Against respect of persons. The danger of transgressing one point of the law. Faith is dead without works.
Against acception of person. 10 From al and euery sinne vve must absteine, hauing in al our vvordes and deedes, the Iudgement before our eies: vvherein vvorkes of mercie shal be required of vs, 14 and onely faith shal not auaile vs. 18 And that the Catholike by his vvorkes shevveth that he hath faith: vvhereas the Heretikes hath no more faith than the Diuel, talke he of faith neuer so much, and of iustification thereby onely, by the example of Abraham Ro. 4. Abraham in deede vvas iustified by vvorkes also, 25 and likevvise Rahab.
1My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory, with respect of persons.Fratelli miei, non vogliate tenere la fede del glorioso Signor nostro Gesù Cristo, e insieme l'accettazione delle persone.MY brethren, Haue not the faith of our Lord IESVS Christ of glorie in acception of persons.Fratres mei, nolite in personarum acceptione habere fidem Domini nostri Jesu Christi gloriæ. 2For if there shall come into your assembly a man having a golden ring, in fine apparel; and there shall come in also a poor man in mean attire:Imperocché se entrerà nella vostra adunanza un uomo, che ha l'anello d'oro, vestito splendidamente, ed entrerà anche un povero in sordida veste,For if there shal enter into your assemblie a man hauing a golden ring in goodly appareil, and there shal enter in a poore man in homely attire,Etenim si introierit in conventum vestrum vir aureum annulum habens in veste candida, introierit autem et pauper in sordido habitu, 3And you have respect to him that is clothed with the fine apparel and shall say to him: Sit thou here well: but say to the poor man: Stand thou there, or: Sit under my footstool:E vi rivolgerete a colui, che è vestito splendidamente, e gli direte: siedi tu qui con tuo comodo: al povero poi direte: tu sta' ritto costì; ovvero, siedi sotto la panchetta de' miei piedi:& you haue respect to him that is clothed vvith the goodly apparell, and shal say to him, Sitte thou here vvel: but say to the poore man, Stand thou there: or sitte vnder my foote-stoole:et intendatis in eum qui indutus est veste præclara, et dixeritis ei: Tu sede hic bene: pauperi autem dicatis: Tu sta illic; aut sede sub scabello pedum meorum: 4Do you not judge within yourselves, and are become judges of unjust thoughts?E non venite voi a far distinzione dentro voi stessi, e diventate giudici di iniquo pensare?do you not iudge vvith your selues, and are become iudges of vniust cogitations?nonne judicatis apud vosmetipsos, et facti estis judices cogitationum iniquarum ? 5Hearken, my dearest brethren: Hath not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him?Sentite, fratelli miei dilettissimi, non ha egli Dio eletti i poveri in questo mondo, ricchi di fede, ed eredi del regno promesso da Dio a color, che lo amano?Heare my deerest brethren: hath not God chosen the poore in this vvorld, riche in faith, and heires of the kingdom vvhich God hath promised to them that loue him?Audite, fratres mei dilectissimi: nonne Deus elegit pauperes in hoc mundo, divites in fide, et hæredes regni, quod repromisit Deus diligentibus se ? 6But you have dishonoured the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you by might? And do not they draw you before the judgment seats?Ma voi avete disonorato il povero. Non son eglino i ricchi, che vi opprimono con prepotenza, ed essi vi strascinano ai tribunali?But you haue dishonoured the poore mā. Do not the riche oppresse you by might: and them selues dravv you to iudgements?vos autem exhonorastis pauperem. Nonne divites per potentiam opprimunt vos, et ipsi trahunt vos ad judicia ?
7Do not they blaspheme the good name that is invoked upon you?Non son essi que', che bestemmiano il bel nome, con cui voi siete stati appellati?Doe not they blaspheme the good name that is inuocated vpon you?nonne ipsi blasphemant bonum nomen, quod invocatum est super vos ? 8If then you fulfil the royal law, according to the scriptures: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; you do well.Se però osservate la legge regia secondo le scritture: amerai il prossimo tuo, come te stesso: ben fate voi:If not-vvithstanding you fulfil the roial lavv according to the scriptures, Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy self, you doe vvel:Si tamen legem perficitis regalem secundum Scripturas: Diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum: bene facitis: 9But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin, being reproved by the law as transgressors.Se poi siete accettatori di persone, fate peccato, e siete redarguiti dalla legge come trasgressori.but if you accept persons, you vvorke sinne, reproued of the Lavv as transgressours.si autem personas accipitis, peccatum operamini, redarguti a lege quasi transgressores. 10And whosoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, is become guilty of all.Or chiunque avrà osservata tutta la legge, ma avrà inciampato in una sol cosa, è diventato reo di tutto.And vvhosoeuer shal keepe the vvhole Lavv, but offendeth in one: is made guilty of al.Quicumque autem totam legem servaverit, offendat autem in uno, factus est omnium reus. 11For he that said: Thou shalt not commit adultery, said also: Thou shalt not kill. Now if thou do not commit adultery, but shalt kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.Imperocché chi disse, non fornicare, disse ancora, non ammazzare. Che se non fornicherai, ma ammazzerai, tu se' trasgressor della legge.For he that said, Thou shalt not commit aduoutrie, said also, Thou shalt not kil. And if thou doe not commit aduoutrie, but shalt kil: thou art made a transgressour of the Lavv.Qui enim dixit: Non mœchaberis, dixit et: Non occides. Quod si non mœchaberis, occides autem, factus es transgressor legis. 12So speak ye and so do, as being to be judged by the law of liberty.Così parlate, e così operate, come stando per essere giudicati secondo la legge di libertà.So speake ye, and so doe, as beginning to be iudged by the lavv of libertie.Sic loquimini, et sic facite sicut per legem libertatis incipientes judicari. 13For judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy. And mercy exalteth itself above judgment.Imperocché giudizio senza misericordia per colui, che non ha usata misericordia: ma la misericordia trionfa del giudizio.For iudgement vvithout mercie to him that hath not done mercie. And mercie exalteth it self aboue iudgement.Judicium enim sine misericordia illi qui non fecit misericordiam: superexaltat autem misericordia judicium.
14What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him?Che pro, fratelli miei, se uno dica di aver la fede, e non abbia le opere? Potrà forse salvarlo la fede?Vvhat shal it profit my brethren, if a man say he hath faith: but hath not vvorkes? Shal faith be able to saue him?Quid proderit, fratres mei, si fidem quis dicat se habere, opera autem non habeat ? numquid poterit fides salvare eum ? 15And if a brother or sister be naked and want daily food:Che se il fratello, e la sorella sono ignudi, e bisognosi del vitto quotidiano,And if a brother or sister be naked, & lacke daily foode:Si autem frater et soror nudi sint, et indigeant victu quotidiano, 16And one of you say to them: Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; yet give them not those things that are necessary for the body, what shall it profit?E uno di voi dica loro: andate in pace, riscaldatevi, e satollatevi: ne diate loro le cose necessario al corpo, che gioverà?and one of you say to them, Goe in peace, be vvarmed & filled: but you giue them not the things that are necessarie for the bodie: vvhat shal it profit?dicat autem aliquis ex vobis illis: Ite in pace, calefacimini et saturamini: non dederitis autem eis quæ necessaria sunt corpori, quid proderit ? 17So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself.Così la fede, se non ha le opere, in se medesima è morta.So faith also, if it haue not vvorkes, is dead in it self.Sic et fides, si non habeat opera, mortua est in semetipsa. 18But some man will say: Thou hast faith, and I have works. Shew me thy faith without works; and I will shew thee, by works, my faith.Anzi qualcheduno dirà: tu hai la fede, ed io ho le opere. Mostrami la tua fede senza le opere, ed io ti farò vedere colle opere la mia fede.But some man saith, Thou hast faith, and I haue vvorkes: shevv me thy faith vvithout vvorkes: & I vvil shevv thee by vvorkes my faith.Sed dicet quis: Tu fidem habes, et ego opera habeo: ostende mihi fidem tuam sine operibus: et ego ostendam tibi ex operibus fidem meam. 19Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble.Tu credi, che Dio è uno: ben fai: anche i demonj lo credono, e tremano.Thou beleeuest that there is one God. Thou doest vvel: the deuils also beleeue and tremble.Tu credis quoniam unus est Deus: bene facis: et dæmones credunt, et contremiscunt. 20But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?Ma vuoi tu conoscere, o uomo vano, come la fede senza opere è morta?But vvilt thou knovv ô vaine man, that faith vvithout vvorkes is idle'?Vis autem scire, o homo inanis, quoniam fides sine operibus mortua est ?
21Was not Abraham our father justified by works, offering up Isaac his son upon the altar?Abramo padre nostro non fu egli giustificato per via delle opere, avendo offerto sull'altare Isacco suo figlio?Abraham our father vvas he not iustified by vvorkes, offering Isaac his sonne vpon the altar?Abraham pater noster nonne ex operibus justificatus est, offerens Isaac filium suum super altare ? 22Seest thou that faith did cooperate with his works and by works faith was made perfect?Tu vedi, come la fede cooperava alle opere di lui: e per mezzo delle opere fu consumata la fede.Seest thou that faith did vvorke vvith his vvorkes: and by the vvorkes the faith vvas consummate?Vides quoniam fides cooperabatur operibus illius: et ex operibus fides consummata est ? 23And the scripture was fulfilled, saying: Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him to justice, and he was called the friend of God.E si adempì la scrittura, che dice: Abramo credette a Dio, e fugli imputato a giustizia, e fu chiamato amico di Dio.And the Scripture vvas fulfilled, saying, Abraham beleeued God, and it vvas reputed him to iustice, and he vvas called the freende of God.Et suppleta est Scriptura, dicens: Credidit Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam, et amicus Dei appellatus est. 24Do you see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only?Vedete voi come per le opere è giustificato l'uomo, e non per la fede solamente?Do you see that by vvorkes a man is iustified: & not by faith only?Videtis quoniam ex operibus justificatur homo, et non ex fide tantum ? 25And in like manner also Rahab the harlot, was not she justified by works, receiving the messengers and sending them out another way?Nella stessa guisa anche Rahab meretrice non fu ella giustificata per le opere, avendo accolti gl' inviati, e rimandatigli per altra strada?And in like maner also Rahab the harlot, vvas not she iustified by vvorkes, receiuing the messengers, and putting them forth an other vvay?Similiter et Rahab meretrix, nonne ex operibus justificata est, suscipiens nuntios, et alia via ejiciens ? 26For even as the body without the spirit is dead: so also faith without works is dead.Imperocché siccome il corpo senza lo spirito è morto, così anche la fede senza le opere è morta.For euen as the bodie vvithout the spirit is dead: so also faith vvithout vvorkes is dead.Sicut enim corpus sine spiritu mortuum est, ita et fides sine operibus mortua est.
2:1
Witham
With respect of persons. This partial respect of persons is several times condemned both in the Old and New Testament. St. James here speaks of it as it was committed in the assemblies, by which many understand the meetings of Christians, in[Ver. 2. In conventum vestrum, eis ten sunagogen umon. Synagogue is also taken for a meeting of kings, judges, etc. See Matthew 10:17.] synagogues and places where they celebrated the divine service, or met to keep the charitable feast, called Agape. Others expound it of meetings where causes were judged. If it be meant of Church meetings, the apostle might have even greater reason to condemn such a partiality at that time than at present; for when the poorer sort of people, of which was the greatest number of converts, saw themselves so neglected and despised, and any rich man when he came thither so caressed and honoured, this might prove a discouragement to the meaner sort of people, and an obstacle to their conversion. But if we expound it of meetings where causes were judged betwixt the rich and others of a lower condition, (which exposition the text seems to favour) the fault might be still greater, when the judges gave sentence in favour of great and rich men, biassed thereunto by the unjust regard they had for men rich and powerful. This was a transgression of the law: (Leviticus 19:15.) Respect not the person of the poor, nor honour the countenance of the mighty. But judge thy neighbour according to justice. See also Deuteronomy 1:17. (Witham)
Challoner
Respect, etc. The meaning is, that in matters relating to faith, the administering of the sacraments and other spiritual functions in God's Church, there should be no respect of persons: but that the souls of the poor should be as much regarded as those of the rich. ([Deuteronomy?] James 1:17) (Challoner)
2:4
Witham
Are become judges of (or with ) unjust thoughts,[Ver. 4. Judices cogitationum iniquarum: it is the same in the Greek, kritai dialogismon poneron: the sense is, Judices inique cogitantes.] when against justice you favour the rich. Or, if in Church assemblies you discover a wrong and partial judgment in your minds and thoughts, by the high value and esteem you shew to the rich on account of their riches, and the contempt you have of poverty and of the poor, when they are perhaps more deserving in the sight of God, who hath chosen them who are rich in faith, whom he hath made his adoptive children, and heirs of his kingdom. These are much the greater riches: this is a dignity far surpassing that of the greatest king or emperor. And you have less reason to shew such distinguishing marks of honour and esteem for the rich of this world, since it is they who by might and violence oppress you, draw you to judgment-seats: and they are less worthy of your honour and esteem, when by their scandalous behaviour they blaspheme, or cause to be blasphemed and ill-spoken of, the good and holy name of God, which is invoked upon you. (Witham)
2:8
Witham
If then you fulfil the royal law,...thou shalt love, etc. you do well. By these words, the apostle explains what he had said before of the particular respect paid to rich and powerful men, that if these were no more than some exterior marks paid them without any injustice or interior contempt of such as were poor, so that they took care to comply with that royal precept given to every one by Almighty God, the King of kings, thou shalt love thy neighbour, that is, every one without exception, as thyself; in this you do well; and the respect of persons was less blameable. (Witham)
2:10
Witham
Is become guilty of all. It is certain these words are not to be taken merely according to the letter, nor in the sense which at first they seem to represent, as if a man by transgressing one precept of the law transgressed and broke all the rest: this appears by the very next verse, that a man may commit murder by killing another, and not commit adultery. And it is certain, as St. Augustine observes, that all sins are not equal, as the Stoic philosophers pretended. See St. Augustine, Epist. clxvii, (nov. ed. tom. 2, p. 595) where he consults St. Jerome on this very place out of St. James, and tells us that such a man may be said to be guilty of all, because by one deadly sin he acts against charity,[Ver. 10-11. St. Augustine, Ep. lxvii. num. 16. p. 600. An fortè quia plenitudo legis charitas est, qua Deus, proximusque diligitur, in quibus praeceptis charitatis tota lex pendet et prophetae, meritò fit reus omnium, qui contra illam facit ex qua pendent omnia.] (which is the love of God and of our neighbour) upon which depends the whole law and all its precepts; so that by breaking one precept, he loseth the habit of charity, and maketh the keeping, or not breaking of all the rest, unprofitable to him. Secondly, it may be added, that all the precepts of the law are to be considered as one total and entire law, and as it were a chain of precepts, where by breaking one link of this chain the whole chain is broken, or the integrity of the law, consisting of a collection of precepts. Thirdly, it may be said, that he who breaks any one precept, contemns the authority of the lawgiver, who enjoined them all, and under pain of being for ever excluded from his sight and enjoyment. A sinner, therefore, by a grievous offence against any one precept, forfeits his heavenly inheritance, becomes liable to eternal punishments, as if he had transgressed all the rest: not but that the punishments in hell shall be greater against those who have been greater sinners, as greater shall be the reward in heaven for those who have lived with greater sanctity and perfection. (Witham)
Challoner
Guilty, etc. That is, he becomes a transgressor of the law in such a manner, that the observing of all other points will not avail him to salvation; for he despises the lawgiver, and breaks through the great and general commandment of charity, even by one mortal sin. (Challoner)
2:12
Witham
By the law of liberty; that is by the new law and doctrine of Christ. (Witham)
2:13
For judgment without mercy, etc. It is an admonition to them to fulfil, as he said before, the royal precepts of the love of God and of our neighbour, which cannot be without being merciful to others. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. (Matthew 5:7.)
Witham
And mercy exalteth itself above judgment. Some understand this as a confirmation of God's infinite mercies, out of Psalm 144:9. where it is said that his "mercies are over all his works;" that is, though all his perfections be equally infinite, yet he is pleased to deal with sinners rather according to the multitude of his mercies than according to the rigour of his justice. Others expound these words of the mercy which men shew to one another, and that he exhorts them to mercy, as a most powerful means to find mercy; and the merciful works done to others will be beneficial to them, and make them escape when they come to judgment. (Witham)
Calmet
Similar to this are the words of old Tobias to his son: "Alms deliver from all sin, and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness. Alms shall be a great confidence before the most high God, to all them that give it." (Tobias 4:11, 12.) "Blessed are the merciful," says our divine Judge, "for they shall obtain mercy." (Matthew 5:7.) (Calmet)
And the definitive sentence of Christians, at the day of judgment will be favourable or not, as they have complied in life with the calls of charity. [Matthew 25:31-46.]
2:14
Witham
etc. Shall faith be able to save him? He now comes to one of the chief points of this epistle, to shew against the disciple of Simon , the magician, that faith alone will not save any one. We may take notice in the first place, that St. James in this very verse, supposes that a man may have faith, a true faith without good works. This also follows from ver. 19., where he says: Thou believest that there is one God: thou dost well. And the same is evident by the words in John 12:42., where it is said, that many of the chief men also believed in him, (Christ)....but did not confess it, that they might not be cast out of the synagogue. Now that faith alone is not sufficient to save a man, St. James declares by this example: If any one say to the poor and naked, go in peace, be you warmed and filled, and give them nothing, what shall it profit? Even so faith, if it have not works is dead, etc. that is such a faith, though it be not lost and destroyed, yet it remains in a soul that is spiritually dead, when it is not accompanied with charity and grace, which is the life of the soul, and without which faith can never bring us to eternal life. In this sense is to be understood the 20th and 26th verses of this chapter, when faith is again said to be dead without good works. This is also the doctrine of St. Paul, when he tells us that a saving faith is a faith that worketh by charity, Galatians 5:6. When he says, that although faith were strong enough to remove mountains, a man is nothing without charity. (1 Corinthians 13:2.) When he teacheth us again, that not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. [Romans 2:13.] St. John teacheth the same (1 John 3:14.) He that loveth not, remaineth in death. But of this elsewhere. (Witham)
Grotius in this place makes a very candid and remarkable profession of his faith, very different from that of his associates in the pretended reformation, called Solifideans [who pretend one is justified by faith alone]: "There are some who say, 'My works indeed are not as they ought to be,' but my faith is firm, my salvation is therefore out of danger. This opinion, which has sprung up in this our unhappy age, and recommends itself under the name of reformed doctrine, ought to be opposed by every lover of piety, and all who wish well to their neighbour's salvation....no faith has ever availed any man, unless it were accompanied by such works as he had time and opportunity to perform." His words are: "Opera quidem mea non recta sunt, sed fides recta est, ac propterea de salute non periclitor....Renata est hoc infelici saeculo ea sententia et quidem sub nomine repurgatae doctrinae, cui omnes qui pietatem et salutem proximi amant, se debent opponere....coeterum nulla cuiquam fides profuit, sine tali opere, quale tempus permittebat," etc. In vain do we glory in our faith, unless our lives and works bear testimony of the same. Faith without charity is dead, and charity cannot exist without good works. He who bears the fruits of Christian piety, shews that he has the root, which is faith; but the root is dead, when it affords no produce. Works are to faith what the soul is to the body. See the remainder of this chapter.
2:18
Witham
Some men will say: Thou hast faith, and I have works. Shew me thy faith, etc. He confutes the same error, by putting them in mind that one can shew that he has faith, which is an interior virtue, only by good works, and that good works in a man shew also his faith; which is not to be understood, as if good works were merely the marks, signs, and effects of faith, as some would pretend, but that good works must concur with faith to a man's salvation by an increase in grace. (Witham)
2:19
Witham
The devils also believe, and tremble. St. James compares indeed faith without other virtues and good works, to the faith of devils: but comparisons must never be stretched farther than they are intended. The meaning is, that such a faith in sinners is unprofitable to salvation, like that of devils, which is no more than a conviction from their knowledge of God; but faith which remains in sinners, is from a supernatural knowledge, together with a pious motion in their free will. (Witham)
2:21
Witham
Was not Abraham....justified by works? We may observe, that St. James here brings the very same examples of Abraham and Rahab, which it is likely he knew some had miscontrued in St. Paul, as if the great apostle of the Gentiles had taught that faith alone was sufficient to salvation. But St. Paul neither excludes good works done by faith, when he commends faith, excluding only the works of the law of Moses, as insufficient to a true justification. See Romans 3:27. And St. James by requiring good works does not exclude faith, but only teacheth that faith alone is not enough. This is what he clearly expresseth here in the 22nd and in the 24th verse. Man, says he, is justified, and not by faith only. And (ver. 22.) seest thou that faith did co-operate with Abraham's works, and by works faith was made perfect. In fine, we must take notice, that when St. James here brings the example of Abraham offering his son Isaac, to shew that he was justified by works, his meaning is not that Abraham then began first to be justified, but that he then received an increase of his justice. He was justified at least from his first being called, and began then to believe and to do good works. It is true his faith was made perfect, and his justice increased, when he was willing to sacrifice his son. (Witham)
2:1
With respect of persons.... The meaning is, that in matters relating to faith, the administering of the sacraments, and other spiritual functions in God’s church, there should be no respect of persons; but that the souls of the poor should be as much regarded as those of the rich. See Deut. 1.17.
2:10
Guilty of all; ... That is, he becomes a transgressor of the law in such a manner, that the observing of all other points will not avail him to salvation; for he despises the lawgiver, and breaks through the great and general commandment of charity, even by one mortal sin. For all the precepts of the law are to be considered as one total and entire law, and as it were a chain of precepts, where, by breaking one link of this chain, the whole chain is broken, or the integrity of the law consisting of a collection of precepts. A sinner, therefore, by a grievous offence against any one precept, incurs eternal punishment; yet the punishment in hell shall be greater for those who have been greater sinners, as a greater reward shall be for those in heaven who have lived with greater sanctity and perfection.
2:1
1. In acception of persons.] Scripture abused by the Anabaptistes to make no distinction of persons. The Apostle meaneth not, as the Anabaptists and other seditious persons sometime gather hereof, that there should be no difference in Commonvveales or assemblies, betvvixt the Magistrate and the subiect, the free man and the bond, the riche and the poore, betvvixt one degree and an other. for, God and nature, and the necessitie of man, haue made such distinctions, and men are bound to obserue then. But it is meant onely, or specially, that in spiritual giftes and graces, in matters of faith, Sacraments, and saluation, and bestovving the spiritual functions and charge of foule, vve must esteeme of a poore man or a bond man, no lesse then of the rich man and the free, Vvhat the Apostle meaneth by acception of persons. then of the Prince or the Gentleman: because as Christ him self calleth all, and endueth al sorts vvith his graces: so in such and the like things vve must not be partial, but count al to be fellovves, brethren, and members of one head. And therfore the Apostle saith vvith a special clause, That vve should not hold or haue the Christian faith vvith or in such differences or partialities.
Concordance Leu. 19, 15. Deu. 1, 16.
Concordance Pro. 24, 23. Eccl. 42, 1.
2:8
Concordance Leu. 19, 18. Mat. 22, 39.
2:9
Concordance Rom. 13.
2:10
10. Is made guilty of al.] He meaneth not, that vvhosoeuer is a theefe, is also a murderer, or that euery murderer is an aduouterer also: How he that offendeth in one commaundement, is guilty of al. or that al sinnes be equal, according to the Stoïkes and the Heresie of Iouinian: much lesse, that he shal haue as great damnation that transgresseth one commaundement, as if he had offended against euery precept. but the sense is, that it shal not auaile him to saluation, that he seemeth to haue kept certaine and not broken al the commaundements: seeing that any one transgression of the Lavv, proueth that he hath not obserued the vvhole, vvhich he vvas bound to do, so far as is required, and as is possible for a man in this life. S. Augustine disputing profoundly in his 29 Epistle to S. Hierom, of this place of S. Iames, expoundeth it thus: that he vvhich offendeth in one, that is, against the general and great commaundement of loue or charitie (because it is in maner al, as being the summe of al, the plentitude of the lavv, and the perfection of the rest) breaketh after a sort and transgresseth al, no sinne being committed but either against the loue of God, or of our neighbour.
Concordance Leu. 19, 37. Deu. 1, 18.
2:13
13. Iudgement vvithout mercie.] Vvorkes of mercie exceding grateful to God. Nothing giueth more hope of mercie in the next life, then the vvorkes of almes, charitie, and mercie, done to our neighbours in this life. Neither shal any be vsed vvith extreme rigour in the next vvorld, but such as vsed not mercie in this vvorld. August. de pec. merit. li. 2. c. 3. Vvhich is true, not onely in respect of the iudgement to euerlasting damnation, but also of the temporal chastisement in Purgatorie, as S. Augustine signifieth, declaring that our venial sinnes be vvashed avvay in this vvorld vvith daily vvorkes of mercie, The proud & impudent dealing of the heretikes against this Epistle; because it is so plaine against only saith. vvhich othervvise should be chastised in the next. See epist. 29. aforesaid in sine. and li. 21 de Ciu. Dei c. 17 in fine.
〈Greek〉
2:14
14. What shal it profite, if a man say he hath faith?] This vvhole passage of the Apostle is so cleere against iustification or saluation by onely faith, damnably defended by the Protestants, and so euident for the necessitie, merite, & concurrence of good vvorkes, that their first author Luther and such as exactly folovv him, boldly (after the maner of Heretikes) vvhen they can make no shift nor false glose for the text, deny the booke to be Canonical Scripture. But Caluin and his companions disagreing vvith their Maisters, confesse it to be holy Scripture. but their shiftes and fond gloses for ansvver of so plaine places, be as impudent as the denying of the Epistle vvas in the other. vvho vvould neuer haue denied the booke, thereby to shevv them selues Heretikes, if they had thought those vulgar euasions that the Zuinglians and Caluinists do vse (vvhereof they vvere not ignorant) could haue serued. In both sortes the Christian Reader may see, that al the Heretikes vaunting of expresse Scriptures & the vvord of God, is no more but to delude the vvorld. vvhereas in deede, be the Scriptures neuer so plaine against them, they must either be vvrested to sound as they say, or els they must be no Scriptures at all. And to see Luther, Caluin, Beza, & their fellovves, sitte as it vvere in iudgement of the Scriptures, to allovv or disallovv at their pleasures, it is the most notorious example of Heretical pride & miserie that can be. See their prefaces and censures vpon this Canonical Epistle, the Apocalypse, the Machabees, and other.
2:15
Concordance Io. 3, 17
2:20
He speaketh to al heretikes that say, faith onely without vvorkes doth iustifie, calling them vaine men, and comparing them to Diuels.
dead
2:21
21. Abraham vvas he not iustified by vvorkes?] Only faith, an old heresie. It is much to be noted that S. Augustine in his booke de fide & operibus c. 14. vvriteth, that the heresie of onely faith iustifying or sauing, vvas an old Heresie euen in the Apostles time, gathered by the false interpretation of some of S. Paules profound disputation in the Epistle to the Romans, S. Iames & the rest inculcate good vvorkes against the errour of only faith falsely gathered of S. Paules vvordes. vvherein he commended so highly the faith in Christ, that they thought good vvorkes vvere not auilable: adding further, that the other three Apostles, Iames, Iohn, and Iude, did of purpose vvrite so much of good vvorkes, to correct the said errour of onely faith, gathered by the misconstruction of S. Paules vvordes. Yea vvhen S. Peter (Ep. 2 c. 3.) vvarneth the faithful that many things be hard in S. Paules vvritings, and of light vnlearned men mistaken to their perdition: Ioco citate. the said S. Augustine affirmeth, that he meant of his disputation concerning faith, vvhich so many Heretikes did mistake to condemne good vvorkes. And in the preface of his commentarie vpon the 31 Psalme, he vvarneth al men, that this deduction vpon S. Paules speache, Abraham vvas iustified by faith, therfore vvorkes be not necessarie to saluation: is the right vvay to the gulfe of Hel and damnation.
And lastly (vvhich is in it self very plaine) that vve may see this Apostle did purposely thus commend vnto vs the necessitie of good vvorkes, S. Augustines vvhole disputation in this poīt very notable, & directly against only faith. and the inanity aud insufficiencie of onely faith, to correct the errour of such as misconstrued S. Paules vvordes for the same Li. 83 q. q. 76. the said holy Doctor noteth that of purpose he tooke the very same example of Abraham, vvhom S. Paul said to be iustified by faith, and declareth that he vvas iustified by good vvorkes, specifying the good vvorke for vvhich he vvas iustified and blessed of God, to vvitte, his obedience and immolation of his onely sonne. But hovv S. Paul saith that Abraham vvas iustified by faith, see the Annotations vpon that place. Ro. 4. v. 1.
Concordance Gen. 22, 10.
2:22
22. Faith did vvorke vvith.] Heresies against good vvorkes. Some Heretikes hold, that good vvorkes are pernicious to saluation and iustification: other, that though they be not hurtful but required, yet they be no causes or vvorkers of saluation, much lesse meritorious, but are as effectes and fruites issuing necessarily out of faith. Both vvhich fictions, falshods, and flightes from the plaine truth of Gods vvord, are refuted by these vvordes, vvhen the Apostle saith, That faith vvorketh together vvith good vvorkes: Workes cōcurre vvith faith as cause of iustification. making faith to be a coadiutor or cooperator vvith vvorkes, and so both ioyntly concurring as causes and vvorkers of iustification: yea aftervvard he maketh vvorkes the more principal cause, vvhen he resembleth faith to the body, and vvorkes to the spirit or life of man.
Concordance Gen. 15, 6. Ro. 4, 3. Gal. 3
2:23
23. The frend of God.] By this also an other false and friuolous euasion of the Heretikes is ouertaken, Workes make vs iust in deede before God. vvhen they feine, that the Apostle here vvhen he saith, vvorkes do iustifie, meaneth that they shew vs iust before men, and auaile not to our iustice before God. For the Apostle euidently declareth that Abraham by his vvorkes vvas made or truely called the freend of God, and therfore vvas not (as the Heretikes say) by his vvorkes approued iust before man onely.
2:24
24. Not by faith onely.] The Protestants say, by faith only: S. Iames cleane contrarie, Not by faith only. This proposition or speache is directly opposite or contradictorie to that vvhich the Heretikes hold. For the Apostle saith, Man is iustified by good workes, and not by faith only. but the Heretikes say, Man is not iustified by good vvorkes, but by faith only. Neither can they pretend that there is the like contradiction or contrarietie betwixt S. Iames speache and S. Paules. for though S. Paul say, man is iustified by faith, yet he neuer saith, by faith onely, nor euer meaneth by that faith vvhich is alone, but alvvaies by that faith vvhich vvorketh by charitie, Gal. •. as he expoundeth him self. Though concerning vvorkes also, there is a difference betwixt the first iustification, vvhereof S. Paul specially speaketh: and the second iustification, vvhereof S. Iames doth more specially treate. Of vvhich thing See the annot. vpon the epistle to the Romans c. 2. v. 13. els vvhere there is ynough said.
The fathers in deede vse sometimes this exclusiue, sola, onely: but in far other sense then the Protestants. For some of them thereby exclude only the vvorkes of Moyses law, against the Iewes: some, the vvorkes of nature and moral vertues vvithout the grace or knowledge of Christ, The manifold meaning of certaine fathers, vvhen they say, Only faith. against the Gentiles: some, the necessitie of external good vvorkes vvhere the parties lacke time and meanes to doe them, as in the case of the penitent theefe: some, the false opinions, sectes, and religions contrarie to the Catholike faith, against Heretikes and miscreants: some exclude reason, sense, and arguing in matters of faith and mysterie, against such as vvil beleeue nothing but that they see or vnderstand: some, the merite of vvorkes done in sinne before the first iustification: some, the arrogant Pharisaical vaunting of mans ovvne proper vvorkes and iustice, against such as referre not their actions and good deedes to Gods grace. To these purposes the holy Doctors say sometimes, that only faith saueth and serueth: but neuer (as the Protestants vvould haue it) to exclude from iustification and saluation, the cooperation of mans free vvil, dispositions and preparations of our hartes by praiers, penance, and sacraments, the vertues of hope and charitie, the purpose of vvel-vvorking and of the obseruation of Gods commaundements: much lesse, the vvorkes and merites of the children of God, proceding of grace and charitie, after they be iustified and are now in his fauour: vvhich are not only dispositions and preparations to iustice, but the meritorious cause of greater iustice, and of saluation.
2:25
25. Rahab.] S. Paul nameth faith, & S. Iames vvorkes, causes of iustification: but neither the one, faith only: nor the other, vvorkes only. This Apostle alleageth the good vvorkes of Rahab by vvhich she vvas iustified, and S. Paul (11 Hebr.) saith she vvas iustified by faith. Vvhich are not contrarie one to the other. for both is true, that she vvas saued by faith, as one faith: and that she vvas saued by her vvorkes, as the other saith. But it vvere vutruely said, that she vvas saued either by onely faith, as the Heretikes say: or by onely good vvorkes, as no Catholike man euer said. But because some Ievves and Gentil Philosophers did affirme: they, that they should be saued by the vvorkes of Moyses lavv: these, by their moral vvorkes: therfore S. Paul to the Romans disputed specially against both, prouing that no vvorkes done vvithout or before the faith of Christ, can serue to iustification or saluation.
Concordance Ios. 2, 1. 18. and 6, 22.
2:26
26. Faith vvithout vvorkes is dead.] Faith vvithout vvorkes is a true saith, but not auailable: as the body vvithout the spirit is a true body, though it be dead. S. Iames (as the Protestants feine) saith that faith vvithout good vvorkes is no faith, and that therfore it iustifieth not, because it is no faith. for he saith that it is dead vvithout vvorkes, as the body is dead vvithout the soule, and therfore being dead hath no actiuity or efficacie to iustifie or saue. But it is a great difference, to say that the body is dead, and to say that is no body. euen so it is the like difference, to say that faith vvithout vvorkes is dead, and to say that faith vvithout vvorkes is no faith. And if a dead body be notvvithstanding a true body, then according to S. Iames comparison here, a dead faith is notvvithstanding a true faith, but yet not auailable to iustification, because it is dead, that is, because it is onely faith vvithout good vvorkes.
And therfore it is a great impudencie in Heretikes, and a hard shift, to say that the faith of vvhich the Apostle disputeth al this vvhile, Vvhat faith the Apostle speaketh of: & that he knevv no special faith. is no true or proprely called faith at all. It is the same faith that S. Paul defined and commended in al the 11 chapter to the Hebrues, and the same vvhich is called the Catholike faith, and the same vvhich being formed & made aliue by charitie, iustifieth. Mary true it is, that it is not that special faith vvhich the Heretikes feine onely to iustifie, to vvit, vvhen a man doth firmely beleeue as an article of his faith, that him self shal be saued. this special faith it is not vvhereof the Apostle here speaketh. for neither he, nor S. Paul, nor any other sacred vvriter in al the holy Scriptures euer speake or knevve of any such forged faith.
2:1
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 167.3
… and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool; are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him? But ye have despised the poor,”
2:5
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints 1.34
… assuredly to that end which has no end. Therefore God elected believers; but He chose them that they might be so, not because they were already so. The Apostle James says: “Has not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love Him?”
2:6
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 42
… is it not from those who are rich? is it not from those who are in enjoyment? Who are they that “drag” men “before the tribunals?” Who, that dissipate properties? Those who are wretched and outcasts, or those who are inflated with consequence, and in enjoyment? It is not possible that any evil can happen from a soul that is afflicted. (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 167.3
… “Do not rich men oppress you by their power, and draw you before the judgment-seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.”
2:7
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Persecution in Egypt 1
… nor would they scruple probably to change again to what they were before, even to become such as they were when they were heathens. Any how, being men of such an easy temper, and considering the Church as a civil senate, and like heathen being idolatrously minded, they put on the honourable name
2:8
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 167.19
19. The law of liberty, therefore, the law of love, is that of which he says: “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 35
The Apostle Peter, likewise, says, “And, above all things, have fervent love among yourselves: for love shall cover the multitude of sins.” The Apostle James also says, “If ye fulfil the royal law, according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.”
2:10
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 69.10
… “He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. If we commit no adultery yet if we kill, we are become transgressors of the law.” “Whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 132
In this letter Augustine deals with the statement of
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.3
… For if any one is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.” It was useless to warn them to add works to faith, if they could not sin after baptism. He tells us that
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.19
C. Pray does not James the Apostle write that he who stumbles in one point is guilty of all?
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
James ii. 10 . To stumble in one point is to be guilty of all.
