The benefit of tribulations. Prayer with faith. God is the author of all good, but not of evil. We must be slow to anger and not hearers only, but doers of the word. Of bridling the tongue and of pure religion.
Vve haue to reioyce in persecution (but if vve be patient, and vvithal absteine from al mortal sinne) 9 considering hovv vve shal be exalted and crovvned for it, vvhen the persecutor (vvho enricheth him self vvith our spoiles) shal fade avvay. 13 But if any be tempted to fall, or to any other euil, let him not say, God it the author of it, vvho is the author of al good onely. 19 Such points of the Ca••-faith vve must be content to learne vvithout contradiction and anger, and to doe accordingly. 26 Because othervvise vve may talke of Religion, but in deede it is no Religion.
1James, the servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.Giacomo servo di Dio, e del Signor nostro Gesù Cristo, alle dodici tribù disperse, salute.IAMES the seruant of God and of our Lord IESVS Christ, to the tvvelue tribes that are in dispersion, greeting.Jacobus, Dei et Domini nostri Jesu Christi servus, duodecim tribubus, quæ sunt in dispersione, salutem. 2My brethren, count it all joy, when you shall fall into divers temptations:Abbiate, fratelli miei come argomento di vero gaudio le varie tentazioni, nelle quali urterete:Esteeme it, my brethren, al ioy, vvhen you shal fall into diuers tentatiōs:Omne gaudium existimate fratres mei, cum in tentationes varias incideritis: 3Knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patienceSapendo, come lo sperimento della vostra fede produce la pazienza.knovving that the probatiō of your faith vvorketh patience.scientes quod probatio fidei vestræ patientiam operatur. 4And patience hath a perfect work: that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing.La pazienza poi fa opera perfetta: onde voi siate perfetti, e intieri, e in nulla cosa manchevoli.And let patience haue a perfect vvorke: that you may be perfect & entire, failing in nothing.Patientia autem opus perfectum habet: ut sitis perfecti et integri in nullo deficientes. 5But if any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men abundantly and upbraideth not. And it shall be given him.Che se alcuno di voi è bisognoso di sapienza, la chieda a Dio, che da a tutti abbondantemente, e noi rimprovera: e saragli conceduta.But if any of you lacke vvisedom, let him aske of God who giueth to al men aboundantly, and vp braideth not: and it shal be giuen him.Si quis autem vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat: et dabitur ei. 6But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind.Ma chieda con fede senza niente esitare: imperocché chi esita, egli è simile al flutto del mare mosso, e agitato dal vento:But let him • aske in faith nothing doubting for he that doubteth, is like to a vvaue of the sea, vvhich is moued & caried about by the vvinde.Postulet autem in fide nihil hæsitans: qui enim hæsitat, similis est fluctui maris, qui a vento movetur et circumfertur: 7Therefore let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.Non si pensi adunque un tal uomo di ottener cosa alcuna dal Signore.therfore let not that man thinke that he shal receiue any thing of our Lord.non ergo æstimet homo ille quod accipiat aliquid a Domino.
8A double minded man is inconstant in all his ways.L'uomo di animo doppio egli è incostante in tutti i suoi andamenti.A man double of minde is inconsant in al his vvaies.Vir duplex animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis. 9But let the brother of low condition glory in his exaltation:Or il fratello, che è in basso stato, faccia gloria del suo innalzamento:But let the humble brother glorie, in his exaltation.Glorietur autem frater humilis in exaltatione sua: 10And the rich, in his being low: because as the flower of the grass shall he pass away.Il ricco poi della sua umiliazione, perché come fior d'erba ci passerà:and the riche, in his humilitie, because as the floure of grasse shal he passe:dives autem in humilitate sua, quoniam sicut flos fœni transibit; 11For the sun rose with a burning heat and parched the grass: and the flower thereof fell off, and the beauty of the shape thereof perished. So also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.Imperocché si levò il sole cocente, e l'erba si seccò, e il fior ne cadde, e la venustà dell'aspetto di lui perì: così anche il ricco ne' suoi avanzamenti appassirà.for the sunne rose vvith heate, & parched the grasse, and the floure of it fel avvay, and the beautie of the shape thereof perished: so the riche man also shal vvither in his vvaies.exortus est enim sol cum ardore, et arefecit fœnum, et flos ejus decidit, et decor vultus ejus deperiit: ita et dives in itineribus suis marcescet. 12Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for, when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life which God hath promised to them that love him.Beato l'uomo, che tollera tentazione: perché quando sarà stato provato, riceverà la corona di vita promessa da Dio a quegli, che lo amano.Blessed is the man suffereth tentation: for vvhen he hath been proued, he shal receiue the crovvne of life, vvhich God hath promised to them that loue him.Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem: quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitæ, quam repromisit Deus diligentibus se. 13Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God. For God is not a tempter of evils: and he tempteth no man.Nissuno quand'è tentato, dica, che è tentato da Dio: imperocché Dio non è tentatore di cose male: ed ei non tenta nissuno.Let no man vvhen he is tempted, say that he is tempted no man.Nemo cum tentatur, dicat quoniam a Deo tentatur: Deus enim intentator malorum est: ipse autem neminem tentat.
14But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured.Ma ciascuno è tentato dalla propria concupiscenza, che lo tragge, e lo alletta.But euery one is tempted of his ovvne cō cupiscence abstracted and allured.Unusquisque vero tentatur a concupiscentia sua abstractus, et illectus. 15Then, when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. But sin, when it is completed, begetteth death.Indi la concupiscenza quando ha conceputo, partorisce il peccato: il peccato poi consumato che sia, genera la morte.Aftervvard concupiscence vvhen it hath cōceiued, bringeth forth sinne. but sinne vvhen it is consummate, ingendreth death.Deinde concupiscentia cum conceperit, parit peccatum: peccatum vero cum consummatum fuerit, generat mortem. 16Do not err, therefore, my dearest brethren.Non vogliate adunque ingannarvi, fratelli miei dilettissimi.Do not erre therfore my deerest brethren.Nolite itaque errare, fratres mei dilectissimi. 17Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change nor shadow of alteration.Ogni buon dato, e ogni perfetto dono viene di sopra, scendendo da quel Padre de' lumi, in cui non è mutamento, né alternativa di adombramento.Euery best gift, and euery perfect gift, is from aboue, descending from the Father of lightes, vvith vvhom is no transmutation, nor shadovving of alteration.Omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum, apud quem non est transmutatio, nec vicissitudinis obumbratio. 18For of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of his creature.Imperocché egli per sua volontà ci generò per la partita di verità: affinchè noi siamo quali primizie delle sue creature.Voluntarily hath he begotten vs by the vvord of truth, that vve may be some beginning of his creature.Voluntarie enim genuit nos verbo veritatis, ut simus initium aliquod creaturæ ejus. 19You know, my dearest brethren. And let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak and slow to anger.Voi lo sapete, fratelli miei dilettissimi. Or sia ogni uomo pronto ad ascoltare; lento a parlare, e lento all'ira:You knovv my deerest brethren, And let euery man be svvift to heare: but slovv to speake, and slovv to anger.Scitis, fratres mei dilectissimi. Sit autem omnis homo velox ad audiendum: tardus autem ad loquendum, et tardus ad iram. 20For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God.Imperocché l'ira dell'uomo non adempie la giustizia di Dio.For the anger of man vvorketh not the iustice of God.Ira enim viri justitiam Dei non operatur. 21Wherefore, casting away all uncleanness and abundance of naughtiness, with meekness receive the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls.Per la qual cosa rigettando ogni immondezza, e la ridondante malizia, con mansueto animo abbracciate la parola (in voi) innestata, la quale può salvare le anime vostre.For the vvhich thing casting avvay al vncleannesse and aboundance of malice, in meekenesse receiue the engraffed vvord, vvhich is able to saue your soules.Propter quod abjicientes omnem immunditiam, et abundantiam malitiæ, in mansuetudine suscipite insitum verbum, quod potest salvare animas vestras.
22But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.Siate perciò facitori della parola, e non uditori solamente, ingannando voi stessi.But be doers of the vvord, and not hearers only, deceauing your selues.Estote autem factores verbi, et non auditores tantum: fallentes vosmetipsos. 23For if a man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass.Imperocché se uno è uditore, e non facitore della parola, ei si rassomiglierà a un uomo, che considera il nativo suo volto ad uno specchio:For if a man be a hearer of the vvord, and not a doer: he shal be compared to a man beholding the countenance of his natiuitie in a glasse.Quia si quis auditor est verbi, et non factor, hic comparabitur viro consideranti vultum nativitatis suæ in speculo: 24For he beheld himself and went his way and presently forgot what manner of man he was.Il quale considerato che si è, se ne va, e si scorda subita, qual ei si fosse.For he considered him self, and vvent his vvay, and by and by forgat vvhat an one he vvas.consideravit enim se, et abiit, et statim oblitus est qualis fuerit. 25But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty and hath continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work: this man shall be blessed in his deed.Ma chi mirerà addentro nella perfetta legge della libertà, e in essa persevererà, non essendo uditore smemorato, ma facitore di opere: questi nel suo fare sarà beato.But he that hath looked in the lavv of perfect libertie, and hath remained in it, not made a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the vvorke: this man shal be blessed in his deede.Qui autem perspexerit in legem perfectam libertatis, et permanserit in ea, non auditor obliviosus factus, sed factor operis: hic beatus in facto suo erit. 26And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.Che se uno si crede di essere religioso, senza raffrenare la propria lingua, anzi seducendo il proprio cuore, la religione di costui è vana.And if any man thinke him self to be religious, not bridling his tong, but seducing his hart: this mans religion is vaine.Si quis autem putat se religiosum esse, non refrenans linguam suam, sed seducens cor suum, hujus vana est religio. 27Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation and to keep one’s self unspotted from this world.Religione para, e immacolata nel cospetto di Dio, e del Padre, è questa: di visitare i pupilli, e le vedove nella loro tribolazione, e di conservarsi puro da questo secolo.Religion cleane and vnspotted vvith God and the Father, is this, to visite pupilles and vvidovves in their tribulation: & to keepe him self vnspotted from this vvorld.Religio munda et immaculata apud Deum et Patrem, hæc est: visitare pupillos et viduas in tribulatione eorum, et immaculatum se custodire ab hoc sæculo.
1:1
James, a servant of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some have doubted whether the author of this epistle was St. James, the apostle, because he does not call himself an apostle. By the same weak argument we might reject all the three epistles of St. John and his Apocalypse, and the epistle of St. Jude. Nor does St. Paul give himself this title in those to the Thessalonians, to the Philippians, to Philemon, or to the Hebrews.
To the twelve tribes, which are dispersed. Literally, which are in the dispersion. That is, to the Jews converted in all nations.
Witham
Greetings.[Ver. 1. Salutem, chairein, salvari, salvos esse.] Literally, salvation. Which comprehendeth much the same as, when St. Paul says, grace, peace, mercy, etc. (Witham)
1:2
Witham
Into divers temptations. The word temptations, in this epistle, is sometimes taken for trials by afflictions or persecutions, as in this place; sometimes for a tempting, enticing, or drawing others into sin. (Witham)
1:3
Witham
The trying of your faith worketh patience. St. Paul seems to assert the reverse: (Romans 5:3.) when he says, patience worketh a trial. They are easily reconciled. Here St. James teacheth us, that patience is occasionally obtained, and strengthened by sufferings, the meaning of St. Paul is, that patience worketh, sheweth itself, and is found perfect in the sight of God by trials. (Witham)
1:5
Witham
And upbraideth not. That is, God does not think much, nor reproach us with the multitude of his benefits and favours: and if he puts sinners in mind of their repeated ingratitude, it is for their good and conversion. (Witham)
1:7
Witham
Let not that man think that he shall receive. He that has not a lively faith and firm hope, wavering with a distrust of God's power or goodness, must not imagine to receive what he so faintly asks. (Witham)
1:8
Witham
Such a one, is as it were a double-minded man,[Ver. 8. Duplex animo, aner dipsuchos, quasi habens duas animas, dubius, incertus, potius quam hypocrita.] divided betwixt God and the world, halting betwixt two, and becomes inconstant in all his ways, always rising and falling, beginning and relapsing. (Witham)
1:9
The brother of low condition. Literally, humble.[Ver. 9. Humilis, and in humilitate, tapeinos, tapeinosei. See Luke 1:48.] See Luke 1:48. The sense is, that a Christian, of never so low and poor a condition, may glory, and rejoice even in his poverty, that he is not only the servant, but even the adoptive son of God. But the rich, in his being low. Some word must be here understood to make the sense complete. If we understand, let the rich man glory, it must be expounded by irony, by what follows, of his passing away like a flower. But others rather understand some other word of a different signification; as, let the rich man lament the low condition that he must come to; for he must quickly fade away like grass.
Witham
The beauty of the shape thereof[Ver. 11. Decor vultus ejus, euprepeia tou prosopou; the Hebrews say, faciem, coeli, terrae, gladii, etc.] perished. So the Hebrews say, the face of the heavens, the face of the earth, etc. (Witham)
1:13
Witham
God is not a tempter[Ver. 13. Deus enim intentator, that is non tentator; by the Greek, apeirastos; which may signify intentabilis, qui non potest tentari.] of evils, and he tempteth no man. Here to tempt, is to draw and entice another to the evil of sin, which God cannot do. The Greek may also signify, he neither can be tempted, nor tempt any one. But every one is thus tempted by the evil desires of his corrupt nature, which is called concupiscence, and which is not properly called a sin of itself, but only when we yield to it. (Witham)
1:15
Witham
When concupiscence hath conceived, (man's free will yielding to it) it bringeth[Ver. 15. Generat mortem, apokuei thanaton; apokuein is faetum emittere, and generare, as it is also here again used ver. 18.] forth sin, our perverse inclinations become sinful, and when any grievous sin is completed, or even consented to, it begetteth death, it maketh the soul guilty of eternal death. It may not be amiss here to observe with St. Gregory, etc. that there are three degrees in temptations: the first, by suggestion only; the second, by delectation; the third, by consent. The first, the devil, or our own frail nature, tempts us by a suggestion of evil thoughts in our imagination: to have such thoughts and imaginations may be no sin at all, though the things and objects represented be never so foul and hideous, though they may continue never so long, and return never so often. The reason is, because we cannot hinder them. On the contrary, if our will remains displeased with them, and resist them, such a resistance is meritorious, and by the mercies of God will purchase us a reward. Second, these representations may be followed with a delight or delectation in the senses, or in the body only; and if by an impression made against the will, which we no ways consent to, there is again no sin. There may be also some neglect in the person tempted, by not using sufficient endeavours to resist and repel those thoughts, which if it be only some small neglect, the sin is not great: but if the person tempted hath wilfully, and with full deliberation, taken delight in evil thoughts, either of revenge, or of fornication, or adultery, or about any thing very sinful, such a wilful delight is a grievous and deadly sin, though he hath not had a will or design to perform the action itself. The reason is, because he then wilfully consents in mind and heart to a sinful delight, though not to the execution or action. And the sin may be great, and mortal, though it be but for a short time: for a temptation may continue for a long time and be no sin; and there may be a great sin in a short time. The reason again is, because we are to judge of sin by the dispositions and consent of the will, not by the length of time. Third, when the sinner yields to evil suggestions and temptations, so that his will fully consents to what is proposed, and nothing can be said to be wanting but an opportunity of putting his sinful desires in execution, he has already committed the sin; for example, of murder, of fornication, etc. in his heart, as our blessed Saviour taught us. (Matthew 5:28.) (Witham)
1:16
Witham
Do not err, nor deceive yourselves by yielding to temptation; beg God his supporting grace, for every good gift is from him. (Witham)
1:18
By the word of truth. Some, with St. Athanasius, understand the eternal word made man. Others commonly understand the word of the gospel, by which we have been called to the true faith, etc.
Witham
Some beginning[Ver. 18. Initium aliquod creaturae ejus, aparchen tina. See Romans 11:16.; 1 Corinthians xv. 20. and xvi. 15. etc.] of his creatures, (or as the Greek signifies) such a beginning as are the first-fruits; and perhaps St. James may so call the Jews, as being the first converted to believe in Christ. (Witham)
1:19
You know, or you are sufficiently instructed in these things.
Witham
Let every man be swift to hear the word of God, but slow, or cautious in speaking, especially slow to anger, or to that rash passion of anger, which is never excusable, unless it be through a zeal for God's honour, and against sin. (Witham)
Calmet
St. James in this epistle does not aim at a regular discourse: he proposes a diversity of moral sentences, which have not much connection with each other. He here instructs the faithful how to behave in conversation. He recommends to them modesty and prudence in their discourses; and rather to be fond of hearing much, than of speaking much; and of practising the truth, than of preaching it to others. "For not those who understand the law, nor those who preach it, are justified before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified before God." (Romans James 2:13.) (Calmet)
A wise man is known by the fewness of his words. Sapiens verbis innotescit paucis. (Rule of St. Benedict, ch. VII.) With hearing, the wise man will become wiser. (Sen. [Seneca?] lib. 2:de Ira. James 28.)
Calmet
Anger is a short madness. The best cure is to permit it to subside, and to let our reason have time to reflect upon the propriety of doing what we are at first inclined to. The first motions to anger are frequently indeliberate, and consequently not sinful; but we must be careful to resist as soon as we perceive them, lest they should become too violent, and obtain the consent of our will. (Calmet)
St. Francis de Sales
Learn of me, says our Saviour, because I am meek and humble of heart. (Matthew James 12:29.) If, says St. Francis de Sales, being stung and bit by detractors and enemies, we fly out, swell, and are enraged, it is a great sign that neither our humility nor meekness are true and sincere, but only apparent and artificial. It is better, says St. Augustine, writing to Profuturus, to deny entrance to just and reasonable anger, than to admit it, be it ever so little; because, being once admitted, it is with difficulty driven out again; for it enters as a little twig, and in a moment becomes a beam: and if it can once but get the night of us, and the sun set upon it, which the apostle forbids, it turns into a hatred, from which we have scarcely any means to rid ourselves; for it nourishes itself under a thousand false pretexts, since there was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust. (St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to a devout life, p. 3. ch. VIII.)
1:20
St. Francis de Sales
The anger of man, etc. Let us not then be angry with each other on the way to eternal life, but rather march on with the troop of our companions and brethren meekly, peaceably, and lovingly; nay, I say to you absolutely and without exception, be not angry at all, if it be possible, and admit no pretext whatsoever to open the gate of your heart to so destructive a passion: for St. James here tells us positively, and without reservation, "the anger of man works not the justice of God." (St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to a devout life, p. 3. ch. VIII.)
The patient man is better than the valiant; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh cities. (Proverbs James 16:32.) The anger of man is the daughter of pride, the mother of enmities, he enemy of peace and harmony, and the source of stubbornness and blindness of mind and heart. The justice of God is humility, meekness, charity, peace, docility, and forbearance. How great the contrast!
1:21
All uncleanness.[Ver. 21. Immunditiam, ruparian, from rupos, sordes, spurcitia.] The Greek shews that hereby is meant a sordid, filthy uncleanness, infecting and defiling the soul.
Witham
The engrafted[Ver. 21. Insitum verbum, emphuton logon.] word. The word and doctrine of Christ, by the labours of his preachers, and chiefly by his divine grace engrafted and fixed in your souls. (Witham)
1:23
Witham
He shall be compared to a man, etc. The sense is, that it is not enough for a man to examine and look into his interior, and the state of his conscience in a negligent and superficial manner, no more than one that goes to a looking-glass, but does not take care to take away the dirt or spots which he might discover. (Witham)
1:25
Witham
The law of Christ, called here the perfect law of liberty, as it is distinguished from the Jewish law of fear and slavery, is as it were a looking-glass, which may make us know ourselves, and discover and correct our failings. (Witham)
1:26
Calmet
If any man think, etc. He here blames those hot disputes, which seem to have been frequent amongst the converted Jews, concerning the necessity of observing the legal rites. In vain, says he, do you pique yourselves upon the rigorous observance of the law, and your zeal to unite its ceremonial rites with the practice of the gospel. If you be void of the essence of Christianity, which is charity, prudence, and moderation, your religion will avail you nothing. (Calmet)
Haydock
This may also be understood of those devotees who are fond of making a parade of their virtues, and who, as St. Gregory says, (hom. xii. in Mat.) afflict their bodies indeed with fasting, but for this they expect to be esteemed by men. (Haydock)
Witham
A man must not imagine himself to be religious, and perfect in the way of virtue, unless he governs and bridles his tongue from oaths, curses, calumnies, detractions, lies, of which more in the third chapter. (Witham)
1:27
Witham
Religion pure and unspotted, etc. St. James may use the word pure, as a proper admonition to the Jews, who were generally mostly solicitous to avoid legal uncleanness, such as were incurred by eating meats forbidden in their law as unclean, by touching a dead body, etc. He therefore tells them that the Christian religion is known by acts of charity, by visiting and assisting widows, the fatherless, and such as are under afflictions, and in general by keeping our consciences interiorly clean, unspotted, and undefiled from this world, from the corrupt maxims and sinful practices so common in this wicked world. (Witham)
1:2
Into divers temptations.... The word temptation, in this epistle, is sometimes taken for trials by afflictions or persecutions, as in this place: at other times, it is to be understood, tempting, enticing, or drawing others into sin.
1:18
Some beginning.... That is, a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
1:2
In the liturgy The Epistle for a Martyr.
1:3
Concordance Ro. 5, 3.
1:6
6. Aske in faith nothing doubting.] The Protestants vvould proue by this, that no man ought to pray vvithout assurance that he shal obtaine that vvhich he asketh. Vvhat faith is required in praier. Where the Apostle meaneth nothing els, but that the asker of lavvful things may not either mistrust Gods povver and hability or be in diffidence and despaire of his mercie: but that our doubt be onely in our ovvne vnworthinesse or vndue asking.
Concordance Mat. 21, 22.
Concordance Mar. 11, 24.
1:9
Concordance Ps. 102, 15. Eccl. 14, 18.
1:10
Concordance Es. 4, 6,
1:11
Concordance 1 Pet. 1, 24.
In the liturgy The Epistle for a Martyr that is a Bishop.
1:12
Concordance Iob 5, 17.
1:13
13. Let no man say that he is tempted of God.] Vve see by this, that vvhen the Scriptures (as in the Pater noster and other places) seeme to say, God is not author of euil. that God doth sometimes tempt vs, or leade vs into tentation: they meane not, that God is any vvaies the author, causer, or mouer of any man to sinne, but onely by permission, and because by his gratious povver he keepeth not the offender from tentations. Therfore the blasphemie of Heretike, making God the author of sinne, is intolerable. See S. August. ser. 9. de diuers. c. 9.
13. God is not a tempter of euils.] Partial and vvilful translation. The Protestants as much as they may, to diminish the force of the Apostles conclusion against such as attribute their euil tentations to God (for other tentations God doth send to trie mens patience and proue their faith) take and translate the vvord passuely, in this sense, that God is not tempted by our euils. Vvhere more consonantly to the letter and circumstance of the vvordes before & after, & as agreably 〈Greek〉. to the Greeke, it should be taken actiuely as it is in the Latin, that God is no tempter to euil, for being taken passiuely, there is no coherence of sense to the other vvordes of the Apostle.
1:14
The groūd of tētation to sinne, is our cōcupiscence, & not God.
1:15
15. Concupiscence vvhen it hath conceiued.] Concupiscēce of it self no sinne. Concupiscence (vve see here) of it self is not sinne, as Heretikes falsely teach: but vvhen by any consent of the minde vve do obey or yeld to it, then is sinne ingendred and formed in vs.
15. Sinne consummate ingendreth death.] Here vve see that not al sinne nor al consent vnto concupiscence is mortal or damnable, Not euery sinne mortal. but vvhen it is consummate, that is, vvhen the consent of mans minde fully and perfectly yeldeth to the committing or liking of the acte or motion vvherevnto concupiscence moueth or inciteth vs.
1:16
In the liturgy The Epistle on the 4 Sunday after Easter.
1:18
Concordance Prou. 17 27.
1:21
In the liturgy The Epistle on the 5 Sunday after Easter.
Concordance Mat. 7, 21.
1:23
Concordance Ro. 2, 13.
1:25
25. The lavv of perfect libertie.] The lavv of the Gospel and grace of Christ, is called the lavv of libertie, Vvhat is the lavv of libertie in the Nevv Testament. in respect of the yoke and burden of the old carnal ceremonies, and because Christ hath by his bloud of the nevv Testament deliuered all that obey him, from the seruitude of sinne and the Diuel. But not as the Libertines and other Heretikes of this time vvould haue it, that in the nevv Testament euery man may follovv his ovvne liking and conscience, & may choose vvhether he vvil be vnder the lavves and obedience of Spiritual or Temporal Rulers, or no.
Beatitude or saluation consisteth in vvel vvorking.
1:27
27. Religion cleane.] Good vvorkes a part of mans iustice. True religion standeth not onely in talking of the Scriptures, or onely faith, or Christes iustice: but in puritie of life, and good vvorkes, specially of charitie and mercie done by the grace of Christ. This is the Apostolical doctrine, and far from the Heretical vanitie of this time.
1:2
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 13
… blessed Apostle James, ‘when they are drawn away by their own lusts and enticed .’ But let us, knowing that we suffer for the truth, and that those who deny the Lord smite and persecute us, ‘count it all joy, my brethren,’ according to the words of James, ‘when we fall into trials of various temptations, knowing that the trial of our faith worketh patience
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 23.17
17. And lead us not into temptation, O Lord . Is this then what the Lord teaches us to pray, that we may not be tempted at all? How then is it said elsewhere, “a man untempted, is a man unproved ;” and again, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 14.9
… try my reins and my heart.” They grieve in temptations, because they see Peter weeping; they rejoice in temptations, because they hear James saying, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.”
1:4
Theognostus of Alexandria † AD 270 From His Seven Books of Hypotyposes or Outlines, Part II 1
… but he who has also despised the third, can no longer find pardon. For by the first term and the second, he says, is meant the teaching concerning the Father and the Son; but by the third is meant the doctrine committed to us with respect to the perfection
1:5
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 13.8
… and having received these beginnings, be diligent and seek out the remainder. Let not thine hand be only stretched out to receive, but let it be also ready to work . God gives all things freely. For if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 43
… Yea, “The Lord maketh wise the blind:” and, “The testimony of the Lord is faithful, it giveth wisdom unto little ones:” and, “If any one want wisdom, let him ask of God, Who giveth unto all liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given to him.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Good of Widowhood 21
… Or is it haply that from Him indeed we have received continence, but from ourselves have wisdom? What then is it that the Apostle James saith, “But if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, Who giveth unto all liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given unto him.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 56
… “If any one of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given to him. Let him, however, ask in faith, nothing wavering?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Nature and Grace 17
… We ought, then, to object also to the Apostle James himself, who admonishes us in these words: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him; but let him ask in faith, nothing doubting.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Nature and Grace 19
… it is another thing to wish to understand, to be unable, and then to act contrary to the law, through not understanding what it would have done. We are accordingly enjoined to ask of God wisdom, “who giveth to all men liberally;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Two Letters Written by Augustin to Valentinus and the Monks of Adrumetum 1.7
… that I may learn Thy commandments;” nor would it have been written in the gospel, “Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures;” nor should the Apostle James address us in such words as, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 46
Peruse attentively this treatise, and if you understand it, give God the praise; but where you fail to understand it, pray for understanding, for God will give you understanding. Remember what the Scriptures say: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given to him.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints 2.43
And in order that I may more openly unfold this for the sake of those who are somewhat slow of apprehension, let those who are endowed with an intelligence that flies in advance bear with my delay. The Apostle James says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints 2.44
… Because, although wisdom is obtained from faith, even as James himself, when he had said, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 78.13
… “But if any one of you,” he saith, “doth lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who doth give to all men abundantly, and doth not upbraid, and it shall be given to him: but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 49
… Nor must any one excuse himself by reason of his weakness, since He Who has granted the will, also gives the power, as the blessed Apostle James says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God , Who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him
Pseudo-Clement The First Epistle of the Blessed Clement, the Disciple of Peter the Apostle 11
… and of the spirit which works in those men who will not obey, according to the training of this world, and not according to the doctrine of Christ.” But if thou hast received “the word of knowledge, or the word of instruction, or of prophecy,” blessed be God, “who helps every man without grudging—that God who gives to every man and does not upbraid him .”
1:6
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to Hero, a Deacon of Antioch 7
Keep God in remembrance, and thou shalt never sin. Be not double-minded
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 11
Ver. 14 . “That we may be no longer.”—The word, “no longer,” shows that they had of old been in this case, and he reckons himself moreover as a subject for correction, and corrects himself. For this cause, he would say, are there so many workmen, that the building may not be shaken, may not be “carried about,” that the stones may be firmly fixed.
1:8
St Barnabas † AD 61 The Epistle of Barnabas 19
… Thou shalt not let the word of God issue from thy lips with any kind of impurity. Thou shalt not accept persons when thou reprovest any one for transgression. Thou shalt be meek: thou shalt be peaceable. Thou shalt tremble at the words which thou hearest. Thou shalt not be mindful of evil against thy brother. Thou shalt not be of doubtful mind
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 Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 De Decretis. (Defence of the Nicene Definition.) 2
… And supposing, even after subscription, Eusebius and his fellows did change again, and return like dogs to their own vomit of irreligion, do not the present gain-sayers deserve still greater detestation, because they thus sacrifice their souls’ liberty to others; and are willing to take these persons as masters of their heresy, who are, as James
John Cassian † AD 435 The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 7.15
… And so they are bidden to withdraw from the battle and return to their homes, because a man cannot fight the Lord’s battle with a double heart. For “a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
1:9
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 7
… “By what law? of works? Nay, but by the law of faith.” See he calls the faith also a law delighting to keep to the names, and so allay the seeming novelty. But what is the “law of faith?” It is, being saved by grace. Here he shows God’s power, in that He has not only saved, but has even justified, and led them to boasting,
1:10
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 54.6
6. “For aliens have risen up against me” ( ver. 3 ). What “aliens”? Was not David himself a Jew of the tribe of Judah? But the very place Ziph belonged to the tribe of Judah; it was of the Jews. How then “aliens”? Not in city, not in tribe, not in kindred, but in flower.
1:12
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 To the Bishops of Egypt 2
… and that ye also, if ye endure as the Fathers did, and shew yourselves examples to the people, and overthrow these strange and alien devices of impious men, shall be able to glory, and say, We have ‘kept the Faith ;’ and ye shall receive the ‘crown of life,’ which God ‘hath promised to them that love Him
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 23.17
17. And lead us not into temptation, O Lord . Is this then what the Lord teaches us to pray, that we may not be tempted at all? How then is it said elsewhere, “a man untempted, is a man unproved
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.3
… For it is not accordant with the righteousness of God to forget good works, and the fact that you have ministered and do minister to the Saints for His name’s sake, and to remember sins only. The Apostle James also, knowing that the baptized can be tempted, and fall of their own free choice, says:
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 9.23
Next there follows: “And lead us not into temptation,” on which there arises no unimportant question, for if we pray that we may not be suffered to be tempted, how then will our power of endurance be proved, according to this text: “Every one who is not tempted is not proved;” and again: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation?”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 18.13
… for “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he has been proved he shall receive the crown of life which God hath promised to them that love Him.”
1:13
Tertullian † AD 220 On Prayer 8
For the completeness of so brief a prayer He added—in order that we should supplicate not touching the remitting merely, but touching the entire averting, of acts of guilt—“Lead us not into temptation:” that is, suffer us not to be led into it, by him (of course) who tempts; but far be the thought that the Lord should seem to tempt,
St Dionysius of Alexandria † AD 265 Exegetical Fragments 2
… The Lord Himself, moreover, tempted (tried) the disciples. Thus the wicked one, when he tempts us, draws us into the temptations, as dealing himself with the temptations of evil. But God, when He tempts (tries), adduces the temptations (trials) as one untempted of evil. For God, it is said, “cannot be tempted of evil.”
St Dionysius of Alexandria † AD 265 Exegetical Fragments 4
… yet He did not drive him into temptation. The Lord Himself, moreover, tempted (tried) the disciples. And thus the wicked one, when he tempts us, draws us into the temptations, as dealing himself with the temptations of evil; but God, when He tempts (tries), adduces the temptations as one untempted of evil. For God, it is said, “cannot be tempted of evil.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 1.2
… nor, again, can God be imperfect, for a lesser being is plainly imperfect, seeing that it lacks somewhat whereby it could be made equal to a greater. This, then, is the teaching of our faith—that God is not evil, that with God nothing is impossible, that God exists not in time, that God is beneath no being. If I am in error, let my adversaries prove it.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.4
… debts;” and we at the same time apply the remedy of a work of mercy, in that we add, “As we forgive our debtors.” That we may not, however, yield such consent, let us pray for assistance, and say, “And lead us not into temptation;”—not that God ever Himself tempts any one with such temptation, “for God is not a tempter to evil, neither tempteth He any man;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 3
… The Apostle James says to such: “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints 2.12
… and he who is not led into the temptation of his own evil will, is absolutely led into no temptation. For “every one is tempted,” as it is written, “when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed;” “but God tempteth no man,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.30
… just in the same way as we find the term “temptation” used in one meaning, when it is said, “God tempteth no man,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 7.9
… “Lead us not into temptation,” will not be said, except where there can be temptation. We read in the book of holy Job, “Is not the life of man upon earth a temptation?” What then do we pray for? Hear what. The Apostle James saith, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 8.9
… Thus the Apostle James saith, “Let no man say when he is tempted, he is tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 21.15
15. For as in that it is said, “God tempteth no man,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 43.5
5. In order to solve this point, attend. It may be solved by [quoting] a similar mode of speaking. Thou hast it written, “God tempteth not any man;”
1:14
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 13
… and that being insulted, we should not be disturbed, but should give our cheek to the smiter, and bow the shoulder? For the lovers of pleasure and the lovers of enmity are tried, as saith the blessed Apostle James, ‘when they are drawn away by their own lusts and enticed
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 12.12
… Far be it from us to believe this. For here is one person, one human being, and he as a whole will be condemned, unless those things which, as lacking the will to do, and yet having the will to please the mind with them, are perceived to be sins of thought alone, are pardoned through the grace of the Mediator.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Continence 18
… wherein through His help we are to overcome our disease. Even now the one is done, when we are heard, saying, “Forgive us our debts;” but the other, when we are heard, saying, “Lead us not into temptation. For every one is tempted,” saith the Apostle James, “being drawn away and enticed by his own lust.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.27
… or who will boast that he is pure from sin? Certainly that which follows in the prayer is said on account of concupiscence: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” “For every one,” as it is written, “is tempted when he is drawn away of his own concupiscence, and enticed; then, when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 8
… And yet it is God’s gift which is indispensable for the observance of the precepts of chastity. Accordingly, it is said in the Book of Wisdom: “When I knew that no one could be continent, except God gives it, then this became a point of wisdom to know whose gift it was.” “Every man,” however, “is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints 2.12
… and he who is not led into the temptation of his own evil will, is absolutely led into no temptation. For “every one is tempted,” as it is written, “when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 7.9
… Therefore that He may not abandon us, do we say, “Lead us not into temptation.” “For every one is tempted,” says the same Apostle James, “when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 5.4
… For “every man is tempted of his own lust. Then lust when it has conceived beareth sin, and sin when it is consummated begets death.”
1:15
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 9.9
… Whence in the Latin language we have the word “parta” used elegantly for both “reperta” and “comperta,” which words sound as if derived from bringing forth. Since “lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin.”
1:16
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Ephesians: Shorter and Longer Versions 16
… If, then, those who do this as respects the flesh have suffered death, how much more shall this be the case with any one who corrupts by wicked doctrine the faith of God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such an one becoming defiled [in this way], shall go away into everlasting fire, and so shall every one that hearkens unto him.
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.39
… He, the first bishop of the Church at Jerusalem, which was composed of Jewish believers, to whom Paul went, accompanied by Titus and Barnabas, says in his Epistle:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 4
… “That thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but of thine own will.” Servants also he advises to obey their masters “with a good will.” In strict accordance with this, James says: “Do not err, my beloved brethren . . . and have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect to persons;”
1:17
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 4.8
… And further, they profess themselves certain that in the Father there is no change nor turning, because He has said through the prophet, I am the Lord your God, and I am not changed , and the apostle James, With Whom there is no change
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Synodal Letter to the Bishops of Africa. (Ad Afros Epistola Synodica.) 8
… But who will tolerate you when you say this? For God, who compounded all things to give them being, is not compound, nor of similar nature to the things made by Him through the Word. Far be the thought. For He is simple essence, in which quality is not, nor, as James says, ‘any variableness or shadow of turning
St Basil the Great † AD 379 De Spiritu Sancto 8
… Rather was the Word full of His Father’s excellences; He shines forth from the Father, and does all things according to the likeness of Him that begat Him. For if in essence He is without variation, so also is He without variation in power.
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 7.5
… and having become a Father, not by passion , or union, not in ignorance, not by effluence , not by diminution, not by alteration, for every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow of turning
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 2.4
… superabounding in the Son, the Son not being deficient in the Father,—and Who says also that the Son should be honoured as the Father is honoured , and “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father ,” and “no man knoweth the Father save the Son ,” in all which passages there is no hint given to those who receive these declarations as genuine, of any variation
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 3.6
… For before these corporeal works are Thy spiritual ones, celestial and shining though they be. But I hungered and thirsted not even after those first works of Thine, but after Thee Thyself, the Truth, “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 4.15
… “For Thou wilt light my candle; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness; and “of His fulness have all we received,” for “that was the true Light which lighted every man that cometh into the world;” for in Thee there is “no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 188.6
… For “every good gift and every perfect gift,” as the Apostle James says, “is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 189.8
… and for the things which you have, give thanks to God as the Fountain of goodness, whence you have received them; in every good action let the glory be given to God, and humility be exercised by you, for, as it is written, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 11.21
… Neither does He see in one fashion by the eye, in another by the mind, for He is not composed of mind and body; nor does His present knowledge differ from that which it ever was or shall be, for those variations of time, past, present, and future, though they alter our knowledge, do not affect His, “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 1.1.2
… which no creature can possess, since it belongs to the creator alone. So also James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 32
… “Forasmuch as he who exalteth himself shall be humbled, and whoso humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Therefore it may come to pass, that each one both shun real evils, and reflect on real goods in himself, and render thanks for these unto “the Father of lights, from Whom cometh down every best gift, and every perfect gift,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 42
42. Wherefore let this be the first thought for the putting on of humility, that God’s virgin think not that it is of herself that she is such, and not rather that this best “gift cometh down from above from the Father of Lights, with Whom is no change nor shadow of motion.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Good of Widowhood 26
… reading, prayer, psalm, good thought, frequency in good works, hope of the world to come, and a heart upward; and for all these giving of thanks unto the Father of lights, from Whom, without any doubt, every good gift, and every perfect gift, as Scripture bears witness, cometh down.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Patience 12
… of whom it is said in the Psalm, “A scornful reproof to them which abound, and a despising to the proud.” It is not therefore that “patience of the poor” which “perisheth not forever.” For these poor receive it from that Rich One, to Whom is said, “My God art Thou, because my goods Thou needest not:” of Whom is “every good gift, and every perfect gift;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Concerning the Nature of Good, Against the Manichæans 24
… "Remaining in herself, she renews all things." Whence also the Apostle Paul: "To the invisible, incorruptible, only God." And the Apostle James: "Every best giving and every perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father of light, with whom there is no changeableness, neither obscuring of influence."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 3.2
… for it is "from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 11
… For it is manifestly these works which he does, and for the achievement of such alone is he naturally fit. The works of righteousness he never does, except as he receives ability from that fountain and that light, where the life is that wants for nothing, and where is “no variableness, nor the shadow of turning.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 22
… and that this was the very point of wisdom, to know whose gift she was; I approached unto the Lord, and I besought Him.” This indeed is the very wisdom which is called piety , in which is worshipped “the Father of lights, from whom is every best giving and perfect gift.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 63
… and when the question to be discussed requires that “he that glorieth should glory in the Lord;” and that we should in all things lift up our hearts and give thanks to the Lord our God, from whom, “as the Father of lights, every good and every perfect gift cometh down.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Two Letters Written by Augustin to Valentinus and the Monks of Adrumetum 1.4
… reached you, shown by passages of Holy Scripture, which you can examine for yourselves, that our good works and pious prayers and right faith could not possibly have been in us unless we had received them all from Him, concerning whom the Apostle James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 15
… If, indeed, they are such, they are evil; and God does not crown them; but if they are good, they are God’s gifts, because, as the Apostle James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 46
… but where you fail to understand it, pray for understanding, for God will give you understanding. Remember what the Scriptures say: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given to him.” Wisdom itself cometh down from above, as the Apostle James himself tells us.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace 10
… and that it exists not save it come from Him of whom it is written, “Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints 2.62
… which I have said should be adopted in the preaching of predestination ought to be sufficient for him who speaks to the congregation, except he adds this, or something of this kind, saying, “You, therefore, ought also to hope for that perseverance in obedience from the Father of Lights, from whom cometh down every excellent gift and every perfect gift,
John Cassian † AD 435 The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 12.10
… For “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 3.16
… For “every good gift and every perfect boon is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.3
… From which we clearly infer that the initiative not only of our actions but also of good thoughts comes from God, who inspires us with a good will to begin with, and supplies us with the opportunity of carrying out what we rightly desire: for “every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down from above, from the Father of lights,”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret 1.7
“But when the Arians, who seemed few in number, were again interrogated by the Bishops as to whether they admitted ‘that the Son is not a creature, but Power, and sole Wisdom, and eternal unchangeable
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.15
… For how could a dead body work miracles? How, therefore, are demons driven off by them, diseases dispelled, sick persons made well, the blind restored to sight, lepers purified, temptations and troubles overcome, and how does every good gift from the Father of lights
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.17
… which sets our mind on the gold-gleaming, brilliant back of the divine dove , whose bright pinions bear up to the only-begotten Son and Heir of the Husbandman of that spiritual Vineyard and bring us through Him to the Father of Lights
1:18
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.1.1
… We —who were but lately created by the only best and good Being, by Him also who has the gift of immortality, having been formed after His likeness (predestinated, according to the prescience of the Father, that we, who had as yet no existence, might come into being), and made the first-fruits of creation
St Methodius † AD 311 Oration on the Palms 1
… As if they said, Art Thou not grieved at hearing from these innocents things which befit God, and God alone? Has not God of old made it manifest by the prophet, “My glory will I not give unto another;” and how dost Thou, being a man, make Thyself God? But what to this answers the long-suffering One, He who is abundant in mercy, and slow to wrath?
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 3.30
… but His own Word begotten from Him by nature, concerning Him He did not counsel beforehand; for in Him the Father makes, in Him frames, other things whatever He counsels; as also James the Apostle teaches, saying, ‘Of His own will begat He us with the Word of truth
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 16
… Thus are we also gendered by the words of God. Since in the pool of water it is the words of God which generate and fashion us. For it is by being baptized into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost that we are gendered. And this birth is not of nature, but of the promise of God. ( John iii. 3 ; Eph. v. 26 ;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.3
… but when the Son of God was made the son of man, He was not indeed changed into the worse, but He did certainly assume to Himself what was below Him. James also speaks to this effect: “Of His own will begat He us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.”
1:19
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 108.27
27. To revert then to that description of her character which I began a little time ago; no mind was ever more docile than was hers. She was slow to speak and swift to hear,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 57.3
3. Therefore, as the Apostle James saith, “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 140.14
… He careth not what he speaketh, so long as he speaks. It cannot be that he will be guided. What then ought the servant of God to do, who is kindled with these “coals,” and himself made a coal of salvation, what should he do? He should wish rather to hear than to speak; as it is written, “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 14.9
… For one who is bound by the chain of this passion, is sure to be also in bondage to other faults, and especially to that of pride: and so if he is baffled by his encounter with practical and ethical knowledge, he will certainly not attain that spiritual knowledge which springs from it. Be then in all things “swift to hear, but slow to speak,”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.14
… Hence James says, If any man thinketh himself to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain ( James i. 26 ). Hence again he says, Let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 9.122
… For, if once it begins to have possession of the mind, it accounts as just what it does cruelly. For hence it is written, The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God ( Jam. i. 20 ). Hence again it is said, Let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to wrath (
Early Popes (Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals) The Epistles of Pope Fabian 3.5
… and we counsel you not to suffer them to be wounded with the hook of passion: for it is written, “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” Hence it is said again, “Let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to wrath.”
1:20
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) 16
21. ‘And let us strive that wrath rule us not nor lust overcome us, for it is written, “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. And lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin, and the sin when it is full grown bringeth forth death
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 79.9
To the same effect in different words the prophet says:—“I am so troubled that I cannot speak,” and in the same book, “Be ye angry and sin not.” So Archytas of Tarentum once said to a careless steward: “I should have flogged you to death had I not been in a passion.” For “the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
James i. 20 . “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” But anger is constantly condemned as in
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 250.3
… for, as it is written, “the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 8.1
… attain immortal life, although we are accounted prudent in the opinion of everybody, for “anger destroys even the prudent.” Nor shall we be able with clear judgment of heart to secure the controlling power of righteousness, even though we are reckoned perfect and holy in the estimation of all men, for “the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 9.122
… For, if once it begins to have possession of the mind, it accounts as just what it does cruelly. For hence it is written, The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God (
Early Popes (Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals) The Epistles of Pope Fabian 3.5
… and we counsel you not to suffer them to be wounded with the hook of passion: for it is written, “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”
1:21
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 The Second Apology 13
… not because the teachings of Plato are different from those of Christ, but because they are not in all respects similar, as neither are those of the others, Stoics, and poets, and historians. For each man spoke well in proportion to the share he had of the spermatic word,
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.10
… For when men sleep, the enemy sows the material of tares; and for this cause did the Lord command His disciples to be on the watch. And again, those persons who are not bringing forth the fruits of righteousness, and are, as it were, covered over and lost among brambles, if they use diligence, and receive the word of God as a graft,
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.15
… but afterwards, as the ancient people when oppressed in Egypt groaned, so, when we too had the Law ‘engrafted
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 23.0
Wherefore putting away all filthiness, and all guile, and evil speaking
1:22
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.3
… although even thus there is not sure and safe possession. For the lion lurks in ambush to slay the innocent. “Potters’ vessels are proved by the furnace, and just men by the trial of tribulation.” And in another place it is written: “My son, when thou comest to serve the Lord, prepare thyself for temptation.” Again, the same James says:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 21.22
… yet we read, “the word which came to such and such a prophet.” And the Apostle says, “Let the elders be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.” He does not say, “in words,” but, “in the word.” And St. James, “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.”
1:23
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.1.6
6. “So shall I not be confounded, while I have respect unto all Thy commandments” ( ver. 6 ). We ought to look upon the commandments of God, whether when they are read, or when they are recalled to memory, as a looking-glass, as the Apostle James saith.
1:25
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Nature and Grace 67
… For this “love is shed abroad in our hearts,” not by the letter of the law, but “by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” This is the law of liberty, not of bondage; being the law of love, not of fear; and concerning it the Apostle James says: “Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty.”
1:26
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.14
… x. 19 ). Hence Isaiah says, The culture of righteousness is silence ( Isai. xxxii. 17 ), indicating, to wit, that the righteousness of the mind is desolated when there is no stint of immoderate speaking. Hence James says, If any man thinketh himself to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain (
1:27
St Dionysius of Alexandria † AD 265 Containing Epistles, or Fragments of Epistles 3.1
… And a certain prophet and poet, an enemy to this city, whatever else he was, had previously roused and exasperated against us the masses of the heathen, inflaming them anew with the fires of their native superstition. Excited by him, and finding full liberty for the perpetration of wickedness, they reckoned this the only piety and service to their demons,
Pseudo-Clement The First Epistle of the Blessed Clement, the Disciple of Peter the Apostle 12
Moreover, also, this is comely and useful, that a man “visit orphans and widows,”
1:1
James. — He received this name from the first parent and Patriarch of the twelve tribes, who was called Jacob, that is, "supplanter," from his mother Rebecca, because in the womb, while he was being born, he held the heel of his brother Esau; by which portent it was signified that he would supplant him and craftily seize from him the right of primogeniture, as I said in Genesis, chapter xxv, 25. In a similar manner St. James supplanted the devil and his son Simon Magus with his followers. Thus Saul received his name from Saul, the first king of his tribe Benjamin. And just as Saul persecuted David, so Saul persecuted Christ and the Christians. Mystically, Jacob, that is, "wrestler," is any Christian: for he provokes the demon, the flesh and the world, and the whole of hell to a duel and singular combat. Whence he is a boxer and athlete of Christ, as St. Dionysius says, chapter II of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and is called Christian by Christ, as it were anointed with ointment for spiritual wrestling, in which he must contend with enemies throughout his whole life. Thus St. Augustine in tract. 33 on John. Jacob wrestling with the Angel represented the same thing, Genesis xxxii, 24, as Theodoret teaches there, Question XCI. OF GOD AND OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. — First, the Greeks, according to Oecumenius, understand by "God" God the Father; by "Lord," God the Son, as if James professes himself the servant of each divine person; inasmuch as one and the same is their essence and operation, so also their authority and dignity. Second, others understand by "God" the Holy Trinity; by "Lord" Christ as he is man. Third, and genuinely, St. Cyril, book XII of the Treasury, chapter XIII, Thomas Aquinas, Dionysius and others hold that the same person, namely the Son, that is Jesus Christ, is called here God and Lord, so that the two natures of Christ may be signified: in "God," the divine, in "Lord," the human. Or certainly, because the epithet "Lord" is proper to God: for to God properly belongs full, transcendent and universal dominion over all things, according to that saying of Virgil, Aeneid I: O thou who rulest the affairs of men and gods with eternal command, and terrifiest with thy thunderbolt. Whence also that saying of Martial mocking Domitian the Emperor, who wished to be held and worshipped as God: The edict of our Lord and God. For according to Suetonius in Domitian, chapter xiii, Domitian dictated a letter with such arrogance that he began thus: "Our Lord and God commands that this be done." St. Chrysostom notes, homily 9 on the Epistle to the Colossians, that the name of the Lord, of the Trinity, or of Christ was accustomed to be prefixed to all epistles and things by the faithful: "For," he says, "wherever the name of the Lord shall be, there all things shall prosper: and much more does the name of Christ than of Consuls add security to letters." Thus our Gretser teaches that Christians were accustomed to prefix the name of Christ or the sign of the cross to any letters and monuments, book III On the Cross, chapter ix and following. Morally and forcefully Primaticeius notes that by "God" is signified and commended to us the excellence of divine Majesty; by "Lord," the immense power of the same; by "our," his infinite charity; by "Jesus Christ," his royal and priestly dignity. SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST. — He does not call himself an Apostle, but a servant of Christ. Hence some have thought that James, who was the author of this epistle, was not an Apostle. For they distinguish and set forth three Jameses, the first of Zebedee, the second of Alphaeus, both Apostles, the third the brother of the Lord, who was only a Bishop (not an Apostle) of Jerusalem, and wrote this epistle. Thus Clement, book II of the Constitutions, chapter lix, and book VI, chapter XII, and Turrianus there, St. Jerome on Isaiah chapter xvii, Cyril of Jerusalem, catechesis 14. St. Anacletus, the fourth from St. Peter, favors this in epistle II, where he teaches that James the brother of the Lord was ordained Bishop of Jerusalem by St. Peter, James and John the brothers; although nevertheless the common opinion of Anacletus there, Cyril catechesis 17, Ammonius and others, whom I cited in Acts ii, 4, is that all Apostles were ordained Bishops immediately by Christ himself; unless one should say that this James was also ordained Bishop by Christ, but in the capacity of the whole world, as also the other Apostles: but was ordained by Peter, that is, appointed and instituted as the proper Bishop of the first Church, namely Jerusalem, not however consecrated by them at first, as St. Chrysostom rightly observed, homily 87 on John. But the common opinion is that there were only two Jameses, and both Apostles, namely of Zebedee and of Alpheus, who was Bishop of Jerusalem and the author of this epistle. This is evident from Paul, who in Galatians i, 19, says he saw no other of the Apostles except James the brother of the Lord; and cap. ii, 9, he calls this James with Cephas and John a pillar of the Church. Thus the Council of Trent thinks and teaches, sess. IV; Eusebius, lib. II Hist., cap. 1 and XXII; Clement of Alexandria, lib. VI Strom.; Chrysostom, hom. 33 and 44 in Matt.; St. Epiphanius, haeresi 29, and others throughout, indeed the whole Church, which celebrates the feast of James the Lesser on the 1st of May, asserting that he was an Apostle, brother of the Lord, son of Alpheus the fuller, beaten to death by the Jews. Wherefore St. Jerome changed his opinion; for in epist. 103, and lib. I Contra Pelag., he calls James the author of the epistle an Apostle. The books of Clement's Recognitions are of doubtful authority. Whence the same Clement, epist. I ad... James, asserts that he was ordained by Christ immediately. The same asserts Eusebius, Dorotheus in the Synopsis, and others. Hence from St. James the Church of Jerusalem obtained the dignity of a Patriarchal Church, equally as the Antiochene and Roman, inasmuch as St. Peter sat in them by himself; and the Alexandrine, in which St. Peter sat through St. Mark his disciple. For the Patriarchal Churches are Apostolic, and founded and instituted by the Apostles themselves. Moreover Jerusalem did not in the time of St. James, inasmuch as it was soon to be overthrown by Titus, but long afterwards under Pope Vigilius obtain this dignity, as I said on Acts, cap. xi, xxv and xxvi. The causes therefore why St. James writes that he is a servant of Christ, not an Apostle, are various. The first is the pursuit of humility and modesty, as likewise the Blessed Virgin called herself the handmaid of God, Luke i, 38. The second, that an Apostle properly so called is one who, sent by Christ, travels throughout the world evangelizing. But James did not travel throughout the world, as the other eleven Apostles did, but was fixed in Judaea and Jerusalem, and was made by Christ and the Apostles his proper Bishop and Pastor. The third, because it is a great dignity, and a title of the highest honor to be a servant of Christ. For, as St. Ambrose says, "It is a great dignity to be the servant of the powerful:" therefore it is the highest dignity to be the servant of the supremely powerful, namely Christ, for to serve God is to reign. Wherefore the Apostles preferred the service of Christ to all the kingdoms of the world, and gloried more that they were servants of Christ than if they had been kings of the whole world, as Didymus and Oecumenius say. Hence also St. Agatha said to Quintian the prefect: "Christian humility and servitude are far more excellent than the riches and pride of kings." For to be a servant of Christ is to be a servant of eternal wisdom, justice, truth, goodness and absolutely all virtues, which Christ is, as Origen rightly said. The fourth, because among the Apostles only St. Peter as it were the first, and St. Paul as it were the apostle and teacher of all the Gentiles, by antonomasia occupied the title of Apostle. Whence neither St. John, nor St. Jude in their epistles call themselves Apostles. The fifth, because servant of Christ is the same as Apostle. For "servant" here does not signify any sort of servant, but one faithful, most beloved, near and intimate to his master, namely Christ, who cares for all his affairs, and by him is sent to convert any of the nations to them, who is surely no other than an Apostle. Hence Jude following the example of his brother James, likewise at the beginning of his epistle calls himself a servant of Christ. Finally Sixtus Senensis, lib. VII Biblioth., and Fevardentius here think that the name "Apostle" has been erased here by some forger, so that, removing the author, he might take away the authority of the epistle. For many Latin, Greek, Syriac and Arabic codices have here the name "Apostle." TO THE TWELVE TRIBES WHICH ARE SCATTERED ABROAD. — which are scattered among the Gentiles. Thus the Syriac; already "tribes," that is, any Jews who have been born from the twelve tribes. For the tribes were not entirely scattered, but many from each single tribe. Note: Jacob the patriarch had twelve sons, likewise patriarchs. For each one established one family and tribe of sons and grandsons born from himself, and attributed his own name to it, so that the tribe of Judah, Levi, Reuben, is called the family born from Judah, Levi, Reuben, etc. Among these twelve tribes the holy land or Judaea was divided by Joshua, cap. xv. From it those tribes were often led into captivity, and scattered among the Gentiles, especially by the kings of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Syrians, Egyptians and Greeks. Many also of their own accord went from Judaea into foreign regions for the sake of profit, or peace, or relatives, etc., and fixed their dwellings there. Furthermore, almost all faithful Jews, except the Apostles, in the persecution stirred up on account of St. Stephen, fled from Jerusalem to other cities and regions and were scattered, as is evident from Acts viii, 2. To all these, and especially to those scattered on account of Stephen's death, as Bede, Gagneius and Ribera in Hosea, cap. 1, judge, St. James writes this epistle (just as St. Peter writes his own), so that just as he was present to some by word, so he might teach, strengthen and exhort the absent by writing to a life worthy of a Christian. For he himself was the proper Bishop of the Jews: hence he properly exercised pastoral care for them. From this it is evident first, that St. James wrote this epistle directly to faithful Jews, indirectly however also to the unfaithful, as Bede wishes, but consequently he also wrote the same to the faithful converted from the Gentiles. For all these professed the same faith of Christ and life which St. James here inculcates. Lucius Dexter adds in his Chronicle, that many Jews scattered were dispersed through Spain, and that this epistle was written to them especially by James, inasmuch as he himself judges him to have been, not of Alpheus, but of Zebedee, the Apostle and teacher of the Spanish, concerning whom I spoke in the Preface. It is evident secondly, that St. James did not write this epistle to the ten tribes, which after the schism made by Jeroboam from the two, namely Judah and Benjamin, were finally led by Salmanasar into Assyria, whom the Jews fable to be shut up and hidden in the impassable Caspian mountains. For St. James says he writes to the twelve tribes: therefore he writes to both the two and the ten already mentioned. GREETING. — Understand "he wishes and prays"; in Greek it is χαίρειν, which signifies three things, namely to rejoice, to be well and to be strong. It is the voice of one greeting: hence the Greeks use it at the beginning of epistles, which Horace imitated at the beginning of book I of his Epistles: "To Celsus, he says, rejoice, and prosper in your affairs, Musa asked, report to Albinovanus." Thus also here χαίρειν alludes to χαράν, which follows, as if to say: I wish you to rejoice, so that the tribulation which occupies you, you may esteem not sorrow, but joy. Moreover the greeting of the Apostles and Saints is not courtly and merely verbal, but efficacious and real, and it suffices to fill with salvation him who uses it, as from... as from St. Chrysostom I said on Rom. 1, at the beginning. "Salvation" moreover embraces peace, grace and every good which leads to present and eternal salvation; and consequently Jesus himself, who is the salvation and Savior of the world. Let this be the answer to Cajetan, who judged this greeting (and consequently the epistle) to be profane, not apostolic, and held it in little regard. For St. James and the Apostles used the same in the Council of Jerusalem, Acts xv, 23. Hence the Roman Pontiffs use the same in their Jubilees and ecumenical epistles: for they pray and impart to all the faithful greeting and apostolic blessing. Symbolically St. Augustine notes in his Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans, before the middle, that the word "salvation" in the Punic tongue (which is akin and a daughter of the Hebrew, in which שלוש [shalosh] likewise denotes three) signifies three, and therefore tacitly indicates the Holy Trinity, from which all salvation flows. "Among the conversation of certain rustics, when one had said to another, Greeting, a certain bishop (Valerius, Bishop of Hippo) asked him who knew both Latin and Punic, what greeting was? The answer was given: three. Then he, recognizing with joy that our salvation is the Trinity, judged that the agreement of the languages did not sound thus by chance, but by the most hidden dispensation of divine providence, so that, when Salvation is named in Latin, three are understood by the Punic; and when the Punic language names three in their own tongue, Salvation is understood in Latin." St. Augustine adds that the Canaanite woman, Matt. xv, when she asked Christ for the salvation of her daughter, implicitly asked for the Holy Trinity, and its faith and aid, by which her daughter was to be saved not only in body, but also in soul.
