth not. You ask in what respects Abel, Enoch, Joshua the son of
Nun, or Elisha, and the rest of the saints have sinned. There is no
need to look for a knot in a bulrush; I freely confess I do not know;
and I only wish that, when sins are manifest, I might still be silent.
(5)"I know nothing against myself," says St. Paul, "yet am I not hereby
justified." (6)"Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord
looketh on the heart." Before Him no man is justified. And so Paul says
confidently, (7)"All bare sinned, and come short of the glory of God";
and (8)"God hath shut up all under sin that He may have mercy upon
all"; and similarly in other passages which we have repeated again and
again.
472
Book III.
1. Critob. I am charmed with the exuberance of
your eloquence, but at the same time I would remind you that, (1) "In
the multitude of words there wanteth not transgression." And how does
it bear upon the question before us? You will surely admit that those
who have received Christian baptism are without sin. And that being
free from sin they are righteous. And that once they are righteous,
they can, if they take care, preserve their righteousness, and so
through life avoid all sin.
Attic. Do you not blush to follow the opinion of
Jovinian, which has been exploded and condemned? For he relies upon
just the same proofs and arguments as you do; nay, rather, you are all
eagerness for his inventions, and desire to preach in the East what was
formerly (2) condemned at Rome, and not long ago in (3) Africa. Read
then the reply which was given to him, and you will there find the
answer to yourself. For in the discussion of doctrines and disputed
points, we must have regard not to persons but to things. And yet let
me tell you that baptism condones past offences, and does not preserve
righteousness in the time to come; the keeping of that is dependent on
toil and industry, as well as earnestness, and above all on the mercy
of God. It is ours to ask, to Him it belongs to bestow what we ask;
ours to begin, His it is to finish; ours to offer what we can. His to
fulfil what we cannot perform. (4) "For except the Lord build the
house, they labour in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the
city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Wherefore the Apostle (5) bids
us so run that we may attain. All indeed run, but one receiveth the
crown. And in the (6) Psalm it is written, "O Lord, thou hast crowned
us with thy favour as with a shield." For our victory is won and the
crown of our victory is gained by His protection and through His
shield; and here we run that hereafter we may attain; there he shall
receive the crown who in this world has proved the conqueror. And when
we have been baptized we are told, (7)"Behold thou art made whole; sin
no more lest a worse thing happen unto thee." And again, (8)"Know ye
not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you? If any man profane the temple of God, him shall God
destroy." And in another place, (7) "The Lord is with you so long as ye
are with Him: if ye forsake Him, He will also forsake you." Where is
the man, do you suppose, in whom as in a shrine and sanctuary the
purity of Christ is permanent, and in whose case the serenity of the
temple is saddened by no cloud of sin? We cannot always have the same
countenance, though the philosophers falsely boast that this was the
experience of Socrates; how much less can our minds be always the same!
As men have many expressions of countenance, so also do the feelings of
their hearts vary. If it were possible for us to be always immersed in
the waters of baptism, sins would fly over our heads and leave us
untouched. The Holy Spirit would protect us. But the enemy assails us,
and when conquered does not depart, but is ever lying in ambush, that
he may secretly shoot the upright in heart.
2. In the Gospel according to the Hebrews, which is
written in the Chaldee and Syrian language, but in Hebrew characters,
and is used by the Nazarenes to this day (I mean the Gospel according
to the Apostles, or, as is generally maintained, the Gospel according
to Matthew, a copy of which is in the library at Caesarea), we find,
"Behold, the mother of our Lord and His brethren said to Him, John
Baptist baptizes for the remission of sins; let us go and be baptized
by him. But He said to them, what sin have I committed that I should go
and be baptized by him? Unless, haply, the very words which I have said
are only ignorance." And in the same volume, "If thy brother sin
against thee in word, and make amends to thee, receive him seven times
in a day." Simon, His disciple, said to Him, "Seven times in a day?"
The Lord answered and said to him, "I say unto thee until seventy times
seven." Even the prophets, after they were anointed with the Holy
Spirit, were guilty of sinful words. Ignatius, an apostolic man and a
martyr, boldly writes? "The Lord chose Apostles who were sinners above
all men." It is of their speedy conversion that the Psalmist sings, (3)
"Their infirmities were multiplied; afterwards they made haste." If you
do not allow the authority of this evidence, at least admit its
antiquity, and see what has been the opinion of all good churchmen.
Suppose a person who has
473
been baptized to have been carried off by death either immediately, or
on the very day of his baptism, and I will generously concede that he
neither thought nor said anything whereby, through error and ignorance,
he fell into sin. Does it follow that he will, therefore, be without
sin, because he appears not to have overcome, but to have avoided sin?
Is not the true reason rather that by the mercy of God he was released
from the prison of sins and departed to the Lord? We also say this,
that God can do what He wills; and that man of himself and by his own
will cannot, as you maintain, be without sin. If he can, it is idle for
you now to add the word grace, for, with such a power, he has no need
of it. If, however, he cannot avoid sin without the grace of God, it is
folly for you to attribute to him an ability which he does not possess.
For whatever depends upon another's will, is not in the power of him
whose ability you assert, but of him whose aid is clearly indispensable.
3. C. What do you mean by this perversity, or,
rather, senseless contention? Will you not grant me even so much--that
when a man leaves the waters of baptism he is free from sin?
A. Either I fail to express my meaning
clearly, or you are slow of apprehension.
C. How so?
A. Remember both what you maintained and also
what I say. You argued that a man can be free from sin if he chooses. I
reply that it is an impossibility; not that we are to think that a man
is not free from sin immediately after baptism, but that that time of
sinlessness is by no means to be referred to human ability, but to the
grace of God. Do not, therefore, claim the power for man, and I will
admit the fact. For how can a man be able who is not able of himself?
Or what is that sinlessness which is conditioned by the immediate death
of the body? Should the man's life be prolonged, he will certainly be
liable to sins and to ignorance.
C. Your logic stops my mouth. You do not speak
with Christian simplicity, but entangle me in some fine distinctions
between being and ability to be.
A. Is it I who play these tricks with words?
The article came from your own workshop. For you say, not that a man is
free from sin, but that he is able to be; I, on the other hand, will
grant what you deny, that a man is free from sin by the grace of God,
and yet will maintain that he is not able of himself.
C. It is useless to give commandments if we
cannot keep them.
A. No one doubts that God commanded things
possible. But because men do not what they might, therefore the whole
world is subject to the judgment of God, and needs His mercy. On the
other hand, if you can produce a man who has fulfilled the whole law,
you will certainly be able to show that there is a man who does not
need the mercy of God. For everything which can happen must either take
place in the past, the present, or the future. As to your assertion
that a man can be without sin if he chooses, show that it has happened
in the past, or at all events that it does happen at the present day;
the future will reveal itself. If, however, you can point to no one who
either is, or has been, altogether free from sin, it remains for us to
confine our discussion to the future. Meanwhile, you are vanquished and
a captive as regards two out of three periods of time, the past and the
present. If anyone hereafter shall be greater than patriarchs,
prophets, apostles, inasmuch as he is without sin, then you may perhaps
be able to convince future generations as to their time.
4. C. Talk as you like, argue as you please, you
will never wrest from me free will, which God bestowed once for all,
nor will you be able to deprive me of what God has given, the ability
if I have the will.
A. By way of example let us take one proof: (1)"I
have found David, the Son of Jesse, a man after Mine own heart, who
shall do all My will." There is no doubt that David was a holy man, and
yet he who was chosen that he might do all God's will is blamed for
certain actions. Of course it was possible for him who was chosen for
the purpose to do all God's will. Nor is God to blame Who beforehand
spoke of his doing all His will as commanded, but blame does attach to
him who did not what was foretold. For God did not say that He had
found a man who would unfailingly do His bidding and fulfil His will,
but only one who would do all His will. And we, too, say that a man can
avoid sinning, if he chooses, according to his local and temporal
circumstances and physical weakness, so long as his mind is set upon
righteousness and the string is well stretched upon the lyre. But if a
man grow a little remiss it is with him as with the boatman pulling
against the stream, who finds that, if he slackens but for a moment,
the craft glides back and he is carried by the flowing waters whither
he would not. Such is the state of man; if we are a little careless we
learn our weakness, and find that our power is limited. Do you suppose
that the Apostle Paul, when he wrote (3) "the coat (or cloak) that I
left at Troas with Carpus, bring when thou comest, and the books,
especially
474
the parchments," was thinking of heavenly mysteries, and not of those
things which are required for daily life and to satisfy our bodily
necessities? Find me a man who is never hungry, thirsty, or cold, who
knows nothing of pain, or fever, or the torture of strangury, and I
will grant you that a man can think of nothing but virtue. When the
Apostle was (1) struck by the servant, he delivered himself thus
against the High Priest who commanded the blow to be given: "God shall
strike thee, thou whited wall." We miss the patience of the Saviour Who
was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and opened not His mouth, but
mercifully said to the smiter, (2) "If I have spoken evil, bear witness
of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou Me?" We do not disparage the
Apostle, but declare the glory of God Who suffered in the flesh and
overcame the evil inflicted on the flesh and the weakness of the
flesh--to say nothing of what the Apostle says elsewhere: (8)
"Alexander, the coppersmith, did me much evil; the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will recompense him in that day."