Sulpicius Severus † AD 420 The Doubtful Letters of Sulpitius Severus 2.7
… For I do not wish you to flatter yourself in this way,—if you have not done certain things, because you have done certain other things, since it is written, “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, has become guilty of all.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 166.0
A Treatise on the Origin of the Human Soul, Addressed to Jerome.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 167.1
… you, to do something which will, I believe, be of great service to many, namely, to explain to me (or to direct me to any work in which you or any other commentator has already expounded) the sense in which we are to understand these words in the Epistle of James, “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 167.10
… For though it is an apostle of Christ who is speaking, he does not say, “ye offend,” but, “we offend;” and although in the passage under consideration he says, “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.3
… “Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given unto you.” For who could quit this life with any hope of obtaining eternal salvation, with that sentence impending: “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all,”
2:11
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 69.10
… Consider how unimpeachable is the character of Carterius in whose life his ill-wishers can find nothing to censure except a marriage contracted before baptism. “He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. If we commit no adultery yet if we kill, we are become transgressors of the law.”
2:12
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.3
… “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all,” if there did not soon after follow: “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty: for he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment?”
2:13
St Hippolytus † AD 235 A discourse by the most blessed Hippolytus, bishop and martyr, on the end of the world, and on Antichrist, and on the second coming of our lord Jesus Christ 47
… I wish to have pity, but I see no oil in your vessels. I desire to have mercy, but ye have passed through life entirely without mercy. I long to have compassion, but your lamps are dark by reason of your hardness of heart. Depart from me. For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy.
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 72.23
23. But some one says, “What, then, shall become of those who in past times, coming from heresy to the Church, were received without baptism?” The Lord is able by His mercy to give indulgence,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Philemon 3
… But if we deprive our neighbors of them, how can we wish to obtain them? “Blessed,” He says, “are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” ( Matt. v. 7 .) For if men show mercy to such, much more will God, but to the unmerciful by no means. “For he shall have judgment without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 9.13
… do Thou also forgive her debts, whatever she contracted during so many years since the water of salvation. Forgive her, O Lord, forgive her, I beseech Thee; “enter not into judgment” with her. Let Thy mercy be exalted above Thy justice,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 167.19
… “He shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 21.22
I have also met with some who are of opinion that such only as neglect to cover their sins with alms-deeds shall be punished in everlasting fire; and they cite the words of the Apostle James, “He shall have judgment without mercy who hath shown no mercy.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 21.27
It remains to reply to those who maintain that those only shall burn in eternal fire who neglect alms-deeds proportioned to their sins, resting this opinion on the words of the Apostle James, “He shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.8
… For I rather believe the Scripture, which says: “Enter not into judgment with Thy servant; for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified.” There is therefore need of the mercy of God, which “exceedingly rejoiceth against judgment,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 59
… He crowns, therefore, with loving-kindness and tender mercy; but even so according to works. For he shall be separated to the right hand, to whom, it is said, “I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat.” There will, however, be also “judgment without mercy;” but it will be for him “that hath not showed mercy.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness 34
… and what the righteous King, when sitting on His throne, shall find concealed in the heart and uncleansed as yet, shall be remitted by His mercy, so that the whole shall be rendered sound and cleansed for seeing God. For “he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy: yet mercy triumpheth against judgment.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness 38
… “Enter not,” says the Psalmist, “into judgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified.” It is judgment which he fears, therefore he desires that mercy which triumphs over judgment.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Work on the Proceedings of Pelagius 10
… “For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace 41
For the Holy Scripture testifies that God’s mercy is then also necessary for them, when the Saint says to his soul concerning the Lord its God, “Who crowneth thee in mercy and compassion.” The Apostle James also says: “He shall have judgment without mercy who hath showed no mercy;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 10.10
… for, “Blessed are the merciful, for to them shall be shown mercy.” But now go away into everlasting fire. “He shall have judgment without mercy, who hath showed no mercy.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 112.4
… be thou sweet, be merciful and lend. For the Lord is just in this manner, that He judgeth without mercy him who hath not shown mercy;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.19
… be not without judgment, whereof the Apostle saith, “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged of the Lord.” …And the final season of judgment shall not be without mercy, since as the Psalm saith, “He crowneth thee with mercy and loving-kindness.” But “judgment shall be without mercy,” but “unto those” on the left, “who have not dealt mercy.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 144.2
… He then “teacheth our hands for battle, and our fingers for war:” to Him rightfully do we say, “My Mercy,” from whom we have also that we are merciful: “for he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 9.22
… For as He does not wish to be found harsh and inexorable towards them, He has marked out the manner of His judgment, that just as we desire to be judged by Him, so we should also judge our brethren, if they have wronged us in anything, for “he shall have judgment without mercy who hath shown no mercy.”
2:14
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 21.26
… and accordingly the well-directed faith by which Christ is their foundation will suffice to deliver them some time from the continuance of that fire, though it be with loss, since those things they have built on it shall be burned. Let the Apostle James summarily reply to them: “If any man say he has faith, and have not works, can faith save him?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Enchiridion 67
… in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love.” But if it worketh evil, and not good, then without doubt, as the Apostle James says, “it is dead, being alone.” The same apostle says again, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Continence 30
… the Apostle James with most clear speech crying out against that notion, and saying, “If any say that he have faith, and have not works, shall his faith be able to save him?”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 15.3
… “the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” Let us go therefore to the tombs, and let us invoke the name of the Lord over the first dead man we find, and let us, as it is written, “show our faith by our works,”
2:17
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 40
… but to those who suffer from blindness of their ruling faculty, darkness, that is estrangement from God, proportionate to their blindness here. Then, in the tenth place, work that which is good upon this foundation of dogma; for faith without works is dead,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 48.6
… For ‘God hath called us in peace.’ ‘Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the commandments of God.’ Neither celibacy nor wedlock is of the slightest use without works, since even faith, the distinguishing mark of Christians, if it have not works, is said to be dead,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 19.27
… Witness the prayer of the whole city of God in its pilgrim state, for it cries to God by the mouth of all its members, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” And this prayer is efficacious not for those whose faith is “without works and dead,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Enchiridion 67
… “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love.” But if it worketh evil, and not good, then without doubt, as the Apostle James says, “it is dead, being alone.”
2:18
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 5.6
… And this is not my word. It is the declaration of Christ speaking to Martha, “He that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live.” Is our doctrine, indeed, a fable? If thou art a Christian, believe in Christ; if thou believest in Christ, shew me thy faith by thy works.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 72
… To follow wisdom in talk is easy, many among themselves have done this; but they require the proof by works. “Then let them look to the ancients of our profession.” But about them they by no means believe; they enquire concerning those now living. For, “show me,” it saith, “thy faith by thy works” (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 9.110
If good life is wanting, faith has no merit, as the blessed James attests, who says, Faith without works is dead (
2:19
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.86
86. Yea, even now, when Christ is invoked, the devils tremble,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 15.18
… And therefore also the Apostle Paul says, “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by love:” so distinguishing it from that faith by which even “the devils believe and tremble.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Enchiridion 8
… But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” When, then, we believe that good is about to come, this is nothing else but to hope for it. Now what shall I say of love? Without it, faith profits nothing; and in its absence, hope cannot exist. The Apostle James says: “The devils also believe, and tremble.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 18
… Impossible is it that such a character should be deemed “a vessel of election” by the apostle, who, after declaring that “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,” adds at once, “but faith which worketh by love.” It is such faith which severs God’s faithful from unclean demons,—for even these “believe and tremble,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 3.10
… “Thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 21.16
16. So again when we hear, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;” we do not of course understand it of one who believes in such a way “as the devils believe and tremble;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 40.8
… but what kind of faith this is, the Apostle distinguishes. For certain who boasted of faith, and had not a good conversation, the Apostle James rebukes and says, “Thou believest there is one God, thou doest well; the devils also believe and tremble.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 45.7
… Baptism is a gift of God, the good and bad have it. The Sacraments of the Altar the good and bad receive together. Saul prophesied for all his wickedness, and in his rage against a holy and most righteous man, even while he was persecuting him, he prophesied. Are the good only said to believe? “The devils also believe and tremble.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 6.21
… Thou sayest the truth; the sacrament is divine; thou hast baptism, and that I confess. But what says the apostle? “If I should know all mysteries, and have prophecy and all faith, so that I could remove mountains;” in case thou shouldest say this, “I believe; enough for me.” But what says James? “The devils believe and tremble.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 22
… What think we, my brethren? Are there no dead in this crowd that hear me? They who believe and act according to the true faith do live, and are not dead. But they who either do not believe, or believe as the devils believe, trembling,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 83.3
… who is there that could collect them together, or suffice to number them? But let us ponder the words of the same apostle: “Love is the fullness of the law.” And so, where there is love, what can be wanting? and where it is not, what is there that can possibly be profitable? The devil believes,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 10.1
… A Physician, He came to the sick: a Way, He extended Himself to them that were in a far country. Let us be saved by Him, let us walk in Him. This it is to “believe that Jesus is the Christ,” as Christians believe, who are not Christians only in name, but in deeds and in life, not as the devils believe. For “the devils also believe and tremble,”
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Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 7.15
… since it is written, They acknowledge that they know God , but in deeds they deny Him ( Tit. i. 16 ). And John says, He that saith that he knows Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar ( 1 John ii. 4 ). James also, the brother of the Lord , writes saying, Faith without works is dead (
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Pope St Clement I † AD 99 The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 31
Let us cleave then to His blessing, and consider what are the means of possessing it. Let us think over the things which have taken place from the beginning. For what reason was our father Abraham blessed? was it not because he wrought righteousness and truth through faith?
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 5.5
5. There is much to tell of faith, and the whole day would not be time sufficient for us to describe it fully. At present let us be content with Abraham only, as one of the examples from the Old Testament, seeing that we have been made his sons through faith. He was justified not only by works, but also by faith
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Pope St Clement I † AD 99 The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 10
… so shall thy seed be. And Abram believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” On account of his faith and hospitality, a son was given him in his old age; and in the exercise of obedience, he offered him as a sacrifice to God on one of the mountains which He showed him.
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Magnesians: Shorter and Longer Versions 10
… For where there is Christianity there cannot be Judaism. For Christ is one, in whom every nation that believes, and every tongue that confesses, is gathered unto God. And those that were of a stony heart have become the children of Abraham, the friend of God;
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.13.4
… But when He terms His disciples “the friends of God,” He plainly declares Himself to be the Word of God, whom Abraham also followed voluntarily and under no compulsion ( sine vinculis ), because of the noble nature of his faith, and so became “the friend of God.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.16.2
2. And that man was not justified by these things, but that they were given as a sign to the people, this fact shows,— that Abraham himself, without circumcision and without observance of Sabbaths, “believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 5.5
… At present let us be content with Abraham only, as one of the examples from the Old Testament, seeing that we have been made his sons through faith. He was justified not only by works, but also by faith : for though he did many things well, yet he was never called the friend of God
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 30
… For she had three hundred and eighteen homeborn servants, at a time when to have two servants even was to be wealthy. And why do I mention the three hundred and eighteen servants? She had become possessed of the whole world in her seed and in the promises, she had the “friend of God” ( Is. xli. 8 ;
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 122.1
… so-called because the little faith that Lot possessed, though unable to save greater places, was at least able to preserve smaller ones. For one who had gone so far astray as to live in Gomorrah could not all at once reach the noonland where Abraham, the friend of God,
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 22.38
All such efforts are only of use when they are made within the church’s pale; we must celebrate the passover in the one house, we must enter the ark with Noah, we must take refuge from the fall of Jericho with the justified harlot, Rahab.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Philemon 2
… “That the communication of thy faith,” he says, “may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus”; that is, that thou mayest attain all virtue, that nothing may be deficient. For so faith becomes effectual, when it is accompanied with works. For “without works faith is dead.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.2
… “He who saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” Christ is called the truth: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” In vain do we make our boast in him whose commandments we keep not. To him that knoweth what is good, and doeth it not, it is sin.
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 10
… so shall it come to pass that the face of God shall not be turned from thee .” This virtue makes all virtues profitable; for by its presence it gives life to that very faith, by which “the just lives ,” and which is said to be “dead without works
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.9
It behoves us, then, with all our strength to steadfastly keep ourselves pure from filthy works, that we may not, like the dog returning to his vomit , make ourselves again the slaves of sin. For faith apart from works is dead, and so likewise are works apart from faith
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1. My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect of persons (that is, with: yet it can also be taken properly, as I shall say below) — "Respect of persons" is a vice opposed to distributive justice, by which someone in distributing offices, dignities, benefits, gifts, places, etc., does not regard merit, nor dignity, but a quality of the person not pertaining to the matter, so as to give better and greater things to relatives, friends, the rich, the noble, and worse and lesser things to strangers, enemies, the poor, the ignoble. Sometimes also it is opposed to commutative justice, as when a judge awards a suit to a friend, which by justice ought to have been awarded to an enemy; and then it induces an obligation of restitution. St. Augustine, in epistle 28, refers this saying of James to those who promote relatives, friends, or the rich to the Episcopate and other Orders and benefices, passing over strangers and the poor, although they are more worthy: to whom therefore injury is done, equally as to the Church, which by right expected greater honor and greater assistance from the more worthy. Wherefore this is a mortal sin, as our Lessius teaches in De Iustitia et iure, cap. XXXII, dub. 1, and Benedict Justinian here, and others; whence it is gravely forbidden by the Council of Trent sess. XXIV, cap. 1, De reformat. But the saying of St. James is general and strikes all who in any way prefer the rich to the poor, by this sole reason that they are rich, whether this be done by giving them a more honorable place in the temple, at table, in public assembly; or in judgments by favoring friends more than strangers; or in taxes and other burdens, by burdening the poor more than the rich; or in distributing offices and benefits, by giving them to relatives although unworthy, etc. But St. James especially looks here at the honor which many paid to the rich, neglecting or despising the poor in common, as he himself says in verse 2, assemblies and banquets, especially sacred ones, namely in the agape, in which the rich after the Eucharist feasted splendidly among themselves, not waiting for or excluding the poor. Whence St. Paul likewise censures this vice of theirs, I Corinthians XI, 21, saying: "Every one therefore first taketh his own supper to eat. And one indeed is hungry, and another is drunk": see what is said there. For this is what verse 3 adds, that James says they said to the rich: "Sit thou here well"; but to the poor: "Stand thou there, or sit under my footstool." A memorable example was that of St. Martin, who, as Severus Sulpitius relates, lib. I Dialog. cap. XXIII, being invited to a banquet by Maximus, a fierce tyrant and insolent in his victories, when the minister offered a cup to the king, he ordered it to be given to St. Martin, expecting and hoping that he would receive it from his right hand; but the holy man, when he had drunk, handed the cup likewise to his presbyter, who was also poor, considering no one more worthy to drink after him: nor did he think it right for himself, if he had preferred either the king himself, or those who were nearest to the king, to the presbyter. This deed the king and all who were present so admired, that they were pleased by this very thing in which they had been despised, and throughout the whole palace it was celebrated that Martin had done in the king's banquet what no one of the bishops had done in the banquets of the lowest judges. The Gentiles saw the same thing. Lycurgus, understanding that equality conduces especially to frugality and to concord, made a new division of lands in Sparta, and distributed an equal portion to each citizen, so that all Lacedaemon seemed to be the property of many brothers, who had divided an inheritance among themselves. For the same reason he instituted syssitia, that is, public banquets, in which among all, the portion of drink and food was equal: indeed in vessels and in any other thing whatsoever he ordained, that the rich should not have more than the poor. Thus Plutarch in Lacon. Curius, when, having conquered the Sabines, more land was offered to him by the senate, refused it, and was content with the common soldier's portion, saying it was a bad citizen for whom that which was enough for others was not enough. Thus Pliny the Younger in Viris illustr., cap. XXXIII. Epaminondas answered Simonides, who was asking for something unjust: "Neither would you be a good poet if you neglected the meter of your verse, nor I a good praetor if I preferred the favor of anyone to the laws." The wealth of Socrates (who by the oracle of Apollo was judged the wisest of mortals) was a mina of silver, as Plato says in Apolog. Socratis, that is, ten gold crowns. For a mina to the Greeks is a pound, containing one hundred drachmas, that is, one hundred Roman denarii, or four hundred sestertii, which make ten crowns. Thus Budaeus in De Asse. Themistocles, being admonished, heard from a wise man: "You will govern well if you wish to be equal and common to all." Thus Plutarch in the Apophthegms. Have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. — Various persons explain this in various ways, but few touch the matter with precision. First, some take "faith" here for opinion and estimation, as if to say: Do not suppose and think of our Lord Jesus Christ that in Him there is acceptance of persons, so that He called the rich to faith and salvation, not the poor. For He Himself is the Lord of glory; and therefore He needs no one, but all need His favor and grace. Thus Hugo. Second, the same person takes "faith" properly, and gives this sense: Do not place the faith of Christ in accepted persons, namely in the rich, so that you worship them as gods, or as certain deities before all others. Third, Dionysius the Carthusian refers "faith" to "glory," as if to say: Do not have faith in the glory of Christ, that is, do not believe that you will receive eternal glory from Christ if you accept persons. Fourth, others take "faith" for hope and confidence, as if to say: Do not hope for the grace of Christ if, by accepting persons, you show that you place your hope in men, namely in the rich. Thus Bede. Fifth and genuinely, as if to say: Do not join the faith of Christ with acceptance of persons, so that you think this can consist with that. For the faith of Christ teaches and commands justice, equity, love and care for the poor, to all of which acceptance of persons is opposed, which prefers the rich and despises the poor. Whence Vatable thus explains: "Since you are Christians, do not have a distinction of persons"; others, as if to say: Do not think yourselves truly Christian if you accept persons. For the preposition "in" is often taken among the Hebrews for "with"; "in acceptance" therefore, that is "with acceptance of persons," as if to say: The profession of Christianity does not permit acceptance of persons, and Christianity does not admit it; but forbids, blames and condemns it. Yet he says "in" rather than "with," so that he may exaggerate the gravity of the vice, as if to say: Do not place faith and the vice of acceptance of persons in the same heart of yours, nay do not place faith in this vice, that is, in a heart imbued and full of this vice: do not place and defile the most noble balm of faith in a vessel so impure and filthy. For this is an injury to faith, and to Christ Himself, Who called and chose the poor as poor, and proclaimed them blessed. It is similar to what Paul says in II Corinthians VI, 15: "What fellowship hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" You may rightly adapt this same thing to any vice: for virtue and vice, faith and infidelity, Christ and the devil cannot be placed in the same heart. Wherefore some explain more forcefully thus, as if to say: Do not place the faith of Christ in acceptance of persons, that is, in accepted persons (by metonymy, or hypallage), so that namely you place your faith and confidence in rich and powerful persons, whom you worship and honor, equally, or more, than in Christ. Do not transform the faith and hope of Christ into faith and hope in men, so that you believe and trust in them more than in Christ: for many have faith, as much as their heart, more in the air than in the aether; because they value brass, that is money, more than the help of heaven and God, and trust more in the air than in the aether. Such are those of whom the Psalmist says: "Hope not in iniquity, and covet not robberies; if riches abound, set not your heart upon them," Psalm LXI, 11. And this seems to be the meaning of Hugo according to the second explanation. Finally, the sense will be most clear if by an easy transposition you connect the words thus: Do not have faith in the glory of Christ in acceptance of persons, as if to say: Do not believe that the glory of Christ consists in acceptance of persons: which sense I shall explain more fully presently. This is what St. Jerome says to Celantia: "Our religion does not regard persons, nor the conditions of men, but examines the souls of individuals: it pronounces judgment on the slave and the noble according to their morals. With God alone is freedom, not to serve sins. The highest nobility with God is to be renowned in virtues." And St. Bernard, book II On Consideration, chapter VI: "The use of silver and gold," he says, "is good, the abuse evil, the anxiety greater, the gain more shameful." Whence St. Peter said: "Silver and gold I have none; but what I have, I give thee," Acts III. Indeed, even Apuleius: "You praise," he says, "someone because he is noble-born, you praise his parent; but if because he is rich, this is owed to fortune; if you praise him because he is of good morals, then you praise the man himself, not another's." Freely indeed St. Bernard, book II On Consideration to Pope Eugenius, chapter XIV: "Let there be no respect of persons in thee: do not consider thyself guilty of a small sin if thou regardest the faces of sinners, and dost not rather judge the causes of merits." The acceptance of persons therefore perverts justice, harms charity, divides the unity of Christendom. For since the faith and law of Christ is the law of charity, it ought to comprehend all equally and unite them in itself; and consequently neither should it honor and exalt the rich on account of riches, nor despise the poor on account of poverty. The contrary opinion therefore, and the acceptance of persons, is contrary to Christ and unworthy of Christendom. Truly Clement of Alexandria, book III Pedagogue, chapter VI: "The Christian alone," he says, "is rich; because true riches are in the soul, namely faith, grace and virtues, in which the Christian abounds." Of glory. — In Greek τῆς δόξης, which Erasmus and the Zurich Bible translate from opinion, namely not of Christ, but of the common people, which worships riches and the rich, despises poverty and the poor. But these add τὸ ἐκ, and supply many things which are not in the Greek text. Wherefore others everywhere translate "of glory," and refer it either more remotely to "faith," as if to say, Faith of glory, that is, glorious, and which leads to eternal glory; or more nearly and fittingly to "Christ": for Christ is called "of glory," namely king and lord, that is, most glorious in himself, and in his elect and Blessed, as if to say, In accepting persons in the faith of Christ, you do injury to Christ most glorious; as if namely he depended on the rich, and not rather the rich on him; or as if he himself could not help you, protect you and advance you, so that you ought to seek the favor and grace of the rich: both of which are injurious to the glory of Christ and to Christ most glorious. In a similar way Christ is called "the hope of glory," Colossians I, 27. And the grace of Christ is called "of glory," that is glorious, Ephesians chapter I. Thus it is proper to God to be and to be called the king of glory, Psalm XXIII, 10. Whence St. Cyril, book XII of the Treasury, chapter XIII, proves Christ to be God from the fact that he is here called Lord of glory. Finally, John Alba On the Elect, chapter XCVI, expounds "of glory" as "according to, or in accordance with glory," as if to say, Do not esteem the faith of Christ and the faithful according to glory, that is, according to their wealth, honor and power, so that you accept persons, honoring the rich and powerful, but despising the poor. But that I may speak ingenuously what I feel, all these expositions seem remote, harsh and gaping. Wherefore we shall expound most plainly thus, as if to say, Do not have faith in the glory of Christ, that is, do not believe that the glory of Christ consists in the acceptance of persons, namely that Christ glories or is glorified, when to your feasts and gatherings you admit only the rich, the noble and the glorious, while the poor and squalid are spurned or excluded, as if the glory of Christ and Christendom consisted in the glory of golden and purple garments, in the splendor of courtiers and servants, in the pomp of horses and chariots. For this is the glory of the world, not of Christ; of the Jews, not of Christians; of paganism, not of Christianity: thus Thomas the Englishman. Let confessors, preachers, doctors, and leaders of congregations note this, who glory when they have penitents, hearers, disciples, followers who are noble, rich, splendidly dressed; but regard the common and squalid with difficulty, hear them and admit them with difficulty. Let them know that this is the sense of vanity, not of truth; of the world, not of Christ: often great filth lies hidden beneath silken garments. Posthume, he does not smell well, who always smells well. Let them therefore cast off this vile affection, and put on the contrary, worthy of a disciple of Christ.
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2. For if there enter into your assembly, — both private and public, both civil and sacred, namely into a sermon, the liturgy, the holy synaxis (which in Greek συναγωγή, that is assembly, gathering, congregation, Church, corresponds aptly both in etymology and in meaning: for the synaxis took place in the synagogue, that is, in the assembly and Church) and the agape, as I said above, and as Thomas Aquinas, Salmeron, Serarius and Gagneius teach here. He declares the acceptance of persons by the example of those who honor the rich in the assembly and gathering, and despise the poor: which was once a common vice, and even now is, according to that saying of Ovid, in the first book of the Fasti: Now price is valued for price, wealth gives honors, Wealth gives friendships: the poor man lies everywhere. And Euripides: "In poverty there is ignobility, and timidity, and disgrace of life." Truly the Wise Man, Ecclesiastes X, 19: "Money," he says, "all things obey"; the Septuagint, "all things are humbled"; others, "sing," that is flatter and applaud, all things; others, "testify," all things; others, "answer," all things, just as servants answer their mistress calling and commanding: for all these things are signified in Hebrew by יענה iaane. This sense of the common people and the world, this paganism, Christ and Christianity correct, which in faith, grace and glory equates poverty with riches, and the poor with the rich, indeed prefers them. "That we are called poor," says Minucius in the Octavius, "is not our infamy, but our glory: nor is he poor who does not lack, who does not covet another's, who is rich in God." St. Salvian, book II On the Catholic Church: "Concerning those," he says, "who, freed from all or nearly all the burdens of the Savior's way, follow it, and imitate the Lord Jesus Christ not only in holiness but also in poverty, there is nothing that can be said, except only that which the Prophet also said: But thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honorable to me. For I honor all these in no other way than as imitators of Christ, I venerate them in no other way than as images of Christ, I receive them in no other way than as members of Christ." The same in book III calls them money-changers of Christ: for Christians who seek heavenly riches despise earthly ones, indeed they buy those by the contempt of these. Whence the precept of Christ is: "Leave earthly things, and you shall receive heavenly things," says St. Augustine, sermon 233 On the Seasons. "For poverty," he says, "is the price of the kingdom of heaven," in sermon 28 On the Words of the Apostle. And St. Gregory, homily 18 on Ezekiel: "They fly," he says, "who touch the earth as if not at all, because they desire nothing in it." St. Prosper, book II On the Contemplative Life, chapter XXVI: "Whoever wishes," he says, "to possess God, let him renounce the world, so that God may be to him a blessed possession." Having a golden ring. — Baronius, in the year of Christ 34, and Pineda, book VI, On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter V, think that this ring was on the garment, namely a golden fibula (for this is inserted and fastened with a golden circle as if with a ring), which the relatives of kings and princes, or special friends, wore on the garment, as is evident from Josephus, book XIV of the Antiquities, chapter XVI. Thus King Alexander gave a golden fibula to Jonathan as a sign of the highest benevolence and honor, I Maccabees X, 88, just as among the Romans was the broad stripe. That the form of this fibula was like the gilded and jeweled fibula of the Pluvial of Abbots and Bishops, by which one side is connected to the other at the breast, our Raderus thinks in book V of Martial, epigram 42; whence also Virgil, Aeneid IV: A golden fibula fastens the purple garment. But the Greek δακτύλιος does not signify a fibula, but a ring worn on the finger: for δάκτυλος in Greek is finger; whence the fruits of the palm are called dactyli, because curved with very great length and slenderness, they are similar to human fingers, as Dioscorides testifies, lib. I, cap. LXVII. Hence δακτύλιος is called a ring, which is inserted on the finger. Therefore χρυσοδακτύλιος word for word is the same as a gold ring, or a gold finger-ring, which namely wears a golden ring on the finger. From of old indeed the rich and powerful are accustomed to wear a golden ring, both for sealing letters, and for ornament, and for the gladness of the heart: whence they wore it on the penultimate finger of the left hand, which is called the auricular, because from it a nerve, or artery extends to the heart, as Gellius testifies, lib. X, cap. X; for gold, and especially hyacinth, carbuncle, emerald, and similar gems, which are set in the bezel of rings, gladden and strengthen the heart equally as the eyes. Bishops, however, wear the ring on the middle finger of the right hand, which is called the index, because it indicates silence, as Apuleius teaches, lib. I. The reason is given by the very formula of the donation of the ring in the consecration of a Bishop, which runs thus: "Receive the ring of discretion, and the sign of the honour of faith, that those things which are to be sealed thou mayest seal, and those which are to be opened thou mayest open; those which are to be bound thou mayest bind, those which are to be loosed thou mayest loose." See Alexander ab Alexandro, lib. II Genial., cap. XIX, and Pierius, Hierogl. cap. XLI. Furthermore, that the rings of the rich are of vain splendour, St. Augustine teaches, lib. III De Civit., XIX, from the deed of Hannibal in the victory of Cannae, from which "he sent three bushels of golden rings to Carthage: by which they might understand that so great a dignity of the Romans had fallen in that battle, that it would be easier for them to measure it than to count it." And soon after: "Then also when the treasury had failed to supply the stipends, private wealth came to public uses, so much so that each one contributing what he had, that besides individual golden rings, and individual bullae, the wretched insignia of dignity, the senate itself left nothing of gold to itself, much less the other orders and tribes." For of old among the Romans only senators and knights used rings, as Dio testifies, lib. XLVIII. Wherefore Clement of Alexandria, lib. III Paedag., permits the ring to Christians only for this purpose, that they may seal their things with it. "But other rings," he says, "are to be cast away, as Scripture wishes. Gold is discipline to the prudent world." And soon after: "But neither is a ring to be worn by men on the joint (for this is womanly), but on the little finger, and indeed on the extreme part of it: for thus the hand will be most ready for working; nor will the seal easily fall off, which is guarded by the greater ligament of the joint." In a garment. — That is, with a garment; for, as I have already said, the ring was not in the garment, but on the finger: for both the white garment and the ring were the insignia of dignity. White, — λαμπρά, that is, splendid, such as was white. For whiteness shines before other colours, and is itself splendour: thus whiteness shines in the swan, in snow, in lightning, in the sun. Hence at Rome of old white was the garment of those seeking magistracies, who were hence called Candidates: for candidates descended into the Campus Martius, where the assemblies of the people were held. Thus also princes used white equally as purple. Whence Herod mocked Christ by clothing him in a white garment, in Greek λαμπρά, that is, splendid, by which he tacitly insinuated that he had foolishly affected the kingdom of Judaea, Luke XXIII, 11. Hence both Christ and the Apostles, Apoc. VI, 2, are represented by a white horse. "Behold," he says, "a white horse, and he that sat upon him had a bow, and there was given to him a crown, and he went forth conquering that he might conquer." For white colour is beautiful, joyful, bright and splendid: whence white garment is festive, joyful, splendid, magnificent. Hear Prudentius Against Symmachus: You would see the fathers exult, the most beautiful lights of the world, and the council of old men, the Catos, rejoice to assume a whiter toga, the snowy garment of piety. And Martial, lib. VIII, epigram. 28, most brilliantly praises the most excellent white toga, given to him by Parthenius, prefect of Domitian's bedchamber, thus: You surpass lilies, and not yet fallen privet, and what whitens on the Tiburtine mountain, ivory; the Spartan swan will yield to you, and the dove of Paphos, will yield the gem dug from the Erythraean waters. Wherefore St. John saw in heaven the Saints and Blessed clothed in white robes, Apocalypse VII, 9; for white colors are most becoming to gods, as Plato says, book XII of the Laws. Finally, Christ the glorious conqueror leads after him an army of those clothed in white, Apocalypse XIX, 14: "The armies," he says, "which are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean." See the remarks there. The whiteness of garments therefore is a certain emulation of divine glory: for bright whiteness is an ornament of divinity, Daniel VII, 9. Moreover, how vain it is to glory in or honor splendid garments and those clothed splendidly is evident first from this, that a garment is a punishment and a covering of sin. For Adam, created innocent, was naked, but soon blushing from sin and covering his concupiscence, clothed himself in garments sewn from fig leaves. Just as therefore a King cast into chains and wearing golden fetters would not be honored by them, but rather despised: for although they are golden, they are nevertheless fetters; and that they are golden reminds him of his former royal glory, from which he has fallen into fetters, as if cast down from the highest pinnacle of honor to the lowest depth of disgrace: so likewise the rich man ought to blush in splendid garments, because those are nothing other than a stigma of sin, a veil of concupiscence, a covering of shame. Second, because the first garments with which God clothed Adam were simple and natural, namely raw skins of animals, Genesis cap. III, 21, so that He might teach him and his descendants that a garment was given to man only for necessity, and is a symbol of penance and mortality, to which through sin we have become subject, as I said on Genesis III, 21. The rich man therefore ought no more to be exalted in fine linen than a thief in a fine linen noose. Third, because simple and rough was the clothing of Elijah, Elisha, the Prophets, St. John the Baptist, Christ the Lord, the Apostles, the Essenes and the first faithful. Whence Lucian, describing the habit of a Christian in the Philopatris, says: "A tattered cloak," he says, "without shoes and covering, going with bare head, with shorn hair." Fourth, because the adornment of garments is feminine and indicates women, not men: for the adornment of these is interior in judgment, wisdom and virtue. For what is gold and silver but white and red earth? What is fine linen but the decay of worms, namely silkworms? What are pearls but the excrement of shells? What are precious wools but the fleeces of sheep? Hear St. Bernard, sermon 4 On the Advent: "Are not gold and silver red and white earth, which human error alone makes (or rather esteems) precious? True riches therefore are not wealth, but virtues, which conscience carries with it, so that it becomes rich forever." And St. Cyril, book IV on John cap. IV: "The Saints are to be considered not in the flesh, but in their intrinsic glory." Note that a splendid garment is often a sign of magistracy, dignity or nobility: then honor is to be paid not to it, but to the dignity and office; but St. James here abstracts it from these, and considers it only as an index of wealth, equally as of delights and luxurious living. For they were accustomed in former times at festive banquets, games, sacrifices, etc., to put on white garments as an index of joy, as Valerius Maximus teaches, book I, cap. I, and Ecclesiastes indicates, cap. IX, verse 8. Wherefore St. James by the white garment here understands not only the rich man, but also the voluptuary abusing that passage Ecclesiastes IX, 8: "Let thy garments be always white." Thus Socrates, book VI, cap. XXII. St. Jerome praises St. Asella, epistle 15 to Marcella: "Speech," he says, "silent, and silence speaking: neither swift nor slow gait, the same habit always, neglected neatness, and uncultivated dress, elegance itself without cultivation." Aristotle, seeing a young man clothed in a more sumptuous toga, said: "Young man, will you never at some time refrain from this immoderate dress, obtained by the virtue of sheep?" Plato said to Aristippus: "To you alone it was given to wear both a cloak and a rag." The cloak was the garment of princes, the rag of the poor. Whence Horace: "Every color became Aristippus." Witness Laertius, book II, cap. VIII. Diogenes called a rich but uneducated man, but splendidly clothed, χρυσόμηλον, that is a golden sheep, or, as others read, χρυσόμαλλον, that is golden fleece. Witness Laertius, book VI. Demonax said to a certain man dressed in purple, growing insolent, in his ear: "Hey you, a sheep wore this before, and it was a sheep"; signifying that he was equally stupid in purple as before, nor had the purple added any wit to him. That saying is worn out: "An ape in purple." And, "An ape is an ape, even if it wears golden insignia." Artaxerxes said to Tiribazus, growing insolent in his garments: "I grant you, as to a woman, the right to wear gold, as to a madman, royal raiment." It was the axiom of Augustus Caesar: "Distinctive and soft clothing is the standard of pride and the nest of luxury." Suetonius is witness in his Life of him. Alexander Severus the Emperor, walking in humble dress, when he was reproved for this by courtiers, said: "Imperial majesty consists in virtue, not in the adornment of the body." Alphonsus, king of Aragon, did and said something similar: "I prefer," he said, "to excel my people in morals and authority, than in diadem and purple." Thus the Panormitan, book I On the Deeds of Alphonsus. I have said more on Isaiah, chapter III, at the end. Finally, Clement of Alexandria, book II of the Pedagogue, chapter X, relates that Caius the sophist represented wickedness veiled in white garment, but virtue clothed only in modesty: just as that painter who, when he could not paint Helen elegantly, painted her in golden and jeweled garment, not so much adorned as buried. Thus Sisinnius, Bishop of the Novatians, a soft man, was reproved by the faithful, because he bathed twice daily and put on white garment as if living luxuriously, he who spent his life in feasts, games and banquets with contempt for the poor: such was the rich man Epulo who was clothed in fine linen, and feasted splendidly, and despised Lazarus, and denied him the crumbs of his table. Just as therefore Christ, Luke XVI, reproves this rich man despising Lazarus, so James reproves those who honor the rich and the luxurious with contempt and injury to the poor and needy. And there shall come in also a poor man in filthy raiment. — In Greek ῥυπαρά, that is, squalid, worn, filthy: concerning ῥυπαρά I spoke in chapter 1, verse 21. Most of the faithful in the primitive Church were poor either by condition, or by spoliation of goods which they suffered from the Jews, or by will and spirit. Hear St. Justin, epistle to Diognetus, describing the customs of Christians of his age: "Every foreign region," he says, "is their homeland, and every homeland is foreign. They are in the flesh, but do not live according to the flesh; they dwell on earth, but their conversation is in heaven; they are poor, and enrich many; they lack all things, and abound in all things."