1:2
2. ALL JOY. — "All," that is, the whole, perfect, full, supreme. It is an enallage of quantity: for the whole universal is put for the whole integral, which is completed and made whole by its parts, as if to say, In temptation and tribulation do not be sad, O Christians, but rejoice, not with any sort of joy, but with full and supreme joy. Some imperfect persons in tribulation are partly grieved, partly joyful. These fix one foot in patience, the other in impatience; St. James therefore wishes both feet of the mind to be fixed in patience, and in its supreme degree. For there are three degrees of patience: the first, to endure patiently; the second, to endure willingly; the third, to endure joyfully. Thus "all" is taken for "the whole," Ecclesiastes xii, 13: "Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole man," that is, the whole man, as if to say, The whole good of man consists in the fear of God and the observance of his commandments; and therefore the whole man himself and with all the powers of his mind ought to attend to the fear of God and his commandments, and to devote himself to fulfilling them, according to that commandment of God: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart," Deuteronomy vi, 5. Secondly, "all" can be taken properly, and then the sense will be more forceful, as if to say, Temptation and tribulation is so far from being evil and to be fled, that in it is situated all good, and consequently all object and all matter of joy, so that all that joy which nature or God has scattered through other goods appears in this one universal and supreme good of tribulation collected and united; so that in tribulation alone there is more reason to rejoice than if you possessed all the riches, honors and pleasures of the world. Whence it follows that tribulation is the supreme good of this life: for supreme joy cannot be except concerning supreme good. For there are three passions or affections which have good as their object, namely love, desire, and joy. Love regards good in general; desire is the longing for absent good; joy is the enjoyment of present good: and the greater the good, the greater these affections are. On the other hand, the affections opposite to these, which have evil as their object, are hatred, fear, and sadness. Hatred is of evil absolutely; fear is the flight from absent evil; sadness is pain from the presence of evil. This is the first paradox of St. James with which he begins, so that he may win and excite the attention of readers, and so that the faithful of his age afflicted by Jews and others, and those to be afflicted in succeeding centuries, may be fully consoled, and he may teach how they ought to embrace affliction and conduct themselves in it, namely by not casting down the mind but raising it up, not grieving but rejoicing, not complaining but giving thanks. This is a lofty wisdom and unknown to philosophers, which St. James learned from Christ, who brought it forth from the bosom of the Father into the world as an arcane and heavenly thing, saying: "Blessed are they that suffer persecution," etc., Matthew v, 10; and therefore he descended from heaven into flesh, so that he might teach it to men, and that more by example than by word. For the whole life of Christ was continuous affliction, cross and martyrdom. The paradox therefore of Christ and Christianity, preached and practiced by St. James and the other Apostles, is: "Tribulation is the supreme good, and therefore in it one ought to rejoice supremely." The ancient wise men knew not this, Aristotle knew it not, Plato did not understand it, Anaxagoras deemed it false, Epicurus thought it foolish. For nature and natural reason abhors tribulation, as hostile to nature and the natural state, convenience and happiness, and directly contrary to it. Wherefore man, even if he strives with all the powers of nature, cannot rise to the point of rejoicing in tribulation, and rejoicing supremely in it; although some philosophers may have feigned and pretended to rejoice in it, so that they might hunt for the name, fame and empty smoke of the virtue of patience and constancy among men. Hence that saying of Cato to his soldiers in Africa struggling with sands and serpents, in Lucan: — Serpent, thirst, heat, sands, Sweet to virtue: patience rejoices in hardships. Truly Tertullian, in the book On Patience, chapter xvi: "Christian," he says, "patience is heavenly and true, that of the Gentiles false and shameful, which occupy the name of so great a good... with foul deeds: they are patient of rivals, and of the rich, and of the invited, impatient of God alone they live." And St. Cyprian, in the book On Patience: "Among the Gentiles," he says, "patience is as false as wisdom." Christ therefore by His doctrine and supernatural grace elevates nature so highly that contrary to nature it rejoices in evil of nature, namely in tribulation; and therefore He permitted the fall of Adam into sin, and through it into death and all tribulation, so that in it He might show forth, as a most skilled and most powerful physician, the power of His grace, and how great a remedy Christian patience is. For this virtue could not have had place, been seen and demonstrated in the state of innocence, as being free from all tribulation. We have therefore received more virtue from Christ than we lost in Adam, as I have shown from the Apostle, Rom. v. Wherefore St. Jerome on that passage, Ephes. v, 20, "Giving thanks always for all things," speaks thus: "It is the proper virtue of Christians to give thanks to the Creator even in those things which are thought adverse. According to the Apostle this virtue is greatest, that in the very dangers and miseries thanks should be rendered to God, and we should always say: Blessed be God, I know I sustain less than I deserve; these things are small compared to my sins: nothing is rendered to me that is worthy. This is the mind of a Christian, this is he who takes up his cross and follows the Saviour, whom neither loss nor damage weakens: whom, as Flaccus says, if the broken world should fall upon him, the ruins will strike him unafraid." The standard-bearer of this joy in the battle of tribulation was Christ, who yearning for the cross said: "I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized; and how am I straitened until it be accomplished?" Luke xii, 50. The first centurion was St. Peter, who in his first epistle, cap. IV, vers. 13, says: "Rejoicing," he says, "in the sufferings of Christ, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory shall be revealed. If you be reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you: for that which is of the honour, and glory, and power of God, and His Spirit, resteth upon you." The standard-bearer is St. Paul: "We glory," he says, "in tribulations," Rom. v, 3. And: "I am pleased with infirmities, with reproaches, with necessities, with persecutions, with distresses for Christ," II Cor. xii, 10. And: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world," Galat. vi, 14. Paul therefore by this love and joy of the cross seemed to be transformed into Christ crucified. So also St. Francis; whence the five stigmata of the wounds were impressed upon him by Him. Paul, says Chrysostom, hom. 4 in II ad Cor.: "When he saw as it were heaps of snow, temptations pressing in daily, he rejoiced and exulted no otherwise than if he had lived in the midst of paradise; and therefore he who is held by this joy cannot be overcome by perturbation of mind, but he who is not held by this joy can easily be taken and overcome by anything; and truly the same happens to him as if someone bearing weak arms were wounded by any light blow: no kind of armour is more powerful than to rejoice according to God." The centurion is St. James here, and the other Apostles, who, as Luke says, Act. v, 41, "went from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus." See the sayings there. Whence St. Bernard, serm. De Triplici genere boni: "Not only patiently," he says, "but also willingly, truly and ardently to torments, as to ornaments, to punishments, as to delights, did the blessed Andrew hasten." Esteem, — ἡγήσασθε [hēgēsasthe], that is, judge, consider, think; the Syriac, "to hold," that is, have, as if to say: This joy is situated not in the sense of nature: for this indeed in tribulation feels pain, but in the estimation, dictate and judgment of reason illuminated and strengthened by faith and grace, which suggests various grave considerations and causes of nature tested and afflicted, which I shall presently recount, on account of which in temptation it ought to stir itself to joy. Truly Seneca, epist. 78: "Pain is light if opinion adds nothing to it. All things hang upon opinion." WHEN YOU FALL INTO VARIOUS TEMPTATIONS. — For one temptation succeeds another, and another, often of a different kind and matter, just as wave succeeds wave, wind wind, ring ring in a chain, and so often many at once assail a man. "For temptation is the life of man upon earth," as Job says, chapter vii, verse 1, according to the Septuagint. Wherefore John Picus Mirandola, furnishing twelve weapons for spiritual combat, assigns as the sixth among them: "Having overcome one temptation, let him expect another, since the demon always goes about. The seventh: Not only must the devil be conquered, but a good outcome must be made with the temptation, and the temptation, for example of pride, must be received as an exhortation and invitation to humility. The eighth: While you fight, fight as if you will then have perpetual peace, because God often grants this to noble souls; but when you have conquered, conduct yourself as if you are about to fight soon. The eleventh: Consider it sweeter to overcome temptation than to go to sins; and thus compare the sweetness of victory with the sweetness of sin, not the struggle with pleasure." Incident Temptations. — You will ask, what precisely does "temptation" signify here? I answer first, temptation is the same as affliction and tribulation, namely poverty by which the first faithful were pressed, hunger, disease, infamy, heat, cold, and other adversities and hardships, whether sent by God, or by the demon, or by enemies, or by friends, or by nature or from elsewhere. These are called "temptation," because they tempt and test the virtue, patience and strength of man. Second, more properly and directly, St. James... we know, lest we be saddened in temptations, but let us rejoice with blessed Paul saying: "Now I rejoice in my afflictions," Colossians i, 24. The same St. Chrysostom, on the saying of the Apostle, Having the same spirit: "This," he says, "is the duty of a noble and loving soul, to bear afflictions and adversities nobly, to endure temptation; and moreover to give thanks to him who permits himself to be tempted, finally it is of the highest fortitude and of a watchful soul, and one that is superior to all human affections." Whence St. Ephrem, book On Faith, volume I: "A Christian," he says, "stands amid various tribulations and temptations, like an anvil, which although it is always struck, does not however turn its back, nor does it receive the form of a hollow in itself, but always remains the same. Let him always have Christ the Lord as his fortification and fortress, and let him flee to him in time of war, and say: Be thou to me a God a protector, and a place of refuge, that thou mayest save me." Third, tribulation assimilates us to Christ crucified, God's only-begotten Son, and brings his aid to us. For "we have not a high priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, but one tempted in all things according to the likeness, without sin," says Paul, Hebrews iv, 15. It is fitting therefore that a Christian rejoice and glory nowhere except in the cross of Christ with St. Paul. For God has hidden and enclosed so many good things in the cross of Christ and of Christians, that Paul, searching them out, is amazed throughout his epistles. Again Christ sweetens his cross with our crosses, and so not so much we, as he himself in us suffers. Wherefore St. Ephrem bore the cross on his forehead, and in a sermon On the Cross gives it magnificent praises, which I recited at Ezekiel ix, among which the principal and those suited to this place are these: "The cross, hope of Christians, the cross resurrection of the dead, the cross consolation of the afflicted, the cross triumph against demons, the cross hope of the despairing, the cross wall of the besieged; the cross guardian of infants, head of men, crown of the aged, magnificence of kings. The cross preaching of the Prophets, companion of the Apostles, glorying of the Martyrs. The cross chastity of virgins, joy of priests. The cross firmament of the Churches and security of the world. The cross strength of the weak, medicine of the sick, confidence of monks." He calls temptation here persecution, which the faithful suffered in his age from the Jews and other unbelievers. For in order to strengthen them in it, he wrote this epistle, and therefore immediately begins from this temptation. Refer to this place the labors, fatigues, dangers, and innumerable troubles and difficulties into which the Apostles and first faithful fell, indeed into which they willingly cast themselves for the sake of the Gospel, namely that they might preach and propagate it throughout the whole world. Third, this temptation can be extended to true external temptation of the demon, and internal temptation of the flesh or concupiscence. For this is properly called temptation, which tempts and solicits man to sin, and concerning this James adds, verse 13: "No man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God." Add that tribulation in like manner is properly called temptation, because it solicits man to pusillanimity, impatience, anger and other sins. Whence concerning this he concludes, verse 12, saying: "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life." You ask secondly, why in tribulation and persecution should the Christian rejoice, not in some manner, but with all and the highest joy? and so why tribulation is the supreme good, in which the happiness of the Christian in this life consists? I answer first, because tribulation tears us away from this world, and its love, allurements and blandishments, "lest we love the inn for our homeland," as St. Gregory says, book XXIII of the Morals, chapter xxiii; "and lest the traveler tending toward his homeland love a stable for a house," says St. Augustine, in Sentences, sentence 186. Truly Seneca to Lucilius: "As much as we can let us recede from the slippery: on dry ground we stand scarcely firmly." And epistle 93, at the end: "Just as good fortune and a good mind are contrary to each other, so we are wiser in evils; prosperity takes away the right course." St. Chrysostom, homily 14 to the People: "Us sleeping," he says, "the nature of temptations is accustomed to awaken, and to make more religious." Second, because tribulation is a sign of filiation, election and predestination of God: "For whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth: and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth," Hebrews xii, 6. Whence St. Augustine, book On the Pastoral: "If," he says, "you have been excepted from the passion of scourges, you have been excepted from the number of the faithful." And St. Ambrose, book 1, epistle 4, calls patience in tribulations the mother of the faithful. Whence the angel to Tobias, chapter xii, verse 13: "I offered," he says, "your prayer to the Lord: and because you were acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove you." St. Chrysostom, homily 32 in Genesis, "Let us not think," he says, "it is a sign that the Lord has abandoned us and despises us, if temptations are brought upon us; but let this be the greatest indication in us that God cares for us, because he purges sins, and proposes to us matter for struggle and exercise, so that if we declare what is ours, he may deign to care for us with greater bounty. Which when Fourth, because tribulation removes two supreme evils of man, namely sin and concupiscence. It is therefore the supreme good of man: for it is itself penance for sins committed, and it is also an antidote against future ones, because it directly opposes concupiscence. Just as therefore salt preserves flesh from putrefaction, so tribulation preserves body and soul from concupiscence and sin. And therefore God has filled our life with so many tribulations, because those in this state of fallen and corrupted nature are useful for raising it up and healing it, indeed plainly necessary; and therefore they are its only remedy and supreme good. Would not he rejoice stone, if it had sense, that it should be polished with a chisel and become an elegant statue of a king? wood, that it should be smoothed with a plane and become the throne of a prince? cloth, that it should be rubbed with lye and cleansed? etc. Surely it would rejoice: thus indeed the just man ought to rejoice in tribulation. "For what fire is to gold, a file to iron, a chisel to stone, cautery to cancer, a plane to wood, lye to cloth, a winnowing fan to wheat, salt to flesh, a furnace to bread, a hammer to a building, tribulation is to the just man." Hence tribulation is God's threshing, and thus it is called from the threshing-floor, by which harvests are threshed and winnowed, Isaiah, cap. xxi, vers. 10. Hear St. Augustine, De Tempore barbar., III: "If you are gold, why do you fear chaff, why do you fear fire? You will indeed be in the furnace together, but fire will turn the chaff to ashes, will remove the dross from you. If you are grain, why do you fear the threshing-floor? You will not appear as you were before in the ear, unless the threshing-floor, grinding, has separated the chaff from you. If you are oil, why do you fear the pressure of the press? Your nature will not be revealed, unless the weight of the stone has also separated the refuse from you." Whence Blessed Antiochus, hom. 79: "Just as wax," he says, "unless it is warmed or softened, does not easily receive the impression of a seal: so also man, unless he is tested by the exercise of labors and manifold infirmity." This is what the Lord says, Isaiah, xlviii, 9: "By my praise I will restrain you, lest you perish:" by praise, that is, by tribulation; for this is the bridle of concupiscence, and therefore the praise of God. And Lamentations 1, 13: "From on high he hath sent fire into my bones, and hath chastised me: he hath spread a net for my feet." For tribulation is God's net, by which he fishes for men and draws the unwilling to himself. Tribulation is the discipline of mankind, as our Gretserus has shown at length, lib. V De Cruce, cap. xxii and following. Wherefore God gives no grace to men except preceded by tribulation, as St. Mark the anchorite says. Fifthly, because if in tribulation you are sad and grieve, you increase the tribulation and sorrow, and diminish merit through the admixture of lesser patience or impatience. But if you rejoice and exult in it, you diminish the sense of tribulation and increase merit through the increase of patience. For the highest act and degree of patience is to suffer exultantly. If therefore you are wise, receive tribulation courageously with joy, not sluggishly and unwillingly with sadness: for thus it will diminish your punishment and increase your crown. Sixthly, because tribulations furnish abundant matter and exercise for all virtues, which are situated in difficulty: but virtues rejoice when they have occasion and object in which to exert their vigor and display their glory. Whence Philo, lib. De Quaerenda cognit. erud. gram., asserts that the soul celebrates a festival when, emulating the best things, it undertakes labor by which to strive toward perfection: wherefore to the lover of virtue labor becomes sweet, tribulations become joy and pleasure. Seventhly, tribulation makes man of lofty spirit greater, so that in heaven he places his affairs and hopes, as an eagle despises this point of earth and sees and laughs at all the blasts, waves and mockeries of fortune in it, according to that saying of Isaiah, L, 14: "Then shalt thou be delighted in the Lord, and I will lift thee up above the heights of the earth, and will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father." See the things said there. Seneca saw this in shadow, lib. De Provid., cap. IV: "Prosperity," he says, "falls to the common people and base minds, but to put calamities and terrors of mortals under the yoke is the property of a great man." And cap. v: "Military men glory in their wounds, calamity is the occasion of virtue: a commander sends the most select, who may attack enemies by night ambushes. Teachers exact more labor from those in whom there is more certain hope. Never is the lesson of virtue soft. Fortune scourges us and tears us: let us endure, it is not cruelty; it is a contest." And cap. vi: "Labor calls forth the best. Fire tests gold, misery tests strong men. See how high virtue ought to ascend." Nazianzenus, epist. 64 to Philagrius, praises that saying of the Stoics: "A good man is blessed, even if he be burned in the bull of Phalaris." Excellently Gerson, part 2, serm. De Omnibus Sanctis: "Just as," he says, "the ark of Noah, the more the waters of the flood abounded, the higher it was borne: so the meek soul, the greater the waters of tribulation will be, the more exalted it will be." Wherefore generous souls and those who fervently love God find nothing more desirable, nothing more pleasant, nothing sweeter than to suffer much for Him. The reason for this is manifold; but chiefly threefold. First, because holy souls love God intently: and they can show their love for Him in nothing more than if they endure or perform hard things for Him. Again, they see Christ having suffered so much for them: that therefore they might imitate Him, and repay Him as much as they can, and return love for love, they desire to suffer with Him and for Him, they thirst for crosses and sorrows, and say with St. Ignatius: "My love is crucified." Thus St. Lawrence to the tyrant: "Prepare," said he, "racks, beasts, fires, gridirons, and whatever torments you can devise: I desire and long for all these things. There is no hungry man who so desires food as I desire your torments. Therefore bring them forth, and satisfy my hunger." St. Xavier, when the Gentiles persecuted him unto death, and therefore he sometimes spent the night in trees, and likewise in shipwrecks, when swimming in the midst of the sea he was tossed by the waves, prayed: "Lord, do not take this cross from me, unless You send me a greater one." Wherefore he was so abundantly filled with heavenly consolations, that not being able to contain them he cried out: "It is enough, Lord, it is enough;" but in tribulations: "It is not enough, Lord, it is not enough: give me more to suffer." Thus Father Lucena in his Life, book I, chapter vii. Edmund Campion, the first martyr in England from the Society, truly a Campion, that is a fighter of Christ, having heard the sentence of death, giving thanks to God and to himself sang: "We praise Thee, O God;" and being dragged to execution and standing in the theatre: "We have become," said he, "a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. I rejoice and congratulate myself on this happy lot, that I die a martyr: now I live, now I triumph." Wherefore like Samson, who slew more dying than living, more in death than in life, by his zeal and the example of his martyrdom converted more to the orthodox faith, as his Life relates. Eminent and leader in this matter was St. Andrew, who, seeing the cross prepared for him, exclaiming with joy said: "O good cross, which have received beauty from the limbs of the Lord, long desired, eagerly loved, continuously sought and at length prepared for one who desired it: receive me from men, and restore me to my Master, that through you He may receive me, who through you redeemed me." Second, because God in turn embraces those who suffer for love of Him, consoles them, and sweetens the gall of passion with the honey of divine consolation. This the Martyrs experienced, who on racks and in torments rejoiced, and sang hymns and praises to Christ. This all experience who willingly endure adversities for God. Thus the Psalmist: "According to the multitude," he says, "of my sorrows in my heart, Your consolations have gladdened my soul," Psalm xciii, 19; and Paul: "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also by Christ does our consolation abound," II Corinthians i, 5. The measure therefore of passion is the measure of consolation, and the greater the passion, the greater the consolation that comes. God gave Moses a type of this in Mara by wood, which sweetened the bitter waters, Exodus xv, 25. This wood was a figure of the cross of Christ, which sweetens all the bitterness of adversities, as I said there. For this reason the Saints did not ask that crosses be taken away or mitigated, but increased, saying that word of Pope Pius V, afflicted with sharp pains of the stone: "Lord, increase the pain, increase also the patience." Thus St. Teresa prayed: "Give either to suffer or to die. For I wish my life to be nothing other than to love You, to labor for You, to suffer for You." Another Saint said she did not desire a short life and swift death, because in heaven there is no suffering: I therefore desire to live long, because I desire to suffer long for the love of God, not only martyrdoms, but also diseases, slanders, misfortunes and all adversities. To one who loves therefore virtue is sweet, sweet is patience, sweet is fortitude, Cato used to say. More divinely St. Mark and Marcellian: "Never have we feasted so pleasantly as we willingly endure these things for the sake of Christ." Third, because they consider passion to be slight and brief, and soon they will receive for it immense and eternal glory. For they have this premeditated: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us. For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, works for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory," II Corinthians iv, 17. Thus to St. Stephen seeing the heavens opened, and Christ showing the heavenly crown, the stones of the torrent were sweet. Thus St. Francis: "So great," he says, is the glory which I await, that every sickness, every mortification, every humiliation, every punishment may delight me." Assuredly he felt how sweet is the cross of Christ; and therefore the cross was not to him a cross, but a guide of life and joy. Happy is he to whom tribulation becomes sweet, who with Blessed Catherine of Siena exchanges the sweet things of this life for bitter things, and bitter things for sweet. Indeed, whoever perceives and tastes so many and such great goods as God has hidden in the cross and tribulation, judges it most sweet, experiences and feels it, and sings to the cross: "Sweet wood, sweet nails, bearing sweet burdens." In the cross therefore is true sweetness, true consolation, true joy. Embrace it willingly, and thus you will experience it. St. Augustine experienced this. Whence in the Meditations, chapter vii: "Nothing," he says, "I beseech thee, without thee, O Lord, may be sweet to me, nothing may please me, nothing be precious, nothing except thee may appear beautiful to me. Let all things become vile to me without thee, I beseech, let all things become foul: whatever is adverse to thee, let it be troublesome to me; and let thy good pleasure be to me an unfailing desire. Let me be weary of rejoicing without thee, and let it delight me to be saddened for thee." Wherefore St. Chrysostom, homily 4 On Repentance, teaches that tribulation is a spiritual commerce, in which the soul of the patient prepares for itself great profit. Thus in sicknesses, mortality and death the Christian must stand and rejoice bravely, as St. Cyprian teaches, in the book On Mortality: "Unless the struggle shall have preceded," he says, "there cannot be victory: when there shall have been victory in the joining of battle, then crowns are given to the conquerors. For the helmsman is recognized in the tempest, the soldier is proved in battle. It is a soft boasting when there is no danger: struggling in adversities is a proof of truth. A tree which is founded on deep roots is not moved by winds pressing upon it; and a ship which is solidified by strong joining is struck by blows and is not pierced; and when the threshing floor beats out the grain, the strong and robust grains despise the winds, empty chaff is carried away by the blast. So also the Apostle Paul, after shipwrecks, after scourgings, after many and grave torments of flesh and body, says he is not vexed, but amended in adversities, so that while he is afflicted more gravely, he is more truly proved." See our Gretzer, throughout book V On the Cross, which is concerning the spiritual cross or tribulation. Indeed, Seneca also, in epistle 78 Against Pains, gives this remedy: "A great and prudent man," he says, "draws his soul away from the body, and spends much time with the better and divine part. This is the consolation of vast pain, that it is necessary that you cease to feel it, if you have felt it too much." And soon after: "Let him fight against it with his whole mind: it will be conquered, if he yields: it will conquer, if he shall have steeled himself against his pain. If it is long, it has intervals, it gives place for recovery. A brief and sudden sickness will do one of two things, either it will be extinguished, or it will extinguish." Thus Agesilaus, king of Sparta, as Plutarch testifies in the Laconian Lives, when he was burning with the pains of gout, and Carneades visited him and was leaving sad: "Wait," he said, "Carneades: for nothing from there reaches here," showing his feet and chest. Feeling indeed his feet to ache, but his breast and mind to be empty of pain. All these things are truer and greater in that temptation which arises from persecution, of which St. James properly speaks. For this has its own manifold matter of joys. First, that such a one suffers on account of faith; and is its champion and defender, or on account of justice: to whom Christ says: "Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice," Matthew v. Such a one therefore is a defender with shield, an athlete and champion of the first and divine truth, of true religion, and of the holy Church, for which he gives his wealth, strength and life as prey, fights with all his might, and often falls; which is far more worthy and divine than to fight and fall for a king, country and commonwealth. Whence St. Augustine in Psalm lxvii: "Martyrs," he says, "hold the highest place in the Churches, and excel at the apex of holy dignity." And St. Basil, homily on the Forty Martyrs: "O holy," he says, "choir! O sacred order! O impregnable wedge! O common guardians of the human race, most powerful legates before God, stars of the world, flowers of the Churches!" Second, that he suffer for God and His law, honor and love. Whence he makes himself a most noble victim and a holocaust to God, immolating to Him his body, blood, life and death, according to that passage in Wisdom III, 6: "As gold in the furnace He proved them, and as a holocaust victim He accepted them." Therefore he honors God wonderfully, and equally delights Him who suffers; and in turn God takes possession of him as of a victim devoted and consecrated to himself, nay, he suffers, conquers and triumphs with Him and in Him. Whence St. Jerome to Hedybia, Question XII: "The triumph of God," he says, "is the passion of Martyrs and the shedding of blood for the name of Christ, and joy amid torments, etc. This triumph is the victory of God and the Apostles." For which reason martyrdom by a singular privilege of God expiates all sins, however many and enormous, and abolishes all penalties due to him, and immediately sends the martyr to heaven. "This is a baptism greater in grace, more sublime in power, more precious in honor. A baptism in which angels baptize. A baptism in which God and His Christ exult: which consummates the increase of our faith, which unites us to God immediately as we depart from the world," says St. Cyprian to Fortunatus, preface to the Exhortation to Martyrdom. Third, that he repay Christ the debt of love, restoring to Him body for body, blood for blood, life for life. Whence St. Chrysostom, homily 4 on the epistle to the Philippians: "To suffer for Christ," he says, "is a duty of greater administration than truly to raise the dead and to work wonderful signs. For in that case I am indeed a debtor, but here I have Christ as my debtor." Basil, Bishop of Seleucia, in the Life of St. Thecla writes that after she had overcome beasts, fires, prisons, etc. for Christ, she prayed to God for perseverance, "even if," he says, "it should befall me to have to deal with fire, beasts, chains, prisons on each single day: so much so that every kind of death and peril undertaken for piety is preferred by me even to the delights and most abundant feasts of paradise itself: only that I may be deemed worthy to endure torments always for Thee and Thy name." Fourth, that he undertakes martyrdom, which is the noblest act of faith, charity, religion, fortitude, and therefore gives the noblest palm and crown in heaven and on earth. See what is said on Hosea XI, 12, and Tertullian in the Scorpiace, Cyprian, On the Exhortation to Martyrdom, and his epistle to the Martyrs. For which reason the Martyrs not only exulted in torments, but the more these increased, the more likewise their exultation increased, so that they seemed to themselves to be in the courts and entrance of heaven. Whence seeing them, even the executioners and governors were amazed, and many were converted to Christ, others were indignant and gnashed their teeth, and were more tormented by their joy than they themselves tormented them with their punishments. "They insulted," says St. Ephrem in the Encomium of Martyrs, "the judges, as if devoid of the sense of pain, and as if they suffered in bodies not their own, saying: If you have more severe torments, apply them to us. For these are of no account. Your fire appears cold, your torments ineffectual, your torturers weak, your swords are rotten wood: you have nothing that corresponds to our readiness and alacrity; we are prepared to endure more and greater things." And further down: "Neither a blazing pyre, nor hissing flame, nor heated pans, nor boiling pots, nor glowing plates, nor the teeth of iron claws, etc., deterred the most courageous and strongest soldiers of Christ, etc. For they were beaten with great joy at the blows of the rods; they received them as the greatest delights. For when the hands of the lictors tormented their limbs and laid bare their viscera, they did not look upon them with a sad face, nor did they utter a groan amid torments; but with a more cheerful and joyful countenance they testified to their inner joys: for to them those torments were consolation and rest; afflicted, tempted, beaten, and tortured with exquisite torments, they always loved God with all their heart and all their mind." And shortly after: "Joyful and pleasant to you was the expectation of future things, which so animated and strengthened you that you desired new and sharper punishments to be inflicted on you each hour, nor could you be satisfied with any." Finally, passion and patience are not in heaven nor in paradise, but are on earth and in the fallen state. Through patience, therefore, man overcomes not only Adam, but also the angels: for the angels have a happier state, but patience is stronger. Wherefore St. Lawrence, for example, was stronger than the angels, who cannot suffer; stronger, I say, through patience, not single and simple, but varied and manifold. These are the outstanding goods and joys of tribulations and persecutions, and therefore are to be desired and envied; and so if envy could fall upon the angels, surely they would envy us such gifts of passion and patience; indeed, even the blessed men, if they could be saddened, would be saddened by this one thing alone, namely that they have not suffered more for God, nor can suffer more for Him. When therefore we awake in the morning, let us rejoice and exult in God, because He has made that day to dawn for us, in which we can suffer much for His love, and offer to Him many heaps of patience, merits and virtues; as we read in the deeds of St. Mechtild that she was taught and admonished by the Blessed appearing to her, and the same thing is related of her by L. Blosius, book IV of Spiritual Grace, chapter IV. "Count it all joy, brethren, when you shall fall into divers temptations." You will ask thirdly, how it can be lawful for a Christian to rejoice in a temptation properly so called, of concupiscence, for example of fornication, gluttony, pride, when Christ commands us to flee from it and to pray for it, namely that we should pray: "And lead us not into temptation?" I answer: Christ commands us to pray for this first, that we do not consent to temptation, as St. Augustine says, epistle 121, chapter xi, for he who consents, not he who feels, is led into temptation. Whence St. Bernard, On the Interior House, says: "The struggle is troublesome, but fruitful, because if it has pain, it will also have a crown: the feeling does not harm, where there is no consent; indeed, what fatigues the one resisting, crowns the one conquering." Secondly, He commands us at the same time to pray that God remove temptations from us, especially the graver and more dangerous ones. For man, mindful and conscious of his weakness, and of the danger of consent which temptation brings, commonly ought to avoid and pray against it, not to desire it or seek it out, as Tertullian, Cyprian, Nyssenus and Chrysostom expound and teach in the Lord's Prayer. Now I say first: Although commonly one ought to flee and pray against temptation on account of the danger of falling, from humble acknowledgment of our fragility, yet granted that God wills us to undergo and suffer it, it is to be undergone with joy, both that we may conform ourselves more to the divine will, and that we may sustain and overcome it more easily, and that we may more forcefully overcome the demon who raises it. For the demon is conquered by nothing so much as by spiritual joy and gladness, as St. Anthony used to say. As a symbol of this matter concerning the unconquered Maccabees, indeed the victors over very numerous enemies, it is said in I Maccabees III, 2: "And Israel fought the battle with gladness." For this gladness intimidates and casts down the demon, and takes from him the hope of conquering and harming. For, as St. Augustine says, book XX of the City of God, viii: "The demon is like a dog bound by Christ, who can bark, can solicit; but cannot bite at all, except one willing: for he can persuade, but cannot precipitate: but he loses the hope of persuading, when he sees a man constant in temptation, generous, joyful and cheerful." Hear St. Anthony, most exercised in this kind of thing: "If," he says, "the demons find any seed of evil mind and fear in our breasts, straightway like robbers who occupy deserted places, they begin to heap up fears in those beginning, and cruelly threatening vex the wretched soul: but if we are cheerful in the Lord, and are kindled by desire of future goods, if we always commit all things into the hands of God, no demon will be able to come to assault us." Thus St. Athanasius in his Life. Wherefore St. James does not say: Desire temptations, as the Abulensian notes in St. Matthew chapter iv, Question LXX, but carefully says: "When you shall fall into divers temptations, count it all joy," that is to say, Do not of your own accord cast yourselves into temptations, but where you have fallen, sustain them with joy. Thus Salmeron. I say secondly: Temptation, insofar as it solicits toward sin, is not desirable; for in this way it is the proximate cause of sin, which is supremely hateful; but insofar as it is the same matter of struggle and victory, and of increasing virtue and merits, it is desirable, especially for generous men fixed in hope and love of God. Thus Dionysius the Carthusian, in his book On the Remedies of Temptations, article 7. Hence David in Psalm xxv: "Prove me, O Lord," he says, "and try me; burn my reins and my heart:" for temptation confers many and great goods. Besides those general benefits which I have already reviewed concerning tribulation, the particular advantages of temptations are these. First, that it explores and strengthens virtue. "The furnace proves the potter's vessels, and the temptation of tribulation proves just men," says Ecclesiasticus, chapter xxvii, 6. Just as therefore the potter's vessels, if they had reason and sense, would desire to be tested in fire, so that they might be perfected and solidified by it: so likewise the just, supported by God's grace and virtue, are able to desire the flame of temptation, which in them may burn away whatever is impure and strengthen them in virtue. For just as in winter and cold, heat intensifies itself by antiperistasis, so likewise virtue struggling with temptation intensifies itself: just as a boxer exerts all his strength when he must contend with a keen antagonist. Whence Julius Caesar desired the strongest enemies, so that he might exert and display his virtue against them, and by defeating them might obtain a more glorious victory; and Cato thought Carthage should not be destroyed, so that it might give the Romans continuous exercise in arms, lest they be weakened by idleness and lack the constant whetstone of virtue. "For virtue languishes without an adversary." Hence temptation of lust, gluttony, pride, etc., in the Saints who resist it, more increases and strengthens chastity, sobriety, humility, etc. Elegantly and truly St. Cyprian, in his book On the Good of Chastity: "Nothing," he says, "so delights a faithful soul as the entire consciousness of spotless, undefiled modesty. To have overcome pleasure is the greatest pleasure: nor is there any greater victory than that which is won over desires." Secondly, that temptation is the whetstone of virtue, sharpening the mind's diligence and love of God, just as it sharpens the edge of a sword, and a small amount of water poured into fire makes it burn more brightly. Hence the Apostle says: "In all these things we overcome because of him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the charity of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord," Romans viii, 38. The Saint therefore desiring temptation desires war, in which the grace of God may conquer: he seeks combat, in which aided by the Lord, he may prostrate the enemy; he desires an occasion by which he may show himself faithful to the Lord; he embraces temptation, in which he may manifest his constancy in God's service and love to the whole world, to angels and men. Thus a soldier desires battle, so that he may commend his fortitude and fidelity to his commander, so that he may prepare for himself a glorious victory, a name, spoils and riches: so likewise the Saint, burning with love of God, desires temptation, so that wrestling with it, he may show how much he loves God, and in his love is faithful and constant, so that struggling he may exert his strength, increase his virtues, and accumulate heaps of merits. For, as St. Leo says, sermon 1 On Lent: "There are no works of virtue without the experience of temptations, no faith without disturbances, no struggle without an enemy, no victory without combat. If we wish to overcome, we must fight." Third, that temptation may humble a man illustrious in virtues, and keep him in humility and fear of God, lest, lifted up in pride, he lose all with himself. Thus Paul: "Lest," he says, "the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me," II Cor. xii, 7. And Eccles. II, 4: "All things that are brought upon thee receive, and endure them in sorrow, and have patience in thy humility, for gold and silver are tried in the fire, but men acceptable to God are tried in the furnace of tribulation." And Wisdom III, 5: "God tried them, and found them worthy of himself." Most excellently St. Gregory, lib. II Moral., xxxvii: "Behold," he says, "how wonderfully this is dispensed with us, that our mind is sometimes struck by the blow of fault. For a man would believe himself to be of great strength, if he never felt within the secret places of his mind any defect of those same strengths; but when temptation rushes in and shakes him, and as it were wears him out beyond what suffices, against the snares of his enemy there is shown to him the protection of humility, and whence he fears he will fall weakly, thence he receives strength to stand firmly." Thus we see that learned men and those eminent in virtue are sometimes assailed by temptation of pusillanimity, surely by the provident counsel of God, lest knowledge puff them up in its manner, lest virtue exalt them. Thus often one temptation is a wedge to overcome another more grave and dangerous. Thus we read in the Lives of the Fathers, of a young man greatly harassed by the stimulus of the flesh, when he had tried other remedies in vain, that by false accusations from his companions at the command of the Abbot he was continually shaken off. After some time, when asked by the Abbot whether he was still troubled by it, he answered: "Is it not permitted to live, unless fornication be pleasing?" Fourth, temptation is a stimulus of hope and prayer: for it compels the afflicted and endangered man to have recourse to implore the aid and grace of God, as without which he sees he cannot overcome temptation, but will certainly be conquered. Whence Eccles. II, 2, assigning a remedy and refuge to the tempted: "Humble," he says, "thy heart, and endure, etc. Endure the sustenance of God: join thyself to God and endure, that thy life may increase in thy latter end;" and soon after: "Believe God, and he will recover thee; and direct thy way, and hope in him, etc. Behold, ye children of men, and know that no one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded." Whence Isaiah cap. XII: "The Lord is my strength," he says, "and my praise," etc. Cap. xxxviii: "O Lord, I suffer violence, answer thou for me." And the Psalmist, Psal. lxix: "O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me;"; and Psal. cxvii, 7: "The Lord is my helper, and I shall despise my enemies;"; and Psalm. cxx, 1: "I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, whence help shall come to me;"; and Psal. xxvi, 1: "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. If a battle should rise up against me, in this will I be confident;"; and Christ: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world," John xvi, 33. Fifth, God is most present to his own in temptation, he is present and stands by, that he may protect, help and strengthen. Whence Psal. xc, he says: "I am with him in tribulation;"; therefore the place of God is tribulation. Dost thou seek God? in tribulation and temptation thou shalt find him. Whence Jeremiah, cap. xx, vers. 11: "The Lord," he says, "is with me as a mighty warrior: therefore they that persecute me shall fall, and shall be weak: they shall be confounded exceedingly." For this is a great and magnificent glory of the Lord, that by his grace he so strengthens weak and fragile men, that they overcome all the most powerful weapons of the devil and the flesh: for which reason he himself chooses the weak things of the world, that he may confound the strong. "I will be to him a wall round about," saith the Lord, Zach. II, 5; as he sent to Eliseus chariots of fire and hosts of angels, which defended him against the Syrians, IV Kings cap. vi, vers. 17. See Dionysius the Carthusian, lib. De Remed. tentat., art. 25. Wherefore Chrysostom, tract. De Poenit.: "Temptations," he says, "make us stronger, and persuade us to become most intimate with God: for they shake off torpor and instill holy fervor." Sixth, God promises the most ample rewards to those who overcome temptation. "He that shall overcome," he says, "I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God," Apoc. III, 12. Thus Christ appeared to St. Anthony, and said that he had watched his struggles with joy, and had helped him: "Because," he said, "fighting manfully thou didst not cease, I will always help thee, and will make thee to be named throughout the whole world." Thus St. Athanasius in his Life. Hence he who overcomes temptation gives to others a most illustrious mirror and example of overcoming the same, and learns to sympathize with the tempted, to counsel them and to apply fitting remedies. Wherefore the Abbot Conon when of the charity of Christ," and he sang, saying: "If armies in camp should stand against me, my heart shall not fear." Thus St. Athanasius in his Life. St. Hilarion, disciple of St. Anthony: "His body so wasted away that it scarcely clung to his bones, as St. Jerome says in his Life, one night he began to hear the wailing of infants, the bleating of flocks, the lowing of cattle, a lamentation as of women, the roaring of lions, the murmur of an army, and again portents of various voices, so that he was terrified by the sound before by the sight and would retreat. He understood the mockeries of demons, and falling upon his knees he signed the cross of Christ upon his forehead: thus armed with such a helmet and girded with the breastplate of faith, lying down he fought more mightily, henceforth desiring to see those whom he had dreaded to hear, and with anxious eyes looking about hither and thither, when suddenly by the shining of the moon he sees a chariot rushing upon him with burning horses: and when he cried out to Jesus, before his eyes by a sudden chasm of the earth all that pomp was swallowed up. Then he said: He cast the horse and its rider into the sea;" and: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God." St. John Climacus relates that St. Ephrem, when he felt himself in the highest peace and tranquility of mind, as if established in a terrestrial heaven of impassibility, asked God to restore to him the former struggles and battles of temptations, lest he lose the matter of meriting and weaving his crown. John Moschus in the Spiritual Meadow, chapter CLXIV, relates that Abbot Victor said to a certain one tempted by pusillanimity: "The pusillanimous are disturbed by a small temptation, and think it to be great: but those who are healthy in soul rejoice more in temptations." In the Lives of the Fathers, book V, booklet v (I follow the edition of our Father Heribert), number 19, a certain disciple tempted by the spirit of fornication went to his elder, by whom being asked: "Do you wish me to pray the Lord to lift this trouble from you?" he answered: "I see, Abba, that if I labor, yet from the weight of this labor I consider that I am bearing fruit: but pray God for this, that he give me endurance, by which I may sustain it." To whom the Abbot said: "Now I have recognized that you are in great progress, my son, and you surpass me." Ibid. number 10 it is related that Sara, assailed for thirteen years by the spirit of fornication, never prayed that such a struggle would depart from her, but only said: "Lord, give me strength." For by temptation the soul is gradually purged and purified, so that it may attain to purity and almost angelic perfection. St. Dorotheos, in doctrine 13, relates that a certain monk grieved that God had taken from him the temptation by which he was being tested, and weeping said kindly: "Am I then, Lord, unworthy to suffer, to be afflicted and troubled for your name?" Palladius in the Lausiac History relates that a monk said to his Pastor something similar: "The Lord has freed me from the struggle of temptations and has restored peace to me." To whom Seventh, temptation wonderfully illuminates the mind in the way of virtue. "For he that hath not been tempted, what doth he know?" Eccles. xxxiv, 9. Again, it makes him cautious, circumspect, vigilant, so that he may resist the flesh and sin from every side. Whence St. Lawrence Justinian, in the Wood of Life, tract. On Patience, cap. IV: "Just as," he says, "flesh, if not sprinkled with salt, however great and excellent it may be, corrupts: so also the soul, unless it be continually salted with temptations, straightway dissolves and relaxes. For through temptations themselves the soul shakes off the rottenness of negligence, and is preserved in the liveliness of the spirit. O how many have we seen protected from great dangers by small temptations, and freed from the plague of pride by a certain temptation of fear and a certain bodily weakness, who otherwise would have prided themselves on their talents like unbridled horses." Finally, temptation consoles and tranquillizes the soul, because after clouds Phoebus, after desolation consolation, after temptation serenity and exultation, God thus justly ordaining, succeeds, as Sara says to Tobias III, 22. Wherefore, as our James Alvarez rightly notes, tract. On the Victory of Temptation, cap. II, it is the mark of the strongest minds not to fear the incursions of enemies, nor to be saddened by the trouble of temptations, but to rejoice. The strength of which the Lord describes mystically and elegantly in Job, cap. XXXIX, vers. 21 et seq., under the figure of that noble horse, saying: "He diggeth up the earth with his hoof, he pranceth boldly, he goeth forward to meet the armed men, he scorneth fear, nor turneth he back from the sword." Where see St. Gregory, who among other things says: "When he considers that the struggle of passion is drawing near to him, he exults in the exercise of virtue; nor is he terrified by the danger of battle, he who rejoices in the triumph of victory." Again Climacus, degree 27: "There is," he says, "no surer proof that demons are conquered by us than if they attack us most fiercely. For if you resist them most strongly altogether, they will attack you altogether most bitterly, so that they may recall you from contests as if making no progress;" and below: "St. Arsilaites said: I have observed that in the morning for the most part the spirit of vain glory and concupiscence is wont to come; at midday however acedia, wrath and sadness; in the evening however the unhappy tyrants of the belly and filth." Do you wish examples of such fighters and heroes? Take this: St. Anthony, torn by demons and left half-dead, provoked them, saying: "Behold I am here, Anthony, I do not flee your contests, even if you do greater things: no one shall separate me from the charity of Christ," and he sang, saying: "If he had withdrawn to his monastery, lest he baptize a beautiful maiden, at whose beauty he felt the sting of the flesh, he met St. John the Baptist, who signing him with the cross said: 'Believe me, presbyter Conon, I wished to reward you with payment for this struggle; but because you do not wish it, behold I have taken this war from you: but you shall lack the reward of this work.' Thus John Moschus in the Spiritual Meadow, cap. III. Hence the Saints in the heavens sing with jubilation: "We have passed through fire (of concupiscence) and water (of desolation and contempt), and thou hast brought us out into a place of refreshment," Psal. LXV, 12. The Shepherd said: "Return, and pray to God, that He may restore this struggle to you, lest you fall into lukewarmness and negligence." Having returned, he reported the words of the Shepherd to God. To whom God said: "The Shepherd spoke rightly," and at the same time restored the temptation to him. For, as St. Basil says in his discourse on Patience: "As a tempest proves the pilot of a ship, study proves the athlete, battle proves the soldier, and calamity proves the magnanimous man: so temptation proves the Christian. And just as the labors of contests draw athletes to crowns, so also trials, which descend from temptations, lead Christian men to perfection, if only we receive them with fitting forbearance and with all thanksgiving, which are ordained by the Lord." And St. Augustine in Psalm LX: "Our life," he says, "in this pilgrimage cannot be without temptation, because our progress is made through our temptation; nor does anyone become known to himself except when tested; nor can he be crowned unless he has conquered; nor can he conquer unless he has fought; nor can he fight unless he has had an enemy and temptations." And St. Ambrose, book IV on Luke, chapter IV: "Let us not fear temptations, but rather glory in temptations, saying: When we are weak, then we are strong. For then the crown of justice is woven, etc. Therefore he who wishes to crown, suggests temptations. And if ever you are tempted, know that a crown is being prepared. Is not the temptation of Joseph a consecration of virtue? Is not the injury of prison a crown of chastity?" Cassian, Conference XXIV, chapter XXV: "Greater," he says, "rewards has the benign grace of our Savior conferred upon us through the struggle of temptations, and greater things to endure. For there is more joy in tribulation than if He had removed from us all necessity of struggle. For it is a mark of more sublime and excellent virtue to remain always unmoved, surrounded by passions and hardships, and to acquire virtue in a certain way from weakness, because virtue is perfected from weakness." The same author, Conference XVIII, chapter XIV, celebrates how a certain religious woman asked St. Athanasius for a poor and infirm woman, but troublesome, ungrateful and quarrelsome, to serve, so that in her she might have the exercise of patience. And when she had served her for a long time with great charity and patience, she returned "to give thanks, because he had provided her with a most worthy teacher of patience according to her desire, by whose constant injuries, as by a certain oil of the wrestling school, being strengthened daily, she might attain to the highest patience of soul."
1:3
"Proof of faith" is the same as the trial which preceded it: for trial proves the faith, virtue, love of God and constancy of him who is tried; for it gives cause why he should have said that there is reason to rejoice in it. This therefore is the argument of James: In trial and tribulation be not sorrowful, but rather rejoice, because tribulation, which is nothing other than the proof of your faith, works patience, which is an excellent virtue and as it were the blessedness of this life. Thus Bede: "Whose patience, he says, cannot be overcome, he is proved to be perfect: and that reason causes patience to be exercised, so that through this faith may be proved how perfect it is." Moreover, tribulation works patience, not effectively, but materially and objectively; just as wood works fire, because it supplies it with fuel and nourishment. Wherefore it works patience only in the faithful man, patient and constant. For in the unstable, impatient and inconstant man it works the contrary, namely impatience and indignation. Hear St. Bernard, epistle 32 to the Abbot of St. Nicasius: "The furnace proves the potter's vessels, and trial proves just men. Nor is it therefore without reason that we sympathize with our friends whom we see placed in anxiety, for whom indeed while we know not the outcome, we fear the worst. Since indeed just as for the Saints and elect tribulation works patience, patience works proof, proof works hope, and hope does not confound: so for the damned and reprobate tribulation on the contrary produces pusillanimity, pusillanimity produces perturbation, perturbation produces desperation; and that destroys, etc. Wherefore let your humble prudence strive not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good: and you will overcome, by fixing your hope strongly in God and by patiently awaiting the outcome of the matter." Note: James excites to joy in tribulation, calling it a proof of faith, as if to say: Trial is not so much tribulation and affliction as proof and testing of your faith. Rejoice therefore, that through it God proves and tests your faith; and you in turn, bearing it strongly and exultantly, prove and show yourselves to be faithful to him, and ready for his faith and love to endure far greater things. For joy in tribulation is a sign of perfect faith and virtue. For, as Aristotle says, a sign of habituated and rooted virtue is, if one exercises and practices it, not with sadness, but with delight and joy. Wisely Seneca, book I On Providence: "God, he says, educates the good, like stern fathers, more harshly, and says: Through works, pains and losses they gather strength, etc. Behold a spectacle worthy of God, a strong man matched with evil fortune, a spectacle worthy of God. Fortune, like a gladiator, seeks for itself the strongest as equals, passes over others with disdain. It tests fire in Mucius, poverty in Fabricius, exile in Rutilius, torment in Regulus, poison in Socrates, death in Cato. Great men sometimes rejoice in adverse things, not otherwise than brave soldiers in the triumph of war. Let them say therefore: We have been deemed worthy by God, in whom he might test how much human nature can endure." And above: "The wise man remains in his state, and whatever happens he draws to his own color, as the sea does rivers." The same, in the book On Anger, at the beginning: "Everything weak is querulous by nature, he says; nor is anything great, unless it is at the same time calm." And below: "When shipwreck was announced to Zeno, as he heard that all his possessions were submerged: Fortune commands me, he says, to philosophize more expeditiously." The same, in the book On Tranquility: "A tyrant threatened the philosopher Theodore with death, and indeed with being unburied. Then he: You have, he said, wherewith to please yourself. A hemina of blood is in your power. For as to burial, O you foolish one, if you think it matters, whether I rot within the earth or above it. Canius Julius ordered by Caius Caesar to be led to death: I give you thanks, he said, best of princes; to his lamenting friends: You, he said, seek whether souls are immortal, I shall soon know. And to another: I have resolved, he said, to observe whether the mind will feel itself departing, etc. Say therefore to Fortune: you have to do with a man, seek one whom you can overcome." These passages from Seneca in the places cited, but scattered, not joined together: for I selected from him the sharper and better things. You will say: Paul says the contrary in Rom. v, 3, namely: "We glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience worketh probation, and probation worketh hope." Therefore probation does not cause patience, as James says; but rather is caused by it, as Paul says, and is its effect. I answer first, that often two things are mutually causes of each other, so that one produces the other as a cause, and conversely is produced by it as an effect. Thus heat produces fire, and fire conversely produces heat. Thus vapor causes rain, and rain conversely causes vapor. Thus from moist air water is made, and from water conversely air is made. Secondly, probation causes patience materially and objectively, as I have already said; but patience causes probation effectively, because it makes a man proved, so that his faith and virtue are proved and tested to all. Thirdly and truly, for "probation" here in Greek is δοκίμιον, but in Paul it is δοκιμή: now δοκίμιον is the very thing itself, namely tribulation, which searches out, examines, proves, tests and explores the soul, faith and virtue of a man, just as δοκιμασία is the very examination, search, proof, inquiry and exploration of the thing: but δοκιμή is the end of proof and examination, namely the very experience, evidence, specimen. Rightly therefore James says that the very tribulation, as it were δοκίμιον, that is probation, that is the test by which a man's faith is proved and explored, worketh patience, that is, furnishes matter for the exercise, confirmation and increase of patience. Rightly also does St. Paul say that patience worketh δοκιμήν, that is probation, that is the effect and end of probation, because it makes the soul of the patient proved and explored, namely that he prefers God, faith and zeal to all things both joyful and sorrowful, inasmuch as he has suffered so much for Him and is prepared to suffer more. Wherefore this probation worketh, stirs up and sharpens hope, because it makes the patient, who has proved his virtue to God in so many adversities, to hope with certainty from Him for the crown and prize of heavenly glory, which He has promised to those who lawfully contend in the contest of patience. Note: For "patience" in Greek is ὑπομονήν, that is, endurance and perseverance, so that we may constantly and perseveringly tolerate long and hard persecutions and tribulations, waiting longanimously for God's help, consolation and deliverance, as if to say: Be it so, O Christians, that this persecution of yours be long and continuous, be it that it afflict you grievously, yet persevere in faith and patience, so that you perfect it and prolong it even to the last breath of your spiritual life, if need be, waiting for refreshment not in this life, but in the future, and that eternal. And this is signified by the Greek compound word κατεργάζεται, that is, worketh thoroughly, that is, worketh fully and perfectly, because it worketh full, continuous and perfect patience, and perseverance therein even unto death (1). Excellently Isidore of Pelusium, lib. III, epist. 26 to Cassius: "Probation, he says, precedes the crown, victory precedes probation, patience precedes victory, affliction and temptation, or exploration, precedes patience." And Lawrence Justinian, On Patience, cap. III: "Just as, he says, medicine restores health in bodies, so tribulation generates patience in souls." The cause of this probation is that Superiors, especially of Religious, prescribe to them from time to time difficult things and repugnant to nature, or offer them, so that they may prove, stir up and sharpen their virtue; and so in the Lives of the Fathers we read that this was common among them. For they held that a Superior who does not exercise his subject, and does not furnish him with occasion and exercise of mortification, patience, obedience and other virtues, is inhuman; just as a father is inhuman who denies food to his hungry son asking for it: for in the same way this probation is food and nourishment for the soul, strengthening and comforting it like bread. Wherefore in some Religious communities it is a rule and practice that the Superior each year furnish this matter of probation to each of his subjects and test them, by denying some things otherwise usually given, or withdrawing what has been granted, or commanding unusual things. The subject therefore, when something of this sort arises, should not lose heart; but should think that this is the customary law and practice of Superiors, and should receive it as a probation which worketh patience, lest that, lacking exercise, should contract rust from disuse. Indeed, not only the novitiate, but religion itself is nothing other than a continuous probation. Read Dorotheus and Climacus, the step on Obedience; Cassian, lib. IV of the Institutes, cap. XXIII, and following.
1:4
There is here a twofold reading and understanding. For some codices read "habet" in the indicative, others "habeat" in the optative or imperative: for the Greek texts have ἐχέτω, that is, "let him have" or "he shall have," and thus read Didymus, Oecumenius, Bede, Pagninus, the Zurich Bible, Vatable and many Latin Bibles; the Syriac version renders it "he shall have," that is, "let him have" or "he has," in the Hebrew and Syriac manner: for the Hebrews use the future tense for both the imperative and optative, as well as for the indicative, which they lack. Hence some reconcile both readings thus: "he has," they say, that is, "he ought to have, it is fitting that he have." And this agrees very well with what follows: "That you may be perfect and entire, wanting in nothing," as if to say, Your patience ought to have a perfect work, that is, let it be constant, continuous and full, yielding to no hardships or pains, not growing weary in duration, but strong, always like itself, growing and unconquered, "that you may be perfect and entire." For many Christians in that early age, fervent at first, stood firm in the first assaults of persecution, but being struck as if by battering rams repeatedly in succession, they grew weary and their spirit failed. James therefore encourages and strengthens these, that what they have begun well they may accomplish constantly unto death and martyrdom, according to that saying of Tertullian, On Patience, chapter VIII: "Let the wickedness of another grow weary against your patience." And: "In all things I will be patient, otherwise I shall be tormented by my own impatience." Thus today we see many patient, but imperfect, and therefore in part impatient, who say: I would wish to bear this persecution, this tribulation, this injury, this sickness, this evil; but I cannot bear that and that: I would wish to bear it from this one or that one, for example from a foreigner and my enemy; but from a friend, a son, a disciple, upon whom I have bestowed so many benefits, whom I have advanced and exalted, I cannot bear so much: I would wish to bear it for one or two days, a month, or a year; but to bear it for so many years without hope of end and conclusion is intolerable: I would wish to bear it in this or that manner; but that manner which is offered to me is new, unheard of and beyond my strength. This is patient impatience, and impatient patience, neither fish nor flesh, but a mixture of both, which increases the burden for itself, and doubles the pain and torment. But true and perfect patience desires to bear whatever evil has been inflicted by whomever, however much, and in whatever manner. Such were the Martyrs, of whom the Church sings: These for thee the furies and ferocity of men trampled down and cruel stripes: The tearing claw yielded to them mightily, This gnawed at their inmost parts. They are struck down by swords like beasts, No murmur resounds, no complaint; But with silent heart the mind well-conscious Preserves patience. Furthermore, patience ought to have a perfect work in three ways. First, perfect in itself, namely in fortitude and continuance of endurance unto the end of the cross and of life, that we may not fail in tribulations, but hear from Christ: "You are they who have continued with me in my temptations; and I dispose unto you, as my Father hath disposed to me a kingdom," Luke XXII, 28. Second, perfect in its end, namely that it suffer for the faith of Christ, for justice, or for virtue. Third, perfect in the company of innocence and other virtues, namely that the patient one be innocent, and pure from all sin and vice. For what does it profit you to bear an injury, if you indulge in avarice, gluttony, and lust? Thus Salmeron. Thus St. Liduina, when she was in the twenty-eighth year of her infirmity (for she suffered for 38 years), burning with desire for martyrdom, in an ecstasy saw a most precious crown, beautifully varied with gems of diverse colors, yet not yet completely finished in its circle: she therefore asked to suffer much for Christ, that she might complete this circle. God heard her, and sent soldiers, who afflicted her greatly with insults and blows; then an Angel came to her shining like the sun, and said to her: "Hail, most beloved sister. Behold now the crown is completed, which you recently saw imperfect; because of the shameless contacts of those men, know that you have been placed in the footsteps of the Savior. Mockeries and wounds imposed upon your body have been the gems, which in that crown you both saw present and saw absent." Thus her life has it in volume II of Surius. The second reading is, "patience has a perfect work." Thus read the Roman codices, Lyra, Thomas the Englishman, Hugh, Dionysius and many others. The sense is, as if to say, Rejoice in tribulations, because they work patience: but patience is an excellent and perfect thing: for it makes "that you may be entire and perfect" in every way. Question: How is patience alone said to be perfect before temperance, faith, hope, charity, and the other virtues, and to have a perfect work? I answer: It is certain that charity and religion, inasmuch as they regard God most directly, are by their object nobler and more perfect than patience: nevertheless, patience has a perfect work, and that in many ways. First, because patience, sustaining all things and persevering to the end (for this is what the Greek ὑπομονή signifies), effects and preserves the consummation of virtues: for the cross is, as it were, a continuous instrument, for example a plane, a chisel, a brush, by which God polishes and perfects us. Thus indeed "Christ was made perfect through suffering," Hebrews, chapter II, verse 10. Patience therefore is in the choir and assembly of virtues what a roof is in a house. For just as a roof protects the inhabitants of a house from heat, cold, storms, rains, winds, etc., and repels them: so patience defends a man from the storms of any temptations and adversities, and receives and breaks them in itself: just as soft wool receives and breaks the force of a stone and iron ball. Wherefore no virtue can be, or subsist without patience. True humility cannot be, unless through patience it bear contempt and reproaches. True poverty cannot be, unless through patience it bear want, hunger, thirst, nakedness. True charity cannot be, which through patience does not bear the infirmities of neighbors, and even of enemies. Whence Tertullian, in the book On Patience, chapters XII and XIII, teaches that there is no virtue which does not have patience as a companion, indeed as a leader; and so he assigns to patience the complexity of virtues which the Apostle in I Corinthians XIII assigned to charity: "Love," he says, "the supreme sacrament of faith, the treasure of the Christian name, which the Apostle commends with all the strength of the Holy Spirit, unless it is trained by the disciplines of patience? Love, he says, is magnanimous (Our [translator] renders it 'patient'): thus it exercises patience. It is beneficent: patience does no evil. It envies not: that indeed is proper to patience. Nor does it savor of insolence: it drew modesty from patience. It is not puffed up, it is not insolent: for these do not pertain to patience. Nor does it seek its own, it bears (others read 'if it offers') its own, while it benefits another: nor is it changed. But what would impatience have left? Therefore, he says, love bears all things, tolerates all things: surely because it is patient. Deservedly therefore it shall never fail; for the others shall be made void. Knowledge, tongues, prophecies are exhausted: faith, hope, love remain. Faith, which Christ's patience brought: hope, which man's patience awaits: love, which God as teacher patience accompanies." For no one, unless he loves God and virtue most vehemently, can obtain perfect patience. Whence St. Ignatius, Lawrence, Vincent, etc., who were mirrors of patience, were likewise mirrors of charity, so that the Emperor Trajan, seeing St. Ignatius's ardor for martyrdom, deservedly said: "No nation has endured so much for its god, as the Christians for their Christ." Therefore the gold of Christian patience is cooked and formed only in the furnace of charity. Secondly, because ὑπομονή, that is, persevering patience, and patient perseverance, crowns and perfects the contest of the struggle and of human life: for it endures even to the end of life, and therefore as it were the conqueress of all things, it leads the patient one even to death, and often to martyrdom, and through that to the merit in heaven of patience and the prize of victory. This is what St. James explains in other words, verse 12: "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life." That saying is well-worn: "All virtues contend, patience alone conquers and is crowned." Truly St. Augustine says: No one can guard the hope of future life, unless he have had patience in the labours of the present life. In this contest of patience Christ went before us as it were as our leader. The Apostle gives the reason, Hebrews II, 10: "For it became him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, who had brought many sons into glory, to perfect the author of their salvation by his passion;" the Syriac [version says], to make perfect; in Greek, τελειῶσαι, that is, to perfect, to immolate, to consecrate, to crown, to glorify. Behold, passion and patience accomplished all these things for Christ, and accomplishes them for us: see what is said there. And so patience here signifies perseverance in suffering: for this is what ὑπομονή signifies, and this has a perfect work, because it embraces the whole of life, and endures to the end even unto death. Whence it alone fully merits the crown of glory, and receives the merit straightway, concerning which St. Bernard speaks excellently, epistle 129: "Perseverance," he says, "is the vigour of virtues, the consummation of virtues, the nurse unto merit, the mediatrix unto reward. It is the sister of patience, the daughter of constancy, the friend of peace, the bond of friendships, the tie of unanimity, the bulwark of holiness. Take away perseverance, and obedience has no reward, nor benefit grace, nor fortitude praise. Finally, not he who hath begun, but he who hath persevered unto the end, he shall be saved." The same, book V On Consideration, final chapter: "Who," he says, "endures and perseveres in love, unless he who emulates the eternity of charity? namely, perseverance bears a certain image of eternity. Finally, it alone is that to which eternity is rendered, or rather which renders man to eternity." The same (or whoever is the author), sermon On Obedience and its Degrees: "To begin," he says, "is the lot of many, to persevere of few. Perseverance is the singular daughter of the highest king, the fruit of virtues, and their consummation, the repository of all good, the virtue without which no one shall see God, nor shall be seen by God: it is the end unto justice for all who believe, in which the assembly of virtues hath consecrated to itself a venerable bridal chamber. For what doth it profit to run, and to fail before the goal of the race? Thus run that you may comprehend, saith the Apostle. O how with persevering step he perfected the race, who said: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: for the rest there is laid up for me a crown of justice, II Timothy IV. I have said more concerning perseverance in Acts XI, 23. Thirdly, because patience is as it were a breastplate and shield, which turns aside and repels all evils, like arrows, from man, and brings about contrary goods. For it itself governs, softens, calms, and composes all movements of the soul, its heats, desires, and passions, and reduces all affections of the soul to equity and as it were levels them. Whence follows a wonderful peace of soul and complete dominion over itself. For the patient man is master of himself and of his affections, and rules over them as a king. Is he not therefore perfect? This is what Christ says: "In your patience you shall possess your souls." St. Thomas gives the reason, II II, Question CXXXVI, article 2, to 2: "By patience, he says, a man is said to possess his soul, inasmuch as he roots out from the depths the passions of adversities (namely sadness, anger, envy, vengeance, etc., which are stirred up by adversities), by which the soul is disturbed." On the contrary, the impatient man does not possess his soul, but is himself possessed by anger and impatience, and consequently by Satan. Thus he serves a harsh tyrant harshly, like a slave. "Patience, says St. Gregory, is to bear the evils of others with equanimity, and to be moved by no sorrow against him who inflicts them." Hear Tertullian, book On Patience, XV: "Patience strengthens faith, governs peace, aids charity, instructs humility, awaits repentance, assigns confession: it rules the flesh, preserves the spirit: it bridles the tongue, restrains the hand: it inculcates temptations, drives away scandals, completes martyrdoms: it consoles the poor, moderates the rich: it does not weaken the infirm, does not consume the strong: it delights the faithful, invites the Gentile: it commends the slave to his master, the master to God: it adorns the woman, approves the man: it is loved in the boy, praised in the youth, respected in the old man: in every sex, in every age it is beautiful." The disciple imitates his master Tertullian St. Cyprian, book On the Good of Patience: "Patience, he says, is that which both commends us to God and preserves us. It is that which tempers anger, which bridles the tongue, which governs the mind, preserves peace, rules discipline, breaks the assault of lust, suppresses the violence of pride, extinguishes the fire of strife, restrains the power of the rich, relieves the poverty of the poor, protects in virgins blessed integrity, in widows laborious chastity, in the married and joined undivided charity: it makes the humble in prosperity, the strong in adversity, the meek against injuries and insults, teaches those who have sinned to forgive quickly; if you yourself have sinned, to pray long and much: it overcomes temptations, endures persecutions, consumes passions and martyrdoms." Wherefore St. Basil in his Admonition to a Spiritual Son teaches that patience is a singular means to acquire perfection. "My son, he says, seize upon patience, because it is the greatest virtue of the soul, so that you may quickly ascend to the heights of perfection. Patience is a great remedy of the soul: but impatience is the ruin of the heart." And St. Thomas Aquinas, when asked "who would be perfect?" answered: "he who speaks no vanities, and easily suffers himself to be despised. For whomever you see indignant or saddened at his own contempt, him do not call perfect, even if you see him working miracles." For virtues without patience are what a wall is without lime and cement, which therefore immediately falls. Patience therefore is the lime, the bond, and the warp of virtues. Whence Bede here: "He whose patience cannot be overcome, he is proved to be perfect." Fourthly, "That is perfect and whole, says Aristotle, lib. IV Phys., to which nothing is lacking." But patience lacks nothing, nay it itself supplies all defects of virtues and other things: therefore it is not only perfect, but also perfecting and consummating virtues and other things; it therefore completes and perfects the imperfect works of other virtues. Whence St. Cyprian, tract. On Patience: "Take, he says, patience from charity, and it does not endure desolate." And St. Gregory, hom. 35 in Evang.: "Patience, he says, is the root and guardian of all virtues." Dionysius the Carthusian gives a twofold reason: The first, because the adversities which patience endures extinguish self-love, which is the cause of all imperfection and evil; the second, because patience produces six perfect works: the first, the subjugation of anger, envy, and other passions; the second, the proof of man and his virtues; the third, the possession of himself; the fourth, the joy of the spirit; the fifth, the governance of all actions, so that in them man may be moderate and circumspect; the sixth, the attainment of eternal life. St. Thomas adds, I II, Question LXVI, article 4, to 2, where he teaches that patience has a perfect work, because it itself eradicates inordinate sadness, which is the cause and root of anger, hatred, vengeance, and all evil. Indeed Boethius, book IV of the Consolation of Philosophy, prose 6: "Certain ones," he says, "by their sufferings unconquerable set forth an example to others, that virtue is invincible to evils." And Lactantius, book III of the Institutes: "Therefore the wise man is blessed in torments: but when he is tortured, for faith, for justice, for God, that patience will make the pain most blessed." St. James alludes to the ancient athletes in the Olympic contest. For an athlete was called perfect who had perfectly completed all the exercises of his contest, having applied the endurance of labors, continence, and a legitimate manner of living; and therefore prepared for all things, ready for every part to which his adversary might have driven him, he had learned by long practice to transfer his hands and effort there: for such athletes are patient. Whence St. Ephrem, in his oration On the Praise of the Holy Martyrs, calls them most perfect athletes. "These are," he says, "O beautiful soldiers of Christ, the insignia of your victory: these, O most approved athletes and perfect divine warriors, the rewards of your faith and fortitude." For which reason the Gentiles, seeing and admiring such great patience of Christians, especially of Martyrs, were converted to the faith of Christ through it. For they used to say that virtue so heroic and perfect could not flow from nature, but from God alone and His faith and grace. Fifth, just as a trunk bears a beam with all its branches and fruits: so patience bears the whole burden and weight of man and of all virtues, namely all difficulties, all arduous things, all adversities, etc., and this with a serene mind, mouth and countenance. Whence Tertullian paints the image of patience thus, in the place already cited: "That countenance tranquil and placid, a brow pure with no wrinkle of sorrow or anger contracted, eyebrows equally relaxed in a cheerful manner, eyes cast down with humility, not with misfortune; a mouth marked with the honor of silence. Color, such as of one secure and innocent. Motion frequent of the head against the devil, and a threatening laugh. Moreover the garment about the breast white, and pressed to the body, so that it is neither puffed up nor disturbed; for there sits upon the throne of it a spirit most mild and most gentle, which is not gathered in a whirlwind, nor clouded as the moon; but it is of tender serenity, open and simple, which Elias saw the third time," III Kings XIX, 12. "For where God is, there also is His foster-child, namely patience. When therefore the Spirit of God descends, inseparable patience accompanies Him." And Prudentius in the Psychomachia, describing the duel of anger and patience, depicts him thus: Behold modest patience stood with grave countenance, Unmoved through the midst of the ranks, and various tumults, And wounds and vitals pierced by rigid arrows Beheld with fixed eyes, and remained slow. Clement of Alexandria in the homily which is found in volume I of the Councils, page 1205, extols patience with wonderful praises, and finally concluding says: "Therefore patience supplies us with every good." And Climacus, step 27: "Patience," he says, "is the unbroken labor of the mind, by no fragility— n, he said, virtue sufficed for him for happiness, nor did he need anything else, except Socratic strength: but Socrates had hardened himself to the patience of all things. Sixth, patience has God as its agonothete and debtor. "So much," says Tertullian in the place cited, "is God a sufficiently fit mediator of patience: if you deposit an injury with him, he is an avenger; if a loss, he is a restorer; if pain, he is a physician; if death, he is a raiser up. How much is it permitted to patience, that it should have God as a debtor?" He adds the reason: "For he guards all his decrees: he intervenes in all his commandments." And a little before, chapter xiv, praising the patience of St. Job: "O most blessed," he says, "that man who wrought out every form of patience against all the force of the devil. Whom neither driven away flocks, nor sons taken away by one ruin of assault, nor finally the torture of his own body in sore, excluded from the patience and faith owed to the Lord, whom the devil struck down in vain with all his strength, etc. What a funeral pyre did God construct for the devil in that man? What a standard of glory did he raise up against his enemy, when that man at every bitter message brought forth nothing from his mouth except thanks to God? What? God laughed. What? the evil one (the devil) was torn apart." Does not therefore patience have a perfect work, which gives to St. Job and the Saints perfect victory over the devil, flesh, world, and all vices, and a heavenly triumph? St. Augustine, in Psalm XLII, says that patience is a harp, tribulations are the strings, which when struck, produce melody: for in like manner patience produces sweet melody in the ears of God, when in tribulations it praises God and gives him thanks. "For all patience," he says, "is sweet to God: but if you fail in the very tribulations, you have broken the harp." Seventh, patience has a perfect work: because its primary work and act is martyrdom, as Thomas Aquinas says, which is the noblest and most perfect work. For a martyr is a fighter of God, an athlete of Christ, a conqueror of the world, a triumpher over death, and therefore deserves and receives both the present and eternal laurel of martyrdom. Patience therefore creates and crowns martyrs. In like manner patience conquers and overcomes whatever is terrible and fearful in the world, and therefore makes human life serene, peaceful, composed and perfect. For our entire life, and indeed each action and each moment, is full of hardships, sorrows and crosses: patience sustained and overcomes all these continuously until the end of life. It itself is the sole refuge, the pillar and, as it were, the crown both of life and of all sufferings, and it carries man over to an impassible and immortal life, and thus perfects and blesses him. Other virtues are often merely useful to man: but patience is always and everywhere necessary. Wherefore Bion, as Laertius testifies, lib. IV, cap. VII, used to say that it is a great evil not to be able to bear evil: for without this no one can have a pleasant life. Antisthenes moreover, in the same author, lib. VI, cap. is agitated. Patience is the definition of vexation daily expected, etc.; the patient man is dead before the moment: for he has made his cell his tomb." Eighth, because it makes us most like to Christ, according to that: "Whom He foreknew and predestinated to be made conformable to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn amongst many brethren, etc., them He also glorified," Rom. VIII, 28, that is to say, God predestinated us to be like Christ in the Church, both militant and triumphant: there in grace, here in glory: there in patience, here in a crown; and consequently that we be perfect, because patience assimilates us to angels and to God. "God," says Seneca in the Wise Man, "is beyond patience; the wise man is above patience." Tertullian, lib. De Patientia, cap. XVI: "Let us love," he says, "the patience of God, the patience of Christ. Let us depend upon Him as He Himself depended for us. Let us offer the patience of the flesh, the patience of the spirit, we who believe in the resurrection of flesh and spirit." On this matter Marsilio Ficino philosophizes excellently, lib. V to Bastian Salvini: "O wonderful," he says, "the power of patience! Other virtues indeed fight in some way against fate; but patience alone, or at least more than all others, conquers fate: for what fate has decreed to be immutable and necessary, patience, consenting with the will of divine providence, in some way so changes that it makes voluntary what was necessary: just as he who acts badly turns good things into evil for himself, so he who bears evil well turns them into good for himself, namely in bearing evils he himself becomes good." Whence he concludes that patience is so perfect a good that without it the other perfections of men cannot be perfected. For what is begun by other virtues is perfected by it. And after much more, in his epistle to Anthony Cocchius: "Three things," he says, "patience chiefly teaches: first, that you wish to bear evils willingly, which nature itself commands that you wish not to bear; second, that you make voluntary for yourself what fate (God's providence and decree) has decreed to be necessary; third, that you turn any evils into goods; which is the office of God alone. In the first indeed it commands to resist nature, in the second to conquer fate, in the third finally it commands (so to speak) to make oneself equal to God." And a little later: "The whole life of men in this evil region of the world, contrary to heavenly minds, seems to be nothing other than a certain disease and perpetual pain. There is added the greatest impatience, which is so evil that nothing is evil for us without it, nothing is good with it; but patience, bearing evils well, transfers them into good; and using goods well, enjoys them most happily." It itself therefore is the medicine of all evils: because through it we are joined and consent to God, who is all good, etc. "In this one thing the whole power of patience consists, that we bear well as a good whatever happens under the governance of infinite goodness." The Gentiles too saw this in shadow, Burrhus the prince when he was visited by Nero, by whom he was being carried off with poison smeared on his throat, as if a remedy were being applied, driven into sickness and death, Burrhus rejected it, who had already understood the crime, and when asked much, answered nothing other than: "I am well because I follow fate and God's providence, which has destined this death for me, though arranged through your crime: therefore you should be ashamed, I should rest in the decree of the divine will concerning my death." Alexander, after the interaction with Antoninus, the Roman Emperor, when he heard that the Barbarians were attacking him and the Roman Empire with great forces: "It behooves, he said, brave and moderate men indeed to desire the best things, but to bear whatever happens (as if coming from divine will): for just as he who provokes first appears unjust to himself, so he who repels injury becomes more confident from his conscience, and borrows good hope from justice." Thus Herodian, book VI. When someone asked Zeno how he bore insults? "Just as, he said, if an ambassador were dismissed without a response." Indicating that those who have nothing to answer are accustomed to resort to insults, and therefore they ought to be valued no more than if no response had been given: thus Laertius, book VII, chapter I. Whence Philip, king of the Macedonians, gave thanks to those who insulted him: "Because, he said, while I strive to convict them of falsehood by my deeds, I become better": thus Plutarch in the Apophthegms of Kings. Alphonsus, king of Aragon, when a history of Titus Livius was sent to him, was warned not to accept and read it because the codex was infected with poison, accepted and read it, saying: "Do you not know that the souls of kings are not subject to the desires of private men, but under the care of God live secure and joyful?" For indeed a king is God's vicar on earth, nay the image and mirror: thus Panormitanus and Aeneas Sylvius in the deeds and sayings of Alphonsus. St. Basil, in the tract On the Utility to be Gained from the Books of the Gentiles, celebrates the patience of Pericles and Euclid. "A certain man, he says, was assailing Pericles in the forum with every kind of abuse. But he seemed not to care at all, and endured it for almost the whole day: then in the evening, as he was departing with the light, he accompanied him, lest he commit anything against his philosophical study. Again, a certain man, angered at Euclid of Megara, swore that he would bring him death. But he on the contrary swore that he would patiently bear it against himself, and that he would placate him and reconcile himself to him even though hostile. Wherefore it greatly concerns us to be stirred up, so that such examples of men restraining anger may enter our memory." And a little later: "A certain man struck Socrates' face with vehement force: but he was not at all moved, and allowed the raging man to rave and satisfy his anger: from which he made him entirely swollen and bruised from blows. But when he ceased striking, Socrates is said to have done nothing else than inscribe on his own forehead: Such a one made this; as if on some statue the name of the maker; and in that way took vengeance." Just as therefore Apelles inscribed on his perfect and excellent paintings, Apelles made this: so the patient man on his deeds of tolerance perfected and heroic, by which he as it were paints and adorns patience like a heroine in his soul, should inscribe: "Patience made this." Finally Epictetus in Arrian, chapter VI: "What, I ask, would Hercules have been, he says, if there had not been a bull and a lion, and a hydra, and a deer, and a bear?" That is to say: If you are patient, and persevere in patience unto the end of life, as I have said, you will be perfect and whole: for the perseverance of patience has a perfect work, and makes men perfect and whole. Now first, Thomas Anglicus distinguishes these three things thus: "The perfect," he says, "are those who endure the long duration of temptations; the whole, those who endure their severity and weight; those lacking in nothing, those who endure their variety and multiplicity." Secondly, the same: Perfection, he says, consists in acting, wholeness in suffering, absence of defect in persevering. Thirdly and genuinely, these three things signify the same, or nearly the same thing. For it is an exaggeration of one and the same matter by different words, as if to say: The perseverance of patience will make you perfect, whole and lacking in nothing on all sides, so that namely in faith and Christian virtue you may be constant in professing, pursuing and defending them even unto death, whole and complete in all parts and aspects of Christian duty, as far as the frailty of fallen and corrupted nature permits, so that by no fear and terror, no punishments, no promises or enticements may you be drawn away from it, and so that you may feel no weariness or faintheartedness in it, no impatience, sadness, or similar disturbance and vice, whether in mind, or in imagination, or in appetite, or in will, which you do not immediately overcome and suppress: for the spirit subjected to God and to God's will through patience will subject the soul to itself, the soul will subdue the senses, body and members to itself. For God through patience will sanctify and subject and perfect your spirit to himself, and through the spirit the soul, and through the soul the senses and members, and will make it so that you offer all things to him holy, whole and perfect, as it were an entire victim of patience. This is what Paul says, II Thessalonians V, 23: "And may the God of peace himself sanctify you in all things, that your whole spirit, and soul and body, may be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." See the things said there. Note: For "perfect" in Greek it is τέλεια, which secondly can be translated "select, distinguished, supreme." Thus indeed among Lucian τέλειοι θεοί are called "perfect gods," that is, principal and supreme: for heroes were held by the Gentiles to be gods, but lesser ones. Thirdly, "adult": for τέλειος ἀνήρ is called a man of full age, of complete age and stature, so that the sense is: that you may be in patience and Christian virtue, not children, but men and adults, so that your virtue may not be tender and childish, but constant and manly, according to that saying of the Apostle, Ephesians IV, 12: "Unto the consummation of the saints, etc., until we all meet into the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, into a perfect man, into the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ, that we may be no longer children," etc. Fourthly, "solid." Fifthly, "holy and sacred," as it were victims patient and peaceful consecrated to God: for τέλεια ἱερά they called distinguished, excellent, more abundant and holier victims; and τελείωσις, that is, perfection and consummation, is called the very purification, consecration and sanctification, and the very martyrdom itself, by which the patient and martyrs are consecrated and offered to God. Whence St. Gregory Nazianzen calls martyrs τελειωθέντας δι' αἵματος, that is, consecrated to God by their blood. Hence also μύστης is called one initiated into sacred rites, a priest. Note secondly: For "lacking" in Greek it is λειπόμενοι, that is, yielding, falling, conquered, broken, diminished: for λείπομαι means the same as I fail, I fall, I am exhausted, I succumb, I am conquered, I am unequal and inferior, I am abandoned in spirit. James therefore wishes that Christians be not exhausted by any persecution, any adversity, any burden, any length of time, any weariness, and fall in spirit, so that they either recede from faith or Christian duty, or cease to recede; but with a strong, brazen and marble heart persist in it, and constantly overcome and surpass all adversities; and thus preserve the integrity of faith, patience and virtue in every respect untouched and unimpaired, so that nothing in it be maimed, mutilated, weak, enervated, crumbling, or in any way diminished and deficient. For the foot of patience is broken through impatience, when it succumbs to injuries: the hand is broken, when it is exhausted in helping others: the loins are dislocated, when it becomes slow and sluggish, etc. The same is true of the body and members, the integrity and mutilation of the other virtues, which often suffer defect, mutilation and a kind of swoon like the moon. Such is that one of which Bernard speaks, sermon On obedience, patience and wisdom: "Moreover," he says, "neither leprous obedience nor canine patience is commended;" the former certainly ulcerates the skin, the latter gnaws the liver and spills the bile."
