Against scoffers denying the second coming of Christ. He declares the sudden dissolution of this world and exhorts to holiness of life.
Th•se 〈◊〉 Epistles •e vvriteth to confirme them in the Apostles doctrine, and vvarneth them of scorners that shal come, and denie Domesday. 5 Whose vaine argument he ansvvereth, and giueth the reason of Gods so long patience, 10 exhorting to al holines of life in respect of that terrible day. 16 Finally giuing vvarning of such as misinterprete S. Paules Epistles & the other Scriptures, and that vve must not for any thing fall from the true faith.
1Behold this second epistle I write to you, my dearly beloved, in which, I stir up by way of admonition your sincere mind:Ecco, che io scrivo a voi, o carissimi, questa seconda lettera, per risvegliare coll'ammonirvi il sincero animo vostro:THIS loe the second epistle I vvrite to you my deerest, in vvhich I stirre vp by admonition your sincere minde:Hanc ecce vobis, carissimi, secundam scribo epistolam, in quibus vestram excito in commonitione sinceram mentem: 2That you may be mindful of those words which I told you before from the holy prophets, and of your apostles, of the precepts of the Lord and Saviour.Affinchè vi ricordiate delle parole de' santi profeti, delle quali ho già parlato, e de' vostri Apostoli, e de' precetti del Signore, e Salvatore:that you may be mindeful of those vvordes vvhich I told you before from the holy Prophetes, and of your Apostles, of the preceptes of our Lord and Sauiour.ut memores sitis eorum, quæ prædixi, verborum, a sanctis prophetis et apostolorum vestrorum, præceptorum Domini et Salvatoris. 3Knowing this first: That in the last days there shall come deceitful scoffers, walking after their own lusts,E sappiate primieramente, che verranno negli ultimi giorni degli schernitori gabbamondi, viventi a seconda delle loro concupiscenze,Knovving this first, that in the last daies shal come mockers in deceit, vvalking according to their ovvne concupiscences,Hoc primum scientes, quod venient in novissimis diebus in deceptione illusores, juxta proprias concupiscentias ambulantes, 4Saying: Where is his promise or his coming? For since the time that the fathers slept, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.I quali diranno: dov' è la promessa, o la venuta di lui? Mentre, dacché i padri si addormentarono, il tutto va continuando a un modo, come dal principio della creazione.saying, Vvhere is his promise or his cōming? For since the time that the fathers slept, al things do so perseuêre from the beginning of creature.dicentes: Ubi est promissio, aut adventus ejus ? ex quo enim patres dormierunt, omnia sic perseverant ab initio creaturæ. 5For this they are wilfully ignorant of: That the heavens were before, and the earth out of water and through water, consisting by the word of God:Imperocché ignorano costoro, perché lo vogliono, che furon da prima per la parola di Dio i cieli, e la terra (uscita) dall'acqua, e che ha consistenza per l'acqua:for they are vvilfully ignorant of this, that the heauens vvere before, & the earth, out of vvater, and through vvater, consisting by the vvord of God:Latet enim eos hoc volentes, quod cæli erant prius, et terra de aqua, et per aquam consistens Dei verbo:
6Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.Onde quel mondo, che era allora, inondato dall'acque perì.by the vvhich, that vvorld then, being ouerflovved vvith vvater perished.per quæ, ille tunc mundus aqua inundatus, periit. 7But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of the ungodly men.Ma i cieli, che sono adesso, e la terra dalla stessa parola son custoditi, riserbati al fuoco pel giorno del giudicio, e della perdizione degli uomini empj.But the heauens vvhich novv are, & the earth, are by the same word kept in store, reserued to fire vnto the day of iudgemēt & of the perdition of the impious men.Cæli autem, qui nunc sunt, et terra eodem verbo repositi sunt, igni reservati in diem judicii, et perditionis impiorum hominum. 8But of this one thing be not ignorant, my beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.Questo solo però siavi noto, o carissimi, che un giorno è dinanzi a Dio come mille anni, e mille anni come un giorno.But this one thing be not ignorāt of, my deerest, that one day with our Lord is as a thousand yeres, & a thousand yeres as one day.Unum vero hoc non lateat vos, carissimi, quia unus dies apud Dominum sicut mille anni, et mille anni sicut dies unus. 9The Lord delayeth not his promise, as some imagine, but dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance,Non ritarda il Signore la sua promessa, come si pensan taluni: ma usa pazienza per riguardo a voi, non volendo, che alcuno perisca, ma che tutti, ritornino a penitenza.Our Lord slacketh not his promis, as some do esteeme it: but he doth patiently for you, not vvilling that any perish, but that al returne to penance.Non tardat Dominus promissionem suam, sicut quidam existimant: sed patienter agit propter vos, nolens aliquos perire, sed omnes ad pœnitentiam reverti. 10But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence and the elements shall be melted with heat and the earth and the works which are in it shall be burnt up.Ma come il ladro, verrà il dì del Signore: nel quale i cieli con gran fracasso passeranno, e gli elementi dal calore saran disciolti, e la terra, e le cose, che sono in essa, saran brugiate.And the day of our Lord shal come as a theefe in the vvhich the heauens shal passe vvith great violence, but the elementes shal be resolued, vvith heate, and the earth and the vvorkes vvhich are in it, shal be burnt.Adveniet autem dies Domini ut fur: in quo cæli magno impetu transient, elementa vero calore solventur, terra autem et quæ in ipsa sunt opera, exurentur.
11Seeing then that all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of people ought you to be in holy conversation and godliness?Or dovendo queste cose tutte esser disciolte, quali convien egli, che siate voi nel santo vivere, e nella, pietà,Therfore vvhereas al these thinges are to be dissolued: vvhat maner of men ought you to be in holy conuersations and godlinesses,Cum igitur hæc omnia dissolvenda sunt, quales oportet vos esse in sanctis conversationibus, et pietatibus, 12Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of the Lord, by which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with the burning heat?Aspettando, e correndo, incontro alla venuta del dì del Signore, nel qual dì i cieli ardenti si scioglieranno, e gli elementi si liquefaranno per l'ardore del fuoco?expecting and hasting vnto the cōming of the day of our Lord, by vvhich the heauens burning shal be resolued, and the elementes shal melt vvith the heate of fire?exspectantes, et properantes in adventum diei Domini, per quem cæli ardentes solventur, et elementa ignis ardore tabescent ? 13But we look for new heavens and a new earth according to his promises, in which justice dwelleth.Ma nuovi cieli, e nuova terra secondo la promessa di lui aspettiamo, dove abita la giustizia.But vve expect nevv heauens and a nevv earth according to his promises, in vvhich iustice inhabiteth.Novos vero cælos, et novam terram secundum promissa ipsius exspectamus, in quibus justitia habitat. 14Wherefore, dearly beloved, waiting for these things, be diligent that you may be found before him unspotted and blameless in peace.Per la qual cosa, o carissimi, tali cose aspettando, studiatevi di essere trovati da lui immacolati, e puri nella pace:For the vvhich cause my deerest, expecting these things, labour earnestly to be found immaculate and vnspotted to him in peace:Propter quod, carissimi, hæc exspectantes, satagite immaculati, et inviolati ei inveniri in pace: 15And account the longsuffering of our Lord, salvation: as also our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, hath written to you:E la longanimità del Signor nostro tenete in luogo di salute: conformo anche il carissimo nostro fratello Paolo per la sapienza a lui conceduta vi scrisse,and the longanimitie of our Lord, do ye account saluation, as also our most deere brother Paul according to the vvisdom giuen him hath vvritten to you:et Domini nostri longanimitatem, salutem arbitremini: sicut et carissimus frater noster Paulus secundum datam sibi sapientiam scripsit vobis,
16As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.Come anche in tutte le epistole, dove parla di questo: nelle quali sono alcune cose difficili a capirsi, le quali gli ignoranti, e i poco stabili stravolgon (come anche tutte le altre scritture) per loro perdizione.as also in al epistles, speaking in them of these things, in the vvhich are • certaine things hard to be vnderstoode, vvhich the vnlearned and vnstable depraue, as also the rest of the Scriptures, to their ovvne perdition.sicut et omnibus epistolis, loquens in eis de his in quibus sunt quædam difficilia intellectu, quæ indocti et instabiles depravant, sicut et ceteras Scripturas, ad suam ipsorum perditionem. 17You therefore, brethren, knowing these things before, take heed, lest being led aside by the error of the unwise, you fall from your own steadfastness.Voi adunque, o fratelli, istruiti per tempo state in guardia: affinchè traportati dall'error degli stolti non cadiate dalla vostra fermezza:You therfore brethrē, foreknovving, take heede lest ledde aside by the errour of the vnwise you fal away from your owne stedfastnes.Vos igitur fratres, præscientes custodite, ne insipientium errore traducti excidatis a propria firmitate: 18But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and unto the day of eternity, Amen.Ma andate crescendo nella zia, e nella cognizione del Signor nostro, e Salvator Gesù Cristo. A lui gloria e adesso, e pel dì dell'eternità. Così sia.but grovv in grace and in knovvledge of our Lord and sauiour IESVS Christ. To him be glorie both novv and vnto the day of eternitie. Amen.crescite vero in gratia, et in cognitione Domini nostri, et Salvatoris Jesu Christi. Ipsi gloria et nunc, et in diem æternitatis. Amen.
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Witham
Scoffers[Ver. 3. In deceptione illusores; the true reading in the Greek is, as Dr. Wells has restored it, en empaigmone empaiktai, illusione illudentes.] with deceit, (such as make a jest of all revealed religion) walking according to their own lusts, as if they might indulge themselves in every thing which their inclinations prompt them to, saying: where is his promise, or his coming? They have no belief nor regard for what has been revealed concerning the coming of Christ to judge every one, to reward the good, and punish the wicked. Such were the Sadducees, who believe not the immortality of the soul, nor the resurrection; such were at all times those atheistical men, who endeavoured to persuade themselves that all religion is no more than a human and politic invention; of this number are they who some in our days call free-thinkers. St. Peter here gives us the words of these unbelieving libertines, whom he calls scoffers: where, they say, is his promise? those pretended promises of God, those predictions and menaces in the Scriptures? what appearance of Christ's coming to judge the world? for, since the Fathers slept, ever since the death of the patriarchs and prophets, all things continue. (Witham)
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Witham
For this they are wilfully ignorant of. The ignorance of these unbelievers is wilful and inexcusable, when they question the existence of a Supreme Being, of a future state, wherein God will reward the good and punish the wicked; when they laugh at all the miracles, and all the extraordinary effects of God's power and justice, such as was the general flood or deluge, by which God destroyed the wicked by an inundation of waters. And as our blessed Saviour said of those, who would not believe in the days of Noe[Noah], "They were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage,...and they knew not till the flood came, and took them all away: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Mattew 24:38. 39.) (Witham)
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Witham
The heavens, etc. He puts the faithful in mind not to regard these profane scoffers, but to be convinced of the truths revealed, and that the world shall be destroyed a second time by fire. Reflect that the time of this life, and all the time that this world shall last, is nothing to eternity, which has no parts, no beginning, nor end; so that in the sight of God, who is eternal, a thousand years are no more to be regarded than one day, or one moment. The long time that hath hitherto passed, must not make you think that God is slack as to his promises, or that they shall not infallibly come to pass at the time and moment appointed by his divine providence. God's infinite mercy, and his love for mankind, bears patiently with the provocations of blind and unthinking sinners, not willing that any of them should perish, but that they should return to him by a sincere repentance and true penance, and be saved. But watch always, according to the repeated admonition of our blessed Redeemer. (Mark 13:37. etc.) For both the day of your death, and the day of the Lord to judge the world, will come like a thief, etc. (Witham)
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Witham
Seeing then that all these things are to be dissolved, that the world, and all things in the world, shall pass in a short time, set not your affections upon them: let your life and conversation be holy. According to the divine promises, look for new heavens, and a new earth, where justice is to dwell, whither sinners shall not enter, but the just only, in a new state of never-ending happiness. Make it then your endeavour to be found in the sight of God spotless and blameless; and look upon the long forbearance of God, who defers to punish sinners as they deserve, to be an effect of his mercy, and for your salvation. (Witham)
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As also our most dear brother, Paul,...hath written to you. He seems to mean in his epistle to the Hebrews or converted Jews, (Chap. 10:37.) where he says: yet a little while,...and he that is to come, will come, and will not delay.
Witham
In which are some things hard to understand, especially by unlearned, ignorant people, unstable, inconstant, not well grounded in faith, and which they wrest,[Ver. 16. Depravant, streblousin, detorquent. It is a speech, says Mr. Legh, on strebloo, borrowed from torturers, when they put an innocent man on the rack, and make him speak what he never thought. They deal, says he, with the Scriptures as chemists sometimes deal with natural bodies, torturing them to extract out of them what God and nature never put in them.] as they do also the other scriptures, by their private interpretations, to their own perdition. (Witham)
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Witham
Being forewarned, therefore, and knowing these things before, take heed not to be led away by the errors of such false and unwise teachers, whatever knowledge they boast of, as did the Gnostics. But make it your serious endeavour to increase in grace by God's assistance, in the true knowledge of our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, to whom, as being one God with his eternal Father and the Holy Ghost, be glory now, and for all eternity. Amen. (Witham)
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THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN THE APOSTLE
The same vein of divine love and charity towards our neighbour, which runs throughout the Gospel written by the beloved disciple and Evangelist, St. John, is found also in his Epistles. He confirms the two principal mysteries of faith: The mystery of the Trinity and the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus Christ the Son of God. The sublimity and excellence of the evangelical doctrine he declares: And this commandment we have from God, that he, who loveth God, love also his brother (chap. 4,21). And again: For this is the charity of God, that we keep his commandments, and: His commandments are not heavy (chap. 5,3). He shews how to distinguish the children of God from those of the devil: marks out those who should be called Antichrists: describes the turpitude and gravity of sin. Finally, he shews how the sinner may hope for pardon. It was written, according to Baronius’ account, sixty-six years after our Lord’s Ascension.
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in quibus
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Concordance 2 Tim. 3, 1. Iude, 18.
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Concordance Ps. 89, 4
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Concordance Ezec. 33.
Concordance 1 Tim. 2.
Concordance Mt. 24.
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Concordance 1 Thes. 5.
Concordance Apoc. 3.
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Concordance Esa. 65, 17. Apo. 21, 1.
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Concordance Ro. 2, 4.
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16. Certaine things hard.] The heretical proud spirit of priuate interpretation of Scriptures. This is a plaine text to conuince the Protestants, vvho (as al heretikes lightly doe and did from the beginning) say the Scriptures be easie to vnderstand, and therfore may be not onely read safely, but also expounded boldly of al the people, as vvel vnlearned as learned: and consequently euery one by him self and his priuate spirit, vvithout respect of the expositions of the learned fathers, or expectation of the Churches, their Pastors and Prelates iudgment, may determine and make choise of such sense as him self liketh or thinketh agreable. For this is partly their saying, partly the necessarie sequele of their folish opinion, vvhich admitteth nothing but the bare Scriptures. And Luther said that the Scriptures vvere more plaine then al the fathers commentaries: and so al to be superfluous but the Bible. Praefat. assert. art. damnat.
Against al vvhich Diuelish & seditious arrogācie, tending to make the people esteeme them selues learned or sufficient vvithout their Pastors and spiritual rulers helpe, to guide them selues in al matters of doctrine & doubtes in religion: The Scriptures be hard, namely S. Paules epistles, specially vvhere he speaketh of iustificatiō by faith. the holy Apostle here telleth and forevvarneth the faithful, that the Scriptures be ful of difficultie, & specially S. Paules epistles of al other partes of holy vvrite, and that ignorant men •ad vnstable or phātastical fellovves puffed to & fro vvith euery blast of doctrine and haeresie, abuse, peruert, and misconster them to their ovvne damnation. And De fid. & op. c. 14 S. Augustine saith, that the special difficulty in S. Paules epistles, vvhich ignorant, and euil men do so peruert and vvhich S. Peter meaneth, is his hard speache and much commendation of that faith vvhich he saith doth iustifie. vvhich the ignorant euen from the Apostles time, and much more novv, haue and do so misconster, as though he had meant that onely faith vvithout good vvorkes could iustifie or saue a man. Against vvhich vvicked collection and abuse of S. Paules vvordes, the said father faith, al these Canonical or Catholike epistles vvere vvritten.
But the Haeretikes here to shift of the matter, and to creepe out after their fashion, ansvver, The Protestāts idle distinctiō betvvene difficultie in the Epistles and difficultie in the things. that S. Peter saith not, S. Paules epistles be hard, but that many things in them are hard. Vvhich may be to the Catholikes an example of their sophistical euasions from the euidence of Gods vvord. As though it vvere not al one to say, Such an author or vvriter is hard: and, There be many things in that vvriter hard to be vnderstood. For, vvhether it be that the argument and matter be high and past vulgar capacitie, as that of praedestination, reprobation, vocation of the Gentiles, and iustifying faith: or vvhether his manner of stile and vvriting be obscure: al proue that his epistles be hard, and other Scriptures also: because S. Peter here affirmeth that by reason of the difficulties in them, The Greeke copies, haue both, some 〈Greek〉, in vvhich things: some 〈Greek〉, in vvhich epistles. vvhether in the style, or in the depth of the matter, the ignorant and vnstable (such as Heretikes be) do peruert his vvritings, as also other Scriptures, to their ovvne damnation. Vvhereby it is plaine that it is a very dangerous thing for such as be ignorant, or for vvilde vvitted fellovves, to reade the Scriptures. For such conditioned men be they that become Heretikes, and through ignorance, pride, and priuate phantasie, meeting vvith hard places of S. Paules epistles or other Scriptures, breede Haeresies.
And that not onely the things treated of in the holy Scriptures, but also that the very manner of vvriting and enditing thereof, is high and hard, and purposely by Gods prouidence appointed to be vvritten in such sort, see S. Augustine li. 2 de doct. Christ. c. 6. and ep. 119. S. Ambrose ep. 44 in principio. S. Hierom to Paulinus ep. 103 c. 5. 6. 7. vvho also (ep. 65. c. 1.) saith, Not only the matter, but the style of the Scriptures is hard. that in his old age vvhen he should rather haue taught then be taught, he vvent as far as Alexandria, onely to heare Didymus, and to haue his helpe for the vnderstanding of the Scriptures, and confesseth vvith great thankes to the said Didymus, that he learned of him that vvhich before he knevve not. Ps. 118. Dauid saith, Giue me vnderstanding, and I vvil searche thy lavv. The Eunuch in the Actes said, Act. 8. Hovv can I vnderstand vvith out an interpreter? The Apostles, til Christ opened their sense to vnderstand the scriptures, Luc. 24. v. 45. could not vnderstand them. The holy Doctors by continual studie, vvatching, fasting, and praying, had much a doe to vnderstand them: that great clerke S. Augustine cōfessing in the foresaid epistle 119. c. 21. that there vvere many moe things that he vnderstood not, then that he vnderstood. The Heretikes say the fathers did commonly erre. and hovv could such great vvise learned men be deceiued in reading and expounding the Scriptures, if they vvere not hard? and if they vvere hard to them, hovv are they easie to these nevv maisters the Haeretikes? finally, vvhy do they vvrite so many nevv glosses, scholies, commentaries, as a cart cannot carrie? Vvhy do Luther, Zuinglius, Caluin, and their Companions agree no better vpon the interpretation of the Scriptures, if they be not hard? vvhereat stumbled al the old heretikes & the nevv, Arîus, Macedonius, Vigilantius, Nestorius, Eutyches, Berengarius, Vvicleffe, Protestants, Puritanes, Anabaptists, and the rest, but at the hardnes of the Scriptures? They be hard then to vnderstand. and Heretikes peruert them to their ovvne damnation.
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Pope St Clement I † AD 99 The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 23
… neither let our soul be lifted up on account of His exceedingly great and glorious gifts. Far from us be that which is written, “Wretched are they who are of a double mind, and of a doubting heart; who say, These things we have heard even in the times of our fathers; but, behold, we have grown old, and none of them has happened unto us.”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 A discourse by the most blessed Hippolytus, bishop and martyr, on the end of the world, and on Antichrist, and on the second coming of our lord Jesus Christ 10
… First of all Peter, the rock of the faith, whom Christ our God called blessed, the teacher of the Church, the first disciple, he who has the keys of the kingdom, has instructed us to this effect: “Know this first, children, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 10.20
… and scattered, as it is written in the twenty-second Psalm that all the bones of Christ are, by the plots made against it in persecutions and afflictions, on the part of those who war against the unity of the temple in persecutions, yet the temple will be raised again, and the body will rise again on the third day after the day of evil which threatens it,
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.39
… Lastly, he more clearly denotes them, saying,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.18
Let us now see what the Apostle Peter predicted concerning this judgment. “There shall come,” he says, “in the last days scoffers. . . . Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 45.9
… writing things that would not long tarry. For God did not tarry long to manifest Christ. How quickly is that perceived to have rolled by, which is acknowledged to be already past! Call to mind the generations before thee; thou wilt find that the making of Adam is but a thing of yesterday. So do we read that all things have gone on from the very beginning:
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Tertullian † AD 220 A Strain of Sodom 1
The future end. There wild voluptuousness
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 102.30
30. “They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure” ( ver. 26 ). The Apostle Peter saith this openly: “By the word of God the heavens were of old,” etc.
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.24
… of the Apostle Peter, too, where the world which then was is said to have perished, being overflowed with water, it is sufficiently obvious what part of the world is signified by the whole, and in what sense the word perished is to be taken, and what heavens were kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
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St Justin Martyr † AD 165 On the Sole Government of God 3
Then further concerning Him, that He alone is powerful, both to institute judgment on the deeds performed in life, and on the ignorance of the Deity [displayed by men], I can adduce witnesses from your own ranks; and first Sophocles,
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St Barnabas † AD 61 The Epistle of Barnabas 15
… And He Himself testifieth, saying, “Behold, to-day will be as a thousand years.”
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 81
… the works of their toil shall abound’ obscurely predicts a thousand years. For as Adam was told that in the day he ate of the tree he would die, we know that he did not complete a thousand years. We have perceived, moreover, that the expression, ‘The day of the Lord is as a thousand years,’
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.23
… thus granting him a second creation by means of His passion, which is that [creation] out of death. And there are some, again, who relegate the death of Adam to the thousandth year; for since “a day of the Lord is as a thousand years,”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.28.3
… “Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all their adornment. And God brought to a conclusion upon the sixth day the works that He had made; and God rested upon the seventh day from all His works.” This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to come. For the day of the Lord is as a thousand years;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.7
… enjoy a kind of Sabbath-rest during that period, a holy leisure after the labors of the six thousand years since man was created, and was on account of his great sin dismissed from the blessedness of paradise into the woes of this mortal life, so that thus, as it is written, “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day,”
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St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Philadelphians: Shorter and Longer Versions 11
… And I myself give thanks to God for you, because ye have received them: and the Lord will also receive you. But may those that dishonoured them be forgiven through the grace of Jesus Christ, “who wisheth not the death of the sinner, but his repentance.”
Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 27
… What could we orphans do, having no guardian? We have committed no fault; it is Thou that hast deceived us.” But away with such a supposition in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of every soul. For He did not confine Himself to mere promises;
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Tertullian † AD 220 A Strain of the Judgment of the Lord 1
(Or whatsoe’er her bulk is ), echoes back
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 7.21
… Why am I faint-hearted in my hopes? Why behave like a mere creature of a day? I await the voice of the Archangel, the last trumpet, the transformation of the heavens, the transfiguration of the earth, the liberation of the elements, the renovation of the universe.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.24
… in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great rush, and the elements shall melt with burning heat, and the earth and the works which are in it shall be burned up and then adds, “Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be?”
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St Hippolytus † AD 235 A discourse by the most blessed Hippolytus, bishop and martyr, on the end of the world, and on Antichrist, and on the second coming of our lord Jesus Christ 37
… and they shall stand upon the face of the earth, waiting for the coming of the righteous and terrible Judge, in fear and trembling unutterable. For the river of fire shall come forth in fury like an angry sea, and shall burn up mountains and hills, and shall make the sea vanish, and shall dissolve the atmosphere with its heat like wax.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 1
… to the one the Incarnate, to the other God the Word. Just as one might say of a house which has some part decayed and the other sound, He hath rebuilt the house, that is to say, He has made it stronger, and laid a firmer foundation. So also here He hath brought all under one and the same Head.
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Two Letters Written by Augustin to Valentinus and the Monks of Adrumetum 1.6
… even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things: in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
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St Polycarp † AD 155 Epistle to the Philippians 3
These things, brethren, I write to you concerning righteousness, not because I take anything upon myself, but because ye have invited me to do so. For neither I, nor any other such one, can come up to the wisdom
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Aristides † fl. AD 125 The Apology of Aristides the Philosopher. Translated from the Syriac 1
XVII. Thus far, O King, I have spoken; for concerning that which remains, as is said above,
Tertullian † AD 220 On Fasting 11
But all these (instances) I believe to be unknown to those who are in a state of agitation at our proceedings; or else known by the reading alone, not by careful study as well; in accordance with the greater bulk of “the unskilled”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 48
… For firstly, like unstable persons, they wrest the Scriptures
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 68.35
… that is to say, by the efficient cause the thing which is being effected is implied. Now it is usual in the Latin language for writing to be called style, because with the stilus it is done: so then cane also, because with a cane it is done. The Apostle Peter saith, that “men unlearned and unstable do wrest the Scriptures to their own proper destruction:”
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1. Behold this for you, — O Christians scattered throughout Asia, Bithynia, Cappadocia, etc., as he said in the first epistle, chapter 1, verse 1; for he signifies here that he is writing this second epistle to the same ones to whom he once wrote the first epistle. In which, — namely in both epistles, that is the first and second already mentioned. Your sincere mind I stir up in admonition. — "I stir up," namely as if from the sleep of torpor, lukewarmness and forgetfulness: for this is what the Greek διεγείρω signifies. Pagninus: "I stimulate through admonition your sincere mind." In Greek ἐν ὑπομνήσει (Erasmus wrongly read ἐν ἐπιγνώσει, that is, in knowledge), that is, in admonition, in recollection, in calling back to memory, according to what he said in the first epistle, chapter 1, verse 12: "For which cause I will begin always to admonish you of these things." Let the Pastor learn here to refresh and inculcate the same things often to his subjects, until they learn them thoroughly and transfer them into their conduct. Thus Chrysostom, homily 19 on Acts, when his questioners ask that the same things be said and repeated by him, responds: "This is what destroys you most. But this proves it, because they are not satisfied even when the same things are watched repeatedly in the theatre." And he adds "their reproach is that they are not corrected by hearing so many times." Note: He calls the mind of the faithful "sincere," first, whole; second, uncorrupted; third, pure and simple. For sincere signifies three things: First, "sincere," that is whole. Thus Ovid, book XII of the Metamorphoses, calls "sincere body," that is whole: whence explaining he adds "without wound;" and Lucretius, book III, "sincere" members, that is whole. For sincere seems to be compounded from σύν, whence some write syncerum with y, that is together, and wax, as if to say together with wax, thus named from those who divide the fruit of the hive with a partner; for these divide honey together with wax: but if they give honey alone without wax, they defraud the partner, and do not act sincerely, that is wholly. Second, sincere is the same as uncorrupted, unspotted; thus Horace, book I, chapter II: "Unless the vessel is sincere, whatever you pour in turns sour." Sincere, that is uncorrupted; and Cicero in the speech for Quinctius: "Nothing is so sacred and sincere in the state." Whence some derive sincere from decay, as if to say without decay, that is corruption. Third and best: Sincere, says Donatus, is pure, without paint and simple, as sincere honey, that is without wax. Thus sincere wine is called unmixed, not mixed; sincere grain is called pure, lacking legumes and chaff; sincere and pure oil, lacking water and dregs. And this is what the Greek εἰλικρινής signifies, that is sincere, true, not feigned, clear, pure, manifest, as if from εἵλη κρινόμενος, that is, examined by the splendor of the sun, and judged. Such ought to be the mind of Christians, and such it was in the age of the first St. Peter, namely so pure and sincere, that it dared to appear and be examined by God the sun of justice. For it concealed nothing feigned, nothing painted, nothing simulated, nothing vicious in the heart, but displayed all things open, bright, faithful, chaste, virtuous: what it felt in the heart, this it brought forth in speech. Sincere and "simple," says St. Gregory, X Moral., chapter xvii, or according to another edition, xxix, "always prepares the mind for patience, and standing upright for justice exults in the insults received, suffers with the afflicted from the heart, rejoices in the prosperity of the good as if in his own, carefully ruminates the food of sacred word in the mind, and when questioned, knows not how to speak anything duplicitously." The patriarch Isaac gives the same example of sincerity: "Does," he says in homily 15 on Ezekiel, "the simplicity of morals please? Isaac comes to mind, whom the tranquility of his life adorned in the eyes of almighty God?" And St. Ambrose, book On Joseph, chapter 1, teaches us to learn "in Abraham the diligent devotion of faith; in Isaac, the purity of sincere mind; in Jacob, singular patience of spirit and labors: but Joseph is proposed as a mirror of chastity." The same St. Ambrose, book X, on chapter xxiii of Luke, teaches that sincerity lost by Adam was restored through Christ, and therefore Christ drank vinegar on the cross, so that the vice of corrupted nature might be abolished from the human body. "We therefore," he says, "should transfuse our vices concreted through carelessness of mind and body into Christ through penance, so that from him there might be poured back to us the uncorrupted sincerity of heavenly wine and blood." St. Bernard, sermon 3 On the Circumcision: "First of all," he says, "let Christ appear as a child with his virgin mother, so that he may teach us that simplicity and modesty are to be sought before all things. For simplicity is natural to children, and modesty is akin to virgins. Therefore, to all of us at the beginning of our conversion, no virtue is more necessary than humble simplicity and modest gravity." The same, to his sister, On the Manner of Living Well, chapter IX: "Let there be simplicity in your entrance, honesty in your gait. Let nothing dishonorable, nothing wanton, nothing petulant, nothing insolent, nothing frivolous appear in your gait. For the mind appears in the gesture of the body, and gesture is the sign of the mind." The same, epistle 34 to Roland the Cardinal: "Let dove-like simplicity act for you, and let serpentine prudence fight against the wiles of the malicious and ancient serpent." Thus Paul glories in sincerity, and calls it the glory of conscience, II Corinthians I, 12: "Our glory," he says, "is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity of heart and sincerity of God, and not in carnal wisdom, but in the grace of God we have conversed in this world." And exhorting the Corinthians and all the faithful to the same, epistle I, chapter v, verse 7: "Christ our Pasch," he says, "is sacrificed. Therefore let us feast, not in the old leaven, nor in the leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." For unleavened bread is pure and sincere; but leavened bread is impure and mixed.