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3. Splendid, — λαμπράν, that is, shining, namely white, of which I spoke a little before. Seneca speaks excellently, epistle 37: "Just as," he says, "he is foolish who, about to buy a horse, does not inspect the horse itself, but its trappings and bridle: so also he is most foolish who judges a man from his condition, which is like a garment wrapped around us. He is a slave? but perhaps he has a free mind. He is a slave? this will harm him, it will not harm others." It is therefore of poor judgment, to judge a man not from himself, but from his garment, as fools and children do. St. Chrysostom, homily 47 to the People: "Garments," he says, "and gold and silver are the food of worms: but virtue, when one is clothed in it, has such a garment as neither moth, nor death itself can harm. And deservedly: for these virtues of the soul do not draw their origin from earth, but are the fruit of the spirit." And you shall say to him: Sit here well. — In Greek καλῶς, in Syriac שפיר scappir, that is, beautifully, namely in a place not only convenient and honored, but also elegant, for instance in a primary or higher seat, a cushion spread with fine linen, surrounded by hangings and a canopy. The Jews sat in synagogues: the masters indeed higher, but the hearers and disciples lower, as St. Ambrose relates in I Corinthians XIV, 30, and the Apostle hints at there. Philo also relates that the Essenes sat thus in his book On the Contemplative Life. St. Clement relates the same concerning Roman Christians, book II of the Constitutions, chapter LVII. For in Africa it was not permitted for laymen to sit in the church, as Optatus of Milevis testifies, book IV, just as likewise it is not permitted for them to sit in the temple in Ethiopia, or Abyssinia, not even for the elderly and infirm: for these alone it is permitted to lean upon a staff, as I learned from Abyssinians at Rome. It is memorable what Eusebius writes concerning Constantine the Great in his Life, book IV, chapter XXXIII, that he himself heard a sermon in the church standing, and was unwilling to sit, although invited and even commanded to do so by the Bishop; for he said that divine matters ought to be heard with upright souls, ears and feet. Among the Romans in the theater each person had his place according to his dignity: hence among the knights it was not permitted for anyone to sit unless he had the equestrian census, namely four hundred thousand sesterces, that is, ten thousand gold coins. Hear Martial, book V, epigram 26: "You do not have four hundred thousand, Charestrates, rise up. Behold the usher (the censor of places) comes: stand, flee, run, depart." In a similar manner among St. Clement, book II of the Constitutions, chapters LVII and LVIII, the Apostles decree, which it is worth the effort to hear, so that from them we may learn the order of the assembly and of sitting in it. "When you convoke the Church of God," they say, "O Bishop, command it to be gathered together with all prudence, as a great ship's pilot, instructing the Deacons as sailors, that they may arrange places for the brethren as for sailors very carefully and honorably. And first indeed let the building be oblong toward the East like a ship, with sacristies on both sides toward the East. Let the Bishop's throne be placed in the middle, and on either side of it let the Presbyters sit and the Deacons stand, girded and ready without much clothing: for they are like sailors, these are like those who run through the passages of the ship. Let their care be that laymen sit in another part, in order, and with decorum and quietness: likewise let women sit separately, and in silence." And shortly after: "If anyone is found sitting in an unsuitable place, let him be rebuked by the Deacon, as by a bow-officer, and let him be moved to a place that befits him. For the Church is not only like a ship, but like a flock; for as Shepherds place individual animals, I mean goats and sheep, according to the nature and age of each, and each similar one is gathered with its similar: so in the Church let young men sit apart, if there is space: but if there is not, let them stand; but those advanced in age let them sit in order: but let boys stand, and let their fathers and mothers receive them; again let young women sit apart, if there is space; but if there is not, let them be placed behind the women. Married women and mothers of families likewise apart: but virgins, widows, and old women let them stand or sit first of all. Let the Deacon preside over the occupation of places, so that each of those who enter may go to his place, and no one sits out of order: likewise let the Deacon watch over the people, lest anyone murmur noisily, sleep or nod. For it is necessary to stand in the church wisely, soberly and vigilantly, with ears attentive to the word of the Lord. Then let all together rise up and look toward the East, the catechumens and penitents having departed, and let them pray to God, who ascended above the heaven of heavens, and that toward the East." And below: "But if, when they are already seated, another person, honest and noble, should arrive, whether a stranger or of that region, etc., let the Deacon move a younger person from his place, prudently however, and not angrily, and let him receive him seated: for it is right that he who is benevolent toward the brethren should do this willingly: but if he refuses, move him by compulsion, and cast him into the last place, so that others may learn to yield their place to those more honored. But if a poor person, or an ignoble person, or a stranger, whether old or young, should arrive, and there is no vacant place, let the Deacon also make a place for these with all his heart, so that there may not be respect of persons against a man, but let the ministry be acceptable to God: when women, whether poor or rich, should arrive, let the Deaconess do both of these things." St. Clement adds that Christians sat only during the assembly and the reading, but stood during prayer and the liturgy, or certainly knelt. Tertullian teaches this explicitly later, in the book On Prayer, chapter XII: "It is irreverent," he says, "to sit in the sight of, and contrary to the sight of him whom you most revere and venerate: how much more so in the sight of the living God, while the angel of prayer still stands, is this deed most irreligious. Unless we reproach God because prayer has wearied us. But when we adore with modesty and humility, we commend our prayers to God all the more." See the sayings in Acts, chapter XX, verse 36. But to the poor man you say: You stand there, or sit under the footstool of my feet. — (Zurich, below; others, beside; Syriac, before.) The contempt of the poor man is signified, as if to say: Sit not on the footstool, but under the footstool of my feet: for you are so vile that you are not worthy to touch my feet, or even their footstool. Sit there therefore, or like another Alexius stand in a corner, or with Lazarus like a dog lie down at the door of the rich man Epulo: which contempt indeed is grave, and therefore a deadly sin. From this followed the oppression of the poor, which is a sin crying to heaven, concerning which, verse 6, St. James says: "Do not the rich oppress you by might?" Note first: Honor is a common good, equally as offices and benefits. For at table, in judgment, in council, and in any other public assembly, to each is owed his own honor and place, which if not given, becomes an injury to him, and is a sin of respect of persons. Second, honor is owed to a rational creature on account of excellence, which consists in wisdom, virtue, office, dignity and power. Riches therefore are not to be honored in themselves, because in themselves they do not make a man wiser, more virtuous, more worthy and more excellent than others: riches are therefore honored only by received custom, or because riches accompany dignity and principality. Wherefore if anyone from an interior reverence toward riches prefers the rich man on this account alone, that he is rich, to a faithful poor man, he sins by the vice of respect of persons: and it can happen that he sins mortally, namely if it be done with notable contempt of the poor man, or injury and oppression, as is said verse 6, otherwise he sins only venially. Thus our Lessius On Justice and Right, chapter XXXII, doubt 1.
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4. Is it not (in Greek οὐ, that is, not, which is customarily placed for οὐχί, that is, is it not) that you judge—διεκρίθητε, that is, you have made distinctions, that is, you have made a selection of persons by exalting the very rich to the highest degree and depressing the poor to the lowest. Thus Vatable. Whence the Syriac translator rendered it, אתפרגתון etpalgetun, that is, you have divided, you have made a distinction, you have separated unjustly between the poor and the rich, which Our Translator rendered as "you judge"; because it is the duty of a judge to divide equity between the parties, so as to render to each his own right, not to prefer one unjustly to another and to attribute everything to him by fair means and foul: for indeed the poor man is not to be despoiled of his right on account of his poverty, so that it might be transferred by injury to the rich man on account of his wealth alone. Secondly, the Zurich Bible, Erasmus and others take διεκρίθητε passively, and render it assertively, not interrogatively, as "you are not judged among yourselves," that is to say, You have not felt the judgment of conscience and remorse, namely that in this acceptance of persons you offend God. Whence Cajetan: "You are not," he says, "judged in yourselves," but you are judged by your garments, while you honor the rich on account of splendid garments and despise the poor on account of squalid ones. Others, rendering it interrogatively, explain it thus, that is to say, Are you not judged, convicted and condemned by your judgment? that is to say, Does not right reason and judgment condemn you and prove that you act unjustly? thus Bede. But that it should be rendered actively as "you judge" is evident from the fact that, in explaining it, St. James adds: "And you have become judges of wicked thoughts"; for it is the duty of a judge to judge, not to be judged: whence Gagneius suspects that Our Translator read ἐκρίνετε, in the indicative, that is, "you judge"; but "you judge" is the same as "you are accustomed to judge," that is, you have judged: which the Greek διεκρίθητε signifies. Hugo and Dionysius press ἐν ἑαυτοῖς "among yourselves," as if to say: From yourselves and your perverse imagination you take this perverted judgment, not from God; for God commands that both to the poor and to the rich their own right and place be given. Plato wisely says in the Protagoras: "Do not judge in another tribunal," he says, "before you yourself have been judged before justice (before God)." And Seneca, epistle 37: "If you wish to subject all things to yourself, subject yourself to reason (and consequently to God); you will have many kings if reason shall rule you: from it you will learn what and in what manner you ought to undertake." And Socrates in Stobaeus, discourse 48: "The best," he says, "king is he who can command his own affections." And you have become judges of wicked thoughts.—מפרשנא mepharsane, that is, separators, discussers of the poor and the rich. For "thoughts" in Greek it is διαλογισμῶν, that is, reasonings, disputations, discussions, consultations, considerations, conversations, that is to say, You have become unjust judges of perverted reasonings, that is, judges reasoning perversely and concluding that the poor man ought to be despised because he is poor; the rich man honored because he is rich. Therefore you have become judges of unjust judgments, because you judge unjustly by thinking unjustly, reasoning unjustly, concluding unjustly, speaking unjustly, and carrying these things out in deed; namely while you despise the poor before the rich, and attribute more to the splendor of garments than to faith and virtue, honoring impious rich men and despising holy poor men, says St. Jerome in chapter V of Isaiah. By this very thing indeed you judge, "that the rich man is so much better than the poor man as he is richer," says St. Augustine, epistle 29 to St. Jerome, which is certainly a false and perverted judgment, and like a monster. For it is an incongruous statement, says Epictetus, if you say: "I am richer than you, therefore I am better than you. I am wiser, therefore I am better." But these are congruous: "I am richer than you: therefore my possession is better than yours. I am wiser: therefore my speech is better than yours. But you are neither possession nor speech." Thus he himself in the Enchiridion, chapter LIX. Seneca, book X, epistle 77: "You will call a sword good," he says, "not one whose belt is gilded, nor one whose scabbard is distinguished by gems; but one whose edge is sharp for cutting. A rule is sought not for how beautiful it is, but for how straight it is. Therefore in man nothing pertains to the matter how much he ploughs, how much he lends out, by how many he is greeted, on how precious a bed he lies, but how good he is. None of those whom riches and honors place on a high pinnacle is great. Why then does he seem great? when you measure him by his base. A small dwarf, even if he stood on a mountain. A Colossus will preserve its size, even if it stood in a pit. We labor under this error, that we do not estimate anyone for what he is, but we add to him and those things by which he is adorned, indeed we estimate and measure him from those very things." Moreover, St. James says "cogitations," not "cogitation," in Greek διαλογισμῶν, that is, reasonings, deliberations, conclusions: because this one, by which riches are preferred to poverty, includes many, and from this one as it were a principle many others are brought forth, for example, he who prefers riches to poverty will reason with himself thus. First, riches are more convenient, and more in the esteem of men; therefore the rich are to be preferred to the poor. Second, a rich man can help me, commend me, advance me, enrich me, not a poor man: therefore the rich are to be cultivated, not the poor. Third, a rich man can avenge his contempt, not a poor man: therefore his offense is to be cared for, not his. Fourth, from a poor man I expect nothing: therefore he is to be neglected by me. Fifth, a poor man is to my dishonor and burden, because he asks of me and begs alms from me, and thus diminishes my wealth: but a rich man is to my honor and advantage: therefore this one is to be followed, that one to be shunned. These are wicked and false reasonings, namely paralogisms of the world and worldly men. On the other hand, God against these, says Philo, lib. I De Monarchia, ordains Exod. 20: "Thou shalt not make to thyself gods of silver and gold," in the mystical sense: "For these," he says, "will hasten in the morning to the houses of the rich as to most holy temples, seeking good things from them as from deities"; when nevertheless that saying of Augustine is most true, lib. V De Civit., cap. VI: "Remove boasting, what are all men but men?" Therefore against these Christ argues first, saying: "Make unto you friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you shall fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings," Luke XVI, 19. Second, St. Augustine, serm. 55 De Temp.: "This world," he says, "either laughs at us, or is laughed at by us. It is better that you trample the world, and treading upon it make for yourself a step by which you may ascend to the heights." Third, Seneca, lib. De Vita beata, cap. XXVI: "Riches are in servitude with a wise man, in dominion with a fool. A wise man permits nothing to riches, you permit riches everything." Whence also Alexander the Great, as Plutarch testifies, oration 1 De Fortuna Alexandri, said: "If I were not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes." Fourth, the Author of the Imperfect Work in St. Chrysostom, hom. 22: "If you honor a rich man," he says, "on account of his person, you honor him: but if you honor a poor man, you honor him on account of the person of Christ." Fifth, St. Ambrose, lib. II Offic. XXV, teaches by many reasons that favors and benefits are to be shown to the poor rather than to the rich. First, because Christ, he says, teaches "that to feasts not those who are rich, but the poor are to be invited," Luke XIV. Second, for the rich seem to be asked, so that they also might repay us: the poor because they do not have what to restore, when they have received, make the Lord a rewarder for us, who offered himself to be obligated for the poor. Third, because a rich man disdains a benefit, and it shames him to be a debtor of gratitude. Nay, even that which has been bestowed upon him, he arrogates to his own merits. Fourth, because in receiving a benefit, by the very fact that they have received, the rich think they have given more than they have received: but a poor man, even if he does not have wherewith to repay money, repays gratitude; in which it is certain that he repays more than he has received. For money is paid with money, gratitude is never exhausted. Fifth, what a rich man refuses, a poor man confesses that he is obligated by debt, and thinks that he has been helped, not that honor has been shown to him: he considers himself given sons, life restored, his family saved. The same author in the same place cap. I: "So great," he says, "is the splendor of honesty, that tranquility of conscience and security of innocence make a blessed life. And therefore just as the risen sun hides the globe of the moon and the other lights of the stars, so the splendor of honesty; but where it vibrates with uncorrupted beauty, it overshadows all other things which are thought to be good either according to bodily pleasure, or according to the world, bright and illustrious." And cap. IV, speaking of Elias, to whom a poor man a raven brought bread, III Kings XVII: "Was he therefore," he says, "less blessed because he was poor to himself? Not at all, but rather more blessed because he was rich to God. For it is better to be rich to others than to oneself, as he was, who in the time of famine sought food from a widow, about to give it to her, so that the jar of flour for three years and six months would not fail, and through daily use the vessel of oil would suffice for the poor widow and minister to her." Sixth, in the poor we honor Christ as it were as an exemplar in His image. Whence Chrysologus, sermon 14, explaining that passage of Psalm CXL, Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and poor, does not say, he says, "Who sees," but "Who understandeth." For it is a mysterious thing, and the hidden value of poverty to the world. "Let us pray, brethren, that He Himself may grant us to understand the things to be understood, who shows Himself to be understood in the poor in such a way that He who covers the heavens is naked in the poor; that in the hungry hunger itself, the fullness of all things; that the fountain of fountains thirsts in the thirsty. Blessed therefore is he to be reckoned who understands this, so that he may understand concerning the poor by meeting their necessities, and drawing them forth from their necessities." Seventh, St. Bernard, sermon 1 On the Vigil of the Nativity: "Poverty," he says, "was not found in the heavens: but on earth this condition abounded, and man knew not its value. This therefore God's Son, desiring it, came down that He might choose it for Himself, and by His estimation make it precious for us also." This is what Christ says, Isaiah LXI, and Luke IV, 18: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, wherefore He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor He hath sent me." I have said more concerning the good of poverty in Acts IV and V.
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5. Did not God choose the poor in this world? — The Syriac, "the poor of the world." He proves that persons are not to be received such that we honor the rich and despise the poor, by the example of God, which ought to be to us as a norm and precept. For God chose the poor in money, and made them rich in faith; needy in census, and made them wealthy in the sense of divine things. Whence St. Leo, sermon 10 On Lent: "Whom," he says, "carnal wisdom makes vile, we know not how precious spiritual grace will make." Rich in faith, — so that namely they might become rich, and He Himself would make them rich in faith. For in a similar manner He adds: "And heirs of the kingdom." But it is clear that God chose no one who was already an heir of the kingdom, but by choosing made him an heir of the kingdom, as if to say: The poor are not to be despised, because God did not despise, but chose the poor, and by choosing enriched them in faith, and made them heirs of the kingdom. Therefore the Pelagians have nothing here by which to prove that faith is from us, not from the grace of God, as if because of faith elicited by the powers of nature God chooses the faithful and rejects the unfaithful. For faith is the first gift of God, by which God enriched the poor Apostles and the first faithful. Thus St. Augustine, book I On the Predestination of the Saints, chapter XVII. James therefore treats of election both to faith and grace, and to kingdom and glory. For whom God chose unto grace, He consequently destined unto glory, that they might become heirs of the heavenly kingdom. This is the genuine sense. Secondly however Gabriel Vasquez, I part., disp. 89, cap. II, thus explains it, as if he said: God chose the Apostles poor in census, but rich in faith and virtue, unto glory, namely unto the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom, and unto eternal life from merits; because namely He foresaw that they, making good use and strenuously cooperating with the faith and grace given to them by God, through good works would merit the heavenly kingdom. Whence it follows: "Which God hath promised to them that love Him." He thinks therefore that here the matter is of election unto glory only, and that it is made from merits he strives to prove from this passage; for glory is an inheritance, because it is given to sons; it is the same also as a crown of justice, and a reward, because it is given to those who merit and overcome. Hence also James first says that God chose the rich in faith, then that they are "heirs of the kingdom," because through the riches of faith He destined us unto the kingdom in the first election, which He made from eternity. Morally: St. James teaches here that true riches are not gold, silver, splendid garments, but faith and the virtues of faith: just as on the other hand poverty and the poor are made not by want, but by cupidity and impiety. Whence St. Augustine, homily On the Hundred Sheep: "God," he says, "is equally present to all, but with God he has more place, who has brought more, not of silver, but of faith." And St. Gregory, homily 15 in the Gospel: "Alone," he says, "are riches, which make us rich in virtues." And Clement of Alexandria, book VI of the Stromata: "True," he says, "riches is abundance in those things which are from virtue in actions: but poverty is want in moderate actions." St. Ambrose, book III, epistle 10: "God knows only him to be rich, who is rich unto eternity." Excellently indeed St. Prosper, book II On the Contemplative Life, chapter XIII: "Those," he says, "are the riches to be desired by us, which can adorn us equally and protect us; which we cannot acquire unwillingly, nor lose; which arm us against hostile attacks, separate us from the world, commend us to God, enrich our souls and ennoble them, are with us, are within us. Our riches are to be believed to be chastity, which makes us chaste; justice, which makes us just; piety, which makes us pious; humility, which makes us humble; gentleness, which makes us gentle; innocence, which makes us innocent; purity, which makes us pure; prudence, which makes us prudent; temperance, which makes us temperate; and charity, which makes us dear to God and to men, powerful in virtues, contemners of the world, and followers of all goods. These are not for all, but the holy virtues of the Saints, not the faculties of proud rich men, but of humble poor men, the patrimony of hearts, the incorruptible riches of morals, in which none abound except those who renounce those carnal riches from their heart." And further below: "For this reason therefore, those who serve God must flee riches with their whole heart: those who wish to have them do not seek without labor, do not find without difficulty, do not keep without care, do not possess without anxious delight, do not lose without sorrow. But the Apostle says to the soldiers of Christ: I will that you be without solicitude. And: The root of all evils is covetousness, which some coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows; and thus this earthly wealth, by those who love it viciously, is not a matter of pleasures, but of sorrows." Briefly, but forcefully St. Gregory, book VI, epistle 190 to Andrew: "Not therefore," he says, "are honors or riches to be sought, which are abandoned; but if we seek good things, let us love those which we shall have without end. But if we fear evil things, let us fear those which the reprobate endure without end." The same, homily 18 on Ezekiel: "He," he says, "is poor, who lacks what he does not have. For even he who, not having, does not desire to have, is rich. Poverty indeed is in the poverty of mind, not in the quantity of possession: for he to whom poverty is well suited, is not poor." Heirs of the kingdom,—that is, destined for the heavenly kingdom, and to obtain it certainly, if they persevere steadfastly in faith and in the works of faith unto the end of their lives. Most excellently St. Ambrose, sermon 10: "Since the kingdom of God," he says, "is of the poor, what can be richer." See here the wonderful harmony of James and Paul. For Paul thundered the same thing in the same age, writing in I Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 26: "See," he says, "your vocation, brethren, etc.: the foolish things of the world, and the ignoble, and the contemptible hath God chosen." Moreover the kingdom of God is God himself with all his happiness and glory. See St. Augustine, sermon 419 On the Seasons, and in Psalm 136 and 149, where he says: "The heirs of God are such that God himself is our inheritance. This inheritance is not diminished by the multitude of possessors, nor is it made narrower by the number of co-heirs; but it is as great for many as for few; as great for each one as for all: he did not make you an heir of something to which you would succeed upon his death, but one with whom you would live eternally." And St. Ambrose in Psalm 118: "All possess it, nor is it diminished for the heir; the benefit remains whole, and grows all the more for each one, the more it has been acquired by many." For perfect charity in heaven makes all things common: whence each blessed one rejoices in the glory of each of the others just as if it were his own. Wherefore not once, but a thousand times, and a thousand thousand times is he blessed and glorious. St. Bernard, On the Threefold Kind of Goods: "What is," he says, "abundance, where nothing that you do not wish is present, and everything that you wish is present?" The same, sermon On the Deception of the Present Age: "In the reward," he says, "there is a torrent of pleasure and a river's rush. It is indeed a river, but one that flows in, not one that flows out or away; it is called a river, not because it passes or flows past, but because it abounds." Again St. Augustine, book III On Free Will, near the end: "So great," he says, "is the sweetness of eternal light, that even if it were not permitted to remain in it longer than the space of one day, for this reason alone would innumerable years of this life full of delights, and overflowing with temporal goods, be rightly and deservedly despised." The same, in the Manual, XIV: "O my soul, if daily we ought to endure torments, if we were to tolerate hell itself for a long time, so that we could see Christ in his glory and be joined with his Saints, would it not be worthy to think that everything that is sad should be despised, so that we might be made partakers of so great a good and so great a glory? Let demons therefore lie in wait, prepare their temptations, break the body with fasts, press the flesh with garments, burden with labors, dry up with vigils, let one cry out at me, let another or another disturb me, let cold bend me, let conscience murmur, let heat burn, let the head ache, let the breast burn, let the stomach swell, let the face grow pale, let the whole body grow weak, let my life fail in sorrow, and my years in groaning, let decay enter into my bones and beneath me let it teem, so that I may rest in the day of tribulation, and ascend to the people girded for us. For what will be the glory of the just, how great the joy of the Saints, when each face shall shine as the sun, when in distinct orders the Lord shall have begun to review his people in the kingdom of his Father, and shall restore to each the promised rewards according to their merits and works, heavenly things for earthly, eternal things for temporal, great things for small? Truly it will be a heap of happiness when the Lord shall bring his Saints into the vision of his Father's glory, and shall make them sit in the heavenly places, so that he may be all in all. O blessed sweetness, and sweet blessedness: to see the Saints, to be with the Saints so as to be holy; to see God, and to have God forever and beyond!" Moreover, the reasons why God has chosen the poor rather than the rich for faith and the kingdom are various and fitting. First, because it requires a fitting distribution of gifts, so that those who lack earthly things may abound in heavenly things, and vice versa. Whence St. Jerome, epistle 34 to Julian: "It is difficult," he says, "indeed impossible, for anyone to enjoy both present and future goods; to fill his belly here and his mind there, to pass from delights to delights, to be first in both ages, to appear glorious in both heaven and earth." And St. Chrysostom, homily 2 to the People, teaches that St. Paul, when he names the rich of this age, I Tim. VI, 17, by this very fact signifies that there are others who are rich of the age to come, namely the poor of this age. Thus the rich man of this age was Dives, but of the age to come Lazarus, Luke XVI, 24; thus Nazianzen, oration 16, calls the religious "exalted on account of humility, and enriched on account of poverty." Wherefore the Fathers call the Gospel poor rich, and them the true and only rich. Thus St. Nazianzen, oration 20 On St. Basil: "Riches," he says, "were theirs, to have nothing." And St. Leo, sermon 4 On Lent: "Christian poverty is rich, because it has more than it lacks: nor does it fear to labor in want in this world, to which it has been given in the Lord of all things to possess all things." And St. Ambrose, book IV, epistle 24 to Simplicius: "Truly," he says, "he is rich who in the sight of God can appear rich, in whose sight the earth is small, the world itself narrow; but God alone knows him to be rich who is rich for eternity, who stores up not works, but the fruit of virtues." See the whole Epistle, in which he demonstrates this paradox: "That the wise man alone, though poor, is rich." Second, because riches are the tinder and enticements of ambition, avarice, gluttony, luxury and all vices, by which one goes to hell: but poverty suggests matter for humility, continence, modesty, sobriety, chastity and all virtues, by which one tends toward glory. Whence Christ, Matt. XIX, 24: "It is easier," he says, "for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven." Just as therefore a camel cannot pass through the eye of a needle except by a miracle: so also a rich man cannot enter the kingdom of heaven except by a miracle. See what I have said concerning the destruction of riches at Isaiah, cap. V, vers. 9. Poverty therefore is nearer to heaven than riches. "Poverty is a great wing, by which one flies so swiftly into the kingdom of heaven," says St. Bernard, sermon 4 On Advent. Third, God, to show forth the riches of his goodness, mercy and magnificence, chose the poor rather than the rich, and to stir the poor to great humility, gratitude, honor and love of God. See what is said I Cor. I, 26 and seq. Fourth, because the poor by contempt of the world buy heaven from God. God therefore becomes their debtor: for since they have left all things for God, it is fitting that God repay them his kingdom. Whence Nazianzen in Verses On Beatitude: "Blessed," he says, "is he who buys Christ with all his fortunes." And oration 18: "This," he says, "is the most excellent business, by which brief and fragile goods are exchanged for eternal glory." And St. Augustine, last sermon On Various Subjects: "What," he says, "is more glorious for a man than to sell his own things and buy Christ?" See Matt. cap. XIX, vers. 28. Fifth, because God requires an empty heart, that he may possess it wholly; but the hearts of the poor are empty, while those of the rich are full of riches as much as of vices; those therefore are capable of faith, glory and grace, these however incapable. The rich man therefore, whose heart is in the air, is unfit to receive heavenly things; but the poor man, since his heart cannot be in the air which he lacks, transfers it to the ether which he hopes for: he therefore has a free and ample heart, and one capable of God. See St. Chrysostom, homily 2 To the People. Seneca saw the same thing through a shadow, epistle 8: "No one else," he says, "is worthy of God except he who has despised riches; and therefore formerly for the priest of Jupiter it was not only criminal to touch ivy, but even to name it": For ivy was a symbol of tenacity and adhesion to earthly things, as Pierius testifies, Hierog. cap. LI. Most excellently St. Augustine, book On 12 Degrees of Abuses, degree 8: "By right dispensation," he says, "the merciful judge commits the kingdom of heaven to those to whom he has taken away participation in earthly kingdoms among mortals, so that he himself appears rich in the seat of heaven, Which God promised to those who love Him,—and therefore to those who obey His law. For he who loves God ought to love those things which God loves; and to hate those things which God hates, says St. Augustine, nay rather Christ, John XV, 15: "If you love," He says, "me, keep my commandments." Hence learn first, that not to faith alone and to believers, as the heretics wish, but to charity and to those who love, that is, to those exercising works of charity toward God and neighbor, the kingdom of God has been promised; and therefore to one wishing to attain it, works of charity are necessary. Second, that the kingdom of heaven is promised and given as it were as a reward for the merit of works of charity. Third, that it is holy to undertake these things with a view to this reward and recompense, as David did, Psalm CXVIII, 112, saying: "I have inclined my heart to do thy justifications for ever for the sake of thy reward." He alludes to Isaiah LXIV, 4, which St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians at about the same time when James wrote these things, in his first epistle, chapter II, 9, cites thus from the Septuagint: "The eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him." For these last words of Isaiah and Paul are antistrophic to these words of James, namely because the same Holy Spirit was speaking through the mouths of these three witnesses, nay rather of His Prophets. Morally: Learn at how easy a price God sells the kingdom of heaven, namely at the price of love: His love is the price. Love God, and you will merit God and God's kingdom, you will buy and obtain it. Love God and you will reign, both in heaven and on earth, as Moses promises to Israel, Deuteronomy XI, 24. Furthermore, who would not love God supremely lovable and his supreme good, who is the joy of all angels and men; in whom are all delights, all riches, all honors, all wisdom, all glory, all goods in an immense and infinite degree? Who would not love God, who first loved us so earnestly that He created us from nothing, redeemed and recreated us lost through His Son, called back the averse, and drew back those falling into hell to heaven? Who would not love God, who poured out His love, Himself entirely, and the bowels of His charity most abundantly upon us? who daily, nay at every moment, animates us, sustains us, feeds us, loads us with His grace and innumerable gifts? Who would not love God, who desires to be loved by us, nay commands it, and promises heaven to the lover, threatens hell to the non-lover? Wherefore sinners and the reprobate are inexcusable, nay they are foolish and insane, who, in order that a small creature, namely a vile pleasure or honor, might be enjoyed and loved by them, have hated the Creator; who have preferred earth to paradise, men and beasts to angels, the kingdom of demons to the kingdom of God, hell to heaven. What is more demented? what is more insane? Excellently does St. Augustine, homily 9 On the Words of the Apostle, teach that a poor man by good will alone, that is by charity, purchases heaven: "Because what is very necessary," he says, "he has: he is poor in the ark, but rich in conscience; poor in his house, but rich in spirit, etc. How cheaply does the kingdom of heaven cost, at what a low price is such a possession offered? It is offered on earth, which you may possess in heaven; it is offered in time, which you may possess in eternity." And soon after: "A certain widow purchased the kingdom of heaven with two small coins, who cast two mites into the treasury, Mark XII. She cast them into the house of God, and purchased the kingdom of heaven. Behold it is worth two coins. I add more, it is worth and cheaper: cheaper is a cup of cold water, cheaper is good will alone. Hear the angels crying out: On earth peace to men of good will. For good will itself is called charity. Therefore he has everything, who has good will." The same, homily 13: "He offered the kingdom of heaven for sale, and willed its price to be a cup of cold water," Matt. X, 42. Wherefore the same in the Manual, chapter X, sighing to God: "I love," he says, "you, my God, I love you, and I wish to love you more and more. Give me, O Lord my God, fair among the sons of men, that I may desire you, that I may love you as much as I wish and as much as I ought: immense, and without measure you ought to be loved, especially by us, whom you have so loved, so saved, for whom you have done such and so great things. O love who always burn, and never are extinguished, sweet Christ, good Jesus, charity my God, kindle me with all your fire, your love, your sweetness, your affection, your desire, your charity, your joy and exultation, your mercy and gentleness, your pleasure and concupiscence, which is holy and good, which is chaste and pure, that wholly full of the sweetness of your love, wholly vaporized in the flame of your charity, I may love you my Lord most sweet and most beautiful with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength, and with all my intention, with much contrition of heart and a fountain of tears, with much reverence and fear, having you in my heart, in my mouth, and before my eyes always and everywhere, so that no place may be left in me for adulterous loves." And chapter III: "O sweetness of love, and love of sweetness, let my belly eat you, and let my bowels be filled with the nectar of your love, and let my mind eruct a good word. Charity my God, sweet honey, snowy milk, you are food for the great; make me grow in you, that with a healthy palate you may be eaten by me. You are my life by which I live, the hope to which I cling, the glory which I desire to attain. Hold my heart for me, rule my mind, direct my understanding, raise my love, suspend my spirit, and draw the mouth of your spirit thirsting for you into the waters above. Let, I beseech you, the tumult of the flesh be silent. Let the phantasies of lands and waters, of air and sky be hushed; let dreams and imaginary revelations, every tongue, every sign, and whatever comes to pass in passing be silent. Let the soul itself be silent to itself, and pass beyond itself, not thinking of itself, but of you my God, because you are truly all my hope and confidence."
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6. But you have dishonored the poor: — ητιμάσατε, that is, you have dishonored, despised, scorned: thus the Syriac; and consequently you have dishonored God, who is the author of poverty, and father of the poor, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus XI, 14: "Good and evil, life and death, poverty and riches (that is, wealth) are from God." And Proverbs XXII, 2: "The rich and poor have met one another: the Lord is the maker of them both." Whence the same chapter infers at XIV, 31: "He that oppresseth the poor, reproacheth his Maker: but he that hath mercy on the poor, honoreth him." Wherefore with good reason does St. John of Damascus exclaim, Parallel. 3, cap. XXXVII: "O how great is the dignity of poverty! It becomes as it were a mask of God: for God is hidden under poverty; and the poor man indeed extends a suppliant hand; but God it is who receives." Furthermore, St. James changes the third person to the second, saying: "But you have dishonored," that he may more sharply rebuke and wound the proud rich and those unjust to the poor. Finally, some understand by the poor Christ, who was the poorest of the poor (that is, the very poorest), and therefore their father. But this is narrow and mystical: for according to the letter, he means any poor whatsoever, as is evident from the whole course of the discourse. Do not the rich oppress you by their power! — O poor. He addressed the rich oppressors; now he addresses the poor oppressed. In Greek, καταδυναστεύουσιν ὑμῶν, that is, they rule over you, they command you tyrannically, they oppress you violently with burdens, robberies, injuries, unjust taxes: while, as Salvian says, lib. IV De Provid.: "the powerful decree what the poor shall pay; the favor of the rich decrees what destroys the multitude of the wretched." Truly, Ecclesiasticus XIII, 23: "The hunting of a lion, the wild ass in the desert; so also the pastures of the rich are the poor," as if to say, Just as a lion hunts and preys upon the wild ass, so also does the rich man upon the poor. For riches puff up the mind of the rich man, so that he thinks all things are lawful to him, that he can rule over others, that the poor ought to be subject and obedient to him, that all things are owed to him; and therefore the poor are as it were his slaves and chattels, by whom he may increase his wealth and pomp: finally their riches devour them, just as the greater fish devours the lesser. Wherefore Sallust in Catiline says: "Riches and power," he says, "stir up wars and contentions among mortals." And: "O city for sale and destined to perish speedily, if a buyer be found!" And Juvenal, satire 6: Luxury has lain upon us, and avenges the conquered world; No crime is absent, no deed of lust, since Roman poverty perished. They drag you to the courts, — to tribunals, even of Gentile and infidel judges, whom they either have as kinsmen and friends, or corrupt with bribes. For that this was done by Christians in that age, St. Paul teaches and gravely reproves, I Cor. VI, 1: see the remarks there. This is what the Wise Man admonishes, Ecclesiastes V, 7: "If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent judgments, and subversion of justice in a province; marvel not at this matter: for he that is high hath another higher, and there are others still higher than these, and over all the King of the whole earth commandeth the servant."
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7. Do not they themselves blaspheme the good name. — "Blaspheme," that is, they cause to be blasphemed, they are the cause that it is blasphemed. It is a Hebraism, for cal is put for hiphil. The sense is, as if to say, Rich Christians by their pride, avarice, tyranny, oppression of the poor cause it to be that the Gentiles, seeing these crimes of theirs, blaspheme the name of Christ and of Christianity, and the very faith and religion of Christ itself; as if that faith taught such things or at least permitted them, and did not punish or avenge them. Note: For "good" in Greek it is καλόν, which signifies not only good, but also glorious, as if to say, They blaspheme the name of Jesus, which is glorious and divine, as much as good, sweet and salutary. For the name "Jesus is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, jubilation in the heart," says St. Bernard, serm. 15 in Cant. The name that is invoked upon you, — that is, the name by which you are called, which you are accustomed to invoke, namely the name of Christ and Christian: for we are called Christians from Christ, as it were followers, disciples and children of Christ. It is a Hebraism frequent in the scriptures, as I have often noted. He alludes to Isaiah LXII, 2: "And thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name." Truly St. Ambrose, serm. 12 in Psalm. CXVIII: "An answer must be given," he says, "to so glorious a name: when I say Christian, I say perfect: for in Christ is the fullness of dignity, whose name thou usest; thou wearest the title, why dost thou flee from the interpretation of the title and its perfection?"