1:5
5. IF ANY ONE OF YOU LACKS (λείπεται, that is, is destitute, is in want, fails, as I said a little before) WISDOM, — that he may know how great is the usefulness of tribulation, how lofty and profound are the mysteries hidden by God in temptation and the cross, which I have already proclaimed, namely that tribulation is the highest good, and therefore is to be rejoiced in most greatly: for tribulation produces patience, which has need of a perfect work, that you may be perfect, whole and lacking in nothing: that he may know, I say, these things not only speculatively, but also practically, namely in reality by constantly enduring all tribulations, and rejoicing in them, and yielding to no troubles or pains, or falling in spirit; but persisting with complete and perfect fortitude in the end and in virtue. For this is true wisdom, not philosophical and human, but Christian and divine, which therefore many, even Christians, were ignorant of, and still are ignorant of, at least practically, some even speculatively: for practical ignorance gradually begets speculative ignorance. For when anyone fails in patience, and gradually becomes impatient, it happens that this impatience blinds the mind, so that it neither sees nor knows how great a good patience is. Wherefore wisdom is called from taste and flavour, as it were a savoury knowledge; affectionate namely, loving and burning for the thing which it knows and tastes. Moreover τὸ «if» does not so much signify a condition of one doubting, as the cause of one supposing, as also in Malachi I, 6: «If (that is, because, when) I am a Father, where is my honour? and if (when) I am Lord, where is my fear?» For all men, however wise, lack wisdom, either as to its beginning, or as to its increase and perfection. Hence Plato in the Hippia praises the saying of Heraclitus, «the wisest man if compared with God appears to be an ape: but an ape, however beautiful, is deformed if compared with some other kind of animal; just as a very beautiful pot is ugly if compared with the race of virgins.» Note first: «Wisdom» already mentioned is nothing other than knowledge of God and the ultimate end, and of the means to attain it, and their desire, love and pious affection, and thence their use and practice. Whence in Proverbs I, 7, it is said: «The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,» and in Ecclesiasticus I, 20: «The fulness of wisdom is to fear God,» and cap. XIX, verse 18: «All wisdom is the fear of God, and in it to fear God, and in all wisdom the observance of the law.» This is the wisdom which the Wise man in the books which, from it, are commonly called Sapiential, namely in Proverbs, Wisdom, Ecclesiastes and Ecclesiasticus, imparts; and which he now calls wisdom, now knowledge, now understanding, now discipline, now erudition, now doctrine, now prudence, now law. Hence in Wisdom X, 10, it is called «the knowledge of the Saints;» and in Luke I, 17, «the prudence of the just,» which is to fear, worship and love God, and heavenly and eternal goods, not earthly and perishable ones. On this Lactantius wrote four books On True and False Wisdom, where in lib. III, cap. IX: «I come,» he says, «now to the highest good of true wisdom, whose nature is to be determined in this way. First, that it be of man alone, and fall not into any other animal. Next that it be of the mind alone, and cannot be shared with the body. Finally, that it cannot befall anyone without knowledge and virtue.» Whence he reproves Anaxagoras, who «when asked by him for what reason he was born? answered: For seeing the heaven and the sun.» «Who,» says Lactantius, «led you into this spectacle? or what does the sight of heaven and the nature of things contribute to you? namely that you praise this immense and admirable work. Confess therefore that God is the maker of all things, who brought you into this world as a witness and praiser of his work. Do you think it great to see heaven and the sun, why therefore do you not give thanks to him who is the author of this benefit? Why do you not measure in your mind his power, providence and might, whose works you admire.» And further down: «Wherefore if anyone of men who truly is wise, should be asked for what reason he was born? he will answer intrepidly and prepared, that he was born for the sake of worshipping God, who generated us in order that we might serve him. But to serve God is nothing other than to guard and preserve justice by good works.» And soon after: «Because as much as the soul is worth more than the body, so much is God worth more than the world: because God made and rules the world;» and again: «Therefore the reasoning of man is clear, if he is wise whose property is humanity. For what is humanity itself, if not justice? What is justice, if not piety? but piety is nothing other than the acknowledgement of God as parent.» Wherefore, in chapter XVI, he ridicules philosophers who slowly devised their own philosophy in order to find wisdom, but false wisdom, not true; he therefore says: "Seneca said: There have not yet been a thousand years since the beginnings of wisdom were born. For many centuries therefore the human race lived without reason. Which Persius mocks, saying: After wisdom came to the city with pepper and palms: as if wisdom had been brought in with merchandise of flavors: which if it is according to human nature, it must have begun with man himself." The same, book III, chapter XXVIII: "All the wisdom of man," he says, "consists in this one thing, that he know and worship God. This is our doctrine, this is our opinion. This is that which all philosophers in their whole life sought, and never wished to investigate, comprehend, or hold: because they either held a perverted religion, or utterly abolished it altogether, etc. Let us therefore all, to whom the care of wisdom pertains, direct ourselves to this. Shall we wait until Socrates knows something? or until Anaxagoras finds light in darkness? or until Democritus draws truth from a well? or until Empedocles expands the paths of his mind? or until Arcesilas and Carneades see, feel, perceive. Behold a voice from heaven teaching truth, and showing us light clearer than the sun itself, etc. Whoever wishes to be wise and blessed, let him hear the voice of God, let him learn justice, let him know the mystery of his birth, let him despise human things, let him receive divine things: so that he may be able to attain that highest good to which he was born." The same, book IV, chapter IV: "By which things it appears," how closely wisdom and religion are joined together. Wisdom regards sons, which demands love; religion regards servants, which demands fear. For just as they ought to love and honor their father, so these ought to worship and revere their master. But God, who is one, since he sustains both persons, both of father and of master, we ought both to love him, because we are sons; and to fear him, because we are servants. Religion therefore cannot be separated from wisdom: because the same God is he who ought to be understood, which is the part of wisdom; and to be honored, which is the part of religion. Wisdom precedes, religion follows, because it is first to know God, and the consequence is to worship him." Hence the hieroglyphic of wisdom were the Cherubim, placed near the ark and the mercy seat, as I said in Exodus, chapter XXV, verse 20, at the end, where I reviewed the apophthegms, examples and teachings of wisdom. Moreover, the manner and means of acquiring wisdom, St. Thomas Aquinas describes most excellently from his own practice, in his letter to a Friend, which reads thus: "Because you have asked of me, most dear to me in Christ, in what manner you ought to study in the treasure of acquiring knowledge, such counsel is delivered to you by me on this matter, that through streams you do not immediately choose to enter into the sea, because through easier things it is necessary to come to more difficult things. This therefore is my admonition, and your instruction: I command you to be slow of speech, and slowly ascending to the confessional embrace the purity of conscience, do not cease to devote yourself to prayer, love to frequent your cell, if you wish to be introduced into the cellar of wine. Show yourself lovable to all, seek nothing at all concerning the deeds of others, do not show yourself too familiar to anyone: because excessive familiarity begets contempt, and furnishes matter for withdrawal from study. In no way involve yourself in the words and deeds of worldly people. Flee discourse above all things. Do not omit to imitate the footsteps of saints and good men: do not regard from whom you hear, but whatever good is said, commit to memory. What you do and hear, make it so that you understand it: concerning doubts certify yourself; and whatever you are able to store in the cupboard of your mind, strive to do so, as one wishing to fill a vessel. Do not seek higher things for yourself. Following that, leaves and fruits useful to the vineyard of the Lord of hosts, as long as you live, you will produce and bring forth. If you have followed these things, you will be able to attain that which you desire." But briefly, Hugh of St. Victor, in his Didascalicon, book III, chapter XIII, prescribes six means of acquiring wisdom in these verses: A humble mind, the study of seeking, a quiet life, Silent scrutiny, poverty, a remote land: These are accustomed to unlock many obscure things through reading. Note secondly: Although this wisdom demands and embraces every virtue, nevertheless it is situated before all others in patience on account of the reasons, namely the goods of patience, which I have set forth in verse 1. The truly patient man is therefore truly wise, and the supremely patient man is supremely wise, according to that passage in Proverbs XIX, 11: "The learning of a man is known by patience." Hence also sufferings are learnings, that is, passions and tribulations are teachings and disciplines. Wherefore Lactantius deservedly, in book VI of On True Worship, chapter XVIII, reproves Cicero, who in the Offices defines a good man as one who benefits whom he can, harms no one, unless provoked by injury. "O how simple," he says, "and true a sentiment, which he corrupted by the addition of two words! For what need was there to add: Unless provoked by injury, so as to attach to a good man a vice, as it were the most shameful tail, and to make patience, which is the greatest of all virtues, devoid of it? He said a good man would harm if provoked: by this very fact he must lose the name of a good man if he harms." He proves this first, "it is no less evil to return injury than to inflict it. Secondly, because impatience opposed to wickedness often stirs up great tempests. But if you oppose patience, than which no virtue is truer, nothing more worthy of man, to wickedness, it is extinguished forthwith, as if you poured water upon fire." Thirdly, that to avenge oneself is not the part of men, but of beasts. "For even beasts, if you provoke them, resist with hoof or horn, and serpents and wild beasts, unless you pursue them to kill them, give us trouble, and even the unskilled and unwise, whenever they receive injury, are led by blind and irrational fury, and strive to repay those who harm them. In what then does the wise and good man differ from the wicked and unwise, except in that he has unconquerable patience, which fools lack; except in that he knows how to govern himself and mitigate his anger, which they, who lack virtue, cannot restrain? Fourthly, because he who strives to return injury desires to imitate him by whom he was harmed: thus he who imitates evil can in no way be good. By two words therefore he deprived the good and wise man of two greatest virtues, innocence and patience. Fifthly, because he himself (Cicero) exercised that canine eloquence (as Sallust reports was said of Appius), and wished also that man should live in a canine manner, so as to bite back when provoked. Sixthly, what retaliation of insult is, how pernicious it is, and what destruction it is wont to produce, from where will a better example be sought than from the very sad case of the teacher himself, who while he strove to obey these precepts of philosophers, destroyed himself. But if, when provoked by injury (by Antony), he had maintained patience, if he had learned that it is the part of a good man to dissemble, to bear insult, he would never have stained with his own blood those rostra in which he had flourished before, nor would that proscription have utterly destroyed the republic. Nor would he have poured forth those noble orations inscribed with another's name, through impatience, levity and madness." Whence he concludes: "It is not the part of a wise and good man to wish to contend and to commit himself to danger. Therefore patience is to be held as the supreme virtue, so that the just man might not lack it, God willed him to be despised for a time. For unless he be affected by insults, how much fortitude he has in restraining himself will be unknown. But if, when provoked by injury, he begins to pursue the one who harmed him, he is conquered. But if he restrains that impulse by reason, he truly rules himself, and he can govern himself. This self-restraint is rightly called patience: because one virtue is opposed to all vices and passions. This recalls the disturbed and wavering soul to its own tranquility, this softens, this renders man to himself, etc. Finally, Marcus Tullius contrary to his own precept placed the forgetting of injuries in great praises. I hope, he says, Caesar, who are wont to forget nothing except injuries." The same author in chapter XIX refutes those who say that anger is the companion of virtue, because they do not know the reason why God gave anger to man: otherwise indeed "what will be more savage than man? what more similar to beasts than that animal which God made for communion and innocence? There are therefore three passions which drive men headlong into all crimes, anger, greed, lust. For this reason the Poets said there are three furies which agitate the minds of men. Anger desires vengeance, Greed desires wealth, Lust desires pleasures, etc. Whoever therefore has brought those passions within their bounds, which those ignorant of God cannot do, he is patient, he is strong, he is just:" thus Lactantius. Therefore the precepts of wisdom and the dictates of prudence concerning patience are, among others, these. First: "Peace surpasses all riches and goods: therefore the loss of these is to be amended." Second: "No worse enemy to the soul than the tumult and agitation of thoughts, anger and impatience." For, as Cassian says, Book XVIII, chapter XVI: "I cannot be harmed by a man, however malicious, if I myself do not struggle against him with a peaceful heart. But if I am harmed, it is not the fault of another's attack, but of my own impatience." Third: The best kind of vengeance is to do good to one who has harmed you, as St. John the Almsgiver used to say. Fourth is the sublime teaching of Abbot Stephen in St. Gregory, homily 35 on the Gospels: "The virtue of patience," he says, "had grown so greatly in him that he believed him to be his friend who had brought him some trouble. He gave thanks for insults. If any loss had been inflicted upon him in his own poverty, he considered this the greatest gain. He esteemed all his adversaries as nothing other than helpers." Fifth: "By gentleness the harshness of a Prelate is overcome," as St. Gregory writes that Libertinus overcame it, Book I of the Dialogues, chapter II. Sixth: "Injury inflicted upon us is medicine for our souls." Thus St. Monica, when called by a maidservant with a reproachful name, as if struck by a goad, indignant with herself, utterly renounced her customary desire for wine and extinguished her drunkenness, as St. Augustine testifies, Book IX of the Confessions, chapter VIII. Seventh: "Harm is to be repaid with benefit." Thus did St. Liduina, saying: "I confess therefore that I owe a debt to those who compel me to run in the way of the commandments of God, whose fullness is charity:" thus her Life has it in Surius. Eighth: "It is the part of a prudent man to redeem by patience the brief and light punishment of the present life for the long and grave sufferings of Purgatory or hell," as Stephen the monk said in his illness near Mareotis in the Tripartite History, Book VIII, chapter I. Ninth: "If I have deserved this cross, I shall bear it, that I may make satisfaction for sins: if I have not deserved it, I shall bear it nonetheless, that I may increase my crown: in any case, I shall have praise and honor either of penance or of patience." Tenth: "It is better to suffer injury than to inflict it: for he who harms another harms himself more," as St. Gregory relates that Blessed Stephen said, Book IV of the Dialogues, chapter XIX. Eleventh: "God takes up the defense of the patient man against calumny and injury;" thus that Elder in the Spiritual Meadow, chapter CCXIX. Twelfth: Seneca, Book II On Anger: "It is the mark of a great soul," he says, "to despise injuries. It is the mark of a petty and wretched man to pursue the biter, like mice and ants, which, if you put your hand to them, turn their mouths toward it. They think themselves weakly harmed if they are touched." Thirteenth: St. Ambrose, epistle 82 to the Church of Vercelli: "Not only is this the form of justice," he says, "that you do not harm him who has not harmed you; but also that you forgive even him who has harmed you. It makes no difference to whom you do harm, whether to a just man or an unjust one, since you ought not to do harm to anyone. It matters not how you are malicious, whether from a zeal to punish the just or from a desire to harm, since malice in either kind is not free from blame." Plutarch brings forth more in his book On the Utility to be Gained from Enemies. Fourteenth: "Prudent patience in any difficulty suggests counsel." St. Ambrose teaches this, Book II On Jacob and the Blessed Life, chapter IV, by the example of Rebecca, who persuaded her son Jacob to flee when Esau wished to kill him. "Let patience come," says Rebecca, that is, let it be brought in, the good guardian of innocence; let it suggest that we yield to anger, let oblivion creep in for the offense: a loving mother tolerates the absence of her most beloved son, bringing him more benefit than the harm done: yet consulting for both, that she might present one safe from danger, the other untainted by crime. Who could have counseled thus, except prudent forbearance? Who could have applied counsel useful to both, except wise patience?" Fifteenth: Seneca, epistle 60: "A wise man (certainly a patient one) is unconquered against every assault: whether poverty, whether grief, whether disgrace, whether pain makes an attack, he does not give ground. So patient is the wise man, and perfect patience is found together with wisdom." This is what the Wise Man says, Proverbs chapter XIV, 29: "He that is patient is governed with much prudence: but he that is impatient exalteth his folly." From which St. Chrysostom, homily 33 on I Corinthians: "Patience," he says, "is the root of all philosophy, etc.; charity suffereth all things, with patience as its guide." An elegant allegory of this matter Philo brings forth from Genesis, chapter XXVI, in his book On the Planting of Noah, namely that King Abimelech saw Isaac playing with Rebecca: for Isaac, that is laughter, represents joy; Rebecca, that is fattened, represents patience; Abimelech, that is father of the king, represents supramundane wisdom, as if to say: Joy is found in the arms of wisdom, they embrace each other mutually, as St. James said, verse 1. "O prudent play and discipline! sight is aided by forbearance," says Clement, book I of the Paedagogus, chapter V. But no one can consider this embrace of both, namely of joy and patience, except Abimelech, that is wisdom. For what other business befits the wise man than to play, to rejoice, to be merry with honest forbearance? And this is the reason why patience is found in the wise alone: because they alone behold this play. Finally, the emblem of the unconquered patient is the diamond, which the sword and flame grip crosswise, with this motto: It yields neither to iron nor to fire. For God himself is eternal, uncreated, immense, essential wisdom, who as a fountain communicates it to angels, to men and to all creatures, to each according to his condition and capacity. Whence Lactantius, book IV On True Wisdom, chapter IV: "The fountain," he says, "of wisdom and religion is God, from which if these two streams have gone astray, they must necessarily dry up: those who do not know him can be neither wise nor religious." The same doctrine Baruch teaches at length and elegantly in chapter III, verses 12 and following, where he assigns the cause of all the evil of Israel, that it knew not God the fountain of wisdom: for in vain is he sought by the Philosophers and the wise men of the world; and finally concluding at verse 36: "This," he says, "is our God, and no other shall be accounted against him. He hath found out all the way of discipline, and hath delivered it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. After this she was seen upon earth, and conversed with men," through the incarnation, so that he might bring wisdom from the heavens to the earth (which the Poets feign Prometheus did), and communicate it to men. This Christ did, who is the eternal and incarnate wisdom of the Father. Here first St. James teaches that wisdom is to be sought from God before other gifts, because this is the origin and matrix of all knowledge, all virtue, all good. Whence Solomon alone asked this of God, when he was given the choice of asking whatever he wished, and with it he obtained all other things. "Because thou hast asked," he says, "this word, and hast not asked for thyself long life, nor riches, nor the lives of thy enemies, but hast asked for thyself wisdom to discern judgment, behold I have done for thee according to thy words, and I have given thee a wise and understanding heart, so that there hath been no one like thee before thee, nor shall there rise up one after thee; but I have also given thee all things which thou didst not ask for, namely riches and glory, so that no one among all the kings hath been like thee in all the days that were before," III Kings III, 11. Moreover in wisdom he comprehends patience; for he teaches that this is to be sought from God by each one. Indeed Origen beautifully in Psalm XXXVI, homily 3: "We wait," he says, "for the Lord, because he himself is our expectation and patience, as it is written in Psalm XXXVIII: And now what is my expectation? Is it not the Lord? As therefore the Saviour is wisdom, and peace, and justice, so also is he expectation, or patience. And as by participation of his justice we are made just, and by participation of his wisdom we are made wise, so also by participation of his patience we are made patient. He is therefore as it were a certain perennial fountain, from which we can draw both patience and justice and wisdom and all the goods of virtues whatsoever, if only we bring vessels that are worthy and pure to the fountain." Secondly, he teaches that it should be sought from no one other than God, either immediately or through the invocation and patronage of the Saints. Thus Solomon, although wisdom had already been promised and given to him by God, nevertheless sought it from God, that is, its preservation and increase, saying, and proposing that it be said by us all: "Give me wisdom, the seat-mate of thy throne, and reject me not from among thy children: for I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid, a man weak and of short time, and inferior in the understanding of judgment and laws, etc. Send her out of thy holy heavens, and from the throne of thy majesty, that she may be with me and may labour with me, that I may know what is acceptable with thee, etc. For the thoughts of mortal men are fearful, and our counsels uncertain. For the corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthly habitation weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things. And hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth, and with labour do we find the things that are before us. But the things that are in heaven, who shall search out? And thy counsel who shall know, except thou give wisdom, and send thy Holy Ghost from above? And thus were the ways of them that are on earth directed, and men were taught the things that please thee; for by wisdom they were healed, whosoever have pleased thee, O Lord, from the beginning." Wisdom IX, 4 et seq. Whence in VI, 10, he celebrates the wonderful deeds of wisdom wrought through Adam, Lot, Joseph, Moses and the Hebrews. "This (wisdom)," he says, "kept him who was first formed by God the father of the world (Adam) when he alone was created, and brought him out of his sin, and gave him power to govern all things;" and verse 6: "This delivered the just man (Lot) who fled from the wicked that perished, when fire came down upon the five cities," and verse 10: "This guided the just man (Jacob fleeing from Esau) who fled from his brother's wrath through the right ways, and shewed him the kingdom of God, and gave him the knowledge of the holy ones: made him honourable in his labours, and accomplished his labours, etc., so that he should overcome, and know that wisdom is mightier than all;" and verse 13: "This just man (Joseph) who was sold she did not abandon, but delivered him from sinners, and went down with him into the pit, and in bonds she left him not, until she brought him the sceptre of the kingdom and power against those that oppressed him, and shewed them false who had dishonoured him, and gave him eternal glory. This just people (the Israelites) and the seed without blemish she delivered from the nations (the Egyptians) that oppressed them. She entered into the soul of the servant of God (Moses), and stood against dreadful kings in wonders and signs," etc. Thus did Anthony seek and obtain this wisdom from God, concerning whom St. Athanasius in his Life says: "He was," he says, "very wise, and had this wonderful thing in himself, that although he had not learned letters, he was most ingenious and prudent, immovable and meek. Gentile Philosophers came to him, thinking they could deceive him, to whom he said: If you have come to a fool, your labour is superfluous; but if you think me wise, imitate what you approve. If I had come to you, I would imitate you: but since you have come to me as to a wise man, be as I am, Christians. The Philosophers marvelled at the acuteness of his mind." Again Anthony asked them: "What came first, sense or letters? and what is the beginning of which? Does sense come from letters, or do letters arise from sense? When they asserted that sense was the author and inventor of letters, he said: Therefore he whose sense is sound does not require letters," as if to say, I am such a one, destitute of letters, but taught by God. Thus St. Ambrose, as Paulinus says in his Life, "when he was dictating the fourteenth Psalm, I taking it down and watching, suddenly a fire in the manner of a short shield (a sign of the Holy Ghost) covered his head, and gradually entering through his mouth as into a dwelling, it took up its abode: after which his face became as snow." Rupertus of Tuitium, Abbot, lib. XII on Matthew, when objections were made to him: Who are thy fathers and masters? answers: "I profess this, that a visitation from the Most High is better for me than ten fathers and masters; I speak for writing, whatever that monitor suggests." St. Thomas Aquinas openly professed that he had received his wisdom more infused through prayer than acquired through study, from heaven. St. Ephrem, praying and saying: "Grant, O Lord, rivers of Thy grace," received a book from angels in a vision, and with it heavenly wisdom and eloquence, so that, although perpetual fountains of words, as it were, were supplied to him, they were nevertheless altogether unequal to explaining the things which he had conceived in his mind. For the profundity of doctrine and the swiftness of his thoughts absorbed his very tongue, so that he could not bring forth the feelings of his soul, as the Nyssenus says in his Life. St. Equitius, preaching wisely and ardently, when asked whence he had this, replied: "On a certain night a handsome youth stood before me in a vision, and placed in my tongue a healing instrument, that is, a lancet, saying: Behold I have put my words in thy mouth, go forth to preach. And from that day forth, even when I wish to be silent about God, I cannot," as St. Gregory relates, book II of the Dialogues, chapter IV. St. Ignatius, founder of our Society, praying in the Church of the Minoritesses, was so absorbed in God that he beheld the most august majesty of the Trinity itself distinct in persons, one in essence, so that, although ignorant of letters, he did not hesitate to write a book On the Trinity, and from this he was affected with a wondrous understanding of heavenly things, whenever he performed the sacred rites to the Holy Trinity. Moreover, there was revealed to his mind the very manner which the supreme artificer of all things held in the fashioning of this universe. Furthermore, hearing the sacrifice of the Mass, when the priest in the customary manner raises the saving victim, he most clearly saw in that species Christ, true God and true man, to be truly contained, as Maffei says in his Life, book I, chapter VII. St. Trudo, born of an illustrious family in Belgium, vowed to God that if, with Christ's help, he should learn sacred letters, he would build a church on his estate and serve the Lord there perpetually. An angel was therefore sent by God to him: "Know, brother," said he, "that those vows which thou hast made to Christ are pleasing to him, and doubt not that he who has gone before thee with his inspiration will also continue with thee, and will bring thy affection to effect. He, I say, will imbue thy heart with his wisdom, and will instruct thee with his precepts, and will write his law upon thy breast." Thus Notgerus, Bishop of Liège, in the year of Christ 850, in the Life of St. Remacle, chapter VI. Illustrous is what St. Justin the philosopher and martyr writes of himself, in the Dialogue against Trypho, namely that when, desirous of wisdom, he had wandered through all the schools and sects of the philosophers, and had sought it in vain among the Pythagoreans, Platonists, and Peripatetics, he heard from a certain unknown old man that it is found nowhere except in the school of Christ. "Do thou therefore," said he, "with vows and prayers beseech above all things that the gates of light be opened to thee: for these things are neither perceived nor understood by any, except God and Christ grant them understanding." Wherefore, converted to Christ and invoking him, he obtained such wisdom as he displayed in his writings. Excellently Philo, in the book On Rewards and Punishments: "This visible sun," says he, "do we perceive it by any other means than by the sun itself? Do we not owe the perception of light to light? In the same manner God illuminates the knowledge of himself through himself, with no one's cooperation, since that matter exceeds the powers of all." And St. Augustine, book IV of the Confessions, chapter XVI: "Thou knowest, O Lord, that both the swiftness of understanding and the keenness of discernment are thy gift." The same in the Soliloquies, chapter V: "I would have been blind forever had not thou illuminated me." WHO GIVES TO ALL. — This is the proper gift of God, that He gives to all all things, and receives nothing from anyone, and therefore in Hebrew He is called Saddai, that is, the breasted one, a cornucopia, as I have said more fully in Genesis XVII, 2. Whence God is known by some from His giving, or rather is recognized. This is what the Psalmist says; Psalm XV, verse 1: "I said to the Lord: Thou art my God, for Thou hast no need of my goods." For God is as it were a sea of all goods overflowing and surging, which pours itself forth most abundantly into all things near it. Truly Thomas the Englishman: "God," he says, "gives first liberally, not sells, as many do." Secondly, "gives generally, not to one, but to all." Thirdly, "gives abundantly, not sparingly." Fourthly, "gives courteously, commonly courteously," because He does not upbraid. "Let human sloth therefore blush: God is more ready to give than we to receive," says the same from St. Augustine. Let human ingratitude and avarice therefore blush, which to God so liberal in Himself, so sparingly and stingily devotes itself and its own to His service. Therefore it is the proper nature and character of God to give, as St. Thomas teaches, book I Against the Gentiles, chapter XXXIX, where he asserts that liberality is the virtue most properly belonging to God, because He alone communicates Himself abundantly, as it were a fountain of goodness. And St. Augustine, tract. 13 in John: "God," he says, "is all things to you. If you hunger, bread is yours; if you thirst, water is yours; if in darkness, light; if naked, the garment of immortality is yours." And St. Bernard, serm. 3 On the Circumcision: "All," he says, "given to me, and all spent for my use." In a similar, but far more trivial cause, namely on account of lands restored to him previously taken away, Virgil flatters Augustus Caesar and makes him a god, Eclogue 1: O Meliboeus, a god has made these peaceful times for us, For he will always be a god to me; his altar Often a tender lamb from our flocks will stain. And Cicero calls P. Lentulus a god, that is, the savior of his life: for thus he says, after his return to the Citizens: "P. Lentulus the consul, parent, god, salvation of our life, fortune, memory, name." Excellently Boethius, book III: For there is one father of things, One administers all He gave to Phoebus rays, And gave also horns to the moon. He also gave men to the earth And stars to heaven. Whom, because he alone regards all things, You could truly call the sun. And St. Bernard, serm. 16 in the Song: "The true benefactor," he says, "gives abundantly and does not upbraid: he does not upbraid his gifts, because they are gifts; and he gave me his benefits, not sold them." ABUNDANTLY. — In Greek ἁπλῶς, that is, simply. Some suspect that Our Interpreter read ἁθρόως, or πλουσίως, that is richly, copiously, liberally, abundantly, because "simply" in Scripture when giving is in question, signifies the liberality of giving, abundance, magnificence, as appears II Corinthians VIII, 2: "The abundance of their poverty abounded unto the riches of their simplicity"; and chapter IX, verse 11: "That being enriched in all things, you may abound in all simplicity"; Romans XII, 8: "He that giveth, let him do it simply," that is, simply, without restriction, copiously, liberally: see the things said there. St. James alludes to that invitation and promise of Christ: "If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink. He that believeth in me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now this he said of the Spirit, which they should receive who believed in him," John VII, 38. Note first: In God there is infinite propensity and love of communicating Himself, which proceeds from the infinite perfection and fullness of His essence, which is so great that it desires to pour itself forth into others; and however much He imparts to others, He loses nothing of His own fullness. Hence first, inwardly He tends naturally and intimately to infinite communion of Himself; just as created and corporeal things tend to communicate themselves, by generating something like themselves. But because that which is infinite cannot be multiplied, therefore the divine essence does not communicate itself by generating another like itself distinct in number, as man and animals do; but by giving itself, and as it were replicating itself, so that the same numerically most simple divine essence is in three persons distinct in number, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Secondly, outwardly He is inclined to communicate Himself and His goods infinitely to creatures, especially to rational ones, namely angels and men. For, as Nazianzen says: "As the sun is in sensible things, so God is in intelligible things." Just as therefore the sun everywhere scatters its rays, so as to illuminate, warm, vivify, and make fruitful all things: so God scatters the rays of His beneficence upon all and everything, especially upon angels and men, so as to illuminate them with the light of His wisdom, inflame them therefrom with love of Himself, vivify them with the life of grace and glory, so that they themselves may impart the same to others. Wherefore St. Dionysius, On the Divine Names, cap. IV, part I, says that divine love is a moving and upward-drawing force toward God, who alone is beauty and goodness in Himself. The evident signs and effects of this love, beneficence and communication are the incarnation of the eternal Word to teach and save men, His preaching, miracles, passion, death, the Sacraments, the sending of the Holy Spirit, the singular care of the whole Church and of individual faithful. For in the incarnation He poured out Himself wholly and all His bowels upon us, according to that of Zacharias: "Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the dayspring from on high hath visited us," Luke I, 78. Again, in justification and sanctification God communicates not only Himself to the soul through grace, charity and virtues; but also through Himself: for He truly gives the Holy Spirit, and with Him the other divine persons, according to that: "The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us," Rom. v, 5; and: "If a man love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him: and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him," John cap. XIV, vers. 23. Wherefore by this communication of Himself He elevates the just to Himself, transforms him in Himself and makes him divine; especially those who give themselves wholly to God and are intent upon Him. For divine love causes ecstasy and excess of the lover from himself, so as to transfer him into the beloved, and unite him most closely to Him, and make him one with Him, so that he lives in Him, feels, rejoices, as if incorporated with Him. For he who loves God, wholly failing from himself, passes over into God, and as it were melts away, thinking, understanding or feeling nothing other than God, desiring or wishing nothing else, rejoicing in no other thing than the goods of God. He who thus adheres to God becomes one spirit: because he has put off himself, and put on God, just as if he had been transformed into the divine nature. Wherefore he is wholly in thought and affection toward God, as Christ prays for him, John XVII, 11: "Holy Father, keep them in thy name whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we also are." And vers. 21: "That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." The reason is, because good is communicative and diffusive of itself. If therefore it be the supreme good, as God is, He will communicate and diffuse Himself supremely: for this is the nature and character of good and of the supreme good. "God," says St. Leo, serm. 2 On the Nativity, "whose nature is goodness, whose will is power, whose work is mercy." Note secondly: This liberality and vast abundance of God's beneficence is admirable from five headings, as our Lessius rightly notes, book IX On Divine Attributes, chapter IV. The first is the majesty of Him who loves and gives. For what is greater and more magnificent than God, who so greatly (indeed infinitely more) transcends all angels and men, as the heaven transcends the earth, which in respect to the vastness of heaven holds itself as a center and a point. The second is the condition of those upon whom He pours out Himself and His gifts; who if you regard their nature, are men, the lowest among rational creatures (for as prime matter is the lowest among corporeal things, so the soul is the lowest among spiritual things). If you consider the quality of their soul, they are sinners, enemies, proud, ungrateful, carnal, unfit for all good, prone to all evil; if of their body, they are mortal, sickly, vile, filthy, putrid, soon to become food for worms, so that the Psalmist rightly exclaims, Psalm VIII: "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that Thou visitest him?" The third is the great and manifold good which He partly confers upon them, partly offers to them. For to man He gave a rational soul created to His image, grace, the promise of glory, angelic guardianship, the whole machine of the world, and finally His only-begotten Son. "For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting," John chapter III, verse 16. Which words if they be weighed, each one has great emphasis and signifies a new beneficence of God. Wherefore the Psalmist, Psalm XXXIII, 6: "Come ye to Him, saith he, and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be confounded." The fourth is the end for which He confers it, which is that man may be well, not God: for God expects or receives from man no profit, no advantage. The fifth is the manner in which He communicates and pours Himself out, which is manifold. The first, that He communicates Himself to us, not as to servants, but as to sons, whom He has appointed His heirs and coheirs with Christ. The second, that the nature of divine benignity is to humble itself to the lowest things, to care for the weak, to gather up the cast off, to lift up the humble, and where there is greater want, there to pour out His riches more abundantly and bring aid. Wherefore St. Bernard, book V On Consideration, chapter XI, thus defines God, or rather circumscribes God's abundance: "What is God? will almighty, most benevolent power, eternal light, unchangeable reason, supreme blessedness, creating minds to participate in thee, giving life to feel, alluring to desire, enlarging to receive, justifying to merit, inflaming to zeal, making fruitful to bear fruit, directing to equity, forming to benevolence, moderating to wisdom, strengthening to virtue, visiting to consolation, illuminating to knowledge, perpetuating to immortality, filling to happiness, surrounding to security." Third, that he communicates himself often before being asked, as is evident in all prevenient graces, and that by these he moves us to ask for subsequent graces. For no one can pray to God in the manner that is fitting unless he be moved to it by the grace of the Holy Spirit, as St. Augustine teaches everywhere and the Council of Orange, indeed St. Paul himself, Rom. VIII, 26. Again, that being asked, he gives more than is asked, according to that which the Church professes in prayer: "O God, who by the abundance of thy mercy dost exceed the merits and desires of those who supplicate thee." And St. Ambrose on Luke XXIII, 42, rightly observes that the thief on the cross asked only this, and said: "Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom;" but Christ gave him far more, saying: "This day thou shalt be with me in paradise. For grace is more abundant, he says, than prayer; for the Lord always gives more than is asked." Thus Hezekiah asked God for health, but God with it added to him fifteen years of life, and a miraculous victory with 185,000 Assyrians slain, Isaiah XXXVIII. Solomon asked for wisdom, but God with it gave him great riches and glory, III Kings III. Daniel asked for the liberation of the people from Babylonian captivity; but God gave him an oracle and a promise concerning the coming of the Messiah to redeem the whole world from the captivity of the devil, Daniel IX, 24. David asked for a son; but God gave him the Messiah: for he promised him to him, and caused him to be born from him, II Kings VII, 12, and Psalm LXXXVIII, 4. Fourth, that he often bestows his gifts upon those whom he foreknows will be ungrateful, indeed upon the impious, the unfaithful, heretics, atheists, blasphemers and the reprobate, according to that saying of Christ: "Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, etc., that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust," Matt. v, 44. Morally let us learn here first, to be liberal toward God by serving him liberally, since he himself is so liberal toward us, because we shall in turn experience him more liberal toward us continually. For he himself contends with us, and since he is most liberal, he does not allow himself to be overcome by our liberality. This is what he promised through Isaiah, cap. LXVI, vers. 11: "That you may suck and be filled with the breast of her consolations: that you may milk out, and flow with delights from the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord: Behold I will decline toward her as a river of peace, and as an overflowing torrent the glory of the Gentiles, which you shall suck; you shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you. As one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you." Excellently Gregory of Nazianzus, oration on the Love of the Poor: "Nothing, he says, does man possess so divine as to deserve well of others. Be thou to the wretched a god, imitating the mercy of God." And Gregory of Nyssa on the Love of the Poor: "Beneficence, he says, is the most excellent of all praised virtues. This is the companion of happiness. This sits beside God, and is joined to him in great necessity," as she herself appearing by vision to St. John the Almsgiver, urging him to almsgiving, affirmed. Indeed even Seneca, lib. III On Benefits, cap. XV: "He who gives, he says, benefits, imitates the gods; he who demands repayment, acts as a money-lender." Hence secondly, since we can render nothing to God in himself, let us render the same to him in his image, namely in our neighbors, so that we may pour out liberally upon them the wisdom, grace and other goods which we have received from God: for he gave them to us for this reason, being about to give so much more, the more we pour out upon others. For just as fountains the more they flow out, the more they flow in: for if water did not flow out, new water would not flow in; the prior water would occupy the channel and exclude the flowing in: so precisely is it in the case of the teacher, preacher, almsgiver, etc., so that the more he gives to his neighbor, the more he receives from God, as I taught from St. Paul and Basil II Corinth. 13. Thirdly, let us imitate God, so that to one who asks for a single thing we may give a double thing. Thus Christ, to those asking for bodily health, added also that of the soul; concerning which St. Peter in the Acts says, X, 38: "Who passed about, he says, doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil." Whence the axiom of Christ and Paul was: "It is a more blessed thing to give rather than to receive," Acts XX, 35. See the sayings there. The Gentiles gave illustrious examples of this matter: let Christians be ashamed if they do not surpass them, but allow themselves to be surpassed by them in liberality. Thus Plato sent to Diogenes, who asked for a little wine and figs, a whole flask full of wine. But Diogenes, in his manner, acted cynically, that is, in a dog-like way, giving him thanks and saying: "When you are asked, how much is two and two? you answer twenty: thus you neither give according to what is asked of you, nor do you answer according to what is questioned; " as Laertius relates, lib. VI, cap. I, who also adds that Diogenes was accustomed to say that hands ought not to be extended to friends with fingers clasped, but with fingers open and liberal. Demosthenes, when asked what men had in common with God, answered: "To act kindly; " thus Maximus, serm. 8. Cicero, in the oration for Ligarius: "Men, he says, approach the gods in no way more closely than by giving. Your fortune has nothing greater than that you are able, nor has nature anything better than that you should wish to preserve very many." Anaxilaus, when asked what was the most happy thing in tyranny, answered: "Never to be overcome in conferring benefits; " thus Stobaeus, serm. 46. Cyrus, king of the Persians, distributed ornaments sent to him among his friends, reserving nothing for himself. When asked why? "The ornament, he said, of my friends is my ornament; " thus Maximus, serm. 6. Dionysius, entering to his son and seeing an abundance of golden vessels: "There is not, he said, a royal spirit in you, who, having received so many of these cups from me, have made no friend for yourself; " thus Plutarch in the Sayings of Kings. Alexander the Great, when asked where he kept his treasures, pointing to his friends, said: "In these coffers; " thus Maximus, serm. 6. The same, distributing all things among friends, when asked by Perillus what remained for the king, answered: "Hope of acquiring greater things." The same, when giving a city to someone, and he said this did not befit his fortune, Alexander answered: "I do not ask what it befits you to receive, but what it befits me, who am king, to give." The same, when Perillus asked him for ten talents as a dowry for his daughters, ordered fifty to be given, saying: "For you it is enough to receive so much, but for me it is not enough to give so much; " thus Plutarch in the Sayings of Kings, who also adds that Alexander sent fifty talents to Xenocrates, so that he might distribute them among his friends. "For to me, he said, the riches of Darius scarcely sufficed for my friends." The same, when asked: "Who is the best king? He who, he said, retains friends by gifts and reconciles enemies by benefits; " thus Maximus, serm. 9 On Magistracy. From this Ptolemaeus, the son of Lagus, the first king of Egypt after him, learned liberality from Alexander, he who enriched his friends, saying: "It is better to enrich than to become rich, " as Aelian testifies, lib. XIII of Miscellaneous History. Antonius the triumvir, with Lepidus and Augustus, was so profuse in gifts that he used to say that the greatness of the Roman empire was illustrated not by what he received, but by what he gave, as Plutarch says in his Life. But Christian heroes far surpassed the Gentiles in this matter. The profuse munificence of St. John, Patriarch of Alexandria, is known to all, who from this took the name "the Almsgiving." For by continuous experience he had learned that when he gave double, he received fourfold. And St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop, who, to a widow asking for alms and a part of a liter to redeem her son, gave himself, as great as he was, into servitude to the Vandals for the son, and therefore merited to free all the Nolans, his fellow citizens, along with himself from servitude. Also memorable was the liberality of Adrian II, the Pontiff, who, when a great crowd of pilgrims was flowing together, and the steward said he did not have so much as to give even a denarius to each, for he had only forty denarii: "By the virtue, he said, of Christ, who from five loaves and two fishes satisfied five thousand men, I will not give one denarius to each, but three denarii to each." He spoke and did it, and six denarii remained over. Then, turning to the steward: "Do you see, he said, how generous and sweet is the almighty Lord, who distributed the quantity of forty coins among our brothers by threes, and to me by threes, and to you by threes in equal share; " thus from Anastasius the Librarian, Baronius vol. X, in the year of Christ 867. AND HE DOTH NOT UPBRAID. — he doth not reproach, saying: Thou art in my debt, thou owest me thy life, I bestowed this benefit upon thee undeserving, I gave thee more than thou didst merit, etc.; for reproaching a benefit is the moth and rust of liberality, which sucks out all its grace, deforms and discolors all its beauty and appearance. Whence the Wise Man admonishes in Ecclesiasticus XLI, verse 28, that thou shouldst beware "of friends on account of words of reproach, and when thou hast given, do not upbraid." And cap. XVIII, verse 18: "A fool will upbraid sharply, and a gift given by an undisciplined man causes the eyes to waste away;" because he who receives from him whom he gave to, saddens and shames him by his reproaches, impudence and hardness; and cap. XX, verse 14: "The gift of a fool shall not profit thee: for his eyes are manifold," that is, manifold, as if to say, by the manifold casting and winking of his eyes at thee he signifies that he expects more from thee than he gave. "He will give little, and upbraid much: and the opening of his mouth is a flame," that is, anger, as if to say, he will speak to thee harshly, roughly, angrily; in Greek, "he will open his mouth as a herald," that is, he will open his mouth as a crier, he will cry out as a crier, everywhere he will proclaim his benefit, and thy need, or thy ingratitude. Into what kind of barb would Democritus have twisted his saying: "May you perish miserably, because you have made virgins, harlots, grateful:" concerning which Maximus, sermon 8. Wherefore wisely Chilon the Lacedaemonian said: "It is fitting to forget a benefit given, but to remember one received," as Laertius testifies, lib. I, cap. IV. Alexander the Great, however, said it was royal to confer often and much upon those from whom thou hearest ill, as Pontanus testifies, cap. XXX On Liberality. On the contrary, Aristotle of Cyrene asserted, "that one ought not to receive a benefit offered by anyone. For either, so that he might repay it, he will have troubles: or if he does not repay, he will be heard to be ungrateful;" thus Aelianus, lib. X. To this pertains the quibble of Antigonus, which Seneca relates, lib. II On Benefits, cap. XVII: "From Antigonus, he says, a Cynic asked for a talent; he replied, it is more than what the Cynic ought to ask for. Rejected, he asks for a denarius; he replied, it is less than what it befits a king to give. Most shameful is such quibbling. He found a way to give neither: in the denarius he regarded the king, in the talent the Cynic, when he could have given both the denarius as to a Cynic, and the talent as a king." The same Seneca, in the same place cap. X: "This, he says, is the law of a benefit between two: the one ought immediately to forget what was given, the other never what was received. Frequent commemoration of merits lacerates and oppresses the soul;" and cap. XI: "How long wilt thou say: I saved thee, I snatched thee from death? etc. Admonition causes weariness, reproach causes hatred;" and cap. XIV: "O pride of great fortune! O most foolish evil! that nothing profits thee to receive from thee, that thou turnest every benefit into injury, whatever vans. Asked why? "The adornment, he says, of friends, is my adornment;" thus Maximus, sermon 6. Dionysius entering to his son, seeing an abundance of golden vessels: "There is not, he says, in thee a royal spirit, who with these cups which thou hast received so many from me, hast made no friend for thyself;" thus Plutarch in the Apophthegms of Kings. Alexander the Great, asked where he kept his treasures? showing his friends, he said: "In these coffers;" thus Maximus, sermon 6. The same, distributing all things to friends, asked by Perillus, what remained for the king? he replied: "Hope of acquiring greater things." The same, giving a city to someone, when he said this did not befit his fortune, Alexander replied: "I do not ask what it befits thee to receive, but what it befits me, who am king, to give." The same, to Perillus asking for ten talents as a dowry for his daughters, ordered fifty to be given, saying: "For thee indeed it is enough to receive so much, but for me it is not enough to give so much;" thus Plutarch in the Apophthegms of Kings, who also adds that Alexander sent fifty talents to Xenocrates, that he might distribute them to his friends. "For to me, he says, the riches of Darius scarcely sufficed for my friends." The same, asked: "Who was the best king? He who, he says, retains friends by gifts, and reconciles enemies by benefits;" thus Maximus, sermon 9 On Magistracy. Hence Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, his general, the first king of Egypt after him, learned liberality from Alexander, who enriched his friends, saying: "It is better to enrich than to become rich," as Aelianus testifies, lib. XIII Miscellaneous History. Antonius the triumvir, with Lepidus and Augustus, was so profuse in gifts, that he used to say that the greatness of the Roman empire was illustrated not by what he received, but by what he gave, as Plutarch says in his Life. But Christian heroes far surpassed the Gentiles in this matter. Known to all is the lavish munificence of St. John, Patriarch of Alexandria, who took his name from it, "the Almsgiver." For by continuous experience he had learned that when he gave double, he received fourfold. And St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop, who, when a widow asked him for alms and a portion of a lyre to redeem her son, gave himself, great as he was, into servitude to the Vandals for the son's sake, and therefore merited to free all the Nolans, his fellow citizens, along with himself from servitude. Also memorable was the liberality of Adrian II, the Pontiff, when a great crowd of pilgrims flowed together, and when the steward said he did not have enough to give even a denarius to each—for he had only forty denarii—he said: "By the virtue of Christ, who satisfied five thousand men from five loaves and two fishes, I will not give one denarius to each, but three denarii to each." He spoke and did it, and six denarii remained over. Then, turning to the steward: "Do you see," he said, "how generous and sweet is the almighty Lord, who distributed the quantity of forty coins to our brothers by threes, and to me by threes, and to you by threes in equal measure?" God therefore, since He is most generous, reproaches no one for a gift, namely that he has given too much or more than a man deserves, if he wishes to use His gift, repent, and live holily, as we see in Saul, Magdalene, Peter, etc. He does reproach, however, the impious for ingratitude, in that, affected by so many benefits, they repay evils to God, and contend with God's beneficence with them, and persist in their wickedness hard and obstinate. Such a reproach of God is in Micah VI, 3: "O my people, what have I done to thee?" etc. Jeremiah II, 4; Isaiah I, 2, and seq. Thus on the day of judgment God will reproach the reprobate, that they abused His grace to their own ruin and damnation, as is evident from the parable of him who owed ten thousand talents, and exacted from his fellow servant a hundred denarii, Matthew XVIII, 24. AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN TO HIM.—Namely, if he asks for himself things necessary to salvation, piously and perseveringly. For if prayer has these four conditions, it will certainly obtain what it asks, says St. Thomas, III, Question LXXXIII, article 13, to 2, who also adds from St. Augustine in the Sentences, Sentence 212: "He who supplicates God faithfully," he says, "for the necessities of this life, is heard mercifully, and is not heard mercifully. For what is beneficial to the weak, the physician knows better than the sick man. And for this reason also Paul was not heard, asking that the thorn of the flesh be removed, because it was not expedient." And St. Basil, sermon On Praying to God: "Therefore," he says, "sometimes you ask, and do not receive, because you asked wrongly, or weakly, or unfaithfully, or for things not conducive to you, or you ceased." Wherefore Plato in the Second Alcibiades assigns this manner of praying: "O God, best and greatest, grant us the best things both when we vow and when we do not vow, but command that evils be absent even from those who ask for them." For, as St. Bernard says, sermon Against the Vice of Ingratitude: "Often it is mercy to withhold mercy; just as it is wrath and indignation to show mercy." And St. Gregory, book XV of the Morals, chapter XII: "It is," he says, "a greater wrath when that is granted which is badly desired, and thence sudden vengeance follows, because he also obtained what he coveted while God was angry." To deny a benefit therefore is then not an evil deed, but a benefit: just as parents kindly deny knives to children asking for them, lest they wound themselves with them: for to give them what they ask would be to do them a great evil.
1:6
6. BUT LET HIM ASK IN FAITH, NOTHING WAVERING. — "Faith" here is taken in three ways, or rather comprises three things which St. James asks for in prayer: First, faith properly so called; second, confidence, or sure hope; third, credulity and firm persuasion of obtaining what we ask. Opposed to this threefold faith is a threefold wavering: the first is wavering in faith, which is unbelief and infidelity: for he who doubts in faith, if he persists in doubt, is unfaithful and heretical. The second is wavering in confidence, which is distrust or despair. The third is wavering in credulity, which is doubt, or opinion and persuasion of not obtaining what we ask. First therefore St. James requires for prayer faith properly so called, not only general faith concerning God's omnipotence, providence, munificence, truth, paternal care and love toward us, namely that God is able and as a father willing to do good to us as to his children; but also particular faith, namely that what we ask, He will give to us, if it be expedient. This very thing He Himself promised, He who cannot lie, be deceived, or deceive, saying: "All things whatsoever you ask for in prayer, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you," Mark XI, 39; Matthew XXI, 21, and elsewhere often. For we believe by divine faith that God is faithful in His promises, and therefore that He will give to us what we ask in prayer, inasmuch as He Himself promised it, who, as He cannot deny Himself, so neither can He violate His promises. Christ demanded this faith everywhere from those who sought healing, as from the blind, Matt. IX, 28: "Believe you," He said, "that I can do this unto you?" And when they answered: "Yea, Lord," they heard: "According to your faith be it done unto you. And their eyes were opened." You will say: Therefore the special faith of heretics is true, by which they believe themselves to be just, predestined and infallibly to be saved. For when they ask from God justice, salvation and glory, surely they will obtain these from God: for God promised to bestow whatever we ask of Him. I answer: This promise of God is not absolute, but conditional, namely if we pray and ask in the manner in which we ought, for instance with due faith, humility, purity, reverence, devotion, perseverance, etc. But we are ignorant and uncertain whether we fulfill these conditions in prayer; and therefore we are likewise uncertain whether we shall obtain the justice and salvation which we ask. Second, this faith, as St. Cyril teaches, catech. 5, demands and brings forth confidence: whence the Apostle, defining faith, Heb. XI, 1, says that it is "the substance of things to be hoped for," for faith in the omnipotence and faithfulness of God in fulfilling His promises is the substance, that is, the basis and support of hope and of things to be hoped for. This is what St. Augustine says, serm. 36 On the Words of the Lord: "If faith fails, prayer perishes. Whence also the Apostle, when exhorting to prayer, says: Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved; to show that faith is the fountain of prayer (and consequently also of hope, which is the mother of prayer: for no one prays unless he hopes to receive), and that the stream cannot flow where the source of water is dried up, he added: How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?" Christ likewise demanded this confidence, as from the paralytic, Matt. IX, 2: "Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee;" and from the woman with an issue of blood, vers. 22: "Be of good heart, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole." You see here how Christ with faith demands confidence, which faith brings forth as a mother brings forth a daughter. Whence St. Thomas, IIII, Quaest. LXXXIII, art. 15. To the third: "Prayer," he says, "has the efficacy of meriting from charity, but truly the efficacy of obtaining from faith and confidence," as St. James here says. Moreover, the certainty of hope cannot be as great as that of faith: "For what does a man see," by divine faith, "what does he hope for?" says Paul, Rom. viii, 24. Whence St. Chrysostom, nay the Apostle to the Hebrews vi, 18 and 19, compares faith to a column sustaining a house: for this support is most firm; but hope to an anchor, which sustains a ship in the waves, but in such a way that it is tossed and buffeted by them: thus also our hope is tossed and buffeted amid the waves of fear and confidence. Yet the greater the faith, the greater the hope it generates; and the greater the hope, the more powerful is prayer, and the more certainly does it obtain what is requested, as it was in St. Dominic, who used to say that he had never asked anything of God which he had not obtained, and in St. Thomas Aquinas, who asserted that he had obtained all that which he had earnestly sought through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. Wherefore St. Catherine of Siena in praying sharpened this hope, saying: "Lord, I will not let thee go, unless I obtain from thee that which I ask, for example the conversion of this or that sinner;" and thus she obtained all things. Moreover, this confidence arises partly from the purity and sanctity of life, namely from the freedom of a holy and familiar conscience toward God, according to that I John III, 21: "If our heart do not reprehend us, we have confidence towards God: and whatsoever we shall ask, we shall receive of him: because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight;"; and partly and rather from the instinct of God, who animates those praying, and as it were promises that he will give that to which he impels and urges them to ask. Wherefore here faith signifies rather confidence than faith. For the proper act of hope and confidence is prayer: therefore the greater and more efficacious the confidence, the greater and more efficacious will be the prayer. Hence also in prayer confidence is especially to be aroused, and this St. James teaches here, as if to say: Ask for wisdom with great and sure confidence, thus you will certainly obtain it. You ask: Why does God so require hope in prayer? I answer first, because a fitting order and disposition demands it: for it is fitting that one praying should hope for that which he prays for, nay without hope one cannot pray rightly; for no one prays for that of which he despairs. Just as therefore in a vessel, in order that it may hold a great abundance of wine, there is required a great capacity, so in one praying, in order that he may receive a great gift from God, there is required great confidence. For this in the soul is the same as capacity in a vessel, as St. Bernard teaches in words to be cited shortly. Second, because hope is as it were a pipe and channel, which is raised up from man on earth to heaven to God, so that through it the waters of heavenly graces may flow down and rain upon him. Just as therefore the waters of heavenly rain, unless they are received in a channel and flow into it, flow away and are lost: so also the shower of God's graces, unless it is drawn up and gathered in the channel of confidence, spreads itself and is dispersed in every other direction. Third, because hope and prayer hoping is as it were money, by which we buy grace from God: for we can offer and give him nothing else in exchange for it. Moreover, he himself values this hope greatly: because by it he himself is supremely honored. For by it we profess that we distrust ourselves, that we have need of him, and that he is almighty, faithful, generous, nay God, father, governor, and provider of us and of all creatures. Just as therefore a beggar hoping, and praising the riches and generosity of the rich man, begs from him, buys and obtains alms, so also do we from God. And thus by hope, as it were by honor to God, we buy the love and riches of God. Third, just as faith demands and produces hope and confidence, so hope produces faith, that is, credulity and persuasion of obtaining that which we ask. Thus faith is sometimes taken for credulity, not divine and certain, but human and probable, as Rom. cap. xiv, vers. 23: "All that is not of faith (that is, of credulity, namely of conscience, which dictates and believes this or that to be lawful to one, for example to eat things offered to idols), is sin," as if to say: Whatever you do against the dictate and persuasion of conscience, in that you sin. Therefore the greater the hope in the affection, the greater the faith and credulity of obtaining it produces in the intellect. The reason, which St. Bernard gives, is from serm. 3 De Annunc. Dom.: "Hope alone," he says, "with thee (O Lord) obtains the place of mercy, nor do you place the oil of mercy except in the vessel of confidence." Whoever therefore knows this decree of God, and this power of hope, certainly from it conceives faith, that is persuasion of obtaining that which he hopes for and asks. This threefold faith is required for efficacious prayer. Whence God is accustomed, before He grants the thing requested, to inspire it in the one petitioning, and therefore it is an immense gift of God, and as it were a certain presage of obtaining the thing, even through a miracle, if need be. For this is the faith of miracles, namely faith joined with certain confidence in divine aid for performing a miracle, which confidence is produced by the instinct of God animating the worker of wonders, and as it were promising him his aid for the miracle which he attempts to perform, concerning which Christ says in Matthew, chapter xxi, verse 22: "If you shall have faith, and shall not hesitate, not only shall you do this that is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say to this mountain: Take up and cast thyself into the sea, it shall be done: and all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive." For God wills that we trust in Him completely, so that by our confidence we may honour His paternal care and providence over us. Wherefore He delights to be overcome by it, and as it were to have pious force exerted upon Him. For he who prays struggles with God, as Jacob struggled with the angel, who, overcoming him, obtained a blessing from him, and was called Israel, that is, one who rules over God, Genesis xxxii, 28. On the other hand, God hates diffidence, as if one were thinking unworthily of Him and His kindness. Wherefore the Wise Man, chapter 1, says: "Think of the Lord in goodness, and seek Him in simplicity of heart, for He is found by them that tempt Him not; but He appeareth to them that have faith in Him," in Greek, tois pê apistountes, that is, who do not distrust Him. Whence Cassian, Collation IX, chapter xxxi, gives this as a certain sign of prayer heard: "if we have felt in the very pouring forth of prayer that we have obtained what we ask. For one will merit to be heard and to obtain just as much as he shall have believed that God can either look upon him or provide for him. For that saying of the Saviour is irrevocable: Whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you shall receive, and it shall come to you." On the other hand, chapter xxxiii: "Assuredly," he says, "let no one who supplicates doubt that he will not be heard, when he has doubted that he will be heard." He then adds various causes on account of which prayer is heard. Morally learn here that the measure of prayer and obtaining is faith and hope: what you certainly hope for, this you will certainly obtain: hope for great things and ask for great things, you will obtain great things. For the more you enlarge your soul through hope, the more you make it capable of God's gifts, the more will God fill it with them, according to that oracle: "Enlarge thy mouth, and I will fill it," Psalm lxxx, 11. Wherefore wisely St. Bernard, sermon 15 on Psalm xc, says: "Hope in Him, all ye congregation of the people. For whatsoever place your foot shall occupy, it shall be yours: your foot, namely your hope, and however far it shall have advanced, it shall obtain: if only it be fixed wholly in God, so that it be firm and not waver. What should it fear the asp or the basilisk? Why should it be terrified at the roar of the lion or the hissing of the dragon? Because he hath hoped in Me, I will deliver him." The same more clearly, sermon 32 in the Canticles, speaking of great and magnanimous Saints: "Great things," he says, "they dare, because they are great, and what they dare, they obtain. For great faith merits great things: and in so far as you shall have extended the foot of confidence in the goods of the Lord, so far shall you possess. To such great spirits a great Bridegroom comes forth, and will do great things with them." Thus Judas Maccabaeus with few illustrious men had victories over Antiochus and his greatest forces; but in the last battle, seeing his men scattered, broken in hope and spirit, and saying hesitantly: "Let us go against our adversaries, if we can fight against them," he succumbed and fell, I Maccabees IX, 8. Possessing this confidence, the abbot Sisoes, praying for Abraham his disciple who was tempted and had fallen, said confidently: "God, whether you will or will not, I will not let you go unless we have healed him." And the disciple was healed, as is found in the Lives of the Fathers, book VI, chapter IV, number 14. Armed with the same confidence, Theodoret used to say: "If heaven should cleave to earth, Theodore does not fear;" for he had asked of God that fear should be taken from him: in the same place, book V, chapter vii, number 6. I have recounted more examples of this illustrious hope and matter in Jeremiah, chapter vii, verse 8. Moreover these things are said not only to the just, but also to sinners. For if they wish to repent, certain forgiveness, grace and salvation from God (in which true wisdom consists) are promised to them; and therefore they ought to seek the same with certain faith and hope, as St. Mary Magdalene sought, and therefore obtained it when she heard from Christ: "Thy faith hath made thee safe, go in peace," Luke cap. vii, vers. 50. And the paralytic, when he heard from Christ: "Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee," Matt. IX. For this is what cries out and promises throughout the Prophets: "Turn ye to me, and I will turn to you. If the wicked man do penance, etc., he shall live, and shall not die, and I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done," Ezech. cap. xviii, vers. 12. NOTHING WAVERING,—in Greek mêden diakrinomenos, that is judging nothing, disputing nothing, inquiring nothing (he who does not trust fully disputes and judges with himself), doubting nothing, suspecting nothing, disputing nothing, wavering nothing: for those who doubt dispute with themselves with alternating opinions, as is evident in those who are perplexed, scrupulous, anxious, fearful, faint-hearted, melancholic. This wavering therefore either opposes faith, and is unbelief; or rather opposes confidence in obtaining the thing sought, and is distrust. If it be unbelief, it calls into doubt God's power, goodness, truth, and that He will not hear, even if the requisites for prayer are present. If it be distrust, it wavers and distrusts not God's power and promise, but its own merits, namely that on account of its own unworthiness it will not obtain from God the great thing which it seeks. This distrust arises from sloth and faint-heartedness. Thus Moses wavered on account of the unworthiness of the rebellious people, saying: "Can we bring forth water out of this rock for you?" Num. xx, 10; and therefore he was punished with death in the desert, nor was he permitted to enter the promised land. Thus Peter wavered seeing the wind on the sea, and therefore began to sink, Matt. cap. xiv, vers. 31; whence he heard from Christ: "O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?" Wherefore this wavering does not include fear, which joined with hope, moderate and holy, is a gift of God. For as the Saints in other actions, so also in prayer have confidence, but joined with fear. For as the common proverb has it: Hope is in us, the outcome in God. Now the spirits and virtues of the Saints have been various, and are various. For some exercised themselves and excelled in the spirit of fear, as St. Ephrem, St. Arsenius and the Anchorites, concerning whom Climacus speaks, in the degree On Penance. But others exercised themselves more in the spirit of confidence and love, as St. Antony, whose voice was this: "I love my God, I do not fear Him." Hence it came to pass, and comes to pass, that some Saints in prayer show fear and dread of not obtaining what they seek, especially if they be temporal things, which do not touch the salvation of the soul. For in these God often does not hear the faithful according to their will, that He may hear according to salvation. Thus David prayed with fear for the life of the child begotten by him from Bathsheba, saying: "If perhaps the Lord will give him to me," II Reg. xii, 22; and the Ninevites prayed for pardon, not of guilt (for they knew this was promised by God to penance), but of punishment and destruction, saying: "Who knoweth if God will turn and forgive, and turn away from the wrath of His anger, and we shall not perish?" Jonae III, 9. See the things said there. But the spirit of hope and love is preferable to the spirit of fear and dread: hence the more hope and love increase, the more fear and dread diminish. Finally, "fear is not in charity, but perfect charity casteth out fear: because fear hath pain; but he that feareth, is not perfected in charity," 1 John IV, 18. Therefore St. James signifies here that one who prays ought rather to hope than to fear that he will obtain the thing which he seeks. Whence he says: "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." Wherefore if you wish to pray fruitfully, before and during prayer stir up great faith and confidence, and for this invoke God saying with the Apostles: "Increase our faith," Luke cap. xvii, 5. And with the father of the lunatic: "I believe, Lord, help my unbelief," Mark IX, 24. Hence St. Bernard, serm. 4 De Quadrag., setting forth three vices and impediments to prayer, teaches first that it ought not to be timid; secondly, neither on the other hand rash; thirdly, neither lukewarm. "For timid prayer," he says, "doth not penetrate heaven: because immoderate fear constrains the mind, so that one who prays cannot, I will not say not ascend, but not even proceed. But lukewarm prayer languishes and fails in its ascent, because it hath not vigor. Rash prayer indeed ascends, but rebounds: for it is resisted; and not only doth it not obtain grace, but also deserveth offense. But prayer which is faithful, and humble, and fervent, shall without doubt penetrate heaven. Whence it is certain that it cannot return empty." Moreover timid prayer "arises from this, when a man so considers his own unworthiness that he doth not turn his eyes to divine benignity: for deep calleth on deep: luminous deep calleth on dark deep, deep of mercy calleth on deep of misery. For the heart of man is deep and unsearchable; but if my iniquity is great, much greater is, O Lord, thy pity. And therefore when my soul shall be troubled at myself, I remember the multitude of thy mercy, and I breathe in it: and when I shall have entered into my powers, I will not wish to remember thy justice alone." For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and tossed about by the wind. — The Greek klydôni signifies fluctuation, tempest, disturbance, impulse, surge of waves, especially when it is ventilated, agitated, tossed about by a strong wind. For then wave driveth wave continually, so that with the waves of water reciprocating, mountains of water are heaped together, and sailors seem now to be lifted up to heaven, now to descend to the depths, according to that of Psalm cvi, verse 25: "His waves were lifted up: they mount up to the heavens and go down to the depths." And that of Ovid, lib. I Tristium: Wretched me! What mountains of waters are rolled! Now, now you would think they touch the highest stars. What valleys sink in the divided sea! Now, now you would think they touch black Tartarus. Nor are the planks of the sides struck by the waves more lightly than the heavy weight of a ballista strikes the walls. For in like manner, one who hesitates in prayer and distrusts, is driven and tossed about by the various fluctuations of thoughts, affections and passions, which hesitation stirs up like a wind; so that now he hopes he will obtain what he seeks, now he despairs, and there says with alternating agitation of mind: I shall obtain what I ask for, I shall not obtain it; God will give what I request, He will not give it; He will give it late; He will give it sparingly: I deserve to obtain it, I do not deserve it: I am worthy, nay rather unworthy: God is merciful and generous, but He is also just and stern: the mercy of God is great, but my sins are too great for me to deserve to be heard. Whence it comes to pass that now he invokes God patiently, now complains and murmurs impatiently; now he waits; now he casts down his spirit, and grows angry because he is not heard immediately: and he yields to these turbulent agitations, and allows himself to be swept away, nor does he strive against them with oars and sails, as in such a matter is necessary. This is especially true when something adverse or tribulation arises, which seems to strike down or diminish hope. For then the faint-hearted fall in spirit, when rather then they ought to lift up their spirits to God, who when invoked in straits is wont to be present, through confidence and prayer all the more, and indeed fix themselves entirely in Him. Thus by orators it is proverbially called Euripus, or Euripus, a man variable, changeable, of doubtful faith and inconstant, who like the Euripus is agitated and fluctuates; now he says, now he denies; now he wills, now he does not will; now he loves, now he hates; now he trusts, now he distrusts. For the Euripus is a part of the sea between Aulis and Euboea, reciprocating seven times by day and night; concerning which Cicero in his oration for Murena says: "For what strait," he says, "what Euripus do you think has so many motions, such great and so various agitations of waves, as the reason of the assemblies has perturbations and such tides?" They say that Aristotle, in investigating the cause of such reciprocation of the Euripus, was absorbed by it. Hence that common saying: "The Euripus has Aristotle, not Aristotle the Euripus." Livy, in book VIII of the Punic War, believes the Euripus is swept along by certain winds blowing there. Aeschines objects to Demosthenes that he had repeatedly surpassed the Euripus itself in inconstancy by changing his faction. Such are many today, who are constantly inconstant. Such also is the Euripus of human happiness or unhappiness, which the Nazianzen graphically depicts, in his epistle to Sophronius: "You see," he says, "what is the condition of our affairs, and how a certain wheel of human business is turned about in its course, now these things flourishing, now those withering: while neither prosperity nor adversity remains constant with us, but changes and leaps to the opposite with the greatest speed, so that one can trust in air or in letters written on water sooner than in human happiness." Such finally are the impious and worldly, who are continually agitated and tossed about by the tides of desires, who therefore undergo similar fluctuations and tides in prayer, concerning whom Isaiah, chapter 57, verse 20, says: "The impious," he says, "like a raging sea which cannot rest, and its waves surge forth in trampling and mud. There is no peace for the impious, says the Lord." A notable example is in Cain the fratricide, Genesis IV, 13. But for the pious there is peace, and hence a peaceful, constant and happy mind, confidence, prayer, action and life. Such was Anna, the mother of Samuel, who praying for him obtained him, "and her countenance was no more changed," I Kings chapter 1, verse 18.
1:7
7. LET NOT THAT MAN THEREFORE THINK THAT HE SHALL RECEIVE. — For the Greek word they have gar, that is, for, but the learned Interpreter rendered not word for word, but the sense, as if to say: Let no one hesitate in asking, and be like a wave of the sea; for if he be such, I declare to him that he shall receive nothing. This is what the Interpreter says clearly and with emphasis: "Let not that man therefore think that he shall receive:" Add the Greek gar and the Latin enim, which signify much, namely "assuredly," "truly," "verily," "certainly," "namely," "indeed," "therefore": and in all these ways it can be translated here, which our Author has embraced by translating therefore. For thus in Latin, it sometimes begins a sentence, and the same seems to be what therefore is, as in Plautus in the Trinummus: "For he names me;" and in the Persa: "For you will not go;" and in the Miles: "For I know now." Finally, St. James hebraizes. For in Hebrew ve (as the Syriac translator rendered it), that is, and, signifies for, because, certainly, assuredly, therefore, etc. It is an argument from the contrary, as if to say: Let him ask in faith; thus indeed he will obtain: because he who asks hesitating and distrusting will obtain nothing. For prayer alone that is confident and steadfast deserves to obtain what it asks. Note: St. James speaks of receiving and obtaining as far as it depends on the power and, as it were, merit of prayer. For otherwise God sometimes from His liberality supplies the defect of faith and confidence, and grants what is asked even to those who hesitate, as He granted to the ruler who doubted whether Christ, being absent, could heal his son who was absent, much more whether He could raise him from the dead, John, chap. IV, vers. 49. For He healed him while absent, so that He might instill in him this faith and hope concerning Himself, namely that He is the Son of God almighty, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. For this faith was then new, recent and unheard of in the world: whence it had to be proved and confirmed by Christ through miracles, as St. Gregory notes, hom. 28 in the Gospel. For the same reason He healed the lunatic after rebuking their unbelief: "O faithless and perverse generation," He says, "how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?" Matt. xvii, 17.