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2. That you may be mindful of those things which were foretold by the holy Prophets,—that is to say, That you may be mindful of the words which I foretold in the oracles of the Prophets. Whence the Greek clearly has: μνησθῆναι τῶν ῥημάτων προειρημένων ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν, that is, that you may be mindful of the words foretold by the holy Prophets. Thus Oecumenius, Pagninus, Vatablus and others. Our Interpreter sagaciously referred "τὸ προειρημένων," that is foretold, both to St. Peter and to the Prophets, because he saw that St. Peter was here recalling to the faithful the oracles of the Prophets, not all of them (for those are very many and unknown to many, nor do they pertain here), but only those which concern Christ and the Christian faith, and the law which he said was foretold by the Prophets in chapter 1, verse 19; for he intended to confirm the faith of Christ from the oracles of the Prophets. Whence Dionysius the Carthusian and others read: "That you may be mindful of the words of the Prophets and of the holy Apostles,"—that is to say, The words of the Apostles are concise and harmonious with the words of the Prophets. What the Apostles preached as accomplished through Christ, this the Prophets foretold as future through the same. This is what Paul says, that we are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Ephesians II, 20. And of your Apostles, the commandments of the Lord and Saviour,—because the commandments of the Apostles are the commandments of Christ the Saviour, that is to say, That you may be mindful of the commandments of Christ the Lord and Saviour, which by his command your Apostles promulgated to you; for they delivered to you not their own, but Christ's commandments. Thus St. Paul says: "You know what commandments I gave you through the Lord Jesus," 1 Thessalonians IV, 2. Whence he infers in verse 8: "Therefore he that despiseth these things, despiseth not man, but God;" and 1 Corinthians XIV, 37: "If any one," he says, "thinketh himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him know that the things I write to you are the commandments of the Lord." Others by hyperbaton refer τὸ Domini Salvatoris not to commandments, but to Apostles, that is to say, Be mindful of the commandments of the Apostles, because they are the Apostles of the Lord Saviour. Thus St. Jude, verse 17: "Be mindful," he says, "of the words that were spoken by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ." Some Greek texts not a little favor this, which for ὑμῶν, that is yours, as the Complutensian, Royal and Latin Vulgate read, read ἡμῶν, that is ours, that is to say, Apostles who are we. Whence Vatablus translates this whole passage thus: "That you may be mindful of the words which were foretold by the holy Prophets, and of the commandment of us who are Apostles of the Lord and Saviour."
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3. This first knowing, — that is to say, Before all things know and mark this as a matter of the greatest importance, as though your eternal salvation or damnation depended upon it: by which he signifies that the faithful, if they wish to be saved, must take the utmost care to avoid seducers and heretics: for these lead their followers with them into hell. There shall come in the last days, — at the end of the world, in the time of Antichrist, says St. Augustine, lib. XX De Civit., xviii, and others. This is true, but more strictly: for St. Peter admonishes the faithful then living and hereafter to live, that they may beware of these seducers. Whence note that τὰ ἔσχατα, that is the last things, are called in the Scriptures ὕστερα, that is the latter things; both indeed signify the Hebrew אחרית acharit: in which manner the Prophets are wont to call the time of the Messiah the last, that is the latter, and following the law both of nature and of Moses. Thus Isaiah calls it, cap. II, vers. 1; Micah, IV, 1; Joel, II, 28, and St. John, epist. 1, cap. II, 18. St. Peter therefore signifies that in all future times, and especially towards the end of the world, there shall come various seducers, and all must be carefully avoided. The same admonition was given by St. Paul, I Timoth. IV, 1, and Acts xx, 29. See the sayings there. He notes especially the Gnostics, who in that age taught that one should freely indulge in desires and lusts, and mocked the faithful concerning the day of judgment, as though by an empty shadow and bugbear of a false thing, they deprived themselves of the use and enjoyment of a pleasant and voluptuous life. In deception deceivers. — St. Augustine, lib. XX De Civit., XVIII, reads, "in illusion deluding"; St. Jerome, lib. I Contra Jovin., deceivers seducing. Such were the Gnostics, who mocked all things divine and human, and especially the fear of the Godhead, of judgment and of divine vengeance: for by removing this fear from men they persuaded them to indulge with impunity in Venus and the belly. And this was, and even now is, the doctrine of heretics, seduction and deception. The same do modern Gnostics, who, being without God (as atheists), think themselves alone wise, and proclaim themselves wise. Walking according to their own desires, — indulging in gluttony, lust and other desires, and this constantly and continually: for τὸ ambulantes signifies continuance, habit, purpose and a state of voluptuous life.
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4. Saying (mockingly, as their forerunners among them said to Jeremiah, cap. XVII, vers. 15: "Behold they say to me: Where is the word of the Lord? let it come."): Where is the promise and his coming. — In Greek it is already read ποῦ ἐστιν ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, that is, where is the promise of his presence (or coming), as St. Augustine reads it, lib. XX De Civit., XVIII. His, understand Christ, who, as is known to all the faithful, promised that he would come again to the earth, so that by his presence he might visit and judge the world, glorifying the good in the heavens, condemning the wicked to the depths. For the Hebrews often pass over the subject, and leave it to be understood as something common and known to everyone. The sense is, as if to say, There will come seducers who, in order that they might impudently fulfill their lusts without remorse and fear of the avenging deity, just like brute beasts, will deny that Christ is to return to judgment and will exact punishments from those who have indulged their lusts. Such were first the Sadducees, denying the resurrection of the flesh and every spirit, and consequently the immortality of the soul, Gehenna and eternal life, Acts cap. XXIII, 8. Second, the Dositheans taught the same thing, sprung from Dosithaeus the Jew, in the time of Nero and St. Peter in the year of the Lord 52, as testified by Hegesippus and St. Jerome Against Lucifer. Third, Hymenaeus and Philetus saying that the resurrection had already taken place, whom St. Paul delivered to Satan, II Timothy II. Fourth, the Gnostics denying judgment, as testified by Philastrius. The parent of these was either Basilides, as St. Jerome wishes, De Viris illustr.; or Nicholas, one of the seven first Deacons, as St. Augustine wishes, lib. De Haeresibus; or rather Carpocrates, as St. Irenaeus wishes, lib. I, cap. XXIV, who lived in that age and could almost have seen the author. Fifth, the Florians, saying that the resurrection is nothing other than the procreation of sons; for in this the father as it were rises again and endures in the son: whose author was Florinus under the Emperor Commodus and Pope Soter, in the year of Christ 182, as testified by Eusebius, lib. V Histor., cap. XV. Sixth, the Symmachians under the year of the Lord 273 denied the future judgment and the resurrection of the flesh. Seventh, the Proclianites, who are also called Prodianites and Hermiotites by Philastrius, and arose in the time of the Emperor Valens and Pope Damasus in the year of the Lord 382. Eighth, the Albanenses in the year of the Lord 796. Ninth, in the year of the Lord 1001, when many had predicted the day of the world's end, and their prediction was found to be false, there arose a heresy saying that the world is incorruptible, which tried to defend itself by this place of St. Peter, as Baronius reports from Abbo, abbot of Fleury, in the year already mentioned. Tenth, in our age, the Davidgeorgians in the year of Christ 1525 denied the future judgment. Again the Libertines, so that like unbridled horses they might neigh after and indulge their lusts, deny judgment, resurrection and all divinity. The same do many others, and more will do at the end of the world, and especially the Antichrist himself, who will be atheistic and most luxurious, and will publicly teach atheism and epicureanism; for he will wish to be worshipped alone as God, as Daniel teaches, cap. XI, vers. 37, and Paul, II Thessalonians II, 4. From the time when the fathers (namely the first and ancient ones, from whom the human race was propagated) fell asleep (that is, died), all things thus persevere from the beginning of creation. — In Greek κτίσεως, that is creation. Whence the Zurich Bible translates it, all things thus remain as they were from the beginning of creation, as if to say, All things thus remain as they were created and made from the beginning. From the long duration of the world and the constancy of all things, they infer its eternity, namely that it will always endure in such a manner that no one ought to be concerned about its end and the second coming of Christ. Thus Aristotle, in book I of De Coelo, infers that the heavens are incorruptible from the fact that no change has ever been observed in them. But they commit a fallacy and err, both because there are frequent, indeed perpetual, changes in the world—vicissitudes of things, motions, generations, corruptions, alterations, etc., as St. Peter adds; and because the divine power, that is God the governor, judge and avenger, is demonstrated especially from the inconstant constancy of this world, and the constant inconstancy. For who makes things so inconstant, indeed so warring and contrary to each other, such as fire and water, heat and cold, the south wind and the north wind, moisture and dryness, hail and rain, barrenness and fruitfulness, crops and fruits so varied and contrary, etc., to be so constant that they are born and come forth so constantly at fixed seasons through so many thousands of years, unless one and the same constant Divine Power? See Theodoret in his ten books De Providentia, and our Lessius De Numine. Finally, because creatures, just as they received their beginning from God, so also will they receive their appointed end from the same. For he who causes them to arise will cause them to perish: for in his hand and will, just as the origin of things is, so also is their end, as all the Prophets and all Scripture cry out. This is so true and evident that Cicero, in book II of De Natura deorum, shows from Aristotle that it is clearer than light; for thus he says: "Excellently Aristotle: If there were," he says, "those who had always dwelt beneath the earth in good and illustrious dwellings, which were adorned with signs and paintings, and furnished with all those things in which those who are thought to be blessed abound, and yet had never come forth above the earth, but had received by report and hearing that there is some divine power and force of the Gods; then at some time, the openings of the earth having been laid bare, they were able to escape from those hidden abodes and come forth into these places which we inhabit, and to go out: when suddenly they had seen the earth and seas and sky, had come to know the magnitude of the clouds and the force of the winds; had looked upon the sun and had come to know both its magnitude and beauty, and also its efficacy, that it produces day by light diffused over the whole sky; but when night had occupied the lands, then they would see the whole sky distinguished and adorned with stars, and the variety of the moon's lights, both when waxing and when waning, and the rising and setting of all of them, and their courses fixed and unchangeable throughout all eternity: when they had seen these things, they would certainly believe both that Gods exist, and that these so great works are the works of Gods." And further down: "For who would call that man wise, who, when he has seen so certain motions of the sky, so fixed an order of the stars, and all things so connected and fitted together with each other, denies that there is any reason in these things, and says that they happen by chance, things which we cannot comprehend by any reasoning, however much they are conducted with what reasoning? Or when we see something moved by some contrivance, such as a sphere, such as a clock, and very many other things, do we not doubt that those works are the product of reason; but when we see the impulse of the sky moved with admirable swiftness and turned, constantly accomplishing the annual vicissitudes, with the greatest welfare and preservation of all things, do we doubt that these are not only done by reason, but also by some excellent and divine reason?" Then, going through each of the elements, stars, sun, moon, herbs, flowers, beasts, and the members of man, he shows that all and each are composed by divine mind so skillfully, and are preserved, ruled and directed by the same, that all things cry out with silent voice that there are Divine Powers, that there is God the judge and avenger of the wicked equally as of the good.
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5. For this is hidden from them willingly. — That is to say, Willingly and of their own accord they know not this, because they are unwilling to know. This is that affected ignorance proper to the deluded, seducers and heretics. He proves that all things do not so persist as they were from the beginning of creation, as the deluded ones and Gnostics said, from the fact that God in the time of Noah destroyed the whole world on account of crimes by the flood, and in like manner is about to destroy it by fire, and by this He will bring an end to each with the penalty which their merits deserve. Thus Œcumenius: "Just as," he says, "the heavens and earth being constituted from water, the flood came upon them unexpectedly, so also now it is appointed that through fire there shall be corruption of the universe, with which the impious shall perish." That the heavens were before, and the earth, consisting of water and by water by the word of God. — It is a syllepsis: for τὸ consisting refers not only to the earth, but also to the heavens, and in a manner comprehends them; yet it is referred proximately to the earth, and therefore is said to consist in the singular; but nevertheless it is extended also to the heavens by Hebrew syllepsis (for the Hebrews make the adjective agree with the nearest substantive, although it also refers to the more remote one: see Bellarmine in Hebrew Syntax) so that consisting is the same as consisting, as Clarius, Catharinus, Salmeron and Cajetan read. Indeed St. Augustine, XX De Civitate Dei, cap. xviii, reads thus: "The heavens were of old and the earth constituted of water and by water;" and Bede and Œcumenius here, and Rupert, lib. I in Genesis, cap. L, read thus: "The heavens were of old of water and by water constituted." From which reading it is clear that the heavens were formed from water, and therefore are called in Hebrew scamaim, that is, there water, as I showed in Genesis 1, 2 and 6, and Œcumenius asserts here: whence water was so called, as it were from which all things. Hence Thales of Miletus said that water is the principle of all things. The sense is, that is to say, It is hidden from them that the heavens and earth consist by the word of God, and therefore that by the same word of God they can be killed and abolished. For just as God by saying: "Let there be light" created the heavens, sun, etc., and made them to be and to consist: so likewise by saying, Let them not be any longer, or let them cease to be, immediately they shall not be and shall cease to be; nay, if God merely withdraw His word and hand, so that He no longer says: "Let there be light" heavens, sun, etc., by this very fact all things shall cease to be. For all things were so created by God from the beginning, that they must be continually preserved by Him, and receive their being from Him, and as it were be continually created: for they depend on God, as rays depend on the sun. Wherefore the conservation of things in God is nothing other than the continuation of creation, or the continual creation of things. Moreover, understand the heavens and earth properly, not however primary matter, as St. Augustine seems to wish, lib. I De Genesi contra Manichaeos, cap. vii; for primary matter was not created formless, but with the form of the heavens and earth. Again, the heavens signify not only the air, as Bede and others wish, but also the true heavens. Earth consisting of water and by water. — You will ask how this is true? Œcumenius answers first: "There are," he says, "two elements (by which God destroyed and will destroy the impious with the world) which chiefly contain the machine of the universe, and preserve it cohering, water and fire, from which the other two also exist. For air consists from the exhalation of waters, earth from their concretion." Yet the earth was created by itself at the beginning of the world, not from water, as is evident from Genesis 1, 1. Why secondly, the same Œcumenius better explains it: the earth, he says, is said to consist from water and through water, "because water contains the earth as a certain glue which is present to it, which unless it were in contact with it, it would be necessary for it to be dissolved and carried into the air." Water therefore binds and glues the earth together as it were with glue, so that one part of it coheres to another part as if compacted. Thus Philo, in the book On the Making of the World, who says that water is mixed with earth, both so that it may glue it together, and so that it may make it fertile and suitable for the use of living things. Whence some refer these things to fountains and rivers, by which the earth is irrigated as if by veins, lest it be reduced to dust. Thirdly, others say that the earth is from water, because it has been so separated from water as to make a separate globe. But this the more learned Mathematicians refute from eclipses and other experiments, and prove that from water and earth one globe is formed, so that there is one center of the whole world. See our Clavius on the Sphere. Fourthly and genuinely, the earth from water, in Greek ἐξ ὕδατος, that is from water, consists, because namely on the first day of the world the whole earth was covered with waters, so that it did not appear and seemed to be nowhere: but on the third day of the world God separated the waters from the earth, and gathered them into one place, Genesis 1, 2 and 9; then therefore the earth from water as it were swimming forth and emerging appeared, and plainly demonstrated itself to be and to exist. Nor does Scripture mean anything else, Psalm 23, 2, when it says that God "hath founded it upon the seas," namely the earth. For the sense is, as if to say, God made the earth to stand out and appear from the waters and sea. Again from water, because God made it so that the earth as to its shores should be somewhat higher than the extremities of the neighboring sea, so that from them, as if more elevated, it might stand out and raise its head. You will say: How does St. Peter say that the earth consists not only from water, but also "through water"? I answer, "through water," that is, in the middle water, or between the middle waters now separated, and the various parts of the earth surrounding it on all sides, the earth itself consists, which the French say, en l'eau, parmi l'eau; therefore the "through water" explains that "from water," and is almost one and the same thing with it. For "from water" signifies that the earth stands out and emerges from water: but "through water" signifies that it does not stand out so as to be separated from water, but rather that water is mixed with it, sprinkled and inserted into it, just as phlegm and blood are mixed and inserted into man through the veins. Secondly, "through water," because the earth by itself dry and flowing apart, through water as a viscous substance and glue is glued together and compacted; so that it coalesces with it into one globe, as I said a little before. For although the earth is the lowest of the elements and bodies, nevertheless God so arranged the waters that the earth appears to be surrounded and covered by them. For surrounded by the Ocean, and irrigated by so many rivers flowing forth everywhere, through the waters it appears to be constrained, moistened, to coalesce, to be made fertile and vivified. St. Peter makes mention of the waters, on account of the flood born from the waters, concerning which he adds his discourse. Finally, our Lessius, On Divine Attributes, book XIII, chapter XX, refers "from water" to the heavens, but "through water" to the earth, and explains it from the division of the upper waters from the lower, Genesis I, 6, as if to say, "The heavens were constituted from waters," because God at the beginning of the world constituted and made the firmament (namely the heaven), which would consist in the middle, and would divide the upper waters from the lower, and thus would stand out from both, and would consist separately from both. "But the earth was constituted through water," when He gathered the waters which were under the firmament into one place, and through the middle of the waters the dry land appeared. A similar construction in Hebrew is Psalm 67, 9, and Psalm 112, verses 5 and 6, and elsewhere. The same is suited to this place, and signifies that the heavens not only stand out from waters, but are made from them, as St. Clement explains, book I of the Recognitions, who asserts that he received this from the mouth of St. Peter. Wherefore this exposition seems plainly to be from the mind of St. Peter, and genuine, so that by referring "from water" to the heavens, and "through water" to the earth, you thus expound it, as if to say, The heavens from the beginning from water created by the word of God consist, but the earth through water mixed with it by the same word of God firmly consists. Thus in Canticles I, 5, when the bride says: "I am black, but beautiful, as the tabernacles of Cedar, as the skins of Solomon;" thus these things through construction are to be combined and explained respectively, as if to say, "I am black as the tabernacles of Cedar, but beautiful as the skins of Solomon." Consisting by the word of God — saying: "Let there be light; let there be luminaries," etc., Genesis I, 3. This is what the Psalmist says: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all the host of them by the spirit of his mouth," Psalm 32, 6.
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6. By which — the heavens and the earth, giving back the waters of the flood, which would return to their ancient seats (namely by occupying and covering the whole earth again), which they had yielded to the command of the Lord, Gen. I, 9: they would return them, I say, by a new miracle, to avenge the crimes of the impious earthborn. By the same word (namely by the same command and decree of God by which they were once buried by the waters of the flood) they were laid up — τεθησαυρισμένοι εἰσὶν, that is, as if in a treasury of divine providence, justice and vengeance they were stored away, namely "reserved for fire," as follows. Therefore Hugo and Dionysius wrongly interpret the laid up as "placed again, and restored to their former state." Just as therefore the sinner treasures up guilt for himself, so God treasures up punishment for him. For in the treasuries of his omnipotence and providence he has infinite kinds of torments, by which he punishes and avenges the faults of men according to their deserts. Whence St. Paul says that the sinner "treasures up wrath for himself in the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God," Rom. II, 4 and seq. And James, cap. V, vers. 3: "You have treasured up," he says, "wrath for yourselves in the last days." Water inundated perished. — For inundated Thomas Anglicus by a variant reading reads cleansed: this is true, but erroneous.
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7. But the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word were laid up, reserved for fire. — There is an antithesis completing the force of the argument: for he opposes to the earth and heavens that were before, in Greek ἔκπαλαι, that is, ancient, former, old, the earth and heavens that now are, namely modern; so that just as those, the world perishing, perished by the common flood of waters, so these will perish by a flood of fire in the conflagration of the world, God avenging the crimes of men by fire, as he once avenged them by water; and therefore this judgment and the punishment of his vengeance is to be expected by all and feared. Moreover the heavens that were before perished by the flood, not wholly, but as to the lower and nearer part of the earth, namely as to the air of both the lowest and middle region. For the water of the flood exceeded all mountains (and therefore also the middle region of the air) by fifteen cubits, Gen. VII, 20. Eugubinus however and Oleaster, whom I cited at Gen. VII, 11, and others, take the heavens here wholly and universally both for the heavens properly so called, and for the air: for thus they are taken in what follows. For these authors hold that in the time of Noah the waters which are above the heavens and above the firmament poured down, so as to bring the flood upon the earth: for to this end, so vast a quantity, namely exceeding all mountains by fifteen cubits, neither the air nor a hundred seas would have sufficed. Therefore there was need of the waters, which God had stored up above the heavens in vast abundance for this purpose. And this seems to be required here by the full and perfect antithesis of St. Peter, as if to say: The former heavens, namely those that were before the flood, being split and buried as it were perished; because the waters which are above the heavens, pouring down for the flood, split them, buried them and changed them: in like manner the heavens after the flood restored by God which now exist, at the end of the world will burn in the conflagration of fire, be dissolved and perish; and new heavens and a new earth will be formed by God, which with the Blessed will endure glorious in eternity. For expressly, vers. 12, he distinguishes the heavens from the elements, saying: "The heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with the burning heat of fire." If the later heavens shall melt with fire, therefore likewise the former, because those that were before the flood were as it were melted by the waters of the same. Thus they themselves: concerning which I have spoken at Gen. VII, 11. For he answers the objection of the scoffers, saying, vers. 4, that all things endure just as they were created in the beginning, and therefore there is, or will be, no judge and avenger of crimes. This he refutes, saying that God was the avenger of the impious, when he drowned and destroyed all in the waters of the flood: but this, he says, is hidden from them, because they do not know it, or are unwilling to know it. Reserved for fire. — Concerning which the Psalmist, Psalm. XCVI, vers. 9: "Fire shall go before him." And Paul, II Thes. I, 8: "In the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, with the angels of his power in a flame of fire giving vengeance to them who know not him." And indeed the Sibyl, lib. II Oracul., sings thus concerning this fire of conflagration: Then a burning river shall flow from heaven on high, Fiery, and shall consume all places utterly, The earth, the vast Ocean, and the blue Pools of the sea, Lakes, rivers, fountains, and stern Wealth; And the celestial pole... and the lights of heaven also in one Flow shall flow, their form being utterly hidden: Stars shall fall indeed from heaven all torn away. And to the same effect Ovid writes thus: There is also in the fates he remembers there will be a time, When the sea, when the earth, when the straight kingdom of heaven Shall burn, and the laborious mass of the world shall toil. Hence learn how great is the gravity of crimes, and how great will be their punishment and vengeance: for on account of them this whole world will be conflagrated, just as once on account of the same Sodom and the whole Pentapolis were conflagrated. On the day of judgment and the destruction of impious men. — You will ask first, whether this fire will precede the judgment, or rather follow it? St. Augustine, in the twentieth book of the City of God, chapters xvi and xxxviii, holds that it will follow. Prosper, Anselm and others agree, whom Suarez cites and follows, in the third part, volume II, disputation LVII, section 1, who hold that the conflagration of the world will be in the future after the judgment, so that through it the world may be completely expiated of all sins whatsoever, even the curses and blasphemies committed by the reprobate in the judgment. But the more common opinion of the Doctors is that this fire will precede Christ the judge and his judgment. The reasons are: First, because it seems to be clearly stated in Psalm xc, 3: "A fire shall go before him, and shall burn his enemies round about. The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of all the earth. The heavens declared his justice, and all people saw his glory." By which words it is plainly signified that this fire will precede, and will burn up all things, and then Christ the judge will follow and carry out the judgment. Second, because men who shall be found alive at the end of the world will be tested by this fire, and will be purged from light faults, according to that in I Corinthians, chapter III, 13: "Every man's work, of what sort it is, the fire shall try; and: He shall be saved, yet so as by fire;" for there the Apostle speaks of the day of judgment (for he calls this the day of the Lord) and of the fire of the conflagration of the world, as I have shown elsewhere. But men will be purged not after the resurrection and judgment (although Caesarius of Arles held this of some, in homily 1 on that passage of I Corinthians III: "He shall be saved, yet so as by fire"), but before, so that being plainly purged they may be caught up with others to meet Christ in the air, and straightway be blessed by Christ, glorified, and ascend with him into heaven. Third, because it is fitting that the glorious Christ should not descend into the world unless it has already been purged and expiated by fire; fourth, because this fire will stand by Christ the judge as it were a lictor, so that it may strike down and punish the reprobate, and so that the sentence of damnation pronounced by Christ against them may immediately snatch them away and sweep them along with it into the depths of hell. For this is what St. Peter signifies here, when he says that this fire is reserved for the day of judgment and the destruction of impious men, and the Church when she sings in the Office for the Dead: "Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death on that dreadful day, when the heavens and the earth shall be moved, when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire." And Tertullian, or rather Novatian, in the book On the Trinity, chapter VIII: "To the fiery," he says, "day of judgment this world hastens," by which words he alludes to these words of St. Peter. And St. Augustine, in the fiftieth book of Homilies, homily 46, where he teaches from St. Paul that every man's work must be proved by fire. Here therefore seems to be the future order and sequence of the conflagration and consummation of the world. First, God through the angels will kindle a fire, by which the world will be conflagrated: by the same fire all men will be slain, but those only will be tormented and purged who have faults and need purification, each more or less according to the merits of each; second, when the Archangel sounds the trumpet: "Rise, ye dead, come to judgment," all will rise from death and ashes, and will be caught up by the angels into the valley of Josaphat, so that there they may be judged by Christ; third, Christ will carry out the judgment of all and each, and straightway the fire will snatch away the reprobate thus judged and condemned by him and carry them with it into the depths of hell. Wherefore this fire seems to be similar and of the same nature as the fire of hell: it will be associated with that fire and will end in it. And by this reasoning the fire will then expiate the world of the curses and blasphemies of the reprobate committed on the day of judgment, because it will snatch them away into the depths of hell, so that there will be no need of another expiation or burning of the world. Hence the Sibyl Erythraean sings of it: Fire shall fall from heaven and a river of sulphur; so that it may be similar to the fire of hell, which is sulphurous, as is evident from Isaiah xxx, 33; Apocalypse xx, 9, and elsewhere. You will ask second, what effects will this fire produce? I answer first, it will serve Christ so that it may represent and adorn his majesty, both divine and royal and judicial in his humanity. For fire is an index of divinity: hence throughout Scripture God appeared and was represented by fire, as I have shown in Exodus III, 2, and XIX, 18. Again, fire was borne before kings, as it were a symbol of power and vengeance, as I said in Jeremiah I, 13. This fire therefore, going before, will show, and as it were with a silent voice will cry out that Christ is God, and that as man he is the King and judge of all. Secondly, this fire will dissolve all mixed bodies into elements: for since those bodies were created for the use of temporal human life, that life ceasing, they will be of no use, and therefore must be resolved into their principles, from which they were compacted, and restored to their elements. Thus our Lessius, book XIII On Divine Attributes, chapter XX, who affirms the same of all mixed things whatsoever: although some deny this and think that certain things should be reserved, and namely the earthly paradise for the use of little ones who have died without baptism in original sin; for these they think will live in this world throughout all eternity: concerning which more at verses 10 and 13. But that all things are to be burned St. Peter asserts in express words at the end of verse 10. Thirdly, this fire will purify the just then living who will have something of guilt or punishment to be paid and expiated, as St. Paul teaches in I Corinthians III, 13; but the just fully purified it will either not touch, or rather it will touch them indeed, but will not afflict them, except insofar as natural death naturally afflicts one dying: for by this fire all will die, even the just, unless you say that God will cause the just to die not by fire, but by some other easier death. Certainly that all will die by fire St. Bonaventure teaches in IV, distinction 47, last Question, and St. Augustine insinuates, homily 16, among the 50: "Those," he says, "who have done things worthy of temporal punishments (concerning which the Apostle says, If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire), through the river of fire, which the Prophetic discourse mentions (and a river of fire was flowing before him): through the river, I say, of fire, and fords horrible with burning globes they will pass: as great as the matter of sin was, so great will be the delay of passing; as much as guilt demanded, so much will a certain rational discipline of flames vindicate for itself from man; and as much as foolish iniquity suggested, so much will wise punishment rage." Where it should be noted, says Lessius in the place already cited, that this fire, as if endowed with reason, will torment each one more or less, according to the quantity of guilt or debt; because it will act as an instrument of divine justice, applied by the hand of His power, as also St. Thomas teaches in IV, distinction 47, toward the end, where he says that all indeed, both good and bad, are to be destroyed by this fire and turned to ashes, but the good in whom nothing is to be purged will feel no pain; the bad will be cruelly tormented; but the good in whom something is to be purged will feel torment from that fire more or less according to the diversity of merits. The same manner is observed in the fire of Purgatory: for that fire rages against those who are purged, according to the gravity of their offenses and the magnitude of their debt. The fourth effect will be the expiation of the world; for this world is as it were a temple of divinity, which God created and sanctified for His worship and honor. This temple through infinite sins of men and demons, through carnal and spiritual filthiness for many centuries has been defiled: whence before it is renewed to a state of glory, it must be expiated, which expiation, as formerly it was made through water, so now will be made through fire, which is most apt for this effect. Mystically, this fire will represent that the judgment of Christ will be fiery, that is, sincere, clear, exact, keen and efficacious, according to that of Daniel, VII, 10: "A river of fire was flowing and swift going out from before him;" and Apocalypse I, 14: "His eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto brass," etc.; and: "Out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp two-edged sword;" and: "His face shineth as the sun in his strength." From this fire, and its faith and doctrine, the Gentiles charged Christians with the crime of faction and sedition, namely that they threatened the whole world with conflagration and plotted its ruin, as Minucius says in the Octavius; indeed Martinus Polonus in his Chronicle narrates that Nero ordered all Christians to be burned, but their master Paul to be beheaded, because he preached that the world would perish by fire: although others bring forward other causes of the Neronian persecution, and more probable ones.