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8. If indeed (if fully, that is, if certainly, if however, truly if, indeed if) you fulfill the royal law. — He meets a tacit objection: are the rich then to be hated and despised? He answers, not at all, as if to say: However, I do not forbid that you love the rich also by the common law of charity: if indeed you do this, you do well, provided that you do not respect persons, nor despise the poor, especially because, as St. Ambrose says in Luke XVI: "Neither is all holy poverty, or riches criminal, but as luxury brings shame to riches, so holiness commends poverty." And Ecclesiasticus cap. XIII, vers. 30: "Good is substance to which there is no sin in conscience (for it is an instrument of almsgiving and beneficence), and most wicked is poverty in the mouth of the impious." Secondly, "if" can be expounded as "therefore if", or "moreover if, certainly if, assuredly if", as if to say: Moreover, if you fulfill the royal law which says: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself", you do well. For thus you will avoid respect of persons, which indeed charity excludes, since it embraces all neighbors in the same bosom of love, and pursues both poor and rich with due love and honor. For it seems that he here assigns a remedy for respect of persons, namely charity. For where charity is, there cupidity is banished, and consequently respect of persons. You ask, what law is here called royal, and why? First, some, as Cajetan, think that the law is called royal which kings command their prefects, messengers, friends to be honored by subjects, according to that edict of King Ahasuerus concerning Mordecai: "This honor is worthy of him, whom the King will honor", Esther VI, 11, as if James were saying: While I forbid respect of persons, that you honor the rich and despise the poor, I do not forbid honor to be paid to kings and magistrates, who are rich: for this is due to them, and is commanded by the law of nature, divine and human. But no mention of kings precedes or follows here. Secondly, others think that any law whatsoever is called royal, because it commands and sanctions what is just. For justice is a royal virtue, and the basis of a kingdom and commonwealth. Whence Orpheus in the hymn calls νόμος, νόμος, that is law, "the queen of gods and men." And Cicero, Philip. 1, defines law as "right reason, and from the divine will." And Aristotle, lib. III Polit. cap. ult., says that what law commands, God commands. For every law is a derivation and ray of the eternal law, which is in God. Wherefore when Archidamus was asked: "Who were the rulers of the Spartan city? Laws," he said, "and lawful magistrates." But Demaratus, when asked: "Why did Sparta flourish, when it had a King? Because," he said, "laws in it are more powerful"; therefore laws are royal, because they command kings. Thirdly, others think that the law is called royal because it leads us to the kingdom of heaven and eternity, and was given by God, who is King of kings and Lord of lords; whence the Syriac version renders "the royal law" as "the law of God". Fourthly, Hugh, Thomas the Englishman and the Gloss: The royal law, they say, is the law of grace, namely the Evangelical law: for this excels the law of nature and the Mosaic law as a queen, and makes us kings, Apoc. cap. V, vers. 10. Fifthly, genuinely, the royal law is called the law of charity and mutual love: for James explains it, when he immediately adds: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The love of neighbor therefore is the royal law; and this first, because charity is the queen and prince of all virtues. The law therefore of charity is royal and regal, that is, distinguished, splendid, magnificent and most excellent of all: thus is said a royal spirit, a royal virtue, a royal office, that is, magnificent and excellent: for such befits a king. Secondly, because this virtue befits and adorns all men, especially the powerful, princes and kings: for these ought to excel in charity as in other virtues, inasmuch as they ought to exhibit it to all subjects. Hence Christ, about to constitute St. Peter the prince of the Church, demanded from him this one virtue of charity as a necessary condition, saying: "Simon son of John, lovest thou me more than these?"; and when he answered: "Yea, Lord: thou knowest that I love thee"; he added: "Feed my lambs", John XXI, 15. Thirdly, because this is the principal law of Christ King of kings, which he earnestly and frequently commended, as John XV, 17: "These things I command you, that you love one another." And cap. XIII, vers. 34: "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you." Rom. XIII, 8: "For all the commandment is fulfilled in one word: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Charity worketh no evil: therefore charity is the fulfilling of the law." The law therefore of charity is royal, because it comprehends all others in itself. Fourth, the law of charity is royal, that is, common and universal, because it binds all, and extends to all men absolutely, even enemies, barbarians, and the poor. Just as therefore a royal way is said to be, that is, public, common, by which all travel, not a bypath or devious way: so the law of charity travels by a royal way, because it has nothing crooked, nor does it decline to the right or to the left. Thus Hugo and Dionysius. Whence by it all the just and holy travel, and tend toward heaven. Fifth, because it is superior to all kings and tyrants, and to their threats and punishments. Hence Christians of old offered themselves to death and martyrdom for Confessors who were captured and condemned. Whence St. Nilus exclaims, hom. II On the Ascension of Christ: "O religion more powerful than all kings, and more truly royal! For what things kings stirred up by arms, this dissolved without arms; what these prevented by slaying, this stirred up while being slain, and by the slaughter of its own raised trophies against those who slew." Sixth, it is royal, that is, inviolable, says Vatablus; for the laws of kings are inviolable, for whoever violates the law of charity will pay the penalty in hell and eternal fires. Seventh, the law of Moses was one of fear, and therefore servile; but that of Christ is one of love, and therefore royal. For the ancients depicted love everywhere girt about with golden crowns, as if wholly royal. Eighth, finally, the law of charity is "royal," because, as St. Bernard says, serm. 83 in Canticles: "Love, when it comes, draws all affections into itself and captivates them, as it were a King commanding all affections." And soon after: "Love alone is of all the senses, movements and affections of the soul, in which a creature can, even if not equally, respond to the Creator, or render a mutual return of like kind," etc. For when God loves, He wills nothing other than to be loved: indeed He loves for no other purpose than that He be loved, knowing that those are blessed by that very love who have loved themselves. Morally, the royal law of charity and of Christ signifies all Christians, subjects of Christ, and that they are endowed with the character of kings, and have a royal mind, that is, a broad, excellent, beneficent and munificent disposition toward all, so that they may eagerly love, help, protect, and advance each person, both poor and rich; both foreigners and citizens; both malevolent and benevolent: for narrow, restricted and cold is the heart of private persons, who seek only their own advantages, and therefore it contracts itself through injuries, misdeeds, and slanders, and turns away from those who injure: but the heart of kings and princes is broad, liberal, lofty, burning like the sun, which scatters the rays of its beneficence upon all, whether friends or enemies, as I said on Isaiah XLV, 1. This is what St. Peter says, in agreement with St. James: "You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation," I Epistle, cap. II, vers. 9. Wherefore Saul, seeing the charity of David, by which he had spared his enemy, whom he had in his power, received it as a certain omen of the kingdom. "Now I know," he says, "that thou shalt surely be king, and shalt have the kingdom of Israel in thy hand," I Kings XXIV, 21. In like manner it is said that God gave to Solomon the king breadth of heart, III Kings IV, 29, that is, greatness and magnificence of mind, so that among the Jews and men he would be and stand out in mind, wisdom, counsel, judgment, equity, charity, providence, and rule as an angel; and would be as a father among children, as a master among disciples, as a shepherd among sheep, as a leader among soldiers; thus from Abulensis, Lyran, Cajetan and others our Pineda, lib. VI On the Affairs of Solomon, cap. IX. Excellently Pliny in the Panegyric of Trajan: "As it is the mark of happiness," he says, "to be able as much as you wish; so it is the mark of greatness to wish as much as you are able." Moreover, this greatness of soul induces in the same person rectitude, equity, and tranquility in all things and through all things, so that by no flatteries, gifts, forces, by no insults, injuries, ingratitude, etc., is he moved away equally from rectitude as from beneficence. "It is honorable," says Polybius, discourse 6, "for the gods, or for those who are considered nearest to the gods." On the contrary: "It is better to serve tyranny than to serve the passions," says Pythagoras. Wherefore most excellently Iamblichus, in his letter to Agrippa: "It is necessary," he says, "that the prefect of the laws be most thoroughly purified, according to the supreme rectitude of the laws; and he should be deceived neither by seduction nor by fraud through ignorance, nor inflict force on inferiors, nor be attracted by any unjust occasion: for the savior and guardian of the laws ought to be as incorrupt as it is possible to be in human nature." For which reason the royal law is the same as that of perfect liberty, as St. James himself called it, chapter 1, verse 25. For he who is free from fear, from love and from every other desire, which those who obey it enslave to their servitude and make slaves, has a royal mind and royal works, and therefore fulfills the law royally. But the law of charity, because it destroys cupidity, produces this liberty, and therefore is the law of perfect liberty, and thus is royal. Secondly, the law of charity and of Christ is royal and golden, not only because its object is royal, golden and excellent, but because its manner likewise is royal, golden and singular. For Christ wished us to fulfill it liberally from love of justice, not slavishly from fear of punishment. Moreover Christ, according to that passage in Hosea XI, 4: "I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bonds of charity," went before us by his own example in the royal law of charity which he imposed upon us, when for us ungrateful and sinners, from immense love, he expended his whole life, body and blood, so that we might do the same from love and example of him. Thirdly, charity is royal, because never as a slave does it feel labor, but as a mistress it has pleasure even in death and torments. Whence St. Augustine, in his treatise 65 on John: "What a wonderful kind of death is this," he says, "to which it was not enough not to be in pains, unless it were moreover in delights?" This is shadowed forth in Samson, Judges XIV, 8, who, having gone to his beloved Philistine woman, killed a lion, and returning found a honeycomb in the mouth of the lion; because love makes whatever things are most difficult, sweet and honeyed. Thus the Martyrs went rejoicing to crosses and fires, because the law urged them, charity, I say, royal charity burned them. Fourthly, finally, charity is royal, because it makes lovers kings, and places upon them crowns and diadems of the kingdom in the heavens. Most especially, however, the love of enemies makes the soul lofty and royal. Whence Didymus, Chrysostom and Euthymius on Psalm IV assert that David there, when he says, verse 1, "Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress," asks for the enlargement of the heart and the gift of magnanimity, and the breadth of charity, by which he might also love his enemies. Charity therefore is royal, because it embraces all good, all dignity, all eminence. "King Porus, captured by Alexander and asked how he wished to be treated? In a royal manner, he answers. And again asked whether he wished anything else? he answers: Nothing; for in a royal manner all things are contained," says Plutarch, oration 1 On the Fortune of Alexander. Much more in the royal law and love of charity are all things contained. Wherefore if any struggle of cupidities, contentions, wars should arise in us or with our neighbors, let charity dispel, conquer and triumph over it as King, law and judge of all, according to that passage in Colossians III, 15: "And above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection; and let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts." See the things said there. According to the Scriptures. — That is to say, the royal law which I have admonished should be perfected, is that which the holy Scriptures of both the Old and New Testament dictate and sanction, namely: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself": for this law is written and sanctioned in Leviticus XIX, 18, where it is said "Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself." For a friend is any neighbor who is joined to us by nature, as I said there; and Matthew V, 43, and Romans XIII, 9. For St. James wrote this Epistle after the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, as I showed in the preface, and consequently after the Gospel of St. Matthew. For St. Matthew wrote this in the year of Christ 41, as Eusebius and St. Jerome hand down. But Paul wrote the Epistle to the Romans in the year of Christ 58, as I taught there from Baronius. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. — Neighbour is any human being whatsoever: for he possesses the same nature as we do; and therefore he was made to the image of God, and by God was destined to the same grace, glory and eternal happiness. See what is said Levit. XIX, 18, and Rom. XIII, 9. The sense is, as if to say, The royal law of charity, which commands and says: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself", does not accept nor except persons, but embraces all, both poor and rich, both friends and enemies, both strangers and those of one's own household, in the same bosom of charity. Exercise this therefore everywhere, thus you will not sin by acceptance of persons, or by any other sin. For every sin violates the law of charity. You do well, — if namely you fulfil the law, as has gone before. Whence it is evident that we are able with the grace of God to fulfil the law. Therefore the heretics deny this wrongly.
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9. Reproved by the law. — For the law forbids the acceptance of persons, Levit. XIX, 15; Deuter. I, 17, and elsewhere. Others say, "by the law", namely of nature, which is written and engraved in the conscience. For conscience dictates that the acceptance of persons is a sin: whence Menander said of it: "To all mortals conscience is God."
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10. Whosoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, is become guilty of all. — This answers an objection. For lest anyone say: I keep the rest of the law, even if I accept the persons of the rich; therefore I am just, therefore I shall be saved. For this was the error of the Pharisees, and later of R. Moses and R. Solomon in Deuteronomy, title 1 On Penance, namely that he would be saved who kept the greater part of the law, even if not the whole: because he would have a greater heap of good works than of evil ones. St. James responds that he who violates one law violates all, and becomes guilty of all; and therefore is unjust, and guilty of hell. Thus Bede and St. Augustine, epistle 29. You will ask, how is this true? For many violate only one law, and observe the rest. Therefore they become guilty of only one, not of all the others. First, an Author cited by St. Augustine, in the book On True and False Penance, chapter XIV, responds that he becomes guilty of all, because all sins remitted in a certain way return through ingratitude and are imputed. Second, Dionysius and Richard of St. Victor, in the book On the Incarnation of the Word, part I, chapter XIV, say he becomes guilty of all, because he loses all merits, as if he had violated the whole law, according to that passage in Ezekiel XVIII: "All his justices shall not be remembered." Third, others hold that he becomes guilty of all, that is, he harms all the virtues acquired, because he destroys their perfect state, namely by generating a vicious habit, which impedes their operations. But these responses do not touch the matter. For when James says he becomes guilty of all, understand "all" of the precepts; not of sins, merits, or acquired virtues. Fourth, more probably the Gloss, Lyra and others say he becomes guilty of all, because he incurs the same penalty of loss, namely privation of grace, charity, infused moral virtues, merits, and glory and heaven itself, just as if he had violated all precepts. But neither does this touch the point, both because it does not explain how he becomes guilty of all commandments, when he has not violated all; and because guilt properly signifies culpability, not penalty, although obligation to penalty and the penalty itself follow from culpability. For the response: Note that a little before, concerning the Pharisees, it was indicated from Burgensis and others, namely that at that time there was an error and heresy of the Pharisees, who, just as in explaining the precepts of the Decalogue they erred in many ways, as Christ shows in Matthew V, so likewise held that to transgress one or another precept of the law was not a grave sin by which God would be offended, unless one transgressed all precepts or the greater part of them: for from the greater part which he keeps, he should be deemed just rather than unjust from one violated: nor is every sin iniquity: nor is there any crime if someone denies the office of charity to his neighbor, provided he retains love toward God. Against these James here asserts that he who offends in one point becomes guilty of all, and incurs the offense and wrath of God, as one to whom He has commanded both one and the other: for He who established the whole law also established each of its precepts. Against these same ones St. John writes, epistle 1, chapter III, and says: "Whosoever committeth sin, committeth also iniquity; and sin is iniquity." Again: "He that loveth not his brother, abideth in darkness, and remaineth in death: he that hateth his brother, is a murderer"; read chapter III, which is entirely about this matter. A similar error was that of certain Christians in the time of St. Augustine, as he himself relates in the Enchiridion LXXV, who thought they would be holy and saved if they gave alms, even if they violated the other precepts and lived wickedly, from the fact that Christ said, Luke XI, 41: "Give alms, and behold all things are clean unto you." Just as now heretics teach that they and theirs are sanctified and saved by faith alone, even if they violate the law of God and commit many sins. Against all these St. James here teaches that he is impious and unjust, and guilty of damnation, who violates even one law of God, and to break the root of the error, he says he becomes guilty of all, so far is it from the case that by keeping it he should be denominated or called just. For good, says St. Dionysius, On the Divine Names, chapter IV, comes from an integral cause, evil from individual defects. For in order that a work be good, it must have all the required conditions: but if even one be lacking, it will be evil, not good. In like manner, in order that someone be called good and just, he must keep the whole law. For if he violates even one, he will be evil and unjust, and guilty of all. But for what reason of all, when he has violated only one? I answer: understand τὸ "all" conjunctively, or collectively taken, not copulatively. For all laws and precepts together make up and constitute one total law, just as the ten precepts make up and form the Decalogue, as if to say: Whoever violates one law violates the whole body of law, which is constituted from individual laws, despising the majesty and power of the legislator, namely God, as follows. He violates therefore all things, not individually, inasmuch as all things make up one whole: for when the whole is violated, all the parts which constitute it are violated, inasmuch as they constitute it. It is therefore an enallage of the universal whole for the entire whole; namely "all," that is, the whole law, as if to say: He violates every, that is, the whole law, he violates the integrity of the law: for the whole perishes and ceases to be whole, if even one part alone is taken from it, even if the rest remain in it. Thus he who fornicates transgresses the whole Decalogue, which is named from the ten commandments, and from these as from parts of a single composite it is formed. For even if he keeps all the rest, he cannot nevertheless be said to have kept and fulfilled the Decalogue. With a similar enallage James said, cap. 1, vers. 2: "All," that is, the whole and complete, "joy count, brethren, when you shall fall into divers temptations." Thus Bede: "He," he says, "who offends in one, becomes guilty of all; not because he has violated all the precepts of the law, but because he has despised the author of the law, and by that reward is deservedly deprived, which is set before the keepers of the law." That this is the meaning is manifest clearly from the reason which James adds: "For he that said: Thou shalt not commit adultery, said also: Thou shalt not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but thou dost kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law," which namely is constituted as a certain whole from individual laws, as from its parts. In a similar way in music a single discordant voice corrupts the whole music and harmony. The sense therefore of James is, as if he were to say: Justice consists in the observance of the whole law: wherefore, in order that someone be just and be called just, he ought to observe the whole law; so that if he offend in even one, for instance in the acceptance of persons, he is and is called unjust and a transgressor of the law; and therefore he is guilty of divine wrath and subject to condemnation. For the law and the justice of the law is as it were one crown, one garment, one golden robe clothing and adorning the whole man; which is wholly violated, if you take away or violate even one part from it: for thus its integrity, appearance and beauty are taken away. Hence secondly, St. Augustine, epist. 29 (which is entirely on this opinion of James): "He who," he says, "offends in one, becomes guilty of all," because he acts against charity, on which the whole law depends. "He becomes therefore guilty of all, by acting against that on which all things depend," as being that in which they are connected, and become as it were one integral commandment of charity: for charity is the form of all laws and virtues. Thus also Oecumenius, and St. Gregory, hom. 27 in Evang.: "All," he says, "precepts are one in the root of charity." Just as therefore a heretic, who does not believe one article of faith, loses the whole faith not only of that article, but of all the others: for even if he says he believes them, yet he does not believe them with divine faith, but with human: so he who violates one law loses charity, not only of that law, but of all the others, so that even if he observes and does them, yet he observes and does none of them out of charity. Hence thirdly, Dionysius: "He becomes," he says, "guilty of all, because he turns himself away from the supreme good, in which all things have a certain connection: for all things flow from it, and tend to it; so that if you neglect one, you shall not attain the supreme good." Hence fourthly, he becomes guilty of all, because he loses God's friendship, grace and spiritual life, and incurs the spiritual death of the soul and the guilt of hell; just as he who is armed with his whole body, except one part, receives in that part a lethal wound, which kills him just as much as if he had received a lethal wound in all the other parts. Just as therefore a wound of one member takes away life from the others: so one sin, for example of drunkenness, takes away not only the life contrary to sobriety, but also from all the other virtues; thus the Author of the Imperfect Work in Chrysostom, hom. 35. Hence fifthly, Hugh, as if to say: He becomes guilty of all, that is, he shall be condemned as an enemy of God, as if he were guilty of all, although not so gravely nor with such great punishment: just as he who opens one gate to the enemy opens all, and the whole city: for the enemy enters through one, and occupies and lays waste the city. Thus one spark of fire burns down a whole house; thus one hole in a dike causes the flooding of the whole river, so that it inundates all the fields; thus a little leaven corrupts the whole mass, says the Apostle, I Cor. V, 5. All these senses therefore are connected, and from the first one which St. James properly intends, they are drawn forth as it were like streams from a fountain and like conclusions from their principle. For all of them refute the error of the Pharisees and rabbis cited a little before, and of certain unlearned Christians, who think that those will be saved who have had more good works than evil. And to prove this they abuse the saying of Christ: "Give alms, and behold all things are clean unto you," Luke XI, 41. Whom St. Augustine refutes, Enchir. cap. LXXV, as I have already said. For the mind of Christ is far otherwise, namely to exhort the avaricious Pharisees to almsgiving, for that indeed washes away sins, not baptisms and legal lustrations, as the Pharisees thought, as if to say: All things internal and external, which you, O Pharisees, think are washed away by your lustral water, are not washed away by that, but rather by almsgiving. For almsgiving, if it be done by a sinner as it ought to be, namely with contrition for sins going before and a purpose of restoring goods badly acquired, washes away all guilt, or certainly disposes that man to it, and for him conciliates and obtains the grace and mercy of God unto repentance. Note: St. James speaks of a grave and perfect offense, namely one which is mortal sin. For this is a perfect violation of the law, and makes one guilty of all: but venial sin is not such. Whence the Doctors rightly gather from this place the distinction of venial sin from mortal. Secondly, from this saying of James it does not follow the dogma of the Stoics and Lutherans, namely that all sins are equal or connected; rather James supposes that it can happen that someone keeps the whole law, and offends only in one. Thus St. Thomas, I II, Quest. LXXXIII, art. 1. Mystically and morally, he who offends in one becomes guilty of all, because the violation of one law gradually allures and draws to the violation of another and another, and finally of all, for example excessive love of money draws to frauds, illicit contracts, lawsuits, fights, beatings, murders, again to pride, gluttony, lust, finally to blasphemy, heresy and atheism: for sins are bound together like ropes which constrain the impious, according to that: "He is held fast by the cords of his own sins," Prov. V, 22; and: "Woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with the rope of a cart," Isaiah V, 18. See the sayings there. This is what the Author says in the book On True and False Repentance, tom. IV of the works of St. Augustine, cap. XIV: "He who offends," he says, "in one becomes guilty of all, because all virtue suffers detriment from one vice: for if anyone falls into avarice, he destroys liberality, and has already diminished chastity: for through love of money he would violate chastity, or at least would love it less." Hence again one sin cannot be forgiven unless all others are forgiven, because one cannot be forgiven unless grace and charity are infused, which are opposed to all the others as well as to that one alone. Hence learn with how much care and study we ought to avoid any sin whatsoever, and with all our souls to strive for virtue and charity. Because, as Nazianzenus says in his Poem to Virgins: Whoever meets the small obstacle, He will never be carried headlong into graver crimes. For although one imperfect virtue can exist without another, nevertheless one perfect virtue generally brings all the others with it: for virtues in a perfect state are connected, as St. Thomas teaches, II-II, Question LXXIII, article 1, ad 1. Similarly on the other hand; one perfect vice brings the others; whence St. Augustine, epistle 29: "The more," he says, "anyone has sinned gravely or lightly, so much the greater in committing sin, so much the lesser in loving God and neighbor. So much the fuller in iniquity, so much the emptier in charity. And then are we perfect in charity, when nothing remains from infirmity." And earlier from the opinion of the Stoics he thus shows the concatenation of virtues and vices: "Certainly from this they persuade that whoever has one virtue has all; and all are lacking to him to whom one is lacking, because prudence can be neither cowardly, nor unjust, nor intemperate: for if any of these is lacking, prudence will not be. Moreover, if prudence will then be, if he is also brave and just and temperate, assuredly where it is, it has the others with it. So also fortitude cannot be imprudent, or intemperate, or unjust; so temperance must necessarily be prudent, brave and just; so justice is not except prudent, brave and temperate. Thus where one true virtue of these is, the others are likewise. But where the others are lacking, that one true virtue is not, even if it seems to be similar in some way, etc. For if virtue were, it would never be left by the other virtues as inseparable companions." St. Ambrose, book V on Luke at that passage, Blessed are the poor, etc.: "Connected," he says, "and linked together are the virtues, so that he who has one appears to have many; and to the Saints one virtue is fitting, but of that which was more abundant, the reward is more abundant." Seneca, epistle 67: "You will find nothing more upright than the upright, not more true than the true, than the temperate more temperate; all virtue is in measure; measure is a certain standard. Constancy has nothing by which to proceed, not more than confidence, or truth, or faith. What can be added to the perfect? Nothing. Or it was not perfect to which something was added. Therefore not even to virtue; or if anything can be added, it was lacking. That something can grow is a sign of an imperfect thing: every good falls under the same laws: private and public utility are joined." The same, epistle 68: "When someone bears torments bravely, he uses all virtues, perhaps when one is at hand and patience especially appears. But there is fortitude, of which patience and endurance and tolerance are branches. There is prudence, without which no plan is undertaken, which advises that what you cannot escape, you bear most strongly. There is constancy which cannot be cast down, and lets go its purpose by no force extorting it. There is that inseparable company of virtues. Whatever is done honorably, one virtue does it, but by the judgment of counsel. But what is approved by all virtues, even if it seems to be done by one, is to be desired." Plutarch, oration 1 On the Fortune of Alexander the Great: "Alexander," he says, "confirmed that decree of the Stoics: Whatever the wise man does, he does with all virtues, and one virtue takes the first part, the others he associates with himself for perfecting the matter. Thus in Alexander it is possible to see military virtue tempered with humanity, gentleness that is brave, liberality in giving accommodated to the reasons of his estate, anger easy to be appeased, love that is temperate, relaxation not idle, endurance of labors not lacking in solace. Who mixed festivities with war, who expeditions with feasting, who weddings and hymeneal rites with sieges and most difficult matters to be conducted? Who showed himself more hostile to those sinning, more humane to those suffering adversity? Who was graver to those fighting, more benign to those seeking pardon?" In a similar way one sin, unless it be immediately destroyed by penance, immediately by its weight draws to another and another, and finally induces the others. For as there is a chain and connection of virtues, so also of vices. St. Gregory, book XXXI of the Morals, chapter XXXI, otherwise XVII, says: "That very queen of vices, pride, when it has fully seized the conquered heart, immediately delivers it to be devastated by seven principal vices as by its own leaders, which leaders the army follows, because from them undoubtedly spring troublesome multitudes of vices." And below: "For the root of all evil is indeed pride, of which it is said in Ecclesiastes X, The beginning of all sin is pride. But its first offspring, namely the seven principal vices, are brought forth from this virulent root." See the same, book VII of the Morals, chapter XII, at that passage of Job VI, 18: "Their paths are twisted."
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11. He who said: Thou shalt not commit adultery, said also: Thou shalt not kill. — He proves and shows that he who offends in one becomes guilty of all, from the fact that all precepts are sanctioned by the same legislator God, whose authority therefore is contemned and offended, if you transgress even one, just as if you transgressed all. In the one legislator therefore all laws come together, and have their unity, so that if you violate one, you are reckoned to violate all, because you violate the integrity of the law, in the manner which I explained a little before.
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12. Thus speak, and thus do. — James concludes by exhorting that they now do what has been said, and not accept the persons of the rich, but fulfill the royal law of love of neighbor, both poor and rich, mindful of divine judgment, in which Christians who have violated it will be more gravely condemned, because they themselves have received from Christ the law of liberty, and have ungratefully abused it, indeed have transgressed it. The sense therefore is, first, as if to say: What I have hitherto taught, especially concerning avoiding acceptance of persons, and the love opposed to it, which is to be pursued in all, namely, that acceptance of persons is repugnant to Christian faith and religion; and therefore it is not lawful for a believer to despise the poor and exalt the rich; but concerning both these and those the law must be fulfilled, which ordains: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself": these things, I say, receive as not my words, but Christ's, and therefore believe, and thus speak when discourse concerning them arises, and thus do, bringing faith and word into deed when the matter requires deed. To which I suggest to you a spur, namely the remembrance and fear of divine judgment, in which God will demand from you an exact account both of words and of individual deeds; and the greater, because He has given you the Evangelical law, which is royal and of perfect liberty, as I have already said: for in this way you are in turn loved by God, and will obtain mercy in His judgment. Thus Bede. Secondly, Thomas Aquinas restricts these to the precept of love of neighbor, which preceded, as if to say: Speak to neighbors so benignly, so affably, so lovingly, and exhibit and do such works of love to them, that they themselves may feel that they are loved by you, and that you fulfill the commandment of divine love. Thirdly, Faber, as if to say: Speak what is honest, Christian, religious, as befits disciples of Christ; not what is dishonest, pagan, worldly: for such things befit the carnal, pagans and worldly. Fourthly, more generally Dionysius, and our Lorinus, as if to say: In all words and deeds conduct yourselves so prudently, honestly and ardently, as if you were about to be judged immediately by the law of liberty, that is the Evangelical, which, because it has endowed its followers with such liberty, demands greater perfection. Whence St. Peter, agreeing with James, in his first epistle, cap. IV, vers. 11, says: "If any one speak," he says, "as the words of God (which James says, 'thus speak'); if any one minister, as one that ministereth by the virtue wherewith God ministereth (which James says, 'and thus do'): that in all things God may be honored." The first sense seems more genuine, and more adequate to the text. As about to be judged by the law of liberty (the Evangelical, of which I, 25) — In Greek μέλλοντες κρίνεσθαι, that is, about to be judged, that is, to be judged. But μέλλω in the Scriptures often means the same as incipio, as is evident from Apoc. III, 16, Acts III, 3, and cap. XVIII, vers. 14; John IV, 47, and elsewhere, and this signification is here more apt and more effective, as if to say: That judgment is at hand and is about to begin: prepare yourselves therefore for it continually: wherefore thus do, and thus speak, as if mindful that you will shortly be judged, and will render to Christ the judge an account of all your words and deeds. For since the Evangelical law is a law of liberty, it demands not only exact, but also free and liberal observance of Christ's commandments. God therefore begins to judge us immediately in this life through the judgment of conscience, which He establishes as His tribunal in the mind of man, and often through external plagues and internal threats which He inflicts on sinners; properly however through particular judgment, which the soul undergoes at death; but He will perfect it on the last day of the world, in which He will judge us according to the law of liberty, that is, the Evangelical, not the Mosaic. Morally James teaches us to remember in all our words and deeds the Judge Christ and divine judgment; for that judgment is near at hand, indeed it begins even now. For inspirations and threats sent inwardly by God to the mind, and admonitions and reproofs from Preachers, Confessors, and Superiors; likewise adversities and plagues inflicted by God, are as it were the beginning of the final judgment soon to follow. Add to this: This life is brief and is nothing other than a course toward death, the beginning of death and a continual persecution; but in death the particular judgment of the soul takes place, which is the beginning, indeed the compendium and certain prejudgment of the universal and final judgment. This is what James says, chapter V, verse 9: "Behold, the judge standeth before the door." And St. Paul urges the Areopagites to penance by fear of the day of judgment, Acts XVII, 30; as also Felix the Governor, Acts XXIV, 25. The same apostle in Hebrews IX, 27: "It is appointed," he says, "unto men once to die, and after this the judgment." Again he inculcates this judgment to the Romans, chapter II, verse 5; and to the Corinthians communicating unworthily, I Corinthians XI, 29; and to the Thessalonians, epistle II, chapter I, verse 5; and St. John, epistle I, chapter IV, verse 17: "That we may have confidence," he says, "in the day of judgment." St. Jude, verse 14, from the prophet Henoch: "Behold," he says, "the Lord cometh with thousands of his saints to execute judgment against all." St. Peter, epistle II, chapter III, verse 10: "The day of the Lord shall come," he says, "as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence, etc. Therefore what manner of people ought you to be in holy conversation and godliness, expecting and hastening unto the coming of the day of the Lord." St. Clement, epistle 1, relates that St. Peter was accustomed to say: "Who could sin, if he always placed the judgment of God before his eyes?" Excellently does Climacus, at step 20: "Just as," he says, "he who hungers remembers bread; so he who wishes to be saved cannot but remember the final judgment." Whence St. Augustine, turning this over constantly in his mind before his conversion, either did not extinguish the ardor of concupiscence in him, but certainly restrained it, lest he sin so much and so greatly, as he himself relates in book VI of the Confessions, final chapter. And St. Jerome, in his epistle to Florentius: "I," he says, "stained with all the filth of sins, day and night await with trembling to render the last farthing." St. Ephrem constantly turned over in his mind the judgment of God, and therefore was in continual fear, compunction and tears, with which all his books and treatises are filled. Wise therefore is he who imitates these wise men, and namely St. James, who here punishes short of what is deserved, and rewards the pious beyond what is deserved, as the common opinion of the Scholastics holds. Hence some according to Bede thus expound it, as if to say: More are saved by God's mercy, namely those who have shown mercy, than are damned by judgment; more are elect than reprobate. This is true in angels: for more stood firm than fell; whence in Apocalypse XII, 4, it is said the dragon drew only a third part of the stars, that is of the angels, mystically: for the literal sense of that place is different, as I shall say there. In men it is false. For it is certain that far the greater part of men are damned, if you comprehend all absolutely, even Gentiles, Saracens and heretics. But if, excluding these three, you take only Catholics, some think that more of them are saved, not only infants (for almost all of these are saved, since almost all are baptized), but also adults, because almost all of them receive the holy Sacraments at the end of life, by which all sins are expiated, and thus expiated they depart in the state of grace and salvation. The parable of the marriage feast of the kingdom of heaven favors this, from which only one of the invited was excluded, because he did not have a wedding garment, Matthew XXII, 12: where that one represents the whole multitude of the reprobate. Thus from Sylvester, Francis Suarez, On God Triune and One, book VI, chapter III. But on the other hand, reason and authority seem to suggest that more adult Christians are damned than saved. Reason: first, because far more were damned in the state of the law of nature—in which all perished by the flood, so that only Noah the just with his sons and their wives escaped—than in the state of the Mosaic law. In the latter, all who went forth from Egypt, namely six hundred thousand men and more, perished in the desert on account of murmuring and sins, and only two, namely Joshua and Caleb, entered the promised land; but the sons of those who perished, who did enter it, were not better than their parents; and many Christians are not better than these. Second, because far the greater part of Christians live in a state of mortal sin: but according to the rule of St. Augustine, as one lives, so also does one die, so that it is rare for one who lived badly to die well, and vice versa. You will say: All receive the Holy Sacraments at the end of life. I answer: not all; for many die in battles, ships, mountains, villages, etc., without the Sacraments. Again, of those who do receive them, many receive them badly, and therefore do not expiate their sins: for many labor under gross ignorance of the articles of faith, which they are bound to know and believe explicitly, just as much as the Sacraments; and especially they do not know that an efficacious purpose of abstaining from sins is required in order that one be capable of absolution, and they do not know how strong and constant a resolution of mind is required in order that the purpose be deemed absolute and efficacious. Others, even if they know what is necessary for salvation, nevertheless live heedless of their salvation, wholly intent on gathering riches and dignities, building houses, gardens, vineyards, etc., so that rarely, or never, do they think of God and eternal life and their conscience except at Easter, and that only because they are forced by the precept of the Church to confess and communicate; after Easter is over, they immediately return to earthly things and immerse themselves in them, indeed overwhelm themselves. Others are ensnared by usuries, simony, unjust goods which they are unwilling to restore. Others have concubines, or are implicated in obscene loves, so that they cannot extricate themselves, because they seriously do not wish to. Others foster lawsuits, quarrels and immortal hatreds. Finally, many, even if they know that an efficacious purpose is required for absolution, nevertheless do not strive to procure it and have it, but pretend to have it, indeed falsely persuade themselves. For this purpose is a serious matter, a difficult and sublime thing: but many are unwilling to exert force upon themselves and to strive with all their strength toward so difficult a matter, especially in sickness and at the point of death, when reason, judgment, sense and the strength of man are weakened and dulled: hence from the habit of so many years they form at death such a purpose as they are accustomed to form at Easter, namely superficial, verbal and inefficacious. For by this just observation the sinner is punished, so that he who in life forgot God, in death forgets himself, as St. Gregory and St. Augustine say, in book III of On Free Choice. That is the most just penalty of sin, that he who could do right but would not, loses the ability when he wishes. Moreover, that many lack this serious purpose is gathered from various signs. The first is that they elicit this purpose once in passing at Easter in order that they may confess, because they are forced to this by their Pastors: hence this purpose is more extorted and coerced than free and spontaneous: therefore immediately after Easter and confession they return to their desires, vices and crimes, just as many return to the same after confession made in danger of death, if they escape this danger and recover: which return is a sign that that purpose was coerced and extorted by fear of death, not sincere and serious. Second, because many have bad habits of getting drunk, fornicating, etc., quarreling, perjuring, cursing, which they are unwilling to put off, or if they wish to, they do not apply the remedies necessary to wear away so ingrained a thing. Now, among other vices, lust and pride especially dominate in men: these two are most powerful and fill hell. Third, because many have political principles or vicious ones, directly contrary to this purpose, in which they are nourished from childhood, grow up and live; for example, that an injury done to you and yours ought to be avenged by retaliation; that it is inglorious, base and infamous for one not to do this; that if a duel is offered it ought to be accepted, lest honor be lost; that in banquets one ought to respond to anyone proposing equal draughts, and therefore ought to become drunk before all else; that one ought to consult the state, promotion, family; that in order to retain or increase status and honor, one ought to strive by every means; and that the laws of the Church or of God are not to be heeded if they stand in the way; that life and fortune ought to be protected before all things, even at the cost of God's law; that ignominies, calumnies, blows are not to be tolerated, but like for like ought to be returned. These dictates and principles, given the occasion, they often think about in act, resolve upon, confirm, and never lay aside, not even in confession, so much so that if a Confessor asks them about these things precisely, they respond that they will persist in them: these men, when it is a matter of honor, profit or advantage, do not care for conscience, nor for God, nor for hell. Moreover, these purposes, habitually maintained in them, indeed virtually always remaining in them, are directly opposed to the serious purpose of avoiding all sins and obeying God's laws in all things: and Preachers often do not teach these things, do not explain them, do not inculcate them, but follow the common path of explaining the gospels, commend to sinners the passion of Christ, the mercy of God, the giving of alms, and the cult of the Blessed Virgin, so that she may not allow her worshippers to perish, nor do they descend to the vices proper to this or that place, so as to thunder and hurl lightning against them and root them out: hence cities and peoples remain in the same evil laws, customs, purposes, vices, and reap little or no fruit from all the sermons. Let them therefore change their manner of preaching, if they are eager to consult God, conscience, the Church and their hearers, so that they may strike consciences and from them root out entirely every evil seed which they know to be rampant in such a place. Fourth, even if some confessing at death conceive a true purpose, nevertheless after confession, if they lie ill for several days, as happens, the memory of former desires, which were accustomed to feed that mind, bends it to consent, so that it consents to a depraved thought and lingering pleasure in past and accustomed illicit pleasure; especially because the demon is then accustomed to present the same thing to the mind and refresh it, and to tempt the man most gravely in that final combat, and indeed in that very struggle by which the soul departs from the body; for God permits this to the demon by just judgment in punishment for crimes and negligence, by which when healthy and vigorous they did not care to mortify those desires, but indulged them as a horse and mule: wherefore then many succumb and perish, of which many sad examples exist. For truly our Reverend Father Francis Villanova said, as Father Sacchinus reports, vol. II Hist. Societ., lib. I, n. 131: "The passion and vice which you neglected to mortify in life will tempt you sharply when death approaches." Fifth, virtue, salvation and heavenly glory is a sublime and difficult thing, surpassing all the powers of nature: on the other hand, human nature corrupted by sin is utterly depressed to earthly things, and so alive in it are earthly affections and desires for wealth, honors, advantages, delights, that it scarcely grasps or comprehends heavenly things, much less raises itself to them and strives with all its strength to ascend. Even if God's grace goes before, nevertheless it acts in fallen man as medicine acts in a sick and prostrate man, so that it can scarcely raise him up; and if it does raise him, he easily falls back again and collapses. Wherefore in this general corruption of nature, it is easy for anyone amid so many occasions and temptations of the flesh, the world and the demon to fall into some mortal sin: but to rise from it through penance and efficacious purpose is difficult and very hard. And these are two causes, and as it were two poles, on which the hinge of this question turns, namely the multitude of the damned and the fewness of the saved. For the saying of St. Justin is true, as found in Damascene, lib. II Paralip. cap. LXXXVII: "The mind can scarcely be recalled to those good things from which it has fallen; and again it cannot easily be drawn away from those evil things to which it has become accustomed." Indeed, the weight of these reasons and experiences compelled wise men, and among them our Benedict Justinian, to change his opinion, so that, whereas he had previously thought that more Christians are saved, in this place he revokes that opinion and judges that more are damned. In Rome I heard many holding the same view, and among them recently a certain celebrated doctor and preacher was preaching everywhere that the confessions of those who confess at the approach of death, having lived badly, are worse than all their deeds done previously throughout their whole life. Indeed, St. Augustine himself, sermon 57 On the Seasons, says: "Let him not be assured by this, that in the final time of his life, then he seeks penance, when he cannot perform it. For this persuasion is useless, most beloved." And soon after: "Therefore penance which is sought by the infirm is infirm. Penance which is sought only by the dying, I fear lest it itself die. And therefore, most beloved, whoever wishes to find the mercy of God, let him do penance while healthy in this age, so that he may be able to be healthy in the future." The same, homily 41 among 50: "One performing penance and reconciled, if he departs hence secure, I am not secure." He adds the reason: "If you wish to do penance then when you cannot sin, your sins have left you, not you them, etc. Therefore hold fast what is certain, let go what is uncertain." The same, On the Words of the Lord according to Luke, sermon 24: "Live well, lest you die badly." These same reasons almost persuade me as well, so that, although in certain towns, places, and peoples of good character and education, where namely there are distinguished teachers, pastors, confessors, senators, governors, who continually from childhood instruct, nourish and foster the people in faith and piety, I believe more are saved; nevertheless in many others, where these are lacking, where namely there is great ignorance and neglect of salvation, and where the character of the nation, perverted and corrupted by bad education or society, is nourished and strengthened, I think or fear that more are damned than saved. There is added, first, the authority of Holy Scripture: "God made this age for many, but the future age for few: just as the earth gives much material from which earthen vessels are made, but little from which gold and silver are made. Many indeed are created, but few are saved," says the fourth book of Esdras, chapter VIII, verses 1, 2, 3, which book, although it is not canonical, nevertheless has its authority. Again: "Many are called, but few are chosen," Matthew chapter XX, verse 16, where interpreters teach everywhere that more Christians are damned, few are saved. Thus Origen, Euthymius, Bede, Haymo, St. Thomas, Lyra, Abulensis, Dionysius, Arias Montanus and others, and Maldonatus in chapter XXII of St. Matthew verse 14, Ludovicus Molina, I part., Question XXIII, article 7. One Cajetan, explaining the parable of the five foolish virgins and five wise virgins, Matthew chapter XXV, verse 3, holds the opinion that the number of those to be saved and damned is equal, and that as many are saved as are damned. Furthermore, the words of Christ are clear: "Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!" Matthew chapter VII, verse 13; namely, as Isaiah says, chapter XXIV, verse 13: "As if the few olives that remain be shaken from the olive tree, and the grapes when the vintage is ended." And Micah, chapter VII, verse 1: "Woe is me, because I am become as one that gathereth in the autumn the grapes of the vintage." St. Anselm, while traveling, came upon hunters and dogs pursuing a hare, which, when it was now almost in the mouth of the dogs, ran to the feet of the Saint all trembling and sweating. St. Anselm received it in his hand and said to his companions: "Such is the soul in the final peril of life, which the infernal dogs pursue and strive to devour." Thus his Life has it. Furthermore, the authority of the Fathers favors this opinion. St. Augustine, book III Against Cresconius, chapter LXVI: "They themselves," he says, "good and true Christians, who by themselves are many, are few in comparison with the wicked and false. Thus many grains by which many granaries are filled, we call few in comparison with the chaff." St. Chrysostom, homily 46 to the People: "Many more are those entering into hell, but greater is the kingdom of heaven." The same more clearly, homily 40: "How many," he says, "do you think there are in this city of ours (Antioch) who are saved? It is distressing what I am about to say, yet I shall say it: They cannot be found among so many thousands a hundred who are saved, and even of these I doubt. For what wickedness in the young? what torpor in the old," etc.? St. Gregory, homily 19 in the Gospel: "More come to the faith, but few are led to the heavenly kingdoms." The same proves this at length, Alphonsus Mendoza, Question I positive, "Whether the number of the predestined exceeds the number of the reprobate?" conclusion 4, who among other things, reviewing the depraved morals of our age: Go, he says, to courts, tribunals, workshops, markets, the military, forums, ships, carriages, etc., and there behold the most corrupt morals of boys, youths, men, and elders, perjuries, envies, detractations, frauds, insults, quarrels, obscenities, corrupt desires, pride, avarice, gluttony, drunkenness, etc.; truly you will feel with me and say: There is none, or scarcely one or two of these, who, mindful of his salvation, ever returns to God, according to that of Psalm XIII, 1: "They are corrupted, and become abominable in their devices. There is none that doth good, there is not so much as one"; and Micah, VII, 2: "The holy man is perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men." These reasons and this opinion instill in each one great fear concerning salvation and holy fear, so that according to the Apostle he may work it out with fear and trembling, and therefore seriously examine his conscience; and if he finds in it any principles and dictates contrary to salvation, let him utterly deny and root them out, withdraw his heart and will from excessive love of riches and honors, generously resist desires, and attach himself wholly to the Lord and to God's law, preferring to suffer all things, to lose all things, and to die a thousand times rather than offend Him or lose His grace and friendship. For since so many even Christians are damned, so few are saved, who would not fear? who would not strive to be among the few? who would not carefully avoid the dangers of salvation? who would not secure it in every way? For we have one soul, not more: one lost, all are lost, and that irrevocably for all eternity, so that through it there will be a most miserable future burning in eternal fires. On the other hand, if you save one, you have saved all, and you will be forever most happy and most glorious. Think on this, whoever reads these things. Live for God, live for eternity.