5. C. I have been longing to say something, but have
checked the words as they were bursting from my lips. You compelme to
say it.
A. Who hinders you from saying what you think?
Either what you are going to say is good--and you ought not to deprive
us of what is good--or it is bad, and, therefore, it is not
regard for us, but shame that keeps you silent.
C. I will say, I will say after all, what I think.
Your whole argument tends to this: You accuse nature, and blame God for
creating man such as he is.
A. Is this what you wished, and yet did not wish, to
say? Pray speak out, so that all may have the benefit of your wisdom.
Are you censuring God because he made man to be man? Let the angels
also complain because they are angels: Let every creature discuss the
question, Why it is as it was created? and not what the Creator could
have made it. I must now amuse myself with the rhetorical exercises of
childhood, and passing from the gnat and the ant to cherubim and
seraphim, inquire why each was not created with a happier lot. And when
I reach the exalted powers, I will argue the point: Why God alone is
only God, and did not make all things gods? For, according to you, He
will either be unable to do so, or will be guilty of envy. Censure Him,
and demand why He allows the devil to be in this world, and carry off
the crown when you have won the victory.
C. I am not so senseless as to complain of the
existence of the devil, through whose malice death entered into the
world; but what grieves me is this: that dignitaries of the Church, and
those who usurp the title of master, destroy free will; and once that
is destroyed, the way is open for the Manichaeans.
A. Am I the destroyer of free will because,
throughout the discussion, my single aim has been to maintain the
omnipotence of God as well as free will?
C. How can you have free will, and yet say
that man can do nothing without God's assistance?
A. If he is to be blamed who couples free will
and God's help, it follows that we ought to praise him who does away
with God's help.
C. I am not making God's help unnecessary, for
to His grace we owe all our ability; but I and those who think with me
keep both within their own bounds. To God's grace we assign the gift of
the power of free choice; to our own will, the doing, or the not doing,
of a thing; and thus rewards and punishments for doing or not doing can
be maintained.
6. A. You seem to me to be lost in
forgetfulness, and to be going over the lines of argument already
traversed as though not a word had been previously said. For, by this
long discussion, it has been established float the Lord, by the same
grace wherewith He bestowed upon us free choice, assists and supports
us in our individual actions.
C. Why, then, does He crown and praise what He
has Himself wrought in us?
A. That is to say, our will which offered all
it could, the toil which strove in action, and the humility which ever
looked to the help of God.
C. So, then, if we have not done what He
commanded, either God was willing to assist us, or He was not. If He
was willing and did assist us, and yet we have not done what we wished,
then He, and not we, has been overcome. But if He would not help, the
man is not to be blamed who wished to do His will, but God, who was
able to help, but would not.
A. Do you not see that your dilemma has landed
you in a deep abyss of blasphemy? Whichever way you take it, God is
either weak or malevolent, and He is not so much praised because He is
the author of good and gives His help, as abused for not restraining
evil. Blame Him, then, because He allows the existence of the devil,
and has suffered, and still suffers, evil to be done in the world. This
is what Marcion asks, and the whole pack of heretics who mutilate the
Old
475
Testament, and have mostly spun an argument something like this: Either
God knew that man, placed in Paradise, would transgress His command, or
He did not know. If He knew, man is not to blame, who could not avoid
God's foreknowledge, but He Who created him such that he could not
escape the knowledge of God. If He did not know, in stripping Him of
foreknowledge you also take away His divinity. Upon the same showing
God will be deserving of blame for choosing Saul, who was to prove one
of the worst of kings. And the Saviour must be convicted either of
ignorance, or of unrighteousness, inasmuch as He said in the Gospel,
[1]"Did I not choose you the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" Ask
Him why He chose Judas, a traitor? Why He entrusted to him the bag when
He knew that he was a thief? Shall I tell you the reason? God judges
the present, not the future. He does not make use of His foreknowledge
to condemn a man though He knows that he will hereafter displease Him;
but such is His goodness and unspeakable mercy that He chooses a man
who, He perceives, will meanwhile be good, and who, He knows, will turn
out badly, thus giving him the opportunity of being converted and of
repenting. This is the Apostle's meaning when he says, [2]"Dost thou
not know that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? but after
thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in
the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God Who
will render to every man according to his works." For Adam did not sin
because God knew that he would do so; but God inasmuch as He is God,
foreknew what Adam would do of his own free choice. You may as well
accuse God of falsehood because He said by the mouth of Jonah: [3]"Yet
three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." But God will reply by the
mouth of Jeremiah, [4]"At what instant I shall speak concerning a
nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to break down, and
to destroy it; if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn
from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto
them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and
concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my
sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good,
wherewith I said I would benefit them." Jonah, on a certain occasion,
was indignant because, at God's command, he had spoken falsely; but his
sorrow was proved to be ill rounded, since he would rather speak truth
and have a countless multitude perish, than speak falsely and have them
saved. His position was thus illustrated: [1]"Thou grievest over the
ivy (or gourd), for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it
grow, which came up in a night, and perished in a night; and should not
I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six
score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and
their left hand?" If there was so vast a number of children and simple
folk, whom you will never be able to prove sinners, what shall we say
of those inhabitants of both sexes who were at different periods of
life? According to Philo, and the wisest of philosophers, Plato (so the
"Timaeus" tells us), in passing from infancy to decrepit old age, we go
through seven stages, which so gradually and so gently follow one
another that we are quite insensible of the change.
C. The drift of your whole argument is this--what
the Greeks call <greek>autexousion</greek>, and we free
will, you admit in terms, but in effect destroy. For you make God the
author of sin, in asserting that man can of himself do nothing, but
that he must have the help of God to Whom is imputed all we do. But we
say that, whether a man does good or evil, it is imputed to him on
account of the faculty of free choice, inasmuch as he did what he
chose, and not to Him Who once for all gave him free choice.
A. Your shuffling is to no purpose; you are caught
in the snares of truth. For upon this showing, even if He does not
Himself assist, according to you He will be the author of evil, because
He might have prevented it arid did not. It is an old maxim that if a
man can deliver another from death and does not, he is a homicide.
C. I withdraw and yield the point;you have won;
provided, however, that victory is the subverting of the truth by
specious words, that is to say, not by truth, but by falsehood. For I
might make answer to you in the Apostle's words, [2]"Though I be rude
in speech, yet not in knowledge." When you speak, your rhetorical
tricks are too much for me, and I seem to agree with you; but when you
stop speaking, it all goes out of my head, and I see quite clearly that
your argument does not flow from the fountains of truth and Christian
simplicity, but rests on the laboured subtleties of the philosophers.
A. Do you wish me, then, once more to resort to the
evidence of Scripture? If so, what becomes of the boast of your
disciples
476
that no one can answer your arguments or solve the questions you raise?
C. I not only wish, but am eager that you should do
so. Show me any place in Holy Scripture where we find that, the power
of free choice being lost, a man does what of himself he either would
not, or could not do.
8. A. We must use the words of Scripture not as you
propose, but as truth and reason demand. Jacob says in his prayer,
[1]"If the Lord God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that
I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I
come again to my father's house in peace, then shall tim Lord be my
God, and this stone, which I have set up for a token, shall be God's
house; and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth
unto Thee." He did not say, If thou preserve my free choice, and I gain
by my toil food and raiment, and return to my father's house. He refers
everything to the will of God, that lie may be found worthy to receive
that for which he prays. On Jacob's return from Mesopotamia [2]an army
of angels met him, who are called God's camp. He afterwards contended
with an angel in the form of a man, and was strengthened by God;
whereupon, instead of Jacob, the supplanter, he received the name, life
most upright of God. For he would not have dared to return to his cruel
brother unless he had been strengthened and secured by the Lord's,
help. In the sequel we read, [3]"The sun rose upon him after he passed
over Phanuel," which is, being interpreted, He face of God. Hence
[4]Moses also says, "I have seen the Lord face to face, and my life is
preserved," not by any natural quality--but by the condescension of
God, Who had mercy. So then the Sun of Righteousness rises upon us when
God makes His face to shine upon us and gives us strength. Joseph in
Egypt was shut up in prison, and we next hear that the keeper of the
prison, believing in his fidelity, committed everything to his hand.
And the reason is given: [5]"Because the Lord was with him: and
whatsoever he did, the Lord made it to prosper." Wherefore, also,
dreams were suggested to Pharaoh's attendants, and Pharaoh had one
which none could interpret, that so Joseph might be released, and his
father and brethren fed, and Egypt saved in the time of famine.