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8. But let this one thing not escape you, beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. — This is a difficulty; for it meets an objection: If Christ is about to come to judgment, why does He delay so long, why does He tolerate wickedness so long, why does He allow His own to be afflicted by the impious for so long? He responds first that all this time, although it seems long to us, is nevertheless brief before God, indeed is as it were one day, if it be compared with God's eternity. For "the eternity of God is the whole and perfect possession of an interminable life all at once," says Boethius, book III of the Consolation; and St. Caesarius, brother of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Dialogue III: "With God," he says, "there is an evening-less and single day which is all eternity." Wherefore eternity is as it were one, indivisible now, enduring always and constant, and therefore in it a thousand of our years are as one day, and one day in it is as a thousand of our years: because in it there is no succession; nothing passes away, nothing comes to be: but it itself is as it were one perpetual and constant day, coexisting with all ages, around which standing and unmoved all times revolve, flow and pass away. Thus Oecumenius: "With God," he says, "who is infinite, and an uncircumscribed ocean of essence, nothing is extended; but a thousand years are just as one day with Him; or rather, according to David, there is not even a multiplication of days, for he says: A thousand years in thy sight, O Lord, are as yesterday which is past, meaning a thousand years with Thee are as one day: nay, as one now of eternity. Secondly and better Gagneius, meaning that with God a thousand years are as one day, and conversely one day as a thousand years; because with God there is no, or very little distance between one day and a thousand years: for a thousand years with Him, being immense and eternal, are so small that they appear to be as one day; for a thousand years are distant from God's eternity just as much as one day is distant, namely infinitely: they are therefore equally distant from it, and consequently appear equal and the same to each other: just as one standing on a high mountain, if he sees from afar a boy with a man, does not distinguish the boy from the man, but sees them as it were one and equal thing. Thus those who stand in heaven do not distinguish men from trees on earth; but they see both as small, slender and as it were equal, as we see small and large stars as equal, nor do we distinguish between them so as to discern the difference in magnitude, which is very great. Whence Irenaeus, at the end of book V, says that some thought that for this reason the command was not given to Adam: "In whatsoever day thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death," Genesis II, 17; because thus it truly came to pass. For after eating the forbidden fruit, Adam in living did not complete one day, because he did not reach the thousandth year (which before God is as one day). Thirdly, more aptly, meaning that to God both one day and a thousand years are objectively present; God's eyes and gaze behold both one day and a thousand years. For God sees, perceives, provides for and disposes all things, even the smallest, so that one day succeeds another, one year succeeds another, and exists at a time defined by Him. Wherefore do not doubt that He also has the day of judgment present, beholds it, and will exhibit it at a time defined by Him, and will make it appear and come to be. For all times, both long and short, are equally present to God and His eternity, so that He disposes all things and each one with equal interval; wherefore the Lord does not delay His promise concerning the day of judgment, concerning the rewards of the good and the punishments of the wicked, because He will exhibit it at a fitting time disposed by Him. St. Peter cites Psalm LXXXIX, 4, where the Psalmist graphically depicts the brevity of our life, and says: "For a thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday which is past, and as a watch in the night; and as those things which are counted for nothing, their years shall be. In the morning man shall grow up like grass, in the morning he shall flourish and pass away, in the evening he shall fall, grow dry and wither," meaning a thousand years of our life, how many almost were Methuselah's (for he himself lived 969 years), are before God as yesterday, nay are as one watch of the night which consists of only three hours, nay the years of men are as those things which are counted for nothing. Why is the life of man like grass which flourishes and blooms in the morning, and withers and falls in the evening. Hear St. Jerome in Psalm LXXXIX: "See what he says. O brief eternity! That Adam, our progenitor, who lived nine hundred and thirty years, even that Methuselah, who lived nine hundred and sixty-five years. Suppose he lived a thousand: in comparison with your eternity, what is great is brief. For what does it profit to be great if it has an end? A thousand years of ours, before we sinned, were one day with you. What do I say one day? one watch of the night." And further down: "Because all our days have failed. Time has run its course, and while we are unaware, we perish grievously. And this very thing which we speak, is of death, and we do not understand it. Our years shall be meditated upon like a spider. See what he says. How the spider, which casts forth threads, and runs hither and thither, and weaves all day, and the labor indeed is great, but the effect is nothing: so also the life of men runs hither and thither. We seek possessions, we prepare riches, we beget children, we labor, we are lifted up into kingdoms and we do all things, and we do not understand that we have woven a spider's web. The days of our years in them are seventy years. Where are the thousand years? In seventy years we are contracted. But if much, eighty. But if we have lived more, it is no longer life, but death. But if in powers, eighty years. For whom will you find to be eighty years old and healthy? And the Greek saying also says: Old age itself is a disease. And moreover their labor and sorrow. Whatever is more, is not life, but sorrow." To this point St. Basil and Theodoret in Psalm LXXXIX, who thus explain it, as if to say: "This life of ours is scanty and calamitous; but with you, who are eternal and everlasting, even the number of a thousand years is like one day." And Cassiodorus in the same place: "Not," he says, "even to one present day, but to a past day is compared so very long a succession of ages." And Eugubinus in the same place: "It is a word," he says, "of God to men, as if to say: Why do you build, trusting in what hope do you live? What if you yourself lived even a thousand years, that is, more than the first father, who passed through nine hundred and thirty years, all this age, because you must finally die, will be to you like one day of yesterday that has passed. But if human life is a particle of time, time the briefest part of eternity, what will be, whatever each man of men lives, before the eyes of God? For, as Plato and Aristotle say, there is neither day, nor year, nor month with God, who is above the sun the begetter of time, nor can he be interrupted by time." Most excellently Pliny, book XXI, chapter 1: "Nature produces flowers for one day, a great admonition to men, which flourish most splendidly, wither most swiftly." Read the poem of Virgil On the Rose: As long as one day is, so long is the age of roses. Most wisely therefore Nazianzenus, oration in Praise of Caesarius: "We are an unstable dream, a phantom which has no footprint, dust, vapor, morning dew, a flower born and withering for a time." Nor are they in a better condition, whether Emperors or Kings; for indeed they too are born men, Ecclesiastes X, 12: "So also a king is today, and tomorrow he shall die." To which the chorus of Seneca in the Thyestes sings, after act III: A brief hour exchanges the lowest with the highest. He to whom the diadem is given on his brow, Whom peoples trembling on their knees have feared, Whom the day saw coming in his pride, That same day saw him lying fallen. Consider how momentary is royal happiness. Whence deservedly that verse of Euripides is celebrated, which Plutarch recites in his little consolatory work to Apollonius: "Happiness is not stable, but lasting for a day." In which place Demetrius Phalereus is read to have reproved the Poet, otherwise praised, who ought to have said not one day, but a point of time. Seneca acutely gives the reason, book VII of Natural Questions, chapter XXXII: "Time flows, and abandons even those most eager for it. And what is to come is not mine, nor what has been: I hang upon a point of fleeting time." Finally, Alcazar in the Apocalypse, chapter 1, verse 3, explains it differently and presses the meaning of "with the Lord," as though the discourse were about the Blessed: for these, when they enjoy blessed eternity, reckon a thousand years as if it were one day. And so "a thousand years with the Lord are as one day," namely, because death approaches each one: but after death the faithful and holy enjoy the beatitude of God, which is measured by an age, or by eternity, not by time; and then they care little or nothing that the day of judgment is deferred a thousand years, because "a thousand years with the Lord" (namely in the blessed life) "are as one day." Peter therefore speaks of those who are with the Lord: otherwise indeed if he were speaking of those who live in this present time, and were comparing it with eternity, it would be as if to say, Wait a little, whoever you are that are troubled, because you will soon be visited, namely after a thousand years (for these with God are one day), it would seem to be rather mockery than consolation of human weakness. Thus he himself quite aptly and coherently. Symbolically many explain it thus, as if to say, The world will stand for six thousand years, because it was created in six days; but one day with God is reckoned as a thousand years: six days therefore of ours make with God six thousand years. Hear St. Jerome, Epistle to Cyprian: "I think from this passage that a thousand years are customarily called one day, so that namely because the world was made in six days, it is believed to subsist for only six thousand years, and afterwards to come to the seventh number and the eighth, in which true sabbatism is exercised, and the purity of circumcision is restored: whence also to eight beatitudes the rewards of good works are promised." This opinion has other more solid foundations, and therefore is that of many of the Fathers and Doctors: whence it is probable, nor can it be charged with rashness, as I shall show in the Apocalypse, chapter 20, verse 5, and is plainly different from the opinion of the Chiliasts, which Bede, On the Reckoning of Time, chapter 66, calls heretical. Again, John Ferdinand, in the Treasure of Writings, under the word Day, number 40, cites St. Augustine explaining thus: One day with the Lord is as a thousand years, that is, one day of punishment in purgatory is so severe that it is equated with the punishment of a thousand years of this life. Witness is that soldier, who when he had been in Purgatory for only one hour, thought he had been there for many years, concerning which St. Antoninus, fourth part, title 14, chapter 10, section 4. For time brief in the gravest sorrows seems to be very long. Finally, some formerly explained St. Peter thus, as if to say, The day of judgment, so that an exact examination may be made of each one, will last for a thousand years; wherefore the Saints who will have some light faults will be purged by fire for a thousand years, so that they may expiate them. But Bede rightly refutes these: "But these," he says, "do not see how great is the impudence to believe that such a great assembly of the perfect and just, having received in the twinkling of an eye blessed and immortal bodies, ought for the space of a thousand years to await the end of judgment in the air or on the earth, and then only when companions are prepared in full, to hear long-awaited the sentence: Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom." Similar was the delirium of Mahomet concerning the centuries of judgment, which Dionysius the Carthusian relates and refutes, book 3, Refutation of the Alcoran, chapter 15 and following. Tropologically: Hence conceive, estimate and ponder how great is the brevity of human time, and how long is the eternity of God and the Saints; for, as St. Ephrem says, volume 1, sermon Exhortation to Piety: "A thousand years of this age have in that eternal and incorruptible world such a comparison as the smallest grain of sand of the sea with all the sand of the same." The Mirror of Examples, distinction IX, chapter LXV, relates that a certain monk singing in choir the verse already mentioned: "A thousand years before thy eyes are as yesterday which is past," marveling how this could be true, went out meditating into a wood, where he heard a little bird singing most sweetly, which soothed him and detained him for three hundred years without food, drink, or sleep: that bird then flew away, and he, returning to himself, went back to the monastery and the choir as if about to sing Terce of the same day (for he still believed that the same day on which he had left the choir was continuing), saw other monks, another choir and everything else changed. The Abbot, inquiring the name of the monk, found in the chronicles of the monastery that he had lived three hundred years before and had left the choir and never appeared again; the monk then received Holy Communion and immediately expired, and flew away to heavenly glory, whose melody and joys he had already tasted. The Reverend Father Francis Costerus investigated this history diligently and discovered that it truly happened in the monastery of Affligem of the Order of St. Benedict, which is situated in Belgium between Brussels and Alost, as he himself once affirmed to me in Belgium. Just as therefore St. Benedict, elevated in God and God's immensity, saw under it the whole world gathered as a globe: so he who is elevated into God's eternity, sees under it all times gathered as it were into one day, indeed as it were into a point. St. Gregory gives the reason, book II of the Dialogues, chapter XXXV: "Because," he says, "to him who sees God, all creation is narrow. For however little of the light of the Creator he may have beheld, all that is created becomes brief to him. For the inner light which has snatched the soul of the beholder to higher things showed him how narrow all lower things were." Let us ruminate on these things, let us meditate on them deeply, so that from vanity to truth, from brevity to eternity, we may merit to pass not miserably but blessedly. Thus Thomas More, Chancellor of England and Martyr, ruminated on these things, who, attacked by Henry VIII, king of England, with all engines of war, and finally by his wife lamenting a miserable fate, however much it may be desired, "a thousand years before thy eyes are as yesterday which is past; not merely as tomorrow which is to come: thus all things which are bounded by the end of time are to be held as having passed," etc. Our life therefore, however long-lived, compared to eternity is but one yesterday, says St. Peter, and one today, says St. Paul, Hebrews III, 13; so that we can be called ephemeral, or day-creatures, similar to little animals living but one day, of which Aristotle, book I of the History of Animals, chapter v, and Cicero, I Tusculan Disputations: "Compare," he says, "our longest life with eternity, and we shall be found in almost the same brevity as those little beasts." Let us therefore despise the trifles of trifles and the vanities of vanities, says St. Augustine, book VIII of the Confessions, chapter xi; let us long for heaven and eternal things, let us bravely bear all daily crosses as momentary, through which we pass to eternal goods; let us fear seriously nothing but eternal punishment and fire, as much as guilt: let us esteem other things, whether joyful or sorrowful, as of little account, and through both let us tend swiftly and steadily to blessed eternity. For this is all that man is.
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9. The Lord delayeth not his promise. — In Greek, ὁ Κύριος τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, that is, the Lord of the promise, namely the author, or he who promised, delayeth not, I say, to fulfill the promise, that is, that which he promised, namely the day of judgment, to reward the good and punish the wicked; but in the time appointed by himself, which is brief to him, although it seemeth long to us, when he shall exhibit it. But dealeth patiently (in Greek μακροθυμεῖ, that is, dealeth with long-suffering), towards you. — The Interpreter readeth ὑμᾶς, that is, you; others read ἡμᾶς, that is, us, as if to say: Therefore God defereth the day of judgment promised by him, not because he is slow, but that he may give to you and your friends and companions space for repentance, "not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to repentance." The cause therefore why God prolongeth the day of judgment is the long-suffering and love of God towards sinful men, because forsooth he awaiteth them, that they may come to their senses and be saved. Whence the Zurich version clearly translateth: "The Lord delayeth not, who promised, as some esteem slowness: but he is long-suffering towards us, while he willeth not any to perish, but all to come to repentance, or to embrace or come." For all these things are signified by the Greek χωρῆσαι. He alludeth to that passage of Isaiah xxx, 18: "The Lord awaiteth that he may have mercy on you, and therefore shall he be exalted, sparing you, because the Lord is a God of judgment." Where St. Jerome saith: "Great," saith he, "is the mercy of God, that he awaiteth our repentance," and therefore greater is the ingratitude and impenitence of man, if he do not meet God waiting with such patience and desire through repentance: wherefore "the more slowly divine wrath proceedeth to vengeance, the more heavily shall it compensate the delay of punishment," saith Valerius Maximus, book I, chapter I. Wherefore forcefully Esdras, or whosoever is the author, in the fourth book of Esdras, chapter II, verse 34, saith: "Await," saith he, "your shepherd, he shall give you eternal rest; for he is at hand, who shall come at the end of the world. Be ye prepared for the rewards of the kingdom, for perpetual light shall shine upon you through the eternity of time. Flee the shadow of this world, receive the joy of your glory," etc. For this whole life is a river, and it running, swift, headlong, carrying all things away with it. For, as the Poet saith: All things pass away after the manner of flowing water. And Heraclitus: "The life of men," saith he, "is nothing other than a river, nay, man is a bubble." And Pythagoras, being asked what human life was, entered a chamber and suddenly departed, signifying that life is an entrance and at the same time an exit, an arrival and a departure. But God is himself immortality and eternity, and therefore the refuge of our mortality, saith St. Augustine. Whence he is called "Jehova," or "he who is," or "I am who am," Exodus III, 14. For God is being itself constant, unity itself, and the most simple and incorruptible perfection of all things. But if thou, O man, hadst lived a thousand years in all the riches, delights, honors and pomps of the world, what wouldst thou have from it now? all would have passed away like a river: the same shall be of the rest of thy life, which remaineth short to thee: when it is finished thou shalt die and be summoned to God's tribunal, and an exact account shall be rendered to thee of all thy words and deeds, so that thou mayest be assigned either to heaven or to hell. The same is true of a thousand years spent in repentance, labor and martyrdom: for pain passeth away, but the reward remaineth. Thy life therefore is as it were a moment upon which eternity hangeth. Live therefore, if thou art wise, for eternity. Hear St. Augustine in Psalm LXXXIX: "Because a thousand years before thy eyes are as the day yesterday which is past: therefore we ought to turn from these things that pass away and slip by to thy refuge, where thou art without any changeableness; for however long a time be given to this life," etc. St. Jerome, in chapter II to the Romans (or whoever is the author: for it does not appear to be St. Jerome, as I have shown there): "For this reason," he says, "God appears to men to wait long while sinners sin, because we, being of a little time, think a hundred years to be eternity. But He, with whom a thousand years are as one day, does not equate a hundred years to the space of one of His hours. Wherefore this is a small thing with Him: since even men are accustomed to hope for the correction of sinners over a long time." From this it is clear that God wills the salvation of all, and wills not the damnation of any, and consequently reprobates no one before foreseeing his demerits and death in sin; which will in God is not merely a will of sign, as some have thought, but also of good pleasure, as Gabriel Vasquez solidly shows, 1 part., Question XIX, disp. 83, cap. II. For the Prophets cry out everywhere that God wills not, nay, grieves and is angry at sinners, that they go to their ruin. This is what Paul cries out: "God will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth," I Timothy II, 4. And Christ: "It is not the will," He says, "before our Father, that one of these little ones should perish," Matthew XVIII, 14. And St. Augustine: "It is impious," he says, "to ascribe to God the causes of sins and the ruins of all." See him, lib. De Artic. falsely imposed on him, cap. X and XIII, and Prosper to the Objections of the Gauls. I have confirmed this same thing in more places in Hosea, cap. XI, 8. Let therefore the impious voice of Calvin in chapter IX to the Romans, verses 17 and 28, be gone: "God destined the impious to create in order to damn." Let him hear, to say nothing of others, St. Clement, lib. II Constitut., cap. LV: "We have heard," he says, "from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and being well taught we say, what is the good will of God, well-pleasing and perfect, which has been declared to us through Jesus Christ, namely that no one perish, but rather all men, when they have believed in Him with one consent, celebrating Him with praises in one mind and mouth, these same live forever." For, as St. Ambrose rightly notes: I Timothy II: "God wills all to be saved, but if they come to Him: for He does not so will that the unwilling be saved; but He wills them to be saved, if they themselves will." Hence likewise it is clear that the error of those is false, who thought that Christ suffered not for all, but only for the predestined. Thus once felt the Predestinarians, Arnobius in Psalm CXLVII, Faustus, lib. II De Lib. arbitr., cap. XIV and XVI; Remigius of Lyons, lib. I Against three epistles of three Bishops, and some moderns. But the contrary is taught by St. Peter here, St. Paul, and everywhere by Holy Scripture and all the Fathers.