1:8
8. A MAN OF DOUBLE MIND. — This refers to the preceding matters (1): whence St. Peter, in St. Clement, book VII of the Constitutions, cap. xii, alluding to this, says: "Do not be of double mind in your prayer, wavering whether it will come to pass or not. For the Lord said to me, Peter, in the sea: O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?" And St. Ignatius, epistle 13 to Hiero: "Do not," he says, "be of double mind in your prayer: for blessed is he who does not waver." Whence the Syriac translator renders it, a man divided in mind, that is, doubtful; in Greek dipsychos, that is, two-souled, as it were having two souls. For he who doubts and hesitates seems to have two souls: one by which he hopes for that which he seeks to come to pass, another by which he distrusts and despairs; one by which he believes God to be powerful and merciful, another by which he believes Him to be severe and unwilling to do what is asked. This duplicity is opposed to simplicity, by which the faithful ought firmly to place and fix his faith and hope in the one God. Again, double-minded is he who is timid and irresolute, who from fear has his mind divided, so that in afflictions he places his hope now in God, now in man, while now he implores God's aid, now, as if forsaken by God, he implores the help of men. Secondly, dipsychos, that is, two-souled and two-hearted, is said of him who fixes his mind and heart partly on God and heaven, partly on mammon and earth, partly on virtue, partly on vice and desire. For his mind is divided into two most distant things, and is as it were torn asunder into two. Thus Oecumenius. St. James therefore touches here the root of the evil, namely hesitation in prayer. For this reason those who hesitate fluctuate in faith and hope in praying, because they fluctuate in mind, while they wish at once to please God and the world, at once to love heavenly and earthly things, at once to rejoice in present and future goods; these Christ rebukes, Matt. vi, 24, saying: "No man can serve two masters, etc. You cannot serve God and mammon." You cannot with one eye look upon heaven, with the other upon earth. This duplicity is opposed to simplicity of affection and love, which places the whole heart and love in the one God and virtue. Moreover, the root of this duplicity is variety, nay rather contrariety of affections, which arises from the fact that the soul of man is partly rational, partly sensitive: insofar as it is rational, it loves honest good; insofar as it is sensitive, delightful good, which often conflicts with what is honest. Whence certain Philosophers, seeing in man such great contrariety of affections and loves, from this inferred that in man there are two souls contrary to each other, one rational, by which he communicates with angels, another animal, by which he communicates with beasts. But this is an error. Thirdly, dipsychos, that is, two-souled, or double-minded, is light and changeable like a polyp, or a chameleon, which takes on the colors of all things to which it applies itself. For this lightness is the mother of inconstancy, concerning which St. James subjoins, saying: "Inconstant is he in all his ways." This lightness also begets hesitation in prayer, concerning which the discourse preceded. Whence Cassian, book VII of the Institutes, cap. xv, and St. Bernard, epistle 99, apply this sentence of James to apostates, who shake off the habit of Religion which they have assumed, from lightness, and return to the world. This duplicity is opposed to constancy, by which one adheres simply, absolutely and constantly to right reason and to good that is honest and holy (1) Fourthly, dipsychos, that is, two-souled, is a hypocrite, a parasite, and every crafty and two-faced person. For he has a double heart, one true, the other feigned. For example, he feigns that he loves God, when he loves wickedness; he feigns himself faithful and pious, when he is impious and unfaithful. Such are Heretics, likewise Politicians, who with Catholics are Catholics, with heretics heretics, with atheists atheists. Likewise those who with the chaste are chaste, with the unchaste unchaste, with the sober sober, with the drunk drunk: for they turn their cloak to every wind. These indeed are hateful to God, and therefore their prayers, on account of hypocrisy and impiety, are abominable to God. This duplicity is opposed to simplicity, that is, sincerity: for hypocrisy is adverse to this. Such also are the double-tongued and flatterers, concerning whom Psalm xi, 2: "Deceitful lips in heart and heart," that is, in double heart, "have spoken." For they have one heart in their mouth, honeyed and flattering, another in their mind, bitter and hostile. Whence their symbol is the partridge, a deceitful bird, as I showed in Jerem. xvii, 19 and 20, which in Paphlagonia is truly said to have a double, or bifid heart, as Pliny relates, lib. XI, cap. iii, and Gellius, lib. XVI, cap. xv. Therefore those who are bilingual are double-hearted, and for that reason double-bodied, indeed double-horned; but those who are sincere and simple are of one mind, single-hearted, single-bodied, single-tongued, and therefore most strong and unconquered, as it were unicorns. This is what the Psalmist desired, saying Psalm 85, 11: "Let my heart rejoice, that it may fear thy name;" for "let it rejoice," in Hebrew it is ייחד iached, that is, make my heart one, or united, as Symmachus and St. Jerome translate it, namely that it may cleave to thee alone, and thus be united to thee and become one with thee. For, as St. Gregory says, part. III Past., cap. xii: "God is said to converse with the simple, because he illuminates the minds of those with the ray of his visitation concerning the mysteries from on high, whom no shadow of duplicity obscures." Wherefore rightly St. Athanasius, epist. De Nicaena Syn., ascribes this sentence of St. James to the Arian heretics before all others, "who never," he says, "hold one and the same opinion, but foster now one, now another, and pursue their utterances now with praise, now with blame; so that what they have already approved, they straightway condemn." Indeed heresy, because it is false, is inconstant and always varies, just as conversely faith, because it is true, is constant and always like itself, indeed the same everywhere. Therefore: Why is one faith played upon with so many strings? Moreally St. Gregory depicts this duplicity of soul and the double laws, customs and acts graphically, lib. X Moral., cap. xxvii: "The simplicity of the just is mocked," he says, "it is the wisdom of this world to cover the heart with machinations, to veil the sense with words, to show false things as true, to demonstrate true things as false. This prudence is surely learned in use by youths, this is learned by children for a price: those who know it, despising others, grow proud: those who do not know it, subjected and fearful, marvel at it in others: because by them this same duplicity is loved, cloaked in the protection of iniquity, while perversity of mind is called urbanity; to those obedient to it she has commanded to seek the heights of honors, to rejoice in the vanity of temporal glory obtained, to repay evils inflicted by others with greater measure; when strength suffices, to yield to none who resist; when the possibility of virtue is lacking, whatever they cannot accomplish through malice, this they simulate in feigned goodness." INCONSTANT IN ALL HIS WAYS,—namely in all his actions and utterances, as if to say: The origin of hesitation in prayer is duplicity of soul; for he who has this hesitates in all his actions, and is inconstant. For "inconstant" in Greek it is akatastatos, that is, confused, uncomposed, inconstant, unstable, disturbed, infirm. Whence akatastasia is sedition, inconstancy, tumult, confusion, disturbed order of things. Opposed to this is akataseistos, that is, unshaken, firm, composed, constant, stable.
1:9
9. BUT LET THE BROTHER OF LOW DEGREE GLORY. — And although it may not be necessary to connect all the sentences of James with one another, since they are various and disparate in the manner of an epistle, yet some connect this with the verse immediately preceding, as if he were to set the humble in opposition to the double-minded, who strive for great things, and therefore are proud; as if to say, Let the proud and double-minded glory in their present pride, but fleeting and of brief duration: but truly let the humble and simple glory in their future exaltation, but enduring forever. From duplicity therefore he has made a step, and passes on to the pride and wealth connected with it, and opposes to it poverty and humility: and this seems sufficiently apt. Others more aptly and fittingly refer this more remotely to verse 1: "My brethren, count it all joy when you shall fall into divers temptations," as if here St. James descends and passes from the thesis to the hypothesis, from the genus to the species or example, namely from tribulation to poverty and abjection, by which the first Christians were pressed. For the chief tribulation of the first faithful was poverty, both because they had voluntarily stripped themselves of their goods and laid them at the feet of the Apostles, Acts IV, 34, and this from zeal for perfection; and also because they were despoiled of their goods by the Jews persecuting Christians. For this is what the Apostle says in Hebrews x, 34: "You took joyfully the plundering of your goods." These therefore he here consoles, and urges to constancy. Whence as in verse 1 he said: "Count it all joy," so here in like manner, nay more, he says: "Let him glory," as if to say, Let not the faithful merely rejoice, but also glory in tribulation, for example in abjection and poverty. Whence concluding this matter he subjoins: "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation." Let the humble and poor therefore glory, because he is conformed to Christ humble and poor: for humility and poverty have been honored and made glorious through Christ, and therefore more illustrious than the riches and splendor of kings. For it is the voice of Christ: "Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart," Matthew xi. Secondly, "let the humble glory," because humility is the ladder of heaven, and the sure way to exaltation, concerning which more presently. Brother, — that is, Christian. For all Christians are brothers, because they have the same Father Christ, the same Mother the Church, born again by the same baptism as it were from a womb, they expect the same heavenly inheritance; because, as Tertullian says in Apology xxxix: "They have acknowledged one Father God, who have drunk one spirit of holiness, who from one womb of the same ignorance have burst forth into one light of truth." HUMBLE, — tapeinos, that is, abject, namely poor: for the Hebrew ענ ani signifies both the abject or humble, and the poor. For these two are ordinarily joined together. Whence St. James opposes to the humble the rich, saying: "But the rich in his humility," as if to say, The rich, and therefore proud and glorious. "For pride is the worm of riches," says St. Augustine, sermon 5 On the Words of the Lord according to Matthew. And St. Bernard in On Conversion to the Clergy, chapter xx: "Why," he says, "should not chastity be endangered in delights, humility in riches, piety in business, truth in much speaking, charity in this wicked age?" Thus in turn Christ signifies the humble by the poor, saying, Matthew chapter v, verse 3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This James says in other words: "Let the humble glory in his exaltation." Furthermore tapeinos signifies both the vile and abject, and the humble or endowed with the virtue of humility: here it includes both. For it signifies the abject, who tolerates his abjection by virtue, and humbly receives and undertakes it. For such a one it is permitted to glory in his exaltation: otherwise he who is indignant at it, is either of a swollen and proud spirit, and cannot hope for exaltation, but rather for confusion and greater abjection. For such a one is hateful to God and men, according to that of Ecclesiasticus xxv, 3: "Three sorts my soul hateth, and I am greatly grieved at the life of them: a poor man that is proud, a rich man that is a liar, and an old man that is a fool and unchaste." Thus Oecumenius, Dionysius and others. Note: James says these things because the common temptation and tribulation of the first Christians was that they were despised everywhere, as if vile and abject, and this for several reasons. First, because they themselves were few in number, poor, and devoted to poverty: for they spurned earthly riches in order to acquire heavenly ones. Second, because they used modest and simple clothing. Whence Lucian in the Philopater thus depicts and mocks a Christian: "A tattered cloak, without shoes and covering, going bareheaded, with shorn hair." Third, because in their words and in every movement and gesture they displayed humility and modesty. Fourth, because Christianity was then regarded as a new sect, vile, abject, and therefore hateful to the world, namely to Gentiles and Jews: and it is still so regarded among many Japanese and Indians. IN HIS EXALTATION. — Our Serarius explains this in three ways. First, that is to say, if it should happen that the humble man be exalted, let him conduct himself humbly, and glory in this humility of his. Second, that is to say, let the humble man glory in his humility, because humility through Christ has become sublimity, and it celebrates and exalts the Christian most highly. Third, that is to say, let the humble man glory in his abjection, because this will be for him the cause of the highest exaltation, so that metonymically the effect is put for the cause, or the reward for the merit, namely exaltation for humiliation, which merits and causes exaltation. Fourth, more simply and properly, that is to say, let the humble man glory in his exaltation, which he certainly expects, for God has promised this to the humble, and therefore He grants it often in this world, and always in the future. For it is an eternal and just ordinance of God: "Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted," Matt. xxiii, 12. Whence the Blessed Virgin sings: "He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble," Luke i, 52. Thus Saul, being humble, was raised to the kingdom, but becoming proud, he was deprived of life together with the kingdom. Whence he heard from Samuel: "Did not I anoint thee to be king over Israel?" I Kings xv, 17. Thus David from a shepherd of sheep was made king. Thus the Blessed Virgin by her humility merited to become the Mother of God: "Because," she says, "He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid," Luke i, 48. "For it is the proper work of God to lay low the high and to raise up the humble," as the Philosopher says. Thus St. Francis, because he cast himself down below all men, was raised up above all. St. Bonaventure relates in his Life that a holy man saw a throne in heaven sublime and glorious, and when he asked whose it was, he heard: "This seat belonged to one of those who were falling, and now it is kept for the humble Francis." Thus God exalted the vile and humble St. Equitius, as St. Gregory relates, lib. I of the Dialogues, cap. IV. Thus that holy virgin in the monastery of the Tabennesians, feigning herself foolish, and therefore vile and despised, so that she appeared to be the sponge of the whole house, was declared and celebrated by the Abbot Piterius by the command of an angel, on account of her humility alone. Various ones explain this variously. First, some think it is irony, that is to say, let the rich man, if he wishes, glory in his riches, but let him know for certain that he will be deprived of them shortly and humiliated. Thus Bede, Thomas the Englishman, Hugh, Lyra, Dionysius, Gagneius. Second, others say, that is to say, if the rich man be stripped of his goods by an enemy, or be deprived of them by shipwreck or some other misfortune, let him bear this humiliation and loss patiently, and receive it with joy, and thus glory in it. Third, others, as if he said: The rich man, even if he abounds in riches, should not nevertheless be proud in them, nor become insolent, but contain himself in humility, mindful that they wither like a flower, and like hay immediately dry up, that is, fade away and perish. Thus Vatable, Cajetan, Salmeron and others. Fourth, Oecumenius supplies the word "let him be humiliated," or "let him be confounded, put to shame, and think humbly of himself," so that it is an antithesis, that is to say, let the humble man glory in the hope of his exaltation, but let the rich man be confounded in the humiliation which is prepared for him, which he must certainly expect. But James omitted "let him be confounded" out of modesty. This sense is more forceful, and the antithesis of the humble, or poor man and the rich man in their lot, which will befall each in contrary fashion, seems to demand it. Likewise what follows: "For as the flower of the grass shall pass away, etc. The rich man shall fade away in his journeys." Dryness therefore and fading is humility, that is, the confusion of the rich man. Thus the rich Epulo was humiliated when he was buried in hell; but Lazarus the beggar was lifted up to the bosom of Abraham, Luke cap. xvi, vers. 22. Truly Seneca in the Hercules Furens: "God the avenger follows the proud from behind." St. James censures by this statement especially the Gentiles and Jews who were devoted to riches and gloried in them; and therefore they despised the Christians who were poor both in wealth and in spirit, indeed they persecuted them, and despoiled them of their goods and their lives. FOR AS THE FLOWER OF THE HAY SHALL PASS AWAY, — as if to say: Therefore let the rich man be humbled in his future humiliation, because namely, as the flower of the hay shall pass away, to wit the rich man himself, as St. Augustine reads in the Mirror, not his humility: for this shall endure forever in hell. Oecumenius notes that the riches and glory of the rich man are compared here, not to hay, but to the flower of hay, which has appearance and splendor; but more quickly than the very green herb of hay is dried by the sun, withers and falls: for in like manner the riches of the rich have splendor and glory, but they are deprived of these by God immediately, they pass away and vanish, as St. Ambrose describes graphically, lib. V of the Hexameron, VII. Thus the Poet compares youth and the brief life of man to a flower, saying: Gather, O maiden, roses, while the flower is new, and youth is new, And remember that your age thus hastens away. and Virgil in the poem on the Rose: As long as one day is, so long is the age of roses.
1:10
10. "But rich in her humility," —ταπεινώσει, that is, in the most holy and wise humility of all, and this is humiliation, self-abasement. "For she never sat at table with the others, but only brushed crumbs from it and washed pots, living content with these alone as nourishment; she never wore shoes, never did injury to anyone; no murmur of hers was ever heard, although she was beaten by all and silently endured the mockery and curses of everyone." Thus Heraclides in the Paradise, cap. xxi, and Palladius in the Lausiac History, cap. XLI. Thus it was revealed to St. Anthony that a certain tanner was holier than him, for he esteemed all others holier and worthy of heaven, but himself alone worthy of hell on account of his sins, and guilty. Thus in the Lives of the Fathers, lib. VII, cap. xv. In the same place, cap. xiii, those ancient fathers give these praises to humility: "Humility is a tree of life growing upward. The perfection of man is humility. Humility neither grows angry itself, nor permits others to grow angry. The earth to which God said a sacrifice should be offered to him is humility. Every labor without humility is vain. For humility is the forerunner of charity; as John was the forerunner of Jesus, drawing all to him: so also humility draws to charity, that is, to God himself, because God is charity. However much a man has humbled himself in humility, so much also does he advance upward. For just as pride, if it ascends to heaven, is brought down even to hell: so also humility, if it descends to hell, shall then be exalted to heaven. In the same place, Abbot Macarius hears from the devil: 'I suffer great force from you, Macarius, for although I desire to harm you, I cannot. You often fast and keep vigil; I always do; but in one thing you overcome me.' When Macarius asked, 'In what?' he said: Your humility alone overcomes me." St. Bernard, in his treatise On the Twelve Degrees of Humility, teaches that Jacob's ladder stretched from earth to heaven signifies humility, by which through its twelve degrees we ascend to God, "And the Lord leaning upon it appeared, because at the summit of humility is established the knowledge of truth." The same, sermon 27 in the Canticles: "What," he says, "voluntary poverty, what humility? Does not the one merit the eternal kingdom, and the other equally merit eternal exaltation?" The same, in the Annunciation of the Lord, sermon 3, teaches that Christ descended from heaven to earth and into the womb of the Blessed Virgin, "that by his poverty we might all be enriched, by his humility we might be lifted up, by his diminishment we might be magnified, and adhering to God through his incarnation we might begin to be one spirit with him." The same, On the Manner of Living Well, cap. xxxx: "The more humble you are, the greater height of glory shall follow you. Descend that you may ascend, humble yourself that you may be exalted, lest being exalted you be humbled. Humility knows no fall, it knows ascent." Wherefore the same elsewhere gravely rebukes the folly of men who wish to ascend through pride, when there is no other way to ascent than humility and descent, and that the easiest way. Hence the hemerocallis, that is, beautiful for one day, is so called; and Mantuan: I marveled at swift youth fleeing with fleeting age, And while roses are born, they cease to be. Pliny, lib. XVI, cap. xxv: "The flower," he says, "is the sign of full spring and the year being born anew, the flower is the joy of trees. Then they show themselves new and different from what they are: then they luxuriate in various paintings of colors even unto rivalry." The same, lib. XXI, cap. 1, teaches that flowers are a wanton sport and a painting of nature, and that by their fragility and brief duration they admonish man of death. "For the rest," he says, "nature has produced for use and nourishment; and therefore has granted them ages and years: but flowers and fragrances she produces for a day: a great admonition (as is plain) to men, that those things which flourish most splendidly wither most swiftly." Secondly, just as green grass, otherwise sweet, if it dries up and becomes hay, becomes bitter: for which reason Cato orders it to be cut before it dries, and from him Pliny, lib. XVIII, cap. xxviii: so when the glory of the rich man has passed away, bitter is his memory and recollection. Thirdly, just as the sun by its heat immediately dries up the flower: so fire, robbery, shipwreck, or some other similar misfortune and calamity suddenly takes away from the rich man his wealth and glory. Fourthly, just as the flower and grass of hay when cut is born again each year in spring and autumn; whence Varro, lib. IV on the Latin Language, and Festus think "hay" is called from "interest," because each year it produces new offspring in the meadows: so riches and glory taken from one rich man pass to another, and in him are as it were born again and sprout forth, from this one again soon to pass to another and another. Fifth, just as a flower nourishes the eyes only by its color, yet has no fruit whereby to fill the mouth and belly: so riches nourish the eyes of the avaricious, but do not satisfy the mind. Wherefore the Wise Man, chapter v, verse 8, compares the things and hope of the impious to a shadow, a messenger, a ship, a bird flying past, an arrow sent forth, down, foam and smoke. "What hath pride profited us? or what advantage hath the boasting of riches brought us? All those things are passed away like a shadow, and like a post that runneth on, and like a ship that passeth through the waves of the water, of which when it is gone by, there is no trace to be found, nor path of its keel in the waves: or as a bird that flieth through the air, of which no mark of her passage is found, but only the sound of her wings beating the light air, and parting it by the force of her flight, and she moved her wings and flew through, and afterwards no sign of her way is found: or as an arrow shot at a mark, the air presently closeth in upon itself, so that the passage thereof is not known: so we also being born, forthwith ceased to be; and we have been able to shew no mark of virtue, but are consumed in our wickedness. Such things as these have they said in hell, who have sinned: because the hope of the wicked is as the down that is carried away with the wind, and as a thin froth that is dispersed by the storm; and as smoke that is scattered abroad by the wind; and as the remembrance of a guest of one day that passeth by. But the just shall live for ever, and their reward is with the Lord, and the care of them with the Most High." Sixth, the same flower changes color, and that repeatedly throughout the day many times. "Thus the leaves of the polium appear white in the morning, purple at midday, blue at sunset," says Pliny, book XXI, chapter vii. In like manner riches and delights change appearance and taste, and according to the taste of the rich man they taste now one way, now another: to the hungry they seem honeyed, to the satiated bitter, and they bring forth disgust. Seventh, the three principal colors of flowers are: scarlet in the rose, violet in the violet, purple in the iris. Art imitates these three colors in garments which the rich now dye and wear scarlet, now violet, now purple, says Pliny, book XXI, chapter viii. These three colors represent likewise three destroyers of riches, namely scarlet represents fire and conflagration, violet represents water and shipwreck, purple represents slaughter and robbery. For riches perish either by fire, or by shipwreck, or by robbery. Eighth, trees and herbs succeed one another in flower. "For first the almond tree flowers, then the pear, the cherry, the plum. The laurel follows, and the cypress follows that; then the pomegranate, the fig. The vine flowers at the solstice, and the olive which begins somewhat later. All things cease flowering in seven days," says Pliny, book XVI, chapter xxv. Thus the goods of the rich succeed one another in flower, in use and in price; but all cease flowering in seven days, that is in few days, and lose their flower, use and price.
1:11
11. "The sun is risen with heat," — both in the morning, but rather at midday: for then it burns, especially when it is in Cancer or Leo. AND THE BEAUTY OF HIS COUNTENANCE HATH PERISHED. — He calls the "countenance" of the flower metaphorically, its form and appearance. Thus the beauty of the countenance of the rich man, and of his riches, is the splendor of garments, the elegance of the table, the brightness of the house and furnishings, the pomp of servants, friends and followers, and, as Thomas the Englishman says, human grace and favor. For all seek the favor of the rich man and applaud him: but all these things like a flower quickly fall away. AND SO THE RICH MAN ALSO IN HIS WAYS (rightly: for this is what the Greek πορείαις signifies. Some read πορίαις, that is, riches and abundance. Moreover the "ways" of the rich man are, both his actions, occupations, recreations; and the modes and paths by which he strives toward riches, honors and glory, indeed runs, and in which he walks gloriously, lives and triumphs, as if to say: The rich man in his opulence, splendor and glory) WITHERETH. — The Syriac chuma, that is, shall wither like a flower. For withering is languor, decay, consumption, wasting, which often comes from fever and heat, consuming and drying up the radical moisture, as is evident in those with consumption and hectic fever. Let the rich therefore expect a like wasting, consumption and hectic fever of their riches and glory, whether from the enemy, or from death, or from a thief, etc. Whence St. Augustine in Psalm LII, citing the saying of the impious from Wisdom II, "Let us crown ourselves with roses before they wither": "What could be more delicate," he says, "what more gentle? You would expect from this gentleness crosses, swords? Do not marvel; gentle are even the roots of thorns, if one breaks them, one is not pricked; but from that which pricks you, thorns are born."
1:12
12. "BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO ENDURES TEMPTATION." — This is the conclusion of what has been said concerning temptation from verse 1 up to this point. What kind of temptation is understood here and in how many ways, I have said in verse 1, namely that temptation is persecution and any tribulation whatsoever, and also temptation properly so called, which either concupiscence or the devil stirs up. Whoever endures this steadfastly, so as not to yield to it, shall receive the crown of life: thus Theodoretus of Studion, epistle 59 and 118, and Hesychius, book II on Leviticus, chapter 7. Moreover, this sentiment of James is the antistrophe of the sentiment of Christ, in which He says: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted, etc. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," Matthew 5, verses 5 and 10. Therefore, the patient one enduring temptation, sorrow and persecution is blessed, both in reality, on account of the virtue of patience, which is the supreme good and blessedness of this life, as I said in verse 1; and in hope, on account of the crown of life laid up for him in heaven. Hence also he is called "man," from a manly spirit, virtue and vigor in enduring all things. For, as Pliny says, book XI, chapter 49: "Males in every kind are stronger, except in panthers and bears." Under the word "man," women also who generously endure adversity are understood: for these are indeed virago women, nay, men, because they have overcome men in virtue and still overcome them. Such were St. Agnes, St. Cecilia, St. Agatha and all the others who died gloriously for Christ and virginity as martyrs. These the world calls wretched, but Christ and James call them blessed. Note: "Endures," says Hugh, is the same as "bears under God," or "bears upward." But in Greek it is ὑπομένει, that is, sustains, endures, bears, lasts, persists, tolerates delay, perseveres, waits, expects, persists: hence ὑπομονή is called patience, not any kind, but that which has perseverance joined with hope, by which indeed we tolerate evils through patient expectation, while namely we endure in evils by hope of reward, and we preserve ourselves for better things, as I said in verse 3. Therefore, the patient one if he perseveres is like an anvil, as St. Gregory of Nazianzus says, in the Distichs, which constantly endures all the blows of hammers and does not yield; and like a rock, which receives and repels all the waves of the sea, and, as Horace says, book IV, ode IV: Like the oak struck by hard axes, etc. Through losses, through slaughter, from himself He draws wealth and spirit by iron. Truly Cassian, Conference XVIII, chapter 13: "From passions and endurance," he says, "patience is called, no one is ignorant of this, and therefore it is established that no one can be pronounced patient except him who has tolerated all things that were inflicted upon him without indignation;" and below: "For neither would there be any praiseworthy fortitude if one conquered untested; since indeed victory cannot take place without adversity of contests. For blessed is the man who endures temptation, because when he has been proved, he shall receive the crown of life." Plutarch in the Laconian [history] writes wonderful things concerning the endurance of Lacedaemonian boys. "The boys," he says, "among the Lacedaemonians at the altar of Diana, to whom from her unflinching virtue the name Orthia is given, were beaten with whips every year on a fixed festival day throughout the whole day according to custom, and thus they frequently endured even unto death cheerfully and joyfully competing among themselves for victory, which of them would endure the blows longest and most bravely: whence they gave neither groan nor cry, nor contracted their shoulders or body, only for this, that they might obtain the name and honor of this victory." What then shall the faithful one do, to whom not the display of insane endurance and slight praise of men, but an eternal crown of glory in heaven and praise from God, Angels and men is promised for endurance? Wherefore St. Athanasius for 46 years endured with unconquered spirit the persecutions of the Arians and of almost the whole world. "I know," he himself says in oration 1 Against the Arians, "that a reward is to be rendered by the Savior to those who endure, and that when you have endured, you will have glory, so that it will be permitted to say: We have kept the faith. But you will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him." And St. Basil, when the prefect of the Emperor Valens threatened him with death if he did not consent to the Arians, answered intrepidly: "Would that I had something worthy of a gift that I might offer to him who would sooner free Basil from the knot of this bag, that he might fly to God!" Thus the Tripartite History, book XI, chapter 9. Constantius the Emperor threatened the cutting off of the right hand to Eusebius of Samosata, if he did not deliver the decree of the Arians made against Meletius; immediately Eusebius stretched out both hands, saying: I will not give the decree. Thus the same [work], book V, chapter 49. St. Lucius, condemned to death for the faith by Urbicus, when being led to execution, said: "I give thanks that thou sendest me, freed from the most wicked masters, to the supreme King of heaven." Thus Eusebius, book IV, chapter XVII. Simeon Stylites stood upon a column for many years, enduring cold, heat, winds, rain, hunger, etc., with unmoved body and soul: because he continually gazed upon heaven. Thus Theodoret in his Life. The Emperor Valens wished through the prefect of Edessa to compel eighty orthodox to deny the faith. When therefore he said to Elogius: "Share with one who possesses the kingdom;" he answered: "And to me also there is a share of kingdom and priesthood." Thus the Tripartite History, book VII, chapter XXXIII. St. Dionysia, a noble matron, when she was being beaten sharply by the ministers of Huneric, and streams of blood were already flowing over her whole body, said with a free voice: "Ministers of the devil, what you do to my reproach is itself my praise." Thus Victor of Utica, book III, On the Vandals. Abbas Alexander said to one who was experiencing acedia and weariness in solitude: "This, my son, is a sign that you have neither the kingdom of heaven nor eternal torment in your mind. For if you were to think upon these things with anxious intention, you would feel no acedia in your cell." Thus John Moschus in the Spiritual Meadow, chapter XCII. Abbas John in the Lives of the Fathers, book VII, chapter IV, number 12, used to say: "The gate of heaven is the endurance of injuries, and our fathers through many injuries, rejoicing, entered into it." For, as St. Augustine says, book X of the City of God, chapter VI: "Man himself," he says, "consecrated to the name of God and devoted to God, insofar as he dies to the world, that he may live to God, is a sacrifice." The same, in Psalm CXVIII, discourse 23, speaking of martyrs says: "Many wished to suffer, yet were not able: but none were able unless they wished, etc., because theirs is not the vain temporal glory of men seeking it, but eternal glory is theirs who suffer for a brief time and reign without end. Whence it follows: For they are the exultation of my heart; and if it be affliction of the body, yet it is exultation of the heart." Patience therefore and the patient man is as it were a palm, which however much weight you place upon it, "does not bend downward," says Gellius, book III, chapter VI, "nor is bent inward, but against the weight it rises up, and strives upward and curves back." "For this reason," says Plutarch, "in contests the palm was chosen as the sign of victory: because the nature of such wood is that it does not yield to those pressing and oppressing it." This the wise man among the Germans, Father Peter Canisius, understood, who in all sicknesses and adversities blessed God, saying: "Blessed be that fountain of goods, through which there increases in the aged torpor, disgust, forgetfulness, negligence, modesty, etc., which exhort us to dwell in this fragile tabernacle, and to tend toward a better life." Thus Father Sacchinus relates in his Life, book III, page 375. BECAUSE WHEN HE SHALL HAVE BEEN PROVED, — namely when through much patience he shall have been tested, purified, polished and perfected, as I said in chapter III. For, as it says in Ecclesiasticus II, 3: "Gold and silver are tried in the fire, but men acceptable in the furnace of humiliation." And Wisdom III, 6: "As in a furnace he proved them, and as a holocaust victim he accepted them, etc., he found them worthy of himself." HE SHALL RECEIVE A CROWN OF LIFE. — For, as St. Leo says, sermon 9 On Lent: "Certain and secure is the expectation of promised blessedness, where there is participation in the Lord's passion, etc. Just as therefore it is the duty of the whole body to live piously, so it is the duty of the whole time to bear the cross." Heavenly glory is called a "crown of life," because it is given to the victor over temptations; just as formerly the Olympic victors, that is, those who conquered in the Olympic contest, were crowned with a myrtle crown, a laurel crown, an ivy crown. It is called "of life," namely of blessed, glorious and eternal life. Whence by St. Peter, first epistle, chapter v, verse 4, this crown is called "unfading," so as to be opposed to the crown of the rich, that is to riches, delights and glory, by which the rich are as it were girt about and crowned with a crown, for this is of hay, and like the flower of hay it quickly fades, as James said, verse 11; but that of the patient is unfading, and therefore always green and flourishing. Secondly, this life is fittingly given as a reward for temptations, afflictions and death endured for Christ, according to that, Apocalypse II, 10: "Be thou faithful until death, and I will give thee a crown of life." Thirdly, "of life," because this crown is living and animated, and lives forever. For this crown is the vision and enjoyment of God, by which the Blessed are nourished, delighted and made blessed forever. Why heavenly glory is called eternal life, I have said at Romans vi, 23, namely because this life embraces all joy, all delights, all wisdom, all good. Whence Didymus calls this crown one of hope, delights and graces. Fourthly, some add that it is called "of life," because it is the reward of a life praiseworthy in patience and sanctity spent. St. James alludes to IV Esdras II, 23, where Esdras saw Christ placing a crown upon the heads of each of the patient and the Saints. "These are," he says, "they who have put off the mortal garment, and have put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God. Now they are crowned, and receive palms." And chapter vii, verse 6, he saw the heavenly Jerusalem, and its way narrow and strait, namely through temptations, tribulations and martyrdoms. "The city," he says, "is built and placed in a plain place: but it is full of all goods: its entrance is narrow, and placed on a precipice, so that on the right there is fire, on the left high water (whence the Psalmist: "We have passed through fire and water, and thou hast brought us out into a place of refreshment," Ps. lxv, 12). But there is one path alone placed between them: that is, between the fire and water, so that the path can hold only the footprint of a man," which explaining verse 18: "The just," he says, "shall bear the narrow, hoping for the spacious." This is the crown of which the Psalmist, Psalm xx, 4: "Thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stone;" and Psalm cii, 4: "Who crownest thee with mercy and compassion, who fillest thy desire with good things: thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's." The Lord Christ offered to St. Catherine of Siena two crowns, one of thorns, the other of gold and gems, saying: Choose whichever thou wilt, but know that whichever thou choosest, thou shalt have the other opposed to it in the future life. Immediately she chose the thorny one, and fixed it on her head so that for many days she felt severe pains. Therefore by the thorny one on earth she merited the gem-studded one in heaven; for, as Ecclesiasticus i, 11 says: "The fear of the Lord is glory, and glorying, and joy, and a crown of exultation." Fear namely by which a faithful one fearing and loving God endures any adversity for it; and chapter vi, verse 32: "Thou shalt put on a robe of glory, and shalt place upon it a crown of rejoicing;" and Wisdom v, 17: "Therefore shall they receive a kingdom of glory, and a crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord;" and Isaiah lxii, 3: "Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a diadem of the kingdom in the hand of thy God;" and chapter xxviii, verse 5: "In that day the Lord of hosts shall be a crown of glory and a garland of joy to the residue of the people of his." See what is said Apocalypse ii, 20, and chapter iii, at the end. Excellently St. Augustine, homily 14 among 50: "When God," he says, "crowns your merits, He crowns nothing but His own gifts. For what have you that you have not received?" whence the same infers, sermon 50 On the Seasons: "Let us strive that in the life of the members (of Christians) there be the crown of the head (Christ)." The same describes this crown of life and glory, and its honor and excellence, pathetically in the book On Loving God (or whoever is the author: for the style does not smell of Augustine), chapter xviii, vol. IX: "Let us exult," he says, "and think what and how great is the unique and singular joy of the elect. That namely supreme good, which is life, light, blessedness, wisdom and eternity, and yet is nothing but a unique and supreme good, altogether sufficient, needing nothing, by which all things need to be, and to be well. This good is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This good contains the joy of all goods, but so different, as much as the creator differs from the creature. For if created life is good, how good is the life that creates? If made salvation is pleasant, how pleasant is the salvation that made salvation? If wisdom with knowledge of created things is lovable, how lovable is the wisdom that created all things from nothing? Finally, if there are many and great delights in delightful things, what and how great is the delight in Him who made all delightful things? O he who is warmed by this good, what will be his, and what will not be his? Why therefore do we wander through many things, seeking goods of body and soul? Let us love one good, in which are all goods, and it suffices." And soon after: "For the Kingdom of God is greater than all fame, better than all praise, more innumerable than all knowledge, more excellent than all glory that is thought to be. The Kingdom therefore of God is full of light and peace, charity and patience, honesty and glory, sweetness and delight, joy and eternal blessedness, and all ineffable good, which can neither be said nor thought." And below: "Therefore the future life is believed to be eternal, and eternally blessed, where there is sure security, secure tranquility, tranquil pleasantness, happy eternity, eternal happiness, where love is perfect, fear is none, day is eternal, motion is eager; and one spirit of all from the contemplation of his God, and from his remaining with Him secure: where the very city itself, which is the blessed congregation of all angels and Saints, shining with gleaming merits, where eternal salvation abounds, truth reigns, where no one deceives and no one is deceived: whence no blessed one is cast out, where no miserable one is admitted." And toward the end: "Understanding will be without error, memory without forgetfulness, thought without wandering, charity without pretense, sense without offense, soundness without weakness, health without pain, life without death, ease without hindrance, satiety without disgust, and all health without sickness." HE PROMISED TO THOSE LOVING HIM. — Who namely thus love God, that by His love they forthrightly and cheerfully bear all adversities. He alludes to that of Isaiah, chapter lxiv, verse 4, which Paul cites I Corinthians II, 9: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him." See the things said there. To charity therefore and love, as it were to merit and cause of meriting, the crown of glory and eternal life is promised as a reward. Hence it is clear against Calvin, that the just merit heavenly glory by their patience and good works. For this merit St. James signifies here both by the name "crown": for this is owed to the victor as it were a prize and reward of the contest; whence by Paul it is called the crown of justice: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; for the rest there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord will render to me in that day, a just judge," etc., II Timothy iv, 7. Then by the word "promised"; for what is promised under the condition of contest and works, is the reward of the same. Morally, St. Augustine, sermon 64 on the Gospel of St. John: "The kingdom of God," he says, "is for sale: buy it if you wish. And do not be greatly troubled about a great thing on account of the greatness of the price. It is worth as much as you have. Do not seek what you have, but what kind of person you are. This thing is worth as much as you are. Give yourself, and you will have him. But I am wicked, you say, and perhaps he does not accept me: by giving yourself to him, you will become good. But when you have become good, you yourself will be the price of this thing." We give ourselves therefore to God through love. Love therefore is the price by which we buy the crown of glory. The same in Psalm 118, section 23: "If," he says, "working we love good things, that very love is eternal, and an eternal reward is prepared for it. On account of which reward he says he has inclined his heart to doing the justifications of God, so that loving eternally, he may eternally have the reward of what he loves." Come then, O fighter, O athlete of God, who suffer hard and long with Christ and for Christ. Lift up your spirits, strengthen your breast. Bear and endure; this pain will profit you one day. "Wait for the Lord, act manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, and wait for the Lord;" you have entered the stadium of patience, in it contend courageously, so that you may carry off the palm. You have become a spectacle to God, to the world, to angels and to men. Christ watches you, the angels watch you and all the Saints, the most holy Trinity watches you: it aids you fighting the same, so that it may crown you victorious. St. James pronounces you blessed, after a brief and slight trial, promises you the crown of life, promised to those loving God. Suffer therefore for God, for heaven, for love of Christ. He loved you even unto death, and the death of the cross: repay love with love. It is sweet to love Christ, sweeter to suffer for the beloved, sweetest will it be after a short while of the agony of patience to enjoy him, and to enjoy him most happily for all eternity. "The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us."
1:13
13. "No one when tempted should say." — St. James has hitherto dealt with the patient and strong who bore temptation, namely persecution and spoliation of goods for the sake of faith, constantly and generously, and therefore merited the crown of life: now he deals with the weak, who yielded to temptation or succumbed to it, and therefore merited death. For in order to escape persecution and retain their goods, they were tempted to deny or dissimulate the faith of Christ, such as many in our age have been in England. He teaches them therefore that this temptation of pusillanimity, timidity and avarice is not from God, but from the concupiscence of riches, honors and pleasures of this life, which they ought to root out and eradicate from their hearts, if they wish to overcome this temptation. "SAY, BECAUSE (that) HE IS TEMPTED BY GOD." — The Greek texts have, "No one when tempted should say: Because I am tempted by God"; and thus St. Jerome read it, book II Against Jovinian. The sense comes to the same thing. Here St. James passes from the genus to the species, namely from generic temptation to specific temptation properly so called, by which someone is tempted by a temptation which by its nature, or by the malice of the tempter, incites to sin, such as that which is suggested inwardly from concupiscence, outwardly from the demon. James had said, verse 2, that any temptation is matter of all joy, and consequently is good; and verse 12, that he is blessed who endures it: now lest anyone infer from this: If every temptation is good and makes one blessed; therefore every temptation is from God: for God is the source of all good, and especially of blessedness; he responds that this does not follow: for temptation properly so called by itself and by its nature is evil, because it entices to and impels toward evil, although by accident in the just and patient it is good, because they by their virtue draw good from evil, medicine from poison, theriac from a viper, when by struggling against temptation they gain victory, increase virtue and merit. By this doctrine St. James condemns the heresy of Simon Magus, saying that God is the author of temptation and sin. The same was taught soon after Simon by Florinus, Apelles, Hermogenes, Seleucus, Valentinus, Marcion, Manichaeus: but these invented two Gods, one good, the author of all good; the other evil, the author of all evil. Wherefore Calvin, Melanchthon, and other heretics of our time are more foolish and impious than these, who teach that God, one and true, is the author of all works, both evil and good, yet not of sin, although sin be inseparably joined to the evil work, because sin arises from the free will of man willing to sin, while the work is a physical entity whose author is God. But from this it follows that God is the author of malice. For if God is the author of the evil work, then he is also the author of sin, because sin is intimately joined with the evil work, and in reality is nothing other than the evil work. For example, hatred of God is a work so evil that it cannot in any way be separated from sin, even in thought. If therefore God causes this work in the will, namely hatred of God, and is its author, then he is also the author of malice and sin, which is intrinsically and essentially included in this work. Add to this: God, being the first cause, according to them anticipates and premoves the will to all works, so that the will cannot resist it: therefore God is the cause of all works, not the free will, inasmuch as it is moved by God in such a way that it cannot remove this motion or turn itself elsewhere. Wherefore God concurs indeed to the physical entity which is in sin, for example in hatred of God, but with a general and indeterminate concurrence, by which both love of God and hatred of God can be produced by the will, and he himself wishes and intends that by this concurrence of God love of God be produced, not hatred; but the will abuses this concurrence of God, and diverts it, distorts it and determines it to hatred of God: wherefore the will alone is the author of hatred of God, not God. See St. Thomas and the Scholastics and Bellarmine, book II On the Loss of Grace, chapter viii, and St. Basil, homily That God is not the Author of Evils. "FOR GOD IS NOT A TEMPTER TO EVIL." — In Greek ἀπείραστος, which first some expound passively so that it is the same as "not to be tempted," that is to say God cannot be struck or tempted in any evil: for he is impassible and most good, who can neither suffer, nor sin, nor lust, and consequently he himself tempts no one; but the demon does this, because he himself burns with concupiscence and malice. Thus Oecumenius and Cajetan. Whence some suspect that for "tempter" should be read "tempted" in our Latin edition. But this is against the authority of all Codices. Secondly, others take it actively, that is to say, God intends evil to no one, namely temptations to act wickedly; God incites no one to misdeeds. Whence, explaining this, he adds: "But he himself tempts no one," Thus the Syriac version renders it, he is not מנסי menassai, that is, a tempter to evils, because namely he tempts no evils, and consequently is tempted by no evils. Thirdly, others say, that is, "God is a tempter of evils," that is God does not tempt the wicked, but only the good, such as Abraham, David, Job, Tobias. Whence St. Clement, book II of the Constitutions, chapter viii, reads: "A reprobate man is not tempted by God." Thus Salmeron. Fourthly, others say ἀπείραστος, that is "tempter," is the same as dissuader, one who calls back. Whence before perfection is received from God limited to a certain kind, for example, an angel is perfect in the kind of spiritual creatures, a lion in the kind of brutes, man in the kind of rational animals: God truly contains the goodness and perfection of all kinds and genera most perfectly, either formally or eminently; whence this goodness of God embraces holiness and benignity, and other divine attributes, insofar as they pertain to the perfection of the divine nature. Consider infinite light, infinite wisdom, infinite beauty, infinite sweetness, infinite joy, infinite riches, infinite glory, infinite majesty, infinite purity, infinite love, infinite holiness: all these does divine goodness contain, as an infinite sea of all goods, from which all good that they have, they participate. Where note first, that God has this all-encompassing goodness in the most eminent manner, namely not accessory, through many and diverse forms or qualities; but intimate and essential, through one most simple and most eminent form, namely through his essence. Wherefore God without quantity is great, without quality is good, without number is infinite, without figure is beautiful, without time is eternal, without place is immense, without extension is diffused, without multiplicity is perfect, without position is most high, without habit is most holy. In him therefore is all the allurement of love, all the consummation of desire, all the apex of holiness, all the terminus of motion, all the satiety of appetite. Secondly, from this goodness of God all angels, men and creatures beg and draw their entire goodness. For God, says St. Dionysius, On the Divine Names, chapter XIII, is ὑπερτελής, that is, superperfect, because namely he is so full and overfull of all goods, that like an inexhaustible fountain he overflows and abounds in perpetual and unceasing bestowal of gifts upon all created things. "Overflowing," says St. Dionysius, "in one unceasing, and the same, and overfull, and undiminishable bestowal, by which he perfects all things perfect, and fills each with the perfection suited to it." And a little before: "Reaching to all equally, and above all with unfailing bestowals, and never-ending operations." Whence it is clear that God is said to be good and perfect, because he is the author of all natural and supernatural perfection in all things, from the highest and those nearest to himself down to the lowest, from the first separated substance down to the lowest matter, and his ray reaches to all things, and that not once only, but constantly and without ceasing. You therefore, O Lord, are the very fullness and universality of good, and consequently free from all evil. For if you had or did even the least evil, you would fall short of good, you would be imperfect, indeed wicked, which is horrible to think. For you are the fountainhead origin of all and only good, to which all good that they have, they ought to acknowledge as received. From you all He adds: "But God tempts no one," that is to say, God calls back from evils, but does not impel to them. For, as Innocent I says, in his letter to the Council of Carthage: "It is necessary that by him assisting we conquer, and by him not assisting we be conquered again." The second sense is the genuine one: for ἀπείραστος is taken actively, just as ἀπείραστος, as Cato was called, because he never laughed, even though he was laughed at by others. Finally, the sense will be fuller and more forceful if you join the first to the second; for ἀπείραστος is taken both passively and actively: for it signifies both untried and one who tries; for ἀπείραστος or ἀπείρατος is said both of one who cannot be tried and one who does not try, namely inexperienced, untried, one who has no experience. God therefore is ἀπείρατος of evils, because He has no sense or experience of evil in Himself, but is wholly good, and goodness itself, and therefore cannot inflict evils on others or impel them to evils; just as fire cannot moisten or cool; the sun cannot darken, humility cannot become proud, goodness or beneficence cannot do evil, but only do good: for this is proper to goodness and to God. Thus God is said not to tempt to evils, because He tempts no evils, that is, experiences and feels them, either in Himself or in others, because He has no πεῖρα of evil, that is, temptation, exploration, experience, but is ἀπείρατος, that is, lacking in experience of evil, free from evil, ignorant of malice, simple, upright, good; and therefore He does not produce this experience of evil in others, nor does He tempt them to evil. HE HIMSELF TEMPTETH NO MAN. — For autem, Hugo, Dionysius and Cajetan read enim: for both are signified by the Greek καί, as the Greek Lexica teach. But truly other Greeks and Latins everywhere read autem: which is asseverative and confirmative of the former sentence, as if to say, God tempts no one to evils; He Himself, namely, since He is most good, tempts no one: or "and indeed (for this too is signified by καί as is evident from the Lexica) He Himself tempts no one," according to that in Ecclesiasticus xv, 12: "Say not: He (God) made me go astray (that is, caused me to err: for this is what πλανᾶν means): for the wicked are not necessary to Him: the Lord hateth all abomination of error." Habakkuk I: "Thy eyes are too pure to behold evil." Psalm CXLIV, 13: "The Lord is faithful in all His words, and holy in all His works." The reason is that God by His essence is good, and goodness itself, to which all evil and all malice are repugnant. For good is the same as perfect; and the goodness of a thing is its perfection. Moreover, in God there is a threefold goodness: first, natural; second, moral, namely virtue and holiness; third, the goodness of beneficence, so that He may communicate His good to others. Natural goodness in God, as our Lessius rightly teaches, in book VII On the Attributes of God, chapter 1, is the excellence of the divine nature, by which it has all perfection in the whole genus of being, and therefore infinite and immense, since all creatures draw their light from His light, all wisdom from His wisdom, all holy things from His holiness, all beautiful things from His beauty, all perfect things from His perfection. For Thou art not only the efficient cause of all perfection, but also the exemplar and measure, so that each angel or man is perfect only insofar as he reflects and imitates Thy measure, namely Thy perfection, from afar. For Thy holiness and holy will is the rule of all rectitude, virtue and holiness. Thou art the author, form, end and preserver of all good, terminating all infinity, transcending all limit, defining all measure, forming all species, perfecting all perfection, sanctifying all holiness. Draw us after Thee, that we may run in the odor of Thy ointments. Let all riches, all honors, all delights become vile to us, as being vain and deceptive, which have the appearance of good but the reality of evil, to which our base flesh, the demon and the world allure us: because Thou art our honor, riches, delights, sweetness, beatitude, all good, free from all evil. Join us therefore to Thee with an indissoluble bond of love, bind us with an eternal bond of charity. "For what have I in heaven, and besides Thee what do I desire upon earth, O God of my heart, and my portion, O God, forever?" The Gentiles saw this same thing by the light of nature, who called God the Best and Greatest, concerning whom Cicero, in book II On the Nature of the Gods: "Jupiter," he says, "that is, the helping father, whom with changed cases we call Jove from helping, is called by the Poets father of gods and men; but by our ancestors, Best and Greatest, and indeed best first, that is, most beneficent, before greatest: because it is greater, and certainly more pleasing, to benefit all than to have great riches." In like manner Socrates said that God is the best and most blessed: to the extent that anyone draws nearer to His likeness, to that extent he is both better and more blessed. Plato, the disciple of Socrates, followed him, who asserted that God is the cause of good things only: therefore the cause of evils must be sought elsewhere; nor should it be permitted in a state well-established by good laws that anyone teach or say that God is the author of evils. Thus he himself in book II of the Republic. Plutarch, in the book On the Contrariety of the Stoics, attacks that saying of Chrysippus: "God works wars and wickedness, inciting and perverting men." Hence that voice of the impious tormented in the underworld, Aeneid VI: Learn justice, warned, and do not despise the Gods. See more things in Theodoret, book VI On Greek Affections, and Eusebius, book VI of the Preparation for the Gospel, chapter VII, where among others he brings forward Homer, in whom Jupiter complains that men impute to the gods the cause of evils. And justly so; for, as St. Fulgentius rightly says, book I to Monimus: "God is not the author of those things of which He is the avenger." But He is the avenger of evils, therefore He cannot be the author of the same. Indeed, even Calvin himself, book I of the Institutes, chapter XVII, § 5: "As," he says, "the stench of a corpse putrefied and opened by the sun is stirred up by the rays of the sun, yet it does not defile them, nor do they themselves stink: so also the evil works of men are from God, yet He Himself is not defiled by the filth of sinners." Where he expressly confesses that God does not sin, yet is the author of the work of sin: which two things are inconsistent. For the nature of the sun is different, as being a natural agent; different is that of the author of sin, who is a free agent; and therefore he manifestly sins, and is defiled by his sin with moral filth. TEMPTS NO ONE — properly, so as to allure to sin: for thus the demon tempts. But God tempts the just, as Abraham, David, Job, etc., so that He might display their virtue to the world, perfect it and crown it, as I said on Genesis XXII, 1. This is what St. Augustine says, book II On the Harmony of the Evangelists, chapter XXX: "Temptation is understood in one sense, of which it was said: God tempts no one; and in another sense, of which it was said: The Lord your God tempts you, that He may know if you love Him, Deuteronomy XIII; the former is of seduction, the latter of trial." Thus a father tempts his son, a master his servant, a husband his wife, a teacher his pupil, so that he may partly explore his ability, study, and affection, partly sharpen and kindle it.
1:14
For "enticed" in Greek is δελεαζόμενος, that is, baited, caught with bait, deceived and seduced by allurements; just as fish and birds are caught with bait, and just as Esau, enticed by the bait of lentils, sold his birthright, Genesis XXV, 30; and just as Eve and Adam, enticed by the beauty of the apple, ate it against the commandment of God, and therefore incurred death. Moreover, when one concupiscence is overcome, another succeeds and tempts us, so that we ought always to be vigilant against it and to struggle. Truly St. Cyprian, sermon On Work and Almsgiving: "The mind of man," he says, "is besieged and everywhere hemmed in by the infestation of the Devil, scarcely does it meet each temptation, scarcely does it resist. If avarice is laid low, lust rises up." Excellently St. Gregory of Nazianzus, in the Tetrastichs: Why do we always turn the blame upon the enemy, When our own crimes show forth their strength? Blame yourself entirely, or certainly rather. For your fire is yours, but the flame is the demon's. Note: Concupiscence tempts us, first, just as Eve tempted Adam, and drew him away from the law of God and enticed him to eat the forbidden apple. For concupiscence is as it were Eve, whom we carry within ourselves, intimately cleaving to us in flesh and soul. Whence just as the devil through Eve deceived and enticed Adam to sin; so likewise through concupiscence he deceives and entices us, as St. Augustine says in Psalm XLVIII. Secondly, just as fever tempts one burning with fever, and draws him away and entices him to drink water harmful to him, and subsequently deadly. For concupiscence is as it were a fever, and an unnatural heat and burning of the soul. For, as St. Ambrose says, book IV on Luke, chapter IV: "Our flesh languishes with various fevers of sins, and burns with immoderate heats of diverse desires. Nor would I say that the fever of love is less than that of heat. Thus that inflames the mind, this the body. For our fever is avarice, our fever is lust, because desires are kindled. Our fever is ambition, our fever is anger. Which, although they are vices of the body, yet they wrap fire around the bones, and torment the mind, soul and sense." Thirdly, just as a fox bound to a dog tempts it, and draws it away and entices it to attack and devour a hen that comes in its way. For concupiscence is as it were a fox, which entices and deceives the reason and will of man by the appearance of a delightful good, so that it draws it away from honest good to willing and loving a desirable and illicit good. Fourthly, just as a harlot tempts a man and draws him away from his wife to fornicate with her: so also concupiscence draws the soul away from God its spouse, so that it may delight in created goods. Concupiscence therefore is the procuress of vices, says St. Ambrose in the place already cited: for it is similar to a woman engaged in pandering, whom the Wise Man describes graphically in Proverbs VII, 6, and IX, 13. Whence in the Lives of the Fathers, book V, chapter On Fornication, number 23, we read that carnal concupiscence appeared to someone in the form of an Ethiopian woman, so foul and fetid that he could not bear her stench. Fifthly, concupiscence is like scabies and itching, which if you scratch, you will feel a tickling, but soon pain. Whence an emblem: Beware of tearing the skin with tight nails: For honey it will soon repay you with burning pepper; Pain is the constant companion of itching. Desire holds the same bittersweet (γλυκυπικρός) power, Offering a gall-filled cup for honey. For example, you have indulged gluttony and become intoxicated, soon you will feel in the body pains of the head, stomach, nerves, etc.; but in the soul the worm of conscience, offense to God, liability to hell itself and hell itself. Note first: Concupiscence is the intrinsic cause of temptation and sin: the extrinsic causes however are the demon and the world, namely wicked companions, relatives, friends, etc. But these extrinsic causes tempt through the intrinsic, namely by arousing concupiscence through the proposal of a delightful good, so that it may snatch the will away with it to that good. Whence by St. Ephrem, tome II, Exhortation 50: "Concupiscence is called the seed of the devil, a wound of the soul, a blow to the heart, a tree of malice, a viper." The same by Gerson, treatise II On Knowledge of Sin, consideration 25, is called "the messenger of the devil" requiring our consent from us. For without concupiscence this messenger is weak and powerless; just as someone in vain stirs up a blast with a bellows in wood, unless there be fire beneath, which, excited by this blast, sets the wood ablaze, says Thomas the Englishman. Moreover, sin has various causes intrinsic to us, namely the will, the intellect, passion, imagination, a depraved habit, ignorance, and the act of another sin. First indeed, the will is the cause immediately eliciting the act of sin and receiving it in itself. Second, the intellect is the cause of sin as proposing, or advising the will, that it embrace a sensible good while abandoning what is honest, and as not considering the rule of divine law, which forbids this good to be loved. Third, imagination and passion is the cause of the same as vividly representing to the will the beauty of sensible good. Fourth, a depraved habit is the cause, as immediately inclining to the act of sin. Fifth, ignorance is the cause, as concealing the malice of sin. Sixth, the act of another sin is the cause of sin in four ways: first, by taking away grace, by which man resisted sin; second, by inclining to similar acts; third, by providing matter for another sin: thus gluttony is the cause of lust, pride of quarrels, avarice of thefts; fourth, as an end, as when someone from the intention of one sin chooses another sin as a means: thus ambition is the cause of simony, and carousing is the cause of thefts. Seventh, the proper and most powerful cause of temptation, and consequently of sin, is concupiscence. For this moves and solicits the will, the intellect, the imagination, to consent with it to sin; the same produces passion, a depraved habit, lack of consideration and ignorance, and conceals and veils the malice of sin. Wherefore concupiscence is rightly called the tinder, origin, and seedbed of sin, and by Paul in Romans VII, 23, the law of the members warring against the law of the mind. Note secondly, that concupiscence is not some depraved substance produced by the devil, which stirs up and as it were exhales depraved motions of the sensitive appetite, as a lake exhales foul vapors; as Illyricus thought, and foolishly. For no substance can be evil in itself, nor be produced by the devil, nor be sin; for sin is an accident, namely a free act of the will. The same was the heresy of the Manichaeans, who according to St. Augustine, in the book On Heresies, held that there are two souls in man, one good from the good God, the other evil produced by the devil, and this to be concupiscence, the source of all evil in man. To this pertains the mad error of the Paternian and Venustian heretics, who, as St. Augustine says, in book V Against Julian, chapter V: Say that the devil made the body of man from the loins down to the feet, but God placed the upper parts as it were upon some base; and they add that nothing is required from man's effort except that the soul, which they say dwells in the stomach and head, be kept pure. But the pubic region, if it be smeared with all the filth of shameful deeds, they say does not pertain to their care. Thus always, that they may basely serve their own lust, they affix to it the title of their own power. Again, concupiscence is not original sin itself: for when that is forgiven and abolished through baptism, it nevertheless remains in the just man, as daily experience shows. Finally, concupiscence is not a depraved quality engendered by original sin, which is as it were a furnace perpetually exhaling sparks of sins, as Calvin wishes, in book II of the Institutes, chapter 1, sections 8, 9, 10, 11; and the Master of the Sentences favors this in II, distinction XXXI, sections 2 and 3, where he says that original sin is a certain morbid quality existing in the soul, which perpetually stirs up depraved desires. Gregory of Rimini adds in II, distinction XXX, question 1, that this quality arises in the soul from another certain morbid quality, which is in the seed of parents. For the seed through this quality infects the body, and the body infects the soul: moreover the seed is infected from the breath of the serpent. But these are frivolous things, and repugnant to true Philosophy and Theology. Whence Note thirdly: Concupiscence in reality is nothing other than the sensitive appetite itself, and its natural inclination toward sensible goods, which are contrary to reason and the law of God, and therefore illicit and forbidden, inasmuch as this appetite, on account of original sin, has been deprived of original justice. For if man had been created in a state of pure nature, he would have been such as he now is, and would have had similar movements of appetite as he now has; but those movements would not then have been called concupiscences, because they would have been natural to him, nor a punishment of sin: but now they are called concupiscences, because they are a punishment of original sin. For God did not wish to create man in a state of pure nature, lest he be imperfect and miserable; but He created him in a state of integral nature, namely by adding to him grace and original justice, which restrained all movements of appetite and subjected them to right reason, so that they could not anticipate it or resist it. But when Adam sinned, God removed this grace and original justice from him and from all his posterity as a punishment of sin, and therefore left him as regards appetite and powers in a state of pure nature: whence it comes about that the sensible appetite is borne toward sensible goods beyond reason, and beyond the dictate of reason and will, and carries both with it to its own goods: and thus the flesh lusts against the spirit. Therefore now it is called concupiscence, because it has arisen from original sin. Wherefore concupiscence is nothing other than the very natural inclination of appetite, inasmuch as through the absence of original justice it is proximately disposed to be borne beyond, or against the order of reason toward its delightful objects: whence it has a relation to sin, as it were to its cause. For this reason St. Augustine calls concupiscence a morbid affection and an affectional quality, because the very inclination of appetite is a certain quality lacking the due order, from the privation of original justice, yet not as if it were mixed with seed and transmitted, as Arminius said. Whence in book VI Against Julian, chapter VII, he says that concupiscence is like bad health: but bad health adds nothing to the humours except the privation of due proportion. But that St. Augustine did not wish concupiscence to be some positive quality superadded to the powers of the soul, namely to the lower appetite and the will, but the very natural inclination lacking the order of reason, which original justice effected as it were in habit, is evident from various passages of his, in which he assigns no other cause of concupiscence than the absence of original justice, as in book I On Mortal Sin, chapter XVI; book IV Against Julian, final chapter; book XIII On the City of God, chapter XIII. The same is evident from the fact that St. Augustine, in book IV Against Julian, chapter V, and book II On Original Sin, chapter XL, and elsewhere teaches that what is a vice in man is a nature in beasts — he speaks of concupiscence. But concupiscence in beasts is not something distinct superadded to natural appetite: therefore neither in man. The reason is, because the sensitive appetite is by its nature prone to those things which are delightful to the flesh: for it is moved by the apprehension of a delightful thing. Whence there is not required some superadded quality to incline it to this, but only the absence of original justice, which restrained it, made it right, and conformed it to reason as it were in first act. Therefore the very inclination of appetite deprived of that order, and of that conformity to right reason, which conformity original justice effected in it, is called a morbid quality, corruption, languor, etc. Thus Medina, I II, Question LXXXII, articles 1 and 3, and at length Bellarmine, book V On the Loss of Grace, chapter XV. Hence Fourth, it follows that concupiscence is not from God, inasmuch as He created nature whole and perfect; but from sin and the devil, who was the author of sin. This is what St. James teaches here, namely that the temptation of sin is not from God, but from concupiscence. And this is what Christ says in the parable of the man who fell among robbers, that he was wounded and despoiled by them, Luke X, 38; for, as the Gloss says there: "Adam sinning was despoiled of gratuitous gifts, and wounded in natural things." For when he was deprived of original justice, he necessarily received a wound in nature, inasmuch as original justice made it whole. For God at first created the powers of man inclined toward their object, and consequently the sensitive appetite to desire sensible objects, as objects proportionate and suitable to itself: and moreover He added grace, which would subordinate this and the other powers to right reason: by which through sin man despoiled was relapsed into his disorder and concupiscence. Fifth, concupiscence is not only in the sensitive appetite, although it appears more in it, but also in the intellect and will, inasmuch as they are borne toward and incline to sensible goods and the comforts of nature, which are repugnant to honest good and right reason. Thus the intellect and will in man is virtually as it were twofold. For there is in it a superior part, which beholds what is honest, God and heaven; and an inferior part, which looks to earthly and perishable goods. Concupiscence therefore of the intellect is curiosity, vanity, swelling pride. Concupiscence of the will is desire for honor, glory, riches, delights. Wherefore the will here struggles and fights with itself, while, as the Apostle says, the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. This twofold will in himself Christ felt and expressed praying in the garden: "Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but thine be done," Luke XXII, 42. For the inferior part of Christ's will desired life, abhorred death decreed by the Father: but the superior part of the same was altogether conformed to the will and decree of the Father, desiring and seeking death: hence according to it Christ was heard, and the same would not be heard the desire and appetite of the inferior part deprecating death, as St. Athanasius learnedly noted, tract. On the Cross and Passion. From what has been said it is clear that concupiscence is an immoderate power of desiring both in the will and more in the sensitive appetite. For man is, as it were a compound conflated from an angel and a beast, and as it were a participant of each, nay rather a bond and union. For the rational soul is the lowest in the genus of spiritual creatures, and therefore most near to the sensitive soul of animals, and as it were degenerates into it: for it joins in itself reason, which angels have, and sense, which beasts have; but so that it inclines more to sense than to reason: hence it has more of the beast than of the angel. Wherefore St. Bernard prudently admonishes serm. 5 on the Ascension: "Let us order," he says, "and guard in ourselves the state of each substance, lest the inferior part roll down the soul, which is surely the nobler portion of man, to Tartarus, but rather let it acquire with itself a body sanctified in heaven." For, as Clement of Alexandria says, lib. IV Strom., "man seems to be composed of a Centaur (and therefore to be a Centaur), namely of one partaking of reason and one devoid of reason, soul namely and body: the body tends to earth, the soul is lifted up to God." For the poets feigned Centaurs to be conflated from man and horse, or bull, so that the rider with the horse was a Centaur, as I said on Isaiah 34, 14.