Moreover, God [6]said to Israel, in a vision of the night," I am the
God of thy fathers; fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will make of
thee there a great nation, and I will go down with thee into Egypt; and
I will also surely bring thee up again, and Joseph shall put his hand
upon thine eyes." Where in this passage do we find the power of free
choice? Is not the whole circumstance that he ventured to go to his
son, and entrust himself to a nation that knew not the Lord, due to the
help of the God of his fathers? The people was released from Egypt with
a strong hand and an outstretched arm; not the hand of Moses and Aaron,
but of Him who set the people free by signs and wonders, and at last
smote the first-born of Egypt, so that they who at [1]first were
persistent in keeping the people, eagerly urged them to depart. Solomon
[2]says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not upon
thine own understanding: in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall
direct thy paths." Understand what He says--that we must not trust in
our wisdom, but in the Lord alone, by Whom the steps of a man are
directed. Lastly, we are bidden to show Him our ways, and make them
known, for they are not made straight by our own labour, but by His
assistance and mercy. And so it is written, [3]"Make my way right
before Thy face," so that what is right to Thee may seem also right to
me. Solomon says the same[4]"Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy
thoughts shall be established. Our thoughts are then established when
we commit all we do to the Lord our helper, resting it, as it were,
upon the firm and solid rock, and attribute everything to Him.
9. The Apostle Paul, rapidly recounting the benefits
of God, ended with the words, [5]"And who is sufficient for these
things?" Wherefore, also, in another place he [6]says, "Such confidence
have we through Christ to Godward; not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is
from God; Who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant;
not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter killeth, but the
spirit giveth life." Do we still dare to pride ourselves on free will,
and to abuse the benefits of God to the dishonour of the giver? Whereas
the same chosen vessel openly [7]writes, "We have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of
God, and not from ourselves." Therefore, also, in another place,
checking the impudence of the heretics, he [8]says, "He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is
approved, but whom the Lord commendeth." And again, [9]"In nothing was
I behind the very chiefest Apostles,
477
though I be nothing." Peter, disturbed by the greatness of the miracles
he witnessed, said to the Lord, [1]"Depart from me, for I am a sinful
man." And the Lord said to His disciples, [2]"I am the vine and ye are
the branches: He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much
fruit, for apart from Me ye can do nothing." Just as the vine branches
and shoots immediately decay when they are severed from the parent
stem, so all the strength of men fades and perishes, if it be bereft of
the help of God. "No one," [3]He says, "can come unto. Me except the
Father Who sent Me draw him. When He says, "No one can come unto Me,"
He shatters the pride of free will; because, even if a man will to go
to Christ, except that be realized which follows--"unless My heavenly
Father draw him"--desire is to no purpose, and effort is in vain. At
the same time it is to be noted that he who is drawn does not run
freely, but is led along either because he holds back and is sluggish,
or because he is reluctant to go.
10. Now, how can a man who cannot by his own
strength and labour come to Jesus, at the same time avoid all sins? and
avoid them perpetually, and claim for himself a name which belongs to
the might of God? For if He and I are both without sin, what difference
is there between me and God? One more proof only I will adduce, that I
may not weary you and my hearers. [4]Sleep was removed from the eyes of
Ahasuerus, whom the Seventy call Artaxerxes, that he might turn over
the memoirs of his faithful ministers and come upon Mordecai, by whose
evidence he was delivered from a conspiracy; and that thus Esther might
be more acceptable, and the whole people of the Jews escape imminent
death. There is no doubt that the mighty sovereign to whom belonged the
whole East, from India to the North and to Ethiopia, after feasting
sumptuously on delicacies gathered from every part of the world would
have desired to sleep, and to take his rest. and to gratify his free
choice of sleep, had not the Lord, the provider of all good things,
hindered the course of nature, so that in defiance of nature the
tyrant's cruelty might be overcome. If I were to attempt to produce all
the instances in Holy Writ, I should be tedious. All that the saints
say is a prayer to God; their whole prayer and supplication a strong
wrestling for the pity of God, so that we, who by our own strength and
zeal cannot be saved, may be preserved by His mercy. But when we are
concerned with grace and mercy, free will is in part void; in part, I
say, for so much as this depends upon it, that we wish and desire, and
give assent to the course we choose. But it depends on God whether we
have the power in His strength and with His help to perform what we
desire, and to bring to effect our toil and effort.
11. C. I simply said that we find the help of God
not in our several actions, but in the grace of creation and of the
law, that free will might not be destroyed. But there are many of us
who maintain that all we do is done with the help of God.
A. Whoever says that must leave your party. Either,
then, say the same yourself and join our side, or, if you refuse, you
will be just as much our enemy as those who do not hold our views.
C. I shall be on your side if you speak my
sentiments, or rather you will be on mine if you do not contradict
them. You admit health of body, and deny health of the soul, which is
stronger than the body. For sin is to the soul what disease or a wound
is to the body. If then you admit that a man may be healthy so far as
he is flesh, why do you not say he may be healthy so far as he is
spirit?
A. I will follow in the line you point out,
"and you to-day
Shall ne'er escape; where'er you call, I come."
C. I am ready to listen.
A. And I to speak to deaf ears. I will therefore
reply to your argument. Made up of soul and body, we have the nature of
both substances. As the body is said to be healthy if it is troubled
with no weakness, so the soul is free from fault if it is unshaken and
undisturbed. And yet, although the body may be healthy, sound, and
active, with all the faculties in their full vigour, yet it suffers
much from infirmities at more or less frequent intervals, and, however
strong it may be, is sometimes distressed by various humours; so the
soul, bearing the onset of thoughts and agitations, even though it
escape shipwreck, does not sail without danger, and remembering its
weakness, is always anxious about death, according as it is written,
[1]"What man is he that shall live and not see death?"--death, which
threatens all mortal men, not through the decay of nature, but through
the death of sin, according to the prophet's words, [2]"The soul that
sinneth, it shall die." Besides, we know that Enoch and Elias have not
yet seen this death which is common to man and the brutes. Show me a
body which is never sick, or which after sickness is ever safe and
sound, and I will
478
show you a soul which never sinned, and after acquiring virtues will
never again sin. The thing is impossible, and all the more when we
remember that vice borders on virtue, and that, if you deviate ever so
little, you will either go astray or fall over a precipice. How small
is the interval between obstinacy and perseverance, miserliness and
frugality, liberality and extravagance, wisdom and craft, intrepidity
and rashness, caution and timidity! some of which are classed as good,
others as bad. And the same applies to bodies. If you take precautions
against biliousness, the phlegm increases. If you dry up the humours
too quickly, the blood becomes heated and vitiated with bile, and a
sallow hue spreads over the countenance. Without question,
however much we may exercise all the care of the physician, and
regulate our diet, and be free from indigestion and whatever fosters
disease, the causes of which are in some cases hidden from us and known
to God alone, we shiver with cold, or burn with fever, or howl with
colic, and implore the help of the true physician, our Saviour, and
[1]say with the Apostles, "Master, save us, we perish"
12. C. Granted that no one could avoid all sin in
boyhood, youth, and early manhood; can you deny that very many
righteous and holy men, after falling into vice, have heartily devoted
themselves to the acquisition of virtue and through these have escaped
sin?
A. This is what I told you at the beginning--that it
rests with ourselves either to sin or not to sin, and to put the hand
either to good or evil; and thus free will is preserved, but according
to circumstances, time, and the state of human frailty; we maintain,
however, that perpetual freedom from sin is reserved for God
only, and for Him Who being the Word was made flesh without incurring
the defects and the sins of the flesh. And, because I am able to
avoid sin for a short time, you cannot logically infer that I am able
to do so continually. Can I fast, watch, walk, sing, sit, sleep
perpetually?
C. Why then in Holy Scripture are we stimulated to
aim at perfect righteousness? For example: [2]"Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God," and [3]"Blessed are the undefiled in
the way, who walk in the law of the Lord." And God says to Abraham,
[4]"I am thy God, be thou pleasing in My sight, and be thou
without spot, or blame, and I will make My covenant between Me
and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly." If that is
impossible which Scripture testifies, it was useless to command it to
be done.
A. You play upon Scripture until you wear a question
threadbare, and remind me of the platform tricks of a conjurer who
assumes a variety of characters, and is now Mars, next moment Venus; so
that he who was at first all sternness and ferocity is dissolved into
feminine softness. For the objection you now raise with an air of
novelty--"Blessed are the pure in heart," "Blessed are the undefiled in
the way," and "Be without spot," and so forth--is refuted when the
Apostle replies,. [1]"We know in part, and we prophesy in part," and,
"Now we see through a mirror darkly, but when that which is perfect is
come, that which is in part shall be done away." And therefore we have
but the shadow and likeness of the pure heart, which hereafter is
destined to see God, and, free from spot or stain, to live with
Abraham. However great the patriarch, prophet, or Apostle may be, it is
[2]said to them, in the words of our Lord and Saviour, "If ye being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your Father Which is in heaven give good things to them which ask
Him?" Then again even Abraham, to whom it was said, [3]"Be thou without
spot and blame," in the consciousness of his frailty fell upon his face
to the earth. And when God had spoken to Him, saying, "Thy wife Sarai
shall no longer be called Sarai, but Sara shall her name be, and I will
give thee a son by her, and I will bless him and he shall become a
great nation, and kings of nations shall spring from him," the
narrative at once proceeds to say, "Abraham fell upon his face, and
laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is
an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?"
And Abraham said unto God," Oh, that Ishmael might live before thee!"