2:13
13. For judgment without mercy (supply, shall be) to him who has not done mercy. — These words fitly cohere with what precedes. For James had said that we ought to speak thus, act thus in all things, so that always mindful of divine judgment we may reconcile it to ourselves, and thus experience it benign and propitious. Now he teaches the manner of reconciling it, which is mercy according to the promise of Christ: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy," Matt. V, 7. On the contrary, he who has not done mercy shall experience that judgment rigid and "without mercy," that is, unmerciful. By "judgment" understand by metonymy the very damnation which shall be inflicted upon the impious and unmerciful by divine judgment, Matt. cap. XXV, 42. Christ teaches the same thing by that parable of the unmerciful servant, to whom his master revoked the entire debt of ten thousand talents already forgiven, because he was unwilling to forgive his fellow servant one hundred denarii, Matt. XVIII, 34. In Greek there is an elegant paronomasia: ἡ γὰρ κρίσις ἀνέλεος τῷ μὴ ποιήσαντι ἔλεος, that is to say, The unmerciful and cruel judgment shall befall the cruel and unmerciful. St. Gregory gives the reason, hom. 13 in Evang.: "Consider," he says, "brethren, that the mercy of God has shut in our hardness: there is now nothing by which man may find excuse. God is despised and waits: he sees himself contemned, and calls back: he takes injury from his contempt, and yet sometimes even promises rewards to those who return: and therefore after James said that mercy exalts judgment, he rightly added that strict judgment shall befall him who has not imitated this ineffable mercy." Whoever therefore does not show mercy to the needy excludes from himself the mercy of God, says Oecumenius. Moreover, mercy exalts judgment. — Here mercy can be understood either as divine or as human. Concerning divine mercy, many with St. Gregory already cited understand it, that is to say, The mercy of God surpasses the justice and judgment of God, because it is proper to God to have mercy and to spare. Whence when mankind fell through the sin of Adam, when judgment wished to punish and condemn all, mercy ran forth and prevailed, decreeing that man should be redeemed through the incarnation and passion of the Word. For although in God all attributes are equal, and justice is as great as mercy, yet he himself uses and exercises mercy more than justice. For, as the Psalmist says, Ps. CXLIV, 9, "his (God's) mercies are over all his works." Whence also the mercy of God over the impious. Secondly, others, such as Damasus, II Parallel. cap. XVI, Catharinus and Salmeron here understand these things of human mercy, so that there is an antithesis with the preceding hemistich, that is to say, Rigid judgment and without mercy shall be to him who has not done mercy: but he who does mercy shall have judgment mixed with great mercy, and thus mercy shall surpass judgment, and shall bend and soften its severity. Whence Vatablus translates, "mercy does not fear judgment"; the Syriac clearly, "you are exalted through mercies above judgment." For the merciful obtain through mercy and almsgiving remission, or mitigation of the punishment due to their sins, and to be inflicted upon them in God's judgment; and if they are in mortal sin, through almsgiving they dispose themselves to receive mercy, grace and justice from God, and they merit it and obtain it from God by congruity: whereby it comes to pass that in judgment on account of this sin they are not to be condemned, but absolved. Mercy therefore surpasses and destroys the rigor of judgment, and as it were wrests from the hand of the judge the rod and scourge, so that the guilty depart immune and free. This is what the Wise Man says, Prov. XIV, 21: "Mercy and truth prepare good things." And Ps. XL, vers. 1: "Blessed is he that understands concerning the needy and poor; the Lord will deliver him in the evil day"; and: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy," Matt. V, 7. Finally, Christ on the day of judgment shall adjudge all the elect to heaven on account of the works of mercy exercised, but the reprobate to hell on account of those neglected, Matt. XXV, 34. Thirdly, the sense shall be full and adequate if you join the first with the second already given, and understand mercy here as both human and divine, that is to say, The mercy of a merciful man provokes the mercy of God, and takes it to himself as advocate and patroness: but both are so powerful and efficacious with God that they resist his judgment and justice, and overcome and destroy it. It is a prosopopoeia. For judgment and mercy are feigned as it were two persons, litigating before God concerning a sinful and guilty man: judgment as plaintiff accuses him and conducts the case for his condemnation; mercy defends and excuses him, and obtains and brings it about that he is absolved, and goes free. Thus mercy appeared to St. John the Almsgiver as a most beautiful virgin, splendidly clothed, crowned with an olive crown upon her head, urging him to almsgiving, saying that she was the daughter of the supreme King, and most familiar and most pleasing to him, and that she could obtain from him all things that she wished; as Leontius relates in his Life of him. Rousing, he says, John from sleep, and regarding him with a smiling and cheerful countenance, she said joyfully: "I am the first of the daughters of the great King. If you will make me your friend, I shall be able to make you familiar to him. For no one has greater confidence with him than I have, since I persuaded him to descend from heaven to earth and to take on human flesh." Wherefore John thereafter was most generous toward the poor, and called them his lords; and he gave this reason: "For they alone," he said, "can help me, that I may not be cast out from the kingdom of Christ." Thus St. Augustine explains it in Psalm CXLIII, saying: "Mercy is set above judgment, in which the work of mercy is found, even if it perhaps had something in judgment by which it might be punished, as a wave of mercy extinguishes the fire of sin." And St. Jerome to Nepotian: "I do not remember," he says, "reading that anyone who willingly exercised the works of charity died a bad death: for he has many intercessors, and it is impossible that the prayers of many should not be heard," so that they might obtain for him contrition and penance, if he be in mortal sin, lest he die in it and be damned, according to that passage in Tobias IV, 11: "Alms deliver from all sin and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness." Where see Serarius and Bellarmine, book III On Good Works, chapter III. Now let us weigh and explain the words themselves precisely. "But mercy exalteth itself above judgment," that is, mercy exalts itself above judgment, surpasses and conquers judgment, and breaks and abolishes its rigid sentence of damnation, to which the sinner is liable, while it brings it about that the merciful are saved according to mercy, and are not damned by the rigor and severity of judgment. Our interpreter appears to have read κατανχᾶται (and thus some Greek codices have it), that is, it raises the neck, lifts the head against judgment: for αὐχήν in Greek is neck or head: whence αὐχέω means the same as I raise the neck, I am proud; and μεγαλαυχεῖ, which our translator renders, "greatly exalts," chapter III, verse 5. "Therefore mercy exalts itself above judgment," that is, it exalts itself against judgment, lifts the neck above judgment, as if to say, Mercy is the conqueror of judgment, and as it were judges and discerns it: for it has a higher tribunal, so that it can annul or change the sentence of judgment, just as a king and Pontiff annul or change the sentences of Cardinals or princes. Just as therefore from Cardinals to the Pope, so from judgment to mercy an appeal is made by the merciful; and so those who in judgment stood with head bowed and fearful on account of sins, as if about to be damned, in the tribunal of mercy on account of the mercy which they have shown, raise their head, and await a certain sentence of absolution and glory. Whence our Mariana thus explains it, as if to say, "Mercy is superior to judgment." And Emmanuel Sa: "Mercy," he says, "exalts itself, namely man, that is, places him above judgment, that is, causes him to escape condemnation. Some read exalts itself above judgment, that is, prevails over judgment, namely by freeing man from condemnation." And Thomas Anglicus: "Mercy," he says, "exalts judgment, because the court of mercy is as it were greater than that of justice: just as it is permitted to appeal from a lesser court to a greater, so from the court of justice to the court of mercy." Just as at Rome many who have lost their case in the Signature of Justice obtain it in the Signature of Grace. Wherefore Paul exhorts in Hebrews IV, 16, saying: "Let us therefore go with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in timely aid." Whence St. Cyril, or rather Clichtoveus (for he supplied the middle eight lost books of Cyril), book V on John chapter XIV: "Above judgment," he says, "mercy is exalted, as oil above water"; just as therefore oil floats above water, so mercy surpasses judgment. Moreover, the Greek texts now have not κατανχᾶται, but κατακαυχᾶται, which corresponds to the Hebrew מתהלל mithallel, that is, it glories, mercy triumphs over judgment, as it were surpassing it and winning the case: just as one who wins a lawsuit is accustomed to glory over the victory against the opposing party. "It glories," therefore, that is, it conquers, it overcomes, it blunts, it dulls judgment, says Oecumenius; for κατακαυχᾶται is used for νικᾷ, by catachresis, because glorying is accustomed to accompany victory. Again, it glories over judgment, that is, over condemnation, that is, it insults condemnation as it were superior and victorious. Some adapt our "superexalts" to this reading and sense, understanding the Greek κατά, that is, "against," as if to say "Mercy superexalts judgment," or "against judgment," that is, it itself exalts and glories against judgment, gloriously exalts itself and makes itself superior to judgment. But it is unusual in Latin to understand "against" in this way. Wherefore Erasmus, Gagneius and others suspect that for "superexalts" one should read "superexults." For thus St. Augustine, in epistle 29, reads "judgment superexults"; and in epistle 89, "superexults over judgment"; and Bede here, when he explains it thus: "Just as in judgment he will grieve who did not show mercy, so he who did show it, being rewarded, will exult and rejoice." For he who wins a lawsuit glories and exults over judgment, as one who has conquered it, as if to say: Just as those who do not show mercy will be condemned by God's judgment and by his very mercy, so conversely those who show mercy will not fear God's judgment and condemnation, but they themselves will insult judgment, that is, condemnation, death, hell, sin and the devil as conquerors, saying with Christ their triumpher and their savior: "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" I Corinthians XV, 55. And that passage Romans VIII, 34: "If God be for us, who is against us?" And verse 33: "Who shall accuse against the elect (merciful ones) of God? God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth?" This sense is demanded by the antithesis with the preceding hemistich: "For judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy"; to this it opposes: "But mercy exalteth itself over judgment," as if to say: The unmerciful man will be judged strictly by judgment, since he does not have mercy as his patroness to defend him: but the merciful man will be judged mercifully and will obtain mercy, because mercy will defend him, and will conduct and complete his case in judgment, so that he may conquer and triumph. The same sense is demanded by the connection with the preceding verse: for it gives the reason, as is evident from the rational particle "for"; but in the preceding verse he said: "So speak and so do, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty", that is to say, So speak and so do, that you may remember that you will render to God in judgment an exact account of your words and deeds. Then he adds the reason, saying: "For judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy", that is to say, Whoever accepts the persons of the rich and despises the poor, and is unmerciful toward them, and therefore violates the law of charity: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself", which I commended a little before: he likewise will undergo rigid judgment without mercy; but whoever does not accept persons, but loves all both poor and rich, and is merciful toward them, he likewise will experience the merciful judgment of God, and thus mercy will overcome and remove all the force and fear of judgment, and will make it so that the merciful not only escape damnation, but are also endowed with heavenly reward and glory. This is the true and genuine sense: from which we learn how great is the power of mercy, and how pleasing it is to God, and how we ought to embrace and exercise it, if we wish to be saved, since our salvation consists in it. For so great is the power of mercy, that it can exalt the merciful in judgment through the poor, who will receive them into eternal tabernacles, as St. Augustine says, lib. XXI De Civit., cap. XXVII; who also writes that this same thing was foreshadowed in the ark and the mercy seat, Quaest. CV in Exod.: "In the ark," he says, "the law, and manna, and the rod of Aaron were commanded to be placed; in the law are the precepts, the rod signifies power, manna signifies grace, because without grace there is no power to do the precepts. Nevertheless, because the law is not fulfilled in every respect by any who make progress, the mercy seat is above. For this is necessary, that God be propitious, and therefore it is placed above, because mercy exalts judgment. And the two Cherubim overshadow the mercy seat with their wings, that is, they honor it by veiling. And their faces are toward the mercy seat, because they greatly commend the mercy of the Lord, in which alone is our hope." Oecumenius elegantly declares the power and use of both from the analogy of words which exists between ἔλαιον, that is oil, and ἔλεος, that is mercy: "Just as," he says, "oil anointed on athletes gives them the ability to slip away, so that they are not held by their adversaries, so also in the universal judgment our mercy toward the needy will give us to escape the assaults and dangers which will threaten from demons, our accusers." Just as therefore the sardius stone, a precious stone but red and bloody, and therefore a symbol of judgment and vengeance, is dulled by oil, as Pliny testifies, lib. XXXVII, cap. VII: so the judgment of God is dulled and broken by mercy. Again St. Augustine, hom. 39, among 50: "Before the gates of hell," he says, "mercy stands, and permits no one to be cast into prison." She is therefore the mistress of heaven, earth and hell, and holds all the keys. St. Chrysostom, hom. 33 ad Popul.: "Almsgiving," he says, "stands at the tribunal not only defending, but also persuading the judge himself, that he may defend the accused and pronounce sentence in his favor." Peter Chrysologus, serm. 42: "God eats," he says, "bread in heaven, which the poor man has received on earth. Give therefore bread, if you wish to have God as debtor, not as judge. Divine fire does not know how to burn mercy." See St. Leo, serm. 5 De Ieiunio, where among other things he says excellently: "What differs in expenditure is often equalled in merit; because there can be an equal mind where the wealth is unequal." The same, serm. 10 De Quadrag.: "Where God finds care for mercy, there he recognizes the image of his own piety." Nazianzenus, orat. 16 De Cura pauperum: "Be," he says, "God to the calamitous." The same, in Monostichis: "You will be, if beneficent, you will imitate God. Make yourself kind, that you may have God kind." Finally "mercy in itself is the greatest of virtues", says St. Thomas, II II, Quaest. XXX, art. 4; "whence also to have mercy is set down as proper to God, and in this especially is his omnipotence said to be manifested." And soon after: "Among all virtues which pertain to the neighbour, mercy is the most powerful. For to supply the defect of another is the mark of a superior and better one." And St. Ambrose on that passage I Tim. IV, Godliness is profitable to all things: "All," he says, "the sum of Christian discipline is in mercy and piety." And St. Matthew, cap. XII, vers. 7: "I will have mercy," he says, "and not sacrifice." Moreover, Cardinal Hugo brings forth four other senses which are true in themselves, but incongruous and impertinent to this place. The first is, that is to say, Mercy is superimposed upon reason and the judgment of man, and illuminates it itself like a lamp a candlestick. The second is, that is to say, God's mercy will reward the good and merciful more than is deserved in judgment, and will relax and remit punishment to the wicked and unmerciful. The third is, that is to say, More are saved through mercy than through judgment, for more die in venial sins, which are to be remitted through God's mercy; fewer die so pure that they immediately fly to heaven. The fourth is, that is to say, Mercy will make the judgment harsher and more severe for him who has obtained great mercy from God, if he shall be unmerciful. The fifth is that of Dionysius the Carthusian, that is to say, Charitable compassion pleases God more than judicial severity. Whence it is necessary that laws be inclined toward mercy, and that they stand more by the oath of the accused than of the accuser, and in doubtful cases incline toward the side of mercy. The sixth is that of Cajetan, that is to say, Just as in a balance one pan depressed by some weight elevates the other and opposite one, so mercy elevates judgment, that is to say, With God mercy has more weight and moment than judgment, and thus it itself weakens and elevates the force of judgment. All these senses are partly distorted, partly accommodated, partly symbolic: wherefore they cannot be literal and genuine. Mystically, first, Elias of Crete in the 10th oration of Nazianzen, no. 23: "Mercy superexalts judgment," because, he says, the works of mercy ascend to God, and exalt the merciful; but those which are poured out into pleasures depart and are transmitted to torments, namely into hell, where is the seat of judgment and damnation. And Dionysius the Carthusian: "Mercy," he says, "is higher than judgment, because it shines forth in the blessed in heaven, but judgment lies in the damned in tartarus." Secondly, St. Thomas, I part., Quest. XXI, art. 3, ad 2: "Mercy superexalts judgment," because "God," he says, "acts mercifully, not doing against his justice, but working something above justice: just as if to someone to whom one hundred denarii are owed, someone gives two hundred from his own, he does not act against justice, but operates liberally or mercifully. And similarly if someone remits an offense committed against himself: for he gives and forgives it. From which it is clear that mercy does not take away justice, but is a certain fullness of justice, whence it is said, in James II, that mercy superexalts judgment"; just as works of supererogation surpass commandments, and the counsels of the Gospel transcend precepts: for mercy often surpasses the strict justice of the law. Thirdly, Peter of Blois, in the book On Penance and Satisfaction, applies this sentence to fraternal correction, that is to say, He who corrects another should do so rather through mercy, showing gentleness, than through judgment by harshly rebuking; lest the same temptation also seize him, as the Apostle teaches, Galatians VI, 1. See the things said there. Anagogically, the merciful will be wonderfully exalted, and therefore will wonderfully exult in judgment, when from Christ the judge they shall hear this swan-like voice: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat," etc. Matthew XXV, 34. This is what James said, cap. 1: "But let the brother of low condition glory in his exaltation." And Peter, epistle I, cap. V, vers. 6: "That he may exalt you in the time of visitation." And Psalm LXXIV, 14: "The horns of the just shall be exalted." And: "His horn shall be exalted in glory," Psalm LXXXVIII, 25. And: "The saints shall rejoice in glory, they shall be glad in their beds." And: "The exaltations of God in their throat," Psalm CXLIX, 5. And: "I will pass into the place of the wonderful tabernacle even to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, the sound of one feasting," Psalm XLI, 5. And: "The voice of rejoicing and of salvation in the tabernacles of the just," Psalm CXVII, 15. And: "They shall rejoice before thee as they that rejoice in the harvest, as conquerors exult when dividing the spoils," Isaiah IX, 3.
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14. What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but hath not works? — This is the third part of the chapter, in which against a heresy then arising he teaches that faith alone is not sufficient for salvation, but good works are also required. St. James therefore passes to these matters on the occasion of works of mercy, which he had commended a little before, saying: "But mercy exalteth itself above judgment." From these therefore he rises, as it were from a species to a genus, to the necessity of any good works whatsoever; at the same time he explains that which he said in chapter 1, verse 22: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only," namely by teaching that faith in the word is not sufficient, but it is required that the word be brought forth into works; and that which is in this chapter, verse 8: "If you fulfil the royal law, according to the Scriptures, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, you do well"; namely by teaching that this law is fulfilled not by bare faith, but by works of charity. Moreover he explains the "law of liberty," which he named in verse 12, namely the Gospel law, that is, that it does not make Christians so free that, loosed from all law, they can freely do whatever they please, as if faith alone suffices by which they believe in Christ the Saviour. For this was taught in that age by Simon Magus, as Irenaeus testifies, book I, chapter XX, and Theodoret, in his Haeretic. fabul., and after him Valentinus, Basilides, Eunomius, Aetius, as testified by Irenaeus and Theodoret in the places already cited, and by St. Augustine, book De Haeres., chapter LIV, and St. Jerome, book II Against Jovinian. Simon and his followers already mentioned are followed by our heretics as a fitting lid for a pot, who teach that faith alone suffices for salvation, namely faith by which you believe that Christ died for you, satisfied for your sins, and merited grace and glory for you; wherefore good works are not required for salvation. Simon proved this, as our heretics still prove it, from the epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, in which Paul, against the Jews glorying in Moses and the works of the law, and despising faith in Christ, depresses the works of the law and exalts faith in Christ. In order therefore to refute this error, St. Peter, St. James, St. John wrote the Canonical Epistles, in which they explain Paul's meaning and earnestly commend and require the study of good works, as St. Augustine expressly affirms, book De Fide et operibus, chapters XIV and XV. Hence it is clear that Paul, when he says in Romans III, 28, that we are justified by faith without the works of the law, does not contradict Peter, James and John, who say we are justified not by faith alone, but also by works. For Paul understands the works of the law, done by the powers of nature without faith and the grace of Christ, such as the Jews boasted of. But Peter, James and John understand the works of faith, namely done from faith and the grace of Christ, which Paul comprehends and understands under the name of faith. Thus St. Augustine, book LXXXIII, Question LXXVI. Paul, he says, understands works which precede faith, James works which follow faith. Moreover there is a twofold justification: the first, by which man from unjust becomes just; the second, by which from just he becomes more just and more holy; which therefore is nothing other than an increase of justice. Now the works of faith contribute to the first justice dispositively, to the second truly they would avail for obtaining salvation. I said a rich man, who is able to help: for a poor man gives a great alms to a poor man, if he shows him not the effect of compassion, but the affection thereof, and prays well for him. Whence St. Augustine in Psalm CXXV: "If thou hast compassion in thy heart," he says, "even if thou hast not what to extend with thy hand, God accepts thy alms." And St. Job, chapter XXX, 25: "I wept," he says, "over him that was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor." On which passage St. Gregory, book XX Moral., chapter XXVI: "A holy man," he says, "before almighty God, sometimes knew that the gift of mind was greater than that of a gift. For he who gives outward things, gave something outside himself; but he who gave weeping and compassion to his neighbour, gave him something also of himself. For this reason we say compassion is more than a gift, because anyone often gives a thing even who does not have compassion; but he who truly has compassion never denies what is necessary to his neighbour."
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16. Which are necessary to the body. — Because the body needs food for sustenance, and clothing to cover nakedness: St. James hints that Christians in this life ought to seek only the necessaries of life, but not to aspire to delicacies and luxurious clothing. St. Paul taught the same thing: "There is," he says, "great gain in godliness with sufficiency. For we brought nothing into this world: it is certain that neither can we carry anything out. Having food and wherewith to be covered, with these let us be content. For they that will become rich, fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which drown men into destruction and perdition. For the root of all evils is covetousness," in Greek φιλαργυρία, that is, "the desire of silver and money," I Timothy VI, 6. Hence St. Basil severely, in his oration on that passage, I will pull down my barns, toward the end: "But thou," he says, "art thou not a spoiler, who accountest as thy own those things which thou hast received to dispense? It is the bread of the hungry, which thou holdest; the tunic of the naked, which thou keepest in thy chamber; the shoe of the barefoot, which wasteth away with thee; the money of the needy, which thou possessest buried. Wherefore thou doest injury to as many poor as thou couldest give to."
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17. Thus also faith, if it have not works, is dead. — "As not having a soul, namely the charity by which it is quickened and moved to works," says St. Bernard, epistle 42. Such faith therefore is as a lifeless corpse, as the same says, sermon 24 in the Canticles, and a dead body, which nevertheless is truly a body, just as faith without works is true faith, which Calvin falsely denies, but it is weakened, bloodless, sluggish, empty, idle and as it were dead: thus a root is said to be dead, from which leaves, flowers and fruits do not sprout: thus stagnant water, because it stands and does not flow, is said to be dead, because it lacks motion, which in living things is the sign and effect of life. Thus virtues are said to be dead, if charity be wanting: for this is as their form and life not physical, but moral, because by its presence it bestows upon them dignity and the state of virtue, and the power of meriting, so that man before God may be reckoned endowed with virtue, just, a friend, a son, whose works are worthy and meritorious of eternal life; otherwise that charity is not the proper form of faith and virtues, neither essential nor accidental, but only extrinsic and moral, is evident from this, that faith is in the intellect, while charity and virtues are in the will; again, that faith in its kind is a perfect species, equally as charity: yet charity directs faith and other virtues to God as to the highest good and ultimate end, and therefore bestows upon them dignity and the state of virtue. See Gregory of Valencia, II II, disp. 1, Question IV, point 3, and disp. 3, Question I, point 3. Most excellently St. Chrysostom in I Timothy V: "The living," he says, "differ from the dead not only in that they see the sun and the air, but in that they do some good: unless indeed this be present in the living, they are in no way better than the dead." This is the second argument by which James proves that works are required for faith to save. From this passage of St. James, St. Cyril in the Council of Ephesus, part III, cap. XLIII, concludes: Just as faith without works is dead, so conversely works are dead, if true faith be wanting. Again: therefore faith having works is alive. Finally, many Fathers assert that faith lacking works is not true faith, because namely it is not living faith, burning, perfect and formed by charity, which worketh by love, as the Apostle says, Galatians V, 6, but unformed and dead; and because the faithful man sluggish in good works easily falls into sins, so grave that at length he loses faith itself and becomes an unbeliever. Thirdly, because faith teaches and commands to do good works. If therefore he does not do them, it seems false and lying. Thus Didymus here: "Faith," he says, "dead is not faith, just as a dead man is not a man." St. Bernard, sermon 24 in the Canticles: "A dead gift," he says, "thou offerest to God, etc.: dost thou well honor God with a foul gift? dost thou well please thy faith's murderer?" Cyril of Alexandria in chapter IV of Malachi, n. 43: "If anyone," he says, "after justification fall back into sins, he as it were kills faith in himself." St. Jerome in chapter V to the Galatians: "When love is far absent, faith likewise departs." Cyril of Jerusalem: "Faith," he says, "without works is as a lamp without oil." Just as therefore this cannot shine, so neither can that save: for only faith burning with love can do this. Wherefore faith must be nourished by good works, otherwise it dies away like a burning lamp when oil fails. Hence St. Jerome in Ezekiel chapter III says that heretics on account of impure morals and works have lost faith. The same thing St. Gregory teaches happens not rarely to Christians living impiously, book XXV of the Morals, chapter X. Symbolically also idle faith is not faith, because faith is called faith from the fact that what is said is done, as Thomas Aquinas says. Whence also St. Gregory: "The proof," he says, "of love (and consequently of faith), is the exhibition of work." In a similar manner we say that wild and barbarous men are not men, but beasts, that heretics are not men, but wolves, that tyrants are tigers and lions. She is dead in herself. — καθ' ἑαυτήν, that is, according to herself, that is, by herself alone and solitary, because separated from charity and its works: for although faith and the acts of faith are in themselves living, both naturally, namely because they are acts proceeding vitally from a vital power, namely the intellect and will proceeding vitally; and supernaturally, namely because they are acts of faith, which is a supernatural virtue and inchoate grace; for grace gives supernatural life to the soul: insofar, however, as it is destitute of charity, which bestows full and perfect supernatural life both to faith and to man, to that extent it is said to be dead; just as a benumbed arm is said to be dead, which receives from the soul vegetation and nourishment, but not motion and sensation: for it is dead as regards the sensitive soul, but lives as regards the vegetative soul. Most excellently St. Bernard, in sermon 24 on the Canticles: "The death of faith," he says, "is the separation of charity. Do you believe in Christ? do the works of Christ, that your faith may live. Let love animate your faith, let action prove it. Let not earthly work bend down what faith raises up to heaven. You who say you abide in Christ, ought to walk as he himself walked, and you also to walk. But if you seek your own glory, you envy the flourishing, you detract from the absent, you repay the one who harms you: Christ did not do this. You confess that you know God, but by your deeds you deny it. Not rightly indeed, but impiously have you given your tongue to Christ, your soul to the devil." The life and tongue of faith, therefore, are works: for works speak, says St. Augustine, tract. 3 and 6 on the Epistle of St. John, they speak, I say, that faith is true and approved, which produces such approved works. For, as Nazianzenus says, oration on the plague of hail: "Wisdom which is shown forth by deeds is more excellent than that which shines forth in words. For a good understanding," he says, "benefits all who practice it, not so those who preach it." Faith therefore ἀπράγμων and lacking the practice of works is dead, because when it ought to work and refuses to do so, it is a sign that it is not alive, nor has the soul and life of charity: for charity works, if it is; but if it refuses to work, charity is not, says St. Gregory, both because the life of the soul, namely justice, charity and grace must be nourished, preserved and increased by good works, just as the life of the body must be nourished and preserved by food: for if that be lacking, it will waste away from hunger and die. Thus the Council of Trent, session VI, chapter X. By a similar phrase a man is said to live from breathing and breath, and therefore lacking breath to be dead, because breath so accompanies and cherishes the soul that the latter cannot subsist without it; for by cooling the heart, it preserves the body, soul and life. Understand this of adults, namely that they cannot long live the life of grace if they neglect to act well. For in little children and justified adults, if they die immediately after baptism or justification, it is clear that they are saved without works. When therefore James says that faith without works is dead, understand faith which refuses to work, when the law of charity or another law commands and demands some work. Thus Cajetan. For daily the divine or human law prescribes not one but many works to be done, which if anyone contemns or neglects to do, he sins, and thus loses the grace of God, which is the life of the soul: whence it comes about that faith in him is now not living but dead. This is what St. Augustine says, in the book On the Knowledge of True Life, chapter XXXVII: "This faith is nourished by hope, just as the body is refreshed by food; it is animated by love, just as the body is vivified by the soul." The same in On the Spirit and the Letter, chapter XXXII: "Charity, which is the life of faith, does not precede it, but follows it." St. Bernard, epistle 42: "Dead is the faith which does not work from love, as if not having love itself as its soul, by which it is nourished and moved to works."