1:15
Cassian, Collation V, chapter IV, reads: "Concupiscence when it has been conceived (namely in the will) brings forth sin." Bede and the Theologians everywhere from this passage distinguish three degrees of temptation, namely suggestion, delectation and consent; for suggestion is when concupiscence in itself and as it were in its own womb conceives and stirs up these depraved motions of concupiscence. Such is the tickling of gluttony, lust, anger, pride, etc., before reason notices them: whence these motions are called first and undeliberate, in which therefore there is no sin, but only the conception of material sin, which brings forth formal sin, namely delectation, by which reason and will begins to delight in the allurements of concupiscence and sin; in which if it remains and with full advertence consents, there will be consent and consummation of sin. Therefore St. James says: Concupiscence when it has drawn in good delightful things, as it were an evil seed through the eyes, ears or imagination, whether suggested by a demon or from elsewhere, conceives sin from this, namely when from free will, as from a father, it has brought forth and formed some consent, for example semi-complete, as offspring, itself as it were a mother. Whence St. Augustine, homily 42 among 50, chapter VIII: "Do not," he says, "consent to your concupiscence. Whence is it to conceive, except from you? Have you consented? as if you had lain with it in your heart. Has concupiscence arisen? deny yourself to it: do not follow it: concupiscence when it has conceived, brings forth sin, etc. Therefore do not be drawn away from your concupiscence, deny yourself to it, do not follow it: it is illicit, it is wanton, it is base, it alienates you from God. Do not give it the embrace of consent, lest you bewail the offspring: for if you have consented, if you have embraced it, you conceive." Note: The conception of sin is made through a strong imagination of the thing desired, which the sensitive appetite, or concupiscence, stirs up. For this imagination represents the thing desired and its beauty vividly to reason and will, and shows it how sweet and delightful it is, and causes it to be thought of again and again, to be looked upon, to be turned over and over in the mind: which iteration and revolution of thoughts brings forth delight in the thing, not only in the sensitive appetite itself, but also in the rational, namely in the will, because both are in the same soul; whence reason and will begins to be affected by these things; but imperfectly, because it does not yet fully advertise that this is a grave evil, which gravely offends God. Therefore it sins venially from lack of deliberation; then proceeding in this thought and delectation of the thing desired, with full advertence to its malice, overcome by delectation it gives its hand to it and consents to it, and then it is sin consummated and mortal. But this conception of sin is material only, so long as it remains in imagination and sensitive appetite alone: but as soon as it draws reason and will to itself, it is conception of sin formal, at least venial. Wherefore John Alba, Electorum, chapter XCV: Concupiscence, he says, conceives sin when it thinks of it: for the conception of imagination and mind is its very thought. For concupiscence first tempts by suggesting allurments to man. Then man thus tempted conceives, that is, thinks and turns over in his mind that to which he is invited by concupiscence, now thinking to embrace it, now thinking to reject it, and thus struggles with himself and wavers in mind, and sins with semi-complete consent, and at last overcome by the appetite of allurments deliberately consents to them, and by full consent of will consummats sin. Whoever therefore wishes to overcome and escape the temptations of concupiscence, let him restrain imagination, and violently turn it away from desirable goods, and occupy it with good and holy things, and especially in reading and study of Holy Scripture, the Fathers, the lives of Saints, histories, Theology, Philosophy, etc. "Love the knowledge of the Scriptures, and you will not love the vices of the flesh," says St. Jerome. Moreover Seneca the Elder, who was the father of Seneca the philosopher, the teacher of Nero: for it is clear from the title that this is the work of a father, and Lipsius teaches in Controversies: "The wise man (my son Mela)," he says, "desires this one thing, to desire nothing." Hence it is clear first, that the motions of concupiscence which precede reason, and therefore are altogether involuntary, are no sins at all. First, because St. James sets forth the progression by which one comes from temptation to sin, namely first, he sets forth the very allurement of concupiscence before all sin, which is temptation itself, when he says: "But every one is tempted by his own concupiscence;" which is plainly not sin, because a little before he said that he who suffers temptation is blessed, that is, he who endures it unwillingly, because such temptation is not the fuel of sin, but the matter of merit. Then he sets forth the offspring, namely some sin, for example, venial; such as is pleasure preceding full deliberation. Third, he sets forth death, or mortal sin, when namely full consent is added. Most excellently St. Augustine, book V Against Julian: "Truly," he says, "in these words (of James) the offspring is distinguished from the parent. For the parent is concupiscence, the offspring is sin: but concupiscence does not give birth unless it has conceived: it does not conceive unless it has allured, that is, has obtained the assent of the will to perpetrating evil." The same, in book I Against Two Epistles of Pelagius, chapter X: "Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus: for none is condemned except he who consents to the concupiscence of the flesh." Second, because these motions are not in our power, so that we can turn them away or avoid them: for it is not in our power by what things seen we are moved. But sin is in our power, namely voluntary, so that if it be not voluntary, it be not sin, as St. Augustine teaches, book I of Retractions, chapter XIII, and book XXII Against Faustus, chapter XXVII. Whence these motions are found even in the justified and the saints, as the Apostle teaches in Romans 7, in whom there is nothing of condemnation, as he himself says in chapter VIII, 1. Third, because Philosophers and Theologians, and experience itself, teach that such acts are not human, that is free, which proceed from reason adverting and the will consenting; but are acts of the imagination and the sensitive appetite. Whence St. Paul, although holy, yet feeling these motions in himself, said in Romans VII, 20: "If that which I will not, that I do, now it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me," as if to say: If I desire against the will's resistance, I am not reckoned to do this: for I consent to the law of God: but concupiscence, which anticipates my reason and liberty. Since therefore these acts are not human, they cannot be imputed to man for guilt and punishment. Fourth, the Council of Trent teaches this, session V: "That concupiscence, or the fuel of sin, remains in the baptized," says the holy Synod, "it confesses and holds; which, since it is left for the struggle, cannot harm those not consenting, but manfully resisting through the grace of Christ Jesus; nay, he who has fought lawfully shall be crowned. This concupiscence, which the Apostle sometimes calls sin, the holy Synod declares the Catholic Church has never understood to be called sin which is truly and properly sin in the reborn, but because it is from sin and inclines to sin. If any one, however, has felt otherwise, let him be anathema." Hence St. Basil, On the Constitution of Monasteries, chapter II, asserts that all affections of the flesh are natural, and there is no sin in them unless they proceed from the negligence of the soul. Just as if a restive horse, he says, throws the rider, the fault is not of the horse, as being one that does not use reason, but of the unskilled and careless rider: so if a man is drawn by concupiscence into sin, the fault is not of the flesh, but of the spirit. And St. Chrysostom, homily 19 To the People: "To desire," he says, "is natural, but to desire badly is already of the will." And St. Prosper, book II On the Contemplative Life, chapter III, treating of the stings of the flesh: "We do not sin," he says, "by having these affections, but by using them badly." And book III, chapter IV: "I cannot perpetrate sin unless I consent to evil pleasure." St. Gregory, book XXI of Morals, chapter III: "The mind," he says, "is not at all defiled by an unclean thought when it strikes, but when it subjects this to itself through pleasure." St. Cyril, book IV on John, chapter LI: "If some pleasure precedes all sin beforehand, and burning desire is wont to allure to crimes, which sits before the act of sin and seizes the mind's consent, persuading that easily by this way we must come where we desire. Which the disciple of Christ shows to be true, saying: Every one is tempted by his own desire, drawn away and seduced." It is evident from what has been said that Cajetan errs in his Commentaries on St. Thomas, in the place about to be cited, who held that movements of concupiscence in the sensitive appetite by themselves, and without any consent of the will, are venial sins. His reasoning is that the lower appetite possesses some freedom by itself, as St. Thomas indicates in I II, Question LXXIV, article 2, to the third objection, and article 3, to the first objection. Whence it is commonly said, "the appetite is moved politically by reason, but the members despotically." But this too is an error. For all freedom is in the will, and from the will, as the School of Philosophers and Theologians teaches; nor does St. Thomas dissent, as is evident in the same place, articles 1 and 2, to the first objection, where he expressly teaches from St. Augustine that one sins only by the will. That therefore first every affection, then itself stirs itself up, and prepares its forces as it proceeds; is excluded more easily than it is expelled." And Plutarch, in the book On the Progress of Virtues, assigns this as an evident sign of progress: "If the one making progress now considers no sin small, but studiously avoids and observes all things." And St. Chrysostom, homily 22 To the People: "Pleasure," he says, "is like a dog: if you drive it away, it flees; if you feed it, it remains." The same, sermon 3 on the words of Isaiah, I saw the Lord: "Just as," he says, "a deer pierced by a javelin in a vital part of the body, even if it escapes the hands of the hunters, gains no profit from it: so also the soul, having received the javelin of concupiscence, if it is permitted to go with it, corrupts itself and perishes." Most excellently St. Jerome, epistle to Eustochium on the custody of virginity after the beginning: "Immediately," he says, "as lust has tickled the sense, or the sweet fire of pleasure has suffused us with its sweet warmth, let us break forth into the voice: The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what flesh shall do to me. And when the inner man has begun somewhat to waver between vices and virtues, say: Why art thou sad, O my soul, and why dost thou disquiet me? Hope in God, for I will yet give praise to him, the salvation of my countenance and my God. I will not allow a thought to grow: let nothing Babylonian, nothing of confusion increase in thee. While the enemy is small, kill him; let wickedness, lest tares grow, be destroyed in the seed. Hear the Psalmist: O daughter of Babylon, miserable, etc., blessed is he that shall hold and dash thy little ones against the rock; for since it is impossible that the innate heat of the marrow should not rush into the sense of man, he is praised, he is proclaimed blessed who, as soon as he has begun to think sordid things, immediately kills the thought, and dashes it against the rock; but the rock is Christ." He adds an example of himself: "O how often I myself in the desert thought I was present at the delights of Rome, etc. And so, destitute of all help, I lay at the feet of Jesus, watering them with tears, wiping them with my hair, and subduing my resisting flesh by a week's fasting. I remember myself crying out, frequently joining day with night, nor did I cease from the blows of my breast until the Lord rebuking me, tranquility returned. After many tears, after eyes clinging to heaven, sometimes I seemed to myself to be present with bands of angels, and joyful and rejoicing I sang: After thee in the odor of thy ointments we will run." Truly against all movements and temptations of concupiscence, there is no more present and efficacious remedy than prayer, by which, distrusting our own strength, we humbly and ardently implore the help of God, saying with the Psalmist: "O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me;" as Cassian teaches, indeed Christ himself teaches, saying: "Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation," Matthew xxvi, 41. Wherefore the demon, knowing this, in order to snatch these weapons from the tempted, is wont to inject other thoughts into them, so that they might look to human helps, and forget God and prayer. Whoever is wise, therefore, as soon as he feels the stimulus of concupiscence, turns to God attributes ... venial to the appetite, mortal to the will, and does this by a certain attribution, or appropriation: for since venial sin is imperfectly human and voluntary, and sensuality is its first origin, it is therefore attributed to it; but mortal sin, which requires perfect freedom, is attributed to the will. Furthermore, the lower appetite is said to be moved politically, not because it is free in itself, but because it can in some way resist the will, as a citizen resists a magistrate, at least by an inefficacious movement: for when the will resists and is unwilling, it does not cease to desire and covet sensible and illicit goods. Morally, St. James here tacitly teaches first that one must resist concupiscence. St. Augustine says so, in book I of the City of God, chapter xxi, namely that concupiscence is evil and an enticement to sin, and therefore ought not to be loved and followed, but rather most greatly hated and mortified by constant struggle against it. Hence men everywhere, as if blind and mad, rush into sins, because they follow concupiscences like brute beasts, just as Adam followed his Eve, according to that passage in Psalm xlviii, 21: "Man, when he was in honour, understood not: he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them." For concupiscence in man is similar to, indeed the same as, that which is in beasts; for example, in a pig there is concupiscence of gluttony, in a lion of pride, in a wolf of rapine, in an ass of sloth. For in man the lower appetite is sensible and vehement; the rational appetite, however, is spiritual, insensible and weak: whence it easily allows itself to be drawn by the lower appetite, as if by a heavier weight. Whoever therefore is wise and takes care for his own soul and salvation, let him know that concupiscence, although deeply fixed in the soul, although beguiling, although pleasant, is a deadly siren, is a capital enemy, and therefore he ought to pursue it as an enemy and wage with it an irreconcilable war. For it itself is a viper, by its conception and birth slaying its mother, that is, reason and will. Hence "wherever we go, we carry an enemy with us," says St. Jerome to Eustochium. Whence always and everywhere throughout all of life we must struggle with it and fight it fiercely: therefore we ought always to fix our eyes upon it, lest it secretly insinuate itself into the mind, namely so that we observe it as an enemy, repel it and mortify it. Second, he hints that one must resist the very first movements of concupiscence immediately, and immediately so that the faithful mind may turn away from them at once to God and implore his aid to overcome them: for concupiscence creeps in beguiling, and like a serpent, by which it inserts its head, by the same means it draws in the whole remaining body, and thus the whole of it slips in. Wherefore here that saying is most true: Resist the beginnings: the remedy is prepared too late, When evils have grown strong through long delays. And this from Seneca, epistle 117: "You will not obtain that they cease, if you permit them to begin: it is weak let him lift up his mind and humbly implore his aid through the Blessed Virgin, and immediately he will feel her present to him. Moreover, our Thomas, the God-taught one, describes most excellently the order and degrees of temptation in book I of the Imitation of Christ, chapter xiii: "First," he says, "a simple thought occurs to the mind, then a strong imagination, afterwards pleasure and a depraved motion, and assent, and thus gradually the evil enemy enters in completely, while he is not resisted at the beginning. And the longer anyone is sluggish in resisting, the weaker he becomes in himself day by day, and the stronger the enemy becomes against him." Thirdly, let each one know himself, namely in what concupiscence he most labors and is assailed: for in these concupiscence of gluttony dominates, in those of pride, in others of avarice, in others of sloth. When therefore the glutton feels a thought and concupiscence of delicacies, the proud man of honors, the avaricious of riches, the slothful of fear and torpor, let him know this to be his concupiscence, his temptation, his vice to which he ought immediately to resist with all his strength. A great part of victory is to know that which is suggested to be a temptation: for if the scrupulous, the slothful, the fearful, the melancholic knew that the thoughts and movements of fear, anguish, sadness, pusillanimity which are frequently suggested to them come from scrupulosity, sloth, fear, melancholy, they would immediately turn away from them and repel them; but while fear and anxiety strike and cloud the mind, they do not see this and fear lest something true, doubtful, fearful and sinful lie hidden or lurk: therefore they are tormented and tortured. Let them believe their confessors and prudent men, let them believe their own experience, and let them say to themselves: I labor under excessive fear, anguish, scrupulosity; this is my disease, this my evil, this my vice: I am frequently harassed by its movements: thus far having examined the matter I have experienced and learned that the fears suggested to me are empty and vain: in the matter there is nothing to be feared; let me therefore likewise despise this as empty and vain. For just as those suffering from hydrophobia, who labor under fear and melancholy, fear all safe things, lest for example a house fall upon them, lest the pavement open beneath them, lest a falling tile strike them, and therefore physicians say to them: You are mistaken, melancholic humor suggests this to you; the house does not spin, it stands firm, it will not fall, but your brain spins, you suffer from vertigo and mania of the head; do not therefore believe those suggestions which your fear and mania produce: for you see others do not believe them, but rather laugh at them as vain and futile. Thus precisely it happens to the scrupulous, the fearful and the sad, who therefore ought to resist their apprehensions and anguishes with all their strength, and imitate Christ, who praying in the garden so powerfully resisted fear and horror of death that from the struggle and contention he sweated blood, Luke xxii, 44; and therefore he plainly conquered and overthrew this horror. If we resisted our fears with similar effort, we would certainly overcome them. The same is true in other concupiscences and temptations; for, as St. Ambrose says, book IV on Luke, chapter iv: "For the sake of honors, the sublimity of powers, the sweetness of feasts, the form of a harlot is a snare of the devil, and as it were a certain alluring effect of spiritual wickedness, which through the allurement of the flesh, which is quickly softened by a certain feminine gentleness, also casts down the soul from its station: for the mind does not first covet the form of a woman before the eye of the body. Finally, what you do not see, you will not love: but when the flesh has coveted, the constancy of the compassionate mind also grows weary, and the mind is bent by the partnership of love. For two are in one flesh; and thus death creeps in by the effect of wickedness, the devil tempting, the flesh persuading. Yet the fever of the mind is more vehement than that of the body." He gives an example: "Theotimus when he labored under a serious affliction of the eyes, and loved his wife; forbidden by the physician the faculty of cohabitation, impatient of desire and seized by the impulse of lust: Farewell, he said, beloved light; thus the fever of lust is more burning, and more gravely precipitates and inflames. But when one has come to his senses from madness, then the sight of the inner conscience is opened and repentance of the deed follows, and each one blushes at his shameful deed." Wherefore wisely St. Methodius in St. Epiphanius, heresy 64: "You see, he says, that thoughts, on account of the sin dwelling in us, press upon us from without like mad dogs, or wild beasts, or daring robbers always instigated against us by the tyrant and prince of iniquity, testing whether we are able to resist them and draw up a line against them. Come then, O soul, resist strongly, lest perhaps by relaxing you be captured." Thus the concupiscence of anger drives men and compels them to rush in and be seized with madness like dogs, to sting like scorpions, to bite like serpents. Furthermore, concupiscence is born with us, as St. Augustine teaches, book I of the Confessions, chapter vii, and does not leave us before death. It has therefore been left to us by God as a punishment for sin for the struggle, so that while we continually wrestle with it we may cast off inertia, and be watchful in God's service, and grow in virtue, victory and merits, and turning our mind away from earthly things we may sigh toward heaven, groaning with the Apostle: "Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Rom. vii. Moreover, how powerful, fierce and untamed concupiscence is, is evident first in adolescents, who burn with an immense fire of lusts, so that they are almost driven to madness. Second, in the invention of new allurements of gluttony and obscenity, by which the concupiscence of men far exceeds the concupiscence of beasts, as Plutarch shows, lib. That Brute Beasts Use Reason. Third, because all Anchorites and Saints, in order to tame concupiscence, continually afflicted themselves in wondrous ways with fastings, vigils, hair shirts, lying on the ground, pricks of thorns, scourges, etc. Read the Lives of the Fathers, and you will marvel at their austerities and mortifications. Fourth, the same is evident from the falls of holy men, wise and strong, at any age and in any circumstance. Who was stronger than Samson? Who wiser than Solomon? Who holier than David? And yet concupiscence of women laid these low. Indeed, Plato, lib. III De Repub., whom Clement of Alexandria cites, lib. III Strom., asserts that bodily pleasure is opposed to wisdom and is a most cruel mistress, from which it is most blessed to be able to be freed. And Sophocles, according to Cicero, lib. De Senectute, says there is no more capital plague given by nature to men than bodily pleasure. Hence the Poets formed Cupid from concupiscence as it were a god, the son of Venus: for indeed to each man his dire Cupid is a god. They painted him as a boy, with veiled eyes, winged, armed with bow and arrows, bearing a torch, and naked. From these things learn the conditions and character of concupiscence. For concupiscence first appears lovable like an elegant boy, and like a boy is changeable, now willing this, now that, and for this reason this boy is painted by some as many-headed: for many heads represent the multitude and variety of alternating desires. Second, the same is blind, because being imprudent it does not foresee nor guard against the harms born from itself, as Socrates says in the Symposium of Xenophon. And Plato: "Love," he says, "is blind, because lovers are blinded in the thing loved." And the interpreter of Theocritus in the tenth Idyll, to another passage of Theocritus, Blind not only is Plutus, but also delirious is Love: "Note," he says, "that the ancients called two blind, Cupid and Plutus: for he who loves is blind: what he does no lover sees; for he loves a deformed woman, who appears to him to be most beautiful;" for love makes the ugly appear beautiful. Third, the same is winged, because it flies most swiftly to the objects of desire, indeed it swoops down like a hawk or vulture. Fourth, the same is quivered, because by the desire of its allurements it wounds the heart of man; which it strikes and occupies. Fifth, the same is πυροφόρος, and bears an inflamed torch, because it arouses in the mind heat and fires of the things desired. Sixth, the same is naked, because it manifests itself and cannot hide: — For who has hidden fire, which is always revealed by its own light? thus Alexander of Aphrodisias in Problem. Seventh, there was also in the court of Octavia (as Pliny writes) a Cupid holding a thunderbolt, and it was broken: because love and concupiscence are more powerful than the thunderbolt. Whence the Poet: The winged god broke the winged thunderbolt with fire, While he shows how love's fire is stronger. Hence also Themistocles bore on his shield Cupid holding a thunderbolt, according to Athenagoras, lib. XII, because he sought to subdue all to himself more by goodwill than by the sword. Eighth, Cupid was named ὀμμάτιος, that is, of the eye, or eyed, because he strikes with the eyes: for the sight of a beautiful thing strikes love into the beholder like an arrow. Whence Plotinus: ἔρως, he says, that is love, is said as it were ὅρασις, that is sight and vision. For, as Propertius says: If you know not, the eyes are guides in love. Ninth, Cupid by Plato is called a tyrant, because he rages in noble and heavenly minds, and exercises tyranny, depressing them to earthly and sordid things; whence Euripides: And thou, O tyrant of gods and men, Cupid. Indeed Proclus in Plato's Sophist calls Cupid a magician, because he enchants minds like magicians, and not rarely excites his love through magical arts. Tenth, Love, a Harpy god, was called from rapacity. The fables also relate that the Fury Erinnys was loved by Love, so as to signify the impotence and impetuosity of those who love madly and ruinously. Eleventh, Cupid was called πανδαμάτωρ, that is, the tamer of all, whence this is his voice: My arrows break through, penetrate, burn the thunderbolt; Namely from this comes my name πανδαμάτωρ: for love conquers all. Twelfth, Cupid, this earthly love, is to be overcome and destroyed by the heavenly: namely through Anteros, of which Alciati in Emblem.: He painted Nemesis winged and an enemy to winged Love, conquering bow with bow, and fires with fire, and that this boy should suffer as he has made others suffer. Bearing his weapons without fear, he weeps miserably. Thrice he spits, and in the deepest recesses (a wondrous thing) he is burned by the fire of Fire; Love hates the furies of Love. These things Giraldus in his Syntagma on the Pagan Gods, book 13. Hence St. Basil in the Monastic Constitutions, chapter iii: "The affections of the body," he says, "are violent when reason ceases; but when reason moderates them and exercises its rule, they obey most easily." Therefore vigilant reason tames and governs them, just as a watchful charioteer governs horses: for if he sleeps, the horses will go astray. The same to Chilon: "Overcome one pleasure," he says, "lest, if all at once, all together irritated they rise up against you and bring upon your mind a turbulent excess of temptations. Subject your body to the exercise of labors; accustom your soul to bearing temptations with equanimity." Finally, to signify the efficacy and thunderbolt-like stroke of Cupid and Love, they painted an emblem in which, in place of thundering Jupiter, Cupid adorned with a thunderbolt hurls it into the sea, while Neptune stands by with his trident, and on his knees reverences the divinity of Love; thus indeed it sings: The sun grows hot with my fire, Neptune burns in the waves: Though he was free, I made the Thunderer serve. Though he was free, I subdued Mars without Mars. And another: Love governs God, all the kingdom is Love's, Love triumphs over God, says St. Bernard. Truly love and philanthropy conquered and bound God, so that he descended into flesh, death and the cross for men so greatly loved. This is our holy Cupid, from whose passion's fountain if we draw water, or rather blood, he will extinguish all the torches of impure Cupidity, just as Mutianus reports in Pliny, book XXXI, chapter II, that the fountain of Cupid at Cyzicus is so called because those who drink from it lay down love and desire. See St. Augustine, in the book On Continence, and sermon 45 On the Seasons, where among other things he teaches that concupiscence is increased by yielding to it, diminished by resisting it. "Fight," he says, "resist: do not satisfy it by yielding, but kill it by resisting; if you do not consent to it, it will become smaller and smaller each day, for its strength is your subjection: for if you yield, you give it strength." And below: "Therefore one must always resist habit, because concupiscence itself, with which we are born, cannot be ended as long as we live. It can be diminished daily, but cannot be ended, etc. And in this war consists the whole life of the Saints." Wherefore wisely St. Bernard, sermon 56 in the Song of Songs: "Take care," he says, "to resist concupiscence with all your strength, so that it does not draw you into consent, and then the whole machine of subsequent malice vanishes; nor is there anything at all that prevents the Bridegroom from approaching you, except only the wall of the body;" this is done through circumcision not of the flesh, but of the heart, of which Jeremiah, chapter IV, verse 4: "Be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, ye men of Juda, and inhabitants of Jerusalem," that is, of the vision of peace, which this circumcision and mortification brings forth. Furthermore, vehement concupiscences and the assaults of demons, when they introduce alluring phantasies from sight, hearing, or memory of past things, which are difficult to extricate from the imagination, and through it thrust upon the mind as it were certain fiery darts, must be driven off and eluded by a more vigorous and agile rebound of imagination and mind, by greater, I say, effort, and by applying the mind to other objects; and, as St. Basil says in the Monastic Constitutions, chapter xviii: "The custom of skilled athletes must be imitated, who with the utmost attention of mind and agility and swiftness of body elude the attacks of their adversaries, and all evasion of war and deflection of weapons must be committed to prayer and the imploring of divine aid. For Paul commanded us this, when he said: In all things taking the shield of faith, whereby you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And soon after: But if through the shamelessness of the adversary, the force of such shameful thoughts should rise up more vehemently, even then one must not yield, nor be cast down in spirit, nor leave the contests undertaken unfinished in half: but one must persevere firmly until God, perceiving our constancy, causes the grace of the Holy Spirit to shine upon us and illuminate us, which both drives the insidious one to flight, and makes our mind pure, and fills it with divine light, and furnishes to our reason, established in most peaceful tranquility, leisure for worshipping God." This was experienced by St. Job, St. Antony, St. Athanasius, St. Hilarion and the other Saints, who steadfastly resisted all temptations, even unto the last breath of life; and therefore with Habacuc, chapter iii, verse 18, they sang as victors: "But I will rejoice in the Lord, and I will joy in God my Jesus. God the Lord is my strength, and He will make my feet like the feet of harts, and He will make me to walk upon high places, leading me as a victor singing in psalms." For stags, no matter how great the nets and snares, continually leap over them with mighty bounds, until they escape to safety: thus also must we do in every temptation. The same St. Basil, in the book On the Holy Virgin, wisely admonishes a virgin to beware of the company of men, even spiritual ones; because by their sight concupiscence is aroused, so that at length spiritual love degenerates into earthly, and charity becomes carnality. "For vices are near, he says, and as it were at adjoining doors to virtues, as even the Gentiles say. Indeed, every door of virtue opens a form most similar to it leading into vice on either side, so that he who strives to enter into virtue, standing first at its door, while he thinks he is knocking at this one, deceived by the greatest similarity, enters from one side or the other through one of the doors of vices, as if into the house of virtue, with all mocking his error." Thus often to those knocking at the door of divine love, the door of worldly love opens nearby; so that the one knocking is diverted to the love of the world, thinking he is being diverted to the love of God. "In this way, deceiving those who wished to hear and to be eager for virtue, he proves them rash; but those who feared the reproaches of rashness, he showed to be timid and fainthearted. And those who strove to be merciful, he wickedly bent toward vices; but those who refused to be merciful, he declared to be cruel and savage: thus also those who follow the beauty of charity, he either falsely casts down under the name of affection to bodily pleasures and a life execrable to all, or, fearing its reproaches and disgrace, he makes them hate their brothers, and persist without any good sense. Therefore, do not turn to the right, or to the left, lest perhaps seduced by error you roll down into some one of the doors of vices, but walk the middle and royal way of virtue." Thus St. Basil. BUT WHEN SIN IS CONSUMMATED, IT GENERATES DEATH. — For here, as I said above, there is a threefold grade and order of temptation and sin. The first is suggestion, or the thought of an evil thing, in which there is usually no sin, because it is often sent and aroused by the demon without our fault. The second is delight, namely when the will neglects to repress it, or imperfectly consents: and in this there is venial sin. The third is deliberate consent in which there is mortal sin, if the matter be grave, and forbidden under grave obligation. Whence St. Isidore, book II On the Highest Good, chapter xxiii: "By these, he says, as by certain steps, every sin grows strong: suggestion works delight, delight works consent, consent works action, action works habit, this works necessity." Note here that sin is consummated in two ways. First, when the will inwardly and fully deliberately consents to it; this generates the death of the soul, because through mortal sin the soul is deprived of grace, as it were its life, and thus dies spiritually, and becomes liable to eternal death. St. Augustine, homily 42 among 50, Bellarmine and many others understood this passage of this death. Whence the Nazianzen, oration 19, says there is only one true death, namely sin, because it is the destruction of the soul. And St. Augustine, book III On the City of God, chapter xi: "Death, he says, of the soul occurs when God abandons it; as of the body, when the soul abandons it." Second, when the will clings to it and persists until the end of life; then indeed it is fully consummated, and generates eternal death in Gehenna, to which it immediately sends the soul; for although the soul lives there, it is nevertheless called death, because, as St. Augustine says, book VI On the City of God, final chapter: "If the soul lives in eternal punishments, that should be called death rather than life: for there is no greater and worse death than that where death does not die," according to that of the Poet: Immoral evil, by no death erasable. To this also St. James looked, because he opposes this death of sinners, who are overcome by temptation, to the crown of life which the patient, who overcome temptations and persevere constant in this victory unto death, immediately obtain in the heavens, as he said in verse 12. This is the second and eternal death, of which the former is as it were the conception and beginning. Theodore of Studium, sermon 413; St. Fulgentius, book I to Monimus, chapter v, Lorinus and others understand this passage of this death. Sin is therefore consummated, first, through full and deliberate internal consent to it. Second, and more so, when he consummates this consent through external action, for example, when he actually perpetrates the homicide designed in his mind. Third, when he becomes firm in it, or repeats it, so as to form a habit for himself, and concerning this St. Thomas Aquinas believes that St. James speaks here. Fourth, when he dies in it and passes to eternal death: for death is the consummation and end of life and all things. Whence also Christ, dying for sin on the cross, said: "It is consummated," that is to say, By this consummation and death of my holocaust, ransom, obedience and patience, I satisfy and abolish sin, and its consummation which consists in death. St. James opposes concupiscence to patience in that, just as patience has a perfect work, so also the perfection and consummation of concupiscence is death itself. GENERATES DEATH. — Note here a remarkable metaphor drawn from human generation, by which the generation and lineage of sin is described: for the mother of sin is concupiscence, the father is free will; the seed of the mother is suggestion and titillation, or the pleasure which concupiscence injects and stirs up; the seed of the father is the consent of the will itself, as it is in the process of becoming. The offspring is the consent itself, as it is considered in the state of being accomplished, for this is sin itself. This offspring, first, is imperfect, like an embryo and incomplete fetus: such is semi-full consent, or venial sin from lack of deliberation. Second, it is offspring altogether formed and perfect: such is full consent, or deliberate mortal sin. For concerning sins which are venial only from the object and lightness of matter, St. James does not directly treat here. The grandson of sin is the external act, for example, the homicide itself. The great-grandson is the habit of sinning. The great-great-grandson is death in sin. The great-great-great-grandson is death in eternal hell. Behold what an evil and miserable offspring grows up from sin, as if sown from a remote ancestor. Wherefore truly St. Augustine, book V Against Julian, chapter III: "The concupiscence of the flesh," he says, "against which the good spirit desires, and it is sin, because there is in it disobedience against the dominion of the mind; and the punishment of sin is, because it has been rendered according to the merits of the disobedient; and the cause of sin is, the defection of the consenting, or the contagion of the one being born." Contrary is the generation and lineage of good work and virtue. For its mother is the will, its father is the grace of God, its seed is holy thoughts and inspirations. For by the sweetness of these, the will, allured by the grace of God, brings forth good work, for example, penance and an efficacious purpose of changing one's life, as a spiritual offspring, according to that of Isaiah, chapter xxvi, verse 18: "From thy fear we have conceived, and brought forth the spirit of salvation," as St. Augustine reads from the Septuagint, sermon 20 On the Words of the Lord. The grandson is the very execution of the purpose, and the change of life. The great-grandson is perseverance and progress in this good purpose. The great-great-grandson is death in it. The great-great-great-grandson is the crown of life and eternal glory. This therefore is the generation of God and of his sons, which the devil, like an ape by means of concupiscence, strives to imitate, nay to overturn and kill, just as he killed Adam through Eve. Wisely St. Augustine, homily 42, among 50: "Or fear death," he says, "if you do not fear sin: for when sin is consummated, it generates death. You do not yet fear sin: fear where sin leads. Sin is sweet, but death is bitter. It is the very unhappiness of men; on account of which they sin while dying, they leave these things here, and the sin itself which they commit, they carry with them. Do you sin for money, for a farm, for a woman? These things must be left behind, when you have closed your eyes in death, and the sin itself which you commit, you carry with you, so that it may burn you for all eternity." For concupiscences are the bellows and fuel of hell, according to that of Isaiah L, 11: "Behold you all kindle a fire, girt about with flames, walk in the light of your fire, and in the flames which you have kindled. This is done to you by my hand, you shall sleep in sorrows." Thus the Israelites murmuring and desiring flesh, were punished by God with death, and buried in the graves of concupiscence, Numbers xi, 33. More and more recent examples of this matter are recounted by Blessed Peter Damian, book VII, epistle 19 to Blanca the Countess. "The tax of greed therefore is calamity," and death itself, according to that of Isaiah xxv, 11: "The moth shall be spread under you, and worms shall be your covering." When therefore you are tempted by concupiscence, think of death, think of moths, think of worms and toads, which shall feed upon your flesh; and in it they shall delight so much the more, the more delicately you have nourished and fattened it." But these are exiles, and only preludes of eternal death and the fire of hell, concerning which Isaiah, xxxiii, 14: "Who of you can dwell with devouring fire? who of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" sin itself you carry with you. Do you sin for money, for a farm, for a woman? These things must be left behind, when you have closed your eyes in death, and the sin itself which you commit, you carry with you, so that it may burn you for all eternity." For concupiscences are the bellows and fuel of hell, according to that of Isaiah L, 11: "Behold you all kindle a fire, girt about with flames, walk in the light of your fire, and in the flames which you have kindled. This is done to you by my hand, you shall sleep in sorrows." Thus the Israelites murmuring and desiring flesh, were punished by God with death, and buried in the graves of concupiscence, Numbers xi, 33. More and more recent examples of this matter are recounted by Blessed Peter Damian, book VII, epistle 19 to Blanca the Countess. "The tax of greed therefore is calamity," and death itself, according to that of Isaiah xxv, 11: "The moth shall be spread under you, and worms shall be your covering." When therefore you are tempted by concupiscence, think of death, think of moths, think of worms and toads, which shall feed upon your flesh; and in it they shall delight so much the more, the more delicately you have nourished and fattened it." But these are exiles, and only preludes of eternal death and the fire of hell, concerning which Isaiah, xxxiii, 14: "Who of you can dwell with devouring fire? who of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings?"
1:16
16. Be not deceived therefore, brethren, — Μὴ πλανᾶσθε, that is, do not allow yourselves to be led astray and drawn into error by Simon Magus, heretics or philosophers, so that namely when you are tempted, you might say with Simon that you are tempted by God: that God is the author of all things both evil and good; or so that you might say that wisdom and patience are to be obtained by your own ingenuity and virtue, and not to be sought from God, as I taught in verse 5: for the whole disputation of James up to this point has been concerning patience and concupiscence, namely he taught that patience in which Christian wisdom consists is to be sought from God, so that we might overcome concupiscence: for God is the author of all good and of no evil, of all virtue and of no concupiscence. Whence, striking down all these errors with one sentence and axiom, as it were with a deadly weapon, he adds: "Every best gift, and every perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father of lights." For it is the mark of error and impiety either with Simon to ascribe something evil to God, or with the Philosophers and Pelagians to take away something good. For that saying of the Philosopher concerning Jupiter, or God, is impious and atheistic: Let him give life, let him give wealth, a calm mind I myself shall prepare. On the other hand, it is great wisdom to be wise, and practically to understand this truth, that we have nothing good from ourselves, nothing of wisdom, nothing of virtue; but to receive all of it from God the giver with humble acknowledgment and thanksgiving. St. Francis understood this, whose meditation and prayer throughout entire nights was this one thing: "Who am I, O Lord, who are You? I am an abyss of nothingness, ignorance, misery, malice: You are an abyss of all essence, wisdom, happiness and goodness. Therefore the abyss of my poverty calls upon your abyss of abundance." Thus also Christ gave these two teachings to St. Catherine of Siena: "Consider what you are, who I am. Think of me, and I will think of you." Our Peter Canisius, the apostle of Germany, learned this same thing by heavenly illumination: for, as Father Sacchinus writes in his Life, book I, page 257, when he was going to Loreto to venerate the cell of the Mother of God, "at Ancona in the temple God opened the eyes of his mind, and poured in from heaven a new and great light, faithful, the head and fountain of great praises. This light showed to his inner eye the true and firm foundation of religious life; and at the same time it taught him how he ought to commit all his counsels to it, and all his studies and deeds. But the foundation was his own intimate self-knowledge, through which he might thoroughly comprehend his own vileness and emptiness, that he himself was nothing, that he knew nothing of good nor willed anything good through himself, nor could, nor had; since the beginnings, middles and ends of all goods are situated in God alone, and nowhere else, except in God are they to be placed by those who use reason." Canisius celebrated this new and unusual light with great thanksgiving, and upon it as a foundation he built up all his actions, giving glory to God alone: to himself indeed defect, correction, misery. Hence such a great mass of building, such a harvest of graces and souls grew up.
1:17
17. EVERY GOOD GIFT, — ἀγαθή, that is, good; and this first, simply, as if to say: Every good gift is from God giving: but every evil gift is not from God; but rather from the demon, or from concupiscence. Secondly, "good" here κατ' ἐξοχήν is understood as distinguished and excellent, and the very best, namely "a perfect gift," as he adds, such as patience, wisdom and victory over concupiscence: concerning which St. James has treated up to this point; and divine generation and filiation, concerning which, explaining it presently, he adds: "For of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning," ἀπαρχή, that is, the firstfruits, "of his creatures." For this is a perfect gift and the best given, as our Interpreter rightly and carefully rendered it, looking to that: thus this gift and donation St. Cyril refers to wisdom, lib. IV in John, cap. xxv, and others. This gift "is from above," because it descends from God the Father of lights, who hath set the throne of his glory on high in the heavens, concerning whom Moses says Deut. xxxiii, 27: "The God of heaven is thy helper; his dwelling place is on high." See the remarks there. Note first: For "gift" in Greek is δόσις, that is, giving; but "gift" in Greek is called δώρημα, as if to say: Not every gift is from God, but the very δόσις of the gift, or giving itself. For many give gifts not their own, but others', or their own, but received from elsewhere; or their own, but they give them not so much as sell them: He wishes Christians to strive toward every perfection of Christianity: as indeed the first Christians in his time truly strove. For he wishes them to excel in outstanding wisdom and patience, so that they may rejoice exceedingly in temptations, persecutions and martyrdoms. Wherefore Cassian, lib. II Instit., cap. X, by "perfect gift" understands the perfection of virtues; and St. Fulgentius, lib. I, epist. 4: "From God," he says, "proceeds not only the principle of all good will, but also its perfection." He proves this from St. James saying: "Every good gift, etc. For God is he who worketh in his people both to will and to perfect." And St. Jerome, lib. I Against Jovinian, and St. Augustine, lib. I On Virginity, cap. IV, by "the best and perfect gift" understand virginity, which the virgin ought humbly to ascribe not to herself, but to God, as the Apostle teaches, I Corinth. VII, 7. But Cyril, lib. IV in John, cap. XXV, by "the best and perfect gift" understands the perfect knowledge of Christ and of truth; for this is the supreme grace, and therefore to be expected from God alone: knowledge (I say) not bare and dry, but informed and burning with the love of God. For the supreme gift of God is charity, I Corinth. XIII, 1. The Gloss understands it as robust grace and perfect virtue, such as is given to the baptized in the Sacrament of Confirmation. Others adapt this same thing to the religious life: for this is the best and perfect. Thus our Alvarez, lib. V, part. I, cap. 1. Others by "the best gift" understand tribulations and crosses: for these verse 2 called all joy. Others understand the Eucharist. "For what is good of it, and what is beautiful of it, except the wheat of the elect and wine springing forth virgins?" Zach. IX, 17. These are partial gifts, not "every gift," as St. James says. Finally, let the humble and truthful faithful think and confess with St. Augustine, Soliloq. cap. XV: "If there is any good, small or great, it is thy gift, O Lord: and ours is nothing but evil. Whence then shall all flesh glory? Surely not in evil? This is not glory, but misery. But shall it glory in good? Thine, O Lord, is the good, thine is the glory: for he who seeks glory for himself from thy good, and seeks it not for thee, he is a thief and a robber, and is like the devil, who wished to steal thy glory." Descending from the Father of Lights. — He calls God and the Holy Trinity "the Father of lights." First, because he looks to wisdom, which he said should be asked from God: but wisdom is the light of the mind, whose father, that is author, is God. Secondly, because he looks to the sun; for this is the father of all light in the world. For no corporeal creature so represents God as the sun: for God is a certain uncreated sun, most bright and most beneficent, who illuminates, vivifies and perfects all things by the light and rays of his beneficence. Whence St. Dionysius, cap. IV On Divine Names: "Clear," he says, "and express is the image of divinity Now God is the author, indeed the creator, of every gift which He gives, and at the same time of the gratuitous and liberal giving itself. But our author renders δόσις as "datum" (given thing), because often by metonymy the act itself signifies the object, for instance giving signifies the thing given, or gift. Therefore "the best given thing" is the same as "the perfect gift"; for St. James uses exaggeration to magnify the gift of God. Wisely Trismegistus in the Asclepius: "All things are God," he says, "and from Him all things, and all things are of His will: which whole is good, fitting, immutable, prudent, intelligible to Him alone and sensible: and without this neither was anything, nor is, nor shall be: for all things are from Him, and in Him, and through Him." Note secondly, that by "given thing" and "gift" one can understand with Didymus any gift whatsoever, whether it be of nature, or of grace, or of glory: for all the gifts and works of God are best and perfect, Genesis I, 31; Deuteronomy XXXII, 4. Properly, however, St. James regards the two latter, for he addresses the faithful who had received from God the gift of faith, grace, wisdom and patience, and with sure hope awaited the gift of glory: whence Thomas Anglicus accommodates "given thing" to gifts which are given in the way, "gift" to those which are in the homeland. Wherefore rightly first, the Council of Orange, Can. ult., turns this passage against the Pelagians, who denied that grace for living well ought to be sought from God, and often St. Augustine does so, and indeed Theophilus in the Council of Ephesus understands by "gift" the Holy Spirit, and His gifts, namely the remission of sins, sanctity, wisdom, etc., which Christ sends down from heaven into His faithful. Others understand Christ Himself, who gave Himself to us with His gifts with immense love, and gives Himself daily. For He is the best given thing and the perfect gift, and that in many ways: for, as the Church sings from Thomas: Being born He gave Himself as companion, Eating He gave Himself as food, Dying He gave Himself as price, Reigning He gives Himself as reward. Secondly, rightly also the Author of the Imperfect Work, homily 39 on Matthew, accommodates "the perfect gift" to the royal power of Princes and Prelates: for all this descends from God and is given, as the Apostle teaches in Romans XIII, 1; and indeed the Emperor Titus in Suetonius did not fear assassins, saying "sovereignty is given by fate." Better Agatho the Pontiff, in his letter to Heraclius and Tiberius, understands by "the best gift" the wisdom of princes, by which they may know and confess that they have received power from God, nor can they administer it rightly by their own prudence and strength, but for this they need the direction of God and wisdom infused by Him: for this is the best gift of God. Thirdly, St. James wishes the faithful to ask from God not any sort of given thing and gift, but the best and perfect, both because Christianity is the state and profession of the best and most perfect life; and because this great sun, wholly shining and always splendid, shines together with all things which are able to receive its light, and has light diffused through all things, upward and downward. And if there is anything which does not participate in it, this is not to be attributed to the tenuity or smallness of its light, but to those things which, because they are not apt to receive light, do not unfold themselves to receive it. And so its ray with immense magnitude of splendor penetrates, excites to life, nourishes, increases, perfects, purges, renews: and light is the measure and number of hours, of days and of all our time; it gathers and turns to itself all things which are seen, which die, which are illuminated, which are warmed, and in one word those things which are contained by its splendor: and so ἥλιος, that is, sun, is said, because it ἀολλίζει all things, that is, gathers and binds together scattered things: and all those things seek it which are perceived by sense, or which desire to see, or to feel, to be illuminated, to be warmed, and altogether to be contained by light." Behold here is the father of lights, here is the sun of the most lucid divinity. Anastasius of Sinai therefore errs, in book IV of the Hexaemeron, thinking this to be a Hebrew name, and the same as Eli, that is, My God, and therefore that Christ on the cross cried out with the sun darkened: "Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani?" See the eighteen analogies of the sun and of the king, and more of God, who is King of kings, which I reviewed in Isaiah XLV, 1. Thirdly, God is the "Father of lights," that is, of goods: for light is both the cause and symbol of every good. "For from the good itself light is, and the image of goodness. And so by the name of light the good itself is celebrated, as if an exemplar expressed in an image. For the goodness of the Divinity illuminates all things, effects all things, vivifies all things, contains all things, perfects all things; and it is both the measure and the eternity of things that are; and the number, and the order, and the complex, and the cause, and the end," says St. Dionysius, On the Divine Names, chapter IV. Hence the Church at Prime, praying for the aid and direction of God for accomplishing all good throughout the whole day, says: "And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us, and direct thou the works of our hands over us." For brightness and serenity of countenance is a sign of favor and aid, of benevolence and beneficence. Whence the Psalmist prays repeatedly: "Lighten thy countenance upon thy servant;" and Psalm LXXV, 4: "Thou enlightenest wonderfully from the eternal mountains," namely that thou mayest free us from the darkness of the siege, striking down the camp of Sennacherib from the mountains of Sion and Moriah, as Theodoret and Euthymius say there. Hence John of St. Albans, On the Elect, chapter XVI, interprets "Father of lights" as "author of all goods." For light is the first good of the world, through which we enjoy the rest. Whence it was also created first by God, who said: "Let there be light. And light was made;" and immediately it is added: "And God saw the light, that it was good," Genesis I, 4. Hence on the contrary Tobias, when Raphael was beseeching him for joy, says: "What joy shall I have, who sit in darkness and see not the light of heaven?" Tob. V, 12; and in chapter X, verse 4, he calls his son the "light of his eyes," that is, all his good. Hence just as "to see good" signifies to the Hebrews to possess goods: so also "to see light" denotes the same thing, as in Psalm XXXV: "In thy light we shall see light," that is, in thee the supreme good we shall enjoy all good. Thus Pacatus says in the Panegyric of Theodosius: "In the very auspices of the Empire he would visit the homes of private citizens, and the corners of the city which had never seen the imperial sun, and he would fill them with pious light." This sense is more symbolic than literal. Fourthly, because St. James opposes God to concupiscence, as light to darkness: for concupiscence is blind, and blinds man: whence God, he says, is to be invoked as it were the father of lights, that by his light he may illuminate and dispel all the darkness of concupiscence. You will ask: In how many ways and for what reasons are God and the Holy Trinity said to be the "Father of lights?" I answer, in six ways: First, because ad intra, or in his own essence, God is uncreated, original and immense light. See St. Dionysius, chapter IV On the Divine Names. Whence also St. Paul says God dwells in inaccessible light, I Tim. VI, 16. Again, each person of the Holy Trinity is immense light; for just as light proceeds from light, so the Son proceeds from the Father, according to that of the Nicene Creed: "Light from light;" so also the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as light. Whence the Church in the hymn of Pentecost, invoking him, says: Come, she says, light of hearts. Wherefore St. Dionysius, chapter II On the Divine Names, Tertullian, Justin, Gregory of Nazianzus and others explain the mystery of the Trinity through light, inasmuch as in it there are three distinct and coeternal things; which nevertheless appear to be one thing, namely light, splendor and heat. Again, just as light without any diminution of itself produces a second and third, so the Father without any loss of himself begets the Son and breathes forth the Holy Spirit, and communicates his divinity to them. Hear Gregory of Nazianzus, oration 40: "Light," he says, "is considered in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, whose natural abundance is identity, and one and the same outpouring of splendor." The same, in oration 43: "God," he says, "is inaccessible light, and in no way subject to succession, having neither beginning nor about to have an end, nor falling into dimension, shining with perpetual brightness, gleaming with threefold splendor, and such that to few, nay to very few indeed, is his magnitude perspicuous." Whence again St. Dionysius thus begins his Celestial Hierarchy: "Every good gift," he says, "and every perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father of lights, etc. Therefore, having called upon Jesus, who is the light of the Father, which is, which is true, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world, by whose kindness access to the Father the author of light has been opened to us, let us come to the illuminations of the holy Scriptures, and let us consider the hierarchies of the celestial minds and natures, and that primogenital light, etc.; and again let us from it proceed to sim- fold his ray and splendor." And St. Augustine, serm. 122 On Various Matters, cap. XV: "The Word itself, he says, God unchangeable is, as God, with whom God is. Think nothing of loss or change in that person: for God the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of turning." Finally by the Apostle Heb. I, 3, the Son of God is called "the splendor of glory, and the figure of the substance of the Father." Secondly, because God produces outwardly angels, who are wholly intelligent and luminous, of whom therefore Nazianzen says, oration 2 On the Pasch: "Second splendors have been begotten, ministers of the first splendor, shining together in the primary radiance of God. He on account of splendor Lucifer," etc.; likewise men who are equally intelligent by nature: whence also man by the Greeks is called φώς, that is light, on account of the use of reason, says Nazianzen, in the place already cited. Moreover God produces men, birds, fish and animals which are endowed with the light of eyes, as well as of imagination and phantasy. Thirdly, because God is the Father and author of the sun, moon, stars and all lights, and therefore first of all created light, saying: "Let there be light," Gen. I, says Nazianzen, in oration 43. This is what Baruch sings, cap. III, 33: "He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth: and he called it, and it obeyeth him with fear; and the stars gave light in their watches, and were glad. They were called, and they said: Here we are. And with cheerfulness they have given light to him that made them. This is our God." Again he is the author of all light, that is, of life, namely angelic, human, animal and vegetative. Finally all creatures by their light, that is, their beauty, show forth their Creator as it were the Father of lights. For, as the Wise man says, cap. XIII, 5: "For by the greatness of the beauty and of the creature, the Creator of them may be seen, so as to be known thereby." Fourthly, because he produces all supernatural lights, namely faith, wisdom and patience, and the other virtues, which are nothing other than lights of the mind, derived from the Father of lights, as a certain Saint has said. To this St. James especially looked: for he wishes patience, wisdom and the other virtues to be ascribed not to us, but to God, and to be sought from him. Whence also baptism by St. Dionysius and other Greeks is called φωτισμός (indeed also by St. Paul, Heb. VI, 4), that is illumination, because through it God infuses into the faithful faith, wisdom, grace, charity and all Christian virtues, which are certain supernatural lights. St. James therefore wishes the faithful to ask from the Father of lights the light of understanding, that they may know and understand those sublime virtues paradoxical to the world, which he taught a little before, namely that tribulation is joy and happiness; that patience has a perfect work; that the humble should glory in their exaltation, but the rich should blush at their humility; that he is blessed who endures temptation, etc. For these are axioms which transcend all the light and dictate of reason and philosophy, nor are they grasped except by the divine light infused from the Father of lights. Whence Nazianzen, oration 40, teaches that God is a certain light: "By which the principal part of our soul is illuminated, and our steps according to God are directed;"; indeed Christ: "I, he says, am the light of the world; he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life," John VIII, 12. Fifthly, because all prophetic light descends from God, as it were the Father and author of lights; for God inspired all Prophets with his oracles, and as it were revealed them as lights: concerning which I spoke at the beginning of my Commentary on the Prophets. Whence St. Dionysius, cap. IV On Divine Names, says that good is called the light of the mind, which fills the mind with spiritual light, and bestows upon it sacred light: "Light therefore of the mind, he says, is called good, which surpasses all light, which as a ray flowing from the fountain of light and effusion illuminates all mind from its fullness, renews all faculties of the mind, contains all in its embrace, gathers and collects all." The same, cap. VII, teaches the manner of understanding divine things to be, "if we are wholly outside ourselves, and wholly become God's: for it is better for us to be God's than our own. Thus indeed will divine things be delivered to us, if we are with God." And below he asserts that the divine wisdom is the principle, the procreative cause, the perfection, the guardian and the end of all wisdom and of all mind, and of all reason and of all sense. Sixth, because the light of glory, by which the Angels and all the Blessed see God, and enjoy Him and are made blessed by Him, flows forth from God as from the Father of lights; concerning which the Psalmist says, Psalm XXXV, 10: "For with thee is the fountain of life, and in thy light we shall see light." God is the author of all these things: therefore He is rightly called "the Father of lights," namely, as the Poet says: He himself is the true fountain of light giving eternal light. Moreover, this light of glory God will derive in the elect from the soul into the body, and will make it splendid and glorious through the gift of brightness poured into it. Whence the face of Christ in the transfiguration shone forth as the sun, Matthew XVII. And the Angels in the assumed body representing the glory of the body of Christ rising again, appeared resplendent, indeed flashing. "His appearance was," says St. Matthew, chapter XXVIII, verse 3, "as lightning." Finally, "the just shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father," Matthew XIII. Wherefore the Church invoking Christ as the Father of lights, on the feast of the Transfiguration at Lauds, thus rejoices: O sweetest Love of Jesus, When thou visitest our heart, Drive away the darkness of the mind, And fill us with sweetness. How blessed is he whom thou satisfiest, Sharer of the Father's right hand! Thou art the light of the true fatherland, Which surpasses all understanding. Splendor of the Father's glory, Incomprehensible goodness, The abundance of thy love Give to us through thy presence. WITH WHOM (in Greek παρ' ᾧ, that is, in whom, or from whom; or more commonly with whom) THERE IS NO CHANGE (of place, such as that of the sun when it changes place and moves from the East to the West), NOR SHADOW OF ALTERATION (in Greek τροπῆς, which Oecumenius explains as conversion). For the sun causes darkness and shadow in two ways. First, by its daily motion, when, that motion being finished, it departs and sets in the evening; this is a change of place. Second, by a certain alteration and vicarious conversion of itself from the tropic of Cancer to the tropic of Capricorn: for by this it generates various shadows among various peoples: the nearer it approaches, the smaller the shadows; the farther it recedes, the greater shadows it produces; but God undergoes neither change nor any conversion: hence He is plainly free from darkness; nor does He carry any shadows with Him. Second, Thomas the Englishman: With God, he says, there is no change in nature, because He is altogether immortal; nor shadow of alteration in effect, because from Him light always proceeds, never darkness. Third, others: With God, they say, there is no accidental change, such that what He willed before, He wills not afterwards; that He loves what He hated before; that He is moved by anger, fear, or any other passion. For, as St. Augustine says, addressing God in book I of the Confessions, chapter IV: "Thou lovest, yet art not inflamed; thou art jealous, yet secure; thou repent, yet dost not grieve; thou art angry, yet tranquil; thou changest thy works, yet changest not thy counsel." Fourth, more properly, others, that is to say: With God there is no change or alteration of the light of grace and the shadow of sin, so that namely now He causes grace, now tempts to sin: for St. James treated of this. And the Greek παραλλαγή, or παράλλαξις, is the same as alternation, that is, mutual change by turns, variation, vicissitude, difference, diversity, aberration, omission, change: as sawyers of wood alternate and change turns, when now they raise the saw, now they lower it. Whence St. Hilarius, book IV On the Trinity, translates, with whom there is no change; St. Jerome, book I Against Jovinian, With whom there is no difference; Vatablus, with whom there is no change. He alludes to the Astronomers who observe the parallax of the stars, and especially of comets, that is, the variation in motion, position, aspect: for the sun, to which as to the Father of lights St. James here alludes, has its parallax, not in essence, nor in the light intrinsic to itself, but in the motion, position and light which it diffuses. Note: There is a fivefold immutability in God: first, of nature, because He is immortal; second, of quality, because He is unalterable; third, of place, because He is immense, and therefore immobile; fourth, of will, because He is constant; fifth, of operation and manifestation of Himself, because He always operates in the same manner, and always manifests Himself the same; the four latter proceed from the first: for because the nature of God is altogether immutable in itself, hence it is such also with respect to qualities, places and volitions: "For all change is a kind of imitation of death," says St. Bernard, sermon 81 on the Canticles; and St. Gregory, book XII of the Morals, chapter XVII, explains this passage thus: "What," he says, "is mutability but a kind of death? which, while it changes anything into something else, as it were kills what it was, so that it may begin to be what it was not. In Him with whom there is no transmutation, nor shadow of change: for mutability itself is a shadow, which would as it were obscure the light, if it changed it through some vicissitudes. But because in God mutability does not come, no shadow of change intercepts His light." Whence in the Canticles, chapter IV, verse 6, the bride sighs "until the day breathe," of eternity; "and the shadows flee away," of mortality and mutability. And so St. James does not speak here of the four first immutabilities of God, but of the fifth as to operation, that is to say, God in operating does not change, nor vary the succession of things, so as now to cause wisdom and patience, now concupiscence, impatience and sin; but always the same, and in all things like to Himself, produces nothing but good constantly, and all things good, but no evil. For he compares and prefers God alone, who although in essence and quality is immutable, is nevertheless changed in place, aspect and operation, so as now to make day, now night; now heat, now cold; now summer, now winter. But God, as in essence and quality, so also in place, aspect and operation is immutable, namely so as always to produce light, that is good, never darkness, that is evil. Whence the Greek παραλλαγή Proclus in the Sphere uses for the conversion of the sun. The sense therefore is, that is to say, God is the Father of lights and the uncreated sun, but does not suffer, as our sun does, that reciprocation of motion, illumination and operation, so as now by approaching to bring the light of grace, now by receding to bring the darkness of errors and sin, but is perpetual light, and a constant fountain of all light. NOR SHADOW OF CHANGE. — In Greek τροπῆς ἀποσκίασμα. St. Augustine seems to have read ῥοπῆς for τροπῆς; for in the book On the Holy Virgin, chapter VII, he translates, "nor of a moment," that is, a momentary shadow: for ῥοπή signifies the moment of a scale in a balance, that is, an inclination, a vibration, an impulse. Whence the Wise Man, chapter XI, verse 23: "As the moment of a balance, so is the whole world before Thee, and as a drop of the morning dew." But others commonly read τροπή, that is, conversion, vicissitude, flight, solstice; for he explains what he called change, namely the shadow of vicissitude, that is, the vicissitude of shadow, that is, shadowing like a shadow; or conversely the shadow of vicissitude, that is, a vicarious and successive shadow to light and illumination, as the shadow of night in its time and in turn succeeds the illumination of day. For there is a hypallage in both words. St. Jerome, book I Against Jovinian, reads, nor the shadow of conversion, and book II Against the Pelagians, chapter III: "God," he says, "is called light, and there are no darknesses in Him, because the lights of all others are stained with some filth. The Apostles are the light of the world, but there are some darknesses in them; for, as Job says, chapter XXV, verse 5: The moon does not shine, and the stars are not clean in His sight." The meaning therefore is, as if to say: Our sun, which is the father of lights, suffers not in itself, but as regards us, often an overshadowing of alternation: for it changes its cycles, first, of day and night: so that now it illuminates our hemisphere, now the opposite; now in ours, now in the opposite, it causes shadow and darkness. Second, it changes its cycles, in Greek τροπήν, that is, a turning, and a reciprocation from the tropic of Cancer to the tropic of Capricorn: wherefore now it alternates for those dwelling under Cancer, now for those dwelling under Capricorn, and to each in turn it increases light and shadow, and causes winter and summer. Third, the sun suffers an eclipse through the interposition of the moon between it and the earth; and likewise it eclipses the moon, if the globe of the earth be placed between the two. Fourth, the sun is often covered by clouds, winds and storms, overshadowed and obscured. Fifth, the sun when it is at the winter solstice causes the shortest days, at the summer solstice the longest, at the equinox equal to the nights. Again it causes and alternates the four seasons of the year, namely spring, summer, autumn and winter. By these its motions, approaches and recessions it effects various and manifold shadows, nay rather every day in each moment the shadow of all bodies on earth is changed according to the motion of the sun: for shadow follows its luminous body, namely the sun, and accommodates itself to it in all things; but God, who is a fixed, unmoved and immense sun, causes no shadows in illumination and operation, has no alternations of darkness and light, so as now to work good, now evil, but so far as concerns himself, he illuminates every man coming into this world, John I, 9; suffers no τροπήν, that is turning, variation, flight, solstice, diminution, shadow, eclipse in operating, illuminating and doing good; but always and everywhere unfolds and spreads forth the rays of his beneficence upon all and to all, is never dark or shadowy, that is, never maleficent or less beneficent, nay never remaining as it were in solstice, and ceasing from doing good, but exists ever working and doing good. Thus Bede. Truly St. Fulgentius, epistle 4, chapter V: "He," says he, "furnishes us with all sufficiency of good, whose fullness is not diminished when he gives." For, as the Wise Man says, chapter VII, 10 concerning uncreated Wisdom, which is God: "Inextinguishable is the light thereof." So far therefore as concerns the part of this light and sun, he shines forth before all by himself, scatters his rays upon all; if anyone by his own hardness closes the window of his heart, let him ascribe his own darkness to himself, not to this sun, as I said above from St. Dionysius. These things befit God alone, not angels; for, as Gregory says, book V of the Morals, chapter XXVII: "The angelic nature, although by adhering to the contemplation of the author it remains immutable in its state, yet by the very fact that it is a creature, has in itself the alternation of mutability." Hence Lucifer with his followers from an angel became a devil. Much more man "flees as a shadow, and never remains in the same state," Job XIV, 2. Hence the name of God is Jehova, or "I am who am," Exodus III, 14. And: "I am God, and I change not," Malachi III, 6. See the things said there. Wherefore rightly the Church invoking the Father of lights prays on Tuesday at Matins: Consort of paternal light, Light itself of light and day, Take away the darkness of minds, etc. And at Lauds of Monday: Splendor of paternal glory, Bringing light from light, Light of light and fountain of lights, Day illuminating day. And true sun enter in, Shining with perpetual brightness, And the radiance of the Holy Spirit Pour into our senses. For this reason the Son of God took upon himself humanity, made man, so that in it he could take upon himself the shadows of passion, labors, cross and death, of which the divinity was incapable, as Anastasius of Sinai teaches in the ὁδηγῷ, that is, the guide of the way, chapter XII. Whence St. Dionysius, seeing the miraculous eclipse of the sun at the death of Christ, asking Apollophanes what this meant, heard from him: "These are, O good Dionysius, the alternations of divine things," as he himself relates in his epistle to Apollophanes. Hence secondly, St. Augustine confutes the Gnostics and Manichaeans teaching that the human soul is a particle of divine air, and separated from the very substance of God, in his book On Heresies, chapter VI and XLVI, for thus the divinity would be changed and diminished. God therefore creates the soul, and in creating infuses it and unites it to the human body duly organized. Third, God in Scripture is said from time to time to overshadow, not because He suffers a defect like a shadow, or a variation of light; but because like a shadow He protects His own from the heat of temptations and tribulations, according to that passage in Psalm XC, 4: "He will overshadow thee with his shoulders, and under his wings thou shalt hope." Or because in shadow, that is, secretly and obscurely as regards men and the understanding of men, He works His mysteries. Whence concerning the incarnation of the Word, Gabriel said to the Blessed Virgin Mother of God: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee," Luke I, 35. Fourth, hence St. Augustine in the Mirror, chapter XXI, teaches that the Holy Trinity is true light, and τὸ ὄν, that is, being itself immobile, immense, subsisting and constant. "One," he says, "from itself (the Father), one from one (the Son), one from both (the Holy Ghost): from one all things, through one all things, in one all things; that is, from itself the Father; from another, that is from the Father, the Son; from both the Holy Ghost; and from itself, and from another, and from both; but all things and always in three, and all things and equally in each: true begetter, begotten truth, love of both the Holy Ghost: one power, equal majesty, equal glory." Whence invoking Him he adds: "God three and one. God almighty, with whom there is no change, and therefore with thee the course of time, the alternation of day and night is in no way varied. God true light, by which without approach thou illuminest those things which thou choosest; and without recession thou forsakest those things which thou rejectest: and therefore in thee no defect, no mutability comes. God, who remaining in thyself immutable, hast so created transitory things in thyself, that with thee they can in no way pass away; and therefore in thy sight time does not flow, which with us runs to its end. God, in whose eternity fixed remain those things which not fixed externally the volumes of ages pour forth; and therefore thy eternity is one day, which is neither closed by an end, nor opened by a beginning. God, who without mutability of thyself beholdest all things at once, comprehendest without extension, and the good things which thou helpest, and the evil things which thou judgest, and those which helping thou rewardest, and those which judging thou condemnest, in these things which thou disposest in diverse order thou art not diverse. God, who surroundest thy works without, and fillest within; reignest above, and bearest below: and although thou art superior by power, yet inferior by sustenance; exterior by magnitude, interior by subtlety; cause superior and inferior art thou without place; ample without breadth, subtle without attenuation, and therefore by the mass of body thou art nowhere, but by the uncircumscribed substance and immensity of thy unchangeable nature thou art nowhere absent." Then in chapter XXXIII, thus he addresses God: "God above whom nothing, outside whom nothing, without whom nothing, beyond whom nothing, below whom nothing. God under whom all things, with whom all things, in whom all things. God from whom all things, through whom all things, in whom all things. God whose faith stirs us, hope lifts us, charity joins us. God who commandest to seek, and makest to find, and openest to those who knock. God from whom to turn away is to fall; to turn to whom is to rise; in whom to remain is to stand. God whom no one loses except deceived, whom no one seeks except admonished, whom no one finds except pure, or purified. God whom not to know is to die; whom to know is to live; whom to spurn is to perish; whom to serve is to reign. God by whose piety both the subject serves well and the prelate rules; and therefore without thee no one of them walks in the right path, or order. God invisible and immense, ineffable and eternal, incomprehensible, and immortal and perpetual in body, unchangeable and uncircumscribed, wonderful and blessed, unspeakable, to whom to be is to live, to know and to understand, to know and to be able to grow beautiful and bright; thou art one and the same, because thou art simple, and canst not be divided. Thou art thyself my God living and true, God merciful, King exceeding great." Finally, from this St. Gregory, in book XII of the Morals, chapter XVII, teaches that the way and method of acquiring stability and constancy of mind is, if we fix it upon God who is stable and immutable: for whoever places his heart and hope in a creature, becomes unstable with what is unstable: but whoever places it in God, becomes stable with what is stable, so that he is not disturbed by any vicissitude of things, times, persons, occupations, or passions; but remains always the same, and like himself, persisting with the same countenance and spirit in adversities and prosperities. "Concerning the saints," says St. Gregory, "it is written: The heavens declare the glory of God; who by nature all have in themselves their own mutability; but while they desire to adhere studiously always to immutable truth, by adhering they act so that they become immutable. And when they hold themselves to this with their whole affection, sometimes they receive that, being led above themselves, they overcome that which in themselves they had become mutable, etc. For He Himself alone in Himself is immutable, of whom it is said through James: With whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration." The saints therefore speak of God with the Psalmist, Psalm IV, in any occupation and perplexity: "In peace in the selfsame I will sleep and rest, because Thou, O Lord, hast singularly set me in hope." Which were the last vows and words of St. Gorgonia, sister of St. Gregory Nazianzen, and by them she is immortal, as Nazianzen testifies, oration 11, which is the funeral oration of St. Gorgonia.
1:18
18. Of His own will He begat us. — He proves that God is not the author of darkness, that is of temptation and sin, but of light, that is of wisdom, patience, and every good gift and perfect gift; because He begat us and made us His sons, of light, I say, just as He Himself is the Father of lights. For this generation is every good gift and embraces and encompasses every perfect gift. For what would God deny to His sons? Note: The word "voluntarily" (Τὸ «voluntarie») St. Bernard, in his second sermon to the Brethren, upon this passage, "This is the generation of them that seek the Lord," refers to the will of man, not of God, as if to say: God begat us by reforming our will, so that it might become pious from impious, just and holy from carnal. For in baptism we are regenerated involuntarily, as infants; but adults are regenerated voluntarily through penance willingly undertaken. "Now at length," he says, "voluntary generation exhibits a voluntary sacrifice, according to that in Psalm 53:8: I will sacrifice to Thee willingly, and will confess to Thy name, O Lord, because it is good. This is the generation of them that seek the Lord. Seeking, or shall I say possessing? Possessing indeed and seeking; otherwise those not possessing could not seek. Generated by the Word, they have the Word. For God was the Word." But in Greek it is βουληθείς, that is, willing, as St. Jerome translates it, in book 1 Against Jovinian; Oecumenius, by destined will; others, because He willed; others, by gratuitous benevolence. The word therefore, Fourth, more simply and properly, "by the word of truth," that is through the Gospel and the true preaching of the Gospel, both external and more internal through the inspiration and grace of Christ: thus the Interpreters everywhere. Whence St. Jerome, in book 1 Against Jovinian: Christ, he says, taught virginity to a virgin by the word of truth, which succeeded the shadow and figure that preceded in the law, dedicating in Himself a virgin the firstfruits of His virgins. Again, "by the word of truth," that is, through true faith: for this is the beginning of justification and regeneration; and it is called word by metonymy, because from the word of the Gospel preached and heard it is conceived and brought forth. For a sinner hearing the word of God, from faith in Christ the mediator conceives fear and hope of pardon, and from that sorrow for sins, contrition and love of God, by which he is disposed to justification as it were to spiritual generation by God. Finally, Cajetan explains "by the word" as "according to the word," as if to say: We are begotten not for fables, but for the word of truth to be preached and celebrated in life and voice. Morally learn what and how great this generation and divine filiation is, namely that by it we are partakers of the divine nature, sons and heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ. In it therefore the Father is God; the seed is prevenient grace, breathed forth through the passion and merits of Christ: the mother is our will; its seed is consent to the grace and calling of God; the offspring is the new man living the life of grace, indeed God and Christ Himself. For He through justice really and substantially dwells in the mind of the just, sanctifies, informs as it were as a soul, and directs and moves to all good; as I said on Hosea chapter 1, verse 10, and II Peter 1:4. Truly St. Bernard to the Brethren on the Mount of God: "The formation of man," he says, "is moral instruction: his life is the love of God. Faith conceives this, hope brings it forth, charity forms and vivifies it. For the love of God, or God the Holy Spirit pouring Himself into the love of man, affects him for Himself. And God loving Himself in man, makes him one with Himself and his spirit and his love. Therefore the love of God generated in man by grace is nourished by reading, fed by meditation, strengthened and illuminated by prayer." Wherefore Christ the Lord, that He might procure this generation and filiation for us, and thus that He Himself as it were a father, nay a mother might bring us forth and bear us, endured immense sorrows and torments throughout His whole life, but especially on the cross and in His passion: so that He seemed to be an abyss and sea of sorrows, so that He might justly say with Paul: "My little children, whom I am again bringing forth in travail, until Christ be formed in you." And this is signified by the Greek word here ἀπεκύησεν, that is, He begat, brought forth, bore, brought into light. Whence St. Bernard, sermon 16 in the Canticles: "Voluntarily," he says, "He begat us by the word of truth, not driven by the goad of carnal desire, as the father of my flesh did. Then The Apostle says: "Cleansing her by the washing of water, in the word of life," Ephesians 5:19. Fifth and finally, "voluntarily" signifies the grace of God εὐδοκίαν, that is, His good pleasure and benevolence, by which without our merits, nay undeserving and unworthy, He mercifully and liberally called, chose, justified, regenerated us, according to that in Hosea 14:5: "I will love them freely." Third, "willingly" signifies that we are begotten by Him not by chance, or by some fortuitous will of God, but by a certain counsel, deliberation, purpose and predestination of God: for this is what βουλή signifies. Thus Oecumenius. This is what the Apostle says in Ephesians 1, 9: "That he might make known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in him, in the dispensation of the fulness of times, to re-establish all things in Christ, etc., in whom we also are called by lot, predestinated according to his purpose who worketh all things according to the counsel of his will, that we may be unto the praise of his glory." BEGAT US. — We are begotten by God three times. First, naturally when we are born: for then God begat, that is, created and formed us. Thus Dionysius. Second, in baptism, when we are reborn in it. Third, in penance, when after baptism we have relapsed into sins and are renewed and regenerated through penance. Some think that St. James looked to these three generations. But it is more true that he looked to the two latter only; for these God made "by the word of truth." This is what St. John says, chapter 1, verse 12: "But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name, who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." BY THE WORD OF TRUTH. — First, that is to say, through the Word, that is, through his incarnate Son, and that "of truth," that is, true and truthful. Thus St. Athanasius, sermon 4 Against the Arians; St. Bernard, in the words already cited, and Oecumenius here. For, as St. John says, chapter 1, verse 17: "The law was given by Moses: grace and truth was made by Jesus Christ." On the contrary, the generation of the devil is made by the word of falsehood: for he promises his own goods, but false and deceptive ones. Second, others interpret "word" as his true, faithful and efficacious command; so that "truth" here means the same as fidelity, by which God faithfully bestowed and fulfilled this spiritual generation promised in Christ. Third, others interpret "word" as namely sacramental, saying in baptism: "I baptize thee"; and in the sacrament of penance: "I absolve thee." Whence the Apostle says: "Cleansing it by the washing of water, in the word of life," Ephesians v, 19. and spared not his only begotten Son for one so begotten. Thus he himself indeed showed himself a father to me, but I did not show myself a son to him in return. With what face do I now lift up my eyes to the face of so good a father, so wicked a son? I am ashamed to have done things unworthy of my birth, I am ashamed to have lived degenerate to so great a father." The same in the treatise On Loving God: "If I owe myself entirely for having been made," he says, "what shall I add now for having been remade, and remade in this way? For he was not remade as easily as he was made: for he who once and by merely speaking made me, in remaking me certainly both spoke much, and did wonders, and endured hardships; and not only hardships, but also unworthy things. What shall I render to God for himself? For even if I could repay myself a thousand times, what am I to God?" For God, as St. Augustine says, loved me more than himself, because he gave his life for mine. How much is it that man should be able to repay God? that the price of our death should be the death of God? that the ransom of my life should be the life of God? "I see," says Eusebius of Emesa, homily 6 on Easter, "that he himself has passed into the price of me, since by so precious a gift the redemption itself is transacted so that man appears to be able to repay God." Wherefore deservedly Peter Chrysologus, sermon 70: "Man," he says, "return to God so loved by God, and to his glory give all of yourself, who gave all of himself for you to his own injury: and call father with confidence, whom you prove, feel, understand to be your begetter by so great a love." THAT WE MAY BE A BEGINNING OF SOME KIND OF HIS CREATURE. — First, that is to say, that we may be a beginning of Christianity, of the Church and of the faithful. Or, that we may be initiated, consecrated and dedicated to God. Wherefore wrongly and impiously Luther thought that our justice should be called "a beginning," because it is only begun, not completed, in that it is mixed with concupiscence and mortal sin: whence it is not so much justice as a covering and cloak of injustice: for it is nothing other than the justice of Christ imputed to us who are unjust. For this does not renew the mind, nor regenerate, nor make a new creature, as St. Paul says, Ephesians chapter IV, verse 24, and James here. See Bellarmine, book V On the Loss of Grace, chapter xi. Secondly and more properly, for "beginning" the Greek is ἀπαρχή, that is, firstfruits, as the Syriac translator and St. Jerome rendered it in book I Against Jovinian. "That we may be," he says, "the firstfruits of his creatures"; or, as Vatable has it, that we may obtain the first place among his creatures; and, as Oecumenius says, that we may be first and most honored; and, as Bede says, that we may be better than other creatures, namely that we may be as firstfruits selected by God from the rest of the mass of men, and the principal part of all his creation, receiving with the angelic nature a share and place in the dignity of his glory, so that we may be a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a people of acquisition, as being elevated to divine sonship and to the right of eternal inheritance; so that as the firstfruits of sacrifices, which are wont to be selected from the best things, we may be offered to God, made partakers of grace, charity, friendship, indeed of the divine nature itself. Thus Bede, Titelmann, Gagneius and others. Thus behemoth, that is, the elephant, is called "the beginning of the ways of God," Job xl, 14, because by its magnitude it is the prince and king of animals; and, as St. Basil says in the Hexaemeron, "elephants appear to be certain animated mountains." Thus in Prov. viii, 22, eternal Wisdom is called "the beginning of the ways of God." Thus Christ in Colossians iii, 15, is called "the firstborn of all creation," and in Psalm cix, 4: "With thee is the beginning (in Hebrew נדבות nedabot, that is, principality) in the day of thy power." James alludes to that passage in Jeremiah cap. II, vers. 3: "Israel is holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his crops." For God chose the Israelites from all nations as it were firstfruits into his own nation and Church. By "creature," or, as it is in Greek, "creatures," first, understand both men and living things, and all created things: of these the first and prince is the just man. Christ therefore is as it were the sun of justice shining forth most excellently and illuminating all things: the just are as stars; but so sprinkled with the rays of this sun, that among all luminous things they shine forth more brightly; and by their splendor, though participated, yet wonderfully gleaming, they reflect the sun itself in a certain way. For, as St. Thomas teaches, I II, Question CXIII, article 9, ad 3, the good of grace is greater than the good of nature of the whole universe. Indeed St. Augustine, lib. II to Boniface, cap. vi: "The grace of God," he says, "surpasses not only all stars and all heavens, but also all angels." Thus "beginning" is taken for principality, Apocalypse III, 14: "Who is the beginning (that is, the chief and prince) of the creation of God"; and in Proverbs 1, 7, and elsewhere it is said: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," that is, something principal, and most excellent in wisdom. Thus wisdom is said to be "the beginning of the ways of the Lord," Job xl, 14; and "The beginning of the life of man is water and bread," Ecclesiasticus xxix, 28; and "Brief among the flying things is the bee, and the beginning of sweetness has its fruit," that is, it obtains the first place in sweetness, among all sweet things it is the sweetest, Ecclesiasticus cap. xi, vers. 2. Thus our Augustine Quiros here. He alludes to the primacy and dominion over animals and other creatures given to Adam, Genesis 1, 28, which lost through sin the just recover through Christ, begun in this life, perfected in the future. Secondly, more strictly and forcefully by "creatures" understand the faithful recreated and regenerated in baptism. For these through the grace of Christ become new men, and new creatures of his, as the Apostle says, Ephesians cap. II, vers. 10: "His," he says, "we are the workmanship, created in Christ Jesus in good works, which God has prepared that we should walk in them," etc.; cap. IV, vers. 24: "Put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth." See the sayings there. James therefore says that the first faithful begotten by Christ are the firstfruits of creatures, that is, of his sons, namely of the faithful to come hereafter; and therefore they received the firstfruits of the Spirit of Christ, as it were for posterity by word and example pour out and scatter: as indeed the Apostles, Martyrs and Virgins did, who in that first age flourished in all holiness, and gave to all future generations an illustrious example of perfect virtue. Thus St. Fulgentius, Against the Objections of the Arians, cap. III, holds that the Apostles are here called the beginning of creation, because they were first called and regenerated by Christ, and through them the rest of the faithful: for the Apostles received the firstfruits of the Spirit of Christ. Whence James adds the τὸ «aliquod,» which signifies these firstfruits, both to be few, which were afterwards to be propagated and multiplied by a great offspring of the faithful; and to be chosen and distinguished from many; and that their grace and gifts were only begun, to be completed indeed by glory in heaven. Thus Simon Magus said he was someone, namely great and distinguished, Acts viii, 9. As therefore the elephant was created the prince of beasts, man of animals, Lucifer of angels and peoples, Christ of all creatures, as I said a little before: so the Apostles and Apostolic men were chosen and made by God princes of the sons of God, namely of the faithful, and of the whole Church, which is a creature, that is a new progeny, family and lineage of God, whom therefore the Fathers of lights mystically call mountains, of which the Psalmist says, Ps. LXXV, 5: "Thou shinest wonderfully from the eternal mountains," as St. Augustine and St. Jerome hold in the same place. Mystically Oecumenius, by firstfruits understands priests, whom God willed to be princes and most honored in the Church: for thus God from the twelve tribes of Israel in place of their firstborn chose and took the Levites, to serve Him in the tabernacle, and to perform sacred rites and sacrifices, Num. III, 12. Hence St. Athanasius infers, in the treatise On the Passion, that those who are denominated as it were firstfruits, if they assign anything of themselves to profane uses, steal it from God. "That," he says, "should be known, that whatever we have promised to God, is now not ours, but is in God's possession; so that if we subtract anything from it, we do not do so as if using what is ours, but as if plundering what is God's by sacrilege." And St. Bernard to the Brethren of the Mount of God: "Do not," he says, "neglect, do not delay: a great way remains for you: you have vowed not only all holiness, but the perfection of all holiness, and the end of all consummation: it is not yours only to attend to what God commands, but what He wills. It is the part of others to serve God, yours to cleave to Him."