And God said, "Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou
shall call his name Isaac," and so on. He certainly had heard the words
of God, "I am thy God, be thou pleasing in My sight, and without spot";
why then did he not believe what God promised, and why did he laugh in
his heart, thinking that he escaped the notice of God, and not daring
to laugh openly? Moreover he gives the reasons for his unbelief, and
says, "How is it possible for a man that is an hundred years old to
beget a son of a wife that is ninety years old?" "Oh, that Ishmael
might live before thee," he says. "Ishmael whom thou once gavest me. I
do not ask a hard thing, I am content with the blessing I have
received." God convinced
479
him by a mysterious reply. He said, "Yea." The meaning is, that shall
come to pass which you think shall not be. Your wife Sara shall bear
you a son, and before she conceives, before he is born, I will give the
boy a name. For, from your error in secretly laughing, your son shall
be called Isaac, that is laughter. But if you think that God is seen by
those who are pure in heart in this world, why did Moses, who had
previously said, "I have seen the Lord face to face, and my life is
preserved," afterwards entreat that he might see him distinctly? And
because he said that he had seen God, the Lord told him, [1]"Thou canst
not see My face. For man shall not see My face, and live." Wherefore
also the Apostle [2]calls Him the only invisible God, Who dwells in
light unapproachable, and Whom no man hath seen, nor can see. And the
Evangelist John in holy accents testifies, saying, [3]"No man hath at
any time seen God. The only begotten Son Who is in the bosom of the
Father, He hath declared Him." He Who sees, also declares, not how
great He is Who is seen, nor how much He knows Who declares; but as
much as the capacity of mortals can receive.
13. And whereas you think he is blessed who is
undefiled in the way, and walks in His law, you must interpret the
former clause by the latter. From the many proofs I have adduced you
have learnt that no one has been able to fulfil the law. And if the
Apostle, in comparison with the grace of Christ, reckoned those things
as filth which formerly, under the law, he counted gain, so that he
might win Christ, how much more certain ought we to be that the reason
why the grace of Christ and of the Gospel has been added is that, under
the law, no one could be justified? Now if, under the law, no one is
justified, how is he perfectly undefiled in the way who is still
walking and hastening to reach the goal? Surely, he who is in the
course, and who is advancing on the road, is inferior to him who has
reached his journey's end. If, then, he is undefiled and perfect who is
still walking in the way and advancing in the law, what more shall he
have who has arrived at the end of life and of the law? Hence the
Apostle, speaking of our Lord, says that, at the end of the world, when
all virtues shall receive their consummation, He will present His holy
Church to Himself without spot or wrinkle, and yet you think that
Church perfect, while yet in the flesh, which is subject to death and
decay. You deserve to be told, with the Corinthians, [4]"Ye are already
perfect, ye are already made rich: ye reign without us, and I would
that ye did reign, that we might also reign with you "--since true and
stainless perfection belongs to the inhabitants of heaven, and is
reserved for that day when the bridegroom shall say to the bride,
[1]"Thou art all fair, my love; and there is no spot in thee." And in
this sense we must understand the words: [2]"That ye may be blameless
and harmless, as children of God, without blemish"; for He did not say
ye are, but may be. He is contemplating the future, not stating a case
pertaining to the present; so that here is toil and effort, in that
other world the rewards of labour and of virtue. Lastly, John writes:
[3]"Beloved, we are sons of God, and it is not yet made manifest what
we shall be. We know that when He shall be manifested, we shall be like
Him: for we shall see Him even as He is." Although, then, we are sons
of God, yet likeness to God, and the true contemplation of God, is
promised us then, when He shall appear in His majesty.
14. From this swelling pride springs the audacity in
prayer which marks the directions in your letter to a [4]certain widow
as to how the saints ought to pray. "He," you say, [5]"rightly lifts up
his hands to God; he pours out supplications with a good conscience who
can say, 'Thou knowest, Lord, how holy, how innocent, how pure from all
deceit, wrong, and robbery are the hands which I spread out unto Thee;
how righteous, how spotless, and free from all falsehood are the lips
with which I pour forth my prayers unto Thee, that Thou mayest pity
me.'" Is this the prayer of a Christian, or of a proud Pharisee like
him who [6]says in the Gospel, "God, I thank Thee that I am not as
other men are, robbers, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican: I
fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess." Yet he
merely thanks God because, by His mercy, he is not as other men: he
execrates sin, and does not claim his righteousness as his own. But you
say, "Now Thou knowest how holy, how innocent, how pure from all
deceit, wrong, and robbery are the hands which I spread out before
Thee." He says that he fasts twice in the week, that he may afflict his
vicious and wanton flesh, and he gives tithes
480
of all his substance. For [1]"the ransom of a man's life is his
riches." You join the devil in boasting, [2]"I will ascend above the
stars, I will place my throne in heaven, and I will be like the Most
High." David says, [3]"My loins are filled with illusions"; and [4]"My
wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness"; and [5]"Enter
not into judgment with Thy servant"; and [6]"In Thy sight no man living
shall be justified." You boast that you are holy, innocent, and pure,
and spread out clean hands unto God. And you are not satisfied with
glorying in all your works, unless you say that you are pure from all
sins of speech; and you tell us how righteous, how spotless, how free
from all falsehood your lips are. The Psalmist sings, [7]"Every man is
a liar"; and this is supported by apostolical authority: "That God may
be true," says St. Paul, [8]"and every man a liar"; and yet you have
lips righteous, spotless, and free from all falsehood. Isaiah laments,
saying, [9]"Woe is me ! for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips"; and
afterwards one of the seraphim brings a hot coal, taken with the tongs,
to purify the prophet's lips, for he was not, according to the tenor of
your words, arrogant, but he confessed his own faults. Just as we read
in the Psalms, [10]"What shalt be due unto thee, and what shall be done
more unto thee in respect of a deceitful tongue? Sharp arrows of the
mighty, with coals that make desolate." And after all this swelling
with pride, and boastfulness in prayer, and confidence in your
holiness, like one fool trying to persuade another, you finish with the
words "These lips with which I pour out my supplication that Thou
mayest have pity on me." If you are holy, if you are innocent, if you
are cleansed from all defilement, if you have sinned neither in word
nor deed--although James says, [11]"He who offends not in word is a
perfect man," and "No one can curb his tongue"--how is it that you sue
for mercy? so that, forsooth, you bewail yourself, and pour out prayers
because you are holy, pure, and innocent, a man of stainless lips, free
from all falsehood, and endowed with a power like that of God. Christ
prayed thus on the cross: [12]"My God, my God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me? Why art Thou so far from helping Me?" And,
again, [13]"Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit," and
[14]"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And this is
He, who, returning thanks for us, had said, [1]"I confess to Thee, O
Father, Lord of heaven and earth."
15. Our Lord so instructed His Apostles that, daily
at the sacrifice of His body, believers make bold to say, "Our Father,
Which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name"; they earnestly desire the
name of God, which in itself is holy, to be hallowed in themselves; you
say, "Thou knowest, Lord, how holy, how innocent, and how pure are my
hands." Then they say: "Thy Kingdom come," anticipating the hope of the
future kingdom, so that, when Christ reigns, sin may by no means reign
in their mortal body, and to this they couple the words, "Thy will be
done in earth as it is in Heaven"; so that human weakness may imitate
the angels, and the will of our Lord may be fulfilled on earth; you
say, "A man can, if he chooses, be free from all sin." The Apostles
prayed for the daily bread, or the bread better than all food, which
was to come, so that they might be worthy to receive the body of
Christ; and you are led by your excess of holiness and well established
righteousness to boldly claim the heavenly gifts. Next comes, "Forgive
us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." No sooner do they rise
from the baptismal font, and by being born again and incorporated into
our Lord and Saviour thus fulfil what is written of them, [2]"Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered,"
than at the first communion of the body of Christ they say, "Forgive us
our debts," though these debts had been forgiven them at their
confession of Christ; but you in your arrogant pride boast of the
cleanness of your holy hands and of the purity of your speech. However
thorough the conversion of a man may be, and however perfect his
possession of virtue after a time of sins and failings, can such
persons be as free from fault as they who are just leaving the font of
Christ? And yet these latter are commanded to say, "Forgive us our
debts, as we also forgive our debtors"; not in the spirit of a false
humility, but because they are afraid of human frailty and dread their
own conscience. They say," Lead us not into temptation"; you and
Jovinian unite in saying that those who with a full faith have been
baptized cannot be further tempted or sin. Lastly, they add. "But
deliver us from the evil one." Why do they beg from the Lord what they
have already by the power of free will? Oh, man, now thou hast been
made clean in the layer, and of thee it is said, "Who is this that
cometh up
481
all white, leaning upon her beloved?" The bride, therefore, is washed,
yet she cannot keep her purity, unless she be supported by the Lord.
How is it that you long to be set free by the mercy of God, you who but
a little while ago were released from your sins? The only
explanation is the principle by which we maintain that, when we have
done all, we must confess we are unprofitable.
16. So then your prayer outdoes the pride of the
Pharisee, and you are condemned when compared with the Publican. He,
standing afar off, did not dare to lift up his eyes unto Heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying,[1] "God be merciful unto me a sinner."
And on this is based our Lord's declaration, "I say unto you this man
went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone
that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted." The Apostles are humbled that they may be exalted.