3:10
10. And the day of the Lord shall come as a thief. — Some Greek manuscripts add "in the night," and St. Paul does so in I Thessalonians V, 2. Note: Properly it is not Christ Himself (for this seems incongruous and inelegant), but the day of the Lord, that is, the day of judgment, wrath and vengeance, that is compared to a thief. Thus Theophylactus, in Matthew XXIV, 4: "A thief," he says, "he calls the consummation of the world, and the death of each individual." Furthermore, the Lord intimates that His coming will be at night. "As therefore a thief comes secretly, so also my coming, that you may not be negligent." Wherefore what the Lord says in the Apocalypse III, 3: "I will come to thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know at what hour I will come to thee;" and chapter XVI, verse 15: "Behold I come as a thief," take metonymically, so that the judge is put for the judgment and the day of vengeance, as if to say: My coming, or judgment and the day of vengeance, will be sudden and unexpected to thee, will overtake thee sleeping in sins, as a thief overtakes one sleeping. Or properly, not that Christ Himself is as it were a thief, but that to sinners He will be as sudden and harmful as the coming of a thief: hence they themselves will esteem and compare Him to a thief; but the just, expecting and desiring Him, will esteem and compare Him to a most loving friend and guest. He speaks therefore from the sense of the impious, who will dread the coming of Christ as the coming of a thief; for, as Christ says in Matthew XXIV, 37: "As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the coming of the Son of Man; for as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark; and they knew not till the flood came and took all away; so also shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man." Secondly, many hold that the day of the Lord is compared to a thief invading a house at night, because this future day will be begun at night. Hence in Matthew XXV, 6: "At midnight," it says, "a cry was made: Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him." Thus St. Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Euthymius in the same place; indeed St. Jerome says this is an Apostolic tradition, that therefore at Passover the people are not permitted to depart before midnight, because at that time Christ will come, when He typologically smote the firstborn of the Egyptians, Exodus chapter XII, verse 29. The Jews also expect their Messiah to come at midnight. Others, however, hold that Christ's final judgment will be in the morning: for it is fitting that Christ judge not in darkness, but in clear and brightest light. Thus St. Thomas, III part., in the Supplement, Question LXVII, article 3; Abulensis in Matthew XXV; Suarez, III part., tome II, disputation 57, and others. Both can be true, and perhaps will be true, namely that the judgment itself properly performed by Christ will be in the morning, according to that hymn of the Church: "And that morning, the last, which we await bowed down." Yet the consummation of the world will begin at night for the greater terror of the impious, namely at night with swifter force and great roaring the heavens will be shaken, and will kindle the fire by which the world will be consumed: by which fire shining at night there will be such brightness that it will seem to be morning and day. Again the heavens will be shaken with such velocity that they will immediately bring on morning, and turn night into day, especially as the brightness of Christ and the Saints approaches: "For the just shall shine as the sun," Matthew XIII, 43. This is what the Sibyl expressly says, and from her Lactantius, book VII, chapter XIX: ____ When He shall come, There will be fire and in the midst of night horrible darkness. "Then heaven will be opened in the midst of an untimely and dark night, so that throughout the whole world the light of the descending God may appear as lightning. This is the night which is celebrated by us with a vigil on account of the coming of our King and God." Morally, Cassiodorus in Psalm CXVIII, 62, on that passage: "At midnight I rose to give praise to thee," teaches the faithful with the Church to pray and sing psalms at night, because Christ will come at night to judgment. "He knows," he says, "at that time the chains of Peter, Paul and Silas placed in prison were loosed, he knows also that the bridegroom will come at midnight: and therefore at the same time he rises for praises, lest among the foolish virgins the door remain closed." And St. Augustine, epistle 120, chapter XXXIV, and sermon 22 On the Words of the Lord according to Matthew: "At midnight," he says, "He will come, when it is very dark, that is, it is hidden whether He will come, and when it is not expected." Hence he infers: "Therefore watch at night, lest you suffer a thief." In which the heavens with great impetuosity (in Greek ῥοιζηδόν, that is impetuously, with a hissing sound, and with a whistling such as is wont to be produced by burning fire, says Œcumenius, or by a storm and strong winds: whence the Zurich version translates it, the heavens like the manner of a hissing storm) shall pass away. — In Greek παρελεύσονται, that is they shall pass by, be dissolved; St. Augustine, in book XX of the City of God, chapter XXIV, reads, they shall run across. You will ask first, what are these heavens? Many understand the heavens strictly and properly so called, namely the starry heavens: for they are distinguished here from the elements, and consequently from the air, so that it is not permitted to understand them as the airy heavens; these heavens they judge to have been made from waters, and therefore to be not solid, but fluid like air, and properly to be the aether, which is capable of change and corruption; because "everything changeable is corruptible," says Aristotle, in book I of the Generation and Corruption. For thus the Mathematicians in the sun, moon and stars by means of the telescope have discovered, and have shown to me, spots, not only stable, but also moving, going and returning. Moreover, these same distinguished Mathematicians judged that the last comet, which appeared huge in the year of the Lord 1618, like a beam, of the most delicate splendor, having the shape of a sword, whose point appeared on the 18th of November under the Crater, but the lower part extended obliquely to the shoulders of Centaurus: then on the 30th of November the point was directed through 12 and 13 to the heart of Hydra; but the lower part was seen under 22 of the same Hydra. This comet, I say, they judged by distinguished Mathematicians not to have been in the air, but far above the air in the very starry heavens themselves, indeed above all the lower heavens, and they demonstrated this from its great parallax, which could not have occurred except in the most sublime and vast heavens: therefore Aristotle erred, who held that the worlds are eternal and incorruptible. They prove this from this passage of St. Peter and Psalm 101, 27: "They (the heavens) shall perish;" Isaiah 34, 4: "The heavens shall be folded together as a book;" and chapter 30, 26: "The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun;" Apocalypse 6, 14: "The heaven departed as a book folded up;" Matthew 24, 29: "The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light: and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved." Again, they say, the empyrean heaven consists of aether: for the Blessed in it will not be shut up as in a solid and hard wall, but will be able to move, walk and speak naturally in it, as we do in this air. If in the empyrean heaven there is aether, but incorruptible: therefore aether is also divisible in the lower and sidereal heavens. For Mars, Venus, Mercury (of which the two latter sometimes appear above the sun, sometimes below) and the other planets have motions so wonderful and various, so many gyrations, bendings and reflexions, that they appear to move in divisible aether, as fishes in water, as St. Basil, St. Ambrose, and others held: whence Mathematicians, in order to represent these their motions, invented so many epicycles, eccentrics, concentrics, etc. Thus St. Peter's disciple and successor St. Clement thinks expressly, and explains St. Peter, in book II of the Recognitions, where he relates that St. Peter, disputing with Simon Magus, distinguished a twofold heaven: one invisible to us in which the Blessed dwell, which he says is eternal and immutable; the other visible and distinguished by stars, and that is corruptible and to be corrupted, namely when men shall have ceased to be on earth, for whose sake it was created. The same, in book III, from the mouth of St. Peter says, that as a chick comes forth from an egg with the shell broken, other and different from the egg, so when this machine of heaven and world is dissolved, a new state of the heavens will arise and be opened to the Blessed. His words are: "As the shell of eggs, although beautifully made, must nevertheless be broken and dissolved, so that the chick may proceed from it, and that may appear for which the form of the whole egg seems to be expressed: so therefore this world must pass away in its state, so that that more sublime state of the heavenly kingdom may shine forth." And St. Basil, in book III of the Hexaemeron, asserts that the destruction of the world will be by fire, which, being scattered with heaven and waters, is now very abundant, and indeed is now tempered by the incredible abundance of waters surrounding above and below, but at the end of the age, with the waters consumed, will devour all things in a common conflagration. It appears therefore that St. Basil makes heaven in part fiery and of fiery nature with the Stoics: for thus Zeno, Cleanthes, Chrysippus, as Eusebius testifies in the Preparation for the Gospel, handed down that all things will finally perish in ethereal fire. The same concerning the sidereal heavens perishing and being burned by fire was held by St. Justin, St. Jerome, Theodoret, St. Ambrose, Nyssenus, Hilarius, Oecumenius, and among moderns Catharinus, Salmeron, and Serarius proving it vigorously here, Jerome Magius, Francis Valesius, Louis Molina and others, whom I cited on Isaiah 34, 4, where I said more on this matter. The same was sung by the Sibyls, and from them by the poet Virgil, Aeneid VI and X; Lucretius and Manilius, book I; Pliny, book II, chapter IX; Ptolemy in the Quadripartite, and others, who held that the stars are nourished by vapors, which when taken away and burned up at the end of the world, they will perish. Hence also Lucan, book I of the Pharsalia, thus sings of the end of the world: The stars shall rush against the stars, the fiery stars shall seek the sea, the earth will not wish to extend her shores, and will shake the strait, and Phoebe, contrary to her brother, will go, and indignant at driving her chariot through the oblique orbit, will demand the day for herself, and the whole discordant machine will disturb the broken covenant of the world. If you object that passage Job 37, 18: "Thou perhaps hast made the heavens, which are most solid as if cast in brass," they answer, "most solid," that is most firm, just as if they were cast in brass. For the Hebrew thus reads word for word: "Did you stretch out with him the heavens strong, which are as the appearance of a thing cast." Thus Vatablus; or, as Pagninus, "which are strong as a molten mirror." Whence Cajetan, Pineda, the Zurich Bible and others there understand by heavens the air, or aether, which God stretched out and extended above us, but at the same time so confirmed and consolidated it, that it is a stable, constant, strong, powerful thing: for the force of agitated and impelled air is incredible, as is evident in strong winds, which cast down and level trees, houses, towers, fortresses. But others, both ancient and modern, commonly understand the heavens here to be aerial, not sidereal. For heaven in Scripture signifies everything that is spread out above us, whether it be air or properly heaven: whence the birds of heaven are called, that is, of the air: and thus a little before St. Peter said that the heavens, that is, the lower part of the heavens, namely the air, gave forth the waters of the flood. By elements, however, they understand water and air of the lowest region and adjacent to the earth: for from these as it were from elements all mixed bodies were made and formed. Thus expressly St. Augustine, book XX of the City of God, chapters XIV, XVI, XVIII and XXIV; St. Epiphanius, Heresy 64; Damascenus, book II on the Faith, chapter VI; St. Gregory, book XVII of the Morals, chapter V. The first reason is, because the heavens are incorruptible, not only from Aristotle and the Philosophers, but also, as it seems, from the judgment of the Scriptures, as in Job chapter XXXVII, verse 18, according to the Latin version already cited; and the Psalter, which speaking of the celestial bodies says: "He hath established them for ever and for ages of ages," Psalm CXLVIII, 5. The second, because fire cannot act upon the heavens; wherefore neither will it reach them, just as the water of the flood did not reach them; but as far as this reached, so far will fire reach, namely so that it exceed all mountains by fifteen cubits, as Augustine says, XX of the City of God, XXIV, and from him the Scholastics in IV, distinction 47 and 48. The third, because in heaven there are no filths or sins to be purged and expiated by this fire. Hence the same ones think that these aerial heavens are to be corrupted, not as to substance, but as to qualities, so that namely with the same form and matter remaining, they are cleansed from vapors and other dregs and filths, and are changed for the better, namely they receive greater subtlety and light. Thus St. Augustine, Gregory, Epiphanius, in the places cited; St. Jerome in Isaiah chapter LXV; the Scholastics in IV, distinction 48, and I part, question LXVII and LXVIII. For just as man himself will rise again, so also the same elements which served man, will rise again with him, and that will be as it were the reward of their labor and suffering, as St. Paul hints at in Romans chapter VIII, verse 20. Hear St. Cyril, book IV on Isaiah chapter LI: "Isaiah," he says, "properly names the death of the elements, and aptly the change for the better, as also Paul says: The creature shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption; but in what manner he liberally shows, the disciple of Christ saying: The day of the Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens with a rushing sound shall pass away, the elements burning shall be dissolved. Therefore the renewal of creatures, as it were a resurrection from the dead, just as in human bodies, he says will be." And St. Jerome in Isaiah chapter XXX: "There will be," he says, "the light of the moon as the light of the sun, when the Lord shall give a new heaven and a new earth, and the fashion of this world shall have passed away, so that the moon and sun may obtain the rewards of their labor and course. For the expectation of the creature waiteth for the revelation of the sons of God." To me the middle opinion pleases, namely that by heavens here are understood both sidereal and aerial: for both will pass away with great force; for elsewhere Holy Scripture teaches that the heavens properly so called are to be changed, and therefore the sun and moon are to be adorned with greater light. Hence Christ in Matthew XXIV, 29: "The powers," he says, "of the heavens shall be moved." And the Church in the Office of the Dead: "When the heavens are to be moved and the earth." Thus Cajetan here, Viegas in chapter XXI of the Apocalypse, Suarez III part., vol. II, disputation LVIII, section 3, where he says it is probable that on the day of judgment the sidereal heavens are to be agitated more swiftly, so that they carry with them the aerial heavens, and concur toward the kindling of fire and the conflagration of the world, both by their swifter motion and also by influence and action. The heavens therefore will pass away, first, because they will be carried away more swiftly; second, because their motion will soon cease, as St. Ambrose teaches, book V, epistle 21, and the Doctors everywhere. The sun therefore in one hemisphere, the moon in the opposite will stand for eternity, so that each may illuminate its own; for it is not necessary that all the heavens complete their course: for thus the heaven of the stars, so that it might complete its course from east to west, would need to be moved through 36 thousand years, as Ptolemy thinks; but the world will not stand so long. It is enough therefore that they be moved as long as men, to whom they serve, dwell on the earth. Men being abolished, the course of the heavens will be cut off, and consequently that of all sublunary things: "For when the motion of the heaven ceases, the motion of inferior things ceases," says Aristotle, book II on the Heavens. Third, they will pass away, that is, they will be dissolved as to their lower part, namely as to the aerial heavens; whence explaining concerning these he adds in verse 11: "The heavens being on fire shall be dissolved;" but as to their upper part, namely as to the starry heavens, they will be changed, and will pass into another state, a greater light and glory. Thus Christ says, Matthew XXIV, verse 35: "Heaven and earth shall pass away," namely from the present corruptible state into the future incorruptible one. And Psalm CI, verse 27: "All shall grow old like a garment, and as a covering thou shalt change them," namely as a garment turned inside out. For just as a garment worn on the outside is turned inside out so that the inner part which is intact becomes the outer part, and thus the garment appears to be new: so the old form and state of the heavens will be changed into a new one more bright and glorious, and thus the heavens will appear to be other and new. Fourth, they will pass away, because by thunders, lightnings, clouds, comets, falling stars, and other meteors, storms and tempests, the air will be so disturbed that the heavens will appear to pass away and to be torn from the hinges of the world, to be undermined and to vanish, according to that passage in Job chapter IX, verse 6: "Who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble." And chapter XXVI, verse 11: "The pillars of heaven tremble, and dread at his nod." Where Didymus in the Greek Catena says that by that earthquake which occurred at the passion of Christ, the whole earth itself was shaken and convulsed from its center. If this is true, certainly the same will happen on the day of judgment, when there will be the greatest terror and a commotion of all things, an end and termination, according to that passage of the Church cited a little before: "When the heavens are to be moved and the earth." See the things said in Apocalypse VI, at the end. Finally, certain learned men, in order to reconcile the first two opinions and to satisfy all the passages of Holy Scripture, have ingeniously devised a new opinion, saying that the heavens which now are solid are to be reduced and will return to fluid matter, from which as from chaos and abyss they were first formed, Genesis I. But this opinion also has its difficulties: for first, the question remains, how the fire of conflagration will act upon the solid and incorruptible heavens so as to reduce them to fluid matter. Second, the heavens after the day of judgment appear to be more solid than they now are, because they will endure for eternity. Third, the heavens together with the Blessed, whom they served in this life, will on the day of judgment as it were rise again into a more perfect state and form: therefore they will be more perfect, and will have more perfect and more solid forms and endowments than they now have. For the Apostle in Romans VIII, 20, teaches that all creation is already subject to vanity, that is to change and corruption, but expects resurrection so that through it creation may be brought into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God. And Isaiah, and from him St. Peter here, promises that new heavens are to be created. Again Isaiah, chapter XXX, verse 26, says that the light of the moon will be like that of the sun; and that of the sun will be sevenfold greater: which all things argue that the heavens at the end of the world will not return to their chaos and their primeval matter; but will be far more elegant, more beautiful and more excellent than they now are. Wherefore other distinguished Philosophers and Theologians, in order to satisfy fully the words of Holy Scripture and especially of St. Peter in this place, and in order to reconcile with them Philosophy and Aristotle, who ought rather to follow Holy Scripture than to precede it, say first, that the heavens are incorruptible in this way, that naturally neither by themselves, nor by the bodies subject to them, namely by the elements, can they be corrupted: yet they can be corrupted by a superior and more powerful virtue, and therefore are to be corrupted by God on the day of judgment by the fire of the conflagration of the world, which will be newly kindled by God for this purpose, and will be superior to our elemental fire, more efficacious and more ardent. For there are various degrees and orders of incorruptible things, some more perfect than others. For Angels are more incorruptible than the heavens: for they lack matter, and are substances wholly simple, incorporeal and spiritual, and therefore wholly incorruptible. Wherefore the heavens with respect to Angels are corruptible, but incorruptible with respect to lower bodies and elements. Second, they assert that the heavens will be burned and liquefied by the fire of conflagration, inasmuch as they are compacted, constricted and as it were cemented together from water, so that they may be purged from all filth and dregs, and may become purer and more subtle. For this St. Peter says expressly here, and Isaiah chapter XXXIV, verse 4, and chapter LI, verse 6, and among the more recent writers our Adam Tanner at length in his Dissertation on the Heavens, Question XI. Hear Isaiah, chapter XXXIV: "And all the host of heaven shall melt away (that is, shall dissolve like wax), and the heavens shall be folded together as a book, and all their host shall fall away, as the leaf falleth from the vine and from the fig tree," that is, as Christ explains in Matthew, chapter XXIV, 29: "The stars shall fall from heaven;" for the host, that is, the soldiers of the heavens are none other than the stars and the heavenly bodies. The heavens therefore and the stars shall be dissolved and resolved, yet in such a way that they themselves remain the same as to substance, and retain the same matter and substantial form in number; but in such a manner that both may be perfected, and receive a new union, gifts and more illustrious qualities, so that they may appear to become new heavens, a new earth, a new world, as Isaiah says, and Apocalypse XXI, 5: "Behold, I make all things new;" for since light flows forth from the substance of the sun and heavens naturally as it were, when then the light shall be more perfect, the substance of the sun and heavens also seems to be about to be more perfect. For in the universal resurrection there shall be a resurrection, renewal and glorification not of man alone, but of the heavens, the earth and the whole world, which served the elect men and suffered with them. Wherefore as a reward for this suffering and servitude, when man rises again, it shall rise to glory. Just as therefore man dying after death shall rise again the same in number as to substance, but now perfected and endowed with glory, and therefore immortal and incorruptible: so likewise the heavens, purified and cleansed by conflagration, the same form and substance remaining in number, shall as it were rise again to their glory with greater light, subtlety, union, and from thence shall be endowed with incorruptibility and eternity. Wherefore just as man shall rise again the same, not another, lest one should suffer and merit, and another who neither suffered nor merited should rise: so those very heavens which served man in suffering shall rise again, not others, lest those which served man should perish, and others be rewarded in their place. An example is found in metals, such as iron, bronze, gold, silver. For just as gold is melted by fire, so that from it a beautiful golden cup may be made, so that while the same form and substance of gold remains, that very substance is nevertheless perfected and made bright by fire through art and figure: so also the heavens and elements shall be dissolved and melted by the fire of conflagration like ice and wax, but in such a way that while the same form and substance remains, they may be reformed and rise again to a new perfection and glory. That the same heavens and elements shall remain the same in number as to substance is gathered from that passage in Ecclesiastes I, 4: "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth standeth for ever." And chapter III, verse 14: "I have learned that all the works which God hath made continue for ever." And Psalm CXLVIII, 6: "He hath established them for ever and for ever and ever: he hath made a decree, and it shall not pass away." This is what the Apostle expressly says in Romans VIII, 20: "For we know that every creature groaneth and travaileth in pain, even till now. And not only it, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that made it subject, in hope; because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption." The same creature therefore which now serves man, subject to vanity, that is to suffering and corruption, and hopes to be freed from it, when man rises again shall be freed, and shall rise again to glory, not another: otherwise indeed it would not be a resurrection, but the creation of another creature. And Isaiah, chapter XXX, verse 26: "And the light of the moon," he says, "shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days." The same moon therefore shall remain, the same sun, but sevenfold brighter; for then shall be a new age of glory, happiness and eternity, whose author shall be Christ, who is therefore called "the father of the world to come," Isaiah IX, 6. Wherefore then the heavens, sun, moon and stars shall not return to the primeval fluid abyss, which was created at the beginning of the world, Genesis I, 1. For thus they would return to their rude and formless chaos, and would be more miserable than they now are; but far more beautiful than they were formed from the abyss, shall they rise again, so that they may be conformed to the holy men rising again to glory, and may delight and make them blessed by their beauty. In this way nothing is taken away, but rather something is added to Aristotle. For he considered only nature, according to which he said the heavens are incorruptible; which is true. But Holy Scripture besides nature delivers the decree of God, and the grace and glory, by which God shall supernaturally reform and make blessed men, and for the sake of men the heavens and the whole world: but it cannot be reformed unless that which first perished, that is, was dissolved or melted, be reformed. Faith therefore here corrects, nay rather elevates nature, and Holy Scripture Philosophy, and Paul Aristotle, informs and perfects. Finally, to be melted is not to be corrupted: for gold by being melted is not corrupted, but perfected: so the heavens, although incorruptible, shall be melted, so that they may be more solidified. All these things are confirmed by the spots and flares which recent mathematicians have observed through the optical tube in the sun and planets, and which I myself have observed. Likewise by Mercury, Venus and Mars, which have been found to revolve continually around the sun through the same tube. Again, by two new stars which were seen around Saturn, and four others around Jupiter through the same tube. In addition, by comets which appeared above the moon, such as the recent one in the year of our Lord 1618, which mathematicians asserted to have existed above the moon from its great parallax, or from no change of appearance at any distance of observers. Moreover, by new stars which have appeared in the starry heaven from time to time and again disappeared, such as that which appeared in Cassiopeia in the year of our Lord 1572. I omit Joshua, chapter X and XII, the sun standing still, and it being turned backward under Hezekiah, IV Kings XX, 11, and an unusual eclipse suffered while Christ was suffering, Matthew XXVII, 45. All which things signify that the heavens are not altogether immutable and incorruptible, but that God, in order to show forth His power in them, and His lordly right and dominion, may at His pleasure alter and change them, and dispose and prepare them for the final and complete change, by which He will make them altogether incorruptible and immutable, indeed glorious for all eternity; wherefore then they must be more perfect and solid than now. All these things seem to require the words of Scripture so often and so clearly repeated concerning the heavens being changed, indeed perishing, and new ones being made, by Isaiah, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. John, David and others: and those words seem to suffice for their explanation and completion, as is evident to one comparing them among themselves. See St. Augustine, book XXI of the City of God, VIII, where he relates that by God's will the star Venus changed color, magnitude, figure, and course in a wondrous portent to the amazement of astrologers. The same, in the book On the Destruction of the City, relates a prodigy by which, with the sky burning and the earth trembling, God seemed to threaten the destruction of the city of Constantinople, in the year of our Lord 396. Finally, if fire acts by God's power in spirits, namely in demons and damned souls, why should the same not act by the same power in corporeal heavens? From what has been said, some collect (although others deny it) that at the end of the world the heavens are to be renewed by God not only accidentally, but also substantially. For this is signified by that passage in Isaiah, chapter LXV, verse 17: "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth." And Apocalypse XXI, 1: "I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away." For just as in the resurrection, although the same man in number is to rise again, yet he, as it appears, will be substantially more perfect than he was before; for he will receive a new substantial perfection and union, by which the soul will be united to the body more intimately, more closely, more perfectly, more nobly than it was united before, so that a new man will rise as it were a heavenly man, glorious, impassible, immortal; for so close will be the union of soul with body that it can no longer be dissolved, so that from it man will become immutable and incorruptible, who before was mutable, mortal, miserable and corruptible; wherefore then he will receive more perfect being, which can always subsist and endure, indeed cannot be corrupted or altered: the same proportionally will happen in the heavens. Thus among others teaches St. Thomas, and from him St. Soto in IV, distinction XLIX, Question IV, article 5, where he gives the intrinsic cause of impassibility and immortality of the bodies of the blessed, their perfect union with the soul. The gift, he says, of impassibility is not a quality, but the very perfect and indissoluble information of the soul, which gives the body perpetual being. For the blessed soul is able to inform the rising body indissolubly, in the manner in which the form of heaven informs its matter. For thus it binds to itself the power of matter so closely that it is no longer open to any alteration or passion which would distract the body from its nature. Add that the soul then informing the body will elevate it to a certain degree of spirituality, so that it will be subject to it and serve it at its nod, according to that passage I Corinthians XV, 44: "It is sown a natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body," as St. Augustine explains, book XIII of the City of God, chapter XX. Thus St. Soto. The same teaches our Salmeron in this passage of St. Peter, Delrio in chapter 1 of Genesis, and many others cited at the beginning, whose sayings I leave to the reader to weigh and judge. But the elements truly by heat (in Greek καυσούμενα, that is, burning, that is, on account of heat and burning, as the verse 12 says) shall be dissolved. — By elements understand the lower air and water: for concerning the earth he adds shortly after that it is to be burned. Fire truly either needs no purification, or if it be in thicker and smoky matter, by burning and consuming it purifies and clarifies itself. "Elements" therefore here understand those things between heaven and earth, namely the sea and the air near to us, from which all mixed bodies are formed and consist. Furthermore, some explain τὸ solventur thus, as if to say, They shall be corrupted, shall perish and vanish. Thus Bede here thinks that on the day of judgment two elements shall plainly perish, namely fire and water, but two shall be renewed, namely air and earth. Which the same teach, Andrew of Caesarea, Arethas, Anselm, Haymo and Rupert in the Apocalypse XXI, 1, where it is said: "And the sea is now no more." But the sense of that passage is different. Wherefore it is far more truly that the elements are to be changed only so that they may be changed for the better, not truly to be corrupted; for all things pertain to the integrity of the universe. "Shall be dissolved" therefore, that is, by the force of fire shall be thinned, and as it were melted, so that from them may be separated vapors, dregs, exhalations, and other thick and impure things mixed with them; just as in a furnace gold is dissolved, when by the force of fire it is melted so that from it may be separated dross, bronze and all other impurity mixed with it, so that pure gold remains and shines forth. Thus St. Thomas, Titelmann, Cajetan here, and the Scholastic Doctors in IV, dist. XLVIII. But the earth, and the works that are in it (both from nature, and made by art by men, namely all mixed bodies) shall be burned. — Hence it is clear that all mixed bodies are to be burned, and converted into ashes and earth, so that they may return and go back into their original element. "For since," as our Lessius teaches learnedly in the place already cited, "all those things were created for the use of the temporal life of men, that life ceasing they will be of use to no one, and therefore must be resolved into their principles from which they were compacted, and restored to their elements. And so the earth shall be burned most deeply, and all the works that are in it; mountains and the foundations of mountains shall be burned; all stones and metals shall be dissolved, and rocks like wax shall melt; the sea shall be burned, so that whatever in it is earthly or concrete shall be consumed; finally whatever in the air is inflammable matter shall be burned." And a little further: "Concerning the burning of the sea we do not have an express passage: it is gathered however from the words of St. Peter, when he says: The elements by the heat of fire are to be dissolved. For it is something very mixed and impure; whence it must be dissolved and purified: it will be easy for God by fire to kindle and dissolve whatever in the sea is inflammable. Hence, in the Apocalypse XXI, after the renewal of the world John says: And the sea is now no more; not that the element of water is to be abolished (since it pertains to the constitution of the world as one of its principal parts), but because this mixed thing which is properly called the sea will no longer be; nor will water, which is a portion of this mixed thing, be contained in the same channel, so that it presents the appearance of the sea; but it will be clear like crystal, and will cover the earth everywhere, as in the time of the flood, as many wish; or if it does not cover the whole, its disposition and form will be different from what it now is, since it serves for navigation and other uses of our mortality." Hippolytus, in the oration On the Consummation of the Age: "A river of fire," he says, "going forth with fury like a savage sea, shall burn mountains and hills, and shall destroy the sea, and shall dissolve the aether by burning." Shall destroy the sea, understand not by consuming the nature of the waters, but by purifying, as has been said; for this fire shall act here not only by the force of nature, but as an instrument of divine power: just as the wind by which the waters of the flood were dried up, Genesis VIII. And so it is not wonderful if it can in a short time burn the earth most deeply, dissolve mountains, stones and metals, and consume whatever is mixed in the waters themselves. All these things shall happen with incredible noise and din, with burning stones and ashes ejected most high into the air, flame with great smoke going forth into heaven, torrents of sulphur, and liquefied stones flowing in all directions by the force of burning. For if all these things sometimes happen in one burning mountain, and that with such a disturbance of the elements, that the world seems about to perish: what will happen when so many mountains and the whole earth shall burn from the depths? From what has been said, it is evident that it is improbable what Moses Barcepha holds, in his book On Paradise, chapter eighteen, namely that the earthly paradise will be immune from the fire of the world's conflagration, although it will be empty and of no future use; for paradise was destroyed, buried by the waters of the flood. Less badly do others say that paradise is to be preserved for little ones, so that after judgment they may dwell in it for all eternity. But these too err; for the whole earth and all things in it will be burned up, as St. Peter signifies here. Furthermore, the wood of Christ's cross will be immune from this fire, and the Sibyl sings that it, as it were Christ's triumphal trophy, is to be borne to the heavens, in book VI of the Carmina, saying: O blessed wood, on which God himself hung! The earth does not hold you, but you will see the signs of heaven when God's renewed face gleams alight with fire. Christ himself hinted at the same in Matthew 24:13: "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man," which although Abulensis and Jansenius, and Anselmus in the Elucidation, understand of the sign of the cross painted in the air, nevertheless St. Chrysostom expounds it of the very cross of Christ itself, in his homily On the Cross and the Thief; Waldensis, volume III On the Sacraments, title 20, chapter 158. And this is hinted at by St. Cyril, in Catechesis 13, and St. Ephrem, in his sermon On True Repentance, chapter IV. And Gretserus, book I On the Cross, chapter 92, and Suarez, III part., volume II, disputation LVII, section 2, consider it probable. Morally, learn from this to fix your heart on no earthly thing, because all of it will be burned up on the day of judgment: for by the fire of conflagration will be burned all flowers, all gems, all gold, all metals, all horses, all beasts of burden, all animals, all plants, all trees, all gardens, all palaces, all paintings, all fields, all books, even those of St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Basil, indeed all the libraries of Holy Scripture. And if thus inanimate and insensible things, which lack fault, will burn, how will the cupidity and will of man, stained and teeming with so many faults, burn? Go now, mortals, build palaces, adorn gardens, heap up gold without end, abound in delights. All these things will soon be burned up with you by that divine fire: "I have seen an end of all perfection; your commandment is exceeding broad."
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11. Since therefore all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conversation and piety. — This is a conclusion, by which he applies a sharp spur to the faithful toward Christian life and piety, and all virtue and zeal for good works.
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12. Waiting for and hastening toward the coming of the day of the Lord. — St. Augustine, in *On Faith and Works*, cap. xiv, reads "toward the presence of the day of the Lord," as if looking to this one thing alone, doing this one thing alone. "For he who completes one thing speedily hastens; he who begins many things at once and completes none, he hurries," says Agellius. For this is that one thing which Christ asserts to be necessary to Martha, Luke cap. x, vers. 42. For with this one thing obtained, we obtain all things; with this one thing lost, we lose all things. Thus St. John hastened toward the day of the Lord, being well aware of it in himself and most eager to enjoy his Jesus: "Come, Lord Jesus," he says, Apoc. cap. ultimo. This is what we pray daily according to the precept of Christ: "Thy kingdom come." St. Augustine gives the reason in Psalm. LXVI: "He is to be judged joyful who shall have feared Him who is to judge." He gives the same example of himself before his conversion, lib. VI *Confess.*, cap. ult.: "Nor did anything call me back," he says, "from the deeper abyss of carnal pleasures, except the fear of death and of future judgment, which through various opinions indeed, never nevertheless departed from my breast. And I disputed with my friends Alypius and Nebridius concerning the ends of goods and evils: Epicurus would have carried off the palm in my mind, unless I had believed that after death there remained life for the soul and the fruits of merits, which Epicurus was unwilling to believe." For, as Paul says, II Tim. cap. IV, vers. 8: "A crown of justice is laid up for those who love his coming." On which passage Anselm says: "They do not love the coming of the judge, unless they know themselves to have the merit of justice in their cause." And Theodoret: "He loves the coming of the Lord who follows his laws, and from them institutes his life." But St. Chrysostom asks in what manner one may love the coming of Christ? and he answers: "If he rejoices in his presence; he who indeed rejoices in his presence makes things worthy of rejoicing; he will put all riches, if need be, and his very soul so that he may enjoy eternal goods, so that according to his coming he may deserve to behold him in fitting manner, with confidence, with glory, with brightness: this is to love his coming. He who loves his coming will do all things so that before that universal coming, a singular coming of the Savior to him may be made. Who then is this? hear the Lord himself saying: He that loveth me, keepeth my commandments, and we will come to him and my Father, and will make our abode with him." Indeed, Seneca also to Marcia, cap. xxiii: "The mind of the wise man," he says, "is wholly inclined toward death: he wills this, he meditates on this, he is always borne by this desire, tending outward." And Plato in the *Gorgias*, whom Theodoret cites, lib. XI *On the Cure of the Affections of the Greeks*: "Rhadamanthus (whom the Gentiles believed to be the judge of the dead)," he says, "knows nothing at all else of a man, neither who he is, nor from what parents he is born, but only cares whether he is evil: when he has discovered this, he sends him to Tartarus; but the soul which he has beheld that has lived a holy life, and an ignorant man or another who has cherished truth, especially the soul of a Philosopher, who alone has had leisure for himself, and has not been anxious about many other things in life, he receives lovingly, and sends to the islands of the blessed." Whence Plato relates: "To me indeed, O Callicles, by these arguments I am now fully persuaded, and this one thing especially I look to, that I may show to the judge Rhadamanthus a soul as sound as possible. Dismissing therefore the dignities which many desire, and applying myself to truth, I will take care that, as much as in me lies, I may live as good a man as possible; and when I must die, die as good a man as possible." And soon exhorting each one to the same pursuit: "For neither," he says, "can you bring any aid to yourself, when you shall have a cause there, and judgment shall be rendered; but when you shall come into the sight of the judge, you will gape in astonishment, and will suffer darkness and vertigo," etc. If Plato thus, what shall the Christian do? The royal Prophet meditating deeply on this, Psalm lxxvi, 6: "I thought," he says, "upon the ancient days, and I had eternal years in mind. And I meditated in the night with my heart, and I exercised myself, and I swept my spirit." Others read swept, that is, with various thoughts and meditations as if I were sweeping, turning over, shaking out, or from scope, that is, I directed to his scope: thus Genebrardus from the Hebrew; whence Symmachus translated, I searched; St. Augustine and Theodoret, I examined; the Roman Psalter, I winnowed; St. Jerome to Sunias, I hoed, as with a hoe useless and harmful herbs are dug out from a field; the same St. Jerome in the Psalter translated, I dug as a field so that I might sow there the seed of the Lord's teachings; Aquila, I scraped; the Chaldean, I investigated thoroughly; others, I vexed my spirit. All these signify the exact, profound and frequent reconsideration, discussion and examination of thoughts and works which the royal Prophet made, and which every just man preparing himself for death and the day of the Lord ought to do daily. Wherefore St. Basil in Psalm xxxiii: "If ever," he says, "you feel yourself incited to sin, recall to mind that fearful judgment of Christ, tolerable to no mortal, in which indeed the judge presides on a high throne, and all creation will stand trembling and quaking; then each one will be brought forth to be examined concerning the things which each one did in life. Then those who perpetrated evils, horrible indeed and sad, will be surrounded by fire breathing forth, bearing a countenance like night before them on account of sorrow and hatred of men. Soon they will look upon the abyss gaping open below, impenetrable darkness, and obscure fire, having indeed the power to burn, but destitute of light." By which the burning heavens shall be dissolved. — Understand by "heavens" the lower ones, namely the aerial. For the upper part of the air is full of fatty vapor and inflammable exhalation, says St. Augustine XX On the City of God, XVIII. Others add also the upper heavens, namely the starry ones (for these are properly called heavens, especially when they are distinguished from the elements, as is done here), which they think are ethereal and the aether, and therefore can and ought to be inflamed, as I said above. Thus Serarius here forcefully contends that the starry heavens must be burned by fire; secondly, the air; thirdly, water; fourthly, the earth, so that these four as to substance, namely form, perish, and only their matter remains with the devouring fire and the empyrean heaven. See the things said at verse 10. And the elements burning with the heat of fire (καυσσούμενα, that is, burning hot) shall melt away, — τήκονται, that is, shall become liquid like metal melted in a furnace, as I said at verse 10. St. Augustine in the place cited reads: "They shall be refined by the heat of fire." For just as gold in the crucible melts away, that is, is liquefied and thinned, so that all dross and foreign matter is scraped from it, and it becomes purer and more splendid: so also the air and aether shall melt away, that is, shall be thinned, so that all exhalations and dregs are scraped away, and it shines forth purer and more splendid. For just as through the resurrection the bodies of men will not be changed into another substance or body, but as if through a furnace will be strained and purged from all corruption, and thus as if cooked so that they may be eternal: so plainly will it happen to the whole world through the fire of conflagration. For Scripture says the world will be eternal, Psalm xciii, verse 2, and Psalm cxviii, 89; and thus the Psalmist explains and reconciles these places at Psalm ci, 27 and 28; whence also here, verse 13, St. Peter says the heavens are to be renewed, that is, not in substance, but only in quality and perfection are to be changed. The same teaches St. Paul, Rom. viii, 21. And in the same way a little before, verse 6, St. Peter said the world perished by the flood, although nevertheless the substance of the world did not perish by the flood, but only its appearance and beauty. Thus St. Augustine, XX On the City of God, xvi and xviii; St. Jerome in chapter xviii of Isaiah, and others. By elements understand earth, water and the air neighboring them; for the upper region of the air neighboring the heavens seems to be comprehended under the name of heavens, as I said at verse 7.