1:19
19. LET EVERY MAN BE SWIFT TO HEAR. — Here St. James proceeds in the manner of an epistle to other doctrines concerning the formation of the tongue and anger. He takes a convenient occasion for this transition from what he said in verse 5 concerning wisdom, and both how to acquire it, namely through prayer, and how to use it, namely through patience in enduring temptations and persecutions. Here he adds three other ways of acquiring the same wisdom and using it: of which the first is to be swift to hear; the second, to be slow to speak; the third, to be slow to anger. For nothing so impedes wisdom as these three vices opposed to the virtues already mentioned, namely first, to be slow to hear; secondly, to be swift to speak; thirdly, to be swift to anger. For anger disturbs the mind, so that it cannot consider a matter fully and calmly, but is carried away by impulse into indignant and vindictive thoughts; and therefore renders it incapable of wisdom, which requires peace of mind. Moreover, St. James has regard to the assemblies and gatherings of the faithful in the Church, in which the more learned and more zealous taught and exhorted promiscuously, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, as is evident from I Corinthians xiv, 29; in which sometimes certain bold persons seized the opportunity of speaking and teaching from others more modest, in order to display their own wisdom and spirit. Wherefore James admonishes them here, that in those assemblies they should give proof of humility rather than learning, and should prefer to hear and learn rather than to speak and teach others. Otherwise indeed, in hearing trifles, obscenities, detraction, errors, and wicked counsels, one ought not to be swift to hear, but to close one's ears, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus xxviii, 28: "I have hedged in my ears with thorns, and I will not hear a wicked tongue." Furthermore, in the swiftness of hearing St. James implies the swiftness of obeying, and of carrying out what is heard in deed, as he himself explains in verse 22: "For not, as St. Paul says, Romans II, 13, are the hearers of the law just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." Thus Oecumenius and St. Bernard, in his sermon On the Virtue of Obedience: "You therefore," he says, "when you have joined willingness to the heart, simplicity to the work, cheerfulness to the countenance, add swiftness, that you may be according to the Apostle James swift to hear, and swifter to fulfill." See Plutarch, in his book On the Duty of a Hearer. James alludes to, indeed cites Ecclesiasticus v, 13: "Be meek to hearing, that thou mayest understand, and with wisdom give answer true." Where the Syriac and Greek have, be swift to hearing, and with slowness give answer; for which James says: "Be swift to hear, but slow to speak." BUT SLOW TO SPEAK. — This also pertains to preachers, that they beware of excessive volubility of words, which some vainly pursue, in order to appear more eloquent rather than to move the people: although indeed sometimes the voice and speech ought to be incited to pathos, yet the rest of the discourse should rather be measured and solid, such as was that of St. Gregory, Chrysostom, Leo, Augustine and other Fathers in preaching. Seneca censures the volubility of speech in Serapion, epistle 40: "This power," he says, "of speaking rapid and abundant is more suited to one going about than to one acting a great and serious matter, and teaching. He wishes to move the crowd, and to seize unthinking ears by force. But how can speech rule, which cannot be ruled? What physician cures the sick in passing? Remedies do not profit unless they linger. Let speech have great force; yet measured: let it be a perennial stream, not a torrent." Seneca is in accord with St. Ambrose, book I of the Duties, chapter III; for reading with the Greek text, Ecclesiasticus xxviii, 29: "Bind up thy words," he adds: "Let it not run wild, let it not be wanton: let it be more restricted and confined within its banks. A river overflowing quickly gathers mud." You may ask here first, why does St. James require swiftness of hearing and slowness of speech before other things for wisdom? I answer first, because hearing is the sense of discipline, as Aristotle testifies. Whence we see all disciples drawing in the doctrine of the master by hearing and becoming wise, according to that in Proverbs 1, 5: "The wise man that heareth, shall be wiser still." Thus St. Thomas Aquinas attentively and silently heard Albert the Great, so much so that he was called by his fellow students by mockery "the dumb ox"; but Albert defended him, saying: "The dumb ox shall soon bellow so loudly that the whole world shall hear him." Thus we have seen it come to pass, and still see it coming to pass. But speech is contrary to hearing, both because hearing receives the master's wisdom and pours it into the mind of the hearer: but speech does not pour it in, but rather pours it out; and because hearing belongs to the learner, speech to the teacher: but it is better, safer and more useful for each to learn than to teach, because he who learns enriches himself; he who teaches enriches others with wisdom. And this is what St. James intends here, namely to teach Christians that they should rather seek to be disciples of Christian wisdom by hearing than teachers by speaking. For a long time and much must be learned what is to be taught. In this many err precipitously who wish to teach what they have not learned; teachers before disciples. Thus they invert the order of nature and discipline. He admonishes therefore Christians to order, humility and modesty, that they should rather desire to hear those teaching than to teach those hearing: for it is the part of the wise, not to rush forth to teaching except after much hearing, meditation and study, and that slowly, and not unless asked, nay commanded. Whence Pythagoras required of his disciples a five-year silence, as Bede says. That saying of Publius the Mime is celebrated: "Whoever knows not how to be silent, knows not how to speak." More sublimely St. Augustine, in epistle 132, and in Psalm CXXXIX: "The preacher of God's Word," he says, "is empty without, who is not a hearer within." Secondly, because swiftness of hearing causes a man to draw in and know much by hearing: but slowness of speech causes him to speak few things and well premeditated: both of which are acts and practice of wisdom; especially because in speaking one easily sins: "In the multitude of words there shall not want sin: but he that refraineth his lips is most wise," says the Wise Man, Proverbs x, 19. For from the fluency and slip of the tongue innumerable evils and disasters follow, as we shall hear in chapter III, verse 5. Whence Cato: "For to no one does silence harm, but speech harms." That saying of Epaminondas is well known: "A man ought to be more desirous of hearing than of speaking; because from hearing comes doctrine, from talkativeness comes repentance." Again, things heard can be rejected; things said cannot be recalled and remain unsaid: for "the word flies back irrevocable." Wherefore wisely St. Augustine in Questions to Dulcitius, vol. IV, Question III: "I," he says, "love to learn more than to teach;" and citing this passage of James: "That therefore we may learn," he says, "the sweetness of truth ought to invite us; but that we may teach, the necessity of charity ought to compel us. Where rather we ought to pray that this necessity pass away, by which one man teaches another man something, and that we all be teachable of God." Third, because God, who is most wise, prescribes this mode of wisdom not only by word, but also by His own example. For He Himself through eternal ages rested in the contemplation and enjoyment of His wisdom, and only late, namely at the beginning of the world and time, began to speak, and by a single word "let it be" created heaven and earth, and all things which are contained within their bounds. Again, God through five thousand years, during which the world stood, spoke very few things, namely only those which are contained in the Scriptures; so much so that very many men speak in one year more than God spoke through so many thousands of years. Therefore those imitate God who hear much and speak little but efficacious things; who do much and say little. Moreover, the incarnate Word taught us this same mode of wisdom in deed, when this Word became an infant and speechless, namely when as a child He was born in Bethlehem; and while He Himself up to the thirtieth year of His age heard much, He spoke little. For as a craftsman He lived His life in silence; but in the thirtieth year He began to teach, yet how few are His words which are contained in the Gospels, if they be compared with the abyss of wisdom which He contained in Himself? Thus also the Blessed Virgin was sparing of speech, and so very few of her words will you find in all the Gospels: but she was eager to hear, especially Christ. Whence Luke says of her, cap. 1, vers. 51: "His mother kept all these words in her heart." Thus also Magdalene was wholly intent on hearing the discourses of Christ in silence, and therefore by Christ she is said to have chosen the better part, Luke x, 42. Fourth, because the angels, who among creatures come nearest to God's wisdom, hear much from God, but speak little. Read in Scripture the words and messages of Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin and to Zacharias, of Raphael to Tobias, of Michael to Daniel: you will see that their words are rare and very few, and sometimes none at all. In like manner "it is the part of kings and princes to hear much and speak little," says the Philosopher. Again, when angels speak to one another, they do so in one concept as it were with one voice, and by one stroke of the mind, as the Scholastics teach in the treatise On the Speech of Angels. The same do great and wise men imitate. Fifth, because nature itself suggests this mode of wisdom to us. First, indeed, the wiser animals He made little vocal, such as elephants, apes, lions: for these give rare but efficacious sounds. Again, songbirds sing at a fixed and moderate time, nightingales, blackbirds, swans; but the garrulous and shrill ones, such as sparrows and swallows, continually chirp and chatter. Wherefore St. Gregory of Nazianzus, epistle 1 to Celesius who was reproaching his taciturnity, answers by the fable of swans and swallows, and the well-known proverb about them: "Then will the swans sing, when the jackdaws are silent." Indeed, one swan-song in death is more pleasing than all the shrieks of jackdaws. In like manner great and excellent bodies, such as all the celestial spheres, perform all motion, which is the greatest, continuous and swiftest, without voice and noise in silence. And this is the silent harmony, and the harmonious silence of the heavens, which Job celebrates saying, cap. xxxviii, vers. 37: "Who shall declare the order of the heavens, and who shall make the harmony of heaven to sleep?" Again, in Scripture we read that the heavens are opened sometimes, but rarely, and not except for a grave cause, for the praise of God and the salvation of men, as when the heavens rained manna, Exod. xvi; when the Father gave a voice from heaven at the baptism of Christ: "This is my beloved Son," Matt. III, 16; when Stephen dying as a martyr saw the heavens opened, and Christ standing at the right hand of God, to help him, to give him victory and a crown. The heavens mystically are the Apostles and Saints, according to that Psalm xviii, 1: "The heavens declare the glory of God." Let the Saints therefore imitate the heavens, so that they open their mouth only for the praise of God and the salvation of their neighbors, namely so that they pour forth the heavenly manna of wisdom and charity upon them. Manes the heresiarch boasted of this of himself, who for this reason called himself Manichaeus, as it were a pourer forth of manna; but in truth he was μανείς, that is mad, and Manichaeus, that is a pourer forth of madness and insanity: but let the saint be Mannachaeus, that is a pourer forth of manna. Sixth, because the structure of man, namely the organs of hearing and speaking, teach the same thing. First, man alone among all rational animals received the power of speaking and of forming articulate voice, so that he might learn that the tongue is the companion and handmaid of reason; and that it ought to speak nothing unless reason has first spoken and commanded that it be spoken. Second, God gave man ears open, so that he might hear much; but He surrounded the tongue with two barriers, namely teeth and lips, so that he might be slow of speech. Third, God gave man two ears and one tongue, to suggest that he should hear twice as much as he should speak. Whence St. Basil, On True Virginity: "He fashioned for us," he says, "two ears and one tongue, as if to indicate that we ought to hear double for the sake of learning, and to return in a proportion of one and a half what we are asked. Therefore a prudent virgin will use measured speech, and when it is fitting to address someone, she will hear much more than she will say." Fourth, the office of the ears is one, namely to hear; the office of the tongue is many, namely to speak, to distinguish harmful food from wholesome, to taste, to eat, and to convey into the stomach. Whence Varro thinks the tongue is named from binding food. Thus Lactantius, in the book On the Workmanship of God, chapter ten. Finally, the talkative and garrulous are children and women, in whom there is less reason, wisdom and brain; but men who are wiser and more prudent are few of words. Garrulousness therefore is a sign of foolishness or lesser κρίσεως (judgment); silence truly is a sign of wisdom and refined judgment. Whence some derive "fool" from "fando" (speaking), because he is eager to speak and babbles anything. For, as the Wise Man says, Proverbs XVII, 27: "He that restraineth his words is wise and prudent, and a man of excellent spirit (namely, one who knows how to restrain his spirit, lest it burst forth into rash words; or whose words are precious, that is, rare and mature) is erudite: and a fool also if he hold his peace shall be counted wise;" and Proverbs xxix, 20: "Hast thou seen a man hasty to speak? folly is rather to be hoped for than his correction;" and Ecclesiasticus xxi, 29: "In the mouth of fools is their heart, and in the heart of the wise is their mouth," so that they do not open their mouth except with deliberate heart. Hence those who instruct children teach them to hear much and to speak little, as Plutarch says, On the Duty of Listening. He also concludes his treatise: "The apprenticeship of living rightly," he says, "is to listen well." Thus also the Wise Man, Proverbs 1, 8: "Hear," he says, "my son, the discipline of thy father," etc., and he adds the fruit: "That grace may be added to thy head, and a chain of gold to thy neck." Moreover, the most difficult things of all are to be silent and to listen, says Gellius, book I, chapter IX. Truly St. Bernard, On the Interior House, L: "To speak much," he says, "is foolishness: the tongue is so called because it licks by flattering, bites by detracting, kills by lying. It binds, and cannot be bound; it is slippery and cannot be held, but slips and deceives. It slips like an eel, penetrates like an arrow; with one blow it strikes and kills many." Seventh, all the ancient wise men, both gentiles and Christians, taught this mode of wisdom. Take a few select gentiles from many. Apollodorus said that "the best men are the briefest in speaking," as Stobaeus relates, sermon 34. He also adds: The philosopher Zeno, hearing an adolescent who was excessively talkative: "This one's ears," he said, "have flowed into his tongue," signifying that it is the part of an adolescent to hear much and speak little: and therefore he has one mouth and two ears. To another foolish speaker he said: "Unless your tongue is dipped in your mind before you discourse, you will err much more by speaking." He also said that some of his disciples were φιλολόγους, that is, devoted to reason and knowledge; but others were λογοφίλους, that is, desirous only of speaking. Theocritus, hearing Anaximenes, said: "A river of words begins, a drop of mind," signifying that he was very talkative but had little wisdom. Democrates said that a certain avarice was to wish to say everything and to hear nothing. Stobaeus relates all these things, sermon 34. Demosthenes, to someone speaking much at a banquet: "If you had known," he said, "as much as you have spoken, you would never have spoken so much." When asked why we have one tongue but two ears: "Because," he said, "twice as much should be heard as spoken." Thus Maximus, sermon 47. Isocrates demanded double payment from Careo, a talkative disciple. "One," he said, "that you may learn to speak, the other that you may learn to be silent." Ibid. Nicostratus said: "If to speak much and swiftly continually were a sign of wisdom, swallows would be said to be much wiser than us." Ibid. Xenocrates, remaining silent in the face of insults, when asked the reason, said: "Because I have sometimes repented of having spoken, never of having been silent." When asked the same about obscenities, as he remained silent and was pressed for the reason, he said: "It is fitting for you to ask about such things, but not for me to answer." Thus Maximus, sermon 31. Solon, to someone saying that he did not speak because he was mad, replied: "A fool cannot be silent." Plato, when the tyrant Dionysius asked whether people in Athens spoke of him, said: "Philosophers in Athens are never so idle or deal with such a vile matter that they are able to speak of Dionysius;" freely rebuking his life and tyranny. Thus Fulgentius, book VI. The Lacedaemonians had a peculiar brevity of speech, whence it is called Laconicism. When therefore the ambassador of the Abderites did not cease speaking before Agis and demanded a response, Agis replied: "Report this to yours, that as much time as you needed for speaking, so much have I listened in silence." Thus he reproached him for loquacity, as Plutarch testifies in the Laconian Lives. The same Lacedaemonians said to the talkative ambassadors of the Samians: "We have forgotten the first things, we do not understand the last things, because we do not remember the first." The same in the same place. Laebotus said to a certain man prolix in speech: "Why do you weave long preliminaries for me about a small matter?" A Lacedaemonian said of the nightingale: "You are a voice, nothing else." You might say the same of a chatterer; and yet the nightingale is called philomela, because she sings while mourning. Hear Martial, book XIV: The nightingale weeps the incest of Tereus; and she who was a mute girl is borne as a talkative bird. In the same place, when Charillus was asked why Lycurgus had given so few laws to the Lacedaemonians, he said: "Because those who speak little also have need of few laws;" he perceived, of course, that most evils arise from much speaking. In the same place. Receive the faithful and Christians: The Spouse, the Church, hears from Christ the Spouse in Psalm 44:11: "Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear, and forget thy people, and thy father's house, and the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord God." Deuteronomy 27:9: "Attend and hear, O Israel;" the Septuagint, "hear Israel, be silent," which precept Philo calls most beautiful, in the book Who is the Heir of Divine Things. St. John the Baptist, John 3:29, calls himself the friend of the Bridegroom (Christ), who "stands and hears him, and rejoices with joy because of the voice of the Bridegroom." St. Gregory of Nazianzus, epistle 98 to Cledonius: "By speech," he says, "we are silent, that we may learn what it is necessary to speak;" and epistle 102 to Eulalium: "You apply yourself to solitude and immoderate fasting, I to silence." St. Ambrose, book I of the Duties, chapter II: "The Law says," he says, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God. It does not say: Speak, but Hear. Therefore Eve fell because she spoke to the man, she who had not heard from the Lord God. The first voice of God says to you: Hear, if you hear, keep your ways; and if you have fallen, quickly correct yourself. Be silent therefore first and hear, and you will not offend in your tongue." St. Basil cultivated silence in the monastery for thirteen years, wholly devoted to the reading of Holy Scripture and prayer: for silence is the nourishment of the word, as St. Gregory teaches, homily 12 on Ezekiel; who also in book V of the Morals, chapter VIII: "To be silent," he says, "is to restrain the mind from the voice of earthly desires, that it may be lifted to heavenly things," according to that Psalm 45: "Be still, and see that I am God." Tertullian is strict and concise in style, and therefore vigorous and effective, equally as St. Jerome. St. Augustine, in Psalm 51: "Just as," he says, "you choose what you eat, so choose what you speak." The same in Psalm 139, explaining that passage, "A man full of tongue shall not be directed": "What," he says, "ought the servant of God to be? that he should prefer to hear rather than to speak; as it is written: But let every man be swift to hearing, yet slow to speech. And if it can be done, let him desire this, not to have need of speaking and teaching; but to hear him to whom it is said: To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness. And let him have the joy of silence within in his will, the voice of doctrine in necessity." And soon after: "Why do you wish to speak, do you not wish to hear? You always go out, you shrink from going in. For he who teaches you is within: when you teach, as it were you go out. to those who are outside." Whence he concludes: "Not slow to speak. First, as if suggesting a remedy for slowness of speech, as if to say: Do you wish to be slow to speak? Be slow to anger. For commonly the precipitation of the tongue arises from the precipitation of the mind, which anger produces; and conversely the precipitation of the tongue produces quarrels, angers and disputes: just as on the other hand slowness of speech makes a man slow to anger. Second, because, as St. Gregory says, book V of the Morals, chapter xxx: "Through anger wisdom is lost, so that what should be done and in what order is entirely unknown: because namely it takes away the light of understanding, since by moving the mind it confuses it." The same doctrine is taught by the Wise Man, Ecclesiastes VII, 10: "Be not hasty to be angry, for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool." For the most efficacious remedy of anger is, according to Seneca, book III On Anger, chapter 1, the delay of vengeance or of the work conceived in anger. Whence the philosopher Athenodorus, departing, gave this final admonition to Augustus Caesar: "When angry, say or do nothing until you have recited the entire alphabet," as Plutarch testifies in the Life of Augustus. More wisely did St. Ambrose, when the Emperor Theodosius, moved by anger, though in part just, had ordered the Thessalonians to be slain, command him to make a law by which he would forbid those condemned to death by him to be punished before thirty days had elapsed from the sentence being passed. Thus indeed God has woolly feet but iron hands; because he proceeds with a slow foot to vengeance, but when he arrives, he punishes sharply, and compensates for the slowness of vengeance by its severity. Most excellently does St. Gregory, book V of the Morals, chapter xxx, recount the harms of anger: "Through anger," he says, "the grace of social life is lost, concord is broken, the law of truth is lost, the splendor of the Holy Spirit is excluded; the heart inflamed by the stings of anger palpitates, the body trembles, the tongue stammers, the face flushes, the eyes are exasperated, and friends are in no way recognized;" and Cassian, Collation XVI, chapter xxvii: "This," he says, "is the nature of anger, that when delayed it languishes and perishes, but when expressed it burns more and more. Therefore the breast must be dilated and enlarged, lest, confined by the straits of pusillanimity, it be filled with the turbulent surges of irascibility;" and a little before he teaches that anger must be overcome not by flight, but by embracing him with whom we are angry. "For unless," he says, "the anger of a neighbor is overcome by humble satisfaction forthwith, he who flees provokes it rather than avoids it." The same, book VIII On the Institutes of Renunciation, chapter vi, teaches that anger is given to us so that we may be angry at vices and destroy them. Whence the Nazianzen in a poem On Anger: "I am angry," he says, "at the demon of anger dwelling within;" because anger makes a man a beast, namely a lion, a tiger, a serpent, indeed a devil; so that the angry and raging man does not appear to be a man, but an incarnate demon. The remedies by which anger is to be overcome I have assigned at Ephesians IV, 25. See more in St. Basil, Seneca and Plutarch, treatise On Anger; Cassian, throughout book VIII On the Institutes of Renunciation; and St. Gregory, book V of the Morals, chapter xxx, on that passage of Job v: "Anger killeth the foolish man;" and St. Ambrose, book I of the Duties, xxi, 21, among other things says: "Let the tranquility of morals through a certain practice of affection proposed become nature, let anger be restrained by reason; if it has preoccupied the mind, do not leave your place. Your place is patience, your place is wisdom, your place is reason, your place is the calming of indignation. If you cannot soothe the mind, restrain the tongue." And below: "If you are angry, do not sin, but overcome anger by reason. Or certainly thus: If you are angry, be angry with yourselves, because you are moved, and you will not sin. For he who is angry with himself, because he is quickly moved, ceases to be angry with another: but he who wishes to prove his anger just, is more inflamed, and quickly falls into fault. But it is better according to Solomon, he who restrains anger than he who takes a city: for anger takes even the strong." For Solomon says, Proverbs xvi, 32: "Better is he that is patient than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." AND SLOW TO ANGER. — So that anger, swift and predominant, may not go before and drag reason and will headlong with it; but may follow it slowly as if a handmaid, and only when commanded may it put forth its sting, where the difficult work demands anger, as if a whetstone of virtue. St. James joins "slow" to anger, from Ecclesiasticus I, 28: "He that is without fear," in Greek ἀνὴρ θυμώδης, that is, a man spirited, bold and irascible (for boldness and anger akin to it are opposed to fear, as the Ethicists teach), "cannot be justified: for irascibility of that spiritedness is the subversion of it." Anger therefore extinguishes in the mind of the angry man all patience, humanity, charity, justice, etc.
1:20
20. FOR THE ANGER OF MAN WORKETH NOT THE JUSTICE OF GOD. — God indeed judges without anger with tranquility, Wisdom XII, 18. Whence St. Clement, book II of the Constitutions, chapter xxxvii: "Where there is anger," he says, "there the Lord is not, but a friend of Satan." Hence Elias, angry at the worshippers of Baal, saw God in the form not of a whirlwind, but of a gentle breeze, which is a symbol of meekness and a calm and serene spirit, III Kings xix, 12. He names "justice" before other virtues, because anger takes on the name and pretext of justice: for the angry man thinks and asserts that he is demanding a just vengeance for the crime and injury inflicted upon him. Anger therefore clothes and covers itself with the appearance of justice. Now various interpreters give various senses here. First, Cajetan, that is to say, God has not appointed anger to work and exercise justice, but judges: let them therefore exercise justice and just vengeance, not in anger and while angry, even if he could and had the strength to avenge himself. Second, Nilus the abbot, in the tract On Anger, explains, that is to say, Anger does not love, but hates justice, and therefore so far from working justice, it works injustice, cruelty and savagery: for it is a diminution; for little is said, but more is signified. Third, St. Jerome, book II Against Pelagius: "Anger," he says, "of God is just and works justice, because the anger of God is calm and is led by reason: for in God anger is nothing other than the appetite for justice and just vengeance; but the anger of man is unjust, because it proceeds from a disturbed mind." Fourth, St. Gregory, book V of the Morals, chapter xxx: "The anger of man," he says, "does not work justice, because while the disturbed mind exasperates the judgment of its own reason, it considers everything that fury suggests to be right." Anger therefore substitutes fury for justice, and deems it to be justice, because it is so blind and blinds the mind, that it sees one of two contraries in place of the other: just as if someone with troubled sight should see what is white as black, and vice versa. Fifth, genuinely and adequately "justice" is here taken generally for any virtue, that is to say, Anger does not work that which is just, fair, consonant with reason and holy, but perpetrates many things contrary to meekness, charity, patience, prudence, equity and the other virtues, which Christian justice requires and embraces. St. James alludes to Rightly St. Thomas, III part., Question XV, article 9, to 1, asking whether there was anger in Christ, since St. James says anger does not work justice, answers that anger is then said properly to work, when it goes before reason and carries it along with itself to act: it is otherwise when it follows reason and is its instrument, as it was in Christ and the Saints. "Anger," he says, "is disposed in man in two ways; for sometimes it goes before reason, and draws it along with itself to act, and then anger is properly said to work: for operation is attributed to the principal agent. And according to this is understood, that the anger of man does not work the justice of God. Sometimes, however, anger follows reason, and is as it were its instrument; and then the operation which is of justice, is not attributed to anger, but to reason;" which anger uses as it were as a whetstone of the mind for arduous work, v. 7, of just vengeance. St. Thomas received this from St. Gregory, who in book VII, epistle 126, to Reccared, king of the Goths, warning him not to mix anger in ruling: "Care must be taken," he says, "lest anger creep in. Let not everything that is permitted be done more quickly. For anger, when it executes the faults of the delinquent, ought not to go before as a mistress, but behind reason's back to serve as a handmaid, so that the command may come to effect; for if once it has seized the mind, it deems even what it did cruelly to be just. Hence it is written: The anger of man worketh not the justice of God." On the other hand, of St. Moses it is said in Ecclesiasticus XLV, 4: "In faith and meekness he made him holy, and chose him out of all flesh." Thus St. Augustine, epistle 75 to Auxilius, a young Bishop, who seemed to have been precipitated by anger into a sentence of excommunication against Classicianus; warns him to pray, and cry out to God: "My eye was troubled with anger: have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; that he may stretch forth his hand, and restrain thy anger, and calm thy mind to see and do justice. For as it is written: The anger of man worketh not the justice of God." Thus St. Ambrose, book I of the Duties, chapter xxi, praises the philosopher Archytas, because he said to his steward: "O unhappy you, how I would afflict you if I were not angry! But even David had restrained his armed right hand in indignation: and warriors against Nabal prepared for vengeance, Abigail by her entreaty revocaverat, I Kings xxv. The same Ambrose, in his work On the Death of the Emperor Theodosius, praises him for being free from the dominion of wrath, saying: "He considered himself beneficent, and then was more inclined to pardon when there had been a greater disturbance of wrath. The prerogative of forgiving was that he had been indignant, and it was desired in him what was feared in others, that he should be angry." The same, book II of the Duties, chapter vii: "David," he says, "was strong in battle, gentle in rule, patient under insult, more ready to bear injuries than to return them. For this reason he was so dear to all that as a young man he was sought for the kingdom even unwillingly, resisting he was forced, as an old man he was asked by his people not to take part in battle, because they all preferred to be in danger for him rather than for him to be in danger for all."
1:21
21. WHEREFORE, LAYING ASIDE ALL UNCLEANNESS AND ABUNDANCE OF MALICE, RECEIVE IN MEEKNESS THE IMPLANTED WORD. — Many refer this to anger, concerning which the discourse immediately preceded, as if to say: That you may lay aside anger, lay aside unclean desires; for these, while they are loved, stir up angers and quarrels against those who seek the same things and strive to snatch them from us or take them beforehand. Others say: Since anger works not justice but injustice and all iniquity, for this reason lay it aside; because it makes the soul unclean and defiles it, stirring up movements of ambition, avarice, envy, lust, and all desires; but especially of malice and malignity, namely hatred, vengeance, calumny, murder, etc. More aptly shall we refer this to all the preceding matters, even the more remote ones, and especially to verse 18, where he said: "Of his own will he hath begotten us by the word of truth;" for he calls this here "the implanted word which is able to save your souls," as if to say: Since we have been regenerated by the word of truth and have become children of God, let us strive to protect and preserve this regeneration, this new life and divine filiation, and therefore let us lay aside all uncleanness and malice, which either stain it, or weaken it, or destroy it. Moreover, in the word "uncleanness" he looks back to concupiscence, by which he said we are tempted and drawn toward death in verses 14 and 15; but in the word "malice" he looks back to anger, which he had warned us to beware of immediately before: for both concupiscence and anger are opposed to divine filiation and the new Christian life. For "uncleanness" in Greek is ῥυπαρία, that is, filthiness, dirt, dregs, refuse, rust, squalor, filth, stench: but when it is transferred to the soul, it signifies avarice, an illiberal mind, stingy and sordid. Hence ῥυπαρὸς is called sordid, filthy, illiberal, avaricious. Properly therefore St. James here censures avarice: for this stirs up angers, quarrels and brawls; and this was the first temptation of Christians: for while they suffered persecution and plunder of their goods from Jews and Gentiles on account of faith in Christ, avarice tempted them to preserve those goods, not only to impatience, but also to faith, either to be denied or certainly to be dissembled. He touches therefore upon the source and root of the temptation, concerning which he dealt at length at the beginning, so that by cutting it off he may cut off the temptation. As if to say: O Christians, you suffer the spoliation of your goods for Christ's sake: despise them, and root out from your hearts all desire and avarice for them: thus you will easily endure all this persecution; thus you will stand firm and constant in faith, in grace and in the new generation of Christ, which you have willingly received; for ῥυπαρία, and a sordid mind, is to retain perishable goods and lose faith, grace, soul, and God himself. Thus today the avaricious perish, who in order to gain a few obols, denarii or gold pieces, deceive, defraud, perjure themselves, neglect the sacred office of Mass on a feast day, and otherwise violate God's laws. For these indeed, like Judas, sell Christ for an obol or denarius, that is, Christ's law, grace, friendship, their own conscience and eternal life. Whence the Apostle rightly said of it in I Timothy, verse 10: "The root of all evils is covetousness," in Greek φιλαργυρία, that is, desire for money, or avarice. In this sense "uncleanness" can be understood, as our translator renders it, for the filth of avarice; so that to lay aside all uncleanness is the same as to lay aside all the filth of avarice. Moreover, this avarice is found not only in riches, but in any other thing, as I shall say more fully presently. Secondly, however, ῥυπαρία, that is filthiness, can signify lust, gluttony and all carnal vices, which are properly called "uncleanness," because they are in themselves filthy and defile both body and soul, according to that saying of the Apostle in I Corinthians vi, 18: "Every sin that a man doth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body." Thus through "uncleanness" Bede, Thomas Anglicus, Salmeron and others take the vices of the flesh throughout. Clement of Alexandria speaks excellently in his Exhortation to the Gentiles: "I," he says, "have learned to tread upon the earth, not to worship it." AND ABUNDANCE OF MALICE. — Beza translated it wrongly, and as the excrement of malice; for περισσεία indeed signifies abundance, not excrement. You will ask: What is this malice? First, some understand by it excessive solicitude about temporal things, which Christ, wishing to root out from the hearts of the faithful, says in Matthew vi, 34: "Sufficient for the day is the malice thereof," that is, the solicitude and affliction "of it." For this solicitude inflames anger, impatience, and is the cause of the other temptations of which St. James has treated. Secondly, others translate "malice" as timidity, cowardice, shame, disgrace: for the Greek κακία means this among Thucydides and Demosthenes, as if to say, Cast off excessive timidity and cowardice as a great shame and disgrace; for these things cause you to yield to persecution, to lose patience, to betray faith. Thus Catharinus. Thirdly, others properly take "malice" for an evil, perverse, deceitful, cunning, double, proud mind, desirous of harming. Thus Hugo by "abundance of malice" understands abundant depravity of heart, but hidden; which is therefore said to be abundant, because "simulated equity is double iniquity." Thus also the Glossa Interlinearis: "Abundance of malice," it says, "is interior depravity, peculiar to the wicked who abound in riches, especially in desire for vengeance," says Lyra. Fourthly, κακία, that is malice, can be taken for κακίωσις, that is malignity, evil-speaking and evil-doing, by which someone becomes a slanderer and calumniator, and vexes and troubles others. Thus Callimachus the painter was called κακιζότεχνος, as if κακίζων τὴν τέχνην, that is, speaking ill of, disapproving, accusing his own art and painting, concerning whom Pliny, lib. XXXIV, cap. ix: "Of all," he says, "Callimachus is especially notable, a calumniator of himself, and having no end to his diligence: on this account he was called κακιζότεχνος, a memorable example of observing moderation in care." There are many such κακιζότεχνοι, who censure, carp at, disapprove, and despise all things: and thus they create troubles for all, and hatred and quarrels for themselves. Wherefore Hugo says that uncleanness is in perverse thought, malice in perverted will, abundance of malice in iniquitous operation. Fifthly, Oecumenius and Bede by "abundance of malice" understand the habit of sinning, habit, pertinacity and deliberate purpose. Sixthly, Cajetan, Serarius and Salmerón take "malice" generally for any vice by which the will is inflamed to evil; and therefore it is called "abundance of malice," because namely malice abounds, nay overflows to the ruin of others. Seventhly, others think that "abundance of malice" is added here by way of exaggeration: for it is the same as "uncleanness," but aggravates and exaggerates it: for the Gentiles were profuse in uncleanness and luxury, and therefore abounding in malice. All these senses are probable, but the third and fourth seem more probable and more congruent with our Latin version. Note here that "abundance of malice" is forbidden by James, not as if a scarcity of malice were permitted; but in that "abundance" signifies the property of malice, as if to say, Cast off malice, because it by its own nature and character boils over, abounds and overflows into all evil; for just as new wine boils over and continually casts forth foam and dregs: so malice always boils over, belches forth and suggests all manner of evil thoughts, words and deeds, and all frauds and arts of harming. Thus the sin of malice is opposed to the sin of infirmity or weakness; for theologians distinguish sin according to its cause into three kinds: for one is committed from ignorance, another from infirmity, another from malice. Finally Emmanuel Sa and Maldonatus in their Notes on the New Testament, which I have seen and read in the Roman College, hold that here there is a Hebraism, so that "abundance of malice" is the same as "abundant evil," that is, whatever abounds badly, all superfluity. For this is what περισσεία κακίας signifies; for περισσεία is superfluity, redundancy, exuberance and everything that exceeds measure, namely excess which transgresses the bounds of propriety and reason; and thus it rightly opposes ῥυπαρία: for these are two extremes, and therefore vicious, namely ῥυπαρία and περισσεία, that is avarice and superfluity, stinginess and prodigality, which St. James warns us to avoid, so that the mean may be held in which virtue consists, as if to say: Be neither stingy nor prodigal; be neither sordid and avaricious, nor superfluous and lavish in your riches, expenditures, households, acts and any matters whatsoever; but in all things observe the golden mean, and keep your heart free from every vicious affection equally as from defect, so that it may be capable of divine seed and easily receive the implanted word of salvation. This sense is very fitting, forceful and connected. Note here that τὸ κακίας can be referred both to ῥυπαρίας and to περισσείας, as if to say: Beware of all evil, both avarice and tightfistedness, and abundance and superfluity: for to each the opposite is good, both tightfistedness and abundance, for example tightfistedness of truth is good, equally as abundance of liberality or almsgiving. St. James therefore teaches that malice and vice consist in extremes, namely in excess and defect; but goodness and virtue in the mean, namely in moderation and mediocrity: and therefore all shoots and fibers of malice must be torn from our heart, so that virtue may be grafted into it; so that namely the seed of the divine word may be grafted into it, cohere, take root, and be able to germinate and produce the fruits of good works. IN MEEKNESS. — He opposes "meekness" to malice: for meekness makes the heart docile and capable of the seed of the divine word, which malice makes incapable and indocile, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus v, 13: "Be meek to hear the word, that thou mayest understand and bring forth a true answer in wisdom." For meekness is serenity of mind, tranquility, clarity, which easily receives wisdom and perceives all truth: hence it is as it were clear water, or a polished mirror, in which the images of things are clearly perceived; on the other hand malice and anger is disturbance of mind, tumult, tempest and darkness: hence it is like turbid water and a mirror covered with dust, in which nothing can be rightly seen, especially because just as malice and anger have pride as an inseparable companion, so meekness has humility as its companion and associate, which is necessary and the best disposition for wisdom and thus merits to receive it from God by begging for it. Moreover St. James requires meekness as the mother of patience, which was necessary for the faithful in that age amid such great persecutions and tribulations; which he therefore earnestly commended to them in verse 1 and thereafter. RECEIVE, — that is, retain what has been received; for it signifies an act not begun, but continued and perfected. For he speaks to the faithful, who had already received the word of faith, whom he admonishes to preserve it carefully, increase it and promote it. THE IMPLANTED WORD. — Oecumenius wrongly translated λόγον, "reason," which is opposed to anger: for here we are dealing with "word," not "reason"; whence the Syrian translator renders it, "word which is implanted in our nature," in Greek ἔμφυτον, which Oecumenius and Vatablus translate as "natural, innate, true, not fictitious," just as in Wisdom XII, 10, conversely it is called ἔμφυτος πονηρία, natural malice of the obstinate. Others more aptly translate ἔμφυτον here throughout as "implanted, inserted, engrafted," as happens when a branch of one tree is grafted onto another, and, as farmers speak of it, "inoculated," or "grafted," which the Greeks and Latins call emphyteusis. Thus Aelian says a pear branch is grafted onto an apple tree, and through it pears are produced. In a similar manner, God's word, faith and grace are grafted as it were like a divine shoot and branch into our will, and through it our will produces supernatural works of faith, hope, charity, patience, martyrdom and other virtues. Note here that τὸ "implanted" signifies that God's word, faith and grace are not connate to us, but implanted from elsewhere, namely divinely, and therefore are gratuitous and supernatural. Second, the works of faith and grace are to be attributed not so much to the will as to faith and grace: for from the will they receive only freedom, namely that they are vital, human and free works; but from faith and grace they receive their dignity and character, namely that they are supernatural works of faith, charity and grace: just as a tree produces pears when through an engrafted pear branch it produces pears, even though it communicates its sap to it; yet that it produces pears, not apples, must be attributed to the engrafted pear branch, not to itself. Elsewhere St. Paul and Scripture say conversely that we are engrafted into Christ, as if Christ were the tree; to which we as branches or shoots are engrafted, so that we may draw from him life, sap and the vigor of grace, according to that passage in Romans VI, 5: "If we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection;" and I John IV, 16: "He that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and God in him." Thus St. Paul, Romans XI, 17, says that the gentiles, unbelieving and impious, as it were wild olives, are engrafted through faith and grace into the good olive tree, namely into Christ, so that they may produce sweet and rich olives of charity and good works. You will ask, what is this "implanted word" which St. James commands us to receive? The Council of Vienne responds first that it is Christ, or the incarnate Word: for if we receive this through faith and grace, it will save us: for his incarnation is most similar to the grafting or inoculation of trees. First, just as a shoot of a better and more fruitful tree is usually grafted onto a wilder or more barren tree, so that through it it may put aside its wild barrenness and produce better and more abundant fruits: so into our flesh and infertile and barren humanity, in the garden of the womb of the blessed Virgin, the divine Word being grafted by the working of the Holy Spirit, so that from humanity and divinity there might be made one hypostasis and one suppositum as it were one tree, which through the branch of the divine Word produced divine fruits, most sweet and excellent; conversely it can be said that humanity as a branch is engrafted in Christ to the Word and divinity as to a tree and trunk. For the Godhead and divine hypostasis sustains humanity and human nature in Christ, but not conversely does the human hypostasis sustain the divine, for this was the error of Nestorius. Second, just as a branch is cut off from one tree so that it may be grafted onto another: so Christ descending into flesh was as it were cut off and severed from the bosom of the Father, so that he might be transplanted from the heavenly paradise into the earthly. Third, just as the branch of the tree to which grafting is to be done is cut off, so that a better branch may be grafted to it and to another: so from the humanity of Christ the human hypostasis was cut off and as it were severed, so that the divine hypostasis might be communicated to it and as it were engrafted. Fourth, just as a branch engrafted onto a tree coalesces with it and becomes one tree: so humanity engrafted to the Word coalesced with it into one and the same person. Fifth, just as a branch is bound to a tree so that it may coalesce: so divinity was bound to humanity by the bond of hypostatic union. St. Bernard speaks excellently, sermon 3 On the Vigil of the Nativity: "Nothing is more sublime than God," he says, "nothing more vile than clay, and yet with such condescension God descended into clay, and with such dignity clay ascended to God, that whatever God did in it, clay is believed to have done; whatever clay endured, God is said to have endured in it." Sixth, just as in spring when the south wind blows, when trees sweat and burst forth into buds, the grafting of branches is to be done: so the incarnation of the Word was made in spring, namely on the 25th day of March, on which the world was created, so that he might repair and renew it. Hence secondly, some understand by "implanted word" the Eucharist. For in it Christ is really and substantially inserted into us and into our stomach and mind, and as it were grafted in; but in such a way that He rather converts us into Himself, than He Himself is converted into our substance and quality, as St. Augustine says. But this is mystical, not literal. Others understand by "implanted word" Christ fixed to the cross. For the tree of the cross was a wild and barren wood; according to that: "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree," Gal. cap. III, vers. 13. But Christ was a noble and fruitful shoot, according to that of Isaiah IV, 2: "In that day shall the bud of the Lord be high and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be exalted." This shoot therefore was grafted and fastened by nails into the cross, and then the cross brought forth the most abundant fruits to the world, according to that Jer. xxxiii, 15: "I will cause the bud of justice to spring forth unto David." But this sense is accommodated and homiletical, not genuine. Thirdly, "implanted word" is the Word of God, namely Holy Scripture and the Gospel. Thus Bede, the Gloss, Sasbout, Catharinus and Cajetan. It is called "implanted," so as to be distinguished from congenital, namely from the light of reason naturally implanted in us. Whence St. Thomas, explaining that passage Eph. cap. vi, 18, "And the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God": "Preaching," he says, "is called the sword of the spirit, because it does not penetrate even to the spirit, unless it be led by the Holy Ghost." It is therefore called "implanted," because through the preaching of the Apostles and the faith of the hearers it is inserted and inspired into the souls of believers by the Holy Ghost. Note here the apt analogies of grafting a shoot into a tree and implanting the word in the soul. For many conditions in the grafting of trees must be observed, which Columella recounts lib. V, cap. xi; Varro, lib. I De Re rust.; Pliny, lib. XVII, cap. xiv, and others. The first is, just as a branch through grafting is inserted into a tree, so Christ through preaching and faith is put into the mind. The second is, just as the native branch is cut off so that another better one may be inserted, so in the old law the flesh of the foreskin was circumcised, so that the faithful might be inserted into the Church and the grace of God: but in the new law the soul is circumcised by cutting away sins and vices, so that the faith and grace of God may be inserted into the mind. The third is, so that a branch of one tree may be conveniently grafted into another, it must be similar to it in bark: so Christ is grafted into us, because in external appearance and as it were in bark, namely in humanity, He is similar to us. The fourth is, the branch must be split even to the pith, so that another shoot may be grafted and glued into it: so the soul must be split even to the heart and its innermost bosom through love of Christ, so that Christ Himself may be grafted and inoculated into it, and, so to speak, fixed in the heart and intimately united to it, just as conversely He was fixed and pierced even to the heart on the cross, so that He might be united to our heart. Whence Cant. cap. IV, vers. 9, it says: "Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse," where for "thou hast wounded" in Hebrew it is לבבתני libbathani, that is, "thou hast taken away my heart from me, thou hast pierced my heart, thou hast taken out my heart": for a lover must give his heart to the beloved, so that, just as in the grafting of a shoot its pith is united to the pith of the tree, so the heart of the lover may be united and grafted into the heart of the beloved. The fifth is, a branch grafted into a tree must be bound to it with cow dung and mud, and protected against cold and heat: so through meditation on our dung and mud, that is, on human misery, death and the last things, the soul must be bound to Christ, and protected against all temptations of sloth, gluttony, lust and other vices. The sixth is, tree grafting must be done in spring, with the South wind blowing: so spiritual grafting is best done in youth and the flowering age, with the Holy Ghost blowing. For youth is flexible and receives every grafting: but old age, if nurtured in vices it has grown old, with difficulty puts off ingrained habits and vices, and therefore it is very difficult to graft the opposite virtues into it. The seventh is, the shoots to be grafted must be cut from a tree namely three years old; likewise from new branches, which face the East, and these same branches must be grafted into branches of another tree likewise facing the East: so the word of God must be put into the soul, drawn is from the holy Trinity, and from Christ, whose name is the Orient, Zechariah vi, 12; and conversely the soul must be directed toward the Orient, that is, toward the superior part, by which it looks toward heavenly things and desires new and spiritual life. Eighth, just as a wild tree which previously produced nothing, or produced only wild fruit, through grafting produces sweet and savory pears: so the uncultivated soul luxuriating in desires, which previously produced only the works of gluttony, lust, pride, etc., through the grafting of the word and grace of God produces the sweetest pears of sobriety, chastity, humility, charity, etc.: thus Clement of Alexandria, book VI of the Stromata, vi, where he enumerates four species of bodily grafting, and accommodates them mystically to as many species of spiritual grafting. Ninth, the grafted branch marries, as it were, the branch and tree into which it is grafted, and joins itself with the closest bond of marriage: thus Christ through the word of God espouses to himself the faithful soul, according to that passage II Corinthians xi, 2: "I have espoused you to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." Again, the grafted branch, as it were, adopts the other branch into which it is grafted, according to that passage of Ovid, book I of the Remedies of Love: When grafting comes, make the branch adopt the branch. Thus Christ through the word, faith and grace adopts us to himself as sons and heirs. Tenth, just as the grafted branch coheres firmly with the other into which it is grafted, and becomes one with it and the same: so Christ through faith and grace is firmly joined and united to our soul, so that unless it be cast off and cut away through hostile will, it remains perpetually joined to the soul and as it were wedded to it. Eleventh, grafting is to a tree like cultivation: for it makes it better, and causes it to draw better and more digested sap, and from this produces better fruit: so the grafting of faith and grace cultivates the animal soul, renews it, polishes it, so that it imbibes and puts on heavenly sap, and from this produces heavenly actions. Hence learn how useful it is to hear, read, and ruminate upon the word of God: for thus by grafting it into the mind, we renew it, and make it heavenly, so that all its sap, that is, thought, and affection, and fruit, that is action, may be spiritual and heavenly: just as conversely to read, hear, and ruminate upon vain, carnal, wanton, cursing words makes a man vain, carnal, wanton, cursing. Whence St. Ambrose, book IX on Luke, chapter xx: "Just as a tender shoot," he says, "cut from an old tree is grafted into the fruitful root of another: so the holy people, with the scars of the old shoot smoothed away, grows in that new wood of the cross as in the lap of a pious mother, and the Holy Spirit poured into this prison-like body, as if sent down into the deep furrows of the earth, washes away with the irrigation of saving water whatever is foul, and raises the condition of our members into heavenly discipline." Mystically you can easily adapt all these things to the word of God inspired, that is, to divine inspiration: for the Holy Spirit grafts this into the mind, and so the word of God is preached in vain by preachers externally, unless the Holy Spirit preach it internally and graft it into the mind; whether he himself do it through the preacher externally, or by himself alone internally inspire and graft it into the mind, matters little: for the taste and fruit are the same in both cases. For it passes into our nature, and makes us bear fruit for God, as Thomas the Englishman says. WHICH CAN SAVE (Syriac, vivify) YOUR SOULS, — namely to regenerate them, and give them new birth, and that supernatural, here through grace, in the future through glory. St. James looks back to what he said in verse 18: "For of his own will he hath begotten us by the word of truth;" for the word of truth is the word grafted into our soul by the Holy Spirit, to accomplish this divine generation, which is done through the remission of sins, the infusion of justice and sanctification, which we can and ought to renew and increase daily. This is what Paul says, Romans i, 16: "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;" and chapter x, verse 10: "For with the heart we believe unto justice; but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." See the remarks there. Moreover, the word of God saves the soul, not by faith alone in believing it, as heretics wish; but by obeying it, and fulfilling it in deed and life, and especially by suffering much for it, as the first faithful and Martyrs suffered. St. James teaches that this is so when he adds:
1:22
22. BUT BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY. — That is to say, What I have said, "Receive the implanted word," I mean thus, that you not only hear and believe it, but also accomplish the same by works. "For to know what is good and not to do it, is sin to him," says St. James, chapter IV, verse 17; and Christ, Luke XI, 28: "Blessed, He says, are they that hear the word of God, and keep it," and therefore "Jesus began to do first, and then to teach," Acts I, 1. For in Christ "knowledge was the rule of living, life was the manner of speaking." For He knew nothing more excellently than He lived more holily; nor did He teach greater things than He did. All the Saints imitated Christ as their leader. Thus St. Paul: "Be imitators, he says, of me, as I also am of Christ," I Corinthians XI, 1. St. Gregory, homily 29 in the Gospel, responding to one saying: "I have already believed, therefore I shall be saved," answers: "He speaks truly, if he holds his faith by works: for true faith is that which in what it says in words, does not contradict in morals. Hence it is that concerning certain false believers Paul says, to Titus, V: Who profess that they know God, but by their works deny Him." Hence John says, epistle I, chapter II: "He that says he knows God, and keeps not His commandments, is a liar. For then are we truly faithful, if what we promise in words we fulfill in works." St. Augustine, sermon On Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit: "The aim, he says, of Christian religion is, that what we have learned from the doctrine of truth, we accomplish by work. For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." Forcefully Nazianzenus, oration 27: "Work, he says, is stronger than speech." And St. Bernard to Pope Eugenius, book II On Consideration, chapter VII: "Hear, he says, my song, and indeed less sweet, but salutary. A monstrous thing is the highest rank, and the lowest mind; the first seat, and the lowest life; a boastful tongue, and an idle hand; much speech, and no fruit; a grave countenance, and light conduct; great authority, and wavering stability." See the words Acts I, 1. DECEIVING YOURSELVES, — παραλογιζόμενοι ἑαυτούς, that is, deceiving and leading yourselves into error by paralogism and fallacious argument, as the Sophists do. For this is the sophism of the devil and of heretics: it is written, He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; therefore good works are not necessary, but faith alone suffices for salvation. Again: Blessed is he that hears and receives the words of God: therefore let works and labors avail nothing, let crosses go to the devil. But the answer must be, that no one prudently hears and believes, unless he obeys what he has heard and believed, and reduces it to practice. Moreover, "it is more unhappy to deceive than to be deceived," says St. Eucherius, epistle to Valerian; but it is most unhappy to deceive oneself, and to be deceived by oneself, especially where eternal salvation is at stake. Thus today many deceive themselves; for the temples are full of hearers of the word of God, but empty of doers. And thousands frequently hear sermons, and scarcely one is there who changes his life for the better; namely, because they hear the word of God as a musical song tickling the ears, not striking the mind, as Ezekiel complains, chapter XXXIII, verse 32.
1:23
23. BECAUSE IF ANY ONE IS A HEARER OF THE WORD, AND NOT A DOER, HE SHALL BE COMPARED TO A MAN BEHOLDING HIS OWN COUNTENANCE IN A GLASS. — That is, the natural countenance with which he was born, not a fictitious one; not painted, not masked. Note: the word "man" suggests that men do not use, but rather abuse a mirror: for it is the concern of women who love adornment, not of men, to use a mirror and image. Whence St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, and Cardinal Bellarmine who imitated him recently, when friends asked him to permit himself to be painted and his image to be prefixed to his works, answered acutely and religiously: "Do you wish to paint my old man, or my new? If the old, he is deformed; and worthy not of a picture, but of hiding: if the new, he is not yet perfect." In a glass. — Note: Just as a glass is that into which we look, and in which we contemplate our image, that is our likeness: so here the word and law of God is called a glass, because in it we look at ourselves and contemplate the image of the soul, so that we may see how far we are distant from the perfection of virtue, and beholding the blemishes of the soul we may wipe them away and wash them off. For the word and law of God shows clearly without disguise and flattery the precepts of virtues and the prohibitions of all vices; adding to those promises and rewards, to these threats and punishments; so that it may imprint those upon us, and erase these from the mind. Whence St. Augustine wrote a book which he called a Mirror, because in it he collects the moral sentences of Holy Scripture concerning virtues and vices; so that in it "the believer, he says, who wishes to obey God, may look at himself, and may attend to how much he has advanced in good morals and works, and how much he lacks." The same in Psalm CIII, conclusion 1: "See, he says, if you are this, which the Psalmist said; if you are not yet, groan that you may be. A mirror has revealed your face to you: just as a mirror does not feel a flatterer, so neither should you deceive yourself." And St. Leo, sermon II on Lent: "The artificer of God's mercy, he says, has fashioned in his commandments a most splendid mirror, in which man might behold the face of his own mind; and might recognize how conformable to the image of God, or how dissimilar he was." For a mirror Virgil thus describes in an Epigram: The image in the wave. The likeness is rendered in the liquid wave of the one beholding, such as the most brilliant orb of a mirror casts back. The likeness responds from the liquid surface of the fountain, such as the shadow-making image rebounds from a mirror. In like manner St. Bernard says, sermon I On the Seven Loaves: "The Gospel, a mirror of truth, flatters no one, deceives no one; each one will find himself in it such as he has been, so that he may not tremble there with fear where there is no fear, nor rejoice when he has done evil." And citing this place of St. James: "But we, brethren, let us consider ourselves in that reading of the Holy Gospel which we have heard, so that we may profit from it, and correct ourselves, if we find anything in us that needs correcting." God commanded as a symbol of this thing in Exodus XXXVIII, 8, that a brazen laver be made from the mirrors of women, so that in it the priests about to sacrifice, washing themselves, might look at themselves, and if they found anything stained or disordered, might uncover and arrange it. For, as St. Gregory says, homily 17 in the Gospels: "The mirrors of women are the precepts of God, in which holy souls always behold themselves, and if there are any blemishes of foulness in them, they discover them, they correct the vices of their thoughts, and as it were resisting faces, like an image returned from a mirror, they arrange: because while they diligently attend to the precepts of the Lord, in them they certainly recognize what in themselves pleases or displeases the heavenly man." Just as therefore women, while they comb and adorn themselves, diligently gaze upon themselves in a mirror, so that they may wash away whatever they see that is foul in their face, and arrange it beautifully in all respects: so a Christian ought continually to gaze upon the mirror of the word and divine law, and according to it reform and adorn himself entirely and all his ways. Louis Vives writes in St. Augustine's eighteenth book On the City of God, chapter XIII, that a basilisk is killed thus: hunters surround themselves on all sides with mirrors, into which when it looks at itself, the poisoned rays of visual species going forth from its eyes, by the force of the mirror are reflected back upon itself, and thus they infect and kill it: so a sinner, beholding the roots of his crimes in the law of God and reflecting them upon himself, struck with compunction kills those sins, which he perceives to be so foul and repugnant to the law of God, and puts on the new man. This is what St. Paul says, II Corinthians III, 18: "But we all beholding the glory of the Lord with face unveiled, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." For, as St. Augustine says, book XV On the Trinity, chapter VI: "He said beholding through a mirror seeing (for this is κατοπτριζόμενοι), not seeing from a mirror. We are transformed therefore, he says, we are changed from form to form, and we pass from an obscure form to a bright form," namely so that we may be the image of God, and represent Him as it were the exemplar to which we were created, while we conform ourselves to the word both animated and incarnate, namely Christ; and also written, commanded and heard; for concerning it the Psalmist says, Psalm CXVIII, 105: "Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths." And Proverbs VI, 23: "The commandment is a lamp, and the law a light, and the way of life the reproofs of discipline." Excellently St. Leo, sermon I On Lent: "This," he says, "is the dignity of our race, if in us as in a certain mirror the form of divinity shines forth." Hence it is most useful to gaze frequently upon, read, or hear the life of Christ and the Saints, which is as it were a living law and an animated mirror, so that from it we may correct our ways and conform ourselves to the life of Christ and the Saints. For examples of holiness are efficacious, because the Saints were weak and infirm men, as we are; and what they were able to do through the grace of God, we too are able to do. Note: The "face of his nativity," that is, the native and genuine (for this is what the Greek word γενέσεως signifies), signifies that we do not behold in a mirror the image of our face, as the common people think, but the very face itself through a species not direct, but reflected. For we see a thing in a mirror otherwise than in an image: because the vision terminates upon an image as upon an adequate object, from which the mind rises up to imagine and contemplate the thing of which it is an image; but in a mirror the image which is seen is not an image, but is the very thing itself placed before the mirror, seen in it through its species, reflected from the mirror to the eye of the one seeing, so that the vision terminates proximately upon one's own face, and that is the object of sight (not the image of the mirror), upon which he himself is immediately borne through that reflected species; therefore that image seen in the mirror is not an image, but is the very face of the man, as it is seen through the species in the mirror and reflected from the mirror. Wherefore it was the delirium of old Acco, who, beholding herself in a mirror as in an image, conversed with it as with another woman, smiled, threatened, etc., concerning whom Rhodiginus, book XVII, chapter II. They also say that those who seize the whelp of a tigress, throw a glass mirror before her as she pursues, in which she herself beholding, seeing her image in the mirror, thinking it to be her whelp, remains contemplating it and allows the robber to go away with the whelp. But hear this question being ventilated on both sides and being determined by our Francis Aguilo- nium, lib. I Opticorum, proposit. 46: "Whether that image which is seen in a mirror is a species, or the thing itself? Some say it is, others deny it. That it is a species appears to be proved by these arguments. First, because that which wanders in the depth of the mirror can be not so much a true body as a phantasmal and imaginable thing. Whence that passage used by St. James cap. I: If any man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man considering the countenance of his nativity in a mirror, etc. Next, the true thing is by no means there where the idol appears. It is therefore something other than the thing itself: but it can be nothing other than a species; therefore what is seen in the mirror is a species, not a true thing. Against this, that not a species but the thing itself is seen in the mirror is argued thus: that phantasy immersed in the depth of the mirror appears: but if it were a species, it would necessarily be seen at the surface of the mirror where it terminates. It is not therefore a species, but the very thing which we see in the mirror. But how is a thing seen within the mirror when it is not there? I answer, in every inflection of species the thing appears in a different place than where it truly is. The same holds for the image, or for the little man (whence it is called by the Hebrews אישון iscon) which we see in another's pupil. For it is as it were a simulacrum reflected from a convex mirror of the one looking: for the corneal tunic on account of its smoothness reflects the forms of things presented, but smaller than the things themselves on account of the spherical convexity." Thus mystically in the word and law of God we contemplate, embrace and revere not some image, but the very will of God itself, and God himself as in a mirror.
1:24
24. FOR HE CONSIDERED HIMSELF, AND WENT HIS WAY, AND PRESENTLY FORGOT WHAT MANNER OF MAN HE WAS. — From this a certain clever man in Rome proposed to me a question, whether a mirror has some power of inducing forgetfulness of oneself rather than of another subject seen in it; for this seems to be what St. James here suggests. But nothing of the sort is true, nor does St. James signify any such thing: for a mirror represents one's own face in the same manner, with the same clarity and efficacy as another's, and therefore a person forgets the face of another as much as his own, if he has inspected it in the mirror only; but because the face of another, which he inspected in the mirror, he can perceive directly in himself without the mirror through a direct image, and often does perceive it, hence it impresses its image more upon the mind and memory than his own, which he cannot perceive directly in himself, but only reflexively in the mirror. For reflected images are refracted, and therefore are weaker, and strike the eye and mind more weakly than direct ones: whence the Apostle, I Corinthians XIII, calls vision through a mirror obscure and enigmatic: "We see now, he says, through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face." Thus Dionysius the Carthusian: "An image in a mirror, he says, has a weak being, and is intentional rather than real: therefore it makes a weak impression, because the mode of acting follows the mode of being, and therefore from such an impression there follows a fleeting knowledge in the mind, and from this an easy forgetfulness." The same doctrine is taught by Aguilonius, lib. I Optic., propos. 46: "Why, he says, is the figure shown in a mirror so weak? I answer, because it is weakened by reflection. Whence when the same is reflected from one mirror to another and another, the second reflection is more obscure than the first, and the third than the second, and the others in the same order." Wherefore the mirror of the divine word and law must be inspected by us repeatedly, so that we may renew, nourish, and sharpen its memory in the mind, and thus impress it so vividly that it may strike the will, pierce the heart, and drive it to good works. This is what St. James signifies when he says: "For he considered himself, and went his way," that is to say, he contemplated himself in the mirror in passing and in transit; and therefore going away and encountering other objects, "presently forgot what manner of man he was," that is, what manner of man he saw himself to be in the mirror: hence he does not care to wash away the stains, nor to set in order what is disordered. In a similar manner, he who hears the word of God in passing, and immediately transfers his mind to earthly business and perishable things, presently forgets both the mirror and himself, that is, both the divine law and his own morals, so that he does not care to correct them and to make them conform to the divine law, especially if he looks upon this mirror of the divine law not so much for the sake of utility, as for pleasure and curiosity, namely to feed his eyes and ears with vain knowledge and eloquence of it; but not in order to reduce it to practice and to conform his life to it. For thus many, men especially (whence St. James aptly says, "like unto a man," not a woman: for she looks upon herself in a mirror in order to cleanse and adorn herself) look upon themselves in a mirror, to see whether they appear old or young; whether beautiful or deformed; whether serene or morose and wrinkled; as Claudian, lib. I in Eutropium, concerning Lais contemplating herself in a mirror, says: And age dreads itself when the mirror condemns it, and Ovid, lib. Trist.: She weeps also, as in the mirror she beheld wrinkles of age, Tyndaris. "To see therefore in a mirror" is a proverb signifying to see superficially only, so that you do not perceive the matter thoroughly, nor penetrate its inmost depths: whence I Corinthians XIII, 12: "We see now, he says, through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face," that is to say, we now see divine things through faith superficially, but in heaven and in the vision of God we shall behold their inmost depths by direct vision. Hence St. James also opposes to vision in a mirror, as it were superficial, the perfection by which a thing is inspected and perceived thoroughly, when he adds: "But he that hath looked into the perfect law." Wherefore Peter of Blois aptly says, serm. 51, that there are three kinds of hearers of the word of God, the slothful, the active, the contemplative: the first hear and despise; the second hear and obey what they have heard; third to hear and fall asleep in its embrace. The first are those whom St. James here touches upon, who indeed, having heard the word of God and thinking of death, judgment and hell, are struck with compunction; but soon turning to earthly cares and enticements, they forget it. Our John David compares these same ones in the image of twelve mirrors with the rainbow, which is a certain mirror of the sun, as Seneca says, lib. I Natur. quaest., cap. IV, but an imperfect and evanescent one, because some parts of the cloud are thicker than to transmit the sun, others thinner than to exclude it: whence it comes to pass that in the rainbow there is a fiery color from the sun, a blue color from the cloud, the others from the mixture of both. It is memorable what Theodoret writes in the History of the Holy Fathers, cap. IV, concerning Eusebius the anchorite watching ploughmen in the field. "When," he says, "the divine Ammianus had read the evangelical passage, and was inquiring about its interpretation, the great Eusebius ordered him to repeat the reading. When he had said: 'Those who plough,' perhaps delighted, you did not hear; thereupon with his own eyes he took the law, so that he might never contemplate that field, nor enjoy the heavenly beauty and the sight of the choir of stars: but using a very narrow path, whose measure they say was one palm's breadth, leading to the oratory, he did not permit him to go outside it thereafter. And they say he lived more than forty years after this law. Indeed, when he had bound his loins with an iron girdle, and had imposed a very heavy collar on his neck, he joined the girdle with another iron to the collar, which was placed on his neck, so that in this way, bent over, he was forced to look constantly down at the earth." He himself exacted these punishments upon himself for the neglected hearing of the Gospel. Morally, from the mirror and the one who beholds himself in it, learn what the word of God is, and its hearer. First indeed, just as in a mirror there is seen, not the image of a thing, but the thing itself through a species not direct, but reflected: so in the word of God is seen God's very will, and God himself, as the word of the mind is discerned in the word of the mouth, as it were in a mirror. Hence the saying about a mirror is common among the Symposium: No figure is certain to me, none is foreign: There is a splendor within, gleaming with radiating light, Which shows nothing except whatever it has seen before. Secondly, flat mirrors exhibit images equal to the things themselves, but convex ones smaller; both the farther they are removed, the smaller they make the images, as Aguilonius teaches, lib. V Opticor., propos. 56, and seq. Whence also Pliny, lib. XXXIII, cap. IX: "The same," he says, "force in mirrors, when polished by use and thickened somewhat and pushed back a little, dilates the magnitude of images immensely. So much does it matter whether that reflection is rejected or received, etc. And it matters greatly whether they are concave and cup-shaped, or depressed, or elevated, or turned away, or oblique, supine, or straight, the quality of the receiving shape twisting the coming shadows. For that image is nothing other than the clarified brightness of the matter receiving the shadow." In like manner the word of God heard, read and ruminated plainly, openly and candidly, exhibits God's will to us entirely and as it were makes it equal to us. But truly if you hear or read the word of God adorned and painted over with a certain fear of human wisdom and eloquence, you will discern God and God's will less in it, you will perceive fewer pious movements of mind and will toward it. Wherefore the preachers of God's word ought to be sincere, free, and not care for the complaints of hearers, according to that saying of St. Jerome to Nepotian, On the Life of Clerics: "My discourse has struck no one in particular; it is a general disputation about vices: whoever wishes to be angry with me will himself confess of himself that he is such." For, as Clement of Alexandria says, lib. I Paedag., cap. IX: "Just as a mirror is not evil to the deformed, in that it shows what he is; and just as a physician is not evil to the sick man, in that he announces his fever to him: for the physician is not the cause of the fever, but he himself proves the fever: so neither is he who reproves evil to him who labors in soul, nor does he add faults to him; but he shows those faults which are present, to this end that he may turn him away from such pursuits." Thirdly, just as maidens about to be married, studious of beauty and adornment, gaze long and much at themselves in a mirror, and all blemishes and spots, even the smallest, which they see in it, they cleanse and wipe away, and form and arrange their whole face, garments, gestures and movements according to the mirror: so the faithful one who is studious of the salvation and beauty of his soul ought to emulate these maidens, indeed surpass them, so that he may constantly behold himself in the word of God, and compare and arrange his morals and his whole life with the law and will of God, and do so better and better each day. Fourth, "concave mirrors turned against the sun's rays are kindled more easily than any other fire," says Pliny, lib. II, cap. CVII, so much so that they burn and inflame tow, paper, the hand and other things placed opposite: thus if we gaze upon the humble law of God with a humble heart, and therefore receiving the rays of divine ardor, for a long time and more deeply, we are kindled by the same divine love. For, as the Psalmist says in Psalm XI, 7: "The words of the Lord are pure words, (as) silver tried in fire;" and Psalm CXVIII, 140: "Thy word is exceedingly inflamed, and thy servant hath loved it." Fifth, the keenness and brightness of mirrors is dulled by the menstruation of women, says Pliny, lib. VII, cap. XV: thus by luxury and carnal vices the word of God is obscured and as it were dulled in the soul, so that it can scarcely be seen and known by the luxurious and carnal man. Whence the same Pliny, lib. XI, cap. XXXVII: "There is, he says, a certain poison in the teeth of men. For they also dull the brightness of a mirror from the opposite side, and kill the unfledged young of doves." For teeth are a symbol of gluttony, equally of talkativeness, calumny and detraction, by which as it were by clouds the word of God is veiled so that it can scarcely be perceived. Moreover, the same Pliny, lib. XXVIII, cap. VII, assigns a remedy, and says that mirrors dulled in appearance recover their brightness if they have no fish with them, which, as he himself says, lib. IX, cap. XVIII, is so hard that it can never be cooked unless beaten with a rod: thus by the hardness and harshness of life gluttony and lust are overcome, and the word of God regains its former brightness to him who beholds it. Sixth, it matters greatly in what position and with what eyes you gaze upon a mirror: for you will see a thing in the mirror differently if to the left or to the right; differently if you inspect it directly and at an equal distance; again differently if you gaze upon it with oblique, averted, etc., eyes, and plainly as you inspect the mirror, so in turn will it show itself to you, nay you and your image to you. If you approach, it approaches; if you withdraw, it withdraws; if you pass by, it passes by; if you bow down, it bows down; if you mock, it mocks; if you grow angry, it grows angry; if you strike, it strikes back. Thus as you show yourself to God and to God's word, so in turn will He show Himself to you, according to that Psalm XVII, 26: "With the holy thou wilt be holy, etc., and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted." Behold therefore this mirror, namely God's word, and in it God Himself with direct, fixed and benign eyes, and He in turn will look upon you with the same. Seventh, Pliny, lib. XXXIII, cap. IX: "Mirrors," he says, "were best among the ancients the Brundusian, mixed with tin and bronze: silver ones were preferred. Praxiteles first made them in the age of great Pompey; and recently it began to be believed that a more certain image is produced by the application of gold to the back." Thus the best mirrors of virtues and vices are the laws and sentences of Holy Scripture, which like silver sound clearly, and like bronze and tin sound forth strongly and constantly the threats and punishments decreed by God for the violators of laws. For by these the keenness of the mind, reflected back upon itself, is turned back, is humbled, is struck with compunction, and returns into favor with God and God's law. Thus in the oracle and threats of Jonah, as in a mirror the Ninevites beheld their crimes, they repented in sackcloth and ashes, they changed their life, they escaped the destruction threatened by Jonah, Jonah III. David did the same at the oracle of Nathan, II Kings XII, 13; and Nebuchadnezzar at the oracle of Daniel, cap. II, vers. 46; and Cornelius at the preaching of St. Peter, Acts X, 25. Thus Babylas the mime and magus, having two concubines, coming to the church and hearing the Gospel, saying: "Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," Matt. III, renounced himself to all, and became a monk, and persuaded his concubines to do the same, as John Moschus testifies in the Spiritual Meadow, cap. XXXII. It is memorable what Sozomen writes, lib. II, cap. IV, and from him Baronius, in the year of the Lord 350: There was, he says, a soldier in Persia, a bishop of a certain city, and when preaching in it he profited nothing, he cursed the city and departed from there; wherefore Sapor besieged the city, destroyed it, and turned it into a field: thus God avenged the neglect of His word and the law of the Gospel. A similar account is found in the Life of St. Lawrence Justinian, Patriarch of Venice. In the Lives of the Fathers, book II, chapter XC, it is related that when a certain person complained to Arsenius that he heard the words of Holy Scripture but could not understand them, nor derive fruit from them, Arsenius answered: "My son, it is necessary that you apply yourself to the meditation of divine doctrine with great ardor: for I have heard from the Fathers that serpent charmers do not understand the words by which they fascinate serpents; but the serpents, hearing the words, understand them, perceive their power, and obey them. The same must we do: even if we do not fully understand the power and efficacy of the sacred writings, nevertheless the serpents perceive the power of the words of the devil, and are put to flight." Thus St. Chrysanthus, constantly reading the sacred books and gazing upon himself in them, became faithful and holy and a martyr, as his Life has it in Surius, on the 25th of October, chapter II. Thus St. Anthony, hearing in the church: "If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven," and constantly gazing upon this mirror, conformed his whole life to it, as St. Athanasius testifies. St. Bonaventure writes the same of St. Francis. For, as St. Paul says, II Timothy III, 16: "All scripture, divinely inspired, is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work." Finally, in this mirror of the word of God, constantly and ardently gazing upon and perfecting themselves, St. Lawrence, Vincent, Cecilia (who constantly carried the Gospel in her breast), Agnes, Augustine, Basil, Gregory, Chrysostom, and all the holy Doctors, Martyrs, Virgins, Confessors, spurring themselves on to the heroic works of martyrdom, virginity, religious life, contempt of the world and other virtues, became as great as we read and revere them. Concerning these, with respect to ourselves, you might truly say that word from Plautus in the Pot of Gold: "What need have you of a mirror, you who are yourself the greatest mirror to yourself"; for they had no need of the mirror of the law, who became for us living mirrors of the same.