Your disciples are lifted up that they may fall. In your flattery of
the widow previously mentioned you are not ashamed to say that piety
such as is found on earth, and truth which is everywhere a stranger,
had made their home with her in preference to all others. You do not
recollect the familiar words,[2] "O my people, they which call thee
blessed cause thee to err, and destroy the paths of thy feet"; and you
expressly praise her and say, "Happy beyond all thought are you!
how blessed! if righteousness, which is believed to be now
nowhere but in Heaven, is found with you alone on earth." Is this
teaching or slaying? Is it raising from earth, or casting down
from heaven, to attribute that to a poor creature of a woman, which
angels would not dare arrogate to themselves? If piety, truth,
and righteousness are found on earth nowhere but in one woman, where
shall we find your righteous followers, who, you boast, are sinless on
earth? These two chapters on prayer and praise you and your
disciples are wont to swear are none of yours, and yet your brilliant
style is so clearly seen in them, and the elegance of your Ciceronian
diction is so marked that, although you strut about with the slow pace
of a tortoise, you have not the courage to acknowledge what you teach
in private and expose for sale.
Happy man! whose books no one writes out but your own disciples,
so that whatever appears to be unacceptable, you may contend is not
your own but some one else's work. And where is the man with ability
enough to imitate the charm of your language?
17. C. I can put it off no longer; my patience is
completely overcome by your iniquitous words. Tell me, pray, what sin
have little infants committed. Neither the consciousness of wrong nor
ignorance can be imputed to those who, according to the prophet Jonah,
know not their right hand from their left. They cannot sin, and they
can perish; their knees are too weak to walk, they utter inarticulate
cries; we laugh at their attempts to speak; and, all the while, poor
unfortunates! the torments of eternal misery are prepared for them.
A. Ah! now that your disciples have turned masters
you begin to be fluent, not to say eloquent. Antony,' an excellent
orator, whose praises Tully loudly proclaims, says that he had seen
many fluent men, but so far never an eloquent speaker; so don't amuse
me with flowers of oratory which have not grown in your own garden, and
with which the ears of inexperience and of boyhood are wont to be
tickled, but plainly tell me what you think.
C. What I say is this--you must at least allow that
they have no sin who cannot sin.
A. I will allow it, if they have been baptized into
Christ; and if you will not then immediately bind me to agree with your
opinion that a man can be without sin if he chooses; for they neither
have the power nor the will; but they are free from all sin through the
grace of God, which they received in their baptism.
C. You force me to make an invidious remark and ask,
Why, what sin have they committed? that you may immediately have
me stoned in some popular tumult. You have not the power to kill me,
but you certainly have the will.
A. He slays a heretic who allows him to be a
heretic. But when we rebuke him we give him life; you may die to your
heresy, and live to the Catholic faith.
C. If you know us to be heretics, why do you not
accuse us?
A. Because the[2] Apostle teaches me to avoid a
heretic after the first and second admonition, not to accuse him. The
Apostle knew that such an one is perverse and self-condemned. Besides,
it would be the height of folly to make my faith depend on another
man's judgment. For supposing some one were to call you a Catholic, am
I to immediately give assent? Whoever defends you, and says that you
rightly hold your perverse opinions, does not succeed in rescuing you
from infamy, but charges himself with perfidy. Your numerous supporters
will never prove you to be a Catholic, but will
482
show that you are a heretic. But I would have such opinions as these
suppressed by ecclesiastical authority; otherwise we shall be in the
case of those who show some dreadful picture to a crying child. May the
fear of God grant us this--to despise all other fears. Therefore,
either defend your opinions, or abandon what you are unable to defend.
Whoever may be called in to defend you must be enrolled as a partisan,
not as a patron.
18. C. Tell me, pray, and rid me of all doubts, why
little children are baptized.
A. That their sins may be forgiven them in baptism.
C. What sin are they guilty of? How can any
one be set free who is not bound?
A. You ask me! The Gospel trumpet will reply,
the teacher of the Gentiles, the golden vessel shining throughout the
world:[1] "Death reigned from Adam even unto Moses: even over those who
did not sin after the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a
figure of Him that was to come." And if you object that some are spoken
of who did not sin, you must understand that they did not sin in the
same way as Adam did by transgressing God's command in Paradise. But
all men are held liable either on account of their ancient forefather
Adam, or on their own account. He that is an infant is released in
baptism from the chain which bound his father. He who is old enough to
have discernment is set free from the chain of his own or another's sin
by the blood of Christ. You must not think me a heretic because I take
this view, for the blessed martyr Cyprian, whose rival you boast of
being in the classification of Scripture proofs, in the[2] epistle
addressed to Bishop Fidus on the Baptism of Infants speaks thus:
"Moreover, if even the worst offenders, and those who previous to
baptism sin much against God, once they believe have the gift of
remission of sins, and no one is kept from baptism and from grace. how
much more ought not an infant to be kept from baptism seeing that,
being only just born, he has committed no sin? He has only, being
born according to the flesh among Adam's sons, incurred the taint of
ancient death by his first birth. And he is the more easily admitted to
remission of sins because of the very fact that not his own sins but
those of another are remitted to him. And so, dearest brother, it was
our decision in council that no one ought to be kept by us from baptism
and from the grace of God,
Who is merciful to all, and kind, and good And whereas this rule ought
to be observed and kept with reference to all, bear in mind that it
ought so much the more to be observed with regard to infants themselves
and those just born, for they have the greater claims on our assistance
in order to obtain Divine mercy, because their cries and tears from the
very birth are one perpetual prayer."
19. That holy man and eloquent bishop Augustin not
long ago wrote to[1] Marcellinus (the same that was afterwards, though
innocent, put to death by heretics on the pretext of his taking part in
the tyranny of Heraclian[2]) two treatises on infant baptism, in
opposition to your heresy which maintains that infants are baptized not
for remission of sins, but for admission to the kingdom of heaven,
according as it is written in the Gospel,[3] "Except a man be born
again of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
heaven." He addressed a[4] third, moreover, to the same Marcellinus,
against those who say as do you, that a man can be free from sin, if he
chooses, without the help of God. And, recently, a[5]fourth to Hilary
against this doctrine of yours, which is full of perversity. And be is
said to have others on the anvil with special regard to you, which have
not yet come to hand. Wherefore, I think I must abandon my task, for
fear Horace's words may be thrown at me,[6]"Don't carry firewood into a
forest." For we must either say the same as he does, and that would be
superfluous; or, if we wished to say something fresh, we should[7] find
our best points anticipated by that splendid genius. One thing I will
say and so end my discourse, that you ought either to give us a new
creed, so that, after baptizing children into the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, you may baptize them into the kingdom of heaven;
or, if you have one baptism both for infants and for persons of mature
age, it follows that infants also should be baptized for the remission
of sins after the likeness of the transgression of Adam. But if you
think the remission of
483
another's sins implies injustice, and that he has no need of it who
could not sin, cross over to Origen, your special favourite, who says
that ancient offences[1] committed long
before in the heavens are loosed in baptism. You will then be not only
led by his authority in other matters, but will be following his error
in this also.
PREFACES
The Prefaces to Jerome's works have in many cases a
special value. This value is sometimes personal; they are the free
expressions of his feelings to those whom he trusts. Sometimes it lies
in the mention of particular events; sometimes in showing the special
difficulties he encountered as a translator, or the state of mind of
those for whom he wrote; sometimes in making us understand the extent
and limits of his own knowledge, and the views on points such as the
inspiration of Scripture which actuated him as a translator or
commentator; sometimes, again, in the particular interpretations which
he gives. These things gain a great importance from the fact that
Jerome s influence and that of his Vulgate was preponderant in Western
Europe for more than a thousand years.
We have had to make a selection, not only from want
of space, but also because the Prefaces are of very unequal value, and
sometimes are mere repetitions of previous statements. We have
therefore given specimens of each class of Preface; we have given also
all which bears on the better understanding of the life and views of
Jerome; but where a Preface repeats what has been said before, or where
it gives facts or interpretations which are well known or of no
particular value, we have contented ourselves with a short statement of
its contents.
The Prefaces fall under three heads: 1st. Those
prefixed to Jerome's early works bearing on Church history or
Scripture. 2d. The Prefaces to the Vulgate translation. 3d. Those
prefixed to the Commentaries.
PREFACES TO JEROME'S EARLY WORKS.
PREFACE TO THE CHRONICLE OF
EUSEBIUS.
The "Chronicle" is a book of universal history,
giving the dates from the call of Abraham, and the Olympiads. For an
account of it the reader is referred to the article of Dr. Salmon in
the "Dictionary of Christian Antiquities." It was translated by Jerome
in the years 381-82, at Constantinople, where he was staying for the
Council. This Preface shows that Jerome was already becoming aware of
the difficulties arising from the various versions of the Old
Testament, and of the necessity of going back to the Hebrew.