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13. But new heavens, both starry and aerial; "new," so that they may represent the newness and glory of the Saints, says Œcumenius: "new," I say, either as to substance, as many cited in verse 10 wish; or rather according to quality: "Because the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days," says Isaiah, xxx, 26. The same thing proportionally will happen to the other stars and to the heavens themselves. Thus St. Gregory, lib. XVII Moral., cap. III: "Both of these (heaven and earth)," he says, "pass away through the image which they now have, yet nevertheless they subsist through their essence without end." For the figure of the world, that is the image, will pass away, not the substance, says St. Augustine, or rather Gennadius On Ecclesiastical Dogmas, cap. LXX. Therefore St. Peter says this to console and encourage the faithful, harassed by so many hardships and deaths, so that, thinking upon the renewal of the old world in new heavens, they may remember that the losses of the fleeting life of the Saints are converted into the gains of immortality, and that with new heavens they may expect a new body, blessed and glorious. Wherefore all the Saints have continually looked up to these new heavens and aspired toward them. Famous was Simeon Stylites, who stood upon a column even to extreme old age, and bound his foot with an iron chain. Theodoretus, an eyewitness, gives the reason in his Life, namely in the Philotheos, cap. xx: "In that," he says, "he dwelt in heaven, apprehending it by constant vision, and striving to contemplate those things which are above the heavens; for the iron bond did not impede the flight of his mind." And below: so that he might withdraw himself more from the company and contact of men, "first," he says, "he ordered a column of six cubits to be built, then twelve, afterwards twenty, but now thirty-six; for he desires to fly into heaven and to be freed from this earthly conversation." And at the end: "He also received the gift of teaching, and twice daily he makes exhortations, commanding to look up to heaven and to fly, and to depart from the earth, and to apprehend by vision the kingdom which is expected, and to fear the threats of hell, and to despise earthly things, and to expect future things." It is wonderful what Louis Blosius writes of St. Mechtilde in the appendix On Four Holy Women: "St. virgin Mechtilde," he says, "when on Wednesday after Easter Day the Mass was being begun: Come, ye blessed of my Father, she, filled with great and unusual joy, said to the Lord: O if I were one of those blessed ones who are about to hear this sweetest voice of Thine! And the Lord said to her: Know for certain that thou art one of them, and so that thou mayest doubt nothing, behold I give thee my heart as a pledge of love, and as a house of refuge, so that thou mayest always find consolation and rest in it, especially in the hour of thy death. From that time she began to be affected with wonderful devotion toward the heart of Jesus. Whence also she frequently said: If all the good things which I have received from the most benign heart of my Lord were to be written, they could not be written in any volume, however large. But when the hour of death was at hand, the Lord Jesus, illuminating her wholly with the light of His divinity, invited her with a gentle voice with these words: Come, blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for thee from the foundation of the world. Therefore that blessed soul, expiring, flew up to heaven to the most sweet heart of Jesus." Wherefore men who fear God and are holy grow daily and make progress in the renunciation of temporal things and in the study of heavenly things, so that by this as it were Jacob's ladder (Genesis xxviii, 12) they may ascend into heaven, according to that of David, Psalm LXXXIII, 5: "Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord: they shall praise thee world without end. Blessed is the man whose help is from thee: he hath disposed his ascents in his heart, in the vale of tears, in the place which he hath set. For the lawgiver will give a blessing; they shall go from virtue to virtue; the God of gods shall be seen in Sion." This did that great Polychronius, of whom Theodoretus in the Philotheos, cap. xxiv: "He is," he says, "inflamed with divine desire, and is superior to all earthly things, and though bound to the body his mind has wings, and is borne on high, and traverses the air and the ether, and becomes more sublime than the heavens, and perpetually apprehends the contemplation of the divine vision; nor can he ever withdraw his mind from there; nay, even when conversing with those who come, he walks with his mind on things above." And a new earth—shining with new beauty, purity and splendor, so that with the Saints, whom it will serve, it may be as it were glorified, and may delight their eyes and minds. Paludanus in IV, dist. XLVIII, Quaest. I, holds that this splendor pervades the earth and extends even to the limbo of infants, and will illuminate and refresh their eyes and bodies after they have risen; otherwise indeed they would dwell as it were blind in perpetual darkness. Others, such as Catharinus and Salmeron, hold here that these infants will be in the earth as it were in some earthly paradise, and therefore are to be perfected in natural knowledge, so that they surpass all Philosophers, contemplating God in His creatures, and loving and praising Him, and moreover rejoicing in the visitation and revelations of angels. But they are mistaken, while they hold that they will be blessed with natural beatitude; for since they are to be damned with the punishment of loss (though not of sense), namely the deprivation of the beatific vision, to which they were created, as St. Augustine teaches against the Pelagians, heresy 88, epistle 106, book I On the Merit of Sin, cap. XXIII, and elsewhere: they ought to be called damned rather than blessed. Otherwise it is probable that they will lead a comfortable life on the earth. For the limbo of infants will not contain their bodies, which they will resume on the day of judgment: for there will easily be a thousand thousand infants, who throughout the whole world over so many ages have died without baptism in original sin. Add that so many bodies cannot naturally be there without sorrow and punishment of sense (which however Theologians commonly take away from infants); for this would be caused by the darkness of the place, confinement, depression, squalor, straits, etc. For Tobias rightly says, v, 12: "What joy shall I have, who sit in darkness, and see not the light of heaven?" See Lessius On Divine Attributes, book XIII, cap. XXIII, where from St. Thomas, Scotus, Marsilius, D. Soto and other Scholastics, he teaches that these infants will appear in the universal judgment, will undergo the punishment of loss, but will be perfected in intellect, will, and other faculties of nature (for there will then be a common renewal and restoration of all nature), so that content and joyful for all eternity they may live together in harmony and friendship, and love and praise God, because He has preserved them from actual sin and hell, and has adorned them with such great gifts of nature, that they are able to contemplate created things, and especially the excellence of their own souls, equally as the angels, and from this to admire and glorify the Creator; otherwise indeed they would be idle throughout all eternity. For it is not to be believed that God would wish so many millions of souls to be always in idleness, and as it were uselessly in the world. For if, as the Doctors commonly teach in II, dist. XXXIII, whom Gabriel Vasquez cites and follows, III, disp. 134, cap. III, infants, God so providing, will not feel sorrow on account of the loss of the kingdom of heaven, because they did not lose it through their own fault: why should we not believe that they will likewise be perfected in the common restoration of the whole world in the order of natural goods, so that they are able to know, love and praise God, and thus lead a quiet and pleasant life? This is Lessius, and he confirms it by many reasons. Which if true, what place will be more fitting for these infants than the earth? inasmuch as in it they will be able to behold and contemplate the sun, the heavens, the stars, the sea and other created things, and from these to love and praise God. You will say, Job XXVI, 10, it is said: "He hath set bounds about the waters, till light and darkness come to an end," that is, the alternation of day and night; therefore that ceasing, as it will cease on the day of judgment, the waters will exceed their bounds, and again will cover the earth, as they covered it in the beginning of the world; and thus St. Bonaventure, D. Soto in IV, dist. XLVII, Quaest. II, art. 4, and others hold it probable. But it can be answered, first, that "till light and darkness come to an end" is a proverb, signifying the same as always and perpetually. For thus Jeremiah, cap. v, vers. 22, explains it, saying: "He that hath set the sand a bound to the sea, an everlasting ordinance which it shall not pass;" otherwise indeed the earth would be covered with waters and invisible, and would return to the first chaos, from which it was brought forth by God on the third day of the world, when it was uncovered and separated from the waters, Genesis I, 9, and then received its form and beauty. Second, it can be said that the sea at the end of the world will again cover many lands, but not all; at least it will leave a vacant place for the infants. However it may be, it will be easy for God to prepare and fit a suitable place for the infants rising again, whether on the earth, or under the earth, or wherever it shall please Him. Moreover, William of Paris, according to Dionysius the Carthusian in IV, dist. XLVII, asserts that very wise men hold the opinion that after the day of judgment and the conflagration of the world, the earth should again be clothed with flowers, gems, trees, fountains and other similar ornaments, both for its beauty and that of the world, and for the recreation of the Saints, and for the refreshment of little children who died without baptism and dwell in it. The same opinion is held by Catharinus here, Pico della Mirandola in the Heptaplus, the Abulensian in cap. XXV of St. Matthew, Questions DXLII and DXLVIII, and Serarius in Judith, cap. XVI, Question II. Hear Anselm in the Elucidarium: "The earth," he says, "which in its bosom cherished the body of the Lord, shall be wholly as paradise, and because it has been watered with the blood of the Saints, it shall be perpetually adorned with fragrant flowers, roses, violets that shall never fade." Others, however, such as Oecumenius, deny this. According to His promises we expect. — For God promised new heavens and a new earth, Isaiah LXIII, 17, and cap. LXVI, verse 22, and cap. LXIV, verse 4: "The eye," He says, "hath not seen, O God, besides Thee, what things Thou hast prepared for them that wait for Thee;" to which St. Peter alludes, and therefore says: "We expect." Again, Christ often promises His own the kingdom of heaven; this, however, shall be in the new heavens. Finally, St. John, Apocalypse XXI, 1, promises new heavens and a new earth, but after St. Peter; for the Apocalypse was written by St. John after this epistle. "It is great boldness and pure conscience to demand the kingdom of God and not to fear the judgment of God," says St. Jerome in cap. VI of Matthew. In which justice dwelleth. — What justice? Setting aside the error of Origen, I Peri Archon., cap. VII, who following Plato attributed to the heavens a soul and mind, and consequently sin, justice and holiness: first, Philip the Solitary, lib. III Dioptr., cap. VI, understands by justice God; for He as the sun of justice shall dwell in the new heavens. Second and better, that is to say, In these heavens of ours dwells mercy tolerating sinners; but in the new heavens shall dwell justice, which shall not permit anything defiled to enter into them, Apocalypse XXI, 27. Again, divine justice shall assign to each one either in the new heavens or in the new earth a place according to his merits for reward or punishment, and that constant and perpetual without any hope or fear of change: for to the Saints it shall assign heaven, to the impious hell, to children dying in original sin the earth. This is what Cyril, lib. III in Genesis, says Christ shall free the earth from all curse, when He shall give new heavens and a new earth; and, as St. Ambrose says, lib. V, epistle 21, then all created things which before were instruments of wickedness, with them extinguished, as far as in them lies, shall cultivate piety and justice, which for this reason is said to dwell in them. Hence some by catachresis understand by justice the renovation of the world, its splendor and beauty. For this agrees with justice and a world now expiated from sins and sinners, and therefore as it were just and holy. Thus St. Ambrose in the place cited. Third, simply and plainly, "justice," that is holiness, namely of the just and holy, that is to say, This old world awaiting renovation is the workshop and sink of all wickedness: but the world renewed by Christ the judge, with wickedness and the wicked excluded and relegated to Tartarus, shall be only the place and seat of justice and of the just and holy; for these shall be the inhabitants and lords of the new heaven and new earth: for then God shall be all in all, I Corinthians XV, 28. Mystically, the new heavens and new earth, but animated, are the saints; in them dwells justice, and all virtue and holiness, according to that: "The heavens declare the glory of God. Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth," Psalm XVIII, verses 1 and 5; which St. Paul explains mystically of the Apostles, Romans X, 18.
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14. Wherefore, dearest ones, expecting these things, strive (σπουδάσατε, that is, with all study, all care, all strength and effort contend) to be found spotless (ἄσπιλοι, that is, without blemish, namely a graver and mortal one: for it is impossible to avoid all venial sins in this life) and undefiled (ἀμώμητοι, that is, irreproachable) before him. — For, as St. Paul says, Ephesians I, 4: "He chose us in him (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight in charity." And Colossians I, 22: "He hath reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unspotted and blameless before him." Most excellently St. Bernard, On the Triple Judgment: "Each one ought," he says, "as much as he can to show himself irreproachable, first indeed before God, but then also before men." Then, having cited the words of St. Peter, he adds: "In three ways indeed we provide good things before men, that is, in appearance, in action, in speech. In appearance that it be not notable, in action that it be not reprehensible, in speech that it be not contemptible. In three ways also before God, in thought, in affection and in intention; for thought also ought to be holy. Whence it is written: Holy thought shall keep thee; and affection pure and intention right. These three things are, that is, thought, affection, intention in the soul; but in it also they are seen distinguished in their proper places. For thought is in memory, affection in the will, intention in reason." Note τὸ ei, when he says, "to be found before him," as if to say, First, "before him," that is, by him from whom nothing is hidden. Second, "before him," that is, in his judgment, which cannot be deceived, which no one can escape. Third, "before him," that is, in his sight who beholds all things present. Fourth, "before him," that is, to his honor and glory, that you may please him, not men; that you may advance his honor, not your own; that you may receive reward and glory from him, not from the princes of the world. Thus God, prescribing to Abraham the idea of perfection: "Walk," he says, "before me, and be thou perfect;"; the Septuagint: "Please in my sight, and be thou blameless or irreproachable." St. Augustine, book XVI On the City of God, chapter XXVI, reads absolutely: "Please, and be without complaint." When Cicero, in book III On the Laws, had recited a similar admonition of Thales of Miletus, namely that it should be constantly turned over in the mind, not only deeds and words, but also thoughts lie open to divine eyes, he prefaced it with the addition: "Thales embraced the whole philosophy of virtue in this one word." Valerius Maximus adds more explicitly, book VII, chapter II, 7: "That we should wish to have not only our hands, but also our minds pure, since we believed a heavenly power to be present with our secret thoughts." Thus the patriarch Jacob, dying and blessing the sons of Joseph, says: "God in whose sight my fathers walked;"; the Septuagint: "God, whom my fathers pleased in his sight." Thus David, Psalm CXIV, 9: "I shall please," he says, "the Lord in the land of the living;"; in Hebrew, I shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Thus Abel "in all things whatsoever he did, thought God to be present," says Josephus, I Antiquities IV. Thus Enoch "walked with God;"; the Septuagint, he pleased God, Genesis V, 24. Why should he not please God, who so lives that he always thinks God to be present to him? "Noe a just man and perfect walked with God;"; the Septuagint, he pleased God, Genesis VI, 9. Thus Abraham: "The Lord," he says, "in whose sight I walk;"; the Septuagint, the Lord God, whom I pleased before him. Seneca, a pagan, gives this counsel to Lucilius concerning an honest life, epistle 25: "So live, as if under the eyes of some good man, and always present." More piously St. Augustine, Soliloquies, chapter XIV, gives Christians this stimulus of holy life: "Great necessity is laid upon us to live justly and rightly, we who do all things before the eyes of the Judge who sees all things." St. Peter adds τὸ in peace, so that, namely, being spotless and undefiled, first you may have peace with God, with your neighbor and with your own conscience: for peace of conscience is a great good, by which the soul, having subdued the passions, is tranquil, and is its own queen and mistress. Whence this peace surpasses all feeling, and guards our hearts and minds, says St. Paul, Philippians IV, 7. See the things said there. Second, that you may await the coming of the Lord, namely death and judgment, with a good conscience, with a peaceful, serene, cheerful and confident mind; this peace therefore is the effect and reward of a spotless and undefiled mind. Corresponding to this sentence of St. Peter is that of St. Paul admonishing Titus, chapter II, verse 12: "That denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we may live soberly and justly and godly in this world, looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God." And that passage, II Corinthians VII, 1: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God," etc. Both of them received and learned this from Christ speaking and teaching, Luke chapter XII, verse 35: "Let your loins be girt about, and lamps burning in your hands, and you yourselves like to men waiting for their lord." Where see St. Gregory, St. Augustine and St. Ambrose. Earlier he had admonished the same thing, Ecclesiasticus chapter XVIII, 19, saying: "Before judgment examine thyself, and in the sight of God thou shalt find mercy." And: "Fear not to be justified even unto death, for the reward of God remaineth for ever." Indeed Solomon also: "In all thy ways," he says, "think on him, and he shall direct thy steps," Proverbs chapter III, 6. And Tobias to his son, chapter IV, 6: "All," he says, "the days of thy life keep God in mind." And David, Psalm XVII, 13: "For all his judgments are in my sight, and his justices I have not put away from me; and I shall be unspotted with him, and shall keep myself from iniquity." And Micah, chapter VI, verse 8: "I will shew thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee: verily to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk solicitous with thy God." St. Ignatius also to Heron: "Remember," he says, "God, and thou shalt not sin." And Clement of Alexandria, III Paedagogus, chapter V: "In this way it comes about that one never falls, if he believes God to be always present to him." Morally: Marvel here and imitate the candor, humility, integrity and charity of St. Peter, who, zealous for divine honor and neglectful of himself, so greatly praises, indeed canonizes the Epistles of St. Paul, although he knew that in them he himself was censured, and his error and fall were made known to the whole world; for, Galatians II, 11, St. Paul writes thus of him: "But when Cephas was come to Antioch, I withstood him in the face, because he was to be blamed," etc. Let doctors and writers note this, who disparage, attack and tear apart the sayings and writings of others that contradict their own. Let disciples also note this, who strive to supplant their antagonists, in which matter they bring more infamy upon themselves than upon their rivals; for they betray their own pride, envy, hatred, immodesty, and lack of wisdom. How much more wisely would they dissemble the harsh things said against them and suppress them in silence? Thus indeed they would show themselves to be wise, magnanimous, Christian, and religious; for the glory of these consists in a single virtue.
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15. And count the longsuffering of our Lord to be salvation. — As if to say: I have exhorted you to live holily and to await and desire the coming of the Lord; meanwhile, however, I do not wish you to complain of His tardiness and to say: "The Lord delayeth His promise," verse 9. But rather to think, feel and believe that this His longsuffering is extended and shown to us for salvation, both our own and that of others, namely that all may repent from their sins, or at least accumulate virtues and merits of good works, whose crowns and eternal rewards they shall receive from Christ the Judge: just as in fact this longsuffering of God has been salvation to many who would otherwise have perished, and thus through it is fulfilled the whole number of the Saints and the elect. As also our most beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, hath written to you, — commending both the longsuffering of God awaiting sinners unto repentance, and the purity of life, faith, hope, etc., which I have commended to you in this epistle. Paul does this, both in the epistle to the Romans, chapter II, verse 4: "Or knowest thou," he says, "that the goodness of God leadeth thee to penance?" thus Œcumenius; and in the first epistle to the Corinthians, chapters III and XII, but especially in the epistle to the Hebrews, III, VI and X, verse 36, where he signifies to us that the longsuffering of God ought to be our salvation with these words: "Patience," he says, "is necessary for you, that doing the will of God you may receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He that is to come will come, and will not delay; but the just man of Me liveth by faith." For when Peter says: "Hath written to you," he seems to denote the Hebrews; for to the Hebrews especially was this epistle of St. Peter written, inasmuch as he himself, as it were the successor and vicar of Christ, had assumed their care as his own. Thus Catharinus, Salmeron and others here, and Baronius, in the year of Christ 60, and Bellarmine, book I On the Word of God, chapter XVII. Note here the charity and union of St. Peter with St. Paul, to whom he gives so clear a testimony and eulogy of divine wisdom; from which indeed great authority accrued to St. Paul and his epistles. For it is the office of St. Peter and of the supreme Pontiffs his successors to distinguish the Canonical Scriptures from the non-Canonical, to approve and to define them. Following the judgment of St. Peter, St. Dionysius the Areopagite, chapters II and VII On the Divine Names, calls St. Paul the sun, the perfecter, the guide and the abyss of wisdom, and testifies that he received from him his Celestial and Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. And St. Jerome, epistle 61 to Pammachius, calls St. Paul and his voice "a vessel of election, a trumpet of the Gospel, the roar of our lion, a river of Christian eloquence." St. Augustine in Psalm CXLVII: "Nothing," he says, "is more known to us than this man, nothing sweeter, nothing more familiar in Scripture." Nazianzenus, oration 33, calls Paul a disciple of fishermen (the Apostles) and at the same time a teacher. See the sayings in the Proem on St. Paul, where I have demonstrated to many the wisdom and other gifts of St. Paul.
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16. In which are certain things difficult to understand. — The Greek ἐν οἷς is masculine; whence it cannot refer to the Epistles, as being of the feminine gender, but to the very sayings and writings themselves, or those things which Paul wrote, in which there are many difficult things. Whence it is clear against Calvin and Luther, that the Scriptures are not easy, and to every idiot also plain. Calvin responds, and his defender Beza, that τὸ ἐν οἷς refers to τούτων, which preceded, namely to the matters about which Paul wrote: for these, since they are about God triune and one, Christ crucified and similar mysteries of faith, are difficult to understand. "Lest anyone therefore," says Beza, "think an error is established from this; for he is impious and blasphemous who recently wrote that the word of God is so obscure that however you take it, it is not sufficient for deciding religious controversies." Thus he speaks, to himself Lucifer, to others a darkness-dweller, nay rather an error and impostor. St. Peter adds: "Which the unlearned and unstable deprave, as they do also the other Scriptures." Where note τὸ other; for this word denotes the very Epistles of St. Paul themselves; for these are numbered among the other canonical Scriptures, as if to say, They deprave the Epistles of St. Paul, as they do also the other Scriptures of the Prophets and Apostles, which, because they are difficult to understand, they twist into foreign senses. Add the difficulty of the Epistles of St. Paul is sufficiently proved from so many and such great Fathers and Doctors in their Commentaries upon them, who nevertheless do not equal the sense and mind of Paul, much less exhaust it. Likewise from the perpetual litigation and dissension of heretics both among themselves and with Catholics concerning their understanding. Finally from the very inspection and reading of them. Let anyone read the Epistle to the Hebrews, and he will find a thousand difficulties in it. Deprave. — In Greek στρεβλοῦσιν, that is, they twist the Holy Scriptures, which are "the original instruments of Christ," as Tertullian says, chapter II of On the Flesh of Christ. The same in On Prescription, chapter XVII: "So much," he says, "does an adulterous sense oppose truth, as a corrupting stylus." For, as St. Augustine says, tract. 18 in John, heresies have arisen from nowhere else "except while good scriptures are understood not well, and what in them is not understood well, is also rashly and boldly asserted." See Vincent of Lérins, Against Heresies. Thus even now our heretics deprave the Epistles of St. Paul, and defend their heresies by them, so much so that Calvin cries out for himself, namely for his fate of predestination and reprobation, for faith alone justifying, for enslaved will, etc., that Paul and Augustine stand with him. Luther however among other things dared to deprave those words of Paul in Romans III, 23: "We account a man to be justified by faith," by adding alone. Morally: Let preachers note here, who too freely drag and twist the Holy Scripture to their own concepts, willing or unwilling, that in doing so they deprave it. For those who twist it into foreign senses, these deprave it: for the force and meaning of Holy Scripture consists not in words, but in sense; concerning which matter I have said more in the Preface to the Minor Prophets. Nay indeed St. Gregory, book VI, epistle 7, reproves those who at the ordination of Bishop Cyriacus cried out for joy: "This is the day which the Lord hath made," because these words were properly spoken of Christ, Psalm CXVII: "In praise of the creature," he says, "that voice ought not to have been given, which belongs to the Creator alone." To their own perdition. — Because they violate and deprave the very words, oracles and documents of God. For if he who falsifies the letters of a king is guilty of lèse-majesté of human majesty, certainly he who falsifies the letters of God is guilty of lèse-majesté of divine majesty, and therefore liable to perdition and hell.
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17. You therefore, brethren, knowing beforehand (namely forewarned by me of the danger) keep yourselves (that is, as the Zurich, Pagninus and St. Augustine translate, On Faith and Works chapter XIV, "beware") lest by the error of the unwise (in Greek ἀθέσμων, that is, of the impious, wicked, lawless, namely of heretics who deprave the Epistles of St. Paul and other Scriptures) being led away (Zurich, led astray; in Greek συναπαχθέντες, that is, led away together with others) you fall from your own steadfastness, — of faith, piety, grace and Christian virtue. Whence Paul says: "It is good that the heart be established with grace," Hebrews XIII, 9. For error in Greek is πλάνη: whence wandering stars are called planets, by which he hints that heretics are planets and wanderers, who nowhere remain fixed, but wander through various heresies, and from one to another and another, and finally slip away into atheism.
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18. But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. — Paul likewise prays and exhorts the same: "We cease not," he says, "to pray for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of God in all things, pleasing, and increasing in the knowledge of God," Coloss. I, 10. For, as St. Leo says, serm. 8 On the Passion: "Let all be renewed day by day, making progress through the increase of piety: for however much anyone may be justified, yet while he is in this life, he has that whereby he may become more approved and better: but he who does not make progress, falls back; and he who acquires nothing, loses not nothing." He places grace before knowledge, because to grow in grace is more useful and more necessary than to grow in knowledge; for many common and unlearned people grow in grace, and not in knowledge, and these shall surpass many learned and lettered men in heavenly glory. But to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ the Saviour is to grow in the knowledge of His divinity, humanity, redemption, resurrection, grace, glory, and all the mysteries and benefits of Jesus Christ; whence follows an increase of charity and love for Him. Certainly every Christian ought daily to grow in the knowledge, meditation and love of Jesus Christ his Saviour; thus he would grow equally in merits, and in heavenly crown and glory. Peter says this against heretics who called themselves Gnostics, that is, knowing ones and perfect in knowledge, and boasted of this, when they were ignorant and erring. For true Gnostics are the faithful who confess their ignorance, and strive to grow in the knowledge of the things of salvation, and therefore pray constantly with the Psalmist: "Open thou my eyes, and I will consider the wondrous things of thy law." To Him be glory both now and unto the day of eternity. Amen. — Namely throughout all eternity, as long as the day of eternity lasts. For eternity is as it were one day, and one today consisting always and enduring perpetually, as I said at verse 8. Or "unto the day," that is, unto the time of eternity, namely the eternal which we imagine to coexist with the eternity of God, so that we may conceive it in our mind and apprehend it in some way; for day is often taken for time: for we imagine thousands and millions of years always succeeding one another, and that without end, so that we may conceive eternity in our mind. Thus David says Psalm LXXVI, 6: "I have had eternal years in my mind." St. Peter signifies here that the faithful ought perpetually in life and voice to glorify God, and to desire for themselves glory not present and merely of today, but perpetual and eternal, and to sing continually with the Church: "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." For this the Blessed do in heaven perpetually, and it is fitting that we in this life begin their life, praise and happiness, and therefore withdraw our mind from earthly, perishable and momentary things, and fix it on heavenly, stable and eternal things. Excellently St. Leo, serm. 2 On the Passion, at the end: "We undertake," he says, "the discipline of a great name's soldiery, of a great profession. It is not lawful for followers of Christ to depart from the royal way, but it is fitting not to be occupied with temporal things, as we tend toward eternal things." The same, serm. 1 On the Resurrection: "From the quality," he says, "of temporal actions, the differences of eternal rewards depend." And below: "Let those things be held as past which for the most part are already no more: and let the mind intent upon things that remain fix its desire there, where what is brought forth is eternal." And St. Basil in Psalm XLVIII, treating of the contempt of riches: "Be not," he says, "about these present things with a small or dejected spirit, but rather await that blessed life, which is not closed by any end." But Blessed Peter Chrysologus speaks pathetically, serm. 124: "Why do we marvel? Where are we? Who is this that deceives us with sleep? What is this that holds us in lethal forgetfulness? Why do we not exchange earth for heaven? Why do we not buy eternal things with perishable ones? Why do we not compare lasting things with perishing ones?" Surely he sleeps deeply who does not awake at these vehement thunders and lightnings of words. Nor less ardently does Nazianzenus thunder against the followers of the world, orat. 16: "Who will pass by passing things? Who will join his mind to unstable and eternal things? Who will think of present things as of things departing? Who will distinguish a picture from truth, a shadow from eternal life?" Fittingly also Seneca, epist. 110: "Why do you marvel? Why are you amazed? It is a show. These things are displayed, not possessed; and while they please, they pass away: turn yourself rather to true riches." Finally St. Bernard in Meditations cap. II, clearly and forcefully: "Tell me," he says, "where are the lovers of the world, who a short time ago were with us? Nothing of them remains, except ashes and worms. Consider carefully what they are, or what they were. They were men like you: they ate, and drank, laughed, spent their days in good things, and in a moment descended to hell." Whence the same concludes in the Sentences: "Unhappy therefore is he who, trusting in the slipperiness of this life, spends perishable labour; nor does he notice that it is a vapour, and appears for a little while, and vanity of vanities." If therefore you are wise and wish to be happy,
Concluding Blessing Wherefore the Church teaches us to pray to God, "that with Him as our ruler and guide we may so pass through temporal goods that we do not lose eternal ones;" for we must pass through temporal and transitory things, but cleave to what is fixed and eternal. LIVE FOR TRUTH, LIVE FOR IMMORTALITY, LIVE FOR ETERNITY. "This most careful meditation ought to be that of the wise man, so that, since the days of this life are brief and its spans uncertain, death may never come unforeseen to him who is about to die, nor may an disordered end befall one who knows himself to be mortal," St. Leo, sermon 5 On Fasting of the 7th month.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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1. Hanc ecce vobis, carissimi, secundum scribo epistolam. Graecasichabent: Hanc jam, dilectij secundam vobis etc. Interpres pro ^Srj, quod hodie in omnibus est Graecis, legit: Iboh, ecce. Porro B. Petrus, secundam hanc nominans epistolam ad eos scriptam, satis utique significat, se prius ad eosdem, nec plures, sed unam Epistolam dedisse.