1:25
25. BUT HE THAT HATH LOOKED INTO IT, — inwardly, even to the marrow, says Hugo. The Zurich Bible: He that hath looked into it. For in Greek it is παρακύψας, that is, he who with fixed and intent eyes bending down hath looked thoroughly within: he opposes this to him who considered himself in the mirror cursorily and lightly, and departed, and therefore forgot what manner of person he was, and what he ought to correct in himself. For παρακύπτων is to look with head inclined and neck bent, and body prone, with intent countenance and eyes looking obliquely, as those do who through a window, prone and leaning forward, with transverse eyes observe those coming and going with curiosity. Whence the proverb, περὶ ὄνου παρακύψεως, "concerning the ass's looking in," of an ass which, when being driven negligently by a groom, in passing thrust its head into a shop or workshop, and overturned vessels. Thus Budaeus in his Commentary on the Greek Language. The sense therefore is, as if to say: He who not cursorily, but studiously; not negligently, but attentively; not confusedly, but accurately, as if wholly bending over the mirror of the law of Christ, and turning and bending his eyes upon it, hath looked into it, explored it, and penetrated its force and efficacy, he will put into practice what he saw, and will do what the law teaches and commands; and thus he shall be blessed in his deed. Wherefore Oecumenius less correctly translated παρακύψας as "he who hath looked through, and as if in passing hath looked": for although the Greek παρά sometimes signifies "across, in passing, hastily," yet here it signifies not a passing glance, but fixed contemplation; for it is opposed to him who considers cursorily and departs. It signifies therefore "to look through," that is, to look even to the bottom; as those do who wholly bend over a mirror, or some other thing to be examined. INTO THE PERFECT LAW, — into the Evangelical law: for this is perfect, whereas the Mosaic was imperfect: because it gives not only the teachings and precepts of perfect life and virtue, but also the aids of grace, and those abundant and efficacious. See II Corinthians III. Whence Christ says in Matthew chapter V, 17: "I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it." Moreover, Cicero gravely accuses Clodius in his oration For His House, because in his house, which he had consecrated to liberty, fashioning liberty, he had fashioned the image of a harlot. For he who indulges in a harlot and pleasures is not free, but a slave: for he serves the greatest enemies and most despotic masters. Some read "into the law of perfect liberty"; but the Greek texts read τέλειον, and the Latin "perfect"; so also the Syriac. OF LIBERTY, — as if to say: The Evangelical and perfect law is the law of liberty, not of servitude, as the old was, Galatians IV, 24. Moreover, this liberty is not from the law, as if the Gospel made Christians free from the observance of commandments, so that they are bound by no law, and can do whatever they please, as Luther and the Libertines teach: for if there is a law in the Gospel, and that perfect, then it also binds those subject to it, and is to be observed by Christians, as Christ teaches, Matthew V. For Christ came into the world, not only to be its redeemer, but also to be the legislator of the new law, as the Council of Trent defines against Luther, session VI, canons 19, 20 and 22. This liberty therefore of the Evangelical law which Christ brought, first, is from the old law, namely from the judicial and ceremonial precepts of the Pentateuch: for Christ freed and liberated us from these, but not from the law of the Decalogue: for this binds Christians, not insofar as it was given through Moses, but insofar as it is the law of nature sanctioned by God and renewed through Christ, Matthew V. Second, it is liberty from sin and from the power of the demon and hell, Romans VI, 20. "Alone with God is liberty, not to serve sins," says St. Jerome to Celantia. Third, it is liberty from compulsion and fear, so that we fulfill the law not from fear of punishment, but from love of justice, according to that passage II Corinthians III, 17: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty"; and I Timothy I, 9: "The law is not made for the just." For Christians are not slaves, as the Jews were, but sons; not under the spirit of servitude in fear, but under the spirit of adoption in love, Galatians IV, 5. Thus formerly the Stoics and Cicero, in Paradox 5, held that "only the wise man is free, and every fool is a slave"; because the wise man following reason makes the law easy, free and willing; others however with difficulty, unwillingly and under compulsion. Thus Seneca, On the Happy Life, chapter XV: "In a kingdom," he says, "we are born: to obey God is liberty." And Ovid, book I of the Metamorphoses, thus paints the golden age of the world: —— Which with no avenger, Of its own accord, without law kept faith and what was right. The divine St. Augustine, in the book On Continence, chapter III: "We are not," he says, "under the law which indeed commands good but does not give it; but we are under grace, which, by making us love what the law commands, can command with free will. " The same, tract. 91 on John: "Do not abuse your freedom to sin freely, but use it to refrain from sinning: for your will shall be free if it shall be pious: you shall be free if you shall be a servant, free from sin, servant of justice." Fourth, in the resurrection there will be freedom from death and all misery. See what I have said on Rom. VI, 20, where from St. Bernard I assigned a threefold freedom, namely of nature, of grace, and of glory. Excellently did St. Agatha reproach the tyrant: "Are you not ashamed, born of noble lineage, to lead a humble and servile Christian life?" She answered: "Much more excellent is Christian humility and servitude than the wealth and pride of kings." For, as St. Augustine says, in the book On the Quantity of the Soul, chapter XXXIV: "He liberates all, to whom it is most useful to serve all, and in whose service to please perfectly is the only freedom." That is Christ. On the other hand, the unfaithful and carnal are not free-born, but slaves of their own desires, indeed their bondsmen. Thus freedom perishes by freedom, and so the greatest freedom is the greatest servitude, just as the greatest right is the greatest wrong, and the greatest wisdom is the greatest folly: because in it one serves as many tyrants as there are desires. AND SHALL REMAIN IN IT,—by contemplating it assiduously, meditating upon it and exercising it in deed. For this in Scripture signifies "to remain in the law, in God, in Christ," namely to meditate continually and to do those things which the law, God and Christ command; as Moses explains, Deuteronomy chapter VI, verse 7. Thus Christ says, John XV, 7: "If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, whatsoever you will ask, it shall be done unto you." And Moses, Deuteronomy XXVII, 26: "Cursed is he that remaineth not in the words of the law of this book, nor fulfilleth them in deed." And St. John, epistle 1, chapter II, verse 5: "He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." For the law is as it were a soul, which informs and animates the man in whom it remains, as it were, and drives him to accomplish in deed all the good which the law prescribes. Whence St. James subjoins: NOT A FORGETFUL HEARER.—In Greek ἐπιλησμονῆς, that is, of forgetfulness, one who namely delivers to oblivion those things which he has heard. The Syriac: not a hearer who hears and forgets; just as wolves called cervarii forget the prey offered to them and seek another, as Solinus testifies in the Polyhistor, chapter XVIII: "And lynxes looking back do not remember former things, and the mind loses what the eyes cease to see," says St. Jerome, epistle 44 to Chrysogonus. THIS ONE SHALL BE BLESSED IN HIS DEED (ἐν ποιήσει, that is, in the doing and operation) of it.—As if to say: He shall be blessed not in contemplation, but in deed, practice and exercise of the law; "blessed," I say, with the blessedness of the way, which leads straight and brings to the blessedness of the homeland. Hence it is clear that our blessedness in this life consists in doing and fulfilling the law of God: for this is our justice; on the other hand, it is miserable and unhappy to be a sinner who violates the law of God, and so the unhappiness of this life consists in the transgression of the law of God, because it brings forth the offense of God, which leads to eternal damnation, where is all misery and unhappiness. To this deed and doer of the law pertains what we read in the Life (in Surius, on the 23rd of April) of St. Aegidius (who was a companion of St. Francis), a man of rare sanctity and greatly illuminated by God. For St. Aegidius, hearing the lord of the vineyard rebuking his vinedressers and saying to them in Italian fate, fate, and not parlate: "Hear," he said, "preachers, what this man says: let words cease, and put your hands to the work. Preach rather by deed than by word. For if you possessed the whole earth, and yet did not till it, what fruit would you reap from it? Certainly none. On the other hand, if you had a small field and tilled it diligently, you would reap much fruit from it for yourself and yours. So likewise knowledge of the divine law and of any other thing, however excellent, will profit you nothing if you do not cultivate it by works; but if it be small, yet cultivated by works, it would bring forth a great harvest of merits and glory.
1:26
26. IF ANY MAN THINK HIMSELF RELIGIOUS (The Syrian, to serve God: the Greek θρῆσκος means both religious and generous, and noble), NOT BRIDLING HIS TONGUE, BUT SEDUCING HIS OWN HEART, THIS MAN'S RELIGION IS VAIN. — Although it is not necessary that all the sentences of the epistle be connected with one another: for often they are disconnected, and after the Hebrew manner they give disconnected admonitions; nevertheless by this sentence St. James looks back and confirms what he said in verse 19: "But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak." Again, immediately before he had said that the doer of the work is blessed: but to the doer the talkative man is opposed, who does not bridle his tongue. For his soul is occupied in his tongue, and flows out in words, so that he abandons his hand and neglects his works: as we see that talkative people work little. Others, says Oecumenius, we see glorying in their deeds and vainly boasting themselves, who lose the praise of their work by this boasting, because they do not bridle their tongue: others again, even good people and assiduous in good works, we perceive to be sometimes garrulous and prone to censuring, detracting, cursing, says Bede. These James admonishes here to bridle their tongue. Finally, James had commended the doer of the law: now he shows who is the doer of the law, namely the religious man who bridles his tongue. For "religion" according to some is said to be situated in the law, namely from the law being observed, for it is situated in the observance of divine law. James therefore shows that God's law, worship and religion are seen in all commandments indeed, but especially in three, namely first, in moderating the tongue; second, in the visitation of orphans and widows; third, in keeping oneself unspotted from this world. Note: Some understand "religious" strictly for one who, studying perfection, has bound and obliged himself to God tightly by vows: for this man today the common people call religious, for his proper characteristic is silence, not conversation, says Gilbert the abbot, sermon 7 in the Song of Songs, which is found among the works of St. Bernard. Thus explain the Author of sermons to the Brothers in the desert (which are falsely attributed to St. Augustine), sermon 3, Hugh, Thomas the Englishman, Dionysius, Catharinus and others. Indeed it is proper to these religious men above all others to bridle the tongue, and so he seems irreligious who does not know how to bridle it. But St. James takes the name of religious more generally for any faithful person who worships God: and the primitive Christians among the nations appeared religious, indeed they truly were religious, as I showed in Acts v, 2. Wherefore it was entirely fitting for them to speak little, prudently and piously, so that they might edify both Christians and Gentiles, and draw them to the faith of Christ. Whence St. Cyril, book III in John XXVI, reads faithful for religious. For he says: "If any one among you appears faithful, who does not bridle his tongue," etc. Not bridling his tongue. — James signifies that the tongue is like an untamed and unbridled horse, which unless it is bridled by a bridle by the rider, namely by reason, drives him headlong so that he rushes to destruction, according to that saying of Theophrastus in Laertius, book V: "One should trust more in a bridled horse than in an uncontrolled word." Wherefore wisely he admonishes in Ecclesiasticus chapter XXVIII, verse 29: "Your gold," he says, "and your silver melt down, and make a balance for your words, and make straight bridles for your mouth, and beware lest by chance you slip in your tongue and fall in the sight of your enemies lying in wait for you, and let your fall be incurable unto death." See St. Thomas, in sermon on the Fourth Sunday after Easter, where he treats this sentence of James most excellently, showing what damages follow from an unbridled tongue, what benefits from a bridled one. Moreover the bridle of the tongue is the mind and reason, whose therefore this is an enigma in the Symposium: A good law of speaking, a law also hard of keeping silence, The desire of the greedy tongue, an end without end of speaking. Itself flowing, while words flow, so that the tongue may rest. BUT SEDUCING HIS OWN HEART. — The Syriac, בטעט mate, that is, causing his heart to err. Some translate it, committing fornication; others, worshipping idols, as if the talkative and garrulous person commits fornication with his tongue and reveres it as an idol: just as the glutton reveres his palate as an idol, the lustful person his belly, the proud person his own estimation, the avaricious person money. For the root טעא, or טעוד tau in Chaldaic, Syriac and Arabic signifies to err, and by metaphor to commit fornication; hence by another metaphor to worship idols; for the supreme error in carnal matters is fornication, in spiritual matters idolatry. But the first sense is the genuine one: for the Greek ἀπατῶν, and the Latin seducens, properly means the same as causing to err, deceiving, seducing; because the talkative person does not so much deceive another as himself: for through talkativeness he turns himself away from the true path of salvation, virtue and peace, and leads himself into many quarrels, disputes, dangers to body and soul, and present and eternal death. Secondly, "seducing his own heart," that is, out of self-love and excessive love of himself persuading himself that he is religious, although he be petulant, talkative and slanderous. St. James points the finger at the source from which the petulance of the tongue flows, namely at the seduced heart. For he who allows his heart to err, as the Zurich version translates here, upon this tongue the bridle of reason is never imposed: "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," Matt. XII, 34. Wherefore if words are not weighed, with the heart erring, they will rush forth in blind impulse without restraint. For Gellius wisely writes, lib. I, cap. XV, that the speech of the talkative is born in the mouth, not in the breast. Contrary to Homer, who says that Ulysses, a man endowed with wise eloquence, sends forth his voice not from the mouth, but from the breast. Which opinion of Gellius greatly illustrates that passage of Eccles. cap. XXI, 18: "The lips of the unwise will tell foolish things: but the words of the wise shall be weighed in a balance. In the mouth of the foolish is their heart, and in the heart of the wise is their mouth." The prudent indeed will bring forth eloquence from their heart, Job. VIII, 10: "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good," Luke cap. VI, vers. 45. The foolish on the contrary pour forth unpremeditated words, Psalm LI, 2: "Thy tongue hath devised injustice all the day long." Rightly does Origen say in Gellius there: "The heart of the foolish," he says, "is situated on the surface, not in the depths: it leaps to the lips." HIS RELIGION IS VAIN. — The Syriac, his observance is vain, or his service is vain. "Religion" therefore here signifies both the virtue of religion, by which we render to God the worship due to Him, which is the first among the moral virtues, just as charity is the first among the theological virtues; and the profession of Christianity: for this is called Christian religion, because it worships God with true religion and true worship of sacred rites. For, as Lactantius says, lib. IV Divin. Instit., cap. XXVIII: "We are born on this condition that we render just and due obedience to God our Creator, that we know Him alone, that we follow Him: by this bond of piety we are bound and bound fast to God. Whence religion itself received its name. And we say that the name of religion is derived from the bond of piety, because God has bound men to Himself and constrained them by piety: because we must serve Him as master, obey Him as parent." The same is asserted by St. Augustine, lib. De Vera Religione, cap. LV. The sense therefore of James is, as if to say, The talkative person vainly professes himself to be a Christian, vainly boasts himself to be religious, that is, fearing and worshipping God; his profession is empty, he bears the empty name of Christian religion, when talkativeness casts down the whole structure of virtues, and vain and unjust speech: for nothing so commended Christians and Christian religion among the Gentiles as the moderation and propriety of words. Whence St. Jerome to Marcella concerning Asella says: "She had silence speaking," as if by silence she explained her sanctity more than by speaking. St. Gregory gives the reason, in book VII of the Morals, citing and explaining this passage of James: "After the manner of water," he says, "does the human mind behave. For just as water confined is raised upward, so the human mind enclosed gathers itself toward higher things, and when relaxed it perishes, because it scatters itself uselessly through lower things. For however many superfluous words it is dispersed from the censure of its silence, by so many rivulets, as it were, is it led outside itself; whence it does not suffice to return inwardly to knowledge of itself, because expanded outwardly through much speaking, it loses the force of intimate consideration; whence it is written in Proverbs XXV: As a city that lieth open and without walls, so is a man that cannot restrain his spirit in speaking. Because indeed it has no wall of silence, the city of the mind lies open to the darts of the enemy, and when it casts itself outside itself through words, it exhibits itself open to the adversary: whom it overcomes so much the less laboriously, as this same thing which is conquered fights against itself through much speaking." This is what Isaiah says, chapter XXXII, verse 17: "And the work of justice shall be silence." See what is said there. And in the Canticle II, the Bride is praised for taciturnity: "Thy lips," he says, "are as a scarlet thread," namely not separated and divided by speaking, but joined and united by silence like a thread. St. Gregory of Nazianzus, requiring this excellently in a priest before all others, in his oration On the Silence of Lent, prays: "Care must be taken," he says, "lest we produce any sound that discords from the praise of God. I myself, with pure sacrifices by which I reconcile that great king with mortals, shall keep a pure tongue: for I shall not permit that from an alien tongue, foul and obscene in mind, I send that life-giving sacrifice most pure to God." Note: "Religion" properly is the same as the worship of God. "Religion," says St. Augustine, in book LXXXIII, Question XXXI, "is that which brings care and ceremony to some superior nature which they call divine." See the same, book X of the City of God, chapter I. For religion is the virtue by which we duly worship God as creator, lord and father, and render to him the honor owed: both inwardly through adoration, invocation, reverence, etc.; and outwardly through vows, sacrifices, genuflections, hymns, etc. The beginning and foundation of religion is faith, because by faith we know the true God, hence we worship him as such by religion. Whence St. Cyril, book III on John, chapter XXVI, reads: "This faith is vain." For, as Trismegistus says: "Religion is knowledge of God." And St. Thomas, Opuscule XIX, chapter 1, says the first bond by which man is bound to God is faith. And Lactantius, book IV of True Wisdom, chapter IV: "Wisdom," he says, "precedes, religion follows, because it is first to know God, consequently to worship him." Whence religion is sometimes called piety, and the religious are called εὐλαβεῖς, that is, pious, as appears in Acts II, 5, and X, 2. To this pertains the etymology of religion, so that it is said from binding back, as I have already said: for by it we bind and obligate ourselves to God, as the author of all both nature, and grace and glory. Hence secondly, religion extends itself to the law of God, and those are called religious who studiously observe all the laws of God: for religion includes the fear and reverence of God. Fear commands, and compels us to keep his laws and precepts. Whence in Scripture men religious are called those who fear the Lord, according to that: "Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, in his commandments he shall delight exceedingly," Psalm CXI, 1. For he who honors and reveres God, certainly strives that he fulfill his will and law. Hence of religious persons Zacharias and Elisabeth, it is said that they were "walking in all the commandments of the Lord without blame," Luke I, 6. To this pertains the etymology of religion which Cicero brings, book II of the Nature of the Gods, so that it is said from reading again, because the religious man constantly reads and re-reads the laws of God. This is what the Wise Man says, Ecclesiastes XII, 13: "Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is all man." Thus we say "to instill religion," that is, scruple of conscience; "something to be a matter of religion," that is, of duty of conscience and care lest he offend God. Thus the duty to which we are bound is called religion. Whence Cicero, in the fourth oration against Verres: "I," he says, "whom the Roman people has hitherto entrusted with magistracies, have so accepted them, that I have considered myself bound by the religion of all duties." Thus Francis Suarez, book I of Religion, chapter I. Hence thirdly, "religion" is called the very profession of faith, law and worship of God: whence the religion of Christ is called Christianity, and Christian profession. For, as St. Augustine says, lib. VIII De Civit., cap. XVII: "The sum of religion is to imitate whom you worship." And St. Jerome in cap. IX Amos, says religion gathers men together as it were into one flock; and therefore is called a bundle of the just, or elect, because it is bound together by one religion of the Lord. Whence religion itself received its name from binding together, and binding into a bundle of the Lord. Fourthly, "religion" is called the excellence of religion, by which someone binds and obligates himself entirely to God, as Religious do through three vows. For these are called Religious from binding, as from choosing those who choose, and from loving those who love, and from understanding those who understand, as Cicero says, lib. II De Natura Deorum. And Isidore: "Religion," he says, "is called from binding, that is, from choosing, so that religion is called as it were choosing; therefore the religious are called from choosing, as it were re-choosing God the fountain of all blessedness and all good, whom through sin we had lost by neglecting," says St. Augustine, lib. X De Civit., cap. IV. Hence again Gellius, lib. IV, cap. IX, thinks religion is said from leaving behind, so that religious is that which on account of holiness has been left, removed, and set apart, as are religious and cloistered ones. Yet the truer etymology is that religion is called from binding, because it binds us to God, whence Religious are called as it were bound to God. Thus St. Augustine, Lactantius and others, and St. Thomas, Opusc. XIX Contra Impugn. Relig., cap. I. Therefore the religion of one who does not restrain his tongue is vain in the fourfold manner already recounted. First, because it shows that he does not worship God, nor magnify him: both because knowing himself to be in his presence and heard by him, he does not fear, nor is ashamed to speak those things which displease God; and because with the mouth, which God gave him for his worship and praise, he abuses it for vain, base, cursing things, etc. For the "tongue" has been given to us by God as "an instrument of religion," so that it might be "a harp and plectrum of divine praise." Second, because the talkative person frequently and in many ways violates religion, that is, the law of God, by lying, detracting, provoking, swearing, etc. Again, he who does not religiously, that is studiously, restrain his tongue cannot have religion, that is, a studious and anxious care for keeping the divine law, lest he violate the divine laws and offend God. Third, because the talkative person by his garrulity disgraces and brings infamy upon Christian religion, so that infidels say: It is impossible that this Christian (and consequently the others) be religious, and a modest and composed worshipper of God, who is so unrestrained and uncomposed in words. Whence St. Peter Damian, serm. De Spiritu Sancto, writes that by vain speech not only is the soul wounded, but also the very principle of honest living itself, which joined man to God, is emptied. Nay, and St. Peter with Clement, epist. 1 to James our own, asserts that St. Peter frequently preached to Christians that they should studiously guard and moderate their mouth and tongue. For from the tongue as from a door we perceive who dwells in the house, namely in the mind, whether holiness or vanity, whether God or the devil. For just as modesty of body, especially of the tongue, argues and indicates modesty of mind, from which it flows forth and results as from a fountain: so conversely immodesty and intemperance of the tongue is an index and effect of immodesty and intemperance of mind. Fourth, because talkativeness is a sign of a wandering, dissolute, improvident, irreligious mind: for he who does not restrain his tongue, how will he restrain anger, curiosity, gluttony, pride and other most powerful vices? Wherefore St. Jerome (or whoever is the author, certainly it is not St. Jerome) in the Rule commands monks frequently to reread this sentence of St. James: for holy religion cannot be in the talkative, who cannot moderate their tongue, for "death and life are in the power of the tongue," Proverb. XVIII, 21. Wherefore St. Bernard, serm. 1 De mutatione aquae, calls silence the guardian of religion, and in it is placed the fortitude of Religious, just as Samson's fortitude was placed in his hair. Hence also in almost all Orders silence is strictly commanded, and under grave penalties; and those who wish to reform monasteries first take care to restore silence. Indeed our holy Father Ignatius, founder of our Society, used to say: Do you wish to know whether religious discipline flourishes in some Order? Look to see whether these three things are rightly observed in it, namely silence, enclosure and cleanliness. For if you find these three, know that discipline flourishes in it: if not, know that it languishes. Truly St. Bernard (or whoever is the author), treatise On the Passion of the Lord, chapter XXVII: "Bind, he says, your tongue if you wish to be religious; because without the binding of the tongue religion is vain." And soon after: "Spiritual men know, those who have experienced this, how much frequent loosening of the tongue takes away from devotion, how much it brings about dissolution within. For just as a furnace whose mouth is always open cannot retain heat within itself, so neither can the heart of devotion preserve grace within itself, whose mouth has not been closed by the gate of silence. Let us therefore close our mouth, so that with the fervor of devotion we may be able to preserve Christ the giver of devotion in fervent affection," and a little later: "O how good and pleasant it is with you, O sweetest Jesus, to dwell in one place, to converse with you, to reveal to you the cause of our soul, and to enjoy the response of your consolation!"
1:27
27. PURE RELIGION. — St. James alludes both to the Jews, of whom he himself was Bishop, who placed their religion and purity in ceremonies and legal purifications, and to the Gentiles who thought themselves religious if they worshipped a multitude of gods with abominable sacrifices and rites. He therefore opposes the pure religion of Christians to the vain and unclean religion of the Jews, as well as to the impious superstition of Pagans, Saracens and heretics: for James seems in the spirit to have foreseen and censured the impure religions and rites of the Gnostics and Carpocratians, who defiled themselves in their assemblies with unspeakable incest and intercourse, as Eusebius testifies, lib. IV, cap. VII, and of the Ophites, who consecrated their Eucharist by contact with a serpent: for they believed this to be Christ, as St. Augustine testifies, haeres. 6 and 17. Thus today the religion of Luther and Calvin is impure, by which they condemn the Church's fastings, laws and vows; and they incite, indeed compel, monks to sacrilegious marriages. The sense therefore is, as if to say, The Jews place the purity of their religion in many lustrations; Pagans in many sacrifices to many gods; heretics in the impure figments and turpitudes of their own minds; Saracens now in the worship of Lucifer, afterwards of Mahomet, etc. But truly pure and immaculate religion and piety of Christ and Christians is seen and consists chiefly in mercy and charity: namely in visiting orphans and widows, and keeping oneself unspotted from this world. For the visitation of orphans is pure, because this is a work of pure mercy and charity, since from orphans nothing of profit, favour, honour or reward is hoped for: whence God, and angels, and men praise and celebrate this work of piety as pure and clean. Note first: "Religion" here can be taken in the four ways mentioned a little before, as if to say, Both the worship of God, and the law of charity, and Christian profession, and excellent religion consists chiefly in visiting orphans and in an unspotted conscience. Properly, however, religion signifies the worship of God: for this is called in Greek θρησκεία (in Hebrew עבודה aboda, that is, servitude, culture, work, ministry) from the Thracians, because these, more religious than others, began to worship God with a certain and sacred rite, Orpheus being the founder. Thus Suidas: "θρησκεία," he says, "is latria, and the same as worship and obedience to God, and veneration of gods. For they say that Orpheus the Thracian first by a certain art handed down the mysteries of the Greeks, and called the worship of gods θρησκεία, because it was an invention of the Thracians." Finally, "religion" here could be taken for piety. For thus we call pious men religious; but piety is a pious affection not only towards God, but also towards men, especially the miserable and afflicted: whence in Hebrew חסד chesed signifies piety and mercy, and חסיד chasid is called a pious and merciful man. For these two are joined together: for he who is pious towards God is also pious and merciful towards his neighbour: just as he who loves God loves also his neighbour for God's sake. Note second: The proper and elicited act of the virtue of religion is to worship and honour God, both by internal submission and reverence of mind, and by external means, such as adoration, sacrifices, hymns, vows, oaths, etc. But an act commanded by the virtue of religion is to visit the poor, to fast, to mortify the flesh, etc., in honour of God and the Saints. St. James could therefore have said: Pure religion is to pray, to sing psalms, to make vows, to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Rome, Compostela, etc.; for these are elicited acts of religion. He could also have said: Pure religion is to abstain from meat, from wine, to wear a hair shirt, to fast, etc. But he preferred to say: Pure religion is to visit orphans and widows, because this work was especially then, as I shall shortly show, necessary, and most pleasing to God, and of the highest edification among the infidels; so much so that many were converted to the faith of Christ on account of the charity and mercy of Christians: otherwise to visit orphans is properly an act of mercy; for it is elicited from mercy, but from religion, as I have said, it is commanded. The heretics therefore wrongly twist this passage against solitary monks, who do not visit orphans: for religion is manifold, and embraces many species, and so the religion of monks is true and properly so called. For they are wholly occupied in adoring God, meditating, praising, and they follow the lot of Magdalen, whom Christ praised and preferred to Martha, Luke X, 42; whence by their merits and prayers they sustain the Church, and they profit widows more by their merits than the rich by their alms, so that Rufinus rightly said in the preface to the Lives of the Fathers: "Who would doubt that the world stands by the prayers of the Saints?" Pure. — Namely, it produces these effects, to visit orphans and to keep itself unspotted from this world. Or, as if to say, Religion is pure if it visits orphans and keeps itself unspotted. Before God and the Father. — The Syriac [version reads], before God the Father. For "God and Father" are the same thing: for God is father, that is, creator, governor, preserver and provider of all things, as if to say, Before God who is also our father. Some, however, such as Dionysius the Carthusian, distinguish these, and by "God" they understand either the Holy Trinity or God the Son, and by "Father" God the Father, as if to say, Before the Holy Trinity and God the Son, who as the Word sees all things, and before God the Father, who as Father consults for all, even the wretched, as if for his own children, religion is deemed pure, is held in great esteem, and is honored, to visit orphans, etc. TO VISIT ORPHANS. — "To visit" by metonymy signifies to console by visiting, to care for, to help, to feed: for all these things are signified by the Hebrew פקד pacad, that is, to visit: for the Hebrew St. James hebraizes; indeed a poor man who cannot feed nourishes an orphan by visiting him, according to the old proverb: "Barley suffices for him who cannot afford incense." In Greek it is ἐπισκέπτεσθαι, that is, to provide for, to look after; in Syriac, to care for and to relieve as much as one is able. Hence among the Gentiles "Bishops" were called magistrates, to whom it fell to provide for the commonwealth concerning grain and provisions, as I said in Acts I, 20. He names orphans and widows before other poor and wretched persons, because in that first persecution of the Jews and Gentiles many Christian men were partly killed, partly delivered into exile or prisons, and almost all were deprived of their goods, as I said in Acts VIII, 1. These therefore left their children orphans and their wives widows. St. James undertakes the care of these forsaken ones as if he were their Bishop, and therefore commends them to the charity of Christians, as if they were the children of Martyrs or Confessors, but orphans; or wives, but now widows. For by then that communion and distribution of goods of the Church had ceased, of which I spoke in Acts II and IV. For the number of Christians had grown to many thousands, among whom this communal life was impossible. Add to this, the communion of goods was received only in Jerusalem in the first fervor of a few Christians, not in the other Churches and cities, as I said in Acts V, 2. Wherefore, since orphans and widows did not yet have guardians, St. James here undertakes their guardianship and commends them to Christians. Thus St. Lucy, as her Life has it, when she had distributed her wealth among the poor, widows and orphans, and her betrothed demanded it back through Paschasius the prefect, answered: "A living and unspotted sacrifice before God and the Father is this, to visit widows and orphans in their tribulation; and because nothing remains, I offer myself as a sacrifice to God, a living victim," namely through martyrdom, which she herself heroically underwent shortly after. In these latter ages St. Ivo excelled in this virtue, whom therefore by his merit Pope Clement VI enrolled in the number of Saints in the year of our Lord 1347, on the 19th of May. For concerning him thus among other things writes a grave author of his Life in Surius, on the 29th of May: "He protected orphans and the fatherless excellently, and for their sake went to courts in various places, showing himself their patron, yet not from hope of any gift or reward, but moved by piety and justice, indeed he defended their cases at his own expense before judges, so that he could hear from the Lord: What thou didst to one of the least of mine, thou didst to me. Hence it came to pass that in that region he was deservedly called the Advocate of the poor;" and earlier: "Orphans, the afflicted, calamitous men were cherished by his humanity and patronage; among the discordant he reconciled peace and friendship; those who were held in prisons he exhorted to patience: and when a sentence was to be pronounced by him in judgment, he did not do so without tears; he devoted himself entirely to works of mercy, despising with all his heart the things of this world, and ever yearning for heavenly and abiding goods," and further: "Foreigners, the poor, likewise the needy, those afflicted with ill health, the deformed, he received humanely no less than his own brothers, he wished them to sit at his table, he provided them with food from his own, he prepared beds, he washed their feet with his own hands." Whence also by a miracle, in distributing bread to the poor, it was multiplied for him, and he merited to have Christ himself, or certainly an angel of Christ as his vicar, in the form of a poor man as his table companion. Orphans and widows. — For these persons, abandoned by all, are more miserable than other afflicted ones; but under these understand any miserable persons whatsoever, namely the poor, the sick, the naked, the imprisoned, the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the vexed, the oppressed, the tempted, etc. Thus Dionysius. For orphans and widows are the idea and specimen of all these; and therefore they mystically represent the sinner, who through sin, bereft of God as it were of a father and spouse, becomes an orphan and widow, and becomes prey to demons. For there are very many inconveniences of widows and widowhood, says the Nyssenus, tract. On Virginity, cap. III, namely widowhood, hardship, solitude, darkness, shadows, mourning, lamentable weeping, oppression, etc. Whence God, taking them to himself, is called "the father of the fatherless and the judge of widows," Ps. LXVII, 6; and Exodus XXII, 22: "You shall not hurt a widow or a fatherless child: if you hurt them, they will cry out to me, and I will hear their cry." Truly St. Ambrose, lib. I On Duties, cap. XI: "Nothing," he says, "so commends a Christian soul as mercy, nor is anyone more blessed than he who understands the necessity of the poor." Job showed this; whence he says cap. XXXI, vers. 16: "If I have withheld the eyes of the widow." Furthermore this is called religion, because religion is concerned with God, so as to render him the honor due to him. But orphans and widows pertain to God as it were to a father and guardian; whoever therefore harms them harms God; whoever feeds and cares for them feeds and cares for God. For this reason Heliodorus was scourged from heaven, because he intended to plunder the goods of widows from the treasury of the temple, II Maccabees III. Hence also Plato, lib. XII On Laws, says that the causes of the miserable are the proper causes of God, and therefore no one ought to afflict orphans or widows, lest he feel God as avenger and enemy. For this reason St. Ignatius, in his epistle to the Tarsians, calls "widows" the "altar of God," because namely just as sacrifices are offered on an altar, so also God is especially pleased by alms bestowed on widows. For this reason the Wise Man, Prov. XXIII, 10: "Enter not," he says, "into the field of the fatherless: for their kinsman (Hebr. גואל goel, that is redeemer, avenger, such as was the kinsman and relative in the old law) is strong, and he will judge their cause against thee." For this reason St. Basil, Ambrose, Chrysostom, Gregory, etc., showed themselves fathers of widows and orphans. And St. Paul, Heb. XIII, 16: "Do not forget," he says, "beneficence and sharing: for by such sacrifices God is pleased." If beneficence is a sacrifice, therefore it is the same as an act of religion, and the most noble one, namely a sacrifice. Whence God, preferring this sacrifice to others: "I desire mercy," he says, "and not sacrifice," Hosea VI, 6. The almsgiver therefore visiting orphans and widows is as it were a priest, the victim is the alms, the sacrifice is his very giving, the altar is the orphan and widow. Whence the Apostle in prison receiving alms from the Philippians: "I am filled," he says, "having received from Epaphroditus the things you sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God," Phil. IV, 18. For just as a sacrifice is as it were food and drink for God, as I said on Leviticus II, so also is alms: for in it God eats and drinks through the mouths of the poor, orphans and widows. He himself says and will say on the day of judgment: "I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink, etc. Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me," Matt. XXV, 40. Thus St. Gregory at dinner received an angel among other poor, and Christ himself at table, which is still shown at Rome in his house, now a church, and is visited with reverence. Thus St. Martyrius, receiving a leper, received Christ, as testified by the same St. Gregory, homil. 39 in the Gospel. Now whoever consults for the widow and orphan consults for himself. For, as St. Ambrose says, On the Death of Theodosius: "It is good for a merciful man, who while he helps others, consults for himself, and in another's remedy heals his own wounds." And St. Basil, hom. 6 On the Rich: "The grace of benefactors," he says, "returns to those who give: you gave to the hungry, you consulted for yourself: for what you gave will return with increase." For almsgiving is like seed scattered in a field, which at harvest gives great increase to the one who scattered it, and returns to him with great profit, as I said from St. Paul in II Corinthians IX, 10. Wherefore Clement of Alexandria, book I of the Paedagogus, compares almsgiving to the throwing of a ball, in which the ball thrown returns by rebound to him who threw it. And St. Chrysostom, homily 84 on John: "Almsgiving," he says, "is a garment which will rise again with the dead. With these garments will shine those who then shall hear: I was hungry, and you gave me to eat: these make illustrious, these make conspicuous, these make secure." The same, homily 33 to the People, gives it this title: "That almsgiving is the art of all the most profitable," in which among other things he gives it these praises: "It is better to know almsgiving than to be a king and to be crowned with a diadem: it builds houses in the heavens, but houses that will endure. This teaches you how you can become like God." The same, homily 7 On Penance: "Almsgiving," he says, "is the artificer and the best defender and protection of those who practice it: for it is a friend to God, and always stands near to him: those whom it has loved, it has most easily obtained grace for them, provided it does not suffer injury from us. But how does it suffer injury? when we have done it from plunder." The same, homily 16 on II Corinthians: "Great," he says, "and precious is a merciful man. This is a greater grace than to raise the dead: for in the latter case you do a benefit to Christ, but in the former he himself does one to you. In the latter you become a debtor to God, in the former almsgiving makes God your debtor." Mystically St. Chrysostom in Psalm XCV enumerates ten kinds of religion and sacrifice. The first, he says, is sacrifice properly so called, concerning which the Apostle in Ephesians V: "Christ hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness." The second is martyrdom, according to that in Romans XII: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God." The third is supplication, according to that in Psalm CXL: "Let my prayer be directed as incense in the sight of he is honored and rejoices, according to that principle of the Ethics of Cato: If God is mind, as the poems say, He is to be worshipped by you especially with a pure mind. Hence the angels, who are the purest spirits, worship God most purely and most perfectly, and are wholly intent upon loving him, enjoying him and praising him, and continually singing to him: Holy, holy, holy, Isaiah VI, 3. Secondly, because God is himself by essence holiness; it is fitting therefore that he receive a holy victim. But that is holy which is undefiled and pure. Whence Origen derives ἅγιον, that is holy, from the privative a, and γῆ, that is earth, as if to say: Without earth, separated from earth and from the defilements of earth. And St. Dionysius, in the book On the Divine Names, chapter XII: "Holiness," he says, "is free from all uncleanness, and perfect, and altogether spotless purity." This is what God commands and ordains for his ministers: "You shall be holy unto me, because I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from other peoples, that you should be mine," Leviticus chapter XX, 26. See there the sayings, and chapters XXI and XXII, where God requires both victims and priests to be pure and free from every blemish. Thirdly, because the Christian religion, and consequently God, whom it professes and worships, was greatly honored and celebrated among the Gentiles and Jews throughout the whole world in that first age of the Church, through the innocence and purity of life of Christians, as is evident from Tertullian, Justin, and Athenagoras in their Apologies. For the Gentiles said: How holy is God, who is worshipped so purely and holily by Christians, nay, who makes them so pure and holy? This still happens. Fourthly, because he who withdraws himself from the world unites himself to God, and the less he serves the world, the more he serves God, and thus often devotes himself entirely to God and to the worship of God. Hence in turn God dwells in pure bodies and minds, as in a house and temple. "Know you not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have of God, and you are not your own?" says the Apostle, I Corinthians VI, 19. Finally: "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God," Matthew V, 8. Moreover, the modes and means of keeping oneself unspotted in the world and from the world are many. The first is the fear of God and of His judgment and vengeance, according to that passage in Psalm 118, 120: "Pierce my flesh with Thy fear: for I am afraid of Thy judgments." Truly St. Augustine, sermon 40 on St. John: "Our hope," he says, "is not of this world; let us not love the world. We have been called away from the love of this world, that we might hope for and love another world." The same, sermon 13 On the Words of the Lord according to Matthew: "Consider," he says, "the world as a sea, a strong wind and a great tempest. To each one his own desire is a tempest. You love God, you walk upon the sea, beneath your feet is the fear of the world. You love the world, it will swallow you up. The lovers of it it knows how to devour, not to bear. But when your heart wavers with desire, that you may overcome your desire, invoke the divinity of Christ." And soon after: "It is a mark of great virtue to struggle with prosperity, it is a mark of great happiness not to be overcome by happiness: if you stumble, if you begin to sink, say: Lord, I perish, deliver me; say: Lord, I perish, lest you perish." Your appearance: the lifting up of my hands, an evening sacrifice." The fourth is praise and hymnody, according to that passage in Psalm 49, 14: "Offer to God a sacrifice of praise." The fifth is justice, Psalm 50: "Then shalt Thou accept the sacrifice of justice." The sixth is mercy and almsgiving, James 1: "A sacrifice (for thus Chrysostom reads it) pure and unspotted is to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation." The seventh is jubilation, Psalm 26: "I have gone round, and offered up in His tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation;" Chrysostom reads jubilation. The eighth is compunction, Psalm 50: "A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit." The ninth is humility, in the same place: "A contrite and humbled heart God will not despise." The tenth is preaching, Romans, chapter 15, verse 16: "A sacrifice (in Greek ἱερουργοῦν, that is, working in sacred things, sacrificing) of the Gospel of God, that the oblation of the Gentiles may be made acceptable and sanctified in the Holy Ghost." AND TO KEEP HIMSELF UNSPOTTED FROM THIS WORLD. — Ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου, that is, from the world. "World," or age, is taken metonymically for worldly things, namely for the secular, animal and carnal life, such as that of worldly men who devote themselves to seeking and enjoying the riches, pleasures and honors of this world, and therefore often stain their consciences with avarice, gluttony, lust, ambition, etc. Hence in baptism we renounce all the pomps of the world, and therefore we are clothed in a white garment, and are warned to keep it white, to bring it and present it to Christ the judge on the last day of the world. Hence also of the Saints following the Lamb it is said in the Apocalypse 14, 5: "For they are without spot before the throne of God." St. James insinuates that Christians, since they are in the world, ought to converse with worldly men, and are easily defiled by this conversation, so that their vices rub off on them. For, as St. Leo says, sermon 4 On Lent: "It is necessary that even religious hearts be soiled by worldly dust;" and indeed in visiting orphans and widows there is danger from vanity, avarice, luxury. Therefore he wisely admonishes that they conduct themselves among them and all others in such a way as to keep themselves unspotted. For it is difficult to move about in the world and not be defiled by it: for he who touches pitch is defiled by it. It is difficult to move about in fire and not be burned: for the world is unclean and full of filth, as St. James signifies here: for it defiles with the pitch of vanities, it burns with the heat of desires. Whence Thomas the Englishman says: The world is not world, because the world defiles: therefore, How can he who remains in the world be world? You will ask why it is a pure religion to keep oneself unspotted from this world, or why God is chiefly honored by purity of conscience and life? I answer: First, because God is a most pure spirit and most remote from the dregs of earth: it is fitting therefore that He be honored with a most pure victim, namely with the cleanest conscience, and such Second, mortification of appetites and senses. For uncleanness and stain is not in the world, that is in worldly riches, delights and honors, but in our appetite, which loves and seeks them too much, often abandoning and despising God. Therefore mortify and correct your appetite, so that you will not be stained by the world. Whence St. Augustine, book X of the Confessions, chapter XXXI: "I do not fear," he says, "the uncleanness of food, but the uncleanness of desire." Likewise, consideration of the vanity and brevity of life, and of all temporal goods; and on the other hand of the truth and eternity of heavenly glory, and of hell and the infernal regions. For this is the salt by which the pleasures of the world are to be seasoned and mortified, according to that passage in Ecclesiastes VII, 40: "Remember thy last things, and thou shalt never sin." Why do you love the world, that is, "old age"? For the world is called "saeculum" from "senium" (old age), which is nothing other than "the age of aging men," as Varro says, and of all things. Others derive "saeculum" from "sequendo" (following), because it follows itself and revolves in itself. Truly St. Augustine in Psalm XXX, discourse 1: "David says, Hasten, so that you may understand that this whole thing, which appears to us, as long as the world revolves, is a point. That which has an end is not long: if Adam were still living and died today, what would it profit him to have lived so long? Therefore why this haste? because times pass, and what seems long to you is brief in the eyes of God." Why therefore do you love pleasure and honor? while it arises, it grows old and dies. "Ye sons of men, why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?" Pleasure lies: it is not pleasure, but pain and anguish. The abundance of things lies: it is not abundance, but poverty of true riches which are in the heavens. Honor lies: it is not honor, but a burden and the mockery of the world. Third is constant resolution and fortitude to resist companions, enticements and all the world's invitations, by which it allures and entices us to sin and stain our conscience. Thus of Fabricius, the Roman consul, it was common talk: "It is easier to turn the sun from its course than Fabricius from his purpose." Plutarch testifies in the Apophthegms. Cato was similar, of whom Valerius Maximus says, book IV, chapter III: "From the same womb of nature both continence and Cato were born." And C. Piso, of whom the same Valerius says, book III, chapter VIII: "Piso," he says, "despised many and terrible things, while he was unwilling to bend the noble rigidity of his mind." And C. Maevius, centurion of Augustus, who when captured by Antony and asked what should be done with him, said: "Command that I be slain: for I cannot be induced by the benefit of safety or the punishment of death either to cease being Caesar's soldier or to begin being yours." Thus Valerius in the same place. Much more does the faithful say to the tempting world that word of St. Paul: "Who shall separate us from the charity of Christ? Tribulation? or distress? or hunger? etc. I am sure that neither death, nor life," etc. Romans VIII, 35. Fourth is to touch the world as little as possible; hence we have a pyramidal heart, whose opening looks toward heaven, its cone toward the earth; so that by this God signifies that we ought to touch the earth and earthly things only at a point with our heart, that is, in love and affection. This is understood and done by Religious, who withdraw their whole affection and conversation from the world, so that they place all their hope and love in God, and with the Psalmist in Psalm LXXII, say: "But it is good for me to adhere to God;" and: "For me, what is there in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth? Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever?" Thus Abbot Olympius in Sophronius (or rather in John Moschus), chapter XII, gave this salutary warning to another: "Restrain your tongue and belly; and wherever you sit, say constantly: I am a stranger." Thus St. Gregory Nazianzen, epistle 51, otherwise 17, rebukes his brother Caesarius, because enticed by desire for honors, he had betaken himself to the household of Julian the Apostate and undertaken the care of the public treasury; he urges him to withdraw from it: "For this is true glory, security and riches, namely to stand bravely and strenuously against the times, and to remove oneself as far as possible from crime and impiety. Otherwise," he says, "seeking honors you will suffer loss in matters of greater importance, and you will become a partaker at least of smoke, if not of fire," that is to say, Julian's idolatry will attach to you, if not the guilt, certainly the reputation and suspicion. Do you wish therefore to be immaculate from the world? Be a pilgrim in the world, and a citizen and member of the household in heaven. A pilgrim does not fix his heart in lodging, does not cling to it, does not enjoy it: because he knows that he passes through it as a pilgrim, and will not be in it after an hour: he therefore uses all things as in passing. Do you likewise: eat, drink, etc., eat, drink, etc., for the sake of necessity: use these things, do not enjoy them. If pleasure mixes itself in, let it pass away with the eating and drinking. Do not be attached to food and drink, do not cling to them, do not give your heart to them: do not think of them outside of meals, do not desire them, do not delight yourself and feed yourself with appetite for them: thus they will not stain you. Consider the same thing said of φιλαυτίᾳ, that is love of self, and φιλοδοξίᾳ, that is love of favor, benevolence, praise and human glory; which is nothing other than an evanescent breath of the populace and mere vanity. Think on that passage from Psalm 118, 96: "I have seen an end of all perfection," and a swift end; "Thy commandment is exceeding broad." St. Agatha thought on this, and therefore the angels placed this epitaph for her: "A holy mind, willing, honor to God, and liberation of the fatherland." For she had lived in the body as if lacking a body, as an angel in an assumed body. And St. Barlaam, who commends to King Josaphat purity of mind, as a treasure of great price, in the History of Damascenus, cap. 39. Finally, St. Augustine, in Psalm 68: "Who," he says, "does not despise the sweetness of the world, thirsting for the sweetness of eternal life?" for, as the same says in Psalm 123: "The sweetness of this world for a time delights a few, but afterwards it will be turned into great bitterness. But the sweetness of eternal life is constant;" and therefore free from all bitterness as well as from ending, it fills and satisfies the mind. Wherefore St. Gregory Nazianzen, in the Distichs: "Let this be your perpetual study," he says, "that you build your mind a temple to God: for thus you will have him as a spiritual statue in the innermost heart." And with some things interjected: "Come now, having abandoned this whole world and cast off the burdens of the world, set sail toward heavenly life: especially let the Trinity be your care. Let others hold in esteem gold, let others silver, let others delicate tables, that is the mockeries of life; but I esteem Christ as the greatest of riches: whom I pray may someday be granted to me to behold with a pure mind; but let the world have the rest." He gave the reason a little before: "The Word of the Father is our man, so that by such a mixture he might mingle God with men: God is one on both sides, having become man to this extent, that he might make me, who am mortal, into God." And St. Eucherius, in his letter to Valerius: "True," he says, "blessedness is to despise the blessedness of the world, and neglecting earthly things to burn with desire for divine things." Again Nazianzen, epistle 57, otherwise 63, exhorting Eudoxius that, having left rhetoric and the world, he give himself to a pure and perfect life: "Let us depart," he says, "hence, let us become men, let us cast aside dreams, let us pass by shadows: let others be occupied, tossed about, mocked by envy, and time, and fortune. Let thrones, principalities, riches, splendors, this vile and despicable little glory, and finally the mockeries of this great stage, and theatrical trifles, be well. Let us embrace the Word most closely, and wish to have God in place of all things: that alone, I say, eternal good, and ours; because the reward of virtue is to become God. Strive for these things and fly toward them. Set your hope nowhere, until you have reached that supremely desirable and blessed good.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
1:1
1. Jacobus Dei ef Domini nostri Jesu Christi servus. Officii sui dignitatem hoc titulo manifestat. Nam Dei ac Jesu Christi servum se nominat, ea speciali ratione, qua passim id facit iu suis Epistolis Paulus; nimirum ratione muneris Apostolici, quo, sicut Paulus et Barnabas apud gentes, ita Jacobus, Cephas et Joannes fungebantur in circumcisione, id est apud Judaeos, ut habetur Gal. 2. Vocabulnra Dei quidam referunt ad eandem per.sonam cum sequentibus, hoc sensu: Servus Jesu Christi, qui est i Deus ac Dominus noster. Qui sensus i haud dubie Catholicus est. Verum Apostolico scribendi stilo magis convenit, ut prior pars ad Patrem referatur. Sic Oecumenius: Dei Patris, inquit, et Dcmini Filii.
Duodecim tribubus, quae sunt in dispersione j salutem. Hoc est, Judaeis, per varia loca dispersis, salutem dicit aut scribit. Nam populuslsraeliticus duodecim tribubus constat. Unde liquet, ad solos Judaeos scriptam esse hanc Epistostolam. Pro salute Syrus pacem transtulit, rem tamen eanuem significare volene; quomodoinEvangeliiseademsunt: Ai^e^c, Matth. ult., et: Pax vobis, apud Lucam et Joannem. Porro dispersionem hanc plerique interpretantur eam, quae sub Stephano facta est, de qua Act. 8., quando fideles, qui erant Jerosolymis, ob persecutionem dispersi fuerunt per regiones Judaeae et Samariao. Alii vero, quod magis placet, intelligunt dispersionem Israelitici populi in varias nationes olim factam, scilicet ex eo tempore, quo in Assyriam, Babyloniam, Aegyptum, inquo alia regna per captivitates et bella, vel abducti, vel sponte profugi, discesserunt. Ad hanc enim dispersionem sine dubio pertinet Petri salutatio iu exordio suae prioris Epistolae, cum ait: Electis advenis dispersionis Ponti, Galatiae etc.; eandemque significavit Lucas Act. 2. et 6., ubi mentionem facit Judaeorum, qui Jerosolymam convenerant ex diversis mundi plagis, etiam valde remotis. Huc praeterea tacit, quod haec Epistola una est et prima Catholicarum, id est earum, quae scriptae sunt generaliter ad fideles in variis ac longinquis regionibus morantes. Atqui Judaea cum Samaria vix unam Palaestinae regionem constituebat. Pro vocabulo: salutem, Graece est: Xatpstv _, quod gaudere et salvere significat. Nec tamen aliter verti debuit, quam quomodo noster interpres et alii verterunt: salutem. Quod enim Graeci in exordiis Epistolarum precantur x^ctpstv, id salutem Latini dicunt, nihil diversum significare volentes. Sed tamen Apostolus etiam ad alterum significatum: gaudere j quod ejus verbi primarium est, attendit. Hinc enim occasionem sumit inchoandae suae Epistolae. Nam quasi dicerent Judaei fideles, ad quos scribit: Quomodo jubes nos gaudere, qui tot malis pressi, in continuo moerore versamur? sicut angelo Tobiam caecum salutandi his verbis: Gaudium tibi sit semper, respondit Tobias: Quale gaudium mihi erit, qui in tenebris sedeo et lumen coeli non video? Tob. 5. Jacobus ostendit, eos justam et amplam habere gaudendi materiam, ita scribens:
1:2
2. Omne gaudium existimate, fratres meiy cum in tentationes varias incideritis. Dicit: fratres mei, quia ad solos scribit fideles. Auspicatur autem a consolatione, conjuncta cum exhortatione ad patientiam. Judaei namque vel ipso nomine Judaicae gentis odio erant et contemptui caeteris populis; quod si etiam Christiani essent, hoc amplius opprimi se sentiebant infidelium injuriis et persecutionibus; ut proinde tam consolationis verbo, quam exhortalionis, animi eorum fuerint erigendi. Omne gaudium, Hebraea phrasi dixit pro: magnum et per^ fectum gaudium. Unde vertit Erasmus: Pro summo gaudio ducite, id est ingentis gaudii materiam vobis oblatam existimate. Importune Oatharinus inculcat hoc loco suum dogma de certitudine gratiae, quasi sine ea non possit esse in homine perfectum gaudium. Cui breviter respondeo: Sicut perfectum gaudium, quale hic intelligitur, non excludit omnem tristitiam (beati enim, qui lugent, Matth. 5.), ita nec omnem incertitudinem gratiae; quamvis multum adferat serenitatis. Nam ut perfectio justitiae, sic et gaudii, quae in hac vita haberi potest, plurimum distat ab ea, quam speramus in futuro. Porro tentationes Apostohis vocat non incit<amenta peccandi, quamvis ita videatur intellexisse Augustinus lib. 14. de civit. Dei, cap. 9-, sed afflictiones; quod per eas Deus homines tentare, hoc est, probare soleat, ut, quales sint, innotescat. Ita Christus Luc. 22.: Vos estis, inquit, qui permansistis mecum in tentationibus meis. Et Paulus Hebr. 4. de Christo: Tentatum autem per omnia. Atque eam significationem declarat, quod infra dicitur in eodem capite: Beatus vir, qui suffert tentationem; quoniam, cum probatus fuerit etc. Est autem in Scripturis locus frequens, in afflictionibus et persecutionibus esse gaudendum. Ut Rom. 5.: Gloriamur in tribulationibus; et 1 Petr. 4.: Communicantes Christi passionibus, gaudete; et ipse Dominus Matth. 5.: Cum persecuti vos fuerint propter me, gaudete et et cxsuUate. Hinc illud Act. 5. de Apostolis: Ibant gaudentes a conspectu concilii y quoniam digni habiti sunt, pro nomine Jesu contumeliam pati. Quod vero ad tentationes peccatorum attinet, an et ouatenus [expeti possint, acjusti gaudii materiam praebere, dispiitatum est a nobis in lib. 2. sent. dist. 23. Sed cum naturale sit, in malis dolore, adeo ut et Filius Dei, carnem passibilem gerens, instante passione, dixerit: Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem: docet Apostolus sequentibus verbis, qua ratione in iisdem malis, ac de iis gaudendum nobis sit: quatenus scilicet magna quaedam bona nobis pariunt. Quod et Paulus docot Rom. 5. et Hebr. 12., et Petrus 1 Epist. 1. et 4., et magister eorum Christus Matth. 5. et Luc. 6.
1:3
3. Scientes, quod probatio fidei vestrae patientiam operatur. Ac si dicat: Scire jenim et persuasum habere debetis, quod probatio fidei vestrae etc. Hac parte primum ac tacite significat, probatiunem fidei effectum esse tentationum. Vam per eas fides nostra probatur, sive exploratur. Etenim facile cedeie in tentationibus, argumentum est imbecillis fidei; sicut e diverso firma fides roborat animum in adversis. Affirmat deinde, probationis fidpi effeclum, quem operatur, Graece: xaTEpyaCsTai^ esse patientiam. Sed hoc difficultatem habet; maxime cum videatur contrarium verbis Pauli, dicentis Rom. 5, que d patientia probationem operatur. Nam qui fieri potest, ut patientia et fidei probatio se invicem pariant? Respondeo, verum esse utrumque, diverso sensu. Et quidem patientia quo sensu probationem operetur, expositum est suo loco^); quia scilicet per tolcrantinm adversitatum homo sibi et aliis, qualis sit, ostenditur,.simulTue ea exercitatione purgatur in dies ab amore hujus saeculi, sicut aurum in fornace probatur ac purgatur. Quomodo autem e converso, juxta hunc Apostolum, probatio fidei paticn- 0 Rom. 5. tiam operetur, satis obscurum est, nec uno modo ab omnibus explicatur. Complures metonymice per fl,dei probationem intelligunt tribulationem, qua fides probatur. Nam tribulatio (sicut in loco memorato Paulus ait) patientiam operatur, eo quod sit patientiae exercendae et augendae materia. Sunt, qui velint, transitivam esse locutionem h^co intransitivae. Probatio fidei, Id est fides tentationibus probata, patientiam gignit, scilicet auctiorem; vel impetrando a Deo, vel etiam efficiendo. Nam simili locutione dictum est a Petro Apostolo 1 Epist. 1.: Ut probatio vestrae fidei multo pretiosior auro inveniatur etc. Aliis deniqv.e probatio fidei patientiam operatur, id est declarat ac prodit, quanta sit patientiae virtus in iis, qui multis adversis probati et cxplorati, a fide, cujus gratia patiuntur, non recedunt. Mihi videtur hoc loco non esse necessarium ad improprietates confugere, cum possit apertus et commodus dari sensus hujusmodi: Dura Deus variis aiflictionibus fidem vestram probat, interim eo ipso exercet et perficit in vobis patientiam, Graece u710|jlov7jv ^ id est eam virtutem, qua patienter exspectatis bona vobiij in coelo reposita; sustinentiam vocat interpres ult. capite hujus Epistolae, estque ea, quam Pauli ct Petri Epistolae passim commendant.
1:4
4. Patientia autem opus perfectum habet. Legendum: habeat, quod in plerisque est emendatioribus, quodque exhibent veteres concordantiae et editio Lovaniensis. Nam et Oecumenius Graecus studiose observat, Apostolum non dixisse: s/-^^ habet, sed: Ix&Ito, habeat. Syrus quidem vertit in hunc modum: Ipsi autem patientiae erit opus perfectum. Sed hoc ab Hebraicae linguae consuetudine descendit, qua verba futurum tempus iudicantia ponuntur pro imperativo, ut: Non occides, id est ne occidito, et alia innumera. Sic: Ipsi patientiae erit, id est ipsa patientia habeat opus perfectum. Est igitur exhortatio, sed cujus sensunj varie reddunt. Quidam hoc modo: Patientia vestra gaudium et alacritatem annexam habeat. Sed ita nihil diversum diceret Apostolus ab eo, quod dixit: Omne gaudium existimate etc. Alii opus patientiae perfectum interpretantur, quod conjunctum est cum dilectione eorum, qui nos affligunt. Caritas enim est, quae reliquarum virtutum opera foimat ac perficit; estque ei, qui laeditur, ne adversus laedentem ira aut odio commoveatur, imprimis cecessaria. Tertius sensus est, quem innuit Oecumenius: Patientia vestra ne deficiat, sed opus suum perducat usque ad finem 5 sic enim erit opus absolutum atque perfectum, et re, et fructu. ^am qui perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit, Malth. 10. Hi duo sensus postremi merito probantur, et utrique potest aptari, quod sequitur:
Ut sitis perfecti et integri, in nullo deficientes. Integri, Graece oXoxXtjoo^ dicuntur omnibus membris seu partibus constantes. Quod ct explicatur per illud sequens: in nullo deficientes, id est nulla in parte diminuti, ut vertit Erasmus. Non enim hic deficientes intelliguntur, qui succumbunt afflictionibus, sed quibus ad integritatem aliquid deest. Graece: X£t7:6|ji£VOt ^ verbum idem, quod mox interpres vertit indigere. Jam, si in parte superiori opus perfectum intelligas cum dilectione conjunctum, sensus hujus partis erit: Ita futurum, ut, quod ad virtutes attinet vobis necessari&s, non sitis imperfecti aut mutili, sed iptegri, sic ut nulla earum vobis desit. Nam caritas est vinculum perfectionis, Col. 3. Sin autem opus patientiae perfectum interpreteris ratione perseverantiae, tum hic sensus reddi poterit: Ut in adventu Domini inveniamini perfecti et integri, nec ullo genere boni operis destituti. Hanc enim integritatem ac perfectionem secum adducit patientia perseverans; id quod longa bonorum operum enumeratione docet B. Cyprianus in tract. de bono patientiae. Aliam deinde exhortationem subjicit, dicens:
1:6
6. Si quis autem vestrum indiget sapientia. Sapientiam hoc loco vocat eandem, quam cap. 3. dixit: sapientiam desursum descendentem, piam scilicet rerum divinarum scientiam. Multum autem occupatur Apo.stolus in hac Epistola reprehensione eorum, qui sapientiam sibi arrogabant, et prosiliebant ad sacra docendum; potissimum capite 3. Praemonet ergo hic, unde petenda sit sapientia, de qua postea plura dicere constituit; et quo animo, et quales esse debeant, qui eam vel petant, vel exerceant. Sed cur velut dubitans dicit: Si quis vestrum indiget sapientia? Quis enim sapientia non indiget? Nequo enim quisquam est mortalium tam sapiens, cui non adhuc multum sa]>ientiae desit. Ajunt nonnulli, de iis loqui Apostolara, qui nondum eo progressi sunt, ut sibi in afflictionibus gratulentur, secundum id, quod dixit: Omne gaudium existimate etc. Alqui doctrina Apostoli generalis est, monstrans, unde petenda sit sapientia omnibus, qui indigent. Itaque potius dicendum, voculam si non dubitantis esse hoc loco, sed supponentis, ut de re certa et confessa; quasi dicat: Si quis vestrum indiget sapientia, ut certe omnes indigetis, alius plus, alius minus, ac fere plus illi, qui minus egere se credunt; en, ostendo vobis, unde petenda sit. Saepe namque ad hunc moduui usurpatur illa conjunctio, ut Mal. 1.: Si pater ego sum, ubi est honor meus? el Rom. 13.: Et si quod aliud mandatum; et 2 Thess. 1.: Si tamen justum est apud Deum, retribuere etc. Item apud profanos auctores: Si Deus est animus. Si qua est coelo pietas. Sic etiam a quibusdam exponitur illud hujus Epist. cap. 5.: Et, si in peC' eatis fuerit, remittentur ei, quemadmodum ibi videbimus, Deo duce. Postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus af^ fluenter. Graece: postulet a da?ite Deo omnibus simpliciter. Syra quoque editio simpliciter habet, non affluenter. Suspicatur Gaignaeus, interpretem nostrum pro oiTiXGiQ, in Graeco legisse a^poox;, id est cumulate. Mihi verisimilius est, eum respexisse ad rei consequentiam. Qui enimdatsimpliciter, dat liberaliter, et affluenter. Nam simpliciter et pure dare dicitur, qui in dando non aliud spectat, quam justaB causas dandi, cujusmodi praesertim sunt inopia et humilitas petentis. Id autem non faciunt, qui vel tergiversationes quaerunt, quo vel non donent, vel parcius; vel qui ex datione commodum aliquod reciprocum exspectant. Ita Paulus loquitur Rom. 12.: Qui tribuitj in simplicitate; quam virtutem etiam alibi in eleemosynis commendat, ut 1 Cor. 8. et 9. Dicit autem B. Jacobus: postulet a Deo, quia omnis sapientia a Domino Deo est, Ecclesiastici 1.: Et omne datum optimum desursum est, descendens a patre luminum, sicut infra docet. Nec ideo tamen non sunt invocandi sancti pro sapientia adipiscenda, quod objicit haereticus; non enim iuvocantur, ut eam a se ipsis dent, sed ut a Deo nobis impetrent. Porro, quod ait: omnibus, intellige postulantibus, nec his prorsus omnibus, sed iis, qui sic petunt et tantum petunt, quomodo et quantum res ista petenda est, inquit Augustinus lib. de natura et gratia, cap. 17. Id Apostolus ipse statim post indicat, docens, in fide postulandam. Et non improperat. Hoc addit, vel ad exponendum illud simpliciter, quia, quirefricant subinde, quid dederint (quod est tacite exprobrare), videntur retributionem quaerere; vel certe ideo addit, ne quis Deum saepius adire vereatur. Non enim dicet: Jam toties dedi; quid adhuc me obtundis? ut solent homines, etiam qui maxime liberales. Sed, ut est fons inexhaustus, ita ad dandum, modo petas, sicut oportet, paratissimus; imo ipse ultro nos ad semper petendum invitans, adeoque id praecipiens, Luc. 18. Bene monet Oajetanus, hanc partem intelligendam esse, quantum ex parte Dei, quomodo jam explicata est; nam ex parte hominum ingratorum saepe numero fit, ut improperet Deus beneficia collata; quod multae Scripturae testantur. Et dabitur ei. Non dubitat Apostolus affirmare, quod Christum toties promittentem audiverat; Petitej et dabitur vo~ bis. Omnis enim, qui petit, accipit, Matth. 7. et Luc. 11. Omnia, quaecwnque petieritis in oratione, credentes, accipietis, Matth. 21. et Marc. 11. Quodcumque petieritis in nomine meo, hoc faciam, Joan. 14. et 16. Sed quia solis credentibus haec promissio facta est, ideo subjungit:
6. Postulet autem in fide, nihil haesitans. Graece ^^.axpivo/xsvoc;, id est discernens, dijudicans, item disceptans, haesitans. Fit enim, ut, cui rationes hinc inde oppositae succurrunt, nesciat, utram in partem judicium suum inflectere debeat; itaque disceptat apud se, et haeret dubius. Recte igitur interpretem nostrum secutus Erasmus et alii, verterunt: nihil haesitans. Sic enim et alibi Graecum verbum accipitur, ut Act. 10.: Vade cum eis nihil dubitans; et Rom. 4.: Non haesitavit diffidentia, et cap. 14.: Qui autem discernit, id est haesitat, si manducaverit, damnatus est. Ita quoque apud Matthaeum cap. 21. (qui locus huic similis est), Domino dicente: Si habueritis fidem et non haesitaveritis, non solum de ficulnea facietis, sed et, si monti huic dixeritis etc. Quae postrema sententia, sicut et aliae similes, quae habentur locis ex Evangelio paulo ante citatis, id etiam ostendunt, fidem hic non poni pro fiducia, quod vult Erasmus, ita vertens: Postulet vero cum fiducia; sed pro fide Christiana, qua assentimur verbo Dei; quemadmodum et supra accipitur, ubi dixit: probationem fidei patientiam operari; imo per totam hanc Epistolam. Nam ut in verbis Domini, ita et hic intelligitur fides veritatis ac promissionis divinae, qua dixit: Petite, et acdpietis^), et: Omnis, quipetit accipit'^); ut sensus sit: Petat a Deo, nihil dubitans de ejus promissione, sed firma fide ilii inhaerens. Verum quia promissio conditionem habet hanc, modo petas, sicut oportet, de qua nemo certus est: inde fit, ut cum ea fide promissionis divinae consistat, te haud plane certum esse, num eis impetraturus, quod petis. Unde locus Lic et similes nihil omnino faciunt pro fide speciali sectariorum nostri temporis, qua statuunt, se certo exaudiendos in omnibus, quae a Deo petunt; non advertentes, illud multis accidere, quod Apostolus infra dicit cap. 4.: Petitis et non accipitis, eo quod male petatis. Sed tamen etiam adesse debet petitionibus nostris non modo spes qualiscumque, sine qua nihil vere petitur, verum etiam bona fiducia impetrandi, quod petitur; cum praesertim ipsa fides doceat, cum fiducia petendum esse, Quocirca calrmniatur Calvinus, quum ait, Catholicorum esse dogma, quod dubitanter orandum sit. Nam impetrandi fiducia cum fide promissionis divinae conjuncta (male eniai haec duo confundit) credentis animum applicat in alteram partem, ut dici non possit, eum, qui sic orat, dubitare. Non enim continuo, qui de successu non est infallibiliter certus, dubitare dicendus est. Is enim proprie dubitat, cujus animus inter utrumque fluctuat, juxta id, quod sequitur:
Qui enim haesitat, similis est fluctui maris, qui a vento movetur et circumfertur. Rem declarat eleganti similitudine ducta a fluctu maris, qui ventis agitatur et huc illuc impetu rapitur, ut Graeca sonant. Talis est in sua petitione, qui haesitat, id est, qui non firmiter credit, Deam daturum, quod petit; quasi scilicet vel non promiserit, vel parum constans sit in promissis; ut solent haesitare, qui ab hominibus aliquid petunt, de quorum fide aut voluntate dubitant. Est autem cum hac Apostoli monitione conferenda illa Ecclesiastici sententia cap. 18.: Ante orationem praepara animam tuam, et noli esse quasi homOj qui tentat Deum. Tentat vero Deum, qui de potentia vel promissis ejus dubitat.
1:7
7. Non ergo aestimet homo ille, quod accipiat aliquid a Domino. Graece: Non enim existimet homo ille, quod accipiet etc. Mutando conjunctionem interpres sensum voluit exprimere, q^uod loco illativae particulae causalis posita videatur, ut fit interdum. Concludit enim Apostolus, eum, qui non ex fide orat, quum animo fluctuet, indignum esse, qui impetret quidquam a Domino Deo. Dicet aliquis, exauditum fuisse regulum orantem pro sanitate filii, Joan. 4., cui tamen a Domino dictum est: Nisi signa et prodigia videritis, non creditis, et de quo Gregorius hom. 28. super Evang. scribit, quod in fide dubitavit. Respondeo, exauditum fuisse, non tam, quod oratio ejus hoc mereretur, quam quia Christo ad gloriam suam miraculo manifestandam ita visum fuit. Quamquam non omnino sine fide oravit, qui credidit, Christum posse sulutem filio suo dare; licet nondum crederet, id posse absentem, ut eodem loco Gregorius docet.