Jerome to his friends[1] Vincentius and Gallienus, Greeting:
1. It has long been the practice of learned men to
exercise their minds by rendering into Latin the works of Greek
writers, and, what is more difficult, to translate the poems of
illustrious authors though trammelled by the farther requirements of
verse. It was thus that our Tully literally translated whole books of
Plato; and after publishing an edition of[2] Aratus (who may now be
considered a Roman) in hexameter verse, he amused himself with the
economics of Xenophon. In this latter work the golden river of
eloquence again and again
meets with obstacles, around which its waters break and foam to such an
extent that persons unacquainted with the original would not believe
they were reading Cicero's words. And no wonder! It is hard to follow
another man s lines and everywhere keep within bounds. It is an arduous
task to preserve felicity and grace unimpaired in a translation. Some
word has forcibly expressed a given thought; I have no word of my own
to convey the meaning; and while I am seeking to satisfy the sense I
may go a long way round and accomplish but a small distance of my
journey. Then we must take into account the ins and outs of
transposition, the variations in cases, the diversity of figures, and,
lastly, the peculiar, and, so to speak, the native idiom of the
language. A literal translation sounds absurd; if, on the other hand, I
am obliged to change either the order or the words themselves, I shall
appear to have forsaken the duty of a translator.
2. So, my dear Vincentius, and you, Gallienus, whom
I love as my own soul, I beseech you, whatever may be the value of this
hurried piece of work, to read it with the feelings of a friend rather
than with those of a critic. And I ask this all the more earnestly
because, as you know, I dictated with great rapidity to my amanuensis;
and how difficult the task
484
is, the sacred records testify; for the old flavour is not preserved in
the Greek version by the Seventy. It was this that stimulated Aquila,
Symmachus, and Theodotion; and the result of their labors was to impart
a totally different character to one and the same work; one strove to
give word for word, another the general meaning, while the third
desired to avoid any great divergency from the ancients. A fifth,
sixth, and seventh edition, though no one knows to what authors they
are to be attributed, exhibit so pleasing a variety of their own that,
in spite of their being anonymous, they have won an authoritative
position. Hence, some go so far as to consider the sacred writings
somewhat harsh and grating to the ear; which arises from the fact that
the persons of whom I speak are not aware that the writings in question
are a translation from the Hebrew, and therefore, looking at the
surface not at the substance, they shudder at the squalid dress before
they discover the fair body which the language clothes. In fact, what
can be more musical than the Psalter? Like the writings of our own[1]
Flaccus and the Grecian Pindar it now trips along in iambics, now flows
in sonorous alcaics, now swells into sapphics, now[2] marches in
half-foot metre. What can be more lovely than the strains of
Deuteronomy and Isaiah? What more grave than Solomon's words?
What more finished than Job? All these, as Josephus and Origen
tell us, were composed in hexameters and pentameters, and so circulated
amongst their own people. When we read these in Greek they have some
meaning; when in Latin they are utterly incoherent. But if any one
thinks that the grace of language does not suffer through translation,
let him render Homer word for word into Latin. I will go farther and
say that, if he will translate this author into the prose of his own
language, the order of! the words will seem ridiculous, and the most
eloquent of poets almost dumb.
3. What is the drift of all this? I would not
have you think it strange if here and there we stumble; if the language
lag; if it bristle with consonants or present gaping chasms of vowels;
or be cramped by condensation of the narrative. The most learned among
men have toiled at the same task; and in addition to the difficulty
which all experience, and which we have alleged to attend all
translation, it must not be forgotten that a peculiar difficulty besets
us, inasmuch as the history is manifold, is full of barbarous names,
circumstances of which the Latins know nothing, dates which are tangled
knots, critical marks blended alike with the events and the numbers, so
that it is almost harder to discern the sequence of the words than to
come to a knowledge of what is related.
[Here follows a long passage showing an arrange
merit according to which the dates are distinguished by certain colours
as belonging to one or another of the kingdoms, the history of which is
dealt with. This passage seems unintelligible in the absence of the
coloured figures, and would be of no use unless the book with its
original arrangement were being studied.]
I am well aware that there will be many who, with
their customary fondness for universal detraction (from which the only
escape is by writing nothing at all), will drive their fangs into this
volume. They will cavil at the dates, change the order, impugn the
accuracy of events, winnow the syllables, and, as is very frequently
the case, will impute the negligence of copyists to the authors. I
should be within my right if I were to rebut them by saying that they
need not read unless they choose; but I would rather send them away in
a calm state of mind, so that they may attribute to the Greek author
the credit which is his due, and may recognize that any insertions for
which we are responsible have been taken from other men of the highest
repute. The truth is that I have partly discharged the office of a
translator and partly that of a writer. I have with the utmost fidelity
rendered the Greek portion, and at the same thee have added certain
things which appeared to me to have been allowed to slip, particularly
in the Roman history, which Eusebius, the author of this book, as it
seems to me, only glanced at; not so much because of ignorance, for he
was a learned man, as because, writing in Greek, he thought them of
slight importance to his countrymen. So again from Ninus and Abraham,
right up to the captivity of Troy, the translation is from the Greek
only. From Troy to the twentieth year of Constantine there is much, at
one thee separately added, at another intermingled, which I have
gleaned with great diligence from Tranquillus and other famous
historians. Moreover, the portion from the aforesaid year of
Constantine to the sixth consulship of the Emperor Valens and the
second of Valentinianus is entirely my own. Content to end here, I have
reserved the remaining period, that of Gratianus and Theodosius, for a
wider historical survey; not that I am afraid to discuss the living
freely and truthfully, for the fear of God banishes the fear of man;
but because while our country is still exposed to the fury of the
barbarians everything is in confusion.
485
PREFACE TO THE TRANSLATION OF ORIGEN'S TWO HOMILIES ON THE SONG
OF SONGS.
Written at Rome, A.D. 383.
Jerome to the most holy Pope Damasus:
Origen, whilst in his other books he has surpassed
all others, has in the Song of Songs surpassed himself. He wrote ten
volumes upon it, which amount to almost twenty thousand lines, and in
these he discussed, first the version of the Seventy Translators, then
those of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, and lastly, a fifth version
which he states that he found on the coast of Atrium, with such
magnificence and fulness, that he appears to me to have realized what
is said in the poem: "The king brought the into his chamber." I have
left that work on one side, since it would require almost boundless
leisure and labour and money to translate so great a work into Latin,
even if it could be worthily done; and I have translated these two
short treatises, which he composed in the form of daily lectures for
those who were still like babes and sucklings, and I have studied
faithfulness rather than elegance. You can conceive how great a value
the larger work possesses, when the smaller gives you such satisfaction.
PREFACE TO THE BOOK ON HEBREW NAMES.
The origin and scope of this book is described
Preface itself. It was written in the year 388, two years after Jerome
.had settled at Bethlehem. He had, immediately on arriving in
Palestine, three years previously, set to work to improve his knowledge
of Hebrew, with a view to his translation of the Old Testament,
which was begun in 391. This book, therefore, and the two which follow,
may be taken as records of studies preparatory to the Vulgate.
Philo, the most erudite man among the Jews, is
declared by Origen to have done what I am now doing; he set forth a
book of Hebrew Names, classing them under their initial letters, and
placing the etymology of each at the side. This work I originally
proposed to translate into Latin. It is well known in the
Greek world, and is to be found in all libraries. But I found that the
copies were so discordant to one another, and the order so I confused,
that I judged it to be better to say nothing, rather than to write what
would justly be condemned. A work of this kind, however,
appeared likely to be of use; and my friends Lupulianus and
Valerianus[1] urged me to attempt it, because, as they thought, I
had made some progress in the knowledge of
Hebrew. I, therefore, went through all the books of Scripture in order,
and in the restoration which I have now made of the ancient fabric, I
think that I have produced a work which may be found valuable by Greeks
as well as Latins.
I here in the Preface beg the reader to take notice
that, if he finds anything omitted in this work, it is reserved for
mention in another. I have at this moment on hand a book of Hebrew
Questions, an undertaking of a new kind such as has never until now
been heard of amongst either the Greeks or the Latins. I say this, not
with a view of arrogantly puffing up my own work, but because I know
how much labour I have spent on it, and wish to provoke those whose
knowledge is deficient to read it. I recommend all those who wish to
possess both that work and the presentone, and also the book of Hebrew
Places, which I am about to publish, to make no account of the Jews and
all their ebullitions of vexation. Moreover, I have added the meaning
of the words and names in the New Testament, so that the fabric might
receive its last touch and might stand complete. I wished also in this
to imitate Origen, whom all but the ignorant acknowledge as the
greatest teacher of the Churches next to the Apostles; for in this
work, which stands among the noblest monuments of his genius, he
endeavoured as a Christian to supply what Philo, as a Jew, had omitted.
PREFACE TO THE BOOK ON THE SITES AND NAMES OF HEBREW PLACES.
For the scope and value of this book see
Prolegomena. It was written A.D. 388.