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18. But someone will say. — Erasmus thinks this to be a dialogue, as if James, to show that neither faith without works nor works without faith avails, introduces here two speakers conversing, of whom one, trusting in faith, neglects works. To him it is said: You have faith, let this suffice you. Again, another, trusting in works with faith neglected, answers him: And I have works, it suffices for me. But James refutes the speech of each, saying: Rather, neither what one or the other has suffices for salvation. But you who boast of your faith, prove by deeds themselves that you have faith, which is certainly not an idle thing: and I by deeds themselves will declare that I lack neither. But this is more intricate, and a dialogue of three persons cannot be found in this text. For the pronoun "I," when he says: "I have works," is the same and of the same (not another) speaking person, and soon saying: "I will show you by works my faith"; and consequently three persons and three of their sayings cannot be found here. Second, the Gloss, Hugo and Thomas of England think these things are said in mockery and reproach, as if he who has faith and works mocks him who boasts of faith alone and hopes for salvation from it, so as to signify that such a one is worthy of ridicule and reproach, and therefore to be rejected. But, to pass over other things, this mockery seems unworthy of Apostolic gravity and the modesty of St. James. Third, therefore, and genuinely, this whole sentence and objection of St. James is that by a new, namely a third argument, or a new confirmation of the argument already made, he refutes the boasting of him who glories in faith alone: for τὸ ἀλλά, that is "but," is a particle not of opposition, but of confirmation, or of emphasizing his statement, so that it is the same as "but indeed," "nevertheless," "certainly," "moreover," "besides"; or "for," "wherefore," "why"; or "nay," "rather," "truly": for all these things ἀλλά signifies, and all these suit this place, as if to say: But indeed, nevertheless, or moreover, or for, or nay, one will say, that is, one can justly say and rightly object to him who boasts of faith and neglects works (and says to the naked and hungry: Go in peace, be warmed, be filled): You have faith and boast of it, but I have works joined to faith. Show me therefore your faith without works: certainly you will never show it to me naked and destitute of them. But I will show you my faith clearly by works, and thus I will show you at the same time that I am truly faithful, and of the assembly of the Church and of true believers, and likewise I will show my faith to profit not me alone, but also you and others either for help or for example. For the showing of faith through works requires these two things in the Church, namely, first, that believers show their faith to one another by them, and thus gather together and form one assembly of believers and make it visible. For believers, because they are men, not angels, cannot see the faith of the mind: they ought therefore to show it by works and exhibit it to others to be seen, so that they may know one another and be distinguished from unbelievers, and be able to come together in one assembly and coalesce. Wherefore Salvian, book III On Providence, treating this passage of James, says, "good acts are witnesses of Christian faith." Second, that the faith of one may profit not that one alone, but also other believers, either by helping them or by providing an example of good morals and virtues. For this reason, therefore, in the Church, as the creed has it, there is a communion of saints, namely a mutual communication of goods, so that in it each may strive to communicate his things to others and to profit them. Now what profit is faith to me which you say you carry in your heart, if I do not see it in works, do not feel it, and receive no benefit from it? And both things are signified by τὸ "show." For to show in Scripture signifies not only to set forth a thing for viewing, but also to exhibit the thing itself, to give, to grant, to bestow; as when we say to God: "Show us, O Lord, your mercy." "Show," that is, exhibit and bestow, so that you may impart your gifts, benefits and works of mercy to us. When therefore James says: "Show me your faith," he requires not only that it be subjected to the eyes for viewing, but also that it be really communicated to me and bring me some advantage and utility, either by imparting alms, or by helping, or by advising, or by any other means. Again, as if to say: Show me your faith to be living and animated by charity to live, not to be dead and a corpse; for life is shown from habit and motion. For if an animal moves and breathes, it lives; if it be immobile, it is dead: thus likewise faith shows itself to live if it moves and acts toward good works; but if it rests from them and is unmoved, it shows itself to be dead. Show me thy faith without works. — Already the Greek texts read differently ἐκ τῶν ἔργων, that is "from works": but for ἐκ one should read ἐκτός, that is "without"; thus indeed Our text reads, the Syriac and many Greek texts: and this is required by the antithesis: "Show me thy faith without works, and I will show thee by works my faith", as if to say, Thou canst not show me faith without works, but I indeed shall plainly show thee my faith by works. Thus the Apostles, Martyrs and Virgins, despising riches, honours, delights, and life itself, showed themselves to believe in a future life, heavenly riches, honours and delights. For this reason they embraced poverty here, were humbled, afflicted, so that in heaven they might be enriched, exalted and abounding in eternal joys. Salmeron thinks that St. James alludes to Proverbs XII, 17, where for what Our text translates, "he that speaketh that which he knoweth is a witness of justice", the Septuagint translates, ἐπιδεικνυμένην πίστιν ἀπαγγέλλει δίκαιος, that is "the just man announces demonstrated faith", as if "demonstrated" were the same as "demonstrable by works"; Symmachus, ἐκφαίνων πίστιν ἀπαγγέλλει δικαιοσύνην, that is "he who makes faith manifest, namely through works, announces justice". But faith there is taken for truth and fidelity, as if to say, The just man manifests truly and faithfully that very faith, that is the truth of the matter made manifest and demonstrated to him. This is indeed what Our text translates, "he that speaketh that which he knoweth is a witness of justice", that is, he indicates that which is true and just; to which by antithesis, as is customary, the Wise man soon opposes: "But he that lieth is a deceitful witness." If therefore St. James alludes to this, he alludes to it only verbally, or certainly only mystically and symbolically. Symbolically you may adapt these things to heretics, and say to them: Show me thy new faith, nay rather thy perfidious faith, without divine works, that is miracles: I shall show thee by these my faith and the orthodox one. For miracles are of orthodox faith, to raise the dead from the dead, to make the blind see, to make the deaf hear; but of heretical faith the miracles are, to make the living dead, to make those who see blind, to make those who hear deaf. Thus Calvin, wishing to raise a living man feigning himself dead, made him truly dead, as Bolsec his disciple narrates in his Life, cap. XII. Gregory of Tours teaches that Cirola, an Arian Bishop, did the same, lib. II Hist. Franc., cap. III. Thus St. Macarius, disputing with Eunomius the heretic, provoked him to a miracle, so that each might show his faith by works, and therefore raised a dead man; when Eunomius, distrusting his faith, nay rather his perfidy, withdrew himself, Cassian narrates, Collat. XV, cap. III. More effectively George, Duke of Saxony, argues against these same men: for when he was invited by Luther to his heresy, he replied that the works of Luther and the Lutherans show that his faith is not from God, but from the devil: for the works which the faith of Luther teaches and persuades are, to violate vows, fasts, feasts, to profane temples and altars, to break the images of Saints, to trample upon the Holy Sacraments, to blaspheme the blessed Virgin and all Saints, nay God himself, whom he makes the author of every evil work. When, he said, were so many sacrileges of priests, Religious and Virgins dedicated to God ever committed, as under thy, O Luther, Gospel? When were rebellions against princes more frequent? When were so many plunderings of sacred buildings, so many thefts and robberies seen? When were so many wives taken from their husbands and given to others? When so many fornications, adulteries, incests, etc.?
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19. Thou believest that God is one: thou dost well: and the devils believe and tremble. — This is the fourth argument proving that good works are required for justifying faith, namely that faith devoid of works is that of demons, not of the faithful and saints. Calvin objects that St. James takes "faith" to mean a shadow of faith, because demons do not have true and divine faith, but human faith. I answer that many reasonably hold that in demons and the damned there remains the habit and act of divine faith; because they themselves, except for heretics, never had an act of infidelity, which as contrary to faith expels it, and because in the damned there remains the character of baptism, which is as it were a mark of faith and of the faithful. Thus hold Durandus, in III, dist. XXIII, Quaest. IX, art. 2; Alensis, III part., Quaest. LXIV, memb. 7, Catharinus and Salmeron here, the Master of the Sentences in III, dist. XXIII, § "Aliud est", where he proves this from Augustine on Psalm LXXVII. Gregory of Valencia also holds this to be probable, II II, Quaest. V, art. 2, point 2, and more so Justinian here, who ascribes the same to St. Augustine, Enchir. III, and to St. Thomas, II II, Quaest. XVIII, art. 3, ad 2. But it is more truly the case that faith does not remain in demons and the damned, because God takes it from them, as also the other supernatural virtues; for the reason that these virtues order and direct man to salvation and eternal life, for which the damned are unworthy and incapable. Thus hold St. Thomas, II II, Quaest. V, art. 2, whom Thomas Anglicus, Gregory of Valencia and the Scholastics everywhere follow. St. Dionysius favors this, De Divin. Nom., cap. IV, where he says that natural things remained whole in demons, but gratuitous things perished: for faith is one of the gratuitous things. I say therefore that James's argument is not drawn from the same species and faith, but is drawn from a like or similar case, as if to say: There is no reason for you to boast that you believe God and the other articles of faith; for even demons, compelled by the evidence of these things (whence Plato in the Cratylus says demons are called δαήμονας, that is "knowing"), believe the same things, whether they do so by divine faith or by human faith: and yet this belief of theirs profits them nothing except for greater torment. In like manner therefore your faith, even if divinely infused, will not profit you except for greater damnation, if you have not lived according to it, nor exercised the good works which faith says must be done; but your faith will be with demons, and so also your lot and hell, you will sit beneath demons, you will burn with demons: for your faith, equally with that of demons, is nothing other than empty knowledge, nay rather inert and sluggish belief, by which you believe God has commanded that you do these and those things, which nevertheless you do not wish to do and to perform. Wherefore St. Augustine, Enchirid. VIII, calls faith without works "demonic", and opposes it to faith which works through love. And St. Anselm, on cap. V to the Galatians, calls faith destitute of works that of demons, not of Christians. And tremble. — φρίσσουσι, that is they shudder, namely because they not only believe in such great majesty, power and severity of God the judge and avenger, but also experience and feel it in reality.
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20. But wilt thou know, O vain man. — St. James presses on more sharply and brings forth a fifth argument, by which he settles the matter, namely by proposing Abraham the father of faith and justice, who was justified by works, not by faith alone. He calls "vain" the man who boasts of vain faith, as being devoid of fruits, that is of works, and therefore is vain and devoid of sound wisdom and mind. Is dead. — Thus the Roman, Greek and Syrian texts: therefore some read "is idle" less correctly.
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21. Abraham our father. — Both according to the flesh, and according to faith and spirit. For James, a Jew, speaks chiefly to Jews, as their Bishop. He brings forward Abraham, both because he himself was the father of believers and an exemplar of the just; and because Paul, in Romans IV, 3, had brought forward Abraham, and had said that he was justified by faith; whence Simon Magus inferred that he was justified without works. James therefore explains Paul here, namely that the faith of Abraham was not idle, but abounding in good works. Thus also Paul himself explains himself, in Hebrews XI, 8 and 17, where he recounts and celebrates the heroic works of Abraham's faith. Offering Isaac. — "Offering," that is, preparing to offer, namely by binding him, placing him on the altar and drawing the sword against him; but prohibited by an Angel, he did not actually offer him, nor did he slay him. "Offering" therefore in the act intended and begun, not perfected and completed. This was a heroic act of Abraham of faith, fortitude, obedience, charity and religion, by which, when God commanded him to slay his son, and that his only son, he immediately obeyed. Whence the Wise Man, cap. X, vers. 5, calls Abraham strong in the mercy of his son, because by fortitude he overcame mercy. Wherefore the act of Abraham offering his son was far more excellent than the act of Jephte, Agamemnon, Codrus, Iphigenia, Harmonia, Aristogiton, Leonidas, Epaminondas, L. Brutus, the Decii, Creon, Idomeneus, and the like, concerning whom Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 1, and our Serarius in Judges XI, Question XVII: who sacrificed themselves, or their sons, or daughters, or devoted themselves to death, because they did this either under compulsion, to defend the safety of their country, or from desire of fame and glory. But Abraham did this freely, impelled only by the will to obey God and by zeal. Add: Abraham offered his son, from the time God had promised him the greatest posterity, and Christ himself; he believed therefore that God would raise up his son, whom he had offered, from the dead. Whence the Apostle says that "against hope" of nature, "in hope" of grace and of resurrection promised by God he believed, Romans IV, 18; "accounting that God is able to raise up even from the dead," Hebrews XI, 19. See the passages Genesis XII and XXII. Note first, with Bede, that James brings forward this example of Abraham, so that by it he may encourage the faithful to imitate it, namely so that in persecution coming upon them they may offer their own life and that of their own to God in martyrdom, much more so that they may bestow their goods on the poor for his sake, and thus exercise the works of charity and of other virtues, and join them with faith. Note second, Abraham was already just: for it had already been said of him Genesis XV, 6: "Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice." That therefore afterwards, Genesis XXII, 10, offering his son, he is said here to be justified, understand rather that namely by such a heroic act of obedience, religion and charity he made great progress and grew in the justice he had received, as is evident from the fact that in reward for such an act God loaded him with his blessing, promising him the son Messiah, or Christ. For he says Genesis XXII, 16: "By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake, I will bless thee and multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand of the seashore: thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice." From which Calvin and Beza are refuted (which the Calvinists also inserted into Vatable's Bibles), who think that St. James requires works besides faith, not as a cause of justification, but as its effect; as if works were merely a sign and manifestation of justifying faith, which, they say, cannot be separated from charity. Therefore they interpret "was justified" as "was declared just." But this is wrong, because these blessings and these rewards already recounted from Genesis were not given to Abraham by God on account of a declaration of righteousness, but on account of his remarkable virtue and righteousness, by which in offering his son he pleased God in an extraordinary way, and obtained remarkable grace and righteousness from God. For who would deny that Abraham, with such great faith, charity and obedience, when he wished to immolate his son, was more pleasing to God, and therefore more truly justified? Second, the same is evident from what James adds, that Abraham was justified from works, not only from faith. But from faith he is said to be not only declared just, but truly justified, as the heretics themselves confess: therefore also from works he is not only declared just, but truly justified. Third, because James adds that from works Abraham's faith was made perfect: because namely it was truly perfected by them, not however because it was declared perfected from them: therefore works bring perfection and consummation to faith, because namely they merit an increase and perfection of righteousness. Fourth, because in verse 25 he says that Rahab the harlot was justified from works; for neither could a harlot be declared just, but was truly justified, that is, from an unbeliever became faithful, and from a harlot was made chaste and just. Fifth, thus the Council of Trent explains it, session VI, chapters VIII and X, and St. Augustine, in the book On Faith and Works, chapter XIV, and To Dulcitius, Question I, and elsewhere often, and throughout the Fathers and all orthodox Doctors. Morally, St. Ambrose, book 1 On Abraham, chapter VIII, teaches that God gradually advanced Abraham to this degree of trial and perfection, that he should immolate his son, through many previous trials and experiences, just as commanders are accustomed to instruct and train soldiers through skirmishes for battle and victory. "And the holy," he says, "Abraham proved beforehand, and thus tested, lest if he tested before he proved, it would burden him. He proved him when he commanded him to go out from Haran, and found him obedient; he proved him when relying on the title of faith he freed his nephew, when he touched nothing of the spoils, when he promised a son to the old man; and when he was a hundred years old, although he considered the deadened generative powers of Sarah, yet he believed, and did not waver in faith; he proved him by the diligence of hospitality. Having proved him therefore as stronger, he thought him to be tested with greater things, and with certain harder commands," ordering him to immolate his only-begotten son. Let Prelates and Superiors learn from God not to test subjects suddenly, nor to burden them with grave precepts, but gradually to advance them from lesser to greater things. St. Ambrose adds another moral lesson: "And indeed by this example we are taught, that a person is proved by true things, but tested by composite and feigned things. For God did not wish the son to be immolated by the father, but tested the affection of the father, whether he would prefer God's precepts to his son, whether he would bend the force of devotion by contemplation of paternal piety." In great things therefore to have wished is enough, and the affection suffices for God. Let Prelates imitate the same.
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22. You see that (which) faith cooperated with his works. — Just as a root cooperates with branches, instilling into them sap to produce fruit: for what the root is in a tree, faith is in the series of virtues and good works: for faith is as it were a torch showing and persuading what is to be done, what is to be avoided, so that we may escape hell and attain heaven, and by that very fact impels us to undertake good works and decline evil ones. "For faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not," Hebrews XI, 1. See the things said there. And from his works faith was made perfect. — In Greek ἐτελειώθη, that is, first, it was perfected; second, it attained its end; third, it achieved victory; fourth, it was crowned and obtained a crown; fifth, it was consecrated: see the things said chapter 1, verse 4. Works therefore confer perfection and consummation on faith, because they confer on it the merit of eternal life, likewise an increase and perfection of charity and the other virtues. For from their repeated acts and from their intensifying themselves, their habits are intensified and perfected. To this pertains what Origen mystically notes, homily 10 on Genesis, namely that the servant of Abraham, when by the command of his master he chose Rebecca as a bride for Isaac, immediately offered her earrings and bracelets, so that she had her ears and hands adorned together. And explaining this mystically: "For," he says, "Christ the bridegroom wishes to receive his bride soul with golden words of faith in her ears, and to have golden deeds in her hands."
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23. And the Scripture was fulfilled. — Hugo and Thomas Aquinas read, "it was fulfilled": both signify the Greek ἐπληρώθη. The sense is, as if to say, Lest we should think that the faithful are justified by faith alone of Abraham, because Scripture says of him in Genesis XV, 6: "Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice"; behold, another Scripture supplies and fulfills the same thing, adding that works are required along with faith; namely, when it says that Abraham offered his son, and performed many other heroic works of virtue, by which he increasingly conciliated to himself the grace, justice and friendship of God. Others, reading "it was fulfilled", explain it simply thus, as if to say, And in this manner Scripture was fulfilled, which says that Abraham was justified by faith: for by works faith is fulfilled and perfected, and consequently the justice of Abraham. But "was supplied" demands the former sense, especially because James here urges that justification is made from works, not from faith alone: for this is his very aim. Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice. — I have explained these words in Genesis XV, 6. Morally, Philo, in the book "Who is the Heir of Divine Things", says: "It is difficult to believe in God alone, because of the kinship which we have with mortal things, which persuade us to believe and trust in glory, dominion, friends, health, strength, etc. To wash away these persuasions, and to distrust the creature which is in itself most untrustworthy, and to trust in God alone, who alone is truly trustworthy, is a matter of a great and heavenly soul, not ensnared by any of our earthly things." The same, in the book "On Rewards and Punishments": "Whoever," he says, "believes in God from the heart, places confidence in no created and corruptible thing, not even in those things which please him most." The same, in the book "On Abraham": "Therefore," he says, "faith alone is the certain and firm good, by which God is believed, the solace of life, the supplement of good hope, the repeller of calamities, the conciliator of felicities, the denial of superstition, the assertion of piety, the inheritance of prosperity, progress in all goods supported by the author of all things, who can do all things, and wills only the best." And he was called the friend of God. — II Paralipomenon XX, 7, and Judith VIII, 22: "They ought to be mindful," it says, "how our father Abraham was tested, and proved through many tribulations, and became the friend of God"; and Isaiah XLI, 8: "And thou, Israel, my servant Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend"; and Daniel III, 35: "Neither take away thy mercy from us for Abraham thy beloved, and Isaac thy servant, and Israel thy holy one." Note: Although all the just are and are called friends of God, yet properly and as it were by antonomasia this title and epithet is given to Abraham, as Epiphanius says, heresy 78, because there was a wonderful familiarity and friendship of God with Abraham, as is evident in Genesis, from chapter XII to XXV. Hence God revealed his secrets to him as it were to his singular friend, such as the destruction of Sodom and the Pentapolis. "Can I," he says, "hide from Abraham (the Septuagint adds "my friend") what things I am about to do?" Genesis XVIII, 17. Truly Philo, in book III, says, "He recovered his senses, Noah: "Whoever," he says, "has been granted this lot that he be a friend of God, he transcends the bounds of human happiness." The reason for this friendship was, first, that Abraham, marvellously loving and worshipping God, followed Him calling, went forth from his country into Chanaan, and there lived as a pilgrim, but as a citizen of heaven and a domestic of God. Second, that he conformed himself to God's will in all things. Thus St. Augustine, serm. 46 De Temp., cap. IV. For true friendship is to will the same thing and to will the same thing not, says Aristotle. Third, that he performed arduous and heroic works of virtue, and in a strong temptation remained faithful to God and constant, as Judith says in the words cited a little before. For, as Seneca says, lib. I De Provid.: "God does not hold a good man in delights"; but He proves, purges and shakes him in wonderful ways. Fourth, that he was like God: for as God sacrificed His Son for the salvation of the world, so also Abraham sacrificed Isaac, who was a type of Christ, as Abraham was of God the Father. Now similarity is the bond of love and friendship, as Aristotle testifies. Fifth, because Abraham was beneficent and liberal to all. And this wonderfully pleases God, and makes us very like to Him: for God is most beneficent to all. When the Emperor Titus recalled in the evening that he had conferred a benefit on no one that day, he exclaimed: "Friends, I have lost a day." Which St. Jerome recounts in cap. VI ad Galat.: "And we," he says, "do we not think that an hour, a day, a moment, a time, an age is lost to us, when we speak an idle word, for which we shall render an account in the day of judgment?" Sixth, because his conversation was in heaven with God and angels; whence in mind, tongue and manners he was not so much earthly as heavenly and divine. Seventh, because by teaching, praying, sacrificing, and therefore by building altars throughout all Chanaan, he propagated the faith, worship and glory of God. Again, he imbued with the same his whole family and a most ample posterity, which, following the discipline of the patriarch Abraham, stood constant and firm in the religion of God for two thousand years until Christ. Eighth, because he was remarkable in all things and events for moderation of spirit and equanimity; and as God excels in this, so He loves those endowed with it as friends. Seneca celebrates this in Scipio Africanus, epist. 87: "I am persuaded," he says, "that his soul returned to heaven, from whence it was, not because he led great armies, for even the mad Cambyses had this and used it successfully in his madness, but on account of his remarkable moderation." For these same reasons, St. John, as it were another Abraham of the new law, is called "the disciple whom Jesus loved", John XIII, 23. Nay, all the Apostles are called friends by Christ: "But you," He says, "I have called friends; because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you", John XV, 15. Thus also other Christians are called not only friends, but also sons of God, of whom St. John, as if marvelling, says, epist. I, cap. III, vers. 1: "Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be, the sons of God." The Psalmist, foreseeing these same in spirit, exulting sang: "Thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable to me, their principality is exceedingly strengthened", Psal. CXXXVIII, 17; and the Bride, Cant. V, 10: "My beloved," she says, "is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands"; and vers. 16: "His whole self is desirable: such is my beloved, and he is my friend." Moreover, the friendship of men, even of princes, is faithless, fragile, perishable, useless, and often harmful, bringing not only to the body but to the soul extreme destruction: but the friendship of God is faithful, stable, secure, useful, and brings salvation to both body and soul, both present and eternal. Wherefore wisely this courtier in St. Augustine, lib. VIII Confess. cap. VI, having read the Life of St. Anthony, turning to his companion: "Tell me, I pray thee," he says, "with all our labours by which we strive to arrive, what are we seeking? what do we desire? for what cause do we serve? Can our hope be greater in the palace than to be friends of the Emperor? And what there is not fragile and full of dangers? And through how many dangers does one arrive at a greater danger? And how long will this last? But if I will to be a friend of God, behold now I become one." He willed, and he became one. Moreover, between God and the just there is not a rigid friendship, which is only between equals: for God surpasses immeasurably all men, angels and creatures; but such as can be and is wont to be between a prince and a subject, between a father and a son, between Creator and creature, which rests entirely on the condescension and benevolence of the Creator, and in this is founded and consists. And in this sense understand that saying of St. Jerome, in cap. VII Michaeae: "Friendship either takes or makes equals"; equals, namely, in the duties of friendship.
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25. Rahab a harlot. — The Chaldeans, Lyra, Abulensis, Pagninus, Arias translate "harlot" as "innkeeper" or "hostess". For the Hebrew זונה zona signifies both an innkeeper and a harlot: both fit here, because not rarely hostesses, when lacking husbands, prostitute themselves and their goods. Moreover, that Rahab was a harlot is taught by our Serarius in Joshua, cap. II, Quaest. III and seq., from Clement of Rome, Origen, Irenaeus, Gregory of Nazianzus, Ephrem, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome and others. Whence by the example of Rahab converted to faith and chastity, as also St. Mary Magdalene, St. Ephrem in tome 1, serm. 2 On Penance, invites all sinners to repentance. The same does St. Chrysostom, hom. 5 On Penance, where concerning Rahab he says: "She was in the brothel as in a wallow, a confused pearl, gold cast in mud, a flower crushed by thorns, a devout soul shut up in a place of piety", because namely she was such not in act, but in God's foreknowledge and predestination. Whence also Rahab in Hebrew is the same as "strength" or "breadth". Origen, hom. 3 in Joshua, calls her a Prophetess. Cyril of Jerusalem, catech. 2, says she was saved; indeed St. Paul himself, Hebrews XI, 31, places her in the catalogue of Saints of the Old Testament, and commends her for remarkable faith: "By faith," he says, "Rahab the harlot perished not with the unbelievers, receiving the spies with peace", that is to say, When all the citizens of Jericho persisted in unbelief, and were unwilling to surrender themselves to the Hebrews, to whom God had given the city and all Canaan as a gift, they perished and were slain by the Hebrews; Rahab alone, believing, and surrendering herself and her country to the Hebrews, was saved. Morally St. Ambrose, lib. III, epist. 25, toward the end: "Love hospitality," he says, "by which St. Abraham found grace, received Christ as a guest, merited to become the father of Sarah even in old age, and Lot also escaped the fire of the destruction of Sodom: and you too can receive angels, if you offer your hospitality to those arriving. What shall I say of Rahab, who found salvation through this duty?" Was she not justified by works? — The works of Rahab's faith were illustrious. First, her hospitality was remarkable, in that she received as guests and hid and saved foreign and unknown spies of Jericho, enemies of her country though they were, because by divine instinct she had understood that God willed the city to be delivered to the Hebrews. Wherefore Abulensis errs in Joshua 1, Quaest. XL and XLI, where he says Rahab could have betrayed or killed the spies without sin; for she could not resist God and His known will. Second, there was in her a great love of God, by which she overcame love of country, and so by that love she betrayed her country to the Hebrews and lost it: but love of country in a citizen is vehement, and is set before love of father and mother, as Plato says in the Crito. Thus for their country they devoted themselves to death: Codrus, king of Athens; Curtius, the Decii, Brutus, Thrasybulus, Themistocles and others, whom Valerius Maximus wonderfully celebrates, lib. V, cap. VI, and Cicero, Tuscul. I. Third, great fortitude shone forth in her, by which she exposed herself and her fortunes, and her whole family to extreme peril for God and His people. For, as St. Ambrose says, in Psalm XXXVII: "She thought her soul was to be redeemed not only by contempt of all that she had, but also by perils to her life, which she denied to the citizens seeking it from Joshua's spies, and preferred to hide the enemies of her country, yet the legates of faith, rather than to betray them. Neither the threats of her citizens, nor the perils of wars, nor the burning of her country, nor the peril of her own people terrified her. Learn, O man, learn, O Christian, how you ought to follow true Jesus, when a woman despised all that was hers, and followed Jesus in figure on account of the similarity of the name." Wherefore R. Simeon and R. Johai, according to Masius in Joshua II, pag. 16, assert that the faith of Rahab was so great, and so acceptable to God, that even if she had had two hundred relatives and two hundred foreign families joined to them by affinity, all of those would have been saved on account of Rahab. Hence note first, that St. James here and St. Paul, Hebrews chapter XI, verse 31, assert that Rahab was justified, from the common consent of the Synagogue and of the Jews, and from her faith so generous, by which she also exposed her life and all her possessions for the people of God to evident danger, and from an idolatress and Canaanite she became faithful and a proselyte, and thus passed into the true religion of God, the Church and Judaism; whence also she married Salmon, a prince of the tribe of Judah, from whom Christ descended. For Salmon from Rahab begot Booz, he Obed, he Jesse, he David, Matthew I, 5. Wherefore she merited to be the mother and grandmother of David, Solomon, and of Christ himself. The Rabbis add (with them be the credibility), that Rahab by her faith earned that from her stock would be born Prophets and priests, Jeremiah, Hilkiah, Seraiah, Maaseiah, Baruch, Hanameel, Shallum, Ezekiel and Huldah. Note secondly, Rahab before the arrival of the spies, hearing the prodigies which God had wrought for the Hebrews in Egypt, and in the passage of the Red Sea, by the instinct of God believed in Him, saying: "The Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath," Joshua II, 11. But the question is, whether before she received the spies, she had faith with contrition and perfect charity, and therefore was justified; or whether she conceived it after their arrival and conversation, so that in receiving them she was not first justified, but already made just became more just and holy. Either is probable and has grave authors; that she was justified before their arrival seems to be indicated by the historical narrative, Joshua II. That she was not justified is suggested by the fact that here, and by St. Paul, Hebrews chapter XI, 31, she is called a harlot, who, as Ambrose says in Psalm XL, "sustained herself by the wages of perfidy and intemperance; yet when she saw the spies, whom Jesus Nave had sent, she put on faith and in the face of impending danger preserved justice." Secondly, because she could not have wished to change paganism into the true religion and Judaism, unless she had seen and heard the Jewish spies, and been instructed by them concerning Judaism; but she ought to have changed paganism into the worship and religion of the true God of the Hebrews, before she could be justified: therefore she ought first to have heard them and been instructed by them. Wherefore it is not doubtful that many conversations between her and the spies concerning God, and the religion of the Hebrews and their portents took place, although they are passed over in silence in Joshua chapter II. If this is true, it follows that Rahab after and through the arrival of the spies was fully converted to God, and first justified; which justice she then increased by hiding and sending away the spies. Wherefore St. James treats both of her first and second justification, namely of the increase of justice. Receiving the messengers,—two spies sent to Jericho by Joshua. Some Hebrews hand down that these two were Caleb and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, whom some believe was an angel, or like an angel, who when he wished to be seen was visible, when he did not wish was hidden; and therefore when Rahab wished to hide him, he answered: I am a priest; for priests indeed are like angels, if they wish, they are visible; if they do not wish, they are not seen: and so Rahab hid only Caleb, not Phinehas. But this smells of a Rabbinic fable and is contrary to the Latin version of Joshua, II, 4, where both are said to have been hidden by Rahab.
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26. For as the body without spirit (that is, the vital breath, which is the index and source of the soul and the sign of life) is dead, so also faith without works is dead. — Hence it is clear that those err who place virtue in words, not in deeds, concerning whom Plutarch, in the book On Superstition, and Horace: "You think," he says, "virtue is words, as a grove is wood." On the contrary, Paul, I Corinthians IV, 20: "The kingdom of God," he says, "is not in speech, but in power." Philo, in the book On the Migration of Abraham: "The words," he says, "of God are the works of the wise man: for what God speaks, the wise man does." St. Ambrose, on Psalm CXVIII: "Virtue," he says, "consists not in words and in voice, or in pretense, but in reality and in hands and works." St. Ephrem, in the book On the Spiritual Life: "Consider," he says, "whether you have works of faith befitting you. For if you are zealous only in speaking and hearing, this will be cast upon you: Faith without works is dead." Hence Christ, in order to commend to us the necessity of works, "in his passive life had action, and in death sustained active passion, while he works salvation in the midst of the earth," says Bernard, sermon on the Wednesday of Passion Week; because, as the same says in the sermon On obedience and patience and wisdom, Christ while working, at the same time suffered, and while suffering, at the same time worked; in order to teach us to embrace and join both. The same, sermon On the Resurrection: "True faith," he says, "is testified by works. For as we recognize the life of this body in its motion, so also the life of faith from good works. Therefore the life indeed of the body is the soul, by which it is moved and feels: but the life of faith is charity, because through it faith works; hence when charity grows cold faith dies, as the body when the soul departs. You therefore, if you see a man living strenuously in good works, do not doubt that faith is in him, holding the proofs of that faith." This is what Paul says, Ephesians II, 10: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus in good works," that is, for performing and accumulating good works, "which God hath prepared that we should walk in them," as if to say: For this reason Christ made us Christians and bestowed such great grace upon us, that it might not be idle and inactive, but active, and might be earnestly devoted to good works. Morally, Thomas the Englishman: "Note," he says, "that we ought to have true faith, not feigned, I Timothy 1: The end of the commandment, he says, is charity from a pure heart and a good conscience, and faith not feigned. Certain, not doubtful, chapter 1, verse 6: Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; Matthew XIV, 31: O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt? One, not divided, Ephesians IV, 5: One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Living, not dead, Habakkuk II, 4: But the just shall live in his faith. Great, not small, Matthew XV, 28: O woman, great is thy faith. Fervent, not lukewarm, Matthew XVII, 19: If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed. Active, not idle, as here: Faith without works is idle. Firm, not weak, Colossians II, 5: Seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith which is in Christ. Courageous, not fearful, Ephesians VI: In all things taking up the shield of faith. Perpetual, not transitory, Tobias II, 18: We are the children of saints, and look for that life which God will give to them that never change their faith from him." From what has been said it is clear how St. James, saying we are justified by faith and works, is to be reconciled with St. Paul, who asserts that we are justified by faith, not by works. For James understands by works the works of faith; Paul, however, understands the works of the law and of nature, excluding faith and the grace of Christ, by which it is manifest that we are not justified. Moreover, Paul comprehends under faith the works of faith, and does not deny that we are justified by them, but rather asserts it, equally as James. To pass over other things, he confirms this very thing by many examples throughout chapter XI to the Hebrews, where he narrates the heroic deeds of the fathers in faith, by which they themselves merited the grace and glory of God and men. Whence concluding by anadiplosis, verse 33: "Gedeon," he says, "Barac, Samson, Jephte, David, Samuel, etc., by faith conquered kingdoms, wrought justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, extinguished the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, etc., were stoned, were sawn asunder, were tempted, were put to death by the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being in want, distressed, afflicted, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." Thus St. Augustine, in the book On Faith and Works, chapter XIV, who also in book LXXXIII Questions, IX, chapter LXXVI, says that Paul understands works which precede faith, but James understands works which follow faith. Some add that Paul speaks of the first justification, by which someone from unjust becomes just; James of the second, by which someone from just becomes more just: but in Rom. IV, 3, I have shown that both Paul and James speak of both. Yet it is true that James speaks more of the second, namely of the increase of justice: for he strives to stir up the faithful and just to zeal for good works; Paul truly speaks more of the first, by which someone from impious becomes just. This is clear from cap. III to Rom., vers. 23, where he thus says: "All have sinned and do need the glory of God, justified freely by his grace, etc., on account of the remission of former offences"; and cap. IV, vers. 3: "To him that believeth," he says, "in him who justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reputed to justice." And he proves this from Psalm. XXXI, vers. 1: "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." Finally, Paul by works properly understands legal works. For when the Jews thought themselves to be justified by circumcision and the ceremonies prescribed by the Mosaic law, Paul refutes this very thing, and teaches that all these things without faith and the grace of Christ are inefficacious and useless for justice and salvation. This same thing is evident Rom. III, 28, where he expressly says: "We account a man to be justified by faith without the works of the law", and adds: "Is he the God of the Jews only?" as the Jews thought; "is he not also of the Gentiles? yes, of the Gentiles also." The same is clear from this, that in Rom. II, III, IV, and the epistle to the Galatians, when he names the works of the law, he always brings forward the example of circumcision, which was the principal legal work of the old law. James truly by works understands Gospel and Christian works, which are done from faith and the grace of Christ, from which both Paul and faith teach that we are justified.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
2:1
1. Fratres mei, nolite in personarum acceptione habere fidem Domini nostri Jesu Christi gloriae. Apostolus superiori capite inter alia consolatus est pauperes, mundo contemptibiles, jubens eos gloriari in sua exaltatione; divitibus autem, quos mundus honorat, e contrario suam vilitatem ante oculos posuit. Nunc pro majori consolatione pauperum et depressione divitum, ad hos se convertit, a quibus et pauperes contemuebantur, et divites in pretio ac honore habebantur, praesertim in consessibus ac ministeriis ecclesiasticis; ac gravi increpatione docet ejus peccati magnitudinem. Nam de personarum acceptione, quae fiebat in conventibus sacris, Apostolum loqui, valde probabile est, uti sequentia declarabunt. Igitur liic sermo videtur esse ad presbyteros et diaconos, quorum erat, in Ecclesiae conventu loca convenientia singulis attribuere. Forte etiam ad Episcopos, quorum est, homines idoneos ad ecclesiastica ministeria promovere. Estautem personarum acceptio, quum in distribuend*s honoribus aut praemiis non causa attenditur, sed personae respectus habetur. Quoniam autem unumquodque peccatum tanto gravius est, quanto in majori materia versatur: constat utique, tanto gravius eos peccare, qui inique spiritualia dispensant, quam qui temporalia, quanto sani spiritualia temporalibus potiora. Graece vitium hoc vocatur 7:poc(OTCoXyj(J;ta, de cujus vocis origine ac ratione vide, quae diximus in Epist. ad Rom. 2. Sensus Apostolici praecepti est: Nolite fidem Christianam habere, id est ea, quae Christianae religionis sunt, agere, cum acceptione personarum. In iis, quae fidelium propria sunt, locum non habeat respectus personarum; quasi dicat: In vulgaribus ac profanis coetibus utcumque tolerari potest hoc malum; at in conventibus rebusque Christianis intolerabile est. Dictio gloriae in fine addita sententiam nonnihil obscurat. Nec enim satis apparet, quo referenda sit, aut quid sibi velit. Erasmus ejus loco vertit: ex opinione, ut referatur (sicut in annotationibus dicit) ad personarum acceptionem; sitque sensus: Ne habeatis fidem Christi in discretione personarum, juxta rerum mundanarum aestimationem. Sed haec interpretatio violenta est, utpote qua nimis longe separatar genitivus a nomine regente, ac praeter morem Graeci sermonis exponitur. Adde, quod, etsi do^a. significet interdum opinionem, non tamen arbitror, in apostolicis Scripturis ea significatione reperiri. Porro nonnulli genitivum gloriae referunt ad fidem, sicque verba Apostoli construunt et exponunt: Nolite cum per- Bonarum acceptione habere fidem gloriae Domini nostri Jesu Christi, id est, fidem Christi gloriosam; vel, ut alii, fidem gloriae Christi nobis communicandae. Quippe indignum est, ut humanam gloriam aut quaerat, aut admiretur is, qui participationem exspectat gloriae Christi Domini. Qui posterior sensus probabilis est, sive Graeca spectes, sive consuetudinem Scripturae. Plerique tamen alii malunt dictionem gloriae referre ad proxime praecedentia, hoc sensu: Domini nostri Jesu Christi gloriosi. Quamquam alii peculiariter ad vocabulum Domini referunt, hoc modo: Fidem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, Domini, inquam, gloriae. Nam hoc epitheton etiam Apostolus Paulus attribuit Christo, 1 Corinth. 2. Si enim, inquit, cognovissent, numquam Dominum gloriae crucifixissent. Atque hunc sensum Erasmus sequitur in paraphrasi, Dominum gloriae exponens omnis gloriae principem. Nos, quid ea phrasi significetur, explicare conati sumus in commentarioloci jam citati. Congruit autem hic sensus instituto. Nam si Christus est Dominus gloriae, magis igitur ille glorificandus est a nobis et honore prosequendus, qui Christo propinquior est.