1:8
8. Vir duplex animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis. Duplicem animo, Graece dit^uxov, quasi dicas hianimem, vocat non eum, qui simulatus est, aliud loquens, aliud cogitans; sed qui nihil certi fixum habet in animo, quod sequatur; quales erant, quibus ab Elia dictum est: Usquequo claudicatis in duas partes? 3 Reg. 18., et ille, cui dicitur: Vti' nam frigidus esses, aut calidus, Apoc. 3.; quales item in rebus humanis, qui non dedunt se certo generi vitae, sed semper ambigunt, quid eligant, nunc in hoc propensi, nunc in illud. Tales in omnibus viis, id est actionibus, suis inconstantes sunt, quoniam eas in certum scopum non dirigunt, sed prout diversis feruntur affectibus, ita sunt in actionibus varii, ideoque nec proficiunt. Ex hac generali sententia colligi vult Apostolus, eura, qui haesitat in postulatis suis ad Deum, ut aut dubius sit de illius promissis, aut fiduciam non adferat, in ipsa sua petitione lubricum et inconstantem esse; et proinde nihil impetraturum. Idem vocabulum habes infra cap. 4.: Purificate corda duplices animo. Videtur autem hoc loco respexisse Apostolus ad quasdam sententias Eccles. 2.
1:9
9. Glorietur autem frater humilis in exaltatione sua. Graece; sv tco o^ef, aGToD, id est, m altitudine sive sublimitate sua; quod et vox Sjriaca significat. Atque id arbitror interpretem voluisse nomine exallationis. Superius hortatus fuit Apostolus ad patientiam; hoc argumentum nunc prosequitur, ponens afflictis fratribus ante oculos felicitatem vocationis suae, de qua merito debeant non gaudere solum, sed etiam gloriari. Si quis, inquit, inter vos Christianos humilis est, id est pauper, abjectus et roundo contemptibilis, ne doleat vicem Buam, nec animum despondeat; sed suam cogitet sublimitatem ac felicem statum, ad quem evectus est, et in eo glorietur. Ea sublimitas est, Christianum esse; hoc enim nomine immensa dignitas siguincatur, ut filium esse Dei, consortem Christi, haeredem regni. Alii exaltationem hanc intelligunt in 80 ipso, quod pro Christo spoliatus inopia premitur, tamquam ea ipsa sit gloriandi materia, ut consolatio haec similis sit cum illa 1 Petr. 4.: Si quis patiatur ut Christianus, non erubescat; glorificet autem Deum in isto nomine. Verum antithesis hujus partis ad eam, quae sequitur, magis exigit priorem sensum.
1:10
10. Dives autem in humilitate sua. Potest verti: in humilitatione sua, quo modo vertit Erasmus. Sed quamvis verbale sit TaTisivojaK;^ passim tamen pro humilitate accipitur; ut in cantico B. Virginis, item Act. 8., Phil. 3. Loquitur hic Apostolus de divite, nec solum de infideli. ut nonnulli exponunt, sed etiam de Christiano. Erant enim inter Christianos quidam divites, qui, Christianae caritatis obliti, fratres suos pauperes, tametsi pro Chribti nomine in paupertatem redactos, superbe despiciebant, nec eis de sua abundantia communicabant. Haec enim eis improperat infra cap. 2. et 5., ut ista fuerit una ex causis scribcndae hujus Epistolae. Partem hanc imperfectam plerique, Bedam secuti, supplent addito verbo: glorietuVy ex parte praecedenti; ut sit ironicus sermo: Dives glorietur in humilitatej id est, vilitate et miseria sua, quae consequentibus verbis describitur. Qaasi dicat: Certe non habet, unde glorietur aut in quo sibi placeat, sed magis, unde doleat ac sibi vilescat; sicut eis dicit cap. 5.: Agite nunc, divites, plorate, ululantes in miseriis vestris, quae advenient vobis. Alii dicunt, antiphrasim esse in verbo: glorietur, ad hanc partem relato. Mihi prcbabilius est id, quod Oecumenius subindicat, eclipticum esse sermonem, qui supplendus sit verbo contrariae significationis; quomodo locutas est Paulus 1 Tim. 4.: Prohibentium nubere, abstinere a cibis, subaudi: praecipientium. Supplendus, inquam, et exponendushocmodo: Dives autem confundatur in humilitate sua, id est, pudefiat ac sibi displiceat,cogitansacsecumreputanssuam vilitatem, ac rerum, in quibus confidit, inconstantiam. In bis tribus expositionibus summatim idem est sensus. A quo diversum adfert Erasmus in paraphrasi, ita scribens: Contra dives hoc nomine sibi gratuletur, quod, qui ob falsa hujus mundi bona magni fiebat apud mundi cultores, nunc ob Christi confessionem spretus sit et contemptus etc. Sed hic sensus nihil ad scopum Apostoli, de quo supra. Vult enim divitibus ante oculos ponere suam ipsorum vilitatem, qua considerata desinant superbe sapere et adversus pauperes sese insolenter efferre. Et eo pertinent, quae sequuntur:
Quoniam sicut flos foeni transibit. Foenum, virens intellige, id est gramen, herbam, Graece /opTOV. Unde alii clarius verterunt: Quoniam veluti flos herbae praeteribit. Et sensus est: Quomodo flos herbae res pulcherrima est, sed cito gratiam suae venustatis amittit: ita homo dives cum omni gloria sua, quam ei divitiae pepererunt, brevi admodum evanescet. Certe non ultra hanc vitam, quae brevis et momentanea est, durare poterit. Comparatione floris et foeni, ad significandum aliquid in rebus humanis pulchrum quidem, sed caducum et breve, frequenter utitur Scriptura; ut Jes. 40., Job. 14., Psalm. 36. ct 102., et 1 Pet. 1.
1:11
11. Exortusest enim sol cum ardore, et arefecit foenum; et flos ejus decidit, et decor vultus ejus deperiit. Descriptio est floris heibae cito transeuntis. In vocabulo vultus metaphora est, quae Erasmo et Gaignaeo subdura videtur, quod vultum tribuat herbae. Proinde Erasmus aspectum vertere maluit. Gaignaeus censet, molliorem fore metaphoram, si pro vultu legatur facies, quod haec vox soleat etiam ad res inanimatas transferri. Sed ea reprehensio, si justa est, interpretis est, non Apostoli, qui Graece scripsit: TZp6qii)TZQVj id est facicmj usus metaphora Hebraeis familiari, qua facies de externa epecie cujasque rei dici solet. Hinc facies coeli, terrae, templi, ct multa ejusmodi in Scripturis. Igitur decor vultus seu faciei floris est pulchritudo ejus, qua blanditur oculis hominum. Notandum, in sole, qui exortus cum ardore foenum et florem ejus marcescere facit, typice Christum intelligi posse, qui ignifero splendore sui adventus (ignis enim ante ipsum praecedet, Psalm. 96.) omnem mundi opulentiam et gloriam in favillam rediget.
Ita et dives in itineribus suis marcescet. Itineribus, Graece: TZOpsifXKZ, pro quo uonnuUi codices, litera e dempta, legunt: nopiaiQ. Et ita haberi in antiquo codice bibliothecae Dionysianae, refert Gaignaeus. Significat autem nopia facultatem, abundantiam. Juxta quam lectionem v&rtendum esset: Ita et dives in abundantia sua marcescet, id est, in opibus vel cum opibus suis evanescet; nihil ei divitiae suae, quibus fidit, ad felicitatem proderunt. In hanc lectionem Erasmus quoque propendet. Equidem a lectione vulgata, quae omnium paene codicum est, haud puto recedendum. Nam abundantia TzopiaQ nomine significata, nescio, an alicubi in sacris literis inveniatur. At Tcopcia^ id est, iter seu via, legitur apud Lucam cap. 13. Et verbum Tzopsooixai, iter facio, passim obvium est. Nec voro quidquam incommodi habet haec lectio, sed consuetudini Scripturaram optimo congruit. Nam viae pro actionibus et studiis frequentissimum est in Scripturis. Ita paulo ante virum duplicem animo dixit inconstantem esse in omnibus viis suis. Unde sicut Hebraea phrasi prosperari quis dicitur in viis, id est, actionibus suis, atque in iis a Deo dirigi et custodiri: ita, congruenter Scripturis, a B. Jacobo dictum est, quod dives in itineribus seu viis suis marcescet. Quasi dicat: Adeo non prosperabitur in actioaibus et studiis suis, ut tandem cum omni spe sua, quam in divitiis collocavit, emarcescat et pereat. Hunc sensum Beda tradit, itinera exponens actus. Similes Scripturae Job 24.: Subverterunt pauperum viam; Thren. 3.: Semitas meas subvertit; Psalm. 1.: Iter impiorum peribit, et 34.: Fiat via illorum tenebrae et lubricum, et 145.: Vias peccatorum disperdet.
1:12
12. Beatus vir, qui suffert tentationem. Suam ad patientiam exhortationem nunc velut paradoxo quodam concludit, beatum pronuntians eum, qui patitur, non autem divitem ilhim, de quo modo loquebatur, col omnia putantur ex voto succedere. Tentationem intellige, ut supra, id est afflictionem, persecutionem, adversitates hujus saeculi, quibus tentantur, id est, probantur homines. Suffert tentationem, qui cum spe et exspectatione praemii coelestis sustinet afflictiones, non obmurmurans, nec vindictam ccgitans; sed de manu Dei cum approbatione voluntatis ejus suscipiens, quidqaid adversi visum ei fuerit, sive per se ipsum, sive per homiaes malos ipsi immittere. Hunc beatum dicit ob spem felicitatis aeternae, cujus jam pignus quoddam accepit ipsam patientiam; ut hac ratione non solum in spe dicendus sit beatus, verum etiam re ipsa quadantenus; ut qui meritum in se jam habeat, pro quo praemium beatitudinis sit accepturus. Quod declarat subsequens probatio:
Quoniam, cum probatus fuerit, ac' cipiet coronam vitae. Probatus, Graece 56xt|jioc_, nomen, non participium. Itaque sensus est: Cum in hoc certamine patientiae fortis et constans atque in fide perseverans inventus fuerit^ tamquam igne probatus, accipiet sui certaminis atque victoriae coronam seu praemium, vitam aeternam. Est enim transitiva locutio pro intransitiva.
Coronam vitae. Locus manifestus pro meritis bonorum operum. Ubi enim corona, praemium, merces auditur, ibi sine dubio meritum intelligitur. Nec ob id non gratuito (quod objicit Calvinus) destinatur ac datur nobis vita aeterna; nam etsi fateamur, ac verum sit, prius nobis a Deo destinari vitam aeternam, quam opera, quatenus intentio finis prior est voluntate mediorum; quia tamen eadem Dei praedestinatione etiam Ipsa opera, quibus, ut mediis ac meritis, vitam consequamur aetemam, praeparata nobis sunt: hinc in utroque gratuitum Dei beneficium agnoscimus, et quod vitam nobis destinavit aeternam, et quod ad eam assequendam merita nobis praeparavit. Merita vero haec sunt Id, quod dicuntur, nun ex operum natura, sed ex promissione divina. Sequitur enim:
Qwam repromisit Deus diligentibus se. Quam scilicet coronam, ut liquet ex Graeco. Fromissionem vero eam significat, qua promlslt et pactus est Deus, pro operibus patientiae se daturum coronam vitae. Cujusmodi promlsslo est Illa ad angelum Smyrnensis Ecclesiae scripta, qua ei varie tribulato atque tentato dicitur: Esto fidelis usque ad mortem, et dabo tibi coronam vitae, Apoc. 2. Unde Paulus eam vocat coronam justitiae, a justo judice Christo exspectandam, 2 Tim. 4. Jam quod ait: diligentibus se, non autem (quod consequens videbatur, ut diceret): patientibus pro se, fontem aperire voluit omnis boni meriti, id est, dilectionem Dei, quam vocamus caritatem. Haec enim est, quae operibus a se profectis eam conciliat dignitatem, qua fiat, ut In Dei judicio compensentur retributione vitae aeternae. Alioqui, si tradidero corpus meum, ut ardeam, inquit ille, taritatem autem non habuero, nihil mihi prodest, 1 Cor. 13.
1:13
13. NemOf cum tentatur, dicat, quo^ niam a Deo tentatur. Graece: Nullus, qui tentatur, dicat, quia a Deo tentatur. Sed in hoc postremo Hebraismus est, ita reddendus Latine: dicat, se a Deo tentari. In tentatione, de qua superius egit, tria fere concurrunt: afflictio, probatio et peccandi incitamentum. Afflictio plerumque ab homine est, semper a Deo; probatio est a solo Deo; peccandi incitamentum a mundo et diabolo, sed praecipue a carne seu concupiscentia nobis intestina, quae fomes peccati vocatur a Theologis. Igitur de tentatione secundum hanc ultimam qualitatem nunc agit Apostolus, admonens fideles, ne, quum se sentiunt afflictionibus commoveri ad impatientiam, murmurationem, diffidentiam, aut etiam ad fidem deserendam, hujusmodi tentationem Deo adscribant; sed neque culpam suam in diabolum ant homines malos conferant, ubi peccaverint hoc modo tentati, sed in se ipsos. Accipitur ergo hic et in sequentibus tentatio, sicut in oratione Dominica: Ne nos inducas in tentationem; et sicut Matth. 26.: Orate, ut non intretis in tentationem, et alibi saepe. Ex quibus jam patet, huic apostolicae doctrinae non adversari Scripturas, in quibus Deus homines tentasse legitur; ut Abrahamum, Genes. 22., et populum suum, Exod. 16., Deut. 13. Nam iis in IocIb tentare non est ad peccandum sollicitare, quomodo hic accipitur; sed probare, experimentum capere. Quamquam et hoc ipsum Deo, qui nulla nostri indiget experientia, sed onmia novit, antequam fiant, non nisi per tropum tribuitur; ut probare dicatur homines, quando eos tum sibi ipsis, tum aliis per alicujus facti experientiam notos facit, quales sint. Non est autem improbabile, quod quidam annotant, hnjns loci doctrinam usque adilla verba: Scitis, fratres mei dilectissimi, SL beato Jacobo dirigi adversus eos, qui ex Epistolis Paulinis, ubi legerant, quosdam a Deo tradi in desideria cordis eorum, et in passiones ignominiae, et in reprobum sensum, Rom. 1., item obdurari et excaecari, ibidem cap. 9. et 11., occasionem erroris snmpserant, ut putarent, homines a Deo ad peccandum impelli. Hunc enim errorem (nam errorem B. Jacobus appellat, dicens: NoHie errare) totus iste locus ex professo destruit, peccatorum causas a Deo removens ae e diverso omne bonum ad eum auctorem referens. Quis vero sensua sit dictorum Pauli Apostoli, satis a nobis expositum arbitror in commentariis. Ex quibus breviter repeto, haec et his similia multa de Deo dici in Scripturis, non quod ipse peccatorum ac scelerum auctor sit (quam doctrinam, ut impiam, Ecclesia semper est detestata); sed quia peccatores justo suo judicio amplius deserit, ac positis etiam offendiculis in alia graviora peccata cadere permittit, ethacpermissione priora eorum peccata punit ac vindicat.
Deus enim intentator malorum est. Intentator, negativum; Graece arcsipa- OTOc^, id est intentabilis. Quod accipi potest active et passive. Noster interpres active intellexit, si tamen codices non sunt vitiati. Nam fieri potest, ut ille scripserit: intentatus, pro quo non intellecto subrepserit: intentator. Alii certe interpretes passive exponunt, hoc modo: Deus malis tentari nequit. Syrus quoque: Deus enim non tentatur in malis. In quem sensum et Oecumenius Graecus exposuit. Nec facile Graecam vocem alibi reperias in activa significatione. Denique, si active sumas, bis idem dicetur. Nam sequitur:
Ipse autem neminem tentat. Hanc partem cum priori sic explicate reddit Erasmus: Nam Deus, ut malis tentari non potesty ita nec ipse quemquam tentat. Quaeritur, quibus de malis sermo sit. Oecumenius mala afflictionis intellexisse videtur. Adducit enim hanc cujusdam ethnici scriptoris sententiam, velut similem: Dei naturam neque molestias sustinere, neque aliis praebere. Verum res ipsa postulat, ut de peccatis accipiatur; tale enim est, quod dicit: Deus nec induci potest ad peccandum, nec inducere. Quomodo dicere solemus, Deum nec falli posse, nec fallere. Valet igitur Apostoli probatio. Nam ejusdem naturae est, incitari posse ad peccandum, et alios incitare. Quare si illud non potest Deus, nec istud poterit. Dices: Si Deus neminem ad peccandum inducit; quomodo nos ab eo petimus, ne nos inducat in tentationem? Sed ad hoc jam ante responsum est. Inducere namque in tentationem dicitur eos, quos in peccatum, ad quod tentantur, cadere permittit, dum non adjuvat. Necesse est enim, ait Innocentius primus in Epist. ad Carthag. Concil., ut, quo auxiliante vincimus, eo rursus non adjuvante vincamur.
1:14
14. Unusquisque vero tentatur a concupiscentia sua abstractus et illectus. Graece: a propria concupiscentia abstractus et inescatus, id est, dum a propria concupiscentia abstrahitur et inescatur. Sunt enim in Graeco participia praesentis temporis; ac satis apparet, cum iis esse construendum illud in medio positum: a sua concupiscentia, non autem cum verbo: tentatur; praesertim cum et praepositio diversa a superiore, ubi dixit: a Deo tentatur, magis ad ista propendeat. Hic enim legitur Gtto, illic utram constructionem eligas, cum altera sit ex altera supplenda. Sentit enim Apostolus, unumquemque tentari a sua ipsius concupiscentia, dum per eam abstrahitur a bono et allicitur ad malum. Quod tunc fit, quando concupiscentia excitat in homine desideria peccandi, quae motus ipsius vocantur; quibus si animus nullo modo consentiat, peccata non sunt. Ut nec ipsa concupiscentia, quamvis peccatorum fomes et illecebra, ex peccato originali in renatis ad agonem relicta, peccatum in iis proprie dici potest; quemadmodum adversus haeresiarchas Lutherum et Calvinum luculenter docuit ac definivit Synodus Tridentina sess. 5. can. 5. Quid autem concupiscentiae nomine significetur in scriptis Apostolicis, plenius explicatum est a nobis ad illud Rom. 7.: Concupiscentiam nesciebam; et rursus ad illa verba Gal. 5.: Caro concupiscit adversus spiritum. Ubi ostendimus, eos falli, qui concupiscentiam pertinere volunt ad solum appetitum sensitivum; cum eodem loco Paulus^ inter opera carnis recenseat inimicitias, contentiones, haereses, ad qaae vitia sensitivus appetitus non attingit. Quamvis etiam ex hac ipsa Apostoli Jacobi sententia, qua peccati tentationem ad propriam cujusque concupiscentiam refert, refelli possunt. Loquituv enim universe de peccatis, sive quae carnaliadici solent, sive quae spiritualia; adeo ut ex hocloco probabiliter statui possint haec duo: Post lapsum primi parentis omnia hominum peccata committi ex tentatione carnis seu concupiscentiae; et non omnin committi ex tentatione diaboli. Quorum prius asseritar a S. Augrastino sermone 6. de verbis Apostoli, dicente, ex carnali concupiscentia cuncta peccata oriri, quod et docet S. Bonaventura scribens in 2. sent. dist. 21. art. 2. quaest. 2. Posterius communiter a Theolcg-is tenetur. De utroque nos ex instituto tractavimus in commentario dictae dist.
1:15
15. Deinde concupiscentia, cum con~ ceperit, parit peccatum. Gradatione quadam ostendit ortum et progressum peccati in nobis ex concupiscentia, ac deinde genituram mortis ex peccato. Adverbium: deinde, referendum ad verbum: conceperit; ac si dicat: Deinde coticupiscentia concipit, et postquam conceperit, parit peccatum. Plerique partem hanc ita exponunt: Post concupiscentiae tentationem, qua fit, ut animus tangatur aliqua delectatione peccati (id enim erat, ab ea abstrahi et illici), concupiscentia concipit, hoc est, consensum aliquem eblanditur, sed imperfectum. Quod contingit, dum animus aliquantum immoratur delectationi peccati, uegligeus eam repellere aut ei resistere. Nam hoc ipso consentit aliquo modo, licet imperfecte; et per hoc concupiscentia parit peccatum. Siquidem consensus ejusmodi sine peccato esse non potest. Juxta hanc expositionem conceptus et partus, quos concupiscentiae adscribit Apostolus, sola videntur ratione [distingui. Quod an recte dicatur, in sequenti parte expendemus:
Peccatum vero, cu7n consummatum fuerit, generat mortem. Pro hujus partis simul et praecedentis intelligentia, coUigendi sunt gradus ab Apostolo indicati, quibus a concupiscentia tentante pervenitur usque ad mortem. Ubi primo notandum est, Apostolum his gradibus non annumerare suggestionem, quae inter gradus tentationis solet prima poni a Theologis Augustinum et Gregorium gecutis, sicut ostendimus in 2. sent, dist. 21. Cujus gradus etiam Beda meminit in hujus loci comment. Sed hunc praetermisit B. Jacobus, quod praesenti loco sit impertinens. Nam etiam sine suggestione daemonis aut mundi concupiscentia sibi sufficit ad excitandas in nobis tentationes ac desideria peccati. Quod si suggestionem etiam ad carnem referas, impropria est locutio. Et hoc pacto suggestio non erit diversa a tentatione concupiscentiae, quae hic prima ponitur. Deinde notandum, hic agi do tentationibus ad graviora peccata, cujusmodi sunt f ornicationes, et caetera libidinum flagitia; item homicidia, furta, rapinae, perjuria, et alia id genus, quae hominem privant gratia et amicitia Dei. Nam de levioribus peccatis, ut sunt risus immoderatus, verbum otiosum, mendacium officiosum, dici non potest, quod consummata mortem adferant. Tertio notanda est metaphora, a nemine, quod sciam, satis explicata, in hac tota Apostoli sententia. Fingit enim hominem ut virum, et concupiscentiam ut foeminam, quae virum blanditiis ad amorem et amplexum sui sollicitet. Quod significant illa verba, quibus dicit: JJnumquemque tentari, a concupiscentia sua abstractum et illectum. Deinde fingit, ex hominis amplexu concupiscentiam concipere et parere sobolem, id est peccatum; quae soboles ex eodem viro, id est patre suo, gravidata, postea mortem progignat; ut, quemadmodum concupiscentia mater est peccati, ita peccatum (quod et ipsum Graecis foemininum est: d/JiapTta) matrem mortis intelligi velit. Nam sicut de concupisceotia dicit: TtXTSt, parit, ita de peccato: aTTOXust, id est enititur, pro quo interpres: generat. Quod utrumque foeminarum est. Hanc metaphorae expiicatiouem paucis verbis indicatam reperies apud B. Augustinum homil. 42. inter. 50. cap. 8. Jam his praemissis ad ipsorum graduum enumerationem et explicationem veniamus. Quidam in hoc processu Apo- Btoli tres tantum gradus agnoscunt, alii quatuor, alii quinque. Sunt enim, qui concupiscentiae tentationem a conceptu non distinguunt; quasi concupiscentia eo ipso, quo tentat, concipiat. Alii a tentatione quidem conceptum distinguunt, sed cum partu confundunt, ut in expositione supra dicta. Rursum alii, vel etiam iidem, consummationem peccati cum generatione mortis in eodem gradu collocant; alii gradibus dividunt etiam haec duo. Ex qua varietate facile est videre, quemadmodum alii ab aliis dissentiant iu numero graduum. Nobis eaprobatur sententia, quae quinque gradus ponit. Videtur enim id omnino postulare series verborum Apostoli, ut et tentationem distinguamus a conceptu peccati, quia icterponit adverbium: deinde; et conceptum a. partu, quia dicit: cum conceperit, seu posteaquam concepit, parit, Graece: ouXXapouoa TtXTSt; et consummationem peccati a generatione mortis, ob similem in Graeco sermonem. Partum vero peccati ab ejus consummatione distingui, nemo est, qui neget; licet in iis distincte exponendis non omnes conveniant. Nam neoterici fere, ut Catharinus, Titelmannus, Hasselanus et alii, partum peccati constituunt iu consensu ejus imperfecto; consummationem autem in consensu perfecto, sive in opus exeat, sive non. Vetustiores autem, quos modo citabimus, partum peccati intelligunt in absoluto consensu, consummationem vero in externo opere; excepto, quod nonnulli partum intellexisse videntur in opere, et consummationem in consuetudine. Quae Guil. £stii Comm. Tom. III. quidem veterum expositio nobis est probabilior, tum quia partus peccati a conceptu distinguendus est; id enim exigit metaphora; tum quia consummatio peccati in externo opere solet intelligi, nisi quid addatur ad significandum consummationem, quae fit in animo seu voluntate, ut Matth. 5. dicente Domino: Qui viderit mulierem ad concupiscendum eam, jam moechatus est eam in corde suo. Gradus igitur, quos indicat Apostolus, hi sunt. Primus in tentatione concupiscentiae, ubi nullum adhuc peccatum est. Secundus in conceptu peccati per consensum imperfectum, cujumodi supra descripsimus. Tertius in partu peccati per consensum plenum ac perfectum. Nam partu perfectum animal in lucem editur. Quartus in consummatione peccati per opus exteinum. Quintus ac postremus in generatione mortis ex eo ipso peccato. Intelligitur autem mors aeterna, peccati stipendium, Rom. 6., ei scilicet vitae opposita, de qua paulo ante dixerat: Cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitae; sicut bene notat Beda. Jam in his gradibus observandum, unumquemque priorem consistere sine posteriori, adeo ut etiam temporis ordine praecedere possit; ut patet eunti per singulos. Nam et peccati consummatio (de qua dubitari posset), tametsi mortis aeternae reatum secum necessario trahat, ipsam tamen mortem non statim adducit, sed ad eam tandem perducit, nisi poenitentia deleatur, ut explicat Oecumenius. Atque hunc ordinem etiam Graeca significant, ut paulo ante submonui. Participium enim aTroTeXso^eloa significationem habet temporis praeteriti; proinde non eignificatur, peccatum, dum consummatur, sed, posteaquam consummatum fuerit, mortem gignere. Nec secus hoc intellexit Augustinusinhom. supracitata. Dicit enim, peccatum perducere ad mortem. Atque his consentanea sunt, quae de concupiscentia scribit Apostolus Paulus Rom. 7. et 8., ubi legem peccati et legem mortis eam vocat, utique mortis aeternae, quae peccati stipendium est; quemadmodum illic exposuimus. Porro quod dixi, nomine peccati consummati, quod mortem generat, significari externum opus peccati, primum id colligitur ex eodem Augustino serm. 43. de verbis Domir.i, cap. 11., ubi, cum post alia dixisset: In animo tuo, faciendum esse aduUerium, decrevisti? subjunxit: Jam, quod absit, si et membra fuerint operata, in mortem devclutus es. Beda vero in bujns loci comment. non solum consummationem, verum etiam partum ad opus externum referre videtur. Ait enim: At si delectationem concepti corde faninoris etiam partus pravae sequitur actionis, nobis jam mortis reis victor hostis abscedit. Atque haec ejus verba in glossam ordinariam relata sunt. Sed et glossa iuterlincalis peccatum consummatum exponit per actum et consuetudinem. Liranus quoque diserte partum peccati interpretatur in consensuperfecto, consummationem in opere exteriori. Similia tradil commentarius Thomae Aquinati adscriptus, et inter recentiores Joannes Gaignaeus, Franciscus Fevardentius. His accedit antiquissima Synodus Neocaesariensis, quae canon. 4. peccatum non consummatum ponit in eo, qui, concupita muliere, etiamsi concubitus ejus desiderium habeat, non pervenit ad elBPectum. Nam titulus canonis est: De concupiscentia non consummata. Addit autem canon, ejusmodi hominem per divinam gratiam fuisse liberatum. Caeterum adversus istam expositionem parata est objectio. Si enim peccatum tunc demum generat mortem, postquam opere consummatum fuerit, aut, secundum alios, in consuetudinem venerit: con.«iequens videbitur, solo consensu voluntatis nulla committi peccata morte digna. Quod ad pbarisaicam doctrinam pertinet, quam ex hoc ipso Apostolo refellere facile est. Nam infra cap. 3. graviter damnat zelum avarum et contentiones, quae sunt in cordibus. Et cap. 4. praecipit dicens: Purificate corda duplices animo. Respondent aliqui, propterea Apostolum peccato consummato mortis effectum attribuere, quod in opere exteriori magis appareat peccati deformitas, quodque per illud etiam culpa augeatur et scandalum aliis detur. Alii rationem hanc reddunt, quia, posteaquam semel quis, abjecto Dei timore, quo deterrebatur, in opus peccati proruperit, non contentus est illud semel fecisse, sed audacior factus subinde repetit; unde in frequentalionem et consuetudinem peccandi venit; quo fit, ut tandem ducatur ad mortem. Quod non ita contingit, si peccatum anim.o conceptum prematur, ne exeat in opus. Facilius enim sanatur peccatum, si nondum fuerit opere perpetratum. Legitur hujusmodi responsio in commentario, qui S. Thomae inscribitur: et consonat iis, quae scribit Aagustinus in sei*m. memorato de verbis Domini, cap. ult. Congruit etiam expositioni, quam supra dedinms. Non enim dicitur, peccatum consummatum generare mortem., quia facit hominem dignum morte, sed quia hominem re ipsa ducit ad mortem. Quod de peccato nondam consummato non perinde verum esse, jam declaratum est. Porro quod dicit canon Neocaesariensis, Gum, qui mulierem concupivit, si ad opus non pervenit, divina gratia fuisse liberatum, ne cui scrupulum faciat, non sic est accipiendum, quasi ille taliter concupiscendo non incurrerit peccatum mortale; sed sensus cancnis est, gratiae Dei deputandum esse, quod non fuerit permissus malum malo cumulare, id est peccato cordis superaddere peccatum operis, maxime quO'I perpetrati non posset sine alterius peccato vel injuria. Unde Augustinus, volens ostendere, etiam hoc ipsum, quod quis ab opere peccati impeditus est, ad Dei gratiam esse referendum, in hom. 22. cap. 6. Deum ita facit homini loquentem: Lt aduUerium non committeres, suasor defuit; ut suasor deesset, ego feci. Locus et tempus defuit; ut haec deessenty ego feci. Sic illc. Huc facit illustre exemplum Davidis, qui, sicut habetur 1 Reg. 25., cum iret armatus ad perdendum funditus Nabal et universam ejus familiam, occurrente sibi conjuge illius Abigail, a facinore proLibitus, gratias egit Deo, dicens: Benedictus Do~ minus Deus Israel, qui misit hodie te in occursum meum etc.
1:16
16. Nolite itoque errare, fratres mei dilectissimi. Graece et Syriace sine nota illationis: Ne erretis, fratres mei dilecti. Respicit tamen praecedentia; quasi dicat: Igitur, fratres mei, absit a vobis error tam detestabilis, ut tentationes peccatorum in Deum rejiciatis; cum ille sit auctor et fons omnis boni. Quod jam docet sequentibus verbis:
1:17
17. Omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum est. Graece: Omnis datio bona, et omnis donatio perfecta e supernis est. Sed recte interpres verbalia per datum et donum expressit. Optimum autem pro bono dixit more suo, sicut dlleetissimi pro dilecti, Quomodo differant ex Apostoli sententia Sootc et 5tL)pTj|ia_, datum et donum, non liquet. Sunt, qui velint esse synonyma, ut sit ejusdem repetitio ad inculcationem doctrinae vehementer necessariae. Quod non improbo. Quamquam alii malunt distinguere, ut datum ad naturam, donum ad gratiam refeiatur. Nam in vocabulo doni seu donationis magis apparet gratniti significatio. Donatur enim, quod gratis datur. Quo pertinet etiam epitheton perfecti. Nam gratia perficit naturam. Quod ait: desursum, aveo^sv, e supernis, id est e coelo, metonymice Deum significat, coeli habitatorem. Quem tropum explicabunt verba sequentia. Dicitur autem Deup habitare in coelo, quia gloriam suam ibi manifestat. Porro sententia Apostoli generali*s est, qua docet, Deum omnis boni, quoucnmque in nobis est, auctorem esse et datorem; sive naturale sit bonum, sive naturae conditionem superans; et sive in habitu consistat, sive in actu; praesertim cum de peccatis ante faerit locutus, quibus ex adverso bonae actio«es respondent. Unde Beda annotat, Apostolum ostendere, quia, quidquid honi ugimus, hoc Deo donante percipimus. Citatque illud Pauli: Quid habes, quod non accepisti? 1 Cor. 4. Valet igitur egregie hic locus adversus dogma Pelagii, negantis, bonam voluntatem et bona opera esse Dei dona. Nec est, quod Pelagianus quispiam nobis objiciat, non aliud Apostolum velle his verbis, quam omnia bona data et dona esse a Deo dante et donante; nostra autem bona opera non esse data aut donata, sed esse nobis a nobis ipsis. Respondeo enim, phrasim esse Scripturis familiarem, qua vel actio, vel affectas pro re objecta ponitur, ut Job 3.: Timor, quem timebam, evenit mihi; sequitur enim: Et quod vtrehar, accidit; et Psalm. 105.: Concupierunt concupiscentiam in deserto, cum de carnium concupiscentia loqueretur. Ita dicit Jacobus, omne datum bonum et omne donum perfectum esse desursum, utique significare volens, omne bonum, quodcumque haberans, esse datum a Deo; et omne perfectum esse donum Dei. Simile est illud Luc. 11.: Si vos, cum sitis mali, nostis bona data (id est res bonas) dare filiis vestris.
Descendens a Patre luminum. Varie hoc exponitur. Quidam significari putant lumina increata, id est Filium et Spiritum sanctum a Deo Patre procedentes; siquidem uterque eorum est Deus de Deo, et lumen delumine. Sed refellitur hic intellectus ex vocabulo Patris. Nam etsi Spiritus sanctus aeque, ut Filius, dici possit Inmen de lumine, non tamen admitti debet hic sermo, Deum esse Patrem duorum Uiminum, Filii et Spiritus sancti; sic enim in divinis essent duo Filii. Quod est a sana fide alienum. Item refellitur hic commentarius, quia iu Deo non sunt ponenda Inmina pluraliter, sed unum lumen, sicut est unus Deus, et unus Dominus. Multo igitur rectius intelligitur de luminibus creatis, ut totius Trinitatis epitheton sit: Pater luminum; quamvis specialiter ad primam personam accommodari possit, ut, qui est Pater luminis increati, idem etiam dicatur creatorum luminum Pater, id est auctor, fons et origo. Sed quorum luminum? Nonnulli generaliter tam spiritualium, inquiunt, quam corporeorum. Spiritualia exponunt revelationes, collustrationes et inspirationes, quibus hominum mentes illuminantur ac diriguntur inter tenebras hujus vitae. Corporea vero solem, lunam, astra, a quibus illuminatur hic mundus corporeus. Alii sola intelligunt lumina spiritualia, maxime ea, quae peccatis opponuntur. Passim enim Scriptura novi testamenti peccata tenebras vocat, Joan. 3.: Dilexerunt homines magis tenebras, quam lucem; et cap. 8.: Qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris; et Rom. 13.: Abjiciamus opera tenebrarum, et induamur arma lucis. Item has tenebras Scriptura ad diabolum auctorem refert: Haec est, inquit, hora vestra, et potestas tenebrarum, Luc. 22. Si ergo peccata tenebrae sunt, quarum pater est diabolus, certe et bona opera lumina sunt, quorum pater est Deus. Etsi nihil vetat, eo nomine etiam caetera spiritualia bona comprehendere. Quod facit Beda, dum lumina interpretatur charismata spiritualia. Dicuntur autem lumina, quia a lumine increato, velut radii quidam in nos effunduntur; quemadmodum e diverso peccata tenebrae vocantur, quia omne peccatum ex errore procedit, et ab erroris magistro diabolo ortum habet.
Apud quem non est transmutatio, nec vicissitudinis obumbratio. Vicissitudinis, Graece, TpOTi^g, id est conversionis, ut legit Hieronymus lib. 1. contra Jovin. Nam Graeca vox ursurpatur pro conversione seu reciprocatione solis, quae fit in solstitiis. Unde ab astronomis circuli tropici dicuntur, ex quibus sol reflectitur. Notum est autem solem, quanto magis ad nos accedit, tanto umbras facere minores; contravero, qunrarecedit. Hanc Apostolus vocat obumbrationem vicissitudinis seu conversionis, id est eam, quae fit major aut minor a sole per vices annuas recedente vel accedente. Docet ergo, non ita Deum esse patrem luminum spiritualium, quomodo sol auctor est luminis corporalis, ut, sicut sol mutatur e loco in locum, et conversiones patitur, et objectis corporibus umbras facit, ita Deo accidat. Nulla enim apud eum est transmutatio, cum sit natura sua prorsas immutabilis; nulla quoque conversionis obumbratio, cum nuUo objectu rei cujusquam vis luminis ejus impediri possit, quo minus, quocumque volaerit, penetret ac radios spargat, ideoque paratum et expositum sit omnibus, humili petitione ipsum requirentibus, secundum id, quod supra dixit: Si quis vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus afftuenter; et juxta quod David hortatur, dicens: Accedite ad Deum, et illuminamini, et facies vestrae non confundentur, Psalm. 33. Simul innuit Apostolus hac parte, bona tantum esse a Deo, non mala, quod sit ipse immutabilis e bono in malum. Obiter notandum est, Augustinum pro vicissitudine legere momentum. Apud quem, inquit, non est immutatio, nec momenti obumbratio. Loca sunt lib. 11. de civit. Dei, cap. 21., et libro de nat. boni contra Manich. cap. 24., et serm. 11. de verbis Apost. Sed interpres, cujus translatione usus est Augustinus, legisse videtur in Graeco: poii^c, loco TpOTt^c. Significat enim ponr} nutum, momentum. Ita sensus erit: Deum ne momentaneam quidem, id est nec minimam pati sai luminis obumbrationem. Verum prior lectio, qua ad solis conversiones alluditur, quaeque omnium est codicum, quam et Syra lectio reddit, multo est probabilior.
1:18
18. Voluntarie enim genuit nos verbo veritatis. Causalem particulam enim Graeca et Syriaca non habent. Multi etiam, et probati codices Latini non agnoscunt. Pertinet tamen haec pars ad declarationem doctrinae praecedentis. Nam Deus, quam sit erga nos bonus et beneficus, in eo vel praecipue ostendit, quod voluntarie nos genuit verbo veritatis. Voluntarie, Graece: PouXtj^sic, volens, seu potius, quia voluit, id est, ut Erasmus vertit, destinata voluntate. Putat Oecumenius, Apostolum hic agere de beneficio creationis; ut sensus sit: Cam non essemus, Deus sponte sua nos genuit, id est creavit, homines fecit ratione praeditos ac suae notitiae capaces, idque verbo veritatis, hoc est per verbum sibi consubstantiale, quod est ipsa veritas. De quo Verbo Joannes: Omnia per ipsum facta sunt. Hic sensus etiam apud Athanasium exstat oratione 4. contra Arianos. At vero Beda, cui caeteri fere omnes consentiunt, exponit hunc locum de beneficio regenerationis et justificationis nostrae. Quae sententia, praeterquam quod magis Apostolica est, satis etiam proditur ipsis verbis, si ea conferantur cum aliis Scripturae locis, in quibus de hoc benefioio agitur. Ut sunt ista 1 Pet. 1.: Secundum misericordiam suam magnam regeneravit nos in spem vivam. Et iterum: Renati non ex semine corruptibili, sed incorruptibili per verbum Dei vivi. Itera Joan. 16.: Mundi estis propter ser~ monem, quem locutus sum vobis. Act. 15.: Fide purificans corda eorum. Eph. 5.: Mundans eam lavacro aquae in verbo. Et quod hic post pauca subjungitur: Suscipite insitum verbutn, quod potest salvare animas vestras. Ex quibus Scripturis et similibus partim potest intelligi, de qua generatione loquatur B. Jacobus; nimirum de spirituali, qua nascimur filii Dei, de qua et Paulus 1 Cor. 4. dicens: Per Evangelium ego vos genui; partim de quo verbo loquatur. Non enim sermo est de verbo increato, quod quidam huic etiam sensui adhibent, sed de verbo veritatis Evangelicae, de quo Paulus Rom. 10. Hoc est verbum fidei, quod praedicamus; et Petrus 1 Epist. 1.: Hoc est verbum, quod evangelizatum est in vobis. Intelligitur autem hoc verbum fide susceptum. Unde Scripturae sanctificationem nostram nunc verbo, nunc Evangelio, nunc fidei adsoribentes, idem significant. Jam quod addit: voluntarie, gratuitam declarat justificationem; ac si dicat: Nullo nostro merito provocatus, sed omnino gratis atque ex mero beneplacito suae voluntatis, nos sibi genuit ac filios suos fecit per fidem. Atque hoc est beneplacitum, quod Paulus Apostolus modo propositum, modo consilium divinae voluntatis appellat, ut Eph. 1., Rom. 8. et alibi. Non igitur est sensus: Voluntate, non necessitate, genuit nos; quasi intendat discrimen inter nostram et Filii Dei naturalis generationem, ut nonnuUis visura est; sed voluntatem meritis opponit, ut si diceret: Genuit nos, quia voluit, non quia nos digni eramus; et, ut Beda loquitur, non nostris meritis, sed suae beneficio voluntatis. Ita David Psalm. 17.: Salvum me fecit, quoniam voluit me. Et Dominus apud Osee prophetam cap. 14. (quod Beda huc citat): Diligam eos spontanee. Ex his jam perspicue patet, Jacobi sententiam hoc loco eandem esse cum eo, quod Paulus docet et inculcat in Epist. ad Rom. et ad Gal., nos gratis justificari per fidem. En, quomodo sibi consonant in doctrina gratuitae justificationis apostolicae tubae.
Ut simus initium aliquod creaturae ejus. Graece: Ut essemus primitiae quaedam creaturarum ipsius. Beda testatur, quendam ita vertisse: Ut simus primitiae creaturarum ejus. Atque eam versionem suo commentario explanat. Etenim Graeca vox OLTzapx^ non tam initium, quam primitias significat, id est primos fructus, qui Deo offerebantur in lege; et ab his ad alia, quae in suo genere prima sunt et praestantissima, transfertur. Quam metaphoram innuit, dicens: aiiapx^^ xtva, primitias quas' dam, id est quodammodo primitias. Ostendit igitur hac parte, quid eximium nobis praestet generatio Dei. Poterat autem uno verbo rem maximae dignitatis exprimere, dicendo: Generavit nos sibi filios; sed quia hoc inerat in verbo: genuit, ut ex eo facillime posset intelligi, aliud quiddam adjecit valde praeclarum, scilicet, esse primitias creaturarum Dei. Qui priorem partem interpretantur de generatione, qua facti sumus homines, eodem referunt banc partem, et sensum faciunt hujusmodi: Creavit nos, ut essemus inter creaturas ejus visibiles atque corporeas praecipui, ac caeterarum domini, secundum illud: Otnnia subjecisti sub pedibus ejus, Psalm. 8. At juxta veriorem intellectum, qui est de generatione spfrituali, sensus hujus partis est: Ea generatione nobis hoc insigne beneficium contulit, ut humani generis essemus primitiae quaedam, id est praestantissima et selecta portio, quae Deo offeratur. Nam creaturam restringi ad hominum genus, in sacra Scriptura non est insolitum. Sic enim accipitur Marc. ult.: Praedicate Evangelium omni creaturae; et Col. 1.: Quod praedicatum est in universa creatura, quae sub coelo est. Ac ne dubites, creaturam humanam significari, manifestus est locus Apoc. 14.: Hi empti sunt ex hominibus primitiae Deo et agno. Quod aeque de electis dicitur. Nec dissimili ratione electi vocantur Ecclesia primitioorum, sive primogenitorum, Hebr. 12. Denique nota, fideles atque electos ita vocari prim.itias humani generis, sicut electorum primitias Christum dixit Apostolus Paulus 1 Cor. 15. Quod sraie amplissimam declarat electorum diguitatera. Sensum Apostoli minus assecuti sunt, qui hoc initium sive primitias referunt ad Ecclesiae primordia, id est ad eos, qui primi ex Judaica gente crediderunt in Cbristura, ut dicantur fuisse velut primitiae totius Ecclesiae decurrentis usque ad finem saeculi. Minus, inquam, hoc placet, quia doctrina Apostoli generalis est, ad omnes pertinens regeneratos. Confer autem commentarium nostrum ad verba proxime citata ex cap. 12. ad Hebraeos.
1:19
19. Scitis, fratres mei dilectissimi. Graece: Itaque, fratres mei dilecti. Sjriace; Et vos, fratres mei dilecti. Latinus interpres pro: a)CT£_, legit: faTS^, scitiSj quod huicloco non admodum congruit, licet Beda exponat. Sed et verbum Graecum: foTS, nescio, an alibi reperiatur in scriptis apostolicis. Certe passim legitur: oVdaTS, pro eo, quod Latine: scitis. Igitur transitum facit Apostolus ad exhortationem sequentem:
Sit autem omnis homo velox ad au" diendum. Autem non additur in Graecis et Syriacis; et quidem juxta eorum lectionem, quam dixi, redundat. Quoniam mentionem fecit Apostohis de verbo veritatis, per quod fuerant renati, nunc, ut in eo, quod renati erant, permaneant atque proficiant, hortatur ad ejusdem verbi audiendi velocitatem, id est promptitudinem et dih"gentiam. Nam sicut fides ex auditu est, Rom. 10., ita necesse est, eam auditu foveri, nutriri et augeri. Non igitur ad quidlibet audiendum vult nos esse veloces, cum tam multa noxia et inutilia ab hominibus dicantur, a quibus avertendae sint aures: sed ad audiendum Dei verbum, quod potest, ut paulo post dicit, animas salvare. Sub quo comprehenditur omne verbum, quoquo modo spectans ad aedificationem, tam fidei, quam vitae Christianae. Pulchre B. Augustinus ad Dulcitium, quaest. 3.: Ego plus amo discere, quam docere. Nam hoc admonemur etiam, dicente Jacobo Apostolo: Sit omnis homo velox ad audiendum, tardus autem ad loquendum. JJt ergo discamus, invitare nos debet suavitas veritatis; ut autem doceamus, cogere necessitas caritatis.
Tardus autem ad loquendum. Intellige de rebus ad doctrinam fidei, morumve pertinentibus. Unde dicit cap. 3.: Nolite plures magistri fieri. Tutius enim, inquit Beda, veritas auditur, quam praedicatur. Cum enim auditur, humilitas custoditur; cum autem praedicatur, vix est, ut non subrepat homini jactantia. Et, ut Bedae verbis hoc addam, vix est, ut amanti cathedram non subrepant errores loco veritatis, quam docere debeat. Monet igitur ApostoUis fideles, ne cito ac facile pronuntient de rebus divinis; sed pilus bece discant, quae doceant. Quo consilio quondam Pythagorici, ut post alios idem Beda refertj auditores suos per qumquennium jubebant silere, quo sic demum utiliter aliquid loqui pos3ent, Quamquam exliorfatio Apostoli recte extenditur etiam ad quotidianum sermonem, ut in eo parci et circumspecti simus ac linguam non a noxiis tantum verbis, sed etiam ab otiosis et superfluis cohibeamus. Huc enim pertinet, quod non multo post subjicit de refrenanda lingua. Cujus et vitia accrius insectatur cap. 3.
Et tardus ad iram. Notandum, in Graeco sermonem asyndeton esse: Velox ad audiendum, tardus ad loquendum, tardus ad iram. Adjungit Apostolus tertium hoc praeceptum duobus superioribus, eo quod disputantibus facile soleat iracundia suboriri; qua dum mens obnubilatur, inventio veritatis impeditur, quae finis esse debet disputationis. Non sic ergo praecipit tarditatem irascendi, quomodo praecepit tarditatem loquendi; quasi bonum sit irasci, sicut bonum est loqui, modo tardi et providi simus ad utrumque: sed ab ira revocat tamquam ab eftectu vitioso; quod passim facit Apostolus Paulus, iram annumerans inter alia peccata fidelibus absolute cavenda, ut Gal. 5., EpL. 4., Coloss. 3., 1 Tim. 2. Quo pertinet etiam illa Domini sententia, Matth. 5.: Omnis, qui irascitur fratri suo, reus erit judicio. Cum enim ira sit appetitus vindictae, nemini profecto licot irasci, cui n^n licet aut ulcisci, aut ultionem ab eo, cui licet, faciendam desiderare. Ulcisci vero non licet, nisi Deo, qui dixit: Mihi vindicta, et ego retribuam, Rom. 12., et quibus a Deo data est potestas aliorum delicta puniendi, id est solis judicibus ac praefectis. Desiderare vero non licet, nisi juxta dictamen justitiae et caritatis. Sensus igitur hujus praecepti est, quoniam difficile est homini, seu potius impossibile, numquam irasci, saltem ei cavendum esse, ne sit ad iram praeceps, sed ab ea sibi temperet, quantum potest. Hunc sensum et hanc irae acceptionem confirmat ratio subjuncta.
1:20
20. Ira enim vin justitiam Dei non operatur. Declarat deinceps tria praecepta, quae proxime dederat, incipiens a postremo. Justitiam Dei Cajetanus intelligit, quam Deus exercet in puniendis malis, ut sensus sit: Ira hominis non exsequitur justitiam Dei. Neque enim Deus ad exsequendam suam justitiam ordinavit iram hominum, volentium se vindicare; sed judices ad eum finem instituit. Alii justHiam Dei interpretantur, qua quis vere et coram Deo justus est, quaeque Deum habet auctorem. Qua significatione justitia Dei passim accipitur apud Paulum in Epist. ad Rom., ut cap. 1. 3. et 10. Ita sensus est: Vir iratus prae caeco animi impetu multa committit justitiae Christianae contraria; tantum abest, ut contentiosa disputatione veram, quam quaerere videtur, assequatur justitiam. Hic sensus textui conformior est, et probabilitatem accipit ex simili sententia, quae est Ecclesiast. 1. secundum Graecam lectionem: Non po~ terit iracundus vir justificari. Nam videri potest Apostolus ad eum Scripturae locum allusisse.
1:21
21. Propter quod abjicientes omnem immunditiam et abundantiam malitiae. Abjicientes, Graece: aTToOsjisvoi^ deponentes, seu potius: deposita omni im" munditia, etc. Quamquam pro immun' ditia Graece est puTrapta, quae vox in Apostolicis literis alibi non reperitur, ac proprie significat sordes ac spurcitiam corporibus adhaerentem; translata vero ad aniraura significat avaritiam, quam etiam Latini sordes vocant, ut avarum sordidum; tametsi Oecumenius impudicitiam intellexisse videtur. Nobis verisimile est, Apostolum eo vocabulo comprehendere voluisse quaslibet animae sordes, id est quodcumque genus peccati. Nec enim apparet ratio, cur hic specialiter impudicitiae faceret mentionem. Nam et quod sequitur: Et abundantiam malitiae, generale est. Vocat autem abundantiam malitiae malitiam redundantem ac superfluam (id vult Graeca vox Trspiaasia^ redundantia, superfluitas), id est vitia, quae instar malarum herbarum, quae inutiles ac proinde superfluae sunt, agrum nostri cordis occupant, impedientes exortum et incrementum boni seminis. Est enim in hac apostolica exhortatione metaphora ab agricolis sumpta, qui ex agris conserendis vel etiam coasitis, quoad possunt, herbas vitiosas exstirpant, lapides, et quidquid sordidum, inutile et noxium est, auferunt.
In mansuetudine suscipite insitum verbum. Mansuetudinem opponit irae et contentioni. Insitum, Graece e/xcpUTOV, nomen est, non participium, quasi dicat: insititium. Recte tamen participialiter exponitur. Scribit enim ad fideles, in quorum cordibus jam seminatum et insitum erat Apostolorum praedicatione verbum Dei; quos hortatur ad ejus audiendi et suscipiendi assiduitatem, quo nimirum firma radice haereat, fructumque multiplicem referat, tamquam quod inciderit in terram bonam, juxta parabolam Evangelicam Matth. 13. Praecipit autem, ut cum mansuetudine verbum suscipiant, quia, sicut contentionis studium indociles reddit, ita mansuetudo dociles, praesertim ad ea, quae captum ingenii nostri superant. Hinc Salvator se missum testatur ad annuntiandum mansuetis Evangelium, Jes. 61. Convenit cum hoc loco praeceptum Erclesiasfici 5.: Esto man^ suetus ad audiendum verbum Dei, ut intelligas. Quidam scriptor £|i<pUTOV X6yov interpretatur: insitam rationem, id est naturale lumen rationis; sed male, non attendens ad phrasim apostolicam; maxime cum tam in praecedenlibus, quam in consequentibus hujus capitis, per Xoyov intelligatur verbum Evangelii praedicatum, non ratio. Deinde ratio non inseritur, sed connascitur; at verbo evangelico proprium est inseri, quemadmodum bene declarat Cajetanus.
Quod potest salvare animas vestras. Id est ad aeternam salutem perducere. Praestat id verbum evangelicum fide susceptum, si tamen ad eam opera accedant fidei congruen*ia; sicut docet verbis snbjunctis, et latius seq. cap. Ex hac parte probabile sumitur argumentum, animae sanctorum adipisci salutem, quae in Dei visione consistit, quamvis nondum corporibus redditas. Ita B. Petrus 1 Epist. 1.: Reportantes finem fidei vestrae salutem animarum. Quamquam nihil vetat, ot iUnm locum, et hunc praesentem intelligi de salute, quae hic habetur in via.
1:22
22. Estote autem factores verbi, et non auditores tantum. Redit ad tractationem praecepti: Velox ad audiendum, monetque, non satis esse, si quis auditor sit verbi, quantamlibet velox et promptus; nisi et factorem se exhibeat, id est factis exsequatur ea, quae verbum evangelicum facienda docet. Haec doctrina pulchre consonat cum ea, quam tradit Paulus Rom. 2., tum illis praecipue verbis: Non auditores legis justi sunt apud Deum; sed factores legis justificabuntur; tum reliquo capite, Judaeos compellans (perinde ut hic Jacobus), qui gloriabantur in lege tamquam magistri, nec eam servabant. Sicut autem illo loco Paulus praemunit lectorem adversus malam intelligentiam doctrinae, quam erat traditurus dc fide sine operibus justificante: ita B. Jacobus hic et in sequentibus pravum intellectum ejusdem doctrinae Paulinae corrigit. Qua de re egimus in praefatione. Erasmus annotat, in Graecis codicibus a se visis non haberi particulam: tantum, sed nec in Latinis emendatioribus. Atqui codices, tam Graeci, quam Latini, qui in nostris sunt manibus, constanter legunt; Graeci quidem hoc ordine: et non tantum aw ditores. Quod si forte Apostohis non expressit, haud dubie tamen intelligi voluit.
Fallentes vosmetipsos. Graece: napa- XoYtCo/jisvot lauTOuc, paralogizantes vos ipsos, id est captiosis quibusdam ratiunculis ex Scriptura vel aliunde petitis vosmet ipsos illaqueantes atque fallentes, sophistarum more. Utebantur autem, inter alias, hac Scriptura: Credidit Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam. Nam argumentum ex ea desumptum solvit cap. sequenti.
1:23
23. Quia, si quis auditor est verbi, et non factor. Poterat Apostolus graviori comminatione percellere eos, qui auditores sunt verbi, et non factores; quemadmodum facit cap. 4., dicens: Scienti bonum facere, et non facienti ^ peccatum est illi; sed hoc loco contentus est ostendere, quod inutilem sumat operam, qui tantum studet audire et non facere; idque adhibita commoda similitudine.
Hic comparabitur viro consideranti vultum nativitatis suae in speculo. Comparabitur y Graece: eotxev, praeteriti temporis verbum, quod tamen vim praesentis habeat. Unde rocte vertunt alii: Similis est. Sic enim et noster interpres jam supra vertit: Similis est fluctui maris.
Vultum nativitatiSj Hebraismus est pro vultu seu facie nativa, quae ita dicitur ad differentiam larvae aut faciei fucatae.
1:24
24. Consideravit enim se, et abiit, et statim oblitUtS est, qualis fuerit. Non probat, sed explicat; quasi dicat: Illi, inquam, similis est, qui consideravit se, et abiit etc. Est autem hujusmodi comparatio: Quemadmodum homo vultum Buum contemplans in speculo, si id negligenter et incuriose faciat, continuo, postquam discessit, obliviscitur, qualem se viderit, ideoque nec curat abstergere sordes aut maculas abluere: sic auditor verbi, si tantum accedit, ut audiat, videt quidem in Evangelii speculo formam vultus sui interioris ab evangelica doctrina discrepantem, videt ibi sordes ac maculas suas, id est peccata; sed postea, tamquam ejus, quod audivit, oblitus, non est sollicitus, ut deformitatem sui vultus, quam ei speculum repraesentavit, corrigat, ac vitae suae faciem ad illius speculi pulchritudinem componat. Unde fit, ut inutile et sine fructu efficiatur ei verbum auditum. Ad seusiim hujus similitudinis certius accipiendum, nonnulli premunt ilhid: viro. Nam mulieres non solentsese in speculo negligenter considerare.
1:25
25. Qui autem perspexerit in legem perfectam libertatis. Locus a Romanis correctoribus restitutus. Nam in multis codicibus legebatur: in lege perfectae libertatis. In nonnullis (quod germanae lectioni vicinius est): in lege perfecta libertatis. Sed Graeca nuUam habent ambiguitatem. Sic enim sonant: In legem perfectam j quae est libertatis. Nec ab his Syriaca translatio dissidet. Pro verbo: perspexerit, alii malunt: prospexerit, haud temere suspicantes, ita vertisse nostrum interpretem. Sic enim alibi vertit, 1 Petr. 1.: In quem desiderant Angeli prospicere. Rureus alii verterunt: introspexerit. Nam Graecum verbum napOLxuTCcetv proprie de iis dicitur, qui intuendi studio ac penitus introspicieudi sese inclinant, ut docte Gaignaeus annotavit. Porro membrum hoc superiori respondet per antithesin, qua auditori otioso opponit auditorem operosum, et inani speculatori verbi eum, qui legem Christi introspicit cum effectu bonae operationis. Nam legem Christi vocat legem perfectam, et hanc exponit: legem libertatis. Perfecta quidem lex est, quia perficit ac justificat; quod vetus lex non potuit. Nihil enim illa ad perfectum adduxit, Heb. 7. Libertatis autem lex est, vel quia Judaeos credentes exemerat jugo legis Mosaicae, vel potius, quia lex caritatis est, quae liberos facit, id est Dei filios; cum lex vetus, quae lex timoris erat, non nisi in sorvitutem generare pofuerit. Quod discrimen novae legis ac veteris sub nomine duorum testamentorum tradit Apostolus Paulus Gal. 4. Estque tam eo loco, quam Heb. 8., plenius a nobis expositum.
Et permanserit in ea. Hoc opponit ei, quod in priori membro dixerat: Et abiit. Permanet autem in lege Christi contemplanda, qui sic eam contemplatur, ut opere impleat. In Graeco tantum habetur: Et permanserit; tametsi Syrus addit: in ea. Sunt, qui putent, ex. Graeco legendum: Et permanserit sic, ut pro vocabulo ouTOC, quod proxime sequitur, ct ad sequentia pertinet, adeoque redundare videtur (nam postea suo loco repetitur), legatur: outojc, huic parti annectendum. Atqueeara lectionem in Graecis observarunt Erasmus et Gaignaeus. Eandem eligit Cajetanus, sensu tameq a vulgata nihil differentem. /'^^TofWEOf/^^^,. "^ / fiT. MVt;HA£U'« \ "
Non auditor obliviosus factus, sed factor operis. Graece: non auditor oblivionis. Sed Hebraismus est, quem bene exposuit interpres.
Hic beatus in facto suo erit. Facto, Graece: 7:on^0£i, id est operatione vel, ut ita dicam, factione. Neque enim unum aliquod factum intelligit, sed legis exsecutionem per opera. Beatum dicit vel beatitudine patriae coelestis, quae merces est bonorum operum, quam paulo ante salutem animarum vocavit; vel potius beatitudine vitae, quae consistit in justitia et certa exspectatione felicitatis aeternae^ quomodo supra beatum dixit eum, qui suffert tentationem; ut totius periodi iste sit sensus: Qui vero studiosius intenderlt oculos mentis in legem Christi, quae est lex perfecta, luxque verae libertatis; et non recesserit, nec averterit se ab ea, sicut ille, qui vultum suum contemplabatur in speculo; sed fixus in ea contemplanda permanserit, id est, si nonobliviosus ac negligens auditor verbi fuerit, sed opere praestiterit, quod audivit: is ex bona sua operatione beatus erit, justus erit, justificabitur, scilicet eo sensu, quo sequenti capite docet ac pluribus declarat, hominem ex operibus justificari et non ex fide tantum. Nam et Paulus justificationem appellat /laxapiafjiov beatitudinem seu beatificationem, Rom. 4.
1:26
26. 'Si quis autem putat, se reJigiosum esse. Haec pars facit ad declarationem praecepti: tardus ad loquendum. Graeca addunt: Iv 6/JiTv_, in vobis, id est inter vos. Sed in Syriaco textu non legitur, ut merito videri possit adjectitium; tametsi sensui non officit. Vertit autem Erasmus ex Graeco, verbum verbo reddens: Si quis videtur religiosus esse. Atqui noster interpres vim Graecae locutionis melius assecutus est, dum vertit, addito reciproco nomine: Si quis putat, se religiosum esse. Vide, quae annotavimus ad illam sententiam 1 Cor. 8.: Si quis autem se existimat scire aliquid. Sensus: Si quis sibi videtur religiosus esse, id est verus Dei cultor ac bonus Christianus.
Non refrenans linguam suam, scilicet a loquacitate, contentionibus, obtrectationibus, maledictis, et aliis linguae vitiis, quibus fere sunt obnoxii, qui volunt religiosi videri. Adversus haec!atius agit infra cap. 3. Ex quo etiam intelliges, cur utatur wQrho refrenationis.
Sed seducens cor suum. Simile ei, quod supra dixit: FaUentes vosmet ipsos. Seducit enim cor suum, et fallit se ipsum, dum hujusmodi vitiis involutus adhuc sibi placet, quasi sit religiosus.
Hujus vana est religio. Quamvis enim professione, ac forte etiam re ipsa Christianus sit, et Dei cultor, inutilis tamen et infructuosus ei redditur ille cultus qualiscumque, quem Deo exhibere videtur; eo quod De.um, quem colit, istiusmodi peccatis infeasum sibi reddat. Hinc ergo disce, non leviter peccare eos, qui, ad sensum Apostoli, linguam suam non refrenant. Nisi enim mortalis in his esset culpa, non diceret, vanam esse eorum religionem. Adfert autem hoc pro exemplo doctrinae superioris, qua docuit, non auditores verbi, sed factores Deo placere.
1:27
27. Religio munda et immaculata apud Deum et Patrem haec est. Quasi quaereret aliquis: Num ergo mihi sufficiet refrenare linguam, ut non vana sit mea religio? respondet, quid amplius et principalius exigat. Non enim satis est ad religionem, proximo factis aut verbis non nocere; nisi studeas etiam prodesse, denique et te ipsum ab inquinamentis purum conserves. Mundam et immaculatam vocat religionem, quae non obfuscatur peccatis ejus, in quo est; vel, quod eodem recidit, quae a corde puro et iraraaculato proficiscitur. Apud Deum et Patrem, id est apud Deum, qui idem est Pater noster. Sensus autem est, religlonera puram coram Deo, vel quae Deo exhibetur, hanc esse:
Visitare pupillcs et viduas in tribulatione eorum. Visitationis nomme synecdochice subventlo significatur, hoc eet, pecuniarum ac rerum necessariarum subministratio; sive praesens haec facias, sive absens. Sic et illud accipiendum: Infirmus eram, et visitastis me; in carcere, et venistis ad me, Matth. 25. Caeterum ex specie gemis intelligi vult Apostolus, id est, afflictorum cujuscumque generis solatia et subsidia, praesertim corporalia; quae sola Dominus commemoravit loco citato. Haec quippe sunt, a quibus exercendis rarus est, qui se possit excusare; tum quibus maxime declarari foverique soleat caritas Christiana. Dicit autem religionem mundam hanc esse, non quod in his essentialiter virtus religionis consistat; sed quia per haec potissimum sese prodit Doo placita religio. Unde et frequentissimae sunt in Scripturis exhortationes ad haec misericordiae opera. Cajetanus iu commentario post S. Thomam 2. sec. q. 81. art. 1. ad 1. hanc adfert rationem, quia virtus religionis hos actus imperat. Verum haec ratio mihi nimis generalis videtur.
Et immaculatum se custodire ab hoc saeculo. Graece sine conjunctione: In~ contaminatum se ipsum servare a mundo, id est a peccatis, quibus solent homines, saeculo dediti, inficere eos, qui secum versantur. Necesse est enim, eos, qui pupillorum et viduarum curam gerunt, in saeculo versari; quibus proinde difficile est, ait Cajetanus, pupillorum curare bona sine aliqua lucri macula, nec minus difficile; viduas visitare absque macula carnis. Equidem potius arbitror, hanc partem specialiter accipiendam de saecularibus inquinamentis, gulae potissimum ac hixuriae. Cum enim dixisset Apostolus, quid officii religio munda postulet erga proximos, adjunxit et de puritate, quam quisque sibi debet, ut perfectus sit homo Christianus, Deo religionem exhibens, proximo justitiam atque misericordiam, et sibi ipsi temperantiam.
1:1
… B]; Ps. 146:2; Jud. 5:19 [Vulg. 23]; II Macc. 1:27; John 7:35; James 1:1; I Pet. 1:1), and except for the last text cited, which seems to allude to the whole body of Christians (the "new Israel") dispersed among the pagan nations, it indicates, as in …
1:4
CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. - In its ideal content it entails the complete realization of the Christian life as opposed to its beginnings, that is, the fullness of goodness in the supernatural moral order (Phil. 3:15; Col. 3:14; I Cor. 2:6; Jas. 1:4). He is called "perfect" who practices in the most excellent degree possible, according to the measure of the grace communicated to him, that complex of virtues which constitute the …
1:5
… simplicity" on behalf of the poor (2 Cor. 8:1-4); simplicity explains that luminous abundance of good works (Matt. 5:16; Rom. 12:8; 2 Cor. 9:11), which resembles the "shadowless" light of God (James 1:17; 1 John 1:5), who "gives to all simply" (Matt. 5:43-48; James 1:5). Its symbol is the earth without thorns, which represents the soul not obscured by temporal solicitudes (Luke 8:14).
1:6
… the holiest souls have greater efficacy in their "orazioni" on behalf of their neighbor (Prümmer, Theol. mor., I, n. 340). In order for them to be salutary they require the help of Grace and must proceed from Faith and theological Hope (Rom. 10, 14; Iac. 1, 6). The Holy Spirit helps souls to pray, especially in cases of graces particularly necessary for the fulfillment of God's hidden designs for the government of souls and of the world …
1:9
… profane texts, can indicate: a) a brother in the true and proper sense (Gen. 4, 8; Mt. 4, 21; 17, 1, etc.); b) a blood relative of any degree (Gen. 13, 18; 28, 2; I Par. 23, 21); c) a neighbor (Deut. 15, 3; Ios. 22, 2; Iudc. 1, 3; Ier. 7, 15; Rom. 9, 3; Iac. 1, 9; Plato, Men., 8, 239; Xenophon, Anab., 7, 2, 25, 38). Therefore the question arises: in what sense do the Evangelists use the word "brothers" when they speak of the brothers of Jesus? …
1:12
… In the New Testament similar beatitudes occur: Mt. 11:6; 13:16; 16:17; 24:46; Lk. 11:28; 12:37 f., 43; 14:15; Jn. 20:29; Jas. 1:12; 1 Pet. 3:14; 4:14; Rev. 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14. To this day the Christians of the East call the beatitudes "macarisms." The Arabic Diatessaron interprets the initial …
1:13
God, the supreme good, cannot solicit us to evil: "when one is tempted, let him not say: it is God who tempts me, for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one" (James 1:13), but, in his infinite wisdom, he permits it, giving Grace to overcome it (I Cor. 10:13). True causes, which often act together, making the temptation more effective, are: the devil, …
1:16
… man (Rom. 6:6); the very life of Jesus engraved in our mortal flesh (II Cor. 4:10-11). It is opposed to the natural life as light to darkness (Eph. 5:8-9), as a living stone to a dead stone (I Pt. 2:4-5); it is a life blossomed from the word of truth (Jas. 1:16-18), which is identified with the truth (I Jn. 3:19). All this entails in the soul a new entitative form, a radical habit, that is, sanctifying Grace (v.) which pervades the very being …
1:17
… In Jas. 1, 17 there is talk of God, Father of the stars, in whom "there is no mutation nor shadow of movement", and St. Paul (1 Tim. 1, 17) sings hymns to the "immortal King of the ages, invisible, only God".
… St. James knows that "every good endowment and every perfect gift comes from above and descends from the Father of lights" (Jas. 1:17); but he inculcates good works and emphasizes their value: "what would it profit, my brethren, if one should say he has faith while he has not works? can faith save him?" (ibid. 14). …
… whose "extreme poverty overflowed in the riches of their simplicity" on behalf of the poor (2 Cor. 8:1-4); simplicity explains that luminous abundance of good works (Matt. 5:16; Rom. 12:8; 2 Cor. 9:11), which resembles the "shadowless" light of God (James 1:17; 1 John 1:5), who "gives to all simply" (Matt. 5:43-48; James 1:5). Its symbol is the earth without thorns, which represents the soul not obscured by temporal solicitudes (Luke 8:14).
1:18
In a figurative sense, Israel is called "first fruits of Jahweh" (Jer. 2:3). In the New Testament, the first converts are called first fruits (Rom. 16:5; I Cor. 16:15; Jas. 1:18); the virgins who follow the lamb (Rev. 14:4). Christ himself is "first fruits of those who sleep" (I Cor. 15:20, 23). Christians possess "the first fruits of the Spirit" (Rom. 8:23), …
1:26
… requires not only that guilty or dangerous glances be avoided, but in general that they be kept composed and that the curiosity to see be mortified; as for hearing and speech, that nothing harmful or useless be listened to or said (cf. I Cor. 15, 33; Iac. 1, 26). d) M. in adornment (m. ornatus, cultus, apparatus exterioris), which moderates the use of clothing, furnishings, dwelling, banquets and the like, according to the requirements …
1:27
… effective side of operative charity St. James also insists, for whom the religion beautiful in the eyes of God consists not only in keeping oneself free from the contamination of the world, but in visiting orphans and assisting widows in their needs (Jas. 1:27). The principles of the Redeemer, faithfully guarded by the Apostles, soon passed into the practice of the daily life of the primitive Christian community, whether in Jerusalem or …
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.