Eusebius, who took his second name from the blessed
Martyr Pamphilus, after he had written the ten books of his"
Ecclesiastical History," the Chronicle of Dates, of which I published a
Latin version, the book in which he set forth the names of the
different nations and those given to them of old by the Jews and by
those of the present day, the topography of the and of Juda and the
portions allotted to the tribes, together with a representation of
Jerusalem itself and its temple, which he accompanied with a very short
explanation, bestowed his about at the end of his life upon this little
work, of which the design is to gather for us out of the Holy
Scriptures the names of almost ill the cities, mountains, rivers,
hamlets, and other places, whether they remain the same or have since
been changed or in some degree corrupted. I have taken up the work of
this admirable man, and have translated it, following-he arrangement of
the Greeks, and taking the words in the order of their initial letters,
but
486
leaving out those names which did not seem worthy of mention, and
making a considerable number of alterations. I have explained my method
once for all in the Preface to my translation of the Chronicle, where I
said that I might be called at once a translator and the composer of a
new work; but I repeat this especially because one who had hardly the
first tincture of letters has ventured upon a translation of this very
book into Latin, though his language is hardly to be called Latin. His
lack of scholarship will be seen by the observant reader as soon as he
compares it with my translation. i do not pretend to a style which
soars to the skies; but I hope that I can rise above one which grovels
on the earth.
PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF HEBREW QUESTIONS.
Written A.D. 388. For the scope and character of
this work, see Prolegomena.
The object of the Preface to a book is to set forth
the argument of the work which follows; but I am compelled to begin by
answering what has been said against me. My case is somewhat like that
of Terence, who turned the scenic prologues of his plays into a defence
of himself. We have a[1] Luscius Lanuvinus, like the one who worried
him, and who brought charges against the poet as if he had been a
plunderer of the treasury. The bard of Mantua suffered in the same way;
he had translated a few verses of Homer very exactly, and they said
that he was nothing but a plagiarist from the ancients. But he answered
them that it was no small proof of strength to wrest the club of
Hercules from his hands. Why, even Tully, who stands on the pinnacle of
Roman eloquence, that king of orators and glory of the Latin tongue,
has actions for embezzlement[2] brought against him by the Greeks. I
cannot, therefore, be surprised if a poor little fellow like me is
exposed to the gruntings of vile swine who trample our pearls Tinder
their feet, when some of the most learned of men, men whose glory ought
to have hushed the voice of ill will, have felt the flames of envy. It
is true, this happened by a kind of justice to men whose eloquence had
filled with its resonance the theatres and the senate, the public
assembly and the rostra; hardihood always courts detraction, and (as
Horace says):
"The[3] highest peaks invoke
The lightning's stroke."
But I am in a corner, remote from the city and the forum, and the
wranglings of crowded courts; yet, even so (as Quintilian says)
ill-will has sought me out. Therefore, I beseech the reader,
"If[1] one there be, if one.
Who, rapt by strong desire, these lines shall read,"
not to expect eloquence or oratorical grace in those Books of Hebrew
Questions, which I propose to write on all the sacred books; but
rather, that he should himself answer my detractors for me, and tell
them that a work of a new kind can claim some indulgence. I am poor and
of low estate; I neither possess riches nor do I think it right to
accept them if they are offered me; and, similarly, let me tell them
that it is impossible for them to have the riches of Christ, that is,
the knowledge of the Scriptures, and the world's riches as well. It
will be my simple aim, therefore, first, to point out the mistakes of
those who suspect some fault in the Hebrew Scriptures, and, secondly,
to correct the faults, which evidently teem in the Greek and Latin
copies, by a reference to the original authority; and, further, to
explain the etymology of things, names, and countries, when it is not
apparent from the sound of the Latin words, by giving a
paraphrase in the vulgar tongue. To enable the student more easily to
take note of these emendations, I propose, in the first place, to set
out the true[2] reading itself, as I am now able to do, and then, by
bringing the later readings into comparison with it, to[3]indicate what
has been omitted or added or altered. It is not my purpose, as snarling
ill-will pretends, to convict the LXX. of error, nor do I look upon my
own labour as a disparagement of theirs. The fact is that they, since
their work was undertaken for King Ptolemy of Alexandria, did not
choose to bring to light all the mysteries which the sacred writings
contain, and especially those which give the promise of the advent of
Christ, for fear that he who held the Jews in esteem because they were
believed to worship one God, would come to think that they worshipped a
second. But we find that the Evangelists, and even our Lord and
Saviour, and the Apostle Paul, also, bring forward many citations as
coming from the Old Testament which are not contained in our copies;
and on these I shall dilate more fully in their proper
499
The Preface to Book xiii. records a severe illness which had stopped
his work, though he was restored to health suddenly; and that to Book
xiv. thanks Eustochium for her kind offices during this illness. The
remaining Prefaces, though they have occasionally some interest in the
history of the interpretation of Scripture, need not delay us.
JEREMIAH.
The Commentary on Jeremiah is in six books; but
Jerome did not live to finish it. It was written between the years 317
and 319, but only extends to chapter xxxii. It was dedicated to
Eusebius of Cremona. The Prefaces, which are full of vigour, contain
many allusions to the events and controversies of the last years of
Jerome's life. In the Preface to Book i., after speaking of the Book of
Daniel and the apocryphal Letter of Jeremiah as not belonging to the
prophet's writings, he continues:
I pay little heed to the ravings of disparaging
critics who revile not only my words, but the very syllables of my
words, and suppose they give evidence of some little knowledge if they
discredit another man's work, as was exemplified in that[1] ignorant
traducer who lately broke out, and thought it worth his while to
censure my commentaries on Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians. He does not
understand the rules of commenting (for he is more asleep than awake
and seems utterly dazed), and is not aware that in our books we give
the opinions of many different writers, the authors' names being either
expressed or understood, so that it is open to the reader to decide
which he may prefer to adopt; although I must add that, in my Preface
to the First Book of that work, I gave fair notice that my remarks
would be partly my own, partly those of other' commentators, and that
thus the commentary would be the work conjointly of the ancient writers
and of myself. [2]Grunnius, his precursor, overlooked the same fact,
and once upon a time did his best to cavil. I replied to him in
two books, and there I cleared away the objections which he adduced in
his own name, though the real traducer was some one else; to say
nothing of my treatises against Jovinianus where, you may remember, I
show that he (Jovinianus) laments that virginity is preferred to
marriage, single marriage to digamy, digamy to polygamy. The stupid
labouring under his load of Scotch porridge, does not recollect that we
said, in that very work, "I do not condemn the twice married, nor the
thrice married, and, if it so be, the eight times married; I will go a
step farther, and say that I welcome even a penitent whoremonger; for
things equally lawful must be weighed in an even balance." Let him read
the Apology[1] for the same work which was directed against his[2]
master, and was received by Rome with acclamation many years ago. He
will then observe that his revilings are but the echoes of other men's
voices, and that his ignorance is so deep that even his abuse is not
his own, but that he employs against us the ravings of foes long since
dead and buried.
The Preface to Book ii. is short and contains
nothing of special importance. In that to Book iii. Jerome declares
that he will, like Ulysses with the Sirens, close his ears to the
adversary. The devil, who once spoke through Jovinianus, "now barks
through the hound of Albion (Pelagius), who is like a mountain of fat,
and whose fury is more in his heels than in his teeth; for his
offspring is among the Scots, in the neighbourhood of Britain; and,
according to the fables of the poet, he must, like Cerberus, be smitten
to death with a spiritual club, that, in company with his master Pluto,
he may forever hold his peace.
In the Preface to Book iv. Jerome says he has been
hindered in his work by the harassing of the Pelagian controversy. He
regards Pelagius as reproducing the doctrines of impassibility and
sinlessness taught by Pythagoras and Zeno, and revived by Origen,
Rufinus, Evagrius Ponticus, and Jovinian. Their doctrines, he says,
were promulgated chiefly in Sicily, Rhodes, and other islands; they
were propagated secretly, and denied in public. They were full of
malice, but were but dumb dogs, and were refuted in "certain writings,"
probably those of Augustin; but he declares his intention of writing
against them, which he did in his anti-Pelagian Dialogue.
The Prefaces to Books v. and vi. contain nothing
noteworthy.
EZEKIEL.
The Commentary on Ezekiel is in fourteen Books. It
was dedicated to Eustochium, and was written between the years 410 and
414. The Prefaces gain a special interest from their descriptions of
the sack of Rome by Alaric and the consequent immigration into
Palestine. We give several passages.
In Preface to Book i.
Having completed the eighteen books of the
exposition of Isaiah, I was very desirous, Eustochium, Christ's virgin,
to go on to Ezekiel, in accordance with my frequent promises to you and
your mother Paula, of saintly memory, and thus, as the saying is, put
the finishing touches to the work on the prophets; but alas!
intelligence was suddenly brought me of the death of Pammachius and [3]
Marcella, [4]the siege of Rome, and the falling asleep of many of my
brethren and sisters.
500
was so stupefied and dismayed that day and night I could think of
nothing but the welfare of the community; it seemed as though I was
sharing the captivity of the saints, and I could not open my lips until
I knew something more definite; and all the while, full of anxiety, I
was wavering between hope and despair, and was torturing myself with
the misfortunes of other people. But when the bright light of all the
world was put out, or, rather, when the Roman Empire was decapitated,
and, to speak more correctly, the whole world perished in one city,[1]
"I became dumb and humbled myself, and kept silence from good words,
but my grief broke out afresh, my heart glowed within me, and while I
medi-rated the fire was kindled;" and I thought I ought not to
disregard the saying,[2] "An untimely story is like music in a time of
grief." But seeing that you persist in making this request, and a
wound, though deep, heals by degrees; and [3]the scorpion lies beneath
the ground with [4]Enceladus and Porphyrion, and the many-headed Hydra
has at length ceased to hiss at us; and since opportunity has been
given me which I ought to use, not for replying to insidious heretics,
but for devoting myself to the exposition of Scripture, I will resume
my work upon the prophet Ezekiel.