2:2
2. Etenim si introierit in conventum vestrum vir aureum annulum habens in veste candida. Exemplo rem illustrat. Inquo non reprehendit ornatum vestitum, si modo congruat personae; sed tam divitis, quam pauperis habitum describit; tametsi in hoc genere saepissime peccatur a divitibus, dum mirabili vanitate ex splendore vestium honores captant. Candida, Graece XoL\kTZ^6i, id est splendida, quomodo verterunt Erasmus et alii. Significatur enim non tam coloris genus, quam splendor et pulchritudo. Vox eadem Luc. 23., ubi legitur Herodes Jesum indutum veste alha, id est splendida, remisisse ad Pilatum. Hujusmodi veste Bolebant uti non solum, qui erant ex genere regio (quod nonnulli putarunt), verum etiam qui ex opibus potentiam nacti erant, ut in tali veste prodire possent. Nam de divite loquitur Apostolus; non speciatim de eo, qui sit claro genere natus. Quae autem Herodi causa fuerit indnendi Christum candida veste, petendum ab iis, qui Evangelicam historiam enarrant. Jam quod ad annulum aureum attinet, existimat Cardinalis Baronius Annal. eccles. tom. 1. ad annum Domini 34., ubi de veste alba, qua Salvator illasus fuit, disputat, annulum, cujus hic mentio, non manus aut digiti, sed ipsius vestis ornamentum fuisse. Nam, inquit, annulus in veste candida idem erat, quod aurea fibula, qua vestis stringeretur. Atque hunc vestis adstringendae morem probat cum ex eo, quod dicitur Exod. 28.: Stringatur rationale annulis suis, tum maxime verbis Josephi lib. 13. antiq. cap. 8., ubi narrat, Jonathae missam fuisse a rege fibulam auream, gestamen solis cognatis regis concessum. Addit Baronius, hoc annuli ornamentum fuisse ejus fere modi, quale apud Komanos nobilissimos latus clavus. Censet igitur, hoc loco designari virum quempiam regium, cui hujusmodi ornamentum gestare liceret in veste candida. Sed de viro regio commentarium jam exclusimus. Quod autem annulum interpretatur fibulam, primum Graeca dictio XP^^o^^^tx- TuXtoc; id non recipit. AaxTuAtoc enim significat annulum, qui digito inseritur; et xptJO^^ocxTUAtoq eum, qui annulum aureum in digito gestat. Nec usquam 5ax- ToXtov puto reperiri pro fibula, nisi forte per catachresim inusitatam. Etenim nec apud Josephum, nec apud LXX. loco Exodi citato, juxta Sixtinam editionem, quae sincerior est, SaxI^Xtoq legitur; licet alii quidam codices habeant. Nec juvat dicfam interpretationem, quod dicitur: in veste candidaj quasi annulus intelligatur vesti assutus. Nam Hebraismus est, qualis idem, cum dixit: in personarum acceptione; nimirum pro eo, quod diceret: cum veste candida, id est, splendide vestitus. Caeterum constat, apud Romanos, sub quorum imperio degebant hi, ad quos scribit Apostolus, aurei annulli gestandi usum fuisse in populo frequentem. De qua re vide Fevardentium scribentem in hunc locum, ut non sit necesse, propter insignia hic nominata, annulum aureum et vestem splendidam, coarctare sermonem Apostoli ad hominem primae nobilitatis, praesertim quum etiam generis defectam pecunia supplere soleat. Proinde cum aliis plerisque sentimus, hic describi hominem divitem, qui opibus ac potentiafretus splendide vestitur, qualiscumque sit genere. Cujusmodi et ille dives Evangelicus, qui induebatur purpura et bjsso, Luc. 16. Conventum quidam interpretes generaliter accipiunt pro coetu publico, tam profano, quam sacro; unde et reprehensionem Apostoli de personarum acceptione aeque generalem faciunt. Sed sciendum, pro conventu Graece legi ouvaya)Y>jV. Quo vocabulo proprie significari solet in Scriptura novi Testamenti locus publicus, ad quem Judaei certis temporibus conveniebant legis audiendae ac discendae causa. Habebant autem ejusmodi loca multis in civitatibus. Unde hic idem Apostolus Act. 15. sic ait: Moses enim a temporibus antiquis habet in singulis civitalibus, qui eum praedicent in synagogis, ubi per omne sabbatum Jegitur. Ex quibus Apostoli verbis id etiam colligitur, Sjnagogas a Judaeis ad Christum conversis non fuisse derelictas, sed commutatas in Ecclesias Christi, sic ut in iis et Moses more veteri legeretur, et Evangelica doctrina traderetur, el religionis Christianae mysteria peragerentur. Igitur hujusmodi conventum etiam hic ab eodem Apostolo significari, plus quam verisimile est; praesertim quod Judaei, qui erant in dispersione (nam ad eos haec Epistola scribuntur), alios coetus publicos in civitatibus habere vix fuerint permissi. Hinc jam manifestius apparet (id quod supra dixi), de personarum acceptione, quae contingebat in conventibus Ecclesiasticis, Apostolum praecipue loqui. Quod et Lirauus, et multi neotericorum sentiunt, ut Hasselanus, Bajus, Cunerus; imo et sentire videtur Augustinus, hunc Apostoli locum tractans in Epist. 29. scripta ad Hieronymum. Exponit enim de honoribus Ecclesiasticis; tametsi nec generalem sensum rejicit.
Introierit autem et pauper in sordido habitu. Graece: in sordida veste, Vocabulum idem cura superiore.
2:3
3. Et inteyidatis m eunij qui indutus est veste praeclara. Graece: Et respexeritis in eum, qui gestat vestem splendidam. Est enim hic rursus Xa^x- Tipav. Significatur aiBPectus hominum admirantium splendorem externum. Quod enim admirantur et magni faciunt, intente aspiciunt. Nec emphasi caret articulus in Graeco inculcatus ad denotandam causam admirationis: ttjv io^^Ta ttjv Xa|Ji- Tcpav, vestem illam praeclaram. Quamquam id Latine pari sermonis gratia reddi non potest.
Et dixeritis ei: Tu sede hic bene. Graece: xaAd);;, quod alii vertunt: honeste. Vult enim Apostolus significare sessionem honorificam. Xam de honoribus hic agitur. Idem patet ex antithesi partis sequentis.
Pauperi autem dicatis: Tu sia illic, aut sede sub scabello pedum meorum. Graece et Syriace: aut sede hic etc. Nam quod ex Graeco vertunt: subter scabellum meum, noster interpres dixit explicatius: sub scabello pedum meorum. Est enim Graece utiottoSlov^ id est, scamnum humile, quod sedentium pedibus subjicitur. Versio Syriaca sic habet: Ante scabellum pedum nostrorumj intellige, loco inferiori. Caeterum in hac mimesi verborum, quae ad divitem et pauperem dicuntur, observanda sunt antitheta: Sede, sta; hic, illic; bene, sub scabello pedum meorum. Quae omnia serviunt exaggerationi.
2:4
4. Nonne judicatis apud vosmet ip- 80S? Graece: Et non dijudicati estis in vobis ipsis? quomodo vertit Erasmus; tametsi potest etiam active verti Graecus aoristus: Stexpi^YjTe, dijudicastis; quod video pluribus placere, quibus et Syrum interpretem annum.ero; ut sensus sit: Nonne discrimen fecistis apud vos inter divitem et pauperem; cum in Christo Jesu, sicut non est. distinctio Judaei et Graeci, servi et liberi, ita nec divitis et pauperis? Horum enim nihil est, quod hominem magis aut minus in Christo honorabilem reddat. Si passive legas: dijudicati estis, sensus erit: An non propria conscientia vos ipsos redarguii et convincit male agere? Conjunctionem: et, in Graeco redundare, sicut et alibi interdum, recte Graecus auctor Oecumenius admonet.
Et facti estis judices cogitationum iniquarum? Graece: TcovYjpdiv, malarum, perversarum. Periphrasis est iniquorum judicum. Dicuntur enim judices mala" rum cogitationum, quia pravis affectibus imbuti et impulsi perverse de aliis judicant; quasi videlicet melior et honore dignior quis sit, quia ditior aut potsntior, aut genere clarior, aut sanguine conjunctior. Et ita locum hunc Augustinus dicta Epist. 29. intellexit. Notandum est, Oecumenium haec absque intorrogatione legere, quem et alii nonnulli secuti sunt. Non enim in Graeco est o^yl, sed ob, non. Facit autem hunc sensum: Dijudicandi virn, quae in vobis erat, corrupistis, nullam facientes inquisitionem, uter suo merito potius honorandus esset, pauper, an dives; imo facti estis iniqui judices, alterum honorantes divitiarum intuitu, alterum ob paupertatem aspernantes. Verum interrogativa lectio, quam et textus Syriacus habet, magis profecto arridet. Nec obstat Graecum o6. Nam et illud interrogationi subservit haud raro, ac nominatim hoc ipso capite in sequentibus aliquoties, ubi nos legimus: nonne? Utrumque legis apud Paulum 1 Cor. 9.: Non sum Apostolus etc.? Ex hujus loci doctrina patet, non inter levia peccata numerandum esse, si in consessibus Ecclesiasticis, ubi sanctae fidei nostrae mysteria tractantur, prae caeteris honorentur divites, eo tantum nomine, quia divites sunt; maxime si id fiat cum contemptu pauperum. Unde consequenter intelligitur, longe gravius esse peccatum, si ad sacra ministeria gradusque Ecclesiasticos prae pauperibus divites assnmantur; licet id Apostolus non expresserit, contentus, exemplo vulgariore rem, de qua agebat, declarasse. Quis feratj ait Augustinus ad Hieronymum scribens, eligi divitem ad sedem honoris Ecclesiae, contempto paupere instructiore alque sanctiore? Quod vero ad consessus et salutationes quotidianas attinet, si in illis, ut fit, divites prae pauperibus honorentur, aiit veniale peccatum est, dum humano quodam affectu ad divitias habetur respectus; aut nullum peccatum, si spectatur in divite, quod potest divitiis bene uti, et ad hoc invitatur tali honoris exhibitione. Nam sine peccato id fieri posse, satis aperte significat Augustinus in Epistola memorata 29.
2:5
5. Audite, fratres mei dilectissimi. Excitat attentionem, ostensurus a persona pauperis et divitis, quam non sit ille prae isto contemnendus. Utitur autem erotematis, ad exaggerandam facti inQignitatem, inquiens:
Nonne Deus elegit pauperes in hoc mundo, divites in fide? Graece: Pauperes mundi hujus. Et sensus est, Deum elegisse et vocasse pauperes hujus saeculi, ut faceret eos fide, caeterisque donis spiritualibus divites. Non quod divites hujus saeculi praetermiserit omnino 5 sed quia a pauperibus exordium facere voluit, ut divitum superbiam retunderet, et (quod secretioris fuit consilii) ut Evangelii fructum atque progressum non humanae potentiae praesidiis, sed virtuti gratiae ipsius sciremus adscribendum. Unde Paulus 1 Corinth. 1.: Videte vocationem vestram, fratreSj quia non multi sapientes secundum carnem, non multi potentes, non multi nobiles; sed quae stulta sunt mundij et infirma, et ignobilia mundi et contemptibilia, elegit Deus. Et concludit hac ratione: Ut non glorietur omnis caro in conspectu ejus.
Et haeredes regni, quod repromisit Deus diligentibus se? Hoc ex priori sequitur. Qui enim divites sunt in fide, iidcm sunt haeredes regni coelestis, quod Deus promisit in ipsum credentibus et Bperantibus, ipsumque diligentibus. Non tamen dixit: credentibus in se, sed: diligentibus se, ne quis ex fide otiosa et dilectionisvacua regnum sibipolliceretur.
2:6
6. Vos autem exhonorastis pauperem. Id est: contemptui habuistis, quasi dicat: Quod minime oportuit. Argumentum tale est: Non sunt contemnendi, quos Deus elegit ad regni sui consortium; atqui pauperes hac electione dignatus est Deus; non sunt igitur illi vobis contemnendi.
Nonne divites per potentiam opprimunt vos? Alii vertunt: tyrannidem exercent in vos; sed eodem sensu. Tale quid enim significat verbum Graecum xaxaSuvaoTeuouoiv.
Et ipsi trahunt vos ad judicia? Ipsi, Graece: auTOi, quod hic melius vertitur: iidem, scilicet, divites. Ut et in versu proxime sequenti. Alterum argumentum a divitis persona, quo ostendit, quam sint divites honore indigni, utpote fratrum oppressores. Loquitur enim de divitibus Christianis, uti bene observat Gaignaeus. Nam, ut supra monstratum est, reprehendit eos, ad quos scribit, quod in Ecclesiasticis suis conventibus honorarent divites, contemptis pauperibus. At illuc soli admittebantur fideles. Sic et infra cap. 5. in divites avaros atque injustos invehitur, tamquam in malos Christianos. De his ergo dicit: Nonne divites, opibus suis confisi, vos opprimunt, et pauperiores, qui inter vos sunt, titulo debiti alicujus ad judicia seu tribunalia trahunt? tribunalia dico, non quaecumque, sed judicum infidelium. Nam fideles, sive ex Judaeis in dispersione constitutis, sive ex gentilibus, qui suas civitates incolebant, propria tribunalia saecularium causarum non habebant; ac proinde citabantur ad judices infideles. Qua de re Paulus etiam Corinthios graviter increpat 1 Corinth. 6. Per hoc autem fiebat, ut male audiret apud infideles nomen Christianum; quod et indicat Paulus eodem loco. Sed hic apertioribus verbis id ipsum a Jacobo significatur in eo, quod sequitur:
2:7
7. Nonne ipsi blasphemant bonum nomen, quod invocatum est super vos? Non sentit proprie blasphemos, id est, maledicos fuisse in Deum aut Christum, ut multi intelligunt; quod bene refellit idem Gaignaevis. Jam enim ostendimus, Christianos fuisse, de quibus haec dicuntur. Sed blasphemant, inquit, hoc est, blasphemari taciunt malis et improbis suis moribus, et eo maxime, quod fratres 8U0S pauperos, nulla misericordia moti, ad tribunalia traherent. Quae res, quia apud judices elhnicos et infideles agebatur, non parum deformabat nomen Chri- Btianum. Ita Paulus Rom. 2., Jadaeum alloquens, ait: Per praevaricationem legis Deum inhonoras. Nomen enim Dei per vos blasphematur inter gentes. Et de Judaeis Ezechiel. cap. 36.: Inter gentes poUuerunt nomen sanctummeum^ cum diceretur de eis: Populas Domini iste estf et de terra ejus egressi sunt. Ex quibus Prophetae verbis aperitur intellectus ejus etiam, quod hic dicitur: Bonum nomen, quod invocatum est super vos, id est, nomen Domini Dei, a quo vos appellamini populus Dei, seu populus Domini; vel, secundum alios, nomen Christi, a quo vocamini Christiani. Nam Hebraea phrasi, nomen alicujus super aliquem invocari, est, hunc ab illius nomine nuncupari, si praesertim honoris agnominatio sit, ut in locis subjunctis: Jerem. 14.: Nomen bonum invocatum est super nos, id est, populus Domini vocamur; Eccles. 36.: Miserere plebi tuae, super quam invocatum est nomen tuum, id est, quae vocatur plebs Domini; 3 Reg. 8., orante Salomone: Et probent, quia nomen tuum invocatum est super domum hanc, id est, experientia beneficiorum discant, hoc esse templum Domini; Gen. 48.; dicente Jacob de Ephraim et Manasse: Invocetur super eos nomen meum, id est, vocentur filii mei; Jes. 4.: Tantummodo invocetur nomen tuum super nos, id est, dicamur uxores tuae; nirsus Jerem. 15.: Invocatum est nomen tuum super me, id est, Propheta aut servus tuus appellor. Porro Jacobus non simpliciter dixit nomen, sed bonum nomen, sicut Ezechiel: sanctum nomen; ut gravitatem Gnil. £sUi Comm. Tom. IIL ostenderet peccati, dum blasphemant bonum et sanctum illud nomen, quod prae omnibus honorari debuit et sanctiticari, juxta id, quod primo loco petimus in oratione Dominica: Sanctificetur nomen tuum. Ergo quod hic dicitur: blasphemant, id est, reddunt odiosum, faciunt, ut male audiat, quo modo et illud B. Petri 2 Epist. cap. 2. accipiendum est: Per quos via veritatis hlasphemahitur. Argumentum autem hujus partis tale est: Divites Dei nomen exhonorant; igitur indigni sunt, qui a vobis honorentur. Illud sciendum, de divitibus Christianis non tuto genere loqui Apostolum; sunt enim inter Christianos quidam hujus saeculi divites, obedientes Apostoli Pauli praecepto: Non sublime saptre, neque sperare in incerto divitiarum, sed in Deo vivo etc., 1 Tim. 6. Sed divites, quales permulti sunt, depingit.
2:8
8. Si tamen legem perficitis regalem secundum Scripturas: Diliges proxi" mum tuum sicut te ipsum; bene facitis. Hac parte jara se ipsum declarat Apostolus, ac docot, non omnino se damnare, si quis divitem prae paupere honoret; posse enim id fieri salva lege caritatis, si nimirum id faciat quis honesti officii causa, quod pertinere videatur ad bonum commune; non autem ideo praecise, quoniam hic dives sit, ille pauper. Nonnulli codices logunt: secundum Scripturam, numero singulari, ut in Graeco est et Syriaco. Exstat enim hoc praoceptum uno tantum loco veteris instrumenti, Lev. 19. Repetitur autem a Christo in Evangelio, et a Paulo Rom. 13. Cujus in loci commentario nos sensum ejus praecepti exposuimus. Eam vocat Apostolus legem regalem, vel quod observatores suos spiritualiter reges faciat, id est Dei filios; vel quod lex ipsa sit via regia, id est, plana et aequabilis, et quae recta ducat ad regnum coelorum; vel quia lex est caritatis, quae virtutum omnium regina est; vei quia a Deo profecta, qui est rex regum; vel denique, quia caritatis praeceptum summum ac praecipuum est in lege, ad quod caetera sint referenda, Matth. 22., et per quod impleantur caetera. Qui enim diligit proximum, legem imjplecit; et: Plenitudo legis est dilectio, Rem. 13. Quae autem iu rebus praecipua sunt, regia dici solent. Hanc expositionem, quod Scripturis valde consona sit, arbitror esse germanam. Sunt, qui legem regalem accipiant pro lege regum ac principum de honorando magistratu a se constituto; qualis illa regis Assueri pro Mardochaeo: Sic honorabitur, quemcumque voluerit rex honorarej Esther. 6. (nam hoc exemplum adducit Cajetanus); ut sensus sit: Si divites honoratis tamquam in magistratu constitutos, quos principes suis legibus Lonorari praecipiunt; bene facitis. At nobis ista expositio non probatur. Primum quia sermo est de divitibus Judaeis, iisque Christianie, in dispersione positis; qui utique ad magistratus civitatum non assumebantur. Deinde quia non diceret Apostolus: Secundum Scripturam: Diliges proximum tuum etc, sed: Secundum Scripturam, quae praecipit, regibus esse obediendum. Tertio, quia lex hoc loco non alia quaerenda est, quam de qua in sequentibus, ubi et lex libertatis appellatur. Est igitur hic sensus Apostoli: Si tamen in eo, quod divites honoratis, legem servatis regiam, id est, mandatum illud magnum, quod tradit Scriptura, dicens: Diliges proximum tuum sicut te ipsum, bone facitis, nec ad vos pertinet superior reprehensio. Nam ea lege, sicut acceptio personarum prohibetur, ita praecipitur, ut quisque juxta statum, dignitatem et merita sua honoretur, sive dives sit, sive pauper. Id enim secundum rectam rationem unusquisque sibi fieri velit. Aut certe sic inteUige: Si tamen honorando divites non peccatis in legem regiam, quae praecipit diligendos proximos ut nos ipsos, id est, si divites honcratis sine cujusquam injuria: recte facitis; non vos reprehendo. Hic obiter nota Apostoli verba: legem perficitis, hene focitis. Per quae et similia valide refelluntur illa sectariorum placita, legem a nobis impleri non posse, et justum in omni opere peccare mortaliter.
2:9
9. Si autem persunas accipitis, peccatum operamini, Sed si, inquit, divites honorando personas respicitis, non causas (quod arguit pauperum neglectus atque contemptus, de quo supra), peccatum committitis in legem. Unde sequitur:
Redarguti a lege, quasi transgressores. Redarguti, Graece: iXsYXOfASvo^ temporis praesentis, quod simili participio Latine reddi non potest. Erasmus mutavit in verbum; Et redarguimini a lege. Commodius ita vertas, participio passivo in activum mutato: Peccatum facitis, lege vos redarguente velut transgressores. Legem, intelligit non eam, quae dicit: Non accipies personam, Deut. 1. et 16., ut quidam volunt; sed legem caritatis modo dictam: Diliges proximum tuum sicut te ipsum. In qua etiam hoc praeceptum dc personis non accipiendis continetur; ut jam ostendimus. Transgressores autem dicit, non hujus aut illius praecepti, sed absolute, id est transgressores legis, ut patebit ex sequentibus.
2:10
10. Quicumque autem totam legem servaverit, offendat autem in uno, factus est omnium reus. Graece: Quicumqueenim, conjunctione causali, quam etiam Syriacus textus exhibet. Nam adducitur haec sententia ad probationem ejus, quod proxime dictum est: quasi transgressores, scilicet legis, tamquam si dicat: Ne miremini, me eos, qui personas accipiunt, simpliciter vocare transgressores; quicumque enim totam legem, id est^ omiiia legis praecepta, servaverit, uno excepto, factus est omnium reus. Nam ista pars: offendat autem in uno, exceptionem facit ab illa: totam legem. Solet enim ad hunc modum Scriptura exceptiones significare, utMatth. 12.: Omne peccatuyn et blasphemia remittetur hominibus; spiritus autem blasphemiae non remittetur. Hoc est: Omne remittetur, excepta blasphemia spiritus. Quoniam autem hic Apostoli locus partim favere videtur Stoicorum paradoxo, quo docebant, omnia peccata esse aequalia et pari supplicio punienda; partim vero ab haereticis allegari solet adversus discrimen peccatorum venialium et mortalium (volunt enim illi, peccata omnia esse mortalia; cumque nemo sit hominum in hac vita a peccatis immunis, hino ulterius coUigunt, ex observatione legis neminem justum dici posse, sed ex sola divina imputatione): necesse est, ut verum ac germanum hujus Scripturae sensum diligenter exquiramus; praesertim quod hic locus etiam S. Augustino visus fuerit adeo difficilis, ut super ejus intellectu consulendum putaverit S. Hieronymum; uti videre est in Epistola satis prolixa ad illum scripta, quae in numero Epistolarum B. Augustini est 29. Primum igitur sciendum est, offensionem hic intelligi non quamcumque, ut quidam voluerunt, etiam levem, quam venialem vocamus; de qua dicit cap. seq.: In multis offendimus omnes, et iterum: Si quis in verbo non offendit, hic perfectus est vir. Nam quomodo verum est, eum, qui totam legem servaverit, si in verbo otioso aut risu immoderato offendat, omnium reum fieri? Sed eam intelligit offensionem, qua praeceptum aliquod legis, unum ex praecipuis, violatur, quae est gravis et mortalis offeneio. Nam de hujusmodi offensione sermonem esse, constat ex subjuncta declaratione: Quod si non moechaberis, occides autem, factus es transgressor legis. Sed et supra monstratum est, eam personarum acceptionem, quam hoc capite insectatur Apostolus, in magnis peccatis esse numerandam. Utitur quidom B. Jacobus verbo TCTatetv, quod significat: impingere, ac minus est, quam cadere, ut patet Rom. tis offendimus omnes; sed non idcirco levem lapsum hic vult significare; verum ii, contra quos agit, ita putabant et loquebantur, scilicet non admodum Deo displicere, nec ideo quemquam damnandum, si unum aliquod praeceptum transgrediatur. Hoc posito, jam quaerendum, quo sensu dicat Apostolus, eum, qui unam legis praeceptum, reliquis omnibus servatis, transgressus fuerit, factum esse omnium reum. Hoc enim est, in quo cum Augustino interpretes fere omnes laborant, alii aliud adferentes. Sunt, qui iatud: om7iium, interpretentur de bonis operibus, hoc sensu: Qui vel unum praeceptum legis violaverit, digpus efct, qui omnia bona, quae fecit, amittat, juxta Scripturas Eccles. 9.: Qui in uno peccaverit, multa bona perdet, et Ezech. 33.: Omnes justitiae ejus oblivioni tradentur. Sed haec coacta est interpretatio. Non enim more Scripturae quis dicitur reus bonorum operum, sed vel peccati, vcl poenae, vel (quod eodem recidit) legis violatae. Patet etiam, has voces: uno et omnium, ad idem genus referendas esse, scilicet praecepti, hoc modo: Qui offendit in uno praecepto, factus est omnium praeceptorum reus. Igitur alii reum fieri dicunt omnium praeceptorum, quia ex unius praecepti transgressione pronus efficitur ad caetera violanda. Verum sequentia satis ostendunt, alienam esse a mente Apostoli hanc expositionem. Liranus reum omnium intelligunt, quantum ad poenam damni, quae est carentia divinae visionis. Hanc enim poenam putat aequalem esse omnibus damnatis, sive in uno, sive iu multis pecca^^erint. Quod etiamsi verum esset, Apostoli tamen verbis eum sensum non convenire, bene docet Paulus Burgensis. Idemque pro hujus loci intellectu commemorat, Pharisaeorum fuisse dcctrinara (quam et Rabbi Moses postea tradidit, et Calvinus Catholicis calumniose impingere non est veritus), hominem reputari justum apud Deum, si majorem partem legis servet, etiamsi in paucioribus transgressor sit legis. Hoc simile est ei, quod quidam stulte imaginantur de appendendis in statera bonis et malis meritis; et, si quidem bona praeponderent, salvatum iri hominem; sin mala, periturum. Itaque censet scriptor ille, B. Jacobum hac sententia perstringere ejusmodi Judaicum errorem, ac contra docere Judaeos fideles, unius praecepti transgreseionem, etiamsi caetera omnia serventur, satis esse ad amittendam justitiam, et incurrendam poenam seu maledictionem legis; ut hoc ipsum velit Jacobus, quod post Mosen Paulus illis verbis: Maledictm omnis, qui non permanserit in omnibvSj quae scripta sunt in libro legiSj ut faciat ea, Gal. 3. ex Deut. 27. Hic intellectus multis etiam aliis placet, ac nobis quoque probatur. Ubi tamen observandum, dictionem omnium non posse exponi distributive, ut, qui iu uno offendit, dicatur omnia et singula transgressus, aut iit talis puniendus; sed collective, quia videlicet transgreditur legem, quae est coUectio omnium praeceptoruiR. Ac nisi sic intelligas, sententia eecum ipsa pugnabit. Nam quomodo totam legem observat, uno excepto, qui reus est transgressionis omnium et singulorum? Sit igitur hic sensus: Qui, caeteris servatis, unum transgreditar, reus est totius legis non servatae, et obnoxius poenae, quae transgressoribus legis constituta est, id est aeternae maledictioni. Sensum hunc ostendit id, quod infra, velut explicando, dicitur: Factus es transgressor legisj ac per illud probat Hieronymus lib. 1. dialogi contra Pelag. cap. 7. Porro faciunt ad hunc sensum illu- Btrandam, quae ad Hieronymum scribit Augustinus in Epist. memorata, Beda repetente in comment., quorum summa est, eum, qui in uno offendit, esse omnium reum, quia contra caritatem facit, ex qua tota lex pendet et Prophetae. Nam, inquit, merito fit omnium reus, qui contra illam facit, in qua pendtnt omnia, Jam ex bis patet, Apostolum Jacobum hoc loco nec Stoicis patrocinari, paritatem peccatorum adstruentibus, nec haereticis, tollentibus discrimen peccatorum mortalium et venialium. Non Stoicis, quia non dicit (ut bene respondet Augustinus), aequaliter esse reum, qui in uno offendit, etquiinalio, vel in pluribus. Nec haereticis, quia non de omnibus agit peccatis, sed tantum de transgressionibus praeceptorum legis; ut ante dictum est. Patet insuper, male colligi ex hac sententia, quod, qui unum legis praeceptum transgreditur, etiam aliorum omnium sit transgressor. Aperte enim significat, totam legem servari posse, uno excepto; sic nimirum, ut adversus reliqua non peccetur. Tametsi verissimum sit, hoc casu reliqua servari non posse eo modo, qui necessarius est ad promerendam vitam aeternam, id est ex caritate. Quod vult expositio B. Augustini.
2:11
11. Qui enim dixit: Non moechaberis; dixit et: Non occides. Probatio est et declaratio sententiae praecedentis. Ejusdem, inquit, legislatoris, atque ejusdem legis haec sunt praecepta. Quodcumque ergo legis praeceptum solveris, et in Deum peccas, et in legem, et per hoc constitueris divinae legis transgressor. Hoc enim est, quod sequitur: Quod si non moechaberis, occides autem, factus es transgressor legis. Inferendum relinquit: et proinde omnium reus. Hinc satis apparet, Apostolum habere pro iisdem, aut certe pro reciproce sese consequentibus, esse transgressorem legis, et esse reum omnium; prout superius expositum est. Potest autem probari sequela per iJlud supra citatum: Maledictus omnis, qui non permanserit in omnibus etc. Unde eodem loco Deuteronomii etiam dicitur: Maledictus, qui facit sculptile et conflatile; maledictus, qui non honorat patrem suum et matrem; et ita de aliis. Nec ideo tamen eadem aut aequalis significatur omnium trr.nsgressomm maledictio; sed eadem tantum secundum genus maledictionis. Nam in speciali poenae erant diversae pro diversitate transgressionum.
2:12
12. Sic loquimini, et sic facite, tamquam per legem libertatis incipientes judicari. Doctrinam superiorem, quae erat de acceptione personarum, concludit generali admonitione, qua tamen etiam viam aperit doctrinae sequenti de fide et operibus. Incipientes judicari, Graece: filXXovTSC xptvso^at, id est ad verbum, futuri judicari. Latinius una voce: judicandi, sicut et Beda exponit. Legem Jibertatis eandem hic intelligit, quam superiori capite, nempe legem caritatis, quam et paulo ante citavit Scripturae verbis: Diliges proximum tuum sicut te ipsum. Igitur sensus est: Deinceps sermones et actiones vestras instituite, tamquam a Deo judicandi secundum legem ipsius, qua praecipit, ut proximos sicut nos ipsos diligamus. Nam si judicium hoc Dei semper haberemus ante oculos, neque pauperes fratres nostros verbo aut facto contemneremus, neque suspiceremus, aut honoraremus divites cum injuria pauperum, ipsiusque Ecclesiae. Kursum si cogitaremus, nos secundum eam legem judicandos, non esset fides nostra otiosa et operum misericordiae vacua, nec dicta nostra essent a factis dissona. Cui sensui optime convenit probatio sequens, qua explicat judicium, de quo locutus est.
2:13
13. Judicium enim sine misericordia illi, qui non fecit misericordiam. Subauditur: erit. Nam, inquit, ille, qui non praestiterit proximis suis misericordiam, ac multo magis, qui fecerit injuriam, experietur in judicio suo Deum justum ac severum et (ut ita dicam) immisericordem. Nam Graece est: dvtXscjg (Teutonice dicitur valde significanter: ongenadich). Non enim misericordia dignus est, qui misericordiam non fecerit. Docet id Christus, quando propter opera misericordiae neglecta sententiam aeternae damnationis in extremo judicio se laturum ostendit, quemadmodum et propter opera misericordiae exercita sententiam aeternae salvationis, Matth. 25. Quamquam hic non solum significatur damnatio, sed excluditur omnis misericordia. Unde valde probabiliter ex hoc loco statuitur (quod apud Theologos controverti solet), reprobos non infra meritum, sed secundum exactam et rigidam Dei justitiam esse puniendos. Alioqui enim cum aliqua misericordia judicarentur, qui misericordiam non fecissent. Se de ca re egimus ex professo ad dist. 46. lib. 4. Sentent. Hinc etiam apparet, judicium hoc loco non significare damnationem, ut alibi saepe, sicut nonnulli volunt; tamquam duplex futura sit damnatio, altera sina misericordia, altera cum misericordia; sed esse vocabulum medium, et commune ad judicium sine misericordia, quod est damnationis, et ad judicium cum misericordia, quod est salvationis; de quo iam sequitur:
Superexaltat autem misericordia judicium. Graece: Et contragloriatur misericordia judicio, id est gloriatur adversus judicium. Sic infra cap. 3.: NoHte gloriari adversus veritatem, et Paulus Rom. 11.: Noli gloriari adversus ramos. Est enim in his locis idem verbum xata- %0LuydLO^ciLi y id est adversus aliquem gloriari seu exsultare. Nec temere suspicatur Erasmus, vitiatos esse codices, ac legendum: superexsultat. Nam ita legitur ac tertio repetitur apud Augustinum Epist. 29. ad Hieronymum, et iterum Epist. 89. ad Hilarium, quaest. 4. Eamque lectionem arguit etiam locus apud eundem in ouarrat. Psalm. 143. Nam Jacobi sententiam exponit hoc modo: Superponitur misericordia judicio. Eodem modo in bonis exemplaribus legitur apud eundem de peccat. mer. et rem. lib. 2. cap. 3. et 7.; et contra Julianum lib. 4. cap. 8.; item Confess. lib. 9. cap. 13. Sic quoque Bedam in comment. legisse, quamvis depravati sint codices, palam ostendunt haec expositionis ejus verba: Quia, quemadmodum damnatus in judicio Dei dolebit, qui non fecit misericordiam: ita, qui fecit, remuneratus exsultabit et gaudebit. Jam nec erit sensus commodus, si legamus: superexaltat, nisi suppleas reciprocum: se; quasi dicat: Misericordia exaltat se supra judicium, id est superponit ac praefert se judicio. Est apud Fulgentium locus lib. 1. ad Monimum, cap. 25., ubi sic l^^gitur: Sciebat enim (Propheta), cunctos pari retinendos punitionis vinculo; nisi Deus, in quihu8 vellet misericordiam fecisse, superexaltaretjudicio. Locus sine dubio mendosus, qaem puto sic restituenduai: Nisi Deus, in quibus vellet, misericordiam fecisset suptrexsultare judicio. PoiTo bifaiiam exponitur haec pars: Uno modo de misericordia Dei judicis, ut sensus sit, in judicio Dei misericordiam ejus praevalituram esse justitiae, atque ea superiorem fore; quod intellige de electis, qui omnes misericordia jadicandi sunt. Nam seclusa misericordia, non justificatur in conspectu Dei omnis vivens, Psalm. 142., et: Si iniquitates observaveris, quis sustinebit? Psalm. 129. Altero modo, de misericordia hominis judicandi, ut hic sit sensus: Misericordia, quam quis fecerit erga proximos, opponit se justo Dei judico, et adversus ilhid quodammodo glcriabitur, quia gratiam vehiti extorquebit, qua is severitatem judicii evadat. Hunc sensum arbitor magis germanum. Et huc pertinent Scripturae; Beati misericordes, quoniam ipsi misericordiam consequentur, Matth. 6. Dimittite, et dimittemini. Date, et dabitur vobis, Luc. 6. Omnis misericordia faciet locum unicuique secundum meritum operum suorum, Eccles. 16. Denique id clare sonat sententia judicis, qua vocantur ad regnum electi, quia fecerunt opera misericordiae, Matth. 25. Ex quibus etiam apparet, ne electorum quidem hominum distinguendum esse duplex judicium, alterum cum misericordia, alterum sine misericordia. Nullus enim sine misericordia salvabitur. Quin vero tota salus nostra Dei misericordia est.