In quibus vestram excito in commonitione sinceram menteir.. In quibus, Graece: sv atc, foemineo genere; ut non alio, quam ad Epistolas referri possit, quum tamen non Epistolas, sed Epistolam dixerit. Unde nonnulli suspicati sunt, hic esse soloecismum, ad quem evitandum vertere malunt: Has secundas vobis scribo literas, in quibus etc. Sed non est affingendum B. Petro vel ejus amanuensi vitium Grammaticae tam apertum, ut scriberet: Epistolam, in quibus, pro: in qua. Dicimus ergo, Petrum, quum ait: in quibus, relationem facere ad rem, non ad vocem; quod saepe faciunt optimi quique scriptores. Id est, facere relationem ad duas Epistolas, verbis praecedentibus sigaificatas, ac si diceret: Hanc secundam Epistolam vobis scribo post priorem; in quibus duabus Epistolis per commonitionem excito et exstiraulo vestram sinceram mentem. Hinc etiam patet, utramque Epistolam raonitoriara esse. Quod commonendi studium jam supra declaravit, cap. 1. dicens: Propter quod incipiam vos semper commonere etc. Et sicut illic animos eorum conciliabat, appellans scientes et confirmatos in praesenti veritate, ita et hic, laudem illis adscribens sincerae mentiSj id est ejus, quae simulationis sit expers; maxime quod mens hujusmodi sit admonitionis capacior.
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2. Ut memores sitis eorum, quae praedixi, verborum a sanctis Prophetis. Hic jam sermo commonentis est. In Graeco non est verbum: praedixi, sed participium: Toiv TcpostpTjiievcav, eorum, quae praedicta sunt. Itaque melius et clarius hanc partem ita vertas: Ut memores sitis verborum, quae praedicta sunt a sanctis Prophetis. Sic enim idem interpres vertit admonitionem huic similem, quae est in Epistola Judae: Memores, inquit, estote verborum, quae praedicta sunt ab Apostolis etc. Plenius autem hic loquitur Petrus, prius ad Prophetarum, deinde ad Apostolorum verba atque praecepta animo recolenda fideles excitans, ut qui per fidem in baptismo susceptam essent superaedificati super fundamentum Apostolorum et Prophetarum, Eph. 2. Sed et supra, cap. 1., ad utrosque audiendos fuit adhortatus.
Et Apostolorum vestrorum, praeceptorum Domini et Salvatoris. Haec pars intricatior est, etiam in Graeco, ubi sic ad verbum habetur: Et ejus, quod est Apostolorum nostrorum (seu nostri) mandati, Domini et Salvatoris. Interpres legit pronomen secundae personae oixixiv, pro '^|jid)V primae, quod nunc constanter habent Graeca, Complutensibus exceptis. Nam quia videbatur absurdum, ut Petrus diceret: Apostolorum nostrorum, qui ipse erat Apostolus, idemque primus, hinc verisimile est, quod personam mutavit quispiam. Porro sensus varie redditur, etiam secundum lectionem Graecam. A quibusdam hoc modo: Praeterea memores vos esse volo praeceptorum Domini et Salvatoris, vobis traditorum a nobis Apostolis. Alii, auctoreOecumenio, praecepta distinguunt, quasi memores esse vebt praeceptorum, tam eorum, quae ab Apostolis, quam quae a Domino Salvatore data sunt. Tertium sensum aperitErasmi versio: Et mandati nostri, qui sumus Apostoli Domini et SalvatoriSj id est: Ut memores sitis etiam mandati seu mandatorum, quae accepistis a nobis ApostolisChristi. Sensum hunc plane efficiunt ipsa Petri verba, tantum adhibita seu intellecta permodica metathesi: xal irjQ evToX^C -^fjiaiv twv aTTooTOACDV tou xupiou xai ocoT^poc. Quare merito plerique recentiores eum amplectuntur. Nam ct priori parti congruenter respondet, atque adeo convenit cum eo, quod in simili commonitione dicit B. Judas: Ab Apostolis Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Additio B. P. Sed ad hunc sensum accedet, quod est in nostra vulgata. si sic ordinemus et distinguamus: Ut memores sitis eorum verborum a sanctis Prophetis enuntiatorum, quae praedixi in hac ipsa Epistola; memores item sitis praeceptorum, quae nos, Apostoli vestri, vobis dedimus, eadem praecepta Domini et Salvatoris, Matth. 7. et 24. Aut sic: Dedimue, iidem Apostoli Domini et Salvatoris. Hoc autem Apostolicum praeceptum intelligit Petrus, quod jam in superioribus inculcavit, de retinenda mordicus doctrina principio tradita, maxime quod ad Christi Domini promissiones et gloriosum adventum attinet; deque cavendis pseudodidascalis, qui ab ea doctrina conantur auditores abducere, De his enim diserte Judas exponit. ac de iisdem subjungit Petrus:
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3. Hoc primum scientes, quod venient in novissimis diebus in deceptione illuaores. Multa Graeca non addunt illud: in deceptione, nec legit Oecumenius; tametsi probabile est, a Petro scriptum esse, excidisse vero propter Graecarum vocum initiales syllabas similes: liiTrafj'- /jiovTj, IfiTtaTxTaij et quia apud Judam non additur. Nam certe Augustinus legit lib. 20. de civit. Dei, cap. 18.: Venient, inquit, in novissimo dierum illusione illudentes, et Hieronymus lib. 1. adversus Jovinian. cap. 25.: Venient in novissimis diebus illusores seducentes. Hic jam ostendit Apostolus necessitatem commonitionis. Unde dicit: primum, tamquam de re praecipua, quam scire eos oporteat, ob cautelam futurorum. Nam illud: scientes (quod nominativi casus est: YivcwaxovTsg), refertur ad aycnzriTol, carissimi, sic tamen, ut praeceptive dictum intelligatur, id est: scitote; quomodo Paulus ad Timotheum h^quitur 2 Epist. 3.: Hoc autem scito, quod in novissimis diebus etc. Novissimcs sive extremos dies, vel, ut in Graeco, extremum dierum, pro quo Judas: extremum seu novissimum tempus, Hebraea consuetudine dixit Petrus pro temporibus futuris, sive in longinquum, sivo etiam proxime; quemadmodum eam phrasim, quae frequens est in Scripturis, intelligendam docuimus in commentar. ad 1 Tim. 4., et 2. ad eundem 3. Sufficere potest ille unus locus, Prov. 23., de vino: Ingreditur blande; sed in novissimo mordebit ut coluber. Nam et hic constat, Petrum loqui de seductoribus paulo post exorituris, adversus quorum fallacias hac Epistola monitoria praemunit fideles, ad quos scribit. Notantur autem, qui ex Simonis praesertim schola prodituri erant, ut Gnostici et quotquot ejusdem generis, licet varia nomina sortiti. lUusores autem dicuntur (quo nomine etiam Judas Apostolus eos appellat) non tam, quod pro ludo habeant Christi religionem, ejusque cultores derideant, quum ipsi vel maxime Christiani velint haberi; quam quod instructi sint arte fallendi; quos Latine dicimus: impostores, Hebraei linguae suae proprietate vocant: illusores, quod, dum fallunt homines, exponant eos aliorum ludibrio. Nam dolo capti vulgo ridori solent tamquam simplices et incauti. Vel etiam quia, quos decipiunt vel decipiendos.sperant, eos in corde suo derident tamquam ignaros doli et simplices. Saope etiam inter sese eos cum cachinnis irrident. Legitur hoc vocabulum Psalm. 1. ex Hebraeo, et in Proverbiis, et alibi passim. Hinc et illud Matth. cap. 2. de Herode: Videns, quoniam illusus esset a Magis, id est, deceptus, Magis non redeuntibus, uti promiserant.
Juxta proprias concupiscentias ambulantes. Augustinus legit, ut in Graeco est: Secundum proprias suas concupiscentias euntes. Eadem prope verba sunt apud B. Judam, et sensus est: Obsequentes carnalibus suis desideriis, gulae et libidini servientes. Qui enim ejusmodi sunt, facile spem abjiciunt et impugnant bonorum coelestium ac spiritualium, quae nobis in futurum promittuntur. Unde sequitur:
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4. Dicentes j ubi est promissio, aut adventus ejus? Adventus in Graecis genitivi casus est: xrjc^ Tiapouoiac. Legunt enim sine particula disjungente media: Ubi est promissio adventus ejus? Quae eadem lectio apud Liranum est. Sic et Augustinus: Ubi est promissum praesentiae ipsius? Nam Graeca vox et adventum, et praesentiam significat, ut monuimus ad cap. 1. vers. 16. Sed hoc loco melius accipitur pro adventu, quemadmodum et supra, dicto cap. 1. vers. 16. Est autem locutio transitiva pro intransitiva, familiaris Hebraeis; quam intransitive sic reddas: Ubi est promissus ejus advefdus? Ejus, refert Dominum et Salvatorem; id enim praecessit. Adventum intellige gloriosum, quo veniet cum majestate magna, judicaturus mundum, et judicio peracto sine fine regnaturus cum suis electis. Hunc enim adventum suum ipse Christus promisit iu Evangelio multoties, eundemque praenuntiarunt Prophetae. Promissionis autem Christi testes fuerunt Apostoli, sicut dictum est cap. 1. Porro, quid impostores illi voluerint, dicendo: Ubi est etc., dubitari potest. Beda, quem nonnulli sequuntur, haec ab illis dicta putat ad significandam tarditatem adventus Domini; quomodo dicebat malus ille servus in corde suo: Moram facit Dominus meus venire; percutiens interim conservos suos, edensque et bi~ bens cum ebriosis, Matth. 24. et Luc. 12. Hos opponit Beda Thessalonicensibus, qui diem Domini viciniorem, quam oportuit, suspicabantur, 2 Thess. 2., ac monet, sane quam salubriter, ab utraque opinione cohibendum assensum: Sed solum hoc, inquit, seduli procuremus, ut, sive ocius, sive sero veniens Dominus, paratos nos possit invenire, dum venerit. Alii interrogatione ejusmodi simpliciter negari putant futurum adventum Christi, ut responsio sit: Vana est promissio; numquam veniet Dominus. Quo sensu ad Tobiam dicebant cognati ejus: Ubi est spes tua, pro qua eleemosynas et sepulturas faciebas? Sic enim uxor ejus exponit, cum exprobratione dicens ei: Manifeste vana facta est spes tua etc. Sensum hunc volunt Liranus ac plerique neoterici; idque rectius. Nam eum plane exigit sequens istorum impiorum probatio: Ex quo enim patres dormierunt etc., et subjuncta refutatio: Latet enim eos hoc volentes, etc. Rursus quaeritur, utrum haec ab impostoribus dicta fuerint ad eximendum metum futuri judicii, an vero ad spem adimendam futurae remunerationis et gloriae. Respondeo, principalius dicta fuisse ad spem adimendam. Quod declarat nomen promissionis; nam promissio bonorum est. Quippe studium illorum impostorum erai, hominibus injicere desperationem eorum bonorum, quae post hanc vitam exspectanda per Apostolos Christi nuntiabantur; tamquam inania essent promissa; quamvis consequenter hac sua doctrina etiam metum eximerent futuri judicii ac gehennae. Itaque fiebat, ut eorum sectatores, de futuris et spe vacui, et metu liberi, totos sese projicerent ac demergerent in voluptates vitae praesentis •, tamquam dicentes: Edamus et bibamus; cras enim moriemuVj 1 Cor. 15; videlicet more gentilium sine Deo viventium, qui desperantes semet ipsos tradiderunt impudicitiae, in operationem omnis immunditiae, Eph. 4. Fuit haec doctrina Gnosticorum et quorundam aliorum, qui, post Apostolos exorti, negarunt futuram mortuorum resurrectionem, et per consequens adventum et regnum Christi, id est, duos extremos articulos Symboli fidei nostrae: Carnis resurrectionem, et vitam aeternam. De quibus haereticis consulendi Epiphanius, Philastrius et Augustinus, de haeresibus scribentes. Quamquam et, viventibus adhuc Apostolis, erant, qui per Ecclesias talia spargerent. Ex quibus Hymenaeus et PhiletuSf dicentes, resurrectionem esse jam factam, 2 Tim. 2., et qui absohite dicebant, quod resurrectio mortuorum non est, 1 Cor. 15. Adversum quos eodem loco prolixe Paulus disserit, utens inter alia hoc argumento: Si resurrectio mortuorum non est, inanis est ergo praedicatio nostra, inanis est et fides vestra. Nam sublata spe resurrectionis et gloriae futurae, corruit totum, propter quod Christiani sumus. Si enim, inquit, in hac vita tantum in Christo sperantes sumus, miserabiliores sumus omnibus hominibus. Unde merito solliciti fuerunt Apostoli Petrus. Paulus et Judas, ut hos exitiales errores ab Ecclesiis, non verbo solum, sed et scripto profligarent.
Ex quo enim patres dormierunt, omnia sic perseverant ab initio creaturae. Impostorum verba per mimesin prosequitur, argumentum erroris sumentium a perpetuo cursu naturae, quem promissionibus Dominicis opponunt. Ex quo, Graece: a'f' ^g^ suj pie: Tjjulpag, ex qua die. Jam pro eo, quod noster interpres Graecam vocem XTiacWJ^ vertit: creaturae, mavult Erasmus: creationis seu conditionis, In quo Hentenius et alii quidam eum sequuntur, minus attenti ad usum hujus vocabuli in Scripturis. Nam, ut ostendimus ad illud Rom. 1, 20.: A creatura mundi, vix est, ubi aliter usurpetur, quam pro creatura, id est, re creata aut rebus creatis. Quae significatio bene etiam quadrat huic loco, et quidem melius, quam si creationem vertas. Sic enim dixit Petrus: Ab initio creaturae, tamquam si diceret: Ab initio mundi. Nam Evangelistae haec duo pro initio creaturae. Quod si creationem vellent intelligi Petrus et Marcus, non dicerent: Ab initio creationis, sed: Ab ipsa creatione seu constitutione mundi-, quomodo loquitur alibi Scriptura. Qaapropter Erasmus quoque dicto locoMarci 13. vertit: A principio rerum conditarum, velut corrigens id, quod prius cap. Sed sensum hujus loci dicamus: Ex quo tempore, inquiunt, antiqui patres, id est, Patriarchae et Prophetae, quos dicitis credidisse et annuntiasse secundum, enndemque gloriosum Christi adventum, obdormierunt, id est, mortui sunt, quamvis tot saecula jam praeterlerint, nihil tamen hujus mundi mutatum vidimus, sed manet eadem facies coeli et terrae, et aliarum mundi partium, quae fuit ab initio, quo mundus coepit. Ilinc colligi volebant, eundem mundi statum semper duraturum; quasi, qui auctor est naturae, nihil in ea mutare possit; aut quasi diuturnitas praescribat mutationi. Quod autem dicunt: dormierunt, quo verbo spes insinuatur resuscitationis corporum aliquando futurae, secundum illud Psalm. 40.: Numquid, qui dormit, non adjiciet, ut resurgat? in eo sibi ipsis contradicebant, utentes vocabulo trito in Scripturis, ac recepto apud fideles, per quod redargui possent.
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5. Latet enim eos hoc volentes. Refutatio est cum accusatione crassae et affectatae ignorantiae eorum, qui talia dicebant. Nam sensus est: Volentes, id est, sponte dataque opera, nesciunt, nolentes advertere ad Scripturas, e quibus discere poterant veritatem. Ita Dominus ad Sadducaeos: Erratis, inquit, nescientes Scripturas, neque virtutem Dei, Matth. 22. Nam et istos nesciisse virtutem Dei, Petrus significat, dum in sequentibus Dei verbo mundi statum et restitutionem attribuit. Pronomen hoc demonstrat sequentia.
Quod coeli erant prius et terra, de aqua, et per aquam consistens Dei verbo. Scripturam sacram opponit illorum rationi, desumptae ex perpetuo rerum cursu; quae physica quaedam ratiuncula erat, eaque fallax, quum Deus sit auctor ac Dominus naturae. Sed singula partis hujus expendamus. Prius, Graece: exTiaXai, jam olim, id est, ab ipso mundi initio. Coelos pro coelo posuit; nam singularem numerum in Hebraea lingaa non habet. Et quamvis coeli nomine comprehendatur in Scripturis, quidquid supra nos expassum est, verificatio tamen pro diversis partibus fieri solet, ut interdum pro coelo beatorum, alias pro coelo stellato, saepe pro coelo aereo sumatur. Hic certe, et maxime in sequentibus, tantum intendit Apostolus loqui de coelo aereo, nec eo toto, sed qua parte continet infimam et mediam aeris regionem, a qua volucres coeli, et nubes ac pluviae coeli vocantur. Ad has enim coeli regiones, et non altius, aquae diluvii pervenerunt, Unde, qui de coelo superelementari locum hunc totum contendunt accipi debere, veluti Catharinus et alii nonnulli, violenti sunt interpretes. Porro coelum aereum hic intelligunt non solum posteriores Theologi fere omnes, tam senteutiarii, quam hujus Epistolae commentatores; verum etiam Augustinus loco supra citato de civitate Dei, et Beda in comment. Consistens, Graece: aovBQT&aa, pro quo legit Augustinus: constituta. Potest etiam verti: compacta, concreta. Mirum autem, quosdam, Graeco numero simul ac genere repugnante, vertendum putare: consistentes, in plurali, ut aeque ad coelos et terram participium hoc referatur; quum historia Genes. 1. non sinat id, quod hic dicitur: de aqua et per aquam consistens, coelis adscribi, ne quidem aereis. Respicit enim B. Petrus ad illa Mosi verba: Dixit ergo Deus: Congregentur aquae y quae sub coelo sunt, in locum unum, et appareat arida. Et factum est ita. Sed et Hieronymus, exponens Jesaiae cap. 65., numerum singularem legit, utens verbo: subsistit. Ex his patet, etiam illam lectionem, cujus Beda meminit hoc loco, et post eum Rupertus super Genesim: Coeli erant Qlim de aqua et per aquam constituti, non esse recipiendam; tum quod mutila sit, terram omittens, tum propter numerum participii mutatum, ut coelis aflingatur, quod de terra Petrus dixit. Aquae nomine materiam primam nonnulli significatam volunt, sed sensu a Scripturis alieno. Quidam chaos interpretantur per aquas (ut ajunt) significatum a Mose dicente: Spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas. Verum nec illic per aquas aliud, quam aquas proprie dictas, quae totam terram tunc operiebant, intelligere debemus. Quare et hoc loco proprie sumenda est aqua pro ipsius aquae elemento. Nam nec aliter accipi potest in eo, quod continuo sequitur: Mundum aqua mundatum periisse. Sensus igitur Apostoli est: Jam olim et ab initio coelum fuit oerbo, id est, imperio seu vohintale Dei omnipotentis conditum; terra quoque eodem Dei verbo ab initio fuit ex aqua, exstans scilicet, et veluti emergens (nam hujusmodi quiddam subintelligi videtur), tunc scilicet, quando dictum est: Congregentur aquae etc. Fuitque per aquam consistens, compacta et solidata, ne diffluat in pulverem, et ut apta sit productioni et conservationi corporum mixtorum. Unde statim, altero die, vel secundum alios, eodem, post denudationem terrae ab aquis, ipsa nihilominus retinente penitus infusam humiditatem, scribit MosesDeum dixisse: Germinet terra herbam virentem etc. Illud: Dei verbo, etiam ad coelos refero, quoniam et paulo post aperte refertur ad coelos et terram. Et generaliter dictum est ia commemoratione creationis coeli, terrae et aquarum: Ipse dixitj etfactasunt; ipse mandavit, et creata suntj Psalm. 32. et 148.
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6. Per quae ille tunc mundus aqua inundatus periit. Ille tunc mundus, Graece: d tots xoaixoQ, id est, mundus, qui tunc erat; nt adverbium tunc non ad verbum periit, sed ad mundum pertineat, indicans mundum, quem superiori capitenominavit apyalov, id est, priscum, originalem. Nec mundum hic intelligas coelum et terram, quomodo multi interpretantur; sed genus humanum, ut et capite praecedenti. Quae mundi acceptio vulgatissima est in Scriptura novi testamenti. Particulam: per quae, referunt quidam ad omnia tria, coelos, terram et aquam. Nam e coolis, id est, aere pluit quadraginta continuis diebus, et aquae inferiores, quae erant in terrae visceribus, evomente eas terra, eruperunt et exundarunt. Sed si haec tria vellet B. Petrus intelligi, non videtur statim in iisdem verbis repetiturus fuisse aquam. Tametsi id argumenti facile solvi potest. Sciendum tamen, Graecum: di ojv. etiam verti posse: per quos, nempe coelos; ut sensus sit, per imbres coelitus effusos genus humanum, quod tunc erat, aquis submersum periisse. Hoc enim est, quod figurato sermone dicitur Gen. 7.: Rupti sunt omnes fontes abyssi magnae, et cataractae coeli apertae sunt. Estque hic sensus plamis et perspicuus. Restat declarandum, quomodo Petrus bis verbis: Quod coeli erant prius etc, refellat argumentum illorum illusorum, quo dicebant: Ex quo enim Patres dormierunt, omnia sic perseverant ah initio creafurae. Est igitur refutatio talis: Quum constet ex Scripturis, coelum jara olim fuisse, necnon terram ex aquis exetantem, et per aquas consistentem; atque haec facta esse non ulla vi mturae creatae, sed Dei verbo: tamen post tot saecula, id est, post mille sexcentos annos tanta successit eorundem mutatio, ut, priori ordine turbato, coelum terrae misceretur, aquis nimirum coelestibus universam terram rursus contegentibus. Unde factum, ut genus humanum aquis suffocatum interiret. Non igitur incredibile videri debet, si dicatur, etiam post multa saecula ejus, qui nunc est, mundi decurrentis aliquando futuram mutationem coeli et terrae tantam, quae mundi consummationem inducat, quando et Christus adventurus sit, et prommissa completurus.
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7. Coeli autem, qui nunc sunt, et terra eodem verbo repositi sunt Jam consequenter docet, quae mundi mutatio sit exspectanda. Coelos et terram, quae nunc sunt, dicit, ad discrimen coelorum et terrae, quae prius sive olim erant; non quod ab illis tota substantia vel omnibus qualitatibus differant, sed quod diversa sint bona ex parte, propter interpositam ex aquarum diluvio mutationem, qua perierant quodammodo, aquis omnia occupantibas. Eodem verbo, Graece: a'JToa Xoyo), ejus verbo, scilicet Dei. Id enim praecesserat, tametsi nonnulli codices habent: tco auT^-T Aoyo), eodem verbo, seu potius: eidem verbo, Nam dativum postulat participium: TeOTjoaoptoijLlvoi^ thesaurizati, quod noster vertit: repositi; ac si dicas: In thesauro verbi Dei repositi ac reconditi, et, ut Liranus expouil, conservati. Non enim hic repositi idem est, quod iterum positi, restituti in statum priorem, quomodo Latini, qui Graeca non viderunt, aut minus attenderunt, hanc vocem exponunt. Id enim si vellet B. Petrus, non diceret: Coeli, qui nunc sunt, sed simpliciter; coeli, quia dicendo: qui nunc sunt, supponit, esse jam restitutos. Igituristud: repositi, significationem habet, quam dixi: tamquam verbum Dei thesaurus quidam sit, ex quo depromat Deus suo tempore, quae facere decreverit. Dlcuutur ergo isti coeli et ista terra thesaurizati verbo Dei, quia Deus ea servat verbo, imperio et voluntati suae, ut aliquando de iis faciat, quod ipsi placuerit. Hunc sensum declarat, quod sequitur:
Igni reservati «?i diem judicii et perditionis impiorum hominum. Reservati^ Graece: zfjpouiiBVOi, praesentis temporis: qui servantur. Semel, inquit, aqua periit mundus, secundo perdendus igni, cui coelum et terra, quae nunc sunt, in Dei thesauro reservantur usque in illum diem, sive in illud tempus, quo exercebitur universale judicium generis humani, et in interitum mittentur homines impii. Tunc enim futurum, ut coelum et terra, sicut infra docetur, ignis conflagratione in quandam novitatem demutentur. Meminit perditionis hominum impiorum, ut usum illius ignis praecipuum ostendat, qui est, iniquos in aeternum cruciare; simul ut impios dicentes: Ubi est promissio etc.j salubriter perterrefaciat. Coelos autem, quos igni reservari dicit, eosdem oportet intelligi, quos supra, scilicet aereos, quorum respectu dicit: qui nunc su7it; non autem astriferos, nt quidam volunt. Nusquam enim Scriptura significat orbes coelestes et astra, quae ipsa sunt ignes quidam, igne conflagrationis arsura ac dissolvenda esse, quod hic de coelis dicitur; ut nec hujusmodi passionis naturaliter susceptiva sunt. Itaque eorum opinio, qui ad coelos superelementares referunt aut extendunt hanc conflagrationem, sive Theologiam consulas, auctoritate destituitur, sive philosophiam, ratione. Porro de igne conflagrationis, quem vocant Theologi, multa ab iis disputantur in 4. sent. dist. 47., de quo et nos eo loco egimus. Ad quas disputationes, ne justo prolixiores hic simus, lectorem remitto, solum ea dicturus, quae ad intelligentiam decimi versus et trium sequentium necessaria videbuntur.
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8. Vnum vero hoc non lateat vos, carissimi. Haec dicuntur ad confirmandam fidem, ac reprimendara curiositatem fidelium, ne vel dubitent de adventu Domini promisso, quem vident in longum extrahi, vel certum tempus, quo venturus sit, exquirant; audiant illud, quod Dominus suis discipulis de eo tempore sciscitantibus respondit, Act. 1.: Non est vestrum, nosse tempora vel momenta, quae Pater posuit in sua potestate. Dicuntur etiam istorsum, ut plenius illusorum cavillo satisfiat. Quamvis, inquit, lateat, quando venturus sit Dominus, illud tamen latere vos non debet, adeoque volo, cogitetis, quoties animum subit scrupulus de tarditate adventus Dominici; illud, inquam:
Quia unus dies apud Dominum sicut mille anni, et mille anni sicut unus dies. Sentit, nullum tempus debere longum videri comparatione aeternitatig secuturae, cum in oculis atque aestimatione Dei aeterni et immutabilis (hoc enim est, quod dicit: apud Dominum) unus dies et mille anni non diflPerant, quod ad proportionem attinet mensurae cum tempore infinito. Nam utrumque comparatione aeternitatis est velut punctum comparatione temporis. Apud Dominum, intellige: Christum; nam de ejus adventu sermo est. Unde et de eo sequitur: Non tardat Dominus. Igitur et hic insinuatio est divinitatis Christi; praesertim quum in his Petri verbis allusio fiat ad versiculum Psalm. 89., quo Deum alloquitur David, dicens: Quoniam mille anni ante oculos tuos tamquam dies hesterna, quae praeteriit. Caeterum tacite B. Petrus confitetur ignorantiam illius diei, convenienter Scripturis, quae testantur, eum soli Deo cognitum esse, Marc. 13. et Act. 1. Vanum est autem, quod quidam, freti hac formula, qua mille anni apud Dominum censentur tamquam dies unus, et contra, conati sunt incerta quaedam pro certis affirmare, et obscura quaedam interpretari, dies accipiendo pro mille annis, aut etiam pro annis singulis. Ut exempli causa, cum sex dies creationis mundi pro argumento sumunt, eundem mundum per sex annorum millia duraturum. Et cum dies quadraginta quinque post Antichristi mortem futuros ante judicium, apud Danielem cap. 12., totidem annos interpretantur. Quae conjecturae sunt horaiuura superstitiose curiosorum, prorsus incertae et alienae a sensu hujus loci.