Book ii. has, instead of a Preface, merely a line
calling the attention of Eustochium to its opening words.
The Preface to Book iii. has a noteworthy passage on
the sack of Rome and its results.
Who would believe that Rome, built up by the
conquest of the whole world, had collapsed, that the mother of nations
had become also their tomb; that the shores of the whole East, of
Egypt, of Africa, which once belonged to the imperial city, were filled
with the hosts of her men-servants and maid-servants, that we should
every day be receiving in this holy Bethlehem men and women who once
were noble and abounding in every kind of wealth but are now reduced to
poverty? We cannot relieve these sufferers: all we can do is to
sympathise with them, and unite our tears with theirs. The burden of
this holy work was as much as we could carry; the sight of the
wanderers. coming in crowds, caused us deep pain; and we therefore
abandoned the exposition of Ezekiel, and almost all study, and were
filled with a longing to turn the words of Scripture into action, and
not to say holy things but to do them. Now, however, in response to
your admonition, Eustochium, Christ's virgin, we resume the interrupted
labour, and approach our third Book.
The Prefaces to Books iv., v., and vi. contain
nothing remarkable. The following is the important part of the Preface
to Book vii.
There is not a single hour, nor a single moment, in
which we are not relieving crowds of brethren, and the quiet of the
monastery has been changed into the bustle of a guest house. And so
much is this the case that we must either close our doors, or abandon
the study of the Scriptures on which we depend for keeping the doors
open. And so, turning to profit, or rather stealing the hours of the
nights, which, now that winter is approaching, begin to lengthen
somewhat, I am endeavouring by the light of the lamp to dictate these
comments, whatever they maybe worth, and am trying to mitigate with
exposition the weariness of a mind which is a stranger to rest. I am
not boasting, as some perhaps suspect, of the welcome given to the
brethren, but I am simply confessing the causes of the delay. Who could
boast when the flight of the people of the West, and the holy places,
crowded as they are with penniless fugitives, naked and wounded,
plainly reveal the ravages of the Barbarians? We cannot see what has
occurred, without tears and moans. Who would have believed that mighty
Rome, with its careless security of wealth, would be reduced to such
extremities as to need shelter, food, and clothing? And yet, some are
so hard-hearted and cruel that, instead of showing compassion, they
break up the rags and bundles of the captives, and expect to find gold
about those who are nothing than prisoners. In addition to this
hindrance to my dictating, my eyes are growing dim with age and to some
extent I share the suffering of the saintly Isaac: I am quite unable to
go through the Hebrew books with such light as I have at night, for
even in the full light of day they are hidden from my eyes owing to the
smallness of the letters. In fact, it is only the voice of the brethren
which enables me to master the commentaries of Greek writers.
The Prefaces to Books viii. to xiv. contain nothing
of special interest.
DANIEL.
The Commentary on Daniel was dedicated to Pammachius
and Marcella in the year 407. It is in a single book, and is aimed at
the criticisms of Porphyry. who, like most modern critics, took the
predictions in the Book of Daniel as relating to the time of Antiochus
Epiphanes and the Maccabees, and written near that date. The Preface is
very similar to that prefixed to the Vulgate translation of Daniel.
501
PREFACES TO THE COMMENTARIES ON THE MINOR PROPHETS.
For the order and date of writing of these
Commentaries see the Preface to Amos, Book iii., and the note there.
HOSEA.
This Commentary was dedicated to Pammachius, A.D.
406 (sixth consulate of Arcadius--Preface to Amos, Book iii.). The
Preface to Book i. is chiefly taken up with a discussion on Hosea's
"wife of whoredoms." He takes the story as allegorical; it cannot be
literal, for "God commands nothing but what is honourable, nor does he,
by bidding men do disgraceful thins, make that conduct honourable which
is disgraceful. Jerome then describes, as in former Prefaces, the chief
Greek commentators, of whom Apollinaris and Origen had written very
shortly on Hosea, Pierius at great length, but to little purpose; and
says that he had himself obtained from Didymus of Alexandria that he
should complete the Commentary of Origen. He had himself often judged
independently, though with little knowledge of Hebrew, but he had been
in earnest, while most scholars were "more concerned for their bellies
than their hearts, and thought themselves learned if in the doctors'
waiting rooms they could disparage other men's works."
In the Preface to Book ii. Jerome complains of his
detractors, and appeals from the present favour of high-placed men to
the posthumous authority of sound ability.
In Book iii. he claims Pammachius as his defender,
though he fears the judgment of his great learning.
JOEL.
This Commentary also is addressed to Pammachius,
A.D. 406. It is in one hook. It gives the order of the Twelve Prophets
adopted by the LXX. and the Hebrew respectively, the Hebrew order being
that now in use. It also gives the etymological meaning of their names.
AMOS.
In three books, addressed also to Pammachius, A.D.
406 (Preface to Amos, Book iii.). The Preface to Book i. merely gives a
description of Tekoa, Amos' birthplace. That to Book if. speaks of old
age, with its advantages for self-control and its trials in various
infirmities, such as phlegm, dim eyesight, loosened teeth, colic, and
gout. That to Book iii. contains the passage several times referred to
for the order of these Commentaries, which is as follows:
We have not discussed them in regular sequence from
the first to the ninth, as they are read, but as we have been able, and
in accordance with requests made to us. Nahum, Micah, Zephaniah,
Haggai, [1]I first addressed to Paula and Eustochium, her daughter, who
are never weary; I next dedicated two books on Habakkuk to Chromatius,
bishop of Aquileia; I then proceeded to explain, at your command,
Pammachius, and after a long interval of silence, Obadiah and Jonah.[1]
In the [2]present year, which bears in the calendar the name of the
sixth consulate of Arcadius Augustus and Anitius Probus, I interpreted
Malachi for Exsuperius, bishop of Toulouse, and Minervius and
Alexander, monks of that city. Unable to refuse your request I
immediately went back to the beginning of the volume, and expounded
Hosea, Joel, and Amos. A severe sickness followed, and I showed my
rashness in resuming the dictation of this work too hastily; and,
whereas others hesitate to write and frequently correct their work, I
entrusted mine to the fortune which attends those who employ a
secretary, and hazarded my reputation for ability and orthodoxy; for,
as I have often testified, I cannot endure the toil of writing with my
own hand; and, in expounding the Holy Scriptures, what we want is not a
polished style and oratorical flourishes, but learning and simple truth.
OBADIAH.
Addressed to Pammachius A.D. 403. The Preface
records how in early youth (some thirty years before), he had attempted
an allegorical commentary of Obadiah, of which he was now ashamed,
though it has lately been praised by a youth of similar years.
JONAH.
This was addressed to Chromatius,[3] but belongs to
the year 395. It is said in the Preface to be three years after the
commentary on Micah, Nahum, etc. The Preface merely touches on the
various places of Scripture in which Jonah is named.
MICAH.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium. A.D. 392. It is
in two books. In the Preface to Book ii., Jerome vindicates himself
against the charge of making mere compilations from Origen. He
confesses, however, his great admiration for him. "What they consider a
reproach," he says, "I regard as the highest praise. since I desire to
imitate him who, I doubt not, is acceptable to all wise men, and to
you."
NAHUM.
Also to Paula and Eustochium, A.D. 392. The Preface
contains little of importance. Jerome mentions that the village of
Elkosh, Nahum's birthplace, was pointed out to him by a guide in
Galilee.
HABAKKUK.
Addressed to Chromatius, A.D. 392. The commentary is
in two books. The Preface to Book i. is long, but merely describes the
contents of the book. That to Book if. mentions among his adversaries,
"The Serpent, and Sardanapalus, whose character is worse than his
502
name"--expressions which have been referred to Rufinus; but the enmity
between Jerome and Rufinus had not broken out in 392.
ZEPHANIAH.
Addressed to Paula and Eustochium, A.D. 392. In the
Preface Jerome defends himself for writing for women, bringing many
examples from Scripture and from classical writers to show the capacity
of women.
HAGGAI.
Also to Paula and Eustochinm, A.D. 392. The preface
merely describes the occasion of the book, but says that Haggai's
prophecy was contemporary with the reign of Tarquinius Superbus (B.C.
535-510).
ZECHARIAH.
Addressed to Exsuperius, bishop of Toulouse, A.D.
406, in three books, and sent, "in the closing days of autumn, by the
monk, Sisinnius, who had been sent with presents for the poor saints at
Jerusalem, and was hastening to Egypt on a similar errand." The
Prefaces to the three books mention these facts, but have nothing in
them of note which has not been said before.
MALACHI.
Addressed, A.D. 406, to Minervius and Alexander,
presbyters of the diocese of Toulouse. The Jews, the Preface says.
believe Malachi to be a name for Ezra. Origen and his followers believe
that (according to his name) he was an angel. But we reject this view
altogether, lest we be compelled to accept the doctrine of the fall of
souls from heaven.
End of Etext THE LETTERS OF ST. JEROME by St. Jerome