2:14
14. Quid proderit, fratres mei, si fidem quis dicat se habere, opera autem non habeat? Quid proderit, Graece: Tt t6 ocpsXoc, quae utilitas? Transit Apostolus ad pleniorem commendationem operum misericordiae, docens, fidem sine iis nihil prodesse; et huic doctrin?»e immoratur usque ad finem capitis. Potestque inferri haec pars ex superiori sic: Judicium sine misericordia erit ei, qui non fecerit misericordiam; nihil ergo cuiquam proderit in Dei judicio, habuisse fidem sine bonis operibus; ut sunt opera misericordiae, quae fides ipsa facienda praes3ribit. Locus hic apertissime monstrat, fidem non semper cum operibus esse conjunctam, ideoque distinctionem illam fidei intbrmis et formatae, quam Catholici tradunt, et sectarii insectantur, esse verbo Dei consentaneam. Locus, inquam, adeo apertus et evidens, ut propter eum Martinus Lutherus aliquando censuerit, hanc Epistolam resecandam esse e catalogo Scripturarum. Sed stolide; quasi non e£ aliae Scripturae id ipsum clare convincaut, ut Joan. 12.: Ex principibus multi crediderunt in eum; sed propter Pharisaeos non con" fitebantur, ut e synagoga non ejicerentur. Dilexei^unt enim gloriam hominum mngis, quam gloriam Dei; et 1 Cor. 13.: iSi habuero omnem fidem, ita ut montes transferamy caritatem autem non habuerOy nihil sum. Hinc Pauhis eam fidem commendat, quae per caritdtem operatur, Gal. 5., utique significans, in quibusdam esse fidem, quae non per caritatem operatur. Atque huc pertinent omnes Scripturae, in quibu8 fideles incropantur de gravibus peccatis, ut maxime iu priore ad Corinth. Epist. et in B. Jacobi ferme tota. Cum enim dicit (ut alia praeteram) hujus capitis initio: Nolite in personarum acct'ptione habere fidem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et quae sequuntur: nonne palam declarat, quosdam esse, qui fidem habeant cum personarum acceptione, et proinde legis esse transgressores? Vanum est autem et futile, quod ad locum hunc Jacobi Calvinus et alii (patrocinante etiam Erasmo in sua paraphrasi) respcndent: partim, fidei nomine hic intelligi professionom fidei; partim, Apostohim uti concessione rhetorica, quod de nomine nolit cum adversario contendere. Facile enim inta refelhintur. Primum ex ipso contextu sermonis Apostoli; non enim de nuda professione potest exponi, aut per concessionem dictum intelligi illud: Tu credis, quoniam unus est Deus? Bene facis; et daemones credunt et contremiscunt. Deinde, ex collatione praesentis loci cum duabus Scripturis jam citatis, quae hujasmodi effugia nullo modo admittunt, ac in priori, qui est Joan. 12., diserte fidei professio excluditur. Adde, quod juxta hanc istorum expositionem licebit etiam dicere: Quid proderit, si caritatem quis dicat se habere, opera autem non habeat? Numquid poterit caritas salvare eum? Nam utique caritatis professio sine operibus aeque nihil prodest. At de caritate non ita Joannes: Qui habuerit, inquit, substantiam mundif et viderit fratrem suum necesse habere, et clauserit viscera sua ab eo, quomodo caritas Dei manet in eo? 1. Epist. 3. Non dicit: Quid proderit eicaritas? aut numquid poterit eum salvare caritas? absurde enim diceret; sed aperte negat, caritatem manere, id est esse in eo, quamvis, ut ibidem subjicit, verbo et lingua diligat. Quod si B. Jacobus sentiret, tales fidem non habere, non eos fratres vocaret, id est fideles, sed hypocritas; ac prius ad fidem recuperandam hortaretur, quam ad opera caritatis exercenda. Nunc autem, ut jacto dudum fidei fundamento superstruant opera, cohortatur. Id vero etiam inde liquet, quia dicit: ex operibus fidem consummarij id est perfici ac formari. Igitur sine operibus exsistit fidss, sed imperfecta et informis. Quo autem sensu fidem sine operibus cum fide daemonum comparet ac mortuam vocet, inferius exponemus. Porro, quod hic dicitur, tale est: Quid proderit cuiquam, si fidem habeat, ac de ea sese jactitet; opera autem fidei respondentia non habeat? Nam quod de ipsa fide, ac non solum de jactantia seu professione fidei loquatur, arguit plane, quod sequitur:
Numquid poterit fides salvare eum? Ac si dicat: Non poterit; non quia non est, sed quia infructuosa est. Hinc etiam coUige, quod ante, quasi absolute dixit: Quid proderit? intelligendum: ad salutem; non quod fides informis ad eam omnino sit inutilis (nam et propter hujusmodi fidem dicitur infra: Bene facis); sed quia hominem in statu justitiae et salutis constituere non sufficit, nequidem secundum inchoationem, si sit omnino informis, cuju.smodi est fides, quae totam justificationem praecedit, nihil habens verae et Christianae dilectionis.
2:15
15. Si autem frater et soror nudi sint, et indigeant victu quofidiano. Rem declarat exemplo, seu malis a simili, sumpto tamen a re praesenti. Nam in commendandis operibus misericordiae versatur. Fratrem et sororem intelligit Christianos. Cum enim operari bonum oporteat erga omnes, maxime tamen erga domesticos fidei, Galat. 6.
2:16
16. Dicat autem aliquis ex vobis illis: Ite in pace, calefacimini et saturarrini. Id est: Si bene precemini illis, dicentes: Abite, et bene sit vobis; Deus vos adjuvet, vestitum et victum provideat. Abire in pace, Hebraismus est pro eo, quod Latine dicitur: discedere cum animi tranquillitate y cum hilaritate, animo pacato. Ita Simeon ille senex apud Lucam cap.|2.: Nunc dimittis servum tuum in pace.
Non dederitis autem eiSy quae necessaria sunt corpori, scilicet tegendo et cibando. Quid proderit? Graece: Quae utilitas? supple: provenit fratri aut sorori indigenti ex ejusmodi verbis? Nulla profecto.
2:17
17. Sic et fides, si non habeat opera, mortua est in semet ipsa. Graece: xa^ eauTTjv, secundum se ipsam, aut per se, ut vertit Erasmus, id est sola, et ab operibus sejancta. Sic et Syriaca versio: mortua est sola. Est enim allusio ad corpus, quod raortuura est, si sit solum, id est actionibus vitae destitutum, ab anima desertum. Caeterum comparationis haec summa est: Quemadmodum verba illa divitis ad pauperee: Ite in pace etc, verba quidem sunt, sed pauperibus nihil conferunt: ita fides, nisi opera habeat, fides quidem est, sed habenti non prodest, utpote mortua, quia solitaria. Non ergo fidem absque operibus raortuara vocat, taraquara revera fides nonsit; sed quia vita caret caritatis ac bonorum operum, sino quibus ad salutem non prodest.
2:18
18. Sed dicet quis: Tu fidem habes, et ego cpera habeo. Corrigendi codices, in qnibiis adhuc legitur: dicit. Est enim IpsI Graece, futuri temporis rerbum. Nec tamen occupatio est, ut forma sermonis prae se ferre videtur; sed intiodiicit Apostolus eum, (]ui opera habet, insultantem ei, qui fidem jactat operum vacuus, ac dicentem haec verba: Tu fidem habes, et quae sequuntur, ut per haec ostendat, inaniter illum de fide gloriari apud homines, quibus eam probare non potest. Nam sensus est: Merito dicat bonus Christianus ei, qui fidem sibi arrogat sine operibus: Tu fidem habes; non nego; at ego opera habeo.
Ostende mihi fidem tuam sine operibus; et ego ostendam tibi ex operibus fidemmeam. Graecasichabent: Ostende mihi fidem tuam ex operibus tuis, et ego ostendam tibi ex operibus meisfidem meam. Quamqr.am in nonnullis exemplaribus Graecis priorilocolegitur: sxtoc, pro: Ix Toiv, ut verti possit: sine operibus. Et ita legisse videtur interpres vulgatus, nec non Syriacae versionis auctor. Nam Beda non attigit hanc partem. Verum mihi.suspecta est ea lectio. Nam IxTOC pro sine nusquam apparet in sacris literis, sed fere semper in Graeco est)ro)pie interdum avsu, nonnumquam aTsp, ut Luc. 22. semel et iterum. Et quidem praepositio y^^oXc, hoc ipso capite in sequentibus tertio repetitur: eademque habetur Rom. 3. et 4., ubi de justificatione ex fide sine operibus Paulus disserit. Denique sciendum est. apud Oecamenium et in codice Veronensi Graeco, quem Gaignaeus citat, neutrum haberi, sedtantummodo legi: Ostende mihi fidem tuam, et ego ostendam etc. Sed haec lectionum varietas in eundem fere sensum concurrit. Nam sensus est, fidem, quod in animo lateat, ostendi et manifestari apud homines non posse, nisi per opera sensibus conspicua; cujusmodi sunt opera misericordiae proximis impensa. Pjoinde eum, quifidem sine operibus habeat, frustra jactare, quod nequeat OBtendere. E8t(jue sermo ironicus: Non enim potest fides ostendi, nisi ex operibus. Erasmus, tam in annotationibus, quam in paraphrasi, hac alium invehit sensum. Patat enim, Jacobum proponere duos colloquentes, quorum alter sola fide fretus negligat opera; alter opera jactet sine fide; atque hic illi dicat: Tu fidem habes; sit hoc tibi satis. Et ego opera habeo; hoc mihi satis est. Deinde Jacobum facit utriusque verba refellentem, cum ait; Ostendemihi fidem tuam ex operibue, id est, factis ipsis doce, te fidem habete; et ego ostendam tibi ex operibus fidem meam. Sed multis modis peccat haec interpretatio. Primum, quia Jacobus unum tantum facit loquentem, nt patet. Tum quia nuUa hic disputatio est de operibus sine fide; nam ad fideles haec scribuntur, nec ullus sermo dirigitur ad eum, qui sola habeat opera. Praeterea nec convenit, Jacobum in sua persona (quod vult Erasmus) dicere: Ego ostendam tibi ex operibus fidem meam. Et, ut semel dicam, sensus iste nonnisi coacte et violenter ex verbis Apostoli exprimitur, ideoque nullo loco habendus. Sed quaeres, quo pacto ex operibus ostendatur fides, cum etiam infideles multa facifint opera vere, vel in speciem bnna. Respondeo, Jacobum hic tantum comparare duos fidem Christianam profitentes, quorum alter opera habeat professioni consentanea, alter non habeat; ac docere, eum, qui opera habet, fidem, quam profitetur, ostendere per opera illa; quod non potest, qui opera non habet, utcumque fidem profiteatur et jactet. Quamvis igitur infideles aliqui opera habere videantur, non tamen ex illis fidem ostendunt, aut ostendere volunt, quia fidem non profi^entur. Et tamen inter opera bona Christianorum et opera, quae videntur bona, paganorum magna differentia est. Haec enim serviunt honestati vel necessitati vitae praesentis, nec ultra porriguntur. Unde, qui ea faciunt, non abdicant occulta dedecoris; ut loquitur Paulus Apostolas 2 Corinth. 4. lUa vero, fide intentionem dirigente, serviunt gloriae Dei, et spem operantis oxtendunt in vitam aeternam. Unde et, qui ea faciunt, immaculatos se custodiunt ab hoc saeculo; ut loquitur hic Apostolus in fine cap. 1. Quao quidem differentia tanta est, tamque notabilis, ut sanctitas, per externa opera sese prodens, jure censeatur inter notas Ecclesiae, quibus ab infidelium coetibus distinguatur.
2:19
19. Tu credis j quoniam unus est Deus. Graece: Quod Deus unus est. Adhuc verba sunt ejus, qui opera habet, ad eum, qui non habet. Tu credis, inquit, Deum unum esse, non plures. Respicit ad illud Deut. 6. repetitum a Christo, Marc. 12.: Dominus Deus noster, Deus unus €st'j ita scilicet Deus, ut praeter eum non sit alius. Hunc autem articulum adfert pro exemplo: vel quod in eo maxime Judaei differrent a paganis; vel quia in symbolo fidei nostrae primus est: ac si dicat: Tenes symbolum, et dicis: Credo in Deum, et caetera. Nam de caeteris articulis idem est judicium. Hinc etsi, Deum esseunum,ratione naturali demonetrari possit et cognosci, quemadmodum illi cognoverunt, contra quos agit Paulu8 Rom. 1., id ipsum tamen credere, sicut caetera creduntur, et sicut credere oportet, homines non possunt, nisi ex dono fidoi.
Bene facis. Est enim actus suo genere bonus, imo actus Christianae virtutis, tametsi imperfectae in eo, qui non habet opera, si tamen adsit ah^quis Christianae dilectionis affectus, ut esse potest. Neque enim homo peccator in omni opere peccat, quod volunt sectarii; sed quaedam bene facere potest, non morditer solum, sed etiam Christiane, modo fidem habeat. Quamquam, an actus fidei possit ex aliqua circumstantia malus esse, alia quaestio est, tractanda in 3. Sent. dist. 23. Jam et illud patet, Apostolo credere non idem esse in hac disputatione: quud: profiteri fidem. Non enim bene facit, sed male et fallaciter, qui profitetur ore, quod corde respuit.
Et daemones credunt et contremiscunt. Et priori loco pro etiam^ quasi dicat: Tu credis, quod Deus unus est; atqui etiam daemones hoc credunt, adeoque et caetera symboli nostri, ut, Jesum esse Christum et Dei Filium, et tam hominum, quam angelorum judicem venturum, eumque sibi imprimis formidabilem. Haec enim eos credere, satis ex evangelica historia et Actis Epistolisque Apostolicis intelligi potest. Vide Matth. 8., Marc. 5, Ijuc. 4., Act. 16. et 19. et PhiL 2. Credunt autem, non fide divinitus infusa, sed ex subtilitate naturae; nec vohmtarie, sed coacte. Convincuntur enim evidenti rerum experientia, tum per vera miracula pro fidei articulis facta; quae quidem a falsis miraculis optime discernunt, eademque sciunt esse testimonia certissima veritatis, ex eo, quod vident, per fidem illorum articulorum homines subtrabi suae potestati, et transferri in regnutn Dei. Quare nec repetendum hic fuit: Bene faciunt. Nullus enim invitus bene facit; nec omnino quidquam est, quod daemones bene faciant, quorum voluntassemperintenta estin malum. Unde manifestum est, multum esse discriminis inter fidem hominum, etiam jnformem, et fidem daemonum. Nec tamen ideo vacillat comparatfo, quam facit Apostolus. Consistit enim in eo, quod, quemadmodum daemonibus ad salutem nihil prodost omnie illa notitia, quam de rebuB divinis habent, quia non adest bona voluntas, ita Christiano, quamdiu non studet bonis operibus, fides ad salutem prodesse non poterit. Quod attendens Augustinus, et tamen sciens, nonnihil interesse, dixit, fidem malorum hominum prope esse fidem daemonum, ser.Ti. 81. de verbis Apost. cap. 9. Porro contremiscere dicuntur daemones metaphorice, ut et angeli boni juxta illud ecclesiasticum: tremunt potestates; diverso tamen sensu. Nam bonorum angelorum tremor aliud non est, quam reverentia, quam in amnnte parit consideratio majestatis ejus, quem amat. Daemonum autem tremor verus ac vehemens timor est, quo refugiunt eura, quem certissimum ac severissimum judicem exspectant.
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20. Vis autem scire, o homo inanis, quoniam fides sine operibus mortua est? Hucusque verba ejus, qui opera habet, ad non habentem. Nunc eundem Apostolus ex sua persona aggreditur, exemplis institutum probatunis; nisi quis malit, Apostolum suis verbis loquentem facere ab eo loco: Tu credis etc. In multis codicibus pro mortua legebatur: oticsa; sed ex melioribus, quibus applaudunt tam Graeca, quam Syriaca, bene restitutum: mortua. Vocat autem mortuam sine operibus fidem, non quod revera fides non sit, sed mortuum fidei simulacrum, ut exponunt sectarii; verum idcirco, quod otiosa sit, ut habebat altera lectio, hoc est, quod actione et motu careat. Ex his enim vita aestimari solet. Agitur autem et movetur atque exercetur fides a caritate per bona opera; proinde sine his mortua reputatur. Ipsum autem hominem inanem appellat, id est bonis operibus vacuum. Ita Petrus 2 Epist. 1., cum ad opera bona exhortaretur: Haec enim, inquit, non vacuos, nec sine fructu vos constituent etc.
2:21
21. Abraham pater noster nonne ex operibus justificatus est, offerens Isaac filium suum super altare? Hoc primum ponit exemplum petiram ex Gen. 22., propterea quod in Abraham, qui Judaeorum est Patriarches (id enim est, quod ait: pater noster), idemque omnium credentium pater, propositum sit omnibus fidelibus exemplum et idea quaedam justificationis, etiam apud Paulum Rom. 4. et Gal. 3. Tametsi et ea fuit causa petendi exempli ab Abraham ex operibus justificato, quod ii, contra quos agit, ab ejusdem Abrahae exemplo suum confirmarent errcrem, dicentes, Abraham sola fide justificatum fuisse, quia scriptum sit: Credidit Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam. Hanc enim Scripturam Jacobus hic repetit tamquam ab adversariis usurpatam. Pro offerens, in Graeco estaoristus: dvsvlyxa^, cum obtulisset, id est ofiferre voluisset, ad ofi^erendum sese comparasfict, ac manu gladium arripuisset, percuBSuruB, nisi prohibitus fuisset ab eo, qui praeceperat. Ita Paulus quoque loquitur Heb. 11.: Fide obtulit Abraham Isaac. Utitur autem Apostolus praeteriti temporis participio, respiciens ad rem gestam. Nam Abraham, postquam obtulit, accepit divinitus testimonium justitiae, quae ex illo opere esset, dicente Domino: Nunc cognovi, quod timeas Dominum; et iterum: Quia fecisti hanc rem, hene" dicam tibi etc. Atque hoc est, quod 1 Mach. 2. dicit Matathias sacerdos: Abra^ ham nonne in tentatione inventus est fidelis, id est obediens; et reputatum est ei ad justitiam? Utique reputatum a Deo, cujus jndiciura falli non potest, quique per Joannem Apostolum 1 Epist. 3. testatur, dicens: Qui facit justitiam, justus est. Imo et per Apostolum Paulum, Rom. 2.: factores legis justificabuntur. Quamquam non id solum sentit Apostolus Jacobus, sed ita fuisse declaratam Abrahae, quae ex operibus esset, justitiam, ut sine illis justus non esset, utque ex illis etiam aucta, provecta et perfecta fuerit ejus justitia; juxta illud Apoc. ultimo: Qui justus est, justificetur adhuc. Id enim insinuat parte sequenti, cum dicit, ex operibus fidem Abrahae fuisse consummatum. Non enim id factam est sine justitiae augmento et consummatione. Quocirca recte praesentem Scripturae locum adducit Tridentina Synodus inter alia, quibus ostendit, justitiam augeri per opera bona, Sess. 6. cap. 10. Similis locus est Psalm. 105.: Stetit Phinees, et placavit; et cessavit quassatio, et reputatum est ei in justitiam. Notandum vero est, ex operibus hominem justificari, etiam formaliter. Nam sicut quis formaliter justus est in habitu per habitualem justitiam: ita formaliter justus est in actu per justitiam actualem; quae sunt opera justitiae. Quod similiter in omni virtute et actibus ejus potedt declarari. Et ita dictum videtur: Qui facit justitiam, justus est, 1 Joan. 3. Jam igitur, hoc intellectu probe constituto, facile tolli potest apparens diaphonia doctrinae hujus loci cum doctrina Pauli in Epistolis ad Romanos et ad Galatas, ubi docet, hominem justificari per fiJem sine operibus legis. Noque enim Paulus a negotio justificationis opera quaelibet excludit, cujus in eadem ad Rom. Epistnla tam aperta sententia est: Factores legis justificari. Hoc enim quid aliud est, quam quod B. Jacobus pronuntiat, hominem ex operibus justificari? Sed negat Apost^olus Paulus, justificari quemquam posbe ex operibus legis, id est, ex iis operibus, quae fidem mediatoris antecedunt, ot ex sola legis cognitione proficiscuntur. Nam contra Judaeos illi instituta erat disputatio, qui legem sibi ad justitiam et salutem suflScere arbitrabantur. Jacobus vero dc operibus agit fidem consequentibus, et ex fide puUulantibus, atque a fide directis, sine quibus utique sterilis et infructuosa, ac proinde inutilis est fides. Ex hujusmodi igitur operibus homo justificatur, tum quia per ea, tamquam per actualem justitiam, est et declaratur vere justus, eoque nomine Deo gratus; tum quia per ea necesse est justitiam conservari; denique quia per opera augetur et perficitur justitia. Hanc B. Jacobi cum Paulo Apostolo conciliationem multis locis tradit S. Augustinus, ut m libro de fide et op. cap. 14.; de praedest. sanct. cap. 7.; in praefat. enarr. in Psalm. 31. et quaest. 76. inter 83. Quod autem aliqui pro conciliatione dicunt, Paulum agere de prima justificatione, et Jacobum de secunda; parum solide videtur dici. Nam et ad primam justificationem opera fidei requiruntur, de quibus loquitur Jacobus; et ad secundam juptificationem inutilia sunt opera legis, de quibusPaulas. Nihilo rectius illi, qui opera legis apud Paulum interpretantur ceremonias et sacramenta veteris legis, quae vim justificandi non habuerunt. Constatenim, PaulurainEpist.adRom., quemadmodum hoc loco Jacobum, ad moralia legis praecepta respicere, cujusmodi sunt: Non concupisces; non furaberis; non moechaberis. Restat videndum, quale sit argumentum Apostoli, quo ex facto Abrahae probare contendit, fidem aine operibus mortuam esse. Sic enim argumentatur: Abraham ex operibus justificatus est, et sine illis justificari non potuit; nam si noluisset obedire Deo praecipienti, ut filium sibi immolaret, justus non fuisset; igitur et nos oportet ex operibus justificari; ac proinde sine operibus ad justitiam fides non valet, sed mortua est. Posterior sequela per se est manifesta; prior dupliciter probari potest: vel a causa exemplari, quia justificatio Abrahae fuit idea quaedam justificationis nostrae; vel a nudo exemplo, quia de omnibus justificandis eadem est ratio. Unde et alterum exemplum mox profert de Raab meretrice ex operibus justificata.
2:22
22. Vides, quoniam fides cooperabatur operibus illius? Colligit, Abrahae fidem operosam fuisse, non otiosam, nec mortuam. Ex eo namque, quod filium suum obtulit super altare (quod quidem fecit ea fide incitatus, de qua scriptum est Hebr. 11.: Fide obtulit etc), patet, fidem ejus progerminasse bona opera, atque iisdem bonis operibus fuisse cooperatam, dirigendo videlicet intentionem operantis, ut essent Deo accepta. Cooperabatur, Graece: ouvT^pyei, quod Erasmus interpretatur: adjumento fuit. Sed beno noster interpres ac proprie vertit: cooperabatur. Vult enim Apostolus innuere societatem quandam individuam inter fidem et opera, ut, sicut fides sine operibus esse non debet, ita nec opera sine fide; tametsi partes fidei potiores sunt, utpote dirigentis, ut dixi, et imperantis.
Et ex operibus fides consummata est. Sicut fides caritate formatur, ita subsequentibus operibus non modo declaratur et conservatur, verum cHam augetur, roboratur et perficitur. Non solum igitur opera sunt fructus et signa fidei, quod volunt haeretici; sed insuper eam, totamque hominis justitiam augent et perficiunt, hominemque Deo gratiorem reddunt.
2:23
23. Et suppleta est Scriptura, dicens: Credidit Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad justitiam. Suppleta, Graece: impleta. Quaeritur, quomodo tunc impleta, quando filium obtulit; cum scripta sit de eo, quod multo ante contigit. Cum enim Moses narrasset, Deum Abrahae promisisse, semen ejus futurum numerosum, ut stellas coeli, Gen. 16., subjnuxit verba hic citata: Credidit Abraham Deo etc. Respondeo imprimis, Aposfoli sensum non esse, quod illa Scriptura velut Prophetica fuerit prius dicta aut scripta, quam res eveniret, ac post impleta. Certum est enim, historice scriptum hoc esse a Mcse, sicut et reliqua ejus libri, de rebus scilicet olim gestis. Deinde nec sensum esse, quod illa Scripturae pars: Et reputatum est illi ad justitiam, retro trahi debeat ad illud tempus, quo Abraham filium obtulit; quasi non prius, quam opus illud faceret, fides ei fuerit ad justitiam imputata. Nam aeque certum est ex Apostolo Paulo ad Rom. 4. et ex ipso textu Scripturae Gen., tunc, quando credidit divinae promissioni, ipsum credere fuisse ei reputatum ad justitiam, id est, tamquam insigne opus justitiae Deo placitum ac probatum fuisse. Sed impletam dicit hanc Scripturam tunc, quando filium obtulit, quia tunc declaratum eat, ad justitiam hominis requiri non solum opus fidel, qua Deo creditur, verum etiam opera aliarum virtutam, ut obedientiae, religionis, fortitudinis etc, ex fide tamen profecta. Quo in genere valde excelluit illud opus Abrahae. Suppleta est ergo, sicut noster interpres loquitur, quia, quod in ea non faerat expressum, ex alio loco docetur quodammodo supplendum; scilicet etlam opera fuisse Abrahae ad justitiam reputata, nec solam fidem sufficere, ut homini ad justitiam reputetur. Hoc sensu supplevit hanc Scripturam^Matathias, 2 Mach. 2., quando hoc ipsum opus Abrahae, de quo nunc agitur, commemorans, adjecit ex priori loco: Et reputatumiest ei ad justitiam.
Et amicus Dei appellatus est. Non hoc adjungit' tamquam partem Scripturae;^sed \\\t sua, id est, Apostoli verba, probans,^|quod superioribus^^ continetur, scilicet, illud opus immolationisjfilii fuisse reputatum Abrahae ad justitiam. Si enim propter illud amicus Dei vocatus est, nec qui&quam est amicus Dei, nisi justus: igitur illud opus ei reputatum est tamquam opus justitiae. Quamvis autem oo loco, ubi res gesta narratur, non legamus, Abraham fuisse vocatum Dei amicum: satis tamen id continetur in verbis Dei, ad ipsum loquentis, quibus factum ejus, ut sibi gratissimum, collaudat, ac novarum promissionum cumulo prosequitur. Alibi vero diserte Scriptura Abraham Dei amicum nominat, ut 2 Par. 20., Jes. 41. et Judith. 8. Ubi sic legitur admodum accommodate ad locum praesentem: Pater noster Abraham tentatus esty et per multas tribulationes probatus, Dei amicus effectus est.
2:24
24. Videtis, quoniam ex operibus justificatur homo, et non cor fide tan" tum? Graece: Videtis igitur, quod ex operibus etc, tametsi verti potest: Vidtte igitur. Utrovis autem modo vertas, conclusiu est rei propositae, qua scilicet ab exemplo Abrahae colligit, non sola fide justificari hominem; sed etiam opera ad justitiam hominis esse necessaria. Quod enim ait: Ex operibus justificatur homo, sic omnino accipiendum ex mente et doctrina Apostoli, ut sine operibus (intellige vel re ipsa, vel in animi praeparatione factis) non justificetur. Itaque fidem vult esse formatam caritate, qua voluntas prompta reddatur ad opera, dum opus est, exercenda.
2:25
25. Similiter autem et Raab meretrix, nonne ex operibus justificata est, suscipiens nuntios, et alia via ejiciens? Suscipiens et ejiciens in Graeco sunt aoristi, ita commode red^ndi: susceptis nuntiis, et alia via emissis. Prius exemplum sumptum erat a principe generis, cui nunc alterum subjicit a muliere gentili, quae tamen meruerit adjungi generi Abraham, et inter progenitrices Salvatoris inveniri, ejusque genealogiae inaeri, Matth. 1. In qua et Ecclesiae typus fuit secundum Augustinum, enarrantem illud Psalmi 86.: Memor ero Raab et Babylonis scientium me. Ad cujus mulieris justificationem commendandam illud quoque pertinet, quod meretricem nominat. Nam vere meretricem fuisse, idque juxta propriam significationem vociB Hebraeae zonah, contra, quam sentiunt nonnulli interpretes, luculente monstravimus ad illa verba Hebr. 11.: Fide Raab meretrix etc. Neque vero manens meretrix justificata est, nec sine fide; sed ad Deum verum converHa, per fidem bonis operibus cooperantem illi placuit. Credidit enim et confessa est, Deum Israel esse Deum in coelo sursum et in terra deorsum; atque ex ea fide processit ad opera, quae hic referuntur, ut exploratores a Josue missos susciperet, absconderet, ac diversa via, quam venissent, emitteret, non sine vitae discrimine. Legitur historia Josue 2. Sed quia sine fide mediatoris nemo justificari potest, utique existimandum est, illam nec ea fide, saltem implicita, caruisse. Concepit autem hujusmodi fidem eo modo, quo plerique alii in populo Dei, sive post legem latam, sive ante, Deo per externum et humanum aliquod ministerium {quia fides ex auditu est, Rom. 10.) intus eos docente. Porro, quod dicit Apostolus, Baali fuisse justificatam ex operibus, similiter est accipiendum, quomodo de Abraham id ipsum dixit. Justificata est enim, nuntiis susceptis, et alia via dimissis, quia ex illo tam benefico opere, quod non tam nuntiis illis, quam populo Dei praestitit, laudem virtutis ac justitiae meruit in Scripturis Josue 2. et 6.; quo nimirum opere justitia ejus non solum declarata fuerit, sed et augmentum ceperit, et ad perfectionem quandam pervenerit. Siquidem et hic addi poterat, quod de Abraham dixit: Et ex operibus fides consummata est. Ex his apparet, Apostolum ad secundam justificationem potius, quam ad primam respicere, etiam in hoc exemplo; tametsi nec prima justificatio, quae completur in remissione peccatorum, contingit sine operibus, quorum a fide est initium, ut supra dictum est. Jam, ut hoc quoque exemplum, quemadmodum prius, valeat ad probandum Apostoli institutum, ex ejus mente subaudiendum est: ita ex hoc opere justificatam fuisseRaab, ut, si illud facere detrectasset, justificata non fuisset. Sic enim sequitur, etiam nos ex operibus justificari debere, et proinde sine operibu9 inanem etmortuam esse fidem nostram.
2:26
26. Sicut enim corpus sine spiritu mortuum est, ita et fides sine operibus mortua est. Aptissima similitudine concludit suam de fide et operibus doctrinam. Spiritum intelligit, non halitum seu flatum, ut vult Cajetanus, sed animam. Hanc enim Scriptura passim significat nomine spiritus, ut Psalm. 30.: In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum; Eccles. 10.: Et spiritus redeat ad Deum, qui dedit illum; 1 Cor. 2.: Quis hominum scit, quae sunt hominis, nisi spiritus hominis, qui in ipso est? Nec ideo parum apta videri poterit haec Apostoli comparatio, quod veretur Cajetanus, hac ratione motus, quia opera non sunt forma fidei, sed effectus quidam concomitantes, anima vero forma est corporis. Respondetur enim, Apostolum opera considerare in sua radice, id est, in bona vohintate seu caritate, quae forma est fidei, sicut anima corporis. Sentit enim, fidem operandi voluntate destitutam mortuam esse; sicut corpus anima privatum mortuum est. Et observa, non dicere Apostolum: Sicut homo sine spiritu mortuus est; sed: Sicut corpus sine spiritu mortuum est. Unde evanescit haereticorum objectio: Homo mortuus non est homo, sed cadaver hominis; ergo fides mortua non est fides, sed quoddam fidei cadaver. Non enim comparat Apostolus fidem mortuam cum homine mortuo, sed cum corpore mortuo. Sicut ergo corpus mortuum vere etproprie corpus est, itafides mortua vere et proprie fides est. Neque enim magis in ratione fidei continetur caritas, quam in ratione corporis anima; sed sicut anima perfectio corporis est, ita caritas perfectio fidei. Proinde ex hac ipsa similitudine Apostolica, quam sectarii nubis objiciunt, optime statuitur illa, non scholastica modo, sicut eam vocant, sed Catholica distinctio fidei in informem et formatam. Est enim fides informis Apostolo velut corpua inanime, et fides formata velut corpusanimatum. Sic ergo utrimque vera fides, sicut utrimque verum corpus. Quin etiam sequitur contra quosdam Catholicos aliter opinantes, quemadmodum idem numero corpus est nunc vivens, nunc mortuum, sic eandem numero fidem esse nunc animatam caritate, nunc sine ea mortuam. Ubi tamen notandum, ex sententia Apostoli non esse fidem mortuam in bono catechumeno, et in fideli poenitente, dum per bona opera dignosque poenitentiae fructus aspirant ad gratiam baptismi vel reconciliationis. Non enim est illa fides sine operibus, quam solam Apostolus mortuam vocat. Vivens igitur est atque formata; et si nondum illa caritate, quae est amicitia hominis cum Deo, tamen ea saltem, qua Deus tamquam justitiae fons, et quidem sicut oportet, diligitur; uti loquuntur Patres Synodi Tridentinae. Quae observatio necessaria est ad plenam intelligentiam distinctionis, quae, secundum Scripturas, agnoscenda est inter fidem formatam et informem, id est, vivam et mortuam, ne fidem hominis nondum justificati, sed per opera poenitentiae sese parautis ad justitiae donum accipiendam, pro mortua rcputemus; cum nec otiosa quidem dicenda sit ejusmodi fides, sed operosa, ac sub ea fide comprehensa, quae per caritatem operatur; ideoque in Christo Jesu valet, Gal. 5. Quamquam respectu caritatis gratificantis, quae amicitia cum Deo est, et ab isto nondum habetur, informem eam dici posse, non negamus. Confer, quae de caritatis notione diximus ad 1 Cor. 13.
2:1
… Its classic example is that given in the gatherings of the primitive community of Jerusalem (Acts 2:46-47), free from every favoritism (James 2:1-4), from every egoistic contrast (1 Cor. 11:20-22), from every hidden calculation (Luke 14:11-14), indeed from every bustling about (Luke 10:41-42). Of such simplicity in living together, …
2:6
… The subsequent persecutions (Acts 4:1-8:3; 9:1-3), the confiscations ordered by the Sanhedrin (and by the Roman authorities), the famine that occurred in the time of Claudius, the abuses of the rich against the poor of which James 2:6-7; 5:1-6 speaks, made the material conditions of the mother Church quite precarious. …
2:8
… the incarnate Word, true Mother of God. And the redeemed of Christ will be there blessed and holy; blessed because at the height of happiness, holy because raised to the summit of the Love of God and of neighbor, in the fulfillment of the "royal law" (Jas. 2:8) which in heaven is substantially the same as on earth, but up there reigns and shines without the contrasts and the trials of this world.
2:13
In line with the Gospel is the apostolic preaching (cf., for example, I Tim. 6:17-19; Jas. 2:13; I Jn. 3:17) and all the preaching of the Fathers and the pontiffs. …
2:21
According to Sacred Scripture, infused charity is a true friendship between the just man and God, and among the children of God. In the Old Testament Abraham is called "friend of God" (Iud. 8, 22; cf. Iac. 2, 21). Ps. 138, 17, according to the Septuagint and the Vulgate: "Thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honorable."
2:25
… kept (Josh. 2:2-21; 6:17-25). Converted to the Israelite religion, she married Salmon of the tribe of Judah and had as her son Boaz, the future husband of Ruth (Ruth 4:21; Matt. 1:5). Her faith was praised in writings of the New Testament (Heb. 11:31; James 2:25).
2:26
without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead" (Jas. 2:26). When St. Paul opposes faith to works (Rom. 3:27 ff.), he does not intend to deal with the practical conditions of salvation as if he had set out to write a treatise on morals, …
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.