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9. Non tardat Dominus promissio' nem suam, sicut quidam existimant. Loco duarum dictionum: promissionem suamj quaedam manuscriptalegunt: promissi, quaedam alia: promissis^ quomodo locum hunc citat Pelagius in commentario Epistolae adRom. 2., quia forte interpres legerat: taTc £7iay ysXiatc, pro: zrjQ iTcayYcAia?. Augustinus legit: promissum. Atqui Graeca sic habent: Non tardat Dominus promissi (seu promissionis), sicuti quidam tarditatem existimant. Quod posterius etiam Augustino legitur. Dominus promissi, id est, Dominus promissor, vel qui promisit. Hebraismus est. Forte suspicabitur aliquis, in Graeco scriptum a Petro fuisse: xac, pro: T^c^ ut vertendum fuerit: promissiones. Sed non invenio, ubi verbum ppaSuvo) transitive sumatur, et accusativum post se regat. Annotat Sasboldus, subaudiri conjunctionem illativam, quod Hebraei ccnjuiictiones saepe dissimulent, et intelligendas relinquant; ut sensus sit: Non ergo Dominus, qui promisit, tardat, id est, ultra, quam oporteat, diflFert praestare, quod promisit. Id enim est tardare, cum in vitio ponitur, ultra praestitutum aut debitum tempus, quod agendum est, differre. Quomodo quidam adventus Dominici dilationem male interpretabantur. Sic de ejusdem Domini adventu scriptum est Habac. 2.: Si moram fecerit, exspecta illum, quia veniens veniet, et non tardabit. Ex qua Scriptura liquet, non continuo tardare eum, qui differt et moram facit.
Sed patienter agit propter vos. Graece: Sed longanimis est erga nos, vel, ut pauci codices habent, erga vos. Patientia seu longanimitas, ut alia multa, anthropopathice Deo tribuitur in Scripturis. Nam patiens et longanimis ex eo dicitur, quia differt ultionem, quod solent homines patientes atque longanimes. Interpres longanimitatem ex Graeco expressit infra vers. 15. Est quidem hic sermo de Christo; sed passim ea, quae Dei sunt, Scriptura Ohristo adscribit, utpote vero Deo.
Nolens aliquos perire, sed omnes ad poenitentiam reverti. Graece: x^P^oai, accedere, venire, pervenire. Potest item active sumi: sed omyies ad poenitentiam recipere, quomodo vertit Erasmus; tametsi neutralis acceptio probabilior, tam proprio usu, quam propter verbum praecedens: anoXio^ai, perire, non perdere. Cum autem constet, non omnes homines ad poenitentiam converti, sed plurimos perire, quaeritur, quo sensu verum sit, Deum hoc nolle, illud velle, cujus voluntas omnipotens et immutabilis est, ideoque semper impletur. Quidam interpretantur haec verba de voluntate conditionata, Deum velle omnes ad poenitentiam venire, modo ipsi velint. Alii supplent hoc modo: Deum id velle, quantum in ipso est. Ita post Liranum Thomas Anglicus in hujus loci commentario. Nam eos falli, qui opus illud Thomae Aquinatis esse putant, ostendemus (Deo propitio) in fine Commentar. ad Epistolam B. Judae. Verum hujusmodi sensum jam exclusimus et improbavimus ex Augustino, Prospero, Fulgentio^ et ex ipso Doctore Angelico, cum exponeremus illud 1 Tim. 2.: Qui vult omnes homines salvos fieri, etc. Alios vero sensus probabiles ejusdem sententiae Paulinae adduximus eodem loco. Quorum duo postremi facile praesenti loco possunt aptari, ut dicatur Dominus nolle, quempiam perire, sed omnes ad poenitentiam pervenire, quatenus humano generi in universum media quaedam et auxilia generalia providit et contulit, per quae possent homines ad Deum converti; licet ea ad hominum conversionem et salutem absque specialibus auxiliis, quae non omnibus dantur, minime sufficianl; qui erat ultimus sensus. Vel quatenus vult et facit, pios homines nolle, quempiam perire, sed velle seu desiderare, ut omnes a Deo aversi ad ipsum per veram poenitentiam convertantur, et ad salutem perveniant; qui erat sensus penultimus. Veruntamen est et alius sensus, huic loco accommodatior, quem dedimus in comment. libri primi sentent. distinct. 46., ut Dei voluntas hic intelli^jatur absoluta et proprie dicta; non tamen de omnibus hominibus, sed de solis electis. Dicit enim Petrus: Sed patienter agit propter (vel erga) vos, utique electos. Nam haec Epistola, uti manifestum est ex hujus capitis initio, scribitur ad eosdem, ad quos prima scripta fuit, cujus quidem inscriptio sic habebat: Petrus, Apostolus Jesu Christi, electis advenis etc. Sic ergo Petrus dicit, Dominum patienter agere, id est, adventum promissum et judicium suum differre, propter electos, ut ne pereant, sed ad poenitentiam conversi salventur; quomodo Paulus dicit, se omnia sustinere propter electos, ut et ipsi salutem consequantur, 2 Tim. 2. Notandum enim, sicut propter electos breviabuntur dies illi, scilicet tribulationis magnae, qualis non fuit ab initio mundi, Matth. 24., ne videlicet magnitudine tribulationum oppressi, in desperationem incidant electi et pereant: ita patienter agere Dominum, tempusque judicii differre propter electos, ut omnes, qui adhuc restant colligendi, colligantur, et ad poenitentiam aggregentur. (Sic enim verbum x«^p^oai quidam vertendum putant: aggregari, colligi.) Nam si Deus anticiparet judicii tempus a se decretum, aliqui perirent eorum, quos ab aeterno elegit ad salutem. Sane, cum mundus sit propter electos, non differretur mundi consummatio, nisi adhuc electorum aliqui colligendi essent, et ad poenitentiam adducendi. Simile est huic loco, quod Christus dicit Matth. 18.: Sic non est voluntas ante Patrem vestrum, qui in coelis est, ut pereat unus de pu~ sillis istis. Quod de electis intelligendum, bene docent Jansenius et Hesselius. Hunc vero locum de electis accepit Ven. Beda, commentarium suum declarans alterius Scripturae testimonio, scilicet Apocal. 6. Sic enim habet: Ideo Dominus adhuc differt, ut electorum prius summa, quam cum Patre ante saecula decrevit, adimpleatur. JJnde et in Apocalypsi animae martyrum, qui diem judicii et resurrectionis ocius adventare sitiebant, audierunt, ui requiescerent tempus adhuc modicum, donec impleretur conservorum et fratrum eorum numerus. Haec ille. Quae ex eodem compendio repetit glossator. Et his consonat, quod dicit Oecumenius, consummationis tempus differri, ut compleatur numerus salvandorum.
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10. Adveniet autem dies Domini ut fur. Dies Domini, id est, dies, quo venturus est ad judicium Christus Dominus. Is erit hominibus improvisus; quomodo fures venire solent, observantes tempus, quo minime se putant exspectari. Qua comparatione etiam alibi ad hanc eandem rem utitur Scriptura, ut 1 Thess. 5., Apoc. 3. et 16. Porro Graeca addunt: in nocte. Quod ex dicto loco Epistolae ad Thessalonicenses huc adscriptum verisimile est. Nam ibi legitur, quod dies Domini, sicut fur in nocte, ita veniet.
In quo coeli magno impetu transient. Pergit describere mutationem mundi in fine saeculi futuram. Magno impetu, Graece adverbium est: pOiQridbv, quod Erasmus vertit: procellae in morem, Hentenius: vehementi sonitu. Nam verbum poiQeXv significat: sibilare cum stridore; qualis est sibilus rerum, quae velocissime mcventur, ut sagittarum, ventorum. Hic sibilus ac stridor coelorum, id est, aeris supra nos extensi, praevius ae praecursorius erit ad majorem mutationem instantem, quae per ignem fiet. Praevius, inquam, ad praemonendos homines, ut ad id, quod instat, animos advertant; maxime quia sibilus ille non erit sine motu aeris insolito. Cujusmodi motum fortasse significat verbum: transcurrent, quod loco verbi: transibunt, legitur apud Augustinum; tametsi Graecum: TiapsXsuaovTat, quod item in Evangeliis legitur de coelo et terra, non aliud est, quam: transibunt, praeteribunt. Igitur sensus Apostoli est, Christo Domino ad judicium venturo, coelos aereos cum procellosa ac horribili commotione praevia transituros esse, seu perituros, quemadmodnmsupra dixit, mundum aqua mundatum periisse, hoc est, ingentem mutationem pasBuros, videlicet per ignem, uti paulo post explicat. Dixi: Domino ad judicium venturo. Quamvis enim opinio quorundam sit, ignem conflagrationis mundi, peracto demum universali judicio, oriturum esse, quo et mundurf tunc innovetur, et impii involuti rapiantur iu tartara cruciandi: communior tamen est sententia (quae et Scripturae sacrae conformior), ignem illum antecessurum esse Judicem, quo genus humanum, quod a plagis praecedentibus reliquum erit, consumptum intereat, simul et mundi purgatio ac renovatio fiat, ut in novum mundum electi, resuscitatis ad immortalitatem suis corporibus, introducantur; qui tamen ignis, durante judicio, sit permansurus, donec (ut dictum est) impios in tartara secum abripiat. Nec huic sententiae repugnat, quod hic dicitur: In quo, scilicet die advenientis Domini, coeli transient; tamquam non ante, sed in ipso Domini adventu conflagratio per ignem exercenda sit. Nam dies Domini, more Scripturae, non praecise significat illud tempus, quo mortuos vitae redditos Dominus judicabit; sed una comprehendit totam immutationem mundi, quae Dominici adventus atque judicii proxime instantis erit praenuntia. Caetera, quae de igne conflagrationis, ejusque effectis, atque de horum ordine, quo sint eventura, a Theologis disputari solent, e suis locis petantur. Egimus et nos de his in 4. sent. dist. 47. et in comment. prioris Epist. ad Cor. cap. 3., ubi de die Domini et igne disserit Paulus. Jara quod hunc locum Epistolae ad Platonicas mundi revolutiones pertinere putavit Didymus, ex quo consequenter inferebat, aut falsam aut falsatam esse Epistolam, ideoque a canone Scripturarum resecandam: id quo loco sit habendum, diximus in prolegomenis.
Elementa vero calore solventur. Pro calore Graece est participium passivum: xauoo6|ji£va, id est aestuantia, calore correpta, pro quo legit Augustinus: ardentia. Quod idem participium infra repetitum interpres vertit: ignis ardore. De sensu hujus partis variant scriptores. Beda exponit de quatuor elementis, igne, aere, aqua et terra, quibus mundus iste consistit. Quae cuncta, inquit, ignis ille maximus absumet. Nec tamen in tantum consumet, ut funditus non sint; sed duo tantum consumet, ignem et aquam; duo vero in meliorem restituet faciem, de quibus infra Petrus ait: Novos coelos et novam terram exspectamus. Haec Bedae sententia plures ob causas non placet. Primum, quia conflagratio per ignem futura, de qua loquuntur Scripturae, tantum erit mundi hujus infimi, qui quondam diluvio periit, ut supra dictum est. Unde censent Augustinus et alii, inter quos et ipse Beda, non altius adscensurnm ignem illum, quam quo pertigerunt aquae diluvii. Deinde nec in Scripturis quidem notum est ignis elementum, nec sensibus exploratum; sed ex sola ratione physica positum a philosophis. Nec illud apparet, quomodo ignis ignem absumat, conflagrationis elementarem, eumque totum; cum praesertim elementum ignis non sit in aliene^ materia, quae ab alio igne queat absumi. Sic enim solet ignis major minorem absumere, ejus materiam alienam depascendo. Adde, quod, eo consumpto. spatium, quod nunc occupat (quod quidem amplissimum a Peripateticis illi datur, et recte), aut vacuum relinqueretur, aut alio corpore implendum esset. Igitur alii, ignis elemento praetermisso, tria reliqua, quae vulgo notissima sunt, elementorum nomine significari putant: aerem, aquam, et terram. Haec enim aquis diluvii perierunt, sensu superius explicato. Quare et igne conflagrationis erunt, ut hic dicitur, dissolvenda. Verum, quia coelos, id est aerem, Petrus jam nominavit in priori membro, dicens, eos transituros, ac rursus in sequentibus coelos ab elementis separat: idcirco rectius existimant alii, terram et aquam solas hac parte nomine elementorum comprehendi; praesertim quum elementum, Graece: otoix^Iov, quasi primordiale fundamentum significet, quod maxime crassioribus istis, terrae et aquae, convenit. Nec obstat, quod proxime subjungit, tamquam diversum, de terra exurenda. Nam terram repetit, ut aliud quiddam addat, quod ad eam pertineat. Alioqui terram sub elementis a Petro comprehendi, satis ex eo patet, quod infra, cum iterum dixisset: elementa ignis ardore tabescentj nihil tamen de dissolutione vel exustione teriae adjiciendum putavit. Porro dissolutionem elementorum intellige, non qua resolvantur in materiam primam, quae sola est eorum materiale principium (haec enim dissolutio impossibilis est, aut saltem mundo renovando minime conveniens), sed per quam, ablata ac velut excocta omni impuritato, reddantur omnino pura, tamquam per ignem examinata atque probata. Neque enim substantialiter immutanda sunt 5 sed in statum et faciem meliorem, quae novo mundo congruat, omnia restituenda.
Terra autem, et quae in ipsa sunt opera, exurentur. Exustionem terrae tribuit, tamquam elemento prae caeteris crasso et materiali, in quo vis incendii vehementior appareat. Quamquam non hoc accipiendum de toto tetrae globo, quasi ignis totum sit penetraturus, sed de partibus exterioribus, quae serviunt usibus humanis, quaeque peccatis hominum infectae quodammodo et contaminatae, sicut alibi Scriptura loquitur, purgatione, quae per ignem fiat, indigebunt. Opera, quae in terra suntj intelligunt plerique ea, quae naturaliter ortum habent in terra ex primaeva Dei institutione, id est, corpora mixta, bestias, arbores, caeterasque plantas, aurum, argentum et quidquid tale. Quae omnia exurenda sint, non ut purgentur ac renoventur (neque enim illorum usus erit post resurrectionem), sed ut penitus tollantur atque intereant, resolutione facta in ipsa elementa. Possent etiam intelligi opera hominum arto facta, ut aedificia, civitates, arces omnisque supellex, et omne genus instrumentorum corporalium. Nam et haec omnia cum mixtis, ex quibus conEtant, interibunt, ut sola remaneant elementa. Caeterum magis probabile nobis est, per opera, quae in terra sunt, actus terrenos Petrum significare voluisse, id est, opera peccatorum; quemadmodum contra de bonis operibus dicitur a Paulo, quod nostra conversatio in coelis est, Phil. 3. Unde et eodem loco, qui secundum car^ nem ambulant, terrena sapere dicuntur. Hic commentarius ex verbis proxime sequentibus probabilitatem accipit, quibus hortatur Petrus fideles, ut, quoniam haec omnia dissolvenda sunt, sanctis conver^ sationibus et pietatibus, tamquam operibus coelestibus, incumbant, exspectantes et properantes in adventum illius diei etc, ne videlicet, si secus egerint, opera eorum, velut terrena, simul cum terra exurantur, et ipsi pereant, aut ceite detrimentum patiantur. Videtur enim B. Petrus, dicens, opera, quae in terra sunt, exurenda esse, illud insinuare, quod expressius a Paulo dictum est 1 Cor. 3.: Si cujus opus arserit, detrimentum patietur. Nam et illic de eodem igne conflagrationis ac purgationis sermo est, de quo hic agitur. Est et altera antithesis in eo, quod adhuc sequitur: Novos vero coelos et novam terram exspectamus, in quibus justitia habitat. Hanc enim justitiam, quae in nova terra habitabit, opponere videtur operibus, quaein hac terra sunt, id est peccatis. Auctorem hujus expositionis habeo Oecumenium, licet alii non meminerint. Vide, quae diximus in commentario 1 Cor. 3. ad illud: Dies enim Domini declarabit etc.
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11. Cum igitur haec omnia dissolvenda sint, quales oportet vos esse in sanctis conversationibus et pietatibusl Doctrinam superiorem de mundi per ignemtransmutationeApostoliceconvertit ad exhortationem. Haec omnia intelligit coelum et elementa, quae mundum hunc inferiorem constituunt. In Graeco sunt genitivi absolute positi; pro quibus Erasmus Latine: His igitur omnibus solutis. Sed cum Xuo|i£vaJV praesentis sit temporis participium, melius in verbum resolvitur; quod fecit Hentenius ad hunc modum: Quum igitur haec omnia solvantur. Quod et Erasmo placet in annotationibu?. Optime vero sensum reddidit noster interpres per: dissolvendn; adeo ut id secutus sit Erasmus in paraphrasi. Nam praesens pro eo, quod certissime est futurum, quodque tamquam praesens semper prae oculis habendum est, posuit Apostolus. Augustinus legit: His ergo omnihm pereuntibus. Quales, Graece: uoSaTtouc:, quod non simpliciter qualitatem significat rei vel personae, sed cum emphasi quadam admirationis, ut Matth. 8.: Qualis est hic, quia venti et mare obediuntei! Marc. 13.: Aspice, quales lapides et quales structurae! Luc. 7.: Quae et qualis est mulier, quae tangit eum. Caeterum exhortatio B. Petri ratiocinatione constat hujusmodi: Mundus, qui nostri causa conditus est, incendio solvetur, purgabitur, innovabitur, ut nostrum, id est, electorum atque jutjtorum fiat receptaculum; quantum igitur nos ipsos, ut in habitaculum illud recipiamur, puros et sanctos esse convenit? Erimus autem tales, si per omnia sancte et pie conversemur, fugientes ejus, quae in mundo est, concupiscentiae corruptionem, uti dixit supra cap. 1. Sanctas conversaticnes et pietates vocat sanctas et pias actiones, tametsi illud: pietatibus, Augustinus non legit. Sensui jam dato respondent, quae sequuntur usque ad vers.
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12. Exspectantes et properantes in adventum diei Domini. Domini, Graece: ^soD, Dei. Quod ct in nonnullis est Latinis. Ac fortasse Domini pro Dei irrepsit, quod alibi passim vocetur dies Domini, quodque diei Dei cacopbonum quid habeat. Christum autem intelligi, constat, de cujus adventu et die judicii hic agitur. Est igitur hic locus apertus, juxla Graecam lectionem, pro Christi divinitate. Notandum, abesse in Graeco praepesitionem: in. Itaque vertit Erasmus: exspectantes et accelerantes adventum etc, tamquam sensus sit, nos diligenti studio bonarum actionum id agere debere, ut acceleretur adventus Domini. Fit enim eo pacto, ut citius compleatur numerus electorum, ac desinat querela dicentium: Ubi est promissio adventus ejus? Hunc sensum non renuit verbum Graecum OTiou^stv. Frequenter enim transitive sumitur. Verum quia Scripturae non nobiB tribuunt accelerationem adventus illiuB diei, sed potius ipsi Christo venturo, de quo supra: Non tardat Dominus etc, idcirco magis placet sensus, quem spectavit noster interpres, supplendo praepositionem; ut illud: adventum diei, ad utrumque participium referatur hoc modo: Exspectantes adventum illius diei, et ad eundem properantes. Ac si dicat Apostohis: Non solum volo, ut diem illum exspectetis, semper vigiles et parati suscipere Dominum, quum venerit; quod bonorum servorum est, de quibus Luc. 12.: Beati servi illi, quos, quum vene^ rit Dominus, invenerit vigilantes; sed insuper exhortor, ut in occursum Domini venturi properetis, quo magis ardens vestrum desiderium adventus illius testemini. Quo pertinet evangelica parabola virginum, quae cum ardentibus lampadibus iverunt obviam sponso, Matth. 25. Quidam sic vertit: Exspectantes properando adventum diei Dei, quasi tale quid significetur, quale proverbio vulgato: Festina lente; ut exspectatio moram significet, properatio torpori opponatur. Sed prior sensus melius respondet Scripturis. Fit autem haec, de qua Scripturae loquuntur, exspectatio, nec non properatio et occursus, dura quisque, sedulo piis operibus incumbens, ostendit, se Domini adventum ex animo diligereacdesiderare, more servorum, qui dominos absentes, quos amant, cum desiderio exspectant, interim officio dib*genter intenti. Huc enim alludere Petrum in his verbis, verisimile est. Porro diem Domini seu Dei vocat tempus illud, quo Christus Dominus et Deus cum majestate magna judicaturus est mundum, et regnum suum omnino gloriosum auspicaturus.
Per quem coeli ardentes solventur, et elementa ignis ardore tabescent. Pro: ignis ardore, rursus in Graeco est participium: xauao6/x£va, aestuantia. Tabescentj Graece: Ti^xsTat^ liquescunt, praesentis temporis; quamquam futurum; Ta- XTjosTai, liquescentf in quibusdam exemplaribus legitur, nominatim in Complutensi ac Regio. Quomodo et Augustinus legit in futuro: decoquentur. Non aliud autem hac parte vult Apostolus, quam quod supra dixit, coelos transituros, et elementa calore solvenda; nisi quod hic expressius astruit, illum coelorum transitum ac dissolutionem ardore, id est incendio, peragendum; utique per ignem, cui coeJos, qui nunc sunt, reservatos esse, jam ante dixerat. Similem habet sensum, quod de elementis subjungit, dicens, quod aestuantia liquescent; ducta raetapbora a cera, cui si ignem admoveas, statim solvitur ac liquescit. Hac enim comparatione etiam alibi Scriptura utitur ad significandum facilem ac celerem alicujus rei interitum a causa praepotente; ut in Psalmis aliquoties. Igitur elementa aestu UJius liquescent, hoc est, ita subito trausmutabuntur, uti solel cera ab igne liquefacta statim ac facile iu quamlibet figuram transmutari. Proinde non hic significatur coelorum et elementorum mutatio secundum substantiam, sed secundum qualitates; quomodo cerae mutatio fit secundum figuram, liquationem, mollitiem. Unde Hieronymus ait, de mundi transitu loquens, super Jes. 65.: Figura praeterit, non substantia. Coelos intelligi non sidereos, sed aereos, jam ante satis dictum est. Elementorum vero nomine terram et aquam solas comprehendi, res ipsa docet; aere videlicet prius ac seorsim nominato. Particula: per quem, Graece: ^i t]V, referri non potest ad Dominum vel Deum^ repugnante genere; sed referenda est vel ad diem, vel ad adventum, quod utrumque Graecis est foeminei generis. Aptius autem ad adventum, ut sensus sit, virtute adventus diei Domini futuram esse totam illam mundi mutationem, quomodo virtute ignis admoti cera liquescit. Quod Hebraea phrasi dicitur: a facie ignis, a facie Dei, utrumque Psalm. 67. Potest etiam verti: propter quem, scilicet adventum; ui significet, illam mutationem mundi fore quandam adventus Dominici praeparationem. Nam, ut supra dixi, praesentiam Christi judicis illa mundi per ignem purgatio et innovatio praecessura est. Unde et Augustinus pro: adventu, legit: praesentiam. Utrumque enim Graeca dictio Tiapouota significat.
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13. Novos vero coelos, et novam ter^ ram secundum promissa ipsius exspectamus. Promissa, Graece: promissum seu promissionem, numero singulari. Quod autem in Latinis quibusdam pro: secundum promissa, legitur: et promissa^ in manuscriptis probatioribus, quae apud nos sunt, non reperitur, uti nec omnino in Graecis hodie exstantibus; tametsi facile potuit xaTa abbreviatum a scriba parum at(ento mutari in v.oh, vel contra. Nam certe Hieronymus legit hoc posteriore modo. Sic enim recitat hunc locum in commentario Jes. 65.: Novos autem coelos et novam terram videbimus, et repromissionem ejus. Ubi et subjungit pro commentario: Non dixit, alios coelos et aliam terram videbimus, sed veteres in melius commutatos. Igitur novos inteHigere debemus repurgatos ac renovatos, et melioribus qualitatibus affectos, remanente substantia. Quo sensu et illud accipiendum, quod Joannes Apoc. 21. post illa verba: Et vidi coelum novum et terram novam, subjicit: Primum enim coelum et prima terra abiit. Nam abiisse dicit, quantum ad faciem et qualitates priores, eodem nimirum sensu, quo praedixerat ipse Dominus Matth. 24.: Coelum et terra transibunt. Jam nec aliter hoc loco coelos accipit Petrus, quam in praecedentibus. Quamquam non negamuy, ejus doctrinam habere veritatem etiam de coelis supercleraentaribus, in quibus infixa sunt lumina coelestia; non quod igne purganda sint illa corpora, quae purgatione non indigent; sed quoniam et ipsa transmutationem in melius recipient; ut fiat illud, quod scribit Jesaias cap. 30. Erit lux lunae, sicut lux solis; et lux solis erit septempUciter, sicut lux septem dierum. Porro dicens Apostolus novam terram, simul aquam vult intelligi. Haec enim duo proxime elementorum nomine comprehenderat, quae igne velut liquefacta novas, exuta vetustate, qaalitates, ceu formas, acceptura sint. Nec his obstat, quod Joannes in Apocalypsi post verba paulo ante citata consequenter adjungit: Et mare jam non est. Quamvis ea Scriptura Bedam et alios quosdam adduxit in eam sententiam, ut putarent, elementum aquae in mundi innovatione prorsus interiturum. Non, inquam, obstat, quia non dicit Joannes, aquam non amplius futuram, sed mare, id est, ut Angu- Btinus exponit lib. 20. de civit. Dei, cap. 16., hoc saeculum vita mortalium turbulentum et procellosum, guod maris nomine figuravit. Vel, ut quidam volunt, mare secundum situm, quem nunc habet in universo; ut significetur mare rediturum ad locum universi, quem habuit initio, priusquam aquae congregarentur in sinus quosdam, ut appareret arida; quae congregationes aquarum appellatae sunt 7naria, Gen. 1. Vel potius mare, quatenus impurum, crassum, salsum, turbidum et inquietum. Nam hujusmodi qualitates importare solet vocabulum maris; ideoque non dicitur, mare novum futurum, sed simpliciter, non futurum amplius. Addit Petrus: secundum promissa (vel promissum) ipsius, scilicet Christi Dei ac Domini. Sic enim promisit Jes. 65.: Ecce ego creo coelos novos et terram, et cap. 66.: Coeli novi et terra nova, quae ego facio stare coram me. Eademque promissio repetitur, ostensa Joanni in visione Apoc. 21. Si cui placet illa quorundam codicum lectio: Et promissa ipsius, exponi poterit de bonis, quae Christus passim, tam in Evangelio, quam in Apocalypsi, suis electis promisit: resurrectionis gloriam, immortalitatem, regni sui societatem, Dei visionem. Quibus bonis electorum beatitudo perficitur.
In quibus justitia habitat. Rursum tempus praesens pro futuro posuit. Habitat, id est, habitabit, idque non ad tempus, sed in omnem aeternitatem, quae convenientissime per tempus praesens significatur. Justitiam intelligit perfectam, vel ipsos homines perfecte justos. Non enim illuc intrabit aliquid coinquinatum, Apoc. 21. Nominat autem et coelos, et terram habitaculum justorum, quia totus mundus erit possessio et palatium et regnum electorum. Unde et in eorum persona dicitur Apoc. 5.: Et regnabimus super terram. Ad hunc modum loquitur etiam Justinus martyr in quaestionibus. Nam quod quidam illud: in quibus, referunt ad: promissa, alii vero nonnulli ad verbum: exspectamus, minus obviae sunt expositiones, mihique non admodum probabiles. Nostra sane consona est iis, quae scribit Jesaias cap. 65., ubi post promissionem coeli novi et terrae novae, ita subdit: Gaudebitis et exsultabitis usque in sempiternum in his, quae ego creo, id est, in coelo novo et terra nova. Supra quoque dictum est, in hac parte antithesim esse ad opera, quae in hac terra sunt, id est, ad peccata.
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14. Propter quod, carissimi, haec exspectantes, satagite immaculati, et inviolati ei inveniri in pace. Satagite, Graece: OTiouSaoaTS^ studete, operam date. Idem verbum cap. 1. vers. 10. Inviolati, Graecei a.\i(ii\io\., irreprehensibiles. Vocat autem Scriptura immaculatos et irreprehensibiles eos, qui pie, juste et sancte vivunt, a gravioribus peccatis, ac saeculi inquinamentis abstinentes. Infert Apostolus ex mundi renovatione, quem futurum dixit habitaculum justorum, ita vivendum esse, ut in eum a Christo recipi mereamur. Et sensus est: Ne auscultetis ad verba dicentium: Ubi est promissio adventus ejus? sed quae promissa sunt, id est, coelos novos et terram novam, Christique regnum, spe firma exspectantes, toti in hoc incurabite, ut tales a Domino ad judicandum venturo reperiamini, quales oportet esse eos, qui bona ab eo promissa recipiant, hoc est, irreprehensibiles, puros et immacolatos, speciatim a turpitudine, quam exercent et docent pseudodidascali isti, de quibus supra, parentes scholae Gnosticorum. Quod addit: in pace, quidam referunt ad verbum: exspectantes, quasi moneat, ut in pace, id est, animo quieto et pacato exspectent adventum Christi. Sed plures ad proximum verbum: inveniri, hoc sensu: Studete, ut veniens Christus inveniat vos pacem cum ipso habentes, id est, amicos et filios, et per haec dignos, quos in suum regnum admittat. Quam pacem non habent, nisi justi ex fide, Paulo testante Rom. 5.: Justificati ex fide, pacem habemus ad Deum. Nam qui non est consentiens adversario (per quem intelligitur lex Dei), dum est in via cum eo, mittitur in carcerem, numquam inde exiturus, Matth. 5. Potest etiam pax intelligi fidelium inter se, id est, animorum consensus in bono, maximeque in fide Bana et integra. In qua pace si inveniantur, audient a Judice: Venite, haereditate regnum vobis paratum, tamquam filiis Dei, Matth. 25.; nam pacifici filii Dei vocabuntur, Matth. 5. Hoc modo pax accipitur passim in exhortationibus. Hinc et cap. 1. hortatus est eos ad amorem fraternitatis.
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15. EtDomini nostri longanimitatem salutem, arbitremini. Graece: arbitraminij ^ysTo^s^ sicut ante: satagite. Monet, ut Christi Domini longanimitatem, qua suum differt adventum, arbitrentur ac reputent ad suam spectare salutem, quia nimirum differendo jadicium exspectat eos ad poenitentiam salutarem, ut ne cum reprobis damnentur. Hoc est, quod supra de eodem Christo Domino dixit: Non tardat, sed patienter agit propter vos, nolens, aliquos perire, sed omnes ad poenitentiam reverti. Igitur et haec pars ad animaudum fideles pertinet, ne taedio frangantur ob diutinam moram adventus Domini, sed persuasum habeant, in ea dilatione suam positam esse salutem.
Sicut et carissimus frater noster Paulus, secundum datum sibi sapientiam, scripsit vobis. Cur velut ex abrupto ad Gaii. Estii Comiu. Tom. III. Apostoli Pauli mentionem Petrus divertat, infra dicemus. Fratrem vocat eum, vel communi nomine Christianorum, vel potius fratrem, quia Coapostolum, id est, Apostolici muneris socium atque collegam; quippe eo nomine dignissimum, ut qui in Evangelio plus omnibus laborasset, 1 Cor. 15. Dicens autem: se~ eundum datam sibi sapientiam scripsit vobis, tam ipsum, quam ejus Epistolas laudat a sapientia, qua in eis scribendis sit usus; ac nihilominus eandem sapientiam refert inDeum datorem. Sapientiam intellige sublimem divinorum mysteriorum notitiam, quae utique in Paulo excelluit, qui Evangelium suum acceperat per revelationem Jesu Christi, Gal. 1., et raptus in paradisum audivit arcana verba, quae non licet homini loqui, 2 Cor. 12. Hoc exemplo Petri monemur ita laudare homines laude dignos, ut tamen omne, quod in eis laudabile est, in Deum referamus auctorem^ Ubi interim observare est admirabilem candorem ac sinceram modestiam pectoris Apostolici in Petro, qui, reprehensus aliquando a Paulo, tamen et ipsum carissimum fratrem appellat, et Epistolas ejus commendat, inter quas et illa est, in qua ipsius reprehensio continetur atque defenditur, ea nempe, quae scripta est ad Galatas. De qua re locus est insignis apud Gregorium in homil. 18. super Ezech. Meminit et Beda praeclare in commenl. Sed et illud in Petro observatu dignum atque laudabile est, quod, cum esset princeps Apostolorum^ qui doctrinam suam hauserat partim ex ore Christi Salvatoris, familiariter cum Apostolis colloquentis, partim ac plenius ex illapsu Spiritus S. in die Pentecostes, non tamen dedignatus fuerit Pauli, Apostolorum novissimi, legere Epistolas, forte et ex iis aliquid discere. Q.uaeritur, quam Pauli Epistolam indicet Petrus, dicens: Scripsit vobis, id est, Judaeis. Nam ad Judaeos fideles utramque Petri Epistolam scriptam esse, satis suis locis arbitror me demonstrasse. Beda refert hoc ad omnes Epistolas Pauli, quas ad Ecclesias scripsit: Quia, etsi Paulus, inquit, ad quasdam specialiter scripsit Ecclesias, omnibus tamen generaliter, quae per orbem sunt, quaeque unam catholicam faciunt, scripsisse probatur Ecclesiis. Sed obstat huic intellectui, quod Petrus subjungit: sicut et in omnibus Epistolis j utique significans, ad istos Paulum specialiter scripsisse. Et id Petrum velle, existimant alii plerique, quorum Oecumenius, quem recentiores quidam sequuntur, Epistolam ad Romanos significari putat. Hanc enim ad Judaeos aeque ac gentiles, qui Romae era^t, et inChristumcredideiant, scriptam fuisse, non est dubium; quemadmodum ostendimus in ejus Epistolae argumento. Si quaeras, ubi in ea Epistola habeantur, de quibus ait Petrus: Sicut et Paulus scripsit vobis, profenint illud cap. 2.: An dioitias bonitatis ejus, et patientiae, et longanimitatis contemnis? Ignoras, quoniam benignitas Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit? Hoc quippe, ut et caetera ejusdem capitis, ad Judaeos proprie dictum fuit; idque simile esse volunt cum eo, quod Petrus proxime dixit: Et Domini nostri longanimitatem salutem arbitremini. Unde et locus ille Pauli huc ad marginem in codicibus impressis annotatus habetur. Illud quoque, quod Petrus dixerat: Satagite immaculati et inviolati inveniri, referunt ad verba Pauli in eadem Epistola, cap. 12.: 06secro vos, ut exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiom viventem, sanctam, Deo placentem. Quamvis et alibi Romanos ad vitae puritatem hortatur. Denique in eam Epistolam maxime quadrare dicunt hoc, quod Petrus subjungit: In quibus sunt quaedam difficilia intellectu, quae docti et instabiles depravant. At vero aliorum sententia est, Epistolam ad Hebraeos a Petro significatam esse. Non enim aliam specialiter ad Judaeos scripsit Paulus. Nec laborant in designandis locis, ad quae Petrus respicit, dicens: Sicut et Paulus scripsit vobis. Talia namque potissimum haberi cap. 10. et sequentibus usque ad finem, in quibus multus est in exhortando suos Hebraeos ad retinendam fidem et spem promissorum coelestium, propositis etiam longa sorte sanctorum patrum exemplis. Quamvis et in prioribus Epistolae partibus eam rem agat per intervalla, ut cap. 3. 4. et 6. Siquidem et secundum Graecos interpretes in ea Epistola illud agitur praecipue, ut Hebraeorum languentes animi excitentur ad fidei perseverantiam, certamque exspectationem bonorum, quae per Christum promissa, atque in futurum reposita sunt. De his ipsis autem loqui Petrum, liquido constat ex iis, quae praecedunt: Novos, inquit, coelos et novam terram secundum promissa ipsius exspectamus. Et iterum: Propter quod, carissimi, haec exspectantes, satagite etc. Quin et illud, a quo coeperat de adventu Domini patienter exspectando disserere, cum ait, quosdam dicere: Ubi est promissio adventus ejus? an non plane convenit cum eo, quod ad Hebraeos in fine cap. 10. dicitur: Patientia vobis necessaria est, ut voluntatem Dei facientes reportetis promissionem? Adhuc enim modicum aliquantulumque, qui venturus est, veniet, et non tardabit etc. Sed in re manifesta non immoror. Certe patet ex his, quanto sit probabilius, Epistolam ad Hebraeos a Petro designatam, quam ullam aliam; nec quidquam momenti habere, quao pro Epistola ad Romanos allata sunt. Nam quod ex cap. 2. proferebatur de patientia et longanimitate Dei, id Paulus increpando dicit, longanimitatem Dei intelligens, qua differt justum judicium in peccatores. Petrus autem loquitur exhortando et consolando, longanimitatem intelligens, qua Christus Dominus adventum suum differt, promissa praemia redditurus electis. Locus autem de vitae puritate communis est omnibus Pauli Epistolis. Jam nec verisimile est, Petrum, dicentem: Sicut et Paulus scripsit vobis, agere de una aut altera sententia Paulina, sed de totius Epistolae aut magnae partis ejus argumento. Nec vero pro diversa sententia facit, quod in Epistolam ad Romanos maxime quadrare videatur illud: In quibus sunt quaedam difficilia intellectu etc. Non enim hoc dicit Petrus de iis, (][nae ad Judaeo^ scripsit Paulus, ut facile est attento lectori animadvertere; sed de Epistolis Pauli in genere, de quibus praemiserat: Sicut et in omnibus Epistolis. Sed adhuc objiciunt, et dicunt, Petrum scripsisse suas Epistolas ad Judaeos advenas dispersionis Ponti, Galatiae etc, quae erant regiones Asiae minoris, a Judaea procul dissitae; Epistolam vero, quae dicitur ad Hebraeos, proprie dirigi ad eos, qui Hierosoljmam et Judaeam incolebant; sicut et ipsi ostendimus in prolegomenis illius Epistolae; et proinde, quod Petrus dicit de Paulo: scripsit vo~ his, de Epistola ad Hebraeos intelligi non posse, ut quae non ad illos, quibus hoc dicitur, scripta sit, sed ad alios. Verum hujus argumenti non est difficilis solutio. Nonenimsensus est: Scripsit vobis f in illa dispersione positis, de qua in inscriptione prioris Epistolae; alioqui nec Epistola ad Romanos poterit intelligi, quod tamen isti volunt, qui movent hanc objectionem; sed vobis, id est, genti vestrae. Nam quiapeculiarem ad Judaeos Epistolam scripserat Pauhis, et quidem de materia, quae ad omnes Judaeos fideles pertineret, ideo supponit Petrus, illam ab eis, ad quos missa fuerat, communicatam caeteiis. Adde, quod, etsi prior Epistola Petri scripta fuerit ad Judaeos dispersionis Ponti, Galatiae etc., non tamen necesse est, hanc secundam intelligi praecise scriptam ad eosdem; quum illud: Hanc, ecce, vobis secundam scribo epistolam, ita referri possit ad eandem gentem, ut tamen non ad eundem locum propterea referatur, sed ad Judaeos ubilibet morantes. Ut igitur concludam, ex iis, quae dicta sunt, admodum mihi probabile fit, Apostolum Petrum hic denotare Epistolam ad Hebraeos scriptam. Ex quo jam consequens est id, quod controverterunt nonnulli, illius Epistolae Paulum esse auctorem. Id quod aliis etiam rationibutf astruere conati sumus in proleg. Epist. ad Hebraeos.
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16. Sicut et in omnibus Epistolis. Erasmus vertit: In omnibus fere Episto^ lis, videlicet addita de suo particula: fere. Non enim verisimile est, omnes Pauli Epistolas sine exceptione Petrum hic comprehendere voluisse, sed plerasque, maxime quae scriptae sunt ad Ecclesias. Quamquam textui non erat addendum: fere; sed expositoribus annotandum oportebat relinquere. Porro non est hic supplendum: scripsit vobis, quod constat falsum esse; sed absolute: scripsit, vel illud totum: secundum datam sibi sapientiam scripsit. Quid autem scripserit, indicat hoc, quod sequitur:
Loquens in eis de his. Nempe, de quibus ego vos instruxi et admonui, id est, de Christi adventu et promissis ejus fideliter et patienter exspectandis; et de fugiendis errorum magistris, quia veritate doctrinae semel traditae, praesertim ejus, quae est de fide et bonis operibus, avocant fideles. Horum enim capitum doctrina sparsa est per omnes aut fere omnes Epistolas Paulinas. Dubitant autem nonnulli, an omnes' Epistolae Pauli, quas habemus, jam tunc scriptae fuerint, priusquam haec scriberet Petrus. Sed non magna ratio est dubitandi. Nam Petrus haec scripsit morti vicinus, ut patet ex cap. 1. hujus Epist. Paulus autem, qui Petro fuit in morte socius, suas Epistolas etiam postremas scripsit multo ante; quemadmodum ostendimus ad illud 2 Tim. 4.: Tempus reso' lutionis meae instat; excepta tamon Epistola ad Hebraeos. Sed et hanc scriptam fuisse, priusquam Petrus haec scriberet, ex supradictis satis intelligitur, et cur dubitetur, rationem non video.
In quibus sunt quaedam difficilia intellectu. In quibus, alii tollendae ambiguitatis causa vertunt: inter quae. Nam Graece est: Iv oTc, quod non potest ad Epistolas referri, quarum, ut Latinis, ita et Graecis genus est foemininum; sed referendum ad ea, quae Epistolis continentur, quasi dicat: In quibus ab eo scriptis sunt quaedam difficilia etc. Subjungit enim: Sicut et caeteras Scripturas. Quidam volunt, ev olg positum pro: iv OLiQ; aut certe scribarum incuria irrepsisse o pro a. Nam et a Roberto tres codices annotantur, in quibus scriptum fuerit: ev olIq. Quae si vera est lectio (quod tamen non facile affirmarim), facilior est commentarius. Porro locus hic evidens est adversus sectarios, docentes, Scripturam sacram ubique facilem esse et omnibus intellectu perviam. Nam apertissimum est hoc Petri testimonium, in iis, quae scripsit Paulus, esse quaedam intellectu difficilia, simul indicans, et caeteris Scripturis id esse commune, quod et eas, sicut Pauli scripta, depravent homines indocti. Quamquam hoc, tam de Paulinis Epistolis, quam de caeteris Scripturis, etsiPetrus non diceret, res tamen ipsa clamat, eas pleneque locis ad intelligendum difficillimas esse. Quod non sohim nostra ab haereticis dissensio comprobat, verum maxime ipsorum de Scripturarum sensibus assidue inter se digladiantium pugna mutua.
Quae indocti et instabiles depravant. Indocti, Graece: ajia^eTc;, quod etiam Latine reddi potest: indociles, discere nolentes. Tales sunt omnes haeretici; nolunt enim audire Ecclesiam, quae sola columna est et firmamentum veritatis, 1 Tim. 3. Unde et instabiles sunt, id est, sine firmamento. Nam instabiles dicit, non vagos et inconstantes, sed infirmos seu parum firmos, ut vertit Erasmus. Id enim sonat Graeca vox aaTVjpiXTOi, qua et usus Apostolus cap. super. v. 14. Significantur autem, qui fidei firmitatem et (ut ait Dominus Luc. 8.) radices non habent. Ex quo deinde sequitur instabilitas et inconstantia doctrinae. Depravant, Graece: aTpspiAoDaiv, torquent, detorquent. Non enim sentit, eos corrumpere seu falsare Scripturas, quod fit addendo, aut demendo aliquid (quamvis et illud ab haereticis non raro factum fuerit olim, hodieque fiat), sed in pravos sensus vertendo et contorquendo, vim eis inferre, qui mos est omnium haereticorum; praesertim sicubi intelligendi difficultatem adfert obscuritas. Quod adeo verum, ut nuUa fuerit haeresis tam absurda, quae non ex Scripturis sibi patrocinium assumeret.
Sicut et caeteras Scripturas. Hac parte (quod bene notandum est) Petrus canonizat, utitaloquar, id est, in canonem sacrarum Scripturarum adscribit atque canonicas facit Epistolas Pauli. Dicens enim: sicut et caeteras Scripturas, utique significat, se etiam illas in Scripturarum numero habere. De sacris autem Scripturis eum loqui, in confesso est. Nec aliquas, sed omnes ejus Epistolas comprehendit, etiam illam, quae ad Hebraeos scripta est, ut intelligi potest ex supradictis.
Ad suam ipsorum perditionem. Suam, Graece: propriam. Non causa finalis significatur, sed eventus et sequela. Detorquebant enim Scripturas ad falsa et perversa dogmata, quae tam eos, quam eorum discipulos adducebant in interitum ac mortem aeternam. Jam ut intelligamus, quae fuerint illa dogmata, sciendum est, ut annotant omnes paene interpretes, Petrum verbis illis proxime expositis: In quibus sunt quaedam difficilia intellectu, quae indocti et instabiles depravant ad suam ipsorum perditionem, respicere ad doctrinam Pauli, qua docuit, non ex lege, neque ex operibus hominem justificari, sed gvatis per fidem Jesu Christi. Hinc enim colligebant, opera bona non esse ad salutem necessaria. Quae etiam Simonianorum haeresis fuit, ut testatur Epiphanius et Theodoretus. Doctrina vero illa Pauli, quam dixi, praecipue traditur in Epistola ad Romanos; tametsi et in aliis ejusdem Pauli Epistolis continetur, ut in ea, quae ad Galatas scripta est, et sparsim in Epistolis ad Ephesios, ad Philippenses, et ad Colossenses. Illuc autem Petrum respicere, primum ex eo probatur, quia in Epistolis Paulinis vix aliud est, quod aeque possint homines libertatem ac desideria carnis amantes (quales hoc et praecedenti capite Petrus descripsit) ad fomentum suarum cupiditatum ac defensionem sui erroris trahere. Quod et hoc saeculo fecerunt Lutherani. Deinde, quia Jacobus Apostolus in sua Epist. cap. 2. manifeste significat, ea perversa opinione quosdam imbutos fuisse, ut fidem ad justitiam et salutem sufficere putarent absque bonis operibus. Quam et graviter oppugnat. Scribit autem ot ipse ad eosdem, ad quos Petrus, id est, ad duodecim tribus, quae erant in dispersione. Verum Jacobus quidem tacuit occasionem erroris, quam expressit Petrus; videlicet fabricatam ex Epistolis Paulinis. Quemadmodum e diverso Petrus tacuit ipsam doctrinam erroneam, quam expressitJacobus. Unde mutua collatione, quae ab utroque scripta sunt, illustrantur. Huc pertinet, quod Augustinus docet, Epistolas catholieas quatuor Apostolorum adversus praedictum errorem, quem ex Epistolis Pauli perperam intellectis volentes hauserant quidam, conscriptas fuisse. Id habet libro de fide et oper. cap. 14. et de gratia et lib. arb. cap. 7, Vide, quae de ea re diximus in praefat. super Epist. catholicas. Accedebat autem ad erroris occasionem doctrina de electione et reprobatione, quam similiter, ac praecipue in Epistola ad Romanos, tradit Pauhis. Nam et per illam excludi videbantur opera a negotio nostrae justificationis. Quamquam et ipse Paulus adversus hujusmodi depravatores vigilavit, non solum exhortando fideles ad bona opera, tamquam ad salutem necessaria; quod facit in omnibus Epistolis; verum etiam errori male suam doctrinam intelligentium obviando. Cum enim dixisset ad Rom. 5.; Ubi abundavit delictum, superabundavit gratia, mox initio capitis sequentis pravo intellectui occurrit, dicens: Quid ergo dicemus? Permanebi^nus in peccato, ut gratia abundet? Absit etc. Sed et cap. 3. resistit iis, qui doctrinam ipsius calumniabantur, tamquam diceret: Faciamus mala, ut veniant bona. Quorum, inquit, damnatio justa est.
3:17
17. Vos igitur, fratres, praescientes custodite. Conclusio est Epistolae, qua admonet, ut ab impostoribus, de quibus multa superius, sibi caveant. In Graeco non est: fratres, sed: ciYaTiYjTol, dilecti. Praescientes, id est, jam a nobis satis praemoniti et instructi de cavendis erroribus et errorum magistris. Custodite, Graece: (puXaoosoO^e, custodimini, custodite vos ipsos, cavete, ut bene vertit Erasmus. Sic usurpatur etiam Act. 21., ubi nos legimus: ut abstineant se ab idolis immolato, etc.
Ne insipientium errore traducti excidatis a propria firmitate. Graece: Ne iniquorum, seu nefariorum errore simul abducti etc. Vocat a^sopioug, nefarios, qui nullo jure, nullisque legibus in ordine retineri possunt, sed omnia volunt sibi licere. Quod aptissimum est epitheton eorum, qui sectas faciunt et errores seminant. Cavete, inquit, ne vos quoque erroneis istorum doctrinis una cum aliis, quos jam perverterunt, abducti et involuti, excidatis a vestra firmitate fidei, quam Apostolorum edocti magisterio hactenus tenuistis. Ostendit hic locus, ut alii multi, fidem Christianam amitti posse. Quod argumentum Calvinus dum solvere conatur hic et alibi, suamque statuere fidei securitatem, quam vocat, meras nebulas offundit lectori, quas ipsa per se lux veritatis satis discutit.
3:18
18. Crescite vero in graiia et in cognitione Domini nostti et Salvatoris, Jesu Christi. Crescite, id est, date operam, ut crescatis in gratia etc, quod fit studio bonorum operum. Per haec enim tam gratiae, quam fidei comparatur augmentum. Gratia Christi etSalvatoris intelligitur ea, qua nos Patri sibique gratos efficit, constituit et conservat. Ejusdem Christi Domini cognitionem vocat, qua eum et ejus mysteria cognoscimus nunc per fidem, in futuro saeculo cognituri per speciem. Idcirco non dixit; in fide, sed usus est generali vocabulo: Yvcooecog^ id est cognitionis. Et observa, B. Petrum claudere Epistolam iisdem paene verbis, quibus usus fuerat in salutatione, quae talis erat: Gratia vobis et pax multiplicetur in cognitione Dei et Christi Jesu Domini nostri, ut sic apte postrema primis respondeant.
Ipsi gloria et nunc, et in diem aeter^ nitatis! Amen. Clausula est doxologica, qua significat, Christo Salvatori nostro glorificationem deberi in hoc saeculo et in futuro, quod vocat diem aeternitatis, quia tota aeternitas una dies est. Et hic ergo significatio est divinitatis Christi. Nam hujusmodi clausulae Deo, tamquam ipsi propriae, passim adscribi solent.
3:2
Both give the number of those saved with Noah (1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 2:5), speak of the flood as a type (1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 2:5), bring the prophets close to the announcers of the Gospel (1 Pet. 1:12; 2 Pet. 1:16, 21; 3:2), and consider Christianity as the fulfillment of ancient prophecies (1 Pet. 1:10-12; 2 Pet. 1:19-21). Many verbal concordances between the two epistles are pointed out by the Anglican …
3:3
Attrition (from Latin attero = I strike down, I crush)
… attachment to sin. This doctrine is well founded in Scripture, which presents the Prophets (Jer. 31, 18-20; Ezek. 36, 31-32; Dan. 3, 38-40), Jesus Christ (Mt. 5, 20-30; 10, 28-33; 13, 41; Lk. 7, 44; 3, 5; Jn. 6, 14), the Apostles (Acts 8, 23; II Pt. 3, 3-9) as preachers of penance, who appeal above all to the fear of eternal punishments. …
3:4
the body falls asleep, not the soul (cf. Deut. 31:16; Jn. 11:11-12; I Cor. 7:39; 11:30; 15:18; I Thess. 4:12 ff.; II Pt. 3:4).
… The "coming with power and glory" (Mt. 24:30) of Jesus is called p. by St. Paul 7 times (I Cor. 15:23 and 6 times in I-II Thess., besides the p. of the Antichrist in II Thess. 2:9), by Jas. 5:7, 8, by II Pt. 1:16; 3:4, 12, by I Jn. 2:28, and by Mt. 24:3, 27, 37, 39. Equivalent to it are the terms: "day [of the Lord or Christ]" (17 times in St. Paul: Acts 2:20; I Pt. 3:10, 12; Apoc. 16:14), …
3:5
… "The earth emerged from the waters subsists through water by virtue of the Word of God" (II Pt. 3:5); it runs parallel with Io. 1:2 which speaks of the creating L.
3:6
in the time of Noah (II Pt. 2, 5; 3, 6) "few, that is, eight souls were saved by water" (I Pt. 3, 20). Such anthropological universality is presented by the Fathers not as a dogma of faith, nor as a merely private opinion, …
… The author also had in mind the texts of II Pt. 1, 16-18; 3, 6-17. Among the Gnostic writings recently discovered in Egypt an Apocalypse of P. is also noted. …
3:8
… connection with the mysterious advent of the Kingdom, Jesus announces his future p., determinable neither in time nor in space (Mt. 24:25-36); it is not calculable in human figures or dates, since "the day" of God does not coincide with human days (II Pt. 3:8 = Ps. 89:4). The prophetic perspective, on the plane of the eternal, placing the messianic advent, capital for the salvation of individuals and of peoples, in intimate connection …
3:10
… Christians are united from now on, living with Christ, to his p. which will also be the p. of his faithful (Col. 5:4; Heb. 9:28; I Pet. 5:4; I John 2:28; 3:2). The "nearness of the Lord" is a cause of fear, like the irruption of a thief (I Thess. 5:2-4; II Pet. 3:10; Rev. 1:3; 16:15), of austerity (Rom. 13:11 ff.; I Cor. 7:29-32; II Cor. 6:2), but also of joy (Phil. 4:4-6). Because it is connected with death and judgment, the p. must be awaited …
… 13; Mk. 13, 33; Lk. 12, 35-40), since after the "night" no one can work any longer (cf. Jn. 9, 4). The same thought and the same exhortations are found in the Apostles (cf. Gal. 6, 9-10; I Cor. 9, 24 ff.; II Cor. 5, 1-10; I Thess. 5, 2-3; I Pt. 1, 3-8; II Pt. 3, 10; Jas. 4, 13-15; Apoc. 11, 10-11; 16, 15). Especially St. Paul teaches clearly (I Cor. 15, 24-28) that with the judgment the economy of salvation is closed for all, without any possibility …
3:12
Num et quomodo docente s. Petro (Act. 3, 19 n.; II Pt. 3, 12) Parusium accelerare possimus?, in Verbum Domini, 18 (1938), pp. 209-307; id., «... Appropriquat redemptio vestra », ibid., pp. 334-37; D. Busy, St Paul et st Matthieu, in Recherches …
3:13
… alludes to it when he speaks of the liberation of creation from the slavery of corruption (Rom 8:19-22) and especially of the destruction of the effects of sin and of the last enemy, death, "when God will be all in all" (1 Cor 15:25-28, 54-57). St. Peter (2 Pet 3:13) and St. John (Rev 21:1) make allusions to "new heavens and a new earth" in which justice will dwell. …
"New heavens and a new earth" are likewise simple images, to express the profound renewal that the Messiah will bring about among men (Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:13; cf. the παλιγγενεσία of Matt. 19:28; the καινὴ κτίσις of Gal. 6:15; 2 Cor. 5:17; the passage from death to life of John 5:24-28; E. B. Allo, op. cit., p. 325). Finally the various …
… of existence." This holds for the physical world itself taken as a whole in its aftermath; although individual corporeal beings are corruptible, the end of the world will not be its annihilation but a transformation with "new heavens and a new earth" (2 Pt 3:13). In a more proper sense, spiritual creatures that are individually immortal participate in eternity; but the highest participation in eternity is what St. Thomas calls "secundum operationem …
3:15
… St. Peter speaks of the letters of St. Paul as if they enjoyed equal authority with the books of the Old Testament (2 Pt. 3:15-16). The Apostolic Fathers did not hand down a complete catalog of the books composing the New Testament; often also in their citations, made more by sense than literally, it is difficult …
… In them are found passages difficult to understand (διονόητα), which the ignorant and the unstable twist from their meaning, as they do also for all the other Scriptures, to their own destruction" (II Pt. 3:15-16). The force of such terms and of this fact must be well weighed: all of Paul's letters, except for partial hesitations regarding the Letter to the Hebrews, were received as Scriptures …
3:16
The necessity of an introductory study of Sacred Scripture is already pointed out by St. Peter where he laments that "certain persons without instruction and unstable twist" certain difficult passages of St. Paul "as they do the other Scriptures of the same kind" (II Pt. 3, 16). The difficulties of the Bible demand a biblical introduction: we are in fact in the presence of a divine-human book, composed in ancient languages, with a mentality very different from our own.
… away, by divine disposition (ibid. 22:9, 10, 18-19). In I Tim. 5:18 it seems that Paul cites Lk. 1:9, 7, equating it with Deut. 25:4. Peter places the letters of Paul and the "other Scriptures," that is, those of the Old Testament, on the same level (II Pt. 3:16), and declares that Paul wrote them according to "the wisdom that was given to him" (cf. I Cor. 2:13), that is, by the Holy Spirit. …
… The whole Christian cult is one. According to the example of St. Paul, at Troas the preaching was placed before the eucharistic Supper (Acts 20:7-11); in the Apostolic Letters the reading in the assemblies is presupposed (Col. 4:16; II Pt. 3:16); St. Paul (I Tim. 2:1-3) alludes to "supplications, prayers, petitions, thanksgivings for all men," elements that recur later in the prayer of the faithful. …
3:17
… In the New Testament there recurs insistently the warning to be vigilant against the snares set for the faith by the enemies of truth (Rom. 16, 17; II Cor. 11, 3; Eph. 5, 6-11; Col. 2, 6-8; I Tim. 1, 3 ff.; Hebr. 13, 9; II Pt. 3, 17; II Io. 7-11). The Church, in strict adherence to natural law and to the spirit of the apostolic norms, has provided for the protection of the faith with special laws concerning the …
3:18
… by St. Paul for the new Christians in his prayers (Eph. 3, 14-16; Col. 1, 6 ff.) is, in the very words of the Apostle, a development of the faith: St. Peter imposes it in categorical form: "Crescite in gratia et cognitione Domini nostri I. Christi" (II Pt. 3, 18). One of the essential means for maintaining and developing the faith is religious instruction. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Rheims 1582), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.